Vientown - 25/8/14

-The Auric Avenger is silent for a long time as he mulls over his decision.-

The Auric Avenger: (PEFE has Aura Jamming countermeasures? And they've been keeping that technology to themselves? That makes sense, given that they're hoarders of the worst kind... but this still seems fishy to me. Is the artifact these guys are after really that powerful? If so, what reason do I have to hand it over to them? I could easily pull this heist on my own and keep what I take for myself... or I could give them what they want in exchange for some extra muscle in the fight against Neo-Galactic. Either way, I win, and Titan loses. Plus, this is an opportunity to show PEFE's leadership that what happened in Orre won't go unpunished... and I get some sweet loot into the bargain.)

-Eventually, he nods slowly.-

The Auric Avenger: ...Alright. I'll do it.

Airship - 26/8/14

Titan: I am simply preparing for all eventualities. I have no intention of dying if it is in my power to prevent such a fate, but I acknowledge that it is a possibility, and an increasingly likely one at that. The possibility that others may lay down their lives to ensure that mine is preserved, however, disturbs me most of all. I am not a man worth dying for.

Airship - 26/8/14

Titan: I am all too aware that I cannot stand alone. Crewe has already offered to assist me by making others more aware of the situation within Neo-Galactic, and should I require direct intervention I assure you that I will contact you as soon as I am able. Until then, I will remain here and do whatever I can to ensure both my own safety and the safety of those that Neo-Galactic may target.

Airship - 26/8/14

-There is silence for several moments before Titan replies, a tone of weary resignation in his voice.-

Titan: ...I see. Then following Crewe's advice and attempting to go into hiding would have been a futile endeavour even if the idea itself did not seem like the lowest form of cowardice to me.

-He sighs.-

Titan: There is no sense in disciplining you for your complicity in this act now, I suppose, not least because I no longer possess the power to do so. If anything, I should commend you, as Neo-Galactic will not be truly destroyed until all of those who would seek to revive it have been rooted out and eliminated.

Airship - 26/8/14

Titan: If you so desire. At the least, it is a means of tracking Neo-Galactic's membership should circumstances arise that render me unable to convey such information. Is that all you wished to discuss?

Vientown - 25/8/14

-A small frown forms on the Auric Avenger's face.-

The Auric Avenger: A large group is going to attract a lot more attention than a lone infiltrator. Besides, I work faster on my own.

Airship - 26/8/14

Titan: Let us hope.

-The line goes dead.-

Vientown - 25/8/14

-The Auric Avenger shakes his head.-

The Auric Avenger: None here. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I'm a professional. Or a semi-trained quasi-professional, at any rate. I'll be in and out within the hour. Just be ready to pick me up once I've overstayed my welcome.

-He turns and leaps off of the edge of the roof, disappearing into the night.-

Old Man: Finally! I thought that kid would never clear off...

PEFE Summerland Branch, Ground Floor - 27/8/14

-Somewhere inside the vast expanse of corridors, offices and laboratories that is PEFE's centre of operations in Fiore, two uniformed security guards are standing watch near the buiding's entrance, a ventilation shaft on the wall behind them.-

Security Guard 1: Say, did you see last night's-

Security Guard A: Ssssh. No talking whilst on duty. You never know when we might be ambushed by the dreaded ninja-moles.

Security Guard 1: ...Dreaded ninja what-now?

Security Guard A: Haven't you heard? They've been all over the news recently! You never see them coming until it's too late... but I'm not gonna let them get the better of me, no sir. I'm ready for them. With my mole-repelling rock in my hands and a prayer on my lips, I'll hunt down every last one of the little-

-The vent shaft behind them suddenly produces a loud clanging noise.-

Security Guard 1: You hear that? They're in here with us!

Security Guard A: I don't think that's-

Security Guard 1: As private security contractors, it is our sacred duty to hold the line against the mole invasion! For honour! For glory! FOR FIORE!

-He tears the vent cover off of the wall and goes crawling into the shaft. The other guard follows behind, mostly out of fear that his colleague might injure himself more than anything. After a moment, a head with two Lucario ears on top of it pokes out of a nearby storage crate and glances around.-

The Auric Avenger: ...Coast's clear, guys.

-He clambers out of the crate, accompanied by a Zoroark and a Golbat.-

The Auric Avenger: Dear Arceus, this place is huge... looks like getting inside was the easy part. At least Shrike's doing a pretty good job of distracting the guards. You see any cameras nearby, Fulgrim?

Fulgrim: <Of course I do. Are you honestly incapable of spotting them yourself?>

The Auric Avenger: Sometimes it's good to get a second opinion. Throw up an illusion - that'll fool the cameras until we can shut them down.

-Fulgrim nods and creates an illusory haze that conceals the three from view. They make their way down the sterile white corridors, passing by the occasional employee and rooms filled with rows upon rows of beeping monitoring equipment.-

The Auric Avenger: There's no way that they can possibly use this much office space...

Researcher: Hey, who said that?

The Auric Avenger: Gah! Uh... nobody?

Researcher: Oh, okay.

-Eventually, the Avenger and his mons come to a "Security Office" sign with a door on either side of it.-

The Auric Avenger: Alright, this looks like the place...

-Slowly, he pushes the door open... only to come face-to-face with a Pignite on a toilet.-

The Auric Avenger: ...Okay, not the place. That's a restroom. Lesson learned.

-He quickly closes the door and slips into the next room. Inside, another guard is sat in front of the camera feeds with a laptop on his desk, fast asleep - though to the man's credit, he wasn't fast asleep until the Avenger stuck a dart full of Sleep Powder into his arm.-

The Auric Avenger: Sorry about this, buddy. Look at it this way - the guy in charge of this organisation would've just slit your throat and mailed your severed head to your widow.

-He turns his attention to the guard's laptop, typing in a couple of commands.-

The Auric Avenger: Hmm... damn, they've got this place locked down tight. If I bounce my signal through a proxy server, I might just be able to bypass the firewall and access the administrator commands before the system can trace me-

Kaylee: <Or you could use the main console that's still logged on and sitting right next to you.>

The Auric Avenger: ...Or I could do that, yes.

-Turning to the central computer, he pulls a device resembling a USB key off of his belt and inserts it into the console before inputing a few more lines of code. Instantly, every monitor and camera feed in the room flickers and dies.-

Kaylee: <What was that?>

The Auric Avenger: A little virus of my own design. Nothing particularly nasty - certainly not destructive enough to destroy a system this advanced - but it should gum up their systems for the next few days and wipe a few important files. A lot of lab techs are going to end up doing a lot of overtime, and whilst they're busy sorting that out... that's when we work our magic.

-He stands up.-

The Auric Avenger: Let's get moving. It's not gonna take long for them to realise that their state-of-the-art security system's just gone dark.

-Kaylee looks vaguely uneasy, but says nothing as the Auric Avenger sidles out of the room, still shrouded by Fulgrim's illusion. He starts making his way back down the corridors at a rapid pace, keeping an eye out for a way down to the lower levels. After a couple of minutes spent searching, he sees a sign pointing him in the direction of the elevators, and rounds a corner to get there... only to bump straight into a security guard's Arcanine and get knocked on his ass.-

The Auric Avenger: Oof! My fault, wasn't looking where I was going...

-The collision causes Fulgrim's illusion to fade, but by the time the guards have recovered from the shock of hearing a not-so-disembodied voice, the Avenger and his Pokemon have already darted into the nearest elevator just as the doors begin to close.-

The Auric Avenger: Phew... really dodged a bullet there...

???: ...Are you going somewhere?

-Resisting his immediate urge to leap onto the ceiling in surprise, the Auric Avenger turns around slowly, only to find that he is sharing the elevator with a young female research assistant.-

The Auric Avenger: Oh, um... yeah, I am. Sublevel 26. There's, erm... there's a costume party down in the Aura Labs. That's why I'm, uh...

-He gestures down at himself, prompting a nod from the researcher.-

Researcher: Ah, I see. I was about to ask why you were... well...

The Auric Avenger: Yeah... it must look pretty weird, mustn't it?

-He chuckles nervously. An awkward pause lasting several seconds follows, broken only by the elevator music and the occasional light cough from one of the occupants.-

Technician: ...Looks pretty uncomfortable, if you ask me.

The Auric Avenger: You'd be surprised, actually. Though it does have a tendency to, uh, ride up a bit...

-The researcher nods knowingly. Just then, the elevator arrives at sublevel 26 with a "ping" and the door slides open, causing the Avenger to breathe a sigh of relief.-

The Auric Avenger: Anyway it's been nice talking to you hope to see you around the office sometime but I really do have to go now bye!

-He dashes out of the elevator and into the seemingly deserted Aura Laboratory. As he gets deeper into the building, his Aura Sense starts to fluctuate periodically, its strength surging and fading at irregular intervals and making the face under the Avenger's mask to turn a light shade of green.-

The Auric Avenger: Ugh, this place is starting to nauseate me...

Fulgrim: <Consider yourself lucky that your nose isn't sensitive enough to detect the stench of human chemicals.>

Kaylee: <Uh... I'm pretty sure that's just the air fresheners, actually.>

-It doesn't take long for the group to reach a large door with a sign above it reading "CANCELER TESTING LABS: AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY". Some kind of scanning device sits next to the door, keeping out anybody who didn't read the sign.-

The Auric Avenger: Hrm... a retinal scanner, if I'm not mistaken. I suppose I should've expected something like this... but how to get past it...?

Half-an-hour later...

-Despite the aid of a fake eyeball made out of modelling clay, several heavy shoulder blows to the door, and no less than three separate unconscious employees, the Auric Avenger is still no closer to getting the door open.-

The Auric Avenger: ...You know what, door, I'm getting sick of your attitude. Open up right now, or I'm going to have my colleague here Hyper Beam you into next week.

Kaylee: <...Are you seriously trying to intimidate an inanimate object?>

The Auric Avenger: Just roll with it, okay?

-The door still stubbornly refuses to open.-

The Auric Avenger: Grr... just work, dammit!

-He slams his fist against the wall, leaning his head against the scanner. To his great surprise, a red light begins to flash and the door slides open.-

Computer: Authorised personnel detected. Access: Granted.

The Auric Avenger: ...Wait, what? How am I-

Computer: Administrator's Comment: You and Crewe can thank me for this later~ Yours, Basket

-The Auric Avenger blinks, temporarily confused, then realisation dawns on his face.-

The Auric Avenger: Oh, now I see. Basket must've added me to the clearance list back when Crewe and I were still toying around with the idea of joining PEFE. That's convenient...

-He takes a second to think about things.-

The Auric Avenger: ...And might've just ruined the whole heist, since now they know that this is the handiwork of one Lucius Cain. Shit, I've gotta get out of here fast...

Two-and-a-half minutes and one elevator ride later...

-With the Aura Jammer Canceler now stowed away on his utility belt, the Auric Avenger arrives at sublevel 28, having managed to avoid sharing the elevator with any PEFE employees this time around.-

Fulgrim: <Finally, we're here. Now to grab what we came here for and get out of->

The Auric Avenger: Wait!

-He holds up his hand, pointing at one of the security cameras on the walls.-

The Auric Avenger: The cameras on this level are still working. Either they've managed to reboot the system, or they're running on a closed grid down here. I don't want to rely on an illusion again after what happened upstairs... we're going to need some other way of sneaking past...

-After a moment spent searching the area for inspiration, he spies an upside-down cardboard box and hides beneath it.-

The Auric Avenger: Perfect.

-Hidden beneath such a masterful disguise, the Avenger is able to slip past both cameras and guards alike until he finally comes to a heavy blast door made of thick steel.-

The Auric Avenger: This looks like the place... work your magic, Fulgrim.

Fulgrim: <If it means that we can get out of here sooner, then gladly.>

-He starts using Flamethrower to melt through the door. The process is agonisingly slow, and more than once the Avenger glances around nervously in search of pursuers, but as security is concentrated upstairs - where they know something's been stolen - they remain undisturbed throughout. Once there is a scorched hole in the massive door, the Auric Avenger wastes no time in squeezing himself through it.-

The Auric Avenger: C'mon, you guys, hurry up and get through here! We've wasted enough time in this place already...

-A moment's discomfort ensues as the Avenger, Fulgrim and Kaylee all try to fit through the tiny opening at the same time. They emerge into a large, empty chamber, lit only by the light of several glowing Aura sabers. As they enter, a loud hissing noise sounds and a cryogenic vat rises out of the floor in the centre of the room. At first, only smoke can be glimpsed within it, but as the smoke fades a pedestal soon becomes visibly within the vat. Atop the pedestal is a circuitboard made of gold and amber with irregular edges. The Auric Avenger blinks.-

The Auric Avenger: ...That's it? That's the Gaim Rahn?

Kaylee: <Well, I don't see anything else in here...>

Fulgrim: <Just grab it and go, will you?>

The Auric Avenger: Give me a moment. This seems way too easy...

-He thinks for a moment, then pulls an empty gas grenade off of his belt and slides a hastily-written note inside of it. Clutching the lump of metal in his hand, he edges towards the pedestal until he's within arm's reach... then in one quick motion, he snatches the Gaim Rahn off of the pedestal and replaces it with the hollow grenade. Silence reigns.-

The Auric Avenger: Yes! I knew that would do it! If it worked for Indiana Jones, it'll work for me!

-As if to taunt the Avenger, every alarm in the facility blares into life at once.-

The Auric Avenger: ...Aaaaand I just remembered that this didn't work for Indy either. Dammit, why isn't anything going right for me today?

-He quickly pulls the Canceler off of his belt and starts pulling it apart, tearing out the signal-processing module and trying to splice it into his walkie-talkie.-

The Auric Avenger: C'mon, I need to get out of here... those bastards better not have been lying to me...

Pueltown Outskirts - 27/8/14

-A brown-haired girl with a sword on her belt approaches the cloaked figure from behind, an eyebrow half-raised as she announces herself.-

Lillianna: ...Are you waiting for somebody, or is this simply a common pastime of yours?

Pueltown Outskirts - 27/8/14

-Lillianna scowls disdainfully.-

Lillianna: Meditation will not help me to hone my skill with the sword or avert the bleak future I hail from. I have far more use for practical combat training than I do for spirituality and superstition.

??? - 27/8/14

-The Auric Avenger is far too absorbed by his new surroundings to answer or even pay much attention to Ton and Sol's questions.-

The Auric Avenger: ...Where are we?

Pueltown Outskirts - 27/8/14

-Lillianna's eyebrow raises again, semi-curiously.-

Lillianna: What reason do I have to take your word as truth? You declare yourself a priest and a self-proclaimed man of peace - both professions that necessitate no skill in combat, and in many situations actively contradict martial ability.