Knowing Is Half The Battle: Rogue squad attempts Blue Seed Quest (24/09/2403)

Paco, Yasmin, Reign and Nikki D made their way over to the location of the three Itamis who were in need of assistance in putting a stop to Seiryu’s assaults. The Rogues formally introduced themselves and the Itamis did likewise. The introduction to Reign would be unnecessary since they would recognise his Clan origin immediately, much to their displeasure. Paco attempted to smooth things over by mentioning that one of their teammates is the Itami Prince, Roun Itami. This was met with brief pause before the Itamis recalled who he was talking about.

“Ah, you are referring to the new Terran born Prince.” Arisu Itami responded, emphasising the word Terran.

The fact that Roun was a Rogue had little impact upon them for they were rather unfamiliar with the new Prince and his Terran upbringing would inspire little confidence. However he was still their Prince and as such his actual presence would have made a greater impact upon them.

Paco would then mention Reign’s role in the tentative peace talks between the Itamis and Titans and how Prince Roun was also involved. Unfortunately, the general Itami public was not aware of these aspirations of peace. Further they simply did not care. Arisu, the self appointed spokesperson for the group did not hesitate to express her animosity towards all Titans and none of the trio would even address Reign directly, instead speaking as if he was not even there. Eventually they would hesitantly accept Reign’s assistance but made it clear they did not trust him and would hold Paco personally responsible for the Titan’s actions.

Having gotten that out of way Paco would inquire as to exactly what the Itamis were doing and what was the function of the Matagamas. Another of the trio, Shoji, explained that the Matagamas enabled the user to be boosted by Seiryu’s coded effects instead of being damaged by them, thus allowing one to move through the surges. Shoji would also reveal that the Matagamas become more effective the closer one is to Seiryu. However they have not been able to break the critical threshold which would allow them to get close enough to the Demi God for the effects of the Matagamas to be greater than the power of his surges. They just end up burning out their stamina and get no further.

As to exactly how the Matagamas achieved their effects, none of the Itamis would reveal this unless the Rogues successfully aided them in their goal, however they would be allowed to utilise them for the task at hand. This brought Paco’s questions to exactly how they planned to stop Seiryu. All three Itamis seemed reluctant to reveal this and it was clear part of that reluctance was due to the presence of Reign. The trio would briefly discuss amongst themselves whether to tell the Rogues. Eventually Arisu would reveal that they possessed the means to disable the Demi God’s surge ability. However this means was sure to draw Seiryu’s attention and they had to get close enough to him to utilise it.

“Get close enough to a Demi God to disable one of his abilities... I’ll find a way.” Paco spoke confidently much to Arisu’s amusement.

Next Paco would inquire as to abilities of the Itamis which revealed that they were Field oriented Mid-Boss channelers, primarily suited for exploration and navigating unknown areas. Arisu went on to explain that in addition to pushing against the surges they tried getting around them but that did not work. Flying over the surges only got them so far but eventually they still had to deal with the surges and digging attracts the local wildlife.

Yasmin would then reveal her own experiences with the surges and how Golddrakes seem to fare rather well out there. Kenta, the third Itami, revealed that the Golddrakes do not actually try to get to Seiryu so they don’t actually deal with the surges at the entrance to the cave.

Paco’s suggestion to try integrating the Metagamas with the Venom Suits would be met with Arisu’s clearly condescending inquiry as to whether he had an R&D facility in his ship, much to Yasmin’s amusement.

Paco next pointed out that Gaia herself seems to have natural defences to the surges and inquired why this was so. The three Itamis would look at each other momentarily.

“You are the first Stryfe any of us have met and I am wondering if it might be better if you Stryfes just stay on the Haiman lines and continue to fight.” Arisu stated with a smirk and leaving Paco confused.

“However the combat prowess for which your Clan is known for will likely be useful to us so I will tell you why Gaia can withstand the surges from a mere Demi God. Actually I think a specific scenario would better convey this simple fact to you. Compare yourself to the Diety tier entity that dwells in Crystales known as the Wild Vine.” Arisu advised.

The obvious would quickly dawn upon Paco that compared to the Wild Vine he was but a mere insect. This comparison was likewise applicable to a Demi God and Gaia.

“I tire of you questions. Either make a useful suggestion or allow us to utilise you as we think best.” Arisu suggested.  

Fortunately for Paco his Stryfe training prepared him well for dealing with personalities like Arisu’s and generally dealing with being’s of considerably higher level without drawing their wrath. Thus he showed no reaction to being talked down to despite not being pleased about it all.

“Well I say we should give digging under the surge another try. With our help things should move faster and if we do draw creatures we could try fighting them off while you three continue with the tunnel.” Paco suggested calmly.

The Itami trio were not particularly enthusiastic about the plan but had to admit that having a team of more combat oriented channlers to deal with the wildlife would be helpful. So they agreed. However Arisu stipulated that they come up with a security plan before they headed out because having to deal with the local wildlife was not a mere if but a certainty. She also advised that the digging would be very stamina intensive. 

Outcome: The Rogue squad must come up with a combat plan in addition to the current digging plan before the Itami trio will proceed. Quest Incomplete.