2020-09-10: The Bloodied Spear
- Log: The Bloodied Spear
- Cast: Yulie Ahtreide, Ashley Winchester, Gwen Whitlock, Ethius Hesiod, Marivel Armitage, Azoth, Scythe Riebaure, Malfi, Josephine Lovelace
- Where: Meria City - Castle Square
- Date: September 10, 2020
- Summary: As ARMS and its Drifter allies infiltrate Warwing Varukias, things get chaotic. A battle breaks out on its flight deck as Odessan elites enter the fray to protect their mothership...
Including one who hasn't been seen in quite some time.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
Yulie Ahtreide has been abducted. She had a feeling it would happen eventually. Though her long stay in Claiborne had happened for a good cause, they had remained stationary long enough that it allowed her pursuers to begin to catch up.
It happened at the Filgaia Summit. She had slipped into the Valeria Chateau in the hopes that the event would be enough to deter them, but Odessa's attack had given the opportunity they needed to corner her. And so, she found herself taken aboard the Warwing Varukias.
Lead down the airship's halls, she could only wonder what their intentions were. And then, it happened. The airship shook violently, unbeknownst to Yulie from the impact of the Valeria Chateau's retaliatory drill capsules. She took her opportunity immediately - with the shaking of her vessel, even with her light weight she was able to knock down her captor, taking the keys to her binds in the process and fleeing out of the depths of the airship before they could recover.
She made her way out as quickly and quietly as she could. It reminded her uncomfortably of her days in the facility where she was raised - avoiding the eyes of busy adults as she wandered places she shouldn't. But this time, if she were caught, there was much more than a scolding in store for her.
But, finally, she sees it - through a slot at the top of the door, the light of day shines through. Outside. Freedom. Yulie rushes to the door, pushing it open... and gasps in surprise at the sight that awaits her.
The door, one of many, leads out to the flight deck. To the open air. Filgaia seems to stretch on for an eternity below them, the sun, bright in the sky, illuminating everything. Smaller planes dot the flight deck's surface - ready and waiting for take-off, should they be deemed necessary. Several have been damaged - either impacted by the Chateau's drill capsules or having been sabotaged by the Drifters and members of ARMS who have come to commandeer the ship.
Behind, the inside of the Warwing Varukias echoes with the sound of combat. Sounds of swords and ARMfire ring out, and the light of spells occasionally flashes from the Warwing's windows.
Yulie stares out at all of this, horrified. ...This was not what she expected. How was she supposed to escape from a predicament like this?
From nearby, however, comes the sudden sound of movement... and so, Yulie hurries, rushing toward one of the totaled planes and hiding herself behind the wreckage, holding her breath and hoping to Calucion, or Granas, or whoever is listening that she'll find a way out of this.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Elsewhere in Warwing Varukias, the brave forces of ARMS are (or will shortly be) engaged in mortal combat with warlord Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus. Under normal circumstances, Ashley Winchester would be right there alongside them... But these are not normal circumstances. One does not simply walk off being MIND CRUSHED with the SUFFERING OF GENERATIONS while simultaneously housing an apocalyptic supernova demon looking for any crack in its soul-prison to burst forth and set the world ablaze.
That's just... bad practice. You know?
So instead of complicated moral conundrums and political jousting, Ashley Winchester has signed up for a much less... Complicated task. Someone he knows has been kidnapped, and he has taken it upon himself to charge boldly into the maw of danger to save her. To be a hero, without even a hint of moral uncertainty, is just the kind of salve Ashley needs for his mind and soul.
Also, he was busy sobbing in the Valeria Chateau's Puppy Room when the first barrage of drill-pods carried the rest of ARMS aboard the Warwing, so he would have had to catch up on foot with them first *anyway* and that's just not practical!
So he's here, now, in the Warwing's flight deck. His boots hammer the ground just behind one of the obliterated airframes, coincidentally the exact same one that Yulie herself has crouched behind. "Is someone back there?" He asks, loading a fresh round into his ARM's chamber. "This is ARMS. Come out with your hands up, and you won't be harmed." he says, not knowing who exactly is back there and having not had the chance to break out that particular line successfully for several weeks.
It doesn't work too well, as it turns out, on angry militants.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen Whitlock, super courier, does not look like she's doing any deliveries. That part of her day ended about lunchtime, when she was in the middle of delivering some items for a catering business that was low on supplies.
Then the Black Wolves attacked, and then Odessa attacked, and then JANUS and then she got rocketed onto a flying ship and-
Yeah. Her clothing, hair, entire *being* has seen better days. But at least she hasn't been mind crushed with the suffering of generations while simultaneously housing an apocalyptic supernova demon looking for a moment to make his grand comeback to the world stage. Gwen's case is, uh, complicated, but at least it isn't that.
Momentairely separated from some of her party but not all, Gwen spots a head of blue hair and a familiar silhouette disappear from around a corner. "...!"
Sure, seconds later, she'll realize the shade of blue hair wasn't right, and that the man's entire demeanor wasn't right, but now, Gwen's working on instinct and gut reaction alone.
Rushing ahead after the person, she tracks them down, bursts from around a bend, her right hand pointed and aimed.
".... Janus!"
It's not Janus.
Gwen is holding her right hand out at Ashley, awkwardly, the shreds of her blouse sleeve making evident that the arm pointed towards Ashley is not ordinary, but something metal. A weapon, normally hidden from view.
"...... Ashley?"
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius has been dutifully following along as another pair of helping hands to go infiltrate Warwing Varukias, but this is an odd statement to make because his 'duty' isn't to ARMS and for all intents and purposes he may in fact be there for the singular meaning of the term, 'just because.' Then again, those of Filgaia have every reason to not want to have someone upend the entire world just after it was narrowly saved from oblivion via Mother's reawakening but... there's not a lot of time for theories on the 'why.' ('When' is more pressing, but there is still a shortage of time for that too. Somewhere in between 'dealing with automated defenses' and 'having to go out the airlock. Let's go with that.)
Ethius thrusts a gloved hand out towars the open flight deck ahead of some of the others he's with, as if expecting there to be more movement than ends up being. His eyes track to the flight craft present, as if his mind were already dancing with unspoken suggestions about what sorts of things he can do to them.
"Flight deck ahead," Ethius remarks, "unidentified movement." Everyone's moving everywhere but he can tell there isn't a huge concentration of Odessa forces here at present. If anyone were to escape, they'd go here. If they aren't all here yet... even now, Odessa does not plan to abandon ship. Knowing the structural damage already suffered...
He moves ahead cautiously as he catches Gwen and Ashley rendzevous. Ashley's already addressing someone unseen. He doesn't draw any closer. (This is not to say the posture or air he takes is any more friendly or inviting.)
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel ripples into being behind Ashley Winchester. She wants to check up on him because he endured an empathic assault.
"Hey Ash. You doing okay? Did you get enough puppy licks? Did the puppies lick you enough? You didn't lick any puppies did you? That's not how it's supposed to work." She holds out a cup of hot cocoa. "I got you some hot cocoa." She pauses. "I didn't spike it."
But Ash is looking towards Yulie. She sniffs faintly.
"Fee Fi Fo Fum..." Marivel murmurs. "I smell the blood of an..."
Sniff sniff.
"...Hey Ash do you think if I finish that sentence, they won't come out and say hey? Maybe it'll give them the impression that I'm not a gentle and wonderful flower...with fangs. That drinks blood. For sustenance."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
It's opportunities like these that lead Azoth's algorithms to determine there would be much to be gained in mimicking a Drifter. A chance to infiltrate Warwing Varukias and see it under these circumstances could potentially be valuable data -- who he may have to give any data to and what consequences that could bring in the future have been prevented from playing into the calculation, no matter how flawed his other processes warn him that is.
In the chaos of battle, he takes his chance to explore and finds himself a flight deck. He gazes out over the world below. Flight. He used to fly. He misses dATa enCRyPteD
Ow.
But he isn't alone here. If there's to be an altercation, that takes priority. Stay operational. Protect the "operation" of others. Others not identified as Odessa, at least. But why would they be hiding on their own ship? And he doesn't smell any blood. Is he malfunctioning? Wait --
"...There are puppies here?"
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
"She couldn't have gotten far! Fan out and search the area!" A man's voice, proud and confident, echoes off the hangar walls. Footsteps approach--many pairs of feet, clad in combat boots. They're spreading out, as directed. "The moment one of you lays eyes on her, you call for me. Understood?"
Afterwards, there's only the sounds of combat, and the added noise of the Odessan squad hunting their quarry--whomever it happens to be. Whether it's thanks to sheer chance or the chaos of the battle, none of them discover Yulie immediately. Nevertheless, as she is well aware, the feeling of hiding and being hunted does not bring back good memories.
At first, it looks like Yulie's in the clear--Ashley's right over there, and so are others. Drifters who would surely be sympathetic to Yulie's plight.
Then the sharp pop of displaced air echoes through the hangar, and a pair of combat boots come to rest atop the pile of wreckage. Yulie might feel eyes on her before she even turns to look.
Standing atop the junked aircraft is a man, tall and lean, with olive skin and pale white hair. He's dressed in what could generously be called a military uniform--red jacket, black slacks, white combat boots--but he's wearing more jewelry than any field soldier with sense would ever don. His chest is bare, and muscular; Symbological tattoos line his flesh.
Scythe Riebaure
T H E C R I M S O N S O R C E R E R
"There you, you little troublemaker." The look on his face is positively predatory. Even worse, he's not alone. Scythe turns to his two companions, and gives an order. "Command needs the girl alive," Scythe says. His golden eyes glimmer with anger.. "As for the rest--" He throws an arm wide in an imperious gesture. "Do with them as you will."
Scythe's lips curl into a snarl of rage as he looks down at Ashley and Marivel. He hasn't forgotten what either of them did--Ashley, especially. "You will rue the day you chose to mock me, impostor," he says, glaring knives at the Crimson Noble. "And you--" His breath quickens as he locks eyes with Ashley, but he chokes down the memory of flame with practiced ease. "Whatever demon empowers you, you will die this day!"
The Symbols on Scythe's sides glow with eldritch light. He reaches out a hand, and fire rakes through the air, at Ashley and Marivel! Yulie, unfortunately, is directly in the way--Lambda said 'bring her back alive', not necessarily 'bring her back unharmed'.
DC: Scythe Riebaure switches forms to Crimson Noble Scythe!
GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Marivel Armitage with Enkindling Blaze! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Enkindling Blaze! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ashley Winchester with Enkindling Blaze! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure has completed his action. GS: Yulie Ahtreide critically Guards a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Enkindling Blaze for 22 hit points! GS: Hyper! applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up! GS: Ashley Winchester takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Enkindling Blaze for 115 hit points! GS: Marivel Armitage critically Guards a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Enkindling Blaze for 19 hit points! GS: Hyper! applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
It was, perhaps, the last place Malfi expected to be, on an airship.
She detested flying. Even her turns on a Metal Dragon had been an ordeal.
But orders were orders, and she was a follower, not a leader.
A sudden commotion, and suddenly strangers are trying to take over the flight deck! Well, at least some of them are strangers. Armed (or ARMed) and ready for a fight. Part of her mind wonders how they even got here, while she prepares for battle reflexively. Black armor manifests, and she calls forth her lance. They couldn't be allowed to take control of the Varukias!
She hisssnarls as one particular Drifter catches her eye, a certain white-haired Symbologist who'd almost killed her once. And saved her life once.
It's complicated.
Abruptly her lance splinters into many thin snakelike tendrils, all aimed at Ethius, trying to ensnare his limbs and immobilize him. There was a chance he could dodge, though...
GS: Malfi spends 1 Combo on Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling! GS: Malfi has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Improv Tango! GS: Malfi has completed her action. GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Malfi's Improv Tango for 55 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Scythe isn't the only one of Odessa's membership about.
"Wonder what they want her for," the archaeologist muses, suddenly there and perched atop a small chaotic mountain of crates. Cigarette in hand, she takes a good long drag, a booted foot crossed over one knee. The face mask is tugged low; the goggles resting high on her head more like a headband than eye protection. At her side rests a black shotgun, strange and alien in form.
"Well, ain't my business none. Right then--"
Tossing the cigarette aside, she rises to her feet and gathers up the shotgun in one motion.
Which is when the air shifts. "Mm?" She turns her head and squints over at the aircraft, or more appropriately, the figure atop it. She inclines her head to one side and crinkles her brow.
And then the realization hits her.
"Chase! Hey, Chase! It's been a while, yeah? ...Wow, you've really changed your whole... you, huh?"
She hops down the mountain of crates, as easy as you please. Slinging the shotgun against her shoulder she ambles on towards the lot of them. How many is that now, one, two, three...
"Gotta say, the dye job you've got on there is pretty slick. I'd be worried about the roots showin'! ...And did you file your teeth?"
This is probably not the sort of assistance Scythe would rather have.
"So who's the girl? Another one of 'theirs', or what, now?" Josephine swings the shotgun off her shoulder and regards them all. "Can't get away with nothin', can I," she remarks with a sigh. ...Something about her dark eyes goes hard when she sights Gwen.
Maybe that's why when she opens, she opens quite suddenly, and with a salvo of shells for Gwen.
And for a certain young man who stands in a way that catches the expert gunner's (and machinist) eye.
GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Figure of Eight! GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Azoth with Argent and Sable! GS: Josephine Lovelace has gained 1 Combo! GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius reflexively throws a forearm up when another Symbologist enters the fray. He is not directly targeted by the line of fire, for he doesn't know the exact brand of spell that Scythe is using - and thus cannot position accordingly. Thus he defaults to what is proven good practice: overcompensating his defensive maneuvers for something not intended to ensnare him in particular, a dive off to the side and coming up to a crouch once he sees that the line of fire does not include him.
Much of this situation, in some ways, does not particularly 'include' him beyond the baseline physical presence... until something manages to get a shot on him while his focus was on Symbological hellfire.
Snakelike tendrils wrap around said forearm. Malfi, as a Hyadean, has far greater baseline physical strength than he does. His left forearm constricted, it could be a trifle for his assailant to just cut off circulation and make things worse from there. He sizes up the origin of these tendrils through that snarling, black armored Metal Beast breeder and handler.
It may say a lot, thus, that the response is not met with dramatic calls of 'oh, it's you, what are you doing' or anything of the sort. All too calmly, with his free right hand he flutters his fingers and starts to direct a concentrated burst of high heat to turn some of the space between him and the rest of the spear molten, ostensibly to free himself.
...And then a second incantation and set of gestures to redirect that incredible burst of heat right back towards Malfi.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Malfi with Overheat! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Malfi critically Guards a hit from Ethius Hesiod's Overheat for 21 hit points! GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Josephine Lovelace's Figure of Eight for 69 hit points! GS: Azoth guards a hit from Josephine Lovelace's Argent and Sable for 88 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
An authoritative voice echoes out from behind Yulie's hiding place, and she freezes up instinctively, her breath caught in her throat. But then, after a moment, she goes back over what it said... and more importantly, recognizes the source.
"...A-Ashley? It's me... Yulie." Yulie says. As requested, she raises her hands up before very carefully poking her head out of cover. She takes a moment to study everyone - Gwen, Azoth, and Ethius... Yulie ducks her head right back down in surprise as Marivel speaks.
It might be a little strange to her - Yulie certainly seems human, at first... but, it's changed in some way. Different.
And then, suddenly, she feels eyes on her back, and soon, from above voices. There's two of them - but it's the first voice that sends a chill down her spine. Fear rises in her heart, and Yulie scrambles out from her hiding space toward Ashley and the others now that it's been compromised. She turns to look at the source of the voice, drawing out a large metal ring with a spiral design as she does. She stares up into Scythe's eyes... and shudders, at that predatory look.
She sees the tell-tale glow of Symbology beginning to build, however, and raises her hands in front of her quickly. The ring separates into three and floats in front of her protectively. The air crackles as Scythe's flame washes over a quickly-invoked barrier of sorcerous power. Yulie winces from the feedback... but, it's better than taking it directly. She backpedals, then, to put some space between herself and Scythe, shaking her head as she does.
"I... I'm not going back with you!" She says, with as much defiance as she can muster. She's shaking and afraid, sure... but she has people she wants to see again.
She looks toward Ashley and Marivel, then.
"It might not be much... but, I'll do what I can to help!" She says. With that, she draws out a Crest Graph.
"May Calucion guide your steps...!" She recites as she casts the spell. Suddenly, Ashley will find light washing over him - light that allows for quick, sudden attacks. Said light builds up around Yulie's feet, as well, allowing her to move quicker too.
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Ashley Winchester with Turn Shift! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 2 Combo! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action. GS: Ashley Winchester takes a solid hit from Yulie Ahtreide's Turn Shift for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper! applied to Ashley Winchester! GS: Riposte! applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Ethius counterattacks with some kind of heat spell, but Malfi is able to adjust her metabolism to (somewhat) compensate. It DOES inspire, her, however, to withdraw her tendrils and re-form them back into her customary lance. Which she then stabs straight at the Symbologist. So far their interaction has been oddly silent -- though that's hardly unexpected of them. Why waste energy on words instead of warring?
GS: Malfi has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Beyond the Impale! GS: Malfi has completed her action. GS: Ethius Hesiod critically Guards a hit from Malfi's Beyond the Impale for 14 hit points! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
When Malfi releases Ethius' arm, he does not waste a moment dwelling on the numbness running through said forearm as further lacerations are added to the middling quality rental suit he has on from the Summit. With unflinching discipline, his quarterstaff is drawn, taken in both hands, and thrust to clash with her offensive maneuver before she can build momentum.
A clash where she still forces him to give up another step or two of ground from superior mass from her movement, but he (wisely) pivots away from some of the crossfire over there. He flashes a gaze over to the familiar archaeologist's voice and having a scandalous look at the handle of the strange shotgun she's got her hands on.
He blinks back as Josie opens fire on Gwen, stepping once more to the right to better sequester himself from the other skirmishes.
"Your cooperation prior was appreciated," he remarks to Malfi, "it made it easier to deal with a number of the displaced Metal Beasts." A strange situation where he has more words for someone else than vice-versa. Does he push against her with his own weapon, of less complicated make?
If Malfi watches carefully, the hand further back has its grip loosen as he starts to bend and twist his fingers until such time that he can't both vaguely hold a weapon in that hand and fulfill the necessary gesticulations as he completes the incantation under his breath. He thrusts that hand forward as he completes the spell to its name, a light glowing from what Symbological runes can be seen through damaged fancy (...but middling) clothes.
"Recurrent Current." From there, an electrical spark that jumps forth and threatens to shock Malfi, keep shocking, and take its sweet time discharging off somewhere else.
...but not through his staff, which is made of something that does not conduct electricity.
GS: Ethius Hesiod spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Malfi with Recurrent Current! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Malfi takes a glancing hit from Ethius Hesiod's Recurrent Current for 70 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Malfi gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Poison! applied to Malfi!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Sorry, Ashley. Still a little confused from the trip up here." Hearing Scythe's loud command, Gwen looks up, lowering her her splayed open right hand from Ashley's face. "You're lookin' for someone- ah." Seeing Yulie poke her head out, her hands up, Gwen grins. "Any friend of Ashley's and Marivel's is a friend of mine. We'll protect ya- wait." Gwen looks at Marivel, and then Azoth. ".... Odessa's kidnappin' puppies now?" she says, her voice ending in a squeak of indignation. Of all the lows they could sink to!
She's assuming Azoth is with ARMS, it seems, or a well-meaning Drifter like her. Just like Josie is!
That's Gwen's thought process as she tilts her head at Josie, almost akin to a confused puppy. "Josie?" Being casual with an Odessa member isn't too unusual for someone like Josie, in Gwen's mind, but the courier's twitchy gut says otherwise.
There's not much in the way of warning but a dark glint in Josie's eye and the spray of shells, which Gwen defends with the metallic flesh of her right ARM.
"Josie, what the hell! Did I miss somethin'?!"
She definitely did miss something. But what, exactly?
"Are you with 'em? With Odessa? For real?"
These are the questions Gwen asks, ducking behind some crates to attempt to safely trade fire.
DC: Gwen Whitlock switches forms to Super Courier Gwen!
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
"You killed them?!?!" shrieks Malfi. "But they could've been rendered harmless...I gave you the command words!" She and Ethius struggle, he with his staff and she with her lance. Neither will yield. Ethius fires off an electrical spell, but it doesn't damage the Metal Demon as much as he would have liked; electricity is Malfi's element. Now Ethius has an ANGRY Metal Demon on his hands -- literally, as she tries to pry the quarterstaff away from him. It doesn't work. Reeling with rage, Malfi falls back -- and returns to a near-instinctive stance, counteracting his electricity with some of her own. "RAKURAI!"
GS: Malfi has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Rakurai! GS: Malfi has gained 1 Combo! GS: Malfi takes 22 damage from Poison! GS: Malfi has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"Wh---" There's a woman there! A woman who looks like one bad explosion away from a major wardrobe malfunction! But more importantly, it's a woman Ashley recognizes, who apparently also recognizes him.
...As someone else?
"Gwen? W-what happened!? Do you need a coat!? Uh, no, it's Ashley, not... Janus? I thought he was dead?" Clearly not! Also, Ashley might have missed the memo associated with said dead man's unexpected return from the grave. His line of questioning is interrupted though, because there is also a MARIVEL.
A Marivel... who is a very good friend who brings cocoa. Ashley almost melts into a pile of hugs but instead takes the cup with warm gratitude. "I," he answers, "Am covered in puppy kisses, and it is good. Thanks for the cocoa. Don't you need to be a giant to use that line? Aren't you the opposite of--"
Ashley wisely doesn't finish that, and instead just sips his cocoa before something comes out of his mouth that he might regret.
Which is exactly when Yulie steps out from behind the plane wreckage-- just the person he was looking for! "Yulie?!" Ashley almost spits out his cocoa, but keeps it down and takes another swig before something can interrupt him. "Oh thank Granas, you managed to get out! Don't worry, we're here to get you back. Everything's fine now! Everything'll be just fine--"
Ashley is, thankfully, finished with his cocoa when a wave of scalding flame washes across his shoulders. He shouts, rolling across the ground to extinguish the eldritch inferno. Even if he does contain the Blaze of Disaster, his human form is as combustible as any. "You...!" Ashley says to the man with the scythe.
Beat.
"...Um." He looks to Marivel, even as he loads up a canister full of cryogenic gas into his rifle. A gentle light infuses his body, even as he wracks his mind... "D-does this guy know us from somewhere...?"
Has... has Ashley forgotten that time he got chomped!?
Well, can you blame him? Spira was next level traumatizing. Also, Scythe has to contend with a frigid cloud of vapor that seems to suck the heat out of his everything, leaving only a frozen, shivering world in its wake.
GS: Ashley Winchester has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Canister - Freezing Fog! GS: Ashley Winchester has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ashley Winchester has completed his action. GS: Scythe Riebaure takes a glancing hit from Ashley Winchester's Canister - Freezing Fog for 53 hit points! GS: Slow! applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure's Force Evade activates! GS: Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Malfi's Rakurai for 88 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
It's definitely Ashley. Gwen's face turns bright red as she realizes the state of her clothing, which, while still decent, is still showing far more skin (read:any) than she'd care for someone else to see. "M-maybe later, eheh..." She rubs her neck. "Sorry, Ashley. Still a little confused from the trip up here." Hearing Scythe's loud command, Gwen looks up, lowering her her splayed open right hand from Ashley's face. "You're lookin' for someone- ah." Seeing Yulie poke her head out, her hands up, Gwen grins. "Any friend of Ashley's and Marivel's is a friend of mine. We'll protect ya- wait." Gwen looks at Marivel, and then Azoth. ".... Odessa's kidnappin' puppies now?" she says, her voice ending in a squeak of indignation. Of all the lows they could sink to!
She's assuming Azoth is with ARMS, it seems, or a well-meaning Drifter like her. Just like Josie is!
That's Gwen's thought process as she tilts her head at Josie, almost akin to a confused puppy. "Josie?" Being casual with an Odessa member isn't too unusual for someone like Josie, in Gwen's mind, but the courier's twitchy gut says otherwise.
There's not much in the way of warning but a dark glint in Josie's eye and the spray of shells, which Gwen defends with the metallic flesh of her right ARM.
"Josie, what the hell! Did I miss somethin'?!"
She definitely did miss something. But what, exactly?
"Are you with 'em? With Odessa? For real?"
These are the questions Gwen asks, ducking behind some crates to attempt to safely trade fire.
GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Figure of Eight! GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action. GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Josephine Lovelace's Figure of Eight for 90 hit points! GS: Gwen Whitlock's Force Guard activates! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Crackshot! GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
The deck erupts into battle, and Azoth's attention flits across the variables to identify the highest priority. Someone is being hunted. Someone is hiding because if they don't, they'll be taken against their will. Normally, this would take hold of Azoth's attention.
Unfortunately, being shot at is an extremely compelling attention argument.
Azoth snaps out his palm as a veil of light shifts into space in front of him, a hexogonal pattern illuminating against the translucent scene with every shell's impact. Cracks form along the surface, and after one breaks a hole in the barrier, another follows and smashes into him. His boots screech across the deck as his body is shoved back, but the impact was deadened enough that he manages to keep his balance.
His eyes glow faintly and turn their focus to Josephine. Target acquired. With a spin and a snap, a blade of blue light manifests in front of him. Though he lunges forward to get into melee range, he only guides it by motion, flicking his hand back and thrusting forward to strike at her. There's a crackle of energy dancing across it, threatening to cause interference with her ARM.
GS: Azoth has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Zero Day! GS: Azoth has gained 2 Combo! GS: Azoth has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel looks towards Yulie for a moment, quirking her head curiously. She takes another sniff. "...Huh...." Marivel says but then claps her hands once, glancing over to Josie-in-a-mask and then towards...
...
Sigh. Scythe Riebaure. A guy who calls himself Scythe.
Marivel's expression is terribly deadpan as she looks at the man. "...You're calling me an imposter?... Isn't your LARP getting a little out of hand here, young man?"
Fire rakes out at Marivel who rears back with a hand of her own and sends a surge of ice flashing forward through the flames--largely dispelling them before they reach her.
And then, she raises her other hand into the air and snaps her fingers once--
--sending a pail tumbling from above towards Scythe's head!
She looks to Yulie and adds, "Well, I don't really know your situation... But I don't like him soo I won't ask questions until after we beat him up," She winks. "Alright?"
She looks to Ashley. She blinks. And then she says, "Oh yeah I don't know who is that guy? Probably some nobody who really cares???"
She's not a great actress right now.
Ashley didn't finish the thought so she doesn't comment on the short crack!!
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Enhanced Aport Riposte! GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action. GS: Josephine Lovelace takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Crackshot for 95 hit points! GS: Cripple! applied to Josephine Lovelace! GS: Charge!! You gain 35 FP! GS: Josephine Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Azoth's Zero Day for 55 hit points! GS: Jam! applied to Josephine Lovelace! GS: Scythe Riebaure completely evades a hit from Marivel Armitage's Enhanced Aport Riposte!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
"The ecology of Elru would not survive their numbers." Ethius' response is clinical - it seems callous even for him, for what he just told to Malfi straight-up as he draws back from his spellcasting. "They have no natural predators. Unchecked, they would have consumed all remaining native life in its wastes." It's... a strange subject for him to speak on, isn't it, for all he presents himself as? It doesn't appear to be something he should care strongly about.
Malfi produces electrical power of her own, and there is a break in his defensive posture as he realizes a moment too late what's about to happen as electricity curves towards him where it seems like it ought to miss. There is a loud set of electrical flashes, and then fading crackling.
From there, his movements are more animated - deliberately attempting to keep a greater distance between himself and Malfi as he catches a hexagonal hard light pattern from an individual he hasn't seen before. The way they move is noteworthy but not so noteworthy that he can afford to divert more time away from a Malfi on the counter-offensive.
He starts casting again, because he's a Symbologist and that's what they do. A bright, burning ball of light forms around him - blinding, and not at all kind to electronic sensors - before hurling it towards Malfi's way.
She may have discovered a chink in the metaphorical (and now sorcerous) armor that gives him such a significant advantage - can she press it?
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Malfi with Coronal Shell! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Malfi takes a glancing hit from Ethius Hesiod's Coronal Shell for 70 hit points! GS: Disrupt! applied to Malfi! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Scythe cranes his head as Josie addresses him, recognition, confusion, and annoyance flickering across his features in quick succession. "Josephine Lovelace," he says. "I remember you. But that name has been consigned to the ash heap of history--"
'...And did you file your teeth?'
"I am Scythe Riebaure, Crimson Noble! I am... pleased to see the presence of a fellow Symbologist, but you would do well to remember."
Casey was always a goth. It seems he's gone and gotten himself on a while other level while Josie wasn't looking.
"As for the girl--some manner of escaped lab rat." Scythe certainly regards Yulie as such, even as she declares she's not going back with him. "No one asked you for your opinion," he says, heaving a put-upon sigh.
Ashley steps forward. Scythe feels his heart race as the musketeer acknowledges him, bracing for the confrontation. It's been many long months, but he will face this demon on the field of battle and make him beg for--
Scythe scowls, putting sharpened teeth on full display. A vein in his forehead pulses. "You--you dare play ignorant?!" he snarls. In his moment of fury, he fails to notice Ashley taking aim and firing--or perhaps he's so confident that he can dodge that he doesn't bother. Either way, that canister erupts less than a foot from him, spilling cryogenic chemicals into the room. Scythe feels the chill seep into his bones.
He senses Marivel's distortion a moment later. "And don't think your sorcery will spare you, either!" Scythe gestures violently, and the pot falling at his head blinks out of existence, reappearing above Marivel's head. Is she quick enough on the draw to avoid getting beaned by her own spell?
Scythe pulls a hand back, fingers twisting in a claw-shape. Strings of red energy ignite between them, congealing into a single point of power in Scythe's palm. He thrusts his hand forward, sending a shockwave of fiery power racing at Yulie! "You fancy yourself a sorceress, child? /PROVE IT!"
There's another pop-pop of displaced air as Scythe vanishes, and reappears within melee range of Ashley. "And YOU, DEMON! You will BEG!" A combat knife gleams in Scythe's hand. He drives it right towards Ashley's gut, aiming to stab it deep and pull it free.
GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Marivel Armitage with Counter-Aport Reversal! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Red Lance! GS: Scythe Riebaure spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ashley Winchester with Empty the Vein! GS: Scythe Riebaure has completed his action. GS: Ashley Winchester completely evades a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Empty the Vein! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ashley Winchester gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper and Quick! applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
They're carrion eaters, scavengers!" Malfi retorts. Indeed, most Metal Beasts subsisted on the bodies of defeated enemies, but they were capable vultures otherwise. "They only hunt if they need to!" She doesn't mention that they don't, or rarely, reproduce. "They could've lived on monsters!" That part was true: Filgaia was teeming with those. "Once you deactivated them, you didn't even kill them with honor." An honorable fight was one where your opponent could fight back.
And this one certainly was. He cuts loose with some kind of light spell this time, and Malfi can barely adjust her sensors in time to curtail -- but not prevent all -- the damage. She snarls and counterattacks, aiming to keep distance between them. Skipping her weapon entirely, she draws on her internal batteries, directing a bolt straight at Ethius.
GS: Malfi has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Assault with Batteries! GS: Malfi takes 20 damage from Poison! GS: Malfi has completed her action. GS: Yulie Ahtreide takes a glancing hit from Scythe Riebaure's Red Lance for 62 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Yulie Ahtreide gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Mighty! applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a glancing hit from Malfi's Assault with Batteries for 42 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Goin' by another name now?" She shrugs, her lips tilted in an insolent smile. "No arguments there. So, 'Scythe'... huh. ...Y'know, Chase," goddammit josie, "if you wanted a name with the right kinda..." She gestures for a moment. Perhaps she means 'je nes sais quoi'. "...Anyway, 'Scythe's' kinda missing the mark, right? How about..."
There's a long moment of consideration here.
"...Walker in the Frozen Wastes In Which Hope Dies?"
josie that's not even the right theme
Her gaze then slides towards Yulie. "An escapee, huh..." Some of the mirth seems to fade. She rolls her shoulders, as if in preparation for some sort of exertion.
Arguably, Josie was never precisely a well-meaning Drifter, back in those days when she still professed less of an allegiance to certain organizations.
The moment she opens fire on Gwen may clinch matters some. "Just back with them I was always with, kiddo!" she calls back. "--Sheesh, you open fire on a girl and she's still wondering whose side you're on," she remarks, flipping the shotgun about in her left hand, the action finishing with a clattering rain of spent shells on the floor. "Time you woke up, Gwen!"
She's still talking when Gwen ducks behind a crate and takes a potshot at her from afar; the bullet cuts across a shoulder in a spray of red just as Josie, with a wince and a hiss, ducks back for cover.
It's just not fast enough. Azoth catches up to her first.
"What the-- the hell's that trick sword, kid," she utters, twisting as the blade cleaves across her left upper arm. "Shit, this ain't no good," she further remarks, and with that ascends by leaps and bounds another pile of crates near to a tipped over crane. The arm still arcs upwards into the air at an angle.
It's not the best place she could be. It leaves her open -- specifically to Gwen. But at the same time, it gives her (for the moment) a potential advantage.
GS: Josephine Lovelace enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Heart and Dart! GS: Josephine Lovelace takes a solid hit from Josephine Lovelace's Heart and Dart for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify! applied to Josephine Lovelace! GS: Mighty! applied to Josephine Lovelace! GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Lunar Thorn! GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Azoth with Lunar Thorn! GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action. GS: Azoth guards a hit from Josephine Lovelace's Lunar Thorn for 63 hit points! GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Josephine Lovelace's Lunar Thorn for 77 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius maneuvers about the peripheral of other battles - there is a moment where a pan just misses his head and he really should not be standing that close to any of it, but Malfi is chasing him with a fervor and has him in a position where he can't just stand there and deflect most (...or any?) of it with that Symbological shield. (In fact, if Malfi's eyes are sensitive to it, she can see that it disappeared after she zapped it. Useful information!)
Displaced air pops his ears as he breaks away from being too close to Scythe and the rest, and he chooses to get low to try and avoid the electrical bolt. He gets a numbing zap running down his right arm and a new scorch mark for the damaged suit. It's one of those things that could've gotten a lot worse than it did.
"'If they need to.'" Ethius remarks. "They were part of a well-organized army whose supply chain and oversight evaporated effectively overnight. Those 'monsters,'" he remarks as he stays low for a bit to better gauge Josie's next maneuver so he doesn't pop up in any crossfire, "are part of Elru's ecosystem."
There is a sense of increased vulnerability he's trying to work around - but Azoth's approach covers the angle he's vulnerable from. He keeps his movement so that Azoth is always between him and Josie until such time he can find a better place to be on this rapidly-blasted open air hangar.
Malfi seems to be of like mind to keep distance, at which point he chooses to exploit this preference for his own ease of positioning as he swings his arm outward to a hand that flexes and clenches in a rhytmic pattern with a few difficult motions in-between. "Ashen Veil."
A veil of particulate material fills the air, grazing against Malfi's position and threatening to obscure her view of the Symbologist - but not what she hears next.
"I am to assume you have been lending your expertise to Odessa, then."
The next set of words, a touch more loaded. "An expertise spanning hundreds of years of conquest."
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Malfi with Ashen Veil! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod assumes the Stoic stance! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Malfi takes a solid hit from Ethius Hesiod's Ashen Veil for 116 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Malfi gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Infect!! All debuffs' duration extended by 2 rounds!!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
"I-I'm not sure what happened... the ship started to shake, so... I ran. Um... was that you?" Yulie replies to Ashley. Yulie sends a quiet nod Marivel's way, then. Questions... well, she suppose it makes sense that she'd have to answer some if they can get out of this.
"Thank you..." Yulie says, bowing her head politely in Gwen's direction. She'd like to think that everything would be fine, like Ashley says. She'd like to think they'd get her out of here.
But then Scythe happens, and suddenly everything is not fine.
It's at this point that Scythe says something concerning.
"...A... Crimson Noble...? I've read stories about them..." Yulie says with mounting concern, completely oblivious to the real deal right nearby.
She flinches a little, though, at Scythe's retort - and his labelling her as a 'lab rat'. That dismissive description seems to have cut deep.
But while that hurts emotionally, Scythe threatens to harm her physically. Quickly, Yulie prepares another barrier... but realises, as that shockwave is about to approach, that an attack of that power is enough to punch right through it. She lowers the barrier and jumps to the side, bracing herself as the shockwave washes over her.
She finds herself glad that she elected not to try and just take it. With a wince, she hauls herself up to her feet and brushes off her dress, before looking between Ashley and Marivel.
"Do you, um... know him? He seems... really angry at the two of you..." She asks. But, Scythe has asked her to prove that she's a sorceress, and Yulie is, as ever, polite and obliging. She elects to do so by bringing out another Crest Graph, this time invoking a spell that causes a blue and yellow barrier to form around Marivel briefly before fading out of sight, evident only by a similarly-colored hexagonal glow radiating out from her position.
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Marivel Armitage with Protect! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 1 Combo! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Unexpectedly, Malfi laughs. 'Hundreds of years of conquest? How old do you think I am?" Admittedly, Hyadeans don't appear to age like humans do, but she is barely more than thirty. "Your concern for the ecosystem doesn't seem to include the humans crawling over every surface." Her face turns more serious. "A certain number of Metal Beasts could've been supported by Filgaia. YOU -- she intones -- are a party to genocide." Or at least *attempted* genocide. Ethius' response is to attack with "Ashen Veil," which is too close to "Grave Dust" for Malfi's comfort. Taken aback, she retreats a bit, choking and flailing as the dust takes hold. She staggers back out of reach of Ethius' quarterstaff and attempts to zap him with a high-tech field. If it connects, even a little, it will sap his lifeforce and transfer it to her. A little payback for the dust!
GS: Malfi has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Transfuse! GS: Malfi has gained 1 Combo! GS: Malfi takes 25 damage from Poison! GS: Malfi has completed her action. GS: Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Malfi's Transfuse for 93 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ethius Hesiod gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up! GS: Ethius Hesiod enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"Oh huh, he can do the telepop thing too," Ashley observes with the subdued surprise of someone who has had so much emotional pain soothed by an even greater amount of sloppy puppy kisses. "Uh! Hm. I don't think it's very polite to be calling someone an imitation just because you're jealous, mister. I mean, you haven't even lived the hundreds of years of isolation needed to be a proper Marivel, you know? Oh! Are you like, one of Erzebet's Nosferatu minions!?"
This somehow makes sense in Ashley's brain. Is he just slow on the draw today? IS HIS BRAIN WORKING PROPERLY!?
Clearly, because when Scythe aports in front of him, looking to dig that dagger into his gut, it only finds the flat of Ashley's bayonet waiting for him. With a thin smile, Ashley darts forward and thrusts his blade downward, into and possibly even through Scythe's leg at the knee. "Sorry friend, I'm not a demon. And um! I don't know why you want me to beg you for anything!? I think we got off on the wrong foot! I'm Ashley Winchester! Are... are you also time-lost?"
It's worth an ask, right?
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Lab rat. Not a description that should be applied to a person. Names are getting thrown around in battle, and while Azoth takes them to memory, they can't be his focus right now. His eyes flicker as his blade makes contact with Josephine. It disappears in a flash of light once its deed is done, only to be joined by a second that slashes into nothing -- she's already gone and at higher ground. However tricky his swords are, the range on them doesn't seem to be something he's willing or able to throw at length.
He brings his arm up to form another hexagonal shield, but Josephine's assault manages to rip through it again, and his body jerks with impact from what his shield won't protect him from. This isn't sustainable. He's going to need something stronger.
But there isn't just a target he's found in this fight, there's a "pilot" through that shared target. Azoth retreats back to Gwen's position, and thrusts both hands out to form a larger barrier to cover them both.
He frowns, eyes on Josephine, but voice directed toward Gwen. "This does not sound easy for you. ... I'm sorry."
GS: Azoth has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Body Electric! GS: Azoth has attacked Azoth with Body Electric! GS: Azoth has completed his action. GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points! GS: Quick and Shield! applied to Marivel Armitage! GS: Azoth heals Azoth! He gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Shield! applied to Azoth! GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Counter-Aport Reversal for 135 hit points! GS: Ashley Winchester has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Shockslide! GS: Ashley Winchester has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ashley Winchester has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Y'say that like neither of us've spent a day in the Badlands," Gwen shoots back-- verbally, that is. Hearing Ashley similarly confused on issues of 'sides' mades Gwen feel a little more comfortable, at the very least. "N' it wasn't too long ago that I had to fight some friends to keep an asshole politician from kickin' the bucket, so, cut me some slack, okay?!"
Peeking over the crate she's hiding behind, she sees poor Azoth get pulled into this confusing feud, and whistles as she sees him manifest his blade. "Man, these ARMS guys got all sorts of tricks up their sleeve."
"Well, if you're helpin' them, that means I'm gonna have to take you seriously, then." The return fire further solidifies Josie's position, at least. Gwen leaps over the crate and straight into the line of fire, bullets further marring her skin and clothing. "I promised I'd help keep that girl safe, after all!"
Later, Gwen will have to understand the full extent of Josie's betrayal, as well as the length of time it has taken for this change to be revealed. It's been, what, years?
One thread does strike Gwen, however, as she jumps up to try to plant a fist in the woman's chest while she's distracted by Azoth.
"Is this because of Timeothus?"
GS: Scythe Riebaure critically Guards a hit from Ashley Winchester's Shockslide for 20 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Azoth heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Shield! applied to Gwen Whitlock!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Y'say that like neither of us've spent a day in the Badlands," Gwen shoots back-- verbally, that is. Hearing Ashley similarly confused on issues of 'sides' mades Gwen feel a little more comfortable, at the very least. "N' it wasn't too long ago that I had to fight some friends to keep an asshole politician from kickin' the bucket, so, cut me some slack, okay?!"
Peeking over the crate she's hiding behind, she sees poor Azoth get pulled into this confusing feud, and whistles as she sees him manifest his blade. "Man, these ARMS guys got all sorts of tricks up their sleeve."
"Well, if you're helpin' them, that means I'm gonna have to take you seriously, then." The return fire further solidifies Josie's position, at least. Gwen leaps over the crate and straight into the line of fire, bullets further marring her skin and clothing. "I promised I'd help keep that girl safe, after all!"
Later, Gwen will have to understand the full extent of Josie's betrayal, as well as the length of time it has taken for this change to be revealed. It's been, what, years?
Azoth comes to her aid then, and Gwen shakes her head, giving him a smile. "Nah, it's okay. There's probably a bunch more people that are taking this a lot harder, though. Just stick with me, 'kay? She's a powerful one."
One thread does strike Gwen, however, as she jumps up to try to plant a fist in the woman's chest.
"Is this because of Timeothus?"
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Gut Reaction! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius doesn't respond to the derisive laughter about her age. It is curious if he even knows how to smile or laugh. He never lets anyone see his face for the former. He has never been heard doing the latter.
He can't see the hardening of her face as she mentions the human impact of how many there are crawling on every surface. A point in her favor...? Or is he not listening? Where is he? What is he doing?
'YOU... are a party to genocide,' Malfo intones.
...UNKNOWN TIME AGO...
An angry individual, singular, in different colors from everyone else. That single word. Accusatory. Livid. The darkness of the chamber - itself unintended but the context too important to postpone - does not obscure their disgust.
That was when he himself knew.
That was when he knew they knew.
He knew not if the others did. He considered that much of little immediate consequence.
From this moment alone, he ensured it would never happen again.
Nothing else mattered, for his concern is but--
...
...
...
HERE IN THE NOW
Malfi goes hunting for Ethius from a range she finds comfortable. She will find something worrisome, in two different ways.
1: Ethius has a hold of his quarterstaff. It does not conduct electricity well. (It is not to say it insulates from all of it, for the amount she puts in - but it is enough.)
2: He is also closer than she might like.
"Dust Compress." She visually catches him at the very end of a spellcasting ritual obscured by the Ashen Veil, and then... all of the loose-flitting earthen matter flung about by the surrounding destruction, all of it gathers on one spot.
Right where Malfi is, right now, threatening to smother and bury her underneath a fine layer of rather determined free-floating particulate matter unless she can overpower it or get the hey out of dodge.
There is no smiling in his eyes, or laughter.
"I find the basis of your concerns peculiar." He says, spellcasting hand still extended as the Veil starts to clear.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Malfi with Dust Compress! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Malfi takes a glancing hit from Ethius Hesiod's Dust Compress for 79 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Malfi gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up! GS: Malfi enters Critical health and gains 25 FP! GS: Malfi enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"He's not a Crimson Noble...!" Marivel whines at Yulie. "Maybe I should just hand you over, since you think he's such a cool Crimson Noble person!" She fumes a bit. This distracts her enough that when Scythe uses >REFLECT on her.
A pail comes down upon Marivel's head. CLOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! It is SUPER EFFECTIVE.
Marivel stumbles around a bit. She then pushes against the pail few times.
And then she lowers her hands.
"..."
She vanishes in a flash o f light and reappears a few feet away. The pail is still on her head. he takes in a deep breth.
"...Ashley." She says. "...It's stuck."
She turns around a few times and looks in the wrong direction from Scythe. "Well... I'm going to go ahead and case spells anyway...!"
She raisees her hand into the air, sending blades of red flashing around wildly and completely failing to hit anybody.
"Did I kill him? Is he dead forever?? I didn't hear him scream 'Nooooooooooooooo! Curse you Marivel who is hotter and deadlier and a real Crimson Noble, unlike me--who is a poser.'... So I must have missed him! Well--"
She points Guillotine towards Gwen. "I'll just keep trying...!"
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Scythe Riebaure with MISS MISS MISS MISS! GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo! GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action. GS: Scythe Riebaure takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's MISS MISS MISS MISS for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Josephine Lovelace guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Gut Reaction for 64 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Josephine Lovelace gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up!
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Malfi manages to flail and backtrack enough that half of the dust and dirt miss her. The rest, however, sticks to her and clings, making a mockery of her fine golden skin, her black spiky "armor." Injury by a thousand little clods. She glares at the Symbologist and pulls out a weapon that's new to her -- a golden coil of fine strands, once part of her body, now separate and ready to be used. She throws the strands at Ethius, hoping they'll coil around his arms and legs and keep him from casting any more magic. Magic is her weakness. "And, yes, I have been sharing my 'expertise,' as you say, with Odessa. Filgaia should belong to the ones who fight and bleed for it."
GS: Malfi spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Malfi has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Scourge! GS: Malfi has gained 2 Combo! GS: Malfi takes 25 damage from Poison! GS: Poison expired! GS: Malfi has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod guards a hit from Malfi's Scourge for 117 hit points! GS: Ethius Hesiod enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Scythe's forehead vein does that thing again. That's about all the acknowledgment Josie gets at the moment.
Ashley's memory might not be in tip-top shape, but his combat reflexes sure are. Steel glances off steel with a loud CLANG, and Scythe twists back, already anticipating a counterattack. He might rely on his teleportation far too much, but he's still a Brionac soldier, and they taught him the ropes. Ashley's bayonet clips Scythe's thigh, drawing a thin line of crimson through the black fabric of his pants. It's a near thing. The pain seems to drive Scythe to even greater fury. "Did it consume your memories?!" Scythe demands, "The great, burning thing coiled around your soul like the world-serpent itself!"
Scythe strikes at ashley again, aiming for the inside of his right arm--if he can cut those tendons, it'll make it a lot harder for the Muskeer to use his bayonet. And make a great, gory mess in the process, which Scythe will sadly be unable to consume, because he does not want a repeat of LAST TIME.
Almost as an afterthought, Scythe thrusts out a hand, invoking more Symbological might--fire erupts from out of nowhere, blooming around Yulie in an attempt to force her to keep her head down. Scythe sees what she's doing.
He also sees Marivel take the bucket on the head, and start wobbling around, completely unable to see. He barks out sharp laughter, and vanishes, only to reappear at the beleaugered mechanic's side... while she's firing in the opposite direction.
Is Scythe Riebaure cruel and ruthless enough to cheap-shot Marivel while she's blinded? Absolutely. His blade lashes out, aiming roughly where the kidneys would be on a normal old human--and he tries to bury it deep.
GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Marivel Armitage with Noblesse Oblige! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 2 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Inferno! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 2 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ashley Winchester with Stain the Blade! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Slow expired! GS: Scythe Riebaure has completed his action. GS: Ashley Winchester critically Guards a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Stain the Blade for 25 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ashley Winchester gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up! GS: Yulie Ahtreide guards a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Inferno for 87 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Yulie Ahtreide gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Marivel Armitage critically Guards a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Noblesse Oblige for 29 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
At least here, Josie seems -- given that she laughs at his reaction and draws on her opponents -- to be satisfied with the low-grade harrassment she's unleashed upon him.
...For now.
Gwen isn't the only other familiar face here.
"Fancy seeing you here, Hesiod," Josie remarks, apparently no longer in the business of calling him 'Owl'. "Shame I won't get a chance to dance with you this time or none. You know how it is, yeah? But don't worry your head off -- I'll keep a bullet warm for you!" With that, she turns her attention to her own pursuers, the woman she knows... and the man she doesn't. "Don't suppose you got a name? Or should I go for 'hey you' when we're fighting?" she asks of Azoth. "...Well, now, ain't that an interesting little spell," she remarks, of his barrier.
Gwen ascends the crane, making her way swiftly up it and towards her; Josie swings her shotgun like a club to parry the incoming fist aside and only succeeds in diverting it to her arm instead; she hisses out a breath.
'Is this because of Timotheus?'
All at once Josie tenses up atop the tilted crane, her expression a dark one. "What about him? ...What's that bastard done now?"
She won't deign to call him 'father'.
She takes one step back, finding the edge of the crane; below her is a long drop. "Tch," utters the archaeologist.
Before lightning pulses down her arm, encircling her weapon. Staying there, the shotgun pulsing with the spell. "Worst part of climbing trees always was gettin' back down," she drawls, before drawing her weapon in a wide sweep towards the both of them, pulling the trigger one, twice, thrice--
Thunder roars as the shots fly forth.
Josie hops off the crane, descending for the deck -- or rather the scattered crates -- below.
GS: Josephine Lovelace has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Snipe! GS: Josephine Lovelace spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Crescent Dart! GS: Josephine Lovelace has attacked Azoth with Crescent Dart! GS: Josephine Lovelace has gained 1 Combo! GS: Cripple and Mighty expired! GS: Josephine Lovelace has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
'And, yes, I have been sharing my 'expertise,' as you say, with Odessa.'
Malfi throws those coils, her finest weapon as - at this close of a range - Ethius is unable to move away from it. She is Hyadean, after all. She's faster, she's stronger, she's tougher. There is a reason the Hyadean hordes were able to overpower most of Filgaia, and... in a straight fight, Ethius isn't that different from the conquered. His biometrics, such as they may have been measured or known, are still human.
He has his forearm crossed as he slurs some syllables, and just as Malfi starts to try and drain away his strength...
Electrical pops, bright flashing sounds. She relents from her electrical pulsing at an opportune moment for him to free himself from their grasp, albeit his posture is less than steady. Those coils clamp down tight. Blood circulation is still a thing.
'Filgaia should belong to the ones who fight and bleed for it.'
His eyes narrow as strength returns to his hand. He picks up the quarterstaff and slams the butt of it on the ground. The sound is loud, for what actual muscular strength he possesses (which is, by sorcerer standards, rather good but nowhere near enough to win an arm wrestling match against most warriors unburdened by sorcery's requirements of the body).
"That will not be for you to determine." Somehow, even with everything collapsing and burning and showing of eldritch power around him, he narrows all of the fog of war and confounding, loud, irritating stimuli that makes Filgaia so 'loud' to him down to this point point. Malfi will know the finger movements he's about to make. That spell. That very spell he cast on her before. The incantation is unmistakable for something that induced that momentary fear of being reduced to something less.
By her standards - by Hyadean culture standards - Ethius does not fight fair. Ethius does not fight nice.
"Grave Dust." The same particulate matter trying to form and put itself in places it should not. If Malfi doesn't get out of that spot he's sorcerously focusing on - unless he has compensated for how she might weave! - or otherwise deal with it, it's going to happen again.
"That is for those of Filgaia to determine." He ends. There's enough particulate matter floating in the air he can't tell from the jump if Malfi's been caught or stuck with it, after hurling all of it at her. "I cannot permit the remnants of Mother's war machine to further destabilize Filgaia."
...I?
For over a thousand years... how? His mind wanders, tangentially, on that subject before catching himself.
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action! GS: Azoth completely evades a hit from Josephine Lovelace's Crescent Dart! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action! GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Malfi with Grave Dust! GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action. GS: Malfi takes a glancing hit from Ethius Hesiod's Grave Dust for 79 hit points! GS: Cripple and Disease! applied to Malfi! GS: Malfi has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
"H-he isn't...? But, he said he was...? I'm confused..." Yulie replies, uncertain. Marivel... certainly seemed to take that personally, for some reason...! Yulie isn't sure why.
But, she can't focus on that for long - Scythe is as vicious an opponent as his name suggests.
She watches as he applies pressure to her friends and allies... and as he dismissively casts a raging inferno in her direction, trying to lock her down and prevent her from supporting her allies. Yulie puts up a barrier once more... but, the heat is overwhelming. She's not sure how long she'll last... and, while she's stuck here, Scythe is allowed to do as he pleases with her friends.
She...won't allow that.
"Replace!" Yulie calls out, invoking another spell. At this, Scythe will feel a tugging on his very being. If he's unable to resist it, he'll soon find himself taking Yulie's place in the middle of his own inferno, with Yulie appearing where he was just a moment before. It might be pretty disorienting - it's enough to completely kill one's combat momentum.
GS: Yulie Ahtreide spends 1 Combo on Interrupt! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Replace! GS: Yulie Ahtreide assumes the Stoic stance! GS: Riposte expired! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Malfi retreats, withdrawing her golden coils as she does so. She has no desire to endure THAT spell again! She feels ashamed. It's cowardly to be falling back. She takes refuge behind a console and waits for her native regeneration to kick in.
She is exhausted. Scouring the wastelands for Hyadean survivors has been taking a toll. That must be why she was vanquished so easily by a human.
Of course, THIS human didn't fight fairly, or honorably.
GS: Scythe Riebaure takes a glancing hit from Yulie Ahtreide's Replace for 0 hit points! GS: Disrupt! applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Reaction bonus! FP up! GS: Scythe Riebaure has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt! GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Josephine Lovelace's Crescent Dart for 133 hit points! GS: Poison! applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Turning her head, Gwen sees Marivel point at her _at that exact moment_, and waves her left hand frantically at her. "Nononono, Marivel, he's thattaway, not here!" She points to Scythe. "He's the tryhard wannabe, not me! I *earned* my super courier title!" A nanosecond later, the courier coughs, realizing no attacks seem to be coming her way. Also, Marivel might not be able to see her. OR CAN SHE??
There's the matter of the crane. Gwen may not be the fastest, most agile person around, but her courier moniker is hardly there for show, as she climbs it, one way or another, with as much dignity as she can afford to grab onto with each foot she gains. At least, until she gets Josephine's response.
At first, there's genuine surprise, Gwen's mouth drawing open slightly as she sees her first theory completely swatted to the side, along with her ARM. Then, her expression grows grim as a grave, blue-grey eyes locking with Josie's own.
"Maybe, you should check into that."
Lightning is not the best sort of thing to be struck by while on a metal crane. Gwen hesitates, considering drawing back, but finds the short width of the crane not enough to grant her a degree of maneuverability.
"Or not. I mean, you'll probably be forced to find out one way or another."
So, when the thunder cracks and the bullets fly, Gwen does the one thing that has become so natural for her, like an well-loved pair of gloves.
She takes it on, shot and all, falling off with as much forethought as she could muster at that moment.
Falling down, her curls blown back by the wind, Gwen points her ARM downwards, fingers splayed wide. "Figure out for yourself!"
Her shot fires with the brightness of a crack of lightning, the recoil halting her descent for the briefest of seconds before she tumbles into the heap of wood and debris herself.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Corona Discharge! GS: Gwen Whitlock takes 21 damage from Poison! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Josephine Lovelace takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Corona Discharge for 204 hit points! GS: Charge!! You gain 55 FP! GS: Josephine Lovelace enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
Ethius watches Malfi limp away and try to find cover. He exhales audibly as he sees she does not move from her cover. She does not yell back her ideological disagreements with his position. The air pops and moves a ways behind him he's not comfortable with thanks to Yulie messing with spatial relationships.
'Fancy seeing you here, Hesiod.' Josie speaks to him, promising to keep a bullet warm for him.
The two of them did have themselves a disagreement back on Lunar, in Glenwood. He turns his head over his right shoulder in only the briefest acknowledgement, enough to watch her movements and what she's doing with that loud, thunder-cracking shotgun of hers. He watches her dismount the crane before turning his head back towards Malfi's last known position. He can make an educated guess that she's leaning on her native regenerative properties.
"It matters not by whose hand they are directed. The Metal Beasts do not belong here." Ethius remarks as he turns away. Is he going to let Malfi be? Just like that? He walks forward as he passes by the crane Josie had been on moments before (on the opposite side of where she leaps), looking to one particular wheeled flight vehicle.
It is already damanged beyond repair from being in the periphery of bouts of incredible sorcerous power and ARM crossfire. Ethius continues to stride past it.
Then he thrusts his quarterstaff right into some of its exposed landing gear. This seems... pointless, even spiteful? What did this thing even do to him?
Then it might hit them.
- Due to damages to the craft, there is a lean towards the open air.
- If the landing gear isn't keeping the craft locked in place, it's going to start rolling... and it does.
- ...It's rolling in the direction where Malfi's hiding behind a console.
Said console will prove inadequate shielding to the craft's building velocity, threatening to roll Malfi right on out into open air as the strange white-haired man starts to slink back towards most the rest of his infiltration party.
The destruction this loosened craft might cause by proxy miiiiiiight restrict their future routes a little. Only a little.
They might have to take a detour out the airlock or something, but that's a worst case scenario.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
More names. More history. There's a lot he doesn't know. It isn't his business to know it. But it can also be difficult to determine what data will and won't be relevant.
Especially if whatever just happened provoked electricity.
Azoth's mechanical pupils shrink to pins before dilating. He can feel the static in the air, his internal systems flaring with warning.
Azoth jerks away from the fired shots, one, then the next, each dodge calculated, but briefly frozen in whatever awkward position he had to pull himself in to avoid the next part of barrage. A bullet sails past his face, the arcs of electricity threatening to leap onto him in the horrible slow motion analysis that makes up his thoughts. Nope nope nope no no goodbye.
Azoth forms another blade of light, this one almost as big as himself, and with a motion of his hand, tries to thrust it down toward her while making synthetic beeps of distress.
GS: Azoth spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Azoth has attacked Josephine Lovelace with Lightning Aries ! GS: Azoth has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"Oh. You know about him then," Ashley answers Scythe with the kind of deadpan misery that just doesn't sound right coming out of a person who just spent several hours in the Puppy Room. "You've got something wrong there. It hasn't consumed any of me. Not yet. And it never will, not for as long as I'm able to keep it that way." His eyes narrow subtly, a subtle fury glinting there, but also a tireless determination.
"I told you, I'm not a demon. Unlike some people, I don't *want* to be a creature of darkness, thank you very muc--"
'...Ashley. ...It's stuck.'
"--um, hold that thought," Ashley says, leaping back to grab hold of Marivel, who is about to do a VERY BAD THING with her Guillotine. "Hold on! I've got you," he grabs Marivel around the waist with one arm and--
Scythe is there! With a knife! Ashley's eyes sparkle, as he interposes Marivel's bucket-head right into the path of the diablerist's dagger. It digs... into the bucket's rim like it were some kind of can-opener. Again Scythe aports, and the acrid, tell-tale scent of sulfur is all Ashley needs to redirect and bucket-block the knife a second time...!
Scythe might have just so kindly delivered just the kind of structural damage to the bucket that has so plagued this immortal creature of darkness...! If Ashley has anything to say about the matter, at least.
"I don't know what your problem is," the Musketeer snaps back, releasing his handy Mari-shield as he braces his ARM and waits for just the right moment. Scythe aports again, by his will or by Yulie's spell, and Ashley opens fire. The canister that erupts from the Bayonet is a brutal thing, a weapon full of buckshot launched by a time-released explosive, aimed right at the diablerist's center of mass. "But you don't want me letting him out. Especially not here, especially not now. Do you know what that kind of power would do to an airship!?"
GS: Ashley Winchester spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Ashley Winchester has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Multiblast! GS: Hyper expired! GS: Ashley Winchester has completed his action. GS: Scythe Riebaure takes a solid hit from Ashley Winchester's Multiblast for 139 hit points! GS: Josephine Lovelace takes a solid hit from Azoth's Lightning Aries for 151 hit points! GS: Charge!! You gain 45 FP! GS: Josephine Lovelace enters Critical health and gains 25 FP!
<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.
Preoccupied with her own thoughts, Malfi doesn't notice the approaching aircraft until it's too late. It plunges right *into* her, knocking her off the flight deck entirely.
And into open air. To her credit, she doesn't scream -- even though falling has always been something she fears.
She's resigned herself to death, her primary regret being not establishing a homeland for her people--
When rescue comes. An eagle-like Metal Beast. Had it been following the Warwing the entire time? It doesn't matter. The Beast scoops Malfi up in its claws and flies off. She has a great view of the rogue aircraft plunging and crashing into Filgaia far below. Catching a relieved breath, Malfi recites a word of praise to the Metal Beast, who croons in acknowledgement. She recognizes this one. She'd raised him from a baby. Together the'll get safely to the ground.
Or at least as safe as one could be on Filgaia. She's surprised the Beast recognized her, dusty and dirty as she is. Maybe this one had a kinsight module? She couldn't remember.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
In that moment, Josie's gaze locks with Gwen's, and in a sense--
...Doesn't she know what that man's gone and done? The specifics are meaningless. She already knows the broad strokes. "And you didn't kill him or none," Josie remarks. She's not smiling. "You're slacking, Whitlock."
The shot might slam into Gwen--
It might cause a specific sort of distress for Azoth--
Josie sees neither of these things. She crashes into the pile of crates, debris flying in a wooden spray as she lands. Rising to her feet unsteadly, she glances up the once.
Oh.
Let there be light, indeed.
She shades herself with her arm as the bright flare comes for her from above.
And turns her head a fraction in time to see Azoth coming for her with an enormous blade of--
Oh, yes. Let there be light. There is a roar from both ends as they collide upon Josephine. For an instant, nothing can be seen.
When the light fades, she's down on one knee, her bad hand pressed gingerly against her stomach. "Gah... let my guard down," she croaks, then lifts her head a mere few degrees.
"All yours now, Chase!" ...Well, all Scythe's and Malfi's, that is. As for Josie, she slips her hand from her ARM and snaps her fingers. A small shimmering ball of light there hovers, slowly rising into the air above her.
"...'Let there be light'," the archaeologist quips. "Light Flare!"
And then that point of shimmering light explodes into brilliance. Once it finally fades, she's not there at all anymore.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Wow." Marivel says as Yulie struggles with the idea of deception--either self deception or otherwise. "Wow."
Marivel freezes when Ashley tells her to. She fans her hands out to the side as if that's going to help. Marivel might need time in the Puppy Room too but Marivel, lets be honest, abuses the Puppy Room too much as it is. She goes in there every few days and jjust basks in puppy power for like an hour. She usually goes at odd hours so nobody catches her... It's a dark Marivel secret.
Scythe's dagger goes into Marivel's bucket and Marvel bucket-opener's it open. Marivel blinks twice and looks to Gwen whom she is pointing a blade at and says, "Oh." She says. "Woops."
She turns around and says, "Thanks AShley!"
She gestures forward with her fingers and snaps them once...
...and sends a swirl of shadows towards Scythe that endeavour to cling to his body and pin him to the floor.
"You know I think we're giving him too much c redit." She says. "So how about we just... hightail it out of here?"
GS: Marivel Armitage spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Boogiepop Phantoms! GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action. GS: Scythe Riebaure takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Boogiepop Phantoms for 37 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Disease and Poison! applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure has activated a Boss Action!
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Scythe, who has barely been paying attention to his ostensible Hyadean ally, barely notices as Ethius Hesiod knocks her out of the Warwing entirely. How rude!!
Josie, meanwhile, earns a 'tch' when she declares her intent to retreat. "At least you know your limits," he says, and then the archaeologist vanishes in that flare of light.
Of course, then Ashley RUINS EVERYTHING. For a brief split-second, he wonders if Ashley is using Marivel as a shield--but the carbon steel of his knife cuts through the bucket instead of its intended target, freeing the actual Crimson Noble from her prison. Moments later, Yulie uses one of Scythe's own tricks against him--there's a familiar spatial flash, and Scythe finds himself standing several feet away from her, the air still blazing hot. The Crimson Noble snarls, waving a hand to extinguish the flames before they can do any serious harm--but that means Ashley can get his shot in. The canister slams into Scythe's side, erupting in a blast of shrapnel. Scythe lets out a sharp hhh of breath, blood dripping down his midsection. He teleports on reflex, reappearing atop a pile of crates. It takes him a moment to get his breath back.
"I don't merely know of him," Scythe snarls, "I tasted him. That power would lay waste to this star, and everything on it--and it could, were it freed! You give yourself too much credit, mortal! No human soul could ever hope to contain such power alone!"
Shadows pool on the floor around Scythe's feet, crawling up his body. "No--NO!" More Symbols glow on his torso as he throws his arms wide, as if to encompass the entire hangar bay. Ashley, Marivel, and Yulie remain exactly where they are, but the space around them starts to... compress, twist, and bend in ways it absolutely should not. It's as though reality has become as malleable as hot taffy. Chunks of aircraft debris flatten out, or twist into bizarre, non-Euclidean shapes. The deck buckles.
GS: Scythe Riebaure spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ashley Winchester with Spatial Crush! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Spatial Crush! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Marivel Armitage with Spatial Crush! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ashley Winchester critically Guards a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Spatial Crush for 41 hit points! GS: Yulie Ahtreide guards a hit from Scythe Riebaure's Spatial Crush for 117 hit points! GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Spatial Crush for 187 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
For every moment of glory, there's a bunch of subsequent moments rolling around in broken crates and miscellaneous contents, all while trying to avoid getting splinters or, worse, detonating something you'd rather leave alone.
It is because of this that Josie has all the time in the world to escape, at least from Gwen's side of things. Weakly, she shields her eyes from Josephine's flare of light, obscuring the archaeologist from view.
When her vision resolves, all that remains of Josie is the rough outline left in Gwen's eyes.
"It wasn't for lack of tryin'," she softly admits, in Josie's absence. ....
Is this... really her?
"FF-" The moment of self realization is cut short by a stabbing pain in Gwen's midsection, as an earlier bullet wound rubs painfully against the processed wood of the piece of crane cushioning her. "Guardians... -ow-, why th'hell did I think that was... ow... such a good idea..." She cranes her neck to look for Azoth.
"-ey, person! Sword guy! Gh... I need a name." She gets up, holding her side. "My name is Gwen Whitlock, super co- FF-" She cuts off her exclamation into her fist, which she presses against her mouth. "We need t'help them."
And by that, she means 'yelling and waving her ARM'. "Heeeeeeeyyyyy youuuuu! That guy! I'm comin', and he's comin' too, and we're gonna kick your asss-FFF-"
She's stuffing her fist against her mouth again. Give her a moment.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth gives another startled beep as the flash of light engulfs his optical sensors. He's left perfectly still in the wake of battle, but quickly determines that the immediate threat is gone. He tries to reasses the sitution... the damages to the battlefield from spells, ARM, and aircraft, and those who have fallen or fled. But combat is still on going, and there's danger -- both to himself, and the one circumstances had him fighting beside. Analyzing the battle data will have to come later. Azoth rushes to the debris where Gwen fell and shoves a crate out of the way with his shoulder, trying to find where she'd fallen.
"Hey, are you all right?"
He'll offer a hand to help her up, if she needs it, and keeps himself positioned so one eye is still on the ongoing battle, in case of a stray bullet or spell.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
Yulie has been following everything Scythe has said about Ashley. But, she already had an idea of what kind of power he held, even if she hadn't seen it harnessed directly. It's enough for her to take everything Scythe says about him at face value - and Scythe himself is powerful enough that she takes his own claims about himself at face value, too.
But, there's something else she needs to be concerned about now - an incensed Scythe exerts his will over the entire flight deck. She can feel it start to tear apart - and the forces are enough to force her down to the floor. It's like it's trying to split her body apart... What can they do...?
As if reacting to her fears and concerns, the metal band on her right wrist unfurls, revealing a strange metallic device. ...But, rather than make use of it, Yulie claps a hand over it. Not here, not now... not while everyone can see...
"I-I think we need to go! I'm not sure the ground will take more of this...!" Yulie says, forcing herself back to her feet. He really is too powerful for them to fight right now...
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth gives another startled beep as the flash of light engulfs his optical sensors. He's left perfectly still in the wake of battle, but quickly determines that the immediate threat is gone. He tries to reasses the sitution... the damages to the battlefield from spells, ARM, and aircraft, and those who have fallen or fled. But combat is still on going, and there's danger -- both to himself, and the one circumstances had him fighting beside. Analyzing the battle data will have to come later. Azoth rushes to the debris where Gwen fell and shoves a crate out of the way with his shoulder, trying to find where she'd fallen.
"You can call me Azoth. Are you all right?"
Pause. Blink.
"You do not sound all right. Here--"
He offers his support to give her something to steady herself on. "I suggest reconsidering continued battle."
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Why would anyone *lick* Lord Blazer? That seems like a terrible, awful idea. Just, absolutely the worst possible thing you could do with your life. Even worse than licking one of the puppies in the puppy room. Ashley has nothing but pity for Scythe Riebaure, Apocalypse Sommelier.
And Marivel has him bound at the moment, so now is in fact a good time to make good on her stated plan. "Good plan," he nods to the True Crimson Noble. "You still have other things to take care of up here, right? None of us can afford to be bogged down like this--"
But then, reality seems to turn... sideways. Space and time twist and bend like some kind of dimensional torque-wrench was being taken to the very fabric of reality. Ashley sees it before he feels it, a distortion of light and image, but it's not long before it begins to tear at his body, pushing and pulling in all directions at once. It's nauseating, excruciatingly painful, but...
"You're right," he answers the Diablerist, a quiet admission of weakness to one who seems to be nothing less than a master of space and time, "But..."
Ashley... places a hand over his heart. He feels the quickening pulse. The world itself tears at him, and yet, and yet...!
He is the Vessel of World's End. He has been thrust beyond the bounds of this reality and crawled his way back on hands and knees, and in so doing brought the Apocalypse with him. It's a sickening sound that reverberates through the substance of Scythe's sorcery, like shattering of glass accentuated by the roar of distant wildfire and overlaid with the squelch of tearing flesh. Somehow, perhaps by natural resilience, perhaps simply by the power of memory, or just the sheer irrefutable weight of the Blazer's existence, Scythe's power falls to tattered shreds around Ashley Winchester.
The Musketeer looks him in the eye and moves to take Yulie by the hand, striding through twisted space with no more than a wince and a few spurts of blood. "I'm not alone. I'll never be alone, no matter where I go...!"
Isn't that right, Marivel Armitage?
"Come on," he says to Yulie as he pulls her from the cage of spacetime gone mad, "We've got to go before reinforcements show up. Let's run...!"
"Gwen! Marivel! You other two people!" Ashley shouts as he takes Yulie and begins to bolt, "You all take care too! Good luck! Break Vinsfeld's legs for me!"
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel is sort of half crushed into herself. Her crushed body quirks an eyebrow at Scythe with a thoughtful frown.
"Your power commes from a strange source." She says as her head quirks into a ninety degree angle. "I wonder what they see in you."
Her head curves upside down.
She extends her hand forward that twists around and fragments itself into several armms against Scythe's power. Her eyes spin in her head.
She keeps a goodd eye on everybody and says, "Unfortunately the girl's right. Too strong. Going to that effort to beat a man like this... We've got an actual job to do too, you know."
And then she punches her other hand forward, the other limb shattered beyond belief and she snaps her fingers once.
"That's right." Marivel says. "Ashley Winchester carries that demon you are so enamored with because his fate..."
"...Is to never be alone. Never. Even when Filgaia is sand, he will have company. That is the pact forged."
--and with that, she APORTS the group into a safe area.
Some mid-run.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.
MEANWHILE
It's trite to say 'things come to a head' when no small number of professional Drifters are converging upon one of the greatest military threats Filgaia and its satellite have ever known, but there's not many phrases left when one hallway finds itself so lousy with debris and wreckage from a more explosive route through Warwing Varukias that they are left with only one way forward - to a hatch where there are clear warnings not to open it in the middle of flight.
Ethius and Marivel - separately but not that far apart, maybe even not APORT - rejoin the rest of their Warwing exploration crew, where they only could have come from said more explosive route. They may or may not have a hand in said explosive route. Another plume of flame bursts not far from this point of wreckage, as if to insist 'yes, go that way please.'
They don't really have a choice. A cursory look from a cracked open hatch shows that there is a railed maintenance catwalk. This is footing on a mere technicality. It's narrow, it appears to have already suffered damages... but it leads to somewhere a few meters down. Over open air, with wind roaring, where there is another way a thousand or so meters.
etc, etc, etc... the rest is history.