"If you think you can convince them to let us by, go right on ahead." one of Lyla's colleagues responded. "Our job's to keep the researchers safe. At the moment, that means keeping back from those jolly giants." They allowed her past though - thus she was stood with the WEAPONS team behind her and the two large mechanoids in front of her. The one to her left spoke once more.

"If you intend interference with our duties, we will be forced to repel you. This is your final warning." it said, firmly.

Tabiator, 2:30 am ECT

Having finished in the gym, Yulan returned to her own suite of rooms to shower and dress. Given that a number of the members of her extended family had remained there overnight, she would probably be expected to play the good host and set an example when they eventually stirred later in the day. For that reason she decided to wear one of her smarter hanfu, one of pure white with deep blue borders. For footwear she chose a pair of embroidered tourist lotuses*.  Combing her hair until it was sleek and smooth she allowed it to cascade smoothly down her back as she placed a pair of rose-coloured shades over her eyes. With a quick glance in the mirror to check that she looked like the pristine presentable hostess she would doubtless have to play later, she decided to have the central computer send her breakfast where she was, since none of the rest of her family yet showed signs of stirring. As she did so, she flicked on her computer to check the progress of her order again.

Her order was, it seemed, presently in interplanetary space and should be making planetfall on Tabiator fairly soon. Depending on the time, her order might even arrive before the rest of her family were up- which would be a plus. If not though, she would have to give them due warning where certain of her kin were concerned. Treat her parents with respect was a given, keep out of the way of Shan would only be necessary if there were any female representatives of Tiberius Electronics of a certain age.  Was there anything else? Oh yes- avoid Uncle Yun at all costs, that warning applied to almost anyone who was an adult and still single. As her breakfast arrived Yulan thought of something else. She spoke to the central computer again. "I am expecting to be visited by representatives of Tiberius Electronics today," she informed it, "therefore please inform me should any craft approach or contact the family estate claiming to be representatives of that business. When they do make contact, detail them on the formalities of the bio-shield procedure and once those formalities are complete, put them through to myself directly". The central computer acknowledged her instructions and left her to enjoy a solitary breakfast. Despite the unusual hours her restless nights resulted in her waking up at, Yulan had to admit that the time it gave her to herself to simply relax and think was a boon. Beginning her breakfast she let her mind wander over the possibilities for the coming day.

OOC: * Tourist lotuses: This isn't a technical term, but requires some explanation to prevent everyone being confounded by it. Up until the latter part of the 19th century at least, 'lotus' shoes were worn by women whose feet had been bound from their childhood onwards. The shoes were given this name because apparently when women with such feet tried walking in these shoes it produced a motion similar to a 'lotus-bloom swaying in the wind'. These shoes were hand made, embroidered and often very richly decorated. When tourists from  Western civilisation began visiting China regularly, these shoes appealed to the women amongst them. Of course, this was offset by the fact that,since Western women didn't have bound feet there wasn't a set of lotus shoes in China big enough for them. Subsequently, shoes in the style of the lotus shoes but suited for the feet of Western tourists began to be produced, hence my use of the term 'tourist lotuses'. Granted, this or a similar practice,is unlikely to have occurred within the context of the RP, but I use the term in a descriptive sense, to indicate the kind of footwear Yulan selected in this instance.            

Lyla was already prepared. Both slicers in her hands, ready for combat. "I warned you," She reminded them, cocky glance in hand. The robots held a powerful, defensive stance while Lyla did the exact opposite. Moving on a whim, she dashed forward a few feet and launched both of her slicers at the robot positioned on the left. At the last moment before the slicers made contact however, they held a small little glow, indicating a rise in power. Normally, her slicers would be largely ineffective against heavy armor but in this case the extra boost should at least let her deal some decent damage to the robots. Where did that power come from? Well, let's just say Lyla wasn't quite ready to spill the beans on that one, not yet at least.

Lyla's slicers impacted the large mechanoid, cutting a gash in the armour plating on its arms, which it had raised to defend itself.  In turn, and as the throwing blades returned to their owner, the right hand mechanoid pointed a hand toward Lyla. She had roughly a second's notice before a sizeable plasma bolt erupted from the robot's palm, aimed in her general direction.

Lyla took quick notice to the laser particles aiming for her, and soon after reclaiming her slicers, she took a diving leap to the side. After all, the general direction of the beam was only straight ahead. All she had to do was dive to the side and she'd be in the clear, at least after that attack. If she simply stood around waiting, she knew that they'd eventually wear her out. They were machines, they had no limits to their stamina, while she was a human and simply put, had limits that couldn't really be broken.

Dashing at a diagonal angle, she unleashed the slicers at the same robot again, hoping to not have to use her other abilities at this point. Keeping them secret was a good idea, lest the robots figure out ways to counter them at an unfortunate point in the fight. For now, her slicers were dealing damage, that was sufficient enough for the moment. Hopefully they would continue to cut away at the robot's defenses, as she unleashed them for the second time.

IC:

Serenity blinked. "I, uh...don't really pay much attention to history or legends..." Although, now that she heard it....it the story...sounded a LITTLE familiar at least. Maybe I shouldn't have slept through that class...

TBC

The robot that had narrowly missed Lyla spouted some gibberish at the other one, and then took aim once more in her general direction. This time, however, it fired several shots, about three or four, tracing the direction she moved in. Meanwhile, the other mechanoid took somewhat more evasive action than it had last time, swatting at the flying blades as they closed on it. It lost the ends of a few fingers as a result, as the additional charge in the slicers allowed them enough power to cut through its armour. It spouted some gibberish back at the other robot as this occurred, and then it raised its good hand and also fired at Lyla.

As the scene unfolded, the WEAPONS team instinctively backed up, the research team's guards making a point of keeping themselves between the scientists and the unfolding battle. One of them was already jabbing at the communicator on his wrist to raise some backup for Lyla, but that would take time...

Strike two! Come on, one more time and I should be able to cripple this bastard, the WEAPONS officer thought to herself as she reclaimed her slicers and used her inherent athleticism to dodge the counter attack, if barely being able to do so. "That shot was a lot closer than the last one... you're getting better. Too bad your time here is done," She said confidently, though she knew that if this robot's accuracy was getting better, she had best end this fight pretty quickly. Using her athletic speed and avoiding the laser attack, she moved in, and threw her slicers for a third time, boosting their strength with her special ability and and cracked a smile.

"Strike three, you're out!" She exclaimed loudly, expecting the machine to be out for the count.

Small arms fired erupted behind the mech, or rather a single young man
with a single pistol.  A standard orange fox who looked to be in his
late teens stood defiantly firing at the back of the mech's head.  Clad in a ratty auburn trenchcoat, blue shirt, and tan cargo pants the fox sneered and fired a few more shots.

"Ricky, little bullets...  big mech.  Time to run."  Hissed out a youthful voice behind him.  There, poking his head from behind a dumpster, was a gerbil in his early teens.  His hair looked to have been dyed black and offset his grey fur.  With him a very young rabbit with yellow fur and bright blue eyes clung to the leg of the gerbil's jeans looking on in awe at the fox.  The little one was wearing some shorts, a plain green t-shirt, and a green school backpack.

"They're armor piercing Adi so, Shut Up!"  The fox snapped and emptied the rest of his clip.  The rodent was not in the least amused and fired back mockingly, "Doesn't matter.  5.7mm is not going to do anything to a freakin' battlemech!  You're just pissing it off!"  The fox refused to reply resuming his toughguy sneer and reloading, intent on maintaining his attack.

The mechanoid was caught by surprise by both the third slicer attack and the gunfire from behind. The blades caught it across the arm and on its head, the latter seeming to be more of a problem to it than the former, as it wobbled unsteadily and then collapsed backward, sparking from a large cut through one of its eyes.

Unfortunately for Lyla, its partner seemed to have picked up the pace - and now it raised its other arm and a twin stream of rapid-firing plasma bolts were launched toward the WEAPONS officer. It paid no heed to the gun-toting fox and his companions, clearly deeming Lyla to be the main threat. The bolts that missed their mark were quick to dissipate either in the air or upon contact with the local flora - although Lyla was definitely still within their effective range. As the machine swept its blasters round after her, the impact site behind it began to fizzle and crackle with energy once more. Moments later, another pair of mechanoids matching the appearance of the first two that had turned up, strode out of the shield and took up positions behind the one that was busily attempting to knock Lyla out of action. They took up defensive stances, although they seemed quite prepared to go on the offensive at a moment's notice - one of them was positioned near the one attempting to knock out Lya, whilst the other turned to assess the additional threat.

"Kid, are you crazy!?" one of the researchers, a middle-aged looking human woman called out. "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

Meanwhile, several miles up and away from the ensuing chaos, the delivery vessel was making steady progress toward its target. For now it was on auto-pilot as its passengers conversed.
"I know the song you mean," Ash nodded, "I've seen it in old poetry books and the like. Starts with the words In Ages past, the Authors came, as I recall. But I don't remember the whole thing offhand."
He looked down at the bird-shaped mechanoid near their feet. "Still, if this little guy is a relic of the ancient age like you say, then I imagine he can clear up a lot about that time for us. I can see why you want to hang on to him. But right now--" he began, before another voice interrupted him.
"We are now closing on planet Tabiator." it said flatly. It was the navigation system's computer. "Please make sure all crew and cargo as secure. Planetfall will begin shortly."

"...right now, we need to take care of that." Ash finished, heading back through the doorway to the cockpit. "There're enough seats for four up front. You two had best come and buckle up, this could be a bumpy ride."
Minutes later, the ship was heading down through the moisture-rich atmosphere of Tabiator. The mechanoid had found a means to secure itself in the hold, by nestling between some sturdy crates. As the ride smoothed out, Ash poked at the ship's communication controls, issuing the system the relevant orders to contact their customer and prepare a landing zone. Shortly thereafter, he received a message back informing them that the premises had a bio-field protection system and to be aware of this when landing, among other things. He'd dealt with such things before, of course, so this wasn't a concern. After informing the automated response of this, the communications system informed him he was being put through to the customer. He glanced at a clock on the ship's systems.

"Hmm... it's 2:45 local time." he announced. "I'm impressed our customer's even awake. But it should be nice to meet her at last."

Lyla was satisfied with her mini-victory, defeating the first robot. Her sights focused on the second, until suddenly reinforcements had arrived, changing the entire flow of the fight. Of course, there was now a fox aiming and shooting at the robots as well, but still, she considered it her fight and things were going from great to... not so great.

Seeing the incoming attacks coming from the immediate direction, she assumed that if she tried to dodge that, she might not have any more legs to dodge with anymore. Instead, she bit her lip and summoned forth a small amount of energy in her palm. It was a strange ability, unlike anything anyone else around her had seen before. She was hoping to save this for a special moment, but desperate times called for desperate measures! The special ability generated some oddly multicolored energy in her palms, and once completely melded together properly (A very complex process requiring the usage of one's own mental energies), the immediate area surrounding Lyla's front had "condensed". That is to say, incoming projectiles and high speed attacks lost much of their luster trying to penetrate it, unless it was an extremely fast projectile or something similar. If that was the case, then Lyla was screwed. Fortunately her defensive technique would save her. It was a bit of an odd one, no one around her having seen it before. It was a technique that she would refer to as "Deban". Using the extra time to her advantage, she narrowly leapt backwards, back into the clear. Panting heavily, she murmured "That was close,".

As much as it killed her own pride, Lyla knew things were getting bad, and there was the potential for more reinforcements set up by these mechs, and she wasn't sure how far she wanted to go in showing off her "special talent". Already there were bound to be some questions about the Deban technique she used to avoid getting her legs amputated.

"Maybe I can make her tea!" shouted Eve, "Do you think she likes tea? I like tea! Tea is good! Does Pervy Ash like tea?"

OOC: Sorry... I can't quite work into this yet.

The central computer of the Zhan residence informed Yulan of the approaching craft just as she was finishing her breakfast. As instructed, it connected her directly to the courier craft to personally arrange a landing site. However, the timing of the connection was perhaps less than fortunate, given the conversation that reached her ears the instant the connection was established. "I like tea!" an enthusiastic and optimistic female voice was saying, "tea is good! Does Pervy Ash like tea?" Yulan quirked an eyebrow at this name and spoke before anyone on the other end could say anything more...revealing.

"Pervy Ash?" she queried, "I do hope the computer hasn't made an error in its connection? I'm supposed to be connected with the courier from Tiberius Electronics?" Not giving quite enough pause for an answer she carried smoothly on. "I can't speak for 'Pervy Ash'," she continued, "but I like tea- White Jasmine Tea is a particular favourite. However, assuming I am talking to the correct people, I believe arranging a landing site is in order?"   

Ash mentally facepalmed, and hastily put a free hand over Eve's mouth to avoid any further unfortunate statements escaping.
"Sorry, yes, good morning." he said a little awkwardly. "We are indeed the couriers from Tiberius Electronics, and I have your order on board. Disregard my co-worker's comment, that's just our little joke." he added, giving Eve a quick shake of his head.
"My name is Ash, and I assure you I'm not all that perverted. I have brought along some colleagues of mine to help with unloading and, if required, installation of your equipment. You should already have a bearing on our location, and your computer briefed us about the security measures in place." he continued.

"By the by, would you happen to have any big umbrellas we could borrow? It's absolutely bucketing it down out here." he said, a grin on his face - due to its location and composition, Tabiator's weather was almost invariably constant rain. The only time it didn't rain was when it was snowing or hailing, or the very rare occasions where sometimes it was actually sunny.

Ash's joke earned a soft chuckle from his customer before she spoke again. "Greetings Ash," she said- carefully not using the nickname again, "I am Yu Liang Zhan, and I thank you for delivering my order so promptly. I take it our gentle native weather doesn't suit you then?" she asked in amused tones before continuing in a more practical voice.

"As regards shelter, I can go one better than umbrellas," she informed them, "the bio-shield for the Zhan residence has the Sundrop greenhouse function, which- while it is presently keeping off the rain only- can provide light for your landing and the unloading of my order as well. If you feel it necessary, I can put some of the Domestic Staff Droids at your disposal for assistance with the unloading? Where installation is concerned, I should be able to handle it myself, so long as clear and easy to follow instructions have been supplied with the goods. As regards an actual landing site, there is a large space in front of the main building set aside as an all purpose parking-site for all forms of vehicle which I believe will serve. I shall meet you at the door when you arrive and look forwards to seeing you soon," Yulan concluded. Then on a whim added, "and you may inform your colleague that, if I am happy with the work you all do, there may be tea and cookies available!"    

Ash chuckled himself at Yulan's last remark.
"I wouldn't worry too much about unloading - it's mostly all in a few
crates and well packed. You can thank a misspent youth of playing too
much Tetris for that. We should have it all ready to unpack fairly
swiftly. Oh, and there're fairly straightforward instructions included.
My boss wasn't sure exactly what your skill level'd be like, so there's a
quick start version and an in-depth technical version." he replied. "Oh, and refreshments sound good. You're most kind!" he added.
"We'll put down in a few minutes. See you then!"

After signing off the call, he glanced round at the others as he programmed some instructions into the auto-pilot, taking his hand off Eve's mouth as he did so. "OK guys, remember the plan. You're colleagues of mine helping with the delivery." he said. "If she asks you anything technical, just tell her you deal more with warehouse and delivery stuff, or something. No need to let her get suspicious."

Some minutes later, the sound of pounding rain abruptly cut out as the ship passed through the Zhan family home's shield. They touched down gently in the middle of the large space Yulan had mentioned, and Ash pulled off his seat-belt.
"Well, here we are." he said, getting up. "Welcome to planet Tabiator, if you've never been here before." He glanced at the clock on the ship's HUD. "It's almost 3am local time - oh, and the days here are 36 hours long, rather than the 24 we have back home. So, it's about the equivalent of maybe... midnight, or just before one, as far as we're concerned." he added as he glanced out the ship's front screen at the dark sky overhead. Of course, it wasn't in total darkness as, true to her word, Yulan had set the shield to give them some light for landing. Here on this planet, this sort of thing was a good way of letting people know you were quite well-off: a standard bio-shield's primary function was to keep out anything that didn't match certain specific metrics, and they were fairly good for keeping out larger creatures such as people and wild animals. With some additional modifications and tweaking, though, it was possible to also make the shield perform additional functions - such as light refraction and repulsion of assorted things other than organisms, like water for instance.
Must cost a small fortune to keep this thing running as a big umbrella. Ash pondered as he turned to head for the cargo bay. He wasn't about to complain, though - at the least, it meant he and the others wouldn't get wet!

Having forced Lyla to retreat, the mechanoid stopped firing at her. It took a few steps backward and remained standing there, just outside of the shield around the impact site.
One of its partners had meanwhile concluded its assessment of the young fox's offensive capabilities. Thus, it walked toward the young fox and swiftly picked him up by his shirt. Ignoring his protests or any further shots, it walked away from the impact site a few more feet, and then deposited him on the grass. Having done that, it turned and walked back to where it had been standing, and resumed doing so.

OOC:  Pretend I characterized Rico as brash and
arrogant but loyal and protective of the other two.   Pretend I subtly
over the course of five paragraphs showed Kevin gauging the range of the bots
and noticing when the halted their advances and ushered the little rabbit from
cover to cover.   Also pretend Toby was shown
to be klutzy yet competent in supporting Rico with another clip yet falling
while moving between hiding spots.

I did all this in great detail but Yuku hates authors and
loves performing fellatio on itself and ate it. 
So you get the %#%+ below.

What followed was a quick series of events.  The fox running out of ammo and yelping
wildly for more but receiving none as the young gerbil and convinced the rabbit
the mechs were a waste of ammo and would not attack.   The boy complied and told the fox he couldn’t
throw that far, forcing him to withdrawn as they made for the woman. 

The fox franatically moved between the two younger boys and
the mech still waving his empty weapon at the machines, “Dammit Adi, take Tobe
and get back to cover.”   The gerbil gave
him and annoyed looked and slowly to a stroll, putting his arms behind his back
grumbling out, “Richard you are an idiot.” 
The fox continued his gallant defense of the two until they reached the
woman.  The young rodent gazed up at her
through half open brown eyes at stated in his nasally voice, “Attacking is
pointless.  They have a programmed
perimeter.”

As Ash ended the call, Yulan gave instructions to the central computer again. "Alter the present settings of the bio-shield Sundrop," she instructed it, "I want the all-purpose parking area outside the front door easy to see and land on for my guests- and I want you to keep the light level at that consistency for the duration of their visit. Also, darken the windows in the chambers where members of my family are presently sleeping- the chance of their being disturbed is minimal, but I'd rather err on the side of caution where possible. Likewise, insure that some of the larger elevators are already at the ground floor when I get there- I'm sure my guests will be glad to learn they don't have to go up and down innumerable flights of stairs". The computer acknowledged her instructions dutifully and Yulan, rising from her table, decided to begin the walk to the front door.

From her suite of rooms on one of the many upper floors, to the vast entrance-hallway and the immense, solid front doors was a walk of almost fifteen minutes if you went by the conventional hallways and staircases. If you used the secret passageways it could be a much longer or shorter journey, depending which ones you used. If you used the elevators it cut the journey-time substantially. Yulan decided on the first option- she felt like walking and it would give her time to think things over. Since there was at least one female courier she should probably issue due warnings about Shan and Uncle Yun- the chances of an encounter with either were next to zero, but forewarned was forearmed. Another thing she would have to do- though possibly not while Ash was within earshot- was to ask what the nickname 'Pervy Ash' was all about. She smiled to herself; at least her own nickname wasn't that embarrassing.

Several minutes of musing and walking saw her standing before the vast, ponderous slabs of feet-thick metal that she called front doors. She consulted the central computer again. "Have my guests arrived?" she queried. "Affirmative," the computer responded, "their craft has landed and they have just begun to open the cargo hold". Yulan nodded in acknowledgement of this. "Time to play hostess then," she murmured to herself before saying more loudly, "open the front doors then, let's make our guests welcome!" The computer acknowledged the command and with a slow, smooth motion, the huge doors began to slide slowly open, revealing to Yulan the outside world.  

(OOC: Arrraaaaguaaah....JUST as I was ABOUT to post in this, my mom calls...and we end up talking for who knows how long about Farmville.  NEVER fails.  I'm ready now though.)

IC:

Serenity had to consciously restrain herself when the female fox ended up embarrassing Ash over the radio. Don't laugh...don't laugh...  She had been able to keep from falling onto the floor and guffawing...(well..the seat-belt helped keep her from falling off the chair as well) But she still couldn't keep from sniggering a bit.  Luckily they hadn't seemed to notice...or if they did they ignored it.

TBC

(OOC:  All that trouble....and that's ALL I can come up with? *siiiiigh*...)

Raia covered her mouth with her hand to keep from giggling. She didn't want to alienate her ticket to Ex'aiere, after all. Once the craft has landed she looks to Ash for specific instructions, though she figures that unloading the boxes will be relatively easy, considering that they all seemed to be decently sized for loading and unloading.

((short post.))

OOC: I'm still in this, but I've been a bit busy as of late, so I'm going to be slow to respond. If it gets a little out of hand, feel free to take over until I return, Silver.

Lyla was told that attacking was pointless, their defenses were too good, and they were able to read and predict her movements. She was intelligent, but she doubted if she could change her own psychological tendencies at will in battle to fool and deceive these guys. "I know," She responded. She had other abilities at her fingertips that she could have responded with if she wanted to, but she decided not to. That was something best held in reserve for later, if she needed it then. "We'll have to bring in more reinforcements later on, hopefully we can outnumber them later on."

Ash loaded up a larger crate onto a small trolley he'd brought along for the job.
"OK ladies, nab yourselves each a box or two, please." he directed, indicating a collection of smaller packages by the crates. "I'll handle the big crates with this here loader. Remember to lift with your legs, not your back." he added. It was something he'd had drummed into him over the years when helping folk move things himself.

With that said, he proceeded carefully down the cargo ramp and outside, toward the house - just in time to see the doors open and Yulan appear. He smiled and gave a wave to the girl, expertly concealing his surprise that their customer who was spending so much on equipment was a girl who looked to be of high school age.

"Miss Zhan, I presume?" he said, maintaining his friendly smile.

Raia does as directed, though she knows how to lift -- after years of lifting stacks of books in libraries. She takes her load of boxes and makes her way down the ramp, grateful that she doesn't have to shlep in a downpour. The light is also useful, and she makes her way towards the house, a smile on her face. She can't wait until the job is done~

Yulan give a slight bow of her head in return to Ash's wave. "One and the same," she said adding, "and you must be Ash?" Before Ash could answer her, she noticed Raia, Eve and Serenity emerging from the cargo hold with crates in their arms. A ghost of a grin flickered across her lips for an instant. "I think I see where the nickname comes from," she remarked in a voice too soft for anyone except Ash and herself to hear. Then, she raised her voice again so that all those present could hear. "I am Yu Liang Zhan," she announced, "and I welcome you to my home and the home of my family. I offer you my heartfelt thanks and congratulations for handling my order so quickly. Before you cross the threshold of my home however," she continued, "There are a few instructions I must give and some advice which I shall pass on so that your visit here shall be as pleasant as possible for all concerned".

Briefly pausing to make sure she had their attention, Yulan proceeded to elaborate. "My family," she said, "as you can probably tell from my garments- and to a lesser extent my accent- have certain cultural leanings that have come to us from the Soleian side of our heritage, for all that we are and always have been predominantly Tabiatorean. Thus it is a tradition that shoes used for outdoor activity may pass the outer threshold but not the inner one. That is why I have not stepped outside to welcome you. However, since you are likely to be making repeated trips back and forth, I shall not trouble you to remove your shoes at every venture. I will though, call your attention to the green surface beyond these outer doors". Ash- already closer than the others- could easily see the surface she meant. Between the immense outer doors Yulan stood at and a similar, though smaller set of doors beyond, the floor had a glassy surface of deep green. "I ask you to please step on the green surface every time you come in," Yulan said, "since the device this suface is part of is designed especially for removing dirt and sterilising footwear- a glorified doormat if you will. Also, please take the trolley across it for the same reasons. Do this and your shoes may come into the house with you".

Having said this, Yulan gave her next pieces of advice specifically for the women she saw were present. "What I say next is more for you than Ash," she informed them, "at this hour there is very little chance of your meeting the rest of my family- but should it happen there are two I advise you particularly to avoid. The first is my eldest brother; Shihao Zhan. He isn't violent or dangerous, but if he spots a beautiful woman he doesn't know in his house, he will attempt to persuade her to join those whose company he usually keeps- and the number of those is never normally below half a dozen. He won't ever try to force himself on a woman, but he is a shameless flirt and a very persistent skirt-chaser. You have been warned. The second member of my family I advise you to avoid," she continued, "is my uncle, Yunu Zhan. He is a habitual matchmaker. If he sees any young woman- or man- that he doesn't know in this house, he will attempt to arrange your marriage and maybe your life for you. I constantly have to avoid him- so if he doesn't spare family don't think he'll spare any of you".

Having given her advice and instruction Yulan seemed satisfied and was about to inform them that they would find the elevators already waiting for them when Raia attracted her attention. The woman had a sword. That was extremely unusual. At any other time Yulan would have been delighted to enquire about it or learn more- and perhaps she still might. But this was something that would have to be addressed forthwith. Briefly she said to Ash, "you didn't tell me my order merited an armed guard- I'm flattered by the compliment, but I have to address the issue of bearing arms here". So saying she raised her voice again, addressing specifically Raia this time. "It seems there is one other instruction I must give," she said, "as per our Soleian leanings- and as a matter of general security- we do not let strangers bear arms beyond this threshold. Granted, I do have the authority to make an exception. However, if my father found out that I had let an armed stranger into his house whilst he, my mother, my brothers and some of my extended family- many of those children no older than ten- were asleep, I would be in more trouble than I care to contemplate. I would rather not have that happen. In light of that, I must ask that either you leave your sword here between the outer threshold and the inner threshold- where none shall touch it I assure you- or I must ask you not to set foot inside the building".

Raia fidgetted a little before nodding assent. "All right..." She made her way to the green carpet and set her two boxes down before unfastening her sword belt. The manner in which she handled the blade is less like one would expect for a weapon and more like that reserved for a close friend. "I'll be back for you. Don't worry," she told the sword quietly, brushing her fingers over the gleaming gem in the hilt. She then hurried to take her boxes inside, wanting to finish this task as fast as possible for two reasons now.

The manner in which Raia handled her sword as she relinquished it and set it to one side was not lost on Yulan. Evidently it was more than just a weapon to its owner, or a tool to serve a purpose. It was almost inspiring, Yulan mused, to see someone take so much care of something they valued highly. "Thank you," she said softly to Raia as the other girl stooped to pick up the boxes again, "I know that can't have been easy for you". Then she strode gracefully to the inner set of doors, issuing the command of "open up," to the central computer. As with the outer set of doors, the inner set- even thicker than the first although not quite so vast- slid ponderously, though smoothly aside.

Beyond the inner set of doors was a cavernous entrance-hall, the vaulted roof of which seemed to disappear into shadow. The walls were lined with beautiful paintings and other pictures, often of such proportions that Ash could have fitted comfortably within their gilded frames. Double doors of similar proportions to those they had entered by- though they looked to be of polished wood with gold inlay rather than solid metal- were set at regular points along either wall. Directly opposite them, at the far end of the enormous reception chamber, two long, broad staircases of vast proportions arched up from the ground, joining smoothly together in a dazzling arch at an artfully embellished balcony. From this balcony a third, single staircase led higher up, hinting at a gallery, or higher level to the reception hall that was currently concealed from view.

Under the arch formed by the twin staircases there was another set of ornate double-doors, which Yulan glided smoothly towards. Once there she pressed upon what- at first glance- appeared to be part of the ornate and elaborated decorations that adorned the doors. The piece she pressed sank into the woodwork and the doors began to slide open, revealing an empty chamber beyond, perhaps only a little bigger than a standard-sized sitting room in an ordinary house. "Is this a store-cupboard you want us to put your order into?" Ash asked, noting how small and unadorned it seemed next to the reception hall it was attached to. Yulan stepped into the small room answering smoothly, "no- this is the elevator that will take it all to the floor we need to be on".

IC:

Serenity was immediately reminded of home when she saw the opulence around her. Not that she particularly wanted to be. Man...All this takes me back! Better just keep my mouth shut. Don't want to blab anything about my past...especially if there's a matchmaker living here. Serenity shuddered briefly, and settled the cloak more tightly about herself as she stepped on the shoe-cleaner and proceeded from there further into the house with the boxes she was carrying. The LAST thing I need is a matchmaker finding out there's a runaway princess temporarily in his house...

Her mouth decided to spite her and start flapping, though for now, it really wasn't revealing anything. "No weapons, huh? Should I take off my quills?" She joked, mentally facepalming. Shut UP, Reni...

TBC

"Ah, excellent." Ash replied. "This is going to take less time than I thought, then. There should easily be enough space in here for the whole lot, along with ourselves and the trolley."
He neatly deposited the crate on its palate within the huge lift and then made his way back to the ship for another one. Between himself and his "co-workers", it wasn't long before the whole order was loaded up into the elevator - a fact he was glad of. It was clear that for whatever reasons, Serenity and Raia were both uncomfortable. Raia's discomfort he could make a reasonable guess at: she'd said after all that she had a bond with the sword, so he figured that was why she took it with her everywhere. Now wasn't the time to ask about that, though.

As for Serenity... well, that was somewhat more of a mind twister. He didn't yet know enough about the hedgehog girl to understand her discomfort, but he hadn't missed her shuddering - and it didn't feel cold here, at least not to him. Of course, he thought to himself, she doesn't have the benefit of a fur coat like I do. With that said, the slight nervousness in her manner when she'd spoken wasn't lost on her. Perhaps that was just her way of dealing with an uncomfortable situation...
Out of the lot of them, Eve seemed to be the only one mostly unfazed by it all - but then again, it seemed to be so far that very little fazed her. She had an admirably cheerful and happy-go-lucky outlook on things, he'd noticed.

And concerning Ash himself... he was concealing his own discomfort quite well. It wasn't the surroundings that bothered him so much as it was the people, or rather more specifically just the one person so far. The customer was certainly polite, there was no question of that, but she seemed a bit too full of herself for his liking. With how long she'd prattled on for before even letting them in the house, it was obvious that either she loved the sound of her own voice or that she wanted to compensate for a lack of intelligence by making grand speeches. Or perhaps both, and one was the cause of the other. She'd seemed a bit too smug about the elevator as well. It wasn't like it had been obvious unless you lived here.
Still, there was no point in getting annoyed about it just now. There'd be time for venting later - for the time being, it was more important to focus on the task at hand and get everything done in a professional manner. After all, the kid with a big mouth and more money than sense would probably be watching them like a hawk.

OOC: Ok, I just skimmed over the other stuff, but I think I have enough to post something short and continue from there.

Eve walked to a small box and knelt down, gripping it. She lifted it up, only to find that it was to heavy and having it fall on top of her. "Ahh! Help! I need help!" she cried as the box was to heavy for her to left, but not heavy enough to injure her.

Ash's ears perked up on hearing Eve's plaintive cry for help, and he mentally facepalmed again.
"Pardon me for a moment, I'll be right back." he advised the other ladies, and quickly headed back to the ship's cargo hold. He'd been about to head there anyway in a moment once his trolley was unloaded, but hearing Eve in distress hastened his movements.

A short run out to the ship later found him in the cargo hold, carefully lifting the box off the trapped fennec. "Are you alright?" he asked in a slightly concerned tone. She seemed uninjured though as far as he could tell, and more frazzled than anything else from having a box fall on her.

Eve stood up, unwilling to make eye contact with the larger fox. "I'm sorry, Pervy Ash..." she stated somberly, looking at his feet, rather than his face, "I wanted to help."

Ash nearly facepalmed again in response to pervy being added to his name once more. "Could you please stop calling me that? Please?"

"I'm sorry..." She then looked up at him, her ears drooping slowly back as she looked almost ready to cry. "Do you want me to leave? I didn't mean to get in your way." She seemed a bit distracted, more focused on something else, rather than what she was doing right now. Aloof within her own mind.

Ash frowned slightly in concern, his nurturing instincts getting the better of him. He set the box down to one side and reached toward Eve, gently patting the top of her head.
"You're not in the way, lass." he said gently. "What's--" he began, about to ask her what was on her mind, when he suddenly remembered the state she'd been in when she arrived at his workplace earlier that day. He frowned briefly to himself and pulled out his phone, glancing briefly at it.

This didn't go unnoticed by Eve, who looked up in slight surprise as he pulled out the communicator, but when she saw that he'd merely been checking it rather than taking a call, her expression went back from surprise to sadness.

"...you're still worried about your grandma, aren't you?" Ash asked her in a more understanding tone. "Sorry... I've not had any missed calls or messages. I'll keep an ear out though, I promise." he assured her.

"The lamb that bleats the loudest will be the first to find the wolf's fangs." stated the girl suddenly, hugging herself, as if cold, and looking to some far off corner of space. She almost seemed like a different person, and then it was gone, as she looked back at him and grinned sheepishly, almost blushing. "Stop staring at me. It's creepy, Pervy Ash." she giggled, poking him in the gut. And with that, she once again tried to lift the box, unable to get it more than a couple inches off of the ground.

Well that was odd... Ash thought to himself, witnessing Eve's fleeting change of character. He let it go for now though, as there were more immediate matters to attend to. He shook his head and smiled as her normal bubbly self resurfaced.
"Didn't I ask you not to call me that?" he said, though his tone was lighthearted. Then as he witnessed her once again attempting to lift the box that had just defeater her previously, he crouched and picked it up himself, taking it off her hands.
"Here. I'll get this." he told her with a smile. "You nab that one there, it's a bit less cumbersome." he instructed, jerking his head toward a smaller, lighter-looking box.
"And, try not to worry too much, if you can." he added in softer tones. "I'm sure everything'll be alright. Just hold on a little longer, OK?" For her sake, at least, he hoped it would be.

Reni's quip earned another ghost of a smile and a short, soft chuckle from Yulan. "If you can actually do that," she said in an amused voice, "I'll pay for the privilege of watching!" As Ash announced that the elevator would make things go much quicker and then that he'd be back in a moment she acknowledged his remarks with a simple nod. As Ash vanished back to the spacecraft a semi-silence descended within the elevator, since his colleagues didn't seem particularly interested in talking and Yulan was content to stay silent for now. In spite of her outwardly tranquil appearance, a lot was going through her mind. Although Ash's estimation of his customer was- could he have known-widely off the mark, he had been right about one thing. Behind those rose-coloured shades, Yulan was indeed watching her guests like a hawk. And already a number of irregularities had caught her attention.

Raia was- she well knew- no armed retainer hired by Tiberius Electronics. Apart from looking more like a university student than a professional armed guard (though it was true one could be both), if she truly had been an armed guard hired for the protection of the goods, Ash would have mentioned the fact the moment he made contact- or at least the moment he was connected with a living person instead of a computer. Then there was the reluctance she had demonstrated in leaving the sword behind. Although a professional might show that reluctance, it would usually be due to having to lay aside a tool of the trade, not because the weapon was cherished and had great sentimental value. Then there was Reni to consider.

Although Yulan knew as little about the purple hedgehog girl as any of the others she had just met, there was something about her that stirred a sense of familiarity in the back of Yulan's head. Had she seen the girl's face before, or met her briefly? She couldn't put her finger on it but it was there. Then there was the way she carried herself. Although well concealed, Yulan had observed that the girl walked with an air of someone accustomed to settings like this, despite the fact that she seemed uncomfortable being here. That shudder from before hadn't been lost on Yulan either. There was a mystery there she suspected. Eve by contrast, seemed far less mysterious if very forthright. Then again, there could still be more to her than met the eye. As for Ash himself..well, he at least seemed to be what he appeared to be. Even so, Yulan had picked up one thing that she knew he was trying to conceal: He found his customer annoying. It didn't take too much to guess why.

To keep her 'formal self' (Yu Liang Zhan) separate from her actual self (the one who sneaked off the family estate regularly) Yulan had been trying to refine her formal self. Like practicing a character in a play, she had been trying to perfect a consistent, formalised version of herself that was different enough from her that no-one would ever connect the two. The trouble was, she hadn't quite mastered it yet. Trying to adapt her own character quirks into a specific, formalised manner and her speech and behavioural patterns to consistent formal regularity usually resulted in her coming across as either full of herself, overtly loquacious or a cuckoo short of a full clock- or all three. Which was certainly different from the way she really was, but not exactly what she was aiming for. The loquacious part came about because she had been trying to cram all the precision and meaning you could get into a few words of Soleian into Standard Nautilean. Seeming full of herself came from trying to compensate for the fact that she was actually somewhat introverted and a bit of a loner. The seeming lack of brain came from trying to balance the act and getting it wrong. Of course, Ash didn't know all that, so he saw only the person she projected rather than the person she was. Then again, what did she know of Ash? For all she knew her act didn't fool him and he saw through her. Perhaps, she mused this much they both had in common: first impressions had been formed, and both her and Ash believed they had taken the measure of each other- or as near as could be done on a first meeting anyway.

Yulan remained silent and pensive, expression impassive, as Ash came back into view accompanied by Eve. There was certainly something very odd about this team of couriers. Whatever it was though, as long as they remained harmless and professional and got the job done, she would say nothing about it and give Tiberius Electronics her recommendation. After all, no other company she could think of had sent quite such an intriguing and unusual team in her direction before.

The young rodent blinked, his gaze moving between the the woman and his friend no less than six times in increasingly dwindling patience. Both of them sat weapons ready, as if even knowing it was pointless and having no ammunition wasn't going to stop them. His pink nose twitched, followed by a frustrated sigh and his hand rubbing his face in frustration. "So," he quiped out finally with his nasally tone, "Are we going to do a musical number first? Or maybe go get those reinforcements."

The little yellow rabbit giggled, odd considering his age and relating it to the situation facing them. The boy's eyes were clearly bright, he didn't seem concerned with the increasing numbers of large robots in the slightest.

"I've already called them in. Whenever they decide to get here, is completely up to them," Lyla responded, pacing slightly. There wasn't much she could do right now, other than sit and wait for the other WEAPONS people to get their asses over here.

(OOC: Must post something...must post something...Sorry, I got nothing. :/ )

The girl's expression brightened a bit as she gazed up at the younger fox. "Thank you. You're really kind, Pervy Ash." It had seemed the makings for a tearful scene for a film, but as always, Eve had to insert the word 'pervy' in front of the man's name, as if it were his title. She skipped along to join the others, in wait of the sighing ashen fox.

OOC:
Sorry for not posting in this for a while. Gem's PC is on the blink and I've kinda been waiting on that getting fixed before trying to move things along, plus I've had all sorts of madness going on iRL that's put the dampers on getting things moving over the past few days/weeks. Anyway, good news is the PC problems should be gone soon once I send down a disc to him to get it sorted out, and life is a bit more settled again for me too. And it's given me tme to mull over the plot too Let's get things shuffling forward again, shall we?

IC:
Some day, Ash thought to himself, perhaps she'll listen. Ah well...
He rejoined the rest of his "crew" in the house, with the rest of what was needed in tow. "I think this is the lot." he informed Yulan. "Take us on up. Or down, whichever it is, please."

Down on Arcadia II, meanwhile, things were still tense. Lyla and the other WEAPONS personnel were still stood back from the large mechanoids, which were now doing a lot of nothing--other than standing there looking scary. It was about now that Lyla's partner for the time being showed up, accompanied by a few more officers.
"...Damn." was Solus's first utterance regarding the robots. "Those're big suckers. I'm not sure we can handle them." he continued with a frown.
"I took one of them down already." Lyla pointed out with a hint of annoyance present in her voice.
"True, you did... but two more turned up to replace it." Solus replied. "And I heard you had to resort to use of your talent to get out of trouble. I kinda wish I'd seen that, actually - I hear it's quite something."
"We can talk about that later." Lyla replied. "Can we focus on this right now?"
"Right, right..." her partner nodded, before being interrupted by the same rodent from before.
"You do know they've got a programmed perimeter, riiiight?" he asked, in a tone that was less a question and more an annoying "I know something you don't know" statement.
"They do...?" Solus asked, tilting his head. He looked over toward the impact site, still safely encapsulated in its shield. He frowned. "Apparently that's not all they have." he said, pointing toward the shield. "Last time I checked, that was one of ours."

The shield had gone from being a translucent blue-green colour with WEAPONS-programmed text ticking round it to being reddish-white with a new message on the ticker in the same indecipherable text as before.
"What the heck is it saying?" Solus wondered aloud, squinting at the text.
"Well, we've some scientists to hand, don't we?" Lyla offered, glancing round at the team behind her. "Can any of you make that out?"
One of them came forward, squinting past her at the shield. "Hmmm..." he said, and started scribbling things down on a notepad. "It'll take me a little while to be sure I have it all, but I think I can translate it. Hold your attack for now, they may be trying to tell us what they want."

(OOC: I was wondering what happened to Gem. Computer problems are never fun. Had some a couple months ago. Drove me crazy to not be able to use it. XD; Oh well. Hope it gets sorted out soon and everything's ok.

I don't really have anything worthwhile to post right now.)

OOC: Well, after a few weeks offline my home comp is finally functional again. Time to throw myself back into the RP-ing scene starting here!!

IC: Yulan nodded in response to Ash's words. "Up it is," she said quietly, before pressing a button on the wall next to her. The ornate doors to the elevator slid smoothly closed and with only the very slightest sensation of movement the elevator began its ascent. As it rose smoothly up past floor after floor, Yulan remained silent in contrast to her earlier apparently verbose manner. Since neither Ash nor his colleagues appeared to have anything to say, the elevator ride remained silent until the doors slid open again with a soft, swishing sound.

Yulan stepped out ahead of the others. "The suite of rooms I'd like you to deliver to is just five minutes walk down this corridor," she said, gesturing to a corridor off to their right. Behind her ever-present shades, her eyes swept over them all as she continued, "please follow me and I'll show you exactly where I would like them deposited. Once that's done, I shall see to those refreshments I offered you". So saying, Yulan turned smoothly and set off down the corridor, her mind already racing ahead of her as she contemplated the task of assembling her purchase...

(OOC: Welcome back! I'm...still not sure what to post right now, but...

...Hmm..this board is going to take some getting used to. I looked for the 'add post' button...and it's on the other side of the page than what I'm used to...Hmm...Oh well.)

OOC: It's about time! ;p

IC: As the lift went up, Ash had some time to think, as apparently his colleagues were also doing. His mind was focused primarily on what the little robot had been saying about heading to some old city for... trials? testing of some sort? He wasn't wholly sure what it meant by that, although it certainly bothered him not knowing. He'd have to ask it once they were in a position to talk again...

His internal musings came to a halt though along with the lift, and he turned his attention back to their host as she spoke up, offering guidance and refreshments. He nodded in reply as he began to follow her.
"Thanks, but you needn't put yourself out just for our sakes. It's a pretty unreasonable hour here, after all, plus we're expected back relatively soon..." Having said that, however, he still wasn't about to turn her down on it if she insisted. She seemed polite enough in spite of her quirks, and Ash himself was too polite to turn down a genuine offer of hospitality unless it was necessary to. That and, he considered, Eve would probably tell him off for it. Raia on the other hand would probably agree with wanting to get going, and Reni... well, he just couldn't be sure about her yet. He mentally shrugged and continued following Yulan until she stopped at their destination.

(OOC: Not really sure what to post either 😐 )

A very small smile briefly touched Yulan's lips as Ash replied. "It is no trouble, I assure you," she replied, "and besides, the very least I can do for you is provide refreshments after having you move those heavy crates for me- in fact, I insist. As regards the time you need not worry for my sake as I am unlikely to seek rest in the near future. I've been having dreams," she continued in a suddenly much quieter voice, her mask slipping ever so briefly, "strange dreams. Dreams that make me wonder- but nevermind about those," she said, her formal manner coming back smoothly, "let me show you where I'd like my purchase".

So saying, Yulan halted before a set of double-doors, although these were nowhere near as vast as the doors that had adorned the entrance hallway. In spite of that, they were certainly large enough to admit the stacks of crates Ash and his colleagues carried- a fact that became abundantly clear when Yulan opened them wide. She then stood aside and said, "there's plenty of space in the room just beyond these doors, please deposit the crates there. I shall see to preparing some refreshments while you do. I hope tea and coffee are acceptable?" That said, Yulan waited until they had all passed through the doors before following them and then passing through a doorway in the empty room- now rapidly being filled with crates- to the adjoining suite that was hers.

With the vast size of the family home, each member could have an entire suite of rooms to themselves- even when other members of the extended family were visiting. It was almost like having a luxury apartment inside a palace. Almost. As Yulan began to look for cups and coffee and other such things, she noticed that her computer had a blinking light on it. She had told it to keep an eye on a news story that had her attention- the mysterious events that had begun to unfold on Arcadia II. She switched on the computer to see the update- and spent the next several minutes highly interested in what she saw. Once up to date she strode gracefully back through to the room where the couriers awaited, noting with pleasure that they were almost done. "Your efficiency is most impressive," she remarked, "I fear I have a way to go before I measure up- the refreshments are still being prepared. However, if recent, mysterious happenings on your native planet hold any interest for you then there is something I believe you should see".

(OOC: I got something! I think...

Reni: Oh yeah? Too bad there's no cur--*closeted* )

IC:

The sheer size of this place...It made Serenity nervous...and, oddly, slightly homesick. She shoved those traitorous thoughts out of her head. I can't go back. What would Surge do? They'd accuse him of kidnapping me, which is punishable by death. And no amount of begging, pleading or princess-tantruming -- Which I wouldn't do anyway -- would get them to listen to us... "--Hm?" Her ears perked up.

"However, if recent, mysterious happenings on your native planet hold any interest for you then there is something I believe you should see."

Is she talking about the beacon? The purple hedgehog instantly forgot her previous train of thought as her curiousity piqued. She was soon following their canine host, almost before she knew what she was doing.

TBC

(OOC: Blarg...last sentance is fail. Oh well.)

Raia's attention immediately shifted to Yulan and the computer. "News from Arcadia?" she asked, walking over, dropping her left hand to rest on the hilt of a blade that isn't present out of habit. A slight concerned frown flickered across her features, but was quickly banished. "What's happened?" She was a little annoyed by the thought of the delay refreshments would cause, but perhaps whatever events had occurred on her home world would be enough to distract herself for a little longer.

Everyone seemed to have failed to notice that one particular fox had not gotten on the elevator. The doors had shut as Eve reached them, leaving her staring at them. "Um... Open sesame?" Nothing happened.

Giving up, she wandered to the side of the door, looking for a set of stairs. However, since she hadn't been watching in front of her, she bumped into a table... knocking a vase to the floor. "Ahhhh! No, no, no, noooo!!! Pervy Ash is gonna be so mad... I've got to fix it!" She fit the pieces together expertly, placing each one with it's perfect match. But without glue or tape to hold them together, they fell and broke further. Tears welled up in the woman's eyes. "Oh, no..."