Another great action piece here!

Aleena and Dash start us off and are quickly joined by Cyber Sunset in a piece that leads directly into the Finale.

 
Having made their way deeper into the port town on a quest to track down information on the missing princesses, Aleena looked around at the city sprawling in front of her. It'd been a strange and long ride over to the city, but with that in the past, the outlook was brightening for her. Dash's mood seemed to shift as he entered the city. Ever so subtly, Dash gained an air of confidence in the city.

Dash made a face, though. "You're right. This city does have a certain.. industrial stench to it."

Aleena pointed to a nearby large factory, whose smokestacks in the Smokey Bare downtown section of Honorburg billowed and belched its own cloud, quite discernible even in this part of the city. “So that is where the stink comes from. So many civilizations learn quite too late that they ought to care for their world.”

"It wasn't nearly as bad when I was here last time," Dash said. He paused to think that statement over. "Or maybe I just didn't notice it."

“Yeah, I suppose if you grow up around it, you never notice it.” Aleena paused a moment in thought. “How long has it been since you were last here?”

Dash lead Aleena down the street as he paused to think. "I wanna say.. two or three years. Covered all of my time in Adrule, the Kingdom and south of it. Can't be more than three and a half, though?"

“Ah,” came her answer. “Where are we going?”

"Since I know the city better than most," Dash answered. "We ended up with an out of the way spot. It's kind of dangerous, but if we use a little common sense, I'm sure we'll be okay. There's rumored to be a spot where the Fifth Column members hang out. Since Cyber Sunset says they have the information we need, I figure we'll do what comes naturally if asking politely doesn't work."

“How is it they would have information we want? And who, or what, is the Fifth Column?”

Dash watched as a few blocks down, an old fashioned horse and cart briefly passed view. "They're one of the many groups in the city we're set up to fight. If I recall correctly, they're tied to the world's great war from decades past. As to why they'd know.." Dash paused as the two crossed the street, reoriented himself, and lead Aleena down another direction. Soon they'd be past the grids of the city and into the edges of Honorburg. "I can only speculate the exact reasons they have it, but they're known to keep really good tabs on the city. Better tabs than some.. better tabs than most of the good guys. I don't know how they got the information on our objectives, but I'm not complaining."

“What’s the goal of their organization? Are they likely to help us out?”

Dash shook his head. "Very unlikely, unless we could think of a way to scam them. Then again, I've fought the organization more than a few times on my first tour of the city."

“I’m not sure I feel right stealing.”

"Me neither. I'm hoping we can just beat the information out of them."

"If you think that is best."

"They're the bad guys," Dash answered. "I don't think diplomacy is going to work, and they've got it coming."

The elf smiled, cracking her fists while razor-thin claws extended from each knuckle before retracting again. "I'm ready for this."

It didn't take terribly long to find the location of the Fifth Column hideout Aleena and Dash had been seeking; it was hidden underground, beneath the old Exposure Expo carnival. Dash and Aleena covertly broke past the rock sealing up the entrance, revealing a damp, dank path of rock, metal and dirt. There were stray boxes and platforms which lead deeper underground. The scent of oil and sweat drifted from further down.

"Guess they haven't learned to post guards," Dash whispered to Aleena as they entered.

Aleena crept in behind Dash. "How odd. Do they always live in caves?"

"No," Dash responded. "Although I recall most of their most dangerous bases being underground. Speaking of which.. keep your eyes sharp.. I'm sure we'll come upon some trouble ahead." Dash couldn't help himself. "Kind of hoping for it."

"They really keep computers in this kind of environment? Geez. Tunneling out all the cables, air supply ducts and passages must be expensive."

Dash shrugged. "I can't say I know much about 'computers.' It's kind of beyond my expertise." They continued to push their way down. As they did, it became less of a mess of dirt and metal and more like something resembling an underground building, as Fifth Column buildings tended to do. The cave tunnel also started to widen quite a bit.

Aleena and Dash picked up voices coming from ahead. Human voices, although they sounded cold and heartless, almost mechanical in their nature. Dash turned to Aleena, wanting to gauge her opinion of their options without alerting the nearby enemies.

Aleena listened intently to voices that Dash could not hear. Her suit could pick up the communications traffic of the 5th Column. "They... really aren't big on security," the elf whispered. "There's not many of them in all, but I am picking up some mobile platform communications. Robots are present. Whenever you are ready." Aleena set her suit's computer to the task of breaking into the wireless network, pausing only briefly to wonder how a group in such an archaic setting could have something as advanced as wireless capabilities; from what she understood of technological historical advancement, that almost never came with such relatively primitive technology. Nevertheless, her suit was perfectly capable of exploiting the advanced technology; Aleena was perfectly willing to exploit that.

Dash smiled, grateful for Aleena's high tech sensors. "Ladies first," he whispered, barely having to do more than mouth the words for Aleena to pick up on them.

Aleena crept forward until she could get no further. The passage opened into a larger chamber with several armed men working at consoles and robots standing watch near the centre of the room. Dash stayed behind her. Although his bigger frame made him harder to keep hidden than his companion, Dash knew exactly how to move, finding a spot kept suitably shielded from proper lighting. Dash's keen eyes took count of any heads who might notice movement if he moved too fast. The instant Dash judged those eyes off his location for the moment, he leaped forward over two large stocked, boxes, landing on the other side next to one of the many metal 'rooms' build into the underground hideout, which by this point, showed hints of an underground city in nature.

While Sebastian Dash moved with a surprising grace with his that would befit any high level athlete, Aleena put him to shame with movements that were fittingly otherworldly. Beginning with a simple roll, she slipped up behind the nearest minion before he could raise an alarm.. before he could even register her presence. Her fist crackled with electrical energy as she punched him in the back of the head. The force of the punch and the bioelectric shock combined perfectly to render the first guard unconscious. Dash, meanwhile, found similar effect on a guard of his own by simply bringing the butt of his longsword over the back of the other guard's neck and head, laying him equally unconscious. Dash flashed the space elf a smile of approval, then fell back out of enemy sight.

Aleena felt warmth on her back as a laser from one of the guard bots tried to penetrate her protective suit. "Not quite done?" she asked herself, diving behind some cover while bullets from someone's gun sprayed the console. Dash looked shocked by their firepower.

Dash measured up the odds against them and found it hard to like, although on the upside, the focus of the fire was almost dead split between Aleena and he. He figured they could 'butterfly' their way out and maybe even catch the enemies by surprise, from behind. Before he could attempt to rely the plan to Aleena, something strange caught Dash's eye. He blinked, not sure he was seeing it right as the robotic men turned on the surprised Fifth Column members, catching them with their laser beams. Dash glanced over at the space elf, wondering if she was responsible, but ultimately it didn't matter; the two dove into action, quickly finishing off the final guards.

"Good job," Dash said, keeping his voice low. "That's some skillset you got, Aleena."

"Thanks. These guys should come in handy." She knocked on one of the robot's heads to a distinctly metallic sound. "Some of them are still alive. What do you want to do with them?"

"Wait," Dash wondered aloud. "How can robots be alive?"

"I mean the humans that are not missing anatomy or have laser holes."

Suddenly, Cyber Sunset appeared! Dash didn't seem to notice; he asked Aleena, "Can we make an attempt to hack in on one of these terminals?"

“Should be easy enough,” said Cyber Sunset, marching over. “Actually getting their information is simple once you get into a base. It may be coded, but that’s a simple matter as well if you get out alive.”

As a side note, the hero in green turned his head towards Dash, grinning. “You also need to be more careful about the on-site security. I ambushed a team that was running in from another base to ambush you. I swear, it’s the Trolz all over again...”

Dash blinked. "Wait, how'd they spot us? And why're you here, Sunset? I thought you were taking care of a problem over in the Cloudwash district."

“New information,” said Cyber Sunset. “Some of the Fight Clubbers over there were trying to fence some low-grade magical artifacts. I helped some Dusk Brigade members to settle that, me and the Dusk Brigade go way back...anyway, they say the magical items are native to this Loathing place you come from. Possibly some princess jewelry?”

Dash's eyes lit up. "That makes sense, actually. I imagine the Princesses' jewelry would be quite.. magical."

"I'm still not sure I trust you. Attacking strangers in the streets is hardly friendly."

“Good,” said Cyber Sunset, nodding emphatically.

"I've worked with him before," Dash said, hoping to defuse the situation. "I'm pretty sure we can trust Sunset."

“You’re far too trusting, Dash,” said Cyber Sunset. “Aleena seems to have just the right level of paranoia about this.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. "Is this part of the whole 'lone wolf' thing you've got going?"

Aleena's newly acquired robots turned and marched down separate corridors to explore the cave system. "We should get moving, I think."

Dash just nodded, agreeing. "How long can you keep control of our little robotic dust collectors there?"

"As long as nobody starts up a radio jammer... as long as I want."

“Then we should move quickly,” said Cyber Sunset. “People in the column love their radios.”

Dash nodded. Before they got much further in, they found themselves confronted by the oddest looking sight. Before them stood two Fifth Column guards.. and their pet werewolf.

Dash blinked. "That's new."

"The robots have encountered... similar difficulties," Aleena whispered.

"You! Stop!" the guard yelled with a thick foreign accent. "Your kind isn't welcome here!"

"Who? We're supposed to be here," Aleena called back.

“Oh, alright then,” said the guard. The base quietly went back to its normal operating procedures.

"Points for thinking outside the box," Dash said softly, watching in disbelief.

“That...that almost never works,” said Cyber Sunset in complete disbelief. "You two scout ahead; I'll take the first few rooms here and see what information I can't crack."

"My robots have found others; I'm making them mine. If you can disable the security system, I can take control of all the technology in this base, Cyber Sunset."

Sunset just nodded and left to get to work. Dash and Aleena walked further in, with Dash worrying, "This's too simple. Don't be surprised if we run into more complications."

Dash and Aleena made their way down past an empty section of the hideout, dodging past a couple patrols, which included some very strange looking Fifth Column members. Finally, Aleena announced a discovery. "One of the bots has found the mainframe. It's up ahead. I'll give it some commands, but we should get there in person."

"Just be careful," Dash said. "That's usually when you find the most powerful guards standing and talking about their plans to take over the city.. or the world.. or the time stream.. or whatever."

"It's a column bot. They aren't paying any attention to it."

Dash frowned. "We won't have to dress up like robots, will we?"

"Hold on, I've plugged the bot into the mainframe. I can see some interesting files, but it'll take too long to download over the wireless network. Give me a few moments, I need to focus."

Dash distracted himself by looking over some papers scattered across the corridor. He couldn't make much out of them due to the encryption, but he got the general idea this was one of their less important bases.

"Halt! Dieser Bereich ist verboten!" shouted a large, barrel-chested man from up ahead. His warning had almost certainly attracted unwanted attention, and the elf seemed unresponsive to his command as she kneeled on the floor.

"Pardon me, sir," Dash said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Can I help you with something?"

The man narrowed his eyes. Black hair, worn in a crew cut, offset his green tank top, camo pants, and rippling muscles. "Small man is in heap of trouble." He threw the first punch, which Dash ducked effortlessly.

"Keep it down!" Dash yelled, jamming a knee into the much bigger man's midsection. Didn't seem to have much effect at all. "This is a library, not a shouting contest."

"Heh, heh, heh," came a response from behind the barrel-chest. Other huge men, column bosses, entered the tunnel. Fortunately for Dash, space to maneuver was restricted and he couldn't be surrounded. Dash backflipped, pulling his longsword free, ready to do some real damage, if required.

"What, your buddies trying to cut in on the dance?" Dash smirked confidently. "Then I guess I better finish you off quick." Dash threw himself into an attack. The barrel-chested one tried to counter and nail Dash, but Dash ducked under, and rammed the hilt of his sword under the giant's ribs. Dash then turned, and sliced the giant's skin with the longsword.

The next thing Dash knew was blackness, as a hamhocked fist caught him in the back of the head. As Dash was pummeled into unconsciousness, Aleena came out of her reverie. "I think I've found what we are looking for." She noticed the two thugs standing over her, and Dash being dragged away by a third. "Uhm. Hello."

A soundless, scentless explosion of smoke drifted past Aleena's eyes. It was her transformation; her cysuit receded and the smoke reformed into a beautiful princess dress and tiara. Strong hands grabbed her arms. "There's your missing princess, colonel."

Aleena struggled in vain. It quickly became obvious there was some sort of restraining magic keeping her in place.

An enjoyable mix of battle and action, with a touch of humor to spice it up. We've got a silly little flashback, then we'll get into the Mission Finale!