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POSTED ON Mar 29, 2024 9:26:30 GMT

He never thought he'd see this room from within. Now that he had, he wondered if he'd ever see outside it again.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. His fingers dance across the table. Admin Fox is not chained to the table, he was too important to be held so harshly for a simple inquiry. Rocket had respect for those who ranked highly, but it was not an ironclad shield. SILAS BLACKWELL and Boris were proof of that.

He lacked his Pokemon, too. What was given to him by Rocket could be taken away.

Underboss Quinn sat across the table from him. Howard wished his arms had been chained together. That way, he could crush the man's windpipe. Avatars still needed air, even if they didn't need humanity.

There was nothing to do but wait for the underboss to open his mouth.

Cillian Quinn

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Gavin Merlino

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the harbinger

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Mar 29, 2024 15:44:38 GMT

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If intentions alone could kill, the underboss would have ceased to be a long, long time ago.[break][break]

Cillian himself, however, is more than capable of murder. In this room, he holds power. A dragon in its lair, and howard slayte but an underling who'd overstepped a boundary. The room would seem frigid to a native of Hoenn, both in temperature and in decor, nothing but cold metal and an absolute lack of personal effects. And the chair above the drain.[break][break]

That he'd been allowed to sit in a far less threatening, albeit no more comfortable chair was Howard's one sign that Cillian's intentions were not immediately murderous.[break][break]

"The Icelands." His voice is as cold as this room. "Explain."

[break][break]

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

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The Galarian

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POSTED ON Mar 29, 2024 17:18:35 GMT

illeana reyes likes this

"The Icelands?" The admin blinked slowly. He spread his hands. "As you command."

The room was cold, but Howard was used to the cold. Constantly prodding Regice in an attempt to discern its secrets had given the admin a resistance to such freezing temperatures. Occasionally, the frayed nerves around his missing eye socket caused him pain. Was that the pain he felt?

Or was it his heart?

"When Palkia began to rip Kyurem apart, Shred Zeppelin decided to engage with illeana reyes, I followed him into the battle. As the battle continued, Beast Quinn and yourself eventually joined the fight. When Palkia formed an Avatarship with Illeana Reyes, the fight spiraled out of control."

An apt term, 'spiraled out of control'. It missed a few details, though.

Cillian Quinn

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Gavin Merlino

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october 28th

circhester, galar

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the harbinger

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Mar 29, 2024 18:34:46 GMT

[nospaces]

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His eyes narrow at mention of Kyurem. He'd need to ask Shred Zeppelin about that, later... if he survived.[break][break]

But it's howard slayte's final statement that causes the PRESSURE in the room to increase, the great leviathan beyond the submarine feeding off the spike of Cillian's anger.[break][break]

"Spiraled out of control." Lips wrap slow around the word, dissatisfaction threaded through every syllable. "Is that what you call an attempt on another agent's life, Slayte?"[break][break]

Cillian had arrived late to the fight, hadn't seen the HYPER BEAM that left Shred dying in the medical bay. But reports from the field of battle had been interesting, to say the least.

[break][break]

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

[attr="class","pkmn"][break]

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The Galarian

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POSTED ON Mar 30, 2024 18:24:16 GMT

PENELOPE LIVY likes this

The pressure mounted. His eye twitched.

He hated that tic. It was the one chink in his armor. Sometimes, he couldn't control it no more than he could stop the tide. His eyesight had failed him too many times over the years. Depth perception was a thing of the past, something he'd never have again. His eyesight...

...it had betrayed him then, and it had betrayed him with Kyurem. When he needed to look at Shred and Palkia, all he could do was stare into that fiery koi. He saw, and he envied it.

PENELOPE LIVY, that bitch.

"I don't..."

Cillian Quinn

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Gavin Merlino

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october 28th

circhester, galar

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POSTED ON Mar 31, 2024 18:50:40 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","twtgm"]

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Though he notes the twitch, Cillian has no idea the reason behind it. Could be discomfort, irritation, guilt. Could be that the admin got an eyelash in his eye at the most unfortunate moment.[break][break]

howard slayte is a man of words. Times past, he's shared a lot of them.[break][break]

So when he fumbles an answer to Cillian's question, the underboss closes in like a predator that's scented blood.[break][break]

"Don't what, Slayte? Don't have an excuse, this time?" Sharp teeth flash in the clinical lighting of the office. He goes for the kill. "Did you think we wouldn't notice a little friendly fire in the heat of battle? One less Rocket for the world to worry about?"

[break][break]

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The Galarian

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POSTED ON Mar 31, 2024 20:52:53 GMT

"That's it... No, it's not!" Words fumbled and fell, doing more to chain and shackle the admin rather than save him from his dire state. "That's incorrect. That's not true!"

Blood was in the water. Shred's flowed now, and Howard's would soon follow. They'd intermingle as they both passed into the afterlife, both at circumstances beyond their control. There was a chain of mistakes that had led him to this cell, all starting with one invitation to join Rocket.

He should've never laid himself bare to Cillian Quinn. It was a mistake.

"I didn't do it, Quinn. Of all the people in Rocket, you think I'd choose to drop Shred Zeppelin? Him? Do you think I'd fail? You know what Regice can do!"

His voice was incredulous.

Cillian Quinn

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thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

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the harbinger

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creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

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POSTED ON Apr 2, 2024 14:23:15 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","twtgm"]

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Cillian's gaze is cold and withering as he watches Howard flounder.[break][break]

"You may have succeeded yet." His voice is frigid, sharp. "Shred Zeppelin is in critical condition due to a direct hit from Regice's HYPER BEAM, according to my reports. It's somewhat of a miracle we found him breathing at all."[break][break]

Or, more appropriately, a BLESSING.[break][break]

"So yes, I know what Regice can do." Beat. "I know what it did." Beat. "What I want to know, Slayte, is why."[break][break]

Intense PRESSURE brings the walls close.

[break][break]

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

[attr="class","pkmn"][break]

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The Galarian

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POSTED ON Apr 3, 2024 19:49:01 GMT

Knowing Shred, he didn't feel very blessed. He had never felt that way throughout his entire life.

Luckily for him, there was a chance it wouldn't be much longer. He and Howard could fall into the abyss together, brought down by the same set of miserable circumstances. The League would get a massive kick from the deaths of both a Rocket Beast and a Rocket Admin, especially the one that handled logistics.

"I don't..." He swallowed nervously. His lips were chapped and his throat was dry. The Pressure weighing him down made the admin want to bolt away and hide. This was not his element. "I don't know what happened! It had an error!"

Golems did not make errors. If Regice had, this region had lost thousands of years before the real war had begun.

"I was fighting this woman with a giant fish made of fire... It stopped me from moving."

He knew her name. He'd never forget it.

Cillian Quinn

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Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

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the harbinger

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creatures of habit, carrion flowers, growing from repeated crimes.

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POSTED ON Apr 6, 2024 12:28:32 GMT

[nospaces]

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With each word, Howard digs a deeper grave. Cillian's scowl deepens.[break][break]

"Golems are not known to have errors."[break][break]

People were, however. This conversation is only convincing him further of the admin's guilt. The underboss shakes his head as the subject shifts to someone else. Deflection?[break][break]

"Livy?" Reports had suggested that PENELOPE LIVY was the one in possession of the fiery fish. "Did it stop you from speaking, as well?" Derision cuts through his tone. "What does movement have to do with trying to kill your comrade?"

[break][break]

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

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The Galarian

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POSTED ON Apr 6, 2024 18:03:39 GMT

"No, but that's not the point. It's... I wasn't trying to kill him, Quinn."

His voice grew slow. Methodical. He knew of Livy, the councilwoman who oversaw the League's fuck-ups—a conga line without end—but to think that she had possessed great strength in that one Pokémon...

How did that make her different from him? Besides, she had not been the only person of note on that. There had been another. Someone who had ascended to a plane no human had yet to reach, besides a former Rocket now lost to the sands of time.

"I was trying to test her."

Not Penelope Livy.

Cillian Quinn

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thorn

Gavin Merlino

he/him

october 28th

circhester, galar

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the harbinger

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Apr 8, 2024 15:34:54 GMT

[nospaces]

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Howard really needs to put down the shovel.[break][break]

"Reyes?"[break][break]

He can only guess based on context. They'd witnessed the ascension of a new Avatar just before the incident.[break][break]

That doesn't soothe Cillian's fury in the least.[break][break]

"So you thought you'd test an Avatar of the League, their Head Scientist no less, by attacking one of our soldiers? Have you lost your fucking mind?"[break][break]

He curses only on special occasions.

[break][break]

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

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The Galarian

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POSTED ON Apr 8, 2024 21:41:22 GMT

Archaeologists did not put down shovels. It was their job to keep holding them.

"No! You don't even believe that!" The admin found his nerve as he rolled his head in exasperation. He could talk his way into Rocket, he could certainly talk his way out. "Regice fired a Hyper Beam at Reyes and Palkia, but it locked on first."

Annoyed, he gave an audible snort. Howard didn't know why this situation was annoying him. Maybe it was Cillian's cursing, or maybe it was something else.

"You know how I know that? I've done more work on that Pokemon than anyone else here. I know because it is mine." Howard sat back in his chair, visibly stumped. "Something interfered."

After a moment, he realized what annoyed him so.

"He's not a soldier. Say his name. He's dying, give him the honor of remembering his fucking name."

Cillian Quinn

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Gavin Merlino

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Apr 8, 2024 22:00:57 GMT

[nospaces]

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"I used his name earlier, you deaf fool."[break][break]

His full one, in fact. Shred Zeppelin. Cold and calculating as he was, Cillian would not forget one of his own. Especially not on their deathbed. His contact with the man has been minimal, but that didn't matter.[break][break]

"For all that you talk, Slayte, it's taken this long for you to make any goddamn sense. Lead with that, next time. It's not hard." His tone is sharp with derision. "'I was aiming for Reyes; I think something redirected the beam!' If I wasn't waiting to see if Shred," He says the name with force, "recovers from this 'error', to get his view on things, I would've already put you in the ground."[break][break]

There is a ferocity in him not often glimpsed beyond a facade of stoicism. When Rocket is in danger, Cillian is animated. Angry. Protective.[break][break]

"We're all soldiers in Rocket's war. It's an honour, not an insult."[break][break]

They were as good as brothers. Family. But he knew Howard didn't see it that way. He resented his lot in life, for all he'd chosen it.

[break][break]

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The Galarian

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