2020-06-28: Wolves of a Different Color

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<Pose Tracker> Indigo Wolves has posed.

    "Captain, we have them in our visuals."

    "Acknowledged, Vesper. Begin final descent and ready for imminent combat. Remember: our orders are to bring his daughter back alive by any means necessary. Repeat: we are to retrieve the colonel's daughter alive."

    "What about the others?"

    "They're irrelevant. Kill them."

    "Understood."

    For many months, the Karlsefni has remained a shadow amongst the waters of Northen Aquvy. Leon Albus had chosen the places the ship berthed well: the ancient vessel had gone undetected by the powers that be.

    Until now.

    BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESfNiBgox0U

    The descent of the squadron of seven comes as a bolt out of the blue, the lot of them dipping low as they pull in alongside the ship in formation.

    "This is Captain Weber of the Indigo Wolves," the leader broadcasts. "Attention, occupants of this vessel: we are requesting your surrender and the peaceful transfer of Lily Keil to our custody. Any other response will result in your elimination. Repeat: surrender, now. You have ten minutes to comply."

DC: Shalune Amira switches forms to Friend to All Children - Big Shal!
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    Lunata's back with the Wolves now, following the incident at Kasutho Island. Long story short: She died (again), and came back (again), and since then the Lunies have chosen to take the Rephaim back to the Karlsefni, owing to the Black Wolves being darn good at hiding their ship and the Rephaim being... sensitive property that would draw the interest of many parties indeed.

    That, and she wants to spend time with what, by now, she's considered her found family.

    The ex-waitress is in the Gear hangar, performing some maintenance (and possibly making Shalune proud at how much she's come by herself) when...

    This is Captain Weber... Attention, occupants of this vessel...

    A pause.

    Lunata actually physically walks over to a sign in the hangar that she's brought over from the Yggdrasil:

    146 DAYS SINCE UNAUTHORISED LAUNCH

    The waitress flips it back to 0, then runs off.

    OUTSIDE

    Activity bursts from one of the black ship's catapults, a white and blue winged Gear hurtling out from its tracks with twin leads of lightning erupting from its feet.

    "So, uh, maybe I'm being a bit presumptuous."

    It's got a rifle in one hand, a shield in the other as it lifts it up and takes aim towards the group of seven.

    "We told the Blue Wolves a while back a hearty heck no and the answer's gonna be the same this time too!"

    She takes breath, and the Gear balletically twists as it launches several snapshots as she tries a new battle cry:

    "I KINDA LOVE GEARS AND FIGHTING, ACTUALLY!!"

GS: Lunata Croze has attacked Indigo Wolves with XA-AR15 Leyline Rifle!
GS: Lunata Croze has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Alarms begin to sound on the Karlsefni. A steady wail, with flashes of red down some hallways. It isn't Leon's voice, but the former Althenan priest, Argus, that comes over the ship's loudspeakers: "We have incoming Gears!"

It is a little while later that the hangar doors open. The Weglaff steps out onto the smooth, level black deck of the Karlsefni. His Gear can't fly, per se; it does, however, have a number of armaments, and this includes a rather large gatling cannon. The blue Gear hefts it, its single camera eye swiveling to look at one Gear, then the other.

"Falling back on sounding official, Weber?" he asks. "Funny. Were you one of the ones calling me a traitor, before you decided to become one yourself?"

The gatling cannon is lifted. This may be a distraction for a few things. One is Lunata -- he cracks a smile -- and the other is the way that the Weglaff reaches over its shoulder. The heat blade -- unheated, so it is currently an edged slab of dark steel -- is drawn, and then thrown one-handed for the lowest Gear in the sky.

The saber, a little bafflingly, doubles as a boomerang.

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Indigo Wolves with Unheated Cleave!
GS: Leon Albus assumes the Avenger stance!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: Indigo Wolves critically Guards a hit from Lunata Croze's XA-AR15 Leyline Rifle for 58 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly van Houten had been eating eggs when the alert rang out through the Karlsefni. Her eyes had turned around to others seated near her, and as she swallows, she says, "I -"

NOW

It has been seven minutes and change for Elly to strap herself into Vierge and take several large swigs of a yogurt and herbs concoction from the mess hall which is supposed to make her voice sound more like a certain character. She does sound a little huskier when she flicks on the transmitter.

"My my my. Isn't this a... pickle."

"I'm afraid you have gotten it all wrong and you've found my ship of death..."

Elly coughs into the back of her wrist and continues. "But I'm a woman of sport. Just ask my many husbands... who I have murdered! If you bail out of your Gears now... then you'll have a sporting chance. I'm sure you'd much rather face the waters than feel the bloody kiss of-"

*cough*

"The Black Window. Uuu hu hu hu hu hu hu~!"

Elly flicks to the local transmitter. "... this stuff tastes horrible... do femme fatales actually drink this? Am I even saying that word right...? It sounds like it's Meria Boulian - um - anyway, I've been slow-launching the AERODs..."

IN THE SKY

There is a sudden beautiful twinkle.

The twinkle is refined Ether energy creating megaparticulate death rays out of a clear blue sky!

"... and now it's time to join them!"

Does she know the detail she got wrong?

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Indigo Wolves with AEROD Field Spray!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

A couple days ago, Emeralda was off on one of her adventures. She came back yesterday, exhausted, and slept like a rock for like twenty-four hours. This is pretty normal when she's been exerting herself, especially when she needs to repair or recover herself.

She is actually not awake when the Indigo Wolves begin their announcement. Eventually, the alarm sounds, and Emeralda literally falls out of bed, hits the floor with enough force to spread her out slightly from the impact, reflexively pulls herself back together and then sits up, bleary-eyed and with a tremendous case of bedhead.

TWENTY SECONDS LATER

Emeralda sprints through the hallways of the Karlsefni, having gone from zero to one hundred in no time flat. She makes a godawful racket.

NOW

Crescens doesn't need a catapult. It climbs out of one of the open hatches and hovers, its giant wings spreading wide as if it was using them to stay up (it isn't) as Emeralda, bleary-eyed despite her first surge of energy, attempts to orient herself.

She is using Elly's AERODs, which she can detect but not control, to guide herself; little balls of electricity appear in the air after they fire, discharging arcs of electricity down the ionization created by the death ray as Emeralda piggybacks on Elly's aim while she tries to figure out what is going on.

"WHAT IS GOING ON," Emeralda yells into her team transmitter, in case it helps her with that.

GS: Emeralda Kasim has attacked Indigo Wolves with Anemo Dharm!
GS: Emeralda Kasim has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"...So he's finally come calling," Lily says from the bridge, where she sees the Gears approaching and hears the alarms and announcements. She stands up from where she was and darts back towards the hangar--

And Hellerune steps out onto the deck after Weglaff, the great, tall black Gear matching the ship pretty well. She makes less of a racket, though she pulls her gigantic spear and levels it at one of the Gears assailing them.

"...I appreciate it," she radios over drily after Lunata, and to Elly she--

"...Good work," she tells her, and if there is any laughter she manages to keep it off the local tarnsmitter.

Her Ether accelerator roars to life, and that makes a terrible noise, as a point of light appears before her Gear's hand--

And a column of golden fire erupts towards one of the Gears surrounding them.

"No thanks, Weber."

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Indigo Wolves with Alpha Pulse!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Man, Fei thinks, what kind of world would it have been if he lived in a universe where he mostly fought Aveh's troops instead of Kislev's? He could have--if Bart had been making more pushes on that front--yet here he is now fighting their competitors.

Or well, they would've been competitors if they didn't try and do a coup, but the fact is that all these troops being on the Kislev front makes him wonder just how big of a blow was Colonel Keil's departure was.

Fei is in the Weltall. Hammer reluctantly made some mods to it but was pretty stern with Fei about actually paying him to make it workable in the future. War doesn't just sit around just because you've got a prototype Fei! Fei is really bad about keeping his gear in condition for some mysterious reason.

Nevertheless, Lunata says 'I KINDA LOVE GEARS AND FIGHTING ACTUALLY!!'

Meanwhile Fei kind of quietly looks down at his feet.

See this is why I like Lunata. She's honest.

"Hey! I'm honest." Fei says. "I don't like fighting. And Gears, well...!"

Come on Junior, I know you like the rush. I know you get a kick of these people who think they're so invincible being reminded of their own mortality.

Fei places his hand on his forehead, sighing. "I still remember her face."

The Crimson Wolves gal was gonna kill us.

Fei runs his hand down his face, takes in a deep breath, and opens up his own comms channel.

"If you liked Lily so much maybe you shouldn't have framed her for treason and killed all her friends!!" Fei yells back. "How about YOU surrender so we don't kill all of you!?"

He ends his transmission and leans back.


I bet Elly finds that hot

"Oh my god shutup." Fei says. "What do they think Lily's gonna do if they take her back anyway? Just be like 'okay screw my friends'? Come on..."

He shakes his head. "This is pointless."

I'm just saying you dig The Black Window

"..." Fei blushes and turns his head silently as he remembers his gear can fly and throws himself at one of the gears in a flying tackle.

"..." Fei lowers his head further in deep shame.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Indigo Wolves with Oh Shit It's Weltall!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Leon Albus's Unheated Cleave for 259 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! applied to Indigo Wolves!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Elhaym van Houten's AEROD Field Spray for 256 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves critically Guards a hit from Emeralda Kasim's Anemo Dharm for 51 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Alpha Pulse for 240 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Mighty! applied to Lily Keil!
GS: Indigo Wolves guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Oh Shit It's Weltall for 133 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    For the time being, at least, Shalune has followed Lunata and the Rephaim back to the Karlsfeni. She feels a certain amount of responsibility for everything that happened around the other girls' revival, and does at least intend to see through properly fixing up any of the scrapes and dents in the Rephaim's armour. Whether she did the right thing... her internal jury is still out on that, but she's getting there.

    It was a lot. So perhaps when the alarm blares and there's a bonk and a yelp as she smacks her head against the access hatch she's working under, she can be forgiven the way she looks up afterwards and lets out a very un-Shalune-like growl: "Can you give us a break already?!"

    * * *

    She doesn't launch, per se.

    Diablo has retreated back to wherever it goes when she's not actively working on it or calling it forth, and she's definitely not at the point where she's ready to summon the ancient golem in order to get involved in a fight between groups of humans. That kind of assumes waaay too much about her opponent's morality than she's ready and comfortable taking for granted.

    Big Shal is on board the Karlsfeni, but the Veruni golem is at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to actually fighting amongst Gears in an aerial assault like this one - smaller than most and without a ready means of flight propulsion. She'd tried, once, but the sheer power required hadn't exactly played well with the golem's somewhat rickety construction. Big Shal is more than capable of drawing on the material processor to rebuild itself on the fly, but she'd rather find a better solution first.

    But that's okay, because she doesn't necessarily need to fight to help out in this situation. She's already got her sleeves rolled up and a pair of thick gloves as she races across the deck of the Karlsfeni with several cables hooked over her shoulder, ready to reroute and supply extra power to the ship's defences should it need it.

    Still, it takes her a long moment to take in Lunata's warcry, and Elly's dohohohoho. "Uh... ... are we the bad guys now?" she wonders aloud to the golem next to her. Without breaking stride, Big Shal thinks, and--

GS: Shalune Amira spends 1 Combo on Inspire!
GS: Shalune Amira has attacked Lunata Croze with Thumbs Up!!
GS: Shalune Amira assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Shalune Amira has completed her action.
GS: Lunata Croze takes a solid hit from Shalune Amira's Thumbs Up! for 0 hit points!
GS: Reload! Lunata Croze gains 15 extra FP from Shalune Amira!
GS: Lunata Croze gains a Combo from Inspire!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei kinda sinks further in his chair when Shalune asks if they're bad guys now.

"I don't know if I can really call myself a 'good guy'." He mumbles.

<Pose Tracker> Indigo Wolves has posed.

    The call to arms is a swift one.

    "Sorry, but I think not, boy," is Weber's response to Fei. "We have our orders. Blame your 'captain' if you must. --Albus, at last! I was wondering if you would dare to show your sorry face!" broadcasts Weber's Gear as Leon's Weglaff arrives on the scene. "I don't suppose you'll do yourself a favor and surrender? I always did want to try to take you in a fair fight, but I suppose this will have to do!"

    Perhaps it with the cannon trained towards them, the captain and those nearest to him begin to similarly prepare to exchange fire. Except, a few things happen instead:

    The Rephaim rises soon after its launch, its pilot declaring her terms and snaps off several shots for the squad: a few of them miss outright, few score a glancing blow against a few of the Gears towards the stern, and the last--

    Strikes the captain's own Gear dead-on, its superior shielding leaving scarcely even a scratch. This, however, is the moment when the Weglaff reaches back and draws a blade and--
    throws it
    hitting the previously 'just-a-scratch'd' Captain Weber's Gear dead-on with the blade. There is an explosion of sparks, echoed only by the snarl over the radio frequency. "Retaliating, I see? So be it! You have dug your own graves!" pronounces Captain Weber, as he and his support Gears unload upon the Rephaim and Weglaff.

    BOSS FIGHT BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrwffB1EhAE

    Elsewhere, other Wolves are facing their own trials, as a certain FEMME FATALE reveals herself for the threat she represents.

    "...Hey, Vesper, did she mean 'Black Widow'? 'Cause I don't know what a 'Black Wind--'"

    "Shut up," replies Vesper, apparently, her response quite curt. "She's up to-- shit! Above!" The warning, such that it is, comes a little too late for the auxilary Gears to do much more than try to make the most of it (they don't make the most of it). Sparks mar several of the machines as they attempt to right themselves. "The hell was that, that wasn't a spell--"

    It wasn't a spell, but the little stray jolts of electrical force that follow the AERODS' trails are. Perhaps it's the dampening that the machines must have, or perhaps it's just the effect of piggybacking on Elly's first strike, but the effect seems somewhat less than what had gone before.

    But it hasn't gone without notice. "That one was! Just shut up and shoot!" comes Vesper's response, which is a well-timed one as this is the moment when the Weltall surges for them both. Vesper's companion manages to deflect in time, but the momentum behind the suddenly-airborne Gear is not so easily shrugged off; the Gear's plating betrays cracks. Vesper's companion trades fire soon after with on-board gatling cannons for Fei, Elly, and Emeralda's machines.

    Where is Lily, during all this? Is she even aboard the ship?

    The answer comes in a pillar of golden fire that engulfs one of the auxillaries, badly scorching its plating.

    The call comes from Captain Weber himself after the Hellerune makes its appearance: "There's Keil! Vesper, now!"

    A mandala display traces itself in the air in a swirl of violet light, ripping abruptly through the air with a sudden scream of pressure differentials. Such a spell has but only a little raw 'power' behind it, but... perhaps it does not need 'power' to potentially turn the tides.

    On the deck of the ship there stands a golem.

    "Is that a bloody Veruni--"

    "Just shoot it," says the auxillary's companion, not Vesper, this time. "Use a torpedo, those things are a pain in the ass."

    Their companion seems more than willing to comply, launching a single torpedo towards the Golem (or, if they miss, the... ship).

GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Lunata Croze with Paired Shot!
GS: Indigo Wolves has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Leon Albus with Paired Shot!
GS: Indigo Wolves has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Burst Storm!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Burst Storm!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Emeralda Kasim with Burst Storm!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Lily Keil with Arcane Siren!
GS: Indigo Wolves spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Shalune Amira with Claw Torpedo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has completed its action.
GS: Lunata Croze guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Paired Shot for 170 hit points!
GS: Lily Keil takes a solid hit from Indigo Wolves's Arcane Siren for 98 hit points!
GS: Mute! applied to Lily Keil!
GS: Emeralda Kasim takes a glancing hit from Indigo Wolves's Burst Storm for 113 hit points!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Elhaym van Houten completely evades a hit from Indigo Wolves's Burst Storm!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: CRITICAL! Leon Albus takes a glancing hit from Indigo Wolves's Paired Shot for 246 hit points!
GS: Shalune Amira guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Claw Torpedo for 192 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Burst Storm for 129 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"These are our former comrades, Emeralda," Leon says, a little flatly. "They revealed themselves to be, in a word, bloody jerks--" Nevermind that it's two words. "--and we're going to have to stop them. They likely mean to kill the lot of us."

He pauses.

"You're a good person, Shalune," Leon says. He hesitates, then frowns. "But I think the truth can be more complicated, as to whether we're good or bad. We're simply doing the best we can."

Leon leans his neck to the side, until it pops.

The Weglaff catches the saber, with a loud metal clang when the handle lands in the Weglaff's waiting hand. The metal fingers curl around it, and he keeps it put. He sees the air rip with sorcerous power, then swears. "Looks like they've learned a few tricks!" he snaps, before several gunshots rain in. They slam into the Gear, smashing Weglaff back. A pair of rounds leaves deep, crumpled dents into the armor. The paint cracks, silver showing beneath.

The Weglaff lifts its gatling cannon. The barrels start to spin up -- and then a veritable storm of bullets tears through air, across a pair of the Indigo Wolves' Gears, before centering on Weber.

"Well, you're right about one thing: I've no intention making this a fair fight, Weber."

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Indigo Wolves with Gatling Burst!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "The Black Window, huh...? Then-- I'm the Red Window!" Lunata exclaims, perhaps a little high on battle adrenaline causing her to run her mouth. It's kind of a thing because she'd rather go at a million miles a minute rather than shut down and get shot down. "You Wolves aren't the only ones who can designate yourselves with colours!"

    The Weglaff, Hellerune and Crescens are present too -- Leon's got a sick saber-boomerang, Emeralda and Lily have powerful Ether, and Elly's got AERODs which Lunata secretly kinda wants...

    "Oh, uh," Lunata clears her throat to Fei. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to poke fun or anything."

    But she gets a powerful... thumbs up!! from Big Shal, and the Rephaim turns to try to give a thumbs up--

    But finds that she doesn't have spare hands to do the manuever with.

    Darn.

    Shalune asks if they're the bad guys, and Lunata points out: "Pretty darn sure you can't ever chalk up guys working for Lt. Keil good guys, so."

    Her aim's a little bit off, which prompts a frown-- but the last one lands against the captain's Gear, though... barely leaves a scratch. "Tough one, huh?"

    There's a snarl as she watches the Mandala and calls out, "Lily!" and manuevers into position.

    It's strange, Lunata reflects for a moment, how much she's gotten used to this. The Gear just seems to move almost as an extension of her own body; the struggle of grappling with the flightsticks, struggling against the pressures being exerted on the cockpit--

    "Guess these guys are a cut above, but..."

    Even as the shots rock against the Rephaim, it reflexivesly curls in on itself -- significant damage is largely reduced as an oscillating barrier manifests to sight, mere inches above the Gear's metallic flesh.

    "I'm not done... yet!!"

    A massive red and white beam erupts from its forward-flexing torso, a cavity revealed to also double as a Ley emitter!

GS: Lunata Croze has attacked Indigo Wolves with XA-G6 Multiphase Ley Cannon!
GS: Lunata Croze has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Vierge emerges from the hangar door just in time for a gun to be turned towards her...

(Inwardly, Elly thinks even as she feels Emeralda's familiar 'presence' following after the AERODs: They've got skill... what has that Colonel been doing with them? Is this sort of thing the reason why Gebler--)

She presses on the controls then as the gatling fire sweeps over Vierge -- yet Vierge accelerates INWARDS!

Look at it from above! ... Okay, this is hard to describe without an animation. But what Elly is doing is closing the distance between herself and the gunner Gear sweeping fire, and if you consider the projection of gunfire to be within a cone - she avoids the cone, not by lateral motion (mostly), but by closing to grips!

The AERODs loop back to safeish storage on the back of the heavily repaired Vierge, even as Elly answers Emeralda briefly - "They're after Lily!" - and then starts to swing the battle rod of Vierge, which is approximately four tons in mass and carefully shaped for anti-armor impact, against the gunner companion.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Indigo Wolves with Beat Storm!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Leon Albus's Gatling Burst for 276 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Lunata Croze's XA-G6 Multiphase Ley Cannon for 263 hit points!
GS: Lunata Croze drains Indigo Wolves! Lunata Croze gains 250 temporary hit points!
GS: Indigo Wolves guards a hit from Elhaym van Houten's Beat Storm for 106 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

WHAT IS GOING ON

Good question, Fei thinks to himself. Then he thinks 'oh shit was my comms on for that?' when Lunata comments to him. "Uhhhh don't worry Lunata I was just talking to myself." Pause. "Literally." Pause. "..That...doesn't help with the worrying, huh?"

Leon tries to explain the situation to Emeralda. "That's two words." He points out. He is more comfortable with Leon's explanation for their morality at least. That's something. Character growth!?

"They want to take Auntie Lily," WAIT WHEN DID AUNTIE HAPPEN? It happened when Fei tried to explain this situation to Emeralda. "And she doesn't want to go. So we're stopping them."

He thinks about whether they are jerks too and he adds, "Also, they're very ruthless, so be careful, okay Emmy?"

And then he flicks his comms open and tells Weber, "Okay, but when we leave your bodies in the sea you'll only have yourselves to blame, or god." He turns them back off. "I guess."

Why do they enjoy fighting this much? Sure, Fei thinks, okay I enjoy the rush of sparring and all that and fighting is similar, but it's not the same thing.

The real danger of Weltall (at least in this stage) isn't just its output though. It braces itself in midair and takes gatling fire and it just seems to leave--potchmarks, palpable but someohw less than you might hope. Fei throws a series of midair sharp kicks towards Vesper's companion, focusing on one opponent at a time like a good JRPG Protagonist.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Indigo Wolves with Hazen!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

That identifies their mage, all right--Lily looks sharply to the displays on her Gear when she hears 'now', but there's no way to evade the swirl of violet light that ripples through the air. No, it doesn't have a lot of raw power, but it nevertheless settles around Hellerune with a rain of sparks.

This is where Lunata moves to dfend Lily, giving her the time to readjust her controls and flip some of the redundancy switches on the Ether booster. "Thanks," she communicates to Lunata, "...Red Window." And a beat before to Shalune, "Whatever we are, that man is worse."

"Magic to magic, is it?" Lily calls over the radio to Vesper. "That's fine."

Her voice crackles over the local frequency at Elly's warning to Emeralda, "Don't worry--I'm still in our territory, planning to stay that way."

Hellerune hefts its spear, "But I was better than the rest of you without revealing my magic!"

Lily rockets her Gear forward with the controls, moving to the edge of the deck and swinging that spear forward into the same target Lunata just blasted.

Hey. Auntie Lily. That's new.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Indigo Wolves with Blitz Dance!
GS: Lily Keil has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

'They're after Lily!'

Well, honestly that's pretty much enough for Emeralda to know where she stands. She still has a simple concept of right and wrong, of good and bad; 'bad' is someone trying to take their friends away, even if she knows Lunata less than she knows some other people here.

Or, well, Red Window. Should she be calling her Red Window? Should she be calling *Elly* Black Window??

"Okay!" Her mind made up, Emeralda turns her attention to piloting in earnest. Crescens hadn't taken off very far from the ship, but it does now, accelerating on spread 'wings'; all of its thrust and lift appear to be coming from somewhere else, somewhere internal to the Gear, but it does use the wings to steer and control its banking movement.

Bullets clip the side of Crescens as Emeralda brings it around into an arcing flight to circle around. She doesn't stay in them very long, pulling up with a sudden thrust of force and a wingbeat; Crescens lifts higher before it begins to drop again, still gathering power.

This time Emeralda does not use the Ether amplifier. She charges Vesper's companion, diving sharply before suddenly pulling up into a rising arc kick. Crescens doesn't have arms, just short thruster pods where its arms should be, so all of its follow-up blows come from the feet in an almost dancing assault.

"Wait, wait! Does this mean I am Green Window?" she asks, suddenly.

GS: Emeralda Kasim has attacked Indigo Wolves with Air Bash!
GS: Emeralda Kasim has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    Shalune ducks into a skidding lunge for something big and metal she can hide behind, hauling the cables with her as her boot makes contact with a maintenance panel and shoves it off and to one side. Between her and Josie, it's likely that the Karlsfeni is having to get used to some particularly percussive repairs, but at least there's a good intent behind it - she leans forward the next moment and digs elbow-length into the wiring, patching more power into the ship's shielding.

    "Cover me!" she yells towards the golem next to her, and it's both useless and just in time for her to say that, as Big Shal positively steps in the way of the torpedo to catch it under one arm, then rotate its torso to fling the projectile away from the ship. While it still detonates, at least it isn't a direct hit - and the wave of heat is stopped by the golem's body, strips of metal flaking away and tearing apart only to weld back together to the tune of a low thrum.

    "Uh, I have about ten weird devices in my bag that would probably disagree with you!" she chirps back to Leon as she risks a glance around the turret she's using for cover, and twists to pull one of them out - a small Hyadean terminal that she hooks up to the emplacement. "Either 'cause they're outright dangerous or I just stole them." Still, it's not like she sounds broken up about it; rather, there's warm humour in her voice.

    "Lunie, you're white. A White Something," she adds bluntly, and the way she says it is so point-blank and dead certain that reality almost weights around it until the others chime in their support. There's an almost audible pout, and then a low hum that's lost in the way the turret suddenly powers up, coming to life as Shalune manages to connect to its systems. "You could be Green, but what about Gold? That sounds cooler to me, I reckon."

    Big Shal steps across, reaching her hands out. It is supportive of everyone's colour choices, but recognizes that Shalune is still not the best when it comes to her aim, and rather than wait for any kind of manual connection the golem simply grasps the turret's housing to rotate it manually, lining up a

GS: Shalune Amira has attacked Indigo Wolves with Big Shal Shoot!
GS: Shalune Amira has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Shalune Amira's Stoic stance ends.
GS: Shalune Amira has completed her action.
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Emeralda Kasim's Air Bash for 242 hit points!
GS: Riposte! applied to Emeralda Kasim!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a glancing hit from Fei Fong Wong's Hazen for 151 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: You do not have any attacks from that person in queue.
GS: Indigo Wolves guards a hit from Lily Keil's Blitz Dance for 181 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Indigo Wolves critically Guards a hit from Shalune Amira's Big Shal Shoot for 37 hit points!
GS: Cover! applied to Shalune Amira!
<Pose Tracker> Indigo Wolves has posed.

    "Keil? How did you-- forget it. I'll shut that party trick you call magic for good," promises Vesper over the communications line to Lily.

    "I'll leave your bodies for the sharks, boy!" is Weber's -- it seems Leon's assessment of him 'playing at being official' was correct -- response to Fei.

    One might argue that the manuverability of the Indigo Wolves would put them in the lead -- after all, they have the advantage of the air here, which cannot be said of all of their opponents. But, there is one major problem with being airborne:

    And that's what happens if you suddenly stop being quite so airborne.

    The gatling cannon's shells slam into Weber and his closest compatriots; one of the other Gears must have had its flight unit damaged since it ceases to be airborne and sails downwards to crashland upon the Karlsefni's deck. From here, it might form a bit of an immediate problem for Leon or Shalune for while it's taken heavy damage, it's far from down and out. The other one closest to Weber's Gear dips low in the air as it billows sparks and smoke, seriously damaged though still flight-capable. Even Weber himself sees serious damage inflicted upon his Gear's plating--

    "Damn you, Albus! But I'm not through yet! Vesper!"

    Again, there comes a distortion of light that rips through the air, this a bruisy ugly blue that wavers in the air as if it were unstable. Rather than Lily, the winding magic circle of a spell centers this time upon Leon's Gear.

    A searing beam cuts right through the air, lancing towards the crippled-but-airborne Gear still flanking Weber's own. It didn't really stand a chance. As it begins to plummet for the seas below, it snaps off one last shot for the Ley-capable Gear, apparently keen on an attempt to take its opponent out with it.

    Lily has a particular response for that, of course. Her spear thrusts for the falling Gear.

    There is a magnificent explosion in the air.

    Weber, for his part, utters an oath and swoops low for the deck to join his crashed compatriot.

    Elsewhere upon the field, Elly takes the battle directly to the gunner's companion, that sorcery-capable Gear that seems to be the Wolves' ace in the hole. Except--

    "Nice try!" says the gunner, interposing themself into the space between Elly and the mage's machine. They hold their ground with their ARM, struggling to keep her at bay. "Brandt?" utters Vesper herself, in apparent amazement.

    Perhaps this state of affairs might only be amplified when both the Weltall and the Crescens focus their attacks upon it. Crescens comes in at speed to deliver a series of not-so-guarded kicks for the gunner's Gear, leaving noticable cracks on sections of the armor; the Weltall's own serves to further deepen the damage done to the gunner, whose machine was really not meant for this sort of abuse. The mage's response is immediate; dropping back, a pair of sickly green glyphs etch themselves into the air, dissipating into a heavy corrosive haze that flows for the Crescens and the Weltall. That, and a shout for the other auxillaries:

    "Meier! Vogel!"

    A shot rings out from across the distance from one of those Gears. It echoes with the sort of boom usually reserved for a railgun.

    This is because, of course, one of those auxillaries is indeed loaded with a railgun, its projectile currently enroute for none other than the Vierge.

    Down on the deck, things may have taken a slight turn with the arrival of one (badly-landing) Gear and Captain Weber's own. Still smoking and clearly in poorer shape, the compatriot Gear rounds on Big Shal, still regenerating after that last toss of the torpedo. It takes a shot at it (receiving a round of return fire for its pains from Shalune; unfortuantely for Shalune it does seem to be suffering somewhat in the aiming business and even if the Gear she's firing upon is badly damaged it's not immobile) even as Weber turns to fire upon Lily's own machine, still in the air. "Last chance to save your squad, Keil! Or do you like being the sole survivor?"

    Leon was definitely right about Weber's temperment.

GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Leon Albus with Mystic Zero!
GS: Indigo Wolves has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Lunata Croze with Solo Shot!
GS: Indigo Wolves spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Fen Haze!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Emeralda Kasim with Fen Haze!
GS: Indigo Wolves has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Feral Blast!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Shalune Amira with Paired Shot!
GS: Indigo Wolves has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Lily Keil with Paired Shot!
GS: Indigo Wolves has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has completed its action.
GS: Emeralda Kasim critically Guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Fen Haze for 21 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Emeralda Kasim gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Lily Keil takes a glancing hit from Indigo Wolves's Paired Shot for 160 hit points!
GS: Leon Albus takes a solid hit from Indigo Wolves's Mystic Zero for 114 hit points!
GS: Cripple! applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Lunata Croze guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Solo Shot for 162 hit points!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes a glancing hit from Indigo Wolves's Feral Blast for 191 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: CRITICAL! Shalune Amira critically Guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Paired Shot for 70 hit points!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Fei Fong Wong guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Fen Haze for 76 hit points!
GS: Corrode! applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: Fei Fong Wong's Force Guard activates!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"In that case, Shalune, don't trip. I'd hate to have you explode on us," Leon says, with a sigh. And then another sigh at his troops declaring themselves to be the Windows.

His jaw sets, though, at Weber's reply. The Weglaff leaps back, as the Gear with the damaged flight unit slams into the deck of the Karlsefni. The ship rocks under the impact, but it holds; it seems the ancient Zeboim warship is made of a stronger stuff than the ironclads, steamers, and man o' wars used by most Filgaian navies. The blue Gear lands, and then he looks up.

Then the spell centers on his Gear. Leon can't hit the jump jets in time, and the wave of magic slams into it, tossing it backward. Leon grits his teeth, then flicks a switch on the controls in his cockpit. The heat saber comes to life, flashing a deep, burning red that runs orange and yellow at the edges.

And then the Weglaff charges forward, swinging the blade backward. "Lunata!" he shouts. "Keep an eye on them. I don't want to risk the Karsefni sinking!"

The Weglaff leaps for the downed Gear, faster than a Titan -- the standard issue Kislevi Gear -- could move. The heat saber swings back, as Leon charges the Gear making its move on Big Shal. He slams the superheated blade forward -- right for the cockpit block of the Kislevi Gear.

"You forget who you're fighting!" he shouts at the pilot of the Gear, a couple of seconds before trying to kill him. "This is no Titan, boy! NO TITAN!"

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Indigo Wolves with Heat Saber!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "Green Window sounds great, with your pretty hair!" Lunata calls out to Emeralda, because they're entirely too much on a roll about this and they won't stop until they're the Windows7, a group of highly-trained window repairmen and women who're actually all facets of one Fei Fong Wong's personality...

    ... wait.

    "Shalune, call out if you're in trouble! Don't push it too much!" Lunata shouts, since every time they get into a Gear entanglement and Shalune isn't under several meters of thick protective armour she tends to fret a bit.

    The ex-waitress' eyes narrow as she crosses over, though she hears Fei for a moment. "No, no, it's okay... let's-- chat after this, huh? I was meaning to catch up with you anyway."

    She chases that compatriot Gear that's after Big Shal -- the Indigo Wolves may have greater air supremacy as a group, given some of them don't exactly have flight capabilities like Big Shal, but...

    As far as its own aerial manueverability goes, there's nothing that has to be envied.

    "Got it, Leon!" Lunata calls out to Leon's request -- and the white Gear suddenly roars across space, reaching to its wing binder. In one brandish of its arm, a brilliant arc of emerald erupts as the Rephaim wields its beam saber.

    "I'm confident at this kind of mid-range fight... can you evade this!?"

    Once more, Lunata finds it a little awe-inspiring how easy and natural it is to move her Gear -- she ponders for a moment if this is the difference between a piano maestro and someone who's just been learning.

    A juke, a twist -- the Gear moves with an almost human-like naturalness, its leg arcing up as Lunata feints with a knee bash before driving the saber in for a powerful thrust.

GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Lunata Croze receives 100 temporary hit points.
GS: Lunata Croze enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Lunata Croze has attacked Indigo Wolves with XA-MA16 Leyline Saber!
GS: Lunata Croze has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lunata Croze has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"You can't use that one I already bascally used it, so I win. I already basically said you were going to be sharkfood, come on." Fei transmits back to Weber which, lets face it, is probably not going to make the leader of the Indigo Wolves happier about this experience now that Fei is resorting to playground rules.

"Are you seriously so damned determined to KIDNAP a grown woman that you're going to risk your lives for it?" That's a bit more more mature but it's probably hard to forget the taunt exchanges going on here.

Unfortunately.

Weltall is slammed by..uh... some weird acidic cpoison cloud. Fei imagines the bill from Hammer rapidly ticking upward and frowns. He looks towards the mage. The head even swivels.

He opens up comms to Leon.

"What's a Titan?" He asks. "Is that some kind of Gear?"

Fei is grateful he hasn't been pulled into the Window discussion because he's not sure what Window he'd be. Brown? Fei doesn't want to be a Brown Window.

What he does want to do is launch a ki blast for the mage, hoping to make it regret pulling back!

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Indigo Wolves with Guided Shot!
GS: Fei Fong Wong takes 46 damage from Corrode!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Leon Albus's Heat Saber for 263 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Indigo Wolves critically Guards a hit from Lunata Croze's XA-MA16 Leyline Saber for 75 hit points!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Guided Shot for 191 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily mysteriously doesn't speak up to Shalune about the moral effect of making dangerous things. For some reason, that just doesn't happen. Nevertheless Lily checks her monitors for her and Big Shal carefully as she goes about the battle. "Come on, then," Lily answers Vesper. But it changes tone quickly, darker:

"You don't want to touch him, Vesper. Believe me." Lily radios that out as the spell hits Leon's Gear, rather than the immediate response she had in mind. She maneuvers for the explosion nevertheless, and looks to the rest of the battle as she does. She's already moving to get out of the path of that railgun, but it becomes unnecessary--instead, Weber turns to fire on Lily. She's fast in this Gear, and it impacts the arm, shearing off huge pieces of armor--instead of disabling the Gear outright like the shot otherwise could've. But it's the words that catch.

Lily's eyes narrow. "You want me that badly, Weber? That's fine."

Lily hits a few buttons on her Gear. The whole thing shimmers, becoming hazy to the eye and disappearing completely from radar and instrumentation. "But you won't like getting me."

"...Vesper doesn't get it," Lily says, as the Hellerune adopts a wider stance, hefting its spear, and then leaps into the air, boosters rocketing it towards Weber's machine.

"She uses magic," Lily says, and puts out her hands, eyes turning black as her Gear's arms crackle with magical power--and operate suddenly with more force then their internals ought to allow. Ether fills the air... but not for a spell.

Hellerune moves so quickly that it seems to split into two Gears, both sliding past Weber's Gear with spear slashing along the side.

"I am magic."

GS: Lily Keil spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Indigo Wolves with Mirror Step!
GS: Lily Keil has launched an attack Link!
GS: Lily Keil has activated a Force Action!
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Indigo Wolves with Witchrazor!
GS: Mighty expired!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

I'll leave your body for the sharks!
Vesper! Brandt! Meier! Vogel! Names, all of them, Elly thinks, remembering Renk, Helmholz, Vance, Stratski, Broyer--

Emeralda asks her a question. In a sense Elly is speaking in a different voice when she answers her, softly: "Do you want to be?"

The corrosive Etheric invocation - is it Ether? Elly isn't one hundred percent sure, but the academic nuance isn't as important as the chemical certainty - goes towards Crescens and Weltall. Elly pulls back from the rod lock and adjusts Vierge's heading. She takes a deep breath and

                K T A N G G G G !!!

A hellish echo throughout the entirety of Vierge as a piece of hyperaccelerated metal rips through the torso, on an upward arc. The left thruster assembly fails with a speed and vigor normally reserved for successes; as Vierge begins to fall towards the sea, Elly turns her head because -

There's a strip of damaged cockpit screen material, a smouldering plume of smoke, and a high whistling.

-=-=-

"... I suppose being cruel is a way to make yourself feel strong," Elly transmits. "But..."

Vierge comes down to land on the deck of Karlsefni, the thrusters flicking off as the wounded machine sinks into a more stable stance. "It's not... a good way to do it. It only takes one failure, and then you're trapped... trapped with yourself."

Vierge's back - the parts NOT shot up - flicker as the docking apertures reopen and the AERODs flit back outwards, each of them freshly filled with 151.25 standard units of distillate Ether power-storage fuel. The shining needles flicker around each other, forming a spiral in the air and then moving out into a space something like a toy metal jack before

FIRE! An interlacing blue field - aiming at that railgunner's weapon and if necessary forearms. Elly doesn't go for the cockpit this time, but perhaps she has the virtue of range to work with.

"I'm not really a killer. But I mean it. If you bail out I promise you you'll be safe" Elly pleads again, although this sounds more tired and, frankly, tactical!

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Indigo Wolves with AERODS!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

"Right! That's why I'm Emeralda!" Emeralda can't imagine being anything other than the Green Window, though her whole idea of this is a little confused - she doesn't know what a femme fatale is and didn't get Elly's first attempt at declaring herself the Black Window. Though, Elly asks her a question: "Yes! ...I think?"

"I think a Titan is a Gear!" she calls back to Fei. "It's Kislev! Right? Right? I read about them!" Emeralda bounds Crescens off the other Gear after her kicks, hovering for a moment before her opposition attacks her - and Fei. "No! Don't hit him!! Why don't you just go home? She doesn't want to come with you!"

Emeralda's reaction times in the Crescens are absurd. Almost before the cloud of gas erupts in front of her, Crescens begins to beat the great wings it has affixed to its head; once, twice, ever harder. While it isn't enough to completely disperse the foul gas, it does do a pretty good job of keeping the worst of the haze away from the Crescens and hopefully the Weltall, surrounding it in a broader, fainter haze.

The reason for the reaction time is only obvious if you are in the cockpit with Emeralda; she has bypassed what basic controls Crescens has entirely and has plunged her arm up to the elbow into the actual front panel, splitting it into a multiplicity of slim wire-like connectors that vary between the brown of her skin and shining silver that spread across the panel in a somewhat unpleasant-to-view manner.

However she's formed the connection, it makes Crescens move like something alive. For the first time, its wings stop moving like wings, and move like *hands*; the oversized feathers flex like they were made of something other than metal, the nanomachine reserves and extensive internal joints responding to Emeralda's connection...

...as Emeralda tries to literally *pick up* the other Gear and fling it upwards in a high arc. Its 'feathers' lengthen and stiffen as Emeralda leaps up afterwards, trying to slam into the now-disoriented Gear and stab it with 'fingers' that act like blades. She is aiming away from the cockpit, but all the Gear limbs are fair game.

GS: Emeralda Kasim has attacked Indigo Wolves with Devil Hold!
GS: Emeralda Kasim has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Emeralda Kasim has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    "There's no way the Karlsfeni is gonna sink so long as I'm standing aboard it!" Shalune confidently claims to the background noise of her hands flying across the terminal keyboard. She's not the most practiced when it comes to operating these kinds of devices, but just like any other kind of technological knowledge she's soaked up the theory like a sponge, and a quick few seconds is all she needs to bring up the series of blast shielding to cover structural weaknesses she'd found a few days ago.

    She dives to one side just in time for the deck to rattle and shake at the forced crash landing, grinning madly to herself as she leaves the terminal behind to recover later and instead scrabbles up to her feet as she switches her attention to the next issue. Which would be clearing the wreckage from the deck - but she realizes just in time that thrum isn't the sound of a dead engine, and the smoke rising from the machine is superficial, because the Gear itself is rising right after it.

    Suddenly, she's facing down the barrel of a gun whose bullets might be larger than her. But really, the only part she worries about is how often this seems to happen.

    She doesn't need to yell a command; Big Shal is already way ahead of her, leaping from atop the turret like a wrestler to bring both rounded fists down upon the Gear's arm. The impact is a heavy one, and Big Shal pays for it by having a sheet of plating shear away, then twist back as if caught by a magnetic pull - but it leaves the shot going wide, slamming into the newly deployed plating to ricochet off.

    For its size, Big Shal is quite dense, not to mention tenacious - the golem hangs from the Gear's arms and then shoves itself downwards to ground its feet on the deck, trapping the enemy in place for Leon and Lunata's combined assault. There's a streak of pink as Shalune leaps for the Golem and then up the ladder on its back, taking the rungs two at a time as she hauls up to the scaffolding she uses to ride it.

    When she straightens up she's braced herself, her shotstaff in her hands and pointed up towards the sheared armor of the downed Gear. The entire length of it is starting to glow a vivid blue, the structure of it shaking in her hands as she charges a shot, aiming for the exposed inner workings. "Somethin' you guys always forget," she adds as she slams the butt of the staff against the ground, and a high-pitched noise culminates in a solid blast of light. "Shoot up, not down!"

GS: Shalune Amira spends 1 Combo on Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!
GS: Shalune Amira has attacked Indigo Wolves with Under The Same Sky!
GS: Shalune Amira has completed her action.
GS: Indigo Wolves guards a hit from Elhaym van Houten's AERODS for 194 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! applied to Indigo Wolves!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Emeralda Kasim's Devil Hold for 270 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Shalune Amira's Under The Same Sky for 253 hit points!
GS: Indigo Wolves guards a hit from Lily Keil's Mirror Step for 124 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
GS: CRITICAL! Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Witchrazor for 406 hit points!
GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
<Pose Tracker> Indigo Wolves has posed.

    "Shut up!" is Weber's response to Fei; undoubtedly things have moved a little bit beyond the polite stage (such that they ever really were there to begin with...). "This is our duty as the Colonel's finest!"

    The downed Gear, while still mobile--

    never really stood a chance.

    Not when it is beset from three angles at once. Big Shal slams into it first, nearly sheering the lower part of its left arm right off. Lunata's Rephaim follows, unbalancing the already terminal machine with a neat pair of strikes from its armored knee and energy saber, finishing the job and then some that Big Shal started.

    It topples from the Golem's follow-through after, landing heavily on the deck; Big Shal is able to easily pin it, rendering it a sitting duck for the shotstaff strike that follows. The charge surges through the wiring, leaving the machine near-completely immobilized.

    The damaged Titan turns its head just in time to face down Leon's Weglaff.
    Just in time to take the superheated blade right through the cockpit block. The machine slumps. No one could have survived that.

    "ALBUS!!" howls Weber, the chainguns in his machine revving up as he unloads upon all three of them in a blind fury.

    Up in the air, the auxillary Gears have problems of their own.

    The magic-using Gear -- Vesper -- falls back, but distance can't spare her the ki blast shot her way. Her machine shudders under the impact, a few wisps of smoke rising from its back. "...What was that?" the mage hisses, as her fellow auxillaries hurry to the assist.

    But she has other problems to attend than that. One of them might be the incoming message from Lily. "Oh, Albus, you mean? Perhaps you'd better turn yourself in, if you're concerned about him!" she replies over the private channel.
    Her larger concern however is without question Emeralda's Crescens, which closes the gap between her and the Black Wolves at speed, grasping her machine with...

    ...mechanical feathers. Vesper's response to this turn of events is to let out an indignant scream. Afterwhich the Gear is flung heavenwards, and thus incapacitated at a critical moment, is then run through at countless points of extremity.

    Including the flight unit. The machine drops like a stone out of the sky, plummeting for the sea.

    The short-range gunners -- Meier, Brandt -- respond with to this turn of events with a shout of "Vesper!" and a spray of shells for anyone in their immediate vicinity; in the meantime, Vogel -- the long-range gunner with the high-powered cannon -- moves into position.

    As does Elly, alighting atop the Karlsefni.

    As do the AERODS, moving as a swarm. In the end while the Gear might still be largely functional--

    The cannon, neatly severed, along with an entire forearm section crashes into the sea.

    --it has rather limited options in the arena of weaponry. "The Indigo Wolves don't-- bail," proclaims Vogel, though perhaps she sounds a little uncertain at this juncture.

    Lily breaks from the air, sailing down towards the deck where only Weber now stands against the other machines (and Golem) now situated here. "Keil. Do the smart thing for a change and surrender yourself at once!" proclaims the Indigo Wolves' captain. "Vesper!"

    Vesper, it should be noted, is currently attempting to keep her machine afloat in the sea.

    "Tch. Then, let us see--"

    Weber 'sees' alright, as Ether burns through the air. As Lily's Gear appears to violate several core rules of physics.
    As the guts of his machine are exposed in a single handy strike.

    And yet, Weber laughs.

    Slowly, an ornately inscribed magic circle is tracing its way about the feet of Lily's Gear.

    "I am the captain of the Indigo Wolves!" he shouts, after the magic erupts about her. "And I always take down my prey!"

    He lunges for the Hellerune. At a long range, the barrel that unfolds from the machine's right hand would be useless. But at this short a range, it--?!

GS: Indigo Wolves spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Leon Albus with Wolves' Howl!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Shalune Amira with Wolves' Howl!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Lunata Croze with Wolves' Howl!
GS: Indigo Wolves spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Wild Fang!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Emeralda Kasim with Wild Fang!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Wild Fang!
GS: Indigo Wolves spends 1 Combo on Link!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Lily Keil with Runic Lock!
GS: Indigo Wolves has launched an attack Link!
GS: Indigo Wolves spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Indigo Wolves has attacked Lily Keil with Siege Chaser!
GS: Indigo Wolves has gained 1 Combo!
GS: You have finished a Link/Follow chain. Remember to +round!
GS: Indigo Wolves's Avenger stance ends.
GS: Indigo Wolves has completed its action.
GS: Lunata Croze has activated a Force Action!
GS: CRITICAL! Lunata Croze takes a solid hit from Indigo Wolves's Wolves' Howl for 480 hit points!
GS: Mute! applied to Lunata Croze!
GS: Hyper! applied to Indigo Wolves!
GS: Lunata Croze enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Emeralda Kasim takes a glancing hit from Indigo Wolves's Wild Fang for 207 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Emeralda Kasim gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Wild Fang for 242 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Leon Albus takes a solid hit from Indigo Wolves's Wolves' Howl for 308 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leon Albus gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Mute! applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Hyper! applied to Indigo Wolves!
GS: Shalune Amira critically Guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Wolves' Howl for 65 hit points!
GS: Hyper! applied to Indigo Wolves!
GS: Lily Keil critically Guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Runic Lock for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Lily Keil takes a solid hit from Indigo Wolves's Siege Chaser for 440 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"A common type of Gear in Kislev, yes, as Emeralda says," Leon answers. "A lot of Kislevi soldiers use it. These are probably modified Titan frames, at their core."

Leon yanks the heat saber from the cockpit block, steam and smoke wafting away from the blade. Chaingun fire pours down on the Weglaff, and it's all that Leon can manage to make his Gear stand under their power. The rounds shred through some of the armor -- punching through machinery , in a few places. Coolant sprays out onto the deck the Karlsefni.

"You should have known better, Weber," Leon says. "You came here to kill me. Did you really think that I would waste my time by holding back?"

The Gear throws the shield-gatling cannon combo to the deck. It sends up sparks as it skids to a stop, then both hands of the Weglaff grip onto the hilt of the heat saber. Leon's eyes shift -- take in the Hellerune -- and then he sends the Weglaff running. The blue Gear bolts over the surface, the Karlsefni's hull withstanding easily, and then he leaps.

And slams the heat saber in a two-handed chop, for the waist of Weber's Gear.

GS: Leon Albus has activated a Force Action!
GS: Leon Albus spends 2 Combo on Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!
GS: Formation! Leon Albus has attacked Indigo Wolves with Superheated Blade!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Emeralda Kasim has posed.

Emeralda feels no particular guilt for disabling the machine as it drops into the sea. She's pretty sure it won't sink before the pilot can get out of it and, anyway, they started it.

But it means that Emeralda is momentarily left alone, high up and looking down at the rest of the battle. Crescens is descending - its flight unit is better at low altitudes - but slowly, more of a descending drift than a fall or a dive. She has plenty of time to see what's going on down there.

And, from up here, she can see plenty. Like the circle tracing its way around the Gear.

Emeralda's training in sorcery is nonexistent. She does everything by instinct and feel and occasionally watching what other people do and copying it. She spends about half a second looking at that ring and trying to figure out what it does, failing, and instead looking for whoever's causing it.

Which isn't very hard to identify given there's only one Indigo Wolf left. Emeralda focuses on him. She's been drawing in power for a while, and now she just has to feed it through Crescens... the mass of quasi-organic nanomachine cabling across the panel shifts, and then crackles as Emeralda reaches for the Ether Amplifier and the power magic circuit and just flips all of them on at once.

"Stay away from Auntie Lily!!"

Emeralda doesn't always flex her Ether muscle. Elly and Lily are both more talented users of Ether, having had both training and experience that Emeralda has not; compared to them, she has no finesse and a limited skillset. But when Emeralda decides to let loose, in Crescens, the power is there.

A point of light appears underneath Weber's lone Gear. Just for a split second - and then a pillar of white-hot flame erupts upwards, away from the ship, as Emeralda doesn't throw but instead pulls heat straight up. She doesn't want to damage the ship, after all... though there might be a bit of that anyway as the pillar begins to spin, scattering sparks and lashes of flame as it turns into a short-lived fire tornado, guttering out in smoke as the power exhausts itself.

GS: Emeralda Kasim has activated a Force Action!
GS: Emeralda Kasim has attacked Indigo Wolves with Thermo Geist!
GS: Riposte expired!
GS: Emeralda Kasim has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Indigo Wolves guards a hit from Leon Albus's Superheated Blade for 278 hit points!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a glancing hit from Emeralda Kasim's Thermo Geist for 296 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Indigo Wolves gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Indigo Wolves has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    The thrust comes a bit hollow -- Lunata can feel the machine juking away from her, even if she manages to catch the target and finish the job; there's a little dissatisfied groan, even as she watches Big Shal sit on the machine and she momentarily looks towards Shalune.

    "Shalune and the ship's covered, Leon--"

    *THOOM*

    Meier and Brandt's shots prove particularly effective with her momentary distraction; there's a grimace and a curse (G-rated) from Lunata as her cockpit turns red from **WARNING** **WARNING** **WARNING** echoes running through the entirety of her screens with a snarl.

    Any other Gear, and it should've ripped it in twain; the Indigo Wolves can plainly see this Gear's oscillating barrier is not normal, not even for Ether or Ley-equipped Gears.

    This is Zeboim tech at its finest.

    Still, it doesn't come from the direct hit clean; smoke's escaping from the gaps between its armour, and Shalune can see several parts of its torso where rent hydraulic piping and busted motor servos mean there's quite a lot of work to do after this is over.

    "Okay. You've got me," Lunata admits. "But..."

    The Gear turns, and its eyes flash with an ominous green flash. It darts from the deck, leaving Big Shal to the task of defending Shalune and the ship, instead chasing the sun to use it as a cloak of light to deter attackers from following it, drawing both of its Ley-powered rifles to bear.

    "Everyone, I'm going to launch a wide-angle attack!"

    And when she's obtained that superior, aerial position--

    "Acquiring targets, multi-lock on...
     Sub-routing Ley generators 3 through 8.
     Relinquishing barrier power... confirmed.
     Accuracy within error margin...
     Target -- Indigo Wolves..."

                      |
                      |
                      |
                  \. |\.
                   \,-+-,/
              `, /` | `\. ,`
         -------==` -o- `==-------
              ,`. \, | ,/ `,
                   /`_+_`\
                   \| \
                      | target: LOCK-ON
                      | subrouting power
                      | maximum discharge

GS: Fei Fong Wong critically Guards a hit from Indigo Wolves's Wild Fang for 80 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
GS: Lunata Croze has attacked Lunata Croze with Target -- Indigo Wolves...!
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Lunata Croze's attack is revealed!
GS: Lunata Croze takes a solid hit from Lunata Croze's ... Lock-ON Confirmed ...!

	It would be forgiveable, perhaps, to mistake what happens next as an act of force majeure.

        In the first instance, it appears as if the sun itself has joined the fight, /POURING/ down with an enormous
column of energy barely restrained into shape--

	--wide enough to just /catch/ whoever's unfortunate enough in its wake.
GS: Lunata Croze spends 2 Combo on Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!
GS: Formation! Lunata Croze has attacked Indigo Wolves with XG-00 Rephaim ... Maximum Discharge!
GS: Lunata Croze has completed her action.
GS: Lunata Croze has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

One gear left? Well, Fei isn't the type of person to gun down mechs that pretty much look like they're already defeated. He isn't against killing in self defense but he's really hesitant to rely on that. Especially in front of Emeralda, who is still young and probably could stand for him to try and mass murder a lot less.

He raises his hand, aims it at Weber--and then lowers it. He gets shelled by some more weaponfire but--Weltall just takes it. There's more severe potchmarks bursting along its frame but the damage, well, Weltall has taken a lot worse from people in the Black Wolves. He's confident in its durability and doesn't fret it too much.

Another reason to lower it is the bbreadth of firepower already being leveled. In his moment of hesitatin he can't evevn see Weber's gear and at this distance he might hit Lily.

So instead, Fei takes a moment to appreciate the fire tornado. He smiles faintly.

Is that pride??

"What, I can be proud off her." Fei says.

Well I guess that makes two of us.

Fei is quiet for a long moment. He hangs his head a bit, takes in a deep breath, and exhales it slowly.

"Yeah." He admits, with a small smile. "That makes two of us."

He reaches forward to his intercom and transmits a message--to the whole Indigo Wolf team.

"Hey." He says. "Your pride. Is it worth your lives? Colonel Keil..."

He shakes his head.

"You so sure he isn't just sacrificing you like he sacrificed the Black Wolves? Go back to Kislev. Tell the Kaiser what you know for clemency. Whether you're his finest or not... All he sees you as is disposable. This is a guy--willing to sacrifice the people closest to his family. You think he won't do the same to you?"

"So please," He transmits, "Get the fuck out of here."

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    Shalune reckons she's earnt a moment of twirling her staff in her hands and looking smug in the wake of her blast. There's something to be said about gears and fighting, perhaps, but really she's just proud of how far she's come that she can trust herself to do things like that. (She'll think, later, about Leon's strike - but that's Leon's business. She just made sure to fight in her own way. Splitting hairs a little? Maybe, but she's accepting of that.)

    She sobers enough to give Lunata's glance a quick nod, then puff out her cheeks as she gives the downed Gear a bit of a kick for good measure, gathers herself, then hops off of Big Shal and back towards the Karlsfeni's external maintenance panels. If the ship goes down, she knows, then it won't really matter what else happens this fight. That's her responsibility to take care of.

    She's covering herself as she goes, well aware that when Lunata says 'wide-angle attack' she doesn't necessarily have 'discriminatory' down pat. "You can't just call something common a 'Titan'," she grumbles softly under her breath, more to keep her brain spinning than to actually think about it seriously. "That's just inflating everything out of proportion."

    "Big Shal, get the hangar doors closed!" she calls, grimacing a little as she realizes the weak point that's been open all this time. She spares a glance to the battle above, but is willing to trust that the others have it in hand - and instead ducks her head down into cover, her legs brought up to her chest as she tucks herself into a nook and gets back to the business of shielding the ship.

    The golem has its hands up, ready to push the ruined Gear off the deck - but it looks up to Shalune's command, offers a quick thumbs up, and begins turning towards the stuck door. One experimental tug later, and a kick sends a rattling through the entire mechanism, which starts to judder closed of its own volition. Like mother, like daughter...? This poor ship.

GS: Fei Fong Wong enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Indigo Wolves with Fei's Ultimate Talknique!
GS: Fei Fong Wong takes 50 damage from Corrode!
GS: Corrode expired!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
GS: Shalune Amira has attacked Leon Albus with Quick-Fix -Plating-!
GS: Shalune Amira has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Shalune Amira assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Cover expired!
GS: Shalune Amira has completed her action.
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Lunata Croze's XG-00 Rephaim ... Maximum Discharge for 467 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP!
GS: Indigo Wolves has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Fei's Ultimate Talknique for 0 hit points!
GS: Indigo Wolves has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"You think I trust my team that little?" Lily snaps back about her concern for Leon--and the rest, for that matter.

But Emeralda has that handled, and Lily reports over the radio, "Good work, Emeralda." She's relying on Shalune to handle the ship while they're all piloting though, just as the comfiest engineer's confident claims suggest. This frees her up to hndle Weber... in theory.

"Smart for which of us?" Lily asks. "I'm just getting started."

As he laughs, though, Lily frowns--and then she feels the magic before the Gear's sensors register it, her machine suddenly flaring back to life on instruments. "Damn," she mutters, as suddenly, 'Stay away from Auntie Lily!!'

Lily makes her decision quickly as the cannon is brought to bear. It aims straight for her Gear, and fires a disabling shot right into its core, but at the same time within the cockpit Lily is focusing. The alarms blaring within her cockpit are sharp to her senses, but ultimately irrelevant. There is another pulse of Ether, but this one draws power inward towards her. A second. Hellerune is clearly badly damaged; whole chunks of its armor are melted, the cannon more or less having apparently disabled the machine outright.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Indigo Wolves with Evasive Thrusters!
GS: Mute expired!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Lily Keil's attack becomes clear!
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Omega Protocol for 373 hit points!
GS: Charge!! You gain 55 FP!
GS: Indigo Wolves enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Indigo Wolves has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

The boosters that start firing do propel Hellerune away from Weber's Gear--but only just far enough that the Gear's hands lift, and there is a shadow in the air. Raw unmaking force erupts from the space between them, rocketing the Hellerune back towards the deck where it lands with a deafening set of noises.

"Heh."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

'Shut up!'

It's hard to argue with logic like that. As she guides the AERODS through disabling the threat of that railgun - which had it been slightly to the left would have split her into two portions of Elly van Houten and probably led to a bad time for everyone present - Elly breathes out.

"Do you know what we call ourselves?" Elly asks Vogel, quietly. "I don't know if you've been informed. But... I don't think that you'd be betraying anybody-" Her eyes turn upwards then even as a magic circle begins to form. Vierge wheels around as she cries out, "Lily!"

The AERODs fly back to their roost. Elly can feel what Emeralda is doing - she is, in many ways, stronger than Elly is now. She dives forwards as the fire and the flames come up, and even as she hears and feels the intention from Lunata, Elly charges and leaps towards Weber's Gear, Vierge's arms crossing with the rod as bracing --

It is Fei's turn, perhaps, to speak.

and Vierge's turn to express its feelings with its body! A full weight slam attack at the side of the doubtless overheated Gear!

Even as she commits Elly sees the gunfire. Am I too late, she thinks -- Hopefully she will elude tangling in the aftermath, but when you commit, you *commit*...

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Indigo Wolves with High Diva!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Indigo Wolves takes a solid hit from Elhaym van Houten's High Diva for 317 hit points!
GS: Break and Disrupt! applied to Indigo Wolves!
GS: Indigo Wolves has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Indigo Wolves has posed.

    "Then I'll just return the favor!" Weber roars, and perhaps it's in that moment that he rushes Lily's Gear.

    Pulling away just as that shot resounds upon the Hellerune, in spite of the current situation, Weber cannot help but retort as she appears to retreat:

    "Give yourself up, Keil, and maybe we'll let them live--"

    It's not a retreat, rather, a feint, one that catches the captain's Gear off-guard.
    One that takes its right arm clean off.

    Leon has his own feelings about this, too, as made plain by the sudden dash and lunge with his Gear's blade, a strike that just about takes the machine in half at the waist. The captain's modified Titan slumps, steadying itself as fuel oozes in a steady stream. There is no way this thing can even function anymore, can it...?

    "Captain!" In the air, the auxillary gunners -- and Vogel's damaged long-range unit -- attempt coordinate a sort of backup.

    It is in this moment that Lunata's machine falls back, pinpointing each and every one of the machines still functioning in the air or atop the deck. The Karlsefni's doors close just in time to seal off anything belowdecks from the leystorm that is being called upon.

    A roar not entirely unlike that of a furious beast follows, tearing through the various machines of the Indigo Wolves with unrestrained energy.

    It says something about their construction that this doesn't simply ash the lot of them -- or even reduce them all to sparking melted wreckage. Even Weber's ruin of a machine still stands--

    But this isn't to say that they're all in good condition. The ones that can still fly dip as if the pilots have had one too many. They teeter as if they can only just maintain their altitude.

    Into this situation, Fei addresses the lot of them.

    There is, for a long moment, silence.

    The gunners -- Brandt, Meier, Vogel -- retreat from the Karlsefni's airspace, without a word, trailing smoke as they depart.

    "I can't swim and I've got a short," is Vesper's response, combined with a sighed, "So I yield."

    Weber's response may be predictable. "You COWARDS!"

    It can't still have power. There's no way it can still have power. And yet, the gatling cannon on the modified Titan begins to spin, charging up.

    In that sense Emeralda is right -- there's one Indigo Wolf left of consequence.

    That would be Weber, on the deck.
    Weber, with the damaged machine. Which is leaking fuel.

    There is a certain phrase that is sometimes used in a world far away from Filgaia. And that phrase is 'goes up like a Roman candle'.

    But even on fire, even damaged and abandoned, the gatling cannon continues to spin--

    Until the Vierge slams into it, sending it in a flaming screaming sprawl across the deck and into the sea.

    And then, there is something comparable to silence.