4274/Ye Olde Chase Scene

Ye Olde Chase Scene
Date of Scene:	02 July 2016
Location:	Bayern Region
Synopsis:	Rescuing Athela and her courier from pursuing Team Golem cultists.
Cast of Characters:	Staren, 262, Count Kord, 984, Athela Valemore, Lexicon

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Athela Valemore has posed:
The wilderness of Bayern was a very dangerous place, even for the experienced. If the aggressive animalistic Pokemon don't get you, there's always the chance that bandits or other nefarious individuals will. Trade routes tried to avoid the worst of the areas, but even they weren't immune to the unscrupulous taking advantage of such trails being well-known and well-travelled. Many traders going to Bugen didn't have a choice, unless they wanted to risk their wares and their lives trying to bypass the Slug Moor marshlands off the beaten path. Between you and me, you're probably better off dealing with the bandits.

The forthnight's encounter with the mysterious mechanical assassin may of slowed Athela down a bit but it wasn't enough to stop her from proceeding with her duty. The courier and their package was important, if they could convince the Bugen officials that Team Golem may be operating within the region, maybe they would finally get off their bloody fat arses and get the militia to at least try and do something about it. But that event had left her in a pessimistic mindset, as well as down one pokemon and with a still aggrivating wound of her own. Escort missions were annoying enough as it was.

Needless to say, as soon as things started to go south, the young knight wasted no time in putting out a call for immeadiate help. She was in no shape to deal with a horde of zealots and their faker pokemon on her own.

The stretch of wilderness was primarily fields of the long grass pokemon are notorious for hiding in. Following Athela's hasty directions from the nearest warpgate doesn't take long to find the main trade route leading to Bugen, as it is the only thing in the vicinity resembling a large dirt-laden road. The Knight of Keldeo's ni mane-like locks of reddish-orange are a hard sight to miss, as Athela is barreling down the route on the back of a porter Dodrio -- strange galloping bird that looks like an ostrich with three heads that it is. Presumably the young, more plain dressed young girl riding a second Dodrio next to her is the courier she was charged to protect.

The trouble is not hard to find behind them, as the two are being pursued by a pack of a good three dozen or so Growlithes. They were hardly your typical firehusky pokemon though, as a closer view reveals those familiar black stripes to be painted upon bodies of red and grey clockworks, Their eyes are no more than sunken embers illuminated by whatever elemental furnace within empowers them, their manes and tails composed of the smokey plumes being expelled out of vents in the back of the head and body instead of thick fluffy hair.

And behind them three more follow, these big enough to be the previous Toy Pokemon crossed with the size and bulk of a bear, plumed in grisely manes of the same hot smoke instead of hair. Upon their backs ride three cloaked figures, their faces obscured by strange maskes that bear no visible eyes, just a pattern of dots mimicing the unholy monsters they serve.

Staren has posed:
    The Multiverse is full of things that only make it worse for other people. Things that the Multiverse would be better off without. Things that need someone to destroy them.

    Team Golem is one of those things.

    So a short while after the call for help, a freaking /fighter jet/ flies in from where the warpgate is. Or perhaps not quite a fighter jet -- as it approaches, arms and legs unfold underneath it, and it uses thrusters on the legs to slow down. Missile packs under the wings fire enough plasma missiles to bombard the growlithes and bears, superheating the air around them enough to turn that part of the field to ash in an instant.

    Only THEN does Staren speak, over loudspeakers: "Hey! So, you jerks don't believe in free will, right? Then would you please just die? My superior technology demands it. Sorry about your paradise, but, you know, fate and all that, it was never meant to be. Accept it and move on. To do otherwise would be using /free will/. To /care/ would be indulging in /emotion/. So either give up and die, or betray everything you stand for!"

    And only /after/ delivering payloads of snark and plasma does he remember that growlithes are fire type. Damn.

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Ah, Dodrio. They're renowned for their speed, one of the fastest land-bound Pokemon ... and yes, they are land-bound despite being birds. Or at least, Fiera's never seen a flying Dodrio.

Upon emerging from the warpgate, Fiera immediately released Arashi, letting the Fearow carry her through the air towards Athela's location - although as soon as Fiera spots the Toy Pokemon, she changes her mind about how to approach. She does NOT want to be airborne when she still has terribly strong memories of some pack of jerk cultists unleashing enough electrical attacks to one-shot her Gyarados. Just remembering it makes her twitchy - and Arashi picks up on that, growling, "Fearrrrrrrr ..." before Fiera winces slightly, and attunes her spirit with the Fearow's enough to restrain the utterance.

As Arashi starts shedding speed, Fiera goes over her options. Taki would surely love to wipe out the cultists - revenge by proxy for the last time; the Gyarados is no more pleased about that incident than Fiera herself. Foxfire would at least be resistant to fire attacks, the Ninetales being a fire-type herself - but that would leave her starting on the back foot in terms of raw attack power. Maybe.

One of her other options may be best to start out with, Fiera decides ... and as her feet touch the ground - admittedly, well behind the Dodrios and their pursuers - the red-haired trainer/miko makes her decision, recalling Arashi with one hand and popping another Pokeball open with the other. "Kiseki, time to roll up another miracle ... !"

And no sooner has her Golem materialized fully than the rock/ground-type pulls its arms, legs, and head into its body like an overweight turtle and starts rolling in pursuit of the Toy Growlithes and their more ursine-looking companions.

She may need to try ahead and get AHEAD of the Dodrio-riders and their cultist pursuers before she can do any good, but attacking from behind normally has its advantages ... and she'd rather not launch an offensive from the vantage point of 'about to be run over by a half-dozen fire-type constructs whose riders don't have to go noticeably out of their way to make it happen'.

Lexicon has posed:
    "Keep going!"

    The voice sounds from a rock formation that would be prime for an ambush, except it's not two Dodrio-riders that are being ambushed. A gleaming silver rod topped with a clear gemstone sails down at high speed, impaling itself in the center of the road with plenty of warning for the Knights to avoid it, even as fangs flip out to frame the gemstone and it begins to glow with a pale light. The source jumps down not long after, a brown-haired girl in a white slip dress, trailing a heavy jacket--and silvery white sparkles of light.

    By the time she hits the ground, that girl's been replaced by a blue-haired woman in a white bodysuit, curved plates of armor flickering in around her legs, hips, arms, and shoulders. Wings of light materialize from her back as she rises from a two-footed landing into a floating posture.

    Hands reach out, data gathering between them until it materializes into a mechanized haft, which in turn produces a silver-white energy blade and reveals its true self: An enormous axe.

    Crimson eyes snapping open, Lexicon swings her axe aside one-handed, blocking the road with her body and her weapon. That DCC sigil glows in her piples as she roars, "COME ON, ASSHOLES. /TRY/ AN' GET PAST ME. I FUCKIN' DARE YOU!"

    ...The Kind, Noble, and Wise DCC of Britannica, everyone.

Count Kord has posed:
A loud, rumbling horse nickering can be heard across the plain as a Rapidash speeds down the plain. Standing on its back with his battle scythe propped on one of his shoulders and his other claw gauntlet protected hand holding the reins is a familiar man. Count Kord is on the hunt.

    He snaps the reins twice, his body crouched and wobbling to maintain his balance. He looks a little insane doing that, like any quick bump could knock him off of his steed. He moves at such a speed that his cape flows out behind him and even his Pokemon-like tail of red and black waves behind him, snapping back and forth to maintain his absurd balance. He is notorious in this world for doing superhuman things like this, so it won't come as a surprise to the locals. At least not until he manifests a pair of wings and springboards off of his Rapidash at the last second, aiming to T-bone one of the Team Golem riders off the mechanical steed with a vicious drop kick! It'll require precise timing and the element of surprise, but he's got a lot of practice doing crazy things like this!

    The Rapidash slows and follows behind, trying to keep pace so that Kord can land back on its back if he needs to. Hardly a combat Pokemon, but certainly trained just well enough to not freak out during odd battle maneuvers.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Growlithe may be typed of elemental fire, but plasma isn't exactly 'fire' in itself. Not in the stricted sense, and if one wanted to argue the concept of how plasma most likely appears in the world it could be Electric. Of course, there is also the fact that it's -exploding- as the missiles hit the ground, and that in itself sends construct Growlithes tumbling in multiple directions. A good number of them do get back up, but their clockpunk bodies are clearly damaged from the blast.

A few at the head of the pack manage to avoid the bombardment, snapping at the Dodrios' heels. The porter animals aren't trained to fight, just run, and run is something they do very well even without additional coaxing from their riders. Athela turns to look back as a staff whistles between the two of them to imbed in the ground, and the woman that follows with massive axe to be a farther obstacle. Some of the Growlithes veer wide to try and get around here, though most of them stop, opening their maws to spew balls of fire at the new interloper.

Golem may not be the fastest of rollers, but that's what Rock Polish is for. That and the Arcanine riders aren't going their top speed in an effort to keep behind the pack they are commanding. On the other hand, Golem isn't exactly QUIET either and one of the great firedog-constructs turns at the sound. Masked rider brases himself as approx. 700 pounds of moving stone slam into the faux creature, shoving it backwards. Gears screech together as one of its back legs bends at the wrong angle and jams, it's body already battered and dented. But that does stop the rider from pointing their staff at their attacker and the Toy Arcanine launches back at the Golem aimed to slam into it with Reversal and turn that damage it just took into another powerful attack of its own!

A Rapidash barrels pash the growing gathering of interference, only for the rider to leap off and descend upon one of the other cultists like a vast predatory bird. (SHUT UP FURMAN THIS REALLY IS PART BIRD). Kord sends the cultist tumbling to the ground, but the Arcanine is quick to turn and blast fire at the Lord of Dragoni.

"Stow your blathemous blather, infestor from the outter realm!" The third cloaked man bellows back at Staren in a deep voice, even as he heels his own steed to use Agility to continue the chase, attempting to leap right past the strange girl with the axe if he must. While doing such he points his staff skyward, the head of the arcane device glowing fiery colors.

Is that.. would he really come this far just to hunt the followers of the Regis?... "Keep going!" Athela repeats the insistance to her companion, not wasting the time to dwell on Cord's presence at the moment.

Near Staren there's a rumbling not far from his machine's feet, before the ground erupts upward in a showering splay of dirt and rock. Out of the clouds of debris rises a massive serpentine form of gleaming metal, the plates composing the segments of it's body having been hammered and bent to give the armor covering the clockworks that rough, rock-like look. Instead of steel spikes jutting off the sides of its body like a normal Steelix, this one has gear-driven clockwork drills, as is the end of it's tail. Which screechs to life as the massive steel serpent swings said tail at Staren's mech. The cultist sitting atop the behemoth's head is probably looking smug, but the masks make it impossible to tell.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Karal Rei Lin had agreed to help in efforts against this awful gang, and so she has come to make do on that promise.

    Joining the pursuit... on foot... is no easy task. She appears to be straining rather heavily to keep up with the Pokemon, beads of perspiration rolling down her forehead to the point that she's eventually forced to tie a bandana over her forehead. Her legs pump at astounding speeds though, easily clocking in at a wolf's frantic marathon pace...

    Which isn't really fast enough, even so.

    "Gotta go fast... even faster!" But HOW?

    This is definitely something she'll need to work on.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Bringing up the rear actually turns out to be in Karal's favor. She would be the one to spot the figure slipping in from the direction of the marshlands. The staff held by this one glowed a sickly purple instead, followed by a number of artificual moth-like pokemon that puff fumes of noxious Poison smoke with every beat of their wings.

Between the fire pack, the Steelix and now a Poison controller; they had intended to trap the two travellers betwix the three sides.

Whatever the courier had, they clearly wanted it back.

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Fortunately for Kiseki (and indirectly, for Fiera), Rock-type Pokemon are generally very hardy against physical attacks - and that's part of what Fiera was banking on when she tossed Kiseki into the fray. Even Reversal doesn't *quite* break through that ...

But that's not to say it doesn't hurt. "GOL!!!" Kiseki roars, knocked out of the Rollout technique by that reversal; Fiera winces in a comparable amount of pain, shaking her head to clear it. "All right, you miserable screwheads, Fiera snaps at the cultists, recalling the Golem and swapping Pokeballs. "You may think you can handle playing with fire, but --" The new Pokeball opens, a streak of light erupting before it resolves into ...

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!"

... a very angry Gyarados. "-- you should have dressed for a swim!!" Fiera finishes, yelling to be heard over the sound of the water/flying serpent's roar. "TAKI!! DROWN THESE MORONS!!"

Taki lets out an even louder roar, revving up and unleashing a Hydro Pump attack against the cultist who stopped Kiseki in his tracks. While Fiera might not technically have *needed* to recall the Golem, it was probably just as well - splash damage stings, and Taki's in sufficiently high dudgeon not to care about friendly fire.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord is quick to recover, not going down with his target and instead beating those spiritually-manifested wings so that he can avoid the brunt of the fire blast the fake Arcanine throws in his direction. He lands back on the Rapidash, and he leans in to command the creature to run toward the construct itself while his cape smolders and his hair glows at the ends, having barely avoided being cooked alive. The Rapidash makes a beeline for the construct and then... it halts a good distance away from the mechanized thing, giving Kord a slingshot momentum. He launches his scythe into the machine's side, and lands in a crouch on the other side of it, trying to embed the weapon in the creature. But what will he do when he doesn't have a weapon!?

    He gets up to a stand and holds out his hand, beckoning his weapon toward him to lasso the mechanical thing, and then he spins in place with a flash of shadow and tries to kick it with the heel of his boot in its center of mass, using Dark-type power to try to shatter the Fire-type construct with a viciously lethal intent, using the two-pronged force to emulate the Crunch attack with a suitable noise if it makes contact. "HRRRRAAA!!!" And he's apparently roaring like an adrenaline-fueled berserker, that voice rumbles loudly across the plains.

Staren has posed:
    Okay, missiles, mixed success. Staren has a plan B ready, and lands to deploy it. The shoulder packs sliding off the back of the machine and thudding to the ground. "Aww, you're just mad because /I/ figured out your ideology is inconsistant and-- Ugh!" Staren starts to lecture in an almost sing-songy tone, when a Steelix swings for him, smashing against one of the mecha's (currently chicken-walker) legs, with a screech of metal on metal. Staren reflexively counterattacks, the left arm projecting a beam sword and swinging at the steelix as he takes to the air, that section of leg armor in sorry shape as some parts of the plating rip off, caught on the drills, and others are left with holes and tears. The machine hovers away as Staren brings the right arm to bear -- its arm pack opens to reveal the end of the barrels of a high-velocity gatling gun which starts flinging metal at the steel-type. Is that a good idea? Does that count as a metal-type attack? Who knows?

    Meanwhile, Plan B deploys, the dropped-off packs opening and dozens of constructs marching out, like animated statues. They're equine in shape, but the proportions are wrong. Like someone who'd never seen a real ponyta saw a child's plush toy of one and thought that was close to the real shape. Or like they're based on Equestrian ponies.

    The unicorn golems swarm out, charging the Toy pokemon that have stopped to fight, and chasing after those who are still after Athela and the courier. They are made of solid metal, and hit like it.

    And that's their sole advantage, really. They're not great fighters and their only moves seem to be charging, body-checking and hoof-stomping. Their horns aren't even sharp enough to properly gore with. In truth, they're designed as a distraction, low-quality construct soldiers that can take a bunch of hits and tie up enemy forces so his allies have less to deal with. Hopefully Team Golem won't realize that too quickly!

Athela Valemore has posed:
The cloak and masked zealot was feeling quite confident in themself when Fiera recalls the Golem, the swell of cockiness overshadowing the weird non-gem way the cleric (priestess, miko, whatever) retrieves her injured pokemon. "Your pet rock cannot stand gainst the powers of the true ones! Leave now and prehaps ye shall be spared long enough to die in her sleep like a proper trull--"

And then the Gyarados rears up as it manifests, roaring with such ferociousness that it splays spittle all over his Regi-dotted mask.

The spittle is nothing compared to the enraged fury of aquaphilic force that torrents from the ogoponogo's gaping maw afterwards, sheer force hurtling the construct Arcanine across the field to slam into the rocks that had previously been used as a hiding place. It collapses in a heap, leaking out some sort of ichor from it's elemental furnace being doused in it's polar opposite.

The cultist hits the ground just as hard, an audible *SNAP* heard as the head of his staff breaks off, rending the mechanical beast truely still.

Lexicon has posed:
    Now that she has the pursuers' attention, Lexicon hurls herself backwards, keeping herself between the Growlithe horde and the fleeing porters, "You think you're all pretty clever, huh?" she hisses. Her axe swings back, interposing itself between her and the incoming fireballs. Striking the haft does nothing of note, and curiously striking the woman carrying it also appears to do nothing--she only sheds off motes of light in hexagonal shapes when struck, dissipating damaged data. No blood, only a dark mark on her pristine white outfit.

    "I'll deal with the bulk of 'em first-!" Her grip on the axe shifts and she sweeps it overhead in a wide arc which brings the blade up in a crescent to her side, trailing blue-tinged light, "LATENT KATASTROPHE!"

    Light shears off as she brings her weapon over her head, freezing into snowflakes. Grasping it in both hands, she hesitates for just a second. The pause is only brief before she slams it down, throwing out a shorter, denser cone of ice spikes in front of her. Unlike the barriers, the spines in this wave are all pointed in one direction--Outward from the point of impact, surging into the mechanized pokemon hounds.

Athela Valemore has posed:
The acrobatics of the Count of Dragoni tear his dark blade into the body of the construct trying to roast him, a gout of flames from it's internal heat source spewing out of the opening as he lands and skids away. Only to abuse the arcane nature of his scythe to yank the fake beast to him, and promptly crush it in two.

As two haves of the broken monster collapse at Kord's sides, the cultist that had been riding it has gotten up and is running after the Growlithes still in pursuit. He might be the one in actual control of them...

That or he's pissed off at seeing one of their enemies release their own version of constructs. "HOW DARE YE! ONLY THE CHOSEN OF THE TRUE GODS SHALL HARNESS THE POWER OF ARTIFICIALLITY!" More zealot ranting of course, but he does wave his staff to turn several of the remaining Growlithes on the incoming ... things. "AND YOUR RAPIDASH ARE HIDEOUS!" He doesn't know what else to compare them to, really.

Hit flashes ring up and down the clockwork Steelix's (though it's metal either way so pointing it out is kind of moot) length. Which the chip damage may not be great in its own right, Staren is (maybe unknowingly) giving himself a future advantage, as even dings and dents do one important thing -- Cancel out of the 'survive one hit from full health' affect of Sturdy.

Fire types aren't really bothered by Ice attacks, but Lexicon's trick does something else. The barrier it produces is like an icy version of Spikes, the frozen blockade stabbing and cutting the fire abominations as they try to climb over and through it to get to her. She's got a good shot at really doling out some damage as they try to get past her obstruction.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Karal Rei Lin comes to a skidding halt when a HOLLOW STEELIX comes barreling out of the ground. Letting THAT THING run amok and wreck Staren's mech would be a mistake, as Lin doesn't feel confident that she can KEEP UP with this chase on foot...

    But that vehicle of Staren's surely can.

    The only problem is... that thing looks HUGE and... and made of metal.

    At first her hand dips to her own steel blade... but then... "No point. It'll just shatter again!" So.

    Power sizzles in her palms, and leaps out to coaelsce into a blazing sword of swirling gold-crimson-violet energy, shaped vaguely like a katana... but thicker, longer...

    Then she remembers that the mission is protecting someone.

    And grunts.

    Can she really hope to catch up?

    ... And that's when UNICORN GOLEMS go charging past. "I'm catching a ride!" She warns the nearest, leaping atop its back.

    SOMEHOW or another she manages to STAND atop it as it gallops at a furious pace, easily matching or exceeding what she was at before.

    But just... how she's keeping her balance so well, that's a mystery. By any sense of logic nobody could do that in this situation.

    Once the Unicorn reaches its target she vaults off and goes charging across the ground, screaming a ferocious, resounding battlecry.

    It's so ferocious and bone-chilling that even things with no emotions or thoughts, like these 'Toy Pokemon', may end up briefly fearing for their lives...

    As for those things WITH emotions, having a yelling woman in flowing robes charging at them with murder in her eyes and a glowing sword's probably not good on their hearts.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord stands among the burning, shattered construct's two halves with his hair and cape flowing in the heated air. He turns to watch the rider run off, offended by the apparent anathema that has caught his attention. That behavior makes him pretty... confused, because he has never seen them do that before. He observes from afar, his Rapidash slowing to a halt beside him as the battlefield's location starts to be more stationary, the various heroes slowing or halting the golems and their masters.

    "I wonder, I wonder," he murmurs, in no real hurry as he approaches the angry cultist and, consequently, Staren and his own golems.

    He reaches over to pet the side of the Rapidash's head as he walks, the horse-like Pokemon almost flinching due to his aura of a deadly predator.

Lexicon has posed:
    "Eh?" The lack of damage effect catches Lexicon off guard, at first, but at least it slowed them down and drew their attention to /her/. Good. "Don't give a crap about ice, huh?" There's a wrenching motion as she tears her axe from the ground and brings it up over her shoulders, still balanced with both hands, "Like I give a crap! You little shits better come at me, now! I'm in your way, you know!"

    Ice begins to melt and fracture from struggling mecha-hounds, which the DCC doesn't seem to care about. Instead, she slams her foot down and hurls herself forward amidst the spikes, which dissolve as she passes, "You might be thinkin' all I can do is ice! Don't get your hopes up, scum! TANZERIN TROMBE!"

    As she dives amidst the Hollow Growlithes, Lexicon hurls herself into a spin and dives straight into the center of the spike-trapped formation, leading with her axe, a whirling top of white and blue and murderously glowing red eyes.

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
"There's nothing 'true' about those polka-dotted shells you worship!" Fiera snaps - almost ignoring the fact that her human opponent is either unconscious or dead from that impact. Sure, it was the staff that *visibly* broke, but given the force with which the cultist hit the ground ...

Well. Normally, Fiera wouldn't take the death of an opponent in quite that much stride.

But right now, incited by Taki's own smoldering grudge over getting cheap-shotted the last time they faced cultists like this, and with her own residual resentment over the same incident still simmering in the back of her own mind, Fiera has given herself over to a full channeling with her Gyarados ... and the glee in her eyes as she turns her attention to another cultist - anoher of the Toy Arcanine-riders, picked more or less at random (and possibly by proximity) - hints that she's not in her normal mind in the first place. "Worshipping Pokemon is one thing - as I know full well," Fiera continues almost without breaking stride, even as Taki whips around in the air and unleashes a Dragon Rage technique. "But *no* Pokemon, not even the Great Birds, nor the Great Beasts, nor even Arceus himself - would countenance the destruction of life that *you* believe in!! If you hunger so for death - then begin with your own, and leave a world for those who care to live in it!!"

Athela Valemore has posed:
The soulless constructs don't feel anything, technically.... Yet something, SOMETHING in the beserk woman's presence still causes the toxin puffing Venomoths that had started to close in on the Dodrio riders to... Well, they are for whatever reason staggering and slowing down. Maybe something in Karal's Dawn Caste powers is interfering with the magicks that control them? Who knows? It's an ample oppritunity for the blazing sword to rip several of them out of the air if she so chooses.

Until the cultist with the glowing staff wrests back control of those not cut down, and with a flamboyant gesture of his staff they start shooting energy beams out of their lens-like eyes at the manic Karal. She did, however, stop them from cutting off the last length of the escape route by intercepting their attention.

Note to self: Fiera is SCARY when she's pissed off like that. Her rage guides her pokemon's Dragon Rage, which bomblasts the cultist that had gone on foot to try and keep the Growlithes under control. Kord gets a brillaint view of the indigeo blast slamming the cultist off his feet. Most of the Growlithe collapse apart as he falls to the ground, smoldering mask making it impossible to tell if he's dead or just unconcious. The Growlithe automotons that don't stop moving from the other cultists being diasbled are promptly tore apart as Lexicon takes her axe to them, bits of metal and flame flying outward amongs the debris of ice from the spices.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Which only leaves the large masked man that seems to have been the leader in direct pursuit of the two girls on his faux Arcanine. "Ye shall pay for your interferences dearly, Forgotten Sword!" he bellows, even as he closes in enough to swing his staff at her like a bludgeon.

Athela leans to the side of the swing, clenching her teeth as it agrivates the wound in her side. The Dodrio turns one of it's heads back to squawk at her in annoyance for making it harder to balance, even as the other two heads keep focused on running.

"Knowing it infuriate you only compels me to do moreso!" Athela snaps back as she mostly rights herself on the bird's backside. She catchs a glimps of Staren's strange fake-horses joining the fight against growlithes and moths, but doesn't let herself get distracted.

As she twists the other way on her ride, grabbing the hilt of her sword and pulling the weapon from her side. "Sea, land or sky: Keldeo's tide shall wash your pestilence from them all!"

Some of her jousting tricks don't work so well on land mounts, but getting off isn't one of them. Especially when she twists to leap off the back of the bird, letting the Arcanine's own momentum of pursuit to bring it towards her, Resolute Blade glowing brightly as she brings it to bear.

"SACRED SWORD!"

And the holy blade plunges straight through the cultist's chest, sending both crashing to the ground off the Arcanine's back. A gasp hisses from the man's punctured lungs as they skid roughly, the young knight on top of him. "To purge the impure.. I give my life... to the true go--"

And there's a blinding eruptiong as he Self-Destructs. With Athela right in the middle of the epicenter thanks to having her sword plunged through his body. The only virtue of this is that she pinned him down fart enough the way his self-sacrificing explosion won't have the range to reach the courier she was protecting.

Count Kord has posed:
    Kord calmly walks across the battlefield, holding no anger at all as he does so. No malice, or excitement. He comes to a halt near the cultist that the Dragon Rage had flattened, the uncertainty of the being's life occuring to him in that moment. He considers saying something, his head tilting in this alien, cold, bird-like way. Even the Rapidash gets some distance from Kord in this moment that he is as close to his patron, Yveltal, as he can get.

    One of Kord's feet lift and rest on the cultist's neck, and he pushes down with all his weight to crush it, as simple as a beast finishing off its prey.

    The Rapidash makes a disquieted noise, and Kord pulls his foot back, turning his head to watch the rest of the battle with the same bird-like calm. His eyes focus on the explosion in particular.

Staren has posed:
    Whatever he manages to do to the Steelix, doesn't matter today because it's too slow to keep up when Staren's machine turns and chases after Athela and the courier. Staren's not surprised to see Lin unicorn-surfing -- he half-expected it given the relative proportions. He /is/ surprised to see that his golems flinch and fall back /along with/ the toy Venomoth. Unfortunately, he can't query his golems with questions like 'why did you do that' -- their programming is too simple. Friggin' Exalted. It's a good thing today, though!

    "Aww, look!" Staren's voice echoes over the speakers again. "He's /mad/. Yes, that's it. Give in to your emotions! Forsake Regis's emotionless paradise! Get /angry/! Muahahahahahahahahahaaaa!" he cackles. "Your heart and mind don't believe what you preach, whatever you say! You can pretend all you want, but your actions show you don't truly believe!"

    Staren's probably not the best at psychological warfare, but everyone here on either side can see he has a point, right?

    He's not just fighting with words, though. Railgun slugs and several HEAT missiles rain down on the remaining Venomoths.

    Also, the guy blew himself up. "Well, damn. I didn't think he'd actually be stupid enough to do /that/. Are you okay, Athela?!"

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
So much for the fire-types; Taki lets out a triumphant roar, whipping through the air as though in a brief victory dance ... and then her gaze locks onto the Steelix.

And *THAT* is when Fiera finally seems to snap back to herself - because while Taki would be just as happy to fire off a Hyper Beam and blow the Steelix away, Fiera is abruptly not sure if that's a construct (which she wouldn't mind blowing away) or an actual Steelix. A second look by the trainer/miko, though, is enough to confirm on two fronts: first, that Steelix is not actually a living Pokemon, or even a genuine synthetic Pokemon (such as the Porygon family).

More obviously, though, it has actual drills on it, which a natural Steelix doesn't have.

Cue the Hyper Beam. Hopefully, also cue an explosion.

Athela Valemore has posed:
The Steelix is indeed too slow to follow the fast flying contraption, and at the beck of its controller turns to slink back to the tunnel it had come from.

Only for a Hyper Beam to blow a hole clear through the main segment of it's body, the one right behind it's head. The damage Staren had done to it seemed minimal at first, but it's enough to cancel Sturdy, and allow Hyper Beam's intense power to overcome the type resistance to Normal attacks. Caught mid-dive into its tunnel the mechanical monster instead collapses into it, causing it to cave in from the force of it's fall. There is a high chance the cultist that was riding it got flattened, if not by the monster falling on him then by the collapse.

Ironically it is the explosion that gets the courier to reign her Dodrio to stop, the other that Athela had been riding following the example. Though it's not out of being hurt, it's out of concern for the knight that had been protecting her. "Dame Valemore?!"

"I... really hate when I am right sometimes," the young knight can be heard groaning as she staggers out of the falling clouds of smoke from the explosion. After remembering the cultist doing that last time, she had to make sure to take him down at a point the blast wouldn't harm her charge. Her armor is scorched almost entirely black and she's leaning a bit to favor her side that wasn't already wounded, but she is alive. If a little woozy from the moment. "Did.. we get all of them?"

Lexicon has posed:
    With mechanical dogs falling apart either due to whatever's keeping them alive failing to work or, also likely, the giant spinning berserker with the energy axe, Lexicon thrusts a foot out to halt her spin. This digs a furrow in frozen ground, and she follows through with her weapon in a wide arc. It's swung around one-handed and then rested across her shoulders while she examines the destroyed machines, floating pristinely above their ruins, "--Heh. Nothin' but trash."

    The cocky swagger is interrupted by the very sudden explosion behind her, which prompts the DCC to whirl in place, casting a look over her shoulder, "--Damnit, someone got through?!"

Staren has posed:
    The Star Hawk transforms to humanoid mode and lands near Athela and the courier. "Seems so. Do you need any assistance getting the courier to their destination, or getting medical attention?"

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Cultists: accounted for. Toy Pokemon: wrecked.

Taki lets out one more roar, "GYAAAAAAAAAAAARADOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!!" - but the Multiverse actually latches onto this one and translates it: 'THAT is what happens when you cross us!!'

Fiera nods, taking a couple of deep breaths, letting each one out slowly. "That's enough for today, Taki. Thank you for your strength, like always. Come on back!" She raises the Gyarados's Pokeball, and Taki disappears, dematerializing and returning to the ball's confines.

"... I could use a hand getting back to something like civilization, though," Fiera admits as she returns the ball to her belt. "Somehow that took a lot out of me ..." She does seem a little wobbly.

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela Valemore is doing her damnest to keep up appearances and not show just how much more she hurts right now. Being the explosion, and dealing with that strange assassin before, even her endurance is being tested quite past it's limit now. "There is a wayhouse up the pathway we can rest at. It is there for travellers to break before venturing the route through the marshlands that surround this side of the region." She resheaths her sword to her side, and despite how sore she feels gives a brief bow. "Thank you, all of you for coming to assist."

A pause as she shoots a wary glance in Kord's direction. "Even you, Count." She can feel the off-putting nature of his patron and she's not even standing close to him. She's starting to regret wanting to at least once see the supposed ruler of death in person at least once. Brrr.

"Yes, thank you kind strangers," the courier adds as she nods her head in a similar bow. Then looks to Athela. "Should I show them?"

Athela nods back in return. "It is only right they know what they assured will make it to the proper authority Porticia."

"Of course." The satchel slung from her shoulder makes an audible clink as she moves to open the bag, and pulls out a flask of some vile greenish-blue liquid. She holds it up for everyone to see. "These were confinscated from a trader near Holzfall, trying to peddle them to the berry farmers. When the militia searched his goods, they also found one of those damnable masks hidden amongst the trunks. So it would seem someone wanted to kill off the berry crops. An alchemist hath determined one of the ingredients is a toxic fungus that only grows in one place. The Slug Moor."

Athela makes another disgusted face. "I have dealt with the fiends in the marshes before. But the Bugen officials never choose to believe me trying to report such activity. Hopefully evidence, that their own alchemists can verify if they so wish doth so, will get it through their heads."

Staren has posed:
    The Star Hawk kneels, and the armored canopy in the torso opens, allowing Staren to slide down on a rope. "I hope you are right, and they don't just claim that you fabricated this to stir up trouble. Be wary." Staren looks between her and the courier. "So, um... would you girls like a ride, or...?"

Count Kord has posed:
    "'Even me,'" Kord parrots, his voice cold as if he were unhappy with the qualifier being used at all. He is, after all, still a human being even if he has gained a reputation. He approaches to investigate what they had found, and squints momentarily at the vials. He then tilts his head in that bird-like way when they explain what the Sentinels planned to do to the agriculture.

    Kord makes a disgusted noise. For the locals, they would know this was because his region is primarily an agricultural one, so it bothers him a lot that they're starting to focus on attacking food sources. At least, the ones used in alchemical workings.

    "If you point me at these abominations, I will fight them. It is as simple as that," he explains to Athela and the people she was escorting, "And now that you have, I will be hunting in the Slug Moor with my troops." He turns to climb on the back of his Rapidash and ride off to gather up his forces. It seems he has a job to do. It's a good thing he's one of the nobles that knows how to leverage his military might... right?

Athela Valemore has posed:
Athela Valemore lets out a soft huff as Kord states as much and rides off. She can't shake off the weird feeling his presence causes. But as this could be as much a threat to Dragoni as any other of the farming based regions he had a right to know. Regardless of what others may think of his methods and rule.

"I will not be surprised if they do," she replies to Staren flatly. "But that is also why they sent a courier of their own rather than just given them to me to present." A pause, and then she shrugs a little as she goes to get back onto the Dodrio. "No offense to your fine machine, but I think I prefereth the birds." Her and fancier technology still do not get along very well.