[A-Files] Pre-Episode One: Briefing

The small girl took the duffels and stored her helmet in one and the Type 33 pistol in the other. She fiddled with her computer glasses a bit, perhaps to adjust the mode. "I'm ready," said the short one.
 
A few hours later and some idle chat about current events on Ayenee outside of their mission profile and the egregious weather lately, the group was a block from the warehouse and Tsubei Kyoka said as she secured her helmet, "Gear up," then asked, "Comm check, everyone."
 
Warehouse District

The calm was shattered by the sounds of yelling and boots stomping on the concrete. Out of an alleyway just ahead and to the right of the A-Files team darted a young boy wearing a leather coat, his footsteps creating large splashes in the puddles.

"Target is fleeing! Swarm! Swarm!" a woman's voice bellowed from deeper within the alley.

"I've got him!" a man yelled soon after. Soon after the boy exited the alley, a larger shape soared through the air and brutally rammed into the child. A heavyset man in red armor slammed the two into the ground, sounds of struggle ringing through the air as the scene devolved into a flury of wild kicks, punches, and biting. "He's resisting! Get me backup- AAAGH!"

The street went quiet as the armored man slowly reached to his left flank, where the boy had sunken a dagger to the hilt. Through the slits in the man's helmet one could see a look of utter shock. The boy had the same look as well, as if he were unused to the act. However, just as quickly as the eerie calm had taken over the area around them, the chaos resumed.

Screaming ferally, blue eyes now full of flame, the leather-clad boy shoved his attacker off of him. It was so sudden that despite his best efforts, the knight couldn't prevent the child from scrambling up to straddle across his torso, knife raised above his head. Still bellowing like a cornered animal, the boy brought the dagger down through the knight's chest plate.

Then again.

And again.

Three times. Four. Seven. Ten.

So much that the knight's blood began to splatter onto the front of his coat, across his face, and onto his leather gauntlets. He was only snapped out of his blood-lust by the cracking of rifles. Crying out, he dove away from the corpse as bullets began to slam into it. That's when the child seemed to notice Tsubei and her team. Half running, half crawling, he made his way to them and fell in front of them, looking up at the Neko.

He couldn't have been older than 15. He looked like he hadn't bathed in days, his whole body covered with dirt and grime, cuts, and bruises, and now the blood of the knight. His odd, reptilian eyes were ringed with darkness, denoting a lack of sleep. His long hair was a disheveled mess.

However, despite the fact that he was a child and looked like a lost, abused puppy, he wasn't entirely helpless it seemed. Aside from the knife, he wore a revolver on his hip and a large-caliber rifle on his back.

"H-Help me!" he pleaded silently just as a squad of five more red-clad knights stormed out of the alley, rifles at the ready. Letting out a little cry, the child crawled behind the team and hid.
 
Ulysses was quiet for the majority of the trip to the city. As they formed up on and were told to gear up, he pulled out a semi auto pistol from its holster on his belt and checked it over. He slid the clip back in and racked a new shell into the chamber. After that he patted the armor underneath his black trench coat and nodded. "Werner, ready to go."

Then the seen with the child unfolded. As he crawled behind the group, Ulysses stood in front of the group and sighed. "I'll handle this." He stretched out his hand and a flash of energy sparked in his hand. "Dark matter creation: Singularity..." As he spoke the words the engery in his hand morphed into a black orb. He then pushed the singularity down the alley and towards the pursing knights.
 
"Shit! Coalition forces!" Their leader growled. Her eyes widened behind her visor as Ulysses lanced out with his spell. "Wizard! Everyone scatter-!"

But it was too late. There was a flash of darkness, and soon after, the only evidence that the dragon slayers had been there at all was a few spent shell casings and a pool of crimson staining the pavement.

The odd, feral child peered around Ulysses, blood-stained hands still trembling.

"A-Are they gone?" Asked the boy quietly, sniffing the air and listening to every little noise to make sure the danger had passed. A little bulge in the left breast of his jacket squirmed a little, but he clamped a hand over it firmly. Couldn't let them see! Letting strangers see it was why he'd been hunted like an animal for the last five days with no food or sleep.
 
Trilis sniffed the air, her eyes widened when she smelled something. "B-blood?" she asked. She covered her fanged mouth with her free hand, trying to resist the urge to find it and drink it, but the temptation was proving too much. Almost as if in a trance, she started waddling towards the boy, feeling rather hungry, and licked her lips. She didn't want to hurt him, but she did want the blood that had found its way onto him.
 
The Firestride twins both stared at the scene in front of them. Miss Kayla Firestride then approached the small child, slowly to try not to cause any panic.

"Yes, they are gone.. Don't worry, you're safe.."

She said, attempting to comfort him, while sneakily using her enhanced sense of smell to sniff for anything suspicious the child may be carrying, or more to identify the species of the kid.
 
The commotion had started as quickly as it ended yet Xorn had stood stoic through it all, he considered pulling the rifle from his shoulder before the familiar sensation of a nearby singularity coursed through his "body" - the weaponized ball of energy had done its job and no further action was needed from him thanks to it.

The cold, unfeeling eyes of Xorn peered out from behind his metal carapace to look at the exhausted adolescent male, his skull-like head tilted to the side in a similar fashion to what a puppy might do as the celestial body observed the newcomer. "Were you/are you injured, young one?" the celestial kneeled down to ask, his hands began to glow slightly in anticipation of having to cauterize a wound - something he had done for the younger species countless times before.

The being could... feel... another presence somewhere close to the lad, something much smaller, "How about your companion, is he/she/it/they alright?" Xorn asked, his voice was doing that annoying thing again where he said multiple words at once to try and cover all bases.

Oh what a hassle it must be to have a form comprised of flesh and bone, yet they seemed to be doing an okay job despite the setbacks that were a part of their genetic code.
 
Too many people! Too many people prying!

The scents in the air indicated that yes, all of the dragon slayers were gone, and no, they didn't bring backup.

He heard no other sounds indicating an ambush. Just the shuffling of a small creature getting closer and closer to his personal space.

Addaiel deftly reached out a hand and planted it against Trillis' head, effectively stopping her forward progress, considering his much greater height. He looked to Kayla and narrowed his eyes, barring his slightly longer than average canines. Normally, his kind did not mind being smelled. That was how many creatures in nature communicated information. But right now, he trusted no one here with the secret he carried with him. However, Kayla would be able to glean enough from her investigations to know that the child was mostly human, but had plenty of reptile in him, if the eyes and teeth weren't a big enough indicator.

Then, Xorn essentially tore apart his fragile little lie, and he began to panic. His pupils dilated, his heartbeat and breathing rose rapidly. It was a learned response after nearly a week in the world beyond his secluded little mountain city. Constantly being hunted, never sleeping, never eating, doing everything he could to protect his "companion", constantly fighting for their right to live!

'Everyone here is trying to kill you.'
'Don't become like the "Lost".'
'Kill them first.'


Those petrified thoughts replayed over and over again in his head. As Xorn peered at him with that eerie visage, Addaiel began to wonder if he'd accidentally stumbled upon bounty hunters. He began to feel that familiar haze- the same one he'd felt when he'd butchered the knight. That primal part of him that wanted to bite, tear, and claw until the danger had passed. Or at least run fast enough to escape it. As he was outnumbered, and severely outmatched, he went with "flight" instead of "fight".

He took a step backwards from the odd extraterrestrial and took up a defensive posture, like a cornered animal.

"I DON'T HAVE A COMPANION!" he snapped ferally. "I'M ALONE! NOW SHUT UP! OR...! OR...! I'LL KILL YOU TOO!"

It was clear by his tone that he didn't mean it. The look on that knight's face as he'd plunged his knife into him over and over again played in his mind repeatedly. His first kill. Should he be proud? Or should he give in to the intense nausea churning his stomach from the stench of the blood? It created an infuriating mishmash of emotions and sensations within him that made him want to pull out his hair!
 
Tsubei Kyoka put orders to her squad over the odd helmets' comms, "This child and their companion, or possible lack thereof, are not our mission objective..." She looked at him, full of fear and likely anger. "We'll attempt the mission another time. For now, Trilis-hei, please respect this child's personal space and well-being. The rest of you, form up around me. We're taking him back to Miller if he complies."

She bent down to speak to the boy, putting out a hand for him to grasp or bite, not knowing which he would choose.

"Konichiwa, can we help you?"
 
"I..." Trilis covered her fanged mouth with her hand again and tried to look away from the boy, but her eyes kept darting back towards him, refusing to ignore the blood. "I can't... blood... must... drink... don't want... to hurt..." she muttered, being kept at bay by his hand as she tried to fight the urge to bite him even though she didn't want to hurt the boy. "Help!" she cried out.
 
Xorn had no idea why the young lad would be denying the existence of his companion, was it not best to count heads before they got into even more dire circumstances? The celestial's gaseous form continued to glow through the holes in his helmet as he stared at the boy inquisitively with eyes that weren't quite there as he came to a conclusion, the boy was frightened and for whatever reason decided to hide his companion... either that or it was possible he had two hearts... or he was... with child?


Xorn had seen many oddities during his time but the cosmos never ceased to amaze nor shock. "Apologies, seems I/me/this body has made a mistake, rodents in the nearby structures perhaps? maybe even residual life from the men that were just removed from existence..." the celestial spoke, his voice was quite chipper and optimistic sounding despite morbidity of what he was talking about.

"Please refrain from drinking/leeching/devouring the blood, I cannot imagine any good will come from it" he added on to the end, his gaseous form darkening slightly as he balled a metal hand under his skull-like head's chin and internally queried if there was in fact any good that might come from it.
 
Addaiel's rage softened a little when Tsubei spoke. Still suspicious, he sniffed lightly at the hand.

Human, some traces of feline. Not born in a womb, though. Not natural. Manufactured.

"A Neck-Walker." Addaiel concluded, rising up just a little. He trusted Neck-Walkers. He'd only met one in his life, and she had been the kindest soul he'd ever known. However, he was a bit irked. That Neck-Walker had been blue with dark hair and golden eyes. If this woman with her pink hair really was a Neck-Walker, why did she have pink hair? Why would their creators go through the trouble of giving each unit an individual appearance? Did they have control over it, or was it natural species variation?

Didn't matter. As long as they had no green snake people with them. Now, he needed to play this to his advantage. He observed how Tsubei held out her hand and assumed it was some sort of greeting. So, taking a leap of faith, he reached out and held her hand.

Then stood to his full height of 5'10".

"Do... Do you guys have any food? We- I mean I haven't eaten in days."

//...Food?//

Addaiel's jacket squirmed again. Addaiel's pulse quickened once more, and he hoped no one here spoke in the Beastmasters' tongue- a nonverbal form of communication that relied on transmitted intentions, emotions, and concepts, rather than speech.

//Stay quiet!//

//...Hungry!//

//No-!//

//Where is food?!//

At that moment, Addaiel's jacket squirmed once more, and a little black head rose from the vee, attached to a long, scaly neck like a periscope. It was reptilian in nature, its black, leathery hide so dark that it absorbed rather than reflected light. Its only distinguishing features were two blue eyes that mirrored those of the child.

A dragon.

The little creature, about the size of a shoe box, scrambled up and out of its hiding place. It stretched its bat-like wings while making a squawking sound not unlike a chicken. Then, it hopped to the ground and began padding along through the group, smelling each new face it met for future recognition and for a snack.

Well, looks like the dragon was out of the bag.

"...Raw meat would be preferable." Addaiel muttered meekly. Now was the moment of truth. Had he finally found safe harbor, or would it be back to running?
 
"I... I can't... Xorn... help..." the little Trilis said, shaking, her eyes darting from Addaiel to Xorn. Her urge to drink the blood was momentarily stopped when the dragon popped out and startled her, and she took a few steps back, causing her very long tail to be dragged on the ground between her feet and in front of her. Her stomach growled, and the small butterfly only muttered "Blood... hungry..." looking back at Addaiel.
 
Kai Firestride had curiously perked up at the Dragon. What an interesting little creature. Then, Eyeing Trilis, he sighed, walking over, and grabbing her, picking her up and away from the child.

"Save it for later pipsqueak"

Kayla squealed when she saw the dragon. She found the reptilian creature adorable! She walked right up to the kid, admiring the small little dragon popping out of his pocket. Her eyes shining brightly, She commented.

"AWWW! It's adorableeee!"
 
"Huh?! Wha?" Trilis squeaked, being picked up. It turned out she was incredibly light. The little nerd girl kicked her short legs around to no avail. She dangled from Kai's arms, squirming. Her tail wriggled around, being so long that part of it was dragging on the ground. As she was being held by Kai, her tail's fur floofed up and became puffy.
 
Lightning paused his search for food by looking over at Kayla. Tilting his head, he trotted over and stood up on his hind legs, bracing himself against Kayla's thigh and using his long neck to sniff.

//...I iz zot adorable. I iz fire! I iz death!// The small reptile grumbled internally. He sniffed Kayla up close and flicked his long, forked tongue out. It did seem rather endearing, the way this supposedly fearsome creature acted like a puppy. But on the inside was a different story:

//Smell nice! Smell like... snacks! I eat u first!//

//DO NOT EAT HER.//

//Aw! But I iz hungry!//

//We can't afford to screw this up now! We'll have food soon.//

//...K.//

//...//

//...//

//...I can haz nibble?//

//FUCKING NOO!//
 
Last edited:
Ulysses watched as his singularity sucked in the pursuing forces, his face not showing any emotion as they were crushed by the orbs gravity. He then held out his hand again and formed a fist, causing the orb to explode in a brilliant flash.

"Hostiles neutralized." He reported.

He turned to the child that was hiding amongst the rest of the team. He was already surrounded by them so he turned back to make sure no one else was coming. "We can't stay here. More guards will be coming most likely." He said to Kyoka. As he returned to the group.
 
Back
Top Bottom