Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): Nexus Earth - The Fourth day: Planning War, Waging Battle

[Justin OOC]

It was shortly before lunch the next day when each of the Champions of Arich got a summons to come to the second Private dining area on the third floor.

Furthermore, Lawrence, who had arrived in their company also recieved the summons.

Kai had been the first to arrive and found the room laid out normally, with several small changes. On the main dining table glasses were present, but no food, and a Large map of the mountains was laid out. Kai took a position between two windows and quietly knelt and waited for the others to arrive.

After the previous days activities it was easy to see Kai was quite conflicted. He'd spent at least an hour talking to both Lancer and Archer, and had found them to be unique and likable enough men. It had been Archer who'd given the group a respite. The others in Xellos' team were a mystery.

He thought about the Master Seals placed on each of his friends and comrades and a small part of him was angered. It shouldn't be this way. if only he had his powers he could simply find the damn flowers and take them all home, Damn this world and it's messed up politics. He didn't care who won the war, he just wanted to go back home. That way he wouldn't have to fight people that any other day he'd call a friend.

It was easily the most selfish thought he'd had. To just walk away from this whole world and damn the consequences. But he couldn't. He was trapped here and because of it Lily and Valerie and all the others were too, until this stupid war was over. Beyond that there was one of ther reason to stay. He'd given his word to render aid, and as far as he could recall he'd always stood by his word once given.

"We all just have to see this through to the end, no matter what."

(((OOC Everyone post your arrival to the room, the catgirl/caretakers will guide the characters if the need arises, but they will not enter. Once everyone is here, we'll get the show on the road.)))

[Lawrence Thebes]

Lawrence heard a soft voice in his dream. He was pouncing naked through a seemly endless field of flowers, being primal and chasing primal creatures. The words in his ear distracted him long enough for the innocent animal to escape his teeth. Lawrence stood up high, exposed to all the friendly elements. The voice called his name, and he spotted clouds upon the horizon. The air got cold around him and a shipped seemed to emerge from the sky. It seemed to drop anchors of fire unto the land, destroying it with damage and smoke. He was frozen solid and he could feel warmth on his face.

He opened his eyes and saw Asia laying before him, with the door partially ajar on the far side of her. "A visitor." She whispered into his ear. He was visibly shaken upon waking, but seemed immediately relieved that he was awake now. He moved to the door, stealing the blankets to cover himself. He poked his head out and said a few words inaudible for anyone else.

He arrived in the room merely minutes later, buttoning his shirt and his hair a mess. He smelled of perfume, or so it seemed. He avoided all eye contact and kept his head aimed at the ground. He didn't dare sit near anyone who was already there, which was easy as it only seemed to be Kai. Keeping his eyes diverted from Kai he posed a question, wondering if the answer was what he thought. "When are you leaving?" he asked, wondering how heavily Kai will read into his words.

[Justin OOC]

"When the week is done Lawrence, the same as the others. Another 3-4 days. Then i'm sure we'll tangle with Archer and the others." His voice was low, but he knew Lawrence could hear.

"Is it really true Lawrence, do you bear their mark?" It was an accusation, just a simple question, carrying no inflection or tone sugesting anything other than curiosity.

[Lawrence Thebes]

Lawrence looked towards the closed door, than back at Kai. In response, he unbuttoned his shirt and moved the color, letting the shirt fall over his white shoulder. There was a mark, the mark of Xellos. His eyes made contact with Kai, and it was easy to see right through him. He was afraid, but there was also a hint of betrayal there, whether it was against him or against the team still remained to be seen. "And I'm in love with their leader." He added, but it seemed to just jump from his mouth, without his permission. He buttoned his shirt once more, but the mark still seemed visible through the thin white once it was noticed.

[Justin OOC]

Kai regarded the mark and sighed. "Damn."

Following his admission kai smiled. "She isn't their leader, either Archer or Gilgamesh is. She's just the muscle from what I understand, along with that freak Zaraki and Lancer."

He speared Lawrence with his steely gaze. "What do you want to do Lawrence? What do you want me to say? I wish i could say that we won't need you to fight with us, but I can't. It's a numbers game and right now they have us beat pretty bad. Sure we have the Mechs, but how much help can they be in enclosed spaces?"

"We need you with us Lawrence, but I can only ask. At least hear us all out, and then make your decision."

[Lawrence Thebes]

Lawrence made a cradle with his arms on the table than dropped his head into it, remaining unmoving.

[Justin OOC]

Kai nodded once and went back to his own thought. "So useless."

"If only I had my powers, we could have all just gone home."

[Georgi]

He had tried to remove the markings with his knife, but it seemed to avoid his blade. He thought of removing the whole shoulder, but he couldn't do it himself. The servant he asked to help him amputate, blanched and ran from his room. The whole incident, and the bleeding and pain, put Georgi in a foul mood. He was doing sit-ups when he was summoned.

The anger on Georgi's face was visible to Kai and Lawrence. When he noticed that Kai was also angry, he nodded to him. As for Lawrence, Georgi felt sorry for him. Lawrence had intimately entangled himself with the enemy and it would be dificult to for him to hurt her. It would probably cost him his life.

"I onder what sort of 'revelations' our new master has for us today." Georgi said sarcastically as he sat down.

[Justin OOC]

"None I'd wager since he's not here." Kai's voice was sharp, his anger apparent.

"Sorry coach. This whole thing has me on edge."

[Georgi]

"You and me both." Georgi responded. "I signed up to find a flower, not become someone's slave!"

[Justin OOC]

"If I could do something about it I would Georgi. But the fact remains that right now I'm the only normal human on the team. I've been stripped of all my supernatural abilities. And we're about to engage an experienced team of Elite warriors from a world none of us are really familiar with."

He sighs as he puts his head in his hands. "If things were normal I'd be taking midterms right now, not this. To be honest i relish the thought of doing that instead. It would be nice to only have normal worries for awhile."

[Georgi]

"It has ben a long time since anything has been normal." Georgi had a faraway look in his eyes. "Sometimes I too wish that we were all back at Jindai. A boring life seems like a blessing."

[SalmonMax]

Lily bursts into the room, her hair still wet and plastered down around her head, giving her sort of bedraggled 'wet cat' look. This is augmented by the wet cabbit perched on her shoulder, visibly digging its claws into the peasant blouse Kai bought for her as she hangs on for dear life.

"Sorry I'm late!" the princess blurted in a tone better suited to a dutiful high school student reporting her tardiness to her teacher. "I woke up late. And had a big breakfast...and then I...was busy...oh, everyone else isn't here yet either."

At that Lily visibly relaxed and drifted lazily up into the air and across the table to sit next to Kai.

"What'd I miss?"

[Valerie]

"Normal worries are for normal people." Valerie exclaimed as she entered the room, dressed in what passes for a Kyuudo uniform stiched from local fibres, dirty as all hell and torn on the Hakama where her legs were scraped, her white robe was sparcely decorated with pink petals and a longbow rested on her back. In the middle of her entrance Lily burst into the room, wet and in a huge hurry.

"We might not have signed up for saving this world, but can we be so selfish as to just leave this whole thing like this? Can we truly leave the people who need us like that?" Valerie sat besides Kai as she spoke opposite of Lily, her bow against the table besides her. "It might look bright and shiny in here, where it's neutral ground but I can assure you, people who have abilities like Lily's and mine, do you think all of them are escrupulous with them? Do you think all of them just don't think of themselves as the main characters and do as they wish?"

Valerie looked at Kai, Lawrence and Georgie. "I don't know about you two, but I was teleported here to find a flower, and have adquired a new mission while at it. Anything I can do make this world better, like removing those sociopaths working for Xellos should bring some small amount of peace to this world."

[Justin OOC]

Kai just nodded. "I understand that Valerie, but consider not all of his Champions are sociopaths. Each of his champions serves for a reason, who are we to judge those reasons? From the little I heard, Suzuka fights by a code of honor resembling bushido, and Archer struck me as a good man when I talked with him last night. Lancer, Zaraki, and Gilgamesh strike me as killers, Lancer even said as much. But I just don't know about the others. Asia iis a mystery to me."

He sighs. "Finding the flower really wouldn't be difficult. I'm of the opinion that the sensors in either of the mechs could be tuned to locate it. The problem Valerie is that we are STUCK here until our task is done. Arich is our only way home until I can figure out a way to unseal my abilities. I'm not saying we shouldn't do as we agreed to, but we stumbled into the middle of a thousand year old war, and are being told it falls to us to end it, for good or bad, by success or failure. None of us even know what Arich plans to do with the grail when we obtain it for him, he could have it in his mind to do worse than Xellos."

He smiles when Lily enters. "We've all had a rough morning I'd wager at this point Lily, it's alright. Saito, Ibis and Growler are still not here so no harm no foul. It's gonna get worse I imagine, but we'll all be together so we'll manage. We have a pretty good track record on things like this so far. As to what you missed, just concerns about the marks everyone but me bears, whether we really should be fighting this battle, and about other circumstances that are an important concern. "His gaze drifts to Lawrence as he speaks and he catches the young Hiroga's eye with slight nod.

[Lawrence Thebes]

Lawrence shot a hateful look at Valerie, it being the first time he lifted his head from his arms. He kept the look upon hearing Kai explain the situation, wondering if this is what love or infatuation was doing him. He was feeling spiteful towards Valerie and her comment. He was about ready to jump from the chair and do.. something. He didn't know. Kai made an invisible reference to him and the decision he needed to make. He felt the eyes fall upon him, his eyes still fixed on Valerie. But quickly enough he just dropped his head into his arms once more, moving only to scratch behind his large ears.

[SalmonMax]

Conscious of the weird looks flying around, but not what was behind them, Lily frowned in confusion.

"You guys, what's the matter? Why is everyone giving everyone else the stinkeye?"

[Justin OOC]

"We're all on edge Lily. Zraki alone fought several of us to a standstill, and your Ragnablade didn't kill him. Now we have him, Asia, Archer, Gilgamesh, Lancer, Suzuka, and Ryoko to contend with."

He's somewhat agitated, and this marks the first time he's been somewhat snappy with Lily.

"Thus far we know Zaraki has enough strength to hurl boulders miles into the air, and enough stamina to survive being struck by an S-rank spell."

"Asia is a Ctarl-Ctarl, a beast-person, most resembling a predatory cat. It's said her combat prowess is extreme. The most dangerous thing is that she seems possessed of near invulnerability, and the ability to transform into a more powerful predator form."

"Archer singlehandedly incapacitated an entire team of five champions From one of the Western Shires. He's a master with swords and the bow."

"Lancer has killed every foe he's faced except for Zaraki, and will not hesitate to slay anyone of us here, without the use of a Command Seal."

"Suzuka is one of the most renowned Assassins and swordmaidens of the Land of the Seven Stars. She is said to be able to cleave granite with only a wooden bokken or bamboo shinai, so great is her skill."

"Gilgamesh seems to be to some sort of royalty, and the only one that all the other champions show any degree of deference to. I'd go so far as to say Archer might actually fear him. Beyond that I haven't got anything on his abilities."

"The Final Champion is the "demon" Ryoko. She is said to posess numerous inhuman abilities including flight, teleportation, walking between walls, shooting energy blasts, and forming weapons of pure energy. Curiously she seems to be the most destructive of the team, but actually has a very very small body count. The other notable thing is her bright blue hair and gleaming yellow eyes."

[Saito]

Saito enters the room smelling vauguely of a combination of gunpowder and sweat and politely bows to the members of his team.

"Please forgive my tardiness, I was finishing up some jobs that the inn's owners had asked of me."

[Justin OOC]

Kai nods an smiles. "I can only imagine Saito, take a seat, we're just going over our battle strategy, or rather what we're up against as far as the other champions go."

Ibis shows up only a handful of seconds behind Saito, dressed in mechanic's togs and abit worse for wear. "I've got the Asterion and Meteor operational finally, but it's still going to be a few days before they're fully re-armed and re-armored. "So have I missed anything?"

She looks over at Lawrence and smiles. "So what about you? Everyone's saying you're a servant of Xellos Lawrence, which means you aren't on the same side as us. Are you gonna try to fight the Command Seal and help us out or something? Because if that's the case I gotta say that's pretty damn awesome."

For a Circinus Federation pilot to say something like that was truly unheard of, and was definitely worth some consideration. It spoke of just how much she trusted him.

Ibis took her seat next to Saito and nudged him. "You gonna come back to the bay later? I need you to help me run some simms and a diagnostic program. After that maybe we can get a bite to eat." Her tone was much softer than it had been at first, the warrior from a technologically advanced alien race seemed to honestly be relaxed right now, all things considered.

[Lawrence Thebes]

Lawrence took a deep breath, giving the impression that he was going to lift his head. He was hiding his face the best he could within his arms. He would give anything to not be in this position, with the decision he had to make. Everything had been sprung on him in such short notice that he couldn't help but nearly break under the pressure. Fighting was one thing, but this was something completely different.

His ears twitched, but that was the only movement he made.

[Georgi]

"That's quite a list of opponents, Kai." Georgi said with a robot-like calm. "Do we know what their of weaknesses are?"

[Justin OOC]

"I haven't heard of any yet. Each fighter with the eceptions of Asia, Lancer, and Suzuka have both ranged and melee capabilities, though those three only have melee attacks, they have enough speed to render their lack of range moot. Xellos couldn't have put together a better team on this world. Two former rulers, a reknowned assassin, and four extremely compentent and destructive warriors. The only thing I understand as a weakness they might have is their relative lack of coordination.

"Lancer and Suzuka don't get along, Neither Do Lancer and Archer. Archer is somewhat supported by Suzuka and Asia, and Ryoko seems to back up Zaraki. Lancer and Gilgamesh fight on their own. An intersting thing of note. Since Gilgamesh has become Xellos' champion, no one has ever actually seen him fight. From all accounts he lets the other champions do the work for him. I imagine it has something to do with him being royalty and not deigning to get his hands dirty, though it could also be because his abilities aren't what everyone says."

[SalmonMax]

"Flight...energy powers...teleportation," Lily muses, frowning. "Those are all things a Dalaraan of pure blood can do, except the moving through walls. Where did I hear..."

She looks over at Kai. "You know, I do know of a Dalaraan who mastered that ability, but her name isn't Ryoko. It's my cousin Hakubi. She's older than me, and really powerful for her age and lineage."

Lily thinks, then adds, "And she -did- disappear a while back...but she was always getting into trouble, we just figured she'd finally gotten in over her head somewhere..."

She winces and shields her face as Ratheros picks that moment to shake herself out right there on her shoulder, spraying little drops of water from suddenly poofy fur.

[Justin OOC]

Kai gets wet when Ratheros shakes herself dry and reaches over menacingly. Ratheros seems to cower as Kai's face is blank, and then his hand seems to unfurl from a fist and he taps her on the nose. "That wasn't particularly nice Ratheros. Try to avoid doing that again."

In another instant his fingers are rubbing under her right ear and she meows happily.

"So We could be facing a Dalaraan pureblood too eh? This just gets better and better doesn't it?"

[SalmonMax]

"Well," Lily says, reaching up to scratch under Ratheros' chin as well, "It'd be pretty surprising if it was Hakubi, honestly. That'd be a huge coincidence. But it wouldn't be ALL bad. I mean...we're cousins. Maybe I could talk to her."

[Justin OOC]

"I think that could be a good idea. Even if she's not your cousin see if you can find out anything about her, we really don't have much to go on."

I'm goin to try to catch up with Archer afterwhile, I have some questions and since we don't have answers I'm gonna ask someone who does. Other than him I'm gonna look up Suzuka as well. She seemed to be interested in my lineage and perhaps I can get her to shed some light on why that matters on any world beyond my own."

Kai seems so certain of what he just said, that the fact he just spoke of seeking out their enemy for answers doesn't even seem to register with them.

"They aren't our enemies for a few more days. Perhaps we can come to a more reasonable solution than slaughtering each other. I think everyone should choose one of the others and try to talk to them."

[Georgi]

"I wil try and reason with Zaraki, though I doubt it will do any good." Georgi wanted to personally size up this opponent as well. Since Georgi had already faced Zaraki and been complemented by him in battle, it might be a good place to start negotiating. Something told Georgi that Zaraki might choose another path.

"Any idea where I can find him? I don't think he's small enough to fit in the Inn."

[Justin OOC]

Kai nods. "I'm told he's quite the party animal, so I'd wager you can simply look for the most raucous party in the place and he'll be at the center of it."

He turns to the others. "Anyone else got a preference?"

[Valerie]

"I want to talk to Asia, there is no need for a person with honor to die at the behest of a so called master." Valerie looked in Lawrence direction, trying to asses any kind of ill omens from his ears. "I know this sounds like a selfish reason to talk to her, but I never said I wanted everyone on Xellos team dead, I said I wanted every psycopath working for him dead." Valerie talked to everyone on the table.

"Zaraki, Lancer, Gilgamesh, Suzuka and Ryoko" She counted a finger on each name. "That fivesome has a reputations as demons and killers, and not only that they abuse that power they have to keep killing. They are no better than the Satoshi captains who left us to die." Valerie closed her fists tightly and looked at Kai. "Kai, you said yourself that Arich might be worse than Xellos, but then why send Growler, an obviously good and honorable warrior, to look for the reast of the team? Why not do as Xellos and just find the strongest psychos and build a team around them?"

Valerie became much more passione as she talked, her eyes reflecting everything she felt when Earth was taken over by the Satoshi captains. "Maybe Archer and Asia are not bad persons, maybe even some of the worst off's have a good side to them, but actions scream what words won't say I will not stay my hand on a situation like this." Valerie noticed that she had actually stood up while talking to the table and became terribly self concious, blushing and sitting back down again. "...I guess."

[Justin OOC]

Kai sits there momentarily dumbstruck by Valerie's words. "He sent Growler because there was no one left on this world that could fight Xellos' team. We're arrving in the middle of the battle here. Xellos has already conqured half the Shards. While we're here with his champions, his armies are march on other Shards."

"What you're basically saying is that you're prepared to kill them the same as they are us." The way his voice flattened when he said it was extremely creepy, it was almost as if he'd momentarily ceased being the Kai they knew.

[Lawrence Thebes]

Lawrence thought about raising his head and sharing everything he knew about Asia. He could tell everyone about her people and her past, why she fights and why she hates Arich, and why she would kill if she needed to. But than he remembered that she didn't tell him all of that just so he could inform his 'team mates' about her and her strengths and weaknesses. He wasn't even sure what side he was on. "Talking to them isn't going to change there position on where they stand." Lawrence said. "There isn't going to be any other way to solve this except for fighting. Even if we can, somehow, convince them to back off, which we wont, there is still a matter of the seals. They could just as easily be commanded to kill us. And if it's weakness you're planning on getting from being around them, do you think they're just going to open themselves to it so quickly?" As he spoke, he remembered how quickly Asia opened up to him. "Asia isn't a killer, but she will kill. And she won't back down, especially to make way for Arich." He dropped his head once more. "But waste you're time if you like."

[Justin OOC]

Ibis speared the young Hiroga with an icy stare. "Look, we all know it comes down to a fight. Some of us would just prefer to avoid actually killing the other side. I happen to Like Suzuka and Ryoko, from the brief time I've spent in their company. But if you really want to lay it out into us or them, I'll just summon the Asterion now and atomize them all with My Deuterra reactor. No living thing in five klicks will survive, except for what I program it to save. Even in only partially repaired condition those mechs are going to be more than These indigs can deal with."

Her temper started to show as she spoke, madded by Lawrence's double talk and defeatist attitude. Never had her Circinus heritage been more pronounced.

"I don't want to do that, and I'd wager Saito doesn't either. I'd rather see if there's some alternative to mortal combat between the two teams and go with that, even if I'm put at a disadvantage because of it. But if you're certain they won't go for it, then I'll just return to fixing the mechs, and prparing to sanitize the other team, all of them."

[SalmonMax]

Lily stands up from the table, her face stormy and angry as she surveys the others sitting at it...Valerie, Ibis, Lawrence.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing...any of it," she huffs. "One of these champions might be a RELATIVE of mine! And we are NOT going to become casual killers! Any of us! If we -have- to kill to protect ourselves, or to protect other people, we will...but we won't kill just because it's 'easier' or because we're afraid they might return. We won't win by becoming the enemy!"

The imperial princess of Dalaraan lifts her chin defiantly. "There's nothing to be lost in talking to them, and I think there might be something to be gained. I think we also need to find Growler and ask him about this Arich and what he wants for the world. This is serious business we're doing here, and I want to go into it with a clean conscience."

She pauses, then adds, "And I want to come out of it with one too. I'm going to find this 'Ryoko' and see what the truth is there."

[Saito]

For a few seconds Saito was shocked, did the Meteor really possess enough power to end this war like that?

"Ibis, are you serious? Is there really that much power locked in the reactor?"

Saito pauses quickly and turns to Lily.

"I dont believe that anyone should have enough power to end a war in an instant by completely eradicating the other side, but I want to know what would our enemies do with that kind of power."

[Justin OOC]

Ibis looks at Saito. "In my Asterion, yes. I'd wager the Meteor has even more since it was originally a Captain Level machine. How on earth do you think you can fire the buster rifle more than once?"

She regards Lily. "As I stated, I don't want to use that method, but I am laying the cards I have on the table so to speak. I'm going to try to find out more about Gilgamesh. I just have a bad feeling regarding him."

Kai nods in assent to Lily even as he reaches out and lays a hand on her shoulder. "Genocide isn't on the agenda, she just mentioned it because we asked for all our options. We need to stand together on this, and I'm sure we'll find a way to resolve this."

He looks at Saito. "Saito, see if you can find Growler and then meet me back here in three hours. Try to find out where he's been, and get him here if you can."

He looks to Valerie. "Talk to Asia, find out why she fights if you can."

He looks to Lily. "Ryoko's yours, part of me hopes she is your cousin, part doesn't just because I'd never wish for someone to have to fight their own family."

He looks to Georgi, "Coach, I know you wanted to check Zaraki out, could you also check on Lancer too?"

He looks to Lawrence. "I'll support whatever you decide, Lawrence, Do what you have to do."

Kai got up and made to leave for the exit. "All of you take care, I know this is neutral ground, but I don't want to lose anymore friends."

[Justin OOC]

((OOC This concludes this session of the story. 10 cp for Valerie, Lawrence, Lily and Georgi. Saito gets 3. Now I need each of you to make a soul check (2d6+your soul score and post it here. Please do this as soon as possible so we can continue with the story.)))

(I have witnessed rolls for Lily and Valerie thus far, 14 and 12 respectively.)

[Lawrence Thebes]

2d6 7=16 for Lawrence.