09-06-2016, 07:09 PM
The dark skinned man emerged from the shadows, and the first thing Zack could think was that he didn’t look like any book smart, science type that he had ever met. The scientists at ShinRa had admittedly filled a wide range of appearances, but they never were tall and well built like this man. His clothes were awfully casual, it seemed he’d come for a tropical getaway rather than important research. The long dreadlocks made from his hair supported that theory about his appearance. Zack cocked a surprised eyebrow as the man shook Caira’s hand, which didn’t go unnoticed.
“Don’t look too alarmed,” Jadeveon laughed as he looked to Zack, earning the young super soldier a scowl from Gary.
“No, it’s just…” Zack shook his head. “Wouldn’t have guessed who you were if I saw you on the street.”
“Isn’t that sort of the purpose?” Jadeveon responded, and Zack merely shrugged in response. It was a good point. This elicited an amused chuckle from the astronomer.
"Jad has been studying the same phenomenon you're interested in, Miss Ayryn," Gary announced, which served to explain to both parties their purpose for being here.
"It seems many people are interested in the star pieces," Jadeveon thoughtfully commented as he studied the young woman. "Though no one quite understand them."
“What are you doing all the way out here, anyway, Jad?” Gary asked as he looked around the lab. Both Zack and Caira noted he was far nicer to the astronomer than he ever was to them. “I thought the townsfolk of Cinnabar were fine with your presence.”
“Cinnabar has had quite an interesting time, lately,” Jadeveon admitted, shaking his head. “The Pokemon Liberation Front recently abducted a young Charmander and the only other prime living on the island besides Mewtwo, a man named Matrix, chased after them along with some others.”
“Matrix?” Zack asked with a cocked eyebrow. Odd name.
“That’s right,” Jadeveon confirmed, then continued to explain. “After that, another prime arrived, but she left with the Imperials after a brief skirmish. It wasn’t pretty. I’m to understand that several were questioned. As you can tell, this peaceful town has been through quite a bit.”
“So you’re hiding out here?” Caira asked. She worried it sounded a bit accusatory, which she didn’t intend.
“What I’m working on is fairly important,” Jadeveon remarked calmly, not showing any offense taken to such a statement. “I wouldn’t put it above the Imperials to try and abduct me from the town if I were residing in it. The Liberation Front has already shown it can be done.”
Zack crossed his arms and looked around the room, considering that point. He hadn’t quite realized the Empire was so strongly invested in this quest, as well. Crossing paths with them in any sort of negative way would not be good, from the might he’d seen they held on this realm.
Jadeveon let out another chuckle as he gave a warm, welcoming smile. “So, how can I help you, my friends?”
“I’m a knight from Camelot, and I need to find the star piece that crashed into the Vasty Deep,” Caira quickly answered, not leaving a second for anyone else to speak first. “From what I know about them, they need to be found.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Jadeveon nodded as he walked around the desk, running his hand across the smooth finish as he walked. “The problem is that the Vasty Deep isn’t exactly a small verse.”
“None of them are, as far as I can tell,” Zack remarked, not seeing that as a viable obstacle.
“No, but the Vasty Deep is far larger than any other,” Jadeveon shook his head. “I’ve done some research on the star piece and where it might be, but unfortunately all of my notes have been commandeered by the Imperial Navy.”
“What happened?” Caira tilted her head as she pried just a little bit.
“They seized my ship for trying to run their blockade of Cinnabar,” Jadeveon explained. “Many are allowed through, but they singled me out. I managed escape and make it to the island, but all of my research was lost in the process.”
“And it’s at Costa Del Sol, now?” Zack asked.
“We will not be challenging the Empire directly,” Gary suddenly interjected. “That would do us no good. Jad, is there any way to work without those notes?”
“It’s a lot of guesswork already,” Jadeveon explained as he shook his head. “But I have some co-ordinates worth looking at written down. Even I had the time to start from scratch, I would rather the Empire not have their own copy.”
“We can get it,” Zack shrugged. He sounded full of confidence, despite his lack of real knowledge about the situation. He was simply confident in his abilities, based only on the knowledge that he hadn’t died when fighting one of the most powerful beings in the Ashen Steppes. “What are we looking for and where?”
“Remember that you don’t have a say in any of this, boyo,” Gary suddenly snapped. He was met with a challenging and threatening glare from the young vagabond, which caused him to return his own harsh one.
“Zack’s right, though,” Caira interjected, sensing the hostility between the two and deciding to intervene this time. “If the Empire has something important, we’ll have to deal with them. Now or later. Why not on our own terms?”
When Gary paused and visibly bit his lip, Jadeveon suddenly spoke up. “They’re right, Gary. It’s a lot of me to ask, given that I can’t leave what I have here, but it would throw off the Empire’s trail if we reacquired my findings. All of my notes are encoded, but they could eventually be cracked,” He looked to Caira, continuing his train of thought in the same breath. “The boat is likely not stored at Costa Del Sol, but a nearby island the blockade is using as a rest and repair station.”
Zack’s face remained serious. He felt Gary’s piercing gaze upon him, but he didn’t turn to look at him. He simply watched as the astronomer handed Caira a picture. The black haired girl reached over the small Charizard that was still clinging tightly to her to take it and look at it.
“That’s the boat. Everything important is in a briefcase hidden in what served as my quarters,” Jadeveon explained. “Acquire that, and we will have a good starting point. I have more work to do, so I’ll stay here.”
“It’s not right to throw you into danger, either,” Caira nodded. “We’ll return your belongings to you.”
Zack gave his own confirming nod. His brain was already running through possibilities and battle scenarios in great detail, even though he didn’t know what they were looking for or where, exactly. This was his chance to prove to Caira that he belonged on the team. Also to Gary, but he was less concerned about that dude’s opinion.
“Be careful, and good luck,” astronomer Clowney said as he turned back to his research.
Caira turned to Zack before Gary, with a hopeful and promising look on her face. She was much less excited about this than he was, as she clearly understood Gary’s logic about not antagonizing the Empire so early into this little adventure. She felt that Zack’s mindset was right, though. They needed to act first. As soon as she began walking towards the exit, Zack started moving in that direction as well.
It was time to get to work.
“Don’t look too alarmed,” Jadeveon laughed as he looked to Zack, earning the young super soldier a scowl from Gary.
“No, it’s just…” Zack shook his head. “Wouldn’t have guessed who you were if I saw you on the street.”
“Isn’t that sort of the purpose?” Jadeveon responded, and Zack merely shrugged in response. It was a good point. This elicited an amused chuckle from the astronomer.
"Jad has been studying the same phenomenon you're interested in, Miss Ayryn," Gary announced, which served to explain to both parties their purpose for being here.
"It seems many people are interested in the star pieces," Jadeveon thoughtfully commented as he studied the young woman. "Though no one quite understand them."
“What are you doing all the way out here, anyway, Jad?” Gary asked as he looked around the lab. Both Zack and Caira noted he was far nicer to the astronomer than he ever was to them. “I thought the townsfolk of Cinnabar were fine with your presence.”
“Cinnabar has had quite an interesting time, lately,” Jadeveon admitted, shaking his head. “The Pokemon Liberation Front recently abducted a young Charmander and the only other prime living on the island besides Mewtwo, a man named Matrix, chased after them along with some others.”
“Matrix?” Zack asked with a cocked eyebrow. Odd name.
“That’s right,” Jadeveon confirmed, then continued to explain. “After that, another prime arrived, but she left with the Imperials after a brief skirmish. It wasn’t pretty. I’m to understand that several were questioned. As you can tell, this peaceful town has been through quite a bit.”
“So you’re hiding out here?” Caira asked. She worried it sounded a bit accusatory, which she didn’t intend.
“What I’m working on is fairly important,” Jadeveon remarked calmly, not showing any offense taken to such a statement. “I wouldn’t put it above the Imperials to try and abduct me from the town if I were residing in it. The Liberation Front has already shown it can be done.”
Zack crossed his arms and looked around the room, considering that point. He hadn’t quite realized the Empire was so strongly invested in this quest, as well. Crossing paths with them in any sort of negative way would not be good, from the might he’d seen they held on this realm.
Jadeveon let out another chuckle as he gave a warm, welcoming smile. “So, how can I help you, my friends?”
“I’m a knight from Camelot, and I need to find the star piece that crashed into the Vasty Deep,” Caira quickly answered, not leaving a second for anyone else to speak first. “From what I know about them, they need to be found.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Jadeveon nodded as he walked around the desk, running his hand across the smooth finish as he walked. “The problem is that the Vasty Deep isn’t exactly a small verse.”
“None of them are, as far as I can tell,” Zack remarked, not seeing that as a viable obstacle.
“No, but the Vasty Deep is far larger than any other,” Jadeveon shook his head. “I’ve done some research on the star piece and where it might be, but unfortunately all of my notes have been commandeered by the Imperial Navy.”
“What happened?” Caira tilted her head as she pried just a little bit.
“They seized my ship for trying to run their blockade of Cinnabar,” Jadeveon explained. “Many are allowed through, but they singled me out. I managed escape and make it to the island, but all of my research was lost in the process.”
“And it’s at Costa Del Sol, now?” Zack asked.
“We will not be challenging the Empire directly,” Gary suddenly interjected. “That would do us no good. Jad, is there any way to work without those notes?”
“It’s a lot of guesswork already,” Jadeveon explained as he shook his head. “But I have some co-ordinates worth looking at written down. Even I had the time to start from scratch, I would rather the Empire not have their own copy.”
“We can get it,” Zack shrugged. He sounded full of confidence, despite his lack of real knowledge about the situation. He was simply confident in his abilities, based only on the knowledge that he hadn’t died when fighting one of the most powerful beings in the Ashen Steppes. “What are we looking for and where?”
“Remember that you don’t have a say in any of this, boyo,” Gary suddenly snapped. He was met with a challenging and threatening glare from the young vagabond, which caused him to return his own harsh one.
“Zack’s right, though,” Caira interjected, sensing the hostility between the two and deciding to intervene this time. “If the Empire has something important, we’ll have to deal with them. Now or later. Why not on our own terms?”
When Gary paused and visibly bit his lip, Jadeveon suddenly spoke up. “They’re right, Gary. It’s a lot of me to ask, given that I can’t leave what I have here, but it would throw off the Empire’s trail if we reacquired my findings. All of my notes are encoded, but they could eventually be cracked,” He looked to Caira, continuing his train of thought in the same breath. “The boat is likely not stored at Costa Del Sol, but a nearby island the blockade is using as a rest and repair station.”
Zack’s face remained serious. He felt Gary’s piercing gaze upon him, but he didn’t turn to look at him. He simply watched as the astronomer handed Caira a picture. The black haired girl reached over the small Charizard that was still clinging tightly to her to take it and look at it.
“That’s the boat. Everything important is in a briefcase hidden in what served as my quarters,” Jadeveon explained. “Acquire that, and we will have a good starting point. I have more work to do, so I’ll stay here.”
“It’s not right to throw you into danger, either,” Caira nodded. “We’ll return your belongings to you.”
Zack gave his own confirming nod. His brain was already running through possibilities and battle scenarios in great detail, even though he didn’t know what they were looking for or where, exactly. This was his chance to prove to Caira that he belonged on the team. Also to Gary, but he was less concerned about that dude’s opinion.
“Be careful, and good luck,” astronomer Clowney said as he turned back to his research.
Caira turned to Zack before Gary, with a hopeful and promising look on her face. She was much less excited about this than he was, as she clearly understood Gary’s logic about not antagonizing the Empire so early into this little adventure. She felt that Zack’s mindset was right, though. They needed to act first. As soon as she began walking towards the exit, Zack started moving in that direction as well.
It was time to get to work.