Scene #7590: The Watch Stole the Precious Thing

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	THE RECAP The Gale Empire conquered the Kingdom of Quicknest, and then following a regime change, Emperor Gale II set about a plan of aggressive industrialization that the people of Quicknest aggressively disagreed with. Things came to a head in the town of Camembert Way, which - with Watch assistance, pushed out Gale Empire forces and achieved an enclave of independence of sorts. During the conflict, the Watch took possession of a certain item from the Gale Empire - a prototype 'Breath Armor' codenamed the Empy - which they handed over to the revolutionary forces. And that, not the territory, is tonight's subject of contention... THE WATCH "We got it working again," says Harper, stomping around in the power armor. "We thought it was fried, but turns out once we replaced the circuitry and fine tuned it a bit, it's working a bit." he 'Empy' looks like an unholy fusion of fantasy plate armor and modern power armor - bulky, bulgy, but it seems to work. "I was thinking - let's head out a bit into the woods, see what all it can do, maybe do a little mock battle with it - assuming you all-stars aren't swinging too hard, yeah?" The Watch members here are present for other reasons - checking up on the revolution or delivering supplies, most likely - but there's more than enough free time now for a little impromptu field test. THE PALADINS The Paladins are not a mercenary unit, and the Gale Empire isn't strictly a member of the Commonwealth - but your presence here is paid for, in a way. Call it 'Arranged For'. The trading of political capital, access to the continent for humanitarian works, maybe even just some promised favors. This being Kale Hearthward's home faction might have helped grease the wheels a bit. "We'd put a retrieval beacon in the Empy, in case something happened to it. The beacon stopped responding shortly after it was stolen, but it started broadcasting again," says Zephyr. Zephyr had introduced himself as an engineer, and the 'Right Arm of the Emperor' - and some may recognize him as Kale's significant other, as well. "We're going to airdrop on its location, grab it or destroy it, and get out. No need for anything else." The brief briefing is taking place on a speedy Empire airship, making its way at high altitudes towards the skies above Camembert Way. Parachutes have been provided for those that might not otherwise survive the fall. "Any questions?"
Taelveras	The Paladins are not a mercenary unit, and Taelveras is not a mercenary, but here she is. She is unfamiliar enough with politics in a part of the multiverse she's never been to in her life to not object to being sent around places. And she is good at both fighting and stealing things. Maybe she'll get an opportunity to steal the stolen goods back. Maybe she will end up holding off Watchmen and clearing a path. It works either way for her. Taelveras sits in the airship, drawn up slightly. She's tall and her long coat makes her look bigger; she seems as if she should be brooding even if, right now, she actually isn't. She has angled her sword so that it doesn't impale the seat she's sitting in, which unfortunately means that it is likely to take up much of the one next to her instead. "One," Taelveras says. "Do you have a sketch of it? I have never seen a 'breath armor' before and I would hate to take the wrong thing." She has a general idea but more details are always better. She has also never met a bird person before, but given some of the people she has met, that one isn't even registering. Honestly, she's probably being more offensive by wearing leather than her attitude.
Gareth	Although Gareth isn't personally familiar with the Quicknest situation, she's managed to catch up to speed relatively well just by asking around. Eager to make a good impression on her new allies, she shows up to help out with the grunt work, moving stuff around as directed while donning... Actually, she's dressed fairly normally in a light brown vest with matching working pants, a green long-sleeved shirt, and a simple brown cap. The only thing that might look a bit off about an otherwise nobody hanging around is that she's also wearing an ornate ring, and also because she's probably beelining for any crates bigger than she is while moving them with relative ease. "That sounds like a good idea. Don't worry, I can be a test for its offensive systems if you need someone sturdy for that!" Gareth chimes in confidently, not seeming to care that she doesn't (currently) have a single piece of armor or even a visible weapon on her.
Hibiki Tachibana	Back in for a check-up in Camembert Way after a fair while, Hibiki is using the time to make sure things are running smoothly and to help out here and there where she can. It's also brought her encounter with the Emperor back to the forefront of her mind, so a good majority of her time has been dedicated to thinking. But keeping that to herself, she's taken some obvious interest in the Empy being marched around in between working right alongside Gareth to move things around. She's not as strong normally as a Servant, but she can clearly get things done well enough - but she's paused for both lunch, and also watching the armor do its rounds. "Don't worry, we won't go and bust it up or anything," she answers back with a chuckle, hopping off the crate she was sitting on. "I'm really surprised it's working as well as it is. Maybe it'll actually give us a run for our money?" Hibiki phrases it like a joke, but the Gale Empire has already proved itself to be pretty impressive...and you never know what'll happen with prototypes.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan has one thought. And that thought is. Holy shit I wish I had one of those. "A whole set of armor?! You can just put multiple pieces together like that?!" The squirrel walks around the armor, looking it up and down, his gun by his side, his buckler on his wrist. "I thought these things could only do one thing. Let's see what this can REALLY do. This will really give them pause to challenge us again." Author's Note: No it won't.
Kale Hearthward	PALADINS "Do you one better - I designed the thing, let me draw a quick diagram..." he says, getting out pen and paper and doing so. "See - breath intake valve is right there, the breathprint dampener and pattern shaping batteries are right here, and then it's piped through the sylphan drives here-" Taelveras gets a lot of unnecessary information, but yes, she know knows precisely what the thing looks like. "Sir -" calls one of the pilots. "We'll be over the beacon spot in just a moment, but... scouts report a foreign vessel parked nearby." "Ahh... that'd be trouble, then, best get ready for it..." says Zephyr, putting his pen down and going to pull a pair of metal gauntlets out from under his seat. WATCH Harper leads everyone out to a little clearing in the woods. "Alright, so we've got... looks like this has 'Ground Hater' and 'Shell Game', I guess those are... the Breath Weapons on it?" he says. To Gareth: "Hah, well, not really sure I want to aim the weapons on this at you all, but let's see... 'Ground Hater'?" Looks like those are in the fists of this..." He activates it, and punches a rock - and the rock starts floating. "Oh - not sure how useful that is?" He looks over at Aidan. "Yeah, I thought so too! Hey, you want to see if you can use it next?"
Taelveras	Tael is clearly not up to understanding the engineering involved, but she can at least look at the design and get the form and shapes of it. She squints, her too-pale eyes narrowing as she takes it in. "I see," she says, eventually. "Armor, with more." It might be too heavy for her to drag the whole thing through a step, but she's pretty sure she can at least pick it up and find it, and let Zephyr handle actually moving it. He knows how to operate it, presumably. She nods to herself, rising. "I am ready," she says, glancing toward the closest viewpoint to double-check the time of day. And how sunny it is.
Gareth	"It could... It looks really cool!" Gareth chimes in after Hibiki, looking almost excited as she finds herself getting distracted from her supply-moving work to just gawking at the Empy. She grins a bit wider when Aidan gets excited over it as well, even circling a few times herself for good measure. "If it can do one thing really well, that'll force anyone opposing to adapt to something they might not be suited for themselves. But if it can do a bunch of things..." She trails off when Harper mentions the 'Ground Hater', tilting her head slightly for dramatic effect. "That's a weird name... But I can take it, don't worry! I'd be more worried if I couldn't take at least one hit from this thing." She sounds confident enough in that, at least, then 'oohs' when the rock starts to float from the punch. "You could do all sorts of... Um." It's going to take her a while to figure that out. For better or for worse, that keeps her unaware of what else might be going on above her.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan is trying really hard to look pretty stoic and cool, since he is one of the fewer breath weapon wielders in the Revolutionary Army, and a KNIGHT. It's hard to do that when he sees the punch make it float. "That's..." He nods towards Gareth, also thinking.. Aidan reaches out and pushes at the rock. It doesn't start to move immediately. He pushes on it more aggressively, getting it to move a bit, then stop. "Probably useful?" He squints at it, trying to figure out just HOW it would be that useful. But it feels like it would be REALLY useful. "Shell Game? Wonder what that does?" THEN Aidan gets to try it?! He looks giddy for a moment, then, "Well, maybe I should try it out."
Hibiki Tachibana	"Shell Game...?" On their way out into the forest, hands casually resting in her pockets, Hibiki remembers in passing that exact term brought up before. She's not really sure what it is, exactly, but this prospective test seems like it's going to answer that question for it. Probably really good information to have now that it comes up... In comparison, there's only so many things she can imagine something called 'Ground Hater' could do, and this is one of less destructive ideas she would've thought of. "Whoa--hey, that's actually pretty cool..." Despite Harper's thoughts on it, the resident punchgirl takes a few steps closer and looks over the affected rock from a few different angles. "I guess it 'hates' the ground because it makes anything float? I wonder if it works on people...if you use it on someone who doesn't have any way to throw themselves around, they're pretty much helpless." You can practically see the possibilities of anti-gravity punching things flashing behind her eyes. After she gets a few moments of gawking herself, she clears her throat and leans over to give Aidan a pat on the back and a small grin. "If you're excited, you don't gotta hide it. Have fun with it. Just don't point it at us."
Kale Hearthward	"Yeah, I don't - this doesn't seem... like a weapon?" says Harper, tapping on a few other things and making them float. "It makes things lighter? It seems more like something you'd use to shift cargo, than a weapon... Anyway, let me get this off and then you have a go, Aiden, and we'll see-" Whatever else he's going to say is interrupted by an airship dropping out of cloud cover to right overhead - a maneuver straight out of the Gale playbook. And then he's further interrupted by a handful of Gale Empire soldiers dropping out of the aforementioned airship, Zephyr the eagle at their lead. "Hello there!" he calls as he lands lightly, as if he was parachuting down without actually using a parachute. (Or, possibly, he just weighs a bit less at the moment.) "You'll have to pardon us, just retrieving some stolen property!" However polite his words are, he doesn't wait for a response before wading in, getting in a pre-emptive strike by swinging at Hibiki and then Aiden with a gauntleted fist. If it connects, the hit doesn't especially hurt, but you do feel a little bit... ... well, lighter.
Taelveras	Taelveras does not parachute down. She stays on the ship, waiting, watching, squinting as the airship drops down. And then she steps behind the edge of the door and vanishes. She reappears, rising up from the ground - specifically, from Zephyr's shadow as he falls, the daytime light giving it a relatively crisp boundary. Tael hops out of it, eyes narrowed as she clears Zephyr's landing point. The light is dazzling, but her lenses let her adjust quickly - it just doesn't mean she likes it. "Excuse me," she says, before drawing her blade and snapping it at Gareth all in the same motion. It's a slapping gesture with the flat of the blade - her opponent appears unarmored and Tael isn't sure sure how threatening she is, so she's more trying to bowl Gareth over than anything else.
Aidan Proudpick	Again, Aidan tries to LOOK COOL. But everyone starts patting him on the back and that makes things a little worse. "Hey, it could just be really useful, and very important to find out, you know!" And it would be REALLY cool. He starts to make his way over to the armor when the airship rolls down. "Damn! How did they find us!" Aidan twists around to see... Kale Hearthward's boyfriend AGAIN. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. THIS ISN'T FAIR. He's going to have to punch the guy and Kale is going to come after him AGAIN. This feels like entrapment! "I can't let you do th-" WHOMP. The heavy gauntlet strikes him in the snout, not particularly hard... and suddenly he starts to float up off the ground. With a harsh breath, a rush of air flowing out and forming a driving wall to push between him and Hibiki and Zephyr. "I don't really want to have to fight you, but I will if forced!"
Gareth	A voice rings out from above, and Gareth looks up as a birdman approaches! She doesn't move to intercept Kale, instead just gawking at him as though trying to figure out why he's here despite him literally saying why he's here. It's only when he straight up attacks Hibiki and Aidan that she finally puts two and two together. "We're under attack!" She calls out, turning around rapidly to try and get the warning out to any non-Elite workers in the area. She doesn't even register Taelveras as a threat initially, instead waving at her to try and get her attention. "You should go, too! This area could become-" And then she gets swordslapped right in the face. There's a moment when Gareth looks like she might stagger back from the impact, but she holds her ground as she peers around the side of the blade to give the most fearsome glare she can muster.* "... Ah. You're here to attack us as well. In that case-" Gareth holds her arms out to each side as a great shield appears in one hand and an oversized lance appears in the other, and she claps them both together to try and smash Taelveras right between the two giant objects. "-en garde! You won't be taking that... Armored... Thing back without a fight!" *It's not very fearsome at all.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki is actually looking very much forward to seeing what Aidan does behind the wheel of this thing. He seems like the type who'd be able to really put it through its paces and show what it can do--but she's not going to get the chance. Her attention snaps up, just in time to see the silhouette of the airship descending down, followed right behind by the infantry. "Wh--" They come down fast enough that she's still responding by the time Zephyr is pushing forward. Her forearms come up defensively, and she takes the blow to them pretty well. She goes skidding backwards a little...and then more than she expected, her feet finding themselves beginning to scramble off the ground. "Eh!? It's just like that--" Ground Hater. Uh oh. Fortunately, she's not the kind of person she was mentioning would get screwed over by this. "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron...!" Light overtakes her body before exploding outwards as flecks of brightness, what's left behind taking the form of her own powered armor - and it has thrusters that she can use to launch herself forward, metal boot-first in a return kick back to Zephyr's chest. "Have you thought about asking for it nicely!?" She shouts off towards Harper right after. "Get clear! We'll protect you!"
Kale Hearthward	"Don't worry! I've got this thing, and I'm gonna fight the Gale Empire off with it!" calls Harper from inside the Empy. Nothing happens. "... Wait, it's not moving. It turned off. Why did it turn off?!" "Oh! That must be a prototype that got built before we fixed the split-dampener bug!" calls Zephyr as he tries to make headway against Aidan's headwind. He gets kicked by the incoming boot, cancelling any momentum he'd built up against Aidan's windwall, and landing roughly on the ground. "Ah - I remember the two of you," he says. "From attacking the emperor's airship... had been hoping to get a chance to talk to you two again." "... After we get the Empy back - pretty please, by the way!" he says as he attempts a zig-zag run to close in on them both and tag them with Ground Hater again. "We can sit down and maybe work out how you'll all surrender! Or at least leave!"
Taelveras	Taelveras doesn't look like a local, but that works both ways. She could be Watch! She could not be Watch! She is not Watch. "I understand it was stolen," Taelveras says, almost dancing aside after her blow - she's circling, trying to advance toward the armor, though she's not going to be able to get a clear run with Gareth there and she knows it. She reconsiders and changes her angle, backing toward a rocky outcropping. (It's lucky nobody landed on that!) Her blade rises, snapping again - she chooses to deflect the lance, not trying to stop it dead but push it sideways so that it doesn't hit her dead-on. The shield still impacts her in the shoulder, sending her staggering for a couple steps until she turns it into an intentional-looking movement, her coat taking at least some of the blow. Suddenly, she lunges, lashing with the actual blade this time as her coat billows behind her. Gareth is a combatant, so she needn't restrain herself like that. But the first blow is a feint, as Tael tries to convince her to commit the shield to a defense; she dips, athletically going low before rising into a cut, her free hand grabbing at the shield to keep it out of line. Or that's the idea, anyway. "Give me your name!" she calls, though she doesn't immediately offer her own. She might be a little busy.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Seriously!? It had to break /now/!?" Hibiki calls back towards Harper as she makes another thruster burst to actually land down, trying to find her balance despite the lightness. Her attention very quickly goes back to Zephyr however, with her expression tightening up. "Right...you were the one who..." She trails off on his approach, tensing up as he darts side to side on his way closer. He's fast. Just fast enough that she can't avoid getting struck again, only grit her teeth and swing over a now-gauntleted arm to block the blow. "Sorry, but surrender isn't on the table...! And leaving isn't that easy either!" Damnit. Just getting hit still makes it even harder to move around properly. Too much of that and it'll be even more annoying than fighting in space. Hibiki lets the effects keep carrying her backwards until she flips around to land on her feet against a tree, launching off of it to springboard back towards Zephyr at high speed. "I spoke to the Emperor! I know what the situation is!" Upon closing in, her momentum is put forward into a flying shoulder check meant to send their foe on a rough tumble through the dirt. "But if we just leave, /someone/ is going to suffer for it! Whether it's the people of Camembert, or...!"
Aidan Proudpick	God. And he's so NICE. This is the WORST. Aidan starts to float up HIGHER as the glove slams against him, sending him upward and sideways and removing MORE of his weight. But Aidan is made for this. As his legs start to float upward, he uses his tail to direct his path and direct his body in mid air. "Alright, well. Tell Sir Hearthward I DID ask." He looks around at the rest of the Gale Empire. "I did tell him to leave! I gave him the oppurtunity to go away!" He sucks in the air wall. "Everyone saw that I told him to leave!" He looks back at Hibiki for confirmation. The breath rams into the shield and the buckler unfurls, widening with a roar of wind into the full lion head shield. Jets of force rip from the sides of the weapon as whatever momentum he was having trouble creating turns into a direct velocity right at Zephyr. "Quicknest will never surrender to forceful rule!"
Gareth	"I heard that, too. It must have been stolen for a good reason, though!" Clearly, Gareth doesn't know what that reason is, but she sounds confident in her own assumption enough that she's standing her ground against Taelveras over it. Instead of chasing after the woman with the massive height difference over her, however, Gareth remains in a defensive stance as she inches forward steadily. That first attack comes in as a feint, and the knight braces for impact. When it doesn't come as soon as expected, however, she steps forward with the shield and even moves with Taelveras' grab instead of fighting against it. Her lance hand, meanwhile, moves with unnatural quickness considering the size of the weapon, allowing her to shift that incoming slash just enough that it digs into her arm with a relatively shallow cut instead of slicing her open right down the middle. "That's a good maneuver... You're as pretty as you are skilled!" Gareth answers with an bright-eyed eagerness as she takes a moment to hop backwards, dipping into a light bow in greeting. "My name is Gareth, seventh seat of the Round Table. If you were hoping for an easy fight, though, then you've got another thing coming!" And with that, the knight charges forward, closing the gap quickly. She aims a flurry of quick stabs around Taelveras, almost as if she's testing her defenses, then caps it off with a thrust at center mass that stops short of actual contact. The reason becomes clear soon afterwards, however, as light gathers at the tip and explodes out suddenly in a short-range blast of mana.
Kale Hearthward	"Hey, whatever your name is, how do I restart this thing?" calls Harper, still stuck in the immobile armor. "Do you really think I'm going to tell you?" calls Zephyr, before getting first shoulder-checked, and then slammed by the shield, landing roughly once again. "... That's right, you spoke to the emperor, yeah," says Zephyr. "He told you talking things out wasn't working, right?" "Someone is going to get hurt, yeah, and I feel bad about that, but at this point they're getting hurt because they wouldn't get out of the way!" he says. "And I know that's ironic because I can't get out of the way of that shield-" He pauses. "That actually looks like a familiar design, by the way - the shield, I mean... where'd you get it?" "... Anyway! Talking hasn't worked! Being nice about getting people to move hasn't worked - it just got you all in here making things worse - and what's left? I'm not going to give up, not when I can make all this work - bring things to a bright future, one where I bring this land, this whole continent to happiness and prosperity. I can see it. I can grasp it..." He squeezes his gauntleted right hand. "... I'm Zephyr. I'm the right arm of the emperor. I make things - plans, ideas, inventions, and I'm here, in his stead, to make things right - starting with keeping you from making things worse!" He runs in again, a bit more warily - trying to avoid the various attacks he's seen thrown at him so far as he goes to try tagging the Watch duo with Ground Hater again. By now, keeping close to the ground is becoming... difficult. As he strikes out, he can't help but turn his head towards Harper, having trouble with the armor, and something in him can't help himself. "It's the leftmost switch, that restarts the engine!" he calls, unable to resist fixing it. "Oh, thanks! I think!" says Harper as the breath armor starts slowly coming back to life.
Taelveras	Taelveras has fought heavily armored opponents before, but most of them don't use a shield quite the same way as Gareth. Moving with Tael's grab is a good strategy, and one she doesn't entirely have a good response to - she is getting the impression Gareth must be impressively strong just to swing those around. Surprisingly, Taelveras recognizes the name. Her eyes light up for a moment, though given she habitually squints into the light it might not be as obvious as it could be. She's not entirely sure the battlefield is the right place to comment on beauty, though, and her lips tighten at that. Or maybe she just doesn't appreciate it. "I am Taelveras," she says - no title, no surname, just Taelveras. "In that case, I'll give you the respect you deserve." Gareth comes in, and Taelveras seems about to deflect the blow again... but something is off. She withstands the short flurry with a muted grunt - and then suddenly dives, rolling past Gareth as the final thrust is launched at her. The blast of mana comes so close that she can feel it ruffle her hair from the aftershock. Springing to her feet, Taelveras brings up her free hand, making some complicated-looking gestures with it before reaching out with it. Lightning builds up between her fingers, dancing from tip to tip before lancing out in a thunderous bolt... ...but something is different about the lightning too. It seems faded and bleached, nearly monochrome, and doesn't put out any light; it just is, a bolt arcing through the air. It also does not burn or electrocute but, on impact, leaves a dull numbness and sluggishness, like that part of the body was 'turned off' (at least partially) rather than burned up or blasted. It doesn't even leave a scorch mark on a rock it arcs to, though it does make it rattle as if it was punched.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan powers downward across the way, pushing away from Zephyr on the rebound. He has to stop in mid air and then twist, using his tail to twist his body around. The floating in mid air doesn't make it EASY, as some of his friction is gone. Where he would normally simply push his feet against the ground to turn, he has to flounder in mid air, made worse by the fact he's getting mad from the demands and the fact Kale is going to find him and kick his ass. "If you want to talk, then come to Quicknest and TALK! You attack us in the middle of the forest where we are having a pretty good day and you expect us to talk?! And then get mad when we don't want to talk?!" The lion roars again and he rips forward towards Zephyr, aiming to plow through a set of the Gale Empire soldiers as well. "Talk on your terms, or else?!"
Gareth	"Taelveras... A strong name. Alright, Lady Taelveras. Show me what you can do!" With their battle continue, Gareth's eyes follow Taelveras faster than her arms do with that diving maneuver. Instinctively, the lancer swings her shield around to defend herself from a direct attack, but the lightning's tricky arc winds up hitting her square on both sides. She yelps at the uncomfortably numb impact, feeling those debilitating effects on her limbs while stepping back briefly to angle shield upwards as though it might help her keep it up at all. "Magic, too? I see! So there's a lot more to you than just sword play... Hmhm~ I'll show you some tricks of my own, then!" The reason why Gareth has her shield angled that way becomes more apparent quickly as she starts to move again. Instead of stepping slowly and methodically as she had earlier, however, she starts darting about rapidly, moving with far more agility and speed than she had earlier. Each hop is followed by a quick thrust from one side, a burst of mana the next, and the flurry just keeps going without any seeming end in sight as though she's trying to overwhelm Taelveras outright!
Hibiki Tachibana	"...Yeah, he did." Hibiki has to admit with a tense expression on her face, which is pretty ill-fitting as she struggles to actually stop herself after putting all her momentum behind that ram. There's a lot of thruster flaring and tumbling around in mid-air, trying to make sure she's not going to hit something else. She manages to flip back upright long enough to breath in and exhale as she locks her eyes back on Zephyr however, but words don't come to her immediately. "I understand...you want to make everything better for everyone. You want to protect your home! And talking...isn't easy! People don't understand what you and the Emperor want to do! And they're suffering because you're making things worse for /them/ now! That's why we're here!" It's not easy to avoid attacks period, and it's only getting worse as the fight goes on. Little by little, with each blow. Even this latest strike carries more 'weight' behind it than it otherwise ever should have, with the effect of Ground Hater sending her flying up higher into the air after her block. Hibiki has to actively work to catch and right herself, using another blast from her Symphogear's thrusters to reverse her momentum and send her flying back down. Her fist is reared back halfway, the piston in the gauntlet slotting back. "Just like that, right now! If everyone could just work together like that...!" She's going to crash down not on top of Zephyr, but right nearby him--to punch into the eground and fire the machinery back in, a deafening impact and shockwave causing an explosion of earth directly beneath them that'll attempt to ruin his footing and send him flying up.
Kale Hearthward	"You want to know what's next?" The lion shield roars through the soldiers, scattering them - but Zephyr manages to only be winged by it, pun not intended. "What's next is, you get to stop dealing with me, with the person trying to make this work..." Hibiki comes in. He dives to the ground, managing to avoid the attack entirely. "... You get to stop dealing with me, the Emperor's friendly face, and you get to start dealing with the Gale Emperor directly, and he's not going to try to make things work..." He springs back up to his feet, and casts a wind spell - he's clearly not a combat trained mage like, say, Kale or Aiden - but right now he doesn't have to be. Ground Hater's done its work, and the pair are going to start dealing with the possiblity of being blown clean off the battlefield. "... And he's going to start forcing things to work!" "Hey sorry, the engine's running but the screen's not turning on," calls Harper, but he gets ignored.
Taelveras	Taelveras shakes the last few lingering monochrome sparks from her hand with a series of faint crackles. Honestly, she's impressed by Gareth. She looks young - well, she looks human, but even for a human she looks very young to Taelveras. She knows there are powerful combatants here, and though she's experienced but this is still one of her very first multiversal battles. It's one thing to hear, another to see. But all she says is "Hnn," sounding more irritated with her opponent than she actually is. No other response to the compliment, and no compliment of her own. Taelveras adopts a more defensive stance, but defensive for Taelveras means poised to leap rather than brace - if Gareth comes at her hard with that lance she's not going to stop it. And indeed that's what Gareth is doing... sort of. More agility than Tael had credited, but she's still trying to effectively run over her, and that's a problem. Tael doesn't even try to deflect these blows because she is not going to stop a charge from Gareth at full speed with a katana. Instead, she dances through them, slowly leading Gareth toward a copse of trees. Not unharmed - several of the blows come close, and at least one of the mana bursts hits solidly, hard enough that her enchanted leather duster-like coat sizzles, the silver stitching on it heating up as it tries to disperse the arcane energy. She's looking for an opening - And she sees one. Taking to the air, Taelveras jumps. She tries to come down on that raised shield, stomping down on it and using it as a springboard to bound even higher. She catches the branch of one of those trees, swings herself on it through 360 degrees, tries to kick Gareth in the back as she passes by and jump again, this time launching herself towards the objective - that is, the breath armor. She's not going to get there YET, of course, but Gareth probably can't afford to just let her go, and Taelveras knows that. She's counting on it to guide her movements the way she wants her to.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan struggles as he spins through the air, twisting around. He's moving just a little bit further away each time, but it's with good reason. Each time he is blown further away, the squirrel has more room to accelerate. Each time he is getting faster. And Aidan is getting mad. "That's bullshit! You can say that because you are from the position of privilege! Acting like you are being gracious to us by offering us to talk at the point of a sword! If you can't come to us on fair ground, at a fair time, then you just as bad as him! You are demanding we take peace on YOUR terms!" He just needs them in an advantageous position... Aidan takes in a deep breath, then lets out in short percussive bursts, arrows of wind fanning out over the Gale Empire!
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki uses her contact with the floor to flip herself around into something resembling 'standing', even though her feet aren't even touching the ground anymore no matter how hard she might try. "That's just going to make things even worse--!" Before she can get another word in, the wind smashes into her, and she's not using to having less than zero support against resisting such a thing. There's no bracing against the ground, and Ground Hater is affecting her so much that there's hardly a chance to blink before she's send spiraling back through the air. Even so, she grits her teeth and raises her voice even higher as she struggles against it unsuccessfully. "I know the Empire--the Emperor and the people can make something work without needing to go that far...!" There have been several rough moments since Hibiki came to Camembert. They flash through her mind all at once, and she remembers what she felt during those times. The people just want to protect their home. The Emperor just wants to protect his world. She's spoken to them, and more besides that. Why does it have to be so hard to find a way to make them work together...? It's a surge of frustration that has Hibiki balling her hand into a fist, finally managing to blast her Symphogear's thrusters hard enough to resist the spell - where she yanks back the piston in one of her gauntlets beyond the point it should otherwise go. "Am I supposed to try and force what I want to happen too!?" Her fist comes back. And is thrown forward at the same time the metal slams back in. She's only punching the air, but the force behind the pilebunker-like machinery is released forward as a visible shockwave that flattens the grass below and crosses the distance to slam into Zephyr's entire body all at once like a freight train. No magic involved, just raw force to use the air as her own weapon.
Gareth	Does Gareth notice the trees she's being led to? Probably only in the sense that she's mentally registering that there are trees over in the vaguely over-there direction, but certainly not actively trying to avoid moving there in any way. She seems more than content to press the offense by following Taelveras, and it's only when the swordfighter leaps that she finally realizes that there's just trees all over the place. Taelveras comes down at her, and she raises the shield the deflect the first headstomp beautifully. What she's not expecting, however, is that followup kick that whacks her square in the back, launching her right into a tree with a painful crack of head on aged wood. "Owowow... Wha.. Where are you going?!" Recoiling from the impact that's already compounding with her headbutt from just a night ago, she's caught off guard when Taelveras just starts booking it. "We're not finished here yet!" And so, Gareth gives chase! The trees slow her down a fair bit thanks to her shield, but the knight starts to adjust to the erratic spaces between trees while maneuvering between them. She doesn't do anything as fancy as bounding off of them, but she's certainly not fitting the stereotype of a slow, lumbering knight by any means. That still doesn't help her catch up completely, and her path takes her in a rather predictable direction (straight ahead), but she still has one more trick up her sleeve. She couches her lance under her arm, points it in Taelveras' general direction, and fires off a concentrated beam of mana in her direction that explodes in a shower of burning mana sparks!
Taelveras	While it's not a huge copse of trees, it's a big enough grove for Taelveras' requirements, which are both that it has something that breaks up the light, giving her shadows to work with, and that it stops Gareth from easily charging in straight lines, because getting steamrolled is not her idea of a good time. The fact that it keeps her out of sight from the rest of the battle is not really part of her thoughts here. "Oh, we aren't finished yet," Taelveras says, as she flips up onto the branch. She balances there for at least a moment, preparing to jump, which is when Gareth fires a goddamned laser beam of mana at her from the tip of her lance. Taelveras rolls with the blow, but it still launches her right out of the tree. It looks like she's going to hit another, but the area next to the trunk is nice and shady; she reaches out and the shadows surround her, making her appear to disperse and vanish as she enters it rather than smash right into it. She reappears out of a different shadow to one side, forming out of condensing black mist a ways off. She's too far away to sword, and so she doesn't; she points with her blade but the actual assault is an explosion of what looks like the shadows of an exploding rock, sending black wispy shrapnel everywhere. Once again none of the speeding bullets actually hurt... it's more of that cold numbness as the shards break into wispy shadows on impact, though the ground looks torn up and shredded where they hit. "Come on, knight," she says, keeping her katana in a guard position, raised forward. "Let's finish this battle."
Kale Hearthward	"Privelege?" calls Zephyr. "The situation wouldn't change if we were on even ground, don't act like-" It's all cut off. By Hibiki, coming in strongly - no, strongly is underselling it. She comes in like a freight train. It hits Zephyr so hard that he briefly loses consciousness, his whole body ragdolls as he blacks out, going sprawling on the ground. A few seconds later, Aidan and Hibiki can feel weight returning, their bodies no longer loathing the ground. So to speak. There's a few seconds of silence (well, relative to Taelveras and Gareth's ongoing battle, and Harper trying to get the breath armor working again) before Zephyr slowly sits up, blinking back into consciousness. "... Alright then..." he says softly. He looks like even sitting up is a bit of a problem for him right now - nobody might have been swinging for lethal damage, but all of that nonlethal damage is making him badly want to lie back down and take a long nap. "... What did you want to have happen?"
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan twists his body around, preparing to prepare for a full bodied charge. Maximum distance, trying to constrain everyone to a single space and then charge downward into them. But, there is simply no need. Hibiki SLAMS Zephyr to the ground and Aidan can stop. He brings the breath out of the buckler and drops down to the ground, hands and feet first, and then to standing. He looks down at Zephyr, folding his arms to try and look gruff. He takes a moment to think, then simply nods. "Total freedom of Quicknest."
Gareth	Skidding to a stop following the laser shot from her lance, settles into a defensive stance again as Taelveras does some weird shadow shenanigans that she doesn't quite seem to understand beyond just trying to follow Taelveras with her eyes as she moves from one spot to another. It's not for a lack of trying, though, even if the logic behind where Taelveras is moving hasn't quite clicked yet. "Rrr... I see. Trying to wear me down does make sense when we have such different approaches." Although she sounds annoyed, there's also a layer of admiration and vague enjoyment in Gareth's tone. When those shadow rocks explode, she braces for impact yet again, but actually pivots at the last moment as if predicting a sudden movement from the rocks! It only partially works, but probably not as well as Gareth would hope. She feels that energy-sapping effect again more than actual pain from the rocks, her clothes are a bit of a mess from the frequent cuts and blasts of lightning and shadow rock punching into her, and her gear feels even heavier in her arms than they did mere moments ago. "More witchcraft? Or magecraft? No, that's... Uh. Wait, what was..." She can distract herself with the differences later. Shaking her head quickly, Gareth braces her lance on the top of her shield this time as Taelveras calls for an end to the fight. "Hehe... That's just fine for me. This has been a thrilling battle, Lady Taelveras, and I hope to meet you again!" As eager as Gareth sounds, though, she doesn't quite move with the same level of vigor as she did earlier. She charges forward, but her footwork is more deliberate rather than trying to overwhelm Taelveras with more speed. She goes for a firm thrust to center mass, then whips the whole weapon sideways to try and catch her with an abrupt swing. Mana continues gathering in her lance as she does this, following that swing up with an entire toss of her shield. With that hand freed, meanwhile, she can grip the lance with both hands to swing it down like a sledgehammer, complete with (another) explosion of mana at the end.
Taelveras	Taelveras is feeling that she has an increasingly good grasp of how Gareth fights. Not that she can pick up everything she's going to do; nobody can do that. But she has an idea, and she can tell what kinds of actions she'll go after. It's what she needs to do. She's modifying her own style to try to counter Gareth's. Powerful blows won't work; accurate ones will, and wearing her down will. There's no way Taelveras can take her down in a single blow unless she gets extremely lucky, but defeat by a thousand little strikes until she collapses - that she can do. "I doubt you have seen it before to give it a name," Taelveras replies. "Call it 'shadowcraft'. The translation isn't quite right, but it's close enough. Your own skills... they are unusual." Her voice is not casual. She's running bare too; the downside with trying to wear someone out is that, almost by definition, you are wearing yourself out at the same time. Just hopefully not quite as quickly. Taelveras reads Gareth as tired enough to want to make sure her blows count; no more running around or flurrying to try to catch her by sheer quantity. And that's where Taelveras is better; fast evasive moments with a minimum of actually moving. A sidestep to avoid the initial lunge, a sudden strike upward to deflect the shield off past her shoulder instead of slamming into it, a leap as Gareth swings overhead with the sledgehammer burst. Taelveras comes behind Gareth and delivers a kick aimed right at the small of her back accompanied with a kiai to keep her moving forward, with the blow she's just swung. She follows it up with a sudden flurry of fast cuts that aren't the ones she used before, aimed at her legs and arms - she really is trying to wear Gareth down, make it hard for her to keep up her assault.
Hibiki Tachibana	Zephyr goes flying, and Hibiki realizes as some clarity returns that she, too, is still in the air. And she hits it on her back, groaning and sharply inhaling as her stressed gauntlet lets out a quick burst of steam to vent itself. "Ugh..." She's not getting up particularly fast, and it's pretty obvious that she probably didn't have much more in the tank to give for that one beyond that. Dealing with Ground Hater was... Exhausting, to say the least. But she manages to slowly pull herself up to a sitting position, briefly watching Gareth and Taelveras exchange blows, before she looks back at their opponent. "What I want..." Aidan gives his answer, and Hibiki thinks about it. Is that what she wants too? When they first got here, maybe. But... "I just...want there to not be any fighting between you guys." She ends up finally saying, glancing from Harper and the Enpy to Zephyr. "Any of you guys. Yeah, it's dumb. I dunno the first thing about kingdom politics or whatever. And I know it's not anywhere near that easy," she murmurs. "...But it's really frustrating. You just wanna make things better. The Emperor was so rough with Camembert because he wants to make sure he can protect the place. And everyone in the resistance just wants to defend their livelihoods..." She groans and runs a hand through her hair. "I hate it. Why can't everyone just find a way to 'make it work' when what you want isn't even that different?"
Kale Hearthward	"Quicknest's total freedom... be more realistic," says Zephyr. "Besides, they're being integrated, not subjugated," he adds, as if this makes a difference. Maybe it does? But it sounds like politics-speak. "This is going to be the Gale Empire. You're going to be a citizen of it. And like it." But then Hibiki speaks. "..." "... He does want to protect it. I talk to him often about it. And I do too," says Zephyr. "And this..." "... Clearly isn't working. Peace, then." He makes a move to stand up, regrets it immediately, and goes back to just sitting on the ground. "For the territory your revolution is holding, at least. If some other town decides to step up to armed resistance, that's a seperate matter, but for Camembert Way..." "... We'll leave it alone. For a while. A few months. Long enough for everyone to breathe, and to talk." "And... to try to make it work."
Gareth	"Shadowcraft! Oh, that's a cool name. I don't have anything like that, though. Just my skills as a knight, and this enchanted lance from Lord Merlin!" Gareth announces proudly, raising her lance for emphasis on that last part before resting it against her shoulder. She's visibly reeling still, bracing it against her shoulder with both hands now that she's tossed her shield. It'll dematerialize soon enough, but for now? She's just going to two-hand that thing for the time being. Of course, that does mean her defenses suffer considerably for it, and keeping up with Taelveras' rapid flurry of kicking and slashing has its intended effect of wearing the knight down. It's not for a lack of trying, of course, but the difference in fighting styles becomes even more pronounced the more worn down Gareth gets. "I see... Ah, I've still got a lot to learn, fighting newer opponents out here..." Despite the pain from taking those frequent cuts, she still manages a laugh even while whirling her weapon around to try and fend Taelveras off. As another cut comes in, Gareth abruptly holds her position to take the slash firmly across the side, swinging her lance around herself to try and catch the swordswoman to try and just trade (a) blow for (several more than a) blow!
Taelveras	It's all the lance? That feels wrong to Taelveras. Which means Gareth considers knightly skills to include energy blades? ...sure, why not. Taelveras is in the shadows now, and in the shadows she has several advantages. It's not dark enough that her actual vision is much of a concern (or dark enough to interfere with Gareth's) but even so, she has tricks she wouldn't try in direct light. Like this one. When the massive blow comes in, Taelveras doesn't dodge it. She steps forward into it, passing into Gareth's guard, but it's enough that it should smash into her and send her flying. Except a portion of Taelveras' torso turns into nothing but shadows and smoke. The lance passes right through it, causing a wispy eruption from the far side of Taelveras that pulls itself back in, reforming into a solid form. Judging by Taelveras' expression, that wasn't comfortable at all, but she's not about to say that. Discomfort is momentary. Getting a good position in a battle, on the other hand, is forever. Taelveras ducks low again, but not to dodge - close in, she tries to hook Gareth's ankle with her own foot and yank, pulling her down to the ground in a trip, and then - if Gareth is down - jab downward. Hard enough to draw blood with her blade, maybe leave a scar if Gareth wasn't a Heroic Servant or had good medicine on her side, but not enough to leave a mortal wound. Her grip is firm even if she's breathing hard. "Give up," she says either way, voice rough. "There's shame in defeat, but it leaves you alive, and I've no interest in escalating over a stolen armor." Which, she hopes, Zephyr has gotten back. She can't see, either - there's a tree in the way.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan shakes his head. "You'll..." He heaves his shoulders, shaking his head. "Fine. Sure." He points down. "Peace." He starts walking over to the Empy, tired. "And when the Emperor proves to be an asshole again, we'll see how you want to talk."
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki's expression is--tense. She's listening closely, hanging onto every word. What she wasn't expecting was...it actually finding some success. "...Eh?" She looks to Aidan for a moment, like it's turn to ask 'did I hear that right?' before she looks back. The dumbfounded open mouthed surprise only lasts a few moments before she gets it together enough to breathe in, and then back out. "That's...thank you. I..." She looks like she's trying to find what she wants to say for a few seconds, before trying to get up herself. It takes some effort, but she does, and she sort of hobbles over towards Zephyr while getting used to being able to walk again. There's a second look to Aidan - this one, as if she's worried about maybe offending him, or like she wants to ask him something - before she exhales again and leans over. She's offering a hand to help Zephyr back up. "...I can't tell the resistance what to do. And I definitely can't tell the Empire what to do. But...if everyone is willing to talk it out and make something work, I'm gonna do everything I can to help." She closes her eyes for a moment. "...However I can. That's my responsibility for trying to make this work, right?"
Gareth	Dodging isn't really an option for Gareth with as long as she's been fighting against Taelveras. The drow knows her fighting style, her habits, her limits, and all two of the tricks of her lance that would even help in this fight. The hook to her leg takes the knight off her feet, and that sword comes in with no shield to block against it nor enough time to get her lance over to deflect it! So Gareth just shoves her hand into it instead. She grits her teeth as the blade cuts through her palm, but she's still got enough fight into her to grip it tightly in that same hand. She has to hold that position for several moments just to speak through the pain, but she stills seems pleased by the result regardless. "This has been... Quite the battle, Lady Taelveras! We should do this again sometime, even if..." She glances over briefly. Sadly, she can't see through trees either. "Are they still fighting over there?" She hums softly for a moment, then shrugs and gives Taelveras a moment in case she's looking over there as well. If Taelveras does look over, Gareth takes the opportunity to... Wait? She's not going to attack her if she's not looking, after all. Only when her opponent is paying attention again (or if she just never looked over in the first place) does Gareth finally continue. "I'm a knight, ma'am. As long as I can keep going, I will!" And with all that's left in her reserves (or at least as much as she's willing to spend short of killing herself), Gareth swings her lance upwards with one more sudden explosion of mana that even burns herself at such close range. It's not even going to leave Gareth unscathed, but she'll be forced to fall back regardless of the end result.
Kale Hearthward	"Can you tell the resistance to give the Empy back, maybe?" asks Zephyr, hopefully. "... I can tell the Empire what to do, fortunately. Well, to a certain extent, anyway. How much they listen, though..." He raises a hand, and snaps his fingers. "Be seeing you, Miss Tachibana." And then he's gone. Just simply gone. There's a very small pop noise as air rushes in to fill the space he was previously occupying, but otherwise there's no sign of his presence anywhere here. "Hey, if he's still there, ask him why the clock on this thing keeps flashing 12:00," calls Harper, still in the malfunctioning Armor, oblivious to what's been going on.
Taelveras	Tael can definitely see Gareth trying a blade grasp in desperation, so she doesn't fight it. She lets Gareth hold the sword still rather than either push through it or try to draw it back. She nods, very slightly, when Gareth tells her they should do it again sometime. She isn't smiling, but she doesn't look like she does that very much. "They aren't." Taelveras checked, though she didn't look. She has sharp ears and, of course, she could just ask (which she had done). She does nothing while Gareth looks over either, just holding her blade right where it is. And then Gareth tries her last-ditch explosion. Taelveras is too close to possibly avoid it, and though her front turns into darkness for a moment, she snaps back into solidity a moment later - she's tired and she isn't sure she can push her whole body through the change and back. Which means the explosion launches her up. She turns what starts as an artless launch into an acrobatic tumble, letting her coat billow in a way-too-extra fashion as she touches down again closer to a tree. She's only a little better off than Gareth is. Her coat looks a little ragged, and so does she, if in different ways. She salutes with her katana-like blade, sheathes it, and steps into the shadow. She doesn't come out of it, so presumably she's gone somewhere else - and she's stealthy enough that she's not likely to be found before she finishes her escape, especially if she teleports again from her new position.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan turns around quickly to see the bird disappear. Damn. He turns his head over to Hibiki and tries to relax his face. Knight's code... Knight's code... He lets out a breath. "That means we have to trust the Emperor. And I don't. And I can't think of a reason to trust him, even if I didn't hate him." He makes his way over to Gareth to help with the extraction. "If it works, great. But I won't bet my last potato on it."
Hibiki Tachibana	Zephyr's gone, and Hibiki is left staring at where he was for a few seconds. "...Yeah. See you." With the fighting here over and the fact she's not fit for much more of it in the first place anyway, her transformation fades away in a quick burst of light, and she turns towards Aidan with a rub to the back of her neck. "--I want to believe in him. I didn't get the feeling that he was lying to me, when I talked to him. But if you hate him..." She trails off, as he starts moving off. "...I guess a lot of people have good reason for that..." That leaves a small frown on her face, when she imagines there'll be a lot of people who think the exact same way. But she doesn't linger on it for too long. Leaving Gareth to him, she hurries over towards Harper and the Empy. There's gonna be some stuff to explain. ...She's not really sure how she's gonna address Zephyr's request there, though...