4210/Red Dust

Red Dust
Date of Scene:	12 June 2016
Location:	Remnant <REM>
Synopsis:	Red Union comes to town. Red Union take things from big company. Red Union... working with White Fang?
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, 123, 385, 434, 691, 778, Yuuki Konno, Yang Xiao Long, 984

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Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    It's just another quiet day at the pier. The security guards mill around their posts, rifles held in easy stance. The gate guard dunks a doughnut into his coffee before munching on it, then turns to flick the counter on the sign beside him. It reads: Days since last White Fang attack, and the new number being 7.

    In all, it seems like today's going to be another peaceful day, not that they aren't prepared for an attack if one comes up. They even got a shipment of Atlasian Knights a couple of days ago, the human-sized drones supplementing the more meat-based patrols with their heavier firepower and higher accuracy.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Team KYTL is on 'standby' for their field mission assignment, which leaves Yuna doing some more studying until that happens; right now, though, she's making her way around Vale, not so much on a school project as acquainting herself with the city. After all, Beacon students are provisionally on call if trouble breaks out in the city - it's up to Ozpin whether to actively call on students to assist, but Huntsmen and Huntresses would be expected to contribute, right?

There are also some interesting shops around the port district, which may be of even greater 'importance' to Yuna.

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Seven days since the last attack, huh? Good enough reason for Kyle to stand guard, he supposes. The Jedi's been on patrol alongside some of the guards, making small talk over coffee when he can get away with it. One has to at least get to know their coworkers, right?

    "So how long has this White Fang outfit been running about?" He asks, sipping coffee as he leans against a nearby crate. He keeps his eyes peeled, deceptively alert despite his casual posture.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
A teenage schoolgirl, obviously based on her outfit she wears, can be seen walking through the nearby area. Long, bushy red-hair, and save for the bracers she wears on her arms, it's pretty much just another schoolgirl walking by, right? Well, that might be your first impression, but in reality you're wrong. That's not just a random schoolgirl passing through the wrong area at the wrong time and place... or something like that.

    Rather, it's A-ko Magami, who happened to be in the area around this time, but it's not just by coincidence. Rather, she heard through various reliable sources that something was going on here, and figured that being an ordinary-looking schoolgirl would make for an excellent disguise to her superpowered self. She's made her way to the docks already, yet she's trying not to be seen for the time being until she finds a friendly face. Hopefully someone she knows will pop up soon.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    In the slums, something angry stirs...

    The Red Union had been quiet since they first set down roots, recruiting from the locals and occasionally putting down grimm that got a bit too close. They've mostly stuck to the area they've marked out with banners and signs bearing their symbol: A scarred fist holding some sort of broken tool.

    Those near the slums would notice it first, the patched together trucks rolling out, along with what looks like one man in some sort of mini-mech a simple armored convoy. They leave the slums, making a beeline for the pier. The guards would readily see them as they approach. It helps that the front truck, it's cabin obviously reinforced, is speeding up apparently not the least bit concerned by whatever obstacles (or people, for that matter!) might be between it and those shipments.

    Someone might wanna raise the alarms...

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Just like Katarn, Karal Rei Lin's here on guard duty. Gotta earn her keep. She does this by seating herself on one of the crates and keeping a lookout. Though one couldn't tell with a mere look, her eyes and ears are sharp indeed, senses honed and focused through divine effort. She's on the cusp of further enlightenment on the path of awareness, and sometimes her vision sharpens in surreal fashion such that each individual blade of grass is made distinct. Darkness already isn't as detrimental as it once was.

    She alerts to the sound of unusual machinery, springing to her feet. A few seconds later, after examining the incursion coming their way... "TO ARMS!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Team TEYL isn't on standby. Actually they're pretty damn bored, or at least one of their members is. "Have I mentioned how BORING escort quests are?" she asks, no doubt for at least the fiftieth time. Leeroy grunts, not looking up from his portable game.

    Their field assignment is, well, this. Guard duty. At least Yuuki gets to dress in a field outfit. Not that she objects to the Beacon uniform... it's cute. But she's a lot more used to actual Alfheim Online armor. VR armor feels like an actual part of her, not like something she has to wear. So yeah, she might stand out just a little... but then, Beacon students sometimes wear armor and carry swords. Right Jaune?

Tomoe has posed:
Eisen had been quiter than one might expect going to Becon but she'd always kept up with her studdies though she'd actually had some fun talking to the history teacher she had about the history of her own world. However TEYL was not on standby today, she looks over to Yuuki.

"You and everyone else to have ever done one."

She grins over at Leeroy for amoment while sheherself is keeping her eyes open.

"It could be a lot worse honestly my friend. So Leeroy whatcha playing anyway? Err"

She pauses at her comm.

"Play time's over something's happening heads up."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari Takane isn't in the truck. No, she did her work a few hours earlier: slipping through the slums, casing the place, looking for points of ingress. At some point in time, she even considered mugging a guard.

No, she almost took the obvious route of the guard house, but then luck struck. A late shipment stopped near an alleyway. A quick lock-picking, some very quiet create opening, and the ninja waited patiently until she was unloaded in an area a bit removed from the dock.

Now, it's time to wait for the chaos. As soon as the loud sounds of alarms and people being ran over are heard, she exits her create, quite possibly shanks and stores a guard in said crate, then ninja-runs up the side of the building to get a nice high vantage point on the situation.

Out comes a standard issue silence Fed sniper rifle. No shots just yet. She'll wait until the Red Union is actively out and causing destruction.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    The response to the truck is immediate. The Knights turn and level their weapons, moving into combat positions. The regular guards move to take cover behind shipping crates, radioing into the main compound that there's trouble. More guards and Knights start coming out of the main central warehouse, taking up defensive positions.

    The guard that Kyle was talking to shrugs, "Aggressively? Few months, maybe a year. They've been around a lot longer though as a grass roots protest group. It wasn't until some new guy took over leadership that they started attacking places like this." He then looks a bit put out when the warning klaxon starts sounding. "Aww man, and I was a couple days to changing post too..."

    Yuuki would find herself lightly bopped on the head with a rolled up wad of paperwork. "Miss Yuuki, I would advise you keep your head on straight. We don't know what may happen." the voice, prim and proper, comes from Team TEYL's assigned Huntress. A tall, slender woman with no visible weaponry, save for a large satchel, which she keeps taking papers out of, and putting them back in. Quicksilver, was her name. And then the truck comes barreling in. "As I suspected. Come Team, let us devest these ruffians of their weaponry. Tally Ho!" And then the Huntress LEAPS OVER THE RAILING, into the path of the truck. "Cease and desist this instant!" she shouts, before slamming her right foot into the ground, causing a wall of asphalt to raise up in front of the truck!

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    "Oh hell." Kyle can't say much in response to the guard, before he downs his coffee and hops off the crate. "Stick close, and you'll make it to see that transfer." He promises the guard, drawing his lightsaber as he runs towards the truck.

    His lightsaber isn't activated, but it's pretty clear by his posture that he's not in the mood for a negotiation. "Move or you /will/ be moved, only warning." He says firmly, fist clenched as he draws in the Force.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The call for support from the docks is Yuna's cue to stop taking things easy; a flare of light and wind heralds her transformation from Beacon uniform to Light Suit, and no sooner has the transformation concluded than Yuna takes off at a run. She knows the Matrix of Light is en route - well, three-fourths of it: Elner was already in the area - but she can't afford to wait for Erina, Jiina, or Marina to get there. Whoever's assaulting the dock certainly isn't, after all.

Nor are they being remotely subtle about it, and Yuna blanches as she gets a heads-up from Elner. She's usually glad to have the little robo-faerie on high overwatch, but sometimes she learns more than she wants to - even if she needs to know it anyway. The Red Union ... she'd been worried enough when she heard they were making inroads in Vale. The fact that they've gone from quiet recruitment to noisy, dangerous action, is all kinds of bad news.

It's clear enough that she's not going to get there before the fighting has already started - but she's hoping she can still make a difference in how things go.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    "Yes, Ms. Quicksilver." Yuuki says, seeming appropriately chastened. Though as the Huntress looks away the imp-girl grins sidelong at her companions, bounding to her feet enthusiastically. "CHARGE!" she cries out, following Quicksilver with a wall-run followed by a one-armed vault over the top. She'd take to the air, but when acting as a representative of Beacon she tries to minimize her nonhuman aspects. Flight is an option, but only when absolutely necessary.

    Yuuki charges in mostly to tweak her teammate Leeroy's nose. He's the one notorious for charging in... but it's not like there's any need for discussion, strategy, or even deep thought. What she's going to do with a sword against vehicles, well, that's only somewhat obvious. However bringing a sword to a gunfight is perfectly in character for a Beacon student, right? She zooms around Quicksilver, targeting a truck that might have time to swerve around the Huntress in turn, using her sword as a can opener. She swings, putting far more force behind the Ancient Weapon than would seem possible for someone of her size, attacking the truck's cab at the point where post meets windscreen.

    It's her own version of giving warning, more or less. She's not going to make the first lethal attack.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
When the alarms go off and the screams are heard, A-ko knows it's time to move out and move out now! She takes off running at a rather high rate of speed, which would seem unusual for those who don't know who A-ko really is. To see a girl like that in a school uniform and Mary Jane shoes running like that is unbelievable, but that's aside from the point. The point is A-ko's going faster than one might expect.

    As she gets closer to the area where the alarms are going off, she leaps onto a nearby building and attempts to use it as a vantage point. She looks down at the situation and scowls. "This is worse than I thought," A-ko says angrily. "I hope my allies are nearby!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe nods once to Quicksilver as it was indeed time to get moving, though she does not make any response to Yuuki's getting bopped for her comments. She's quick to follow after and she'll vault over anything in the way, she's not even trying to hid being flashy at all here at all. Stll it's timetomove and she's not going to let anyone on the team run in alone.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    Bad news? The wall doesn't hold, that lead truck was clearly built for smashing down walls.

    Good news? while it was built to take down a wall, it wasn't really built to keep going. There's a loud crash as the truck smashes through, asphalt spraying everywhere as the force of the hit is enough to violently eject the driver through the windshield, his body rolling several yards across the floor... and then suddenly stand up. "*$#ing hell.... NEAL! @$$ IN GEAR!"

    AS the back of the convoy, there's a nose... "Yeahaha... YeeeeAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" The mech in the back suddenly charges forward, aiming to jump over the lead truck, it's shoulder mounted weapons spitting out a hail of missiles and a sweeping some sort of beam weapon across whoever happens to be hiding beyond the wall. Did someone let the psycho loose? Why yes, someone DID let the psycho loose!

    Meanwhile, the other trucks move to the side, one of thee pulls over and lets out is cargo: A squad of Red Union troops in patchwork armor, they open fire, pelting the surroundings in shards of jagged metal. The other one moves further ahead. Using the chaos caused by everyone else to head straight for the prize.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Lin leaps forth from the pile of crates and lands on... a lightpost, left hand steadying her sheathed sword and right reaching across her body to hover near its grip. Molten sunfire streams from her body into a torrential aura where before she seemed completely human. Golden glory burns in her eyes like coals, sizzling and sparking. Her every casual movement of adjusting her balance and readying her weapon ripples with the same confidence and grace one would see in a dread tiger pouncing upon prey.

    The message that she's sending by the mere act of drawing her sword is clear enough - for anyone who's chosen to gaze upon her blazing form at that moment might feel as though the cold steel were upon their necks.

    There's no doubt about it. Were the attack composed of ordinary riffraff, they'd probably be breaking down in a disorganized panic and begging for their lives about now.

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Leaping down, Kyle is about to stop the vehicle when his commands are refused in a blunt manner. Kyle dives out of the way before the mecha can smash him underfoot. As the psychotic driver tries to smash the walls down, Kyle just grits his teeth. "Right, time to move!" He calls out, before he rears up his fist like he's about to throw a punch.

    Lashing out at the mecha, Kyle unleashes a wave of Force energy, trying to knock it right off its feet and send Neal's vehicle tumbling down hard as he charges, lightsaber in hand as the Jedi leaps forth to sabering range.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The amount of chaos, while useful, harms Yari inside. This is /far/ from a clean operation. But that's the way of rebel groups.

Swallowing her pride, she surveys the battlefield. She almost draws a bead on the familiar Yuna, when Lin leaps up on a lamp-pose, and suddenly burns with a grossly incandescant glory. Her power, the /feeling/ of an Exalt immediately draws Yari's gaze from atop the warehouse.

Her single eye widens, her heart freezes in momentary fear. A cold sweat developes. Mortal fear of losing all she's gained grips her.

Until the realization of what she's looking at hits her like a brick. She's an Exalt. A person, no, a /creature/ not unlike that of the horrific monsters that have plagued her world and stolen the very souls of men for their own aggrandizement.

Fear turns to absolute fury and hatred. Purpose comes with anger, she steadies her rifle, and draws a bead right for Karal's heart.

"...Die, soul-stealing scum!" She spits through clenched teeth, then pulls the trigger. A high-calibre bullet races for Karal!

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    It might've been a bit of a waste for Yuuki to attack a truck that was actually stopping to disgorge assailants, but the attack probably DID have some psychological value. If you're some guy wearing scrapyard armor and wielding a gun, do you really want to be next to some tiny purple-clad girl who can swing a three foot long sword through a truck's metal cab?

    What Yuuki does next is probably fairly predictable. She puts herself next to gun-wielding madmen. She literally weaves into the middle of a collection of gun-toting thugs, pressing in fearlessly against the back of one Red Union fighter while she slashes at the front of another, then bounding aside to close in with yet a third fighter while aggressively parrying the first's gun barrel with her blade. In theory, so tightly into the middle of a group of gunmen, she should be all but unhittable. Unless, of course, they're willing to fire on each other. She's fast enough, and doesn't stay still long enough, to make it impossible for them to aim at her effectively.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Fortunately for Yuna, there are a couple of warpgates in the area, so her hopes for the Matrix of Light to arrive and support her don't go unfulfilled for long; she combines with Jiina while still on the run, and post-combination, instead of 'running,' well .... she no longer has to run, in the technical sense.

Instead, when Yuna finally reaches the docks, she's in the larger and heavier Powered Form, hoverthrusters keeping her feet - or rather, those of the exo-frame she's now wearing - up off the ground far enough that the *other* thrusters on her armor can drive her forward at high speed. Further, instead of going around any obstacles between her and the battle, she can go over: the vertical portion of her hoverthrusters kicks up a couple of notches to propel her into a long, fairly shallow jump, and she reduces forward thrust as she descends into the dockyard ...

"HYAAAAAH!!!"

... right before Kyle gets some help with Neal's mini-mecha. Rather than bringing a sword of her own to bear, Yuna chooses to lash out with one of the Powered Form's manipulators, laying a punch into the upper side of the mini-mecha's 'cockpit' with the last of her downwards momentum. "Sorry I'm late, Kyle, everyone!" Yuna calls out. "SHUGOSEIHEKI!!" And with that, Yuna's kite shield finally manifests, strapped not to her own arm (still visible and even usable) but to the left exo-arm of her battlesuit.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Faster than reason, on instinct alone, Lin's limbs move. Self-preservation is a mighty thing. Although she's completely unaware of Yari's presence, the instant Yari puts any pressure on that trigger she seems to react without thought or deliberation - pure, natural zen.

    The steel blade's angled carefully to catch the bullet at JUST the right angle to deflect it, but this doesn't go perfectly. Its momentum changes away from Lin's heart, veerying off to the side and along the blade's flat... but this absolutely WRECKS her weapon. The bullet rushes up and grazes her arm, shredding a LONG strip of flesh and bloodying her coat nastily.

    The blade shatters into five pieces, but even before the pieces hit the ground she leaps forth in a blaze of motion... STRAIGHT FOR YARI's PERCH.

    Could she have POSSIBLY tracked the bullet THAT well?! Could ANYONE?!

    It seems... yes. Yes she can. Upon nearing the building she bunches her legs... and leaps. Straight on up with her arms out at either side to guide her ascent, her direction somehow CHANGES when she clears the roof, angling mroe forward. A few somersaults later and Lin slams down a good 30 feet behind Yari... apparently unarmed.

    "Almost. ALMOST! But not quite, assassin. Seems we meet again... you sure love these sneak attacks!" Well. If it's any consolation, she doesn't sound insulted. Almost approving. "Would have worked on probably... ANYONE ELSE, too."

    Well, it kinda did work. Her whole arm's bloodied. But the problem is... there isn't ENOUGH BLOOD there. It looks blood, but while it should be drenching everywhere she goes with crimson... it seems to have staunched in mere seconds.

    "Don't suppose you'll save us both the pain and trauma and just go back where you came from if I asked, would you?" Of all the enemies she's faced...

    Yari perhaps worries her the most. All the tricks and weird strategies and styles. Yeah, Yari worries her the most. But also excites her the most. She has the most to learn from this opponent... that much is certain.

    The roaring, incandescent power swirling around her crackles and sizzles in her hands, congealing into what looks like a sword-grip... and with a sound like roaring flames it juts out and smoothly forms into a blade of purest Solar Essence, pulsing and wreathed in a stormy corona. The ghostly outline of its shape suggests something of the same kin as a katana, though slightly longer, slightly thicker. A Reaper Daiklave.

    Seems she's not unarmed AT ALL...

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
When the mech bursts loose, A-ko does a brief double-take, before realizing what it is. She's not afraid of it, since it looks like another one of B-ko's lame schemes to try to take out A-ko. She shakes her head and says, "Not on my watch are you gonna get away with this!" She yells as she leaps from her vantage spot into the battle area.

    Once she gets close enough to the mech, she gestures towards it and says, "Hey, you! Whoever's in there! You wanna fight me? Come on, you're not scared, are you?" She stands with her arms folded, scowling deeper than before, almost as if daring whoever's in the mech (if anyone is) to come at her!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's eye goes wide, and only by the time Karal lands does she fully understand what's happening. She's on her feet, kunai in her natural hand, meeting the Exalt only due to her ninja training.

That single eye is narrowed to a slit. Her gaze is one of barely restrained fury. Something about Karal has angered the ninja on a deeply personal level, and if she can sense emotions, it will be telling.

Karal is being looked at like she's a monster to be put down.

"It's my specialty." She quips briefly, looking the woman over. She squeezes her kunai until her dusky knuckles turn white.

Up close, one might note that she's wearing fairly standard issue light body armor, with a scarf emblazened with the RU's symbol around her neck covering half of her face.

She's silent, not even attacking as she looks over that crackling blade. Finally, she manages to somehow quell her fury, into something far more cold. She stabs a katana into the roof of the warehouse, and makes several handseals.

"...Do you know what I hate?"

She picks up the blade, that suddenly crackles with lightning ninjutsu with her fake hand, kunai held in front like a parrying dagger.

"Creatures that proclaim themselves to be Gods, or Sons and Daughters of Gods. All so they can latch to good people, deprive them of their will, make them into nothing more than slaves. You and your kin...you're called an 'Exalt', right? It's one thing to breed strength through conquest. Another to steal men's souls. You and every thing like you...I'll wipe you out for the petty souls you step on every day." Her voice and gaze holds a quiet venom. Then, the ninja is just /there/ slicing away towards Karal's leg in a feint, before slipping in a hard kick towards the hand holding that daiklaive.

She'll use the kunai for defense!

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    Karal's apparence gets a rection from the Red Union Forces. The troops for a moment, look terrified, Allan himself looks... oddly more annoyed than anything and Neal?

    Neal is making a look that could best be described as predatory. The kind of look of a hunter gets when he spots a once-in-a-lifetime target. Hoo boy... fortunately this distracts him as his mech suddenly tips forward thanks to Kyle, followed by Yuna slamming it into the ground.

    For a moment, silence, and then. "Yeah... Yeahahahaha... YEAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" He's suddenly standing again, grinning ear to ear as he stares down Kyle and Yuna. "Two against one! The promise of Victory over impossible odds! I LOVE IT!" He slams his fist on the controls, firing a massive beam at Kyle and a spray of bullets after Yuna, his original mark apparently forgotten. "No holding back! Let's make this EPIC!"

    The troops meanwhile, are having trouble with Yuuki, as she quickly dances out of the way of their guns. "Guys!" Allan calls out. "Seriously? cut the nice #$^& out! Show her what us Red Union #$^*&s can do!"

    Yuuki would find her opponents changing tactics in an alarming way. Suddenly, they're not trying to simply shoot her, one tries to grab her, another readily takes a hit dead on so a buddy can line his sights up. It's grim, bloody work that's likely to end fatally for at least one person, possibly more, but they can regenerate. As far as they're concerned? It's a risk worth taking.

    A-ko, finally, would find her approach at the mech likely stopped as Allan takes a pot shot at her with Diplomacy. "Now now kiddo, he's got enough to keep him busy. Ya looking for someone to kill ya? It'll have to be me instead." He grins as he takes a moment to reload. "let's dance."

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Gulp. Kyle's not sure if he can deflect a beam that large coming his way, and he's quick to make evasive maneuvers while Yuna and him engage. There's a brief scorch, but Kyle muscles through it as he leaps and tries to slash at Neal's mecha's arm, intending to sever it at the elbow immediately. Yuna can deal with the mecha toe-to-toe, should keep him distracted from Kyle's own efforts.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
A-ko steps towards Allan with a scowl still on her face, not the least bit fazed by this guy. "You don't know who you're talking to, buster!" A-ko yells at Allan. "I'm not just some ordinary girl, I'll have you know! If you don't believe me, then come on! I'll take you on one-on-one!" She cracks her knuckles and doesn't budge in the least bit. "Go on, try it!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe has been pretty much missed as she's talking up after Yuuki this suits her just fine, as it gives her a moment to set up something even as the fight gets going with the Red Union, she's aware of these guys from a few reports. She also knows they have been around for a very long time, this is something she's not forgot about nor will she take them too lightly. Some of the Red Union's troops would find a short busty red head in high tech gear just moving into sucker punch once and unloading with some sort of taser rounds from a shotgun.

"Hi Boys, sorry to say but I'm too much for you poor things today, but if you still want to give it a shot, come on and try!"

She'll keap up into the air flip and then drop a flash bang into the mix, hopefully that will put them on to chasing her or making them easier for others to take them down either way it should work hopefully? She's also air borne however which makes her a target.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"Then you'd better-- GRRFFF!!!" Detecting Yari's complete change of demeanor from before, Karal Rei Lin backpedals a step for extra balance, stance shifting deeper just in time. At first she seems to be falling for the feint, but then she reverses her grip on the burning blade the instant she marks it for what it is. Yari's leg slams into the blade's flat and Lin goes skidding backwards as she transfers the force through her body and into the building's roof. Her eyes are a bit wide with excitement and ever-rushing adrenaline!

    That was CLOOOOOOOOSE!

    The Exalt twirls her Essence weapon about before grabbing it with both hands and returning to her combat stance.

    "...better get your facts straight. Not a God, not the spawn of a God either. Nor do I work for a God or steal souls. This power is the light of heaven, the blessing of the greatest of the gods... the Unconquered Sun!"

    Briefly, Lin's voice takes on an older, more regal bearing. "Once we were cast low. Once, and never again. You cannot stop what I represent - the light of justice! You'll be lucky to stop this flesh."

    Yet just as smoothly her ordinary demeanor returns... and in she rushes with that burning blade, slashing again and again with lightning speed from seemingly all directions at great speed.

    "It won't be like last time! I'm on to your tricks now!" She spiritedly exclaims, still with no real malice... but plenty of confidence.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Just bullets? Not that Yuna takes the threat of the machine gun that lightly - she brings the Wall of the Guardian Star to bear, tanking as much of that spray of bullets as she can on the kite shield, but she's more worried about Kyle and that beam than about herself - and the bullets keep her pinned down just enough that she can't cover him as readily as she'd like to.

As for going toe-to-toe, though ... well, that might be too optimistic. Still, with Kyle trying to take one of the arms off Neal's mech, Yuna materializes the Matrix Divider, and - still tanking bullets with the shield on her armor's left exo-arm - she brings her main weapon to bear using her *own* arms, trying to blast away the machine gun with a concussive bolt of hard light - or more than one, if it stands up to the first blast.

Neal won't be able to boast about an epic fight if it ends with him getting disarmed, right? ... even if Yuna's not trying to do so as literally as Kyle is.

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki's tactics would be perfect, beautiful even, if she'd been fighting people with a sense of self-preservation. She doesn't expect actual flesh-and-blood people to use tactics that, when it comes right down from it, she'd expect from PKers.

    As it is the only things that save her are her armor, her speed, and that experience with players who literally don't care if they die so long as their team wins. She cuts into one, a critical strike starting from earth to sky, and ending with her continuing the motion into a backflip. It's not quite enough to carry her entirely free of fire. Bullets trace a brief line across her, forming red blots somewhat similar to the effect of Aura-protection, before she's able to escape the line of fire. Her armor deflects the worst of it, though bullets hit her limbs. It doesn't seem to slow her though.

    She ends the tumble by slamming into one Red Union fighter, only to have him grab her. "Wuaaah! Get your hands off me!" she shrieks, apparently caught off-guard. He doesn't have to hold her long, not if his buddies are willing to risk him being quite literally in the line of fire.

    Fortunately, there's one more thing Yuuki has in store to save her life. She's not *just* a swordgirl. Part of her years of MMO experience include a Samurai MMO. That means swordsmanship, yes, but it also means jiujutsu. She latches down hard on the fearless fighter's arm, twisting, heaving, falling, while putting her foot just offside one of his legs. She's not a legendary brawler, unlike her legendary sword skills... but she's good enough to throw the fighter in classic form!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The force of their blows has Yari skidding back as well, the ninja landing in a crouch. She looks to her blade, and frowns. It's chipped, the exchange of Essence and Aether too much even for a solid blade like that one.

"...I guess that's what I get for relying on a normal weapon." She laments, before turning Karal once again.

She slowly shakes her head, sadly. That old, regal voice just sparks resentment and pure scorn. "I'm not sure if you're just deluded by the blood in your veins, or if you're insane. Either way, it doesn't change a thing. 'Light of Heaven'." She spits on the ground.

"You're nothing more than a puffed up zealot. So sure of your righteousness. So sure of your own 'Justice'. Just like the zealots that ravage villages and burn everyone and everything that isn't like them. The same insanity running through the heads of the beastmen, beholden to their Eikons, taking slaves to increase their powers."

"I'll kill you so you won't have to suffer the realization that you're nothing more than an abberation."

And then, in she comes. As that blade slashes and slashes, the ninja seems to blurr along with it. Reading her strikes, training kicks in. The first slash makes a thin line along her cheek, the next lightly catching an arm. Again and again, Yari moves fluidly, flexibly, rolling, ducking, spinning aside, until the last blow comes for her.

Her eye narrows, and she concentrates. With her right arm hidden behind her, she makes a handseal, and forces magic towards Karal, an illusion reaching to try to envelope her at the last moment.

In reality, a thin chain is whipped out from Yari's equipment, wrapping around the blade. Though destroyed moment's later, it's enough to tug away the blade to slide across her fake arm, leaving trails of sparks and a dripping black oil.

Should the illusion take, that last strike slams into the center of her chest, and she goes slack on the blade, motionless. It lays there for a moment, only what seems like millions of moonlight-filled butterflies to burst from her body, surrounding Karal in their entrancing dance, a world of light and insects and movement that seeks to slacken muscle, and put her towards a sleep.

In reality, Yari moves behind, pulls out a curved, poisoned dagger, and aims a strike from behind into Karal's spine.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    Neal is-"YEAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" ...yeah, that. The approach of kyle and Yuna seems to do almost nothing to phase the pilot of the Living Legend-Yes, the mini-mech is actually named that-Though he does hop back as they both go for the arms. "Trying for the Disarm alright? ...I LOVE IT!" his grin somehow WIDES as he leans his mech back, letting his missile rack fire open up for a moment. It's raining explosions. "Keep fighting! Give me the best ya got! I'll accept nothing less!"

    Allan, meanwhile, simply grins as A-Ko stands defiant. "I'd expect that. union, right? Name's Allan." He takes aim. "Hey, Yer not one of them non-lethal $#&ers are ya? I seem to attract a lotta those." There's a loud BANG as he opens fire on her. "Seriously, The irony was cute at first but I have to wonder if there's a god #$^&*ing with me somewhere."

    Yuuki manages to throw one of them easily enough, and good timing too, the others we're getting worryingly close. that said no sooner has he hit the ground than everyone opens fire again. Sending shards of scrap metal everywhere.

    Meanwhile, Tomoe, has the advantage of catching the third truck off guard! The taser rounds and flash bangs might not quite quite as well as one might hope. The regen sees to that. But after a moment of looking amongst each other. There's a nod amongst the group, and a couple troops break off from the truck, calling out. "Keep bragging, gives us something to aim at..."

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
Irony? Here? A-ko doesn't quite get it, but she will say she's more than just cute. In fact, as the first shot comes at her, A-ko raises her bracers to deflect the first shot, before twisting out of the way quickly to avoid the remaining shots. One of them, however, grazes her arm, and she lets out a yelp of pain. "Owww..." A-ko looks at the wound and sees that it's slightly burned and bleeding. This really ticks A-ko off as she looks at Allan. "OK, you asked for it!" A-ko yells as she rushes at Allan and attempts to shoulder tackle him with superhuman speed!

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    The sound of turbine engines might come as a relief to the defenders at first. Four Bullhead aircraft come swooping in, only to show the bloody claw marks over a wolf's head of the White Fang symbol on the side of the fuselage. The craft lower down, opening their side doors to release a pack of about 50 or so Faunus in white armour jackets, wearing black hoods and those horrifying Grimm Masks to hide their faces. They're armed with a mix of batons, swords, pistols, shotguns and rifles. Some of which may be able to transform.

    The White Fang split up, half going to help secure the prize, the other half joining the general melee, putting more pressure on the defenders.

Kyle Katarn (778) has posed:
    Kyle lands on the ground, grunting. "Seriously?" he shakes his head before the missiles begin to come, his hand raising out to try and deflect some of the missiles headed his way. Grabbing one of the missiles with the Force, Kyle takes aim at Neal's mech.

    "Hey, buddy! Catch!" He calls, laughing back as he flings the missile straight towards Living Legend with a grin. Let's see him dodge this!

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki's still not bleeding, even as metal shards spray across her. That's not to say it doesn't hurt however. It hurts a LOT! It just doesn't slow her down, nor keep her from gritting her teeth and continuing to spin and strike.

    No longer does the imp-girl try to play nice with the Red Union. She spins and cuts, scything at limbs, bodies, weapons, whatever it takes to eliminate the threat as quickly as possible. She doesn't stay on the ground either. She bounds up, vaulting off Red Unioners, or diving under their legs. As much damage as she does to them, they might well do to each other trying to get her. No matter... she's always willing to take hits if it means her enemies are taking more.

    Of course, that always assumes the enemy doesn't get reinforcements. "Oh you've GOT to be kidding me? Adds?" she cries out in dismay. No doubt Leeroy at least will get it. She'd better hurry up and finish... oh... oh no. "They're HEALING TOO?" This is just not fair.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
"Believe what you want about me! It's nothing I haven't heard before... you've got quite a lot of skill. First enemy I've ran into that gets my blood pumping! And that's what matters right now!"

    Things get complicated throughout her speedy assault. Very complicated. It appears that the illusion works, as yari's gambit pays off. Lin stumbles forward in confusion... not quite sleep. The illusion bought Yari time. Just enough.

    The dagger buries itself into Lin's back, delivering the poison deep into her blood. She staggers, limbs a bit numb and sense of balance clearly off. Yet still she somehow manages an impressive series of front flips, ending with one that has her spinning about in the air and landing far from Yari. She's panting hard, clearly affected by the poison... yet distressingly...

    ... Not exactly paralyzed.

    "Gghhhh... poison, is it?"

    Once again she drops into a sword-drawing stance, but for now... bides her time, eyes locked on Yari...

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
In the end, though illusion works, Karal yet lives. Yari's eye quirks.

"If that's the case, I'll skip reading you your crimes. We'll finish this."

The ninja doesn't immediately attack as Karal lands, studying her stance, looking for weaknesses. She /knows/ that stance. It's one she's used herself more than once, if a different variation. Having seen how fast the woman is, she already realizes it's folly to just approach in melee.

"I'm honestly impressed. The stab to the spine alone should have killed you, nevermind resisting the poison. Miss Rei Lin, you are definitely too dangerous to allow to grow stronger. It's a shame you are what you are. I'd consider you a potential ally otherwise."

A smirk, and she makes several handseals! Leaping high into the air, she sucks in a breath. Suddenly, she tosses a dozen shuriken as she breathes out.

The spinning metal goes flying for Karal!

Unless she can sense magic, it's not until those shuriken get closer that she might realize the tiny bits of metal are coated in wind magic, tiny slashing whirlwinds that will cut through the warehouse's roof should they miss!

"Show me the iaido of your kind, Eikon of the Sun!"

Nor do those handseals stop, as when she lands, she points a finger.

"RAITON!" A burst of electricity goes lashing out for Karal!

Tomoe has posed:
That's what she's looking for after all, and she's however coming under attack herself and she's hoping to pull their attention as she comes back down landing and attemps to lay down some more fire on her targets she's getting these guys won't be so easy to take down and she's going to have to mix it up bit. She'll leap back trying to get into the thick of the Red Union guys and will now attempt to engage them a bit close up, also the stock of her weapon is put to use now, she's fast but can she take a hit?

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna makes a face at how much Neal is *still laughing*. She thought Allan was bad, and it was a *relief* that he kept getting back up from each attack she launched - even when her attacks did far more damage than they were ever meant to. But this guy ... is, well, crazy even beyond Allan's standards.

She's only got a couple of ideas - and then Neal pops the missiles. A lot of them. Maybe the proverbial 'all of them'; certainly it's far too many for Yuna's comfort, and she can't blast all of them. As such, Yuna is briefly engulfed by explosions; when the fireballs and smoke abate somewhat, her armor is scorched and the Light Suit's defensive aura is visibly crackling as it re-stabilizes, but she's still on her feet.

And then she sees the Bullheads coming in with the White Fang sigil on their sides, and more bad guys ensconced within. "Oh, come *on* ...." She trails off, slumping a little - but even though despair seems to be reaching for her, Yuna takes a quick look around.

Then re-ignites her hover-thrusters, transmitting her plan to her allies.

If there are any more missiles incoming, Yuna is now attempting to speed under them, break their locks or otherwise out-maneuver them; if they keep homing in on her regardless, then when she comes to a halt, Shugoseiheki is poised to block them - and she fires off several blasts from the Matrix Divider for good measure, trying to blast some of them out of the air. She doesn't seem to be going after Neal, though ...

At least, not until the 'lenses' in her exo-frame's shoulders slide open, revealing the emitters behind said lenses crackling with building-up power. A heartbeat later, as Yuna digs her suit's heels into the pavement, the beam cannons go off.

If she manages to hit Neal from behind, all the better - but apart from trying to hammer the mini-mecha, she's ALSO trying to catch a swath of the newly-arrived White Fang in her beam cannons' field of fire. The effect is going to be much the same for all of them: a freight-train impact of concussive radiance, moderated to be nonlethal. But anyone who gets hit by that is still liable to be in for a world of hurt.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    Yuna would find breading lock on the missiles shocklingly easy. Apparently someone far more mentally stable than Neal has seen to make sure he's only stocked with dumbfires. Because like HELL someone that trigger happy gets homing!

    TSadly, he does still track her, in the mech, turing ot keep the fire up. as the beam appears, he braces his mech. massive arms outstretched to try and tank the blow. "YEAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!" Unfortunately, this also distracts him from the returned missile, as it knocks out one of his legs, sending both hem and the mech tumbling end over end as the beam fires right through him!

    Meanwhile, Yuuki might not bleed, but the RU? They do. They do a lot. The screams begin as the blade cuts in, blood and even what might be a couple limbs flying freely! oh dear!

    Tomoe would find the troops she dived in on all too eager to brawl, They're not exactly trained, but hte regen means they alarming good at taking a hit!

    Finally, There's a yelp form Allan as A-ko smashes into him, several bones breaking instantly...

    Then it happens.

    The sound of tires squealing as truck 3 makes a mad dash for the exit. Looks like whatever they we're up to? It's over. "Right boys! fun times over! Time to go!" he gives the white fang ships a quick salute. Before suddenly opening fire on A-Ko, sorry kiddo, I'd love to stay but I'm needed back in Steelcliff See ya!"

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
Having seen the handseals before - and now very alert for any time where she CANNOT SEE Yari's hands - Lin nigh-imperceptibly tenses as more are on display. Ones she doesn't yet recognize. But she trusts her instincts... and deepens her stance even FURTHER. The wind-shearing shuriken soar over her head and take a few strands of hair that flapped too close with them. Lin's eyes are wide in those few heartbeats. But in the very next moment...

    She does exactly that.

    The Glorious Solar Saber pulses and flares, dripping molten Essence onto the rooftop and scorching the scabbard it's resting in. That said, Lin's grip on it seems completely unaffected by this great heat.

    "Single Point Shining Into the Void Style..."

    Yari wants to see drawing techniques? She'll get them alright.

    "VOID-SLICING WIND!" She cries out in the next instant... FROM BEHIND YARI TAKANE, the bolt of lightning having twisted and curled and bunched up within the same heartbeat and turned back on its maker.

    What happened there is evident only to those with truly astute senses. In the time it takes a heart to beat once - nay, in even less than that - Lin dove forward, drawing her burning sword into the jagged bolts. The blade CLEAVED THROUGH the leading edge, never mind the fact that lightning isn't a solid thing and cutting it shouldn't even be REMOTELY POSSIBLE. It's against all logic.

    But that's what happened.

    If the whole bolt were to have struck her, that would've floored Lin. But instead only stray arcs of it got past her blade-guard. Yet the closer she gets the more and more those bolts strike into her flesh, finding purchase on her arms and legs and chest and even splashing onto a cheek and scorching it. She doesn't even have TIME to gasp or flinch though, moving at such speeds.

    And just like that... like a jet breaking the sound barrier, her shining golden blade draws an arc through the air, aiming to cleave through Yari.

    The only thing that IS certain is that Lin didn't get through that unscathed. Once she skids to a halt, THAT's when she hisses from the pain of scorched flesh and staggers forward.

    At this point, the blazing aura's reached a new peak. The rooftop plays host to a whole new sun, illuminating a chunk of the city. Any boats out on the water would think the sun's RISING IN THE CITY, such is the brilliance.

    And Yari's at the epicenter of this majestic glow. In the phantasmal fires, an image appears. A blooming lotus manifests in gold, white, and red beneath Lin... and as it blossoms a majestic serpentine dragon rises from the petals, coiling around Lin and arching back in a silent roar - or perhaps the rushing energy's noise itself is its roar.

    Her blade and its claws are one.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is finding out just how good the Regen is asn they are scoring hits on her, noticable ones she's feeling. Though there's not blood buyt her very body distpriots turns red and wireframe like shty have got her good and she's forced to pull out this time she's forced tyo use the shotgun again sending more heavy taaser rounds but these guys keep coming and it's not going to be able to quit hoding back long unless she can think of another way to deal with these guys.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
A-ko would chase after Allan, but she knows when it's best to pull back and when to attack. This is definitely one of those days. "Next time when we meet," A-ko shouts after Allan, "I'm gonna show you what I can really do to people who piss me off!"

Yuuki Konno has posed:
    Yuuki's not particularly upset at chopping Red Union guys to bits. A bit startled perhaps the first time she sees actual physical maiming, but so long as they show no regard for their own lives she has trouble thinking of them as actual PEOPLE. Come a calmer time she might end up rethinking this, and questioning what right she has to end lives. Yuuki's a good girl who'd never wish death on anyone. She's grown up with death all around her, and has no wish to invite it any closer within her... but for now she's Zekken, fierce and proud.

    Yuuki doesn't stop fighting until her opponents actually quit. If they merely run away, armed, they're still potentially just going to turn those guns on her from a distance. If they throw down their guns and run for the trucks though, or if they make it to the trucks and manage to outpace her, she'll stop. "They're.... running?" she asks. Not entirely sure what's going on. She peers upwards to a rooftop, seeing the blazing sun there. Only it's not supposed to be there. Okay, Yuuki's really confused now. She sighs, shading her eyes with her left hand, then sheathing her blade with the right. Body covered with dull red marks (and a few bright ones) from bullet and scrap wounds, she looks dismayed over the battle, or perhaps merely the outcome.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
On the plus side, it looks like they finally took Neal's mini-mecha down; Yuna tenses nonetheless, wondering if he's going to get back to his feet (somehow) and continue trying to have an epic battol with her and Kyle. And that's when the third truck revs up and guns its engines, as the driver calls for the withdrawal. Yuna stares briefly - the Red Union got what they came for?

And then Allan shoots at A-ko. A lot, it seems like.

Yuna's face twists in rage as she hears the gunfire and sees its source - and more importantly, its victim. "No - you - DON'T!!!" howls Yuna, reigniting her hoverthrusters and barreling across the docks. She can't fire her beam cannons again, not this soon after she just used them - and she knows Allan well enough to know that she can't end him, at least not with her usual weapons, even if he DOES die far too easily when killed. (As she said to her allies, it just doesn't stick.)

Still, if Allan wants to hitch his ride out of here, he's going to have to leave off shooting A-ko. Shooting at *Yuna* might not be much more effective at slowing her down; probably the best he can assume is that splitting the scene while he can is the best option.

Of course, whether that *stops* Yuna from following the truck may depend on what shape the gunfire leaves A-ko in.

A-ko Magami (434) has posed:
The gunfire would be no problem for A-ko, since she can easily use her super speed to dodge it. Which she does, meaning that Yuna won't need to protect her at all. Instead, she simply glares ahead and says, "Cheap, firing off a parting shot like that when you know we can't return the favor!" She pulls down on the spot below her eye and sticks out her tongue.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari is suddenly very aware of three things. First, Allan is calling a retreat as the White Fangs make off with the goods. Second, that her own bolt of lightning had been cut in twain, a fact that should be technically impossible. Even she has a hard time following Karal's sword movements!

But she has a pretty good idea of what the woman's up to.

With that blazing aura shining, and that dragon of gold lancing around that impossibly swift blade, Yari makes a single movement, almost barely perceptible. The dragon descends, and in what looks suicidal, she does the unexpected: meeting it head on rather than running away as that blade swings towards her. She'll meet Karal right in the epicenter of magic, steel, and flesh.

As Karal's power blows through them, the resulting damage turns the ware house to rubble as the dragon reaches, and meets Yari. The glow fades, and there's the sound of metal as the pair are left in the merest dregs of what was once a building, only the path where Karal traveled as she sheathes her sword. The light fades from the force of the Exalt's magic and blade.

And then reality seems to reassert from the blazing speed and slash. Yari's armor falls, blood flows down her side, and she's left in her pants and a chest wrap, stomach and hips burnt from that magic flowing through her. Her eyepatch falls off, revealing a now extra-bloodied mess of healed scarr tissue where an eye should be.

Yet, the damage is almost trivial to what /should/ have happened. She should have been cut clean in half.

The reason why swiftly becomes obvious as she shoulders the thing that just saved her life. An umbrella sword is leaned against her shoulder, still smoking from the impact of that blade against her own. At just the last second, the ninja had pulled the blade out a quarter of the way, blocking the blade just enough to avoid being sliced in half.

Yari looks Karal in the eye, and smirks.

"...Not bad. Not bad at all. You'll do just fine for sharpening my skills against until the day comes when I slay you. For now, I have a plane to catch." That's when she re-sheaths the sword, and in an instant, is right in front of Karal, trying to ram the umbrella end into her gut, pulling the trigger.

An explosive shotgun shell blast will try to send her careening off the top of the rubble down to the ground. Her tail drops a smoke bomb.

POMF!

In the next instant, she's fleeing, leaping up to hop onto one of the crates being lowered up into the White Fangs' ships.

Hopefully someone will tend to her, because she's burnt, bleeding, and looking exhausted.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    As the call goes out, the men split. Some take to the remaining truck, other simply cut and run on foot, diving into alley ways. A few laying down some covering fire to dissuade attacks from following.

    Yuna meanwhile, earns a grin from Allan. "I'd love to stay and encourage that bloodlust of yours but... we're done, oh and, might wanna brace for this one. NEAL! DROP COVER! GO TIME!"

    Neal suddenly hops up. The living legend's controls sputtering and sparking. "Gotcha boss! See ya at base!" with a mad laugh, he fires several missiles into ground right in front of Allan, before bounding off in the opposite direction. When the explosions and smoke settles, Allan is gone. Wither he ducked down an alley or risked the water or maybe even used his regen to RIDE the damn explosion out is anyone's guess.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Right, A-ko's tougher than she looks - but those missiles are still a concern. Yuna plants Shugoseiheki in front of her (with A-ko behind her), hunkering in as best she can in Powered Form. She can handle the explosions all right, although by this point her Light Suit is starting to reach its protective limits.

But still ... the final volley of missiles bought the Red Union the time they needed for a clean getaway.

That, more than the strain or damage of battle, is why Yuna doesn't straighten up again after the missiles finish going off and the smoke starts to clear.

Karal Rei Lin (984) has posed:
The sheer effort put into all of this has nearly drained Lin of all her power, all her focus. Her fighting spirit's waning and power's near the limit. The blazing sword gutters and pulses unstably, but Lin forces herself to her feet. By now the poison's starting to actually take effect as her ability to fend it off through sheer willpower's being tested to the limit, so her movements are just too sluggish in response.

    Blue eyes go wide in a flash of horror as a familiar weapon's brought to bear with tremendous speed, yet THIS TIME...

    This time she knows what that thing is, and that makes ALL the difference in the world.

    "HRRRRRRYAHHH!!" Roaring furiously, she channels the Essence of the Celestial Tiger through her skin and outwards... and at the same time, alters her breathing very carefully, tenses a few muscles... and in so doing, dramatically hardens her skin.

    CHKBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Off goes the shotgun, but... although all that force transfers cleanly into Lin and knocks her off the roof...the actual SHOT doesn't bury itself as deeply as it should. Only an inch at most, where they should have gone clean through and shredded her guts. What's WORSE...

    What's worse is that a few of those might STING YARI as they ricochet off Lin's iron-like skin. No more than surprising stings though, for most of their energy's been lost on impact.

    Lin goes off the edge with a belly literally full of lead and stinging up a storm... but quite alive.

    As one final effort, the redhead howls again and enters a brief somersault, spreads her arms... and this is enough to catch the wind, break her fall. She lands awkwardly on her knees, but softly enough to just sprawl out instead of going SPLAT.

    "Uuurrrrgh. She's better than I thought."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe gets smacked about a bit more butthe Red Union pull out, she was not ready to deal with people who could regenerate like that.She's clealry been messed up quite a bit by thembut she's recoveirng. Still her avatar is warped and showing wireframes all over the place and she only now looks to Karal dumb founded as she sees her still lighting up half the city. She kinda gapes and slumps a bit.

"...are you trying to take the sun's job, Karal?"