3988/Operation HEPHAESTUS

Operation HEPHAESTUS
Date of Scene:	06 April 2016
Location:	Naturia
Synopsis:	A force of Elites set out to bring justice to villagers of ReGenesis' world turned Multiversal bandits
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 162, Eryl Fairfax, 571, 673, Sanary Rondel

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Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    A command centre has been set up in the woods, with Eden Defence Force soldiers greeting each and every Elite that arrives at the given co-ordinates. They are quickly ushered to the central command tent, but along the way, they can see quite plainly how serious ReGenesis is about this mission. Trees have been cleared to make room for VTOL aircraft, jeeps roll up with crates of weapons and ammo in the back and soldiers are gearing up, putting body armour over their green jumpsuits in preparation to secure the area once things are done.

    Within the tent, they are immediately greeted by a long-unseen face. Major General Alexi Fohm salutes the Elites. Again, a man who looks to be in his 40s, with graying hair done in a crew cut and goatee. "Thank you all for coming. I was just going over the information we have." In the centre of the tent is a holographic table, the gridded display currently projecting the target area in blue hues. What looks to be a village, built upon a hill in the middle of wide plains. At the edges is woodlands to the south, more hills to the east, and a river that winds in from the north to curve around to the west.

    "The bandits are currently making this village their base." Alexi waves his hand over the projection, making it zoom in on the village. "From what we can tell, there are 15 of them. We estimated 17 based on reports of their earliest attacks, so it's possible two were killed along the way. Anyway, your biggest concern on approach are the ones in the guard towers." Four towers on each corner of the village are highlighted. "The plains used to be farmland, until they made the villages bring it all inside and burn what was left. Now, they have an unobstructed view of the surrounding area. And let me tell you, I have men in medical who can attest to their accuracy. They were only peeking out from the treeline here..."

    He gestures at the forest to the south, which falls within the radius of red circles that project from each tower. Indeed, between the four circles, all of the plains are covered. "So, your first major concern is the towers. Render them a non-issue, because even if you manage to sneak or rush in, they'll still be able to pick you off from them while you're within the village. If you like, we can give you a ride if you want an aerial insertion."

    He slams his palm against the tabletop, dismissing the projection, then bringing up three projections of people. "These are people of special note," he explains, stroking his salt-and-pepper goatee. He gestures at the first, a slim, frail-looking man with lanky hair and a gleam in his eyes that shines even through the virtual representation. "Deslan Martin, the man who spearheaded this whole thing. From what we hear, he's got something of a magnetic personality. Kind of a cultish figure. Expect a big bonus if you bring him in for prosecution."

    He next gestures at the second figure, a hulking brute of a man clad in a strange set of body armour. The belt looks like it's for batteries only, all of which plug into the armour. "Oliver Brown. Kind of a dumb lunk. But the only dumb lunk who could fit into a suit of experimental armour they had in that bunker. Looks like a prototype that lead to some of the shields we used. Basically, it generates magnetic fields, so be careful engaging him with any kind of ferrous materials, they'll just deflect."

    The third figure, a slender, androgynous figure, covered head-to-toe in some kind of silvery material. "Don't know who this one is, but they're kitted out in a prototype light-refracting suit. Basically, invisibility suit. Keep an eye out for a shimmer in the air."

    "That's about it. So, how do you want to approach this?"

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Maaka's been desperate for some distraction from the funk she's had lately, so this ought to be what gets her back into the swing of things and get her mind off of problems. At least this is something she can shoot in the face until it stops being a problem.

    The statuesque cyborg has her helmet on the table right now, her EM-GASH slung across her back with the usual mods affixed to it, including Zwei's own magnetic accelerators that push performance to the limit. It ought to be very interesting to see what it does on its home world with these sorts of upgrades.

    "Air sounds good to me, we can slip in before they realize we're here, bag 'em, then bug out if we do this right. Nobody has to realize what happened until after we're gone." She's open to suggestions, however, which is why she's giving her suggestions.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"A magnetic repulsion field?! ... Right, laser weapons would be better for disabling that armor... assuming the Freezer Foam can't bind it up." Rory remarks, pondering over her strategies for the day. She's examining the profiles being given closely...

    And not far from here, several drones flitter through the forest to create maps and keep an eye out for trouble.

    Tiny drones. Floating saucers the size of frisbees. Pretty inconspicuous, really.

    "Lasers could also disable their sniper weaponry if they're positioned when we look... so the mission is incapacitate if at all possible the invading thugs, avoid collateral, do our best to capture these few in particular. I'm equipped for it!"

    Rory's currently in her Flexbot, but it's configured in a humanoid form. Very human-like, but weirdly segmented like jigsaw pieces and shiny, with flowing white robes and blue hair composed of microbots. LIght blue hair. Circuit-like blue patterns pulse through the robes, but these shut off as soon mission time begins... but efore that, her ALMOST looked like it was glowing. Weird.

    Her internal Matter Manipulator flares to life and she materializes a hefty two-handed... chemical sprayer, it looks. It's got a hefty tank.

    She demonstrates against a nearby tree, pressing the trigger for just a second. A thin PUFF flows out and instantly expands, hardening into a large glob that encases the tree. Big enough to bind a full-grown man.

    "It's air-permeable, so it can't suffocate anyone."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary has never been a fan of bandits, and especially not villagers turning on their own to join with said bandits. At least to her, this is an ideal opportunity to send a message whoever's behind the whole thing. As such, she's actually showed up at the base today!

     "Think they'll be open to having someone joining up with them?" Sanary has a rather dark look in her eye as she speaks, the entire situation reeking of... Well, everything to the one-eyed healer. "Maybe get an eye on the inside, even if it's.. er. Near the outside. I won't need any weapons if I can get in there, at least."

     She taps on the side of her head, giving Alexis a knowing grin in particular. She does step back a bit when Rory demonstrates with that chemical spray, a light half-whistle escaping her a moment later. "Huh... Yeah, I could try and do something like that, too. I mean, if we don't want 'em dead."

     She was planning on setting them on fire at first, wasn't she?

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has noticed Maaka has been very forlorn and far more distracted than she should be. Kotone';s been vetting concerned but isn't sure how best to approach it at least not yet she does show up however s they got a job right? She was happy to help out the Eden Defence force once more and here she was. Kotone was clad in the stelath suit she's become known for almost always wearing on jobs as she shows u and listen to Alexis.

<<I'm gettting worried about you Alexis you sure you up for this job?>>

She nods to General.

"So we got a guy who can get people to turn on thier own families. Mecha pilot of some sort and the last one which is totally unknown so stealth unit to fuight? That's going to be interesting."

<<HEy Rory you set we'll need your tac net for this.>>

Kotone is also deploying her own scout drones and networking them up, she does however pause at Sanary for a moment, trying to get a feel for her.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr was quiet for the most part. "I have an idea... I can fire a bombardment spell from long range... longer than their weapon's effective range anyway... I could, maybe, take out the four towers in one strike, and open up the ground route for the others before providing air cover."

    She gestures to her Device. "Divine Wind and I make a pretty good team, and we're always willing to 'punch a hole' for others to get in to do their thing."

    Divine Wind chimes softly. <ALL SYSTEMS GREEN. READY, SET.>

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Alexi looks to Maaka and gives a wry smile. "Unfortunately, we don't have the resources to insert you via HALO jump or any such thing. It would be more akin to a helicopter drop-off, which means you would be open to the likes of this." He swirls his finger over the projection, bringing back the view of the village and seemingly reversing the recording. It soon reaches the point where a battalion of knights are approaching, using tower shields to mimic a Romanesque 'testudo' formation. Certainly, it might have helped against firearms.

    But it does nothing against the rocket that flies from one of the towers.

    "They have multi-purpose RPGs up there, so an aerial insertion risks running afoul of them." When Zephyr speaks up, the Major General nods to her. "If you can manage that, it gives us a window of safe entry, until they put forces outside the walls at least. To Rory, he says, "Very good. Try and get Deslan in some of that. He's the one we want the most. To Sanary, he only shakes his head. "Every time someone has asked to join them, they got gunned down for their trouble. Even when they had lost a man or two. I think they're in this for themselves and only themselves."

    Looking among the Elites, he says, "So, from what I'm hearing, the plan is this. She," He gestures at Zephyr. "Will pick off the towers from beyond their range." Streaks of green appear on the projection, hitting the towers and erasing them. "Then, an air insertion." A representation of one of those VTOL appears, flying over the village. "If this is the case, be careful. They'll have time to muster defences, and they have villagers held hostage."

    "Anything further to add?"

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "Sounds like a standard Rogue Mage round up." remarks Zephyr. "If noone's got any other ideas, I'll go start getting set-up... can you send a copy of that map to my Device?" she asks, setting the end-cap spike of her axe on the ground, holding it upright. Once she's got the data, and the exact coordinates... and if noone else goes to stop her of offer another plan, the Mage turns and exits the tent, then kicks up into the air on a quartet of purple 'pixie wings', trailing a purple ribbon in her wake.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"So a disguise ain't gonna help unless I'm open to getting hosed with bullets... Or being a decoy." Sanary's still considering that route, at least, as Alexi speaks. Zephyr's suggestion gets a light chuckle as she pulls a folded up sack out of her coat pocket, already taking her gray coat off and setting it aside. "Should be easier to blow up the towers if I draw their fire and keep 'em from knowing anyone else is around, right? And if they do know you're there..."

     She pulls out an old-tunic, some sandals, and a small bandana. "Well, having them focusing on us means it might be easier for the air team to get in, right? Just gotta remember not to kill too many of 'em. "

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
<I'm fine.> The tone of the message is one that says "I'm not, but I don't have time to discuss this." Maaka frowns as her HALO suggestion is shot down, but she can improvise. "Alright, fine. I can do loud." She reaches behind and pats her rifle, having pre-modded it for sniper configuration anyways.

Rory White (673) has posed:
<It's booting up! I was running some last-minute tweaks to it for the profile matching.> Rory pings back over the mesh to Kotone.

    While talk's being made of an Air insertion, Rory's body does... some weird things. The heavy sprayer's banished into the Matter manipulator's compressed storage again. Her center of mass seems to be... changing, her clothes lose cohesion. It's a slow shift of microbots shifting around, folding inwards, compressing and linking together in different configurations...

    The process does take some time, but by the time everyone's ready... she's reconfigured herself into a person-sized helicopter?! With the sprayer integrating at the last moment to the undercarriage.

    "Alright, we need to do this hard and fast, before they can get organized!"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa listens as they get some more information and notes about how they are going to get in.

"How good at info war are these things? Do they have some sort of wireless network I could get into?"

That seems to be the only thing Kotone want to add here.

<<Alexis...if you say so>>

Kotone doesn't seem to be falling for it at all but she doesn't press it.

<<Understood Rory lets get to it.>>

Kotone is running her full synth body today from the looks of it and seems ready to roll.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    A long stare at Sanary courtesy of the Major General. "You really want to play decoy then? Hmm..." He examines the projection, and erases the changes he made. "Okay, let's use that. Again, towers shot down, but you," A look to Zephyr, "Stay out of sight. After they're down, you, "A look to Sanary. "Come out of the woods right after, make yourself obvious." A little blank figure, meant to represent her, comes from the woods.

    "With the walls obstructing their view now, they'll have to come out to see what's happening. They'll see you and come after you." A bunch of figures come from the virtual village and start attacking the Sanary-figure. "At this point, you," A look to Zephyr again, "Start bombarding the entrance to the village. In doing this, you cut off those who come out from the ones inside. And now the aerial insertion happens. You two," A look to Rory and Alexis, "Along with some EDF forces deal with those who remained inside. Divide and conquer."

    Unless anyone has anything more to suggest, the plan is afoot! The map is sent to Divine Wind, Alexis, Kotone and Rory are lead to a VTOL in preparation for the insertion, Sanary is guided to the forest's edge and told to wait a few seconds after the towers go down to step out.

    It's all waiting on Zephyr's blasts.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr transmits over local comms. <<Beginning bombardment in thirty seconds. And to note, my Magic is non-lethal, so any that go down, make sure you disarm and restrain, they'll eventually wake up and if you take too long, well, you might get shot in the back.>>

    The mage hovers in the air, out of sight of the village-base. <AREA SEARCH!> chimes Divine Wind, splitting off a pair of small glowing orbs that flit off to act as spotters. <TARGET LOCATION VERIFIED. COORDINATES ARE SPECIFIC.> "Good, Drive Ignition into Gear Second. Shift to Bombardment Mode."

    <DRIVE IGNITION. MISTRAL FORM SET. GEAR SECOND. MISTRAL STORM BOMBARDMENT MODE.>

    The axe transforms, then with a building shine of light, anchor lines and a pair of great green 'wings' form. The three 'Bits' orbit the head of the smaller axe as it splits its blade out into vanes that spin around the central gemstone. <READY TO FIRE.> "Targets locked on, Tempest Breaker, Hurricane Shift!"

    A resonant chime emits, and then, a beam lances out, before splitting out into four separate beams of purple energy. They arc up, then come crashing down on top of the towers, blasting them to splinters and likely KOing anyone inside.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Maaka has no further issues with the strategy, but she does stare at the transformation Rory has. That definitely...happened. "I'm never gonna get used to that." She mutters under her breath, before hopping onto the VTOL.

    Once everybody is on-site, she's already taken aim and starts to scan for targets, it'll just be a matter of time before Zephyr's attacks give her plenty of bad guys to shoot at from up high, remaining aboard the VTOL to provide overwatch.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary cringes slightly as Rory starts shifting, although her transformation is also oddly compelling to watch. "Nn... Eh? Oh, yeah, that works. Guess I don't need the disguise, then." Slipping her coat back on, the cleric eyes that projection curiously, an impressed hum escaping her after a moment.

     "Yeah, that'll work... Heh. I'm gonna need some water before we start." As she says that, she's already hard at work with her arm inside the sack. It's filling up slowly with magical bricks, although she makes sure not to fill it up too much. She needs to be able to get through the forest with it intact first, after all!

     By the time she's at the forest's edge, the sack looks ready to burst and rather heavy, although it's not weighing her down too much what with the magic cheating and all. And once those towers go down...

     "Huh. So that's all your contractors managed? 'ey, you should really get a refund on that shit!" She bellows out with the most obnoxious laugh she can muster, the massive sack hoisted over her shoulder as she approaches the entrance. "I know some good people that do it for cheap and twice as good! You got any business cards in there I can bring back?" From that distance, the smug tone she's using is easily hiding the fact that holy shit Zephyr just blew up all those towers at once and it's probably a good thing Sanary's not on her bad side.

     "I know some people with good deals on those, too! You want me to get you a double package on that or what?" That sack, meanwhile, starts shifting around as the bricks inside seem to be getting prepared for something...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa thinks over prehaps her question was rather stupid given the enviorment they were dropping into. She should think abotu such things harder either way it was time to go and load up. The cyborg got aboard the Vtol and they take off she's laoded and ready to go as best she's able to do right now.

<<Ready here>>

"I don't think I'll get used to that or myself when I go full on digital..."

Rory White (673) has posed:
When deploys from the VTOL... it's as a weird hybrid of bug and helicopter. Her general bodyshape does sort of resemble a cockroach, complete with six segmented legs. The foam sprayer has been integrated into the body core though for better balance. Adjustable rotors sprout from the machine's back in large stalks.

    Rory uses the time while Zephyr's rampaging to scan the village though, using one of her Saucers floating high in the sky to try and scan the buildings and figure out who is where! Lidar is handy.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The blasts hit the towers, instantly collapsing the roost, the struts snapping and falling! The village now has no eyes on the outside. As a result, the gates are opened, and a group of six emerge. They're clad in full body armour with face-concealing helmets, and they peg Sanary immediately. Right away, they're rushing down the hill and across the scorched farmlands to confront her, weapons raised.

    Only 9 left in the village now.

    The VTOL takes off, the engines screaming as it lifts from the loamy woodland ground, ascending. It's quite fast, so the flight is short, soon reaching a hovering position over the village square, where the local well is. Ropes are dropped for Elites and EDF forces on board to slide down!

    The bandits that exited are now far enough away that Zephyr can begin her bombardment, either on them or just cutting them off from the village.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    <MASTER! TARGETS LOCATED.> chimes Divine Wind. "Release Bombardment Mode, shift to Blitz Mode. Initiate multi-target tracking, confirm Friendlies before locking on."

    The anchor-lines detach, fading into motes of light then dissolving. The green 'wings' turn into a quartet of blazing white 'jets' emitting from her shoulderblades, and the Bits around her Device shift to orbit her like a certain Shinki's Options. The vanes reform into the blade of the axe, and with a sound like an implosion played in reverse, the Mage blasts forward.

    Not content to sit back and 'snipe' from afar, she's doing a high speed pass over the village, locking onto obviously armed individuals, before streaking off and wheeling about for a second pass.

    This second pass is punctuated by rapid firing pulses of purple energy, high speed 'bullets' of magic lashing out at the marauders inside the village, if they're foolish enough to be out in the streets. The group that exited the gate don't get off easily, as Zephyr takes aim with her Device, firing a stream of compressed 'Wind Bullets' at them like she were holding a machine gun.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
<<"I got five... No, six out here. I'll follow your lead, Zephyr.">> And there they are. Grinning broadly now, Sanary raises her free hand in a casual wave towards the six armored guards. "Ah, there you are! I was just looking for you! So, you wanna work out a deal, or do I need to show off a little more?"

     Of course, she still needs to play the part of the loudmouthed mage, so she swings that sack around and lets those bricks spill right out... Before they start levitating in front of her and forming into two separate walls at her sides. They're not huge walls by any means, but they are at least something to keep the eyes focused in her general direction1

     "I mean, if you want me to... Well, keep your eyes on the birdie!" And as Zephyr starts firing once again with more focused shots, the healer on the ground too is gesturing wildly with her arms. It's not all for show, of course, since those bricks start swirling around her rapidly, making it harder for any guards that might still be standing to approach!

     A few of those bricks might also be hitting her in the legs, but she'll nurse thos bruises later.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is cloaked before the VTOL sets down, she knows she's not entirely hidden but she's a hell of a lot harder to see and she's going to be going in. She hears the warning about enemy hostiles d the decoys are already deployed. She's ghoing to now get off the transport the moment she's bale and get moving, she knows the targets and knows they should be nicely distracted by now.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Rory's deployment is pretty without fanfare. Just sliding out the ramp and kicking up the propellers to soften her landing! Once she does land though... ZOOOOOM! Off she goes for the nearest building that has ANY hostile activity detected. Because, to a degree, her sensors can see RIGHT THROUGH WALLS, dudes with guns waiting near windows are just WAY too obvious!

    So she goes on patrol. It's time to SURPRISE them. With her foam.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Out on the scorched farmlands, the six bandits just stare at Sanary. The expressions on their faces are unreadable thanks to the helmets, but they eventually just raise their EM firearms to gun her down.

    It is at that moment that Zephyr does her pass, drawing their attention. "It's a trick!" one of them roars, the whole group raising their weapons in the air. The TSAB agent picks up no-one in the streets of the village. It almost seems abandoned, in fact. But, as she begins her second pass, the six outside return fire, even as they are struck down by her Wind Bullets. They lead their shots quite well, the rounds travelling at speeds comparable to Zephyr's own!

    Meanwhile, in the village, just as everyone touches down, something tackles Alexis to the ground to knock her out. A faint shimmer can be seen in the air over her, one that suddenly moves! As for Rory, her sensors pick up a dense magnetic field in one of the houses.

    One that suddenly barges through the wall, the source of which being one Oliver Brown! He charges at the party, even as the predictable six bandits in the windows that face the square pop up. But their tactics are... unusual.

    They all fire at Oliver.

    As a result of this, his armour begins to deflect the shots, the rounds bouncing about at hard-to-predict angles! And because the square only has the well for cover? Well, needless to say, those EDF soldiers go down pretty fast.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr's defenses aren't as robust as many others in the TSAB. She manages to deflect a couple of those shots, but more just punch straight through her hastily erected shields, and straight through /HER/ too, sending her spiralling into the forest, where she crash lands.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa had taken a good load of freezer foam grenades and was ready given their employers wanted the targets alive if possible. She was happy to do so, she had little stomach for killing to be honest and likely always would. The skill and power of the TASB agent is more than noticed Zephyr really was something. For now however it's time to go out and find that Alexis is down and something is stealthed much like her. She's now attempting tp oick up on this and go after them, She stalks slowly tracking the camera feeds from her allies and thei drones hoping to find where this stealthed target is, she knoiws it's a game of cat and mouse and worse they got wounded piling up too or wrse fatalities...

Sanary Rondel has posed:
It's a good thing Sanary's got some semblance of control over those bricks! When those guard raise those weapons at her, the healer quickly slams those bricks together in front of her as makeshift shield. Once she hears them realizing her ploy, however, she moves on to the offense! The wall of bricks gets launched right at those guards, apparently aimed to just batter the everloving crap out of them with the steel-like (but oddly plasticky) chunks.

     <<"Aw, crap. Uh. We're gonna need an evac for flying... What's her name! The lady that blew things up.">> Sanary will learn Zephyr's name one day. <<"I'm heading in once I get these guys subdued.">> She makes sure to have those bricks flying about rapidly until she's sure those bandits are down before moving in to activate the Break matrix in her eye, firing small pulses of petrifying magic to make sure they're not going to shoot her in the back any time soon!

     And once that's all done... It's time to head for the square with that wall of bricks! Also, two of the EM guns because... Why not? It couldn't possibly go wrong.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    As Zephyr comes crashing down, EDF solider stack her down quickly to provide first aid and carry her back to camp! Meanwhile, Sanary batters the men that shot her down with a wall of bricks! They collapse, and are soon turned to stone! Thankfully, they dropped their guns as they were struck, so Sanary doesn't have to break off any fingers to scavenge them.

    She arrives in the square, just in time to see the aftermath. All the EDF soldiers are down in the ridiculous crossfire, and Rory's form may be too damaged to continue. Oliver stands in the centre, regarding her. 6 more bandits are hanging around the windows, weapons primed and ready!

    Meanwhile, Kotone slips out of the square to give chase to the stealthy individual, leaving everyone behind to be shot at. She finds herself in an alleyway, the cobblestones underfoot being slick with mud and water. And yet, the report said nothing of recent rain...

    Even in her invisible state, it would be hard to go undetected here. And to make matters worse, shots are fired from someone up ahead, which pierce flour bags that were taped to the roof supports of the surrounding buildings. Now, flour is coming down to possibly make her more visible!

Sanary Rondel has posed:
A giant in crazy armor, a bunch of bandits with guns, and several unconscious allies. What's a Confederate healer to do in that sort of situation?

     Shore up her defenses, first things first. Those bricks draw closer to Sanary and form two small walls at her sides again, showing some signs of wear and tear from flying around so much earlier. As she gets those ready, her gaze flits from those bandits at the windows to the largest one. She squints Oliver for several moments, deep in thought while weighing her options. Finally, she steps forward, and...

     "... Ollie? That you?" It's a long shot, but it's the best chance she's got for doing this without trying to shoot everyone up right away! Plus, it might help buy some time for reinforcements to show up, or at least to figure out a better plan of attack. "You've grown so big! C'mere, I wanna see your face, dear!"

     At least she's already prepared to get shot for this.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa she knows the might be the only one who can deal with the Stealther, she'll have to trust in the others in the Square. She noticds the water from the recent rain she'll hve to aviid it where she can but it also works against the one's she's hounded. She now see the flower coming and well stealthy be going out of the way. They seeme to have intel on what they can do, that's bad there's a leak.

She's caught with some of the flower but that will draw her enemy out, she's got other options she looks at all the water here and the shock units built into her hands, she gets an idea but she'll have to lure them out. So that's what she's trying to do for a moment, as she leaves herself somewhat exposed to hopefully lure her foe out.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    An awkward silence fills the square as Sanary attempt to bluff the giant fellow. "... Jenny?!" he exclaims. It sounds like a couple of the other bandits are groaning. "B-But you died!"

    Well. Good job traumatizing the man Sanary.

    "It is not Jenny, my dear Oliver," another voice says. It's... strange. It has that slightly buzzy edge to it that most synthesized voices have, but it's audibly human. All the bandits seem to shudder slightly at the sound of it, and it may even send chills down Sanary's spine.

    The owner? One Deslan Martin, who strides along the main street into the square. He's wearing armour too, but he has a strange device pressed against his throat. It's like those used by people with severe throat damage so that they can still speak. Trailing behind him are the villagers.

    Each one has a pistol pressed against their own temple.

    "You must be one of the dogs ReGenesis has sicced on us," he says to Sanary, his face pleasant but his voice chilling. "Well, I suppose we shouldn't have spent so much time in one place... okay. Here is how things will play out. You will accompany me outside the village. I will depart with my men. You will stay there for three hours with the villagers here. If any of you or your comrades move, or if anyone leaves the forest in that time, these innocent people will blow their brains out."

    Meanwhile, in the alley, Kotone's form is coated in white, making her entirely visible. As she takes cover, a bullet whistles past here. Then another and another, the invisible figure clearly toying with here.

    And then, a splash of their foot in the water.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is being toyed with she knows she's prey after all right? The weak link of the team she keeps her self from panicn but as she hears the foot fall in water she slams her fists into the water that covers most of the street and lets lose with her eel ware sending enough elecrical current to flat out knock a person out and she's willing to bet the armours not made for something like this.

"So who is the prey and who is the hunter."

If she gets a moment where she can see her target she'll make use her full agumented speed to attempt to takle them down should they not be downed by her eelware.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Well, it was worth a shot! How was Sanary supposed to know that would've gone as badly as it did?

     Curse her abysmal luck stat. Before Sanary can capitalize on that attempt at subterfuge, however, that new voice coming out draws an uncomfortable grimace from her. Turning towards Deslan as he arrives, she looks from him to the villagers-turned-hostages before leveling her gaze back at the apparent leader of this whole operation.

     "Deslan. So good to finally see you." She gives him a slight grin despite that sinking, sickened feeling in her gut, and raises her hand in a slow wave while listening to his proposal. Or instructions. Either or. Once he finishes, she cricks her neck slowly while muttering into her radio quietly. <<"You catch all that?">> After that, she looks back over at Deslan before grinning again. "Sounds simple enough. Maybe not three hours, though. I got shows to watch. But... Let's walk and talk, then."

     She'll wait for Deslan to start moving before walking along with him, and it's taking every ounce of her self-control to not fire explosive lasers at him right then and there. Instead, she takes a deep breath before adjusting her eyepatch, putting on a more neutral tone once again. "So... Two questions. First, what's your plan here? Second, Ever think about working with the Confederacy?"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    As the splashing footsteps get closer, Kotone strikes! The electricity crackles along the water, shocking the invisible assailant! It seems to short out whatever was making them invisible as they immediately enter the visible spectrum! They're reeling, but Kotone's greater physical capabilities has them down for good!

    Meanwhile, as Sanary seemingly accepts Deslan's orders, she receives confirmation over the radio that they heard. Oliver and the bandits in the windows follow behind she, Deslan and the villagers.

    "Plan? Nothing so grandiose as to grant it the title of 'plan,'" Deslan says pleasantly, having lowered the device. Without it, his voice is soft and gentle, almost unnervingly so. "We only wish to thrive, to give ourselves a better standard of living than what we had back home. And if we must take it by force, we shall." He turns to regard Sanary, a manic gleam in his eyes as she asks if he will join the Confederacy.

    "Why should I? As I said, we only wish to improve our standard of life, not enter a war. Besides... aligning with a faction only halves our options." He smirks as they exit the village gates, before ordering the villagers to line up against the walls. That device is pressed against his throat, his voice taking on that strange tone once more. "Okay my friends. Keep an eye on the lady here, anyone who comes from the village, and the forests edge. Should this girl or anyone from the village try to leave, immediately kill yourselves. If you see any person or object leave the forest, also kill yourselves. Once... /four/ hours pass, you can lower the guns."

    Finally, he lowers the device and smiles at Sanary. "One more reason to not join your Confederacy? You Multiversals disgust me, and I'll not associate with you if I can help it. Good day to you."

    And with that, he starts to leave.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Can't blame you there... Can't say I approve of the alternative, but still." Sanary sighs lightly and crosses her arms as she walks along with Deslan, examining his face while he's facing her. "Hell, I came from a place like this. Joined up with the Confederacy just last year, and now? Now, I'm set for life. Someone like you really could make it far, or at least get somewhere comfortable real quick."

     A shrug, and she looks over at the villagers. There's another brief grimace when they move to the wall as directed, recalling that mental interference she had experienced several times ago. From two different people, even! Not fun at all. She gives them a sympathetic look as Deslan gives those orders to the villagers with that device, then grunts while furrowing her brow. Did he leave a hole in his orders?

     Sounds like it to her, at least. "A shame, but... Well. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She calls out almost casually, keeping her voice from betraying her intent as magic energy pools in her eye again. "So... What do you have to eat around here?" Sanary says to the villagers next, still keeping her voice neutral until Deslan turns to leave. Once he does, she turns to face him and activates the Break matrix again, trying to turn the man to stone with another magic blast from her eye!

     She hasn't moved anywhere yet, at least.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks to see her target is down, she moves to secure him.

<<Got their stealth operative and he's secured.>>

Kotone also uses some freezer foam to be certain the target isn't moviong. She makes sure he doesn't drone then switches to the feeds on one of her remote camera as she takes in the last of it.

<<Sanary you need a hand>>

There's no way she can cloak again with the remains of the flower on her so she's got a bit of a problem here. She also makes ure to take any remoable weapons from her downed attacker. It be foolish even with him secured like he was to do so.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The man only ignore Sanary as he rounds the village to gain some cover from the forest. When she goes to petrify the villager, it works! And the others... stay there. After all, they were only told to fire if Sanary tried to leave, and she isn't leaving.

    Kotone receives a response over the radio. <<They're leaving around the west side of the village walls! The hostages are being... dealt with. If you can, at least deal with Deslan!>>

Sanary Rondel has posed:
<<"Only if you can stay out of sight, Kotone. Deslan's got the villagers under some kind of mind control or something. If it really works, they're gonna kill themselves if they see you or anyone or anything else coming out of the forest.">> As much as Sanary acts like she doesn't really care too much about the villagers as a Confederate... Well, they're villagers. She's not heartless!

     When it seems to work on the first one, however, she grins and gets to work on petrifying the others. Thankfully, it's only temporary, and she's more than prepared to remove the effects if they don't wear off on their own, but she still mutters quiet apologies to each villager. <<"I'm working on getting 'em secured now, so it should be fine. Use your wn discretion if you want to leave him alive or not, but I'd rather have him alive and... Have some fun first.">>

     She doesn't sound very pleased.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
<<Right I got, I'll do what I can to deal with him. My stealth system's off line though, they were ready for me, we got a leak possibly.>>

She notes before she moves off trying to keep out of sight but it means she might not get Deslan yet she knows she's got to do something she'll dust off as much of the flower as she can but that's not going to be the best soultiuons he's hanging back.

<<They want this bastard for trial, killing him just lets him off easy.>>

She'll do her best ot be stealthy but she knows this is serious shit she's going to be extra cautious and watch for more traps, given the situation that's going on here she does not want to /fuck up/.

She uses her drones to spot for their target and once she got on the othe side of a wall? She'll vault over it and attempt to grab hold of the guy using her eel ware again, he's also got ot deal with all sudden 300 pounds of cyborg girl too coming down on him.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The drones indicate that Deslan is taking his sweet time, obviously thinking there's no way they'll try anything. From the sounds of things, some of the bandits are asking about the others left behind, and the mastermind only says that it makes them 'leaner.'

    And then Kotone comes down on him like the fist of an angry god.

    He only manages a choked yell before falling unconscious, his men startled by the sudden attack! Some open fire on Kotone, but her close proximity to Oliver means the shots are deflected!

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Music to Sanary's ears. Once those villagers are accounted for, Sanary springs into action! Those bricks she had left on the ground start coming in from all directions, the healer slinging them around at the remaining bandits firing at Kotone with expert precision!

     Or as precise as she can get flinging around what's essentially miniature walls of steel-like blocks at people. She's certainly going for quantity in her attacks rather than quality here. Oliver, oddly enough, doesn't get any attacks sent his way.

     Sanary does feel a little bad for him, at least. Not Deslan, though, since he'll end up with several of the bricks aimed at breaking his hands and knees even while unconscious.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is now attempting to avoid getting hit but a round or two does find it's way into her. She doesn't bleed, well whatever it is? It's not blood even if it's a dark red. With Sanary's help she's able to deal with being shot. She's lobbing several flash bangs, and is in no state to stop Sanary, but Sanar's brutality isn't lost on her either. She can understand the rage but still... she's just praying it's over...

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The hurled bricks find heads, elbows, lower backs, knees and all manner of targets to help cripple the remaining bandits. Deslan just twitches on the ground as multiple bones break courtesy of Sanary. Finally, Kotone's flashbang finishes the rest off, their broken forms slumping to the ground.

    <<Report? Is it over?!>> comes over the radio.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Once the bandits have been sufficiently subdued, Sanary turns her attention to Kotone. "Good work. Think that's all of them... Uh. You gonna be okay?" Living up to her job description, the healer and actually sends a cloud of green healing light towards the cyborg.. Android? She's not quite sure whatKotone is, really, but if she's got natural healing of any sort, it might still work! Maybe.

     She doesn't respond right away when the radio message comes in, instead turning to Deslan's twitching body. Instead, those bricks actually push against those broken limbs to make sure they're aimed in odd directions before that same healing light is directed his way instead. <<"Uh... Just about. Deslan fell pretty bad, but we got him. Stabilized his injuries, too.">>

     They're certainly not going to heal back properly in that state, but she's technically correct!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
<<Target is down and secured we also got some small fry. I'm going to check on your downed troops if any are still alive and help Rory with them.>>

She slumps a bit and looks at her injuries she's clearly in pain but she's pushing on for the moment. Sanary might get a look at some of her interals from her injury.

"I'll live..."

Kotone isn't sure what she is somedays but the magic does seem to work somewhat, not as well as it might on a person but there's some clear signs of repair or healing, and she's unable to stop Sanary. Picking a fight would do no good now, but she's very likely to deliver the full visual logs. There are downed soldiers to worry about and fighting here might get them /dead/.