PROTECTING ONE'S OWN PT.2 (NIKOLA, JAHEIRA) [COMPLETED]

Job Details and Relevant Links:

• Original Job Link: A-RANK FREEFORM (NEUTRAL JOB)
  
  
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It had not been very long since Nikola had finished his latest adventure and this came in the form of the year's end festival which had taken place in the quaint little town of Magnolia. During this adventure, Nikola had met his new acquaintance, Jaheira, once again and had found her rather busy doing her usual thievery, stealing valuables and such possessions of various sorts from the multifarious and largely unaware crowd. After she had noticed him, Nikola had accompanied her around the festival and consequently, he had enjoyed it very much. Additionally, they had also conversed at length about each other's lives in various aspects and thus, seen the past year out on a high note. After that, Nikola had bid her adieu and returned to his estate in Crocus but to his great chagrin, a nasty surprise had awaited him upon his return.

Said surprise to Nikola had come in the form of the unexpected absence of his newfound assistant, Hygia the albino nagini, who he had made sure to protect while he was away through the use of a powerful, multi-layered sealing barrier which he had cast all around his entire estate to prevent the entry of her erstwhile captors again. Alas, he came to know upon his return that this barrier turned out to be inadequate to keep said captors from infiltrating his estate and taking Hygia away from him successfully this time.

Hmm...well now, this is a surprise, indeed...a most unwelcome and decidedly unsavory one, to be sure...the two most pressing concerns laying before me now are to track down Hygia and rescue her after adequately punishing the trash mob that saw fit to take her from me...and of course, to retool this barrier so that this sort of debacle never transpires again so long as I live...hmm...so long as I live...hmm, there is some epiphany here, I just know it...but more on that later...

Nikola mused thus silently as he examined the barrier generators he had set up around his estate to cover it and then decided that his forces alone would not be sufficient to retake Hygia in most covert way possible without alerting the upholders of the law, aka the Rune Knights who were stationed most strongly at their HQ here in Era. So, to bolster the chances of his rescuing Hygia, he decided to call upon and avail himself of the timely aid of none other than his recently encountered acquaintance, Jaheira. To that end, he set off once more to track down Jaheira so that he could try to convince her into assisting him with this covert rescue operation.

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OOC:

Nikola's Appearance:



Word Count:

• Post WC: 440
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 440
  

Another day, another theft and Jaheira was once again exploring another town of Fiore, her fingers continually sinking into the pockets of those she walked past. It was all so easy now and it seemed that every day was proving to be more successful than the last. Her bank balance was enormous but the shapeshifting kitsune wasn’t ready to just sit back and retire just yet, not while there was even more profit to be made. No, she would keep going until things either became too hot or there was nowhere left for her to rob. Until that day came, the conniving vixen would continue her search for gold. The humans never seemed to learn, which amused her so greatly. She wasn’t even doing anything particularly sneaky, simply pickpocketing those who came close and yet even that was child’s play. The men and women around here were just a never ending supply of jewels, to be robbed whenever Jaheira felt like it.

A large figure came into view soon enough and the black haired woman, disguised in her human form as always, moved in, believing him to be her next target. There was a familiar jangling sound, which instantly had her convinced that it was the sound of jewel, one that had her attention drawn. In moments, she was behind him and as soon as the chance came, her hand would slip inside and grasp his wallet, pulling it out without any reaction from him. Another successful capture and as she quickly departed from the crowd and into a side alley, she quickly popped open the wallet and had a look inside.

To find herself looking at the ID of a Rune Knight.

The crimson eyed woman didn’t know whether to laugh or swear as she realised and quickly took everything of value from it in moments, before throwing the wallet into the nearest dustbin. She didn’t want anything more to do with that particular item, knowing that it could well have some kind of magical tracker installed. Jaheira knew that it would be risky to remain now and if there were any other Knights, hidden in plain sight, then that could be a significant risk to her. Oh, she doubted that they’d be able to capture her but it was still a possibility.

Moving swiftly, the kitsune would make a bee line straight for the exit of the town, hoping to make her exit before things went awry. She didn’t want to waste the rest of the day though and hoped that perhaps she could find some work somewhere else. Profit was profit and she didn’t mind too much where it came from.

(444 Words)
(844 TWC)

Nikola had set off for Era where he had tracked his assistant Hygia's captors to and had arrived there before too long thanks to his fully customized vintage limo which he had outfitted with personally designed, highly advanced automotive technology. Once there, he had put it away and then commenced his search through the city for Jaheira as per his plan before enacting his rescue operation to take Hygia back under his wing. Due to the mass of crowds thronging in the city, however, this proved to be more difficult that he expected going in.

Hmm...this is not working...I should reassess my options...perhaps waiting near the exit to the city would be a smarter move...knowing her, she would not want to be caught anywhere near the Rune Knights HQ here after having gone about her business...

Nikola mused thus silently as he pondered his options for finding her quickly and afterwards, he went and waited near the exit to the city. Sure enough, just as he had expected her to do, he saw her appear in the distance moving at high speed, clearly with the intent to leave Era before the authorities or any of her victims probably realized that she had hit them up without their knowledge again, but before she could, he called out to her to get her attention all the while being careful not to alert anyone else in the vicinity

"Ah, there you are, Ms. Jaheira. I knew I would find you here and I am pleased to see that the data regarding you that I have been gleaning and analyzing from our encounters thus far have proven to be useful in anticipating your arrival."

With that, Nikola fell silent and waited to see if she would catch sight of him as well and head over to him. Meanwhile, he kept up his vigilance so as to detect any unwanted guests that may be lurking nearby so that he could forestall them if necessary.

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OOC:

Nikola's Appearance:



Word Count:

• Post WC: 330
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 770
  

Considering just how often she was coming across him lately, Jaheira wasn’t all that surprised when she heard the familiar voice, shortly before her keen slayer sight located the good doctor. They’d already met a couple of times recently during both the Halloween and New Years celebrations, both encounters which she’d enjoyed immensely and she was certainly not unhappy to see him again. In fact, he might just give her the cover she needed to appear inconspicuous and so she wasted no time in moving towards him. There was no celebration going on though and so she was rather curious as to his reasons for just happening to be in the same place as her.

“I’m definitely starting to get the feeling that you’re following me around.” The kitsune replied with a laugh, her tone light and humorous. “It doesn’t seem to matter where I am, you’re always close by and I must admit that it makes me nervous that you’re keeping tabs on me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were working for the council or something.” She knew of course that the odds of that were zero, given that his work wasn’t exactly within the law either. Like her, he was a figure who enjoyed the freedom of following their own codes of ethics, a fact that made speaking with him so refreshing.

After briefly scanning the area around them, to find that there was no one about, she’d then speak again. “I admit that I don’t want to hang around here for too long, as it seems I’ve picked the wrong pocket, so I unfortunately don’t have the time for idle diversions today. Was there something in particular that you wanted to speak to me about?” Naturally, she was curious but that was tempered by her eagerness to get out of dodge, so to speak. Perhaps she was being a little too cautious but one could never be too careful and the last thing she wanted was to end up in a fight with the local law.

(344 Words)
(1518 TWC)

Nikola let out a deep, rumbling chuckle as he heard Jaheira's jocular comment about how she was beginning to think that he was following her around and about how she was beginning to think that he was working for the Magic Council located here in Era and then remarked, now with a rather overtly theatrical expression of mock hurt on his face and his words tailored to match and even included the appropriate theatrical gestures to emphasize it like an actor would when performing a play

"Le gasp...how in Heisenberg's name could you ever entertain such thoughts about poor, little, innocuous moi, Ms. Jaheira?...your suspicions do wound me so...deeper than any blade ever could...le sob..."

To make his little performance even more needlessly melodramatic, Nikola even put on a show of briefly sobbing after which point, he straightened up and returned to his normal neutral self before continuing on with his remarks in response to Jaheira's own

"Facetiousness aside, the answer to your doubts is very simple...and it is that, since I find you to be mysterious, exotic, and to be a truly enchanting and superlative specimen, it happens that I simply cannot bring myself to resist the siren song of your mysterious allure since I am, after all, a tireless researcher of all things mysterious and exotic, as you well know by now."

Then, Nikola moved on to addressing Jaheira's expression of her wish to not stay too long in Era since she had apparently picked the pocket of a rather troublesome target this time

"Oh? Well, then I may just have the solution for you...for you see, I have taken the liberty of parking my personal transport near here in a secure locale...and so, we can extricate ourselves from this city rather easily using that and none shall be the wiser of our exit. That said, as to what I am doing here, the real reason is that...a situation has developed of a most unsavory nature..."

Nikola said, now with a much more serious business-like expression on his face, a far cry from his usual facetious or even the neutral one he often chose to wear most times and then, he paused to allow Jaheira to digest that preamble and then resumed

"Said development is that, despite all the protective measures I had put in place at my estate to protect my assistant, Hygīa, from being kidnapped by her erstwhile captors...they somehow found a way to break through and take her...which leads me to believe that they have someone who is quite skilled at infiltration and perhaps even illusion magic as well as barrier disabling magic...and I must rescue her with all due haste for she is a rather important specimen to me...but the issue is that her captors have holed themselves up near Era and have confined her deep in this base of theirs such that only someone who is highly skilled in the use of thievery and stealth or illusion type magic actually possesses a chance of rescuing their captive, that is, without prematurely drawing the undesirable attention of the authorities..."

Nikola trailed off there, and after flashing Jaheira a smirk with a glint in his eyes that only a devilish schemer would have, he fell simply silent since he figured that someone as intelligent as Jaheira was would catch on to what he was implying with this narrative of his and discern his motive for tracking her down specifically.

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OOC:

Word Count:

• Post WC: 575
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 1345
  

The kitsune raised an eyebrow at his description of her, wondering if perhaps she had become a little rusty at behaving like a human. It almost sounded as if he was aware of her subterfuge but Jaheira wasn’t one to panic and so simply mused quietly to herself. She supposed that it was only natural that he’d take an interest in her, given the uniqueness of her powers and her rather deceitful nature so perhaps she was merely overthinking things. For the time being, she didn’t respond any further on the topic but she made a mental note to reign in her eccentricities just a little. Jaheira was not yet at the stage where she wished to divulge too much personal information to him although she was beginning to ponder about the idea. They did seem to have chemistry and her life was a rather lonely one. Surely an ally wouldn’t hurt too much, would it?

At the mention of his personal vehicle, her eyes seemed to light up with delight. “Normally, I’d say no to taking a ride with a strange guy but I think we know each other well enough now, yeah?” Again, it was meant in jest and the truth was that she was just as strange herself. “I’ll happily jump at the chance to get out of here quickly as I’ve no desire to have any encounters with law today. I doubt that they could catch me anyway but still, there’s always the off chance.”

His demeanour soon changed as he explained the situation to her and the smile on her face drifted away. A wicked situation indeed and Jaheira felt sympathy for the captured assistant. She knew that the entirety of the doctor’s companions were non-human and no doubt the fiends had some nefarious scheme planned for the delightful Hygia. The doctor sounded far more serious than usual and sounded almost upset that she’d been taken. Jaheira had to admit that just hearing him sound anything other than calm was unusual. There was no doubt that he was sincere about just how important Hygia was to him.

It was obvious from his wording that he wished for her assistance in retrieving the captured assistant and the black haired woman’s reply didn’t take all that long to come. “Well, you’re lucky that you found me then, aren’t you? I’ll help you get her back although I’ll tell you now that murder and unnecessary bloodshed aren’t things that I enjoy doing. I’m no weakling, that’s for sure but I simply don’t experience a lot of blood lust when I’m fighting. Quick and clean is my motto and that’s how I’ll be handling things during all of this. If I have to kill, I will but if a massacre is what you’re asking for, then you might not get it. Slaughter is bad for business and not to mention messy. I’ll get us in and through their defences though, that I can promise you.”

She smiled then and added. “Let’s get it done.”

(505 Words)
(2598 TWC)

As he heard Jaheira joke about how she would be hesitant to ride with a stranger, but that she would make an exception in his case since they were getting more acquainted with each other with every one of their encounters, Nikola let out that deep, rumbling chuckle once again which most people usually found to be rather uncharacteristic of him due to him having a lean and compact body frame rather than a hulking one and afterwards, he remarked in the same jocular as well as facetious manner she used just now with a highly mirthful smirk playing on his lips to match

"Ah, you have nothing to worry about, Ms. Jaheira. I promise I will at least take you out to some high class wining and dining before trying anything else with you. Now then, let us be off to my vehicle."

With that said, Nikola led Jaheira over to where he had hidden his custom-built, vintage limo near Era and as he did, he listened to what she had to say regarding her preferences for handling the situation that he had recruited her to help with, namely the rescue of his assistant, Hygia. Once they reached his limo, he held open the door for her to climb in and after seating himself as well in the back next to her, he started to address her concerns one by one

"Murder and bloodshed? Heavens, no, I am not so uncouth as to indulge in all that either for I too prefer handling threatening situations to me or my retinue in the quickest, most efficient, and cleanest manner possible. Besides, this mission calls more for stealth and deception rather than a full frontal, take no prisoners style assault on the enemy. More specifically, we shall divide up the tasks at hand in the following manner. Your objective will be to sneak past their rather formidable defenses and infiltrate their base from the rear, much less guarded entrance where my area-wide, multi-spectral, 3D analysis has determined the confinement cell they are using to hold my dear Hygia captive is located and then spirit her away to safety. I shall, of course, provide you with a multi-modular identification tool which you can use to confirm her identity positively once you have located her, so it should not pose too much of a problem given what I have learned about your repertoire from your descriptions of it."

Nikola paused there to collect his thoughts and to let Jaheira assimilate the data he had given her just now regarding their imminent rescue operation after which point, he resumed his narrative

"Simultaneously, while you are rescuing my dear Hygia, I shall take up the task of drawing the enemy's attention away from the rear entrance and the structures near it by forcing them all to concentrate their energies in stopping me since I shall be hitting them from the front entrance while my retinue will be invading them from the side entrances and taking control of the structures therein, and by doing so, shall weaken the enemy considerably by systematically eliminating them from root to branch. The idea here is I wish to send a firm and unequivocally clear message to Hygia's captors and their client once and for all..."

Nikola paused there again for effect before finishing off this initial part of his narrative explaining the plan going forward to Jaheira and as he said these last few words, his eyes turned surprisingly ice-cold, his voice took on an uncharacteristically steely edge to it, and the overall vibe coming from him was truly a menacing one while the previously jocular smirk that had been on his face earlier now turned into an evil, cruel one like the one usually seen on the faces of any mad scientist

"That message is, of course, that neither she nor I nor any member of my retinue or my allies are to be trifled with ever again lest these fools want a one way ticket to permanent oblivion."

With that said, Nikola fell silent and waited to see what Jaheira would say and do in response to his plan and also if she had any modifications she wanted to make to it.

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OOC:

Word Count:

• Post WC: 706
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 2051
  

Appreciating the swiftness with which they left the town, Jaheira instantly felt a little more comfortable as they headed towards his vehicle. She assumed that it’d be a pretty swanky and expensive one, given his tastes and talent regarding the scientific arts. He did give off that vibe that he was pretty well off and the fact that he was able to afford to partake in his intriguing work was a testament to that. The kitsune herself was also wealthy due to her life of crime although she’d learned to be rather frugal when it came to splashing too much cash. That always led to the question of where she’d gotten her money from, a line of questioning that she never wished to go down with anyone. She wasn’t wrong either, as his car was a lovely limousine, a luxury indeed and one that she assumed that he had at least tinkered with himself. He was just that kind of guy, or at least that’s what she reckoned.

He was certainly thorough when he delivered his briefing and the kitsune did her utmost to save every piece of information to memory. It appeared that they were both in for quite the challenging mission although Jaheira had little doubt that she’d have any issues with her part. When it came to secrecy and evading traps, she believed herself to be a master, after having so much experience in the field. By the time she was done, no one would know that she’d ever been there. She expected that there would probably be a little combat in her path too but again, she was unconcerned, her magic was tailor made for handling such things in a quiet manner. Overall, she saw very few issues with what he was proposing.

His demeanor changed again towards the end of his speech and again he revealed a darker side of himself that Jaheira picked up on rather easily. She’d seen similar quirks in those she’d worked with over the years and wasn’t overly unsettled. The black haired woman herself had never been that kind of evil and although she certainly wasn’t law abiding, she wasn’t one who could be overcome by madness. Jaheira was a creature who beat to the sound of her own drum and she couldn’t be any happier with that.

“Your plan seems perfectly sound to me and I’m more than happy to take the role that you have planned for me. I’ll get in there, slip through whatever traps they have and retrieve your ally before they know what hit them. Let us hope that by doing it this way, we can send a message indeed to her captors and hopefully they’ll take it on board. I’ve no idea why they have such a grudge against you but with any luck, this’ll be the end of it.” She replied, before adding after a moment or two. “I also hope that this doesn’t end up turning into a far more violent situation, as what we don’t need is this escalating into some kind of vendetta.”

(513 Words)
(3817 TWC)

Nikola nodded to Jaheira's approval of his plan for them to hit the enemy with a three-pronged, multi-directional strike for the rescue operation they had coming up shortly for the purposes of saving his assistant, Hygia, from the clutches of her captors and remarked

"Indeed, I hope so as well...for I too do not wish to waste any more time and effort on dealing with these fools in one way or another...but if I had to guess at their motives for capturing Hygia, it would most likely be because she is a rare specimen of nagini since she is an albino...which, in turn, is because albino reptilians cryptids such as her do not normally survive into adulthood, so I am sure seeing one such as her not only fully grown into adulthood, but also fully functional in every way must have been too tempting to resist for the client of these slavers...which leads me to surmise that he, like myself, is a collector of sorts...though my reason for collecting it is purely scientific and not about status or anything trivial like that, of course, whereas he probably considers owning her as some sort of status symbol due to how rare of an entity she is...and since he views me as an obstacle for having taken her under my wing, he has this grudge against me now..."

Nikola spoke thus, musing aloud to Jaheira in explanation about their enemies and the employer of said enemies on this rescue operation. Then, he called out a voice command to the custom-designed, advanced digital assistant program he had installed in his vehicle's onboard quantum computer

"F.R.E.I.A., are you there? I have urgent need of your assistance, my dear."

In response to his input command, a panel opened up on the ceiling of the chamber in his vehicle within which he and Jaheira were now seated and the projector in that hidden compartment sent down a 3D hard-light holographic projection of a female humanoid avatar which was the public interface of this A.I. which came to rest in midair before both Nikola and Jaheira



Then, as the A.I. avatar began to speak, a melodious feminine voice could be heard replying to Nikola

"Ah, Master Eisenstein, you have returned, I see. Yes, I am fully online and ready to serve you now, so what would you have me do, sir?"

Nikola nodded and remarked in response to the query that his A.I. assistant put to him regarding her orders

"Please construct and display a 3D hard-light holographic schematic of the enemy stronghold and the surrounding geography with points of interest tagged for easy viewing."

In response, this A.I. avatar called "F.R.E.I.A." nodded, signifying acceptance of Nikola's input command to her and in short order, she brought up the schematic he had asked for and it now hovered before Nikola and Jaheira for their viewing and interaction with it. Nikola then proceeded to explain each tagged point of interest to Jaheira for further explaining the finer details of the plan that he had concocted for rescuing Hygia

"As you can see, the enemy stronghold is in strategically well-chosen area, defended by high cliffs with sheer walls...though, I do not think these are natural but rather man-made with some form of earth magic...at least if my analysis of them is accurate. Now then, I propose we take one of these highlighted routes so as to facilitate the scaling of the cliffs and the subsequent access of the enemy stronghold since everywhere else is within the surveillance of the enemy's specially trained reconnaissance unit..."

Nikola spoke thus while touching and tracing his finger along each path he indicated to highlight it in green with the unsafe areas highlighted in red. Then, he touched the entryways he had indicated to Jaheira earlier to highlight them in green as well and the surveillance systems inside were subsequently highlighted in red while the blind spots between now lit up in yellow. Finally, he finished by touching the rear portion of the 3D holographic schematic to highlight in purple the innermost chamber where he had explained that he had sensed Hygia's presence to with the advanced remote reconnaissance that he had performed on the enemy stronghold and the surrounding area in preparation for this rescue operation. While highlighting these areas, Nikola spoke further about the possibilities of enemy encounters, their numbers and so on to Jaheira so that she could have as much information going in as possible to increase the chances of a successful retrieval of Hygia

"In closing, I propose we use this point as a rendezvous spot once we have each completed our respective parts of this rescue mission, Ms. Jaheira. So...is there anything you would like to ask about before we reach the designated drop point for commencing this operation?"

With that said, Nikola now fell silent and waited to see if Jaheira would have any queries regarding anything else about the mission they would be undertaking shortly and while waiting, he ensured that the multi-spectral sensor array onboard his limo which was now traveling towards the aforementioned drop point was fully operational so as to detect any incoming interception attempts by the enemy.

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Word Count:

• Post WC: 867
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 2918
  

There was an awful lot of information to take in and so Jaheira simply sat in silence and did her best to absorb as much as she could. The complex seemed rather advanced and the kitsune mused that it might just be a challenge for her, a thought that excited her a touch. The black haired woman didn’t mind a tougher task now and again which this seemed to be. Perhaps it would be a chance for her to experiment with her magic styles and see what she could produce with her curious selection of slayer elements. There were so many options for her and she was looking forward to using as many as possible in order to retrieve the good doctor's precious assistant. Jaheira had to admit that she was looking forward to meeting this Hygia and would do her best to make sure that she was returned safely. She had a soft spot for her fellow non-humans and always desired to help them if she could.

She was rather surprised by his advanced A.I but Jaheira soon realised that she probably shouldn’t have been. As skilled as the doctor was with technology, it was only to be expected and the kitsune could only marvel at the delightful form that it took. He sure had great taste when it came to the ladies, that was for sure and the crimson eyed gaze of the kitsune briefly glanced over the A.I in a rather unusual way. Yes, the doctor had great taste indeed. Her attention soon returned to what was being said though and she mused to herself about the plan as he explained it to her. It didn’t sound all that bad and Jaheira had no doubts that she could sneak her way through and rescue Hygia. If she was forced to fight, then she would without hesitation but with any luck, she could take out her foes with a single disabling strike. A lifetime of secrecy had taught her rather well regarding the most vital points of a human and she was confident that her skills hadn’t diminished that badly with age.

Once he was finished, Jaheira would turn to him and answer. “It seems simple enough to me and I’m sure that I can fulfil by part of the job without any difficulties, I confess that it’s been some time since I last took part in an endeavour like this but there’s no need to worry, I’ll be able to handle any difficulties and rescue your believer Hygia. I trust that she won’t have any issues with me? I imagine that she’ll be rather frightened and the last thing I want to do is to make things worse. I’ll do my best to be friendly and gentle but time will be of the essence and I’ll not have a lot of time to ease any worries or anxieties that she may have.” She was a tad concerned that the nagini might end up attacking her out of sheer despair.

(502 Words)
(5186 TWC)

Nikola noticed how Jaheira was looking at the A.I. he had designed to be his support and chuckled briefly while remarking with an amused smirk playing on his face again

"Ah, I see you are quite taken with my choice of avatar for my A.I., Ms. Jaheira. This is quite an amusing revelation, indeed."

Then, Nikola proceeded on to address Jaheira's concerns regarding Hygia's reaction to as well as  reception of their rescue attempt, his smirk now turning into a smile

"There is no need to worry about that. I have trained Hygia quite thoroughly in all aspects of the art of strategy, to the point that she is now almost as good as I am at it...so right about now, she is most likely waiting patiently and biding her time while looking for an opportunity to slip through the clutches of her captors...as such, she certainly will welcome you as her rescuer and accept your aid with open arms...and, furthermore, the device I shall be providing you with soon for the purpose of identifying her correctly will also serve another important function, namely, of identifying you as my ally...and lastly, as part of her professional development training, I have provided her with an ample level of psychological conditioning as well, so I do not think you have to worry about finding her wallowing in despair or anything of that sort."

Just as he finished saying that, Nikola's limo that was carrying both him and Jaheira to the intended drop point for the commencement of the imminent rescue operation finally reached said point which was a blind spot in the enemy's surveillance grid, and so, he became serious once again and with a focused look on his face, he instructed F.R.E.I.A. in the next steps to take

"After dropping me and Ms. Jaheira off, you are to take the limo back to the estate, and once you have done that, quickly gather up our forces in it and bring them here with all due haste. For this mission, I shall be needing my black ops teams since stealth is paramount, but also bring a few of the regular squadrons as well for extra firepower if necessary."

In response, Nikola's A.I., F.R.E.I.A., nodded as she registered his commands and then inquired further

"Understood, Master Eisenstein. I can also handle the various operational logistics for us once this mission begins as well so you both can focus your attention fully on the battles ahead and on rescuing Hygia from her captors. Good hunting."

Nikola nodded in response and activated the limo's disembarking mechanism, and after doing so, he exited and then held the door open for Jaheira so she could step out as well so that they could begin the rescue operation.

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Word Count:

• Post WC: 461
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 3379
  

The kitsune was pleased to hear that Hygia would be approachable and that she’d been well trained by the doctor. It would make the situation far easier for Jaheira and she was quite looking forward to getting the mission started. She’d pretty much recorded the layout of the base to memory by now and continued to repeat it to herself in her mind in order to keep it fresh. She was confident that there wouldn’t be any issues but still, the black haired woman didn’t want there to be any additional problems caused by her own forgetfulness or errors. The last time that she had taken on such a task was a fair few years ago, where she’d helped a group of friends break someone out of a prison. That’d been a hard as nails job and the kitsune had been forced to unleash her full powers then. She’d ended up running into the governor of the place and his punches had been fuelled by magical power, enough to make even her wince.

It was pleasant to hear that the doctor would be bringing in a fair amount of backup and Jaheira had faith that he’d be more than capable of handling his part of the job. She certainly wouldn’t want to be the one attacking from the front and one of her goals in life was to permanently avoid such things. There was one downside to the plan though and that was that she wouldn’t be able to his forced fight for herself, as she’d readily confess that she was interested in his allies. If they were all as intriguing as Hygia was, then Jaheira believed that she’d been in for quite the treat upon meeting them. Perhaps next time.

Eventually the limo would come to a stop and the kitsune would exit the vehicle through the held open door. It appeared that the time had come to get to work and as she briefly stretched, she’d ask him. “Any last words of wisdom or warnings?” This was his plan, after all and the dark haired woman was happy to follow his lead when it came to instructions. “I’ve no doubts that you’ve taken every opportunity to plan this out to the letter but if there’s anything else, now’s the time for it.” As she spoke, her form began to shimmer as her invisibility ability came into place although for the moment, it wasn’t fully activated, rather a half and half mode, so to speak.

(416 Words)
(6063 TWC)

While he waited for Jaheira's remarks and reactions, Nikola had been adjusting the experimental lacrimatek smartwatch device that he had brought along with him to field test in this sort of rescue operation situation since he needed practical data on its performance after having designed and constructed it. Then, he heard Jaheira ask him whether he had any last minute remarks and advice regarding the imminent rescue operation they were conducting in tandem to rescue his assistant, Hygia, and so he remarked

"Indeed I do, firstly...if you would take this and keep it on your person at all times throughout this mission, I would appreciate it, Ms. Jaheira. It will be crucial for synchronizing our progress and movement through the enemy stronghold since it will link our minds telepathically to each other to facilitate covert, uninterrupted communication between us should the need arise to do so...and also has a copy of that interactive, hi-res, 3D hard-light, holographic schematic of the enemy stronghold with the important areas I mentioned earlier tagged and highlighted for our viewing, again if the the need arises to do so because it will automatically track and update our progress through the enemy stronghold to each other and our own individual use as well, both in real time."

Saying thus, Nikola handed her another of the iLac-like smartwatch device and this one was, of course, identical in every way to the one strapped on his wrist and indicated that she should strap it to her wrist as well just as he did. Then, he took out a small, handheld lacrimatek scanner-like device and handed to Jaheira as well while remarking

"Secondly, if you would also take this and keep it on your person at all times throughout this mission, I would appreciate it, Ms. Jaheira. This is the ID analysis and confirmation device I told you about earlier and its function will be to let you ID Hygia correctly once you reach her and will ID you to her in return as my ally since it contains not only a portion of my digitized soul data and similarly digitized mana data inside as a power source, but also a portion of Hygia's digitized soul data and similarly digitized mana data as well, for a similar purpose. This device also has the power to pierce through just about any illusions as well, so even if the enemy has cast an illusion on some other target and swapped them out for the real Hygia, it will not hinder you, though, it is merely a backup fail-safe, of course...given what you have told me regarding your abilities, you should have no problems, methinks, in seeing through any such potentially distracting illusions. Lastly, it will also lead you straight to where they are keeping the real Hygia since her essence stored in it will be attracted to its source code like a piece of iron to a powerful magnet."

With that said, Nikola paused to collect his thoughts and then made his final remarks as he waited for F.R.E.I.A. who had taken his limo back to the estate to return with his forces

"Apart from that...I suppose the only other remaining and appropriate thing to say now is...Godspeed to us both, Ms. Jaheira...and may the Norns watch over us both as we undertake this imminent rescue mission."

With that, Nikola fell silent and resumed waiting for his troops to arrive from his estate with his A.I. assistant, F.R.E.I.A, at their head.

---

OOC:

Word Count:

• Post WC: 581
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 3960
  

Taking the watch in hand as it was offered to her, Jaheira would briefly look it over as the doctor gave a brief overview of its various functions. It sounded like it would prove to be an invaluable tool and the black haired woman had no issue with fastening it around her wrist. Timing would be key here and she was certainly pleased that he’d taken every possible precaution in order for them to be successful. Of course, she expected nothing less from such a meticulous individual and the kitsune almost had no doubt at all at this point that they’d be successful in their mission. Hygia was as good as rescued already or at last Jaheira liked to think so. “I’ll do my best not to lose it.” She replied with a chuckle, continuing to admire the device as he spoke. She found the telepathic aspect to be especially intriguing and was quite looking forward to seeing how that particular function worked for herself.

He soon enough gave her a second item too, an unusual item that she didn’t instantly recognise until the doctor explained it. Jaheira was beginning to think of herself as more of a secret agent, given the gadgets that she was being provided and was rather amused by the thought. She’d done plenty of stealing in her time, of course, although never generally for those on the side of the law. Today though, she couldn’t help but feel that she was somewhat leaning towards the more legal side of things, as surely rescuing a kidnapped individual was a noble thing to do, right? It was a curious item for sure and was certain it too would prove to be a useful tool in her arsenal for the day. The kitsune was confident that she’d be able to see through any opposing illusions without the device but as he said, a little insurance never hurt.

Once he was finished explaining, she’d give him a humorous salute and then vanish completely, her voice seeming to appear from nowhere as she spoke. “I’ll do my best to get in and out as quickly as possible. I wish you luck with your part of the mission, doctor, I’ll do my utmost to get Hygia out as swiftly as possible. Until then.”

With that, she’d move away and begin the short trek towards the entrance that she’d be using to break in, the watch already providing her with a handy map to help her find her way. Yeah, Jaheira had a good short term memory but she couldn’t afford to make any mistakes today, needing to be as swift as possible.

(441 Words)
(7085 TWC)

Nikola chuckled as well when he heard Jaheira mention that she would try her best to not lose the lacrimatek smartwatch he had given her for this mission and remarked

"That is most excellent to hear, Ms. Jaheira."

Then, Nikola watched as she disappeared from sight and afterwards, he smirked as he heard her now apparently disembodied voice issue forth for some final comments and then responded with a humorous salute of his own

"Thank you, soldier. Please await further instructions once you have reached your designated coordinates."

Then, just as Jaheira left to head to her designated attack point in this rescue mission, Nikola then watched as his limo finally returned with his A.I. assistant, F.R.E.I.A, guiding it flawlessly as was to be expected of her. From said limo, there issued a sizeable army of 1000 undead minions composed of various unit types from among his retinue as well as the 6-unit strong goblin black ops squadron who were part of the goblin army portion of his retinue. Once they came out, the commanders of each of these stepped forward and saluted Nikola

"Greetings, Master Eisenstein, as per your orders, we have sortied out to assist you in rescuing Lady Hygia from the clutches of her captors and are now ready to strike them down by your command."

With that said, as Nikola continued to look on, the commanders of these two disparate sets of his subordinates then stepped back to their respective positions and waited for Nikola to issue further orders, at which point, he remarked while nodding

"Excellent, let us set out at once, then. I trust that F.R.E.I.A. has done her part in acquainting all of you with the plan we are going to be implementing shortly?"

To that, each of his subordinates nodded briefly and silently and once he saw that, Nikola nodded once more and after turning on his heel, he activated the telepathy function of the smartwatch on his wrist to link it to the one on Jaheira's wrist and sent out a silent mental ping to her

Testing...testing...Ms. Jaheira, am I coming through clearly enough? If yes, please respond and confirm once for me.

Once that was done, he gave his usual handsign as a silent signal for his troops to follow him on the way to the enemy stronghold. Then, as per their instructions, each of the goblin black ops unit members activated their respective stealth modes headed off ahead of Nikola and the main 1000-unit army he was bringing with him and upon reaching the blind spots near the side entrances to the enemy stronghold, they waited there, silently and patiently. After that, Nikola instructed the army following him to make as much noise as possible during their march up the cliff to said stronghold, with Nikola leading them in it

"FOLLOW ME, TROOPS!!! I SWEAR HERE AND NOW, WITH THE NORNS AS MY WITNESS, THAT I SHALL BE VICTORIOUS AND SUCCESSFUL IN RESCUING MY BELOVED HYGIA FROM THE CLUTCHES OF HER CAPTORS!!! THEY SHALL RUE THE DAY THAT THE THOUGHT OF TRIFLING WITH ME EVER CROSSED THEIR MINDS!!!"

With that deafening war cry which was calibrated to exactly reach the sensory array of the enemy stronghold and alert them of enemy presence, Nikola then raised his hand and with a needless degree of theatrical display, he brought it down to point towards the enemy stronghold and called out his command, which was again loud enough for the enemy to hear clearly all the way up the cliff where they had stationed themselves

"CHARGE!!!"

To that, Nikola's 1000-unit army also raised a much more deafening collective war cry which was once again calibrated to intentionally draw the enemy's attention away from both Jaheira and the goblin black ops waiting to infiltrate their stronghold and onto Nikola and his advancing army. A split second later, Nikola charged forward running full tilt while yelling like a crazed barbarian along with his 1000 undead minions also doing the same and soon, they were charging straight up the cliff due to their superhuman momentum, causing them to arrive right at the literal front door of the enemy stronghold. Once there, Nikola kicked down the massive door guarding said entrance in an unnecessarily flashy display of physical prowess which was, again, quite unlike his usually very clean and surreptitious methods, but only because each action was calibrated to draw the enemy's attention firmly onto him and his undead army. After that, he waited to see whether the enemy would be foolish enough to take the obvious bait he was laying out for them.

---

OOC:

Word Count:

• Post WC: 768
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 4728
  

As expected, Jaheira’s entry into the rather vast headquarters was a far quieter affair, with the invisible kitsune easily able to slip inside and begin her own part of the mission. There were men inside but such was her stealthy and graceful movements, she was able to evade and dance around them without giving herself away. The map was an important tool indeed and the black haired woman was already thankful for the device, as it did prevent her from going off the path once or twice. The people around her were rather heavily armed, which caused Jaheira to raise an eyebrow. Clearly, they had been expecting something and Jaheira couldn’t help but ponder that as she continued with her job, seemingly safe from the gazes of those around her.

Soon enough, she would feel a tug on her mental senses, followed by a short message that seemed to telepathically reach her. Glancing around at her environment, she’d briefly respond in the same manner. “I read you, loud and clear.” Given the circumstances, that was the limit of her message and she was swiftly moving again, evading any foes that came close enough to her. The sounds of battle would reach her ears after a couple of minutes though from outside, causing a smile to cross the face of the kitsune. It appeared that the doctor was beginning his own part of the plan and as a result, the majority of the guards in the vicinity headed towards the fracas, allowing Jaheira the room she needed to move far more quickly. She was little more than a shadow, difficult to spot and even harder to track.

It was not just men though that Jaheira had to deal with and she’d come across a room that was covered with beams that were moving all across the room. She’d seen such systems before and as Jaheira watched the beams, figuring out the patterns, the black haired woman began to formulate her strategy. In truth though, the solution was rather simple and the kitsune would almost seem to melt into the shadows, disappearing completely and reforming on the other side. It would take more than a few beams to catch her. So far, it was plain sailing and as the black haired woman resumed her trek through the building, she was already preparing herself for the next task, using the good doctor's trusty map as a guide.

(404 Words)
(8257 TWC)

Nikola felt the return mental ping from Jaheira while he was leading his undead army to the very doorstep of the enemy and so before engaging them, he sent one last mental ping to her for now

Excellent...godspeed then, Ms. Jaheira...I trust that the equipment I have provided you with earlier along with your superlative abilities will see you through this affair successfully...please ping me back once you have spotted Hygia and I shall make my way over to you then.

With that, Nikola ended his mental message to Jaheira and then refocused his attention on dealing with the horde of enemies approaching him in an attempt to stop his invasion. When said enemies came near, he could discern, as Jaheira did in her assigned area, that they were all heavily armed and armored which was, of course, a clear sign that they had been expecting him. Then again, he had anticipated this and that had been exactly why he had made such an unnecessary commotion at their front door in the first place anyway, namely to force them to focus on him and in doing so, be caught unawares when Jaheira would steal Hygia right from under their proverbial noses

"Ha! You really thought you could overwhelm us with such a puny force of undead, you foolish mage?! You are far too arrogant and now, you shall pay the price for it!!"

Nikola heard the leader of the enemy battalion approaching him and his troops speak thus to him and criticize his apparent hubris, so Nikola indulged him

"Oh? You have the gall to accuse me of hubris?! You lot are the truly arrogant ones here, thinking that trash such as yourselves could have any right at all to deprive another of their freedom!! For committing such a cardinal sin, it is you who shall fall in battle here today, just as I swore!! Now, the time for talk is over!! Have at ye, oh ye dastardly villains!!"

Nikola pretended to speak in an rather exaggerated tone of anger and then called out a challenge to the enemies before him as well as their leader and in response, they foolishly let themselves be provoked even more and rushed headlong at his undead army. Naturally, Nikola ordered his undead army to do the same and so, the battle finally began in earnest with the combatants dancing the mad dance of death with each other on the field of battle to the warlike symphony of their clashing weapons and armor, all the sounds of which could no doubt be heard all throughout the enemy stronghold as far as even where Jaheira was presumably located currently. Of course, just as Nikola had calculated, his troops were evenly matched with those of the enemy's troops, but his troops that confronted the leader of the enemy battalion and his 7 special subordinates fell quite easily to their magic and magical armaments.

So far, so good...this scenario is proceeding exactly as I had anticipated...now to intensify the pressure...

With that thought in mind, Nikola looked on as the enemy leader and his subordinated started to fire bolts of earth magic at him and so, he now activated his "Dragon King's Armor" spell which then encased him in the associated magically created and rather ostentatiously ornate armor for all to see.



After doing so, he smirked and opened his mouth wide and began to inhale with great force thanks to his Slayer magic. Consequently, all the bolts of earth magic that nearly made impact with him were literally consumed by him, thus replenishing the mana that he had just expended to manifest his "Dragon King's Armor", leaving the enemy leader and his 7 subordinates who were now confronting stymied briefly, as could be seen from their words

"You're a Slayer? Curses, we had not accounted for that possibility! Fine then, let's see just how much more you can take!!"

However, Nikola had been waiting for just this chance, namely for his enemies to start recharging their spells for another volley, leaving a gap in their defenses as they had to reroute the mana from their protective heavy armor to powering their next round of spells.

Now is the time, move in for the kill. Your targets are the 7 subordinates of the enemy leader, so do not fail me.

Nikola sent a mental command to his goblin assassin squad the 6 members of which had been awaiting his command to strike down the enemy. To that, they responded by phasing through the rather thick walls of the enemy stronghold as easily as if said walls had been made out of tissue paper instead of the magically reinforced metal and crystal they actually were in reality. Then, his goblin assassins proceeded to take advantage of Nikola drawing the attention of the enemy leader and his subordinates onto himself to sneak up behind each of the subordinates and quickly take them down with an almost surgical level of precision and in total silence as well. Once that was done, they vanished from view and returned to their posts just as quickly as they had arrived to assassinate the enemy at Nikola's command. Naturally, Nikola gave no hints to what had happened and instead made sure to egg the enemy leader on to keep him preoccupied to notice the sorry fate of his underlings.

"Now that you all have recharged your mana stores, fire at will and take down this arrogant little upstart!!"

Nikola heard the enemy general issue his next commands in this manner, and as he looked on, said leader of the enemies noticed that nothing was happening in response to his commands to his chosen subordinates and so he glanced backward to see what had happened and to his horror, he noticed just then that his prized subordinates were now lying dead at his feet, apparently having been killed in some inexplicable way. In response, the enemy general now turned to Nikola with a greatly disconcerted look on his face, a sure sign that his former confidence had begun to waver to a moderate extent and inquired

"When and how did you...?"

Nikola flashed him a cruel smirk as he remarked, taunting him so that he could egg him on further and in so doing, make his guard crumble even more.

"...exterminate your utterly pathetic underlings to remove them from the equation? Well, if a worm such as yourself manages to successfully live through this battle with me, perhaps you will be fortunate enough to learn that."

Nikola spoke thus to the enemy general, finishing his query for him but giving an answer which was not really an answer at all, as per his plan for this battle.

---

OOC:

Word Count:

• Post WC: 1123
  
  
• Total Personal WC: 5851
  

It couldn’t have been any different inside the structure as Jaheira silently cut through the inside defences like a hot knife through butter. Beams, motion detectors, the occasional guard, not one of those was enough to even briefly cause her to stumble. It was all too easy and the hybrid slayer found it so ridiculously easy to carve the building up like a turkey. She’d expected things to have been a little more difficult but the doctor had been so thorough with his research and planning that there was nothing that Jaheira was unprepared for. It was child’s play and the proof of that was easy to see. Every single guard that she’d come across was now lying in her shadow dimension, bound and helpless but without any physical signs of trauma. The kitsune saw no reason to hurt them and so had used her abilities to remove them without doing so. Once the job was done, she’d leave them somewhere and that would be the end of it.

The map was clearly stating that she was closing in on her quarry and the black haired woman silently increased the pace a touch. She didn’t want to hang around any longer than was necessary and the crimson eyed woman didn’t want Hygia to remain captured for any longer than she already had. Jaheira expected that the assistant was probably strong enough mentally to be able to get off any fear but the kitsune couldn’t help but feel rather sympathetic anyway. Her own kind were regularly targets of hunters due to their exquisite and mysterious nature, resulting in Jaheira herself having the odd close encounter in the past. She’d never ended up in prison or anything like that but she’d almost been grabbed once as a youngster by a fluff obsessed creep. Thankfully, the kitsune had managed to slip away that day and she had been every day since,

Turning a corner, the kitsune would find herself entering an enormous room, with a large area in the middle that was surrounded by what seemed to be a forcefield of some kind. This seemed to be the place but rather than simply dash towards it, she instead mentally pinged the doctor and sent a brief message. “I’ve reached Hygia’s cell, Doc, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to get her out of the forcefield on my own. There’s a lot of electronics here and I don’t want to risk harming your assistant by doing too much damage to the machinery.”

That being said, she’d silently make her way towards the edge of the field and look inside, where an unusual being was sitting, seemingly waiting to be saved. Jaheira immediately recognised her as Hygia and reappeared at that moment, before using the ID scanner to confirm the identity of the creature. The scanner would beep twice and then turn green, proving that the woman before her was the one she sought. She then showed the scanner to Hygia, who seemed to recognise the fact that the kitsune was an ally.

The kitsune’s ears twitched instinctively at that moment, followed by her moving incredibly fast to her right, barely dodging the incoming blade that had been seconds away from carving her in two. Turning swiftly, Jaheira would find herself looking up at a large male, nearly seven feet in height, his weapon charged with magical energy.

It appeared that things weren’t going to be as simple after all.

(578 Words)
(9968 TWC)

Nikola had been about to engage the leader of the enemy forces in mortal combat in accordance with his definitive declaration earlier, but then, he fell the pull of the mental ping from Jaheira, so he paused for a mere split second to not only formulate the next phase of the plan, but also to answer her in the same sitting

Understood, Ms. Jaheira. I shall send over F.R.E.I.A. with all due haste to assist you in disabling those security systems...I presume that the enemy has laid a trap for you there and you are now being forced to deal with said trap, then?

With that, Nikola ended his mental message and after transferring his A.I. assistant, F.R.E.I.A. over to the scanner device he had given to Jaheira, he then refocused his attention on the enemy leader once more as he activated his magic armor's special ability while remarking

"Well now, it seems that I have wasted too much time on you, already, you worm. So, if you do not mind me doing so, I shall end this pathetic farce of a confrontation between us and shall be on my way to attend to more important business."

Of course, Nikola did not wait for a response after he had said his piece to the hapless leader of the enemy forces, but rather allowed his magic armor's special ability to let him charge forth swiftly and blow a hole in the enemy leader's body with a single enhanced punch, leading to said enemy leader's almost immediate death. After that, Nikola set off at a full tilt sprint, easily maneuvering his way between his undead army forces and the enemy troops who were still fighting it out tooth and nail, each in support of their respective situational goals and reached the area where Jaheira was located currently. Upon reaching there, he saw her being engaged by the trap he had already suspected the enemy of laying for her at that location, with said trap being a rather formidable enemy combatant who was ordered to attack anyone who may try to break through the prison to rescue Hygia.

My, oh my, this is going once again exactly as I had anticipated...I am almost insulted to be faced with such dreadfully inept foes...

Nikola mused thus silently as he wasted no time in coming to Jaheira's aid even though he knew full well that she did not need it. To that end, he attacked Jaheira's attacker from his blind spot with one of his recently developed spells which he was looking for an opportunity to test out anyway, this spell being his "Parasitic Snake" one from his Bond Magic pact with Hygia. Upon activating this spell, he opened his mouth wide and out flew a long snake with a semi-humanoid face which then took Hygia's attacker completely by surprise as it forced its way into his body and hijacked it, effectively putting him under Nikola's control for a short time.

"Cease and desist your attack on my associate. Do not resist our advance or our attempts to rescue your prisoner."

Nikola commanded the now taken over enemy who had been attacking Jaheira in an authoritative but yet calm and collected voice, and in response, the man stopped his attack instantaneously and stood stock still off to the side, not attacking Jaheira anymore and certainly not trying to impede his and Jaheira's rescue of Hygia. With that done, Nikola immediately set himself to the task of working under directions from F.R.E.I.A to easily disable the security system guarding the prison holding Hygia and then, in short order, he broke her out completely. Once that was over and Hygia had gotten her heartwarming reunion with him out of the way, Nikola turned to Jaheira while holding Hygia in his arms and remarked

"Well then, this was certainly an interesting experience, eh Ms. Jaheira? Now that we both have achieved our objectives here successfully, I would like to invite you to my estate as thanks for your invaluable assistance here today so that you can meet my retinue of demi-humans, if you so desire, of course."

With that said, Nikola thanked Jaheira for her assistance and then led them all out of the enemy stronghold which had been cleaned up by Nikola's goblin black ops squad to a spotless degree with no sign of the rather violent struggle that had ensued therein anywhere to be found within its accursed walls. Once they were all out, Nikola then gave them all a ride back to his estate and from there to wherever else Jaheira wished of him to end this latest of his adventures.

---

OOC:

Personal WC Tallies:

• Post WC: 777
  
  
• Personal Total WC: 6628
  

Group Total WC: 9968 + 777 = 10,745 of 10,000 (A-RANK FREEFORM GROUP WORD COUNT REQUIREMENTS FULFILLED SUCCESSFULLY)

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(NIKOLA AND JAHEIRA'S EXIT)