Are you afraid of death? Well you shouldn't be, for death is a beautiful treasure that takes one an entire lifetime to seek out. Life? Now that is what you should be afraid of. Life is but that beautiful lie you believe till death. It is the lie the betrays you countless times, and yet you still believe there is a chance. Some defy this, and find ways around life and death, but no matter their method, there will be an end in the future.. So, let me ask this again. Are you afraid of the truth? or do you enjoy the comfort of the lie? No matter how many times that topic crossed Raiza's ears or mind did it ever phase him. Threats of death by a salty individual, encounters with it as the whole, no, he accepted it's existence as a part of who he was. Even watching the two hostages squirm made him feel anything. How long had the clock above their head been at 0? How long had those two existed long past the time they should have died by the group's hand. Was it fate that he chose to take the child's life first rather than second as the job had suggested?
It was interesting, really, his actions were something he had no reason to regret, and this was confirmed so much more so when he had locked lips with Marceline even for the brief moment. 'Friends' they were called, but even so, Raiza still knew where he stood. While his expression could change to many things, and words could be used to further the situation, instead Raiza only let out a smile while he eyes gazed into Marceline's. While he would have loved to reply to Marceline in a German tongue to show a return of affection he had to default back to the language he did know. A grin replacing the smile he had, showing his response to Marceline's words.
"As sweet as ever, Marceline"As the words left Raiza's mouth, his gaze never did shift away until Marceline began to move away. He could have gone into more elaborate compliments, keeping it short and simple was the route he took instead. All this while reflecting back on the first time they did meet. Funny really, how much had changed, how many tables had turned, and how many changes in one's path had been made. If Raiza had to sum it all up into one big game ride then it would be next to impossible. In fact, the sum of events that had all happened so far would be in his own words interesting, and quite the ride. Still though, reflecting back onto that first day they had met made Raiza realize more than one apparent truth about not just that situation, but rather himself as well.
While it was true, it had not been elaborated much before, but what was the connection between the two dark mages? Sure Raiza was well aware of who Marceline's significant other was, he still had to reflect back on more than just that very first meeting, but rather almost all of their encountered both shown and behind the scenes. Now the question remained, who was she to Raiza? A queen? A master? A friend? An Ally? A guildmate? An Unknown? While so many titles could be given, the truth wasn't so simple a single word could ever define what Raiza considered Marceline to be to him. This was why the reflection of who she was to him had come into question. This is why Raiza's thoughts were drifting off to reflections of the past. In fact, his current reflection was that of a line he once told Marceline back when they first met. Back in savage skull, and more so, back on their very first job together long before either of their names were really known in Fiore.
==Memory==
" I am not him. I have powers and his blood, however I do hope you see you and I as equals, not as me being above you."
==end memory==
How egocentric he was back then. To think, he had regarded himself as a higher being long ago. Truly, it was only because he didn't realize the ground he really stood on. Lowering himself to be Marceline's equal? Such an arrogent look in on life, it was him trying to reach up to be Marceline's equal, not the other way around. Though now? Where did he see himself? Not long ago he considered Marceline his queen, a royal figure of the undead. Though did that still hold true? Perhaps not, or Raiza would be calling Marceline queen or majesty right about now, but did he still regard her as above himself? Though the real question should be asked is 'why'. It was a level of respect for what had happened, what he had become and how he viewed Marceline as to be.
How far had this reflection gone was more than length of time. His smile even remained the moment he glanced back over to Marceline even for a split second. The rest of the world mattered not to him right now for around Marceline's neck was a necklace that was a token, a reminder of another time they had been together. Though it was more than that. It held a much deeper meaning because of what happened during that meeting. A change in path, an unfolding of event that held such impact that without it, would Raiza still be here? Would he still be so obedient? Though the thought of 'what if that meeting never happened' would be short lived as he focused back on deeper meanings within that memory. A few stuck out. The act they had done, the way they treated each other from the near end of the job, and then...
==Memory==
'Unknown spirit, I call to thee
Me who wish to set you free.
Cross on over, so that I may help.
Come to me. Reveal yourself."
==End Memory==
It was a powerful incantation, and the moment Raiza had thought about it, he still remembered the method of storing that object. To even obtain it from him would require his death or him to activate his death's arsenal technique. So what did something such as this mean to Raiza? An answer could not be formed in his mind, no line of words could define it, only express the feelings could be a smile. To attempt to even answer that would also drive back to the first question asked. Are you afraid of death?
While the reflections of the past could almost go on forever in itself, Raiza's mind wandered back to the situation and then back onto the clock. It was but an hour till show time, and the noise around him was nothing but like the salt filled ocean. Really, it mattered little to him what was going on unless he actually dictated that it should matter. Even as each second of the clock ticked closer to the start up time it only brought the reality of a truth closer. Each second provided intel for him to work. Each second provided more time on their side. In fact, each second closer only fueled the miasma in the air. A potent indistinguishable miasma that was similar to that of a succubus' allure. Was this out of natural reaction? That much was unknown, but the moment Raiza noticed it himself, the miasma would be gone before it had time to affect anyone.
'Is that the way I feel?' A thought simply crossed his mind, the miasma had no time to reach anyone in the room. It had been an invisible force he had made without even meaning to. Though, the purpose of that miasma was what made Raiza's gaze shift upwards to the ceiling. Resting there as a sigh escaped his lips while he stared up towards the dimly lit interior. The smile that remained on his face was no longer so easy to decipher as it held multiple meanings now, but would he explain what it meant? There was no need, as by the time he would have to, it would have already been all too clear. Though this is what some would call a shadowplay, no?
Though with realization of many other things was when Raiza's smile slowly vanished. The time? What was it now? Glacing over to the camera, he already knew time was sure to be reaching the hour mark. Five minutes to go, the camera was about to start rolling, and time to start the show was about to begin. This time, it was the wife's turn to die for the job was at hand. Though how ever slowly it came, Raiza's gaze only glanced over to the female hostage a single time before anything had even began. A single button push was all that was needed indicating the camera was rolling, broadcasting torture to all of Fiore. Once again, the pirated broadcast being played only to drive home a point. Their demands were to be met, or death would happen instead.
Keeping an eye on the monitor from behind the camera, Raiza noticed a single twitch of delay in the broadcast. To the untrained eye, this was just some camera error or some poor lacrima reception. However, Raiza had been dealing with technology for nearly his entire life and then some when it came to experimentation. To him, he knew what that small twitch of delay was. It in itself made Raiza grit his teeth before making a
"tsch" sound. Time was limited now, the resistance had tried to crack his machinery and while it failed, it did signal a warning to him. Luckily, the broadcast was done and the female hostage was already dead. Though now a thought crossed his mind, should they wait the two hours and go along with the job or finish it now? How long could all of the precautions that were put into place stay there?
The camera was already shut off, and Raiza's gaze shifted to Marceline.
"Marceline, Time has become limited. The council is starting to crack the lacrima firewalls that are being used to protect our broadcasting position and the pirated broadcast. I cannot give an accurate measure of when they will, their technology is far superior currently, though ironically we have at the very least two hours which is the time until our next broadcast to finish off the final piece. Even then with that projected frame the council will not have adequate time to mobilize anything greater than what they currently have in Era right now. Even with that, they cannot risk deploying the royal guard against us, not if they wish to leave the city wide open for even more calamity that will already happen with the planted explosives. Walking forward, Raiza placed down a single lacrima cube which began to project a hologram above it, large enough for all job members to see a number of details.
"Here is live feed from the security I've set up prior. Three hundred and sixty degree view of the structure we're in, and two hundred meters out. That and, if anything gets close, we'll know about it. If any parts of this goes black then we've lost a camera's view." Even as Raiza spoke, a few figures began to rustle around, shifting before going in hiding.
"What you currently see outside are the undead I am controlling." It was an elaborate setup, but all the well worth it. Looking back now though, Raiza wondered how many trails he had to cover, how many angles had been looked at. Was this just the tip of a complex militant strategy? Unlike in many real time strategy games this was real life strategy. There wouldn't be any overhead live time view from satellite perspective. No cross team-speak chat channel to discuss active strategy of engagement from both those involved and non-involved. Instead, this was life, and the only intel they had would be the intel they either found themselves, or acquired through various means.
Such measures that Raiza had gone through only showed the level of precaution he took on even jobs that did not from the start directly involve combat, but still yet may have that component in them. Further out from the structure, would be a small electronic device, it had appeared rather simple in nature with what resembled a single long anti-tank rifle. This was the anti-infantry machine Raiza had in his own arsenal, a prototype to the anti infantry ship he used. While it only had limited ammo, in fact the prototype only had a single round, it would still be enough for in case the time came. Especially with wireless A.I communication. The only downside is, it was designed to work with Raiza's H.U.D ability, which is something he no longer possessed.
Strange really, looking back now, his view on the world had also changed drastically. Looking upon the world he used to see health bars, mana bars, numbers, calculations, and more. Now? It was as if he was playing a game that had disabled the user interface, and the heads up display. What this meant was he had to rely on other methods of aiming the machine, rather than mentally tele-communicating each dial of the angel of fire. Though, the machine wasn't designed for single targets, but rather to rip through multiple. Simply just another defense Raiza had, and this one was roughly three hundred meters away, keeping aim right at the main gate of the builing, which just so happened to be the least fortified. As for any other defenses, one came to mind but the repair on it had not been finished, and that was the mech suit. Shame those werewolves had torn through the metal so easily. It made Raiza realize he would need to nearly scrap the entire thing for it to be any good work. Though there was at least something from it that could help.
Raising up a hand, he had summoned what looked like a massive detached mechanical limb with a built in turret. While the ground work was crude, the thud it created when landing was enough to show how heavy it was, and had even cracked the cement flooring several meters away from where it landed. Though the power source was low, ammunition was less than fifty rounds remaining, and the fire rate was enough to drop that within a matter of seconds, it still provided another defense.
"Given the fact, I'm going to assume we'll be finishing the job. I've taken care of the mechanical side of defenses, as well as having a small platoon of undead outside. Reconnaissance of Era signifies there are currently no warp technology available, so any resistance will be of Era's own gathering. No information on any mages residing in Era, aside from the council itself, seeing as no guild resides here. I wont be underestimating what they may pull out though, and with us so close to their HQ, any actions they take will be quick. We'll have the edge when it comes to that. We have less than two hours till we go live with Mr Thompson himself, and by now they're starting to try and find where we are. No guarantee that we'll even get to do that broadcast if we in fact wait the two hours, however every time we go live it gives them more opportunity. What do you want to do, Marceline?"
Despite that Raiza knew the council would find them about the two hour mark, he was playing his own cards onto the field. Walking back to the magic ritual circle after setting the machine up on a rotational device, it'd be aimed upwards for the moment, until Raiza required it to open fire if a large group were to appear. Though how would the situation pan out? Still had the last hostage to deal with, as well as the black blood brotherhood. So far, the situation was still calm, and if need be, they were ready to have the magic council play right into their hands. Finding them? Sure, come find the group, and with the quick spearheaded assault of what they could immediately gather would only mean the force would not be fully in sync to fight a fortified, and properly recon'd environment. Though, if and when the group would be attacked then Raiza only had to push a single button, to detonate every explosive he had brought along, these explosives were planted inside of Era itself, and would no doubt split the attention of the forces even further.
"Lastly, the explosives within Era are all primed. I'll detonate it the moment we meet any resistance, which should allow a larger window of opportunity to do our work." A grin appearing on his face the moment he began to fiddle with the remote detonation device as if he was some satisfied sadistic strategist. Games were his specialty after all, even without his gamer magic anymore, this was just a game of strategy now. Chess or shogi were similiar, protection of pieces, claiming of an area, and the annihilation of select pieces. While Raiza had certain traits, one other trait that stood out was this exact tactical nature. Though to say he thought of everything would be egotistical. There were plenty of holes in his plan, plenty of ways around everything he did, but that would be highly unlikely that every single one would be exploited, or that the magic council would have time to disarm everything in time. With them needing to disarm over a few dozen camera, the long range infantry assault rifle, multiple bombs, and crack the firewall on their location in the first place. This would take time, which time was not on the council's side. To let them come attack would be to play into the job team's hand. Even some of the black blood brotherhood had already joined in the parameter defense.
All in all, the defense set up was flawed in a few ways, but it wasn't designed to be impenatrable, or was it set up to be a savior to all. No, what it was designed for was the X-variable of the three magi being able to use magic in response as well. It was designed to consume time, and to force the council into acting faster, while delaying time. It was designed to prevent an army at their doorstep, while being able to secure not just a viable advantage in the fight, but also a way out if they so deemed it needed.
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