Scene #7758: Organization of Interest

Owner	Pose
Persephone Kore	Zubrin Station exists in the year 1987, between Earth and Mars (or is it Ares?). The red planet looms heavily through its windows. The Multiverse has been kind to this overlooked, nearly unremarkable world. Unified early and then left largely to its own devices, profiting from trade but untouched by war, it has blossomed into something greater than its calendar date suggests. Arriving at Zubrin is easy. Unhurried traffic, heavier with goods than people, is always arriving and leaving thanks to its position near a space Warpgate. Smaller, artificial Warpgates on the station itself serve as the entrance for people who don't feel like enduring the majesty of space to get there. Zubrin is beautiful, a gem of shining glass and graceful white plastic. It is a place trying very hard to transform from a crossroads into a destination. Flowering plants in aerogel soil hedge its walkways; peaceful fountains fill the unnatural stillness with the quiet bubbling of water. Little shops line the alleyways, too. Novelty space foods, models of the station itself, books and tapes (they still use tapes?) for long space journeys, and much-needed coffee for the long-haul pilot are all available. There are even cute, retro American-style breakfast diners. But you're not here for any of that.
Persephone Kore	In a lonely hangar on a lonely deck is the ship the Paladins analysts pointed you towards. It's surprisingly small, boxy, and a dull eye-glazing gray; low-tonnage interstellar shipping, never meant for atmosphere. Its destination is Sapient Heuristics, wherever that is. Its cargo is unknown. The nav computer will have the coordinates you need. The cargo bay will give vital insight into the nature of that shadowy organization's work. You are not on Commonwealth turf. This is, in some sense, a smash-and-grab. The pilot and (presumably minimal) crew seem to be out to stretch their legs. The rest of the hangar is largely empty; just bulky ten-foot-tall cargo containers, snarls of refueling hoses, smaller one-pilot ships, and what looks like a colorful plastic mech of some kind (probably from offworld). The flowers-and-white-plastic aesthetic persists here. A forcefield that looks like shimmering blue mesh stretches across the entrance to the hangar; past it hangs Mars like a crimson moon with unfamiliar craters, and beyond that, the stars. A young woman leans against the hull of your target ship, eating some novelty Astronaut Ice Cream. She's dressed casually; white t-shirt, dark sweatpants, and an orange hoodie tied around her waist by its sleeves. She looks rough-and-tumble; elbows freshly scraped, sneakers well-worn, band-aid on her face. A sticker-covered, well-loved metal baseball bat rests against the shuttle's hull within her reach. She seems just a little more real than the world around her in a way you can't place; the only human actor in a world of CGI. At first she eyes you with no evident suspicion; as soon as someone steps within about thirty feet of her, though, her posture changes. She straightens up, shoulders tensing. "Hey!! You can't be in here, you know." It's delivered with Plucky Toughgirl Energy, not the kind of threatened defensiveness one ought to expect.
Hellwarming Trio	Just because nobody's here mainly to eat doesn't mean eating isn't on certain minds at all. As they pass by the many shops and food stalls, Utsuho and Rin are both visibly drooling as they wander through the hangar and spy the foods in the distance. Alas, they're not going to get a chance to snack just yet, as their destination is just up ahead. Utsuho: "So if we're not supposed to blow up anything..." Rin: "We gotta do this all quiet. Sneakin' in, takin' the thing away bit by bit, that sorta thing." Utsuho: "'kay. But what about her?" Utsuho gestures at Orange Hoodie, peering more at her ice cream rather than the bat. It's not until she displays Plucky Toughgirl Energy that Utsuho actually looks up to make eye contact, blinking slowly at her while Rin steps up to make her presence known. Rin: "Hey, sis! Where'd you get that? Was it down over there?" Utsuho: "Why aren't we allowed? Isn't this just a parking lot?" Rin: ".. Right! That, too. And how come you look so different from everyone else around here?" If they're supposed to keep a low profile, they're not doing a great job at it.
Go Shijima	"Is that right?" asks Go, throwing back some Cocky Hotshot energy. He's not suited up. Instead he's in a white hoodie with red stripes, jeans and a t-shirt with branding from some Arizona football team. "What're you gonna do about it? You going to hit me with that bat?" A camera hangs from around his neck. He nods towards the well-used metal bat. He looks like one hit might just do the trick. Favoring one side, darkened bruises visible just at his neck, the signs of a split lip on the mend, a cut below the right eye freshly bandaged. Click, click, click. He snaps three pictures with that camera. One of the ship, one of her, and one, in the midst of an alarming vertical moonsault, a panorama of the hangar itself, capturing cratered Mars beyond the blue mesh field. When he lands, he wobbles dangerously, clutching his side. But his cocky grin doesn't vanish even when it twitches in pain. "Let's..." The Mach Driver is flipped out, It fastens around his waist as he slots in a miniature supercar-- SIGNAL CAR//Rider! MACH 555! Sleek, aerodynamic white armor is flash-forged by hard-light constructs. white armor with red streaks and a familiar '5' at the left breast in a field of gold. Two shoulder-capes billow behind him as he stands up and shoots her a friendly salute. "You'd better do it quick," he taunts. "In one hit."
Lilian Rook	<Tac-Paladins> 4 I4 says, "Do you want me to grab what's on the nav?" <Tac-Paladins> 4 Lilian Rook says, "Make that a priority." <Tac-Paladins> 4 Lilian Rook says, "And dig up whoever this is if you can; we're woefully lacking on information on their organizational strength outside of Kore." <Tac-Paladins> 4 I4 says, "Alright...keep me covered because I feel the moment she realizes what I am doing, she's going to try and bat me." <Tac-Paladins> 4 Lilian Rook says, "Young punks-- no, people in general don't carry around bats on travel unless they plan to hit a carjacker with them." That is, after all, the point of being here. As quaint and novel as Zubrin Station is, to the point that Lilian opines aloud that she wishes this was her original introduction to space in the Multiverse, she can't afford to be distracted by a tourist trap. "Hopefully I don't need to remind you that Sapient Heuristics is not paramilitary. The combat effectiveness of their poster child is incidental to their research. There shouldn't be a private contractor on board, and we don't have authorization or documentation to search their manifest or logs with the full cooperation of the locals. Check it out quickly and don't cause a scene. Tap any contacts you can, record everything, compile and back up any downloads immediately, keep your eyes open, and don't do anything stupid." That's Lilian's list of directions, outside of the insistence on as 'protective casual' as possible. Of course one of her many backup concerns on these damn things is always 'what happens when someone breaks a window' now, and so she's made herself familiar with the emergency EVA gear and interior exits, just in case. Herself dressed in a sweater, skirt, leggings, and boots, that contain only enough insert weaves as she can get away with, Lilian is still conferring with their contact when the youkai pair wander in and make problems already. Well, actually, this time it wasn't their fault. §The fact that they brought this kid along; is that their idea of security, or are they a representative? Carpooling somewhere else? Or do they have some kind of ability necessary to verify the manifest? In any case, it looks like they're majority or all mind readers. That complicates things. Does she know what those two are actually here for, though? Or is she just warning plausibly stupid tourists away? Do I go straight past her? It doesn't seem like it'd be worthwhile to talk about it.§ I4 is talking about a laptop, and at this point, Lilian is still all business. Trusting that he's right about the cockpit, she makes sure to not be stupid, and teleport from well out of sight of the docks, to take a look around and grab it herself, in order to bring back for I4.
Blemishine	Getting to the truth of everything behind Saptient Heuristics - no matter what they end up deciding to actually do about the organization later, learning more about them is going to be of the utmost importance. The knight expressed as much when they were talking about it before! That's why she absolutely was going to be there to assist in the investigation efforts. She was expecting it to bring them into space, but actually being here (for the first time!) is something else. For a mechanical nut, Zubrin Station is nothing short of amazing. A place that's become such a marvel thanks to Unification, almost surely the result of many offworld technological advancements, and utterly pristine! ...Maybe too pristine. Past all the initial wonder - what she can afford to have anyway, given their mission today - something about the plastic-y design of everything is just a little offputting or some reason she can't exactly put into words. But a tiny bit easier when they lay eyes on the woman hanging out nearby their target, and the way she stands out against the atmosphere. It's very hard to miss, that feeling, even if it's equally as nebulous. She's different. All the more with that reaction as they get closer. Not that she's not out of place, with her own white armor minus big flowing cape today, but she does a pretty good job of looking just as innocent as Rin and Utsuho on the approach, going with the flow. "Oh, sorry! Your ship just looked like none of the others I've seen before, so I wanted to get a closer view! It /is/ your ship, right? I mean, with the way you're standing outside of it like you're guarding it, that's just what I assumed!" The tentative index finger touching-together she's doing adds to the effect. She's actually using the time before bats potentially start being swung to take side glances at the hull, eye out for any and all ways they could get on board. There's definitely a main entrance and a way to load cargo, but any way that I4 could possibly sneak himself on board while they have attention... Which they're definitely going to get, thanks to Kamen Rider Mach. She looks mildly worried at all his theatrics when he's so injured, but after he transforms, Blemishine glances from him back up to Plucky Girl. "Youuuu're not going to swing at all us for being annoying, are you? Please don't."
Ishirou	I4 is hardly a stand-out guy unlike the rest of our heroes. He's small, got white hair, and has blue eyes. Sure it's /anime-style/ hair but this is the multiverse, everything has anime-style hair. He's also done away with the uniform. He's no longer a member of PHANTOM, being labeled a traitor, and technically considered dead. That's going to take getting used to. However, he IS wearing something better. A comfy sweater, and a pair of jeans. No blindfold, because he doesn't need that anymore, and really probably never did. The sweater is brown, by the way. He takes a spot near the back, waiting for others to get the attention of the tough girl. Moments later the laptop he was told about is in his hands, and he takes the time to hand it to his POD. Using the HACK function he attempts to figure out what's inside the machine, if it's useful for the current mission or if it has any data on the girl telling them 'no entry'. I4 also wishes to not get hit in the face by a bat. So right now he's biding his time to see if he can get inside, and not get flattened. 'Please, don't let me get hit by a bat,' he thinks to himself. The POD hovers, before speaking, 'Do not get hit with a Bat, you are no longer insured.' "Gee thanks POD...thanks."
Persephone Kore	The cockpit has a leather seat, analog instruments, what seems to be an oscilloscope, way too many sticks and buttons, and a few succulents. But there is something that's a weird hybrid between a tablet and a laptop wedged next to the seat- mostly for personal use, but the tiny drive attached to it has some Project data. Infosec, apparently, is not their strength. Whether Lilian gets the tab open or I4 rips it wirelessly, they find a file on the girl they're looking for, along with a few snippets of weird residual data: DYLAN CRUISE AGE: 23 YEARS WITH PROJECT: 17 NEXT OF KIN: NONE JUNGIAN-NEWTONIAN TYPES: GREEN, RED, YELLOW, INDIGO MEDICAL RECORDS: Null; see Type Green -nk we recognized from the start that it was an act of faith. But the idea was always intoxicating. A means to make the impossible possible; the transubtantiation of the signifier with the signified, a universe of human will. Of course it was impossible in itself. But what did that matter? Even if it weren't for that eerie effect of "being more real than the world around her", Dylan would stand out. Her cute soft-butch aesthetic, the way she always looks ready to grumpily pout, her utter lack of self-consciousness, her short messy hair that's a little too wavy to be called curly and a little too curly to be called wavy- all of it oozes protagonist, someone who does nothing but whine and complain and effortlessly get her way. Dylan's guard briefly drops as Rin and Utsuho pipe up. "Oh, it's this great place called Marco's SpaceCream? You know, it's just down the hallway. Two lefts and... hey, I look totally normal. Why do you look weird? There some kinda convention here I'm missing out on?" Go and Blemishine further put her on edge. For a moment, Blemishine seems like she might be further putting Dylan at ease; she strikes up an amiable, almost conspiratorial smile, like she's about to hit on the knight or share a secret. Then she blinks it away, seeming to notice something that was right in front of her eyes all along. "No. You're not allowed to lie to me," she says with a rising indignation that'd seem cute and cheekpinchable in any other circumstance. "I know what you're here for. And I'll never, ever let you have it!" The bat finds its way to her hands, but before she can swing, Go intercedes. For a moment, Go's suiting up makes her visibly feel cornered- she backs up a half-step, watching him with eyes wide. Then she remembers her confidence and leans in to menace him. "You got some pretty good toys, Shijima. But however bad you think you are, I can be worse!"
Persephone Kore	Because you're not standing in the hangar anymore. With a short yell and an 'opening' gesture with both arms, a sphere of space, easily fifty feet in all directions from Dylan, flickers in to overwrite the environment. Within the confines of that bubble is the surface of Mars. The air is searingly hot and too thin to breathe. The gravity is half as strong as Earth's, throwing off muscle memory and skewing aim. The cruel red sands burn your shoes. And yet none of it is truly lethal; this heat and suffocation only cosmetically attacks the body, and even the pain it causes doesn't really hurt. Instead it attacks some abstract measure of your ability to fight. This isn't a real life-or-death struggle- I wouldn't fight like that if I could!- but an argument that happens to involve psychic powers and a baseball bat instead of words. Intuitively, you can tell that emotional attacks on Dylan's will to fight will be just as effective as physical blows. She lifts her bat, holding it in front of her in a rough, unpracticed fighting stance. The atmosphere doesn't bother her in the least. "If you think you're strong enough to define the world against me- if you think you want your future to come true, more than I want mine- then prove it! I dare you, I challenge you to prove it!!"
Ishirou	Ok...this was a problem! I4 goes over the data that he can, and he finds out some things. Over the local broadband, he calls out what he can. "Her name is Dylan Cruise, and I think she's got some resistance or at least regeneration...and.." then it's Mars. The thinner air makes it harder to talk, the thinner atmosphere makes it harder to breathe. The lighter gravity was harder to deal with. However, there was a contradiction. He doesn't have to breathe, the radiation on Mars wouldn't affect him. He can speak subvocally. The contradiction somehow allows him to pull his mind out of the physical events. He calms himself down, breathes normally...not that he actually has to do that, but it's a human emotion that reminds him of what he once was. Of course, that feeling is...a whole other bag of nightmare fuel. So many questions swirling around /that/. 'No, I4 they're counting on you...' he says, but the shuttle is gone, so is the place they were. Well no, it's likely still there, but right now it's not perceptible to them. Ok...reality warper, so that's a thing. I4 thinks she's visibly confused and upset when people aren't angry and means at her...but not only that she put them all in a dangerous position. Lilian mentions having an idea, to which I4 was mid-thought before he realized she was also thinking similar to what he was. Sadly, the Laptop can't be hacked reliably without putting it at risk, and if Lilian already hasn't he puts it away into his storage system that's normally reserved for weapons. Instead, it contains several hundred books, a few different sweaters, a pair of dinosaur slippers, and an instant coffee maker. Oh, also various archeological tools. Also now one laptop. Instead, he holds his hands up and attempts a biohacking routine. First thing's first, he attempts to use his biohacking to /calm her down/. He can attack her mentally by simply trying to rob her of aggressive overtures. The idea is trying to turn others' actions towards her as less than they are. Attacks are friendly tussles, words are friendly joshes. "Geeze, I kinda feel bad..it's like gaslighting.." A beep, "Confirmed, you are gaslighting the target." "POD...could you not, right now?"
Hellwarming Trio	Utsuho: "Whoa, realy? Alright, thanks. You think it floats before you eat it, Orin?" Rin: "Nah, no way. It floats once you're done eating it! Or... Maybe." After debating the merits of space ice cream briefly, their attention is soon turned back on Dylan as she criticizes their clothing. "What? We're totally normal! It's just everyone else here that's weird!" Rin replies with in indignant huff, gesturing at Kamen Rider Chase when he challenges the bat-wielder by transforming. "See, everyone's got weird stuff on! You, Chase, uhhh... What's her face!" Blemishine, sadly, is pointed to at that last bit. Yes, armor is not a thing Rin's particularly used to seeing, although recognizing her as an ally is reason enough not to throw too much attention her way. They're not about to blow Lilian's and I4's cover, either, as they just crank up the loud tourist-ness of their 'act' even harder when that gesture changes where everything is. Or where everyone is, even, as the pair find themselves in the weird combat sphere! "... Oh, I get it! So stuff here's handled kind of like how things are handled at home." Utsuho laughs, then claps her hands together once before settling into a forward lean. "We fight it out first, and then we figure out what's going on. Just don't cry if you can't handle my heat!" With a flick of her constellation-patterned cape, Utsuho's arm is covered in a weird bronze rod while her leg is encased in corium, and she floats into the sky while Rin (who sadly gets no cool gear) leaps overhead into something vaguely resembling a combat stance as well. Even though they should be able to withstand that building heat effortlessly, though, something about it is still slowing them both down enough that they actually shift around uncomfortably at that attack to their... Something! Alas, they really are too dumb to comprehend how it's working, even if it is sort of working. They power through it, though, as the pair blast sideways in opposite directions, passing right by each other while balls of flame float behind them in their wake. The pair move in a wide circle to fill the air with their big hot balls, and it's only when they rejoin each other that the floating orbs converge onto Dylan's position!
Go Shijima	"Hah. Let's see it, then!" An amiable index and middle finger-guin pointed her way. He asked for it. Warnings in urgent reds with insistent exclamation points dance across his HUD, his face awash in a collage of blinking lights. But... it's the AI being overprotective, as usual. He isn't -really- suffocating. If anything is, it's his will to fight that's being smothered. Stifled. Go dismisses the warnings. His will. His reality. What does he want? I want us to be a family again. I want Dad's creations--his other children--to be part of it. I want to protect them from themselves and from people that don't understand them. I want to be someone they can be proud of... because I sure wasn't that person before. I don't want to be my father. I don't want to be Krim. There has to be a way for people to be happy that doesn't involve punishing people for hurting, or burying your head in the sand. Mach falls to the ground. It isn't a fight to the death, at all--but he's so very tired. "The only reason I'm here at all is because the people I work with... sometimes have the wrong idea in mind. Miss..." He stands back up, shakily, mashes the button on his belt four times. Hard-light constructs a blaster in his hand, with a pronounced wheel at the front. But she doesn't sense that fight-to-the-death energy from him. If anything... his intentions scan like he's about to throw her a ball. Three buttons are dialed on the face of that supercar slotted in his belt. 456 - ILM SPECIAL ILLUMINATION "Tell me something." The hubcap of the wheel over his right shoulder changes to a headlight, and a switch appears on the blaster. He depresses it. "If everyone gets to be like you and Persephone, then is it really a choice? What if someone can't, or won't, be that way?" He makes a swipe with the blaster. The wheel detaches on a length of spooling wire, traveling in a lazy arc that Dylan can bat away with ease. "I have brothers and sisters with minds that... may not work like yours. Is their only choice to be 'less than?'"
Blemishine	That...almost worked. Almost. That smile was worth a million! The opposite was also really cute, but not quite as much now of all times. She gets to watch their spunky foe-to-be back off only briefly before sparking back up, and Blemishine only has the briefest moment to be surprised before an entirely different setting engulfs them. "Eh!? Hn...!" Immediately, the harsh environment takes its toll. Her instinctive draw of her sword at her side is slower than it should be. Finding her footing in the crimson soil isn't easy at all. But it doesn't hurt in the way she's used to; it's debatably worse than that. Because she can feel it wearing at the /will/ instead, the grip on her weapon threatening to loosen not for cause of any injury or gravity shenanigans but because of that. Not that the considerably alien atmosphere is doing anything to make life easier. "I don't think I'm dressed /that/ weird, but it's Blemishine!" She calls over towards Orin when she catches on to what she's saying, in the middle of trying to find a way to move that doesn't end with her going way further than expected. "Maria is fine, too! But I bet you already knew that, didn't you...?" The last bit of that is directed not at the kasha but at Dylan. Between knowing Go's name and catching onto them like that, on top of what they're dealing with, it's not hard to put two and two together. I4's plan calls for 'doing what they'd do already', and she has her own idea in mind after the other girl's response. 'Why are you trying to be nice to me?! I'm supposed to get to fight you! Don't give me complicated feelings!' Finding a boot against the earth, the knight kicks forward in a not-so-fast-only-because-of-gravity approach. "Just because my dream is a lot smaller than yours doesn't make it any less strong...but I wasn't lying about being interested in the ship, by the way!" It's true, she wasn't. "I actually think that stuff is really cool!" When she gets close enough, likely in the wake of the duo's fiery show-- Her sword comes around in a flat-first downswing. Even outside of this place, it wouldn't really do that much damage as opposed to more bonking someone on the head or shoulder, but it's not meant to. What it does do is bring her close enough to force eye contact with a furrowed brow. "We didn't come here wanting to fight you. We want to know the kind of future you're all trying to make! You really believe in it, don't you?" She gives a sympathetic smile, despite the situation. "...Maybe more than you believe in yourself, with the way you talk?"
Lilian Rook	§Good. Low infosec. Casual organization. Pilot might be with the program for a long time. Cozy with his job. No reason for anyone to be screwing around with them yet, especially not out here, is likely what he's thinking. Once I4 has it cracked, I should speed up everything I can on my own, though. A couple of known Paladins getting into a brawl with this kid is going to register as weird either way.§ Lilian hands the tablet-thing off to I4 in moments, and moments is all it takes to get her the info she wants too; and not just because she reads very quickly. §Nix 'kid', I suppose; somehow this goober is older than I am. Jungian-Newtonian-- that's a psychological classification paired with a physics model. Physic archetype classification? Probably similar to my own model. Green obsoletes medical record; the 'ideal self' entropy state model, like Kore, no doubt. One of the remaining three has to be that obnoxious mind reading. Does that imply not all of the children can do it? That'd be a huge benefit. I'll have to figure out the others later. Ideally, we can hit the station while they aren't even home.§ §Ahh. 'A universe of human will'. Trying to be realer than something that never was anyways. If only they had any idea.§ Lilian's plans to continue smoothly in professional operator mode end right there, because 'just outside the door' is still 'within fifty feet', and Go and Blemishine helplessly tipping their hand takes the entire ship --and thus necessarily all of their objective points-- out of the picture entirely. Lilian collapses to her knees on the surface of Mars. A moment later, she jerks her hands back away from the iron sands with the affect of having touched a hot stove. She feels diaphragm seize as she fails to breathe anything in. Her heart leaps into her throat and cold, disorienting dread settles into her bones. She can't actually just teleport right back to the station; is this really going to come down to how long she can hold her breath? It takes her a little longer to recognize it as the same thing as Persephone's pretenses at nuclear fusion and stellar showers. The wash of relief, and then kneejerk outrage, makes back triple the fighting readiness she'd just lost. Mere moments later, meters of scattered geometric designs stained into the sand spread out from Lilian. Like watching liquid mercury absorb gold leaf, the arid sand turns to dense soil, and in that soil, greenery sprouts up in a short carpet. Frozen dust melts into shallow water, and tiny red lilies bloom from it. Realistically, there's no way they'd usefully provide any kind of breathable oxygen, but the idea that 'plants make air' is a focal point for this ambient will save. It gradually spreads on its own, and confers a surge of energy and mild protection to those standing on it, due to the subjective year Lilian had spent picking up the eastern craft too.
Lilian Rook	And yet, "I can't believe this." Lilian manages to voice into the lack-of-air, her voice about as desolate as the surface of the planet they're ostensibly on. She'd kind of appeared out of nowhere, but radiates an aura of . . . disappointment? more searing than the sun in the void. "Why is it like this every time? What's wrong with you people? Why do you insist on making it so difficult? Do they just raise you that way? Is it getting drunk off the power? Please. For once. Please just let the adults resolve things the adult way and stop testing me." The fact that Lilian unglamers her sword right then is enough to send chills down the spine. Especially for someone psychically sensitive. Lilian swipes her own fingertip down the edge of the blade, and then once again back down the flat in the opposite direction, scrawling something in thin streaks of her own blood. The rows of angled characters flare bright and glow their oxygenated red against the magnetite. "I tried my very best to keep you out of this. I'm doing my best to resolve this in the only good way to resolve it. Why do I have to go through this? Why do I have to go through you? What's the point of punishing the both of us?" Lilian steps forward, and then completely disjoints the distance between her and Dylan, trying to compensate for the fact that she doesn't have a feel of the gravity yet by directly attacking the 'looming' motion processing part of the brain and-- she's really just swinging like she intends to cut Dylan in half?! Except the sword dissolves into a long, thin bar of dense, swirling black fog, streaked with the light-lines of those glowing runes, and passes right through. Thankfully, what it actually does is slash and burn away vigour, stamina, willpower, and even a certain amount of intangible 'luck'. Another practical application Lilian had a year to refine. However, this does mean that Uncanny thing is, just for a moment, hypothetically inside someone sensitive.
Persephone Kore	Dylan doesn't sit idly by as Utsuho's flaming spheres converge on her- she knocks one back at the pair like a tennis-ball before booking it. Dylan dives between two of the orbs into a clumsy slide before they can come together. One scorches her side in a deep burn that she only acknowledges with a determined grimace; the other leaves a smudge of smoke on her cheek. She pushes herself up with her bat like a walking stick, turning back around defiantly as the red dust pours off her shirt. "You got it!! No hard feelings, right? But if we don't play this game... we can't settle who gets to shape the future." The reel is fired at her. Dylan instinctively turns to swing at it, and knocks it out of the park on the first try like a real toughgirl. Go's question gives her a moment's pause, even though she's stanced up for a second swing- even 'for pretend', I can't hit him in the middle of saying his piece! But she manages to answer, before getting dragged back into the fight again: "It's supposed to be... happiness for everyone, and no-one left behind. Of course I don't know if we can really do that! But if we don't reach for it..." Blemishine plunges down, swinging with the flat of her sword. Of course Dylan seems to sense the attack before it lands; she twirls around, raising her bat against the sword and catching it overhead in a dramatic clash. They lock eyes, and Dylan's emotional state is undisguised in her gaze: sincere, brash, but trying to psych herself up. Her confidence is conscious, not effortless. Because... "Nnngh! ... Without the project, a girl like me could never exist! Down there on Earth, I could never be brave enough. Not believing in them, when they believed in me... I'd never be that kind of coward! Catch these hands, and I'll show you how grateful I am!!" The blade slides off her bat and skims her hands, drawing blood from the knuckles; she twists and delivers a side-kick to Blemishine's gut in return, shouting: "MARIIIAAAA!! What do you believe in that's worth more than that?!"
Persephone Kore	Then Lilian and I4 take the wind out of her sails. I4's "bio-hacking" hits her like a migraine. She clutches her head with her non-bat-holding hand, eyes scrunching shut. The environment distorts to reflect the change in her mindset- no longer Mars, but Luna; gray regolith instead of red sand, cold instead of searing, and the Earth looming in the sky above. Wildflowers impossibly grow between the rocks. But it's soothing in a way too, isn't it? For things to be so un-serious, just the way I want them to be. She opens her eyes just in time for Lilian to sweep that black-smoke blade through her abdomen. Her bat's raised against the blow, but that doesn't do her any good. Dylan looks like she's just been punched in the solar plexus; the breath leaves her in a gasp, and she staggers forwards before leaning on her bat and gritting her teeth. "Oh. Phony told me about you. ... She likes you a lot, you know," Dylan manages to say. With effort, she raises her bat again and makes a token swing at Lilian's head. Whatever emotional dynamo powers her, it's starting to spin back up. "I'm being as gentle as I can be. But you're not the only one who can want things. If you didn't want a fight, even for pretend..." Her back foot digs into the dirt. Her center of balance shifts. An enormous, superhuman swing of her bat shreds the thin air, shoving back anyone in close range with her even if it doesn't connect directly. The terraforming 'bubble' disappears. Everyone is now back in the hangar. More specifically, inside a shipping container, where she seems to have maneuvered you. Muffled, from outside: "... you shouldn't have gotten in MY way!!" A blow from her baseball bat dents the shipping container's exterior and sends it rolling across the hanger deck, tumbling everyone around inside it like a washing machine. When people emerge, that awful scorch on Dylan's side has been completely healed, but the small scorch on her cheek and the cut on her knuckles are still there. The clue was in the band-aid and the scraped elbows. Dylan's regeneration works off of her self-image, just like Persephone's. It's possible to get an injury to stick to her as long as the injury looks 'badass'.
Ishirou	Reality reinserts itself. However, I4 did not like being in a /box/. However, reality says that he is now in a box, so he is there. The bat smashes in, causing the thing to spin and the people to move around like pinballs. I4 only had fractions of a second to calculate. He moves using as little energy and aims for quick motions, trying to use momentum to try and keep himself from being smashed or smashing into someone else. Eventually, the door of the container opens, and I4 goes spilling out, landing in a three-point stance. What she's saying is familiar, it feels familiar. Comparing yourself to other people, but not realizing you're amazing in your own little way. Not many people in the paladins loved his over-attention to detail or had his ability to interface with the world as he could. He had people who were there for him. She has this too, likely, but it's also just as likely she's trying to prove herself as someone who can stand. He was also wrong about how she operated... but that's fine. "POD...Gravity Gun!" he calls out, as the POD itself changes weapons. This time a blast of force aims to smash into the ground near Dylan. However, I4 wasn't content on just letting that be the end of it. There had to be military ships nearby. All he needs is an angle from their range... I4 calculates that before a barrage of shots will come flying in, right through a hanger that has opened itself up, aiming to smash into the part of the deck she was on. It might be a bit overkill, but there was a theory he was working on. Sadly, hacking bigger things to fight for him is just something that makes him badass.
Lilian Rook	The moon. That's . . . no, it's not better than Mars. It's closer to the sun, and has even lower gravity, right? Lilian is doing her best to try and figure out if they're actually teleporting, or whether this is some kind of 'reality override', but she doesn't even know which colour code this power is supposed to be categorized under, never mind how to tell it from the real thing. The followthrough of her sword wobbles as her sudden halving of weight causes her forward foot to overextend and her stance to teeter. Lilian ducks the blow to the head as if she already knew it was coming, but the blast of faux-air hits her dead on at close range, tearing open the cloth layer of her sweater and revealing the matte grey weave underneath. There's no helping flying away under one-sixth gravity, but Lilian has plenty of time to find her feet, and lands without wobbling this time. §This is getting obnoxious. Come on, you know this. One point six two meters per second; I'll just have to adjust my movement for--§ And then all of her weight comes back to her at once, causing even Lilian to nearly stumble forward onto her face. She glimpses the dark interior of the shipping container for but a moment, before her eyes go wide and her whole body tenses. §Bad--!§ This time it's Lilian herself who passes through the crate, flickering through like a hazy shadow, swirling around the corner of Dylan's field of vision, just before the entire crate goes flying through the hangar. Swirling around the girl, Lilian aims to sweep her legs up from under her, and then 'pin' her to the ground by 'impaling' her through the midsection, or failing that, at least cross blade to bat. "The ship!" she calls out, having no reason to try and keep quiet about it now. "I'm guessing her range limit is fifteen meters or so! Move it!" Busy with Dylan though, Lilian exertion-hisses next "'Girls like us' is what Persephone said as well. Is it that simple? Adopted puppy loyalty? Or is it just because none of you know what it's like to really get hurt? The things we want aren't the same; settling them in your little fantasy way doesn't change how much they matter in any way; that's the same as a real fight! Greater needs supersede lesser ones; if people could acknowledge that, there wouldn't even be a need to 'pretend' fight! Just stay out of it!"
Go Shijima	"I understand completely!" If you don't reach for it, then you can't say that you believe in it. The front wheel zips back towards Go with another press of the button on the Shooter. It snaps back into place as Maria's blade clashes with that bat. Before he can pull the pistol back for another launch of that reel, Mars vanishes, replaced by the barren expanse of Luna. "So much that it's hard for me to keep this up." It'd be hard even if he weren't exhausted. To hear someone say that everyone deserves to be happy--that no one ought to be left behind--how can he fight that? How can he keep up a chipper, friendly demeanor fighting something that he wants, too? "I--what?!" The glittering expanse of space, replaced by... the headlight on his chest flashes, illuminating the corrugated confines of a shipping crate. The tires on his ankles squeal, Mach Driver revving as he races for the open end. He's still caught by the lip of the container, a strangled yelp escaping him as he's flipped aside on his way out. Sparks fly as his speed scrapes him across the floor, until a palm slams into the hangar and forces him back upright again. He twirls the Zenrin Shooter just to show off, then snap-aims and feathers the triger. White darts of energy fly towards Dylan--and that headlight on his chest extends outwards on an articulated wire, warming up. As Go's driver revs once more, he drifts on those ankle-wheels in a tight circle around her, blasting with the Zenrin Shooter while the light on his chest fires thick, slow-moving lances of white energy that follow her movements. "I never want to fight people like you. But then, you're never the problem." Those wedges are moving so slowly because they're designed with a purpose in mind. "If you really feel that way..." Mach leaps into the air, foot burning brightly enough to illuminate, in stunning relief, a '5' on the heel. It makes contact with one of those lances, and abruptly rockets forwards, heading straight for her! "The Concord will never allow it!"
Hellwarming Trio	Utsuho: "Heh... See, it's not that hard!" Rin: "Right! Guess even people up in this weirdo space place ain't too different." Utsuho: "Uhuh. Better than everyone trying to kill each other for real." Rin: "Would be good for business, though." Utsuho: "Oh yeah. But what's this about shaping the future?" Rin: "Didn't you try doin' that once before? I don't think that's a stunt worth repeatin'." Utsuho: "One time!" What IS the kind of world that these two seek, anyway? Reshaping the world certainly isn't in their list of priorities these days, especially not after Utsuho's last attempt at it went terribly wrong. On the plus side, it got some sense beaten into her, and it did indirectly lead to their master directing them to actually see the world with their own eyes. ... Maybe that's the reality they could try to push against Dylan's. Neither of them know quite what it is that they're pushing since such abstract thoughts aren't the sort of thing either of them really have, but thinking about it might help! Simply seeing the world isn't enough, and actually understanding it would be what makes their master proud. Thus, even trying to understand Dylan's world would be part of growing their understanding, so that means it's time to try and comprehend... Shipping containers. Also, they've found themselves inside a shipping container! When it gets knocked around, the youkai have a very slight advantage in already knowing how to fly, so they're able to at least keep themselves (mostly) upright even as the whole thing tumbles around every which way. Rin: "How the heck did we get in here all of a sudden?!" Utsuho: "Brain... Stuff, I guess?" Rin: "Cheater!" It doesn't stop Rin from complaining, but still. Once they're out, though, they actually notice the injuries that have managed to stick, and it gives the pair an idea between the two of them! The eye on Utsuho's chest and her control rod start to glow as she draws in power, letting it build up steadily while a miniature sun forms overhead. She doesn't launch it or anything, however, as instead... "Gotcha now!" Rin shrieks as she charges out of the sunball feet first, hurtling towards Dylan with those flames trailing up and over the kasha. It's not until she passes by/through Dylan with that flying dropkick, however, that it becomes clear Rin is taking a page out of Chase's book (sort of). The flames converge into the outline of a lotus, then seek out Dylan as though the flames have a mind of their own! It's more flash than actual substance, though, as the flames just refuse to go out. They're not particularly powerful flames, but they continue burning brightly upon sticking and refuse to go out. They retain their formation, too, to look like a persistently burning lotus pattern upon wherever they stick.
Blemishine	"Mngh...!" Dylan's strike hits clean. There's no way to bring her sword down mid-clash and armor doesn't matter quite as much, in a battle like this. The knight is sent tumbling backwards in the low-gravity environment, wincing not from the faux-pain but from the shift more than anything. That, and the call after her. She won't get to respond right away. The scenery shifts, twice. The lunar setting doesn't do anything to stop her from still going on a relatively uncontrolled spin away, made even faster by the heavy bat swing brought to bear, but their return to the hangar has her back roughly hitting the side of the container. Her sword is hastily stabbed into the side to give her something to hold onto so she's not being totally thrown around. The blade of which ignites with light partway through, washing over the others present to soothe at hers and their bruises and wounds. --And it also serves to make a fine cutting edge to slice open a quick way out, kicking metal out of the way to leap out with some heaving now that they're back in a place with normal air. Between that brief back and forth and a look at that regeneration, she's starting to get a better idea. Of how this works, and what kind of person Dylan Cruise is. Maria re-enters her same stance as before, tightening up her hold on her weapon. The exchange between I4 and their opponent doesn't slip by her. Between that, and what she just saw a moment ago... "Fighting for your dream even when you know you're not that strong...that's a familiar feeling." When they're not in the projected space anymore, attacks on the spirit might not hurt the same way, but she's saying it because she wants to say it anyway. "And so is having a big sis who shines way brighter than anything else. If you're fighting for your family, is that how you see Persephone? ...I had to become something I wasn't to fight for my family, too. It was hard. And it still is! But you know, I wouldn't take it back for anything." Her knees buckle some, preparing to move. "...So of course I'm not going to ask you to give up on your dream. That'd make me a hypocrite! You should fight for it with everything you've got. But if you don't think you're strong, own up to it for real! Don't just fight for that dream, fight for yourself too!" Is she trying to get her to stop fighting or pepping her up further? Either way, /then/ she dashes forward. On the tail of all the other attacks, to get back in with that shining blade of hers and bring it down in a horizontal slice - aimed at center of mass, it won't carve deep enough to threaten cutting into any organs or anything. She's not trying to kill her. But it'll probably leave a pretty sick scar across her front that looks like it was cut out by a laser. "Unless you can do that--you're never gonna be able to beat anyone, especially not us!"
Persephone Kore	For I4, commandeering the guns of a ship outside is easy enough. An energy bolt bigger than Dylan's entire body fires in from outside after a few seconds' travel time. She has just enough time to turn and see it coming before it washes over her. Flesh disintegrates- But something else is left behind in the disintegrated places, beneath her skin. It's a symbology more than a structure, something like the starry night sky, something like the translucent shed shell of a cicada, deep rich nocturnal purple and bony lambent white, beautiful but patternless. The fluttering of wings. Being something tiny in a vast universe. The strength of being fragile; the fragility of strength. Those parts remember they're supposed to be human a moment later, and Dylan's body 'resets' itself like flipping a switch, albeit with visible exertion. A few cosmetic scorches are left, and the scratch on her knuckles on the previously-obliterated arm stays too. She looks neither confused or ashamed by that exposure, but grips the bat with newfound vigor. "Violence like that doesn't mean anything, nerd-boy! If your heart's not in it, you'll never-" She needs that grip a split second later when Lilian sweeps her legs out from under her. Bat and blade clash dramatically as she yelps in surprise and hits the deck hard; Dylan is superhumanly strong, enough to hold her own in brute power, but her grip wobbles; the rounded surface of a bat is bad for catching a blade. "Stay out of it?! Stay out of it while you break into my home? Stay out of it while you hurt my family?!? YOU stay out of this!" Night Mist finally slips around the bat, impaling her right through the gut. She flinches and groans, but keeps her wits about her: the handle of her bat comes up to try and hit Lilian in the jaw. "If you're really 'like us'... I'm sorry nobody ever taught you what family means." One way or another, it's not feasible for Lilian to keep Dylan pinned down, but the damage is done- that stab wound is too cool to heal. Rin's flames pursue Dylan- she leaps to the side to get out of the way at first, then tries to dive behind a shipping container for cover when they come back around- but it's no use at all. For all her enhanced strength and vitality, Dylan isn't that much faster than an ordinary athletic person. The lotus-shaped burn they leave squarely on her back is too awesome to get rid of, too. Dylan seems to have a blunted sense of pain- this is a game, after all!- but she's rapidly accumulating injuries she can't recover from. Even still, she's got enough vigor to whirl around and fend off Go's barrage of light shots with her bat. "So that's it? Just because we're on 'the wrong side', we can never do something good? The Concord believes in power; you've seen Phony, haven't you?!" She reads the intention behind I4's finisher, but fails to anticipate its exact nature- her bat comes up to parry that lance, too, but she's unprepared for him to plunge straight through her. Dylan staggers and falls to one knee, grimacing and breathing hard. Under her breath, she mutters: "I know you don't really believe that, Go Shijima. Don't pretend like you do." She pulls herself up to her feet just in time for the lightsaber-on-bat clash with Blemishine. Long-adored stickers burn off under the heat- that seems to cause Dylan more pain than anything else so far. "Persephone... yeah. She's like a big sister to everyone. If you saw her smile, you'd understand! And Marc, Carpathia... I can't let them down, either!" The lightsaber finally burns through her bat, severing the last third of it and scorching her chest. She makes a noise of pain, staggers, and catches herself just before falling by leaning against a storage container. That one doesn't heal, either. That seems to have been the straw that broke the camel's back.
Persephone Kore	"Fuck," she mutters in soft exasperation. "Okay. You got me. I've never been the strongest. And I'm not even cool, or brave. Growing up anywhere else, I'd have been a goner. The world would've torn me apart." "But that's why... I'll do anything I have to do, to keep their dream alive. Even if I don't really know it can come true." "No hard feelings, right?" A tiny star forms in her outstretched palm, making it hard to see her- let alone aim. It successively expands and compresses, becoming larger and then smaller but denser in phases. Finally, it undergoes full gravitational collapse under Dylan's world-shaping powers, and that light is abruptly snuffed out. But even then, with visibility restored, there's only a second to respond to what she does. "Here's what Indigo means," she says, tossing the black hole in her palm impossibly as if it were a ball. "Batter fucking up." It's tossed into the air. Dylan winds back and swings. With a loud, satisfying CRACK, the black hole is knocked straight out of the hangar- a home run. Gravity ensues, having chosen just that moment to start responding appropriately. Storage crates and barrels are thrown around as if in a tornado, becoming an ambient crushing hazard. The black hole itself threatens to suck anyone out into space who can't find something to hold onto. Only after several seconds does it 'evaporate' and explode in a burst of searing energy, further injuring anyone who got pulled into it!
Hellwarming Trio	Rin: "So it really IS about the heart we put into this!" Utsuho: "Y... Yeah, I thought you figured that out already." Rin: "Wha? Oh. Uh. Of course I did!" Utsuho: "Uhuh." Rin: "YEAH." The ultraviolence commences, and there's moments of almost-concern when Dylan takes seemingly-fatal attacks several times over, only to be replaced with relief at her continued ability to fight through such wounds. They do, however, look considerably more confused when she starts speaking of the Concord and Sapient Heuristics' goals, and when she mentions several names in a row... Utsuho: "I don't know who those are." Rin: "Didn't Lilian talk about 'em once before?" Utsuho: "She did?" Rin: "Yeah, you were listenin'!" Utsuho: "Oh. Then... Is that right?" Rin lets out an exasperated sigh at Utsuho's inability to retain rather vital information at this moment, but she's still sufficiently freaked out when Dylan creates that star in her palm. "Geh...! Problem!" She yells out as the only thing resembling a warning, cowering underneath whatever containers she can still find in this place for cover. It doesn't mean much, though, as the black hole starts dragging everything out of the hangar after it's knocked out of the ALL OF IT, and she starts screeching while digging her claws right into the ground beneath her and trying to fly forwards desparately to not get sucked into said black hole. Utsuho, meanwhile, starts inching forward, flames burning rapidly behind her to propel her forward with just enough force that she just sort of stays in place while Rin latches onto the corium boot. Focusing on that, however, means Utsuho can't really move for all intents and purposes, and she still gets staggered back several times as barrels and crates smash right into her, nearly throwing her off her feet entirely and right into that crushing gravity field. It's only when that black hole explodes into that energy that she and Rin are allowed to stop flying forwards/flying in place just to not get sucked in, although they're left covered with some sick energy burns all over their backs for their trouble. Utsuho: "You said that... Uh. Something about their dreams, right?" Rin: "And no hard feelings, right?" Utsuho: "So... Let's finish this fight up and then figure that out later." Rin: "That's right! We still got one more big shot in store for ya!" Utsuho: "I'll show what it really means to have the power of the sun! And then we'll see...! Uh. Whatever it is you're trying to do out here!" Even without quite knowing what Sapient Heuristics' goal is in a more concrete manner, the youkai still seem enthused enough to see this fight through without even sounding or looking particularly angry at Dylan. Fired up, certainly, but that's more the fight adrenaline kicking in. With Rin down, though, it's Utsuho's time to shine! Literally, even, as that (relatively) giant ball of fire merges with the hell raven and turns her into the worst bloom effect ever. With the power of nuclear fire and posturing on her side, she dashes straight at Dylan, propelling herself forward with both a mighty flap of her wings and an explosion behind herself to fling her forwards. Her arms and legs are outstretched as she charges, maximizing her potential surface area as she aims to crash right into/through her opponent. She doesn't stop at just the one charge, though, as another explosions occurs right in front of her after that initial rush. It propels her backwards, and she turns on a dime to aim another tackle at Dylan. Before she can slow herself down from that one, she creates another explosion with Rin's aid, and that leads to another charge. More explosions, more fly-bys, and the process repeats itself several times over until that built up energy is spent, leaving Utsuho skidding across whatever still accounts for the ground in this collateral damage-inducing battle. Her wings and back are smoking from the exertion, and Rin's still laid out, but the raven is banking on that maneuever being just enough to close out this particular fight.
Go Shijima	Go hesitates. No... she's right. I don't really believe that. The thing is, I don't know what to believe anymore. Everyone I've ever looked up to has... some part of them I just can't reconcile with what feels right. A glance towards Lilian. Dylan can see flashes of other people in his mind. A police officer, however noble, who's incapable of not being in the driver's seat. A scientist who turned his back on his children out of fear, leaving them with an abusive parent. A maverick hunter torn between duty and compassion. But if I try to go with that feeling, I'm scared it will lead me away from people I love and respect. I've already fought so much. Lost so much. I-- Someone else's words ring out in his mind, as blinding light surrounds Dylan, whiting out the surroundings. You get too twisted up by finish lines. Visibility returns. The Mach Driver revs again as a barrel comes flying towards him. He leaps, turning sideways in the air, landing, trying to draw close to Dylan, weaving in and out of flying unsecured cargo. "Is that...!!" It's no wonder so many objects are flying--he didn't even know what he was looking at until he remembered they're in space. His head whips around to follow the flight of the singularity, and it proves to be a mistake. <J-IC-Scene> Dylan Cruise pants, "Get owned, loser." A shipping container hits him dead-on. Sparks fly from the armor. It's too much for the kinetic dampeners or the impact distribution systems, or the haptic feedback grid. For the Rider's safety, the armor dissipates. Good Work! Go is sent flying, twisting around midair until his hand can catch a flying strap used to fasten containers in just such a case as this (perhaps not this exact case). Dangling by neon nylon, he grits his teeth. "If getting owned was all it took to stop me... then I'D HAVE QUIT MONTHS AGO! HENSHIN! 873 - TRE SUPERGRIP TIRES The armor reappears, but there's no headlight. The 'front wheel' on the Zenrin Shooter sprouts traction-enhancing reinforced studs, as do the tires on his ankles. He lets go, nearly being sucked into space before the tire on the pistol touches the floor of the cargo bay. Punching divots into the floor, Go races in low-profile, beneath the last of the detritus, yelling--not in anger, or frustration, but in exultation, the whole way. "DYLAAN! I THINK WHAT YOU MEANT TO SAY WAS..." His elbow strikes the floor just feet from her position, catapulting him sidways and upwards. Gravity pulls him backwards but the tires on his ankles resume the hard work of fighting her influence. The one on the pistol spins faster and faster until it's a blur, and rubber squeals against the floor as he races up for an all-or-nothing finale. "GET WRECKED, KID!!" Mach races past her, attempting to slam the rapidly spinning wheel against her stomach and knock the wind out of her. Maybe it'll leave a cool mark, too.
Ishirou	What was the common thread to all of her attacks..? Brute force. Flashyness. The black hole appears. Yup, that settles that. That might mean...no he can't think about it right now. Deep learning of that is going to take more time than he has, but right now he can only see a few seconds ahead because the black hole is warping time just a bit. It's not about avoiding damage, it's about avoiding the worst possible scenario, which is falling in. It's probably not a REAL black hole, but real enough to make the time a bit wobbly. A canister is dislodged, and it's just enough to give him what he needs. He rolls with the flying object, aiming to smash into it but to clip it so that he sends momentum down into the black hole, but also gives enough to send him flying out of the worst of the danger. He rolls across the ground, a few things fallen into place. Except in his right arm, where a few things have fallen OUT of place. The POD carries him the rest of the way out of danger, 'Warning, damage incurred, non-insurance costs are beyond yearly salary. Current options for recovery: Junkyard.' "POD, could you not?" He mutters before once more lifting an arm up. This time, he aims his hacking at one of the crate movers, aiming to grab the giant arm, and swing it around, aiming to try and grab Dylan and hold her down...or at least force her attention on getting out instead of defending against the others. It's not cool, it's not flashy, she can easily get out of it...but he's not doing that.
Blemishine	Even with her weapon lying in pieces, it'd be too much to hope for Dylan to give up the ghost right there. On the contrary, she looks like she's more fired up than ever. Literally. Blinding light is something she's not unfamiliar with, so maybe that's why she's turning her head away even as it's forming before it has a chance to blind her. For as much good as it does, since by the time it dies down and she has a chance to glance back... A black hole is being batted past them. She follows it with her eyes and then a turn of her head. Then physics kick in, and a sound of surprise escapes her as her feet leave the floor. The knight tumbles backwards into a flying crate and bounces off of it with a metal-on-metal 'thunk', goes spinning off of it into another one that she just narrowly twists out of the way of, and manages to turn herself enough to actually land on a third. She uses it to jump away, de-light her sword so it doesn't cut like a butter knife, and stab it into the hangar wall. This works long enough to stop her from getting sucked into the hole, but not long enough that she loses her hold and gets brought out into space just in time for the blast of energy to send her tumbling back in with some black scorching on her white armor. It takes her a minute to get back to her feet after that one. "...Ow...no hard feelings," she echoes, wincing as she rises. "We're both just fighting for what we believe in, right? So we're not going to give up any time soon, either." She gets it. She really does. And Dylan probably does, too. So there's not much point saying anything else - Utsuho and Rin have the right idea about ending the fight so they can deal with everything that comes after. Including seeing everything about the dream she's fighting so hard for. "So let's finish this!" She's not as fast them, or as Mach, but her burst of speed forward after she reaffirms her hold on her sword still has her clearing the distance before you can blink. Flecks of light gather on her sword once more, collecting into an edge of radiant light. It comes back over her shoulder in what looks like a charging stab - but closing in on the contrails of the others, at the last moment, she raises it up, whirls into a spin, and swings down diagonally. From the opposite direction she did it before. The end result will be...a perfectly 'X' shaped cut left behind on her chest, and Blemishine skidding off to the side after the fact with her leftover momentum!
Lilian Rook	"Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying! Stay out of it!" Lilian shouts back to Dylan, in the midst of the dramatic swordfight bind. "Just because it involves people you care about doesn't mean that involves you! I only trust your Doctor to want what she claims to want, and absolutely nothing about the people she's chosen to try and grasp that ambition for her; naive at best! You're already halfway to being a good little Concord soldier right now! Otherwise we wouldn't be here! Don't you get that I'm trying to put less people in danger?Do you think Carpathia or Persephone want you getting involved in this? Getting hurt over this? Do you think this will make them happy?" But it's that last bit from Dylan, just as she swings back, that changes things. The exact moment that Lilian's breathy exclamations of disappointment, vexation, and frustration, turn bitter and cold. The moment that bloody red glow pulses the etching-lines along Night Mist, and something clicks between them-- the girl and the sword. Like two inaudible harmonics converging and interfering into an audible tone. The sword itself exudes palpable, animal menace. Not a sense of evil, or bloodlust, but something like a deep, echoing well of spite; of having lost something inarticulable, and about to make it everyone else's problem. "Don't try to talk to me about family." Lilian spits, arching back and away from the blow aimed at her jaw, and physically kicking the prone girl at the same time, before wrenching the blade free again, starting to semi-solidify from smoke. "A bunch of strangers who exist to tell you how special you are and shower you with whatever you want; that isn't a family. I know what family is." "You don't get to choose family, and family certainly doesn't get to choose you. Family means having rules and expectations to deal with. Family means knowing what you can ask for and knowing when you have to live with what you're given. Family means knowing how to fucking compromise. Family doesn't even have to like you, never mind pander to you. A family is when you work with what you have. People who love you because you're special aren't family; they're a fucking fanclub." The black hole trick. There are many levels upon which Lilian should be deeply concerned. Persephone had some something like this when they'd first crossed paths. This isn't quite the same scale, but Lilian already has the idea that the physics at play aren't that of a real black hole; the hurricane force chaotic suction tearing out the hangar bay is proof enough of that. She had no real answer to it last time. For now, the best she has is the fact that this station has no particular value to her, and that Dylan isn't personally holding the objective. "This is what Immaculate means." Lilian seethes, and then as if she'd never existed, disappears from the hangar altogether. Even after it detonates in its fiery ball of faux-Hawking radiation, it's as if Dylan imagined her. Then from behind: "And here's Extinguisher" Dylan can sense the sword twitch. Hear Lilian's body begin to move. Then, within the exact frame of her defensive timing, Dylan now faces away from the pitch into space, and deeper into the building instead. Lilian has switched places across from her; or rather, she decided their places were different. A vision of searing heat splashing across Dylan's face. A dizzying moment of being cut, been cut, will be cut. A semi-tangible straight line slash straight across the bridge of her nose, below both eyes, splashing blinding blood into her face.
Persephone Kore	Dylan is smashed and burned at high speeds, slashed across the chest, slammed with a robotic claw, kicked in the stomach, and- finally- sliced cleanly across the face. I don't want to be hurt, she thinks. And it works, just a little bit. But she's too tired- of this argument, of fighting, of getting beat up, of straining to reach something that isn't quite within her grasp. The baseball bat, mangled and with its sentimental stickers burned, falls from her hand to clatter on the ground. "Yeah," she says, to nothing in particular. A dull acquiescence to the susurrus of conversation around her. She can't fight anymore. But she can walk, laboriously putting one foot in front of the other. By sheer momentum, a walk turns into a run, and then into a sprint, and a sprint turns into a leap, and she crashes through the forcefield at the end of the hangar, sending bits of its cyan mesh shattering outwards. Dylan turns around in zero gravity to look back at the assembled party with a hard-to-read mix of emotions, her hair and clothes fluttering as she gradually drifts away. She doesn't look to be in any distress. It's possible to go after her, but probably not worth it. Searching the shuttle she'd been protecting is more productive. ACQUIRED: Nav Coordinates Data describing the orbit and location of the Sapient Heuristics station. It looks to be near Pluto. ACQUIRED: ???? Glass This cinnabar-tinted glass comes in coaster-sized pieces, and shimmers with faint opalescent colors. Ripples on it seem to spread out from the fight's epicenter. Holes drilled in its corners hint at a standardized use. ACQUIRED: ???? Plates These window-sized plates of dull blue metal look weirdly unreal, as if they were somehow 'fake'. Their packaging keeps them carefully separated. If two are placed near each other, the air between them wobbles and shimmers. ACQUIRED: TABLAPTOP Someone's personal device, but with a decent amount of Sapient Heuristics data mixed in. It'll take time to comb through and figure out the full extent of what's on it.