6283/Hiding in Plain Sight

Hiding in Plain Sight
Date of Scene:	03 January 2019
Location:	Spring
Synopsis:	Pirates hiding in a vacation resort town put out a distress call because they're under attack from a moderately crazy boat ghost, there's an excessive number of guns, and a lot of people yelling at each other.
Cast of Characters:	Haguro, Shigure, August Kohler, 6810, Nagato, Neuroi Girl, 6866

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Haguro has posed:
     Near the coasts of... Somewhere is an idyllic coastal town: Clear blue water, bountiful forests and farmland, a boardwalk with just enough stands for food and snacks along with all sorts of convenient modern amenities like nice hotels and resorts to make this an ideal vacation spot.

     When the responders arrive, they're greeted by said coastal town on fire, explosions, and a certain white-haired Abyssal making landfall as the two-headed tail coming out of her gut launches shells upon the town. The town's defenders are half-scrambling to get their weapons together and half-firing on the glowing-eyed Abyssal.

     Left unchecked at the rate things are going, this town is probably going to be a crater within the night.

Shigure has posed:
    "Yuudachi to Shigure... gunfire at port town, location follows." says the blonde destroyer as she skates along just outside of the combat zone. She's obvious to those present if they can see her, she isn't trying to hide. "I... think it's Haguro attacking..."

August Kohler has posed:
Coming in on a crappy old speedboat is one August Kohler, dressed in a thick coat with a mirrored bracelet, a pistol, and a knife at his sides. He moves to pull up to the coastal town from the sea, docking a bit away from the action, before he summons his Persona. "Let's go, Tin Soldier!"

Leaping onto the Tin Soldier's shoulders, the two charge forward across the coast, in Haguro's direction. As they get close enough, August leaps backwards off the Tin Soldier, while the Persona moves to engage Haguro, getting close enough to punch her if necessary and force her back. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

Though as August's eyes dart around the place...they've got a lot of guns. High-grade, even. This town's security must be really good, huh?

Raziel (6810) has posed:
    Raziel, through sheer luck, had been nearby. His own goals of doing things like 'avoiding fate' and other such pleasant experiences gives him some adventures. As he walks towards the Beach, he notices that people who are apparently normal people being shelled by a member of the Concord. The hollow, glowing eyes of the Ghoul narrowed, obviously not happy with this situation. However, as a member of the Concord she deserved a certain measure of benifit of the doubt.

    'Arriving, as if called to this place by the siren song of violence, I decended into what might be best considered hell itself. People fighting frantically from their life, and at the center of it all was one of the Concord's elite known as Haguro. I know not what these people had done to bring her wrath upon them. The sight, at least to me, seemed beyond strange. Had the girl's rebirth into what was called 'an abyssal' started to effect her mind? Or was this simply a missunderstanding of grave porpotions.'

    Running through the town, and launching himself from it, Raziel reached out with his psychic might, aiming to try and stop the shells aimed at the town...and drop them right infront of both Haguro and August, attempting to break up any attempts at violence.

    "I would appreciate if you avoided striking my comrade without her getting a proper explanation," Raziel says, calmly, looking first towards Haguro. "I really do hope whatever it is you are doing is much better than what it seems," He says, with a sigh, looking back to notice the weapons.

    He reaches out towards one of the defenders, aiming to grab them and drag them to him. "You will be the town's represenitive in this. For your sake, do not lie to me. Why do you have so many weapons? I suggest you start talking...truthfully now. My looks are just as deadly as they appear to be." Raziel says, attempting some intimidation.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato's entire ship form is sailing towards the location, guns pointed in the direction of the coastal town's waters, she can't be too careful now a days... especially with an AWOL fleet /and/ fresh Abyssal ships. She's got at least one of her 'fighters' on board, her Neuroi... "Evangeline, prepare for combat with unknown assailants. Possibly Abyssal in nature if they're doing coastal bombardments..."

    She lets out an echoed sigh, picking up some noises on the broadbands. Familiar noises even.

    "Yuudachi? Haguro?" a pause, "... I knew it." she mutters, sailing closer, "Explain yourself!"

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     This is a bit tiresome. Once again they arrive to find Haguro involved in what could easily be an Abyssal-style attack. Evangeline launches from Nagato's deck as soon as they are within visual range and quickly moves to place herself between Haguro and the two, as well as the town and Haguro. She isn't a big target by any means, but her shield and her lack of attacks might stay the trigger fingers of all those involved.

     Chatter comes from all sides. Explanations, threats, ambiguity all around. Evangeline wants to belive Haguro...but this looks even worse than the last situation. And Haguro saying that the civilians can simply be replaced doesn't help. "...I suggest everyone cease fire until we can make sense of all this..." she says in her quiet voice as she floats there, blocking as many shots as possible.

Haguro has posed:
     That bit of blonde catches Haguro's eye as she spots Yuudachi in the distance, but only for a moment as Haguro's attention is turned back towards much closer people. Or whatever the Tin Soldier is as it slams into her, colliding with the Abyssal as she grapples with it briefly before shoving herself back to face him and Nagato properly.

     "You're here, too, Admiral? Ah... I'm eliminating the pirates. They're..." She gestures around briefly and winces as her tail whips around to block a volley of assault rifle rounds, some plinking off the armored appendage and others drawing small sprays of ichor and blood. A shell in the offenders' direction and a firey explosion later, and she turns back to August with a curious squint. "You're... Mister Kohler, right? It's been a while, hasn't it? And..."

     She pauses, staring at Nagato with an uncertain expression. Fear? Anger? Sadness? Mostly sadness. "Does it... Does it really matter why I'm here?"

     The defender grabbed by Raziel, meanwhile, start screaming bloody murder as he's being dragged towards a much less human-looking being. "Sh-sh-she's crazy! Are you with her, too?!" The man keeps freaking out, understandably so since he's within reach of quite a few of the scary and not-so-scary looking Elites present. Haguro's tail in particular is chomping at the bit, but it's also a little occupied with shielding Haguro from harm at the moment. "There's no pi...!"

     He's going to be freaking out for a while. The town's defenders, meanwhile, are armed quite well considering that it's a resort town. Most of them are armed with fully automatic rifles and still firing on Haguro's position, and some have even started firing on Raziel and Evangeline. It's going to take some deft maneuvering or shielding to keep that interrogation target alive!

Shigure has posed:
    Commit time. Yuudachi, after signalling her intentions, moves in closer, kicking off the water to get within gun range. She's only got low caliber weapons, but as they clank in reload, she brings up the hand-cannon, and fires a pair of shells. They land heavily, but instead of exploding, they begin to emit a thick, white cloud of smoke, blocking the gunner positions view of those on the beach.

Raziel (6810) has posed:
    Raziel, moves his body so the firearms strike him instead of his interrogation target. Frowning, he moves so that the man is pointed towards August, before using his telekinese to shoot him towards the man. He might get some bruises, but at the very least he would not die from gunshot inflicted wounds. He assumes August can catch the man, which causes Raziel to turn. A ghostly sword springing from his hand as he moves to start deflecting bullets fired at him.

    Reaching out, he reaches out once more with his telekinesis, aiming to grab one of the shooters by the throat.

    "You are not making a good case for yourself. Are. You. Pirates. Or. Not? Do not lie to me, because if you shoot at me again I can easily ask your spirit." he says, as the ghost blade swings around again.

August Kohler has posed:
As the shells are stopped and the Tin Soldier is pushed back, August talks over radio and realizes this is a complicated situation. Pirates, maybe. He considers stopping Haguro anyways, because she's talking about just wiping out the town wholesale, and seems to be a monster, until she replies to him asking which side to take.

She sounds like a person, still. He's not bigoted against Abyssals in general...but she actually sounds like the person he tazed once, instead of some corrupted horror.

As Raziel throws the man towards him, August moves to catch him with the Tin Soldier, clutching him tightly with his superhuman grasp. The Tin Soldier holds the man tight, as its gun-leg begins to spray a burst of fire forward as a show of what it can do, as August closes up to the man and whispers. He draws his gun, moving out of the way of the line of fire, keeping his head down.

"My name is August Kohler. I'm with the Watch." If this man keeps up with Multiversal news at all, he might have heard of August as one of the /bosses/ of the Watch. "I have a gun and a robot with a flamethrower. I am not scared to use them if you don't speak up. If you do tell us everything you know, I'll safely deposit you with someone who'll simply arrest you. I might not." August might be bluffing, but he sounds razor-sharp.

"Are you pirates? What is your mission? And how many civilians do you have? Speak quickly, my robot gets testy." Another burst of fire. It's not actually getting testy, because August is 100% controlling it, but still.

Nagato has posed:
    With Evangeline off her now, Nagato takes on her normal form and starts sailing closer, guns aimed directly at 'Haguro'. There's a voice in her ear, a voice she really did /not/ want to hear. She makes a few muttering sounds in reply to the voice before she changes course, sailing towards August. This is already going to hell, but right now, all Nagato can do is just wait and ready herself. One of her guns starts to swivel towards Yuudachi, a just in case.

    "I've tried warning the Concord about this Ne-Class, but they wish to commemerate this, to encourage this. This is not what the Fleet's about and I will not have a Ne-Class dragging one of my heavy cruisers name in the mud because of it." The battleship leaves the interrogation towards Kohler... he might get more information.

    For now, Nagato just steels herself for what may come... she might not like it but if it comes to it, she'll do it.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline's spherical shield of translucent hexagonal blue panels flickers and flashes as shots impact it, and pieces of her body flake away from the damage before disintegrating into pinkish dust. Still, the little Neuroi doesn't fire yet. She does however move to help block any rounds that might be headed toward the person that Raziel and August have captured. Her shield continues to flare, and her arms and legs are starting to look like something has been chewwing on her. Still she doesn't fire. She doesn't know who is actually at fault here. Maybe no one, maybe everyone...maybe that strange creature who incited the people on the cruise ships.

     "...I will keep you protected..." she says to August and the person being interrogated, even as her jet black form is constantly chipped away and rebuilt. "...stay behind me..."

Robin McCormick (6866) has posed:
With the shelling ceased, if only for a short while, the soun of a nearby motorbike engine could be heard near the beginning of the beaches sand. Upon it sat a rider, helm now removed, and scoping out the situation. Things seemed tense; Barrels ready to fire on all fronts, and no one was looking to back down. She was no ones side yet, and parked her vehicle before disembarking to the beach. She approached cautiously, clutching a red bandanna in her left hand whilst the other was empty. She spoke aloud in order to try and gain sense of the situation. "Didn't miss no more fighting did I? Mind letting me know whose who in all of this real quick?" The woman appeared average at best, and roughly dressed for a street brawl.

Haguro has posed:
The smoke from Yuudachi's hand-cannons do their job in suppressing shots from the town's defenders/maybe pirates, blocking their vision and making it too risky to fire blindly. As much as they want to take down the Abyssal invader, they also don't want to draw more ire from the Elites present, especially with Raziel grabbing one and their bullet seemingly worthless against Evangeline's shields. Haguro notices this as well, and she opts not to fire on them as her attention is focused on those more immediately close to her.

The man Raziel's grabbed, meanwhile, is partially thankful for not being dead with that monstrous shield protecting him and partially terrified still being thrown about like a sack of bricks. With a new shooter grabbed, however, he too starts to freak out! "N-no! We have all our eyes! We just work in sales! We'll turn ourselves in, okay?!"

Haguro, meanwhile, watches the first man get tossed around and interrogated by August next. She backs up slightly at the spray of fire even though it's not necessarily aimed at her, freezing up for a moment before moving again to listen in. She stops for a moment, though, as her glowing eye turns an eerie red. It lingers like that for quite a while as she twitches lightly and mutters to herself, taking deep breaths and gritting her teeth tightly as she listens in. Her gaze shoots towards Nagato as she catches sight of the guns aimed at her, and her tail even raises towards the Battleship, but nothing is fired. Not yet.

It looks to be a defensive precaution, as if she's ready for a fight to start.

"Mission? W-w-we're just selling these things! This town doesn't make enough from tourism alone!" The first man pleads as his eyes dart from the Persona-user to the flaming robot and the Abyssal advancing on him. Haguro's eye has turned blue again as she looks from Nagato towards Robin when she arrives, peering at the new arrival with a slow shake of her head. "N... No, there's still plenty of pirates around." She turns again towards the interrogation target as he answers August. "P... Please, we've got families here!"

"Um... O... Kay? So do most things that are born." Haguro looks skeptical as her tail shifts towards the interrogatee, aiming to grab him with one set of big chompy teeth should she be able to proceed uninterrupted all while her turrets readjust their angles for distant targets. "Is that enough proof, then? Because if they're hiding with the civilians, then I can't stop and wait for them to get into orderly lines."

"They're just making excuses because it's okay when they do it. They have to die now."

Raziel (6810) has posed:
    Raziel leaps from the place he was on, using his wings to glide towards one of the crates, and with a feat of strength kicks it over spilling guns onto the deck. Slowly, he turns towards one of the nearest people. Looking at them as he reaches out to grab at them and drag them to him, once more using that telekinesis to do so.

    "So, care to explain why you are holding guns in crates? If not, then you have some time to think of something. Right out there are members of the Paladins and members of the Watch. So.." he says, bringing them closer to his face. "It seems like coming clean is going to be the best way to save your lives, and the lives of your familes. Because right now I don't think I can restrain my friend.." he motions towards Haguro, "You see...she really hates pirates and smugglers."

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato shakes her head, "I'm inclined to believe him." she states to Kohler, eyes watching the tail that's adjusting. "We cannot raze an entire town for what could be a small cell of pirates. It's unethical, inhuman, immoral." she takes one look towards Raziel, then back towards Haguro. "To punish all for a small cell's problems is antithesis to order and I will not allow it."

    Nagato gives a nod towards Evangeline, might as well protect this guy, and Kohler too. "I'm requesting you leave this area under Paladins investigation, we'll take care of the piracy cell within the city and then allow trade to continue." a look towards August "I trust you don't have an issue with this? It will be better handled than razing the city for a few peoples misdeeds."

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline moves to intercept that tail as soon as it heads toward the interrogation subject. "...Haguro...I am not sure you are thinking clearly...the Admiral is right...even if there are actual pirates here...there is no way to know who is pirate...who is merely smuggler...and who is merely a person defending their home in an town that makes or distributes weapons..."

     Those few moments Haguro had glowing red eyes worried the little Neuroi, but it is pretty hard to tell with her lack of features. "...Haguro...please withdraw...and...please do not take things upon yourself like this anymore...not verifying a target is bad enough...shelling an entire town without knowing who is actually guilty of the crime you have come to punish...will undermine peace..."

     Ignoring most of the chatter, Evangeline then floats toward Haguro...and tries to give her a hug. "...Please Haguro..."

August Kohler has posed:
As the guy reveals he's a pirate, but says he has a family, August is super conflicted. He remains conflicted, not just handing him over to Haguro...until Nagato moves upwards. I'm requesting you leave this area under Paladins investigation'.

August despises being cut out of something, being pushed back.

The Tin Soldier flings the guy to the side, in Haguro's direction, and then moves forward to gesture at the pirates. August actually shouts. "Attention, pirates! If you surrender now, drop your weapons, they might allow you to keep your lives. Anyone who still has a gun...can't confirm. If you're unarmed or with children, I recommend you start fleeing either way."

And then, August turns to Nagato, interposing the Tin Soldier. "Admiral. My name is August Kohler. I am the Cloak of the Watch. I'm not going to back off just because you haev a fancy medal or something that says you're in charge. I'm not getting cut out of this. The Watch has a say in all of this." And then, with a certain tone. "I recommend /you/ leave this to /us/, in that case. We'll have this handled fast. Because I doubt you know how to work together with someone who doesn't fit your view of the situation."

Robin McCormick (6866) has posed:
Placing themselves behind August and Raziel, Robin summoned forth her stand, the 4 armed grey entity floating behind them. "I think I've had enough of this faffin about! Too much talkin' about a simple ass problem-Leave or get beat!" They took on a lower stance, ready to get down and dirty in a rumble. Turning to her two supposed allies, she nodded. "Call me Robin by the by-Lets all hope we get through this." Her stand came forth then and struck an elaborate poze with all four of it's arms, ready to rumble.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato nods, "I know who you are." it's a curt reply to August, "Recommendation is accepted." she mentions as her guns move to turn upwards, "Guns are stowed." she slowly sails backwards, hands behind her back, just to allow Kohler to do his work. "I will make note that I do not approve of any tactic that necessitates murder. Detain them and get them out of this town." her eyes move towards watching Raziel. There's a small click behind her back and she just waits as an aircraft flies out from her back part of the rig, then encircles the area. A scout plane.

Haguro has posed:
These pirates really aren't catching a break today. Even from the smoke-cover, they're still being grabbed! This one, however, isn't so panicky. This one just looks tired, as if he's seen Elites quite a few times already. ""Yeah, we're selling these. And buying. It's trade, you understand? Buy low, sell high, use the profits to buy more and sell more.  It's like these idiots never got cut in half before or beat up by a multi-armed ghost."

Indeed, this particular pirate in Raziel's telekinetic grasp has mechanical legs.

Nagato's talk of humane treatment of the pirates and the town, meanwhile, draws a confused look from the Abyssal ruiser. "But... What's the difference, then? You wanted to kill me for being like this. Because you said I was... Corrupted. They're the ones actually hurting other people."

Her tail shifts slightly, but it keeps still as its initial bite is stopped by Evangeline. "Isn't this the same thing?" Haguro's eye flickers briefly between glowing cyan and not glowing at all, and then she jerks her head sideways as Evangeline steps closer to.. Hug her? "Evangeline, don't. This isn't..."

Haguro's teeth clench as she wraps her arms around the faceless girl, looking conflicted as her hold tightens.  Should she? Shouldn't she?

August makes a proposal, Nagato moves, Robin makes an appeal that actually draws an amused giggle from Haguro, and Haguro makes her decision. She should. She tightens the hughold, dips down to lift Evangeline a little, then starts tipping backwards rapidly as she tries to fling her backwards before readying her turrets once more.

"I'm opening fire on two minutes. Get what you need." She doesn't look at anyone in particular as she says that, although it's clear from her stance (when she's back up) that she has no intention of leaving quietly.

Raziel (6810) has posed:
    With a move of his arm, he launches the actual pirate towards the ground next to August.

    "Hey look what I found. An actual carrer pirate," he says, walking towards Haguro and the woman hugging her. He is distrustful of her, but nothing has happened...yet. Haguro has not pulled away, but this is not the place to be doing this in. Slowly, he looks towards Nagato firmly, the blade still undrawn, but the ghoul speaks towards her directly, "What is the difference? Or is it because there is no difference. That you are making a distinction based on bias? Humans, as you see, are capable of no less evil than any monster."

    "Now speak truthfully, why is it different now?'

August Kohler has posed:
As the pirates continue to be a hassle, and August makes a deal with the Concord, he steels himself. Haguro is hugged, which bewilders him, but in the end...

She makes her declaration. Two minutes. That's all the time August needs, especially as Nagato gives him leeway. August mentally ignores her 'detain them', though. Because he's going to handle this a specific way.

If people heeded his order and start dropping their guns, they get spared as he and the Tin Soldier march upwards into the town, dashing, though he stops to allow Robin McCormick take his gray jacket if she needs to. "Drop your guns or get shot! If you want to survive, flee inland, /now/!" His voice is mostly confident, only slightly hesitant, but as he grabs a pirate by the arm and sends him flying with the Tin Soldier's mighty fists, hopefully he shows his might. But there's a catch. If any of the pirates shoot at him, though he hesitates...

August shoots them with the Tin Soldier, bullets flying for their waists to take them down. It's not a surefire kill, but it's enough to stop them attacking, and probably would kill them. And it also shows August means what he's saying. As he heads inwards, though, it's not about fighting. He's looking for the pirates' guns. If he can find a solid crate, he's going to grab it with the Tin Soldier and try to get it out of there, scout plane be damned.

"Better not screw with me..." August mutters. Hopefully, this moves smoothly.

Robin McCormick (6866) has posed:
Taking hold of Augusts' jacket, Robin looked it over, nodding. "Oh thiss'l do nicely. You won't regret it." She idly mentioned whilst eyeing up the entity that was Tin Soldier. Was this another stand user? From her universe? Or were stands transcendantal beyond universes? Questions to ask the man about later, but certainly good to know now. She came to expect great things from August at this point as he demonstrated capable leading ability, and so RObin would join in with him in shooing away the pirates with a gust of flame that would emit from her stand-Grey Street-'s hands as slowly color drained from the red bandana she had arrived with. "Go on and run to yer mums gob-shites! This battle ain't for you!" Turning their attention back to their soon to be opponents, Robin couldn't help but chuckle, arms outstretched. "What? All gentlemens agreement like? Two minutes? Didn't think I'd find cordial types to get brawling with, but have it your way."

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline tightens her hold as well, thinking for a few moments that it might have worked. But, when Haguro suddenly arches backward and throws Evangeline...well, Evangeline is basically hovering at all times and doesn't weigh that much to begin with. The little Neuroi is thrown quite easily even though she tries to hang on to Haguro. Her trajectory takes her low over the water...and finally actually into the water. There is a piercing metallic screech as Evangeline disappears beneath the water...and for some reason she doesn't fly out. She breaks the surface a moment later, flailing like someone who doesn't know how to swim.

     Nagato may be the only one who knows of the Neuroi's Achilles heel, and that is water.

     "...A-admiral...!"

     Evangeline steadily sinks despite her flailing, much like a kanmusu who has taken too many hits. Those metallic screeches can be heard again every few seconds.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato hears the warning, shaking her head a bit at this, at least until Haguro speaks up... and all hell breaks loose. Nagato's axe pops out into the air, and she snags it, getting ready to make a bumrush towards Haguro... but the peircing metallic scream catches her ears ... the worried voice catches it next... and immediately, without thinking... "LINK START!"

    One minor transformation sequence later and Tana, who Haguro would most likely recognize, takes to the air and speeds off towards the water! "I'm coming, Evangeline!" she shouts, the cat-miral's wings flutter at a rapid pace to try and snag her.

    She dives down into the water... and doesn't come back up for a moment... and this time, with her aircraft in tow. She huffs... and huffs... "Evangeline, are you okay?" she tilts her head, pulling the Neuroi into a hug of her own, "Please... be ok." Unfortunately, she can't do much other than make sure Evangeline's protected... you kinda need a free hand to use a weapon.

    The scout plane dives down to get some clearer shots before shooting back up... it's there.

Haguro has posed:
The launched pirate grunts and tumbles, but he's not too shaken up over it. He gets up, dusts himself off, then books it like a bat out of hell. A lot of people in town do, even, as they're given that time limit and the warnings from August and Robin. Whether they're pirates or civilians, they at least have enough sense not to open fire in a last ditch effort to hold their ground.

Not all of them are, apparently. Some of them do, and they're rewarded with the Tin Soldier's bullets for their trouble. There's screaming and crying from children and adults alike, more gunshots, yet more retaliatory gunshots, even more screaming and bleeding and people are starting to flee once more. In the midst of all those people fleeing, however, there's still plenty of crates full of guns and explosives that haven't been destroyed yet, as well as people lingering to defend said crates! Some of the more gutsy types even take some shots at Haguro and Raziel, the former wincing at that screeching noise coming from Evangeline. Haguro even glances backwards as Nagato undergoes her transformation, watching her for a few moments before shrugging lightly and paying little heed to the scout plane as she readies her turrets once again.

It's time. With the many of the civilians and a good number of pirates fleeing the area, whether for evacuation by ship or further inland, those remaining are all but impossible to distinguish as pirates or defenders. Haguro's not going to try very hard to differentiate them from each other, though, as her shells start to fly once more.

She did promise that pirates would die. How many of those remaining are those pirates, though? It's not clear, but it doesn't really matter to the Abyssal Cruiser at this point.

Raziel (6810) has posed:
    Things start breaking apart real fast...not that he can blame Haguro anymore, his own views were shattered when he was betrayed and thrown into the Abyss.

    'And the engine of war was started again, it seemed like she was simply trying to stick to herself, but at the same time...the words said from her former leader were heavily influcing her actions. Things were going to get worst much faster if I did not do anything...'

    Raziel put a hand on Haguro's shoulder. It was firm, and careful to make sure it was not the arm with the reaver attatched. "Haguro. Stop. There is nothing more to be gained by shelling the city. You did what you set to do, let the Watch take it from here." he says, looking towards Nagato and the android. Taking a breath, he knew this was not going to end peacefully.

    "We already have one group of enemies at our back, lets not make things worse for ourselves."

August Kohler has posed:
Two minutes is up. August moves quickly. As he sees children and civilians, the Tin Soldier interposes itself in the way of a shell that'll hit the explosive crates and blow everyone sky high, taking heavy damage that knocks August off his feet and sends the robot flying, but saves people. As August climbs back up, slowly, he shouts. "Go! I'll cover you!" And as he shouts that...

If anyone is going to continue defending the guns, he'll raise the Tin Soldier's rifle at them. "Either move or get shot. Are these really worth your lives?!" Whether or not the pirates flee or get shot in the stomach (they're going to get blown up by the crates getting exploded shortly anyways, so), August moves to grab two large crates, one for each arm of the Tin Soldier, one full of explosives and one full of guns. Now that everyone seems to be clearing out and the pirates are down, the Watch can extract.

But first, August waits to see if the people who are clearly civilians can get out of the firing line, shooting down shells that might otherwise hit them. He's not highly accurate because he has to focus on the crates, but it might be able to stop direct murder on his watch. And then, once the shelling stops...August moves to book it for his speedboat with the crates. Hopefully the loot's good.

Robin McCormick (6866) has posed:
Robin made her mad dash for the civilians, jacket in tow as Grey Street followed along all floaty like. As they came upon the crowd of innocents, she struck a pose pointing one finger forth, and the other hand, holding the jacket, was raised high. "Grey Street! Concrete Shell!" The stand held it's palms out and fired forth then a spew of extremely quick drying cement, creating a long makeshift tunnel leading away from the firing area with various openings for persons to enter within. The tube like hall would be completely solid when faced with the firing line; And while it would never hold forever, it may just be the ticket they for as many innocents as possible to escape. Meanwhile, Kholers once grey jacket was now a pure white, stripped of all color. "Fuck-I'm out! That's all I got for cover unless you got more!"

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato holds Evangeline in one arm, freeing up a hand. "Þeír slíta fimm groenn vindr.", runes locking in in front of the Cait Sith as five green blades shoot out to deflect or destroy some shells, at least assisting in the protection of the civilians. Alas, she's just one Cait Sith.

    That concrete tunnel being made intrigues her... but she'll have to ask that later, for now... the shelling seems to have stopped... and she makes a motion with her hand, the scout plane starts moving in the direction towards the Seaport.

    "I'm sure the Commander will want to know what happened..." she mutters, keeping Evangeline close... "This isn't... this isn't how it was supposed to go." comes a light whisper, barely audible.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline is picked up by Nagato, and other than how tightly the little Neuroi clings to her there is no response. And the catmiral might notice that she can actually feel Evangeline's weight for once. Evangeline just hangs on for several long moments. Finally she looks up at Nagato. "...Admiral...I failed...I am sorry..." she says.

     Nagato feels Evangeline lighten somewhat, and Evangeline gives Nagato a firm hug. "...the mission seems complete...orders Admiral..?" It doesn't feel like she'd be able to fly well on her own yet.

Haguro has posed:
Haguro keeps up her shelling of the remaining shooters for a while until Raziel grips her shoulder, halting to look over at him. She looks from him towards the burning town and the lack of gunshots ringing out by this point. "Hm... Yes, that's fine. Any pirates and their sympathizers in this town are dead, so our work here is done."

She sounds rather pleased with that, and she even smiles brightly at Raziel. August, Robin, and Nagato's attempts to keep the stragglers safe seem to be going well, too, with the shielding (concrete, magical wind, or bodily) keeping nearly all of the stragglers still focusing on escaping safe from harm collectively where a single person acting alone likely wouldn't have been enough. while some of those crates can be salvaged. There's plenty of guns in each crate, too, and even some explosives and assorted newspapers packed in to make better use of all that space while keeping things from breaking in transit!

By the time all is said and done, the town is a bit of a wreck to say the least. Fires, corpses, wreckage, and a whole lot of destroyed contraband. On the plus side, the pirates probably won't be operating out of here again anytime soon, knowing that all three of the factions know this place exists now.

On the other hand, it's also going to be a while before this place will be back to normal.

Robin McCormick (6866) has posed:
Robin wrinkled her nose, shrugged her shoulders, and rolled her neck. "Seems that takes care of it just about." Grey Street struck one final pose before fading away into the ether. Crossing her arms, Robin made her way back to Kholer and company. "What do you reckon? We finished here and all is well enough? Or do we got more to settle." She turned to those whom stood opposed. "Need to rough up a ship or two maybe?"

August Kohler has posed:
As they start getting out with the crates, August isn't against Nagato and them seeing him with them. They're already leaving, and they're probably not foolish enough to start a fight with him when already wounded. "No, let them go. We'll make too much of a mess for this if we keep roughing them up. Good work." August nods to her. "If you weren't with a motorcycle, I'd offer you to come on the boat I borrowed, but for now, I need to get these crates somewhere safe. We should talk later, though."

August then moves to reach the boat and sail off. Hopefully, these weapons will help out the Watch a slight bit.

Robin McCormick (6866) has posed:
Nodding, she made a simple heel turn for her bike, giving a wave to the wraith whom sided with them. "Much obliged. We'll meet up again I'm sure..." Robin exits the scene, leaving a small trail of motor smoke in her wake.