Roleplay:Poacher's Intrigue

Plot
Mobius is home to an immense variety of fauna, many of whom have supernatural properties, such as Elemental manipulation. However, in the wild, there is no such thing as complete safety, and many of these creatures fall prey to an unnatural threat; poachers.

Hunting is not an uncommon practice on Mobius; meat and pelts are valuable, especially to those who live outside of cities and towns. But poachers take things an illegal step further and typically target vulnerable species, killing them either for sport or for monetary gain. They may even capture live specimens and sell them for money. Quite a few species on Mobius have become endangered or close to it thanks to the works of poachers.

Things are not all grim, however; there are many conservationists who have tirelessly fought back against poachers, and have managed to thwart some of their efforts. Unfortunately, there may be a rise in more powerful groups of poachers...

Rules

 * 1) Stick to the plot. Do not alter it to revolve around your character, do not change it drastically, etc.
 * 2) No Godmodding. You should all know what this means; no auto-hitting, no random attacks, no constant avoidance of damage, etc
 * 3) No Trolling.
 * 4) No picking random fights with others.
 * 5) Do not just randomly jump into a scene. Either ask, or build up your arrival accordingly (I.E "Suddenly, such and such and such" or "Meanwhile, somewhere else blah blah blah")
 * 6) No hogging all the glory.
 * 7) No controlling other users' characters without their permission.
 * 8) Put effort in your posts. I mean it; none of this "Person: Shadow Ball! *uses Shadow Ball*" crap.
 * Acceptable method: (Person: Shadow Ball! *charges up a concentrated ball of shadow energy, and then fires it at Person 2*)
 * Preferred method: ("Shadow Ball!" Person yelled. Cupping his hands in front of him, he began charging up a concentrated ball of pure shadows. After a few seconds he threw the ball at Person 2.)

Current Participants
''Moderators are the peacekeepers of the RP (their names are in green). Listen to them if they tell you that you broke a rule, and don't throw a hissy pissy fit if they give out constructive criticism on how you RP.''
 * green - RP Owner/Moderator
 * Strikes: 0


 * Saren -
 * Strikes: 0


 * Dingu -
 * Strikes: 0


 * Lunari -
 * Strikes: 0

Banned Users
None so far. Let's keep it that way.

Heroes

 * T.S.E.P - Played by Ryu and anyone else who owns a character that is a member of this group. A small, nonprofit organization that focuses on environmental concerns.
 * Saren Arcturias - Played by Saren. Not much of a hero, more of an asshole, but still has some interests in keeping poaching down.
 * Rowan the Squirrel - Played by Ryu. A zoologist who is staunchly against poaching.
 * Conner the Squirrel - Played by Ryu.
 * Ice Clan of Kyanos - Played by Ryu and and anyone else who owns a character that is a member of this group.
 * Nature Clan of Mokuhana - Played by Ryu and and anyone else who owns a character that is a member of this group.

Neutral

 * Io the Cat - Played by Lunari64. A quiet, multisouled cat. She isn't interested in tracking down the poachers themselves, but would rather take care of and protect the wildlife.
 * Cooper the Squirrel - Played by Ryu. The cowardly younger brother of Roland the Squirrel, Cooper more often than not acts as unwilling bait for the dangerous creatures his brother hunts.

Villains

 * Roland the Squirrel - Played by Ryu. A Moebian who only cares about the thrill of big-game hunting and the money he gets for selling the valuable parts of his kills.
 * Saul The Bobcat - Played by Dingu. A former warlord with some cybernetics, he decided to retire to play The Most Dangerous Game. He came to hunt the wildlife and stayed to hunt the conservationists. Oddly enough, he traded most of his lethal weapons for tranquilizers...
 * Xavek - Played by Saren. An alien war droid who runs an arms manufacturing and R&D firm as a front for his schemes to destroy all organic life, he has come to capture some specimens for genetic splicing and cybernetic augmentation. Oddly enough, Xavek seems to find joy in watching these creatures before making his move.

Part 1

 * The Roleplay starts here.

It was mid-day in the jungles of the Mystic Ruins. Two Mobian squirrels were making their way through the dense underbrush; the slightly taller, rust-colored member of the pair was holding what looked like a small tracking device.

"Okay, explain why we're out here again? It feels like a sauna...!" the younger squirrel complained. His older companion frowned but didn't turn to him, instead focusing on the device.

"I told you, we're checking up on the Plumed Sylphs that got microchipped," he said, looking upwards now, towards the trees. Normally they were alive with the sounds and sights of the jungle's rich ecosystem, but today things seemed silent, and that unsettled the rust-colored squirrel. He held the device up, brow furrowed.

"...this isn't right...there should be some kind of signal...!"

This particular stretch of the jungle was home to a colony of Plumed Sylphs...at least, it normally was. But there didn't seem to be any sign of the creatures. This colony in particular had about half of its members microchipped about a month ago by members of G.U.N's Soumercan Wildlife division, to keep track of them, but he wasn't getting any of the microchipped individuals on the radar.

Where were they?

"This isn't good," he mumbled to himself. The two continued walking forward until the older squirrel's tracker started to beep. Ears perking up, he darted forward, following the radar. His companion groaned and took off after him, wiping sweat off his brow.

The radar led them to a clearing; a small creature was huddled up near the base of a tree, seeming to be crouching over something. The rust-colored squirrel's ears drooped.

"Oh no..."

He walked forward slowly, and the creature immediately flared its considerably large (compared to its body) and feathery wings, hissing. The younger squirrel peered over his companion's shoulder.

"Is that a Sylph...?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. A Plumed Sylph..."

But his attention was focused on the form below the defensive Plumed Sylph; it was another Plumed Sylph, but clearly deceased, its wings, antenna and tail having been removed, leaving only bloodied stumps. It's still-living companion was valiantly guarding the body.

"They had to have been mates," he mumbled. A rustling noise came from the Sylph as it rapidly vibrated its wings, as if trying to scare the two squirrels off.

"So is one of them microchipped, then?" the orange-red squirrel asked. The other slowly approached the Plumed Sylph, crouching low to not seem so large to it.

"Yeah...I don't know which one has the chip, though..."

The Sylph hissed and chattered at him again.

Then, whistling and footsteps are heard. Both squirrels turned towards the source of the noise.

"Who's there...??" the older one asked.

It was a yellow lynx wearing a hooded grey trench coat. "Me, I'm just a guy who's on vacation and decided to go off the beaten trail to sightsee. You?"

The Plumed Sylph had also turned towards the lynx, but was refusing to leave the side of its fallen mate. The rust-colored squirrel looked from the Sylph to the lynx, raising an eyebrow.

"Keeping track of Plumed Sylphs that have had microchips implanted into them, but it looks like I've...come too late."

He did his best to hide his disgust; clearly, the creature's death and defilement had sickened him.

Predictably, the lynx didn't show much regard for the defiled corpse. "What's done is done, the only thing you can do is move forward and murder the ones responsible for the act.."

The squirrel frowned, looking irritated.

"One, this is clearly a case of poaching. And two, I'm not about to stoop to their level by committing murder."

"I'd totally kill them," the younger squirrel said, shrugging. His brother glared at him.

"This one gets it." Saren pointed at the younger squirrel. "So you just catch them, get them sent to jail.. Most might have connections or a lot of money so sooner or later they get out, then start the cycle all over again. So why bother with just locking them up when a more permanent solution exists, one that will actually send a message instead being tantamount to a slap on the wrist?"

"Yeah, c'mon Rowan! Let's kill those bastards!"

The rust-colored squirrel, Rowan, stood up and crossed his arms, looking from his brother to the lynx.

"Even if I did want to commit murder, how would I exactly know who was responsible for this? It's not like they'd come out and declare it to the world that they're a poacher!"

"Observation, and as much as I hate to say it, using an extremely rare animal as a sort of bait.."

Rowan rubbed at his chin, deep in thought.

"The rarest thing I can think of is either a Tundra Reaver or a Moon Sylph, but I don't think the Golden Glade Wildlife Sanctuary would let me borrow Kholat for this. And Moon Sylphs can't be found here in Soumerca..."

Conner just shrugged.

"Maybe we can trick them somehow. It's not like they're smart or anything, right?"

"Never underestimate your enemy.. Else you'll never be able to succeed." Saren said sagely.

"I don't think they'd fall for a disguise or anything," said Rowan, frowning. "They generally have a great deal of knowledge concerning various animal species..."

Part 2
Meanwhile, in the Frozen Plateau Zone of Artika, two other squirrels were trudging through the tundra, dwarfed by the glacial plateaus that gave the Zone its name. They were dressed appropriately for the area, and the slightly smaller squirrel was trying to light up a cigarette. His companion's ears twitched and he turned towards the other, glaring.

"You idiot, the smell's gonna scare the prey off!" he hissed.

"O-Oh, sorry," he mumbled, ears drooping slightly as he closed the lighter and put it away. The two continued walking until they reached a more wooded area of the Zone. The rust-colored squirrel grinned.

"This is it," he said, kneeling down and pulling off his backpack, setting it in front of him. He pulled out a reasonably large, black plastic bag and stood up, walking towards a clearer area of the icy forest and opened up the bag, dumping its contents onto the ground; it was a mass of raw, unidentifiable meat. Wadding the bag into a ball, he then backed up and retreated towards a thicker section of trees, roughly pulling his companion with him.

"This would be a lot more fun if I didn't have to worry about the damn Ice Clan," he muttered to himself, crouching down behind the trees. Then he waited, while his companion sighed quietly and leaned back against another tree.

"Now what?" he asked, reaching into the pocket of his hoodie.

"Well, obviously, we wait, little bro," said the other squirrel. "And I swear to the gods, if you try and light up another cigarette right now, I'll skin you alive and use you as bait instead...!"

His voice was a hiss now as he glared at his sibling. The orange-red squirrel immediately pulled his hand away from his pocket as his companion peeked out from behind the tree to observe the pile of raw meat. A lone Frost Imp was sniffing at it.

"Tch, just an Imp," he muttered, going back to hiding. "Not worth the effort."

Suddenly, what looked like a burst of plasma was fired at the Frost Imp.

The noise startled both squirrels, and the Frost Imp just barely managed to leap out of the way, screeching; however, its tail seemed to have gotten scorched by the plasma shot.

"The fuck-"

The rust-colored squirrel peeked out from behind the tree.

Xavek walked into the open. "... Missed.."

"Wh-What the fuck-...who is that...??" the younger squirrel whimpered. The older one frowned and stood up, walking out into the open, towards Xavek.

"Who are you?" he asked, more curious than angry; although there was no denying that he was a bit irritated.

The alien droid looked at the two. "Someone interested in acquiring new test subjects.."

The younger squirrel remained behind the tree, clearly too nervous to come out. The older one crossed his arms.

"Well, I was kind of busy trying to get a Tundra Reaver to take my bait, but it looks like you've already burnt that to a crisp..."

He looked at the scorched, smoking black pile that used to be the bait.

"You're looking for test subjects, though? Interesting..."

He seemed curious about Xavek's motives.

Xavek grinned. "Yes.. Creatures of war, imagine what these creatures could be used for.. provided they are augmented and natural selection weeds out the weak and worthless.." Xavek said, the mad scientist vibe only getting stronger as he spoke.

The squirrel grinned as well; it seemed that Xavek's desires were definitely starting to intrigue him.

"Shit, and all this time I've just been selling their pelts and parts for cash. This is one of the coolest ideas I've ever heard about! The name's Roland, by the way; what's yours?"

The other squirrel finally stepped out as well, with some hesitation.

"Xavek, and you may be the first few organics that I may like.." Xavek held what looked like a grin, something which might be disturbing given his alien nature.

Roland didn't seem to think it was disturbing; however, his brother promptly looked away and instead busied himself with pulling his lighter and a pack of smokes out of his pocket.

"So Xavek, did you find anything interesting so far?" Roland asked.

"Unfortunately, I am no anthropologist or hunter.. So I am admittedly at a loss as to what to start with.." Xavek admitted, albeit reluctantly.

Roland rubbed his chin, as if thinking.

"Well...I do know quite a bit about all the different beasts that Mobius has to offer, so I could probably help you there," he said. "Only problem is, some of the best candidates for your idea are quite rare...but it's possible to start with more common species, yeah?"

"Yes.. But I am also willing to pay a substantial sum of money for the services of experienced hunters to help me.... Acquire these specimens." Xavek said.

"Say no more," said Roland, grinning again. "I'll be glad to help you out on your quest, and I'm sure Cooper will be willing to help, too; right, Coop?"

He turned towards the younger squirrel, looking expectant. Cooper swallowed hard and nodded, his fingers fumbling slightly with his lighter.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Excellent!"

Without warning, a frost arrow whizzed past Cooper's nose, causing him to shriek and immediately jump back, dropping his cigarette in the snow. Roland turned towards him.

"What's wrong now?"

Trembling, Cooper frantically gestured at the frost arrow that was now embedded in the tree near him. Small shards of ice were embedded around the impact site. Frowning, Roland walked towards the arrow, narrowing his eyes as he inspected it.

"....shit."

"What is it..?" Xavek asked, his gauntlets prepping to fire a steady stream of plasma.

"Ice Clan of Kyanos," he said, looking behind him, as if expecting to see a group of Ice Clan soldiers already bearing down on them. "They're basically the self-entitled wildlife protectors of this area...damned killjoys."

A couple more arrows flew at them, with Cooper promptly taking cover behind the nearest tree. Footsteps could be heard crunching in the snow now.

Xavek growled, trying to use his augmented hearing to pinpoint the general direction of where they are coming from.

It sounded like they were coming from the north, possibly 15 feet away as of now.

Xavek aimed both gauntlets in the north before firing condensed shots of plasma, he knew he wouldn't exactly hit anything in the conditions he found himself in but he was at least gonna try and scare them off.

Indeed, there was startled yelling coming in the general direction that Xavek shot at, and a few figures could be seen darting among the trees, trying to avoid the plasma shot. A male wolf and a female hedgehog, both armed with longbows, revealed themselves by the trees and fired at Xavek and Roland.

"Gods damn it...!"

Roland retreated behind a tree and pulled off his backpack, drawing a rifle out of it. From behind the tree, he took aim at the wolf.

"Say good night, tree-hugger," he hissed, grinning.

Meanwhile, a female cat watched things unfold from a ways off, scouting around after hearing yelling.

Xavek, not being as swift thanks to the weight of his mechanical parts, was forced to tank the shots. Letting out a grunt of pain when the arrows hit before taking aim at the hedgehog.

"Exterminate.."

The hedgehog nocked another arrow onto her longbow, aiming at Xavek once more; more Ice Clan soldiers were beginning to make themselves visible. Roland fired at the wolf, who would've been shot right through the shoulder were it not for his thick leather pauldrons absorbing much of the bullet. His grunt if pain suggested that the bullet still made some contact, however.

Neither Roland nor the Ice Clan soldiers were aware of the female cat's presence; but the latter group was beginning to circle the area, slowly surrounding the clearing. Cooper, who had briefly peeked out from behind his hiding place, was suddenly pinned to the ground by a female lynx wearing a cloak. She drew a dagger out of a hidden sheath as she knelt down, keeping one knee pressed firmly in between his shoulder blades; she then leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

"Struggle and I'll make this worse for you," she hissed. Roland didn't seem to even notice that Cooper had been attacked.

Xavek growled, his left gauntlet starting to alter and change into what looked like a Dragunov which he aimed at the hedgehog, his right optic giving him the variable zoom function of a scope so he would have a better chance of actually hitting the hedgehog.

With Xavek taking the time to alter his gauntlet, the hedgehog was able to fire her arrow at him, having aimed for his face. Roland aimed at the wolf once more, but a shard of ice was fired at him, knocking the rifle out of his hands. A male cacomistle appeared at his right, hands flaring with Ice-Element energy.

Xavek took a step to the right to mitigate the damage that the arrow would do, instead of hitting his eyes the arrow might have left a clean slice through the right side of his forehead.

After taking a few seconds to aim at the Hedgehog's chest region, Xavek fired an extremely condensed beam of plasma from the sniper that lasted for about five seconds before six panels opened up on the side of the weapon and started to vent copious amounts of steam.

She just barely managed to get out of the way, the super-heated beam scorching some of her fur and skin. The steam being released by Xavek's sniper might have started to cloud the area, making vision difficult. The wolf could no longer properly aim at Xavek now.

Roland, meanwhile, had rushed at the cacomistle, who simply condensed the air in front of him to create a frozen barrier, which Roland ended up colliding with.

Xavek used the steam as cover to activate his stealth cloaking before attempting to sneak closer to the Cacomistle who was currently battling Roland. The sounds of the battle should at least dampen his footsteps.

Indeed, the cacomistle had no idea that Xavek was approaching him; he had used his powers to basically lock Roland's hands together in ice.

"Cheap trick...!" the squirrel hissed. The cacomistle just smirked.

"But it works, doesn't it, scumbag?"

When Xavek was close enough to the cacomistle, he swung his right arm at the back of his head with enough force to shatter bone, not counting just how durable the materials his gauntlets were made from.

He was unable to react in time, and the blow caused him to pitch forward, knocked unconscious. Roland stepped back as the cacomistle collapsed, looking over at Xavek.

"Thanks," he said, grinning. "Got tired of lookin' at his smarmy face."

He looked around a bit.

"Where the hell is Cooper?"

About 7 feet away, the lynx still had Cooper pinned to the ground. By now, two other Ice Clan soldiers, a male Mobianized Walrein and a female mouse, had joined up with her.

"We should find him.." Xavek spoke, before going to thaw out Roland's hands with his still warm sniper rifle.

"Thanks," he said again, stretching both hands after they were thawed out. "Yeah, not a good idea to leave him behind..."

He turned around, unknowingly facing the direction where the lynx had Cooper captive.

"Cooper! Where the hell are ya??" he called out. The lynx frowned a bit and looked down at the squirrel.

"Hmph. This must be Cooper."

Standing up, she hauled him upright as well, and dragged him into the open, where Roland could see them.

"Is this the squirrel you're looking for?" she called out. Roland blinked.

"Uhh, yes, I'd like him back, please," he said. The lynx pointed to the area behind him, where the unconscious cacomistle was still laying.

"Give my comrade back and we'll talk."

"What's to say you won't try killing us when we release him..?" Xavek asked.

"Oh, believe me, we'd love to get rid of you poacher scum the satisfying way, but allies come first," she said, her expression stony. "Now, bring him over here, and you'll have your friend back."

She maintained a surprisingly strong hold on the visibly shaken Cooper.

"But if you don't leave after the trade, we will kill you. Understand?"

Roland frowned a bit.

"Alright, then," he said. He walked over to the unconscious cacomistle and hefted him upright, grunting.

"Alright.." Xavek muttered. "How sentimental you organics are.. A weakness that I'll be able to exploit."

Roland managed to haul the cacomistle over towards the group before letting him drop unceremoniously into the snow. Smirking slightly, the lynx shoved Cooper into Roland quite hard, making the older squirrel stumble backwards. The Walrein then picked up the cacomistle, hefting him over his shoulder before turning and departing, along with the female mouse.

"Now, leave," said the lynx to Xavek, Roland and Cooper; there were still plenty of other Ice Clan soldiers watching from the trees, including the wolf and hedgehog archers.

"Alright.." Xavek chuckled before going to leave.

Frowning, Roland turned to leave as well, practically dragging the still shaken Cooper with him. The Ice Clan soldiers remained where they were, to make sure the intruders actually left as they were instructed.

"Any other hunting grounds..?" Xavek whispered to Cooper.