Behind the Curtains (New Babylon)

[Gilgamesh]

The King sat there smiling at his assassin who was like putty in his hands. Knocking at the door and his healed jolted. Anos slowly entered the room eyeing the assassin, unsure of his qualities and his trustworthiness. His blue eyes showing no sign of emotion and dully looked at his King. It seems as if he was tired of dealing with the other primes.

"My lord, the two Primes who had left to deal with the Empire has come back."

Gilgamesh's crooked smile grew wider. "Oh that sounds great. Did they return with what I asked for?" He could wait to place his trophy in his bedroom as a sign of the weak empire's leadership.

Anos looked a bit flustered as he began to speak. "Well about that sir…they seem to have brought more than just a helmet." Gilgamesh raised his eyebrow almost dragging every word from his servant. "They had captured…"

Shay and Agnès entered the room with a man on Shay's shoulder. He tossed him on the floor causing a large "Ooof" from the target. He sat there groaning in pain for a while before Gilgamesh finally spoke.

"Perfect!" I am so glad that you two have succeeded the mission without harm I suppose? I see no wounds, would you like to be sent to the Infirmary?"

Shay spoke up before Agnès. "No-"

Gilgamesh's lips curled and he immediately interrupted. "Excellent." He walked down from his throne towards the body on the floor. He lifted the man's head and looked as if he were inspecting an animal. "Anos, please take off this man's uniform and prepare the interrogation room." His eyes turned to the other primes in the group.

"Ah yes the rest of you. You shall interrogate this man as soon as he is ready and find any information that I may deem valuable. Raid plots, supply runs, any plans to destroy my Kingdom…or well anything the mongrels have come up with to try and deter my progress." The King sat back on his throne looking down at his hands. "Oh and I assure you, you'll be greatly rewarded. For I am a kind and generous King."

[Victor Wolfe]

Victor turned to the new visitors, his eyes examining them intently. One was a pretty young woman with a white dress covered in a black shoulder length cloak. She did not look very strong but perhaps she had gained ability's beyond what her body would normally provide.

The other new acquaintance was a man of average height, just shorter than Wolfe himself, this man gave of a much stronger air of killing intent, even under the clothing Wolfe could make out a well-built body, with no muscle going to waste.

Wolfe walked over towards the new guests to properly introduce himself, it was the correct etiquette and if these people were going to be his new allies then he wanted to start off on the right note. “Hello my new acquaintances, it seems that you have completed your mission with flying colours, I am amazed that you managed to perform such a feat." Victor smirked. He was actually surprised that they had not only succeeded in their mission but managed to capture a very valuable target.

Before the new guests could retort he added "Not that I thought that you would not succeed, after all if our king thinks that you can do it then who am I to judge? What I mean is that if I was on the same mission I doubt I would have the um, self-restraint to not bring him back in pieces." Victor smiled enjoying the particularly malicious thoughts.

"I hope that we can work well together through this interrogation and use our combined knowledge to make the empire scum spill everything he knows. I am sure that you know a trick or two about how to make a man reveal information." Victor nodded towards the man " but you look a bit to kind-hearted and gentle to witness what I plan to do to that prisoner, are you sure you can handle it ?" Victor said to the girl in the white dress. "After all it would be a shame if such a pretty young thing where to be sick"

Victor watched the prisoner being taken away, he wondered what sort of tools would be provided to help make the pig squeal, as much as he did love the hunt for a target he also loved capturing them and using various methods to mentally break them, until they would beg him for death. A death he would happily provide. After all, broken toys are no fun to play with. That prisoner probably thought his day had been bad so far, but he had no idea what twisted hell was going to be unleashed onto him before this long desert day was done.

Turning his attention back to the two strangers, he wondered if either of them would have the stomach to go through with interrogation, still it could be interesting to see how others go about it. He had always found that you could tell a lot about a person by the way they interrogate their prisoners. Thus he decided to properly introduce himself.

Victor offered his hand out in a hand shake “Anyway as for introductions, I am Victor Wolfe. I am an infiltrator, diplomat, bodyguard and a scholar, but my main profession and hobby is assassination, I hope we can get along. Now may I ask what name you both go by?" Whilst awaiting a response from his new acquaintances Victor thought about what information the prisoner might know, whatever it was Victor was eager to give him some "motivation" to tell him. Perhaps he would learn of other valuable victim's to assassinate, or the location of secret projects hidden in the vast wasteland that was the dunes.

[Shay Cormac]

As both Agnès and Shay remained silent throughout this entire introduction, Shay tried his best to hide his very uncertain feelings towards this Victor individual. The mere mention of him and his supposed proficiency in assassinations left a bad taste in Shay's mouth, not only that, but everything about this man just seemed eerie, to put it lightly.

The way Victor described Agnès no less made Shay a bit concerned, as well. Surely, he meant it in a positive light, but again, the way this man looked, talked, moved, and reacted made Shay irked anyways, so perhaps he was a bit biased. Even if Shay had not known Agnès for a long time at all, they went through a life-threatening mission together, as much as life-threatening meant to a Prime in the Omniverse, there was still some symbolism behind it.

Turning to Agnès, Shay saw she did the exact same thing towards his direction. She blinked, not sure exactly what to do here. In all honesty, Shay didn't either. He could already tell Victor wasn't anybody he'd want to be around for an elongated amount of time, and that was him not associating with his job as a traditional assassin, but for the exact same reasons Shay didn't like most of the Assassins back at his home world. They loved killing, too much. They used the Creed as an excuse to ruthlessly kill, to quench their lust for blood.

Even with all these thoughts bogging Shay's ability to reason down a bit, he spoke up, this time not being interrupted.

"Fine, as long as he makes it out alive, I'll do it. I will tell you this though, I--... We did not drag this man all the way over here to have his life ended immediately," Shay went off, in a more serious tone of voice than Victor expected. Although the concept of violence wasn't at all unfamiliar to him, he wouldn't be a very happy man had all that effort to keep that Captain alive was for nothing at all.

Though Victor would most likely oppose this, looking at the expression on his face already, Shay already knew Agnès would at least agree with Shay here somewhat, albeit for different reasons. Trying to keep the Captain alive and... perhaps not 'well,' but certainly alive, was going to prove a bit difficult to convince those like Gilgamesh and Victor. Despite this, even Shay thought it would help send a message that New Babylon would not approve of corruption within their ranks, or at least they hoped Gilgamesh wouldn't.

Then again, Shay thought, Agnès wouldn't like the idea of interrogation at all, would she? Looking down at Agnès, both Victor and Shay awaited for her say on the matter, though they both knew that she wasn't the type to be up for this at all, as painful as it was for Shay to admit, remembering the words Victor had used to describe her.

[Joline]

The thought of needing to actually interrogate their target - This man, whom she still wasn't entirely clear on who he was or why he was important - Had completely slipped the Vestal's mind.

"Unacceptable," she responded. "Also, I'm repulsed beyond words."

As Victor opened his mouth to respond, Agnès offered little more than a glare. She was almost completely set on disliking this person, who, based on a first observation, seemed... Less than pleasant. While interrogation often did require force, Agnès feared what this man who claimed assassination was a hobby of all things would do if left unchecked. And while Shay did seem like the type who could keep him in check, she had the feeling it would be best to take on this duty herself. Besides, it didn't seem like it would harm anyone to try and help.

"I will shoulder this burden alone," Agnès finished. At that she turned around and stormed off. Moments later she returned to the pair, who hadn't seemed to move. "Excuse me... Which way is the interrogation room?"

. . . .

After a walk that felt like it took ages, during which she received occasional concerned glances from Shay, the trio arrived at the interrogation room, or an observation room connecting to the interrogation room proper. The room seemed to fit the rest of the palace's style, though a presumably one-way glass window led into a dark room. It was dark to the point where Agnès couldn't even see what the inside of the room looked like, though surely the room hadn't been used before. So she hoped, at least, and furthermore she hoped it wouldn't be gory.

"Are you sure about this, Agnès? You don't have to do this," Shay said at last. "Victor and I can handle this," he added. Agnès shook her head rather gently, then walked to the door leading to the interrogation room proper - A metal door of some sort next to the blocky one-way window. "Leave all to me," she responded as she opened the door and stepped through.

A light on the ceiling of the interrogation room turned on when the door shut behind the Vestal. The first thing that met her eyes was a man in rags with buzz-cut dark brown hair, a beard gone out of control and a pair of dark blue eyes, like the heart of a hurricane. The features on his face were sharp, his shoulders were broad and his rather impressive presence, even in this position, was certainly because of his height and rather impressive build. Her eyes then wandered to chains around his wrists, ankles, waist and neck, which guaranteed that he wasn't going anywhere. And, as she finished examining him, his eyes met hers. She was surprised for but a moment before she returned a bitter stare in response to his own. There was a number of ways Agnès could handle this... But the first method that came to mind seemed best.

"I do not want to trouble you any more than I must, so I'm going to ask you a few questions. You are going to give me answers. How does that sound?" Agnès chimed and offered a rather friendly smile.

"I'm not telling you anything. Do your worst," the man hissed. And before Agnès knew it, her fist had connected with the man's nose.

She recoiled in horror as she looked at the man and then at her hand. Then back to the man, whose nose was bleeding. She gasped and knelt at his side, hurriedly trying to get whatever White Magic she had in her going. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hit you so hard," she whispered with worry clear in her voice. The man seemed dazed from the impact still, which surprised her. As the bleeding stopped, Agnès looked around for something to clean up the line of blood that was now dripping from the man's nose across the lower half of his face and off his chin. "You little--... Call that a punch?" His last word was punctuated by a drop of blood flying from the man's lower lip and onto Agnès' nose.

And then Agnès felt her knuckles connect with the man's temple.

"Supplies from Cor'scant... South road'a Carrie. Hree thours..." He said airily. And, a moment later, he was unconscious. She stood up, walked to the door rather woodenly, absentmindedly stroking her knuckles on her punching hand with her other hand, then she opened the door while shaking her hand around loosely on her wrist.

"I apologize. I should have left that up to you," she finished as she emerged from the interrogation room with the two observers gawking at her with wide eyes as she waved her glowing green offhand over her sore punching hand.

Hree thours equals three hours, in case you were unable to put that together. Silly, silly creature.

[Victor Wolfe]

Victor laughed heartily as the girl came back into the room; he had not expected such a straight laced person to be able to throw a punch without so much as a second thought. Still her inexperience was showing, a professional solider would not give away valuable Intel that quickly or easily. It was more than likely that he was not revealing the whole truth.

"Very impressive work, who knew that the empires soldiers where so poorly trained that they would reveal extremely valuable information after just one violent action." Victor said with sarcasm. This is why he did not take on an apprentice, too much work showing them the proper etiquette and long held skills that his career had provided to him.

"I would like a chance to apologize to that man however, he was kidnapped and probably has not eaten for a long time, and then someone waltzes into the room and beats him. There are rules even back in my homeland about how you treat a prisoner, one of those rules being that they are always fed, especially a valuable prisoner of war." Victor said with an authoritative and lecturing tone. He then began to work Omnilium into a small meal, some chicken with a salad dressing unlike anything the others had seen before.

Once the meal was prepared Victor ordered one of the servants to bring it to the prisoner who eyed it suspiciously. His hunger quickly got the better of him and he tore into the meal with clear enjoyment showing on his face. Victor used the time to create four small vials of green liquid, which he hid up his sleeves. He watched the prisoner dig into the meal feeling happy that something he had created was being enjoyed; an almost cruel smile crossed his face. He hid it away hoping that Shay would not notice what he was planning.

Once the plate was empty Victor turned to the others “I am going to do one more quick session of questions, if I learn nothing then Agnes can handle all the interrogations from now on. Also I will promise to never take another person’s life so long as I live.” Shay and Agnes both looked at Victor with suspicion feeling that it was to good an offer to be true. “I may be an assassin but I do not lie to the people that are allied with me, that includes both of you at this moment in time.” Without waiting for their response Victor walked into the room with the prisoner sitting down in the chair opposite him.

"I wish to apologize for the rash behaviour of my colleague; there is no need for us to be savages and brutalize our prisoners, I am glad to see that you enjoyed the meal and hope that it, along with this apology will convince you to cooperate with us more. You see, i think you did not reveal everything you know about this convoy of supplies.” Victor smiled in a friendly manner at the captain hoping he would be cooperative.

"I told the girl everything I am willing to tell you people, now let me go!" the captain demanded feeling angry towards the demand being made of him.

"Hm, interesting way of wording that, everything you are willing to tell? To me that sounds like there is something that you are not willing to tell us, and those my friend are the things I want to know, you see I have a little bet that I cannot afford to lose. You know how it is, you get cocky and end up betting more than you can afford to give? Also you do not want me to let you go, if I did you would be alive for about an hour." Victor said with a smirk, sitting back relaxed in the chair.

"What do you mean by that? I am a trained solider, no dune bandits are going to get the better of me!" The captain proclaimed to the disinterested Wolfe, who was now content with looking at the corner of the room. “Oh I do not doubt that you would be more than a match for ruffian scum, But with the poison flowing through your veins I give you, ten minutes to an hour depending on how healthy your body is." Victor said with a yawn.

“What poison!?" The captain began to panic, “Oh you see the salad that was served with that chicken? It’s a plant that is pretty common in my homeland, but I have not seen it growing anywhere since I came to this world. Thus I assumed that you would not be able to recognize it. It’s a wonderful little weed that gives of a present aroma, and even looks delicious. However this is all a trap as it releases a toxin that slowly destroys whatever ate it, its seeds then has plenty of fertilizer to grow from. However there is a cure." Victor flipped out one of the vials “this will destroy the poison and weaken the plant matter allowing your stomach to destroy it, or so the scholars in my world say. Now as far as I know I am the only one who knows what this plant is, and thus the only one who will be able to create a cure. I seem to be having some trouble however, I have made three vials of the cure and have not been able to make more, thus you have three chances to save your own life."

Victor finally took interest in the prisoner as he tried to lunge at him, only to fall to his knees." Oh the muscle paralysis is setting in, also I do not appreciate being attacked during a civil conversation, one chance gone" Victor smashed one of the vials against the ground causing the liquid to evaporate. “You have two more chances to tell me what you know or you become plant food" Victor said laughing all the while.

The captain looked Wolfe in the eye before spiting at him, aiming for his face, the poison caused him to keel over hitting the boot of the assassin" Fuming with rage Wolfe kicked the prisoner causing him to fall backwards, he then proceeded to smash another of the vials. “You are lucky I am a nice person, that sort of disrespect could have caused me to smash both of these."

The Captain began to scream in agony as the poison began to work its way to his nerves making it feel like he was being stabbed at every point in his body.

Victor brought his face close to the captains “you know this cure is fast acting, all you have to do is answer my question and all the pain will be over, and you will be able to live"

feeling that he had no choice left the captain gave in" There is a secret facility being used to carry out experiments in the dunes, a few hours west of here, the code to the door is one, nine, seven, seven." The captain looked into Wolfe’s eyes hoping for mercy but seeing only sadism. " Interesting information but not what I asked, looks like it’s time for you to die" Victor smashed the third vial and laughed as the hope turned to despair in the Captains eyes, a single tear ran down his cheek.

Turning to walk away Victor heard what he had been waiting for " wait, the supply convoy is a trap, all of the vehicles are rigged to explode if opened without first entering in a deactivation code on console in the vehicle that is leading the convoy, the code is two, zero, zero and five. What’s the point in keeping it a secret, I am as good as dead anyway."

Victor smiled " see was that so hard, all you had to do was say that from the start and you would not have to undergo all this, next time though do not wait until the last moment, not all interrogators are as kind as I." Victor revealed the forth vial forcing its contents down the captains throat. “don’t throw your life away so readily, some people only get one" Victor smirked as the captain passed out from the stress of the situation.

Victor re-joined his colleges on the other side of the glass a satisfied look on his face. "So looks like I can keep doing what I do, that is why you leave things like this to the professionals, and as agreed I will not kill him, after all it goes against my code of honour to kill other people’s prisoners without their permission. However this does mean that I in theory saved your life, unless either of you are fire and blast impact proof? Shall we go and see what goods await us at this convoy, it must be stuff they do not want us to have if they go to such lengths to protect it."

[Shay Cormac]

Rolling his eyes slightly, Shay played off the fact that, if he really needed to, would totally be able to survive a few mere explosions, especially now considering his Prime status. That, and if he had Agnès' help, it wouldn't be a problem living through it, but Shay did suppose that none of the supplies would be salvageable at that point, so he had to give credit to Victor for that at least.

"Right," Shay replied, "no point in sticking here much longer if it's coming so quickly. Besides, I think I've had enough of this damned room as it is."

Before either of them could think to reply, Agnès quickly hopped to the opportunity to speak, reminding them why they were even doing this in the first place.

"Wait, we should inform Gilgamesh on what we've learned first, in case he wishes otherwise," Agnès explained, Shay nodding slightly afterwards. Victor soon agreed with the same expression, replying to the small Vestal.

"Indeed, that would be wise. Come, let us bring to our king the great news," Victor chuckled to himself slightly, looking back at the still unconscious Stormtrooper on the far side of the room behind the glass. As much as Shay didn't want to admit it, at least he had to give credit to Victor for getting things done.

After Victor had finished his words, he turned and faced the exit of which ever ominous hallway the three Primes were in, leaving the captain to 'rest.' Shay didn't notice it at first, himself being tired of walking for once, but every time he looked over on both of his flanks, he couldn't help but notice how different the two of his associates seemed in character. Agnès continued to look slightly worried, while Victor still had that faint glimmer of a smirk on his face. As old as Shay was, he had to wonder how these two ended up like this.

Shay didn't even know what ground he stood in comparison to the two Primes at his side, though if he was sure about one thing, Shay knew to be cautious around Victor. Not out of fear, Shay was over that. Rather, Shay just really didn't want to be bitter about the way Victor acted. As the trio continued their walk led by Victor, they soon arrived to Gilgamesh's throne room, hoping he'd still be there.

Thankfully enough, he was, and he only barely noticed the other three Primes walk into the room, seeing how he was busy being bored out of his mind, as it looked from the expression on his face. Then again, it was Gilgamesh, so Shay thought that's just how he acted when he wasn't giddy and excited over the success of his fellow followers.

"Ahh, yes! Have you arrived with the information I have asked?" Gilgamesh exclaimed, in a surprisingly hammy tone, which was strange considering he looked like the grumpiest early adult in the entire Omniverse only a few seconds ago.

Agnès raised her finger, opening her mouth to speak to speak, before being interrupted again, this time by Victor, immediately stepping in to speak.

"Very much so, my king. Though my dear colleague Agnès took the wheel at first and had the captain quickly admit to a supply truck heading from Coruscant set to arrive in this verse in about two to three hours, I could tell in his voice and see it in his eyes that he was setting the three of us up for a trap," Victor began, Agnès sighing slightly as he continued, "and using my various techniques, I had soon learned that it was rigged to explode unless the code '2-0-0-5' was punched in. As due result of Shay's requests, the captain is alive and well if you need him further."

Shay looked over at the both of them, Victor seeming to be very proud in the way he spoke, while Agnès almost innocently stood there feeling a tad bit out of place. The context put aside, the sight of them two acting in such a way was quite comical. Dismissing the thought almost immediately afterwards, Shay looked over at Gilgamesh, awaiting for his input on what the three should do next.

Looking back on it, Shay did remember that Gilgamesh only asked for them to recover strategically advantageous information off of the captain. Though it would be less trouble in Shay's case, and especially Agnès' as well, Shay pondered if Gilgamesh would let the two Primes rest for a while, hoping the thought would even cross the king's mind.

[Joline]

Agnès felt absolutely mortified by what she had done. However, what was done was done, so she tried for the umpteenth time to try to push the thought away. After trying to speak, she realized that she would likely be at a loss for words, and so she in a way felt thankful for being interrupted. What sort of response she might receive in regards to what the trio should do next worried her, but regardless of what it was, she hoped it would be something much less discomforting than the interrogation. Thinking about how the captain must have felt when she was at the helm of things felt worse than being responsible for what she'd done.

"Humph. Then the mongrel is competent enough to comply to us. Now we should seize the opportunity to... Crush the insignificant hounds." The first thing that came to Agnès' mind was that, for but a moment - no, less - where the King seemed at a loss. He didn't seem to lose his composure, so perhaps he had just paused.

The next thing that came to mind, a much more serious thought than the last, was Shay's wound. She had done her best to temporarily mend the injury, but she had no idea how effective her healing was here. It certainly took more effort, but it wasn't as strong as it had been before, it seemed. She could always hope it would be fine, and if something went wrong, she could heal him again if necessary.

"If that's the case, we mustn't waste a moment," the Vestal spoke up at last. "Let us be on our way. We will return soon."


Walking through Nippur once more felt somewhat awkward, but comfortable in a sense. It reminded Agnès of her travels before the Omniverse, where she wouldn't have time to take a break for even a moment most of the time. However, it was also concerning for obvious reasons she still couldn't shake off. The three walked side by side, with Shay in the center and Victor and Agnès at his left and right sides - though any passerby who paid close attention could see the Warrior of Light eyeballing Shay, watching for any sign of weakness to worry herself about.

She didn't really want to do this. Not so much for herself as much as for the wounded Shay, as much as he pulled the tough guy act. Tiz had tried it before. So had Ringabel. Though she had to admit, Shay did it best. However, an act was never more than an act. It couldn't be more than that, could it?

The gates that would send the pair out of Nippur drew ever closer and she had yet to say a word. Shay and Victor were talking strategy, it seemed, though she wasn't paying attention to that. All she would really need to do was provide support and, if necessary, play the White Mage of the group. As the gates passed over the trio's heads, Agnès felt a pit in her stomach. She had a feeling like this wasn't going to go well, like this would be more than just what it was being made out to be. Something more complex. It was a feeling, nothing more - for all she knew, it could go off without a hitch, but the third addition to her 'team' of sorts rose flags. What sorts of flags those were would become clear as the mission carried out.

The trip to and from Carrefore would be familiar. She wondered if Victor knew the route as well, and how the route would differ as they drew closer to their destination. They couldn't go through it, as they would be recognized. If their destination was the south road of Carrefore, they would need to figure out what side of the settlement they were on when they arrived and find the supply truck from there.

That was another thing she would need to ask-- What is a truck?

I DID IT
I'M SORRY ABOUT SAYING I WAS GONNA POST EARLIER AND THEN FORGETTING TO POST
i screwed up my sleep schedule again and now i'm waking up and 9 pm and going to sleep at 2 pm
(it's really, really uncomfortable)
BUT HERE IT IS AT LONG LAST
IT'S SHORT BUT WHATEVER

[Jak Mar]

Daxter lifted up the com as Jak was going along with the Horseman leader, Retane. Not too long after they were moved to HQ, Jak had gotten a sudden message from... New Babylon? A guy named Victor wolf..

Daxter looked over at Jak and nodded "Hey Jak, you gettin' this? We got some mail from some guy named Victor Wolfe...He's askin if we'd like to join him on a mission."

Jak flipped open the com and started to type to Victor's email. Once he finished replying, he looked up at Retane as he set him down on the ground.

Jak looked over at Retane and the other horsemen near him. "We got a call about a job from someone, We'll catch you later. I remember where the hideout is. We'll be back.

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Torn finally got to the Headquarters and his new ally was teaching him what he needed to do in base and what is needed. He didn't know Jak and Daxter were leaving for a mission..
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As Jak ran with Daxter on his shoulder, Daxter complained for a second "Hey Jak, what about that dune buggy we lost that our fearless leader Retane?"

Jak rather frowned and said "I'm sure we can just summon another one, Dax... Now come'n Dax, we need to head to the dunes...

He made sure to keep in close contact with the other horseman in case something DID go wrong.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The dunes were ruthless to those who had never visited them before, but Jak had been here awhile back. Jak and Daxter took a short refuge in the Wastelands over the time he was banished. But the time in the Omniverse was interesting, He had run into a lady named Lara Croft the last time he and Dax was in the dunes.

Jak had covered his mouth with his hankerchief and placed a regular one on Daxter's mouth so sand wouldn't get in his mouth either. Daxter pulled the goggles over his eyes and Jak did the same as Jak closed his eyes for a second and a smaller vehicle from Jak's world showed up. It wasn't much but it would do so far. Jak nodded at Daxter and Jak stepped on the pedal as he headed to New Kipper.

Sand, Thiefs and much more later, Jak and Daxter arrived at New Kipper as he parked the dune buggy. Daxter looked around and yelled "Hey VIC, you here?"!

Jak muttered and covered Dax's mouth "Not so loud, I'm not even sure if we can trust this group yet, let alone meet these people."

[Victor Wolfe]

Victor wandered through the streets of Nippur following his new companions, the sun was still blazing in the sky above, with only the shade his hood provided protecting him from the harsh rays. He observed the common folk as they went about their lives. It all seemed very normal, a relaxing contrast to the strange things he had experienced in other parts of the world.

As they walked past the gate Victor smirked at the guard who he had pushed earlier, watching him get a little annoyed. "It could be fun to mess with him later “Victor thought to himself, but for now he had much bigger plans, before he left the castle he had asked a servant to have something prepared for when they leave. The same servant was standing at the gate with a large sack. Walking over to the servant Victor peered into the contents and smiled with delight. Although not his most devious plan, it would probably be one of his more effective.

He wanted to make sure that it would go perfectly, and that is why he decided to enlist some outside help. The girl might not have the guts to go through with killing anyone that gets in their way, and Shay was showing signs of fatigue and possible injury. He had posted a coded message, in the style that many in his profession use when seeking help from others and had luckily gotten a response quickly. More fire power would be useful to make sure that none of this team would get more hurt than need be.

Clearly the one in the best condition and with plenty of experience executing plans like this Victor had decided in his own mind that he was the one in charge of this operation, it had been his interrogation that had prevented them from walking into a death trap, and thus he was going to make sure that nothing bad would happen to his team mates. Thus he and someone else would be the ones in the most dangerous parts of his plan.

He had arranged to meet with his new associate at the gates of Nippur, he hoped they would be as useful and skilled as they had promised across the emails but even if not then it would be a win/win situation. If they are skilled then the original plan will work well and he will have gained a powerful ally to help deal with the empire lab later. If not then they can be used as a meat shield when stealing the convoy thus preventing the others from getting injured.

He decided to explain this to the others." I have decided to ask for some outside help for this operation, you both look exhausted and you look like you may have some injuries that have not healed yet." Victor said pointing at Shay. "The person I have asked will apparently bring more firepower to our group and take some pressure off of you both, I also have a plan that might allow me to get in close and deactivate the explosives before a battle starts. It involves what is in this sack."

Victor turned looking out at the desert seeing that his guests had already arrived, one was much shorter than expected, and fluffier. Still knowing the way the Omniverse worked Victor would not be surprised if it was an all-powerful god who ruled an entire verse, unlikely as that may be.

He walked over to introduce himself to the goggle wearing greenish blond haired man with the furry creature on his shoulder and introduced himself. “Hello and good day sir, I hope you are as ready to cause some pain to the empire as we are, I am Victor Wolfe assassin for New Babylon and the one who sought out your assistance, and these are my comrades. Shay who I assume was in a career similar to my own at one point judging by his movements and mannerisms, and thus should be more than capable of helping fulfill our goals. And Agnes, a healer with a really mean right hook capable of bringing even empire commanders to tears. We are all members of the kingdom of new Babylon and look forward to seeing just what we can do to be as big a thorn in the side of the empire we can, and I hope that we can have a good time whilst doing it, if you perform to a standard that I find agreeable then I will allow you to accompany me to a much bigger target. So anything we need to discuss before we head out ?" Victor said looking at the others.

[Jak Mar]

Daxter crossed his arms, looking over at Jak and frowned in a silenced voice, whispering at Jak "Are ya sure we didn't pull ourselves inta trouble? "

Jak crossed his arms and said, whispering to Dax "It's fine, Dax. We'll watch our backs if something happens."

As the two of them showed up at the gates of Nippur, Jak looked at his new associates. Name's Jak. This is Daxter... "

Daxter raised an eyebrow "Assassin?" "How am I sure ya won't turn on us after you're done with the mission?"

Jak quickly covered Daxter's mouth and said "Sorry for my partner's words, however he is right... We are used to people betraying us all the time. Daxter couldn't count on his fingers on how many times they'd been backstabbed."

"So there's no other problems, Vic. We should get going."

One of your group can take the buggy. Hop in. But I drive, my rules.

[Shay Cormac]

The few comments these strange individual's words on betrayal hit Shay a bit harder than it should've, or at least he figured. His eyes seemed to twitch at the memories of his past once more, still shocked that even with all of these crazy life-changing events happening to him, he still isn't able to forget about that. Puffing out another short burst of air, Shay stopped thinking about that upon the sudden realization that it was really, really hot. The side of his torso still aching a bit wasn't helping in that regard, either.

Blinking slightly, Shay and Agnès turned in a bit of surprised confusion as Jak Mar and his weird furry companion Daxter opened the door to this strange 'buggy' vehicle. The closest thing Shay had seen to that was the strangely futuristic modes of transport back in Corruscant, but this much more reminded him of old-fashioned horse wagons. Turning his head back to Agnès, he almost chuckled at the sight of her being just as confused as he was to what it did.

Jak, after settling into the buggy's front seat, signaled for all three of the strangely tied New Babylon associates to enter.

"You all coming in?" Jak asked with a bit of a stern expression on his face, Daxter being a bit more enthusiastic about things. Victor was the first one to hop into the vehicle, sitting front seat next to Jak, leaving the back few seats for Agnès and Shay, both of them hesitant as a result of not wanting to break the seemingly precious technology they were being put into, though truth be told, the buggy itself wasn't in too great of a shape by anybody else's standards.

Closing the doors behind them, Agnès could easily be seen admiring all the pretty insides of the strange machine, seeming to wonder how fast it could go. Shay was admittedly worried about it's speed, since he knew it would be fast, but without the roads he saw in Coruscant, there pretty much was no worry about how fast Jak was driving, as long as he could intercept the Stormtrooper supply truck.

A few slightly awkward moments passed quickly as the car's engine began to rev up, and before long, the buggy was off driving into the sands of the Endless Dunes under the flaring sun. The vehicle continued to bounce up and down, something the two Primes sitting in the back definitely wasn't used to. Though, Shay might have been able to compare how the buggy drove to his ship swaying in the middle of the Atlantic ocean had he not been looking at a almost sly grin on Victor's face, even if it was for a short moment he did.

"So," Jak began, turning to Victor, "where are we headed exactly?"

"Just turn a bit to the left and keep going from there... The Stormtrooper and their supplies will be heading our way in about thirty minutes, so we need to set up beforehand," Victor quickly answered, Jak nodding soon thereafter as he continued to drive.

Of course, it took a while, but as soon as Daxter got the chance, he chimed in, immediately contradicting Victor and his more careful approaches, scurrying up to the dashboard of the buggy and raising his fists rather comically.

"Ha, we have to set up? I doubt these Stormtrooper bucket-heads even deserve that much of our time, we might have been better off ramming into 'em!" Daxter announced, obviously confident in either his or Jak's ability to handle things. Shay simply smiled whilst Agnès giggled at the creature's small display of pride.

"I don't think we're allowed to do that either way, erm... Daxter, was it?" Shay began, turning his head towards the furry creature while Jak could be seen rolling his eyes in the foreground.

"Shay's correct, it has valuable supplies, if we were to crash into it, not only would there be a possible chance of more injuries sustained from us, but the supply drop would be nothing more than scraps," Victor added, his voice slightly shaken in aggravation.

Agnès, although a bit uncomfortable in the very small space the Primes were packed inside of, was a bit entertained by how strange this little team of New Babylon associates were. Even Shay couldn't help but think of how crazy this all seemed. No matter if he could forget his past life and the mistakes he's made or not, he definitely preferred living life in the Omniverse rather than the Earth on which he was birthed.

Perhaps working for a king such as Gilgamesh wasn't as bad as Shay initially had thought.

. . .

Only a few silent minutes had passed in the buggy, the roar of it's engine the only thing keeping the Primes from dead silence. Well, all except Daxter of course, seeming to talk on his own every now and again, which admittedly took it's toll on poor Victor, who could be seen putting his hand to his face every chance he got.

In the middle of another of his ramblings, Daxter immediately stopped after Victor slowly looked upwards, then immediately raising his fist in the air, parallel to his face. Jak got the signal to stop the car in it's tracks, causing everybody else in the vehicle to jump in slight surprise.

"Wait, we're already there?" Agnès frantically asked, Victor turning to face her direction soon thereafter.

"We'll have to set up here, correct," Victor replied, finishing, "but I need this time the most."

Daxter snorted a bit, "Oh? And what do you have up your sleeve now, mister Wolfe?"

Shay, Agnès and Jak traded glances, just as confused as to what he was going to be doing.

"You'll soon see, but for now, you all set up a good distance from each other," Victor answered, opening the door to his side and quickly moving to the trunk of the buggy.

Embarrassingly enough for Shay, it took a few moments to figure out exactly how the door to the car opened, but when he got out, Shay really didn't like it at all, quickly being reminded his skin was about to be charred by the sun above him. Groaning a bit, he walked to the back of the buggy as Agnès got out, seeing Victor rummage through the trunk of the car itself, seeming to look for something.

Looking expectantly at Victor, Shay patiently waited for a while, clenching onto his side, thankfully not in pain this time. It slightly burned here and there, but for now it wouldn't disrupt the mission at hand, though he really wish he got a rest from last night's whole fiasco. Those Empire troopers really put up a fuss, and it showed.

Shay looked over again, seeing Victor pull out a suspiciously familiar white uniform, seemingly metallic in material, before unfolding it and sliding his arm in the outfit. Looking over, Agnès realized what was happening as soon as Shay did, and she expressed such by letting out a little "Oh."

. . .

"This is going to help, right?" Shay asked, closely inspecting Victor, who was now clad in white Stormtrooper armor from head to toe.

"Yes, they'll fall for it. This is to give you all more time to aim your attacks accordingly," the now-disguised Victor assured Shay, before nodding to Agnès.

The wind vestal went wide-eyed for a moment, and then rushed off to her place behind a distant dune of sand, giving Shay the cue to move along as well. Taking his air rifle from his back, he quickly loaded a sleeping dart within the chamber, loading the gun in mere seconds, only interrupted by the sight of Jak Mar with Daxter by his side, in a jogging pace towards Victor.

"They're here, might wanna get down there now, Victor," Jak ordered, Victor only giving a simple gesture of gratitude with this hand as he slowly walked down the dune of sand, Shay lying down with his rifle in-hand as Jak jogged towards his nesting area for the attack, Daxter already a bit anxious.

Aiming down the sights, Shay could see the truck appearing over the horizon, hoping that Victor's plan of disguising himself will work long enough for them to be fooled.

[Joline]

It was, admittedly, rather concerning to try fighting alone.

This wasn't exactly fighting alone, though. It was far from that in a number of ways, but it might as well have been fighting alone with the way Agnès was experiencing it. Whenever she fought, it was side by side with her allies, not spread out across a large area. She had been separated from those she fought with before, yes, but never in a combat scenario, so this was a less than comforting situation. Not to mention that, while she could heal, she couldn't seem to cast any White Magic at a distance. In fact, very little magic she knew back home worked here at all. Then again, she was missing a number of things here, so a few (Or, rather, a lot) of spells being missing wasn't her first priority.

Stealth was also a relatively new idea. Strategy, mostly with positioning, never got more complex than frontal assaults. This was very much a new experience, not to mention the fact that Agnès was still unsure as to whether or not she was expected to kill anyone. She hoped that wasn't necessary, but it had never been specified, and since she hadn't known when to ask, she hadn't. She looked down to her bow, which was dusted over with sand and just past the peak of the dune she was currently prone on, alongside about two dozen arrows in a quiver. Her bow definitely wasn't the weapon of a master of stealth, though that went without saying - It was pink and large and a bit cumbersome if the wielder didn't know how to use it, as it was with most longbows, not to mention it took quite the arm to pull an arrow back for long-distance shots.

To put things in the simplest terms she knew, the Vestal was getting a bit nervous.

Agnès took in a deep breath, ensured she was hidden by the top of the dune and kept watch. She couldn't see Shay, though she knew which dune he had gone off to. An odd-looking structure, like a covered wagon but metallic and greenish and almost jagged-looking, rode through the sand on the dusty road behind a 'buggy', or whatever Victor's associate had called the strange vehicle. Agnès was intrigued - While anything close to such a contraption, namely airships, traveled much faster, airships were also quite large by comparison, not to mention most were for military use. It didn't help that the Duchy was not eager to share their secrets in airship development with the world, either. Because of the distance, Agnès couldn't quite tell what Victor was doing, though it appeared as if the buggy was stopping. That, she assumed, was her cue to take aim.

She gripped the bow, ripped it from the sand and wrapped her other hand around an arrow. As swiftly as the bow and arrow had been picked up, the arrow had been nocked and she pulled back the bowstring. She moved to a crouching position, aimed with her right eye, closed her left and took a deep breath. A gentle wind was blowing against the left side of her face, meaning the wind was going right, so she would need to compensate before firing. Her aim gravitated towards a white figure - A Stormtrooper - Sitting in the driver's seat of the buggy, with his window conveniently rolled down, and she hoped that Shay had taken aim who she presumed was a man in the passenger's seat. Her hands stabilized at last, with the arrowhead aiming just above the figure's chest and a little to the left... If she had properly compensated, it would land just below the neck and, ideally, a little bit to her right and her target's left.

Victor made a gesture, raising his right arm, and then the man in the passenger's seat went limp. Agnès loosed the arrow and her breath escaped between her lips, leaving her to watch as the arrow lodged itself in the chest of her target. She flinched as she noticed the Stormtroopers going from paper-white to crimson, then directed her gaze to four more Stormtroopers coming out of the back of the covered wagon-like object. Jak and Daxter, she noticed while recalling their names, were working together to deal with one whilst Victor dealt with the other two. The quartet they formed, or quintet including both Jak and Daxter, certainly was an odd one, though it was effective, at least.

Victor leaped into the back of the covered wagon while Jak and Daxter kept watch over the entrance he had used - Whatever that entrance was, Agnès wasn't sure, though she assumed it was just a large hole in the back, as was so with most covered wagons. Agnès kept her eyes just behind the vehicle with another arrow nocked, just in case anyone had been following behind the half-dozen Stormtroopers.

Then a minute passed. Then another. After that, the trio that had entered the wagon jumped out one by one, leaving a gentle thud against the broken road to echo between the hills as they walked away. Victor made a gesture of some sort - A waving hand towards himself, from the looks of things, which Agnès interpreted as an order to come over to him. This was reassured, she thought as she walked over with a bundle of arrows in one hand and her bow slung over her other arm, by Shay leaving his position to meet with Victor. Upon regrouping, Agnès let out a gentle sigh of relief. "We could not have hoped for a better outcome, could we--"

Before she could finish talking, she noticed one of the 'dead' Stormtroopers' weapons being lifted by a weak, shaky arm, and with a pull of a trigger, two horrible screeches filled the air.

[Jak Mar]

A piercing scream occurred that filled the wastelands with horror...

"JAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!"

Jak was just a normal associate in the murder of quite a few stormtroopers but one "weak" stormtrooper lifted his pistol.

A "buzzup!" noise cracked in the air as a laser beam cracked through Jak's armor leaving the young man shocked as his eyes looked like a deer hit him. Daxter didn't care he ran to him. Daxter shook his friend "Jak... Jak.... Answer me buddy? ANSWER ME!"

Jak didn't respond, instead blood of the eco warrior ran out on the ground...

Daxter bent down, he felt partially responsible for Jak's death.. Daxter's eyes were watering in the wastelands... J.... Jak... Please... it's your buddy... Dax.." "Please don't leave me...He fell to his knees and placed his hands on Jak's body..

Daxter then turned to Victor, Shay and Agnus with anger in his eyes. He screamed "You three !!! It's all your DAMN fault Jak died in VAIN!"

Daxter covered his head with Jak's hankerchief "Buddy, shhh .. Let me find Torn.. Let me find Torn... It will be alright..

Victor just shook his head "He's dead, Daxter... He's Dead..

Daxter couldn't understand it. He was sobbing too hard.

[Victor Wolfe]

Anger flared up from within Victor, not only was this rodent a loud mouth who worked with a useless and now dead mercenary but he had the audacity to put the blame on Victor and his allies.

“Listen here rodent, if your friend there was not so cocky and had the common sense to be more wary around non confirmed kills then he would not be lying there on the ground, your friend died because he was a failure!" Victor shouted straight at the orange rodent who was now getting angry himself. " Such a waste of my time, so hard to get good help these days, I hope that not all the mercenary's in this world are as pathetic as he was" Victor nastily remarked.

Daxter who was now sick of Victor’s remarks flew towards the assassin in a fit of rage, only to be met with the hilt of a dagger to the face, causing him to fall and slide across the hot sand. Clearly not amused by this Victor turned the edge towards the creature, showing that the next time he tried something like that it would be the last thing he ever did.

"It’s not like it matters to much anyway, so long as the smiling one is entertained by him your friend will be brought back to life after a time. So I do not understand why you are making such a huge issue over this" Victor said trying to recompose himself from the rage that was burning within him.

" that's not the point, you idiots were supposed to be aware and make sure things like this did not happen , you are as bad as the storm trooper you people failed to kill, murderers!" Daxter was still fuming with anger over the death of his close friend, unfortunately for him this activated Wolfe's love for psychological torture. “I am not a murderer I am an assassin, it’s my job to kill people and fulfil the wishes of my employer. I did both of these today, your friend Jak was hired to help this mission go well and prevent casualties. He failed at this and thus he is dead, if it would have been a member of my team here I would have personally killed him. However there was another great failure here and that would be you Daxter. If you would have been more aware and less cocky you may have noticed your friend was about to be shot and warned him in time for him to dodge. You are the one who should have been watching your friends back, and thus you are a failure as a friend." Victor spoke in a soft, convincing tone; he decided to add in the final blow “if anyone caused the death of Jak, it was you Daxter, now get out of here before I decide I want a new pair of boots. you might find your friend back at the Nexus in a few days “Victor turned away from the now fleeing rodent waiting for him to leave ear shot.

He then turned to his team “well that could have gone better, I hope you understand why we attack to kill and not to maim now, because when you don't others tend to die in their place. However other than that little blunder I would say this operation was a resounding success thus I am happy that I had the chance to work with both of you, I am going to check the back of the truck and see just what we have got here. And then we can all head back to Nippur and celebrate." Victor rushed around to the back of the truck. He climbed up into the open doors examining the crates of resources, it was a good haul. Crates over flowing with weapons, MRE's and medical supplies. The walls where lined with wires leading to the front of the truck and packages that must have been the explosives; luckily he had deactivated them from the console in the front of the truck.

Something felt off, and that's when he noticed that the floor to the truck was a bit higher than it needed to be, he took out one of his daggers and started to hit the metal panelled floor in different spots until he heard a change in tone. “So a hollow compartment is it?" Victor used the edge of his blade to praise open a fake panel revealing a small box. “What do we have here? Must be something good if they put this much effort into stopping people from getting it" Opening the box Victor found a belt," Well that was a disappointment, at least it looks like it will fit me" Victor put on the belt, his hand brushing the button on the middle.

He walked out towards where Agnes and Shay where conversing. “He is taking his time" Shay said despite Victor being stood straight in front of him. “It’s unacceptable to take so long when checking supplies" said Agnes. Victor looked down and noticed an unusual aura surrounding him, emanating from the belt. It took a few seconds before Victor realized that he was invisible, or cloaked at least. He pushed the button on the belt again causing Shay and Agnes to be startled. Victor laughed at their shocked expressions before explaining. “I found this hidden in the truck, looks like this is what they really wanted to smuggle into the city and that is why it was protected to such an extent. There is also food, weapons and other useful supplies, looks like we hit the jack pot here. I am feeling tired so let’s go back to base and get some well-deserved rest. the others agreed and before long Victor was driving the truck towards Nippur, he had learned by watching how Jak drove his Buggy, it all seemed pretty logical, so long as he did not go to fast or turn to sharply the vehicle would not tip or lose control. Thus they were on their way to Nippur, with Victor Driving and Agnes and Shay in the two passenger seats

[Jak Mar]

Daxter wasn't about to push his luck with Victor and his "associates". Daxter's anger was turned inward as he ran toward Jak's dune buggy, without looking back. Jak... I'm sorry pal... I couldn't save you...

He gritted his teeth as Victor rubbed salt in his wound and threatened his life. He couldn't do anything now.

Daxter hopped in the dune buggy and pushed the petal down, placing his goggles on his eyes. He needed to find Torn, clearly and explain his situation. Torn was not going to like what happened. It was going to be the hard part explaining to Torn what had happened to his friend without bursting out crying once again.

Of course, Torn never saw eye to eye with him in the first place. Daxter didn't hesitate and covered his mouth. Hell, if Victor and the others could pull shit on him and Jak again, he would get them back personally... Him and Jak...

Such a hard feat for a Ottsel to drive a giant dune buggy by himself, but he had trained himself well.

Jak had shown him how to drive it.

Daxter closed his eyes and squeezed his fist "Jak was too trusting of them, why didn't he listen to me?!"

The dune buggy zoomed off from the middle of the wastelands toward the Twisted greens. It was hard being a lone ottsel in a big big world called life.

It was quiet, way way too quiet.. for Daxter's liking. But he'd tell Torn first and then go back to the Nexus. Would Victor be right? What if Jak did come back at the Nexus?

(Daxter's exit)

[Shay Cormac]

An hour of dead silence passed between the original three Primes sent out for this mission. Dead, cold and unforgiving silence.

Shay almost forgot the three of them were still driving at this point. Looking around this new vehicle they had entered in after that incident, he wanted to think about how perhaps he could learn to drive one of these, but the thought of Daxter being so angered stopped that thought into a screeching halt in his brain.

Sitting back in his seat as the bumpy drive continued onward, Shay sighed a bit, wondering if he could have prevented that. That, and he wasn't so sure on this Jak individual either. Daxter obviously wasn't pleased, but if Jak came back just as angry, then New Babylon would have one more problem on their shoulders, and that meant one more for Shay as well.

Looking to his sides, Shay could see Agnès just as distraught by what had happened. Surely, Victor was right, Jak would come back in a few days time, but seeing him fall felt so real it almost broke the small Dax creature right where he stood. Even Shay could admit it hurt seeing somebody they had picked up so soon and got them this far just die, for as much as that counts for in the Omniverse.

Victor though, the more Shay looked at Victor, the more he just looked aggravated. Shay couldn't entirely blame him this time, Daxter was overreacting given the circumstances, but even then, it just didn't seem right to go off on the little guy that hard. As Shay continued to ponder to himself, Victor changed gears, turning his head slightly.

"We should be arriving soon," Victor chimed in, before turning his head back to his front, continuing to drive along the sands. Agnès quickly looked at Shay, almost nodding. He could only assume from then on whatever that gesture meant was something good.

. . .

After the Nippur gate guards let Victor and his passengers in, almost everybody in the city had to think twice before realizing the Empire supply truck was being drove around by Victor. Not only that, but the few who actually knew the three Primes to be out on this mission were surprised at how quickly they had accomplished their task, which Shay could only hope impressed Gilgamesh when they got to him.

Well, at least Shay could say he was proud of himself for doing this with such efficiency. He knew this because it didn't get any less hot than the moment in which they all started. Driving through the crowded city streets as the citizens of the small city got out of their way, Victor found a nice place to settle down and park in, somewhat close to Gilgamesh's palace.

Opening the door beside him, Shay was glad he even remembered how to open the thing, still quite embarrassed at how new this technology seemed to him. As Agnès scurried out of the truck, she quickly walked up to both Victor and Shay, both of which still adjusting to the heat now that they were out of the air conditioning of the vehicle.

"I must ask, how will we inform Gilgamesh of... Daxter's...?" Agnès stopped herself, expectantly looking at the both of them whilst Victor closed the door behind him. Shay's expression turned into slight concern, his eyebrow raising a bit. Victor opened his mouth, but stopped as Shay turned to face Agnès.

"We might as well just tell him how it is. Knowing that man, he probably won't be the one to care that much," Shay hesitantly replied, before continuing full force, "If you're worried he'd be disappointed in us losing Jak, then just remember he wasn't a part of New Babylon when he died."

The harsh truth of that made Agnès squirm a bit, but soon enough, she nodded. Victor sighed soon after Shay finished, adding onto his words.

"Speaking of which, let's get these supplies to the King as quickly as possible," Victor finished off, before walking off to the general direction of the palace looming over the rest of the city's buildings.

Shay looked over to Agnès, only shrugging a bit before walking off to where Victor was headed.

[Joline]

In the hour of silence, Agnès had almost fallen asleep in the wagon-contraption a few times. She was troubled and rather depressed, yes, but she couldn't help but be tired as well. It felt like it had been months since she last rested, though she felt somehow guilty thinking about her own well-being after seeing somebody die before her.

Woodenly the Vestal stepped out of the steel carriage and onto the sand beside a road, which after a little while spent walking would lead to the palace. It again felt like it had been too long since she had been there, like she longed for it while she was away, and yet she couldn't due to the negativity she now associated with it. She had assisted in the capture of someone for conflict between organizations she knew little of. She had helped to steal from that very same organization and had killed those who stood in her way. She felt a pit forming in her stomach as she looked at the palace, like she was going to be sick.

Fortunately she wasn't quite at that point. She prayed she at least wouldn't be until she was in her room, whichever she had been in previously, for briefly enough to call it her home in this 'Omniverse'. Victor had said something about getting supplies to Gilgamesh, though as someone - Presumably one of the guards - Took over driving it along slowly beside Victor, who stopped just beside the palace and began turning around the vehicle. He did so just carefully enough to avoid making Agnès worry about whether or not he might run someone over, as surely colliding with such a massive machine would hurt.

The Vestal of Wind simply walked through the palace appearing to have an odd sense of confidence, though with each step she took, she became even more sure that it would collapse when she entered her room. Eventually she found herself not knowing where to go next, and so she followed Shay, who appeared to be struggling somewhat to keep up with her. She wondered for a moment why he had stayed with her instead of helping Victor with... Whatever he had been doing - Getting supplies to Gilgamesh, she assumed, as he didn't seem the type to waste any time not doing what had to be done.

That thought almost made her sick before she realized Shay was trying to talk to her. Unfortunately, it only occurred to her as she was closing the door to her room behind her. "Agnès--"

Slam. The sound of the door shutting behind her covered her quick footsteps to her bed, which she let herself fall onto. While she had worried about crying, about screaming or lamenting over seeing death and killing others, she simply embraced the bed below her with stretched-out arms and hoped sleep would take her quickly. She could think later with a clearer head, with a little more rest - Just... Not now. Now wasn't the time.

As her eyelids fell shut, she heard footsteps heading away from the door. First they were slow, then they sped up a little, as if whoever was walking was reluctant to leave. Her already half-asleep mind just barely registered the careful and almost silent steps as Shay's, which despite being light had an odd weight to them. Then the weight seemed to get greater and greater, as if... Were they coming closer, perhaps? He, rather; Was he coming closer? Agnès turned to the sound of footsteps and saw a pair of arms pulling a blanket over her and up to her shoulders, over her only barely sandy tunic. The blanket felt all warm and fuzzy, which despite being in the desert, was an oddly welcoming feeling.

And before she knew it, the girl's eyelids had fluttered shut.

I DID A QUICK POST. I didn't want to write much, so. I'm in a sleepy mood, so I wanted to write sleepy. So sleepy this. I don't... What.
...Well, Victor can go if he'd like, because he's split off from Agnès and is unaccounted for. So WRITE WHAT YOU PLEASE~!

[Victor Wolfe]

It had been a long day and although he could sense the sombre feelings of his companions Victor was content with how the mission had went, after all it was none of their faults that the hired help was not good at their job. Other than that small problem everything had gone according to his plan, Shay's knowledge of assassination techniques was almost on par with his own and the girl, Agnès, had manged to overcome her morals for a greater cause. It was progress and made Victor think of what he could have her do next to slowly mould her into a better ally. The thought quickly left his mind as he parked up the vehicle to some cheers and some suspicious looks from the many residents of Nippur, the city that he now called his home.

He walked over to some of the guards deciding that he would give them something important to do rather than guarding a town square "I bring a gift for the king, its supplies and weapons stolen straight from those empire dogs, at the orders of the king of course. Now I need to go and report this to someone so I want both of you to guard it and if you do a good job I might put a good word in for you both and see about getting you outfitted with the new weapons I brought back" Victor said with a smile. "Yes sir!" the two guards responded before moving towards the truck with one guarding the back and the other guarding the front. “It feels good to finally get some respect in this world, I wonder if I can become the most feared assassin in this world too" Victor thought to himself.

Snapping out of his own thoughts he looked over to see Agnès and Shay leaving obviously shaken from what had happened out their Victor decided to shout some words of encouragement to them " Don't worry about the mercenary I am sure he will be back, death is a natural part of this world and the sooner you accept it the easier it gets, I know all about dealing with people dying around me, kind of an expert on the subject!" Victor shouted to the other two not sure if either of them heard it. He decided to let them sort it out on their own and get some rest turning his attention towards more important matters, mainly handing over the good news to the King so that he may prove his loyalty further and put in a good word for his probably now resting allies.

He headed towards the castle looking forward to reporting in and then hopefully getting some rest and relaxation.

I'm out, it was fun writing with you guys:)

[Shay Cormac]

The sight of Agnès sleeping so easily behind him gave Shay an almost meditative feeling upon leaving the room that belonged to the Vestal, gently closing it's door behind him. After a moment, Shay sighed in relief, before turning over just beside the door, slowly sliding down the wall to rest a bit. Shay wasn't sure if he could sleep at the very moment, but in all honesty, the satisfaction of what all had happened well made up for it.

Shay jerked up a slight bit after the sudden self-reminder that Jak had still died, and Daxter wasn't pleased about it at all. Hopefully enough however, Dax would get over it upon seeing Jak again. Shay couldn't help but feel bad for the guy, making matters worse. Had Shay been a bit more quick with his rifle, perhaps none of that would have happened.

Stopping himself from going any further with that thought, he figured it was best to not waste his energy on it, despite how easy it was to do so. Thinking about the very notion of doing so made Shay uncomfortable however. The fact that he was in his Assassin garbs didn't help. Shay almost couldn't believe he was wearing such a thing after all that had happened, despite it fitting the situation beforehand.

Sighing, Shay stared down at the clothes he was wearing, popping up one of his hidden blades from his right wrist, all with that satisfying sound of metal sliding against metal. Examining it closely, Shay decided it was about time to get out of these robes for another very long time.

Closing his eyes, Shay balled his right hand into a fist, sliding the small knife back into the sleeve of the robes themselves, before pulsating the now all-familiar Omnilium through his veins.

. . .

Patting off the dust on his old Templar enforcer outfit, Shay looked down to admire the familiar shape of the cloth, but the elegant gold engravings edging the crimson red of the outfit. Shay couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile admiring the looks of it, and seeing how New Babylon favored the gold looks, especially coming from somebody like Gilgamesh, Shay felt it was appropriate to be worn. Besides, no much use wearing black out in a desert, right?

Almost beginning to walk off to his own room, Shay began to hear a loud trampling noise behind him. Turning around, he quickly noticed a few guards running towards him. Almost raising his hands in defense, Shay quickly realized something was going on. Taking matters into his own hands, at least for a short while, Shay walked to one, quickly stopping one of the guards in their tracks by placing his palm on their chest, giving them a look that even Victor might have flinched at.

"You two, what's going on?" Shay asked, looking at both of them to get the point across. The second guard quickly stopped himself as soon as Shay asked the question. Hesitantly as ever, the one Shay initially stopped didn't want to get in Shay's way, so he backed up a bit, before raising his hand slightly to reply.

"W-we've been attacked, sir. The palace, I mean, there's an intruder... We'll handle the situation, you can rest--"

"I won't rest until I know everyone here is safe. Take me to where this is happening," Shay replied, interrupting the man as the Templar turned around to where ever the guards were headed off to defend. All of this happened so quickly, and yet Shay was almost surprised that his first reaction to an event like this is to immediately defend the palace from whatever could be threatening it.

Perhaps it had something to do with Agnès, or perhaps Shay was too tired to even think straight, but whatever this situation was, Shay felt the need to end it quickly. If anybody needed a rest, it was him, and Shay wasn't about to get stabbed in the throat while he was sleeping peacefully after a long string of missions.

As the two guards looked at each other for a short moment, the second one nodded, although slowly. The first of the guards that were previously stopped by Shay quickly stepped in front of him, signalling for Shay to come with them both as they all quickened their pace to a run.

"Very well then, sir. Follow us."

Shay nodded as they all ran off.

Whoever this intruder was, Shay thought, he or she was going to get it real bad.