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Cirno     Anyone who needs a ride is welcome to hop on the Freezing Reign, Cirno's starship, or to simply follow it. A good portion of the trip is in-atmosphere, which requires Cirno to actually maintain the engines, since she works as the cooling system. It might be surprising, given the raw firepower of the vessel, that the ship's crew and AI announce a landing /outside/ the objective zone then.

    Cirno is there to explain shortly after. "Hi! I wasn't sure what we were expecting, but apparently there's a radio beacon warning that it's restricted airspace. I thought about pushing ahead, but..." She's in the Frost Queen, her 'mecha' right now, and it helpfully displays some images. Various war machines and giant robots, outside a walled area, all wrecked and stripped of parts. "Apparently they've been pretty effective! That wreckage is pretty new! And so are the walls, by the way. I tried Concord announcements but these people, whomever they are, don't recognize the Concord as a faction with authority. Sooo..."

    She gestures toward the walled area in the distance. It's more like a walled 'small country' than a walled city, but the gates appear to be open. "I'm going to take the Azure Wing, and I think we should investigate before we roll over them. Mostly because they might have neat stuff we could break if we force our way in."

    Apparently they WILL allow some weapons in, should anyone approach and ask, but a full war machine like the Frost Queen is likely to raise eyebrows. Of more interest is that the walled city's gates announces it as the 'Birthplace of the New Union.'

    This could get complicated.
Kazusa Ujikane     It's entirely plausible that Kazusa spends most of her time on the bridge of the Freezing Reign, quietly chuckling to herself while her imagination runs wild over the fact she's on a starship. "Nehehe. Nehehehehehe."

    Okay so that's exactly what happens. Cirno probably has her jumping out of her skin when she's told to disembark.

    But at least she's paying attention! ...mostly. Her eyes keep darting to the Frost Queen. "...right, so, uh... we're trying to figure out what's going on here, right?" she asks as they approach. They're calling themselves the 'New Union' after all, and that was striking enough that even Kazusa is curious to investigate!
Tesla Armadia Once she's got her feet on the ground outside the transports Tesla takes a look around, a faint grimace pursing her expression. None of the machines clustered outside the walls were functional, and probably for the better. The technopath would rather not have to listen to agonized sounds of half-function constructs left to rot.

"New Union, huh?" A snort follows as she adjusts her labcoat. "Sounds like they're already getting a little too big for their britches."
Laer     This is particularly going to be awkward for Laer, who'll take the lift from Cirno naturally. She doesn't want to do anything but the bare minimum of actual work. She's not overly armed, but a potential complication if they do have very many of the Union's old files is that she was pretty prominent as an enemy of the old Union.

    She'll thus leave behind her weapons on the ship, instead coming with just her instruments. "Okay. Let's see what these idiots think they're doing, and why would anyone want to start a new Union anyway? Wasn't the old one enough trouble?"
Haguro A certain skittish boat ghost is riding along on Cirno's starship, pacing around when possible and practically glued to a screen or window to watch the outside when not. After hearing reports about active research outposts in old Union territory, she's offered her assistance as a former member and..

     Well! Here she is now. Not that she's all that talkative just yet, though, nervous as she is about retreading old ground. Thankfully, the ice fairy is there to explain things, and she listens intently while preparing her weaponry (guns, cannons, shells) and armor just in case things go south.

     "I.. Agree. They might be willing to listen or even join us if we show that we're not going to..." Haguro trails off, squinting a bit at as the city announces itself as the 'New Union'. She's seen some great things come out of the Union even during her short time with the former entity. Not great as in good, but great as in big, both good and... Misguided.

     "... Resort to the old methods." She's skeptical, to say the least.
Melissa     Well, doing the 'investigation' thing sure made things less pleasant for Melissa. A soldier and commander understands the need for intel, but as a Juicer she prefers to just go in and smash stuff. So she usually has other people do that! Now she has to... do intel. And without her power armor or mecha.

    Well, whatever. In a suit of explorers armor from her world, and a Coalition laser rifle, Melissa looks much like the mercenary she claims to be now. Carrying her helmet at the side rather than wearing it is a symbolic gesture of saying she isn't here to start trouble, though she certainly gives the place a skeptical eye. "Eh, I've worked with the old Union a few times. As long as they don't gun us down for most of us being former Confederacy, we might as well take a look around." What, reasonableness from the Juicer?

    "I'd like to see what wrecked that stuff and see about wrestling it." That's more like it.
Lin Lin's struggling to hold in her excitement. NEW PLACES TO SEE?! That's pretty awesome on its own, 'new Union' or not. The redhead tosses her ponytail over her shoulder on arrival, but doesn't voice any concerns like Tesla's.

    It's one thing to call yourself such... but she's waiting to see the symbol that she always associated with the Union.

    "I was with the Union too." Lin makes note. "... Impressive resources, lots of interesting people... whole thing was... I never figured out what they really wanted out of life."
Priscilla     Sadly, Priscilla does not have a spaceship, or an airship, or a fighter craft, or motorbike, or flying mount, or even a jetpack, like all the cool Elites do. She gets to tool around on a bridge built by someone whose size is to humans as humans are to her, and be thankful this works out at all. Her pride twitches a little bit when Cirno insists upon not rolling them over yet, after such a stiff rebuke of the Concord's superiority, but seeing the size of the place, and the surroundings, she doesn't particularly fault Cirno for not wanting to lose her ship. It might be worth a campaign later, who knows.

    Scratch that: definitely. Any place claiming to be the Union all over again is straight up asking for another giant war on their doorstep (and they seem to have been getting it alright). "Resort to the old methods? Lady Haguro, I believeth that is what these people hath built their very identity around."

    The opposite of Laer in two ways, Priscilla had /been in/ the Union for quite a long time, and yet was kind of poorly documented, so she has her own reasons as well. "The old one was quite enough trouble if thou were either opposite of it, or ill-included from within. It is easier to tint one's own memories from a middle distance, thus I imagine them associates, or low within the ranks at best. At the very least, uninvolved, but envious of its power."

    Priscilla has no issue approaching the gates obviously. She's the First of the goddamn Concord, she'll impose her way in so that everyone knows it. She also comes 'unarmed'. That is to say, 'haha, my non-natural weapons are invisible you jerks'.
Kazusa Ujikane     Somehow, Kazusa has only just managed to notice Priscilla is here.

    "-oh? Ooooh?! Priscilla~!"

    The head of state is the recipient of a greeting more befitting an old friend. Sadly, her size is such that she cannot be glomped around the waist. The leg will have to do. "Aaah, it's been ages, it's been ages~! I heard you were really doing well for yourself but I didn't have a chance to catch up! Oh my gosh, you're like in charge of a whole country now, and you're all ageless and regal and it sounds so /cool/...!"
Cirno     Cirno shrugs, but doesn't comment on the discussion about the Union. Her reasons for joining the Confederacy over the Union were private and complex. She's more interested in scanning the whole place as much as she can. "Just stick together and see what we can see, I guess." Stick together? Wouldn't it be faster to split apart? Well, she has reasons.

    The 'guards' at the gate seem very... lax? They're friendly even! Offering a wave and all, though one of them, and officer, does speak up. "Don't cause trouble and you're welcome here. I see a few faces from the old databases, so just don't hold a grudge and it'll be fine." Awfully confident, aren't they?

    The more tech-oriented of the group, uncluding Cirno herself, though she won't say anything yet, may notice that the rifles and sidearms the guards have are... very new, and kind of bulky. The tech is extremely odd.

    But past the walls the nearby 'city' is more like a border town. There are several cities within the walls, but the entry point appears to be what one would expect. Lots of trade depots and the like are set up, though from the look of things they're mostly natural resources. A fledgling tourist industry has sprung up as well, but it's obvious that this place is still getting established. The architecture is a mix of old 1950's style buildings, and some weird newer architecture that looks like a hodgepodge of cultures. The only strange thing is the sleek, almost featureless gleaming steel tower that rises at least a hundred stories toward the edge of town, with struts along the top floors that are apparently docks for various air vehicles. Cirno probably could have docked her starship here if she weren't so leery about the whole Union thing.
Tesla Armadia Tesla Armadia adjusts her glasses with one hand. She's probably a familiar face in this crowd. "Yes, let us leave the past in the past." At least for the time being, until they know more about what is actually going on here.

Then folds her hands behind her back and saunters through the gates like this was just a typical sunday stroll of some sort. Though does raise an eyebrow a bit at the scene on the other side. "Interesting." Whatever this group may be calling themselves, they seem to have made quite a spot for themselves.
Laer     Laer, who has held some grudges long after the other person involved was dead, will wave cheerily at the guards. "Is that so..? That's nice. It's a nice enough place you have here." Her general understanding of tech is non-existant, though, so she won't really notice that the weapons are kind of out of place. The architecture, though, will catch her eyes.

    "I feel like the city designer here was either about to be put to death and wanted preemptive revenge, or should be put to death." She'll state, glancing between the sleek tower and the 1950sesque buildings. That will probably reassure the guards, if any of them happen to overhear her. "At the least they could have used some paint or something to make it less of an eyesore."
Haguro Right. The Concord /is/ made up of all types, isn't it? Haguro's not going to let old allegiances bother her too much, though, considering that she joined the Concord specifically not to get saddled down by things like that. Unfortunately, as Priscilla points out, others aren't quite so ready to let go of that. "Well... M-maybe they've learned something between now and then."

     She sounds like she's trying too hard to convince herself of that. At least there's a moment of brevity at Kazusa's rather fond greeting of the large one, and then it's time to get to work.

     Haguro follows the group out of the ship and right to the gates, glancing around curiously while being careful to keep her movements controlled and steady. She keeps her shoulder and wrist cannons pointed downwards as low as they can go, trying not to look like a threat and even smiling and bowing politely to the guards in greeting. The sights surrounding them aren't too worrying, although the rising tower does get a long look from the ship girl.

     "Is that supposed to be... A new Njorun?" That'd be too obvious. Airships flying in and out would make that such an easy target. "Or just a... Large dock? It's quite busy up there."
Priscilla     Oh yes, Priscilla is not going to be short (hahaHAhaha) for these peoples' convenience. She is not here to be convenient to them. She is here to do the exact opposite of be convenient. This means it takes a moment for her to notice Kazusa latching on to her leg, and then a slow, quizzical look down to really comprehend it.

    "Yes, it hast been . . . quite some time, I supposeth. I believeth I hath. There is no sense in the absurd false modesty required to state otherwise. It is for this reason that thou made contract as well, though, no? To do well for thineself as well, beyond the limitations of what the old, only choice wouldst hath allowed thee?" Truthfully, Priscilla has a tough time imagining Kazusa's ambitions being more than 'be super cool and awesome and get really really popular', but that's fine. Those are legit reasons.

    Ironically, holding a grudge is something she really could have gone without, until someone decided that she wasn't important enough. Albeit, that's less of a grudge, and more of a pressing need to issue a correction. She can't help but look at the tower either way. "Either way, it couldst hardly be any less subtle." she responds to Haguro. "Lady Cirno, what information hast thou to the precise nature or location of what we art to seek? The area encompassed by these walls is tremendous."
Kazusa Ujikane     "...heeh?" Priscilla gets the most quizzical of looks. "...I'm not really worried about any of that," Kazusa replies, head tilted. "I just wanna help folks out and go on adventures. 's all I ever cared about, really. The fact they pay the bills is just a really nice bonus." She does release Priscilla's leg, though... and after a pause, adds, "...did you have a new dressmaker? Your dress seems fluffier than it used to be."

    Wait what? Oh! Business. Business is important. "O-oh, right, the place is... yeah, we should probably... yeah. Where should we head first? I can keep in touch if you want us to split up." She might be just a little distracted. The 1950s aesthetic is pretty slick in and of itself! "I think it looks kind of cool," she says to Laer, perhaps a touch defensive.
Melissa     Huh. "It is kind of... messy," Melissa agrees, though she's far from into the architecture and style hobby. Fingering her own rifle, she eyes the weapons curiously, but she isn't a techhead... just familiar with a LOT of different kinds of weapons, so they do draw the eye. "They seem pretty laid back for being a tiny remnant."

    That... actually worries her. Are they just STUPIDLY overconfident, or do they know something she doesn't? Mel shrugs, "Anyway. Yeah, let's see what's going on there."
Lin This... has Lin looking back and forth at things. Docks, air vehicles... steel towers? Her face is unmoved. She seems... unimpressed by what she's seen so far. Her lips contort with dismay once or twice...

    And at one point, the Solar sighs.

    "I really liked that tree," She mumbles to herself.
Cirno     Given that Kazusa isn't in on everything, Cirno is very careful about what she says. Besides, the 'New Union' might be listening. "I don't know what they were working on, but the 'base' is further inward yeah. That tower is just... new. I guess they thought they could reestablish the Union? I mean... when you look at it from that way it's pretty impressive, carving out a little something this fast. What we're looking for is probably about... thirty kilometers inward. Past that tower. WOnder if they have a bus or something! There are no buses in Gensokyo."

    Where did that come from?

    One of the people nearby is helpful enough though. "The tower offers air service. It's the internal transport network." The man gestures to it in an attempt to be casual, but it's obvious to most that he's very proud of it. In the same way a townie might be proud of a local landmark or house of a famous person.
Tesla Armadia Tesla Armadia glances in the indicated direction. Tilts her head a little to the side, more at the manner the man presents the option than the option itself. Then again, if they've scrounged this together as quickly as it seems, why wouldn't they be proud. "Well then, sounds like we have our means of transit. It'll be like touring the city along the way."
Laer     "I guess. There's probably someone backing it in some way." Laer will mention, before hmming at Kazusa. "Aah. It's good of you to tell me that. Those with no taste should really wear signs, warning others, but a verbal warning will do for now."

    "I guess using local transit's probably more polite than trying to open a portal up in this place. We'll save that for the part where they come after us with pitchforks and torches. How far is thirty kilometers in a normal measurement, like leagues, or hands?" She'll ask Cirno, having decided that it must be pretty far mostly on the basis of needing a bus.
Priscilla     Internal air transport. Bluh bluh. Why does Priscilla have to get out of the cool (hah) starship, come down to ground, and then go to an airport to hop into another aircraft and fly around their way? This sucks. Clearly someone got shafted on the racial package when they didn't get giant doofy bat wings to fly around on (probably for the best, Seath's wings are weird).

    Priscilla practices the trained maneuver of not looking at the guy at all, walking on as if he is beneath her notice. She has to take it a little slow, though, at risk of leaving the tinier people behind. "Then if we art to arriveth at a transportation network, what is thine reasoning for remaining all together, Lady Cirno? I am not immediately swayed by lackadaisical subjects, and at this point, am only left to imagine what methods there art in place, for dissuading the unwanted visitor to this database they so boldly claim to hath disseminated."

    Still, it doesn't look like they have a huge amount of choice. Priscilla will stay the route until they actually get there. Then, she'll be preoccupying herself with working out what the actual routes are, flagging down any maps or timetables she can find, and looking to see what number of them cross close to Cirno's stated direction. She also looks for which routes don't touch down in, or at least briefly stop outside of, other cities within the walls, and ones that seem unnecessarily wide or roundabout.
Melissa     Melissa looks at the tower, then shrugs and starts toward it. "Guess that's as good a spot as any... oh hey." While they have someone's attention, she thinks to ask, "That reminds me. looks like there was a big mess outside recently. DOes that happen... a lot? I mean you guys look like you can defend yourself, which is great and all. For you anyway. Not so great for mercs like me, huh?"

    Looks like PRis is handling checking out the timetables, so she doesn't bother to do that.
Haguro "If they don't cause any trouble for their neighbors, then I could see this place working out as a trading hub of sorts. Even if it is... Erm. M-messy, yes." Haguro replies with a slow nod towards Melissa, starting to move again after not too long. She gives Lin a light pat on the shoulder when she sighs, ven smiling for a moment before sbowing her head apologetically.

     "Ah... I-I'm sorry. I just... The tree really was nice. Something like that..." Her gaze goes back to the tower, and she frowns after a few more moments. "... That can't replace Njorun even if it is impressive." Perhaps not aesthetically appealing and more of an eyesore, but... Impressive's an appropriate word for it.

     The mention of an air service does have Haguro raising an eyebrow towards her companions. "Really? Ah... Shall we, then? It might be easier than trying to just walk all the way over there, and we can see more of this place at once from the sky. And..." She pauses, mulling over the distance again once Laer brings it back up as well as Priscilla's possible suggestion of splitting up.

     "We won't be as tired once we're there."
Cirno     The transport timetable is... complicated? There ARE bus routes, but around the city only. Not a lot of vehicles on the road, strangely. Actually SEEING a bus is weird though... it looks like a sleek and futuristic thing that hovers along on what appear to by magical disks, floating about a foot off the ground. The tower isn't so far off that walking can't fix it though.

    Ther eIS a route toward the central area, though. It leaves twice a day... and it's some time before the next trip. Darn. It doesn't look like it's an airship though, but something called 'Locale Specific Quasi-Warp' or something. There's also a once a day airship to the central city, but it also notes that access requires a permit for either.

    Melissa gets an answer, "It's happened three times now, but we have a pretty solid defense force. I wouldn't worry about it. The sort of stuff we field is way superior to anything they've thrown at us. Can't really say more." He shrugs, but that's reasonable. Even if a civilian knew, he wouldn't talk about the nature of the weaponry with a stranger. The attacking force was... pretty well-equipped though.

    Cirno hovers alongside and glances at everyone. "I guess we could split up," she agrees reluctantly. "But I don't like this. I don't recognize a lot of this technology, it's all... weird." She doesn't mention what happened at North Star, but Kazusa, who wasn't there, gets a quick look as if to see what the 'ignorant' one in the group would think about all this.

    "Thirty kilometers isn't that far," Cirno admits. "We could grab a bus and be there in under thirty minutes if there weren't any stops along the way." She hasn't been looking at the timetable to know there's some level of security there.
Kazusa Ujikane     Kazusa blinks, as eyes turn to her. "E-eh? Um..." She scratches the back of her head, frowning a little - feels like she's being put on the spot, just a bit! Not knowing there's another event everyone was privy to, her automatic assumption is- "W-well, I mean, yeah, I was in the old Union, but... there was weird technology and crazy magic all over the place. Never knew what I'd see on a given day. I... I kinda liked that," she adds, lowering her head slightly. "If there's something different about this compared to anything we used to have, I wouldn't really know."
Laer     "Well. What the hells does a 'quasi-warp' mean?" Laer will ask, as she looks over the timetables. "Either you warp or you don't." She's kind of an expert on that sort of thing, at the least. "I guess we could try flying. Do you think they'd try to shoot us down? That sounds like a really exhausting walk otherwise." And Laer's past the point of her life where she did things like take exhausting walks before potential fights. She prefers to arrive in style.

    "We'd need a permit to take the maybe-warp, anyways. They probably give those out at the place we'd be trying to warp to, if they're maintaining the honorable bureaucratic traditions of the previous Union." Laer says, as though she'd really had to deal with that.
Haguro So much for the airship route. Or... Whatever this quasi-warp thing is supposed to be. Haguro furrows her brow at the remaining timetables, although her attention shifts fairly quickly once Cirno speaks up once more. Taking note of that reluctance, the boat spirit makes a brief noise of concern.

    "Ah.. W-we don't have to split up, though. If we stick together, then... We can still keep our eyes open in different directions! And it might make the security less.. Er. Wary if we're all together as a group of tourists instead of running about and poking around alone."

     A pause as Laer speaks, and then Haguro nods while checking the streets and the timetable to see if there's a bus due to or already coming by. "If that is the case... Taking the bus or flying there ourselves really might be our best option."
Melissa     Frowns. Melissa is not liking all this. But... for other reasons. "I'm all for yoloing into the middle of this place, but something is bothering me. Like, they're way too casual about all this. And if security is tighter in the middle..."

    She looks at Cirno. "I vote we grab a bus or something and swing by just to look. Starting with more intel would be better. These guys could be powerful allies but..." She trails off. Priscilla is the First and likely gets what she's saying.
Tesla Armadia Tesla Armadia snorts softly. "Then I guess we are left to our own accords... and I get a similar impression, Cirno." She pauses, then hffs softly again instead of saying something out loud, considering they do have people from outside their own operation here. Or locals that could overhear, and might find it threatening considering what happened the last time she poked around in unfamiliar tech in a new city. "There are a few notible styles, but I have never seen them algamated together in such a way as this city's arrangement."
Lin "I... don't like the sound of a quasi-warp. Would just as soon run the whole way..." Lin makes a rather squeamish face. The more she's hearing about this place, the less comfortable she is. Not that Njorun didn't have some odd-as-hell things but...

    Of course not everyone here can just DO that. She ends up nodding a few times Melissa's way though. "You said it. This is too... it doesn't feel right. Something's bothering me. Feels too depressing here to be the Union...."
Priscilla     Well that's disappointing. It's also telling, and that's as much what Priscilla had hoped to find as something useful. It's a pain to actually leave these cities, more or less by design, and a double pain to get to where they're keeping this fragment that has to do with the North Star database. That tells Priscilla volumes about what to expect when they get there already.

    "Well agreed that transportation wouldst be in order, however, we shalt need means to swiftly be rid of it, with ample time to accomplish our tasks before it is noticed. I doubt most sincerely that we shalt simply be left to drive right up to its gates. I may yet spend some of mine time here, to examine what lies ahead, as long as is safely sustainable." She looks to Tesla. "I do, however, second the question. What is so unusual about this land's machinery, save that it is of such disparate periods?"
Cirno     Well, getting a car would allow anyone to drive to the central city... in theory. Cirno is getting info on that while the others take a good look. "Uh..." There is apparently a problem. "Yeah, security is the problem. I got some images, and I think we might want to go back and rethink how we approach this."

    Why? Because the given image shows the 'gates' to the central city. That being a domelike force field, patrolled by what looks like... the upper bodies of mecha or Warstriders, somehow floating without thrusters. Various other defenses are about, but the 'river' beside the city is of the greatest concern.

    Namely, that although there is a bridge over it, the river appears to be a silvery, sluggishly 'flowing' crack in reality.
Haguro "Returning already? Even though we're out here...? Ah! N-not that I'm criticizing you or any..." Fighting that urge to apologize, Haguro instead clams up and looks visibly distraught as she moves over to check out the image that Cirno's providing. Her expression softens a moment later, then grows more worried as it all starts to get processed in the boat ghost's head.

     It's not the heavy war equipment that's worrying her (although there's definitely a lot of it). It's not the force field protecting the city, either (although the fact they have such defenses could also be a problem if things came down to fighting). No, it's that crack in reality that has Haguro looking considerably more squeamish.

     "How...? Did they just not notice that there? Everyone in here could be in danger if..." She trails off, keeping her voice low while trying not to crowd around Cirno too much. "... Y-yes, we should figure out a more concrete plan for next time. This is... Troubling."

     Understatements are good for reining in emotion, right? It's certainly helping to keep her from freaking out, at least.
Priscilla     Priscilla leans over the image. This throws a considerable shadow over everyone. The security is probably important, and will be examined later, possibly in person, but the other aspect is both much more concerning, and much more interesting.

    "This is much like the strange, white realm into which thou didst venture forth before, yes?" She directly asks Cirno. "If so, I cannot imagine this to be coincidence. Either the fragments of the old Union art reappearing wherever these aberrations art found, or else . . ." Priscilla frowns, ever so very faintly. "This is something that wouldst best not be ridden into straight ahead, yes."
Laer     Laer will blink at the image. "...What, they're just going to try and live around something like that? Better them than me." Because Sigil had certainly had no potential hazards, but then Laer had moved out of there.

    "Mm. Well, we might at least want to come up with a way to get in without a fight. It would make investigating a lot tricker if we had all of those on our backs the whole time." She'll admit, with a shrug. "Hopefully what we're here for won't fall out of existance in the meantime."
Tesla Armadia Tesla Armadia nods her head a bit in agreement with Priscilla after looking at the images. "We will have to make an actual investigation of this rather than a simple, ah, scouting visit." She glances around for a moment, then back to the group. "To ensure we can aquire what we're looking for," she continues in a lower tone, "without upsetting... those." Though she wouldn't mind getting as look at the legless robots, but preferably not in a way that results in them shooting at her in the process. That tends to make examinations... difficult.