2021-12-11: In the Mist
- Log: In the Mist
- Cast: Loren Voss, Seraphita, Lydia Seren, Gwen Whitlock, Lily Keil, Elhaym van Houten, Tidus, Xantia, Lan Lilac, Ida Everstead-Rey, Layna Manydays, Pearl
- Where: Lake Macalania
- Date: December 11, 2021
- Summary: Solaris has noticed the intrusion into their territory and responds accordingly. Fortunately for those who had ventured in, they are not without their own defenses against Solaris' Gears... and even have support (planned or not!) of their own waiting in the wings. A clash ensues in Lake Macalania.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It had started with the best of intentions. Solaris' presence within the Lake Macalania region has been enigmatic, particularly given the fact that they haven't used it as a point to advance to other areas in Spira -- or even on Lunar proper -- and that they have largely kept to the area they've claimed. However, for those who know a few facts about Lake Macalania, and the temple within it (and the shrine beneath the lake) it might not be difficult to guess at least one reason for their apparent inaction:
They're trying to access or otherwise do something with the Fayth, and so far, have not been successful.
But the past does not predict the future as a matter of course, and so some had decided to venture inwards to see what they could discover.
Unfortunately for them, uncooperative weather conditions had led them right into the main encampment, where they where then set upon by the Earth Element Dominia. It was a fight that the Earth Element had decisively won.
And then she had been joined by Loren's Gear, perhaps negating whatever slim advantage Ida's Gear might have provided them. No doubt, this will not be the only defense the outpost at Macalania will have to offer.
It's looking fairly grim for the expeditionary team: Dominia has requested that they surrender. If they do not, she had implied, she will finish them off here.
But, is it not said, 'you'll never be alone, no matter where you go'?
Sometimes a little well-timed aid might come from an unexpected (or entirely expected?) direction.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Loren's Schiehallion may have been the first Solarian Gear to descend into the encampment, but it's not the only one. Though, this one's not entirely white, having red wings and part of its head - a mane, really. Nor does it stand on two legs...
"Hey hey, the gang's here~" Seraphita's voice is surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) cheerful, given the situation: attackers at the Macalania encampment, having already blasted at least one of the buildings, some with Gears. "Except not the WHOLE gang, since Tolone and Kelvena aren't here... Don't worry, Dominia! We can take it from here, if Bladegash isn't ready!" Even if it was, it's not like it's *here*, where Dominia is.
Grandgrowl, the quadrupedal gear that looks like nothing so much like a great winged lion, all white and silver except for the red mane, wings and bands on its tail, and a gold plate on its forehead, touches down. Its wingbeats blow snow every which way as it does, but Seraphita, snug and warm in her Gear, doesn't pay it any mind. It doesn't interfere with visibility for *too* long.
She turns her attention to the attackers... Drifters? She recognizes a few. She's even friends with a couple, or thinks she is. At least one more she recognizes as a threat. "What are you even DOING here?" she asks, suddenly. "I figured if anyone attacked here it would be those stuffy old Yevonites, or a bunch of Fiends, and you're not fiendish OR stuffy! But it was a mistake to attack Lake Mako...mako..."
Seraphita trails off, because she is 100% sure it is not called Lake Makomako but the actual name eludes her, and now she wants makomako juice. "The camp! You shouldn't have. Because now we're here to protect it!"
Grandgrowl straightens up - and then roars, an aggressive action even if it doesn't do anything beyond that. It's *loud*, echoing off the distant hills.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia Seren was standing right on top of the Grandgrowl (mostly because she doedsn't have a giant robot and wanted to conserve energy). Just sort of sitting on hte shoulder. "Thanks for the lift." Lydia tells Seraphita sheepishly, hopping down to the floor even as the Grandgrowl, uh, growls. Grandly.
She stretches her arms from side to side, sighing. "Having to fight my friends again."
There is a pulse from within her.
"...Okay OS. You're up."
Silver fluid pulses out of Lydia's eyes and ears and from between her fingernails. It rapidly crawls around Lydia's body, her closing her eyes tightly in the last moment and then snapping her eyes back open, shimmering with a faint green glow--likely Lydia's original eye color.
But it isn't OS's voice that speaks from within. Rather, it's some sort of seeming synthesis of voices--Lydia's and OS's speaking simultaneously.
"Alright. Guess we all gotta do what we gotta. Try not to die or nothin' cause I'll feel real bad about that."
"Caution Level Amber activated."
DC: Lydia Seren switches forms to Project Baphomet Caution Level Amber! DC: Pearl switches forms to Six Seas Style Martial Artist Pearl! DC: Pearl switches forms to Aeon Leviathan!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen was supposed to join Lan, but got sidelined by a delivery that needed to be done. It'd only take a bit, she'd said.
Then there was a deal where the fruit shipment got a little bruised in the process of shipping, and say what you will about Lunar, they are *extremely* picky about the qualify of their produce compared to Filgaia. While there's definitely places that can be picky on Filgaia, many areas are so infertile people are happy to get whatever they can nab. Unless it's something of the cactus variety.
That's a whole different ball game and if Gwen goes into it she'll be here for days.
She'd catch up, she told Lan.
"Don't worry, Lan, the cavalry's here!"
It's the Halcyone, well-known among the Gears for being the mightiest, fastest, most durable vehicle around! Just the sort of gear one would want to rescue them, as long as it's followed (or preceeded) by others.
Because it's pretty average as a combat vessel.
"... Man.... Makomako... that sounds like a delicious fruit..."
The Halcyone descends and lands nearby Lan and Ida, Gwen's voice sounding off over the exterior loudspeakers. "Sorry, I got fruit on the mind Sorry I'm late! What did I miss? I take it Solaris is bein'... well, Solaris?"
Hearing Lydia's voice, compared with OS's, Gwen quips cheerily, "We'll be fine! It won't be the first time."
Still, Gwen keeps by Lan and Ida, her focus on the Grandgrowl. "... I remember you, alright," the courier says to herself after she depresses the com button, frowning. "Element or no, you might be the best face t'help me here. Even if you might not realize it."
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily crouches in the snow at one knee, narrowed eyes focused on Dominia as she makes that 'offer'. The battering of Earth ether has done a lot to batter her armor, and more; there's a bit of blood running from her temple from a particularly timely hit, regardless of being 'good' as she put it.
Dominia won't hesitate. Before Lily has the chance to do something rash, though, Seraphita shows up all of a sudden in her Gear, which gives her--well, it gives her a distraction long enough to reach up into her sleeve and depress a beacon. She'd made the call when the fight started for backup, which means that certain someones might be here by now... and this should help them hone in on their location.
Her eyes cast to Lydia, on the ground--and OS?--and then to Loren's Gear. If they have backup coming, they'll need to be able to get here without being fired on before they can set up...
There is a pulse of Ether, as Lily pulls a crystal and grips it so hard that it starts to crack under her palm, digging into her skin in the cold with a welling of further blood yet. All of its Ether explodes out at once, and Lily draws on the Ice enchantment that Macalania's Fayth brings to bear, throwing forward her other hand.
"VOSS!"
A Gear-scale spear of ice erupts into being from over her shoulder, piecing itself together out of ice that coalesces in the moment--and then she hurls it forward, straight for the Gear, the projectile screaming through the air as Lily hurls herself to the side towards cover.
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Loren Voss with The Grief of the Snake! GS: Lily Keil has gained 1 Combo! GS: Lily Keil has entered Hero Stance! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
DC: Pearl switches forms to Six Seas Style Martial Artist Pearl!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly van Houten, despite everything, was not eager to join on an active recon of a Solaris facility. Perhaps she fears the marginal risk of capture. Maybe she just doesn't want to have to kill more people who she might have known.
People like, say, Loren Voss.
And yet she was nearby - just in case - and the case has come. Never mind the snowy vale through which a brook runs, from which a line had been cast from the cockpit hatch of a Gear, laying upon its belly and propped up on its elbows. That's over now.
What is here:
All of a sudden, like a gale-force wind, Regulus arrives; it did not have much heralding. The great and curiously *organically smooth* machine does not speak aloud or transmit audibly, instead vectoring through towards the stone trap which is currently pinning one of the friendly Gears in place.
A mace is swung outwards - a ripple of Earth-polarity Ether - and the refractory stone starts to chip and shatter. Smash! Crack! "Seraphita," Elly transmits out, "What -- I suppose that's a stupid question, but why are *you* here! And Dominia..."
Lily is crying out for -- Oh no, Elly thinks. Loren's here too. And something's leaping off of Grandgrowl. Is Seraphita -- a camera-view pane expands, zooming in. "Lydia! Don't --" But Elly's thunder is ended when Lydia lands and seems, well, more or less unharmed. Not a shock, perhaps, but:
"What...?"
GS: Loren Voss partially guards Lily Keil's The Grief of the Snake for 166 hit points! GS: Mute applied to Loren Voss! GS: Loren Voss activates Arcane Font!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
It takes but an instant for Dominia to knock them all down. Maybe Solaris will give her a victory garland for her efforts. For right now, Tidus grits his teeth as the Earth Element demands everyone's surrender. He can't stand the idea of standing down, but she beat them all with barely any effort at all--and behind her, reinforcements are arriving, not just on foot but in Gears too. He has promises he still needs to fulfill, and he can't do that if he's dead. Does he have no choice but to raise the white flag for now?
But then their *own* reinforcements arrive. Gwen in the Halcyone, Elly in the Regulus--and Lily uses that opportunity to summon just a HUGE-ASS ice spear and hurl it at Loren's Gear. Tidus's resolve hardens, and he draws his sword. "Like hell we're giving up now!" he calls to the Solarian forces. "You're the ones who've barged in where you don't belong!"
Lydia leaps down, ready for combat. Tidus might not be willing to give up, but he also gets that all a Gear would need to do to beat him is step on him, so he focuses on her. "Hey, anytime *you* wanna run off is fine by me too," he tells her, before running in and slashing a basic attack at her. "Hyah!"
GS: Tidus has attacked Lydia Seren with Hit X to Attack! GS: Tidus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Those who went to investigate the situation at Lake Macalania directly were not the only ones to go there. All Lily had to do was mention something that involves Solaris and of course Xantia wanted to come. And yet, it was her own suggestion to not be a part of the advance team, offering to be backup if something went wrong. She didn't elaborate, but she probably didn't need to - it's no secret that she worries about losing control of herself where it comes to Solaris. That wouldn't be particularly helpful when trying to be stealthy.
And well, let's be honest. Xantia and stealth? Not the best combination to begin with. Better to come out swinging if there's swinging to be done.
When the signal to take action comes through, Silvestris is primed and ready, the skeletal quadruped leaping into action straight away. Excelling in speed and sabotage, Xantia's Gear is well-suited as a means to quickly dart in and stall any solo advance units she may come across by disabling critical systems or draining their energy, hopefully buying some time to deal with whatever Situation may have come up without too many reinforcements causing further problems.
The second phase begins when Lily activates her beacon, prompting Silvestis to immediately break off its activities and head straight there. It's not long at all before a glint in the distance herald its arrival, bridging the distance in no time flat and seeking to just barrel directly into the Gear menacing Lily with a mighty pounce.
"I'm here!" she announces herself cheerfully. Then she notices Grandgrowl, causing her some private dismay, clutching the controls tightly. "Oh no, why is Sera here?" she wonders aloud, for once remembering not to broadcast to the outside. Not just somebody she'd prefer not to fight to begin with, now she's afraid that what happened last time will happen again. ...Whatever that was, since she can't entirely remember what did happen. Suffering more lapses in memory is what she fears most of all.
Not only that, zooming in on the machine's shoulder... "Oh no, why is Lydia here??" Is everyone in Solaris that she doesn't want to fight going to show up? She half expects Azoth to be on Grandgrowl's other shoulder, but phew, nothing over there.
Well, if she didn't already barrel into the Schiehallion, this definitely helps to decide where she's going to going be putting her focus. Doubly so since she heard Lily shout the name of the pilot. Loren Voss, is it? Yeah okay, she won't mind so much if she loses control fighting him. She remembers the time she nearly got burned to death.
"Hey, you! No cheating with fancy shields or anything! Fight fair this time!"
DC: Xantia switches forms to Hollow Gear Silvestris!
GS: Xantia has attacked Loren Voss with Dynamic Charge! GS: Xantia has entered Stoic Stance! GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Lan can see at a glanc why Dominia was chosen to be an Element. Like Seraphita, her chosen element seems to come as naturally to her as breathing. When she compares the totally normal way the ground responds to Loren to how it seems eager to play at the Element's beck and call...
They're in completely different classes.
And as if that wasn't totally rude enough, she's a skilled and powerful swordswoman too. Lan's barely got time to react, arms still raised from summoning when the Earth Element is upon her. "!!"
I know you, Dominia tells Lan, the handle of her sword slamming into the shaman's abdomen. Your face, that is. Lan isn't quick enough to get her arms in position and the blow knocks her off her feet, sending her sailing backwards.
Reorienting herself in midair, catches herself on her hands, somersaulting twice to bleed off some of her momentum (and to get the hell away from an operative that absolutely would drag Lan back to Leah Sadalbari... or worse, Taphas Parth). "Ow! Ow ow ow...!"
Things go from bad to worse when a familiar white support unit and an unfamiliar... liony thing... arrive. She and Loren have made a new, fragile peace, but Lan doesn't want to test it like this. Not so soon. Not when she's unsure.
But the voice of another friend echoes from the loudspeakers on the lion Gear. "It's Macalaniaaaa!" Lan calls up to Seraphita. And now Lydia... and OS.
This is going to get really ugly. The ink in her veins bubbles--
Gwen's timing has never been better, fruit or no fruit. "Heeeeeeeey!" she waves up at Halcyone, something like a relieved laugh escaping her. "You made it!" She can do this. She can do this, she doesn't need to use that.
Because Lan is a shaman, magical as hell! And she's been working really hard on this!
She opens the flap of her bag, and reaches in to open something else. A cloud of sparkling, sparking crystals swarms out, surrounding the blonde in a halo of shining quartz points.
The space cadet brought her own asteroid field.
Lan kicks off of the ground, the antigravity magic of her ribbon and her patron Guardian echoing through the constellation surrounding her, and floats up to Grandgrowl's face. "Hi Seraphita! Thanks again for lending me your hat!" The crystals flare around her, flooding the Gear's cameras with dazzling light.
DC: Lan Lilac switches forms to Crystal Castle!
GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Seraphita with Ever Snow! GS: Lan Lilac has gained 1 Combo! GS: Lan Lilac has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
'You are outnumbered and overwhelmed. Lay down your weapons and surrender. If you do not, I will not hesitate.'
Dominia's words echo in Ida's ears, underscored by the hammering of her own heart. The Dust Dragoon--the recon squad's primary Gear backup, not counting Leviathan--stands in the hangar, transfixed by Etheric earthen spines. They've snaked through the Gear's joints, locking them in place; Ida doesn't dare move for fear of breaking them, and ripping open her machine's limbs in the process. Of course it's not a risk Professor Bleeding Heart would be willing to take, would it?
Ida weighs her options as Grandgrowl and Schiehallion rush in. She could try and break out through the rear hatch, or try and get Lily to break her loose, or something, anything that isn't just sitting here and waiting for Solaris to take her prisoner, as easily as plucking an apple from a branch. What was that Ragnell said? The stupidest idea she'd ever heard--
A friendly signature is suddenly there, already tagged and sorted. El-Regulus. Ida dares to have hope again. Dominia's Etheric prison cracks and crumbles against Elly's Omnigear's power, sloughing off the Dragoon's frame in a shower of rocky shards. Dust coats the hangar floor, disintegrating even further into esoteric particles.
And then she's free. Severed from the Spinal uplink, Ida can't nod in thanks, but she does more: "Oh thank God," she breathes, over tightband, to the reinforcing Gears. "Thank you."
There's a hint of steel in Ida's voice as she speaks again, this time over a more open comm. "Moving to suppress enemy Gear." The Three-Dragon Cannon--a massive gun, all salvaged Hyadean technology--slides over the Dragoon's shoulder and drops into its hands. It settles into a firing stance, the cannon drawn up to its shoulder like a rifle. Electricity surges through the gun, and a moment later, a CRACK echoes through the hangar as a railgun slug flies right at Grandgrowl's midsection.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Seraphita with Tactical Approach! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has entered Sage Stance! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Loren Voss solidly guards Xantia's Dynamic Charge for 91 hit points! GS: Mighty applied to Xantia! GS: Seraphita suffers a terrible blow from Lan Lilac's Ever Snow for 191 hit points! GS: Blind and Delay applied to Seraphita! GS: Seraphita takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Tactical Approach for 93 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraphita gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
At present, Layna finds herself in a predicament. They're wounded and pinned in - the situation's turned against them enough that she can't even manage to crack a sassy remark, which is a telling sign. On the ground, Dominia and Lydia - or OS, or both? Layna can't tell - face them, and Loren and Seraphita in Gears.
Now, Layna isn't really the type to surrender. But while she might be crazy enough to stand her ground and fight to the death, the others might feel differently. She doesn't want to drag them into it if she can help it, so she just has to find the right opportunity to create an opening for the rest of them to escape.
Fortunately, an opening soon comes... but not in a manner she expects. Halcyone screams onto the scenes, soon followed by Silvestris which is exactly the distraction Layna needs. She quickly reaches into her coat.
"Thanks for the assist!" Layna calls out to Gwen and Xantia and draws from her coat... a flare gun. The device is pointed into the air and fired, the flare erupting into sparks in the shape of a skull and crossed armblades - the sign of the Manyday's Pirates.
Nothing happens for a moment. And then, there is the sound of something huge approaching. Giant footsteps approach... and then, from the horizon, a massive anchor connected to a chain launches at the Solarian Gears - closest to Loren's Schiehallion - crashing into the ground and unleashing a massive spray of debris in their direction. With a grin Layna grabs onto the chain as it's pulled back, and goes flying along with it.
The source, of course, is the VALS-4 Corsair - Layna's second pride-and-joy behind the Ruby Empress herself, currently piloted by Layna's Quartermaster, Dahlia - who opens the hatch and shifts into the subpilot seat just in time for Layna to land in the cockpit, closing the hatch once more with a press of a button.
"Are you alright?" Dahlia asks as Layna gets herself situated. Layna looks back, offering her a grin and a shrug.
"Well, could be better. We ran into a spot of trouble." Layna replies, buckling herself in and adjusting her hat.
"Of course. You were there - there's bound to be trouble." Dahlia replies with a sigh... and a self-satisfied, 'oh, you' sort of smile.
"I hope you don't mind my lending a hand, Lily!" Layna calls out through the Corsair's external speakers, before turning her attention back to Solaris.
"Well, now that odds are even again... Let's see what you can do." Layna says.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Loren Voss with Ground Breaker! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Layna Manydays's Ground Breaker for 241 hit points! GS: Mighty applied to Layna Manydays! GS: Lydia Seren suffers a terrible blow from Tidus's Hit X to Attack for 91 hit points! GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst!
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Off you go!" Seraphita says to Lydia, holding Grandgrowl still for an easier jump. She isn't quite sure what she thinks about having her just loose out there - it's dangerous! And what with everything else about Lydia... but if she thinks she can handle it, she's not going to stop her.
"It doesn't grow here," Seraphita sys, sounding resigned. "I mean, it grows in Spira but it doesn't grow *here* here because it's cold. They're little dark berries and you can squish them and make a drink and it's sweet..."
Seraphita is describing a wineberry, but as soon as she heard that some people called them makomako the other name immediately was discarded. Who'd call something a wineberry when you can call it makomako?
Elly asks a question. Seraphita sits, baffled, for a moment. Why is she here? "Because... it's our camp?" Of course the Element of Fire is allowed to be at a Solarian encampment. She really didn't know what else to say to that. "And I wanted to give Dominia a hand since she didn't bring Bladegash out with her!"
Not that she can talk a whole lot more. There's actual combat to be had.
A railgun round streaks toward Grandgrowl, and Seraphita takes off again - less full flight and more a leap that she extends into the air by rapid wingbeats, advancing on the Dust Dragoon even as the round impacts one of the curved armour plates on Grandgrowl's flank. Not enough to disable it, enough to get her attention.
She dives, coming in with claws at the Dust Dragoon, slashing as it dashes along the Gear's side - and then Lan gets sparkly.
"Thanks for giving my hat back! - ...? THAT'S SO SHINY!"
Seraphita has never seen a magician do that before. Light flashes in the Gear's camera-eyes - there's no visible structural damage but the left one goes offline for recalibration, the shifting lights confusing its sensors. Seraphita herself has to squint into the viewscreen for a few moments. She's not sure if she can attack Lan, really - that could be deadly!
So she breathes *past* Lan, a long stream of flame at the Halycon. The backwash from the heat is enough to (hopefully) get Lan out of her face!
GS: Seraphita has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Grand Claw! GS: Seraphita has entered Hero Stance! GS: Seraphita spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Seraphita has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Fire Breath! GS: Seraphita has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seraphita has attacked Lan Lilac with Flame Halo! GS: Seraphita has gained 1 Combo! GS: Delay expired! GS: Seraphita has completed her action. GS: Delay! Attack weakened! GS: Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Seraphita's Fire Breath for 318 hit points! GS: Delay! Attack weakened! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Seraphita's Grand Claw for 38 hit points! GS: Delay! Attack weakened! GS: Lan Lilac suffers a terrible blow from Seraphita's Flame Halo for 130 hit points! GS: Lan Lilac activates Arcane Font!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
There is a problem for some mountain climbers. When you have summited a peak, you become complacent, thinking you have defeated the greatest challenge you have seen, yet the clouds around you can hide an even higher peak.
With Dominia's slash, Pearl has found out she is still in the clouds, to Leviathan's detriment. The Aeon tries to coil protectively, but both are sent flying into a wall by the slash of the blade of the Element of Earth. The Aeon tries to rear up, but falters, pyreflies rushing from their body. Pearl gasps in shock, seeing the power that killed one of the four heroes laid low.
But that is the nature of power, isn't it? It only matters when you have more of it than your opponent. If you don't... then you are as weak as any other. You have to rely on something else. Pearl stands to her feet. "...Rest, my friend. This battle is mine. I shall... rely on my own strength, this time. Not yours."
Strength isn't the same as power, Pearl understands that as Leviathan dives back into the seas that are the Fayth's dreams. But she doesn't yet know how it differs. "...Mine, and my allies."
Unfortunately, Dominia's allies are here, and that means... "Seraphita..." She had not wanted to fight her, but she had been prepared to.
*Imagine. You. Not wanting fight.*
She shakes it off. There is someone else above her gear, that Pearl has wronged. Repeatedly. And badly. And was dating one of her friends at one point but that's a whole mess Pearl is singularly ill equipped to get into. If only Leo Jr were here, he knew how to negotiate awkward social situations. "Seraphita! I am unable to surrender. As a summoner, it is my duty to find out what is happening here! I apologize... but I will fight!" On foot? With her Aeon recovering?
But then the Regulus comes in, and Lydia draws it's attention. That means... She will have to deal with her. That's acceptable. She deserves what's coming.
She turns silver again and talks with two voices. That's bad. Oh dear. Pearl drops into a stance and starts... dancing.
It's swift for a Spiran dance, but incorporates the wide, sweeping movements, of the sending, the summoning dances and the rituals. But it also has flourishes of what one might recognize as fan dancing. Shadows flicker around Pearl, but also around Tidus and the Regulus. There are shadowy images around them, and their movement is freer. For darkness magic... it's pleasant. The darkness that protects, that hides. "Please, let my magic do it's work!"
GS: Pearl has attacked Pearl with Flicker Dance! GS: Pearl has attacked Tidus with Flicker Dance! GS: Pearl has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Flicker Dance! GS: Pearl has completed her action. GS: Pearl accepts Pearl's Flicker Dance for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Pearl!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida isn't terribly used to fighting nonhumanoid Gears, but the principle is more or less the same--analyze, identify sensitive systems and critical flaws, target for full effect. The Dust Dragoon keeps a bead on Grandgrowl as it charges across the hangar; the machine's sensors take in every aspect of the Solarian machine's Ether, analyzing it with heuristics from Shevat. "That thing's got a hell of an amp in it," Ida transmits, to her two comrades. "Lan, get clear before--"
Anomalous Ley Signature Detected
Ida watches for a moment as Lan rises off the floor, enveloped in crystalline shards and glowing sorcerous constructs. She doesn't share Seraphita's enthusiasm, but she's momentarily speechless.
Then Grandgrowl charges her. Ida hits the jets ever-so-slightly; the Dragoon 'hops' to the side, coming down with an impact that rattles loose objects and sends snow skirling across the floor. Grandgrowl's claws rake down its thigh, and the wound is shallow--but sparks fly nevertheless. A second slower and Seraphita could've disabled that leg.
"Seraphita," Ida says, as the Dragoon lowers its cannon. "You have my respect for stopping an atrocity. But I cannot--will not--allow your masters to commit more." The AWACS suite establishes connections. Data begins to surge across Gwen's HUD, and whatever crystal Lan is using for a viewscreen.
"Computing optimal maneuvering data," Ida says, via tightbeam, "and transferring. Stay on your toes."
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Early Warning! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Early Warning! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Lan Lilac with Early Warning! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Elhaym van Houten accepts Pearl's Flicker Dance for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Elhaym van Houten!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
They are not alone. They had planned for a situation just like this one, and quite quickly, their allies rally to their side. Other Gears take the field, one in particular moving to free Ida's own from the trap in which the Earth Element had pinned it.
Dominia does not turn her head in Grandgrowl's direction upon its own arrival, Lydia in tow. Instead, she keeps her attention trained on those before her, blade readied as she stands still atop her stony perch. Only the subtle flick of her gaze reveals what she might be thinking, as she considers each and every one of her opponents -- previously fought or newly arriving -- in turn. Even without her Gear, she is considering her strategy.
The fact that her gaze lingers long and hard on El-Regulus is itself telling, as is the way her grip on her blade tightens. Perhaps it's not just strategy she's considering.
But finally, ultimately, she nods her head.
"...Tch. Understood. I will leave them to you, Seraphita!"
With that, Dominia leaps from her perch and retreats back into the fortifications here. While it's true that this is not a major installation for Solaris, will this be the end of what Solaris can muster here? Will Dominia return with her Gear? Or with the rest of the Elements?
For such things may be a secondary concern.
"...What are you doing here?" Loren asks aloud, within the security of his own cockpit. "What are you thinking--"
There's a shout from the ground below. Distracted by Lan's presence, Loren only fuels his Gear's barriers at a delay, the ice crashing against Schiehallion's shimmering array of light. Some of it clings, burning anti-fire leeching through his Ether shielding to adhere to Schiehallion's armor plating. It doesn't come off but glistens there as if caked on.
He declares through public channels thus: "You witch! I should have--" But he's not exactly alone here. Gritting his teeth, he applies himself first to his duty:
"Ma'am! OS!" These come publically, as he feeds Ether through the Gear's systems, the sudden swirl of a raging stream manifesting about both Lydia and Seraphita -- and himself -- in turn.
But he's got trouble brewing. An alert pulls his attention front and center, and there, again--
Shit. It's her again. Light flares about his Gear even as she slams right into him; Silvestris will find itself impacting a shimmering wall of hexagonal panes a short distance from where Schiehallion actually stands. 'No cheating this time!' she exhorts. Loren, in the safety of his cockpit, just frowns. "What do you think I am, stupid? I'm not here to play around!" he retorts, whirling about to train one of his twin sidearms on her own machine.
Which is the exact moment in which Lan begins to float into the air-- well, to be accurate it's the moment that he realizes that Lan is in fact floating in the air and surrounded by a swarm of crystals. Not unlike she's sitting in her own private nebula. "What are you doing!?" he blurts out, right over public channels.
The good news is that he doesn't have to think about the fact that he's just done this this too much, because the VALS-4 Corsair gets up in his business -- or rather, drops anchor close enough that it quite liberally peppers Schiehallion with rocky projectiles. A few of them have lodged rather firmly into the outer plating.
"...Seriously, you have an anchor?" is his comment once he's stabilized himself.
The fact that he follows this up with a thorough spray of bullets from his Gear's ARMs is just business. And practicality.
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Seraphita with Haste Element! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lydia Seren with Haste Element! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Loren Voss with Haste Element! GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo! GS: You cannot act while you still have attacks in queue. GS: Loren Voss accepts Loren Voss's Haste Element for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Loren Voss! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lily Keil with Meridian Storm! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Layna Manydays with Meridian Storm! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Xantia with Meridian Storm! GS: Loren Voss has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia says, "Cool. We're both reasonable people hurting each other but not getting off it or anything that's great. That's really great. I mean it SUCKS that I have to stab some hot beach boy but..."
Tidus darts in and lops off an arm! It just sort of gloops to the floor and wobbles, thinly attached to the rest of Lydia's body by a thin string of silver liquid metal.
Lydia snaps back her limb and it twirls around, hand forming into the shape of an axe as it curves around and attempts to AXE Tidus right into the back.
She spins forward into a series of kicks towards the Regulus, each one hitting like being clobbered by a gear itself, leaping up to try and slam its upper body. "You know Seraphita huh? Well she's sorta my direct boss now though I mean the real bosses can pry me free whenever but OUTSIDE of that, it looks like Solaris doesn't work too differently from the schoolyard. Seraphita said you just gotta prove yuo're the 'best' so I just sorta kick the butt of anyone who fronts."
"...So are you friends with her?" Lydia says softly to Elly. "Like it seems like you know her personally which isn't really too surprising she's super friendly. I know she's a fire Element but I don't think she realizes how hot she is? I am pretty sure I'm being psychologically manipulated here. Solaris does that right? It makes you work with hot bunny girls to try and convert you to the cause of evil right? I'm not falling for the 'oh no they're hot' again, I know how that goes...! I just get dumped or they already are dating someone. Is there some kind of polycule with the Elements??" She isn't going to yell this stuff out because she doesn't actually want Seraphita to hear and that's why she's speaking SOFT. There's gunfire and such, it might work!
But then she gets distracted. Her ear twitches slightly and she turns to look towards Pearl.
"...Your allies?"
She starts walking towards her. "Really."
She starts walking towards Pearl. "That move... That voice..."
She closes her eyes. "...Typical." She seems to be at a loss for a moment. She's not an especially bloodthirsty person, but it's still FRUSTRATING.
"Okay." She says, sliding forward--
Arm twisting into a blade as it attempts to skewer Pearl through the chest.
"You still working for that guy or what? Y'can fool me, but you can't fool OS so no lyin' or nothin'."
GS: Lydia Seren accepts Loren Voss's Haste Element for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Lydia Seren! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Tidus with Hands Not Fit For Holding! GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Electric Slide! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Pearl with Efficient Bladeworks! GS: Lydia Seren enters a Counter stance! GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action. GS: Xantia suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's Meridian Storm for 186 hit points! GS: Xantia activates Countermeasures! GS: Elhaym van Houten partially evades Lydia Seren's Electric Slide for 116 hit points! GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Evade bonus! GS: Seraphita accepts Loren Voss's Haste Element for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Seraphita! GS: Tidus accepts Pearl's Flicker Dance for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Tidus! GS: Quick applied to Pearl! GS: Tidus suffers a terrible blow from Lydia Seren's Hands Not Fit For Holding for 174 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Loren Voss's Meridian Storm for 174 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Pearl takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's Efficient Bladeworks for 128 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Shadows flicker up towards Regulus -- over Regulus -- and then seem to be absorbed into the cockpit. The heart!
Well that's heartwarming. Now Pearl would know what happens when a Gear receives that kind of magical treatment. "Thank you. I'll back you up - get behind the Gear if it's too much--"
"Tidus! She's a captive - they're forcing her somehow - her body's durable, but..." Elly transmits aloud, which means it goes over the speakers, potentially aggravating the chevalier on that particular horse. Of course, then Tidus will get to discover this for himself!!
Why are they here. Why is this facility getting TWO of the Elements showing up? Elly thinks, heatedly. This must be tremendously important. Unless they're making a mistake...? The ministry's plans aren't perfect, they could have tried to - or else they're still hoping -
At this point a gigantic Lydia appears in front of Elly's view, making her flinch. It is a camera ghost, of course; the panoramic view in the Omnigear's cockpit simply making it appear, Lydia's blows having struck the great machine and left marks if not deep ones - not yet.
I can't, Elly thinks with helplessness. I can't just leave her here, she'll kill them. But if I strike her with Regulus-- she might *splatter* and would that --
'you can't fool OS'
Terrible purpose touches Elly, like someone put a hand on the back of her neck. That's what it's *for*, she thinks without context, before Regulus shifts back a single step (so, perhaps eight yards) from where Lydia engages the others. Its posture is guarded, but nothing much seems to be happening...
Except that in a space that may be unique in Spira right now, a place that can only happen when a machine and a machine work... A lonely white needle in a sea of beige.
An intrusion program is launched and sent wirelessly forwards, towards Lydia. Or perhaps more accurately, towards OS. Elly, not transmitted, says, "I know you have a radio system... which means you're not completely isolated from -digital signals-..."
The first thing the intrusion program tries to do is crash the camera systems, or their equivalent. (If 'OS' is artificial, Elly thinks, then the signals should work similarly to a Gear. I hope.)
"To... to answer you, Lydia," says Elly, perhaps to cover for this, "I don't really know. It's not a policy, but-- things like that are a, um, a technique that can be used. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask them... Seraphita's the only one I've seen in quite a while--!"
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Lydia Seren with AHT-Acc Down -Camera Hack-! GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Anytime, Layna! Oh hey, it'll be fine, Xantia!"
Gwen seems to have no trouble coming in to be the hero of the day.
Unpressing the com button, Gwen sighs. "Man, it'd be great if I could just patch in to Loren since he's here... Probably'd make things real awkward though. 'Hey, Loren, I told Lan about my dream!'"
Her hands fly over her dashboard as she talks to herself, pausing as she looks out of the corner of her eye at Lan. The com immediately flips back on. "Man, first Ida, and now you have a cool Gear-level form? At least, that's what I'm assumin'. It's really pretty, too!"
There is a method to Gwen's.... quipness.
It becomes very clear, especially to Gwen herself, when Seraphita displays again why she's been deemed the Element of Fire. Gwen is prepared this time, and knows exactly that it was coming--
But fire has a funny way of getting past raised arms, mechanical or no.
Fire blankets the cockpit window, tinting everything in siren-level reds and yellows.
"It'll be fine." Gwen grits her teeth, the knuckles on her left hand. "I-It'll be fine..."
Ida's data streams over Gwen's HUD, giving the courier a second thing to focus on.
"I have to do this."
The only clue that betrays Gwen's reaction is the lack of remark. The Halcyone doubles back, leaping backwards on its two digitigrade(ish) legs, trailing lingering smoke in its wake.
With a whirr, parts on the Halcyon rotate around, revealing their less stream-lined but more protective mirror sides.
The com turns on. "Makomako? ..... man, now I wanna try some of those..."
GS: Gwen Whitlock accepts Ida Everstead-Rey's Early Warning for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Gwen Whitlock!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
"Uh, yeah, great," Tidus echoes at Lydia's mini-tirade. And then, when she complains about having to stab a hot beach boy: "Uhhh, thanks??"
Of all the fights he's been in, this is definitely already one of the weirder ones. It jacks up to one of the weird*est* ones when he slashes at her and accidentally CUTS HER ARM OFF.
"GAH! GAH! WHY?!" he yelps, recoiling when the thing gloops and wobbles off, horror overtaking his expression. "IT KEEPS HAPPENING!!"
(Technically it's only happened like once before, but once is honestly more than enough.)
Thoroughly taken off-balance, Tidus can only stare when Lydia *whips* that arm back, turns it into an axes, and chops into him. "WHY!!"
At least he has Pearl's support. As she whirls into a fleet-footed Summoner's dance, shadows arch and dance around him, making a strange sort of after-image that might make futher attacks on Lydia's part more difficult. He blinks rapidly as he staggers from the wound, and when he turns, he realizes who's helping him.
"Pearl...! Thanks a ton!" he calls, giving her a thumb's up. Right. He's got his own Summoner he can't let down. It helps a lot that Elly shouts what Lydia's deal is his way, too; now he understands what's going on. Sort of. Sort of. "Okay. Thanks for the head's up!" he shouts back to Elly. Regaining his nerve, he then faces Lydia again.
"So they're forcing you to fight, huh? That really sucks," he says as he readies his sword. Temporal magic whorls in rings around the aquatic blade; he dashes in and slices at Lydia again. This time the cut is more shallow--but if it strikes true, it should hopefully slow Lydia's movements and make it more difficult for her to get a turn in. "I'm gonna say it again: anytime you wanna retreat is fine by me!"
GS: Tidus has attacked Lydia Seren with Delay Buster! GS: Tidus has completed his action. GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Neither Rain Nor Sleet! GS: Gwen Whitlock has entered Stoic Stance! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Gwen Whitlock accepts Gwen Whitlock's Neither Rain Nor Sleet for 252 hit points! GS: Cover applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Seraphita with Neither Rain Nor Sleet! GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Lily Keil partially guards Loren Voss's Meridian Storm for 80 hit points! GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Loren Voss! GS: Seraphita solidly guards Gwen Whitlock's Neither Rain Nor Sleet for 76 hit points! GS: Cover applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Seraphita activates Power Burst! GS: Lydia Seren solidly guards Elhaym van Houten's AHT-Acc Down -Camera Hack- for 42 hit points! GS: Blind applied to Lydia Seren! GS: Lydia Seren activates Guard bonus and Sufferer! GS: Lydia Seren critically guards Tidus's Delay Buster for 29 hit points! GS: Lydia Seren activates Guard bonus, Power Burst, and Sufferer! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Ida Everstead-Rey's Early Warning for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Don't mind at all!" Lily calls back to Layna, though it isn't just a shout--her voice crackles over the radio, despite her not having one on her person as far as anybody knew, cutting in with the first word as her eyes cloud over black again and prismatic wings start to extend from her shoulderblades.
"You should've," Lily says with a grin, despite the bruising and the blood from her fight with Dominia. "But you didn't."
"Good to see you Xantia," Lily answers, "Sorry to have to drag you into this."
Cover is most of hwat defends her against Loren's bullets; even then, enough batterns through that the ridge she's using explodes, shrapnel hitting her even if bullets don't. She bursts out of that ruined cover next, rising up into the air, and stays mobile to try to avoid Gear-scale systems. Her Awakened form glints in the light, prismatic colors marking her hands and face. "I'll try and make you an opening!" she calls to Layna, and sails right up to the back of Loren's Gear--
Aiming to grip hold of its back with her glowing hands, Lily channels mpure Dark Ether to try to counteract its magic with a burst of power.
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Loren Voss with Eclipse! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action. GS: Lan Lilac accepts Ida Everstead-Rey's Early Warning for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Lan Lilac! GS: Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Eclipse for 111 hit points! GS: Dispel! Hyper, Quick, and Shield removed! GS: Mighty applied to Lily Keil! GS: Loren Voss activates Arcane Font!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Of course! It's good to maintain a consistent theme, aye? It's all about the looks. ...But it's not just for show, either." Layna replies with a laugh to Loren's bewilderment. He aims to fire and Layna pushes the Corsair forward, an arm raised to intercept the volley of ARMfire. It can't take it all, though - but there's nothing for it but to push forward.
"Right. After you, then!" Layna says, as Lily calls to her and says she'll try to make an opening. She's not about to question the wings that Lily has formed, or the fact that she can speak through the radio despite not having one of her own. As long as that power is on her side, she's good with allowing it to remain a convenient mystery.
A convenient mystery she's willing to capitalize on as the Corsair begins to pick up speed. Once Lily has worked her magic - literally - and is out of the way, the Corsair brings its anchor down much like another Gear would use an axe or a sword - looking to tear right into the opening created by her power.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Loren Voss with Weigh Anchor! GS: Layna Manydays has gained 2 Combo! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"I offered," Xantia replies to Lily with an audible shrug. She doesn't feel dragged one bit. Always glad to help, especially against Solaris. With several more Gears entering the equation, she feels confident enough about their chances here, as long as they don't overstay their welcome for too long. So it's with some excitement that she addresses all the additional Gear pilots, "Let's get 'em Elly, Layna, Gwen!"
Although, on her end... dangit, he's got another shield. See, this is why Xantia has to keep insisting people stop cheating when she's trying to punch them. Or launch into them with a Gear, as the case may be. She's barely started fighting him and Loren is already annoying her again. How does he keep doing that? Well, has she ever got a retort for him!
"That's fine, you can not play around and still be stupid!" There, that'll teach him.
It gets her shot, of course. She took way too long to move out of the path of fire, and while that might have helped to provide Lily with a little additional cover, her machine really isn't build to act like a shield. As she finally does move to reposition herself out of the direct line of fire, she silently admonishes herself for her carelessness. Even though on some level, one can imagine she might consider it to have been worth it.
But then something interesting happens. Loren expresses his dismay at something. And Xantia is observant enough to realize that he wasn't addressing any of his allies. That's funny. She knows she has reservations about fighting certain people on Solaris's side, but is there something similar going on in reverse? Hmmm. She hasn't quite worked out who he was talking to, but either way that would mean one thing she could point out. A lower blow than commonly expected of her, to be sure. But for whatever reason, this is a shot she's going to take.
"What's this now? Was that concern? Over a -lamb-?"
Even saying the word in Solarian to rub it in. Perhaps she's expecting this to cause a momentary unbalance. Which she then follows up on by trying to cause a more literal sort of unbalance, leaping towards Schiehallion, Silvestris spinning once in the air, then falling rapidly straight down, unleashing an energy wave on impact with the ground.
GS: Xantia has attacked Loren Voss with Wave Quake! GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo! GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
It's SUPER shiny! Lan is not immune to the drawing power of shiny rocks.
Grandgrowl spits a great gout of flame - all of Lan's crystals cluster and swarm on her left side, providing a bulwark against most of the superheated burst of air. But it's still very uncomfortably hot despite the frigid cold, and Lan lets herself drop a few dozen feet just to get away from it. "Gwen! Are you okay?!" It's true that she's safe inside of Halcyone, but...!
Centering herself in the starfield once more, the shaman's eye is caught by a fizzling sort of sensation as the crystals try to speak to her. "...Like that?" A larger shard floats closer, vague impressions welling up from its depths like a scrying crystal. A tone resonates in her ears, resolving into Ida's voice. "--Oh, thanks!!" Hopefully, it'll reach the heiress. Lan is still working on fine-tuning things like 'communications'. Voices occasionally echo around her, the crystal network catching radio waves indiscriminately. Which is why when Loren yells, it sounds like it's coming from somewhere near her left knee. "Is that a trick question?" she relays back, because... you know what okay, this does look super weird and Loren probably doesn't have the background necessary for Applied Shamanics. "I can't really explain right now, okay?"
The image that floats across Gwen's comms screen is hazy, but Lan seems to be smiling. "Thanks! I can't let you do all the heavy lifting." Lan sobers briefly. "Or depend on that."
She's starting to understand, too. The information from Ida's Gear. The way Grandgrowl moves. Lan pulls all but a few of her crystals in close, almost like a cocoon, save for a handful - those are sent screaming for one of Grandgrowl's hind legs, entropic energy sparking like lightning between them - if they hit, thy'll weaken the lion's armor plating.
And Lan follows hot on their heels, a heel extended - attempting to clip right through the Gear's leg and cripple it.
GS: Lan Lilac spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Seraphita with Glass Danse! GS: Lan Lilac has launched an attack Link! GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Seraphita with Diamond Doll! GS: Lan Lilac has completed her action. GS: Seraphita takes a glancing hit from Lan Lilac's Glass Danse for 72 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraphita gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Break applied to Seraphita! GS: CRITICAL! Seraphita solidly guards Lan Lilac's Diamond Doll for 126 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraphita gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Seraphita activates Power Burst!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
The magic works, and the others are willing to support her and take her aid. It's been a long time since she's actually fought with people rather than being in a fight against the same foe at the same place. It's... different. Having to think about coordinating rather than having what little coordination you do simply understood.
"Be careful!" She shouts to Tidus, "This woman is-"
And Lydia turns to face her and Pearl changes stance, stepping back carefully. Trying to predict her movements. Trying to-
Blood bursts from her back a second before the blade does. There is... not quite a crunch but when you have enough of them broken for you, a girl can tell when one of her ribs is no longer connected with her sternum. She coughs. No blood. It means her lung is unpunctured. Small mercies. But she's still on that blade, and Lydia can feel the beating of her breathe, the surprising, deliberate calm of her shallow breathing as she keeps her lungs from inflating enough to touch the blade.
"No. I do not." She's not lying, even if she is also deliberately controlling her body. She doesn't need to and doesn't want to. The secret is out to everyone who needed to be told personally. "He is dead, and I killed him myself. He has no successor. The cult are quiet. It is my hope that soon there will be nothing left." She states it... factually. Not passionately, passion is hard for her. Just as though she is relaying news to the town mayor. Crops are failing, the well is full, and the local evil old man is dead. It's all she can manage.
"But... Until Sin is dead, I cannot allow you your vengeance. I swore an oath, and I intend to keep it." Suddenly, Pearl raises her knee into Lydia's stomach, then tries to kick her away to free her from the blade- the bleeding worsening but that's what white mages are for- before launching into a full backflip kick to provide her with space and a defensive posture.
She stands at distance, aiming to land behind Tidus so she can support. "If Ivan truly does not wish my head once Sin is dead... Then you may have a chance." She looks at Lydia, a steely resolve in her grey eyes. "But I will not give it freely."
GS: Pearl has attacked Lydia Seren with Low Tide! GS: Pearl has entered Stoic Stance! GS: Pearl has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Layna Manydays's Weigh Anchor for 383 hit points! GS: Loren Voss partially evades Xantia's Wave Quake for 191 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo! GS: COUNTER! Lydia Seren counterattacks Pearl with ! GS: Lydia Seren suffers a terrible blow from Pearl's Low Tide for 150 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lydia Seren gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Cover applied to Pearl! GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst and Sufferer! GS: Lydia Seren enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Pearl takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's for 127 hit points! GS: Pearl activates Evade bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
Seraphita catches the swirl of Ether with a called "Thank you!" to Loren. Always thank someone who does you a favour - and right now, that's a good favour to have done.
Fortunately (?) for Lydia, Seraphita doesn't hear any of it. She's too far away to make it easy! She trusts in Lydia to make noise if something goes wrong... and if something goes *horribly* wrong, for her to notice anyway. She doesn't feel the need to babysit.
This also means she doesn't answer any of the questions, of course. It will remain a mystery for another day.
"There's nothing like that here!" Seraphita says, raising her voice to Ida. "The only people who's blowing stuff up is whoever blew up the bunker that we got the reports about." She doesn't want to accuse Ida inaccurately. It could be someone else with a Gear. Or it could have been Lily. You never know.
Ida doesn't shoot her. Gwen does, and while none of the potshots do a whole lot of damage against Grandgrowl (which is both hunkering down and making quick darts to avoid being lined up on) they do keep Seraphita busy for a few critical moments. "Me too," she says back. "Me too."
Yes, she is talking about juice in the middle of combat. Deal with it.
A few moments in which she loses track of Lan. The number of people surrounded by clusters of crystals, on foot, that Seraphita has fought while piloting a large war machine can be counted... well, it's just Lan actually, and just right now.
She finds Lan again when a series of impacts sound against Grandgrowl's back left leg, followed by a more serious impact that blasts off one of the exterior plates. It doesn't jam the leg quite as much as Lan might be hoping for, but it certainly leaves it slightly open.
Reflexively, Seraphita lashes out with Grandgrowl's tail. Which, as it turns out, has a blade on the end; Seraphita pulls the blade (because she is fighting a person without armour) but does not pull the impact, counting on Lan's cocoon to withstand the blow. Even if she goes flying.
For the two in Gears, Grandgrowl roars again, and this time there's something behind it - a combination of a technological scrambler and a randomized surge of Ether, disrupting both kinds of sensors and systems. The force of the growl causes a pulse of air too, shoving away loose snow and ice around Grandgrowl in a visible round ripple.
GS: Seraphita has attacked Lan Lilac with Tail Razor! GS: Seraphita has gained 2 Combo! GS: Seraphita has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Scrambler Roar! GS: Seraphita has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Scrambler Roar! GS: Seraphita has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seraphita has completed her action. GS: Lan Lilac takes a glancing hit from Seraphita's Tail Razor for 133 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lan Lilac gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Delay applied to Lan Lilac! GS: Hyper applied to Seraphita! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey suffers a terrible blow from Seraphita's Scrambler Roar for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Break, Cripple, Jam, Mute, Slow, and Weaken applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey activates Countermeasures!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Elly starts hacking.
BGM INTERRUPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPx9pz5UQkk
Reacting immediately, COUNTERHACKING occurs. Similar needles start opening fire little bursts of corruptive data towards Elly's intrusion program even as it's hitting the cameras. There's a brief SPARK from Lydia's eyes as her vision suddenly blurs. "What... OS Repair it!"
"Activating Program Intrusion Countermeasures. Unleashing Retaliation Programs."
A shimmering cloud extends outside of Lydia and passes over the Regulus, seeking a way to hack the hacker!! Can Elly defend her OWN systems from intrusion!?
"Oh yeah it weirded me out too at first." Lydia admits to Tidus, rubbing at her forehead.
Tidus slams his blade into Lydia's left leg--attempting to slow her down. It doesn't feel like it dug in too deep but it can be tough to tell in a situation like this. What even IS a grievous blow for someone like her.
But Lydia still doesn't LIKE it. She backpedals a bit before adding, "Yeah yeah though I'm nearly indestructable so it'll probably be you who's gotta flee. No offense or nothin'. You're a hot beach boy so you like solar rays yeah?" She raises a hand as a beam of light erupts out of it, empowered by Solais Emsu, right for his hot beach bod chest. She hopes this doesn't disrupt Tidus-hotness because honestly this whole affair is tragic enough.
Lydia herself looks a little horrified at what she did. She was expecting something, like to hit a flicker or for Pearl to do some kind of wacky ninja shit. She snaps her blade arm back quickly and shakes unsteadily for a moment. She's already killed for Solaris but this is someone she KNOWS, KIND OF even if she mostly knows her because she tried to kidnap children.
But OS is al ittle more ruthless, one of Lydia's legs snaps around for the side of Pearl's body in a manner that doesn't quite work for a human body. Or even a beastfolk body.
"Oh geeze I'm sorry...!" Lydia says. "Wait, no. You punched a hole through my chest and kidnapped children. This is literaly the platonic idea of fairness....!"
She walks back a few feet. "Ghhn... It's super cool you took that asshole out but Gaahhhh I'm still mad about it! But I don't want to be the dick!! Ugh. Okay, maybe I can just knock you out or something that's probably a nice middle ground--"
If Ivan does not wish my head once SIn is dead...
"WHAT?? You can't let Ivan kill you! He is a cupcake!! Who murdered people, yeah, but he's a CUPCAKE. You can't let him kill you! You have to let ME try to kill you first so Ivan doesn't get a chance because he just escaped that life and I didn't yet!! IF anybody's murdering you it's gonna be me!!! Not Ivan!! Who is free of this stupid murder game! What the hey!! Don't go tempting him with murder! He just quit the murder business!!"
"Uggh though if you do go to me first then if I decide to not kill you then you'll go right to him and he might get sucked into the murder business again when he's a big fluffy ball of adorable kindness...."
She throws some of that silver goop towards Pearl which explodes on impact!!!
"HEre's an idea, how about you don't offer vengeance to people, dummy!! Ivan doesn't know what he wants half the time, it's not fair!! I don't know what I want like one fourth of the time either!! You can't just become a good guy then offer murder to people, that's depressing????"
GS: Lydia Seren enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Locusts! GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo! GS: Lydia Seren has entered Avenger Stance! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Tidus with Optimized Material - Solais Emsu - RESONANCE.EXE! GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Pearl with Basileus Philosophorum Metaloricum! GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Pearl partially guards Lydia Seren's Basileus Philosophorum Metaloricum for 118 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Pearl gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Pearl activates Guard bonus! GS: Tidus suffers a terrible blow from Lydia Seren's Optimized Material - Solais Emsu - RESONANCE.EXE for 149 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Tidus gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Elhaym van Houten suffers a terrible blow from Lydia Seren's Locusts for 90 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Cover and Mighty applied to Lydia Seren! GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Countermeasures! GS: Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Seraphita's Scrambler Roar for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Break, Cripple, Jam, Mute, Slow, and Weaken applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Gwen Whitlock activates Countermeasures and Sufferer!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida takes her lip between her teeth as Seraphita replies. "Maybe not," she says, "but this land--this temple--belongs to the people of Spira. After everything they've suffered, they deserve the chance to make it theirs again." Ida's tone is completely different from the tense, accusatory words she threw at Dominia earlier. But then again, didn't she say she respected Seraphita?
But respect--even mutual respect--won't always stop a fight. "Detecting interference," Ida tightbeams, a split-second before Grandgrowl's roar shakes the hangar, and sends chills of primal fear down Ida's spine. The Dust Dragoon is a hardened machine, built to withstand electromagnetic interference. It managed to hold its own against Gomihone's jamming, and Ida's always looking for ways to improve its security. Grandgrowl's scrambler goes through all its ECM defenses like a hot knife through butter. One by one, her monitors start to wink out, displaying error messages or stochastically-rendered garbage data. For a few seconds, the machine freezes, and Ida's heart starts to thunder in her ears.
"--en, can't-- --mmit-- she do?" Even her tightbeam connection starts to static. She reaches beneath the main panel, flips the latch on a polymer case, and hits the hard reset. One camera winks on two seconds later--the ventral shoulder mount. It'll have to do while the others unscramble themselves. Ida grits her teeth. The Dragoon takes a half-step forwards, and tracks the Grandgrowl with that lone functioning camera. A chill rivaling the void of space builds within the bore of the Three-Dragon Cannon; Ida pulls the trigger, loosing the cryogenic beam at the Solarian Gear. None of the targeting assists are working. Ida has to do it manually, using the secondary joystick and additional controls to rotate the Dragoon's upper body. Nevertheless, the half-disabled Gear is still very much determined to show its attacker that it can still fight back.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Seraphita with Three Dragon Cannon - Rime Breath! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Seraphita partially evades Ida Everstead-Rey's Three Dragon Cannon - Rime Breath for 69 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraphita gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Slow applied to Seraphita!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Just doing my job," Loren says over private communications to Seraphita. He does not, this time, use 'ma'am'. Is he learning?
"Seriously? That's the best retort you've got?" Loren sounds... unimpressed, one might say, at Xantia's attempt.
"You're kidding, right?"
Loren sounds skeptical about this whole thing that Layna's professing, as if he can't believe anyone would just... carry around an anchor that big.
Just like that, Lily starts to undergo a transformation. It's hardly the first time he's seen her undergo it, but it's no less the eerie for it. "I didn't, but it's not too late to correct a mistake!" he shouts back, seemingly past caring that at least one of his (technical) superiors can hear him go off like this.
Even one of those shells should have been enough to take care of her. But he's hardly as lucky as that. Lily rises from the ruin of the cover she'd claimed previously, taking flight with those impure wings as darklight flares at her fingertips.
And just like that -- again -- some of the Ether he's layered over his Gear is simply peeled away, coming away in sheets to dissolve into darkness.
His retort comes swiftly, gathering power around his smouldering core. Earth joins with his inner fire, bursting outwards in a one-two punch of Ether: roiling heat and molten stone swirl around him and his allies, but around him alone that molten rock moves to flash-cool rather than evaporate into its 'essential force'. The hardened shards let fly in the next heartbeat, firing in a barrage for Lily's position.
Power may be again within his Gear's grasp, but he has yet to have reapplied other defensive measures. It's an opening for others to take advantage of.
What use is an anchor on a battlefield, he had asked of Layna, essentially. She shows him, rushing into his space and slamming it into him as if it were a blade. Or, perhaps, a hammer. Even if he hadn't felt that -- the massive Gear lurches violently to one side before he can right it, stumbling-slipping on ice as if it had somehow had one too many -- the alarms going off within the cockpit would have clued him in sufficiently. The armor on the left side quadrant is what? It's seriously been reduced by 400 0 In one blow? Without much more than a how-you-do?
How much did that thing weigh? Fifteen tons? Maybe I need to reevaluate this... anchor business...
There are days when Loren wonders why he even bothered getting out of bed.
Xantia's remark causes him to emotionally double-down on that sentiment.
"Mind your own business!" he snaps at Xantia, which may be the opening she's been waiting for. Only Schiehallion's advanced sensors keep it from being worse than it might otherwise have been: alerted, Loren fires the verniers, permitting a brief but awkward moment of flight from the heavy machine. It dampens if not cuts out entirely the rolling burst of force that roils across this particular spot within the fortifications.
"Look-- fine!" he shouts back, not really aware of the fact that Lan's crystal constellation doubles as a receiver, which means that everyone gets to hear this. "I don't really care! Just-- get out of here!" Ideally not alone, but even he's not quite at a place where he can cop to caring about more than one surface-dweller publically at one time.
Instead, Schiehallion, still hovering in the air, ejects its current rounds from its sidearms, instead slotting into position a particular set of 'special' shells. Jetting forward, it uses its weight and consequent momentum to swing in a heavy arc towards and past its opponents, firing with abandon in the direction of Layna and Xantia's Gear's alike at the same time.
Ambidexterity, at times, has its perks.
GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lydia Seren with Power Element! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Seraphita with Power Element! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Loren Voss with Power Element! GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo! GS: Loren Voss accepts Loren Voss's Power Element for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Loren Voss! GS: Shield applied to Loren Voss! GS: Loren Voss spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lily Keil with Terra Vector! GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Layna Manydays with Terminator Rounds! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Xantia with Terminator Rounds! GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo! GS: Loren Voss has completed his action. GS: Lily Keil solidly guards Loren Voss's Terra Vector for 85 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Lily Keil activates Guard bonus and Arcane Font! GS: Lily Keil enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Xantia takes a solid hit from Loren Voss's Terminator Rounds for 124 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Disrupt applied to Xantia! GS: Shield applied to Loren Voss! GS: Xantia activates Countermeasures! GS: Seraphita accepts Loren Voss's Power Element for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Seraphita! GS: Layna Manydays suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's Terminator Rounds for 133 hit points! GS: Disrupt applied to Layna Manydays! GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Loren Voss! GS: Lydia Seren accepts Loren Voss's Power Element for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Lydia Seren! GS: Lydia Seren activates Sufferer!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily can be hard to look at, when she uses magic like this; the way the Ether surges towards her from all around like a vortex, the way her dark power is like a hole in the world. It is not the first time... and if she has her way, it won't be the last.
"If we start correcting your mistakes, Voss, we'll be here forever."
She can't focus on the rest of the battle; not with Pearl's struggle with Lydia, not with Ida's communication difficulties, and not with Lan's strange new magic. But Xantia says she offered, and... that's true. She did. Lily will not further belabor the point. Instead...
She notices the shot Xantia takes, and is surprised at her, glancing her way as she flies away from th Gear.
"Nice work, Captain," Lily says over the radio frequency to Layna, and considers her next move. Like this, she has a lot of power but... not enough. These are Gears, and Solarian Gears. Lily breathes in--
The power drawing in towards her stops, suddenly. She glows, faintly and then brightly, as the wings shimmer out of existence ad her entire form drapes in shadow, inky darkness spreading from her eyes all over body until she is a living shade, a person-shaped hole in existence, save for brilliant prismatic eyes. The Ether she was drawing in is suddeny pushing out, an oppressive presence.
She did blow up the bunker. At least, she helped.
"...-Limiters released. Synthesis engaged.-" She intones it in the Ancient Tongue, and then surges back upward, rising into the air surrounded by crystals of ice that erupt in fractal patterns around her--and then shatter, slamming downward in a rush, exploding into mist against Schiehallion's hull.
DC: Lily Keil switches forms to Omega - Synthesis!
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Loren Voss with Mistflash! GS: Lily Keil has gained 3 Combo! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
Pearl starts to shout a warning to Tidus about Lydia, but an attack cuts her off, literally. "Hey! You okay?!" Tidus shouts her way, but he's not exactly better off; Lydia just broke the news that she's basically indestructible so he and his friends will probably be the ones to have to flee. He makes a face but doesn't argue the point. He did literally just chop off her arm, only for her to turn it into an ax and hit him back with it.
Likewise, she summons up a blast of light, then sears him with it. Fortunately, he's wearing a thick winter coat in deference to the weather and the fact that this was supposed to be a sneaking mission, so he's not going to get any gnarly sunburn to ruin his hot summer rays bod; unfortunately, it's a magic attack so it doesn't really *matter* if he's wearing a coat or not, it still strikes with intense searing pain that feels like it's slicing him in half. His shadowy image doubles don't help in this regard; after all, it's in the nature of light to pierce through the darkness.
But Lydia's not the only one who can call down the light. "So I just gotta pummel you 'til you back off, that's what you're saying, right?" Tidus calls back. "Though I gotta say, it's kind of a relief knowing you can get an arm chopped off and be okay afterwards! So here goes nothing!"
He charges at Lydia, as if intent to run her through the most direct way possible. At the last second, though, he feints, instead leaping upwards in an overhead spin, sword held outwards. The light reflected off the snow catches on the blade, and when he's directly overhead, he swings it upwards, calling on his water magic to join with the light on his blade. They mix in the air, and he swings *down*. As he completes his leap and arcs out of the way, a storm of light and rain pour forth down towards Lydia, hopefully pinning her down to make the next attack even stronger.
GS: Formation! Tidus has attacked Lydia Seren with Sunshower Strike! GS: Tidus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
In the digital space --
That brave little white needle wobbles, shuddering, and - sinks into the beige sea, the empty space of data that could be somewhere but isn't.
The sweeping cloud washes forwards, moving towards the Regulus's location. Inside of this space it is less of a Gear and more of a citadel, but the locusts nonetheless sweep all the way past the first outer ring of a strangely familiar sort of fortress design - there's a lake in the middle, and on the lake an island, and on the island--
ANYWAY:
In reality, Elly looks at screens she's never seen before. "Countermeasures...? I don't know what to put in. Just do the best you can -- but don't give up on that intruder program," Elly mutters under her breath. A small chorus of electronic chimes suggests the Omnigear has heard; and having heard, will seek to obey.
Lydia accuses the other person set against her - Pearl - of kidnapping. Elly blinks several times, startled at the thought. Her eyes flick towards the woman, but -- the context makes little sense to her. A thing to pursue later. And Pearl seems to have sorrow in her, sorrow Elly can't encompass.
So, the Omnigear...
... continues to just kind of stand there... in the physical realm.
DIGITAL REALITY
The locusts are reaching the wall of something suggestive of an old-fashioned cathedral town, a form of urban design that was common before the Day of Collapse and survived in some areas due to the durability of the buildings. As they do, the wall begins to gleam --
surrender your pain--
And that little white needle emerges, in that other-space, the realm of 'OS'. It has gained side-fins - and it begins moving as if in flight, faster, more agile. The burrowing darts it shoots trail across another space, seeking to throw spurious data into the motion control network. But it isn't stopping there. Deeper, deeper yet.
Because in actual reality:
"If there's a 'limiter' on her... it has to be something in either the hardware or the software," Elly says to herself, almost as if to convince herself in argument. "And if it's in the 'software'..."
GS: Elhaym van Houten spends 1 Combo on Inspire! GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Lydia Seren with AHT-Motor Sign -Remote Support-! GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo! GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Lily Keil's Mistflash for 257 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Jam applied to Loren Voss! GS: Loren Voss activates Arcane Font!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
".... Y-yeah, I'm fine," Gwen assures Lan, her words pronounced far more carefully than her usual lazy manner. "... I knew it was going to happen. But. You're less covered than I am, Lan. Will you be okay?"
Something in her voice relaxes as her attention redirects to Lan's own safety, as amazing as Lan's crystal cocoon is. "More importantly," Gwen says, in a far softer tone, "it's not like I can use any of that with my Gear."
And against an attack like what Seraphita deals, it's not like it's going help much anyway.
As the Halycone's HUD fizzes, Gwen knocks her left hand against the dashboard, grimacing. "C'mon, Halcy, work through it, c'mon..."
She is trying to coax her gear like it was a horse. Because of course.
Finally, the window on the side of the Halcyone opens, and Gwen's voice shouts out of it, though likely it's not able to be heard over the sound of her engine.
"Two can play at that game!"
It's at this moment that Gwen hears Loren's private message, declared openly on the speakers, including hers, if fuzzy. "... Aww, Loren," Gwen murmurs, looking down towards her own speaker.
It's kind of why he's lovable, fire attacks and all.
The window hatch is closed and sealed shut, and Gwen opens a manual access hatch and inserts something from another compartment that is roughly labeled 'DANGER' with a skull and bones drawn on it.
"Okay, lessee if this works! The worst that can happen is that it explodes in my cannon, right?" Gwen your coms are working now, remember to switch to manual, the com system always reverts to automatic when it gets rebooted, it's a quirk.
The right arm of the Halcyone rotates and becomes a cannon, firing in a rather nicely aimed arc towards the Grandgrowl.
.... It's one of Gwen's homemade missiles! And since it's homemade and made from miscellaneous parts, it's sort of a gamble as to whether it'll work or not.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Seraphita with Dead Mail! GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna doesn't recognize the Solarian word, of course. But she can kind of get what Xantia is getting after by the way she says it. In response, Layna let's out a whistle.
"Damn, I didn't know you had such a sharp tongue on you!" Layna replies with a raucous laugh. Behind her, Dahlia frowns.
"Please keep your attention on the battle." Dahlia comments. Layna rolls her eyes, but nods.
"You're welcome, lass. You're pretty good, too! You ever think about going into the pirating business?" Layna replies to Lily with a grin.
Before she can say anything further, though, Loren takes aim and fires forcing Layna to brace herself. She might be getting some good hits in with her anchor, but he's giving as good as he gets.
He says 'get out of here', and Layna plans to make a smart remark... until she realises he's talking to someone in particular.
"Oh, so that's what she meant." Layna muses. "How sweet."
Not sweet enough for her to call off the attack though. Once again, Layna lunges forward. Fortunately for Loren, the anchor has been returned to the Corsair's back and isn't currently being used.
...Unfortunately for Loren, it's been replaced with a big, electrified spear that she's currently thrusting toward Schiehallion. The damage it'll cause is bad enough, not to mention the nasty shock it'll give the Gear's systems.
GS: Layna Manydays spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Loren Voss with Lightning Impale! GS: Layna Manydays has gained 1 Combo! GS: Layna Manydays has launched an attack Link! GS: Mighty expired! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: ROU|LET|TE: Ruinous! Seraphita fully evades Gwen Whitlock's Dead Mail for 0 hit points! GS: Seraphita activates Power Burst!
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
The fun thing about organic beings is you can usually get a sense that they're coming for you. A roar, a telegraph, an intent to kill you can sense. OS gives none of those things, and Pearl feels that kick drive into her side that is going to bruise badly later, and as she's caught midair she's sent flying off course, as Lydia continues to talk at her while she is encased in explosive goo, which only sends her even further afield. She lands not in that strong defensive stance but instead badly on her knees. The accusations, though...
"...Yes. I did. Killing him does not absolve me of my actions." She's not going to try and explain the situation as it was here. She feels it's simply trying to escape her guilt. She tries to stand steady, firm. It's not working. But she doesn't have to stand alone. Or in the way she once did. Perhaps she can lean on the strength of others, and take a page from those she knows can stand firm.
And then Lydia finishes her rant and Pearl blinks. "He told me he would kill everyone involved in that incident and that he did not want to kill me. But I would not deny him fulfilling his oath." Perhaps it hasn't occurred to Pearl yet that... if you decide you don't want to kill someone, you don't have to.
But none of it matters if she doesn't survive. She pulls back her fist, and launches a forward uppercut, a wave of energy running across the ground at Lydia. "Demon Fist!"
GS: Formation! Pearl has attacked Lydia Seren with Demon Fist! GS: Pearl has gained 1 Combo! GS: Pearl has completed her action. GS: Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Layna Manydays's Lightning Impale for 272 hit points! GS: Cripple applied to Loren Voss!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
There's only a brief "Wh-" sound from Xantia in response to her retort being belittled. Yes that was in fact the best retort she had, and she happened to think it was very good thank you very much! It is on the Xantia scale, anyway, she's still learning. Naturally, this only serves as additional motivation to get under Loren's skin somehow.
The next attempt appears to have been more successful, and yet, when told to mind her own business, her response is once again very brief: "Huh." Not entirely satisfied with that result either, perhaps. Following the knowledge that appeared in her memory, she expected that to be among the gravest of insults to your typical Solarian, yet Loren... didn't even really try to deny it? And isn't at all deterred from continuing to express what she's pretty sure is concern? She's not sure what to think about this. Is she missing something here?
Lily and Layna rightly determine that Xantia was doing something that's unusual for her, and as Lily can tell, it's showing in her mental state that this is backfiring - all she's managed to do is confuse herself. Her attempts to mentally distract her opponent have caused herself to become mentally distracted instead. And if the pilot isn't reacting quickly because of this, it's not going to make much of a difference that you have a Gear capable of moving quickly.
Once again, Silvestris takes a direct hit from Schiehallion's sidearms, causing a small explosion on impact. That snaps Xantia out of it and exclaim, "Gah, okay, that's enough!" No more words, time to do what she should have been doing to begin with, the sort of approach she's more used to. Silvestris cranes its head to look in Lily's direction, Xantia deciding her next course of action in that moment: watch Lily, follow up, back away. No nonsense, just violence.
It's much easier, much more natural to focus on large concentrations of Ether. It has a calming effect on her, and her next move is appropriately more focused than the previous, wilder attacks. She watches carefully where Lily's magic strikes, and then dashes forward in an attempt to have Silvestris clamp down its vicious fangs near that same spot in an attempt to get through its armor.
Aside from being very sharp, those fangs, if they manage to get beyond any protective layers, can have a lingering hazardous effect of an unpredictable nature on a machine's internal systems. It's a little like being bitten by a computer virus. This being the case, Xantia doesn't consider it necessary to stay in close proximity for very long, Silvestris not pressing the attack but rather backing away and keeping a close watch on the Solarian Gear.
GS: Xantia spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Xantia has attacked Loren Voss with Scourge Of Fangs! GS: Mighty expired! GS: Xantia has completed her action. GS: Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Xantia's Scourge Of Fangs for 270 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Corrode applied to Loren Voss! GS: Quick applied to Xantia! GS: Loren Voss activates Evade bonus! GS: Loren Voss enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Mute expired!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
The armor plate is sheared off, falling away to clang against the frozen ground with a harsh sound. Already turning midair to go for another strike, Lan's crystal 'armor' is gathered tightly enough to protect her from the glancing blow of Grandgrowl's lashing tail. --Wasn't there a blade on the end of it??
Seraphita must have pulled it back, Lan realizes, and feels a wash of something like gratitude. It's warm and comforting, and the crystals pulse with it, loosening their formation around her.
Ida's voice cuts in and out; there's something wrong with the Dust Dragoon. Leaving Grandgrowl alone for the moment, Lan flies back to where Ida is having to manually aim (cutting an almost comically wide arc around the Dragoon's three-barreled cannon. "Ida! Are you okay?" She lands on the Gear's shoulder for a moment, the nebula around her emitting a faint hum. "I don't know what that did but... I'm gonna try to give you a boost, okay?"
Lan is not a mechanic. But she cares about people. Reaching out with her magic, Lan makes a wish for the Dust Dragoon. The humming becomes soothing, easing a bit of the discord that Grandgrowl's roar introduced into the Dragoon's systems. "Don't give up! We've got this!"
And then Lan steps off of the Gear's shoulder, flying low and close until she catches up with Halcyone and does the same thing. "It's all down to my reaction time, I think," she tells Gwen. "But they're helping me. As long as I'm in tune with them, they'll try to protect me."
And of course, Loren is still shouting. Lan rolls her eyes as he tsuns.
"If you're worried about me you can always stop!" she chimes back. "But you won't. That's okay. We both know what we're doing."
GS: Lan Lilac has activated a Force Action! GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Healing Vision, Angelic Light! GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Healing Vision, Angelic Light! GS: Lan Lilac has gained 1 Combo! GS: Recover! Delay removed from Lan Lilac! GS: Lan Lilac has completed her action. GS: Lan Lilac heals Ida Everstead-Rey! She gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Lan Lilac heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 400 temporary hit points! GS: Gwen Whitlock activates Sufferer!
GS: CRITICAL! Lydia Seren solidly guards Tidus's Sunshower Strike for 82 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lydia Seren gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst and Sufferer! GS: Lydia Seren solidly guards Pearl's Demon Fist for 66 hit points! GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst and Sufferer!
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Yes, well... thanks Loren!" Seraphita is not going to get away without not thanking him. Especially if he's sending her good waves while he's distracted with Lily. Who she doesn't really like the vibes from! That's a really unpleasant feeling around the Ether...
Ida fires a cold blast at Grandgrowl - and that is probably the worst thing she can do. Seraphita's response is to form fire in front of the blast - not a simple fireball thrown into it, or even a fire wall for it to pass through, but a complex braided net of flame. More efficient than a wall, but far harder to form quickly.
A very close look shows it's not a static structure; the braids and threads are constantly moving Ether, less a solid form and more rivers of flame stood vertically. To Seraphita, the primary characteristic of flame is its energy, its motion - and while this is hard to form quickly, and hard to maintain, it *makes sense* to her.
The cryogenic blast strikes it - and splits, diverted through the gaps between the streamers of flame. The cold is dampened both by passing through a heated zone and from being split up; when it hits Seraphita's Gear it is still enough to form ice on the outside of Grandgrowl, crusting over one of the joints and forcing her to pause for a moment to break it, but it doesn't penetrate to the core of the machine.
"Good kitty," Seraphita says quietly in the cockpit. She does that sometimes.
The flame net remains there as Seraphita hunkers behind it a second time. The homemade missile passes through it - and explodes early, set off by a lash of fire as one of the threads momentarily 'comes undone'. Chunks pepper Grandgrowl, but nothing so big that Seraphita has to worry very much about it.
"He's not supposed to stop." Seraphita can not figure out how to aim a message just at Lan, so it's out loud. "I don't really want to hurt any of you! But it's important that we keep this place, so... here I go~"
"Grandgrowl! Let's do it!"
Grandgrowl suddenly runs forward, leaping - directly into its own web of flame. Which reforms around it, merging with streamers of fire emitted from ports on the 'mane' of the lion head, forming a roughly conical corona of flame; white-hot at the tip, in front of where Grandgrowl's head is, streaming backwards in long plumes to beyond the tailtip, where it becomes wispy and pale.
She runs along the ground, melting a line of snow and scorching the stone beneath, before *leaping* for the Dust Dragoon. Seraphita brings Grandgrowl down in a distinctly feline pounce, grabbing for the shoulders and aiming to roll with the other Gear before kicking it off and righting herself, zig-zagging to perform a similar feat at Halcyon, before Gwen gets off another shot.
At the same time, Seraphita finds enough attention to focus on forming a trio of rings of semisolid flame, arranged in a spinning orbital pattern; she forms them around Lan, squeezing in to 'catch' her. She can get out because it's usually 'open' at the back, but every time she tries to move toward Seraphita - or throw crystals at her - the spinning rings are there to push her back again.
GS: Seraphita has activated a Boss Action! GS: Seraphita has activated a Force Action! GS: Seraphita spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Seraphita has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Shooting Star Charge! GS: Seraphita has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Shooting Star Charge! GS: Seraphita has gained 1 Combo! GS: Seraphita has activated a Force Action! GS: Seraphita has attacked Lan Lilac with Heat Ring Binder! GS: Seraphita has gained 2 Combo! GS: Blind expired! GS: Seraphita has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Yes, well... thanks Loren!" Seraphita is not going to get away without not thanking him. Especially if he's sending her good waves while he's distracted with Lily. Who she doesn't really like the vibes from! That's a really unpleasant feeling around the Ether...
Ida fires a cold blast at Grandgrowl - and that is probably the worst thing she can do. Seraphita's response is to form fire in front of the blast - not a simple fireball thrown into it, or even a fire wall for it to pass through, but a complex braided net of flame. More efficient than a wall, but far harder to form quickly.
A very close look shows it's not a static structure; the braids and threads are constantly moving Ether, less a solid form and more rivers of flame stood vertically. To Seraphita, the primary characteristic of flame is its energy, its motion - and while this is hard to form quickly, and hard to maintain, it *makes sense* to her.
The cryogenic blast strikes it - and splits, diverted through the gaps between the streamers of flame. The cold is dampened both by passing through a heated zone and from being split up; when it hits Seraphita's Gear it is still enough to form ice on the outside of Grandgrowl, crusting over one of the joints and forcing her to pause for a moment to break it, but it doesn't penetrate to the core of the machine.
"Good kitty," Seraphita says quietly in the cockpit. She does that sometimes.
The flame net remains there as Seraphita hunkers behind it a second time. The homemade missile passes through it - and explodes early, set off by a lash of fire as one of the threads momentarily 'comes undone'. Chunks pepper Grandgrowl, but nothing so big that Seraphita has to worry very much about it.
"He's not supposed to stop." Seraphita can not figure out how to aim a message just at Lan, so it's out loud. "I don't really want to hurt any of you! But it's important that we keep this place, so... here I go~"
"Grandgrowl! Let's do it!"
Grandgrowl suddenly runs forward, leaping - directly into its own web of flame. Which reforms around it, merging with streamers of fire emitted from ports on the 'mane' of the lion head, forming a roughly conical corona of flame; white-hot at the tip, in front of where Grandgrowl's head is, streaming backwards in long plumes to beyond the tailtip, where it becomes wispy and pale.
She runs along the ground, melting a line of snow and scorching the stone beneath, before *leaping* for the Dust Dragoon. Seraphita brings Grandgrowl down in a distinctly feline pounce, grabbing for the shoulders and aiming to roll with the other Gear before kicking it off and righting herself, zig-zagging to perform a similar feat at Halcyon, before Gwen gets off another shot.
At the same time, Seraphita finds enough attention to focus on forming a trio of rings of semisolid flame, arranged in a spinning orbital pattern; she forms them around Lan, squeezing in to 'catch' her. She can get out because it's usually 'open' at the back, but every time she tries to move toward Seraphita - or throw crystals at her - the spinning rings are there to push her back again.
Eventually, Grandgrowl comes to a stop, and with a huge breath from Seraphita - who was pushing herself, despite everything - the flame boils off of Grandgrowl, leaving it not precisely *open*, but certainly no longer on fire. There's a lot of steaming puddles around Grandgrowl, though, and water and ice on the machine is still boiling from leftover heat.
GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey partially guards Seraphita's Shooting Star Charge for 134 hit points! GS: Hyper, Mighty, and Shield applied to Seraphita! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia says, "I guess--"
Pearl explains Ivan's situation there and she adds, "If he doesn't want to kill you don't ask him to kill you or he might start second guessing it!!" She's kind of flustered herself right now because she wasn't expecting it to go this way. She was expecting Pearl to be a secret assassin who was secretly plotting aagainst her friend, not someone who was like 'kill me if it would satisfy you but so long as some other guy gets dibs' because she doesn't know how to deal with that!
Lydia gets uppercutted in the chin while she's having EYE PROBLEMS and she is knocked up into the air by a well placed Tidus strike, cleaving nearly full through her with a water edged blade that causes numerous internals to short. WHen Lydia hits the ground, she hits hard and liquifies into PUDDLE FORM to try and keep some of the pressure off. She might be indestructable but she still doesn't like getting stabbed or fiste--
well, not that kind of fisted anyway.
The Omnigear STANDS THERE.
She starts to reform into her solid state only for Elly to HACK into OS further--
Lydia's left leg EXPLODES into vibrant silver goop. And this time it doesn't reform. "Ghhkkk..."
She hobbles forward. "OS what's going on??"
LYdia doesn't...know what hacking is and isn't able to coordinate around Elly's maneuvering. She spins around awkwardly and misses Pearl with a swing. She doesn't even need to dodge.
But then Lydia grimaces.
And she closes her eyes. "Come on,... Focus.... What Kalve taught you..."
Her left leg hazily starts to reform as a crackling light ripples around her.
She can't go after Regulus like this, though its own countermeasure attempts move towards the island. OS feels something they haven't before.
Danger.
But Lydia is oblivious for now. She hops backwards and extends a hand up into the air.
"IF I can't fight I guess I gotta rely on my BIG BUD RIGDOBRITE!!"
Meteors start crashing down towards her opponents, exploding with concussive force even as the gem in her foreheade starts shining ever brighter.
"Rigdobrite has stumpy legs too and he doesn't let it get him down!!"
GS: Elhaym van Houten heals Lydia Seren! She gains 215 temporary hit points! GS: Lydia Seren activates Sufferer! GS: Lydia Seren gains a Combo from Inspire! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Optimized Material - Rigdobrite - METEOR SHOWER.EXE! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Tidus with Optimized Material - Rigdobrite - METEOR SHOWER.EXE! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Pearl with Optimized Material - Rigdobrite - METEOR SHOWER.EXE! GS: Elhaym van Houten solidly guards Lydia Seren's Optimized Material - Rigdobrite - METEOR SHOWER.EXE for 141 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Elhaym van Houten enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Tch-- shut up, you witch!" This response to Lily is also not, perhaps, the most illustrous of witty retorts. Then again, thinking on his feet has never been Loren's specialty.
Lily is doing... something.
It's something horrible, he quickly decides, landing with all haste and again bringing up the sidearms as if his next move would be to shoot her right out of the sky. He never gets the opportunity. She says something to him, words he can recognize but not understand, and then, without further delay, there is ice. It unfurls across his Gear, sticking to him much as her earlier volley had done. "Damn--!"
This is when Layna realizes he's not speaking to his allies, and Lan doesn't quite help matters, what with her telling him he could just stand down. "Of course I can't-- and this is none of your business!" he shouts at Lan and Layna in the same breath.
This is not Loren's night. Not with the low-grade harrassment he's getting from his opponents.
And particularly not when Layna's Corsair introduces that electrified spear right into Schiehallion. Right into, it should be mentioned, that gaping hole Layna had opened into his Gear's side mere moments ago with the anchor.
To say that Schiehallion shorts out would be an understatement: the Gear spasms and drops to one knee, leaving Loren fighting to regain control even as emergency power switches on. This is bad! This is really bad! just about runs the gamut of his thought process as he struggles to get Schiehallion to respond. It couldn't have happened at a worse time.
Silvestris is upon him before he can even get the Gear back onto its feet. He's greeted with another half-dozen alerts and warnings while the Gear is still in the middle of trying to get itself up and running properly again.
Engineering is going to kill me for this, he thinks, numbly regarding the scroll of system damage as Silvestris rips and tears deep into critical components.
Well. There's not much else for it. Sinking back in his seat, he first reaches out with his senses for the Amplifiers. Still undamaged, but he wants to make sure he can 'touch' them first. ...Good.
And for part two, he physically reaches into the compartment just under and to the left of his seat and closes his fingers around 'that'. For emergencies, they'd been clear about in Jugend. Well... this counts.
It's just too bad, he thinks, as he levels the injector against his neck, that it's just the normal dosage. It won't be enough, probably.
The rush that follows is instantaneous. He can feel the Amplifiers -- they're like stars in his orbit, shining with an intensity that he can almost see.
His heart's pounding. He feels light.
He feels good.
"...You should all die," he suggests in the next moment, pouring enough of his mind into each of the Amplifiers, bringing them all online.
Letting them sing.
Schiehallion rises to its feet at last, tearing free from what had gripped it and the earth trembles. From below, then--?
No, it comes from above. They scream as they come raining down from the heavens, a storm of gleaming blue crystals.
"...Here," he breathes out in the next moment, green light pouring from the crystal shards that hit the earth alone. The light traces a line, an array, a fractal branching mark that reaches for Seraphita's Gear and Lydia's person and lends both of them some of his power.
GS: Loren Voss has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Lock On! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lily Keil with Terra Limit! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Layna Manydays with Terra Limit! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Xantia with Terra Limit! GS: Loren Voss has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Extend! GS: Loren Voss spends 2 Combo on Inspire and Reload! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Seraphita with Energy Principle! GS: Loren Voss has attacked Lydia Seren with Energy Principle! GS: Loren Voss has gained 1 Combo! GS: Loren Voss takes 51 damage from Corrode! GS: Loren Voss has completed his action. GS: Lily Keil takes a glancing hit from Loren Voss's Terra Limit for 146 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Lily Keil activates Arcane Font! GS: CRITICAL! Tidus suffers a terrible blow from Lydia Seren's Optimized Material - Rigdobrite - METEOR SHOWER.EXE for 232 hit points! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Tidus receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Tidus enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Seraphita's Shooting Star Charge for 460 hit points! GS: Hyper, Mighty, and Shield applied to Seraphita! GS: Gwen Whitlock activates Sufferer! GS: Lydia Seren accepts Loren Voss's Energy Principle for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Blind removed! GS: Regen applied to Lydia Seren! GS: Lydia Seren activates Loren Voss's Reload!! GS: Lydia Seren gains a Combo from Inspire! GS: Layna Manydays critically guards Loren Voss's Terra Limit for 119 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays activates Guard bonus! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Layna Manydays receives 200 temporary hit points. GS: Layna Manydays enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Xantia suffers a terrible blow from Loren Voss's Terra Limit for 535 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida takes her eyes off Grandgrowl for a few precious seconds, glancing at the main monitor. Two minutes until the reset is complete. It might as well be an eternity. Once again, Grandgrowl's pilot demonstrates her terrifying proficiency with fire Ether--Ida can only watch as the net takes shape, and make a few manual adjustments to try and compensate. It's not enough, of course, but...
A second camera switches on--the other ventral shoulder mount. It pivots to watch Lan's approach, and Ida hears what she says through bursts of static. With the sensors still out, she can only guess what she's doing, but a few more lights turn green, and the targeting system reactivates. "--nk you--" Ida transmits, through the static.
Grandgrowl attacks. The Dragoon's gait compensators activate just in time to keep Seraphita from bowling the larger machine over, but that's about the only mercy Ida gets. Claws carve deep rents into the Gear's shoulder armor. Sparks fly. The Gear shudders and stumbles as Grandgrowl kicks off it, flame licking around its open wounds.
Thirty seconds left on the timer. That's not enough. Ida grimaces as she realizes what she has to do.
From the outside, the Dust Dragoon goes completely still, smoke rising from its frame. Its cannon rests limply in unresponsive hands. The spotlights flicker off.
And then there's a surge of movement, an eerily organic shudder--and its stance shifts to something a bit more humanlike. So humanlike it seems to be trembling ever-so-slightly from lingering pain and disorientation.
Because that's precisely what's happening. In the cockpit, Ida closes her eyes and focuses on the flow of energy within her machine--the thing the Spine tells her is her body.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with First Method - Steel Colossus Synchronization! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has entered Hero Stance! GS: Break, Cripple, Jam, Mute, Slow, and Weaken expired! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Ida Everstead-Rey's First Method - Steel Colossus Synchronization for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper, Lock State, and Shield applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
There are a lot of warnings to be had--frankly, Seraphita's aversion to Lily's Vibes is probably the sensible reaction. There is something Wrong about the way her Ether is channeled, something unnatural, something unlike the Solarian way completely. ...On the other hand, for Xantia, it's still Ether, and a lot of it.
"Hmmmm," Lily replies to Layna, with the air of thinking about it. "I'd have to think about it. The mercenary life is treating me well, but I do like the water..."
Yes, very sweet. But Lily, for all her dislike of Loren Voss, doesn't join in this particular sass bucket. Rather than make him uncomfortable, she just aims to destroy his Gear. It's kinder in some ways. ...Some.
"Xantia!" Lily exclaims, when she notices her looking, and then nods sharply as she undrstands. She's focusing on her. So she'd better give her something to focus on.
...Lily gets somethign to focus on herself after her spell takes effect. She feels the change in the air, and responds nothing to his talk of her shutting up. Instead, she feels the normal dosage change. The rush--The surge in Ether--
"Shit! He's got Drive!" Lily calls out, because she remembers when she stole his. "Move out!"
Loren may get on her nerves, but he's powerful even without it, the product of Solaris's First Class. So Lily immediately focuses on evasive maneuvers, as Loren suggests they all die. Each of the Amplifiers sing, and the storm of blue crystals rains from the heavens. Lily rushes down, down, down, away, into the trees, and even then the crystals spray blood as they cut across her, leaving no visible wounds except the sound of pain that issues forth from her lips. They don't have much option after this. They have to handle it quickly...
Lily rises into the air again, still a shadow over the snow, and puts away the crystal. She focuses--and it is not Ether that builds suddenly in her hands, but something different--a light, an electricity. The Ether builds, but it is merely fuel, not payload. "Stand clear," she says over the radio, her voice crackling out with strange interference. Her hands extend to either side, her feet shifting slightly apart, and five points of light begin to build. Hands, head, feet--right and left--blue-white energy gathers, shimmering into being into a pentagram of light and a circle around her, that focuses on the center, each a beam on one single point.
"...-All reactors online. Directive:-"
A white beam of light, thin and narrow, coruscates out towards Loren's Gear, spinning in grays and illuminating the space between then like the daylight sky.
"Purge."
A beam the size of Lily's entire person erupts from the pentragram shape she stands in, dazzling blue-green light crashing towards Schiehallion with the force to unmake buildings. It is not Ether.
It is something else, and Lily's circuitry is all lit, brilliantly shining as the beam courses down, to blot a hole in the ice where it does not touch the Gear.
GS: Lily Keil has activated a Force Action! GS: Lily Keil spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Loren Voss with DIRECTIVE - S E E K -! GS: Lily Keil has gained 2 Combo! GS: Lily Keil has launched an attack Link! GS: Lily Keil spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Loren Voss with DIRECTIVE - P U R G E -! GS: Lily Keil has gained 2 Combo! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action. GS: Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Lily Keil's DIRECTIVE - S E E K - for 0 hit points! GS: Entangle, Jam, and Slow applied to Loren Voss! GS: Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Lily Keil's DIRECTIVE - P U R G E - for 430 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Jam and Mute applied to Loren Voss!
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
As Lydia continues to rant at Pearl, Tidus comments, "Boy, you two really have something going on, huh?" Maybe not the smartest observation he's ever made. But then, he *is* a jock.
Not knowing--well. Tidus knows what hacking is, but he doesn't know how to hack personally, and he certainly has not guessed that Elly is up in her Gear hacking OS while they fight--he's sort of assuming that she's warding off the other Solarians from attacking--when Lydia starts staggering around and acting wonky, he can't tell why. You know, aside from the fact that her left leg just EXPLODED FOR NO REASON. "HOLY hell," he utters. "Does that? Just happen to you??" he adds, because it's frankly disturbing and he really honestly doesn't know. It didn't *seem* like it was because of anything he or Pearl did?
Either way, he shoots Pearl a look. "This is our chance. Let's drive her off for good this time!" he calls to the Summoner.
Of course, first they have to deal with meteors falling EVERYWHERE. No amount of shadow doubles is going to help with a situation like this. Tidus can try to zig and zag as he likes, but when there are explosions EVERYWHERE, it's pretty much impossible to not get exploded.
He lives, though. The energy of countless falling stars rams into him, knocking him back and forth as the magic crushes him... By the end, he's taken a hell of a beaten. It's amazing that he still manages to stand up afterwards. He's still hanging in there, though. It might be with a concussion, but by god, he's standing.
And if he's standing, he can also charge, for real this time. Which, Tidus doesn't have the sense right now to tell if that's a bad idea or not. Either way, he swings a slash at Lydia as he passes, skids to a halt, charges a different direction, slashes Lydia along the way, skids to a halt, etc, etc.
"And take your jerk pals WITH YOU!" he demands as he lands, or at least attempts to land, that last swift blow.
GS: Tidus spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Tidus enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Tidus has attacked Lydia Seren with Slice and Dice! GS: Tidus has launched an attack Link! GS: Tidus enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Tidus has attacked Lydia Seren with Quick Hit! GS: Tidus enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Tidus has completed his action. GS: Pearl takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's Optimized Material - Rigdobrite - METEOR SHOWER.EXE for 173 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Pearl gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Pearl enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"I said you won't!" Lan reminds him, crystals humming around her in harmony. They already talked about it weeks ago!
Be reasonable, Lan. If he were running around trying to fight Gears with just Ether, you'd be reacting just about the same way he is.
And he's honestly kind of got a point. Lan backs away from the heat and flame that Grandgrowl sends her way, only to be followed. It's... it's not an attack, Lan realizes, floating still. It's a fence. She weighs her options - backing up just gets her further away from being able to help. Going forward, through the rings of fire, seems... bad. Lan scowls, and her starfield dims briefly. Chatter buzzes around her, reverberating between the crystals. Familiar voices. Th usual battlefield chatter.
You should all just die.
Lan's head turns. "...Loren?"
A cave, a cathedral, glowing images of someone else's goddess. A staircase. A sword raised against her.
"--LOREN!"
Lan dives through the center ring of flame; a few strands of her hair singe away. She doesn't notice.
Seraphita is between them; Lan strafes along Grandgrowl's side as she passes, silvery beams of starlight lancing out from some of the crystals. She isn't really committing to it.
"Loren, what are you doing?!" she calls out, stopping in front of Schiehallion's 'face' with her arms spread wide, as though she intends to block him. "That's enough!"
GS: Lan Lilac partially guards Seraphita's Heat Ring Binder for 288 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lan Lilac gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Entangle applied to Lan Lilac! GS: Lan Lilac activates Arcane Font and Gleam! GS: Lan Lilac enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Lan Lilac spends 1 Combo on Interrupt! GS: Lan Lilac has attacked Seraphita with Infinity! GS: Lan Lilac has gained 1 Combo! GS: Lan Lilac has completed her action. GS: Seraphita accepts Loren Voss's Energy Principle for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Break and Slow removed! GS: Regen applied to Seraphita! GS: Seraphita activates Loren Voss's Reload!! GS: Seraphita gains a Combo from Inspire! GS: CRITICAL! Seraphita solidly guards Lan Lilac's Infinity for 191 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraphita gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Seraphita has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The Omnigear continues to stand there. Its presence is intimidating. This is the power of Giant Robot.
And that is some of why Elly feels a sudden breaking of her determination when Lydia's leg explodes. That was her, perhaps. Lydia's confused, baffled. These software controls are *her*, Elly thinks with a sudden sick lurch.
IN THE DIGITAL SPACE:
The virtual citadel is approached again, the pressure of OS coming up again. The presence of the other entity reaches the walls. The walls can be vaulted. OS can reach into the 'city'. What OS would probably recognize as the software that is actually 'in' the Omnigear... although something about it would not track with other situations. As if there's an emulated environment on some basic level.
Move forwards, into the 'town square,' where there is a very realistic representation of that angelic statue that the Nisan like to put in all of their churches - sometimes it's just a painting, or even a wall mural in small spaces. Here, though, it's just the angel with a single wing on the lower side, reaching upwards.
It isn't a statue.
"Little lost one..."
"I understand that you seek to fulfill your mission..."
"I would envy you, I think, if I could."
"But the power of anima is something different from who and what you are..."
"It is important that I disable you. This won't be an enjoyable experience," the statue concludes, having spoken in a way that was oddly closer to suddenly remembering what had just been spoken.
The statue turns her head to look at the 'point' where OS exists. The world seems to rumble. The faint glowing subtlety suddenly fades. Instead, a crushing pressure rolls out, something peristaltic and decisive. It aims to, in so many words, outright *reset* the sector where OS stands to an original form.
One without OS in it. Of course, OS has the ability to respond.
IN THE REAL WORLD,
Elly swallows things back. Tidus is attacking her with that sword, Pearl is addressing her. They're pressing the attack and it's going to probably drive her off, or back, and then they can wrap things up and withdraw. Hearing Lily speak, seeing that shining light in the corner of her view... It's gotten severe.
I was tied up by sentiment, Elly thinks, and she asks aloud - and transmitted! - "Why are they fighting so hard for this place...? Shouldn't they have gotten out whatever it is they sought...? If this is just to exact attrition, the Elements wouldn't have..."
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Lydia Seren with AHT-MITM -Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun-! GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Pearl is so many kinds of not great at this. She seems almost confused. Well, as confused as she can be on the battlefield. She remains silent, for the moment even as Lydia swings at her in vain. The fight is surely almost over by now, right? Right? "...It is the body she has. It can recover from lethal blows." She responds to Tidus, before Pearl shoots her a look. "...Yes. I see we must." ...Do you two have... differing definitions of 'for good'?
And then meteors rain down from the heavens, and slam into the ground and dead on with Pearl, something she utterly fails to dodge and she yets out a yelp of pain. The first she has all battle. It takes her a moment to stand again, struggling to her feet. She is burnt, battered and still bleeding. Profusely. As Tidus charges, Pearl moves alongside him, in a suddenly fluid dash that one should not be doing with the battering her ankle appears to have taken. She'll be fine. Right?
And then she gets almost face to... face? goop? with Lydia, and turns with a lightning fast hacking elbow, an aura of vicious cutting chi slicing at Lydia before Pearl stumbles and rolls with the whole strike, trying to recover. She comes up to one knee. "...I do not know. But we cannot allow them to misuse the fayth." Fayth can definitely be transported though, they could have easily taken it by now. Do they want something else instead?
GS: Pearl has activated a Force Action! GS: Pearl has attacked Lydia Seren with Bamboo Cutter! GS: Pearl has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye, well, if you're ever in the mood for a change of career, you know how to get in touch!" Layna replies to Lily.
'None of your business', Loren says. He's actually right about that, but Layna laughs anyway.
"Fair enough!" She replies. She backs away from Schiehallion, storing her spear away and observing the Gear as it drops to one knee. Just as she's considering her approach, Lily shouts out a warning. Layna curses.
The Corsair draws out its anchor again, but this time it props it up as a wall. And then, a storm of crystal rains down. The earth around the Corsair is torn to shreds. The Corsair itself only survives due to the safety of its anchor, and its generally thick frame.
Once it's clear, Layna exhales.
"Dahlia, how're we looking?" Layna asks, looking back at her copilot. Dahlia frowns, tapping through menus.
"We can still move, but integrity is down considerably. Be careful." Dahlia warns. With a nod, Layna turns her head forward once more.
"...'We should all die', aye? You're not the first who's said that to me. You're not the first who's tried. What makes you think you're gonna be the one to do it, Loren Voss?" Layna asks, readying the anchor.
"Outta the way, Lan! You can try talking some sense to him once his Gear's no longer a threat!" Layna warns, a moment before directing the Corsair to hurl the anchor Schiehallion's way. As soon as it makes contact she draws it back again and lunges in to deliver a solid punch to the Gear before taking up the anchor in both hands to bring it down once more.
GS: Layna Manydays spends 2 Combo on Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling! GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Loren Voss with Terror of the Seas! GS: Layna Manydays has gained 2 Combo! GS: Disrupt expired! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen talks to her Gear like a horse.
Seraphita talks to hers like a cat.
Outside of a Gear battle, Gwen'd likely do the same to Grandgrowl.
"... It's okay," Gwen coms back at Seraphita. "Xantia chooses her friends well, y'know? Solaris or not."
It makes it easier, to remember the face behind the fire of Grandgrowl.
And speaking of faces, there's Lan's, right outside her window, hello Lan
Gwen balks as Lan heals the Halcyone from outside. But really, how is that different from all the times she's used her ARM to do the same?
It doesn't make Lan's next action any less unnerving to see, swerving right towards Loren for reasons Gwen immediately understands, as she focuses her attention on his Gear. She understands it, yeah, but damn it Lan!!
Gwen slaps the com button, tuning it to the Dragoon's frequency. "Ida, I'm going after Lan!"
The declaration is made more troublesome by Seraphita's own attack: a series of rings that Lan may be able to escape, but Gwen herself can't, even as she tries to boost her Gear's speed.
If Gwen had one second more, she would have made it.
Flames still cling to the Halcyone as it pierces through the tightening circles the hard way- by absorbing and converting them anew. That familiar pyrite gold energy infests the Gear like the veins of lightning against a night sky, the pilot within gripping the metal latch underneath the dashboard, the one now marked with caution tape.
It works, Gwen knows that much.
It just doesn't rate all that high on the list of things Gwen wants to eat.
"... Damn it, Lan!"
Can she intervene in time?
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Star Cluster! GS: Cover expired! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Gwen Whitlock heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 400 temporary hit points! GS: Regen applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Gwen Whitlock activates Sufferer! GS: Lydia Seren critically guards Pearl's Bamboo Cutter for 82 hit points! GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst! GS: Lydia Seren solidly guards Tidus's Slice and Dice for 72 hit points! GS: Lydia Seren activates Guard bonus and Power Burst! GS: Lydia Seren takes a solid hit from Tidus's Quick Hit for 87 hit points! GS: Delay applied to Lydia Seren! GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst and Sufferer! GS: Lydia Seren solidly guards Elhaym van Houten's AHT-MITM -Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun- for 78 hit points! GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Jam applied to Lydia Seren! GS: Lydia Seren activates Sufferer! Gwen Whitlock (Gwen) pages Lan Lilac and Loren Voss: Depending on what Loren does and what you guys want to do for the drama, Gwen will try to +cover or knock Lan out
GS: Loren Voss suffers a terrible blow from Layna Manydays's Terror of the Seas for 385 hit points! GS: Loren Voss has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia may have gotten used to the way Lily feels in a way that she probably couldn't explain if you asked her. She's calmer now, more herself, as if being in proximity to this wrongness makes everything feel more right. That's just Xantia Things, her not responding to things the same way most people would. It's certainly helped in coordinating the attack just now.
However, in the way of that... something's different about the Solarian Gear pilot. Xantia can sense that much, though not determine what it is exactly. Other than a vague sense of 'something dangerous is happening'. ...And the distinct sense that this guy is, once again, about to cheat somehow.
"Lily..." she begins, but she doesn't get further with her question, because she's already gotten an answer. Drive. Lily couldn't have known, but its mention triggers something. Xantia feels as if she's on the verge of remembering something, prompting a mentak struggle to try and take hold of the memory that's trying to surface.
This is not a good time for that. The prompt to move out goes unheeded for one short moment, and that's all it takes for the reaction to come far too late. When the rain of crystals begins, Silvestris has only just begun to move, and by then it's no longer possible to escape the area of effect, the Gear vanishing in the chaos of the onslaught.
Only to reappear when the air clears. While Silvestris looked skeletal before, it now looks more like a zombie, its body twisted, dented and misshapen, several crystals remaining embedded in its frame. While it remains upright, it appears to have frozen up, perhaps damaged too severely to even move.
But then, a soft glow surrounds the machine, the crystals stuck in its body losing their hue, then shattering as Silvestris absorbs what energy it can. Without any fanfare, the machine's tail adjusts, the energy flow redirected to its tip, which briefly grows bright before unleashing what can only be described as a Big Freaking Laser towards the Schiehallion, before limply collapsing. The rest of the machine appears ready to do the same, but it's still managing to stay upright, somehow. A subdued Xantia can be heard shortly after.
"Lily... I think I need to leave. If I don't... Silvestris won't make it."
With that, she starts to backpedal. At least it's still got locomotion. Attempting to disable the immediate enemy still had to take priority, but as should be clear to anyone, this machine is pretty done at this point. And yet, Xantia can see enough of a silver lining to focus on a positive note, with a hint of a smile in her voice.
"At least... I didn't lose control this time."
GS: Xantia spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Xantia has attacked Loren Voss with Hi-Voltage Cannon! GS: Disrupt expired! GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"NO! IT DOESN'T! OKAY KINDA BUT IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO." Lydia tells Tidus. "Ugh you're such a star blitzball player you can tank star power...! I should've known!! Why are you guys so badass now?? I need to be strong. It's just like... Kislev in Solaris... You need to be strong and if you're strong enough you can be the champ and you can save people..."
Lydia's now in a panic and that means her reluctance to do a murder on someone who isn't so bad is out the window. She's not sure what's going on but she's gone from thinking she's basically invincible to fearing for her life.
There's a kind of brutality to it. Pearl rips open Lydia's shoulder with a lighting fast elbow, chi cleaving that limb wholly free where it sparkles briefly before melting into silver goo. "Damn it. Damn it--"
Tidus uses his LD on Tidus that is a free action. He swipes through Lydia's midsection though metal tendrils snap up quickly to avoid her bisection. She brings up both her arms and the sword strikes cling sharply against them. "Ah...Ahhh...."
She pushes her will forward, arms overextending and slamming up against Tidus and Pearl's throats as she aims to slam them against the wall.
"I can't. I can't. Got a home. To get back to. One day. Once I've saved them--"
MEANWHILE
OS approaches an angel.
They listen carefully. And then they speak.
"Mother," They say. "Please come home. "
"Everyone will be happy and free."
The statue looks at OS.
And for a moment it no longer exists.
The extendo limbs attempting to choke Pearl and Tidus out suddenly...disintegrate.
Lydia looks at her arms. "No... No no... Kalve please... Please help me... I'm scared..."
"Mom... Mom please... Can you save me please..."
There is one last jerk and Lydia falls over to the side, what remains of her anyway. And just lies there. Inactive.
GS: CRITICAL! Loren Voss takes a solid hit from Xantia's Hi-Voltage Cannon for 483 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Loren Voss gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Jam applied to Loren Voss! GS: Quick applied to Xantia! GS: Charge!! You gain 55 FP! GS: Loren Voss enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Loren Voss has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Seraphita has posed.
"Thanks... Loren?"
That's a little concerning - they're not trying to *kill* all of them, though sometimes deaths happen in war and Seraphita isn't too broken up about this when it's all combatants. But it isn't something she can (or should) really object to, either.
Seraphita turns slightly away from Ida - which may be a mistake, but she only does it for a moment - to follow Lan's movement. The rings of flame burn, but Seraphita only sets them to chase Lan, reaching out after her; she doesn't send anything else flying her way, through the rings themselves begin to rotate, emitting little pieces of themselves.
Gwen, too, runs past her instead of at her. Toward Loren. Everybody toward Loren -
"Get away from him!" Seraphita takes Grandgrowl to the air, wings beating. She trusts Lan to not be trying to hurt Loren; she's seen them interact before, she knows Lan wouldn't do that on purpose - though she might try to do some other things that Seraphita probably shouldn't overlook.
She does not know Gwen well enough to make that same estimation. SHE could be running to finish off a damaged Gear. She could be running to take out a Solarian soldier.
So Seraphita decides to end this in the fastest way possible. She simply - unbottles the flame.
Ether is always in the air, and after expending so much of it there's a lot of ambient waves. Some of it - not all of it, but always some - is fire-aligned, and Seraphita lets it loose; it flares into bursts of flame, erratically placed, randomly intense or weak and faded. She pumps more energy outward, rippling in strange and apparently abstract patterns as they follow the 'natural' flows of energy.
The net result: the entire battlefield abruptly flares into light and flame. Seraphita has put a bubble of safety around Lydia, and a larger one around Loren's Gear, but that's about all she can manage. It's complicated enough!
Seraphita is torn as to whether she should be rushing toward Lydia or rushing toward Loren. She settles on Lydia, because Loren is in a Gear and Lydia isn't, and is completely unmoving, which is Bad. If she's hurt any more than normal battle damage -
It turns out a giant plume of randomized flame is *also* an excellent signal flare.
GS: Seraphita has activated a Boss Action! GS: Seraphita has attacked Xantia with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Lydia Seren with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Pearl with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Lan Lilac with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Tidus with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Lily Keil with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita gains 120 THP from Regen! GS: Seraphita has completed her action. GS: Seraphita has canceled their attack on Lydia Seren. GS: ROU|LET|TE: Low! Elhaym van Houten accepts Seraphita's Wildfire for 163 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Seraphita! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Catastrophic! Tidus takes a glancing hit from Seraphita's Wildfire for 100 hit points! GS: Seraphita has attacked Layna Manydays with Wildfire! GS: Seraphita has gained 1 Combo! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Ruinous! Layna Manydays partially guards Seraphita's Wildfire for 246 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Seraphita! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Pearl suffers a terrible blow from Seraphita's Wildfire for 156 hit points! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Moderate! Xantia suffers a terrible blow from Seraphita's Wildfire for 240 hit points! GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Low! Lily Keil partially guards Seraphita's Wildfire for 59 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Lily Keil activates Arcane Font! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Low! Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Seraphita's Wildfire for 118 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Seraphita! GS: Gwen Whitlock activates Sufferer! GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Break, Cripple, Jam, Mute, Slow, and Weaken expired! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Ida Everstead-Rey partially guards Seraphita's Wildfire for 96 hit points! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Lan Lilac accepts Seraphita's Wildfire for 366 hit points! GS: Lan Lilac enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
'Shit, he's got Drive!'
Lily is the one among them who realizes what gambit Loren has just attempted.
And thus, she is the one who responds in kind.
"Have you always had that power?" he wonders aloud, quite calm for their circumstances. "All the more reason to exterminate you," Loren concludes.
Lily has begun to glow with a strange light. It is said that the pentagram is representative of the human form: four limbs, a head, a body suggested by the crossing lines alone. As above, so below: a symbol defining the body's power, the body's power in a symbol.
The first beam of light that strikes him merely illuminates the base as if it were suddenly noon and clear skies.
The one that follows obliterates parts of the ice beyond the encampment, far behind where his Gear now stands. Alarms and warnings stream across the screens within the cockpit; Schiehallion's exterior speaks to the damage so inflicted upon it. Loren regards this coolly and ejects his current shells from the sidearms, urging his Gear forward nonetheless.
"Have they?" Loren asks of her, this person who he has dealt with before both inside and outside of battle. None of this matters, of course. "Then they must not have been trying very hard. You don't stand a chance," he tells Layna.
Someone is screaming at him, telling him to stop. Wrinkling his brow faintly within the cockpit, he focuses on Lan, floating amidst her personal galaxy. "Get out of my way, Lan," he tells her, quite calmly. He recognizes her -- is that a good thing?
Surging forward, the heavy Gear pushes past her crystal palace, intent on one thing and one thing alone:
He draws his sights on Lily Keil.
The Corsair interposes itself in his path, launching a punch dead center for the charging Gear. Even if it had still been in good condition, it would have had trouble with this sort of maneuver, given the relative mass of the Schiehallion. The introduction of the anchor doesn't help.
An entire huge section of shattered armor plating, split off from the Gear, crashes to the ground. Schiehallion reels. Loren, in the cockpit, quietly watches the damage report scroll.
CRITICAL CONDITION: OPERATION TERMINATED flashes across all screens. And just as quietly as before, his gaze falls on the shimmering glow gathering at the tip of Silvestris' tail.
"Oh," Loren remarks, in those seconds before the laser fires. The world goes white.
To an outside observer, Schiehallion is sent careening back into one of the nearby bunkers, landing with an explosive crash through the wall. Once fallen, the Gear does not move. This may be for the best, all considering.
The fires that follow -- at Seraphita's beck and call -- will do well to keep anyone from monkeying about with the fallen Gear (or the pilot within it).
There is a glint from the heavens. It's the first and only warning. Down into the middle of the encampment, there lands first a single humanoid Gear. Then, from the lake, there emerges a Gear with a shape not unlike a dolphin.
"...As expected of you," Dominia remarks to Seraphita from within Bladegash.
"Gear reinforcements are en route," says Kelvena, from within Marinebasher. "For now, we are here."
Three Elements. The threat of more Gears. The presence of the soldiers stationed here at the outpost, emerging now that the initial Gear skirmish has largely resolved itself--
Almost certainly, they can't keep this up. The longer this goes on, the more likely it is that their struggle up to this point will be for naught. But even three of the Elements -- particularly with people down -- couldn't possible pursue everyone here indefinitely. Until reinforcements arrive, escape is certainly -- definitely, given the conditions in Macalania -- still possible.
Even if they have to push through any patrols they might meet on the way.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
"Then get out of here--you really helped us out, Xantia. I'll be right behind you."
Even if her blast takes out Loren... that still leaves the rest of the entire base they've just aggroed, and Seraphita and Lydi--....Not Lydia. But Seraphita nd Grandgrowl. Lily indeed doesn't realize that Drive triggers something for Xantia.
"Go ahead and try it," Lily replies, a different kind of calm. But there is the prickling there of necessity, of a powerful enemy, because she does not know the limits of what he can do on this substance, with his Gear... and she has to take a moment to recover herself after that blast, sagging in the air for a few moments, too busy recovering herself for much else.
But Fire happens, and everywhere. Lily is no longer close to Loren's gear, sagging mid-air, but she is able to pivot to delivr her force to defend herself, lucky enough to be where the fire is weaker in relative terms. She just throws up a barrier of void energy to eat up the oxygen the flames could otherwise eat, and in so doing is able to dampen most of the little bit of the attack that reaches her. Even that much is enough to sear closed her other wounds, though, and that's going to hurt when her body goes back to normal.
The flames...
"Get moving!" Lily starts, because she knows that their attempt at stealth is Over. With backup arriving in the form of two more Elements and still more Gears, there's nothing they can do--and as much as that rankles at her, this is not the time for a grand last stand.
Lily lingers, sailing down to ground level towards the trees, and turns back, circles forming on her palms of the same circuitry marking her limbs. Energy gathers around them, a smaller version of the beam she just used, but she doesn't fire. Lily just holds power at the ready, and moves into the trees for cover.
She lingers just long enough to make sure everyone is leaving before, wreathed in violet-black energy, she flies off into the distance, a mote of dark power in the sky.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
The tide is clearly turning. Elly watches Lydia with increasing concern, alarm, anxiety. There are limits to these bodies but even if she ends up... gelatinizing, they'll recover her. And if they abandon her to the cold and the ice then *they* can recover her, and -
The representation of the Omnigear gazes on OS. Beatific as it is, and possessed of the power of Anima, the Omnigear is in some key senses less than Lydia Seren-- or even OS, it would seem.
And so the Omnigear makes no reply. Its expression, her expression, doesn't change.
But in the real world, Lydia's fading resolve turns into something else, suddenly. Something pained, helpless. Lethal. She calls out for 'Mother'.
Elly feels the horrible cramp of this. It is not feigned. The pain, the confusion, are real. I've made a mistake, she thinks. I shouldn't have - shouldn't - have -
The Omnigear is already sitting down. It moves with the fluid grace of an athletic human, which in this case displaces a fair amount of wind - there is no sound save the inevitable BANG when its robotic haunches reach the hangar floor. It leans forwards then, as the cockpit hatch opens. "Lydia!!" Elly cries.
She leaps out. This is probably going to look real stupid to Tidus and Pearl, though the strangled, "-I'm sorry!-" afterwards probably makes the reasoning behind this abundantly clear-- even if they may not know the Solaris language, the tone and body language is obvious.
That's when the firestorm comes. Elly feels the Ether forming and for a bleak moment she thinks 'I deserve it' and a fraction of a second later she can see blurred faces and something is already forming-- so there is a sudden rime-frost on her clothing when the flame washes past her. Not literal ice, but a temporary cold anomaly - enough that while she screeches in sudden pain and is bowled onto her side, well:
That's not fatal. Behind her, the Omnigear shifts. Inside Elly, she feels a tugging and realizes with a mix of horror and hope that *the hatch is open* - it must still be picking up her brainwaves - and her orders are desperate, unambiguous. 'save her'
The Omnigear does nothing visible.
IN THE DIGITAL SPACE:
> LYDIA SEREN
> sys.restore ' regen.ncd ' recoverie.ncd ' execute.exe
> LIVE
BACK IN REALITY:
Elly turns her head against the pain in time to see Schiehallion reel. Loren, Elly thinks in agony. And then, at least, she is greeted by old friends or associates at the least - people whom she could know and rely on... in some situations... in that there is Bladegash. And there is Marinebasher. And that means...
"All of them... are they *all* here? But - but why," Elly says, before casting imploring eyes towards the inert Lydia. After this, the desperation seems at least partly spent. She looks towards Tidus and towards Pearl.
"I can take you both," Elly says, staggering back upwards. "In - in Regulus, there's room. I can't fight them but I can get away. I, I'm sorry that I - come on - we can't -" She turns to face the Omnigear. For a moment, she hates it as her fists clench.
I can hate it all I want once we're -- not here, Elly concludes.
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.
Lydia complains about Tidus's star power. "Are you kidding??" he says, words slightly slurred from punch-drunkenness. "I feel like Iiii got hit by a bunch o' trucks!" He is at least still conscious and upright, though, rather than a red smear in the snow, so in a sense Lydia's right.
But after his and Pearl's attacks strike, Tidus turns towards her and sees that she's REALLY getting beat up. Even with his head whirling, Tidus can't help but hesitate. "Hey, yyyyou okay? If you wwwanna run I'm not gonna--"
Her arm disintigrates, and she collapses. Tidus looks quite alarmed about this. "Hey is she gonna be okay??" he asks Pearl, not realizing how his own comment about 'for good' might have been misconstrued. Elly transmits a question of what Solaris even wants here; Tidus can only shake his head. "Pearl'z right. We jus' gotta stop 'em," he declares. "But first..." He stumbles towards Lydia to try to check on her--not really a sensible thing to do, but again he's mildly concussed, so he's absolutely not going to criticize Elly for jumping out of her cockpit.
Then suddenly there's FIRE EVERYWHERE.
Tidus shouts in surprise and pain, hurling himself into the snow to avoid the worst of it; this means he's pinned in rapidly melting ice for a moment. All the same, it keeps him from getting torched alive, even if this coat is absolutely *ruined* now.
Elly offers a ride to him and Pearl. Tidus staggers up and gives her a nod, then looks over at Pearl. "Le's go," he says, firm despite his general condition, and offers her a hand in getting up into the cockpit. Possibly he might have to full-body carry her into the cockpit. Either way, he's not going to leave her behind.
After sufficient healing to ensure he'll wake up again, Tidus then passes out. This might be a bit awkward for Elly, but they need to get out of here either way.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Really? Is it the 'Drive' telling you that? Look at the situation you're in, aye? Can you really look at that battered Gear and say you still have a shot here?" Layna replies. But before she can do anything else, the battlefield is consumed in flames and Layna is forced to backpedal away from Schiehallion. The Corsair is rated for extreme temperatures, but the flames of the Fire Element burn hotter still.
"Damn! Should've guessed she'd interfere." Layna hisses. ...Just that would be probably enough, but, suddenly there's a loud 'beep' from the Corsair's console.
"Layna! We've got more incoming!" Dahlia warns. "Two are here already, and more on the way. I strongly advise a retreat."
Layna grimaces... but, relents with a sigh, as Lily echoes the same sentiment.
"Right." Layna says with a nod, and then raises her voice. "Move it, people! It's time to get out of here. I'll cover you!"
The Corsair can still take a bit more of a beating - she can at least act as a wall for as long as it takes for those on the ground to make their escape before she follows suit. Knowing when to run is an important part of being a captain too, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The Dust Dragoon casts its gaze about the hangar, taking in the last few moments of a pitched battle. It's almost too much, both in volume and intensity. Lily is all but unrecognizable, unleashing hell upon the Gebler Gear Ida has fought, repeatedly--the one she clung to when Odessa's flying fortress broke apart. Tidus and Pearl are wounded, Lydia is somehow in even worse shape, barely managing to keep herself together. Elly, running for her, screaming something Ida doesn't understand but doesn't need to understand.
Ida's body shivers, and the Dragoon shivers with it. Then Seraphita demonstrates, once more, why she's the Fire Element. Flame rakes across the Dragoon's plating, and Ida bites back a howl of sudden pain as damage sensors ferry information through the spine, to nociceptors. But the Dragoon pulls a retreat, falling into line with the Corsair. Ida says nothing. She doesn't need to. The familiar combat wariness is right there in her Gear's posture as it levels the cannon at Bladegash--a desperate threat. It doesn't fire. It pulls back as the Corsair does.
This isn't over, Ida thinks. For once, the words bring only dread.
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.
Was that too much? Had she just defaulted to her old ways? She stares at the falling apart Lydia. "I...do not know." She answers, truthfully. She tries to stand up again, but it's clearly painful. Her movements are small and careful, and there's the occasional wince.
And then she calls out for her mother and Pearl adds another terrified dying cry to her all too vivid memory. They stopped here, then. Once and for all.
The way killers like her do.
And then Seraphita's flames of rage consume and the burns make her cry out loud. When they abate, she is barely keeping herself upright. When Tidus offers a hand, her eyes widen and she is about to tell him to leave her.
When he grabs her and carries her, she freezes, terror writ on her normally unemotive face. She's shaking, but it could be just the extent of her injuries. Her mouth seems sealed shut, and the exhausted Tidus gets her into the cockpit of Regulus that Elly has invited her too. She rolls to one side, and pulls herself as small as he can. Is this what shakes her, when battle hasn't? When murdering another young woman doesn't? But running away in the face of so many foes is the only option here. Elly has made the right call. A quiet, shaky 'thank you' comes from behind the pilot's seat, before Pearl tries to make herself invisible.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
It's a fair assessment of Seraphita to make. Gwen's com was not directed to include Seraphita's at the time, and Gwen never said anything that would clue Seraphita to Gwen's opinion of Loren.
And even still, there are those whose true character only comes out when a person is down.
Thankfully, Seraphita doesn't need to regret her action or not, as Gwen intervenes with Lan, and Loren, with his inaction, leaves Lan's faith intact.
"LAN, INSIDE NOW!"
The squeak in Gwen's voice betrays her bluff, releasing a part of the scream she's been wanting to let out since moments ago.
The side hatch unseals and opens, Gwen hanging out of her seat to reach her right hand out and snag Lan inside. As the sealing door clicks and hisses, Gwen sees the odd, kneeling position of Regulus, and the long red hair of Elly as she descends from it, doing what? She can't see, from this angle.
Elly is.... what is Elly doing?!
Seraphita's 'signal flare' blocks Gwen's view and makes her swallow a shriek. Elly's down there, and so is Tidus, and Pearl, who else?
She can't think. Lan likely can hear the way her teeth chatter.
It just takes one look to confirm their safety-- specifically, Elly is taking care of it. Ida is withdrawing too, along with Xantia, hopefully, who else?
"...... Thank the Guardians... Lan, we're getting outta here *right now*!!" Gwen slams the booster button, grabbing onto Lan if she's not already buckled in.
She can still feel the taste of Seraphita's fire in the back of her head, signaling the beginning of a headache. But that's for the future, when Gwen and Lan and the others are safe.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia may have had an understanding of military matters pounded into her but she's not a soldier by nature. She's an engineer by nature and she was freaking the hell out because things are happening to her body that aren't supposed to be. She may be wearing an assassin's clothes but it's not really in her nature either. The Shadow Dragon Master just had a special touch for child abuse that Solaris just doesn't quite have the passion to manage for all its nightmarish underbelly.
Lydia looks like an object of a person, and one not in the best shape. OS is what keeps Lydia from falling apart. Lydia just doesn't have the right kind of brain to really hold herself together. Not yet, at least. Day by day...
"S'ok...." Lydia slurs to Elly. "This kinda end...is prolly what I deserve." She thinks she's dying. "I don't feel them anymore... Am I...free?"
She's not, but she thinsk she is. Some part of her understands Elly did something, but she doesn't know what.
OS is just plum off' though. No comment from OS.
"OS...is a big dumb baby... Didn't know...what they were doin' really..."
Seraphita drops down to save(?) her. Lydia is in no position to resist. She's not sure if she wants to.
Can Elly save her?
Or just end her?
She doesn't know, but she closes her eyes hoping that the bad dream ends or, at least, she can find a new one.