(6:20:58 AM) Earthflame: Magic pulses through the space, making Ivory feel more lost than ever, drifting between shadows and physical spaces... The intensity is rising higher and higher, tangible tension in the air... Still, it's affecting the guards more badly than it's affecting her, many of them isolated and alone, already jumpy as they wander the strangely interconnected labyrinth within the base of the observatory.
(6:20:59 AM) Earthflame: Their tan fatigues aren't exactly uniform, some the same but others different, mismatched or patched, the mark of a mercenary rather than a soldier, although their guns are oddly standardised, odd, rugged looking mass based weapons. They also all seem to be equipped with subtle exoskeletons, light catching around their collars and at their wrists, a very slight whirr accompanying their movements
(6:20:59 AM) Earthflame: as servos assist them.
(6:21:08 AM) Earthflame: Still, for all their gear, they don't exactly seem the most disciplined...
(6:28:27 AM) Ivory: Ivory frowns...those mass-based weapons could do serious work and if she starts a brawl, thier lack of coordination will likely vanish. She needs to even the odds a little. Ivory takes a breath...quietly focusing, staying hidden as she draws on ambient magic...
(6:29:02 AM) Earthflame: There's a Lot to draw on... Far more than she'd have expected. This planet has some serious power hidden away within it.
(6:33:21 AM) ***Ivory focuses, starting a constant flow...shadows subtly deepening...and gaining slightly unnatural aspects around her, out of the corner of people's eyes...
(6:37:35 AM) Ivory: Illusions flowing about...hiding exits when not looked at...creating odd shapes, just where people can only barely sense them...
(6:39:42 AM) Earthflame: The wandering mercs not noticing... At first. Some start to get a bit more jumpy, glancing here or there as they go... As well as confused, as they can't seem to find the way out. Their comms are apparently bugging out (which might explain why Ivory can't contact the others), but many of them try to call for help, as the situation gets worse...
(6:48:34 AM) ***Ivory smiles...and moves to sneak up behind one of them and yank him back into the shadows...
(7:34:01 AM) Earthflame: She's rewarded by a satisfying yelp and a burst of gunfire ricocheting off into the darkness... Thankfully there's nobody close enough to risk being hurt, at least this time.
(7:38:23 AM) ***Ivory chuckles...and draws up illusion and phantom sounds. A loud scream and a sickening snap suddenly cutting it off, even as she quietly chokes the soldier out...
(7:40:51 AM) Earthflame: The gunfire draws the attention of those close enough... And they hear the false sounds of fatality. Some start firing blindly into the darkness, while others just start running...
(7:42:58 AM) ***Ivory laughs and steps out in front of a couple of isolated guards, grinning widely...and wiping red from her lips.
(7:47:17 AM) Earthflame: More bullets tearing through the darkness, backing away guns blazing as yells and echoes confuses the situation even further
(7:48:59 AM) ***Ivory rushing foward, tackling one of them to the ground...sharp teeth glinting in the dark as a throat runs red...even as the real Ivory yanks the victim backwards through her illusion, hand covering his mouth and nose...
(7:53:13 AM) Earthflame: The false sound and sight of gore, and the lack of impact of their bullets, sending another merc running screaming... Neatly directed by the shadows to ensure as many of his friends notice as possible~ The panic is spreading...
(7:55:23 AM) ***Ivory applies a bind to her new victim. Two down...quite a few more to go, but it's going to be easier with them not coordinated. The shadows about them shifting...glimpses of a girl in white, with long hair out of the corner of eyes...
(7:56:32 AM) Earthflame: Herding them like sheep, scurrying and screaming through the corridors, divided to be picked off one by one... Some of them not even really Needing it, finding themselves curled up without their weapon in some dark passageway where it might take them days to find their way out, quivering in terror...
(7:57:09 AM) Ivory: ...a blood curdling scream or snap of bone echoing through the area as she announces each 'victim'.
(8:05:24 AM) Earthflame: Panic and chaos and darkness spells the end for the poor grunts, left bound up in gibbering terror, some trapping themselves, barricading themselves inside rooms and curling up underneath a table to try and create some sense of safety... Some of them might need some pretty serious therapy, after this.
(8:06:30 AM) Earthflame: Still, those weren't the Only enemy forces- Ivory's managed to find her way further up the structure, and has come into contact with what must be their elites- Fewer in number, but identical armoured uniforms and with heavier exoskeletons, as well as still having comms and making sure they can all be seen by at least one ally, if not more. Their chatter is telling, though, sounding off at
(8:06:30 AM) Earthflame: regular intervals, letting her know where their boss is... Up in the main chamber of the observatory.
(8:07:35 AM) ***Ivory frowns. This isn't good...these guys will form up and bunker down together if she tries the same stunt again.
(8:08:00 AM) ***Ivory slips through the shadows, carefully watching thier patrol routes.
(8:09:49 AM) Earthflame: They're regular and precise, sticking to a small area around the chamber itself... And from the chamber, she hears a scream of pain, a womans voice that sounds faintly familiar... Dr Kabine? A harsh voice, with an odd digital fuzz to it, rises in anger. "You Will tell me how to get that thing out, or I'll tear it out my bloody self!"
(8:11:45 AM) Ivory: Digital...oh saint dammit.
(8:15:53 AM) Ivory: She slips through shadows as one guard turns his head, making her way towards the main chamber...
(8:34:40 AM) Earthflame: The chamber is Vast, a huge dome at the apex of  the observatory, the whole room capable of rotating  to ensure the main telescope is always pointing at  the Tenvalkrau, still vividly black against the bright  blue sky. It's clear what it is most of the time, with  information boards and bookshelves, a place for  both academics and tourists... The sandbags and  gun turrets are likely new,
(8:34:40 AM) Earthflame: though.
(8:34:49 AM) Earthflame: A pair of them  cover each entrance, seven of them scattered  around the perimeter of the vast room... Some  opening onto blank walls. Turning it must change  where it's connected to, making this place even  more of a maze. At the center is the telescope itself,  a vast and inscrutable assemblage of metal tubes and pipes that goes from an array of lenses aligned with a seat up through a vast
(8:34:49 AM) Earthflame: and complicated series of increasingly massive sections to the head itself.
(8:34:58 AM) Earthflame: One of these sections is currently open, revealing black glass lenses, the same type that Droug feared were going to be stolen... But they're untouched. Instead, a deeper internal cavity apparently has their focus, with three figures around it- Two standing, one on the floor. Kabine looks tired, her cheeks stained with tears, but her eyes are hard as she glares up at the massive man before
(8:34:58 AM) Earthflame: her...
(8:35:08 AM) Earthflame: Bald and bulky, with shapes beneath his clothes showing exo-components or augmentations, and the latter obvious upon his neck, half of it replaced with matt flesh tone metal and plastic, explaining the slightly synthetic tone to his voice. Hovering behind him, looking terrified but remaining silent, is a lanky man with muddy reddish hair, apparently trying to hide behind the huge merc.
(8:35:36 AM) Earthflame: Kabine gasps, a bruise on her cheek showing she'd been struck and thrown to the ground... And she weakly spits up at him. He roars, putting a boot in her stomach before gesturing to a pair of troops and another figure who stands out, an equally nervous looking woman holding what looks like a standard TSAB device, her lime green hair slightly unkempt. "Gilbern, take her and watch her. No talking."
(8:35:36 AM) Earthflame: He gives the woman a glare before nodding to the two guards... Apparently trusting them more then her as the trio head off.
(8:35:36 AM) Earthflame: After that he turns back to the nervous man, glaring him. "Now, Dr Miller, we've tried your way. The scholar is dead and the bitch is useless. You've got a job to do. Now get it out of there." "I, ah, I... This is a Very bad idea, Sir." "Don't care. Do it, or all those little secrets will come out. What's better, dead or That?" He pauses, shaking... And then shakes his head, turning and reaching
(8:35:39 AM) Earthflame: his hands into the structure... Yelping and being blasted back as a wave of magical energy flows down through the structure... Ivory can practically Feel space warp.
(8:42:29 AM) ***Ivory winces. This...is bad. Like, there is absolutely nothing good here...though she has to admit, with the digital voice warping she was expecting someone missing a head.
(9:01:06 AM) Earthflame: The massive figure looks exceptionally dangerous... And a quick database check proves it. Ergyd Aish, originally augmented by an evil scientist, the TSAB found the ruined lab and the scientists body but Ergyd himself had made himself scarce, cropping up here and there for involvement in a number of criminal endeavours, recently thought to be working with a mercenary group, although it's unknown
(9:01:06 AM) Earthflame: who's backing them.
(9:01:09 AM) Earthflame: He's listed as Extremely Dangerous with orders not to engage without support, and a list of casualties from prior encounters to hammer the point home... The young man doesn't have an entry but the woman, Methiant Gilbert, does... A deactivated TSAB authorisation listing her as a graduate level trainee, dishonourably discharged from her training.
(9:05:18 AM) Ivory: ...lovely. She can't engage but she also can't let them handle this and make everything worse either.
(9:07:28 AM) Earthflame: ...Thankfully, this Dr Miller doesn't appear to be very good at his job, slowly returning to poke and fiddle... Apparently getting nowhere. She's likely got some time, the huge cyborg stomping over to sit down on a bench, making it creak under his weight.
(9:14:52 AM) Ivory: Well, she can 'help' him be bad at his job. The moment he looks away...she subtly swaps a couple of runes, hiding them under illusioniary runes of her own.
(9:15:05 AM) Ivory: She's got no clue what they mean but she bets Miller won't either.
(9:16:18 AM) Earthflame: He frowns at them when he turns back... But there's so many detailed inscriptions on the massive mechanism he just goes back to it.... Swearing as an inner casing closes. Ergyd looks up. "Get that open, Doctor... Or I'll open it, and you, with my goddamn hands. We aren't getting paid unless we get that prism."
(9:17:06 AM) ***Ivory smiles...and creeps off after the prisoner.
(9:19:12 AM) Earthflame: Following their trail she finds a small area of rooms that look modern and occupied- Messy as hell, much like their prefab near Kervras, but lived in and homeley... At least, they likely had been before. The places has been turned upside down, furniture scattered and papers everywhere, with Kabine having been locked in the bedroom (...Only one, and with a double bed, Ivory may notice). The
(9:19:12 AM) Earthflame: washout, Methiant, stands outside the inner door, while the two guards flank the outer... The woman looks very nervous and uncomfortable.
(9:40:30 AM) ***Ivory slips out out of the sshdows...and goes to gag her. "Say nothing, alright?'
(9:41:54 AM) Earthflame: Her eyes widen, and dart towards the door... But she doesn't try to scream.
(9:43:05 AM) Ivory: "Now, we're going to talk quietly...and maybe we can get you out of this, without getting in trouble."
(9:43:21 AM) Earthflame: Her shoulders slump a little at that, shaking her head slightly.
(9:48:15 AM) Ivory: "No?" She raises an eyebrow. "Methiant Gilbert, dishonorably discharged from TSAB training for stealing supplies. I do my research."
(9:52:27 AM) Earthflame: She sighs, her voice soft and her accent a little off. "There's no way I'm not getting in trouble... With you or with them, it's all the same."
(9:54:43 AM) Ivory: "...the consequences of each are rather different...and this isn't a situation they are going to win."
(9:56:20 AM) Earthflame: "I thought so..." She sighs. "But of course, he wouldn't listen to Me... Not that I tried to tell him." She seems oddly relaxed, almost relieved, at Ivory having grabbed her.
(9:58:41 AM) Ivory: "So, who is he getting the lenses for?"
(9:59:32 AM) Earthflame: "I don't know... I was just ordered to go with them and provide magical support. They wanted a mage, if they needed one." She sighs. "...It's about all I'm good for these days."
(9:59:56 AM) ***Ivory raises an eyebrow at her.
(10:01:02 AM) Earthflame: She glances at Ivory. "...Who are you, anyway? You don't look like the locals."
(10:01:45 AM) Ivory: "Enforcer." She smiles widely.
(10:02:13 AM) Earthflame: "...Oh." A pause. "...I know this might sound weird, but... Could you help me?" She glances at her again. "I mean, uh... Help each other... Make a deal>"
(10:04:02 AM) Ivory: "Go on."
(10:04:49 AM) Earthflame: "I... I'll tell you what I know, help if I can... Although I can't do so publicly... But you have to promise to get my sister off Carousel."
(10:05:53 AM) Ivory: "...tell me more." She nods slightly though.
(10:06:45 AM) Earthflame: "She works there... Well... It's not like she can leave. Neither of us." She sighs again. "We inherited our parents debt, and if they see me helping you... They'll kill her."
(10:07:54 AM) Ivory: "...and you were stealing TSAB equipment to pay off that debt." She doesn't make it sound like a question, as Ivory is attempting to make it seem like she already knows everything here.
(10:11:20 AM) Earthflame: She bites her lip and shakes her head slightly. "...Sis said that her work would be enough to pay it, so I could go and study. And then, right at the end... They contacted me. And told me what they'd do if I didn't obey..."
(10:12:47 AM) Ivory: "I see." Her hard expression vanishes and she smiles warmly at the girl. "Don't worry. We're here to save people, including your sister."
(10:14:09 AM) Earthflame: "I hoped so... That's part of why I wanted to join the TSAB..." There's real pain in her voice as she speaks, shaking her head. "...But, uh, if you fight... I'll need someone to knock me out... I can't look like I'm just giving up, or they might guess..."
(10:15:48 AM) ***Ivory nods, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We can do that...and we can save your sister. Don't worry, we'll save everyone."
(10:16:28 AM) Earthflame: She gives Ivory a hesitant smile... And then glances away, cheeks just a little red. "...Anyway, uh... I probably need to check in on the comms, or they'll get suspicious..."
(10:17:32 AM) Ivory: "Alright. Is there anything you can tell that will be useful beforehand?"
(10:18:41 AM) Earthflame: "There's a Lot of armed guys downstairs... They're mostly security guys given armour and guns, but they know how to use them... Uh... Have you seen Ergyd?"
(10:19:14 AM) Ivory: "Cyborg. Endless list of crimes." She nods
(10:19:40 AM) Earthflame: "Oh, uh... Oh! They were talking about something they were sent to get, had  weird name... A Dimensional Prism?"
(10:21:25 AM) Ivory: "As I suspected." She smiles. "Thank you."
(10:21:50 AM) Earthflame: "...Oh..." She seems subdued. "I... guess I don't know anything you don't know already..."
(10:24:18 AM) Ivory: "I suspected, I didn't know." She shakes her head.
(10:25:11 AM) Earthflame: "I guess that's better than nothing..." she shakes her head. "Oh, uh... The girl we brought in was sleeping, when I left her... Maybe let her? She lost someone important...."
(10:25:50 AM) ***Ivory nods. "I will do."
(10:27:25 AM) Earthflame: A sigh. "...Thanks. I'm Methiant, by the- Oh, you already knew..." She shakes her head. "Sorry... I've not been sleeping much lately.."
(10:27:38 AM) Ivory: "Ivory."
(10:28:06 AM) Earthflame: "I'd say it's nice to meet you but, uh... It'd seem insincere." She pauses. "...I was gonna say you should get out of here, but... How did you get In here?"
(10:29:16 AM) Ivory: "That is my secret~" She chuckles.
(10:31:21 AM) Earthflame: "Oh, uh, right..." She pauses. "I guess I'll... See you when you come kick all our asses?"
(10:32:15 AM) ***Ivory bows...and vanishes, slipping through a shadow.