Getting The Plan

Job Title: B-Rank Free-form
Rank: B
Job Location: Anywhere
Solo Word Count: 3,500 words
Group Word Count: 7,000 words
Additional Requirements: N/A
Job Description: Whatever the player chooses
Enemies: Whatever the player chooses
Reward: 25,000 jewels

Job Sign-Up Page 30, Post Number 747

-Hargeon Town, early afternoon-

Wearing a green t-shirt and khaki shorts with white tennis shoes, Victoria sat at the bar of a cafe in Hargeon Town named Port Coffee. Port Coffee was located in the harbor district and was the place she was instructed to wait for a visit from one of Franklin Kerwes' assistants. Victoria was here for more than a social call. In a letter she had received yesterday, she had been told that Franklin Kerwes had finally located his son and had a plan to get her to him so that she could finish what had been started so many weeks ago. However, he could not discuss the plan in the letter for fear of tipping off Alexander Kerwes, who may or may not have had a spy network of his own... Victoria and Franklin would have to meet in person.

Victoria sipped from her Strawberry Slam and listened to the piped-in music, which was a new dance tune from an artist named DJ Beluga. It was an electronic music piece with a deep bass backing track and the occasional interjection of a percussion instrument with a metallic sound, possibly a triangle. She wondered when the assistant would get here and what they would look like. Furthermore, she wondered how she would know that she was talking to the assistant when they did meet. Then the brunette realized that she had recently discovered the ability to tell when people were lying to her just by analyzing their body language... she could use that ability to tell the real assistant from an imposter sent by Alexander Kerwes.

Victoria sat at the bar and admired the mix of a nautical theme to the cafe with modern decor that was a hit with the young twentysomethings that formed half of its clientele. The wallpaper was half white and half aqua; it was white up top and aqua on bottom to simulate the meeting of sky and sea. An old fishing net hung from the ceiling of the cafe, but the furniture was all modern. It was mostly brown leather for seating with light brown wood for the bar and the tables. Victoria's appreciation of the decor was interrupted when a blonde-haired young woman in a pinstripe skirt suit sat down beside her and initiated a conversation.

"You must be Miss Sheridan." The young woman started the conversation. Victoria did not think much of it because her popularity seemed to be on the upswing ever since she was featured in last month's edition of Sorcerer's Magazine. First she had been recognized during the mall run with Sarah Stone and now she was recognized in Hargeon Town. What the blonde said next was of greater interest.

"I work for Franklin Kerwes." She asserted. Upon hearing that Victoria turned from her Strawberry Slam and faced the blonde to read her body language. After spending a few moments reading over it the Sabertooth mage learned that she was talking to the real deal and not an imposter sent by Alexander Kerwes to either lead her astray with misinformation or to lead her somewhere isolated to set her up for an ambush by contract killers. Victoria relaxed.

"Yeah, I'm Victoria Sheridan." Victoria replied calmly. It was not too hard to pick her out in the crowd. The sprig of hair that always stood up unless she wore a hat or used hair gel was a dead giveaway. Only Abigail Windstrider had a similar sprig, but her hair was longer, curly, and blonde.

"I'm Alicia." The blonde introduced herself. Moments after the introduction the blonde motioned for Victoria to follow her. Victoria stood up, paid for her Strawberry Slam, and took the half-empty can with her as she and Alicia left the cafe.

Alicia:

[Word Count: 636]
[Total Word Count: 636/3,500]

-Hargeon Town-

Escorted by Alicia, Victoria had walked through the streets of Hargeon Town until she arrived at the "nice" part of town that was far away from the rougher harbor district. She had been brought to the business district of the town and walked around to the side entrance of a modest three-story office building. Alicia swiped a card through a keycard reader next to a dark glass door to gain entry to the office. Victoria thought that to be more than a little suspicious, but she did not judge Franklin Kerwes too harshly because she was going into his place of business.

Alicia held the door for Victoria, who quickly entered the office. Alicia then went through and gently shut the door behind them, leaving the pair standing inside a sterile corridor with white tile floor and white walls with florescent lights buzzing overhead. The brunette thought that Franklin Kerwes' office was not too different from the commandeered military bunkers that his son was fond of using for his purposes, but she wisely kept that observation to herself.

-In the office building, first floor-

Alicia wordlessly escorted Victoria down the sterile corridor and promptly turned left at an intersection. Victoria followed the blonde assistant to an elevator that was stainless steel like the one at Snowfall Island's decommissioned base. The pair got in and the door shut.

Alicia pulled out a keycard and put it in a slot below the buttons that worked, then tapped in a six-digit code into a hidden key panel that popped out below the keycard slot. When the code was entered the panel the keypad receded and Alicia tapped a button that sent the elevator downward. Victoria grabbed the rail and hung on as the elevator dropped towards its destination. After a brief forty-second ride the doors opened to show another sterile corridor, this one boasting gray decor instead of white.

Men and women in white lab coats strolled by them in a never-ending stream as the pair took a right at the first branch in the hallway. Victoria heard chatter about DNA samples and other scientific subjects that she had no knowledge about other than DNA made people who they were. She continued to follow Alicia until they reached a pair of thick wooden double doors with golden plates that one pushed on to open them. Alicia motioned for Victoria to wait outside while the blonde proceeded inside. Victoria waited where she was and waited until the assistant got back, then went inside when the blonde gave her permission to do so.

-Inside the board room-

Victoria was ushered into a board room with a long rectangular wooden table and a multimedia projection screen on the wall opposite the entrance. To the left of the screen was a computer station that was used for presentations. Of greater interest were the people inside the room. Victoria spotted both Franklin Kerwes and Florence Manderley seated at the table plus Abigail Windstrider, Victoria's job companion here and there. The Sabertooth mage wondered why they had been called here if Kerwes had wanted to see her.

"Welcome, Miss Sheridan. I've taken the liberty of calling in a few friends of yours to help with the job I'm going to send you on." Franklin Kerwes stated to Victoria as Alicia manned the computer terminal and started up a presentation on where the brunette would have to go to find Alexander Kerwes. She was interested in what her client had to say about where she was going. The older man took a deep breath and motioned for Alicia to begin the presentation, which she did by darkening the room and starting the presentation.

The very first slide was a clearly labeled map of Earthland that was enlarged where everyone could see it. Alicia advanced the presentation to focus more on the region around Pergrande, the kingdom with an infamous zero-tolerance policy towards mages. It was the polar opposite of Bellum, the kingdom where mages were exalted and held above all other humans. Victoria did not dwell on the politics of those realms because she was not educated enough to fully understand them.

"My agents have tracked my son to a region just past Pergrande known as Sin." Franklin said to Victoria and the others as Alicia brought up a display of the region in question. Florence looked absolutely horrified to hear that. Victoria was puzzled. What was the big deal about the region?

[Word Count: 754]
[Total Word Count: 1,390/3,500]

"Sin's too dangerous a place to send Victoria! Not by herself!" Florence protested to Franklin. Victoria was still in the dark as to what was so bad about the place other than its name. Maybe Florence was just being overprotective of her student. Victoria herself joined the conversation with a statement that her mentor was not going to like, but Victoria had to say it.

"I've got to do this, Florence. If I don't stop Alexander Kerwes while I have the chance, I might never get another one. He has to be stopped no matter what it takes." Victoria asserted to Florence and to everyone else. Florence turned her golden gaze away from Franklin and towards her with a look that confirmed what the brunette had thought... the older woman did not like what the Sabertooth mage had said. Victoria was going to stand her ground on this issue, even if it meant standing up to her mentor.

"I've fought him and his mutant creations multiple times and I know that he needs to be stopped. If he isn't stopped he'll just take more innocent people to be turned into mutants for his experiments and I can't let that happen, not without a fight. I've got to go to Sin." Victoria asserted again despite the look of protest on Florence's face. She was not going to let Alexander get away with his crimes, not after all he had done to the people of Snowfall Island, Shadow Island, Divide Island, and Crescent Island. She had almost defeated him once; were it not for him moving his head out of the way when she fired a Beam Cannon at it she could have killed him on the second visit to Snowfall Island and there would have been no need for this meeting.

"Don't you know what Sin is? Don't you know what's waiting there for you?" Florence asked Victoria. Franklin chose the moment right after the question to interject.

"Sin is the result of the Kingdom of Pergrande expelling all the mages it could not kill centuries ago. The mages fled to the area and used their magic to create creatures so that they could get their revenge on Pergrande. Unfortunately for them, their creations turned on them and killed them, forcing Pergrande to wall off the region so that it wouldn't be overrun. The kingdom's also had to commit a sizable portion of its military forces to keeping the creatures out." Franklin gave a brief explanation of the significance of Sin. Victoria now understood why Florence was so adamant that her student not go there, but the Sabertooth mage would not budge. She had to go to Sin and stop Alexander Kerwes before he got away to hide somewhere else.

"OK..." Victoria answered laconically. She was still not getting what the big deal was. Abigail stood up and spoke next.

"Pergrande won't be helping you, Victoria. They HATE mages and would rather see them all dead, even the ones who want to help them. You'll have to find your own way in and out of Sin... and don't count on Pergrande sending the cavalry if you get into trouble." Abigail explained further. Victoria frowned when she heard that. Pergrande was so fixated on their hatred of mages that they would not help one trying to help them? What kind of idiots were they?

"Lemme get this straight. Pergrande has a problem with the monsters inside Sin, but they also hate mages. They hate mages so much that they won't even lift a finger to help them fight the monsters inside Sin?" Victoria asked everyone to make sure that she understood what was being said to her. Abigail nodded. The brunette looked to Florence for a second opinion and the older woman nodded as well. That was far from good news.

"I managed to work out an agreement with Pergrande, Miss Sheridan. They'll let us fly you into Sin by helicopter and carry you out through their airspace, but they won't let us stop in their country for any reason, not even to get you medical attention." Franklin explained to her. Victoria sighed. The more she heard about the kingdom the less she liked it.

"Of course. I'd hate for them to actually help a mage with a problem that affects them too." Victoria snarked. She could not believe what a bunch of idiots that kingdom was. It was hard to believe that Pergrande had not already collapsed under the weight of its own stupidity yet. Still, she had no choice but to accept what little "help" they were willing to offer in order to defeat Franklin's wayward son once and for all.

"I sympathize with you, Miss Sheridan, but use of their airspace was the best I could do. They wouldn't grant any other concessions to me." Franklin said to her. Victoria sighed in resignation.

"It's not your fault, Mr. Kerwes. You did the best you could. If they wouldn't budge, they wouldn't budge." Victoria assured him that she was not angry at him for Pergrande's unrelenting and potentially self-destructive obstinacy. The brunette stopped talking and waited for the next part of the plan to be revealed to her.

[Word Count: 896]
[Total Word Count: 2,286/3,500]

"OK, now that that's settled, I'll show you where you'll be landing when you enter Sin." Franklin said to Victoria. Alicia dutifully moved onto the next slide with a single click of her mouse and the slide changed from a map of Earthland to a close-up of the region of Sin. Circled in a red "pen" was a location just beyond the protective wall Pergrande had erected that was helpfully labeled "Landing Zone."

"Once the helicopter takes you over the wall, you'll be landing in this zone. The land of Sin is mostly flat, but it's vast and teeming with dangerous beasts of numerous types that haven't been catalogued, so there's no telling what you'll be facing. There's also no telling where my son has set up his base, but I'm certain that it's in the deepest part of Sin, where the most dangerous creatures lurk. The only thing I can tell you for certain is to be very careful and pack everything you'll need for the duration of your journey." Franklin said to Victoria.

"If there's a special weapon or special armor you want to use, you'd better bring it with you because I highly doubt that we can make any supply drops. Once you land you'll effectively be on your own." Franklin advised her. Abigail raised a hand and stood up.

"I wouldn't say that she's entirely alone." Abigail said with a smile. Franklin turned from Victoria to the blonde.

"I'll go with Victoria, Mr. Kerwes. She'll need someone to watch her back in that Wizard Saint-forsaken place." The blonde asserted. Victoria was not sure how to respond to Abigail's volunteering to go with her into Sin to track down and kill Alexander Kerwes. On one hand, it was nice to have someone with her to help fend off the dangerous wildlife and to help her fight Kerwes. On the other hand, Victoria was not certain that she could protect Abigail if they got in too deep, especially if Kerwes gained the upper hand against them in what Victoria hoped would be their final clash.

"Are you sure that you want to accompany Victoria, Miss Windstrider? I can't guarantee your safety. Neither can Miss Sheridan, for that matter." Franklin asked her to make sure that Abigail was doing this of her own free will and not due to coercion. Abigail nodded.

"I'll accompany Victoria to Sin, Mr. Kerwes. Since Pergrande seems hellbent on providing the least amount of help possible, someone needs to help her." Abigail replied with confidence. It was Victoria's turn to speak and she spoke to the blonde who had been her partner on quite a few jobs.

"If you have special gear that you need to take with you, you'd better have it ready because it'll be awhile before we get back to civilization." Victoria advised her without any hint of sarcasm. If things went well they could be back to civilization in a few days, but they would have to walk out of Sin and steer clear of Pergrande because it would suck to survive one of the most inhospitable places in Earthland only to get killed by a group of Pergrande soldiers looking for trouble. If things went horribly wrong the mission could be a one-way trip.

"I'll get it ready in time, Victoria." Abigail assured her. Florence was the next to stand up and ask a question of Franklin Kerwes.

"How long will it take to make the preparations for the trip?" Florence asked the older man.

"It'll take three days before everything is ready, Miss Manderley. Miss Sheridan and Miss Windstrider will have that length of time to get ready for the mission." Franklin answered with certainty. Florence sat down with a look of concern on her face. She did not look happy about the timetable in which Victoria and Abigail would have to get ready for their mission. Victoria was not sure that three days would be enough to get ready for an undertaking of this magnitude, but she was fairly certain that there was no choice in the matter. They had to find and kill Alexander Kerwes before he relocated or perfected Project Lacedaemon.

"Three days, huh? I'll be ready." Victoria announced confidently.

"So will I." Abigail answered with the same confidence that Victoria had used in her answer. Franklin Kerwes clasped his hands together and faced the two young women and Alicia exited the slideshow and turned off the computer used for the brief presentation. The lights gradually came on, giving everyone time to close their eyes before the lights came on completely.

"OK then. When everything's ready I'll send word to the both of you." Franklin said to them. Victoria, Abigail, and Florence stood up and stretched their legs before getting ready to exit the building. They had a lot of work to do to prepare for the trip to Sin.

[Word Count: 848]
[Total Word Count: 3,134/3,500]

-Sakuramori, Florence's apartment, six hours later-

Florence, Victoria, and Abigail had all left Franklin Kerwes' office in Hargeon Town and had returned to Sakuramori, where the sun was due to set in a couple of hours. It would take more than two hours for Victoria to reach Ace of Spades or Abigail to reach Oak Town, so rather than risk being on the road during prime bandit roaming hours, the mages decided to stay at Florence's apartment until the next morning. Florence was more than willing to be their hostess for the night and was concerned about the mission they would undertake in three days. Victoria and Abigail sat in the living room across from each other and were discussing what special gear they needed to bring for the journey through Sin.

"At the bare minimum I'm gonna need to take my Azure Armor and Crown of Persephone." Victoria told Abigail. Those two items were an integral part of Victoria's meager equipment and had helped keep her alive during the last two fights with the rogue scientist that they were being sent to eliminate. The Azure Armor was the only thing that had kept Victoria from getting permanently hurt by the backfuls of glass she had received after being slammed or knocked into computer consoles during her fight with Alexander Kerwes. The Crown of Persephone let her heal herself and others back to health... or at least kept them alive long enough for them to receive professional medical care. Victoria would need both items for what promised to be the final confrontation with Franklin's wayward son.

"All I really need's my Sky Blade. I don't use armor or other items." Abigail told Victoria. The experienced Sabertooth mage deemed it wise to advise her companion to get some armor.

"You may want to get some armor for this job, Abby. We've gotta fight our way through who knows how many Sin monsters before we actually reach the target. I may not be able to protect you the whole time." Victoria suggested with sincerity.

"I don't know what kind to get, Victoria. I'm gonna need something stronger than leather armor. I can't wear plate armor because I haven't been trained to wear it and we won't be able to take too many breaks once we land in Sin." Abigail told her friend. Victoria was at first going to loan the blonde her Azure Armor but then saw that there was a difference between their physiques. Abigail had a bigger chest than Victoria, which would make wearing the Azure Armor considerably harder for the blonde because the armor was originally made and fitted for a man. Victoria's flatter chest meant that she could wear it without any alterations.

"I don't know what to tell you either, Abby. All I know to tell you is to find something good and wear it for this job." Victoria said, wishing that she could help her friend somehow. Florence strode into the living room with a white mug of coffee in hand and a smile on her face.

"I might have an idea that can help. I know someone who owns an armor shop in Hargeon Town named Defensive Gear. Tell them you know me and they may give you a deal on some of their better gear." Florence suggested to the pair. Victoria and Abigail looked at each other. While the side trip may take some valuable time out of the time they needed to prepare for the trip to Sin, Abigail might need the armor. Since Florence had dropped a valuable lead right into their lap they both felt obligated to at least take a look at Defensive Gear's wares.

"We'll definitely check it out. Thanks." Abigail thanked Florence, who raised her white coffee mug in acknowledgment. Now that the issue of armor had been settled, the pair next discussed what other supplies they would need for the trip. Franklin had warned them that there might not be any supply drops during the mission and that they would have to carry everything they needed with them when they got on board the helicopter that was to drop them off in Sin.

"I'm gonna bring my backpack and fill it with everything I need. We're gonna need food, water, possibly extra clothing too." Victoria informed Abigail.

"I'll bring a backpack too. It's not like we're gonna find supplies just lying around waiting to be picked up. Pergrande definitely won't help us with supply issues, so we're effectively on our own." Abigail replied. Victoria frowned when the blonde mentioned Pergrande, that kingdom of mage-haters whose irrational distrust of mages could doom them all one day. The less said about them the better.

"Yeah." Victoria commented laconically.

"It seems like you two have this under control." Florence commented with a measure of respect for the pair.

"We already know what we need to pack. All we need to do is get Abigail some armor and we'll be prepared." Victoria replied to her friend and mentor. Florence then asked a question of the pair.

"Are you sure you two want to go through with this?" Florence asked them. Neither mage had to take very long to come up with their answer.

"We've already committed, so there's no backing out now. Besides, I'm gonna finish what I started." Victoria confidently replied to Florence.

"I'm with Victoria. We're committed, so we're gonna see this through no matter what." Abigail agreed with the Sabertooth mage. Florence appeared to be impressed with their commitment to the mission and did not try to dissuade them from following through.

"Well then... good luck with your preparations." Florence wished them before ducking back into the kitchen to refill her coffee mug.

"Are we really up to this? Will we be able to fight through Sin, fight the scientist, and get out alive?" Abigail asked Victoria with a little concern on her voice.

"Yeah. We've worked together several times before and our abilities complement one another. We've got this." Victoria assured the blonde mage. Abigail seemed to cheer up and agree with the brunette.

"You're right. We've got three days to get ready. We'll be ready for this." Abigail said to Victoria. Victoria nodded in agreement and stood up to go get something to drink. Abigail followed her into the kitchen and the pair then stood in the kitchen and drank Strawberry Slam beverages under the watchful eye of Florence, who was on her fourth mug of coffee. Virtually everything had been discussed and settled... all that remained was to get Abigail some armor, wait for three days to pass, and answer Mr. Kerwes' call when he called for them to board the helicopter to Sin.

[Word Count: 1,158]
[Total Word Count: 4,292/3,500]