Dmitri Tolenka
Sic Semper Tyrannis
Interactions
Nothingness
Soviet Panda
“Thank me wiz good care for ze little wun.” the vet replied with a tired smile. Gently and motherly, she stroked Yumi’s head, before she wrapped up her stuff.
“Okay, shtable. Verstauen und los gehts.” she said, clambering back on board.
Hannah nodded to Xander, then tilted her head to the side.
“We are off to do search and rescue, but you can just rest at the triage centre once we get one up.” she offered. The rear end of Thunder mecha-shifted, the entire engine block lifting to reveal the entrance to the emergency stretcher/hospital bed at the bottom of the hull.
“You can sleep here for a bit.”
Well, if someone else didn’t seize the place first. About the only one she’d tolerate down in that spot other than Xander would be Ser Irons. The day took it’s toll on the old warrior.
----
Interactions: Ganryu Vagabond Spectre Lord_Boreas Huntertabbysandshark3
She spent the drive up to the colosseum on the radio. Any battle, over time, devolved into a high stakes game of twenty questions. Such as what to expect when they got to the crash site. Just because they were probably first on the scene with a proper rescue effort didn’t mean they’d be the only ones. Some poor overworked sod in Mistral tried to coordinate all of the various efforts. Messages flitted back and forth across the airwaves. She picked up something about an air bridge. A bit of news came in from a person on the crash site, that apparently a bare handful of people still on the stadium survived. A man even called her on her private scroll for a job offer.
“Clan Hochfeldschloss is of course more than happy to provide Lanzknecht services, herr Fard. At the moment we are however quite busy with the active invasion. Permit me to call you back. Later.” she managed to bite out, just short of cussing out the man. Before the twit could reply she hung up and popped out the hatch.
“Here we are.” she announced, somewhat redundant. As if the corpse of the Colosseum could be missed, the broken girders and walls stuck into the sky like the ribcage of a giant. Here she could drop off most of her passengers while she went on a thunder run past the ruins. She surveyed the scene. A colourful bunch of survivors. She recognized Itel and Yzebella, together with a friend who couldn’t afford shirts that fit him. Seriously the thing looked painted on. Not that Hannah would offer to buy him a new one anytime soon, because damn, that was a set of abs the world needed to see. Her gaze drifted further to a man with a very recognizable kilt and a garish hairdo that readily identified him as the one and only Roux Fard. Hannah stared at him for half a second.
“Good day everyone, I believe evacuation bullfrogs will be on the way, should you desire a ride to the city centre. I, I must ah, go on.”
“Was? Wieso?” Hans piped up from the back deck.
“Other rescue efforts.” Hannah said, and slammed her hatch shut before gunning it. Surely they could do something more useful in the town. She genuinely could not handle a full blown mercenary negotiation right now.
----
Interactions: Possbily Nothingness Soviet Panda depends on what Buc and Xander do. You can insert and edit this scene if desired.
As it turned out, they could do more useful things in town. There were plenty of shelters that were in wrecked parts of the city that needed to be cleared. Just because most of the Grimm appeared to leave didn’t mean there weren’t stragglers. On top of that, several places burned, and buildings lay collapsed everywhere. So Hannah found herself trundling along a street. More than once she wished she’d taken the bulldozer blade. For now, they used the tow-cables on her tank to pull away heavier debris. Three shelters down. Two had actual rubble piled up in front, the third a mere broken door lock. Shelter number four looked fine, though it went silent pretty early on for some reason. Hannah suspected Grimm, her machineguns twitched from alleyway to alleyway as they drew closer.
“I’m telling you, it’s clear here.” Brent said, sauntering beside her as he checked out the shops.
“I’m telling you I can feel something is off.” Hannah replied. The shelter turned out to be an inn much like their own Wandering Albatross, a cute little brick building sandwiched between a bakery and a clothing store. Old fashioned shutters secured the windows. Nothing moved.
“Well we arrived without something dark and snarly trying to eat our faces. Let’s see about this door then. Idiots probably lost the key.” Brent said and leaned against the heavy oak door that served as shelter entrance. It opened smoothly. “Huh, that’s odd.”
Brent walked into the shelter and immediately hurled himself back out of it, followed by his lunch a moment later. A horrible smell followed him out, and Hannah wheeled around to point her entire arsenal down towards the ominous doorway.
Silence drifted across the little town square. Nobody dared to breathe.
“Brent, did you see anything?” Hannah muttered. The boy nodded.
“Blood. Fire. Stale.” he forced out. “I’m. Okay. I’m okay.”
“Stay out here for a second.” Albrecht said, poking his own head in the doorway, rifle and flashlight at the ready. All emotion fled from his face.
“This is bad. Milady you might not want to see this.” Albrecht muttered, and lit a cigarette. Hannah shivered, but she climbed out.
“I am not a child.” she said.
“Technically-” Albrecht started.
“I will go on my Wild Hunt after this. Show me.” she commanded, hand lingering on the turret for a bit longer than needed. Something akin to burned pork mixed with an iron tang prickled her nose. Albrecht tried to offer her another cigarette.
“No thanks.” she said, and marched straight on in. She needed to experience this with all her senses, whatever it was. Also she didn’t know if she had it in her to continue if she stopped.
It was dark, several broken lights cast a gloom over the scene. Mud squelched under her boot. The stench, already strong outside, robbed her of her voice. Her retainer breathed steadily behind her, the only other noise save for the hum of the tube lights that still worked. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the gloom. Dark splotches resolved themselves into people. What was left, at any rate. She staggered back as if physically punched. Her gaze worked it’s way down towards… Oh Goddesses, that was no mud.
“A person did this.” Albrecht noted. Hannah took a moment to ensure her food stayed inside.
“Explain.” she forced out.
“The door was not breached. There’s no dirt or damage to the floor so it wasn’t a burrower either. The bodies are too intact as well. No claw marks that match any Grimm. These marks are electric in nature, but… too strong for any natural source. Or the normal powerlines for that matter. Then, lastly these footsteps. These ones here. Soot stained, bloody, headed outward and finally, they’re the ones at the very top just below ours. So just after all… this, a person left here on foot.” he noted curtly. Hannah clenched her hands into fists hard enough to draw blood when the implication dawned.
“Traitor.” she hissed with a vitriol she didn’t realise she had. Albrecht nodded.
“Hostis humani generis.” he said in the same dead tone from earlier.
“Understood. Nothing for it now, I will call it in.” Hannah said, turned on her heel and marched out. Carefully she kept her sight on the exit as she stepped out with as much delicacy as she could muster. Once outside, she marched straight for her bulwark, her second skin. Only once she’d slipped into the seat again did she notice the stares of her house troops, flicking back and forth between her and Albrecht. The man leaned against the porch, smoked his cigarette and stared at the sky. Silent as the grave. She glanced at the time.
“Troops.” she shattered the peace like a stone through glass, “Guard positions outside. Bar the door. I will get Mistral troops to relieve us. We are done.”
Hans looked like he wanted to say something, but she stared him in the eye.
“We are done, Gefreiter.” she stated.
----
Interactions: Open edit yourself in this scene if desired
Just under an hour later, Hannah found herself seated in one of the lower levels of Mistral’s citadel. The ancient heart of the city weathered the storm well. The sole damage would be an imprint of a crashed Alpha Nevermore. Even at this late hour people still rushed to and fro. In these vital hours so close after the disaster, every second could mean a life saved. In the background, harried specialists coordinated hectic rescue efforts. Atlas, Mistral, Vale, Vacuo, Clan, outsider. No distinction mattered, not in the face of such destruction. Hannah was pulled out of her brooding and into a bone crushing hug by a strong pair of arms from behind.
“Hai Pappi.” she managed to force out between crushed ribs and wriggled her arms in a vaguely reciprocal manner.
“My dear sweet beautiful child! I’m so happy to see you! Alive and well!” he half sobbed, rubbing her head and completely and utterly heedless of the scene he caused. Slowly he set her down. Before conversation could continue, Hannah vanished in a streak of blue that left just her hat, spinning in mid air before it fell to the ground.
“OhmyGodessesHannahyou’reokaydiyouKNOWhowworriedwewere-” her mother said. With a faint blush Hannah nonetheless rubbed her mother’s back. She could say something sarcastic like yes, she’d known because they told her over the phone just under an hour ago, or during the other phone call four hours before that, or even during the parade this morning, but…
“Hey Mutti, love you too.” she just whispered. They’d lived. All three of them lived. With a warm smile, Mutti placed the hat back on Hannah’s head and cupped her cheek. “We are proud of you Hannah.”
She just beamed in reply.
A slight cough interrupted the three of them. Her other Uncle, Balmut, stood there with some of the senior retainers. Hannah had not even seen them there, with their ceremonial uniforms and an innocuous looking black book. Hannah stiffened at the sight of it.
“Do not mind us, when you are ready.” Balmut said with a friendly smile. Hannah shook her head.
“I am ready.” she said. Her mother’s grip on her cheek stiffened, and she caught the glance in her father’s eye.
“I am ready.” she repeated, more firmly. Her father crossed his arms and nodded.
“If you say so. What will the target of your Wild Hunt be?” he said. Hannah closed her eyes and smelled the ashes.
“A murderer.”
----
Utterly exhausted, Hannah trundled towards where the airship should be. Blear eyed, she steered Thunder through the forest, eager to get on board and crash down for a nap. Yesterday night she spent poring over the data from the battle. She’d run herself ragged, talking with analysts, reviewing grainy security footage, and playing detective. From what small bits of evidence she scraped together, the man was still at large. Last spotted near the docks. After that, the ship he sailed off with was lost in the gloom.Her instinct told her to go chase the Monstra. They definitely tied together somehow.
While she didn’t have a motive other than ‘he liked to murder’ she had seen footage of a human figure on top of the monstra. Ergo, something that wore a human skin worked with the Grimm. Grimm that acted too smart. It fit too neatly to be a coincidence.
She wasn’t the only one that barely slept by the looks of things. She saluted a tired looking Roux Fard. Goddesses bless coffee.
“One Lance as per our agreement, Herr Fard. Me, and a squad of my retainers.” she said with a tired smile. Her squad of six from the previous night had volunteered as one once she told them of the target of her Wild Hunt. She should elaborate on what that meant to the rest of the crew, but for now, she craved a good night… day…. Sleep, she craved sleep. Thunder fitted in the lowest hangar of the Seasmoke. She could see how to roll off in a hurry if need be. For now, she happily strapped her tank down tight and wandered off to find a bed. Any bed. If someone wanted to argue about where she could or could not sleep in it, she had fresh stacks of .45 ACP to argue with.
OPEN TO INTERACTION IF NOTHING HAPPENS Nellancholy YOU ARE NEXT
“Thank me wiz good care for ze little wun.” the vet replied with a tired smile. Gently and motherly, she stroked Yumi’s head, before she wrapped up her stuff.
“Okay, shtable. Verstauen und los gehts.” she said, clambering back on board.
Hannah nodded to Xander, then tilted her head to the side.
“We are off to do search and rescue, but you can just rest at the triage centre once we get one up.” she offered. The rear end of Thunder mecha-shifted, the entire engine block lifting to reveal the entrance to the emergency stretcher/hospital bed at the bottom of the hull.
“You can sleep here for a bit.”
Well, if someone else didn’t seize the place first. About the only one she’d tolerate down in that spot other than Xander would be Ser Irons. The day took it’s toll on the old warrior.
----
Interactions: Ganryu Vagabond Spectre Lord_Boreas Huntertabbysandshark3
She spent the drive up to the colosseum on the radio. Any battle, over time, devolved into a high stakes game of twenty questions. Such as what to expect when they got to the crash site. Just because they were probably first on the scene with a proper rescue effort didn’t mean they’d be the only ones. Some poor overworked sod in Mistral tried to coordinate all of the various efforts. Messages flitted back and forth across the airwaves. She picked up something about an air bridge. A bit of news came in from a person on the crash site, that apparently a bare handful of people still on the stadium survived. A man even called her on her private scroll for a job offer.
“Clan Hochfeldschloss is of course more than happy to provide Lanzknecht services, herr Fard. At the moment we are however quite busy with the active invasion. Permit me to call you back. Later.” she managed to bite out, just short of cussing out the man. Before the twit could reply she hung up and popped out the hatch.
“Here we are.” she announced, somewhat redundant. As if the corpse of the Colosseum could be missed, the broken girders and walls stuck into the sky like the ribcage of a giant. Here she could drop off most of her passengers while she went on a thunder run past the ruins. She surveyed the scene. A colourful bunch of survivors. She recognized Itel and Yzebella, together with a friend who couldn’t afford shirts that fit him. Seriously the thing looked painted on. Not that Hannah would offer to buy him a new one anytime soon, because damn, that was a set of abs the world needed to see. Her gaze drifted further to a man with a very recognizable kilt and a garish hairdo that readily identified him as the one and only Roux Fard. Hannah stared at him for half a second.
“Good day everyone, I believe evacuation bullfrogs will be on the way, should you desire a ride to the city centre. I, I must ah, go on.”
“Was? Wieso?” Hans piped up from the back deck.
“Other rescue efforts.” Hannah said, and slammed her hatch shut before gunning it. Surely they could do something more useful in the town. She genuinely could not handle a full blown mercenary negotiation right now.
----
Interactions: Possbily Nothingness Soviet Panda depends on what Buc and Xander do. You can insert and edit this scene if desired.
As it turned out, they could do more useful things in town. There were plenty of shelters that were in wrecked parts of the city that needed to be cleared. Just because most of the Grimm appeared to leave didn’t mean there weren’t stragglers. On top of that, several places burned, and buildings lay collapsed everywhere. So Hannah found herself trundling along a street. More than once she wished she’d taken the bulldozer blade. For now, they used the tow-cables on her tank to pull away heavier debris. Three shelters down. Two had actual rubble piled up in front, the third a mere broken door lock. Shelter number four looked fine, though it went silent pretty early on for some reason. Hannah suspected Grimm, her machineguns twitched from alleyway to alleyway as they drew closer.
“I’m telling you, it’s clear here.” Brent said, sauntering beside her as he checked out the shops.
“I’m telling you I can feel something is off.” Hannah replied. The shelter turned out to be an inn much like their own Wandering Albatross, a cute little brick building sandwiched between a bakery and a clothing store. Old fashioned shutters secured the windows. Nothing moved.
“Well we arrived without something dark and snarly trying to eat our faces. Let’s see about this door then. Idiots probably lost the key.” Brent said and leaned against the heavy oak door that served as shelter entrance. It opened smoothly. “Huh, that’s odd.”
Brent walked into the shelter and immediately hurled himself back out of it, followed by his lunch a moment later. A horrible smell followed him out, and Hannah wheeled around to point her entire arsenal down towards the ominous doorway.
Silence drifted across the little town square. Nobody dared to breathe.
“Brent, did you see anything?” Hannah muttered. The boy nodded.
“Blood. Fire. Stale.” he forced out. “I’m. Okay. I’m okay.”
“Stay out here for a second.” Albrecht said, poking his own head in the doorway, rifle and flashlight at the ready. All emotion fled from his face.
“This is bad. Milady you might not want to see this.” Albrecht muttered, and lit a cigarette. Hannah shivered, but she climbed out.
“I am not a child.” she said.
“Technically-” Albrecht started.
“I will go on my Wild Hunt after this. Show me.” she commanded, hand lingering on the turret for a bit longer than needed. Something akin to burned pork mixed with an iron tang prickled her nose. Albrecht tried to offer her another cigarette.
“No thanks.” she said, and marched straight on in. She needed to experience this with all her senses, whatever it was. Also she didn’t know if she had it in her to continue if she stopped.
It was dark, several broken lights cast a gloom over the scene. Mud squelched under her boot. The stench, already strong outside, robbed her of her voice. Her retainer breathed steadily behind her, the only other noise save for the hum of the tube lights that still worked. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the gloom. Dark splotches resolved themselves into people. What was left, at any rate. She staggered back as if physically punched. Her gaze worked it’s way down towards… Oh Goddesses, that was no mud.
“A person did this.” Albrecht noted. Hannah took a moment to ensure her food stayed inside.
“Explain.” she forced out.
“The door was not breached. There’s no dirt or damage to the floor so it wasn’t a burrower either. The bodies are too intact as well. No claw marks that match any Grimm. These marks are electric in nature, but… too strong for any natural source. Or the normal powerlines for that matter. Then, lastly these footsteps. These ones here. Soot stained, bloody, headed outward and finally, they’re the ones at the very top just below ours. So just after all… this, a person left here on foot.” he noted curtly. Hannah clenched her hands into fists hard enough to draw blood when the implication dawned.
“Traitor.” she hissed with a vitriol she didn’t realise she had. Albrecht nodded.
“Hostis humani generis.” he said in the same dead tone from earlier.
“Understood. Nothing for it now, I will call it in.” Hannah said, turned on her heel and marched out. Carefully she kept her sight on the exit as she stepped out with as much delicacy as she could muster. Once outside, she marched straight for her bulwark, her second skin. Only once she’d slipped into the seat again did she notice the stares of her house troops, flicking back and forth between her and Albrecht. The man leaned against the porch, smoked his cigarette and stared at the sky. Silent as the grave. She glanced at the time.
“Troops.” she shattered the peace like a stone through glass, “Guard positions outside. Bar the door. I will get Mistral troops to relieve us. We are done.”
Hans looked like he wanted to say something, but she stared him in the eye.
“We are done, Gefreiter.” she stated.
----
Interactions: Open edit yourself in this scene if desired
Just under an hour later, Hannah found herself seated in one of the lower levels of Mistral’s citadel. The ancient heart of the city weathered the storm well. The sole damage would be an imprint of a crashed Alpha Nevermore. Even at this late hour people still rushed to and fro. In these vital hours so close after the disaster, every second could mean a life saved. In the background, harried specialists coordinated hectic rescue efforts. Atlas, Mistral, Vale, Vacuo, Clan, outsider. No distinction mattered, not in the face of such destruction. Hannah was pulled out of her brooding and into a bone crushing hug by a strong pair of arms from behind.
“Hai Pappi.” she managed to force out between crushed ribs and wriggled her arms in a vaguely reciprocal manner.
“My dear sweet beautiful child! I’m so happy to see you! Alive and well!” he half sobbed, rubbing her head and completely and utterly heedless of the scene he caused. Slowly he set her down. Before conversation could continue, Hannah vanished in a streak of blue that left just her hat, spinning in mid air before it fell to the ground.
“OhmyGodessesHannahyou’reokaydiyouKNOWhowworriedwewere-” her mother said. With a faint blush Hannah nonetheless rubbed her mother’s back. She could say something sarcastic like yes, she’d known because they told her over the phone just under an hour ago, or during the other phone call four hours before that, or even during the parade this morning, but…
“Hey Mutti, love you too.” she just whispered. They’d lived. All three of them lived. With a warm smile, Mutti placed the hat back on Hannah’s head and cupped her cheek. “We are proud of you Hannah.”
She just beamed in reply.
A slight cough interrupted the three of them. Her other Uncle, Balmut, stood there with some of the senior retainers. Hannah had not even seen them there, with their ceremonial uniforms and an innocuous looking black book. Hannah stiffened at the sight of it.
“Do not mind us, when you are ready.” Balmut said with a friendly smile. Hannah shook her head.
“I am ready.” she said. Her mother’s grip on her cheek stiffened, and she caught the glance in her father’s eye.
“I am ready.” she repeated, more firmly. Her father crossed his arms and nodded.
“If you say so. What will the target of your Wild Hunt be?” he said. Hannah closed her eyes and smelled the ashes.
“A murderer.”
----
Utterly exhausted, Hannah trundled towards where the airship should be. Blear eyed, she steered Thunder through the forest, eager to get on board and crash down for a nap. Yesterday night she spent poring over the data from the battle. She’d run herself ragged, talking with analysts, reviewing grainy security footage, and playing detective. From what small bits of evidence she scraped together, the man was still at large. Last spotted near the docks. After that, the ship he sailed off with was lost in the gloom.Her instinct told her to go chase the Monstra. They definitely tied together somehow.
While she didn’t have a motive other than ‘he liked to murder’ she had seen footage of a human figure on top of the monstra. Ergo, something that wore a human skin worked with the Grimm. Grimm that acted too smart. It fit too neatly to be a coincidence.
She wasn’t the only one that barely slept by the looks of things. She saluted a tired looking Roux Fard. Goddesses bless coffee.
“One Lance as per our agreement, Herr Fard. Me, and a squad of my retainers.” she said with a tired smile. Her squad of six from the previous night had volunteered as one once she told them of the target of her Wild Hunt. She should elaborate on what that meant to the rest of the crew, but for now, she craved a good night… day…. Sleep, she craved sleep. Thunder fitted in the lowest hangar of the Seasmoke. She could see how to roll off in a hurry if need be. For now, she happily strapped her tank down tight and wandered off to find a bed. Any bed. If someone wanted to argue about where she could or could not sleep in it, she had fresh stacks of .45 ACP to argue with.
OPEN TO INTERACTION IF NOTHING HAPPENS Nellancholy YOU ARE NEXT