1672/Lute and Ri Naval Training

Lute and Ri Naval Training
Date of Scene:	26 February 2015
Location:	The Citadel - Field of Trials
Synopsis:	Lute and Ri have a spar to help Lute practice battle on the water. Then Ri turns gigantic and goes berserk.
Cast of Characters:	188, 710

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Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute is currently waiting in the Field of Trials. He has already used the strange powers of this place to conjure up a practice battlefield: a large ocean-like arena. Lute is currently standing on a little island in the middle, waiting rather casually. He's in rather casual gym clothing at the moment, though with the added and needed addition of a belt of Pokeballs.

     He... really doesn't fully know how Ri fights, but he has an idea. Based on the two giant shark gauntlets she has. He's assuming those are the weapons. And, he is also assuming the Fleet Daughters have similar weapons too. The Abyssal Fleet and the Fleet Daughters are opposites. So... Training against an Abyssal Fleet makes total sense, for his eventual plan to take out the Fleet Daughters at Samar's request.

     But for now, he's just patiently looking around, trying to prep himself mentally. Thinking of strategies ahead of time.

Ri (710) has posed:
Ri steps through the entrance into the Field of Trials, shark gloves ready for some blasting and biting action, and manages only to let out a brief, quiet noise like the start of a greeting before *ker-plunking* into the water. There are ripples and bubbles in the simulated water, but Ri doesn't surface again.

Well, that was weird. Would Lute even notice she arrived?

After a few minutes, there's a black-haired head, with dead-white skin, and faintly-glowing blue eyes comes up out of the water just barely, near Lute. Then Ri walks up onto the island he's on, waving her hand and continuing the interrupted greeting. "Ri-class... Reporting..."

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute looks over as Ri just plops into the water. This... Well. it confuses him, quite a bit. He stares forward and frowns for a bit. Wait, wasn't she skating around on the water the last time he saw her? It's an awkward few minutes, until she finally appears again.

     He lets out a sigh of relief.

     "Okay, I was worried for a second. I thought you skated along the water, not just... sink into it. ...Though did you just feel like walking along the bottom or something?"

     He's realizing more and more how little he actually /knows/ about the Abyssal Fleet. He sighs, though, smiling. And he throws out a Pokeball. From it, the massive shadowy dragon Pokemon, Giratina, appears. It /almost/ looks like something that would fit in amongst the Abyssal Fleet, really.

     "Well. Should we get started? Or..." Pause. He considers, "Maybe I could have a kiss for good luck, first?"

     Yeah, worth throwing that idea out there. He might as well try, he feels.

Ri (710) has posed:
Ri stares blankly at Lute for several seconds at the mention of skating aross the top of the water. Then she lets out a surprised, and yet still kind of monotone. "...Aah!" Seems she forgot. She has that habit of losing track of things when not faced with conflict. Being in the water again probably just made her get distracted. She turns to track the thrown pokeball up until it releases a giant dragonsaurus, and then aims her shark gauntlets at it.

....!?!

She doesn't respond to Lute's suggestion right away, but it seems this Giratina is much like her recon planes. Just something that Lute can send forth. So she lowers her gauntlets, and turns back towards him. Then she holds up her gauntlets in an 'x' in front of her and states plainly, "...Forbidden... By... Admiral."

Oh, yeah. Samar DID say no more of that, didn't she? She didn't want production to go down from her ships spending all their time doing meaningless surfacer things like -kissing-. "How will... Training... Proceed?" All-business, it seems! If Lute intends to deceive Ri, he's going to have to be a bit more clever. Or at least not suggest anything that the Admiral has specifically forbade. Samar's word is absolute, it seems.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute sighs. So, the Abyssals /really/ listen to their Admiral, huh? Lute just shrugs, shakes his head, and says, "Well, maybe next time. I'll have to convince your admiral to rescind that order eventually. Or at least, within regards to me, maybe."

     He reaches for a Pokeball, pulling another one out, smiling. "Well. I'm going to practice battle techniques against you. I'll take to the air, and then we'll begin, alright? We're safe here, but... I need to train to make certain I can sink the Fleet Daughters."

     Lute opens the other Pokeball, the Pokemon materializing in the ocean. It's a Tentacruel, a bit larger than average. It sinks into the ocean.

     And then, Lute climbs aboard the Giratina. He gives a little bit of a salute to Ri, jokingly.

     "And, well. Don't hold back trying to beat me. I want you to fight at your fullest, okay?"

     And, Giratina starts flapping its wings, flying into the air.

     "Alright... And... START!"

     Seems he's going to let Ri do the first attack.

Ri (710) has posed:
If Samar rescinds it, that would be quite something. For now, however, Ri is focused on this battle exercise. She tracks Lute as he leaps onto his Giratina and flies up into the air. The Tentacruel appearing also draws her attention, but her target is Lute. At his instructions, she says, "...Confirmed... Commencing all-out assault..." Sh-she took that pretty seriously, and without hesitation! She steps out onto the water and starts skimming across the surface. AA guns flip up in the mouths of her gauntlets, and she uses these anti-air weapons to start trying to shoot Lute down!

Science fact: AA guns are actually not great against flying craft, because they are in a fixed position with limited ability to turn and aim, whereas planes are far more mobile and able to move in three dimensions. That, taken together with Ri's aim just plain being below average most of the time, means Lute might have a fairly good chance of not getting hurt!

Lute (188) has posed:
     Despite the odds, the AA guns still manage to blast several holes into Giratina. Lute holds on tightly to Giratina, dealing with its flight pattern being thrown off. He winces a bit. But, luckily, this is making him realize something. As long as he is on top of Giratina, it's much harder for himself to get hit. But if Giratina goes down in the ocean... That'd be a problem as well.

     For now he doesn't give his Tentacruel any orders. Instead, he just shouts them at Giratina. "SHADOW BALL!" The strategy is rather simple: Giratina is circling Ri from above, trying ot match her own speed. And, it looks down. From its mouth, a large ball of darkness shoots down, trying to impact straight into Ri. Hit or miss, there will likely be a large splash in the ocean due to this attack, with the water getting blasted as well.

     Lute, meanwhile, is looking over the edge of Giratina, trying to keep an eye on Ri. He ponders to himself, just a bit, "...Can't see well at this angle. So that'll be a problem. ...Hrm. Might need to use the Unown for vision here."

Ri (710) has posed:
Ri doesn't know the attack coming at her, but the attack being telegraphed like that, when she still has enough focus to use her death-addled wits, is enough for even her to suddenly reverse direction and start skating backwards at high speed. The sphere of darkness strikes the water and erupts in a huge geyser! And while that geyser and the misting of scattered water are still obscuring sight, another barrage of anti-air fire comes zipping through the spray! Is Ri actually competent after all, and not entirely stupid? She is naive, certainly, but when it comes to battle, she seems to know her stuff! ...Maybe!

Then again, who knows how long this will last? She goes into berserker frenzies when she is pushed, panic setting in and forcing out thought. Right now, she's doing okay. But if Lute adjusts to fighting in this manner and gets some good hits in, she might start to lose her edge for tactical decision making!

Lute (188) has posed:
     As the gunfire comes in this time, Giratina sees it. This is one of the nice things about Pokemon. Lute can give them orders, but unlike most vehicles, they can see things and learn for themselves. And so, as the AA fire comes in, Giratina swerves to get out of the way. Lute didn't expect this, but at least he manages to grab ahold and not fall off. Yeah, he's certain at this point; he'll have to put some Unown on the underside of Giratina to keep an eye on the Fleet Daughters.

     "Dive in, and use Slash! Try and take her from behind!"

     Giratina bursts up into the air, before dashing down to the water. He skims along the surface, a trail of it behind him. He tries to circle around to behind Ri, to slash with the blade-pincers on its mouth, before taking back off into the sky again.

     Lute ponders. Will hit and run tactics like this work on a ship that can fire? Keep moving fast enough and this might be a way to avoid their fire and try and stay out of their immediate line of sight...

Ri (710) has posed:
The downside of vision being obscured is it's obscured for both of them. Ri can not turn quickly enough upon hearing Lute's shout, and doesn't know where he's coming from, so her attempts to search for him result in her leaving her back open. She is slashed across her back, a light energy shield flickering but failing to protect her against the mighty blow. The bio-mechanical harness she's strapped into seems to take some damage, but it's mainly her skin that smokes as though she were a damaged ship instead of a being of flesh and blood like she appears to be (and she basically is a ship instead of a flesh and blood being like she appears to be). She looks around wildly, trying to track her attacker, and fire after him, with her cannons instead of her AA guns this time.

He did tell her not to hold back! But already the confusion is starting to set in. That's why she has fallen back on artillery shells instead of smaller munitions, and why her aim may continue to degrade from here on out.

Lute (188) has posed:
     As the artillery shells strike, Giratina lets out a roar, and sinks down a bit. Lute grabs on tight. Thankfully, it manages to right itself before it falls into the ocean completely. Lute isn't sure how well Giratina could manuever in water, though. It... isn't a normal Pokemon. But, he really doesn't want to test that. At least not yet. But, the physical attack worked. Lute /does/ note the energy barrier as well. Do all of the personified ships have that?

     "Giratina, Ancient Power! Weigh her down!"

     And with that, Giratina lets out another roar. From the bottom of the ocean, a number of large rocks are pulled to the sky. They hover around Giratina, before being blasted at Ri. They're trying to push her /down/, noticably. Giratina is aiming from straight above.

     "...Almost time for Tentacruel," Lute says to himself. At least, he thinks this will be best. Wear down with Giratina, pull down with Tentacruel.

Ri (710) has posed:
Rocks fall, everyone dies. Except that Ri holds her arms up over her head to shield herself while skimming back and forth, and somehow manages to escape with only a few (painful) dings from the huge boulders. Sparks fly from her metal gauntlets, but she seems to take no serious damage - certainly not enough to push her under. The threat of being pushed under, however, pushes Ri further towards panic mode as she raises both of her gauntlets and unleashes with both of her cannons, one after the other. The booming report echoes across the turbulent waters, so recently disturbed by large rocks. The shockwaves alone send ripples radiating outwards from Ri.

And the shells that go flying up at Lute and Giratina will likely produce explosions of their own, even if they miss, by virtue of their detonators. But whether the shells or the explosions do anything is another matter. Giratina and Lute are learning, and using abilities Ri has no experience with. She could not have even comprehend the possibility of someone calling up rocks and throwing them at her!

The shadow thing at least had SOME basis in her experience, thanks to a certain Death Knight, but really, this entire battle has been one big mass of confusion and surprise for her.

Lute (188) has posed:
     The shell's explosions tear at Giratina. Though it is doing its best to defend them, the explosives are still stripping bits of its flesh off. Or at least, its own equivalent of flesh. It's hard to tell what Giratina is actually made of. It seems like large chunks of shadow are being ripped off of it, and then dissipating. It doesn't quite bleed, either. In fact, it has a bit of a steaming black mist coming out. Much akin to the whole 'Abyssal Fleet members smoking when shot' thing.

     But, as Lute continues to hold, he simply shouts out.

     "KAELIN! NOW!"

     And, from the ocean? A large number of tentacles burst out. They're grabbing for Ri's legs and arms, and attempting to pull them apart in all directions. The tentacles also squeeze down /incredibly/ hard if they manage to grab ahold. Enough that it could almost break bones on a normal person. The tentacles are also doing their best to try and keep the arms aimed /away/ from Giratina, trying to pull them in a way that Ri would have to point to the side, horizontally across the ocean.

     Lute just mutters to himself, "Hopefully this works..."

Ri (710) has posed:
Planning is out the window now, yes. Ri is in full-blown panic mode when she is seized by surprise, and crushing force is applied to her ghost-ship-made-psuedo-flesh limbs. It hurts, and she winces, but she doesn't yell out in pain, just struggles frantically. Spread-eagled in mid-air, she is in neither a very good tactical position nor a very dignified position. But as she bares her teeth, her eyes blazing with cyan light, a switch goes off in her head. Lute may be an ally according to the Admiral, but the Admiral isn't here to remind her of that when she suddenly starts growing, outwards and upwards, into a giant version of herself. Like, way giant. 600+ feet tall. It's unknown if Kaelin can stretch enough to keep hold of her, but she may be big enough and strong enough to attempt to bring her cannons around and shoot at Lute with one of her 8-inch triple-cannons - which is now the size of an actual heavy cruiser's gun.

"DESTROY... ENEMY!" she bellows. Maybe she's just really committed to following the instructio not holding back, and she's actually super calm and in-control.

Yeaaaahh.

In Lute's favor, Leviathan Mode is less effective against opponents not of similar scale!

Lute (188) has posed:
     "Oh shit."

     Lute says this as the real-sized cannons start firing in at Giratina. Giratina is blasted repeatedly. Even its wings are torn up, and it crashes into the water. It seems this is definitely the time to test if Giratina can handle water at all.

     And... to Lute's luck, it at least /floats./ Sadly, it doesn't do much more that. It's having trouble moving in the water at all. And Lute frowns, facing the now gigantic Ri. He knows immediately. Even for as long as a Tentacruel's tentacles are, it can't stretch that much. Not enough to grab her in Leviathan Mode.

     "....Okay, new plan. Just blast her out of the water old fashioned style. Kaelin, Acid! And... Go, Gardevoir!"

     The Tentacruel is still close to Ri, and turns upwards. A burst of acid fly flies out of the water, trying to burn away at the Abyssal's legs. At the same time, Lute throws out another Pokeball. From it, a Gardevoir appears. The elegant and male Pokemon stands there, not ready to attack quite /yet/.

Ri (710) has posed:
Something that Lute may notice is that the energy shield that Ri had before appears to be gone now. Either it has been worn down or it doesn't manifest in Leviathan Mode. The acid hits her on the leg, burning her painfully, and producing smoke that pours upwards. Ri has thus far been single-mindedly pursuing Lute, but as she loses almost all reason, she becomes ever more berserker like. She aims one arm in Lute's general direction, given his Giratina is now just kind of floating in the water, and aims the other at the Tentacruel, and then fires from both shark gauntlets at the same time.

"SINK! DESTROY!" she yells. Lute may wish to consider that even if he wins here, actually getting Ri to back down before she is sunk may be quite a feat without some intervention. While he doesn't need to do it NOW, having Samar order Ri to settle down may be necessary. Alternately, Lute could just sink her and she'll come back eventually.

The water is churning around the giant Abyssal's feet, partially-submerged, producing waves that spread outwards from her.

Hopfully the Fleet Daughters can't do this too.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute ponders a bit as he looks at Ri. The cannons blast away at the Tentacruel, but he knows it's tough enough to take it. For now. Even though it has been torn up by them, it will survive. It's his starter, after all. It'd be a shame if it didn't.

     But. A thought occurs to him. This size... It allows for a completely different method of combat.

     "...Alright. GO, REGISTEEL! Earthquake! Gardevoir, for the love of god, make sure he doesn't fall off!"

     Lute throws the Pokeball. He has /quite/ a throwing arm, and as such, the Registeel manifests on top of Ri's head. And, as per its order, it slams its hands down. Trying to use the attack 'Earthquake'. Normally, this completely breaks and shatters the ground, and uses the ground as an attack on its opponent.

     Here though? Ri /is/ the ground having the Earthquake formed in it.

     Gardevoir uses its psychic powers to try and maintain Registeel's balance. Lute? He's working on getting Giratina back into the sky as fast as possible. Mostly by trying to encourage it, and spraying a Potion on its wounds. Sure, it doesn't heal much, but hey, might as well try!

Ri (710) has posed:
The Registeel lands on Ri's head and sends massive tremors throughout her entire body with a double-fisted slam! ...Unfortunately, it seems Ri is big enough that she distributes the vibrations throughout all that mass of hers. She is raging out of control to the extent that even if Registeel HAD done huge damage, she might not have noticed. She unloads on Lute and Giratina, even as the former tries to heal the latter. Both gauntlets, firing as quickly as they can. Of course, they're ship's guns, so there's a bit of a delay between shots. CANNONS, not machineguns.

But that kind of bombardment, even with almost no aiming at all, could be quite hazardous to be in the middle of.

She doesn't seem to be recognizing friend or foe anymore at all.

...At least the Fleet Daughters have more clarity than this? Though whether that's good or bad has yet to be seen.

Lute (188) has posed:
     As the barrage of cannons fire forward, Gardevoir takes a moment to raise a Barrier. This psychic barrier slows the cannons. Though they still keep moving forward, it at least makes them hit a /lot/ less on impact with Lute and Giratina. But, Lute sighs. This is... not going well.

     "...Sorry, Ri, but I'm absolutely going to have to knock you out now, I think. Alright, guys! LET'S GO! Registeel, SHADOW EXPLOSION! Giratina, Dragon Breath! Kaelin, HYDRO PUMP!"

     The attacks happen fast, one after another. First, Registeel bursts with a massive explosion filled with the energy of Shadow Pokemon. At the same time, Giratina opens his mouth, and lets loose a burning breath of Dragon-type energy. And, Tentacruel bursts from the ocean, firing forth a huge burst of Hydro Pump with enough energy to break through steel.

     Lute, then? He lifts a Pokeball, and returns Registeel. It exploded. It can't do much more til healed, now.

Ri (710) has posed:
The combination of Registeel exploding right on top of her head, and then being blasted with dragon's breath scourging her belly, and then a huge column of water flying horizontally across the battlefield to strike her knocks Ri right on her rear, crushing that island that Lute was standing on previously. Smoke is pouring from the top of her head, her face almost can't be seen, except for her chin and throat. For several long moments she just lies there on her back, seeming defeated. Then she sits up with creaking, mechanical-sounding groans. The smoke continues to pour from her in numerous locations, but most especially her head.

Some of the smoke on her head clears, but before it does...

A pair of glowing golden lights can be seen staring out of the cloud. And when the smoke DOES finally clear, the upper half of Ri's face is gone. It's like it was just a mask that has now been shattered off. From just above her lower jaw to the top of her head, there is now just strands of black hair and flesh with cracks in it surrounding a horrifying, cavernous darkness - with two blazing golden eyes in it.

"...DESTROY... ENEMY..." Ri intones almost mechanically.

Despite their appearances, the Abyssals... Really... AREN'T like humans, are they? If Lute needed real genuine, physical evidence, it would have to be this. She lifts one arm somewhat weakly, and a shining golden light begins to build within the damaged shark's mouth. It's emotional energy, so concentrated it becomes visible and destructive. Regret, pain, hatred, and fear, all focused into one place, and then fired in a solid beam that parts the false sea on its path towards Lute and Giratina. If Gardevoir is too close, even just the peripheral of the blast may be enough to do damage.

The beam carries forward, unless blocked somehow, until it's out of sight over the 'horizon'.

Where it then detonates like a small laser nuke just went off, turning the entire battlefield a sickly yellow hue.

Lute (188) has posed:
     "Oh shit."

     Lute says this, as the beam of energy flies at him and Giratina. His mouth just hangs open as he realizes, with Giratina down? There is no way either of them could dodge. Giratina has most of its body covered in burns now. And Lute? He's not any better off. Large chunks of his clothes are destroyed, though thankfully not all of them. His body is covered in various burns due to the blast. And, he falls back into the ocean. Luckily, his Tentacruel moves in fast, to catch him.

     Lute rights himself, just glaring at Ri. He's not really mad. He's just focused. He does see that she is not, in fact, human. But, really? He knew that. He is a bit surprised to the extent. But, still. It probably won't matter to him, that much.

     "Giratina... SHADOW FORCE!"

     Giratina vanishes. This will take the last of its energy to do, and Lute knows this. But, for a second, Giratina vanishes, to suck in the energy of the Distortion World.

     And then it tries to reappear in the cavity where Ri's face used to be. With a massive amount of energy.

     "NOW!"

     And, there is a huge explosion of energy from the Distortion World, as Giratina tries to burrow into Ri's body. It tries to burst its way completely through her body.

     Lute is glad this is a place where people can't really die.

Ri (710) has posed:
Ri never knows what hits her. She has completely lost her awareness and intelligence, seeing only enemies everywhere, feeling only terror of sinking once more, and struggling to get up onto her knees so that she can continue fighting. When Giratina appears inside the hollow of her skull and releases its power cracks tear down Ri's entire body, explosions going off as bio-mechanical components fly every which way, oil in place of blood pouring into the ocean, until eventually all that is left of her is fragments.

She appears, for all intents and purposes, to be 'dead'. Maybe the death is simulated too, but it's pretty realistic. For someone Lute went to the beach with and had fun with to be killed so gruesomely would probably be traumatic if Lute weren't already kind of messed up. Maybe it will be kind of disquieting anyway. But Lute knows the score for this room, and how it works, so maybe he's totally chill about it.

Whenever the simulation ends, Ri is likely going to be out of commission, even if she reappears fully intact and back at human scale. Unlike other Confederates, dying means something else entirely to her, and she has never experienced this room before.

At least one good thing came of this. Her clothes probably weren't as damaged as they would have been otherwise, though they may still be a bit tattered.

Lute (188) has posed:
     Lute walks over to where Ri fell. Due to nature of this place, he wills away the ocean. Now, it's just solid ground. He walks over to Ri, sighs, and looks down at her.

     "...You're so cute. ...But."

     He ponders a bit. Are all Abyssals like this? It's been a while since Lute has had the problem, but... Even still, Lute runs the risk of transforming into a berserker. He looks down at Ri some more, before moving to pick her up, holding her laying down in both arms.

     "...You guys are a lot like me in ways, huh? Not human bodies, but..."

     He thinks to his other self. The emotionless sociopath. Would these girls get along better with him?

     For now, he won't worry about it. At worst, it just means they have more in common. For now, he's just going to get her back home.

     ...And steal a kiss from her while she is unconcious. Because why not.