2021-03-13: The Hedgehog's One Trick
- Log: The Hedgehog's One Trick
- Cast: Ming of the Bronze Tigers, Riesenlied, Jacqueline Barber, Fei Fong Wong, Ethius Hesiod, Noeline, Juni Vandrer, Margaret, Tabitha deVriese
- Where: Guild Galad - The Electric Air Voids
- Date: March 13, 2021
- Summary: The time has come: Ming's whereabouts have been determined (one way or another) and haste is warranted -- if this matter is to be resolved, it must be resolved promptly. But while Ming has been found, it seems that she has one last trick up her sleeve...
...Or is that the right way of putting it at all?
<Pose Tracker> Ming of the Bronze Tigers has posed.
Just hours ago, a daring raid had been conducted on one of the Bronze Tigers' hideouts in Guild Galad. It had required a deal with another criminally-oriented gang, but sometimes that's the sort of compromise you need to get things done. With the Ebon Hand as a distraction (and settling a few debts in the process, by the sound of it), Jacqueline, Cyre, and Kaguya had been able to infiltrate the hideout and get some information.
The materials collected from the hideout -- as well as the scribe, frankly, once he'd woken up and had some sense talked into him (he was rather put out) -- had pointed to a particular location in Void 36 as the place where Ming was operating from.
She's the one who ordered the hit in Kattelox, the one who had hired Damned Watkins in Damzen City to hire those bandits that attacked Honeysday. The one behind the bounties that may be lingering over the heads of a few of those present.
The only question is, why?
That's what everyone is here to find out.
To outward appearances, the location in question is just another housing complex in Void 36. Neon light colors the buildings nearby, flicking in the darkness of the Void. Somewhere down the street, people are shouting. Music reels tinnily out of a nearby building. In other words, it's a typical night for Void 36.
The scribe, once he'd been assured of just how much trouble he was now in, had been convinced to give them a key. That at least removes the need for a violent entrance out on the street. Inside, though, it is something of another story -- if there had been any doubt about this being the right place, the opulant interiors as well as the Bronze Tiger mooks might have settled that. Is it simply a matter of them not knowing any of their faces or is it because they might know some of the faces in the group?
Though they put up a fight, they're handily defeated. Eventually, within the chambers of the housing complex, everyone finds who they're looking for...
"So, you defeated my guards. It seems they are hardly work their paychecks. Are any of them still alive? If they are, I will have to terminate them," Ming says, rising from her seat at her desk. In spite of the situation she's in, she seems calm, collected even. At a glance, one might put her at about her late 30s, perhaps as far as mid 40s -- she's a human, and though she's dressed simply for someone of her rank and role, the cut and the fabric suggests that her clothing is in fact quite expensive, an impression that may only be enhanced once one notices the pieces of jewelry she wears: they're old, and they glitter.
"I suppose you are here to ask questions," she continues, gazing at everyone in turn. "Very well. Then ask your questions."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has been involved in this entire mess, since the start -- since her bounty was soughta fter in Kattelox, when she also accidentally got involved with Darned (yes, Darned) Watkins in Damzen as well; but after the last few instances, it's clear that it's become far too dangerous for her to keep getting involved.
She heard about the information from Jacqueline last they met; about how the Bronze Tigers were hiding in Guild Galad. A place which... inspires a lot of personal fear and difficult emotions, owing to the Fossils that run rampant in the place.
Which is why she's not here at all!
She's back in the Fereshte, dressed in a cute apron and looking at a recipe--
"Melt the chocolate gently in a... banne-marie...
Stir until glossy and thick...
Add cream, vanilla extract and sugar at that point..."
Not part of the recipe: Dropping her whisk and holding her head in great pain because the world's just echoed into her through to Lunar.
...
Riesenlied's presence, then, in Void 36 is extremely surprising, because in the latest and worst of the trances Filgaia seems fit to put her through, she's:
* gone to the Trial of Light
* entered the Elw Teleporter
* wandered through the Lost Woods
* gotten on a ship through to Guild Galad
* assumedly, gotten into some trouble with the guards
It's only when Ming speaks that she suddenly blinks, her reverie finally snapped as she looks around confusedly as awful emotions start filtering into her head; the throbbing headache is still there too. "... W-Where...?"
Her gaze locks onto the middle-aged woman, slowly. It's like she understands empathically, more than she knows intellectually. "You... you are Ming, are you not? Why have you sought after my... our bounties?"
Also not expected: her face is full of melted chocolate because her trance didn't include 'wipe her darn face after trying some'. And, the bowl of chocolate's made it with her on her wheelchaired lap the entire way?!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline has been on Ming's trail for a while - ever since that attack on Honeysday. She refused to let someone who would put the lives and livelihood of an innocent town at risk get away unpunished. And now, after all this time, they'd been able to find a lead on where to find Ming herself.
She isn't going alone, of course - she'd contacted some trustworthy people to let them know of the situation. And now, with everyone together, it's time to make their move.
Of course, getting into the complex itself is the only easy part. The guards themselves are dealt with, and before long, Jacqueline finally finds herself face to face with the one she's been pursuing.
"I prefer to avoid unnecessary violence and bloodshed. They're perfectly fine, though they may be nursing a bit of a headache." Jacqueline replies, and then folds her arms in front of her.
"I'll get right to the point, then. Why Honeysday? Your people seemed very intent on torching their farms." She asks. "Moreover, was everything after that just clearing up loose ends? I can tolerate that you had that bounty placed on me, but ordering your people to open fire in the middle of a crowded city is inexcusable."
She opens her mouth to say something further... but then pauses, as Riesenlied walks in wearing a cute apron and a bowl of chocolate...? Jacqueline pauses, blinking. ...She knew she had told Riesenlied about what was happening, but if she was going to show up she didn't expect it to be quite... like this.
Her train of thought has been completely derailed, so in an attempt to pretend like this was completely normal and planned, she clears her throat and returns her attention to Ming, awaiting answers.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei has ended up here. It's been a long adventure? Sort of?
Regardless, Fei Fong Wong stopped to get an enormous ice cream sundae that he was busy purchasing at a nearby creamery which is why he wasn't here to fight the guards. He's actually holding two and has one balanced on his head.
He offers Riesenlied one of the sundaes he's holding. "Sorry the line was so long... I guess the local creamery is actually pretty busy." If Riesenlied takes the sundae he'll remove the one from his hand. "I was able to get a spare if someone wants one?"
He looks to Ming.
"...."
He offers her the extra sundae.
"Sorry didn't want to be read or anything since you're our host and all. If you wanted us to drop by you could've just asked instead of going to all this trouble."
He looks to Jay. "Oh, sorry, did you want it?"
He seems embarrassed. I'm really sorry, I only have so many hands..."
He holds however number of ice cream sundaes he still has left protectively to his chest.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius is one of the last ones in the chambers, because he's busy just... okay, he's Ethius, a lot can be quietly implied about what he's doing. (In the moment, he's dragging a guard's body somewhere.)
He catches Riesenlied just wandering by, at which point he stands with his arms behind his back despite how, um, 'lived' the area looks. As if he could hide the fact he just helped do what he did. When she passes by apparently none the wiser, he continues back with... well. This ceases to be important once this touch of humor is done with.
AS AMONG THE LAST TO JOIN THE ENSEMBLE
He keeps that perfect poker face as Jay mentions that the guards are 'perfectly fine.' (this is because this might be true for once)
(maybe)
"Your dealings as concerns the Veruni." He just cuts straight to the chase without ceremony or dithering around.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied blinks a few times, then without even thinking takes her ladle and spoons a nice luxurious coating of chocolate over Fei's sundae, thus making the most powerful dessert ever.
... was this the intention of the powers that sustain the world all along? Ensuring Fei gets a nice chocolate topping on his sundae???
(Ming can get one too, if she behaves.)
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Yes, our bounties," mutters Noeline, stressing the plural as she draws herself up to her full height - such as it is - and steps up alongside Riesenlied to give Ming a hard and solemn stare. Her hand drifts to Riesenlied's shoulder to offer her presence.
She's doing her best to put up a strong front, but she can't help but feel just a little stressed out, and there's a slight edge of a pout in her expression. She'd been comfortably curled up on the Fereshte when word of Riesenlied's fugue hit and she and her daughters shifted into a practised sort of recovery mode - not forcing Riese out of her trance, but following her to wherever it might take her, to be ready to support her.
Which was all well and good until she went through the Elw Teleporter.
Since then she's followed along, watching in increasing levels of incredulity and mild disbelief as Riesenlied beelined for the one place she wouldn't expect. Spiritual calls can come from many places, she has first-hand experience of that, but Guild Galad - for all that it might be made of fossils - is about the least spiritually-inclined place she could ever imagine.
She gives Jay a long-suffering look, as if Fei and Riese were conspiring against her this whole time, and then redoubles her stare towards Ming.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
With absolutely no clue who she's hunting, just that there might be bounties involved, someone else to try and take care of (In her mind at least.) and a desire to eat cooked food has encouraged the diminutive Juni to join in on a hunt at Jay's prompting. Still rolling with the uh, borrowed, shotgun.
She's also incredibly lost and a lot more prone to taking her time. A slow, thorough approach. Which means she catches the comment about some of the guards having just a headache as she arrives late to the party. She won't correct that statement. She does take that as a reminder to reload though.
That professional demeanor slips briefly. What the hell did she just stumble into? She looks utterly confused. There's a slow shake of her head, a determination that she won't ask questions. She'll just uh, rest the shotgun over her shoulder, leaning back against her tail and blocking one of the doors. The shortest door guard.
As a side note to herself, she lowers the everpresent goggles and fiddles with her wrist. She's... just going to document this for later. These aliens are strange.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
In the woods, outside of Kilika:
"Six," says Veren the Beastmaster. "Our entire cash reserve and the surplus equipment sold as well, and we could afford but six. And we are thirty-one."
"No," says Margaret.
"But that's how many came," Dolly protests. "That's including the two with the wounds."
"There are forty-six of us left," says Margaret, her eyes closing as she puts a hand on the improvised table with its crude maps and its recent addition of a half-dozen Elw teleporter keys.
"I don't think that we should be certain that they shall wish this aid even if we should grant it," says Veren. "It is not unreasonable that they should choose a course that does not court heresy!"
"I don't care," Margaret says. "That's the goal. Forty-six of these damn keys! Then we can all go to Filgaia!!"
AND SO A NEW AMBITION WAS GAINED:
* BUY 40 MORE KEYS!
(Imagine a winking O'aka here giving two thumbs up.)
"And it takes money to make money, doesn't it... that's likely true on that world, as much as the next."
HERE IN VOID 36, A LITTLE WHILE AGO:
"I don't think they're hiring right now," says Hound B, adjusting his grip on his dubious instrument case.
"Yeah, these guys are verily owned," says Hound C, leaning against his own dubious instrument case.
"I think we can work with this," says Margaret, the Black Pearl of -- somewhere, now. "There's nowhere out but through."
"You've been saying that a lot," complains Hound A, adjusting her cheap tie.
SO, NOW:
Coming up behind the other Drifters have been... other people. Considering that they are all in kind of cheap looking purple suits, one might fairly guess that they are here to carve a slice out of Ming given that her operation is going south fast. People lingering or backtracking would have caught sight of them; those who backtracked TOO far would have found, suspiciously, that side boxes and coffers had already been popped open.
But now that the end has been reached, the enigmatic figures have come up close - very close - though no action has been taken against the Drifters. Their leader, the towering elf woman with her hair tied up in ox horns but who is otherwise obviously Margaret, has cupped one of her long ears to listen in from a fair distance back.
A thoughtful frown turned into a deeper frown at news of what sounds like bounty fraud. That's going to really screw up her plans, even if she has little direct problem. By the Goddess, she thinks, is that this now? Am I an adventurer? Are we adventurers?
Is this gang warfare and nothing else? Margaret thinks as Jay speaks -- and then says something that really gets under Margaret's skin. Her hand lowers from her ear as she stares into space for a moment, then a moment more. She starts to breathe in.
And so THAT is why Margaret stomps forwards, possibly shouldering past people on her way forwards to stare dead-on at the objectively more successful person in her line of work and shout with parade-voice intensity, "YOU DID WHAT???" Her face is contorted in what may be startling levels of fury.
<Pose Tracker> Ming of the Bronze Tigers has posed.
"So they're still alive." Ming sighs, closing her eyes briefly. "That saves me from paying for their cremation, I suppose. Then I'll deal with them later," she says, narrowing her eyes.
Ming tilts her head to one side as Jacqueline addresses her, her earrings jingling softly. "Why Honeysday? Simple," she says, as if explaining things to a child. "It was the easiest option to get you all involved. You were always the real target." The target for what, she does not explain. "The business in Kattelox was... messy," she continues instead, waving a hand through the air, "But I am used to 'messes' like that. Besides, it did bring you here."
Of course, Jay might not be the only one temporarily derailed. Her gaze falls upon first Riesenlied and then Fei. She arches a dark eyebrow as she is offered an ice cream.
"Why?" she answers Riesenlied after a moment. "Because they wanted you dealt with. It is as simple as that."
A moment of silence greets Ethius' question. "The Veruni?" Ming's thin lips crack in an unkind smile, the real first display of emotion from the otherwise icy woman. "Is that what you think? I see... so you know nothing."
Her gaze skims the others -- Juni to the back, Noeline with a glare that could cut someone to the quick, and pauses, her lips parting as if she were about to say something more--
And this is when a tall furious elven woman bursts into the room.
"Who," says Ming, lips pursed as if she had found something unpleasant (is it the suits? is that the color of a rival gang?? does she think Margeret is in a rival gang???) in her sock drawer, "are you?"
A heartbeat's span of time stretches out.
"Tabitha," Ming says after a moment more. "Would you come here, please?"
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.
"Hm, hm, is it that time?" asks a voice on the wind.
The air above and behind the group ripples and buzzes, before a silhouette drops out of it, and then a moment later, it resolves. The woman is familiar, perhaps; not so tall, but highly curvy, exaggerated all the more by the formfitting uniform of a Solaris operative. Her pretty face is unmasked, with bright blue eyes and waist-length blonde hair, worn down. With one hand, se idly flicks a lock of it behind her ear, and smiles with clean, white teeth.
With the other she does nothing, but it is clearly mechanical; too large for her frame, held in an uncanny splay-fingered neutral position. "I guess it must be," she says, and swings her hips into an all-too-casual stance, her human hand planted on the sweep of her hip.
The air around her flickers, and she holds her hand forth.
In its stony palm is an unblinking red jewel of a blaster lens.
"Sorry, but I need you to die."
She fires a blast forward, but it disappears in a whorl of space before it can strike anyone.
And then comes out of one overhead, firing down in several directions at once!
DC: Tabitha deVriese switches forms to Tabitha Unshackled!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied's senses start to very slowly come together again, in no small part thanks to Noeline's presence through their rings; she looks contrite as she puzzles, through her partner's stress, what happened -- she's nowhere where she should be!
"Um... make a dessert for you later to make up for it?" she sheepishly asks.
Jacqueline, Ethius speak pertinently: Why Honeysday? What's the Veruni's involvement? It's a good question. She looks to Fei again, then helps him offload as she takes one of the sundaes.
And... eh? Eh? Who're the people in purple suits? More thugs of Ming's? But they look hostile to her, not them. And... isn't that Margaret?
Ming has a simple answer, though. They wanted you dealt with. "They... who do you speak of?" Riesenlied asks gently, furrowing her brow. "I suppose sometimes, it is as simple as that, but..."
But then she speaks to call someone out -- Tabitha? Isn't that the Etone she met in Vane, once? But-- that uniform of Solaris-- ah--
Sorry, but I need you to die.
--there's a wince as she covers her head with her detached sleeve-covered arms, to cover her from any debris; "Noeline!"
A gathering light comes from the Medium already, to surround them in shielding energies. Looks like a fight is unavoidable at this point...
GS: Tabitha deVriese has adjusted their boss level for 2 opponents! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Warp Buster! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Warp Buster!
<Pose Tracker> Ming of the Bronze Tigers has posed.
"There you are," she says to the Solaris operative, almost blasé as Tabitha makes her appearance in the room. "This should be the end of it. A few of them aren't here," she says, addressing Tabitha alone now, "But they should be easier to handle. You'll get what you want," she says, in those moments before Tabitha unleashes that power from her hand.
And ducks down behind her desk! Is this Ming making an escape--
The fact that she rises again, a minigun in hand, might put an end to that thought swiftly.
"Now, it's time for you all to die."
Iron rains itself across the room as she unloads her weapon.
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Tabitha deVriese's Warp Buster for 118 hit points! GS: Tabitha deVriese has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Riesenlied with Swansong! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Noeline with Swansong! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Swansong! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Margaret with Swansong! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Juni Vandrer with Swansong! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Swansong for 83 hit points! GS: Riesenlied guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Swansong for 61 hit points! GS: Margaret takes a solid hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Swansong for 111 hit points! GS: Noeline guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Swansong for 63 hit points! GS: Juni Vandrer takes a solid hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Swansong for 115 hit points! GS: Your next attack with the Sneak flag will display with the name Sour Grapes.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"You'd better," huffs Noeline in response to Riesenlied, though her voice is a lot less on edge than it maybe should be, because when it comes down to it this is Riese and Noeline is nothing if not extremely biased. "I'll be looking forwards to it."
"Your business seems-- rather fraught with messiness," she notes rather dryly after Ming is done replying to people. "I cannot believe you've gathered much in the way of reputation from all of these messes going on. It seems rather unprofessional, to get to the point where you have had several of them show up in your office all at once--"
And one more, it seems, as Margaret all but shoves past her. Noeline's content to let it happen, speaking pragmatically - she's still not completely sure what is going to happen next, not when things seem to be escalating, and certainly not when Tabitha makes herself known.
'It is as simple as that', says Ming. It isn't exactly a surprise, but Noeline can't help but feel a little muted dissatisfaction in response. They can't reach everyone. They can't make peace with everyone. Noeline knows that, but... she's caught herself, more often than not nowadays, wishing they could.
"--Riese!" she yells in response, wrenching her sword upwards above them to use its bulk as an umbrella against the raining energy - then she gapes for an instant before planting the slab into the ground, shielding the pair of them from the worst of the gatling gun burst.
"You are shooting up your own offices!" she shouts over the din, as if flabbergasted. "This can hardly be called a working environment that engenders trust!" Part of her has obviously decided that the best way to try to approach rattling Ming is to keep talking - but she reaches out mentally at the same time, her link with Riesenlied drawing stronger.
GS: Noeline spends 1 Combo on Reload! GS: Noeline has attacked Riesenlied with When I'm With You...! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied accepts Noeline's When I'm With You... for 0 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Riesenlied! GS: Riesenlied activates Noeline's Reload!! GS: Riesenlied spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with I don't have to be Afraid...! GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo! GS: Riesenlied has launched an attack Link! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Riesenlied with Let's See a New World Together! GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied heals Noeline! She gains 115 temporary hit points! GS: Shield applied to Noeline! GS: Riesenlied heals Riesenlied! She gains 115 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"You've narrowed it down." Ethius remarks with as equally straight a face as when Jay talks about how none of the guards are dealing with worse than a headache. Whether he is just playing it cool for being a fool... we'll never know.
He is, however, not blind to what's above them moments before Tabitha speaks. He recognizes the voice and the quiet hums of her available weapons, and is already taking note of the room's features for future reference in case he has to do something like hold onto a wall fixture for dear life or something - but Ming's last stand adds a new complication as she draws it.
He's not completely out of the minigun's cone of fire, necessitating he throw up the Symbological shield and hold his ground as a few stray shots noisily and flashily bounce off - he'd be in a fortified position if Tabitha didn't warp the space of the blast's trajectory.
She does, and tags him in the upper left thigh and the back of both shoulders. His pained hissing is muted because he's got a bandanna over the lower half of his face, but there probably was an actual poker face-breaking grimace under there.
His back ends up close to Fei's as he casts a gaze over to the Solaris uniform-fitted operative.
To date, his earliest memory that places him anywhere familiar here was being surrounded by people in similar uniforms scouring the area atop that mountain range in Lacour. To date, he still has no context as to why (other than the thought that it is a bit strange - to him - that he found himself in an evasive position rather than one in pursuit).
"I am afraid I will be disappointing the both of you further," he has somehow regained his usual speaking composure despite totally getting lasered in the bum, waving his fingers in sorcerous gesticulations as he quietly mouths the syllables in short order to thrust an arm out towards the spatially inclined operative.
"Fine Dust!" Comes the spell's name at the tail end of the incantation as a blast of the finest grains of sand, dust, and whatever else are ready to just gum up the everything ever in the vague direction of Tabitha.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Tabitha deVriese with Fine Dust! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Fei Fong Wong critically guards Tabitha deVriese's Warp Buster for 23 hit points! GS: Fei Fong Wong activates Guard bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Margaret's jaw tightens as she glowers at Ming. The effort to overbear by sheer presence have failed. So much for this being easy. There is a quiver of absurdity in her stomach, and for a passing moment she feels a strange pricking at the corners of her eyes.
This means she doesn't answer right away. Margaret's eyes turn towards Tabitha as she ripples and manifests herself. The three Hounds lingering in the background whirl into a side room, obviously not wanting to get involved with teleporters.
This woman, Ming, rises again -- with a heavy assault ARM. Margaret's features shift from fury into astonishment, and then she dives -- first to the side, just as the assault weapon begins ripping into the floor and smashes into her elaborate boots hard enough to feel like she's being smashed by someone with a carpentry hammer, and then...
Towards Ming? On her hands and knees, yet. But the desk is sufficent cover for -- something.
Meanwhile, in that side room:
"That's a big gun," says Hound C.
"That sassy lady's a bigger mage than all of us put together," says Hound B.
"So... I guess we're kind of boned," says Hound A.
"Which means," says Hound A, unfastening her mysterious instrument case,
"We might as well go all the way," says Hound B, unfastening his mysterious instrument case,
"If this place wasn't malevolent already," concludes Hound C, "I don't think we're gonna make it one this fast."
AND THAT IS WHY:
Music starts playing. (Instrumentation: Rhythm bass, trumpet, and some weird local version of a guitar.) It is a song nobody on Filgaia has ever heard, because it was local, and then it was banned.
"What -- are those idiots doing?!" Margaret growls to herself. But she then looks up, past the desk where she has taken cover. The gunfire fades, as it inevitably must, and she pops her head up to finally speak to Ming:
"To answer your question," Margaret says, "I was BORN on a farm, you piece of trash!! I don't need any other reason to rip those baubles off of you and whip you to death with them!!"
GS: Margaret has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Premonition of Darkness! GS: Margaret has attacked Juni Vandrer with Premonition of Darkness! GS: Margaret has attacked Margaret with Premonition of Darkness! GS: Margaret has completed her action. GS: Jacqueline Barber accepts Margaret's Premonition of Darkness for 0 hit points! GS: Jacqueline Barber gains a Combo from Inspire! GS: Margaret accepts Margaret's Premonition of Darkness for 0 hit points! GS: Margaret gains a Combo from Inspire!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"N-no, it's okay." Jacqueline replies to Fei before meeting Noeline's stare. Her own gaze is sympathetic toward Noeline's plight. And that's about when Margaret barges in due to her comment. Jacqueline jumps a little in surprise, but before she can say anything, Ming speaks... and Jacqueline frowns immediately.
So, this was about them. About luring all of them out, because an unspecified 'they' wanted them dealt with.
"A mess?" Jacqueline repeats, aghast. "You think endangering the lives of innocent people is a mere mess?"
And then she goes quiet as Ming calls on someone else... and they arrive in a swirl of twisting space. The silhouette resolves into the shape of a woman in a Solaris uniform, and Jacqueline frowns, casting a glance toward Ming.
"How long have the Bronze Tigers been eating out of Solaris's hand?" Jacqueline asks... only to see that Ming has ducked down behind her desk. Has she fled? Or-
Jacqueline gestures with her left hand quickly as Ming rises up once more with a minigun in hand. A pillar of earth appears, intercepting some of the bullets. Several of them still pierce through - and some shrapnel from her own pillar flies off - but its far less painful than taking the full brunt of her attack.
"Sorry... I'm throwing all of your plans into the trash, Ming - starting with that one. I won't let you toy with anyone's lives any further." Jacqueline says. She looks toward Margaret, then. Her ferocity is... kind of inspiring, actually.
With that, though, Jacqueline reaches into her bags. She draws out a bottle of lavender-colored liquid and hurls it over Ming's desk, aiming for Ming itself. The bottle shatters on contact, with a surface or Ming herself, unleashing a plume of lavender smoke that causes drowsiness in those who breathe it in for too long.
GS: Jacqueline Barber spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Apothecary's Fire! GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei swings his arms up moments before the energy is about to incinerate his head and just... SLAPS the beam out of the air with the bottom of his ice cream sundae glass. Surprisingly, it doesn't shatter. Some kind of bizarre chi technique? Probably.
He considers a moment and offers Tabitha one of the ice cream sundaes since Ming didn't take it.
"Hey," He says. "I'm sorry about before but uh--can we skip the murder maybe? I'm starting to think murdering your problems just sort of makes more problems at this point in my life, and well--you're a friend of Elly's, aren't you?" He thinks. "Or...were? But you're probably actually a cool person so..."
He wiggles the sundae in front of Tabitha temptatingly. "It has chocolate sauce...?"
He seems hesitant to strike back just yet. Maybe he's trying to learn from RIESENLIED? Or something?
Either way...
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Tabitha deVriese with BRIBE - A Skill I Learned Poorly From Rikku! GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo! GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius suddenly flinches as Fei wiggles the sundae, as if he were wielding a deadly weapon.
"Mister Fei," Ethius remarks, "while I am not one for dispensing nutritional advice," and how, everyone knows how he 'eats' at this juncture, "I must impress that much chocolate sauce may constitute a deadly weapon."
GS: Tabitha deVriese takes a solid hit from Ethius Hesiod's Fine Dust for 106 hit points! GS: Jam applied to Tabitha deVriese! GS: Tabitha deVriese activates Arcane Font! GS: Tabitha deVriese takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's BRIBE - A Skill I Learned Poorly From Rikku for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tabitha deVriese gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer recognizes a minigun. Or at least that it's a gun. Pew pews generally hurt even with some kind of armor and she's the furthest from cover. She tries to roll through the doorway, catching a few slugs and a few grazing hits to add injury to insult. She lifts her arm, checking to see if it was a graze, through and through, or worse and... well it hurts. It works though.
Racking the shotgun, she catches the shell, having palmed another shell to replace it with in something of a trick reload. The ejected shell is loaded in the magazine. She rounds the corner and immediately pops a shot off, continuing the momentum to close the distance, find better cover and concealment and to light someone on fire, because it kind of sounds like she's got it coming. With the typical roar of a cut down shotgun, a slug is sent down aiming explicitly at the minigun to, at the very least jar the woman's aim or preferably, break it. Spinny parts are fragile parts right? Probably wouldn't work.
Her initial plan, of trying to help cover Jay who she had thought caught out in the open is quickly disproven and she slides a touch, trying to change course. Spread out and overwhelm. It's all you can do if you're not going to duck and run, right? Shame she's not alone, she'd rather set up camp really.
GS: Juni Vandrer accepts Margaret's Premonition of Darkness for 0 hit points! GS: Juni Vandrer gains a Combo from Inspire! GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Breakdown! GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo! GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong...
Completely forgets to do the followup suckerpunch that he's supposed to do.
GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Apothecary's Fire for 48 hit points! GS: Drowsy and Poison applied to Ming of the Bronze Tigers! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers activates Power Burst! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a glancing hit from Juni Vandrer's Breakdown for 22 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Weaken applied to Ming of the Bronze Tigers!
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.
Tabitha chuckles throatily at Ethius' rejoinder. "Oh, honey, I'm sure you'll do fine," she says, a low tease.
Ethius's blast scores against her. The hand is clearly robotic, and sparks a little as the dust gums up its workings. She turns to Fei, preparing her defense against him, but all he offers is the violence...of peace.
Tabitha blinks twice at him. "Ah, dear, that's the way to a man's heart. Although..."
Sigh. She shrugs, an exaggerated roll of her shoulders. "Dear Elly, you see, she was very lucky. Some of us have to work to keep our right to live. I'm afraid orders are orders. So..."
Her gaze sharpens, and she zips toward Fei in an unbelievable blur of motion. Her one arm, with the robot hand, sweeps back hard, and in that motion the robot arm flies off, firing across the room until it slams harmlessly into the wall. Her human hand is meanwhile outstretched...
To press firmly against Fei's stomach.
There's a LURCH from his perspective, as he finds down is no longer where it's supposed to be. In fact, it feels like he's floating in total freefall. Briefly. Before gravity asserts itself to the left, sending him firing at a dozen times the acceleration of gravity toward the wall!
Then her hand, which started moving on its own at some point, rockets back in on a return trajectory that contains the back of Ethius' head.
GS: Tabitha deVriese spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Inert and Expel! GS: Tabitha deVriese has gained 1 Combo! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Tracks of Midnight! GS: Tabitha deVriese has completed her action. GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a glancing hit from Tabitha deVriese's Tracks of Midnight for 70 hit points! GS: Mighty applied to Tabitha deVriese! GS: Ethius Hesiod activates Evade bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Ming of the Bronze Tigers has posed.
"They were careless," Ming answers Jay, shaking her head slightly. "But like all messes, it's easily cleaned up." That answer may not be the sort Jay would have liked, but given what they have already learned about the Bronze Tigers' dealings...
Who do you speak of, Riesenlied asks.
"Someone with more power than even the Masters," is Ming's answer. Her expression is a cold one.
...And perhaps somewhat undermined when Noeline speaks to her as well, mentioning the many 'messes' that have all taken place of late -- have even shown up in her office here. Something by one of the crime boss's eyes twitches; by some great effort, she refrains from her expression betraying more than that but the look she shoots at Noeline may easily be called 'murderous'. "Enough," she says, her voice clipped. "We will settle this now!"
And then, as Tabitha makes her own entrance, the situation might become that much more complicated.
"It has been a profitable arrangement for us," is the explanation Jacqueline gets from Ming, moments before she retrieves that ARM of hers. "You can certainly try!" she tells Jay, going so far as to smile coldly.
She swings that minigun to one side, drawing from a holster previously hidden by her jacket a revolver. "I can rebuild," she tells Noeline. "You, on the other hand--" She snaps a shot off at both her and Riesenlied, and perhaps this may have become a little more dire for them both if--
Jay hadn't thrown that bottle at Ming in that moment. She tries to deflect it with the minigun, but instead it shatters on impact, and Ming staggers back a step, reeling from the fumes. "What have you...?" she utters, shaking her head violently as she tries to clear the effects that are taking hold. She pivots, cracking off shot with that revolver despite the way she visibly sways from the effect of the fumes. They're not enough to keep her down, but they are enough to stall her.
And they also create an opening for Juni, who pops off a shot for the crime boss. Ming twists at the last moment in an attempt to escape it -- hearing, perhaps, the shotgun's roar -- and for her efforts it cuts across the a part of the mechanism and, more to Ming's immediate discomfort, Ming's upper arm. There is briefly a spray of blood; she whips about, shooting in the direction from which that bullet had come as she hisses in pain.
Into this moment, Margeret intrudes. "A hick... then? And... attempting to cover it, too," is her exhale of a reply to Margaret, looking the elf up and down as if in assessment. "Then come. Show me what you can do, country girl!" She punctuates the sentiment with a shot of the revolver, aimed right for Margaret's center.
GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Riesenlied with Summer Swallow! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Noeline with Summer and Winter! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Fir and Bramble! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Juni Vandrer with Bull Against Lion! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has gained 2 Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Margaret with Death of the Eagle! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers enters a Counter stance! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes 24 damage from Poison! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied critically guards Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Summer Swallow for 25 hit points! GS: Riesenlied activates Guard bonus! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Riesenlied receives 50 temporary hit points. GS: Riesenlied enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Margaret guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Death of the Eagle for 65 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Margaret gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Margaret activates Guard bonus! GS: Jacqueline Barber fully evades Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Fir and Bramble for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Jacqueline Barber gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Noeline guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Summer and Winter for 88 hit points! GS: Juni Vandrer takes a glancing hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Bull Against Lion for 46 hit points! GS: Shieldbreak applied to Juni Vandrer! GS: CRITICAL! Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from Tabitha deVriese's Inert and Expel for 116 hit points! GS: Quick and Shield applied to Tabitha deVriese! GS: Fei Fong Wong activates Guard bonus and Arcane Font!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Ming suddenly ducks under her desk and procures a minigun, which -- well, she would be lying if she said she hasn't seen that kind of situation before (she was once friends with Maya Schrodinger, after all), but it's still all the more surprising!
Noeline comes to the rescue and draws the sword to bear, shielding them behind a thick wall of iron; there's a stray *PING*, however, as the bowl goes flying--
"Aah, my chocolate!"
Is that really your focus at the moment, Riesenlied...? You've come a long way...
There's a quiet wince, though, as she hears Jacqueline's declaration to stop her plans; she nods quietly, looking back to Juni and Margaret to make sure they're all right. Looks like they all made it out okay.
There's a wince as more shots come that way, with a revolver in play now -- but Jacqueline and Juni both interfere, making the shot not as accurate as it rebounds off one of her scales.
"Is that it...? Even as the head of an organisation as wealthy and powerful as the Bronze Tigers... you do not have any freedom."
A pause, as she glances aside. "I know what that was like, once. That was why I broke free. I hope you can too, one day..."
She didn't really expect herself to be finding sympathy in this crime boss, but... she can't really help herself, now, can she?
"Until then, though... I promised I would fight, so that my loved ones would not have to worry!"
There's a brief flash, as the Heritor's crystalline sword manifests in her hand; she's already been pooling Ley energy into her body as she speaks, and working in tandem with Noeline, she waits for a safe moment to unleash--
"Ley of the world... heed my call! Go!"
--a large, phantasmal blade of Muse-powered ice out of a small mandala out of the ground, aimed directly at her minigun!
GS: Riesenlied spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Riesenlied enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Ley Artes - Stasis Sword! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers critically guards Riesenlied's Ley Artes - Stasis Sword for 31 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers activates Guard bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"I think the saying is--I'm not trying to be gendered about this," Fei says. "But you're welcome to identify however--"
He stalls as Tabitha speaks about how lucky Elly is. His hands curl lightly into fists. Before he can say anything, Tabitha blurs forward, presses her hand against Fei's stomach and--
--he is sent comically crashing into a wall. His sundaes held outstretched.
He slides down it. And he sets the sundaes on the floor.
And then he dusts himself off and looks right at Tabitha.
"Everyone says that. But she had a hard time too. And you... could leave too. Of course it'd be dangerous. But danger will find you no matter what you do. You can't escape it. Not on Filgaia, and not in Solaris either."
And with that hedarts forward, his own ether channeling vibrantly as darkness crackles along his fists and he aims to slam them down against Tabitha's shoulders, the gravitic force from his fists attempting to spin her through the air in a full rotation before she hits the floor. If he can get it to work properly. Big if!
"Wait," He says. Then he looks to Ethius. "Really? How so? I mean I know it's not healthy but deadly is kind of a reach don'tcha think?"
GS: Fei Fong Wong enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Tabitha deVriese with Infinite Darkness Ether Channel! GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo! GS: Fei Fong Wong assumes the Avenger stance! GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius can pick up the tell-tale sounds (...to him) of a revolver being drawn from over yonder - what with being as familiar as anyone who survived Tabitha prior can, he tries to find cover in some overturned furniture so that he generally only has to focus on one potential source of cross-fire.
"...One does eventually succeed in that endeavor," he concedes on the point of eventual death. The detached hand hits a wall and he braces against the furniture in case he might go flying because of it (he doesn't, he's not the target yet) and nearly loses track in Tabitha's rapid movement. Once convinced through all the sass and arguing over on the other half of the engagement that it's safe(r) to do so, Ethius starts to rise to reposition as he draws his quarterstaff--
In comes the hand, where he deftly twists and crouches for the thing to bounce off the tip of his weapon and graze the back of his head at all the strength of 'accidentally rise and bang head against cabinet.' Which smarts! It's 'put a hand on head' worthy.
He has avoided being concussed (again - as in 'being concussed,' he does not successfully avoid the concept of this as much as he should), but it is immutable fact that he has technically been back-slapped upside the head and this understandably wreaks some havoc on his capacity to formulate a pinpoint on-the-spot counter-assault.
That he manages to mentally work out 'I want to poke her with a stick under her arm' and 'I sort of have to balance this way to be able to reach out and tag it assuming she maintains her current relationship with the laws of gravity' in an instinctual microcosm is... laudable perhaps?
That is sort of glorifying what ends up being Ethius trying to clumsily stab her with the blunt end of a quarterstaff underneath the arm that is expecting to be reunited with a flying rocket hand and give it an awkward thrust up.
"Stinger." That he is attributing the specific move name to it is kind of bull though!!!
Fei asks a good question.
...WHEN WAS THIS?
A teenage boy has found the answer to how to be left alone: make sure almost all his snacks have chocolate in it.
Now nobody around him wants to share snacks (or be near him because his snacks are unable to be shared), and so, the social isolation resultant from this choice of foodstuffs...
Did not really bring him peace so much as space.
There was a lot of space in his life.
NOW
Ethius gets the distinct feeling he may have said too much about something or another. "...It is not my place to criticize the application of chocolate as you see fit," he concludes.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Tabitha deVriese with Stinger! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"But you just did??? A second ago???" Fei says, in complete bewilderment.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"I appear to have taken leave of how to say 'I'm sorry' in two words." Ethius surmises, as if somehow on the hubris that Tabitha being a master of space must be compensated for by a lack of mastery in time, thus allowing such trivial dialogue to occur seamlessly.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
By the Goddess, thinks Margaret, no wonder this city had a reputation. This miserable little round-eared procuress has insight that could beggar Leo himself! She dives her head back down for a moment even as gun and potion make their mark, looking down at the desk near her.
She grits her teeth.
MEANWHILE, IN THE SIDE ROOM:
"What's this turny thing do?" says Hound A.
DIEGETIC BACKGROUND MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C0IT3G44tg
OUT IN THE OFFICE:
Margaret rises upwards at the same time as having gotten her fingers underneath the edge of the desk and abruptly pulling it upwards JUST in time for that revolver to come forth and shoot her. She is committed by this attempted feat of strength, which immediately fails with a slam of the material as Margaret staggers back a pace. She shudders. She touches her suit coat.
She reaches into it -- and out comes chain and sickle together, a chip having cracked in the back of the blade. Margaret glances at it, then at Ming, and says in response, "Normally, I'd decline invitations like this if they're coming from *garbage*. But it seems as though I'll have to make an exception!"
As she spins up the weighted end of the kusarigama, Margaret thinks: OW MY CHEST HURTS, along with, I should get her talking or something. And so her lips speak the wise or at least salty words of, "Even if you're not fit to get scraped off my boots, I have to say that I'm impressed at the depth and scale of your depravity. Did I get that right? Bounty fraud AND slaughtering the village folk?"
THAT is when she casts the spinning weighted chain end forwards, aiming to wrap up Ming's gun arm! Hopefully before she shoots again. Margaret does not have more metal in her coat!
GS: Margaret has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Chain Wrap! GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo! GS: Margaret has completed her action. GS: Please react using the attack number in +queue. GS: COUNTER! Ming of the Bronze Tigers counterattacks Margaret with Counter Attack! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a solid hit from Margaret's Chain Wrap for 111 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Cripple applied to Ming of the Bronze Tigers! GS: Charge!! You gain 40 FP! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers activates Power Burst!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline can't help but bark a laugh at Ming's doom-laden premonition towards Riesenlied. (It's not the only Premonition going on, of course, but she has to admit that she can get behind a little mood music when you're facing off against a mob boss and their henchmen. It feels right, somehow.)
"Ah, oh no. Whoever could it be?" she wonders, a little more deadpan than it absolutely necessary. "Unless they somehow manage to match up to otherworldly monstrosities, I am sorry to inform you that we have probably faced stronger and come out still standing. Perhaps we'll make friends with them," she adds, because she can tell that sort of thing is starting to get a little under Ming's skin.
"For that matter, you should probably know that when it comes to rebuilding, we have gotten pretty good at it--" this rejoinder comes with a bit more effort behind it; she hisses through her teeth at the effort as she wrenches her sword around to block the shot, and still finds herself skidding backwards a couple of paces before she can flick the energy of the bullet aside.
The first sight of Ming's blood is what draws her up most of all; her brow furrows, especially as Riesenlied makes her observation about the merchant's lack of freedom. "Surely this cannot be worth-- all of this," she adds with a frown. "Drop the bounty and we would not even have to trade blows. Hells, you could be escaping rather than standing your ground," she adds.
She waits until the last moment to duck out of the way of Riesenlied's blade of ice - and actively uses it as cover as she lunges forwards low to the ground and pushes forwards. Following her partner's lead - and less actively Margaret's - she doesn't aim for Ming directly. Instead, when she brings her sword up, it's in a white arc that's aiming to carve the minigun into a couple of pieces.
GS: Noeline has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Material Adept - Sky Splitter! GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo! GS: Noeline assumes the Avenger stance! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: Margaret guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Counter Attack for 76 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"That's not -" Jacqueline starts and then sighs irritably, shaking her head. "Fine, I can see there's no point in arguing with you."
But still, it looks like her potion is having some effect. Jacqueline can't help but be a little pleased by that.
"It's a simple sleeping agent, to drain your stamina and induce drowsiness. I told you before - I prefer to avoid unnecessary violence and bloodshed." Jacqueline replies simply, as Ming asks what she's done - and as she goes to fire at her with a revolver Jacqueline dodges to the side, letting the shot goes wide.
"You said that your current arrangement with Solaris is profitable for you." Jacqueline notes. She nods toward Riesenlied, then, in agreement as she states the Bronze Tigers' lack of freedom. "...But what happens when it ceases to be profitable for them? Do you really think they view you as anything more than just another lackey to be discarded when you become inconvenient for them - just like you apparently view your own underlings?"
She makes another gesture with her left hand and a ring of purple energy spreads out from her position, settling over those currently fighting alongside her in order to empower them.
"...You should have more respect for those working for you, by the way. A leader is nothing without her people, after all." She adds to Ming.
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Juni Vandrer with Mage Armory! GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Riesenlied with Mage Armory! GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Margaret with Mage Armory! GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Noeline with Mage Armory! GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 1 Combo! GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied accepts Jacqueline Barber's Mage Armory for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Riesenlied! GS: Noeline accepts Jacqueline Barber's Mage Armory for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Noeline! GS: Margaret accepts Jacqueline Barber's Mage Armory for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Margaret! GS: Juni Vandrer accepts Jacqueline Barber's Mage Armory for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Juni Vandrer! GS: Tabitha deVriese takes a glancing hit from Ethius Hesiod's Stinger for 69 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tabitha deVriese gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Tabitha deVriese guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Infinite Darkness Ether Channel for 96 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tabitha deVriese gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer ducks into incoming gunfire, raising her arm and offering a hint of the fact that she's armored. Luckily, small size, maneuvering and the armor limit the damage to mostly a shock of pain and a numbing sensation that she tries to shake out of her fingers. "You're sloppy for that kind of talk. Professionals should keep the collateral to a minimum." Said like a saboteur with a pride streak.
Working her fingers a couple of times, then with a practiced drill reloads the chamber with a shell marked with a number of scraches. Once more taking another shot at the dual wielding woman. The shell explodes, even as Juni's still trying to close the range. Even if it means charging in behind an airburst round. Apply pressure, keep them overhwelmed, exploit mistakes. Sure it's risky in this case. Sure she's already hurt, but it's what you do right? Not even a sense of pride, as much as a sense of duty. At least of these people she'd consider a friend and she's come to terms to being the last one standing anyway. Might as well make something of it.
"Anyone hurt?" Called from the small bit of cover she tries to slide into. Ignoring the steady drip from her arm. She means them after all. Not the first time, won't be the last. "Not one for taunting, but maybe surrender's a better option here. Put'em down." She's got a funny accent to go with being a funny looking critter.
GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a solid hit from Noeline's Material Adept - Sky Splitter for 158 hit points! GS: Charge!! You gain 40 FP! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers activates Power Burst! GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with VT Fuze! GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo! GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a solid hit from Juni Vandrer's VT Fuze for 65 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Blind and Disrupt applied to Ming of the Bronze Tigers!
<Pose Tracker> Ming of the Bronze Tigers has posed.
"Is that meant to be a threat?" Ming asks of Noeline, narrowing her eyes. It's needling her -- that much is clear as day from the way she's reacted.
"A potion as a weapon...? You are a wicked woman," Ming says, shaking her head as if to further chase the effects of the draught upon her. It's uncertain whether or not she meant the irony inherent in the statement.
Riesenlied says such a simple thing.
The way that Ming's eyes widen -- just for the moment there, before muted fury floods her expression -- may be all the proof everyone here needs that her insight is at least somewhat on point. "How... how dare you," Ming utters. "How dare you imply..."
At once two things happen: a crystalline phantasm of ice launches itself across the room for Ming -- and her weapon -- and Ming retorts with a shot of her own, fresh off the stab of the Heritor's words. Twisting the minigun before her as if it were a sort of shield, the back of its casing is struck by the icy blade and quickly crusts over; Ming utters an oath and cracks the ARM against the desk, shattering the ice and freeing her ARM.
But not before Noeline can follow up on her partner's attack. Blade strikes where ice had touched and though Noeline's weapon bites deeply into the casing of the minigun, it doesn't carve deeply enough to ruin the ARM for good.
"'Drop the bounty'," she echoes, shaking her head. "Do you think I am the one who set the price on your head?" She does not even begin to address the concept of 'running away'. Perhaps Riesenlied did have the right of it -- running isn't an option.
Even while Jay points out to her that it might just be a good idea for her to cut and run, before she loses what she can't afford to give up. "This arrangement has been profitable for us. Until we dealt with them, we were small-time. My territory has expanded thrice over in the years since we made the deal with them. You are a 'woman of business' yourself, aren't you?" she asks of Jacqueline. "Have you never heard of 'risk-reward' before? As long as we are 'useful', as you put it, I have nothing to lose. And everything to gain...!"
It's into this moment that she catches sight of the one with the shotgun. Guild Galad is a true melting pot, but the way that Ming takes a moment to regard Juni might suggest that even a crime boss like her hasn't seen one like this one before. "Surrender...? After you've shot at me?" Meaning the one where they'd gotten the information about this place from, perhaps. But this is the opening Juni needs, and she takes it, the shell detonating in close proximity to the crimeboss while she's busy talking. Ming ducks to one side, apparently attempting to lessen the damage upon her person but the force of the blast still staggers her; she's caught out for that crucial moment.
Margaret has at her.
"Yes, you have. Next time, I recommend cleaning your ears out, country-girl," Ming says to Margaret with a snarl in her voice, as the latter snaps out that length of cord for her. "I'm willing to do what it takes to get the job done. Unlike a soft-hearted girl such as you!" The cord strikes true; it wraps about her arm, snaring it--
But not before Ming can take another shot at Margaret, mere eyeblinks before there is no clear way for her to shoot with the revolver anymore.
Only the (damaged) minigun.
Which has begun to spin back up...!
It might be some remorse that as the shots fly wide they may not do damage directly as such.. but the pieces of wall, bits of wood and glass from the cabinets (there were glass cabinets in here! but not so much now!) and other choice fragments that kick their way around the room may be a different story.
GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Riesenlied with Eating Crow! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Margaret with Crying Wolf! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Juni Vandrer with Lament of the Frogs! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Lament of the Frogs! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Noeline with Lament of the Frogs! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has gained 1 Combo! GS: Riesenlied guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Eating Crow for 90 hit points! GS: Jacqueline Barber critically guards Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Lament of the Frogs for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Jacqueline Barber gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Jacqueline Barber activates Guard bonus! GS: Margaret takes a solid hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Crying Wolf for 113 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Margaret gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Delay and Disrupt applied to Margaret! GS: Noeline critically guards Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Lament of the Frogs for 0 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.
Tabitha gives Fei a long, hard look. "You really believe that, huh?" she says, quietly. She raises her good hand up, knocking his punch wide with her forearm; the gravitational effects around them whirl and crackle, but in the end she only loses a foot or two to the lashing. Ethius drives at her with his staff, attempting to put her arm out of place. He does achieve that much, her hand flying past her - but, quite widely. That wasn't a docking trajectory! It's just...flying around for some reason!
Specifically: Because Tabitha wills it. She sucks in a breath, and the air around her ignites with Ether strength, space seeming to lens around her, impossibly.
Then she thrusts her hand up, and Fei and Ethius lose touch with the ground at once. They float upward, several seconds of impossible freefall, before Tabitha, having broken the defensive deadlock, flips away from the clash point - just before Fei and Ethius find gravity reasserting itself, falling several-times-speed toward the floor!
Tabitha touches down, a few meters away. "Scary boys," she huffs, and spots her reflection in a hanging plate.
She grabs it with her good hand and checks her eyebrows in it, thoughtfully. "Tsk," she sighs. "All that dust."
GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Tabitha deVriese with Ether Surge! GS: Tabitha deVriese accepts Tabitha deVriese's Ether Surge for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Jam removed! GS: Hyper applied to Tabitha deVriese! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Catch and Release! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Catch and Release! GS: Tabitha deVriese has completed her action. GS: Juni Vandrer fully evades Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Lament of the Frogs for 0 hit points! GS: Juni Vandrer activates Evade bonus! GS: Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Tabitha deVriese's Catch and Release for 93 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Somewhere, one of Margaret's Hounds plays music. She doesn't understand what it is! But it sounds... vaguely cool... like it fits a brawl in an office room with criminals, somehow.
Riesenlied is feeling the heat.
What she says, however, evokes fury in her -- she's hit on something that strikes a nerve.
"I want to make sure I understand how you view Solaris correctly. Because Solaris, as my companions have also expressed, will not hesitate to throw your life away the moment it becomes inconvenient to them..."
A pause, as she glances away -- a terrible thing to do in battle, but it's a bad habit of hers. "That is how they operate." But Jacqueline has a point... she has that habit of throwing her underlings away too.
"So why...?"
The minigun spins again, and Noeline is out of position to cover her; but she promised she wouldn't make her worry, so she instead raises her hand and creates a solid wall of light that refracts with crystalline facets, grimacing at the endurance it takes to ping each bullet off. She's looking much more exhausted after that.
"What do you seek to gain? Do you wish for a place in their city of the skies? Unfortunately... they view surface dwellers like us as 'Lambs'. That is... literally their term."
Riesenlied realises she needs to put more power into the attack... "Noeline, once more...!"
The power of Muse has waned, but in its place, a powerful concoction of Wing has taken its place; she'll use that.
"Gather power in the sky and strike..."
The wheelchair-bound woman rears her elbow back, and thrusts her sword forth into the air--
There's a crackle, and then two, and
*FHWOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Empowered by Jacqueline's magic, the resulting thunderblade, while just as phantasmal as the last one, threatens to carve an arc of lightning through the minigun once more.
Riesenlied doesn't really know how to control these finely yet...
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Ley Artes - Lightning Stab! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a solid hit from Riesenlied's Ley Artes - Lightning Stab for 162 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Charge!! You gain 40 FP! GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from Tabitha deVriese's Catch and Release for 108 hit points! GS: Fei Fong Wong activates Guard bonus and Arcane Font!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Perhaps Noeline should say something about Jacqueline's habit of using soporifics; she certainly looks a little glum in that way that means she's turning the thought over in her head, but at the same time she's fairly sure that Jacqueline's using them as innocently as can be, and maybe it's better to let sleeping lions lie. However they might have ended up sleeping in the first place.
"For what it is worth, I can only throw my words behind theirs. Solaris will stab you in the back," she adds with a shake of her head. "And believe me, that is not meant as a threat. Just a simple statement of fact. They would promise you the world, but so long as you're on the surface, they will not give two figs about you if they have nothing to gain from it."
Her solemn tone drops away as she swears under her breath; the trouble with wielding a blunt lump of metal the same size you are is that it's often hard to get a cutting edge going. Bashing the gatling gun out of the way saves her a few seconds of worry, but it isn't long before the weapon swings back around - and more concerning to the Hyadean, in Riesenlied's direction first and foremost.
She dives forwards in response, hoping to keep low enough that she doesn't just fling herself right into the path of the gatling gun's barrel; she's too late to stop an assault on Riesenlied, and her heart lurches for just a moment before she catches sight of her partner shielding herself. Noeline - for all that she trusts Riese - might not ever be able to avoid worrying, but at least this time she feels a stab of pride along with it.
It's accompanied by a buildup of electrical charge; she can feel her hair start to split and lift as the power seems to go a little awry, aware that Riesenlied's control over it might not exactly be termed absolute. "Riese!" she calls back - and grits her teeth as she heaves her sword up into the air, and stabs it straight down at the gatling gun.
It's a clumsy sort of maneuver, but she's not really looking to damage the gun herself - just embed into it the most makeshift lightning rod of all time, the better to let the other Hyadean's power focus in on a point.
GS: Noeline has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Material Adept - Sky Splitter! GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo! GS: Noeline has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Those other sorcerors, Margaret thinks as she is able to see Riesenlied and Noeline through her peripheral vision - they're throwing in their lot. But does this woman eat for breakfast, manticore glands??
Margaret's ears sweep back at the words of Ming, and she bares her teeth, but she seems to have no snappy comebacks. (Secretly, somehow, this is terrifying. The battle in Luca was different in kind and in type. That was familiar. This is an alien chaos. But yet...)
Jay sends out a ripple of violet force. It is strengthening to Margaret - but less strengthening is the arising of that minigun again. How many bullets can the damn thing hold, Margaret thinks, before diving again to the side. As flinders slap against her, she ends up near Juni and tells her, "Somewhat, but I've had worse. Listen, I'm going to do something completely foolish, exploit it, would you?"
And then Margaret pops up to her full height and takes a step forwards, past Noeline and Riesenlied. She rests her middle finger's tip on her lips, and then flicks it forwards with a little purple flicker of magic easily taken for a heart by casual onlookers.
That's the setup. The little heart is a blind. It is connected to a complicated if curiously low-power spell. That spell confounds the eyes and the propriocentric part of the body. The world seems to smear into chromatic, nebular colors -- indeed, it might be taken as some side effect of Tabitha's, though this is a happy coincidence. Sounds become hollow, reverberating. You can still manipulate objects fine, BUT TO WHAT END?
"Let me tell you, darling, working for someone else has a lot of downsides," says Margaret, who (in exterior, consensus reality) is jogging merrily over to get behind Ming, hopefully moving faster than she can slew ol' Mankiller there around in any case. "Sometimes growth-- isn't worth it!"
WHAT IS SHE DOING?
Well, Margaret thought about bringing the kusarigama up and putting an end to things. And yet something about the conversation that she eavesdropped on suggested that this person may know things -- important things. And it would just be too bad if she were to let those things out. And so as she comes up behind the crime queen, Margaret aims to scoop her up --
Twist round at the waist as she vaults into the air --
-- and if the goddess has not entirely withdrawn her blessing, put her through the desk that Margaret herself was just hiding behind a moment ago.
GS: Margaret spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Margaret has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Illusion Kiss! GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo! GS: Margaret has launched an attack Link! GS: Delay expired! GS: Margaret has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with A Frank Expression of My Sentiments and Feelings! GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo! GS: Margaret has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers guards a hit from Noeline's Material Adept - Sky Splitter for 96 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a glancing hit from Margaret's Illusion Kiss for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Jam and Slow applied to Ming of the Bronze Tigers! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a solid hit from Margaret's A Frank Expression of My Sentiments and Feelings for 159 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Charge!! You gain 55 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
The odd man manages at least one smart line of thought when gravity takes leave of him - to part a hand from his weapon to grab onto a sofa. There's a sense of urgency there because for as long as Fei and himself are suspended in mid-air, anything Ming shoots might ping them. He can't really fight Tabitha's control of space.
This provides convenient and non-fatal cushioning when gravity goes a bit harder and hurls him back down in the direction gravity should work, as per dictation of physical law.
There is the sound of a body being caught by fabric, but also a loud set of metallic rustling and a 'grnnf' vocalized by the stranger of a Symbologist.
Moments later, as if to illustrate the joke, he pushes up a half-exposed throw pillow that is full of counterfeit gella. (He rammed his face into it.)
(it hurt a fair bit)
(the rest of his landing was soft enough that he doesn't break any bones? just his face maybe)
His face peeks out the side of that sofa, bruised and redder around where his nose is under that bandanna. He sees Tabitha huffing about 'scary boys' while she sees to her appearance. With one hand dangling over the side towards the ground, he flutters his fingers anew as he considers the amount of free-floating dust particles from all the violence and the yelling.
He muffles the name of the spell (it's three syllables and the first one is almost certainly 'Dust') as all of that particulate matter rushes to compress around a space of his choosing. Which is, to say, to smother Tabitha.
and her reflective surface
(which is kind of a jerk move)
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Tabitha deVriese with Dust Compress! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer calls out, "Poor shot for a poor professional." As she ducks out of the way of the wild gunfire, keeping her breathing in check, her wits about her and as much solid maerial between her and those bullets. She racks the shotgun again, quick loading the missing ammo. Jay's plan is met with a simple, "As long as it works." She figures. What could it actually be. Still, since her friend is drawing attentio, she rounds the corner when it sounds like the gunfire is spraying the wrong way. Juni calls out, "I mean, usually gunfire's a good deterrent when you're clearly coming apart at the seams."
Not... that all of that is probably audible as she lifts the shotgun and very quickly rattles off all six shots, finger held down on the trigger and swiftly operating the pump. Just as calmly, she ducks behind cover, albeit a bit further this time. The room's getting torn up and she's still convinced a remote trigger or a sniper's scope would have been the better play. Another reminder to actually sit and fix her gear, maybe camoflage it to avoid problems.
It's about then that she scowls. She'll ask Jay about the tech later. Now, she's going to try and roll from the other side of her cover into new cover, keeping low and quick as she can. She's got to do a reload and hopefully, maybe the minigun woman's having a bad enough day to miss it. Or whiff shots. She'll take either.
Hoestly, the other attacks coming in aren't a thing she fully understands, but she's not going to question too much. Right now. Does remind her that she'd met the woman before and she'd had tricks there too, though.
GS: Juni Vandrer spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Slam Fire! GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo! GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers guards a hit from Juni Vandrer's Slam Fire for 115 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Tabitha deVriese takes a solid hit from Ethius Hesiod's Dust Compress for 150 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tabitha deVriese gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Tabitha deVriese activates Arcane Font!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I'm still okay." Jacqueline calls back to Juni as she asks a question from cover.
Jacqueline can't help but laugh a little, though, as Ming calls her a wicked woman.
"Would you have rather I'd done something worse? Struck you with a draught that'd rot you from the inside? Turn your blood into poison? I don't quite have the stomach for that kind of alchemy, so you'll have to take what you can get." Jacqueline replies.
She shakes her head, though, as Ming continues.
"I am a woman of business, yes. And that's how I can recognize a terrible deal with I see one. You've expanded, certainly, at the cost of letting them put a leash on you." She shakes her head. "You always have something to lose, always a risk to risk-reward - and sometimes, you don't recognize the most valuable ones until they've already been stolen away from you."
She shrugs, then.
"...Besides, sometimes growing too fast is bad for a business, anyway." She adds.
Once again, Ming fills the room with iron - but not directly. Jacqueline brings up a pillar of earth, using it as a shield to protect herself from the debris. Once the air is cleared she leaps out from behind her pillar, making a quick, downward motion with her right hand. She aims to capitalize on Riesenlied's use of lightning with her own, bringing a bolt of electricity right down onto Ming's weapon.
GS: Jacqueline Barber spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Lightning Strike! GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Lightning Strike for 144 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Charge!! You gain 40 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Course I do." Fei says. "If I didn't believe that, always, at least a little..." He shakes his head. "You wouldn't be seeing me right now, I guess. When I don't believe... it's him that shows up. If I don't believe, people get hurt and die. I have no choice but to believe with all my might no matter what the world throws at me or I'll just make things worse...! But you have a choice, Tabitha! And... we'll keep fighting until you believe us...or we make it so!"
He isn't sure why he imagines himself on some kind of fantastical space travel boat as he says those last free words and he ends up blushing a little from embarrassment, at least moderately weakening the effect of his words no doubt.
Gravity betrays Fei again. He's kind of used to it. He slams into the floor hard and groans.
Picking hismelf up slowly he spits blood to the side. "...You're pretty scary yourself all told."
And then he darts forward, leaping up at the last moment and trying to mario kick Tabitha's face two or three times. He'd go for four but he's pretty worried she's just going to grab his leg and do something terrible.
He wishes he thought about that before he started jumping.
GS: Fei Fong Wong spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Tabitha deVriese with Tenbu! GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo! GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action. GS: CRITICAL! Tabitha deVriese guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Tenbu for 133 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tabitha deVriese gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Poison applied to Tabitha deVriese!
<Pose Tracker> Ming of the Bronze Tigers has posed.
Jacqueline's retort earns her nothing but a venemous look from Ming on the topic of wicked draughts and their side effects; her composure it seems is rapidly crumbling under their collective verbal and physical retorts.
Indeed, when Jay continues, Ming shakes her head and retorts herself, her lips twisted in a grimace, "Freedom? Don't make me laugh. There is no such thing as 'freedom' down here! It's kill or be killed -- if not 'them', then it would be another! I would rather bow to them that gives me this much power!"
But does Solaris even make a good employer, as many of them have pointed out? "And you, you would profess otherwise?" speaks Ming to Noeline, as the latter gives voice to the intents and kindness of Solaris towards one of the surface. "I would rather keep to the devil I know."
Riesenlied keeps up the push on that front. 'Do you wish for a place in their city of the skies', Riesenlied asks of Ming. Not so much as a muscle twitches on the woman's face. But her body tells a different story. She tenses up -- visible most of all in her shoulders -- her hand tightening on her weapons.
What stories had they told Ming of Solaris? The truth? Something different, something less fantastical than a city in the sky?
Had any of them implied she could walk among them, if she did their bidding? Or was it always just about money, influence, power of the more terrestrial sort -- a tiny kingdom carved out on world below?
"Be quiet," Ming says to Riesenlied instead, cold as ice once again, her control reasserted over her body and self.
Cast aside, as she cast aside her own guards and bounty hunters? Perhaps it would be almost karmic--
Speaking of karma, lightning strikes from the heavens, or at least, at through the air. Ming's attempts to evade it go sour; it carves straight through her minigun with a whine of protest from the mechanisms within. Hissing an oath, the woman takes a moment to try to assess how bad the damage is precisely.
She doesn't get the chance. Not when Noeline, pressing the offensive, lunges at her, dropping in a dive towards Ming, it seems--
Or rather towards the large ARM she wields. The metal plating cracks, sliced neatly in half to fall upon the floor, but though there is smoke billowing forth from the exposed internals of the ARM... it is otherwise intact. Does it still work...!?
Margaret moves, perhaps also in the hope of ensuring they don't have to find out. There is a flicker of light, a smear of color...
And to Ming's impression, Everything Is Different. The world is an echo of what it was, a distortion of what it was, and she turns, as if trying to track Margaret.
She is not facing Margaret in the slightest.
"And you would rather wither away into nothing, country-girl? You would choose to be nothing?"
She is spun up, as neat as you please, and cast into the air. Briefly, she is afloat. Then reality reasserts itself, violently.
Ming, minigun in tow, meets her desk. It is rather half a desk when it's over, given the forces involved. For seemingly a long moment, there she lies--
And then slowly, Ming rises to her feet, hefting the minigun back up again with effort.
'Poor shot', Juni taunts her with.
"You rodent," Ming snarls, the jab cutting the more deeply for her current state. And that's when Juni riddles her with bullets, sending her staggering back under the onslaught.
There is a particular charge in the air. Ming glances upwards, just in time for lightning to strike at her ARM.
Twice.
Electrical charge rolls over the surface of her weapon. Ming stares at it a moment, as if in horror, before hurling it outwards at the lot of those fighting against her and ducks down behind the remains of her desk--
Where it explodes. Violently.
GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Hare in Flight! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers accepts Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Hare in Flight for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Blind, Disrupt, Drowsy, Jam, Poison, and Weaken removed! GS: Amplify applied to Ming of the Bronze Tigers! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers spends 1 Combo on Interrupt! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Riesenlied with Killing the Goose! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Noeline with Killing the Goose! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Killing the Goose! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Juni Vandrer with Killing the Goose! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has attacked Margaret with Killing the Goose! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers has completed her action. GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Jacqueline Barber guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Killing the Goose for 101 hit points! GS: Jacqueline Barber has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Catastrophic! Margaret critically guards Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Killing the Goose for 50 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Margaret gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Margaret has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Riesenlied guards a hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Killing the Goose for 114 hit points! GS: Riesenlied has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Noeline takes a solid hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Killing the Goose for 200 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Noeline gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Noeline enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Noeline has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
It's okay, Noeline, Riesenlied is technically also drinking Jacqueline's soporifics too when she needs them, they're prescription medicine! That makes it fine, right!
Their two powers combine once more; Riesenlied does have to wonder if she's hurting her by using her weapon as a lightning rod, but... well, the rings will tell her if she is. Until then--
Margaret attempts to scoop her up and dunk her into the desk?! Eeeh! What a powerful heat-action...
Riesenlied's attention is drawn back to Juni as she delivers more cover-fire; she's glad to have that back-up, given how much more exposed she is with her relative lack of mobility. She can't help but have a bit of pride in Jacqueline as she speaks of business, and thinks of how far she's come...
"The more you believe in a world of 'kill or be killed', the more you fulfill that prophecy!" Riesenlied expresses, a little heated up. "The more entrenched you become, the more you enable that system that pits us against each other...!"
Her words are cut short when Ming ends up hucking the electrically charged minigun at them and it explodes!!
When the smoke fades, there's a cracked shell of a light-barrier that she conjured up at the last moment; her vision wavers a bit afterwards. She's expending a lot of energy. She probably can't press the offensive much further, but... she doesn't have to.
"Just... a little more. Let this light reach everyone!" Riesenlied murmurs, as she gathers her palms on the Dragon's Tear, shining a vibrant sway of colourful emotions--
"Shine...!"
--and for just a brief few seconds, an enormous rainbow SHOOTS over the entire room; it basks those it covers in an invigorating light, the light of emotion and warmth and inner strength...
"This is our..."
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with Shine! Our Positive Rainbow!! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Shine! Our Positive Rainbow!! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Margaret with Shine! Our Positive Rainbow!! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Juni Vandrer with Shine! Our Positive Rainbow!! GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo! GS: Shield and Stagger expired! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied heals Jacqueline Barber! She gains 215 temporary hit points! GS: Jacqueline Barber activates Riesenlied's Reload!! GS: Riesenlied heals Margaret! She gains 215 temporary hit points! GS: Margaret activates Riesenlied's Reload!!
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.
Tabitha's busy attempt to pretty up a bit is foiled by Ethius not even remotely respecting that, and proceeds to smother her in dust. She emits a horrible squawk of surprise, driving some into her mouth. A blast of ether - half-conscious- disrupts the spell enough that she doesn't start to suffocate, but she IS left sputtering and pawing at her face to get the dust off, which of course does terrible things to her makeup.
Then Fei steps on her face five times.
He guesses correctly, on attempt number six she snaps her hand up and he can feel himself inerting as she pitches him into the air overhead. She looks up at him, feeling welts already forming on her beautiful features.
She spits out some more sand.
"...well. It hardly matters, anyway."
"I'm here to kill you, after all."
And then she's gone, disappearing in a whorl of space.
And she appears a few meters behind Ethius...and low? Low, crouched, and leveling her arm up like she were going to fire again from it. But there's no barrel...
...is what you think, before one materializes on the end of her stump, an ether cannon barrel the size of a barrel attaching to the end of her arm. It buzzes, terrifyingly; it screams, spectacularly.
"Now since I have to go wash up, could you kindly wash out!"
A horrifying, deep red light forms in the depths of the darkened cannon, and then ERUPTS from it, a screaming, crimson red and royal purple inferno of concentrated SOMETHING that blasts into Ethius, blasts into Fei, who is for the moment floating behind him; blasts into the roof; blasts through the roof.
Blasts into the cave ceiling.
Glasses a good 30-meter tunnel into it before finally burning out, leaving molten rock dripping down from above.
The barrel detatches and falls to the floor with a BANG.
GS: ROU|LET|TE: Moderate! Juni Vandrer takes a solid hit from Ming of the Bronze Tigers's Killing the Goose for 166 hit points! GS: Juni Vandrer has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: Riesenlied heals Noeline! She gains 215 temporary hit points! GS: Noeline activates Riesenlied's Reload!! GS: Riesenlied heals Juni Vandrer! She gains 215 temporary hit points! GS: Juni Vandrer activates Riesenlied's Reload!! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Thermionic Buster! GS: Tabitha deVriese has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Thermionic Buster! GS: Tabitha deVriese has gained 1 Combo! GS: Tabitha deVriese takes 24 damage from Poison! GS: Mighty expired! GS: Tabitha deVriese has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
After hurling Ming down, Margaret's chest heaves with pain and unwonted fatigue. "Yes," she tells Ming. "I'd rather be gone entirely than to be something false by someone else's decision. If I'm going to put on a face for this dirty world, it will be on my terms!!" This may not be quite what Ming is going for, but she has almost certainly dealt with passionate fistfights of SOME kind --
And she has other things on her mind.
She does not flinch at the lightning, though the thunder makes her ears flatten against the side of her head. Beforethey can really relax, Ming stares at her gun and throws it downwards. Margaret's expression shifts to one of consternation before she takes a step back, another to the left, raises up her weapon and
B A N G
The fragments rip around Margaret... but not through her. Why is that?
BECAUSE... Margaret's innate elements of magic are Darkness... AND LIGHTNING. If one was watching with the right eyes, a brief distortion of electromagnetic sorcery would have rippled out from Margaret's heart, pushing most of the fragments slightly out of their common course and sending most of the remainder either past her hair (the oxhorns are now shredded) or her lower legs (which are wearing heavy custom boots).
Margaret opens one eye and takes stock of all her body parts, before that one eye turns towards Ming. She breathes once, before Riesenlied speaks, and a shimmering rainbow rises in this smoke-filled, chaotic office that had once held the heart of a criminal empire and now does not hold that, probably. The light is warm. Soothing. Calming...
Not quite calming.
"Well, well, WELL," Margaret says to Ming as she lowers her arms. Her lips curl back, not in a grimace, but in a grin. "Look at YOU there. You and your meat grinder, separated at last. I'm moved, really, for your loss. Perhaps you could..."
And here Margaret chooses the path of monologuing. She leans forwards slightly, tilting her head as her eyebrows lift with the air of one who is rubbing it in: "Call for your men? Oh, that's right; I had thought you had no USE for them any more. Wouldn't it be WONDERFUL if they were HERE, right now? Perhaps? To rescue you? From your unfortunate fate?"
Margaret starts wrapping chain around her right hand. "But I'm sure you'd not go back on your word. They're useless to you now... what was it you said? You'd have to kill them yourself? Ho ho ho! You know what, I'm just a simple country girl but I love races. Let's play a game. If you can beat me to - let's see - the Adventurer's Guild? They have a branch here in Guild Galad, yes? Then you'll be all safe, ollie oxen free. I'll even give you a head start. You have til I finish this spell to START RUNNING."
Margaret looks towards the other few with her - "That's fair, isn't it?" Back to Ming as light begins to shimmer and rise around her in a loose circle. "Starlight.... Exp"
This is the point when Tabitha fires the gun behind her. Margaret finishes the spell on reflex but her FIRST action is to look over her shoulder with her mouth hanging open at WHATEVER THE FUDGE THAT WAS.
GS: Margaret has attacked Margaret with Starlight Express! GS: Margaret has completed her action. GS: Margaret accepts Margaret's Starlight Express for 0 hit points! GS: Burst, Hyper, and Quick applied to Margaret! GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from Tabitha deVriese's Thermionic Buster for 115 hit points! GS: Fei Fong Wong activates Guard bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is sort of a sorceror, that's for sure. She just happens to be one that totes around a gigantic sword, which she freely stabs into other machinery of destruction. As Riesenlied's strike descends upon the focus she's set up, she jolts backwards more out of personal safety than getting out of Margaret's way, but the end result is very much the same.
"Ah," she notes almost lightly to Ming's retort, as if that explained everything. "Perhaps we've just got to have our differences, then. If you offer me a choice between the devil I know and the devil I don't, I'll take the latter every time. At least that way, I can't ever say for sure what might happen. Especially when the devil I do know is Solaris."
"You've already lost," she adds with a shake of her head. "They won't care whether you win here. They'll only care that we - and others - found our way to you, and that will be enough for them to cut you off completely, at their whim. There's no--"
She swears louder than 'under her breath' this time, because Ming has just interrupted her by flinging the remnants of her gun in their faces, and there's a low keening whine that builds in intensity far too quickly. She flings out a hand, and improbably the gigantic sword she's been wielding seems to melt into the floor, stretch out in her direction, and suddenly snap back into her hand, just in time for her to try to block the brunt of the explosion.
It's still much too slow, though, and she's sent reeling backwards, her vision murky and her ears filled with a dull whining roar. She grimaces, trying to shake it off - and then sags in relief as she feels Riesenlied's wave of empathic power wash over her and clear her senses.
Having been momentarily blinded, she missed the bulk of whatever happened behind her save that it was something cacophonous, and with Ming without a weapon, she feels free to let Margaret handle things more directly. What concerns her most is the flagging she can feel from Riesenlied, and part of her wonders for a moment if it's simply time to get out of dodge. Besides, she could use a moment to gather her senses herself.
Part of her almost opens her mouth to say 'that's enough' to Margaret as she crows over Ming - but caution and fatigue keep her back, and she rests a hand on Riesenlied's shoulder instead, perhaps to steady both of them.
GS: Noeline spends 1 Combo on Reload! GS: Noeline has attacked Riesenlied with When I'm With You...! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied accepts Noeline's When I'm With You... for 0 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Riesenlied! GS: Riesenlied activates Noeline's Reload!!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"WUGH!" is what Fei says when he's blasted into the wall. He doesn't entirely recognize the element of the attack so Fei can't manipulate its ether--not at this level of awakening and focus--and he slams hard into the ceiling, then tumbles down, hitting the floor and barely breaking his fall with his hands. He can barely move now.
"Kill me...? Hah, you're not here to kill me."
Fei stands himself up and says, "Best you can do is stall..." He stumbles forward, brokenly. "But I'm... not going to blame you... for that. You can change. It's on you. I'm... so tired... of this... Nothing ever changes. I just...want things to be a little different."
He darts forward, flame crackling around his fist.
And then instead he places his hand on Tabitha's shoulder, the flames dispelling. "Don't you...?"
And with that, he falls over--passing out right then and there.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
...Jacqueline briefly wonders if she should feel bad for feeling a bit pleased at the venomous look Ming shoots her - that sign of her deteriorating composure. Ming talks about 'kill or be killed', then, and Jacqueline shakes her head. She smiles, though, at Riesenlied's rebuttal to that statement, feeling some pride of her own in her.
"What she said. You're just locking yourself into that vicious cycle with that line of thinking." Jacqueline replies. "'That's just the way things are', or, 'it can't be helped'... once you say that, once you start believing it, it's over. That's it."
She shrugs, but it's as she's about to continue that she notes the electrical charge building up in Ming's weapon - which is then hurled in their midst. Alarmed, Jacqueline raises another pillar to protect herself as the weapon explodes.
When the smoke clears the pillar is toppled over, with Jacqueline buried underneath it. Coughing, she hauls herself out of the rubble, shaking some stray debris out of her hair.
"Is everyone alright...?" Jacqueline asks, looking around. But then, a rainbow washes over the room. Jacqueline shuts her eyes, soaking in the light it gives off. Emotion, warmth, inner strength... she takes all of these in, and lets them empower her before opening her eyes again, focusing on Ming. Her biggest weapon - that she knows of - is gone, but she knows she still has a revolver on her.
Even so, she steps forward.
"If you want a better life, there are better ways to go about it. Has working with Solaris, gaining their power, really brought you any good?" She asks, shaking her head. "Look around you at what it's gotten you. Your hideout is wrecked. Your own underlings don't even want to work for you. You're alone now, Ming. Everything's starting to crumble around you. By my reasoning... Solaris sent you after us because either you'd solve their problem, or they'd lose a piece they didn't much care for. Either way, they win - and after this, I'm not much sure they'll keep you around much longer."
Jacqueline shakes her head and folds her arms in front of her.
"...Let's end this now, why don't we? And think of a better solution." She says. "No one needs to die. That's my way of doing things, and honestly... it's done pretty well for me so far. If you want to keep fighting, so be it, but... I don't think you're going to like where it goes."
...It's at that point that Tabitha fires off a beam that tears a hole in the ceiling and the sheer power of it causes Jacqueline to stumble a little, throwing her off her game a little and causing her to glance in that direction.
GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer is blown off her feet. There's not a lot of weight to her even counting armor, gear bag and insistence on annoying people with the strength to one-hand a minigun. Which is whhy when she lands with a thud and rolls, ending with her laying on her back, she begins laughing. She's not dead yet and while it hurts, she saw that frustration and she's going to dig in. She begins laughing as she pushes herself up. Ignoring more open injuries for the time being. She climbs back to her feet, working her fingers in both hands. The shotgun is gathered from where it landed, about as bad off for wear as it was prior, being a crudely modified old school pump action. A single shell is chambered and she takes aim with one hand, aiming down the length of her arm. Which, honestly hurts like hell. She'd kill to have full armor back with it's built in- focus.
When it begins to hurt enough and she shifts stances and resumes a painful, albeit somewhat stable grip on the arm. Advancing on the desk, she says, "Hands up, I think we're done here." Though, with some thought and the realization that pride, a bit of narcisism and the mistaken belief that some or all of them might be dead gets the better of her and she holds up what looks like an improvised... something made from a bottle. She holds up three fingers. Counts one down, then pulls the strip on top to light a fuze. Which promptly gets thrown over the barricade. "Grab her. We'll go alive if we have to kill her to do it." before dashing in behind the concussive blast. A crudely made flashbang! A small one to be fair. She had limited resources. Luckily this means no one else... uh, should, be affected. Also, she's not worried about catching her breathe, something about the rainbow did wonders for her. Even if everything hurts.
GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Ming of the Bronze Tigers with Riot Act! GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo! GS: Hyper and Shieldbreak expired! GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action. GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers takes a glancing hit from Juni Vandrer's Riot Act for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ming of the Bronze Tigers gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Entangle, Shieldbreak, and Weaken applied to Ming of the Bronze Tigers! GS: Ming of the Bronze Tigers activates Evade bonus! GS: Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Tabitha deVriese's Thermionic Buster for 117 hit points! GS: Ethius Hesiod enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Ming of the Bronze Tigers has posed.
"Already lost? Be silent, girl, all I need to do is present them with your corpses, and that will resolve everything," Ming snarls. Her composure is fractured; if she had been icy before, now she's half-melted under the sun from the one-two combo of their arguments both verbally and physically.
"What should I care for any of you--" is Ming's response to Riesenlied, as she hurls her ARM for the lot of them, the very definition of a last-resort weapon.
When the smoke fades and the violence ceases, they're all still standing, though.
And here Ming is, with a single sidearm to call her own. She stands slowly, her grip on the revolver a tight one as she surveys the aftermath.
Jacqueline, amidst the destruction and smoke, steps forward. Indeed, just as she suggests, Ming takes a look at the remains of her office, her eyes narrowing for just a moment. Slowly, she takes a deep breath. "Be... quiet," she utters again, shaking her head. The fact that one of her feet slides back a half-step, as if she were debating similarly pulling out of this business here perhaps speaks volumes about her current situation. But whether it's pragmatism or pride, Ming still lifts the ARM before herself, leveling it at Jacqueline.
Hands up, Juni says, and hurls a flashbang at her. Dodging to her right and lifting an arm, she's able to -- just -- keep from being completely blinded by its detonation. ...Though from the way she blinks, it seems a fair guess that she's at least halfway so incapacitated. She did not manage to dodge soon enough, as it were.
Into this already dire situation, Margaret intrudes. Ming glances the once towards Tabitha, who is busily fighting her own war and her attention soon returning to Margaret who has made plain the obvious: Ming is here on her own, by her own decisions. She hadn't cared a whit for her guards up front, and now she has no one and nothing to fall back on but a single revolver.
"That's... silence, you--!"
Margaret, though, says she'll cut her a deal. If she can beat her to the Adventurer's Guild here, then she's free. Ming hesitates for a few critical moments as power flows around Margaret. Just the once, she glances down at her revolver, then over at Tabitha. Then back at Margaret and the rest of them.
Then, jamming the ARM into its holster, she turns and runs for the nearby (heavily damaged, with the lintel hanging loose) door to her right.
The fact that a mere second after she turns a laser screams up through the rock overhead for the distant heavens just might suggest that this impulse is a good one.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius has to contend with something exploding a ways away from him and being on the wrong side to be covered by it - managing in so much that none of the shrapnel pierces him but makes a hell of a mess of his would-be cover.
'It hardly matters,' the one Fei and himself are fighting says as they're here to kill the both of them - and makes a polite request as Ethius brings his forearm in front of him and slurs together those syllables for his shielding spell as the beam discharges - he 'only' manages to face the right way in the nick of time. Electrical lights and sounds thunder and blind from every 'contact' of that blast, and even that seems barely enough to keep him upright (...kind of, he's lying on a torn-up couch) as that SOMETHING hurls him up and over against that couch. He can't see Tabitha directly with all the sensory overload and also it is scorching hot.
Fei wants for something a little different, heartfelt, as his desire for change overwhelms someone who is just tired of all this... where Ethius, somewhere in there...
Smoke rises from him where hard-earned physical and emotional discipline moves past how much hurt he is in (yes) to take that staff in both hands and try to stab that point with a timing that shows at least a modicum of care and concern for how Fei loses his desire to keep going.
"Far Point!" Calls the name of the technique as he lunges with the tip of that weapon towards somewhere sensitive about Tabitha's arm if it lands, as he trends towards something more conversational in all of this.
Molten rock drips around his extended arm.
"I must decline." The word choice and tone are dispassionately polite.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action! GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action! GS: Ethius Hesiod spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Tabitha deVriese with Far Point! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 2 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: CRITICAL! Tabitha deVriese takes a solid hit from Ethius Hesiod's Far Point for 145 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tabitha deVriese gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Jam applied to Tabitha deVriese! GS: Tabitha deVriese has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Some part of Riesenlied isn't pleased with how it turned out; not, perhaps, that Ming ended up running away, but how it's a reminder of how this entire mess -- the mess that's gotten them into several fights was... all for money. And who could blame them? They've ended up in a world where money ends up talking over everything else... because they made money the sustaining lifeblood for people.
It's as Jacqueline says -- the more you buy into it, the more it becomes a vicious cycle...
Tabitha's cannon ends up firing a horrible red light, and it's with wide-eyes that she stares for a moment; but she exclaims, "F-Fei!" when she notices that he's down, rolling her chair to his side to immediately assist with healing.
It's Margaret that has the final words for Ming -- she doesn't really know the wisdom of that, but Margaret has more of a criminal's heart in her mind... perhaps it's best that she handle this.
She nods quietly to Noeline as she finds her hand on her shoulder, and she nods to Juni as well, looking to the others. "Thank you for protecting me... I really was not sure how I ended up here from Spira...! I was going to make you chocolates for taking care of this, but..."
She stares at the upturned chocolate bowl. "... at least the sundaes survived."
That's your priority right now, Riesenlied?!
<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.
She...can't even hurt him, can she. Or at least...not as she is, not with all this.
After all she's been through, he tears it apart like the threads of a dream. She watches Fei surge past the assault of her blast, as her spirit sags from the strain of powering the extreme Ether charge of the cannon. She braces for what he's bringing, but in the end...he only sags, helplessly, to the ground.
She watches him, an unreadable expression on her face.
Let it never be said Ethius Hesiod won't seize an opportunity; the spear drives into her, tearing up her human arm and forcing a scream from her throat. Bright red blood stains the walls. She grits her teeth, flying back until her weight suddenly grows, planting her firmly and grinding her to a stop.
She looks over to where Ming has gone.
"Useless like always," she mutters. "Well. At least one of you knows how to respect a girl who's taken the time to dress pretty." She looks up to Ethius, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "To an extent."
She rises upright, falteringly, and huffs a sigh. "Father won't be pleased with this one," she mutters, and then space ripples behind her; she leaps into the rift, and is gone.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Ming levels her revolver at Jacqueline... and Jacqueline doesn't flinch. Doesn't move to retaliate - she stares her down, not moving from where she stands. She only moves when Juni's blinding flashbang goes off to brace herself for it, but soon enough returns to her previous stature.
And Ming... decides to run. Jacqueline turns to watch her, but she doesn't chase after her. Instead, she sighs and massages her forehead. With Tabitha taking the opportunity to escape, they're probably safe... for now, anyway.
"...I should probably still keep a few tabs on Ming. I still have her ledgers... If she decides to start making moves again, I'll be ready." She says, shaking her head. She looks toward Riesenlied, then, offering her a smile. "I was surprised when I saw you show up in that get-up. I should be thanking you, though - you were a real big help."
She looks down toward the upturned chocolate bowl, the true victim of all of this. She nods her head sadly.
...What will happen from here, though? Have they seen the last of Ming? Maybe she'll take this opportunity to turn over a new leaf... at least, that's what Jacqueline hopes.
Not that she actually expects it.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer watches Ming flee the area. By the time she gets the wherewithal to to level her shotgun, she remembers the gun is empty. Which is fine because more things are exploding and she's completely done with it. There's a long series of angry noises that would strip paint off walls if words like that had power. She works her fingers a few more times as she slings the shotgun and calls out to Jay, "Yo, you still alive?" before limping her way over. About when the laser cuts a hole in the roof. She carefully unslings her shotgun and loads shells in. She's definitely done and if it weren't for the whole, people seem really against it here- she shakes her head. She's hurt, that's annoyance talking. Ignore the voice that insists it's pragmatism.
Everyone else doesn't... you know, keep up the fight though, so the shotgun goes away. Only then does she begin to relax. Slumping her shoulders and fishing through her bag. She takes a pull from her canteen, offering it to Jay as she stands there. Then realizes she should probably take care of another problem and begins to remove what look like scratch made bandages. Getting to work on the worst cases and offering up simply, "Not a medic, but if you need help shout." Noting particularly that Fei's down and... being healed by magic. Which gets her to very carefully tuck the crude bandages away.
Once more to Jay she says simply, "You can't save everyone. It's nice to see someone try though."
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.
Margaret has completely forgotten about Ming in the light of that shocking blast.
She wonders if this entire cavern city is going to collapse on them. She sinks into a crouch. Thoughts come unbidden to her. Vague plans that she can't draw out. Plans that are an escape, perhaps carrying--
Something Tabitha says makes Margaret sputter, "You're talking like you're the underperformer!??!" a moment before she disappears.
Margaret looks towards Jay, towards Juni, towards Riesenlied and Noeline, as she points up at the slowly cooling tunnel. "She shot that hole all the way to the buggering surface!!"
* Margaret did not pay upkeep on Starlight Express.
* Starlight Express expired.
But battle has ended, and as she slowly relaxes, Margaret breathes out. This is the point where the Hounds with instruments sidle back into frame. There is an exchange of looks from one to another as Margaret brushes dust off of her shoddy suit jacket.
"... Well; that's that. Perhaps I and my, uh, band, should secure the treasure rooms, Barber, if you happen to know where they are," Margaret says to Jacqueline diffidently.