2020-07-18: God of War

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<Pose Tracker> Kartikeya has posed.

    YESTERDAY - Research Laboratory, Locus Solus

    "...Preposterous. We conducted a sweep of the area decades ago and didn't find anything of interest."

    "I know that! But look at that signal and tell me that's nothing. And before you start, I ran this analysis three times. Whatever's down there is powerful enough to cause the equipment to have trouble with it!"

    The other researcher falls into silence for several long moments, their gaze lingering on the screen. "That... has to be an error. If those readings are right, it would be enough to power--"

    "No, listen. Look at this. And this!" The screens shift before the two researchers, displaying the site in question and cross-referencing the readout against the others. "What do you think is more likely? That we've got a system-wide failure, or that something's going on down there?"

    The other researcher sinks into their chair. "But... if that's the case, what in the world is--"

    A hand suddenly drops onto the researcher's shoulder. Their fellow turns, staring in shock at the third person who had silently strolled into the room and crept up behind them.

    "Well, well," says Kartikeya, leaning in over the researcher's shoulder. "Don't suppose you'd be a pal and fill a guy in?"
    His grip on the researcher's shoulder tightens meaningfully.

        NOW - Cardon Forest

    It would be pleasant if all bad things happened in the dead of night. Or, at least, if they had the decency to happen on an overcast day. Some rain wouldn't be a bad addition, if we're just talking about a 'suitable mood'.

    Unfortunately, today is bright and lovely in Cardon Forest.

    ...Today was bright and lovely in Cardon Forest. Smoke wafts above the trees, cast up into the air by a number of still-burning fires. A single man strolls through the wreckage, his attention preoccupied by the device he holds in his right hand.

    When he had arrived mere minutes ago, he hadn't wasted his time clearing a path.
    He has always been direct.

    "Rggh," grunts the figure, scowling at the handheld device, "those eggheads said it was somewhere around here. So where the hell is it?!"

    The most notable thing about the man might be his height. He stands a fair bit over the six and a half foot mark.
    The most notable thing about the man might be that he is clearly not a human -- pointed ears and teeth, along with that height and muscular build (and not to mention his unusual form-fitting attire) suggest that he is almost certainly Veruni.
    ...No, the most notable thing about the man might be the Golem's arm grafted onto him. Its armor plating is a bright red; it is weighty enough that the man walks at a seemingly permanent slouch as he makes his advance through the forest.

    For those who are familiar with the stories of the Veruni, they may also know the destruction and violence of which they are said to be capable. The stories are rife through parts of Filgaia -- that the Veruni are death and destruction incarnate. That they rarely come out of their exclusion zones except to sow chaos. These stories are not entirely correct but also not entirely incorrect, but--
    When it comes to Kartikeya, one of Volsung's four Sentinels, the stories don't even do him justice.

    BGM: Kartikeya ASGX_7135 (Appearance) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy8i9JmHNj0

    "'Target not found'?? ...What a pain in the ass!" He throws the device sidelong to the ground, where it shatters. "That does it! Guess I'll just have to burn the whole place to the ground!"

    And he's not alone.

DC: Kartikeya switches forms to Storm Sentinel Kartikeya!
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

It's a nice forest. A pretty forest. Maybe it'll stay that way. ...But, not this part. Definitely not this part.

A small woman in an armored green bodysuit walks along a little ways back from Kartikeya; his height dwarfs hers, less than five feet compared to his nearly seven. Her posture is... not exactly at ease. No--

She's tense, her nose and mouth covered by a breathing mask, her blonde hair hanging otherwise loose as the hood of her containment suit is down. There's no point in maintaining full containment for her, anyway. At her hip is a pair of swords in the same sheath, hilts interlocked, and at her back is her familiar ARM... and she has a bag of tricks. And, right now, a device in her hand that has sensors looking for the same thing.

"The portable sensor isn't very powerful," she says, voice slightly distorted, from a little away from Kartikeya. Her mask is doing a good job of filtering out the smoke, anyway. "Mine doesn't pick it up either... You know, if you're bored, I can totally do this myself, I bet they'd love to see you back at the lab--"

'Guess I'll just have to burn the whole place to the ground!'

"Oh. Yeah. There's that option, that's definitely on the table instead of not."

Kaguya, a botanist, sighs.

<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Something had been found in the Cardon Forest. Something of interest, worth investigating. Due to its proximity to a human city, care would need to be taken so as to avoid drawing attention to their plans, as well as causing unnecessary harm to the human city itself.

...It is highly unfortunate, then, that Kartikeya found out about it. Kartikeya does what Kartikeya wants, and this usually results in untold property damage and loss of human life.

At one time, Ambrosius might have viewed this as simply a tragedy, his concern focused more on the destruction of the ruins beneath the forest... but these days, he found a concern growing in his heart. A concern that made it difficult to commit to his plans with the same sort of fervor he carried before.

He found that he actually started caring about them. It makes his job quite difficult.

And that leads to his presence here today. On the surface, he was here to support Kartikeya, and help ensure they get whatever it is back, preferably in one piece... but, at the same time, he might be able to help head off a potential tragedy.

Keyword - might, as Kartikeya, as expected, apparently gets bored and dashes the device to the ground and decides to set the whole place ablaze. Ambrosius, clad in full soldier armor, complete with face-concealing mask, turns his head briefly in Kaguya's direction.

His expression is completely hidden and his body language doesn't give it away, but she's worked with him long enough that she can probably figure out he's on about the same wavelength she is.

<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

Talia spends a lot of time in Kattelox. For one thing, Talia and Amaranth spend some time there -- though they moved the Lente away, after an encounter with a certain feline Seraph. But she visits, and she had been visiting when the sudden crash-landing of Kartikeya drew so much attention.

Which leads to now.

The black-haired ex-assassin runs through the woods, with her short sword already drawn. Mirage glimmers strangely in the light; the sun doesn't seem to want to fall on its whorled steel quite right. The assassin runs, but slows to a stop, as she gets a look at who is here. A man with a mechanical arm -- another Veruni, masked and hidden -- and a masked Veruni that she recognizes. Tension shoots through her back. She remembers Azado; she remembers being hurled to what should have been her death, were it not for Amaranth.

Maybe it has been well over a year. Maybe they share friends. Talia hasn't forgotten, hasn't forgiven, and certainly doesn't intend to let it go.

Her face is bright red with anger, veins pronounced in her neck, and lips curled back from white teeth as she screams one name out:

"KAGUYA!"

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

It's a nice forest. Nice enough that Catenna was in the area anyway. Not near any sort of dig sites, mind. She's off in the trees a good ways, meditating and getting in touch with the grace of the Moon.

Well, she was off in the trees. It was hard to miss things blowing up and catching fire.

Crouching in the undegrowth, the Moon Shaman looks on with her lower lip caught anxiously between her teeth. Kaguya's there, and she recognizes the woman clearly enough, a pang of sadness racing through her. But the most destructive of the group is an unfamiliar face to her. She swallows a lump in her throat before steeling herself and reaching for her bow. Her knuckles whiten a little as she draws the weapon, slipping an arrow from her quiver.

Shooting Kaguya doesn't even occur to her. She may be violent, but Catenna can't bring herself to just ice someone she loves as a sister. There are only two targets in her mind, and the most prominent is the man threatening to torch one of Filgaia's few remaining forests.

The other one she doesn't recognize. Catenna has no love lost for Ambrosius, but in his full facemask, she can't quite recognize him.

Then Talia bursts into the clearing and throws off Catenna's surprise attack. The Moon Shaman lowers her head and pinches the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger.

Sighing, she throws off her stab of frustration and draws her grace and poise around her once more. She rises from her concealment with an innocuous rustle of foliage, drawing her bow and training an arrow on the masked figure. Ambrosius.

"Leave immediately," she says, her tone flat - but he can tell there's no recognition in her face. Yet.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia also spends a lot of time in Kattelx. It' probably the place she spends maybe the third amount of t ime as of late, next to Damzen City and the Thames. It's probably the place she likes the most anyway.

Regardless, she's humming along, a large hammer holstered across her back. She spots Talia rushing and then hears her shout KAGUYA! so Lydia ends up jogging after her.

Upon seeing Kaguya she waves to her with considerably less ire. "Hey Kaguya!"

She smiles brightly. "You here for a dig too?"

She looks over to Kartikeya and Ambrosius. "Oh Ambro--so it's a job huh?" She tilts her head at Kartikeya and looks back to Kaguya.

"Who's that nerd?" She jerks a thumb at him.

It doesn't help to tell people to stay away from Kartikeya if you don't tell them what Kartikeya looks like!! Lydia's guard i s completely down. She isn't even carrying a weapon out.

<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.

Violet had been on her way to an excavation further south with a band of Drifters, but she'd been distracted by the beauty of the forest. It was so lush...so green...so different from the rest of Filgaia, or at least the part of Filgaia she knew. She was so distracted in fact, it took her longer than usual to notice the three obviously-alien beings in her path. Their alienness was distinctive -- and one of them seemed to have an artifical arm. She paused. Normally she was willing to live and let live, as long as her foes weren't threatening human (or sentient) lives or settlements. But then she hears one of them mutter:

            "That does it! Guess I'll just have to burn the whole place to the ground!"

And that did it FOR HER. Destroy so much life? She won't stand for it! Good thing she has her ARM loaded and ready...

Still, she waits ...to see if the alien is serious about arsoning the woods or just expressing frustration. That's one emotion she readily understands!

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius is in Kattelox in preparation for another Dig, once he secures another fancy pastry he can use to con his way into a higher-licensed Dig, because sometimes he is just that kind of person regardless of his qualifications (...or lack thereof?) in the safe navigation and handling of ruins filled with ancient technology.
     Then there is a commotion. The Bonnes again, perhaps? The Loaths? Then there are physical descriptions given by one of the first responding defense forces relaying a message to another superior in earshot of Ethius. They are vague descriptors to anyone else, tinged with fear and uncertainty. A suggestion of a lack of familiarity, something that would so frighten those who have had experience dealing with pirates armed with better-than-average equipment.
     Ethius does not specifically volunteer his presence to them. He jumps no less than three security checkpoints erected to try and keep the locals the hell out of the forest until anyone and everyone can figure out what the hell is going on and/or how they're going to take care of it. (Ethius is technically not a local, so it stands to reason that it never could have kept him out.)
     He rushes to the forest semi-independently of the others as he catches at least a handful of visuals. The physical dimensions of two of the attackers he can immediately identify. There is the one loudly declaring they may well just torch the place, and that unrelenting gaze falls upon them. It's a very strange look on the half-masked Drifter's face - it's lacking in any sort of instinctual, generations-long primal fear of what he's looking at, and he is - by appearances - just some sort of ocean-faring brigand who scarce has more on him than a long stick. This oddball man who is walking in on the three Veruni must thus, by definition, be someone really soft in the head and about to become another example of natural selection.
     He's even walking forward without any visual of heightened excitement or anything towards the three of them - probably among the most foolish things anyone has done in the history of ever... but two of the gathered Veruni could probably gather why that is, once they ID him.
     He doesn't say anything to stand out. Nothing shouted to them, nothing demanded. He just approaches at a measured, calm pace, his body language betraying extraordinarily little.

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

By complete coincidence, Xantia has been directly involved with the recent surge of activity on Kattelox. Due to Circumstances, she's been on the island for the last several weeks, and has been repaying the kindness shown to her by the Digger's Guild by helping them out in their endeavors. Without actually knowing much of anything about what's going on, mind - it doesn't matter much to her, she's just there to make Reaverbots explode and handle whatever heavy lifting needs doing. That suits her fine, these are things she's good at and very much enjoys.

She was making her way through the forest, on her way over to do another one of such jobs right now, when the smell of smoke prompts her to turn her head. She narrows her eyes. Smoke in a forest usually means something bad, in her experience. Surely the expedition members will understand if she gives this priority. Without hesitation, she abandons her plans in favor of rushing over to where she expects to find trouble of some sort.

She is not disappointed. She was close enough to hear somebody shouting something about 'burning the whole place to the ground'. That sounds like trouble alright. No time for subtlety, not that there is any of that very often where Xantia's concerned to begin with. She rushes out directly in front of the trio, feeling the old temptation to deliver a Justice Speech, but she decides against that. She has to commit to not acting like a Hero anymore, she has to just be Xantia now. And so...

"Stop, stop, stop! No burning down anything! Trees are important, we need to take good care of them!" She blinks, and looks from one Veruni to another. "...So uh, why are you here, and is there a better way to do it than the whole burning thing? 'cause if not, I think we're probably gonna have to fight, just so you know."

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca had been looking over her shopping list when the first person pointed out the smoke in the distance. The sudden freeze of pedestrian traffic causing her to bump into someone's back, "Hey-!" The bot doesn't so much as look at her, it's looking in the same direction of everyone else. Whispers of smoke predominating, "What's everyone even gawking at... probably just a camp-"

She looks.

"-fire..."

The arm holding the list drops, her fingertips holding it fall slack.

"That's no campfire." Rebecca says quietly, as she stuffs the list back in her pocket.

-=-=-

ARM drawn, Rebecca moves from one tree to the next. She has an acrobatic way of moving out from one cover to next. Falling into a Walkover just before she makes it to a tree.

There's a bead of sweat running down her forehead as she waits in cover, as she holds the Revolver between both hands, pointed at the ground.

Then an angry Talia pops out of cover, shouting Kaguya. "Thanks for the distraction..." She whispers, grateful, "... what are you even doing here Kaguya? This is over the top for you." Then counting down from three, she steps out, ARM pointed.

Straight at the man. The man who quite visibly has...

A
Golem
Left
ARM.

It takes her a few moments to comprehend it. A few seconds for the barrel of that Revolver to dip just slightly from her quickly numbing fingers.

"It's you..."

Suddenly she forces her arms to straighten and definitively points her revolver at him. Once you've pointed your ARM at someone, they have the right to shoot back is what he had said back then. And it made sense to that pragmatic side of her too.

And if that holds true, once you point your ARM at someone, it's not something you can take back either.

Trying to keep her voice steady, she asks, "... you're the one he wants revenge on. Aren't you?" The reality is though, that fear is seizing her hard. Because not for the first time, and not for the last time...

... Rebecca Streisand wonders if she might be in way over her head. Right now she can't even bring herself to ask what they're trying to do here, because of that fact.

<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

And he just got a license to look into the deeper parts of Kattelox. Seems like duty calls first.

Dash Caskett, had been geared up, roaming the Cardon Forest-- Ruins supposedly out this way have the requirement of needing a high clearance license to access for safety reasons.

Instead, smoke rises over the canopy of trees. "Oh... good..." he says, deadpan. "Hm, wonder who it could be. Pirates, maybe?" They have been poking around a fair amount lately. Dash secures his halmet, makes sure the Drill Arm is ready, and heads toward the location. A communication is sent out to the Flutter.

"Hey. There's something up in the forest. Stay close to the radio."

By the time Dash arrives, the scene is unfolding. Damage and fires all around. Several individuals stand as the source as others rebuke them. He recognizes some folks. And some of the enemies, actually! From the beach, right? At least the lady, anyway.

The guy with the weaponized arm looks like he means business. "Why are you all burning down a forest? What are you even looking for out here?" The ruins is all that makes sense. But aren't the entrances clearly marked?

...then again, finding a new one could be possible. There are rumors, after all. "Can't we just uh, talk this out or something?" he says wearing a smile that clearly reads 'yeah convincing theme has about a five percent chance total'.

May as well just ready his weapons at this point-- at least friends are here to help save the forest as well!

<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Ivan was traveling with Talia, and is also headed toward the sound of the disturbance, though not quite keeping up with his sister's pace.

He's trailing behind her, and a few moments later than she is in taking in the scene. For his part, he recognizes Kaguya right away and takes in the others with more curiosity than anything else. Talia's response is... more decisive.

KAGUYA!

Ivan can almost feel the rage coming off of her, and freezes with guilty self consciousness at the reminder that he's somehow gotten on cordial terms with someone who caused his sister a great deal of suffering.

He aborts what might have been the beginnings of a wave of greeting and instead makes a face of 'you did THIS?' toward Kaguya from behing Talia's back, followed by an agitated shrug and a shake of his head, attempting to wordlessly communicate that he has no intention of smoothing over Talia's wrath and will be taking her side immediately with no further questions asked.

No sooner has he called his sword into his hand and started toward her that he sees Lydia arrive and happily greet Kaguya, and then freezes with a second shiver of guilt.

APPARENTLY THERE'S NO GOOD PLACE FOR IVAN TO STAND TODAY.

<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude C. Kenny is fond of forests - some of the most enjoyable hours of his often-aggravating youth were spent in the national parks near his hometown of Paris (the one in Texas, not the other one). Spending a day hiking through a forest and then camping out overnight is a dear pleasure, and one Claude has had little occasion to indulge in since arriving on Filgaia. For one thing, most of his days are spent with people trying to kill him. And for another, there aren't a lot of forests left in Filgaia.

But the Cardon Forest is a nice forest. A pretty forest. Except for the fact that it's rather occupied by Veruni right now. Claude is occasionally fairly oblivious, and not exactly a trained woodsman, and so their presence has gone unnoticed. More problematic is that it is a little bit on fire, turning into a lot on fire. The smell of smoke and burning wafts through the trees, yet this also seems to go unnoticed. What could Claude be doing?

"Okay," he asks the air from his position squatting in a rather thick part of the undergrowth. "Are these leaves poisonous?"

Species identified as Toxicodendron diversilobum, the tricorder's voice echoes out. It is from the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. It is widely distributed in western North America, inhabiting conifer and mixed broadleaf forests, woodlands, grasslands, and chaparral biomes. Peak flowering occurs in...

"Oh my god I just asked if it's poisonous," Claude groans.

Species identified as Toxicodendron diversilobum, the tricorder repeats, which is as close as a quantum computer gets to sarcasm. Also known as...

"Okay, I get it, it's Toxico for my diverse bum all right," Claude answers. He points to a different bush. "What about---"

'KAGUYA'

Claude's head pops out of the shrubbery as Talia tears through his campsite. He twists as much as his hunched-over position can manage, glancing in the direction Talia left. His eyes widen, and he pops back down into the greenery. The bushes rustle frantically for about a dozen seconds before Claude steps out, awkwardly trying to refasten his Federation Uniform Standard Continuous Clothing Closure Automatic Fastener (read: zipper) while also juggling his weapons belt.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    Boudicca loves going to Apple Market to restock her supplies! (Apple Market does not necessarily love their supplies going missing and random objects appearing in their place, but thanks to Gwen's tutelage she's at least a little better at leaving actual gella instead of small round objects which may or may not be money.) But not only does Kattelox have the markets, which are good for parts as well as trail mix as it turns out, it's also close to Cardon Forest.

    Cardon Forest has lots of nice old trees, which are kind enough to shed old leaves. And so we come to Boudicca, who leans down to collect those dry leaves from the forest floor, making carefully sure no bugs have made them their home. This is important for her magic, somehow. Just trust her on this one.

    So here's Boudicca, innocently collecting old leaves for a magic spell, having really a wonderful day because the sun is out and the birds are singing and

    then it goes wrong.

    Where there's fire there's smoke, and as it rises over the treeline in a way which suggests nothing controlled, a single leave flutters from a gauntlet-clad hand. Boudicca straightens to her full height - six feet, she's tall but not that tall - and it is as if the motion drains the blood from her face down to her toes.

    (The motion is coincidental. She would have paled regardless.)

    "Oh," she says, and the word lands flat the way an industrial crusher lays things flat.

    Let's say the blood did go her feet, because she starts running. Towards the smoke-which-means-fire, because Boudicca has always been a little confused about how to express fear. In towards --

    "Kaguya..?" Boudicca sounds surprised to see her - as she looks to the others. "Ah... I do not think I have made your acquaintance..."

    Well, she doesn't know who he is, but she can hear how everyone is reacting to him. And Rebecca - Dean's dear friend - she sees her waver, before she commits to pointing a weapon.

    Her expression sets, and she steps forward. Not enough information, but enough to grasp her tonfa and pull them from her belt. "Excuse me," she says, looking up - even she has to look up - to Kartikeya. "I am asking you to leave this forest in peace."

    And her voice is steady, but there's worry in her eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

VENETIA VUONG likes to do things involving digging and exploration. Thus, she is here.

HOLD UP THAT'S A THIN EXCUSE. Fine: She had gotten a copy of Ida Everstead-Ray's recent tome of import and had been carefully reading it while enjoying being in Kattleox and even relaxing on a beach. (It has revealed to her that she's one of the untannables in the population of Void 41 - she got exactly one F-stop more golden-brown and has not progressed since then, just burned.)

However, she has been waiting on Jimmy to get a proper transcription of one borderline passage and to confirm that citation details are in order, which is boring and she is not needing more of a nap. Not at her age!

Even so, when chaos began in this deepwood zone, she moved with others. She had frowned at the sight of the towering Veruni with a golemesque prosthetic. As he is both much larger than her, and has some sort of advanced prosthetic -- advanced enough to probably be an upgrade, rather than some kind of weird gutter peg-leg kung fu -- Venetia immediately turned left and began circling through the underbrush.

Venetia steps quietly, but she is helped by loud noises and larger gestures. As she walks, she rolls up her sleeve, adjusts the strap on her Crest Pouch, loosens one of the stays on her travelling dress, and pops her neck back and forth.

Venetia turns right and steps out of the tree line, carefully inching over a still smouldering deadfall as she comes up behind Kaguya, who Venetia has identified, PROBABLY TO HER PERIL, as small, weak, frail, and easily bullied -- cull the supports and the pillar falls!

"My name is Vuong," Venetia says as she strides forwards to wrap up Kaguya in a big hug from behind. "I speak for the forest when I say -"

Apparently what the forest says is "back to belly suplex."

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    It wasn't too long ago that Gwen was enjoying some wonderful bread and sweetbuns with Boudicca at the Apple Market, just nearby.
    It wasn't too long ago that Gwen, after enjoying said delicious bread and sweetbuns with Boudicca, that Gwen managed to strike a conversation with a vendor, who had a specific problem Gwen was very much able to solve.
    It was just recently that this deal was completed, and Gwen's purse is just a little heavier for her trouble in procurring the wayward packages and delivering them to their rightful recipient.
    And it was minutes ago that Gwen was considering another delicious sweetbun from the same bakery.
    
    And it is right now that Gwen is here, hurriedly trying to stuff the sweetbun in her mouth, lured to the danger by the cries of 'an attack' and 'Veruni', by those wisely fleeing away.

    Slowing to a stop as she nears where the others are, the courier, makes a quick assessment: three Veruni, two she knows, and one very tall one.

    A very, very notably distinct one, and that's saying something, for a Veruni.

    A nagging feeling insists, in the back of Gwen's head, that maybe, just maybe, this is That One Guy a few helpful Veruni had warned Gwen about. At least one of said helpful Veruni is present, as Gwen now sees.

    "Who's this now?" Gwen asks, chancing a glance towards Rebecca as she walks up to stand near to Boudicca.

    For protection.

    She has the element of surprise, after all.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Kartikeya is not a subtle man. The smoke is visible all the way from the outskirts of Kattelox, and it only grows worse as the Sentinel vents his frustration on his surroundings.

    Ida steps through the underbrush, stopping at the edge of the clearing. She takes a knee behind the bole of a large tree, sizing up the intruders. She recognizes Kaguya's voice, even if her helmet muffles it--she'd know that sarcasm anywhere. She doesn't know Ambrosius as well, but his build is distinctive. She doesn't recognize the man with the strange arm, and that's a problem.

    Ida ducks down further, flattening herself against the tree as the smoke draws more Drifters to the scene. A bead of sweat drips down her brow. Her body is still recovering from both torpor and captivity. She has no idea who this man is, beyond the fact that he is almost certainly Veruni and undeniably dangerous. Ida sees how Kaguya's reacting. It's not like her at all.

    Gwen. Ida rises from her crouch, and steps forwards, into the clearing. She glances between Gwen and Rebecca as the latter starts to talk. Part of her feels like she wants to bolt, but the rest of her is not about to do that, injury be damned.

<Pose Tracker> Kartikeya has posed.

    Kartikeya does not at first seem to notice Kaguya, regarding instead the whole of the forest before him, with no (apparent) sign of the anomaly the Veruni researchers had managed to pick up. And then, almost incidentally, he turns his head to regard her. "Oh, it's you. What was your name again," he gestures here vaguely with his one flesh-and-blood hand, as if he's having trouble putting a name to her face. "Elvis' little smartaleck-- right, Kaguya! Make yourself useful or get outta here!"

    It's then that he notices he has not just one but two fellow Veruni here today, his yellow eyes flitting over to take in Ambrosius, similarly suited for the operation. "Oh?" His gaze slides between him and Kaguya. "Guess they sent along some minders! What's the matter with them, huh? They think I can't do this myself? Well, I'll tell ya what, you kids can give me a hand finding the damn thing--"

    And he turns, facing the group that has begun to gather, here in this clearing.

    And he grins, baring pointed teeth.

    "--well, would you look at that! And here I thought this was gonna be the boring part! What a lucky break! Bwa ha ha ha ha!" he crows, leaning back as he laughs uproariously.

    The first real damper to the Sentinel's good spirits is when he catches wind of what Lydia says to Kaguya. "Eh? What's that? You don't know? The name's Kartikeya!" he says, shaking his head as if disappointed, really. The second might come courtesy of Xantia, Dash, . "What am I doing here? Isn't it obvious?! I'm here for whatever's behind that Sub-Gate, wherever that is! I'll just have to take care of all these trees first!"

    And perhaps he might have made good on that particular course of action, if it weren't for a few choice bits of action directed his way. The first comes from a particular red-haired girl. He might not have noticed Rebecca in the crowd.
    If she hadn't been pointing an ARM at him. "You think you can take me on with that toy, kid?"

    '...you're the one he wants revenge on. Aren't you?'

    The confusion on the Sentinal's face may be as clear as day. "Who?"

    And the second comes from the armor-clad woman who approaches him and asks that he leave. His eyes narrow. "Says who, you?"

    Into this, Ethius intrudes.

    It's actually Ethius' manner of approach that catches the Sentinel's eye, and ultimately, provides that last barely-needed nudge towards violence. "What's with that look, huh? You got a deathwish there, buddy? Well, I'm happy to oblige!"

    He draws then, spinning an enormous black Veruni shotgun into his sole flesh-and-blood hand. With ease, he tilts it towards Ethius and pulls the trigger, aiming low.
    His body doesn't so much as jolt from the recoil the ARM must possess.

    BGM: Kartikeya ASGX_7135 (Battle) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMR66KYEZdM

    This is followed immediately by the man rushing for Boudicca -- she is closest to him after all -- and grabbing for her helmeted head; his aim is to slam her into the ground with that artifical arm of his. "Let's find out how long it takes that armor to BREAK!" he shouts.

    He gestures sharply with his shotgun then; the very winds begin to gather about and before him in a spinning vortex of wind -- and because of the nearby fires -- flame, catching Ida, Gwen, and Xantia in his spell.

    He snaps the shotgun upwards into the heart of the storm and crack a shot off at Rebecca. "Now this is a real ARM!"

    OOC: In this fight, your goal is to knock out the other Veruni with Kartikeya in five turns. If you do not, the Veruni will successfully gain access to the Sub-Gate and claim whatever is within it. You are welcome to take on Kartikeya himself but note that he is is a timed boss and cannot be KOed! However, Kartikeya will certainly be attacking you and it may be a good idea to keep his attention off your allies engaging the other Veruni!

    Additionally, because of the structure of the scene, we may skip you if you haven't posed within an hour of the bosses. This is to keep the scene moving.

Good luck!

GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Leg Shot!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Seraph Boudicca with Rude Awakening!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Vortex!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Vortex!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Xantia with Vortex!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Critical Shot!
GS: Kartikeya has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Rebecca Streisand takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Critical Shot for 100 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Rebecca Streisand!
GS: Hyper! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Kartikeya's Leg Shot for 81 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Slow! applied to Ethius Hesiod!
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Hey I am plenty useful," Kaguya starts to grouse at Kartikeya, but when he mentions minders she mysteriously has less to say. What's the best way to say 'not quite the thing you said but close enough?' Kaguya doesn't get time to contemplate it because...

"Eh?" Kaguya says, hearing her name shouted. She's pretty sure she knows that voice, actually, it's--

"YOU!" Kaguya shouts back at Talia. "Are you stupid or something? I already kicked your ass once--" Pause. "Lydia!?" She looks to see Catenna, too, and not shot-first like could've happened in another world. She doesn't ehar Rebecca's whisper. Things are getting complicated very quickly.

It doesn't even bring in that Ethius might be about to get himself killed or maybe Kaguya is just a little more OK with that than some alternatives.

A look to Ambrosius, and Kaguya nods. She can figure out that turn of his head her way, for sure--and she returns the gaze, meaningfully looking at the Drifters ahead.

Her eyes settle on Ivan and Talia first... or they do, before Venetia steps out from behind her. "Yeah this is Kartikeya," Kaguya starts. Kaguya is busy enough with a bunch of people that vary between 'she likes them!' and 'she's okay with them' to 'well they're acceptable losses' that she doesn't notice Venetia until she grabs hold of her. "What the--"

She's going down. The tablet in her hand clatters to the dirt, sliding against the base of a shrub. It's not hard to get a little leverage. But mid-air, Kaguya shifts, swinging back her elbow with sudden force for Venetia's side. When they land, Kaguya will hit Venetia with all like eighty pounds of her weight--and using the force of her elbow strike, wrench to the side of her and roll up to one knee.

"Do I need an adult?" Kaguya shifts into a blur of motion; In an instant she's pulled something from her supplies and flicked a switch on its side, throwing it towards the twins. There's a blinking light flashing on its side before it gets close--and explodes in green fire. "Lydia! HEADS UP!" She whirls in place to pull her ARM and cla-CLACK loads in a green-glowing cartridge--holding the shotgun out straight she points it at Lydia, and fires a blast that radiates colors.

Claude emerges from a space where Kaguya knows there's plenty of poison oak. She stares at him for an instant. Then her right fist swings backward and she holds it there for a long second building power, before punching a column of gray-white ki straight for his face.

She pulls a syringe from her bag and pops off the cap as she whirls towards the assembled group. "Come on!" Kaguya shouts. "You don't have time to worry about that guy!"

She jabs the needle straight into her thigh and depresses the plunger, eyes sharpening as she absorbs the formula.

GS: Seraph Boudicca takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Rude Awakening for 178 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Venetia Vuong with Elbow Drop!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Ivan with Harmonic Impulse Bomb!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Talia with Harmonic Impulse Bomb!
GS: Kaguya has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Kaguya spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Lydia Seren with Prism Canister!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Claude C. Kenny with Reaper's Toll!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Kaguya with Formula XKV-27!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.
GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Kaguya's Formula XKV-27 for 0 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Hyper, and Jam! applied to Kaguya!
GS: CRITICAL! Talia takes a solid hit from Kaguya's Harmonic Impulse Bomb for 175 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Talia!
GS: Venetia Vuong critically Guards a hit from Kaguya's Elbow Drop for 24 hit points!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Claude C. Kenny takes a glancing hit from Kaguya's Reaper's Toll for 63 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! applied to Claude C. Kenny!
GS: Xantia guards a hit from Kartikeya's Vortex for 61 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Xantia!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
DC: 1 turn has elapsed in the battle against Kartikeya! 4 turns remain!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

To Kartikeya, Ambrosius simply nods in the affirmative. That's why he's here... or, at least, it's one of the reasons why he's here, but there's not point in telling him that.

Besides - they have company now. It's not unexpected that Drifters would arrive. Fire and explosions had a tendency to attract them like moths to a flame, after all. No, the surprise is that it's people they know.

Behind his mask, Ambrosius inhales sharply as Catenna appears, an arrow trained on him. Not too far away is Lydia, casually chatting up Kaguya. And... is that Ethius?

Ambrosius frowns. So, this was how it's going to be, then.

In one swift movement Ambrosius draws out his revolver, firing two shots. One for Catenna, and one for the ARM-bearing beastwoman he doesn't recognize - Violet. Neither are aimed to kill, just wound, but still a sign that he is serious in his intentions.

"...This place is dangerous. I suggest you turn around, leave, and forget that you saw us here. Please." Ambrosius says. It's clearly Ambrosius - he makes no attempt to mask his voice, but his voice sounds a little more... strained, than usual.

And then, there's the young man with the unusual armor. A curious eyebrow briefly raises as Ambrosius's attention turns toward Dash. His mechanic side can't help but be curious, but there's no time for that.

"...My apologies, young man. I am afraid we cannot. If you will not leave, I will remove you myself." Ambrosius says, then gestures with his free hand. Water begins to bubble up beneath Dash's feet, before bursting up in a powerful geyser capable of knocking someone off their feet if they're not careful.

And then he spots Gwen. Ambrosius heaves a sigh. This is exactly what he was hoping wouldn't happen today. This might be bad.

GS: Ambrosius has attacked Catenna with Conversator!
GS: Ambrosius has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Violet Salazar with Conversator!
GS: Ambrosius has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Dash Caskett with Geyser!
GS: Ambrosius has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ambrosius has completed his action.
GS: Catenna takes a glancing hit from Ambrosius's Conversator for 68 hit points!
GS: Hyper! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Catenna's Force Evade activates!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Ivan takes a glancing hit from Kaguya's Harmonic Impulse Bomb for 61 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Ivan!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Violet Salazar takes a solid hit from Ambrosius's Conversator for 134 hit points!
GS: Hyper! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Dash Caskett takes a glancing hit from Ambrosius's Geyser for 66 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

Normally, Talia would smile at Rebecca. Ask her how her day is going; maybe ask her about Avril. But, today, there is a single-minded focus.

"Oh, you thought I would let that go? The time you tried to kill me?" Talia snaps back at Kaguya, heatedly. She spares a glance at Lydia, then Catenna. She doesn't feel terribly bad about raging at Kaguya; nor, for that matter, does she appreciate the irony of her anger at Catenna, when Catenna expressed her own at Ragnell. In the moment, Talia's attention is rather focused.

"I saw what you're like, no? The things you said!" Talia shouts. "You think I'm going to hurry along like a good little human--"

Venetia tries to suplex Kaguya, and then she gets away with that sudden movement. Talia's eyes dart to Ivan, and then to the thrown bomb. It explodes -- and the blast slams into her before she can get away. She flies back, but when she hits a tree, she bicycle kicks off it. She jumps through the air, swinging Mirage back. In midair, she draws her dagger, spinning the weapon up, and then comes down at Kaguya.

Mirage slashes down, a blur of black and red striking at the top of the Veruni's head. Talia hits the ground, then slashes up with her long dagger along Kaguya's front.

"Tiger Rage!"

GS: Talia has attacked Kaguya with Tiger Rage!
GS: Talia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Talia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.

Ambrosius may have been aiming to wound, but he did too good a job of it -- his bullet strikes Violet in the right hip, leaving her scrambling for balance -- and ultimately toppling over. Still, she can certainly fire from a prone position. It might even prove an advantage. She scrambles for cover behind a nearby tree -- it's better than nothing! -- and loads one of her scarce custom-made cartridges into her ARM. Her ears flick back against her head as she takes painstaking aim -- and fires.

She glances over to the woman with the bow who is also engaging this Veruni. Great, she looks like a shaman. Violet will have to speak with her later. And is that a giant OWL?!?

GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Ambrosius with Wildcat Cartridge!
GS: Violet Salazar has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Ambrosius guards a hit from Violet Salazar's Wildcat Cartridge for 83 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

    'Ambro'

Catenna straightens immediately when Lydia utters a familiar name at the masked Veruni. Her shoulders tense and her brows knit. She tries not to let the sudden worry show on her face.

She's never managed to get the upper hand on Ambrosius. Ever.

For a moment she makes eye contact with Kaguya, and her usual grace is broken, however briefly, by a look of profound sadness that shows mainly in her eyes. But she steels herself soon enough and turns her aim to Ambrosius again, entirely convinced she'll have to fight him alone for the fifth or sixth time and likely wind up under the tender mercies of Jay and her healing brews.

There's no time to follow the train of thought any further: Ambrosius is taking a shot at her.

He's not trying to kill, she realizes suddenly even as she makes an instinctive move to the left. The masked man's bullet rips past her within millimetres, so close as to leave a red streak across her bicep, exposed by the cut of the dancer-style outfit she's taken to wearing these days. With a click of her teeth, she fights back the urge to react to the sting of pain, just darting away with an elegant spin and a short flip before touching down and bringing her hand to bear towards Ambrosius again.

"You know that I can't do that," she answers his entreaty, quiet and level. "Filgaia has few woodlands left. I won't see one destroyed, and you shouldn't either."

Catenna splays her fingers and barks a word of power in Zortroan. It rings in the air like a pure chime.

An invisible force closes in. Unseen power concentrates around Ambrosius as Catenna tries to flip gravity upside down, trying to vault Ambrosius into the air and then slam him bodily down against the earth.

(And it's a normal-sized owl, really: Saarda-Shanta is watching the fight from a nearby branch.)

GS: Catenna has attacked Ambrosius with Grav!
GS: Catenna has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Catenna has completed her action.
GS: Kaguya guards a hit from Talia's Tiger Rage for 57 hit points!
GS: Slow! applied to Kaguya!
GS: Ambrosius critically Guards a hit from Catenna's Grav for 24 hit points!
GS: Ambrosius's Force Guard activates!
GS: Gwen Whitlock completely evades a hit from Kartikeya's Vortex!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Vortex for 50 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
GS: Lydia Seren takes a solid hit from Kaguya's Prism Canister for 100 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Poison! applied to Lydia Seren!
GS: Cover! applied to Kaguya!
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

Kartikeya. Who is that? Venetia doesn't know him but he is certainly the tallest Verunia present. Even so, she has to commit to her throw except --

Kaguya's like grabbing a monkey!! That's Venetia's first thought, because the relative density and power of Kaguya's diminutive frame is a rude surprise. The elbow strike hits her and she lets herself flow loose; rolling to the side, coughing out a huge wheeze, and putting a hand to her side.

She heaves herself upright. She whirls round and sees --

"Claude! All of you!" Venetia shouts in a stentorian tone meant to dominate an auditorium. "Look out!"

"She's using drugs!"

Venetia then breaks into a run. She has no time to fish out her panoply of Crest Sorcery, no time yet to call more of a warning. She has a terrible premonition based on third-hand rumors of what this might mean. No time to warn, no time to do anything but act. She leans forwards as she closes the gap but she does not close it all the way. Not until she leaps!

Her legs come up as she does and she aims a double-soled mule kick RIGHT at the injection site!

GS: Venetia Vuong has attacked Kaguya with Void 41 Swing Dance!
GS: Venetia Vuong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action.
GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Venetia Vuong's Void 41 Swing Dance for 154 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Kaguya Noinitial Nolastname and Claude C. Kenny's eyes meet. They narrow. Both have the same thought.

Unfortunately for Claude, he is still futzing with his stupid pants and his even stupider weapons belt, so Kaguya gets her shot off before he can manage his. The boy from Earth manages to sort of duck and twist into the attack, such that the gray-white blast catches him in the shoulder rather than his precious facemeats; the Federation weave stiffens with the blow, blunting some of the damage. Unfortunately for Claude, the impact is still enough to carry him off into the trees, vanishing with a whispering, woodsy sound.

There are several loud cracks, and slightly less loud curses. Then Venetia's voice echoes through the clearing, and Claude's voice can be heard offering Kaguya some scatological culinary recommendations. She should know that winners don't do drugs, after all.

A few seconds later, Kaguya - and probably a few others in the area - will feel a sudden burst of chi that presages the return of one Claude C. Kenny, blazing through the undergrowth in a sudden, bursting dash. "Boot to the Face Attack!" shouts an angry Claude as he leaps into the air---

---and instead of kicking Kaguya in the face, instead tries to smash her upside the head with an old log he found back there. It's got a bunch of mushrooms and mosses on it, which is probably fascinating to the Veruni botanist but also, it must be said, super gross.

GS: Claude C. Kenny has attacked Kaguya with Swing The Tree Of Justice!
GS: Claude C. Kenny has completed his action.
GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Claude C. Kenny's Swing The Tree Of Justice for 117 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    "Ah... yes!" Boudicca tries to insist, in the face of Kartikeya's scepticism. "I am the Seraph Boudicca, and --"

    And here's Ethius. Ethius isn't the first person Boudicca notices creeping in - that would be Ida, who got a brief nervous glance from Boudicca as she suppresses her urge to tell her to go back to bed - but he sure is someone Kartikeya notices. Alarm crosses her features as Ethius's typical lack of any sell whatsoever draws his ire. "No, he is --"

    That's three quick words which aren't quick enough to get past the way Kartikeya draws, and the noise she was trying to make into words suddenly just becomes a startled jumble of vowels as he grabs her too quickly for her to spring away.

    It's also accompanied by the sound of plate metal SLAMMING into the ground, a heavy noise which requires capitalisation under the weight of a golem's arm. By all rights something like that ought to well and truly daze a woman, even as he moves on and it's clear the helm hasn't crushed under his efforts, but...

    But no, Boudicca's picking herself up, with a little gust of air on her own terms. "... so talking will not suffice," she surmises, as she reaches up to re-adjust her helm so she can see properly again. "Then, if you wish to invoke the flames..."

    She slips one tonfa away, and her hand reaches out; one finger slides across the other, like flint over steel. There is a spark. A spark feeds flame, and so the feast spirals out to -- "Ida!"

    If Ida has decided to come and fight again so soon, she will at least fight with all the strength her Oracle may provide her.

GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Smoke Sigil!
GS: Seraph Boudicca assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius strides forward through the growing flames, the bloodthirsty yelling, and the building fear and anger with a stoicism that appears identical and indistinguishable from full-on obliviousness.
     He reads Kartikeya's movements easily, for a man who has no reason to feel the need to hide them - to hide anything - from those not deemed a threat will tell all. The simple twitches of one's arm, the movement of an eye. Knowing when the shotgun will be drawn as if prescient...
     But Ethius is (debatably) human. The Sentinel's reflexes and drawing speed have few matches among gunslingers, blunted only by the spinning flourish of its draw as the foolish human man crosses his forearm inward to several slurred syllables. Katikeya isn't aiming at chest-level, but a leg. It should be one limb lost in a shower of red life from below and translucent sorrow from above, punctuated by a chorus of agony.
     That doesn't happen.
     There is instead a loud, bright electrical spark from where the shot strikes true. The struck leg slides back as if instead kicked. The grunt of pain is muffled underneath the bandanna around the lower half of his face, a cramp going up his thigh with further stress on the other leg from the need to lower his stance for balance.
     ...But he is still upright. He still has a leg. There is no recognizable stain of red forming down the trouser's leg (but it is deeply bruised).

     ...HOW LONG AGO...?

     Red. Orange. Hot. Patterns unrecognizable. Patterns that do not belong.
     He held out a hand before them. Names screamed from him, to them.
     One of those before the colors of ruin said one name back.
     He was... afraid.

     NOW
     Kartikeya throws himself upon the Oracle of Moor Gault. Even if Ethius has the benefit of (presently) keeping the leg that was shot, he is in no position to take off running. His quarterstaff's butt is thrust into the ground for balance as a disciplined mind strays not from the pain but into the next set of syllables. The next set of gesticulations from his free hand. The wind-stirred flames meant for others lick perilously close to his face. He is unbowed by them.
     'Now this is a real ARM!' Kartikeya screams, as the flames at the heart of the storm start to dissipate. He walks a few steps where he stands distantly from Rebecca at the 7 o'clock direction - damned near allowing himself to be grazed by what Kartikeya shoots at Rebecca. His resolve holds.
     "Fine Dust." He completes the spellcast to sorcerous lights as he extends his free hand and fires out a stream of earthen matter across a distance with the aim and care of a sharpshooter - lining it up to try and strike Kartikeya's ARM to jam it up.
     His stare does not yield, even as his vision struggles with the bright flames and haze of heat muddying it. He gives no words of defiance to justify who he is, or what makes him think he should do anything but hobble off and be happy that he still has a leg at all after that.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Kartikeya with Fine Dust!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


It'd be nice if it were a day where Talia and Rebecca could talk like that. Or even Rebecca talking to Kaguya, but the way her expression looks right now... one would swear she's worried that perhaps something like that will never happen again.

"You don't even know?!" Rebecca says with a small slip of her control. Before she realizes, a guy like this might have a bunch of folks who want vengeance against him. That thought freaks her out even more. "The Golem Crusher. You've heard of him right? Aren't you the reason why he took up that title?"

Rebecca hears Boudicca ask him politely to leave, and her mind flashes to the idea of what this guy did to make someone like Greg take up crushing Golems just to get his attention. Gwen asks 'Who's this now?' and Rebecca lightly clears her throat, like she's not certain how to answer.

"Someone who we shouldn't have crossed." She says, voice tight. "And just did."

Rebecca's finger twitches on the thumb. And yet before she can even pull it, he's off in a blur of movement at Boudicca, and Rebecca quickly snaps her ARM around to try and follow him, looking more than a little freaked. By the time she gets a bead on him...

... he pulls the trigger first. The blast of shot at that range smashes into her, and the girl finds herself on the ground and skidding across the forest floor. Coughing against the awful sensation in her ribs. It takes her a few moments to assess that she's merely hurting, rather than dying.

"This ain't no toy."

Rebecca rasps, and from her position on the ground she suddenly raises her ARM and snaps off a shot. It's a tough one. Like that mysterious Crusader, Racca, had tried to teach her. It's meant to strike his massive Golem forearm and ricochet back into the shotgun's barrel.

"You think your ARM being bigger makes you so tough? I swear by my ARM!"

She has to swear by it, perhaps, to convince herself that she'll survive this. That she'll get back to the two of them. Her training with this ARM has to mean something if it doesn't mean she'll be a circus star.

Kipping up she tries to limp behind the cover of a tree as she calls out. "Don't anyone try to go it alone against him!" She grimaces, holding her side as she calls out to Ida, Boudicca, Gwen...

... her eyes grow wide as Ethius stands out there in the open, staring him down. "Ethius - find some cover!" He may be a weirdo to her, but she doesn't want him to die, "If we don't keep him guessing - then we're all dead!"

GS: Rebecca Streisand has attacked Kartikeya with Swift Revolver!
GS: Rebecca Streisand assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

Whoch, this guy's violent.

"A Sub-Gate, huh? That might be the place I heard about..." Dash muses, and tries to remember what the Mayor said. She didn't call it that, but the ruins out here so far don't need a high license to access. It has to be it. "You don't have to burn a forest down to locate it, you know!"

If it is out here, it should have a surface entrance. But where?

And Kartikeya explodes like a barrel of gunpowder as the Veruni dives into the fray. "Well, so much for talkin', I guess."

And then Dash gets launched by water literally out of nowhere! A doit-doit can be heard a few moments after, as shock obsorbers sound. It is a messy landing, but Dash keeps from wiping out. Parts of his leg armor are scored from high pressure water cutting against metal. It looks like paint is peeling, but it is the same hue of blue under the peeling blue substance.

"Kattelox has precious little ecosystem. If you burn it down, it could be bad for everyone living here!" Dash argues back. "...At least you are more cordial than that other guy."

Dash takes aim. "Gonna have to stop you all then, looks like!" Yellow-white solar plasma is sent back towards Ambrosious in a paced volley!

A look towards Catenna. "See, she gets it! Get that guy to burn something else that is preferrably both not us or the trees!"

GS: Dash Caskett has attacked Ambrosius with Buster Salvo!
GS: Dash Caskett has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Dash Caskett has completed his action.
GS: Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Dash Caskett's Buster Salvo for 110 hit points!
GS: Shield! applied to Dash Caskett!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia is looking around freely as others arrive on the scene, almost casually so. She clearly hasn't fully understood the threat she's facing. She raises a hand to Gwen in particular as she approaches. "Hey Gwen. We've got to stop meeting in places where we can't have cake!"

There isn't much of a chance to say much else before Kartikeya starts to take action. When the first shot goes off, Xantia is quick to drop into a defensive stance, eyes going wide when she sees Ethius take that shot to the leg. What follows happens to quickly for her to react aside from digging in her heels. Surrounded by wind and fire, Xantia grits her teeth, but is determined to not be knocked off her feet.

The one thought that goes through Xantia's mind during this: 'I hope I don't break my ribs again'. Awfully specific, but that's what recently derailed her plans for a while, which is the actual thing that she doesn't want to happen again. You'd think her worries would extend a little further than that, but you'd be wrong. As long as she can avoid taking a nasty fall, she figures that This Is Fine.

Partially because the fire is something she can work with. She actually draws the fire to her, sticking to her body in the form of an elemental aura. Doing this wasn't exactly a pleasant sensation at first, but by the time she's done with... whatever it is she just did, the fire no longer burns her.

"...That was dangerous. You could've set a whole lot of things on fire!" Xantia says, while on fire. "Well, if you like fire so much, take it back!"

What follows is, of course, a furious flurry of fire-powered punches sent Kartikeya's way. Well-telegraphed and straightforward, but still. Fists that are on fire, thrown by a ticked-off martial artist, are probably not fun to deal with either way. It's unclear whether she heard Rebecca's advice, and even less clear whether she would listen regardless.

GS: Xantia has attacked Kartikeya with Elemental Fury!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia assumes the Avenger stance!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
GS: Kartikeya guards a hit from Ethius Hesiod's Fine Dust for 65 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Kartikeya completely evades a hit from Rebecca Streisand's Swift Revolver!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: CRITICAL! Kartikeya critically Guards a hit from Xantia's Elemental Fury for 21 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Mighty! applied to Xantia!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Seraph Boudicca's Smoke Sigil for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper! applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"I'm probably an adult by now, I honestly kind of haven't been paying too much attention to the passage of time." Lydia says. "Uh." She looks around. "Am I interrupting something'?"

Yeah this is Kartikeya

"Oh that guy..!" Lydia says. "You said....." She seems to realize maybe she shouldn't be saying what Kaguya is saying so she kinda bites her tongue so she shuts up.

Lydia! HEADS UP!

"Huh?"

Kaguya shoots her in the chest and there's a flurry of colors as she goes flying, landing on her back. She was caught completely off guard DESPITE the warning. Or maybe honestly because of it.

Come on! Kaguya shouts. You don't have time to worry about that guy!

Lydia blinks severaal times. "Oh." She says. "I get it."

She rolls to her feet. "Okay Kaguya! Let's fight!"

SUDDENLY a voice comes out from Lydia that isn't her own.

"HEY LYDIE GUESS WHAT," It's Rachiel. "I just had the most amazing sandwich and ahhh!! You're fighting! Quick, stop getting shot!"

"Thanks Rachiel!" Lydia says without changing her tone even as she--holy shit what do her attacks do again? Did I ever decide?

Okay here we go. Lydia darts forward, jumping up at the last minute to send both feet flying for Kaguya's face--intending to rebound off and land on her hands and send another pair of kicks for Kaguya's stomach.

"Watch out Kaguya!!" Lydia says. "wait fuck I was supposed to say 'Watch out Kaguya' first but I got so distracted because of Rachiel and arggghhh!!"

GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Kaguya with Rabbit Heart!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren assumes the Avenger stance!
GS: Lydia Seren takes 21 damage from Poison!
GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
GS: Kaguya guards a hit from Lydia Seren's Rabbit Heart for 85 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Poison! applied to Kaguya!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    'The name's Kartikeya!'
    'Yeah this is Kartikeya.'
    'Hey Gwen. We've got to stop meeting in places where we can't have cake!'
    'Someone who we shouldn't have crossed. And just did.'
    *insert Ambrosius looking concerned faces*

    This is Kartikeya.
    THIS is Kartikeya.
    THIS IS GODDAMN KARTIKEYA, WHAT THE HELL, Xantia is right, Gwen really should meet her for cake--

    If Gwen could find it in herself to be afraid of the way she's calculated the chances of her dying having just gone up with this knowledge, she'd be downright afraid.

    She's curious. She's, well, nearly blown away, in fact.

    Literally, she almost got blown off her feet by that wind spell he managed to cast.

    "That's... an ARM, attracted to him? Almost looks like a golem's. Or is it just armor?" He didn't even flinch from the recoil from his other ARM, and now he's _right there grabbing at Boudicca right in front of her, holy heck he's quick_.

    "Ethius!" Gwen looks *happy* to see the man now, before she recognizes that he was the very man Kartikeya shot at, earlier. "Okay, good, I think that'll work!"

     Seeing Ida out of the corner of her eye, Gwen balks. "Heyheyhey, what are you doin' here?! Shouldn't you be restin' right now?!"

    Fishing a throwing knife from her clothing, Gwen holds it between the two fingers of her right hand, and, to her credit, does something that *isn't* immediately firing bullets at the very dangerous Veruni.

    No, she throws a knife, instead, aiming for the man's left arm.

    Surely, a measly little knife would have no chance. The knife wielded by someone's augmented right arm? Bigger chance.

    .... if she can hit the damn speedy man.

GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Oh, Ida thinks, alarm lighting up her eyes. Do the Veruni have a Berserk, as well?

    She doesn't get time to dwell on similarities. In one single motion, Kartikeya grabs Boudicca and pile-drivers her into the ground. Ida sees red.

    "Bastard!" Ida spits. She rushes forwards, towards her fallen Oracle--but the Sentinel doesn't give her the chance to intervene. Shearing wind rips through the clearing at Kartikeya's command, carrying with it tendrils of flame. Ida raises both arms--Hyadean exoskeleton erupts from her flesh, armoring the limbs as she crosses them across her face. She leaps back, turns away, and shields herself. It's barely enough to keep the flames off her in earnest. Red welts erupt on her skin, spreading across her face and down her neck. It feels like someone started peeling off her flesh layer by layer, and stopped halfway through to rub salt on. The pain is maddening. Beside her, Rebecca slams into the ground.

    'Ida!'

    The Seer meets her Oracle's eyes from across the battlefield, and reaches out with an armored hand. The phantasmal flame curls in her palm, and then surges up her fingers, and down her nerves. The look on Ida's face says everything--she's not going to retreat, not while Boudicca and the others are here. If her body makes her a monster or a mongrel, the least she can do is use it to protect her friends.

    Ida rushes forwards, putting herself between Kartikeya and the fallen Rebecca. Her hands dart about, assailing the Sentinel with flicks and slaps and open-palm strikes. She starts walking circles around the much larger Veruni, forcing him to turn to face her while leaving Rebecca unmolested--hopefully. "You're one to talk," Ida shoots back, to Gwen. "But if--" she sees Gwen draw that knife. "Now!"

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Kartikeya with Open Palm!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Kartikeya with Crackshot!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Given the relative distances, Ivan has just a bit more time to react to the incoming bomb than Talia does, and springs to one side, diving into a roll. Waves of heat wash over him, scalding his skin as the edge of the blast catches him. He can burn, it turns out, if it's somebody else's flame. He coughs a few times before jumping back up to his feet.

"Talia!" he calls, looking back to his sister to see how she fared in the explosion. He finds her still looking lively, arcing through the air towards Kaguya. There's a sigh of relief, if a small one, before he shifts the grip of his blade and charges forward and leaps at Kaguya, launching into a spinning aerial strike followed swiftly by a fireball lobbed at close range.

"I wasn't there for any of that," he says, "But I think you need to give Talia an apology, and I'm not hearing anything that sounds like one!"

He is still uncertain about how all this will sit with Lydia and searches for her, only to find her flying toward Kaguya in a kick, so maybe fighting Kaguya isn't the taboo he worried it would be. Complicated family dynamic...

GS: Ivan spends 1 Combo on Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!
GS: Ivan has attacked Kaguya with Hell Pyre!
GS: Ivan has completed his action.
GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Ivan's Hell Pyre for 170 hit points!
GS: Kartikeya guards a hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Open Palm for 70 hit points!
GS: Kartikeya takes a glancing hit from Gwen Whitlock's Crackshot for 44 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Kartikeya's Force Evade activates!
<Pose Tracker> Kartikeya has posed.

    "Jog my memory, willya?" he exhorts Rebecca, teeth bared in an amused grin. "'The Golem Crusher', huh? Can't say I've heard of the guy." Though he pauses, as if a thought just crossed his mind. "Although... now that you mention it--" A wild light shines in his yellow eyes. "--Was he that sad sack with the wife and kid? Now that was a day to remember!! Bwah hah hah hah!"

    It takes little more from that point onwards to push the warlike Sentinel from 'eager for a fight' into 'starting a fight'.

    It just happens to largely take the form of Ethius.

    He moves on from Ethius, striking at the others, as if he expects the sorceror downed -- however, that is not quite so. Indeed, Ethius rises even as Kartikeya attends to other matters.

    "Hm? Not even a dent," the Sentinel laments, releasing his grip on the Seraph's helmet. "What're they making armor out of these days...?"

    He drops back, leaving her there, his gaze on Rebecca now as she snaps off a shot for him.
    Rebecca may have the impression of a blur. His hand -- his arm -- rips through the air and there catches...
    Her bullet. He holds it there for a moment, as if admiring the bullet -- or perhaps, his own handiwork. "Impressive, isn't it? The reflexes really are second to none. Now let me give you a little taste!" The bullet drops from his grasp, plinking onto the ground; he rushes at her then, slamming the full force of his Golem's arm into her.

    It's in the moment as he drops back from close range with Rebecca and swivels his shotgun towards Boudicca that Ethius again makes himself known--

    A fine dust coats the shotgun well. Even as he cracks off a burstshot for the armored Seraph, he finds, judging from the expression, that something is not quite right about his weapon. "Eh? What's this now--"

    He quickly finds the source of the problem, it seems, his gaze settling on the sorceror who is still staring at him. "What did you do, huh?! --How about I wipe that look off your face!"

    For now eschewing the ARM for his... arm, he drives an overhead swing for Ethius, apparently attempting a variant of the same blow he had delivered to Boudicca -- but with a twist. There's an opening in his form, as if he's just about asking Ethius to dare hit him back.

    However it goes, it's Xantia's full-on intrusion that forces Kartikeya to give Ethius some space: a flurry of burning fists impact off the plating of the Golem's arm, seemingly barely leaving even a scratch. If anything, the Sentinel only looks amused, his lips splitting in a wide grin. "Not only does it have great reflexes, but the armor plating's all I could ever want!" he says, leaning forward to leer at her, mere inches of space separating his face from hers. "If you want to stop me from burning down this forest so bad... then show me what you've got!" A sudden surge of wind, like a forceful gale, erupts from beneath Xantia's feet; already laughing regardless of the outcome, the Sentinel seems ready to follow up with that arm of his--

    When Ida intercedes. "No weapons?" he remarks, as if curious about her -- in the way a cat might be curious about an aggressive mouse. "Oh, now I see. So you're one of those--"

    And though she manages to cut through his defenses and slam her palm into him, she will become aware of two things: she might as well have struck a brick wall, for all that he does not shift.
    And that he's grabbed her arm. With that grafted arm of his own. "Now, let's see how this--" he starts, already twisting her arm in his grip.

    And then a knife clips his face.

    "Eh?" remarks Kartikeya, turning from Xantia towards the source of the thrown blade as blood trails down his cheek: Gwen.

    "Was that a knife?" he asks her, casually, even.

    The shotgun swings up then without warning and snaps off a shot.

GS: Kartikeya has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Reap the Whirlwind!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Seraph Boudicca with Burst Shot!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Eye for an Eye!
GS: Kartikeya enters a Counter stance!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Xantia with Jetstream!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Too Bad!!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Gwen Whitlock with ARM Shot!
GS: Kartikeya has completed his action.
DC: 2 turns have elapsed in the battle against Kartikeya! 3 turns remain!
GS: Rebecca Streisand takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Reap the Whirlwind for 178 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rebecca Streisand gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple! applied to Rebecca Streisand!
GS: Xantia takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Jetstream for 151 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Mighty removed!
GS: Cripple and Disease! applied to Xantia!
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"I thought you'd be glad to escape with your life!" Kaguya snarls back at Talia. What she's like, the things she said; Kaguya remembers that day. It wasn't a great day. It starts to irritate her.

"Yeah and I was RIGHT!" Kaguya shouts back, as Talia slashes down at her. Kaguya dips back out of the way of the head strike but takes the slash of the dagger straight--it slashes a visible gouge in her breastplate. "That's how the world works," Kaguya snaps at Talia as she shifts back into a fighting stance. "Only people with 'strength' get to decide what goes!"

"Like--" Kagya frowns as Venetia charges her. The last thing she expects is someone dressed up like she is to actually keep trying to melee. So Kaguya at first frowns, and starts to just step forward, "What's--"

"OW," Kaguya shouts back as the double-soled kick slams right into her thigh. It's only because she's wearing alien armor and is kind of super strong that it doesn't break, instead knocking Kaguya backward many paces. "What's with this old lady!?" Kaguya shouts, as she feels the burst of chi that marks Claude's return. "What do you think I'm not going to use--" Boot to the face attack!! Kaguya growls and throws up her hand to catch Claude's foot--

But the feint works and a nasty old dirty branch slams into her head, knocking her stumbling forward. "Ugh! That would've been a great feint IF I'D DONE IT!"

But Lydia--there's Lydia. She blinks and--seems to get it, until suddenly Rachiel speaks up through Lydia. "That's weird," Kaguya admits to Lydia, and she jumps up at her. Kaguya throws her arm up to shield her face, but Lydia is easily able to bounce off of her powerful forearm and hit the ground, and the kicks to her stomach do hit. "Ugh!"

But Ivan comes up too, leaping with a strike and a fireball, but it's perhaps the words that hit her more. This harms her defense pretty thoroughly--as she shifts backwards under the force of the fireball, slamming into a tree that unfortunately cracks under the impact. "I am NOT apologizing," Kaguya says, "For telling her how the world works!"

Kaguya pulls her ARM from here and delivers a point-blank column of pale green force roughly the width of her palm to Venetia. She swings the ARM back into its holster and throws out both hands to conjure a set of ice blades that she hurls at Ivan meanwhile, bending at the knee and leaping into the air out of immediate range--with a spinning kick for Talia on her way up.

From mid-air she hurls a ball at Lydia that bursts when it hits her, erupting into razor-sharp vines that try to enwrap her outright. With the rest of her landing, she sails that mometum straight into Claude--slamming down foot-first for his chest.

"Is that as hard as you can hit!?" Kaguya demands. "Come on!"

GS: Kaguya spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Venetia Vuong with Moonbeam!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Talia with Erratic Orbit!
GS: Kaguya has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Ivan with Frost Shard!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Lydia Seren with Bladevine Orb!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Claude C. Kenny with Satellite Break!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya takes 22 damage from Poison!
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.
GS: Ethius Hesiod critically Guards a hit from Kartikeya's Eye for an Eye for 28 hit points!
GS: Claude C. Kenny guards a hit from Kaguya's Satellite Break for 78 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Claude C. Kenny gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Claude C. Kenny!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius hesitates for a moment. ...Catenna is right, of course. He keeps his ARM trained on her, but doesn't fire. Try as he might, he can't come up with an excuse - and Dash's words ring true, as well.

This distraction is enough that, when Catenna invokes her spell, Ambrosius isn't able to break out of it right away. He finds himself lifted off the ground, light as a feather. He tenses up, ready to try to break out...

...but, before he can, a shot rings out, fired by Violet. Grasped by the power of gravity as he is, defending himself is difficult. Violet's shot strikes true despite his efforts, soon followed up by Dash's salvo of solar plasma, forcing a wince out from behind the mask. And then Ambrosius finds himself falling. He manages to reorient himself, landing while avoiding serious injury.

He manages to force himself up, turning his attention toward Dash.

"...I am afraid that is impossible." He replies. ...He doesn't clarify whether he means getting him to try and convince Kartikeya to burn something else, or actually convincing Kartikeya.

...It's the latter. Kartikeya's carnage in the background definitely helps provide emphasis.

Ambrosius rushes Dash down first, moving with a surprisingly burst of agility as he aims to simply shouldercheck him with enough force to knock him back, or even down.

Not to give up this momentum he turns on Catenna next, his right arm - notably longer in proportion to his body than most arms are - coming in with a scything right hook.

He turns swiftly, then - and in his other hand is not the revolver from before but a longer ARM of red and silver, looking to be composes of multiple pieces.

Ambrosius fires, and out comes a ray of sickly green light straight toward Violet. Contact with the ray results in a temporary sensation of illness, weakening the target.

GS: Ambrosius has attacked Dash Caskett with Advancing Charge!
GS: Ambrosius assumes the Avenger stance!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Catenna with Scything Swing!
GS: Ambrosius spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Violet Salazar with VV-VENENO!
GS: Ambrosius has completed his action.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Too Bad! for 176 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Hyper removed!
GS: Cripple! applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Catenna takes a solid hit from Ambrosius's Scything Swing for 115 hit points!
GS: Mighty! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Lydia Seren takes a glancing hit from Kaguya's Bladevine Orb for 27 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Entangle, Jam, and Poison! applied to Lydia Seren!
GS: Lydia Seren's Force Evade activates!
GS: Talia takes a solid hit from Kaguya's Erratic Orbit for 53 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Talia!
GS: Mighty! applied to Kaguya!
GS: Dash Caskett guards a hit from Ambrosius's Advancing Charge for 79 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Dash Caskett gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Violet Salazar takes a glancing hit from Ambrosius's VV-VENENO for 57 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Violet Salazar gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Disease and Poison! applied to Violet Salazar!
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's ARM Shot for 80 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Gwen Whitlock!
GS: Ivan critically Guards a hit from Kaguya's Frost Shard for 20 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ivan gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
GS: Venetia Vuong takes a glancing hit from Kaguya's Moonbeam for 67 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Venetia Vuong gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Venetia Vuong!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Seraph Boudicca guards a hit from Kartikeya's Burst Shot for 66 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Boudicca gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Break and Cripple! applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: Seraph Boudicca's Force Guard activates!
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.

The slightly-less-scary of the two Veruni men sends a sickly-looking green ray directly at Violet. She tries desperately to roll out of the way, but the ray arcs along her left side. She doesn't notice any injury or blood but feels ill and dizzy. She returns fire, using an energy cartridge this time, hoping that the sickly way she feels won't affect her aim, though it likely will. At least this way she'll have something to blame if she misses!

She is trying very hard not to be sick.

GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Ambrosius with Look of Eagles!
GS: Violet Salazar takes 20 damage from Poison!
GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action.
GS: Ambrosius guards a hit from Violet Salazar's Look of Eagles for 88 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

At least this time, Catenna's not totally alone.

On the downside, she can hear Kartikeya somewhere over there - a man who seems rather more insane than the other two Veruni. It takes a lot for the Moon Shaman to actually appreciate Ambrosius for his virtues, such as they are.%rMoving back a short distance, she begins to reach for her bow, intent on squeezing off a shot. But she makes one critical mistake: She forgets that she's only human and her opponent is not. Ambrosius's move comes quicker than she expected, and his reach turns out to be greater than she's used to. She pivots away with a surprised gasp as he's suddenly inside her range.

She throws her arm up to try and deflect the attack, but she doesn't have Ambrosius's physical strength, either. The blow catches her across the upper body and sends her spinning to the ground with a dull thud, knocking the wind out of her. Wincing, she rolls away rather unevenly, trying to gain distance while the big Veruni is distracted shooting at someone she recognizes only in the most surface of ways. Violet, was it?

When she's gained some distance, Catenna takes a knee again, her breathing a little heavy. She hurts more than she'd like to admit - for all that she's grown faster, she is not sturdy. But she's still in the fight.

"Is it impossible because that man is a complete maniac?" she asks tartly before raising her bow into a ready position. "As much as you sneer at the human race, I can't believe that even you would be this callous towards our world." And she moves, darting to one side.

This time, Catenna doesn't attack with spells, but with agility. She leaps into the air, flipping high over Ambrosius - higher than any human has a right to jump. At the peak of that leap, she whips out a pair of arrows, snapping one off towards him, then the other, both coming in at odd trajectories that'll require a little mental math to handle.

GS: Catenna has attacked Ambrosius with Silver Equinox!
GS: Catenna has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Catenna has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Ambrosius guards a hit from Catenna's Silver Equinox for 93 hit points!
GS: Mute and Poison! applied to Ambrosius!
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

Talia opens her mouth, ready to shout some more at Kaguya.

'She's using drugs!'

Talia reflects, momentarily, on the time she went to a shady bar when her father let her move about as she pleased to do her jobs, and some of the substances tried that evening. She closes her mouth. There is a quick nod; a mid-battle acknowledgment that she can spare, being right up in Kaguya's space.

"No, you were wrong!" Talia snaps back. "You're a nihilist, using that to justify doing whatever you damn well like, no? There is always someone stronger!"

She gets kicked into; Kaguya's foot slams into her stomach, throwing Talia back. She flies back, until her feet slam into the ground. She hits, skidding across the forest floor. A magic circle appears under her feet, with a flash of blue light -- and then she looses a large spike of ice, which goes hurtling for Kaguya.

GS: Talia has attacked Kaguya with Freeze Lancer!
GS: Talia has completed her action.
GS: Kaguya takes a glancing hit from Talia's Freeze Lancer for 75 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    'Was he that sad sack with the wife and kid? Now that was a day to remember!!'

    Ida's eyes narrow. Her stoic poker face breaks as she bares teeth in a snarl--her focus wavers, and that's all it takes for Kartikeya to break away from her. He's fast. Berserk was never that quick on his feet. It almost makes Ida nostalgic. It's all she can do to keep after him as he whirls through the fight like a one-man hurricane.

    Finally--finally--one of Ida's strikes hits home. The impact races up her arm, a sudden jolt of arrested motion. In the next heartbeat, Kartikeya is looking at her. In the heartbeat after, his mechanical hand grips her arm and twists.

    A sharp pop erupts from Ida's shoulder. Something rips in her elbow. Don't scream, she tells herself, in the silence before the agony sets in. He wants you to--

    Ida screams anyway, letting loose a tortured howl that echoes off the nearby trees. And yet, to Kartikeya--who knows all the myriad ways a human body can break--might notice something off. As if there's something there shielding Ida's flesh from the worst of the damage, letting it bend and flex instead of break and tear.

    Ida sees Kartikeya look away, towards Gwen. She remembers what Volsung said to the courier. Her heart skips a beat. As Kartikeya lets go of her, Ida gets the chance she needs. Her functional arm whips around her back, pulls Devil's Due from its holster, and aims it right at Kartikeya's gut. She pulls the trigger, hoping point-blank range will at least dull the man's reflexes--but more important than the bullet itself is the cloud of thick black smoke that streams from it. The cloud expands, clinging to Ida as a form of shield.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Kartikeya with Ebon Devil Cloud!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Even with how terrified she is, there's an undercurrent of rage at how he describes Greg. In the end, Greg had part of what she always thought she wanted. And this guy took it away from him. "Don't talk about him like that you mon-"

From her cover though, that's the moment she sees his hand catch the bullet. "-ster..." Her bullet. It's not even marred, crushed in by impact. The girl's jaw grows wide at the sight of it.

"... you're kidding me..."

Rebecca always regarded herself as a Marksman, someone who could hit anything she aimed at. A guy who can snatch her bullets out of mid-air before they can even hit though is on another level.

Suddenly he's charging at her. And Rebecca raises her ARM to meet the impact. The strength of his ARM blasts right through it. The girl tries to scream, but can't as the air is sent straight out of her lungs. The swipe knocking her off her feet and she impacts a smouldering tree with a crunch of bark. Showered by charred embers and crimson, she slumps down to the ground, and with a whimper topples over to writhe on the ground.

She wants to cry.

She forces herself not to.

As she sees him grab Ida's arm through her blurring vision, as she sees Gwen's knife clip his face.

She wants to run. Hide. With the others distracting him maybe she'd even make it.

But then she'd be the coward who abandoned her friends...

... or even worse perhaps, she'd be admitting defeat - resigning to the idea that Avril will just one day be taken by the Veruni.

Grasping her medium, the hexagonal metallic shape glints in her hands, as she tries once, twice... thrice to rock forward to get herself up. On the fourth time she manages to get up in a limping gait, still partially doubled over, red hexagonal energy rising around her. "Maybe something... little different..."

While he's in the midst of holding the three up close to him at bay, Rebecca invokes a column of flame to descend upon him. Trying to incinerate him up to his elbow joint to prevent Ida and the others from getting burned, and hopefully to help incentivize him to letting them go. As she rasps out to the others who are in up close...

"Don't... let him bait you!" Even though she realizes that she herself got baited by her outrage, "Our first... first priority needs to be surviving this - then we can worry about whether he gets his way or not!"

GS: Rebecca Streisand has attacked Kartikeya with Ley Blast!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia says, "I know right??" to Kaguya. "Anyway, um, I may've mentioned this before...Yeep!"

The ball of vines don't quite wrap around her chest--she leaps largely out of the way--but it still catches her left leg and slams her down to the ground. "Oof! Anyway...!! I may have mentioned this before! But I think Ivan is right and you should probably apologize to Talia since even if you are rhetorically correct in your summation in how the world works, it still hurts people's feelings when you try to kill them! And Talia, you should apologize for hurting Kaguya's girlfriend, and then hug it out but it's okay if you have to do all that later because you have to be tough in front of your psycho friend."

"And I mean, we can keep fighting over philosophy I guess that's cool." Lydia adds. "You're kind of making the surface look bad to Rachiel, who is impressionable and kind of an idiot."

"Lydie...you're so mean..."

She looks to Ivan and says, "You're right you know!! When you try to kill people, you should apologize later. That's what..."

She points to Kaguya. "That's what my friends have taught me! And that if you are sorry and you mean it, it's okay."

She frowns thoughtfully. "Uh." She looks at Kartikeya for a moment who is even more psycho than she figured but she tries not to worry about that right now because instead she darts in, slicing with a blade that flicks into her left hand from her arm.

"So, like, I can start. Talia, I am sorry for throwing meteors at you. I know it was the robots inside of me but I still feel bad about it. Okay--Kaguya! Your turn!"

GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Kaguya with Solarian Blade Arts!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren takes 32 damage from Poison!
GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya critically Guards a hit from Lydia Seren's Solarian Blade Arts for 38 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Some call Ethius' name - a handful in worry, and one who regards his presence as being a boon. He is standing out in the open like a fool. He is woefully underequipped, as humans tend to be. There are two Veruni elites and a Sentinel who is among the elite of the elite. This is some sort of seafaring brigand(?) with a stick.
     And spells, as he maintains the posture when Kartikeya notices his handiwork. Questions are made - demanded - about what he did, and the strange man does not respond. There may be some inherent humor to be found in that Ethius has found a way to elicit frustration and confusion in someone other than the Drifter community at large for his general refusal to explain or define himself.
     Kartikeya is on him like a blur, an overhead swing of their arm coming in...

     SOMEWHERE ELSE... AT SOME INDETERMINATE TIME AGO...

     Red and orange, joined with a searing blue-white. Pin-pricks of this hue that brought no relief, joining within the cacohphony of fear and carnage. Others... larger. Others, tightly gripping staves. Nearly all released them as the blue-white lanced some. Consumed others.
     Some approached. Most were smaller of stature to those whose numbers thinned. One raised their own staff. Thick, yet hollow. One end, a dull hook gripped. Even without the blue-white lances, even from overhead, they--

     NOW

     There is no stopping a Kartikeya overhead in motion. Ethius swings his staff into the raised arm before it can fully descend, an attempt to halt and redirect a blow before it can go. His reward for decisive action in the face of a blur of death - he keeps his cranium and that look is not taken off his face.
     His own balance is voided as the parrying motion is not enough to halt the entire momentum of Kartikeya bodily hurtling himself at him, and he is thrust down to the ground with one short backwards tumble and another surge of pain running up the injured leg. It's Xantia who basically saves Ethius' life in the moment by forcing a partial disengagement, as Kartikeya chimes in about the excellence of the Golem's arm.
     Ethius, without needing to put thought into words, acknowledges Kartikeya's pride in that he has no need to hide that prosthetic. Great reflexes, armor plating all that he could ever want. A sudden surge of wind blows dirt and grime in Ethius' face, as Ida further intrudes. All the while, Ethius notices something else.
     There is an opening. Blatant. Arrogant. If he even leans towards that, he could be taking that ARM arm directly in the face or worse. Once again, he disregards Rebecca's advice he find cover. Once again, he gives Boudicca cause to worry.
     ...But, subtly, in his own way as if subconsciously, a reminder that not all monsters are defined by strange or altered flesh as Ethius' expression and wordlessness does not abate.
     He lunges with his quarterstaff right for the point he perceives as being where the Golem arm and the flesh is connected, with an unnervingly close educated guess put into a stabbing thrust with a mere stick.
     "Far Point," Ethius doesn't quite shout the technique name customarily because the smoke-filled air is hard to breathe. And yet, being surrounded by flame, a part of him finds acceptance from a position of mental fortitude if not of biological comfort.
     Still bearing that same stare, as if two near-brushes with death or dismemberment couldn't get through his puny inferior human brain. Rebecca did just warn not to be baited - but this looks like a man who seems fine with not just taking the bait but ripping the damn line off the fishing rod.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Kartikeya with Far Point!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: COUNTER! Kartikeya counterattacks Ethius Hesiodwith Counter Attack!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Ethius Hesiod's Far Point for 102 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 30 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

"I am under thirty years old, you saucy little arsonist," Venetia says as she lands, and she does actually start getting out her bronze rod as Kaguya recoils. Her attention snaps to Claude as he kicks a child in the face; Venetia nods, but her eyes stay on her -

Lydia! Venetia's eyes widen behind the mask. Are they going to bully this Veruni into submission? Venetia thinks.

FLASHBACK to SCHOOL.

YEAR 2: Child X pushes little Venetia over.
YEAR 3: Child X pantses little Venetia.
YEAR 4: Child X calls Venetia a 'poor starch-butt,' and starts pinching the back of her neck.
YEAR 5: Compassionate departure of Child X due to unfortunate circumstances in Void 47.
YEAR 6: Different sections.
YEAR 7: Girl X reaches forwards to pinch Venetia three days into the term.
YEAR 7: Three day suspension for "untrained juvenile percussive dentistry."

HERE, NOW

If that's what it takes, Venetia resolves. A moment later a beam of horrid green light comes towards her and Venetia, frankly, flinches. A flinch is not a bad thing here, but it is not a thing of honor or skill. It is luck and little else. The beam clips her in the side, ripping a streak out of her dress and from that shout-yelp combo, out of her too. Venetia sinks down to one knee.

She struggles to get up. She thinks better of it and gets something out of her bag. By Dinoginos, this hurts, Venetia thinks.

This is sort of stirring, isn't it, she thinks further as she gets the Crest Graph situated and then open-palm slams it against the forest floor.

Maybe that's why Claude thought of us with that song, Venetia thinks further. Or of me. Should I be flattered or insulted? Venetia thinks further, before she intones words of focus: "The earth is our cradle; the mountain shall be our tomb! ARISE, ANCIENT PILLAR!"

There is a violet-hued thrum of cthonic energy. The soil sighs -- and a sudden irregular pillar of marble erupts from the ground, like Filgaia throwing away a shard of a removed tooth! Two Kaguyas wide and three across! And, of course, Venetia is aiming it to be beneath Kaguya - generally held to be a 1 square Kaguya target.

GS: Venetia Vuong spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!
GS: Venetia Vuong has attacked Kaguya with Ancient Pillar!
GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action.
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Ebon Devil Cloud for 96 hit points!
GS: Riposte! applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Charge!! You gain 30 FP!
GS: Kartikeya guards a hit from Rebecca Streisand's Ley Blast for 68 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Mighty! applied to Rebecca Streisand!
GS: Kartikeya's Force Guard activates!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    "It is part of me," Boudicca tries to respond to Kartikeya's surprise about her armour, except she's eating dirt so it comes out more like 'it iph parduf muh', which is frankly leagues less dignified than she seems to be trying to present herself.

    But he's moving on so that's fine.

    (It's not actually fine. He is doing frightful things to people Boudicca really quite likes.)

    She doesn't get much reprieve before he notices her again, though. She brings her arms up and braces against the scattered blast of the shotgun - which just means that she's a nice, compressed target for it to hit. The entirity of Boudicca goes flying, until a tree helpfully catches her.

    The tree is on fire, and that is deeply unpleasant, because Seraphim might not be strictly mortal but that doesn't mean nothing ever hurts them. With a grimace, she untangles herself from a burning branch and thuds back to the ground.

    This is the precise moment Boudicca sees two things.

    One: Kartikeya holding Ida in his grasp. (Ida, screaming.)

    Two: Kartikeya turning his attention on Gwen.

    "EXCUSE ME," Boudicca says, this time at volume, as thud goes her greaves stomping a print in the increasingly ashen ground. "I think you have missed a VITAL ASPECT of the air, Kartikeya."

    let ida go leave them alone

    From the impact of that footprint a Seraphic glyph lights the ground, light green and ephremal. "I require you to consider --" she reaches out, as air mild as Springtime intercedes to blow away some of the smoke -- "Soothing Breeze!"

    And suddenly there's a new challenger to his gale, and it's something kinder, now.

GS: Seraph Boudicca has activated a Force Action!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Xantia with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Soothing Breeze!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has completed her action.
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Rebecca Streisand! She gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Restore! Cripple removed!
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

As Kaguya's ice blades rush for him, Ivan raises his sword into a swift series of parries, knocking the first aside and cleaving the second into pieces; an errant shard buries itself in his arm in the process, and his face gives a little twitch at the jab of pain.

I am NOT apologizing. For telling her how the world works!

"I don't care if you think you were right, things that upset Talia like this are flaws in the universe! So search your soul and figure out what you got wrong!"

He vanishes his sword and procures three throwing knives, flipping them up into the air, where ghostly flames flare up around them. They take on the image of stinging wasps as they race toward Kaguya.

Lydia backs him up, but then proposes they all apologize for times they tried to kill one another.

"D-... do you want me to go too?!" He hasn't explicitly tried to kill any of them but he has certainly thrown a lot of dangerous flames around, like... like just now, in fact...

GS: Ivan spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Ivan has attacked Kaguya with Fire Wasps!
GS: Ivan has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

"Yeah, but if you did it, it wouldn't have been great!" Claude C. Kenny quips back at Kaguya, launching a follow-up kick at the Veruni botanist that hits nothing but air as she slips away to engage Lydia. Claude starts to move after her - but then stops, deciding that holding his ground is a smarter tactical option for several reasons. The first is that he's not alone here - in a one-on-one fight he'd have to stick close to Kaguya to keep her from pelting him with her Etheric assaults, but here Venetia, Talia, and the others are keeping the Veruni's sorcery in check. Storming in would be a good way to prevent that.

The second is more complex. He's fought Kaguya half a dozen times now (including once where Cless fought her half the time), and even fought alongside her on one memorable experience on top of a train. It's enough that he's starting to get used to her movements, not just seeing and evaluating them against a mental checklist, but... feeling the pattern on an unconscious level, in the flow of the fight. It's the same way that Zed never fully plants his feet when they spar any more, because he knows Claude will stomp spikes from the earth to break his footing. Or how Claude knows that Ida will, upon encountering some sort of bizarre alien technology, probably stuff it into her body to see if it makes her punches stronger.

So when a half-formed instinct tickles the back of Claude C. Kenny's brain, telling him Kaguya will come to him if he gives her an opening, Claude doesn't hesitate. He chooses to give her one.

Steel whispers against leather as Claude draws his own sidearm, a heavy Lancaster pistol, and raises it one-handed, turning to offer his left side toward the Veruni, right hand tucking behind his back in a classic duelist's pose... though duelists don't typically use four-barreled slug shooters. The hand cannon roars, spitting lead in Kaguya's direction - but the distance is extreme and the shots miss wildly as Kaguya leaps away, throwing icicles at Ivan. She drops toward Claude with both feet; he lifts his gun arm up over his body and half-blocks the kick. Kaguya's strike carries through the half-hearted block and strikes into the upper left quadrant of Claude's chest, twisting him slightly toward that side.

And revealing the shimmering right fist Claude had held close to his body, charging an attack, using his firing stance to block it from her view.

"It ain't," grunts a pained Claude roughly 0.4 seconds before he tries to uppercut Kaguya into approximately the stratosphere.

GS: Formation! Claude C. Kenny has attacked Kaguya with The Wise Falcon Hides Its... Punches!
GS: Claude C. Kenny has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Claude C. Kenny has completed his action.
GS: Xantia takes a solid hit from Seraph Boudicca's Soothing Breeze for  hit points!
GS: Restore! Disease removed!
GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Venetia Vuong's Ancient Pillar for 117 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Kaguya has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Restore! Cripple and Jam removed!
GS: Kaguya guards a hit from Ivan's Fire Wasps for 89 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Poison! applied to Kaguya!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Claude C. Kenny's attack becomes clear!
GS: Kaguya takes a glancing hit from Claude C. Kenny's Freestyle Combat Arts for 98 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Kaguya's Force Evade activates!
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Ida Everstead-Rey! She gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Restore! Cripple removed!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia's attack at least managed to attain one of its intended goals: to get Kartikeya's attention fully focused on her. It's just instinctual at this point - rush the big threat so they have to deal with you; that way, they won't be able to give others quite as much attention. Unfortunately the other goal, actually beating this guy down, isn't going nearly as well, Xantia finding that Golem arm to be quite capable of fending off her elementally-charged punches. It's a bit late to discover what she's up against, but at least now she's aware the threat level is higher than she was counting on.

Which isn't going to make her back down, of course. She isn't one to get disturbed by another's close proximity, either - all Kartikeya sees in her eyes is the frustration of not getting through his guard, and the determination to keep trying until she does. "You asked for it! If--"

She gets no further than that before getting thrown up into the air. That caused her expression to change to one of panic. This is exactly how she broke her ribs before. That can't happen again. No matter what, she has to break her fall somehow! That's not going to be easy considering the height she reaches before she falls back down. About the only thing she can think of is...

Xantia's return to the surface is met with a loud crash, upon which she rolls forward, trips, and falls on her back. That looked painful, and it was. But then, kinder winds wash over Xantia, Boudicca's efforts aiding in allowing Xantia to lurch back up, and force herself to stand again. Not much can be done about the pain, but it looks like she at least managed to shield her from another grievous internal injury.

This is because of a literal shield: Xantia dispersed the flames surrounding her body and replaced them with a brilliant barrier of pure light. She'd previously noted that her newest power was able to fend off solid impacts, which was just what she needed at a time like this.

Of course, a little/a lot of pain isn't going to keep her from trying again. But this time, she knows better than to charge straight at Kartikeya. At much as she doesn't like leaving others exposed to danger, she waits for him to be distracted by someone else before she attempts to capitalize by rushing him from behind. The final bit of distance is bridged by her leaping up, and aiming a flying kick for Kartikeya's head. The aura of light adds a bit of extra oomph, the impact of her foot causing a minor energy burst.

Only after that, regardless of the result, does she finally get to finish her sentence. "...If you need something better to do, then I'll fight you for as long as you want!"

GS: Xantia has attacked Kartikeya with Lustrous Aura!
GS: Xantia's Avenger stance ends. She enters the Stoic stance!
GS: Cripple expired!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

"What do you mean by that?" Dash says from behind his own face and lower mask. Only eyes are visible, and they definitely protray a puzzled look by themselves.

His shots land true, though leave surprisingly little damage. Something about either Ambrosius' armor, or himself seems to resist injury. "Like, there are planty of other things to burn down that doesn't affect everyone present.

Dash sees the charge coming, and makes a terrible mistake in judgement. He trues to stand his ground and shoulder check back.

Ambrosius hits like a speeding truck, which is strange for his movement speed and size. There are a frew five or so seconds to think about that as Dash flies through the air and hits the ground. He hits the ground hard, turning up grass and flowers. "Ugh! You really eat your vegetables, huh?" Dash comments as he stands up slowly.

Sinc physical contact is on the table at this point, the blue bomber cuts on the Jet Skates, and they rev to life, tearing up the dirt underfoot before propelling him forward, chasing Ambrosius. On reaching proximity, he drops and slides with a foot out, and a vermillion barrier of force springs up to both protect Dash and bulldoze this Veruni! "Look, if you want in the ruins, just go find it if you have the clearance!" That main leader looks like he just was itching to fight though, so may have ended that way anyway.

GS: Dash Caskett spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Dash Caskett has attacked Ambrosius with Charge Kick!
GS: Dash Caskett has completed his action.
GS: Ambrosius critically Guards a hit from Dash Caskett's Charge Kick for 15 hit points!
GS: Hyper and Shield! applied to Dash Caskett!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Xantia's Lustrous Aura for 93 hit points!
GS: Cover! applied to Xantia!
GS: Charge!! You gain 25 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    'You're one to talk.'

    Ida's comment prompts a grin to flash on Gwen's face. "Hey, I didn't know this was that one guy, okay?"

    The mention of a man, a sad man with the wife and kid, and the way Kartikeya laughs leads Gwen to suspect that the man's fate was not exactly a kind one.

    Kind of like Ida's fate, right now, as Kartikeya zeros in on her.

    Which leads Gwen to an interesting realization. The danger Kartikeya represented to Gwen, that probably made Ambrosius and Kaguya warn her about him, was likely the similarity in one of their weapon(s) of choice. But that never included the situation of others being with Gwen, many of which would be equally interesting to try and break.

    So when Kartikeya glances back at Gwen, almost casually, Gwen grins back.

    "I got 'em on sale, in fact!" Because this is a fact that Kartikeya would be very interested in, now that he's had a chance to sample the quality and make of these dangerously flimsy blades, a few pieces of which are probably sticking out of his cheek from where he was clipped.

    He shoots, and Gwen is already charging ahead, bullet embedding somewhere on her person.

    The pain is soothed by Boudicca's timely magic, as Gwen attempts to deliver a feint of a punch with her left hand as she dashes past Kartikeya.

    "Don't let 'im scare you, either! It doesn't matter whether you're scared or not; the situation doesn't change! Better to face it than let them hold power over you just for existin'!"

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Kartikeya with Return To Sender!
GS: Gwen Whitlock enters a Counter stance!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: Ethius Hesiod completely evades a hit from Kartikeya's Counter Attack!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Seraph Boudicca heals Ethius Hesiod! He gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Restore! Cripple and Slow removed!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Return To Sender for 23 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Mighty! applied to Gwen Whitlock!
GS: Charge!! You gain 35 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Kartikeya has posed.

    "Eh? What was that?"

    Even Kartikeya's admittedly good hearing only goes so far, particularly when the other party involved has their face practically ground into the earth. Boudicca's nature has yet to become clear to him.

    Flame roars up as he seizes Ida's arm, encirling that particular point where Golem-flesh meets his own. Fleetingly, he frowns, his expression of delight overwritten, as -- from a distance -- Rebecca gives him a little bit of something to be concerned about.
    Most critically, it slows him down. Slows, but doesn't stop, as he twists Ida's arm.

    There's something off about it, and the way it ought to bend and break and... doesn't. Ida can probably see the confusion in his eyes, but before he can really get a chance to probe that particular mystery much further--
    Gwen, or rather, her knife, performs an important intercession.

    Which becomes very, very important for the next move that Ida makes. As he turns towards Gwen and takes that shot at her, Ida takes a shot of her own, lifting her ARM to rest point-blank against his gut.

    Perhaps a normal person would have been laid low by it. As it happens, Kartikeya grunts in decided displeasure and turns his gaze down at Ida. "Haven't had enough? Then let me give it to you!" Flashing a nasty grin Boudicca's way as she informs him that he's missed a vital aspect of the power of the air, he invokes a swirling (burning; there's still a lot of flaming tree out there) windstorm of his own.

    Centered on Ida.

    "Luckily for me--" he shouts, as the winds rage and howl, "--I don't give a shit!" And then he charges right on through them at a gallop, drawing back his Golem's fist to deliver a truly mighty blow for the Seraph.

    He had presented an opening to Ethius just moments ago, as if to dare him to try and take it.

    Now, as the Sentinel drops back from that last strike against the Seraph, Ethius takes the bait. Indeed, it takes Kartikeya a moment to even realize he's been hit--
    And then that part of him that is still him, connected to the part that is not explodes in a blaze of light. The join is well-made, as expected of the Veruni -- the arm does not give way. But that does not mean it doesn't hurt.

    The Sentinal roars, swinging his shotgun like a club in retaliation for the spell. He drops back, as if to give himself space and perhaps ascertain his arm's condition, but there only eyes Ethius and starts to laugh in a low chuckle. There is... something akin to interest in his eyes as he lifts his Golem's arm and drags his long tongue along the back of it. He does not break eye contact with the sorceror.

    "I'm watching you," he promises, his lips splitting in a vicious grin.

    Drawn back from -- if not the brink then certainly a place of pain -- her wounds thanks to Boudicca's incantation, Xantia rises to her feet and comes at him again, promising him that she'll keep on going as long as it takes.

    And he turns and he doesn't even try to block her strike this time: her foot finds his chest without any obstacle in the way. "Good! Keep it coming! Show me something interesting for a change!" he exhorts her, swinging about that arm of his as if to simply reintroduce her to the ground again. He lifts his shotgun again in the same moment to snap off another shot for Rebecca, her earlier intervention not forgotten. "And you! Don't think I didn't see that!" he informs her, before breaking into a cackle.

    He hasn't even bothered to wipe his own blood off his cheek as Gwen comes in for the hit with her right arm.

    "On sale, huh--"

    He grabs for her right arm as she passes him and aims to whip her around, to ultimately slam her bodily into a nearby tree.
    Which is, of course, currently on fire.

GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Hi-Vortex!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Seraph Boudicca with Sucks To Be You!!
GS: Kartikeya enters a Counter stance!
GS: That attack doesn't exist. []
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Evil Grin!
GS: Kartikeya's  stance ends. He enters the Avenger stance!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Xantia with Rude Awakening!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Rebecca Streisand with ARM Shot!
GS: You do not have enough actions remaining to use that attack.
GS: Rebecca Streisand takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's ARM Shot for 42 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rebecca Streisand gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Rebecca Streisand!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Violent Streak!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 2 Combo!
DC: 3 turns have elapsed in the battle against Kartikeya! 2 turns remain!
GS: COUNTER! Gwen Whitlock counterattacks Kartikeyawith Counter Attack!
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Violent Streak for 194 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Gwen Whitlock!
GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Seraph Boudicca takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Sucks To Be You! for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Boudicca gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Break, Cripple, Jam, Mute, Slow, and Weaken! applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: Xantia guards a hit from Kartikeya's Rude Awakening for 108 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple! applied to Xantia!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Hi-Vortex for 68 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple! applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Kartikeya takes a glancing hit from Gwen Whitlock's Counter Attack for 42 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"That's dumb!" Kaguya shouts at Claude's quip. And then, Oh, yeah?" Kaguya says to Venetia. "My mistake. I'm actually like, a ton older than you."

"Yeah, and he's right over there!" Kaguya snaps back at Talia, throwing out her hand to indicate Kartikeya--and then the large spike of ice hurtles back her way as answer. Kaguya shifts to the side and it scores along her upper arm instead of going through her chest, the area of green stained red with welling blood. "I'm just seeing the world clearly, without the kind of wishful thinking you humans like to put into it!"

She pulls her ARM again as she pulls back, stepping one-two-three quick as she loads up another round. Lifting her weapon, Kaguya fires--and a giant blast of sonic energy erupts outward, visibly distorting the air along with a terrible noise that churns the very earth.

"This world sucks! Get mad about it if you want but I'm RIGHT!"

"Nn..." Kaguya hears Lydia at least. She definitely hears the words coming out of her mouth. "I totally am rhetorically correct," she starts. Pause. "Well Rachiel shouldn't judge the surface by me, I'm not one of these people any more than she is."

Lydia keeps it up. Ivan keeps it up. But Kaguya first has to address Lydia as she apologizes to Talia--and she says it's her turn, but--

Lydia darts in with a sword and Kaguya brings up her arms to guard against it--the sheer force of the impact plus the guard makes a terrifically loud noise--particularly when the shaped charge Kaguya is holding detonates at Lydia a moment later.

"And I don't LIKE her!" Kaguya snaps back. She is ignoring Venetia at the moment, which is not the best plan--but she went down to one knee so it was like she was out of the fight! This changes about as she hears a chant going and begins to feel the shift in the ambient magic in the air. "What the--"

Marble erupts!! Kaguya shifts such that she is moving outward when it rises up. Unfortunately, that means it erupts right behind her and the whole damn thing slams against her, causing her to roll down the edge and hit the pillar a few more times, knocking her from the ground only to land in front a few moments later. Elemental weakness found! "Ugh," Kaguya says--and then frowns at Ivan as the wasps come.

"This spell is really annoying," she says, putting her arms in front of herself--one still bleeding from Talia's hit--and ghostly flames slam into her gauntlets, a few past to her shoulder. "Well yeah it's a flaw! I'm not saying she should be happy the world sucks, she should just admit I'm right!" There's a moment as she fires a great green-glowing blast from her shotgun ARM for good measure at him while she's still covered in ghostly flames, and Ivan can see how they're boring through parts of her armor.

Now, Kaguya has had some time away from Claude at this point; she's been too busy to throw sorcery at him because she's been dealing with all of them. But indeed, there is a rhythm to Kaguya's fighting--she stays on a center, and naturally flows where there are openings, flowing away from hard points and towards the soft. So his gambit...

...Is accurate. Kaguya slams downward again, and she watches him twist. "Cute gun," she says, "But--" She spots now the attack charging, and doesn't actually have time to get out of the way. Oh, she makes the attempt, weaving with it, but his experience with her fighting style means he still hits dead on enough that she sails right back up into the air. She hits a tree that hasn't burned yet, in fact.

"Ugh," comes a voice from the tree, which is still shaking with the impact of a girl falling through the air into it. "I did ask," she says, as she shifts, and falls further--through branches, and hits the ground with a thunderous noise in a crouch. "You're not quite like the average human," she admits to Claude. "I mean, aside from, y'know. Muscle-heads."

Hate 'em!

Kaguya brings back her hand that starts to glow with Etheric power, blue-white. She brings her hand forward palm-first, and a sudden localized blizzard puts out some of the flames nearest them--in service of creating a half-spherical shell of ice around Venetia that shatters from all directions an instant later.

She levels her ARM at Claude this time, rather than closing into melee with him or charging up sorcery she doesn't have a lot of time for. THe barrel seems to gather light and energy, charging up an attack--

And then she fires with a deafening roar, a blast about the size of her head rocketing towards him.

GS: Kaguya has attacked Talia with Concussion Rounds!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Lydia Seren with Shaped Charge!
GS: Kaguya has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Ivan with Riot Burst!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Venetia Vuong with Frost Lacuna!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Kaguya has attacked Claude C. Kenny with Riot Break!
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kaguya takes 20 damage from Poison!
GS: Cover expired!
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Talia takes a solid hit from Kaguya's Concussion Rounds for 178 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Talia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Break, Cripple, and Jam! applied to Talia!
GS: Claude C. Kenny takes a glancing hit from Kaguya's Riot Break for 104 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Claude C. Kenny gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Jam! applied to Claude C. Kenny!
GS: Lydia Seren guards a hit from Kaguya's Shaped Charge for 30 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lydia Seren gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Weaken! applied to Lydia Seren!
GS: Venetia Vuong critically Guards a hit from Kaguya's Frost Lacuna for 34 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Venetia Vuong gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius attention snaps to Catenna as she speaks. He doesn't respond vocally... but, there's a subtle shift in his body language that suggests yes, she's right on the money with that one.

He finds himself attacked on multiple fronts. His aggressive stance has left him somewhat open, so he's forced to turn quickly to brace himself against Violet's energy projectile. It forces him back, forces his attention off of Catenna. This gives Catenna enough time to regather herself and make her leap.

This time, it's Ambrosius's turn to make a critical mistake. He's fought Catenna before, certainly, but it has been quite some time since their last encounter. She's grown since then, and so he miscalculates the arc of her jump. She goes higher than he anticipates, and the way she fires off her arrows makes it difficult to avoid both of them. He manages to intercept one, but the other strikes him solidly as it finds its mark. He finds himself staggering backward.

And then, Dash comes flying at him, foot first. Ambrosius reaches up, as Dash approaches, Ambrosius thrusts his arm forward, looking to smash right through that vermillion barrier and grasp him by the leg. If Dash was surprised by his strength before, the fact that he seems to be able to lift him without issue may be concerning. ...And that he then, using Dash's momentum against him, spins and sends him flying at Violet may be even moreso.

Before seeing the outcome of this attack he charges Catenna again. This time, however, rather than full aggression he attacks with a quick, more measured jab. Underestimating her before and paying for it seems to have put him back on the defensive.

He straightens up, then, looking toward Dash - wherever he might have landed.

"The Sentinel prefers... the direct approach." Ambrosius replies, with as much tact as he's able to muster. "I..."

He hesitates for a moment, and seems to think better of what he was about to say.

"That is why I advised you to leave. Immediately."

GS: Ambrosius enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Dash Caskett with Giant Swing!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Violet Salazar with Hammer Toss!
GS: Ambrosius has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Catenna with Guarded Strike!
GS: Ambrosius's Avenger stance ends. He enters the Stoic stance!
GS: Ambrosius takes 16 damage from Poison!
GS: Ambrosius has completed his action.
GS: Catenna completely evades a hit from Ambrosius's Guarded Strike!
GS: Cover! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Catenna enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Evil Grin for 0 hit points!
GS: Break, Cripple, Entangle, and Slow! applied to Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Violet Salazar takes a glancing hit from Ambrosius's Hammer Toss for 63 hit points!
GS: Hyper! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Ivan completely evades a hit from Kaguya's Riot Burst!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ivan gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Riposte! applied to Kaguya!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"Apologize for--" Talia wrinkles her nose, trying to put it together. It takes her a second, in the middle of a fight. "--This isn't really the time for apologies, I think. This isn't a fight I plan to end with a hug and making nice, no?"

She looks back at Kaguya, and her eyes narrow. "It is one I plan to win. I am not interested in an apology."

She glances at Claude -- he hits harder than she thought -- and Venetia. She feels a little relieved at their continued offensive; a 'little' is the height of that relief, for that massive blast of concussive energy slams into Talia. This blast throws her backward -- she hits the ground, rolling a few times, and pushes herself to her feet with her arm.

Blood runs down a split lip, and she looks up at Kaguya with narrowed eyes. "You're wrong. The world is not like--you are like that," she snaps. "Just because you say that is how the world works, it does not make this thing true!"

Talia throws Mirage. Kaguya may well remember this -- the blade comes ofr her, and the moment it connects, be it with Kaguya or the ground nearby, Talia's body splits into so many strands of smoky shadow stuff. She slashes at Kaguya with a leaping strike, the point of the blade slashing past Paguya. She turns, then, and throws a hand out.

Another magical circle flashes under her feet. It shines brightly, half-blinding, and then a massive set of rough hewn ice blocks form in the air -- and begin to drop down on Kaguya from above.

GS: Talia spends 2 Combo on Link and Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!
GS: Talia has attacked Kaguya with Mirage Edge!
GS: Talia has launched an attack Link!
GS: Talia's  stance ends. She enters the Avenger stance!
GS: Talia has attacked Kaguya with Blizzaga!
GS: Talia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

When Catenna hits the ground again, there's no break in her movement. She lands seamlessly and starts running, trying to keep ahead of Ambrosius. Inwardly she reminds herself that she can't expect normal human reaction times from him - that would be downright suicidal.

But then, have I ever estimated him correctly...?

The shift in his body language, though, is clear enough. In that respect, she's made the right estimate. Her lips come together, and for just a moment, there's a flicker of honest sympathy in her expression, her eyes catching his through the mask.

But for all that she lets that flash through, she doesn't let down her guard for a second. In lieu of knocing his full skills, overestimating Ambrosius is Catenna's approach here, and it pays off: She backs away as soon as he approaches before reversing and tumbling forward, a maneuver designed to throw off his aim. His jab slashes close, but goes sailing over her head by a few inches as she rolls under his arm, then springs back to her feet and lunges away as fast as her long legs will carry her.

"I can't speak for these others, but you know that I cannot do that, Ambrosius." Her tone is level, but there's no hatred in it. "Fate has decided that our aims will be against one another. So long as that is true--"

The Moon Shaman leaves her conclusion unsaid. It need not be spoken - and her focus has turned to her movement. She practically glides across the ground, bringing her bow to bear once more.

This time Catenna's got a single arrow in hand. She whirls, backpedaling away from Ambrosius - and she jumps, vaulting backwards in the air.

And pulls off something she should not be able to do.

With a breathed word in midair, Catenna suddenly changes direction in the middle of her jump. Instead of traveling away from Ambrosius, she's sailing up and over him, flipping upside down in the air. Her arm snaps to her bowstring, arrow notched as her leap brings her over his head.

She fires her shot down at him with a sharp twang.

GS: Catenna has attacked Ambrosius with Moonlight Archery!
GS: Catenna has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Catenna has completed her action.
GS: Kaguya guards a hit from Talia's Mirage Edge for 93 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Kaguya completely evades a hit from Talia's Blizzaga!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Kaguya's Force Evade activates!
GS: CRITICAL! Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Catenna's Moonlight Archery for 174 hit points!
GS: Mute and Poison! applied to Ambrosius!
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

This spell is really annoying

"Good! You're being impossible! It's not about your worldview, it's about trying to kill her and creating a horrible memory--" he looks to Talia "...is it about her worldview?"

Around this time, Kaguya unloads a shotgun blast his way. He launches himself into the air on a jet of flame into a high backflip, managing to fly clear of the blast radius before touching down on the ground again.

This isn't a fight I plan to end with a hug and making nice, no? I am not interested in an apology.

Ivan freezes again, making the face of someone who realizes he's been meddling in something that's a matter of pride and hasn't actually been helping.

He mouths I still think you should apologize!! but his heart isn't as much in it. Uncertain whether he should keep intruding on what he now realizes is something very personal to Talia, but still in the midst of a multi-person scuffle with unknown stakes, he defers to the wisdom of his umbrella, unsheathing it and aiming it at Kaguya before popping open the canvas, which releases a radiant pulse of holy justice, or at least judgement of some sort.

GS: Dash Caskett completely evades a hit from Ambrosius's Giant Swing!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Dash Caskett gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Hyper! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Dash Caskett's Force Evade activates!
GS: Ivan has attacked Kaguya with Umbrella Rebuke!
GS: Ivan has completed his action.
GS: Kaguya guards a hit from Ivan's Umbrella Rebuke for 85 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Hyper, Mighty, and Riposte removed!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Kartikeya swings the shotgun out like a club as an impact is made upon a perceived weakness between cybernetic prosthetic and superior Veruni flesh. There are two distinct paths and possibilities to be expected in the reflexive counterstrike. Neither point to Ethius remaining someone who in theory breathes with either possibility.
     The shotgun, as a club, simply does not reach Ethius at all. Having employed the fullest ability of his personal reach and the quarterstaff in question, it beats out the otherwise superior limb length of the Sentinel. The shotgun itself comes shy of striking him, even as displaced air from the swing's might blows Ethius' hair back.
     The other possibility, one that could be considered counting coup by an outsider's eyes. The barrel doesn't discharge when it might have lined up towards his head. Ethius doesn't flinch. With Kartikeya's superior movement speed, the lack of reaction could be taken as a dulled reaction.
     Instead, somehow, the man overcommitted to the lunging strike before Kartikeya had rapidly internalized the Sentinel's trigger discipline as he made that swing. Even for the speed in which he could, in that fraction of a fraction of a second, the strange Symbologist determines that it won't happen. Neither possibility comes to pass - in not flinching and overcommitting to an evasive maneuver in which he'd have to force himself prone, he is (for the moment) unscathed.
     Boudicca presents a calming tailwind. A chill runs through the injured leg before a greater warmth overtakes it and brushes away the pain, allowing him to stand up. Another chance to allow Ethius to back off, run away to safety. Another chance to be protected, and saved.
     He does not take it, as he rises and draws back his staff in both hands. The look on his face, still there, as the Sentinel eyes him back with that low, sadistic chuckle. A gaze that the other Veruni have long learned to fear just from having it described to them.

     ...A TIME SIMILAR TO OTHER WINDOWS... BUT WHEN?

     Taller. Larger. Thinning hair over a tough, leathery, calloused hide, as a dome of colors, shapes, and feels collapse into the scorched earth. Their face is unseen, the backlight of the red and orange too intense.
     A stick was held to them. Names repeated, fervently. Once again, a single one returned - just one name, to the ones he himself was shouting. It was not the first time the one name was said. The chill superceded the blistering.
     "Mecone," a voice coughed.
     There was laughter.
     The stick, taken in both hands...

     NOW

     Ethius moves forward as Kartikeya licks his Golem's arm with the promise that he's watching. That grin. That posture. Kartikeya has been treating his entire time on the field as something of a pleasure, punctuated by moments of angry outbursts.
     Ethius' eyes give virtually nothing. No rise of joy, no shock of fear, no narrowing of anger. As if what he sees before him has been boiled down to a clinical series of events - in the moment, a reversal of the first exchange when Kartikeya decided to open fire upon a man who should be lacking a leg, a head, or both.
     Daring to put himself into a range both favorable to an arm or an ARM against him. By shotgun, by hand - and coming into a lower, crouching posture...
     In which Ethius sweeps his staff for Kartikeya's legs, momentarily open in which to attempt to stagger him or otherwise bring him low.
     With a damn stick that doesn't even have the dignity to have had anything technological crammed inside of it. A damn stick.
     Against one of the deadliest conquerers of an entire super-advanced civilization who are scarcely ever challenged.
     Would a man willingly throw away a seventh or eighth chance at escaping with his life against someone like that?

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Kartikeya with Ground Gain!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    Kartikeya tells Boudicca a swear and on the prioritised list of 'bad things Kartikeya is doing at this very moment' it's pretty far down there, but it's no less rattling.

    Mostly from the context of him completely dismissing her attempts to keep him from killing everyone.

    Boudicca is aware - painfully aware - that most of her friends are mortal, need their blood in their veins and their organs under their skin and their bones whole and operational. If any of those things change in the wrong way or for too long, there's no bringing them back.

    Maybe that's why, when Kartikeya charges away from Ida to slam into Boudicca with the sort of force a Gear might apply to a passing sparrow...

    She actually looks relieved.

    And there is the impact; by all rights it should crater her. Certainly she leaves a crater, as she flies back to hit a boulder and all a sudden there is no boulder, because serving as a stopping point to her strange flesh is much too far above its paygrade.

    But when she picks herself up, she is still, baffingly... fine.

    Let's qualify that statement.

    Boudicca does have a bodily system roughly analogous to human. She has blood and organs and bones, or at least tells a story which includes the spirit of blood and organs and bones. And her armour does not appear heavily damaged, but for the marring of smoke and ash and dirt, but --

    Well, sometimes something in the narrative doesn't fit, and the whole yarn goes off the rails.

    Metaphorically speaking.

    Literally speaking: Kartikeya Hits Very Hard.

    And this is the point where any mortal person would say ow, and Boudicca obligingly supplies: "... that really would have hurt," and she'll be fine but she'll need a little time to recompose herself and put everything in order again.

    Until then, she's bound to be... a little distracted.

    And she turns to Kartikeya, and takes a steadying breath, and reminds herself of Rebecca's advice. They just need to survive.

    And she calls to him: "I could make you care."

    And her plan for that seems to be --

    Another Seraphic glyph lights up, and this time the Spring breeze wraps around Gwen specifically, as if to intercede Kartikeya manhandling her. It's light at her heels, and it pushes back against physical assaults, tailwind for her friends and headwind for her foes.

    It's all about getting in his way.

<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.

Violet Salazar watches as the tall, frightening alien grabs for a young black-haired man and misses. Unfortunately, he doesn't stumble. That would be too lucky a break, she supposes. Her wound continues to bleed, saturating the side of her black dress. She's going to have to tend to it soon -- or dip into her precious stash of healing potions.

Violet is...not doing well. Between the injury to her hip and the nausea, her effectiveness has dwindled appreciably. She's not going to let that stop her, though. She peers from behind her sheltering tree, and with sheer willpower, crawls forward and directs her ARM in an attack. If it hits, it will lessen her enemy's defenses. Perhaps that way her allies could gain an advantage...


        She refuses to die here. She has to see her grandchildren again!

        She pushes away the persistent thought that she's getting too old for this...

GS: Violet Salazar has activated a Force Action!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Fortifying Tailwind!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has completed her action.
GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Ambrosius with Hot Blooded!
GS: Violet Salazar takes 20 damage from Poison!
GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action.
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Seraph Boudicca's Fortifying Tailwind for 0 hit points!
GS: Burst, Quick, and Shield! applied to Gwen Whitlock!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    For a few, fleeting moments, Ida's smoke cloud gives her some much-needed cover--and the chance to regroup after what Kartikeya just did to her. She backpedals, the thick black gunsmoke clinging to her like an extension of her own aura--she grips her right shoulder with her left hand, sets her teeth, and pushes. The smoke hides the face of agony she makes as her arm slides back into place. It does not hide her whimper of pain. Once the moment is over, though, Ida's graft starts emergency repairs. Muscles and tendons slither beneath her skin. Bloodflow reroutes around breached arteries.

    Boudicca's power flows through the smoke, and into her. The pain fades, replaced by a lingering warmth. Ida flexes the fingers of her right hand--a little stiff, but not at all the catastrophic damage that could've happened. The arm is still attached. Ida doesn't want to find out if she can reattach it.

    A second blast of wind rips through the clearing, and it's nowhere near as nice as Boudicca's. Ida leaps back, her boots sinking into the ash and loam. The wind carries off her cover in thick, dark streamers; it flows seamlessly into the smoke rising from the flames. Burning welts rise on Ida's cheek, jawline, and forehead, replaced in an instant by protective Hyadean armor. It covers the burns and cuts, but does not stop the pain.

    Idiot girl. Boudicca is right. You shouldn't be here. Are you that eager to prove you're not useless after what Volsung and Astrid did to you?

    Ida sucks in a breath, holds it, lets it out. Focus returns in fits and spurts. For a moment, Kartikeya is all Ida sees. She leaps towards him, gun drawn and aimed for another point-blank shot--

    It's a feint. Ida's right hand--the one Kartikeya nearly ripped from its socket--arcs forwards, light glowing around her fingers. If it makes contact, it discharges with a sharp snap-pop and a sudden, horrible burning.

GS: Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Violet Salazar's Hot Blooded for 150 hit points!
GS: Jam and Shieldbreak! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Kartikeya with Burning Infusion!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's Stoic stance ends.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca suddenly finds herself breathing easier as Boudicca's breeze soothes away pain, and blows away the smoke. With a cough, she lifts a thumb's up, "Thanks for your consideration." She sounds off, with every interaction with Boudicca she finds the idea of Dean being bound to a contract with this Seraph easier for her to swallow.

Kartikeya not letting go of Ida though causes her to grit her teeth. "Let her go!" She calls over the howl of the wind, probably unheard.

And that's before Ethius pisses him off. Rebecca takes a step back, creeped out by the Sentinel's gaze upon Ethius. Though then he makes it clear he spotted her by firing off a shot, even before he announces it. This time she jerks out of the way, even as the scattershot of the ARM grazes across her hip and flank. Gasping, the acrobat from Capo Bronco limps a step or two away, watching as he grabs Gwen.

"Oh did you-?"

She gasps out, still holding her Medium, even as he smashes her into a tree on fire. As she invokes it there's a sudden undercurrent as the leyline beneath her shifts in a spiritual pulse. And immediately, blue Ley energy seems to boil off of the ground around her as she notes.

"Good! Nothing worse than not getting credit for..."

With a sudden rumble, the ground erupts in a violent geyser of water, than as gravity asserts itself - topples down to splash him in a curtain of water.

"... something you did! Gwen - try to get clear!"

It's another desperate gamble. An attempt at a distraction... also an attempt to put out the fire that he just tried to feed Gwen into, as she just gets the same idea that Boudicca had.

GS: Rebecca Streisand spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Ley Manipulation!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has launched an attack Link!
GS: Rebecca Streisand's Stoic stance ends. She enters the Avenger stance!
GS: Rebecca Streisand takes a solid hit from Rebecca Streisand's Ley Manipulation for 0 hit points!
GS: Surge! applied to Rebecca Streisand!
GS: Rebecca Streisand spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has attacked Kartikeya with Ley Eruption!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

"-- What --" Venetia says as she sees... are those wasps? Her brow knits as she stares in shock and awe at Ivan's flaming hornets of DOOM.

The feeling is fortunately not critical, although Ivan has gained a significant if not enormous quantity of respect in the great ledgers of Venetia Vuong's heart. Her attention stays as it must upon the enemy even as she is flung into a tree - and powers downwards.

Venetia stares at her with her fingers tightening into fists. She is about to reply to her when the effect is upon her - is it sorcery, is it an ARM of unclear vintage? Venetia is last seen getting out another Graph, eyes bugging out behind that lace mask before she disappears in a hemisphere of rime...

Which crashes inside. There is a horrible grinding noise, and as the ice falls, Venetia is not to be seen.

... because...

... she is behind a two hundred pound amethyst crystal...

Well, it is now more like one hundred and seventy pounds. That ice moved quickly, and ice, ultimately, is a stone.

"Well, that's a self fulfilling prophecy, now isn't it," Venetia says from behind the piece of rock that is, at the moment, completely devoid of any levitory effects, because that charm only happens in its initial summoning. She sweats as she holds it up, the incline of it not so impressive. "You've started a fire in this forest when the woodland's receding, and you're taking such great pains to convince everyone. Bit like the boy who stabbed his parents and pled the agony of being an orphan!"

"Therefore," Venetia says as she slides one foot back, "I would rebut you first - that Filgaia sucks. Perhaps I have not had the privilege of knowing an alternative, but it seems pretty d****d alright with me -- and none of that is because of what you have all done! I would rebut you, secondly, to consider how your own actions contribute. And -"

She rears back and hoists up the rock by main strength, legs flexing as it bears down on her and she gets it above her head, though with a visible tremor in arm and legs both.

"In the final case - your science is beyond ours - your technology miraculous - if you hate this planet so much... why don't you go find another one?!"

Two steps forwards and she shoves the pointy end of the massive amethyst down and shoves it the rest of the way to roll, to topple, to bounce with merry disdain towards Kaguya. The amethyst is approximately one cubic Venetia in volume, and as such, perhaps somewhere near to two cubic Kaguyas -- and it is not moving in a terribly predictable way, given its vaguely rattleback shape. (Hopefully it will either not hit Claude, or will be handily deflected by him.)

GS: Venetia Vuong enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Venetia Vuong has attacked Kaguya with Stygian Amethyst!
GS: Venetia Vuong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Cripple and Jam expired!
GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action.
GS: Kartikeya guards a hit from Ethius Hesiod's Ground Gain for 31 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Entangle and Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Kartikeya's Force Guard activates!
GS: Kartikeya takes a glancing hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Burning Infusion for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple and Disease! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: COUNTER! Kartikeya counterattacks Rebecca Streisandwith Counter Attack!
GS: CRITICAL! Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Rebecca Streisand's Ley Eruption for 183 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
GS: Rebecca Streisand guards a hit from Kartikeya's Counter Attack for 79 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rebecca Streisand gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Venetia Vuong's Stygian Amethyst for 145 hit points!
GS: Kaguya enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Slow expired!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    As Kartikeya grabs Gwen's rightt hand, he'll feel the slight pressure of another hand, the brief whiff of ozone, and a shock of electricity, before the force of his swing rips the chances of her gamble working away from her.

    The fact that Gwen doesn't seem to register, beyond the look of pain as she quickly rolls and pats out the fire from her smoking clothing, the fire on the tree she was just slammed into might be cause for concern, but there's been many times Gwen's shown less fear of fire in her dealings with it.

    Also, there's the fact that they're all in a fight with Kartikeya, who is the king of dumpster fires, who has fed other people to flaming trees.

    "Damn it, damn it--" Gwen tries to bind the tattered shreds of her sleeve about her right ARM as she scrambles away at Rebecca's urging, watching the others rebound and counterattack.

    She breathes, feeling Boudicca's magic infuse her. She thinks.

    "..."

    Why should she let this man hold such power over her? Was this what she needed to be afraid of? A simple beast of violence?

    Angling her ARM behind her as she gets a running start towards Kartikeya, the courier leaps up and throws her right arm out, gloved fingers still held in a fist, descending on the Sentinel with the most important parcel she could possibly carry: a knuckle sandwich.

    "SPECIAL DELIVERY!!"

GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
GS: Formation! Gwen Whitlock has attacked Kartikeya with Special Delivery!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Claude C. Kenny has posed.

Claude C. Kenny lets out a slow breath, air hissing through his teeth as he releases the tension in his right fist. Faint heat lines shimmer as he pulls the residual energy back into his system - another trick he picked up after months of qigong practice on Lunar - and then holsters his gun. "Oh, I dunno," says Claude as he prepares for another rush. "My teachers said I was pretty average..."

(this is a lie of omission, specifically of the word 'below')

"...but it's interesting you used the word 'human,' though," he notes. Claude's eyes flick slightly over to Kartikeya, whose... let's call it fashion choices... remind the boy from Earth of Volsungs he has known. He turns his attention back to Kaguya. "Never really put it together before." He frowns, his expression tight. "You should know... we didn't have to kill all the Me.... Hyadeans," Claude corrects himself. "There's no reason we have to kill all of you too."

It's all the diplomacy Claude can manage - and frankly, far more than he should probably be considered qualified to attempt - before Kaguya vanishes behind a wall of ice. Claude starts to dart forward, ready to catch the Veruni as soon as she ends the defensive spell. But Kaguya drops the wall long before Claude thought she would - and worse yet, she is leveling a scary-looking ARM at him.

It is moments like this that Claude really misses his phase gun.

Kaguya fires, and Claude drives his left hand forward, pouring will and energy into a blazing ball that starts to forge itself into an attack form...but then the ARM blast crashes into it. Shards of blue energy scatter out across the forest and then dissipate; the remaining energy from the shot catches Claude head-on. There is a brief, pained scream and then a detonation, energy sending the nearby trees shivering as forest loam shatters and breaks. The blast sends Claude flying into a fir tree, branches shattering against his body, his uniform preventing a couple of potentially lethal impalements as he goes. The impact of each still passes through, however, and Claude's uniform doesn't cover every part of his body - by the time he finally comes to a stop, against one of the upper branches, the blonde hair on the right side of his hair is slowly straining crimson and three smaller cuts have opened on his forearms.

Gritting his teeth, Claude forces himself to advance forward - specifically by twisting his body until his feet are against the trunk. Claude kicks off, the bark issuing a deep crack as it splinters under his feet; the force of the leap sends the young man arcing up over Kaguya right around the time that Talia is dropping ice on her. The boy from Earth is normally an unrepentant attack-name-shouter, but this time he doesn't say a word - not so much from the surprise value as the fact that he can't hear himself think through what is shaping up to be a mild concussion.

Forming an attack, however, requires next to no thought at all. Which is the entire point of training, really - to let the body operate on pure reflex then it absolutely must. Blue energy gathers in the palm of Claude's right hand, which is extended forward. Cerulean light trails behind him in a twisting, highly-visible pattern, twin lines coming together into a ball of furious energy. Claude passes through a stream of woodsmoke, loses sight of his target, blinks through tear-filled eyes and tries to reacquire it, his brain running through a rapid targeting process in a third of a second.

Fact 1: He knows Kaguya was surrounded by big chunks of ice.
Fact 2: Ice is pretty shiny.
Fact 3: There's a big flickering shining thing sort of under him.
Fact 4: PROBABLY HER

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screams Claude as he dragon-punches the bejeezus out of...Kaguya's reflection in the giant amethyst. And lands hard beside, well, the actual Kaguya. Claude blinks, his eyes a little unfocused. "Uh.... what?" he asks. "What just... uh..."

GS: Claude C. Kenny has attacked Venetia Vuong with Concussions Are Bad Okay!
GS: Mute expired!
GS: Claude C. Kenny has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

It's easy to tell from Xantia's expression that she's annoyed by Kartikeya's failure to respond to her attack. He just let himself get hit. That was plain to see. Xantia can only conclude that, while this may be a strong opponent, he's underestimating her just as much as she was underestimating him. It's about time to change that.

This time, Xantia is fully ready for Kartikeya to strike at her again. She does respond to it - by bringing up her hands, and catching that Golem arm. Then, with a yell, she pushes back against it, forcing it aside. She tries her best to make it look like it was effortless. But while she certainly has physical strength to spare, she absolutely felt the impact when she caught the artificial limb just now. Her arms are telling her 'you shouldn't have done that', but her heart is quite pleased with the action. "...How's that? Are you interested yet?"

She doesn't follow that up immediately, allowing others the opening to act while she takes a quick breather. Her whole body feels sore, and it's wearing her down. Despite her boast that she'd fight as long as Kartikeya wants, she needs this fight to not keep going for too much longer or she'll be in trouble.

Naturally, the best way to guarantee this is generally by overwhelming force. Her little breather thus serves a double purpose in allowing her to focus energy, a ball of bright, pure light forming in her right palm. When she closes her hand into a fist, the light remains to surround it, pulsing with deceptive gentleness.

Xantia also takes advantage of the distraction of Sudden Water, courtesy of Rebecca, to approach quickly, charging straight past the others present and ducking down, intent on delivering her strike in the form of an explosive uppercut. Literally explosive, as the light gathered in her right hand detonates on impact. Quite unlike her earlier kick, this is not a tiny burst, but a massive outpouring of energy.

...She kind of laments not saying anything cool to go with it, like Gwen did.

GS: Xantia spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Xantia has attacked Kartikeya with Exploding Fist!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia looks to Talia. "Aw c'mon..." and kinda kicks at the floor a bit. "I know Kaguya talks like that but she's not really--"

The charge detonates--It blasts Lydia's face partially off for a moment but a few blinks later and it reshapes back into its original form. She cracks her jaw a bit and adds, "...Well," She looks to Ivan. "Maybe we need to show by example about the power of apologies but if they don't want to apologize I um..."

She kind of presses both hands against the sides of her cheeks.

"Why is being everybody's friend so hard??" She complains before she straightens up, looks to Kaguya, and says, "Well, it can't be that bad, you have a girlfriend and a lot of people that love you!"

She snaps her blades back into her arm and raises her hand...into the sky!

"Face the power of space, which I recently visited, thanks to the cool people of the Caravan Kinship cause I got to see Filgaia from space, which I should remind you, involved me going to space, and so I got to see the actual Filgaia from space which was amazing because it was space!"

She swings both hands forward, "A world in which I get to see space can't be so bad! Because it's space!! WHICH IS INCREDIBLE!!!"

A miniature black hole erupts around Kaguya, threatening to pin her good even as Lydia darts forward and adds, "A theory of the universe is that it used to be just a tiny clump of super potent energy until it exploded creating the universe with a Big Bang! Like this!!"

She punches at Kaguya and a sunsplosion erupts out of her fist!

"That's just one theory though. I bet it was Rigdobrite who made it! BECAUSE HE IS STARS!!"

GS: Lydia Seren spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Kaguya with Black Hole!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren has launched an attack Link!
GS: Lydia Seren spends 4 Combo on Poison and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Kaguya with Big Bang!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren takes 25 damage from Poison!
GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's Black Hole for 0 hit points!
GS: Break, Entangle, and Poison! applied to Kaguya!
GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's Big Bang for 300 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Poison! applied to Kaguya!
GS: Kaguya has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

It is difficult to see beyond that barrier, though the sudden stop is concerning. He aimed right for Ambrosius! Did he land a hit, or run into a tree? With the stopping power the Veruni has, it may as well have been both. "How did you..." is all Dash can mutter as he is picked up and hucked like a tin can in the street.

Body reacts faster than mind can, and Dash twists sidewasy to catc the ground with a foot to slow down, though he may have accidentally clipped Violet in doing so to prevent landing painfully. "S-Sorry" he stammers out quickly.

"Guy knows how to lift, for real."

Dash quickly sockets a module into a retracting hand with a reach to his orange pack, and a flick of the wrist. A magenta blade springs to life. "Okay, fine, have it your way! But don't say I didn't warn you!"

The Jet Shoes activate again, prividing a quick boost in speed, before he leaps i nthe air and trys to come down on Ambrosius with a vicious laswer-bladed helmsplitter!

"Why are we even doign this over trees," he comments to himself as he flies.

GS: Dash Caskett has attacked Ambrosius with Refractive Edge!
GS: Dash Caskett has completed his action.
GS: Ambrosius guards a hit from Dash Caskett's Refractive Edge for 43 hit points!
GS: Shieldbreak! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Ambrosius's Force Guard activates!
GS: Venetia Vuong takes a solid hit from Claude C. Kenny's Concussions Are Bad Okay for 0 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Violet Salazar has posed.

"S-sorry," the black-haired man stammers as he clips Violet -- fortunately not too seriously, though she might have a bit of bruising. "S'okay," she replies -- after all it's not HIS fault he got tossed around like a child's ball. That alien is disturbingly strong, even accounting for the mechanical(?) arm. Violet rallies herself for one good, final attack. She's still in pain, and trying not to throw up. It's a good thing her ARM responds to the owner's will -- which is to shoot the OTHER alien up good! One last shot...

GS: Violet Salazar spends 3 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!
GS: Violet Salazar has attacked Ambrosius with Finishing Touch!
GS: Violet Salazar takes 20 damage from Poison!
GS: Disease and Poison expired!
GS: Violet Salazar has completed her action.
GS: Violet Salazar has canceled their attack on Ambrosius.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Average, huh?" Kaguya asks Claude. "But yeah--I'm not human. That's true." She looks at Claude, at his diplomacy, and actually gets a weird expression, like he said something that reminded her of something. "...Yeah there is."

But then the fire comes back. "Go for it," Kaguya taunts Talia. "If you can." She narrows her eyes back at her. "Isn't it!?" Kaguya asks. "Heh--" Talia throws Mirage, and Kaguya does remember. It connects, slashing through Kaguya's side with a crack for what remains of that plating; Talia herself appears with it this time, and the magical circle appears. The small Veruni shifts to the side, and dodges the first block of ice. The second--the ground where she was standing cracks and shatters, and frost nevertheless ices over her arm even as she avoids the direct hit. "It's the world I've seen," Kaguya answers as she moves, an ice crystal flashing past her cheekbone and drawing blood. "Is the world nice when it kills old farmers with diseases they can't even understand? Is it fair when 'power' rests in the hands of people like him!? Would a fair world have me in it wrecking cities!?"

She snaps next at Ivan, "Plenty of people have tried to kill ME and you don't see me bitching about it!" But he mouths his words and she frowns at him--before blinking at his umbrella? An umbrella??? A blast of light reaches out and hits her, where she instinctively guards--but it strips away a lot of the things she'd set up to benefit herself, along with being... "What... is that??"

A self-fulfilling prophecy, Venetia calls it. "Well yeah!" Kaguya shouts back at first--and then frowns again. She considers Venetia's argument. But there is a more solid argument than her words, and the pointy end is bouncing towards her in moments. Something near two cubic Kaguyas appears before her, and before Kaguya can answer, she is forced to deal with it. So she slams her fist straight forward--and the great rock cracks, held at bay for a terrible moment--

Before its weight just outpowers Kaguya's leverage, and it hits her more fully. When it passes she's crouched down, the ground around her cratered. "Gh... Well."

"Yeah, I actually did," Kaguya answers Venetia. She looks kind of--sad, actually, just for a moment, instead of angry. "But it's headed the same way at this rate."

She is a little unsteady on her feet as she rises again, looking to where Claude... did a very nasty hit on her reflection that she was spared from in part by going under the thing. That's kinda lucky in a way.

She turns towards Lydia next. "Contradictory ideas about what needs doing," she suggests as a reason for things are wrong. But--it can't be that bad? "Yeah, I know. So don't you think I must know something pretty crappy about the world if I still think like that?"

She considers though. Space...

Lydia's enthusiasm is a contrast to Kaguya's fatigue. A theory of the universe...

Kaguya is stuck in place as the sunsplosion erupts--and slams right into her, too bright to see her for a long few moments. When the smoke clears though, she's free of the black hole--and stumbling back to fall to the ground dizzily. She reaches into her bag as she starts falling, though, and looks up.

"Not bad, Lydia," she says. "...No, not just you..."

She pulls something out of her bag as she does, though, holding up her ARM as if to forestall anyone coming closer--but there's not that much time, and the weapon sags a little while she coughs once.

"If you think the world is so much better than I do, then prove it," she suggests to Talia. "...Maybe you're not as weak as you were. Til then..." She looks to the others, "I'll handle things my way."

Perhaps right as someone gets closer, Kaguya hits the button. Her sensor device is still over by that tree where it fell--but in an instant, after just enough time maybe to say a few words her way--she's gone in a flash of green light.

GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Special Delivery for 106 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 35 FP!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Xantia's Exploding Fist for 129 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 30 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"It is absolutely about her worldview!" Talia answers her brother. She grits her teeth, looking back at Kaguya.

"People acting that way doesn't change the way the world is!" Talia yells back at Kaguya. "It is an excuse, for people to act that way!"

She grits her teeth, then she shakes his head. "I don't have to prove anything to you!" she adds. "What do I owe you? If you want to have your head up your ass, then I will hit you until you remove it!" Talia spits back at her. She groans, as she teleports away -- rotates her neck once -- and then glances, warily, towards Ambrosius and Kartikeya.

<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

Ivan gives no response to Kaguya's retort that she has had people after her own life without making a thing of it. He doesn't really have anything to say to that except perhaps to explicitly declare to everyone what may be obvious--that he's being protective of Talia rather than fair or logical. And he already feels like he's maybe done a bit too much of that now for Talia's liking.

What... is that?

"An umbrella," Ivan answers, unhelpfully.

Lydia declares that the world can't be that bad if she was able to see space, as part of a larger and more confusing proclamation about how the universe might have been formed, and Ivan quirks a small smile.

Privately, he reflects that he does personally consider the world to be pretty bad, but with good things studded throughout it here or there. So he supposes he agrees with everyone. But that doesn't seem important to shout at anybody just now.

Kaguya finally seems to have had enough of their punishment, and gives Talia a small aknowledgement--which Talia rejects--before vanishing.

Ivan looks to his sister, moving close enough to speak to her more quietly.

"I'm sorry I didn't really get it," he says.

<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

"Well, then, don't just make like an old fart complaining about the topside weather -- DO something about it, you ignorant midget!" Venetia calls at Kaguya before -- !!

Venetia tch's visibly as her tumbling rock is blasted into another set of large jewel fragments which will confuse future geologists, although hopefully there will be native geologists far enough in the future to classify such things as ley-originated magitechnosols. "Damn damn damn damn CLAUDE! Get away from her!!"

Because that is a

            SUPER LYDIA BIG BANG ATTACK

and the aftermath of it flies into Venetia hard enough to partially dislodge her hair clip.

"Space???" is what she says to Lydia -- even if she hasn't taken a head shot, this chaos isn't making her the most coherent midget.

<Pose Tracker> Kartikeya has posed.

    He hits Boudicca very very hard. It's the sort of strike that should have laid a person low, should have cracked armor, broken bone, but instead -- while the very first part of that does happen -- the rest of that doesn't. Slowly, the Sentinel tilts his head to one side, as if he were instead of a terrifying force of nature compressed into humanoid form rather a puzzled dog.

    And then, a certain realization strikes him and he begins to grin. "You ain't human, are you," he states, advancing on the Seraph--

    If it weren't for the stakes -- the Veruni getting their hands on something they probably shouldn't have, the continued sanctity of the forest -- perhaps running would be the advisable course of action with a man like this. Though, the question might well be asked: run where?

    Kartikeya, in the meantime, appears to -- in spite of their efforts -- be thoroughly enjoying himself. Save for way in which his ARM is perhaps less functional than it might have otherwise been and the wounds and scratches that show on his body and arm, the man is nearly unmarked. But at least that means that the others are still able to put the pedal to the metal with Ambrosius and Kaguya--

    "This has been fun," remarks the Sentinel, his mouth twisted in a slasher smile, "but I think it's time to up the ante!" Extending his hand, the one still holding the shotgun, his whole body begins to glow as he gathers some certain power into himself, spun inwards on circling winds. If the Sentinel were already a fearsome foe... then, as he works this incantation, how fearsome will he now be? Who would dare stand against such an opponent now?

    Who dares? Ethius dares. He approaches the Sentinel without flinching, and sweeps out for him with his staff.

    The staff slams into Kartikeya's legs, causing him to stagger for an instant, if not fall. Kartikeya's response is to hiss at the sorceror through his teeth as he rights himself. "I warned you!" he shouts, taking a step back from the man.

    And then, fust the once, Kartikeya spins the shotgun in his hand, glancing down the sign almost as an afterthought. And then, he pulls the trigger.
    Veruni ARMs are frightful. It had thrown shells when fired at them before, but no physical projectiles are shot from the weapon now: 'hard light' might be the technical term for this barrage of 'bullets', which explode upon impact should they strike Ethius.

    But that doesn't mean he's forgotten about Boudicca. In fact, he seems particularly intent upon her now, striding across the burning wreckage of the forest towards her. Only two things really stand in his way. The first is Ida, who lunges at him with her gun drawn. He lifts his Golem's arm as if to swat her aside--
    But it was a feint. One that, she can see by the look that flits across his face, he hadn't seen coming. It grazes his torso as he narrows his profile; his teeth click together as if in a moment's pain. He moves to scoop her up with his arm in the next moment, letting her dangle so he can get a good look at her, Boudicca for the moment forgotten. "Not much to look at, are you? Hm? Now, what's this--"

    Rebecca interrupts him before he can do anything at all to Ida, the ground below him erupting in a burst of water that -- yes! -- knocks the Sentinel flat, Ida released from his vise-like grip. He growls as he rises to his feet, and there before him begins to swirl a massive storm, setting green-tinged flame-touched winds casting about this section of the forest and in particular circling on Ida, Rebecca... and Boudicca.

    Perhaps he would have returned to focus on Boudicca, as intriguing as someone like her might be to him, but this is the very moment in which Xantia performs an intercession, hitching onto the back of Rebecca's own earlier one. She charges in, coming at such a speed and angle that the Sentinel is caught quite unawares and staggers backwards as light quite literally explodes in her hand. "You little brat--" the suddently less-than-amused Kartikeya snarls, and though he reaches out as if to snag her, his hand never quite crosses the entire distance.

    This, Xantia may soon realize, is by design: a darkened column of air moves to complete the journey from Kartikeya to Xantia, swirling as if to bind her and hold her -- at least for a moment -- should it catch her. But it only needs a moment to do its deadly work.

    And then there is only Gwen standing in the way between him and Boudicca. Gwen delivers unto him a punch, to his face.
    It connects.
    So too might the Sentinel's own left arm, lunging to snag her for a second time. By her right arm.

    He'll let her dangle for a moment, long enough to get the look at her own very special right arm.

    "I thought something was... What's this? Is that... Oh, very interesting! Frea, you old hen! Is this what you were doing with your human? Let's see how it holds up!"

    And then he hurls her bodily at the other combatants -- that is, to be specific, he throws Gwen at those fighting his fellow Veruni as if she were a javelin.

    He seems to notice only that they're down one in that regard, Kaguya's sudden absence having slipped right under his radar until now. "Did she run away?" he remarks, tilting his head to one side as if this were a pressing matter. "Oh well, that's more for me!"

GS: Kartikeya has attacked Kartikeya with Gather!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Disease and Entangle removed!
GS: Amplify and Hyper! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Lock-On!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Hi-Vortex!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Seraph Boudicca with Hi-Vortex!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Hi-Vortex!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Xantia with Dark Wind!
GS: Kartikeya spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Bionic Arm!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Kartikeya's Stoic stance ends. He enters the Avenger stance!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Ivan with Let's Have Some Fun!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Venetia Vuong with Let's Have Some Fun!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Dash Caskett with Let's Have Some Fun!
GS: Kartikeya has attacked Catenna with Let's Have Some Fun!
GS: Kartikeya has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Cripple expired!
GS: Kartikeya has completed his action.
DC: 4 turns have elapsed in the battle against Kartikeya! 1 turns remain!
GS: Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Kartikeya's Lock-On for 136 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple! applied to Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Rebecca Streisand takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Hi-Vortex for 70 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rebecca Streisand gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple! applied to Rebecca Streisand!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Rebecca Streisand enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Xantia takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Dark Wind for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Ruin! Cover removed!
GS: Cripple, Disrupt, and Poison! applied to Xantia!
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Xantia!
GS: Catenna takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Let's Have Some Fun for 126 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Catenna!
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Kartikeya's Bionic Arm for 342 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Gwen Whitlock!
GS: Mighty! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Venetia Vuong takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Let's Have Some Fun for 131 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Venetia Vuong gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple! applied to Venetia Vuong!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Dash Caskett takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Let's Have Some Fun for 124 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Dash Caskett!
GS: Dash Caskett's Force Evade activates!
GS: Dash Caskett enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia quirks her head at Kaguya. "Um--" She says but she's gone. Kaguya said a lot of strange stuff there, which makes her think, but she does look to Ivan and Talia and says, "She probably had to say a lot of stuff like that because her evil boss was listening. Yup, I'm sure that was it. Yep."

She does kind of shrug a bit though, places a hand on Ivan's shoulder, and aims to kiss him on the cheek right then and there.

"Space." Lydia says to Venetia, turning to her. "It is the best."

She does look back to Talia though and admits, "I guess I don't get it either but... I just...ehh nevermind. Whatev. I'm glad you're okay though."

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey guards a hit from Kartikeya's Hi-Vortex for 79 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cripple! applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Seraph Boudicca takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Hi-Vortex for 68 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Seraph Boudicca!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Catenna backs away right before his fist connects - tumbling back and clear out of his range. Ambrosius frowns slightly behind his helmet, looking up as she speaks.

"...Very well." He replies quietly. Once again, Catenna leaps into the air. He's readjusted his perception of her abilities, it should be simple enough to follow her trajectory -

And then she changes direction abruptly, moving toward him instead of away. He has to adjust his defense at the last second, but it's quite enough enough. The arrow buries itself right into his armor, already damaged by successive attacks.

If that wasn't bad enough for him, Violet, empowered by a desire to survive, takes the opportunity to lean out from cover and fire. Her shot lands at about the same location as Catenna's arrow - that, combined with the shot's armor-piercing properties, breaks upon a hole in his armor. Ambrosius staggers backward.

But, he still has one more opponent to be mindful of. Dash surges toward him again, sending a laser blade cleaving down toward him. With a grunt of effort Ambrosius forces himself out of the way, but not enough to avoid having a line seared down his armor from Dash's blade.

They've put him on the defensive - it's quite impressive, really. With his free hand, Ambrosius gestures. Cleansing waters surge up around him. They linger, forming a protective shield - particularly where his armor has cracked and broken up.

And then, he takes his ARM up in both hands. A red glow begins to form at the tip of it. ...But, before he fires, he hears a certain name said aloud. His head snaps toward Kartikeya, seeing him holding up Gwen by the arm. He hears Frea's name being said.

...That's worrying. It may be a good thing that his helmet does such a good job of concealing his emotions - his expression is moreso of one having a fear realised than one learning surprising new information.

...But there is still a fight. Ambrosius points his ARM at the ground, and with a large roar, a great red beam is released, punching a hole right through the earth. Its trajectory is not immediately obvious, then.

He whirls upon Catenna next. In one smooth motion, he swaps out parts of his ARM and fires. He moves and does so again, releasing a volley of differently-colored energy beams in her direction. They all have different effects, but the ultimate result is a multitude of debilitating attacks.

It's as he fires the last that suddenly, beneath Violet and Dash, with a terrible sound, red beam after red beam shoot out, searing right through anything in their path.

GS: Ambrosius has attacked Ambrosius with Cleansing Waters!
GS: Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Ambrosius's Cleansing Waters for 0 hit points!
GS: Shield! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Ambrosius has activated a Force Action!
GS: Ambrosius spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Dash Caskett with VV-EXCIDIUM!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Violet Salazar with VV-EXCIDIUM!
GS: Ambrosius has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ambrosius spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Catenna with Veritas Varia!
GS: Ambrosius has launched an attack Link!
GS: Ambrosius spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Ambrosius has attacked Catenna with Veritas Varia Veritus!
GS: Ambrosius takes 23 damage from Poison!
GS: Jam, Mute, and Poison expired!
GS: Ambrosius has completed his action.
GS: Catenna takes a glancing hit from Ambrosius's Veritas Varia for 0 hit points!
GS: Disease! applied to Catenna!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Catenna has activated a Force Action!
GS: Catenna completely evades a hit from Ambrosius's Veritas Varia Veritus!
GS: Catenna's Force Evade activates!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
GS: Dash Caskett critically Guards a hit from Ambrosius's VV-EXCIDIUM for 37 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Dash Caskett gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Violet Salazar takes a solid hit from Ambrosius's VV-EXCIDIUM for 203 hit points!
GS: Violet Salazar enters Critical health and gains 25 FP!
GS: Violet Salazar has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

"It is okay," Talia says to her brother, with a sigh. She scowls at the place where Kaguya stood. "I'll get her next time."

Talia looks at Lydia, and then she shakes her head once. She doesn't really agree -- she disagrees strongly, all told -- but there isn't really a good chance to explain. She heard what Kartikeya said about Kaguya running; she sees the look in his eyes.

"I think we have a bigger problem!" Talia says to Lydia, then glances at Ivan. "We better be careful of him, no?"

She grits her teeth -- her eyes drift to Kartikeya. She holds a hand up -- thinking it best to help with a spell. A magical circle flares under her feet. Then, ice shoots up along the Sentinel's legs, grasping at him, and trying to lock him into place.

GS: Talia has attacked Kartikeya with Frigid Bind!
GS: Talia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Talia has completed her action.
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Talia's Frigid Bind for 0 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Mute! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 30 FP!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
GS: Catenna has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

With a soft thump, Catenna lands with grace and ease, balancing even on her high dancer's heels. She wheels to confront Ambrosius again, another arrow in hand.

And then Kartikeya lobs Gwen at her.

"Nph!" With a grunt of pain, Catenna stumbles rather inelegantly, tumbling to the ground under the weight of the super courier. She winces, throwing an irritated look back towards the more violent of the Veruni.

"You remind me of someone," she says, her tone quiet but cutting. "Someone who also thought he was invulnerable to the Guardians of this world."

She wheels to confront Ambrosius, her hand moving to her quiver again. The other Veruni's got little to say to her now - merely to take up hisARM and open up with a barrage of blasts that seem sure to slay her. The light and flare of them dazzles her. Her eyes dance with lightspots as she's nearly blinded by the rainbow of technological force.

But what happens next should not happen. Not in the normal order of things. Not with the Shaman who has handily been crushed by Ambrosius every single time.

With dextrous speed, Catenna dances through the blasts of light. She arches away from one, twirls past another, dips low and twists away from a third, jumps back and kicks a leg up to let one whistle past her before coming up on her fingertips and curving her body to elude one more. Sweat beads off her forehead as she somehow, more on instinct than anything else, lets Jean's training choreograph its ultimate dance, at least in her experience: Eluding blasts of light while blind.

She comes out of it in a high leap. Her hand darts to her waist to grip the Silver Moon Medium there and tear it from its tie. She raises it high and calls out a single word in Zortroan.

Light swells from its heart. It shines brilliantly, with the peculiar blue-white aura of a full moon at its apex - and with a flash, blue butterflies dance out from around the Moon Shaman, darting up and into the air.

With them swoops the pale form of Saarda-Shanta. The snowy owl hoots once, echoing, before the butterflies surround her.

They circle the figure that has manifested high above, seated atop a golden crescent like a queen upon her throne.

    < BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaAVuyp1yiM >

The Moon Guardian's PRESENCE is palpable - clear and with a heartstopping grace even as Celesdue lifts a slender hand. A pair of enormous butterfly wings, shimmering with blue energy, fan out behind her as she gestures towards Ambrosius.

"There is still road to travel, Shaman." The voice is curiously familiar.

With a brilliant shimmer, the landscape around the forest changes - and gravity releases its hold on both Kartikeya and Ambrosius. The world begins to float. Nothing tethers the pair of Veruni to the earth once more. The sky darkens; only Celesdue herself casts pale moonlight, reflecting in countless clear crystals that float up from nowhere.

Heels click as Catenna touches down atop one of the crystals, bow in hand. "True," she says quietly, more to Celesdue than anything else. "But I will show them where the journey has taken me."

She leaps into action. Vaulting to another crystal, Catenna begins to fire arrow after arrow. Each one shines like a bolt of light. They smash through hovering crystals, spraying shrapnel into the air. She is not sparing with her fire: Arrows and radiant crystal shards arc towards both Ambrosius and Kartikeya in a withering fusillade, aiming to strike true beneath the pale moonlight.

GS: Catenna spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Catenna has attacked Ambrosius with Material - Graceful Composer's Melody!
GS: Catenna has attacked Kartikeya with Material - Graceful Composer's Melody!
GS: Catenna has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Catenna has launched an attack Link!
GS: Catenna's  stance ends. She enters the Avenger stance!
GS: Catenna spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Catenna has attacked Ambrosius with Butterflies Dance in the Moonlight!
GS: Catenna has attacked Kartikeya with Butterflies Dance in the Moonlight!
GS: Catenna has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Catenna's Avenger stance ends.
GS: Catenna has completed her action.
GS: Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Catenna's Material - Graceful Composer's Melody for 0 hit points!
GS: Entangle, Mute, and Poison! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Ambrosius enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Catenna's Butterflies Dance in the Moonlight for 214 hit points!
GS: Mute and Poison! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Ambrosius has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
GS: Ivan takes a glancing hit from Kartikeya's Let's Have Some Fun for 146 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Ivan!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Ivan enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Things happen. Rebecca manages to knock Kartikeya off his feet, which thankfully causes him to let go of Gwen. And she almost goes bug-eyed from seeing him on the ground.

The moment it happens though she realizes that perhaps her distraction was too effective in distracting him in that now he's going to blow them away with a storm. "Oh no." Suddenly she breaks into an acrobatic series of groundflips as she sees him invoke the storm. His spell earlier making her worried that perhaps she's not just bit off more than she can chew, but got it stuck in her throat.

Just as she's about to duck and cover behind a rock, the green flames of his storm smash into her side. Causing her to inelegantly smack against the ground behind the stone as she beats out her smouldering vest.

She wants to stay in cover for a moment and catch her breath. Though she just heard Kartikeya call Xantia a brat. And so she hesitantly brings up her ARM and slides out of cover - ARM drawn and pointed at him.

Only to see that he now is grasping Gwen's ARM again.

"Let go of her-!"

He hurls her, and she whispers with a sort of shocked sense of wryness@, "Poor choice of words."

Though she doesn't think she erred earlier when she stated she swore by her ARM, she keeps it pointed at him.

The definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect a different result. Or so she tells herself...

... and yet she decides to try anyway. Even if he catches all of them... perhaps she'll occupy him.

And if she can land even a single shot...

... then maybe there's hope that Greg might be able to avenge his wife and child after all.

"Acting like this is a game. Pretending like nothing fazes you."

Rebecca starts firing off the trigger, one after another. One acrobatic leap to the side and to another. Keeping her position on the move. She peppers him with one shot after another.

"Have you ever even run scared once in your entire life?"

After six shots, she reloads fluidly, in-between ticks of an instant, and starts firing off six more.

"Because I know a guy who I bet is going to make you one day. Just you wait and see."

It sounds ludicrous to say that, even as she does. Could Greg really stand up to this guy? Yet, perhaps she's feeling spiteful about the potential of humanity. If humans can't stand up to Veruni... then...

... it would have been better if she'd never left Capo Bronco.

GS: Rebecca Streisand has activated a Force Action!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has activated a Force Action!
GS: Rebecca Streisand spends 4 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has attacked Kartikeya with Justice To Believe!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Jam expired!
GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ivan has posed.

She probably had to say a lot of stuff like that because her evil boss was listening.

"Ah... maybe..." Ivan looks aside uneasily. He doubts it was insincere, but he doesn't particularly want to pick up where Kaguya left off in hammering cynicism and despair into them. It's not like Lydia and Talia don't know the world is full of cruelty and dissappointment. They choose not to focus on it or define everything else by it.

Ivan is kissed, and in addition to his face heating up, a few curls of literal smoke come off of him. "Um, thank you," he tells Lydia, although he knows somewhere in his heart that this is not the appropriate reaction to a kiss.

Talia then calls their attention back to Kaguya's boss(?) who is still at large. Ivan nods, cupping his hands to gather a cloud of crackling sparks, which look like small stars. He sends them toward Kartikeya, riding on a rush of warm air, and they hang about in a sparkling, lovely cloud for a few moments until each one detonates into its own minor explosion.

Around this time is when Kartikeya effectively goes bowling with Gwen, sending her crashing across the field and crashing into various people along the way, with Ivan knocked off his feet as she soars past.

GS: Ivan spends 1 Combo on Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!
GS: Ivan has attacked Kartikeya with Stars of Fury!
GS: Ivan has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ivan has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

"C'mon, were fighting over trees here. Really?!" Dash tells Ambrosius, though the point of talking someone down is long gone. but he always likes to try at least. Ironic since Dash always has this deep-seated feeling of being made for combat more than he likes to think about.

Movement away from Ambrosius is attempted, but unneeded, as a young lady FLIES at him at high speed! "UHHH--"

WHAM

Dash's next moment is in the turf with a nasty dent in the Volnutt's chestplate. "Anyone catch the number of that delivery lady...?" he says blearily, tapping the Mega Buster to his helmet.

The boy barely gets t ostand when beset from radial fire from below ground. Dash scrambles to his feet to try and defend. He manages to do so somewhat effectively! The armor, though damaged and rent in small spots, seems to deflect much of the incoming fire-- perhaps it was made to deflect or resist energy attacks?

"Hey! Who threw that lady? Augh forget it, I'll find out later. Big weapons time!"

The Blade Arm is quickly taken off, and the nub-forarm is socketed into the large device that was on Dash's back-- a giant drill.

Jet Shoes spin up a final time, but where Dash takes off to may be obscured to Ambrosius, as a blaze of bright white plasma fire streaks his way, making it difficult to see and searing more than eyes, being more heat than anything.

Around the flank Dash drifts, and activates the Drill Arm, flying with it outstretched at high velocity!

GS: Dash Caskett spends 2 Combo on Poison and Link!
GS: Dash Caskett has attacked Ambrosius with Radiant Rain!
GS: Dash Caskett has launched an attack Link!
GS: Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Dash Caskett's Radiant Rain for 55 hit points!
GS: Poison! applied to Ambrosius!
GS: Ambrosius has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
GS: Dash Caskett has activated a Force Action!
GS: Dash Caskett has attacked Ambrosius with Full Burst Drill!
GS: Dash Caskett has gained 1 Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Ambrosius takes a solid hit from Dash Caskett's Full Burst Drill for 181 hit points!
GS: Ambrosius has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
GS: Dash Caskett has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The circular winds blow. Coming this close, Ethius looks like he ought to be blown away. Even blessed by the winds of a kindly Wind Seraph, the sheer wind force is equal parts deafening and flaying, he dares to poke the beast with a stick. (Swing, but the metaphor is more poignant here.)
     The circular wind overtakes his momentum and forces the odd sorcerer to expose his flank as the Sentinel screams that he's been warned. The shotgun is leveled. All the stoic man is able to do is, outwardly, something quantifiable as equal to nothing in that he drops the staff, turns his upper body the best he can, and brings both forearms inward to slurred syllables lost in the squall of wind and explosive ARM fire.
     By estimates, and even truth, the man that has challenged Kartikeya's patience is hardly better armored than whatever cloth he's got on him. Veruni 'hard light' ARMs are rated for something... way higher than that.
     Electrical flashes and sounds erupt everywhere on impact at this distance. Kartikeya has zero fault to his aim. He hit them dead on. There should just be a pair of legs on the ground with nothing else attached, if even that.
     A man in a tattered shirt bodily slams against a nearby tree. Symbological tattoos glow brightly, and wane as bruises and open cuts - numerous, but startlingly shallow - dot an otherwise average athletic body build.
     An intact human body.

     SOMEWHERE ELSE...WHEN IS THIS...?

     Thrown? A sense of being hurled without momentum or inertia. Away from the red, away from the orange... but away from all of it. There was a shape and colors he could see that contrasted. Surrounded. A tense grip on one shoulder - a shout, it relaxes. The stinging goes beyond the skin.
     Names remain shouted. They were all the names he had.
     "You don't belong--"
     Someone else said that. They weren't words then. The string of noise. The emphasis. There was clarity.
     He did not remember when it was clarity beyond the noise.

     RIGHT NOW

     He's walking.
     There is a pacing to the man's steps that is distinctly detached, even as many yell, recoil, struggle, and fight like they're all right there. That they're all witnessing this, being a part of this, being one of many chapters of Filgaia's bloodied history as an intermingling set of conflicts and ideas expressed through violence and pleads.
     He doesn't participate in the yelling. He keeps walking. There is a weakness in posture and gait, but a specific pacing is maintained. Measured, despite it all. Walking amongst the flames and the smoke, as if blending within the stirring ruin of ash and soot. He's wounded.
     He walks past images of Gods. He paces past flashes of light. He pays no heed to calls of voices or actions or cares. He doesn't have his quarterstaff with him for balance, having dropped it on the ground when he was shot.
     But he is still there.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Still... staring. Still bearing a partially burnt mask whose damages are enough to expose some of the lower half of his face. The white stubble. Some of his lips. He doesn't run back into the crowds converging upon Kartikeya. He doesn't announce his presence.
     There is something about him distinctly separate in demeanor and movement. He bleeds like a human. The anatomy, extensive Symbological tattoo work aside, perhaps among the most extensive possible on a living body, is identifiably that of a human male of... mid-30s, maybe? Late?
     'Oh well, there's more for me!' Kartikeya calls... and then.
     For the first time, aside from any single technique calls, Ethius speaks with a voice that has an eerie (if coincidental) resemblance to someone else's speaking voice that might be chilling.
     "Nothing here is for you." Ethius speaks. His eyes are still the same. What is visible of his face... no smile, no frown. With his left hand, he flutters his fingers as sorcerous syllables escape his tongue with no beat missed. Practiced as if it were as rote as breathing, as he stands being battered by the very elements as his tattoos light up again.
     "Grave Dust." Fine particulate matter seems to generate anywhere and everywhere around and - in the most awful scenario imaginble - potentially even inside Kartikeya. An act that against a living body is downright cruel, but those eyes don't betray hatred or anything of the sort.
     Almost as if such an act, at its basic level, were... ordinary. Someone who is willing to do harm on that level not for amusement, or anger.
     "You do not belong here." Ethius adds after the incantation - voice never raising even through the pain.
     As if there were two monsters of two distinctly different environments present.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Kartikeya with Grave Dust!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia notes that Kartikeya is empowering himself in some way. It doesn't deter her, of course. She just studies it, as it happens. She silently nods to herself, taking this into account.

And then going right ahead and doing what she was going to be doing anyway. It's quite satisfying to finally get a solid hit through his defenses. That got his attention, in a negative way. Xantia can only grin in response. This is what she wanted. Leaving an impression is the first step to coming to an understanding. It could take a fight or six, but eventually they should be able to have something resembling a normal conversation. She knows these things, she has previous experience.

But that's not going to help her in this fight. Some sort of magical darkness is sent for her in a column of air. When her attempt to elude it fails, she can only watch as her shield of light also fails to protect her, breaking apart when exposed to the darkness. The resulting sensation is... unpleasant. Cloying, stifling dark winds effectively hold her at bay for the moment, allowing Kartikeya to turn to other matters.

One of these matters involves manhandling Gwen, then using her as a projectile. This may have pissed Xantia off a bit, judging from the sudden shout as she expels a wave of force from her body, dispersing the winds that were holding her. She finally activates her ARM, a sizable red energy blade forming from the bracer on her right arm. She dashes past Kartikeya with a sudden burst of speed. She turns on a dime, then does it again. And again. And again. Red afterimages trail behind Xantia as she delivers a series of dashing slashes with her ARM on every pass, until the final strike is aimed specifically for, of all things, Kartikeya's Golem arm.

Afterwards, she speaks calmly, but firmly, without much in the way of emotion: "Enough. Time for you to go."

GS: Xantia has activated a Force Action!
GS: Xantia has attacked Kartikeya with Vermilion Sundering!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia takes 24 damage from Poison!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    This is not the first time Boudicca has captured her foes' scientific interest. There was a time Alhazred was fascinated by the mobile statue, the Beast of Lohgrin, and the sample taken from her vessel then left a hollow in her for some time.

    That sort of attention is no less uncomfortable coming from the Veruni as it is from the Hyadeans.

    Give her credit: she made him care. It just wasn't her protection which did it. She sees his grin and her determination falters, a half-step back as for the first time her nervousness gets personal.

    It's not like it's a secret - after all, she introduced herself as a Seraph - rather, it is the disquieting realisation that he enjoys her condition.

    All a sudden she would prefer not to be any sort of interesting to someone like Kartikeya, and it's written in her pale expression and the way she backs up another step.

    The wind catches at her heels, and it is a tragedy that her own essence should carry with it her own destruction. She finds herself having to outrun the wind, springing away from that firestorm; but she is the wind, and like is drawn to like and she lands and the flame rushes over her.

    She grimaces, eyes blinking shut against the smoke for a moment. Fire is still deeply unpleasant, even if it is known to her.

    "You are very strong," she says, when she manages to turn her attention back to Kartikeya.

    "I have not had many dealings with Veruni - but you are of clear standing amongst them."

    The thing she calls her heart hammers in her chest; the thing she calls her chin lifts, eyes narrowed. "Regardless..."

    Another Seraphic glyph lights the ground, as wind curls around her.

    "... I am air." Perhaps it's an answer to his curiosity.

    She reaches out; she grasps.

    "And I do not give you permission."

    All a sudden the winds rush away from him - back towards her - as if she intends to steal the gale of his force for herself. They buffet him as they pass. But whether she can maintain control over the air in the face of him --

    -- can her elemental self possibly outstrip a true Sentinel's experience?

GS: Seraph Boudicca has attacked Kartikeya with Negative Atmosphere!
GS: Seraph Boudicca has completed her action.
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Catenna's Material - Graceful Composer's Melody for 0 hit points!
GS: Entangle, Mute, and Poison! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 20 FP!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Catenna's Butterflies Dance in the Moonlight for 177 hit points!
GS: Mute and Poison! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
GS: CRITICAL! Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Rebecca Streisand's Justice To Believe for 192 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.

Venetia had her back turned to Kartikeya. She had assumed he was fully occupied, fighting, what, a half dozen Drifters? She guessed wrong. Smashed in the BACK by the high speed hurled Gwen; she staggers forwards and gashes her calf on the shards of amethyst she just created -

She ends up leaning against a tree, gritting her teeth in pain. Some people would turn their attention to Gwen after that, but Venetia Vuong is not that kind of a lady.

"Alright, you bare faced cackling son of a dog, let's do this," Venetia says through pained teeth as she fumbles out another Crest Graph, turns towards Kartikeya, and...

... does nothing.

She stares dead at him. Is she going to kill him with her eyes?

The violet light thrums around her feet, moving quietly, faintly, easily overlooked perhaps as the rage of a drill and the power of grave dust roar. Xantia speaks, Ivan attacks. Venetia feels her heart tighten as her abdomen sucks in and her muscles tense. The feeling is not too different to that sense of sneaking up behind Kaguya earlier, and she can almost feel a cough coming on to remember the near-black bruised side she got from that casually thrown ELBOW.

She raises one arm, raises the butterfly-tipped rod. The shape's purpose, not just decorative, may become immediately clear to the casual onlooker: It can also be a sight. She pivots her arm despite the pain and murmurs to herself. She is angry, she thinks.

Venetia holds that anger. Lets it contort her face, turn pain into motivation. The Crest Graph in her hand begins to gleam...

"BURST!" Venetia shouts, and about a third of the tree behind her - fortunately, mostly the already broken branches - rip forwards as the erupting column of angled raw explosive force, a rolling and screaming explosion, draws down like a lance, aiming to pass terribly close past Ethius, past the fallen Gwen - the motion of the seized tree branch (which rapidly turns to a green paste intermingled with fragmented, smouldering splinters) showing the route of the spell, dipping down and then rebounding off of Filgaia itself to strike Kartikeya with a rising emphasis!

GS: Venetia Vuong has activated a Force Action!
GS: Venetia Vuong has activated a Force Action!
GS: Venetia Vuong spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Venetia Vuong has attacked Kartikeya with Deepest Art: Force Crusher!
GS: Venetia Vuong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Kartikeya's fingers close around Ida's forearm. He hoists her off the ground before she can so much as cry out, dangling her by her wounded arm as he inspects her. She grits her teeth, trying desperately to keep from showing fear--

    SPLASH

    Rebecca saves Ida from a gruesome fate. The heiress falls from the Sentinel's grasp, breathing heavily. She chances a glance at Rebecca, earnest gratitude in her eyes. The moment passes.

    The wind picks up again, howling and shredding and burning as it washes over the battlefield. Ida shields her face with her arms, grimacing as the heat seeps through her exoskeleton--smoke rises from the plates, but thankfully, nothing catches fire in earnest. It's still far from pleasant. Ida can feel herself flagging, whereas Kartikeya seems to be drawing on a bottomless well of bloodlust. Her mouth falls open as the Sentinel grabs Gwen and throws her. She doesn't dare take her eyes off her foe for any longer than that, though--all she can do is hope Gwen will be all right.

    They just need to survive, Ida reminds herself. Rebecca was right. She breathes in, breathes out. The world snaps into sharper focus. Another breath in, and the pulse of the world wells up beneath her. It surges into her lungs, kindling her inner fire like a bellows stoking the flames of a forge. She draws Devil's Due, feeling the familiar weight of the ARM in her hand as she takes aim.

    Ida pulls the trigger. A brilliant tongue of Dragonfire erupts from the barrel, racing towards Kartikeya in a wave of annihilating flame. It blackens the ground and raises a heat-haze as it passes.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Inhalation!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has launched an attack Link!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's  stance ends. She enters the Avenger stance!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Inhalation for 0 hit points!
GS: Amplify! applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey spends 4 Combo on Poison and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Kartikeya with Breath Of The Fire Dragon!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Ivan's Stars of Fury for 276 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kartikeya gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Ambrosius has posed.

Ambrosius can't help but be impressed at the way Catenna manages to weave her way through the flurry of beams, coming out the other side unscathed.

And then, thre is a presence. The unmistakable presence of Celesdue as Catenna calls upon her power. It's a familiar feeling, the feeling of weightlessness. It isn't the first time Catenna has done this to him. It isn't the first time today, in fact.

But this... it's different.

An inexorable power. The power of the moon herself. It takes hold of him, and he finds himself lifted up.

And then, something else happens - Catenna capitalizes on this. Ambrosius tries to defend himself, but arrow after arrow, combined with a volley of crystalline shrapnel, smashes into him. His watery shield can only do so much...

And then Dash fires off a volley of his own. White plasma sears his armor, followed up with a devastating strike with the drill arm. It's enough to push him out of the hold of gravity, and he falls, crashing to the forest floor.

He lays there, still for a moment. Is it over? And then, with a cough, he tries, unsuccessfully, to force himself to his feet.

...But, he finds himself unable to stand. Even from here, however, he looks up. At Catenna, and Dash, and even in the direction of Violet. ...He says nothing, however, and his gaze falls back down to the ground quietly.

It is at this time that there is a glint in the sky above. From out of nowhere a figure drops - an armored woman, recognizable to some as one of the mechanical Scutum soldiers present in certain ruins. Some may already know her as Minerva.

"Damage has exceeded allowable levels. Now initiating extraction protocols." Minerva intones. With a gesture, the two of them are surrounded in a wall of ice... and when it clears, they are both gone.

GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Venetia Vuong's Deepest Art: Force Crusher for 174 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Breath Of The Fire Dragon for 165 hit points!
GS: Poison! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
GS: Kartikeya enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Ethius Hesiod's Grave Dust for 135 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Disease, and Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    In Gwen's head, it was supposed to go a lot better. Gwen would punch the tall speedy Veruni man, either bounce off him or land on the ground by him, and scoot back triumphantly. When her fist hits Kartikeya's face, it seems like it was all going to plan.

    Then it didn't.

    There's a lot of interesting thoughts going through Gwen's head now, as her boots dangle off the ground. Thoughts like 'damn, he is tall', and a gratuitous amount of cusswords, a number of which were probably learned from a young Janus Cascade, or maybe one of the many that numbered the group she ran with, back in the day.

    Back in the day when she didn't have an extra ARM, Janus was supposed to be the famous hero, and she was supposed to die.

    Gwen's fear of death was removed, but this did not extend to the other types. Fear of loss, fear of losing someone, the fear of hearing a name come out of the mouth of one of the people you least expect--

    "....?!"

    Despite dangling, the way her spine immediately tightens at the mention of Frea's name is noticeable, a certain tensing up that was lacking in Gwen in the past few weeks.

    "How the *hell* do you know that name?!" A dangerous, but ultimately ineffective mix of fear and anger curl in Gwen's voice. He's the one holding her, after all, not the other way around.

     As if on Rebecca's orders, Gwen is flung through the air with excessive force, crying out as she collides or manages to bowl over those who weren't lucky or quick enough to dodge out of the way, before limply rolling to a stop a measure of distance away.

    She lucks out, in this way, because she's far too dazed to sit up and get caught up in Venetia's friendly blast of tree laser.

    Coughing and groaning as she tries to get up, Gwen wheezes noisely, her lungs fighting for the air that was knocked clean out of her.

    She thinks.
    
    He needed prompting to remember the man Gwen presumes he murdered. If she can survive this, it doesn't mean all is lost. He's a danger in the same way a giant sandworm is a danger; you just might not survive the first encounter.

    Survive, just like that man did.

    Rebecca's words stir some hope into Gwen. If that man survived, so could she.

    And she'll see how far she can get, so that man will know how much more ground he'll need to cover.

    "Guess the cat's outta the bag... ehe."

    She needs to find out why Frea's name was mentioned, from a source that *isn't* Kartikeya.

    "You wanna see it, Kartikeya?!"

    Gwen's ARM blazes to life, the warning light of red pulsing through the pyrite gold of her ARM. She doesn't have much health left.

    She'll make it count. "This won't equal the amount of pain you'll feel, so if this hurts, you'll not be ready for when that man meets you again!"

    Gwen straightens her right ARM, and emits a bright beam, stirring the air with the sharp smell of ozone.

    "Corona Discharge!"

GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Kartikeya with Corona Discharge!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Seraph Boudicca's Negative Atmosphere for 40 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 25 FP!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Xantia's Vermilion Sundering for 152 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
GS: Kartikeya takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Corona Discharge for 155 hit points!
GS: Jam! applied to Kartikeya!
GS: Charge!! You gain 55 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Kartikeya has posed.

    "How do I know that name? Oh, this is rich! Maybe you should ask her yourself!! Bwah hah hah hah hah hah!"

    First there is fire in the wake of Gwen's sudden flight, embers blown on a breeze to encircle and detonate about Kartikeya. While he makes to bat them away as if they were irritating flies rather than a threat, they prove more threat than perhaps he was anticipating, exploding about him and leaving him open for one critical moment -- for his sister to join his fire with her ice.

    Ice encircles the Sentinel in the next instant, as he takes one step forward on that follow-through once he has thrown Gwen as a projectile across the battlefield. "Eh?" utters Kartikeya, who is -- for once critical moment, tethered to the spot.

    He is still thus when the Guardian of the Moon descends from on high upon himself and Ambrosius. Raising his grafted arm, the Sentinel moves to shield himself though--

    --even such wizardry of Veruni technology cannot go entirely unmarked by the touch of the shamans of the Guardians in full grasp of their powers. The surface of the plating is pitted in a few places -- a chip missing here and there -- by the time Catenna's rain of arrows end. This -- perhaps more than the wounds he has taken tonight -- evokes a growl deep in the Sentinel's throat. He fires off a shot at Catenna, but this, alas, is already destined to go wide--

    Because Rebecca has had enough of him, here and now. The shots connect this time, so focused is he on taking down Catenna; the ARM is made to jolt to one side at a critical moment as Rebecca continues to unload. Perhaps this is her justice.
    Kartikeya, still pinned and robbed of his own retribution, bares his teeth at her. "Shut up, you damn animal!" he snarls, as if her words have -- somehow -- struck a nerve in there, somewhere.

    Is there... some point at which someone like Kartikeya was made to fear someone?

    The ice locking him in place at that moment shatters; Kartikeya advances forward as if he were more automaton than Veruni. The ARM in his right hand lifts the once and he levels it at the lot of them, pulling the trigger again and again to discharge bullets--

    They never hit home. They are each and every one of them swallowed up and eaten by the hungry breath of Devil's Due. Thwarted thus -- and realizing that he is now the sole combatant left on the field, Kartikeya charges at her.

    Boudicca will not let him. Air may be an element for which he has a special affinity, but he is not air in the way that Boudicca is air. He finds his very advance slowed to a crawl, stolen out from him. But even in this he does not stop.

    He will not be stopped.

    He turns the ARM onto the Seraph instead -- if distance is denied him, he will find a way to reach even across the distance.

    Even when Venetia's spell explodes upon him -- blood slicks his body, his own, this time -- he does not slow or stop: he continues to pull the trigger.

    Even when Xantia cleaves into him with that blade of her own, scoring further marks upon his body and even one upon the Golem's arm -- this last prompting him to lay into her with one fierce swing of that arm -- he doesn't stop. He'll shoot at Boudicca. He'll shoot at all of them.

    "How many bullets can you take, thing?" he calls out to Boudicca. "How much blood can all of you shed?! Let's find out!" And even now -- even with the odds against him -- he laughs uproariously.

    And into this there is simply a single beam.

    "Eh?"

    It would be nice to say that this was what 'did it', but it's simply not the case. After the exertions that the Sentinel has put the graft through--

    Something perhaps inevitable has happened.

    His arm -- the Golem's arm grafted to his body -- spasms once. Kartikeya glances down at it and tentatively twitches one of the fingers.

    He must not have liked the result, because he scowls, if for a moment. Then he straightens, or at least as much as he can and holsters that black shotgun.

    He waves his flesh-and-blood hand dismissively through the air, as if to write off the lot of them. "You know, this has been a great distraction! A real hoot! I'll never get tired of playing around with creatures like you, you know. Buuut, if I keep going like this, I'm going to break you all! And just when you were showing so much promise! That'd be a real shame, wouldn't it? So I'll let you off the hook this time," says the Sentinel, baring his teeth in a wicked grin.

    "Make sure to show me what you've really got next time we meet!"

    There's no flash of light, no sudden disappearance of Kartikeya into nothingness. He simply turns and walks away, as if he were assured that he would be left untouched.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

The shot goes wide. Destiny ensured that Catenna would emerge with all of her limbs, at least.

When Catenna finally touches down, the crystals in the air fading and Celesdue's manifestation folding out of view and presence, she's breathing heavily, her energy spent on the vigor of her attack. But it's clear enough that it has borne fruit.

Her eyes turn to Ambrosius. With disbelief, she watches the Scutum drop from the sky and extract the masked Veruni from the scene. A thought strikes her straight to the heart.

    After all these years, I beat him. And I managed to mark the other one, too.

As she rounds on Kartikeya again, she draws another arrow, ready to open fire. But as he dismisses them, she sets her jaw, flinty-eyed. A sassy retort hangs at the very point of her tongue.

Until he just strolls off like nothing happened. She blinks twice, caught too off-guard to even do what she normally would (read: shoot him in the back, because threats to Filgaia don't deserve to be treated fairly).

"He reminds me of Berserk," she finally murmurs with a look towards Lydia.

<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.

Talia rubs at her head, looking at where Kartikeya walks away from. She debates, for one second, giving chase -- but no. He walks away, and that makes her doubt that she could strike him down. Her eyes drift to Catenna; she isn't sure, all told, who Berserk is.

Her shoulders slump a little. "Aah, he was a lot... this was all a lot," she says. She rubs a hand over the side of her face.

ELSEWHERE

In a deep, recessed control room, there are three lights. One, after the Lake Jyun Sub-Gate opened, had already turned on. A dull red flashes over the room. In a few moments, it brightens, as a second light begins to pulse softly.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Kartikeya takes his leave with a playfully dismissive gesture. Ethius chants and gesticulates another spell of some electrical make, but its capabilities in terms of reach and range is exact - it discharges into open air, ignites a few free-floating tiny debris, and is ultimately one last burst of noise for nothing as something brushes against his cheek. A cool, mild sting against flesh not usually exposed to the elemen--
     He draws his hand back and covers what part of his face is visible, looks over his shoulder, and - rather than stop and check on the wounded, and the exhausted, attempts to saunter off his own way somewhere. That feeling of being exposed.
     He hates it. He is still wounded no matter how much he hates it, which limits his walking speed - but there are going to be a bunch of Kattelox people swarming to contain the destruction and otherwise survey the overall damages to the forest. He wants no part of the interviews, the questions...
     There is a side-glance to Gwen at one point, but nothing spoken as his route doubles back to retrieve the dropped staff before he tries to get right out of there and put on a new shirt.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida does not allow herself to show exhaustion until Kartikeya is well and truly gone. Once he is, though, she sags forward, gripping her injured shoulder with her good hand. She laughs, soft and bitter, as Catenna makes her comparison. "You, too?" she says, managing a weak, pained little smile. "And I don't suppose you--ngh--have Berries, do you?"

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    The brave face evaporates like morning dew. Hurt and exhausted, Ida sinks to her knees, and then settles onto the ground.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

     There is a tired groan, emanating from the ground near the others.

     It is Gwen, who mumbles a weak question. ".... d-did it hit th'bastard..."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Boudicca has posed.

    He's gone. They're alive. She's okay.

    "Is everyone all right..?" Boudicca asks; she'll send some healing breezes out, of course. And then she just kind of... wanders over to Ida and...

    Well, she starts to topple over onto her, except halfway through the motion the woman they know as Boudicca disappears and a ribbon flutters down onto Ida instead.

    Boudicca had a bad day and now she's going to go and nap in her vessel until she feels better.