Scene #5062: Whose Idea Was This?

Owner	Pose
Priscilla	The destination for the Watch is probably just what they'd have imagined, hearing a place is called 'C-Dome'. It's every bit as spartan, crowded, gloomy and dab as its name suggests, comprised mostly of claustrophobic city streets that ramble through hugely vertical blocks of post-urban sprawl that feel more like sheer walls than buildings. Even through the clear dome that encapsulates the livable area, the sunlight at midday is brown and dingy at best, filtering through a thick layer of acrid clouds that cover the sky from horizon to horizon. The land outside is nothing less than a wasteland, polluted beyond all belief, until the stinking air burns one's throat, and blowing sand scours one's skin. There's a warpgate, somewhere in the middle of all that, surrounded by a massive cluster of blocky, heavily fortified guard buildings. The streets are patrolled in classic, cyberpunk dystopia style by roving squads of heavily armed robots, with a number of human military police mixed into each batch to keep an eye on them. Cameras are ubiquitous, as are checkpoints, gates, and unhappy citizens. The city leadership has supposedly changed hands, but what that amounts to is that the heavy airlocks that serve as the Dome's 'front doors' have had their security overhauled, and the number of man-sized emergency exits to the wastes, interspersed around the Dome's perimeter, now have dedicated guards. This is because the Concord used those ways to get /in/, so it'd be pretty dumb if they didn't make sure nobody else could copy them. This has a trade off, however. Being under Multiversal ownership, the warpgate, though still heavily guarded, is no longer a shoot on sight zone. Visitors from other worlds are permitted under check and surveillance by local forces, as some sort of business concession. Actual Concord soldiers, are nowhere to be seen, for the moment. In this environment, it's difficult to tell that someone else owns the place. Regardless of their method of entry, local security will make the effort to hold the secret members of the Watch up for a while. Clearly this place has had failed rebellions and scattered terrorism before, because people are largely only shuffling about and gossiping at the smoke rising near a giant, central tower, that just /has/ to have been some oppressive overlord's control hub. Scatterings of troops can be seen tromping down the wider roads towards the site, and sirens can be distantly heard in the alerted district, but C-Dome seems to have it well under control, and just wants to keep anyone from suspiciously entering or leaving until they catch the culprits. It doesn't look like any members of the cell have escaped the area they had just sabotaged, which is bad news. It is also pretty odd, considering a rather small number of Elites had made a mockery of this place's security all too recently. How can it be back up on its feet already, and effective enough to catch members of the Watch who had been preparing for months, at that?
Tesla Armadia	So if you were expecting the visisble defenses to now be interspaced with the robotic war machines of a certain Concord mastermind/mad scientist, you are going to be sadly disappointed. At least on the face of things. But from a political angle it made sense to simple increase the number of 'local' defenders at work. They were the ones that new the city best, and would be a reassurance to the populance that their prescence was not being displaced by the 'new management' from outside worlds. At least what passed for reassurance. The population was hardly a cheerful one, but this at least kept things 'familiar' and supposedly kept resistance to no more than it had been previously. New leaders... business as usual. Seems to be the image the Concord is painting here. Whatever the new faction was after, they seemed to be inclined to keep things from changing -too- much while they persue it. That said, Tesla Armadia did have her hand in the overhauls made to the security layouts beneath the obvious venier of local enforcement still being in effect. Though it was a bit more hands-off than usual for her. They wanted to tighten security and fill the gaps they had snuck through themselves, but instead of directly meddling the suggestions and necessary jobs were simply passed down to the local labor to do. Which was of limited options in the first place with how heavily C-Dome had been moving towards more and more automization even before the Concord came knocking. But there was little point in not making use of the local resources to do these sort of jobs. The technopath herself is probably somewhere in that supposed central hub of an ominous looking location, making sure the tightening of security remains tight.
Seifer Almasy	Secretly, Seifer Almasy is really hoping for this job to turn into a shithole full of blood tentacle monsters. It's a long story. You had to be there. In the meantime, Seifer is basically just here, though, for a shocking change, he's actually not super-obvious and in big screaming Final Fantasy clothes. Seifer is dressed in a tuxedo and sunglasses, his hair uncombed and recombed in the complete opposite direction, his scar hidden under a bit of makeup, and his general facial structure slightly altered by a small false beard. Hyperion is taped under the back of his tuxedo, directly to his undershirt; there is a slight bulge, but nothing so easily visible, because neither a Beretta nor a sword are so immense that they are obviously visible under three layers of clothing. Yes, Seifer is actually using his SeeD training to blend in with the transitional government. He walks the walk, he talks the talk; he's actually pretty good at it for a guy who normally appears to be a hotheaded, hot-blooded goon. Seifer is full of surprises.
Wuyin Tsai	Rescue missions are, strictly speaking, not really Wuyin's style. Involving other people with his affairs in general never goes well. Still, when the Voice tells you to do something, you nod, bow, and beat a hasty exit before she says anything /especially/ cryptic. That was then. Now... now, he's in a dome, has a plan, and is wearing a whole lot of leather. The hold-up was irritating, as far as anyone who looks at him can tell. He's a face in the crowd, a figure in dark leather, dulled chrome, and red-and-blue-lensed glasses that most don't see beyond. A battered military surplus duffle bag is slung over his shoulder, stuffed with something. It looks heavy. Suspiciously heavy. He shoulders his way towards local security, body language all hostile. "Hey! HEY! What do you think you're doing!?" He ends up in the face of one of the newer members of the force. The nervous kind who you just want to calm the hell down so you can get through this. It's exactly the wrong place to be. "Do you think this is /okay/?!" He gestures at the damage, and the military marching, and everything else. He gets right up in his face. Wuyin drops his bag. He makes mistake number two and shoves him, yelling in what sounds like some form of Chinese. The translation effect works great, making his elaborate curses about the person's lineage including mountain goats much more colorful than it otherwise would be. Then, he looks like he's reaching into his coat... and that's number three. Inwardly, Wuyin braces. This is going to sting.
Haguro	Is Haguro uncomfortable about the way things are being handled in C-Dome? A little. She certainly would have preferred to see the citizens' situation improved with the Concord's takeover, but there's only so much that can be done considering how much of a shithole things were for said citizens prior to their arrival. At the very least, being here means things can start to improve! Or at least be a little bit safer with more effective oversight. Sure, she might look a little out of place compared to the local forces what with having all those cannons and armored plates covering her. Despite that, though, having an extra set of fresh eyes around never hurts, especially when they belong to someone who's only been here once before and still isn't quite familiar with the area. At least the rest of her uniform makes it easier to look less like a soldier and more like a heavily-armed office worker. She's even got a stack of paperwork to go with it as she follows Seifer around looking vaguely like a bodyguard/assistant of sorts! Of course, with how nervous she looks as she jerks about just to not bump into anyone (and apologizing anyway)... Well, the paperwork isn't going to get itself delivered. The sooner she can get rid of it, the better!
Uriel and Qemuel	Just because the city is all dystopian and stuff doesn't mean they don't have markets. They absolutely do! And in many worlds, the stuff here is pretty nifty, even if for this world it's cheaply-made junk. So, shopping is a thing! The two young ladies, dark and light, are just browsing the wares and poking at curious-looking items. The girl in the wheelchair nearby has a mask on... not a disguising one, but an oxygen mask. She doesn't /need/ it, but in this place it seems like a good idea, given her still-delicate constitution. "Sister," Uriel states, holding up a whirling little 'bot that looks about ready to fall apart. "This one claims to be able to clean any surface. Do you think Master would approve?" Qemuel sighs, "I think she'd prefer one that didn't look like the power of Duct Tape were allowing it to continue on its chosen purpose." Merlaine, the girl in the wheelchair, is not paying any attention to that. She's hearing shouting, and heaves a great big sigh at it. "I had such high hopes for this place," the girl complains. Looking about in her early teens at the eldest, she has a world-weary look about her even now. "No patience, none of them."
August Kohler	The new security guard, full-masking helmet on, is not having a good day, according to how he keeps shifting his posture. All these people, all the suspicion, the responsibility on his shoulders. He's clad in his full security vest and outfit, with a stungun in one holster and his compact railgun in another. He speaks up as Wuyin gets in his face, a nervous voice that sounds a bit...off, like one is suppressing their accent very forcibly. "S-sir, back away. Please remain calm." Faceless Security Officer No. 22 does not respond to Wuyin gesturing at the damage, but takes a step back as Wuyin shoves at him. "Sir! I will not warn you again, back off!" There's hesitation in the officer's voice, especially at all the cursing. But then, Wuyin reaches into his coat... And Faceless Security Officer No. 22 draws his compact railgun, hesitantly shooting Wuyin in the chest. There's just a loud bang and a woosh, as the security officer pulls the trigger. He /really didn't want to do this/...but it was all part of the plan, and Wuyin said it'd be fine, after all. As the blood spatters on his uniform, he just stares forward. And then he keeps the gun steady in his bloodstained glove, facial expression invisible due to the helmet. How will the civilians respond? Hopefully, they'll protest the coldblooded murder.
Serenity	Although she looks /almost/ human, Serenity is not... and her eyes, plus the delicate-looking build she sports, make it rather obvious to most that she's an offworlder. "I must find the Quesnaut! The Meeboshan has entrusted me with this task, and my Lashaal has taken me here," she insists, as she has been for quite some time ever since being halted by them. The words are meaningless of course. The whole point is that she's pretending to be an offworlder with some bizarre religious custom or task that is making her very insistent upon entering the city, but she has thus far avoided drawing her sword - citing that it is 'Forbidden to draw blood except in defense of the gods chosen' - and just sed words, being obstinate but as polite as possible. She's hoping to just portray an air of... well, if not innocence, at least relative harmlessness in that 'weirdo that will hopefully go away after poking around a bit' manner. Ideally she's made them frustrated enough to just give her space, even if she isn't necessarily being let out free of any watch. Yet. "Pact Summon: Witch of the Wastes," she says quietly. A shimmering, pale woman forms in midair, and immediately... emits a vitality-sapping field as she just stands there. It isn't an energy drain that is anywhere /near/ lethal, it's just the sort of thing that makes people not... want to bother with doing anything. Serenity glances around to see how effective it is, but she's just going to leave the summon there to give everyone a way out. It'll keep the closest guards busy, with any luck. Or... not busy. Whatever.
William Pauwel	AN HOUR AGO. William Pauwel slides out from under what appears to be a GIANT ROBOT HAND. He's positively covered in dingy grease and looks like he just crawled up out of the business end of a degenerate ICE. "Phew," he sighs, rubbing at his face. "That'll do for now." Someone walks by. Will glances up. "...What'd'you mean 'you'll do?'" NOW, IN THE CROWD. There stands someone who has had it RIGHT UP TO HERE with the oppression of the masses. He fits right in with the milling swarm of humanity that makes up the oppressed proletariat of this unfortunate world, with his rough, patchwork clothes and that look like he's just spent the entire day face-deep in grease. This poor soul also happens to be FRONT AND CENTER when a member of the guard STRAIGHT UP RAILGUNS A GUY. "Oh my stars and garters," the grease-stained excuse for a mechanic gawps and gasps, nearly falling onto his backside almost as if the shockwave from the railgun had knocked HIM for a loop, too! But no, he stumbles but does not fall. Instead, he turns his young, angry eyes to the line of guards, "You killed him! You killed him just 'cause he disagreed with you, you monsters!" "Hey," he says, turning to the crowd, "Y'all saw that, didn't you? We've got to do something about this!"
Priscilla	Being fair to August, had Wuyin done any sequence of those three things to a real security guard, he'd be amount three asses deep under piles of tactical body armour and flashing stun prods. He just looks like an easily spooked idiot, instead of a turncoat traitor. Easily spooked idiots, however, are not supposed to be on warpgate duty. "Whoa whoa what the hell do you think you're doing?!" one of the older (they're all older) gate guards yells at August, clapping a glove on his shoulder and jerking him around. Another two run past him, checking on Wuyin's vital signs, though perhaps less concerned for his safety and more concerned for their job security. The nearest civilians have all jumped back, and given the spectacle a wide berth. There are very, very few other obvious multiversals. "Who gave you permission to fire?! Who's your captain?!" The man is a solid foot taller than him, and very loud. The crowd, however, wants /nothing/ to do with William's call for action. Can anyone really blame them, after the past few weeks? They part quickly around him, so that he winds up out in the open, a couple of them emphatically shaking their heads at him to give him the good idea to shut up. One of the drone operators turns his way, looking at him through the gas mask. A few are being considerably more physical with Serenity. Because she looks like she might shatter if they knocked her over, this amounts to trying to body block her from running past them from the warpgate. One of them is holding his radio, trying to repeat back the nonsense words into the receiver to see if anyone has any idea what the hell they mean, and covering his ear with his other hand. One of them looks especially tired of her shit, but they pretty quickly lose interest in detaining her anyways once the Witch of the Waste appears. In fact, everyone kind of seems to lose interest in . . . everything. Wuyin winds up buried under one guy that is so tired he flops over on top of him, whereas with August, his aggressive 'superior' trails off, forgets what he was saying, and drops on his ass. Even the civilians look at Will with glazed over expressions that quickly drift. It leaves only a few aisles of robots scanning the area with their cameras, and then in a few moments, beginning the routine of trying to raise their operators. No doubt it won't take especially long before the drones clue in on the incapacitation of every human present, and transition into some kind of independent mode. That's easily enough time to get going though. After all, auto-guns being aimed at a warpgate aren't great for image, and the streets have been more or less cleared by yellow-level martial lockdown. Nobody is going to get in anyone's way who is dumb enough to be running /towards/ the smoke. The local encrypted radio crackles with the rumble of a second explosion, which can be seen blossoming into new fire on the skyline, at an opposite point to the first, around the base of the tower. "---k-W-Come in! Come /in/ dammit! Teams three and four aren't-------do we even have enough charges /left/?! No way it's going to come down with---------Where the hell is the backup! You said you had the network didn't you?! Where /are/ they! We're getting /killed/ out here!"
Tesla Armadia	It would seem the attempts at a riot at the warpgate have fallen as flat as the exhausted man dropped upon Wuyin. But explosions going off in another sector of the city is quick to get attention, especially when it results in screaming and some presumable amount of death coming over communications. Tesla pauses in what she was doing, gaze seeming to 'space out' for a few moments as she shifts more attention to the buzz coming over the networks. The screaming in response to the explosions, the calls for help, and she's probably one in few that can pick up the hint of confusion from the drones by their handlers going silent. "So much for maintaining business as usual," she mutters mostly to herself. Awareness coming back to around her surroundings, and she promptly takes off to investigate like everyone else certainly is, after tapping a few commands into a terminal in her bracer.
Uriel and Qemuel	Explosions are... not normal, that's for sure. The 'terrorists' should theoretically have security all over them, or whatever is causing that explosion will. Normally, Qemuel and Uriel would not worry overmuch for one explosion, preferring to stay with Merlaine. A second one though? Uriel looks up at Qemuel, and the fallen angel nods, "Stay here with Master, I'll go take a look." The black wings spring out without any worry, since this is one of 'their' cities. and all, and the angel takes flight in a swift pace toward the second explosion. Uriel grasps Merlaine's chair and wheels her about. The girl looks vaguely curious, "Why the rush?" She isn't as affected by the Witch as some of the others, but her natural ambivalence is particularly weak to an effect like that. Not that she's going to question Uriel wheeling her to safety... she's long ago learned to trust the angels with her safety.
Wuyin Tsai	There's blood. Predictably, he hits the ground. Wuyin doesn't actually have a lot of say in the matter. It wasn't a kill shot -- August doesn't exactly have a professional's aim, nor would it look good if he took the time. Bracing himself didn't actually help, either. Such is life. When he's checked, Wuyin's vitals aren't great. They seem like they'd be better if someone didn't land on him. He makes a wheezing sound and squeezes his eyes shut, struck with both the desire to take a nap and one to get up immediately. Instead, he channels anima, the wound suddenly abuzz with energy, sealing it up in short order. Wuyin pushes the other guard off of him and rolls over. He gets to his feet without much issue, though he's still bloodied. He sighs, adjusting his 3D glasses, and kicks the duffle in the side. There's a slow, steady, ominous beeping coming from it. It's just another piece of bait; it's a jumble of wires and electronics from Radio Shack, designed to slow down pursuit in either direction. "A populace with crushed spirits," he murmurs. "Noted." Wuyin jerks his head towards the second explosion. "Let's go, before they relocate."
August Kohler	Okay, this is officially going terribly. As soon as the older guard grabs Faceless Security Guard No. 22 (actually August Kohler) by the shoulder, he knows they're in trouble. The exact opposite of what they were going for, a distraction, is happening. All the focus is being put on them instead. "Uh, well...", he begins to try and explain himself out of this, when everyone begins getting lethargic. August yawns a bit himself, but shakes himself out of it, pulling himself away and moving to check on Wuyin. And Wuyin's fine! August sighs in relief, before prying off his helmet and throwing it to the ground. Not going to need that anymore. "Anyone want a railgun? If not, it's going to the rebels." He holds the railgun out by the barrel, holstering it otherwise in order to draw out a reflective, mirrored object from his pocket. He's going to need this soon. "Right. Lead the way."
Haguro	Haguro freezes in place when the sounds of explosions in two different directions reach her ears, and she looks over just to confirm that... Yeah, something's happening. Something big, possibly! <<"Maybe it's just an electrical malfunction...">> She tries to delude herself and play things down a bit for her allies, but it's fairly obvious that this isn't the sort of thing that just happens by accident. Neither is the fact that several teams of local security are going down. An unknown assailant, perhaps? Whatever the case is, the ship girl breaks into a run, setting aside her stack of papers with a stifled yawn as she hurries towards the tower in question. She was sure she had gotten enough sleep last night, but... Well, she can make up for it later. For now, Haguro keeps her weapons lowered. They're still ready to fire, though, but ready just in case the dome really is under attack by... By who? Something else to think about later.
William Pauwel	These people do not hear the people sing. They do not hear the distant drums. When tomorrow comes, they'd rather keep their heads down and not have to worry about any barricade or guillotine, thank you very much. Will grins around like he knows that he's moments away from being hauled off for 'reeducation' by some guy in a gas-mask, when Serenity's aura of tranquility and lethargy settles on the crowd like a fog. Will staggers a bit at the sensation, too, but is able to shrug enough of it off to hobble after August and Wuyin. "So uh. That didn't go too well. Where're our people? Worst case we need to get over there and get them out of here before... You know."
Serenity	The Witch should be fine for now. It leaves an escape open... hopefully. The Witch is also kind of lazy, so Serenity isn't going to ask her to actually do anything more except avoid getting shot at by any drones that come to their senses. For her part, Serenity is not so sure what Imbuement to use. Anything BIG would draw attention, but anything FAST would make it that much harder to switch if she found herself in combat. With the chaos and distractions, though, she decides finally to dash /on foot/ toward the whole mess, weaving her way around the larger crowds. "This way, toward the explosions, I am guessing." She shakes her head with a sigh. "Starting this up in freshly-conquered Concord territory... what are they thinking?" This isn't backup, this is a rescue op unless they're very lucky, and Serenity is reluctant to bring her own full firepower to bear on trying to take down a tower without good reason. Trying to raise the local Watch cell on radio, she asks, "Extraction coming in. Use whatever you have left." If they have a chance to succeed she'll take it, but she's not counting on it.
Priscilla	Pounding ground to the source of the disturbance, the Watch finds their guys alright; or, well, some of them. If the radio is to be believed, the would-be rebels have broken up into multiple groups. By looking at this one, either they're really well disguised (better than No. 22 at least), or they were local revolutionaries from the start, drawn into the Watch's fold through the sprawling web of underground connections that had crept across the Multiverse in wake of the Reality Quakes, and eager to prove themselves to the larger organization. Not one of them can be over twenty five. None of them are alive, either. This squad has been shot down to the last; half a dozen young men and women in little more than street clothes, smuggled ballistic vests, identity-concealing masks and hoods, and duffel bags. The scene suggests that they'd taken a bad route and ran head first into a security patrol, as the surrounding area is riddled with bullet holes and burn marks, and the street is littered as much with brass casings and plastic sabots as it is scrapped robots and human blood. To their dubious credit, there are probably five times as many casualties on the opposite side, practically choking the road, and many of them seem to have bled out still in cover, clutching their firearms in death grips. Unfortunately, all the charges in their bags are untouched, having failed to reach their destination in toppling the symbol of oppression only five minutes ahead. "---Oh thank god! It actually worked! If----all went to hell. Bad intel. All the damn routes changed! All the goons that were hanging around the tower got kicked out to the streets to patrol and replaced with-- some new assholes! They're all over the place! You've gotta be careful! We'll retreat to the south side so-*--" Serenity's instructions are well heeded. A minute later, another explosion goes off in the near distance, this one on the side of the tower directly facing them. The structure groans audibly, shedding split cables and glass panels from its dizzying height, but the damage isn't enough to show much of a list. It seems that the local team will be bailing out in their direction, if they can slip their current engagements and make it to the cleared street. It also loudly shows the Concord where they were just at, and being so close to the more experienced members of the Watch, the three running into each other is pretty much inevitable.
Tesla Armadia	In response to Tesla's transmitted command something stirs to life in the depth of the building. Mechanical systems rattle and hiss as they power up, metal thudding as servos and hydraulics churn. Heavy footfalls tremble upon the pavement. Robots marching out of buildings was not an uncommon sight in C-Dome. But this was not one of the enforcement drones. Not only was it larger and heavier, but a lot more heavily armed. Neon green optics glowed beneath the heavy, horn bearing brow as it marched out into the street, clearly a construct of otherworldly sorts. The maintenance of similarity was over. This attempt at sabotage was an instigation that required full and appropriate response to rather than upholding a flimsy masquerade. As the saurian warmachine made a hasty march towards the newest conflageration of smoke and explosions Tesla stopped just before emerging onto the street herself. Again her perception shifted, this time for the technopath to sync directly with Shardcore. They didn't know exactly who or what this flare of activity would bring so it wasn't worth the risk of directly exposing herself. That's what she had mechanical underlings for in the first place.
Wuyin Tsai	Finding the first group gunned down makes Wuyin stop. He looks over the battlefield with a stony expression, taking in the sight of the would-be revolutionaries strewn out in the streets. He doesn't know what to think about it. Part of him wants to chide them for failing to account for something like this. Part of him wants to stop and retch at the scene. And always in the background, in the corner of his mind, at the edge of his hearing, that buzzing, eternal and insistent. It's distracting. He uses that for his own benefit, to keep it together. It's easier when it's supernatural violence. This... Wuyin frowns up at the tower. The next series of explosions does more visible damage, but it doesn't look like it's coming down. He makes a noise of dissatisfaction. "They won't have another chance like this anytime soon." He points down the street. "Keep moving; we need to cover their retreat. But maybe..." He looks down at the bags. There's a moment's pause. He moves over and starts to empty them. Charges disappear into pockets that should by no means actually contain them. He slips them out of sight, vanishing the explosives to... somewhere else. "...maybe it isn't quite over yet." The Dragon takes off at a run, heading towards the scene of the crime.
Serenity	The explosion is making the tower lean, but that isn't a concern to Serenity. She prefers her insurgency to involve less property damage, so while she's all for letting them do their thing, she's not exactly keen to help out in the destruction if it means losing more troops. "Tsk. Kids." Even though she looks fairly young herself, she at least looks late twenties or early thirties. The one squad is not going to be able to be helped. Serenity sighs, looking toward the explosion now. "I suppose I'd better get moving." Taking a breath, she settles on who is best for this situation. "Pact Imbuement: Stahldrachen." Surrounded with a brief nimbus of light, Serenity is off like a shot, skimming close to the ground heading toward the explosion. Now in light plate armor and holding two swords, she scans the area, looking for any insurgents she can direct to the warpgate. That explosion will have called out the real powers. "Get moving. There's one set of charges left at the fourth location. IF you want to get out I'll cover your escape." If they want to try for the fourth then... well
August Kohler	As they find the dead, August frowns as he looks over them. Young people, dying for nothing. They didn't even succeed. Some of them could be his age, too. Any one of them could have been him. He only takes a moment to stare, before he glances upwards at the tower exploding. Unfortunately, it doesn't take, but then Wuyin takes the next set of charges. For a mere moment, he's concerned about it...until August realizes that this is what these kids died to do. "Alright. Let's see if we can't finish the job." August takes off after Wuyin and Serenity. He's not very fast, especially nowhere near as fast as Serenity, but he is certainly determined. Can't let this end in vain, after all!
William Pauwel	Will has seen some awful shit. Will has seen the end of a world through the eyes of a dying soldier. He's seen the corpses of cities and towns and plundered them of their riches. But war, honest to goodness war, that's something that he's never learned to account for. The carnage they encounter here makes him pause and pale and bend against a wall to make sure that his lunch stays firmly inside of his body. What the hell was this? Why would anyone throw so many people into a grinder like ths? A tower explodes nearby, snapping Will out of his bloodtinged reverie. He sucks in a breath and swallows the bile burning the back of his throat. Tsai gets a nod and a frown. "Alright. You got it. Let's go, fast as we can. I don't want to be too late a second time in one day." Will takes off after Wuyin, moving as fast as his legs will carry him. "I'm right behind you. Let's open a path out of here for whoever's left."
Uriel and Qemuel	Things sure are messy. Qemuel passes over the corpses, but barely stops. Uriel would have given them last rites or something, but Qemuel has other concerns. She is behind Serenity, but the others she can spot heading for it. Not only the Watch can delay others, though. "Hmn." Wings flap, and a rain of metallic black feathers spray down, forming a fence in front of those running. It would be easy enough to thread through, but will slow down non-flyers. It also slows her down to do that, though, and makes her presence more known by anyone who looks up and finds a black-winged angel unusual. Uriel is still indisposed, but will likely be here any moment. "This looks like a rather organized effort," she admits. "Guerilla warfare is one of the more effective means. I don't suppose we can have a straight fight with someone, can we?"
Haguro	The grisly sight confirms what Haguro was afraid of: Armed rebellion, complete with heavy casualties on both sides. Mere children, even, by her standards, but as unfortunate as it is, she still needs to focus on preventing further unnecessary deaths. Spotting the bodies first, the boat ghost doesn't take much time looking over the bodies when something else catches her eye. Or several somethings, actually. Between Serenity directing people that don't look quite like they're in the area for a picnic to leave, Wuyin moving to take something from the bags of the dead, and August and William looking like they're following the first two a bit too closely to be coincidental? She's feeling mildly relieved that Tesla's bringing that warmachine in. Only mildly. "H... Halt! What's your involvement with all this? If you stop now, nobody else has to get hurt!" haguro's trembling somewhat even as she issues that command, the turrets on her arms and legs adjusting themselves as they come to life. Or... However those things work. Boat ghosts are strange.
Priscilla	The members of the Watch have the companies they never got to meet to thank for the easy way ahead. Nobody lives in this area, being so close to the tower, garrison, and factory complexes. That raises the level of acceptable collateral damage to 'all of it', and it shows. It hadn't just been several groups of plucky teens and young adults getting their hands on some guns and going for broke. There are the remains of distraction bombs, trapped vehicles, organized roadblocks and kill zones everywhere. Most of the city security for blocks has been scrapped, down to the cameras being shot out of their lurking places, dotting the scenery with a number of sparking holes that must have taken weeks to plot out. There are signs of firefights all over, but most are older, and involve no non-military casualties. More robots lie destroyed than people dead, as it seems the chaos was designed to keep them tied up with loads of wounded on their hands, judging by nails and glass embedded in the walls as shrapnel. The first couple of groups, the ones still alive on the radio, went on a rampage through here, so why couldn't the others follow up? "I hear that, we-- no way we're going for another, we're getting /out/---- completely FUBAR after the ---- showed up! Don't risk it man!" Serenity is the first to see then, racing way ahead as she is. Another group, approximately as large as the first, sans duffel bags, is running as hard as possible, some of whom may have some cybernetics under the hoodies and flak jackets judging by their pace. They're tossing excess bags and cases as they go, only keeping their ammo and their radios. The lead figure, wearing a black plastic spray painted with an eye motif, looks over his shoulder and waves emphatically behind him, urging what must be group two to catch up. About the same time the first squad reaches Serenity, the second appears, pouring out of a side alley in a panic. A second later, the alley is turned inside out behind them, as a huge, armoured vehicle forces itself through the too-small passage by ripping and twisting the walls on either side, and flattening the trash disposal and electrical components between. It swerves daringly into the road, tilting on one set of treads from the inertia, and aims its anti-personnel gun their way. Everything about it, from its make, to its contours, to its paint job, indicates it is definitely not from around here. It barely even fits on the damn street. Serenity likely has enough time to defend the group passing her by once it begins firing, filling the road with fully automatic railgun fire. Unfortunately, it's still advancing, and going much quicker than the youngsters in front of it, in danger of running them over. This means that by the time Wuyin, August and Will arrive, the borderline-tank is a big, heavy obstruction in the road forward, and has them in its sights too. It seems to be pretty much ignoring the squad fleeing before it, not needing to waste the ammo.
Priscilla	It then very abruptly stops, almost screeching on its massive treads. The rebels don't look back, scrambling for the protection of the Watch line, but all simultaneously trip and- no, something knocked them over. They go scattering over the street like skittles, where they struggle to get back to their feet. One, in the very center, instead drops to his knees, and stays there, slowly raising his hands in surrender as if the Watch were pointing guns at him. So then Priscilla reveals herself right behind him, and in the path of the hastily stopped APC, scythe held in such a position as to be hooked around his neck, and with just as clear of a view of the Watch rescuers as the other Concord members on site. Actually, it looks like she came from the tower. "If thou art friends of these ill-advised saboteurs, intent on continuing the battle after they hath failed, I advise thee: do not. Whatever they hath promised thee, they shalt be unable to deliver upon, I assure thee. Turn back and preserve thine own lives, at the very least." Oh good. She doesn't recognize anyone in their disguises (and also never met Serenity). She does thumb her radio piece though, and doesn't keep her voice down. "A great number of this city's men lie slaughtered. Need I remind thee, men that were promised our protection. If these ones prove disagreeable, slay them."
Tesla Armadia	Priscilla doesn't really need any extra re-inforcement to her words. But she sort of gets it all the same as Shardcore's armored form stomps up behind her. He fits the streets better, but otherwise stands out as otherwordly as the APC did. Heavy feet and tail dig into the pavement to brace himself. Arms lift to his sides at the ready as the tri-barrel launchers along them lock into place. Echoed by the ominous whirr as the gatling cannon ratchets up into place over the left shoulder. He doesn't have anything to say, just silently backing up the fachead as his optics flash, scanning the group of rebels on the retreat, and their supposed reinforcements to protect them. A large, silent and imposing war machine much more advanced than what even the former brain-in-jar leaders could conceive. On her end of things back at the building Tesla just snorts softly at the attempt to negotiate a simple release on the rebels' part. Unseen commands start marking the priority targets in the group, little red crosshairs blipping to life upon them on her HUD. All she needs is the confirmation to open fire... Shardcore didn't -need- her in control to operate appropriately, but working in unison made the engine of destruction all the more efficient.
August Kohler	As the Watch moves towards the team they're extracting, reinforcements arrive. A fence made out of feathers to block their path, by some sort of dark angel. A...girl wearing guns? A giant robot. Immediately, August is fiddling with the reflective object, discussing over comms what the Watch is going to do. But before they can make their first move, it arrives. A heavily armed APC, chasing after the rebels. And even worse, a powerful foe August is aware that is a true threat, the leader of the Concord herself, Priscilla. August turns on the radio comms, offering to leave quietly if the Concord will give them the rebels. This is met with rejection. A sharp frown on the redhead's face, as he brings the glass to eye level. "PERSONA!" Blue energy flares around the boy as he shouts, his willpower causing a being to emerge from the energy in front of him: a burnscarred robotic soldier, with no eyes and a gun for a leg. The Tin Soldier moves silently, his mechanisms and body emitting no noise. August takes a step backwards towards cover as the Tin Soldier begins skating around on the ground...and then proceeds to charge straight for Haguro, his gun-leg rising upwards, firing a hail of magical bullets aimed for her gun batteries. It mimes a roar, head bucking back as its body flails.
Wuyin Tsai	Wuyin finds his path of egress blocked by feathers. His head snaps up, eyes turned to the sky, seeing the winged shape high above. He comes to a halt, half-turned. Someone nervous enters his line of sight, demanding answers, but he doesn't really have them. He smiles a little at Haguro, the expression looking vaguely enigmatic because of the out of place 3D glasses. "I'm afraid we're a little beyond that." He sounds almost apologetic. Things get worse. A tank blocks their path more fully. The rest of the squad scatters -- and Priscilla shows up, putting one of them in a position of terrible danger. He tilts his head slightly at her, a look of recognition crossing his face. "Where have... hmmm. Ah. The spider; that was it." He turns to fully face her, taking a breath. "But I cannot remember the name of it for the life of me. What was..." He trails off, scratching his neck. He tries his best not to react to the giant robot looming nearby. He doesn't have enough firepower for -- Wait, no, yes he does. Wuyin takes a step towards Priscilla. He bows slightly. "I apologize for our meeting again at a time like this, lady. Unfortunately --" He stops in the middle of his speech, and then snaps his fingers and laughs a little, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Quelaag of Izalith! That was it. That was an interesting day. Terrible place," Wuyin asides, "but an interesting day." Wuyin removes his hands from his pockets. He's got a brick of plastique meant to help level a building in one hand -- one that shouldn't have fit -- and a cell phone in the other, thumb hovering over the touch-screen. He shrugs a shoulder. "So. Wouldst thou like to help me decide who goes home today, Lady Priscilla?"
Serenity	Oh. Joy. Bullets and Serenity has to provide cover. It's a good thing she's pretty much super tough in this state... though not invulnerable, and providing a human(or maedra) shield for this fleeing group means she can't really /dodge/ at all. Most of the impacts ricochet off the plating, but the stagger back and flinch says how she /really/ isn't liking this even if it's hard to tell just how much damage she's taking. Fortunately it doesn't last long and isn't the real threat. When Priscilla, Shardcore, Qemuel and Haguro appear, all converging on the group... it's getting messy. She remains silent through most of the exchange lest her voice be recognized. Her eyes are already distinctive enough... though it hurts to even look at Qemuel. Which is unfortunate, because when the fight breaks out it looks like she's going to have to handle it. "Ugh. Fine. Good luck." Not that she's worried. Mostly because the side effects of her imbuement are starting to gnaw at her consciousness, and the arrogance is making her dismissive of the threat. She'll take care of Qemuel swiftly, then save the others, is what she's thinking... not considering that Qemuel might put up a fight. Launching into the air, Serenity leaves a sonic blast in her wake, hopefully to do /something/ to the APC that she was facing, because after this she won't have any attention for it. Most of her attention is on Qemuel... streaking toward the Angel with a flurry of blades, preceded by a crackling blast of lightning.
William Pauwel	That. That is a lot of very powerful, very angry elites, along with a whole bunch of desperate rebels, a goddamnit armored personnel carrier, and the queen bitch of the Concord, herself. And her angel. And boat. And giant robot tyrannosaurus rex. ...Between the League and the Concord, Will is beginning to maybe think that the Watch is a little bit outgunned in their fight for right. "Nnngh, these guys were fightin' for their freedom long 'fore y'all set up shop here," Will grunts, shielding his eyes from the tremendous glare of Qemuel's light. Tellus' angels are nowhere near as shiny. Armed to the /teeth/ but they also don't burn like little, person-shaped suns. "We ain't just going to abandon them on yer say-so, lady. Though if y'all would let us walk them away, I certainly wouldn't complain!" But August already chased that rabbit down its hole, didn't he? Wuyin's got a bomb, they've got a tank. Will's lips tighten, his hand wiggles over one hip. If THEY could get a tank, then maybe they could open up a path back to the warpgate, and... Well, that's a long shot. Worth trying, though. The alternative is everyone dies or ends up in the brig. But first he'll have to get to the tank. "Guess not, huh?" Will chuckles, licking at his lips. "Alright then-- draw!" WILL DRAWS. The Solano's light blazes to life as he lifts it from its holster, but quickly fades to a series of rippling, nearly invisible waves. Will fires at the enormous robo dinosaur, unleashing blast after blast of rippling electromagnetic chaos. He doesn't need to kill that thing. Just keep it still long enough to commandeer the dang tank!
Haguro	More reinforcements has Haguro feeling just a smidge more confident, and her posture even straightens up a bit while she keeps her gun turrets at the ready. She's not firing just yet at anyone, although she does mutter into her radio briefly before muttering to herself. She may be trying to psyche herself up for what's to come. As she does, though, the exchange between the unrecognizable August and the more familiar Priscilla is heard, and the boat girl actually seems to be calming herself down slowly. Wuyin's reply is met with a somber nod. At least she's not the only one feeling bad about all of this. Recognizing August's voice from said exchange, she faces him with an uncharacteristically stern stare while aiming her gun batteries in his direction. "Even if you feel this is right... We have our own duty to improve things here, too. Armed rebellion like this is only going to get people killed, so..." There's no stopping it, is there? Sighing once, Haguro's gun turrets adjust further when the Tin Soldier appears, and the ship girl's gaze wavers briefly as she tries to figure out just what it is she's looking at. The sight of the gun-leg and the magic bullets it starts to spew do get her to start jerking sideways reflexively, but... Is that because of her training, or because of the gunfire itself? Either way, her moves aren't quite fast enough to avoid all of the shots, and she loses some of her shouloder's armor and the pair of guns there to August's fire while biting back a pained yelp at having her shoulder jerked back by the sudden impact. The turrets on her other shoulder, however, turn to face the Tin Soldier and let loose with a volley of their own! They're not explosive, at least, instead seeming more suited to just blasting holes through whatever they're hitting so as to minimize collateral damage.
Uriel and Qemuel	Oh, joy! A warrior is after her, instead of the stumbling amateur that August is! Obviously a COMPETENT one, but there's a big difference between an adventuer who has been forced to fight, and a professional soldier. Both can put up a fight, but the soldier fights in a way she is familiar with. Qemuel is pleased about that... even if she isn't so pleased about the rest. "AUGH!" A lightning bolt that is MUCH stronger than she'd anticipated blasts into her, causing her to vanish in a flash of light and burnt feathers. Not literally vanish, though! The angel is spashed back into a crumbling building, and is very much leaving hte retreating insurgents alone after she's facing something that makes her cough smoke. She isn't defenseless though... the blades Serenity uses are met with two tarnished metallic swords of her own, clashing against the startlingly strong maedra. "WE are making this a better place! Fighting just delays it. It makes those worse off even more unhappy!" Qemuel isn't as good with the speeches and explanations. She's just a fighter, really. But that means her wing flicks in from the side, razor sharp pinions slashing toward Serenity in trying to get under her guard. A streak of golden sunlight turns the corner in the air, and Uriel arrives as well! She isn't going to jump in quite yet though... rather, she's looking on in puzzlement at the battle between her sister and Serenity, trying to get a 'read' on Serenity.
Tesla Armadia	Actually it's a robotic styraciosaurus, indirect relative to the triceratops, but let's not nitpick over species influences when there are more important things to worry about. Like the fact that the thing is carrying enough weapons to a Dinorider to shame, and they're all ready to be emptied into the rebels trying to flee. Or were until Solano voices its objection to that idea. Unseen pulses slam into armor, sending arcs crackling back and across Shardcore's form from the electromagnetics and the war machine staggers a bit to the side. Back at the Concord base of operations Tesla lets out a grunt as she briefly thumps against the wall next to her. She knew there would be feedback when she was directly linked to her creation, but she had not expected it to be that potent from the first hit. Tch. Sloppy on her part. Muttering to herself she braced against the wall and reasserted her control. Despite the momentary stagger the hulking machine restablized itself, head turning in the direction the shot came from and optics flashing as tactical sensors honed in on the source. The Good News: You got their attention Will, so Shardcore is not going to immeadiately mow down the rebels in cold blood. The Bad News: .... Well, you got their attention. Shardcore levels both arms in William's direction and opens fire with a chorus of THWOOMS from the arm-mount weapons. The shardblasters essentially function as tri-barreled gauss rifles. Except instead of single high velocity projectiles each muzzle fires a cluster of razor sharp shrapnel, the reason for the 'sharp' part of the machine's name, at that same accelerated speed.
Priscilla	Priscilla has no idea what Wuyin means by talking about spiders. This is fine. People rarely have any idea what Wuyin means when he's talking. When he directly mentions Quelaag by name, however, Priscilla's expression falls dramatically. This is an accomplishment, because she wasn't at all smiling in the first place. Where at first she had just seemed kind of tired and dispassionate, vastly more concerned with something (someone) else than these spunky rebellious youths with attitude, her attitude has turned dark, glacial and sharp. "If thou knowest that name, thou shouldst knowest as well the answer to thine own question. If thou wish to try at what all of Lordran attempted and failed, thou art a transcendental fool. I hath no fear of thee." Priscilla removes her scythe from around the Watch fighter's neck, and swings the blade up over her shoulder, shifting her grip down the haft in a decidedly new way, and in doing so, the pavement washes red as the young man's throat is slashed through in the same motion. The others not yet behind the Elite line scramble to their feet. One calls out the dead man's name as she runs for her life. It seems that the crossbreed has no interest in them, though. The little stunt, presented as almost an afterthought, feels more like a quiet, embittered statement. One that goes: "If you're banking on the Union having made me soft, you're out of your mind. This is the reality of where I'm from." Equally new to the clothes Priscilla is wearing since Wuyin had last been anywhere around her, is apparently, her fighting style. It's only to be expected when she disappeared, as it is her natural advantage, but that whole sequence of psyching the enemy out and getting them off guard before striking from behind, is nowhere to be seen. The pavement cracks, the air screeches, and an invisible blade comes keening at Wuyin's neck from front and center, crossing the gap way, way too fast.
Serenity	Blade against blade, just like a warrior should have! At least that's the idea. Serenity isn't wholly unused to fighting enemies with extra limbs, but there's only so much anyone can do, even with two blades, against extra slicing wings. She nimbly jinks aside, but the armor isn't quite up to snuff in stopping the feathers from slashing into her side. Blood starts to trail down the tiny maedra's side... but that does not take her out of the fight. Indeed, the blades suddenly crackle with electricity as Serenity silently presses forward, moving in a swift and savage flurry of death toward Qemuel. "That isn't what I'm concerned about right now," she states in a steely tone. "I know well the idea behind good intentions. Perhaps those children were wrong. What gives you the right to declare this city yours?" As for what Uriel finds... that's not exactly public.
August Kohler	"Then the goals between the two factions today seem to be the same." August replies to Haguro, standing away from the combat. He's not moving, or really even paying attention to much. "We just have different ideas on how to enact them. Well, then. Your heart's in the right place, atleast!" The redheaded German has a noticable fire to him, and seems to be both more comfortable and less comfortable fighting Haguro after she speaks her piece. The Tin Soldier doesn't move to dodge as Haguro volleys back, because of the chance of it hitting someone else. The bullets slam against its body, the metal bouncing off with light pings and denting its body. August, meanwhile, clutches his torso for a moment, taking a step back. Damage feedback. He needs to change things up. And so, the Tin Soldier's gun begins to light up, a small burst of flame coming out. And after that small burst, it rushes forward, moving to fire a larger burst. It's not high-intensity, low-level fire, but it's still fire, it still hurts, and it still burns. He's aiming for Haguro's gun batteries again, trying his best to not hit her face or hair. The flame will swipe downwards with a swing of the gun, moving to then burn her torso. While the Tin Soldier is doing this, though, it's not moving. Just burning. And that means he can be countered.
William Pauwel	Will is an archaeologist, not a paleontologist! There's a very subtle but very distinct difference between the two. It also means he has no idea what the hell dinosaurs are called, but that's just as much because he's a tremendously folky country bumpkin. One with a silly effective handcannon, apparently. "Ha-ha! How'd you like that!?" Will laughs between shots, "Ain't so tough when yer circuits're bein' fried are--" Its gauss cannons start spooling up. Will's expression falters. "T-those are guns." THOSE SURE ARE GUNS. Will screams as he scrambles out of the way of the enormous clouds of life-ending shrapnel. One direct hit and the utterly unprotected Chaser will find himself turned into a chunk of swiss cheese! Or... Swiss Chase!? Will can't afford dancing around while those things are firing, and he damn well knows it. But if they go off at those fleeing revolutionaries... It'd be bad. Blood splatters against a nearby wall when one piece of that high velocity shrapnel sails right through Will's off-arm. He screams again, this time cutting off into a painful gurgle-- but at least he's finally got behind cover. That is. He's finally got behind a certain tank. "Can't keep gettin' hit like that," Will mutters, his weapon cycling back to its standard blue-white glow. Will ducks around the APC, dodging beneath the sighting slits in its armor towards the other side. He pops out, firing a barrage of white-hot plasma right at one of the dino-bot's guns. He's close enough to the tank now, though. Just gotta figure out how to disable this thing's driver...
Uriel and Qemuel	It has been a long, long time since Qemuel felt outmatched. Only once recently, so this is still an unusual situation for her. Bladdes clash with blades, and amazingly she feels herself being pushed back. The Archangel of Battle is not used to this fury and strength in a mortal... though the maedra may not qualify as such. "What... are you?" Uriel hoves nearby, an aura of flame surrounding her. She hesitates to involve herself in the conflict between her sister and the stranger. The others seem to be handling their own matters so easily... well, 'easily' as these things go. She has eyes only for her sister's predicament. "Your allies put more innocent lives in danger than anything we've ever done, yet you still help them? Keep them from being brought to justice? Is it the guilt of your own betrayal? I could offer you absolution if you like."
Haguro	Haguro sighs lightly at August's response. She cna't quite blame him for acting that way, at least, even if his methods don't quite line up with her own. "I... Guess that's right. We both have our duties that we can't ignore, though, so..." The ship girl really needs to focus better. "... No quarter, then!" Taking note of the Persona-user's reaction to the attacks against the unnerving metal... Whatever the Tin Soldier is, her turrets are already starting to focus entirely on the Soldier rather than the boy controlling it. Just as well, since that semes to be where the bulk of the threat is coming from. The fire, strangely enough, doesn't startle her quite as much as the gunfire did, although it's still flashy enough that she's visibly trying quite hard not to let any fear show. Armor gets singed and some of her uniform even gets burnt off, but August's/the Soldier's aim is true and her face and hair are safe! Getting hit by gouts of flame still hurt, though, and Haguro lets out a sharper hiss of pain as the superheated armor plates burn against her. It's enough to get her to knock one of the hotter plates and her other shoulder's turret off just to reduce that burning contact, but that moment also has her noticing the Tin Soldier's less mobile state. Taking a bit more careful aim with a wrist-turrets, she fires on the Soldier's legs while circling towards August ever so slowly, almost as if she's trying to sneak her way closer.
Tesla Armadia	Shardcore turns to follow William's mad dash away from his line of fire. But quits actually firing when Tesla realizes where the Chaser is going and orders him to pause. Clever, taking shelter behind their own assets. Sure, the tank could be repaired eventually, but that would require additional resources that could be better put to use in ways other than fixing their own collateral damage. William pops up in the break in firing to crack off a few shots of his own. Plasma impacts with the armored saurian as he stomps in the general direction of the tank, shearing into layers of metal. Layers of various composite alloys specifically designed to ablatively break away before critical damage is inflicted to internal systems. This war machine was clearly built to take a beating without slowing down too much at first. Flush him out. As Shardcore comes around the corner of the tank, the green portions visible between the sections of armor can be seen glowing slightly. The machine opens his maw and vents from his internal systems, spewing out a cloud of noxious hot vapors. An attempt to chase William away from the tank in a manner that won't do additional damage to the tank itself.
August Kohler	"I don't think no quarter means what you think it means, if you're not trying to kill me." August just puts that out there, as the Tin Soldier bobs its head slowly. The fact that he's doing damage to her is good. He might be able to win this. But, then Haguro moves to aim for the Tin Soldier's legs. The Tin Soldier's gun is one of its legs, so it immediately has to stop firing on her. The bullets slow it, tripping it up, except for those coming at the gun leg, which are being burned away with short bursts. While the Tin Soldier is doing this, though, Haguro is able to slip around. She has her chance... Up until she gets close enough, atleast. August moves one hand to his holster, and draws the stun gun. At this point, the Tin Soldier stops moving entirely. It's entirely open for attack from any part, without resistance. But for now? August fires the tazer at Haguro.
Wuyin Tsai	In this particular case, Wuyin mostly gambled on the name having some weight to it. It isn't so much a call to remind her of anything, merely to acknowledge that he is familiar with the subject matter. If he was /more/ familiar, maybe he wouldn't have done it in the first place. Well, maybe someone /reasonable/ wouldn't have done it in the first place. Wuyin has never been accused of being reasonable. Blood sprays. Wuyin's expression doesn't change. The oddly-colored glasses cover his eyes, hiding any serious reaction. "Hmmm. Well, then --" That's about as far as he gets. She vanishes, and the pavement crumbles where she launches herself. Wuyin lifts one leg to take a step back, tossing the brick straight ahead into what he expects to be her path underhanded. He flicks his thumb across the touchscreen, and there's an earth-shattering... ...chiptune? BGM CHANGE??: https://youtu.be/6QgdiXz3Ef4?t=21s The bomb never goes off. He never had time to arm it. His foot hits the ground, and his arms move fast as lightning. He drops the phone, both hands touching his sides and swinging upward. His left grazes a weird wire effigy affixed to his belt, briefly revealed under his coat, dragging a blue-white ripple outward and downward. It hits the ground and explodes upward, an icy wave rolling outward and upward from where he stands, leaving a coating of solidifying frost on everything nearby. The other comes up with a sword from precisely nowhere. The straight, polished blade gleams in the half-light cast along the battlefield. When his hand tightens on the weapon, the golden inlay of nine bees following the gentle, curving zig-zag of a thorny branch stands out sharply, as if backlit from an unknown source. It's a work of art as well as a weapon, worth more than a passing glance in any other situation. Stinging Whisper intersects with the invisible blade. There's a flash of lightning, a burst of sparks cast off the Anima-charged masterwork as its wielder tries to repulse the unseen weapon. Wuyin sways to the right, holding the blade in a reverse grip and pushing upwards, ducking down low and diving into a well-practiced dodge roll forward and to the left. He goes gliding across the ice without a problem and comes up quickly. He rights the weapon, flipping it easily in his hand and taking up a defensive stance with the telltale twitches of someone trying to track something he can't see. His other hand wipes at the burning sensation on his brow. It comes away bloody. Very bloody. A narrow cut runs diagonally from his forehead into his hair, bleeding profusely, the red of his blood a brighter, richer color than it should be. It hurts like the gunshot earlier. It shouldn't. Something's not right. "Fear of me is not," he adds without prompting, "what I was going for. Someone like you wouldn't be stopped by something as simple as that, and any other kind would come from a sort of familiarity --" Wuyin flicks his bloody hand to the side, and then hovers it near his effigy. "-- I don't like to cultivate." He might be a talker. Maybe he hopes /she/ is.
Serenity	Pressing her advantage, Serenity starts to drive Qemuel back in midair... only to have Uriel confronting her. Were she not flush with arrogance from the transformation right now, that might have worked a little better, but it did get her to back off at least. Unfortunately for her, the same arrogance makes her fail to reassess the change in dynamic when /two/ angels are after her rather than one. "What do you know of it? I don't need your offer. What maeks your choice any more right or wrong than those of the kids who went to their deaths trying to free themselves? You're the same as the ones who were here before in the end." If she had a clearer head, she might reconsider that last statement. Right now she is at least clear enough to realize that the mission doesn't require her to prove her point with them. That, at least, she is consistent about. She brings both swords down in a quick slice, but in midair... sending a sonic ripple through the air toward both angels. It's considerably less lethal than stabbing either, but against a flyer like these two, the impact might buy her time. "Are we done here?" It looks like she may have to drag her companions out. How she wishes she could teleport right now.
Haguro	"... O-oh right. But... Partial quarter doesn't sound right!" Haguro's still got a lot to learn about becoming tougher and stronger, it seems. One day! As she draws closer to August, Haguro's got something a little different in mind. Thus far, she's been focusing on the Tin Soldier, and it seems as though August and the Soldier are more focused on protecting the former rather than the latter with how it's reacting (or not reacting) to her getting closer to the boy. Seeing that damage has been going between them in such a way, though... Would attacking August himself do the same to the Soldier? Only one way to find out. Seeing her opening, the boat ghost breaks into a run, and her hip turrets aim upwards and behind her. There's nothing in that direction, though, is there? It makes sense once she jumps. It's a move she's seen once before, but tweaked it for her own use. The guns fire off behind her shortly after the jump, and she's apparently intending to do a running drop kick right on August! At least, that's what she'd be doing in the ideal situation. With the tazer hitting her square in the chest, though, it's less of a turret-propelled dropkick and more of a turret-propelled hip-check/cannonball/stiff body flinging. It's not quite as precise and definitely not as elegant as she'd hope, but... Well, either way, at least one of them won't be getting up afterwards! Haguro's just going to be hoping it's both of them.
Priscilla	Already stumbling to their feet, when Priscilla joins battle with Wuyin, the last remaining members of the second group make their break for it. A couple slip on the frost and go crashing into the terrain, but there's no time to laugh or salvage one's dignity. They crawl on hands and knees if they have to in order to get on the other side of the firing line developing between Elite heavy hitters on both sides way out of their league. A lot of said frost goes crackling, grinding, and spitting up as so much newly powdered snow when blades clash. The plastique brick is swatted out of mid-air as if it didn't exist, but the ice gives Priscilla less than the desired leverage to take Wuyin's head off, or else his wrist for the effort of parrying. Her footing slides as Stinging Whisper pushes her weapon upwards, drawing its razor fine point in only a shallow, rasping cut across his skin. It would be a laugh to say that Priscilla is not used to the cold and snow, however. At the same time as he rolls out of the way, the crossbreed manages to spin to a halt, likely facing him down again, judging by the pair of footprints that crack into the ice. "Then thou hath even less use of opening thine mouth." comes the wintry reply from . . . actually it's pretty hard to pin down. It's probably too much to hope that Priscilla is still standing in those prints, but it should at least be easier to judge where someone is talking to him. Human ears are built for that. Those ears do give him a pretty good cut of the frost, concrete, and underlying rebar grinding directly behind him though. On guard to react to an invisible opponent on a moment's notice, expecting him to turn to face it is part of the gambit. Ice shards, sharp pebbles, and hot sparks are what awaits his searching gaze, as Priscilla deliberately drags her scythe over the ground, cutting deep into the road. She continues the motion upwards, into what should be under his sword arm, significantly more vicious than she had gone at his neck. Amputation or action game launcher; either-or.
August Kohler	Well, while August was expecting Haguro to come for him, he wasn't expecting her to /dropkick him/. As the gun fires off, he sees her gambit, and his eyes widen - too late, though. Her body slams into him, barreling him down to the ground hard, tazer flying out of his hands. Everything goes black from the sheer force of impact. As soon as his consciousness fades, the Tin Soldier does as well. August is going to need extraction!
William Pauwel	Toxic gas!? If Tesla wanted to flush Will out from behind that APC, there really wasn't a better way to try, short of something like 'homing missiles' or 'hunter seeker drones' or something ridiculous like that. Will sees the cloud of heavy vapors close in before he feels their effects. There's plenty of time to sprint out of dodge, to get the hell out and leave everything behind, hopefully evade capture, and somehow manage to make it home in one piece. Of course, that would mean abandoning the others to... To whatever the heck the Concord does to people when it captures them. Will assumes they get beheaded, on account of Priscilla doing exactly that to someone for reasons. And so, instead, Will goes for broke. He does duck out of cover, but only to get around to the top end of the APC. Will sucks in a breath of clean, crisp air and wraps his face tight with a piece of his own, shredded sleeve... Moments before that terrible acid cloud smashes right into him. He feels it burn at his skin-- not just heat, but the toxins, the irritants. His pores choke on the corruptive chemicals, breaking into horrible, stinging lumps. But there's a reason he came all the way up /here./ And that's because he assumes toxic gas is heavier than air. Which in turn means that it'll flow downward just as soon as the Solano burns through the top hatch of the tank. Will's eyes swell and burn, desperately trying to water to keep that lethal cloud /out,/ but in a few seconds even that will be overwhelmed. With a solid clatter of steel, the top of the tank falls in. The gas flows downward. A few seconds after that, a hatch at the back of the vehicle hinges open and a whole bunch of soldiers flood out. But... Where's Will? The answer to that question comes when the tank starts moving again and powers through Tesla's lingering poison cloud. There's only one direction for Will to drive, and even with only one barely-open, stinging red eye, 'not crash' is something he can manage for at least a little while. It seems like he's trying to drive this thing the hell out of dodge. The back door, still hanging open, sheds sparks over the pavement. Now's the time to pile in and get going, but best make it fast! Will doesn't exactly have the capacity to stop right now.
Uriel and Qemuel	Uriel doesn't like pulling that out, prodding at a person's sins, but with her sister outmatched she was getting a little worried... and she's also feeling a little insulted by the arrogant assumption that they're mere tyrants, even if it's... technically true right now. She is readying for a full on fight, but instead the sonic blast sends her hurling through a window. "AH!" Qemuel gets it worse, grunting as she slams into another window... this one with the lockdown shutter down. Both girls are made of tough stuff, so it won't cripple them, but given their caution in approaching the unnknown and suprisingly skilled opponent, neither is about to rush back out... giving Serenity, at least, a gap to escape with.
Tesla Armadia	That... was not expected. How could it be? Despite how much Tesla puts into trying to plan for possible contingencies in any given scenerio, there is no way she could of calculated someone doing something like splitting open the top of the armored vehicle to use toxic attack against their own assets and vacate it. Nevermind she didn't know the tank would be there in the first place, but once it was a known variable that shouldn't of matter. The likelihood of Shardcore even needing to use what is basicly weaponizing toxic exhaust was low in the first place. The utter coincidence in these little variables actually coming together in this manner is enough to actually make Tesla take pause, and while doing so Shardcore just... sort of stands there dumbfounded. Just because when she's in 'direct control' most of his automated tactical systems are on standby, and it takes a few moments for those systems to realize Tesla isn't giving commands and kick back on. By that point William is already flooring it, though it takes a vehicle like that a bit of go to get up to speed. Shardcore takes a few lumbering steps forward before the APC can speed off and grabs the open rear door. Pavement crunchs as he digs massive feet designed for anchoring balance into it, pulling against the vehicle's own horsepower. Will is probably getting a bit shook up inside as force fights strength, especially if he keeps flooring it. Eventually something has to give.... ... In the end, it's the hinges that give up. On the door, that is. Metal shrieks as the stranged joints snap apart, causing the door to pop up and back as it's suddenly free of the resistance of the APC's pull. This causes it to slam into Shardcore's face hard enough to actually warp partially around it. The robot stumbles backwards, trying to pull the metal free, but in the impact it snagged on its own horn. Unfortunately all his primary sensors and tactically hardware are actually in the head, so now essentially blind, the war machine can't actually attack anything while trying to get the obstruction off.
Wuyin Tsai	She speaks. That's enough. Wuyin gets a general idea where she is, focusing on that space. He slowly sidesteps, unwilling to stand in place for her to carve to pieces. For someone associating with a ragtag group of rebels, he certainly doesn't seem to be swinging wildly and desperately. Maybe he's the obligatory mysterious guy who has a clue? (Okay, that's actually probably Serenity, but... still.) There's a sound behind him. Wuyin turns, buying into it, unable to see her. Just when he's about to be completely about-faced, he remembers what she's wielding and realizes his mistake. Wuyin throws himself to the left, but too slowly: the scythe catches the outside of his arm, cutting up his forearm and slashing a bloody chunk out of him up to his shoulder. His roll is far less graceful this time, ending with him leaving a bloody smear across the pavement and scrambling to his feet. Wuyin takes a moment to blink (rapidly, repeatedly) at the chunk of coat and meat left behind. His head swims from the excuciating pain of the wound from such a weapon; blood pools at his feet like a hose. The blood loss doesn't seem to slow him down, but it does surprise him. The growing pool is a rich red, too vibrant to be quite human. He forces his sword-arm up with a breathless, "/Huh/," of apparent surprise. He briefly wonders if he'd be able to regenerate a missing arm, and is glad he doesn't have to find out. The fingers on his other hand come together with a 'snap.' Bolts of fire stitch across the frosted ground, exploding into pillars that scatter all around where he thinks she's standing. The fires vaporize the ice, plumes of steam bursting into the air. He uses it, clouding the space at arm's length and beyond with a dense, wet fog. It would make it even harder for him to see her if he she wasn't already invisible, and it would make it difficult to see him if he was inside it. He isn't, because that's a terrible place to stand. Anima-fueled lightning leaps off the edge of Stinging Whisper, tines striking the magically-condensed cloud and forking endlessly through the wet air pocket. At the same time, Wuyin clenches his teeth together, biting down on a scream of agony -- and flickers of amber luminescence pour out of the ragged flesh on his sword-arm, swirling in the bloody pool with a lambent glow and the powerful scent of honey that mingles with the growing smell of fresh blood. Wuyin gets the idea that maybe it's a good idea to not keep fighting. He tries to take a step and staggers instead, vision swimming. His defense falters as he wills his body to put itself back together -- and it does. Very, very slowly. He puts one foot in front of the other and practically throws himself towards the APC, banking on area denial to keep him from getting stabbed in the back on the way. He doesn't pass out, though. That would just be embarrassing.
Priscilla	Even Priscilla doesn't like steam exploding in her face. Granted, the 'shoot fire into the ice' trick is a really old one, and often used for disappearing acts, but she would much rather back out of the sauna than be caught in the middle of it; she has that luxury. Lurid arcs of red vital fluids follow her phantom outline for just a couple of instants, before Wuyin's lifeblood drips completely off the scythe. The lightning is a hail mary, but Priscilla is determined not to give him the satisfaction of knowing if he'd hit anything at all, and so suffers the creeping tendrils flickering out through the near-dodged steam cloud in stoic, teeth-gritting silence, letting them burn holes through her sleeves and trace her skin in exchange for keeping them out of her eyes. By then, though, Wuyin is gone, as are the rest of the bizarre interlopers, carrying out a cargo of rebel kids in a stolen APC, for reasons still unknown. There are way too many things that don't add up. The Concord won't be leaving C-Dome any time soon.