5586/Operation Quicksilver: Interdiction

Operation Quicksilver: Interdiction
Date of Scene:	26 November 2017
Location:	The Great Ocean
Synopsis:	An ambush of an Abyssal Fleet nearly goes wrong. Thankfully, it doesn't.
Cast of Characters:	Shigure, Gaonoir, Leyanne Mace, 1119, 385, 929, Kotone Yamakawa, All-Seeing Eye

---

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure puts the operation call out. The coordinates are a smaller 'lake' in the delta, a natural reservoir formed by a meeting of many tributaries, but only emptied by a few outlets. The destroyer, and her sister are hidden amongst the foliage on the southern bank, while a slow moving convoy of Abyssals, at least six Wa-class Transports, a Late Model I-class and the Demon-class from earlier engagements, along with many PT Imps lashed to the Wa-class to help guide their bulky, bulbous forms through the narrow channels, begins to enter from one of the wider northern tributaries.

    "Alright, the plan is to ambush them as they maneuver to the southern exit, the PT Imps will take a few vital seconds to unlash from the transports to engage." says Shigure to those arriving. "Target priority is the I-class, the Imps, then the Demon. Try to take the Demon-class alive if possible for questioning. Wa-class are target of opportunity only."

Gaonoir has posed:
As usual Gaonoir takes the aerial approach, flying over the designated coordinates at high altitude to avoid the reach of enemy radar. But it doesn't keep them out of the scope of his visor's tactical scanners, though at this distance he can only fix on the group of a whole rather than idividual targets.

As he holds position at a hover he clenches his massive metal gauntlets, a few small arcs of purple energy crackling across the knuckles to charge up. When the word comes he'll use his extreme speed to drop on the convoy from above. It's about time too, he was starting to get bored waiting for this mission.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
The FMS Leeroy Jenkins is among the first to arrive, cruising through the delta to the RV point primarily on the quieter - but slower - Napier Deltic diesel engine that serves as an auxilliary power unit. Leeroy's turbines whistle quietly at idle, awaiting the call to unleash their power.

The mice are taking stealth seriously at the moment; Leeroy has been repainted in a dark grey, dark blue, and dark green 'disruptive' camouflage pattern, and a darkening laquer has been carefully applied over his shark's face decal work to help hide that, too.

The Martian crew have also taken steps to make themselves harder to see; instead of their motley rags, everyone on board has been provided with a dark grey armoured motorcycling jumpsuit and 'Nam-style helmet. They've got got holes in for the mice' antennae. They wait nervously at their stations for the others to arrive, scanning the darkness with all of their senses.

Leyanne herself is currently driving from the open-topped flying bridge, darkened gold epaulettes on her grey jumpsuit indicate she's the skipper of this little vessel. She gives Shigure a thumbs-up, then turns to her Pasenger(s). "Josuke." She says. "I know you use ammo like the rest of us, or yer stand does... does calibre matter?" She reaches into a storage compartment and hauls out a NATO standard ammunition crate. "Mostly belted 5.56, but there's some 40mm bofors shells and a couple belts of 25mm... I think there's a couple of RPG-7 rounds in there too if he can use them. Remember, though, surprise is our main advantage. Don't pop anything off until Shigure gives the green light. You ready to rock?"

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
    Not being able to do that awesome thing where he can become a boat, like the Hikari Defense Fleet, Josuke's had to hitch a ride with Leyanne in the Leeroy Jenkins. Sure, he's mostly for short-range/melee fighting and quick patch-ups, but he can still fire bullets! Well, Crazy Diamond can.

    Thanks to Leyanne and her group, he's wearing similar attire as them -- an armored jumpsuit of dark gray. And yes, he's gone so far as to actually wear a HAT, even if it's one of those squaretop deals rather than a proper helmet. Those can be worn without messing up his hair, and he takes that VERY seriously. So he at least doesn't look QUITE so out of place amongst all these military folk.

    Josuke turns to look in Leyanne's direction when addressed. "Caliber? No, just as long as it's got a firing pin of its own," he replies. He looks at the crate and nods. "That should work, yeah. Thanks!" One of the advantages of his Stand -- the ammo doesn't have to match, so anybody can toss any ammo small enough for his Stand to hold it in one hand and it can be fired.

    He nods to Leyanne's mention of stealth. "Gotcha. I'll be careful," he promises. Stealth isn't his main tactic, but he can still hide! Leyanne's final question gets a firm nod. "Right! I'm ready."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The last time Yuna came to help with the Abyssals in the delta, she was in her Light Suit and able to go land-sea-air as needed. It didn't go terribly well - mostly because the Light Suit isn't designed around stealth - but it seemed like somebody was going to get noticed at some point, so she hasn't been sweating it that badly.

This time, though? It's straight anti-Abyssal combat ... and with that in mind, Yuna's opted to come in with her Kagurazaka-class light-cruiser fitout. Not that she couldn't use the Light Suit, but she prefers fighting the Abyssals the way the other Fleet Daughters do - particularly given that their weapons are *meant* to sink Abyssals, with the possibility of reborn Fleet Girls surfacing afterwards. More importantly, though, it's easier to coordinate when she's using roughly the same weaponry and tactics as the bulk of her allies.

Not that this stops the little robo-faerie Elner from flitting along next to the blonde idol in her light-cruiser gear. Yuna is glad Elner's there, though, for quite a few reasons.

"So we start at the bottom and work our way up the threat ladder?" Yuna asks Shigure. "More or less, anyway?" It seems simple enough - deal with the destroyer first, then the support boats .... maybe the PT Imps would technically rank below the destroyer. Still, the order of three that Shigure laid out *is* straightforward enough.

Sakuya (929) has posed:
    There's a soft 'shh' sound in the foliage just to the left of the concealed destroyer sisters. A space in the bushes previously vacant is suddenly occupied by the woman in black from before. The Perfect and Ordinary Maid, Izayoi Sakuya. With a fingertip, she nudges a leaf slightly aside to peer across the lake, "It is often beneficial to eliminate smaller youkai so they cannot help the stronger one. This tactic is acceptable to me."

    Her eyes narrow, taking on a red hue for such a short time that one might think it's just a trick of the light.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
It would take Kotone amoment to get to the base, to get her rigging on and launch but soon she would be on the open water heading to the nav point that Shigure had given. It would take some time to get there but she would be there as she always did lag a little bitbehind the native memebers of the fleet, then again maybe the carrier role was best for her given her planes were not under such issues. She would be forming up with the rest of the ships listening about the Imps and the order of which theyneeded to take them out.

"Understood capture any demon-claqss if we can."

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure smiles softly as the others join up. "Thank you. All of you." she says in that soft tone, before her face hardens and her blue eyes flare briefly in the dark. "Alright, be careful of the cross currents in this lake. They won't be as numerous, but will be much stronger this close to the source of the river." she warns.

    The Abyssals are about half-way across the 'lake', turning toward their destination. As the last transport turns broadside, the Destroyer gives the signal. "Break. Engage all targets." Shigure, and Yuudachi then break cover, leaping from the bank into the water and kicking into flank bell, a little rooster comb flaring from their heels as they speed away and move to close. "We find victory on the Dawn's Horizon!" "There's like, so many targets to choose from~."

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace waits for the signal, almost bouncing in her seat. And then the order is given. Immediately all three throttles are pushed to their stops, the little PT boat kicking up a big rooster-tail from her three propellors as the boat surges forward, rising up into the plane before it's even travelled its own length. The three gas turbines rapidly rise into a throaty roar, throwing all stealth out the window as the little vessel charts a course perpendicular to the Abyssal fleet. "Status on tubes?" She calls out.

"One through four loaded and primed, set for abyssal acoustic signature and 80 yards arming range." a shapely female mouse calls from the back of the bridge. Leyanne's hand moves from the throttles to a row of switches above the wheel. Just as she's about to overtake the enemy convoy, Leyanne turns hard into them, flicking the switches one after the other. About a second apart, the four torpedoes surge free from their tubes on jets of steam, their propellors already spinning before they splash down and surge forwards, in about a thirty degree spread across the I-class' flank.

"Jo, I hope you don't mind, but we're about to do something a bit stupid." Leyanne comments as she straightens up. "We're gonna cut across the nose of the convoy, we're probably gonna have a lot of shit thrown at us. If you and your stand want to help us throw some back, we should be able to keep the I-class' attention long enough for the others to send it under." Already the first machine gun rounds are starting to spang off the boat's armoured wheelhouse. "You cool with that plan? Start firing."

Gaonoir has posed:
At the 'Engage!' command Gaonoir grins much like the predator he is partially based on, even as he cranks his engines back up to maximum. The sudden burst is all it takes to send him hurtling back towards the lake below and the Abyssal squadron crossing it. He's starting at such an exceptional altitude that even with his speed it will take a trip to catch up to the position below, but that is kind of the point of making his move from high altitude in the first place.

In a matter of moments he's closed enough for picking out distinct targets and his tactical sensors lock onto the first primary target. His jetpack shuts off as Gaonoir flips midair, using the momentum from his already exceptional velocity to somersault into bringing a bionic leg lashing at the I-Class from directly above at high speed! "Mind if I drop in!"

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
    Josuke gives a thumbs-up and a broad smile to Shigure's thanks. "Glad to help!" he all but chirps. But as Shigure's eyes flare his expression gets serious too. And as the group set out for the location he'll stay as quiet as he can. He doesn't bring out Crazy Diamond yet -- glowing purple auras and pink-and-blue armored figures don't exactly mesh well with 'stealth'.

    The orders are given to engage, but Josuke holds fire a bit longer. Not yet.

    He winces when shots start bouncing off the boat. But Leyanne's warning gets a nod. "It's only stupid if it doesn't work!" he replies. He waits until Leyanne indicates he should start firing. Though he's a little confused when Leyanne shouts 'BIRD' over the radio. "...Wha?" He pauses to look at her, confused. Then it clicks. "OH RIGHT!"

    He heads to where he can get a clear shot, and the purple aura flares to life around him. "<CRAZY DIAMOND!>" As if in response to his shout (which it was, because that's how this works), the Stand rises up from his body. Quickly he hands off a handful of ammo to the Stand. Crazy Diamond places a bullet between each finger -- it has four fingers and a thumb, like a human hand -- and in quick succession, thumps the firing pin of each of the three bullets, popping off three shots at the nearest Abyssal ship.

Sakuya (929) has posed:
    This time, the mission is an attack. An ambush, specifically. A far cry from the investigation that Sakuya was a part of previously. She's rather accustomed to solo hunting. This 'teamwork' thing will take some getting used to. As anticipation builds, she removes a pocketwatch from her blouse and flips open the cover, as if checking the time.

    The signal is given. Immediately, from an outside perspective, Sakuya disappears.

    A few meters in front of the charging destroyers, Sakuya reappears, sweeping sidelong. In the arc of her swing, a fan of knives appears, each one shooting forward like an individual missile.

    A shadow shaped like the Maid follows the action, a repetition, a Time Paradox, which repeats the exact same action-- doubling the knives hurled into the PT Imp formation's path. As Sakuya ends her attack arc and floats upward in recovery, the shadow catches up to her and disappears.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Cross currents are a thing to be wary of, and Kagurazaka nods to Shigure at that particularly. And she's still keeping it in mind as the order to break and engage is given.

Kagurazaka angles a little further away from Shigure and Yuudachi, mindful of how the water beneath her plays with (or against) her intended direction of travel; the PT Imps area already being handled pretty generously, and Leyanne, Gaonoir, and Josuke are giving the I-Class a bad time already - but Kagurazaka still levels her turrets at the destroyer and fires off three shots in rapid-but-staggered succession, aiming to make sure the I-Class goes under and doesn't come back up too quickly.

As a matter of course, Kagurazaka is also monitoring both sonar and radar - and when Shigure mentions a radar contact to the east, Kagurazaka turns some of her attention in that direction as well. Elner, on the other hand, actually flies *up* to get a better look, with optics and with other sensors.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa moves to keep behind the pack for the moment a she starts to draw and fire off arrows, the planes take shape as she makes ready. She woudl make sure to be getting torpedo bombsers and fighters up as they have to deal with the Imps woudl be her main target and she'll be keeping an eye out for the demon class to try and capture them if she cans. She's got good allies here nd she'll keep an eye on Gaonoir in the event he needs support.

Her planes now in the air move in to star going after the nearest of the imps, while she does her best to not be a non moving target. She does not want to end up as a Turkey Shoot after all.

All-Seeing Eye has posed:
Shigure makes a warning over the radio of intermittent radar contacts to the east. Her warning comes a few seconds before a series of explosions, rising above the brush line of a small islet. Shortly thereafter, a disorganized gaggle of PT imps flees from behind the islet, forming a star pattern as they scurry to regroup. It seems this group sought to ambush the Elites. They likely didn't expect to be flushed from their cover, and their surprise will make them easy pickings for any Elite which observes them.

     Slowly, the smiling, soaken wet form of All-Seeing Eye rises, standing atop the islet as smoke rises from wreckage behind him. Purple lightning streaks from the miniaturized Essence cannons in his eyes, chasing the would-be ambushers as they frantically hurry across the lake's surface.

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure's eyes go wide as the ambush nearly gets ambushed itself. The explosions from All-Seeing Eye bushwhacking the PT Imps break their morale and cause them to break formation, which lets Yuudachi break off and finish them off with a few shots from her cannons.

    The I-class, although expecting an ambush, is caught off guard by the cannon fire from Yuna, and the torpedoes from the Leeroy Jenkins. It's engulfed in a great plume of water, and a flame burst as its magazine goes up, and then, as it tries to rear up and roar defiance, is intercepted by Gaonoir's dropkick, sending it crashing back into the water, where it is lost in the murk.

    The PT Imps escorting the transports hurriedly try to release the ropes tying them to the bulbous Wa-class, but are cut down by numbers with the fussilade of knives from Sakuya and the strafing from Kotone's planes. They fall in showers of black ichor and the horrific screeching that comes from their chittering mouths.

    Meanwhile, Shigure herself closes with the Demon-class, who roars horrifically. "I WILL SINK YOU AS MANY TIMES AS IS NEEDED!" her eyes flaring brilliantly in the darkness.

    Her rigging appears, jabbering jaws extruding cannon barrels from around her waist, and torpedo launchers containing chittering jaws, like explosive pirahna form on her thighs. Notably, the calibers seem much smaller, though that doesn't stop them from opening fire on the Quiet Angel, leaving black marks and causing some fuel oil to begin to leak from the black haired girl's side.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
    There isn't a whole lot Josuke's going to be able to do that's going to make a difference here. Maybe he'll be able to patch someone up if they need it, but until then he's really just insurance. Still, better to have and not need than need and not have.

    When the Imps start firing at the Leeroy, though, Josuke sees an opportunity. If Leyanne is the queen of doing stupid things, she might just appreciate this bit of stupid: Josuke actually STANDS IN THE LINE OF FIRE. Why? Because he's got his Stand in front of him, and Crazy Diamond is attempting to punch some of that fire away form the ship. The Stand emits its probably familiar-by-now cry of "DORARARARA!" as it punches at the shots, trying to punch them out of the way.

    He's not going ot be able to knock all of them away, but with luck he should be able to punch away enough of them that the Leeroy won't take too very much damage.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace grins, punching the air as, between the three of them, the I-class only gets a chance to let off a few shots before she's sent to the depths under combined firepower. "That's two, goot shooting!" She congratulates her crew. "Now let's get those tubes reloaded!"

She stays ducked down, mostly protected by the armoured sides to the flying bridge and wheelhouse as AA fire - some of it pretty large calibre, considering - begins to pepper the little boat. And then Josuke steps up with Crazy Diamond, punching rounds out of the air. Now that, that's impressive. And it looks -really- cool, too. Some of the bigger rounds detonate with a surprising pop, spraying little rings of shrapnel out and into the water.

Most of the rounds that do get through go clean through; the wooden hull isn't significant enough to actually detonate the fuses on the rounds, thankfully. It's only when they hit the armour that the AA shells detonate, and there's enough protection - for now - to weather it. For now, at least; of course there's always the chance that a round will hit an engine or something else vital, but... the odds are low, at least for now.

And with the PT imps bound, the boat's other weapons open up - a veritable fusillade of firepower; 20mm, 40mm, and .50 fire from every gun the little boat can get trained onto an imp.

And the boat doesn't slow down.

Sakuya (929) has posed:
    Chaos is sown amidst the transports and their PT Imp entourage. The leading I-class has already been dealt with. As her compatriots shift their targets, Izayoi Sakuya flickers and disappears again. The knives stuck into various Imps and Wa-class disappear, mysteriously.

    Sakuya, also, is changing targets.

    She reappears a blink of an eye later, just over the shoulder of the unknown Demon-class Abyssal. Cradling her chin in one hand, eyes closed, she comments, "A bold promise. Do you fully intend to uphold it? I' right here."

    The Perfect Maid appears to be goading for a close range attack.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Given the size of PT boats are a major issue with how they could over run the force they have here with weight of numbers? Kotone is tryin to clear them out as quickly as possible. She also does her best to push the screams out of her mind. It's the sort of thing you can't unhear even if you didn't have enhanced memory to a degree. The pattle carries on and she moves o send more wavs of fightes out even as Leyanne and Josuke are really going balls to the wall crazy then again crazy can work well and it seems to be in this situation. She's also concenred that there might be subs of something else under the waves hunting for her...all of a sudden it migth be baseles but he fear is there.

Gaonoir has posed:
Gaonoir remains hovering as he watchs the I-class sink under the water, making sure she's actually down and out of the fight. When she doesn't quickly resurface he snorts. "Stay under the waves were you belong." Then turns his attention to the rest of the encounter. Hmmm. The Imps are already scattering... But that doesn't mean they won't try to regroup and swarm the others trying to take down the Demon-Class.

""Let's mop up the small fry before they can regroup into a big problem," he radios for the group.

He clenches his fists again, this time more of that kirby krackle of purple and black snapping around the thick metal gauntlets. Followed by a plume of water briefly surging from the small shockwave of him launching back to a higher vantage point.

"SHADOW GATLING" Gaonoir raises and then thrusts out both his charged fists, releasing the dark energy into a rapid fire barrage of shadowy pellets streaming rat-a-tat-tat-tat style across the scrambling Imp formation.

All-Seeing Eye has posed:
TRANSMODAL RAPID TARGETING SYSTEM ONLINE

     Arms folded behind his back, the Exalt flips his hair, sending the long, black length behind his shoulder. A purple grid fills his vision, and squares occupied by PT Imps are isolated. His 360-degree vision is filled with targeting trajectories, spoiling him for choice.

     With a grin, he cuts loose, and lighting skips across the water to strike an Imp struggling to untether from the Wa-class. 'Strike' perhaps isn't the right word. 'Pierce' might be better--as barring evasive action from the imp, the shot will simply burn right through its body and do the same to several others, before bouncing off of the Wa-class' hull to seek another group.

     He hasn't moved from his spot on the islet. Why should he? Victory is his. ...and everyone else's, of course.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
I-Class down; the Imps are more or less handled, and Kagurazaka keeps an ear perked in case any of her allies need a little more help with them, but Leyanne and Josuke seem to have their opposition in hand. And the Demon-class -

She could have been *deaf* and she would have heard that roar: if not the exact words, then the menace underlying it. She's *almost* en route to assist Shigure even before the destroyer admits on-channel that she can't handle this on her own - but if somebody else needed more help than Shigure did, Kagurazaka would be en route to assist them just as readily.

In the meantime? There are reasons why Kagurazaka only fired three of her cannons when she has five of them to work with - specifically, holding some firepower in reserve for unanticipated threats. In particular, she was ready on the off-chance that there would be Abyssal air cover; their intel didn't indicate that there *would* be, but Kagurazaka's most usual role is anti-aircraft, and her protective streak towards her friends is unbroken no matter how she's fighting. So she wanted to be ready - and she had a couple of anti-air shells loaded, just in case they'd be needed.

She just doesn't need them for Abyssal *aircraft*.

She coordinates on the radio, warning Sakuya as she spots the maid hovering that close to the Demon-class ... and grits her teeth quietly; this is going to be *really* close. A few seconds' work to set the timing and the angle .. and then one of her remaining turrets fires, launching the shell -

Which ought to go off at a point where the flash will dazzle the Demon-class, anti-air shrapnel peppering it, but - hopefully - not hurting Sakuya, Shigure, or any other allies.

Shigure has posed:
    The Imp stops firing as it sees it's shots being deflected by the Stand. It turns to trying desperately to free itself so it can escape... until it's pierced by the lightning-like bolt from All-Seeing Eye. The bolt skips through several imps, then punches through the hull of the Wa-class, richocheting off something inside, which a moment later, causes the transport to expand rapidly, before exploding in a conflagation as the ammunition and fuel drums cook off inside of it.

    Gaonoir's contribution puts more Imps on the bottom. Until the last few manage to free themselves... and very quickly start to scurry away at flank speed, kicking up rooster tails behind them, abandoning the remaining transports and the Demon. "COWARDS! FAITHLESS DOGS! I'LL DEAL WITH YOU LATER!" screams the Demon. She turns, and with a flash of steel from a sheath at her hip, lashes out with a saber, jagged and cruel as all Abyssal weaponry at Sakuya. "Over, and over. Sink into the darkness!"

    Kotone's planes help drive off the Imps and stop them from finding their courage and coming back around, harrassing them and sinking a few more.

    Shigure, and Yuudachi as she comes back into formation, split away from a direct course, as Yuna fires her airburst shell at the Demon. The shell splits between the two destroyers, exploding in the Abyssal's back and wrecking one of the gun turrets. "I WON'T LET YOU GET THE CARRIERS! I WON'T!" she roars in defiance, turning back and leaping at Shigure, saber raised for an overhead slash, which is intercepted by the cannon tonfa crossing in front of the black-haired girl.

    Yuudachi draws her knife and slides in, cutting the connections on the torpedo launchers as she skids across the water, causing the weapons to fall lifelessly into the water and sink to the bottom.

Sakuya (929) has posed:
    The Demon spins around, weilding a sword.

    Sakuya's eyes open, glowing red.

    And then she is gone. In her place, three concentric rings of silver-bladed knives materialize around the Abyssal warrior, hesitating for just a moment or two before they launch themselves inward, converging on the Demon from all sides at once. A distraction that also renders her at least temorarily vulnerable to the other attackers, whose weapons may be more effective.

    Sakuya herself reappears several paces away, coasting backward with just the tip of one toe touching the lake's surface, "I have no intention of dieing here. My apologies."

Gaonoir has posed:
The Imps are either sunk or fleeing like smart little minions, so Gaonoir turns to glance in the direction of the fight with the Demon-Class. They did want to try and take her alive, so... He gives his engines a throttle to launch himself in that direction as Sakuya tries to pin her down with her magic knife tricks.

This time as he arcs towards the Abyssal the Digimon is engulfed briefly in a dark aura. Which shatters away in a shower of voxels to reveal he's devolved into his Adult form. The one that resembles a massive black bear with the head and tail of a husky, yeah. It's a bit of a shift down in power, but they do want to try and take her captive.

Which Dark Gaogamon has better tools for as well. "BLITZ STRIKAAAH!" As he drops towards the Demon-Class the two ends of his battle scarf whip out, streaming through the air to try and grab onto her limbs and help restrict her movements by binding them up.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
FMS Leeroy Jenkins finds himself in clear water as the PT Imps decide discretion is the better part of valour, and engage Attack Pattern Brave Sir Robin. The 80ft PT boat swings around and begins to circle the fight, coming around and slowing to a halt in front of the flotilla of Wa-class vessels. Leyanne stands up, clearly visible over the rim of the flying bridge, bringing up a bullhorn

"Haul to and power down your engines!" She announces, her voice rendered slightly flat by the bullhorn. "You are now in the custody of the Hikari Defense Alliance. Comply with our commands and you will not be harmed. You will be treated fairly and honourably. We've even got a barbecue for the ride home."

She looks at Josuke. "Any who don't comply, have Crazy Diamond put one of the bigger rounds across their bow, maybe a 40mm or something like that."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The Demon-class has a *sword*? If Yuna were in some form of her Light Suit, maybe she *could* handle that - but not in her cruiser gear. She's only armed for ranged battle at this point, she doesn't even have a knife like Yuudachi is carrying.

Fortunately, there are plenty of others who *aren't* handicapped by a lack of melee options. Kagurazaka keeps her distance as her cannons cycle; most of them have anti-air shells this time, although the fuse timing has to be tweaked on the fly. During a lull in the melee, she fires, trying to box the Demon-class in with more airburst shells, filling the air around the Abyssal with the flash and roar of detonating shells, and showering it with shrapnel to keep her from focusing her rage on any single target.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa seems to be breaking the moral of the imps she would keep up upon them mnaking sure the imps are going nowhere while she gets a few more of her plkanes to star wndering a bit as the talk about the carriers comes up from the fight with Shiugure and Yuudachi taking on one the far more dangerous Abyssals. She also hears as the surrender demand goes out and she'll hold back her planes for the moment she watches with baited breth hoping the Abyssals accept the demand.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
    Josuke is far enough from Yuna's firing area that he doesn't need to do much more than close his eyes for a moment. Now, this leaves him and his Stand open for that moment! But the flash and shrapnel itself shouldn't pose much of an issue directly. Besides that, the Imps appear to be retreating, so they pose less of a danger.

    As Leyanne brings out the bullhorn to call the Abyssal to surrender, Josuke pauses, to take stock of the situation. He nods as Leyanne makes her request, fishing out the biggest round he can find in the ammo box that was provided. "Right! I'll try. There are human-shaped targets attached to the ship-bodies. A shot aimed at the human shape should at least hurt a LITTLE bit." But he doesn't fire yet.

    For now, he turns his attention to the boat itself -- it's been punctured in a few places. Now that they've got a moment, he can concentrate on fixing that. He crouches, putting his hand on the deck of the boat near his feet. Hopefully Leyanne know how this works, or she might be about to have a minor heart attack. The Stand turns its attention on the boat too, and with an orange-gold aura around its fists...

    Begins to PUNCH THE DECK OF THE BOAT! Complete with that loud "DORARARARARA!"

    Except it won't damage the boat. In fact, Crazy Diamond's restoration power is in full effect here, and should do the OPPOSITE of 'damage' the boat!

All-Seeing Eye has posed:
Across the lake, Eye's vision zooms in on the attacking Demon. His focus is on her sword hand, which now has a purple targeting reticule encircling it.

         AIM CALIBRATING SENSORS ONLINE

     The miniaturized cannons in his eyes send out a brief puff of steam, gears clicking into firing position once again. One hand rises up to rest upon his chin, and his lips curl into a smile entirely unappropriate for the situation. It's as if he's waiting for the punchline of a joke, rather than waiting for an enemy to respond to a demand for surrender.

     If that sword arm should raise in violence again, he'll make sure she sees the error in so doing by shooting the weapon out of her hand.

Shigure has posed:
    The Wa-class transports heave to. They're unarmed, and after watching one of their number get torn apart by her cargo being set off, they don't particularly want to suffer the same fate. They float there, holding their bulbous cargo holds with both arms and chittering softly amongst themselves, their misshapen heads hidden by the black 'helmets' connected to the rest of their rigging.

    The Demon snarls, her body covered in those knives, which are unceremoniously ejected from her skin as her aura flares to life, a deep lilac that matches her eyes. "YOU WON'T HAVE THEM!" she screams, shoving back from Shigure as Yuudachi cuts her torpedos free. She flips backward, landing in a crouch on the water with a wince, black ichor flowing from the knife wounds, staining her alabaster skin and the water a sickly black, oily texture. She hunkers down as the Airburst shells detonate around her, then brings up her unruined cannon to intercept the BLITZ STRIKER from Gaonoir, letting the rig mount absorb the strike, the turret shattering away as she turns to send the Huskybear past her with his momentum.

    The Demon pants for breath, using her sword as a crutch as she crouches there, teeth gritted and her aura lapping at the air like flames. "YOU... WILL ALL DIIIIIE!" she roars. The sound of her voice is joined by the high pitched whine of Abyssal Aircraft engines, Type 2 Fighters and Dive Bombers coming over the treetops from the west, along with a flight of those weird Hawk-like craft that Sakuya would likely recognize. The Fighters come down over the top of Kotone's fighter wing, using their energy to strafe cannonfire across the piston-engine craft before they can react, while the dive bombers, instead of going for any of the other surface ships, aim for the Wa-class transports, dropping bombs on them, before pulling out and joining the furball. The Hawks, aim for the Demon herself, latching onto her and lifting her up and away from the battle, while the other craft distract and divert.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace does not like it when her charges are threatened. As soon as the engine noise is heard, Leeroy's guns all pivot and look towards the skies. As soon as the Abyssal aircraft become visible, the 20mm guns on that side open fire, shortly followed by the .50-calibres. The big Bofors gun takes a little while longer to swing around and lock on target, focussing primarily on the dive bombers with fat, airbursting rounds.

Leeroy swats an impressive number of them from the sky, but alas, as the saying goes, the bomber will always get through. Especially if you have enough of them. No matter how much firepower Leeroy throws, there seems to be more of them.

"Keep firing guys!" Leyanne calls out. "Shit! They got one... and another! Intensify that fire!"

As she shout orders, she guides the boat into the maelstrom of fire, positioning it so the stern is facing the survivng Wa-class and his bow is facing where the bombers are coming from, maximizing his field of fire. But it's not enough to save everyone...

Gaonoir has posed:
The clawed scarves snare the turret as it's swung in their path, and another swing smashes the weapon but slingshots the Digimon away. He arcs through the air and then hits the water with enough momentum that he actually tumbles on the surface a bit before splashing underneath.

A few moments later he comes back up, spitting out some water and shaking his head. By the time he's gotten himself back in order the enemy airforce is swooping in after the supply ships and harrowing his allies. For a moment he cusses himself out mentally for switching from his flight form, and by the time he re-digivolved they'd be gone. "Of all the rotten luck.." garruffing to himself as he starts swimming (via doggy paddle of course) towards the Leeroy.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The Demon-class is living up (or down, as the case may be) to her designation, regardess of her specific class ... but all of a sudden there are bigger problems to worry about: inbound Abyssal aircraft.

Kagurazaka kicks herself mentally for letting her guard down, even as her equipment fairies load a fresh batch of anti-air shells; by the time those are ready, it's become clear that the airstrike is heading for the Wa-class transports. Even if destroying those supplies would be more of a problem for the Abyssals in this area than for the Hikari Fleet, Kagurazaka STILL isn't inclined to let them get through to deliver their payloads. She may not be able to get into an optimal intercept position, but she still launches a volley of anti-air shells up to intercept the attack wing, punctuating the airbursts with a barrage from the smaller machine guns on her rigging.

Any of the aircraft who get through that first staggered volley will have to be handled by her allies.

All-Seeing Eye has posed:
The target here is the Demon--who has been running her mouth most impetuously. Frankly, it's beginning to annoy the Exalt. Enough so that he actually unfolds his arms, raising them up as the integrated crossbows click free of their housings. The sleeves of his water-resistant jacket bulge, forced upwards by the weapons.

     They are unusual aircraft, these things which carry the Demon. But he's yet to see a design philosophy superior to that of Autochthon. His targeting suite locks onto the vessels carrying the Demon away, finding a firing angle that will take his shots through the odd, glowing circles on the front of each one. Those look important!

     And, just for the sake of being thorough, Eye unloads a torrent of electrical blasts and crossbow bolts, some of which turn around mid-flight as if possessed of their own will, just to strike again.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
    There isn't time to completely fix Leeroy. Josuke would have to get to the actual areas where the holes were to fix them that fast. And there's bigger problems to deal with now. Like aircrafts, and the fact that their target's apparently being airlifted out.

    There's not time for voicing displeasure. As Leyanne fires on the dive-bombers, Josuke uses the ammo to fire on the Hawks. He's aiming for whatever looks human on their visages. And if that doesn't work, he'll fire on whatever it is that the Hawks have latched onto the Demon-class with. He keeps up a steady rate of fire, handing off three rounds to Crazy Diamond, the Stand aiming and firing each one, then Josuke handing over three more.

    It's not going to be super-fast, but he's aiming for precision here, no pun intended. He's trying to keep the Demon-class from getting away, and hoping there's something soft enough on the Hawks to get hurt.

Sakuya (929) has posed:
    Her gambit was more about distraction than actual harm. The others have weapons better suited to this particular kind of solid-skinned youkai, after all. Sakuya flickers out of perception for a moment-- and the discarded knives quite suddenly disappear before they sink into the lake.

    She returns to normal time above the water, her arms folded loosely. Eyes wander from the besieged Abyssal to the aircraft swooping in from their distant launch. Eyes closing, she sighs, "What a mess... I suppose it's time for me to clean up." Yuna's flak fire from the surface is already starting to cause chaos in the air formation, but Sakuya doesn't see this as a reason to avoid getting involved.

    Her outline flickers slightly, like a film projector skipping a few frames, and as her shape returns to normal there's countless knives in the air around her just...like that. These surge forward, followed shortly by the Maid herself. Time is about to get a little strange.

    Ah, but it has been a while since she's seen an explosion halt itself, so that should be pleasent to look at.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa becomes rapdily aware of the enemy fighters and bombers coming into the mix. She would do her best to try aqnd get her own fighters to intercept but they got the drop on her and a number of her planes are taken out and she's trying to replace them and she seems confused at the Abyssals are targeting one of their own.

"Damn it."
D It's also only a matter of time before the abyssals want to stop her from putting more air units up. The transports are being taken out and some are moving to try and save them but she's going to try to keep as many of the Abyssal fightes tied up buty she is starting to run low on air craft. After all her rigging is that of a light carrier...not of a more heavy class.

Shigure has posed:
    Shigure turns her cannons on the Demon, "Surrender now! You are beaten!" Her hair flaps then stand up straight, electricity arcing between them. "Radar Spike! Incoming aircraft!" she says, turning her attention away from the Demon as the bombers and fighteres come swarming in. She starts firing skyward, thinning out the bombers, but two Wa-class transports scream, and explode violently as the cargo goes up from the bomb impacts. Yuna and the Leeroy wipe out the majority of the dive bombers, but the damage is already done. The remaining Wa-class try desperately to keep their foundered sisters afloat, chittering forlornly as their grip loosens and the craft slip beneath the murky water.

    Sakuya's attributation to the air battle leaves several Fighters with smoking engines as they're skewered by the knives, some turning tail and trying to limp away, while others turn to strafe the flying Maid. Kotone's fighter screen starts to bring back parity in the air battle.

    Josuke and All-Seeing Eye's assault on the Hawks causes many of them to fall away, bleeding ichor from the pierced eyes, or simply falling apart as the electic bolts cause their onboard fuel to cook off, bursting into flame before simply falling out of the sky.

    The Demon squirms. "Let me go! I had this!" she growls, actually swinging up at the Hawks, slashing at them with her saber. Seems she's still spoiling for a fight, though many more Hawks join to replace those shot down. A booming voice comes across the water. "You cannot have my assistant, Hikari Fleet. We shall meet once more, on the field of battle, but for now, Begone."

Gaonoir has posed:
Gaonoir grabs the ladder from the Leeroy and pulls himself up, shifting to his much smaller base stage as he does so. Followed by some of the martian mouse crew getting a bit of impromtu shower as he, as dogs coming out of the water tend to do, stops and shakes himself off. "Well on the bright side, we really showed 'em we're not to be taken lightly."

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace nods in agreement, moving to try and help some of the Wa class stay afloat, looking over at the survivors sadly. "Sorry. I did my best..." she says, morosely.

Mice onboard help Gaonoir up onto the deck, offering him a towel and a hot mug of tea.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
    "Crap!" Josuke hisses, from between gritted teeth, at the voice. And that the Demon-class is getting away! But hey, at least the others retreated too. He is promptly cooled off, though, by Gaonoir's shaking off. "Gah! Watch it!" he complains.

    Silliness aside, if there ARE survivors out there that have damage, Josuke can definitely head to the side to try to fix what he can. Despite his complaint to Gaonoir, he actually seems fine with getting in the water as long as he keeps his head above water!

Sakuya (929) has posed:
    Well. A storm of knives certainly attracted the attention of enemy aircraft. Sakuya shifts from offense to defense, and finds herself in familiar territory: Worming her way through dense clouds of artillery fired from small airborne attackers. She weaves through streams of machine-gun fire, returning in kind with a thrown dagger each time she's targeted. A dance in the air built around avoidance and counterattacks.

    It lasts until things stop attacking her and are far enough away that she can't provoke them anymore.

    Curiously, none of the knives thrown ever reach the ground. As things start retreating, the maid comes to a halt, a fan of daggers between her fingers folding into a single blade, and then disappearing. Her posture means she has to glance over her shoulder towards the source of the voice, eyes narrowing slightly. A voice she recognizes, even if the others hadn't heard it before.

    After a moment, Sakuya disappears. In the same instant, she reappears on the forecastle of the Leeroy, touching down without a sound, like a dragonfly. One hand is brought across her middle, the other sweeping upward as she bows, "Allow me." That sweeping hand is brought forward, and just as suddenly a full tea service tray occupies her outstretched hand, balanced perfectly, "A simple cup as offered-- this is one thing, but cream and sugar if it is desired, as well."

All-Seeing Eye has posed:
Is that a challenge? In the wake of the booming voice, a single, haughty laugh rings out. "Hah!" It's brief--but its intention can't be mistaken. All-Seeing Eye finds the command amusing. He is a Champion, Chosen by Autochthon, elevated above the status of mortals and their creations. And this voice would dare tell him what he can't have?

     The engagement on the river? An Abyssal retreat. The surveillance on the island? Another retreat. The engagement in this meeting of tributaries? The third in what appears to be a most ignominious tradition. /Will/ they meet on the field of battle? Doubtful, if previous encounters are to be expected. "Battle implies combat, madam--and I've seen /precious/ little of that from the likes of you!"

     The Exalt scoffs, snapping the collar of his coat before calling forth Tranquil Egress. The hoverbike unfolds from just a pair of handlebars into a full vehicle, which Eye straddles. His foot kicks the ignition on contemptuously, and he rides out over the surface of the water, following the fleeing Abyssals. He could certainly destroy them, of course--but it's far more fun to spy, especially since in this case it'll be a bit of turnabout.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Kagurazaka was admittedly more worried about protecting the transports than keeping the Demon from being retrieved. It's ... somewhat less than cheering to see that both goals unmet.

Oh, not COMPLETELY failed - some of the Abyssal transports are safe, to the extent that 'safe' applies when they were either getting sunk by their own or captured by the Hikari Fleet. But still, the fact that any transports *did* go down makes it somewhat less than a successful mission in the blonde's opinion.

But. Shigure and Yuudachi are still afloat, the Leeroy Jenkins and its complement are still in decent shape, Gaonoir and Eye and Sakuya seem to be more or less unscathed. *That* much, at least, is untainted Good News.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is focused on making her best use of her fighters but it seems that life is about to get interesting one way or another, she'll fall back a bit to not get in the way of the Wa-class rescue and give Josuke some over watch she can't spare many planes but she spares what she can.

"This just keeps going..."

Then comes the burn from Eye, that was prtetty harsh but iut could also be true.