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POSTED ON Dec 29, 2023 9:03:58 GMT

"Rangers have gotten weaker." Howard's voice was muffled by his scarf as Admin and Underboss trekked through a snowdrift that had been displaced by the recent scuffle with the Ranger Corps. His observation wasn't wrong, but it wasn't correct. Seasoned rangers were needed elsewhere, with the war between League and Rocket raging. The people sent to protect and excavate fossils were elders waiting for their retirement package and inexperienced hires so green they bled grass.

Glad that I'm not fighting you, Underboss Quinn."

They also failed to compare to Cillian. Howard had aided, but he had froze up. The heat of battle caused his head to short circuit. Navy's words rung in Howard's ears. You gotta live, Howard. You gotta fight!

Yet the battle on that island had ended, and Rocket had claimed their prize. Those words still applied, but there was no need to rely on the teachings of a man hundreds of miles away when one could fall back on the might of another.

"Here. Found the site." Howard waved Cillian over and pointed at an excavation site, complete with ladders, crates, and other items used in fossil extraction. "I'll check the crates, see what they've dug up."

Cillian Quinn

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the Harbinger

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october 28th

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Dec 31, 2023 22:16:43 GMT

[nospaces]

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"Those guys? Tch. They're bottom-of-the-barrel. Practically fossils themselves."[break][break]

The phantom chains of SHADOW HOLD bind them in place, restricting them from calling for help on their radios. The Pokemon they'd had out for protection lay motionless on the ground — fainted or dead, Cillian doesn't care to check. They're not here for slaughter.[break][break]

The underbosses eyes gleam when Howard mentions his find.[break][break]

He wears no scarf, breath visible in the crisp air and snow crunching beneath his boots as he approaches the excavation site.[break][break]

"Keep an eye out for mega stones or tera crystals, too. Never know what you'll find in Hoenn." He crouches down amidst a half-excavated skeleton, grinning. "Wonder how long this thing's been dead?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]howard slayte

[attr="class","pkmn"][break] 🖤🌸👾 (E) SHADOW LUGIA (G) PRESSURE - RAIN DANCE / THUNDER / HURRICANE / SHADOW STORM / SPRINGTIDE STORM / WHIRLPOOL / ICY WIND / RECOVER

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Admin Fox

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POSTED ON Jan 1, 2024 2:41:36 GMT

"I wouldn't dream of missing them." Howard confessed with a smile, his scarred shut eye opening slightly to reveal the glint of a Key Stone. He often omitted his eyepatch on this excursion, since they were going into battle. "They're quite valuable."

The cold was annoying, though. It caused frayed nerves near the empty eye socket to tingle, twitch, and burn. The mild tingling from the Key Stone itself implied that Mega Stones were, in fact, nearby.

"Our armory could use a few more Mega Stones, and I'm sure that someone will find a use for any Tera Crystals. Otherwise, I know a seller overseas in Kanto. Should sell for a decent chunk of change."

Celpho stepped over the unconscious body of a Lycanroc as it lumbered about, looking for a challenge. It let out a shrill yowl, which Howard pointedly ignored. Prehistoric Pokemon were ferocious, and Howard wasn't a good trainer. Sometimes, he could barely keep a reign in on Shirley and his legion of fossils.

"Hm?" Howard said as he pulled the lid off a crate. Glimmering stones, dusty fossils, and shards of ancient history were packed in straw and gel, ready for transport. Howard turned to the skeleton, and peered at it.

"Is that a Cranidos skull? Should be around a hundred million? Check the horns to date it." It had only taken a glimpse at the skeleton for Howard to make a deduction, which he delivered as casually as Cillian delivered blows.

"You want to pull it out of the rock? Might look nice in your office." The archaeologist jested with a small smile, shuddering slightly. "Could make for a second assistant."

Cillian Quinn

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thorn

the Harbinger

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october 28th

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POSTED ON Jan 1, 2024 4:00:25 GMT

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"I have more than I know what to do with," Cillian confesses as he kneels amidst snow and old bones, brushing ice from an eye socket. "Shadow Pokémon can't mega-evolve. At least, I've never met one that could."
[break][break]

He shrugs. Shadow Pokémon were little understood, even by the self-proclaimed master. No two seemed alike, and so who was to say it was impossible?
[break][break]

"Doubt you'll need a third party for the crystals." Using his cigarette lighter, Cillian melts a small patch of ice. "Those things never sit in the armory long. Partly my fault." His teeth flash. "Reckon Lugia's nearly got them all, now."
[break][break]

Ironically, it unnerves him to be away from her constant PRESSURE. Breath comes too easily, here, and the underboss feels exposed.
[break][break]

"It is, yeah." Cil chuckles. "You're quick. Miss when I was that good." A wistful sigh mists in the air. "Horns on this one are a little small. Must've been a juvenile." Howard's jest is taken seriously, and Cillian easily responds, "No, I don't decorate my office. Might look good in the study, but Arceus knows we've got enough skeletons in our closets already. And in our bedroom. And the lab." He smirks, indicating a jest of his own.

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]howard slayte

[attr="class","pkmn"][break] 🖤🌸👾 (E) SHADOW LUGIA (G) PRESSURE - RAIN DANCE / THUNDER / HURRICANE / SHADOW STORM / SPRINGTIDE STORM / WHIRLPOOL / ICY WIND / RECOVER

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POSTED ON Jan 1, 2024 21:03:44 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

"You just put Rocket and your husband first." Howard blinked, before shrugging modestly. "I've just always put my passion before anything else, including my well being. If you do that, you'll always improve. There is no ceiling to excellency."

That wasn't technically true in most fields, but Howard felt that it was for the field of academics. There were limits to the human body. What it could do, what it could take, and how it could act. There was only so quick that a human could run, but there was always something new to learn.

Archaeology was the same. There was always more past. It was an innumerable resource, as long as there was a present and future.

"I bet you have plenty of skeletons in your closet." Howard chuckled, before shutting up. "Apologies. That came out wrong."

But it hadn't. Besides their shared passion, Howard felt the need to hate this man, just like he hated every person in Rocket. Cillian had killed hundreds of people. Thousands. That was not something to celebrate. As a Rocket Admin, Howard was an accomplice. He was complacent in raiding this excavation site.

Yet he was different from Cillian. From Temp. From the madmen that made up this organization. He had to be. There was an awkward silence as Howard inspected the contents of the crate, before putting the lid back on it. Cillian's call to check it was a good one.

"It's a shame. It'd look nice in a museum." Howard said as he popped off another crate. "Ah, here's the ticket." He waved Cillian over, and gestured towards carefully packed Fish, Drake, Dino, and Bird fossils. Fragments of fossil Pokémon that Galarian archaeologists had brought into the world.

"Tsk." Howard looked at them with irritation, before looking away.

Cillian Quinn

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the Harbinger

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POSTED ON Jan 3, 2024 18:15:26 GMT

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The truth, laid out so plainly, is sobering. Cillian's jovial mood shifts to something more serious as he dips his head in acknowledgement.[break][break]

Rocket always came first. Before himself, before his family, before his passions and his desires. They'd ensured it. Conditioned to be the perfect soldier, Cillian had turned on his own brother in the organization's name.[break][break]

"No, it didn't," he counters Howard firmly. "You're not wrong. I said it first."[break][break]

He doesn't shy away from his crimes, as some in Rocket try to. He doesn't pretend to be anything less than the monster they've created.[break][break]

A huff of laughter rises in his throat at Howard's clear disdain for the Galarian fossils, but it's far less warm than before. The mood has shifted. Still, Cillian says, "They're a disgrace, aren't they? I don't know how anyone thought these should go together."[break][break]

His poor Arctovish couldn't feed itself; it relied upon Cillian for that.[break][break]

Still, the fossils were valuable among collectors, so they were valuable to Rocket.[break][break]

"We'll take them with us. Anything else?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]howard slayte

[attr="class","pkmn"][break] 🖤🌸👾 (E) SHADOW LUGIA (G) PRESSURE - RAIN DANCE / THUNDER / HURRICANE / SHADOW STORM / SPRINGTIDE STORM / WHIRLPOOL / ICY WIND / RECOVER

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Admin Fox

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POSTED ON Jan 5, 2024 9:16:03 GMT

"Fossil wars. It's amazing what people will believe when they think it puts them above other people. Galar wanted to discover new species, so they made four Pokémon out of four different bones. People wanted it to be real, so it was."

In a way, they were similar to Tera Crystals and Interdream Mist, which created illusions out of the immaterial. Fictions that people decided to place faith into. It reminded him of the Megalopolans on Route 119, who had used this mutual delusion to create a ship capable of flying through the sky.

"We'll take every crate." Howard decided, looking up at the sky, then down to another crate. "Old Ambers. Heh. Yeah, we'll take these too. I know a seller in Sinnoh." They had already come this far. There was no need to pick and choose when Rocket simply took what it wanted. Hearts, minds, sanity, soul. There was no need to distinguish when everything belonged to Rocket.

Glory.

Several crates began to float into the sky, a testament to his Claydol's power. They stacked themselves cleanly on the edge of the pit. While Howard had never been good at training Pokemon for combat, he was good at using them for excavations. Crumble had been one of his first Pokémon, and the Claydol maintained its utility even now. It was a wine that grew better with age.

"May I ask a question, Underboss Quinn? Two, actually." Howard frowned and shook his head. "Am I allowed to call you Cillian? Does that get me written up?"

The first question.

Cillian Quinn

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POSTED ON Jan 5, 2024 19:30:50 GMT

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"I know the story well," Cillian affirms. "They try to sweep it under the rug now, of course, since it's come out that these abominations can't care for themselves. But it's a little late for that."[break][break]

In a way, his contempt was hypocritical. How desperate had he been for a breakthrough, to risk his career with unethical after-hours experimentation just to reach that goal quicker than his colleagues? It had cost him everything.[break][break]

It had brought him here.[break][break]

He chuckles at Howard's decision.[break][break]

"True. We'll set the grunts to sorting it."[break][break]

Not their job, not their problem. Some poor bastards would have to sort through chunks of useless rock and broken fossils to separate the diamonds from the rough.[break][break]

"You can," he agrees of the question. "I can't guarantee an answer."[break][break]

But what Howard asks is nothing egregious. Cillian shrugs.[break][break]

"So long as you remember who I am." Underboss. Superior. Threat. "It's not write-ups you need to worry about if you offend me."

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]howard slayte

[attr="class","pkmn"][break] 🖤🌸👾 (E) SHADOW LUGIA (G) PRESSURE - RAIN DANCE / THUNDER / HURRICANE / SHADOW STORM / SPRINGTIDE STORM / WHIRLPOOL / ICY WIND / RECOVER

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Admin Fox

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POSTED ON Jan 7, 2024 6:43:28 GMT

"I'm not concerned about a write-up, unless it's discrediting my academic record. Falling right-down Lugia's gullet is far more threatening." That was the great value of the corrupted artifact. It was a great beast that caused the Rocket grunts to tremble in trepidation. Cillian could also sic it on anyone he didn't like.

Her. He corrected himself.

"I'll handle some of the sorting. I enjoy it. All I do is sort paperwork and make sure we have money for things we need."

He was still a recent promotion, and his experience as a grunt was still fresh in his mind. He remembered trudging through warzones, causing havoc, and working as a cog in the great machine known as Team Rocket. He remembered being a grunt. It had been pleasing to explore ruins and get artifacts and fossils for Rocket. He hardly did that now.

"Second question. Is it lonely, Cillian?" He turned towards the Underboss with a frown. "At the end of this bloody path? At the top of the totem pole? You help run Rocket, yet you're constantly swamped with work. Does it make you happy?"

Cillian Quinn

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the Harbinger

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october 28th

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POSTED ON Jan 8, 2024 13:31:42 GMT

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Cillian's brow arches. "You said it, not me." He wouldn't have mentioned write-ups at all, otherwise. Of far more interest, though, was Howard's apparent fear of being Lugia's next meal. "I don't know where that rumour started, but I haven't fed anyone to Lugia. I think she'd be insulted if I tried." He smirks. "Don't tell anyone, though. It keeps the grunts obedient."[break][break]

In truth, being eaten by the lake-dwelling leviathan might be a kinder fate than facing the office of Cillian Quinn.[break][break]

He shrugs when Howard mentions handling the sorting, indifferent.[break][break]

His eyes narrow, suspicious, when the Admin continues.[break][break]

"Do you do things for the people you care about because they make you happy?" He counters with a question of his own. "Or because you want to see them succeed?" The underboss shakes his head. "My husband makes me happy. I'll be happy when Rocket wins, and I'll do whatever it takes to get them there."

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]howard slayte

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Admin Fox

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Rustboro City

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POSTED ON Jan 8, 2024 20:55:34 GMT

Remiel Calcifet likes this

"No. I don't." The question is answered, and it's answered with an honest tone. The words are grated, given grudgingly. "I do things to further my passion."

"Nobody would hire me when I got my degrees, finished my postgrad, made discoveries that furthered the field of archaeology. Nobody hired me, while Galar's Crown Prince got a job without a hassle. I was faced with a choice: work at a Pokemart for the rest of my life or follow my passion."

Howard gestured around the pit, where half-dug fossils peered at the duo with empty, dull eyes.

"I chose this." Howard stared at the Cranidos skull. "I traded my humanity for this."

His missing eye twitched, the facial nerves frayed. He had those as well. It had all been exchanged for a love of a concept that Howard had never abandoned. Cillian had traded it for Rocket. For Tempest Quinn. His journey had been long, full of scars, but his had reached the happy conclusion.

"Yet I'm here, now. Rocket Admin, feeling like a Grunt." He closed the distance between himself and Cillian by a few steps. "An abnormality. I love people, but I don't need love in turn. I only need to see."

The missing eye twitched again.

"Glory to Rocket?"

Cillian Quinn

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the Harbinger

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october 28th

circhester, galar

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the harbinger

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I want corruption, I think I'm the devil in disguise.

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Jan 11, 2024 23:40:19 GMT

Remiel Calcifet and howard slayte like this

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Passion. How long had it been since Cillian allowed himself to make choices for his own good, rather than the good of Rocket? Too long. Long enough that it's scarcely a memory, a fleeting thought to brush against the back of his mind as Howard speaks.[break][break]

Cillian scoffs at mention of Remiel Calcifet.[break][break]

"Fuck him. Fuck that whole family."[break][break]

There was clearly a history, there, but Cillian doesn't share it readily.[break][break]

Howard draws closer. Cillian remains still, unmoved, folding his arms against the bitter chill brought by the snow.[break][break]

"Was it worth it?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","tag"]howard slayte

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Admin Fox

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POSTED ON Jan 12, 2024 9:26:25 GMT

"You will never know how much I hate that man."

Howard's biggest eccentricity in Rocket was how he cultivated his image in Rocket. Many knew him as the eccentric Rocket Admin who collected fossils and cracked jokes. Few knew him as the man who questioned the organization with a serious aura. Fewer knew him still as the man who lived exclusively for history's tapesty.

Yet there was one secret that Howard never spoke of: his hatred of Remiel Calcifet.

He wanted to hate him. Hell, he needed it. It was a lie that he needed to believe, yet he'd never acknowledge it as a lie.

Was it worth it? The Admin turned to the Underboss. He shrugged, a motion that lacked the energy and excitement of Howard Slayte. In its place was weariness.

"I don't know." Howard frowned. "I'm unsure if that makes it better or worse. What do you think?"

Cillian Quinn

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POSTED ON Jan 16, 2024 11:48:52 GMT

Remiel Calcifet and Elisabeth Fiorelli like this

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"Perhaps not," Cillian agrees, shrugging, "but I share in that hatred."[break][break]

Now, he could justify his pettiness as being 'for the glory of Rocket'. In truth, Cillian had long harbored a grudge against Remiel Calcifet even when he'd still been a part of Rocket, for the sole reason of his last name. It had been an unfair hatred, yet Cillian knew a twisted triumph when Remiel had defected. It felt like justice.[break][break]

He keeps these things to himself.[break][break]

"I think that if you have to think about it, it's worth it." He tosses the remains of his cigarette into the snow, embers dying against the melting flakes. "If you had regrets, they'd be the first thing that came to mind."[break][break]

He'd know. He'd regretted this, once. It felt like someone else's past. Rocket had worn him down until he'd embraced them for good and ill.

[break][break]

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