1906/Finish the Fight

Finish the Fight
Date of Scene:	29 March 2015
Location:	Terra Majora
Synopsis:	The Union and Confederacy make a push to finally seal the Lord of Cowardice for good.
Cast of Characters:	12, 40, 92, 168, 202, 253, 331, 347, 395, 546, Lezard Valeth, Reiji Arisu
Tinyplot:	New Blood

---

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Tracking the Shajem of Cowardice was... harder than expected. Not exactly difficult, given the resources at the disposal of the Union and Confederacy, but pinning it down to one place long enough to respond and gather forces was trickier. Predictably, it finally lingered at an appropriate place that would be called something like 'The Cliffs of Doomed Peril' in many fantasy-esque worlds. They're a jagged collection of cliffs and mountains that resemble a fractured bone, crags full of danger and treacherous footing, not to mention the odd Twisted being. They overlook a roaring torrential set of rapids below, with a broken and craggy set of crocks making up the nearby shore until it lifts into more mountains that are less treacherous.

    This being Terra Majora, the location is known as The White Cliffs Of Morning's Breath

    The Shajem has stopped for now, and is 'roosting' in the cliffs. The edges of said cliffs are dangerous enough that a large airship would be hard to navigate through, though a small one could do so. Unfortunately, there weren't many places to land. That leaves landing some distance away and coming up or down river on foot or by personal flight, or landing atop the cliffs and going down the cliff face, as the most viable options.

    Elliana parked the Drasillum /quite/ a distance away, and has chosen to approach on foot, leaving Veryx to guard the Drasillum. Of course, 'on foot' means she's actually flying low along the ground, and she has no doubt that Mordred can keep up. She's selected a meetup sight somewhat close, atop the cliffs, in case the Union want any last-minute plan revisions.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The last time Psyber met Elliana in a cliff-side location, he got nearly sacrificed to a dark ritual. Let's see if today goes any better?

    The half-angel is here and ready for the meeting. For the most part, he's dressed per normal though the 1911 he usually carries holstered at his side has been replaced by a different gun since he lost that yesterday. He's also limping a little bit on his left leg, but it's barely noticable.

    At the side opposite the gun, Sovereign is here and is in its sheath. While he dislikes the sword in principle, he's not so outraged as to overlook its tactical usefulness. Mostly, though, he's waiting.

    Well, that and occasionally taking a hit from a flask in his right hand.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Amalthea has just been missing all the fun hasn't she?
    Well not this time. At the meeting point, at Psyber's side, by now the familiar sight of heavy silver armor, scarlet cloak, and pride parade rainbow mane, means Amalthea has been assed to come along, after like a week or two of being a silent hermit in her basement.
    Of course she's just as armed to the teeth as Psyber, is, but most of her equipment is hidden out of sight under that heavy cloak.
    "That leg's looking worse for wear." She idly notes to Psyber, "Want a pickup, or you just gonna walk it off, like normal?"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Fortunately, Psyber isn't exactly here alone. Unless Elliana intends for everyone present to be sacrificed to some horrible dark god, things should go rather nicely. Nevermind that 'going nicely' is entirely reliant on the mood and peculiarities of a dark god. These ones don't seem to be the type to demand ritual sacrifice, though.

    Reiji stands nearby, waiting. He's packing his usual aresenal today, but there are a noticable number of bandages wrapped around one shoulder, and the exposed sections of his arms. While he waits, he slowly stretches his neck to one side. Multiversal healing is pretty impressive, but it still leaves a few muscles stiff sometimes, it seems.

At least he's not the only one going into this with a few cuts and bruises.

"He should be fine," Reiji says with a shrug. "I imagine it's not the first time he's gone into one of these things with a couple aches and pains."

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Adelyn could have tried bringing a small airship, but that would still have brought up the problem of it being far from stealthy. Given the prey they're tracking, she's opted for not being at the front of the party. Instead, she'll be working on the 'tracking' part of all this--following Lezard's original suggestion, she's using a sample of the Shajem and spells based in sympathetic magic to home in on its location. She's a rather patient hunter, so long as they keep getting closer, but has grown increasingly, if mildly, irate at the unexpected difficulty of getting the target to remain still.

    Once parked, she heads out with Elliana, 'on foot' in much the same manner as she is, and as armed and--not really armored, but wearing defensive enchanted items--as their last encounter. Walking is for magicless peasants.

Himei (331) has posed:
    Himei has no trouble with walking, but screw that. She brought... a bicycle. Because why not? It's a cheap one, probably not intended to be brought /back/ now, since she'll be flying the rest of the way to the Shajem after covering any last minute plans... and she thinks they may need them. Nodding to the others as they arrive, she's staring at the cliffside thoughtfully.

    "I guess it would have been too much to ask for him to hang out someplace easy to reach," she grumbles. "Oh well. Hopefully we have enough magical support that we can fly down and snag him and be done with this."

Mordred (12) has posed:
    Mordred is keeping up with Elliana... via motorcycle. As expected, whatever was once a normal modern world bike is silver and red steel reinforced now, the exhaust letting out blood red mana in its wake. Given the terrain, this might mean she has to take side paths or force the vehicle to do things it is wildly not designed for, but that's why she's pouring her magic into it to begin with.

    She's not armored yet, actually enjoying the wind instead, with that cool jacket, tube top and jeans on.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Brilliant Dawn is rather casual about these things. Despite the whole "being lit on fire" part of one of those last ones, the little pendant is quite casually accepting of the schemes Elliana leaves unspoken to it. "Hmmmm. It's less contained than it was before now, it might be able to flee. Would you like me to start tactical assessments and map for likely retreat routes? Or do you have some idea of how we'll calm it down?" There's a brief delay. "Are we planning on taking the rest of its power?" It seems a little... Encouraging of the idea. Or at least encouraging of considering it.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor likewise is here with Psyber, carrying her 'loaded for bear' gear. There's an uneasy look at the cliffside though. Flying is not something she's all that good at, being unable to fly herself. Also feet should have ground underneath them at a point where it's safe to let go. She'd much prefer this Thing being in a lake.

    At least she's got teammates here for this. "Bother. I don't think I brought any cdecent climbing gear for this." She sticks an arm into her medic's back fishing around.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Adjudicator is around Psyber's hand. Quietly, it's counting out something, every so often, whispering it to Psyber. But aside from that, it does speak more openly. "With a third of its power remaining, I doubt we will need to act in our traditional capacity. I will remain on standby, but it would be rude for me to keep the Strike Drivers active for now. We should look as harmless as possible as long as we can."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Meanwhile Ironclad Oath rumbles gently. "He will continue, as is his duty. He can do little else. I have the feeling he is the sort to reject the help, though." There's an incredulous look up. "Be prepared. I have heard that the Shajem is prone to violence, like any scared animal. It may be more comfortable now, but that is still a possibility. Give signal, as soon as you need me, I am prepared. Until then, I'll look the least threatening I can."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The smug grimoire that floats around Adelyn occasionally is as helpful as ever, in as know-it-all a way as ever. The drifting book provides live mapping of routes in and out that the Shajem's been likely to take, and a generalized collated datafeed, that it insists on presenting in the haughtiest way possible to anyone who listens.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Himei may have either wings or a baton, but both can do roughly the same thing, which is to boost her athletic ability a lot. Honestly, at this stage, the thing's got enough resonance to actually boost her so much she could just ride the bike up the cliff, were she able to avoid getting skewered on its more dangerous areas. "Yeah, I think Nathan intentionally tried to get it to isolated places, so now it's a giant pain in the ass to get to. Least it's not hanging out around people though! Polite kind of monster now."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Mordred's Abstractum sits over the back of the bike. Every so often on the way over, it makes a shitty joke. Right now, it's "We gonna eat this one too? Gwuhuhuhuhuh! I could go for another of those big meals! Stings going down but it fills you up! Who knows if I got the room though, gwuhuhuhuhuh!" That mucky laughter again. Given that the sword expects to see very little use, actually, it's treating this as a field trip for now.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
There is a shriek in the air as another being enters the hunt. Upon a foul creature that seems to be a mass of feathers and claws, with a humanoid form vaguely visible within. Upon the Harpy's back rides the Necromancer of Midgard, who would not miss this opportunity for the world.

After all, it's just /sloppy/ to leave a job half finished, isn't it? He looks to the others and keeps pace, using the creature to scale the updrafts around the horrifyingly spiky and painful-looking terrain. "Today will be excellent hunting indeed!" Lezard calls out with a measure of his own satisfaction.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    "Yes, Brilliant Dawn... that would be helpful. But no, we will not be grasping any of its power for ourselves. I believe Lady Lysen would like some, but not us," Elliana answers. She sounds mildly annoyed at this fact, but not at Dawn. "Too much Shajem power could imbalance us, anyway. No point in it if we cannot properly use it."

    Siiiigh. "Unfortunately, this is a very defensible position for it. The Twisted nearby are unlikely to be a problem to us... with the Elites present, we can easily deploy forces to neutralize them. The tricky part will be keeping it from escaping. Fortunately, it should be limited in its ability to fight back. Though incomplete, the Binding that Sir Bloodstone and Sir Hall managed was... clever, I admit. A refinement of it could prove incredibly useful."

    She sighs. "Tandem Paradigm will be available for those that desire it. Do you think we have enough forces to catch it in a pincher and drive it into a proper sealing? I will be here to aid in the sealing this time, so it should be relatively simple if we can hold it long enough."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "I can keep you safe, Elle." The glove on Eleanor's hand says. "I'm sure that some biological boosting can let you use your abilities as such, and my Barrier should be enough to handle a heavy drop if you boost it with your own defense." The glove has obvious cause to want to keep her safe. "You should be prepared more to help ease the fear of the Shajem, as I understand it. Make it less... Enthusiastic, in fleeing."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Stop counting," Psyber murmurs back to the gauntlet, knowing full well that it won't. Screwing the flask back up, Psyber sticks it back into his jacket and then looks to Amalthea and Reiji, "Nah, the leg's fine. Just a bit sore. A donut-monster-thing in Mizuki's subconscious took a bite out of it the other day. It's healing fine," He shrugs his shoulders again and adds, "The pain's nothing, really. Especially if we aren't expecting heavy combat today."

    "I agree that full Strike Drivers would be excessive. If they are, we'll activate it, but doing so right now would just draw too much attention to our little cabal," Psyber says, turning his attention to the gauntlet on his, in full knowledge that the Saber-class known as Mordred was showing up on a roaring motorcycle and other people were bringing monsters.

    A look of distinct worry plays across Psyber's face as he looks out from the view and listens to people, though probably not for the reason most people would think. The gauntlet-clad hand curls and twitches a bit before he makes a fist. Psyber takes a slow breath and then says to Elliana:

    "Present terms are fine. We are cooperating with the arrangement we talked and I have no personal interest in Shajem energies today. The General is uninformed of this gathering, and though he is distracted by work I would prefer to return home as soon as possible before he notices my absence."

    He looks up at the blonde girl with a bit of a detached gaze in his eyes, "If there is nothing else to discuss, I would prefer we move forward and finish this."

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Oh come on, guys, it's not like Elliana could be planning the same thing twice, she's more original than that, right? Nevertheless, Amalthea flicks a glance at Reiji- and then at her own Abstractum, silver lips pursing into a frown. "I've known Psyber for years, and I know his bad habits of walking off sucking holes through the chest." She grunts. But then Psyber says he's fine so she leaves it at that.
    "What we expect and what we get could always end up being very different things." She does note before conceding, with a lazy shrug.
    On to present matters: "Just point me in a direction and tell me what to do, and consider it done."

Himei (331) has posed:
    "Psyber's right," Himei agrees. "I think... we might want to just rely on overwhelming firepower, especially considering what this thing does to our heads. I can resist it for a while, but it's tiring enough that I really don't relish going home with a headache like last time." She frowns in thought, then glances over her shoulder at White Rose, in wing form.

    "I think it might be best if we Tandem, yeah, and I can fly out front to keep it from flying too far away from the cliffs. My powers work well on Shajem, and they're painful enough that I think this one will stick close to the cliff rather than try to slip past. So I guess I'll take frontal. Who wants the sides?"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    "Not even going to ask," Reiji grunts, massaging the bridge of his nose. Inquiring about a 'donut-monster-thing' seems like a good way to give himself a headache. That's the last thing he needs right now. "As long as you can maneuver around all these rocks, there should be no problem."

    Their Confederate counterparts are trickling in bit by bit. Reiji nods as they make their way to the rendevouz point. "Alright. Whenever you're ready," the exorcist says, taking a moment to check the clip on his handgun. "Packing anti-spirit rounds today. I don't know if they'll do much against a Shajem, but it's better than nothing."

Mordred (12) has posed:
    "Yeah just blast it before it even has a chance to run," Mordred idly agrees, taking into full consideration the fact they have several people here capable of erecting barriers and bindings. She figures, weakened like it is, it's unlikely the Shajem has enough power to punch through them to escape.

    Probably.

    "Sorry Amhar but you ain't gonna be getting a real good meal today." A few nibbles, maybe. She'll allow it.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Brilliant Dawn dutifully begins to run scans, drawing off a sliver of Elliana's power, mapping the area around them out, linking up with Adelyn's Gishur. It's going to get down a quick and simple assessment, as best it can, of probable paths of escape, as well as assessing them. Through wireless magical methods, and to any who have Abstractum that they'd willingly establish tandem with, this data is distributed. Gishur and Brilliant Dawn are acting, essentially, as secretaries and managers.

    On the side, it quietly says, "Your choice, Lady Fairchild. Maybe we can come back for it later someday."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor sighs a bit, as Utopia lets out that little bit of information. "Bother. How do you calm down a primal creature made out of fear? That's... hnn." There's a little shiver of sensation as the Tandem comes online, and she sighs a bit. Flying. Tch.
    She finally comes out of the bag with some sort of ice axe pick hatchet looking thing, and looks at the rest of the group. She's here for Active Morale and Morality Support, after all. Cowardice be damned.

    "If someone would be so kind as to catch me if I fall that would very agreeable, thank you." And then she's heading as best she can down the side of the cliffs, pick slung over the loop of her satchel.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Adelyn is paying more attention to Gishur's mapping than anything else, at the moment, though she can probably still hear everything else being said.

    She says to Elliana, "I do. But, not to worry. The form in which we have captured its essence, previously, still allows for its use. If you /could/ use it to a reasonable approximation of safely, that is still within our power to attempt. In the meanwhile, we have sufficient time to explore other avenues."

    To Himei, and anyone else discussing tactics, "I will focus on limiting its escape options. I have some promisingly effective warding techniques. Other than that--Gishur, assist in the organization and linkage of the full party's efforts, but keep analysis of the target's motions as your first priority. Display this as I erect the barriers."

    Draining the target will come after they have it locked into combat.

Nox (546) has posed:
    Though in the end, the covertness of any group inevitably comes down to the least subtle member of it, Nox can still take pride in being one of the strongest links today. Without the need to transport around large amounts of materials and equipment today, he is free to get around solely via the process of quickly and efficiently slipping through folds in spacetime, teleporting here and there with consmmate ease and a minimum of flash. Of course this would be more useful if he had a precise location on the Shajem. With the self-perpetuating binding feeding its own energy back in on itself, the creature's overall signature is basically invisible against the 'background radiation' of the world, meaning that he has to take it the long way like everyone else. Thanks Nathan.

    "I believe my role will be fairly obvious this time." he interjects into the tactical discussion, at nobody in particular. "I assure you, once it is within line of sight, it might as well be over. The odds of this group composition failing are extremely low, and with any luck, maybe only one or two of you will die." It's surprisingly difficult to tell whether he's factually repeating some kind of simulation he did, or just shooting people's confidence for the sake of it. He's one of the few people present who doesn't have an Abstractum, and so the network talk is relatively meaningless to him

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "You know how to get me to stop." Adjudicator says, simply. "I'll be ready, if you need me. Give a signal. It sounds like the others have a more violent plan. It won't be unmoving long."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The wings flare out. "Head on! I love it when we deal with our problems like that." White Rose says, encouragingly. "Nothing like it. Alright, got the tandem, we can head to most likely escape routes if you wanna!" As usual, she should be able to make use of the wings rather easily to begin flying.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Huhuhuhuh. Oh, planning on unsheathing a little? Mmmm, I can do with a snack then." The rumbly sword with Mordred says. "We'll get a proper meal another time. Still plenty full from those Twisted in the mountain."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "I doubt we can calm them entirely." Utopia says, slowly. "But reducing the fear means reducing the panic, it means they'll flee less... Enthusiastically. It is an animal; do what seems best for such a being. You've a great deal of empathy, I think you can find a way." The tone is, as always, guiding only lightly, and in the Coo Uncle sort of mode.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard also lacks an Abstractum. If that is due to a lack of interest or other matters is unknown. When Brilliant Dawn provides information to him, Lezard nods, producing that erstwhile book he always keeps with him, the information imprinting onto it. He looks over the data, mentally selecting several points. He touches them as the harpy works to maintain altitude, marking several adjacent points to indicate to the Abstractum he will deal with those routes. He then soars up into the air, directing the harpy with a flick of a hand and silent command as they move to prepare. "It will be most effective if we move to begin cutting off the routes all at once. The front line can work to funnel the beast towards a dead end, and Nox will be able to help ensure we have the time needed to perform our tasks. I am ready to move when you are."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Displaying, Mistress." Gishur says, smugly showing off how it's already calculated every possible escape route and categorized them according to probability based on the data from Elliana's own Abstractum, and its own scans. Very well-organized! As the book opens and the glowing green pages rapidly flip about, the projection is made in glowing magical lines in front of Adelyn.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Frowning, Elliana sighs at last and nods, "Dame Shoutan has a solid idea. She is correct, her powers are especially effective against beings such as this." She still fidgets somewhat, as if bothered by something... but knowing her, it could be an act. "The major objective is sealing it, but feel free to drain it as much as you wish. The core will resist after a point, of course. I would recommend stopping there. As much as the major power has side effects, trying to swallow the being itself is much, much worse, I can assure you."

    She nods slowly, "It is true, in its weakened state this will be a short battle. Very well, move as you wish. I will help the Union Binder with this task."

    On to other matters. "Thank you, Brilliant Dawn. And do not worry, Lady Lamb. One of us will catch you, I promise." It won't be her unless she can avoid it, though less from dislike and more from knowing Eleanor is probably not the type to enjoy Elliana's close presence.

    One gesture later, and man-shaped masses of worms erupt from the ground, to handle the skulking creatures that are getting too curious. The escape routes are rather simple - to either side, or out to the mountain, plus the option of diving into the river. Shajem probably don't need to breathe, after all. That last one will be the hardest to block. The strategies employed by the Shajem thus far, though, give it the lowest probability. If they can capture it before it attempts that last-ditch option, it may not need blocked at all.

    "I would wish you luck, but I doubt you will need it. A cripple Shajem against this group will be... well, perhaps not trivial, but I expect we can deal with any difficulties," she assures.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You know that's not an option right now. Drop it, alright? Besides, it's utterly unimportant," Psyber says to the Gauntlet with a hint of annoyance in his voice, keeping the argument vague. The half-angel shuts his eyes for a few moments, letting out a sigh and then clenching his hand into a fist, "The rocks won't be a problem," He assures to Reiji right after.

    A fleeting glance, barely turning his head, is spared to the fidgeting Elliana. And then he turns away and looks out over the area. And then he simply takes a running leap off the side of the cliff. In a swift motion, he flings the gauntlet off his hand and turns it into his greatsword form, throwing it into the side of the cliff.

    The half-angel then rides Adjudicator like a snowboard down the side of the mountain, trying to mostly do some sick 1080 Frontside Misty and ride his sword towards the den of the Shajem. Best to leave exit-blocking to the professionals and just go beat up the monster.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The Greatsword is used as a snowboard. "This is not what I mean by righteousness, Psyber." It says, with a bit of humor. It does try to pick up the slack on Nathan's end, it seems, and the blade functionally protects Psyber, though it's beginning to glow gently, activating a Strike Driver or two to cut through the skewering rocks that pass ahead. It'll be powered up enough to be an efficient damaging option against the Shajem when Psyber reaches the lair, no doubt.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Adelyn gives a curt nod to Elliana. "Yes, of course, the scope of the experiment is understood." Some other time, she'll see about taking a Shajem whole, if the opportunity should arise. Oh, hopefully. But without any obligation toward Union assistance. Those are an unwelcome complication, given attitudes expressed.

    Looking at Gishur's projections, she sets to work. At first, her actions are subtle, but they won't remain so very long. She's manipulating ambient mana into configurations that will let her quickly create hard walls, based on what proved effective in earlier Confederate research. The actual wards are fairly simple, intended only to slow and redirect, but with a weakened opponent, it should be sufficient. What's more, she'll be able to create a large number of them.

    What she's doing *might* be detectable, to this kind of magical being, though the purpose of it should still be hidden to anyone incapable of sophisticated analysis.

    She's not exactly heading down the cliff, herself, but she's also flying, so her mobility already assures a quick approach when needed. With as much sensory power as they have available, she shouldn't even need to get close to do her work, anyway.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Without an Abstractum of his own, Reiji isn't quite sure what all the fussing is all about. The multiverse is really full of all kinds of amazing things, isn't it? He remains quiet through the planning session, only nodding in affirmation when the teams are divided up.

Reiji's not exactly a 'closing off exits' kind of guy. He /can/ if he prepares the right arrays, but that wasn't really in the cards for today.

Stabbin' and shootin' a dark god, though, is.

    It's time to get moving. "Right," he says to the half-angel, "After you, then." Psyber goes ahead. Reiji follows after... Though somewhat less quickly. Without a snowboard-slash-greatsword of himself, his own descent is a little more careful. Fortunately, Reiji's legs weren't too cut up after yesterday's duel- and Psyber is opening up a nice, clean angle of descent for the rest of the group.

He takes advantage of it, and wastes no time in sprinting downhill towards the Shajem Den.

Mordred (12) has posed:
    "Sure, sure," Mordred replies to her Abstractum, before grinning at Elliana's remark. "What, having doubts we can handle something like this? C'mon master, give me more credit than that."

    But she doesn't want to waste time talking.

    Instead she accelerates, to speed ahead and catch up with Psyber. Like him, she's better off on the front lines; just because she can speed around doesn't make her the best choice to block exits. The magicians are going to be way better at it. Meanwhile, Mordred is better at swording things.

    No surprise there.

    "Wonder how fast that bugger can even run."

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The Abstractum in Mordred's hand flares out, from the shortsword to the great bastard sword form it uses more directly. Massive teeth flare from the base, dripping some grim red energies in the wind. It's quite ready to strike, and intends to bite and latch on whenever it does, hopefully weighing down and slowing the Shajem while it tries to bite out chunks.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    "Right, okay I guess we're off." What damage can a crippled conceptual entity do? A little rap on her gauntlet and Amalthea hops off in a rocket-powered leap with the assistance of her jump pack. "Oath tandem up or whatever and let's mosey."
    Yep, she's moseying. Going to try and get a higher up view of the places the Shajem could run to and make a more informed choice of where to drop herself after things get started.

Himei (331) has posed:
    Well, looks like everyone is getting started. Himei sighs, giving Elliana an eye before turning and dashing off to leap off the cliff. She lets herself glide outward some distance before flipping into a dive, hurtling downward so she can get to the point of the Shajem's altitude. "Okay White Rose... let's see how rusty I am."

    Not too rusty. Between recent Witch activity and Shajem fights, Himei's used her Magical Girl abilities a few times again. She shimmers into a silvery glow, then the beskirted girl flings a short peppering of small silver-white bolts toward the cliff face, enough to say 'hey I'm here and I hurt' to the Shajem. "Rose, make sure we're lined up with whatever the book and pendant are feeding us, okay?"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard gets prompted about another containment unit, and he provides. Crystal, after all, is simply a matter of growing the proper matrices. The understanding of containment wrought by Duke Seath is simplistic and yet terrifying for its thoroughness.

If the being only didn't go completely mad, he could have had a long talk with the Lordsoul bearer and perhaps have gained a greater understanding still. Oh well. He'll just have to content himself with access to the being's massive library instead.

As he reminisces, he calls upon his powers of teleportation, invoking the ancient, forbiden arts to create the familiar slowly-forming circle. Once complete, another crystal, hexagonal, thin and irregular with crackling tendrils forming off of it in unusual dcurling directions, appears. It stands a couple feet tall. "I am not sure how far you will be able to transmit the energy, you may need to bring it closer to where the Shajem confrontation will be. Additionally, you will not have my assistance to stabilize the power influx this time. Be careful." Lezard warns. "I am off to spread the net!" He pronounces with glee, and hoves off with the harpy, the bird-demon screeching in the air.

Lezard begins flying to one of the locations that he marked, and holds out his hands, muttering a long and complicated intonation. Purple holes open in the ground, and masses of bone begin to fly out, fusing together and condensing to form a massively thick wall of ultradense bone. Hopefully, it would take the Shajem enough time to break through such a thing that they would consider the path unviable. The process takes time, however, as he doesn't just keep Walls of Bone in his pocket.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor manages to toss a wane smile up the cliff, before she mutters about Other Elles and Too Many Elles and all of that. Ah well. She makes her way carefully, trying to keep an eye on the cliff side escape route as she goes. The others may be moving with more Gusto, but Eleanor is taking it as carefully as she can while attempting to not lag behind.
    There's even a few jumps and leaps from time to time, as the Sister uses her climing pick to traverse as best she can.

Nox (546) has posed:
    That's all Nox really needed to hear from Elliana. Truth be told, the energy he'd gathered from the same Shajem last time is still far from an ideally usable state. Considering the amount of it there had been to grab however, he'd be a fool to pass up a second opportunity, considering that he could always find out how to refine it later, but not come back to get any after the others had already finished sealing the thing for good. He takes a look at Gishur's projections, but sees that Lezard and Adelyn have most of it under control, leaving the majority of the routes to them. He spares a passing stare towards Psyber as he leaps straight off the cliff edge, leaning over slightly to watch his sicknasty and totally radical descent for a time, before taking the much less flashy road of zapping off into nowhere.

    Rather than going straight for the Shajem's lair, Nox makes a detour to the rapids winding beneath it, hovering over the furiously churning river at a decent height. Pausing for a moment to assess the tumultuous flow of water, he fires a wave of molecular decceleration magic into it with a commanding snap of his wrist, flash freezing a chunk of it from the stony floor to the frothing surface, terminating in a bristling forest of towering icy spikes to discourage attempting to leap down to the frozen section and skate away. Satisfied with his work, he rejoins the main party instantaneously, likely shortly before they make contact with the Shajem, and roughly around the same time Adelyn and Lezard are finished with their work.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "I've got it!" White Rose says, fluttering briefly in an enthusiastic way. "Should be just fine!" It's honing Himei's agility and reflexes more than anything else at the moment, to make it easier for her to maneuver. Entertainingly, it can't actually effeciently boost her magical output without a lot of help, but it can do it a bit with Tandem's orders-buffs, so following Elliana's orders adds a gentle green fire to each strike, enhancing their explosiveness and spiritual "loudness" a bit. For the most part, it's just making sure Himei can KEEP UP, if this thing decides to book it.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    Sliding down the cliff face - or climbing for those who do that - gets the Shajem's attention. It roars and starts to bolt outward... only to meet projectile spam from Himei. A sudden wave of utter fear pulses out from it, but the Shajem is weakened... the range is neither as great as it was before, nor the effect quite so potent. Being prepared against it, it should be possible to resist it even without special defenses, at least for a while.

    Thus the weaseloid creature is turning into a plume of purple energy, darting down, to the side, and weaving about the eruption of spurs that tries to block it off. This leads it in a circular path, writhing about and keeping it in roughly the same spot for those approaching it through 'normal' means like a motorcycle down the cliffside.

    The only difference from last time is that this time there really IS nowhere to run. The cliff face ripples, changed by more than just Lezard's spells. Adelyn can feel her wards strain as the creature fights back with geysers of erupting steam and flame, bursting from jagged spurs on the cliffside while it frantically seeks a way out.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    And here's the part where everything goes wrong.

    Nathan Hall is here now, at least one assumes that's him. Did anyone know he has an airship? He does, though it's a bit small, and very, very rarely used, Psyber and Himei and maybe Amalthea might recognize it from ancient activities. A small airship built by a mentor entirely out of shining gold orichalcum. This gives it a rather OBVIOUS appearance. He's rounded up Ethan Bloodstone and those Binders again, it seems, too. What goes on inside there is anyone's guess.

    But how the hell did he get here!? Isn't he supposed to be wrapped up in negotiations!? And, it seems, his small craft has rounded one of the craggy mountains, and landed at the top of the cliffs, cutting off many immediate routes back up. It doesn't seem aggressive, but it's clearly an effort to use the craft to cut off escape routes for the Shajem, but unfortunately also for those in the canyon. It also puts the craft in the perfect position to see down into the canyon. It's roughly where Adelyn and others near her have stayed, if they're staying; presumably Nathan hasn't quite detected them. The others, down in the valley, though, it's easy to see them. Nox, Mordred, Himei, Lezard might be easily visible unless they get into cover fast.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    That is a glorious golden airship.
    Amalthea recognizes that glorious golden airship.
    It is a very undignified squawk of surprise as she very QUICKLY grounds herself, landing in a tumble in some trees and rocks and stuff.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Adelyn plans on handling much of the draining herself, this time, and therefore grabs the crystal after Lezard summons it, hefting it while letting Gishur and Pure Guardian continue to float near her as hands-free grimoires.

    The wards are failing, but she'll have to Lezard, and Nox if he has the time for it, reinforce the blockade. She has other priorities, the first of which is getting the the crystal in range. She doesn't have to go too far down--a quick strike to the cliff face and an earthshaping spell both hollows out and solidifies a cavity large enough for her to work in. It also causes a small explosion of dust and minor debris, but /she/ won't be visible and everyone out in the open can handle it.

    "Beginning." Even though she's not visible, her magic is going to be very hard to miss. She can work more quickly, this time. The previous two attempts, first with Rage and then Cowardice, along with all the research since, have refined the process. Fewer fail-safes are necessary, and what are included should be more effective. A great deal of redundancy was proven unnecessary. Still, the spell circle that forms in shining white lines in the air is as intricate as one would expect from the head of a magic university, and there's a good chance of someone as detail-oriented as Nathan Hall recognizing it for Lysen work, once he does see it.

    "Blood calls to blood." Sympathetic magic makes the link easier to form than ever. If the others can just keep it in range, her spell will dig in its hooks, and begin the siphoning process.

    Given that she's gotten much better at this, it's still going to be far more difficult without the support of her fellow mages.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber reaches down and grabs the sword out from under his feet as Mordred comes to ride along with him. The half-angel instead hops up and stands on the back of her bike, taking a few moments to catch his breath. He still continues to cleave out huge swaths of spikes with his sword, trying to clear out a massive path.

    Then something happens that immediately causes Psyber no small amount of duress. From the back of the bike, Psyber lifts his head to look upwards and scowls, "Fuck. Nathan's here." Of course, this is also the moment that a massive wave of fear hits Psyber, amplifying the immense amount of stress this entire arrangement was already causing him.

    Wings flare out behind him and Psyber uses Mordred's speed to catch an updraft and take off, trying to curve his flight path and then fly over towards where Nathan is. With a few heavy flaps, he gets even more airtime and is gliding towards the General, trying to make it look like a routine rendevous.

    If nothing else goes right, at least when the jig is up the only person in trouble will be Psyber.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    The wave of raw terror that washes against Reiji's psyche is a familiar one. Though this is nowhere near the same intensity as the one he was subject to weeks ago- and he's had ample time to recover since then. The exorcist dives down the slope, diverting his descent to chase after the fleeing mustelid-thing.

Having all these pointy rocks all over the place makes shifting momentum pretty easy, if you know which ones to jump off of.

    An arc of electric fury darts out of Reiji's arsenal as he leaps after the Shajem. A gout of flame barely misses his side, and the geyser of steam that accompanies it briefly sears at one side of his face- but he closes the distance all the same.

It's about then that Nathan Hall becomes a complication.

    Reiji curses under his breath as he drives Chirai down into the Shajem's flank. Lightning coruscates out from the blade, seeking the earth through the shortest available path. One that might just include the Lord of Cowardice.

He was told to let Psyber handle things. And so he'll let Psyber handle things.

For now, there are bigger, more immediate problems at hand.

Himei (331) has posed:
    Crap, Hall's here. Himei is momentarily distracted, and she barely has time to fling herself to the side, a jet of flame searing along her arm and leg. White Rose might blunt some of it, but it's enough of a painful blast to jar her out of her distraction. She has work to do. "Right, cover fire. Something not immediately obvious as me."

    Her outfit flickers, and instead of white-silver bolts lancing down, something else comes. 'SPARKLING HOLY LIGHT!' Yeah, that. A searing beam of pink power blasts out, trying to cut across one side of the creature to keep it pinned down so the others can keep it busy.

Mordred (12) has posed:
    Mordred does not recognize Nathan's ship, and instead just goes with the "do shit faster" plan which, mostly, involves driving straight for the Shajem, with Bloody Amhar ready to strike. There won't be fancy tactics; she's here to smash faces and help beat the thing down so it's even easier to seal than it already is, so she'll get on with that.

    The motorcycle's bright red exhaust lets out even more magical flames, and the Servant aims to drive by the Shajem and cut with her Abstractum's blade as she does so-- while avoiding Himei's blast, because that can probably hurt her.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    And there it is. And there Nathan is. Bother. the Sister clambers a few more places along the cliff face, finds a nice firm spot to actually stand, and settles her feet. Okay, we can do this, just ignore the lethal fall three feet to your right.

    The others are opening up with attacks and... calm it down. Well there's one major tool in her kit for that. She shakes out the hand with Utopia on it, and murmurs. "Let's do this." The hand sparkles for a second, before a fleshy wet noise explodes from the palm, extruding out a hefty globby ball of... something. And then she kisses it, and hurls her Hypnosis plasmid out across the field of combat, aiming for the Shajem. She's thinking really hard thoughts to Calm The Hell Down

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Adelyn's magics are amplified by the power feeding back her allies, through the Tandem. It's a pretty substantial boost! Gishur takes a bit of impact from the psychic wave, but besides faltering in its floating and snapping closed briefly while it locks itself up, little happens, thank goodness. She'll get a fairly substantial boost to RANGE related elements of the magic here due to the size of the group.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The pulse of fear coming from the Shajem strikes Lezard's mental defenses. This time, he holds fast. Familiarity is less of an issue. Emotions don't stop being emotions just because you've felt them before. Emotions are irrational, they do not obey rules or logic. It takes willpower to keep them under control and maintain stability. that, Lezard is prepared to do, even if the fear and paranoia begin clouding the edges of his mind, he grits his teeth and focuses, anger building within him as he uses another familiar emotion to try to push it away. Maybe Mordred gave him the idea somehow.

Despite this, he swoops down, trying to hug closer to the cliff as he works to keep his barriers reinforced. Adelyn's wards are unfamiliar to him, but perhaps he can work to feed them power as well, helping to split his attention and keep them both operating while Adelyn moves to engage on her own terms.

This, unfortunately, means he has little time for anything else. Lezard is a powerful mage, but hardly capable of unlimited feats of will.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "God damn it." Adjudicator says, rather concisely. "If you intend to face the brunt of this, I approve, but I cannot help." The sword gleams brightly as it suddenly jumps back to Psyber's hand as he takes off.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The wings are useful, because the rapidly flapping stems and thorns are a good thing to interpose between flame and Himei. Very suddenly, they slip between her and the fire, searing holes in them that make her flight a bit unsteady but preventing all damage to Himei herself.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    The blade in Mordred's hand splits wide down its length, turning into a jaw that can extend many feet wide; the slice Mordred goes for will attempt to SNAG the great beast, trying to use the weight of Mordred and her bike to slow it down, make an easier target, and eventually pin it. Well, no, that's a lie, those are all convenient side effects. It's actually trying to bite a chunk out of the Shajem and eat it.

Nox (546) has posed:
    With Adelyn taking care of the siphoning this time, Nox is able to lend the task at hand his full concentration, and thankfully, keep a considerable distance from the Shajem rather than having to be in close proximity this time. As a result, the wave of fear is well diminished by the time it reaches him, requiring only a moment to shake off. He is well familiar with the effects of a Shajem on one's mind after the bout with the Lord of Rage, and thus he is both well prepared, and determined not to fall for the same thing again.

    The Xelor winks in and out of existence a few times to dodge the stray blasts of flame that come his way, maintaining a respectable gap between himself and the enemy to provide ample time to react. Once it falls into a predictable loop, he summons his sword, Aiguille, to hand, flipping his grip on it, cocking it back over his head, and then hurling it like a javelin, plunging the blade into the approximate center of the Lord of Cowardice's frenzied circuit. Using the Xelor relic as a relay for his own power, Nox lets off a concentrated burst of temporal stagnation into the surrounding area, washing over the rocks with a quiet, electronic hum, hoping to catch the Shajem into the wave where it will suddenly have to compete with an overwhelmingly powerful pull on its timeline, stretching it from both ends to make every movement take place over a much longer timespan.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Focus on what you can do. Let those around you bear their burdens if they can." Utopia says, trying to gently encourage. Alongside that, it glows a soft blue, before flaring up as the Hypnosis bio-construct is hurled. It's tried to add a healthy dose of its own CALMING influence, and speaking of that, seems to be resisting the pulse particularly well.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    Ironclad Oath, on demand after Amalthea lands, flares a deeper red, the bracer now saturating her body with the glow that sinks in deep below the plates. Pain becomes a numb, distant sensation, like something that happens to someone else entirely. Her endurance receives a hefty boost.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    It takes Amalthea a second to disentangle herself from the myriad leafy greens of her impromptu landing. But there's no time to waste with Nathan on site now. Which means this has to be done. It has to be done fast. A steadying breath and she lets that distant sensation of her sensory perception dampening pain sensations to suit her needs.
    A flex of her fingers serves as wordless thanks to her Abstractum as she hoists her shield. So long as Psyber keeps Nathan's attention and they work fast, this can be done without him figuring out a thing.
    She hopes it can, anyway.
    That might be why the sudden muffled krump of her charge launches her in a straight blitz. Amid pink light, drive by cuttings, and the wards, Amalthea's means are about as direct as one can get.
    Because it's with the force and speed of a bus that she aims to slam herself down on top of the weasloid beast, shoving herself at it before she can let herself be persuaded off by the muted fear aura and...
    She tries to fucking rocket tackle the thing and pin, ignoring the creaking groan of armor and body protesting at the ensuing abuse that will no doubt follow.

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    With Nathan coming in, Elliana curses slightly and then focuses more on the task at hand. She'll need to.

    The Shajem flails about, letting out a shriek of pain now. Mordred's blade sinks deep into it, and clamps on to keep it from twisting away. Thsi is somewhat helped by the fact that the pink laser blasting across the top clips its tail, and Himei's attacks are indeed very painful. It's thus left almost defenseless when Reiji opens up its side, gouts of crackling energy escaping.

    This leaves the others to do their thing. Eleanor, in the midst of all this, manages to distract the Shajem with her attempts, and thus it's revealed just how weakened this being is by how swiftly the temporal distortion from Nox locks it down, pinning it in place for the others to get a clear shot.

    A very clear shot, as the drain begins to siphon off its energy, and Amalthea pins it down with a twisting, hissing display of anger and fear. Mostly the latter. The Shajem's power is rapidly bleeding off, though... there's still a lot of it compared to just anything else in this world, but it's been crippled badly. Only some of it remains, and it has regenerated a small portion already... just not enough.

    That's when the shining lance of light erupts from the cliff face, starting to curl over the creature, wrapping portions around it before vanishing, leaving it notably weakened. Elliana is attempting a Seal.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Stay here. There's someone down there." Nathan says, simply, to Ethan, before emerging from the ship at the side, moving down the steps at a quick clip. He was shielded from the pulse by a wall of fancy solar metals, but he won't be shielded from subsequent ones. He's hearing familiar shouted magical girl attacks, from below. He comes to the edge of the cliff, able to see it, just where Psyber will likely land, his expression blank and completely stoic despite seeing obvious signs of the collusion. He won't look up at Psyber yet, though he will recognize the angel ascending.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "You were already here." Is the first thing Nathan says, to Psyber. The next is, "Why are you here?" He glances to Himei and Amalthea's end of things, not quite seeing Eleanor's less flashy stuff. "Why are they here?" And then he's turning his gaze to Lezard and his barriers, Nox's big energy blasts, and Mordred's high-scale sword attacks, all of whom are recognized very distinctly. Adelyn and Elliana aren't, but he has enough data. "Why are /they/ here?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber lands next to Nathan and his wings vanish, looking at the General and saying, "I'm already here because I needed to salvage this mission, and I ordered the others to help me do so," He openly covers, taking sole responsibiluity, "They're here because it's for the good of all Terra Majora. You just can't see past your own locked-in viewpoint to realize that this isn't a problem that can be solved without both factions cooperating."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You weren't supposed to be here at all, frankly. You were supposed to be fixing your engagement," Psyber adds, his hands in his pockets, staring at Nathan, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    Given the range at which she's operating, Adelyn suffers only minor effects from the Shajem's emotion-manipulation. It's there, and she has relatively few defenses against it, but her will is sufficient. It helps that she's pushed into a hole in the wall from which she few visible stimuli. This is the kind of place someone might run to, if overcome with fear.

    Soon enough, even those effects pass, letting Adelyn focus entirely on her work. This is good, since the base difficulty of the task is by far increased. She's pulling the energy out, filtering it through her spellwork to avoid it bleeding off in all directions, and finally directing it into the crystal container.

    As Elliana knows her plan, she trusts that there will be no overt interference, as there was last time. This, at least, lets her continue at a measured pace, though she is still motivated to take as much energy as she can, before either the seal is completed or Nathan bypasses Psyber. Per her earlier warning, she'll stop when she feels a point of odd resistance, and then direct her magical senses--with Gishur's help--to determining whether there is anything left to drain.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Elenaor smiles a bit as she manages to 'subdue-ish' the Fear Demon, but she isn't about to give up just yet. She pulls out the climbing pick again, and starts making moves closer to the others now. She's got to get in and help support. Psyber's orders.
    She hooks and jumps up to close in, before reaching the solid ground that Amalthea just pasted the Shajem into. A glance around and up to Elliana, before she's shaking out her hands, and thinking the Shajem frozen, a blast of cryokinesis seeking to plaster it to the dirt under the Robot Unicorn.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan continues to not look up. He remains sickly and run-ragged enough that his pale face isn't much visible under the bangs that have grown a bit haphazard recently, and for some reason there's a bit too much glare to see the eyes. "She is draining away more of the Shajem energies." He says. Then his fists ball up a bit. "Despite your best efforts at reveling in the humiliation of the trap Lady Fairchild insisted on springing, I did manage to find the time. A spare eight hours to do what one will does wonders."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan remains, essentially, motionless. "You have specifically violated each of my explicitly stated interests in the name of what is best for Terra Majora. What is 'best for Terra Majora' involves handing the copious quantities of power to those who bring chaos and destruction to avoid making a phone call? Is that truly what you believe and intend to act on?"

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    This creature is significantly less powerful than it was the last time. Reiji leaps away from the Shajem just as Himei's magical assault strikes home. Dust scatters in his wake as he digs a narrow trench in the ground with the steel tips of his boots. Provided nothing goes wrong, this should be no problem at all.

...Provided nothing goes wrong.

Unfortunately things have already gone very, very wrong.

Whatever might happen, they need to keep up the pressure.

Pressure is something Reiji's fighting style is tremendously effective at maintaining.

    Reiji sheathes his wakizashi once more, and grabs hold of his shotgun instead. He fires it once, filling the space around the Shajem with enchanted fletchette bolts. He then... hurls it into the air and lunges forward, this time drawing both of his swords at once. The mobile arsenal is left behind.

     Fire and lightning dance in energetic arcs around the exorcist as he leaps once more for the weakening creature. Karin is swung first. Its flames catch the shrapnel unleashed by Hollywood's earlier blast, consuming them and burning brighter for it. Chirai is next, lightning arcing through the super-heated air, transforming the plumes of fire into clouds of energized plasma.

    He kicks away from the creature, hurling his two swords back towards the arsenal, and catches Hollywood in mid-flight. Gold is drawn to join it. He takes aim, squares his jaw, and pulls both triggers. Enchanted fletchettes and hardened slugs of magical metal are fired into the electric chaos and the Shajem within.

The recoil sends him sailing back towards his arsenal. He lands, holstering both guns and collecting his blades. His right hand hovers near their hilts as he prepares for whatever might come next.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber doesn't look much better than Nathan, but nominally so due to superhuman physique, "Her draining a small amount is part of the agreement to sealing Shajems. Part of what I had to broker after you lost sight of what it actually meant to lead this for the good of everyone." Psyber notes in a tired tone. His hand reflexively goes to his jacket, taking out his flask. Not open yet, but holding it.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You claim that I violated your interests, but what about you, Nathan?" Psyber notes, unscrewing the cap on his flask. He takes a sip, "You broke down a cross-factional agreement without even asking them for clarification. You accused the Confederates of lying while you deceived us all. I did what I had to to salvage operations on this world."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber spreads his arms out a bit, "So what do you want me to say here, Nathan?" He points out over the valley, "Unionites and Confederates, reaching an agreement to seal a Shajem for the good of Terra Majora. Something that would have been impossible had you been here, because you simply would not have allowed any compromise." He thrusts a finger at Nathan, "You don't care about Terra Majora. You don't care about helping people. You care about BEATING Elliana. You don't even want to WIN, you just want her to LOSE and you don't care how you get it."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan Hall is completely silent. But after a brief pause, there's a strange sparking noise from his body. "I told you that I regretted that secrecy now." He says. He still won't look at Psyber. "I told you why. And I told you I would not, again. I trusted that you would be on my side, trusted you when we talked about how to approach this now. I had intended to go to see this in secret. But I tried to tell myself things would be different if I was honest one more time."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    The sparking noises get a little more intense and repeated from Nathan. "But this. This is how you care about Terra Majora? She has murdered and killed and deceived and lied all her life, killing hundreds to get her way, and you /care/ about Terra Majora by letting her, helping her, do it /more/?" There's actually a few flickering, uncontrolled arcs of electricity. He trembles a bit, as if nauseous.

Himei (331) has posed:
    Himei has no idea if she's been recognized. Using her pink version was in the hopes of Nathan not recognizing her. But now that Psyber is talking to Nathan, she might as well use her full power. White light lances out again, blasting down any time the weasel-like Shajem tries to struggle free from Amalthea's grip. "How long until the Sealing is done?" She knows Elliana can work fast or slow depending on what she's doing, but has no idea what the criteria are.

Nox (546) has posed:
    With holding the Shajem still in time and space, Nox's attention is more or less monopolized by the task at hand. The number of melee fighters swarming around the Lord of Cowardice are difficult to work around, requiring him to selectively omit them from the localized temporal distortion as an utterly thankless task. Diverting some of his remaining focus, he selectively targets and accelerates the workings of Adelyn's power siphoning spell, increasing its cycling rate to speed up the flow of energy leaving its target. Altogether it's not especially flashy. He looks like he's just hovering there and staring, both arms outstretched as his magic works entirely invisibly. Only once Psyber flies off does he distract himself as much as he can afford, only then catching sight of the ostentatious airship. The eyes of his mask narrow, immediately sensing the general tone of this event.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "And I believe you regretted that secrecy. But for me to salvage this, for me to get a cooperative effort going with the Confederates, deals had to be made," Psyber says to Nathan very seriously, "You apologized to me. But what about them? What about the Confederates? Where was their apology for you walking in there with a secret plan?" Psyber knocks back another sip of his flask, "For cross-factional collaberation to occur, your exclusion was necessary."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "And this..." Psyber looks tired. So tired. Exhausted as Nathan launches into a tirade about Elliana, "All of her life is hyperbolic and you know it. She was once a girl who was betrayed. In response, she shut herself off and did what she had to in order to adapt. It was more extreme, but didn't you do the same in response to her?" Psyber rubs his face with his palm, not seeming mad so much as weary, "I'm not HELPING her kill people. I'm helping seal the Shajem. I'm helping study the Shajem. I'm ACTUALLY trying to learn how to fix this place."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    The trembling from Nathan gets a little more intense. He looks very sick. There's a soft, flickering purple fire that gently slips from his mouth like blood from someone suffering the ill effects of internal wounding. There's a very gentle rumble. "I am /nothing/ like her." He says, with the first bit of emotion in his voice. His teeth are gritted when he finally does look at Psyber, though his eyes still can't be seen.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
As much as Lezard finds the confrontation between Nathan and Psyber interesting, he's occupied dealing with closing in the net. Every moment, he works on shrinking the potential movements of the Shajem, trying to reduce its movement potential even if it somehow breaks free. He takes his lockdowns very seriously, sir and/or madam. The arrival of the Seal is good. It means he won't have long to go.

Hopefully, everything continues to go well at this rate.

Well... Well for a given definition of the term. Psyber's got problems.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "No, Nathan. You're EVERYTHING like her," Psyber takes an opposite stance to Nathan. If Nathan wants to be quiet, Psyber will opt to shout. But he'll do so through a hand over his face. He tosses his flask and then rubs his hand downward across his face, "And I think that scares you. That you KNOW if you were just ONE degree to the left, you'd be Elliana. Your origin story, all this power and prestige you've built, you got it on the back of her betrayal."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "No one saved you from the slums when you were there, just like her. And for that, I will NEVER stop apologizing. But because of it, you grabbed your bootstraps and you adapted," He thrusts a finger at Nathan, "Whatever it took just so you'd feel whole again. So you'd feel like you could LIVE. Yours was an emotional gutter, hers was a physical one. That's the ONLY difference."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I fucking failed you as a friend in that much. We all did. We were so focused on our petty revenge that we didn't notice you clammed up and internalized it all. You have actual victim's trauma," Psyber continues to drill into Nathan, "But you're an Elite. You live in the Multiverse. So a gun didn't cut it. You got god powers. You got Exalt powers. You got... Hastur's powers. Anything so you could feel safe. This isn't about Elliana, Nathan. It's about YOU and YOUR traumas. You NEED a demon because you've made it define you. But you're chasing a white whale and it will drag you under."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Is this really who you want to be, Nathan?" Psyber rants at the librarian, "Instead of 'Nathan the Librarian', 'Nathan the General', 'Nathan the HUSBAND', you want to be 'Nathan the Victim'. You have built so much into this chase towards stopping her that you lost perspective. You miss the forest for the trees. I could sit here and throw cliches at you all day, but the point is still the same. You NEED Elliana to be your monster because you're scared of letting that go and finding you have nothing left."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "And now look what your hatred has made me do," Psyber spreads his arms out as if presenting the entire scenario to Nathan, "You always said that you'd get stopped if you went too far. That someone would step in against you if you crossed the line into unreasonability." Psyber seems to make a gesture as if presenting the operation below once more, "Here we fucking are, Nathan. I have betrayed an organization I believed in for 8 and a half years. I could be up on the block for TREASON. And I did so because you forced this as the only outcome."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Then there's a gentle quiet, broken only by the rumbling. Nathan goes back to looking down at the events going on. Odd lines of yellow are flickering around his arms. The rumbling grows a bit more intense. Cracks in the earth form under his feet. He doesn't seem to want to acknowledge what Psyber said, and he tries to push on. Softly, but tersely, he whispers as an attempt to disguise the emotion in his voice. It's... Not anger. It's something else that doesn't seem to fit entirely, it seems disjointed. "You didn't answer the question I asked you."

Elliana Fairchild (92) has posed:
    There's... not much fight left in the Shajem. Reiji and Mordred pounding it while it's down, and Himei pinning it down with cover fire... in its weakened state, the fight is pretty short. These are all some pretty powerful hits, and it's now wailing and sending out flashes of fear, trying to sink its hooks into anyone's mind and forcing them to recall their greatest fears. It's pretty clumsy in doing it though... it's just too weak, with its power being siphoned out. It's likely that not ALL of it will be taken, but Adelyn, on the lookout for that, can sense some of it is getting pretty 'thick' now. Lezard is getting less than before as well, as it runs out.

    This wasn't a bad job, nope. Nox cuts off its last escape route, even if it could squirm fully free of Amalthea's grip, so it finally gives up and quiets down, allowing the numerous 'ropes' of light to drag it down into the cliff surface itself. There remains the question of just where Elliana is sealing it, but it does look like it's vanishing away at last, as the fear effect fades rapidly.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan hunches over a bit, as if even more nauseated, holding a hand to his mouth. A cyan and yellow light dribbles out, dissipating as it falls. He breathes a bit heavily. Is this the Shajem's last pulse of fear? It's something, at least. "Is this what you'll continue to do? Help her? You, and the others?" He doesn't even seem to acknowledge the idea that Psyber could be up on the block, or that he'd be accused of treason in the first place. The arcs of electricity grow even more intense though. A gentle puple flame is beginning to form on him. The rumbling is getting more substantial.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    In response to the flares of energy and the lines going over Nathan's arm, Psyber appears to be preparing in kind. His arms move slowly and he slips them out of his coat to the t-shirt underneath. It's not so dramatic as Nathan flaring and churning with his powers, but if he and Nathan got into a slugfest, he doesn't want the coat in his way, "Which question? About how if this is how I'm going to help Terra Majora? Yeah, it is, Nathan."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "And, if you force me to choose, I will choose to help Elliana for so long as I believe she is doing what is right for the world. I will act as I always have, opposing her when she's wrong and cooperating when she's right. Can YOU say the same? I notice you don't have much of a response to my other statement, Nathan," Psyber says, his hands curling into fists in kind as he glares at the General, "Another man's evil does not make you good, Nathan. You've gone off the rails, so of course it fell to me to move to counter that where I could."

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Well, that's mostly handled now. The Shajem anyways.

    Eleanor, however, is now focused with precision on the mounting... situation... between her two Bosses. She carefully hefts that climbing pick, the head subtlely crusting with frost. She's wishing this will turn out... alright.

    It will not.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan's head bows, His face his hidden when he turns from Psyber. The rumbling, the fire, the flickering, the electricity, the light, all come to a head immediately in a singular moment. There's a massive burst. Wind and water and ice, diabolical fire, roiling earth. The statement that he, and the others presumably, will choose Elliana, his him. He seems to double over from something, as this spills out of him in a completely uncontrolled way.

    And then it terminates with a single flash at his face.

    There's a sharp crack of glass fracturing.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Fine." Nathan says, simply, standing back up. There's no more weird displays of magic. "I give up."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The Shajem has given up. Lezard doesn't see a need to maintain his defenses any longer, especially as the conflict between Psyber and Nathan have come to a head. He quickly begins to enact another teleportation, preparing to remove the crystal from danger.

And then there is that surge of power. Lezard's eyes widen in a crackle of genuine fear as he feels the sudden power spike, and he turns to look in the direction of Nathan.

The sudden change causes Lezard to watch Nathan carefully. He is quiet, considering the situation... And he nods, turning away. A teleportation ring begins forming under him as well as the crystal.

It will be better if he is not here, he thinks.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Thwump. This is the sound of Amalthea hitting the ground after wrestling the Shajem down like a WWE pro, once the thing is bound down for sealing. A hisssss of steam from angry joints and her gaze silently turns up to the airship.

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    A very minor ward is holding up the tiny hollow in which Adelyn is working, just to keep the cliff from destabilizing. It's not made to stand up to any real attack, but it's enough to feel the first sense of something happening above her. Something is damaging the ground, and that puts her present position at risk. She may be fine, but the crystal constitutes delicate, experimental equipment.

    Elliana hadn't defined precisely what it would feel like to be pulling at the last of the Shajem's essence, and she has to make a guess. Blind guessing is less acceptable when multiple guesses won't be allowed, and she therefore proceeds on the cautious side, cutting off the draining effect and completing the sealing of what energy she's gained, with Nox's assistance, into the container.

    With a concerned frown and some unvoiced resentment for unreasonable individuals, she firmly seals up the crystal itself in another ward, making it safe enough to grab and leap out into open air. She falls for a moment before the wind catches her, lifting her up in a rustle of robes. Lezard's position is her destination, but this will have to be a by-hand send-off to be safe.

    This is the moment at which Nathan, unseen from the direction she's facing, explodes. She can't possibly frown any more deeply, but the effects have not reached her defenses. She's not going to wait to see if anything else happens, nor to turn and watch--that would be irrational, as she is already moving further away.

    Assuming Lezard has his a hand free for it, she passes the item off to him. Only then does she look up the cliff face. "Analysis? Uncertain. Too many moving pieces. Cessation?" She's muttering.

Reiji Arisu has posed:
    Reiji waits and holds for a counterattack that never comes. Not physically. It tries to claw at his emotions again- tries to dredge up the greatest of his fears. But he knows She is strong. Strong enough to take care of herself.

No matter how much this Dark God is trying to make him think otherwise.

     Fortunately, the creature is contained before it can take hold. The Shajem is weakened, bound and is thus no longer a threat. What is happening overhead, however, just might be.

    The exorcist frowns as he turns his eyes to the sky. Magical energies of all kinds erupt overhead-- and then abruptly cease. "What," he murmurs, "The hell is even going on up there?"

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    Eleanor looks over at Reiji, and murmurs. "Mr Hall is confronting himself. There is a lot to confront."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber immediately jumps back as magic flares out, his hands coming up into a fighter's stance before the swirls and then watches it come right back in towards Nathan before he can react. When the man states that he gives up as he stands to his feet, Psyber tiredly spreads his arms and says, "The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such victory would utterly undo him," The half-angel sighs tiredly and then just... looks at Nathan, "I'm sorry. This isn't ever what I wanted. Not to hurt you or anyone. I doubt you'll believe me, Nathan, but I'm so sorry and... this is the farthest thing from what I wanted."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "All those times you just thought I was screaming at you overher on the radio, all the times you said you just wanted me to stop? You may not get it, Nate, but... I was trying my best to stop this very moment. Maybe two years ago, three years ago, if I was like I am now I could have stopped this," The half-angel moves both hands to his face and rubs it tiredly. He takes a long moment, "I can't debate like you. Or talk like you. Or negotiate like you. Any of that. But every time we came at eachother, I just wanted to resolve it with some finality, and I always made it worse."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "So," Psyber finishes, picking up his jacket, "I never wanted this victory. Not like this. I don't even call it a victory, because you're clearly not alright if you're blasting yourself in the face with magic."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "My apologies." Nathan says, simply. "I had a brief moment of difficulty. It has passed. I believe you. This is only because there is simply one thing you were wrong about." Nathan says. He turns back to Psyber. There's a mess of hairline cracks in the right lens of his glasses now, giving the eye a strange, unearthly appearance. "I am not able to hurt my friends like she is to get what I think is right. Tell her that I surrender. She can continue the Binding as it is. Or, if she will have it, I will offer my help, and the Binders I brought with me will likely follow, to restore the roaming Negotiation. The Confederates may take their prize. I will offer the alternate binding, and she may reject it if she chooses. I will comply with the negotiated terms."

Nox (546) has posed:
    It's a good thing the Shajem is handled when it is. Even in its severely weakened state, the effort of restraining it was significantly taxing, and Nox won't reap the spoils of this particular harvest for some time. More importantly, it frees up his attention just as the first flickers of power bleed from Nathan Hall, drawing his full and immediate focus. He knows exceedingly little about the Union's general, and only slightly more about his closest friend, and so the true nuance of their confrontation is lost on him, but the Xelor cannot possibly fail to notice the steadily escalating flood of raw energy that pours fourth from the Librarian in mounting waves; incredible puissance where there was absolutely nothing before. This of course, makes several kinds of priority lists at once, completely flipping Nox's opinion of the previously worthlessly unremarkable general, and predictably, getting all kinds of mental and literal gears turning. Though the brief conflict between Psyber and Nathan resolves without violence, he has plenty to think on.

Eleanor Lamb (40) has posed:
    The quiet now... Eleanor just looks up at Psyber and Nathan.

    It is not a quiet she trusts. Not out of Psyber or out of Nathan. That sort of anger, pain, it doesn't just flit out of existance. Not even in the slightest.
    There's a twitch of her lips, and Eleanor's fingers find her cell phone.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I don't think she can do that any more, Nathan," Psyber says to the man in a tired tone. The half-angel heaves a massive sigh as he stares at Nathan for a while. He turns away from the man and says, "For whatever you care, I really am sorry."

    Picking up his coat and throwing it back around his shoulders, the half-angel stares at the ground for a long period of time, "Some day you'll understand a number of mitigating circumstances to what happened today. When that day comes, it will be okay if you choose to hate me," He says quietly.

    "I also claim sole responsibility for all acts of treason, insubordination, or criminal content as the commanding officer. What is your call, General Hall?" Psyber asks with finality, his back still to the General.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "I believe that you regret this." That part is whispered. "My call?" Nathan says, turning away from the canyon and looking back to Psyber. Only the fractured eye is visible from this angle. "What do I have to make a call about?" He tilts his head. "The treason? I told you. I am not capable of hurting my friends for what I think is right." He makes a plaintive sort of gesture with both hands, and speaks what is simultaneously the best and worst thing that could be said at the moment:

    "Choose your own punishment."

Adelyn Lysen (202) has posed:
    To Adelyn, Nathan's words are unsurprising. It was his control over his powers, and not his conclusions, over which she was uncertain. He's made the only rational choice. For the moment, of course. It's not as if she trusts him, and she therefore maintains a healthy paranoia over his future plans. For *now*, he has no reasonable course but to comply.

    That he was previously irrational even in the short-term is something of which she's aware, but it's somewhat difficult for her to factor in. Understanding explicitly irrational behavior is both difficult and uncomfortable.

    Her attention turns toward the Shajem, or what's left of it to bind. She can provide no assistance with that particular task, but trusts that Elliana is fully capable of handling it, with or without the assistance of the group Nathan has brought. What she can help with is providing a location that is somewhat less open to view, and the elements. Fortunately, there is a cliff face right here. It's already reasonably inaccessible to reach. If it's just to hide the thing--well, someone else may have to build on her work, but she'll do what she can in a short timeframe.

    Earth-shaping comes naturally enough to an enchanter of her aptitude, thanks to the necessary affinities of Realm magic. Spell-circles flare disappear, rotate and reconfigure, and stone and earth respond. A narrow, hidden cave should suffice, she thinks, to camouflage the location, disguised as a naturally irregular portion of the cliff.

    At the least, the incomplete binding Nathan performed has brought all of this to a location that most would fear to approach, in the first place.

Himei (331) has posed:
    Himei sees the Binding is taking, and finally she lands nearby where Nathan and Psyber are confronting one another. She can speak, if she wants, but she's going to leave it in Psyber's hands for now. This is something that they've been building up, she'd be doing little good if she interfered.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Like I said, I don't expect you to believe me," Psyber murmurs back in response. The half-angel lets out a tired sort of... defeated noise when Nathan plays the card of letting him pick his own punishment.

    "My own punishment?" Psyber asks, his mind flicking over any number of possibilities. The Brig would just take him off the front lines and detriment the Union efforts. He already does enough community service. He's genuinely lost in this moment and lets out a slow exhale, "Shit. I dunno, I'll figure something out."

    "Failing anything else, I'll just step into a General position on the council or something as my punishment."

    It's a joke, but it's a weak one. Mostly because he has no actual punishment he can give himself.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Unacceptable." Nathan says, remaining stoic-faced. "The Union does not permit cruel and unusual punishment, even in a court-martial situation. You will need to find something else." He hasn't missed a single beat there. Though there's something... Off about how he gets back into his first joke in months. Something wrong. It's off.

    Hmmm.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Despite them exchanging a brief joke, Psyber can still feel something off in the entire arrangement. It's as if the half-angel, on some level, knows that he didn't so much convince Nathan he was right as much as he just bullied Nathan until he finally broke to avoid conflict.

    "I'll figure out a punishment later. I'll see you at home."

    He thrusts his hands into the pockets of his coat and then starts walking off.