6892/Second Verse: Atrocious Raid

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Second Verse: Atrocious Raid
Date of Scene: 07 December 2019
Location: Garellia Fortress, Erebonia
Synopsis: The Imperial Liberation Front shows their faces again. Garrellia Fortress has been invaded, with the intent of firing two large railway guns at Orchis Tower in the neighboring country of Crossbell, threatening the lives of many civilians and visiting dignitaries. Meanwhile, an unexpected visitor has her eyes on the weapons, having teamed up with the ILF to serve her own goals.
Cast of Characters: Rean Schwarzer, 6936, 7002, Sarracenia, Guzma, 7141, Crow Armbrust, 6381
Tinyplot: Imperial Liberation Front
Tinyplot2: Trails of Cold Steel 1


Rean Schwarzer has posed:
(BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbXAqwxwamE)

Garellia Fortress is the largest military complex in Eastern Erebonia, serving as the barrier between the Empire, the Calvard Republic and the Citystate of Crossbell.

And right now, it's utter chaos.

There's small fires everywhere, lit by oddly shaped autonomous turrets that stand out in appearance to everything in their surroundings. Soldiers in the same green armor from the attempted kidnapping are running around, gunning down soldiers in the purple uniform of the Imperial Army. You might even catch a glimpse of the gatling toting man and the eyepatch wearing woman Mikoto described back then entering the fray. A loud and boisterous voice calls out, as a red haired man in the Imperial Army uniform riding on top of a manned tank leads his battalion against a bunch of autonomous tanks blasting holes in the walls.

Class VII is already ahead of you in the accompaniment of their instructors. There's still some of the autonomous turrets mulling around once you enter, and maybe an ILF member or two.

Across the radio, a call goes out: "Group B and I are headed towards the right railway gun. These damn Archaisms are everywhere, and we could use some backup!" Instructor Sara says. If you can fly (or are coming in by airship) you could possibly get there before her by flying straight towards the two sets of large reinforced doors on the eastern side of the complex.

What awaits you when you get there?

Cordelay Levail (6936) has posed:
Cordelay takes in the chaos around her, her jaw tightening at the sight. She's not unused to such things - she's led troops on the battlefield more times than she can count - but it's never pleasant. Upon hearing the call for backup she begins to sprint toward the right railway gun, her speed like that of a charging warhorse as she rushes to the aid of the instructor and her group.

"Cordelay Levail incoming, hold out until I can get there!" She calls into her communicator as she runs, unsheathing her swords in preparation for the incoming enemy.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto was actually in the area, about to head over to hang out with Bean and friends.  Of course, that was until everything went to double hell.  Soldiers coming out of the woodwork to gun down other soldiers.  Fires everywhere being set by turrets.  Mikoto sighs, so much for a day of fun.  Hopefully, the Seed had enough left in it for another recharge if this got hard.  

She starts running, through the streets until she gets a message.  "Mikoto here, I'm on my way," She says, hopefully, to give Class VII some hope.  

There is a flash, the transformation sequence takes hold as the light of her Magical girl transformation takes hold.  The Soul Gem coming out of her ring and into her hand.  Holding it up as the Emerald light shines down on her.  Jade crystal seems to form around her, forming into her clothes, her hat, mask shoes, and stockings.  The emerald shatters, revealing the clothing in full force.

Her hand coming up to grab a spike of jade that comes from the ground, revealing the sword.  She runs, taking to the air and surging towards the point of meet up.  Thankfully, the stolen power of Nanoha is very convenient for this mission.  

While she avoids fights, because she wants to get with the others, she will defend herself.  Cutting through soldiers with her blade, or release animals to charge through where she needs to.  

Sarracenia has posed:
     News goes out of an attack and soon the large form of one of the Sundew Kingdom's airships flies into the area, providing air superiority for the Imperial forces and Class VII. The few dozen cannons of the Sundew Sovereign, the flagship and Sarracenia's favorite warship, start firing Bullet Bills downward at the robotic tanks. The person-sized shark-faced shells explode on impact while the airship catches up with and starts escorting the class.

     Sarracenia can be seen perched on the bow of the ship, looking down over the battle. She looks rather distracted though, and not with the battle below. Her piranha plant sailors are pretty much handling things on their own right now. She is just watching, contemplating things. Their only order is apparently to keep the robotic tanks at bay.

Guzma has posed:
Someone's here. The big man himself, the dealer of destruction. Guzma is a man in his twenties, with fluffy white hair, weird asymmetrical glasses, wearing a gold watch, a gold chain with a strange logo as a medallion, and several bands and bracelets. He's wearing a black jacket with white shoulder patches, each with a black zigzag pattern.

The distress call went out, and so, here he comes, walking through the place. He's yet to see any bodies, so he's fine. He's not alone, of course - he's got flunkies here. Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp, with their colorful hair, face bandanas, and skull hats, coming forward. Tupp is a blue-haired man, Rapp a pink-haired girl, and Zipp, a large brown-haired boy. The three slouch and wave their arms as they walk, as if they're hip hop dancers, while Guzma walks ahead of them, confident in every step. This is because they're kind of blocking out 'all the violence' and focusing on just heading ahead towards the gun battery while others, well, clear the path.

"Alright, you three. Once we're up there, you go find a way to get us known. I'll show them who Team Skull really is." The three go 'yeah, boss!' and then split off from him once they reach the gun terminal, Guzma himself grabbing one of the red and white spheres from his pocket. The Pokeball is juggled up and down in his hand, and then, the button is clicked, the ball thrown outwards.

It bounces off the ground, before ricocheting back into Guzma's hand, releasing a beast. A large humanoid bug, red armored with massive pincers, and a pair of metallic wings.

"Use X-Scissor."

Scizor looks for the first soldier it sees, and rushes forward. Massive pincers go to slice in an x-shape, enough to cut into the soldier, but likely not kill him, and just send him spiralling to the ground. "They don't have Pokemon, so guess we're gonna have to fight them directly."

Linehart (7141) has posed:
     The world is bright and wonderful.

     There's something unnerving about being freed from the script that defined your life. But, at the same time, there's something, well, *freeing* about it. By definition, once you are your own man, you can go where you please, see what you like. You can do as you want.

     Wheresoever you go, you go under your own power, and of your own will, and of your own decisions.

     That is an appealing thing, and it lends itself to wandering. Wandering felt...right. It felt like the sort of thing the Hero would do - wander about and find problems to solve, and thereby earn things to help solve more problems down the road. The Hero's path had been a troublesome one, Linehart understood, one full of difficulties and dark struggles. So, his would be as well.

     That led him to Erebonia, where he got...

     Certain reactions.

     It might have been that he's extremely tall. He towers over most people. His spear, too, is enormous, even by the standards of Erebonia - a weapon larger than it has any right to be, which surely requires some form of inhuman strength just to lift, let alone wield with any competence at all.

     It might have been the ominous music that follows him wherever he goes. There is no obvious source, nor obvious reason for it. It is low, slow, but builds to a frenetic pace, suggestive of heated, desperate, struggling battle. It floats around him, though it is subdued and of a more neutral pace as he walks through the streets from the Warp Gate.

     Most probably, though, it's that he's fucking terrifying.

     The man's armor is blacker than night. It seems to drink in the light itself, as if he was wearing ambient shadow only barely defined by the metallic pauldrons, the gauntlets, the edges. The only splashes of color are the strange slash-mark visor of his helmet and that aforementioned giant spear, both glowing an ominous red, and the white fur that holds his shadowy cloak to his body. He exudes a sense of grinding, impossible inevitability as he walks, not especially fast, but neither especially slow. He is taking his time. He is seeing the sights.

     He is hearing a battle.

     The phone Sarracenia gave him yesterday speaks into his ear. He stops for a moment, listening to the plea for help.

     Very well. The Hero would go help them. The Hero was better than Linehart. Therefore, he ought to go do the same.

     When the massive Mirror Knight arrives, he cuts an imposing figure through the force of purple. He is a moving glacier of a man. He passes through the lines, unstopped and unheeding of cries to do the same, straight towards the green-armored invaders.

     Once he hits the front lines...

     Well.

     The music that surrounds him kicks up. The dark, ominous beginning thunders over the noise of the violence. Then it becomes quick and heated, the desperate, struggling terror of a battle with a monster exactly like this massive black thing.

     A text box appears above him. No sound comes out of his mouth.

     Hear me! Know that I am Linehart, the Mirror Knight! I have come to show you the path to the end! This dark spear shall be your doom!

     His hand rises.

     The blaze at the heart of the brave sun -Fiat Ignis!

     A column of fire just comes smashing down out of the sky, as if the sun itself just punched the planet. It crashes against the green-clad soldiers with all force.

     It doesn't hurt a single purple soldier, no matter how close they are to it. It also doesn't seem to...actually...damage...the battlefield.

     Sucks for those green guys caught in it though.

Crow Armbrust has posed:
"Sounds like they've got it rough over there, huh?" Crow murmurs, standing next to another student wielding an Orbal Shotgun as they both concentrate their gunfire to open up the defensive formation of the small squad of Archaisms in their path. Group A was pursuing the left Railway Cannon and was composed of himself, Machias -- the gunman beside him -- Alisa, a girl wielding an orbal bow, a staff-wielding musician named Elliot, and their tactical instructor, Neithardt the Mighty.

    "Where'd they even get all this junk, anyway?"
    The irony of his quip wasn't lost on him.

With the four drones down for the count with an impressive show of sudden swordsmanship from Neithardt, Group A advanced.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
LINEHART: The Imperial soldiers watch you in awe as you strike down the oncoming ILF soldiers. "W-whoa..." One says. In fact, you did catch an Imperial soldier in that, but he's unharmed aside from wounds he'd already taken from a now scorched ILF member. He looks /incredibly/ confused, though. Two of the unmanned tanks suddenly stop trying to ram the wall, and start rolling towards you.

SARRACENIA: You land hits on the robotic tanks, and they explode. The redheaded man standing on one of the normal tanks shouts up to you, "WaAn airship that looks like a fusion of a helicopter and rudders like your ships comes up within range and starts firing bullets at your sails.

GUZMA, MIKOTO, CORDELAY: "Thanks a bunch. We'll see you there." Sara says over the radio.
Cordelay and Guzma run into 4 small turrets whose heads are just spinning around...at least until they catches their attention and fire bullets at them.

Meanwhile, Guzma's goons catch up to Group B, who are engaged with a large twin armed cannon. It's Gaius, a tall, dark skinned boy with a spear who deals the last blow, and the machine crumples into a heap. They all rush outside, and meet up with Mikoto. Rean's part of this group as well, and he gives her a nod as she arrives.

Suddenly, there's a rattling noise coming from the doors where the cannons are located- they're starting to open.

Cordelay Levail (6936) has posed:
The sight of the turrets turning to face her and Guzma brings an excited smile to Cordelay's face. "Mere constructs!" She laughs. "Hardly a challenge for the daughter of the Dragon!" She leaps into the air above the turrets, grasping the chains linked to her swords and swinging them like edged flails at the turret barrels in an attempt to cut through them. Given that she's strong enough to punch holes through oak barehanded, cutting metal with a sword doesn't seem too implausible.

"Guzma, keep up! Show me your strength!"

Linehart (7141) has posed:
     Linehart walks past the uninjured man. His cloak swirls about him, trailing off into shadow. The unmanned tanks turning towards him gives him pause only for a moment, largely because he's never seen the like. There is a brief moment where he just kind of stands there, staring at them. One might almost think he's waiting for them to take their turn.

     He's not, it's just got that funny sort of impression.

     But then the party says they need to open the doors.

     He tells Mikoto that he has a solution.

     A text window appears in front of him. It reads, INVENTORY.

     The tanks are still coming at him.

     From one of the swords laying on the ground, a black fist emerges.

     A second, almost identical, Linehart, pulls itself out of the sword. Everything is the same, except the slashed visor is reversed, and the cape is blowing the wrong way. The second Linehart starts walking towards the tank as the first Linehart continues scrolling through the strange menu in front of him, passing by things like POTION.

     The second Linehart brings that enormous spear down into one of the tanks with enormous smashing force. He drags it upwards, punching into the armor with superhuman might, aiming to tear it in half in a single blow.

     The first Linehart finally finds what he was looking for and produces an item for Mikoto to come pick up.

     Take this and delay them.

                  A DAY AGO ON THE ROAD TO SUNDEW KINGDOM                  

     An old man looked up at the dark-clad man. "Sir," he said quietly, "I am hungry beyond measure. Could you spare some coins?"

     The dark-clad man wordlessly held out his hand. A pouch fell from nowhere. He handed it to the old man, whose eyes widened with shock. "Sir, no. I could not..."

     The dark-clad man pushed the bag into the old man's hands. Tears filled the old man's eyes. "I have nothing in the world to give you but this, sir. I cannot accept such generosity without offering you something in return. A few coins would have been enough, but this is...a kindness I cannot imagine. I swear I shall repay you one day. For now, take this."

     The old man held out a jar of glue. "I was a sculpter. I used this to hold together my finest works. It's something wonderful, this glue, filled with my heart. Please use it for a good purpose."

     Wordlessly, the knight accepted the jar, and moved on, leaving the old man in tears as he clutched the coinpurse.

                             RIGHT THIS MOMENT                              

     The item pressed into Mikoto's hands is a jar of some unbelievably strong glue.

     He means for her to use it to seal the cannons long enough for the party to take control.

     It's a Key Item.

Guzma has posed:
As Guzma and Cordelay approach the turrets, they begin firing bullets. Guzma's eyes widen, as that is...real bullets. Scizor dashes into the way, taking the bullets, hitting metal armor and not ripping the bug apart thanks to it. "Scizor! Bullet Punch!" Guzma shouts, as Scizor makes a buglike noise, pulls back its fist, and then moves.

Before they even have another chance to fire, the turrets are being impacted by those pincers, slamming into them with great strength to punch a hole in them. Two for Guzma, two for Cordelay, easy enough. Guzma's a little unnerved by the ordinance, though.

Speaking of ordinance, the trio reaches Group B, and flashes gang signs. Tupp takes the lead. "Yo, yo. We're Team Skull." And then, he gestures to his pals. "Yo, let's force them outta that there cannon."

As the doors open, Team Skull rushes the doors, throwing out pokeballs. As soon as they're in the cannon, they'll probably be glued inside by Mikoto. That's okay.

Their pokemon are a giant pile of trash, a flying bat, and a fiery lizard. Yep. If there's any immediate resistance inside the cannon, they spit poison from their mouths at them after a call to attack. "Garbodor!" "Zubat!" "Salandit!"

Nova Terra (6381) has posed:
    With group A making their way towards the left Railway Cannon, they'll start to find the wounds on the dead Imperials starting to look less like they expect. And the path of bodies is heading in the direction of their destination: The left Railway Cannon.

    At the moment that Crow and his squad reach the bay containing one of the great twin cannons, the large doors leading outside begin to open. This causes more light to spill into the large room, providing the squad (and those who are flying outside) a better view of the interior.

    There's quite a commotion inside the bay. A number of large men in equally large power armour stand around, holding large weapons as they watch. What are they watching? Several mech suits hovering along on thrusters, large claws and laser welders making structural changes.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto gives Rean a smile, she was alright, but it wasn't her idea of another date.

The cannons come out, causing Mikoto to look confused.  She didn't see anything that artillery pieces like that needed to hit.  Of course, then the announcement was made that the cannon was taken over by the enemy forces.  That was their plan?  

Oh, this wasn't going to go well if they fired those.  The key item is handed to her from Linehart.  She blinks at it, but already knows what it does.  Somehow.  She has a grin on her face, "Alright, I'll do it.  Everyone else goes ahead.  If they shoot at me I can distract them to buy you more time."

Then behind her the strange creature that hurts to look at appears.  A mask of stained glass, but in the shape of a gem.  Arms formed out of animals, as well as other people.  It seems connected to Mikoto with puppet strings.  

A dark portal opens, and she appears above the cannons, throwing the glue solution into the cannon barrels themselves.  She flies to the next one, attempting to seal each one up while the puppet shadow thing hangs behind her.  For those who have seen a witch, it looks like one.  For those who have seen Riku's Heartbrand, it looks like it.  For those who have seen both, it looks like both.

Crow Armbrust has posed:
Crow grimaces as the group is led onwards. He didn't doubt that Neithardt had noticed the abrupt change in the injuries of the various soldiers scattered about as they approached the hangar, but he figured that the only ones who had were himself and the instructor. The rest of Group A was in too much of a hurry, news of the blast doors beginning to open had lit a frantic, frenzied flame under everyone's rear to get moving. Time was almost up.

"W-what the heck are those?" Alisa stutters before regaining her composure, bow in hand. Unlike the rest who momentarily mistook the suited men as a kind of Archaism, Crow knew better -- he was a little more versed in the ways of the multiverse. "Some kinda' armored shell. Those guys mean serious business!"

Instructor Neithardt brandished his blade, looking contemplative. No doubt he was figuring out the best way to approach the situation, while Crow changed his stance so he could move at a moment's notice. "Those Archaisms they're guarding, they're totally undocumented ... Class VII, spread out!"

Given the composition of their team, they would lose in a straight firefight, so the only option the mostly ranged fighters of Group A had was to spread out and try and break up the enemy formation. Divide and conquer. Neithardt charged forward as a blur to draw attention to himself while Crow separated himself to begin peppering some of the power-armored men with gunfire from his Orbal Pistols, charging behind a supporting steel pillar for cover.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia is shaken out of her introspective stupor by the impact of those shells to her ship. Though it has no sails, those shells could do severe damage to the huge spinning propellers which keep the airship airborn. Her ship fires back at the attacker even as it lists forward from one of its propellers being damaged, then it moves forward to hover over the right cannon.

     A huge hatch opens on the underside of the airship, and...prefabricated pieces start falling out, perfectly aimed so that within a few moments there is a full wood and stone tower on or directly in front of the extending cannon. Hopefully that will stop it from aiming wherever it is intending to aim! "Hahaha! What do you think of the might of the Sundew Kingdom?" she calls down to the ILF forces below.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
LINEHART:  Linehart's Mirror Shadow punches a hole into the turret, and it explodes, leaking smoke everywhere. The other tank is still around though, and fires artillery rounds at both him and his shadow.

CORDELAY AND GUZMA: Cordelay cuts the top off off the turrets, causing them to start sparking. They're still ticking though- one of them rolls up next to her, and suddenly shoots out two thin metal spikes in front of it. Scizor meanwhile punches both turrets into a nearby wall, causing them to spark a bit and then shut down.

Nova Terra (6381) has posed:
    Neithardt's attempt at a distraction makes him the first one to be noticed. One of the power-armoured Marines turns in his direction, spotting him. The man calls out, "Hostiles!" The rest of the Marines respond, turning to face the instructor. Large gauss rifles are raised and begin firing, spitting out the large spikes of metal in the running man's direction. Though given the speed the man is going at, they're going to have a hard time hitting him.

    This gives group A the chance they need to flank the squad of Marines who are focused on Neithardt. Their attacks begin to rain down on the squad. Crow's shots in particular rip into one of the Marine's armour, causing him to cry out in pain and drop to the ground. The off-world soldier is still moving, so not dead. But down.

    As the flanking maneuver is recognised by the Marine squad, they begin to fall back and rearrange their formation. Half switch targets, beginning to unload those spikes towards the rest of group A. The hovering mech suits known as SCVs diligently continue about their work, the pilot engineers hidden inside hoping that the Marines can keep them occupied.

    Of course, all of this is visible to Mikoto as she flies over to release her payload of glue. It splatters inside the large barrel, gunking up the weapon. It looks like she was successful!

    From her perch upon a raised catwalk along the large cannon bay wall, the invisible Nova quietly mutters to herself, "Annoying..." She raises her rifle, scoping in on the flying Mikoto and pulls the trigger.

    The resulting sniper shot is muffled, but still audible at this range. Nova's cloak shimmers from the shot, briefly showing her location as the bullet streaks out up into the air towards Mikoto.

Cordelay Levail (6936) has posed:
The spikes come out just as Cordelay lands from her aerial attack, forcing her to quickly attempt to parry. While one them is deflected by a sword, the other finds its mark as it pierces her leather gauntlet and punctures her arm. Cordelay hisses in pain before bringing both her swords up to stab into the damaged turret in an attempt to finally disable it.

Her current predicament doesn't prevent her from noticing the exploits of Guzma's Scizor, however. "Your Pokemon is well-trained, to deal such crushing blows so easily. It speaks to your skill!"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
MIKOTO AND SARRACENIA:  Mikoto gets fired at as she approaches the turret. Suddenly, a barrier tinted like stone appears before her, blocking the bullets. Emma's standing at the platform where the others were, her staff raised. "I'll help you! Keep going!" she shouts. Mikoto has no problem getting the glue inside the right cannon, but the left....

Sarracenia's tower makes it into position, too, though it blocks some of Emma's view of Mikoto.

GROUP B AND THE GUZ SQUAD: Meanwhile, Team Skull and the rest of Group B runs into a bunch of ILF goons as they enter the some with swords, and some with guns. "What in the hell-" One says as he's splashed with poison. He's got a helmet on covering his eyes, so he's fine there, but he starts spitting and choking...looks like he swallowed some. "A freaking garbage bag?!" Another one says, firing his gun at the Pokemon.

"What is going on out there?!" A voice says, and a red haired woman with an eyepatch steps out of a side door attached to the cannon. She looks at the Pokemon Trainers, and the group of students + one Instructor coming up the path behind them. "Of course it's you again." She grumbles, drawing her sword. She then waves her other arm, and another machine appears between Team Skull and the advancing Group B.

The red-haired woman runs towards Tupp, swinging her sword in a wide arc at him- and anyone standing near him.

Crow Armbrust has posed:
Crow remains behind the pillar to protect himself from the volley. Machias and Alisa spread out to the other ends of the bay to exchange fire with the marines, while Elliot tried to stay closer to the middle to better support everyone, including Neithardt, who couldn't go on the offensive. The instructor was a tough nut to crack, but he was pressured out of any risky attacks by the skilled opponents they all faced.

        "ARCUS Activate."

The device glowed, enshrouding Crow in a blue aura as he stepped out from behind his cover, guns raised. The ethereal image of a clock's face spinning out of control appeared over him before he blurred into an afterimage, time having sped up tremendously for himself as a way of boosting his speed. He ducked and weaved through the assault, skimmed by the enemy gunfire as he span, fanning his gunfire with surprising accuracy.

Guzma has posed:
Cordelay cuts the top off the turrets, and then they come at her with metal spikes. Guzma considers what to do. She's an ally, right? Better let the big boss handle one of those, as Guzma grins at the compliment, before shouting out.

"Scizor. Iron Head."

Scizor's head suddenly flashes, as it charges one of the turrets, pushing past the spike and moving to headram it. It is strong enough to just bulldoze through, and then, as Cordelay presuambly handles the other one, it preens for her.

Tupp, meanwhile, is having a very bad day. His Pokemon can, luckily, resist bullets because they're tough, as Garbodor leaks trash and oil as it's shot, but the trio is screaming. As the red-headed woman comes at him with a sword, he freaks out, as the blade shallowly cuts him as he leaps backwards, spilling fresh red blood. "Y-you can't just attack a trainer! What the heck, man, what the heck?!" But, they're not useless. Tupp, trying to maintain composure, shouts out.

"Salandit, use Ember!" It spits out a ball of fire at the red-headed woman, hopefully burning her, and possibly keeping the burn going longer than a single strike. Rapp and Zipp shout out as well. "Toxic!" They shout in unison, as their pokemon spray poison at the redheaded woman, trying to force her back from literally killing them.

Linehart (7141) has posed:
     The Mirror Image splits the tank in twain from stem to stern. The leaking smoke mingles with the shadowy armor and cloak, shrouding the Mirror Image completely. Only the frightening red cross-slash visor pierces the smog, a fell and evil glow.

     The artillery shell comes down in the midst of it all. The shadow, the smoke, the red glare, all are swallowed by the fire and the dust from the impact. The second shell crashes down on Linehart himself, swallowing him, too, in fire and dust. For a moment it looks as if the dark-clad knight is gone.

     That's not how this works.

     Simultaneously the two emerge from their respective clouds of debris. The scratches on the armor are identical, the splintered remains of the shell and the rocks it kicked up. No, wait - they're not identical. They're mirrored. There's also more scratches, more damage, than either of them should've taken alone - mirrored dents. Mirrored scratches. The smoke roiling off them as they emerge in exactly the opposite flows.

     It's *weird*.

     The Mirror Duplicate advances on the tank. The red lights on the end of the spear begin twisting and shifting, some sort of spinning puzzle or password. Eventually the runes lock together.

     The Duplicate shoves the spear up into the tank, and a dark aura pours out of it. The energy of the tank flows into the duplicate, slowly repairing some of the dents and scratches - not only on the duplicate but on Linehart himself. The Mirror Duplicate rips the spear out, trailing shadow in its wake, and turns to face the oncoming line.

     Meanwhile, Linehart said he would hold the line, so he will hold the line. He walks forward, massive spear slung over his shoulder, at the head of the line, directly into the advancing green-clad forces. The cross-scar visor on his helmet is as imposing as his music.

     He is a monster. An unstoppable beast. He is the advancing shadow of night ready to fall, the beast that waits at the edge of the darkness, the fear that lurks in the bumps and thumps of midnight.

     The first soldier he meets, he grabs by the throat. He drives the man into the ground, smashing the green-clad enemy so hard it leaves a crater around him. His spear whirls around to crash into the second, the sheer hilt of the weapon big enough to knock a human to the ground and possibly even crush a skull.

     The crouched Evil Knight rises. He looms.

     He marches into the horde, heedless of the chaos and the danger, leaving a wake through the sea of soldiers.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
CORDELAY AND GUZMA: You both take out your respective turrets, slicing them in half or punting them against the wall again. You're free to move forward to where the others are!

THE GUZ SQUAD: The red-haired woman just glares at Tupp. "The hell are you talking about?" She says, continuing to swing her sword at him. Salndit's fire hits her though, and she lets out a cry, backing off for a moment.
Also, that guy with a gun is still there. He fires at Zubat and Garbodor to suppress their usage of Toxic.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
The first cannon is down, and an explosion of magic taking down defenses before they could take her down.  She gives a thumbs-up back down before flying around Sarra's tower, but this makes her a target.  That's fine...she has an idea.  

She uses her sword and somehow manages to stab the air, forming a magical circle.  Then a storm of small birds forms around her, before flying out in all directions.  Their goal?  Aiming to get into the eyes and faces of things trying to stop her.

And peck the shit out of them.

Guzma has posed:
Guzma, after the turrets are done, catches up with the others and heads towards the cannon where his gang is. If the door's closed, he's going to try and force his way in, otherwise he waltzes in, ignoring the giant clock robot, having returned Scizor to its pokeball. As his team is being stabbed and shot, Zubat narrowly getting clipped by a bullet and Garbodor leaking more trash, Tupp taking another (nastier) cut from the sword, they start panicking further. However, it'll be fine.

Guzma is here, having avoided everything help for a chance to help his Guys out of a pinch.

Another pokeball is clicked and released. A swordswoman and a gunner. It releases a bipedal blue and white bug, an isopod of sorts, hunched over and preparing a fist.

"Golisopod. First Impression."

Golisopod, the big bug only a bit taller than Guzma, suddenly blurs way too fast. It moves full force at the gunman, slamming a fist into his ribcage with the force to break a bone, and send him flying backwards. The swordswoman gets a glare.

"The hated foe who beats you down and beats you down and never lets up is here, big bad Guzma! You gonna play ball with me now, or are you gonna turn and run with your tail between your legs?"

Cordelay Levail (6936) has posed:
Following after Guzma, Cordelay watches him bolt past the clock-robot and smiles devilishly. As he confronts the ones attacking his team, she once again leaps into the air - this time, however, she lashes out with one of her sword-chains in an attempt to ensnare any obvious weapons the mech is sporting before landing atop it and stabbing fiercely down into it, hoping to find something important to gouge out. "You have made a very dangerous enemy this day." Her smile morphs into a gleeful smirk as she addresses the red-haired woman. "Master Guzma! I understand if you wish to deal with her yourself, but know that if you call for my aid, the Dragon's daughter will assist you!"

Nova Terra (6381) has posed:
    "How the HELL is he moving so fast!?" The Marines begin to start putting their focus on Crow as he's the obvious threat here. Thankfully this relieves the pressure on the rest of group A. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to help the Marines. A few more fall under the assault from Crow's weird pistols, their fellows grabbing them and pulling them back behind the slowly retreating line.

    Nova watches a flock of birds move to support Mikoto. 'Neat trick.' Nova decides to leave the girl be for now, instead turning her attention on Crow. Through her scope, she can see the young man forcing her troops back, 'Not bad.'

    As Nova watches the firefight down below, she receives a comm signal, <"Ma'am, alterations are complete.">

    Nova responds, "Good, get to evac position." Headset tap, "Condor One, you're up." That done, Nova returns her attention to Crow, 'Let's see how he handles this..."

    Nova reaches out with her mind, gripping one of the large metal beams supporting the roof. The telekinetic force causes the beam to warp, ripping it out of the concrete structure.

    It then plummets down towards Crow and group A's position.

Nova Terra (6381) has posed:
    Mikoto's birds swarm around towards the bay containing the other cannon. But, being birds, they mistake the source of the shot and instead swarm down towards the two SCVs that have just moved around into view behind the cannon. The birds land upon the mech suits, beginning to poke and claw at the machines.

    The pilots begin to panic.

    "What are they doing!?"
"Gah! They're damaging the cameras!"
"Get off! Get off you damned things!"

    The SCVs start flailing, mechanical arms trying to swipe the birds away, claws reaching out to try and grab them, laser cutters trying to burn them. All the while banging into each other in the process.

Crow Armbrust has posed:
With a cocky smirk on his face, Crow bites back some smarm -- he didn't want to waste the limited time he had in this 'clock up' state as it were, as ironic as it was for an ability that altered the passage of time to work. With the formation of the marines broken by his attack, Machias is given an opportunity to load a shell infused with Wind Sepith into his Orbal Shotgun. "Keep it up!" the glasses wearing gunman yelled before firing into the air, creating a dust of healing powder that fell over Elliot and Neithardt, who had both taken damage in the interim.

        "Ah, damn!"

By the time Crow realizes he's in danger, it was already nearly too late to do anything about it. With some quick thinking, he ejected the half-emptied clip of his weapon to replace it with one infused with Water Sepith, releasing a volley of shots into the falling debris. What was struck quickly iced over until it was frozen solid. "Alisa!" "Okay!"

Alisa readied her Orbal Bow and strung back an arrow infused with Fire Sepith, releasing the Flamberge with a small shout, the projectile splitting open into a barrage of burning hot needles that pepper the frozen debris as it falls. The abrupt change in extreme temperatures warp and shatter the beam into far more manageable chunks for Crow and the rest to avoid, although Elliot cries out as he becomes pinned by a larger piece that fell on him.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Ok great, both cannons are gunked.  That'll make things easy for Rean to shut them down.  Starting to turn away and float, he saw that the building was starting to come down on her allies.  Ok, what the fuck..?

The Eidolon disappears from behind her as she fades away.  The monster aims to appear to hold up the roof in places, as she summons large elephants in others to try and brace in others to try and cover those on the ground.  

She just needs to set this down gently somewhere else...of course, this does make her a target while she tries to calmly take care of a collapsing roof.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
CORDELAY AND GUZMA: Cordelay's sword wraps around one of the machine's arms. It starts to groan against the weapon, leaving an opening for a blonde haired boy with a sword - Jusis- to come in with a flurry of piercing strikes. Cordelay also pierces through the top of the machine, though it's not quite dead. The machine starts sparking....and then discharges, unleashing a pulse of electricity around it...and above it. Jusis cries out, being way too close to the machine. Rean is also in that radius, and falls to his knees.

Meanwhile with Guzma, Golisopod rams into the gunman, breaking a rib. He grunts, hitting the floor, but he 's not quite down yet. He fires at the bug Pokemon, trying to get it off of him. The woman laughs. "Is that a challenge? Well then, Let's play!" She shouts, igniting her sword. It then /extends/ in a straight line towards Guzma.

Cordelay Levail (6936) has posed:
An electrical pulse around you is one thing, but one coming from a machine you're currently stabbing a metal implement into is much, much worse. The shock sends Cordelay tumbling from the machine's top with a piercing cry, barely able to grasp her sword's chain and yank it free once the pulse stops, and for a few moments she lies on the ground as the smell of singed leather and hair permeates the air.

"What a cheap trick..." She coughs once her muscles quit spasming from the shock. "Master Schwarzer, are you alright? And your friend?" She begins forcing herself back to her feet, both swords in hand. Her allies are still fighting, after all, and there's no way she can give in while that's happening. Cordelay Levail is always the last to retreat.

Guzma has posed:
Two attacks come off at Guzma and his Golisopod. As the bullet impacts, Guzma grimaces, but Golisopod takes its arms and puts them together, shell blocking the bullet, though it carves a gash into it that'll need to be healed. The sword is the actual freaky part - Guzma thought he could try and dance past it, maybe, but when it extends, he's clearly out of his league, as the flaming sword gashes his side, cutting into his jacket and knocking him backwards. "Agh!" He's angry. Very angry. Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp come forth. "Boss, let us handle thi-"

"Shut it! They want the dealer of destruction, they're gonna get him. What's your name, lady? I need to know what to write on your tomestone! Golisopod, Swords Dance!" He tries to laugh, though the pain knocks him back, as Golisopod starts shining, apparently doing some weird sort of dance.

He could run...but that'd show his men a bad time. Not yet. If he gets hit again, he will, but he can take a single cheating gash, can't he?

Another pokeball is grabbed and released. "If there's two of you, it's only fair." The pokeball releases a navy blue and yellow beetle-like pokemon, with very long pincers, about the height of a large dog but overall smaller, and it's making the air feel like static. "Vikavolt. Zap Cannon." He points at the boss lady, which might give her a second to move for Vikavolt, until he then, suddenly, as soon as she's moving to intercept, points at the gunman. "Golisopod. Pin Missile."

Two shots fire. A massive electrical cannon blasts out of Vikavolt's maw, moving to fry the gunman. It probably won't kill him, but he'll wish he's dead if it manages to knock him out, and his bones will be like jelly.

Golisopod, meanwhile, fires green-tinted energy missiles from its back, multiple hits moving to impact into the swordswoman and try and hit her from multiple sides.

If Vikavolt manages to knock out the gunman, Guzma simply returns it to the ball.

Nova Terra (6381) has posed:
    Nova watches as the falling debris is shattered like ice. Smart. Yet more is held up by that... Thing, whatever it is. And, ELEPHANTS? What the hell? Damnit, stupid magic.

    Still, the move by Nova creates a brief lull in the battle, which Nova attempts to use to her advantage. She stands up, saying into her radio, "All troops to evac positions. It's time we get out of here." Blue light shimmers around Nova, revealing her form as she decloaks and vaults over the catwalk railing. She lands atop the large cannon.

    The Marines begin to pull back. Some help their wounded up onto the cannon itself, while others move to hold onto the side. Meanwhile, Nova reaches down and detaches one of the thin cylinders from the leg of her suit. She presses a button on top and then throws the object towards Crow and the rest of group A, "Here, catch!" Yeah, catching it would be a bad idea. As shortly after, the flashbang explodes in a blast of light and energy to disorient those caught in the radius.

    As for Nova, she kneels down and places a hand against the railway cannon she's standing on, closing her eyes as she concentrates. With screeching metal the large wheels of the cannon begin to move along the track that gives it its name. The large mobile artillery begins to move out of the bay. Though where it's going to go once it reaches the end of the rails, and the massive ravine beyond that edge, is anyone's guess.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto finally sets the debris down, taking a breath.  Ok, that's another emergency taken care of.  She gives a thumbs up towards the other students until there is a rumbling.  The cannon is moving?  Her eyes track the cannon until she sees someone on it.  Well, to a magical girl, it is obvious MAGIC is being used.  

She flies, as the Eidolon returns to her back, as she tries to fly at high speed towards the slow-moving cannon.  Her sword is drawn as she pulls it over her head, and attempts to descend on Nova like a white-haired villain in a JRPG.  YOU KNOW THE ONE!

"I'm going to need you to stop doing whatever it is you think you're doing here."

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
CORDELAY AND GUZMA: "Ghh...I'm fine. How about you?" Rean says, slowly getting to his feet. Jusis also gets up though he's a lot more singed than Rean is. He coughs. "It'll take much more than that to finish me." Laura, a ponytailed girl with a greatsword rushes forward, with Sara behind her. "Instructor, with me!" she shouts, and Sara fires a salvo of pistol shots at the machine, while Laura slams her weapon into it. The robot sways a bit, but is undeterred. The clockwork like wheel on its back turns faster, and it's surrounded by a ring of blue light, almost like a spell circle.

"Shit, it's casting, get back!" Sara shouts.

The redheaded woman smiles. "Scarlet, or 'S' for short." She says. She jumps back, expecting to get zapped...But then the attack hits its true target. The gunman screams, getting absolutely fried by the Zap Cannon. He's out cold. "Very sneaky." Scarlet says, frowning. She weaves through Golispede's missiles, bu isn't quite fast enough for one of them and gets struck on the side, tearing into her red dress. She hisses a bit, then laughs. She swings her sword down...and it breaks evenly into little chevrons, like it was built to do so. The pieces fly through the air, swarming Guzma and his squad like tiny sharp birds.

Also that guy that got poisoned is dead now.

Crow Armbrust has posed:
        "Phew.."

With crisis averted, Crow gives a small and playful salute to Mikoto for her help in holding up the roof. Neithardt is left with a nasty gash on one of his legs while Alisa and Machias sport what are ultimately just flesh wounds, both of them moving to try and push the debris off of Elliot before it crushes something important.

By the time they recover from their disorientation from the flashbang escape of Nova, the Railway Cannon is already moving. "N-no!" "We failed..?!"

Neithardt's expression hardens as he holds up his orbment. "Valestein, the left Railway Cannon is moving out!" he warns.

Crow, in the meantime, fires a careful volley of orbal gunfire. He hits neither of his targets, an oddity for someone usually so tricky with his aim. "Hey, I can't really get a clear shot, lady!"

Cordelay Levail (6936) has posed:
"What an annoyance!" Cordelay snaps as the machine begins charging up. "Are any of you familiar with this type of enemy? If so, tell me where to strike to do the most damage to it!" She tenses, her muscles still aching from the previous shock, ready to leap clear of the machine's next cast. "We must take care of it quickly and break out of this encirclement, with this machine at our front and Scarlet harassing Master Guzma at our rear we are in a rather poor position."

Nova Terra (6381) has posed:
    Schhluck.

    Drip. Drip.

    Mikoto's blade sticks down through the shoulder of the kneeling Nova, going in one side and coming out the other. Blood trails down from the tip, before dropping down onto the cannon housing below. Nova grunts at the pain, the speed of the already slowly moving cannon dropping. But it then picks up again, continuing forward.

    Nova lifts her head to look up at Mikoto above her, opening her eyes to reveal them lit up with psychic energy. Through gritted teeth she says, "I. Will. Not."

    The dormant psi-blade on Nova's back flares to life, psychic energy forming into the molecular thick edge. It then detaches from the suit, rising up into the air as Nova directs it with her mind. The blade then whips outwards, spinning around through the air before stopping some distance behind Mikoto, tip pointed at her back.

    There's a sonic boom.

    The psi-blade launches forward, threatening to pierce right through Mikoto if she doesn't move.

Guzma has posed:
Tupp is bleeding, and Zipp is holding him while Rapp moves over to the poisoned guy, who is probably spilling bile and blood now. "H-hey, are you okay?" She kicks him gently, and then ducks down when she realizes he's dead. Mortified, she recoils backwards into Zipp, who grabs her. "Hey, hey, Rapp, it's gonna be okay, y-yo!" They're scared delinquents. This isn't how the world should be.

Guzma, meanwhile, has Golisopod fire more pin missiles to intercept the shots on the trio. They're safe, but Guzma is cut up by chevrons, as is Golisopod, causing both to bleed. "Alright. Let's play seriously." Guzma says. He can't flee with a bleeding Tupp and a scarred Rapp. So one more attack might be able to drive her off, especially as everyone else is getting to work. "Messing with me. Messing with my goons. Who do you think you are, S? Some sort of hotshot? You're nothing. You're trash. And you know what I do to trash? I crush it! I throw it in the bin! Smashed to bits!"

"Razor Shell!"

Golisopod lifts its shell on its arm, sharpened, and suddenly charges it with water energy, before rushing forward at Scarlet. It's moving to batter her and cut into her as much as possible.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
The blade shoots up, catching Mikoto's eye.  Just because it moves fast doesn't mean it doesn't escape her notice.  Already moving, thanks to Nanoha's Superior Speed and Flight, she moves to try and avoid the thing.  There is a sharp pain in her side, as the blade cuts through her dress and slashing the side of her body.  

Both she and the Eidolon are hit, causing the Magical girl to double back.  However, she was not out of this yet.  She moves around attempting to draw Nova's concentration on her.  Obviously, she couldn't be a sitting duck, or else that blade would cleanly cut through her back.  

However, Nova might notice something.  The Eidolon was gone.

That is because it forms into existence right behind her, aiming to grab her in both of its malformed hands to start squeezing her body.  Crushing, choking...whatever it took to break her concentration.  

"I. Insist."

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean looks over at the machine, catching onto something. "Try stopping the wheel!" Rean shouts, and then runs in, moving to stab his sword between the turning device and the robot's back. The discussion about death catches his attention, but he's not really up for multitasking right now because well, stabbing a robot.

Scarlet is rammed into with the shell, and it cuts into her body more. She grunts, staggering back and holding onto her wounds. "Heh...Sounds like that other lady is almost done. You win this round, Guzma." She says. She pulls out a smoke bomb, and throws it to the floor, before running off. There's a distant sound of an airship pulling up, and the sound of someone leaping onto a metal deck.

Guzma has posed:
As Scarlet escapes, Guzma...doesn't try to stop her. "Golisopod, return." He clicks the pokeball, returning Golisopod, as he grabs his wound and shifts in place. He starts moving over to his grunts, before smacking himself in the side of the face. "Guzma! What is wrong with you?! Your grunts got hurt because you were off fighting stupid turrets! Keep it together, man!"

After wiping the impression of his palm from his face (he hit himself pretty hard), Rapp calmed slightly by Linehart but now recoiling from Guzma's outburst, he extends a hand to her. "Yo, let's get me and Tupp over to treatment. Time's a wasting. Zipp, you think you can help him walk?" "Y-yeah, boss!"

And so, Team Skull lives another day. But the world's changed for them in one day. Waltzing into a battlefield and out...what new excitement might come for them?"

Cordelay Levail (6936) has posed:
Upon hearing Rean's suggestion, Cordelay regains her smile. Running to the other side of the robot, she slings her sword-chains at it again - both of them this time, attempting to bind the wheel and stop it from spinning. "I'm counting on all of you to disable it if this works, I won't be able to use my swords while restraining it like this!" Her voice is strained with tension as she focuses all her efforts on stopping the wheel and the spell, bracing for the inevitable yank on the chains that's certain to come.

As she does this, she spots Team Skull withdrawing and nods respectfully toward them. For a group of what seemed to be petty criminals, they certainly acted more like heroes. She had certainly underestimated them.

Linehart (7141) has posed:
     The line is held.

     The juggernaut, surrounded by the fallen, is unmoved. His armor is dented, damaged - perhaps even broken in places, though how could one tell through that smoky, light-drinking darkness - but he himself still looms like the oncoming night. The cloak that turns to shadow at its tip whirls about him. That glowing red visor stares after the man with the machine gun as he departs for the airship. There is no pursuit. Linehart does not pursue. Linehart stalks, and threatens, and inexorably advances. But he does not pursue. He does not chase. Chasing and pursuit are for others to do.

     One of the massive clockwork machines lies, shattered, around him, the bits of clock melted from intense flame. Soldiers are crumpled about the machine, too, bodies scattered as petals in the wind. As he turns to walk back towards the fortress, each heavy bootfall cracks bullet-casings underfoot. He ought to be covered in blood, but he is not. There was never such art drawn for him, perhaps. Or maybe that dark armor simply does not show such stains.

     Linehart passes through the Imperial lines without a textbox of acknowledgement. He stops for a moment to look back over the line, over the dead on both sides.

     Then he goes to find someone in charge and stand near them until they give him money or an item of some sort, point him at a dungeon, or offer some key treasure for later. He won't say as much, but he will just wait there until they give him something, even if it's simply another quest, at which point he will walk through the nearest reflective surface and disappear like a bad dream.

Nova Terra (6381) has posed:
    Nova's in a rather difficult situation. Half her attention is focused on moving the giant cannon. So she's having trouble holding out against the Eidolon that is now slowly crushing her. Her suit helps, the artificial muscle fibers providing the extra strength to at least keep her from being immediately hugged in half. But she's going to need to do something to break free soon, already feeling her mind cloud.

    She just needs an opening...

    Nova focuses on Mikoto, the telepath's mind trying to grasp at something, anything within the other girl. It's difficult enough to get through an Elite's natural defenses under normal circumstances. But Nova persists. There must be something...

    There!

    "Souji... And Nishi."

    Names that are probably meaningless to most here. But they mean something to Mikoto. Nova knows that. She doesn't know exactly why. But it should be enough to shock the magical girl.

    At that point, a number of things happen in unison:

    An aura of psychic energy flares up around Nova, then launches itself at Mikoto to strike not her body, but her mind.

    The railway cannon reaches the end of the track. Crashing through the stone railing and beginning to roll off the edge of the platform. For several moments, it appears to defy gravity, held aloft by Nova. But the Ghost's concentration is fading and soon the cannon begins to tip.

    A large Terran Hercules transport comes streaking down from the sky above. The pilot sees the tipping cannon and starts to panic, crying, "Shitshitshit! This was not part of the plan!" Still he maneuvers the craft into place, engines spinning around to rapidly slow the transport's speed and park the open rear doors in the path of the now falling cannon. To catch the incredibly heavy artillery before punching the thrusters to get the bulky craft rising again with the added weight.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
The names jolt Mikoto in a way she wasn't expecting.  How did she know those names?  It was just the moment that Nova needed to get through her mental defenses.  The psychic attack strikes at her mind, causing her a great amount of pain.

And she falls.  And screams.  

The Eidolon is gone, unable to sustain the magic needed to keep it up.  She can't control her descent.  smacking off the side of the cannon before going ass over teacups towards the canyon.  

This was going to hurt.

Crow Armbrust has posed:
The battle on both sides reaches a crescendo before victory ultimately falls part and parcel to both sides. And seemingly at the last second, a pitch black state of the art airship quickly maneuvers itself in, swerving around the right Railway Cannon in time for the red-haired S to board it. The man with the gun was there, too, it seemed.

With the core members of the ILF secured, it curves up and to the right to avoid getting caught in the disaster going on at the left-most platform. An electronically garbled voice filters out to reach everyone present willing to lend an ear.

The baritone is simulated, but the hardness in it, the resentment was doubtlessly authentic. "My name is ... C. I am the leader of the Imperial Liberation Front .. you all fought very well to repel us both this time and the last. But don't think you're out of the woods, this isn't over. The hammer of justice will fall again, I'm ready."

        "Are you?"

The airship turns smoothly and as quick and quiet as a shadow, disappears into the horizon.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
The wheel grinds to a halt, and the machine stops glowing. "Ok, now!" Rean shouts. Everyone rushes the machine, Swords, spears, gunshots and metal puppet fists slamming against the robot. It falls down with a clank, stilled. Sara runs ahead of the Guz Squad, running to shut the cannon down. "Cannon disabled." She says, stepping back out.

Then the Terran transport shows up. Everyone looks out the opening towards the ravine, noticing Nova moving the entire cannon. "Wait, is she /stealing/ it?!" Sara shouts, running to the guardrail. She fires her pistol at the transport, probably futilely. Emma starts firing arts at the passing transport from her position as well, launching bursts of fire and light at it.

"MIKOTO!" Rean shouts, watching her sail into the ravine. Suddenly a silver and blue blur passes him, as Millium flies into the ravine riding on one of Airgetlam's arms. The silver puppet reaches out its other arm, catching Mikoto before she can become a splat on the ravine walls. Her stomach probably hurts though.

Then the ILF ship passes by and C does his speech.

They would be ready, next time.