MISSION 7: Yes We Khan
CUTSCENE[]
Khetmaat, Pharaoh's palace
Returning from the trial of emotion Alaric spots the Pharaoh in front of her palace, with a face that portrays both an angered as troubled expression, conversing with someone. Alaric catches but few words on the wind from which he determines that Sa'Perah is listening to a report from a soldier, about the recurring rebel attacks, and in turn tells him to relay her orders to the troops near the location of the latest strike. Seeing them approach she dismisses the messenger before turning towards the approaching Aetherian party, her face displaying none of the before mentioned emotions, instead set in a serious and calm expression. With a couple of wing strokes she gracefully meets Alaric halfway the stairs leading towards the palace entrance and beckons him to follow her without a word, Alaric casts a look at Gawain, silently instructing him to stay behind, before he pursues the Flygon. They stop on a platform overlook a short distance away from the group, far enough to avoid being overheard, but close enough to see Gawain debriefing the troops. The pharaoh regards them briefly before turning her gaze forward to look across the town towards the desert dunes. For a moment all that can be heard is the humming of the wind, before Sa'Perah speaks, looking at Alaric from the corner of her eyes as she does so.
: Zenorah has informed me you have been successful in retrieving the crest of emotion. I commend you on your efforts, as this is no small feat, as I am certain you realize after having faced the challenge you were presented with inside the pyramid.
Alaric signs, as he had been trying to keep his mind of what he had seen in the trial's illusion, how he had faltered and almost failed to break away from what he was shown as well as the contains of the illusion itself.
: Indeed.
A sympathetic look briefly flits across Sa'Perah face before once more turning serious, placing her claws to be slightly resting on her abdomen as she turns back to observing the wind whip up the sand.
: There is no need for shame in showing emotions Alaric, it is part of who we are, what the great Mesprit intended for us to be. We all have our demons, you did well confronting yours and emerging victorious. A great sadness is not so easily forgotten, give it time, let it find its place.
Alaric is not given much time to ponder over the Flygon's emphatic words as she continues, voice hardened reminding Alaric just of who he is talking too.
: Regardless. You and your people have shown your capabilities and I deem Aether to be a potentially worthy ally to Khetmaat. I'll arrange for things like trading contracts to be established, if you agree with all the terms.
: Ah yes of course that's-
Alaric, slightly thrown off by the sudden change in topic and tone, is however interrupted with a look from Sa'Perah that tells him she was not finished talking and did not appreciate being interrupted. Luckily for Alaric, she seems to have more important matters on her mind and dismisses it, instead of further calling him out on something she deems to be disrespectful towards her status.
: However we'll have to discuss the details on a later date, I'll appoint an adviser to oversee the process transpires smoothly. For now you have to excuse me as I have certain duties to fulfill. I'll order some locals to supply you with provisions for your journey back.
: Do you not require our assistance with the rebels?
The Pharaoh, who had begun to walk away, pauses and turns back slightly, sending him a warning look that told Alaric she had not been all too happy to have been overheard earlier.
: It seems only right to offer, seeing as we are to be allies, does that not include supporting one another in such ways as well?
Sa'Perah remains still for mere seconds before turning her back.
: We expect a sandstorm to hit by the end of tomorrow, it be wise to have left by then less you get caught in it. I'd rather not divide my manpower to send some of my troops on a rescue mission.
: Understood.
Message clear the Pharaoh flies to the top of the stairway and enters the palace, leaving Alaric to sigh and turn his attention back to his people and make his way over to Gawain, the Charizard already talking to locals about the return journey, from best routes to provisions, Sa'Perah had apparently already delegated orders to given to the people before their conversation had even started. It seemed that for now their business in Khetmaat was over, less they disrespect the Pharaoh's wishes, something that would seem unwise seeing her personality and their budding alliance. Trust also must be given time to grow, perhaps Sa'Perah would ask for their aid in the future once it had done so. Trying to rid himself of his worries for the moment, he reached the group as some kind of commotion was present. Quickening his pace, he almost collides with a local female Yamask that came around the corner and was gone before he could apologize. However turning back to the group he found himself shaking his head and chuckling as he found the commotion's source to be Yubel, proclaiming about her own abilities of building pyramids and her deserving a pharaoh title once more.
Having completed the trial of emotion, Alaric's party returns to Aether. However the king's mind is troubled. He and his people had now completed the 3rd and final trial, and Aether's lord finds himself worried, unsure of what lies ahead of him and his people now. However without news from Lord Pausanius, all that can be done is go back to preforming their individual daily duties and wait to see what will happen.
Location: Aether, castle throne room
Alaric was doing his usual studies, reading reports made by Gaius in his absence and looking over requests made by the people of Aether and allied kingdoms. The sooner he'd finish his work, the sooner he could focus on his wedding, it playing on the forefront of his mind, especially after the trial of emotion's illusion. He was just reaching for a report entailing details about a shipment of goods imported from Artiphron when Gaius comes running into the throne room with fear; sweat sliding down his face as he falls to the ground and bows.
: You’re Highness! There is trouble in the kingdom!
Alaric gets upset as he moves closer to him.
: What seems to be the problem? Get up Gaius and tell me what the matter is?
Gaius looks up at him with terror in his eyes.
: S-Sire-I-I’m not sure how this happened! All was well, then these... hooligans came in and started running everywhere! They ran into the shops and stole their merchandise, climbed on top of citizens’ houses and made a mess everywhere! I told the warriors to attack them to prevent harm to the people - but they were not fazed. Instead, they rounded up the soldiers and, and, and...
He starts to stutter his words as he panics.
Alaric growls.
: Who is responsible for this!?
: That would be--me.
Alaric and Gaius look over at the entrance to see a large Pangoro coming in. He wears dark fur and wool clothing with some armor; on his right shoulder rests a huge skull which might have belonged to a Tyrantrum in his big paw rests the haft of a double bladed axe.
: I am responsible for this ‘mess’.
: How dare you commence this attack against my kingdom!? We did no wrong to you!
: My people did nothing to you either - we just clean up the place a bit… But it doesn't matter - we are not here to start war with you, you're the least of our concern.
: I don’t want you in MY kingdom - take you and your people out of my lands NOW!
: Listen here; I can move my people wherever I want them to. You cannot call the shots now - you're powerless without your men to stop us.
: Excuse me, gentlemen!
The two look over to see a male Malamar as he makes his way in calmly, observing the two leaders.
: Sir, I have told you that we were to make peace with the kingdom, not commence chaos- like last time. Might I suggest you calm down if you wish to gain their aid?
: Grr…
The Pangoro pulls away from Alaric and folds his arms. Gaius takes the opportunity to speak up.
: E-Explain yourselves! What do you want from us that is so important to where you decide it warrants violence?
The Malamar bows gracefully to Alaric.
: Terribly sorry for our intrusion, King Alaric; we are members of a Chanyuian tribe. This is our chief, Guga. I am his advisor - Abo… we wish to ask the king for help.
: And why should I help your tribe after you and your people came into MY kingdom like wild animals and are holding my army hostage?!
: I know you’re very upset over our behavior, but please sir, we need your help - no other kingdom could help us with this conflict nor cared to learn to our plight…
: And, by what, is so important that gave you the idea to run into my kingdom and have your leader come up to me like a fool?
: Easy there, Alaric…
: …His son, and our future leader, has been taken by the emperor of Gang Tie. Our ranks are short on men and we cannot afford to send more of our men into war. We tried asking other kingdoms to help, but none could do so… That was when we heard rumors about you and your kingdom. Guga thought it was best to “take out” your men in order for you to surrender and help us with this, but do not worry we do not wish to kill them--
: --yet.
Guga cuts in as he let his nails slide on the walls of the throne room. Alaric glares at him before Gaius taps his shoulder.
: Sire…
: As much as I hate to say this but...we haven’t any other choice but to go along with this. From what I know about these people, is that they are of equally strength to us, even if their army is smaller, they are smarter than we think and, not to be obvious here, but without our soldiers we’re a bit outnumbered…
He trails off as he looks over at Abo and Guga.
: ...
: ...It seems we have no further choice--but you must let my army go, and don’t you dare do anything to my kingdom either. Leave my people alone, don’t have your men harm anyone nor steal from any of the shops.
Guga scoffs.
: Like I said, your kingdom is the least of our concerns. But we promise not to do anything while we are here; just keep in mind,--
Guga moves closer to Alaric and he snarls.
: --if you do plan an attack on my warriors, or try to weasel your way out of this, I will hang you from a rope and make you watch as your kingdom and people fall. One. By. One.
He slowly says before moving away with a huff before turning to his adviser.
: Abo! Tell my warriors to let the soldiers go, and let them know that we “guest” in here at this moment.
:Yes sir.
: “It’s been a pleasure working with you, Alaric.”
And with that said the twosome walk out of the throne room.
THE JOURNAL TEXT[]
: Oh dear, we are very sorry for the mess we have made around here (thought, we can’t really help ourselves, it's a hobby, of sorts).
: Before I start, my name is Abo, I’ll be speaking for the moment since our leader is...having some hard time now...I’ll explain.
: You see, for many moons, our tribe has been in the clear, we had no issues bothering other tribes nor kingdoms and we respected to others around us...But then the Gang Tiese came and attacked us. They mostly took our women...and Sir Guga’s son...
: Even I am not sure why they would do such a thing in the first place! As stated in our code of honor, we promised to not pest another until after a leader’s discussion, in this we talk about what land we want to rule, trading bonds, criminal cases and so on! Clearly we shouldn’t trust them after so many years!
: ....excuse my anger, but this is a serious matter- Guga’s son, Toga as called, is very important to our leader and his wife. We can’t just leave this nor let it go no matter what-but that is where you come in…
: "Citizens of Aether, we are requesting (more so commanding) any strong and skilled members to help us on this matter, I’ll explain the details about the Gang Tiese. My plan of action relies on the involvement of two different groups, which group you choose to help I’ll leave for you to decide. The Gang Tie kingdom is high on soldiers, almost anywhere you go in the city there will be likely be 2 or 3. A few key spots in the city would be the front and back of the city, where the gates are constantly monitored, and the small side entrances on the east and west. But it doesn’t stop there, because there are more guarding the palace and dungeons, keeping a sharp eye on Toga and the others hostages. Keep in mind that if you or anyone one is caught in their sights, they will ring the alarms and you’ll be swimming in guards in seconds. To avoid this, you should try for a stealthy approach, be one with your surroundings, move silently, avoid causing panic and unrest among the guards, that sort of thing.
Group one will start by keeping a look out for any guards and making sure that there is a safe path while Group two moves in the kingdom. If it looks like a guard will cause trouble, find a way to let a member of Group two know and have them handle them - your best chance of doing so is to knock them out before they can cause a ruckus. Group two will have to make their way into the basement of the palace’s dungeon-the Chamber Cells, as called-"
: "-one of the guards has the keys to all the cells, so your best chance is to find them get the keys off them to unlock the cell doors. Be sure to escort anyone you free out of the kingdom, and try to avoid bringing attention to yourself or them!
The other part of Group one’s orders-this one being the more dangerous- is that Guga has requested that you kidnap the emperor and bring him back to the castle in Aether. You heard right: we’re asking – ordering, really – you to kidnap the emperor of Gang Tie. This is no easy task! Make no mistake, Wei-Guang is a master fighter, far better than you could imagine. Best be ready, for he is highly skilled and powerful, I’d suggest avoiding equal combat with him, because you will not win, and instead try to subdue him; if you wish, there is a special net that our tribe makes that would be hard for even his claws to cut that I could lend you for the task of capturing him. After you have captured him, you must hurry back to Aether, for if you are caught trying to leave Gang Tie with its ruler in tow, only death awaits you. If you all manage to complete this mission (and after another heavy discussion with your King…) partakers will receive a medal from our tribe. This will show that you are a friend of us and thus allow you to enter our lands many times as you please and do business with us! (but, ah, please tell us ahead of time if you are visiting, we sometimes leave…unpleasant things lying around and we’d be kind enough to remove those before you saw them, ha…)
: *Bows* Thank you for your time."
OBJECTIVES
-Members must make their way to the Gang-Tie empire, the setting is at night so you must be careful where you step, don’t forget you need to camouflage yourself with your surrounding or else you will be caught.
-Group one members must keep a look out of any guards that are keeping watch, your best choice is to wait until they leave to make their rounds before giving the OK for Group two; keep in mind that they will be moving around a lot so you better hurry.
-If a guard notices you and your team, you better hurry and take him out before word spreads to guards; if words does manage to spread before you can subdue a guard, expect a 3 on 3 battle.
-Extra: If you wish to be more involved, go find the emperor – he will likely be in one of thre places: his room, the rock garden connected to it or in his private study. It’s impossible to beat him, so your best chance to get him worn out and catch him (other ways are also allowed, feel free to be creative) but you must try to stop him from moving or speaking before he either kills you or alerts his guards, after that, if you succeed, hurry out the kingdom with him. Be sure no one spots you either with him - that would mean your death.
- The emperor has two very strong guards patrolling the perimeter: the Arcanine Shi siblings, who come from a long line of royal guards and will prove to be a thorn in your side if not handled carefully.
Yun Shi, the brother with the red elements, will guard patrol around the palace gardens while Yue Shi, the sister with the blue elements, will patrol inside the palace, she will however not enter the Emperor's personal quarters, since he insists on his privacy. The two follow a certain patrol route and will meet every so often at the palace front gates where they briefly report to each other. Both siblings are formidable fighters, and you will most likely not emerge victorious from a direct battle with them. Once alerted to a fight between you and the guards and/or encountering you they will use Extreemspeed to chase you down, so be careful when starting fights inside the palace and the gardens around it as you'll have to be very cunning to give them the slip once they have spotted you. Just like the normal guards you can try to avoid them completely, split up to distract them, even let someone get captured to have someone on the inside to already tell the hostages what to do or temporarily distract the guards by making them think they neutralized the threat. As always it's all up to you!
- Yun Shi’s moveset consists of Extremespeed, Close Combat, Wild Charge, Firespin, Flare Blitz, and Outrage. Yue Shi’s moveset consists of Extremespeed, Close Combat, Protect – mainly used to guard the emperor – Flare Blitz, Wild Charge, and Helping Hand (mainly used to boost her brother so that he can do the brunt of the fighting while she stays close to the emperor).
-Group two members must sneak their way to the kingdom and hurry along to the Chamber Cells located at the bottom of the palace. There will be a certain guard holding the keys on his belt, your best chance is to get them, but you can try to free the prisoners in other ways as well. After you’ve all the kidnapped citizens and Toga, escort them out of the kingdom and bring them to Avalon, be sure not to leave anyone behind, and try to stay in the shadows and only attack guards if needed.
REWARD
You will receive a badge - it is shape as a crescent moon and a star hanging off of the tip – that symbolizes you as a friend of Guga’s tribe.
The deadline for this mission is October 1st, 2015 at 12:00 am EST. This gives you two months to finish this mission, but plan your time out wisely! Don’t rush at the last minute!
But what about Mission 6 Rewards?
If you completed M4 and M1 but did not collect the rewards yet, you can send in a note to obtain them.
Ending[]
After successfully freeing the imprisoned Chanyu women and Toga from Gang-Tie the people of Aether return to their Kingdom, with them a prisoner of their own; Wei-Guang, emperor of Gang-Tie. Not only because Guga demanded the lord would be brought, but also because they wish to find out the truth behind the conflict. Upon Arrival in the Kingdom of Aether they bring their prisoner to the castle and enter where they are confronted by Alaric and Guga, who seemingly been in a heated argument. Wei-Guang upon witnessing the two lords addresses them, none too pleased with the situation.
: What is the meaning of this! there was no doubt about Chanyu’s involvement and I had already surmised that they did not work alone due to their own lack of competence but this I had not expected. A kingdom like your own cannot afford to make enemies like this Lord Alaric, least of all a country like my own, your choice in actions is almost as poor as your choice in allies.
: Well, well, look who’s here. Who would have thought I’d ever lay eyes upon the arrogant little bug always hiding scared behind the big walls of his city.
: I’ll not be talked down to by the likes of you, Guga! Your ilk is lower the very filth that you practically bathe in!
: Big words for a little bug who was beaten by a bunch of nobodies from the fledgling kingdom in the land and dragged out his home by his now-tattered robes!
: Enough with this, we have fulfilled our end of the deal, now let my men be freed.
: So that’s how it is. Once again, you Chanyuian scum have resorted to trickery and violence, and you Aetherians were roped into playing puppet and dancing to their tune! Pathetic, if you ask me.
: But that’s just it, Wei-Guang, nobody did ask you. But, we do have some things we’d like to ask you…
: I have nothing to say to the likes of you nor am I obligated to answer your questions!
: Oh, you’ll see.
Guga snaps his claws
: Take him to the Throne Room! We’re going to have a little Court of Miracles for our kidnapping friend, here.
: WHAT?! This is ridiculous! You can’t do that!
: You have no right to continue to use us! You’ve outstayed your welcome as it is, you’re not extending your stay!
: You want your men released and your people unharmed, yes?
: ...
: Yes...
: Then you’ll find that I have every right.
: Though, you did do good on your word...I suppose I could call back my men now, they have more important things to focus on. Very well! One of you go and tell the others to release the Aetherian captives! And find the ones that helped free our people and capture the emperor, they should be rewarded with a sign of friendship, as Abo suggested.
: Then will you be leaving?
: Yes...after the trial.
: Very well...
: But if it’s in our Aetherian court, I wish to let my people be present as well and for it to be a fair trial. I will not have bloodshed!
: That all depends on the bug, and if he continues to spin his web of lies. Now, let’s get ready, court will soon be in session.
: Web of lies, the gall you are in no position to spout such nonsense, you Chanyu folk are nothing if not dishonest to the bone! Grrrr-! You will not get away with this!
The next journal will be out soon! It will contain both the reward for this mission as well information about the next stay tuned!