Cultural exchange rendezvous

Here he was, being a dumbass, listening to that fool St- ... Stephan ... Yeah, Stephan. Codename: Po Shangfeng AKA 'Asinine ignorant fool'. Foolish puny idiotic Amestrian dare blackmailing him out into the open? AFTER HE HAD SPENT THE LAST MONTHS ERASING EVERYTHING?

Damn St- ... STEPHAN trying to ruin everything. But still, an old friend deserved to be heard out ... his time in Drachma had changed him so much, that perhaps it would be good to meet with his friend and partner-in-arms under the conditions he requested. After all, although they once hated each other, that was in the past now. Sort of.

So, here he was, wearing what appeared to be a traditional Aerugese oni mask painted in black while wearing black military-grade body armor ... and stuff. Really, he hadn't bothered coming armed, since this was to be a friendly meeting, but given St- ... oh fuck it. PO and his nature, it wasn't a bad idea to be wearing some armor. The mask was just for decoration.

Now, this was some sort of hamlet. Well, a small town still in its agrarian ways, unmarred from the oncoming onslaught of technological force that would change the splendor and beauty of the land to further develop Drachma into a greater power. For now, this place drew some visitors and an air of peace ... but it was dark out, as of an hour ago, making the meeting point a cold and shrouded place.

Like the white snow came a white skinned blonde of blue eyes that speaks not of any innocence but death, deceit and destruction. The three D's that define "Po". He certainly was no Xingman despite his otherwise Xingese moniker he adopted. Unlike the true Xingman he would meet, for despite all of his detestable Xingness, the same kind that he fought for years, the same that killed Bethany, Nikolaus found himself tolerating this Xingman, as if he wasn't on the same level as those other vermins and parasites that infest the world. Their population vast like roaches, or so Nikolaus's mind inferred of them. Easing up his thoughts as he found himself disliking Cretans more for their wily ways.

Nikolaus or "Po" found himself in Drachma after having a double take his place in Central. It can get so bothersome to have a reputation, it makes sneaking around even nastier, but years of military training and discipline has made this a successful leave without none the wiser of his leave. He had a little business in this land of snow and death. Finding appreciation of his handiwork in Moscow, destroying many towns and destroying many historic buildings in Moscow. Ironic, he is back here again in this desolate place. They are enemies, therefore there is no compromise of sorts. Only with him and his partner, oddly finding himself on the opposite side.

Po wore a black body glove, with cargo pants over it, some tied in boots, and a proclaine Hannya mask he picked up in little Edotown in Central on the way to Drachma. Wearing thick fur coat of white over his black suit. It helped with camouflage and sneaking around, as well as a white ski mask that is under the Hannya mask. The mask was just for decoration.

The place marked on his map he looked at, he had no technology on him. Helps with keeping out of the radar, from both, Amestrian and Drachman alike. Using his superior navigation skills, he trekked across to find the town finally. It corresponded to his year old map. Ever since the Revolution, it was hard to get an updated map on the numerous changes of Drachma. They simply are going in some war gear industrial changes that is comparable to mobilization, no, IS mobilization. Though one thing for certain is that this village hasn't changed an inch and is shown exactly as the map portrays it.

"Last time I remember, you were short." A voice beckoned from behind Hei, standing on top of a house's rooftop like some sort of ninja shaded by the darkness of night. A demonic visage overlooked the 'Knight', "Long has it been, White Black... odd, I can't bring myself to call you a derogatory name... as if an alien feeling exists in my chest that made me feel fuzzy inside when I see you... perhaps friendship...? No wait, you still suck as a Peking duck fucker and that wasn't a fuzzy feeling. That was the boiling cauldron of contempt." He lied, "Now you may proceed to bray like an ass before we talk about business."

"Now you may proceed to bray like an ass before we talk about business."

Ah, Stuka. No matter how many months would pass, he would never change. Well, okay, he wouldn't change too much, at least. How long had it been? As of today, a week before his execution and existence being erased from Drachma's history books and records, it had been a little under a year since they last seen each other. Truly, a large span of time, considering they tried killing each other every other hour back in Central.

"No, no, no. That's not right. If you were going to insult me, then it would have been 'slit-eyed rice-planting Peking duck fucker of a Xingese camel mating a hoe' or something to that extent.

If this mask, a mask that has demonesque features upon it, were not obscuring his face, one would see the faint traces of a smile. Even though Stuka made plenty of provocative statements and occaisionally made his blood boil, he was still good company ... But, his last words were right, this wasn't a meeting between old friends, this was an important arrangement, and they didn't have all that long.

"How's Central Command holding up? Dealt with it's massive pile of de-Actually no," he pauses a moment, almost saying the forbidden word that just makes him nauseous to even think about, "D-don't tell me anything about Central, that can wait"

A pause, perhaps a whimsical reply from the Amestrian before the Xingese continued, hopefully to explain WHY he had called Stuka here. (And he will, assuming he didn't get interrupted).

"I needed to ask a favor of you, and this is one of those things you have to discuss in person, Stu- .... Po ..."

Like a vengeful Ratman, except without the vengeance, Nikolaus steps forward into the air, and drops down from the building to face Hei. Landing gracefully without buckling under the weight of landing to the snowy ground, and neither slippy. It was done with alacrity, in other words, he just landed pretty well and seems to be well in practice with his acrobatic aspects that comes from the human body. And so on and so forth. It was a good thing he didn't wear cotton but settled for some fur padding around his waterproof boots, lest any snow sneaks its way in and chills him out.

"No, no, no. That's not right. If you were going to insult me, then it would have been 'slit-eyed rice-planting Peking duck fucker of a Xingese camel mating a hoe' or something to that extent."

He silently smiled to himself, with a silent laugh that made him shake strangely to the observant viewer. The total obscurity didn't help, made him didn't appear completely to his onlooking counterpart, whom oddly REALLY was tall now that he sized him up at the same ground. Nikolaus remembers looking down on Hei all the time, metaphorically and literally... but now, just WHAT THE HECK DID HEI EAT TO HAVE A GROWTH SPROUT THIS LATE IN HIS AGE?!

"Yes yes, like the onlooking sparrow that spots a dragon breathing fire, he doesn't suggest how to devour it worse like the mighty hen that slays a mongoose." Nikolaus says in his idiom, having heard it once from a monstrous Xingwoman often referred to as a Hawk. Word goes she once destroyed an entire Triad singlehandedly with verbal tirades, to a point their hardass boss that doesn't buckle under insults... started questioning his own manhood after coming with encounters with the Xingwoman known as the Hawk.

"How's Central Command holding up? Dealt with it's massive pile of de-Actually no... D-don't tell me anything about Central, that can wait."

He rolls his eyes underneath his mask and mutters under his breath in a lighthearted jovial mood, "Pffft, tsundere."

"I needed to ask a favor of you, and this is one of those things you have to discuss in person, Stu- .... Po ..."

He cackled at the sounds of the word he'd NEVER EVER imagine Hei would ever say, starting to walk around him in a circle with his hands tied to his back in a contemplative stare at the Xingese.

"Did I hear the goose right? Or did you just say the word I'd NEVER EVER expect you to ask of me?" He paused, "Bah, we're way past this point anyways. Like the bird that asks of the worm, I say SPEAK! Let it be known what this favor thing it is you want of me. Or was it just the business thing you came here to conduct? I mean that's not even a favor, we could just do it willy nilly and the like."

Well, I guess there was a reason he never really did like Stuka, but alas. Not much he could do about it. This man was the only person who could accomplish what Hei needed, at least he was the only semi-sane person on the planet who WOULD do it if persuaded. Although, persuasion was the most difficult part about it.

"Look, Po. I need a couple of passports, doesn't matter the background really, so long as the rest of it is legit. In about a week from today, I'm going to be declared a traitor and then I will ... cease to exist, said to have been executed by the state.

After that, to carry out my mission for Lady Vanity, I need those passports to head to Xing. It's going to be a long-term mission, so it's not like I can go without ANY documents ... you'd be willing to help an old pal who's doing honest work for a Child of Sin?" he inquires with a straight expression. Except the expression was impassive simply because he had a fully-covering mask on, but he had bit of a slight smile underneath, as you could tell in his tone. Who knew what was going to happen now?

In his stomach churned a chuckle, he wanted to laugh actually, but couldn't find himself to do so. Something was wrong, why wasn't he laughing at Hei's suffering or the fact he is declared a traitor? After so long that he was seen as one, just why wasn't it enjoyed as much as before? Many questions prevailed over to Nikolaus like a chaotic temporal primordial soup of mysteries. It was truly baffling, but he had more important matters to attend to. Years of indoctrination weighed down on Nikolaus's mind, he was serious just as Hei was, with some of his unique... growth that came as an absence of an authority figure, as well as a freedom he has no idea what to do with.

"Heh... traitor, odd I don't find that humorous anymore. Really now, things have changed in the year we were apart." His hand reached for the folds of his gear, rummaging through the vast effects on him until he grasped a leathery-like mini book, pulling out a stack of them, passports and all from various nations. Confiscated ones too, all of them doctored for Hei and... a child, something that was odd, but given the photos he had, there were some he could produce, presenting them over to Hei, "Remember the instructions, you were in Amestris and you're heading back to your home village. At least when it comes to the Xingese passport. That's if you take a conventional route there via the train. You were detained by Security for a while out of confusion over your passport, but that was otherwise resolved, if asked on the reasons for your lengthy stay."

He shoved the passports to Hei's chest before reclining back his hands, devoid of any passports, "So the Envious One's information was right all along... there is an eighth Sin. Vanity. Tell me, in exchange for the passports and the arrangements, just just what is the identity of Vanity? I certainly haven't heard of her in my days as an agent, and as I know, there were only seven." He shook his head, "It troubles me to think traditional orders aren't kept... that the Sinful ones are working with RIOTE of all things, upstarts with juvenile goals. But unto the point! This 'thing', this Vanity, what is her ability?"

Ah, yes. That's right, he had told Niko he had a kid ... and to which the immediate response was a guffaw and incredulous statement about how he turned into a woman and thus a whore, to which Hei calmly explained the child was ... adopted. Well, not yet at least, but soon enough.

'Twas nice of him to hand him a passport that also included the child. After all, little Kean apparently liked to go about seeing the world, so having these would be useful since he couldn't find any documentation on the boy. So, the sets of passports were accepted with grace and gratitude. Really, the two of them had come along way to actually have a civil discourse ...

But, now there were the questions that Niko had ... odd questions, apparently, concerning the existence of Vanity. And, well RIOTE, apparently.

"No agent has ever known of her existence. She is a relatively new creation, compared to us ... but her existence was once sanctioned by the remnants, so she is a legitimate successor. She is ... a shrewd one, human-based, I believe.

By shrewd, I mean she rarely has to employ her power to get what she needs, so I cannot say what she is capable of. I DO know that she has successfully convinced Lust, Envy, Greed AND Gluttony to cooperate with her, and has won the adoration of the Drachman people. If anything, she's certainly crafty enough to not need her powers.

At which point the Xingman has finished shuffling the passports back into the compartments in his clothing, hidden away until later needed. He also withdraws what appeared to be metal flask, and resumes speaking while fiddling with the cap.

"RIOTE is proving to be a troublesome existence. Their order has permeated throughout Drachma, making it difficult to simply ... wipe them out. The leader Aurelius is also a cautious man, rarely leaving himself exposed ... and even then, if he were to die. If the head of the treacherous serpent were split, it would not stop. It certainly wouldn't be as dangerous, but it would not stop festering."

Another pause, now, as he takes a drink. This time listening to Niko, any other questions he may have had. After all, he was the only other remnant that he could speak to about all this ... so, hopefully he had more questions.

Hrm... so she never showed her powers eh? Hasn't she ever even been forced to a point towards using it? Many questions ran throughout Nikolaus's brain. Just what was her powers? Why another Sin? Certainly Father wasn't vain. He can be prideful, gluttonous, wrathful, envious, lustful, slothful, or in fact greedy. But how is it this feminine attribute arisen out of Father in particular? And how was it Nikolaus wasn't instructed over it? It certainly is troubling, but he kept quiet over it. He'll handle it cool like a fonzie, as he handles all things like that. Nodding towards whatever Hei said, as he took a couple of glances around. Not seeing any movements around. He has to be cautious in Drachma. These are enemy lands, and his presence is a high profile one were he even to be exposed.

"Try as she might, but that's fine. I'll find out her bad mojo Chi one way or another. She will be pushed to a corner where she will lash out... at that time, survivors will come to tell tales of it as all dead men not dead will come to be." He replies in a cool demeanor, punctual or so. Force of habit to tell Hei his plans, except usually he'd throw in an insult or two along the lines, "Peking duck." There we go, the insults there... yet it doesn't make sense in context AT ALL.

Then he cackled at the idea RIOTE is an organization fashioned after the remnants of the leftover Amestrian regime, truly smiling underneath, "Is that so? I have an interesting theory about that. RIOTE itself is backed by a vast serpent for all the coffers they boast to be. Slaying the filthy head will stop them from ever becoming a threat, as they rely on a force of personality, not a chain of command like the remnants. But what I am concerned about more is..." He points a finger up, "Just who was the one that paid their Drachman calamity in the first place and RIOTE? Who was it that bought their arms? The one that gave RIOTE the Yuan to carry out a war in a region so large? And under Czar Loki as well... he wasn't exactly hated for a rebellion this huge to mount up. And also, why hasn't Amestris stepped in to bail Czar Loki earlier? A large calamity couldn't have gone unnoticed just like that, and we had a pact with them that promised soldiery friendship."

He shakes his head, "I'll get to the bottom of this. Any extra information will help, like your position in the Drachman military, and any large scale movements on their part."

If Nikolaus could smoke, he'd do it right now. It's been sometime since the detoxification treatment he underwent. And he hates it that he can't have another smoke from his favorite smoking pipe.

"There is no 'bottom' to get to. They were funded by traitors within Czar Loki's regime ... myself included, though unknowingly at the time. Really RIOTE is a collection of treacherous snakes, Po. If you were to kill the main serpent, it would only get rid of just one of the dangerous creatures.

To remove their blight from history, we have to wipe them out thoroughly and utterly. Otherwise, with time, they will simply just return with a new head.

A pause, as he continues drinking ... when did he become the drinker between the two of them?

"Czar Loki's palace was attacked in November of last year, the sixteenth at zero-four-five-zero. RIOTE had managed to rally all the Moscovians into rebellion, primarily using Ivanka Kolokovsky, Sablya Lezvie, and myself to instill fear and angry into the people for their lousy conditions. After that, at zero-six-zero-zero, while the Czar's troops were busy occupied putting down the rebellion ... all communications in the Drachman military ceased. The whole network went down, courtesy of me as ordered by Lady Vanity. This effectively shut down the coordinated efforts of the Czar's guard, allowing Chaos, Mnemosyne and Aphrodite to enter the Kremlin, locate Loki and put a bullet into his head.

That is how Drachma fell in one night. The remnants of the old regime managed to send a message back Fort Briggs at One-Nine-Zero-Four, shortly before the public broadcast made by Vanity ... the declaration of the new Soviet Drachma."

And this was when he just dumped all that was left in his flask, a bit miffed at how everything had turned out. Still, Po wanted info, so he was handing this all over to him.

"And that's all there is to it ... Pass a message back to Spade, when you head back to Central too ... tell him that Drachma will march into Briggs in one week, but when they do, it will just divert attention away from their efforts in Xing.

Po, tell Spade that his brother has become a major target for RIOTE."

Nikolaus squats down to pick a rock the size of a woman's fist in his grip. Holding it outwards, a snowy white rock of some notable density, his fingers hugging it to its form like the jaw of a vast megaladon shark preparing to devour the entrails of a small barracuda caught in its turf. The maw that holds the stone helpless up in the air with an outstretched arm. The muscles tensed madly as the stone starts cracking, till it burst into pieces. Nikolaus flipped his hand and released the fragments to the ground of the crushed stone, shaking his hand of any dust-like rocks that held through, slapping it off his gloves.

"Like this rock... they will be CRUMBLED INTO DUST. Those RIOTE roaches need to be exterminated again and again till naught but the cinders of their bones remain. I will spread those ashes into the river Styx, let their memory become nothing more than the stain of blood upon my saber." He declared, squatting down again, only to spring up as to leap unto the roof of the house in one back-leap.

It didn't have any fancy acrobatics involving in flips, but merely got to the point of getting to the roof to his back in a ninja-esque manner. Landing on the slippery shed with admirable balance without slipping off, stretching out to point his hand at Hei. Smiling underneath his mask.

"Xing won't purr like a tamed cat, it will roar like a tiger and bite back. Drachma won't win over Xing ultimately, they will lose out. There is not enough soldiers to conquer Xing, they will wear themselves out thin and will exhaust themselves to death. That is a fact." He proclaims, "I know it best, for Xing is my playground. Their warriors aren't pushovers, and as for Drachma's best... Kuvalda..." He presents four fingers stretched out, "Are not a quarter's worth of Xing's best. Drachma's best is pathetic, even their so-called beloved sasquatch, Ivanka Kolokovsky... or so I learnt his name from Marismo. I didn't care about him at first to know who that machine-whore was, till the information presented itself anyways. Marismo was awfully cooperative to me, which was a pity. I was just so ready to use my interrogation techniques, but the need never arose."

He waves, "Auf Wiedersehn for now, fabled shadow-walker. I will meet you again, and will pass your message over to Spade. The next time we meet, will be under more... favorable conditions besides this God-awful cold."

With that, Nikolaus leaped back, and true to his stealthy nature, would scuffle away in a matter of moments in the shade of nature itself. His life force dimmed quickly and soon disappeared as he did. He was gone so swiftly. An envelope floated to Hei though meanwhile which concerns him as Nikolaus left. He honestly hated Xing, it boiled his blood and made him happy Drachma was invading them, but he hated RIOTE even more. It wasn't really even a compliment Nikolaus paid to Xing earlier, but more of an assessment. Though many names like Sablya and Ivanka were recognized, as well as how some of the Homunculi were confirmed to be with RIOTE. Aye, Marismo's report was accurate after all. It made recognizing them far easier than intended as well as to assess their... unique abilities and purposes.

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"The problem that you and our mutual friends face is not Drachma. Drachma is a sickly enfeebled nation right now, and will stay that way. What is troublesome are the RIOTE operatives who do the heavy lifting. They're a dangerous lot, really." was what he had to say in response to the drivel about Xing's superiority to Drachma. Well, drivel or no, it was true ... but irrelevant considering RIOTE would lead the charge into Xing, not Drachman forces.

Though conflating the two together was common, many would still contest the fact that 'Drachma' and 'RIOTE' are still separate entities. But alas, no one in the world really carries, since RIOTE runs the show in Drachma. As Stuka. Yeah, Stuka. Enough of the Po nonsense. As he was making his exit and bidding farewell, the Xingman had only a similar, and agreeable response to those words.

Farewell, Septim. We'll see each other soon enough, and in a much more temperate climate, I hope." was the words he managed to speak, just as Stuka turned and ran off. Well, that was that. The meeting was done, and what he needed was in his hands now. So, tonight would just be the last day of preparation.

The Xingman wanders about, surveying this ... idyllic hamlet. Such a peaceful, calm place ... a pity this was to be the site of much chaos in one week's time. Out of his hands, really. Nothing he could do, now. If this place was to be his chosen battleground by the powers that be, then he would obey diligently for all that he did would advance their agenda. A shame, though. So peaceful here, not a place suited for roaring flames and agonized cries.

'Ah well. What a pity' was the fleeting thought as he turned and made his own exit by his own means from this place.

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