2017-08-20: Escape to the West
- Log: Escape to the West
- Cast: Leon Albus, Elhaym van Houten, Lily Keil, Fei Fong Wong, Xantia
- Where: Guardian Temple
- Date: August 20, 2017
- Summary: Leon, Lily, Fei, and Elly emerge from the Guardian Temple. Ruby has left, but they encounter Xantia. They escape together -- and discover something about Elly as they do.
DG: A party led by Leon Albus is now entering The Battle Front. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - Artillery Bombardment *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The vicinity of the Guardian Temple has turned into a full-blown war zone. A rush of Kislevi forces and a counter-action by Aveh forces have resulted in an enormous fight between infantry, Gears, and support vehicles. In the distance, you can make out where the enormous Kislevi-controlled Golem is sending huge gouts of energy into the ranks of Aveh's forces. This is truly worrisome, but a more immediate concern presents itself. One side has chosen this moment to begin an artillery bombardment. Shells rain down near your position, huge fireballs and blasts of shrapnel hurtling at you, posing a severe threat as you try to make your way westward. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Suffer=============================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
LAST TIME: Leon, Lily, Fei, Elly, and Ruby ventured into the Guardian Temple. They found an exit out, after they spoke with the Guardian of Time. Dan Dairam cured Lily of her Malevolence... and Elly narrowly avoided tragedy.
Now, potentially four of the five of them -- Ruby having parted ways, after being sure everyone was fine -- rise to where the tunnel leads to another, smaller exit. Leon pauses on the stairwell in that tunnel, because he feels the very ground shake under his feet. His eyes narrow for a moment, and then he swallows, and starts up faster. His good mood remains -- but it is pushed aside, to focus.
"What in the..."
First, he sees Kislevi soldiers run by. In the distance, he sees something else: a huge Golem, armored white and blue plates, as it rises over the battlefield and sends a blast of energy down into Aveh's ranks. His eyes stay wide, as he rushes to think of it. He rushes to make sense of it -- and then he focuses on something else, and looks over his shoulder. He sees a war zone.
He sees an opportunity to not fight the entirety of Aveh's army.
Argent Divider is drawn, with a flourish. "Lily! Fei, Elly! I don't know what's happening--but the only way out of this is through them, while they're distracted. Knowing what we do, I don't mean to wait. Follow after me, grab any Drifter you can, and break through!"
The former Captain of the Black Wolves sprints forward -- and his climbing rope swings out. The first shell explodes to his left, the second to his right. The shockwaves rattle him, but his rope wraps around the arm of a Gear passing by. He lifts into the air, then shoots right over it, and comes plummeting down towards the ground.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Climbing Rope toward his party's challenge, Artillery Bombardment.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
There is light at the end of the tunnel. After a brief farewell to Ruby, Elly wonders aloud, "So she's going to grow up to be a dragon...?" The brief check from Lily post-Guardianery revealed nothing new, though Elly did take off her boots during the intermediate period between then and now.
AND NOW: they emerge into an active warzone. The sight of Kislev uniforms means that the small smile growing on Elly's face like a hopeful shoot freezes in place, and Leon's sword comes out. Elly looks towards Fei then and says -
"There's not much warning of when the shells will land, so you need to keep moving! Remember that they're going to be shelling from the northwest, where the battle line is - shelter facing that way will give you some cover from shell fragments. Come on!!"
AND THEN she breaks into a run, unfortunately lagging behind Leon and his Gear-meownting capacity. What she can do is try to move with motions in the landscape and throw herself face-first behind the south/east side of minor ridges when a particularly big fire mission is going on.
That's right, Fei: It's a motion minigame. Don't get hit by artillery! And remember: War is bad!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Sassy Boots toward her party's challenge, Artillery Bombardment.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Thanks to Elly and her Rosesol, Lily only needed a few more minutes to gear herself up to leave the Temple. Her fatigue kept at bay, Lily checked out the entire group for lingering injuries that would prevent them from making it out of here, though she doesn't have time for full examinations.
She's very good at doing this quickly, if none of them have ever dealt with battlefield medicine much.
Now, jacket back on and satchel readied, Lily pauses after Leon, feeling the same shaking of the ground. She follows, and stares in surprise at what she sees. Kislevi soldiers and--
Her blood chills for a half instant as it pumps through her heart. They don't have one of these themselves, but that Golem--
"...Right," Lily says to Leon, sliding her distractions away as best she can under his directions. "No matter what!" the second-in-command of the Black Wolves directs, "Keep moving! You and whoever you find are better off running even if you're injured!"
And so she starts forward, hearing Elly's advice and finding herself impressed. She looks to the northwest, where that shelling is, and keeps it in mind. She tries to move with the landscape, but she isn't as fast as most of the others...
So she makes her own cover as she needs to, thick walls of conjured ice between her and shrapnel.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Artillery Bombardment.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
LAST TIME ON, YOU REALLY DON'T GET ALONG WITH GODS DO YOU, FEI FONG WONG
Oh wait Leon already handled it. Well, you know, it could be worse. Sometimes emotional spikes nearly hit the breaking point and then fall back down quickly. On the other hand, he is now pretty damn certain about his feelings for Elly (as if it wasn't already pretty obvious).
Fei bids goodbye to Ruby and wishes her the best. He feels a little lonelier as her presence fades. Only a little, but it's noticeable.
"You know," Fei asides to Leon. "There's something about us finding a temple that houses actual gods and even before anybody goes inside, a war breaking out over it." He is stable, but not exactly thrilled about rushing through a war. But it is an opportunity, so he starts running. He ends up jumping on top of an Aveh soldier's head and onto a Kislevi's soldier's head who turn around in confusion and then promptly shoot each other in the face as Fei leaps for cover.
"Keep moving... right... It's not Lahan, you're not in Lahan, you're not in Lahan..." Fei keeps muttering to himself because yes, having a battle between Aveh and Kislev forces right over his head IS a bit familiar and PTSD flashback inducing, but his heart is still lightened, so it mostly comes out through these mutterings rather than full on psychosis.
War is bad!
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Artillery Bombardment.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Artillery fire is what originally forced a retreat into the temple. One would think that after all that time, they'd have gotten bored of it. But nope. By the time Xantia emerged, the situation was still the same. Well, not really, for one thing a whole new army got involved with things. But it doesn't look any different to Xantia. Destruction is still raining from the heavens, and if anything it's worse than before. At this point, what does it even matter who is responsible for what anymore?
Also no different from before: Xantia managing to get herself seperated from the people she was following. Again, through her own fault, lingering behind out of concern for another. She saw Fei on the way here. But she didn't see him go inside the temple, nor did she see him anywhere in there. It made sense to look around outside, make sure he wasn't still out there somewhere.
It made sense to her, anyway. Anyone else might have considered in advance that this battlefield is way to chaotic to find anything or anyone. By the time Xantia gets around to considering this, she's already gotten herself hopelessly lost in the melee. Until...
"...Fei?" She's almost certain she saw someone wearing clothing that resembles Fei's in the distance, just now. She doesn't hesitate a moment, rushing towards the group that figure is a part of as fast as she can, calling out, "FEEEEEEI!"
Her single-minded focus on catching up is perhaps not the best-suited towards a battlefield where things are exploding all around her, but well. Her unwise decisions did lead to her actually finding Fei, against all odds. She'll never learn sensible decision-making at this rate!
DG: Xantia has contributed a Agility Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Artillery Bombardment.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - Artillery Bombardment *>===================== |Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Agility |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The vicinity of the Guardian Temple has turned into a full-blown war zone. A rush of Kislevi forces and a counter-action by Aveh forces have resulted in an enormous fight between infantry, Gears, and support vehicles. In the distance, you can make out where the enormous Kislevi-controlled Golem is sending huge gouts of energy into the ranks of Aveh's forces. This is truly worrisome, but a more immediate concern presents itself. One side has chosen this moment to begin an artillery bombardment. Shells rain down near your position, huge fireballs and blasts of shrapnel hurtling at you, posing a severe threat as you try to make your way westward. =Dungeon Conditions: Slow, Suffer=============================================
========================<* The Battle Front - Round 1 *>======================== ======================< Results - Artillery Bombardment >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 0 --(9)--> 9 Pass Climbing Rope 2 Agility Effects: Quicken -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 0 --(14)--> 14 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 0 --(9)--> 9 Pass Sassy Boots 2 Agility Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 0 --(12)--> 12 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 0 --(13)--> 13 Fail Rush 0 Agility Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 0 --(10)--> 10 Fail Conditions: Slow(2)|Suffer Effects: Quicken(1)|Stalwart(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Fei Fong Wong has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Battle Front *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Garlyle Commando *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Aveh's ally in the war has not left it out. As you make your way across the battlefield, a series of fireballs comes raining dwon from above. You find yourself caught in a pincer attack by a team of Garlyle commandos. Their black uniforms are crisp -- and their aim is sharp, as gunfire peppers down around you. Several leap in after, short swords drawn, and ready to strike you down! =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Artillery fire is raining down, and Leon just manages to crest around an explosion. He drops down, tugs his rope off the Gear's arm before the pilot notices. He slams into the ground, looking back at them, until a voice cuts across the battlefield--
'FEEEEEEI!'
"Xantia," he says, with a wince. He shakes his head quickly, before he calls out. "Xantia! With us! We're moving towards the west! Keep an eye out for whatever's here! We--" He grimaces, as another explosion erupts and shakes the ground under his feet. He winces, and then he looks to Lily and Elly both. They both had good advice.
But that is a lot of shells. He may also be looking back too long to be wise.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong's head jerks as Xantia calls out his name. He flinches, as if expecting to be tackled, but it doesn't come. Xantia IS rushing out towards them, though, and Fei gestures towards her, "Over here! We can't stay still long, or they'll be on us any moment!"
But as Xantia gets close, suddenly a man in Garyle uniform sees her heading towards the Black Wolves.
"Those are the Black Wolves--and Yggdrasil Pirates!!" The squad leader shouts. "Come on! They were inside the temple! We have orders to secure anybody leaving the temple!"
And suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere in the haze, three Garlyle Commandos drop down on Xantia and Fei, whereas two approach from the other side, charging with their blades! "Get them! Don't let them escape in the confusion!"
Fei backs up and weaves away from several short sword swipes before he clenches his RPS Badge in his hand.
"...Still stuck...but we'll persevere!"
He dives in with fists wailing--
--but that ESCAPE timer is ticking down ever more quickly. How many battles like this can you afford to slow you down?
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, Garlyle Commando.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly looks towards Xantia. She is not at all dubious of her right now. Xantia, whatever her deal is, is someone Fei knows and trusts and that is kind of important on the battlefield, even if your goal is to leave that battlefield.
What is her deal? Elly has no idea. Maybe she's related to Fei. She doesn't look much like Fei, Elly thinks, but she also has no room to judge people on disparate appearances. See? There's that man in the Garlyle unit, judging them by appearances.
Fei wades into them and Elly comes to a halt. She doesn't have her battle rod with her - it's sitting in a cheap flophouse room with a reinforced door lock back in that academy village - and so she can only rely on her magical abilities.
Fortunately, that's a pretty strong trunk to lean on.
Remember that trick Elly debuted against Siegfried? The 2cm square cube of superheated air erupting into a plasma explosion? Elly turns her head to look towards the squad, her head tilting back as she puts her focus in the middle of them. "Hahh--"
FWSTHWHOM! They may think an artillery shell hit them by mistake.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Garlyle Commando.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily has... success, in that she doesn't explode, but a shell comes down close enough to launch her from her feet even with her hurried barrier, sending her rolling across the battlefield again as she hears dimly a voice--
"You--" Lily looks up to Xantia as she drags herself to her feet and lets Leon field the advice, standing and running again, keeping herself as small a target as she's able. But they get closer... and there's the mention of the Black Wolves.
Lily narrows her eyes at the Garlyle soldiers, two of which round on her immediately to swing their weapons. She blocks one with a shield of ice and the other bites into her side before she grits her teeth.
"You'll need more than this to stop the Wolves," she says, and extends her other hand towards Leon, a pure black aura springing up around her as violet extends from her hand in a circle--before Leon's weapon gleams with shadow, his movements sharper and faster.
She has not pulled this trick on him before. "Leon! Let's go!"
Lily shoulder-checks a soldier to try to push through towards the Captain.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Garlyle Commando.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Like hell!" Leon shouts, when he sees the Garlyle soldier calling out at him. He steps to the side, one gunshot narrowly missing him, and then he swings Argent Divider out. Light crackles up the length of the blade, even as he feels the shake and shudder of the air when Elly does that powerful spell. It almost throws him off.
But only almost.
He slides the climbing rope back into his coat, then draws out his flare gun. The gun is turned, leveled up at the Garlyle commandos firing down at them from on high. The flare explodes in their midst, a bright flash of white phosphorous that might blind them. What they may not expect, though, is how fast he moves as shadow infuses his weapon. Argent Divider's blade slashes up into the man that Lily pushed into--
--and then he leaps, high, and moves too fast to quite follow. As the flare fades, Leon snaps Argent Divider -- the blade folds in, the shotgun barrels out -- and shoots off a few quick gunshots down into the ranks of those attacking them.
"Keep moving!" he calls, as he lands.
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Flare Gun toward his party's challenge, Garlyle Commando.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia's mad dash goes about as well as expected. An explosion goes off a little bit too close to her position and violently blows her off her feet. The tumble she takes instinctively goes into a roll, but the uneven ground causes that to not entirely go as planned either, leading to an awkward landing on her side. The damage is kept to some scrapes on the leg she landed on, but this is not a great position to be in right now. She realizes that much, scrambling to get up in short order. She's not about to lose sight of Fei now that she's finally found him again!
Luckily, she's managed to draw the group's attention. Unluckily, she's also managed to draw attention from a different group. She has no idea who they are, but that doesn't really matter. They don't look friendly, and are getting in between her and the others, so it's obvious what must be done.
"Out of the way!!" In a flash, Xantia's fist flies out, sending the initial commando trying to restrain her flying violently aside. More approach, brandishing blades, so she responds in kind, readying her bracer. With a threatening hum, pure energy coalesces into a red energy blade. This should be more than a match for swords made of metal.
Whether Xantia is a match for these trained soldiers could be another matter, but one way or another, she intends to push through and form up with her friends. Fei, Lily, Leon, and... "...Elly?" The last time she saw Elly was back in Adlehyde, and she sure didn't strike the figure of a Drifter, or anyone else you'd expect to find in the middle of a war zone. Not that she has time, or likely the inclination to worry about that much.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Garlyle Commando.
============================<* The Battle Front *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Garlyle Commando *>====================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Aveh's ally in the war has not left it out. As you make your way across the battlefield, a series of fireballs comes raining dwon from above. You find yourself caught in a pincer attack by a team of Garlyle commandos. Their black uniforms are crisp -- and their aim is sharp, as gunfire peppers down around you. Several leap in after, short swords drawn, and ready to strike you down! =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Injure============================================
=======================<* The Battle Front - Round 2 *>======================= ========================< Results - Garlyle Commando >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 9 --(12)--> 21 Pass Flare Gun 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 14 --(15)--> 29 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 9 --(12)--> 21 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 12 --(8)--> 20 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 13 --(16)--> 29 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 10 --(10)--> 20 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Slow(1)|Suffer|Wound(2) Effects: ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei and Xantia use KUNG FU on the soldiers, but Fei at least is unfamiliar with fighting Garlyle troops and they manage to get a few good swipes on him as he stumbles back. "You know Elly?" Fei hisses as he steps backwards. Luckily Xantia's ability to cut through swords seems to help until--
--the Commandos draw gunsmoke pistols and start firing upon them with those. "Shit...! We're getting pinned down!"
Indeed, the Garlyle soldiers somehow manage to fair better against Elly's technique than Siegfried did, ducking down and treating it as an artillery shell keeps them from being exploded to bits. Leon and Lily are able to work together to cut down another soldier but it's not working! "Hank! You demons!" A soldier shouts and they're about to open fire again--!!
Luckily, the Yggdrasill sees Leon's flare gun in all the commotion. They fire a Bart Missile and it erupts nearby, kicking up sand and creating a haze that makes it difficult to see around you.
Fei grabs at Xantia's hand. "We have to go!" He rushes off to catch up with the others and avoid getting stuck in the quagmire! That was a close one!
DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - A Malevolent Soldier *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you approach, you find a place where the fighting has stopped. A dozen soldiers lay dead. One, however, still stands. She staggers, as though she may be wounded... and then she turns her head to look at you. If you can see spiritual power, you see the purple, cloying light of Malevolence roiling off her. Then, she shrieks, and her form distends into that of a lizardman's. She lopes at you, rushing on all fours across the battle -- and leaps, swinging a fist so hard it defies logic. The battle is joined! =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Overwhelm=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly is currently wearing a dark brown nylon singlet and tights, along with some kind of thigh-strapped pouch and a harried expression. She gives Xantia a brief smile, but then they all keep moving forwards.
Fei grasps at Xantia's hand, and Elly feels -- something? She isn't sure what, but it wouldn't be jealousy if she had time to sit down and think about it. Worry, would be more accurate, but as they move onwards under cover of Bart Missile, there is a momentary lull in the line.
Why? Maybe they're at a subdued sector, Elly thinks. "If this continues, we should," she begins, before they find out just what has happened.
A scrape of a foxhole is now full of blood, like a rain had come, because there are three people in there dead, and perhaps a fourth but you can't quite be sure. Several others lay there, faces in grisly friezes. They were not shot.
There's a survivor there, apparently. Crouching in the middle. Leon might know shell shock when he sees it, but Elly says, "That woman - what's wrong - oh no!"
She keeps getting interrupted. The woman looks up, her helmet off, and stares at Elly. She grins, which is normal, and then ripples, body contorting with unnatural velocity and force into a lizardlike hominid form. She surges forwards towards Elly, uniform in tatters as she swings a single scaled fist towards the redheaded and completely trustworthy woman.
Elly answers it with a sharp and sudden kick into the wrist, sending the nascent Hellion staggering if not actually injured. (If anything, surprised.)
"It's Malevolence!" Elly cries.
NLOAD
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly is currently wearing a dark brown nylon singlet and tights, along with some kind of thigh-strapped pouch and a harried expression. She gives Xantia a brief smile, but then they all keep moving forwards.
Fei grasps at Xantia's hand, and Elly feels -- something? She isn't sure what, but it wouldn't be jealousy if she had time to sit down and think about it. Worry, would be more accurate, but as they move onwards under cover of Bart Missile, there is a momentary lull in the line.
Why? Maybe they're at a subdued sector, Elly thinks. "If this continues, we should," she begins, before they find out just what has happened.
A scrape of a foxhole is now full of blood, like a rain had come, because there are three people in there dead, and perhaps a fourth but you can't quite be sure. Several others lay there, faces in grisly friezes. They were not shot.
There's a survivor there, apparently. Crouching in the middle. Leon might know shell shock when he sees it, but Elly says, "That woman - what's wrong - oh no!"
She keeps getting interrupted. The woman looks up, her helmet off, and stares at Elly. She grins, which is normal, and then ripples, body contorting with unnatural velocity and force into a lizardlike hominid form. She surges forwards towards Elly, uniform in tatters as she swings a single scaled fist towards the redheaded and completely trustworthy woman.
Elly answers it with a sharp and sudden kick into the wrist, sending the nascent Hellion staggering if not actually injured. (If anything, surprised.)
"It's Malevolence!" Elly cries.
UNLOAD
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Malevolent Soldier.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily would rather stop and study Elly's spell than fight these men and women. Lily does not do that; Lily fights, because they have things they have to do, and living counts among them.
Instead she watches a moment as she sees Leon moving, and even if she hasn't used that particular technique herself they know each other so well already that they can work together. But... There are more gunshots.
Leon calls for them tokeep moving, and Lily watches Xantia and Elly seem to know one another, but... "Don't panic!" Lily says to Fei. They cut down 'Hank' it seems, but suddenly--Another explosion. Lily picks herself up again from where she'd fallen and narrows her eyes. She moves swiftly with the rest. Her expression is... not quite blank, but a mask of battle readiness.
Blood; much blood. But Lily feels something before she sees the blood, her lips press together and she slows her breathing to try not to smell this rancid awfulness. Elly asks, and Lily knows shell shock but she also knows--
"Get back!"
She shivers as the woman shifts, finally seeing it for herself, and pulls her weapon from her shoulder. Elly cries out, but Lily...
"I know." Lily starts firing.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Malevolent Soldier.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"That's--"
Can that just happen? Leon isn't sure. He doesn't know if Malevolence often just takes hold of someone out in the 'wild.' He understands little about it -- knew nothing, really, until he was confronted with it earlier. Now, it registers as much more of a threat. It almost took Lily away from him. When the woman looks at them with a grin, then her body ripples without convulsing, he feels the uncertainty and anger from before return.
Simple expedience directs him, in the end, as it comes rushing in. Elly's kick slides in, and he swings his flare gun up. He fires at the Hellion's face to try to knock it backward, then lunges forward.
With a snap of his wrist, Argent Divider folds up -- and the long, slender sword blade comes out. The weapon flashes out, and he stabs sword for the woman's chest with a sharp, sudden motion.
"Not today!" he shouts at her. "Xantia, Fei, be careful! She's strong!"
Is this what would have happened to Lily?
DG: Leon Albus has used his Tool Flare Gun toward his party's challenge, A Malevolent Soldier.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia's energy blade manages to keep the commandos from using their melee attacks against her, but all this really accomplishes is that they switch to their ranged weaponry, which she is less well-equipped to handle. The ARM deactivates as she starts to panic, focusing on fleeing the hail of bullets rather than continue on the attack. Until a missile explodes nearby, handily solving the immediate problem... but also knocking Xantia off her feet yet again, falling backwards this time.
"Ow! I landed on my hammer..." she complains. It might beg the question why she wasn't using the tool strapped to her back, but the answer is simple: it's heavy to the point of being too unwieldy to use in combat. She's only carrying it because she was expecting a fun adventure in a previously unexplored temple today. Not... whatever all this is.
Accepting Fei's help in getting back to her feet, she holds his hand tightly and keeps her head down as they move on and form up with the group as quickly as possible. Which finally gives her a very brief opening to smile at everyone. "I'm so glad I found you!" Even in all of this mess, she remains full of cheer. Her leg and back must be hurting, but it doesn't matter, not when she's among friends again. There's a bit of dried blood in her hair and on the side of her head as well, smeared from attempts to wipe it off - a head injury she took at an earlier point in time.
The next obstacle announces itself in short order. Not something any of them would have likely expected. Xantia doesn't see the signs of Malevolence, but Elly confirms it, and seeing that transformation... with what she knows, she is able to draw the correct conclusion. "Is... is that a Hellion? But then...!" Then they'd need Sorey, or someone like him. Otherwise they can't save them.
There isn't much choice when the newly formed Lizardman attacks. This may ultimately be a victim, but in an 'us or them' situation, Xantia doesn't hesitate in bringing her full strength to bear, not holding back in the single, powerful punch she throws towards the woman once in range.
DG: Xantia has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Malevolent Soldier.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong is more concerned with making sure everybody gets out than anything else right now. He lets go once the haze of dust dissipitates if Xantia doesn't pull away on her own. He stalls as he sees a woman who seems to be hurt. He knows he should help fight it, but Malevolence of that strength--it makes him really hesitant to approach it. Can his fists even do enough to stop something like this? He sees Elly under assault and rage and fear fill his heart.
He also feels a warmth growing in his pack. He reaches inside it and pulls out the tablet. It nearly burns his hand. He feels something. Knight of Fire
Fei slowly raises the medium, uncertainly, and then remembering his very interactions with the Guardian, raises it higher. "Hey!!" He demands. "You Guardians gave these to us, right?! Well come on! Lend us a hand already! At this rate we're going to be in front of a firing squad!"
And the medium reacts. It glows a bright hot red and suddenly a giant familiar figure bursts out into the sands: The Guardian of Fire, Moor Gault! It is as before, a giant burning phoenix. It fans out its fiery wings and lets out a loud screech that startles combatans across the field. More quietly, it emits an amused sensation empathically through Fei as it swoops through the air and comes crashing down, right against the Hellion.
Fei is too stunned to be of assistance himself but he rushes to catch back up to Elly. "Are you okay?" Guess the Guardians ARE helping, Fei reflects to himself grimly.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool RPS Badge toward his party's challenge, A Malevolent Soldier.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= =====================<* CHALLENGE - A Malevolent Soldier *>===================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you approach, you find a place where the fighting has stopped. A dozen soldiers lay dead. One, however, still stands. She staggers, as though she may be wounded... and then she turns her head to look at you. If you can see spiritual power, you see the purple, cloying light of Malevolence roiling off her. Then, she shrieks, and her form distends into that of a lizardman's. She lopes at you, rushing on all fours across the battle -- and leaps, swinging a fist so hard it defies logic. The battle is joined! =Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Overwhelm=========================================
========================<* The Battle Front - Round 3 *>======================== =======================< Results - A Malevolent Soldier >======================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 21 --(11)--> 32 Pass Flare Gun 3 Combat Effects: Fanfare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 29 --(17)--> 46 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 21 --(15)--> 36 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 20 --(8)--> 28 Pass RPS Badge 3 Combat Effects: Rally -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 29 --(16)--> 45 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Injure(1)|Overwhelm|Suffer|Wound(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly has to leap back in surprise when Lily uses - a gun!? Is that the solution to crime?! The lizardwoman hisses, her scaly hide absorbing bullets as she looks at the loud noise, managing to hiss out something near 'Traitor!' before surging forwards - before she gets shot in the face with a flare!
That's really unpleasant. It smells like a desert cookout for a moment, even as Xantia closes to administer a brutal jaw-crushing punch. This Hellion, lizardwoman, whatever it - she - may be is not having a good day at this point. The manifestation of Moor Gault surges downwards, and the lizard falls.
That desert-cookout smell gets stronger.
"I'm fine," Elly tells Fei, blinking a few times. She looks to Xantia and Lily then, nodding once and saying - "I guess we should make up for lost time..." She does limp slightly as she goes, the kick, perhaps, having aggravated a previously under control muscle pull.
That or her shoe isn't fitting quite right any more.
DG: Xantia has drawn a new Challenge.
============================<* The Battle Front *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Artillery Flare *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- As you make your way westward, you find an Aveh soldier who has been shot dead. He has a pair of large tubes, which have the word "ARTILLERY" printed on the side. These tubes hold flares, used to signal artillery emplacements and indicate where they should open fire. Careful use of these could cause Aveh's artillery to hit a point you desire -- to clear the way, perhaps. Of course, doing so improperly could draw fire... or attention from Aveh's soldiers. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Injure, Stupify================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia didn't flinch at anything that was brought to bear against the lizardwoman, right up until that started to include a huge fire bird out of nowhere! Is that how a Guardian's blessing works? She stares at Fei for a long moment after that, until her smile returns. "That was amazing, Fei!"
Feeling like things are looking up, she is eager to move on. A bit overeager, as - injuries or not - she pulls a bit ahead of the group, urging them, "Come on! They stopped firing, we can move through here now!" Of course there's plenty of firing still going on, she presumably just meant the immediate area.
Not looking where she's going too well, she stumbles over the extended leg of one of the many corpses. She doesn't fall, but it does cause her to look back and frown at the offending individual, dead or not. Hmmm, what's that he's holding?
When the others catch up, Xantia is leafing through her trusty Guide to Dungeoneering for some sort of clue on what she's just literally stumbled onto. Looking up from the hefty tome, she announces, "It says here that there's nothing like war to make a situation go down the tubes. Is it talking about those tubes?"
Yeah, she's probably not going to be a lot of help here.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Guide to Dungeoneering toward her party's challenge, Artillery Flare.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Is it what would have happened to Lily? Lily could answer that question, maybe. But she doesn't. She barely says anything, still not wanting to even breathe in the face of the Hellion. But she'll fire on her.
Lily wonders for a moment what kind of traitor the creature that was once a soldier means. She puts that thought out of her mind with another shot. She doesn't even want to use her magic here.
But the Guardian shocks her, feels a little better, even if Lily won't feel better until they're away from here, obviously unsettled. "Right. Let's move quickly," she breathes, shaking her head and slinging her weapon over her shoulder. So they move. There's more fire, but as they get farther from where they were Lily starts to relax very slightly, to look a little bit less pale. The bodies don't even register for her.
But what Xantia says... Tubes. "That's..." Lily sighs. "No, that's not the kind of tubes, but, this could be useful. Leon!" Lily pulls her satchel from her bag, "I'll look up the last set of signals we were able to draw; the last few should give us an idea of what they might be now."
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Kislev Field Manual toward her party's challenge, Artillery Flare.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon has never seen the power of the Guardians deployed before. He stares, as the fire of Moor Gault surges through it. He lets out a breath, sword ripped back, and then he looks at Elly. He nods, once, to her. "We should. We can't fall behind. Keep your head on, and we'll get out of here. We can't let ourselves panic."
He keeps walking, though he is surprised when Xantia forges ahead -- frowning a little, even. But they don't quite find trouble. They find, instead,, and opportunity. He looks down at the corpse -- and then at the tubes. "Those... are artillery flares--yes. We could position them."
He looks at Lily. "Then we could call down a strike, and clear some of the way ahead for us. Let's do it, Lieutenant."
He takes a few of the tubes, beginning to place them. After all, they also need to be where they can be seen!
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Artillery Flare.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Yeah, I think that drew some attention," Fei says mildly. "But at the same time, maybe it's a bit discouraging too." The tablet grows cool in his hands and Fei returns it to his pack. This might be a little more useful than a badge, it being sentimental or not.
He tries not to think about the smell. He's smelled wors, he remembers.
Fei draws out his artist's toolkit and specifically works out his sketchpad. He begins drawing a map on it, using his keen eyes to keep track of positions around and near them. He finds himself ducking down by the tubes and then he points to a place on the map. He isn't worrying about casualties or who is in the way right now, he's just thinking about what the most efficient path would be. He doesn't have the luxury, he tells himself, but at the same time...he notices he's getting more okay with these kinds of decisions, now isn't he? Yes he is. It's hard to think about.
He offerse his map to Lily once he's done. "This is what I see from where we are," Fei tells Lily. "If you can match the map with the signal locations, I think we can get an ideal target."
He is also becoming pretty good at working with the Black Wolves. Very good, even.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has used his Tool Artist's Toolkit toward his party's challenge, Artillery Flare.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly gives Xantia a momentary look of concern when she stumbles, but she's recovering already, so Elly presses ahead, just not putting it fully into gear when - "That's really in kind of bad taste," Elly says, turning her head around to see -
"Oh!" Lily and Leon have the same idea, and they also seem to have access to the actual doctrine for what calls an artillery strike and what doesn't. Elly visibly defers to them, looping nearer to Xantia to say to her, almost shyly despite the roar of war in the background, "I'm sorry if that was harsh. Um. Xantia, right?"
This seems to be a good call given that Fei is - "He really is an artist, at heart," Elly says as the sketching map occurs. She sounds like she's smiling.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Artillery Flare.
============================<* The Battle Front *>============================ ======================<* CHALLENGE - Artillery Flare *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- As you make your way westward, you find an Aveh soldier who has been shot dead. He has a pair of large tubes, which have the word "ARTILLERY" printed on the side. These tubes hold flares, used to signal artillery emplacements and indicate where they should open fire. Careful use of these could cause Aveh's artillery to hit a point you desire -- to clear the way, perhaps. Of course, doing so improperly could draw fire... or attention from Aveh's soldiers. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure, Injure, Stupify================================
=======================<* The Battle Front - Round 4 *>======================= ========================< Results - Artillery Flare >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Leon Albus 32 --(21)--> 53 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lily Keil 46 --(15)--> 61 Pass Kislev Field Manual 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elhaym van Houten 36 --(18)--> 54 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fei Fong Wong 28 --(20)--> 48 Fail Artist's Toolkit 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Xantia 45 --(15)--> 60 Pass Guide to Dungeoneering 1 Wits Effects: Rally and Stalwart ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Leon Albus 40 --(15)--> 55 Fail Conditions: Injure(2)|Overwhelm|Stupify(2)|Suffer|Treasure(1)|Wound(1) Effects: Enlighten(1)|Stalwart(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has failed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Lily Keil has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Pre-Graverobbers *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Some bandits do not wait for the battle to be over, before they begin the grisly business of looting the dead. As you move to the edge of the fight, you find a group of bandits that are not waiting long at all. Clad in heavy desert garments, toting Gunsmoke ARMs, they see you -- and drop bloodied bags of loot, before lifting their guns and opening fire. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Tire===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia keeps turning pages while the the rest of the group arrives, frowning as what she found apparently wasn't helpful. Not that she understood it either, but she can't find anything else that seems helpful in the context of war and tubes. By the time she looks up again, Leon has begun to set up the tubes, leading her to put away the guidebook and watch with interest. It seems like she may learn more that way.
Elly approaches her, offering further distraction. "Hi, Elly!" Xantia has no problem remembering people's names and faces from a long time ago, even having only spoken to them once. "What was harsh?" ...which is kind of amazing considering how little she seems to pick up on. But she really didn't notice anything harsh may have just happened. She's more concerned about other things. "I'm glad you managed to get out of Adlehyde okay! But what are you doing way out here?"
Unfortunately, whether or not the attempt to send a signal would have borne fruit is a question that will never be answered. "Oh no, run!!" It's all Xantia can do before getting herself to safety, diving to the ground as an artillery shell lands close by, the explosion blasting the tubing to pieces. Xantia came out fine, but... "Is everyone okay?", she questions in concern.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is still nauseous after dealing with that Hellion, but she's dealt with various issues in battle before. Besides, she has Leon before her, and the panic she feels at worrying that that Malevolence will cling to her again is something she can start to bring down at the reminder of the Guardians.
They did just help her. She can move forward. As she moves, Lily thinks of her task, an focuses on it as best she can.
"Yes, Captain." A pause as she looks to Fei, "This should help. ...You do have a talent," she agrees with Elly.
But then--"Shit--" Lily dives for cover and rolls behind it once she gets there, shrapnel slicing up her leg nicely in the process. "...That would've worked," she mutters, and thankfully doesn't lose her notebook in the process.
"Come on everyone. I see a path anyway." Lily starts that way, but it's ot long before heavy desert garments and gunsmoke ARMs mark bandits... who spot them immediately. Lily grits her teeth as a bullet crashes by her arm, another at her ear. "Bandits," she spits, and puts out her strangely-marked hands to red circles about her hands, crimson at her feet that starts to expand in laser light to encompass the whole party to mend wounds.
DG: Lily Keil has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pre-Graverobbers.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"What--DOWN!" Leon shouts, as the artillery shell comes smashing into the ground. The explosion sends him flying, but the tube he was working on is smashed to bits. He rolls a couple of times, then comes up kneeling. He breathes hard, before he stands up. Then, he looks at Elly, then at Xantia. "She was with Fei, in the Temple. She helped us a lot, in there."
He nods a 'yes' to Xantia's question.
He looks to Lily, then nods. As she leads the way down the path, he follows after -- sliding Argent Divider back into its shotgun mode -- and lifts it. His eyes narrow at the closest bandit, before he fires a single shotgun round for him. "Getting a head start, aren't they?"
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Pre-Graverobbers.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Oh - I was with Fei," Elly answers Xantia, which, she estimates from Xantia's general attitude, will probably solve this question for at least the next day, possibly forever. Then the blasting comes closer and she rushes and lunges as the world fills with fire, landing in a roll and coughing, saved from abrasions mostly by those Gebler tactical underclothes. Sitting upright, she shakes sand out of her hair.
Gunshots crack out. Elly turns her head.
Lily identifies them as bandits.
Elly seems to do nothing but stare daggers at them for a moment, even as Leon's shotgun gets out. "All of you..."
Her shoulders hunch for a moment as she puts herself, possibly too hard, into tangling up the etheric energies of the immediate area. But all that sand's getting heavily rubbed, right? And down comes a sudden surge of lightning from the smoke-clouded but otherwise clear sky, RIGHT in the middle of the bandits.
Not, perhaps tellingly, on one.
"Those could be you just as easily! Run home to your families and never rob the dead again!" Elly punctuates this with another lightning bolt in the same location which is SIGNIFICANTLY LESS CONTROLLED.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pre-Graverobbers.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong hears Xantia's warning and dives for cover as well, barely avoiding starting his next reincarnation cycle anti-climatically (let's not talk about the Contact that slipped while getting out of the bathtub one day). He says, "Cripes... I'm starting to think we had a better chance with the death traps." He manages. "Yeah I guess...I guess I'll have to be faster next time," He tells Lily.
He stands himself up. "Thanks, though. I'm feeling like it's getting a lot of use..." Practice makes progress after all. It's a good idea to practice a life skill in case eternal warfare stops being an issue.
As they move onward, he manages to say some words. "Elly and I go way back," He tells Xantia before pausing and adding, "Like a few months back. That's a long time for me."
Also longer but who is counting?
By contrast, fighting grave robbers is probably going to be the easiest thing Fei's ever done. He throws chi blasts in an attempt to discourage them rather than engage in a protracted battle. "Vanish." He says simply. "This is the wrong time to be vultures."
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Pre-Graverobbers.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Elly's not wrong. A simple answer is enough for her. Elly's, along with Leon and Fei's additional details that Elly was helping and has known Fei for a long time, is plenty to satisfy her. "Oh, I see! Thanks for helping, then!" Whether the matter is truly settled forever with that... time will tell.
Thankfully, everybody seems okay after the explosion - being still able to get to one's feet counts as 'okay' - which prompts a sigh of relief. "I guess we can't stay in one spot for very long, huh?"
Of course, just as she says this, another obstacle arrives in the form of some unwelcome visitors, intent on making them stay in this spot forever. Xantia would probably have not identified them as such so quickly, but Lily's confirmation of 'bandits' clears the matter up nicely. It doesn't distress Xantia so much as she seems annoyed by it. "What, now? Ugh, they show up everywhere... we don't have time for this!"
And so, she doesn't waste much time on them. A single punch, swung at the air, with enough power to cause a forceful gust, in an attempt to literally blow some of the bandits away. Elly gets more of her attention, noticing for the first time that she's doing some kind of magic. That explains how she's been helping. Xantia finds herself looking at her own hand, a brief pulse of electricity running across her fingertips. Could she do something like that, too?
DG: Xantia has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Pre-Graverobbers.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Pre-Graverobbers *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Some bandits do not wait for the battle to be over, before they begin the grisly business of looting the dead. As you move to the edge of the fight, you find a group of bandits that are not waiting long at all. Clad in heavy desert garments, toting Gunsmoke ARMs, they see you -- and drop bloodied bags of loot, before lifting their guns and opening fire. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Tire===========================================
========================<* The Battle Front - Round 5 *>======================== =========================< Results - Pre-Graverobbers >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 53 --(9)--> 62 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 61 --(9)--> 70 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 54 --(9)--> 63 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 48 --(15)--> 63 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 60 --(9)--> 69 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 55 --(15)--> 70 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Injure(1)|Overwhelm|Stupify(1)|Suffer|Tire(2) Effects: ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Elhaym van Houten has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Overturned Rover *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you make your flight, you come across a four-wheeled rover used by the Kislevi forces. The ARM is in rough shape and is unlikely to be good for long-term use, but it might speed your way through the battlefield if you can right it. With some elbow grease, you might have a ride -- so put your back into it! =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Injure======================================
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The group works at these bandits, in varying degrees of lethality. Lily, for her part, elects to heal her comrades; Leon shoots a man in the face. Elly crackles lighting into the group of them with a horrible noise, and Fei starts throwing chi blasts. These do not work as well as he would hope against all of them, but Xantia knocks another few clear with a blast of wind, and between all that...
"R-run for it!" they call out, and scramble out of the way, completely scattered.
For her part, Lily eyes them to make sure they don't double back, and then shakes her head. "...Good work, everyone. And we haven't gotten shot to hell yet. Let's keep it up."
She moves ahead with the group. She doesn't do a thing about the body they just left.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The group staggers on further, over another rise, revealing what may seem like a shiny gold wire of hope.
A toppled over dune buggy. Why, such a thing could easily cross the desert!
Elly stares at it for a moment, blinking. It is smoking, but only a little. Elly steps forwards, reaching into that thigh pouch of hers again and touching the stone plaque of the Guardian. She tilts her head back to look at the sky but -
Nothing's up there. Just blue behind the haze of gunsmoke and war. Oh, and briefly a severed Gear chunk.
"... If we can tilt it over," Elly says, drawing two things that look an awful lot like pens out of her pocket there. (Hastily, she replaces one of them. Wrong one, apparently.) "If we tilt it over," she starts over, "back onto its tires, I think it might still run. I can put out the fires if something's smouldering... Have any of you ever repaired a vehicle? But, um, hurry, I don't know if they're going to start shooting this way again or not."
Her eyes turn momentarily towards where the bandits retreated. But only briefly. There are bigger fish to fry.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Spy Purse toward her party's challenge, Overturned Rover.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Yeah! Don't be idiots next time!" Fei shouts after the fleeing bandits. "Geeze, not even waiting for it to be over... How desperate can they be?" Fei is not sympathetic. He was homeless for months and he managed to survive without robbing corpses and if you have gunsmoke arms you can hunt.
Fei follows after Elly and sees the rover. He says, "I'll keep a look out. I don't have any kind of knack for machines." He tells Elly. Well, no knack that he knows of. He turns around and--proceeds to look for any incoming weaponsfire. It's the sort of job that sounds dull but is actually quite exciting because, if you think about it, who is the one most likely to get shot? The one standing up and looking around or the one ducking down by cover?
Still, even with their rest points, Fei is starting to feel tired. He's been battling hard for what feels like days now but is in fact only still one day! He hasn't slept or rested TRULY since the battle against the metal demons.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Overturned Rover.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Tilt it?" Leon asks, glancing at Elly. Then, he looks back at the dune buggy. The bandits -- sent scurrying -- are forgotten for a moment. He can live with that. He nods his head, before he walks forward, and puts his hands against the side. He shoves, putting his back into it.
His eyes turn towards Lily. "Lily," he says, "try some charge around some of the rock debris on the back side. Not the big ones -- it looks packed in. If we can loosen it, it should be easy."
He frowns, then, and looks at Elly.
"...We've both piloted Gears," he says. "Both of us can do some basic repairs, at least. We had to in the field, sometimes."
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Overturned Rover.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"And don't come back!" Xantia shouts after the retreating bandits. She's going to be upset that they came back the next time she runs into any bandits, they all look the same to her. Gasp, such bandit racism.
Moving ahead, the group encounters what looks to Xantia like random debris. Interesting-looking, and in decent shape, but still nothing that immediately strikes her as useful. Elly clarifies the matter of this being a vehicle, positing 'if we can tilt it over'. It's all she has to say for Xantia's eyes to start gleaming. "Ohh, I can do that, let me do it!"
Not waiting for anyone to confirm, she moves to one side of the vehicle, trying to get a hold on it. She frowns, finding too much debris in the way of getting a good grip. There might be some alarm when she reaches for that giant hammer - with Xantia, one never can tell if she's about to smash a thing that's frustrating her. But no, she turns the tool around, just planning to use the handle to gain some leverage this time.
Once the car has been loosened enough for her to get a solid hold on it, she definitely has the physical strength required to be able to right the whole thing - she's in her element there. Not so much the actual repairs that must follow, she'll leave that part to those who can actually remember any skill they might have in that area.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Megaton Hammer toward her party's challenge, Overturned Rover.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily looks around the rocver, and then to Elly as she speaks up. Tilting it over," she says, and Lily considers the rest. Her black hair shifts in the wind of the battlefield as she nods, flexing her fingers. Leon already answered for them, and she's content with that for the moment.
"On it," she remarks, and part of why she doesn't say more is that she's getting tired on top of having to use stimulants to keep going already. She kneels beside the far aside of the vehicle though and sets her charges, very carefully, to avoid blowing the thing up. Just the right level of blowing up.
"I like mechanical things," Lily comments as she starts stepping away. "Everyone needs to move. I didn't use as much charge this time, but just to be safe."
"...But if you really can tilt it the rest of the way yourself, Xantia, I'm impressed. I won't stop you trying."
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, Overturned Rover.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= =======================<* CHALLENGE - Overturned Rover *>======================= |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you make your flight, you come across a four-wheeled rover used by the Kislevi forces. The ARM is in rough shape and is unlikely to be good for long-term use, but it might speed your way through the battlefield if you can right it. With some elbow grease, you might have a ride -- so put your back into it! =Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous, Injure======================================
========================<* The Battle Front - Round 6 *>======================== =========================< Results - Overturned Rover >========================= Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 62 --(14)--> 76 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 70 --(14)--> 84 Pass Explosive Charges 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 63 --(12)--> 75 Pass Spy Purse 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 63 --(17)--> 80 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 69 --(12)--> 81 Pass Megaton Hammer 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 70 --(20)--> 90 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Injure(2)|Overwhelm|Overzealous(2)|Suffer|Tire(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Leon Albus has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw. DG: Leon Albus has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Shattered Landship *>==================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Golem Sado has dominated the battlefield in the distance. A fully armed and operation Golem is a terror to behold, and the violet, snake-like machine towers over the battlefield. Gears lay scattered and shattered around it, and periodically, a beam of energy lances across the ground and burns something from existence. That happens now, as a land battleship from Aveh hurls through the air. It has been blasted through and burnt -- and it smashes into the very ground before you. It shatters apart into so much debris, and makes a huge mountain of fiery wreckage. You cannot possibly clear it. But you must climb, hack, and cut your way through -- because on the other side is a final escape from the battlefield. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"I - can too, so, I guess that's good fortune," says Elly even as
FEI! Keeps a look out and doesn't spot any enemies for the moment.
LEON! Prepares the charges, supervises.
XANTIA! Gets her immense and horrifying strength to bear in order to guide the thing downwards, thanks to her hammer's handle. In this power, the power to repair as well as to smash, the true nature of a hammer is revealed. GO BEYOND, little hammer!
(Elly feels a faint tingle of suspicion about the hammer.)
And then LILY gets the light demo charges in place. With a loud bang the car falls over, Xantia easing it down so the suspension doesn't crack or break. It's battered, dirty, topless, has more blood in it than you'd like to see in most cars, but it will drive, especially after Elly sprays some kind of foam at the oil smoulder that was causing that smoke to rise.
More brief repairs follow. The tires didn't break. STEEL BELTED RADIALS. "I suppose we may have to hang onto the frame," Elly says as she gets in, towards the back, "but it certainly beats walking..."
BGM LOADING... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCNPpYAkNKA
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
It takes them a moment to get everything ready. Lily ends up sitting in the driver's seat. Xantia sits in the front passenger's seat, hammer at the ready. Fei is on the left side in the back; Leon is on the right side. Elly is in the center. The dune buggy's engine roars. Cars are exceedingly rare in Ignas, limited mostly to the occasional military vehicle.
But fortunately, a soldier is piloting.
The wind whips through their hair, as they hurtle forward, shooting through the battlefield. They whip past an Aveh soldier, who turns and stares at him. Then, he looks up. Leon does, too, as a massive shadow passes over him.
The land battleship, hurled by Sado, goes flying high through the air. The Golem was able to give the three hundred foot-long, two story tall vehicle some serious air -- and when it crashes down, the shockwave makes the buggy jump, sharply. It lands, skidding over the sand, as the landship goes rolling in front of them. It slams to a stop -- and they find themselves shooting towards a gaping hole cut into its side. Leon swallows, hard.
There isn't time to drive around it.
"LILY! FLOOR IT!" he yells. "Through the hole!"
He promised they would break through. He intends to see it happen. The soldier stands up, as a chunk of steel plating swivels down in front of them. He fires, the gunshot slamming it away -- and sends it spinning, ricocheting off, and at risk of bouncing back into them. He ducks low, though, as they shoot up the side of the hull--
"Aaaaaah!"
--and into the damaged, twisted innards of the landship!
DG: Leon Albus has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Shattered Landship.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Well!" Fei says, throwing himself over into the backseat of the rover. He says, "This should make things easier! I'll need to take some driving lessons sometime." He offers a hi-five to whomever sits next to him because this is actually something of a relief. "At this rate we'll be out of here in no time!" He grins, widely, because really with a car they can go way faster than they normally would. It might take some creative driving, but he's feeling confident.
He glances at an Aveh soldier they pass by, then notices he looks up. Then he notices Leon looking up, then he notices the throne landship.
He swallows faintly. "Well," He says. "That's pretty interesting."
He nearly goes flying out of the seat as the battleship crashes into the ground. Fei has to hold onto the edge of the seat as he soars up into the air to avoid flying off. He throws himself back down as he hears Leon shout that they should floor it. His eyes widen with growing terror.
"Isn't dropping a warship on us cheating!?" Fei shouts. He hears some whirring noises behind them and he turns his head. He swears to himself as he sees bikers chasing after them, YEAH JUST LIKE IN FINAL FANTASY 7. He throws himself onto the trunk of the car and throws a guided shot at the entrance once they pass through it, blasting it hard enough that it sends rubble crashing down to block off pursuits. There's a faint explosion at the edge of the landship as a bike crashes into it and detonates.
This of course sends debris crashing down ahead of the group, causing even more trouble and problems to navigate around! Fei shifts course to throwing blasts at obstacles coming from the FRONT now.
DG: Fei Fong Wong has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Shattered Landship.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"If we wanted comfort," Lily points out to Elly, "We could've gone somewhere other than a battlefield." It sure beats walking though; without so much as asking anyone else, Lily takes up her spot in the driver's seat, checking gauges and... Well, mirrors are a bit of a problem, given all that.
The engine roars, and Lily narrows her eyes. One could almost think she's enjoying this now, despite how tired she is. She can push herself farther than this, though.
So she does. She does, but that shadow is visible to her, too. Lily stares upward, as she sees the kind of power she's looking to unleash upon the world by repairing the Golem Diablo, the kind of power that she said she would use.
She sees it, right in front of her, as Leon directs her and she does exactly floor it, the engine roaring again as the little buggy crashes forward. In they go.
Lily doesn't bother looking at soldiers on the way; she swerves around debris that Fei leaves them, careful not to drop anyone out if she can. "Leon!" she calls, "Small charge!" She shoves her satchel at him and when he hands her what she asks for, she throws it at a great shattered door ahead of them... and snaps her fingers, detonating it into a fireball that becomes a bigger fireball that she drives straight for as it fades.
DG: Lily Keil has used her Tool Explosive Charges toward her party's challenge, The Shattered Landship.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia's appraisal of the current moment in time: "Wheeeeeee! Faster, faster!" Why yes, this is her first time in a car (that she can remember), how did you guess?
Seemingly having forgotten that they're in any kind of trouble for the first leg of the trip, Xantia is having the time of her life. Right up until the ride gets bumpy, earthquake-level bumpy. She blinks several times, staring straight at the unexpected obstacle in the way. She grips her hammer tightly, eyes narrowing. Time to get serious.
Leon tells Lily to floor it, and Xantia starts laughing hysterically as she gets the additional speed that she wanted so badly. So much for getting serious. But disregard the broad smile on her face, she's perfectly prepared to deal with whatever comes next. She for one can't wait, this is so exciting!
Even so, by the time the vehicle proceeds to head straight into the ship, Xantia has her hammer readied. As usual, she only focuses on the obstacles directly in front of her, but they're certainly dealt with in short order. Even at these speeds, the ridiculously strong girl seems to have to have no trouble spotting incoming hazards. Whether made of rock, steel, or whatever else, anything that's heading straight towards her is decisively smashed. It may not be entirely pleasant when things occasionally explode into pieces, but then, this ride ceased to be a smooth one a while ago.
Not that anyone could tell when looking at Xantia's maniacal grin.
DG: Xantia has used her Tool Megaton Hammer toward her party's challenge, The Shattered Landship.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
In the middle, Elly's hair can't quite catch the slipstream as effectively. That's probably good for the people behind her - not only does it mean it won't get caught and ripped off, but Elly's damn bushy mane isn't going to be slapping them in the face.
They speed up and Elly scans the horizon - mostly towards the direction of, you know, the Golem Sado. It stands out. Even at this distance.
"I wonder where they found it... did they get the idea from the Ancient Culture Exhibition?" Elly muses aloud. At which point
W A R S H I P
Elly's hand slaps down to that thigh pouch with the Guardian tablet on it as she leans back, drawing it out on reflex. She holds it tight as her fingers run into grooves not carved by mortal man and while it would be wrong to call it a 'prayer,' she certainly 'calls' to something because at this point they are throwing themselves into the sky itself -
Solais Emsu appears above them. Elly doesn't look at the manifestation of the Guardian, who doesn't seem too perturbed by this situation. Before it dissipates, there is a helpful screen-clearing BOMB of holy light, smashing away scrap with a choral swell and leaving a sense of sanctity behind.
DG: Elhaym van Houten has used her Tool Spy Purse toward her party's challenge, The Shattered Landship.
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= ====================<* CHALLENGE - The Shattered Landship *>==================== |Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- The Golem Sado has dominated the battlefield in the distance. A fully armed and operation Golem is a terror to behold, and the violet, snake-like machine towers over the battlefield. Gears lay scattered and shattered around it, and periodically, a beam of energy lances across the ground and burns something from existence. That happens now, as a land battleship from Aveh hurls through the air. It has been blasted through and burnt -- and it smashes into the very ground before you. It shatters apart into so much debris, and makes a huge mountain of fiery wreckage. You cannot possibly clear it. But you must climb, hack, and cut your way through -- because on the other side is a final escape from the battlefield. =Dungeon Conditions: Wound====================================================
========================<* The Battle Front - Round 7 *>======================== ======================< Results - The Shattered Landship >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leon Albus 76 --(6)--> 82 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily Keil 84 --(3)--> 87 Pass Explosive Charges 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elhaym van Houten 75 --(5)--> 80 Pass Spy Purse 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fei Fong Wong 80 --(3)--> 83 Pass Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xantia 81 --(6)--> 87 Pass Megaton Hammer 3 Brute Effects: Fanfare -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Leon Albus 90 --(30)--> 120 Pass Conditions: Overzealous(1)|Wound(2) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Leon Albus has successfully explored The Battle Front!
=============================<* The Battle Front *>============================= ========================<* CHALLENGE - The Lucky Find *>======================== |Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- As you tear your way through the battleship, you come to a room that has not been shattered. The hangar is damaged and burnt, but a small number of Gears sit here. They are largely unharmed -- though unarmed, and they will need some repairs before they could be used in combat. However, the engines are active, and you could use these to force your way out. OOC: Congratulations! You may each do some +request work to repair these Gears and make them serviceable for a fight, if you wish. =Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
The way is cleared, by virtue of shotgun blasts, a summoned Guardian, a hammer, charges, ki blasts, and the rather unsafe driving of one Lily Keil. The jeep shoots through a final chamber, and comes skidding to a stop inside of a hangar. The floor is tilted; the buggy's rubber tires leave skidmarks across the floor, but they come to a stop in a bay that is half-emptied out, and with doors half-opened. No soldiers can be seen, mercifully, save for one in a corner. A huge piece of metal has collapsed on him. His boots twitch.
Leon lets out a breath, before he looks to the side -- first, at the open hangar doors, that look out onto the west, and a cleared battlefield. Then, he looks back into the hangar. Three Gears stand there. He looks over the first two, before his eyes fall on the final one: a dark blue Gear, with an armored skirt, and a silver, mostly featureless faceplate. A long blade is folded up into its arm.
The Kislevi ex-soldier stumbles out of the dune buggy's back, feet almost slipping, and then he laughs. "Of--of all the things, they must have tried using him, and let him get captured!" Leon says, laughing again. "Weglaff! It's been ages since--ha! Perfect! Never thought I'd get this back!"
He starts to run towards it. "We should take these. We'll want to get them back to Bart--and besides, we can get back to the Yggdrasil that much faster with these!"
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
With how she was half-standing in the car after getting a bit overenthusiastic about things, Xantia is thrown from the car when it suddenly skids to a stop. The landing looks painful, an unceremonius *THUD* from the hammer's impact heralding Xantia's own, faceplanting on the metal floor.
Though she doesn't get up immediately, she doesn't seem seriously hurt, only softly complaining, "Ow, ow, ow..." as she rises up to her knees, slowly, then works to get her hammer back into the bindings on her back. A practiced, almost automatic action.
She only notices the Gears then, and stares up at them, as always amazed, almost entranced, whenever she comes across them. It seems so long ago, when Fei inadvertantly caused her to remember what a Gear is. She didn't need to be explained - she just realized that she knew, somehow.
Surging to her feet, she rushes towards one of the machines, wondering aloud, "Really? We can just take these?" The concept of 'we're stealing these' doesn't seem to have really registered. But she does sound like she's totally on board with it. Especially this part: "Does that mean I get to go inside of one?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong braces for trouble when gears are revealed but it seems like they're not presently being piloted. He looks up at the gears and then says, "Then I'll follow along behind with the rover." Fei says. He looks over to Leon. "I think I figured out how to drive it from watching Lily and, well, there aren't enough for all of us." He isn't ready to sit in Leon's lap. That's just going too fast, okay? "Where are we rendeavouxing?"
He looks at the dashboard for a few moments and adds, "So how do you turn this on again?"
He tries hitting the steering wheel a few times but that doesn't seem to be getting it going. "...Hm...Don't worry, I'll get it."
This is clearly a bad idea, but Fei is still hesitant to get in gears when there's any option otherwise.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The buggy ends up in a halt - Elly had lowered her eyes to avoid seeing their possible death, and had in fact been clinging to Fei's side for a moment without realizing it.
They've landed. It smells like a Gear hangar in here. (There are electromagnetically neutral joint lubricants with distinctive smells. They're cheap to make, but there's no reason to make them if you aren't dealing with Gears.) Elly opens her eyes as Fei dismounts, the engine quieting down and clicking over.
Xantia raises a question. "Well... it seems that there's nobody to resist you," Elly answers, before blinking and looking at Fei.
From her current angle, Elly feels a strange impulse to -- to ruffle his hair, to lean forwards and put her chin on top of his head. She can't tell his anxiety entirely, not from this angle, but she tells him, "I think the start motor's broken. Fei..."
She looks at one of the Gears. The most boring one. "... I know this... might be difficult, but I could pilot that Gear. At least for a journey this distance. You said the Yggdrasil isn't far away, right?"
Her voice lowers. "We could carry the vehicle too."
Technically they could also go recover the bandit loot but eh, it's probably despawned by now.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily Keil knows how to drive. ...And apparently, knows how to drive through an Aveh battleship.
Skidmarks and all, they come to a stop and Lily leans back against her seat, letting out a laugh. "Wow," she says, closing her eyes briefly as she catches her breath from all of this. She doesn't stay for long though; she opens her eyes and looks back around, seeing a dead man--obviously dead man--uner the wreckage, seeing the hangar, to see... the...
"You all right, Xantia?" Lily rolls out of the buggy too and shakes her head. "Of course they did," she says, but smiles over at Leon. It's a little piece of what was theirs once. It feels...
It feels good, to get it back.
"Right, we should." Lily starts towards the Gears too, but pauses talking to Fei and Xantia. "Yeah, you get to go in if you're going to have one. I'll tell you..." She trails off, looking over to Fei. "That's smart. But..." She trails off again, shaking her head and walks over to Fei without getting in. She starts pointing, "Ignition, steering, left pedal is gas right is brake. If the engine starts making noises, shift that level up one if you're going faster, down one if you're slowing down." Her hand is still bare, unusually for her. "Rendezvous is... Up to Leon." A shrug, as she walks over to the Gears and then... pauses. She walks slowly, closing her eyes. "What...?"
She veers over to the one on her right. "...No need," she speaks up back to Elly. "I can pilot this one. It's..." She shakes her head. "If not for the day we've had I would call it crazy, but I think it's calling to me."
Lily moves to get into her Gear.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"If you think you can handle it, Fei, that's for the best." Leon turns to look at Elly, then. He nods -- letting Elly speak for them, about the Gear. "Help him out, if he needs it. We're going to move away from the battle, then try to contact the Yggdrasil. We can arrange a rendesvouz point when we know it's safe."
If the sand ship has been destroyed or captured, they need to be clear -- so they cna mount a defense of it. Leon considers that for a moment, before he steps up to Weglaff, and starts climbing up the catwalk. He does pause, though, to look down at Xantia.
"It's yours," he says. "No one would stop you. Just be careful with it--and call if you have trouble. Lily and I can walk you through the basics, if you need it."
He slides the cockpit hatch open.
It comes back to him quick enough, and the start-up sequence is simple enough. In short order, Weglaff's two red eyes flash to life, and then the blue Gear takes a step forward, then another. The door to the hangar is jammed -- enough for the rover to slip through, but not the Gears. That hardly matters, however. The right arm swings out.
The arm blade snaps forward, like a switch blade. The blade glows, burning red hot, and he slashes the door free. The Gear kicks the door out, then steps out onto the sand. The sun is setting, in the distance. Leon cracks a smile.
"...Let's go," he says, over the loudspeaker.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei blinks blankly as Lily starts to explain the details of how the car functions. It's a lot to take in in one moment. Too much, actually. He looks back to Elly for a moment. He takes in a deep breath and then he says, "Yeah I guess this wouldn't work." He pauses for a moment as something occurs to him and then adds, "Wait." He looks up to Leon. "Hold on a minute Leon! Please?"
He hops out of the car and looks over to Elly. "I know we don't have a lot of time to talk about this right now, but we can fit ourselves in the other gears if we have to. You don't have to drop us off at the Yggdrasil. I mean, I can see how that might be something of a dangerous situation for you, you know, since you're Gebler and--well...Bart's an honorable man, but he's going to have a lot of questions. Questions you might not feel really comfortable about and... well, I don't want you to get in trouble with your bosses, you know?"
He looks over to Lily and Leon for a moment, his foot tapping hesitantly as he thinks this over.
"But...I didn't really want to ask you this until we were somewhere safer, but I think there isn't going to be another opportunity."
He looks up and smiles at Elly, strangely at peace. "I've been thinking about...how you've been treated over there, you know? I know it's not an easy decision or anything, which is why I wanted to wait, but--" He takes in a deep breath. Just ask it already. "But do you want to just...quit? You don't seem happy over there and...well... It might be tough at first, but I don't think anybody'd treat you like that on the Yggdrasil, long-term at least. I know it's an unfair question since you've got family, I'm sure, with Solaris but..." he frowns thoughtfully. "...But if you do want to come with us...you did save my life, and I think that'd mean something to him. If that's not comfortable for you, we'll split ways here but either way, thanks. I really owe you. We couldn't have made it without you."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"I'm fine!" Xantia's answer to the question whether she's all right is immediate, feeling very much like an answer that would've been given regardless of how all right she actually is. But without any outward appearances pointing to her not being fine, this probably isn't a deception. If Xantia even knows what a deception is. She tends to be rather straightforward about things.
Case in point, Leon's phrasing. Calling the Gear 'hers'. "Really, I can have it?!" She asks for confirmation, but by that point it may be too late to add nuance to it and not break her heart, with how happy she looks about it. But is this really a good idea...?
She looks over to Fei, thinking that he would be happy about this development, only for her smile to fade. No, she realizes suddenly, Fei wouldn't be happy, would he? Considering his bad experiences with Gears, he'd probably prefer she have nothing to do with them.
Before she can manage to think of what to say to him, though, the matter of Elly comes up. Gebler? She sure didn't know about that. In that case, Elly must have run away from the bad guys, she assumes immediately, which Fei seems to confirm. Which makes Xantia's opinion a foregone conclusion.
"Sounds good to me, I'm sure Captain Bart will be fine with it! I'll tell him all about how nice you were to me!" That sound be all that's necessary, right? No need to make simple things complicated.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly tells Lily with a nod, "Understood." She slides out of the car and steps towards Xantia. "I can give you advice on how to operate it... you'll want to check to be sure it operates. You're just going to be moving it, from the sound of it..."
Elly trails off when Fei speaks to her.
Her arms come up to fold a little. Her eyes turn towards him for a moment, then several times as he speaks. Her lips thin to a line.
Her eyes are watering.
"... I... F, Fei..."
She looks towards him then and says with nothing resembling guile, not even the everyday deceptions of standard life, "I - I don't know. I... I can't do it right now. I can't make a decision, like that..."
Xantia speaks and Elly looks at her with another of her wan smiles. "... Thank you. But I can't ask you to do that."
Back to Fei, who she walks towards, but only so she doesn't have to speak for the cheap seats. Her voice lowers, though it's not an attempt at a whisper. "I have to... think about things. If nothing else, I have to - to tell them what happened. Some of what happened. They don't have any more love for the Metal Demons than you do. I know you have no reason to trust them, but..." 'But maybe Gebler can kill the shit out of some evil Metal Demons and save the planet, using advanced Gear technologies.' That's the implication, anyway.
She gets within arm's reach of Fei and looks down at the slightly tilted metal floor. "... I don't want to leave you all," she says to him, eyes lowered. "I'm terrified and I don't want to be alone. I don't know what to do. Do you really think I should..."
Inwardly, Elly thinks: I should be happy. This couldn't be going better. So why do these tears feel real? Maybe it's just the combat stress.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily is past the catwalk and in the cockpit of this new Gear by the time Fei tells Leon to wait, shaking her head at Xantia's... Xantia, but leaving it be because she doesn't look all that hurt. Like Leon, she's starting the sequences to boot this thing up, and its noises and sounds say it hasn't done much yet.
Leon speaks over the loudspeaker, but Lily does not; insead, she watches down at Fei, Elly, and Xantia who she can't entirely hear by this point. They seem to be very troubled--well, not Xantia. She draws a breath and then flicks a couple of switches to get--this frequency is probably the one in use...
"Leon," Lily says over the radio to Wieglaff, inaudible to those on the ground. "Now's as good a time as any to tell you. I don't think we should take action at this time, but..."
Fei and Elly are closer now by the car. Lily still can't hear them or Xantia.
"Elly is a Gebler agent."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong smiles at Xantia briefly but his focus is squarely on Elly in this moment. Frankly, Elly going off to think about things first could be pretty dangerous in of itself to earning trust. Not with Fei, but with others, he can see how it might be taken. He isn't COMPLETELY lost in Elly's eyes, just mostly.
"I understand." Fei says. And he does. "I think they'll learn plenty just from Aveh's presence here but I'm not sure the Guardians will be showing back up once the fighting settles down." He doubts they're interested in submitting themselves to Solarian authority anyway, but he can't exactly be one hundred percent sure of that either. They DID seem pretty desperate. It's not, you know, inconceivable for them to want to deal with Solaris, right? He hesitates as Elly talks about any more 'love' for the metal demons than he does. Fei isni't sure exactly how he feels about the Metal Demons. Obviously Riesenlied isn't exactly the big threat there and can be worked with but Siegfried...
He WANTS to help him but it'll take work. And some is better than something, right? He just hopes he's part of something.
"But I do think you should," Fei says. "You said it yourself, that Loren guy, he said it'd have been better if you died." He looks away. "...I mean, even if he apologized... If you had died then... I don't think I could handle it. I don't want you to be alone, Elly." He smile again, anxious and hesitant but hopeful. "You're stronger than they know...and I'm not talking about ether."
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia has a hard time containing her enthusiasm about not just getting into a robot, but getting to move it, too. But she manages. She doesn't want to risk upsetting Fei, and this conversation he and Elly are having feels important. Thus, she only smiles when Elly offers her help, repressing a more exuberant response.
But Elly... seems to have doubts, for some reason? Xantia cants her head at Elly, obviously not understanding why her help would be refused. Especially not when phrased like that. "But you didn't ask me. You don't have to, I'm gonna do it anyway." It'd just be telling the truth, after all. Nothing wrong about that.
She briefly strains her ears when Elly makes herself more difficult to listen in on, a bit confused why that happened, not the quickest to take any hints. This only makes it easier for her to get distracted once again by the allure of the Gear, electing instead to start making her way up the catwalk.
Presumably, somebody will give her some pointers before she gets in the cockpit and starts pressing random buttons. Though it might not take as much instruction as one might expect before she gets the idea. She's a quick study.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"... If I go with you, for now," Elly says quietly, near Fei, "I... it'd be easy to say I just presented myself as a Drifter. I might have to go back and file a report, but... They don't think highly of me, you know that. At worst they'll put me on Gear patrol... I'm qualified for - w, well, I."
She sniffs deeply and raises her eyes to him.
"... That would just make it even easier, wouldn't it? To come back again. Those patrols can last a week."
Hey, it's probably a good sign that Elly's starting to rationalize hanging out with pirates. These things are a process.
She remains perilously within hug range for a second or two more, before she says to Fei quietly, "I... I should probably go give her some advice before she finds the gunnery panel."
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Leon stops, when Fei asks him to. The blue Gear halts in its tracks, lowering its arm -- the blade snaps into place and cools, quickly -- and the pilot inside tilts his head. He can see, now, what this is. He can see how Fei feels. He remembers feeling that way, when everything was less certain, with Lily. He still feels that way, but the context is different. He smiles, thinking of it.
Then, Lily's voice crackles over Weglaff's shortwave. 'Elly is a Gebler agent.'
His eyes narrow for a moment. He feels his blood run cold -- and yet, he thinks of what Fei asked her, a moment before. He sees the tears in Elly's eyes, displayed on the Gear's view screen. The magnification on the camera makes it easy. Leon's jaw sets, as he considers that.
He answers Lily, after a moment: "...Well, no one's perfect."