The city had its usual charm as Ittindi sat a couple meters away from Headquarters gate. He was hanging outside his Mana Car in his usual black tuxedo and top hat combo. Today’s cloth stripe would be gold with Lady Lumikki’s feather still tucked underneath the band. His punisher resting easily on his back metal randomly blinding citizens walking by. He had been assigned Gang duty today and had some partner that he was assessing along the way. Ittindi hated that part of the job more than anything else, how was one supposed to be able to assess a Knight from one mission. As a result, every knight he had graded played a caricature of their own character to try and impart their values in such a short span. With the dramaticism Ittindi didn’t bother to read anyone’s file beforehand as he was sure their entire life would be laid bare by the end of this mission.

He had heard that one of the Slyfer Snatchers cells had hired or inducted a dangerous mage. One who used some kind of magic to create and control sound waves. He had read the reports of the mage using his abilities to destroy buildings cause earthquakes along with various other crimes. He wondered if the person he was assessing was capable of handling it by themselves. When it came to sound mages Ittindi broke them down into two categories. Ones who magic you could see, and those you couldn’t hopefully this one would be the former not the latter. Either way it didn’t matter, Ittindi would be able to survive a decent amount of torture, and if the rookie was far enough away he might get to try out one of his new abilities.

He wouldn’t risk a person’s life for their assessment that wasn’t the kind of knight Ittindi was. Though the idea of having to safeguard someone did make Naki excited which was still something he had to consider. Usually, he was the one being protected, but the role had been shifting as of late, soon he’d be able to land more than free hits on his Young Master. He still hadn’t decided if he’d even use his magic during this assessment, still keeping it relatively secret from the rest of the Knights and his friends sans Lady Lumikki.

The street they were headed to, grove street was one of many tucked on the nastier side of town in the slums. While most of Era had been cleaned up with the merging of Collective Minds and the Rune Knights there were still areas that needed to be trimmed here and there. Whenever the person Ittindi waited for did show up he’d introduce himself promptly. He didn’t have an exact time so he assumed they didn’t either, typical military oversight.

” Greetings I’m Major Ittindi Amali, it’s my pleasure to meet you get in the car whenever you’re ready.”

Ittindi would return the salute admiring the private’s crispness and addressing him properly with no correction on first attempt. His standards had become low in his time in the northern part of Fiore.  She’d compliment his car as she sat down, Ittindi would of course answer back as he started the engine. The whir as it drained a minuscule amount of his mana to power it’s engines.

”This is a custom piece created in Talaz Lagar, I had a client of mine beg me to visit more often. They figured with this I wouldn’t have an excuse about train schedules, and I have to admit it has been one of the better gifts of my life. “

Ittindi would think back to his first time driving in the thing, his horror at the speed and ease of maneuvering. Ittindi feared the day they’d overtake carriages, for this device was truly a chariot of metal death. Fitting for my avatar…do be careful others are more fragile than we are.

Ittindi couldn’t tell if Naki was worried for his companion or mocking him in some odd way. He was curious where this woman was from, she hadn’t snuck in her own introduction. While refreshing it did catch Ittindi off guard, as he took them towards grove street.  Until the private mentioned that she was curious about the specifics of the mission. Ittindi knew it, they hadn’t bothered to brief her, the same thing had happened on his “assessment” part of the reason he hated the idea of doing one now.  Ittindi would pull over to the nearest spot he could find to park, once the car was stopped he’d look over at the private.

”It seems they forgot to brief you prior private. An important lesson, everyone assumes everything has been done correctly if you don’t ask questions no one’s the wiser. The mission is simple there is a mage who uses Sound magic working with a local gang. You are to dispatch them and I’m here to support and step in as needed, I’m also here to assess your strength. Occasionally we get Knights whose strength outweighs their rank I was one such Knight. Command is just interested in your trajectory, it’ll likely end up with you being promoted faster. Do you have any additional questions?”

Ittindi would wait to see if there were any other questions about their current request. He really should just ask first thing if they’d been briefed prior to departure. It was a common occurrence when it came to his assignments. The left hand never seemed to talk to the right, he wondered if that would change under General Saturn. He didn’t want to put to much hope, partially because he knew General Saturn and didn’t want it to affect their working relationship.

WC: 467/954

forgot to post the car:

Ittindi was surprised to hear the familiar clacking of an archive magic user. He had only encountered a few in passing in his time in the Rune Knights. Typically, they stayed trapped in administration, much to Ittindi’s dismay, their was a need for an overall tactical advisor during their larger battles. With how the void had been reacting as of late, the likelihood of an on the ground tactician grew.  Compliments for the car were well received, and Ittindi would be sure to inform the major who had gifted the car to him that there were many admirers of the vehicle. He often transported the man’s family around town in it, Ittindi had a feeling that their mutual trust and concern for safety was the main reason more than the family’s enjoyment.

”Known player, we don’t have much on him, besides the sound magic. Do you not get field work much?”

Normally Ittindi was more of a chatterbox, but during assessment periods he didn’t want to seem overly friendly. Especially with the opposite sex, he had been propositioned multiple times and he couldn’t in good faith ever give someone a recommendation after being approached during the examination period. If it were proven to be repeat behavior he wouldn’t want to be one on a long list, it had even happened with one of his newer male recruits. When he was getting closer to retirement age he’d been considering creating an internal affairs, hopefully nothing would inspire to rush that idea along.

”Would you prefer it if I don’t talk once we arrive at location? It should be in the next couple of minutes. Either way I want you to know that you are in a safe position even if it doesn’t feel that way. You are welcome to give up at any point in time just let it be known to me in some manner. Any fighting I do will be to help facilitate a better assessment of your abilities. We are in no way in competition.”

Ittindi would ask his usual question of a pupil, he didn’t expect much work for him to do. Though he was interested in seeing how an archive mage fought, if there were to many guards or if the mage appeared, Ittindi would handle the rest to give the private breathing space. Managing multiple opponents under stress wasn’t a talent Ittindi was interested in, it was teachable enough through practice. He’d have to consult with the Young Master about some kind of sparring match to work on their team fighting ability. Ittindi had been giving it thought, while the Rune Knights didn’t have the strongest members, especially after the former General Kons departure, but none of the other guild’s wrecking ball mage’s or warriors worked in tandem.

They were a couple blocks away from grove street when Ittindi decided to park his car outside a local delicatessen. Ittindi would smile at the store owner waving inside while pointing to his car, he’d be met with an apron thrown at lightning speed along with a heavy northern Florian accent mentioning needing help on Sunday. Ittindi would apply affirmatively while putting the apron in the trunk. Then he’d look back over at the private, while readjusting the punisher strapped to his back.

” Lead the way private…what was your name again I do believe I’ve forgotten.”

It wouldn’t take much walking to see that there were eyes on both as they walked towards grove street. Ittindi would pretend to be oblivious, while his innate senses of awakening were mapping every threat in their 20 meter vicinity. The intel was bad, or possibly it was a set up for either of the Rune Knights. Ittindi knew by the end of the day he’d have an answer even if it meant sending the private to another room for a bit.

WC: 642/1,596

Ittindi would listen to Private Adler’s responses to his questions, most chose to be observed in quiet. It suited Ittindi better that way, he could choose whatever vantage point he wished to observe the action. As they were starting to attract a crowd, Private Adler would signal Ittindi to fall back. He’d duck into an alleyway and climb to the top of the cloest building. Scaling up to the emergency fire escape proved to be a breeze with his awakened powers. Ittindi hadn’t gotten much practice with them besides the one fight with Colonel Tōga, he needed to stretch his legs more. He’d sigh as he reached the roof the worse part of the mission for him was coming. He’d have to low crawl to make sure that he wasn’t spotted at his vantage point. In all his years of climbing rooftops, he’d never come across one that was cleaned. All the disgusting grime of human existence being disturbed for the first time in decades by his magical suit low crawling through.

He managed to catch the tail end of her conversation. Though he’d note that she followed escalation protocols before engaging in any physical violence. Private Adler seemed quite capable in martial arts an odd mix for one who had archive magic. That’s when his preternatural senses would feel out danger, impulsively Ittindi would draw his dominator. It would signal to him that on the building’s roof across from him was a high-level criminal. It would be the first time he had authorized use of Lethal Eliminator mode. As his gun transformed into a true predator, he’d smile as the man peaked out to try to get a stealthy shot out Private Adler. It’d be the last thing he’d see as Ittindi fired his most powerful bullet it pierced straight through the man’s head as the body fell over the roof onto the street.

Looking over at Private Adler’s fight it looked to be wrapping up soon in her favor. Ittindi would start casually walking through the building instead of taking the fire escape. Lucky for him the access door wasn’t locked. Walking down an old wooden winding staircase wasn’t what Ittindi imagined when he had opened the door. Eventually he’d reach the ground floor walking out to observe how Private Adler handled clean up and negotiations if she left any criminals alive.

Ittindi normally didn’t kill, but when authorized by the council…well he wouldn’t take any chances when with a private. He’d gladly take someone else’s life in a heartbeat if it meant protecting citizens or Rune Knights lives. Regardless of whether Private Adler had finished up her battle, when Ittindi reached the ground floor he’d walk out and shout.

”Status Report and After action Briefing!”

WC:458/2,054

Ittindi would look around at the controlled destruction of Private Adler and note mentally that she had managed not to damage the buildings around her. Ittindi didn’t mention to others that was one of the larger categories he docked most special recruits on. Care for the environment was the utmost to keep up with civilian approval. Without that every crime became exponentially harder to solve, there were already some particularly in the poorer and rural areas of the world that had distrust of the Rune Knights and council in general.

”It went well private, you should be proud of your results.”

Ittindi would say to Private Adler while walking around and examining the different thugs, seeing where she had chosen to hit them the tightening of cuffs. She would continue giving her assessment while asking how his adventure went. No doubt hearing the gunshot across the roof.

”Ah that was nothing, there was a high infamy subject across the roof.  He had a scope trained in on you I’m sure you were equipped to handle it. I figured to not take chances in an assessment. No points were deducted since I took away your agency.”

He was a little disappointed to confirm what Private Adler had mentioned about there not being their prime subject. Intel not being perfect wasn’t to much of a surprise to Ittindi after being on the job for a year or so. With so many rotating variables the fact they could pinpoint the gang at all was good enough for him. He’d have to go get the car and the plastic wrap before taking them back to headquarters.

”Your suggestion is correct Private Adler we will take them back to base. You keep up your watch I’ll bring the car so we can transport them back personally.”

Ittindi would put the hood up on the car and then put down plastic wrap covering his seats, he’d still disinfect later. He made sure to lay down some in the trunk, there were breathing holes in the back, and if they  couldn’t squeeze everyone in the back one of the smaller criminals would have to make due with he trunk. Once they were on the road Ittindi would address Private Adler again.

”Great job today again Private, if you’re ever looking for assignment my unit is always looking for more. Though we do travel a lot so you’ll have to be prepared for that General Saturn wants us to be less Fiorecentric.”

Once they arrived at Headquarters, Ittindi would call for some guards, in a couple of minutes they’d take away their prisoners. Ittindi planned on turning in the reward for the quest to dispense to Private Adler before heading to get an interrogator, there was no rush he didn’t need to do it privately. Once he handed Private Adler her reward he’d salute her and say.

”You are dismissed Private Adler, continue on with the duties of your office.”

Then Ittindi would about face and walk off he wanted to go disinfect his car criminals typically had the worse hygiene habits.

-Exit