Lukannon didn't really recognize too many of the larger words this Dietrich used, but weapons and ammunition were some of the first words he had wanted to learn from Noa. Those were the things used to kill Mother's children. Those were the things he and his pack dealt with so many years ago protecting their home, before he had learned to use Mother's energy. He hated these weapons with an unmatched ferocity.
He did not understand much about this Deetrick, for he too was a bus-ness man that tore down his relatives' homes. But, it seemed there were levels of wrong, of evil that Lukannon had come to understand more and more lately. These monsters that abused weapons needed to be killed now. He had lost too many brothers and sisters to these weapons.
Also, while the concept of paper being worth more than actual things was still somewhat foreign to him, Lukannon was adjusting more to the fact that with it, more forests, more jungles, more of Mother could be protected. Sora said he wanted more jenni; the others seemed dissatisfied with the jenni as well. For Lukannon, it was more personal.
"I go if you do me help in future. You are man with lots of this jenni that humans want. You have your company give this jenni to help protect Mother. If yes then I leave now to kill those with weapons."
Lukannon spoke with as much confidence as he could in this still foreign language. Whenever he had to speak for a long time, he would unconsciously finger his Metal Tooth, his true namesake. Noa said that made people nervous, but it was his natural instinct. Surviving, fighting for what was yours, sharing with your pack, the knife symbolized that to him. It was the only thing that connected his birth pack to the family that raised him.
"Wow", Random thought. There's just too many details involved. This indeed is a big mission. But as that other guy said, the pay is not enough.
"Wait, I'm a Hunter, not a Mercenary. A Crime Hunter, even. This smells too much of crime. About money, the Association gave us access to wads of money I probably couldn't spend in my lifetime. So who gives a shi about money...?", all of this was said in Random's mind. But in reality some of the words made their way out of his mouth in tiny murmurs.
"Sorry to interrupt the other guys. Whatever the deal is, I'm in. The gig seems to have the potential to let us run into a lot of "orcs"", declared Random. The other Hunters did not get this term, as could be seen from their faces.
"Orc" was a term Random uses for people who gate-crash into concerts. That means they didn't buy a ticket, or pay the entrance fee. This is the case especially at gigs launched at wide venues. Orcs tend to destroy the whole gig if they are allowed to become too ferocious.
"Yeah, as I was saying, Orcs. I'm experienced at handling many foes at once. But don't expect me to be subtle", said Random, smiling and emphatically tapping his feet to a rhythm only he could hear. It was probably getting over some peoples' nerves, but Random allowed himself to be indifferent this time.
'Isn't that too little for what we're doing?,' asked one of the boys. Dietrich was aware that he wasn't offering much in comparison to the amounts Hunters could usually expect to earn for this kind of job. He had been hoping that the subject wouldn't come up - forking out 12 million was a big deal for him.
'I agree with that kid,' chimed in Scyre, 'Two million jennis is way too little for such a mission, I'm sure Atlas Corp is rich enough to pay us two billion each for this mission, considering last year's earnings, am I right?' he asked Deitrich. 'Besides, if Reno Marconi is involved, capturing or killing him is going to be hard.' Dietrich didn't like the guy's know-it-all attitude, and he wondered when it was that Hunters had got so greedy.
'I know it's not much,' he said, looking from Scyre to Sora. 'But this mission isn't being funded by Atlas ("as you should have surmised", Dietrich wished he could add). They don't even know about it - they wouldn't respond well if they heard one of their board of directors was trying to ruin the reputation of another. Hell, this money isn't coming from Zaltzman. It's coming straight out of my own pocket, and it's all I have.
The best I can say is that, if we pull this off, Mr. Zaltzman will be very grateful, and I'll do my best to persuade him to offer you more, but I can't promise anything.'
'Well,' Scyre said eying for a second to the other Hunters 'I'm up for some infiltration, I'm quite good at collecting information you know? And, of course, if I have the chance, I'll kill Marconi.'
Before Dietrich could reply, another of their number spoke - the one crouched on the floor. 'I go if you do me help in future. You are man with lots of this jenni that humans want. You have your company give this jenni to help protect Mother. If yes then I leave now to kill those with weapons.' Dietrich wondered how best to proceed with this strange man whose speech was broken. Everything about him screamd that he had been brought up in the wild, and with a great deal of perciption, Dietrich correctly guessd that "Mother" was nature or the environment.
'I can't guarantee that, I'm afraid.' He looked Lukannon in the eye as he spoke. 'But if we succeed in this mission, then Mr. Zaltzman will probably become boss of the company, and he intends to put of Atlas' money into helping the environment and nature.' In his desparation, Dietrich was beginning to tell lies; Zaltzman had no plans for any environmental or conservation work, but there was no way any of them would know that.
'Sorry to interrupt the other guys,' put in the long-haired man. 'Whatever the deal is, I'm in. The gig seems to have the potential to let us run into a lot of "orcs"', declared Random. The other Hunters did not get this term, as could be seen from their faces. 'Yeah, as I was saying, Orcs. I'm experienced at handling many foes at once. But don't expect me to be subtle', said Random, smiling and emphatically tapping his feet to a rhythm only he could hear.
'You can be the diversion then,' Dietrich joked with a slight smile. He silently gave thanks for not all Hunters being obssessed with money.
'Who cares about money?' added Thos simply, leaning forward in his seat. He gave most of his to charity anyway. His master had told him to try as many different types of Hunt as he could, and he agreed to any job that sounded exciting. 'I'm up for it. Are you gonna test us or anything?,' he asked Dietrich.
The other man shook his head. 'I've asked for your help with this. I have no right to question your abilities, nor am I in any position to do so. I will trust in the strength of all of you that choose to join me, as I hope you will trust in mine.'
Lukannon eyed the man wearily. He noted that what the man had said was fairly empty and had made no promise to support Mother in any way. However, from his desperation, it seemed as if the man he wanted to take down would cause even more problems for his friends and family. Lukannon decided that this man would most likely be the lesser of two tigers. If it didn't work out, if he was betrayed, he would take it as another lesson of how to deal with living in the human world. Of how to deal with their own selfish behavior.
"I am no stupid. You don't promise Mother anything. But I still decide go. Friends must trust friends. Friend taught me Hunters are friends. I am ready."
-That kind of attitude will only get you killed- Scyre though with a sigh. -Mmm...a reinforcement type? Maybe Emission?- he wondering for a second eyeing the wild boy.
-Hhmm....money's too little but on the other hand, getting rid of Marconi would certainly be interesting, fuck, decisions decisions.....-
Scyre was certainly getting annoyed by his own thoughts, but he tried to remain calm. He took a second to reevaluate his companions...the wild boy seemed simple enough, only caring about the environment. There was nothing personal for him to win or to lose. The headbanger came next. He said he could take down several guys at the same time, maybe something to do with his ability, which could be useful since his own ability can only affect one person and it also has a chance of backfiring, plus, he seemed smart enough, which made him an interesting ally.
Then he looked at Dennis. The kid seemed to have grown a lot since the last time he saw him. Yet, he had the impression he still needed a little more experience, but it wasn't a bad thing, the kid's only 16 or so. The other kid, whos name was still unknown to Scyre seemed to be pretty much the same as Dennis.
Thos didn't give much information about himself, and his appearance didn't reveal much. He was going to enter Hunter's Association's website and try to found a little about him.
"Well, Mr. Sollos, you seem desperate enough, and for what I know, if this situation is enough to make so many powerful people this nervous, then it's gonna be pretty big...I guess I'm in, despite the money" he said finally looking at Deitrich.
"Now...what's your plan Mr Sollos?"
"Not wanting to beat a dead horse, but I didn't say I wanted more money out of greed, if that's what everyone's thinking." Sora chimed in. "I thought the amount wasn't fair, and I don't like it when something's not fair, that's all. If you say that's as much as you can pay, then it's totally OK."
Sora paused for a second to look at everyone's faces. "If it isn't obvious enough, I accept too." Sora declared confidently with a simple smile. "Besides, now I got very curious what's the deal about all of this. Maybe it's pointless, but I'll still ask it..." he thought.
"Sorry for being so straight, but... are you positively not hiding anything from us?" Sora looked Dietrich in the eye, without blinking. He has a good instinct to tell whether people are trustworthy or not. Now, it would depend on how Dietrich answered.
After hearing Dietrich, Sora put his left hand behind his back and said "Anyway, I apologize if my attitude sounded arrogant. Name's Sora, I think it will be great working with everyone here!", doing a thumbs up at the end.
Dennis glanced at sora noting how he put Dietrich on a bit of a spotlight."I have no problems with the pay or task... " He said swolloing his candy bar. "but he's right. If we can't trust you, then that in turn means you can't trsut us, and if there is anything I've learned from being a hunter, its that things NEVER go completely to plan." Dennis then got comfortable in his chair resting his head on his arms and crossing his legs on a nearby coffe table. "Should any mishaps happen, we'll have no choice but to resort to our own instinct, and you'll have to both accept and go with it on a dime, if you can't do that you're as good as a dead man. so to cut any bullcrap on the job, I really think you should think well on your response to us will be and be willing to go through with it."
Well no matter what his response is, I'm prone to using my own instincts anyway...
Random was really getting impatient at his point but this is all because his supposed band mates still haven't shown up. He kept both legs bouncing up and down, as if he were stomping on bass drums. This really didn't make any noise but the visual distraction factor is high.
"For young guys they seem pretty distrustful. But being used sucks. Corporate guys seem to thrive on things like this. So I think this is understandable. I'd like the gig to start pretty soon though. Should I say something more rousing to expedite the negotiation here? What to do...?", said Random to himself again. Somehow he visualized himself looking bored but he can actually feel some tension here. The greatest source of this tension though seems to be Dietrich. Did he lie or something? Random really wanted to say something but...
"I guess... I'd have to shut up and let Dietrich say something first", Random decided.
Lukannon eyed Dietrich wearily. 'I am no stupid,' he said. You don't promise Mother anything. But I still decide go. Friends must trust friends. Friend taught me Hunters are friends. I am ready.'
Dietrich, resisting the urge to say 'I never claimed that I was promising anything,' and replied with a smile, 'Glad to have you aboard.'
'Well, Mr. Sollos, you seem desperate enough,' Scyre was now saying, 'And for what I know, if this situation is enough to make so many powerful people this nervous, then it's gonna be pretty big...I guess I'm in, despite the money' he said finally looking at Deitrich. 'Now...what's your plan Mr Sollos?'
'Not wanting to beat a dead horse,' but I didn't say I wanted more money out of greed, if that's what everyone's thinking.' the boy in the black coat chimed in, before Dietrich could explain his plan. 'I thought the amount wasn't fair, and I don't like it when something's not fair, that's all. If you say that's as much as you can pay, then it's totally OK.' Sora paused for a second to look at everyone's faces. 'If it isn't obvious enough, I accept too.' Sora declared confidently with a simple smile. 'Sorry for being so straight, but... are you positively not hiding anything from us?' Sora looked Dietrich in the eye, without blinking.
'I have no problems with the pay or task...,' added Dennis. 'But he's right. If we can't trust you, then that in turn means you can't trust us, and if there is anything I've learned from being a hunter, its that things NEVER go completely to plan.' Dennis then got comfortable in his chair resting his head on his arms and crossing his legs on a nearby coffe table. 'Should any mishaps happen, we'll have no choice but to resort to our own instinct, and you'll have to both accept and go with it on a dime, if you can't do that you're as good as a dead man. So to cut any bullcrap on the job, I really think you should think well on your response to us will be and be willing to go through with it.'
Thos couldn't help snickering at the sight of two kids talking down to a man in his thirties. His eyes, which had previously looked a little blank, now held a bright spark within them and he was smiling ever so slightly, making him looking like a little like a happy cat. He was excited at the prospect of this expedition, and he was warming to his new comrades.
Dietrich looked back at Sora and Dennis. When he spoke, his tone was equally calm and reassuring. 'I promise, I've told you everything. I know you think you can't trust a corporate stooge like me, but I assure you, my only concern is my friend's safety.'
Sora appeared to be satisfied; he put his left hand behind his back and said,' Anyway, I apologize if my attitude sounded arrogant. Name's Sora, I think it will be great working with everyone here!', doing a thumbs up at the end. Dietrich smiled very genuinely at this. On the whole, he was extremely impressed with those gathered before him. There all seemed to have their heads screwed on straight, they had good instincts and, perhaps most importantly, they were all very genuine. He intended to prove them right to trust him.
From his back pocket he produced a world map. Quickly unfolding it, he laid it out on the coffee table. 'Here's where we are now,' in Le Sac, Dietrich said, pointing at it, as they all leanded in to look. Marconi's base is here, in Gobunlia. We're going to travel by airship to Brahm, here, which borders Gobunlia. Now I know what you're thinking - why not travel straight to Gobunlia? Well, Marconi has a lot of influence there. I don't want to run even the slightest risk of him catching wind of seven Hunters flying into his backyard.
So we fly to Brahm. The journey will take us about six hours. I've already chartered an airship - it's ready and waiting for us at the airport. Then we sneak across the Gobunlia border and then travel cross country 'til we reach somewhere we can buy a van without having to answer too many questions. Then we drive to Deriva. It's a small, poor, one-horse town. Just outside of it, on top of a big hill is Marconi's mansion, where he lives in the lap of luxury. It's also where he conducts his business, so it should be full of papers connecting him to Chapman. Since he has the Gobunlia police in his pocket he can do all this in his home without fear of retribution. That's why we under-estimated his security - we expected him to be complacent.'
Dietrich pulled back one of his long sleeves and checked his watch. 'It's eleven am now. Half an hour to the airport, six hour flight, and then two to three hours 'til we reach Deriva. We should arrive at about midnight.'
He folded up the map and got to his feet. 'Of course, there's a lot more to discuss, but I don't want to waste any more time if possible. We'll talk out the details of the mission, including our strategy, on the air ship. I rang for a cab on the way here. It should be waiting outside by now. Half of you can take that to the airport. The rest of you can come in my car. If you've got any equipment to collect from your rooms, please do it now - I'd like to leave in ten minutes if possible.'
Thos was the first to rise. 'I'll be back in a minute!' he said, hurrying quickly up the stairs. In a couple of minutes he was back, wearing a thick, dark green army jacket that was very fashinable amongst young men. He spoke to the receptionist, leaving with her everything valuable he had with him except for his cell phone - a Hunter Association building was as safe a place to stash treasure as any bank. He then walked over to Dietrich, already prepared, who stood by the door. 'Ready!'
In a darkened basment many miles away, a body, beaten, bruised and bloody, was slumped against the wall. Chains were wrapped around his body, chains which snaked along the floor and up to a man's hands. However, the man wasn't holding the chains; instead, it looked liket the chains were coming out of his hands themselves. He was one of three ominous-looking individuals stood round, looking down at the prisoner. 'He isn't talking,' said the man with the chains in a deep, calm voice.
'Has Scroobius had a go at him?' asked another man, equally calmly. What little light there was in the room glinted off his spectacles, concealing his eyes.
'Are you kidding? Scroobius would kill him,' came the sound of a woman's voice, incredulously. They heard the sound of steps descending the stairs behind them, but none of them took their eyes off the beaten man at their feet. The girl that joined them had an irritatingly chirpy, slightly shrill voice that resonated around the room dissonantly.
'The boss just called! He says he'll be here with Alice at about midnight!'
'Good,' replied the bespectacled man. 'Get back to guarding that idiot Marconi, Fi.'
'Got it, Steiny!' the girl replied, turning and skipping back up the stairs.
'Well Alice'll get everything we need out of him anyway,' "Steiny" finished solemnly.
Here's where we're headed. From my photobucket account. Original art by Togashi Yoshihiro (duh).
"I'll be back in a second" Scyre said standing up, giving one last glance to Deitrich. Something was off, but he couldn't put his finger into it just yet. -Well...I can always change my own plans- he thought while pushing the elevator button.
He got inside his room and logged into his computer. In a second he entereed the URL for the Hunter's Association Website and used his license number (and the License itself) to get access.
"Now let's see....Thos Thos Thos....ah, here he is.....uhm...interesting" he said to himself.
Name: Thos Hrodrolf
Age: 22
Passed the Hunter exam three years ago.
A student of Guillaume Brider, the one star Music Hunter.
Is rumoured to have a medical-based ability.
Not known to specialise in any one kind of Hunting.
Gives moderate amounts of money to several charities.
Putting his stuff on his backpack, he took out his phone -I really don't want to do this but....- He search through his contacts until he found the one he wanted.
"Uhm...hey mom....before you yell at me for hanging up on you listen, I might need your help for a job" Scyre said while grabbing his gun, a little gift he got from his mother when he turned 15. "Here's the deal, I'm about to infiltrate Reno Marconi's state and find some incriminating evidence, things might take a turn for the worse, as they usually do, so I need you to be on your guard, in case he flees or something happens, plus, in case of extreme emergncy, it would be glad to have someone like you as backup" he finished.
/Marconi huh? Maria Lurk said on the phone, Well, it wouldn't be fair if I helped you now, would it? So you're on your own for now Scy, but let me tell you this, if you kill him, I'll play a game with you, sounds good?/
-Now, this is interesting, I could have my mother finally off my back, or whatever I want- Scyre thought with a grin "You're so gonna regret those words Mom" he thought as he hung up. He went throught his room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, retrieving his portable console charger.
After he left the room, he dashed down the stairs to the lobby -Faster this way-
Dennis shrugged and got back into sitting position. "Ok pal if you say so..." He said bearing a grin. After listening to the plan he stood "got it. I'LL be back soon! I didn't shower or anything, oh well I can't smell worse than tarzan over there..." He said switching to his thoughts. Once he was upstairs he gathered his wallet, phone and finally his locket which he looked at for a bit. "Its a new job, this one seems like it'll be more interesting than the rest." Dennis said, then put it on and under his shirt.
After packing his small backpack he went downstairs and quickly went outside, looking around for the others.
Sora decided he would trust everyone present. Even if all of them were to betray him, he'd have no regrets.
"Actually, I expected this to be a mission and was planning to accept it from the very start, so I brought all my stuff." Sora said, taking off his coat, revealing his usual black and red outfit, and stashing it into his backpack. He also took out his usual black shoes and switched them up with the big, yellow shoes in his backpack that he usually swears.
He was curious about Dietrich, his past, why did he get that job, though all that would have to wait. Sora wanted to say hi to Thos, but he was getting ready upstairs. Since they had a bit of time because almost everyone was getting ready, he might as well talk about this now.
"Lukannon!" Sora said, waving at him. "Long time no see! I suppose you have time to talk, right?" Sora said. Without waiting for an answer, he added "Was there something you wanted to say to me?"
Being indoors with unfamiliar humans was bad enough. Being in a fairly unfamiliar setting made things worse. One on one interaction was Lukannon's biggest fear. He began rubbing his finger along the edge of his metal tooth. He only did such on two types of occasions: when preparing to kill and when extremely anxious. It was a simple guess which time this was.
"Hello, Sora. It is nice to see you again." Lukannon strained with pronouncing each word clearly and correctly. "I hear from family that you protect jungle. Stop hu ---err --- city from killing trees. Help Rivax stop fighting with building people." Lukannon kept persevering through the conversation, hoping that he was expressing his and his brethren's gratitude well.
"Brethren say you good person. They, no, we want to say thank you." Lukannon finished what he wanted to say, and grew very quiet, almost literally shrinking into himself. "I go get bag. Be back fast. Take first wheels to flying machine. I hope we trust each other."
And with that Lukannon sped off to grab his little carry bag.
"Wow, this is really exciting, huh...", Random was trying to wrap his head about the events that were unfolding before him. "So we fly on a plane - damn the Hunter Association zeppelins -, beat up some goons, and probably expose some bigwig's stench. Holy crap this is much more exciting than a jam session. And hey... did I just give these guys a clue to my Nen-ability earlier...? Gah!", Random audibly slap his palm on his forehead, gaining the attention of the others for a short while, giving him another weirded-out look.
And then Random remembered Dietrich only gave them 10 minutes to prepare. "D'OH! Gotta hurry!"
Random sped up to the elevators, and then to his room, tapping his feet rapidly when he was forced to stay still. He crashed into his room's door, dumped his spare clothes, showered quickly (he needed it, as he was kinda sweating due to his air drum session) and bolted out of his room. Halfway to the elevator he remembered, "GAH! POTATO CHIPS! I FORGOT THE POTATO CHIPS!" He ran back to his room and shoved all 5 packs of chips in his bag, and ran off to the elevators and the lobby. He even slipped as he reached the latter.
"Man, am I clumsy or what? How am I supposed to give a good impression on these guys? Gah..."
"So should we go now?" Scyre said as soon as he reached the lobby, just in time to see the headbanger slip.
-So much for first impressions- he thought starting to laugh a little. He couldn't control it, once he starts laughing, it's hard for him to stop, so a little giggle turned into a full laughter until he reach the guy.
"Need hahahaha...need a hand...hah..this floors can be dangerous haah" he said trying hard to suppres the laughter, failing miserably. "Sorry, I can't help it....but....but you should be more careful next time" he said.
"I'm Scyre...Scyre Lurk" he introduced himself,glad the laughter finally died. "If we're going to be teammates, at least we should know each others names huh?" he finished offering a hand.
One by one, the team arrived in the lobby. Dietrich led the way outside and drove half of them in his own car whilst the rest jumped into the waiting cab.
Half an hour they were all at the airport and getting ready to board the ship their leader had hired for them. Being Hunters, no questions were asked at boarding or customs and within minutes they were sitting round the airship's gondola.
The compartment was more roomy than most of aircrafts of this kind. There was enough room to stretch out, even lie down on one of the ample sofas that stretched round three of its sides. The fourth side was occupied the controls, where Dietrich sat down and got ready for take-off. By this time they had all exchanged names but hadn't had much of a chance to to exchange small talk. With a six-hour flight in front of them, however, there was plenty of time to get to know one another.
Before that, however, they had to work out a plan of attack. Once they were safely up in the air, Dietrich whacked auto-pilot on and turned to face the others.
'Right, time to decide on a plan.
As I see it, we have three goals we want to fulfil.' Dietrich counted them off on his fingers. 'Rescue Twisp. Find the evidence. Kill Marconi. It's none of my business what techniques you all possess, but does anyone think they'd be particularly suitable for any of those three roles?'
Thos, who was sitting to Dietrich's left, raised his hand a little, as he had done in the lobby. 'Twisp could be in a bad way by now,' he said. 'I'd better be one of the ones who goes to find him.' Dietrich nodded.
'Right,' he said, but didn't ask anymore. 'Anyone else?' he asked the rest of the group.
'We'll also need to work out how to infiltrate the mansion grounds. We could just charge in the front, but they'd pick up on us before we could reach the door, so I'm thinking something more subtle might be needed.'
Back in the city, in the high-rise Panacea office building, Clarence Braig sat behind the desk of his spacious office. He was sat silently reading a letter of thanks from a certain politician whose daughter he had recently performed surgery on. "Without you, she would certainly have died. I cannot thank you enough..." it read etc. Braig placed it back down on the table and smiled contentedly.
His office began to ring and he picked it up after a few moments. 'Mr. Chapman on the phone for you, sir,' he heard his reception say.
'Put him though, dear,' he replied. He leant back in his chair as the call was put through. 'Ah, Mr. Chapman,' he said in a friendly manner. 'What can I do for you?'
'Braig,' he heard the other man greet him in a succinct, business-like tone. After exchanging a few formal pleasantries, they began their conversation in earnest.
'Braig, let me be blunt. I intend to win the election.'
'I never had any doubt.'
'But we both know I can't do it alone. And we both know from whom you will receive votes. Those two or three people for whom you've... worked.'
'What do you mean?' asked Braig, knowing exactly what his colleague meant.
'Everyone knows that you have used the powers and influence of Panacea to help several members of our board of directors, or members of their family.'
'Is there anything objectionable about saving the lives of one's fellow man?'
'Not at all. I'm just making sure we both know where we stand. But, my point is this: I wish to make a deal with you. Request those with whom you have influence to vote for me.'
'And what will I receive in return?' asked Braig coolly. Chapman waited a few moments before answering.
'Name your price.'
'Money?'
'If you wish.'
'No thank you, I have plenty of it already,' as you know.
'Fine, then what is it you want?' Chapman demanded testily.
'If you win, you make me vice-president.'
Again, Chapman waited some moments before replying. When he did, he said just one word. 'Deal.' Immediately afterward, Braig heard him put the phone down. He sat back in his chair and smiled to himself once more.
"Question. "Do we need to kill Marconi? Nothing against it, just curious." Sora said. "Though I suppose it'll be very hard just to kill him, let alone take him as prisoner..." He thought.
"I volunteer to fight -or kill- Marconi. I'm not cut for a "retrieve evidence" kind of mission from that level and I don't think I could protect a potentially heavily injured person too well." Sora stated with confidence. "That's the most fun mission, anyway...", those last words being on his mind.
"Well, can't be helped. I suck, don't I?", Random told Scyre after the latter introduced himself. Random gave his hand and stood up.
"Nice to meet you brother. I go by the name of Random Randomson. You mentioned your surname was Lurk? I do remember someone by that name... I'm not sure though." Random told Scyre. They then talked about the upcoming mission till all of them finally got assembled and headed onto the airport.
----
On the plane, Dietrich had a three-pronged plan of action. Random immediately thought of the "Kill Marconi" branch. But then something bothered him.
"This Marconi guy. He seems familiar. But I'm poor at remembering people's names. If I get to see his face, I may be able to remember him completely..."
Random asked Dietrich. "Is it possible if we could just capture Marconi?"
Random remembered Scyre wanted to kill this guy, for a reason he doesn't know. "This is bad," Random thought to himself. He just hoped Scyre had enough patience and self-control to not kill Marconi. The guy really seemed vaguely familiar. He thought hard. "Was it that time in Saint Vesalius...? Nah, can't be... I'm sure we got all of the thugs in there..."
Sora cut short Random's internal monologue. Sora wants to be on the "Fight or Kill Marconi" team.
"There's a greater chance that Marconi lives if I had Sora - or anybody with Sora's mindset - on the team. Random shooted for that slot as well. But he paused and weighed the other team options.
"The Find Data Team looks interesting. I could probably get more info there than Marconi, if he ever was involved in that Saint Vesalius incident."
"But Save Twisp team looks like I may have a better use there. I'm pretty sure there are 2-3 people guarding Twisp. But Marconi, there's no point in thinking he doesn't have a lot of lackeys around him as well. And strong lackeys, at that..."
"Pff...", Random took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and decided.
"As I've said earlier, I have good experience in dealing with a huge number of enemies. I would see myself useful when being partnered with a guy who excelled at one-on-one situations. Can anybody say they're sure they're good at one-on-one?"
Right after Random asked the guys this question, Random thought, "please, partner Lukannon with a guy who is a better thinker than me..."
'Question. Do we need to kill Marconi? Nothing against it, just curious,' Sora said. 'I volunteer to fight -or kill- Marconi. I'm not cut for a "retrieve evidence" kind of mission from that level and I don't think I could protect a potentially heavily injured person too well,' Sora stated with confidence.
'No, killing Marconi isn't a necessity. Scyre, at least, expressed his wish to do so, however, and from a practical point of view it might be easier to do than capture him.'
'Plus,' cut in Thos, 'the people working for him are probably doing so for money. If the one paying them is killed, there's always a chance they'll stop fighting. Although personally I think we should capture him,' he added hastily. 'Although I know that's easier said than done...' he finished sheepishly.
'Well, kill or capture, I'll leave that to the discretion of the team handling that part of the operation.'
'As I've said earlier,' contributed Random, 'I have good experience in dealing with a huge number of enemies. I would see myself useful when being partnered with a guy who excelled at one-on-one situations. Can anybody say they're sure they're good at one-on-one?'
Dietrich shook his head. 'Not me. In this kind of mission, my ability's best use will be to stall several opponents at once.' He wondered silently whether or not to tell everyone the details of his ability as a gesture of good faith.
"I guess you guys don't know" Scyre said with a sigh, interrupting the conversation "Marconi has been arrested once before, and got out because he has the money and the influence to do as he pleases. Of course, most of the details about his capture and release are confidential, but the person who busted him that time was my mother, the blacklist Hunter Maria Lurk. I called her from the hotel and after she declined on being our backup, she sent an email to my phone with some details about the last time she saw him, I'll foward it to you guys. Not much, actually, nothing we didn't already know, except for the fact that he has a lot of influence in most countries' politicians, head of huge multinational corporations, etc., his clients."
He look at his comrades and he knew he had to say something awful
"There also another point. We hadn't had any kind of report from Twisp, so chances are he might not be alive. So the question is, do we really split ourselves to find him, or do we operate under the assumption he is dead? I'll leave it for you to decide." He finished eyeing Deitrich.
-This complicates things- He thought to himself.
"In short, what I'm saying is, capturing him alive won't do, so it would be easier to just kill him, we'd be taking out one of the big dogs of the underworld." Scyre continued a little more.
"I'm skilled at one on one fighting, and I want to go after Marconi, if I'm gonna have a partner, I need someone who can fight against several people at the same time, someone who can fight from the distance, since I'm a close combat fighter."
