Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): Nexus Earth - Chapter 9.2 Desolate Litany

[SalmonMax]

Lily's eyes cut towards Kai ever so briefly, then she nodded at Skye. Priestess of another god, she thought, but somehow put 'in touch' with Tsunami when she arrived in this world. A little weird to think of a devout follower as being something you could just...pass off, like a football...but Lily wasn't the one who made the rules.

"That sounds like a good idea," she answered. "We'll borrow the briefing room. Archangel already knows where to go, but there's a good chance we'll be needed to help defend the ship before we make it to base. The faster we get started, the better."

She motioned for the others to follow her, then led the way to the briefing room and inside.

"I'm sure you both have lots of questions," Lily said once the others had entered. She nodded at both Skye and Kazuo. "Normally I'd be more cautious with strangers from another reality, but I trust Tsunami's will...and it's clear her favor is on you. So ask what you will, and I'll answer to the best of my ability."

[Kazuo]

Kazuo seemed to suddenly come back to life at Skye's revelation that it might not have been the Old Man who'd sent them here. "Eh? Nani?", he asked and then leaned towards Skye so he could mutter under his breath, "You never said anything 'bout that ta me, bijin!"

He straightened up again and began grumbling to no one in particular, "Kisama! If that old bastard is scammin' us again I'm gonna kick his wrinkly old ass inta th'next reality. Che!"

The suggestion that they all 'get to know one another' didn't do anything to improve Kazuo's mood, but he had to admit that an exchange of information sounded like a pretty damned good idea, especially after what he'd just learned.

Upon Lily's offer of answering any questions they might have Kazuo spoke up. "Yeah, I got one", he said, "Who's this 'Tsunami' chick, and why's throwin' her name around suddenly make us A-Ok around here?"

Kazuo looked to Lily the entire time he spoke, but then he turned to Skye and added, "And is there anything else I should know 'bout why we're here an' who sent us, 'zactly?"

Click to reveal..

Nani: "What?"

Bijin: "Babe", "beautiful woman"

Kisama: Formal honorific, but used ironically as an insult. "Bastard/Bitch", depending gender of person being spoken to/of.

Che: Exclamation of annoyance/frustration/anger. "Shit", "Damn it", etc.

[SalmonMax]

Lily grinned, suddenly finding that she rather liked Kazuo's attitude. It was...refreshing to have someone be direct and impolite. It reminded her of her time in Earth's high school.

"Tsunami's the goddess that created this world," she answers. "She's one of the ancestors of my people too, along with the First Emperor. All Dalaraan of pure blood, myself included, claim lineage to Tsunami. We owe her, basically, everything we've accomplished over the thousands of years of the Empire."

"As to who this 'old man' is, no idea there. I didn't realize Tsunami had a divine brother, though there's mention of other gods in the old writings."

She lifted an eyebrow quizzically. "Do you two need a moment?" she asked.

[Kazuo]

Kazuo lifted an eyebrow right back at Lily and commented sarcastically, "Ya gotta coupla years, hime-chan?"

His tone was irreverent, but the half-smile on his face said he appreciated her sense of humor.

"As for the Old Man", Kazuo continued, "ya don't wanna know 'bout him, either. The guy's a total douche.

"But...", Kazuo tilted his head as he seemed to consider, shrugging his shoulders and causing the wings behind them to flex in imitation. "I 'spose he means well. Maybe he's like the black sheep in this Tsunami chick's divine family, an' he just sucks at his job?"

Kazuo shrugged his shoulders again as if to say 'who knows?', and then folded his arms and turned back to his oldest friend. "So?", he asked her, "what else don't I know?"

Click to reveal..

Hime-chan: Hime is usually translated "princess", though it really just refers to a woman of higher birth (than the speaker). -Chan is a name suffix, indicating familiarity with the subject and used as a term of endearment. Technically, within Japanese culture at least, Kazuo has no right to refer to Lily this way under the circumstances. But that's Kazuo for you.

[Justin OOC]

Kai took it all in, and sighed. "Masane's using the Witchblade, I can't ask her about her any of the other Gods, but when we're all back I'm sure she can give us answers."

Kazuo's brusqueness was refreshing to him too, everyone treated him like Royalty now, and he wasn't used to it.

"I don't remember seeing you in Ikaris, I certainly would have."

He nodded. "We were there not that long ago."

"As far as the current situation, add the Lily's Empire is in the midst of a civil war, with a faction of Satoshi on each side for good measure."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye paused, her blue eyes locking with Kazuo's good brown one. She didn't seem to be aware of Kai speaking. But when she spoke, it was to everyone. "I had a dream, during my nap, while we were waiting for you to arrive," she said. "Prophetic dream, or perhaps just Tsunami showing me a few things. She said..." Skye's eyes unfocused and she stood straighter, her blue glow deepening. "I saw a goddess of blue fighting a machine in a world of ash. I saw whale-like beasts fighting, their skirmish leaving the dying in their wake. I saw two angels fighting; one falls. Two men, their auras of a black dragon and a white phoenix, fighting. Then someone casts GigaSlave, and the world was taken apart."

It seemed like news that casting the ultimate spell that would be bad enough, but she continued, "Hear now, the words of Tsunami: 'My parents are playing a dangerous game, Lunar Priestess. I have already sent my own daughter into this, but she won't be enough. I have sent to my brother for his greatest champions, and he has sent you and your knight to me. It's my hope that you can find a way to defuse this situation. You're used to this by now, being tasked, and not told everything, by a supposedly higher power.' "

Skye sagged suddenly, sinking to her knees as her glow faded. "Sorry," she said softly. "It's never been this bad before. Usually, it leaves me a little tired for a few minutes, but this..." Tsunami's power had been like a scalding wave of water - heat and pressure enough to destroy a lesser servant. And Skye knew why she'd been chosen; her trials had hardened her beyond what a normal human could endure. Not everyone could serve Tsunami in the way the goddess needed and that's why Skye had been 'borrowed'. That scared her; what if Tsunami didn't release her? What if there was another crisis the goddess needed dealt with?

Skye looked up at Kazuo. "In other words, I just found out about it, and I didn't want to lapse into that in front of just anyone," she told him. "There was more, but that's just for you and me, and I'll tell you the first chance we have to talk about it." She hoped he caught her silent look: I'm not going to screw over the only person I trust in this place.

She ignored the non-question about Ikaris from Kai, wondering how she was going to answer that without creating problems. She was too tired at the moment to dance around the dangerous subject without letting something slip. She focused on her breathing and regaining her strength. She'd need it soon, she suspected.

[Justin OOC]

Kai's eyes narrowed. That was HIS spell, the one he just KNEW. "That's decidedly not a happy prophecy."

He looked around. "Takashi is the black dragon, we saw that in his Bankai back on Earth. His Zanpuktou is Sounga, Fang of the Demon Dragon."

"Atsushi told me that each realm has a guardian, The Guardian for Ikaris was killed, and The Guardian for our Earth isn't there."

He looked to Kazuo, "How about you, I suppose you have some truly awesome pedigree, to back up the mix of Asrai and Demon aura I'm getting from you?"

He chuckled. "I swear, I think I'm the only normal human around here..."

[SalmonMax]

Lily laughs. "I'm a normal Dalaraan," she points out. "More or less. My training's a bit unorthodox by now, thanks to what I picked up from Satoshi, but other than that..."

She then noticed Skye's condition and her smile faded.

"You look exhausted! Have you had time to sleep, or eat? Are you all right? We can continue this later..."

[Valerie]

"Hey you know very well being the only human around is not something bad." Valerie punched Kai lightly on the arm. "GigaSlave? Never heard of it. I know the DragonSlave but that´s about it."

Valerie shifted her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, the other worlders did not look really happy to be forced to help them by this "Old Man" but any and all allies are good in the situation they are in. "Lily is right, you must be a bit overwhelmed by the whole change in scenery from Ikaris to this place, to be honest I sometimes miss Ikaris, at least the nice parts of it. I always wondered what happened to it after the Archmage Battle finished."

[Kazuo]

Kazuo regarded Skye with frank surprise as she lapsed into her trance-like state, apparently prophesying right there in front of everyone, speaking with the voice of some 'higher power'.

"Huh", he said a moment after she'd collapsed to her knees, "that was different..."

Kazuo seemed to consider Skye's words as he bent down and helped her back to her feet, offering her a shoulder to lean on (if she needed it) without even seeming to realize he was doing it.

As the two of them straightened back up he seemed to come to some kind of conclusion. "Well I gotta admit, this Tsunami chick seems like more of a straight shooter than that old bastard, which I like, but...", he paused as he looked back down at Skye next to him, "I ain't too happy 'bout her droppin' ya to yer knees like that jus' so she could have ya deliver some message that only half-way makes sense."

Kazuo looked like he wanted to say more, but for once he actually seemed able to hold his tongue. Strangely, he didn't comment on Skye's statement that there was 'more' to the message, but that it was only for his ears. But that was Kazuo all over; for him, 'Divine intervention' had always been something of a joke - usually a bad one, too - and he never had taken any of it seriously.

When Kai looked to him and asked, "How about you, I suppose you have some truly awesome pedigree, to back up the mix of Asrai and Demon aura I'm getting from you?", Kazuo just gave him a funny look and then broke out into a grin.

"Pedigree?", he asked, the word coming out in a mischievous tone that made it sound like it was the punchline of an inside joke only he was in on. "Listen, omae, I dunno what ta tellya. Th'first I heard about these wutchacallem, these asrai, was like an hour ago. An' as fer my 'pedigree' - heh - I'm just some punk who grew up on th'streets o' Shinjuku."

Click to reveal..

Omae: "You", "person (that I'm talking to)", "guy", etc.

[Justin OOC]

"Shinjuku doesn't exist here anymore, even with all the reconstruction, we've only recovered about thirty percent of the city, all our efforts were sank into fighting the Federation."

There was no small amount of sadness in his tone.

"So you've got no clue what you are, and Skye is the priestess of Tsunami. We've dealt with weirder."

Lunamaria looked at them, Amane had said they could be like this, Lily and the other VIP's...

There was a single tone, and then the Captain's voice interrupted. "Head Captain Morisato, Captains Nagare and Klan send word that they have accomplished their mission, and managed to capture a C3 station. There were significant enemy casualties."

Kai nodded. "Thank You Captain Ramius, I'll contact them shortly. Have them return to the lunar base and we'll regroup there. What's our ETA?"

"If we push, 3 hours, given our status, I'd safe a safe time would be more like five."

"At your judgement Captain."

She signed off and Kai looked to Lunamaria. "Have a combat patrol ready, in case they send more troops."

"Yes Captain. Your staterooms are ready should you require them, We gave you the same ones from last time."

Kai nodded. Him sortieing wasn't advisable, since the Meteor was being serviced. "Some things never change."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye took Kazuo’s help, trying not to enjoy it too much. She put her arms around his waist and leaned against him, glad that she had someone to lean on after the ordeal of speaking for the Goddess. That hadn’t always been the case. This was like her drunken demon-hunting days; the memories of leaning against this form while trying to figure out how to walk came rushing back.

She started to answer Lily but was cut off by both Kai and the Captain of the ship. She fell silent and listened, trying to make any sense of what was happening. It was pretty much worthless though; it was all largely gibberish, and no one was bothering to explain. She sighed and dropped her head against Kazuo’s chest.

“You ok?” Lily asked again.

Skye smiled and lifted her head, mostly to show that she was as fine as she was about to insist she was. “Give me a few moments. Speaking for the gods like that tends to take it out of you, but it’s temporary. When I did it for Luna, it mostly left me tired for a few moments after. This is… considerably more tiring. It’s like a wave of water; it rushes through and pulls everything with it and messes up everything. But then the wave is gone and things are normal again. I don’t need rest or food, I just need some time.” And for you guys to stop asking questions I don’t want to answer.

[SalmonMax]

Lily nods, and something in her expression really does seem to understand at least part of what Skye's going through.

"It's why I was surprised to see you were serving as a priestess. It's amazing that you're able to stand her touch at all. Most non-Dalaraan wouldn't be able to handle it."

"As for time...it looks like we have some. Was there anything else you needed to know from us, or about us?"

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye looked at Kazuo, and he shrugged. Skye had to agree with his assessment; what they didn't know but probably needed to know would cover about six hours of intense grilling. That was a luxury they didn't have time to indulge.

"Lots," Skye said bluntly, "but I suspect that this is neither time or place. We came here to do a job. Let's get on it and get it done." She considered suddenly that once they were done here, she and Kazuo could go tripping across the metaverse, exploring and having adventures. Maybe she could see Cathedral; they could explore other places. The thought was so thrilling that a beautiful, breath-taking and sincere smile crossed her face. "Yeah, let's kick Evil's arsch and send it crying home to mutter."

[Justin OOC]

"Yeah, I can agree with that."

What followed was everyone relaxing while mecha were repaired, the ship was moving slowly, but there had been no other ships follow it. Everyone was on the bridge except Lunamaria who'd been leading the Combat Air Patrol. The Allies' plan of pulling the Republic's forces in every direction was working well. Then the Hyperspace sensors reported a contact.

"Captains, Heavy sensor Contact 100 thousand kilometers off our port side. It's the Dominion!!"

The Comm officer called "We're being Hailed!"

"Satoshi Warship Archangel, This is Head Captain Hizashi Hayami, I order you to surrender at once, or Face annihilation."

Kai stood defiantly. For Skye it was surreal, she'd heard that voice before, Even the face was familiar. "I will not surrender to you Hizashi."

"You've grown Kai. Let us See how much. Fire Lohengrin!"

They had seconds before the blue-white beam would impact and destroy the Archangel, When a shadow fell over the bridge. It was the Impulse, One of the only two gundams in system. "No, Luna!"

"For Satoshi!!!!!" The Gundam's Deuterium reactor flared, it's phased shift armor to maximum, As It Shielded the Archangel from the hit. Armor peeled away and vaporized leaving structure and mechanisms which then began to disintegrate beneath the Beam, but the blast forked around the bridge.

"Captain Ramius, Get to the lunar base, We're going to hold them off. Scramble all mecha and drones. Half for on-ship escort, the rest with me. I'm gonna take that ship or destroy it."

He looked to Skye and Kazuo, "If you guys want, we're about to go fight one of the mos dangerous opponents around. You're welcome to come along."

Kai looked to Lily and Val. "Hangar NOW!" Another officer dead, dying to save them.

[SalmonMax]

Lily swore and said, "I'll meet you in the Meteor!"

Blue energy whirled in a sirocco around her, and she flickered out of sight. In the hangar deck she appeared in the same manner and dashed to the large mecha, flying up to the cockpit and carefully slipping into her control seat.

,,

Meteor's engines began to whine and tremble as Lily started them up and brought its systems online so that when Kai and Val caught up it would be ready to fly immediately.

[Valerie]

"Luna!" Valerie was astounded at the heroic sacrifice of the Lieutenant of the Archangel, and roared a savage scream, anybody who managed to keep their hearing around her could understand a gargled "HIZASHI!"

Her translucent cloth hanging from around her shoulders flared up with blue-green energy and from around her shoulders a huge cloud of steam ascended. "I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU!" Instantly after, Valerie was gone from the control room as the wind pressure she left behind her could be felt all throughout the control room, just a glowing trail can be seen behind her, leaping into the Meteor cabin she gets on position, and jump starts the EMPOWER system through her up link. "I got just what we need, now let´s see just how much juice this baby can hold from all three of us."

[Justin OOC]

The door began to Glow and Kai looked to Kazuo and Skye. "Are you two coming or not? I can get you on a dropship, and get you on that ship. From there I need you to make your way either to the bridge or engineering and shut the ship down. Can you do that?"

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye grinned eagerly. "This is what we're here for," she said, looking excited. She looked at Kazuo and added softly, "And this is what you're really good at, so I'm sure you want to go, too." She looked at Kai, her eyes nearly glowing with her anticipation. Several of the crewmen who saw it pictured that expression on her face in an entirely different scenario and nearly passed out from blood loss to vital organs. Skye didn't seem to notice as she said to Kai, "We'll take you up on that."

[Kazuo]

Kazuo scowled at Kai's offer. He didn't get it; he'd only just recently explained to them that he was practically built for combat in open space between ships, and now this guy wanted him to go running around inside one?

If Kazuo had been someone who knew anything about anime - specifically the 'Mobile Suit Gundam' series - he'd have said that sending him to ride in a dropship (that probably wasn't as fast or as maneuverable as he was) and board the enemy ship to disable it from the inside was like sending a Wing Gundam Zero to do a Leo's job. But Kazuo didn't know much about anime, so all he could say was that this idea sort of sucked - fighting his way down the cramped hallways and through the even more cramped access hatches of a spaceship with his wings out would be a huge pain in the ass.

Kazuo gave Skye a tight smile as she spoke to him and tried not to look too put out. Even someone like Kazuo knew that now wasn't the best time to bring up these kinds of concerns, and it wasn't like he couldn't fight his way through a ship.

"Yeah", he said finally, agreeing with Skye. He glanced between their new boss and Skye as he continued, "I know more about how all this shit works, so I'll take engineering while you take the bridge. That sound good?"

[Justin OOC]

Kai nodded, and grabbed their hands, pulling them through the door and into the hangar. He pointed to the dropship. "There's your ride." He grabbed the guidewire to the Meteor's cockpit and joined Lily and Valerie within, finishing the initialization.

The Meteor stood, and walked from it's Gantry to the catapult. "We will engage the Dominion. Teams 1, 3, and five you're with me."

The mecha launched, and three dropships accompanied them as they vectored in on the Dominion, which was already disgorging its own mecha.

[Justin OOC]

The Meteor, using all three of them protected the other mecha and the dropship long enough to get them onboard the Dominion without any losses. Lily and Valerie had already gotten out, and Kai was getting ready to disembark and return it to it's pocket dimension, when an alarm sounded. Something else had just teleported in-system.

A familiar laugh filled the com. "I see I'm later to the party. Hizashi handle them. I'll take the ships." The E-Shadow took off for the the Archangel and Quarter, their own weapons and defense mecha lighting up the sky trying to hit the other captain. "Lily, You and the others proceed to secure or destroy the Dominion, I'm going to save the ships."

Before anyone could reply, he took off, heading back for Takashi.

In the Ship, Lily, Valerie, Kazuo, and Skye were left to deal with the drones within the ship, and the Rogue Head Captain commanding it.

[SalmonMax]

"Kai...goddess damn him sometimes..." Lily muttered. She forced herself to refocus on the mission. She'd deal with Kai later...and promised herself there would be a 'later' to deal with him on.

"All right, Hizashi's probably at the bridge. I think we should go directly there, all four of us, and confront him. If the bridge is left intact, we can try to secure control of the ship's security systems from there before locking it down and moving to engineering."

"Sound good?"

[Justin OOC]

(OOC, you guys are free to make your way to the bridge where Hizashi is, along the way you won't see any living people, but there are going to be dozens of drones trying to intercept you.

these are their stats

Scout class Mecha "Ravager"

150 hp

ACV 11

DCV 11

armor 5

Lasers 75 damage

Claws 40 damage penetrating 3

Fangs 40 damage Penetrating 3

You can go as a group (reccomended) or make your own way there, engaging drones as you like. Show off, have fun, remember though you are in a ship. You are actually in the now empty mecha hangar, (empty aside the drones) and the layout of the ship is the same as the Archangel, thus Valerie and Lily know the way to the bridge.

Have fun.)

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye watched Kai fly off alone, wondering if he really was that big of a ass that he thought he could fight the bad guy alone. Part of her thought she should just let fate take its course, but they were here to help.

She reached out and caught Kazuo's arm. "Hey, you said you can fight in space, right?" she asked. His eye lit up a little, even as the rest of him tried to casually nod. Like a little kid, she thought fondly, feeling her smile soften. "Go help Kai. I'm sure the three of us can more than handle the bridge."

"Aight," he said, grinning to let her know he was only agreeing to this because he wanted to do it anyway.

"And be careful!" she called after him despite her promise to herself that she wouldn't.

He turned and looked back at her, his wings already starting to spread. "Quit naggin', woman," he grunted, outwardly irritated at her remark. She knew he liked it.

As he continued toward the exterior hatch, Skye turned to the other two. "Are either of you human?" she asked. There was a hard look in her eye when she asked that, and both of them hesitated in their negative replies. "Good," she said, smiling a little and getting her fans out of from where she'd stuck them in the obi. "Princess, would you like to lead? Noblesse oblige and all that?"

[Valerie]

"Goddammit Morisato!" Valerie was very angry at Kai, and it showed when a part of the hull gave in under a single punch of hers leaving a fist impression behind, while she was fuming to herself Skye had already sent Kazuo behind on his merry little way and then the three girls were left alone.

Skye turned to both of them and asked a big question "Are either of you human?" Val twinged a bit at the question, but since physiological she was not one she answered negatively.

"I guess we should be moving towards the bridge now? It´s not like Hizashi is going to go anywhere, he probably is waiting like some final boss in a game, gonna taunt us and give us a little mocking speech." Valerie mocks throwing a wine glass.

"Want to get the move on? The clock is running."

[SalmonMax]

"My leading has nothing to do with my rank in the Empire," Lily said to Skye. "This is a Satoshi operation. But I have command experience, and I know the deckplans of this ship." She didn't add, and if it wasn't for you two, I could just teleport to the bridge right now. Something about Skye's attitude infuriated her; made her feel that she was insinuating that she was in charge just because she was Princess, and hadn't earned any of her authority.

She nodded towards a smaller set of doors on the side of the hangar.

"Those lead to the tunnels the service mechs use. They're big enough for a person to move through, as long as you can fly. We should be able to avoid the bulk of the onboard marines using them."

With that Lily ran across to the service doors, wedged her fingers between the metal plates, and with great effort forced them apart to the melodic accompaniment of screaming metal bulkheads and the booming hiss of sundering hydraulics.

Then she ducked inside and paused to let the others catch up.

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye was hard on her heels. "Sorry, Princess," Skye said, not sounding at all contrite. "I'm used to royalty who get pissed if you don't let them take the lead." She grinned widely. "Usually means they take the bullets first, but who am I to argue with royalty?"

Before Lily could answer, three drones appeared at the junction ahead. "Looks like the party's started," Skye said eagerly. A blue glow sprang to life around her, making her scowl for a moment as she wound up her fans and shouted, "Wrath of the Western Wind!"

A blast of icy air whipped past the three women, slamming into the robots. Shards of ice tore through metal casing and circuits alike, turning the sleek machines into near junk. Skye laughed - she hadn't been able to use her fans much in Bazaroth, but she still had it!

Click to reveal..

Long, we need the robots AVC and DVC, please. I wrote the attack as hitting for now, but can edit as needed.

Skye's attack: 21

2d6=5

Damage is 96 with Penetrating 3, reducing their armor to 3 points. All three take 93 points of damage, if it hits.

[Justin OOC]

(so edited)

[Justin OOC]

((do you all just want me to get you to the bridge?))

[Valerie]

Valerie saw her new companion Skye revel a fraction of her prowess as a mystical priestess of Tsunami as blasts of Icy Air tore through the drones that had recently appeared and the razor sharp cold air blasted through them like they were not there.

"Robots, why is it always robots? They never give up and rarely decide to surrender without a fight." Valerie sighted, flexing a bit before she started her exercise. Valerie readied herself in a stance reminiscing of a Olympic sprinter before she propelled herself forward instantly, the floor where she had set her feet on completely crumbling under the power of her legs as she shot forward faster than the normal human eye could follow, almost like a shooting star she tackled directly into the second wave of drones coming through the door, gutting the first one as she pierced through it and stopping where the second one used to be standing, it´s current location now being a scrap pile together with a couple more drones.

"You two coming or will I keep all the fun?"

[SalmonMax]

Lily's battle aura flickered on; a translucent blue egg that encapsulated her neatly. From the same azure energy a sword formed in her right hand, sharp and slightly curved and solid-looking despite its immaterial origin. She nodded at Valerie.

"I'll take point. Anything we don't destroy will come back to attack us from the rear once we hit the bridge, so leave nothing standing between here and there. Whatever level of force is necessary." She grinned at Val. "Just don't destroy the ship in the process. And save some power for Hizashi, because we'll need it."

She started out down the corridor then at a resolute walking pace. Another pair of the vaguely scorpion-like sentry drones appeared ahead, and in less than an eyeblink Lily had vanished and appeared standing between them. Her energy blade ripped through one's armored hull and plunged deep into its protected power plant, instantly shorting it out in a shower of sparks. The second one whirled on her, and its lasers played over the glow of her aura, only piercing through at the last moment and too weakly to do damage to her. In reply, Lily blasted a hole in its skin and impaled it through the hole on her sword. It exploded violently, the concussion and spray of shrapnel cascading off and around her field.

And so they went. After the first skirmishes, the three naturally fell into a sort of strategy as the sentry squads they encountered got bigger, and started incorporating heavier drones. Lily teleported into the midst of them, provoking the drones to target her first. While her heavy defenses absorbed those attacks, Valerie and Skye tore loose as they closed in on foot. By the time Lily's protections began to fade under the attacks, the other two had finished closing in, and she teleported out to provide fire support from a distance. Forced to divide their attacks in this manner, the drones could never focus their fire on any one of them long enough to do real damage.

That's not to say it all went without a hitch. The bigger, heavier security drones they encountered as they punched their way through the ship in particular made them revise their strategies, when a pair of them were able to deplete Lily's shields very quickly with powerful automatic fire and forced her to retreat early. Skye's agility and fans came in very handy there, as did Valerie's powerful ranged attacks.

Without much discussion, the three women fell into an instinctive harmony of attacking and defending. Their battle plan was fluid and flexible, constantly evolving as they warred their way through the armored metal labyrinth of the ship...guided by Lily and Valerie's knowledge of its layout. They never stopped to rest, knowing that pausing would only give the ship's defenses time to organize against them.

Finally they came to their destination...a small service door that would lead to a maintenance corridor that paralleled the bridge's bulkheads. As Valerie interfaced with the door to force it to unlock, Lily and Skye dealt with the veritable horde of drones that intercepted them, coming from both ways up and down the hall. Skye summoned bitter winds to rend and freeze, then leapt into the fray and left slashed robotic bodies in her wake. Lily saturated the corridor in the other direction with blasts of energy that exploded where they hit, creating a zone of no return for the oncoming drones. And still they came. Princess and priestess were forced back, one step at a time, and each took hits as they shielded Valerie from attacks. The cyborg's eyes suddenly lit up then, as she managed to pry open the walls of code and gain access. The door opened, and the three girls dove in as it slammed shut behind them!

Finally, finally the three had a minute or two to catch their breaths as the robots tried to open the door. Fortunately, Valerie had thoroughly scrambled the protocols on her way out, and the piece of armored metal was a barrier to them...and designed to resist weapon fire as it was, it wasn't something they could easily force open.

Lily looked away from the door as it pounded and shook under fire from outside, the blue aura of her defensive field was coming back into focus as it regenerated, and the numerous small wounds she'd sustained were likewise closing. She gave Skye and Valerie a tired nod, and smiled.

"This engineering corridor leads around to the main bridge entrance. I'm thinking security will be very heavy there though. The main door is practically impossible to blast through, and it has static defenses...turrets and more drones." She took a deep breath and poked at the wall of the cramped space they were in. "But I think we might be able to get in from here. For one thing, the bulkheads here won't be as protected as in the main corridors outside. We might be able to blast through. There's also a series of shafts to give access to bridge systems we can get to from here...those shafts lead more or less straight into the bridge, with just thin walls separating them. They're made for maintenance drones, so they're pretty small, but I think you two would fit. Then, when you're in position, I teleport in while you both blast your way in."

"What do you guys think?"

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye wiped the sweat off her brow, looking very satisfied. "Sounds fine to me, Princess," the glowing priestess said with a graceful shrug. Her kimono abandoned her shoulder, revealing a pale curve of skin. As Skye pulled it back into place, she added, "But I'm not one to ask. If we were attacking a castle, I would have some sound advice. But I don't know anything about assault spaceship bridges."

If her lack of knowledge troubled her, she didn't show it. Instead, she grinned cockily and waited for Val to suggest changes - or for them to be given the blessing to go.

[Valerie]

"I like the plan too, but let me take point this time, no offense, but you are more dangerous with your instant movement than trying to take on Hizashi head on. Me? I can take one or two of his hits up close before I will be sent to robot heaven." Valerie smiles a big smile towards Skye and Lily.

"We could also just blast a single path from here to Hizashi, if you want me to?" Valerie lifts a hand aiming more or less towards the bridge.

[SalmonMax]

Lily nods. "The less time he has to prepare, the better off we'll be. Besides, I'm tired of the sneaking around. Lets blast through and try to get the jump on him. If we all do it at once, we should be able to punch through almost instantly."

[z-Skye the Fallen]

Skye's smile widened at Lily's plan. "Sounds direct," she mused, shaking her fans so that they opened a little wider. "I like direct." The Universe immediately nominated her remark for the Understatement of the Year Award.

"Let's do this - all together, all as one attack, I presume? Val, you count to three, and we'll all go as one," Skye said to the two other women. For a moment, she forgot that Lily was the princess and nominally in charge; they caught a glimpse of the 'Little Boss' as she'd been named after the Battle for Bonegate.

Agreement was reached, and Skye drew her forcefield up with one fan, murmuring the key phrase. With the other fan, she drew back, winding up for her attack. As the others prepared themselves, Skye readied herself. And when the attack came, she struck with her decimating Western Wind. But that wasn't all; as the words from her attack faded, a blue gibbous moon hung before her for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, they glowed with a pale blue light. “Tsunami! My mistress and goddess, hear my plea! As your image fills with light, so fill me with HOLY FIRE!" Her fan lashed out and intertwined ice and white flame burst from the edge. The shards of ice flew straight and true, as they always did, but the gouts of white flame danced with them, somehow not melting them. Instead, the two struck together, mixing with the other two women's attacks.

Click to reveal.. (Numbahs)

Skye's attack roll (I accidentally rolled twice, please disregard the second roll, or use it for defense: 8 + 16 = 24

2d6=8, 2d6=7

Activating the Spirit Command Fire of the Gibbous (Passion) - double damage, costs 35 EP

Click to reveal.. (Why I did this. )

Long said it'd be ok to combine our attacks, and rather than have another round confirming agreement, I assumed it would be alright with you, Max. Kult confirmed today in chat he'd be fine with it.

Long said one attack is the central 'drill' while the two are side effects. Since Val has the strongest ranged attack, I went ahead and had her take the central 'drill' (as one of her pretty-in-pink lasers is essentially a drill anyway) ICly, hence why she did the countdown. I can change that as needed.

[Justin OOC]

The combined attack of All three women was enough to punch all the way through to the bridge. Standing there alone of the bridge was Captain Hizashi Hayami, former head of all Satoshi Crisis Response Teams, holding his Zanpuktou, Kusanagi.

"Princess Aksaniolilly, Valerie, and Priestess of Luna, Skye. I missed you, that won't happen again."

He was ready for them. "I imagine asking you to surrender is pointless. I guess a better question is which of you will be first."

He was completely unfazed by their show of power, and stood there totally impassive. If anything, he looked bored. In that one moment, Lily and Valerie noticed something. Hizashi looked like an older version of Kai.

"Tsunami must think highly of both her royal-blooded champions, if you're both here."

He nodded once. "She always was one to rush into things."

[SalmonMax]

Lily took a step forward and raised her fists belligerently.

"Who do you think YOU are, talking about a goddess that way?" she demanded. "Your line's got barely a quarter of the Blood that the Imperial family has! And you were born long after She left this world, so don't start sounding familiar!"

"Maybe you could handle one of us...but you've got all three at once. We're taking this ship and stopping your revolt before you can sell the whole Empire out to a psychotic madman!" Then she added innocently, "Excuse me, to another psychotic madman. I guess you two have too much in common not to be friends."

[Justin OOC]

"Revolt? Oh yes, that was merely a distraction, at least for me. Takashi was far more involved. The only thing I did was raise the Military academy. The grizzled old Commandant, he's been the one warrior in this war worth my time. He was never affraid, and accepted his fate. He met me with every erg of power he could muster, having watched his entire academy fall before my blade."

He looked to the others. "And You Cyborg, you're here when the man you love fights a foe beyond him with someone he doesn't know. Do you care so little about him?"

To Skye he shook his head. "Reunited briefly after literally surviving hell itself, you send your ally into the unknown, and stand with Women you know little of."

He sighed. "You think me Mad, but when one is as Old as I am, the long view is the only way to see things. You three aren't ready to face me."

[SalmonMax]

"That obviously never stopped you before!" Lily shoots back angrily. "Were the children at the Academy ready to face you?! After what you've done, you don't GET to pretend you have a sense of honor! You may look like a man, but your soul died long ago. The only thing left to do is see that this hollow shell before us meets the same fate."