explosivecombat | 017. [Locked Audio/Rocket Frequency]

017. [Locked Audio/Rocket Frequency]

[AUDIO / PRIVATE - TEAM ROCKET FREQUENCY]

Good evening.

[The voice that comes over the 'Gear tonight is calm, at least; soft and open, a bit high-pitched perhaps, but generally not unpleasant to listen to. Confident, in a bit of a self-satisfied way. So it goes.]

My name is Solf J Kimblee; I hold the rank of Beta within this organization. I suppose I owe you all an apology for being away from the organization itself for so long.

I think it's time to remedy that a bit.

As one of the field agents in charge of assisting with the training of the new recruits, I would like to extend an invitation to all of you - particularly the new ones that I have yet to meet, although I would like to see those I'm already acquainted with as well. It isn't an order; again, it's just an invitation to talk. I would like to get to know all of you, and to have a fuller understanding of your talents. Should you require orders or simply want something to do, I may have a proposal for you; we'll see.

I would prefer meeting you in person; I'm in the Goldenrod base for the time being, but if you're currently elsewhere, neither time nor money is a problem for me. Let me know where you are; I'll meet up with you.

I must say that I'm pleased with the work I've seen so far, however. Do keep it up, hm?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...that's...mildly unsettling there, Logan, but he can at least work with it; Archer was largely the same way when he first arrived.]

There was a Major-General I knew once, by the name of Olivier Armstrong; she was the commanding officer in charge of a fortress on the northern border of Amestris, often said to be the only thing keeping our nation from being invaded by the army of a country called Drachma. Between the constant threat of war and the inhospitable nature of the terrain - often below-freezing temperatures, very prone to storms, up in the mountains a long way from the nearest patch of civilization in North City - the soldiers at that fortress were said to be the most formidable in the country; Armstrong herself was often called the Northern Wall of Briggs, implying that she was both the strongest soldier out of all of that elite force, and that she was the only thing standing between Amestris and Drachma - should the Northern Wall fall, so would the border and potentially the country. Obviously, she was held in very high regard; from my experiences with her, she deserved that respect many times over.

There came a time, at the onset of last spring, where she was removed from her post and brought to Central City, following the death of a high-ranking officer. At this point, a traitor to the country that had been planted inside her fortress notified Drachma that the Northern Wall of Briggs had, indeed, fallen - that it would be the perfect moment to attack, while the soldiers were lacking command and the general state of affairs was in disarray.

The Drachman army attacked Briggs; they were annihilated within minutes by the Amestrian army still stationed there.

What Drachma hadn't taken into account was the fact that Olivier Armstrong didn't teach her men to depend on her; she was fully aware that she may be killed in battle at any moment, or something may happen to remove her from Fort Briggs. Should that happen while her troops depended on her, the border would fall. Instead, she taught her men to work as a unit - to think for themselves and rely on each other, to adhere to "survival of the fittest" but not use that as an excuse to refuse to defend each other, and to be able to hold strong without requiring someone to hold their hand when faced with adversity. I didn't get along with her - I suppose you could say our personalities were a bit at odds with each other - but I'll acknowledge that she was a rather inspiring leader.

Do you understand why I'm telling you about this?

[He listens, silent as Kimblee tells the story. It doesn't take Logan long to figure out what the point is, but he doesn't interrupt.]

...Yes, I understand. My duty as a ruler is not to defend my nation on my own, but to prepare my people to face any threat, in case I am incapable of defending my nation alone.

[...Well, he's kind of close!]

She sounds like quite the impressive woman. I can only hope my people are prepared to face an oncoming threat like her soldiers were.

[He knows they aren't. He only has a year and no one would believe him about this--

Logan sighs and runs a hand back through his hair. He looks momentarily stressed before he controls his expression properly.]

I appreciate the story, but I am aware of the message. I don't stand a chance of defending my nation on my own. My people must learn to protect themselves.

[He's not even aware that he's no longer discussing the situation in Johto.]

[Logan may not be aware of it, but Kimblee is; let's see where this goes, shall we?]

Do you doubt that they can?

I haven't prepared them properly. Had the situation been different, I certainly would have tried to prepare them but...

[He trails off there. He's not going to go into detail about this. He hasn't gone into detail about it with anyone. Reaver knows more than anyone else, but even he doesn't know everything Logan experienced in his battle against the Crawler. Logan runs a hand through his hair again and glances away toward Prince. This is obviously agitating him. The Snivy glances up and frowns a bit; he's not exactly the most perceptive creature, but he does recognize that his trainer is stressed. He hops off the chair and tugs on Logan's pants to try to get his trainer's attention. He's ignored. As if anyone was surprised.]

Edited (UGH I CAN BRAIN I SWEAR) 2012-10-03 01:17 (UTC)

[...needy little thing, isn't he.

Kimblee is quiet for a moment, however, before he responds - considering, not stalling.]

Is there something preventing you from doing so? You've mentioned the threat being someone who can use methods similar to the Psychic-types of this world, and I imagine there's a valid reason you aren't fond of Ghosts...

[...there's really only one conclusion, isn't there.]

Are you dealing with some sort of supernatural entity, perhaps? One that the public is largely unaware of.

[He's... trying to help in his own way... orz

Logan is silent for a moment before he answers, finally stooping down to pick the Snivy up awkwardly. It's obvious he's not used to holding his Pokemon, but the Snivy doesn't seem to mind. He snuggles into Logan's arms easily despite the breastplate.]

...Yes. They'd think I was crazy if I tried to tell them about it. There's only one other person who has lived through its attack, and they're hardly a reliable backup.

[Thanks, Reaver.]

Though... I suppose there are a couple more who have faced it and lived now. I had hoped to prevent anyone from having to face it, but...

[He trails off again, shifting Snivy slightly in his arms. The Pokemon settles easily again; he doesn't seem to mind just how awkward his trainer is.]

[Things are definitely starting to fall into place now; if nothing else, the comment about the sole other person being unreliable backup is almost painfully obvious.]

I assume that's why you continue to associate with this...individual that you don't like very much. Reaver, I believe it was - he knows, doesn't he?

[But that's neither here nor there, is it?]

Well, at the very least, I don't believe you to be insane; I've had some fairly extensive experience back in my world with such things. Some of it was positive, some of it was...decidedly not, but I'm not going to question your sanity.

...Yes, Reaver encountered this... thing as well.

[Not exactly from the sound of it, but it's close enough.]

Thank you. I really appreciate it.

[He still doesn't make eye contact though; he falls silent and continues to stare at the Snivy in his arms. He's really not sure how to take that; Kimblee doesn't think he's crazy. Of course, it's entirely possible that Kimblee is from a world where things like the Crawler are a normal, every day occurrence. But it's something at least, and while he can't really express it properly, Logan is very relieved to have at least one person think he's still sane.]

Of course.

[He glances over at Dorian, who, for the time being, is -

...actually playing with Ruby over there, from the look of it. Good lord. Dorian is usually a tremendous killjoy; Kimblee supposes that next he should be preparing for the horsemen and the end of days.

That said, he can only ignore the awkwardness for so long without commenting on it; it's just how he is. Sorry, man.]

Something on your mind?

[She told you Dorian was awesome!!

Logan glances up then - his expression is blank, but his tone makes it clear he's surprised to be yanked out of his thoughts so suddenly.]

Are supernatural things like this common in your world?

[The question seems to come from nowhere and he knows it; he's quick to amend it.]

This sort of thing isn't exactly common in my world. The closest thing we have is Hollow Men, but not very many people believe in them until they've faced them. Is it the same sort of thing where you're from?

I'm not entire sure what these "hollow men" you're referring to are, but we don't have very many supernatural entities, no. I've told you before that we have alchemy, which you've mentioned as being close to what you consider magic, and that's...reasonably common, to some extent; when it comes to purely supernatural beings, however, there were only eight of them in the world that I know of - all very powerful, incredibly formidable beings, capable of things that most humans wouldn't believe if they were told.

At the time that I was brought here, I've verified that two of them are dead. I don't know the whereabouts of four of them, but I assume they're also deceased; one of them has been nullified as a threat, I believe, and I have it on good authority that the final one is killed sometime in the near future.

Did they threaten your nation?

[He tips his head a bit, obviously curious. Logan seems more relaxed now that the conversation isn't about his own country.]

What were they capable of?

I wasn't terribly familiar with all of them, but I did know what most of them were capable of. Seven of them identified as siblings, all of them named after the Seven Deadly Sins; their temperaments reflected that. As for their abilities, Envy was a shapeshifter; Gluttony was capable of tearing open the front of his body somehow and consuming literally anything; Wrath had the Ultimate Eye, which granted him uncanny levels of aim and precision and allowed him to anticipate his enemies' movements; Lust, their only sister, was capable of extending her fingertips to just about any length, rendering them sharp enough to cut through any material. Sloth had superhuman strength; I wasn't familiar enough with Greed to know much about him.

Pride was the oldest, and appropriately the most dangerous. He was capable of manipulating shadows, giving them tangible form and using them in ways similar to Lust - cutting through anything - or simply grabbing people to control or manipulate them; said shadows were also capable of forming eyes, allowing him to see anything in places where shadows could logically fall, and they also had many mouths, which he would use to consume victims. He ate Gluttony that way, I'm fairly sure, for the sake of acquiring the latter's powers.

The eighth was a being known as Father; he was the one providing the largest threat to Amestris. He was trying to gain enough power to...ah, the only way I can really describe it is "become God" - to basically take the power that the forces of nature and the world itself hold. He planned on doing this by sacrificing the lives of everyone in the country.

[Logan is silent for a long moment after that's out there. Though his attention is back on the Snivy, it's clear he's thinking it over. He's never heard of anything like that, but "Pride" sounds a good bit like the Crawler. This entire thing is almost unbelievable; if he hadn't faced the Crawler it would be unbelievable.]

But they were stopped?

[The question is sudden and Logan seems to have surprised himself with it.]

They didn't manage to destroy the country, did they?

Ah, I haven't seen the outcome of the final battle for myself; I was brought here in the middle of it. But there have been two people here from Amestris that I know for a fact were from a later point in time than I am; neither of them would have been alive had these beings succeeded, and I've had it verified flat-out that our country was victorious.

That's good to hear.

[And though his expression doesn't alter any, Logan's tone of voice changes to reflect that. It is good to hear that they triumphed in their world. It sounds as though they were facing an even greater threat than the Crawler. But there must have been people who at least knew about it in Kimblee's world. Still, it's enough to give him momentary hope for the future of Albion; it's more than he's had for the past four years.]

These... "homunculi" was it? What are they? They sound like supernatural beings, but are they...

[How does he describe a Hollow Man? Um...]

Are they zombies?

[Well, close enough, right?]

[...Reaver would like to remind you that the Hollow Man Anti-Defamation League is getting a little tetchy about that~

In the meantime, Kimblee's whole brain is crying.]

Zombies...? As in...what, reanimated corpses?

[Yes, yes, he's well-aware of that, but how else would you describe Hollow Men?]

Yes, though Hollow Men are really skeletons controlled by Wisps, though I suppose it's possible that these "homunculi" creatures are entirely different.

[JUDGING BY THAT LOOK, AT LEAST... dear god that is a terrifying expression.]

[UH.......]

...define "wisps" and I might be able to give you a better answer.

They're souls of the departed that have a strong attachment to the world. They can take on the form of ghosts, but the majority of Wisps are more malevolent. They become Hollow Men when they control skeletons.

[Completely said with a straight face! This is the most matter-of-fact discussion in the world! And what is with your expressions, Kimblee?]

Ah...then I believe we have something similar, actually; it's entirely possible to use alchemy create human bodies that are kept in stasis but are effectively dead - they're empty, nothing more than shells or dolls, really. I've seen them myself, they're unbelievably unsettling - but either way, it's possible to animate them using the soul of one who was previously deceased. That would be the closest thing we have to a zombie, where I come from.

The Homunculi are different; they operate on the same sort of principle, I believe, but they're considered something else.

What are they then? How did they come into being? No human has powers like that.

[Are they something like Heroes, though? That could explain it!]

[GOODNESS, WHAT IS WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS.]

Well, as I've said, they operate on the same principle as the...zombies, if you will, in that they're the result of a human container being animated using the souls of the deceased, but instead of being imbued with only one soul, they're given the souls of many, in the form of a Philosopher's Stone. This Stone allows them to access powers and abilities that are based in alchemy, but to levels that most humans wouldn't be capable of reaching; it also allows them to heal themselves nearly instantaneously - they can use their powers or heal themselves as much as they like until the Stone is used up, at which point they either need to consume victims themselves or get their hands on another one...or deal with only having one soul until they can do either of the previously mentioned, at which point I believe they would age and take damage like a normal person.

They have their own thoughts and feelings, independent of the souls they rely on for power, due to being created from Father. I have no idea how this happens, and I'm reasonably sure I don't want to know.

So they are a bit like Heroes...

[Ah, was that aloud? Never mind!]

They certainly sound fascinating. But you said they were planning on destroying your country? Why? To create another of these Philosopher's Stones? What point would that serve? They're already created, and from the sound of it they only need one Philosopher's Stone per Homunculus. Would they create another one?

[But there are only seven deadly sins, right? What would they name the eighth...? YES THIS IS A SERIOUS QUESTION at least he's not asking it out loud.]

Well, as I said, Father was trying to become God, for the sake of...

[...]

...ah, so he could...

[... ... ...]

...you see, it was a bit of a...

[... ... ... ... ...]

...I'm fairly sure he wanted to take over the world or something far-reachingly optimistic like that, for the sake of his own amusement, but I might be wrong on that so please don't quote me.

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