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| - 7/28/2011 Image:Doac jpg.JPG The streets of Crystal City are bustling with mechs of every shape and size taking advantage of the festival to socialize and relax. Booths selling energon goodies and fizzy drinks, as well as trinkets and offering games of chance line both sides of the block, and sparklings dart through the crowd shrieking with laughter. Murusa is one of the few that isn't relaxing. She stands among the festival goers, optics scanning for trouble. Alongside her are a couple other Crystal City guards. The Angels Commander holds a guard issued spear in one hand, almost looking like she's using it to lean on just slightly. Pathfinder, being rather reserved, also chooses to observe the festivities rather than participating herself. She slowly works her way through the crowd, focusing on ensuring that the celebration is safe and civil. The crowd is mostly good natured and fairly calm overall- there's occasional currents of unease when a large group of outsiders from either faction moves through an area- more so for the Decepticon visitors- but so far, everyone seems to be more or less on best behavior. The guards searching for and peace bonding weapons at the gate help, and turning away known troublemakers may cut down on the attendance and take for the merchants, but it has also meant for a quieter festival.... After looping around the area, Pathfinder winds up near the weapons checkpoint again, where she pauses near Murusa. "Thus far, I haven't seen anything suspicious," she reports. Murusa glances over to where the Hierophant had given his blessing then She comms to the other teams in the area as well as at the gate to check on things. A nod toward the report. "A good thing too. I was worried." A short, neon green figure wends its way through the crowd to a public console, patiently waiting her turn to use it as a group of revelers are currently seeing how many people they can cram inside the booth... "I'll make another round," Pathfinder advises before setting foot into the crowd once more. She spots a youth in her peripheral vision, who's trying to sneak behind a game booth. She reaches for him and pulls him aside to lecture him and then sends him on his way. Murusa peers toward the stage again, thinking she saw movement upon it. Hm. A nod to the other femme is given. For now all is peaceful despite the chattering of the locals as well as visitors going about their business. The green femme with search and rescue insignia on her shoulders gives Murusa a terse nod, her faceplates set in an expression that's less suited to a festival than one would expect, but continues on her way. Further down the road, there's a brief commotion as two cyclemechs get into a brief fistfight.... Pathfinder's attention turns toward the fistfight. She deftly navigates her way through the crowd toward them to intervene. "You will NOT fight here," she says authoritatively before reaching them. Murusa comms up, "Sector two, you got a fight going on." A nod is given to the green femme as she greets her. Then she notes the new femme heading over. "He started it! One of the two mechs yells. The other takes another swing at him, narrowly avoiding elbowing Pathfinder in the press of the crowd. Pathfinder reaches for the mechs' shoulders to force them apart. "Whichever one of you started this is irrelevant; the other ought not to have retaliated. I'm escorting both of you out," she asserts. Murusa watches on to see how the new femme handles the situation. The others in that sector show up to back her up, just in case the two continue to be an issue. "What do you want me to do with this one?" One of the other Crystal City guards who showed up to back up Pathfinder asked the smaller femme, holding onto the shoulders of one of the combatants as he kept him from re-engaging his foe.... "Release him at the city gates," Pathfinder instructs as she escorts the other one out. "If they insist on fighting for no reason, they can do it elsewhere." Murusa nods a bit, approving of the decision made. A good sign for a new guard to have such promise so soon. A cheer goes up from the crowd around the entrance to the temple proper where a small group of priests have emerged with a crackling, glowing ball of light, the symbolic center of this whole festival. It'll be carried around the wall walk on the top of the city walls by robots in their base modes- the original modes all transformers had possessed, long before the Quintessons gave them technology and scientists figured out how to allow individuals to change forms. The crowd parts to allow the priests and their burden to make their way to the steep steps that make their slow, twisting way up to the top of the city wall. Pathfinder returns a few minutes later, after releasing the mech she escorted. She finds a spot where she can watch the procession while monitoring the crowd. Murusa nods toward the femme when she returns, then glances around to make sure no one is getting in the priests' way as they carry the symbolic light through the throng. "Keep alert everyone." she comms to the entire guard. Pathfinder picks up the dicebag and rolls against her awareness. Pathfinder's roll succeeds! Murusa picks up the dicebag and rolls against her awareness. Murusa's roll succeeds! An almost insectoid mech, painted in grey, tan, and purple mech with an ugly smirk on his face lumbers towards the priests. There's a Decepticon sigil on his armor, and while he's not carrying any weapons, his arms are subtly reinforced- possibly he has some sort of hardware like pile drivers installed.... Pathfinder notices the Decepticon making a suspicious movement toward the procession, and quickly springs to action, slipping through one layer of crowd and moving towards the priests. , she quickly transmits to the other guards. Murusa notices a stride that seems a bit too cocky and overconfident to belong to normal festival goers. "Sector one, you may have trouble going toward the priests. Proceed to intercept tall gray, purple, and tan Decepticon." Pathfinder picks up the dicebag and rolls against 3+(her agility). Pathfinder's roll succeeds! Murusa picks up the dicebag and rolls against 1+(her agility). Murusa's roll succeeds! The 'Con shoves his way to the front of the crowd making way for the procession, shouldering aside the priests walking in a loose square around the light-carrier. "All Glory to the Empire!" He yells, shoving the priest who carries the lighted (decorative, but symbolic) orb. The orb slips from the priest's hands and goes flying. Pathfinder picks up the dicebag and rolls against her dexterity. Pathfinder's roll succeeds! Pathfinder makes a split-section decision, deciding it's best to protect the orb, while she has the opportunity to do so, and let the other guards tackle the instigator. Otherwise, the instigator wins and the celebration is ruined. With her agile legs, she leaps into the air and delicately catches the orb in her hands, then somersaults as she hits the ground. Murusa gasps as the orb goes flying into the air like that. She runs toward the situation, knowing she won't get there to save the orb but that Con is about to get a hurting he won't soon forget! The orb breaks open as Pathfinder catches it, showering her with a multitude of glowing particles that drift through the air around her as the wind blows them into intricate whorls in the air... Pathfinder props herself up and watches the light show proceeding around her, her lips parting in bewilderment. "Did...did I break the orb?", she asks nobody in particular. She bites her lower lip with anxiety, forgetting about the Decepticon for the moment. Murusa gives the Con a sharp jab with her fingers, driving them into his very armor and shattering it with Crystalocution. "That's for messing with the festival." she murmurs, then looks over to Pathfinder. "It broke on its own, though it was supposed to be up above where all could see it." she notes. "Oh my," the priest says. "No, it's alright- it's very fragile, it's meant to break open at the end," he explains to Pathfinder, eying the glowing particles that aren't dissipating around her. Pathfinder remains seated on the ground while the lights linger, seeing no need to stand up since that would only serve to further obscure what's left of the display from those in attendance. She does, however, briefly glance toward Murusa to ensure she's got the perpetrator under control. Murusa yanks the Con up by an arm, "This one is going into a cell until the overenergonization clears his systems." she notes to a couple other guards who come to take the mech off her hands. The priest bends down, offering Pathfinder a hand up. "More people will be able to see the glow if you stand up- improvise for us, here." He offers her a smile, but there’s something else curious in his optics as well... Pathfinder takes the priest's hand and moves to stand in the midst of the procession on his prompting. "Why is the light not dissipating?", she asks softly. "Should I ascend the steps?" Murusa watches the guards head off with the Con then turns to the priest and Pathfinder, "It's attracted to you. Don't question it. Up the stairs with you." "That's the ticket," The priest smiles at Murusa. "Why don't you and a squad of the guard escort her around the walls- the light will still make the rounds, and if it's a little different this year, well, people always talk." Pathfinder gives a silent nod to Murusa's prompting, and walks up the stairs to the parapet that defines the perimeter of the city, and turns to face the assembled crowd. She raises her arms as the lights continue to linger. Murusa inclines her head and gestures for Pathfinder to take the lead. She gestures to a guard to join her on escort duty. So as a group they march up to where all can see the lights as they sparkle around and off the femme. Once the guard catches up with her, Pathfinder lowers her arms and begins walking along the parapet to the delight of the crowd. She can't help but feel awkward about having subverted the priests' role, however. There's a hum as Pathfinder ascends the steps- people are well-aware that this wasn't exactly a planned event- but slowly, a cheer builds until people are stomping and clapping and the normal happy din of a large group celebrating makes conversation between the priest and Pathfinder impossible. Murusa keeps a respectful distance from the other femme, letting her be the focus of the celebrating crowd. She smiles to herself. Pathfinder continues her walk, pausing briefly at the first corner and then continuing onward. Murusa pauses to scan the crowd below. Not that she doesn't trust the guards to do their job, but this does give her a good vantage point. Pathfinder continues around to the second, third, and fourth corners, and finally approaches the top of the stairs. The priest claps Pathfinder on the shoulder as they reach the top of the stairs. "Thanks for being a good sport," He grins. "Sometimes things just happen and not the way you'd planned them to." Murusa chuckles in agreement. "Any suggestions how we disappoint the glow around her?" is asked by the older femme. Pathfinder nods silently to the priest, then continues to improvise. Stopping at the top of the stairs, she looks down and waves to the crowd before slowly descending the steps. "Well... it should dissipate on its own, given a bit of time." The priest says. He swipes at the glowing particles with a finger. They've mostly settled on Pathfinder's plating, and all he does is push it around. "Might take a bit of solvent to get them off if you need to stop glowing sooner, though." He smiles wryly. "That's why we use the orb instead of having someone enact the part of the first High Priest protecting the city, you know. No one wants to walk around glowing for an orn...." Murusa inclines her head to that. "Well guess we got an unexpected volunteer for the part then." she notes to the priest. "Perhaps we should think of doing it for the next time. See if someone wants to volunteer and be the focus of attention." Pathfinder reaches the bottom of the stairs. Having nowhere else to go, she heads back toward the entrance to the Temple of Primus, where the priests emerged earlier. She continues waving to the crowd. "Perhaps," The priest admits. "But there were a variety of reasons we stopped doing it, a number of them less pleasant." He walks with the two femmes down the steps. The crowd moves around them cheerfully, mechs offering Pathfinder a toast or a wave or a grin (and in one case, a shouted bonding proposal from a grinning young mech). Pathfinder reaches the bottom of the stairs. Having nowhere else to go, she heads back toward the entrance to the Temple of Primus, where the priests emerged earlier. She continues waving to the crowd. Unfortunately she has to ignore the young mech to keep some semblance of dignity for the procession. Murusa chuckles a bit at the proposal. "Oh to be young and foolish again." she murmurs softly. Following the femme to the Temple. She notes to her, "We can get you some solvent to remove the glow if you don't mind waiting inside?" The priests that were taking part in the procession have dispersed into the crowd to seek their own amusement- the procession around the walls being the last of the 'official' events for the night. Pathfinder takes a bow at the entrance of the temple before slipping into it. "Yes, please," she asides to Murusa, finally able to relax her composure. "I never wanted to be the center of attention," she confesses. Murusa puts a hand on the youth's shoulder, "You did fine. I'll be back shortly." she assures her then moves off to find some solvent. The priest who had been carrying the orb, who has accompanied them back to the doors of the temple smiles apologetically. "Well, thanks for being a good sport about it, then- I'm just glad it wasn't the Decepticon- I doubt he would have been so cooperative if we'd picked him up to carry him around the city walls!" "I don't mind having helped; I live to serve. But I did feel awkward. I'm only sorry that we didn't spot the perpetrator sooner," Pathfinder replies. "Parading the Decepticon around might have incited mockery by the crowd and retaliation by the Decepticons," she says solemnly. Murusa returns after a time with solvent and a few rags. "Here you go, use a light amount so you don't peel off your paint." she notes to the femme as she offers the items to her. "Thank you, Murusa," Pathfinder says as she accepts the items. "Did I get any of this on my back?", she thinks to ask. Murusa nods, "Yes you did." The particles quit glowing as soon as they're wiped off of Pathfinder's plating.
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