View source for 5704/Engagement

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/17
|Location=The Great Ocean
|Synopsis=The final battle of Operation Quicksilver.
|Thanks=Literally everyone who came to these scenes.
|Cast of Characters=685, 929, 765, 215, 1100, 385, 1149
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The atmosphere in the FoB is tense. Shigure paces, waiting for the volunteers to arrive. Once they do, she gets right to the point. "Our goal is the complete destruction and either sinking or capture of the Princess-class Abyssal, identified as 'Taffy'. For those of you who don't know, this Abyssal is a Carrier-type, expect air-based assault." she says, her soft voice carrying through the room, though it never rises about a soft near-whisper. "No support ships have been detected by scout aircraft launched from the FoB, however a report from Hikari came through a few hours ago. The Destroyer Escort Water Demon escaped with unknown assistance from containment and the entire floatilla is headed this way. They will arrive before our mission is complete, so hostile reinforcement will be a threat." She points out on a map, showing an island in the middle of a large lake, surrounded by the rest of the river delta. "Our target is here, on Quicksilver Island. The water is treacherous, with many cross currents, and the land is equally bad with many bog pits and mire-like sections." Blue eyes pass over everyone gathered. "If anyone wants to back out, now is the time. I won't hold it against anyone. This will be a difficult battle." her tone goes even quieter, though it still carries. "We may suffer losses."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yuudachi remains nearby, watching the group with her baleful red eyes, a hand resting on Shigure's shoulder as the blue-eyed girl's bangs cover her eyes in shadow. "We find victory on the dawn's horizon, poi." she says, squeezing that shoulder before stepping off and heading to the pier. "Yuudachi, sortie now!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The wait is short for the first arrival. With a soft, indistinct sound, the silver-haired Perfect Maid appears just a few paces from Shigure and Yuudachi. Calmly, Izayoi Sakuya closes the stopwatch she holds, then tucks it into a pocket of her blouse while listening to the explenation.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Perhaps they are the same," she remarks in an even tone once the briefing is concluded. After all: The Demon did provide several names when asked. And she saw with her own eyes that Taffy could split into multiple forms. Splitting is, after all, not an alien concept to her. Shinto gods do it all the time. And other, more annoying youkai.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She lifts slightly, then coasts out over the river at a leisurely speed. Eyes lift to the sky, and she remarks in a louder tone, "Expect three youkai. Not just one. Which means three youkai worth of familiars."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Victory is possible," she states, "But if we fail-- do not do so at the cost of your life. You cannot try again if you are dead."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Only then does the maid ascend, cruising just above the treeline at a pace that matches the shipgirls below.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>There was no taking it easy this time. There was an enemy, a dangerous enemy that would likely have assistance, that needed to be dealt with. Like Shigure says, it will be a difficult battle. To the point that Gaonoir was already in his most powerful form, the water barely rippling below his feet as the digimon hovered at the surface. Eyes can be seen glowing faintly in red behind the knight-like visor as they regard the others while the report of the breakout is relayed.<br><br>"So the siege is essentially on a time limit," Erika comments from where she's sitting on an armored shoulder. "We'll have to do as much damage as possible, at least so when they do catch up it won't make as much difference."<br><br>"Agreed." Gaonoir uncrossed his arms, an audible sheen made as the trio of warclaws slide out of his massive vambraces. "We hit as swift and fast as possible."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>It's a tense atmosphere, indeed, and Iria can feel the tension quite well when she arrives in her personal craft. It's so tense that Iria could probably cut through it with her sword if she were willing to make a wisecrack about that. But the brunette bounty hunter isn't in the mood to be cracking jokes right now. In fact, while she's usually eager to get on with her assignments, there's something different about her today. Her usual eager smirk is replaced with a rather unhappy looking frown, complete with a slight scowl on her face.<br><br>Once she's steadied herself, Iria turns to face Shigure and listens attentively. She's not exactly standing at attention, as her arms are folded a little, but that's just due to her personal mood about everything here and now. Nevertheless, she does pay full attention to what's being said and nods a little as it is said. The mention of losses doesn't seem to initially faze Iria, but once the briefing is concluded, she turns away and narrows her eyes a little. "I know casualties are inevitable," She mutters to herself, "But I won't let any of my allies go down in battle!" She shakes her head. "I won't let it happen!"<br><br>Iria looks to Erika and nods a little. "Yeah, we don't have much time. We have to get in there, do what we need to, and hope that it's all for the best!" She turns away so Erika doesn't see Iria narrowing her eyes again. "I hate timed missions. A good huntress always takes her time to properly execute her plans." She sighs as she heads back to her craft. "Well, just gonna have to not let the pressure get to me. That's what Gren would say."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne Mace arrives shortly before the briefing. Her and her crew listen carefully, nodding in agreement. "We're in." She says, after a brief discussion with the others. "If we don't take the risk how many are those guys gonna hurt with their hate?"<br><br>When they move out, Leeroy joins the formation, the mice on board equally tense as they man their guns, scanning everywhere they can as the boat cruises slowly, matching pace with the shipgirls, for now at least. When shit goes down they'll need to use their speed to stay alive.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>On hearing Shigure confirm that the Abyssal Princess is a carrier-type, Yuna grimaces slightly - but at the same time, there's a sense of relief about her. She was already planning to sail in her Hikari Fleet loadout, and anti-air *is* her specialty when thusly equipped.<br><br>"Guess that confirms how I'll be deploying," she says. "Elner, keep the Matrix of Light on standby back here at the FOB, please. If things go really badly then I may need you, but I should be all right." Yuna pauses, looking around at her other allies. "So, Princess-class Abyssal ... and no detected support ships *here*? Are we looking to split our forces enough to try and hold the reinforcements back or anything, or just throwing everyone at the Princess until we have to worry about their reinforcements on arrival?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Krusty had learned of the mission through channels and offered his support, the idea of 'shipgirls' perking his interest. So it's with that in mind that he attends the briefing at the FOB. Although as the briefing finishes, he frowns a little in concern. But for the moment, he puts his concerns aside and nods, "Understood. We will assist where we can."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The 'we' that Krusty speaks of is himself and the young woman standing at his side who had accompanied him. He turns to her, "Rieze, I will be primarily relying on your magic today."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The blonde nods in response, wand already in hand as she says, "Yes, my lord."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With the briefing completed and everyone moving out, Krusty pulls an oddly shaped whistle from beneath his armor's tunic. He blows it, the whistle answered by a distant bird's cry. From seemingly nowhere a griffin dives down out of the air, wings flapping quickly as it slows its descent to land mere meters from Krusty. He moves to climb onto the back of the large creature, before offering a hand to help his subordinate up. Pulling on the reigns, the griffin's wings once more beat, lifting the two up into the air and turning to begin following the small fleet over the water, heading for that island in the distance.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shigure nods, firming her resolve when Yuudachi speaks. "We find victory on the dawn's horizon." she agrees, stepping out and following after her little sister, leading the group through the delta towards the large central lake, where fresh water begins to mix with the brine of the sea further downstream. "We hit Taffy with everything we have. If we can defeat her, the reinforcements won't have an objective to protect and their morale will plummet." she replies to Yuna.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The first indication they've been detected is a trio of banshee-like screams, followed by the high pitched whine of jeet engines spooling up. The first wave of aircraft come in, three slightly different vectors. They're lead by Patrol Hawks, the bird-like creatures dropping explosive charges before peeling away. They're followed up by Type-2 Abyssal Dive Bombers, escorted by Type-2 Fighters. The bombers pitch up, then dive sharply to drop their payloads on the surface-bound Elites, while the Fighters break formation and begin to track onto the fliers, autocannons chattering away as their fling 20mm cannon fire at the airborne units.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yuudachi and Shigure break formation, splitting around a bomb detonation in the center of the river. Yuudachi's rigging cannons angle up and start spitting flak shells skyward. Shigure's backpack ratchets out into her hands, showing that one of the standard cannons has been replaced by a trio of rotary cannons. Three gattlings that rotate, and are rotating around a central point. She angles that one skywards, and pulls the trigger, spraying 40mm tracer into the approaching air units, raking it through their number. "Keep a wide formation! Don't underestimate the enemy aircraft, they are more maneuverable than they look!" she calls out in warning, jinking around another bomb drop. "Keep pushing forward!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>'Taffy'? Kagurazaka's going to have to ask how that nickname came about - but she doesn't really have a good opportunity to inquire about it, because here come the Abyssals already.<br><br>Kagurazaka's 'rifle' is the first of her guns to fire, the turrets at her sides swiveling and elevating before they go off in staggered order. Most of her shots are more likely to prevent second passes than to interrupt the initial attack runs - particularly with her own evasive maneuvers, a wide, sweeping zig-zag, potentially disrupting her own aim - but if she can keep the Abyssals off-balance to the point that THEY can't aim either, it's worth it.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>For a while there's nothing, just Iria cruising along in her craft in formation with the others. She takes a moment to sip from her canteen, since she doesn't want to go into battle with a dry mouth. Not that it should matter given how much adrenaline will be going through her in a moment.<br><br>When the banshee screams come, Iria turns her head and covers her ears. "Unnngh!" She cries out, gritting her teeth and closing her eyes. Once the noise stops, Iria scowls and activates the weapons on her craft. "So, you want to welcome us?" She smirks a little, albeit evilly. "Too bad we don't need a welcoming committee! So I'm afraid we're gonna have to put your welcome to an end!"<br><br>The Fighters seem intent on attacking the aerial Elites, and Iria is one of them. "How nice of you to stop by to say hello." Iria then pulls the trigger on her main 'rapid fire' weapons, shooting off a series of energy shots at the incoming Fighter closest to her. "Too bad I have to say goodbye to you!" She grins.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne isn't driving today; she's using the 40mm Bofors gun. As soon as the jet engines are heard whining up to speed... Leeroy's own gas turbines reply in kind, the driver punching the throttle and bringing the boat up into the plane. Bombs detonate behind the boat as Leyanne works the controls of the Bofors gun, the mouse on the second chair running calculations for the compensating gunsight. As soon as an Abyssal aircraft enters the spiderweb sight, Leyanne opens up, spitting airbursting shells at them.<br><br>Leeroy's other guns open up too, a pair of 20mms and multiple paired 50-cals marking the little PT boat as a real pain in the ass - and thus target - for the Abyssal fliers, especially the bombers.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This again.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dense swarms of bullet-spewing creatures approaching through the air is far from an unfamiliar thing for Sakuya. The screams were the warning she needed, and she quickens her pace and ascends to a more comfortable altitude. A single knife is produced, and she tosses it nimbly in her free hand while gauging her options. Flak from the surface begins to erupt in the formation presented to her, and the maid's eyes narrow slightly in consideration.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After a moment, she selects her strategy, right as the enemy fighters enter the equation. Her arms swing out as she lifts above a stream of machine gun fire, and then the maid's outline flickers. She disappears completely, then.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She'll leave the fighters to Gaonoir.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya flickers back in, that same instant, right in the middle of the bomber formation. That single knife is raised, and her arm sweeps in an arc when she releases it. Her outline skips, and suddenly the maid's entire body has twisted full circle, now upside-down. And that one knife is now dozens, scattering amidst the Patrol Hawks and Dive Bombers still preparing to make their runs on the surface formation.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>Umbra Gaogamon was not as fast as the lesser forms he typically used for Hikari operations, but the tradeoff was being more durable and having easier access to some of his more estoic abilities. Eyes narrow, tactical HUD lighting up on the inside of his visor as the aircraft come over the horizion from the enemy position, swiftly calculating the various vectors. "Get down," he murmurs to his Tamer. Erika nods, and slides back off his shoulder to stradle piggyback instead, putting more of the Digimon and his armored body between her and the enemy. It would be best if she didn't have to be here, but then Gaonoir wouldn't even be able to use this form, and it was certainly the most suitable for the daunting task ahead.<br><br>First things first though, and the sooner the aircraft can be dealt with the better. Water ripples a bit as Gaonoir propels himself farther into the air, locking onto as many of the Fighters as he can while Sakura is dealing with the bombers. One arm raises extended to his side.<br><br><span style="color:uxterm4">"Tenebrae Shroud"</span><br><br>The arm is thrust forward, cloak billowing out around him as the black within it's folds streams forth, reaching out with imposing, smothering darkness. The sheer number of enemies will likely prevent it from simply crushing them all, but the unnatural darkness should still cripple visibility for them and their attacks.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Krusty tenses a little at the cries in the distance. It seems that they've been detected and he's not entirely sure what to expect. So when the Abyssal aircraft come into view, Krusty blinks in surprise. If it wasn't for the more modern weapon attachments, they'd probably be something he'd expect to see in his own world.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately, Krusty has never attempted to battle anything while riding his griffin. They're more used for transportation. Thankfully he has Rieze to help him. As one of the Abyssal fighters make a strafing run on the two of them, Krusty warns, "Hold on!" A pull of the reigns causes the griffin to roll to the side, avoiding most of the weapons fire. A few bullets do strike, digging into both the creature, which lets out a pained cry, and Krusty who's armour takes the brunt of the assault.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sitting on the griffin safely behind Krusty's large armored form, Rieze raises her wand towards the Abyssal fighter as it flies past. Magic swirls out of the air to a point just beyond the crystal head, a large shard of ice forming in the air before blasting off in the direction of the monster aircraft.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After the return fire another pull of the reigns brings the griffin back on course for the island, Krusty determined to get there as quickly as possible.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Abyssal aircraft fall by numbers. Bombers dropping out of the sky with their engines skewered by knives, wings shot through by 40mm slugs or torn apart by flak explosions. A few that Gaonoir's shroud engulfs slam into each other as they go blind in the darkness. They fall out of the shroud, trailing smoke before exploding in the treeline. The strafing craft that Rieze strikes with the ice bolt tilts, the magical shard striking one of its exhauts. The engine trails smoke, then bursts into flame before the craft makes a hard dip downwards and crashes hard into the river, sending a plume of water and stream into the air as it detonates.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"LEAVE US ALONE!" comes another scream as the group approaches, heralding a fresh wave of incoming aircraft. Shigure opens fire early, strafing the formation to break them up, making their engagement even more difficult. "Not until you're sunk." she replies coldly, pushing her engine harder to speed up. "We can't get bogged down, push on!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leeroy carves wide S-curves ahead of the fleet, the boat keeping its speed up to be harder to target while still remaining with the group. His guns continue to blast into the skies, swatting down more Abyssal aircraft.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Krusty pulls on the reins, the griffin diving down as a fresh wave of Abyssal fighters begin to unload in his direction. As more bullets dig into the griffin and pang off his armour, Krusty begins to get concerned that their ride won't be able to take much more of this. He calls out in the rushing wind, "Rieze!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Holding on tight from behind him, Rieze shouts back, "I know!" She raises her wand once more, a ball of sparking lightning forming just beyond its end. Once the spell has gathered, Rieze whips the wand out in the direction of a formation of enemy fighters. The gathered lightning bursts forth towards the first fighter, but doesn't end there as after striking it chains to another fighter, and then another, until its charge finally dies.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>By the time craft are falling out of the darkness Gaonoir is already moving past, leaving the blot to fade back into the depths of his cloak as the remains of enemies are left to be claimed by the water below. Now that they were already pushing ahead and closer to their target, they could meet the defenses head on. Gaonoir leans forward in his flight, eyes already on the next formation being launched to assault them.<br><br>"You should of left others alone first!" Erika shouts over his shoulder briefly in response to the cries, before ducking back down again and gripping the back collar of the cloak tightly.<br><br>Arcs almost like blackened lightning crackle along the lenghts of his warclaws as Gaonoir meets the wave in direct assault, lashing out with the energized slicing weapons in the precision fury of a hunter. He doesn't waste time in trying to avoid attacks with so many attackers about, other than making sure none of them get a line-up on Erika on his back. Otherwise he just lets shots rattle against his dark armor, his attention on tearing as many of them as possible out of the sky so the siege can advance on the waters below.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'Leave us alone', the voices cry in the distance. Sakuya's outline flickers, her various knives disappearing from the things they're stuck in during that same instant. Now with merely three blades tucked into the spaces between her fingers, the maid turns, glancing out over the delta towards the second attack wave. Her eyes narrow, the blue washing out to crimson for just a moment.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She will have words for those girls.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The maid sweeps her hand, scattering a fan of knives in the direction of the enemy formation. However, after that, she...completely disappears.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the colorless world of stopped time, Sakuya descends, then skims forward across the lake's surface. The Luna Dial ticks its way down, though she is hardly tense for it. When the clock winds down and time resumes around her, the maid is well ahead of the surface formation, coasting just above the water beneath the formation of Abyssal aircraft that are just now starting to meet the knives she threw before her disappearing act.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>No matter how difficult the situation at hand is, Iria doesn't give up. She maneuvers as best as she can, attempting to evade attacks and only fire when the time is right. "You won't take us down! We will win!" Iria yells. When she sees the next formation approaching, Iria grits her teeth and says, "Doesn't matter how many of you there are!" She continues firing.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>"I wish we could," Kagurazaka replies quietly - practically under her breath - to the Abyssal's scream, "but as long as you're hurting other people, we can't just leave you be."<br><br>As quiet as her voice is, though, her artllery is quite verbose - and this time, she's able to focus on what she's doing. Her cannons go off in sequence, shells bursting to fill a section of the sky with shrapnel RIGHT as the Abyssal aircraft are passing through it; her AA guns kick in as well, trying to fill in the gaps from her barrage with a whole lot of bullets, focusing on any of the aircraft who survived her assault.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The second wave falls, electricity arcs between, shorting out flight controls and knocking the victims clean out of the sky to crash into the trees or splash down into the water. Yuna's flak screen shatters the incoming line, and not even a single bomb is dropped from the second attack wave.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The group enter the open water of the lake, the island at the center glowing a baleful red colour, like fire licking off of all the trees. The three 'sisters' stand on the closest bank, launching yet more aircraft from large cowls that billow in unseen wind, Hawks and Type-2s flying free and falling to AA fire. The trio look like smaller versions of the Princess, all with their faces contorted into pure rage.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They aren't just launching aircraft when the surface units come into range. Cannons ratchet out from their 'rigging', jaws opening to produce cannon barrels that spit shells out. They're small caliber, but that's still enough to put holes in any of the surface combatants.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>As soon as the radar of the task force lights up the shipgirls, Leyanne points forward. "Exocets, go!" She calls out.<br>THere's a thumbs-up from the front of the boat before the two manning the launchers swing them around, waiting until they have tone before the missiles are away. As soon as they're free, Leeroy begins to veer away from the bank but even then, he takes a few hits. Nothing serious at first, but... the little PT boat never gets away unscathed.<br><br>Leyanne continues to try and swat aircraft from the air with her bofors gun.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>"Do they even have a limit on how many aircraft they can launch?" Kagurazaka calls out, in the tone of a semi-good-natured complaint, as the Princess's 'allies' keep launching aircraft - and cannon shells. The blonde idol in light-cruiser gear keeps the bulk of her attention on the former, trying to shoot the aircraft down as close to launch as she can. If some of the explosions do damage to the launchers, all the better, right?<br><br>Granted, Kagurazaka is attempting that kind of sharpshooting while she's slewing back and forth, trying hard to be as uncooperative a target as possible - and she mixes up her own evasion, so where she might zig, zag, and zig, she can also zag, *keep going* for a few seconds, then come hard about and crouch low to duck under more anticipated incoming fire.%<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>The trio is on the fringe of Gaonoir's field of vision but most of his attention is on striking down aircraft so the surface forces can get into range. So he doesn't notice them pulling out their cannons into firing position.<br><br>"Gaonoir, incoming!" This is why having a second pair of eyes on the field does have it's perks. The dark beast-knight's attention snaps away from the distraction of the air fighters just in time to catch the cannons firing and turn to bring up his vambraces like two shields in front of him. Cannon blasts stike against the Dark Digitron infused surfaces, sending smoke and fire billowing out from the impacts. When the smoke clears there's visible fractures of data fragmention across the vambraces, but the damage to Gaonoir's main body is minimal as he lowers them back to his side, and the grim gaze behind the visor focuses on the trio.<br><br>One hand reachs out towards the triplets. "Enough." And clenches his hands shut as dark energy shimmers around it. <span style="color:xterm4">"Sombra Clench"</span><br><br>Similar dark shimmers appear around the feet of the trio on the beach and blossom out into several clusters of darkened tendrils that lash for the girl's arms and rigging, Gaonoir using his shadowplay manipulation to try and pull their aim off the more vulnerable surface forces.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>The more they take down, the more that seem to come. At least that's how these battles generally are to Iria.<br><br>OK, so that's not always the case.<br><br>The cannons make themselves known and Iria widens her eyes. "Oh hell no," She says with a scowl. "You think you've got what it takes, but I think you're wrong!" Iria attempts to get a lock onto the cannons as best as she can before firing off an energy blast, equivalent to a homing missile. "I'll teach you!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The maid's eyes narrow slightly. A barrier of swirling blue magic materializes a split second before it's struck by an artillery shell. In the explosion, the barrier shatters like glass, sending glittering blue shards out amidst the flames and shrapnel. When it dissipates, the maid is gone.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the colorless world of paused time, Sakuya reaches up with a kerchief, wiping away the blood from the cut at her temple. Gingerly, she glides around the explosion, then advances again across the frozen surface of the lake, amidst the halted battlefield.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She touches down on the beach, taking a moment to straighten herself from the explosion's lingering effect, and then resumes time before the Luna Dial's ticking fully ceases.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the same instant that Sakuya is hit by that shell, the maid appears on the beach, amidst the flames and anger of the regular denizens.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Another wave of aircraft, just what they needed! Why thank you, Abyssal ladies.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;More bullet fire from the enemy fighters rip into the creature that Krusty and Rieze ride, causing it to unleash a dying cry as it starts to quickly slow its movements. Krusty frowns, "This will be interesting..." Finally going still, the griffin glows before bursting into rainbow coloured bubbles of light. Beginning to fall out of the air, Krusty calls out, "RIEZE!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One hand holding onto the hat on her head as she falls towards the water below, Rieze shouts back, "I KNOW!" Her other hand holds on tight to her wand as the wind whips around her. Magic gathers once more at the crystal end, this time forming what looks like a sphere of freezing winds. She then swings the wand towards the water below, the sphere launching forth. As it strikes the water's surface, it explodes with a blast of icey wind, snap freezing that small part of the lake. Flipping over so she's falling feet first, Rieze lands hard upon the solid water, wincing at the pain as the fall damage drags down a good portion of her HP bar.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Beside Rieze, Krusty comes crashing down much harder, the weight from his armour cracking the small ice island on impact. But thankfully it remains intact as he slowly stands. Glancing at his partner he nods, "Good work." Turning towards the island in the distance, he swipes his finger a few times in front of him, retrieving his weapon from his inventory. Taking the large two-handed axe from his back, he commands, "Let's go."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rieze nods, raising her own weapon to point in the direction of the island. Several smaller orbs of frozen wind similar to the first form in a circle just beyond the wand, before unleashing a combined blast of ice along the lake's surface. The water freezes along its path, granting a route for the two to start running towards their destination.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The air raid begins to thin out, the 'youngest' falling to her knees as if exhausted. The dark tendrils bind her down, the cannon arm pulled into a position it can't even fire from. The other two draw blades and slash at the dark tendrils, purging their rigging of them, before Sakuya appears in front of them. Cannon barrels turn on the maid, incoherant screams of rage coming before they open fire again.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Exocets slam into the 'middle' sister, knocking her backward into the tree line, trailing smoke and flame.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Krusty and Rieze are left largely alone as the griffon dies, the fighters assuming their target destroyed.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shigure and Yuudachi split off and flank around to the sides, lighting up their radar. "Careful, We're picking up contacts at extreme range, reinforcements are approaching faster than anticipated."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne hears the call that reinforcements are inbound, scowling. "Figures." She mutters, looking over at the boat's driver. "Keep us erratic, I'm pretty sure that's gonna piss someone off." <br><br>She grins quietly and resumes scanning for targets, avoiding sending further fire towards the sisters in fear of hitting Sakuya. Instead she orders the driver to circle around to meet up with Shigure and Yuudachi. <br><br>From the gun position, she tips a salute to the two shipgirls. "Figure with Sakuya and the others keeping the sisters occupied we'd help you deal with the newcomers."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>"Reinforcements acknowledged," Kagurazaka replies to Shigure (and Yuudachi). She gives the three 'sisters' one more long look, as if making sure to her satisfaction that they're no longer going to pose a threat ... then wheels about to join the two destroyers, arming her own torpedoes. She's not sure what form the reinforcements will take, but she's running radar and sonar to try and get a 'look' for herself.<br><br>*Now* she wishes she hadn't left Elner back at the forward operating base.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>There's just no end to these guys! Sound familiar?<br><br>OK, they may not be guys, but they are enemies and they're intent on taking the Elites out. Iria's not going to let that happen if she has anything to say about it. She awaits the reinforcements with a determined look on her face. "There's plenty more for everyone!" Iria says, her finger lying on the trigger just waiting to fire...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>"Copy that," Erika responds to the warning, handling comm relay while Gaonoir is dealing with the fighting. "Heads up Gao, unwanted company is com."<br><br>"Noted." Two of the sisters manage to cut free, but they're going to have their own issues with Sakuya being right in front of them. Gaonoir focuses on on the one he does have caught in the tendrils. "This ends now." He tosses her aside, then starts to wrap the tendrils tighter. As long as she doesn't find a way to break free of the tendrils the darkness will keep squeezing, potentially crushing her rigging into uselessness, if she doesn't just collapse from the pressure and smothering nothingness first.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya loses color definition when she is assaulted. Though with her pale skin and monochrome outfit, the only clear sign is the blue of her eyes shifting to a silver color. Struck by artillery, she flinches. Blown backward. Dissolves.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A duplicate. A paradox.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I give you the opportunity for a peaceful resolution," Sakuya's voice states from behind the trio. Anticipating them turning around, she's already relocated through her manipultion of time.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I provided you a chance to be something other than a creature of your instincts. Something other than an animal." From a new angle, Sakuya tosses up a single knife, then catches it. Immediately, she disappears again, spiriting away to a new location.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You want to be left alone? You chose this. You wanted this to happen." A magical circle spreads out from around her feet, floating above the water this time. Sakuya's knife is twisted, becoming a card in a bit of sleight-of-hand, "You have no one to blame but yourself." Releasing the card, she thrusts her hand to one side, "Now you shall be hunted like the animal you have chosen to be. Phantasmal Sign [Jack the Ripper]."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Knives scatter around the maid, then lance off in random directions. Accelerating at impossible speeds, the daggers whirl around and dash inward again on the trio of carriers from multiple directions at once, moving at speeds rivaling bullets from a high powered rifle.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Krusty and Rieze reach solid ground as opposed to solid water. Standing upon the shore of the island, Krusty plants his axe into the ground as he takes up a defensive position. Glancing over his shoulder at Rieze behind him, he says, "Deal with the rest of the aircraft."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rieze nods in understanding, turning her own back on Krusty as she looks up into the air at those Abyssal craft still harrassing everyone. Holding her wand with two hands this time, she raises it up into the air. Unlike for her previous spells, for this one she actually calls it out as she channels it, "Singularity."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dark swirls of magic spiral through the air to merge at a spot amidst the greatest concentration of the monster aircraft. As the spell name suggests, a mass of gravity begins to form at the focal point. Any of the Abyssals caught in the pull will be drawn straight to the center to be crushed by the magic force.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya's attack is devastating, the misdirection causing the Big Sister to turn around, then get caught blindsided as those bullet-like knives lash out, stabbing into her body and causing ichor to leak from every wound. She falls to a knee, eyes slowly closing as she looks to one of the inlets. "S-Sammie... I..." the big sister topples over, unmoving as her rigging jitters, then cracks and breaks into fragments.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gaonoir's darkness is all consuming, crushing the Little Sister under the massive weight of pain, loss and sorrow... but, something's wrong, the shadows aren't shrinking, they're /GROWING/ and a primal, gutteral growl is beginning to rise above the boiling grumble of those black tendrils. Gaonoir would feel his 'grip' on them beginning to 'slip', as if something else were pulling back on the power. "THIS ISN'T OVER YET!" come the lightest toned voice of the trio, as she EXPLODES out of the cocoon made by the Sombre Embrace, her body cracked, showing glowing red wounds beneath, her eyes burning with a baleful silver light and a massive pair of battleship-grade cannons gracing her rigging, their jaws hinged open and sporting three huge cannon barrels each. "I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER BEING BORN!" she screams, leveling the firepower directly on Sakuya.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The firepower is joined by more incoming shells, five smaller Abyssals rounding a bend in the river to the south and steaming in full speed. They're small, but that just makes them harder to hit.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>Gaonoir jumps back a step when the crushing darkness starts to visibly break down, something he has not seen happen with it before. It soon becomes apparent what happened when it explodes open from a repowered and very angry abyssal girl breaking out of it, having somehow absorbed some of the edginess in the attack and was now screaming how much fury she has.<br><br>Erika ulps softly as she ducks down in the folds of the beast knight's cloak. "I don't think just incapacitating her is going to be enough now."<br><br>"It is not." However Gaonoir has no intention in giving the repowered foe a chance to get fully back on her guard. "You're going to wish you had stayed down!" There's a whoosh of air in his wake as Gaonoir slams armored feet into the ground and then pushes off into a dash, swinging one of his arms to, for lack of less fanciful terms, backhand the girl. With the shield-like armor on his forearm.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leeroy drops torpedoes as soon as the Abyssal reinforcements round the bend. "Four fish in the water!" Leyanne reports as they race away, each torpedo targeted for a different member of the reinforcement squadron. At the same time, Leyanne begins frantically cranking the handles on her bofors gun to bring it down from anti-air to anti-surface duties.<br><br>Squeak - the mouse ogre - and his almost-as-large compatriots begin reloading the exocet launchers on the bow, physically manhandling the massive missiles from the magazine because it's quicker than the autoloader. The rest of the crew man the other guns, keeping an eye on the air.<br><br>"Okay!" Leyanne shouts to her crew. "Straight at them. LEEEE-ROOOY JENKINS!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>The battle is never truly over, no matter how peaceful it may seem.<br><br>All of a sudden, before Iria even knows what's happened, there's a huge explosion from that cocoon, and then Iria realizes that the trouble has really just started. And then there's the issue of the Abyssals coming in full speed as well, adding even more problems for them to cope with. "Oh, hell no," Iria says with a scowl. "Just can't seem to catch a break now, can we?"<br><br>Going in close to the surface, Iria attempts to fire upon one of the Abyssals that are small but floating across the surface quickly. Small, yes, but not invulnerable.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya's expression remains neutral as the abyssal trio falter under the onslaught of her spell card. The crimson glow in her eyes is unmistakable against the darkness of the Sombra Embrace fielded by Gaonoir. And then the defiant shout from inside. A white eyebrow lifts slightly. The upgraded Princess breaks free-- and Sakuya's eyebrows form a straight line. She reflexatively pulls a hand up defensively, projecting a barrier just as those guns go off point blank.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As before, it shatters like glass, scattering the lake surface behind the maid with shards of blue magic and crimson blood. A tattered headress flutters down to the water, floating there, stained crimson in places.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the colorless world of Stopped Time, Izayoi Sakuya skirts back from her shattering barrier, trailing flecks of blood that freeze in time as they drip off her body and outstretched arms. Sliding to a halt several meters back, she produces her handkerchief once more, drying the scarlet from her hands. This, too is discarded into the frozen time around her, and she considers her options.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Coming to a decision, Sakuya moves once more, to the lake's shore. Time resumes when her feet touch down, and she waits for an opportunity to carry out her plan.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>The incoming Abyssals may be 'harder to hit' compared to their larger sisters, but Kagurazaka is used to trying to shoot down planes which are even smaller and faster than an I-class, generally even further away, and able to maneuver in three dimensions rather than two.<br><br>She swerves briefly in the water as she continues towards the reinforcements, letting her torpedoes launch in sequence and streak past Shigure and Yuudachi, past the Leeroy Jenkins and past Iria. Then Kagurazaka settles back onto a straight course, her cannons adjusting their elevation as she plots her firing solution.<br><br>.... and then her first torpedo detonates, kicking up a massive spray of water, even though it was still well short of the Abyssals. A malfunction of some kind?<br><br>More like 'a distraction,' really - because the moment the torpedo goes off is also the moment when Kagurazaka's turrets go off in a thunderous five-part chorus, two anti-air shells and three conventional anti-ship hurtling towards the Abyssal fleet. The remaining torpedoes spread out some before reaching where Kagurazaka expected the Abyssals to be at this point - and they detonate as well, nearly all at once.<br><br>That probably didn't wipe out the Abyssal reinforcements all on its own, and Kagurazaka stays wary, her cannons all reloading with standard anti-ship shells.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Princess growls harshly, her rig moving to block the backhand strike from Gaonoir. A resounding metallic CLANG reverberates across the lake surface. She turns on Gaonoir with a nearly bestial expression, teeth bared and her eyes wide and pupils shrunk to pinpricks, the irises 'burning' and emitting embers that drift up into the air. She snarls, drawing the rigging arm back. The mouth retracts its barrels, closes its mouth then rears back, before aiming to slam into Gaonoir with the thick metal plate on its 'head'. "I should thank you, so I'll kill you first!" she growls, bringing the other rigging arm around and uses them to start trying to pummel Gaonoir with the large, heavily armoured familiars.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya is largely ignored, assumed destroyed with the blood spray and damaged headband.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Leeroy's torpedoes are avoided, the Escorts leaping aside, or with the Lead, a larger version of the five, firing her cannons into the water to detonate the warhead prematurely. The taller one draws a saber, pointing it at the Leeroy as she angles in to intercept its charge. The remaining four break formation, peeling off to engage Iria, the Fifth Strike elements and Yuna.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shigure and Yuudachi maintain formation, leveling cannons at the Escorts and beginning 'knife fight' maneuvers.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne laughs. "I think I pissed her off!" She grins, frantically working the handles of the bofors gun. "Take my gun!" She calls out to the other gunner. "Just shoot at her as we close!"<br><br>Then she leaps from her seat, hauling a massive pipe-wrench from the flying bridge and leaping into position ahead of the forward 20mm. She brandishes the wrench in her left hand, ready to meet the leader and her charge.<br><br>"COME ON THEN, BITCHTITS, LET'S DANCE!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>Iria smiles as she sees her attacks had some effect. "Yeah! You wanna mess with the best? You pay like the rest!" But then she sees there's more of them coming after her. "Oh shit," She grumbles, preparing for evasive maneuvers.<br><br>At the same time, Iria is keeping an eye on her targets to ensure that she can try to lure them into her path when she comes back around she can try to attack while they're off-guard.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>The sound of metal slamming into metal reverbrates across the lake as the rigging intercepts Gaonoir's swing. His feet dig into the sand as he quickly readjusts from the recoil as she winds back, expecting a counter-attacking. Which comes when the rigging lashes out again, driven by the fury of the creature behind it. Both his hands come up to intercept, grabbing onto the bludgeoning structure and leaving ruts in the ground from his own feet trying to keep himself braced against the strike.<br><br>Okay, being up close and personal with two armored beasts brawling is a bit much even for Erika's tastes. "Don't hold back big guy." With that encouragment she dismounts while the two are grappling, sliding down the back of Gaonoir's cloak to the beach and quickly hustles off to the sidelines to get out of the way. The last thing he needs to be worried about is her getting in the way.<br><br>"Hmph." The wolf-like helmet shows little emotion, but the smirk can be seen in the eyes glowing between the slits of the visor and heard in the voice that eminates from within. "Worse monsters than you have tried," he growls back.<br><br>Abruptly his own grip reverses, hooking an arm around the rigging and grabbing with the other hand to fiercely pull the monster woman towards him. Cloak whips about his form as he follows through with the motion, moving faster than one might expect a large armored monster to be able up, to swing up one of his legs to meet the Princess with a metal clad roundhouse kick.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>So they're going for one-on-one now? Kagurazaka doesn't quite let herself grin - there isn't really that much to smile about - but she *does* pick up more speed, seemingly picking out one of the Abyssals as 'her' target. "Everyone watch yourselves!" she calls out, "and good luck!"<br><br>Her turrets finish reloading, but only one fires at first - as much for ranging as for intended effect. She does have better tools for establishing the relative distance, of course, not least of which are her own two eyes, but she doesn't want to ease up on the Abyssals if she can help it. "As for you, I don't know why you figured this was a good area to start harassing shipping ... but it ends here!"<br><br>Two more turrets fire, this time intended as a bracketing salvo - and Kagurazaka follows up with a shot from her 'rifle' cannon, once she's seen which way the Abyssal may be swerving in an effort to dodge her incoming fire.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There they are. Sakuya steps out of hiding along the beach, floating out over the water just as the flotilla of Destroyer Escort Demons draws close in their combat formation. Digging into a pocket, the maid produces her watch. A practiced motion opens the cover, and time ceases. Color leaves the world. Dropping, she steps on the frozen lake's surface and strides to the five Escorts. One is touched.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When the girl un-sticks from the time-stop, Sakuya turns away, "I did promise to reunite you and your friend. But this is a bad time." A hand is lifted, and she gestures, "Is this the person you cherish, so? This raging beast?"<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She lifts a hand, using a finger to nudge an incoming shell stuck in time. Changing its trajectory to overshoot.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You said she changed. Became distant. This is an even more drastic change than that."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Turning, Sakuya spreads her hands out, "If we are to restore Taffy to normal, to how she was before, Roberts-- we are going to need your help to do so." Inclining her head, she states, "What say you?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shigure and Yuudachi clash with their opponents. Shigure firing her rotary autogattling, while Yuudachi draws her knife, trying to grapple and stab. Their eyes burning much like the Abyssals.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yuna's opponent jinks, jukes and twirls away from the shots. The final shot aimed to take advantage of the dodge is parried by a saber drawn in a semi azai-slash, bisecting the shell and sending the pieces splashing into the water.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gaonoir's gambit pays off, the Princess pulled off-balance by the sudden dragging forward, then winded as the kick connects with her midsection. She coughs out black ichor, staining the beach... then snarls as she plants her feet and aims to tackle the large wolfmon, slamming into his frame, while the mouths of her rigging open and try to bite down on the digimon.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya's gambit gets the Abyssal off guard. Her saber, lifted to meet Leyanne's, swinging down and finding nothing as she's dragged into the timestop. "Why should I?! Why should WE help you? All you surface dwellers want is to crush us, forget about us!" she snarls... but doesn't try to attack the maid, sheathing her weapon instead. "... but I've never seen Taffy this angry before... this is unnatural, even for us."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"The reason is simple," Sakuya states, "Because our goals lead to the same outcome."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"This is simply a job to me. I hold no animosity. My mission is merely to bring an end to the raids taking place in this delta. The most pragmatic solution is to simply kill you all."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Inclining her head, she adds, "But you have shown yourself to be reasonable. So I have no reason to follow through with that. I only exterminate monsters." She turns at the waist, glancing towards the frozen image of Taffy in the distance, "But her. In her current state, she is little more than a beast. The exact sort of monster that my profession destroys."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eyes shift, and she glances sidelong towards the Demon, "Give me a reason /not/ to kill her. Show me you are both more than simple monsters."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Time resumes. Color returns to the world, and all the sound and chaos of the battle that had stopped so suddenly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne Mace stands equally ready to meet the charging abyssal. Her wrench, trailing chain, is raised and ready to bring down. She's got no thought of defense, hoping to end the fight quickly, it seems. Below her, Leeroy's shark-face cuts through the water, the PT boat fully lifted into the plane. <br><br>Behind her, four huge, ogre-like beings - two mice, two humans - are frozen in the act of loading their missiles into their launchers. Messages are scrawled on the side of each missile; "No More Hate" and "No Hard Feelings?". <br><br>Glittering like diamonds behind him, his three propellors are kicking up a massive rooster-tail of water.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>Why does an Abyssal have a sword? And not even necessarily a high-ranking Abyssal, as far as Kagurazaka can tell. The evasive maneuvers are one thing, but actually *cutting in half* the shell which would potentially have hit -<br><br>Kagurazaka grits her teeth, drops into a crouch, and barrels forward, trying to cut not in front of the Abyssal, but BEHIND her, just out of melee range. Two more torpedoes are lobbed from her launchers, and may only barely have time to hit the water before they ought to catch up with her Abyssal opponent and explode ...<br><br>And if the torpedoes don't do it, a couple of depth charges - pitched overhand to splash into the water AHEAD of the Abyssal, and timed to detonate as soon as they hit the water - should, hopefully, do some useful damage. "Seriously," Kagurazaka calls out over the explosions she's anticipating, "since when DO you bring melee weapons to the party?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>Contrary to what Roberts might think Gaonoir did remember the desire to 'help' the Princess. That's why he originally was trying just to restrain the Princess... Up until she somehow managed to absorb some of the power from the darkness based attack to get boosted. Now the only options seems to be beating that power back out of her.<br><br>And not getting the stuffing beat out of himself in the process. That part isn't going so well. The sound of collision roars across the island once more, making the lake area seem even smaller than it is with how far the echo reaches. The source being the Princess smashing into Gaonoir with tremendous fury. The impact throws even the strong digimon off his feet as he's carried backwards with the raging charge. She plows him into the jungle, trees toppling and landscape torn aside from the two monsters crashing through it.<br><br>Only to come in an equally cacophoneous end as Gaonoir is slammed into the side of one of the base buildings, bringing the wall and part of the roof crashing down on top of him. It is really a good thing Erika was not riding along on him anymore. As is she's finding one of the other smaller buildings duck down by, clutching the digivice tightly in her hands as she's left hoping that he's still okay.<br><br>It takes a few moments after the last bit of dust falls from the collapse before the pile of rubble shakes a bit. And then one hand thrusts out of it to grab onto the Princess before she can pull away, followed by the rest of his form rising from the debris, his own midnight colored armor fragmenting from chunks of damage, splits flickering like erroring code strings rather than the cracks and dents one would expect to see in armor.<br><br>"Good to know I don't have to hold back now," Gaonoir growls almost gleefully as his other hand goes to grab the Princess at the closes thing to a neck the monster might have. Or the rigging if necessary. He's not being picky. Seeing as it's just long enough to use his own tremendous strength to grab on and then powerbomb her back into what remains of the building they had crashed into.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Roberts, the 'main' personal of the Water Demon, looks at the rage-filled face of Taffy, mid-grapple with Gaonoir. "If you can call off the others... I'll bring my group to heel... this is unnatural and needs to be stopped..." she says, drawing her sword again and returning to her original position, as if sensing that's what she should do. Time resumes, and saber clashes with wrench, the Abyssal allowing herself to be pushed back as she skids in front of the PT boat. "Oi! Taffy's acting weird, and we should be focussing on her. Whaddya say?" she asks over the high whine of those turbines, lilac eyes burning behind her blade.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Passing the message to the others, the Escorts all break contact, turning away with gestures indicating they're going non-hostile... they all begin to converge on the island, where Gaonoir and the remaining iteration of Taffy are brawling like a pair of Kaiju.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Princess snarls as she's grabbed, her hands grabbing at that arm, her rigging latching onto the digimon, but not able to gain any purchase before she's slammed into the rubble, causing a crater and a large plume of dust to erupt from the center of the island. Taffy doesn't even seem to slow down, her rig biting into one of those arms, and shoving Gaonoir up and away, before twisting herself to hurl the digimon across the courtyard, into another building using her rigging for leverage. "I WILL TEAR YOU APART!" she screams.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne Mace hits surprisingly hard, smashing the wrench into the saber. But when the Roberts abyssal talks, Leyanne blinks, slackening off some. She nods, letting off her saber. "I'm not fighting to hurt you, I'm fighting to stop others being hurt. If you weren't hurting anyone, we'd be joyriding these waters and stopping by to sell you beer and burgers."<br><br>Leyanne's free hand gestures for the power to be eased off. Slowly (because it takes a moment for the gas turbines to wind down), the boat decellerates, allowing Roberts to get free. Leyanne's about to hear more when all the mice on the boat wince in synchrony, looking at eachother in confusion before looking over at where Gaonir fights Taffy.<br><br>"Let's do this." <br><br>As soon as Roberts is free, Leeroy wheels around and guns on the power.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Consider it done," Sakuya states. Lifting into the air again, the bloodied maid makes a radio announcement: "I have negotiated with the Escorts. Refocus efforts on the Princess."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That should simplify this situation. A single target being focused on by multiple attackers, even the strongest foe won't last long under that kind of onslaught.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A single knife is produced, and as she lifts it to the read, the blade assumes a violet glow. While quite far away at this point-- she has her tricks. The knife is thrown. A scant meter from her hand, the golden glow disperses in a shockwave and the weapon accelerates like a rifle bullet. Aimed at the center of the rampaging Princess' back.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>Despite all the fights he has sorted for the Fleet, this is the first time Gaonoir has dealt with something as powerful as a Princess up close and personal. It shows, as she takes everything she's hit with and throws just as much back into it.<br><br>Case in point as she grabs his arm, throws him off his feet, and then throws him across the small island like he wasn't a large armored monster. The landing is not pleasant as he slams into the ground far opposite of her, then into the side of another building on the rebound. A growling groan escapes the digimon as he hits the ground, and uses a hand to grip the ground to push himself up. The the shadows from around him and his cloak swarm around the digimon, then seem to compact into nothingness as he slips into the shadowy void.<br><br>Which is essentially a teleport as from the shadow plane he re-emerges right behind the Princess. This time, as a lower part of his helmet has broken off and derezzed, the smirk in response to her screams is visible. "Try harder... <span style="color:#36648b">GAOGA RAAAGE!</span>"<br><br>Followed by Gaonoir clenching his fists and launching a volley of jabs that seem to blurr together from the frenzied speed at the Princess. It's not a very powerful attack, knick and dent damage at the best.<br><br>His real intention is to keep her attention on him and having to defend against his barrage of physical strikes, to give the others a chance to move into position on her.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>Apparently, Sakuya was able to get through to them with words rather than battle. Kagurazaka looks wry for a moment at that revelation, but she doesn't keep trying to blow her opponent out of the water any more - and comes around to help take down the Abyssal Princess, letting her guns cool off and reload in a more leisurely manner while she takes stock of the new situation.<br><br>... which includes an unobstructed view of Gaonoir getting flung bodily into a building on the far side of the courtyard from where they were brawling a moment ago. Fortunately, Kagurazaka also has a relatively good view of Gaonoir coming back swinging from that bit of brutality - but it does little to help her keep her cool.<br><br>"HEY, TAFFY!!" Kagurazaka calls out, picking up on what her allies have been calling the Princess. "LOSE SOME OF THE SALT ALREADY!!" Her turrets fire off in sequence, three shells aimed to surround the Princess with the points of an uneven triangle, one aimed to hit high on her torso - and if that combination leaves her reeling as intended, Kagurazaka squeezes off the last shot from the cannon she wields as a rifle, trying to catch her while she's off-balance from the first four shots. (If she didn't get staggered, Kagurazaka lets her have the fifth shell anyway, just doesn't get to do anything special in the process.)<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>Meanwhile, Iria has been in constant evasion for the time being, waiting for the right time to strike again. She's finally gained control again and has gained the upper hand once again. Unfortunately, she's become a bit disoriented at the time, so she's trying to regain her composure and focus.<br><br>Once it returns, Iria spots Yuna attacking and Iria decides to back her up. "Coming in!" Iria exclaims as she comes forth and fires off a few shots to back Yuna up.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Taffy staggers forward as that knife slams into her rigging, the blade glancing off the metal plate and slashing across her shoulder before embedding into a tree. Ichor streams from the cut, when Gaonoir appears behind her. She half-turns, then gets pummeled with those rapid strikes, causing dents and cracks to appear on the rigging armour and in her skin, showing horrible red cracks that seem to glow with infernal energy. Her own fists come up to slam against those armoured claws, breaking the combo, before she grabs the fists, and holds on tight. She grins harshly, the mouths on her rig opening, extruding the cannons looking to fire them at point blank right into Gaonoir's face.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Luckily, Yuna's shells strike into her, knocking her off balance, staggering sideways. The cannons fire but the shells fly wildly off mark, exploding in the forest on the far shore. Iria's follow up knocks the Princess to a knee, burning silver eyes turning on the others. "YOU WILL ALL BURN!" she screams, cannons giving off loading sounds, before leveling at Yuna, the Escorts, Iria and Leeroy. "BETRAYERS! FAITHLESS COWARDS!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Roberts steels herself, stepping off and pushing as fast as she can go, trying to get into close range of Taffy before she can open fire again. Saber flashes, and three barrels are cleaved off their mountings, making that side rig 'scream' and flail, knocking the aim of the other off, sending the shells wide once more. "Taffy! It's me! Look at me, this isn't you!" 'Roberts' form flickers, from the Abyssal, to a young looking girl in a scout uniform, blue eyes and messy blonde hair, sporting a multitude of 'tomboy' aesthetics. She flickers back again. "I just want to be with you, like we were before..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne growls as Roberts gets in close and engages... with all the high-explosive weaponry on board, there's nothing she can really do to... oh, yeah there is. <br><br>Leyanne grabs hold of a docking cleat to steady herself, before hauling back and throwing her wrench with everything that her cybernetic limb can provide. Leeroy then begins to prowl back and forth near them, waiting for a moment when Roberts and Gaonoir are clear or something else happens.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>Gaonoir grimaces as the Princess recovers and grabs his punches, forcing them into another grapple instead. The rigging rises up behind her and opens their mouth/cannons. With the damage she's already inflicted a point blank blast could be enough to put him out of the fight. And possibly for good.<br><br>.. But the shots go wide as his allies make intervention with perfect timing, throwing off her shots. He takes the oppritunity to break free from her hold and back off. They have Taffy's attention for the moment, and he definately needs the moment.<br><br>He takes several steps back, then goes down onto a knee, bracing himself with one arm while the other reachs up to grab one of his more damaged spots with the other hand. "Nnnh."<br><br>Almost immeadiately Erika is running up to him, any fear she has of the fight still raging mere meters away forgotten in the concern for her partner. "Gaonoir, are you going to be okay?"<br><br>"I've been worse," Gaonoir grumbles back. He's still being edgelordy, he can't be -too- far gone. The attitude isn't fooling Erika though, since she can also see his health readouts via digivice, and the look she gives him says more than words could on that regard. "... Okay, yeah, she's roughed me up pretty good." That said, he starts to push himself back onto his feet. "But this isn't over yet."<br><br>Instead of getting his own weapons out Gaonoir turns and grabs one of the buildings they already smashed through, ripping the rest of the foundation from the ground with what remains of his strength. Which is still a lot seeing as it's one of his primary traits.<br><br>"HEY TAFFY! YOU'RE BEING VOTED OFF THE ISLAND!" And then Gaonoir heaves the rest of the building at the Princess.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>Seeing those guns being levelled at *her* sends Kagurazaka right into evasive maneuvers - slewing hard to her left and pouring on approximately ALL of the speed, then twisting about in the water like a skater reversing course and heading back the way she came ... thankfully, while the Princess is otherwise occupied with, for example, getting a building to the face courtesy of Gaonoir.<br><br>It doesn't seem like there's a whole lot she might have left to do on the offensive side of the equation, but her turrets are reloading anyway. Just in case the fight isn't entirely bludgeoned out of the Princess *quite* yet ...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya frowns slightly. Attacks from the back won't work for her, with the rigging and the plates. She'll need to go from the front or sides, while ensuring she doesn't threaten Gaonoir or the other melee fighters. And the best way to do that would be to close to melee range herself. Dashing sidelong suddenly when guns aim her direction, she considers her options, then settles on one. Promptly, the woman disappears again.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The first clear sign that she's reappeared is actually the magical circle of glowing blue that's shot out around her feet. This exposes Sakuya herself, returning to standard time beside the rampaging Princess. Above her outstretched hand, a simple card rotates, burning with arcane energy, "I told you when we first met that my mission is to correct messes. And what a mess this has become." Her hand closes on the card, and it becomes a knife, shining with crimson light along the edge, "Scarred Soul [Soul Sculpture]."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Eyes gleaming red, Sakuya lunges, knives in both hands, and unleashes a lightning-fast flurry of slashing attacks. Each swing launches a short-lived arc of slicing crimson magic. All aimed not at Taffy herself, but at the connection points where the monstrous rigging is attached to her body.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Taffy is overwhelmed, She snarls at Roberts, reaching back to punch the Demon, but is intercepted by Gaonoir. She grabs the building fragment, skidding backwards and planting her feet. She levers up, trying to pick Gaonoir up then slam him back down using the rebar pillar. She's stopped as Sakuya starts slashing at her rigging, the paracitical creature roaring in pain as it sprays black ichor from the slashes. One mouth-arm falls to the ground, writhing about and spraying icho before gradually going still, the other curls around to try and chomp on Sakuya, but is intercepted by Tiny's wrench, smacking it in the 'nose' and knocking it off course, so it smacks into the ground instead.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Roberts then closes her eyes, before her face contorts and she charges in, swooping under Taffy's arms and stabbing her saber through the Princess's midriff to the hilt, the blade coming out the other side covered in thick black ichor. "... I'm sorry..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>When the Princess tries to left the pillar away Gaonoir pulls back, essentially turning it into a game of tug-of-war. But again, it's more that he's keeping her from focusing on something more important.<br><br>Like seeing Roberts coming in from the corner of his field of vision when her vector bleeps up on his HUD.<br><br>That is when he lets go of the pillar, letting it swing away and hopefully the loss of resistance will throw the Princess off balance under her own force, leaving an opening for her former ally to deal with this as appropriately.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The knives are discarded. A timely wrench distracts the rigging's second head from taking a chomp out of her, and Leyanne is given a quick gesture of thanks from Sakuya before she skirts back. Her hands thrust downward, quite suddenly holding two fistfuls of knew throwing daggers, and these are slung out in two different waves. The knives accelerate after a meter or so, launching forward in dense clusters.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Apologize later," she comments, "When she's clear-headed enough to understand it."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne Mace blinks at what she's seeing, holding back at range and waiting for... waiting to see if this is going to be the end of it, and bring peace to the area. Perhaps even to the Abyssals themselves, if they're lucky. The mice... well, they don't exactly cheer Roberts on, but they lend their silent support.<br><br>Sakuya's nod gets a thumbs-up from Leyanne as she watches, leaning over to talk with one of her crewmates about how to assist, or even if they can.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>And that seems to be it, before Kagurazaka can find another opening to help knock the Abyssal Aircraft Carrier Princess down and take the fight out of her. Between Roberts' intervention and her other allies laying in their own attacks, the Princess looks to be pretty much out of commission.<br><br>It's a fairly somber moment, really. But she's content not to have to keep shooting.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>Iria meanwhile can only stare in disbelief for a moment. She, too, can't believe what's happened. But she knows she has to keep focused. For now, her only objective is to keep the craft steady and not crash or anything like that. There's more important things to worry about now.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Taffy staggers, the knives finding purchase, but not seeming to faze the Princess anymore. Ichor bubbles up out of Taffy's mouth, making sickly lines down her chin to drip onto the ground. Her rigging falls away, the anchor point leaking more ichor. Taffy's eyes seems to 'uncloud' the flame-like aura fading as she looks at the Demon. She croaks something only Roberts can hear, a hand lifting to weakly rest on the Demon's shoulder, before she slumps, falling backwards off the saber with a wet thud. The other two Taffy iterations emerge from the treeline, dragging themselves out of the underbrush with two Escorts supporting them each. "This... fighting is... pointless..." the elder says. "Gambier Bay... St. Lo... Lets just, go home..." She wobbles, her form flickering between the battered Abyssal form, and an equally battered Kanmusu, short black hair in a tight bun, a naval aviation uniform and the shattered remains of a submachine gun flight deck. The younger, slumped in a pool of her own ichor as she is, manages to lift her head... her form flickers, showing a twin-tailed blonde with blue eyes before flickering back.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Roberts turns to the other escorts. They flicker between their forms also, and the 'hate aura' surrounding the island begins to abate, the horrid red 'oil fire' licking from the trees fading. "It's over... if you'll allow us time to regenerate, we will leave the delta and not cause its people any further harm." comes the Demon's words, sheating her sword.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne Mace (1100)}} has posed:'''<br>Leyanne Mace looks up, then looks over at the demons. "You know." She says, calmly as she lights a cigar, sitting down on the bow of the ship. "You could stay, instead. Help the locals... most of whom haven't even heard of the conflict you were lost in." She looks over her crew, a motley bunch of humans and mice. "Ultimately, that's the real way to build a legacy. You could come with us. Help us... maybe one day put an end to this war, and make peace?"<br><br>She sniffs, standing up and moving over to the back of the boat. From behind the PT boat's bofors gun, she hauls a massive two-chamber oilbarrel barbecue, which she hangs off the stern. "So. Who's hungry?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:765|Gaonoir (765)}} has posed:'''<br>"What they said." That's about all Gaonoir can manage to respond with as the weariness of battle and damage is starting to settle in. The Digimon's entire form shrouds in darkness, then a moment later shatters away into pixilating motes that fade into nothingness as Gaonoir flumps to the ground in his base form.<br><br>Which lasts for maybe a minute of being exhausted before being ruined by the mention of food. As Erika props him up he gestures a gloved paw in Leyanne's direction. "You are my new favorite mouse type creature."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>"I could probably eat," Kagurazaka admits, steering around to come up alongside the Leeroy Jenkins. "I'll have more of an appetite after we RTB and I can turn my gear over to Akashi for maintenance and reloading, I imagine, but if you're offering 'now' more than 'later,' I wouldn't mind a bite ..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:929|Sakuya (929)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sakuya comes to a stop. Her outline flickers, and the scattered knives she'd been throwing all disappear from where they had landed-- now present in her hands. She fans them out, then closes the 'fan' together into a single knife. With a twist, that is also gone. A bit of showmanship. Or perhaps cheating with her powers.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Calmly, she approaches the fallen Princess and her Abyssal entourage, "I said from the beginning that peaceful resolution was possible if you could resist your instinct." Eyes closing, she remarks, "It seems that, at last, you have found a way to do so."<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pausing beside Taffy, the maid produces a fresh handkerchief. This is held out to Roberts without looking, while she adds on, "Whether you leave or stay, my only request is the cessation of violence against the people of this delta. As was mentioned, you may be able to get the resources you need by offering a service of protection instead."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''<br>Meanwhile, Iria starts to head back alongside the others in her craft. "Well, I guess that's a mission achieved. But at what cost..." She looks down at her controls for a moment before looking forwards again. "Stay focused, Iria. You've got to get back to base. After that you can think about the aftermath."<br> <br>
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