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Shigure     Mid afternoon, Hikari Seaport.

    "Fifth Fleet, Auxillary Units, Report to Launch Bay Immediately. Fifth Fleet Shigure, Fifth Fleet Yuudachi, Special Division Flagship Kagurazaka, FMS Leeroy Jenkins, prepare for immediate sortie. Air wing report to launch bay."

    The base-wide tannoy announcing the preparation for a large scale deployment. Shigure and Yuudachi are already in their rigging in the launch bay, preparing to head out and join the others once they form up. After the muster, Shigure relays her battleplan. "We're heading here..." she says, pointing to a map, the location is inland, along a large network of interlinked rivers and fjords, dotted with fishing villages and other waterborne trades settlements. "We're going to talk to the locals, and try and track down the source of this disturbance, and capture those involved, or destroy them if necessary. Any questions?"
Yuna Kagurazaka Yuna knew that there was a deployment planned, but she still comes running into the launch bay, fastening the last buttons on her uniform. "Sorry I'm late ... Kagurazaka, moving out!"

The almost dance-like process of equipping her light cruiser fit-out gives her a chance to catch her breath, and by the time Kagurazaka properly sets sail, she looks more composed than she did upon arrival. The little robo-faerie Elner joins up with her near the harbor gate, and they take a moment to review the map provided by Shigure. "Huh ... haven't done much with the Fleet that far inland from the coast," Kagurazaka observes. "If you'd like to expand our options, I could have the Matrix of Light rendezvous with us there?" she offers, looking to Shigure.
Gaonoir Ever see a wolf/huskie hybrid the size of a large bear? Well if not you have now, as that's the form Gaonoir enters in, large paws thumping firmly on the floor. While he does have a flight-capable form to use, what got him involved with Hikari in the first place, unless he needs it his Adult form is better suited as a tracker with its canid senses.

Erika is sitting on his back, giving her the perfect perspective to lean over to look at the map and where Shigure is indicating. "Huh." She nudges her glasses up with one finger as they slide forward a little from the angle. "Did not know the Abyssals could traverse smaller waterways like that. Oooh, this is going to be just like trying to hunt an elusive cryptid~"

Gaonoir lets out an exasperated sigh which sounds more like a soft grumbling grow in this form. "Now don't you get all hyper..."
Leyanne The crew of the Free Martian Ship Leeroy Jenkins are doing a bit of last-minite tuning on Leeroy, after having to rebuild him (again!) when the call comes out. Leyanne checks that everything is cool and that they'll be ready to ship out at the end of the briefing, she performs some kind of complicated fistbump ritual, she heads to the greeting.

She steps into the briefing with a wave, carrying her usual flask of tea. She offers it around, pulling out collapsible cups for those who want it. "Rivers are Leeroy's bread and butter. We'll help where we can."
Evangeline      The little Neuroi known as Evangeline has been spending much of her time in this world lately, and when the call goes out she quickly reports to the launch bay even though she requires no fuel or launchers of any kind. She floats quietly beside the map watching as Shigure points out where they are going and what their mission is. "...civilian populations...does that mean that if we encounter any enemy troops we are not to engage unless fired upon..?" she asks in her quiet, slightly synthetic voice. "...I can help with aerial surveilance of the riverside towns as the fleet makes its way up the waterway..."

     When Yuna makes her way in, Eva offers a small wave. "...Yuna...it is good to see you again..." she says, then waves to Gaonoir and Leyanne as well. She politely declines the tea, though. Neuroi don't like water.
Leyanne Leyanne Mace smiles and attempts to fistbump Evangeline when she gets close, on her tea rounds.
Josuke Higashikata     Josuke happened to be visiting Leyanne and ended up hearing the call. Being the nice guy that he is, he offered to come with them! Since it's Sunday, he's not in his school uniform. He's in a green, striped t-shirt and a pair of purple pants, though his shoes are about the same. And of course, that regent (the pompadour, that is). He'll end up going with Leyanne, most likely, so as not to put anybody out. For being a delinquent, he doesn't like imposing on people.
All-Seeing Eye All-Seeing Eye has been told that, in some places, water exists in great enough quantities to facilitate sailing! He's been aching to see such a wonder with his own eyes, and since one of his allies has requested aid, it's the perfect opportunity to satisfy both that desire and the request for assistance.

     He arrives fashionably late, as one should never make an appearance without due consideration to wardrobe. With that in mind, he's wearing a high-collared black long coat to keep any wind chill at bay, matching it with a loose-fitting white poet's shirt and a pair of black slacks sporting gold trim for that extra bit of nautical flair. Again, it's probably the reason he's late.

     But, he nonetheless peers over the map, making a cursory examination. So, they're to be searching one of these small waterways for signs of Abyssals? (He is, of course, expecting Abyssal /Exalted./ "I daresay you'd know me by the sound of my sonorous voice, my dark, luxuriant hair or my beauteous face... but I'll introduce myself nonetheless as All-Seeing Eye!"

     "And you," he says, recognizing a familiar voice, "Must be the illustrious 'Tiny!'" The Exalt grins widely, offering Leyanne a little curtsey. "A delightfuly deceptive descriptor~" He accepts the tea only in the event that someone else does and doesn't die from it. In that event, he is quite gracious!

     The time for flattery and niceties has to end eventually--more's the pity. When the discussion inevitably turns to strategy, he offers his input. "Nothing escapes my notice on foot, comrades~! Just drop me someplace fun and I'll have those Abyssals solved before Earth Shift!"
Shigure     Shigure nods to Evangeline, "Everyone is Weapons Safe unless fired on first. There are civilian vessels all along the waterways in the operation area, make sure you check your targets." The destroyer says in return, looking between those attending. "Anyone who doesn't have transport, I will carry you in my Ocean Fitout, come to the loading pier just beside the launch bay after we launch." she says, though All-Seeing Eye gets a bit of an odd look.

    She shakes it off, then, since there's no other questions, she folds the map up and gets onto the launch pad. "Fifth Fleet Flagship, Destroyer Shigure, Launch!" Yuudachi, who has been quiet until now, giggles brightly, and leaps onto the next point, "Lets start a most wonderful party~!" she launches while giggling like a little girl, while Shigure turns toward the pier, transforming in a ball of light, the full sized Destroyer appearing from the bubble and coming up to drop its boarding ramp so people can board if they so wish.

    After that, it's a quiet sail to the mission area.
Evangeline      Evangeline isn't sure what to do when Leyanne moves for a fistbump. As Leyanne holds up her hand in a fist, Evangeline tilts her head a bit. She backs away slightly at first, apparently thinking that Leyanne is readying a punch of some kind. Then, she remembers that a good friend of hers often uses weak punches as a method of greeting, but since Leyanne didn't hit her in the shoulder Evangeline instead mimics the motion Leyanne made and holds up one of her sleeve-like arms in a similar pose. Of course, she just holds it there instead of hitting her lack of fist against Leyanne's fist.

     When Shigure answers Evangeline in the affirmative, Evangeline nods and prepares to move out. She takes up a position above Shigure-boat, ready to provide escort on the way to their target. "...running full sensors..." she advises the others.
Leyanne Leyanne stops when Evangeline seems to flinch, starting to lower her fist. When she tries to re-create the gesture, but doesn't make the fist bump, Leyanne smiles and then shows her what to do - bumping her cybernetic fist against the sleeve-arm.

Josuke is led back towards Leeroy and helped aboard, along with anyone else who dares travel with the crazy Martian. He's given the option of strapping down in the wheelhouse in the Recaro bucket seats, or manning one of the weapons on the boat (Machine gun at the side or the bow 20mm).

When Leeroy starts, at first it's like a normal boat; the loud growl of a diesel engine... though the whine of three gas turbines spooling up quickly overrules that. Then the diesel engine cuts, and Leeroy's under his main engines, the mice on board performing last minute combat checks. At first it looks like they're drinking beer, but a quick glance shows it to be an energy drink.

Leyanne herself decides to drive, sending the usual driver to man the bofors gun on the back. She keeps pace with Shigure and the rest of the formation, barely using a fraction of the boat's power.
All-Seeing Eye So, there are still people unfamiliar with his legend! No matter--in time, he's sure he'll be on the lips of anyone who's anyone. The more pressing concern is that of their approach. There are apparently civilians in force, which makes this a bit like hunting a dissident on a crowded street. It should be easy enough, but just for Shigure's sake, he makes a remark. "But of course! I'm the very portrait of trigger discipline."

     The very portrait of trigger discipline boards Shigure without so much as a second glance. "Most gracious of you," he chirps, twirling his hair as he comes aboard. Apparently the sight isn't unusual where he's from, or at least it isn't far from usual.

     Eye, meanwhile, takes up a position below decks. Once he's on the lowest deck, the Exalt peers through the hull of the boat. His vision will only penetrate four yards or so in each direction, but with regular patrols he hopes he'll be able to spot at least immediate threats.

     Over the radio, he communicates his plan. "Beginning subnautical perimeter scan~!"
Gaonoir Gaonoir rolls his eyes at All-Seeing's posturing, while Erika snickers a little. Which gets her a light swat with one of his animate scarf ends to quiet down. They'll have time to plan on the way there, since they're gonna ride on Shigure to conserve his energy. But Erika already has her laptop open while she's sitting on his back, bringing up the map of the area they're going to as a cross-reference.
Josuke Higashikata     If Josuke's the only one traveling with Leyanne, he'll man the minigun, since it's a more familiar weapon than the other one. If there are others, he'll probably stick to the wheelhouse to stay out of the way. Also salt air is murder on his hair! But despite the way he goes ballistic when someone insults how he wears his hair, he does know that there's more important things than his hair. But he's not going to fire that weapon unless he needs to.

    When Leeroy starts to really move, Josuke staggers a bit. "Whoa! Wasn't expecting it to be that fast!" He may end up having to shout over loud engines to make himself heard. But overall it doesn't seem to bother him. Fact, he seems to be enjoying the fast boat ride. Boys, amirite?

    Though as for planning? Josuke's Crazy Diamond lacks the incredible precision and scouting ability of Jotaro's Star Platinum, making up for it with the former's heal/repair abilities and incredible strength/speed. So he'll have to just come up with something when he sees the situation. But thinking on his feet is a strength of his. Hopefully it'll be enough.
Yuna Kagurazaka So many familiar faces - in fact, almost everyone here is somebody with whom Kagurazaka has worked, and fought, at some point in the past. Even Josuke is somebody she recognizes - and far from knocking his hairstyle, she's grateful that it makes him so easy to recognize. The Exalt is more of an unknown to the blonde idol-turned-warrior-currently-light-cruiser, but Yuna still smiles and waves to All-Seeing Eye as he joins them. "Good to see you too, Evangeline!" she greets the Neuroi, and accepts a sip of tea offered by Leyanne.

Business shortly reasserts itself, though, and Kagurazaka just nods to Elner, letting the little robo-faerie signal the rest of the Matrix of Light. They may not need to meet up - Kagurazaka usually prefers to stick with her cruiser fit-out when she's working with other Hikari forces - but it's nice to have that option.

"So have the Abyssals shown up in a specific area within that delta," Kagurazaka inquires while they're under way, "or are they kind of all over? We *might* want to split up into a couple of groups, to cover the area better which we'll be investigating ..."
Shigure     Shigure lifts the ramp once everyone's aboard, and turns to link up with the others. Yuudachi is off doing her own thing, 'dancing' with the Leeroy Jenkins though not being able to keep up if the mice decide to gun the engine to full. Shigure's voice echos metallically, "That is a good idea, two teams, I will lead one, Kagurazaka, take Yuudachi and Evangeline. We'll split at the first fork, and meet back up at the next rejoining." she says, the full sized Destroyer bouncing along the waves as she runs her engines at flank bell.

    The group arrives at the mouth of the river delta, the brown, muddy waters washing out into the sea from multiple outlets, thought the main, central one is big enough for the group to enter in formation. The waterborne combatants would feel the difference immediately, the currents are much stronger, Kagurazaka's rig particularly would be feeling the strain. No wonder Shigure asked for at most the Light Cruisers.

    "Be on the lookout for smoke clouds, they are a common precursor for an attack. Also..." The Destroyer transmits a haunting, creepy reel of what sounds like children laughing, with the typical Abyssal Reverb. "If you hear this, be on extra alert."
Leyanne Leyanne Mace grins to Josuke "Fast? Wait till I can-." She laughs, spotting Yuudachi. "Oh, it's on. Might want to strap in."

Leyanne grips the boat's three throttles and begins gently cranking them forward, - though not quite far enough away to leave her behind. The boat swerves and rolls, joining the dance - and also giving the shipgirl some nice wake curls to dance on, should she choose. Especially once the boat's nose has risen up and the boat's hydroplaning.

She has crewmen to man the guns; Leyanne is but one of fifteen assorted mice aboard the 80ft boat. She's the one in charge, however. "If we're still intact on the way back, you want a driving lesson?" She says. Then she hears the warning, and the giggle that goes with it. She gives Josuke a look

"Oh shit... well, if we hear that there's a shotgun under the console, or you can man one of the guns. Or... well, you'll figure something." She chuckles.
Evangeline      Evangeline's tail twitches when Leyanne shows her a proper fistbump, then she pulls her arm back slowly as if marveling at it. There is a soft metallic sound that might be a giggle before Evangeline floats off to join Yuna and Yuudachi. "...human children...?" Evangeline says quietly as she flies over the water. She isn't entirely familiar with how Abyssals and Fleet Daughters work, but it seems strange given the usual apparent age of the fleet. But, having a sound to scan for as well as the warning about smoke will help her in pinpointing any potential Abyssals.
Yuna Kagurazaka "Roger that!" Kagurazaka replies to Shigure's assignment of teams. She picks up a little speed, taking point as they head up one of the forks -

"!"

Kagurazaka's breath catches, although it's more psychosomatic than actually exerting her physical strength. She feels the added strain on her engines, all right, and can feel the equipment fairies working to compensate. The audio sample of Abyssal laughter makes her eyes go wide, her face turning a shade paler (although nowhere near the stark white of Abyssals). "Smoke clouds and eerie giggling, got it ... Elner, I need you on high cover, keep your optics peeled!"

"Acknowledged," Elner confirms, soaring up to provide aerial surveillance, either alongside or above Evangeline. If they see anything which needs to be shot at, though, that's all going to be on he Neuroi girl; Elner doesn't have offensive weaponry.
Gaonoir Gaonoir's ears actually lay back a bit at the sound. "Mod dammit, that's horrifying." But, smoke and creepy laughing. That does give them something to work with.

As the ships are pulling into the riverway the Digimon and his Tamer move to the edge of Shigure's deck. "We'll start investigating along the shore," Erika calls over her shoulder. Then Gaonoir leaps off the ship, whipping out his clawed scarf to dig into the riverbank and hoist himself in like a hookshot. Once there he starts a slow gallop along the river side, keeping his nose down to the ground to sniff as canines do while trying to pick up a trail. Erika is holding onto the scarf with one hand, while keeping her computer cradled in the other arm. Occasionally she gives a tug at the scarf to indicate Gaonoir needs to move to one side or the other. She's handling navigating so he can focus on the tracking.
Josuke Higashikata     Josuke probably needs to hang on really well right about here, when Leyanne starts making the boat go faster. Particularly when she's doing acrobatics with the boat. Boatisthenics? Though he watches the 'dance' from as secure a position as he can manage, with a smile.

    However, when that voice clip is played, he shivers. "Yikes! That's really creepy!" Looking at Leyanne, "Oh no way. I'd have to get way closer than I want to if I used a shotgun. I just need the bullets, <Crazy Diamond> can fire them.
All-Seeing Eye This 'Evangeline' appears to be an artificial life-form, as do Shigure and her nautically-inclined fellows. As it would ensure the organic members of this expedition are never without the watchful, precise guidance of a synthetic, Eye sees no fault with the plan of making two teams. It's a shame they're not all Alchemicals, as no craftsmanship can compare to Autochthon's, but he's sure they'll do in a pinch!

     With no /immediate/ undersea threats, he takes a moment to listen to the sound provided by Shigure. "Cute!" Indeed, he'd trade that sound for the sound of his Charms any day. If it weren't for the apparent antipathy of these Abyssals, he might even say their average disposition seems downright agreeable.

     It sounds like Evangeline will provide air support, so he'll instead supplement Shigure's detection net by remaining in the hold. Wait... what's that noise? Ah, it would appear she's got some sort of echolocation system. Of course--that's far more efficient than simply trying to peer into the murky darkness.

     "I'll just remain belowdecks and bolster your echolocation detection grid!" Does he mean her radar? The odds seem good--at least, to an arrogant Exalt, they do. He announces his confidence proudly. "Between the two of us, they'll have no place to hide~" To shut out any visual data and focus purely on auditory information, he closes his eyes, bracing himself on a railing as he extends his hearing past Shigure's hull and into the water.

     Should anything stir in that water which doesn't belong, he'll likely raise an alarm.
Shigure     SHIGURE TEAM

    Shigure remains in shipform, turning to port to head down the fork, leaving the others to head down the other side. Her radar begins to rotate, radiating and beginning to track things from the surrounding area. "Nnn, there's a lot of interference on my Radar... Sonar is cleaner, but your specialisation may prove more useful." comes that metallic backed, echoy voice from the ship-form destroyer. Gaonoir would pick up the tracks of many different humans, likely the locals of the area, heading to and from little inlet areas and calm pools where they moor their boats to go hunting on the islets and mudbanks for various things. All-Seeing Eye's echolocation would pick up a lot of biologicals. Fish, crocodiles and the like, as well as the propeller wash from Shigure's own engines, but faintly, from further ahead, a rhythmic splashing sound, like someone swimming.
Shigure     YUUDACHI TEAM

    Yuudachi remains in land fit-out, and skates along with the rest, pinging away on her active sonar. "There's, like, a lot of life out here." she muses, turning around and looking back at Yuna. "Anything on radar?" she asks, seems the younger sister didn't fit a Radar unit. Evangeline, and Elner would probably spot a large white cloud floating low along the water, as well as the faint beginnings of that eerie laughter. There's also a civilian fishing trawler nearby, which has started to radio for help.

    <Mayday Mayday! The >White Death< has come for us! Mayday!>
Evangeline      Evangline could easily be artificial. Even she doesn't really know how the Neuroi first came to be. She always figured it was a crystal that somehow came to life, much like organic creatures on most worlds starting from water that somehow came to life.

     But, musings on that will have to wait. As soon as Evangeline sees that white cloud she sends out a short radio burst.

     "...Contact made..."

     Her soft, demure voice is quite opposite of how she responds. She simply...disappears. Or seems to, at least. Using her teleportation power she covers the distance in a second and has herself between the trawler and the incoming cloud. She doesn't intend for any Abyssal to hurt any civilian if she can help it! She also radios to the boat captain. "...Mayday received..." is all she says to the captain of the boat. Her arms are already outstretched and glowing with that sinister red energy. But, she doesn't fire yet. After all, she didn't hear any reports of these Abyssals hurting anyone. Perhaps they are more like Re-Class.

     So, rather than firing into the cloud, Evangeline tilts her head slightly. "...who are you...?" she asks the mist. "...please identify yourself...so that perhaps neither of us will come to harm..."
Leyanne Leeroy's three propellors churning might also interfere with the echolocation, though the gas turbine PT-boat's fairly light, which might limit the noise. The boat gently bounces on the ripples, slowing down now that the work is beginning to stay with the group.

Leyanne nods to Josuke. "No worries. Okay... head on a swivel man." she says. "This is proper rough country now."

The other mice scan around too, manning their stations and looking around nervously.
Gaonoir So far it's only the sort of things one would expect to smell from communities living around a river. Gaonoir gives a snort, but to a degree, knowing where the enemy isn't is almost as important as finding where they are.

Erika winces at Eve's brief message. "Sounds like the others found something."

"Unless they call for help specifically or Shiruge says otherwise, we stay on our current track," Gaonoir replies, continuing along the riverbend. "It's entirely possible there's more than one group of enemies. It allow them to hit multiple places in the confusion and keep defenders from amassing at one position."
Josuke Higashikata     "Right!" Josuke replies, nodding once, firmly, to show that he understands. In fact, that's when he summons Crazy Diamond. He doesn't need it right at this second, but that second it takes to summon his Stand is a second he's unprotected.

    He's also going to find some bullets if he can, just a handful for now, and keep them on hand. Just in case his Stand needs to fire on something.
Yuna Kagurazaka Kagurazaka shakes her head, "Not seeing anything on radar --"

Cue the mayday. "Elner, need a bearing!" the blonde calls out, readying her turrets. As soon as the robo-faerie provides it, Kagurazaka accelerates, calling out, "Evangeline, stand by to provide cover fire! Yuudachi, behind me! Hold fire until confirmation of targets!"

Because the LAST thing she wants to do is help the Abyssals sink that trawler when she's trying to sink the *Abyssals* instead. If they can be scared or driven off, fine - in fact, arguably all the better; the Abyssals must have some kind of base around here to be launching these kinds of inland raids.
Leyanne There are plenty of sources of ammunition on board; from boxes of .50-cal to clips of 40mm bofors ready for loading. It's not difficult to find a lot of ammo.
All-Seeing Eye In his mind, Eye sees the many sounds around him. Amidst a sea of blackness, there is the ship herself, her autonomous processes, engines and the like granting a general view of his immediate surroundings. Then there's the prop wash, and the bizarre menagerie of aquatic rats spread out around him. A long, squat rat with a thick, leathery hide, as well as many ovoid, limbless rats which flit away from imagined danger... hm. Maybe they're roaches, not rats. Either way, something is in this water which is neither roach nor rat.

     It's almost as if the creature is splashing through the water. Not as graceful as the other creatures, which implies this is a function it wasn't explicitly designed for. The closest thing Autochthonia has to a sea is the boiling Pole of Oil at the very northernmost reaches of the machine world. He's unfamiliar with the sound of swimming, but... he could swear it almost sounds like... arms thrashing? Legs kicking? It's too far away

     "There's someone, or something, swimming in the water ahead," Eye says over the radio. His brow furrows as he tries to make it out. "Not an animal." Perhaps the splashing sound means he might see this person on the surface. And besides, Evangeline has very possibly made visual contact!

     The cramped quarters belowdecks are very familiar to the Alchemical, who comes from a world full of the exact same type of architecture. Practically flying up metal stairs and ducking expertly beneath doorways, he arrives abovedeck and opens his eyes.

     The Exalt scours the area around him for any signs of either approaching hostiles or fleeing civilians. As agreed upon, he keeps his weapons holstered, in the event that it's indeed a civilian.
Shigure     SHIGURE TEAM

    The Leeroy Jenkins would spot the cloud first, a large, white smoke cloud rounding the bend up ahead. Gaonoir would pick up the scent of gunpowder and fuel oil from the cloud, and be the first of the group to hear that eerie giggling. Low caliber gunfire then starts ripping up the foliage around the black dogmon, 7.7mm and 12.7mm machineguns. Shigure herself grunts softly. "Contact! We are taking fire. All craft, weapons free, suppress the enemy." Her turrets traverse into position, radar struggling to lock onto the targets inside the smoke, before they open fire, lobbing 12.7cm shells into the smoke cloud. All-Seeing Eye's, well, eyes, would likely see the blue glowing eyes from within the smoke, there's dozens of them.
Shigure     YUUDACHI TEAM

    Yuudachi nods to Kagurazaka, falling in behind the cruiser. Evangeline's query is met with a wailing shriek, and a fussilade of small arms fire, the same machineguns peppering the air around the littlest Neuroi. There's also torpedos in the water, heading for the civilian ship as it makes best speed away from the cloud. They're going to hit if noone does anything. Elner would be able to pinpoint them from the high vantage point.
All-Seeing Eye Standing on Shigure's uppermost deck, two delightful words reach the Exalt's ears. 'Weapons' and 'free.'

LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED

     His vision zooms in as he attempts to use his mass-penetrating scans to find their locations through the smoke. Failing that, their shining blue eyes should serve as ample guidance for his attack.

     His charms plot a trajectory between several of the targets, and with a pneumatic hiss, bolts of purple lightning race from his eyes to the attacking Abyssals, dancing between them with seemingly no regard for the laws of electromagnetism.

     Two steel cables slowly snake their way free of the Exalt's dark sleeves, resting slack against Shigure's deck. He hardly expects he'll need them--but it's always fun to give dissidents a nasty surprise!
Evangeline      The small arms fire impacts Evangeline's shield and causes it to flare lightly wherever the bullets hit. But, torpedoes in the water are a different thing! Evangeline moves to try and intercept them. She fires her full power beam across the torpedoes, and a violent explosion of water follows. If her beam didn't get the torpedoes, surely the explosion in the water will.

     If it doesn't...someone else will have to handle it. Evangeline can't go in the water. She turns her attention back toward the white cloud and keeps herself between the retreating boat and whatever is in there. "...torpedoes in the water...please assist with the intercept..."
Yuna Kagurazaka Oh look, torpedoes. Kagurazaka pours on the speed, trusting Yuudachi to match pace - but Kagurazaka isn't firing on the Abyssals yet, instead 'sniping' with her rifle cannon, trying to blow those torpedoes OUT of the water - or to put herself in their path, if that's what it takes to stop them. She'd sooner blow the torpedoes up without body-blocking them but protecting civilians is a *BIG* priority for Kagurazaka - and most of the Hikari Fleet has probably seen that in action before.

(At least she's not sacrificing allies to do it this time.)

Her other turrets aren't idle; rather than trying to help blow away the torpedoes, the equipment fairies on gunnery duty are lobbing shells at the Abyssals, particularly taking advantage of Elner's guidance. Hopefully the robo-faerie's sensors can pierce that cloud better than Yuna's eyes can, and if her radar is doing any good, they'll take that guidance too.
Leyanne Leyanne Mace peers into the cloud nervously, the mice on board all fluffing slightly and looking worried. Then gunfire starts rippling out from it towards their allies on the bank. The mice don't like that... and the radar returns they're getting from Shigure suggest there's a lot of them. Oh that's not good.

Leyanne calls out a vague angle off the bow for the group. "Can't get a clear radar sighting... no lock for the exocets, no lock. Secondary guns free, suppressive fire." She frowns, listening to the firepower. "Josuke, that sounds like... that's too light for anything big. Be ready for fast-moving targets, extremely hostile and probably fuckugly." She warns.

THe mice manning the guns hear Leyanne confirming the weapons free and giving orders. Machine gun and light autocannon fire lances into the cloud, azure orange tracer fire lighting it up.
Gaonoir That sadistic giggling. Gaonoir's head snaps up with ears stiff as he hears it, his reaction so quick Erika doesn't even get to ask what he heard before he's leaping aside of his previous position.

Gunfire rips up the spot he had been standing literally seconds later.

"Good grief that's an effective jumpscare!" Erika exclaims a moment later. Followed a light oof as Gaonoir grabs her with one scarf and sets her down. "Yeah yeah, I know, take cover and watch your back." She whines a little about having to stay back, but scampers back out of the way all the same.

With her out of the way Gaonoir turns his attention back to the smoking position the attacks came from, eyes narrowing. "Tch. Hiding isn't going to help you." He pauses, sucking in a deep breath much like a certain wolf of folklore would.

"DARK VORTEX!" And exhales it in a spiral of dark-infused wind, trying to blow away the white smoke so his allies can get a better fix on their targets.
Josuke Higashikata     Josuke calls out to Leyanne again, "Right!" Sadly, he can't see to hit anything in those clouds, and he doesn't have anything that would create the sheer volume of lead they're throwing at the threat. So for the time being Josuke stays on alert with the handful of bullets, Stand at the ready, in case something nasty comes out at them.
Shigure     SHIGURE TEAM

    The Dark Vortex is super effective! The smoke begins to break up, the source of it unable to keep pace with the dispersal. It looks like a young girl clad in light black robes, her eyes glowing a deep sapphire blue. She looks at the group with a sorrowful expression, as a group of smaller, child-like creatures rise fully from the water, their jaws jabbering and their 'main batteries' rattling away with gunfire. They hold torpedoes under their arms, which they then release into Shigure's path, before they're struck by the chain lightning, and some are shot through with the heavy machinegun fire from the Leeroy Jenkins. They're not tough, but there's so many of them!

    "Torpedoes in the water! I cannot evade. All hands, brace, brace, brace!" The Destroyer turns into the oncoming spread, to minimize the exposure.. but without some intervention she's eating at least one of those incoming fish.
Shigure     YUUDACHI TEAM

    Evangeline's strike is enough to take out the spread, the civilian rounding the corner of a sandbar and getting out of direct line of sight. Yuna and Yuudachi are left trying to fire into the smoke cloud, the source not abating like the others due to having no source of wind to make it disperse. Unless someone can make a wind blast, they're in trouble.

    Yuudachi breaks formation, her red eyes flaring brightly as she powers closer and breaches the outer perimeter of the smoke, using the close range to remove their advantage and opening fire with all her guns, as they gain a target. This also lights up the targets for the others to fire at. There's dozens of them this side too, but the central point is a Late Model I-Class with its dumpy little legs.
Gaonoir The smokescreen is blown away and... "Fragging null, they look like someone tried to chibify Darkdramon and failed horribly," Gaonoir snarls as he bounds closer to the edge of the water.
"Nobody is going to get a clear shot at the lead if there's a swarm around them," Erika observes from her spot laying low.
"Then I think it's time to do a little fishing."

He digs into the river bank with all four paws to brace himself, leaning forward slightly. The two lenghts of scarf rise out of the mane of hair around his neck and shoulders, the clawed 'fringe' on the ends narrowing together to form points. "BLITZ STRIKER!" The animated lengths lunge forward, extending out rapidily to try and, for lack of better comparison, harpoon some of the smaller Abyssals and yank them out of the way of obstructing the bigger main target.
All-Seeing Eye Upon hearing Shigure's warning, Eye's reaction is not one of concern, but annoyance. A put-upon groan escapes him as he watches the projectiles slowly gliding through the water. "Must I do /everything?/" The Exalt whips his hair over his shoulder, then faces the mast and takes a running start.

     Boots thud against the vertical surface, and using his momentum, Eye runs a short ways up the tower. Gravity begins to pull him back down, but he pushes off, flipping backwards. With his ultra-peripheral vision, the expanse of the river doesn't shift, allowing him the opportunity to find a firing angle without worrying about the position of his body or the disorientation of midair descent.

     Soft purple reticules fill his vision, and his sleeves bulge momentarily. A hail of crossbow bolts rain down upon the water... until they don't.

DEDICATED HARMONIC TARGETING SYSTEM ACTIVE

     The bolts simply de-materialize before they hit the water, rematerializing when they're about to strike their intended targets--this, of course, in an effort to compensate for the tendency of water to slow things like crossbow bolts down.

     With a nimble midair turn, Eye flicks his wrist, and one of the steel cables wraps around the mast, tightening just before he hits the ground to swing him back around for another pass.
Yuna Kagurazaka There's wind, and then there's wind. Since Kagurazaka doesn't have big fans or anything which could help blow the smoke away, she instead improvises - with thrown depth charges, carefully angled WELL clear of Yuudachi, and set to explode just barely underwater.

She had really been hoping it was just *one* Abyssal, but it's becoming clear that this is indeed a whole pack of them. Whatever - once Kagurazaka can angle around Yuudachi and get a clear line of fire, she'll join in bombarding the Abyssal formation, trying to carve away at their numbers generally rather than focusing her fire on the main I-Class.
Leyanne Leyanne Mace peers into the dispersing smoke. "Ohh, that's not riiiiight." She comments, getting on the radio to let everyone know her opinion of the PT Imps. "Oh these guys are uuuug-uuhh-laaaaaay...." A pause as she surveys the results of the fire. "Fragile though. Wake up Aggie. Jo! Go for the boss." SHe points at the one making the smoke.

The engines step up slightly as the bofors gun wakes up, rousing from its stowed position to target the PT Imps. Along the barrel, the name 'AGNES' has been painted. Agnes speaks now, sending five fat autocannon rounds towards the horde of PT-Imps, the rounds set to airburst above them and spray shrapnel in all directions. If you want to thin a horde, you need some horde-thinning weapons.

Leyanne grins at Josuke, though it's more of a mad leer, wrapping one hand around the throttles, ready to punch it for the inevitable counterfire. "Oh, and Josuke? You might also want to hold onto something. We're armoured with plywood so when they get pissed off at us, I'm gonna need to do some creative driving."
Josuke Higashikata     "There you are!" Josuke proclaims, when the leader of the group of... water imps? Whatever they are -- shows herself. He transfers the bullets to Crazy Diamond's hand, and the Stand prepares to fire on the leader of the small group.

    But then... he hesitates. That look on her face. If Josuke didn't know better, he'd swear she looked... sad. But in a moment his expression firms up again, and Crazy Diamond fires! However... he's aiming for a non-lethal hit. Her rigging, if she has it. If not? Arms, legs -- someplace he can fix later.
Evangeline      Evangeline stays with the civilian boat until it is clearly out of danger, then races back to help out Yuna and Yuudachi. "...the civilian is clear..." she tells her allies, then moves toward the cloud. Using her own radar and infrared scanners, Evangeline tries to help pinpoint the targets within the cloud and relay the information to her group. Even if they have no way to get rid of the smoke, between Elner and herself they should be able to get pretty good targeting information.

     With her allies entering the smoke cloud, Evangeline moves to fly above it and fires down into it with smaller, much more precise beams. Even if she misses, the beam splashes harmlessly into the water. Several separate beams fire from each arm before vectoring toward a target. A few move toward the I-class, with the rest trying to hit the imps.
Shigure     SHIGURE TEAM

    The Torpedoes detonate in large plumes of water before they strike the destroyer's hull, but a few detonate close enough that they send the Destroyer skewing sideways, off course. "Flagship to all points, explosion close to starboard, unable to pursue!" The Unknown Abyssal, having taken fire from Crazy Diamond, leaks a bit of black ichor, then dives beneath the waves, leaving the Imps to delay the pursuers. They seem to go 'Berserk' leaping up onto the Leeroy as it comes speeding past, their jaws jabbering and that incessent giggling echoing across the water. The ones Gaonoir snares return fire, before their fragile bodies are torn apart, leaving them to bleed that black, goopey ichor into the water.
Shigure     YUUDACHI TEAM

    Yuna's plan seems to work, at least in part. The smoke cloud becomes a more ragged affair, leaving parts exposed, but not quite as fully as one may hope. Still it makes it easier for the others to get a solid lock, and prosecute the Abyssals in force. This group begins to retreat as the Unknown Abyssal does, the I-Class turning away with a group if Imps, while the others continue to fire, leaping onto Yuudachi's rigging and clinging to Yuna's legs to slow them down. The ones struck by Evangeline's beams hiss, before their fuel catches fire and they detonate in little plumes of red flame, further dispersing the smoke.
Gaonoir Gaonoir throws the mangled bodies off to the side on the shore so they don't bleed too much in the water and contaminate it. Some of their shots before dying did score hits and if one looked closely they'd see the small fractures left on his body from where they did. This evolution had bulk but lacked the armor of his higher forms, so the impacts left a more noticable impression in their wake.

He withdraws the scarves, only to leap into the air over the river directly. As he does so Gaonoir curls up his entire form in a somersaulting motion, his body becoming cloaked in the dark energy he uses. Which comes plumetting down towards the cluster of Abyssal Imps like a shadowy comet.

"CANNONBAAAAAAAALL!"
Leyanne Leyanne Mace yelps and, after a quick glance to make sure everyone is secure, Leyanne begins to go evasive. THe berserking PT-Imps tear a few pieces out of their conventional kin's hull, but Leyanne punches the throttles. If nothing else, she should have a few seconds before they too come up to speed. "Nice shooting, Jo." She says, trusting him to carry on doing what's needed. "Aggie, ease off. Friendly close. Let's concentrate on evasives, mice."
Josuke Higashikata     Now see... that's a mistake, leaping up onto the Leeroy. A mistake on their parts. Because if the little imps are jumping up at the ship...

    That means they're in Josuke's range.

    So those imps might want to watch where they're jumping. Because if they're not careful, some of them are going to get DORARARARA'd by Crazy Diamond. The Stand punches hard, it punches fast, and the sheer volume of punches that fill the area are hard to dodge. Particularly if they're in flight. That might keep the boat a little safer otherwise.

    At Leyanne's compliment, probably when they're out of the piranha pit, he turns to her, and gives her a grin and a thumbs-up. His Stand might actually mimic the thumbsup motion... which is kinda funny since it does so with a perfectly deadpan face.
All-Seeing Eye In this situation, All-Seeing Eye has no options, and he knows this even as he swings back around the mast. Sometimes, ultra-peripheral awareness just means you're disappointed sooner rather than later.

     The dissident is escaping, he's not equipped for pursuit, and those who /are?/ He frowns as the PT Imps harass the Leeroy Jenkins, and as Shigure's ship form lists to the side. Inadequate. Ensnared by beings which posed no such threat to him. He sighs. The answer is yes. Yes, he /must/ do everything himself.

     And if he must, he's going to do it looking good. As Josuke fends off the Imps with his familial battle cry, the Exalt strategically retracts the whip at the apex of his swing. This sends him flying towards the Leeroy, with a grin. "Hello~"

     Eye's 360 degree vision is awash with hostiles and purple targeting reticules as he sails through the air. With a lateral roll, he unleashes a barrage of bolts in multiple directions at once, some heading towards targets he has no business seeing to the average onlooker. The bolts are, of course, both the crossbow and lightning variety, with some even bending their flight trajectories mid-flight.

     With barely a second making the difference between landing behind Josuke and splashing into the drink, the Exalt makes it, striking a dramatic pose just as his Anima begins to reveal itself--purple storm clouds threatening to become a hurricane, slowly encircling him.

M E N A C I N G
Evangeline      Evangeline...doesn't know what to do for a few moments. She isn't really made for close quarters combat. She can't fire her beams on targets that are clinging to her allies without a large risk of hitting Yuna or Yuudachi. So...she rushes in on Yuudachi, the ends of her arms starting to glow with that sinister red light. But, rather than launching beams...she punches! Each punch is accompanied by a small explosion of her Neuroi energy. Combined with the moderate force of her punches, she hopes it is enough to send any imp she hits sailing away. Or perhaps even explode them on the spot.

     She wants to help Yuna too, but without the range and rapid fire of her beams, Eva can only get so many so fast.
Yuna Kagurazaka "Kyaah?!" Kagurazaka yelps as the Abyssals start *latching onto* her - mostly aiming for her legs, thankfully, but that's still enough to slow her down badly, and she risks capsizing if they get too good of a grip on her. That also puts them where her turrets largely can't shoot down at them to blow them off.

All except her rifle.

The thought of shooting that close to her own legs gives Kagurazaka some pause - she wouldn't worry as much in her Light Suit, but that's designed around protecting its wearer, not just providing a conduit for her powers as the Savior of Light. On the other hand, what Kagurazaka *can* do with her rifle is to have the fairies remove the current shell, then use the rifles butt as a blunt instrument to try and batter the Abyssals into *letting go*.

(And even if the cannon's chamber is empty, she's still keeping that muzzle pointed away from herself or anyone else = at least except for Abyssals.)

If her turrets can aim at any Abyssals that AREN'T affixed to her, the gunfairies are making full use of that.
Shigure     The PT Imps that were on the Leeroy soon regret their decision, as they're punched, and shot and electrocuted and various other ways of being messily ended. The few that didn't get into close contact, dive under the murky water and vanish along with their larger siblings the I-Class and the Unknown Abyssal. Their sonar signatures fade quickly amongst the biological returns, but this won't be the last time they're seen, that's for certain. Shigure orders everyone to the nearest port, radioing ahead to acquire berthing for the Leeroy to get patched up.
Leyanne Leyanne grins and gives a thumbs-up to Eye as he lands on the back of the boat. "Welcome aboard, dude! Nice to put a name to the face!" she says, cheerfully, returning her attention to driving.. As the order to fall back and form up goes out, letting the Abyssals retreat, Leyanne turns the boat around, pulling around to rejoin Shigure - and throttling back to a more sensible speed..

As they return to harbour, Leyanne beckons Josuke back into the open-top flying bridge atop the wheelhouse. "Time for the driving lesson." She says, cheerfully, and then begins instructing him on the various gauges and controls - the three throttles, the engine RPM gauges, and soforth. If he shows interest, she goes on to explain in great detail the running and driving of a PT boat as he learns.

Though she doesn't trust him to back the boat into its parking space.
Josuke Higashikata     Suddenly there's a guy flying through the air and landing on the Leeroy! Fortunately it's an ally. And Josuke's reaction to the barrage of shots in directiosn Eye had no way of seeing? "Whoa!" But yeah. Gotta give the MANLY POSE a few moments, though. People don't just do those if they're not serious about them. He knows this for a fact! However, once the moment's passed, he greets, "Hi there! <Great> aim!"

    Oh hey, driving lesson! Josuke does seem pretty interested in learning how to drive a boat. No worries, though, he knows his limits. When Leyanne asks for the wheel back, he'll step out of the way. "Thanks, though! That was fun!"
Gaonoir "I'll meet you guys at port." Gaonoir has to swim back to the other side of the river to retrieve Erika first. That and this way no one has to deal with Wet Dog Smell.
Evangeline      Once Yuudachi is clear of Abyssals and covered in ichor, Evangeline heads for Yuna. "...Hold on...!" she says before she helps Yuna get rid of any cling-ons before she accompanies both back to base. "...any serious damage...?" she asks both as they head in. It didn't seem like any of them took an actual hit, but there were torpedoes swimming around so it doesn't hurt to ask.
Yuna Kagurazaka Any Abyssals who hadn't gotten knocked away or driven off yet, Kagurazaka is more than happy to let Evangeline help remove and dispose of them. "Most of the damage was to my dignity, I think," the blonde answers ruefully as they form up with the others to sail back to port. She could probably handle going right back to Hikari - but if any of their group can't make it that far, she isn't going to argue. And really, the chance to de-equip her fit-out WOULD let her relax some more.

It may not be the worst fight she's ever been in, but that was a special kind of unpleasant. What kind of Abyssals *grapple* you, anyway--

And then Yuna remembers how often *she's* gone hugging Abyssals in the middle of a fight.

Okay, so it's not remotely the same, but Kagurazaka just decides to keep her mouth shut rather than complaining about the Abyssals' sudden onset of unorthodox tactics.
All-Seeing Eye All-Seeing Eye reacts to the compliment like a peacock spreading his plumage. The Exalt seems to bask in it, deigning after a moment to pay one back. "Of course," he says. "But I'd be remiss if I didn't compliment your anima!~" He nods politely to Crazy Diamond. "It's nearly as impressive as your hair."

     The Soulsteel caste interrogator lets his hands rest in his pockets as Josuke takes the wheel, the wind blowing both his long hair and his coat behind him dramatically. Once Leyanne parks the boat, he'll disembark with a gleeful little skip. That outward glee hides a frustration quite characteristic of the stormclouds encircling him.

     No matter--he'll fix everything, next time.