Scene #7545: Suddenly! Frogmen?

Owner	Pose
Cantio	The beach that's the location of today's mission is fairly standard for what a beach should look like: Sand, water, palm trees, clam shells here and there. What isn't so standard, though, is everything that's actually visibly moving on the beach. Octopi leap from place to place like rabbits jumping high enough to land on someone's face. Red birds soar through the skies, divebombing the ocean's surface occasionally and coming up with fish larger than themselves. On the distant shoreline, bipedal human-sized frogs shuffle about, carrying crates wider than themselves to a wooden ship. Really, the only normal looking creatures around here are the crabs climbing up the palm trees. Jackson, the red-headed delivery guy with the machine gun who had inexplicably turned huge during the last mission, is back to his usual generic everyman protagonist size and appearance sans jacket sleeves. He's in the middle of cleaning the inside of his gun when Cantio hands him a bracelet. "That should help us figure out what happened to you before. It might be a stress response, so keep an eye on it in case anything starts spiking." Cantio warns while gesturing at a boxy drone floating beside the man. "It looks like we've got a straight shot to the ship where the... Er. Frogs are bringing the supplies, but we don't have any eyes on the inside. So..." She glances around briefly before fixing her hair in a ponytail, taking a glance up at the destroyed lab on the top of the mountain. "The ja-er... Cheetahmen are keeping an eye on the engineer and that doctor since they're all still pretty banged up from last time. It'll just be us this time, and..." Cantio gestures towards the ship in the distance. "Those are the crates we've been looking for this whole time, so hopefully they're not too damaged to recover. Once we get them back, I'll work on figuring out if they've been tampered with, how the..." She looks uncomfortable as she says "frog people" again, like she might not be saying something politically correct. "... How they brought the airship down, and then we can just put this whole thing behind us. How do you all want to approach this?"
Yang Xiao Long	Yang's oddly quiet as she checks her bracelets, reloading them and scuffing at a few dings and dents from the constant use without downtime to properly maintain them. "I'll follow whoever else wants to take point... however this pans out, I'm gonna have to jet afterward, cuz I'm bingo ammo." she remarks racking the slides on her weapons with a cross-the-body motion. "All that's really keeping me going is sheer grit and willpower."
Alexis	Alexis watchs the octopi leap about for a few moments. "Reminds me of a few beachs I've been to... As long as those aren't the kind of octos that will suplex you into the water to try and drown you, we're good." She's here because... well, she's here. Trainers have this knack for being around at the right time to get tangled up in things, and with some of their previous members still injured by the sound of it no one really complained about the ponytailed tomboy tagging along to help. "So we need to take down those anthrophibians," there's a better word for you maybe Cantio, "Without harming the goods. Or the ship, so it can be investigated." She muses, and there's a bling-bleep chime as she flicks open her Pokedex to check just who she brought with. "Distract, debilitate, detain..." she murmurs to herself as she scrolls the screen.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki is still coming to terms with about three different things that happened during last episode's events. Morbis really was innocent...well, when it comes to their problem at least. She hopes those two and the Cheetahmen will be alright between each other up there. In the meantime, there's nothing for it but to finally solve the problem they came here for...somehow. Having gotten more or less used to the weird crap on this island by now - unless something as terrifying as the neck-o-saur appears again anyway - the still-transformed magical girl is frowning a bit as she observes the beach and the frogs on it in the distance. "It sure doesn't /look/ like they have anything that could take down an airship..." She sounds half-unsure about that. For all she knows they can shoot some volatile gunk out of their mouths like everything else that lives here. There's a brief shift of attention and a squint at some of the octopi after what Alexis says, but then Hibiki turns and hops down from the slightly raised spot where she was watching. "...Why don't we just try talking to them first?" She says while planting a hand on her hip and shrugging with her other shoulder. "If they're smart enough for all of this, they're probably smart enough for that." Between the Cheetahmen and the beastmen, she figures they might be, anyway. "And if it doesn't work out, we'll go from there. Someway or another." Probably by having to beat them up. Almost definitely by having to beat them up.
Lilian Rook	Lilian is here to be a big hero! Save the day! Help this Jackson dude, whoever the hell he is! Defeat . . . evil? Frogs? Recover . . . <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "So, what's in the crates?" <J-IC-Scene> Cantio brief inhale, then "F... Food. And energy drinks." <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "Really? That's what you've had these people busting their asses for? Groceries?" <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "Couldn't you just get your big sister to buy you some more?" Lilian is absolutely here to be a piece of shit, but a very specific kind, for a very specific reason. Never mind, sweet Jackson. It doesn't concern you. Nor does it concern any of the other girls, as far as she's concerned; this is as much of a really weird filler operation as her brain will allow. <J-IC-Scene> Hibiki Tachibana says, "Hey, it was also because we were trying to track down crash survivors on the island." <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "Oh, there's a better reason." <J-IC-Scene> Cantio anxiously "It's not just... R-right. They had enough firepower to bring down an airship, so I couldn't just not look into who did it." <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "Well, you could also have stayed home and let someone competent spearhead it. But I suppose as long as you're behaving." "That depends on if they qualify as people at all." she says to Hibiki on the scene, vaguely patient as usual with her. "I'm a little dismayed this fact hasn't been established or debunked yet. So I suppose that'll have to come first." Again, in a sort of 'now now, it's not your fault' way. However, she does stare quite purposefully at Cantio, maintaining uncomfortable eye contact until she looks away. "And please sign up with a real association." she then adds to Yang. "Running out of ammunition on the job is a little unprofessional. Find somewhere to expense it to." From there, she intends to fly over the beach and not do a Sonic the Hedgehog platforming course. In the worst case scenario, it'll tell her exactly how they shot down an airship. In the best case scenario, she can just land on the ship and demand to see 'the captain', because ships have captains.
Cantio	"That makes two of us." Jackson replies to Yang with a brief raise of his gun, emphasizing how (relatively) light the side with the ammo belt is. Also, the fact that there's no ammo belt for it. "But if we can get them to come around or just blitz 'em before they know what's going on, we might be alright." Alexis gets a nod and chuckle from Cantio, although the jumping octopi still have the purple-haired girl on edge even with the sword in her hands. "At this point, I'm more curious what they even eat. I didn't think frogs would even want energy drinks or know how to pop the tabs open." A beat, then she raises an eyebrow. "Anthrophib...?" She'll need a second to translate that one in her head. Hibiki's observation about the lack of obvious weaponry has Cantio nodding in agreement. "Right? They might be hiding it somewhere, but that wouldn't make sense if they need to defend themselves from..." There's a pause as she watches some giant mosquitos flying dangerously close to the frogmen before drifting past them without even a moment of hostility. Lilian's arrival, meanwhile, has Cantio on edge. Even before they start speaking, there's already an air of unease around her, and she withdraws visibly at the jabs about her sister and letting someone competent handle it. "We haven't run into them before now. They've been evading us since we started looking into all of this." Evading, just happening to be on the opposite side of the island, same diference. With Hibiki mentioning attempts at a dialogue, Cantio takes a deep breath before nodding, although she still sounds shaken by Lilian's all-of-her (and also makes sure not to maintain that uncomfortable eye contact by looking at other stuff like trees and divebombing birds). "Y-yeah, that's a... That couldn't hurt. Assuming they understand language at all, we might even be able to find out why they're here." From Lilian's skyward perspective, she can see that it's a rather straight shot from where the group is to the other end of the beach where the ship is. Rather than weird pitfalls and plunges into the ocean below that might inexplicably kill someone, it's mostly just a lot of idyllic beach. She can also see more machines and strange equipment the closer she gets to the ship: Little rounded things that look like crystal balls on sauce plates and tiny RC cars, some of which are even assisting the frogmen in getting those crates onto the ship. Luckily, they all seem to be focusing more on the crates than whoever or whatever might be in the sky. Perhaps spurred on by anxiety, Cantio hurries along the beach while holding a hand up to wave towards one of the few nearby frogmen. Instead of greeting her, however, the scout points at Jackson and shouts something unintelligible. That gets other frogmen looking their way, shouting in turn, and it only takes about ten seconds before before the shouts reach all the way back to the ship. The scout is probably the most unlucky one in this situation, because they're only armed with what looks like a pistol. It shouts more unintelligible words at the Elites with that weapon pointed forward, then starts firing rapidly at each person like some kind of sharpshooter with a high-capacity pistol! Except for the fact that the pistol is shooting lasers instead of bullets. That might be a clue.
Alexis	Alexis clicks closed the pokedex, and had just decided on a pokemon to use... but then jumps as gunshots ring out from the others moving ahead. In doing so she knocks a different pokeball loose from her belt, which clinks on the ground and pops open. A flash of light follows, materializing into what appears to be a minature (being barely over 2 feet tall) tyranosaurs. Just in time for the shots that were actually aimed -at- Alexis to pew pew pew against the back of his head. Good thing its harder than rock, taking only a few scorch marks. He lurches forward a bit, then turns and one eye narrows in the direction of the lasers. "RAUUUUUUUUNT!" Followed by a roar that sounds like it should be coming from something much bigger and meaner looking as the Tyrunt turns and charges in, snapping jaws that are at least a third of it's overall body size at the first unfortunate enemy to come into reach. Alexis snorts softly. "... Not why I was going to pick, but it works." She shrugs, and follows.
Yang Xiao Long	Yang gives Lilian a very angry look, but says nothing on the matter. She instead moves to back up Cantio, and thus gets tagged by some of that high output laser fire. The laser beam sprangs off of her Aura, splitting into 'fragments' of light, some of them going 'in' while others spray harmlessly away. The Huntress takes a couple more steps, then launches herself skyward, aiming to bring her fist down into one of the responding guards, bypassing the first scout, since someone else is more than likely to take care of him.
Hibiki Tachibana	"What Cantio said," Hibiki responds back to Lilian with a bit of tightness in her expression. She's aware of how she views her, but that doesn't make her feel any less like she's being patronized. She doesn't care about that as much as the tension between her and Cantio, and she's on the verge of telling her not to bully her when she pauses, exhales, and decides to put it aside for now and focus. "..It's fine, Cantio. Right, let's go." They have more important things to be dealing with. So she metaphorically slaps herself on the cheeks and starts forward alongside her and the rest of the group, glancing up at Lilian off in the sky before facing forward as they make their approach. She remains hopeful as Cantio waves them down...only for her to look confused enough that you can practically see the '???' over her head as her attention darts between them and Jackson wondering what the deal is. "Uh...what are they--?" And then the lasers come out. The constant shouting gave her plenty of time to put herself on guard at least, and she's quick to weave out of the way of the intial few shots aimed her way. That accuracy is better than she'd give a walking frog-man credit for though, and it's not long after that she's forced to stop, brace, and absorb the next few with her arms to protect the rest of her body. "Jackson, I don't suppose you have any idea why they don't like you?" Without leaving her position, Hibiki brings up a boot and slams it down onto the sand, then twists the heel and stamps it in another foot - the sand between her and the scout is suddenly upset before it explodes up from directly beneath the frogman in a small eruption of energy that'll threaten to send him tumbling a few meters up into the air and leave him open to the others--while she'll start pushing forward on her own past him, off in the same general direction as Yang. "I mean, you've never seen them before either, have you...!?"
Lilian Rook	"Got something to say?" That's an open question. Lilian doesn't really expect it to be taken up on it. She knows all she really cares to about the other girls present (which is 'enough', 'stereotype', 'nothing', and 'target'). Instead she's quite pleased that she doesn't have to go through the whole beach level. When the frog scout starts yelling in some kind of language, however, she becomes somewhat torn. "Well, I can't understand what the hell it's saying, but doesn't that sort of imply it's intelligent? They have a ship, weapons, logistics, and a language. Who knows why it doesn't translate." This leads to hovering in place, trying to decide what to do. On one hand, it really does just look like a gross monster thing, probably perfectly fine to shoot. On the other, there's a solid chance that might be doing murders based solely on appearances. Her decision isn't really made for her when it begins shooting. The first half of a swear word, a sudden too-close arcing backwards air flip over the barrage, punching neat laser holes through an expensive skirt, the second half of a swear word, and then a rapid descent on the poor sod as it's launched up into the air by Hibiki, whereupon it meets a full three-sixty degree axe kick up at the peak of its flight and is driven right back into the ground again for a good few broken bones. Lilian snatches the laser gun from its webby hand at the same time, though it seems mostly for the purpose of spraying the loading area as she swoops low and approaches fast, aimed at those odd-looking dishes first, and then the ship deck second, looking to cause enough disruption to get a few more seconds to land without being shot at by a lot more frogs. Mostly because she can't be confident she won't kill them by accident with an actual gun she's never used before.
Cantio	The appearance of the Tyrunt has the scout freaking out further, although it's not entirely clear whether that's because of some sense of animal/animal humanoid solidarity or the fact that it came out of such a tiny ball. Either way, the biting Pokemon gets a good hold of the scout's leg and forces its attention downwards to try prying the creature off with liberal application of lasers to the face. Like with the wildly hostile animals throughout the island, Yang's close-combat approach has the frogmen startled initially from getting rushed down in such a straightforward manner. One of the unlucky ones gets its head nearly caved in, although its hide and skull are oddly tough. Tough enough, even, to let it stagger backwards and fire off a few shots before collapsing backwards under its own weight. "Hell if I know! But if they're going to shoot first and ask questions later, I'm not going to worry about that detail!" Jackson shouts in response to Hibiki as he jukes and jives around a volley of lasers, firing off a few shots of his own at the reinforcements coming from further back towards the ship. The erupting energy from the sand has the scout Hibiki targets blasted upwards, caught off guard by the unseen atack that's only worsened when Lilian slams that axe kick right into its face and sends it right back down into an unconscious heap. "This would be a first... I haven't had any deliveries that ever went like this!" Jackson continues, hunkering behind an overturned pile of scrap metal while Cantio returns fire with her own laser sword... Gun? The frogmen don't seem to have much proteciton against... Well, anything that's coming their way, sprays of purple blood erupting from the more direct attacks while the laser and energy bursts draw shrieks a from them. Despite all the noise, however, the frogmen do seem sturdy enough to fall back and regroup closer to the ship, although they stop short of actually throwing down their weapons. The strange orb-dishes Lilian had seen earlier, as well as those RC car-like things, soon appear on the scene to reinforce the frogmen... Somehow? Somehow. It's not quite clear how they will at first as they just barrel onwards towards the Elites, the orb-dishes flying at them from above and the cars threatening to bruise their shins somewhat badly before exploding in spectacularly fiery fashion. Apparently, the machines are self-propelled bombs, although they also have a knack for exploding if they're hit hard enough. There's far more of the cars than the saucers, though, thanks to Lilian taking out some of them with her pre-emptive laser fire. It might not be so easy hitting such small and rapidly moving targets, though, especially as the lasers from the frogmen become more potent rather quickly. Those further away from the ship are still armed with those rapid-fire pistols, but already there's some starting to come out with laser-rifles poised to punch bigger and more carefully aimed holes into the Elites!
Alexis	Tyrunt's attention is quickly drawn from the frogmen by the emergance of multiple small moving objects. The first RC car to get close to it is promptly stomped on. Which of course causes it to explode, engulfing the small pokemon. And momentarily dazing him long enough for several of the saucers to add to the fracas and make this look like the set of a Ray Harryhausen stop-motion movie set. Bit of exploded devices clatter to the ground, and as the smoke from the explosions is settling there's one very ash covered, moderately damaged and -extremely- annoyed looking Tyrunt standing in middle of the remains. With there being explosions as well as lasers and angry frogs Alexis has wisely decided to hang back from the center of action a bit, because neither collateral damage and friendly fire are pleasant. But she's also got a good view of the overall situation. The little drones are annoying, but the frogmen and their laser weapons are still the main threat. "Tyrunt! Forget the toys." Alexis points at the gunners. "You need to focus on the real threat! Remember who shot you before!" That seems to be enough to get the little monster to at least focus his tantrum throwing, as he turns and charges the frogmen. "RAAAAUN!" Now looking at the little guy, one would expect the huge jaws to be the biggest threat, and that's not an inaccurate assumption. But it's not the -only- threat. His forlimbs may be too tiny to do much... but he's got very big, muscular back legs. Enough to power charge through the swarming RC devices, leap in the air, and come down with those clawed feet first, aimed to break frogmen and weapons alike!
Yang Xiao Long	Yang gets a few laser burns from the point blank fire, but it's those explosive drones that really put a number on her. A car slams into her leg, detonating and sending her stumbling, back into a saucer-drone that detonates, leaving the blonde brawler obscured by smoke. A moment later, the smoke is torn apart by a pulse of force from the woman. She then launches herself at the defensive line, aiming to once again do a diving drop-punch. This time, she isn't aiming for a specific frogman, instead she's aiming to hit the ground in their midst, looking to disrupt their formation with kinetic force.
Lilian Rook	Choosing to pick on the mechanicals was clearly the right move, since Lilian is quickly able to thin out the number of flying interception enemies right away. Being on the ship deck itself, the RCs aren't too much issue, having limited ability to get up there. "What the hell are your usual deliveries like?" Lilian almost conversationally yells back to Jackson, though more to be heard over the gunfire and small explosions than anything else. "Seriously. Why all this for these crates full of nothing special?" It's true that she doesn't really have the gunslinging skill to deal with the proliferation of fast and tiny enemies, but actually on the deck, in the thick of it with the frogs, Lilian is finally in a different element though. The number of them increasing is certainly a hazard, as is the increasing state of their armament, but at this point, she's up close already, and surrounded by the robust cover created by their precious cargo. She tosses the laser pistol aside like a spent cigarette butt, having no need of it here. From there, she operates at the back line of where the 'anthrophibians' are sending in their reinforcements from, waist deep in what should be their safest, most fortified position to pour fire from. She slices the blind corners of stacked cargo crates to tackle and drop unaware frogmen from behind, sprint-slides low under the aim of those able to react and knee kicks them from underneath, arm blocks and sweeps aside the weapons of those able to react quickly, and then smoothly slips behind or vaults back into cover again, leaving a trail of frogs beaten half to death in CQC.
Hibiki Tachibana	Slight frustration with Lilian aside, that was a damn good axe kick. Hibiki gives her a brief nod as they both keep pushing on, where she has to dart and leap from side to side with sudden shifts and vernier flares from her skirt thrusters to help keep herself clear as she can of the barrage of fire coming from the reinforcing frogmen. "Fair enough!" She shouts back to Jackson, pushing forward to make herself an easier target than the others in the back. "But they sure don't like you in particular!" She'd also rather not have to actually kill them if she can do anything to avoid it, since it seems like /something/ about their companion spurred them into fighting them more than them just being randomly violent. Could he have something to do with why they shot down the ship in the first place? No point thinking about it right now - as she moves to rush down their foes in the same vein as Yang, the mysterious devices close in. She swerves out of the way of one plate-ball, does a running flip over a card, then gets pinned down by a torrent of laser fire that leaves her still just long enough for another car to plonk into her leg armor and explode. "Hngh...!" She leaps straight up into the air out of the aftermath, scorched for wear but no less slowed down for it, and raises up a leg while twisting herself around. Golden light builds up within the armored portion of one of her legs, and she twists around with assistance from her thrusters into a whirling kick - one that releases Gungnir's built-up power as a crescent blast made up of violently crackling energy. A wide and destructive attack packing enough of a punch to destroy any of the small devices that get anywhere near it, even if it doesn't touch them - meant to cut open a path straight towards the ship that she and the others charging ahead can use to get there mostly un-exploded. She's sure making a sprint herself again right after she hits the sand again.
Cantio	The jaw-heavy Pokemon certainly does an admirable job hurling its weight around, crashing through explosive vehicles and frogmen alike as it barrels into the ranks of the entrenched gunners. Although they had underestimated it at first, they're forced to divert their fire towards it as it draws closer, straining their numbers further. With their attention drawn downwards, it becomes easier for Yang to continue her assault from above rather than from in front of them. Even without hitting anyone directly, the shockwaves knock several of them off their feet, and they're forced to fall back instead of standing their ground up front via a series of strange backwards rolling maneuvers! It'll keep them up and able to fight for a little longer, at least. "Definitely nothing like this. Piloting isn't supposed to be crazy, but here we are!" Jackson shouts in return to Lilian, finally starting to sound almost casual despite the life-threatening gunfire coming his way. It's still not a particularly convincing tone, but it does sound like he's making a conscious effort not to make himself seem like a dead weight. Having a machine gun helps, and picking up a fallen guard's laser rifle with actual ammunition in it makes that even user. Lilian's efforts in the backline throw the frogmen's battle lines into disarray as crates and guards alike go down, more purple blood leaking out of the more harrowing injuries without any of them outright dying from it. Close-combat certainly isn't their forte, thankfully working to their benefit as she's able to bring them down without having to resort to outright killing them all. "Maybe it's the gun...?" Cantio mulls Hibiki's question over as she slices through a frogman's arm and kicks another's knee in before either of them can draw a bead on Jackson, the delivery worker taking a brief look at the machine gun and then his newly-acquired rifle. "What, just because I'm the only person using one? That doesn't even make any sense!" As he responds, he fires off a volley of lasers from behind Hibiki, nailing one of the frogmen in the chest just in time for Gungnir to plow through a whole swath of machines. The successive explosions rock the sands beneath the Elites, and with so much noise caused by literally everything, it's probably not too surprising that the reaction to the Elites beating the crap out of everyone is being met with yet more force. Soon, more unintelligible yelling comes from the inside of the ship, sounding like it's being broadcast via a recording being played into a microphone. The reason becomes clear sooner rather than later, though, as a pair of identically dressed figures emerge from the ship's cabin. It's... Robots? They certainly look robotic in their relatively detailed helmets, largely gray affairs with a bright blue 'eye' going vertically right in the center. Each figure is clad in golden armor with black lining visible beneath the gold plates, and both are carrying similarly gold-colored firearms. Spotting the Elites, one of them gestures towards the other before they move to opposite ends of the ships, firing at the Elites in controlled bursts. These two actually seem to have some sort of tactical knowhow, even, as their shots come in between volleys of lasers from the frogmen along the beach. Although the frogmen's numbers are dwindling already, their spirits seem undaunted as they make their last stand on that beach. A few particularly brave frogmen even try to grapple with the Elites at close range, intent to buy some extra time for their comrades to get much needed shots in!
Yang Xiao Long	The new robots appear, and their shots land true on the blonde brawler, knocking her back from the ship a few meters. She skids, digs hands into the sand to slow herself, then claws her way back into the fight, cycling the chambers on her gauntlets to lock in her Fire-Dust shells. Once back in range, she rears back, and starts flurry punching the air, lobbing explosive shells at the robots which burst into sticky flames that don't seem to catch on the wood of the boat they're stood on, only the robots.
Alexis	Tyrunt does a tremendous job of thrashing through the enemy lines. But when the enemy start to move and coordinate their counterattacks, the tiny tantrum tossing terror is in terribly tight trouble. Multiple laser blasts drive the minisaurus back, and then he disappears in a flash of red. Might even be mistaken for being defeated if they don't realize the energy is crackling back into the spheroid it originally emerged from. "Good job tough guy, but you're not much good against actual tactics." The pokeball is tucked away, and Alexis is quick to throw another one into the fray. "I choose you, Scorch!" This time the flash of energy spews out to release some manner of ash colored badger. One that, when he rears up and roars, flames ignite from the pores on his neck and shoulders like a raised collar. Some of the tactical suppressing fire that was being turned in the Trainer's direction zings against his already dark hide, drawing a narrow red-eyed glare in that direction. Alexis pokes her head up from behind him, scowling as well. "No time to be fancy now, bud. Just hit them with everything you've got!" That is all Scorch needs. He digs a foot into the ground, clenches his forepaws, and the flames burning across his shoulders intensify. "Tyyyyyyyy..." For a moment he seems to be inhaling. "PHLOOOOSIOOON!" then spews out a large ball of flame from his mouth. The flaming projectile hits the ground amongst the frogmen, where it erupts into a great pillar of flames, and sends several smaller bursts of fire radiating outwards from it.
Hibiki Tachibana	"I wish it was anything that simple..." Hibiki murmurs to herself on the subject of Jackson's gun, thankful for the covering fire as she moves in. But really, why him of all of them? Does it have anything to do with his macho man transformation from before? Maybe he's secretly a protagonist-type and they're the sworn enemies he never knew about? ...Probably not. The sound of more frog-shouting makes her furrow her brow on the way to the boat, with the filtered sound of it giving an advance warning that something a little different is coming. Of all the things she might've been expecting though, robots(?) were not really on the list. "Who in the--" Her eyes dart between them as they spread out, and she realizes after a moment that they're actually strategically pinning them down - she skids to a stop where she is to defend herself, lasers impacting her gauntlets and burning into the metal. The magical girl catches on to a frogman trying to sneak up on her and twists on her heel to elbow strike him in the head and send him tumbling backwards, but the end result of that is a set of searing pains in her back as she's shot and sent falling forward. "Damnit...seriously, what /is/ the deal!?" She forces that out from between her teeth echoing what Lilian had said, rolling to the side to avoid further fire before jumping back to her feet. "Do we have to smack the fight out of you before we can get an explanation on what the hell this is all about!?" Frustration once again seeps into her voice as she braces an arm, the piston within her gauntlet slamming backwards as far as it'll go...and then grabbing onto it with her other hand, she yanks it further back through raw strength until it's extended past her elbow entirely, then repeats the motion with her other arm while avoiding more fire. Until she stops, pulls back her left arm, and throws it forward as the overstressed bunker hammers back in. The resulting shockwave forces her to skid back on the sand, but also launches towards one of the robots as a fast-traveling wave of raw force that'll slam into it with all the power of an actual strike to the everything. And then twisting on her heel, she spins and turns the momentum into a second blow aimed directly at the other! Who said you can't punch someone from far away? Her Symphogear is going to be feeling some recoil from this one after, though.
Lilian Rook	Lilian is having an easy time with an uncoordinated rabble. Not only is it a general gap of skill and preparedness, but incidentally part of her particular training portfolio; that is dealing with masses of jackasses looking to cause problems but who aren't elite soldiers. That continues all the way up until giant tactical robots roll out. The convenient cover that Lilian had previously been using is now wastefully ineffective with both enemies covering the entire ship with opposite arcs. She briefly entertains the possibility of flying up between them and seeing if she can get them to shoot each other, but their ballistic programming suggests itself to be considerably better than that the moment they start shooting like professionals. "Why are the guns gold?" is all she can think to say in that single bizarre moment. The overlapping fire chases her through the path she'd just cleared, flames and splinters of ship chasing at her heels, bits of carbonized crate flying at her back, waves of scorching heat singeing her clothes and turning her skin red on each side a burst creeps closer. Eventually, she gives up on trying to stay clear of both of them, roughly when she picks up a rifle, turns to shoot back at one of them, and then ends up throwing it away from her at the last minute to intercept a focused burst, causing it to detonate from feet away. Putting one to her back should be fine. Trained in both robots' sights, Lilian uses the opportunity Hibiki presents by hurling herself at the one robot, to disappear from the other's line of vision, reappearing directly behind it, gleaming black magnetite sword in hand, and proceed to hack it limb from limb in an elaborate knot of glowing scarlet tracery.
Cantio	Cantio and Jackson are holding their own against the frog forces, both of them having swapped to their own transformed states (flying plastic swimsuit and anatomy defying muscles, respectively) to fend off more of the frog scouts coming from behind as well as some of the acid and fire-spitting wildlife that have been drawn in by the sounds of fighting. That makes it somewhat easier for everyone to focus on what's in front of them. With the full forces of the frogmen and robots(?) on display against the Elites, the beach has become less of a quirky vacation spot and more of a warzone. Explosives from Yang land on and around the two leaders, cranking the heat up in that gold-colored armor and drawing pained guttural noises from each of them. But aren't they supposed to be robots? Either way, the frogmen are most certainly frog people and not robots as the flames from the burning badger cook them from the outside in. They screech, they retreat towards the sea, and none of them are able to rely on what little cover existed before thanks to the flames making it impossible for them to find anywhere else to hide. Even the sand catches on fire from the intense heat, spreading further thanks to all those exploded machines and their internals apparently creating yet more fire hazards for frog and human (or human-adjacent) alike. Throughout all of this, it certainly seems that the frogmen and their robotish leaders don't have diplomacy anywhere in mind as they keep fighting to their last. Hibiki's piston-powered fist nearly punches right through the first leader entirely, leaving a gaping and bloody hole in that armor while the second has its leg nearly blown right off from the shockwave projectile. Battered and bloodied as they are, the probably-not-robots aren't in any condition to fend Lilian off when she just goes from being in front of them to suddenly not in front of them. Instead, one of them is simply treated to the sight of the other just losing its limbs in yet another spray of purple blood as both giants collapse from their injuries. Their gray metallic heads smash against the side of the ship as they fall, cracking the helmets open and revealing... Also gray heads, but significantly fleshier with big eyes and plenty of blood, likely from all the injuries sustained during the battle. And so, the operation is a success! Although flames linger on the beach and the ship, the immediate danger of frogmen and strange gray humanoids is no longer present. Thanks to the efforts of the Elites in actively trying not to murder the shit out of them, there's surprisingly few fatalities outside from those caused by Jackson and Cantio. The survivors are still huddled against what's left of their cover, though, grasping for guns or anything solid enough they can get their hands on as if expecting the worst from the Elites. Inside and on the ship, meanwhile, the crates are still present and in minor danger of burning if the flames are left unchecked. Those with their corners or tops sliced off from earlier (or otherwise opened) show that there's still plenty of the red and orange labeled Bonk! energy drink inside, although some of the cases have been opened already and mixed with the pre-packaged food bearing Made in Cadenza labeling.
Alexis	"... Anyone else have a craving for fried frog legs now?" Alexis shrugs as Scorch gives her a look for the awkward joke. "No? Just me? Pfff." She gives the Typhlosion a pat on the forelimb. "Either way, good job. But we better keep this from getting out of hand." Fortunately Alexis comes prepared for the potential collateral damage that comes with Pokemon going all out with the attacks, pulling a blue-green pokeball with a net pattern across the top hemisphere from her belt and flicking it. "Time for damage control, come on out Slosh." Fortunately this amphibious creature is not a frog, bearing more of a resemblance to a big chungus of a blue salamander with a somewhat languid (',___,') expression. "Some of those might be electrical fires from the devices, so go easy on the water at first." Bobbing his bulbous head in agreement, the Quagsire's cheeks bulge out almost comically so, and then he spits globs of slimey mud on the lingering fires to keep them from spreading.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Ugh, geez..." As their robotic foes are felled from all of their efforts and Lilian's cut-you-up and the truly messed-up beach finally finds some measure of quiet, Hibiki lurches a bit in place as her armor lets out a complaint-drowning hiss and two bursts of hot steam. Shaking one arm around as if it was sore, she takes a moment to hop up onto the deck of the ship herself to investigate the pair. With a deep grimace, squinting and with one eyebrow going up. "Wait, are they...al...iens...?" You can once again nearly see the question marks floating over her head at this very stereotypical appearance of extraterrestrials. She's...not sure if one of them is dead, they're both dead, or if they could even survive de-limbing in the first place, but she decides she doesn't want to be the one to check and instead slowly moves towards one of the crates on deck. After a quick inspection of the cargo, she takes out a can of Bonk! and a parcel of food, looks between them both, and moves to hop over the ship's side. Where she approaches a group of huddled frogmen, not looking terribly concerned about their attempts to re-arm, and instead stops a decent distance away to hold up what she has. "Relax. We're done fighting if you are." She speaks a little slowly, as if it'll somehow make her easier to understand if they really don't know what they're saying. Maybe the tone will come across? "...Why did you steal these?" She holds up the food first, and then the Bonk! for emphasis. "Was it because of..." She trails off and looks back over her shoulder towards the ship, not exactly sure of what the deal is with those two still.
Lilian Rook	Upon realizing that tactical robots are giant aliens in suits (or aliens in giant suits?), Lilian tones back the degree of butchery from 'cubes' to 'he got no legs'. The idea of this is to, as she says, "Haul one off and make it someone in the Paladins' problem. Ideally, figuring out 'how' and 'who?' and 'why??'". She can't help but notice the 'made in Cadenza' tag. She picks up a can, then gets up in Cantio's personal space, holding it up to be seen. "Really? So that's why in the end?" There's a tense moment where it seems like Cantio is about to get a whole lot of shit, and then a moment of shameful relief when Lilian just lobs her the can and says "Well, you did what you were told. That's better than I expected. Good girl." before leaving (with Alien).
Cantio	The Typhlosion isn't the only one giving Alexis a look. Jackson takes it in good humor, at least, and Cantio offers the barest of polite chuckles that's pretty clear about her trying not to make the trainer feel bad. The muddy gunk does well enough in halting the spread of the flames, ensuring that retrieval of the supplies and the strange creatures can be done safely! Interrogation, too, as Hibiki starts to question the frogmen and Lilian prepares one of the aliens for extraction. Those approached by Hibiki recoil at first, one of them even grabbing a busted rifle and brandishing it like a club. It stops, however, after looking towards the ship and settles down with a defeated slump. "Survival." A voice similar to the giant aliens comes from the interior of the ship again, but in a far less helmet-distorted tone as a brown and black-robed alien comes floating right out of the ship. It's far smaller than the giants, too, only 'standing' at roughly the size of the ship's sail rather than towering over the entire ship. It glances towards the carved up alien for a moment, then turns back to the Elites and gestures at the mountain with the destroyed lab up top. "We crashed here weeks ago in the middle of a routine scouting mission. A flying vehicle came by not too long after that, and it was either shoot it down or risk them telling your leaders we were here." The carved up alien makes a noise of protest, drawing a dismissive wave and scoff from the robed alien. "What They're probably going to ask you the same things later, anyway. I'll save everyone some time." Jackson, however, looks incredulous about all of it. It's moderately terrifying to the aliens, too, considering he's still half-naked and twice as wide as the frogs. "Wait. You got us into all this crap because you thought we /might/ have said something about this place?!" "We would if we were in your position." The robed alien shrugs, still sounding dismissive. "But we got some good data from the food and drinks in there, so it wasn't a complete loss for our research." It lets out a weird warbling noise that might be a laugh, then holds its hands up as it starts floating upwards rapidly. It does not appear to be interested in bringing any of the frogs or aliens with it. As Lilian gets in Cantio's face, meanwhile, Cantio freezes up and can be seen clenching her jaw as if trying to keep her stomach firmly within her gut. She doesn't relax even when the can is tossed her way, just barely managing to catch it after fumbling, knocking it upwards, then awkwardly catching it between the backs of both hands. "That's n..." She can't bring herself to speak up until after Lilian heads off with No-Legs. "... Nobody told me to do any of this." She exhales harshly, then puts on another awkward smile as she turns back to Hibiki, Alexis, and Yang. "But.. Um. A-anyway! Thanks for the help. I'll make sure the payment is transferred to your accounts once we get back. I don't know if we'll still be able to use what's left for the people in Summer, but..." She glances towards the remaining giant alien, that inquisitive look returning to her face. "I'll figure something out to make it up to the people there."