Forging Ties [GM]

[Delilah A. Black]

Approaching from the South on her dirt bike, Delilah approached the area she knew the Free Experiments to be, from her interactions with Orion. It was unfortunate, but she hadn't seen him in months, close to a year. And it was time to find out about their neighbours to the North.

And, hopefully, forge an alliance.

With her, she brought fresh supplies of food and water...and weapons, in case she would need them. Not for fighting the Experiments, but what she was going to offer.

Something she was better at than even diplomacy.

[Alex Malice]

In the North there would be a border patrol waiting for her, led by a man with slicked back red hair. Simply watching them approach, if they got too close however they would be stopped.

"Turn around now or you will be destroyed."

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah pulled her bike into a slide as she came up to a few people blocking her path. She stopped about seven feet away from the group...eyeing them up for a long moment. Pulling off her helmet, kicking a leg over the seat and pushing down the kick stand in one smooth motion, Delilah stood exactly where her feet had landed her.

Grabbing the bag she brought with her, she tossed it towards them, landing at the feet of the one with red hair. One of the freshly baked rolls fell out, bumping into his boot.

"I am Delilah Black, First of Crows and Hildr of Valkyrie. I am a friend and ally of Orion Smith and many of the first Experiments of Barker, namely the ones that were trapped in the correctional facility. I am no enemy."

She would pause, watching them intently to see how they accepted her words thus far.

[Zack Asiv]

Kamui would look to the food and to two others to check it out and take it away, then back to Delilah.

"I was of the first experiments. You come representing the Crows in an attempt to forge an alliance, then?"

Kamui liked getting to the point.

"I am Kamui Sigismund."

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah nodded with a smile, relaxing somewhat and approaching Kamui slowly. "I do and I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, Kamui-san."

Because it had been a while since she had used honorifics.

"Are you a leader of the people who reside here?"

[Alex Malice]

"One of them."

Kamui would walk forward alone to a normal greeting distance.

"I represent The Immortals. One of the many factions within the Free Experiments. We have done just fine without the help of those who treat us as much an enemy as those who turned us into what we are. Why should we change over a shipment of food?"

[Delilah A. Black]

Ah, they seemed to be democratic; that was good...and bad. While it meant they were fair minded, it also meant that there were more people for her to win over.

Hopefully, she could do it all in one fell swoop.

"Things have changed; Orion had advised that the Free Experiments weren't looking for any outside help, but at that point, the only threat was Barker looking to reclaim what he lost," she stated it as fact; in this world, there were people that saw the Experiments as property rather than people, namely Barker's property.

"Barker is dead, but not by the hand of any of the allied forces; he was killed by a much greater enemy.

"...Do you know of a man named John Strike?"

[Zack Asiv]

"Not personally."

Kamui had heard rumors of Barker's death, but then to him it was just rumors. He'd have to investigate the facts of these statements before believing them outright.

"This John Strike was the one to defeat Barker, then?"

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah nodded gravely, "I'm still piecing together all the details; I wasn't the one to fight him personally at the time. I do know that his body was taken to God territory, but that's it.

"The problem now is that John Strike has the ability to manipulate Qi users with his mind. How the criteria works for that is not known to me; as in, who could be controlled and who couldn't be. But it is tied in with 'masks', which seem to be part of him."

She leveled her gaze at him, firm and serious.

"This could put your entire population in jeopardy. It could enslave against your will."

[Orion]

"Ara ara, boss man, thought fleeing enslavement was the point of breaking away from Barker, no?"

And so out of the shadows would appear the wonderful diplomat himself, casually carrying his trademark weapon that signified his allegiance... and who he was. (Other experiments get boosted!)

"After all, free choice is much more... enticing, then following the commands of some deranged lunatic or a power hungry madman... or dictators in general really."

Orion would calmly set the back end of his halberd on ground and lean on it, observing both Kamui and Delilah. He inclined his head at the latter.

"Ms. Black. It is a pleasure to see you again. My apologies for being... elsewhere. I had things to attend to. So many places, so little time... Regardless, as this is obviously not a social call..."

Orion would shift his eyes over to Kamui, his former light-hearted tone gone as his eyes sported flecks of blood-red.

"Kamui. According to my own sources, what the nice lady has told us is true. She is also not one to lie or break her word, I assure you. This news is quite foreboding for the rest of you, as his abilities seem tailor-made for dealing with the Children... Almost like someone got a hold of him in hopes of reining you back in, no? Regardless, one threat is dead, but a new one has arisen. One that we should probably not attempt to face alone, as it would be tantamount to either suicide or unwilling incorporation. Neither of which are good outcomes."

[Zack Asiv]

Kamui looked to Orion and nodded.

"Very well, if Orion says your word is good enough, and he has confirmed, I wont deny them, but if what you say is true,t hen how do we resist?"

[Delilah A. Black]

Turning her head as a familiar figure moved out of the shadow, Delilah greeted Orion with a warm smile. So he was kicking around here some place! Very nice.

She turned back to Kamui, the smile falling from her face. She closed her eyes for a moment.

"The options are seem to be laid out for us. Either wait and see what happens...or fight fire with fire." She pointed to herself, opening her eyes again. "I am one of the bearer's of the mask. It amplifies my Qi and abilities, and allows me control over whomever John Strike can control...while active. I would show you to prove it, but he...can listen through them. He is part of the mask. I don't wish to put anyone here in harms way. Right now, I'm powerless and so is he, through me at least.

"I, and by extension, Crows, want to be at your disposal. Even without the masks, we are formidable weapons. But this fight now concerns you and your people as much as it does ours now. You can't stay out of the fight any longer."

[Orion]

"Except if we go frontline on this jackass, everyone here short of myself is easy prey, so we can't exactly help you too much ourselves Del. But regardless..."

Orion subtly picked up his weapon and shouldered it. He cast his eyes toward Kamui as he spoke.

"She's got a point. This guy... from what I have heard, he's on a completely different level. This split forces rebellion stuff we've been doing... it's gotta end. Everyone needs to unite. Dragon, Crow, Experiment, God. Otherwise we're in deep shit against this man who has taken the place of Barker after demonstrating why he could. I and anyone who bothers to follow me are going through with this alliance... will anyone besides you listen to me in this matter Kamui?"

[Alex Malice]

"I only lead The Immortals, but my decision to bring them into this may swey other factions. I'd still like to know however what all 'joining forces' entails. I'd rather not chose the lesser of two evils simply for survivals sake."

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah nodded at Orion and then Kamui individually as they spoke up.

"'Joining Forces' at this point, entails an alliance. We could in theory offer you unification, in order to give you the full protection your borders and your non-combatants without involving ourselves in your politics, while still offering our resources and armies...but if that is not agreeable to all or the vast majority of you, an alliance would possibly be a better bet. If you need us, you can call on us.

"And we all do need to unite...at some point. But right now, having at least two or more factions against him is in our best interest, politically. Hard to place the blame when there's more than one group involved. It makes you appear weak when you have more than one enemy united against you by treaties. In this regard, we have the upper hand, for now."

She looked between Kamui and Orion with a faint smile, pleased to know that Orion at least wanted the Alliance. "Unification would protect you most; but an alliance will serve as well. We don't want you to become weapons to be used against your will; we're willing to risk ourselves if you're ever attacked. Beyond that, we can help you build defenses, train your own internal task force, and bring you normalcy. A lot of the Experiment's I've seen have had their humanity stripped from them; I don't know if that's true or not for the Children, or the Immortals...but I've seen what it is to be singled out simply because you have white hair, or different eyes."

Her own son, while not an Experiment, bore these characteristics. Olesya was an Experiment, and she too bore their marks.

"You can't afford to be in the shadows anymore, as I said, whether you attack him outright or not. At some point, you will be brought into it by Strike...to set an example or to tie off loose ends." she finished gravely.