Exodus: The Assassin's Path 82 Covenan

Quinn sighed loudly, both Pops and Ren were trying not to cry. Tal hadn't even bothered, when the ultrasound was put onto the hud in front of her, she immediately started sobbing. She had Quinn's hand squeezed in a death grip. Since Tal was quite strong, his hand had been numb for the past few minutes.

They had got up early for the 0900 appointment, neither had played TAP that night since they had stayed up quite late. When Pops and Ren heard where they were going, they both insisted on tagging along. The nurse had spread the gel couplant all over Tal's flat stomach, and pressed the scope lightly against her skin. It only took a moment, and there he was on the hud, Quinn James.

Quinn stared at the tiny life, "have never seen such a beautiful thing."

The nurse smiled knowingly, "I will print off several pictures for you guys. Back in 4 weeks for another look."

"He's the size of a plum?" Tal had her free hand close to the hud, estimating his size.

The nurse nodded, "you are a bit past 12 weeks, so very close to that."

"Woah... that's some serious equipment." Pops felt it had to be said.

"Takes after me," both Quinn and Pops spoke at the same time.

Ren made a face at the two men in the room, "fairly certain that's an umbilical cord."

Tal shook her head laughing, the nurse did her best not to join in but she failed miserably and was laughing as she excused herself for a few minutes.

She came back a while later with the printed pictures

They all piled into Quinn's truck and made the short drive home, each of them reflecting separately at how the new arrival would change things.

************

Tal had already logged in by the time Quinn got back from his workout. No one had wanted to run with him, but both Em and Ren had biked along side. Em had surprised him by finishing two sets of pull-ups without assistance. Quinn quickly showered and changed, he decided to use the VR chamber so he slipped into the suit and logged in.

Q smiled when he felt the warm sunlight of Ravenwood. "I will never tire of this weather." He took the courtyard portal to HQ, surprisingly it was very crowded.

He noticed Zy and Merci right away, their huge wings stood out even in the large building.

Merci looked like a completely different person. The small feathers on her head were shiny and standing straight, her skin was starting to look healthy after not seeing the sun for months on end.

"Q!" She called his name loudly when she saw him. Quinn had been heading toward the conference table, but he changed direction and greeted the Assassin Queen.

"You are looking great Merci, how are the wings." Q examined the wings carefully, they seemed to be recovering nicely.

"They are quite weak, I will have to build my muscles up again." Merci bowed her head and knelt on one knee, "I would like to serve Fora."

Q put a hand on her head, the feathers soft to his touch. "We would love to have you with us, first concentrate on recovering fully."

"Yes.. I must be strong." Merci stood up, placing a hand on Q's shoulder. "Of the Gryphon Wings that have been freed here, many of them want to serve."

"How are their conditions?" Quinn had a feeling that Nia was going to be very busy.

Merci gave him a grim look, "their wings have all been broken. Nia has been getting help from one of your paladins."

"Oh? Do you mean Grace?" Quinn remembered that she had recently taken the subclass of Paladin.

"I think so, very pretty girl with yellow hair. She turns red a lot and hides her strength." Merci had enjoyed teasing her quite a bit.

"Hmm.. sounds like Grace." Quinn spotted Leah and Mojo waving him over, "please excuse me."

Mojo and Leah were both smiling at him, "hmm? I got something on my face?"

"Nope," Leah sat down at the table and patted the chair between them.

Quinn had the feeling they wanted something, "whatever it is just ask now."

Mojo leaned close and kissed him on the cheek, "why do you think we want something?"

Quinn shrugged, "fine then don't ask."

Leah cleared her throat, "we want to see the pictures of QJ."

"Who is QJ? And why would I have a picture of him?" Quinn looked around and noticed that everyone had been watching them.

"Quinn James of course, Tal has decided she likes QJ," Leah replied happily.

"Oh I see. Just get Tal to show you then." Quinn spotted Lara and the Songbirds as they entered, Ren was with them.

"Tal and Remmy will be busy all day with the propulsion supports," Leah grabbed his hand and smiled.

"Fine, soon as we get done here." Quinn stood up, immediately everyone quieted down. "Welcome back Songbirds, feel free to start when you are ready."

Lara nudged Ren and she stepped forward. "Hi everyone, I'm Ori." She made her way to the conference hud and opened up a 3-D map of TAP. We've discovered a group of several dozen heroes that have formed a faction called the Covenant. Their mission has been to destabilize TAP governments in an effort to grab power for themselves. They've targeted three specific races so far. The High Elves, the Dark Elves and the Gnomes. Of the three targets, only the Gnome government has fallen. Covenant was unable to reap the benefits of this because of our efforts. We also inadvertently stopped them in Zohai."

Mojo's face seemed bitter, "they backed the Sai Clan against us. Suddenly the Sai Clan were no longer interested in co-existence or diplomacy. In a matter of a few months, the Sai and Jol Clans went from rivals to bitter enemies."

Ren nodded, "in Zi'Fendyl they are backing the Greenleaf family against the Chamyl family. The entire district of Tuli has fallen into the rebellion's hands."

Yaya's hands gripped the table, her face pale with anger. "Luca Chamyl has contacted me, she said their spies managed to uncover a single name. Dark Thoughts."

"Hmm.. anything else Ren?" Quinn recognized the name right away.

"They have a base in the Southern part of Pearl. The leader of that base is called Raging Flame." Ren closed the hud, "that's all we know at this time."

"There's a third base in the Zohai desert, in the foothills of the Cyennial Mountains." Mojo had read the documents that were taken from Kimo Sai, it filled in a few blanks for them. "There's no data on who is running that camp."

Quinn looked up from his hud, he had opened the mail from Lani just to make sure. "I'm guessing the leader there would be Crazed Dawn."

"How do you know that Quinn?" Lara spoke from behind Ren, they had run down every lead looking for all the ringleaders.

"The person who gave you the entry disc to Ba'Avriel has decided they want me to deal with three people as payment. Two of those names were already mentioned here, it can't be a coincidence." Quinn reached into his inventory and pulled out a carefully wrapped item.

Lara looked up from her hud, "all three are on your hit list Quinn."

Quinn nodded, "that makes it easy."

"We raze their camps to the ground and plunder everything." Mojo's eyes were fierce, "they have the blood of three races on their hands."

Lara looked frustrated, "what good does killing three heroes do? They are gone for 3-days and then they return."

"This time, we'll make sure they don't come back in three days." Every eye in the room was looking at him as he unwrapped a tiny pin the size of a sewing needle. "Mojo, how much did your mother tell you about the third stage of Mata Ru."

"Only that Kimo Sai had poisoned her, and that you defeated him in single combat." Mojo knew how strong Kimo Sai was, according to her mother he had been thoroughly beaten.

Quinn held up the tiny pin, "let me tell you the rest of it."

**********

Quinn had called a second meeting at Ravenwood later in the day for possible updates. He found himself running late as Leah and Mojo insisted on seeing the pictures of QJ. They had been amazed by the hero tech that enabled families to see their children before birth. The three of them sat around the kitchen island and chatted until well after lunch time.

By the time Quinn arrived at Ravenwood, there seemed to be more people present then normal. He spotted Crow in front of a large group. "Seems kinda lively today.. Who are all these people?"

"This is the raid group formerly known at Orion Prime, they've been disbanded, restructured and placed under my command." Em knew there was a storm brewing, so she had used Quinn's influence to get her Gramps to make a phone call. That's all it had taken.

Quinn couldn't stop the smile on his face, they were short people. "Mid-levels if I remember right? How many?"

Crow was wearing Dovik's ax on her back. "There's thirty between level 45 and 55."

Quinn nodded, "very good.. form them up."

Crow turned and faced Orion Prime, "you heard him.. form up!"

Em took her place at the front of the group, watching Quinn as he used the faction hud to check their details.

Faction Command Directive: Promote Crimson Rose to Lieutenant.

Faction Command Directive: Designate new platoon as Orion.

System Message: Crimson Rose has been promoted to Lieutenant.

System Message: The Orion platoon has been formed.

"Quinn!" Yaya Silverleaf approached, in her black Silver Leaf armor. She was followed by a few dozen of her family members.

Quinn felt tempted to run, "How's it going?"

Yaya had seen the faction message regarding Orion and had immediately gathered her people. She turned to face them, "form up!"

Quinn brought his hud up again, "these are the ones who took part in the Ba'Avriel mission."

Yaya nodded, "everyone of them is a veteran of the Tuli Rebellion."

Faction Command Directive: Promote Yaya Silverleaf to Lieutenant.

Faction Command Directive: Designate new platoon as Silverleaf.

System Message: Yaya Silverleaf has been promoted to Lieutenant.

System Message: The Silverleaf platoon has been formed.

"Okay then, make sure you cont.." A voice from the courtyard interrupted him.

Vess Tu walked out of the portal followed by twenty of the Jol Clan commandos. "Don't forget about us Commander."

"Good heavens..." Quinn frowned at the Mohawk wearing Dark Elf.

"Commander!" Merci Quickill approached at a quick walk, she was flanked by more than twenty Gryphon Wings.

"Stop.. stop ... stop!" Quinn opened up his com, a moment later Leah Fintree's pretty face popped up in front of him.

"Hi Quinn." Leah smiled, she could tell he was right outside.

"I need you out here on the double XO (Executive Officer). " Quinn upgraded Leah's faction permissions through his hud by the time she arrived.

Leah seemed just as surprised by the large crowd as he had been. She stopped in front of Quinn, "I'm here sir."

Quinn patted her on the shoulder, "XO, organize this mess. Two platoons have already been created, Orion and Silverleaf. Create two additional ones and promote leaders accordingly. They will be under your command as XO."

"Yes sir." Leah opened the hud and started organizing their personnel. Quinn walked over to the courtyard fountain where two enormous black panthers were playing in the water.

"Yep... it's called delegate, one of my favorite words." He felt a wet muzzle push against his back, apparently all the cat's did was play and sleep. No one had ever seen them eat. They absolutely loved carrying people around.

It took a few minutes but Leah squared everything away.

Captain Leah Fintree: Task Force Raven Executive Officer

Lieutenant Jinn: Raven Platoon, made up of original members and Zephyr.

Lieutenant Silverleaf: Silverleaf Platoon, made up of Tuli war vets from the Silverleaf family.

Lieutenant Crow: Orion Platoon, made up of Orion Prime members.

Lieutenant Vess: Dagger Platoon, made up of elite commandos from the Jol Clan.

Operative Nightingale: Songbirds

Flight Leader Merci Quickill: Gryphon Flight.

Leah had them all form up in one formation in the Courtyard. "You're chain of Command starts with Quinn and then progresses to myself. Next in line would be Jinn, Ro-Ro and Nightingale. Leader's, you must designate a second-in-command. She walked out to the front of the Raven just as Quinn had returned. She gave him a crisp salute.

"Well done Leah, you can go ahead and dismiss everyone." Quinn closed his hud, "do we have a quartermaster?"

Leah shook her head, "no sir."

Quinn pursed his lips together. "Open Comchat Nuna Bori."

System Message: Nuna Bori is not on your contact list, do you wish to send a Query?

"Yes please."

A moment later a dark haired girl, with big eyes and red cheeks popped onto Q's hud, "hello?"

"Nuna.. how's my favorite Exodus Quartermaster?"

"Ummm.. good. Who are you?" The small woman smiled at the complete stranger on the other side. She recognized Q as being a famous Exodus Arena existence, but didn't know why he would call her.

"Right.. sorry Nuna, I'm Quinn the Fodder. Short guy, kinda goofy looking.. we worked together all the time.

"What?? Quinn is Q?" Her smile widened to include all of her face. "You're super famous now Quinn! What can I do for you?"

"Need a reliable Quartermaster, we've been playing fast and loose with equipment and supplies." Quinn waited patiently, Nuna seemed to thinking it over.

"TAP right? Won't I have to start a character then?" Nuna had been working in Exodus for a number of years. She wasn't a gamer and only used an avatar.

Quinn smiled, "I'll make an offer. Do your research before you answer. We'll pay for your account, you'll have Supply depot at our HQ in Talon, with 3 NPCs working for you. One million credits per year, five year contract."

Nuna stared at him through the hud, "I'm going to think it over Quinn, but only because it's you."

"Okay Nuna, let me know." Q closed comm.

Leah dismissed everyone and then turned back toward Quinn. "What does a quartermaster do?"

Quinn grabbed Leah's hand and pulled her toward the town hall. "Supply and distribution. Right now we have Pops, he is basically running a marketing business. We've a warehouse full of all sorts of gear. We need someone to come in and organize things, the quartermaster will issue everyone's gear and keep proper records."

By the time they arrived, all of the Ravenwood Knights were present, in addition Mojo, Remmy and Yaya had joined the second meeting.

Tal had been working on the academy foundation supports all afternoon and welcomed the break when Quinn invited her. "Are you sure that the Kubrite pins will work on a hero?"

Quinn shook his head, "it's something we are going to have to test first."

Onion raised his hand, "I'll do it Quinn. I've a halfling alt that I made to work on carpentry. He's still level one since I've been too busy to play him."

Daze frowned at Onion, "I hate that idea."

Onion placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll remake him right away if it ends up being permanent."

Quinn nodded solemnly. "Thank you Onion, I"ll send you a pin right away. What's your alt name?"

"Cookie." Onion turned red when a few people laughed. "He's already died once, I slipped and fell into a ravine while carrying wood. Should be easy to repeat the incident."

"Okay, let us know. " Quinn placed a large diamond the size of a ping pong ball on the table in front of him.

Yaya stared at it, "Quinn... that's a Soul Gem."

Quinn nodded, "you are right. I discovered while I was at Zohai, that I was carrying around an ordained Soul. I had thought it was in the black box my mother had left for me, but it wasn't. This dropped off the Spider King that I killed during the Jangles mission."

Grand Soul Gem

Container: Legendary

Description: Can permanently

store the soul of Ordained

creatures. 1/1

Leah shivered when he mentioned spiders, "you have a spider soul in there?"

"No.. that's impossible." Grace stared at the gem from across the table, "it has to be an NPC."

Yaya nodded in confirmation, "there's no way to rezz it of course, these are used to enchant items."

"It was empty when it dropped off of the spider." Quinn had inspected it carefully.

"I can show you who it is or was I should say." Grace walked around the table and placed her hand on the gemstone, a moment later the transparent image of a woman formed, she was dressed in silver and carried a Time Piece like Yaya's."

Quinn stared at it, his expression frozen.

Tal immediately got up and rushed to him, "It's fine Quinn, it's just an image." She seemed on the verge of crying as she tried to sooth him.

"Tal? Who is this?" Leah was scared, the person she loved more than anything, had the most despaired look on his face.

Lara leaned closer and then nodded, "It's the woman from the Infinity Well, it's the Silver Princess."

Chapter end