6803/First Verse: Exceed

First Verse: Exceed
Date of Scene:	31 August 2019
Location:	Heimdallr, Erebonia
Synopsis:	Heimdallr's summer festival is in full swing, and everyone is having fun. And then a previously unknown group of terrorists take advantage of the festivities to cause chaos in the capital and kidnap Princess Alfin and Rean's sister.
Cast of Characters:	Rean Schwarzer, Lory Thumper, 7002, 7095
Tinyplot:	Imperial Liberation Front
Tinyplot2:	Trails of Cold Steel 1

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Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Maybe you're just wandering around Heimdallr, enjoying the summer festival. Or maybe you got a request from your respective organization to help the Railway Military Police guard the city for extra security. Or maybe you're with Rean and the half of Class VII that's on his field study team doing patrols of your own. Whatever you're doing, you might've heard chatter of people suddenly quitting jobs at the docks today, and moving out of apartments suddenly and without warning.  It's not too weird for someone to want to move out, but during a holiday and en masse? Other than a few similarly weird things happening across the city, it's a fairly peaceful day.

And then at 3:00, the ground starts to shake in Dreichels Plaza as water erupts from the manholes and the fountains.

Meanwhile in Mater Park, some large and kinda dinosaur like crocodiles come out of the river to the minor scale sound of a flute playing a tune in a minor scale.  The Royal Guard takes point against them, and an explosion sounds from inside the Crystal Garden.

....Wait, isn't Princess Alfin supposed to be attending a party in there?

Indeed, she is in there being held at gunpoint by helmeted men in army gear alongside her attendant, Rean's younger sister Elise. There's a hole in the ground behind them, leading into the underground sewers. Governor Regnitz is kneeling on the ground in front of them, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the shoulder. And between him and the girls is a bespectacled man holding an oddly shaped flute in his hand.

"You...Those girls have nothing to do with this! Let them go!" Regnitz grunts, glaring up at the man with the flute. The man with the flute grins. "I'm afraid I can't just yet. After all they have yet to play their role in your faction's greatest failure!"

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory Thumper just happened to be here enjoying the festival after enjoying the sights despite the case last time she was here. But, she didn't just happen to be fully equipped. The multiverse seems like a place where you have to be prepared at all times, and so she has taken to wearing her riot gear and equipment belt anytime she goes out.

     When the shots go off, she hears them from a pretty long distance away and rushes to the scene, eyes widening at water erupting from the manholes. "...what in the...?" Hearing the voices from the garden, she tries to make her way to a point she can at least see the suspects and victims without being seen or heard herself. She is pretty good at that sort of thing, after all. Although giant dino-crocks around make that more difficult, since Lory gives them a very wide berth.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Rean's friends had invited Mikoto out on another patrol, probably ignorant of the...issue between Rean and Mikoto.  Mikoto did not say anything and had joined.  She avoided talking with Rean when she could, and instead she spoke to the others.  If anyone asked her if anything was wrong, she changed the subject very quickly.

However, the disturbances came, and Mikoto could sense the danger ahead.  Well, you know, with Dinosaurs and other monsters coming out of everywhere.  With a sigh, Mikoto transformed in that quick transform way, as the Jade sword came to her arm.  

"I'm going to shoot ahead and try and draw attention, move in and get a good scope of the situation.  Try not to die to a dinosaur, because that won't be open casket." Mikoto says, with a bit of a smile.  

Mikoto shoots through the garden with her SONIC SPEED, and aims to zip into the Palace itself.  It takes her all of a few seconds to look at the situation before them...of course, she COULD go for the Princess and Rean's sister...but that'll end in gunshots.  

Instead, she zips with her sonic speed towards the man with the Flute and aims to literally tear the thing out of his hands with Haguro's SUPERIOR STRENGTH, before dancing back towards the door.  "Don't care about your political thing, but I always wanted to control dinosaurs."

Solomon Lau (7095) has posed:
Solomon Lau would love to be enjoying a festival. Sadly, he's on guard duty, as a newer Paladin recruit. He's in the middle of patrolling Mater Park, wearing a suit, tie, and his Paladins badge lapelled to his suit.

The good news about being on guard duty, actually, turns out to be that he can be openly armed. So when the dino-crocks climb out and the explosion sounds off, two pistols come out of that suit, drawn from their hiding places by Solomon. Anyone in the way gets a gesture to get the hell away, as there are...dino-crocks. Unless the dino-crocks move to actually interfere with Solomon's passage, he rushes for the Crystal Garden, and pushes his way in.

As he spots the gunmen holding hostages, Solomon grits his teeth. This is a bad situation. He takes a few seconds to glance around the room and pick out exactly how many threats he has, and then he knows his plan. A normal person would take it calm, try and diffuse it. Solomon Lau is not a normal man. He's a ball of instincts and nerves, and he has one solution to a violent situation like this.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

9mm pistols light up as they blast into the army men, Solomon dashing into a slide to avoid gunfire, twin pistols blaring. He's aiming for the most sensitive spot of their bodies he can find - if their helmets seem tougher than their armor, he shoots for the armor, otherwise he shoots for the helmets to take them out with headshots. "Solomon Lau, Paladins! Hands in the air, drop your guns!"

Yes, you usually ask that before you start firing.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Mikoto: Having been through a similar song and dance within their own ranks twice already, Class VII totally noticed the change in atmosphere between you and Rean. But they didn't say anything about it. Not yet anyway. You grab the flute and jump back towards the door. "What-" the now-fluteless man says. "You brat!" He shouts, and draws a pistol and starts firing at you.

Solomon: Your attacks ring out, but these men are trained And avoid your shots well. They don't shoot the girls, but they do shove them behind their backs towards the hole in the floor. One of the men aims his machine gun at you and starts firing.

Lory: You hide under a nearby bench, getting a good vantage point of the girls and the men. They're getting pretty close to the hole in the floor.

Class VII charges in not long after this, weapons drawn. "Elise!" Rean shouts spotting his sister being shoved towards the escape route. Unfortunately there's too much gunfire now to get back there. Machias runs ahead of the group, kneeling next to Governor Regnitz. "Dad, are you alright!?" He says.

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory actually wanted them to go down into the sewer. Less people to worry about, less chance of those not even involved getting hurt, easier to pin the perpetrators down. But, Mikoto and Solomon get things started early. Which, given that the flute seems to be somehow controlling those creatures may not be an entirely bad thing. And with shots already being exchanged she uses the men's focused attention to sneak around behind them.

     She pulls both of her gauss pistols as she nears the men, flips them into stun mode, and tries to stun at least two of the men who are pushing at the girls. And since her plan is pretty much useless at this point anyway, she places her little bunny self between the men and the escape route. "You may as well give up! We're with the Paladins! Surrender and no one else has to get hurt!"

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto grins, as the man looks very mad.  Spitting mad, if you will!  Her blade cuts in front of her, as shots are sent flying wide because of her skill with the blade.  Though a few graze her as she moves, causing her to look at the shooter.  She notices the girls being pushed towards the hole.  

She twirls the flute and grins, pocketing the flute for the moment, as she looks towards the former flute bearer.  Her weapon spins around dangerously as she gives him a look.  

"So, buddy.  You wana be the pied piper?  Well...instead of Dinosaurs, you're supposed to summon rats.  Though I guess you ARE trying to steal children." She chuckles.  She slams the blade into the ground, as the magical runes formed.  

From the hole they were trying to escape from, a horde of rats start flooding out, aiming to try and swarm the people with guns who are shooting people she doesn't want to be shot, and the piper.  This, hopefully, gives the girls a chance to break away, as the Rats attempt to bite at eyes, arms, skurry into uncomfortable places, and generally be VERY ANNOYING.  

"So I heard you were talking about someone failing?  The only loser I see here is you, piper-san.  This place is under the Protection of Mikoto Shimizu...so you best bring your A-game.  I, the Magical Girl of Envy do not do things by half-asses!"

Solomon Lau (7095) has posed:
Solomon's shots are fierce, but the guards are, too. As they avoid the shots, he grits his teeth, as machine gun fire bursts back at him. He takes a breath, and focuses. Reflexes fire up.

Several bullets graze Solomon as he starts moving, dancing around bullets and sliding between automatic bursts. He's fast, but his reflexes are what's truly sharp. He rolls out to the closest cover, trading out his magazines for hollow-points hidden in his sleeves. When he springs out of cover, it's like an acrobat, as both pistols move to fire rapidly into the machine gunner, the hollow points avoiding much penetration if he manages to succeed, so that the rounds don't penetrate into the hostages behind them.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Lory's stun gun hits the guy with the machine gun, making him a prime target for getting shot by Solomon. He falls over dead. The other soldier scowls, and levels his gun at Lory.  "A talking rabbit?" Alfin says, clearly having the right priorities at the moment. And then the rats come and start swarming the soldiers. "What the-" the soldier says, as rats get all in his uniform and gear. Elise rams into her captor, both to escape the rats and to give herself an opening to run. "Your Highness, this way!" Elise shouts, running for one of the rooms off the main one where everyone is. Alfin follows after her, and Fie and Laura go as well, ready to give them backup if needed.

Meanwhile, the fluteless man laughs. "...A loser? Oh, I've only just begun!" He says, and he levels his weapon towards Alfin as she runs past. "Not a chance!" Laura says, moving to block his aim.

"That's enough, Comrade G." A distorted voice says from the depths of the hole. Someone using a voice changer?

"Comrade C, you...I apologize, my plan seems to have failed." 'G' says, lowering his gun.

"That is fine. After all, we should have expected outside elements to become involved." C continues. "But we have succeeded in our primary objective - to show this country that we are here."

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
People cover the Princess and Rean's sister...well good, that's one last thing, and they even got away with her distraction.  Good.  The flute is tossed towards Elliot, making sure he can use that later to deal with the monsters.  

However, as the man takes her low-quality bait, she grins.  Even as he points the gun at someone, she's already moving.  Sonic speed and Haguro's strength, as well as her own sword power, is a frightening thing.

Especially as she just appears right in front of the fluteless man, sword-swinging up as he finishes his conversation with the man in the tunnel.  "And now you're gone!" she says, as she swings the blade upwards, aiming to cleave him in twain!

Solomon Lau (7095) has posed:
As the machine gunner falls over dead, Solomon approacehs the other soldier, but the rats attack him, and Elise rams into him. Solomon rushes him, pistols moving with grace and technique to club him in the head and solar plexus, taking the wind out of him and hopefully knocking him out.

With Mikoto murdering the leader, they need to have at least one guy to interrogate, after all. Solomon grimaces at her attacking him, but, he can't say anything. It's not his place.

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory is moving to join Laura in blocking for Alfin when that distorted voice calls out from the tunnel. Her ears twitch and swivel toward it, then...in a flash of motion she sends a number of those small discs she keeps on her belt sailing into the hole. With expert precision, the collection of flashbangs and riot foam grenades explode. With her extraordinary hearing and precision training, she is pretty sure she can hit this mysterious C without even being able to see him.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Elliot catches the flute and kinda just stares at it before running outside to go make the crocs go home. Solomon successfully knocks out the soldier, who falls over and stuff.

All of Lory's grenades go into the hole and erupt in an explosion of light and foam. C doesn't say anything after this. Did you get him? Only one way to check.

G tries to jump back, but he's just a bit too slow and gets slashed across the torso for his trouble. He doubles over, clutching his stomach as he bleeds from the mouth. "Very well then...I leave this to you...C, V and S...."  He spits out, and falls over, dead.  

"Freeze! Don't move!" A blue haired woman in a military uniform comes in through the door with her pistol raised and Instructor Sara in tow.  "Is everyone alright?!"

"Captain Claire?!" Machias says, having finished tending to his dad's wounds off to the side.

"Guess you guys were able to handle it after all." Sara says, and then frowns at G's corpse on the ground. "Well, guess we're not getting any answers from /that/ guy." Rean frowns at dead Gideon and the dead Jaeger wannabe too, though it's more over the fact that things escalated the way they did. But at least Elise and Alfin were safe for now.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto swings the blade once, throwing the blood off of it.  The sword swings into her back as she points her hand down towards the corpse.  A strange data-like bracelet forms around her hand, as she attempts to use it to DATA DRAIN the corpse, and see what she could get through the use of literal hacking.

"I wouldn't be so sure...and if this doesn't work then just call Staren to resurrect him," Mikoto says, dismissively.  "Besides, he was a major player, and we have his flute.  There is no guarantee that he'd talk no matter what you did to him."

She looks over her shoulder towards Sara, "Unless you were going to use unsightly means to get him to talk?  Do you know torture isn't a very good method of getting information?  Learned that one in school."

Solomon Lau (7095) has posed:
Solomon moves to secure the unconscious guard. Once that's done, he moves over to Rean and the dead Gideon. "We got something in his last words. C, V, S. The fact he explicitly said all of them means that there's four of them, or at least, I'd bet on it."

He turns to the captain as she approaches, and taps his badge. "Solomon Lau, Paladins. One guard was taken out through lethal force. The girl took out the mastermind, but retrieved his flute. We should be able to find the rest of the terrorists like this."

Lory Thumper has posed:
     After her grenades explode, Lory hesitates only a moment to look toward where Mikoto cut down G before she leaps into the hole and flicks on a flashlight so see if she caught anything. And of course if she finds anyone she tries to cuffs them quickly. "Four of you, huh?" she says to whoever is down here. "And just who are you anyway? And what caused all that trouble in the streets? The geysers from the manholes and all that?"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
"...Wait, what?" Sara says. Apparently no one gave her the memo that Staren knows how to resurrect people. She then side eyes Claire. "Anyway, I wasn't going to torture him. Not sure what Icy Maiden and her cohorts were planning, though." Captain Claire frowns, and then turns to face Solomon. "Claire Rieveldt, Railway Military Police. Good work." She says, giving Solomon a salute.

"I see, that's how Elliot got that flute..." Sara says. Speaking of Elliot, he's back now. He looks exhausted, like he was playing the flute to save his life. "All the Crocodarks are back in the sewers!" He says.

Down the hole is a stone tunnel, built up with brick and lanterns. There's a single archway going forwards and...a radio.  It's coated in riot foam, but it appears to still be functional. It crackles to life, and C's voice comes out of it again. "Very clever. You almost got me. To answer your first question, we are the Imperial Liberation Front. In our hearts, the flames of silent anger. In our hands, the hammer of judgment that shall topple the dictator. The water was just a distraction to keep people away from our real target - the princess."

Mikoto data drains Gideon, and she gets...flashes of a woman with an eyepatch, a large man carrying a gatling gun, and a man in a face obscuring helmet and cloak. There's also voices, mostly of the three before saying the name 'Osborne' with scorn. And then, that's it.

Rean disappears to check on his sister (and Alfin).

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto, in turn, describes each of the people she can see, to the best of her ability.  Also describing their voices...and then the name Osborne with scorn.  That's all she can get, which is good enough for her, as far as she cares.  

To her 'we wouldn't torture them' she shrugs.  She really doesn't care what they were going to do, but felt her methods were the right ones.  After all, she cut off a fourth of their might with a single blow.  Now they were only three, and no more smart ass animals would come out of the sewers to eat town's people when they attacked.

"Anyway, looks like Rean is busy with his sister...and this place is quickly becoming too Paladin for my tastes.  See you guys." She says, towards Rean's friends.  Though perhaps a bit more acidly then she might have wanted to be.

Solomon Lau (7095) has posed:
"Imperial Liberation Front...feh." Solomon says after Mikoto explains everything. Once this is all done, he pauses to look at the man he killed again, frowning a little, and then moves to leave himself. He'll be on call if the locals need his assistance.

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory makes a face as she finds just a radio. She picks it up as C speaks and pulls out a small knife to clear the foam from it, then takes it outside to Sarah and Claire. The bunny cop holds out the radio once C is done talking. "Here you go. C got away, but he can't be too far if this radio is still picking him up. We might be able to track the signal somehow." she says, then offers a respectful salute. "Officer Lory Thumper, MPD. Glad I could be of assistance. Is the man who was shot going to be okay?"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
"I see." Claire says. "They more than likely are referring to Chancellor Gilliath Osborne. He's not the most popular, depending on who you talk to."

"Generally just nobles and people who get in the way of whatever he's working on." Sara says, a slight amount of scorn in her voice.

Claire sighs again. "Anyway, those descriptions, and the radio are useful. We'll get right on searching the catacombs."

"Ah...Ok." Elliot says to Mikoto. Rean comes back with his sister, Alfin, Laura and Fie in tow, and notices that Mikoto is gone. Of course she is. He sighs.

"I'm fine." Governor Regnitz says, standing up. It appears Machias performed first aid on him off to the side.