Sigil Casus and Turnip
Slateport City
Turnip waited, wincing, eyes closed, for Nicolas to turn around and barrage him with various questions and insults. He dared himself to open one eye for half a second and...
Nothing came. Nicolas had shrugged it off and walked off. LEVEL UP! SNEAK SKILL LEVEL 100!
Eh, maybe. Or maybe Nicolas was impervious to back slams and quickly muttered speech. Turnip was, of course, completely exaggerating in the first place. Any contact whilst sneaking feels like getting hit by a wrecking ball.
Well, Turnip thought, either Nicholas Cage here is ignoring me, or I'm just awesome. I'm obliged to go for the second option. Still, with the slight possibility the former is true, I might have a really good reason to be following him. The sniper rifles are still over there, too - sneak away!
If he had a dollar for each time he'd been assaulted in that costume, by accident or otherwise, Sigil would have been the richest man on Earth. He remembered a rather... unfortunate event that involved a Gallade, but he shook it off.
Sigil exited the shed, swinging the door violently on its hinge as he took his suit case. The tall, thin man took one look at Turnip trying to sneak and frowned.
"Oh look, it's the guy who can't tell a Gardevior from a man in a suit." He chuckles to himself. To be fair though, he thought, I do have a rather feminine figure...
He approached, his face turning to one of confusion. "The hell are you DOING?" He asked, keeping his suitcase close and adjusting his bald wig.
Turnip bolted upright, "BUP! Bloody hell. Sneak skill level 100 my ass... Uh, well, I was, uh..."
The tall man rolled his eyes. Great, he IS a loony...
Turnip thought for a moment, trying to come up with the most devious lie ever conceived by man...
"Nah, screw it. I was following Nicolas. He was acting suspiciously and I wanted some answers on this war thing."
"Aw, I see... you wanted to-" Sigil found himself cut off by intercom speakers. He silenced himself as he heard the supposedly inspiring words coming to an end.
Turnip was suddenly attentive, and listened out for a bit.
"Oh, would you listen to that. That incessant political drone's stopped." He clicked his gloved fingers, "Ah! That general guy, he could well have some answers. Could give me clearance for a good sniper rifle, too."
Sigil looked shocked, "Why on Earth would you want to kill these wonderful creatures? They are an evolutionary miracle! Pokémon that work, think, and speak like man!" He gazed into the distance as he imagined the Pokémon's culture and history.
"Well, yeah, I'm no-"
"-Think of how much we could learn from and teach these miraculous marvels! Imagine the sheer potential we have of learning the true psyche of these mysterious creatures without depending on telekinesis!"
"Telekinesis? That's moving stuff wi-"
"-Why, with any luck, we may encounter and discover the breeding capabilities of these amazing creatures!" He gushed on and on about how amazing this discovery was, nearly forgetting about the war for a moment. "...Er... I mean, boo Pokémon! They killed a man!" He said, adjusting himself.
Turnip was annoyed, but the comment at the end made him laugh, so he let the rant slide.
"Haha, I see where you're going there, but... are you sure you're not just a little bit too pro-Pokémon? Especially to be fighting on this side of the war. Personally, I'm still undecided on it, that's why I'm wanting answers. My reasons for being here are a little different, anyway. The sniper rifle is just... because I like sniper rifles, not because I particularly want to kill any of these Pokémon." Turnip explained. He didn't want to get into detail with this guy. That said, whoever this person was had already blabbed a load of anti-war heresy to him, so no reason to be too enclosed. Turnip began to walk off, towards the centre of Slateport.
"If I'm honest, a lot of my favourites are third ge- wait, wha- disregard that. Are you coming or not? By the way, the name's Turnip - and before you answer... shut up."
The man followed. "Well, yeah... but they're only letting soldiers and spies into this place and when you're like I am about Pokémon it just gets me all... giddy! The name is Sigil, by the way. I am here as an... investigator, so I can get up close and personal with these magnificent creatures without having to kill or wound them first. I just go amongst them, learn what they know and report back. If they die it's not directly on my head and I learn more about them! It's the perfect arrangement!"
Hmm, Turnip thought to himself, seems a little... I can't quite put a word to it. Traitorous, maybe? Although he isn't really on their side. Odd, for sure.
The tall man took a whiff of the sea breeze again. "So, I need to ask you a favour, guy I just met."
Now there was a dilemma. Should Turnip trust Sigil - a strange, possibly insane, probably deceptive spy?
Hell yeah, I should! What do you even know, anyway? Pssht, questioning my judgement...
"Alright, fire away. I don't think it's too far to that Central Command Base of Super Amazing Military Army Operations. That's what they call it, right?"
Sigil shrugged. "You got me, but I need some help. As you saw before, I specialize in disguises, but I do it a bit too... well. I remember getting poached once while dressed as an Arcanine... but regardless. Me getting shot would be in no-one's best interests and I need to figure out an arrangement that will allow me to send reports to and fro from the Pokémon camps without being killed by either side. I doubt that paper masks will work on these Pokémon like they did the baby Pokémon back at home..."
"And cardboard masks won't do, huh?"
Sigil nods. "Pokémon are much more intelligent than we give them credit for, I once attended a chess tourney. The winner was a prize-winning Kingler."
"Heh, sure sounds like you've got up to a lot in the past. Well, I for one won't be shooting anything unless I get good reason to, and for me at the moment, that's up to this Mikkelson guy - unless self defence comes into it. You'd probably want to talk to the General, too, though. Get something official like a recognisable badge for the HR to reduce the chances of... you know."
Come to think of it, Turnip didn't mind Sigil. Either that, or he should be specifically worried about him. Despite being a spy - a naturally deceptive profession - he didn't seem to be hiding anything much at all, and seemed surprisingly honest about pretty much everything. The only problem for Turnip was if he wasn't being honest, because it meant that Sigil wasn't only being deceptive, but he was bloody good at it too.
Sigil liked Turnip, he was a simple man, but a good man otherwise. He was also very truthful - he liked that in someone. He reminded him a bit of a Growlithe once. Good men always reminded him of Pokémon. He made a mental note to talk to this odd fellow again, even just to thank him.
They didn't have much time to dwell on their thoughts, though. There it was. In front of them, the headquarters of the HR. Quite imposing indeed - for a tent. Well, a tent with a building behind it anyway - one of the first in Slateport. The tent gave the area a sort of ramshackle impressiveness to it that inspired the thought of a noble underdog - the rebellions of old fighting for liberation from an oppressive lord. Whether those thoughts would be true or not remained to be seen. The large building itself was truly a sight to behold, kind of obvious though... maybe one of the smaller tents were really the base of operations... not THE smallest one though. Lord knows a single bullet whizzing through the air would kill or wound everyone in that cramped thing. Maybe that shed would do. Perfect place for hiding, it was.
Turnip paid no heed to any of these images. He passed them by, just another location - it was what was inside that was important.
"So, do you know where this General is?" Sigil asked.
"To be honest, no, but I don't think that'll be a problem."
Turnip had continued walking, but was stopped by a guard.
He looked him over; Corporal, about 5'9'', looking slightly nervous. The safety on his rifle was on, and yet his finger was on the trigger. New posting, Turnip guessed.
The guard, it seemed, had managed to get himself together enough to say something; "You're not allowed past here, what do you want?"
Sigil rolled his eyes. "Me and my companion have found out vital, need-to-know information. We have learned that a man at this camp is a spy..." He said, sizing up the guard. "The entirety of this camp is at stake. Do you know how likely it is that the spy has already gotten past you and is on his way to kill another of our leaders? In fact..." He looked at the guard seriously. "I do believe that that is him, just over there!" He pointed into a vague direction of the forest. "Go! Go get him before he strikes!"
The guard dashed to the side, rifle up, safety still on. Clearly a rookie - all of the decent soldiers who weren't of political importance were most likely out on the field.
Turnip watched the guard run off frantically for a little while before moving on inside, beckoning for Sigil to follow. He stopped outside one of the tent's exits - the entrance to the main building. Unmanned, surprisingly enough. First day of war, though, it wasn't really surprising - all things considered.
Turnip and Sigil moved towards the doors, but stopped just before as some guy came bursting through them. He took a quick glance in the two's direction, but didn't elaborate on that as he continued onwards and out of the tent.
"Alrighty then." Turnip commented. Sigil smiled, happy at his own success. Oh sure, the two of them were likely to be punished for sending a man on a wild goose chase, but by the time the rookie reports back Sigil would more than likely be safe in a Pokémon camp.
They pressed on into the building, through the doors. Quite a modern building, sleek and stylish. Compact, yet efficient. A few doors over here and a few over there, all presumably leading to small rooms where important people met to discuss things. There were stairs to the right of them, and a smoothly polished reception desk in front of them, that - unfortunately for the two - had a couple of receptionists behind it. That man before wasn't a problem, but they might be. That said, they didn't have much authority, so they probably wouldn't be arrogant about any power they had, for sure.
Sigil smiled, adjusting himself, "Hello ladies..." He said, leaning to them. They didn't seem to be interested. Sigil tried to walk past them.
"No sir, you aren't allowed up there." One said, not looking up from the desk.
"But we have to use the restroom."
The woman turned to him and gave him the angriest glare she could possibly muster.
Sigil backed away, pondering something. "Well ma'am... can we have an appointment?"
"Do you have one?"
"One what?"
"An appointment."
"I need an appointment to get an appointment? Because I talked to the General and he said to meet him here."
"The general has no appointments." She said, bluntly.
"Because he knew we were supposed to talk."
"Do you have the proper forms?"
"They said that YOU had the proper forms."
"But do you?"
"Do you?"
"Sir, I asked first, and I told you, I do, now do you? Because if you do not I'm afraid you will have to leave until you DO!"
Sigil slammed his hands on the desk. The woman, now thoroughly confused, needed some time to think this out while her companion, not exactly as bright as her associate, took over.
"Do you have an appointment?" Sigil asked before she said anything.
"Wha-"
"Do you have an appointment? Because I cannot speak to you further without an appointment."
"Bu-"
"Madame, please! Do you or do you not have an appointment to see me and my associate, because we are VERY busy men!"
"No bu-"
"I thought so! Now will you leave me and my associate alone?"
The woman was now confused as well, and Sigil took this opportunity to head up the stairs while they were busy trying to sort this out, motioning for Turnip to follow.
Turnip laughed once they were out of earshot, "Hah, you're really damn good at this, aren't you?"
"Oh, you pick up a few things when you have to deal with bureaucracy all the time. All it takes is a bit of confusion."
They reached the top of the stairs - a corridor with a window at the end, two office rooms to the left and right. A guard stood outside one - Mikkelson's, Turnip guessed.
The guard stood at about 6 feet, holding the standard AK-47 with an EOTech sight. Turnip spotted the private ranking on his shoulder, although the soldier did seem fairly confident in his guard duties. Turnip had some fun watching Sigil going to town with his spy abilities, and now he wanted a try.
"My turn." He whispered.
"Go ahead." Sigil said, waiting to see how similar he and his new friend were.
The guard spoke, "State your name, rank, and business. The General doesn't want to see anyone as of now unless it is of vital importance."
Confident enough, and he seems to know his stuff. Still a private, though. Goodness knows how that other guard made corporal... Maybe if I...
Turnip put on a mock drill-sergeant's voice, which naturally meant he was shouting.
All the time.
"ARE YOU QUESTIONING MY AUTHORITY, MAGGOT? IF I'M ALREADY UP HERE, DO YOU NOT THINK I HAVE IMPORTANT BUSINESS? LET MY ASSOCIATE AND I THROUGH, GODDAMMIT, BEFORE I HAVE TO TEAR OFF YOUR LEGS AND SHOVE 'EM DOWN YOUR GODDAMN THROAT!"
"He's not bluffing sir! He's trained in several martial arts! I've seen him kill a raging Tauros with his hands bound!" Sigil added.
Turnip noted his own success, with a little help from Sigil, of course. Well, there's shellshock if I've never seen it before.
"Oh, uh, no, sir! Just go on through, I'm sure it's important."
Turnip was barely repressing laughter, "Good." He walked opened the door, walking inside, "Now maybe you'll think twice before questioning the authority of a fellow private."
"Wait, what the hell?"
It was too late for the guard to stop them, though. The two were already inside, standing right in front of General Mikkelson's desk.[/QUOTE]