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Duet Fortuna     WHERE the 'briefing' is done is immaterial. Perhaps on one of Adelyn's ships, perhaps before launch, maybe even on the Black Sun with Flint. Whatever the locale, Elliana has a few simple rules to lay out, first.

    "Welcome to Phase One of my war upon the Windward Empire," she states when everyone is ready. "Some of you are here for me, some for personal reasons, and some merely for pay. Whatever the reason, I am sure you will all find something here. As this is going to include my future home in the form of the Duke's abode, there are some restrictions in what we can do." She holds up her hand and starts counting them off. "One, avoid civilian casualties. These will be my neighbors. If necessary, you are to shield them from harm from the local troops. Two, no looting of the civilian areas. Noble areas, both of these rules are relaxed. Three, keep destruction to a minimum. This includes military targets, as these will be my new defenses once I am settled in. There will be plenty of opportunity to destroy later on. You may keep anything of interest in the Noble Quarter, and I will look the other way if a noble is protesting too much and meets with an accident, so long as you do not go overboard. This is going to set an example and send a message to the Empire: we can take what we want. They will likely begin to mobilize in force after this, so Phase Two will start very shortly after this, and will involve more decisive and military strikes. Any questions?"

    She's provided a small model and map of the city, and it's kind of pathetic really. Not that the city is tiny and ragged... it's a walled city with fortifications and all, but it's outdated even by Terra Majoran standards, and the inner wall protecting the Noble's Quarter is in obvious disrepair from the number of poorly-patched gaps. Three major towers on the outer wall with troops have been marked, only one of which is by the main gate, and only two, smaller towers protect the inner wall. All but one of the towers are marked as having anti-air defenses.
Mordred     Mordred has no questions.

    That's because this is a scenario she's very comfortable with as a matter of course; to lay siege, to take a castle, it falls in her niche pretty well. The Saber will even have agreed to the restritions! No pointless bloodshed, no pointless collateral. She can dig it. This is where they'll be installing their new TV and satellite cable dish, after all.

    The briefing over, the Servant disappears, dissipating in wisps of blue and red mana that trail in the wind. Now invisible, her spiritial presence moves fairly quickly towards the city's keep, before stopping abruptly at the gate.

    "Tch, wards."

    The same wisps of magic reform into Mordred, armored from head to toe, helmet and all. This causes her form, for first time viewers, to be distorted, difficult to really get a lock on. Height, exact armoring, even the length of her blade is kind of obscured, and she's definitely shielded from scanning magic. Her voice muffled by metal, perfectly androgynous, she gives a friendly wave to the guards stationed at the gate...

    And then just leaps over it and the walls.

    She's just going to slam in through a window, or through the courtyard past the walls if there's a traditional no-ceiling one.
Adelyn Lysen     Adelyn has brought a not insignificant military contingent. The target is a city, after all, and she expects there will be some worthwhile use for the troops. The airships, of course, will make an effective means of entry--but rather than bring flying battleships to knock down the towers, she's brought armored landing ships, full of ground troops to drop straight onto the targets. She'd been meaning to find a place to test those new engines she'd had help developing, some months ago.

    But, before then, one question, "The nobles--do you expect they'll be causing much trouble later? If so, can we goad them into causing trouble now, and get the mess over with? That would be so much neater."
Duet Fortuna     Elliana answers Adelyn, "I do not know, but if you would like to goad them feel free. Not too much, but let's get the troublesome ones out of the way. My one request is that if one claims great loyalty to the Emperor as their reasoning, let them go. I want them to take the news outside of the city."
Flint Hawke     Not-A-Pirate Captain Flint Hawke may not be a Confederate, but both sides of the war at least know him to be 'honest' to the point of a Credit. Owing to that Capitalistic tendency, Flint is more than happy to follow Elliana's gameplan, lest she deduct damages from his fees for the mission, thus cutting into his bottom line.

    "No questions, nope," Flint says cheerily as he tips his hat to Elliana and the others, introducing himself to the ones he hasn't talked to already, "Cap'n Flint Hawke, nice to meetcha," Brief enough. He doesn't want to get too wrapped up in social chit-chat, much as it would amuse him to do so.

    Flint takes a sort of opposite approach to Mordred, where instead of leaping over a wall or making a landing, Flint strolls right up to the guards at the main gate, producing a piece of paper in an envelope. He holds the envelope out towards the 'head guard' in that area, "Yes, hello. I have a royal summons from the King. I think you'll find all my paperwork is in order."

    Should the guard actually read the letter that Flint gave him, it will read as follows:

    'Please continue looking at this distraction. By the time you've finished this sentence, it will all be over. When you wake up, everything will be fine.

Best Regards,
    Flint Hawke, Freelance Space Enthusiast.'


    By the time he looks up, Flint is already shooting him in the face, point-blank, with an unpleasant, if effective, mix of sleeping agent and pepper spray. Along with any other guards standing watch and close enough for Flint to catch with the spray.
Winnowill Winnowill heaves a sigh at that. She's in her human guise right now, the Lady Venovel. With her is Gromul Djun, the warlord, and he grunts at the orders with a mild sign of distaste. "Killing a few of the commoners will put the proper fear and respect into them." Even so, when he steps out to address his men, he repeats the orders in general. "MEN! No looting of the commoners, no killing or bothering the commoners! We loot the nobles! Anyone found disobeying this order will lose an eye and gain my displeasure!"

Like Adelyn, the Djun has brought war machines. Unlike Adelyn's, his are squat, brutish, and primitive. Running on steam engines, they belch vile black smoke and carry vast armored plates upon them. He has two of the primitive 'tanks' that are heading for the walled city.

Winnowill herself will stick with Elliana, unless Elliana flies or something. She's not really a fighter.
Raine Arland      Raine was somewhere thereabout. All he had was himself. Oh, and the ghostly familiar floating about his shoulders. A woman in white for all intents and purposes. He crossed his arms and nodded a few times to the briefing. "Hmmmn. Nope. No questions. Sounds simple. I like simple." He grinned at that. "Name's Raine by the way. Raine Arland."

     And then they were on the move. Striding down towards the city, Raine kept in the company of Flint for the time being, allowing him to play his ruse upon the guard at the main gate. He had to try pretty hard not to crack a smile at the stupid ploy and ruin the whole thing by association. And so he admirably kept a straight face, attempting to give off an air of officiality long enough for the man's gambit to run it's course.

     Don't laugh, don't laugh...
Charity Whiteheart     Presuming that Flint's distraction works, Charity will take that opportunity! All she's doing is darting in... and through the door, phasing past it and leaping up, through the floors. She's not even going to bother stabbing anyone on the way, relying on surprise and speed to bypass the troops if she can. Maybe she can't.

    Her goal, in any case, is the winch that opens the gate, which she's going to just stab any guards from behind that are at it, and uh... open the gate. That should make the job for the troops who are doing the heavy lifting here a LOT easier. She might not get it all the way open, but even a little should allow the armored vehicles to bust in with less issue.
Adelyn Lysen     Adelyn gives a nod to Elliana. "Forcefully demand their surrender from far enough away to give them a chance to react, perhaps? I'm not as familiar with the local politics as a few others here, so I'm likely to miss nuance of protocol. This makes eliciting select reactions more difficult."

    The Tower soldiers have their standing orders, at least. Assuming nothing fails--and this is already past prototyping--they'll be able to swoop in as soon as the signal is given. That signal is being timed for 'when things are aready becoming violently loud,' since their screaming flightpath is going to attract enough attention that the whole city might go on alert at once. 'When the Djun tanks are in range' is one possible, fairly likely choice for that, but anyone else could move the time-table up a few minutes. If anything more specific need happen, there's radio.
Nox     Nothing about this plan particularly offends Nox. His investments in seeing Elliana's campaign continue aren't rooted in its aspects of military consquest. An operation that involves little to no need to go around blowing up fortresses and laying waste to armies is more than acceptable with him. He /always/ appreciates efficiency.

    "Very well understood, madame Fairchild." he says with that hint of steely reverb, looking down over the model map without much of a reaction. He's seen this particular kind of city many times before way back in his own, irrelevant world. There are differences here and there, and it's admittedly at the much larger end of what exists there, but the general idea is the same. "The Duke, his personal accomplices, and those immediately and obstinately in the way of them." He'll probably leave anything else to whoever is conveniently at hand. The less expenditure of energy the better.

    In his usual manner, Nox effortlessly skips the distance to where he means to be in the blink of an eye, taking his favourite approach of surveying the situation personally from an aerial vantage. He has no exposure to or experience with Flint, but he feels reasonably confident in trusting that Charity and Mordred can get past the gates, and Winnowill and Adelyn would know more about commanding living, breathing armies than him.

    For the time being, he focuses on two things. For one, he briefly conjures up the revolving dial of roman numeric holography, swiftly cycling through the right combination of hour cells to place on the first two Confederates mentioned, injecting spare room into their personal timelines equating to an extra 30. The second thing he does is simply hold his position, boosting sensory power to try and hone in on as many magical signatures as possible and their precise locations.
Duet Fortuna     To Adelyn, "That should work just fine, yes." Elliana smiles, pleased at the idea for some reason, then she looks aside at Winnowill with a sigh. Oh well. "Come, we will follow behind the troops, I suppose." She ponders. "I wonder if I should have said I will take care of the Duke myself? Mn... ah, Saber can handle it."

    Meanwhile, at the keep, the guards draw their swords... but by the time they're out, Mordred is already crashing through the window into the Duke's abode. Whelp. The guards weren't Blooded, they really didn't stand a chance, but inside there's a guard rushing forward to confront her. He's armored in chain mail, and carries a spear of some kind. "HALT!" He calls out... and he's kind of blurring repeatedly around the edges. It doesn't appear to be an illusory effect, more like he's moving rapidly back and forth, even if there's no sign that he's budging from his stance.

    Above the city, Nox is getting a good idea of how things are progressing, and boosting Mordred's movements as well as Charity's. The city DOES have aerial defense, as mentioned, but they're thus far firing off short bursts. The bolts are pretty dangerous, but for someone of Nox's speed, he can dodge them easily so far. They haven't saturated the air or anything yet.

    At the gates, the guard scowls, "What? We don't have a king." He does look at the letter though... which means he collapses in a coughing fit before slumping over, leaving it open for Charity to rush in while the others are sounding the alarm. None of the gate guards are on her level, so it's a simple matter to stab them, but soon enough a Blooded will come to see what the issue is. In the meantime the accelerated Gifted is able to start opening the main gate. Flint can just walk right in if he wants... though the guards are starting to muster.

    Adelyn and the Djun's troops will have it easy when they approach then. The Djun's tanks, being first, start a hail of arrows that bounce off the plating pointlessly. Surprisingly, the canny fighters actually... stop wasting arrows and appear to be turning some kind of massive metal device toward the incoming tanks instead. It is apparently a cannon of some kind? Much larger than classical cannons from most Earth's, though!
Flint Hawke     "You know," Flint remarks, perhaps to Raine or perhaps to no one in particular, "They always fall for that. Give someone something to read, and they do it," He shrugs his shoulders a bit and takes the gloves off his hands, since they're soaked with pepper spray and sleeping ooze. He takes another pair out of his jacket and puts them on, flexing his hands, "Messy."

    He smiles and says, "Well then, moving on!" He takes a few steps forward, halting as guards begin to muster and arrive to interfere with the operation. He flicks his arms again, only instead of a noxious spray of chemicals coming out, it's just a pair of heavy blaster pistols. He twirls them both, "Gentlemen, and any ladies if society has progressed so far, please. You don't have to die today," He notes to them.

    "Think of this as a bit of an... aggressive acquisition. If you just go with the flow, you'll be under new management. If you try to come at me, I'll have to hurt you quite a great deal. I recommend that first option. She seems nice."
Mordred     "Yo," Mordred greets the knight(?).

    Clarent at her side, the Saber lifts her empty hand, snapping her fingers. Her helmet comes off, separating at the middle and then slamming down around her neck and shoulders, the masking effect fading off. The five foot tall knight in silver and red armor grins, without actually threatening the man in front of her.

    "I'm going to be totally honest, my master told me not to pointlessly kill people. And I'll be even more honest, we're gonna need an army when we settle down. So, tell you what. I want you to tell me with a straight face your lord is pure, white, and has never done anything wrong. That he's worth dying for. C'mon now, think about the answer for a second."

    Green eyes size the man up and down, to gauge his answer. "And be honest. Not just about your lord but about the Empire. You won't get another chance to get it all off your chest for free, the next chance is after you're maimed, and the one after that is going to be when everything between me and the duke is no longer in the way."
Raine Arland      "...Pfhahahaha! Oh man! He fell for it!" As soon as Flint's ploy worked out, Raine burst out laughing. Oh but they'd better hurry. The guards were coming. "Well, well, well...we'd better get to work." And with that, he stepped over the poor guard and waltzed straight into the city. A glance left, a glance right... Civilians were scrambling to get inside and avoid the trouble. No problem there. Bothering the commoners wasn't in the job description.

     But oh. There were the guards. Pouring in from various directions. "...Nah, son." Raine muttered with a smirk. He'd leave this to the the others who had forces to lay seige to the city with. Instead, the man in black threw an arm outwards. A red aura formed down his arm, manifesting into an ornate black sword. "Alright! Time to move!"

     With that, Raine broke out into a run straight into the city, attempting to bypass the mustering forces and ignoring any civilians fleeing left and right. Leaving Flint to handling the guards mustering up ahead of them, Raine veered off down another street, taking a different path towards the Duke's estate.

     "Heh...well, look at this. They're not stupid at least.." He grinned at the wall of soldiers blocking his path here as well. Tch, annoying. He wasn't really here to pointlessly kill anyone though, so... "Sorry buds. I need you all to take a nice nap for a while. It's on me!" And then with a sudden leap, Raine was sailing upwards into the air. His sword was drawn back as energy began to gather along it surging as it built up, but still holding back enough to not kill anyone.

     "Hah!" And then he swung on the descent, sending a stream of crimson energy barreling downwards towards the group, splitting off into multiple rays that aimed to wash over the soldiers with enough concussive force to put them out of the way for at least enough time to handle the rest of the mission without their interruption. ...Plus the new landlady would need an army, right? Better keep these guys then.
Nox     Nox had assumed the anti-air batteries were unlikely to open fire on a single, human-sized target, more likely being intended for airships or the local giant flying monsters, but assuming flight is something the Blooded can do, it isn't more than slightly surprising that they'd bother to direct all that firepower up at him. Not too surprising, but annoying nonetheless.

    The projectiles appear to be powerful enough that blocking them would be far more intensive than simply getting out of the way, and so Nox abandons his aerial perch on the fabric of space for the moment, fizzling out of existence as the fusillade begins to ramp up and reappearing between the crenellations of one of the fire towers, flickering into view right at the center of the battery and its crew and wordlessly throwing his arms out to his sides, sweeping up a wave of molecular decceleration that flash freezes every solid surface it comes into contact with, shooting swirling streams of airborne ice flakes through the slits.

    Making the new assumption that the other towers will be reluctant to fire on him while he's in the middle of their own, still living men, he resumes his analysis, looking specifically for where any wards are that might personally impede him (or that he should warn Mordred about) and, any any significantly powerful magical devices or individuals within the main castle itself.
Charity Whiteheart     Two blades withdraw from the guards at the winch, and Charity spins it rapidly to open the gates as much as she can. Nox's Haste really helps with this, making the job easier than she expected.

    However, she isn't going to just sit there, nor is she the type to show off and take a stroll like Flint is doing. Not that she minds him doing that, but being a cat burglar who was given phasing powers, she generally likes to keep herself out of the spotlight a bit. "Mn, cannon won't be good."

    Another quick lunge carries her toward the tower with the cannon, slamming down on the top rather than phase through it. The last of Nox's 'extra time' is spent with her bone spurs extended, giving a quick stab of any of the crew around and injecting them with the paralytic poison within.
Winnowill Oh, how convenient, the gates are open. Gromul Djun grunts as the hail of arrows peppers the tank, then turns to the men on his tank. "Full speed! We're going to drive these machines the Master Smith has given us right through the gates!" And that's what they do! They're leading the charge, bold and steady, though they're going to at least TRY not to smash up the front gate too much. The idea is to have Flint and Raine stride through with these massive war machines at their back, and clear out any riffraff with a hail of crossbow bolts so that Adelyn's troops can go to whatever flank they wish.

Winnowill just hangs around, because she's kind of a bitch like that. "If you would like any of them tortured when you capture them, I would be happy to oblige."
Adelyn Lysen     Adelyn is willing to wait patiently for other people (almost all of whom she probably considers minions) to get things done ahead of them, and take a personal look at leisure. For now, she sticks with Elliana and Winnowill.

    As soon as the arrows fly out, the airships have their signal. Their low-flying passage produces a distinct screaming through the air, dying off quickly in one case as the small craft come to a dead stop over the walls, as close as it can to . The soldiers that descend--as the craft proves to be utterly paced with them--look huge, but that's mainly for the massive armor they're wearing. These aren't really stormtroopers so much as they are defensive troops pulled from the northern fortresses. They come down with a CRASH, and immediately set about--assuming anyone is smart enough to listen to folk like Charity--accepting surrenders and securing the defenses.

    The other landing craft keep on forward, trying to reach their targets and unload before the anti-air defenses can reorient from Nox and get through their defensive fields. Per Adelyn's orders, a second craft gets down among the buildings of the nobles quarter, and a few armored mages jump down to begin blaring demands for surrender on magically-amplified voices. They're not being too nice about it, though it's a matter-of-fact style of speech overall.
Duet Fortuna     Elliana glances at Winnowill. "I'm sure you will, Lady Venovel, but that... may not be necessary. We will see." She floats up into the air and sends a lance of power at the third tower, the only real thing she's done this fight, but it does cripple their anti-air abilities.

    Nox is correct that the non-anti-air defenses will not fire on him here, though they're gathering up troops to send his way. He'll see them long before they get close, though. Of more import he can see the heavily-armored unit approaching along the back toward Flint, attempting to do a flanking maneuver.

    The guards in front of Flint look at one another, then stand aside. Whether they are actually surrendering, or they know about the flanking, is unclear as of yet.

    The guard facing Mordred tightens his grip on the spear, but does not attack. He mulls over the thought. "I have heard of you, I think. It would be a wonderful fight, but I am not sure that I could win." He hasn't lowered his spear yet, but after another long moment. "I am sworn to protect the Duke's life. If you can guarantee his life will be spared, then I will stand aside. I made no oath as to his property."

    Raine diverts to a different path, heading toward the central keep and the mustering soldiers there... and the other flanking group that was assembling gets scattered, blasted to the ground. It looks like he's made a way through, at least for footsoldiers, and getitng to the noble quarter is easy, provided he takes care of THEIR anti-air.

    Charity is, as always, efficient in darting over and taking care of the artillery. No Blooded are on there, so she doesn't have a challenge, sadly. With a choking gasp, the three gunners fall with little trouble.

    All this allows the tanks that the Djun brought to screech through, cracking but not destroying the gate on the way. The civilians are now battening down their houses, because no way can a guy with a stick fight some monstrosity like that. Primitive tech works to his advantage, because it LOOKS intimidating.

    Adelyn discovers what was likely suspected before: the 'normal' troops of the outer city are... well they aren't COWARDS but they're realists. They are not going to die for the people in the inner walls when their opponents are dropping from the sky in alien craft, and smashing through the gates with tanks. Airships, they know, but the design and efficiency... those are different. Aside from the group flanking, most start surrendering.
Flint Hawke     Flint smiles at the guards, even while being unsure if the men are flanking him or standing aside. The pirate dusts his hands off and looks at them, "Lads and lasses, you don't want a fight. Trust me, it's much easier to go along with the plan than to resist. Really, if you don't believe me? I can be... persuasive..."

    Flint raises one cuff to his mouth, "Mister Blade. Please deploy the... Party Container." He says that in a way that implies it is a very ominous thing.

    Up on the bridge of the Black Sun, Mister Blade looks confused, "Sir, are you sure?! You said that was only to be used in the most... extreme cases."

    Flint nods his head to himself, "Yes... send it down."

    From the underside of the Black Sun, HIGH out of sight above Elliana's planet, a cargo container detaches and shoots down into atmosphere. It streaks down towards Flint's position, atmosphere causing it to glow red and smoke a bit right before it slams down into the street.

    The entire container is about as big as a house, and it fires boosters right before hitting to listen its impact. It still hits pretty hard, though, and kicks up a cloud of dust and debris. Flint is standing next to it, when all that clears, holding up a small remote, "I warned you, lot. Now prepare yourselves."

    When Flint taps the button, small charges on every joint of the container make loud *POP* noises. The sides and top fall off, revealing...

    About a dozen pirates with a portable grill, instruments, and several kegs of alcohol. They almost immediately begin playing, cooking, and giving out beverages to anyone nearby.

    Flint grins, "Citizens of Rivernest! Elliana Fairchild wishes to welcome you to her new city with a street festival!"
Nox     Troops are preferable to being bombarded for the moment, not in the least because they'll have to climb all the way up a tower that Nox can vacate at a moment's notice. For the time being, he more or less ignores them until they become an immediate, pressing threat. An analytical glance out towards the outer walls confirms his suspicions that the civilian quarter isn't about to put up a spirited resistance against a sizable army of alien troops, magics and technologies, and so he'll leave that in their respective commanders' capable hands.

    Instead he refocuses towards the inner districts, checking up on Mordred to find her waylaid but apparently not in any conflict as of yet. The Confederate boy seems to be handling himself, but the mercenary appears to be in for it. He briefly considers just leaving him to it, viewing an unaffiliated contractee as something outside his concern, but if Flint turns out to be weaker than he looks, they could hypothetically steamroll over him and reinforce the gate, meaning that someone else would have to open it up again or else the Confederates inside would be cut off.

    To that end, he spares the minimum amount of magic he thinks he needs to, sending a bright, loud, flashy, but fairly low-powered ignition straight into their ranks from up above - enough to immediately draw anyone's attention to that spot and ruin the element of surprise and to presumably startle, distract, disorganize and injure- followed by a narrow, low yield wall of temporal coagulation ahead of them, forcing anyone brave enough to charge ahead to crawl through molasses instead of air.
Charity Whiteheart     Charity drops through the roof of the cannon tower, then zips outward, dashing across the rooftops and toward the noble quarter. "Heh. I think the army has this well in hand."

    So what's she doing? She's going to see if the Nobles are mustering troops, and use that distraction to hop up over the wall with her own abilities, so she can slink into the Duke's Keep with Mordred.
Mordred     Mordred considers.
    She inquires.
    And then she glances back at the knight before her.

    "Alright. On what shreds of honor I have left, I, Sir Mordred of Camelot and/or Dun Realtai take your pick, will not harm your duke, and will appeal to my master to spare his life. We're here for the land and to make a statement to the Empire, not to leave a trail of bodies behind."

    Clarent disappears, and Mordred crosses her arms.

    "Take me to him. And on the way, why don't you tell me about yourself? You're Blooded, aren't you? Shouldn't you have misgivings about the Empire and how it treats people? Wonder if you were even in service when the... purge... thing happened." Did it have a name? If so, she forgets. That event sure marked Elliana though.
Raine Arland      Raine shook his head after landing and took off running again. "Shame these dudes are working for the wrong guy. They've got strategy. I'll give em that much." He chuckled a tad as he moved, soon seeing his destination clear as day. A glint from the sky caused him to look back however. "...What the hell is that guy doing?" Raine muttered, recalling that Flint was back in that general direction.

     "Well whatever-" ...Ah, but then came the arrows. "CRAP!" Raine wasn't wearing armor. None. Arrows would be ...kind of bad for him. "Fragarach!" And with that, the ghostly woman who was seem hovering about his shoulders back during briefing materialized.

     "...I should leave you to get riddled with arrows, but..." She smirked and raised an arm up towards the coming volley. A light formed, blossoming into what looked like a snowflake. A magic barrier. The arrows struck, bouncing off of the protective light uselessly. Raine meanwhile let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! That was a close one." And then he grinned. "Okay, they're reloading, let's break through!" Fragarach cut the barrier once the arrow storm ended, dematerializing as Raine made a mad charge forward.

     He skid to a stop and stooped low. A blue glyph formed under his feet, and then with a burst of wind, he sailed up and up...and up. "Hey guys!" The man in black greeted the reloading archers. "I've got an impromptu appointment with your leader. So I'm going on ahead! Ahahaha!" And then he descended, sailing down to land on the other side.

     The ghostly woman, Fragarach, materialized again, forming another snowflake barrier to ward off the oncoming arrow volley as Raine moved on ahead.
Winnowill The tanks park themselves on either side, and the troops pour out with wrist-mounted crossbows. If those are the same ones they were shooting before, some bizarrely anachronistic technology is at work, because the shots thus far have had a lot of power behind them. The Djun walks out an barks, "MEN! Patrol this area and secure it while the inner keep is being handled! I don't want any surprises!"

Seeing that Flint is doing a... grill? He stops and stares, then grunts to himself. Very reluctantly, he allows, "Try not to treat the civilians too roughly."
Adelyn Lysen     The first landing ship is now taking its time making sure that the outer walls and well and truly secured. With the commoner district distracted by Flint, there shouldn't be too much trouble. And if there is... that's why Adelyn's soldiers are all wearing superheavy magitech armor. They'd be a poor choice for something like looting a town, but they're imposing and they're hard to damage, so well-suited for the task at hand.

    The second ship, soon followed by the third and fourth reserve ships, begin patrolling the nobles quarter. Only a few magi have disembarked, with most waiting until they can find someone offering up resistance. The airships are lightly armed, but they're still vehicle-mounted, arcane weaponry, and their stores of raw, blasting might will last for a short skirmish. It's hoped not to come to that, since the /first/ wave against any gathered resistance will be a squad of those same defensive soldiers, charging with shields and hammers, and fully willing to make smeared examples of anything in their way. They'll have difficulty if strong Blooded show up, but their orders in that case are to hold on while calling for backup, and the archmage herself is on her way in.
Winnowill If the Djun's troops find the men that Nox nullified, they'll attempt to subdue and capture them, since they'll seem like easy pickings.
Duet Fortuna     Elliana said it wouldn't be too difficult... and really, it isn't. The Djun's men clash with the ones that Nox handily subdued, causing the civilian areas to be rapidly pacified. Seeing their reinforcements are not coming, the guards in front of Flint grudgingly lower their weapons, but they don't participate in any carnival. It takes quite a few minutes before anyone peeks out to see that the battle is over and they're starting to lay out some food.

    This leaves Raine and Adelyn's soldiers to storm the Noble Quarter. The troops are just lining up, and arrows launch out at Raine several times. They give up as the barrier protects him though, instead moving aside for a man with a bow, a single man, to line up a shot.

    As the other troops storm in from Adelyn, though, he sighs. The Blooded can be assholes, and often are, but they are not dumb. "Stop! We can't win against a force like this. We surrender, if you will spare my troops." He lowers his bow.

    Inside the keep, the knight walking with Mordred seems to have accepted his word. "The Empire keeps the peace and enforces the rightful doctrine. I have no idea what purge you are talking about, but I suspect it is an... abuse by some of the Blooded. The Duke is not innocent of some matters I consider ignoble, either. I can imagine what you mean." So it seems he believes in Blooded superiority, but is young and naive enough to think that it means the Blooded should look over their 'inferiors' as part of their responsibility.

    "TRAITORS, ALL OF YOU!" The Duke is shouting, because the soldiers are not going to defend against another Blooded. Unfortunately, the Duke's own Blooded power is... to make himself glow. This is not particularly threatening.
Adelyn Lysen     A sergeant among the armored troops steps forward to call out and accept the archer's surrender. There are protocols to follow, here, and the Tower soldiers are disciplined enough to follow them to the letter, particularly when this isn't /their/ town, and they know they're here to hand it over to someone else. Mercy is a vice, yes, but irrational destruction is a far worse sin.

    Adelyn is listening to the reports coming in, and relays the gist to Elliana with a casual offer. "My troops can stay for some time while you get situated, though I brought no engineers for your defenses. I trust you'll have your own arrangements made in short order."
Mordred     "Yeah? Well, my master intends to fix a lot of the things going on in the Empire. You have something you think needs fixed, you can have your men make a list, and we'll be going down it eventually. Good choice, though," Mordred says, until they enter the current room the duke is in, and she takes a step forward to stand by him.

    Glow or no glow she's going to try to try to yank him, put an arm behind his back, and secure him. If he won't cooperate, she'll just knock him out with a neck chop. Assuming he's even that easy to handle. Nothing dangerous or lethal, per her word. They might NEED him, anyway. He'll know the city inside out, and that includes how to run it-- or not run it.

    Seems she doesn't have words for him, either.

    Probably for the best. Mordred's easy enough to enrage and if the duke managed it that might jeopardize how many limbs he's going to get to keep.
Charity Whiteheart     Charity phases through the wall of the Duke's fortress, quietly joining the Saber Servant. She doesn't have her weapons out, so she merely glances at the new acquisition and shakes her head. "All this recruitment of people we can't trust. I don't like it. Oh well, not my call. I suppose this means we don't have to kill him then?"

    She does say that right in front of the Duke though, and unlike Mordred, she speaks to him. "The way I hear it, we're letting you go. This is our city now. My boss is on her way, and she's someone you don't want to mess with... and that knight behind you, well. I think you see where this is going. Your men are doing what they can to save their families needless grief. I suggest you keep your life and be happy with that."
Raine Arland      Raine glanced back, noticing that the arrow volleys seemed to have stopped. "Heh? Did the they finally give up?" He mused aloud curiously. Fragarach shook her head, eyeing the single man the others made way for.

     "Incorrect. They seem to have a plan." The ghost answered plainly, not looking too concerned. Maybe. She maintained the barrier just in case, but...she got a feeling that this shot wouldn't be like the others. Oh well, not her problem. It was Raine's.

     Raine skid to a stop, just before reaching the keep and turned around to look up a the lone marksman lining up the shot. "....? What's he up to? Just one guy?" Suspicious. Raine hadn't gotten a feeling of much challenge from these guys the entire time, but...maybe they had some tricks left.

     ....Or not. The bowman seemed to have called for a surrender.

     "Well. I guess that's easier for me!" Raine spoke casually, turned around and lazily crossing his arms behind his head and he proceeded to waltz on ahead. "Seeya~" He called out, walking right into the keep to inadvertently rendevous with Mordred and the duke. Fragarach dispersed the barrier and dematerialized after that.
Winnowill As if to reassure everyone that Flint's whole thing is all right, Lady Venovel strolls into the street, past the awful machines, and settles herself into a chair. "I desire one of these... hot dogs."

The Djun sighs. "Infuriating woman."
Duet Fortuna     The bowman shrugs to Raine, "It's possible I might defeat you, I'm not sure. But even if I did, the battle is lost." He shoulders his bow and starts to move out, signalling his men to lay down their weapons. It's likely these troops won't stick around for Elliana's rule.

    The Duke looks up with a grunt, as Mordred subdues him roughly. The knight stands by without a word, though seeing Charity enter, and then Raine, he sighs. Looks like he made the right decision. Even if he'd gotten lucky and managed to take down Mordred, one of these two would have gotten him during the fight. The Duke grumbles, "This is rightfully my... nh... my birthright..."

    Elliana finally floats in and lands, then sighs as she approaches. "As mine was taken from me by your Empire. This is not theft, Duke of Rivernest. This is a declaration. I have been asked to spare your life. You may take yourself and any men still loyal who survive, and go to the Imperial City. There, you may tell the Emperor that Lady Elliana Fairchild will be taking what he stole, and ten times over. This is my declaration of war upon the Windward Empire. Within two months, it will be mine."