Scene #5011: Important Memento

Owner	Pose
Celes Chere	The call going out had been very simple. Something was stolen from a small village by remnants of the Gestahlian Empire. Celes and Terra seemed to take some manner of offense to the act, because they immediatly defaulted to gathering a large crowd of people to retrieve the item and ensure these people wouldn't be an issue anymore. Arrival through the Warpgate, just outside the small village of Thamasa, has people greeted by the sight of an airship. The FALCON awaits, a wooden ship more or less literally hanging from a giant dirigeable. Once everyone is on the deck, a silver-haired man in black, white and gold clothes, notably a very cool coat, walks onto the deck from the level below, settling in front of the lone console and levers used to pilot the ship, after exchanging words with Celes that seem to make her very uncomfortable. The ship takes off. It's fast, much faster than its appearance suggests. The deck is a great place to enjoy the wind and speed, if you like that. Those who decide to take in the view will see a world that isn't exactly all green. Many patches of earth and grass appear to be dead, darkened, broken. There are chunks of land missing and ruins here and there. Careful observation, at least, reveals nature is healing, however slowly. Setzer, beaming a smile to his guests, then explains the situation. "I scouted ahead when I got the call. They have Magitek Armor, judging by the setup and witnesses. At least two regular suits and a bigger one. They looked about twenty five, maybe thirty strong. We'll be reaching their camp in a couple minutes. I'm going to land right in the middle and you all get off. Use the confusion to your advantage. I won't be joining you, I need to keep the Falcon out of their firing range. Last thing I want is one of their Magitek Armors landing a hit on it. Celes won't be joining you either. I need her in case a shot does get off, and she owes me a dance." Celes doesn't deny the fact. She's too busy leaning against one of the edges of the ship and letting the wind catch her hair. Setzer asks everyone, "Any questions?"
Shin Tokuyama	Shin raises his hand, "Yes. I have a question." Shin looks serious as he stares at Setzer. Shin's dressed in his usual leisure suit and tie, wearing sunglasses. He's left his backpack on the deck of a ship. He's actually been playing End Odyssey Chronicle Keeper on his phone and sitting quietly most of the time. It distracts him pretty well for a mobage, he's Japanese, and it makes sense he'd be pretty addicted to it. However, with his stamina empty in the game for the next six or seven hours, he can finally ask the burning questions that exist in his heart. That man said Magitek Armor. Shin always sort of wanted to explore the mecha genre. Maybe he'd get a chance to today. That would be pretty cool, and he even has a Yandere female sidekick these days. But it's not the Magitek Armor that Shin asks about. No, he has a much more pressing question on his soul. "Do crabs think fish can fly?"
Kyra Hyral	"I have a question!" Kyra holds up her mPad, "Two questions, actually. Has Ghestalian Magitek Armor been Dispell-hardened? And you wouldn't happen to have some digital instructions floating around somewhere on how to pilot one just in case someone might happen to...get inside one?" Kyra Hyral seems to be mostly suited up for action-which just means she's wearing pants instead of her usual schoolgirl skirt uniform from Alexander Academy. She absolutely will wear her hoodie into battle. Those pockets are really convenient. Every now and then she sneaks a peek over at Celes as she poses at the edge of the ship, wind flowing through her gorgeous blonde hair, stoically watching off into the distance. Shin's 'internal monologue of senpai fanfiction fantasy' radar might be pinging right now. Siiiiiiigh~ "Oh yeah, and what are we looking for?"
Kiyohime	Shoulder rubs. These are a thing. Kiyohime is keeping Shin in fighting trim while he plays games and... mostly ignores her doting. Dressed in a kimono right now, she looks rather too formal to be on a mission like this. Nonetheless, she is paying attention... especially when the magitek armor is mentioned. "I second the question," Kiyohime says. "I'd like to know what has made this so important. If you please." She's being polite about it, at least.
Deelel	The call had gone out and Deelel had been quick to arrive out the warp gate she didn't look different at all from how she normally did and would be quick to get on. She die however seem to like Setzer's sense of fashion and style though. "Magitek? Got it, I have some light craft on me I can even given air support if we really need it." She hears about the numbers and started crunching numbers, but she also was moving near Celes to take in the view as the ship was airborn. "Looks like things are on their way to recovery." She looks back to Setzer "So one thing methods with these guys? I preusme we just need the item back. I don't like cubing people if I can avoid it."
August Kohler	August is here, looking anxious and sleep-deprived. He's dressed in a hooded jacket and t-shirt, hood off, and has a mirrored bracelet (the cheap kind) on his wrist. He's mostly standing quiet, listening, up until Seifer asks if there's any questions. "Big one: magitek armor, what are they weak to and what do they resist? Are they bulletproof? Fireproof? This is pretty important to my fighting style."
William Pauwel	Will responded to the call as fast as his little legs could take him! This was, evidently, pretty fast on account of the fact that he wears motorized skates. It's a whole new world out there! A new opportunity for adventure! For DOING GOOD THINGS for GOOD REASONS! Also, apparently, an airship. Some people might have spent the first part of their trip up top enjoying the breeze, or sifting through a booze cabinet. Not Will! Will saw the enormous flying contraption and then immediately dove into the engine room. Apparently Will is a bit of a motor head. He spends pretty much all of the trip down there, actually, and only pops up out of a vent when it's time to brief. "I have a question!" Will says, wagging his arm out of a vent and WHY IS HE EVEN IN THERE. "Do y'all mind if we try to commandeer one of them armors? Also, what happens if I shoot it with somethin' like an EMP?"
Staren	A call for help on the syndicate boards! Eager to get back to some honest heroing for a change instead of these murky ethical quagmires surrounding Blakely and Tellus, Staren shows up at the indicated place and time. He's wearing armor that looks out of place on this world, although given the local technology, perhaps not so far out of place as he might expect. He has his helmet off so he can meet today's allies face to face, waving to coat-man and Celes. "Oh hey it's you again! Hi, I'm Staren! Thanks for your help at the ruins." Although he suddenly looks around for a certain ninja. Instead, Shin is here. People Staren has met before get a friendly nod. William gets an incredibly awkward look. Celes and Setzer get a question: "What is magitek armor? Also, what exactly was taken? I mean... to get it back, we need to know what we're looking for, after all."
Terra Branford	"It's a sword," Terra says suddenly, answering Kyra and Kiyohime. "You will probably know it when you see it." The emerald-haired woman was near the railing, some distance back from Celes. As usual, waffling on if she should try to provide company, or just let the woman enjoy the wind in her hair. This 'friendship' thing is so hard sometimes! Oh well. Shin gets an odd look, but she doesn't try to answer him. "Depending on the model, it varies. Some of them are weak to lightning, but reliably they're just big and tough if you hit them hard enough. They're just powered by magic, so dispel won't do anything to them except maybe foul up their weapons systems for a bit. If you want to disrupt their power, the fuel cells are located behind the pilot compartment to the left and right, in round nodes. The feet are controlled by pedals, pressure-sensitive, but the weapons vary and should be labelled. Depends on how damaged they are."
Genji Shimada	When Genji Shimada steps up onto the Falcon, he gives the white-haired gentleman a very long, lingering look, as if carefully scrutinizing the gambler. Then there is a slow nod of approval. You are suitably stylish, sir. You pass. Then he is content to simply ride the ship up at the front, standing on the prow with his arms folded as best as he can get away with (and, with his balance, that's pretty well). Celes, Terra and Setzer might just be reminded of someone, though thankfully the cyborg ninja is less dour. He listens to the briefing with a tilted head, and when Shin raises his question, the shinobi turns to look over his shoulder. "That is an excellent mystery to ponder. But still better, is whether we then become flying crabs, to the fish."
Celes Chere	"Can fish not fly in your world?" Setzer asks Shin, confused. If we rewind time a bit, near Thamasa, the group might have seen at least one land octopus and manta rays just kind of floating above the ground. Terra answers most of the questions. Setzer beams her a smile. "Ever on top of things, Terra! She's right, about pretty much everything she said. About killing... if they don't give you a choice, don't feel too bad. But these people, they just don't know what to do. Their home was destroyed. They just want to bring it back. Nevermind that it was an objectively bad thing, you can see where they're coming from. They had a leader they believed in." Celes says nothing. "Ah, one thing. Magitek Armors have a very obvious cannon on their chest. If you're going to aim at something or try to avoid something at all costs, make it that. You don't want to take a direct hit, believe me. They were the empire's trump card for a reason," Setzer adds. Celes finally speaks up, briefly. "You can try to seize them if you like, but I doubt they're in very good shape. Magitek Armors were obsolete and being taken apart before the empire fell. The factories that made and repaired them were destroyed. And should never be rebuilt." The ship flies, for another minute. "Here we are," Setzer finally says. The Falcon flies over a small camp. A few steel buildings have been setup, small, like garages and tents. Even from a distance it's obvious they're not permanent installations, and are designed to be taken apart and rebuilt easily. A generator sits in the middle, with very large wires going from it to the multiple buildings. Two in particular, more obviously shaped like hangars, have twice the amount of wiring. This camp indeed seems to have about two dozen soldiers in it. Sitting, chatting, patrolling. They all wear imperial uniforms and armor, green and brown plating with a red and back insignia. It's rusty, and many of the soldiers aren't wearing full suits of armor. Some are missing a glove or a boot, others their helmet. At least they all managed to have a weapon; axes, halberds and swords being most common. Some even have a tower shield. Panic spreads almost immediatly at the approach of the Falcon, which, expertly, Setzer brings down to barely above ground level so that people can hop off using ladders or an application of Float from Kyra, Celes or Terra.
Shin Tokuyama	"Flying fish can fly." Shin points out before dusting his hands off. He looks over his shoulder at Kiyohime, "Alright. Yandere. The plan here is that we're going to go down there, find an obsolete machine that everyone thinks doesn't work." He puts his hands on her shoulders, "And then I'm going to get in it and it's inexplicably gonna be totally awesome because that's exactly how these things work. Alternately, we'll find the new prototype they were preparing here and that never got finished, we'll get in it, and then have to add parts as we go." Shin takes his hands off her shoulders and gives her a double-thumbs-up before looking back towards Setzer, "Alright, old man. You got it. Gonna bust some asses." He runs towards the rail, "Yandere! We're rocking and rolling!" He doesn't take a ladder or a float spell and instead just jumps off the side of the airship, "Banzai motherfuckers!" Ki surrounds Shin's feet before he slams into the ground with a crater and a shockwave. He immediately lunges towards a trooper and grabs him by the armor, headbutting him square in the face, "You. Guy that looks like a Medieval Nazi Ripoff. Where do I find the mechs?"
Staren	Staren looks between Shin and Genji. "I'm not sure a crab mind is sophisticated enough to fully comprehend flying or swimming, let alone delineate between them." He doesn't comment about Shin's declaration of how things work in the mecha genre. Staren knows well enough that he might be right. As they approach the camp, Staren puts his helmet on, then leaps over the railing when the others disembark. Energy wings briefly appear on his back to slow his fall. He starts looking for the sword, making his way to tents and buildings to peek inside. The shoddily-equipped troops, he tries to scare off with warning shots from his armor's beam cannons, and then draws and uses a phaser's stun setting on them if they persist. So far, he doesn't see anything that looks like a serious fight... but those mecha must be /somewhere/...
Kyra Hyral	"Interesting. A dispell to disrupt the weapons systems would still be quite useful! Not only that, these armors sound fairly easy to pilot. Entirely manual and /battery powered/ too, interesting. If only we came here for that technology first..." Kyra starts muttering a little, unknowing of the more tragic side of Magitek in this mostly ruined world. As they approach, Kyra peers at the encampment, taking note of the colors of the imperial armor and, as they get close, their state of readiness. She frowns a little, "They're fairly well-equiped for a post-disaster world, I guess?" Kyra seems...rather quiet about this, certainly not in an aggressive mood against these soldiers, despite them clearly being part of THE MAN that needs to be REBELLED AGAINST because they're run by a TYRANT (?). Calmly, she casts a Float on herself so she can jump down off the side like a badass. Since her magic does seem to be cooperative, she will share the spell with anyone else who asks. Once 'touching down', she immediately splits and strafes around the assembling soldiers, pulling out her spring-loaded needle/dartgun. She's not engaging anyone but instead getting to where she can start searching the place for their stolen sword.
Genji Shimada	Genji merely looks directly at Staren for a moment. "Have you ever been a crab?" But now it's time to go. Ladders? Float? A ninja needs not these things. When Genji leaps off the prow of the Falcon, his jump carries him a long way - and then he somehow manages to jump again in mid-air, turning a flip. And following /that/, he abruptly dashes forward through the air, trailing streaks of green as his cybernetic enhancements suddenly grant him a short burst of inhuman speed. He'll skid to a stop one one of the large hangars, and then go running for the edge. The first order of business is to prevent as many of them as possible from firing up their Magitek; so he intends to swing himself down and around, and fling himself into the hangar.
William Pauwel	'Don't pick up the horrible monstrous technology, Will.' 'It's going to be a pain to repair, Will.' William Pauwel just smiles cheerfully through the explanation, then nods at Celes' warning. "Don't you worry, that definitely ain't happening. But at the very least, one less one in their hands is one less to hurt people with, right?" Beat. "Why're we talkin' about seafood, now?" Will says, then, looking just a little bit uncomfortable with the concept of 'more things from the ocean.' "We've got a job to do!" A missing artifact to find! A bunch of jerks in armor to fight! To that end, Will disembarks... Kind of like a madman, admittedly. He leaps straight off the Falcon's deck and cancels his touchdown into a combat roll. The devices on his legs scream and wail in protest as super-advanced shock absorbers soak and store all that kinetic energy. "Alright y'all," Will draws his favorite gun. It flares to life, then immediately cycles to producing faint, barely visible ripples of energy. "I know this is going to be tough, but I'm gonna have to ask y'all to let me through!" He's... charging right for another one of the hangars. Genji's got one, he'll go for the other! That's definitely where the armor's gotta be, right? Right. And if anyone gets in his way, he's blasting them with rippling waves of convulsive electricity. It won't kill them-- he's dialed down the power-- but it'll sure hurt.
Deelel	Deelel says "We don't have fish at all in mine actually." She nods to TErra getting the gist of what she's going to have to deal with. She also makes notes about the magical mecha they are going to have to deal with, this does wound like it is serious and why they were called in to help with this. "Sounds like how Tanks are where I'm from, I will treat them with as much caution as I would one from back home." She pauses for a moment "The moment you turn an culture or group of people into non persons... you get what happned on my home I getcha." She'll hold back enough on trying to not kill any of them if she is able to. She gets wanting to have a home back that's what she wants in the end for the Grid. She'll make ready to get off and even as she doe so? Deelel summons her keylade it was time to get to work. Thaks to the use of float from Kyra? Deelel is able to leap off early and get ready to get her game on. "Let's go!"
Terra Branford	A glance toward Celes. "Good luck," Terra says quietly. Leaping off the ship, she decides to piggyback on Kyra's Float rather than using her own. No sense in being wasteful, right? Her blade is already in her hand, whipped out easily before she lands lightly. Looks like the magitek armors are being taken care of... in a way that makes her sigh and shake her head. Sticking to low-level spells, she sends off an area-effect of lightning toward one group, trying to just shock them for now. "We're just here for the sword," she reminds everyone... before looking for a good place they may have stored just that.
Kiyohime	"Ah, dearest, please don't get so angry. Surely he wants to help us. Who wouldn't want to help you?" Kiyohime drones on as she appears next to Shin. No, she didn't teleport, she just did a short leap. Almost purring, she scoots next to the soldier. "You want to tell us, right? We'll be nice if you do." And then her bottom half, a smooth white snake tail, coils around the soldier. Unless he's VERY suddenly getting dangerous, he's going to find a gentle squeeze there~
Celes Chere	Shin lands and headbutts a soldier. This looks incredibly painful for the soldier, whose immediatly response is "OW!!!!" and not in any way helpful. Shin is beset by two more soldiers, wielding a shield and a halberd each, neither of which seems willing to answer his question. Staren finds the imperial soldiers not easily scared by the shots. He too has three to contend with, minus one as his stun gun knocks one to the ground. The remaining two actually close into melee unusually fast, swinging their swords. "Damn Returner! You won't break our spirit twice!" Kyra, darting between soldiers, avoids confrontation. There's an obvious COMMAND TENT near one of the hangars where people are screaming louder than elsewhere. Inside the tent she can see a fully armored soldier trying to get a spherical machine working by kicking it. Genji reaches a hangar, slipping through the footsoldiers. Inside, the clatter of machinery is obvious, and heavy footsteps suddenly ring out. He sees Magitek Armor powering up, walking towards the door to exit, manned by a pilot in plate armor. The armor is green, rusty-- as poorly maintained as their armor. It's smoking, too. It could fall apart at any moment. William, due to making noise as he blasts soldiers, doesn't reach his own hangar in time. The two swordsmen who dashed for him hit the ground immediatly, but from the hangar emerges another suit of Magitek Armor. Its chest hums, and there's barely a delay to speak of because a beam of fire magic streaks towards William, in retribution for what he just did. Deelel, as she lands, is immediatly surrounded by two soldiers... and their dogs. Wolves? They're kind of big, and look feral, but they're definitely obeying orders, because when the soldiers shout "Fetch the Returner!" the wolves comply and lunge for Deelel's neck and left leg. Looking for the COMMAND TENT, Terra sees, behind Kyra, a full squad of soldiers trying to pincer her from behind. That lightning spell knocks two of the five out. One turns around, and it doesn't take him long to point at Terra and scream. "That's Kefka's doll! If we get her back...!" Do they still have Slave Crowns? They might have one or two rusting in a box somewhere. But they sure seem to agree that's the way to go. The three turn on Terra; one fires a crossbow at her, the other two lunge with halberds. Kiyohime, currently half-snake, has no trouble wrapping an uncooperative soldier up and squeezing him. This level of threat seems enough to make him talk. "The hangars! THE HANGARS! LET ME GO, MONSTER!" In retrospect, an obvious answer. One foolish soldier decides to try helping his friend by thrusting a halberd at Kiyohime from behind. Let's see how that goes. MEANWHILE: The FALCON takes off. Setzer predicted correctly: the moment it does, the largest hangar rumbles. The doors are blown off their hinges by a violent blast of lightning, and a third suit of Magitek Armor rolls out. Literally rolls out. It's less humanoid. More like a drilling vehicle, with a grinding wheel at the front, and two large arms at either sides. The cockpit is sealed, not easily visible. It too is rusted and damaged by time. On the side, one can read TUNNEL ARMR, the paint having worn off for one letter. It shoots another blast of lightning towards the Falcon. Celes can be seen stopping the strike with her sword, doing what Setzer kept her onboard for.
Shin Tokuyama	"HEY! HEY! Don't Halberd my fucking Yandere!" Shin says angrily, releasing the soldier into Kiyohime's grasp and abruptly charging the guy trying to put damage on Kiyohime, "And don't call her a monster, jerkass! She's a totally awesome bestie that has totally platonic feelings for me!" Shin shouts at the guy that Kiyohime is holding. As Shin goes in on the guy attacking Kiyohime, his stance changes. There's a driving knee that tries to hit the man square in the temple before Shin pounces on him and starts elbowing him in the nose on the way down. There's probably a few sprays of blood from the impacts before Shin stops straddling the downed guy and stands up again. Of course, by jumping to Kiyohime's protection, he's left himself open to the other combatants. And one manages to get him right across the back with a sword slash that splits open his suit and leaves a massive gash across his back that starts bleeding profusely.
Genji Shimada	Genji sees a single Magitek that's practically on its last legs. He recalls a certain someone considering the prospect of hijacking a particularly interesting piece of materiel. The wheels start to turn. The moment Genji's feet hit the ground, he's running, straight towards the Magitek armor. After an instant or two, he suddenly darts forward again, disappearing into a burst of speed. The sudden rush forward takes him right under the Magitek Armor, at which point he reaches out with a hand - and uses his own momentum to swing himself up onto the 'nose' of the armor, right in front of its pilot. With his shortblade in his left hand, and a trio of shuriken in his right. "Hello. I am going to strongly recommend that you exit this vehicle immediately."
Staren	"What's a returner?" Staren asks. He turns to shoot at the other guards but they come in too close. Unwittingly, this allows them to bypass his forcefield. Swords nick his armor, but aren't doing any real damage. He's not about to let them beat him down, but he's not quite willing to kill them yet either. He draws a beam sword and attacks like a rookie swordsman -- swinging for their swords, instead of their bodies. But he WANTS them to try to parry. Normal swords on this world /probably/ aren't made of something plasma can't cut through, and maybe having their weapons sliced apart will get these soldiers to retreat. "Why do they /want/ some sword so badly, anyway...?"
Deelel	Deelel looks at the soldiers for a moment and notices the attack dogs and grimaces for a moment she knows what to do. She hears Fetch and she starts to move. She has no real smell she'd be strange to the creatue she'd smell more like the enviorment she's been in namely here nd the Falcon. However she's forced to leap up intop the air and she holds out her keyblade and she starts to mutter something as she holds hte blade out. The wolves do get a piec eo her but it's just the leg. There's an odd cracing and rip as some of her clothing is ripped though and dissolved into motes of light. "SLOW!" Comes the spell as she attempst to hit the attack wolves and soldiers. "You want to rebuild your home, I respect that but the Empire time has past. Build something new! Something better than repeating teh mistakes of the past again1"
Kyra Hyral	Kyra notices a flicker out of the corner of her eye as she sees what LOOKS like Terra shooting her with a lighting spell...only to shoot past her to the soldiers creeping up on her left flank. When the remaining three give up and go shouting after Terra, calling her some kind of doll and insinuating capture, Kyra immediately whirls on the moving trio-mostly moving, seeing as one has adopted a crossbow to attack with. A hand digs beneath the bottom of her hoodie to tug free a glass globe that had been tied to her belt with easily tearable twine. Within, a red liquid sloshes dangerously. Upon closer inspection, it looks like the glass ball may have had a bottleneck in it but that bottleneck has been melted shut to leave it as sealed glass. Kyra hurls this item between the charging guards and the crossbow-user with all her might, making it shatter, then explode as the liquified bomb core is exposed to air. Shortly after throwing this, Kyra runs for it to the commander's tent. That looked like an ideal place to keep stolen things after all.
William Pauwel	Will really needs to learn not to go charging off after the shiny immediately after learning that it exists. He takes down those two soldiers quick as greased lightning, and then immediately finds himself face to face with... ...That. Thing. "Oh no--" CHOOM The cowboy screams as the blast of screaming hot fire magic consumes the approximate area he was standing in, then streaks even further and collides with an unfortunately placed tree. Which explodes. The only reason he's not a cloud of carbon ash right now is the fact that Will knows how to drop and roll, and also because of that incredibly handy, heat-dissipating armor he tends to wear. "Augh!" Will yells, rolling out from the scorchmark the beam left in the ground. It's not just to dodge, but ALSO because he'd very much rather like to put out the fire that his back is presently host to. "Dangit, I've only got so many of these jackets--" Will growls as his skin burns in a far too familiar fashion. "And I've only got ONE set of skin!" The Solano's barrel glows, ripples, and then fires a quick cluster of shots at the Magitek Armor's midsection and topside. Hopefully 'electromagnetic pulse' is close enough to 'lightning' to either disable the machine (preferably WITHOUT frying it) or stun the pilot (preferably WITHOUT killing him).
Terra Branford	A doll huh? Kefka's doll? That... was a mistake. Terra narrows her eyes and, while Kyra is going to come to her rescue... such as it is. "No, you won't." They won't because that whole idea means they've lost a LOT of the sympathy Terra had for them, so she doesn't use anything small the next time. Instead, she readies her sword and... "Firaga." Makes a massive explosion. Yeah, it delays her from getting to the Command Tent, but what's she going to do, ignore that?
Kiyohime	Oh. Halberd stabbings? The blade does open up a gash into her side, but it doesn't help the fellow's companion. Kiyohime jerks, and whips around with a naginata materializing in her hands. A quick stab and slice starts toward the man attacking her. "Ah, thank you," she says to the other... while carelessly continuing to constrict. She's distracted, she has reasons! Oh but... "Ah, my hero~" <3 Shin is already fighting for her! This lets her stop her attack, make a fawning coo, and then materialize a half-dozen more naginata to all converge on the sword-user that attacked Shin. "Allow me, beloved~"
August Kohler	As the ship approaches, August fiddles with his mirror bracelet. Most of the group drops down to fight the Magitek armors and soldiers, while August himself leaps down for cover to get a feel of the situation and what to focus on. Having lost his gun, he can't really fight on foot right now, and needs to make the best of the moment. Finding something small and easy to pick off would be for the best... But, sadly, August never gets what he wants. As everyone is dealing with soldiers and mechs, a drill suit rolls out. He peers out at the Tunnel Armr, and notices that no one else is currently focusing on it, while the Tunnel Armr is focusing on their allies in the airship. Woops. It's time to move. August glances down at his mirror bracelet and shouts out. "Persona!" With a flare of blue energy, a robotic soldier, covered in burnscars and with a gun for a leg, appears from behind him. August dashes forward towards the Tunnel Armr, but stops once in range, instead sending the Tin Soldier forth. It silently postures, before charging, its gun spraying fire forwards at the drill machine and trying to burn the treads to slow it down, melting them.
Celes Chere	Shin proceeds to beat a man into a bloody mess. He's a sturdy fellow, but he's not getting back up anytime soon without some care. Another stabs him in the back! Surely this will be his finest hour, a victory without consequences. Genji lands on the nose of the armor, putting him very firmly out of range of its chest cannon. This largely leaves the soldier to weigh his options. The man isn't stupid. He undoes his seatbelts and gets the hell out of the Magitek Armor, leaving it for Genji. As Terra explained, it's not too complex. Pedals, simple levers and conveniently labeled buttons like 'FIRE' and 'ICE'. There's a 'TEKMISSILE' button but it isn't lit. Staren uses an energy sword to cut the soldiers' own weapons down. One backs away, smart enough to realize he's out of his league all of a sudden. "Because that sword is symbolic to the empire!" he says. The other doesn't answer his question, but rather tries his luck with the half of a sword he's still holding. Technically it's still sharp! And he's keeping Staren from helping against the Tunnel Armor. Deelel slows her attackers and engages in communication. The wolves continue gnawing, although significantly slower. The soldiers argue back. "Mistakes? Our lives were fine! It's you Returners who ruined everything! Why would we want to build something else?! What's in it for US?" Kyra reaches the command tent. Inside, the captain turns to face her, muttering about the broken machine at his feet. "START, YOU PIECE OF JUNK!" Another fierce kick finally turns the blood thing on. Long arms pop out of the sphere as it begins floating. The SATELLITE suddenly turns towards Kyra, letting a few sparks off. A number of orbs on it light up, and suddenly flash blindingly bright. It's painful to look at and may blind Kyra! The captain is using the opportunity to back away towards a table to retrieve something. William inflicts critical damage to the Magitek Armor, which falls to one knee under the strain. The pilot does his best to get it back up, but it's not cooperating. It's REALLY poorly maintained. A threat to normal people, surely. Some sort of self-repair sequence boots up, and waiting for it to finish, the pilot whips a gun out and tries shooting William with it. Terra is not happy. This was predictable. It sucks to be those three guys, because they go out in a blaze of glory insulting Terra. Was it worth it? You'll have to heal their burns and get them back up to find out, because they're in no state to answer. Kiyohime violently gibs a man. There is no other way to put it. Pierced by countless spears, he is dead and in multiple pieces. The EXP he got from stabbing Shin was probably not worth it. August aims at the Tunnel Armor, scorching its front wheel rather badly. It's resilient, made for, well, tunneling, and so isn't completely burned yet. The damage does stop it from trucking along, making it stop and stand still. In retribution, the center of each hand opens, revealing glowing blue orbs. That shoot very large MAGITEK LASERS towards August. Not just August, either: STAREN and TERRA are both in the lasers' path too.
Staren	Staren sighs. "Is it a symbol worth dying for?" The sword scrapes his armor, but before the soldier can find a weak point, Staren steps in close, too close for weapons, and electrifies the outside of his armor. Hopefully, that will drop the guard without killing him, though it's probably very unpleasant. Unfortunately, Staren's focus on sparing lives today means he's not as focused on the Tunnel Armor. As the beam sweeps over him (possibly killing the guard anyway), a translucent amber sphere of force becomes visible... and the beam melts right through it, getting a startled "AAAH!" from Staren as it begins to scorch and melt his armor and something on it explodes, and he leaps away from the beam too late. The forcefield begins to thin and spread out to re-cover the damaged area before it vanishes again. Staren fires a couple of wild beam cannon shots of his own at the Tunnel Armor, though they're not nearly as powerful... but NOW his focus is on finding cover!
Deelel	Deelel says "A home, a better future for your selves and any families you have. Your great leader has passed on, you want to honour his memory help build something better find a new way. Don't throw your lives away on the past think about what you can still do." Deelel knows they lost a lot she's going to need to pump Terra and Celes later for more details on just what happened here. She's going to have to wing it from here. She now readies another spell to sped herself up as one does try to convice these imperials to stand down and not end up getting wrecks. "HASTE" She'll speed up now. "You have your lives till do you not?!?" She'll also use her keyblade to parry attacks right ow she's going out on a limb here, but she's confident she's at least tying them up from the battle after all.
Terra Branford	Ah, that... felt better. "Just a little longer!" Terra calls out to the others, indicating they need only hold off the Tunnel Armr(sic) a bit longer. She resumes her dash for the command tent, hoping to join Kyra and hopefully find the artifact. Of course there's more in there. Immediately she says, "Kyra, get the sword! I'll handle this!" Why mess with having the healer fight the big guardian? Lifting her sword, she prepares to engage the Satellite... but first... "ESUNA!" While not a dedicated healer, hopefully she can make sure Kyra can /see/ to do what she needs to do.
Shin Tokuyama	Shin grumbles a bit and strips out of the suit coat and shirt, setting it on the ground due it being (in his eyes) useless because of the giant gash in the back and the blood stains, "Man. Gonna need a new suit coat and shirt again. Always wasting em," He grumbles, trying to crane around and inspect the open wound on his back. "Oh hey! SOmeone got me a mech!" Shin, ignoring the completely murdered dude nearby, grabs Kiyohime by the wrist and starts trying to drag her. Which may be difficult if she stays in snake form, but it may also be easy since he's technically grabbing her and dragging her and she's very docile for him, "Come on, Kiyo! We're gonna roll!" He runs off to the hangar after Genji and spots the Magitek armor. He immediately jumps in and then takes out his cell phone. He seems to be looking for an AUX Jack for a few moments. He can't find one, so he just cranks the side button on his cell phone and putting the volume to max. He then turns on some... JAM Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD67deOBVcU The machine rockets forward at about Mach 1 Billion, flying through the sidewall of the cockpit as the music blares. Shin is screaming in japanese along to the lyrics as he goes. "Reincarnate; run into infinity We aim for the future Theres only one thing to believe in; in your heart A burning flameburning love!" Shin leaps high up into the air and then descends in a flying kick towards the TUNNEL ARMR with the descending form of the Magitek Armor!
August Kohler	A giant magitek laser goes flying at August. Well, that's going to hurt. He moves the Tin Soldier to intercept it, which still hurts, just a bit less, as his physical body feels a strong impact and the Tin Soldier goes flying backwards, steel seared through. As everyone else is shot at, the Tin Soldier roars into battle, and fires into the air. A strength buff is tossed at everyone attacking the Tunnel Armr. Additionally, the Tin Soldier sprays a burst of fire straight at the machine, surrounding it in flames and hoping to pin and damage it. When Shin goes flying at it, his flameburning love is going to be quite literal. And also really cool looking!
Kyra Hyral	Nearly stumbling in to the tent, Kyra takes quick stock of what's inside, not seeing something swordlike right away, her gaze goes to the weird floating sphere that the captain has on his hands. She seems to notice the man the same time he notices her, though seconds later, she cannot notice anything as the flash suddenly happens, temporarily blinding her. Though no stranger to what she must do, Terra's timely 'Esuna' and shouted instructions save her from having to cast the spell herself while in a vulnerable position. "Got it!" once she can see again, she dives to the side, rolling beneath the now-floating orb as she paws through the stuff there, taking a moment to grab at the captain's legs and try to plug him with a tranquilizer shot from her dart gun in the scuffle before she resumes looking for any sign of a sword.
William Pauwel	Welp. There goes the magitek armor. Will doesn't know whether to feel relieved or distraught that he apparently blew SOMETHING in the walking tank. But then it seems to start to... fix itself? Huh! Magitek armor is something else, isn't it? But just because the machine itself is down doesn't mean that it's out! Not when there's still someone inside who has a very lethal gun. Unfortunately, Will's is already out. It may be set to the closest thing it has to 'stun', but the Solano still packs a punch. Moreover, by prying himself out of the armor to pop off a few shots means that the other gunman left himself open for reprisal! Will sucks at his teeth as the soldier draws and pops off another shot of his own! And then almost simultaneously hops to one side, throwing off his opponent's aim just enough that the shot... Goes right through Will's hat. ... Guns are pretty dangerous no matter where you go, it seems.
Genji Shimada	Genji Shimada calmly looks down at the choice in music Shin has made. And then he calmly crouches down behind Shin on the back of the Magitek, and uses one hand to /hold on tight/. Being a ninja, it isn't difficult for him to maintain his balance, at least, and after a short distance he even starts to lean in, crouched down such that his wind resistance is minimal. His free left hand quickly darts behind him to pull out that shortblade of his, and then just at the exact moment the Magitek leaps, the ninja crouches low- -and leaps, just as the jump reaches its apex. "TOH!" Down goes Shin in his new ride, and right alongside him, down hurtles the glowing-green cyborg, the tails of his bandana streaming behind him while his blade leads the way.
Kiyohime	"What?" Kiyohime tilts her head, but the moment she's distracted, Shin grabs her wrist! "Ah! I am being swept away~<3" Yes, she's fine with this, her tail slithering her along at a remarkable pace now. She... seems to have forgotten she was accidentally constricting someone. UNfortunately, she isn't going to actually help in any way past this point. Instead, she whips out her fan and fans herself. "Defeat the monstrosity!" Actually she IS doing something, because she is trying to figure out if this is the same technology as anything she's seen in her world... but it looks kind of past its prime, so she's doubtful.
Celes Chere	Luckily for the soldier, being knocked out by Staren's suddenly electric armor means he barely avoids the laser. And for his part, when Staren counterattacks, the energy shots melt nasty gashes in the plating of the Tunnel Armor too. Deelel, fighting Slowed opponents while Hasted, is several times out of their league. Parrying their attacks and knocking them around without harming them is trivial for her. Her words make them reconsider, talk among themselves. The state of the battlefield probably has a lot to do with their decision too. They eventually lay their weapons down, recalling their dogs. The Satellite starts floating ominously towards Terra now... and then, more sparks from its frame. It stops moving. It falls to the ground, smoke coming out of it. This old hardware really is in no state to be used. The empire's toys, without its factories and head engineer, just aren't easy to maintain, and there guys didn't do a great job at it. August's flames trap the Tunnel Armor, which is good. Its armor weakens by the second, too, as the flames hack away at the worn plating. Then Shin drives his Magitek Armor right into the Tunnel Armor. With a cyborg ninja. The Tunnel Armor (and the Magitek Armor) explode. Hopefully those two can pull out in time and not get caught in the blast of flames and magic. Kyra, freed up by Terra, tranquilizes the captain. He manages to turn around, swinging a sword towards her-- but he falls forward, and slams to the ground, soundly asleep. The sword he was holding, what he retrieved from a table, is a bright blue crystal sword, pristine, with a gold and red hilt. A little ribbon hangs off the pommel, with the empire's insignia on it. 'You'll know it when you see it,' Terra said. There's the Crystal Sword. William wins the duel at high noon, only it isn't noon at all. The pilot hits the ground, unconscious. The Magitek Armor aborts its use of the Heal Force spell, stuttering, sparking and falling inactive after a few more moments. Kiyohime predictably finds this isn't technology from her world! As a Servant she can also tell it's powered by magic. Powerful magic. The kind of magic you'd harness from a god, not a normal person. But there was so little of it left, they mustn't have a way to refill. The battlefield largely falls silent with all three Magitek suits out of action. Remaining soldiers surrender. The Falcon swoops back down, ready to make a landing.
Shin Tokuyama	Shin is thrown from his Magitek Armor by the force of the explosion. He lands on the ground, tumbling end over end and skidding along the ground. He watches his machine explode along with the tunnel armor and grips at the dirt before pushing himself to his feet. He wipes his tears from his eyes with the back of a hand and then clenches his fist as he watches his machine burn. And then... he monologues. "When I first encountered the Gu-er... Magitek Armor... it might have been mere luck. It's been that way for every pilot of a Gu-er... Magitek Armor up until now. However, the decision of whether or not to get into that Gu-er... Magitek Armor rested with me alone. Luck had nothing to do with that. Am I wrong? At that moment, what was it that gave me the resolve to pilot it?" He looks straight ahead and watches his machine burn dramatically.
Kyra Hyral	It's difficult to /not/ notice a sword like that. If Kyra was more into swords, she might even call it gorgeous. As it currently stood, it looked like some kind of artifact, though of obvious great importance to Celes and Terra in ways she can't understand. She works the blade free of the stunned Captain's hands and scoots out of the tent. "Terra, I got it! I got it!" She's quick to announce it elsewhere too for the benefit of those current fighting much more dangerous opponents.
Genji Shimada	As befits Genji, when the explosion happens, he is... seemingly nowhere to be found. But as is required, he can be spotted a short distance away, standing atop one of the prefab buildings, with his feet tightly together and his arms folded over his chest.
Deelel	Deelel sees the enemy surrender and recall their wolves she too stops fighting now as she banishes her keyblade ane will leave the Imperial Remants to make thier own choices she cna only ope she's given them some things to consider about where they might go and what might they do, she will now be making for the ship as Stezer returns.
William Pauwel	Will sighs as the other gunman goes down, shortly thereafter followed by the magitek armor. "Dangit, I think we might've overdone it a little bit." Are those soldiers alright? Hopefully, because... Well. That would be bad, if they weren't. It sounds as though they found what they were looking for, though. Now all that there is to do is to hogtie some soldiers and shove a few of these machines onto that airship. He apparently still intends on dissecting one of these things. Once a tinkerer, always a tinkerer.
Staren	MECHA EXPLODE. Soldiers run away or surrender. The sword is found. Staren stops looking for cover, walking around to check on people. His armor is badly scorched on one side, and some of the discs on the chestplate have exploded. It will need repairs, but can still function. "So what was the big deal about the sword, anyway? Does it have amazing magic powers or something? Or did the people who had it only want it as a symbol too?"