581/CP: The Battle For Camp Overlook

CP: The Battle For Camp Overlook
Date of Scene:	13 September 2014
Location:	Upper Noscea: Point C, Hydaelyn
Synopsis:	It would seem the Eorzeans are not given to long to breath, as the Garlean Empire with now the aid of the Confederacy start to mach forward to try and take La Noscea. Can the Union step into aid the Maelstrom in time? Or will this be a swift wake-up call?
Cast of Characters:	278, 307, 399, 494, 522, 541, 547, 560

---

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
It was a plan made by Gaius Van Baelsar before he had left and it was now up to the Fourteenth Legion without his excellency here to see it through. Though the Garlean's had a Castrum not far from here, they knew this area was a prime spot.

For here lied the ruins of the City of Nym. A location of great aetheric energy and more correctly old ruins that may hold answers to the Allagans-- if not further of there own technology so they may increase there own. Yet just east of here, was the Kobold's own camp and city. A prime location to keep an eye on the beast men tribe and hopefully deal with them if they so /dare/ to summon there Primal.

Then there was just to the southwest-- Aleport. A once small settlement that had trouble handling the beast men, has now started to become something of great interest. Given the work that is starting to take place. Yet-- how does the Garlean Empire move across the lands to this location? Simply by that of airships.

The smaller transport airships move over the skies before soon they come down close. Many of the animals flee long before the Garlean Troops step down and the Magitek Vanguards are deployed. Once on the ground they start to move forward as the airships pull away.

Even the Confederacy has been called upon, if they so desire to assist. They find themselves welcomed on the metal airships, finding themselves in the steel hold with blue-white lights and different types of technology that run through the ships, to follow the troops right off.

Yet what the Garleans do not realize, is the camp that is being setup-- the camp they have come for, has now started to get there link pearls working. Though the message is not clear, it is clear enough for the Maelstrom to call out to the Union over the multiverse device for assistance. The people of the Union and members of the Maelstrom would use the aid of aetheric magic to teleport themselves to the camp. Which may be a bit jarring for those who have not become use to it.

Then there was the Pirates at sea, who stared out at the appending battle. Would they take part? Or would they remain at sea to watch the battle from a distance along side those who may desire to work for there boot load in treasure.

Welcome to the beginning war for Eorzea, where in the end-- only one may be victorious over her lands and one day, may find themselves leading the charge against the entirety of the world of Hydaelyn itself.

((OOC NOTE: This is the first Capture Point scene ran here for what will be many more and something that I hope you as the players may even run yourselves. At this current moment, La Noscea is a beta run of this system. These /will/ still count, but during this time, I will be examining what rules work and what do not. Also clarifying any rules that don't make much sense. Feel free to ask me any questions during this. I will be glad to answer them. ))

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Even if Confederate assistance was requested, that one of them is a *pony* still tends to get a few odd looks. Fortunately no one actually objects to Bramble Patch being there though, so she doesn't have to demonstrate why she would be a useful asset to the operation. She would rather save her energy for when they arrive.

Which they just did it would seem.

After the soldiers march out the pony follows, pausing at the ramp to take a look around. Hmmm. She trots off a bit, then pulls a clump of seeds out of a vest pouch with her hoof, tossing them out in front of her.

Upon hitting the ground the magic seeds instantly take root and sprout, blooming at an excellerated rate and winding onto each other in lengths of thorns and vines. Eventually it settles into a row not unlike the coils of barbwire you would see along trench barricades. Just made of entangled length of her namesake brambles.

Marrik (541) has posed:
A low rumble of a motorcycle engine marked Marrik's slow rolling through the strange ruins. He gave up the flash of last night for his usual frayed and rumpled coat. He stopped long enough for Sparks to fly out of his coat and try gaining altitude so he'd have an idea of where things were. If that wasn't enough he brought a few 'friends' literally ghosting around as his magic traced out to see what was around for him to use. Yes there were many old and dead things here he could use, but something felt wrong about calling on them. Plus he'd explicitly given allies a go ahead for cutting anything of that sort down on the off chance natives decided they didn't like the neighbors fighting on their lawn.

For her part Sparks shouldn't have been too hard to go unnoticed. Even flying up high she was about as big as a barbie doll and her kind was used to avoiding things bigger than they were. It seemed only natural she use her small and easy to overlook status to point out things that needed punching in the face right? Trouble is for all her smallness and agility if you paid attention she wouldn't be too hard to notice.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Water may not be very present right now, but thankfully, the Abyssals aren't very hindered by having to fight on land. Leyte is the one sent out today, and while the ship ghost isn't really sure what to make of the airships they're transported on (they're /ships/ but they /fly/, how does that even work) she simply folds her arms and grumbles in the back of the hold, waiting until the Garlean troops are dropped off.

    When the troops march forth, Leyte is stomping alongside them, her one visible eye narrowed as she looks around the ruined landscape. Strange, but it's not an area she's too unused to fighting in. Lots of hiding places, lots of high and low points...lots of things to throw people into or blast into rubble. Yes, she can handle this.

    As she stands among the assembling combatants, the Southern Demon raises her hand to the sky. A porthole opens in her palm, glowing red and steaming as if it were an opening to a furnace. From it fly several bizarre, buzzing 'planes' (http://tinyurl.com/nt4ctx9) that weave through the air like hideous insects to get a higher vantage point. And, maybe, shoot down anyone who ends up approaching them to take this little target.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Compared to the pony, the android blends in rather well. Actually, the style of his armor compliments the native Vanguard troops rather well.
    Taro flew in with the airships as they all arrived, and remained airborne to serve as something of a long-range scout. A glimmering of blue-purple light accompanies him, fluttering an arm's length away, and they both keep watch for the opposing forces that will no doubt be arriving soon...
    ...and they find their vigilence rewarded. His sharp eyes catch another 'scout' - a small fluttering one not unlike his own cyber-elf, save that it doesn't appear to be one of theirs.
    Taro gives a quiet 'hmph', accompanied by a small gesture. "Go deal with that, Isten."
    The 'elf with him bobs its head and zips off, making a beeline for Marrik's companion. 'Hey, you! Buzz off!' it warbles in an electronic voice.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Luckily for Allyn he has gotten used to the teleportation magics used by the people of this world. He's been transported to it enough times now, that he no longer feels sick. Currently in the form of a large sabertooth cat wearing a necklace of some sort. He makes his way towards where they said that help was needed and since he has come to like this world, well it's only natural he shows up to help out, that doesn't stop from people here mistaking him for a Coerul though, which may cause a little bit of panic, but he's not one, while he is a large feline he doesn't have long whiskers and he doesn't emit lightning.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Sparks scowled, both at being spotted and at just how this intruder seemed to almost be a direct mockery of her. "I was here first, you move." The pink haired pixie made a rude gesture at Taro's elf before trying to punch it with her other hand. Subtle she was not, and even as she started trying to distract the cyber-elf she spotted Taro in mid flight and sent Marrik a signal.

He grunted and sped along, grateful he'd picked a bike built for courier duty in a warzone. Even with the bumps and shakes that he had to endure because it had no shocks the speed was worth it. The cyberelf was too close to Sparks to properly target. The big thing that was coming behind? He didn't have that sort of protection. Unfortunately, as he gathered power, he wasn't sure if he could hit something from that far off. Oh well. Even as he sped forward he reached up with his right hand, grateful for the left handed controls, and made the thumb and pointer 'bang' gesture kids all over were probably making ever since pistols were invented. If he could just get the thing's attention maybe he could keep it from reporting back because too busy dealing with him.
eHence the 'bullet' of kinetic force aimed at it.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou had only one request for the Eorzean forces - 'do you have some way to supercharge my magic energy supplies?' Because the only way he was going to make any difference is if he could use more than his piddly supply. And if he failed, there would be consequences for many people.

    He doesn't want to see anyone crying, so he'll fight. Even if he's not the best fighter, he'll fight. Even if he'll probably die, he'll fight.

    He doesn't care about those things. The only thing he cares about is not wanting to see crying faces, even if only in his mind. He has to be the hero who can save everyone!

    And that's why he's chugging down some glowing blue liquid from a large crystal vial. It's also why his Magic Circuits feel like they're burning - they're filling up beyond any amount they've ever handled before.

    "Hwghh...kh..." He's at the camp, watching the airships arriving.

    Damn this pain, he'll just have to withstand it for the fight.

    "Those are...?!" His gaze locks onto the 'planes' Leyte's released. Eyes sharpened by magic have no trouble managing that, and the rest of his body's also flooding with it. Every muscle, every bone, and every square inch of skin Shirou's doing his best to pour prana through and Reinforce in preparation. It's not a perfect job either.

    Proof enough of that shows in the way he coughs out a little bit of blood after the attempt. Great, now he's screwed up something inside him. Oh well. He'll just deal with that too. (Or his body can regenerate it in a flash, unknowingly...)

    "Trace, on...!"

    Golden light streams from his outstretched right hand, and forms into a longsword over about 40 seconds of effort. An ancient longsword brimming with more magical energy than his whole body maintains. While it's shape may be somewhat crude, anyone familiar with Japanese mythology will have no trouble identifying it as the legendary Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi - or rather, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, as it was in its prime.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Once the thorny growths have finished taking root Bramble Patch puts her front hooves on top to prop herself over it... And upon seeing enemies already coming in to attack, ducks back down again. After a moment peeks over the top, waiting to see who is going to brave her botanical obstacles to try and get to her.

Vi (547) has posed:
    When not sending pretty much anyone caught breaking the law in Piltover to the emergency room, Vi does the League's bidding. And the Institute of War was quite interested in offering its services of mediating conflicts beyond the boundaries of Valoran and Runeterra, itself. So, here she is. Supporting some other cause, in the League's name.

Not that Vi ever minded doing it. See, doing the police work means holding back. To an extent, anyway. Still working on that. But here? With this kind of tasking? Vi doesn't need to worry about silly stuff like 'police brutality', 'excessive force', 'lawsuits', 'administrative leave', or 'we're really sorry, this won't happen again'. Grinding the fists of her gauntlets together, she has nothing to do but smash all these robots up. Sounds like a damn good time, to her.

"Here comes the punchline. Pucker up."

She stuttersteps towards one of the robots, cocks her fist back, and launches herself.. quite literally.. at it. The hextech gauntlet launches her at her target, metal on metal clashing together.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Leyte's fighter planes are the first to notice Shirou, considering their higher vantage point. When they start to veer off toward the youth, Leyte's expression turns to a slight grin of anticipation. There we go, about time to get this battle started!

    While Leyte begins striding over to where Shirou is, her planes are already weaving down to fly straight for him. The planes in question do quick firing runs on Shirou, sending bullets rapid-fire at him as they swoop down before veering off to the sides again. All to buy time before the Southern Demon herself finally arrives, coming to a halt a good distance in front of Shirou.

    When she /does/ reach him...her grin shifts to a look of confusion. Coughing up blood, looking exhausted...sure, he has a big magic sword, but it looks like he can barely fight as he is now. Is this kid really going to put up a fight?

    One clawed hand rests on her hip as she cants her head to the side, her one visible eye narrowed at Shirou dubiously. "...seriously? Are you sure you should be out here? I'm not going to be going easy on you just because you look like you'd break if I just poked you."

Taro (399) has posed:
    The cyber-elf makes an irritated electronic-whining sound at the obviously rude gesture given by its magical counterpart, then ducks under the blow. 'Oh yeah?' It airskims back to put a bit of distance between them, then brings its hands together to shoot forth a bit of electrical energy at the sprite. 'When Em Taro says go away, he means you go away!'
    Meanwhile, Taro himself seems to have just been a bit out of effective range of Marrik's spell, the conjured 'bullet' whizzing audibly past his head. Where did that come from? with narrowing eyes he scans the ground, spotting motion in the general direction from where the shot likely originated. Another scout. Well then.
    One of the armored plates in his gauntlet retracts as he raises his arm, revealing a plasma bolter. Let's see if hiw own aim at this range is any better, shall we?

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn stalks up to the patch of briars and such, studying them as he makes his way towards them. "Hmmm, not like I haven't pounced on a porcupine before or a cactus.." he sniffs around the briarpatch a moment and his ears poke, "A horse?" he looks puzzled for a few moments, "Oh well, come out and play horse, you can't hide in there all day, there'd be no fun in that." With that he swipes at the briars with a paw, claws out of course, hoping to hit the pony inside.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Garlean forces are getting into a clash with those of the Maelstrom as both sides come to collide on the battlefield. Shells are fired from the Gunblades, some Maelstrom gets shot down, while others return fire with arrows that find the sweet spots in the Garlean armor to cause them to stagger back-- if not some fall.

The normal Troopes come rushing in, jumping over the ruins with normal swords, shields, and lances. A few even wield magic. Swords clash with axes. Lances against shields. Fire magic versus that of lightning.

Yet what catches the Garleans off guard is when some Maelstrom come riding in one there armored chocobos and actually fire off there flintlocks. They learned from that fateful day-- if the Garleans going to play with bullets-- then so will they!

Though the one thing the Garleans have over those flintlocks is the speed at which the Gunsword can fire. With barely no need to cock-back the hammer, they almost fire off like a semi-automatic rifle.

Some of the Maelstrom even toss a few of the Union members a few potions. They may have been explained that you don't drink the stuff, but its applied like a salve-- just encase they get a nasty nick to hold them over to either they can see there own doctors or get them back to a near by safe camp.

Yet for the Vanguards they continue to march forward, seeming unphased by the Flintlock bullets, arrows, and easily sweep aside a few men with there axes. It isn't till Vi comes rushing in and slams her fist against one of the Vanguards does the march forward seem to come to a halt from these machines.

The Vanguard's black and chrome armor dents slightly from the impact point and in return as it corrects its balance it takes a heavy swing right at Vi with its drill-arm, trying to not only cut into her, but throw her aside.

Vi (547) has posed:
    One nice thing about Vi's rig? It's got a jury rigged up shield generator, that fires off whenever it's got a full charge and only after she uses an ability like the one she just did. The barrier engine does it's job, significantly slowing that drill down to the point where, once it actually hits one of Vi's gauntlets, it isn't even spinning and the blow glances, scraping against it. She's pushed back some, but it's nothing that throws off her stride. In fact, all she does is stand her ground, tossing a few more punches at the dent she made in the robot's torso.

"Oh yeah, baby, Dempsey ain't got nothin' on me!" She shifts her weight each time, throwing her shoulders and arms into each punch. With those huge fists on the other end, they'll do what they were made to. Punish armor.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Bramble Patch peeks out again, seeing the large feline prowling towards her makeshift barricade. Wait, is that... hold on a moment. Bramble turns her head to pull a 'Dangerous Animals' reference chart out of one of her pockets and unfold it between her hooves. "Where is it... where is it... aha. Ceorual..." She looks up over the edge again, the down. "Wait, it doesn't have to the dorky moustache to be one of tho--"

*RIP* Claws tearing through the paper cut her muttering short, but fortunately don't actually cut her short as well! It does leave her rather big eyed in surprised for a moment, though, holding the edges of the paper in her hooves still. "My my, what big claws you have," she retorts, and swiftly backs up into the brambles farther, discharging some of her corrupt energies into them. "And who says I can't, kitty?" Thanks to her special talent she's unfettered by the large thorns protruding from them.

Allyn on the other hand gets several of the briars abruptly exploding like shrapnel grenades, shooting those wicked thorns and splinters all around him.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Awaghh!" Here come the planes! Shirou senses danger from them the instant they turn on him, and leaping to the side is the only thing that saves him from being torn to shreds - well, no. His Reinforced flesh does take a few bullets just fine. He avoids over half of the barrage, and is quite grateful those planes are fairly SMALL. Flesh rips through his body, and blood flows from wounds... no, just a little blood. The crimson tide will cease in about twenty seconds. Not that this is apparent immediately.

    And even as Shirou staggers he steadies himself using the weapon and turns to face the opponent who's come his way.

    She's a monster. A bonafide monster. Really, you can't even really call someone who looks like that a girl. Never mind that though, he gawks anyways! Then his expression screws up. THEN it turns angry.

    "Who do you think you are, saying that?! That getup's completely ridiculous. Crap, I really don't want to fight a girl..." He stands up straight and tall though, eyes narrowing at Leyte.

    "You just say whatever you want...!"

    Shirou closes his eyes for just a moment... and *SCH-CLANG CLANG BLIP!*

    Weapons appear, hovering in the air, from small flashes of sizzling light. Several INHUMANLY ENORMOUS swords, a long katana, a chinese Jian. Auron's sword, Ainsley's daggers... several daggers, an enormous slab of metal that can barely be called a sword, an estoc...

    "Processes complete, trace off. Fire!"

    WHO THE HELL TURNS SWORDS INTO MISSILES?!

    For half the weapons go rocketing at blur-like speed up into the sky at the nearest planes! They'll likely shatter on impact, but there's nothing like getting struck with THOSE...

    Meanwhile, Shirou brings Kusanagi up. Wind gathers around the blade as a visible swirl...

Marrik (541) has posed:
"I don't care who this Taro is buddy," Sparks glanced as the attack ripped her jacket, "But nobody tells me where I can and cannot fly." She zipped down before attempting to fly up into her opponent fist first.

Meanwhile Marrik's fingers twisted instinctively to build a shield that diffused most of Taro's energy.

Except he had to stop the bike because part of his coat was on fire. That wasn't good. Pat patpatpat pat! Bad fire! Bad! Sure the coat as only cosmetically damaged and he could clean it later, but fire bad! Rrrraaaaaaaauuuuu!

Marrik scowled and drew a pistol from his belt and aimed. Ghosts whispered 'helpful' suggestions in his ear even as he twisted magic around the barrel to hopefully accelerate the bullets coming out. Still, that was a far shot for him so he just emptied the whole clip and hoped /something/ hits.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Vi's shield proves to be a problem and the Vanguard has to quickly actually deflect some of the strikes using those drill-lances and quick steps of movements aid by a few thrusts of blue flame that act like thrusters really.

Though what impacts do hit, dent up the armor a bit more and the Vanguard nearly gets toppled back. Though Vi may notice the sound of another coming up on her from the rear, yet it falls short as a sharp whine can be hear as the drills start to spin and then with blast off, the drills fire right off and go flying right for Vi.

A new set ca be seen right under the ones it just fired-- apparently they are layered.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn yowls in pain as the thorns seem to burst and sprays the swiping paw with splinters and such. He growls softly at Bramble as she retreats further in, "It's not good to just always hide, you should come out and play, really." he ponders for a few moments, "Will you come out and play if I promise not to eat you? I don't eat things that can talk after all." Well, he's sure that's not going to work really, because would anyone believe someone who said they weren't going to eat them?

He doesn't care too much about the thorns, well, he probably should because they are large and they do hurt quite a bit. He lunges through though, snapping at the hiding pony.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Leyte's confusion shifts to surprise, then snarling annoyance at Shirou's retort. The cannon-filled mouths at her sides give out rumbling, metallic growls as red steam seeps from between their teeth. "...don't want to fight a girl, huh? Do I /look/ like some kind of flimsy little /flower/ to you?!"

    Summoned swords rush through the air, flying at Leyte's planes; the aircraft are agile, but even they find their speed tested by the rapid swords flying at them. A few are narrowly dodged, but a few blades find their marks, blasting some of the planes out of the air in small explosions. The ones that remain start veering off, opening the distance to regroup from Shirou's counterattack.

    Leyte doesn't really seem to care, though. Shirou has proven that he's going to be an annoyance to her pride, and it shows in the irritated glare blazing in her eye. "/I/ am Leyte, the Southern Demon, Capital Ship of the Abyssal Fleet! And I'm going to make you regret those words!"

    Her hand rises from her hip, but she doesn't face the palm out at Shirou. Instead, she aims the cannons on her forearm at the youth as he gathers power into Kusanagi, and with a resounding THOOM and a discharge of smoke that sends Leyte's arm jerking back slightly, she fires a pair of explosive shells aimed right for him!

Taro (399) has posed:
    The cyber-elf is not a very solid creature, and while the fist strikes, it's like punching something that's more fuzz than substance. 'Owww!' it complains all the same as the blow sends it rolling back. It wasn't enough to send it fleeing, however, and it fires another tiny burst of energy in return.
    The bullets travel faster than sound, and Taro feels their impact across his chest before he hears the pistol's reports. Armor plates crack as they should to blunt the damage, but the sting is still noted. "Impressive range," he murmurs, even as he draws a bead with his plasma gun again. "But can you take as well as you give?"

Vi (547) has posed:
Oh, yay, projectiles.

Vi's none too pleased with those, but she has some time to react. Her arms seem to be taking the brunt of it, but she's still tossed on her back by the force of the impact. She manages to spring up to her feet, and charges into the melee again, slamming both fists into her metal opponent. The force of the two blows is so great, the shockwave transfers through the metal soldier, and shoots straight out the back of him, and into several more.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Bramble Patch blinks a couple of times. "Wait, that was you talking? I thought you were just someone's pet monster or something dumb like tha--ow!" The sabertooth lunges while she's rambling, getting a snap at her shoulder as the pony jerks away, tearing some of the material off her vest with those big teeth. Bramble clops back a staggering step before regaining her footing, and turns her attention back to her attacker. There's a pause, and then a smirk as the gemstone in her headband starts to glow with a sickly green-grey color. From either side some of the brambles unwind, then start to snake along the ground towards her.

"You don't know what you're messin' with, you've got no idea... You don't know what you're lookin' at, when you're lookin' here. You don't know what you're up again, no no way no how! You don't know what you're messin' with... But I'm gonna tell you nooow!"

The vines snap up and coil around Bramble Patch's forelegs, becoming somewhere between thorny wraps and plant-like bracers. Several coils wrap around her shoulders, covering where the vest was torn and then popping out several large gnarled thorns like spiked paulpets. Plus the gemstone just glows brighter and brighter with corrupted supernatural energy.

"o/~ I'm the Mean Green Gardener from Everfree, and I'm bad! I'm the Mean Green Gardener from Everfree, and it looks like you've been had!
I'm the Mean Green Gardner from Everfree, so get outta my face, step off from me!"

Bramble Patch rears up on her back legs, posing as one would do as if doing the 'maniacal laughter' routine. "Because I'm MEAN and GREEN, and I. Am. BAD!"

Marrik (541) has posed:
Sparks gritted her teeth as she tried following up her blow with a bearhug. Why? She was hoping to fly the elf somewhere out of the fight. Never mind she wasn't at all sturdy on a human scale. Focusing on things her own size she was a powerhouse, but that's only relative. She's still a pixie after all and all it would take is a lucky shot from her opponent. She's been lucky so far and even if she wasn't ever going to admit it she couldn't stay lucky. Ergo end fight Now before luck ran out.

Marrik let his pistol drop as soon as it was exhausted to free his hand for defensive magic. A grunt and he used his left hand to twist and gather threads of power before letting go. Each thread arched outward before curving in to their mutual target. He had to get his opponent on the ground. He could barely see Taro, so about all he could do was a light general attempt at decaying things and hope things broke. Sure he could go stronger, far stronger, but having someone fall out of the air while having their body stressed by a dozen years in a few seconds? No.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's body is burning. From within. His Magic Circuits are groaning in protest from the foreign substance he dumped into them and they've been forced to process. Most magi would call what he just did utterly insane. Abusing his precious, irreplaceable Magic Circuits like that!

    His body burns from within. He's dumped all the Prana he can into his flesh, blood, bone, and muscle in hopes he can take on the monster in front of him.

    And now that monster's angry! He moves in a panic, thoughts all frozen, taking the only action he possibly can when he sees those barrels prepping. He swings the sword! "Ku... KUSANAGI!"

    The wind howls and screams as the Noble Phantasm's name is called. Although it does little good - Shirou's not quite aware of the sword's real power, and hasn't the prana to fuel it or the skill to control it. Yet.

    But SOMETHING happens. A wall of wind's released and speeds at the incoming bullets. At the same time--

    Those remaining swords go flying from several angles at Leyte at full speed. If she's not careful she's gonna end up impaled. or maybe some of those guns will be sliced off? Who knows!

    The cutting wind and explosive shells meet just three feet in front of Shirou, and all hell breaks loose. The shells are shredded and go off prematurely, dispersing the wind. The result?

    KABOOOM!

    "Hwaaaghhh!"

    Shirou's hurled back like a missile and slams side-first into a tree with a sickening CRUNCH-THUD.

    Well, there goes a rib or two.

    Still, he staggers to his feet in a hurry, ignoring the hot pain that flares up every time he inhales or exhales.

    Amber eyes glare intensely on Leyte. "The name's Emiya Shirou. Geeze, did I ever say you look like a flower?!" Not exactly, but he's not going to regret what he said. He meant it, after all!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
When Vi comes to land her heavy strike with both of her fists the Vanguard goes to meet her in kind! Her fists come forward and the Vanguard's power source goes sent into overdrive. She slams forward and the Vanguard swings out its arms.

The two heavy forces slam into one another. The shockwave goes outward, throwing out rocks and grass blades into the forceful wind. The armor of the Vanguard on this drill-lance arms bends under the pressure, but is able to break away and slides back a bit.

The wheel on its backside can be seen spinning up as it then thrusters itself forward right for her. It takes another swing at her, then attempts an uppercut cleave, following around with a downfall force, before firing off a piecing blow with its lance to hopefully /maybe/ knock her back.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn would chuckle if cats were capable of that, "Well, some might say I'm a monster, but I'm not today, but no, I am no ones pet, that's degrading. Are you someone's pet pony?" he asks Bramble he pushes more into those brambles, even if the thorns poke through his fur to tear at his skin. He's after the pony there is now doubt about that. He growls softly and then reaches out with his front legs, trying to dig them into her to draw her closer for a bite later.

Vi (547) has posed:
Well, this is all.. really painful. Vi's pretty roughed up, after getting smacked around by another set of big, metal hands. At least, she stays out of the way of that lance. The pointy part of it, anyway. She huffs, gets to her feet, and tried to rock the robot with a heavy uppercut, that sends it into the air. She springs on her hands, which launch her into the air with another blast, and slams her fists down on the machine's head.

"Time for a dunk! Don't move, alright? That's an order!"

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Bramble Patch takes advantage of her reared up stance to partially block the claws her her forelegs, the claws digging into the protective wrappings and only grazing the flesh beneath. She moves in with the yank, but ducks her head down to avoid the snapping jaws. "Eh. Servant of Nightmare Moon. Probably not that much of a difference. Doesn't really matter."

With sturdy equine legs Bramble pushes herself forward while she's still hopefully underneath Allyn's reach to plow into his belly with those now thorn laden shoulders. "Doesn't matter, I'm still gonna buck the hell outta you!"

Taro (399) has posed:
    Isten finds itself embraced, and not even by someone it likes. 'H-hey!' it shouts in surprised, followed by an electronic growl as the pixie tries to haul it away against its will. Its fuzziness takes on a sharper texture as it gathers up its energy to try sending an electrical jolt through its opponent, as much to free itself as to hurt her.
    Meanwhile, the cyber-elf's master finds himself caught up in a spell of some kind. threads of magical energy coil around him, the polished armor dulling and the delicate machinery built beneath corroding as they're touched by advancing age. The repulsorlift slats in his wings shift to a more grey hue as they lose some of their power, and he has little choice but to descend. It's a mostly controlled descent, but only thanks to to years of practice.
    Now closer, Marrik may notice that the android's otherwise pleasant features are marred by a deeply furrowed brow. No words are spoken yet, but the plasma burst snapped off at him on his way down speaks for him.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Through the chaos that ensues, it's a wonder Leyte manages to figure out what's going on in time to react. Cutting wind rushes at the shells, detonating them in midair, and at the same time several swords go flying at her. "Shit-!"

    The boosters on her calves shoot scarlet energy to propel her to the side, and fortunately it's just the right angle for her to avoid the brunt of those hurtling swords. Several dig into the ground where she was a moment before, but an odd angle of one of them grazes just over her shoulder. Strangely, though the cut is certainly visible on her pale skin, no blood comes from the wound. Still, she winces in pain, so there obviously must be damage done.

    "You /basically/ did!" Leyte snaps across at Shirou, immediately stomping toward him again when she sees that no more swords are hurtling toward her. Cannons lock into place again, and she raises her arm once more toward him. "And I, for one, am SICK OF PEOPLE DISMISSING ME LIKE THAT!"

    It's not only the cannons on her arms that fire, then; the ones on her shoulders join in, too, and the triple turrets on top of the strange metal mouths attached to her hips. Report after report rings out as Shirou is assaulted with a barrage of cannon fire, each one only slowing Leyte down slightly as she stomps toward her opponent.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Vanguard gets uppercut by Vi's powerful fists of metal and with no ability to correct itself while in the air, is victim to when she brings her fist right down onto of its head. She will actually find herself seeing a bright flicker of light, material within that is some type of Cermet a bluish liquid and then when she leaps back away, that is when the Vanguard explodes into a million parts consumed by blue fire that not only eats away at the armor, but burns easily along the ground.

Seeming to be consuming whatever that blue liquid is that now lies around the area.

However she is not out of fight country yet, as another Vanguard comes right after her, the one from very early on with the dented chest. The pylons on its shoulder are glowing red as its systems are overcharged and it goes to slam her up into the air. If successful she will find not drills coming to meet her, but that of missiles.

Missiles fueled by the some fuel that runs in the Vanguards themselves and all of the Garlean technology. Ceruleum. Once the missiles explode they do so with a heavy deal of explosive force, but also that of a blue fireball.

Vi (547) has posed:
Vi blinks, as the robot explodes, but oh. Hey, flammable shit. That's kind cool. One of the other robots slugs her, and she gets knocked up, and is pretty unweildy and a good target for those missiles. She tucks in, trying to shield as much of herself as possible with her arms, but is pretty roughed up, once she does land on her ass.

"Ow, jeez. I hate goddamn missiles, man.. And guns. And explosives." She shakes her head, and gets back to her feet. She goes to land another blow on this offensive bot, but rather than a punch, those huge hands grasp around that dented area, and /squeeze/. First just with the fingers, but she's got those big arms wrapped around it, pretty soon.

"Can't stand the pressure? Might wanna get lost!"

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn yowls as he get's tackled and is sent flying at least a little ways by the hard hit from Bramble. Well, that's what he gets for talking most likely. He pants a few moments to catch his breath and gets back to his feet witht a shake of his head. He snarls at Bramble and lunges at her again, mouth open as he goes to btie at her again. No more mister nice kitty for now anyway.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Sparks yelped at the jolt and like any sensible being let go of the little bundle of electricity. "Look you pint sized idiot what's the big deal?" She demanded as she flexed her hands, wings stuttering to keep herself airborne after the jolt.

Marrik tried to shield against Taro's plasma burst, but heat is a hard thing for him to shield, and the downside of your opponent getting closer was they didn't have to take as much time to aim., which didn't give him as much time to reenforce his shield. He grunted and pulled his staff from a belt pouch after making sure that shot didn't set anything else on fire. Pat. Pat patpat. OK nothing on fire? Hair not on fire? Good!

The runes of his staff glowed neon green as he aimed the tip of it at his opponent. Closer distance plus his staff to act as focus should give Marrik a better chance to hit his target this time. Yet kinetic energy was hard to project when not actively pushing anything, so who knows right?

Downside of magic after all.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
It's the distance that makes a difference. "You don't want to do that." With the shapeshifter needing to charge to get close again Bramble Patch has a chance to ready herself. She lowers her head and snorts through flared nostrils, scuffing a hoof on the ground as horses are tendant to do. "You really don't want to do that..." It would almost seem like she was getting ready to lunge him again herself.

Until the sabertooth leaps for the pounce. Maybe Allyn will have a moment of hindsight and realize this wasn't such a good idea as Bramble Patch spins around on her front legs, rears back and thrusts out her back legs to meet him. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    oh. She's mad. She's REALLY mad.

    Oops.

    Still panicking and on the defense, Shirou does the only thing he can when those cannons turn his way. "Trace, on!"

    He flings his free arm forward and projects another miracle. Well, less a miracle, really. SOMETHING appears, though it's kind of ephemeral. A thick barrier of silvery-grey material with a vague emblem on it that looks kind of like four wings sweeping out to each diagonal. It's just as tall as he is! A tower shield.

    The shells slam into it. It doesn't take them long to rip the shoddily-projected Tower Shield into pieces, but the costly Projection does its job. The worst offending shells impact against IT, and not Shirou's flesh. But some Do get through. One slams through his side and.... yeah, it's best to just not look at the resultant wound. 'Stuff' should be spilling out. But as if to prevent that, Shirou grabs at his side to hold his guts in out of pure survival reflex. Well, for whatever reason, his guts aren't spilling out even with a chunk of his side gone. But he's AWFULLY bloodied now.

    Just standing up after getting bowled over by that is a struggle, but he manages to do so.

    "Geeze... fine!" He spits out hotbloodedly. "You're threatening the peace here for some reason... why?! With all the power you have, you shouldn't need anything more..."

    Resolutely he stands in Leyte's way, and again swings Kusanagi. Huge gales fly out, cutting winds that threaten to bite deep into her body!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Vi's hands grip on hard onto the dented part. She will find herself having trouble, even with those big hands getting around the near twelve foot machine. It does struggle against her though and she starts to cave in one side of it, before it at last manages to break itself free.

The armor plate is ripped right off, to reveal another set of armor plates protecting what looks like some kind of-- generator and pumping lines, almost like one would expect to see pumping blood to a heart and away from.

The lines, by best guess are made of some kind of cermet, along with some of the areas around it and also a Kevlar mesh. Thankfully though-- Vanguard's don't feel pain-- or perhaps unthankfully in some people's cases.

The Vanguard comes right back in, refusing to acknowledge that its core generator is exposed and including some kind of-- orb that seems to be firing of beams of mystical light through rune circuits and other little photo-cell orbs.

She may even notice as it goes to rear back its arm, that side seems to get more attention from the glow, yet she shouldn't get to distracted by it, cause down comes to land in a hard cleaving motion, followed by the other one coming around to do an upward cleave. The whole time the lances are glowing with a purple electrical energy from being overcharged and the color within has gone from a blue to an orange red as it tries to get her.

Vi (547) has posed:
Ooh, shiny.

At least Vi's got a good idea where to aim next. Just have to worry about.. right. That lance that just slammed into her side. Even if it's not being thrust at her, the energy it's channeling hurts like a bitch. Getting hit with it does, too, and she's just a bit slow to get up. "Oof.. Man, you'd think I'd be used to all the magic, too. Ouch." She clutches her side a bit, but seeing as she's not too hurt to keep fighting, opts to keep hitting her opponent.

More importantly, in that weak point. Big, metal fingers make a grab at all those robot insidy-parts, clenching down and attempting to tear them out, or at least do some damage.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Once Sparks lets got of it, Isten zig-zags through the air to try and put distance between them again. 'You're the one intruding in our airspace!' the cyber-elf replies with a hmph. 'I can't just let you go flying all over the place, you know. So go away now, or else I'll make you leave!' It's putting up a good front, but its light is dimmer than it was before.
    Closer to the ground, Taro is pushed through the air a few meters, his hair visibly blown back from his face by the otherwise invisible blast of kinetic force as it washes over him, and the thread-thin gouges in his armor where the spell ensnared him are made further plain as the ash is swept out. Otherwise, he seems to have weathered it well enough, though it seems to have done nothing to lessen his annoyance. Imagine that.
    Then, he draws his beam saber from its hook on his belt, only to vanish in a flash of indigo.
    ...To reappear in another flash two heartbeats later, this time nearly on top of Marrick. The beam saber activates with a snap-hiss in midswing, aiming for the mage's staff. Or more specifically the arm currently holding it.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Ok, maybe that wasnt't such a good idea, he growls in pain as he is kicked in the head by the pony and he goes sprawling in the briars again. He's getting mad it seems, well, maybe mad anyway. He rolls back to his feet slowly and shakes his head again to clear his thoughts, "It's not very nice to just kick a guy when he's down you know?" he tells Bramble. "You should be kind and nurturing." Well, he's never been one to learn a lesson, or at least not learn it very well, he rears upagain and slashes hard with both paws and then lunges in for another bite at the pony.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Vi gets her hands right on in there and /crushes/ many of the internal workings, including the Magitek Core. The machine actually sputters before everything can be seen going haywire, soon the Ceruleum lines catch one fire and then the machine explodes in all its glory of blue flames and flying bits.

Vi may hear a 'clang' as one of those parts impact something..

That something is another Vanguard. A Vanguard that had been remaining out of this skirmish until now. The slits in the helm can be seen taking on an orangish red glow for a moment before it seems to step away-- then the next thing it does is leap off the upper ridge and go to slam down both of its drill lance arms on her-- blunt side really-- trying to club her right into the very ground.

Samar (494) has posed:
    The assault from Leyte eventually ceases, though only once Shirou has finally been blasted aside by the resulting explosions. The Southern Demon allows a sadistic grin to curl her lips as her arm lowers, and she continues her heavy, menacing walk toward Shirou.

    "Why?" Leyte scoffs at his question, flexing her metal claws with the creaking of armor as her red eye glares down at Shirou. "Because everyone on land is a self-obsessed waste of space that doesn't deserve to live. Because I need /more/ power to prove that to them. Because I need more power to prove how strong I am to /everyone/, and make them all regret stepping over me. Is that a good enough reason for you?"

    This time, her ranting places her at a disadvantage. She's too open to properly avoid his next attack, and those shearing winds slam into her dead-on. Cuts are sliced along her chest and stomach, slicing through her jacket and into pale flesh...but still, as deep as those wounds are, none of them bleed. Leyte staggers back from the force of the blow, gritting her teeth to stifle the grunt of pain that comes, but it's not much of a reprieve before she pushes into battle again.

    This time, her attack is quite simple. The Southern Demon pushes forward with an angry shout, and with a brief boost from the thrusters in her metal boot, she delivers a quick but powerful roundhouse kick to Shirou's side.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"You're the one rolling in with airships and troop," Sparks retorted as she flew after Isten. "That's how it is though isn't it? All the big people just blowing each other to hell and back because they keep wanting /more/." She would give the little cyber-elf this much; for a little puffball it could move when it needed to. "When will enough be enough?"

Marrik's eyes widened and his staff moved to intercept Taro's sword. Runes flared bright green and sparks gushed out from where the two weapons met. He was pushed back due to still being stuck on his bike. Sweat beaded as he tried to force the swordsman back.

No Dice.

Instead a shimmering ghostly hand appeared at his belt and pulled a clip from his belt and reloaded the gun he dropped earlier. It was clumsy and took longer than he would have otherwise, but his attention was focused on not dying. Weapon loaded and the hand wrapped around the handle and angled up to pop a few rounds off. It was dangerous but Marrik was tied up otherwise, and his opponent had him in a bad position. Dangerous was better than dead.

Vi (547) has posed:
Okay, that? That was pretty cool. Before Vi can really enjoy the fireworks, though, another robot confronts her right away. It swings a couple of big, heavy limbs down on her, but she catches them in her hands.. Her knees buckle a bit, and her heavy gauntlets are starting to strain, but.. she manages. And, she squeezes. Hard. She plants both her feet on the robot's chest and just pushes as hard as she can. Metal starts creaking and groaning, and if she has her way, she'll take an arm or two, in the process!

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
As she turns around Bramble Patch just -stares- at Allyn. "Kind and nurturing? How hard did I kick you in the head?!" She thumps one forehoof to her chest. "What part of servant of the queen of eternal night did you not comprehend?" Then lowers it to stomp on the ground. "I ain't no pansy growing for the thankless masses of convention gardener. The only thing I nuture is horrid mutations to beat the sap out of punks like you. So go shove it up your--Awk!"

Unfortunately the shapeshifter manages to catch her while she's ranting, claws rending across her form several times. She stumbles back, but recovers in time to shove one wrapped hoof in his mouth to keep it from closing completely on her. She has to tug a bit before managing to pull it free, stumbling backwards from the recoil. Scowls. He wants nurturing, fine. "I don't grow things to be eaten."

Unnatural magic surges from her headband, causing the bramble coils to wirth and twist, winding in on themselves and then rising up overhead, a flower-like growth blooming on the end only to open into a digestive juice dripping, thorn toothed maw instead of a colorful blossom. It lunges down at Allyn like a giant snake, trying to wrap itself around him and squeeze very very tightly. "I grow them to EAT YOU."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Perhaps that was not the /smartest/ of ideas, as Vi rips the very arms right off the Vanguard, cause the friction of it created a spark the Ceruleum fluid catches on fire and though the Vanguard stands the whole body explodes, leaving the two lance arms.

Though Vi may want to trash those lance drill arms as the fire seems to be snaking right for the ceruleum that is leaking out of the arms and it too will probably explode!

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "That's--" That's wrong, is what he wants to say. But he doesn't really have the full knowledge of her situation, now does he? Something tells him that's wrong, in his gut, but now's not the time to figure out how to respond.

    Not with her foot coming in at him like that!

    He brings Kusanagi about swiftly and tries to catch the offending foot. A mighty impact follows, the boot slamming into the legendary sword's flat!

    But.

    It's not enough.

    With the sound of shattering glass, Kusanagi buckles and breaks into a thousand tiny pieces - but it did stop most of the momentum. A half-assed kick gets through to Shirou's side - yes, the side that just a few moments ago was torn out.

    CLANG!

    The foot hits, but there's something distinctly metallic about the impact that has nothing to do with Leyte's boot. Shirou only staggers a little, his resolve uncowed!

    And. Now, he's inside Leyte's guard.

    "URRRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAH!"

    Golden light flares in his hands, forming into an estoc - a thrusting sword with a finely tapered point. He drives this towards Leyte's vitals.

    He really doesn't want to kill her. He's not even sure something like this would. But if he doesn't do SOMETHING to stop her, he's really going to die!

    "Doesn't deserve to live?! What did they do to piss you off so much?!"

Vi (547) has posed:
Vi totally ditches the arms, before the whole thing blows up in her face. Still, with a bunch of spare parts lying around, now, she might be able to fix her arms up a bit, before heading back. Remember, kids. Recycle.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn blinks as the plant creature wraps around him and squeezes him, he growls and winces as it tightens around him. Then he bares his teeth at the pony that can only be described as a grin, "Nice plant, but it's an evil way of using nature..foul tainted thing.. How dare you defile it so? I will not stand for such abominations such as yourself!" he snarls.

So, Bramble wants to play with snakes does she? Well, he can accomodate that. He shifts forms, a large winged serpent taking the place of the sabertooth and he folds his wings so they aren't in the way to get too entangled by the brambles. He slithers out of the plant's snakey grasp and darts towards Bramble to coil himself around her and squeeze her.

Taro (399) has posed:
    'Em Taro isn't like that!' Isten counters. It's still flying in a jinking pattern, on a course that will lead them away from the general battle. 'He wants things to be -better- than they are now.'
    Taro seems to have somewhat underestimated his opponent, or at least he didn't expect for Marrik's previously discarded gun to be swept back into the man's hand by some unseen force. While his reflexes are quick, the first three rounds strike him - the first cazing one of the armoured plates protecting his side, the second clipping his left shoulder, the third grazing his left cheek.
    Eyes narrow further still, a hint of a sneer in his voice. "Will I get the honor of your name, or will you be yet another Anonymous?" Regardless of the answer the android brings his energy blade in again, this time in a short slashing arc aimed directly at his opponent's upper chest.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
When Allyn starts calling her creation defiled and call her an abomination Bramble Patch ... actually smiles. Abiet somewhat forced, but a small all the same. "About time you wised up! Not that it's going to save y -- huh?"

Then the cat turns into a winged snake and slinks free before the pythorn can squeeze tighter to catch it again. Then decides to do the same thing to her with coiling around her slightly stocky build. "Copycat! Literally. Some kind of mimic, huh?" She squirms in the squeezing binds, but manages to get one forelimb free, and grab what looks like a giant red hot pepper, biting the stem to snap it off like one would pull the pin out of a grenade. Then tries to shove it in the serpent's mouth. "Here, chew on this!"

It's not just a hot pepper that's really spicy hot. It actually explodes in burning hot juices that really do feel like it's on fire.

Samar (494) has posed:
    'Clang' is not the sound Leyte was expecting to hear from that. Confusion flits over her features for a moment as she looks down at the point where her metal boot struck Shirou, but she doesn't have much time to try and figure out what happened. The boy is already countering, with yet another summoned sword thrusting toward her gut. It's hard to say if going for the 'vitals' of a normal living creature would harm her just as much, but Leyte doesn't seem willing to take any chances.

    Thankfully, with both speed and raw strength on her side, she can avoid that.

    Her leg drops, and at the exact same moment her right arm comes across and grabs Shirou's thrusting arm in the cold, damp metal of her claws. The timing is just enough that the point of the sword digs into pale flesh, drawing a wince from the Abyssal Demon.

    The grasp of her hand on Shirou's forearm turns crushing, squeezing him in a vicelike grip of cold iron that seems fully capable of turning a standard human's bones to powder. The glowing glare of her eye becomes even more intense as she fixes her gaze on him, snarling her next words. "Using me. Letting me sink. Forgetting me and discarding me. They treat me and my efforts as if they didn't matter, and /that/ is why they deserve all the pain I can give them!"

    Leyte turns, bracing her feet against the ground, and with a bellow of rage and effort, she attempts to hurl Shirou into a nearby ruined wall.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Just then Sparks dove low to snag a tiny bit of debris. "Then why is he coming in with a freaking /army/? This place is beat up enough as is. It needs builders, not more guns!" With that she threw the scrap she'd scooped up at Insten's head.

Marrik was about to answer when Taro's sword sheared his staff in two, causing the runes to flicker and die. Plus side? His coat took the brunt of the attack. Minus? He gt knocked off his bike so he was prone on the ground. That was a bad position to be in with someone swinging a plasma sword at you.

Both chunks of his staff were discarded and Marrik managed to pull a handful of seeds from his belt to toss in Taro's direction. Magic poured into these as they either impacted Taro's armor or fell at his feet, causing vines to quick grow to try snaring the reploid in decades of growth that sprang forward in a second or two.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn hisses and writhes as the pepper and jucie from it bruns like fire down his throat! Agh! that's hot, he likes spicy, but that's taking it a bit too far. He slithers away from Bramble and glares coldly at her, well, how else can reptilian eyes glare other than such? "You really are a creature most foul, you will pay for your faulness beast." he manages to choke out and then he opens his mouth and lets at a stream of poison aimed right for the pony's eyes, trying to blind her.

Taro (399) has posed:
    'Em Taro says sometimes you have to tear down before you can build--' Isten's answer is interrupted by the scap as it clonks into his head. '--Ow! You're really annoying, you know that?'
    Taro moves to close in further, though it means having make a one-handed vault over the bike to do so. The seeds strike him and the ground as he lands, and just as he brings his arm up...he finds himself ensnared by rapidly growing vines. He winces as the tendrils tighten around him to bind and root him in place, and while the leaves quiver as he tries to free himself, the foilage is winning.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Bramble Patch shifts partially to one side, the venomous spit splattering across a shoulder instead, causing the thorny covering there to start to wilt and rot from the poison. "Idiot. I live in a forest populated by vipers and hydras." She grunts, swatting off the decomposing section off her shoulder. "I'm not dumb enough to just stand there and let you spit in my face."

Bramble pulls another chunk of plant matter loose, this time reshaping it with her Everfree corruption into a wound ring of spine tipped twists. "Let's try a new spin on this." She throws the formation at Allyn, though when it hits him it bounces off, only to rebound off something else and come at the shapeshifter again. And again.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Few sounds on the battlefield are pleasant. The one Shirou screams out is no exception, as his arm feels like it's being squeezed into pulp! Still, that takes a lot of effort from Leyte. More than she'd expect out of a human. Shirou's bones and muscle and flesh are all Reinforced with a fairly decent amount of prana. Decent by his standards, anyways.

    It's not enough to keep him going through THIS much abuse. "Hwaaaaaaaaauuuhk!" He's usually good at choking down pain, but his bones are being outright CRUSHED, his muscles torn to ribbons. There goes his right arm!

    And if that wasn't bad enough he's next hurled limply through the air, to slam into a tree. WHAM, down, out.

    The Estoc starts fading away from the tip down, blowing away like wind eroding a dune. It won't last twenty seconds.

    Even so.

    Even so, Shirou's wobbling to his feet. He's still got one good arm, and two working legs, so he can still fight.

    Even if it fills like metal needles are coursing through his broken flesh and bone. Some kind of force is keeping him alive, even though the healing has slowed down. His body creaks and groans strangely as he staggers into a stance. Yes, it's the sound of metal scraping against metal.

    "My body..." Shirou gasps out while slouched forward. Wuyin Tsai's Jian appears in his left hand and he uses it to steady himself and rise up. "My body is made of swords!" ... What a thing to blurt! Yet it seems to fill him with strength. A fresh wave of prana flares through his magic circuits.

    "A ship spirit... no, a vengeful ghost. That's what you are! Geeze, you're saying that even given all the effort everyone puts into remembering what's lost in every war... will this kind of bloody revenge really cheer you up?!"

    Now SHIROU is pissed. Even if he's bloodied, broken, bruised, and battered, he's pissed. This girl standing before him's a monster, and utterly unreasonable, but now he wants to knock her over and show her how wrong that kind of path is...

    Yes, if he can just beat her.

    Again, space around him flares with light. Two dozen swords of all different kinds appear, each of seeming master craftsmanship. With a gesture... he sends all of them flying down at her!

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Burning the house down because the foundation's rotted is nice except for the people you've locked inside." Sparks groused. "Go home puffball." Her wings stuttered, her hover dipped before she steadied herself. "Let the idiots beat each other's heads in."

Marrik took a deep relieved breath as Taro was wrapped in foliage. On standing he straightened his coat and bowed slightly, "Apologies for the mess Taro. I am Marrik Broom. Pity we have to fight like this. I like the armor, looks useful." Another sigh as he retrieved his pistol and holstered it before he started walking away. Deep breaths hurt and there were possibly bruised ribs. Still, he gathered power to himself to try patching himself up while he reached into his pocket for a spare staff. He would not attack a helpless man, not even mid battle as it seemed a series of personal duels more than an army verses Army fight.

"When you're ready." His voice was calm and he was trying to find his center. The key to not losing was to keep his anger in check, and deny that chunk of Odin pressed into his head.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Hey, he's probably going down soon, but that doesn't mean he's going to go down easy, or back off. Bramble is an enemy, not just one of here, but she truly seems to be an enemy of nature and well, the shapeshifter he's nature itself. He hisses in fury at Bramble, darn evil horses! he always knew horses were evil, besides, why else would they have kicked and bit him when he was still human back on a friend's farm? Sure, he used to tease the horses, so maybe this is some sort of payback, but still. "Horses really are evil." he slithers forward quickly and tries to bite Bramble, though no venom this time, his is only good for blinding folks at least in this form!

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Bramble Patch yowls loudly when the snake slinks at her and manages to chomp down on one of her legs. Ouch, that hurts! Her botanical energizing must be wearing off. Bramble shakes the limb a few times, trying to dislodge the shapeshifter snake, but it's not any good he's got a tight bitey grip on her now. So she lowers her leg back to the ground.

And then tries to stomp on him with one of her other hooves.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Shirou is sent flying, and Leyte straightens again from her throw, flexing the claws of that metal hand with a creaking of iron. He's strong, surprisingly so; it took much more effort to crush his arm than it should have. What's this kid made of, anyway?

    Oh. There's her answer.

    Leyte looks at Shirou like he just might be the most insane person she's met after he blurts that out. "...weirdo," she mutters, lumbering toward Shirou again with heavy footsteps that dig into the ground.

    "Sure, they remember some things. Do you think they bother to remember everything? No, because a ship's just the vessel you use to blast away what you hate! The ship can't do anything itself, noooo, it's just another /tool/!"

    Swords come flying at her again, and quick bursts of energy from the thrusters on her calves spare her here and there as many of the blades dig into the ground. Not all, though: sparks fly as a few come too close to her armor, glancing off on the way; one even slices right through a gun on her right forearm, and the last embeds itself in the triple turret on the 'head' to her left. A blazing explosion goes off, blowing that turret away and leaving a smoking wreck of metal where it was a moment before.

    Leyte winces and staggers to the side, but then her glare fixes on Shirou again. Her eye literally blazes with a scarlet flame, but despite her clear anger, her next attack doesn't come from her.

    Instead, a buzzing fills the air again.

    The dozen or so planes still in the air dive straight for Shirou, and while they open fire with their rapid-fire guns again, they don't seem intent on veering away. In fact, they make kamikaze maneuvers to slam right into Shirou and explode on impact!

    "/I'm/ not a tool! I can show everyone what my power is without some /idiot/ crew to deal with! Everyone will know that as soon as I /bury them under the water/!"

Taro (399) has posed:
    Isten fires another tiny dart of energy at Sparks. It looks like the cyber-elf is trying to keep the pixie distracted if nothing else. 'He's not an idiot! He's brilliant!'
    "Thank you." Muffled by leaves, but it's civil nonetheless. The tendrils around Taro's right arm shiver as he twists his wrist to drop a knife into his hand. While meant for throwing and not for pruning, its blade is still sharp enough to begin cutting himself free. The vines around his waist are sliced first, moving upward until he can free his sword arm. Once that's accomplished, careful cuts with the beam saber free him at last, albeit with the stink of burning plants.
    Plenty of time in which Marrik can cast a healing spell.
    He doesn't waste time in completely divesting himself of the vines, meaning that he leaves a trail of leaves in his wake as he presses forward again. His moves are swift as he brings his saber in to slice once, then twice, following through with the knife in his right hand in an attempt to drive it in toward the mage's ribs.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn hisses as he gets stomped into the ground by Bramble. he slithers away from her giving out a hissing chuckles, "Now, now little pony, don't get so mad, but are you ready for it?" he shifts into a peregrin falcon, at least long enough to escape through the brambles and then takes off into the air, soaring straight upwards until he's fairly his up, then angles himself downwards and folds his wings so he can dive at full speed towards the briars and Bramble, shifting into his ten foot tall giant tortoise form, hoping to squash the poor pony below, he knows it's a last desperate attack on his part.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Even the smartest people can be dumb. I'm not some boot licking sprite that's going to gush at how perfect M- oof!." Sparks shouted just before the energy dart knocked her away. She only barely managed to recover before hitting the ground, but that was OK. Another rock got tossed by her at Insten before she started flying back to the battlefield.

Instantly Marrik regretted giving Taro his moment to collect himself as he had to focus on blocking the reploid's sword. Worse, Sparks was giving him a better view of the field and it was turning into a slow erosion oof ground for Union forces. Yet all he could do was defend, and even then the plasma blade impacted repeatedly against his coat. Master of melee fighting he was not, and even if his coat kept him from getting turned to kibble the impacts hurt.

The runes of this staff glowed red as did his eyes as frustration crept in. From somewhere indistinct a drumbeat sounded, reverberating through the ruins. Then another. Again and again it sounded as instinct took over.

"Help." Marrik asked. "Please."

Spirits that had come with him sought bodies to inhabit. It would take them time to acclimate and rise, so until them he tried to use his staff as focus to direct Kinetic energy from to shove his opponent back. He needed space to work with so he attempted to answer Taro's blows with his own. Taro didn't have magic, but Marrik, for all his time in the sun, wouldn't be able to match strength for strength.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
Bramble Patch hahs as Allyn transforms into a bird and takes off into the sky. "That's right, fly away! And don't you dare poop on the airships on the way out either!" But then he turns around and comes diving back at her. "Wait, that's not flying away!" Bramble Patch turns around and runs, likely passing several of the other fights with the bird hot on her tail like some silly background event.

Up until a large shadow appears when Allyn shifts again, and she barely has a chance to look back and stare wide-eyed-tiny-pupiled as a huge version of Tank comes dropping out of the sky and SLAMS right down on top of her. That's the end of that, right? Right... Right?

Or not, as the vicinity around Allyn-tortoise turns dark, not in shadow, but in the actual corrupt magic of Everfree leeching out from underneath him. It spreads out and then erupts into massive thorn laden spikes out of the ground in a wild growth of brutal botanical fury with enough force to throw the heavy shapeshifter into the air before stabbing at him in rapid violent succession.

Then all receeds as he's flung away, visibly slinking around Bramble Patch's form as she stands up, to dissolve back into the gem upon her headband.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Fight. Fight, or you'll die. You'll die if you don't fight here, but fight and you can live longer and maybe win.

    Shirou's mind is screaming that in him. He has to keep fighting, even if it's just to make an opening for some escape plan.

    But he becomes more and more certain as the fight goes on.

    That girl in front of him is crying. She's not showing it, or rather, she's showing it in her violence. A vengeful spirit, angry, forgotten, and most of all... upset.

    This is someone he should be helping, not fighting.

    "Khhhh... damn it all!" With an angry roar, he turns his attention on the planes. Bullets rip into his flesh, tearing holes and spanging off of strange metal just under his skin. The blades within creak and groan, and yet he still moves.

    The Jian he traced practically moves on its own, swinging his arm as the blade interposes itself to slash down the incoming planes. One, two, three!

    But then there's too many coming in, and several slam into him HARD. He's again driven to the ground, singed and scorched and bleeding all over.

    He's not going to beat her with swords. And he should be helping her. But if he doesn't stop her, who knows how many will suffer?

    Blood's pouring from his wounds. He should be dead. His legs are shaking and whole body's trembling as he pushes to his feet again. The Jian shattered in the explosion, but now...

    KRSSSSSSSSSSSH!!

    With great effort, he brings another crystal vial with that strange liquid to his lips and gulps it down. More fire runs through his body, the Magic Circuits running wild from so much prana! And again, golden lightning flares from his hands. Kusanagi's form begins to appear, starting from a wireframe and building up clearer and clearer detail as it fills from within. That weapon didn't work last time, so why is he tracing it again?

    "Idiot...crew?"

    Shirou clearly can't win. A fighter like Leyte can tell that. Still, he's trying to fight. So maybe has some plan...

    "...it's enough power. Hopefully I can get away..." He's not sure what will happen if he does this. It's only a theory based on the immense magical power of the weapon.

    Kusanagi begins glowing. First amber, then white. Shirou brings the weapon back like he's winding up for a pitch, his expression thoroughly agonized. Heat's coming from his body in waves, courtesy of the intense magical energy being pumped into the Noble Phantasm.

    That expression's almost saying, 'sorry, I can't help you.'

    Then.

    "HRAHHH!!" He hurls the weapon straight at Leyte. It flies, like a missile. And once it's released, Shirou runs. Stumbles. Dashes.

    Right to behind the nearest tree.

    Because the instant that weapon touches ANYTHING...

    Everything turns white, hot, and painful. There's a deafening roar. Boundless energy and wind is unleashed as a blazing gale. The tiny weapon becomes a whirlwind of chaotic destruction, a legend that goes back countless centuries, over a thousand years, turned into a bomb.

    The detonation's visible from miles away, it vaporizes the ground and knocks over small trees. Wood chips go flying, soil turns to glass... it starts and estinguishes several fires, just from the roaring gale!

Taro (399) has posed:
    'Hey! Come back here!' Isten calls after Sparks, but it does not further pursue. It's pretty winded, and so it hovers there to try and recoup some of its energy.
    Taro manages to block one of the blows with his blade, sparks hissing as energy meets energy, but the others slip through his defenses to stike him twice in the collarbone and once on the gut. Were he more human, that last strike would have knocked the wind out of him, but instead all the android does is grunt as the force of the staff further crazes the armored plating. Some of the underpinnings are showing now, a faint webwork of witing and slimline hydraulics. Though he's been pushed back against the bike, he manages to keep enough ground from being pushed over it.
    After the last blow strikes, Taro tries to bring his right arm in to push Marrik's staff out of the way, meanwhile bringing his blade insward in an attempt to run the mage thrugh with it.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn doesn't make much sound as he's stabbed by the plants, at least tortoises can't make too many sounds. Well, it's not too surpriseing the shapeshifter goes unconsious as he hits the ground after being tossed back up. As usual when he does he reverts to his human form.

Bramble Patch (278) has posed:
"And don't forget to tell them you got beaten to a pulp by A PONY!" Bramble Patch shouts after him, though he's probably too unconcious to actually hear her. Oh well, someone else fighting probably did. She just wants to make sure it's know she did the beating up, because somepony has to accomidate for Jinxel looking too affiably wannabe lately.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Never underrstemate a good coat. Marrik managed a near animalistic grin as Taro's sword impacted and� Nothing. No skewering. No nothing. Just the sword hilt touching him. Likely it would reactivate proper when it stopped touching him.

Probably.

Marrik tried headbutting Taro, using fast spell work to augment the blow? Successful or not he'd start outright boxing, jab, jab, body shot, all with arms raised near his head to deflect blows away from his face.

The drumbeat sounded loudly yet for a moment was made deaf by Shirou's last desperate gamble. The spirits that borrowed bodies managed to bring themselves out of the ground before clothing themselves in ectoplasmic flesh possibly resembling what the bodies might have looked like in life. Soft whispers as they marched towards Marrik. These were neither shambler nor viral 'fast' zombie. They would not let obstacles get I'm their way til their goal was achieved. Yet they were far from the battle. It would take time.

Sparks found somewhere to hide and weather Shirou's blast for she was tiny and allergic to sudden gusts of wind made by things exploding.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro grunts in a blend of irritation and disgust as his beam saber suddenly stops working the moment it touched Marrik's enchanted coat. While his sword hand tries to reactivate it (by triggering its tumbswitch repeatedly, judging by the clicks), he moves his free arm in to deflect the incoming punches. In this he is partly successful, knocking away the two aimed at his face and moving one aimed at his throat to glance of his shoulder, but one solid punch does catch him right below there.
    And then their fight is temporarily disrupted by a roar of wind and sailing drbris as the shockwave from the distant explosion catches up to them. Programmed reflexes make him tuck his head down and bring up his arm to shield himself, protecting him from the worst of its fury.
    Once the air somewhat calms, he shakes his head to clear it. Then, finally - finally! - his blade hisses to life once more. He doesn't hesitate to take advantage of this, bringing it up in an overhead arc to slash at the mage, then looping back in a mirror of the motion to bring it upward again.
    There's something going on here, but he is uncertain as to just what.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Leyte certainly doesn't seem anything but viciously satisfied at the pain she causes. She sees Shirou crumple under the assaults she sends at him, and a toothy grin spreads over her face. Perhaps beneath it all, she is in pain, burning with resentment and sadness, but all she shows is the overwhelming will to cause harm.

    Her steps carry her slowly toward Shirou as he pushes himself up again, drawing another scoff of derision. "You're still getting up? How many times do I need to break you before you stay down? It's starting to get more pathetic than anything, seeing you struggle so much."

    As Kusanagi manifests again, she stops, frowning and curling her clawed hands into fists. She can surely feel something in there, some incredible strength that he has no right to hold. It makes her brace where she stands, preparing for him to simply swing the weapon.

    The sword flies, and Shirou...runs? Leyte doesn't have much time to consider why he would be running before she swings and arm aside to bat the hurled sword away.

    Not the best idea she's ever had.

    At that exact moment, everything around her explodes into an explosive roar more powerful than anything she's had to experience before. No cannon fire equates to the deafening storm, not even the condensed beams of negative energy like physical screams that the Princesses of the Abyssal Fleet send out. It's loud enough to overwhelm Leyte's cry of pain as she finds herself caught dead on in the raging explosion that consumes her and no small part of the surroundings.

    When it /finally/ stops, Leyte lies on her back in a smoldering crater of brittle earth, surrounded by flames and tumbling debris. No doubt some of the ruins have been blasted away as well, but it's hard to tell the stones sent flying across the way from the ones that were already there.

    Leyte herself looks...terrible. Most of her clothes set aflame or burned away, and a good deal of the metal on her body has been made white-hot and steaming. Almost every cannon droops like a wet noodle, and many more segments of armor are reduced to twisted masses of abruptly-melted metal. Ghostly flesh is scorched or blasted away in chunks, though she seems to have no inner organs. Her insides are just faintly ethereal, like a dim fog.

    Still, she coughs, then slowly pushes herself to her feet. It's a slow process; her right arm buckles with a metallic creak as the still-softened metal gives under pressure. Eventually, though, she finds her footing, and though she remains hunched over and steaming, she's at least standing.

    Perplexion, pain, and no small amount of rage linger on her expression as she looks around for where Shirou went. The Southern Demon growls when she can't seem to find him and instead lumbers off toward wherever she saw him last, each step taken slowly and uncertainly as everything is still either in pain or cooling.

    ...what the hell /was/ that?

Marrik (541) has posed:
When the blast wave hit Marrik threw his arm up along with his coat just in time to shield his head from a chunk of debris that, thankfully, bounced off the spell enchanted fabric. Oh and it kept Taro from cutting him in half length wise. Granted the reason Taro was able to get that hit in was because Marrik had his attention focused elsewhere but can't win everything right.

He was doing no good here. All taro needed to do was keep his attention away from helping, in this case, pull troops back. Taro was very good at fighting, and Marrik was getting more frustrated by the moment. Zombies were helping to clear the wounded, but several had gotten close enough to try grabbing Taro by the arms. Another dove in to try grabbing the sword out of his hands. If nothing else the horde should provide distraction so Marrik could try something.

A black and charred spear was drawn from his weapons pouch as he wove magic through and around it. Alone the spear was dangerous because a flaw in it's design made it explode from strain rather than get strengthened by impacts. This he threw, knowing the dead would likely be obliterated in his throw, and he wasn't sure how safe he was. This fight, however, needed to end. Now.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The battle continues to rage on. The Maelstrom are finding themselves slowly being pushed back and out of the area by the Garlean Forces and the Confederate members. For those who have fallen, the Maelstrom accepts the aid that the Union has given them and even aids the Union members by helping them move to a safer location down south.

It isn't looking good for the Maelstrom and the Union...

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The blast tears into Shirou as well. That was a really horrible move. But he did the only thing he could.l even if he can't beat her, crippling her, scaring her, driving her off, anything at all to buy time for someone ELSE to defeat her or clm her down... that's fine too.

    Even if doing so probably costs him his life, it was the last thing he could try.

    The explosion ravages the surroundings. Trees are torn up, soil becomes glass. Rocks are pulverized, huge chunks of wood go flying every which way and impale themselves through healthy trees. Shirou himself?

    The energy would tear him to shreds but for one thing. He saved just enough prana for one last projection.

    The Tower Shield. The blast wave slammed into it, but hidden behind the tree it was able to absorb a great deal of the raw force and deflect the energy. Even if only a fraction, these layers of protection did their job.

    The tree was eroded in seconds. The Tower Shield last perhaps five seconds longer, and Shirou was exposed to only the lingering edges of the blast. That was enough, though.

    He's currently on his back, half-covered by debris and the remains of an uprooted, scorched and smoldering bush. His body is horribly broken. It's almost not worth speaking about the wounds. A crushed arm that would never recover for normal people. Muiltiple lacerations, gougestaken out of his body - they're completely missing. It's a wonder he kept his vitals intact, but large chunks of rock found him in the last few moments. His good arm's been speared through and his legs are twisted badly. It's a wonder he's still, if only barely, breathing.

Taro (399) has posed:
    So focused has Taro been on the fight in front of him that he has not paid attention to things transpiring around them. His sensors merely registered the zombies as corpses, and so he paid no them no heed...up until the point that one of these walking dead laid a hand on him.
    This is something he will have to address in his next upgrade.
    One of the creatures grasps the hilt of his beam saber, and he's forced to yank it back, even as another graps his other arm. He's forced to twist and turn to break free from them, and in doing so nearly loses his footing on the now debris-strewn ground. It's a nasty twist of his knee, but it saves him from the worst of the spear's impact, the tip leaving a new part in his hair as it sails just barely over his head.
    The android would be panting if he actually needed to breathe, and there's a bit less grace in his next advance. Magicked coat or not, he continues on with a series of quick slices and slashes at the mage, trying to press him back even if none of them actually land.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Footsteps that send her cooling armor rattling take Leyte off to where Shirou ended up. When she finds him, she finally stops, steaming as she stares down at his remains. The sound she gives is halfway between disappointment and scorn; the former because she didn't get to finish him, and the latter because he couldn't handle his own last, desperate attack, apparently.

    It was close, though, she realizes. That boy's power is remarkable, and even if he can't control it, no doubt he'll grow into it eventually. And if he does...

    ...well. That's assuming he lives after this. That alone is pretty doubtful.

    She turns, then, to storm off and see if her allies may need any further assistance. Shirou looks bad enough that he probably doesn't need her help to die, and she can likely endure a little more combat if needed. Most of her guns may be out of the question, but it's not like she can't still beat someone's face in for a bit.

Marrik (541) has posed:
That stumble during the throw saved him. Marrik would worry about it later and the spear was as likely to hurt him in the blast. With Taro trying to cut him down he wasn't sure what to do other than back away and-

Well any save is a good one, even if it's by losing his own footing in the debris, and lose a little of his own hair for the exchange. Almost before he landed fully on his back he kicked out with both feet, trying to knock his opponent away as his undead backup busied themselves piecing their bodies together, with more than a little arguing over who's arm that was and why there seemed to be extra bits left over.

Taro (399) has posed:
    His opponent is falling. Taro begins to move in, shifting his grip on his blade in preparation for a final blow. However, Marrik doesn't stay on the ground long enough for that, and then he finds himself sailing backwards from the force of being kicked in the sternum.
    He lands with a grunt and a thud between two of the arguing zombies, adding futher to their confusion. Still, like Marrik he doesn't stay there for long, doing a kip-up to get himself back onto his feet before the mage or the zombies (where -did- the zombies come from?) can force him to stay down. He uses some of that momentum to continue forward, lunging at the man sword first in a second attempt to skewr him with it. Apparently that this failed miserably the last time isn't deterring him.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Hey he wasn't actually impaled, but having white hot plasma against one's chest did NOT do anything to help in the not getting hurt department. Marrik instinctively grabbed at the wrist of Taro's sword hand and channeled magic direct into it. The man was artificial and so it could get replaced. Marrik's other hand, augmented by kinetic force, swung at Taro's chest.

All while both zombies looked on wondering what the blazes they were watching.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Earlier, Taro had warned his allies to not use magic upon him. This is precisely why.
    the android's eyes open wide in shock at the first touch, but he cannot draw his hand away in time. His hand spasms first, his saber falling to the ground. His arm is next as the magical energy spreads through him from the point of contact, artificial musculature twisting as it continues on its course. His entire body spasms, convulses, his face twisting in uncontrolled pain. It's as if he'd been forced to grab a live wire, and he's helpless in Marrik's grasp, unable to pry himself away.
    Then finally, mercifully, the magical energy grounds itself out, and he sways back and forth as jumbled gyros try to find their proper direction again. His sword forgotten for now, he does what he can to simply prevent Marrick from harming him like that again.
    And so he stumbles forward in a mostly controlled attempt to tackle the man and force him to the ground, moving his arm up to try and press it against Marrik's windpipe.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Well that was a different. Marrik had a moment of triumph at disarming Taro then SUDDEN HAND AROUND HIS THROAT! Marrikvfell over and basically was using his magic to get around the fact his throat was getting crushed. This was not healthy and even so he couldn't particularly do anything other than make strangled noises. Words needed a functioning windpipe, and magic was going into keeping him alive? The sabre could serve as a blunt object, but it was too far away now.

Fortunately the two zombies in unison grabbed Taro by the body, with one trying to pry his hand off of Marrik's throat to hurl him into the waiting arms of a dozen others armed with whatever weapons and or debris they were able to scavenge.

If Taro made it there beatings were in his near future.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro has learned one or two relatively effective countermeasures against mages over the years - with many of them, if they cannot speak, they cannot conjure.
    Again to his detriment, he did not account for the zombies. The android finds himself hoisted off of Marrik and thrown backwards into an entire pack of them. This time, the restless dead seem to be more intently focused upon doing him harm, and while he's able to somewhat protect his heaby throwing his (now clumsy) arms over it, for at least a minute he's lost in a heap of battering and stabbing and clawing creatures of death.
    More of his internal systems come online, though it's nearly as painful as the beating he's getting. The android manages somehow to punch, shove, and kick his way back to his feet and out of the throng, his armor buckled in a dozen places, hair torn, and listing somewhat to the right. Not trusting his hands for anything as detailed or skilled as a proper weapon, he instead grabs the zombie still between him and Marrick and with all of his remaining srength launches the undead servant at him.

Marrik (541) has posed:
One of the zombies trying to use Taro for a pinata suddenly found itself groaning and launched through the air only to land on Marrik. "Sorry Boss." It grumbled and rolled off the battered mage before grabbing Taro's sabre and, to it's surprise both managed to turn it on and not skewer itself. Marrik groaned and managed to sit up while digging through his pouches until he dug out a pair of coins that he managed to find, empower, and then throw into the roiling mass Taro was in the middle.

Wherever they landed they exploded, and then shortly after was the zombie that had Taro's sword flailing around, and would probably embarrass everyone, especially Taro given it was using his sword to random flail with, hurting its friends as well as its intended target, probably.

Taro (399) has posed:
    His battered armor is no longer of any real protection, and so the shards of coin-shrapnel pierce right through it to dig into synthflesh and lodge into internals beneath. How Taro is even still standing is an open question. But standing he is, a drunken, swaying standing, but he stubbornly remains on his feet...right up until the zombie shambles up to him and swings at him with his own sword.
    This is laughably humiliating, and it leaves a squiggly line of searing char across him navel to shoulder before he can muster enough strength and dexterity to bat the zombie away. Not enough dexterity, though, as the motion finally sents him stumbling to the ground, avoiding a faceplant only by catching himself with one arm.
    "I. Hate. Magic." Prayer beads? Trembling from pain and exertion, he fumbles for something on his belt. "May the CyberGoddess curse you and your kind," he spits.
    The string of beads skitter across the ground...which happen to now be glowing very very brightly. Just before they erupt in a explosion of plasma.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Well there goes the zombies. Marrik staggered through the debris and gore while leaning on a staff. He was laughing. The voice behind that laugh was raw and horse even as he slowly walked over to Taro. "You have been a worthy opponent sir. Pity its always such a mess." Another horse chuckle before he raised his staff and brought it down, intending on crushing Taro's throat with it.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro has rolled himself over onto his back - his wings were torn off by the zombies, so there's nothing to impede him - his eyes having a vacant cast to them when Marrik staggers over to him. Yet apparently there is still some consciousness still there. Enough that his self-preservation programming asserts itself when the mage moves in to deliver the final blow. Trembling hands clap together, catching the staff between them before it can crush his throat. Fingers bend stiffly but tighten their grip on it, enough that he can force it the staff upward in an attempt to drive its other end back at the one weilding it.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik toppled over and twitched briefly before making a gesture with his left hand as his right snagged Taro's momentarily forgotten sabre. He left his spare staff behind as his magic teleported him back to a cold wood floor at the back of his shop. Sparks saw Marrik fall and fled. She had no chance in this fight so wouldn't try any foolish stands.

At long last it was over. the mage Falls.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro lies there. He doesn't have the coordination or the energy to do much else, really.
    Isten finds him a short time later, making worried electronic warbling noises as it hovers over him. 'Oh no...stay right there, please don't move, and please don't die. I'll go bring help!'
    And thus the closest of the medical transports is visited by a blue mote of a cyber-elf asking for an engineer to help its master, and leading them to where he fell.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The battle progresses and soon it becomes clear, The Union and their Eorzean allies have lost. The Garleans push in and shove the Maelstrom back. The sound of retreat is given. Its over.

At least... for now.

But this is only one small victory, to an ever coming war.

WINNER: GARLEAN EMPIRE