08-12-2015, 10:21 PM
Athena quirked an eyebrow as she listened to Olympus's little speech. She didn't know quite what to make of it all. The first thing that struck her was how much zeal and determination he spoke with when he told them of his plans to patrol against "injustice" and save the Empire's citizens from persecution. There was something impressive about it, even though, to Athena, such ideas were delusional - or at least likely to get him killed fairly soon. Going out and confronting criminals wherever he encountered them was certainly noble, but Athena wondered if he was overestimating his abilities a bit too much. At the very least, he should narrow down the target of his crusade against evil to something specific and manageable...
Additionally, she approved of how much confidence he used when speaking to Kopaka, despite the fact that the latter had been quite hostile. Unnecessarily so, Athena decided. The library director had been rather obnoxious and manipulative. This warrior biker hadn't done anything but ask a question out of curiosity - something that Athena was somewhat prone to doing herself, although usually in more familiar situations. In fact, she thought of asking Olympus what he meant by "returning to his ordinary self," but let it slide.
Athena started to hold up a hand and say "Wait" when the Kamen Rider turned away, but then hesitated. Instead, all that came out of her mouth was a half-swallowed "w-." She kept her arm down by her side and watched him walk out the door. She was sure they could find allies easily elsewhere... and the two had sort of brought that upon themselves.
She was interrupted before she could say anything by a peculiar repetitive ringing sound. She turned and watched with passing interest as Glen picked up a communication device and, after a quick exchange, said farewell, leaving Athena and Kopaka alone again. The Toa of Ice had begun reading the caption on an empty display - the one that Glen had removed the necklace from, Athena recalled. Fortunately for her, the letters were carved into a plaque on the display, so she could read it mentally.
The Lavalliere of Aeon
Recognized as a relic from the world of Erest. Legends surrounding the necklace say that the wearer unlocks great knowledge and power hidden within, but there is no factual support for this. Many residents of the Omniverse donned the amulet, with no apparent results, before it was added to the collection of artifacts here in the library.
Interesting, thought Athena. She wandered around for a couple more minutes, looking at the various displays. Many of the artifacts didn't appear to be anything that would warrant display in such a high institution, but most of them had some amazingly powerful attributes. She decided not to be bothered by the tight security once she stumbled across a display featuring a spiky, black-and-white ball that was supposedly a bomb powerful enough to vaporize an entire galaxy. In fact, I hope they're wrong about its abilities entirely, she thought to herself. They obviously couldn't have tested it. She finally turned back towards Kopaka (or where she had left him - he was out of her sense range by this time), and was halfway back when she heard a woman scream.
It was piercing, horrified screaming. Athena almost took off running in the other direction, but something stopped her. Whether it was curiosity, some sense of duty, or simply fear of being pegged for suspicious behavior, even she couldn't have told; regardless, she instead began walking, briskly and tensely, towards the source.
By the time she reached the elevator, the discovery of the body had stirred up quite a bit of commotion. As soon as Athena was close enough to perceive it, she started scrutinizing it as closely as she possibly could. Kopaka had already arrived, as well as the first stormtroopers, who were setting up boundaries to keep out the shaken civilians. This didn't pose much of a difficulty for Athena, though; she could still easily get close enough to easily scan the scene. The man was dressed in thick clothing, and obviously dead, though recently so. His coat was spattered with blood, but he showed no outward signs of physical trauma. He had a blaster gun strapped to his back. The color drained from Athena's face. This was probably even worse than a case of suicide...
Near the elevator doors, but close enough that she could hear, a stormtrooper was pacing back and forth, clearly agitated, speaking into a mechanical communicator. Athena tuned into what he was saying.
"You're sure? ... But why didn't he disable... you mean he knew it was there?" A long pause. "Of course we will, as soon as possible, but we won't have reinforcements until... are you sure?" Another pause. Athena flinched as the stormtrooper looked directly at her. Had he noticed her eavesdropping? Before she had time to worry about it, though, he turned away a again, scanning the crowd that had formed with an alarming rapidity. "Yes, three or four, but you realize we couldn't do anything about it if they refused... Okay. Of course. Keep an eye on the cameras, and let us know if we're about to walk into something dangerous... I'm aware. Thank the Emperor for that." The machine clicked, and the stormtrooper immediately began walking towards her. She tried to look as calm and normal as possible.
"You," he began, gesturing towards her.
"Yes?"
"Are you a Prime?"
"Yes."
"Come here, please." She joined him behind the police lines, and then watched in puzzlement as he walked over and repeated the process with Kopaka, who was standing silently right behind the boundary of the crime scene. the other Prime soon reached her waiting point, and the stormtrooper met up with them just a moment later, as well as two of his comrades. He started speaking immediately.
"I've spoken with the guards watching the security cameras for the upstairs levels. Two library employees have been compromised by this man -" he waved a hand back towards the elevator "- and one of them is almost certainly dead. The other is in a dangerous state."
Athena's eyebrows furrowed. "Dangerous state?" she repeated.
"Yes. We're not entirely sure what happened - officials are reviewing the footage now - but the librarian seems to be in a highly-erratic magic-induced paralysis. We can't make out the details exactly. She is on the fifteenth floor at the moment, and we don't currently have enough Empire-trained manpower to confront that situation. However, we're afraid that prolonged exposure to this state could be harmful to her, and we must protect our employees and citizens to the best of our ability. Consider that your briefing. The fastest way up is the second elevator; we'll be using that, since our sources are fairly sure it's secure."
Athena opened her mouth in protest, but the stormtrooper cut in again, precluding her reply.
"Please help us with this, as upstanding citizens of our society. There isn't enough time to bargain favors or rewards, but I assure you the Empire will be indebted to you. Assuming you're all coming, we will begin our ascent immediately."
Kopaka's eye was hardly more than a sliver, but he gave a small nod. Athena took a moment to organize the factors in her mind, but then nodded along with him. Whether this was Glen or not (it would certainly be an interesting coincidence, if so, but it was perfectly plausible), Athena felt obligated to try and help. Besides, her powers over Mind would be useful, perhaps even necessary.
The twp Primes and three stormtroopers entered the elevator. The leading stormtrooper pressed the fifteenth button from the bottom, and all waited in silence as the elevator car slid smoothly upwards.
Additionally, she approved of how much confidence he used when speaking to Kopaka, despite the fact that the latter had been quite hostile. Unnecessarily so, Athena decided. The library director had been rather obnoxious and manipulative. This warrior biker hadn't done anything but ask a question out of curiosity - something that Athena was somewhat prone to doing herself, although usually in more familiar situations. In fact, she thought of asking Olympus what he meant by "returning to his ordinary self," but let it slide.
Athena started to hold up a hand and say "Wait" when the Kamen Rider turned away, but then hesitated. Instead, all that came out of her mouth was a half-swallowed "w-." She kept her arm down by her side and watched him walk out the door. She was sure they could find allies easily elsewhere... and the two had sort of brought that upon themselves.
She was interrupted before she could say anything by a peculiar repetitive ringing sound. She turned and watched with passing interest as Glen picked up a communication device and, after a quick exchange, said farewell, leaving Athena and Kopaka alone again. The Toa of Ice had begun reading the caption on an empty display - the one that Glen had removed the necklace from, Athena recalled. Fortunately for her, the letters were carved into a plaque on the display, so she could read it mentally.
The Lavalliere of Aeon
Recognized as a relic from the world of Erest. Legends surrounding the necklace say that the wearer unlocks great knowledge and power hidden within, but there is no factual support for this. Many residents of the Omniverse donned the amulet, with no apparent results, before it was added to the collection of artifacts here in the library.
Interesting, thought Athena. She wandered around for a couple more minutes, looking at the various displays. Many of the artifacts didn't appear to be anything that would warrant display in such a high institution, but most of them had some amazingly powerful attributes. She decided not to be bothered by the tight security once she stumbled across a display featuring a spiky, black-and-white ball that was supposedly a bomb powerful enough to vaporize an entire galaxy. In fact, I hope they're wrong about its abilities entirely, she thought to herself. They obviously couldn't have tested it. She finally turned back towards Kopaka (or where she had left him - he was out of her sense range by this time), and was halfway back when she heard a woman scream.
It was piercing, horrified screaming. Athena almost took off running in the other direction, but something stopped her. Whether it was curiosity, some sense of duty, or simply fear of being pegged for suspicious behavior, even she couldn't have told; regardless, she instead began walking, briskly and tensely, towards the source.
By the time she reached the elevator, the discovery of the body had stirred up quite a bit of commotion. As soon as Athena was close enough to perceive it, she started scrutinizing it as closely as she possibly could. Kopaka had already arrived, as well as the first stormtroopers, who were setting up boundaries to keep out the shaken civilians. This didn't pose much of a difficulty for Athena, though; she could still easily get close enough to easily scan the scene. The man was dressed in thick clothing, and obviously dead, though recently so. His coat was spattered with blood, but he showed no outward signs of physical trauma. He had a blaster gun strapped to his back. The color drained from Athena's face. This was probably even worse than a case of suicide...
Near the elevator doors, but close enough that she could hear, a stormtrooper was pacing back and forth, clearly agitated, speaking into a mechanical communicator. Athena tuned into what he was saying.
"You're sure? ... But why didn't he disable... you mean he knew it was there?" A long pause. "Of course we will, as soon as possible, but we won't have reinforcements until... are you sure?" Another pause. Athena flinched as the stormtrooper looked directly at her. Had he noticed her eavesdropping? Before she had time to worry about it, though, he turned away a again, scanning the crowd that had formed with an alarming rapidity. "Yes, three or four, but you realize we couldn't do anything about it if they refused... Okay. Of course. Keep an eye on the cameras, and let us know if we're about to walk into something dangerous... I'm aware. Thank the Emperor for that." The machine clicked, and the stormtrooper immediately began walking towards her. She tried to look as calm and normal as possible.
"You," he began, gesturing towards her.
"Yes?"
"Are you a Prime?"
"Yes."
"Come here, please." She joined him behind the police lines, and then watched in puzzlement as he walked over and repeated the process with Kopaka, who was standing silently right behind the boundary of the crime scene. the other Prime soon reached her waiting point, and the stormtrooper met up with them just a moment later, as well as two of his comrades. He started speaking immediately.
"I've spoken with the guards watching the security cameras for the upstairs levels. Two library employees have been compromised by this man -" he waved a hand back towards the elevator "- and one of them is almost certainly dead. The other is in a dangerous state."
Athena's eyebrows furrowed. "Dangerous state?" she repeated.
"Yes. We're not entirely sure what happened - officials are reviewing the footage now - but the librarian seems to be in a highly-erratic magic-induced paralysis. We can't make out the details exactly. She is on the fifteenth floor at the moment, and we don't currently have enough Empire-trained manpower to confront that situation. However, we're afraid that prolonged exposure to this state could be harmful to her, and we must protect our employees and citizens to the best of our ability. Consider that your briefing. The fastest way up is the second elevator; we'll be using that, since our sources are fairly sure it's secure."
Athena opened her mouth in protest, but the stormtrooper cut in again, precluding her reply.
"Please help us with this, as upstanding citizens of our society. There isn't enough time to bargain favors or rewards, but I assure you the Empire will be indebted to you. Assuming you're all coming, we will begin our ascent immediately."
Kopaka's eye was hardly more than a sliver, but he gave a small nod. Athena took a moment to organize the factors in her mind, but then nodded along with him. Whether this was Glen or not (it would certainly be an interesting coincidence, if so, but it was perfectly plausible), Athena felt obligated to try and help. Besides, her powers over Mind would be useful, perhaps even necessary.
The twp Primes and three stormtroopers entered the elevator. The leading stormtrooper pressed the fifteenth button from the bottom, and all waited in silence as the elevator car slid smoothly upwards.
![[Image: 2WaRJHm.png]](http://i.imgur.com/2WaRJHm.png)