World Tree MUSH

It has been close to a week since Ash's warframe got smashed up followed shortly by the interrior of the ship that Ordis is housed within getting smashed up. Unfortunately these events, to say nothing of Ordis finally putting his foot down on Ash's behavioral quirks, have left a few low hanging contracts slide. It was for that reason Ordis went traveling. He did not like the idea of literally being whole universes away from his Operator especially with the chance Vines might start playing havok with themselves or any number of other unforseeables.

However Ordis is nothing if not loyal and while putting feelers out once he reached the appropriate 'verse he again kicked himself for putting his foot down. then wehn that thought encroached yet again he would pull up footage not just of Ash being recklessly stupid and try physically supporting the empathic healer while she's doing her thing, but also every other instance where he was well meaning but lacked forethought on what would happen next.

He sighed as he sifted data to figure out where the best chance at finding Star Wolf's members would be, and really hated the notion of getting anywhere near a black hole. Sure fine a gravity well is a gravity well is a gravity well. Stay outside of the event horizon and theoretically you're fine. OK well stay outside of an orbit above the event horizon where you have enough thrust to leave or won't get sheered apart but same principle.

That didn't mean the giant orb of Nothing didn't scare Ordis at a deep and fundimental level. Those things /SHOULDN'T EXIST/ much less be things he had to in any way interact with.

     The Black Hole in a non-intersecting orbit around the twin stars Lylat and Solar is one of artificial creation. It has very low mass and spins extremely fast; therein, its event horizon is very very small in radius from the singularity. However, it has very immediate effects on space-time as the gravity waves warp and bend reality and cause relativistic shearing. It bears no accretion disk and is otherwise invisible to the naked eye, but basic scans can easily show the x-rays coming from the ball of nothingness. Additionally, astrogation charts freely available to visitors of the Lylat System clearly map the otherwise harmless black hole's path. There's almost no real way to accidentally stumble into its path in a way that would spell total disaster. 

     That said, it's still a Black Hole! 

     A steady orbit at a careful distance is enough to avoid the space-time ripples and warping, but whatever scans revealed that the Star Wolf team was located here almost seem to be incorrect. Actual scans of the area reveal that there are no other ships -- why should there be?! This observation is interrupted by the emergence of a few jet-styled spaceships from nothingness, from within the insanely strong currents of gravity surrounding the dangerous void, as signals exactly identical to Ordis' initial scans, down to coordinate position and time, pop into existence. One. Two. Three. Three Wolfens. (Count them!) 

     Ordis likely computes the probable explanation in this is that, because of the warping of space-time, the quantum information of the ships' arrival and presence arrived before they did. And, there they are: Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, and Panther Caluroso. 

     "Looks like we have company waiting for us, Cap'n," voices Leon over intership comms. 

     "At least it's not McCloud this time, Wolf," rumbles Panther in addition. "He'd be hailing us with some crazy demand...right about now."

Not for the first time since tracking the 'small' black hole Ordis swore in as many colorful and creative ways he knew. Gravity sheering, having t ocalculate quantium probability. Ordis HATED Quantium mechanics. Things either Should, or Should Not. None of this 'observing changes the way superposition collapses into a final state' business.

Then ships! Three of them even. Ordis double checked because even with all the Orokin's monkeying with everything, gravity was still something that did funny thigns to readings. he hadn't bothered with the void cloak because as far as anyone knew this was a legitimate ship with legitimate business. He even dumped off a small load of ore for processing before makign thiss little excersion! See! Legitimate ship doing sightseeing!

Ordis would hail the trio of Wulfen. "Uh... yes Hello?" They would see Ordis's visual iconography rather than Ash's image. That is to say a cube of glass cracked at the edges with light shining from the middle. "I assume given by how Wolf O'Donnell conducts himself that one of the craft approaching is his? I wish t odiscuss my Operator's defaulting on a pair of recent contracts taken from your organization." there was a calmness to Ordis's voice. then again Wolf would probably detect the same sort of nervousness Ordis exibited around Solar. Seems orbiting close to stellar phenomina didn't agree with the poor guy.

     The fact of the matter is that the Wolfens are equipped with Gravity-Diffusers. G-Diffusers are power generators that break down the effects of gravity in their area of effect and use the resulting freed particles as a fuel for power. The main side effect to this is that the bubble created actually lessens relativistic effects caused by gravity to the point of near negation. 

     In simpler terms, they can navigate the currents of gravity around the black hole without being affected by that gravity. If this wasn't the case, getting caught up in the currents would, at the very least, cause a lot of relativity issues: a simple five-minute dip into the eddies swirling around the black hole could be years of time spent in the star system itself (unless those eddies happen to loop space-time around to a point before the moment of entry). 

     "This is O'Donnell," comes an answer to the hail after giving a shake of his head. Not McCloud, but still somebody just as needy; hopefully not as stubborn and cocky. "We're aware that some minor contracts went without completion on the kiddo's behalf. They were taken over by other employees and have been dealt with." 

     "Heh heh heh," comes a sadistic chuckle from the chameleon. "What has the silly boy gotten himself into now?" 

     "He probably just discovered a girl, Leon. Something you wouldn't know much about. He did look to be around that age," adds in the 'girl expert' of the team, Panther. 

     Wolf cuts in with, "What do you need from us?" Clearly something was 'wanted', else a simple broadcast could clear up the contractual matters, and this isn't exactly the best meeting place what with a ball of oblivion existing over there. Somewhere. Close.

Ordis's avatar emitted a burst of digitized noise at Wolf's bluntness before transmitting an image of Raven. "This woman has taken it upon herself to try," And then his voice glitched, contorting and practically growling, "BEATING THE STUPID OUT OF-," and then the burst of glitched 'otherness' faded, "educating him on the need for proper forethought while his warframe was down for repairs after protecting civilians being hunted by some sort of hunter-spirit-little-girl-thing."

Wolf as well as Panther and Leon would then recieve a clip of Ash's warframe's throat being ripped out by some wild eyed little girl thing that had wolf ears and deer antlers. She also had the handle of one of Ash's knives sticking out of her ribs for what it was worth.

"To make a long story short. Ash found someone to heal an ally that has empathic abilities and at some point... This happened." Another clip of Raven pinballing Ash around the interrior of his ship alongside another person Wolf likely wouldn't be familiar with as a third person, obviously the patiant in this instance, lay on the ship's decking as the rest of the interrior was quite thoroughly smashed to pieces.

"As Ordis does quite wish for the operator to learn proper forethought I have agreed to her terms for the time being. However as the Operator has connections with your organiztion I felt it wise to discuss the matter more thoroughly."

     The violent imagery delights the reptile of the trio. He'll have to review the clips in the communications log later on and perhaps bring them up later at inopportune times just to see if it gets a rise out of Ash and Ash's company. Panther gives the video feeds some thought with a scratch of his claws over his chin but doesn't say anything on the matter yet. The eyepatch-wearing wolf lifts an eyebrow at first at having such revealed, then appears to grow quite bored. 

     "Okay, but you realize that he rejected the opportunity of direct employment with my organization and preferred to stay independent. As such, I have no obligation to save him from extreme circumstances. He has made it very clear that he's able to operate just fine on his own." Wolf even sounds bored...and he and his team just warped in from a black hole! Another day on the job? 

     The identity of the girl behind the events of the second video is immediately picked up on. The conversation Wolf had with Raven at the C&E on Macbeth revealed that the two already had a personal connection of some sort. Wolf isn't a relationship counselor. It's none of his business. 

     Panther cuts in at this point to ask what his boss won't. "What exactly is it you're asking of us? And...can we have this conversation en route to another location that doesn't have such a stunning view?"

"Ordis is aware of such arrangements. However what is being asked for isn't reenforcement." Ordis sighed as he broke orbit from the black hole. As he transmitted his heading to the three wulfen, which coincidentilly intersected with an 'anomoly' consistent with every other vine that existed, he continued speaking. "Ordis is unsure actually. File a report, forward a refund of any advances, and let the chipsfall as they may... but considering i'm the one who slammed the door in the operator's face and left him to- STEW IN HIS OWN JUICES - consider that his actions have consiquences, I am also at something of a loss on how to proceed."

Ordis did not wish to bring up the fact heand Ash both went through similar growing pains during the old war. This wasboth because he had little real memory of such events, and even if he did histrust did not extendthat far with Wolf or his organization. "Perhaps a reevaluation of where he stands with you is in order, perhaps not. However I am trying to get him to grow up, at least a little."

     The three Wolfen craft -- The Wolfen, The Rainbow Delta, and The Black Rose -- each align in basic formation as astrogation is updated with the coordinates. They can spare a little time on the mystery. Wolf turns to give a lip-lifted questioning shrug to Panther before leaning back into his pilot seat with an exhalation. "So, where exactly is he being kept, or are you not allowed to say?" asks O'Donnell as he adjusts the HMI covering his left 'eye' before tapping out adjustments on his control panels. 

     "Adjusting course." "Throttling back G-Diffusers, Cap'n." "Running system diagnostics." The trio go over some basics now that their craft are free from the area of effect of the black hole. It's a tricky thing using it for navigation, but it's a method that is absolutely avoided by the Cornerian Alliance. You take what you can get. 

     "Besides, a reevaluation? That's a matter of internal business affair. Our relationship is strictly business-oriented," states Wolf in a way that almost is a verbal spitting. He doesn't take kindly to people assuming he doesn't know what he's doing with his organization. "If you want to provide a statement, fine, but I'm not going to accompany you on this detour just to spend the time going over conjecture and hypotheses. Now, you came to me. Clearly. This could have been handled over a transmission otherwise, so I'm going to take the chance and assume that you're here because you need my physical presence and attention and you trust me enough to reach out to me." 

     "So, come clean with me, V.I.," sternly speaks Wolf as he looks straight into the comms camera. "And don't jerk me around. What exactly is this -really- about?" Off in the Black Rose, Panther simply whistles a single descending note to himself.

"Ordis is not a V. I. Ordisis a Cephelon." Ordis's words positivly dripped with annoyance at being addressed as some sort of clockwork construct. Then a pause before Ordis bothered to respond to the rest. "We are heading to what the locals refer to as... 'the' Mushroom Kingdom. A strange and curious place. An abridged version of what ORdis has found can be uploaded at your discretion. However as business orpprotunity here is likely non-existant since their largest local competetor regularly.... go-karts with them," Cue confused ship cephelon here. "Ordis is unsure if this place truely has any conflict as we would understand it. WHich s why I felt least-bad at the idea of leaving him here." Makes sense. Few local threats, in general a gental area Ash isn't likely to stomp around in without all of his wonderful toys.

"Ordis does apologize," The Vine-Portal took them through one jump which ead to another and another in the long walk between worlds. "However given the operator's current relationship with Miwa Ordis feels it best to pick her up. We will join you shortly." Ordis would transmit a flight plan that should, assuming the path he took before was still stable, take Wolf and company on to the Mushroom kingdom proper.

Meanwhile Ordis would call Miwa's phone to inform her of Ash's... Grounding and question if she is avalible to be picked up to betaken to his location.

Raven was in the midst of teaching Ash that actions had consequences. Via... board games. Namely, chess. With physical demonstrations. Namely, every mistake she made, she would call out, andm otion to WHY it was a bad move. Why it was a failure. Why it could, in the context of a fight, put himself or others in danger.

Chess worked, nameely, because it was a turn based game. It gave him ample time to study his moves. He had all the time in the world... Which meant he could focus more on thinking things out. And more importantly, it was a simpler, more easier way to check out WHY they mattered.

 "Now this move, right here? It leaves your right side vulnerable, and now I can easily move my queen into position here. If you make a move to counter, I can easily go here or here, or even here, taking one of your pieces and allowing my queen to escape without any actual threat to myself. Now, instead if you had taken a bit more time and looked closer, right here would have been a good place to move, as then you could shore up the right side's defense as...."

Miwa receives Ordis's call on her Poketch as she is busy sunning herself on the beach after her late morning breakfast. Oh how the daily life of this Pokemon performer was so hard. "Oh, of course! I wondered why I hadn't heard from him in a while. Should have figured he'd gotten himself into some sort of trouble again..." She admits, and mentally tells herself she should worry more at moments like this, rather than assuming he's just busy with work, as to be fair, even at those times, he usually at least tries to swing by to see her. "I'm on the beach near my grotto, pick me up whenever you are able."

On the face of it Ash took to Raven's lessons well. There was value in taking a longer view now that he was in a place that wasn't constantly having to deal with moment to moment needing to deal with eighty things at a time leaving you unable to see further than the engadgement. He would be considerate in moving each chess piece, even if he found it to be a game fit more for cephelons since 'all this is about is holding a large number of calculations at a time. That's not a show of intelligence, that's just memorization.'

that said on the surface? All was well. It was beneath the surface where the problem lay. Each lecture, each instance of raven trying to show why she was right would cause just that little bit of anger, or annoyae, or simple frustration. 

He was more a Go player.

As Ash suffered through Raven lecturing him Ordis would have sent a landing craft to fetch Miwa. Only when the Primarina was safely tuckedon ship would he start explaining that yes Ash wasfine, he was just grounded for being reckless. Unlike Wolf Ordis would have decided to not show Miwa footage of Ash getting pinballed about since why? It would just make her worry.

Fortunately for Ordis Ash kept comunications' equipment on hand, which made finding him simple. Miwa would be dropped off with directions to find Ash and then Ordis would sendthe lander away. As much as he hated how things were going, he agreed with Ravens' asessment that they neededto play out without him swooping in.

Raven nodded, and then... "You've been taking these well so..." She then held out a hand. And... "Azarath..." entities of darkness, small ones, formed in ehr hands. Models? WAIT! THOSE WERE GRINEER! HOW DID SHE--

"Remember when you touched me? When my walls were down? I absorbed far more little bits and pieces of your life than I care to acknowledge. So this next exercise will be simpler. You will have ten seconds to react."

On the board, five grineer appeared. Two with big guns, one with a blade(that one was closest), and two in the middle with machine guns.

Then, opposite them... It was him, her and anna. "We're being charged. There are five of them. I am currently exhausted, cannot use my powers. Anna is wounded, and unable to run. These... grineer, as I believe you are familiar with, are coming in. You have five seconds. What do you do?" she asked... Oh. Oh dear. This was new. Maybe a bit harder to distance himself from images of people he knew. Even if they were shadow versions.

Miwa is relieved to hear that Ash is not hurt, or captured or anything dire like that. Though hearing he was grounded for being reckless was enough for her to read between the lines and guess that his warframe was damaged or destroyed again, though if she'd been told that Ordis had been damaged too, that would have really made her worry about how much he'd gotten in over his head. 

 In any case, she took the lander down to the Mushroom Kingdom, not really being sure what to expect. When she did arrive on the surface, she looks around with a bit of a smirk. "Well, this place looks rather fun. Even gives my colorful home a run for the money. Doesn't look dangerous, but I know better to judge a book by it's cover when it comes to new worlds." She says as she begins looking around a bit, on guard for anything trying to attack her. After a brief look around though, she decides to try to call Ash on her Poketch, figuring now that they were apparently on the same world, maybe it would work. She taps the screen with her flipper to enable the voice system. "Call Ash." She says with a pause, then after hearing it ring, waits to see if Ash will answer.

     Wolf O'Donnell and his trusted wingmen navigate the Vines as are provided, double-checking each jump to make sure the data lines up as being where they /should/ be, and eventually find themselves flying through the last point of reality-shifting travel. "Not sure why they call it the Mushroom Kingdom, but it sounds potentially hazardous to breathe. Ready your helmets and respirators for when we land in case fungal spores are a problem," reminds Wolf of his team. "The last thing we need is for one of us to get a bad case of lung-rot just because of this mess that we didn't as-" 

     The lupine's words are interrupted as the world shifts around them in that last Vine hop and the Mushroom Kingdom is revealed. The one-eyed wolf silently mouths the word 'what', Panther muses over the environment with a faint smile, and Leon actually giggles before remarking, "It's so bright and cheerful and colorful, don't you think, Cap'n?" 

     Wolf grimaces to himself, but he says nothing about it despite yet another silently mouthed word: 'o...kay'. He turns his attention to his console to see where it is they are supposed to go to meet up with the Digital Babysitter. In the air, then, are three ships of a very different make and design than what the locals would produce. Their plasma engines make a distinct whine.

Ash quirked an eyebrow as Raven formed constructs of energy but said nothing when Raven explained. That made sense. Plus he knew she'd visited ordis since the ship gave him notifiations whenever the alarms tripped. So he figured she'd done her homework. A nod as he put himself in the situation described. His eyes closed. "As I know nothing of the hypothetical location I'm assuming there's no escape path."

He touched the closest Grineer with the blades, "I'm going to shoot him in the face since Butchers are by and alarge lightly equipped. then use his momentum from his charge to put him between you and Anna while charging the two Heavy Gunners." His voice was calm as his emotions vanished into a sort of cold calm state approaching the sort of zen nothingness he'd always had problem finding in proper meditation. "Newly decanted or field veterans, theyr'e going to prioritize someone shooting at them over any potential objective. IF I had more flexibility than a simpel void beam I'd probably try knocking one Gunner into the other, but as is they're too heavy for me to try redirecting so I'd have to try sliding between the pair to catch them swapping from ranged to melee, and keep kiting around while they're focused on me. They've got a lot of armor so can tank hits and it's insanely risky, but that's the best path." 

Then he tapped a point betwen the board and Raven, "The one unknown is a potential Manic lurking about waiting to pounce while my attention's drawn, but in this setup that is what I would do."

Then SUDDENLY MIWA CALLING!

Only after the explaination dd Ash acknowledge miwa either physically or emotionally. At first joy, and then panic then confusion then he glanced at the ID on his glasses. "Miwa! Excitement. "WHat're you doing here?" He was looking right at Raven, who likely would be ANNOYED at being interrupted. "Uh... er... How'd you get here anyway?" His mood dipped with that little unknown. Was she looking for him? Duh. Was she blind-walking, did Raven bring her? Ordis?

Speaking of? Wolf and his wingmen would find Ash fairly easily since hsi transponder was active and braodcasting. Everything was a normal mushroomy kingdomy day with bright EVERYTHING cheerful happy clean air and sunshine and please how is Raven not like... bursting into flames from all this sunshine and cheer?

Raven blinked, listening to his response... Then nodded. "I was going to plan it out and have it... move and stuff." And show off a bit. "But... you know what? This was good. Very good. You're--" And then RINGING!

She shrieked and shifted back, the darkness enveloping her as tendrils of darkness rose out and she looked around. Alarm? Attack? Was someone-- Her cheeks turned bright red when she realized that he, in fract... Was on the phone. She got to her feet and nodded, the shadows retreating. "Shall... we take a break, then? I imagine your... friend has come to check on you?" Then... jets? What in the world? "Although.... we may have some unwanted visitors..."

Her eyes narrowed on the strange jets and the hood of her cloak lifted to hide her face. Dark magic formed around her right hand, which moved out from the cloak...

Miwa smiles happily as Ash does answer her call. She can't help but chuckle at his question and use it as a chance to have some fun with him. "Why am I here? I just came here as a tourist and decided to call and see if you were here too. Isn't that crazy?" She says with a giggle. 

"In all seriousness, Ordis told me a bit about what happened and that you were here, asked if I wanted to come, and of course I said yes. I'm trying to find you, but I don't see you at the moment. Any good landmarks near you?" She asks as she begins preparing a large bubble for her to ride in. Hearing another voice in the background, she also adds. 

% "Is someone with you Ash?" She too notices the wolfen ships overhead, but though she had met Wolf and crew before, she hadn't seen their ships, so she doesn't put two and two together, she just decides to keep an eye on them.

     The approach is slow compared to the speeds those oddly-designed aircraft are capable of going, but they are a rather obvious sight. It wouldn't be the first world they've visited to have a strong reaction to the presence of such technology, so it's thankful, then, that this location is far enough away from major settlements to avoid that kind of attention. 

     The pilots do not know the land or the people that own it. Once the jet fighters get close to the point provided, transmitting, the three ships separate and begin a slow circling holding pattern while scans are made and proper location for landing is determined. Only then do the craft slow to a stop, hover, and begin to descend.

Quickly on hearing the jets Ash held a hand up to Raven. "Wait!" He listened, closing his eyes as h listened to those specific jet noises. "G-DIffusers. Chances are they're my employer." Ash didn't know Ordis had gone to fetch wolf so was working with information he had. "Likely specifically about a couple contracts i had to let slide because I'm here." He didn't care how raven took how he framed that. Emotionally he was... Focused would be the right term. 

"Ordis can you confirm we are not under attack?" Ash was FAIRLY confident Ordis wouldn't tune him out if there was real danger, especially from off-world threats..

"COnfirmed Operator. These are vehicles belonging to team Star Wolf." And then Ordis went quiet again.

A breath before answering Miwa. "I go from nobody hanging around to everyone all at once in the middle of a lesson." He forced himself to sound upbeat even as a knot formed in his chest. "It's a lot of long story and it's looking like Wolf and company are here about a couple jobs i slacked off on while my everything was busted... Is... " Deep breath as he tried to still his mind. Raven would get a big ball of confusing and conflicting emotions. "Are you alright? I'm sorry for being quiet but..." Another breath. "You atually caught me in the middle of lessons. "I imagine ORdis can give you directions i'm going to have to talk to them."

Then a look to Raven as he got to his feet. "Look if it's bad enough they're /here/ either those jobs weren't as minor as I thought, Ordis got them, or something weir'ds happening." His head shook as he started for the door. "You have no idea how aggrivated I am right now."

Actually Raven probably did. Not to mention annoyed, worried, and a whole lot of other things besides.

Raven cocked an eye and followed after him. "I have an exact idea of how aggravated you are right now. Empath, remember?" she said sarcastically. Her hand went back to normal and she walked with him, towards the door. She had her arms crossed behind herself. "I'll come with you, just in case. After all... You still being trapped here is... partly my fault. Not majorly. But partly." She glanced towards the ships... "And if they want trouble, I'll..." she trailed off. Watching for the ships... "And who was that girl? Judging by the flurry of emotions, she must be someone... special to you. Family? Friend?" Then, just a small hint of a teasing smile as she walked past him. "Lover?"

"Wolf? Ah, so that must be them in the ships up there. Anyway I don't really want to just lay here out in the open but I'll try not to get in the way of your lessons." With her bubble fully formed under her to ride into the air like a flying pool toy, Miwa decides be a little self reliant and try to find Ash without having to call Ordis. She figures Wolf and company are here for the same reason she is, to see Ash, even if their motives likely differ greatly. So as she sings to control her bubble and floats up into the air atop it, she watches the wolfen ships, and heads to the general area of where they are landing. She spots a sparse few buildings and figures that is as good a place to try as any, so she floats on over toward them, not quite making out Ash and Raven yet.

     Upon fully landing, gear extended to do so, one might expect an immediate evacuation of the ships in order to meet this level of urgent conspiracy clouding the air. However, that's not what happens. The canopies remain closed. In truth, there are simply procedures in powering down your craft to a low-power state viable as a stand-by in case they need to be quickly used for flight that necessitates a bit of time spent doing so. The lack of emergence may be read as something far more severe, however. It's fully a matter of perspective. 

     Eventually, though, after some long long seconds tick by, the cockpits undergo pressure equalization. One slides open and a feline-person emerges, standing, stepping over onto a wing with a glance given around. Another slides open; this time, the pilot seems to be a lizard who springily exits the cockpit, bypasses the wing entirely, and lands on the ground with all the grace of a ninja. The third ship remains shut for the moment as the two exposed pilots, in mission-standard flight-suits and armed, converge near the lead vessel. 

     This might also give the wrong impression. Ordis interrupted them just after a completed mission, so they are still fully geared up.

"Yes." Ash said in response to Raven's question about Miwa. "She's... well she's a local siger and a bit of a celebrity to boot. I findher easy to get along with, and if she's willing to push back against my more thick headed moments? She's a solid friend." Plus his emotions did this really INTERESTING bit of juggling when Raven asked after how he and Miwa were connected. 

"And how isthis your fault? I blind reacted and Ordis put hisfoot down." Ash tried reassuring. "I could've had one of his drones carry you to the somatic pod insteadof trying t odo it myself. So... if they wanna be mad, as long as it isn't like... 'honor demands you die' just... emme take it on the chin. I'm grown enough to get in this mess. I"m grown enough to takethe lumps from it."

Miwa kept talking and ash smiled in spite of himself. "I.. honestly would like you to meet Raven," Then a low mutter, "assuming things with Wolf don't go sour anyway." His emotions were all knotty aroundher. Especially in relation to Wolf showing up.

Ash saw Wolf and company geared up for war, metaphorically or literally was hard to tell. Either way a black hole was threatening to form in the pit of his stomach and any and all good cheer immediately fell past the event horizon. A deep breath as he steeled himself and started towards the trio of mercenaries. before glancing back at Raven. "Whatever happens Raven," There was a firmness in his voice and moreover just a look on his face that spoke of not wanting any pushback. "Whatever happens this stays firmly on my head. The Princess and her people need to get left out of anything they might be irritated at me over." He REALLY didn't want this to spill over. Even collateral would be effectivly a large deal of Bad Things in the heart of the kingdom. So if they wantedto cart him off, he'd go without a fight.

Raven nodded as they walked. "Your girl friend? And a singer, to boot? That sounds interesting." A celebrity might be kind of fun. She couldn't help but imagine, just a little bit. Probably some tall, athletic girl. With flowing golden hair and... She shook her head. Nope. Keep her curiousity in check. Keep it under control. Avoid losing herself in the moment. "And very well, if your honor depends on it. I will not pressure or apologize," she said.

Of course, once they were out, she glanced at the four of them. Could they take them? Probably... Four of them, though... It made her a little nervous. But they didn't seem hostile. She didn't feel hostility from them. Her eyes focused on the ship for a moment... Wolf?

Then her eyes looked at the others, before focusing firmly on the lizard one. She felt... unease by that one.

Also she REALLY wanted to reach out and pet the kitty one gahhhh!

Miwa really hoped things wouldn't go sour between Ash and Wolf, but she knew that he worked for them in a manner of speaking, and if he's been off the radar for them too, and had some jobs they wanted him to do which he didn't, she could see how that might explain why they're here, and not in a good way. But if things did go sour, she intended to be right by Ash's side for it, and speaking of Ash, she could see him now, and they can likely hear her vocalise singing as directs her bubble toward the area and sets down near where Ash and Raven are. Raven was in for a shock it would seem for how much Miwa was likely to shatter her imaginatory image of what Ash's girl friend might look like. She too now looks at Star Wolf's crew, with Wolf still absent from the picture as he has yet to emerge from his ship. She swallows hard as she moves closer to Ash, bracing for the worst while hoping for the best. She leans against Ash for a moment and hugs him with one of her flippers.

     The dark-furred cat-person stands near the nose to The Wolfen, his boss' ship, as leisurely as one might please. One arm is cradled across his stomach as he watches those on approach with an amused smile. Furthermore, his free hand holds a long-stemmed rose of which he tickles such petals across his own nose in watching, in waiting. His amusement is almost palpable. "Told you there was a girl," he half-whispers to the lizard. 

     The chameleon skulks around near the panther with all the charm of a rusted saw blade toilet seat. His eyes move independently of one another and he observes his feline partner at the same time that he watches the ones drawing closer. "That's not fair, heheh. There's /always/ a girl." 

     "That's why we keep you around," retorts the cat to the reptile and the lizard snickers jeeringly. 

     The third canopy slides open and, indeed, Wolf stands up. The first thing he does? He lights up a cigarette, takes a long drag, looks around the area, and then slowly exhales as his HMD-assisted gaze turns to angle downward at those present. Wolf chuckles, "Well, well, kitten. Can't leave you unsupervised for a week." He lifts a boot and plants it on the seal of the cockpit where the canopy slides into place so he can lean forward and rest an arm on his knee. "I suppose you know why we're here. What do you have to say about that?" 

     Wolf makes no attempt to explain a thing. He uses his position to apply pressure just to see if anybody wants to squirm. He can be a right bastard sometimes.

Ash stepped ahead of Raven to face Panther and Leon. His personal thoughts of the two (especially Leon) were shelved in the moment. Raven would feel Ash's mind slide into the same sort of state as it had during the mock 'what if the grineer are trying to kill people you're defending?' excersize. "Yea... about those contracts? Things came up. I'm... pretty sure Ordis can give you details if you want and he hasn't already." Ash was not stupid. These people would have contacted his ship on hitting thisdimension, and Ordis would have wanted to figure out their intent if at all possible. That Ordis didn't send his lander to grab him suggested Ash SHOULD be fine... or that Wolf and Company hadn't told ORdis the whole story. Still. Let them say their piece. Maybe it wasn't as bad asit could be.

He looked up at Wolf and shrugged helplessly. "If it's about the advance I can and will forward a rurn on each with applied interest. If it's about a potential loss of reputation there's nothing I can offer other than th efact I'm right here." He would make no excuses. eh took a contract, which implied a willingness to follow through on such. Fail to even acknowledge too many and you are seen not just as unreliable but also a liability. "I've been catching up on coursework before resuming any sort of work."

He looked about at this idyllic place he by all right and measure didn't belong. IF they wanted him? Fine they could have him if it kept this place safe. "I'm guessing that is the sum of all of it. Either you'll fill me in on the rest or watch me squirm trying to figure it out." There was no gruffness or bravido. Just a statement of what Ash saw as the way things were andRaven could still feel that cold void where his emotion should be.

Raven blinked a few times. Wait. That... Wait, did he just call her KITTEN?! Or, wait. Was that to Ash? Either way, she snaps back. "Yeah, it's pretty obvious, puppy," she said, hmphing. "You're here to check on Ash, I take it? He..." and the burst of affection, adoration, the love, affection. Then her eyes fell on Ash. And the girl. Her mouth fell open and... 

"Wait. You're dating an ANIMAL?" she finally asked. "A seal?! But that's a--" And then the words caught in her throat as she looked around. Wolf. Cat. Lizard. Seal. Tenno. Yeah. It was a strange realization when she realized she was, most likely, the most human thing here on the basis of being half human. "I... see. That's... Ahem. Good for you." To say she was thrown off balance by this was an understatement. Judging by the fact the dirt around them had started to swirl a bit, as if there were winds flowing about that no one could actually feel. "So, cupcake, I don't sense any real hostility from you or your ummm... Crew... So I take it Ash is right, and you're just hoping to make him squirm a bit?" Her little... biting back MIGHT have been a bit more impressive if it wasn't obvious how much she was just still off balance by the whole... everything involving Miwa. And if her eyes, which were illuminated under her hood, didn't keep glancing back to the girl. Seriously.

A performing seal? What in the world?

Miwa stays back as Ash steps forward to deal with Wolf and his crew, but she is tense as she listens to the conversation between the two, more so as Ash lays out why they are likely here. She hopes this doesn't cause a fight, but then, even if Ash was being 'fired' it shouldn't come to that. She blushes however as Raven asks Ash if he is dating her, and is a little annoyed at being called an animal in that context. This finally brings her to speak. "We're all animals if you want to get technical, but I'm a Pokemon, which are generally on a higher level of intelligence than most that humans would call an 'animal', and while we're being technical, I'm more like a sea lion than a traditional seal."

     Leon Powalski chimes in, "Oh, but I like to watch people squirm. By all means, entertain me." Perhaps more could be said at that moment, but Raven's outburst over the realization that the girl Ash has feelings for is actually a seal-like creature rather overshadows anything else. Panther lifts his eyebrows at the display, Wolf simply continues to stare from his perched position on his Wolfen, and Leon- Well, Leon straightens his posture and places his hands upon his hips, standing akimbo, with an almost consolatory tone of voice. 

     "Oh, my dear precious girl, we are /all/ animals, heheh. Some of us are just more 'animal' than others." 

     From what is said next by Raven, however, there is a shift in tone from the pilots three. Wolf's gaze is cold. So is his voice. "Don't presume to understand my current demeanor or undermine the seriousness of the situation by spouting nonsense in order to detract from your embarrassment," he bites back with a sharp exhalation of smoke from his nostrils as if to punctuate the draconian edge to his statement. 

     There should be no mistaking the fact that Wolf, Leon, and Panther are killers and the latter two are, much like the rest of the organization's employees, fiercely loyal to O'Donnell. They may seem relaxed or even jovial, but all it takes is a single word spoken by their boss to completely flip the situation on its head with violence. And Wolf? Wolf is a -very- difficult individual to read both visually and mentally. Wolf's unpredictability is part of what makes him so dangerous. 

     The wolf reaches into his vest -- an act some might interpret reaching for a gun, although he clearly has a large blaster holstered on his hip -- to pull something out with the snap of a wrist. It's a...credit card? "Here." Another snap of the wrist sends it spinning toward Raven, but it's just a card. It's easy to catch. Notably, the card has what seems to be a chip embedded in it. "Use that in Lylat to access the funds we deliver to you for your help in being a Finder for business opportunities. There is money in your account now." He's speaking to Raven, but he quickly points at Ash; his stare doesn't leave the girl, however. 

     "That said, understand that he is an employee of mine, as well, and I will not tolerate acts-" Wolf turns his piercing stare toward Ash. "-between any that work for me that reduce the ability for my employees to do their jobs or complete accepted contracts on time." He replaces his cigarette to his mouth. "People get pissed-off. People lose it now and then. People act stupid. People make mistakes," he says with the faintest mumble from having that tobacco stick held in place. "That's normal." Really, it's a less a telling off or a scolding and more of simply having Wolf play the firm-hand tough-love dad of the group, but hopefully nobody wants to push their luck. 

     "Now, get over it and move on." And, to Ash, "If your Cephalon processes this mess in any way similar as I, he's probably waiting for you to let him know when you're ready to do just that. Your contracts have defaulted to others and have been taken care of. Should I expect you to take more work in the future or require further use of our training facilities for yourself and your girlfriend, then I need a rough estimate of when."

Raven was not the first to talk of Miwa as if shewere a common animal. In fairness? Most Pokemon acted very animalistic most of the time regardless of intellect, or perhaps lack thereof. The words might not have been verbally or otherwise physically acknowledged, but there was a tiny momentary crack of anger directed at Raven before Ash refound his calm. HE could not afford to acknowledge Raven or Miwa in that moment as much as he'd ordinarily have loved knocking his new tutor down a peg or two given how often she had seemingly behaved as if she held all the answers or was always right.

Ash waited, not flinching even when Wolf reached into his vest. This was his mess, if only by fact he had failed to deligate those contracts out as soon as he had been sidelined. He knew full well that Wolf and his two employees were quite willing to kill if need be and in their own way had a sense of honor to go along with Wolf's own business sense. The fact that only a credit card emerged and was flicked in Ravens' direction caused his little bubble of calm to flicker as confusion threatened to bubble up.

Deep breath to re-find his center. Details regarding the rest file away for later consumption. Wolf's words and stance were fair. Petty squabbles hurt his bottom line after all and worse, it was annoying to have to clean up. 

A curt nod from Ash. "I'll let you know when thigns are sorted. That said I do have a rough report on the locals as potential business opprotunities if you have any contractors that want to deal in miniral rights or construction."

As much as he thought he or Wolf's outfit were woefully out of place here, there were business opprotunities for the creativly inclined, and having good relations with the localsof a place would make it easier to find, if nothing else, a safe place to hide and recover.

Not like he was going to tell Wolf that Raven had essentially been taken in by the local monarch. It wasn't his palce and he didn't know enough of th specifics even if it were..

Raven flushed.... and turned redder with every word. From Miwa first, the girl's words made her eyes lower. "I, err, r-right. Sorry. I did not mean to imply you were... sorry." Oh she definitely meant to imply more than that. But she wasn't going to admit it! She couldn't help turning redder, her cheeks burning with humiliation.

And then wolf. Oh gosh his words just made her turn redder and redder. Her entire face was red by the end, and it seemed to almost GLOW under her hood. Her magic? well, it was emotion controlled. Her cloak was swaying from side to side and a dark cloud of energy had formed at her feet, swirling around her as she worked to keep her emotions in check. And then... The card. She caught it and.... stared. "O-oh... ummmm... t-thank you... sir..." she said sheepishly. Oh she couldn't feel more scolded and embarrassed. And it was even worse because he used. That AWFUL tone. That just... humiliating... tone. Ash was probably reveling in this. Because not only was she being talked down to a bit. It was fairly obvious due to her powers just how embarrassed she was.

Miwa had said her piece and was not the type to hold a grudge, so she actually felt kindof sorry for Raven as the woman's face turned bright red and it was clear from that and the flare of her powers that she was extremely embarrassed, and that went far beyond what Miwa had hoped for in her retort. She stayed focused on the situation though, and was relieved to see that it appeared that Wolf was just very disappointed that Ash had let some jobs slip, and wanted to be in the loop for when Ash might be able to resume taking contracts from Star Wolf.

     "I'll give you some time to think about it," Wolf O'Donnell says to Ash. Observation of the lens of his HMD reveals a few details, such as a standardized unit of time for team coordination that is unrelated to planetary rotation or...whatever mechanics passes for such in various worlds. Wolf takes note of the time displayed and begins to crawl out of the cockpit completely. 

     It would seem they aren't leaving just yet. 

     "We've been sitting in those for about 750 units." That's about eighteen hours. "The boys and I are going to take a walk around, now that we're here." Wolf walks over the length of the wing before hopping off. The lizard and feline wander over in their boss' direction somewhat casually, although Leon wiggles fingers toward Ash first. Creep. 

     "Oh, and stay out of the ships. They detect incorrect biometrics, they shut up, lock down, and depressurize the cockpits." That's pretty harsh, if true.

Contrary to what Raven might believe, Ash was concerned for the half-demon. He knew the moment Wolf showed up that assuming Wolf didn't get ugly it would go like this since it takes time to get between worlds. This is time Wolf won't get back that he had to divert away from actually important things that he is having to spend sorting out a highschool shaming contest.

In short Ordis used the social equivilant of the nuclear football when small arms fire was required.

He turned his attention from wolf to Raven. "Hey? Look at me Raven. OK?" His voice was gentle. "It's alright. You didn't know, the way diffrent worlds are is weird." He wanted to put a hand on Ravens' shoulder, but knew from painful experiance that was a horrifyingly bad idea. For a moment Wolf was forgotten. "What can I do to help you re-center?"

Ordis would contact wolf. "I have been monitering events and, since you appear to be staying for a duration I have taken liberty to mark the location of several bars and other relevant facilities." Ordis sounded somewhat disappointed, "Admittedly it isn't uch given the local, but prolonged time in a confined cockpit is unhealthy."

Raven cringed as Ash pretty much pokes at it. "I'm FINE! I'm CENTERED!" she snapped. And he had to just keep doing the WORST POSSIBLE THING! Push at it, when it should just be ignored, rather than draw more and more attention to it. "I'm not embarrassed!" she snapped.

And yet she was. And worse, she was denying, not accepting her emotions... Cracks formed in the ground and there was the sound of cracking echoing through the air as large, spider web cracks formed on the nearest windows to them of the castle. The same pressure would be applied to the windows of the space fighters which, fortunately, were likely far harder to break. She whipped around to see the cracks and cringed. Now embarrassment AND shame... Fun.

Miwa feels even worse the longer this goes on, even if she probably wasn't the major contributor to her embarrassment. When cracks begin to form in the ground and the windows around them, her eyes widen in shock, and she looks a bit afraid of what sort of power was held within this woman if getting emotional was causing this. "I'm sorry for snapping at you..." She offers in apology.

     The Wolfens are built to withstand a lot of stress and strain, as should be expected from ships designed to fly in space and through other extreme conditions. They are also powered-down and in stand-by; they are not completely turned off. As such, built in fail-safes kick in. Wolf and Panther and Leon don't even get a couple hundred feet away before there is an alarm and the G-Diffusers power-up and the shielding snaps into place. It's a very quick process -- not quite instant, but very fast -- but this leaves the group with three pilots turning around to see three powered-up shields on three ships. 

     "Hey!" calls out Wolf's voice before his arms spread wide. "Dafuq?!"

Ash pinched the bridge of his nose as he lowered his head. Why? He had no idea but it... actually did help to an extent. Then he decided to dig the hole a little deeper, or maybe try fixingit. He wasn't sure yet. Dealing with Raven was halfway like walking a minefield layered on top of a mine field layered with shards of broken glass. When he heard Wolf he simply pointed at Raven before turning to Miwa.

"At this point the only thing i can think of is walking away." Please keep in mind this was the woman Ash was asking for help dealing with HIS recklessness. 

Then a glance back in Ravens' direction. "Wolf's ships are making rather concerning beeping sounds. Can you take your not-meltdown and not-have it somewhere else please." Totally calm tone. Not mocking. Just a matter of fact request before he spun on his heel and started walking away from the mess.

Raven couldn't help getting more emotional as she tried to bury it down. "I'm not, I didn't, it's fine, you didn't--" And then the ships and... Ash just couldn't NOT pour fire on it, could he? He just had to be the person who goes 'Oh, a bee hive. Let's poke it!'

"I'M NOT HAVING A TANTRUM!" she yelled. More cracked windows, ripples across the shields... Geez. And as Ash started to storm off... Ugh. She just. "I'm... I'm sorry. I'm just... I'll go."

Dark energy would envelop her body as she turned into her raven form, her soul-self. She then flew off, towards the city. Away from all of them. Before she could end up doing more damage than... well. She wanted.

Miwa silently nods to Ash and was about to join him in walking away, as so far Ash sticking around and trying to talk Raven down appears to only be making things worse. But then Raven shifts forms and flies away, leaving Miwa to blink as she looks back at the fluttering raven, and then turn to Ash. "Is she going to be ok?"

     O'Donnell makes his way back over to the group, to the ships, as things go a bit volatile. Wolf may have missed this transformation when it happened outside the C&E, but he sees it this time. "Well, that suddenly makes sense," he aside to nobody other than himself. He simply lifts a hand to dismiss anything that is said to him before it is even said. It's not his business. He doesn't want it to be his business. People have to figure things out on their own or else the lessons don't matter. 

     He has no issue stepping through the otherwise invisible shield around his personal ship before deftly climbs up onto a wing and then slipping into the cockpit. It takes a bit of time, but the alarms cease, the shields turn off, and the G-Diffusers power back down. On one ship. 

     Wolf gets to repeat it two more times with the others.

A shrug was the only thing Ash could manage as his calm shattered. Unlike Raven he could keep up outward appearances and it wasn't like him getting angry or afraid or whatever caused him to start making Void explosions. "Frankly? I dunno and at the moment it feels like anything I do with her is a no-win. I'm sure she'll be fine if she stays on this world though. the Princess is nice to her at least."

He patted Miwa on the shoulder and sighed before resuming his walk. He didn't feel good about any of this but he kept walking because it's either that or sit down and cry, and Ash has had enough ofthe self pity.