Description: After his attempts at parting Soma from his dagger go awry, Kain discovers that he didn't leave the encounter entirely empty handed. But with the way things are going, he needs an agent in Taizhou who doesn't have his particular weakness. And he knows just who to call...
[OOC] Furlento says, "TS TIME"
ODROP::OSUCC::Rolento heads west.
Rolento has arrived.
[OOC] Kain says, "Not with a furry, it isn't! C_C_"
[OOC] Furlento took a minute to slap sei
His attempts at retrieving the mysterious dagger from Soma having failed, Kain eventually manages to drag himself away to somewhere he could try to recuperate. Letting down his guard against the power surging through Taizhou proved to be a poor idea, and getting stabbed with the dagger has only made things worse. In an abandoned building he performs some amateur medical care on himself. Despite his power, Kain has made a point of cultivating some mundane skills related to survival. Overconfidence that leads to not knowing how to lose properly can get you killed. Still, it's not an easy task. Just thinking straight requires a major effort of will... and eventually it becomes apparent why. As he's cleaning the wound Kain dislodges a small metal fragment, and immediately begins to feel better.
Picking the bloody sliver up between his fingers, Kain looks at it for a long moment, then slowly smiles. A short time later he has finished bandaging the wound, and is able to focus completely on this find. There's not much power there compared to what's flowing through the city, or even the dagger itself, but for someone who can read the flow of chi as well as Kain, it just might be enough. It provides a signature. What follows is several hours of meditation. The physical pain in Kain's body is ignored easily enough, but the nature of his very surroundings are what cause him trouble.
In the end, though, he finds what he seeks, and engages in a bit of reconnoitering. At which point a new problem becomes apparent. Kain has, probably, found what he seeks... but he can't get close to it. Not without severely compromising himself... and there are too many powerful players in Taizhou for him to be comfortable with that risk. So it's time to call in a new player. He makes his way back to the cache where he has hidden his supplies and goes about arranging some communications. Cell phones will suffice for many communications, but sometimes you want to have access to a secure line, especially if you have to discuss things you don't want anyone to hear about, period. A need Kain has had more than once. And then there are certain people who are unlikely to speak to you if they think you're on a line that can be traced or tapped. Now Kain just needs the other side to pick up...
Rolento has disconnected.
Rolento has connected.
[OOC] Kain says, "Need the pose again?"
[OOC] Furlento says, "NO LEAVE ME ALONE"
There is no such thing as a 'direct line' to the person Kain is trying to contact. Yet there are varying degrees of efficiency, and certainly this is one of the highest. After dialing the number, there's a loud click. Seven seconds of silence later, a hiss of static and another loud click. Fourteen seconds later, a final loud click. It seems each time, the call was routed through new cellphones, creating an impossible web of connections with no meaningful concurrence. At last, sounding somewhat peculiar due to traveling through several cellphones, a rough voice -- not that of Rolento -- comes on the other end and asks who it is. Afterwards, he asks for the third codeword assigned to him by Rolento. There's seven of them, and none are all that easy to remember, let alone the order, but this happens to be Kain. A trivial matter, which is why such a method of communicatino is trusted.
At last, after the sound of muffled footsteps and a steel door creaking open, someone else takes the phone. Someone is begging and pleading in arabic, before a shriek and the rather prominent sound of a current. BZZZT. "Mr. Heinlein. It has been some time." Rolento's voice sounds strong and assured. "I apologize for the background noise. I was in the middle of an interrogation." Another shock and longer, drawn out shriek. "Systematic dissection and absorbtion of insurgent forces is a time consuming task."
Kain settles into a comfortable position, trying to favor his wounded side. A position which, not coincidentally, allows him to view all the entrances to his current location. "No need to apologize, Mr. Schugerg. I'll try to keep this brief. But I have some need of your services, and preferably in the very near future. With appropriate compensation for any inconveniences it may cause in your schedule, of course."
In addition to the other supplies he has with him, Kain boots up a laptop computer while he speaks on the phone. He's not an especially technical man, himself, though he's at least computer literate. However, for the right money you can get people to set you up with some very sophisticated software and hardware. And for even more money, and the knowledge that you could kill them horribly, you can ensure that they won't compromise your secure systems for their own ends. "Are you at all up to date with the events that have been happening in Taizhou, in China?"
The sounds of whatever horrific events are unfolding continue to burst through the phone. It seems Rolento is indeed not halting the progress of his own work whatsoever. He states something in angry, firm Arabic. After a few moments, the pained voice repeats something over and over. "Good. He'll talk. I can devote my attention to you now." Stepping away to a corner, Rolento makes a thoughtful sound. "Mere whispers. I did not investigate of my own accord. I have had my hands full with my current operation. The countless fanatics are an invaluable manpower. All they lack is training and equipment."
Unsurprisingly, Kain is not at all bothered by the sounds coming in from the background. "Some of Ryouhara's developments at the last 'tournament' held in his name have been of some interest to me. With the technology he's already shown to have at his disposal, this Katsuten weapon intrigued me. Things have been happening rapidly since outsiders arrived in the region, however. Whatever order there might have been in the city has collapsed, and large portions of it have been destroyed. However, as far as I can tell, no one has managed to get their hands on the weapon. And that is why I am calling you."
Kain pauses for a moment, wincing. "I would acquire it myself, but events in the city have turned out to be somewhat... problematic for me. I need someone who's not as chi sensitive as myself to retrieve the weapon, so that I can analyze it under less precarious circumstances." Kain pauses. He doesn't regret making that admission to Rolento, as a mercenary being suspicious of his employer often ends badly. But he doesn't want to appear /too/ weak. "Also, in the event that I were to fully exercise my powers in close proximity to the device, the results might be undesirable, to say the least. Particularly since it seems to be stored underground."
"Mmm? The ninja?" Rolento wonders, turning on a sink and washing his hands lazily. Although he does pause for a few moments, carefully drying. One can wonder what he did to neccesitate such fastidious cleaning. "Weapons? I had never considered Ryouhara to be someone of note in the creation of weapons. What is this Katsuten?" The large steel door opens with another creek, and is pulled shut behind Rolento as he moves into the privacy of the hallway. "...you are injured." Rolento suddenly offers. There is no sympathy here, only a sort of sudden curiosity. "What manner of foe might be able to injure you, Mr. Heinlein? I believe I need more details about this 'weapon' and the events surrounding it..."
"Due to the weapon's influence in the city, I'm not in peak condition. And I made a miscalculation while attempting to acquire a lead on its location." Rolento does /not/ need to know about the dagger, as far as Kain is concerned. Katsuten: Hiroshima is difficult to use as a specifically anti-Kain weapon, but the knife, not so much. And Kain trusts Rolento to be professional, but there are limits to that trust.
"Unfortunately, I can't give you specific details about the weapon that are likely to be useful, as I haven't reached it in person. I could talk about how it's affecting the flow of chi, but the specifics would be of little use to you. Suffice to say, it's a device for harnessing and then emitting large amounts of chi. And if I'm correct, it's capable of releasing what it has stored very rapidly. And violently. The exact results of such an event are difficult to quantify... but at what I can sense of the current power levels, it would easily wipe out this city. And it's not the only weapon he has. Ryouhara has done things with chi and machinery that I wouldn't have thought possible. I'll send you some notes on devices I've encountered. I've disabled a number of the area's defenses, but it's possible there are still others that you might run into. They might be of some value, if you can acquire any of them intact. Or at least mostly so."
Kain pauses again. "As for the events surrounding it... Ryouhara is dead, and I haven't been able to track down any of his subordinates, so I still haven't determined just what he plans for the device. His stated intentions seem to imply using it to disrupt global society in some way. And so there are a number of people here to play hero. Most of them are of little consequence, although they seem to be grouping together."
Ryouhara is dead. This brings a small smile to Rolento's lips. He is a man who has seen the face of death as many as anyone alive, and also knows the extents to which one can be durable. "I assume his body wasn't found." is offhandedly mentioned, but Rolento dismisses this offhand. It doesn't particularly matter. "So there is a chaotic city with an undeterminable weapon based on chi. You certainly could not have found a better individual to investigate this, Mr. Heinlein. I will immediately give this my full attention." The idea of disrupting global society being a plus in his mind is for the moment not touched on. "Your information is not required. Merely tell me one person who has made significant strides in investigating this, and I shall do the rest."
A similar thought regarding Seishirou has occurred to Kain, but like Rolento he doesn't really care. "I've already done most of the legwork, in fact. There's a chi signature beneath a factory in the Nenzhao district. If it's not the weapon itself, it will almost certainly be related to it in some way. I'm not certain if the underground area can be accessed from the factory itself, or if there's a remote entrance, however."
Kain holds up the sliver of the dagger, holding it with each end pressed against a fingertip, eyes on it while he talks. "I believe there have been other people in the area recently, but if anybody did manage to get access to the device they haven't manipulated it in any way that has changed its energy output. I unfortunately can't tell you how large the device is. I believe it should be portable, but may require a vehicle for transportation. In the event that there's an entire facility, there's likely to be some device at its core. Some of these security systems have been rather widespread, but there's still a central control device. In that case you can simply use your best judgement as to what is important, and don't be overly concerned with damaging the rest of the facility."
Rolento quietly listens to every detail. He does not interject or question additional details. "Very well. This should be sufficient information. I shall immediately begin. Compensation will be military assets. I will need vehicles, I will need munitions. Insure these arrive within the week. Twenty men will be working with me, with El Gado as my second. All will need compensation as well. Is there anything else, or shall I leave?"
Kain thinks for a moment. "Weaponry should not be a problem. Will Chinese military-issue be acceptable? I can arrange for vehicles, but I can't guarantee their placement in Taizhou. The land routes are largely blocked off or impassable. I can arrange for air or sea transportation to move any equipment and vehicles you may need from a staging location, however. I just wouldn't trust any local contacts to deliver them here. I believe most of the perimeter defenses are already spent or damaged, but the locals are still scared to approach the area, and would probably be unable to deal with the situation if they did run into any active defenses. Other than that, I believe everything should be in order."
t"Get the vehicles into the vicinity. Allow me to worry about the rest. Air is preferable. ...Chinese will do." Rolento has a few high end items of his own he might invest, but he'll expect compensation if they fall in the line of duty. Rolento is long in thought, simply breathing regularly into the phone. "Very well. I will send regular reports." And with that, his phone is clicked off. If Kain cares to listen, regular clicks and hisses repeat all the way back, before the line finally goes dead. It seems a new predator has been unleashed into the war-torn region...
Log created on 18:00:02 06/04/2010 by Kain, and last modified on 14:01:01 06/07/2010.