Scene #4313: Target: Howling Manse

Owner	Pose
Guest Madeline	Madeline wasn't sure who was going to show up when she put out the first target for her campaign. Technically, it wasn't her first target... her armies(mostly the navy really) had been capturing what they could for the last few weeks. However, the Grand Manses are not pushovers to begin with, and it was sooner rather than later that she ran into one that required more help than even an elder Exalt could normally bring to bear without unwanted casualties. She has brought support to the nearest basecamp, though. Several large siege machines, some distance from the more secure shore. The slope downward opens up into a wide open barren plain, which is cracked and shaped by the howling winds that give the manse its name. The fortress itself is atop a spire in the middle, which makes no sense geographically but this is Creation. Even from a distance it is easy to see why this one is more difficult than the others... the various cracks and crannies make it difficult to know what forces are there defending it, and the air elementals are hard to see by themselves. Around the spire, several large craft can be seen, apparently expertly gliding through complex patterns of ever-present, poweful updrafts and jetstreams. With the Radiant Princess kneeling and ready, Madeline waits for her allies of the moment, a rough map of the area laid out in front of her. It's pretty obvious she isn't expecting an army push through, but something more quick, decisive, and involving single people. Elites, in other words.
Shin Tokuyama	Shin Tokuyama has been summoned to help out Madeline Vance. This is a crazy sequence of events that is leading to him learning the Dark Messiah Style in exchange for helping the Solar out in her pursuits of conquest or something. He was only half paying attention. Or, more accurately, he IS only half paying attention. He's hanging around Madeline's basecamp with a set of earphones in. Really, if he's helping Madeline out in exchange for her being a sifu for martial arts shenanigans, he has just the soundtrack for his mission "I think of all the education that I missed~ But then my homework was never quite like this~." "Yoooo, Vancea-..." He pauses, trying to think of a good suffix that he hasn't used yet, "-dopolis. I'm here to kick ass in exchange for ass-kicking lessons. I'm gonna hench it up today."
Stygian Mirror	If the fact the target is a fortress atop a huge spire in an otherwise barren plain bothers Mirror in the slightest, she doesn't show it. She lives in Palanquin, the city slash islands, not the vehicle. This is pretty normal. The white-haired (fox-eared lizard-eyed cat-tailed so and so forth) young (technically a lie) woman (at least that's true) had come, in part because Madeline was paying her with delicious knowledge of her own Creation, and in part because she can't help but be curious about another Creation to begin with. She'd lie if she said the sight of a battlefield and war machines are familiar; her Deathlord hadn't made it a point to launch very many assaults, and so her experience sieging castles (or spires in this case) was more as a one-man army than as an actual army. And let's be honest, even the times she'd led armies, there's a huge difference between leading people to war and leading skeletons and ghosts to war. The latter is much more murderous and quiet. She comes in from behind Shin, beelining for the map and commander. An idle wave of a hand to say hello, and then straight to business. "So, what kind of forces are in there?"
Nozomi Houken	Nozomi still has her doubts. Strong ones. She's suspicious of this whole thing. She's suspicious of Madeline's motives, she's suspicious of a system that will only protect people who opt in under her rule, she's suspicious of pulling the carpet out from under everyone else. But at the same time... well, the existing system is a danger to innocent people too. And this /will/ help them, in its own way. So it's something she should take part in, right? She's sure if some of the higher ups in her JSDF ever get wind of this, she'll be in trouble. So here she sits astride Taiga, who ambles in lazily, coming to a stop near Shin. Because no way is he taking Nozomi close to Stygian Mirror. But neither party has anything to say in greeting; for once, even the robotiger is silent. This is a serious, wartime matter.
Serenity	Staying well away from Stygian Mirror, who gives her an uneasy feeling for some reason, Serenity has also shown up. Like Nozomi, she's suspicious of Madeline, but for now she would like to know more... and that means participating. Thus she has come armored and armed, wearing a breastplate to match what looks like cured leather on her limbs, but is probably something more. The sword at her side is normal, though. "Too many ambush spots below, and an air force that knows the 'terrain' in there... this is not an easy fortress, is it?" she mutters, watching the fliers in the distance. "But if you don't address the fliers they have air superiority. Tricky."
Kutsuuko Shiratori	You can absolutely bet that Kutsuuko has expressed her opinion on the dubiousness of a spire like that forming here and under these conditions, but that doesn't really change the fact that she, and everyone else gathered here, have the job of taking it. Upon arriving, she's visibly relieved right off the bat, to see that there isn't a rippling mosh pit carpet of men with spears waiting for her. The terrain, coupled with the forces she's told /are/ present, are significantly more complicated, but more like what she signed on to deal with. She's already spent enough time studying the map, and so for the time being, she has been doing last minute checks and adjustments on her God Arc, sorting through a mounting pile of gear she'd taken to base camp as she exchanges some more modular upgrade components and sorts through bullet chips, eventually popping open the giant ammo chamber and slotting in six objects the size of soda cans, superficially like cannon shells with luminous orange bands and glass midsection that reveals some kind of moving core, into its apertures like a gargantuan revolver cylinder. Also like a revolver, albeit a movie one, she finishes loading with a fancy, cowboy-esque wrist snap, though the mechanism sounds more like snapping jaws than a magazine clack. The display cores at the 'hilt' glow brightly in confirmation of full charge. "I think my question is how exactly you want us to take the place. I mean it's obvious how we get there, but do we just need to kick everyone out and send them packing, or is there some weird magic junk we need to pull off? Like are we finding five magical orbs that we need stand around until they turn from red to blue?" She's mostly chattering from her seated position as she starts picking up obvious things like grenades, and then some less obvious things, for her belt, but it is a real question.
Guest Madeline	Some good questions so far. Madeline is tapping on a datapad hooked into her mech, watching various readouts. She answers while she's doing this last minute checkup, "Taking it entirely by air, without a significant air force, would be very difficult. Airfolk - winged people - are possibly in there but they're rare enough I'm not sure. The natives who have taken it over seem to be a mix of normal folk and Dragonblooded who may not even remember why they're guarding it... but they have aerial equipment that still works, and a lot of it. Bombs, and probably guns. Air elementals. Geurillas in the cracks. There's no safe way of approaching, but a rush right to the base might work." She makes a face. "No, I don't think there's a puzzle inside, just regular defenses and traps. How many fliers do we have to keep the air force off of us, anyway?"
Nozomi Houken	The silence from Taiga and Nozomi grows uneasy. The girl astride the robot turns her head slightly, lowering it enough that she's looking away from Madeline. "I... I could. Maybe. It's..." Perhaps surprisingly, the TIGER decides to interrupt his user for once, speaking up. "Nozomi and I are, in tandem, technically capable of flight. But that is an option we would prefer not to use if there are any other candidates for the task whatsoever."
Lin	As worrying as Madeline's ambition and arrogance is, Karal Rei Lin's here to see what comes of it... and so long as she's being paid as a mercenary, most questions of the long-term effects of this are not (yet) her concern. Her expression is grim and focused, but not always capable of hiding a few flickers of worry. "Trying to get in through THAT will be an endeavor.... I hope there's a plan ready."
Kutsuuko Shiratori	"Sorry, no wings here." Kutsuuko admits. "Though I've got plenty of anti-air, if that's all you need. I've got plenty of experience fighting fliers too. As much as this place works against us, it's admittedly pretty much perfect for sniping." She hefts her God Arc in Sforzando configuration for emphasis. "Are we dividing into teams for this? I'm not sure we should, or at least if we do, we should all converge on the spire anyways. It's a huge high ground advantage, and nobody can come at us that we can't see from miles and miles away. Limits how many guys they can bring down on us at once, right?"
Stygian Mirror	"That's absurd, no one protects their tower with orbs that change from red to blue when you stand near them," Mirror corrects Kutsuuko on the terrible design flaw. "You have to hit them. It's like a switch. Prevents accidents when you just happen to be near one." It's even more secure if you couple those orbs with red and blue blocks that rise and fall accordingly, blocking certain passages while opening others. At the mention of Airfolk, Mirror manages a smile, something that finally falls in her comfort zone. "I've dealt with Airfolk before. Frequently, actually." She doesn't add it out loud but it's because Airfolk used to support Palanquin. When her Deathlord took it over, well, you know. They got pissy. They still are pissy, but now they're also mostly subjugated. It's why her sword is also a hookshot. "I can't fly, but I can get up on the ships no problem and buy you all some time. Do you want them disabled, destroyed or just distracted?" Probably best to specify when employing an Abyssal.
Serenity	Since Nozomi and Taiga are expressing concern, Serenity sighs and lifts her hand. "I have several means of flying, and can also provide a mount for flight if someone wants to come with me. None of them are ideal for this situation, but it looks rather specialized, doens't it?" For some reason, this concerns her, that she's the only flier. Maybe she just doesn't want to be the only one up in the air. Her eyes narrow in thought as she examines the spire. "All right. Keep the air force busy then. A tall order for a single person, but I suppose I have some ways."
Shin Tokuyama	Oh hey, that chick with the heavy metal name is back. Madeline is giving a debriefing, but that's much less important than what Shin actually has to ask right now, "Sure! I'll do whatever you need, Maddie. You just point me at the stuff, and I'll handle it. Not sure what I can do about air stuff, but you know, I'll do whatever." He jogs his way over to Stygian, "Yo! Stygian! Badass Death Armor Lady! Gotta ask you something important!" It LOOKS pretty urgent, judging by the rather focused pace he has as he strides over towards the Abyssal Exalt. When he arrives to her, he stares her dead in the eye, "I need to know, and this is very important..." He leans in and whispers conspiratorially, "Can I..." He looks around shiftily, "... play with your ears?" The other fox let him play with her ears, so this one must be cool with it, right?
Stygian Mirror	Mirror squints. That seems to keep happening. Is it the third time already? People here are strange. She sees no reason to decline, giving a defeated sigh. "If it amuses you. They're not mine, though." A point she won't clarify even if asked a dozen times, at least not yet. She supposes as strange requests go that's in the harmless category, at least.
Shin Tokuyama	"Aaaaaaaah!" Shin says excitedly, reaching up to begin promptly scratching her ears. Hanging out with Catserker gave him a lot of practice, so he's mostly just playing around with her ears exactly as one would expect.
Nozomi Houken	Nozomi looks at Serenity for several long seconds, a frown finding its way onto her face bit by bit. She's visibly torn over what to do, and there's a few more seconds of silence before she murmurs, "If... if you get overwhelmed. I can join with Taiga, and back you up." Taiga himself tilts his head, giving his user a curious look. He's ceased to be surprised by her willingness to put herself through their transformation for others, but it still catches his eye every time she does it.
Guest Madeline	"No, it's fine," Madeline replies to Nozomi. "Go with the ground team against the fighters down there. In fact, everyone but the Major do that... and Mirror. You go with her. Ride a dragon or something. That will put two of our heavier hitters up in the air keeping them off our backs. The girl and her tiger or myself can join you if you need support."
Nozomi Houken	"I have a further question," Taiga says, turning his head to look at Maddie. "Does your unit's cockpit have enough room spare to accomodate a spare passenger, and is it safe to do so? If my User is insistent on remaining close should we need to combine, I would prefer her to be easily protected." Nozomi looks down at Taiga with surprise, then up at Madeline. Meep.
Guest Madeline	Answering Taiga, Madeline nods, "Yes, I have enough room for a passenger. You can ride with me until you need to get out, it's no problem." That, at least, is a sincere friendliness! She gestures to the cockpit, which even has two extra seats in it... well away from any controls. "Are we ready, then?"
Nozomi Houken	More than anything, Nozomi seems to be nervous about joining Madeline without Taiga there as well. But Taiga lowers himself just enough to make it easy for her to dismount, and then gives her a simple, lingering stare, and says, "I will be close by, Nozomi." That seems enough for her, and with a little nod, she steps past Madeline and carefully climbs up inside. Taiga, meanwhile, stretches in a decidedly feline way, before taking a lazy stroll around the Radiant Princess, and then hopping up onto its shoulder with that effortless grace cats seem to come by naturally.
Lin	"Ground team was the plan from the start." Lin spouts with a grin, one hand gravitating towards her sword. Though she exhales deeply, working to calm herself a bit and prepare for the coming battle. She's ready to charge, no questions asked.
Serenity	Sigh. Working with Stygian Mirror, eh? Serenity frowns, but she doesn't complain. "Fine. Stay with the dragon, and it should be fine." She steps away, holding out her hand and bringing forth a brilliant flare of yellowish light. "Pact Summon: Stahldrachen." the large dragon rumbles, lowering his head so that Mirror can climb upon him. Serenity herself steps away and nods that she is almost ready, before calling upon a different power. "Pact Imbuement: Angel of Sunset." Serenity's armor is replaced with lightweight chain and leather, and a bow forms in her hands with a quiver at her back. Feathery wings spread outward. "Ready when you are."
Stygian Mirror	Mirror attempts not to make faces at Shin. It'd be hard to deny the headpats don't feel kind of good but she's at least stoic enough not to show it. And not grumpy enough to deny Shin the opportunity without good reason. Madeline cements the plan in the meantime, and so she nods, not sharing Serenity's hesitation at the idea of working together. Actually she has few thoughts on the matter at all, not really knowing her. "That works for me. I probably won't stay on it the whole time, but it's good to know if I fall off someone can catch me." It's her first time riding a dragon. Actually it's one of her first times riding a mount into battle at all. She's not even done that with a horse very often, because it's not something she's skilled at. She climbs on the beast, awkwardly trying to figure out how and where to position herself. If it has a saddle it'll definitely make the puzzle easier to solve.
Shin Tokuyama	"Aw, ground team, but... but..." Fluffy ears! Shin lets out a defeated sigh and withers a bit, getting back onto the real business as the time to move out approaches. He shifts his stance a bit and looks towards Madeline, giving her a nod, "Alright. Ground team. I'm on board." He then points at Stygian, "Don't die. We're not done here." And then he's heading off to join the ground team, cracking his knuckles and putting his 'cool guy' sunglasses on for the long trip ahead. Or the not-so-long trip. He's not sure how long it'll be, but he wants to look cool for it. He gives one last look at Maddie, "I expect those lessons soon. Don't welch on me, Vance."
Kutsuuko Shiratori	Kutsuuko readily stuffs everything back into her bag with the kind of speed only someone who has had far too many hours drilled into them on efficient packing, though she intends to leave it at camp anyways instead of travelling with the bulky thing. "Keep in radio contact up there. Just because I'm on the ground doesn't mean I can't help." sounds mildly concerned coming from her, but then she feels the need to slap shin on the back going past to push him away from animal ears for the time being and start crunching down that incline anyways. "I think it goes without saying, but we're following the fissures for cover."
Guest Madeline	"Yes, that was the intent," Madeline says concerning the cover. "Taiga, staying close to me wouldn't be a bad idea anyway. I may be able to help you. Houken, stay still and don't touch anything. You won't mess anything up but the AI may get annoyed." "I do not get annoyed," chimes the voice in an irked tone. GROUND TEAM: The ground doesn't immediately plummet away. The canyons can be entered by a fairly steep but easily workable slope! Of course they split off rapidly, so if someoen wants to go a different way that is plausible. They are note really a maze, though, so much as require a lot of twists and turns to get toward the center. Thus far there is... no resistance. The air elementals are howling softly, and a few caves are set into the sides. There's a definite feeling of being watched! A few abandoned gun emplacements too. Yet there's no... actual attempt at battle? "This feels off..." Like a trap. AIR TEAM: This is much more like it! Approaching the spire through the air gets a few elementals circling, but the real attackers only show up moments later. Numerous ones... single-man gliders, with complex swooping rides of the currents that have a chattering fire of guns. They're warning shots right now, but close enough. The wind is also going to make approaching directly difficult. It's notable that the people manning these gliders are NOT airfolk, are they... and that something seems to be happening on the spire. Something BIG is starting to move.
Shin Tokuyama	Shin's walking along with the ground group after being slapped on the back by Kutsuuko and ushered along. Despite being dressed in that leisure suit and dress shoes, he's actually doing surprisingly well at navigating any treacherous terrain or uneven ground. He's got his backpack on and a big sandwich in his hands, "Naw, it feels about right." He replies through a mouthful of egg salad. "This is the part where we're all walking along, and we wonder where everyone went, and then it turns out that they set a trap for us. Or that something way scarier got here first and we follow the trail of destruction until we find it." "We're either going to get gang-rushed or run into a mid-boss."
Nozomi Houken	Nozomi looks at Madeline, looks at the nearest speaker for the Solar mecha's AI, and promptly folds her hands in her lap. No touching anything. Taiga holds his position on Madeline's shoulder during their descent into the canyon, and only leaps off once they're well within the canyon proper. "I concur," he says simply. "Be cautious. They may be waiting for us to venture further in, so that they can surround us." He starts sweeping the canyon carefully with his sensors, trying to ferret out any particularly magically-powerful contacts that might be lying in wait; after a little while, he also leaps up onto the canyon wall, climbing up into one of the side-caves to have a quick look for whatever might be inside.
Lin	"I'm never going to figure out WHAT you're talking about." Lin groans Shin's way. She's also walking along, though looking pretty eager for a fight. She can enjoy herself even if she's unsure about the ramifications of wht she's doing right? Besides, mercenary work is different! ... right? Her expression quivers just a bit as she ponders about it. No way to know what Madeline ultimately plans without going along with things for now... "What in Heaven's name is a Mid-Boss? Sounds like a dish served in Champoor."
Kutsuuko Shiratori	"You'd better finish that sandwich quick then." Kutsuuko replies drily to Shin, lagging a seemingly dangerous distance behind the group very much intentionally, half-assed desert gillie wrapped around most of her God Arc for purposes yet to be relevant. "In both of those scenarios, the comic relief fighter who's busy eating at the time always winds up losing the rest of his lunch. Right now you're pretty much picking up a full cup of coffee when somebody just said 'I have some bad news'." The lack of resistance does bother her though. It wouldn't get much notice from her further out, but even if their group is technically small, it is hardly ordinary or beneath notice. If the enemy had actually retreated from the area, they'd have taken their stuff with them, and if it had been an emergency tactic, it'd have been smartest to destroy the materiel they'd left behind. Kutsuuko doesn't feel like personally verifying the gun nests work, but it does seem to her like they intend to come back to them within twenty four hours. "Hey, wallflower and Hobbes. You can pick up magic things right? Radar all clear?"
Serenity	The dragon that Serenity has summoned does indeed have a saddle! Stygian Mirror should have no trouble settling in and holding on, especially since it impatiently waits for her. So impatiently, but it does wait. And it even follows instructions, though there's a slight lag there, as if a hesitance. The fact that the entire body seems MADE of magic might be a little weird. Serenity doesn't seem to need the wings that have sprouted, she can fly without moving them. The bow is readied quickly though when she sees the opposition. "Looks like they're prepping something there. If you intend to grab a glider yourself, now is the time I think. You can stay on Stahldrachen if you need to." Warning shots. Well that's a good thing. Now she's getting a little uncomfortable with this. These people may just be defending their homes! She fires a warning shot back at one... a lance of light, the arrow streaking through the air and leaving a trail of sunlight. "I'm going to try to see what that thing is."
Stygian Mirror	Now atop Serenity's dragon, Mirror shows very little skill in riding the beast despite its saddle; her balance is off, she doesn't look comfortable, and truth told she feels like she'd be more comfortable falling than staying on it. It's a lucky break the incoming gliders are only taking warning shots so far, but the Abyssal doesn't intend to be quite as nice in return. "I've never flown one, I'd rather learn in saner conditions," Mirror answers Serenity, continuing the trend of showing more restraint than the Exalted on her side of the fence. "It's probably something more threatening! Defense systems, maybe even an advanced ship or some flying enslaved behemoth!" Just guesses, though. Could be anything. Her sword clicks, her Caste Mark appears on her forehead, a black circle with eight sunrays around it, pale for now, with barely a hint of blood around it. The blade snaps into two halves, separated down the middle horizontally. A tether of black and purple Essence connects the two halves of the Soulsteel sword, and Mirror takes a swing forward, giving the gliders and elementals circling her and Serenity a typical Deathknight's greeting card. That is, a Charm designed for suffering and murder. Her blade screams forward, animated by malice, a homing hookshot of a sword. It rapidly screeches from target to target, cutting the air on the way to them; a sickly green and red glow surrounds the black blade, as well. The slashes inflict significantly increased damage to inanimate objects (like their gliders), biting through them like acid. The attacks are also unnaturally deadly to non-Essence users, capable of inflicting near instant death in gruesome manners not really related to being slashed by a flying sword. Essence users would suffer arbitrary spiritual damage on top of regular injuries.
Guest Madeline	GROUND TEAM: An ambush would probably be tried, but isn't going to work out. The quick investigation of the cliffside dwellings show that they are a militarized one, but most of the weapons have been disabled in such a way that it would take a few hours to fix them without parts. Presumably they took the parts with them. Also, people LIVE here... in a reasonable manner, with anachronistic levels of tech. This isn't a primitive tribe, but they're well off, especially with all the wind power they get to give them actual electricity. But the real challenge is the militarized people. Maybe an army rushing in would fall for the trap, but the small group can easily spot the killing field ahead. There's a chokepoint, with glowing Essence Cannons lining the sides of the gorge, and a roaring wind above. A barricade has been set up, which looks like a gate of 'lightning' crackling across the gorge to block forward progress. Did anyone see that Warcraft movie? You know what I'm talking about. A pair of low-flying gliders swoop in on approach, as a quick but non-aggressive strafe. Radios will pick up a broadband transmission that loosely translates to 'this area is protected and restricted.'
Guest Madeline	AIR TEAM: The attacks from Stygian Mirror sure do work. The gliders crumple fast, though they are agile little buggers. A few of the pilots explode in blood and gore thanks to the messy end they get. The guns fire quickly and fill the air with lead, but these guys are mooks, and for people of Serenity and Mirror's skill they can be quickly dealt with. The major worry is, yes, that larger one. Serenity's vision as an archer in that form can pick out that it is... a mecha. One that glows brightly before leaping off and transforming, snapping arms and legs back to transform into a massive bird, one that at first looks like a mechanical one, but then feathers out into a living being in appearance before streaking toward the two. Though few living birds have guns that fire from the wings, with bullets that seem to be doing evasive maneuvers before homing in on the two aerial combatants.
Nozomi Houken	Having satisfied his curiosity about the caves, the TIGER ambles back out and hops back onto the Radiant Princess's shoulder, riding along. "Nothing of note to report; they were simply dwellings." He has already relayed information on the forces waiting ahead, so for now he's simply quiet and patient. And by the time they reach the gate, none of the defenders have attacked yet; even that flyby doesn't result in enemy fire, though Taiga ducks a bit for cover on Madeline's shoulder regardless. But the shooting will start soon. The robotiger knows full well that if this were going to result in immediate surrender, it probably already would have. So it's best to get started while he still has a moment or two. Off the shoulder Taiga goes, landing lazily on the ground but immediately launching into a full-tilt charge. In the blink of an eye, he's covering ground, darting from side to side to make judging his path - and thus, aiming at him - difficult. He's headed for the gate, looking to figure out how to disable it.
Shin Tokuyama	"No, come on! It can't be restricted!" Shin shouts up at the gliders that are sending transmissions. His sandwich is, owing to Kutsuuko, stowed away for now. Instead, he has his cell phone out and is tapping at the screen. He looks more annoyed than anything else as he pulls something up on the screen and then continues shouting. "My Pocket Monster Walk game says that there's a high-level Dragigernor just inside the base thing. And there's a Gym nearby too. You just let me come inside and catch it, then claim that gym, I'll be out of your hair in like twenty minutes."
Kutsuuko Shiratori	Kutsuuko seems even more displeased by the news from Taiga than if he'd confirmed a real ambush up ahead. "I know she said these places would be lived in, but did they really have to be hogging all the cover too?" she bitches over the radio, looking similar to a gamer who has just discovered someone on their public queue team is terrible enough to potentially cost them the match. She has no reason to doubt him though. The terrain is exactly what she'd use to funnel in and gun down an Aragami with the rest of her team, and the fortifications they first come up against are anything but subtle. "Shin come on, really?!" she sputters out at the mention of mobile games. A tiny part of her is actually tempted to let that play out just for the one in a billion chance it somehow actually works, but with the airspace overhead starting to light up, it seems like they're running on the clock now. She muscles him out of the way to take his spot, cycling through the bullet chips she had carefully picked out back at base camp, and arriving on one that seemed like an obvious choice. Grasping her Warstrider-dimensioned weapon like a Hollywood minigun sequence would go, she tilts it upwards and fires once almost straight up into the air, high over the lightning barricade. It seems likely that the roaring wind overhead is cleverly chosen to prevent an enemy force from doing the braindead easy thing and arcing ordinary shells over the gate, and so she challenges that design sensibility with a pure energy round, unaffected by both gravity and wind. That'd make it completely useless being shot into the empty sky, except when it clears the barricade (actually on a two second timer), it abruptly bursts into a sharply angled, downward spray of lasers, aimed to thoroughly hose both essence cannon emplacements with piercing beams until they cease operating, while Taiga goes for whatever is powering that lightning.
Stygian Mirror	It turns out Extras don't have very long life expectancies when around Abyssals in particular. Who would have known. The majority of the shots from them bounce off Mirror, her armor more than able to handle it, black flashes of Essence occasionally shielding her. Progressively her Caste Mark darkens and starts bleeding, too, for every time the armor has to drain Essence to protect beyond its normal scope. A few shots do land regardless, the bone, leather and Soulsteel of her tunic and armor parting in places to -allow- the shots to connect, mostly with her upper torso. And that goes for the bird-mecha's shots too, though given their size it's fortunate only one is allowed to connect, because a graze from it tears off more than its fair share of skin. As her sword snaps back into one piece, blood oozes from one of Mirror's bullet wounds and, in her free hand, forms a replica of the guns used to harm her (by the glider-people!), composed of almost liquid red and black Essence. She levels it up, trying to keep balance on the dragon. "I don't know what that is but I'd rather not stay in its trajectory. Get moving, dragon!" Implication being: let's go fast and away from the mecha for now, it's unpredictable and she wants to see more of what it can do before trying to melee it. In the meantime, the replica gun in her hand fires a hail of lead; each shot a small, pitch black hole in reality instead of metal, but inflicting roughly the same damage. The shots do, however, drain Essence on top of inflicting physical damage. A lot, per shot, because it's based on the wielder's Essence.
Lin	"...." On the one hand, Lin's had very little trouble seeing what they're up against on approach. OR what they're up against way up in the air. This is starting to seem like less and less of a good idea. On the other hand... with Shin continuing to be ridiculous, she can't help but just STOP right there mid-march and sharply demand, "If I invite you for a meal, THEN will you explain all this babble you're always on about...?" She's starting to look increasingly indignant and frustrated with Shin the longer she spends near him...
Serenity	Serenity is also having doubts about the hired help now. Only a little though, because some of her Summons are almost as creepy. Almost. She has little time to ponder it anyway, because the shots from the mecha thing are... a lot more dangerous. The hail of bullets from the gliders are just a nuisaince, even if a few glick off her armor and cause her flight to stutter. The concentrated fire is the sort to hurt her if she is sloppy, but she isn't sloppy. The big one hurts though. The wing on her left is blown clean off, and even if it reforms with magic, the pain on her face makes it abundantly clear that it's an injury that is felt... especially when the dragon roars, and swiftly retreats to give Mirror a chance to assess the situation. Serenity lays down a spread of arrows, much faster than she should be able to, to keep the gliders away while she figures out how to handle the big guy. "I'm going to assume that's this world's version of an Exalt or powerful god?" A strong arrow is sent toward the 'bird' to test it.
Guest Madeline	Taiga and Nozomi are right, surrender is unlikely. Madeline backs up, training guns on the flyers. Anti-aircraft flak starts rattling from the mecha she rids in, and Nozomi in the cockpit can watch the whole thing. At least she takes a look at her companion and adjusts the aim to try to cripple the gliders instead of shooting the defenders themselves. "You're nervous about unnecessary death, I assume? I suppose since you are helping me, I can try to do what I can to avoid that." Taiga dashes forward and finds the gate surrounded by a crackling energy field. There are multiple emitters and they are armored as well as emitting more of that energy, but the magical sensors can pick up that a route of elementals are darting in one end and out the other to power it. Interrupting this cycle somehow would weaken or take down the gate. Shin's response is someone holding up a SimSnug Nebula. "I don't know where you heard that, but I have an Evoo that I can trade if you want it!" He's promptly smacked by his companion. Then the group has the defenders opening fire as the lasers settle things. Between Madeline and Kutsuuko, the defenders are starting to mobilize, shooting(and mostly missing) Taiga, but also at the others. They are not, surprisingly, all that good. There's just a VERY good tactical position and a lot of projectiles, so it's just a huge mass rather than competency. Their big guns are occupied in the sky, so they're hoping this gate can hold the others off while they muster a defense. What they're waiting for is a little unclear but the louder wind roaring nearby and the magical buildup might be a hint.
Guest Madeline	The arrow lances through a wing, and Mirror's counterattacks are causing the gliders to realize that these two are out of their league. They're starting to fall back and regroup to assess their strategy, while the 'giant roc' tries to handle them. It too is outclassed, but the gap is MUCH narrower. Homing shots continue to rattle from it as it twists about, following the updrafts that are buffeting the pair. It DOES know the 'terrain' which gives it an advantage... and that might be why none of the shots have hit solidly yet. There's definitely Essence to drain in this one, though!
Nozomi Houken	To claws and teeth made to pierce even the magical armor that is dragons' scales, the emitters wouldn't pose a problem to Taiga given a minute or two; but that's time they don't have on a battlefield. So he goes for the easier solution. Both those cannons on his shoulders change direction and track to the elementals' entry-point into the whole system, looking to catch them at the 'start' of the whole cycle. And if his shots don't take down the elementals themselves, they'll at least damage the intake, making it difficult for more to get through. Regardless, he can keep opening fire on them until it stops - or until the projectiles do more than glance off his armor. One pings off a shoulder pretty hard, causing him to stumble and growl, but it doesn't deter him. What he DOES do, is to turn his sensors on the general area as he moves, trying to catch any potential hidden surprises. Inside the Radiant Princess, Nozomi looks up in quiet surprise. Madeline's gesture of goodwill has the girl's eyes wide for a moment - until she ducks her head again, giving a faint nod. "...thank you."
Shin Tokuyama	"I already have three! They evolved into an Infernine, a Bubblenine, and a Zapnine!" Shin says, putting his own phone away when prompted by his own group, "Maybe if you have an Apnealax we can trade after the fight. I have a spare Burnosaur." His phone vanishes into his pocket as he starts to gather up some Ki and shift his stance. He takes a couple moments to respond to Karal Rei Lin, taking off his sunglasses to reveal that heterochromia and blink a few times, "I guess if you really want a crash course in dank memes, I can probably teach you some time. Fuckin... rare pepes, pastel horses, dakimakuras, doges.... all the dankest of memes that jet fuel can't even melt." "Probably oughta fight, for now, though." Shen flexes one of his hands and then thrusts it upwards, "Ha!" There's a rippling in the air that shoots out from his palm. It zips towardsone of the ridges that the defenders are on. When it impacts, it explodes into a middling-sized burst of flame that tries to drive the defenders into panic from the blast of fire seemingly out of nowhere. Meanwhile, Shin begins trying to dodge and duck around incoming fire.
Kutsuuko Shiratori	Kutsuuko waits out most of the laser barrage to confirm neutralization of the heavy weapons, before firing a second and then third time at either ends of the gate, aiming by very careful degrees with the huge margin for error inherent in such a weird firing pattern, and managing to move her colossal weapon with an astonishing degree of smoothness and precision, despite the colossal recoil of each shot. With further lasers sleeting down on the emitters on both sides, aiming to hit what Taiga isn't already, she cycles the ammo cell, and then abruptly backs up out of the way as the defenders return fire. It looks, for a moment, that she's about to dive on Shin and tackle him out of the way, until she witnessed the first battle-worthy thing she's seen out of them since they first met. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, but not bad! Try and stick behind me though you goddamn idiot!" Kutsuuko really doesn't look like a big enough person for Shin to have any luck hiding from bullets behind, but what she's getting at becomes clear when she turns his back to him and engages her God Arc's transformation function, causing the massive cannon to explode into a blossom of glowing golden components held together by something organic and black, and swivel back together with a blindingly fast flurry of metal into the shape of a circular, shield-type object just wide enough for the both of them. When it comes to massed fire, it's a lot easier to weather it out than trying to dance around it, and so Kutsuuko seems intent to dig in her heels and let the Guard module do its job. Incoming shots ping off of it with little ripples of golden light and oddly melodious chimes, chipping away small quantities of shield energy, but presenting no risk of getting bullets in her extremities. The way its 'feathers' spread the field to either side gives Shin some room to fire back from too.
Lin	"..." All of those BOGUS WORDS just get Karal Rei Lin sparing preci9ous time gaping at Shin! "... is it related to the martial arts or not, I can't tell..." She growls, but her frustration is quickly re-focused on the matter of hand when GUNFIRE STARTS COMING THEIR WAY! "That doesn't work on me anymore!" She claims, leaping out from her minimal cover and into the killing fields seemingly like some kind of idiot. ... Except she's not much of an idiot, perhaps. Or maybe just skilled enough that it doesn't matter whether a straight-on charge is idiotic or not. For she charges at the soldiers, screaming ferociously. Her blade's a bulwark of impregnable steel before her - she whips it to and fro, and sparks fly from its surface as bullets deflect harmlessly skywards and into the ground and elsewhere. The sword blade's WOBBLING WILDLY but somehow remains intact despite this punishment. If any of them -aren't- intimidated into soiling themselves by the sight of the maddened redhead charging them headlong... well... that's when she'll close into striking distance and start CLEAVING THROUGH GUNS. And possibly fingers, by accident. Someone might lose a hand. But really, she's aiming to just chop the guns in half. With a steel sword. ... And it'll probably work out in her favor.
Serenity	There, a plan is hatched! Serenity nods to herself and sets it into action. "Take them down if you can, but try to avoid killing the pilot. Tear the mech apart if need be." Unfortunately for Stygian Mirror, this form of hers makes Serenity more prone to wanting to keep people alive. That's why her arrows go wide and explode in a dazzling burst of light before the giant bird's sensors/eyes, after a quick warning to Stygian. On that cue, the dragon roars and pairs the attack with a sonic blast that thunders through the air, attempting to also deafen the flying transformer. Swooping forward, he gives Stygian a close flyby, as close as possible.
Stygian Mirror	Homing projectiles from the flying bird-mecha keep pressuring Mirror and, presumably, the dragon she's riding on. Her sword twirls in her hand, slicing incoming projectiles in half as able, deflecting or parrying them otherwise, but despite this another of the roc's large homing bullets grazes Mirror's side, half-breaking a rib through the cover of her armor. That's one too many that hit, and she'd prefer not to increase that number any further. Serenity says she'll provide a distraction though, and the dragon works in-sync with that. She's not a good rider, but she can see when people are coordinating. "Tear apart, don't kill, got it." It's not like she enjoys brutal murder, it's just that her powers work in favor of that a lot. When Serenity's dragon swoops in for a close quarters assault on the bird's blind spot, her sword flares out with black and red Essence. Though it's a small weapon compared to the bird, when Mirror goes as far as to leap off the dragon to strike, it momentarily seems to exist in half a dozen locations, fraying the strands of Fate responsible for telling reality where the weapon is supposed to be. A flurry of sword slashes in an instant, trailing death Essence in its wake, after which Mirror hopes to land on the bird-mecha, though she has a backup plan if she misses. As an extra added effect, the slashes are supernaturally empowered to inflict amputations or, failing that, blows that wound deep and cripple in a way that's only barely a step up from having your limbs cut off. The wings and talons are obvious targets.
Guest Madeline	Madeline isn't sitting idle either. A storm of bullets joins the others, though she's aiming at the gun emplacements for now. Light flickers over the mecha as she uses a minor defensive charm to ward off small arms fire and the like, though the big guns are still able to penetrate. Taiga did... the right thing. The supernatural hunter-bot's shots CAN hurt the elementals, but it's much easier to just screw up the intake, isn't it? That works well, and the wall of lightning starts to fizzle and get brief gaps, failing swiftly enough that panic is heard throughout the guard places on the other side. The gaps make it easy for Shin to blast through with his attack, taking down the infantry that start to swarm out. A few of them take potshots, but this defense is failing. Heavier weapons are failing thanks to the opening volley from Kutsuuko, but a few maintain. One slams into Madeline's mecha, but she's strong enough that it isn't crippling. So when Kutsuuko opens up with the cannon fire, the shield starts to truly drop. The damaged emitters can't hold up under the increased strain. This is causing a bit of a... rout, because suddenly Karal is exploiting the opening, and even on foot they can recognize an Exalt apparently. One of them actually shouts, "SOLAROID!" Which is probably the first time this has been used in character by anyone. Unfortunately this means that KARAL is being targeted, even though she isn't actually the biggest threat. They know that the heavier weapons should focus on the Radiant Princess herself.
Guest Madeline	What they've been waiting for reveals itself now though! A writhing, twisting funnel has formed and is tearing down from /behind/ the group, carrying debris abandoned from the camp earlier. Heading right for the rear of the small group, the tornado of metal and rocks swept up by the empowered air elementals is chewing up the scenery on a collision course to add the attackers to its collection.
Shin Tokuyama	"No, not really," Shin tells Karal boredly, before she runs off, "It's mostly pop culture references and modern-era jargon." He confesses, letting her head off to cut people with her giant sword. A lot of people here today have giant weapons, he notices, since Kutsuuko has one too. "Psh, don't worry about me! I got it all covered, on my end. You do you, yo." He watches as she turns her weapon into a massive shield, "But I appreciate it." The shield Kutsuuko deploys manages to defend him from the incoming wave of attacks in counter to his ki blast, "I'm moving forward, yo." He leaps up and forward, coiling his hand back as he heads towards the incoming tornado, "POWER!" As he descends, he lands on the ground in the midst of the storm and slams his fist straight forward into the ground in front of him, "GEYSER!" There's a discharge of ki and the ground explodes into a pillar of fire and detonation from the impact point, trying to use explosive force to destroy the elementals and dissipate the storm. He course, this also means that he's actively taking a lot of cuts from flying shrapnel while in the storm.
Nozomi Houken	Taiga's rapid movement and attacking are doing a good job of keeping him from being hit too directly, even while he's working on finishing the job with the gate. Kutsuuko's firepower does a grand job of finishing that, and opens the way for him to start moving inside, still quite capable of keeping himself from significant harm... ...at least until the tornado comes down. When that happens, he's suddenly running a lot faster to open up some distance, but also a lot less evasively. As a result, he suffers more than nicks and dings and the occasional dent-and-stumble this time around. One bullet manages to hit the robotiger squarely in the side, resulting in a shower of yellow sparks. He swivels his cannons around to unload on the attacker, but the damage is already done.
Guest Madeline	Light alone wouldn't blind the giant mecharoc, or whatever it is. Light and the thunder from Stahldrachen? That's a different matter! The beast-mech swoops aside, trying to use its greater knowledge of the area and updrafts to escape. For this reason, Mirror's gambit almost fails! Almost. The attacks shear through feathers and what appears to be flesh at first, but once separated it reverts to the natural metal of the mech's frame. A lot of metal, as part of the wing cleaves free, and one 'leg' of the beast. The skree is artificial, but the jink to the side... Mirror will have a choice of grabbing onto a foot, or using the contigency plan she has. A foot might be enough, though. IT's starting to lose altitude anyway, if slowly.
Kutsuuko Shiratori	As offputting, and maybe mildly patronizing, as it is to hear that from a teenaged boy a couple of years her junior, Kutsuuko seems juuust about willing to believe he knows what he's doing; at least enough that she only looks doubtful and concerned when he runs off instead of actually upset. Those doubts are helped by him demonstrating sufficiently even greater martial arts prowess than just a minute ago, and wanting to capitalize on the time he'd just bought the group, and then further diverted by Karal doing the idiotic teenager thing instead. Swearing under her breath, she takes off ahead behind the 'solaroid', overtaking her just fast enough to get that shield in the way of any heavier weapons aimed her way with an explosive burst of motion that is, compared to all the Essence and Ki being thrown around everywhere, an almost missable feat; derived through only physical performance instead of magic or martial arts. "Are you actually retarded?!" is all she has to say before she has to brace against the first wave of weapons fire crashing down on her. "Don't just go straight down the middle! Now they're /all/ trying to shoot you!" She breaks off during a brief, coincidental lull in the gunfire, where several reloads coincide, fluidly switching back to the gun and firing off a dense volley of heavy, ballistic explosives with a moving sweep across the defense line, before switching back in the same motion and intercepting the next shot. "Clear some space for the giant robot we're escorting and pick a side! We're here to go for their home base, not pick a fight with every soldier!"
Stygian Mirror	A foot will do. Claw. Talon. Whatever this bird wants to call its feet. Mirror isn't picky about bird anatomy. She's certainly curious about how the bird's limbs revert to steel once sliced off, though! This must be some kind of Lunar Warstrider, or something very similar to the idea. Or at the very least, a Lunar piloting a Warstrider. Either way: it's really weird. Mirror latches onto the remaining foot of the bird, at any rate; she uses the occasion to swipe once or twice with her sword at the roc's belly, but not with any sort of lethal intent. Basic slashes, nothing fancy to them. Maybe some MINOR Essence use to ensure she can pierce the armor, just to be on the safe side. For reference: her backup plan was to hookshot the dragon and swing back to it that way. Serenity would probably not have appreciated that very much, even if she'd been very careful about only using the hookshot's tether, not the stabby bit. Or maybe she would have liked it, she seems into binding things and bossing them around. "Come on you stubborn bird, get down so we can stop this routine!"
Lin	"I have a NAME!" The redhead shouts back angrily to the alarm call. "It's KARAL REI LIN!!" And it seems that quite literally NO amount of mortals waving guns around are a threat... much of one, that is. Her blade dances like lightning, effortlessly tracking dozens of bullets with impossible speeds! Metal shards fly everywhere... and that is itself a problem. Because a few stray bullets DO make it through, carving gouges along Lin's shoulder and legs. She swerves and ducks like a willow swaying in the wind and somersault-leaps forward to narrow her profile, but it's not quite enough to obviate ALL of these. Some of those shooters are GOOD, and sometimes they get LUCKY. For every two hundred bullets she blocks... three strike her flesh. Her robes are starting to bloody and teeth visibly clenching. "Guns, guns, guns! Tell me you have something better than these somewhere along this path!" She scowls, doing her best to hide her pain and appear completely fearless. By this point though, she's burned quite a bit of Essence. As she continues to dive around and slash at soldiers - now getting a bit less picky about which openings she goes for to disable them - a milky film of divine golden-white light ignites, emanating from her skin and licking at the surrounding air. The sunburst mark of the Dawn shines on her forehead, and Lin sheathes her blade with one leg deep, ducking into a sword-drawing stance. "Every one of them focused on me isn't focused on you!" Lin retorts with a grin. "... Sorry, something came over me. Eheheh..." But despite the momentary lapse, the gaze she gives the soldiers here is no less full of steel...
Serenity	Oh that's good, Mirror isn't dead. Or maybe bad? Serenity isn't sure about this. She's channeling the Angel right now though, so decides it's a good thing. A few arrows streak toward exposed joints, trying to cripple and bring down the mech into one of the mesas nearby, so it's neutralized. "That's it." Yeah, she does like giving orders. The dragon seems to be fine with this though, and banks down, tail swiping at the Lunar quickly. The end goal is to get below Mirror though, to provide a way off. She doesn't know about the hookshot, but this way would be easier anyway.
Guest Madeline	Getting the heck out of dodge is a good idea! And... well, Kutsuuko and Shin both have a good idea in how to handle the tornado. Shin strikes the elementals themselves, though he'll have to face a torrential pelting of debris as well. That's gonna hurt. It does slow the tornado enough for Madeline to send in a furious blasting that includes some kind of glowing addition. The upshot of all of this? That tornado was their last trump card, and the shooting starts to taper off so that the soldiers can start to withdraw into the spire proper. That's probably their last fortification. The tornado is starting to die down now. The problem with trying to hold the spire is uh... the air force is faltering. The Lunar Warstrider's belly gets carved, and while it isn't enough to actually penetrate, the soulsteel sapping is starting to take its toll, along with the damage. Serenity's arrows blast joints, and finally the altitude loss becomes a barely-controlled descent, crashing into the mesa below. There's time to get off for Mirror, though it'll be a frantic one. This leaves just the gliders, who know they can't do shit. A reluctant flag of parley is run up.
Stygian Mirror	The moment Serenity's dragon flies under the roc, Mirror hops back onto it, landing awkwardly and very uncomfortably from lack of experience. Note to self, get a horse and figure out how to make this work better next time. "Thanks for the catch!" she at least remembers to say, because it's better to fall on a flying dragon than on the ground several long meters below. Watching the Warstrider fly down and crash, she directs the dragon to head down that way too, because she's really curious to know who's in the machine.
Kutsuuko Shiratori	Kutsuuko can /feel/ that tornado blowing up at her back, which is a much better sign than feeling shells blowing up at her front, keeping her angle to Karal, she wards the ostensibly suicidal teenager from the best side she is able, shooting up the gradually dwindling number of emplacements wherever the opportunity presents itself. She has her finger jammed down on the neural trigger, in fact, when the return fire stops, and the flag goes up. She doesn't have to have three dots in lore to figure out what that means, and when to let up from hosing down a thoroughly wrecked and flaming gun bunker. "They actually gave up? I'd almost forgotten what it was like to deal with people sane enough to know when to give in and surrender. Kudos to them. Seriously." She then hits her earbud, aimed for the Radiant Empress. "You happy with this, Vance?" Seriously." She then hits her earbud, aimed for the Radiant Empress. "You happy with this, Vance?"
Shin Tokuyama	Shin grins as the tornado is vanquished and the last lines of defenses are breached. Despite the numerous injuries he took by jumping into the debris tornado, he seems pretty content with the whole turn of affairs, taking his sunglasses out of his suit jacket's inside pocket again, "I guess you could say that when it came to defending the manse, these guys really..." Shin puts on his sunglasses, "Blew their opportunity." YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! And then he takes out his phone and talks into his own radio again, "Yo Vance, we're wrapping up down here. When do I get my lessons?"
Guest Madeline	When Stygian goes to investigate the crashed Warstrider, it has already reverted to a more humanoid form. Missing some limbs, but more humanoid. The hatch does open because it's disabled for now, revealing a... teenage boy. He shakes out his hair, circuitry glowing under his skin, and glowers silently at Stygian. Looks a LOT like a Lunar. Madeline slows to let Nozomi off, and as people start wrapping up, she answers Shin. "Next week is a good week for that."