2018-05-13: Send Help, Muni!
- Log: Send Help, Muni!
- Cast: Riesenlied, Fei Fong Wong, Noeline
- Where: Vane
- Date: 13th May 2018
- Summary: Hammer finally gets a message through with the help of the Muniphone, muni. He reveals that he's in a lot of trouble, muni. Send help, muni!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It's a fairly ordinary day in Vane, with the clouds wide open to reveal the shining sun above...
... that is, until an odd repeated beeping noise fills the Wolfsbane Tavern. "W-what's that?" Janey exclaims from where she's cleaning glasses.
"That's...!" Riesenlied has a look of absolute recognition as she frantically hurries up the steps towards the top. Indeed, there's a crackle and a buzz from the miniature tower contraption they'd set up on the roof of the tavern... and Riesenlied picks up her throat microphone and puts on her receiver.
"H-hello?" she asks as she sits down. "Hello, can anyone hear me?"
The connection isn't amazing, but for a rudimentary device they built out of spare parts... it'll work.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei is sitting on a stool, eyes closed. He is trying to drink less in order to help Lily drink less so she just has a glass of ice water in front of him. He doesn't want to give Lily any kind of impression it's an exception 'just for her', after all, and indeed Fei has little concern about the matter of drinking but he is worried about drinking A LOT. That could create problems down the line, let alone immediately if a member of the Guard catches them.
He doesn't look up at the beeping.
Riesenlied picks up the throat microphone and puts on the receiver. A familiar voice pops on. It's Hammer.
"Oh thank god! Muni. I thought we'd never reach you! Muni. This is Hammer. Muni! I *crackling noises*."
That doesn't sound too good. Riesenlied might want to get some hot tips real quick in case the connection drops entirely.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline has continued to claim a corner of the Wolfsbane Tavern for herself, filling it with stacks of books and a few of the recent Meribia newspapers, not to mention the most comfortable chair in the place. Unlike the Starfall Saloon, however, she's having to cope with the fact she now has a family, and what started out as 'just a chair' has grown to include a second chair for Riesenlied, some space for her instruments, a place for the orphans to sit and some of Mikaia's practice flasks... and so on, and so on.
It's kind of a chaotic mess, but Noeline seems alright with that.
The beeping brings her up to her feet quickly, faster to react than Riesenlied is - but she still lets the other demon go first, quick to follow after her as they make their way to the rudimentary radio.
No sooner does she hear a snatch of Hammer's voice, leaking out from around the headphones in a tinny fashion, than she's turned to step back to the stairs. The call of "Fei! Hammer!" is not a complex or a particularly polite one, but Noeline's instincts and the wayward merchant's opening exclamation both suggest they don't have a lot of time.
"Tch!" she adds a moment later as the reception crackles. She isn't a technical genius like Shalune, but she can at least reach over to some of the more sensitive pieces of the antenna to... wiggle it a bit.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"H-Hammer! Oh thank goodness, we were worried sick--" Riesenlied's sense of priorities kick in as she says, "I--is Muni with you? Are the others? We're based in Vane. V-A-N-E," coming from someone who's basically acted some of her Metal Demon career as an operator of sorts and generally wants to make things clear. "Where are you? What happened?"
Riesenlied herself isn't particularly able to help the radio along, given they futzed with it for what feels like hours...
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei looks up when Noeline calls his name. "Huh?" Pause. "Wha?" Pause. "Oh! Hammer!" Fei says. "Sorry I was kinda zoning out." He laughs awkwardly, making his way towards the transponder. "You okay there Hammer? Looked everywhere but couldn't find you."
"Hey bro. Muni!" Hammer says over the radio. "Wait no. Muni. Time for. Muni. That! Muni! I found it! Muni! I found the Fereshte!"
Fei straightens up and looks towards Riesenlied for a moment before lookng back towards Noeline. He's starting to expect a 'but' coming...and he's not dissapointed.
"But we got captured by fierce *crackling*! Muni!"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied's eyes widen even more as she cups her hand to her heart, feeling like it can sink at any moment. She looks towards Noeline and nods as she starts adjusting the antennae and-- "There-- there's good--"
The panic is clearly surging in her when she hears that Hammer's been captured. Oh no, is it bandits, or the Guard, or even worse...?
She holds the receiver out a bit so Fei can hear as well. "Where are you, Hammer?! We'll mount a rescue!" she expresses firmly. "Tell us where you are!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline catches Fei's distant expression with a slight furrow of her brow; there's concern there, but it's tamped down for the time being given rather more urgent things going on - especially when Hammer says the magic word, the name of the ship they've been searching for ever since they landed on this moon.
Straightening, she turns back to the radio, doing her best to try to tune in more closely; her free hand goes to Riesenlied's shoulder to squeeze it gently, offering that light support as she furrows her brow.
"Give us a direction, at the very least! Which continent? Anything you can?" she rattles off quickly, frowning in irritation that they had nothing in the way of trackers to really offer Hammer before he left.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong glances to Noeline again. She knows something's up. Fei gives her a faint smile in an attempt to reassure her. "Haven't been sleeping well," He admits to Noeline. "Maybe I'm homesick--"
Hammer butts in before there's an opportunity for him to say more, though. "Taben Peak! Muni! Please rescue us! Muni! I think... I think they're coming back. Ah... AHHH!! MUNI!!!!"
The transmission ends. Poor Hammer. Who knows what's going on back there, but Fei is deathly quiet in those few moments.
"Do you think it could be..." Fei murmurs. "Fierce..." His eyes widen suddenly. "It's...It's gotta be the Shadow Dragon Cult! Jean paid Master Lunn a visit and he's said there were rumors of them being active in that area." He looks to Riesenlied. "If that's the case... then the children of the Fereshte are in serious danger! To hear it from Jean, their training KILLS!"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has no idea that something may be up with Fei; at another time she may be more doting and fussy, but right now-- "Ah-- Taben's Peak?! I-- no, Hammer, please hold on--" but the transmission is cut off with that final scream of 'MUNI!!!!'.
Poor Hammer has been through a lot.
"... n-no..." Riesenlied looks terrified. "The Shadow Dragon Cult-- yes, that has to be it!" Her eyes widen. "There were children up on that mountain, and-- oh no! No no no, the children onboard the Fereshte will be affected too!"
She frantically hurries and clings to Noeline's side. "We have to go right away!"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline accepts Riesenlied at her side with a remarkable amount of grace, given the situation - she places a hand on the other woman's head, brushing through her hair slowly. Rather than instantly succumb to panic, she glances between the pair for a moment, and even if her face is drawn in a surprising amount of worry she sucks in a breath, contemplating the message for a few moments.
"... this is Hammer we are talking about. With the best will in the world, he would consider a particularly snarled branch 'fierce'. More to the point, if it were the Shadow Dragon Cult, I doubt very much that he could have gotten away long enough to send us a message. More than that, if they are truly captured, we are going to need more than just the three of us in order to be of help," she reminds the pair quietly, her face set in a light frown.
She lets that hang in the air for a moment, before puffing up in a sigh. "--but we should certainly plan for the worst. I will look into the fastest ways for us to get out there - in the meantime, let us grab Leon and Lily, at the very least. It may be that we won't have time to be subtle. Taben's Peak--..." something nags at her mind, and she pauses. "That isn't-- /that/ far, is it?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei looks to Noeline. "That's not fair." He might regret saying that later. "He's a good guy, but it's not like he can fight. And he found the Fereshte for us." He does have a point there at least.
He looks at the floor for a moment, considering rushing right out there but he has to say, "Jean barely got out of that situation. It'll do no good for anyone if we go and just end up captives ourselves. I think we should wait for Leon at least." Mysteriously he doesn't mention Lily here because that could get awkward.
He seems worried too but is weirdly hesitant to rush out to Taben Peak all the same. Maybe those stories from Jean spooked him.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied does look towards Noeline with a flat and thinned pair of lips, as she considers all the variables and everything she knows right now. "Leon and Lily are both-- investigating that job with the Cardinal. I have some information to deliver to them, actually, but--"
She gestures haphazardly to Noeline as she holds on, letting her hair get brushed. Her horns wilt.
"I'll contact Jean, Hiro and the other Fiends. It weaves in well with what we're already doing to try to protect those children from the Shadow Dragon Cult..." she furrows her brow. "I really hope that the Fereshte do not get tangled in all of this..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
The spy's glance towards Fei is at least mildly apologetic - at the same time, there's an amused quirk of her lips that suggests she's not about to back down from that summation of Hammer's courage, though she does at least have to admit that Fei has something of a point. "That is fair. Still-- would the Shadow Dragon Cult be so kind and polite to their guests, I wonder?"
She rolls that thought around in her mind for a while, then lets out a sigh. "I can't shake the feeling we would have seen or heard more in the way of news if they were truly forced to fight... but, rest assured, I am not for a moment suggesting we hang back," she promises Riesenlied, her voice slipping to a fonder tone. "All I am suggesting is speed and not haste. This is when we can call in some of our favours, after all."
"It may be best if I go and take a look myself, first. A little reconaissance? ... I can at least attempt to sneak around a little, and see if I cannot scout out the area somewhat," she suggests. It might help galvanize Fei, after all, and give Riesenlied some assurance as they organize the rest of the strike team.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong says, "Yeah? Oh. Yeah." He rubs the back of his neck. "You've got a point. Maybe it'll be easier to... get the Fiends first, and then go." Fei looks to Riesenlied. "I can get a message out to Leon and Lily at least since we probably should have SOMEONE sticking around to pass on what we heard. If they're coming back from an investigation, Argus might not be around or they might not get to Argus--that sort of thing."
He cups his chin thoughtfully. "As for the Fereshte...well, it's not like they didn't have anybody capable of fighting. Mountains are pretty big so maybe they held off the cult."
Fei nods slowly as Noeline clarifies. Speed, not haste. That seems to work for him. "Good idea, Noeline. Probably don't want to get surprised there though...judging from what Jean's capable of, they're probably no greenhorns at catching spies."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied shivers for a moment, as she insists and replies, "No. We go together. No more separating, no more going around on our own." It's an irrational decision, but it's one she sticks with at present. It doesn't take a miracle to see why.
She looks towards Fei with a nod as she replies, "Yes, please do that. If the worst happens and we disappear too, it's best that we leave a trail that can be followed up upon."
Her horns don't seem any more buoyed. "I can only hope everyone is okay... please be okay..."
---
As Hammer gets dragged off by several kids who're no doubt going to make him play 'roast the chestnuts' with them again, Muni-Muni transforms back into an adorable little ball as a mixture of Taben's Peak and Feresthe kids clamber ontop of her.
"Muniiii..."
Ah, Muni is basking in the warmth of the pleasant Lunarian sun....
This is the life, muni...