Scene #7955: Scoping out the Definitely Not a Cult or Meat Zone!

Owner	Pose
Cantio	"Alright. This should... Be the place?" Cantio doesn't sound all too thrilled as she looks out over the newly(ish) acquired Zone 89870. She's still in a bit of a funk after the last night's events, with not a single clone in sight as she sends her drones out instead to act as distant floating eyes that aren't another part of her. She's still wearing a faintly pink/brown lab coat over her usual clothes, with more promnient blood stains on the sleeves. Her head's bandaged up, too, and she's overall looking like she's been wrecked very recently both physically and emotionally. Another reason for her un-thrilled-ness is clear upon just looking at the place. Strange monsters of a dark/generally evil-feeling variety abound, along with floating eyes and zombie packs that roam the landscape. Writhing tentacles and shark-toothed mouths emerge from the trees, and ominous chanting can occasionally be heard as though coming from below ground or in scattered ruins around the landscape. "... I can work with this. I think." She mutters to herself, trying to bring confidence back into her gut before forcing herself to remember. "I'll make this work." She starts repeating to herself, actually succeeding at psyching herself up. "I have to."
Kale Hearthward	Usually, Kale arrives at speed, through a warp gate, shouting at the nerds about his arrival, and his intention to break their stuff. That's been the pattern. There is no sudden arrival, though. Instead, one of the Secundus locals, arriving through the warpgate shortly after, goes to flag her down. "Hey, you're Cantio, right? Got a note for you," he says, pressing a notecard into her hand. \|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\| \| Hey Nerd \| \| I'm here to break your stuff \| \| -Kale \| \|-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\| When Cantio looks up from the note, Kale's dropped the disguise, and is in the middle of attempting to punch her in the gut.
Starbound Flotilla	"Floran thinksss, lotsss of meat to work with. Lesss than fun meat houssse, more than normal. Floran betsss, great for sssecurity! Look at all eyesss!" Biteblade rambles. She's leaning over the top of a heavy APC tugging a cargo trailer over the terrain. Undoubtedly, part of that cargo container holds means by which to fight off a certain chronic problem on the Concord frontlines... "You know, I believe now is a good time for the bright side to be examined. I like the chanting. Yes, surely it is better for the chanting." Moonfin's helmet has a tea port that he can use to sip tea through. They're armored here, given the nature of the zone and the recent events. Even still, they never expected this from one of the locals! There's probably a chance to get a shot in on them or otherwise cause problems while they're rushing to grab weapons and power up their armor.
Starbound Flotilla	Being armored helps. Having a fancy APC helps. It doesn't stop everything, but it helps make sure the disguise ambush doesn't batter them too violently and badly. "Bad and rude prey liesss! What!! Evil! Fight them!" Moonfin, the close-combat specialist, is given enough room to pull back, grab his sword, and draw it. He leaps from the top of the APC, plunging down blade-first! "A local should be no trouble at all." He hasn't read the note, he's just ready to behead an Inferior-Culture Native that's causing a problem for Cantio.
Cantio	"At least that was... Almost pleasant after a while? Like walking around in a pool or... Carpet in a pool." Cantio manages a weak chuckle at that, stroking her chin at Biteblade's suggestion on the eyes. "If I could sway them or tame them or... Something, perhaps. And the chanting..." Cantio can't let herself be weighed down by so many doubts again. Moonfin's optimism(?) on that aspect actually has Cantio stopping to think, then clapping her hands together lightly. "Advance security system and more guards. Yes. We can /definitely/ work with this." She's forcing herself, but it's helping her mood slightly. "And.. Um. Thanks for coming. This place has really-" A note! Cantio nods as the definitely-local approaches, forking over a small credit chip in exchange because tipping is cool and good before reading the note. A second later, she gets the wind punched right out of her, and only then does she realize what's going on. "... You again?" Instead of freaking out, Cantio looks angrier than she's ever been in his presence (except maybe for that one time they helped Lilian). "Do you really have nothing better to do than to stalk me like this?!" Instead of taking the time to turn her attache case into a sword or swarm of drones or anything, she just goes for a wild swing to the Kale's beak in return with enough force to shatter the case even without her manually detonating it. And then it turns into a sword.
Kale Hearthward	The rest of the disguise is shed as the battle starts. It's undeniably Kale now. "I have a lot of better things to do, but I'm making sure to make time to be on the front lines here myself!" he calls as he falls back only a bit, focusing on staying on the attack instead of going on the defense. Then when the counters come, he moves forward - taking a case hit on the side of his head, and a sword slash that leaves a shallow cut - before pulling and activating his drill sword, all in one smooth motion, trying to smash up Cantio's case and the APC with it - focusing more on causing as much damage as he can with the giant drill instead of simply injuring them. "Whatever you're trying to do here in Secundus - know that you can't outrun the East Wind, because I'm always five steps ahead! Surrender now and I'll still let you serve me!"
Starbound Flotilla	Albert's in the APC, and his maneuvers rush it backwards, keeping that drill sword only on glancing blows. Moonfin finally sees the assailant clearly, though, and that seems to get him and Albert in a particular mood. The mood, specifically, is 'violent'. "You." "YOU!" Suddenly the slashes come with grander force. "Sixth Sea Style: Crushing Waves!" Moonfin's slashes start to take on a brutal nature meant to damage the arm that wields the drill sword, trying to stun and disorient Kale. He doesn't want the invader moving. "Star One closing in." And Pavo detaches the cargo crate while Albert hits the gas, trying to simply slam the body of the vehicle into Kale, drill-sword or no.
Cantio	Although the case is generally quick about forming into a sword, Kale's drill is faster and scatters those pieces about before grinding against Cantio's unguarded arm in passing. Grimacing painfully, she flings herself backwards to get some distance while a pair of clones show up (witch and horse jockey) with their own respective weapons: A sword with a horsewhip and an upside down rod that is also just a sword at the end. "We don't need to outrun you. You're always going on about wind this and empire that, but what good have you ever done for your people?!" The trio of Cantios aim their swords (and an open palm in the case of the original) at Kale, glowing with an ominous brightness. "Have you ever fed them?" "Have you ever built homes for them?" "Have you ever tried to understand what your stupid wars and projects are putting them through?" That last one might not make a lot of sense without probing into Cantio's head. It's very easy to see that whatever's she's saying is upsetting herself more than anything, though. The light expands, then explodes around Kale in a bone-rattling blast of sound. It's loud enough, even, that the ominous chanting is quieting down, as if something's happening in an irrelevant part of the background.
Kale Hearthward	"Me, yes, I think this'd be pretty clear by now," says Kale. "I have. I've been busy doing all of that! Do you assume I can't care for them..." Kale gets interrupted by the APC slamming into him. "... Hgh..." He tries to peel himself off, and get clear before Cantio's triple-attack goes off. "... Can't care for them... and... crush your feeble attempts AT THE SAME TIME!" High winds start blowing as he casts with his free hand, trying to mix things up and put the Concord contingent on the back foot. "Is that your problem! Do you assume that I'm limited to only one thing at a time! When so far I've managed to keep three territories at bay?!" "I'll prove just how capable I am when I unite Secundus with or without you!"
Starbound Flotilla	Debris and wind slam into Moonfin, crashing him against the side of the APC, brutally bruising and denting both in a shower of sparks. "We have no problem." He mutters through forced politeness. "None at all. Of course, this is only a civil dispute among those who would own territory. Nothing more." The blade flashes again. "Sixth Sea Style: Storm Without End." His motions become fluid and graceful, a series of momentum-maintaining maneuvers designed to keep up an eternal low-strain high-violence kata. "Though, perhaps you will find that the expansion of your culture might bring more of this region under it. Perhaps it would be far more to their benefit that they fall under the sway of a more beautiful culture, yes? And perhaps these proclaimations of yours, issued from the seat of a lesser culture, are a faux pas of sorts. I would say you ought to reconsider." How polite! Moonfin's muscles quake with a certain indignity and he punctuates that with a brutal thrust. Albert's less talkative. "This is where your rampage stops. Star One, opening fire." In the gaps of Moonfin's kata, Albert unloads volleys of supermetal from a heavy gun atop the APC.
Cantio	"Yes!" Cantio answers Kale rather plainly, as though her assumptions are solidly founded on something more than gut feeling. They aren't, but her gut feeling is very strong today. "You don't need to crush anything! Powers like ours..." That's right. They do have power. "how many times has it been? We've fought like this so many times, and... We both survived! We keep surviving!" The winds start blowing harder, and the clone duo stab their weapons into the ground while grabbing onto the original Cantio. They pull her back to safe ground before getting blown away themselves, and the original raises her hand. They swap places, and the clones have their feet back on solid ground while the original goes tumbling into a mass of horrible monster trees. There's a burst of light from where she landed, and she comes hurtling back out of it looking like even more of a mess. "If you're that determined to keep this fight going, though... Fine. Fine! We'll just have to show your people the difference between us!" Breaking into a run, Cantio (1) launches herself onto the APC to get something resembling maneuverable footing as she holds her arms out to start directing her crystal pieces and the clones once again. The light magic builds around Kale once more, but this time... It's actually a lightshow. Sound combines with the light to detonate like fireworks combined with straight up light explosions around him while the pieces of her sword-case echo those noises right back at him like a megaphone going haywire.
Kale Hearthward	Moonfin's words get Kale's attention. "Less- Less beautiful culture!?" He opens his beak to respond to him, giving him his full attention... ... This turns out to be a mistake. The gun opens up and nearly just shreds Kale, scoring several hits across several places, and nearly dropping him to the ground. "Ghh-" Cantio comes in. He brings his sword up, looking about the lights warily... "AWK!" he exclaims as the lightshow goes off. "Ghh..." He barely manages to get clear of the incoming sound waves, and even then his head is ringing. "I don't - need to say anything," he says, shaking his head roughly, still trying to clear the ringing from it. "I don't gotta... refute anything. All... all I need to do..." "... Is prove that I've got the strategic advantage - that I'm the better commander..." "... and... and on the local level..." He grips the drill sword more tightly, and dives in once again. "And- beat you all senseless!"
Starbound Flotilla	Moonfin is focused. Determined. He's in his rhythm. "Lesser beauty, yes. Of course, I respect the way you have civilly rejected nature so thoroughly that you find yourself so distant from its greatest centers." He's keeping the polite-rudeness up hard during his flowing kata. "That, as creatures with lesser senses, you can enjoy the 'beauty' you claim is true. Hmmh." But Kale lands the strike hard in a gap, leaving Moonfin stumbling back. Albert is the one to follow up. A grenade launcher mounted on the back of the APC lays down a wall of incendiaries to keep Kale from reaching Moonfin, while the vehicle maneuvers to flank on the opposite side from Cantio, laying down distracting fire with that heavy turret. Inside, Albert grabs his heavy combat hammer...
Cantio	"That reminds me... What /is/ your culture?" Cantio piggy backs off Moonfin's comments, panting slightly as she steadies her footing on the APC again. "I've heard of your empire. Your wars. Your military. But I've never heard of anything else." "What it makes. It's people. How beautiful it is. How beautiful the music they make is, the paintings they make, their art." Cantio shoulders her sword, pointing it at Kale as he comes back in. "How beautiful your people are. Do you know what they look like? Do they get a chance to do that?" The drill sword comes back in, and Cantio's instincts start going haywire. It'd be so easy to switch places with her clones, to let them take the hit, to sacrifice another one just like all those other times. It would make sense, too, considering that she's the main character and they're just extras, right? She braces, brings her sword down to try and deflect the drill, and it punches right through her blade and into her again. Cantio goes sailing off the Flotilla's APC, rolling to a stop on the murky ground while gasping in agony at getting hit in the gut again today. Cantio struggles to get to her feet, not having an intact sword (again) to push herself up. She doesn't have to just yet, however, as the Flotilla and keeping her clones safe gives her the backup she needs. While the APC lays down the fire with the turret, her clones start putting their all into their magical array of attacks. The fragments of her sword start swirling around Kale not unlike a glass tornado that's also firing lasers into itself while the clones fire more lasers into it. Those lasers ping off the pieces of the sword, creating a terrible wall of noise that combines with the amplified noises of the APC guns to make even hearing one's own thoughts an ordeal in itself.
Kale Hearthward	"S-shut up! I'm - plenty cultured! I was in the theater!" Kale gets steadily more heated. And just like before, the grenade launcher catches him unawares. He emerges from the explosion, burned, beating out some of the fires on his clothing. "I don't..." "... think you're much of one to talk!" It's clear, by this point, that Kale doesn't have an effective comeback, and has resorted to 'simply beat the strength of my culture into people using my fists' as a tried and true tactic. He dives lower, bringing up his drill sword again. "I'm going to-" The glass tornado sweeps across him before he can finish his answer. He drops, losing altitude entirely - unable to risk breathing in the middle of that. "..." There's no more words now. He simply just runs forward, trying to smash up the APC and then crush Cantio as best as he can!
Starbound Flotilla	The drill sword slams into the APC, cutting multiple systems. Something overloads inside, and the turret on the top starts to spark and sputter, and the side crumples inward. The gorilla of a Captain inside kicks the door outwards. It flies free, and tumbles over the terrain. While Kale has his blade lodged in the heavy armor, Albert steadily but swiftly slams onto the ground from the driver's-side door, braces himself hard, and tightens his grip on a heavy Apex hammer while he secures his riot shield. The bruising he's sustained in there marks his face and dents his armor. "Told you where I'd send you next time." Albert swings a microthruster-enhanced hammer straight for Kale's head.
Cantio	"My home is renowned for its amphitheaters. Concert halls. Audio hardware development. Music in all of its forms and production." Cantio starts with a ragged note in her voice, lurching a bit while trying to get her feet back underneath her. Her sword reforms so she can get it back up in time for Kale to slam his drill into her again, knocking her back several times before she can finally muster up enough strength to stop a blow from punching right into her gut for the third time. "Every city back home... Every nation has its own reputation for something. A city of books, libraries, knowledge. A city of industry, of machines, of modernity. A city of entertainment, of games, of fantasy. A city of magic, of flight, of the natural world. So tell me..." Cantio stumbles as she clutches a gaping wound in her side, then fixes her gaze on Kale once more." "Tell me, Hearthward. Tell me what's beautiful about your home so I can believe it is, too!" Cantio screams, and she finally rushes forward to engage Kale at close range. Her movement is a simple running thrust, but she once again shifts to a less stab-focused as the blade splits in two like a scissor with a very flat and blunt middle. The reason why becomes clear as she tries ramming the center of the V it forms into Kale's beak before clamping the two sides together to blast him with what's left of the aural explosion magic left in her.
Kale Hearthward	The hammer swings. Kale bring up his sword to block - and the sword shatters, the hammer following through to smack him in the side of his turned head. He sprawls on the ground, managing to get to his feet... just in time for Cantio to come in. "My home's culture-" he starts to say. She blasts him. There isn't a question of if he can get away - at that range, at that intensity, she can't not hit him. He staggers, dropping again, wisps of smoke coming from his feathers... --- "Places!" he called. The young hawk was having to serve in quadruple capacity - playwright, producer, actor, and director - but he was up to the task, he was sure he was. Thinking about it, he appended 'fiancier' to that list of titles - not a happy thought, given the dire financial straights he'd be in if his efforts didn't fill seats, but an undeniable thing nonetheless. "How's it look out there?" he called up to his stage crew, who was taking a peek from stage right. Crew was a misnomer - his stage crew was a crew of one starling, who was also his tech crew and was also playing several background characters. "Looks about half full," she called. "And not just the cheap seats this time, either!" "Better than last time..." said the hawk. He squared himself up. "Places!" he called again, hurrying to his spot for the opening act. "And cue the music!" --- "... Sucks." He gets to his feet. "I'm not... here to spread it. My culture, MY vision-" --- The review in the paper the next day had been savage. --- "That - is what I'm here to spread, to bring to bear! And-" He manages to dig deep - yet deeper, and takes off again, getting up above the others. "All of this talk of homes - of other people - this is a test of prowess and culture for ME ALONE, and I won't let my demonstration be stopped here and now!" He inhales, and breathes out - a massive blast of wind magic that risks simply blowing everyone here away!
Cantio	"Your... Not theirs? Then..." Cantio pants heavily as her blade hangs at her side, her arm unable to keep holding it ready for much longer as she tries to process what she's just heard. She watches as Kale rises, then braces herself once more when he speaks and prepares for another attack. The massive gust takes her right off her feet and into another copse of ominous trees, and she doesn't have enough left in the tank to stop herself from slamming into one hard and collapsing into the overgrowth below. It takes all (two) of her clones scrambling just to chase after Cantio to make sure she isn't stuck there long enough for some horrid creatures to rip her to shreds, and they look like they're about to drag her off before she stops them with a slow gesture of her hand. "I'll... I'll be fine. Keep an eye on them. We can't leave them... Behind, either. And..." Cantio strains to get her eyes up front and center, looking from the Flotilla still fighting valiantly before gesturing at Kale. "... I need to see if he means it." She says, probably sounding deeper to herself as she's bleeding from the head in several places than she does to the clones holding her up. Although they may understand what she's saying and feeling, there's still apprehension evident on their faces. Nevertheless, they keep her upright, making sure that she can see what's to come.
Starbound Flotilla	The wind magic slams Albert back into the APC. It crunches a brutal hole in the wall of it, one where his leg comically extends through, twitching ever-so-slightly, bleeding a bit where the brutal aerial barrage sending him through shredded metal has torn his armor apart. That looks to have settled it. "Fourth Sea Hylotl Style: Storm's Eye Walls." Moonfin, however, is more than willing to interject himself one more time. With a blink-teleport, he's placed himself dangerously above Kale, and brings his katana down in a dropping thrust. "Then bear your failure alone!"
Kale Hearthward	Kale blows Cantio away. She says some things that he has responses to, but... ... Kale has to focus. He'll talk to her more later. Maybe even when they aren't fighting. Kale's first reflex is to block Moonfin's teleport strike. It's a good reflex. A strong reflex. A proven reflex. It doesn't do him much good with a broken sword. Moonfin's blade hits its mark. Kale staggers. His gear sputters as it loses energy... "... If I fail..." Digging yet deeper, he reaches out, trying to grab onto him... "... Then I'll gladly bear that alone!" And twist around in midair and slam him down dowards the approaching ground!
Starbound Flotilla	Moonfin and Kale descend. One can fly, the other can't. One has just a little more adrenaline, more violence, more viciousness. The other, unfortunately, is worn down. Despite fighting hard between wings and webbed fingers, one, in the end, has the home turf advantage when it comes to a total absence of turf. Moonfin impacts the ground with a vicious metal clang, meaty crack, and east-galactic swear, bouncing off the impact as his armor locks up to prevent grievous wounds. Crashing back, it's George that launches a grapple line. "Alright, Moonie, that's enough. We're gettin' outta here!" Latching onto his armor, it yanks him as the back of the APC blasts open. Pavo's taking off with Biteblade, but Albert and Seft mount an ATV while George does just enough cover fire with a pistol to get time to toss Moonfin across the back of a dirtbike and wobble it onto the path outta here! "Cantios! Get Cantio out, just ditch the stuff!"
Cantio	The fight appears to be concluded, and Cantio doesn't even look mad. Ragged, tired, and messed up all over, certainly, but she's actually kind of calm even as her clones have to do the heavy lifting to keep her from tipping over. Worried, too, as she's still got a duty to help the allies that came to her aid, but the fire in her throat has long since faded. "Alone?" That, however, has her grimacing slightly before nudging her clones to help back the Flotilla up and get everyone onto the escape vehicle. "You're... Don't make the same mistakes I did." She mutters, reaching up briefly to get her bandages back on straight as the evacuation begins. Just in time, too, as the locals seem to recognize that the fight is over while the woods rustle with movement once again. The floating eyes are watching, the tree mouths are chattering, and the chanting from below has returned. A shadow rises briefly in the distance, and an uneasy calm settles back over the area.
Kale Hearthward	Kale lands, a bit roughly, and stands up straight. As people evacuate, he doesn't pursue. ... Largely because, once they do leave and he's alone(relatively), he reveals he can't, slumping where he stands. "... Owww." He staggers over to finish wrecking all of the things he can here, just to make sure he's finished his objective (preventing the Concord from accomplishing theirs) and then staggers his way over towards the warpgate path that'll lead him somewhere safer. "... Need to... be a bit more careful," he says to himself as he leaves. "Nearly got me that time..." Not that he'd ever admit it.