"There are only four places they would take someone." Puyai raised his hand and counted across his fingers. "Three of them are here on the second tier of Ultinia, the fourth is on the third level. Tell me the circumstances where your friend was taken."
"He was taken by a man that was completely red in color, we couldn't make out the features on his face." Mursayade played with the spear in her hand. She was annoyed and the whole group was itching for a fight before lost their nerves.
"You've little chance to victory if you're to assault the Empire alone." The large man who had been hit with a hammer had finally gotten back to his feet and through the door.
Puyai looked him over to check his wounds, "Good, you didn't die. My young apprentice is not wrong, if you go at this alone, you will die."
"and who would go fight with us? You?" Vector didn't know what else to say, he was there to gather information, not join an army.
"Remember, I said that I was a General and even have said army.. Such things are not impossible, however, I was thinking of a different road. Join our alliance." Puyai
"We are not alone, there are others." Mursayade felt like she could trust the Old Man. Despite his charge against Vector earlier, she had no reason to act otherwise.
"If you're friend was taken by Iasyou, then he's on the third level. As you both are, right now, you could hold your own against a group of my soldiers but if you met with someone of my caliber.." He shook his head, "You haven't the slightest chance."
Kuzunoha and Vira kept quiet as they entered, Vector had given them a rough idea where to find him when they were done. Only Noyuki was still out searching the town.
"You're quick." Vira laughed at Vector and stood beside Kuzunoha at the end of their table. "Do you want to fight for a cause you know nothing about?"
"Its true that I know nothing of their reasons for fighting in the first place but.. the enemy of my enemy might still be my friend?" Vector threw his hands up briefly in gestures.
"I've heard a saying like that before, Enemy of my enemy is still a threat, trust them but don't forget, an enemy is an enemy." Puyai laughed. "I accept whatever choice you make, but I will not stand for two beautiful women to leave an old man drinking alone.."
'What about us Old Man?' Virtually everyone at the table had the same thought.
"How could we refuse potential allies, but do tell us what we're getting into.. in full." As Kuzunoha finished speaking, she sat down beside the old man and grabbed his arm. "Anything less.. and." Fire erupted around her arm.
Puyai started to struggle.
"What.. Don't you think I'm hot? You know.. I'm a married woman." Inching her fingers up his beard, it slowly burned away and left a foul smell in the bar.
"Mercy.." he slapped at his beard to put out the flames and doused himself in one of his apprentice's drinks. Puyai finally got the embers to stop snaking toward his chin, with a final pat he agreed to tell them everything even if they chose to leave. Vira's heat was much hotter than Kuzunoha. "Three beauties and if I didn't know any better, you could all be sisters."
"Its been said." Mursayade's response was particularly fun to hear to the group, it added to their reputation. "Now, how about explaining since most of us are here."
Fapp was rejoining, he hadn't seen so many pretty girls in one place before. "Oh? There are still more of you?"
"Yes, a friend." Mursayade suddenly had a moment of doubt. Vector caught on to her tension, he had his hand on her thigh and her pulse had quickened again.
One of the other apprentices took a drink and Puyai started to tell them the reasons they had been fighting. "The Sun Worshipers have been killing what they can't conquer and enslaving anyone who stands in their path.."
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Red Gimps came back with small boxes and carted away parts that had been Cut from several of the prisoners, each of them healed naturally at a particular rate but the gas could supplement for that. Harvesting parts was easier than hunting and higher level beings were just as easy to heal as lower level being for a while. Eating them was interesting but they had their own ways of absorbing the energies.
The formations would stop the use of all energy, stalling it, the gas would knock them out, then another gas would heal them after they'd been carved into pieces. Then, they'd be gassed again, the key to a proper and productive harvesting was a consistent cutting time, strict guidelines and lots of preparation.
Wu Hai was conscious some of the time, it came down on his soul like a dull bore, grinding away at it slowly. He could recuperate, he had to but it was also going with just his body's natural abilities to heal. All of his energy was being suppressed and there was little he could do besides taking it. He felt like he had fallen for a trap but he knew better. He had been a target of opportunity and the Red Figure's words contained gave away his reasoning. 'I don't want to become a slave..' Wu Hai focused his mind and went to a happy place, doing his best to ignore the pain from his regenerating limbs. The gas did most of the work but as he was still laying on the table, being dissected and repeatedly harvested, he could do nothing.
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"I don't have time for this." Noyuki backhanded a man in an alley.
'Bitch.' He wiped the blood from his lips an lunged at her with a knife.
"Fool." She turned and put her hand to his chest. The knife nearly grazed her arm , it was poisoned and corroded from frequent use.
Noyuki charged her energies in front of her palm, it twisted the man into a puddle of muck. "What part of I'm not interested was difficult to understand?"
Several of his buddies were with him in the alley, they had followed her there. Noyuki had a bag of food and spirit stones with her, the people that surrounded her were somewhat weak but all of them were hungry or starved for energy.
"I require information." Noyuki flew above them and burst into multi-colored fire.
A few of the people in the alleyway lunged toward the bag in desperation but Noyuki was much faster and they couldn't run away. She had dodged all of their advances like it was a complete joke, not a single hit had landed on her or her clothes.
"Tell me of the Wars in this area." Noyuki had just a few questions.
"Lady, you can go fighting but we don't' want any part of their wars." The man spoke then pulled his shirt collar to the side. "We will not be enslaved again." He began telling a story about the war.
Two versions of the story were being told, both gave the same ending. Puyai spoke about the Sun worshipers constantly plundering like wild savages bent on cannibalism, enslavement and conquering while the thugs in the alley shared their experiences as slaves.
They had only escaped because of Sutrali raids that brought down one of the area's experiment and research centers. Too many people had gone missing locally in the region and all traces led back to the Sunset and Eclipsing Empires lust for power. By the time that Sutrali had destroyed the facility and reclaimed its people so many had died.
"We had no idea what he had planned for us, more than five thousand of our people died, only a handful made it out of there alive. If it wasn't for the Sutrali, our people would have vanished completely. Though, we are not welcome by them.. as outsiders who fought alongside other enemies of theirs, we do not have the right to stand beside them." One of the escaped prisoners ate the food that Noyuki was passing out for information.
"You say they were taking parts of your people? Were they looking for anything in particular?" Noyuki wanted to know but there were some details she would prefer not to hear.
"No, they only took parts they believed would not kill the body, so they could continue and repeat their actions for years on end. Like a farm, they grow the roots and cut off what they want to consume." Finishing his sandwich, he held out his hands for more.
"Eat as much as you like." She tossed the bag on the ground in front of the group. "What do your remember about their security?"
"nothing, we were kept in cells and left in glowing rooms the rest of the time. None of us was able to muster any strength and because of that we could not fight back or even resist as pieces were carved from us every day. They removed my most organs, almost all of them and then they'd spray us with a fog and everything would heal." He held his chest and it felt like he was dying all over again, it was obvious to Noyuki that it was a traumatic experience for all of them.
She left the bag of food and then the alley. Noyuki had found some of the information they needed but had no idea what to expect."
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The Bar was mostly empty, it was still early in the daytime and the only ones present were the group in green outfits. Vector listened while Puyai told him the stories of breaking into the facility.
They had spent months learning routes in and out of the building, probing wasn't easy and the guards themselves were not idiots. All of them had been handpicked by their leaders for the positions because of their vigilance. When the day finally came to strike, they came with the brunt of their military forces and laid siege until a wall had come down for their entry. The General's Elite Guard had even suffered some losses just entering, though a wall had come down, their defenses were still very good.
Inside they found multiple levels of bodies, body parts, weapons and piles of boots. "It wasn't until we got to the lowest levels that we discovered the true breath of their actions." Puyai spit on the floor. "Those bastards were even skinning children, some of them had grown into adulthood knowing nothing besides their torture. In the end, all we could offer some of them were acts of mercy."
"So you want to fight them?" Noyuki pushed open what was left of the door to the bar, "Figured you'd still be here. Introduce me to your friends."
"This is General Puyai and his.." Vector stopped himself. "You know, I don't even know why I'm introducing him."
"Another beautiful woman, wonderful." Puyai stood up and offered her a seat next to his. "I am Puyai, General of the Western Armies. These are my subordinates, Fapp, Haun, Criar and Ren."
"Its nice to meet you, you were saying??" Noyuki sat down and the Old General put his arm across the bench. "I just got here but I can keep up, just continue where you left off."
"In that case, Our command is not far from here. Why don't you all take the chance to see for yourselves, we aren't all as weak as Fapp." Puyai embarrassed Fapp with his comment but Fapp had really lost face with his slow and obvious movements during their initial encounter.
Vector handed Fapp his hammer, "Its weighted correctly, how long have you been using Hammers?"
Fapp took it by the handle and stored it on his back again. "I've used hammers most of my adult life, so.. two hundred years, give or take a few." The hammer locked itself in place and he shifted his weight a few times to get it sitting comfortably. "What about you, that was a good move a bit ago, how long have you been playing with hammers?"
"That's funny." Vector made an ice hammer in his hands, it was almost exactly the weight and shape as the one on Fapp's back. "Thirty to forty years, depending on how you measure time." When he was done talking, the hammer crumbled into mist