4370/tFSoK - The Hornet's Sting

tFSoK - The Hornet's Sting
Date of Scene:	30 July 2016
Location:	Great Painting of Ariamis <PoA>
Synopsis:	TARGET DESTROYED
Cast of Characters:	Priscilla, 1007, Kushiko, 253, 1014

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Priscilla has posed:
    Though only one of the people assembled has seen it before, and then only once, night in Anor Londo is different than it once was. The sky is to be accounted for, as the harsh, overpowering shine of the moon seems to be absent, rendered only as a soft glow that shares its place with the other myriad stars in the sky, rather than eclipsing them completely.

    Even with only the natural light of the heavens, navigating around the gargantuan city's convoluted spires and stairs is easy enough, as the white stones it seems to be mostly made of stand out brightly against the dark, even in such low illumination. This is a good thing, because the few assembled seem that they will have a lot of navigating to do.

    Anor Londo is hardly silent at nighttime, but the manmade light and noise is significantly less than would be in a modern city with cars, street lights, and twenty four hour stores. The greatest concentration of it comes from the palace, which is still lit up considerably, but far away from the outskirts, along the vast wall, where their contact has left their message.

    Something of a dead drop, rather than a note and suitcase, the group finds letters scribbled straight on the ground in eerie orange luminescence, and written in obviously runic, and yet strangely elegant script; like the illuminated manuscript of a gregorian monk. Along with it, are a quartet of what appear to be black stones, each perfectly round and worn smooth, as if at the bottom of a deep, fast flowing river.

    The traitor's name is Latria. Would it be that I see you clean her mark to the honour of my sisters, there will be more for you once again at this spot. Take up the orbs, and follow the restless eye of the vigilant victim, for it seeks solely revenge upon its wrongdoer. I care not how it is done, but wake none, speak to none, and be seen by none.

Genji Shimada (1007) has posed:
    It's the first time Genji has seen the city of Anor Londo. A massive, towering city, easily a match for the skyscrapers of Tokyo visible even from Hanamura. And yet, infinitely more medival, the soaring palatial architecture of the most distant of fantasy. It has its own sort of beauty. The sort that Genji would be quite content to simply enjoy, seated at the top of a tower where he can feel the wind. But tonight isn't a night for enjoying nature and the works of hands both mortal and immortal. Tonight is a night of particularly grim business.

    Even the relative quiet of the city is enough to mask the noise Genji makes when he's on the move. The first sound of any consequence comes after his feet have already hit the ground, when his fingers brush against the glowing letters in the very faintest whisper of metal fingers on cobblestone. He reads the runes in silence, follows their instruction noiselessly, and stands up with his Eye without a sound. For being such a smart mouth at times, he's capable of shutting it off and going quiet rather impressively.

Kushiko has posed:
Anor Londo and Lordran had been the focus of the Lotus' research in the intervening time since the meeting with the Four Knights of Gwyn. Gough, Artorias and Ornstein each had their tasks, but of these Lordsblade Ciaran's task was the one that Kushiko had felt most comfortable with.

Assassination.

Especially once they had learned the full sum of /why/: the Lotus having since not just spoken with her Tenno at length, but also worked to see that this information regarding the need for assassination--to restore honor and to bring justice to one who had exploited others to escape it--got to the right individuals.

The need for quiet discretion was the only reason why it was not Nova Prime and instead Valkyr that Kushiko operated. She made no noise, and frankly left no presence behind her as she navigated the spires and stairs, electing not to use them directly, but scaling them often enough, scything through the air with a feline-like grace. Appropriate given the way the black and purple Warframe looked, sinuous and predatory, fibrous leather musculature doubling as some measure of armor.

Sleeknesss not withstanding, she was accompanied by a monstrously well sized Kubrow who was similarly colored, but that was hard to be certain of: every so often when necessary the pair simply faded out of sight, only staying visible for a length of time once they arrived at that script. Not a single word uttered, the taloned fingertips reach for the orb once she finishes reading, anchor-headed tail flicking slightly behind her as she rises.

Her armament was simple: visually some kind of sword with an angled tip; closer study might evoke sensation that it was something's /bone/ but it equally resembles some sortof technorganic blade given the runic lines of light that flowed at it's edges. She bore another weapon at her hip, something that resembled a hand crossbow, but with four arms instead of the typical two the way it was folded up.

The faceless Warframe simply inclines her head once; without speaking there's undoubtedly an odd sense of familiarity due to the nature of /how/ the Warframes work--and as different as she felt there was a core to it that likely evoked what sortof sense Mag Prime gave off relatively.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    While capable of Stealth and rather infamous for killing people in Lordran, Psyber is not what one would traditionally think of as a 'Stealth Specialist', in that he was simply good at it from a practical standpoint whereas many others specialize in it as a matters of hobby or career choice. This puts him in the backseat position for this particular operation, though he doesn't mind deferring to far more qualified parties.

    For now, he's mostly occupying himself with other, more personal matters. Like the fact he's carrying a brown paper bag with him and has an absolutely huge sword strapped to his back that's about as tall as he is. He speaks over his shoulder towards, of all things, the sword, "Okay, so wake up. You have to try this, if you're going to be able to call yourself my sword, Ari." r
    He holds out the paper bag in a general direction of 'next to him' as he approaches the meeting area, "This is the ultimate test of our compatability, I'm afraid. See, these are called curly fries, and they're basically the best type of fry ever. I have to see if you agree with me."

    Aloofness is, in its own way, Psyber's method of swallowing the bitter pill of skullduggery and assassination. He sighs a bit, showing slightly more tired than normal, as he approaches the message and the black stones. He rests the toe of his shoe on one of the orbs and then flicks it so it spins backwards and up onto the toe of his shoe. Then he flicks it up and catches it with a swipe of his non-bag-holding hand.

    "I'm gonna follow you two on this one, since you seem much more experienced in this field." He decides blandly, "You tell me what you need me to do and I'll handle it as best I can."

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Ari seems patient enough to stay strapped to Psyber's back rather than walk around on her own, for as long as needed, but when called, she appears immediately. Talking to her wielder is still possible without her second body, but most other things are rather more difficult. The half-armored, monochromatically-dressed girl, noticeably smaller than the sword that is her true body, steps upon the ground at Psyber's side.
    Without a word, she accepts the brown paper bag, opening it in utter seriousness, and looking inside. She pulls out a curly fry in the tips of two fingers, places it in her mouth, and chews. She blinks, then repeats the motion with methodical swiftness, continuing in this stone-faced and soon squirrel-cheeked manner until the bag is empty of consumables.
    This doesn't quite prevent her from going to read the soapstone, but this receives less visible reaction. Her gaze moves from there to the orb Psyber picks up.

Priscilla has posed:
    Thankfully, though perhaps obviously, if anyone was meant to gain any use from it, the script is perfectly understandable to all present, despite constituting a written language. It can probably be assumed to be some function in the weird way it's scrawled across the stones without seeming to be etched into them, and flickering softly as if something were coming from within them.

    The stone orbs certainly feel like stones; heavy, hard, slightly gritty, though warm as if they'd been sitting out in the sun much more recently than the sun had been up. Those picking them up are in for the pleasant surprise of each of them opening a single eye flawlessly concealed in their surface. That is, not a magical eye, a depiction of an eye, a gemstone that represents an eye, but an actual, moist, quivering, human eye, tear ducts and all, practically popping out of its stone socket as if it had just taken a lethal dose of methamphetamines.

    That lovely surprise aside, all of the eyes provide a useful marker, because their stare silently converges on one point off in the distance, and they remain fixated on that point entirely. Despite being rocks, that single eye is enough to project the anthropomorphized feeling of someone patiently waiting in livid silence, as if aware of their uselessness in having no arms or legs, and willing their holders with every fibre of their limited being to carry out what it is they want but cannot communicate.

    It's incredibly creepy, but actually very handy. Since all the eyes focus on the same place, three people splitting up to a degree makes for extremely accurate triangulation, no matter what distance or angle. It's no wonder Lord Gwyn's 'troubleshooters' were so famous with something like this.

    In a city built for gods and giants more frequently than men, the group has their work cut out for them in areas that were not made with human accessibility in mind; where buttresses and arches were decided to be 'good enough' for people to walk across if they wanted a path, and steep drops of what must be hundreds of meters spring out of nowhere, wide enough only for a man to slip through the crack. Frequently, they'll be made to just straight up jump a floor or two, or climb something using plentiful, ornate handholds carved by masons either trying to look busy, or who didn't ever sleep.

    Between the three, that level of work falls into the category of 'challenging, but not nerve wracking', requiring some real focus not to take a messy fall, but not so precarious they have to move slowly. The destination lies much deeper into the city, though thankfully at an angle to the palace instead of straight at it, where a number of more ordinary lights, almost definitely normal fires, peek through windows and under doors where human residents are awake. They get about halfway there before the gaze of the orbs starts to track, twitching upwards sharply to the safe rooftops they're taking, and then swerving remarkably quickly towards the center of habitation.

Genji Shimada (1007) has posed:
    Kushiko receives a faint nod of greeting. All that's needed between professionals. Psyber, on the other hand, is the recipient of a light bow from the cyborg, growing more formal once he sees Ari as well. "I appreciate it. I am quite well-versed in the way of the ninja, but it's been... a few years, at least, since I took a job like this." Outright assassination is touchy business. If he didn't believe this woman deserved it, he wouldn't be here. "Our best bet will probably be a double-layered ambush. One of us on the initial, obvious approach. One waiting for her to turn and attempt an escape. And a third doing the same, to close the net."

    Okay, so that sightstone, that's creepy. So creepy as to garner actual, physical reaction from Genji. His head jerks back in quiet revulsion for a second or so. "...this is an unpleasant world," he decides. But the gaze of his and other stones isn't hard to figure out. "I will come around from the east. Stay in contact. If you see our target, call it out and wait for the others.

    And the shinobi takes his own advice, switching on his built-in comms and going to the rooftops. With a more definite destination in mind - much different than 'following directions in a city he doesn't know - Genji Shimada can make good time across the roofs. Climbing, leaping, sliding down a wall, it's practically a (very risky) playground for him, and he has a specific direction to take. A specific direction... that becomes even more specific when they arrive. "I think we have found the target." It's a good time for recon.

    Every light on Genji's body shuts off at once.

Kushiko has posed:
Truthfully, it's still stealth if everyone's too dead to alert the authorities.

Buuut that's sortof not what's needed here, so it's easy to go towards the more surgical strike than anything: as much as assassination, stealth and the like were Kushiko's bag of tricks, she didn't have the firsthand experience someone like Psyber did.

So that would have to be a combination of the two, wouldn't it?

Now, first things first besides the assassination is this Ari girl. Not that she can show it through Valkyr's faceless visage, but there's very much a childlike surprise and delight at the mere concept of it. A weapon that can transform like /that/? Oooh that is /awesome/.

Then to Psyber, the faceless visage cants her head slightly as the wind catches part of the syandana, letting it waver slightly. The projected voice... of someone who was undoubtedly feminine, but the age had to be on the younger side spoke. It was kind of weird, being more 'felt' than simply voiced; definitely not from the suit explicitly. "Haven't really /been/ here other than scouting it out. Not the way some others have, like we expect you may have."

There might be a slightly distracted sound in there given the existence of the giant sword having... man what was that, a projection, her true self? Something she knew plenty about in terms of projections but nothing like that. No, she couldn't dawdle on that, not with the present task at hand.

Which was in her hand, after all. Hello little eye! Very /weird/ little eye, the Tenno muses. With that heavy stone object in her hand, the 'frame simply reaches for the techy-looking crossbow at her hip; the moment she detaches it from her hip, the limbs unfolding from it cast four individual energy strings as she looks towards the others and how their eye is tracking.

The sense of absolutely furious vengeance is something that does not go unfelt though, an unquenched furor like none other as she projects, "Let's split up for now. A little less attention that way and given the trackers each of us have, might be as better." With that said, she takes off through parts of the city that are a little more instinctively suited for her to take advantage of that triangulation element of the three eyes.

Besides, even with her loyal Kubrow which--given it's size even Ari's bodily projection-body could ride like a horse--the pair would take advantage of not really /needing/ things like hand grips for very long in some places, if outright parkouring their respective ways up and over, with Kiras intermittently having to simply take another path within reasonable limits.

Or it's just you know, space magic given the Kubrow is responsible for /cloaking/ people.

A thought does occur to her as they approach more habitable locales. "Psyber, right?" she asks over the comms after a moment, "... Think you'd be best for the whole 'obvious' approach... I've heard a little about you and what the Lordsblade told us it is possible she might already be into killing again. Might be able to pick up things we would not." That is to say, Kushiko...? ... maybe doesn't have that street sense she is /hoping/ that Psyber has if she's right about him. After all, trust, but verify.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Gross. Apple went way too far with the new eye-pod." Psyber muses as he looks down at the eye on the rock he's holding in his hand. He's tempted to poke it a couple times, particularly now that Ari emptied the bag of fries that he was holding and Psyber can toss those into some sort of trash recepticle. He frowns at the stone and then looks over at Ari.

    He spots her squirrel-cheeked storage of curly fries and beams at her, "Hey hey, you like human food. Awesome. We're gonna have a lot of fun getting you to try some new stuff," Psyber says happily, clapping his hands together, inadvertantly smacking the side of the eyestone in doing so. He grips the thing in his hands.

    He looks to Genji and Kushiko, "You got it. I'll stay on street level, since I'm gonna be the most obvious no matter what." He bows back to Genji out of mostly cultural politeness and not wanting to leave the guy hanging, "I'm already famous anyway, so if she gets word I'm heading her way, it'll add some bang to the buck and cause her to hurry. Hopefully that means she'll make a mistake and we can corner her."

    And Psyber will, in turn, set out on foot to try to take the streets and serve as a ground-level approach. Once he realizes they're heading towards the Palace, he lets out a faint hiss through his teeth, "Ah... well... hopefully Priscilla won't mind a little bit of collateral damage. It'll give her palace..." He tries to think of a good word for it, "Character?" He suggests to Ari.

    His approach is anything but subtle, considering he's trying to just walk towards the front door, "So you know what we should try next, Ari? I'm thinkin' lobster rolls. Or clam chowder."

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Ari, in her light-catching armor and hair like moonlight, does not show any skill or even great inclination toward stealth. It might be a fair guess that few of the past wielders of this massive straight sword were of a roguish persuasion. That said, she'd probably be as stealthy as Psyber felt like being if she dematerialized, which for the moment she's not doing.
    Genji and Kushiko each get a few looks from her, but no comments. She falls in by Psyber's side, keeping up so long as it's ground-level. "Collateral damage may be unavoidable, in bringing the targeted one to justice." Seems like that sort of topic doesn't over-worry her.
    "Food is fuel for humans." That's a detached sort of way of looking at it, though she was definitely eating those fries faster after the first one. "I have not had 'lobster rolls.'" Her eyes keep looking around, taking in the sight of the city. It's her first time here, even if not the first time that Heaven's Armory has visited.

Priscilla has posed:
    Thankfully, the gaze of the black eye orbs track no further, fixing in place again somewhere west of the middle of that sprawl of little firelights; an island amidst the huge reaches of Anor Londo still dark and yet to be lived in again, but easily large enough to host the population of a more normal castle.

    It is largely spread throughout the regions surrounding the main causeway to the palace raised up ahead, though at a respectful distance, and bleeds into a sort of half moon shape around it. Coming closer, the mass of human habitation seems to be occupying a surprising number of stories, in keeping with the citadel's preposterously vertical construction, increasing the initial estimate. Thankfully, the majority of them seem to have much less to do at night than tireless giant blacksmiths and gods relating to the night.

    That means Psyber doesn't have much of a crowd to deal with on the lowest, main streets. Mere handfuls of people, here and there; late workers or the odd reveler making it home late, couples out talking the night away, the odd artist dutifully capturing the revived city on parchment and canvas, stargazers mapping through telescopes, even the odd musician looking for inspiration. It's surprising to see first hand how well these people have settled down already, though certainly it must have taken a very specific kind of versatility and mental resilience to come here in the first place, at the start of all this. Most notice him, but few notice what he carries.

    Halfway down the main street, the orb's gaze diverts sharply, and urges him down a side path, clearly constructed in later years, and too narrow for someone ten feet tall to walk down. On the rooftops and towers, Genji and Kushiko can see his progress easily, and tell by their respective orbs how far ahead it is leading him. It's a damn good thing they have them too.

    Without having a very narrow spot to look in, they'd have missed it entirely. The figure perched on a jutting crenellation of gold-banded white granite would be almost impossible to see otherwise; not for aspects of their clothing or posture, though both expertly blend in to their surroundings, but because even technologically enhanced eyes seem to have difficulty focusing on them. Center vision finds the figure faint and indistinct, as if only half there, and easily sliding into the peripheral. Focusing really hard, they can make out that their target is actually semitransparent as well. Any targeting software they have seems to agree that they're at too long range to pick up yet, even though they aren't.

    Psyber gets the same chance soon enough, though he'd have to look up, and nearly the same moment he does, the figure seems to be done sizing him up, and has wisely decided that he isn't a suitable mark, moving on like the shadow of a flying moth. It's about as easy to track too, making good time further west, where the lights are fewer, in part due to being too fast to be a human, and in part due to the fact that just by watching them, one can tell they know the city like the back of their hand.

    The orbs plead in vehement silence to follow, pulsing almost bloodshot as that figure arrives overlooking another path, where a young woman, probably a cleric in training, is walking on the arm of whom is presumably her fiance. This time, the half-there shadow leans far over the edge, as if prepared to fall off.

Genji Shimada (1007) has posed:
    Genji does not have any incredible powers to facilitate stealth. But he has a lifetime of training and field experience, and the focus to put it to work in almost any situation. His movements bring less noise than the soft breeze, his path takes him through every single shadow on the rooftops as if it were natural to him; and without those bright lights on his body, the only illumination to his figure is what the moon and stars can provide.

    And above all, he keeps sight of the target. It's difficult, with that strange invisibility. But his cybernetics make it a /little/ easier, and if all else fails, he can track her with his perephiral vision. When she stops and shifts as if preparing to leap upon targets below, however, he finally does something - a trio of shuriken flip out of the back of his hand, folding into place between his fingers. He doesn't throw them, it's just to have them ready. But he watches, and waits, and speaks quietly into his radio. "Psyber, be ready. I think she's making a move on a target."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber keeps up a casual air as he walks along, talking to Ari, "It's not just human fuel. It's flavor-art. Food is the best form of expression mankind knows that isn't related to killing eachother." Psyber points out, sighing a bit as he walks along with her, "And a lobster roll is like... You get fresh lobster, add butter and mayo, chill it, then put it on a toasted roll. It's basically the best seafood sandwich ever."

    While it may look like he's fully distracted describing this food item to Ari, Psyber is in fact incredible at Multi-tasking. Ari can easily see that his eyes glow a dim red as his more supernatural senses kick in and the half-angel looks around their surroundings, "Clam chowder is like... also delicious. It's hard to describe. It has clams and you should get it in a bread bowl."

    Of course, he changes his course as the figure moves on, straining to use both the orb and his eyesight to track it, "So hey, if I throw you, will you come back? I've always kinda wondered if all chosen swords do that, or just some, or what?"

    This may have to do with him being tempted to just chuck his greatsword at the figure. Instead, he's going to move to waylay the assassin by being an obstruction via his presence, "Heeeeeeeeey! Hey you two!"

    Psyber waves heavily, "I'm super lost. Can you both show me the way to the inn? She and I only just got into town and we need to get some rest and food."

Kushiko has posed:
Sadly, Kushiko does not have a reference for the calamity of before to the peace of now. Despite this, it is nice to see people in a peaceful way, however relative, due to the conflict in her own world.

There is... a rather nice thing to not relying /completely/ on technology and software--in the case of the Kubrow who would make a sound but does not--yet the rankling of fur and slanting of ears is enough to tell Kushiko that a certain /something/ is there, even where some elements of her practical sensory do not. Gut and animal instinct alike also sensing not just the fact that /something/ is there beyond what's more casually perceived but through that held eye. Watching it but not watching it through Transference given the lack of eyes in the Warframe's case.

It wasn't hard to guess that Latria was undoubtedly on the hunt. No wonder Ciaran passed along these eyes--though if she were honest, given what the Lotus had informed her about with regards to the unique elements of this world, it dawned on her that these eyes may be much more than simple tracking devices. Revenge from beyond? Maybe.

She moved along the rooftop silently and cloaked by the Void's energy and quickly moved into position--and for a moment, 'pocketing' the eye she held in an energy fold on herself. She had an idea now especially with the demonstrable evasiveness Latria showed--owed much to the fact she was a trained assassin as well.

Putting her off her comfort zone would have to be amongst whatever they ended up doing as she 'spoke' elsewhere.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Ari nods slightly at the explanation. "Yes, I see. I have eaten clams, on some occasions." After a beat, "What is a 'lobster'?" This talk may have to continue later.
    "I can bring myself back, but only if this body isn't attacked." The flying sword gambit, on itself, does not appear to be an option. "I won't be able to materialize for awhile, if it is." But she could throw herself, presumably.
    Dissemblance is not entirely outside her skills, in that she can continue to walk and stand near Psyber while not evincing hostility, nor looking up toward where she knows the concealed target to be. She does not, however, choose to speak to these strangers.

Priscilla has posed:
    The slanting figure pauses abruptly during its smooth, forward slide; a little impossibly, almost, like a certain famous singer's infamous on-stage move performed over a roof edge. The two wanderers startle slightly at Psyber calling to them, the younger girl moreso than the older boy she's with, still clinging to his arm, but they turn around nonetheless without seeming as if they were expecting something horrible.

    Which they maybe probably should have. "Inn?" The young lad asks rhetorically. "I'm afraid we don't have anything like that. It's not a common thing that people only travel into the city of the gods on a temporary basis. If you've been allowed, it must be by . . ." It'd be easy to say that the rest of what he had to say was cut off by an ominous swoosh of fabric, but it really isn't. The rippling, dark blue clothes blowing out behind the figure diving down behind them is as silent as an owl's feathers, though much more daring for doing it right in front of Psyber.

    It lands behind them with about as much noise too, and more oddly, no flexing of the knees or shifting of weight to absorb impact, but just a couple of blue sparks from its heels as it acts as if it'd just taken the last step of a staircase. Focusing hard, he can make out a lot of loose cloth that obscures his target's true contours, though nothing so grand as a cloak or cape, and a mask similar to Ciaran's, though clearly done by a less skilled hand, and made only of painted wood.

    He gets the feeling that they're looking directly at him, challenging him almost, as the figure produces a pair of curved knives so long they could almost be called scimitars. It really doesn't look like they're going to try and take the couple hostage either. They might have decided Psyber himself would be a bad idea to drop attack, but it might be they intend to make an example of his intrusion in another way.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "No, yeah, I know, must be by decree. Priscilla's my totes bestie-for-lyfe. I get to come here whenever I want. I thought I was so cool she'd set up like a five-star hotel for me after a while," Psyber comments hurriedly, waving his hand and starting to tune out the man speaking to him. In fairness, though, he's only nominally important in that he's getting Psyber into proximity towards the person he needs to be going after, "You know, sorry to bother you two. You should probably get to leaving now. I heard they're shutting this road down for the night."

    "So you said you 'break things down', right Ari?" Psyber asks as he steps past the two and towards the figure. His hand goes to the sword on his back, "Here's the plan. I want you to break down her shadows and turn them into light. I'm sick of this cloak and dagger shit, so let's make whoever this is nice and visible."

    With a smooth motion, Psyber draws the sword off his back and darts forward, trying to swing Ari over his head and down towards the figure with a swift, if powerful, overhead strike with the blade. He has no idea if Ari needs to make contact for her trick to work, or if proximity will work just as well. He's gonna aim to try to hit the figure and protect the two people, either way.

Genji Shimada (1007) has posed:
    She moves. She drops. Genji's position shifts, practically flowing from one shadow to another, but he does not pursue. Not yet. Psyber has the basic defense handled, and Kushiko seems to be moving to ambush while the target is distracted by the angel and his blade. With so much going on, the Shimada ninja's instinct is to bide his time. To slide into a vantage point closer on the rooftop, where he can watch from above... and be ready to move in as a second layer of ambush. Preferably when she starts to flee.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    "Envision the desired outcome, and I will heed your will," Ari says, right before her 'human' self disappears into a swiftly collapsing spark. Her true body is swung, and her magic is swung forward of her. It is a haze of heat that cannot be felt, but seeks to take the 'shadow' around her target, and turn it into a conflagration of light. This is a transformative effect in line with the theme of her magic, but would still be difficult to enact against a normal shadow. There is little energy in a mundane lack of light, in that it has little potential to be turned toward some other purpose. This, however, is clearly some work of magic, and breaking apart its bonds may create the desired result.

Kushiko has posed:
This might not be the best option; what started as a plausible option to divert, well... clearly Latria was at that point of not giving a singular damn over whether or not she was seen or doing such things in a way that she feared no reprecussion otherwise.

Which made her all the more dangerous, both short and long term.

Truthfully, she would rather not risk the civilians. The job takes precedence but it was distasteful to cause more of what Latria herself caused.

Which is why she leapt--the shadow, the slight distortion of light could be perhaps for perhaps a moment to land behind where Latria was at best /perceived/ to be. A single gesture, and two things happened: Kiras, the massive Kubrow lunged out not so much to attack but to support Psyber's attempts to keep the two innocents safe by interdicting his bulk and using it to half-push the pair down and put his considerable bulk in the way just in case Latria decide to ignore Psyber.

And on that additional case that Latria /would/ try to ignore Psyber's efforts--at the same time the Kubrow emerged from cloak, so did Valkyr, a sharp release of energy as she lifted one leg then /stomped/ forward, sweeping her arms as she vented what little shields she had into a paralyzing wave of Void energy to envelop the space Latria ought to occupy.

Priscilla has posed:
    It seems that there isn't anything going on with Latria's shadow at least; only that it is more visible than she is, and viewable through her body. The two citygoers look more than just a little surprised at Psyber drawing his sword, never mind when the girl next to him collapses into a blink of light, and then when he swings at what seems to be /them/. They're only able to express it as a pair of yelps as the Kubrow jumps on them from behind and forces them to hit the deck.

    The figure is clearly illuminated for a fraction of a second as her shadow explodes into light, though still essentially a semitransparent ghost. Its clothes, simple, midnight blue, and with ample folds, blow upwards around it, or more likely 'her', as the long, flax blonde hair visible around the mask suggests. She crosses her daggers in front of herself in the typical posture for absorbing a heavier weapon with two lighter ones, but the shorter of them fractures, and then breaks off entirely, clearly being only mundane steel; a rarity in this city in particular.

    The other one holds, if only barely, causing Ari to scrape downwards along its back edge and giving her just enough time to skirt out from under Psyber's superhuman strength, and toss the remaining broken length at his face. It doesn't seem like she intends to fight him though, either by reputation or having just sized him up enough to know it would be a bad idea. She turns to flee instead, only to be hit in the face with the paralysis wave from Kushiko, and go completely the opposite direction, soaring over the two prone lovers and past Psyber down the street.

    As befits an extremely experienced assassin, Latria manages to reach out with her hand mid-head over heels flight, touch her fingers to the flagstones, and catch some minute crevice in the stone that brings the rest of her body swinging back down to earth. At some point during the less-graceful period of her tumble, a trio of apple sized objects of black ceramic have clattered to Psyber's feet, dangerously close to the boy and girl, and then explode like hand grenades, clearly not just filled with gunpowder, and predictably sending ceramic shrapnel everywhere along with the fire.

    Her feet have barely hit the ground, still eerily silent as that blue aura briefly flickers between the soles and the paving stones, before she has executed an additional four throwing motions, very obviously too fast to be normal. Both hands track to each thigh and each shoulder in alternation, and launch a trio of concealed throwing knives per swing, all tightly clustered at Kushiko, ignoring her Kubrow for the moment, and all virulently toxic. After that, she books it, swivelling, sprinting, and leaping up two storeys to the lowest window, and continuing from there. She knows she's been caught out, and isn't getting into a stand up brawl.

Genji Shimada (1007) has posed:
    Never let it be said that Genji Shimada missed an opportunity.

    In the same instant that their target begins her ascent, the cybernetic ninja comes right over the edge. All the green on his body lights up at once, and his shortblade whispers as it clears his sheath; but rather than descend on the fleeng Latria with his weapon, he turns a flip and swings his legs around, turning the dive into a feet-first drop... or rather, foot-first. One single foot held straight out, using the speed of his descent to add to his own body weight. It is, in summary, a picture-perfect descending kick, aimed right for the center of mass. He intends to drive her back down to street level full-force.

    That way she'll have all three to face.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber indeed visualizes the effect he wants and his sword makes it happen. The half-angel swings it downward towards Latria and connects with both her weapons. Muscles strain as he tries to press her down under the blade and finish it. He snaps one sword, but the other manages to turn him and Ari aside, the weapon striking the ground with a heavy amount of force before the half-angel lets out a 'tch' noise.

    "GRENADES!" He calls as a warning to the tennou body that's protecting the two lovers. The half-angel drags the sword behind him, running in towards the recovering assassin right as Genji descends towards her with a kick. He'll try to time his maneuver so that they're creating a pincer maneuver, with the sword.

    "Ari, let's turn up the heat on her," Psyber calls, figuring that they can just go with some basic burning for now as he tries to come at her with a cleaving horizontal strike and capitalize on Genji's kick in a pretty brutal combo attack.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Ari has a rough feel for what her magic touches, and thus knows apart from any other evidence that the shadow /isn't/ magical. The transparency effect was outside the parameter of what her wielder willed her to burn, which may be to the good, as it's harder to get a handle on something even more abstract than a shadow.
    This latest order is far easier. The air itself sparks and burns where this far more immediately visible magic touches, but it's specifically the form of their target she reaches for, grasping for that oh-so-flammable cloth and the flesh beneath it, igniting whatever is touched by coming within the field of influence that radiates from her blade.
    Conveniently, it is only the magic that need touch the target, and not a fireball from the outside. Similarly, there will be nothing for Genji to dodge, apart from the likely-soon-flaming target, herself.

Kushiko has posed:
First things first--she did not expect the Paralysis that Valkyr could throw forth be enough to delay Latria anymore--she needed to test it after all. With Latria going the /other/ way, the plan starts to come together, but they didn't have long to try and lockdown.

The knives however are another matter.

Blood spurts at first amidst a brilliant clash of blue overlaying the armored bodysuit of the Warframe as it sinks in. A howl, unvoiced but /felt/ momentarily erupts from her--as quite frankly, Valkyr didn't bother dodging at /all/. Hysteria overtakes her while the toxins sap at her energy threateningly as the Operator grimaces from the pain felt through the link.

If anything, the sympathetic pain is what focuses her in the next instant; claws of energy having erupted from her fingertips as she breaks into a run while tearing the knives out of her, she slides, accelerating into a spiralling leap and launching into the air--further accelerated by the use of an energy grappling hook, sending her body all the way over to the rooftop to add to the pincer from above.

Or it would. Because the moment that acceleration happens, the body of Valkyr goes limp. A staggering brand of spiritual energy--or is it magic?--coalesces from the Warframe used as a conduit. A strange figure manifests from the now crumpled body of Valkyr that lands in a heap thanks to the arcing movement of the launch. He... she? Whomever it is is curled up at first like a ball, gathering nascent energy before the projected figure lands HOPEFULLY further away from where Latria was.

And preferably in that position that she unfurls herself with an energetic yell as the figure, dressed in some kind of pilot suit floats a few feet above the rooftop and unleashes waves of warping Voidlight energy. Even for Genji, Psyber and Ari who aren't her targets, there's a palpable /pressure/ in the air from this release of energy, waves of arcing light chasing the ground in wide bands hurtling towards Latria while doing precious little to anyone else.

Best way to describe it is to acknowledge it doesn't seem to adhere to one particular quality except one principle: Dominate the enemy, choke off their resources with sheer strength, erase their resistance. Such is the way of Zenurik.

Priscilla has posed:
    When fleeing from two, superhuman multiversal adversaries and their dog, there is only so much one can do to evade ninjas added to the mix. There is little to be said for Latria, caught in a textbook perfect three way pincer, and more importantly, caught in the midsection with an especially accurate cyborg kick to the solar plexus. Just from the way he connects, Genji can feel that kick should have ruptured some organs, but the blood that stipples the mouth slit of the wooden mask looks more like a bitten tongue than coughed up from the lungs. For a small, 'young' woman, she feels like kicking a sandbag too.

    That said, it's obviously not something she can just walk off. She hits the ground with her shoulders instead of her hands, having to forego a graceful backspring in favour of an action roll until she can breathe again. Said roll takes her underneath the horizontal arc of Ari, but only just barely, cleaving a bandolier of knives and a few other tools from the back of her left hip, and taking a significant quantity of crimson fluid with it, sharply splattering over the corner of the building. She is well within Ari's functional range too, which sets light to the plentiful edges of her clothing, turning her into a very visible, burning beacon. Strangely, Ari feels as if the assassin is only just barely inside of her reach, rather than right there.

    So when the wave of transference-borne void energy washes over her, and carries her aloft from the pavement like a ragdoll, she's in for an unpleasant time. Bleeding, deprived of her belt, and more importantly, on fire, Latria writhes silently in what must certainly be severe pain as the fire creeps inward to her flesh, kicking and struggling against the bonds of Kushiko's Focus.

    Seeing that it isn't likely to wiggle her way free, her gloved hand drops her remaining dagger, and struggles for a pocket dangerously close to being consumed by fire, withdrawing what looks to be a fingerbone, and snaps it between her thumb and forefinger. More macabre but potently practical talismans and tools of this world, no doubt, but the effect doesn't seem to take place immediately. Winds swirl where there were none before around her, as the air below her feet expands into a golden circle, but there is about a full second window.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is careful not to get clipped by that release of energy as he feels the pressure from Kushiko's attack skim by him while hurtling towards Latria. He's glad it can avoid friendly fire (and equally glad Ari can avoid friendly Fire). As he spins to a stop after his horizontal swing, he slams Ari's blade into the ground to catch his spin and let him come to a more abrupt stop.

    "Hmph. She's tough, I'll give her that much. I can see why she hired three, or four, I guess, of us to take this lady down." Psyber grumbles with a mixture of annoyance and admitted impressment. Which is totally a real word, by the way.

    It's when the bone getscracked that Psyber hazards a guess, "She's trying to escape!" The half-angel assumes, anyway. He dives in with Ari again, "Ari! Break down the escape magic and turn it into a binding, if you can."

    He swings the blade over his head again, not aiming for Latria but instead for the glowing circle around her feet. He has no idea if it'll work. It probably won't, but it's worth a try, "Try to finish her off before she can get away!" He calls to the other two.

Genji Shimada (1007) has posed:
    The moment Genji feels the force transfer into their target, he forcibly leaps backwards, somehow managing the feat in mid-air. It's done in such a way as to bring him to the ground about ten feet from her where she lands; at about the same time he's landing, Latria is getting swept up by Kushiko's power. He's still got that shortblade in his hand, and when she trips what looks to be some sort of escape magic, the ninja moves in a heartbeat.

    And the movement is fast, so fast as to render him little more than a blur of grey and streaks of green. A sudden burst of speed that takes him to- and then PAST the disgraced assassin, snapping out with his ninja-to in the exact instant he passes her by. It's a lethal strike in and of itself, aimed for where he estimates her stomach to be. But he's not done even then.

    His burst of speed drops him on the opposite side of the woman, and he turns without skipping a beat, letting the spin itself give momentum to the trio of shuriken he tosses. They fan out perfectly, one shooting for each of her arms, and the middle aimed squarely at her back. A brutal, efficient series of lethal strikes, aimed not just to wound but also to prevent any further retaliation or trickery if she somehow survives.

Kushiko has posed:
This... this /really/ did not feel right. Even with the attacks they're launching at her, there's something terribly amiss. Her Focus energy did not quite completely immobilize her the way she preferred; props to Latria, but props aren't near enough.

Her reverbing projection seems to be drawn into a single point as it tapers off like it were being stretched through the eye of a needle as Valkyr rises once more. Rises, and launches as Kiras too sprints up and around--the cowering civvies now out of harms way means both she and her master can devote themselves to the task at hand.

Which means another Rip Line getting her the rest of the way in a slightly more high-velocity maneuver towards where Psy, Ari and Genji were engaging so she could do so a bit more directly. And by directly we mean a blur of energy claws and fur LUNGING at Latria; the Kubrow's more of a passing slash akin to Genji. Valkyr on the other hand?

Well, hers is less a lunge compared to Kiras--no, hers is more of her having almost overshot her Rip Line move, and simply comes down straight and attempts to shove her enery-clawed fingers through Latria's face in an utterly unrepentent act of savagery.

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Ari had told Psyber, that time in Boston, that something like burning magic was within her capabilities, if difficult. A handy capability, should it work. That difficulty comes in several forms, as she'd hinted at at the time. Unfortunately, one of them is hit at this moment.
    Were circumstances otherwise, there might be some quick reformulation via independent guesswork, but this magic is too little known for her to make an attempt that couldn't backfire.

Priscilla has posed:
    Even if Psyber may have overshot Ari's capabilities at their level of bonding, whilst figuring out where exactly they are, the other two certainly don't waste the chance he bought them. That second it takes the sacred bone's effects to kick in is trivial when concluding a hunt, hearing trouble coming, or after having achieved concealment, but as any real pilgrim knows: you never use a homewar bone right in front of the enemy.

    There is little to be tastefully elaborated on. For how surprisingly tough her body is, Latria is not wearing any armour to speak of; merely mendicant's traveling clothes without titanite weave, and so Genji's short sword passes through her side with a suitably impressive splash of blood, and the shuriken that nail her in both shoulders and the spine cause her fingers to fumble with the bone fragments and let them slip from her grip. Her mask is no more durable than her clothes to be worth mentioning as the Valkyr goes figuratively, and almost literally, for the throat, and the stones of Anor Londo signal another bloody death on Lordran's scoreboard, as if for old time's sake.

    Fortunately for some, there isn't much of a gory corpse left behind from that. As Latria's body crumples to the ground, the group well beyond being able to see her face (when does anyone here ever show their face?), it steadily dissolves into a sort of warm, luminescent, white fog. Within a few moments, she has turned to so many scattering motes of light, a significant arsenal of largely unused implements scattered on the paving stones, and a bobbing orb of pale, colourless flame.

    And so the game of seeing who can dramatically appear behind whom comes to a close with one final move of Ciaran's black and gold banded hand reaching out of the perpendicular alley's shadow and grasping hold of the floating flame, which disappears from sleight of hand as she steps out into the thin sliver of moonlight that illuminates the street. No doubt she had been following Latria as well, if she had known of her presence early enough to request the group's cooperation, but as before, bound to be unable to intervene. It says something that she'd managed to pull it off without obvious magic obscuring her.

    "I am in your debt more than you know." She intones in that soft, oddly hollow voice. "I would not ask such bloody and personal work of outsiders easily. For carrying out justice in the name of what is righteous, but right, I thank you. I will have something prepared for your benevolence shortly." It bears some small noting that all three of those queer orbs have closed their eyes, and gone still and cold as actual stones, losing their black hue and bleaching pale grey.

Genji Shimada (1007) has posed:
    "...she committed a great many sins," Genji replies to that voice after a moment, standing up straight and lowering his head slightly. "Though she may have bribed her way to absolution under the eyes of the law, that does not erase her deeds, nor the wrongs they caused others. It isn't the type of job I am comfortable taking often, but..." His ninja-to is finally slid back into the scabbard at the small of his back. "No one like that should be able to escape retribution for their crimes."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Rather than disappointed, Psyber simply seems more curious than anything as he brings the sword down and the particular effect he requested does not work. Hoisting it up as if it weighed nothing, he spins the massive blade in his hand a couple times and then fastens it across his back today, "Huh. Tee-Eye-Ell, I guess. Thanks for the help today, Ari." He notes regarding the sword.

    He looks over his shoulder at Ciaran a moment later, "Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it. The Law of Morality supercedes the Law of the Land. It was something that probably was better to handle now than later, all told."

Heaven's Armory (1014) has posed:
    Ari is unable to communicate effectively with any save Psyber, in this state. This is not to say that Ciaran's words or appearance go without some reaction from her, but the results are only as visible as one would expect them to be on a sword.
    That empathic link of wielder to blade transmits something that feels like affirmation, vague approval, and warm ash.

Kushiko has posed:
A small little flick of her wrists sends what blood still remains off her clawtips, hissing with evaporation as the energy that overtook Valkyr dissipates and fades. "Should be surprised, but I'm not. Given the way you spoke of it, and what we learned of her crimes after we spoke..." The Tenno trails off for a moment, her faceless visage shifting to Genji and Psyber and Ari in turn. Well, as much as she can 'look' towards anyone. Realistically she was actually fairly curious as to the effect of the death and the bobbing flame reclaimed.

If that was anything like she'd seen in another place... ohwell. Thoughts to mull over another time, amidst that orb.

"It was a pleasure. Rare to have an assassination contract that feels appropriate to carry out." For this, her face is projeted well enough for Ciaran's benefit as a show of modest respect and to show propery for whom the Lordsblade was dealing with.