Scene #8162: Monster Hunter Zoids

Owner	Pose
Remee Halcyon	Welcome to Zi. The first thing one sees is the trees. It's hard to miss the trees. The trees are big. Looking at the trees, you'd be hard pressed to see any that don't stretch up to twelve meters tall - as in, twelve meters tall is a minimum, from what can be seen from the coastline. Most of the trees stretch up much higher than that. The second interesting thing about the trees, aside from being at mecha scale, is what they're made out of. They're made out of wood! Well, wood, and metal. Just from a distance, it looks like there's multiple varieties - mostly wooden trees with metal plating, metal tree trunks with leafy tops, and some pykrete-like alloy mix of wood and bits of metal. All of this, at this point, is viewed from a distance. Zi is a warpgate-less continent, and the closest safe warpgate is a good distance away. Remee's chartered a fairly fast yacht, but even then it's a twelve hour overnight trip. (At least everyone gets their own bedroom.) For those making their own non-oceangoing travel arrangements, you're given a low-altitude flight plan if you're flying, or a set of specific coordinates for teleporting in. In all cases, attempts should be made to sync arrival times up, so that the orientation doesn't need to be repeated. The view from the ship, for those taking that route, approaches the destination on a route that nears the coastline and then turns, traveling parallel to it for the last leg of the journey. It's here, for those on the upper decks of the ship, that they can see the aforementioned metal trees. There's a few pairs of binoculars available, for those that want a closer look - as long as all they're doing is looking. "Don't go jumping off the ship, or anything like that - there's a orientation they want us to go through first. Besides, there's-" The water ripples, independent of the wake from the ship's passage. From somewhere on the coast, there's a ground-shaking step, and then another, and then a monster emerges from the treeline. It's a brachiosaur. Anyone with even basic dinosaur lore (or to a lesser extent, early 90's movie lore) can identify it, or at least what shape it is. Most brachiosaur are not made out of metal, though. It's not simply slapping a coat of metal over the brachiosaur shape, either - there's bits of it that are clearly more robotic than animal, including the segmented neck that is moving more like a complicated crane than a biological organ, and what appears to be an engine compartment in its chest. The giant robotic brachiosaur's head goes to track the boat as it passes, but that's all it does - watch. The question of 'could it do more than observe the strangers passing by its territory' is an open one, though - there's what could be either gun turret compartments or simply heat vents along its body in several places. "- Those. The, ah..." Remee snaps her fingers. "Brachios. Or maybe that one's a Grachiosaurus - one of the two, there's a lot of subspecies. A 'zoid', in any case." The zoid remains where it is, and moves back into the metallic forest eventually, once the ship has continued on...
Remee Halcyon	The ship's destination is an extra-giant tree on the coastline, towering above the rest of the forest nearby. Here, there's signs of settlement - a few facilities built around the base of the tree, including a floating dock, as well as a number of platforms and staircases built around the tree's trunk and branches. On approach, the ship's radio buzzes with an identification request, and confirmation codes are exchanged. The incoming ship gets a few idle glances as it comes in, but for the most part everyone here is busy with their own tasks. "Alright, let's see..." says Remee. "There's should be someone from each of the factions somewhere, if you all want to go your own ways, but if not..." She points uphill towards the gigantic tree, and specifically towards the winding system of ramps and platforms leading upwards. "The command center is up there, and you need to talk to the commander before you head out into the wilds. He approves all the missions here and coordinates everything. Just don't try to give him a nickname." "We're not in any sort of rush, though, if you want to look around a bit." There's a loud STOMP from over to the right just as Remee says this, followed by shouting. The source seems to be a giant robotic tortoise, currently held down by several metal chains staked into the ground. "I thought you said you had a handle on the controls!" shouts a black-haired youth. "I said I thought I had a handle on the controls!" says someone who could be his sister, from up on top of the giant turtle. "It's your fault if you trust me enough to get underfoot!" Right about then, the wind shifts - and from the left side of the coastline, it's not your ears but your noses that draw your attention. There's some sort of giant machine - not an animal robot, but an actual machine - that's whirring and sparking and churning and letting out the most appealing scent of meat being cooked. All over the machine, at control panels and gauge readouts and material inputs, there's small cat people - and they're not so much working (together or otherwise) as yelling at each other. "The grill coefficient is at forty-seven percent and falling!" "Damnit, who put in the titan grease - DID ANYONE PUT IN THE TITAN GREASE-" "We're five seconds out from the medium well event horizon, there's no time!" After much more yelling, someone pulls a lever, a cloud of steam blasts from a valve, and a conveyor belt starts - sending a gigantic plate of steak and mashed potatoes over towards an adjacent dining area. The steak looks (and smells) delicious, but the cats look disappointed. Via any direction one might choose to go, they wouldn't get very far before yet another event draws their attention - a monotonal chanting, coming from near the base of the trunk, just past the ramps. There's a group of people in robes, standing in a circle around a workshop bench. One at a time, they step forward, pick up a hammer or a chisel, and strike at the large sword on the bench - only one strike each, before retreating back to their spot in the circle. It seems to be some sort of ritual... ... Though, if they are performing rituals, they seem to be quite effective ones. There's quite a lot of dangerous weaponry lining the walls of the open-air workshop slash temple that they occupy.
Alexis	Alexis may have wanderlust but even she doesn't want to fly for twelve hours. Or make a pokemon fly for that long. And she doesn't have the kind of Water types that could make that sort of trip, so yatch it is. Not like anyone is going to complain about the accomidations. Now as they pulled into dock at the giant tree she stood on the deck, hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "What if your faction is no faction?" she asks sarcastically. It's not really a big deal as she's going to just follow along whoever. She was mainly here out of curiousity, maybe see what it was about this location that allowed the giant mechanical lifeforms to thrive but kept others from setting a major footing. At first most of her attention is drawn to the struggling with large mechanical tortoise. She had familiar dealing with large creatures, so she can sympathize... but the shouting about 'controls' catches her attention. The second shout in response confirms that she did hear that correctly the first time. "These creatures have controls to be operated?" she asks aloud, though not towards anyone in particularly. "Why would wild robotic animals have controls?" It's while she's musing the matter that one of her pokeballs flickers open of it's own accord, a female Meowstic appearing next to her. Who, surprisingly, pays little head to the other cat people and instead hustles over to where she can see the ritual. But after a moment her expression goes flat again. "<Well, that's a let down. I heard a chanting, I had hoped for some summoning of horrors, but this is disappointing.>" the psycat grouses telepathically. Alexis just sighed and rubbed her temple. Both at the telepathic speak which still weirded her out slightly, and at Catalyst being her usual facinated with the morbid. "Please don't make me regret bringing you along."
Stanley Padgett	This is probably the longest Stanley's been away from Lampport, or at least outside his own world. He came prepared, or as prepared as he could be. He's got his sword, and he's got his supply of Shady Energy Drinks and his Medical Supplies. He's also not going to be heading far away from people he knows on this trip. Despite the bluster and the confidence, this is far outside of his wheelhouse. All he knows is that he's getting paid for his help on this trip, and that's suddenly a very major factor in how he's got to live. "Man, I didn't realize smithing was such serious business." Stanley kneels down and then sits as close to one of the smiths as he can, watching the ritual, enraptured.
Ishirou	Ishirou takes the boat with the others, kinda curious about this land of giant metal things, that act like animals. Also, it is a whole area without a warp gate in and of itself was weird! Every world is supposed to get a warp gate, right? So many mysteries for the boy who enjoys putting his nose where it doesn't belong. The first sight of Zi gets his interest. Giant metal trees...giant being the operative word here. Well, not completely metal...some sort of combination of metal and biological. He takes time to try and get scans of the trees, trying to record and figure out how exactly they work. Do they work off photovoltaic cells? Do they run off of photosynthesis? Is it possible to tell how old one of these trees are..? A flying box with arms, floating beside him, makes a sound. Detecting the dinosaur before it broke the tree line, which gets Ishirou's attention. He starts scanning this one, trying to understand how they function. Was it a biological robot? Completely robotic? Some weird biology that wasn't understood? The information he could get! It might spook some people out, but he's engrossed with trying to /learn/. Landing at the port causes Ishirou to look around at what's going on. There is a representative from the Paladins here, so they might have some info from being on the ground for so long...on the other hand, the beast being chained down seemed potentially dangerous. The smell from the chefs also gets his attention...the arms and armor less so. He's curious about their ritual, but he's not /too/ interesting in weapons. He decides to move toward the giant turtle first. It was also a test of what he could do...so he attempts to hack the zoid, trying to turn its emotions down and make it more docile, with what seems like a simple touch. Does it require biohacking or the regular kind?
Kirishima	Among those joining the expedition by sea travel is a ninja, clad in the classically stealthy colors of white and blue with a dramatically flapping scarf as she stands atop one of the highest spots on the yacht. She hasn't been standing there the whole time, thankfully, only appearing there about twenty or thirty minutes prior to things finally happening. Before that, she was nowhere to be seen, although a similarly purple-haired office worker certainly seemed to be enjoying her share of the yacht's amenities and then some. Unrelated person aside, the ninja's eyes dart towards the source of the ship's shaking, and a hand reaches for her weapons instinctively when the metal-infused brachiosaur makes its appears. She doesn't make the first move, though, waiting instead to see if it's hostile or simply a passive observer of the travelers. Her patience is rewarded when it proves to be the latter, and it's a good opportunity for her to take some notes on the creature on the way towards dry land. Upon reaching the settlement, Kirishima joins up with Remee to take stock of the different places being pointed out. The temptation to check out the yelling and shouting from the talking cats is strong, but she forces herself to look away. "It couldn't hurt to get a better lay of the land and its locals before we seek out those grand beasts to subdue. We may be in need of their services if we aren't careful, so better to acquaint ourselves with them now." She concludes before disappearing in a puff of ninja smoke that's far too small to have hidden her escape. A trail of dusty footprints starts appearing from where she stood, each footstep from the invisible ninja leading towards the workshop. There, she observes the strange lineup while revealing herself. Kirishima starts from the doorway, nodding in time with each strike, then starts walking backwards up that wall and towards the ceiling to get all sorts of different angles of what's going on. "How intriguing... These methods seem important to you. Is this how you are able to infuse your spirits into your craft?"
Remee Halcyon	> "What if your faction is no faction?" "Ah - well, I'm sure you're welcome anyway?" says Remee, brightly. "I'm pretty sure nobody is going to shoot you or anything." > "Why would wild robotic animals have controls?" "Yeah, that's the question, innit?" calls the girl from the top of the tortoise. "Not exactly controls, they still move around however they want to, if you don't tame one," says the boy. > Hacking attempt Ishirou gets to test himself against the giant turtle. There's a biological component, but normal old hacking seems to get more mileage... ... Relatively so, anyway. It becomes a question of scale. There's a lot of turtle, and only one of Ishirou, basically. There's a lot of 'hacking HP' bar to eat through, in other words, and if he wants maximum success out in the wild he might want to try interspersing hacking attempts with more conventional means of subjugation (ex: violence). But for calming down an already chained, partially tamed zoid, he manages handily enough. "Hey - looks like it calmed down. I'm going to go try to figure out what went wrong with the controls again," says the girl, disappearing into the turtle's cockpit. "We're trying to work out how to drive these things," says the boy. "You're the elite reinforcements, right?" > Workshop Observation The chanting and the hammering finishes. The sword is apparently complete - and it crackles with electricity as one of the monks picks it up and goes to hang it on the wall. > "How intriguing... These methods seem important to you. Is this how you are able to infuse your spirits into your craft?" "Yes indeed," says the closest monk. "We are the Consanguinity of the Overwhelming Firepower, here at these wild lands to practice our holy rituals." "Also to raise money for the new cathedrarmory," adds another monk. "Might you be venturing out into the wilderness?" asks the first monk, to Kirishima as well as to Stanley.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley perks up. An ELCTRIC sword. Oooh. Actual magic. Thinks the kid who sprouts his soul from himself and gasses people and swords them. "Yeah, actually." Stanly nods back to where Remee is milling about and smiles. "Sort of a first timer hunting these sorts of monsters. Not my first time... monster hunting in general."
Remee Halcyon	Remee gives Stanley a thumbs up. "I see, I see," says the first monk. "If I may, could I see whatever weaponry or gear you'd be bringing along with you into the wilderness, and tell me of any unusual abilities or effects it may have?"
Stanley Padgett	The young man presents his foil and then holds it out... and then draws it back. "Ah, this one is a memory of my mother, please be gentle and careful." He hands it back over again, to let them look. "I'm also uhhhhh." He tries to think a bit. "I'm a spirit caller? I deal mostly in toxins and wind attacks along with the swording."
Ishirou	Ishirou's attempt goes through, but this gives him enough information going forward. It is very similar to breaking in a horse. Several barriers would have to be broken to get access to the core, and then taming would go from there. This will be interesting! Good thing he's been practicing his blade work in Bladecraft Online. "Yeah, I'm Ishirou! From the Paladins..." he clarifies. He runs a hand across the turtle as they reveal they're trying to figure out how the controls work. "Well, I can probably help with that. If you will give me a moment?" Ishirou spends this time trying to engage in the inroads he's made with the turtle, trying to understand its systems and its connection to the controls it has.
Alexis	Taming monsters, Alexis knows. Dealing with them having actual controls, less so. A few pokemon do have machine-like attributes, but these zoids are still something facinating. At the moment Ishirou is better equipt to help with the thing, which he already is. Enough that it looks like the tortoise won't go rampage or anything. "Yeah, something like that. I've got experience in taming things, you could say. Robotic creatures is a bit different though. Still odd they'd already have controls though." Alexis taps a finger along her chin. "Makes one wonder if they evolved like this, or if someone else put them here." An electric sword. And a holy order dedicated to gratuitous firepower? Now Catalyst is a little more interested. Is an electric brand good for fighting machine animals? With how many times she's seen a Rotom overload something, she's going to assume yes. But until her Trainer catchs up to her Catalyst is just sitting here, observing others talk about weapons and rituals, because that's a thing Psychics do. Observe. Especially when you're a species that doesn't have the really weird mindscanning powers that other psionics do, so she's still got to get information the old fashioned way.
Kirishima	The monks introduce themselves, and Kirishima drops from the ceiling intoa practiced landing that looks less like a proper landing with good form and more like she's just taken a single step off the stairs except the stairs are the ceiling. "Kirishima, Paladin representative and leader of the IFAS. Yes, we're here to bolster this region's strength in light of those..." She pauses, then gestures outside with a brief wave of her hand. "'Zoids'? Or would it be 'Zoid' even for several of them?" A pause, and then she joins Stanley in bringing out her own gear for inspection. It's a lot of gear, but all pretty basic-looking stuff: Short swords, knives, kunai, and multiple sickles with long chains attached to them. "How familiar are you with... /Japanese/ swords?" She puts a lot of emphasis on the Japanese part, as though that might actually mean something. She also gives Stanley an approving nod when he speaks of his fencing foil, then turns back to the monks. "Crafted from the most refined steel, folded thousands of times to remove any and all impurities from their metal?" It's a regular modern katana, nowhere near as fancy as Kirishima claims it to be. It's also somewhat beat up, but care has been put into cleaning and sharpening it regularly.
Remee Halcyon	> Stanley + Kirishima The monk takes the foil with both hands, treating it as if it were a priceless fragile artifact. "I see, I see... if you'd like, we'll give it a fresh coat of polish for you... but in any case, I just need to examine it to find an equivalent. If you'll excuse me..." The monk goes to consult with another monk, and after a few minutes they return with Stanley's rapier... and another similar rapier, just one that's considerably larger, and looks like it's made out of zoid bits. The sharp point looks like it came from some sort of giant bee, and the guard is made out of a metal bone shard. Similarly, Kirishima gets his short sword back, along with an oxymoronic giant short sword, with some monster's claw in place of the blade, and a set of kunai that look to be made from some creature's back spikes (all metal, to reiterate). "It isn't mandatory, but would you consider using these instead, and leaving your original weapons in our care? The Monster Hunter operation is primarily a conservation one, and we'd like to minimize the amount of foreign material that might end up in the wild," says the first monk. "Should something happen." > "Yeah, I'm Ishirou! From the Paladins..." "Yeah, we're from the Watch. The commander upstairs is from the Paladins, I think the monks are from some Concord world, and the cats just... sort of showed up?" says the boy. Ishirou gets some results from his investigation... namely, the set of controls they're trying to figure out are for the turtle's circulatory and nervous systems. The turtle is not having a good time with the experimentation, for the same reason you'd not like it much if an alien was randomly increasing and decreasing how much feedback your sense of touch was sending to your brain.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley gets his substitute rapier, and oooooohs. "Okay, i get it. I suppse.... off world ids offworld, but-" He hefts the new rapier and has to shift his balance a little bit differently. It's a difference in length and weight, of course, it's very well balanced though." He takes a few steps back from the table, rolls both his wrists to get some feeling into them, and then plants his feet. Stanley is still standing in place at the forge. Stanley is now entirely across the forge, that rapier a foot deep into a training dummy, as the first Stanley fades into green mist. "....I can work with this."
Ishirou	"Well, that's your problem right there.." Ishirou says, looking up and over the Zoid. "Those controls are to its circulatory and nervous systems. That's the reason it's going out of control. "It's under a lot of distress...so I'd suggest maybe giving it a break before going forward?" he puts out the suggestion, very worried about the state of the Turtle. "As it...all been trial and error with trying to figure out how to control them..?" he asks, clearly a bit more worried about these creatures. "It feels like that's dangerous." "Let's see..." he takes time to try and map out its systems, trying to figure out what would control what, so that they could get an operation going without causing the turtle to die from either overstimulation or a heart attack. Or both at the same time..."
Kirishima	As Kirishima slips her weapons back into their various sheaths, her eyes widen at the sight of the larger substitutes provided by the monks. "What is this...? Ah, this looks like it's made of something like... One of those massive creatures. And this one..." She goes from the giant short sword to the kunai and back again, inspecting each one after the other in rapid succession. She's visibly marveling at the construction, handling the weapons with an almost delicate touch. "Would you truly trust strangers with these? I have no objections, but this is quite the risk you're taking." As she says that, she's already getting her own weapons unsheathed to swap them out for the significantly larger ones, adjusting her stance every now and then to get used to how much larger they are even when she's not wielding them. "I understand your concerns about preventing foreign material from leaching into the ground should the worst happen, though." Despite the mask covering her mouth, it's clear she's smiling confidently at the monks. "I'll gladly use these, although I have no intention of taking these with me into the afterlife." She turns to Stanley afterwards, eyeing his big funky rapier phantom move before nodding in approval. "Shall we, then? The others may be-" One more thing comes to mind, and she turns to the workshop monks once more. "By any chance... Do you also happen to know anyone that carries explosives here? Not that I would need them, as my ninja techniques would more than suffice, but..." She coughs lightly into her hand, trying to sound nonchalant and disinterested. "For our allies."
Alexis	Alexis looks up from her thoughts at Ishirou's analysis. "So what you're saying they've been doing is essentially like a doctor poking at a nerve or muscle to make it respond... No wonder it was getting agitated. I know they're all mechanical, but let's keep in mind that they are also living creatures, robotic or otherwise. Maybe rather than trying to force it to respond, try to find ways to work with the subject." Alexis may not be as familiar with robotics, but she does know a good deal about the working with living, feeling creatures part. She's about to say more, but then winces softly as Catalyst starts telepathically yelling at her again. <They are handing out hunting weapons, you need to get over here nyaow.> Alexis sighs softly as she rubs a temple. Ugh. Psychics don't weird her out like they use to, but still the voice in the head can be as annoying as it is useful for communication. "Excuse me. I need to go check on..." She decides she doesn't want to try and explain the whole psychic cat-monster trained to fight concept right at the moment. "... one of my other companions. Call if you need help, Ishirou." But he probably won't. So Alexis heads over towards the ritual/armory to see what Catalyst is showing a rare fit of excitement over.
Remee Halcyon	> Stanley's Foil There's some light applause from the monks as Stanley demonstrates. "Now, if you happen to acquire zoid parts from out in the wild, you can bring them to us and we will create new weapons for you out of them," says the monk. > "Would you truly trust strangers with these? "To speak with honesty, these are made from some of the more common creatures," says the monk. "And the Monster Hunter commission has already paid for us to provide anyone venturing into the wilds with locally sourced replacements like these. So consider them a bonus for complying with the conservation efforts." "For future weapons, we'll need payment in materials - zoid parts, that is, though if you happen across any other interesting objects during your travels we may be able to work with that too." > Explosives? Several of the monks turn and point towards the cats and their enigmatic machine. > "Has it...all been trial and error with trying to figure out how to control them..?" "We've been careful!" protests the girl. "If we can tell it's in pain, we stop and take a break, but... we do need to catch up," she says. "There's other groups here that have figured this out," explains the boy. "And they probably don't have the same... ethical hangups we have?" The mapping data is appreciated, and the controls are labeled. "Thanks -" says the girl once she's done. "Also, if you want to help some more, any zoid parts you can bring back we can dissect and study." "Though if you do manage to capture one alive we can try to get it tamed and hooked up," adds the boy. > Alexis On Alexis's arrival at the temple/armory, the monks turn to her. "Hello there," says the lead monk. "Can we help you?"
Ishirou	Ishirou waves to Alexis as she wanders towards her pokemon in the temple slash armory. Less so to the obvious statement, she's made about what he just said. He's also slightly distracted trying to learn about a robotic lifeform than paying attention to those around him specifically. Though he can manage a conversation...though he sometimes needs things repeated. Of course, what gets him to snap awake were the words 'less ethical'. "Who and how? Do you know where they are set up?" Ishirou might have a vested interest in the immediate cessation of their activities. Perminately. It might involve throwing them into the ocean without a boat. "I see..." he says rubbing his head about needing parts and live samples. "Well, I can help map things out, and we might be able to get a codex of types together." A pause... "I introduced myself, but I didn't get your names. It seems rude to mentally refer to you as 'boy and girl'."
Kirishima	"That's reassuring, then. Rest assured, though, that we shall take good care of these weapons. Even if they're made from common materials, they're still worth handling properly all the same." With that reassurance made and the intel gained from the monks, Kirishima says her farewells before disappearing in another puff of smoke. Once again, following the mysterious footsteps will eventually lead to her reappearing before the cats and the food machine, observing the strange talking creatures for a while before finally approaching them with a raised hand in greeting. "Hello! I am Kirishima, Paladins representative and leader of the IFAS. I've come after hearing that you may be versed in the ways of the explosives. Ones that may be more... Familiar to the environment?" She's not sure what she's actually supposed to be looking for here, but the workshop monks and the cloud of steam she had seen upon arriving here earlier are her only real clues as to who these cats may be. "Does it involve this.. Titan Grease you spoke of?"
Alexis	When asked if she can be helped Alexis nods her head towards the other Elites already at the ritual armory. "I'm with them." And she pats a hand on Catalyst's ears, careful to not disturb the Meowstic's folded ears. "And this one is with me." Followed by an impressed whistle as she looks over the assortment of gear. No wonder Catalyst was getting excited, being the sort to find the dark humor in such things. "Looks like you've been really busy."
Remee Halcyon	> "Who and how? Do you know where they are set up?" "That'd be a question for the commander," says the boy. "Oh, and I'm Luca, and she's also Luca - it's a long story," says Luca-M. "What - no, it's not a long story, we're the same person from different worlds," says Luca-F. "Yeah but how we ended up together like this is a long story," says Luca-M. > Titan grease and explosives "No the problem isn't that we're out of titan grease, it just ain't getting put in the right spot," says the lead cat, who's been trying and failing to light a cigar, and eventually gives up and crushes it underpaw. "No, boss, she's looking for explosives," says one of the other cats. "Oh, well then, yeah, we can hook you up with some of the prototypes for the tenderizer charges," says the boss cat. "Take 'em off our hands, before they probably go explode on their own in storage. Give us a few to dig them out." "... You know how to cook?" he adds, giving Kirishima an appraising look. > "Looks like you've been really busy." "Always busy. The holy work is never ending," says the first monk.
Ishirou	"Luca...and...Luca..." Ishirou asks, not sure why they have the same name. They seemed very like brother and sister, but... Oh. Different versions of the same person. Rubbing his head he sighs, "That's gotta get confusing," he says with a shrug. "Thank you, I'll come back to help with this once I've visited the Commander." Which is to say, Ishirou will go find the Commander next.
Kirishima	"Right. I'll be hunting Zoids to aid in bringing order to this region with the local expeditions, and I was recommended against leaving traces of outside weaponry and techniques. Thus, seeking out your..." Kirishima raises an eyebrow as she hears something odd. "... 'Tenderizer charges.' Yes, those should do nicely. There's no need to rush, as my companions are still in the middle of making their own preparations." With that all setup, Kirishima's ready to take it easy and watch the cats at work when the boss asks a most dangerous question: '... You know how to cook?' Immediately, her eyes are brimming with confidence as she crosses her arms and adopts that classic ninja pose of standing really high on something with both legs together to look as statuesque as possible (except she's still at ground level). "But of course! Cooking is but one of my many techniques, honed through years as a ninja blending in with the locals back home." She doesn't look like she'd blend it at all in this outfit. She could be blowing the rest out of her ass, too.
Remee Halcyon	> The commander The commander is, as Remee indicated, upwards. It's not a steep climb through the tree, but it is one that circles around three or so times, past various rooms squeezed in wherever there's space between the branches and the metallic foliage. The topmost area is reasonably secluded, though one side is partially open - giving a view across this area of Zi, above the treetops. Most of the space here is taken up by a meeting room, with a small office adjacent. Remee's already here, sitting at the meeting table. There's also a white-haired man, who stands up when Ishirou comes in. "Ah. You'd be Ishirou. Welcome to Treedrasil." "Finding everything to your liking?"
Alexis	<They said they wish to reduce 'contamination' from foreign materials> Catalyst gives Alexis a brief synopsis from her observing. Waves a paw at a wall of weapons. <So these seem to be made from parts of monsters in themselves.> "Yeah, now I get why you took an interest in them." Morbid cat thing. Then again, cat thing. Cats have odd tastes. "Sooooo. I get not want wanting to introduce too much foreign stuff." Alexis looks back to the monks. "What do you do for someone that doesn't really use a weapon per say?" She gestures towards the cat-like psychic. "I typically... Well the easiest explaination is its summoning of a sort. Fight monsters with monsters."
Remee Halcyon	> "Cooking is but one of my many techniques" "Great. Think you can refill the gravyty well for us?" says the boss cat. "Use, um..." "Brown gravy," says one of the support cats. "Sausage gravy," says the other cat. "Just - whatever gravy speaks to you," says the boss cat, waving away the suggestions. "The gravyty readings have been off anyway, maybe a fresh recipe would recalibrate them. Who knows." "... Also, if you're heading off on expeditions, can you bring back whatever parts you find?" he adds. "We're starting to run out."
Kirishima	"Gravyty...?" Kirishima repeats slowly, thankful for her mask's presence in hiding the grin on her face. "O-of course. A simple matter!" As she lies through her teeth, she claps her hands together as she heads over to the indicated machine, then peers at the sauces available to her. They did mention a fresh recipe, so... Mixing a few of them together still counts as long as it's still brown, right? A little bit of the sausage gravy, the brownest gravy she can find, some choice crispy bits that might just be leftover scrapings from a pan, and a little barbecue sauce for that extra touch of lighter brown. "This should be rather fresh, if I don't say so myself. Ah.. And yes, certainly! We're sure to encounter plenty of strange beasts and machines on our travels, and I doubt we'd be able to make use of everything we find. Are there any particular parts you're looking for, or will whatever I can get my hands on be fine?"
Remee Halcyon	> "I typically... Well the easiest explaination is its summoning of a sort. Fight monsters with monsters." "I see, I see... extradimensional storage devices, perhaps? We could provide locally sourced replacements for the storage, but... that might not give you much an edge in combat." "I'd suggest, perhaps, speaking to the cats. They're doing some... experimentation with food. Perhaps a good solid meal would help motivate your warriors."
Remee Halcyon	> "Are there any particular parts you're looking for, or will whatever I can get my hands on be fine?" "Eventually we'll need some specific parts to work on some specific upgrades for the machine, and if you want to go looking for those specific ones I'll get a list together, but right now we really just need anything and everything we can get," says Boss Cat. One of the cats points out the 'gravyty well' on the machine. It's some sort of funnel that doesn't seem to have an output valve, and also appears to be bigger on the inside than the outside. "Just pour it right in there - be careful not to poke your fingers into it."
Alexis	"Yeah. We'll just be careful to not leave anything behind that might cause issues. But the chance to study the ecology of such unusual lifeforms was too good to pass up." Catalyst does perk at the mention of food. "<Oh, do they cook with monster remains? Do they know how to make blood pudding? With actual blood?>" Alexis sighs. "You're proving their suggestion, but do you have to be creepy about it?" Gives a shake of her head. "We'll go see what these cats want. Com'n Catalyst." Cats that apparently use some kind of contraption for cooking. "... I think that explains the smell ealier." "<Smells like something died inside. Lovely isn't it.>" "Oh now you're trying to be weird on purpose." "<Maybe.>"
Kirishima	"That works jsut as well. We can work on the more detailed list down the line once my compatriots and I have a better idea of where to find..." Kirishima gestures vaguely around. "Anything and everything that would be helpful for your machines. Until then, I'll make sure to bring back as much as I can manage!" With that settled, it's time to pour her unholy mixture into the gravyty well. After making sure it's properly stirred and evenly mixed up, Kirishima shows no hesitation in pouring it all into the funnel. To her credit, her technique is actually pretty good, as she's got a steady hand and enough height to just reach it easily. Whether her brown/sausage gravy with scrapings, barbecue sauce, and other miscellaneous findings actually help rather than destroy things is another matter entirely. She looks confident about the upcoming results, at least!
Ishirou	Ishirou waves to Remee as he finally gets to the top of the stairs, taking his time walking in because he was enjoying the view. "Yeah, I'm Ishirou," he acknowledges. "Oh, It's pretty neat! I already got some time to interact with a Zoid, I was helping Luca...and Luca.." he says.
Remee Halcyon	The cats fire up their machine again with the gravyty well filled up. "Alright here we go - the side dish flanges are holding steady..." "Detenderization at 80% and holding!" "Mise en place drive is online..." Alexis arrives just as the machine vents more steam, and a large plate of mouthwatering biscuits and gravy come down the conveyor belt towards the dining area. (None of the gravy resembles what Kirishima put into the machine.) "Now that's more like it!" yells the boss cat.
Remee Halcyon	Remee waves back to Ishirou. "It's not bad, as expedition camps go," she says. "So - I expect you'll have some questions, but I'll start at the top..." says the commander. He goes over to a map of ~~australia~~ Zi. "Some time ago, two local powers, the Hellenic Republic and the Guylos Empire, started feuding. While this was of general concern to the Commonwealth in terms of keeping the peace, we have no formal relations with either group. What did get more attention was when both groups started using zoids in their fighting, at about roughly the same time." "That is when, through various means, we found that they had discovered this continent, Zi, and had camps..." He points at markers in the northeast and northwest parts of Zi. "Here, and here. Capturing and exporting zoids to be used as weapons of war." "The primary goal of this coalition that we've established here, Monster Hunter, is to drive the Guylos Empire and the Hellenic Republic out of Zi, thus cutting off their supply of zoids and also thus cutting off the escalation of their conflict. We've managed to get members of the Watch and Concord on board with our efforts - a scorched earth giant mecha war being in nobody's best interests." "Questions so far?"
Alexis	That probably shouldn't even be possible, yet there is food being cranked out to feed the camp. "Okay, that's different. And i've seen a lot in my time. Enough to not bother asking how it did that." Alexis puts her hands back in her pockets. "So I'll stick to that we told you guys need help finding stuff for your work."
Ishirou	Ishirou listens, getting a head of what was going on, and the importance and reason that the expedition had come to Zi. "So this must be what was meant by 'less than ethical' groups operating on the island," Ishirou says, tone growing a bit direr. "So basically, they couldn't just be happy with killing each other, they had to force recruit wildlife into dying too?" Ishirou looks disgusted. "What do we know about the forces and bases they have on the island so far? Or is that our job to uncover first?"
Kirishima	Kirishima almost looks disappointed that the gravy on the biscuits doesn't look like what she put in. It's only an almost, at least, as she instead eyes the dish itself. "So food that goes into the gravyty well turns into something else entirely, although it still bears some kind of resemblance to what went in..." Testing her theory, Kirishima leans in to sniff the biscuits and gravy. She has to resist the urge to just start chowing down as she tries to identify the smell of barbecue sauce or whatever those burnt scrapings were, and then she looks over at Alexis moments later with a dramatic sweep of her hand. "Apathy will not serve you well, madam. Holy rituals such as these as well as those of the Consanguinity of the Overwhelming Firepower may not be so easily understood, but an adventurous spirit will carry you forward where understanding and knowledge fail!" And then she turns right back to the boss cat. "... So who is this for, anyway? Is it a byproduct, or is it the main product?"
Remee Halcyon	"We have some preliminary data on their camps, but we don't have a complete outlook yet," says the commander. "Partially because..." "... Right now, we're at a disadvantage. Of sorts. Both other groups have had some time to dig in, learn the lay of the land, and research. Personally, I'd like to try to catch up at least a little bit before we move to open conflict. And that also means we're trying to operate under the radar." "As far as our intel can determine, neither group knows that we're here, let alone what we're planning on doing." "You and whatever other elites arrived with you are our strongest assets at the moment. If you think we should undertake a different strategy, we'll discuss options, but my preference is to lie low until we advance a bit further as far as our scouting, research, and fortification efforts go."
Ishirou	"Hmm. That seems reasonable, actually. Rushing in blindly would do more than put the expedition at risk...we'd give up our only advantages right now. I imagine building up would let us deal with them on an even footing, but eventually, they might find us first if we grow too big.." he muses. "On the other hand, we should also try and focus on learning as much about the Zoids as we can...I can help on that front. As for fortifications, I'm less about that. We also do have Kirishima here, who is an expert Ninja...so she might have ideas about stealthy approaches." "When I get back to the mainland I can get information out to the wider Paladin network about what's going on. I am sure many would have interest in what's going on, as well as stopping warmongers." Also, people that abuse AI for their own selfish needs. "Is there anything I can try to request from the Paladins right now?" he asks, trying to also ascertain a list of needs for the camp.
Remee Halcyon	It appears to be traditional biscuits and gravy, without a hint of barbeque sauce. (And yet, if Kirishima checks, the gravyty well levels have gone down a tiny bit.) "It's the main product. We're keeping the camp fed - and fed better than the prepacked rations we get shipped in," says Boss Cat. "And advancing the field of mad food science in the process." "Picture it," says Boss Cat, waving at the air. "Have you ever had beef... that's fresher than fresh? As in, picture the process of beef aging, losing its freshness, and rewind that - to the point where it came off the cow, and then keep going in that direction. I don't mean turn it into veal, or make it back into a living cow, or whatever. I mean -" He gestures vaguely at the air. "Beef that's... negative days old. The opposite of stale, not just the absence of it. Fresher than fresh." "We think it's possible. There's a lot of weird machines here. Just need to find, you know, the right parts." He goes to get another cigar out, and proceeds to fail to light it.
Kirishima	After checking the gravyty well just to make sure her contribution mattered (it did!), she turns back to the Boss Cat to learn the ways of the food machine. She closes her eyes as she visualizes the image he's painting in her mind, of grand food experiments and of grander flavor sensations, slowly nodding with each sentence as she tries to comprehend it as best she can. Surprisingly, it's quite a lot. "Beef that tastes like it didn't even need to be cut before being eaten, but belonged within our mouths the entire time...!" Now she's getting into it. The ninja inhales deeply despite her mask being a clear impediment to looking like she's doing anything, and then she reopens her eyes. "I'll do what I can to make this dream a reality. I only hope I can meet your expectations so that we can explore this new world together." She replies with all the seriousness of someone about to go on a suicide mission. Noticing his trouble with the cigar, she moves her hands through a series of quick handseals, then blows out a quick puff of flame from the front of her mask right to the end of his cigar. "You have my word as a ninja, and as a leader."
Remee Halcyon	"We could use some more tools," says the commander. "Some more scrolls, too, and other arcana. We have a group of... monks, who are handling a lot of our armament needs, so keeping them supplied is a priority." "Now... before we discuss scouting missions, I do have another mission for you and the elites that have come with you," says the commander. "Consider it a learning opportunity. There's been an ecosystem imbalance, possibly as a result of activities taking place up north, and we need a little bit of population correction." "So - a hunt?" says Remee, sitting up. "If you'd like to call it that," says the commander. "There's a deathpion - sort of a scorpion - that's moved into a nearby area. Remove it from the population by whatever means you see fit." "Just the deathpion," he adds. "While we'll benefit from taking it out, we're not here to exploit these lands, nor should we start doing so. We'll only take what we need, and do so as sustainably as possible. Is that understood?"
Alexis	"So you're looking for parts. What doesn't matter so much as it being strange and unusual, eh?" That sounds like mad science to Alexis. One would hazard a guess that 'mad food science' is similar. "We bring you stuff and you can figure out what you can do with it."
Ishirou	Ishirou nods once, he'll have to see if anyone with magic might be able to help, but the raw supplies should be easy enough to come by with some effort. The tools are easy enough, "I'll need a manifest on what tools you'll need, but we can get that later." "Understood, just the Deathpion. Is it able to be captured, or would it be too wild for what facilities you have right now?" Ishirou considers something, "What do we know about Deathpions? Any information about their abilities would be useful.." Though Remee's excitement for a 'hunt' isn't as infectious to Ishirou, he is excited to learn about the Zoids. "And yeah, it's understood. It'd sort of run counter to the goal of the expedition to just be as worse as the other two camps."
Remee Halcyon	"If you can capture it, go ahead, just keep in mind taking it alive will likely be harder than taking it apart," says the commander. "We've fought one before, early on - it's got claws, machine guns, a tail cannon, and smoke bomb launchers."