1140/Little Lost Lamb

Little Lost Lamb
Date of Scene:	13 December 2014
Location:	Void - Space-Time Storms
Synopsis:	Alicia Testarossa goes for a joyride... and attracts the Mariage.
Cast of Characters:	Maya, 27, 306, 320, 381, 401, 430, 558, 570, 642
Tinyplot:	Power Games

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Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
UMINARI CITY, NANOHA-5 WORLD

Everything is normal today. Nothing is odd at all.

At least that's how it was, before that massive flash of magic that erupted. Invisible to the naked eye, but quite easy for anyone with magical senses to detect, it is unobserved by most of the still-mundane population. Uminari has only unified relatively recently, and while the population is vaguely aware of magic and weirdness now, they aren't really used to seeing it... nor expecting it from their own world, ignorant of the dimensional space their world floats within.

So the city is your average early 21st century Earth! Pretty normal by all accounts! And the area that is currently of interest is a large plaza where a number of people are already screaming and fleeing about. Already, a Special Assault Team(Japanese SWAT basically) has an armored car pulled up and several directing civilians to safety. Police officers and SAT members are behind barricades and emptying numerous bullets into the faceless, masked woman that has appeared, barely slowing her down. Another is stepping into view from an alleyway, and a third is leaping down from a roof. All are in pursuit of a tiny blonde girl, only six or seven years old, clutching a stuffed animal and fleeing as fast as she can.

At her chest is a pulsing blue glow, visible through her dress.

Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
"Mister Blade! Bring it around fast and hard!" Flint had long ago made at least the basest attunements to his ship's sensors to pick up magic. It's likely one of the Wolkenritter or Precia helped him do this.

With the flash of magic going off like it did, Flint has eschewed the usual and more subdued methods he has of arriving. He has also dropped most pretenses of his fancy Captain's outfit. The dress pants and shirt he wears are replaced by a heavy bodysuit with segmented carapace plate. He wears his normal jacket over that, flowing heavily. And then his ever-present Captain's hat.

He's hanging out the back of an atmospheric VTOL ship that banks and cuts through the air, one hand on his hat as the wind and chaos whips around him while he surveys the situation. In the pilot's seat is a white-haired man with aqua eyes who carefully steers the ship through the atmosphere before pushing a pair of glasses up the bridge of his nose.

In Flint's hands he holds a marksman's rifle and while one arm is carefully gripping the side of the ship to keep him in as the ship turns and banks, the other is carefully sighting in on Mariage and letting out triple-burst arcs of laser, trying to provide cover fire for the fleeing girl and the people down on the street.

Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
    Having spent the past few nights on board the Black Sun was a much different experience for Fate Testarossa from the last time. It was probably a lot more awkward hanging around the Wolkenritter and that's probably why. Nevertheless, finally coming back home with Arf to find Alicia gone was... Not normal.

    "Nanoha have you seen Alicia?"

    This was maybe ten minutes ago, and the sudden report of chaos on earth- not just Earth but Nanoha's -home city- means an increasingly worried Fate is firing her best friend a pained look. It's been a while since they've both been back there hasn't it?. But there's little time to think on the matter.

    Like a crack of thunder, the Confederates arrive. Fate is already in her Barrier Jacket, Bardiche in one hand, Nanoha's hand in the other, and Arf at her side as the remnant light of a golden sigil appears on a squat roof close by the chaos- after making a quick stop along the way in Honnouji.

    Of all places to attack...

    "Nanoha, we have to stop them." ... And who are they chasing?

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    As a matter of course, Kimiko has set up for certain classes of alert signals to be sent to her. There's a lot going on in this sector of the Multiverse, far too much for her to deploy to every alarm, but the nature of this emergency gets her attention, when she patches into it. It's the Mariage.

    The Puella Magi makes her way with all due haste, transforming on the go and hopping quickly between warp gates, familiar with the path up to a point, and then following downloaded directions, after that. Uminari City isn't too far, if you know the shortest path.

    It's on her entrance from the final gate that a pair of short, wide blades appear in her hands. She's prepared to deal with any opponent that comes her way, though now that she's here, she's sorely lacking in full understanding of the situation. A bird's eye view would help--which is why she begins climbing, in leap after leap, to the roof of the nearest flat-topped building.

    And thanks to that, she's soon to notice an out-of-place ship, firing toward the ground.

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
What the ruddy hell is all this?

Jono's motorcycle has been stopped by the police and SWAT and they're herding him away from the area. He pauses when he passes by one of the officers. "Oi! What's up?" He motions to the direction people aren't being allowed to go.

"Classified threat sir. Please move along," the policeman answers not looking at Jono.

He's about to pass right by but Jono stops him with another wave of his hand.

"Wait. Lemme 'elp. I'm a Multiversal Elite," he says.

The policeman pauses, gives him an appraising look. "Sir you are twenty years old at most. You have no armor or weapons. No one wants to see you get hurt. Or worse. Now please move alo--"

He pauses then as Jono pulls down the black 'bandages' wrapped around his face. Fire seems to burn slowly around his head, emanating from his chest and obscuring where his mouth should be. "I'm an Elite," Jono repeats. "Lemme 'elp yer."

"...Right that way, sir." The policeman point towards where the trouble is.

"Thank yer," Jono responds, and then turns his motorcycle to head in that direction. He doesn't bother wrapping his face back up. He just drives. So there is a man with brown hair and brown eyes approaching the scene. He wears biker's leathers... and his head appears to be on fire.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Prince Landon al Cid of Ramuh is a man who repays his debts. He's an honest, honorable man, the sort of man that's going out of style in a lot of worlds in favor of the more effective, pragmatic man. He's the kind of man who makes and keeps promises, who agrees to things and ensures that he follows through on those agreements so long as they don't violate his code of ethics.

     The Ramuhan nobility calls the al Cid family "suckers".

     Be that as it may, the al Cid family clings tight to these ideals. So when a call arrives from the TSAB, Landon ensures that he takes it, both for his own agenda and to repay Zephyr for her kindness. He's fascinated by the Time-Space Administration Bureau for a number of reasons, not the least of which because their magic and technology are far more similar to Galianda's own than anyone else he's heard about among the extraversals. Any diplomatic inroads may be helpful to understanding our new position in the world, he argued to his Father as he left; besides-which, he owed Zephyr for her teaching, and that was far more important.

     Landon arrives on the scene to find madness. The world is flat, here! The buildings look so much like Ramuh, but it doesn't storm and roar, and lightning doesn't flash and flare! Amazing! What did they use to power-

     Oh, nevermind. There's a chase going on. Right, active problems.

     The white-haired Prince moves into step immediately. Like many Galiandans, he's fast - combat-trained reflexes from an early age will do that. He moves into the chase without a second thought. Anyone who would try and hurt a small child deserves no mercy from him.

     In front of him, a Law Card spins to life. Once he gets close enough, he throws out his hand and fills it with magic particles (MP) from his personal reserve.

     Even here, on a distant world, Carbuncle's Law holds.

     The Card vanishes. There's a sound like a chiming crystal as a barrier surges to life in front of the pursuers. It's clear and crystalline, and it's about large enough to stop two people in their tracks - but what really matters is that he planted it *right in front of them*, so it'll probably catch them off-guard.

Maya has posed:
Runner had responded again given the magic heavy things Maya did want to help but until she'd fully recovered if she even could? She'd opted to send Runner, and one other to help Tori was not happy about this but given how many times Maya had kept him from getting shot when his deals went bad, he did kinda owe the woman who was the cloest thing he had to a mother something so here Tori was with Runner and he looked to the big mecha mutt.

"So This is what Maya wnted us to help with?"

The man was clad in a mix of leather and synatics much like maya was but he had a big pair of ski like goggles up over his eyes as he peered out at the situation. He's got a differnt sort of rifle on his back and Runner meanwhile barks and heads off in the direction of the source of the toruble. They kinda are not stealthing things but now is not the time, right? Tori leaps on to Runner's back, whom then leaps up on to the roof and Tori drops off rifle ready as he comments ot Kimiko.

"So your the one Maya told me to come help with, ... for free."

He says the word free like it's the dirtyest word possible...

Fate T. Harlaown (306) has posed:
A blonde woman in uniform and sunglasses approaches the SAT armored car. As she's waved away, she quickly flashes a badge, but puts it away before too many questions are asked. "I am special agent Destiny Ferrari of the TSA Bureau." She very carefully does not give the full name of the organization. Better for it to sound official. "I've been dispatched to help."

By which she means, she heard what was going on and gated over as quickly as possible.

Fate reaches up to whip off her sunglasses and tuck them into the pocket of her coat. "If there's anything about the situation I should know, please make it quick. Lives may be at stake." A soft chime sounds from within her coat. ~Sir. Familiar signature detected.~ "Mm? The Mariage?" She pauses and turns her head... then stares, wide-eyed. "Alicia?" Pause. Ahem. Fate clears her throat slightly. "Officers, I'm afraid that things might get rather bizarre here before long. Please keep up the good work and make sure civilians stay away." And with that, she's already on the move, running toward the smaller and younger/older original, Barrier Jacket materializing as she moves.

Satsuki Kiryuin (430) has posed:
    There has been deep curiosity in Satsuki as regards the Wolkenritter. In some ways, what little she's seen of them has reminded her of her own cadre of four dedicated subordinates. However, the Student Council President of Honnouji Academy will not have time to indulge that curiosity today. She hadn't even had time to leave Honnouji when the alert went out.

    When Fate's teleportation plants everyone on the roof, the young lady stands behind Takamachi and Testarossa, her hand on Bakuzan's grip and looking out on the scene with a calm gaze. "The Mariage certainly chose a busy time of day," she remarks absently. Then, more loudly, "I will serve as a mobile scout. I don't want to deploy Junketsu unless my hand is forced, so my mobility and swordplay will be my strongest assets."

Takamachi Nanoha (381) has posed:
Nanoha's answer to Fate's question is as expected. "Um, no, not lately. She was just here not that long ago..." It's worrying to her, but in another few minutes it doesn't matter, because a signature like that is sure to draw either the Mariage or the Wolkenritter... or both. Maybe even more.

So arriving with the busty catgirl in tow, Nanoha is already in her Barrier Jacket. "Ah... my home," she whispers. Well, not her HOME home, but her home city. It's painful to see so much chaos.

But she has work to do! The little girl shoots into the air, then calls out, "VESTA! Can you get us a Barrier or something?" Already, tiny pink spheres are shooting out, seeking any Mariage they can spot to blast the zombies or maybe get their attention.

Vesta, the catgirl, nods her head firmly. "You got it, Mistress!" Clapping her hands together, she starts summoning up the power to lay out a barrier. If she gets the chance.

Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
Right away, people are coming to the defense of the blonde. That's good! Flint's shots chew into the Mariage drone, and it goes down under that and the combined fire of an entire SAT team. We'll let everyone reading this figure out who contributed the most to that little victory.

Two more pursuing Mariage slam into the crystalline wall. One pauses, moving aside slowly as if scanning the area, becoming aware of the approach of numerous Elites. The other reaches out, hand to the shield, and attempts to draw in the magical power, trying to break it down by absorption rather than brute force.

Vesta is starting to make her Barrier, but while Nanoha is zapping Drones, a Controller makes itself known, erupting through the wall to level a gun-arm at the Familiar and open up with several shots. That could interfere with the whole process, and to make matters worse two Drones are flanking her.

Jono has no problem convincing the officer to let him help, and he'll find the SAT team lending him cover fire for getting in closer. They do the same for Tori and Runner, recognizing the assets. This is needed, for as those in the air(or high up, like Kimiko) can see, the situation is getting much, much more complicated. Fast. The pursuing Mariage weren't chasing the blonde... they were /herding/ her, as several Drones - zombielike masked women like the first - emerge from hiding and blockade her escape, causing a panicked SCREECH! Elder Fate is in a great position to stop them or attempt to snatch up Alicia... when things get really weird.

"GO AWAAAAY!" Alicia screams, and then there's more to worry about than the Mariage. Leaping to her defense, the child's doll suddenly bulges and twists, and the telltale flash of blue from Alicia's chest is accompanied by the magical signature of a Jewel Seed activation. The doll swells insanely fast, twisting into a writhing, draconic shape of plush terror, tail sweeping out to smash a Drone aside... but also heading straight for elder Fate.

Satsuki Kiryuin (430) has posed:
    The Controller taking aim at Vesta is going to be sorely disappointed. The shots fired never reach their destination; in an impossibly-fast series of blade strikes, the Queen of Honnouji slashes them out of the air, letting out a staggered kiai that kicks up dust with its sheer forcefulness. Even without the power of her Kamui, she is far beyond ordinary humans, and in the instant after the last shot is deflected, she stands between the Familiar and the Mariage. "I will be your opponent," Satsuki declares simply, meeting the Controller's eyes with a stone cold gaze.

    "Takamachi, Testarossa, go. I'll handle these three, and then join you shortly."

    And with nothing further to say, she launches herself into the attack, drawing Bakuzan in another lightning-quick slash aimed for the center of mass on the leftmost drone.

Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
"Bringin' her down, Captain!" Mister Blade says in the cockpit. Flint gives him a nod as the ship swoops through a couple of buildings and then starts to settle down on street level. Its wings fold up a bit while it makes a vertical descend and gently lands in the middle of the 'assaulted' area, trying to hit the asphault with a gentle tapdown.

Flint learned the Mariage will start diverting to come after him the other night after all the trouble he's caused. He hopes at the first part that he can divert incoming attacks away from the girls by simply making himself a target. They did seem interested in his Pure at one point, after all.

Of course, it's not totally altruistic. Immediately after touchdown, Mister Blade hops out of the cockpit in a flight suit and wielding a large blaster pistol. He tries to pop a couple shots into a Mariage before he ducks into a smashed out storefront.

"Captain! They have Snickers and Consumer Electronics both dated to the 21st century Terran Levels. Collectors will pay a mint for this!" He calls out of the abandoned storefront as Flint kneels down and provides covering fire, trying to keep his ship clean while Mister Blade starts loading boxes into the back of it.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Landon feels the pull immediately, and instantly understands the danger the way only someone who has spent a lifetime in a completely magical world could. These people, or creatures, are like vampires. They drink Magic Particles in. And because the barrier was sustained by Landon's own store, that meant that as soon as the drain starts, Landon feels the tug.

     So he severs it instantly. The barrier collapses and crumbles in a heartbeat, shattering like glass as soon as the monster touches it.

     They were like vampires. His first encounter with extraversal threats, and they were things custom-built to tear him apart.

     That's...not happy. That's not /good/. That's actually quite terrifying; Landon is, inherently, a magical creature, like everyone else from Galianda. He carries with him a store of power, he wields a unique and fascinating power unique to his people...the warning over the radio was enough to give him a cold sweat.

     Vampires! Nearly-mythical nightmares that lurked in the shadows of Ramuh. And there was an organization of them!

     No one would blame him for running. These things were his elemental weakness, his direct and immediate opposite. They were capable of ripping him to shreds without a second thought. No one would call him a coward.

     But there were people in trouble.

     There was a little girl in trouble.

     Granted, a little girl who apparently had phenomenal cosmic power. Phenomenal, undirected cosmic power - power unleashed and pouring right towards one of his allies. A massive dragon...another creature of near-mythical status to Galiandans.

     He was gods-damned crazy.

     Landon al Cid, Prince of Ramuh, doesn't hesitate. He throws himself in the way of Fate T. Harlaown in a heartbeat, without a second thought. Law Cards - five of them - whirl to life in front of him, blazing with brilliant blue light. Landon's smile never wavers as five barriers pop up.

     The first one shatters on contact with the tail.

     Landon looks over his shoulder at Fate. His smile widens, to let her know that he's an ally. Then his concentration goes back over.

     The second barrier shatters. Landon strains. His concentration redoubles as the third barrier strains against the fourth, and he brings the fifth crystalline Law-shield upwards to push the dragon back.

     He might buy all of a moment.

     All of a moment is hopefully all the lady needs.

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
There's a girl being herded into someplace for some reason. But... wait a minute, what's she doing? There is suddenly a giant dragon-like thing, and Jono brings his bike to a stop. "Gordon Bennett!" he exclaims. "What the bloody...?!" SCREEEEEEEEECH! He has no idea what that thing is. Or really... what ANY of them are.

Satsuki seems to be engaging the big one. And Jono's head is basically on fire, so if he were to try to go up to a little girl and say hi, she'd probably turn the dragon on HIM next! So instead, Jono turns his attention to the creatures hassling the girl. He fires a blast at one of the things trying to grab her, trying not to hit her dragon.

The blast is actually not really fire. It's... force. Pure kinetic force. With a bit of a twist. Literally. It feels like getting hit with a truck, if the truck had a giant high-speed rotary sander with the coarsest grit sandpaper available mounted to the front. In other words, ow.

Fate T. Harlaown (306) has posed:
Well. Jewel Seed power was not something she expected to see coming from her younger older younger sister, but given the differences she's seen so far in this world, it isn't... terribly inconceivable. "Mariage and Jewel Seeds too... I--" The blonde is about ready to react to that mighty plush when a defender jumps in the way. "Ah--" She inclines her head, returning that smile. "Bardiche. Don't let his help go to waste."

~Yes, Sir. Sonic Move.~

In a blur of motion, Fate is gone, though there's a narrow furrow on the road along the path between where she was standing and the young girl. When her motion stops, the elder Fate is by Alicia's side, crouched down and extending a hand. "Alicia. I'm a friend. Let's get you to safety, okay?" She smiles softly, hoping a kind word and presence will be enough to calm Alicia down.

Takamachi Nanoha (381) has posed:
"Nnn... thanks, Miss Kiryuin!" Vesta calls out, working to finish putting up that Temporal Barrier. It's taking a lot of concentration, and kittens are not the best at that! It's keeping her busy and meaning she can't cloak Nanoha, either.

That's okay.

<DIVINE BULLET,> Raising Heart chimes. Nanoha doesn't waste any time with the small stuff, she's flying in a streak of pink, darting from side to side to present a more difficult target. Meanwhile, high-powered, concentrated wads of magical power are streaking down, blasting the street and Mariage both with 'bullets' of power that are far more potent than a girl her age has a right to command. The two that shattered Landon's shield are the ones she's going after, trying to keep them from sneaking up on Alicia while Fate goes to help her sister.

She betrayed Yuuno to help that girl live. She wasn't about to let a bunch of zombies take her away.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko tosses her right-hand blade into her left. Rather than colliding, the two merge together, the metal performing a quick, uncanny shift as it spreads into the form of a shield over the course of a second. In the meantime, she's taking a running leap for the next building over, then another, and another, tracking the Mariage's movements and getting into position to do some good--hopefully.

    This means that, when she does take her last leap to bring herself to street-level, within close enough range of Alicia, she's not actually armed. Her shield is raised to one side, her head turned to the other. Harlaown did beat her there, so she only gives a nod, adding, "Talk later. Escape, now."

    She turns away after that. The next drone to come and try to interrupt the two sort-of-related blondes is going to get stuck on a boar spear.

Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
    Fate was calm. Fate was sliding into that quiet, cold zone of combat efficiency once touching down, Bardiche clasped in her hand; the faithful and silent Black Axe Device ready and awaiting command. And then everything changed. So very fast.

    [SIR.]

    Scarlet eyes widen on the instant and dawning realization of just where Alicia had gone to, when the blonde hears that familiar voice and her Device informs her of a spike in energy all too similar to a Jewel Seet. It really means but one thing.

    "-Alicia-!"

    In an instant Fate's composure is gone, the thought of her sister in harm's way instantly sending her off with the speed faster than a bullet.

    This kind of leaves Arf with Vesta, and the red-haired wolf woman is clucking mildly. "Ahhhh... She acts cool, but really she's actually kind of impulsive. Our masters are such a handful." Idly commented to the cat-familiar as she takes up a position to defend Vesta while she's working.

    Fate, on the other hand is completely and singlemindedly flinging herself in the direction of Fate, Landon, Kimiko and Alicia, the Device in her hand snapping back at the neck and crackling to life with a blazing scythe of golden light.

    "-Get out of my way!-" Yelled as she starts hacking viciously at any of the Mariage that even think about getting in her path.

Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
Satsuki saves Vesta from trouble, though the Controller stares at her new opponent placidly. She doesn't seem worried, even if the swordplay is driving back the Drone right now. The other one is circling, looking for an opening. The Controller then... speaks. "We have no interest in you at this time. Retreat or be raw materials."

Flint is indeed a target, but only two Drones - newly-appeared - emerge and head toward him. Carefully. They've learned, oh yes, and they're warily darting back and forth, keeping behind cover, and moving much more intelligently than Drones usually do. Must be more than one Controller nearby. He's going to need to get aggressive to take them down. On the other hand it does mean he gets plenty of loot.

Landon discovers that the plush dragon is actually... pretty damn strong. Individually stronger than any single Mariage, definitely, though without the energy vampire bit. It smashes hard and fast against the barrier, but without any intelligence... just sheer, raw, harsh power. An incredible amount, in fact, though fueling it seems to have put Alicia in some sort of daze. This close, it's very clear she isn't really /seeing/ Big Fate or Kimiko, and the pulsing light over her heart is definitely a Jewel Seed. It looks disturbingly like a Soul Gem, the way it's reacting.

Fortunately, the two that were approaching are torn to pieces by Nanoha, and start to melt into that flaming black goo. At the same time, Jonothan blasts some of the ones approaching cautiously from behind, who were trying to bypass the plush dragon. They silently die, torn apart by the kinetic force that ravages them. Mariage are usually pretty weak... but there's at least six more crawling out of the woodwork at various places. How do they multiply so fast?

There's also the problem that the SAT team is suddenly in confusion, as one of its own members is turning around and gunning down his allies, screaming the entire time, "STOP ME! SHOOT ME! I CAN'T STOP!"

Younger Fate slashes right through one of the emerging Mariage as it starts to move, cutting it in half. Its companion forms a blade from one arm and tries to retaliate. Fate is fast enough this wouldn't normally be an issue, but in her current state...

Fortunately, two things happen that mean the situation isn't quite as dire as all that. First, the Temporal Barrier swallows the area, dimming the light but at the same time erasing the screaming civilians and the SAT from the area abruptly, shunting everyone into a replicated pocket dimension. Secondly, several daggerlike projectiles embed into the dragon writhing about, giving Big Fate and Kimiko some breathing room to help its master. The daggers explode after a brief quiver and crackle of yellow power. They were thrown by a small silver-haired girl in a skin-tight blue bodysuit, no more than a child, carried by another girl with purple hair, also wearing a blue bodysuit. The second sets the first down, shimmering purple 'blades' of energy flickering around her, and says out loud, "Try to bind one of them, the Doctor thinks we can capture one without it self-destructing."

Maya has posed:
things are going to get hot now as Tori who does have a magic signature but not as powerful as Maya's but clealry on the level of magic user. The cover fire from the SWAT Officers ias welcome and both will make use of it to get in closer, Tori lowers his rifle and will start taking shots at the Marriage. He knew the gist magical zombie girls. Seriously this was more creepy than Shell 3, as they didn't looked messed up at all.

Runner meanwhil is trying to get in close, the SWAT officer yelling he can't stop would find Tori palming a fate card which if the spell he triggers would work would paralie the man but allow him to breath. He normally hated cops but well they'd given him cover fire.

Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
The cops were pretty confused, but fortunately Runner saves them... and the man collapses. Moments later the Barrier takes them out of the equation, but at least this way they won't have to worry that he'll suddenly turn on them again, and can concentrate on calming down the civilians left outside the barrier.

As it turns out, a rifle works really well against these things. They definitely are like zombies though, because it takes a head shot or some severe damage to down one of them, Tori will find.

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
Jono notes Testarossa Fate's freak-ou, and tries to make sure he doesn't hit her with any of his blasts. But he's staying at range for the time being. Between not wanting to scare the girl and not wanting to get stomped by a dragon Jono is quite content to stay his British arse at range.

Suddenly the Barrier goes up. And it was just as he'd started to go for the apparently possessed cop too. Hopefully that cut off whatever influence was controlling the SAT member. At the moment though he's more concerned about the Mariage and the girl.

He notes the people appearing, the weird 'blades' of energy. There's a lot to focus on. But he keeps his attention on the Mariage. They're coming in from everywhere. Fortunately Jono can fire that energy pretty quick. He's kind of a one-trick pony, but that he's pretty damn good at that one trick.

Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
Getting a good amount of loot is nice, but Flint knows not to stay street level too long. He's content not to kill the Mariage coming at him but to keep them distracted, plinking carefully placed shots meant to keep them in cover. Mister Blade just finishes loading up the last of their loot and shutting the back hatch, "Go, Blade. I'll call for pickup later. Others are coming and we gotta get you up and airborne."

The VTOL hums and starts to take off vertically, moving slower now that it has some heavy cargo (mostly snack foods, electronics, and a lot of paper books) in its storage area.

Flint, on the other hand, is sliding into cover. He plants his hand on a vending machine and then wrenches to the side, trying to topple it over so he can kneel behind it and pick off shots. He just wants to pin them down until Kimiko can arrive.

Satsuki Kiryuin (430) has posed:
    "If I were to create an efficient, unfeeling living weapon," Satsuki replies, shifting her blade into a vertical grip and adopting a ready stance, "I would make sure that it didn't waste its breath so." Glib though she may be, Satsuki is wary, keeping aware of both her opponents, using all her senses... save her eyes. Her eyes, she keeps on the drone before her, making it look as if she's lost track of the second, shifting and stepping in such a way that brings her 'unknowingly' closer to it. "If an opponent stands between you and your goal with a weapon drawn-"

    And without warning, she suddenly drives Bakuzan /behind/ her, stabbing right at the chest of the Mariage behind her, intending to bury her blade - and then draw it forth in what becomes a makeshift iai technique, leveraging that impossible speed to aim for the other's neck. It's a sudden and vicious attempt to down both Drones at once, so that she can focus on the Controller safely.

    "-YOU CUT THEM DOWN WITHOUT HESITATION!"

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Unbelievable. That a child could have this kind of power is unbelievable! Landon strains against the barriers as best he can, but in the end, he's forced to abandon them. The Law Cards are just draining too much power from him for too little gain. The dragon's just so much stronger than he is. Too powerful for a head-on challenge of magical and martial might, which is, unfortunately, all the Prince has, besides his wits and cleverness.

     Fortunately, he *is* reasonably witty and clever.

     *Un*fortunately, he's also the sort of person to prioritize other people over himself, which means sometimes, you have to fight the giant plush dragon monster hand-to-hand despite being massively outclassed. The longer he keeps it busy, after all, the easier a time other people will have calming the girl down, which should solve the problem most effecitvely.

     Landon snaps his fingers and snatches a spinning Law Card out of thin air. It crystallizes into a long, heavy-looking greatsword made of, well, what appears to be some kind of beautiful liquid crystal. He swings it once, experimentally, and then hurls it upwards at the dragon.

     The greatsword flies like it's not the size of a human being. It flies straight and true, guided by Landon's will rather than any of the laws of simple physics. It shoots towards the dragon like a meteor...and, at the last minute, stops and slaps it with the flat of the blade.

     "Here, now!" Landon shouts at the dragon, gesturing at himself as the blade disappears. It reappears in his hand, a shining beacon of his authority as a Judge of the al Cid family - and an attention-grabbing shiny thing.

     And then he lunges into the midst of the enemy with a broad grin on his face.

     "I feel I should recommend you move!" He encourages them wryly as he passes by.

     He expects the dragon to behave like most wounded animals - go after the thing that hurt it, and damn whoever's in the way.

     Hopefully, the Prince is fast enough to dodge out of the way, too. But, he's in heavy armor...maybe he won't be?

     He's a gambling man, apparently.

Fate T. Harlaown (306) has posed:
The lack of reaction to her appearance tells the elder Fate quite a bit. "We need to get her away from the Mariage." She glances toward Landon and calls out to him, "Just keep it busy a moment longer!" After a pause, she adds, "And if it reverts to toy form, make sure to retrieve it!" She glances at the knives, then toward their source... and sets her mouth into a thin line. This is before, but it's not the same world. It's fine for now.

Fate isn't completely sure this will work, but she can hope. "Shhh... shhh, it's okay." Since Alicia seems to be panicking more than fighting her, the elder Fate draws her younger older sister into her arms. "Just calm down, we're going somewhere safe." And, should Alicia not struggle against her, Fate will take off and head toward where the two animal familiars are standing.

Maya has posed:
Tori sees the officer is down and out for the most part hopefully not dead. He's shady, but not a murder well directly don't ask about his arms dealing. He does however keep shooting anf seems to know how to deal with the lots of taruma bit and Runner is moving on the Marriage but capture zombie alive that's a bit of an alien thing to the robot dog, for now they are trying to put this one down.

Takamachi Nanoha (381) has posed:
Nanoha is a little torn. She wants to help Satsuki... because she's not sure the un-Kamui'd Satsuki can take on a Controller. Yet Alicia is in danger and she's worried about what's going on with that. "Nn... Raising Heart... can we bind it?" It is distracted...

Yes, that's what she'll do. The Mariage are still coming, but with Alicia still there... <RESTRICT LOCK> Raising Heart chimes, and Nanoha adds a little oomph to it with the loud clack-CHUNK of a cartridge loading into place, slamming up into the haft of the Device to give a surge of power. The rings of pink light collect from the ambient magic in the air, constricting violently around the dragon-plush in an attempt to stop or slow it enough to give Landon a chance to dodge.

Vesta wipes her brow, then turns to Arf, "Ah... I guess that's why they need us! But come on, we can't just stand here!" The catgirl whips around, and with a flick of her tail, takes in the situation. Rather than let Satsuki fight alone, she just lets her handle the Drones, and leaps forward to toss up a Barrier to protect against any incoming attack from the Controller.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko still has mixed feelings about trusting a tip from Flint, but she's far past the anger that had overwhelmed her on their second meeting. It helps that the Wolkenritter aren't here, and also helps, in a sense, that she needs to be wary of constant ambush /anyway/. This whole place is a war zone until they're certain the Mariage are gone.

    It would be impolite to say any of that at this point, so she doesn't.

    While not nearly as fast as the elder Fate, Kimiko can move pretty well when she's got solid ground beneath her, each step launching her forward with the strength of her base-level magic more so than just her legs, yet without making much more noise than a casual walk. Flint shouldn't have to wait too long before catching a glimpse of her.

    If they weren't facing mana-eating monsters, things would be simpler, but Kimiko wishes to only have to try this once, and not give her opponents a chance to learn. As soon as she has a clear shot, she throws her spear full-force, aiming to impact the Drone farther from her. Without waiting to see the result, her hand brushes over the roof of a parked car--and digs into the metal, the outer body rippling away from her as she tears out a solid piece of the supporting frame, the steel warping and reshaping in her hand. As she continues her forward charge, it takes the form of a sasumata, a staff with a U-shaped end.

    Her weapons are magically summoned, and thus, potentially vulnerable. But once shaped, her sasumata is simply steel, albeit forged as if from a single piece. With this, ending her charge, she goes for the nearest Drone's neck, to bear it to the ground.

Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
The Barrier seems to have made civilian casualties unlikely. This lets Jonothan blast some of the incoming Drones without problem... only to end up with the little issue of a Controller has appeared, and apparently has decided he's more of a threat than something to harvest. The Controllers, unlike the Drones, can shoot with a mass-based weapon from their arms... though otherwise they look exactly the same. In summary, Jonothan is getting shot at, at least a few shots.

Flint manages to find cover and thus keep the two Drones occupied, allowing Kimiko to come in and impale one. As the first melts and catches fire, the second gets a hook around the neck, borne down to the ground with a squirming thud. It has not self-destructed yet, though. This is good.

The other Mariage appearing, between Tori and Runner and Jonothon, quickly learn to duck into cover and dig in. This doesn't help much, because of the sheer chaos. It also helps that Tre, the blue-suited newcomer with purple hair, presents a blazingly fast target that rivals Fate in speed in short bursts, slashing at arms as she darts in and out. Even so, one of them has already tagged the melee combatant, her left arm showing sparks and cords of metal as the cyborg's injury becomes visible.

Nanoha's Restrict Lock slams around the dragon, making it writhe... and then Cinque detonates more blades within it. Stuffing goes everywhere, but the creature just seems to reform. It takes TIME to reform though, so between the two slowing it down like that and Landon's taunting, it's roaring and launching toward him, but plows into the ground instead, whipping about and possibly tagging Landon with its tail. It's much better than being caught in those teeth though, isn't it?

The dragon roars again, suddenly, trying to twist around in its bad condition. Its priority isn't who hurt it... it's to protect Alicia, who is now eased into Big Fate's arms and being hoist away, swept out of the danger zone. Fortunately Fate is a... familiar presence, even if she's also alien. It's enough to start to wake Alicia from her stupor. "Huh...?"

Finally, Satsuki is dealing with... trouble. While dispatching the Drones is not too difficult, they lash out with surprising viciousness, and even when beheaded they get some flailing in before bursting into flames. Fortunately Vesta's interference DOES help, as she blocks several shots from the Controller, buying time for Satsuki to either engage or call for aid.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     "Of course, my lady!" Landon replies to Fate. Even in the heat of battle, he's a /proper knight/ first and foremost. In 'gentleman', after all, the /gentle/ precedes the /man/. There's a methodology to these things.

     Nanoha attempts to bind the thing, to give him time. He deeply appreciates it. He's a tall man in heavy armor, and while he's most adept at moving around in it, there's only so much you can do to make plate mail /faster/. Landon's about to help her out by restricting the movements of the Mariage, but then he realizes - that's a /really bad idea/, and he just doesn't have time to do that.

     He realizes this largely because he gets caught by the tail of the giant push dragon, swept through along with the rest of the Mariage. Even slowed-down, the thing *hurts* - he can feel the wind knocked out of him, and he's pretty sure that one of his ribs cracked just from the impact of the thing.

     No, Landon corrects himself, two.

     He pulls himself to his feet, gathering more MP. In his mind and his body, he forms the pattern for a Cure spell, just to patch himself up and keep going. It doesn't do much but dull the pain. He'll need a proper White Mage later.

     Landon recalls the Judge Blade once again. He stands, a bit shakily, sword clutched tight in his hand. Well, at least his plan worked, sort of.

     Time to get back in there.

     Landon hurls the Judge Blade again. He lunges forward, his arm holding his ribcage tight as he continues to dull the pain with his MP. He's starting to run low, but he ignores that. With his free hand, he adopts a brawler's stance, tightening his gauntleted fist.

     Landon is not super-fast. He is not super-agile. But he is very used to moving in plate mail. As the Judge Blade soars upwards to distract the dragon with its shiny part and its flashy bits, Landon himself goes for the dragon's tail. He moves to jump up it, to jump from the tail to the arm.

     And then punch a dragon in the face.

     On the way down, he's going to pray to all the Gods that he's right, and that he doesn't need one of the TSAB's devices to pull off the simple flying spell Zephyr gave him. And that he's practiced enough. And...

     Well, this could be a *most* rough landing for the Prince.

Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
Flint spots Kimiko and helps her take out the first Mariage, but lets her subdue the second. He doesn't have his usual bag of tricks on him, so letting her pin it down by the neck is the best option for him. Of course, moments later she calls for something metal. THAT he can help with.

A booted foot comes up to the toppled vending machine and he shoves it with the flat bottom of his boot, causing the giant hunk of metal and glass to roughly skid along the street surface towards her with a spray of sparks and a godawful squealing noise.

"One giant piece of metal, freshly delivered."

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
Jono's content to remain pewpewpewing at the Mariage. Until that Controller appears. His eyes widen as he suddenly finds himself being shot at. He wasn't expecting that! "...Bollocks." As a result, several shots go through him and stagger him. "Agh!" They finally push him back enough to knock him back onto his back on the ground.

But he's not out yet. It's hard to hurt somebody with bullets when they don't have any internal organs in their torso. So a moment later, he pulls himself to his feet again, swearing. Very colorfully. And responds by shooting a bigger blast at the Controller. Now that he doesn't have to worry about the girl being in the way, he can start showing EXACTLY how he feels about these things!

Takamachi Nanoha (381) has posed:
Phew. That should buy some time. Nanoha isn't sure who that guy in armor is, but when the Mariage are involved an ally is an ally. Especially Mariage in her homeworld. Speaking of... she's now free to help out with something else!

<ACCEL SHOOTER>

The Device pings as she blasts out those pulses of pink light, showering the area the Controller is in to give Satsuki some cover fire, and perhaps even damage it. That's not her best spell by far, but it's quick to fire and can be guided, so it might give an opening. She hopes.

Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
    In (small) Fate's current state, she's already turning to cut down the second drone with a chilling level of brutality for a nine year old. Though in the process she takes in kind almost as badly as she gives, that bladed arm embedding in the girl's shoulder as her free hand snaps up.

    [Photon Bullet.]

    Bardiche announces as Fate tries to simply shoot a bolt of black-purple energy clean through the masked woman's fa<span style="color:e.

    c#ffec8b">[Sir.]</span> Bardiche pings, trying to get her attention. And she almost continues rampaging on before the stoic Device insists more firmly: [SIR!]

    Metal boots come to a skidding halt as she pauses to breathe. The pain in her shoulder goes ignored as she pants and tries to focus and assess things all over again. Landon is admirably fending off Alicia's plush. The Mariage are still more than a hassle but Satsuki seems to be working on keeping that in hand.

    Arf meanwhile intends to just TACKLE one, orange chains of light seeking to try and bind it. "Like I was just going to sit back and let them have all the fun, kitty-cat."

    It is a bloody Fate Testarossa that goes running, and approaching... Fate Testarossa and Alicia. This is still so extremely awkward, after the last time she shot Fate point blank.

    "... Give her to me."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko can't really take her eyes off the Drone once she's downed it, worried the thing will manage to slice through solid steel to get at her. She doesn't know; it /could/ have that capability. But if it doesn't, and it can't throw anything at her, at her strength she does seem able to just keep it pinned. So long as she doesn't move, that is. That is going to make this awkwardly difficult.

    Instead, her magic flows down the haft and into the fork of the 'spear,' reforming the metal into a collar 'round the Drone's neck. She yanks up, turns, and slams her victim back down with a boot its back, working as quickly as she can, knowing how fast the things are. As Flint's come through, she only has to reach over and sink her fingers into the side of the vending machine as through a thick fog, and come out trailing a mass of machined steel with which to manacle arms and legs. Aluminium being likely too weak for the purpose, she lets the scores of cans of carbonated beverages roll out into the street.

    In the process of trying to learn how to use a few of the weapons in her catalogue, she also came across some centuries-old, yet effective techniques for quickly binding criminals. Unfortunately, she's never actually had a chance to practice any such thing, and most, though not all, of those techniques assumed the criminal could feel pain.

Maya has posed:
Things seem to be on the up the barriers re certainly helping which is very darn useful. Tori sees the Mariage go down but there are others or is it down? He can't tell in the chaos but they are adapting Tori uses Runner as cover and this time he does lob a spell a simple water spell, but nothing more. He doesn't seem to have the primmal level of output that MAya does normally but he's not bad at it.

"I'm not even getting paid for this!"

Satsuki Kiryuin (430) has posed:
    The process of bringing down the Drones doesn't leave Satsuki entirely unscathed; by the time she turns her attention to the Controller, even in the brief moment it took to finish them, she's taken a gash to one arm and another across her abdomen. Still, the swordswoman is fast, and already preparing to dodge when she turns to see Vesta's protection spare her the trouble and injury, and then covering fire is laid down by Nanoha. Not one to miss an opportunity, the Honnouji Student Council's president drops low, pushes off with her feet, and dashes around in a wide arc to come in from the side with a powerful slash accompanied by a thunderous kiai. "TOH!" Even without Junketsu's power, her kiai can bowl over dozens at once, and Bakuzan's blade is still impossibly sharp.

Fate T. Harlaown (306) has posed:
"I'll explain later, dear. I'm a friend." The elder Fate gives Alicia a warm smile before scooping the girl into her arms and leaping clear of the dragon. "It would help us a lot if you called off your pet, though. Or aim it toward those bad things that were trying to get you."

Now, where are those familiars... "--ah!" Fate comes to a halt as her younger self appears in front of her. "I was about to bring her to Arf." She looks down at Alicia and gives the girl a squeeze. "You be good and go with your sister, okay? She'll keep you safe." Before releasing Alicia, Fate ducks her head to kiss the girl's forehead. Once her arms are free, she reaches to pat her younger self on the head. "Promise you won't shoot me this time?" It seems there are no hard feelings from her end of things. "We really should find time to talk... when things aren't trying to shoot us. Go on, get her to safety."

With her arms now free, Fate turns back toward the battlefield. "Bardiche." ~Yes, Sir. Zanber Form.~ What was a poleaxe staff splits and opens, forming an enormous golden sword. "Now then..."

Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
Landon al Cid, DRAGON PUNCHER!

This works pretty well, actually, as the dragon is thrashing and wild and not really directed. It also seems... weaker, somehow. This is due to Alicia coming out of her stupor, weakly but slowly stirring and blinking. Without thinking, she clings to the younger Fate. She's not saying anything to the elder Fate, but she doesn't seem to be all there yet, either. At least this means she's safe, and the Mariage can be dealt with... because when Alicia /feels/ safe, the dragon starts to shrink and ebb in power, turning into a smaller stuffed animal.

Flint heaves the soda machine toward Kimiko, and it is swiftly turned into a cage for the Mariage. This is exactly what is needed, because it's only a few moments before Tre is there, zipping over to help with a slice that cuts the end off the blade forming. The tip of the blade melts, but then Cinque is there and wrapping it in a cage of energy atop the one of steel. "That should do it." It's some sort of stasis field, and it's cutting off communications at the same time.

Now the Controller is being dealt with, and Satsuki comes in fast. Being peppered by shots and flanked by the Familiars, there's not much she can do... and thus Satsuki finds her blade bites deep, slashing through one arm to dismember it, and brutally slicing into dead flesh. The zombie-being hisses, but it can't do much about this, and starts to retreat. Not die, but retreat, looking for a way out of the Barrier.

This might be due to the OTHER Controller eating a blast that tears into it, forcing it back. It actually survived Jono's blast, but it's also horribly injured, and thus it's looking to back out. The few remaining Drones are in disarray, and Tori's water spell slams two down at once because of it. They should be simple to mop up if the Controllers don't rally.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko backs off once she's finished her work, in which she is quite thorough, connecting neck to wrists to ankles. It actually looks rather inhumane, but she's not of the opinion that killer clone-zombies deserve comfort. Then the newcomer's laid some field over it, and she stays looking only long enough to be sure of what effect that has. Her head snaps up, first to Cinque, and then to Flint.

    She nods, slightly, then takes off again, heading for the rooftops. From there, she's unable to see the dragon--nor hear any sound of it still fighting. Cautiously, she'll take that as a good sign. It takes her a little longer to spot the Fates and familiars.

Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
"You look like you have that well in hand," Flint says, getting up and adjusting the coat he was wearing around his bulky armor. The rifle is slung across his back and over his shoulder using the combat strap while he gently dusts off his coat.

"I will leave you lot to it, then," And with that, he speaks into the cuff of his jacket, "Mister Blade, bring it around."

There's a dull rumbling and a woosh of air as the ship hangs overhead and lowers a rope with a foothold on it. Flint smiles and then hooks his foot into the bottom, grabbing the strap as the ship starts to pick up and carry him over the city around the same time Kimiko takes off to the rooftops again.

Part of him wants to leave, but he circles over the city for a couple last passes to make sure he's not leaving people totally high and dry, much as he'd like to get out with his stolen goods.

Satsuki Kiryuin (430) has posed:
    "Trying to flee? I won't allow it!" It's immediately obvious that her opponent is attempting to flee, and Satsuki's response is to press the advantage. If she can deny the enemy even one of their precious control units, if she can cut down their manpower even by a little, even if only briefly, then doing so is worthwhile. The young swordswoman darts forward, stepping into an aggressive charge in a bid to keep herself in range and just keep on attacking, each slash flowing into the next. Her ultimate aim is to pierce the chest or slice clean through the neck; whatever will permanently end the Controller.

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
Oh it SURVIVED? Not for long if Jono has anything to say about it. He can see them trying to back off and he doesn't want to risk this one recovering and taking information about his abilities back to wherever they come from. They might come back immune to it. Which would suck. "Oh no yer don't," he growls. Seeing an opportunity he presses the attack and there's more blasting. Mainly at the Controller that had shot him but also at the rest of the Mariage if he can find a shot.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     The dragn punch actually *works*. This is staggering to Landon, or it would be, if he wasn't trying desperately to recall the formula on his phone. It takes him less than a second to call it up. His eyes flash over the phone, reading at a rate that frankly wouldn't even be possible were he not about to break both his legs on impact with the ground. He's brave, but he's also kind of...well, /overachiever/ is the polite way to describe it.

     Landon focuses. At its base, it's basically like Galiandan magic. That's part of what drew him to the TSAB's ideas in the first place - Galiandan magic is based entirely on patterns. So, while he may not understand the math like a Calculator would, if he can just visualize...just *visualize* what the math works out to be, and pour his MP into it...!

     A very TSAB-style flight circle appears under Landon's feet. It's silvery, insubstantial, and hilariously unstable. It's not even an amateur effort; it's desperation given form. He surely won't be flying with it.

     But it does slow his descent from 'leg-shattering' to 'leg-twisting'. Landon throws himself into a roll as the insubstantial circle kills his vertical moment. He tucks, slamming into the side of a builing - thankfully on his back, rather than his legs or his ribs. The Prince bites down a low groan as he looks over at the plush dagon.

     He has exactly zero time to be delighted at the compatibility of magics, at the incredibly mildly successful parachute that totally didn't work the way he needed it to, and at the fact that he isn't crippled or dead. The Dragon is still up. People still need help.

     Favoring his side, Landon stands again. The Judge's Blade appears, then shatters as he dismisses it. He moves forward at a slight limp, eyes still on the dragon. Two Law Cards spring to life in front of him. The insubstantial cards whirl in front of him as he moves towards the dragon.

     He's about to start his invocation when he falters. They weren't sure. They weren't sure if it would hurt the girl. They weren't sure if...

     Landon bites back a most improper swear and swings his hand to the side, dismissing the cards with no more effort than it takes to cast them aside. Instead, the Judge Blade spawns in front of him once more. The huge greatsword hangs in the air like a sword of judgement ought; at a glance, it soars upwards into the sky, shooting to the top of the barrier as Landon limps forward. He looks at the dragon.

     "Here, beast! Your quarrel is with me! Come and face me, if you dare - as a monster ought fight a Knight!"

     In one hand, he calls forth Fire. In the other, he calls Lightning. They're little, tiny, Fire-1 and Lightning-1 bursts, the sort common all over the Multiverse. But they're all he's got right now. They're all he has left.

     He hurls Fire. He hurls Lightning. He limps forward, eyes fixed on the dragon, knowing that one wrong move will injure him seriously. But...if he positions himself right, he'll be able to snag the doll immediately.

     If he positions himself wrong, he'll be in the hospital and never allowed out on his own again.

     But a little girl's life hangs in the balance. The other option...the other option is inexcusable to him.

     From on high, the Judge Blade falls. It falls like a meteor, like a guided missile. But it will not cut the dragon. Oh no.

     It will smack the dragon on the back of the head with the force of a falling boulder.

Takamachi Nanoha (381) has posed:
Nanoha is a kind, sweet girl who gives everyone a second chance. That's just her nature!

But Nanoha, at least this one, has also seen terrible things. She's seen the brutality of the Mariage, and she's also seen what her allies can do, and why.

Satsuki's charge to cut down the creature from behind is not a surprise for her. Far from it, she lowers Raising Heart into firing position and, without a second thought, says calmly, "Shoot."

<DIVINE BUSTER> Raising Heart chimes. A pillar of pink light blasts out toward the Controller, aiming to slam it down and just give Satsuki more time to cute it down.

Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
    With Alicia handed off to her, Fate stares at Fate. The elder will know that look. It's that same cold glower that betrays the true feelings of those scarlet eyes. Fear, worry. A hint of suspicion. But most importantly, a glance down at the small girl clinging to her now shatters the blonde's cold wall.

    "... Thank you."

    There's no shooting this time. But talking isn't going to happen right this second. Fate is already taking to a knee, one hand resting on the center of Alicia's chest as she gives her sibling a gentle nudge. "Alicia." Her voice is infinitely more gentle than the quiet, but hard razor edge it was mere moments ago. The dragon is already shrinking, but she's softly whispering, "Alicia. You need to stop. Please, stop."

    The sigil at Landon's feet as he buffets his fall however does not go unnoticed by a certain Device. Bardiche pings lowly in observation, recognizing the specific formula and spellwork behind Zephyr Windstar's Marchian calculations. It wasn't perfect work on the prince's end but it's fairly astounding for a first attempt, which the Device a<span style="color:knowledges:

    c#ffec8b">[IMPRESSIVE.]</span>

Maya has posed:
Things just keep on going and Tori is having one of those days now the Controller is being handled by someone else Tori is just trying to surive and live up to what he said he'd do. Maybe Maya would get off his back. (She won't but he can dream right?)

He moves to pick off more with the followed up water spell hopefully he can help thin the small fry out right?

Fate T. Harlaown (306) has posed:
With Alicia out of her hands, the elder Fate floats higher until she's got a better view of the battlefield. She also has a marvelous view of Landon's attempt at what is very obviously a Midchildan flight spell. "....Mmm" A soft chime follows from her Device, just about at the same time as his counterpart, ~Impressive.~ There's a short pause, then another wordless chime, as if Bardiche is looking at Bardiche with his figurative eyes narrowed. Fate, for her part, doesn't hide a smile. "Bardiche. Load cartridge."

~...Yes, Sir.~ The cowling slides back from beneath her Device's blade, the revolver drum spins, and a single cartridge is locked in. ~Plasma Lancer, Get Set.~ "Phalanx Shift."

A number of magic circles appears around Fate, and several others pop up all over the city. "Fire!" One sphere goes into each circle, teleporting it to the air right behind a Mariage drone's head. The blasts aren't enough to blow the heads off, not that Fate would do so in the first place, but her intent is to knock out as many of the loose drones as she can in one go.

Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
It's gotten quieter, and not in that 'it's about to explode again' manner. The Mariage, without Controllers, go down easily. Jonothon blasts his opponent hard enough to cause her to topple, finally starting to dissolve. They weren't prepared for that kind of power, it's true.

Satsuki and Nanoha hammering the Controller that is fleeing get... well, an expected result. The disarmed(hah!) Controller goes down silently, crumpling to the ground as the blade cleaves into the chest and out the other side. It combusts shortly thereafter, melting into a flaming puddle.

Finally, Landon's blow with the greatsword is much more effective now. With Alicia stirring, the dragon becomes softer, mashing into the ground with a twisting, then twitching protest that ends as it becomes a tattered stuffed doll again.

Alicia clings to Fate, but any response is lost by the girl's paled cheeks, and the way she slumps into unconsciousness. That must have taken a lot out of her... whatever it was.

Cinque and Tre glance after Kimiko, but say nothing. Live and let live seems to be their idea here. Hoisting the captured Mariage, Cinque states calmly, "We'll take this to the Doctor immediately."

Big Fate blasts the Drones, but knocking them out just engages the self-destruct. They start to melt rapidly. Fortunately, between her and Tori and Runner, this means most of the Drones are mopped up right away. It was a large outbreak, over a dozen in total, but it looks like things are under control now.

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     Landon looks down at the little dragon. He picks up the item in his hands and limps his way over to the little girl, cradling his broken rib and favoring his good leg. The Judge Blade disperses as he holds the little dragon close.

     He still has his smile on. It's gentle and kind, as he looks at the little girl.

     "I believe," Landon observes, his words enunciated like a proper nobleman, "That this is a very precious thing to her." He tucks the little dragon into the girl's hands and smiles.

     "Is everyone quite alright?"

Satsuki Kiryuin (430) has posed:
    And as the Controller collapses, Satsuki pulls her weapon back smoothly, and then whips it through a fast flourish - not so much for the showmanship, although there is that, but more for a chance to get rid of any blood or other material still clinging to the blade. And only once she's sure of that does she return Bakuzan to its sheath, and turn to favor Nanoha with a nod. "Takamachi. Your assistance was very well-timed. Thank you."

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
Now that it looks like things are under control Jono relaxes. He'd sigh in relief but he doesn't have lungs. And once he can, he heads over to where he things the blonde girl is. He's not sure who has her now since he had to take his eyes off her to deal with the Mariage. "Is she all right?" he inquires. Mind he's keeping his distance because he doesn't want to scare her. He's still on fire.

Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
    With Alicia passing out in her arms, Fate sags. Slumping to rest seated on her knees, she tugs her sister tightly against her chest with a heavy sigh. Still ignoring her injured shoulder, she rests like that for a good, long, moment.

    Before Landon approaches. The two girls look practically identical, now that there's a lull in the action enough to tell it. Though Fate looks older by a handful years. She flinches slightly, tensing, her protectiveness for her flesh and blood quite evident, but. The prince presents the dragon, in near the same condition it was before this entire debacle. Fate will have to hand this to her when she wakes up, but accepts it for now.

    "She'll be fine. I think." That's to Jono, but there is another response that must be given as well. It's to Landon. And it is a very quiet: "Thank you."

Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
Flint Hawke is on the outs for today. He does take a moment to hover in the air and wave to the gathered group around Alicia. He remembers her, distantly, from the incident where he first met Fate and Nanoha.

He raises a gloved hand up and waves, shouting over the jet engines, "I'm shovin' off now! You lot can consider this one a freebie because I like those two lasses so much." He waves to the littler Fate and this probably indicates the other girl is Nanoha. To Fate, he shouts, "If you need me again, lass, you know my radio to reach me."

And then the line he's dangling on is being reeled upwards into his ship. Outwardly, he looks charitous, but he's mostly just not charging the Union because he already has valuable loot. He also sorta likes Nanoha and Fate, but that's TOTALLY less important than the money.

Fate T. Harlaown (306) has posed:
Once the remainder of the Mariage drones are taken care of, the elder Fate glances toward where Cinque and Tre were. Only a glance, though. Once she's certain there aren't shenanigans happening, she floats back down to the building with her younger counterpart and sister. "How is she doing?"

Crimson eyes shift to glance at the others. "And thank you both for helping." She lifts a hand, calling to Flint, "And you as well, captain!"

Jonothon Starsmore (27) has posed:
Jono nods as TinyFate assures him that Alicia is all right. "Good." And then the OTHER Fate-- OK, Jono's confused now-- thanks the lot of them for their help. He waves a hand. "I was in the area. Jus' glad everythin's back ter normal."

Landon al Cid (642) has posed:
     The Prince's smile widens at LittleFate. "Of course. I'm simply glad that no harm came to anyone." He can't be much older than seventeen, but clad in that platemail, he probably looks like he's at least in his twenties. He brushes some white hair out of his face as he looks around at the others reporting in.

     Landon attempts to bow to Big!Fate and Jono. Unfortunately, his ribs are cracked, so he gets about an incline before he winces visibly. "I was happy to do so. I had to repay my debt to Lady...erm, pardon, Miss Windstar. Besides, any man who would allow a child to come to harm..."

     Landon shakes his head, making it perfectly clear what he thinks of THAT sort of thing. "I'm just pleased everyone is alright."

Maya has posed:
Tori and Runner seem to be calming down as things seem to be coming to an end, Runner whines a bit and Tori looks at the mecha dog.

"You make sure Maya sees the footage that I actually /did/ this, you darn well better not eat the files."

Tori makes a face but is now looking to people here he looks over to the others.

"Eh I was helping repay something I owed someone I'm no hero the dog's more of one than I am."

Did Runner's chest just swell up at that with pride? Or was he just venting some heat?