Description: Judas Priest (1977). Urien is a man who knows the art of the deal. Elle is a woman that lives and dies by that art. The negotiations are quick, clean, and easy: business in it's purest sense. Yet both find an indvidual spurned by most for their beliefs and realize the true benefit of working with one another. Both God and mortal find that working together will yeild more fruit. Nevertheless, respect, not trust, is the consideration given for the agreement and both remain acutely wary as more pieces are added to the playing field.
So, what's with Elle, anyway?
So far, it's been made clear that she does what she does because if she doesn't? She'd probably kill herself. She's a self loathing individual who placed one artificial trial in front of herself after the next as a means of daily affirmation. Each day she wakes up, it's with a curse, and each night before she goes to sleep, it's with the fevered mind of someone that needs to find a reason to wake up the next day.
Not that she ever gets much sleep. For Elle, three to four hours a night is a lot, and it's usually restless.
But still, that doesn't explain why she's a mercenary. After all, there's plenty of other ways to keep busy that don't involve causing the same level of trouble for other people. She could just as easily switch to doing nothing but good works, saving lives, helping others. Sure that would give her the same level of fulfillment, right?
She doesn't like herself that much, and she's really not too impressed with the rest of humanity, or derivatives thereof, to want to lift a finger to help them.
And that's that, really. When the truth is laid bare, Elle is a self-hating creature that disparages most ofthe world generally because they think with their hearts, not their mind. The way her mind thinks is cold, devious, and almost strictly logical. Nothing else crosses her mind other than crass material gain. She has no aspirations, no overriding goals aside from the ones she makes for herself.
And that's what makes Elle one of the best in her feild. Without morals to get in her way, the only real danger in hiring Elle is if someone does something to mess with her meal ticket. And unfortunately, that's the situation right now; the tenuous balance between factions have been struck off kilter, meaning Elle can't come down on any side and can't work with anyone.
It's clear things have gone too far for her to repair anything, so the best she can do now is to fix circumstances so that she comes out ahead and hope that a new player comes along to fill in some of the gaps.
It's a tall order for a girl from Palo Alto, sitting in a cookie booth in the middle of a bombed out Japanese mall as she leans back in her executive-style chair she pulled from some wreckage, feet up on the counter as she flips through an cheap paperback political action/thiller. Her reasons for being there? It's shelter, has ready food supplies, and it's a great place to collect the very dregs of the city's malcontents for her own purposes.
What more could a mercenary need?
If they were the kind of people to share problems, perhaps, it might be obvious to both Urien and Elle, that they might get more done after a good night sleep. Perhaps spurred on chemically, if necessary. Unfortunately, Urien is not the sort of man to admit to any kind of weakness. Let alone admit that things had not been progressing at the rate he had anticipated.
No, for Urien, this madness had started off as a simple way to test the capabilities of the other factions. In his mind, it was all going to be so easy. To simply stride from the shadows and hammer home the irrelevance of these pathetic has-beens compared to the awesome power he can muster. Alas. The pathetic has-beens had turned out to be rather less pathetic and rather more capable than he had ever given them credit for. Perhaps he should have taken the hint from his encounter with Kula, but, no matter.
Urien has always been driven by a simple desire: To control. At the moment, he was very much -not- in control. His resources were stalling. His backup was weak, though there was some promise in the new girl, she had yet to actually bring him results. He'd lost Adon, and his plan to assist the YFCC had likewise fallen through, for reasons which, quite frankly, made him boil with rage to even consider.
But! Urien will be cold and dead in the ground before he is willing to admit any of this is anything more than a temporary setback. The major groups were all bleeding resources too, after all. He didn't need to win in Southtown for this operation to be a success. He just had to come out looking better than the others. Thus, he had started picking up desperate fighters to get him NESTS technology. He was undecided, honestly, about whether he was going to be able to make good on the promise of payment. But either way, he was still going to get something out of it.
His agents, however, had come to him with more information which might be of use. Namely, the fact that Elle had returned. The woman had certainly been involved in enough prior events to be worth considering a useful ally, and, as far as he was concerned, she is a mercenary. Well. Urien was still quite rich enough to keep himself in fancy suits for a while longer. If Elle could be put to use to turn a profit out of this mess, then he would be willing to part with yet more of his beloved luxuries.
Urien makes a rather strange figure, all things considered. There is just something about him which screams 'business'. From the high polish of his shoes, to the fine cut of the (admittedly rather bland) grey suit he is wearing, the head of the G-Project strides his way across the ruined desolation as though it was any other meeting. In a warzone more than any other place, it seemed to him, looking as though you were calm and in command was important. It could make or break the first impression. And, say what you like about Urien, he could not look like he was calmer. If the horrors of Southtown had even the slightest effect on his psyche, it does not show at all.
The doors open for him (assisted with a little wave of his hand), and he makes a beeline directly for Elle's cookie booth. Completely ignoring anything and anyone else.
"I hope you don't mind my arriving unannounced." He states, calmly. Stopping a discrete distance away, but ensuring he was still clearly audible without needing to raise his voice. "I find it easier to work directly in this situation. One never knows what unpleasant surprises might wait otherwise."
Enter Urien.
Elle's attention snaps up with the swiftness of a gadfly. In a second, she's already weighing things over in her head. This is new, and Elle normally dislikes new. It's just one more factor that she has to worry about. There's nothing more distabilizing than something she hasn't calculated for, and G-Project is something she doesn't plan around for the simple fact that up until now? G-Project wasn't real, little more than a fairy tale that some people liked to talk about over been and pretzels in the local fixer bars.
Not that she can tell who or what Urien is. He had been in a few public fights, doing battle with wholly unique powers. Elle has seen enough to pick up that much. Between him and the conspiracy theories that he had been linked to the blobbish Twelve, there was enough there for Elle to not discount it directly. But these sort of things rise and fall with the tide. Elle figured it was one more insane bunch that would die on the vine, or that it was a rogue NESTS faction... any number of those things could have been true and rendered moot for the fact that G-Project... well. It just hasn't been all that much.
So there's no real preconceived notion, or even idea who the man in the business suit is. So she evaluates the man on what available data she has: he's an insanely powerful man that crushed Ingrid in somewhere around three hits, who is standing in front of her acting polite and operating within the confines of what is acceptable behavior for hiring a mercenary.
No sudden movements. No grand proclamations. Polite. Keeps a considerable distance.
Could somebody finally, /finally/ have some idea how this business works?
Well, she won't hold her breath, but with all the accord that a prospective customer gets, she puts her book aside, stands up, and offers a seat. It's just another chair, provided so Urien can sit at the other side of the booth. But it's what she's got. And with that, she speaks, laying it out on the table. "Noted," she says, falling into the brisk speech patterns of a mercenary that's more about business and less about bragging. "I might be wasting my breath here, but let's get a few things out in the open. I work for all kinds of people on a daily basis. I don't need to hear whys and wherefores. I just need to see two things: cash and mission objectives. The less I know about things I don't need to, the better. I don't judge you, you don't judge me, and we both walk off smiling. And most of all, and this is important, I need you to recognize one thing," she intones, tilting her head. "I'm very, very good at this job. Now, if that's something we can do, then we can play ball."
In truth, Urien is pleasantly surprised. It's always difficult to try and gauge how someone is going to act, going into these sorts of things. Business is the one thing Urien had always been, unquestionably, better than his brother at. It is the one arena in which he feels most comfortable. And for once, he was meeting someone who was, also, seemingly aware of the rules. The fact that there is nobody obviously pointing a gun at his head instantly wins her bonus points. He was more than a little tired of that particular situation.
With a smooth motion, he sits himself down, and nods simply. "That's good." He replies. "I wouldn't be coming to you if you were anything less."
A checkbook is produced from the inside of his suit, laid down on the table, and a small silver pen with it. "In that case, I think we can get along perfectly. I have only one true desire at this juncture, and that is to cause as much damage as possible to NESTS operations. I want what they have, and I want it to hurt as I take it from them."
It isn't so much that Urien -likes- Shadaloo, or the Syndicate, or any of the other powers. It was purely because NESTS had made the entire thing... personal. You don't blow up a Gods home without expecting some sort of retribution.
"Those are the broad mission objectives, though I can provide you with more specific ones if you want, as you say, you are very, very good and, frankly, after reviewing what they say about you, you strike me as the sort of woman who would prefer to be left to come to her own decisions as to the specifics. Now. For the more difficult question of money..."
Urien sets the pen on the book, and says the words that, in his experience, tended to make mercenaries happier than any other.
"If you think you can do it, you can name your price. The people I represent have deep pockets."
On the same token, Elle's just happy as anythign to not have some self-aggrandizing blowhard proclaiming his awesomeness in front of her, pointing out her relative 'weakness', and then threatening her with bodily harm or laughing at her. That gets old fast, too, especially when Elle's generally more competant than their own troops.
It's just a sad fact, really. She understands the need to save face so that they don't look desperate, but if you're talking to Elle, either she knows you need help, or you think you do. And once that's recognized and the proper decorum is given, then Elle couldn't be happier. Or as happy as she gets, anyways.
"Doable," Elle says without hesitation. NESTS is powerful, but it suffers from the fact that it's not really a military organization or a well organized mob. And really, now that NESTS is now visibly controlled by yet another megalomaniac, Elle's got no illusions that she'll be hired by them anytime soon. People like that rarely seem to want to use mercenaries. They tend to trust their own troops implicitly...
Which is weird, consdiering the amount of defectors from NESTS. But that's a discussion for another date.
"Sorry," she says, looking at the checks, "Strictly cash, goods or services operation. Nothing personal, I just don't like paper trails. I prefer Euros nowadays, but if you have any valuable information to trade or some other goods of value you're looking to offload, I can deal with that. The price is steeper if I have to fence it myself," she says matter of factly.
Urien's request couldn't come at a more opportune time, really. Elle's short on allies, and the ones she had formerly seem to have taken a leave from their senses. The only superpower playing it close to the vest is R, and it's likely because Rugal has the fewest resources for this shindig. The fact that someone with financing and backing to hold Elle on full retainer out of the blue causes some suspicion, but she's really not in any position to turn down a job.
Especially if they're willing to pay up front.
"Let's play it this way," she says, "You give me your hypothetical objectives, and I'll be able to formulate a price tag off of that. I use standard contract guidelines. Half up front, half on completion, a percentage of the salvage and reasonable expenses. The usual confidentiality agreements apply. It sounds like you know how this works, so I won't talk specifics until we get everything hashed out."
Urien is, in truth, more than a little annoyed. But. He could understand Elle's reasons. Though irritation flickers across his features for a second, it doesn't last. The checkbook is returned to his inside pocket, and he tucks it away carefully. It doesn't help that getting resources in and out of Southtown at the moment was only slightly more pleasant than chewing concrete. The greek takes a moment to do a quick mental rundown of what he actually has available and to hand. This was going to need to come out of his rainy day fund.
On the other hand, he had expressly ordered his people to -get money-. Surely it wouldn't get to the point where he was actually needing to consider stupid things like where the pay for those very minions was going to come from. If it did, perhaps he'd just need to impress upon them that if they didn't work, they didn't get paid. Failure, of course, doesn't -count- as work.
"Alright." He says at last. "I suppose we're looking at several key goals, here. NESTS has some extensive labs, with a great deal of advanced technology. Mostly, I am interested in obtaining their cloning techniques. Organ replication, whatever they may have learned from the hospital venture before it was destroyed, those are the practical pieces of equipment that we can always find a use for."
He leans back, nodding slightly to himself as he continues. Elle -did- have a reputation, after all. "More generally, NESTS have been getting too arrogant. They've struck against my home, and I would like to return the favor. If you can find out where the high level NESTS operatives are staying, I'd pay for that information. If you can destroy it, I'll pay much more. It's the principle of the thing."
But, of course, that was... personal, there was still the serious business to consider. "I want to see NESTS forced -out- of this venture, primarily. Destroying their bases of operation, their arms stockpiles, that sort of thing. Now. I don't expect miracles, but, the more it costs them to stay here, the less likely they are to continue to do so. If I can't destroy their operations utterly, I want it to weaken them significantly to have been here, should they ever try anything like this again."
And, finally, he leans forward, smiling. "But. There is one other thing I am curious about. I presume that NESTS has a -reason- to be here. Some object or person that they are trying to capture, or understand. If you can find out what that is, if you can -bring- that to me... well, I would be very greatly in your debt."
With that, Urien seems to relax. Elle was not, after all, another Adon. She was easily understood. At least, as much as Urien needs to understand her. She wanted to work, but she needed to know what he wanted. Urien's goals were vast, and, more than likely, impossible to truly obtain. Certainly, he is biting off more than he, personally, could chew. But that is why he is here, isn't it? To try and enlist a little help in reaching those lofty heights. The worst that could happen is that Elle would turn him down, and he would leave. This is not charity, as it had been with the YFCC, and it is not intimidation, as it had been with Adon. This is business, and there is absolutely no shame, as far as Urien is concerned, in business deals not coming to fruition. So, in this case at least, he may as well lay everything out as straight as he could, and see what the response is.
After all... she hadn't immediately laughed at the idea of moving against the Cartel, so there was hope, and his sources indicated that she was implicated in a great many other risky ventures... who knew? Maybe this -could- be turned to an undeniable victory after all.
Oh ye of little faith. Elle would never claim that she wins all the time. That would be a falsehood. She's been handed the same amount of crippling defeats as any other in the business. She just recovers faster because she doesn't take it personally. The only time she moves on personal goals is, as stated, when her meal ticket is threatened.
But what Elle is good at, and this is undeniable, is that when there's concrete goals, Elle instantly and always beleives that she can get them. And that mental aspect is half the battle. And more often than not, she gets what she's asked to get. What happens afterward is a completely different matter entirely.
"I can get number one, work on number two, no promises on number three and four, but I'll give it my best shot," is her reply after carefully listening to Urien's needs. Technical information was a simple affair, and Elle's more than capable of getting her hands on that. But the other three? "NESTS has a lot of resources. I can do my best to make their stay her unprofitable, but depending on how important and carefully guarded number three is? They may stay here long after they've been punished for taking too long here."
"And if you want intel on where they're staying? I'll have to do some work on that. NESTS isn't anywhere near local. Their operation's most a land/air affair, so I'm willing to bet that they're set up shop somewhere on the coastline," she says, considering how the corporate army has behaved in the past.
Her hands tap the counter as she leans back, brow furrowing in thought. Dangerous operation, would likely alienate her from their goodwill for an extended period of time... not that she'd go back into business for a while with them even if they were amicable. But the option remains indefinitely closed. Still, Urien seems to be a different approach and likely a new venue. So where does that leave the situation?
"Let's change the game parameters. Looks like four objectives: Three intels and a seek and destroy. Here's what we'll do. I'll set you on an introductory rate: One mil on the 'soft' intel; that's the locations of their bases and why they're here. Five mil on the 'hard' info; that's the tech. As for the seek and destroy orders? Ten mil retainer that will cover all reasonable expenses, and I'll invoice you for all unusually hazardous instances. We're talking unusual shit, like facing down doomsday weapons, super-agents... that sort of nonsense." She rolls her hand, rattling through the speech as if it was rote.
"So it'll be the ten up front, and the rest COD. That way, you don't pay if i don't come up with anything, and the S&D is pretty much an up front item that I'll need to have starting capital on anyway." The woman knows her business, there's for sure. If she was prone to smiling, she would. It's /nice/ to be able to talk to someone without the usual stupidity, and Urien, while not trusted, has her respect now.
Which is damn hard to get out of Elle.
"But yeah. Given a few circumstances swinging in my favor, I don't see why I can't get that for you and give NESTS a black eye in the process. Just as a heads up, though. When I'm in the feild, I tend to mow down anything I run across. You got any girls and boys with feet on the ground here that I should avoid?" Elle plays well with others when necessary... or at least doesn't mercilessly slaughter friendly operatives as long as she has a heads up on the matter.
Urien's expression can be somewhat hard to read. When lost in thought, it has a tendency to gravitate towards stoic. Stony, and not really... giving much away. The best part of twenty million, if all came to bear fruit. The thing is. If Elle got Urien everything he was asking for, well. In all likelihood, it would establish him as much, much more than a mere annoyance and an outside factor. It would demonstrate beyond all doubt that he had the capability to stand against the big boys, and play on their terms. Of course. He was doing it with outside help, but, he rationalizes, everyone needs to start somewhere. Power tends to go to power, and the more well established he was, the more likely it was that money and desperate people looking for an easy route to the kind of strength the G-Project could imbue in them would come to him. Especially since, in that particular field, NESTS is the major competition.
More impressively, he recognizes that Elle is offering some real concessions here. Perhaps, if it was just the one operation, he would quibble over ten million on the table before results. But, it isn't just one job, and when viewed as the down payment on the entire package, ten million seems like a rather insignificant amount. Not, unfortunately, completely inconsiderable in his current situation, but, it was doable.
The head of the G-Project is silent for a few, long moments. Then, he nods. "Ten million." He states, "Yes, we have several agents in the field at the moment. I'll have someone bring you the money, and their profiles so that you can recognize them. I'll also let them know that you are working with us. They should not get in your way."
That said, he smiles, and it really is a winning smile. "A pleasure to do business with you." He says, producing from his pocket a small card with a cellphone number stamped upon it. Nothing more. "Should you need to contact me for any reason, that is a direct line."
The card is taken. She looks at it. The number's memorized, and she slips itinto a pocket to be destroyed later. After all, it wouldn't do to have the thing fall into the wrong hands, even if Urien has all the resources in the world to reduce the amount of security issues that handing out his number brings. Breaching security is just a huge no-no while on the job, which Elle now is at the conclusion of this conversation.
A pleasure doing business?
For once, Elle is forced to agree implicitly. This was the cleanest transaction she's ever had, and she appreciates it immensely.
"Same here," she says, and she almost, /almost/ smiles. Which means something. Just not much, when you're dealing with yet more demigods.
"But there's one thing left, and it's just something to humor me with more than anything else. No offense taken if you you refuse."
She stands up, rolling her shoulders. "When I know the guy hiring me knows how to fight, I like to see what they're capable of. Call it curiousity. And before you ask, no, I don't need you to hold back. I seem to have a distinct problem with dying in that no matter how hard life tries, it can't ever seem to do the job right."
"So whaddya say? Let's see how long I can last."
Urien is, honestly, torn. On the one hand, he hated taking unnecessary risks. He might be a God, but he knew first hand that just being a God is no guarantee that you were going to avoid being beaten. He does not like the idea that the mercenary he is employing might get it in her head that she could turn on him. That, really, is the gamble of leaning on outside support. The implication was always going to be that he needed her, and that he couldn't manage on his own. If she beat him, then it did not speak very highly of his ability to stand on his own two feet. Something which has had his paranoia gnawing at him for quite some time.
On the other hand. He is a -God-. NOT fighting would look weaker still, and what did he really have to lose? No. On balance. If Elle could beat him, it was better to know one way or another, because he needed to be prepared for just that eventuality.
He would just have to do as she asked, and not hold back.
Standing, he gives a solemn nod. "I don't mind at all." He says, smoothly. "Whilst we are at it, proper introductions are probably in order, as I have no doubt you will find out one way or another. I, am Urien."
With that, he clenches his fist, and there is a sudden bright crackle of energy over his body. The suit is burned away in a moment, leaving him wearing his usual thong, and his skin darkens deeply, becoming what is, undoubtedly, no natural color for a man to be.
He does his best to control himself, he really does. Elle was working -for- him, and though he intended to crush her utterly, he didn't want to humiliate her and jeopardize what tenuous goodwill she had been willing to share. But. There is no doubt of the -arrogance- in that smirk, the unnatural emptiness of his eyes and the light tone of amusement in his voice. He just couldn't help it. She had no idea what she was getting into...
...but then, he wasn't on completely solid ground.
"Whenever you are ready."
COMBATSYS: Urien has started a fight here.
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Urien 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Elle has joined the fight here.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Urien
Doesn't she?
Elle doesn't fight her employers to win. After all, she knows they're more powerful than her. But there's one thing that people tend to forget in this business. While Elle may seem arrogant as the rest, it's really just her way of cutting the chaff so that she can focus on the important aspects of the pathetic thing she calls life.
Elle is much, much weaker than she appears. The thing that allows her to run with would be gods and overlords is not her personal power, but how she manages the little power she has: carefully. She's challenged everyone she's worked for with only one purpose in mind. Learning from people stronger than yourself is the only way to get better, and when you're in a job where dying is a distinct reality, the opportunity to fairly square off against your betters in combat are few and far inbetween.
And so it goes.
Elle's only somewhat surprised at the burning suit, mostly because most people don't waltz into a fight stark naked. But the fact that Urien /does/ is some cause for alarm. You're either supremely stupid, or supremely powerful to do that. So in some respects, no, Elle has very little idea of what she's getting into.
But to say she has no idea? That would be pretty much wrong.
She doesn't waste time. With a flick of her arms, Elle deploys two wicked, sickle-like weapons from her sleeves, and she charges at Urien, taking an aggressive posture as she closes in. The weapons hum with a sonic vibration as Elle sends a pulsing chi through it in order to increase the weapon's ability to cut and bite into flesh.
And without a second's thought, she moves to slash the two sickles across Urien's chest, tearing at muscle and sinew before lancing a foot out to crack her boots into his kneecap and send him to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Urien endures Elle's Charged Combo.
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Elle 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Urien
Elle comes in, and Urien steps forwards. The way the weapons hum is noted, and he simply allows them to tear across his chest. It obviously has an effect, drawing his lip upwards in a pained, unpleasant sneer. The interesting thing is that, apparently, he has managed to read the intentions of the combo quite well. When Elle's foot slams into his knee, it doesn't buckle. Though he simply soaks the full force of the blow, he is leaning forwards, and Elle is directly where he wants her.
Urien practically erupts from the standing position. His shoulder leads the way, with a truly staggering amount of raw force packed behind it, he aims to drive himself forwards into Elle's chest. If he connects, he'll drive forwards as far as he can, putting his full weight behind the attack, and aiming to send the woman crashing down to the floor.
Disturbingly, the wounds across his chest ... aren't bleeding. In fact, already, they are cauterized, and his body is starting to undo the damage that was done. A slight discoloration at the point of impact on his knee, which might be a bruise though it is difficult to tell, is, likewise, receding.
Regardless of whether his counterattack has hit or missed, he will take a moment to straighten himself up, speaking as he regains his footing-
"Nicely done. That's an... interesting technique."
COMBATSYS: Elle blocks Urien's Chariot Tackle.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Urien
A grandstand play like that means that Urien's expecting a relatively easy fight. While that may be true, Elle pushes herself considerably and when the return attack comes in, she crosses the sickles in front of her, allowing it to absorb the brunt of the attack. The blow is clearly powerful, crashing into her guard firmly, driving her back by quite a distance. It does almost as much damage through the defensive maneuver as her attack did to Urien just on a clean hit as her body strains to keep her standing.
But it's time for fighting, not for talking. Urien's chatter is quickly combed through for anything useful. She finds nothing, then just keeps attacking. That's the sort of person Elle is. Not much of a 'fighter'. Just someone who takes the exchange of attack as seriously as she does the business she conducts.
The swords slide away into her sleeves in a quick motion, and she turns. Some femal fighters get a bunch of adjectives to describe how they move: liquid grace, smooth, lithe, willowy. Not Elle. She moves with all the beauty and style of a pirouetting mack truck. Not because she's clumsy, but because her motions are mechanical and precise, not meant to be pretty to watch.
Her turn reveals a long length of what looks like chain fron one arm. The weapon whirls out as she tries to snag Urien by a limb, and with a quick yank she'll try to bring him to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Urien with Medium Throw.
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Elle 0/-------/-----==|======-\-------\0 Urien
Urien hrms. Not, really, all that used to a fight -without- commentary, it's a little bit disconcerting. Not that it matters all that much to him, he's just more at home giving a continuing rundown of the fight as it progresses. Take this whip of chain, for example. Obviously, if he just pulled back like so, Elle wouldn't be able to--
And then he hits the ground.
Well.
That's how it's going to be, huh?
Urien rises from the ground -pissed-. It's difficult to say precisely why he's as furiously angry as he is. It certainly doesn't make much sense for him to be so upset. Really, this was meant to be a test for both of them, wasn't it? But, for some reason, the fact that she was so... structured in her movements, so serious, meant that Urien was feeling as though his power was in serious danger of being underestimated. And he couldn't have that.
Throwing his arms out to the side, energy burns all around him in a corona of electric power, a physical manifestation of his rage. From all around, metal and debris is tugged, forcefully yanked into his hands before he smashes it together. For a brief moment, it might even be that there is a light tug at Elle's weapons, though, of course, nothing more than a mild annoyance, really.
And then he throws his hands forwards, and a terrifying sphere of metal, burning with electricity, blasts through the air with the kind of momentum behind it that implies, well, Elle might just have a rival for 'thing most reminiscent of a mack truck' in this fight.
COMBATSYS: Urien successfully hits Elle with Charged Metallic Sphere EX.
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Elle 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Urien
Let it be said that for her weight class, Elle is one seriously tough chick when she's on the defensive, and Urien's incoming attack has her about as on the defensive as she can be. The display is nothing less than supremely dramatic, and that usually heralds something utterly horrific. She raises her hands, steels her body against the impact.
And the impact is ferocious. The blast smashes clean into her, blasting her backward and sending her tumbling end over end as the impact causes both damage and seems to want to drain her of her energy at the same time. But in the end, Elle's just not as hurt as she should have been from the impact. And the energy drain?
Let's just say Elle's got power to spare in that arena.
The woman lurches to her feet quickly. She can't be kept down for long, although the injuries are starting to insist on her attention. This time, she seems hell bent on charging straight for Urien, her feet pounding across the walkway of the ruined mall, the greaves of her boots echoing through the space as shouts start to raise up from the mall floor. There are still people here: thugs, malcontents, the refuse of more than a few of the factions, and they're getting quite the interesting fight.
As she shoots by Urien, her hand whips by his ear, and she snaps her fingers. If Urien doesn't move in time? A sonic burst will go off next to his eardrum in a cacophony of painful, ear splitting sound as she heads towards a more open landing on the walkway that will provide her more opportunity to move around.
COMBATSYS: Urien interrupts Wrathchild from Elle with Violence Knee Drop.
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Elle 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Urien
Urien narrows his eyes. In truth, he was somewhat impressed with the way she simply... kept going. There weren't many people who could take that kind of force full on and barely pause in their assault. Elle proves to be one of them, and Urien has to respect that.
Unfortunately, he's got no interest in playing fair. As Elle comes barreling up to him, he's already preparing himself, shifting one leg back subtly, and just waiting for the moment... when her hand comes up to his ear, he sees it, and he bursts upwards from the ground. The eruption of sound is countered by him ploughing his knees directly into her face, and though it does wash over him as he travels forwards... really, it is little more than an annoyance.
The head of the G-Project is aware, of course, of the riff-raff who were the witnesses to this impromptu battle. However. He was not going to give Elle even a moment to recover if he could help it. It was clear she was tough, so he was going to have to go on the offensive, something which becomes obvious as, after the blow is delivered, he settles into his stance with his hands raised high, and begins to close the distance.
It's a powerful hit, which smashes Elle out of her charge. Instead of moving neatly to the next area, she's battered clean into the clearing with a hideous crunch. Her neck snaps back. Always in the face with these people. That's all she has time to think as she slides across the floor before metallic claws snap from her fingertips, screeching across the linoleum to give halt to her wild slide.
Damage assesment. Bleck eye, bloody nose. Probably severely pulled neck muscle. The glasses on her face are shattered, leaving behind her cold, deadened eyes, completely devoid of all emotion. The one ruined eye is covered in a cataract, with a pupil that looks like it was brutally bored into it just to provide her with sight as opposed to giving her any cosmetic concessions.
But she has a clear line of fire now, and she's going to take it.
Her hand raises, and the click of a mechanism deploying a .45 caliber pistol into her palm is her response to the attack. She draws a bead from a crouched position, aims, and fires. The bullets shriek out, lighting up the corridor as they barely contain the power within them. Just before reaching Urien, the bullets explode into a fury electrical energy, trying to blast the man backward and keep him pinned down in the corridor.
COMBATSYS: Urien reflects Electric Eye from Elle with Aegis Reflector.
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Elle 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Urien
Urien has to smile. It's one of those moments that he truly adores. When everything comes together into a glorious whole, he walks forwards, the bullets shrieking in towards him, and every sense in his body is shouting at him that there is only one proper response to this. "I'm sorry." He states, calmly. "Is that supposed to scare me? A fancy gun? -Really-?"
And suddenly, he throws his arms out to the side, a bright wall of crackling pink energy bursts into being, and the bullets simply bounce back, the energy within them is simply snatched up, and turned to his ends, the bullets screaming back towards the mercenaries position. What had been intended as a method to pin him, being turned to precisely the opposite purposes, a barrage of bullets converging to explode, and force Elle out of her covered position.
Urien would, of course, be lying if he said that it was easy to employ that particular technique. But he certainly looks it, advancing at a more leisurely pace... in reality, because he needs to recover just a little bit from the exertion of employing his most impressive attack.
COMBATSYS: Urien successfully hits Elle with Reflected Electric Eye.
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Elle 1/-======/=======|====---\-------\0 Urien
When it comes down to it, Elle has to frown.
This is what she didn't expect. Now he's starting to primp.
Elle doesn't seek to 'scare' people, and Urien's starting to get full of himself. That's going to cost him dearly in the long run. Every single positive thing she had ascribed to him instantly gets flushed down the toilet the second those words fall out of his mouth.
Elle doesn't scare people, nor does she try to. She tries to win. Period.
And if Urien can't figure that out? Then the man's doomed just like every other tinpot despot she knows.
But first, dealing with the pain. Her energy is reflected back at her, which she regards about as calmly as anybody can. The explosion is enormous, blasting her cover away, tearing at the floor, blowing her backward, tearing through her like a missile had hit her location, and she smashes back into the wall behind her.
...but nevertheless, Jiro hit her harder just a few days ago.
So the power's definitely far, far short of Godlike, though she'd never say it.
She clatters to the ground in a series of thumps, smoke rising from her body. That one hit took a considerable amount out of her, and was to be expected. In fact, despite her sorry state and Urien's ability to mask it, she can tell one thing: the man's being force to go all out just to drive her back this far... which again is a dangerous place to be.
She doesn't stay motionless for particularly long, though. It's time to try and even this score out. With a quick motion of her arm, her sleeve is launching yet another thing in the man's direction. The glinting triangular head of a flail shoots forward, the head of the weapon expanding into something akin to a grappling hook. If it connects, steel barbs will dig into the man's chest, and Elle will yank him pard, hurling him into the walls and ceiling, which will detonate with powerful sonic emplosions before she flings him down to the lower floor with a snap of her wrist.
COMBATSYS: Elle successfully hits Urien with Black Sabbath.
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Elle 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\0 Urien
On some level, of course, Urien -knows- Elle isn't trying to scare him. He's not stupid. The mercenary wasn't trying to frighten him, she was trying to /beat/ him. Possibly kill him. It was difficult to tell the difference in a straight up fight. But, he's not used to fights like this. Much as he would be loathe to admit it, Urien is more comfortable as a showman than as a serious killer. He's all about flashy displays of power, and, as Elle has so astutely noted, that very arrogance is his primary weakness.
It is, perhaps, showcased earlier than one might think. The flail is extended, and Urien simply aims to duck out and to the side. Underestimated how fast the weapon travels, it grabs him, and he finds himself paying dearly for the mistake. When he hits the ground, it is with a very definite -thump-. And it takes him a moment to recover.
When he does, he clears his throat. Exhaling slowly, he shakes his head. That had really hurt. In fact, now, it becomes obvious that the head of the G-Project /can/ bleed, as blood trickles from his wounds. A definite annoyance.
He is, if anything, angry with himself for letting his guard down enough to have been hammered so severely, and it shows, when, quite suddenly, he's tearing forwards again. Really. It is when the chips are down that Urien's veneer of respectability crumbles. He does his best to put on a good show, but, when he begins to feel there is even the vague chance that he may -lose-. Well.
Urien comes forwards and simply aims to grab Elle by the hair. His fingers aim to tangle in that short-cropped mop, and simply wrench her into the air. If he manages this, he'll sneer. A deeply unpleasant look, as though to say, hah! I -knew- I had nothing to worry about.
And in a single, powerful motion, he'll twist, and slam her bodily into the floor with all the force he can muster. A vicious overhead swing that seeks to assert superiority simply by treating her bodily like a rag doll that has, somehow, managed to offend him on a very personal level.
COMBATSYS: Elle endures Urien's Quick Throw.
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Elle 1/-----==/=======|=------\-------\0 Urien
Elle, offend people? Never!
Okay, maybe a little. A lot, really. In fact, Elle offends most people she meets, unless they're busy sitting there convincing themselves she's some kind of fly on the surface of reality, which is usually when Elle shows up to kick over their sandcastle at the behest of someone that's got a few dollars to spend.
But it's that iron drive to succeed just because she's got nothing better to do with her life that makes her a curious opponent. Elle really has nothing to live for but the artificial goals she lays out for herself. She doesn't beleive in anything, and yet? Each goal she sets out for her is treated with all the fervor of someone that beleives in something more.
It's weird, maybe misguided and creepy.
But when it's put into perspective, it's pretty much exactly what's got Urien so pissed off at her. That tenacious failure to simply /die/ on someone's say so keeps Elle at the top of her game because she's not done living yet.
So when she's pulled by the hair, all he gets in the split second between starting and finishing the act is a deadened stare. Her eyes meet his for a moment. It's clear that she's not going to win, but nor is she cowed by the beating. Elle's learned something valuable, and Urien can fume all he likes. That lesson is that she can still anger those people that call themselves Gods.
And that's enough for Elle for a variety of reasons.
As she smashes into the ground, her arm whips out again, the hastily aimed grappling flail shooting towards Urien's stomach, focused to bowl him over onto his back as she uses the last of her flagging strength to hurl the man up at the ceiling so so much force that the accompanying sonic boom embeds him there before she collapses into a heap, devoid of any more energy to fight, even though she's more than got the drive to continue.
COMBATSYS: Elle can no longer fight.
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Urien 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Urien endures Elle's Black Sabbath.
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Urien 0/-------/---====|
Urien has tried hard not to give away the god-complex, people seemed to get that wrong a lot. When Urien proclaims that he is a God, that doesn't mean he's unbeatable. It means he has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Because, after all is said and done, he has the -duty- to rule. It isn't as though he ever asked to be born a God. But people assume, probably because of the amount of people that used it to proclaim invulnerability in combat, that declaring godhood made you an arrogant jackass.
Urien isn't an arrogant jackass because he's a God; he's quite arrogant enough even with that fact left firmly to one side.
Urien's eyes meet hers, and he hmphs. Not even trying to get out of the way of the attack, he embraces it. The ride is painful, but, rather than fight against the throw, he throws himself into it. Puncturing the ceiling with his head like some sort of horrifying Greek missile, he ploughs back down through the concrete as though he is fully intent on finishing the job--
And then he catches himself. Beaten and bloodied as he is, he catches a hold on that tight knot of fury in his gut, and, rather than hurting the woman further, he simply offers her a hand back up onto her feet. Shaking bits of ceiling out of his hair as he does so, he lets the strange color drain from his skin, returning to a fair more natural- though still quite unclothed- state.
"I hope." He says, seriously. "That was enough of a demonstration. You are ... formidable."
It's a funny thing. There's an element of genuine respect in his tone, but, he's obviously also more than a little... disturbed. Elle had proven herself, in his eyes, as someone not to be underestimated. She'd capitalized on some moments of weakness, and had demonstrated the ability to really -hurt- him in ways that the others he had forced into his corner had just never managed.
He'd need to tread carefully, just in case.
If Elle was anything less than what she was, she'd honestly be dead by now. What people think to be arrogance and entitlement on her part is very similar to that of how people misread Urien. Elle is good at what she does. Not the best, but /good/. And people that over or underestimate that are going to have problems. She takes what she has, and uses whatever crumbs that life provides her to make a feast.
And that's the power that Elle has. Not the power of a god, or a concept, or even a moral code. It's the power of someone that sees everything based on relativistic values. She takes everything as it comes, and treats it as what it is: a resource or a liability, and then proceeds accordingly.
She takes the hand, drawing herself up. Urien was tough, but not invincible. He was smart, but not so smart that she couldn't understand him. And in that, Urien becomes familiar to her in an instant. She can understand Urien and where he is, where he wants to be. Between that and his stated objectives, Elle comprehends Urien, and that in and of itself will be valuable in dealing with him in the future.
"I'm just me," she replies, "Some of us aren't born into anything but mediocrity. I take what I get, and do the best I can."
A muted way of summing up how she operates. She doesn't think highly of herself. She just lives, and lets others compensate for that as they will. Her sole responsibility? Protecting herself and her interests from any resulting fallout. Still, this doesn't avoid the fact that she'll need time to recover from the injuries. "I'll contact you with an address to deliver payment. Once I get money in my hands, all you need to do is relax. I make things happen, Urien," she intones. "And I don't make a habit of having people disappointed with my results."
Log created on 12:28:53 05/10/2009 by Elle, and last modified on 20:16:27 05/10/2009.