Scene #8180: Through the Gates of Gatun

Owner	Pose
Midway	Welcome to the Panama Canal. The Wilkian Freedom Forces heavy cruiser Fenris has already engaged Imperial loyalists and mass-production warships on the waves of Lake Gatun. Aircraft swarm above the vessel while it exchanges fire with those fundamentally inferior MP seacraft. But that's not quite where we are; for the Fenris is, in this operation, largely a distraction. With aircraft and shore batteries focusing on the cruiser, a WFF helicopter touches down near the facility overseeing the Pacific-side locks. It's a large, square building and rather nondescript. Broad, slanted metal roofs capping off what is effectively a shell to protect enormous mechanisms from the tropical weather of Panama. No sooner do people disembark from the helicopter, something erupts out of the water in the lock. A series of missiles arc through the sky and then descend, hammering the landing pad around the vehicle but not hitting it. When the smoke clears, a woman occupies the tarmac, though she clearly isn't human. She looks more like a corpse, her skin bleached white. Wet, black hair frames her face and covers one eye, the other glowing intensely blue. Her mouth is not visible, concealed behind a rebreather mask. Her clothing is a mix of rubberized diving suit, corroded metal plates, and spines. Bulky armor hugs her shoulders and back, sweeping back into a long shark-like tail that sways gently from side to side, producing a low creaking sound. "Leave," her voice, modulated and amplified through the rebreather, is quite raspy, "Board your aircraft. And take that warship with you." Her posture shifts, arms spreading. Ports snap open along the sides of the armor on her shoulders, exposing them as vertical launchers, "It is not a request."
John Doe	John's feet hit the ground, and the moment he does the explosions start. Even if they weren't aimed at them, the Persona comes forth almost Immediately, ready to protect the aircraft. However, the smoke clears, and nothing was damaged, but the lady that comes up to them demands that they leave. "Pretty cute in a gothy kinda way," he says, rubbing the underside of his nose with a single finger before taking a step forward, with the Man in the Iron Mask floating behind him. "No, we're here to do a job and we're gonna do it. You can step aside and let us do it...or you can decide to use those weapons on us. I'm gonna tell you though if you do it ain't going to go well for you I'm pretty sure," he says, and as he walks forward the terrain starts to change. Chains are everywhere, and even metaphysically making it so her speed can't exceed his own. "Ugh...sore still, so let's get this going."
N'Raha	N'Raha has never been one for VTOLs, give him a proper airship any day of the week. Especially as the missiles come in and swat a the landing pad. He lands, shifts his stance as the attacks come in, and reflexively shifts to protect John, until the chains and the Persona come out. "Oh... oh hey, okay. You can do that..." A thumb up to John and then to the girl. "You.... you look familiar somehow, but I can't really place it..." His ears flick around quizzically, as his armor glamours into place over the top of his clothing. The humble fireman's axe flashes over to the Bravura, the blade dripping with ichor, the head glowing with already bottled Fury. "What he said. Though... yeah you look familiar." He shakes his head, slams his visor into place, and then stalks forward...
Kirishima	Although she might have sympathized with the Empire in another lifetime, their methods have rubbed off on Kirishima the wrong way. Thus, she's come to lend her aid to the Wilkian Freedom Forces once more, although today's aid doesn't come in the form of high flying theatrics so much as it comes in the form of riding a helicopter. It's kind of unexciting, but at least it gives her a chance to catch up on some much needed recordkeeping. It's not her strongest point by any means, either, and she actually looks almost relieved when the aircraft touches down just in time for the missiles to hit the landing pad. Strangely enough, the ninja ship is nowhere to be seen among those coming out of the helicopter. Instead, she's first heard shouting something unintelligible from above as she reappears in the air, landing some yards away from the armored stranger in that classic three-point hero pose. "I commend you for offering us a chance to leave, ma'am. You've given up an advantageous position of power in order to do so, and for that, I salute you." She doesn't salute, but she instead gets up to bow from the waist, then nods lightly at N'raha and John. "... However! The young men are right, as we've been tasked with defending those aboard this ship as a matter of honor and pride. To escape now would tarnish the historic reputation of the ninja and the growing pride of the IFAS, no matter how-" She pauses, just glancing at John with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the corpse-like woman. "If we have no choice but to fight, then understand that we have no personal quarrel with you. Your masters are the only ones to blame here."
Midway	"My Master," the woman intones, her raspy voice grinding to a crackle through the rebreather. It specifically is non-plural. So does she serve Weisenberger directly? Her posture shifts into something slightly lower, more readied as John's influence envelops her. He'll find, however, that she is distinctly Not A Speedster archetype. It might hamper her, but nowhere near as much an advantage as he held against Wirbelwind. Which was also a ship, not a person dressed like a mix between a submarine and a sea monster with fishnets just because. "I would rather fight and fail than surrender out of hand," That tail sweeps to one side, scraping the tarmac briefly, "I am the Submarine Superweapon Water Demon. My designation is Leviathan." Her one visible eye snaps aside towards Kirishima, then back towards John and N'Raha. Something red flickers across her vision. Immediately, the banks of vertical launchers erupt, firing in sequence from Front to Back and unleashing volleys of missiles at all three attackers as well as the helicopter they arrived in. "I gave you a choice. If you will not leave, than you will go through me."
John Doe	She's not a speedster, but her rockets are still rockets and are still fast. The chains still latch on, and it gives John time to both protect himself, and throw chains out to protect the transport. With the chains attached he swings them, aiming to swing them around and back right toward the woman. "Wait, that name seems familiar..?" He shakes his head, not important, he can process it later. After the swing, he dives in towards her, aiming to get in her face and make it dangerous to fire those rockets without hurting herself...which means the field is more dangerous. "Alright, but don't take it personally if we're a little rough when we take you in."
Kirishima	"Fair enough. To flee now would lose face for your own as well... Alright, then." Rising to her full height, Kirishima brandishes a pair of short swords as she faces Leviathan with a firm gaze. "I am Kirishima, leader of the IFAS and representative of the Paladins. Let us begin!" When the launchers begin firing their opening salvo, Kirishima is already on the move. Instead of heading straight for the source, however, she leaps directly at the missiles, twisting around in midair to weave between them with her freakish ninja-like speed. She kicks off the last one to ~~show off~~ throw it off course as she launches herself downwards at Leviathan in a spiraling descent that... Well, it looks cooler than just falling normally. There's a method to that madness, though, with Kirishima's scarf flapping wildly behind her and making herself look relatively bigger on the way down. "Steel Cyclone Style: Moonbreaker's Fall!" She calls out with her swords whirling about herself, slamming them down at her opponent on that landing before shifting into a flurry of wild stabs and slashes to try and make herself the most space-occupying opponent.
N'Raha	The catman snarls into the air, the noise rattling across the platform and the heavy smiles behind his visor. That ax swings around in a fancy arc, and moves to bracket at the girl. "I know Leviathan, I killed Leviathan, and you're going to have to LIVE UP to that name." His feet plant in place, and the miqo'te tries to bracket the girl in. "And you've got that WRONG. You're going through ME now." The cat burlies up, and slips to start boxing Leviathan out into the chain fields.
Midway	When Leviathan's missiles are redirected back at her, she starts briefly. An unconscious command prompts the salvo to dive suddenly into the ground in front of her rather than impact her directly, enshrouding the woman in smoke and dust through which only their silhouette is really discernable. The right arm sweeps back, unfurling a long, curved shape from within the armored bracer with a distinctive metallic sound. It's this that Kirishima divekicks into, impacting steel with enough force to push her off-balance. She catches herself by fixing her footing, twisting around the blade extruded from her wrist armor and sweeping it in a wide arc Ninja-wards. Her free hand lifts defensively, Bravura biting into salt-pitted steel with a satisfying ring, scattering chips of corroded metal. "All of you are close-range fighters," the girl remarks, "A new approach is needed." Something ka-chunks loudly inside the armored rigging across her shoulders. The VLS ports remain closed, though. What does open is a centerline hatch. From this, a series of canisters eject skyward in multiple directions, arcing gracefully. As soon as they hit the pavement, each canister immediately explodes. She uses the chaos of this moment to kick off and throw herself backwards-- towards the waters of Lake Gatun. She's definitely trying to avoid getting shoved deeper into John's chainfield before she sustains too much damage.
John Doe	John is in fact a melee guy. Just a melee guy. However, when the canisters come falling down, he starts coughing and holds a hand over his face to avoid breathing too much in. His eyes stinging a little he works on, instead, throwing the canisters off of the building they are on, specifically towards the location she was falling. He assumes they can work underwater too. I mean, why else would someone called a sub have them? This just seems like science. However, as this happens more chains start appearing. They start creating walls, and small croppings. Things to hide behind or to use for cover. It also gets more difficult to deal with. Chains start stretching out to make a net above the water.
Kirishima	"A transforming arm...? Was this forced onto you?" There's a slight pang of sadness in Kirishima's tone as she slams into Leviathan's unfurling arm, backflipping off of it and hurling a few kunai in her direction moments before landing to keep the pressure on. Hearing that warning noise from the canisters being loaded, she rushes right back in towards Leviathan to avoid the worst of the canisters' explosions while on John's aid to mitigate the worst of the barrage. Those that remain tear up her armor and garb a fair bit from behind and thesides, but the ninja herself is far tougher than stereotypes about ninjas would suggest! Then again, this ninja isn't really acting like one at all. "For one declaring herself to be a submarine, your combat style is anything but. I applaud you for fighting how you choose rather than following what fate decided for you!" Chasing her down, she drops a grappling hook attached to a chain behind herself as she leaps ahead of Leviathan to intercept her even before she can get to the water, stopping suddenly in mid-fall when her grappling hook catches onto a railing or other solid surface at the edge of the ship. "The water won't be enough, ma'am. You forget that I, too, am a ship and a ninja!" Kirishima boasts while throwing a powerful haymaker directly at Leviathan's center mass, trying to catch her as she falls and using both gravity and her own boxing prowess to turn that escape attempt into another opportunity to start clobbering the submarine. With any luck, that might even keep her up long enough for N'raha to get his own blows in before they reach John's net of chains.
N'Raha	Raha's position isn't changing, despite the explosions, despite the fact that the submarine is now using depth charges against them. He's peppered by shrapnel but snarls as the chains slide into place. "This is hardly becoming of someone with your name, young lady!" The ax is planted, his hands shift, and he launches himself into the water. Yes, in his armor, why do you ask? "DOn't think y'er the only one who's comfy in the waves, abyssal!" And the, he's then floating and swimming in that plate mail, looking for Leviathan. Yes he knows he's in her territory now, no he doesn't care. He's got a job to do, and the target has left the AOE and the DPS behind. Shameful.
Midway	Multiple charges are intercepted; hurled into the lock where they explode harmlessly in geysers of seawater. Others burst prematurely when intercepted by chains, or where they were meant to land on the tarmac. Leviathan snaps her arm back when the swipe at Kirishima goes wide, the sickle blade snapping in the middle and folding back into her gauntlet. When the kunai hit, they wedge in wherever they land-- drawing out thin splatters of ichorous black bile rather than blood. Her leap back clears the lock's edge and puts her over the water, only to be delayed by Kirishima's intercept punch that's enough to knock her up in the air a bit with a sound like steel striking steel. The woman lets out a grunt, using her legs to push herself away while forcing herself into a flip. She doesn't hit the water. She lands on a lattice of chains. Unsteadily, she tests her footing, then flicks her one-eyed gaze back up. A gauntlet is aimed downward. With a SHHUNK and a hiss of steam, a torpedo is fired through one of the gaps in the net. Underwater, it rights itself into a course to intercept N'Raha. That same hand is raised, a second torpedo ejecting itself into the air. This one is caught, twirled around, and flung towards Kirishima in much the same way as she had thrown her kunai moments ago. John's net has negated whatever advantage a submarine would have over a battleship-- Leviathan is unable to dive as things are now. She seems to have caught on to who is causing this, though. Hatches flip open, unleashing another volley of vertically launched missiles; the entire volley spreads to either side as it ascends, then converges on John himself from multiple directions.
John Doe	The explosion hits John, but thanks to his fast thinking the explosions are weakened somewhat. Some shards hit him, but thankfully his field slows them down making them hit not as hard. The field of chains continues to grow, and more and more chains start to form. Now they start circling around through the air as if to make a cage. When the Sub comes for him, he braces. It's the only thing he can do right now. Chain walls appear to try and give him some cover, but the attack at multiple angles is going to make it hard for him if nobody helps. He just gets ready to bare it. Please don't let him down, he thinks. This is going to hurt.
Kirishima	From the way Leviathan had moved earlier, Kirishima isn't expecting a torpedo to be hurled at her so suddenly. A shot from one of those many openings, perhaps, but the one being flung at the ninja is enough to catch her momentarily off guard as it explodes right in her face. It has the ninja reeling for a while as she maintains her hold on the chain to keep herself form plummeting into a disadvantageous position closer to the water. "A crafty maneuver... That's more like what I was expecting." Undeterred even with the shrapnel lodged into her head, Kirishima spits out a chunk of charred metal and congealed blood before pulling her chain off the railing. When those missiles go up, however, she recalls John's condition from earlier along with his earlier maneuver with the chains, and she starts running up the side of the ship. Leaping forward/vertically just as she comes off the side, Kirishima heads right for those missiles again while whipping that chain around to catch what missiles she can! Unlike that torpedo-hurling maneuver, however, she makes no attempts to throw them back at Leviathan. Instead, she pulls them in as she starts falling back down straight at the sender with a wild look in her eyes. "Your ordinance is formidable, Lady Leviathan! Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to stain your conscience by harming children with them!" She calls out, dive bombing towards Leviathan with those bombs in tow and ready to catch both of them in a potentially huge explosion. The ship can probably withstand it, right? Right.
N'Raha	The catte sees the torpedo coming, and once again does nothing to avoid the attack. Rather, he snarls, and swings that axe behind himself in the water... and a barrier erects itself around him, ablating the blast for the torpedo, for as much good as that will do underwater. There's a LOT of concussive force that's involved in that. But on the other side of the blast, the Warrior of Light is MOVING. this time, there's a chain that lashes out to the Submarine, as she tries to rengage with John, and wraps itself around Leviathan's waist. "NO, YER FIGHT IS WITH ME, LITTLE FISH." The Holmgang is called, and Raha lays into the side of the submarine with broad swings of his axe, treating the Abyssal like a pile of rocks that need splitting.
Midway	"I am not here to impress you," Leviathan remarks to Kirishima's compliment in that grinding voice of hers, "I am here to stop you." The launch hatches of her rigging close as she straightens her posture. She gives her wrist a flick, unfurling the curved blade from before with that distinctive metallic ring of steel sliding across steel, followed by the hollow click of the weapon locking into position. The woman lets out a grating sound filtered through her mask when a chain wraps around her midsection, locking that arm against her side. She braces her feet, wrapping the chain up around her wrist and wrenching on it-- unfortunately, this gives Raha all the speed he needs to close in on her. He brings up the axe as he's pulled in, and there's the briefest glimmer of 'I should not have done that' in her eyes before he clobbers her with his weapon. Each blow makes a ringing sound, similar to if he'd struck his weapon against his own ship's cannons, striking solidly enough to stagger her back a pace or two on this precarious footing. The center panel of her rigging opens, ejecting another stack of depth charges in a circle around her. The resulting plumes of water are what Kirishima dives into with her collection of missiles, producing a blast strong enough to disperse the columns of seawater and send Leviathan sailing across the chain hammock. She bounces a few times, reaching out with her hook-shaped sword to catch a chain and stop herself. Picking herself up, the Submarine Superweapon Water Demon twists her blade to catch the chain links in the upward-turned curve of her weapon and wrenches on it, bracing the opposing sides with her feet. If she can just break through, even for a second--
John Doe	More chains go everywhere. Depth charges are everywhere. They explode and his body is hit with slower-than-expected moving shrapnel. His body was battered and bleeding, but far from broken remains. His eyes flare as the Man in the Iron Mask appears behind him. Together their hands raise up as the chains multiply. "Château d'If!" John shouts as the chains all come in. Every single chain attempts to center in on Leviathan, aiming to wrap her up completely and leave her suspended in the air where she was before. Even the chains wrapped in her attempt to break out snap around her. The force of pressure is surprising, but she can likely handle that due to what she is...but... He sends her coordinates to Tsukaba.
Kirishima	"Oh, certainly. That doesn't mean it's not going to happen!" Kirishima's clearly hamming it up despite the clear danger to herself in trying to slam bombs Leviathan with herself, although her performance isn't a complete lie even if it is (mostly) intended to unnerve and irritate the strange submarine. She's saved from an(other) untimely salvo to the face when Raha smashes Leviathan deeper into the net below. The plumes of water throw Kirishima off course as she's caught up in one of those, and she loses her hold of those missiles sooner rather than later in the process. It's probably better for Kirishima overall that she does, though, as it leaves her hands free around when the submarine demon focuses not on blasting or cutting up her opponents, but on trying to break through the Iron Mask's net. "Your fight is with us, not a net! If you wish to escape, then say it!" Rushing forward once more, she starts leaping around the enclosing net like a bouncing bat out of hell, flinging kunai at Leviathan like she's got an inexhaustible supply of the things from so many angles at once. She knows John's got the chains in place and Tsukuba's artillery incoming, and she can guess N'Raha's probably going to go up close, so that leaves her with the task of hurling as much stuff at her as possible before the demon is defeated or sounds the retreat.
N'Raha	And as the U-Boat gets lifted up, N'raha, Warrior of Light, Scourge of the Empire, Slayer of Gods and Demons, is lifted up and out of the water, as Leviathan is lifted up and out of the water. They are literally attached at the waist, and until one of them is dead (or the magic wears off), neither of them is getting more than 6 feet away from the other. "COME ON YOU LITTLE TADPOLE, I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU." There is blood dripping from inside of that armor somewhere, mixing with the seawater pouring from the mythril plate as he's dredged out of the murk. "DON'T RUN, THERE'S NO WHERE TO GO!" ...did he miss the plan?
Midway	Leviathan wrenches and yanks on her sword, sawing it back and forth against the chain she's hooked through it. Eventually, the link snaps and her weapon wrenches upward. She jumps immediately, a forward hop into the gap she'd created-- only to be intercepted by multiple chains from other directions. The woman lets out a grinding shout when she's hoisted up, chains wrapping around her body and her equipment. She strains, metal groaning-- but for every link she breaks, more chains replace it. The hatch for her charges is obstructed. Most of her VLS ports are held closed. When she does get one open, one of Kirishima's numerous kunai finds it, jamming the launch tube. Raha taunts her again. Her left arm shifts, barely, with a screech of metal grinding against chains. Her torpedo launcher shows itself to him and she glowers down at him from her bound position. -- "A and B, port sixty-four!" Admiral Tsukuba barks into the fire control relay. Someone relays an affirmative and he barks again, "Elevation twelve!" Straightening his posture, he shoots a look across the bridge, "Helm, hard to port!" Old, experienced eyes peer out over Gatun Lake. As soon as the vessel's turn is precisely where he wants it, the admiral barks, "FIRE!" Both forward gun batteries of the Fenris fire in sync, hurling their payloads downrange. Immediately, the cruiser returns to what it was doing against the fleet and air force of the Empire stationed here. -- "I do not take orders-- from you," the Water Demon intones through the grating filter of her rebreather, while rattled by Raha's axe and further kunai. The hiss-shunk of her torpedo launcher never happens, though. A cluster of six eight-inch artillery shells smash down into the lock, blasting chains. At least two directly impact the Demon herself, the rest landing around or just behind her due to the parabola of artillery fire. There's a distinct screech of steel followed by a secondary explosion. A vaguely humanoid shape crashes into the water admist the collapsing coils of mangled chains, wreckage and oil. Something else explodes. As the body sinks, another explosion distresses the lock's surface. Eventually, all goes silent, save the burning patches of oil clinging to the waves.
N'Raha	And as the Submarine Sinks, the Holmgang comes undone, one of the two combatants... no longer able to fight. That said, one of those artillery blasts wings the Warrior, and he goes caroming out of the chains and into the side of the landing pad and heliport, skidding to a crumple on the decking. His tail twitches, but there's a surge of aether in his frame, as he shoves that last of his internal energy into himself to gather his senses, and haul himself up and off the dirt. "...Right, well, that... that worked, right?" How is he still standing?
John Doe	The chains shatter, and they start fading as they are disconnected though, turning into...whatever psychic chains turn into. Probably psychic matter that evaporates. John tries to swing again, but his Persona fades...and he goes down to his knees. His hands brace him, but he's gone way past his limits. Doing that technique, protecting himself, trying to create a field for the others to fight and his own injuries from before have just exhausted and sapped his strength. He'll have to leave the rest to the others.
Kirishima	Kirishima stays quick on her feet and maneuvers deftly atop those chains, then the water as the Water Demon is covered in chains, axe swings, and explosives that force the ninja to back off a considerable distance. By the time the explosions stop, she sees the sinking body, and she's finally able to breathe a light sigh of relief at the apparent end of the battle. Instead of returning to the surface of the ship holding their helicopter transport, however, Kirishima instead heads back towards the spot where the battle had ended. She dives rapidly towards the body with one more kunai in hand, raising it as she draws closer and... Presses it into a closed hand or whatever looks like a good spot to safely tuck it away. "You fought valiantly, despite the odds being sacked against you. For what little it may be worth to you now, you have my praise. May you one day return under better conditions." After delivering that semi-eulogy, she returns to the surface of the water, offering a shoulder (or outright carrying) N'Raha should he need it to get back onto the ship with John and the crew of the ship this had all started on.
N'Raha	N'raha agrees with Kirishima, and adds. "...til the sea swallows all..." He grunts, waves off the help for himelf, and points to John. "Help out the lad, he's worse off than I, this is all... just superficial. I've had MUCH worse done to me. She didn't even muck around with my soul or anything." Again, saying these things like it's common. He does stomp over to John, though, and clap him on the shoulder, before offering a hand. "Top form, that's a fancy trick you got. Proper summoning."
John Doe	John is slapped on the shoulder and he winces, "Ow..." he says dully and watches the water. That...was very unfortunate, and sad. He's...never actually been responsible for death before and now... He wanted to legitimately get her out of that situation. He tries to hide it, but there is a twinge of pain on his face. This is the same boy who threatened Petra, and got into fist fights with Hibiki and Remee...but right now... "...Yeah fine. I'm going to need the aid."
Midway	Pressure, she has withstood countless times before. Weapons, her armor has withstood before. Wearing, weakening. Sudden fire; intense heat. The pressure wave that slams her down into the cool water. The Submarine Superweapon Water Demon's eye opens halfway, staring at the circle of light above her as it grows smaller. It is not an unfamiliar sight for her. She strains. Her ballast is already full. Valves are jammed or broken. She finds herself unable to purge. Unable to surface again. With a faint groan, she reaches upward, straining uselessly towards that dwindling light above her. No... No...! I can't... I still have so much to do...! I never even... ...got to have a story... Eventually even that faint disc of light upon the surface disappears. -- With the Submarine Superweapon Water Demon defeated, there is no further obstacle to operating the locks. After some fiddling around, it's simple enough to open the gates and usher the Fenris through. The Imperial fleet assigned to the Lake of Gatun is in shambles; the airstrips, destroyed. It seems that Commander Schulz can be quite a menace when he wants to be. Tsukuba is there to welcome John, Kirishima, and N'Raha back aboard with a boistrous laugh while crews attend to the damage his own ship had sustained, "Next stop, London!"
John Doe	He watches... He refuses. He refuses to let this happen. He's lost before. He's lost people, but she shouldn't have to be lost because of others. He heard what she said, he can put two and two together. She's not old enough to know what she's doing. He forces himself to one knee. He holds a hand out toward Kirishima. "You'll need to drag me in a second." He says this and then drops himself off the edge. He can't summon his persona, and his considerable strength is reduced because of his exerted effort. He dives under the water, he dives straight for her. He reaches out for her hand to grab it. He fights the current of the water, wanting to drag him down... He won't die. There is a moment. A brief moment where the Persona appears. A single chain whips out, reaching out for flotsam and drags him to the surface but just barely...hopefully holding the nearly sunken abyssal.
N'Raha	N'raha yelps a bit as John leaps for the water. "LAD, WAIT." "...HELL." And then he's after the boy, his armor flashing away as he runs to snag at the young man, to pull his dumb ass back out of the drink. He's a mess, bruises all over, his smart looking tunic and trousers covered ins blood, oil, sea muck and worse. But he's going to give John that chance, he guesses.
Kirishima	"If it means we can try some of their..." Kirishima doesn't really have a good followup to that. She knows London exists as a place, but what kind of food are they known for besides tea? She needs real food! Something that's actually evocative of British... Anything! Luckily, the awkward pause and drawing a blank can be explained away by getting distracted when John goes chasing after the sinking ship and N'Raha heads in after him. Crossing her arms, Kirishima starts with a light chuckle, then breaks into outright laughter before turning back to Tsukuba once more. "The young really are foolish sometimes... But I'll not stomp on their spirits while they still have it. I shall return shortly as well, and then let's get...!" Shit. She just put herself back on the spot. With nowhere else to go there, Kirishima slams her hands together into a quick hand seal, then abruptly disappears in a puff of smoke. Moments later, footsteps can be seen splashing over the water in John's and N'Raha's wake. She's the best equipped to actually pull them back up if they start drowning, after all.
Midway	Something brushes her outstretched hand. Her brow knits. It happens again and her fingers twitch. The third time John's hand grazes hers, she clamps her fingers around his wrist. Her weight is-- far heavier than she looks, even in her condition. Thankfully the Man in the Iron Mask pitches in, followed shortly by Raha's experienced swimming and with Kirishima acting as a backup; John eventually hauls Leviathan back to the surface. Water pours out of her body and what's left of her equipment any time it's above water, clearly no longer suited to the sea. It's a struggle to even keep her afloat until she can be hauled onto Fenrir's deck. She is... not in good shape. The hand that had wielded her sword is completely gone, as is the leg on that side. Her remaining leg is terribly mangled. Only the one arm is still mostly intact, presumably shielded from the artillery by the rest of her body. Her equipment is in utter shambles, pouring out gallons of seawater and a gelatinous, congealed oily ichor that stains the deck. Barely conscious, the Demon's body convulses with ragged coughs through her respirator mask. Doctor Elisabeth Braun scurries across the deck, pushing back sailors who've started gathering around the woman, but it's Admiral Tsukuba's booming voice that gets them to disperse-- it doesn't stop some of them from muttering about a curse or crossing themselves. Sailors are, as ever, a superstitious lot. "I want the brig converted for medical care," Braun insists. Tsukuba nods and steps away to make the arrangements while the Doctor returns her gaze to their guest, "Is this being also a product of Heidrun..?"
N'Raha	John, you dummy. Those are the thoughts that initially push through Raha's head as they dredge the fallen Submarine out of the depths of the bay.... But he can't fault the lad. Even if he is one of those Concord bastards, there's good in everyone. The catman, once again soaked to the tail, sighs, and sits on the decking, wringing mud and grit out of his tail and armor. "...I hope you're prepared to deal with your actions here, lad." That busted ear of his flicks a bit, water dripping out of it haphazardly as he shakes out his head like... well, like a cat. "...She's in bad shape, and she's one of the Princess's damned vessels." A pointed look at John. "...do you have any knowledge on how to fix up a ship? A dry dock to care for her?"
Kirishima	After helping to bring the wounded demon (and John and N'Raha) back to the deck, Kirishima is more interested in seeing how the crew of the Fenris reacts. She had been half-expecting them to respond poorly, and her hands are still at her sides when the first couple of sailors arrive, but she relaxes (by crossing them over her chest) once Tsukuba gets them to disperse. "Heidrun? Then... Would that mean he forced this one into such a state? Or did she pursue this path to power on her own?" She murmurs as she looks towards Leviathan again, furrowing her brow and letting her mask cover that light scowl crossing her face. "There's plenty for him to answer for, but... We'll find out more once she's recovered, I hope. And if she seeks another battle before then..." Kirishima cracks a slight smile under her mask. "We'll see."
John Doe	John is pulled up on board, thanks to Raha, Kirishima, and the crew of the Fenrir. He coughs up, seawater spills out as he remains on his hands and knees. He was exhausted before, but now it's far worse and the cold is likely to do him in...but thankfully he's on the deck of a ship. Also, he's still tougher than he looks. John struggles, but he nods once at the rescued ship, and then toward Braun and Tsukuba. "Probably...I think she's still one of your countrymen, even if she wasn't born in the traditional way. So remember that.." he says and sits back. "Thanks for the save," he says to Raha and Kirishima. "I guess my faith in you two was right," he says, his eyes closing. He doesn't open them for Raha. "Yeah, let's just let people die because caring for them is inconvenient. I said I would rescue her, and I meant it. I did it because I wanted to, so if you don't like it you can jump back in the water."
N'Raha	The catman sighs, and sits cross legged in front of John, and then hrms. "No, that's not what I'm speaking to you about." Raha works a finger in his ear, and taps the side of his head. "You're a curious sort, and that's good. Trying to save lives is admirable. But..." A breath. "You have to be responsible for the lives you take and for the ones you save, Jim." Close. "And you have to save the life you have as well." A poke at the boy's forehead. "Or you'll burn the rest of yourself out, like you nearly did tonight." The Warrior of Light grumps, and then sighs. "...And I can safely tell you that someone told me this too, at the start of mine own journey, many years ago. You can't save people if you torch yourself doing it."
John Doe	John says something that might make everything he does make sense through a lens. "If I died, and she lived...if she went on to do something big and help win this conflict...then I'll be remembered. If I survive, then I'll be remembered. It was worth the risk," he says, tiredly. "I don't want to be forgotten or to disappear. You can't get like that by taking half-assed steps.." though perhaps he's not being entirely honest. He heard those words. That desire to not be forgotten. It resonated with him. He wanted her to have a story because he can not.
Midway	"I don't honestly know," Doctor Braun admits to Kirishima, "It's not even a theory, it's a wild guess at best." She cradles her chin in thought, "I'll have to have a good look at her when she hopefully isn't bleeding out on the forecastle." Turning in place, she glances back towards the superstructure as a team of corpsman emerge with a stretcher and many towels along with two different medical kits. "For now, stabilizing and treating her injuries are the priority. Whether she was somehow built by Heidrun like the Wirbelwind or came about through some other process will have to come later." The corpsmen gently shift Leviathan to their stretcher and-- try to lift her. They fail. Several times. After some discussion, they call over some deck hands with much burlier builds and-- with one man on each corner of the stretcher-- they're finally able to haul the woman off the deck and start maneuvering her into the ship itself. Doctor Braun shifts her gaze to N'raha, "You seemed to recognize what she is? 'One of the Princess' vessels'? What did you mean by that?"
N'Raha	N'raha watches as the haul the Leviathan off towards the medical bay and then looks at the Captain. "Aye, there's a... offworlder like us, that goes by the moniker of Midway. She's... well, she's a ghost. A being made up of all of the horrors of war at sea, just... war in general. All those who have died and perished beneath the waves..." A nod to the U-boat on its way out. "And she bears a striking resemblance to the creature's minions." A look right at John, and the catman pokes a finger in his chest. "And that's good. Stoke that fire inside of you, Jeff." Name's still wrong, but the miqo'te's words are serious. "We fight, we bleed, we die, to save others. That's the job of 'heroes' such as ourselves." Those green eyes are steely. "For those we have lost, for those we can yet save. That is my creed, and the creed of those I fight besides." It takes a moment, and then Raha wobbles back up to his feet, spent. "...Maybe you have a chance to pull yourself back from the brink." He turns to the captain, and pulls out a card. It is flashy and shiny and definately not N'raha's. "If you can't handle her, take her here. That's the Garlond Ironworks in Ishgard. My mate Cid's a genius at magitech and spooky robots. He'll get her talking again at least, and we can find out more."
Midway	Doctor Braun cradles her chin in thought, carefully listening as Raha explains what he knows about Abyssals. Her brow furrows more and more as he describes the Princess herself, eventually turning to glance over her shoulder at the incapacitated Leviathan being carefully carried away. "If that is true, we should prepare to encounter more of these... 'Water Demons'. I'll alert Captain Schulz immediately. New tactics will need to be devised, and is likely to revolve around Elite involvement." She lets out a sigh, eyes closing, "I'm afraid our infantry are just not equipped to face something like that..." After a moment, she nods once, "I'll excuse myself here and get to work, gentlemen. Please rest up as much as you need. We've got a trans-Atlantic crossing to carry through."
John Doe	"Before you leave, I have another question. She called herself 'Submarine Superweapon Water Demon. Leviathan. That rings a bell, doesn't it?"
N'Raha	The catman rocks on his heels. "Leviathan, King of the Seas, the Great Serpent, Lord of The Whorl. Aye. I fought the creature. God of the Sauhaugin. They raised him up to ravage the coasts of my homeworld." A sniff. "And I slew the serpent, with the help of said Cid and some of my compatriots." A stern look. "I slay gods, and meddle in the affairs of others. We all have our purposes in life. Find yours."
Midway	The Doctor pauses, considering, "It seems to be a standardized naming convention. I would expect others to have a similar structure to their title." Extending a hand, she explains, "For instance, the Wirbelwind's size aside, it appears to have fulfilled the role of a cruiser. And so, 'High-Speed Cruiser' is what I would assume graces its paperwork." "'Superweapon'," her hand returns to her chin, "...adequately describes the unusual power outputs and weaponry of these vessels. 'Water Demon', I presume, is related to this humanoid form." After a moment, the doctor shrugs, "And 'Leviathan' is a mythical sea monster. Many ships have carried that name, purporting to be the largest of their time." She glances towards Raha as he relates his own impressions. She flips over the card he'd given her when he mentions Cid again, then tucks it into her coat pocket, "It seems that many worlds have converged on a similar name for such a creature. Fascinating."
John Doe	John shakes his head, "The other part, the first part. You weren't here so it won't mean much. But we faced one of those superweapons before, but it wasn't a girl.." he sighs. Though he does listen to Raha. "Easy to say, you don't have the world crushing down on you but sure..."