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Fire Emblem On Forums: Mortal Transgressions (IC)


RedMageCole

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Chapter 4x

Ticket to Ride

A week has passed since the incident at Ulux. Queen Stella has agreed to take King Darcy as prisoner, while tensions in the group run high due to the appearance of Lucy Belial, who has revealed the motivations of the Icons of Sin as well as Death's true identity; Lucifer Belial, the rightful Prince of Perus. Despite all of these complications, Kane continues to push forward with Virtuous.

Reconnaissance missions were common in the past days for the heists of the next kingdoms, but Kane had no intention of stopping with Virtuous's agenda. His next plan takes the group into familiar territory, where it all began...

 

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"A few of you might recognize this road," Kane gestured to the road where they stopped, a couple of minutes walk away from where they parked their wagon in the forest. Indeed, it was the same road in Perus where they thwarted the trade route. "as Diezel's drug trading route. Thankfully, Diezel is gone and buried and so is his product... However, I've gathered intel during our occasional trips to Ria about Perus— seems the trade route cropped up again pretty quickly. Someone else is running the whole thing this time, someone named Ethaniel. Whatever his business is, it's pretty out in the open despite it being just as bad as what Diezel was dealing. I want to take a different approach this time— where Diezel went for quantity, Ethaniel goes for quality. He doesn't have guards outside of a few men and himself, so what I'm thinking is this— since the guy's not only tough and we can potentially get some decent information off of him about Perus, we'll avoid the violent approach. One group is going to stop Ethaniel on the road and get him talking, long enough that he spills some beans and makes way for the other group, headed by myself, to steal everything within the cart and store it. How are we feeling about that plan, team?"

 

...

 

Meanwhile, at home, Simeon led the charge by leaning back in a chair and yawning.

 

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"I tell ye, it's surprisin' to me that we've gone a few days without somethin' exploding... Well, Kane only wanted volunteers and let everyone else stay here for some rest, so I think I'm gonna do just that. Been workin' on some new prototypes but I could stand to get some relaxation while that kid takes over for a bit..."

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Justine nodded approvingly, not looking quite as distracted as she had a few days ago. The incident with Ferdiad still weighed on her mind, but she was hard to keep down for too long.

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"I think I can help get the man talking. Spin a tale or two, do a bit of tumbling, it'll be just like the old days." It'd been quite some time since she'd put on a real performance, but she was confident her skills in that regard hadn't gone to rust. "Anything you'd like to hear of note? Other than trying to find hints about his supplier, of course."

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Lenore, for her part, had put what happened with Ferdiad behind her.

It was what it was, and she had to put up with it. Unexpected problems were, after all, the trademark of any good heist.
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"I'll come with. It'd be nice to do something I'm actually good at doing, for once. Going in with blades out.....has never quite been my style."

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Baldur listen intenetly to the job ahead of them with his arms crossed nodding along with the important points,  "I'm not the best when it comes to talking information out of someone or distractions. Therefore, I think it be best if I went along with you Kane. Someone has to be there to bail you out of hot water if all goes amiss." Baldur hadn't really let the Ferdy incident get to him. Not like he was guilt free of causing a scene anyways.

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Kane gave a nod to Justine.

 

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"Thank you, Minstrel. You're a great smooth talker, I'll leave you to your job. The supplier is all I can note off of the top of my head, but if he says anything particularly interesting feel free to pry into it." Another nod to Baldur and Lenore. "Good— you both will be a huge help. First order of action— stop the wagon. Shouldn't be hard, as long as you were on the road. Get them to stop, get them talking, and we're in the clear. Places, team!" Kane ducked behind some trees.

 

The horse-drawn wagon came, and predictably stopped.

 

"What are we stoppin' for!? We're on a tight schedule!" The man who yelled came out, two bodyguards in tow...

 

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"What're ya doin' here, standin' around?... You the suppliers or somethin'? I don't recall the pickup being this close..."

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This was something Lenore intended to field. Finally, something she was halfway competent at, as opposed to having to stab people.
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"Yeah, the rendezvous spot was spotted out by some kids. Damn near gave us a heart attack. They don't know we're meeting up here. What took you so long?"

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Lenore's attempt at convincing... completely fooled the guy— down to her mannerisms and confidence. Looks probably had a bit to do with it too, but one could never tell with these shady types.

 

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"Huh... Damned brats. We had a slight altercation back in Ceda, actually, but nothin' really noteworthy anyways..." He pauses, before looking over the group with a dumbfounded look— he clearly wasn't a very sharp eye. "Wait a minute, where's Herman? Ain't he with you?"

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Hidden behind the trees and forestry off road, Baldur watched the cart in question approach the first group then come to a halt. Turning back to the second group and whispering in a hushed tone,  "Group one has made contact with the cart with Mink at its head. We should be clear to approach on your order Phoenix."  

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On a hunch, Lysander stepped forward near Lenore. He formed his face into a frown, and hunched over slightly from his normal perfect posture. He thought back to the man he had met years back. After all it was a small world, and it would fit. The gamble had to work. "Greetings." He said without so much as a motion for a handshake or any other courtesy. 

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"Yeah, Mink and— hm, that's an interesting tactic, but I trust Marvel and Mink... Wait to see if he takes the bait..." As much trust as Kane had in Lysander, he wasn't sure at all of if this was going to work— Kane didn't even know if Lysander knew this Herman or not...

 

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"Oh, shi- sorry, Herman!" The guy quickly turned to Lysander with a frightful look, even giving a bow of respect. "You change your hair? Yeah, uh, white streak looks good on ya! And— uh— you here for the pickup, yeah? You know it's, uh... the stuff you need,"

 

Kane awkwardly paused.

 

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"Somehow, I don't even think we'll need to steal it. Stay on standby for now."

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(A few minutes ago)

 

It had been a week, but Lizaveta found that she was still shaken up by the incident with Ferdiad -- severely so, even. And, worse, she wasn't even sure just what it was of the many things involved there that was shaking her up. Was it the violence that had very nearly resulted in her death? Maybe... she had expected him to attack, of course, even had been intentionally goading that. But she hadn't expected him to swing a sword at her, even if he'd turned it away so it only clove the table in two. Was it her own behavior that was making her feel so sick about the whole thing? It'd definitely been vicious what she'd done, thinking about his weak points in detail and then using them completely mercilessly on him. But... she'd had reasons for doing it, though, right? She'd been trying to keep him from murdering somebody who was central to a lot of people potentially finally escaping oppression. But yet... she hadn't found success with Darcy, either? She couldn't help but have this nauseous feeling that there was something going awfully wrong around her, something going awfully wrong with her. But... that couldn't be the case, right? She'd finally found her reason to go on, so things had to go okay, right?

 

...either way, the end result (expression hidden by her mask) was:

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"Um... I don't think I should be on the team talking to him, all things considered..."

 

(Now)

 

That nauseous feeling hadn't gone away (it hadn't for days now, really), and Lizaveta was finding it awfully distracting as she sat in the bushes waiting for the thieving half of the operation to go or not go. So, to distract herself, she asked Kane a question (quietly, of course).

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"So... what... do we end up just hitting every drug merchant along this route...?"

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Ethaniel looked awkward at Lysander's response, but wasn't about to go questioning him.

 

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"Uh- uh- yeah, feel free." He says with a look to Lenore, ushering to his bodyguards to move.

 

 

Kane, meanwhile in the bushes, gave a small sigh.

 

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"I don't like striking in the same place twice either, but something's just plain fishy to me. You don't just reestablish a merchantry in a week after a huge caravan gets robbed and the most notable vendor gets killed. Especially with the amount of confidence they're displaying— just look at the two bodyguards. Something is up."

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"Sh-Sheesh, alright, lemme..." Ethaniel went to the back of the wagon, and hurried out with a small box of some kind of bagged white powder. "See, it's all here! The, uh... you called it something, right...? The... Asth... uh..."

 

"The Asthéneiatoxin!"

 

"Yeah! That!" Ethaniel looks straight at Lysander for a moment, before blinking. "Uh— Who's that?"

 

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"...!" Lucy had been keeping quiet in the bushes, but a little bit of rustling from her shock almost would have blown the plan had everyone's attention not been turned around.

 

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"Fuck...! Nobody move...!"

 

 

 

 

 

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“Heyooooo! Herman, man, why didn't you tell me we were moving all the way up here? I'm only like, your most important guy or whatever! How's Lily? You know, my niece?" Famine gave a laugh, a question that clearly didn't need an answer. "Anyways! Asthéneiatoxin, yep, that's it alright! His face may be poor quality, but his product isn't!"

 

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"Damn it— he's sharper than this guy— wait, he knows about you...!?"

 

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"I-It's only him...! Brother and War don't know a thing and he promised he wouldn't..."

 

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"Wh-Where do you think you're gettin' off, talkin' about my face when you're wearin' that stupid-lookin' head coverin'!? Herman, do you know this punk!? I ain't never seen him before in my life!"

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Lysander glared daggers at Famine, a thousand thoughts running through his head. Maybe he could just reach out right now an strangle him? Surely he'd expect Lysander to reach for his tome and attack, but a more unorthodox attack. Maybe signal to Lenore somehow to slip a knife into his back unexpectedly. But no, it was all too dangerous. His next thought was to declare Famine a stranger, and have Ethaniel attack him, but this too was a bad idea. After all if Famine was here, the real Herman was probably close as well. They had to leave, this was far too dangerous. He was completely out of his field, he looked to Mink for help.

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Lenore remains calm, despite wanting to do something, anything to lash out at this monster; he made a mockery of her art, he hurt those who didn't deserve to be hurt. 

 

Logically, the operation was blown already. Famine wasn't someone Lenore had a real lock on and she knew it. Ethaniel was like her usual marks; dumb, easily fooled, uninformed, but Famine could throw a wrench into those plans right away.

She wanted to run, to call the whole thing off before someone got hurt, and take that toxin in the chaos so nobody could get hurt.

But no, they were in too deep. She didn't care much for the dealer and his guards, but Lysander was in the crossfire. Kane and the others were waiting. She needed to buy time for Kane and the others to formulate a plan of attack, and do it quickly. Buying time, however, just happened to be right up Lenore's alley.
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"A business rival of ours. Looks like he's muscling in on our operation. Unlike us, he's a little less set on professional courtesy. Someone else must've ratted us out. Tell your guards to keep their weapons away, unless you want this guy to go nuts. This guy's dangerous."
Lenore steps away from Ethaniel, keeping her hands visible. She really, really was hoping Lysander and Kane knew what they were doing.

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"Your niece is fine. Out of the business, I hear.  What do you want with that astheneiatoxin? We're here on business, we can settle this like businessmen."

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At the sight of the wretch Baldur's grip on the tree branch tightened greatly. It seems like he could snap it off at any moment. Trying to keep as hushed as possible he growls towards Kane,  "Phoenix, permission to beat the ever loving shit out of Famine." He didn't know how long he could hold himself back. He can't stand him just standing there smugly. He needs to pay for all that he has done!

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"Orchid, no. We jump out of the bushes now, the entire operation is blown. Wait for Mink and Marvel to give us an in..."

 

Ethaniel looked at Famine with disgust, as Famine gave a goofy shrug.

 

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"Jeez, what the heck has been going on here!? I just wanted to do my job, man... you heard her, guys, put the weapons away..."

 

The bodyguards obey. Famine gives a small, insincere laugh as they do.

 

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“Cool! She deserves nothing less! Anyway, about the Asthéneiatoxin... well, I don't need it! Business rival or not, Herman will do some good work with that toxin, eh Herman?" Famine claps Lysander on the back with a laugh. What an asshole. “C'mon, Ethaniel, you know Herman— he'd murder you in the blink of an eye for failing to supply him, riiiight?"

 

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"..." Ethaniel said nothing, but he wasn't jumping to deny it.

 

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“So what's all the fuss abouuut? Herman gets his Asthéneiatoxin, Ethaniel gets his payment— oh yeah, you do got the payment, riiight?" Famine looks at Lenore and Lysander, patiently waiting.

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