Extinguishing the Indigo Flame (Sim's Quest)

Everyone got on the bus, or at least most people. They went fast, presumably to outrun cops converging on the scene, and the trip was short. They never stopped, although once they slowed down a little bit and threw Amp out. Apparently he and his fellows came to a difference of opinion, Sim wasn't really concerned with it. Honestly, her opinion of the band was less than flattering.

When they got to the studio, the band loaded everybody onto the plane. The plane was an odd machine. When they first said something about taking a plane, Sim misunderstood it as the power to cross planes of existence. In her world airplanes did not exist, so the word was somewhat foreign to her. She probably wouldn't admit it, but humans are capable of some pretty amazing things. She made sure the seat she took was the near the magus, as she had much to speak with him about. She saw some other fasten their seat belts, and tried to do the same. She ended up only fumbling the device around in her hands, confused as to how it worked.

What the plane lacked in luxury it at least made up in practicality. It was roomy, it was good on fuel, and it was reliable. Mosh stood at the doorway, ushering the passengers aboard the plane. It was a shame Amp had to be let go, especially during such an important mission. But he was being a brat. But by the end of everything Mosh, Thrash, and Audio might be looking for a new band as Bash's drug use was becoming a burden and apparently giving bad notions about the rest of the band. After everyone had been loaded Mosh spotted Sim struggling to buckle herself in. Working his hands underneath hers to wrest control of the belt away, Mosh buckled the young woman in and smiled politely at her. Mosh made his way to the cockpit of the plane and put on a head set before seating himself. "Get ready for take off, boys," was heard clearly over the PA system and from the cockpit on the small plane. He looked back and moved the microphone away from his mouth. "We're headed to Germany."

Sul-Fury the Silent. The man hadn't muttered a word to anyone other than exchanged greetings, yeses and no's, ever since the incident where they fought the Torch Agents. He hadn't approved of the use of lethal force, and wasn't entirely sure that Sim's journey had good intentions. He could be on the wrong side of things. Sim probably did escape, but from what? A security prison or science lab? It might not necessarily be all as truthful as she said. Granted, she was disfigured. These Torch Agents did want her dead, but could quite possibly be for a reason.

She did calm his heart earlier with her soothing words, but whenever men are quiet, they do a lot of thinking. Sul was thinking about the other possibilities of the situation, looking at it from a different angle. He would still do what he promised to do, he would still be there to protect Sim. To an extent. If his suspicions have been confirmed that he was on the wrong side, he may turn the tables. He meant what he said before. Lethal force didn't make them any better than the Torch Operative Agents.

The dropoff of one more of those band members made Sul feel slightly better. He'd rather it just be himself on this mission. Not that he was a loner, but he didn't like the company he was with. Sim was fumbling with the seatbelt, and his eyes glanced over. Whatever prison she was in, she hadn't gotten out much. That much, he did pity her. Mosh reached over to buckle her in, and Sul buckled himself in before Mosh assumed he didn't know how either. The plane prepped for takeoff, and Silent Sul stared out the window.

Thrash pushed open the small door that lead to the cockpit. There two seats in there and Mosh seemed like the only person on the plane that after a long plane flight wouldn't have driven out Thrash's high. "And away we go." he said with a cheeky smile spread across his face as he plopped into the seat next to Mosh. Thrash looked over and flipped a switch on the panel next to him, and the quiet humming of a fan spurred up. "Hope ya don't mind, I doubt the smoke will do much." Thrash said as he lit up a small joint, almost all the smoke went into the vent. "Alright, we are getting ready for take-off guys, make sure you are all buckled, and secured well into your seats." he said as he puffed lightly.

Thrash nodded at Mosh to signify he was ready.

Bash took a seat rudely into the back right corner of the plane. next to the restroom. There were too many passengers for him to get his usual high, but he can handle it. He tapped his foot impatiently. Waiting to get to hit the bathroom for his next fix. He did not even bother with his seat belt.

((Apparently Slam and Ihendros are both out, so I'm gonna fly this plane on my own. So after a couple posts, we're landing and doing this shit.))

Sim felt awkward as the man fastened her harness The takeoff was an extremely odd feeling as well. Sim's heart was beating hard in her chest, and she was thankful when they had straightened out. This was nothing like flying with your wings, there's a lack of control that made Sim uneasy. Then she realized the navigators didn't know where to go. Her first attempt at getting out of her chair was thwarted by the restraint she had forgotten about, which pulled her right back down to her seat. The restraint brought back unpleasant memories, and she started to panic trying to figure out how to take it off. She yanked at it, which with her considerable strength ripped the whole contraption out of the seat. Sim's breathing slowed back down and she looked at what she had done. "Er...oops."

With no time to worry about her latest mistake, she walked into the cockpit and pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. She unfolded it to reveal a map. "You are navigators correct? Do you know how to read this?" She said, pointing at a section of Germany. There was a small red circle in a region that showed nothing but mountainous area. "There should be a place for your aircraft somewhere in this area. This map comes from the Torch itself."

After the plane was on it's way, she came back and sat in a seat beside Sul-Fury. "Sir Sul? Are you still troubled?" She said, looking up at his mineral-like face with her own gem-like eyes.

The dragonlike girl made sure the pilots knew their destination, plotting their course. He could see her directing with a map that she claimed she obtained from the Torch itself. It seemed too conspicuous. How did she escape, and obtain a map before she left? Do they leave them laying around the base? They seemed too organized for that. He had to make sure that he wasn't being used for the wrong reasons. His support could make or break the mission, but he wanted to participate mainly to save the lives of the Torch Agents from this girl and her companions.

Surely enough, she approached him about it and asked if he was still troubled. "Somewhat, yes. I'm not sure where this mission will lead, or the obstacles ahead. I don't know if this is a trap, I don't know a lot of things. I know you appear to be a captured, tormented girl who escaped, but I've also learned appearances can be deceiving.

How do I know you aren't using us for the wrong reasons? How do I know once you obtain your gift that was taken away, you won't abuse it? How do I know that those guys who assaulted us weren't legitimately trying to prevent you from obliterating their base for a reason? Ever since you killed those men back there, It's been weighing on my mind.

To be honest with you, I'm on this mission to make sure I'm on the right side. To make sure you're on the right side. And if you aren't what you say you are, I'll be there to send you right back to where you started."

He felt like he unloaded everything on his mind at once. Quite possibly, shouldn't have. She had no proof other than her scars as to where this was going. This could all just be a revenge mission for mutilating her appearance, and using Sul-Fury to accomplish it. Granted, Sim should have seen all this coming. She basically picked up a few strangers and forced them to work together on a mission purely based on killing others. She might not have calculated the possibility that one of them actually considered himself a Hero, and thrown a monkey wrench into the entire mission.

Whatever her response was, Sul was determined to stay with her. He was going to do as he promised and protect her. But he was also going to see the extent of the Torch operations, to see if they have any other horrific displays as they did to Sim. To see if they really are as evil as she says they are. If they were, he legitimately had a reason to destroy the base of operations.

((I'm not out Viva is.))

Sim stared at Sul, unsure of how to reply. The thought hadn't actually occurred that he might not trust her. Of course though, her innocence and and the Torch's evil wouldn't be as evident through someone else's eyes. The only person she had really dealt with was Alex. she had let Sim into her home and helped with no questions asked. Now she was fighting for her life in a hospital for doing it. What if this was a trap? What if she caused more of the same? Even though that had already pledged to help her, she was the one plotting this course. Why did the lives of those despicable torch men mean so much to this man? If he knew the pain and humiliation...if he knew their evil plots...then he would understand. Alex didn't want any violence at all either, and they shot her in the head. They had to be stopped at any cost! Maybe he wasn't much different than a human. He just didn't understand. ...but Sim still preferred him to the band members.
A new meeting converged in the depths of the Indigo Torch's hidden base. The target, just as Grand Wizard Vester had predicted the target was coming right back. Once again Hartwin stood at attention before Vester. "My man in the air will keep tracking them. When they land, my unit will make their move. We'll capture the target, and eradicate anyone else. No matter what powers they have, their witless style of battle will not save them against me." but Vester raised a hand dismissively. "There is no reason to take a risk of a bunch of supers running around. If you fail and they find the base they might break something before they die. Even though the risk is minimal, I will not afford any risk. Not while important plans are close to fruition. We don't actually need the subject anymore. We only need to make sure no one else gets her." Hartwin was surprised at the change in plans, but he didn't show it. "Very well Sir. I will destroy them while they are still in the air." He placed a fist to his chest and bowed, then exited the room.


Sim realized she had been silent for a long time now. She had been looking at the ground in silent thought, she had to give Sul some kind of reply so he knew he wasn't being ignored. "Sir Sul...I do not have any proof that I am in the right, but at their base you will find proof that those men are in the wrong. That is the most I can offer you." she looked up at him, straight in the eye. "If you decide you want to strike me down, so be it. I believe that you will make the right choice in the end."


Sim had more to say but it was cut short by the plane suddenly shaking violently, tossing Sim from her seat. The lights flickered on and off, until ony the emergency lights were on. There was a lot of cursing from the cockpit, and as Sim got up the plane shook violently once more. Outside, a tiny aircraft barely big enough for one person had come out of cloaking, and was launching small missiles at the plane. Though the missiles were small enough to hold in your hand, the explosions they caused were causing considerable structural damage especially to the wings and engines. It soon became clear that there was no outmaneuvering this unknown foe. Amidst the lurching and falling of the plane, parachutes were handed out and instructions yelled out. One of the band members hurriedly explained how to use the contraption to Sim, and ushered her out of an emergency door. There was no time to spare. Sim was panicked, and unsure of what to do. She heard someone yell someone, and looked over to see Thrash yelling something from near the cockpit. But even as he spoke, an explosion erupted all around him and his words were lost. At that point one of the band members pushed Sim out of the aircraft. As instructions were being yelling out, the strange craft was attaching itself to the plane and drilling a strange bomb into it. Then the craft detached, fell back and disappeared. As Sim was falling through the sky the plane exploded behind her, the entire plane exploded. The middle of the plane was practically evaporated, and what was left of the front and back fell burning through the sky.

Sim fell through the sky, for the moment she had forgotten all about her parachute instructions. She kept trying to catch herself on wings she could feel, but yet they weren't there. Tears flowed, but the rushing air pushed the tears straight up. She screamed loudly, the scream of a young girl. Her scream wasn't any different than a human's. In her mind, she saw ballista bolts flying up through the fire to strike her family and friends down as she fell helplessly through the sky screaming. After a while of falling, she regained enough control to remember what she was told to do. She pulled the parachute cord, and the parachute caught her and jerked her up as it gained control.

Sim being late in activation her parachute meant she hit the ground harder than she should have. she hit the rough rocky ground and tumbled, resulting in a few nicks and bruises. If she was a fragile human, it would have hurt more. She looked around at the rocky landscape, and recognized it as the mountains she escaped from. Looks like they were close to their destination. Or...Sim was. Unfortunately Sim's late parachute also meant she landed before anyone else would. She walked through the narrow pathway carved into the mountain, using her right hand to support her. "N-no..." Sim's mind wasn't filled with much more than panic and a growing sense of despair. "Did I come all this way...just for this? Will everyone in this world die around me? Did I cause all this?" Her voice weakened and wavered through a throat hoarse from screaming. "Sir Sul? Anyone?" She called out weakly as she moved forward. At this point, even the drug addict would be a joyous sight. Anything that meant she wasn't alone again. "I-I won't kill anyone again Sir Sul. So please be okay...please just be around this corner..." She approach a sharp turn in the path, leading to somewhat large clearing. Just as the clearing around the corner was about to come into view she fell to her knees, holding her head in her hands crying silently. She couldn't take looking around that corner and seeing no one there. She couldn't even make herself look.

The plane rocked and their discussion was interrupted. He felt a bit bad for interrogating the girl so harshly, but he couldn't get past the bloodshed he saw earlier. He would make the decision, but he would never kill her. That would defeat the purpose of his whole philosophy. Life wasn't his to take. As the plane rocked more, the danger was increasingly eminent, and Sim unsteadily moved about the plane as it rocked. Sul-Fury unbuckled himself, underestimating the significance of the threat he was in once again, he didn't want Sim to get hurt though. She seemed fragile in comparison to himself.

An explosion ripped throughout the plane and Sul covered his face with his left arm in reflex as the plane was being torn apart from within. The band members were scrambling around to make sure everyone had their parachutes and knew the instructions but were moving incredibly slow in Sul's perception for the plane was like a ticking time bomb. He fastened his parachute as one of the band members pushed Sim out, and one by one jumped out. Sul was trying as hard as he could to be patient and wait in line to leap out behind them. The enemy plane drilled a hole to place a bomb within the plane. It landed inside with a clunk noise and Sul's eyes widened. He raised his foot and kicked the last remaining band member out of the plane and tried to leap out as fast as he could but didn't make it.

The plane's explosion propelled him out of the plane, he could feel the heat on his back as he rocketed out the door. Luckily no large pieces of steel flung his way from the detonation, because a little bit of fire he could take. He grasped onto the parachute strap and yanked it yard to release the safety device. He could hear fluttering behind him as it went up, but his speed remained steady as he declined towards the ground. Looking up, his parachute had sustained several holes from the flames that were still slowly burning on the sheet.

"No!!" Sul shouted. "No no no!" He waved his legs and arms around as if he could force them to fly in a panic. The ground was rushing up to him fast and there was nothing he could do. Though a barren place there was a few dead trees without any leaves below. Sul landed on his back on a few of the branches, snapping them clearly in half on his pursuit to the ground. Suddenly one of the branches snagged onto his parachute and his body jerked, coming to a halt before reaching the ground.

Sul just sat there a minute, letting his heart catch up with him. "Sir Sul?" he heard a faint voice in the distance. Sim had called him that, he knew it had to be her. He spoke out with a booming voice, "Sim! ...I'm uh, over here!" Sul was suspended in the air by ropes like a marionette puppet, but released the backpack letting him fall half-way to the ground, but was suspended still by the tangled mess.

"I'm alive too. No one worry about me." Mosh said, the comment dripping with sarcasm. He found himself pinned to the ground, the remains of a plane wing settled neatly across his chest, a turbine blade lodged into the outer layer of muscle on his left thigh. "Though I might not be for long. Seems I've got a bit of shrapnel in my fucking leg." Mosh tried moving his leg and let out a roar of frustration. "SON OF A BITCH!" His voice was filled with pain. "I might need some help here."

Mosh placed his hands against his fac, covering his eyes. Audio and Bash were stting in the main section of the plane and he had lost sight of Thrash after the both of them had drifted out of the nose of the plane. "Please God, let them be alive." Mosh dragged his hands down his face and rubbed his eyes clear of the slowly building tears with his fingertips. He reached down and felt for Night and Day. Luckily, they both rested in their holsters. Mosh snapped open the clasp holding each gun un place and drew them.

Placing the barrels of both guns on either side of the wing Mosh pulled the triggers and amplified the sounds, rocketing the wing remains into the air, it landing some several hundred yards behind him. "Half the problem solved, but please tell me one of you is a doctor."

Suddenly, Sim heard voices. Was it Sir Sul? and another voice too. Sim gathered her strength and stood up on wobbly legs, inching out into the clearing. Lo and behold, Sir Sul hanging from a tree, and the leader of the band stuck under a piece of the wrecked flying machine. She looked out with tears flowing. "Thank goodness." Thank goodness at least someone is okay, thank goodness she is not alone again.

Sim had a few scrapes and bruises, and a little blood trickled down her face. For the most part she was intact though, just a bit sore and wobbly from dropping out of the sky. She made to help Mosh out of his situation, but he took care of it himself sending the wreckage flying off of him. So she turned to Sul instead. She looked up at him, the image of such a big man hanging from a tree was somewhat comical. She removed both of her gloves, revealing dainty hands ending in claws. She approached the trunk of the tree the big man was hanging from, using her strength and claws to dig in and climb up She made her way over to where the parachute hung on the branch. She wrapped her limbs around the branch, and hung upside down. "This may be...abrupt. You look heavy."

Hanging upside down, her odd-colored hair reaching out to the ground, she took her now free hands. she grabbed the strings leading to Sul with one hand, and set her claws against them just above where she was holding. With a jerk, she sliced through the strings. True to her word, even her Draconion strength didn't allow her to hold onto the extremely heavy man while hanging from a tree. She did succeed in making his landing softer than it would have been though. Which is something.

Sim let go and fell from the tree, righting herself in air and landing on her feet. She dusted the her hands off and looked at the two guardians she had left. "Are you all right Sur Sul?" She walked over to Mosh, examining his injuries. "I am sorry sir. I am not able to heal you. Perhaps perform some basic first aid with what little we have to work with...." Suddenly she stopped, looking around with wide eyes. She dropped to her hands and knees, crawling a short length before standing up. "I know where this is. I've been here. I can get to the Torch base from here."

The young draconian girl approached Sul and leaped up on the tree. He could have given the tangled mess a sharp pull, snapping the branches but it was too late. He didn't want to hurt Sim. As soon as she released the strings he extended all his arms and legs, snapping the ropes while he fell. He landed on one knee when they both landed on the floor, her a bit more graceful than him.

"Thanks Sim. Yes, I'm alright. Caught a lucky break with the tree it seems." Referring to the old dead tree that had grasped the ropes of his parachute enough to catch the heavyweight man, even though he snapped several branches on his journey to the earth's surface. A distant voice could be heard of Mosh, and the two walked over towards him. As Sim spoke to Mosh, Sul scanned the debris surrounding the harsh terrain. He couldn't see any other members of the band or crew in sight. Mosh appeared to have freed himself but was wounded.

He couldn't help himself, but Sul-Fury was somewhat pleased that Mosh was injured and the rest of the crew went missing. But he didn't dare show it. He didn't wish harm upon them, or wish they would die. But he did want his way, without killing the Torch Agents. This way, with just him and Sim, he would be able to influence the situation to his advantage. Regardless if Mosh was able to carry his own weight or not, they wouldn't be able to storm the gates with a 3-man army, slaughtering a path of corpses. With less people they would need to be more discreet, and find an alternate entrance.

Sul-Fury returned his gaze upon Mosh. "Like Sim, I only know basic first aid." He went over to the parachute that had guided Mosh to the ground level before he had been pinned, and tore a piece of the sheet. He handed it to Mosh. "Wrap this firmly around the wound to stop the bleeding. That's the best we can do for now. Should we go on without you, or do you think you can walk? Will you need to be carried?"

Sim tended to Mosh best she could. They didn't have anything good in the way of medical supplies. Sim pulled the shrapnel out, and cleaned the wound the best she could with only her personal water bottle at hand. She applied pressure and made a makeshift bandage out of some pieces of cloth off of Mosh's own clothing. Hopefully it would be enough. "I'll try to get something to help you. Hopefully We can get some medical supplies while we are in the base."

"I am sorry for your injuries Sir Mosh, but I must continue." She stood up, looking around. She definitely knew where she was. "We are less than half of one hour from where I exited the base. I am going. It is clear to me now, I must face my destiny." She looked at Sul's impressive stature. "I walk towards the darkness, towards certain death. I plan...no, not plan. I will claim victory from within doom. Nothing is without reason." That was a core belief of Sim's, yet she had been forced to question it because of her hardships. She questioned nothing no longer though. This was her destiny, to put an end this evil. Even though it seemed impossible...there would be a way. "My ancestors will guide me. I will not accept failure after coming this far. If you wish to take Sir Mosh and help him escape from here to where he can be healed I will consider your oath kept. If you wish to follow me into the heart of evil, then we march now."

With that, there were no more words to say. Steel-eyed, chin up, and walking with a proud posture Sim began walking towards a trail winding upwards.

((I'm here. Had a death in the family. I'll post tomorrow.))