6116/RIFTS: The Garnet Town Gambit (Part 2)

RIFTS: The Garnet Town Gambit (Part 2)
Date of Scene:	24 October 2018
Location:	RIFTS Earth - Garnet Town
Synopsis:	Having tracked down the brodkil camp, our heroes slay the demons, save the prisoners, encounter a human collaborator, and learn who was truly behind the attacks.
Cast of Characters:	Staren, Maya, 6666, 6736, Gilgamesh, 6386, 6404

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Staren has posed:
    The party is off! Dan's glitterboy power armor and Kupot's motorcycle can follow along under the chopper, once he's retrieved it.

    Heading east, the river bends to run north-south, and following it south for a bit, the party comes to a place on the river where there's more of those 'rewilded farmland' clearings on each side. The clearing to the east side is bordered by a cliff of a couple dozen feet or so, where an earthquake hit the area 300 years ago. A couple dozen tents are clustered on the east end of the clearing, and there's a campfire with a handful of brodkil gathered around it. They are cybernetically enhanced, most with at least one extra arm. One of them has two! Enhanced optical sensors can pick up that in the side of the cliff there's a cave, with a wooden grating on it. And people on the other side. Hmm.

    The power signature is in the river. It... it couldn't actually be a nuclear river sub, right?

    When the brodkil realize an actual honest to god /helicopter/ is here, they know something weird is going on -- barely anyone uses helicopters anymore -- and weirdness means adventurers, and adventurers mean trouble! They start mobilizing, scrambling from around the fire and in their tents to grab weapons.

Brodkil:

    And when a freaking /glitterboy/ comes through the trees, the source of the power reading finally reveals itself: A dark shape surfaces in the water, and then starts to walk onto the shore. A giant robot, 30' tall and painted black, with obvious missile racks on its shoulders and a belly energy turret. The robot looks like it is a mercenary vehicle, with several battle scars and old, weathered insignia. A stylized capital "S" has been marked on the right leg. Dan is going to have his hands full.

Forager battlebot:

Maya has posed:
Before they headed out? Dan would hand out hearing protection either high-end earplugs or something else to any of his allies of the day that would take them. If they didn't well that was on them, Dan had climbed into hulking silver powered armour with a massive gun on the back and clearly a stabilization system to use it.

Curiously on the side of the weapon was painted the english word Longshot, Father back one might notice faded letters that read NEMA.

He's also been singing a song about plucking the feathers of a very chipper sparrow too, all of which in French but hey the multiverse so you can understand it.

That was before they got ready for the ambush though and he comes crashing out of the trees, he brings up his right arm and fires some sort of light ion weapon in it causing a sizzling crackling bolt of energy to go flying at the enemy machine.

"THIS PLANET IS MANKIND's, DEMON! BACK TO THE HELL THAT SPAWNED YOU ALL!."

He's not using the big gun just yet as his machine gets on the move. There is a conviction in his voice. He's been at this a long time from the sounds of it.

<<I'll keep the Mecha busy, you put those demons in the ground.>>

Kupot (6666) has posed:
One does not mistake the guttural growl of the Slepnir for engine trouble. The deep rumbling growl rolls into a throaty roar as the motorcycle thunders along through the wasteland towards the clearing and the river. Kupot's optics zero onto the cave on the cliff.

The massive motorcycle takes the long way around the clearing, only for the bike to tilt and skid a full 180 across the final stretch to come to rest in front of the cave. The moogle street sam nimbly slides off the motorcycle and onto the ground, looking at the wooden grating. He has not drawn either weapon or made a threatening motion towards the machine or brodkil.

It is their impetus and theirs alone to die.

Ryouma Sakamoto (6736) has posed:
    Demons and a giant robot. Hoorah.
    Ryouma looks down from the helicopter he hitched a ride on, and Oryou finishes chewing on the frog she'd been eating the entire time. She glances up when Ryouma laughs nervously.

    "That's more than I expected," he says.
    "It looks like scrap," Oryou notes.
    "Well, it could be trouble, even so," Ryouma answers.
    "Should Oryou go handle it?" she asks.
    "No, no. Let it draw all the attention, we have to rescue the prisoners. Ah, speaking of that... can you draw THAT attention?" Ryouma asks of his partner.
    Oryou nodnods, and hops out of the chopper.

    There's an intentional CRASH as Oryou slams into the ground in the center of the brodkils' camp. This young woman in a black school uniform looks entirely too bored for someone who just did a pseudo-superhero landing.

    She makes up for it by pulling a fist back and delivering a punch to the nearest demon. No pulled punches here. The ground cracks under her feet from the pressure alone.

    "Oryou hopes you all ate well, because she's going to eat you all now," she says.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The King of Heroes goes where he pleases.

     Things like 'sovereign boundaries' or 'world allegiances' or 'common sense' don't apply to Gilgamesh. He is as strong as a star from Heaven, a primordial being from an age when such things didn't exist, when the common sense of mankind was strong and vibrant and the human race was small and mighty, when even killing a slave for no reason was a foolish act. And though he laments openly the world as it has become, the broken world full of too many people, too many machines, and too much suffering, he still finds some joy in wandering and exploring, some pleasure in adventure. For adventure is a vice he has always held, and likely always will.

     Plus, it gets him out of the office, and gives his mortal advisors a chance to figure out how to best do damage control on their rambunctious and hysterically dangerous King.

     At the moment, he's been wandering around in this strange place. There is a familiarity to its patchwork, a feeling not unlike the Age of the Gods, when the mythical realms touched the mortal. There is a pulse to it not unlike that age, where mana flowed freely and power was easy to come by.

     So he's been wandering, following one of those ley lines out of distinct curiosity. The King goes where he pleases, after all. He's been walking it along the river, occasionally casting a glance up at the sky, but otherwise generally keeping his presence at a down-low not because he feels like he has to but because he hasn't particularly needed to do anything. He's literally just following the ley lines, playing with a cell phone, and waiting for something to happen.

     And then something happens. The King stumbles into the middle of the camp. The brodkil mobilize. The mech comes pouring out of the water, rising like a monster. This is a conflict.

     The King laughs, and tosses his phone over his shoulder, and steps forward, walking casually through the arming camp like he doesn't even give a shit. "Splendid!" The King holds out his arms, "I had expected some minor entertainment on my walk! How pleasant that even here, the world knows its sovereign's will! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

     Gilgamesh strides right past the mobilizing soldiers and stops on the edge of the water. There's a glint in his eye as he watches the thing rise, a glint of recognition.

     "Ha, so it's one of these toys, is it." The Glitterboy runs forward to meet the mech, and the King steps slightly to the side as they collide. "I think I have one of these as well!"

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The King of Heroes raises his hand, an imperious sneer on his lips. "Your King has decided to grace you with this pleasure! Look upon it, mongrels, and bow down!"

     He snaps his fingers.

     A massive golden ripple opens beneath him. The King starts laughing as an enormous grey hand lifts him from within the Gate. A gold-crowned machine, vast, grey, red, and round, with a gold belt and gold studs, rises from the ripple. The King stands upon its hand, laughing wildly, his red eyes looking down at the world with that deep disdain. The machine rises to a full thirty feet, bulky and heavy-looking, pushing aside trees as it makes room for itself. Finally, as the King's hand goes to his head, his laughter redoubled, the machine opens its face, and deposits him within it.

     Gilgamesh lands. He's no longer wearing his coat and sweater. As he lands in the cockpit, he's wearing what might as well be gold spandex, with a red belt, red scarf, red goggles, and red lines. His arms uncross, and he raises a finger.

     "WAKE UP!"

     The finger slams against the button, and the machine lets out a mighty roar and charges forward towards the mech, swinging ancient Babylonian fists with all force for the face.

     "This looks like fun!" He calls over the loudspeaker, "I think I'll play with you for a while, mongrels! Be amazed! Be in awe! And be thankful! The one who will kill you is me, the King of Heroes!"

Staren has posed:
    There are people behind the grating. Mostly humans, but a few elves -- or whatever Von and Lithani are -- and dwarves. Most of them move back away from the grating in alarm, but then an elderly dwarf shuffles up to look out at Kupot with piercing eyes. "Are you here to help us?" And then he looks alarmed. "Behind you!"

    The four-armed brodkil, larger than the others, is using his four arms to hold two guns. One looks like some kind of energy rifle, and the other... is a boxy affair that he's having to steady as it seems to charge for a split second and then release a superheated fireball that tends to engulf and burn whatever poor unfortunate it hits right at Kupot! "Fresh meat!" The creature shouts. The dwarf hits the deck and the prisoners dive out of the way for fear in case the shot goes into the cave!

Note (6386) has posed:
    Much earlier, a certain girl had wanted to reply to this Syndicate posting by Garnet Town. And she'd done done her very best! Flew from a warp gate that was a few hundred miles from the location!

    ... And then the skies turned bluish, her sense of direction was totally jolted, and she found herself over the open ocean in the middle of a storm.

    It's been a WILD RIDE since then.

    And so as the party approaches the Brodkil base...

    "... aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Note is flying in like a humanoid rocket, her face twisted in the kind of frustration that no girl should EVER have to deal with. The face that suggests there's going to be HELL TO PAY.

    But then she spots a campfire down below and a bunch of people (Brodkil or not) down below and does the first thing that comes natural to her.

    She swoops down at the far edge of camp and SLAM-lands with a big eruption of dirt - none of which falls on her, given the swirling Ki aura.

    When it settles down, the youth raises her arms and shouts at the top of her lungs, "I have FLOWN ACROSS THE WORLD THREE TIMES AND MISSED WHERE I'M GOING! I'm looking for Garnet Town! Do you guys know where it is?!"

    This happens... just about as the camp breaks into all kinds of turmoil and the inhabitants start going for weapons. Huh, there's a noisy helicopter overhead, isn't there?

    Note decides to look up at it. Her tail strikes at the air a few times as if showing her agitation at the situation.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot nods the ancient dwarf ma...wo....person. "Kupo." He says in the simplest affirmation. The moogle can see it long before the alarm is shouted. The surprise and fear in the dwarf's face is enough to get Kupot to rapidly turn around. But no weapon is drawn yet. He has no trouble with these thugs. He is not particularly worried. "Stop."

It responds with a fireball.

Balls.

There are many things in this world the moogle can slash out of the air. Flamethrowers are not one of them. He twists to stand in front of the cave, dead center, and with a silver sheen and the sound of cutting air, the sword flicks out in front of him, darting in a quick circle. Then again. Then again.

The vacuum draws the fireball out of the air, preventing it from moving PAST Kupot, and instead, moving fully into Kupot. The flames engulf him entirely briefly.

When they past, his fur has burned black on one side of his face. His straw hat is half consumed. And his jacket has a large burn on the front. Kupot sticks the sword tip first into the ground, taking a moment to remove his jacket and the hat, revealing the sleeveless shirt and black pants underneath. His hand grips the sword again and wrests it free, pointing the chisel point at the beast.

"If your soul returns to your master, kupo. Tell it I am coming."

Then he bursts off the ground in a forceful jump, rocketing towards the four armed brodkill with a single cross slash that comes with its own sonic boom.

Staren has posed:
    A voice comes back over the radio. <"Demon? Geeze, is that really how glitterboys talk? Cool your jets, man, I'm just here for a paycheck. That'll make a nice salvage bonus, though!"> The ion gun's impact is visible as a patch of paint is stripped clean off and the metal looks like something started to eat it away. The covers on the forager's missile racks flip open -- this one's been refitted for minimissiles for close-range engagements -- and lets loose with a salvo of them at Dan's machine. They don't home like Staren's, though, flying in a straight line and exploding just short of the distance to Dan's mech into lances of weaponized physics!

    And then GREAT KING BURIKI DAIOH RISES OUT OF THE GROUND. <"What the hell?!"> The pilot can feel that something is wrong here. He frantically tries to dodge, but the forager is more of a 'walking tank' than an agile mobile suit -- it manages to at least take the hit partway to the side, and get sent spinning -- struggling to return a punch of its own with one of those three-fingered hands while keeping the robot upright. <"What is that thing?!">

    Meanwhile, in the camp...

    Oryou lands and punches one. It manages to avoid instant death this time -- it has some cybernetic plating on its chest, and is sent tumbling over the ground instead of straight into a tree. The other five brodkil scattered around the camp divide their attention between Oryou and Note (who is lumped in with the adventurers because of her timing), a chorus of PEW PEW laser rifles echoing around the camp as lances of deadly light cris-cross this way and that!

Gideon Kaspar (6404) has posed:
    Though the helicopter is ostensibly a military transport, the pilot isn't being paid for hot insertion (metaphorically; he gets paid a lot) and what kind of anti-air the brodkil have access to is still a huge unknown, thus the west side of the river is their stop. Gideon stays on board, high above the battlefield and out of weapons range, where he can keep track of things from an aerial perspective, while Clover and Krysanthe absail partway and then jump the difference, immediately rushing to cover.

    This time there aren't any questions from, or deliberations between, the T-Dolls. They know what they're here to do by now; their commander's discussion with Garnet's mayor and the information gathered therefrom was plenty clear enough. Both safeties come off, eyes forward, fingers inside the trigger guard. The banter stops.

    "Confirming the VIPs are inside the cave. The door is *not* bulletproof. Watch your line of fire. Hold the west bank; they don't have a defensible position that necessitates crossing the water. Move in once nothing red is breathing." "Acknowledged." "Copy that, Commander."

    The two T-Dolls open up from rocky positions along the riverbank where the terraforming done by the previous earthquake gives them plenty of thick rises and crags to work with. They don't do Hollywood-style shooting; both of them expose only their weapons and eyes to take shots, and use three and five round bursts, staggering with each other. The difference comes from the way their guns crack like bolts of lightning this time, having a completely different sound profile from the standard ammunition of earlier. HV/APCR --literally itty bitty tank penetrators-- are the munition of choice for putting clusters of bullets in brodkil heads and chests, double and triple tapping between them to ensure hitting as many vital organs as possible.

    There's also the fact that neither one covers the other to reload. The stream of fire is absolutely constant. Magazines are swapped out seamlessly in the interval between bursts. Tracers never stray more than a few centimetres from the target point. Their lines of fire cross in perfect synchronization back and forth across the camp, lighting up the closest targets that aren't sensible enough to get behind some really thick rocks and pumping them full of tungsten until they drop. They don't call targets to each other, but never accidentally hit the same one, and both of them maintain constant awareness of the enemy front line with only minimal instruction. Just the two of them have the coverage and firepower of a dozen squads of crack infantry already.

Staren has posed:
    Agor, the four-armed Brodkil laughs as Kupot is engulfed in flame. The few prisoners daring to look wince...

    And then the laughter stops, and the winces turn to looks of amazement. He's alive?! The moogle rushes him. One of the hands holding the rifle draws a vibro-sword and tries to block, but Kupot's strike presses it back into his own skin! Sparks and blood shoot out as his chest is cut into, but ironically the damage from his own blade is less than what Kupot's would've done if he hadn't blocked. The demon looks shocked and surprised, though, and clearly sees this as a serious fight now. It drops the rifle to free up a hand to try and grab Kupot's sword arm with its superior reach so it can bring its weapons to bear on him less-molested. It lets out a half-mechanical growl.

    The T-Dolls methodical shots from across the river are completely unexpected while the brodkil have their focus on Kupot, Oryou, and Note. They cry out as they take bullets, but most remain standing. The one Oryou punched is shot through the head as he tries to get back up, and falls still. Two of the brodkil run for cover behind trees, firing wildly back at the T-dolls.

Ryouma Sakamoto (6736) has posed:
    Well, Oryou's job is to distract the demons, so it's working. Focused gunfire certainly seems to faze her more easily than the spray shots of last time, too. The crackle of energy blasting her and even scorching her lightly is flashy, though the woman remains completely still even in the hair of shots.

    Her shadow stretches along the ground and grows to a tremendous size. It's not a human shadow - it's clearly some kind of very large dragon, or snake. Whatever it is, it's got a gaping, hungry maw, and feels entirely too present for just a shadow.

    Oryou's hair launches in every direction, trying to tangle up or otherwise maim the brodkils firing at her so liberally. Those she can manage to grab fully, she'll drag to herself, and for a moment it'll look like the ground parts ways into pure darkness, from which a serpent's massive jaw emerges to consume the poor demon.

    For the ones luckier than that, her hair is just really nasty, sharp, and corrosive.

    Ryouma, for his part, jumps out of the chopper once the T-Dolls begin their assault. He seems to intend to land by the cave, and to slip inside amidst the chaos.

Maya has posed:
Dan can put a lot aside to go demon hunting, he'd worked with the Union and even the Confeds in the past to hunt them, a certain police Kitten was also involved. Gilgamesh is a Demi-God in the local viewpoint. He doesn't like that sort at all, but thankfully for everyone, there are Brodekill to deal with right now as his family has for centuries been? Demons first.

Still he called the USA-G10 a toy, they called it a /toy. Right now he's got another robot to deal with. Then the guy summons a robot, it was Megaverse and this was Wednesday on Earth. He focused to continue the fight.

Missiles it had to be missiles. Had it been lasers? He'd laugh them off like Gil would the point of view of anyone else who is not him. Missiles? That's where his machine has some issues, still the level of armouring this machine has it pretty nuts as it comes out of the fire.

When Gil does his wonderful diversion for him. Dan moves quickly the pylon system kicks in, there is a sound akin to the pylons for a Terran siege tank deploying as they drive into the earth and the massive gun levels into place. The huge weapon locks into place as he feels he opens fire, not a full salvor yet but there is a massive sonic boom and the shockwave will wash over the combat zone, anyone without protected hearing might be having a bad day and any glass is going to have a bad dead as the round is fired at Mach 5 right or the robot while it's directed.

Note (6386) has posed:
    "Uhhh..." The chaos in the camp just gets worse and worse! And Note's stuck in the thick of it. Although she begins to look around in heavy confusion - far from someone who's actually going to attack anyone - when the Brodkil warriors level weapons at her... she stares right back at them. Yeah, she's ready to fight.

    She's ALWAYS ready to fight.

    "What's WRONG with you people?! FINE, but don't blame me for beating you within an inch of your lives. I'm REALLY pissed off right now!" PEW PEW lasers fly at her and Note--

    Note extends her hands at them. Hands that faintly glow in said laser light--

    *SPANG SPANG SPOOOOOING!!*

    On impact, the blasts she guards against go flying awkwardly every which way, diverted around her. No, this doesn't make any sort of sense, but that's what happens.

    But in the exchange... shots that came in from the side, which she couldn't sense because LASERS, catch her in a blind spot. Huge holes are burned into her clothes, scorching straight through to her flesh and leaving a nasty burn while also bowling her over!

    "Huuah!" Slapping a hand to the ground, she flips to her feet and now GROWLS out her rage at the cyborgs. A pouty look of growing FURY's on her face. The peak of childishness!

    Angrily, she aims a hand at one of the Brodkil, thumb up and index finger out in the childish gun gesture!

    And then, the offending finger erupts with blue-white light, a thick beam lashing out in return. Pure Ki bolts fly for the Brodkil! Some are aimed at weapons, others more at the center of mass. But she quickly drops the gun gesture and instead just fires blasts from her palms. Dozens of them.

    Hundreds of them. At basically EVERYTHING that has a weapon and isn't Oryou.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The Great Tin King takes a fist across the face. Its metal head spins. Its arms wobble slightly as it tries to regain its balance. It fails. The massive robot hits the ground with a *whud*, kicking up a storm of dust and knocking aside yet more trees. Inside, Gilgamesh is shaken around furiously by an overeager special effects budget. His head swings forwards, narrowly avoiding hitting it on the console by the skin of his teeth. His fingers grip the controls a bit tighter.

     "Ha ha ha ha ha! Just one of my many toys, mongrel! I admit, it's been some time since I got to use it. Aren't you flattered? Or perhaps afraid! After all, this Great Tin King of mine cannot be stopped! Not only is it a mighty Noble Phantasm, but each weapon installed is one as well!" He sounds like a particularly maniacal toy collector. "No, for your foolish ears, I'll simplify! It's a magic weapon made of other magic weapons! Even its accessories are magic! The Sky Wonder, the Oceania Cracker, the Iron Bull Chariot, the Dragon Hammer! Don't they all sound so magnificent? Maybe if you live long enough to be worth it, I'll even get to show off one of them! But I doubt it!"

     Gilgamesh crosses his arms. "So bow down! Accept your defeat! But don't do it too quickly - I want you to struggle! I want to enjoy my Great Tin King!"

     There's a surge of mana in the air. The ley line twitches as Gilgamesh dumps power into the Great Tin King. Its red eyes light up. It stands, raising its arms like a power lifter, letting out another mighty GAOOOOO roar that shakes the trees and the earth around it. Across the cockpit, various images light up, green lights flaring with OK! underneath ancient cuneform letters. Gilgamesh laughs. His hands go through his hair, slicking it back into its spiked standing-up form.

     "Let's begin with one of my favorite toys!"

     "ITS NAME IS!"

     The shout echoes through the forest. ITS NAME IS! ITS NAME IS! ITS NAME IS! ITS NAME IS!

     "UTU! PAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNCH!"

     The magic gathers in the Great Tin King's right fist. Its left hand slams down on its right wrist. There is a thunderous explosion as lightning and fire and sky meet as one, and a fist filled with divine justice comes roaring forth. How is it guiding itself? How will it return to the Great Tin King?

     Magic. That's how.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
The katana scabbard comes up with the other hand, using the front of it like a pole to push the palm back and continue the movement. His hand lets go of the scabbard, leaving it in the temporary care of the brodkil. Kupot is still utilizing the same jump air time, pushing himself off the scabbard to get himself an additional bit of height and bring himself up into the sky. He has the height. He has the high ground. And he's going to fucking use it.

The katana comes up. The katana tries straight down towards the top of the brodkill's head.

Staren has posed:
    With their leader occupied with Kupot, the five other brodkil find themselves occupied with four other targets.

    It is chaos. One of the demons screams as it's eaten by a dragon shadow. The others scream as tendrils corrode them and ki shots burn them and send them stumbling. One charges Oryou with a scream, firing its laser and using its third arm to swing a vibroblade as it closes in. Another dives for cover behind the torn remains of their tents, making him a little harder to see before he pops into view and tries to quickly snipe Note again.

    Agor grunts as the scabbard hits one of his hands. He fires the gun again, but it only hits the ground as Kupot leaps off his own scabbard to come down in a vertical chop! Having so many arms continues to give Agor a second chance, though -- his own blade swings up and pushes the katana to the side enough that it 'only' rends a nasty cut down the length of the cyber-arm holding the scabbard, which jerks and drops it, sparking. Agor roars defiance and tries to hit Kupot on the backswing and step back, keeping that plasma cannon trained on the moogle!

    Ryouma finds that the grating is wedged into the doorway good -- looks like the brodkil just force it in and out of place. It's wood, does he have anything to cut it with? The dwarf looks up at him and slowly rises to his feet. "Who are you people? Are you here to rescue us?"

Staren has posed:
    Meanwhile, on the shore, a robot battle rages on! The famous boom gun's signature sound echoes across the battlefield, and the impact of hypersonic shards of metal is seen as a bunch of holes as if from a massive shotgun suddenly appearing in the Forager's armor -- it pitches forward from the force of it, right into Gilgamesh's ANCIENT BABYLONIAN ROCKET PUNCH. There's the CLANG of the forager's plating ringing from the impact, and the screech of bending and tearing metal as it leaves a great big fist impact in its side. Something inside starts smoking.

    <"What the hell IS that thing?!"> the pilot finds himself /more afraid of something else/ despite a glitter boy on the field. He turns the upper torso towards Buriki Daioh and lets fly with a large salvo of the same missiles, desperately hoping the super robot has fragile internals beneath that armor for the HEAT warheads to tear into. Backing away towards the trees, he turns the belly-turret towards the glitterboy, returning Dan's earlier ion insult to try and eat away a bit of that shiny armor with blasts of high-velocity charged particles!

Kupot (6666) has posed:
The moogle is on the downward arc when the backswing comes. Thankfully, when it hits his flesh, it doesn't go through like butter. Oh yes, there is a decidedly unpleasant CRUNCH from within, but when Kupot lands, the blood is minimized and it reveals his torso has a dermal layer of armor underneath, the flesh around it pulled back to show the flexible dark metal weave underneath. The moogle staggers when he reaches the ground and takes a moment to vomit onto the ground. Slowly, he pushes himself back up to his feet. He draws the wakazashi too. Swinging his arms across each other, he flings them both at Agor, at shoulder level.

Ryouma Sakamoto (6736) has posed:
    It's an odd contrast. On one hand you have the big, golden, glorious machine from ancient times putting on a lightshow that screams divine and holy. Then on the ground you have a young woman with absurdly long hair spreading pitch blackness everywhere and... eating people, for a lack of better terms. Or at least dragging them into her shadows. The distinction may be moot.

    One brave demon tries to fight the dragon with three arms. He's actually threatening, Oryou decides, or perhaps observes.

    One arm is used to shield herself from the blast, letting it roll off her skin and school uniform. It keeps charging and closing in. Her hair lashes out.

    It tries to wrap around the brodkil's legs and arms, to drag it closer to Oryou while eliminating its attack vectors. Her eyes gleam ominously pink and red.

    And she goes for the neck, with her mouth.

    It's rare Ryouma doesn't supervise her, so she's going to cut loose a bit. Blood tastes almost as good as frogs, besides. Though, demon blood, probably not.

    Ryouma, meanwhile, smiles and nods, unsheathing his katana to slice the gate open. "I'm going to need you all to be very fast, and very, very careful. Is there anyone among you who can't run? It'd be safer to wait here if so, I can stand guard." Ryouma's not about to split the hostages if some can't go anywhere.

Note (6386) has posed:
    Despite all of the devastation that apparently SEVERAL people are laying into these beastly cyborgs, they're still kicking! Note barely pays any attention at all to the approach of Kupot and the machinations of Oryou because, frankly, it's hard to spend that kind of time in the middle of a fight.

    What WEIRD timing it is for others to want to bring these jerks down, huh?

    She's quickly realized that she can't sense these things too well. They're almost more machine than flesh, and that makes their signatures fainter than they should be. But now that she's ready to deal with that... she's just standing there, focused, waiting...

    Waiting for one to move on her!

    And so she spins around and KICKS the laser with all of her Ki-bolstered might! The results--

    Well. Her aim was a little off. Instead of deflecting the shot with little harm done, she manages to cause it to skim off her foot and BURN HER OTHER FOOT. "YOWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww-ow-ow-owwwww!" Note stumbles to the ground, rolling in agony. In a few seconds though, the pain's died down, and she rises with her ruined boot in hand.

    "Hrrrrrghhhh....!" Vengeance is blazing in her eyes.

    And as she tightens that angry gaze, those eyes shift from black... to GREEN.

    With a resounding kiai that rips a layer of dirt from the surroundings, she digs deep into her power and finds that tingly golden restlessness deep within.

    Just like that, her blazing white-clear aura swirls wildly, and then bursts into a fresh blaze of GOLDEN LIGHT. Smooth black hair, bound into a ponytail or not, rises skyward and shifts into golden spiky formations.

    Before the dust's even settled, she comes flying through it, still clutching that ruined boot. Up, up into the air she climbs, a good thirty feet! And there...

    THERE, she spins the boot in her arm super-fast. It blurs like a propeller plane!

    And then she just... releases it.

    The boot comes literally THUNDERING down, its passage slowed only a little by a roaring rush of wind filling the wake it leaves behind!

    That wrecked boot just became a projectile of the most fearsome sort. All the worse, because that boot weighed fifty pounds to begin with!

    And it now bears down on the Brodkil sniper!

Staren has posed:
    The demon is only slightly surprised to see Kupot's a cyborg too. "Guh! Heh, heh. You're a good fight, little one. I'm glad I took this--URK'

    One sword goes through its chest, just under where the plating stops. The other goes through the cyborg arm holding the sword, shorting it out. The demon tries to say something, but all that comes from its mouth is a gurgle and some blood. With its dying breath, it pulls the trigger, launching another fireball, and then falls over dead.

Gideon Kaspar (6404) has posed:
    The helicopter, far back as it is, still rattles from the hypersonic boom that passes through it, causing the cockpit screen to clatter and the wind to blow back Gideon's jacket. "Christ- who rated that thing?! I can't tell if they had too *much* budget or no budget at all! God damn that thing is ugly too! No wonder this place is overrun with big red men and little green ones; there can't be a single decent contractor for a thousand miles!" He looks to be about to say something about the other giant robot in play, but frankly after about thirty seconds of watching Gilgamesh in action, he has absolutely no idea what to make of it.

    High powered laser fire comes streaming back at Clover and Krysanthe on the riverbank, but they've chosen their positions well. Their target profiles are way too small, and their movements are lightning fast. Beams cause rock to explode in glowing shards all around where they might've been a moment ago, none making a connection. Clover ducks her head and sprints through a spray of red hot shrapnel, shifting to a new position that hasn't been blown to pieces and returning fire. Krysanthe leaps down a tier of the cliff, tumbling into a narrow ravine as rock dust falls on her from above. "Let's switch to saturation fire. Center mass isn't doing much." "Agreed. Start tracking north and I'll converge with you halfway down the bank." "Focusing on one target a time should work."

    The two begin a steady firing advance from there, hustling low through full cover, then dumping entire magazines in the brief caps between outcroppings, disappearing for lengths of time only to emerge for a second and put thirty plus rounds in a single target, riddling brodkil selected by laser designator with dozens of heavy penetrators to the skull, racking up scores of moving headshots like a pair of- well they sort of are aimbots. Gideon designates a point where the terrain turns into a steep gravel slope straight to the river's edge, where the two end up only just far enough away from one another to not be begging for a grenade, sending a steady cascade spent brass jingling down the gradient into the water.

Maya has posed:
Dan can't fault the enemy for targeting Gil over him, also his magic senses are screaming in his ear at Gil, he's not hat a reding like that since the fight with the mass of demons at the end of the Free Quebec and CS war. He keeps ling up another shot. He can't move much, but Dan can make that machine weave like Neo at times, this is one of those time as he evades the worst of the shot by shifting his machine' torso and upper body about.

Gil has drawn a lot of fire and given him time to get a full salvo loaded up and her smirks a bit.

He lines up his shot he's going for the machine's legs he intends to leg it.

"We are the past, we are the future, we are destruction incarnate!"

An old saying belonging to longtime Glitterboy pilots.

He opens fire not once, not twice but four times. Two shots to each of the machine's legs intending to bring it down and down hard. Ya, he's hot-blooded what else is new with this guy.

BGM Knights of Cydoina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot, swordless, can only hold up both arms in a defensive X in front of his face. It ripples around him, and the sharp intake of breath from the pain makes him BREATHE plasma. Pain sears through his entire body, burning his lungs, burning off armor, burning off fur and flesh. The fire consumes him entirely as the leader drops dead.

As smoke rolls out from the explosion, a small hand grasps the katana and pries it from the corpses. A single orange stone on the pommel glitters.

The burned and wounded figure of Kupot, flesh burned away in a few places to reveal the metal weave underneath, blood dripping from his mouth, turns his cracked optic gaze to the robot. The HUD flickers, gauging height, weight.

The orange suddenly blazes to light. "Heroes of kupo. Lend me your strength. Lend me the greatest of all strengths."

LEGENIA: BACK BREAKER

A final bursts of speed from his weakened body pushes the moogle towards the robot. He makes a tackle for the back mid section of the robot, his strength suddenly great enough to push it over! And with a mighty yank, aim to shatter it over his shoulders, and hurl it off.

Staren has posed:
    The elderly dwarf steps back. He looks up at Ryouma with thanks, but also worry. The other prisoners start whispering about escaping, but also concern for those who are old, or slow, or not fit to run for whatever reason. "Thank you, young man, but they haven't been feeding us... I don't think they were planning on keeping us alive much longer..." Still, looking out at the battlefield? They might be able to escape into the forest to the south and hide there... then again, maybe they're safer in the cave.

    Oryou bites down on metal. This particular brodkil has subdermal plating on his neck! Lucky for him. He hisses defiance, and his cybernetic arm strains against the tentacle-hair, trying to dig that vibro-sword into the woman...

    Note, meanwhile, delivers a super saiyan kick to a demon's head. The results are, uh... messy. That demon isn't going to be hurting anyone anymore.

    Meanwhile, the demons playing cover shooter with the T-dolls seem to be doing sort of okay, until they pop up, fire, and one of them just gets riddled with bullets all over. Amazingly, he's still moving, slowly, revealed to be especially heavily cyberized. Still, a slower target probably isn't long for this world anyway...

Gilgamesh has posed:
     "Hah!" Gilgamesh crosses his arms in the cockpit, a smug smirk across his face. "Fool! Don't you listen? This is the Great Tin King! The ancient tin engine that humankind dreamed up long ago! And your missiles are no use against this! Bel! SHAAAADE!"

     The Great Tin King thrusts its hand forward to meet the missiles.

     Nothing happens. The missiles soar past the hand, smashing into the giant, ancient weapon. The super robot falls backwards, magical pulses leaking out of the cracks across its body like light. Gilgamesh is thrown around violently in the cockpit until he smashes his head on the controls. Blood rolls down his forehead, trickling past his eye. He lets out a sharp breath, his eye twitching furiously as the Great Tin King goes dark.

     Gilgamesh smashes his hand on the console. "Damn! What fool took out the Bel Shade?! That's the ultimate defensive technique! The shield of the god himself!"

     SEPIA-TONED FLASHBACK

     Gilgamesh whistles cheerfully. "What will I ever need a shield for?" He wonders idly as he works on the tin machine that is the prototype of Talos, the Golem, the Brazen Head, Palladium, and all other wonderous statues and machines of history, "The Great Tin King is invincible! I'll just remove it to make room for something flashier."

     RIGHT NOW

     Gilgamesh licks some of the divine blood from his face. "Well, no matter. Wake up, Tin King! This is no time to sleep!"

     Silence.

     Gilgamesh smacks the console. "Hey! Your King commands you! Awaken, Tin King!"

     Darkness.

     "HEY!" Gilgamesh's aura flares with light, "I SAID WAKE UP! KEEP SLEEPING ON THE JOB, AND I'LL DISMANTLE YOU FOR PARTS FOR THE VIMANA!"

Gilgamesh has posed:
     GAOOOOOO.

     The Great Tin King's eyes blaze to life. It rises, magic leaking from its chest as it does so. Gilgamesh crosses his arms in the cockpit as the lights come back on. Music starts playing in the distance. He ignores it. "That's what I thought. And speaking of the Vimana..."

     Gilgamesh snaps his fingers.

     The Vimana, the vast golden throne, just sort of *appears* out of thin air, swooping around beyond the Great Tin King. The Tin King's back detaches and vanishes into a new golden ripple as Vimana swings down. Gilgamesh punches his fist into his palm, a wide, eager grin on his face. "Let's go! Docking Mode!"

     CH-CHACK!

     CH-CHACK!

     CH-CHACK!

     The Vimana gets a full minute-long sequence as it locks into the Great Tin King, becoming a wide, golden-green pair of wings. Power surges through the Great Tin King as they combine. Gilgamesh throws back his head and laughs, running his fingers through his slicked-back hair.

     "What do you think of that, mongrels?! The Great Tin King can even equip something like that! I admit, you hit it pretty hard, but that's over with! Prepare yourselves for my finishing technique! Now that I've equipped a Booster Unit, there's no stopping me!"

     Gilgamesh stands up in the cockpit. His foot plants against the cuneform letters. He swings his finger outwards. "Hear me, you mongrels who trample my land, you maggots who writhe across the world with ambitions of mediocrity, you worthless peons whose mere existence is mine to do with as I please! I am the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh! You've put up a good fight, but this is the end! Taste my King's Justice!"

Gilgamesh has posed:
     He flops down in the golden throne. He cracks his knuckles. He grabs the controls. His hand swings backwards. He hammers it against a series of cuneform.

     A golden key emerges.

     The word APPROVED flashes above the cockpit.

     "This is it! The Heaven-Soaring Great Tin King's strongest attack!"

     Golden light flows from the Vimana into the cuneform emblem on the Great Tin King's chest. Power radiates outwards like the sun. Music starts to play. The Great Tin King takes a stance. Gilgamesh raises his hands to the sky, clicking his wrists together. "Take this! My word is Anu!"

     "ONE!" The letter A flashes.

     "ON!" The letter N flares in golden light.

     HIGH!" The letter U completes the three, burning against a darkened sky.

     Gilgamesh throws his hands forward. "MARDUUUUUK! BREAKERRRRRRRRRRRR!"

     The three letters merge into the cuneform. Golden fire lights the emblem.

     The fire explodes outwards as the Heavens-Soaring Great Tin King throws its arms backwards. A beam of destructive force that splits the sky and the sea alike, carving a path to victory! The Noble Phantasm that sits in the chest of the Great Tin King, drawn forth by the power of the chariot of the gods!

     The Marduk Breaker, unleashed!

Ryouma Sakamoto (6736) has posed:
    The demon stabs Oryou.

    Black blood spills.

    She grits her teeth, actually visibly angry now. "You hurt Oryou." Not just hurt, either. Hurt badly! Painfully.
    "You hurt Oryou," she repeats, quaking.

    She lashes out. Her hair goes berserk, slicing and dicing rather than corroding. Blue-black flames shoot out of her mouth and nostrills, no longer content to just eat the demon but instead trying to fry him alive. And her hands reach out, to remove the brodkil's offending limbs (or at least, two of the three arms) by just grabbing, digging in, and yanking. It's violent! And not at all lady-like.

    Ryouma, meanwhile, simply says: "Alright, everyone to the back of the cave in case they come over here. The fight probably won't last much longer from the sounds of it, so let's make sure nothing happens to any of you in the next five minutes. We'll be taking you all back to where you belong, and those without a home can stay in Garnet Town."

    He turns to stand guard, though seems worried for a moment, his link to Oryou letting him know she's hurt.

Staren has posed:
    MEANWHILE, the giant robot fight rages on! Dan, Kupot, and Gilgamesh come together in a stunning combination attack! The boom gun tearing into the legs, it starts to fall, right into Kupot's grasp as cyborg moogle superstrength hurls it through some trees and crashing to the ground, where Gilgamesh -- after a seemingly minute-long sequence of equipping the prototype of GOD SCRANDER and every flight pack in existance, fires the prototype of BREAST FIRE and every super robot beam in existence!

    Most of the front armor melts away, and partway into the internals, exposing a wide swath of bare, half-slagged metal. The belly turret is melted to uselessness. <"I surrender! I SURRENDER!"> The pilot's voice comes over the radio, panicked. <"No job is worth my life! I'll leave you alone!"> Sensors can detect the fire control radar shutting down.

    That leaves the brodkil fighting Oryou and the T-Dolls...

Gilgamesh has posed:
     Gilgamesh climbs out of the Great Tin King. He's still dressed in his ridiculous gold spandex, red goggles, red belt, and red scarf. He steps off the vast machine as it vanishes into a golden ripple, swallowed up by the power of the Gate of Babylon. The King walks forward, licking his lips. "Surrender?" He says.

     "Who in the world said that you were allowed to surrender?"

     "Mongrel, you damaged my invincible Great Tin King. Your missiles damaged one of my priceless treasures." Gilgamesh rolls his hand in the air as he walks. "Not to mention, you're clearly a criminal. What else would you be doing out here in these woods but hiding from those who would bring justice to you? Were you hoping, perhaps, that you were bowing to a merciful king?"

     "How unfortunate. Surrender!" Gilgamesh chuckles, "If you wanted something like that you should've bent the knee the moment my Great Tin King arrived on the battlefield."

     Gilgamesh holds a hand up to his face. Golden ripples extrude outwards behind him. His smile becomes a sneer. "I told you that you would taste the king's justice, mongrel."

     "Your life isn't worth enough for me to spare it. It's barely worth enough for me to dirty all these treasures with your filthy blood, but the denial of your continued existence is a pleasure all its own."

     The King licks his lips. "I enjoy crushing bugs."

     Gilgamesh flicks his fingers forward, and releases the barrage of magical weaponry directly into the cockpit.

Gideon Kaspar (6404) has posed:
    "I'm getting tired of this. Their only mechanized unit is down and Sakamoto has the VIPs. Krys, Clover, clean this mess up." "I was waiting for you to say that." "Huh?"

    The T-Dolls engaging in the actual shootout with the enemies with guns, steadily overwhelming the brodkil with sheer concentration and coordination of fire, even if there are only two of them, leave a brief break in the shooting. Clover puts her back to her cover just as a burst of lasers takes the top completely off of it, throwing up her rifle to shield the back of her head from the spalling glass. Krys meanwhile is busy unwrapping an entire belt of canisters from a tactical clasp, each one cylindrical, black, and marked with a flame icon. Pulling the entire string of pins at once with her teeth, she spins it twice for momentum, and then uses it like a sling to hurl half a dozen grenades across the entire river, scattering into the enemy camp like a MOAB, and then blowing up, also like a MOAB.

    It's an indiscriminate carpet bombing of ridiculously intense incendiary bombing. No napalm or white phosphorous here; these blow up like miniature fuel-air bombs, and spray a ferociously burning fine mist all over absolutely everything. She's careful enough to not put Oryou or Note directly in the blast zone, but it's definitely danger close, and the normally taciturn T-Doll seems to take a certain pleasure in doing it.

Staren has posed:
    In the cave, the dwarf nods, turns around, and makes 'move back' gestures at the group of prisoners, who do so before he takes shelter himself. "Without homes? Did they blow up part of Garnet Town?" someone asks, concerned. Seems they're all from there.

    Oryou rips the brodkil limb from limb and cuts the pieces into smaller pieces. Small, nonthreatening pieces who will never hurt anyone again.

    Explosive force has a 'chunky salsa' effect on the two brodkil that were in a shootout with the T-dolls, leaving behind only blood-soaked pieces of warped metal.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot gets the robot off his shoulders with a grunt, sagging tiredly. He has only his one sword at the time, and his wounds are mounting up. Cybernetics can only do so much for so long. The magic within them is draining. He looks up, seeing Gilgamesh come forward. He can already guess what is going on. "I kupo the surrender," he says to the man, and moves.

His katana glimmers with light, chi sheathing it in power. His steps are slow, but even slowed, his sword moves blindingly fast, taking down one magic weapon. Then another. A third. A fourth slams into his shoulder. A fifth sails away. Kupot flexes backwards onto the cockpit, and allows the last three to simply bury themselves into his body, blood spurting up from his mouth.

"It is kupo... worth to spare."

Ryouma Sakamoto (6736) has posed:
    "Ah, no! I just didn't want to assume you were all from there. That makes things much easier if so!" Ryouma says, and then takes a few moments to handle something over radio, evidently. He's left in quite a good mood, although that could be from the fact he can sense Oryou resolved her situation.

    "Alright, it seems like the fighting's over. Those of you who can move, help those who can't. If someone seems injured, leave them there and raise your hand, we don't want to risk making it worse by moving them."

    Ryouma trusts most of these people can follow simple instructions, and they can start pondering how to ship all of them home, if they can't all fit in the chopper.

    As for Oryou, she snarks angrily at what's left of the demon, stomping on a piece as a matter of venting. She finds her way back to Ryouma eventually, at least.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The little fuzzy white thing intercepts the Gate of Babylon. It knocks aside some of the weapons, but the sheer rain of death is too much; it finds itself impaled. Gilgamesh's face makes a /tch/ sound as he watches his deathblow intercepted. He snaps his fingers, ceasing the rain of the Gate. He checks with the Paladins briefly to confirm that, no, Kupot is not a member of the Paladins. Ryouma asks him for mercy. He makes it a request. Gilgamesh, as he walks towards the robot, pulls a gold coin out of the air. On one side is an image of Ishtar. On the other is an image of Gilgamesh. He flips the coin in the air, pouring a bit of magical power into it.

     Of course it's a Noble Phantasm.

     It lands. Power ripples outwards. Gilgamesh holds it up. Tails. Fine, he tells Ryouma. He'll honor that request, but only because he finds Ryouma's wife so appealing. And he'll expect a heavy toll later.

     That said, he strides up to the robot. With a few short hops, he's on the cockpit. He looks down at Kupot.

     The ridiculous spandex melts away, replaced by his swirling black coat, his turtleneck, his beige pants. His hair falls back down to its normal position as he leans over the fallen moogle.

     "Congratulations, you little worm," Gilgamesh says with a broad smile that certainly doesn't match his red eyes, "One of my compatriots has pleaded with me to spare your life. Ordinarily, I'd simply skewer you and be done with it, but apparently you've made some friends among the Paladins that I happen to like. Isn't that lucky?"

     "But," the King purses his lips, "You don't get to simply leave without a lesson in what it means to defy the King's justice."

     Gilgamesh's foot comes down on Kupot's stomach, pressing down against the little fuzzy thing's belly. He grabs one of the swords, and, with an immense amount of pleasure, rips it free, enough to do some more damage in the process. The look on his face is the look of a child tormenting an anthill as the sword melts into gold sparkles. "I am the King. That means that all that is is my property."

     He leans forward, putting all his weight on his foot, and rips another sword free. "When someone challenges the King, when someone as worthless as that man in that iron shell damages my property, it's my right to do what I please with him. He's my property, too."

     Gilgamesh grinds his heel against Kupot's stomach as he tears the third sword out. "And the next time you decide to get in my way, remember these wounds, and make sure you tell any friends of yours who might make the same mistake of the agonies the King will inflict upon those who cross him."

     With that, Gilgamesh kicks Kupot along the top of the cockpit, then looks down at the surrendered man. A sword appears in the air, hanging there like an executioner's blade, before Gilgamesh looks over at Kupot. Then he looks down at the pilot.

     He snaps his fingers, and the executioner's blade vanishes. "Hmph. Little cretin took all the fun out of killing you. Now I've simply got a bad taste in my mouth. I suppose you get to live. You'd best thank your benefactor when it wakes up, mongrel."

     With that, the King hops down into the camp.

Note (6386) has posed:
    Holy crap the camp just got MESSY AS HELL!

    Note goes flailing up into the skies over it, tail dangling in the air as she seems to be 'seated' in the air at a weird angle while BOMBS FALL ALL OVER THE PLACE!

    "What the heck did I just barge into...?!" She doesn't seem too terribly worried about all the violence. These people were jerks who tried to kill her out of nowhere, after all. But the sight of all the robots and explosions scattered about the place has her more than a little worried that she's stumbled into something Really Dangerous.

    So she flies higher and higher until she's way too high to worry about the carpet bombing, and waits for things down there to calm down!

    Maybe someone there knows where Garnet Town is.

Kupot (6666) has posed:
Kupot struggles to bring up a last word against the King, but wind is knocked out of him. His stomach is not quite the soft underbelly one might expect, but enough pressure still brings pain, cutting out whatever quip he might have had with a sharp hiss of pain. The hiss turns into a sharp painful cry as the blade is jostled free. Sparks and blood are freed from the wound. The second blade and Kupot bites down on his anguish and pain as another gush of blood wells out from the wound.

The final blade yanks out from Kupot's arm, pulling it up slightly, but the moogle keeps his mouth firm, sounding only a grimace. It is hard to tell if Kupot is awake, as his eyes are completely covered, only the lifeless HUD staring back up at Gilgamesh, but it is the kick that sends him rolling over the robot and into unconsciousness.

Maya has posed:
Dan

"Oh we're going to have words with you back in Quebec city as I have a lot of questions about your employers..."

Cue some very surprised French words out of Dan's mouth as Gil gets out and meanwhile his sense magic sense are going /nuts/. This whole thing makes him reconsider his people's stance on recruiting PSI Stalkers, seeing a display like that. He'll retract the pylons and move in but it looks like he's going to have a corpse, not someone to interrogate then Kupot jumps in.
F His machine moves in now it's head looking at Gil, he will be having that man flagged by his nation's armed forces, but he's not going to pick a fight right now.

"Get Kupot a medic..."

His machine's head turns to the cockpit.

"As for you we're going to have a little chat back in Quebec city and I hope you learned never to make a deal with a demon."

This has been one hell of a day he sighs.

"Well at least Staren didn't show up."

Note (6386) has posed:
    It's not over yet for a certain Glitter Boy pilot! As he turns to leave... Note swoops in. Specifically...

    She lowers down in front of him, while upside-down. This means the first thing that enters his view would be the spiky golden hair, and the aura that continues to blaze for a few more seconds.

    As soon as she comes to a stop though - with arms folded across her chest as imposingly as a shorty like her can manage - the Super Saiyan transformation dies away. Her hair and eyes return to normal. Which which means now view is full of smooth black hair.

    Up above, her tail keeps swishing around idly.

    "Hey you in the sparklebot! I'm looking for Garnet Town. They wanted help with something! And I'm sick of doing laps around the whole planet! Do you know where it is...?"

Staren has posed:
    Strickland is a man reconsidering his life choices. He took a contract to defend demons from retaliation for raiding a town. He knew there would be adventurers. It was a risk he took. And then adventurers happened. With a freaking super robot. And now Gilgamesh happens. The cockpit's exposed -- inside is a middle-aged man with short black hair with a hint of grey and wrinkles, wearing one of the styles of body armor that's common here, with a mix of soft and hard armor. He looks suitably terrified when Gilgamesh denies the surrender and crosses his arms in front of his face reflexively...

    ...And then a tiny moogle saves him, even taking swords through its body for him.

    The pilot looks at the fallen moogle. "Hey, are you alive? Look, if you live through this, I'll do anything I can to help you get out of here..." Not that there's much he can do with his very livelihood smoking wreckage around him. The 20 million credits of mecha is far from totaled, but it's not going anywhere in its current state.

    And then the glitter boy says he's under arrest, and his face falls. He takes a breath, then looks up at Dan and tries one more time: "Look. The guy in the robe said he needed someone to back up some other mercenaries in case adventurers came after them. I knew it wasn't a nice job, but that's all I know. I don't know what you think is going on here, but... the brodkil have been raiding the town and I've been keeping an eye out for anyone who's gonna make trouble for them. That's it." He holds up his hands in a surrender gesture. There's a laser pistol holstered at his hip, but come on, he's not THAT stupid. "We are far away from Free Quebec, but you're the one with the working power armor, so what happens now?"

    The rescued prisoners may be in various stages of hunger, but they can walk. It may take them a couple hours to walk back to town, helping eachother. Less if the slowest ones get a chopper ride.

    The dwarf introduces himself as Duncan, the town doctor -- the other prisoners seem to see him as sort of a leader. He explains that he was among the first taken, and he saw the robed figure commanding the Brodkil then.

    The dwarf and the pilot's accounts agree on a robed man with purple skin -- they couldn't see his face, but they could see his hands.

    The description of the robe matches Symon's.

Maya has posed:
Dan just turn his armour's head for a moment.

"They needed help with these salvers being taken out, looks like you have an unexpected payday."

Dan is on edge, off-world Elites he's managed to avoid running into them for years and now there's a pile of them here.

"So we'll be heading back there, I'll make sure you get a cut and failing that you get mine. I wasn't here for the money."

Once Kupot may be foolish but a Deebee merc like that is better to keep alive then the worst ones out there right? As for any Remaining Brodekill Dan's going to once that merc is secured? He's going to to make sure they are dead by beheading them with his vibro blade should it be needed. A mortal merc is one thing demons? You kill them.