Mobile Section 34

[Tengu_temp]

Located in one of the less densely populated parts of Kranagan, the building of Mobile Section 34 is not of a very impressive size - it's closer to a police station than headquarters for an important military division. At least there is a hangar for one helicopter at the back, and the close thin forest would probably be a good place for the forwards' training... forwards who, just like everyone else, have just recently became the members of the section, but who, unlike some, have not shown up at the first day of their new jobs yet. Well, it's still morning, they still have a short time till the opening ceremony - which will be probably the first time most of the section's members will see each other.

Inside the building's main hall, where the ceremony will take place, currently there is only a single person - a tall and rather thin man in the TSA's uniform, somewhere in his thirties or fourties, with short green hair, kinda spiky and strangely messy for a military officer. He's sitting on a chair, his head thrown back and face covered by a book entitled "Literature of Earth - late reneissance". He's apparently asleep.

(No, Section 34 is not named like this because there are other 33 sections currently operational. The numeration is just weird.)

[Terraoblivion]

The man was not allowed to sit alone for long. A while before the ceremony was to start a teenage girl with short ice-blue hair entered the room and went to stand roughly in the area where they would be addressed once the ceremony would start. Having taken her spot she looked around a bit nervously before, trying to smooth out a few invisible wrinkles in her uniform. Having done that she started standing as formally as she could, never once seeming to think about the peculiar thing about doing that in a room that was empty except for a sleeping man. Her eager, wide-eyed expression, tinted by a case of nerves as it was, did little to dispel the very strange image of attempted military conduct she presented as she stood there.

[Drascin]

The door of the building opens quietly, and an unlikely pair enters the hall. While entering, walking in a way that made obvious she really wasn't used to the uniform, the tall woman looks around quizzically, with that kind of unmistakable "I'm suppossed to go somewhere but I have no idea if this is really it or I got completely lost" newbie look in her face.

"Um... according to the directions, it's supposed to be here, Chen. But it seems there's no one... ah" Taltha notices the girl in the middle of the room, and then the sleeping man.

She stands there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Then she approaches her.

"Eh... excuse me... eh, ma'am. Is this the building assigned for Mobile Divison 34 of the TSA? I'm supposed to be one of the trainees that get started today..."

Taltha is obviously completely out of her element here - she doesn't know how one is supposed to greet militarly, or things like that. In fact, she hasn't even noticed the other girl is also wearing a trainee uniform. All this stuff evidently makes her a bit nervous.

[Terraoblivion]

The girl turned to face the newcomers, even beginning a small half-bow before she realized that the woman had said she was a forward as well. "Ummm...yes it is." She looked nervous for a moment before finding the letter telling them where to show up and unfolded it. "At least i checked the address several times. And we both showed up here so i think i headed right. I hope at least." She handed the letter to the other girl, before managing a nervous smile and saying what is very clearly a rehearsed line. "I'm Private 2nd Class of the Air Mages, Mireio Satria. I look forward to working with you."

[Nerd-o-rama]

Behind Taltha and her partner, another teenager walks in, uniform tie askew and struggling with her green hair. As she walks, she apparently gives up on her last-second attempts at styling and quickly pulls it into a ponytail, obviously irritated.

The annoyed look on her face brightens into a smile when she sees the others, though. "Oh, hey! You all must be the other forward trainees! How's it going? I'm Tara," she effuses.

[Drascin]

"Ah, good then. I worried I might have got the address wrong" Taltha's voice softens up a little - well it seemed she had got it right, after all. Also, apparently this girl would be one of her companions. Taltha sizes the girl, down to... more down, I guess (it *is* a thirty centimeters difference after all) in a second. She also smiles, and her smile is also a weak one, but in her case is more of the kind that isn't really used to trying to smile for others but is still trying to be courteous.

"I am Taltha Oresia, engineer. I'm still not entirely sure of how military ranks work, or if I have one already or not. It is a pleasure to meet you, and look forward to working with you"

She extends her hand tentatively - most working meetings were preceded by handshakes, did this social norm hold up in the military as well, she wondered? - and tries to act her best ladylike persona.

And then the tornado hits the room.

Taltha turns to the new girl, still a bit confused, but starting to get her act a bit together.

"My name is Taltha. It is a pleasure to meet you." Taltha's dextrous hands go towards Tara's head in a rather... motherlike gesture, and start helping her style her hair a bit - she seemed like she might want some help there. "But please, lower your voice" she points softly at the sleeping man.

[Terraoblivion]

Taking Taltha's hand, Mireio shook it. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Oresia. I am sure you have a rank and that our officers will inform you of it soon." She shyly returned the taller girl's smile. She wasn't used to being the one experienced and asked for advice like this and she had to do her best.

Then her train of thoughts was interrupted by the short, noisy girl showing up. The rather less spotless appearance caused a brief moment of doubt as she wondered whether to speak in favor of proper military conduct, warn her of what a sergeant might do for her appearance or just let it slide and hope nothing came of it. After standing for a moment with an uncertain look on her face, she chose the last as her face brightened into a smile at the newcomer as she went into her rehearsed expounding on her full rank. "We are. I'm Private 2nd Class of the Air Mages, Mireio Satria."

[Nerd-o-rama]

Tara waves off Taltha's help good-naturedly, deciding it's not really worth the effort at this point, before looking startled over at the sleeping man. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't realize I was shouting, she says, not all that much more quietly. She gathers herself into something resembling attention while attempting to straighten out her uniform in a very brief panic. "Ahem. I'm Private Second Class Tara Severn. It's nice to meet you," she tries again, more quietly.

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio knew how this was, the worry over presenting yourself well enough to others. As Tara tried to straighten her uniform she tried so as well, though unlike Tara there was nothing to straighten other than the slight creases her last attempt at straightening it had created. "It's nice to meet you as well, Tara." She smiled weakly as she tried looking for some more to say to finish the lame line she had just given. After a few half starts she just gave up and stood there quietly with the other two forwards.

[Drascin]

"My rank will probably be whatever the lowest step is in this particular organization. I just joined, after all" Taltha's voice starts to recover her usual neuter softness, distracted by the conversation and the possibility to learn new stuff. "I've always just been Taltha, or Miss Oresia at most, so this feels... strange. Also, that" she points towards her - by this point probably bored silly - familiar "is Chen. We're still rather unknowledgeable when it comes to military affairs. Please help us a bit" Taltha bows at the other two gracefully.

When she gets up, she looks around, inquisitive, her trail of mind galloping much faster than her awkward mouth could ever hope to follow.

"Um... by the way, do you happen to know what we're supposed to do here? My letter only said something of an opening ceremony, but there doesn't seem to be enough people here"

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio grew more relaxed as the conversation went on to topics she knew about and not just greetings. "On the other hand you haven't joined the ordinary troops, so it is possible you will have a slightly higher rank than most recruits." She nodded slightly to the taller girl before turning to face the catgirl. "Nice to meet you as well, Chen. If either of you have any questions about the military i will try to help as well as possible."

She shrugged slightly at the scientist's question. "They are probably just late. Our commanders are likely detained by important matters. I don't know who they will be, but they will be veterans with many jobs and unique skills. Possibly even members of the former Division Six." She hoped that was the case on all counts. It would not look well if they had all come to the wrong place.

[Dragoon]

Lucius had slept in later than usual. The letter had surprised him. After waking up and realizing that if he wanted to make a good impression by being earlier, he would have to move it. Putting on his uniform without much though as he took, off, making sure to bring his drawing pad with him. He might find something of interest to draw there.

He walked in to see that four other forwards had reached there before him. Taking a deep breath and seeing a pause in the conversation, he walked over and with his higher than usual for a guy voice, "Hello, I guess we are all in this together, correct? I am Private 3rd Class Lucius Rosenberg, um, who's that guy?" Pointing at the sleeping older man.

[Drascin]

She shrugged slightly at the scientist's question. "They are probably just late. Our commanders are likely detained by important matters. I don't know who they will be, but they will be veterans with many jobs and unique skills. Possibly even members of the former Division Six." She hoped that was the case on all counts. It would not look well if they had all come to the wrong place.

Taltha caught herself before answering in her usual logical fashion. It was pretty obvious from what she knew of recent Midchildan history that the aces from former Division Six would most certainly not spend their time with a random squad of trainee mages - for starters, most of them were already in positions of high power in the system. However, the girl in front of her looked so eager and happy at the thought that Taltha just could not bear the thought of dropping that bucket of cold water over her.

"Indeed, let us hope so", she said instead, before noticing the new aggregate to the circle of forwards.


He walked in to see that four other forwards had reached there before him. Taking a deep breath and seeing a pause in the conversation, he walked over and with his higher than usual for a guy voice, "Hello, I guess we are all in this together, correct? I am Private 3rd Class Lucius Rosenberg, um, who's that guy?" Pointing at the sleeping older man.

"My name is Taltha Oresia, and this is my familiar, Chen. If you're another of the new memebers of Division 34, then yes, you are correct. It seems we're your partners. It is a pleasure to meet you" *little head bow*

"As for him... we do not know. He, however, does not look like he had a good night. Let him sleep pecefully for the moment - the upcoming ceremony will likely wake him up whether he wants it or not"

[Terraoblivion]

She nodded quite eagerly at Taltha's expression of hope at one of the heroes of Division Six being the commander of their unit. This was immediately interrupted when she noticed the newcomer and resumed her formal position from earlier. "Good to meet you, Private Rosenberg. I am Pivate 2nd Class Mireio Satria of the Air Mages and like Taltha said we will all be working with you." Her speech had a short break as she glanced at the sleeping man. "I don't know who he is or why he is sleeping here, however. Most likely he was early and is going to wake up once the opening ceremony starts."

[Tengu_temp]

Shortly after Lucius the door open again, and not one, but two people enter the hall - a boy and a girl, both looking around 16-17, and both possessing blue eyes - although their features are a bit too different for them to be related. Probably.

The boy's strawberry blond hair is long, and combed to cover his left side - because, when his left eye shows, it turns out to be completely white and unseeing. He smiles friendlily seeing everyone gathered here. "Hello, everyone. It seems that the whole section is slowly starting to gather."

The girl, on the other hand, doesn't say anything and simply looks at everyone calmly. She's almost a head shorter than the boy, and she has shoulder-length green drill hair. Hmm, might she be from a high-class family?

[Dragoon]

Following Taltha's lead, he gives a head bow to both Taltha and Mireio in response. He's about to ask about the familiar when the two new people walked in. Lucius turned and stood at attention. Now, knowing my luck, these two won't be big on proper protocol.
"Excuse me, sir, madam, if you don't mind me asking, are one of you two prehaps our group leader?"

[Terraoblivion]

The two newcomers seemed to know what they were doing and more about what was going on. This leaded her to instinctually salute them, the suspicions of Lucius only seemed to strengthen her own. "It appears so, sir, ma'am. Private 2nd Class Mireio Satria of the Air Mages. Five forwards have shown up as well as somewhat older man who is currently sleeping his chair."

[Drascin]

Taltha turns to the newcomers and looks attentively at them, sizing them up like she had done with the other privates. Seemed that the others were already asking the logical questions, so she preferred to stay out for a moment and listen. She also tried to follow the lead and do something that vaguely resembled a salute, but it really didn't look much like one, to be honest. Quite comical in a cute way :smalltongue:.

[Tengu_temp]

The boy responses with his own salute, albeit not as formally as Mireio, and shakes his head.
"I don't think so, unless any of us received a sudden surprise promotion. Since all five of you are our forwards, we will be your mission control - so I'm looking forward to working with you! My name is Albin Subok, and my friend is Melina Doremi. She doesn't talk a lot."

Melina nods her head slightly.
"...That is correct."

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio nodded as she relaxed a bit, she wasn't talking to superiors it seemed. At least not high-ranked ones. "I look forward to working with the two of you as well, Albin, Melina. Does either of you know anything about the purpose of this unit?" She looked over the entire group trying to seem if anybody had anything to add, a sparkle in her eye as she thought about the possible duties that could be in store for them.

[Dragoon]

Realizing he made a slight misjudgement, Lucius relaxes and stands down. "Well, it is nice to meet you two, Albin, Melina, my name is Lucius Rosenberg. Now then I guess all that is left is the commander." He eyes the sleep man, wondering if perhaps he is the leader.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Ah! I'm spacing out again!

Tara shakes her head and tries her hand at being demure again. "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Private Second Class Tara."

She turns to the female bridge bunny. "Melina, right? The silent type. Yeah, I try for that myself. It's just so much more...cool to be the strong quiet kind, you know? Better than chattering away all the time like some kind of moron. Poise and grace, not just jabbering and yammering and generally making a nuisance of yourself. How long have you worked with the military? Have you ever served on a ship?"

You should probably stop her soon, because it doesn't look like she's going to on her own.

[Terraoblivion]

The enthusiasm of the girl overwhelmed her. Coming in without all the worries she herself felt and just starting to talk to others like that. Mireio found herself thinking about how full of life and energy the girl was. Blushing slightly at the thought, she shook herself out of it, Tara didn't seem to want to bother others with constantly talking, but she was doing it.

The sheer flood of words coming from Tara's mouth made it hard for her to cut through it. "Ummm...Tara. I don't think she actually wants to answer all those questions..." As it didn't appear that Tara was about to stop she tried raising her hand slightly to call attention to herself. "I'm not sure she managed to catch them all either...And weren't you just talking about the virtues of being quiet..."

[Tengu_temp]

Albin shrugs his shoulders.
"That might be him, but do you think that the whole section has already gathered? Eight people is not that much, after all. I expect to see more of the backyard staff than just me and Melina, at least. As for the purpose... emergencies. Emergencies where ordinary armed forces will simply not do, and a small group of specialists is needed instead. That is my guess, at least - but I don't think if we will be doing community work here!"

Melina patiently waits for both her friend's and Tara's monologues to pass before answering the girl's question.
"No, I've graduated from the academy recently. But I wouldn't mind serving on a ship if an opportunity arises."
She gives Mireio a look, half in the 'so you noticed it too' and half in the 'don't explain the joke, please' way.

[Drascin]

Taltha just stays aside from the conversation, for the most part. She preferred to watch, and listen - you learned much more that way. Still, she guessed she should at least introduce herself to the newcomers, but it also seemed everyone had already finished the introductions before she could act on that thought, and it might seem out of place now, and... ack. Why do I find social interactions so hard? It is nothing but a set of protocols!

So she just resolves to go with her first idea - keeeping near the other girls, watching, and learning. She was going to spend a lot of time with these people if she had understood things right, so she better start trying to know them.

[Artemician]

With her eyes still resolutely shut, Chen mewls in an amused fashion.

"Introductions? You've never been the sort to try that before, Master.

She shakes her head briefly, opening her eyes and taking in the misfit group with her eyes for the first time.

"Only four out of five voices matched correctly. Ptshaw!"

Turning to face Taltha, she twitches her whiskers, and laughs. How this sort of sound could come from a feline's vocal chords remains a mystery.

"If you're not going to introduce yourself, Master, I'll be relieving you of that liberty soon enough."

[Tengu_temp]

Suddenly, you hear a loud ringing noise - it sounds suspiciously like an alarm clock. The man in the chair starts to move! He reaches into his pocket, turning the noise off, and stands up slowly, removing the book from his face and closing it. The face in question is long and rectangular, with eyes obscured by reflecting round glasses and, for some reason, almost permanently wide open mouth. He looks around all the gathered.
"It seems it's time to start the welcoming ceremony."

[Artemician]

Cut off before she could speak, Chen only smiles thinly, and settles back on her haunches to observe the chair-man.

"An amusing character", she notes to herself, scratching the itchy spot behind her right ear. "Why do I have the feeling this is all going to end in tears?"

[Terraoblivion]

Suddenly realizing that the man had woken, Mireio spun on her heels to stand attention. Her facial expression became the most eager attempt at a dispassionate military expression any of the assembled were likely to have ever seen.

[Drascin]

With her eyes still resolutely shut, Chen mewls in an amused fashion.

"Introductions? You've never been the sort to try that before, Master.

She shakes her head briefly, opening her eyes and taking in the misfit group with her eyes for the first time.

"Only four out of five voices matched correctly. Ptshaw!"

Turning to face Taltha, she twitches her whiskers, and laughs. How this sort of sound could come from a feline's vocal chords remains a mystery.

"If you're not going to introduce yourself, Master, I'll be relieving you of that liberty soon enough."

Embarrassed - and completely failing to hide it -, Taltha retorts through the mental link: "Shut up, Chen. You know full well this whole social protocol stuff is very taxing for me! Half of it makes no sense, and the other half is so needlessly complicated, I always feel I'm going to mess up!"

Then she turns to the sounding clock and the waking man, thankful for having a distraction. She freezes at the look of the man. Okay, she didn't know what to expect of the officers, and certainly she didn't have as high hopes as the young Air Mage, but whatever her expectations were, they were not this, most assuredly. Still, she was not going to mess up, and keeps her expression appropiately neuter, again preferring to wait and see.

[Tengu_temp]

Assuming that everyone present lines up and stands on attention as members of a military organization should, the man starts to speak.

"Welcome to Mobile Section 34, ladies..." He makes an absent-minded face, as if he wanted to remember something he forgot, and then apparently succeeds. "and gentlemen. My name is captain Yota Lightly, and I was given the role of the co..."

Suddenly quick and loud steps, followed by a loud thump and a girly shriek, interrupt him. At the doorstep, there is a girl of unprecised (but young) age sprawled on the ground, apparently having tripped. She almost instantly gets up and bursts into a nervous explanation.
"Aah, I am so sorry - I was so busy with the helicopter that I completely forgot about the ceremony! Please forgive me!"
Ashamed, she quickly gets into the line with the others. She has white hair kept in one long braid, and red eyes - an albino? Unlike the others, she's wearing a grease-covered pilot's outfit, and carrying a briefcase - albeit a small one.

Captain Lightly doesn't even react.
"Of the commander of this newly-created unit. As you might have noticed, we are currently understaffed, but it is just a temporary element, and I am sure that the current members, with their dedication and..."

He's interrupted again. This time by a loud emergency alarm!
"Oh dear."

Melina pats Albin on the arm and points somewhere.
"The comm room is this way."
They nod to each other and start to run into that direction.

[Drascin]

"Ehhh?" Taltha is shocked for a second there, but gets herself quickly. That was an emergency alarm - when those started to sound, it was usually because something was about to go critical and blow up in someone's face, or something of the sort. And the only two people here who seemed knowledgeable had started running - also a bad sign. No time for standing around wondering. But first she needed to know what that particular alarm stood for. She approaches the commander in three long, decided steps and addresses him in a steely, imperious tone that doesn't allow for a negative, and which contrasts heavily with her previous meekiness (and also completely forgetting about the whole mlitary protocol stuff) with a single sentence: "What does that alarm mean?"

[Tengu_temp]

Commander Yota raises his arms.
"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!"
He lowers them and continues in a completely calm voice.
"Either we are under attack, or there is a matter that requires our attention."

[Terraoblivion]

Her look of eagerness faded as she got a better look of the commander. There was something immensely creepy about him and he didn't seem too competent either. These feelings grew stronger and stronger as he started the least inspiring speech ever. She tried building confidence by telling herself that since he had advanced to such a high rank he had to be competent and that he just didn't have good skills with speeches, it was just so hard.

As such it almost came as a relief when they were interrupted by the mechanic. At least it drew attention away from the commander for a while. He didn't have much time to recapture it before the alarm.

Mustering all the military protocol she could in the confused situation and towards the man she spoke up. "So you don't know what we could possibly be called for, sir?" Her green eyes fixed inquisitively on her commander as she briefly toyed with the strange bracelet on her left wrist.

[Artemician]

"If I may say so, Master, you're doing a very good job of things." Chen drawls.

Leaping from her perch on Taltha's shoulder to land neatly on the floor, Chen pads equally neatly to stand next to the door.

Now addressing the general assembly, she asks, "Well, are we going to see what this emergency is about, or are you going to let a little cat do all the hard wo-...?

Aware that noone was paying attention to her, Chen sniffs, and starts pawing at her right haunch.

[Drascin]

Ah, very helpful indeed. Sigh. Ignoring the man, she turned to the rest.

"I am going to find Albin and Melina. They seemed to have a better idea of how to find out what is going on here. If anyone wants, come with me" With that, she turns and runs, or at least does her best to do so - stupid uniform.

It's probably most surprising to see this cool, proffessional woman coming out from the same body that was acting so meekly just a minute ago. But then, you don't survive four years of working with extremely volatile equipment if you're not ready to take matters into your hands during an emergency. The sound of the alarm put her on her edge, and Taltha's edge was actually pretty sharp.

As she runs, she mentally contacts Chen "Please look over the others, Chen, and make sure to tell me if you find out something. I do not really think anything that gets militars to start such a loud alarm will be harmless. I am actually pretty surprised we are not hearing explosions yet"

[Artemician]

"Yes Master", says Chen, going from smartass wisecracker to the paragon of discipline in under 5 parsecs.

While it may not be on the scale of turning into a giant vermin, the metamorphosis is nonetheless very startling. But then again, you don't survive 4 years of helping someone work with volatile equipment without being able to adapt to situations quickly. And learning how to duck trouble.

[Nerd-o-rama]

The sheer flood of words coming from Tara's mouth made it hard for her to cut through it. "Ummm...Tara. I don't think she actually wants to answer all those questions..." As it didn't appear that Tara was about to stop she tried raising her hand slightly to call attention to herself. "I'm not sure she managed to catch them all either...And weren't you just talking about the virtues of being quiet..."
"Gah! I'm sorry, I--"

Here Tara was cut off by the alarm clock, and events gradually spiraling out of control. Seeing that Taltha's idea of following the staff was a good one, she holds up her fist and says "Come on everyone! To the comms room!"

[Terraoblivion]

A slight smile crept on Mireio's lips as she saw Tara's reaction, the flustered look was just too cute to ignore.

As the rest of the forwards started heading to the comm room, she didn't give them much time to leave her behind. Her bracelet slid into her hand, the blue Device gem on it twinkling slightly in the light, as she prepared to move into battle as quickly as possible. "Does any of you know where the comm room is? We cannot go there if you don't."

[Tengu_temp]

"I know.", says the captain. "Should I show you the way? Let's see what is the matter of this alert everyone together."

"Umm... I must check on the helicopter and make it ready!", the albino girl says quickly and leaves the room. Or at least tries to - she bumps into the door's frame at the first attempt. Probably due to nervousness.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Tara looks back at the pilot worriedly. Maybe I should help...no, no, I'm a forward! Have to concentrate on beating the bad guys! She'll be fine as long as there's no stairs between here and the landing pad.

"Right! Show us the way, uh...commander."

[Drascin]

Taltha just waited a moment and stepped aside, letting the commander guide the way. It was actually kind of relieving - she had stepped in because she knew people needed to see someone start acting before starting to act themselves for the most part, but had been dreading she might have to lead the way temporarily... but still, she should stay on her toes, because, from what she'd seen, she wouldn't trust this man to lead... whatever, really.

"Please, I just want to find someone who knows what happens... does all military function so chaotically?" she thinks to herself.

[Tengu_temp]

Immediately after Taltha thought that, Lightly stops and looks at her over his shoulder. He remains silent for a moment.



"Are you coming, miss?"

[Drascin]

It wouldn't have been neccessary to ask, really, because as soon as the group passes her, she joins of her own accord, simply nodding to the question. She would probably get a bit flustered, but right now her mind is galloping through ideas for possible causes.

[Terraoblivion]

Unlike Tara and Taltha, Mireio didn't seem to have many concerns beyond getting to the comm center as far as possible and begin the mission. It was not that she didn't see the poor mechanic stumbling about like that, it was more that she was too consumed by her desire to do her duty, do it well and preferably do it yesterday to really notice.

What she did think about as she ran was whether she should activate Yoichi immediately so that there was no delay as she moved into battle, or if that would be inappropriate. Probably the last, none of the others seemed to be about to activate their devices.

[Dragoon]

Lucius got slightly distracted, Mireio and Tara gave him an idea for drawing, and he was lost in thought, until the captain woke up.
Well, at least gentlemen came out of there. Though here's hoping he's just acting the fool. And, lastly, let's hope that the pilot is just clumsy on the ground, not in the air.

He follows behind even Taltha, and realizing he knew nothing of everyone else abilities, he then asks, "Just curious, what abilities does everyone else have? I can fool one person at a time with a mirror image myself and attack, and I am slightly decent at defending myself."

[Terraoblivion]

Without stopping Mireio turned her head to look at Lucius. "I'm a sniper and general long-range fighter. I know how to hide myself and defend against attacks. Otherwise i focus on just shooting." Having finished talking she swept her gaze over the others, slipping quickly past the commander as she let it linger slightly longer on Tara than anybody else. She wondered what sorts of abilities they had.

[Tengu_temp]

The captain indeed knows the way into the comm room, which, as expected, is darker than the other rooms and filled with computer screens and consoles. Your mission control is already busy sitting in their places and operating them - they really seem to know what they're doing. Albin looks up at you as the group comes in, his face more serious than before.

"A nearby warehouse is under attack! The information is very chaotic, but it appears that the enemies are humanoid robots or golems of unknown type. It's unknown where have they come from, and they don't move out of the warehouse - they only guard it. Numbers - at least 20, there are high chances it's much more. The civilians... um, Melina?"

"Yes. There are no casualties, but several are wounded. Most of them have already evacuated from the dangerous area, but at least one is still inside."

"Thanks." Albin looks back at the group - most notably, at the captain. "That's all we know for now."

Yota turns slowly into the direction of Section's forwards.
"Your first mission will start earlier than we expected. We must move into action ASAP - your goals are simple: rescue all the civilians who are still inside the warehouse, and eliminate all enemies. Understood? Good luck.

Ah, and one more thing.

DON'T LET THEM HURT YOU BECAUSE EVEN A SCRATCH WOULD BE A HORRIBLE WASTE!!!"

[Drascin]

Taltha turns her head a bit while not losing the pace

"If you mean combat ability, I am afraid have little of that. I can tend to the wounded and empower other people's spells, though, so I'm sure I will find something to do if we are under attack. And of course, there is also Chen. She may lack proper combat training, but she has proven extremly effective in shutting down out-of control machinery"

Then they reach Mission Control. Taltha listens to the news gravely. Damn, already? She didn't like fighting! Still, there were civilians there, so it was not like she had any option, anyway.

"Understood" She looks at the others "Er... let us go, then!" Freyalise appears in her right hand, humming with a soft, childish voice. "Stand By, Ready"

[Terraoblivion]

Reaching the room Mireio composed herself again, standing attention and nodding as the commander and mission control explained their mission. Her bracelet was still in her hand and not around her wrist, however. "Where is this warehouse and have we got permission to fly, sir?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

Tara was all ready to go with a battle cry of readiness, but the commander's own shouting weirds her out enough to shock her back into polite mode.

"Uh, understood, sir. Ready to move out...oh," she suddenly remembers something. "My Device! I was supposed to receive my new Intelligent Device today. I haven't got a backup..."

[Dragoon]

Hey, we have some luck, the mission control team is very competent, and it looks like some people on this team have those nice devices. I wish I had one. Now, if only the captain wouldn't yell like that Removing his thoughts of what he needs to draw. Well, hopefully that pilot can fly better than she can walk, otherwise it will be the two support mages by themselves.
Waiting until the Captain respond to his teammates questions before asking"Sir, I'm assuming if we can't fly to head to the landing pad then, sounds like the pilot has the helicopter ready.
Looks like I'm the only one without a device then.

[Tengu_temp]

"I am currently sending the coordinates to our pilot - she will take you there with a helicopter.", says Albin. "If we get permission...", he asks the commander.

"Permission granted." Yota turns into your direction. "Also permission to use Devices - for those of you who don't have them yet, they arrived from the HQ and are currently in our pilot's possession. Those of you who already have them should put on their Barrier Jackets as soon as possible - even here and now. You have the permission for that too."

[Terraoblivion]

She gave a quick nod as the excitement overtook her face and her voice positively rang with enthusiasm as she replied. "Sir, yes sir"

She raised her left hand before her. "Yoichi." With that simple command the device gem in her bracelet glittered for a short while as it spoke in the voice of a refined British gentleman. "Stand by, Ready" As the voice died down the bracelet reformed into a slender white and blue bow, with the gem clasped at the top. The same transformation washed over her clothes as she stood before the others in the long white coat and short dress of her barrier jacket. "Everybody ready to head to the helicopter?"

[Dragoon]

Looks like I didn't read my instructions very well, I guess I should have listened to the fact that the other sheet was important. Lucius hoped as he started jogging towards landing pad, hoping that he wasn't mistaken about one of the devices being his. Contacting the rest of the forwards mentally, "Good luck everyone."

[Drascin]

"Understood" Taltha, honestly, wanted to get the thing done with. Her resolve was more akin to an adrenaline shot, her will overwriting her usual reaction in case of emergency, and it was fading rapidly, and the nervousness was starting to come back. She knew she couldn't afford herself that, so she tried to keep on the move. She reaches for the little apparatus that would adjoin the barrier jacket to her Devices. In a couple seconds, she had finished.

"New Function accepted: Barrier Jacket"

"Alright, activate"

Without much sparkliness, her uniform gets changed to a pretty skyblue dress. And not giving it too much thought, she heads for the room's exit, and waits for the others to be ready, and when they are she follows.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Um, right..." Tara says.

I've never been this glad to be unarmed. Though a bat would be nice.

"To the helicopter, then!" she says, again without knowing where she's going, but having a decent guess.

[Tengu_temp]

Outside, the pilot is busy frantically jumping around the helicopter - a less demanding observer would call it trying to make it start. Your approach only makes her more nervous.
"Aaah! I'm sorry, but since it's all so sudden, it will take at least an hour until the helicopter is ready to take off... umm, you are all air mages, right? Would you mind flying on your own just on this one mission, please? The warehouse is to the northwest, not very far away... I'm really sorry for that..."
She really looks ashamed, and her gaze trails to the side... where she notices the briefcase the previously held. She grabs it quickly and opens it.
"Ah, right, I forgot! This is for you, from the headquarters! Umm... I'm Onyx, by the way."

The briefcase contains custom-made Devices for Tara and Lucius - Noble Ether and Bohrer - as well as thirty cartridges.

[Terraoblivion]

Despite her attempts at looking like she was maintaining proper military formation, Mireio managed to overtake Lucius and everyone else who had left the room before her and arrive at the helipad first. Her first mission, she was going to do something to actually, truly protect the people of Midchilda. "Thank you, Onyx. And i don't know about the others but i am an air mage. If we all are i guess we should head there by ourselves, the commander says that we have gotten clearance to fly." She took sis of the cartridges and slotted them into her magazine, before passing the suitcase on to the other, moving just a bit too fast and uncontrolledly to seem like she was really as calm about this as she tried to appear.

[Dragoon]

Alright, I have my own device! Lucius was grinning like a school kid at the small little drill, now in his hand.
"My name is Bohrer, master.
"Ok, activate, Bohrer." His uniform was replaced by a long white cloak, with blue trim and a couple of shapes that look like drills on the shoulders. He's now holding a spear with a large drill on it.
"Ok, I think I can fly now. If not, I'll need a lift." He tried unsuccessfully to become more serious. He grabs six cartidges as well and prepares to fly.

[Drascin]

Great. Just great. This was just like being back at the lab, nothing worked when it should, only here she didn't have the knowledge of how to make things work.

"I think that yes, we could" She looked at the helicopter with a mix of interest and irritation. If the helicopter had feelings, it would probably have trembled, sensing the inevitable gutting and rebuilding that would take place later.

She looks at the box. Thirty cartridges, five people, six each. She gets twelve and hands six to Chen while the other two pick their devices.

"Anyone know what direction that warehouse is in?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

"YES!"

Tara takes five cartridges and the glove-shaped device, replacing her right-hand glove with the latter. "Nobel Ether. It's nice to finally meet you. Let's work together, okay?"

"Yes, my master. Stand-by ready." it responds in an enthusiastic masculine voice.

"Set up!"

The sparkling light of a Barrier Jacket transformation moves over Tara, leaving her in her bright red jacket, white blouse tied off with a bow, and white pants, Noble Ether in her hand as a glowing ribbon of sorts.

"Don't worry, Onyx" she says with a wink. "We'll fly with you next time."

"Energy Wings."

Tara, now sporting a pair of crimson bird-like wings, floats off the ground. "Point the way, and let's go!"

[Dragoon]

Flight Mode. Lucius lifts off the ground about ten feet. He waves at Onyx and adds, "Good luck fixing the helicopter, see you later." He points to the northwest, "I believe it supposed to the Northwest. We'll probably be able to see it from above, I hope. And I should probably go first." Realizing that besides being a meleer, he didn't want to be accused of anything later.

[Terraoblivion]

Unlike the others Mireio didn't say anything as she just jumped into the air and headed towards the northwest. Now here was the time to prove that she was worthy of the position she had been given. Scanning the parts of the city in front of her she tried to see if she could see any area where and obvious disturbance was taking place so she could head for it.

[Drascin]

Taltha's stomach, despite her best attempts at keeping her adrenaline rush going, was already starting to protest the fact that she was going to enter true combat for the first time. This probably shows in her face, but she has to keep going, so she forces herself to stay calm and neuter, and her mind clear - or as clear as one could humanly hope, at least. Still, she's been better.

"Yes, you're right. Once we are near, it should not be hard to spot. After you, then"

"Flight"

Then she follows Lucius's lead. I hope there haven't been any victims...

[Tengu_temp]

"Do you hear me?" You suddenly hear a telepathic transmission. "Melina here. Me and Albin will try to keep you informed about all the situation changes. Stay alert."

"Good luck!" Onyx seems to raise a bit in spirit after your positive reactions... and then suddenly something explodes in the helicopter behind her, and it slouches on one tire.
"Aaah! I thought I fixed that part...!"
She instantly jumps in to check on the machine.

[Drascin]

Taltha, according to standard test protocol, answers almost instantly "This is Taltha. Yes, I hear you clearly."

Also, she cracks a slight smile at the helicopter's explosion. That, at least, she knew how to fix, and would do so when they came back... oh god, when they came back from that. At least it was only robots, she had already disabled a couple of those that went on rampage, and she wouldn't feel guilty for attacking them. Still, not good.

"Cheer up, Master. It is nothing you cannot handle" Freyalise's childish voice says.

[Terraoblivion]

"This is Satria. I hear you loud and clear" Turning to look down at the mechanic, she smiled reassuringly, her spirit lifted by finally getting to do something meaningful. "Thank you, Onyx. I know you will get the helicopter fixed." Even if the commander was utterly out of it and funding seemed spotty at best, this was the greatest thing that had happened to her. Her coworkers seemed nice, it would look great on her resume and most importantly it gave her the chance to finally protect the people of Midchilda.

[Dragoon]

Lucius's good mood was slightly shaken as he heard the helicopter explode. At least he was flying on Bohrer's powers. "This is Lucius, I can hear both of you easily. Thanks for the support. Just curious, how close are we to the warehouse?" He clutched Bohrer harder, ready to see how everyone will do.

[Tengu_temp]

"At your speed of flight, you will arrive there in 15-20 minutes. We have more information on the civilians - if our information is correct, only one is inside the danger zone."
That was Melina again. She is capable of speaking more than one sentence when sharing vital mission information, apparently.

[Drascin]

15 minutes?! Taltha thinks. There was no way she could stay on edge for 15 minutes. Heck, she was already feeling awfully unresty. She decides she should probably relax - there would be enough time to be tense and panicking when we reach there. Close your eyes, try not to think too much of it. Easier thought than done, but still, she tries. Focus on your objective here, Taltha, not on what is between you and it. There is a person who needs your help. Keep your mind on that.

"I assume our priority is rescuing that one bystander. Also, I would like some more information on the kind of robots we will find, if we have access to it" You did not start working on something until you have the theory clear if there's any choice, after all. Plus that would help keep her mind occupied.

[Artemician]

Chen rimbles (a rimble is a rumble, only higher pitched) in amusement.

"When even a Device is telling you to cheer up, Master, you know you're over-tense. Robots? What can they do that we cannot handle? All robots are fundementally the same, when you get down too it. They're just a bunch of gears and cogs. And what is there about gears and cogs that we don't know about?"

Cackling, Chen performs a flamboyant loop, dropping a catridge at the height of her ascent, and catching it again as she swoops down. She's obviously enjoying herself.

[Tengu_temp]

"That is correct. Reinforcements from the ground army are also on their way, although I don't know at what precise time will they arrive. Enemy specs... Albin?"

"Yeah, we've managed to gather some information on those robots - they are using non-magic based weaponry! They seem to be capable of both ranged and melee attacks, but nothing with a wider area of effect. Defensive capabilities... unknown, but the probability of them possessing an AMF is low. They don't seem to possess flight or other special forms of movement, and are rather slow. But be wary, they still might have some tricks up their sleeve we haven't observed yet!"

[Terraoblivion]

"Roger that. Sounds like an easy missions, we will handle this quickly and save the hostage." This was almost just a normal ground forces job and not something for a mobile unit to deal with, but they were needed to save the hostage and find out who was behind this. Time to go in and end this threat, then they might learn why their unit was put together. "Everyone it is time to do this, people depend on us. We all know how to best use our skills and what has been learned about the enemy. Not much more we can do to prepare."

[Drascin]

To be honest, Chen's words were rather reassuring, and gave her some much needed perspective. Yes, this was the first time she was going to engage anything over three oponents, but the fact was that there were only going to be robots, and that gave them an edge. In that, at least, she would be of use.

"Yes, you are probably right. I'm still a bit worried, though. When we have had to take out of commission some rampaging robots, the amount of stray explosions has been rather... startling, to say the least. And this are a lot more and in the middle of a city district. I fear the collateral damage. This would be easier if we just had a way to deactivate them. Or if there wasn't anyone inside and we could just seal and barricade the place and torch it with controlled explosions to make sure they never came out. Buildings can be rebuilt, people can't."

She then listens to Albin's report.

"Non-magic? Are you referring to mass-based projectile weaponry? But isn't that highly illegal?

Still, I agree. People don't risk creating mechanisms with illegal weaponry for them to be too easy to take out, or at least without a way to make sure they give enough payoff for the risk. I am almost certain they will have some feature we ignore. I hate dealing with unknown quantities"

[Tengu_temp]

"They are illegal. And that is worrying - it is obvious that whomever is behind this is willing to break all established laws, but we cannot make a link between this attack and any known criminals from the database. Or even speculate what might be the reason for it..."

The warehouse district slowly becomes visible - most of the warehouses are large and kept in some distance from each other, but the free space is filled with various containers and vehicles. Several trails of smoke surround one of the warehouses, coming both from its inside and destroyed machines nearby - humanoid figures, ant-sized from this distance, can be seen in its surrounding. More humanoids are keeping their distance from the warehouse, watching while hiding behind various barriers.

[Terraoblivion]

As the warehouse district came into view Mireio started looking over it, trying to see if she could learn anything more about what was going on. She sent brief thoughts of thanking to whichever force had given her the magical knack for enhancing her eyesight to see things at great distances. "I'll try to see if i can tell something more about what is going on. My eyesight is magically enhanced to see things at great distance better. Perhaps i can make something more out. And mission control, can you tell us the layout of the warehouse and where the hostage is believed to be? Do you know the identity of the hostage, just in case one of the criminals went in with the robots."

[Drascin]

"Seconding the request for a map, or at least results from some Area Search spell. We should head directly for the hostage if at all possible"

Taltha just keeps the pace, waiting for Mireio or mission control to find out more data to act on, or simply arrive at the door and start. She probably should start boosting Chen a bit as soon as they had a moment's pause, too. And maybe the others, if they wanted.

[Tengu_temp]

"The inside of the warehouse is divided into two even-sized parts, with a security station inside the northern one that monitors the entrances to both - I'm trying to access the cameras right now... what the? Unavailable - they are offline! Have these robots done it?" Albin isn't as confident as before.

Unlike Melina. "We have information about the civilian - Torn Raus, male, 28 years old, employed at the warehouse in question. He is outside the warehouse, hiding from the enemy behind a pile of crates near the southeastern corner of the building - he doesn't appear to be taken hostage. Apart from him, there are also 17 enemies outside and an unknown number inside - 6 at the southern entrance, 5 at the northern, and 6 patrolling in groups of 2 or alone."

Mireio can see the situation more closely - the enemies are covered in thick-plated and bulky metal armor, their helmets/heads and wrists bearing what can only be described as axeheads. They are slightly larger than humans, armed with large swords, and their efficient, robotic movement clearly shows their machine origin. You're too far to grab their attention yet, but also too far to shoot with any hopes of hitting.

[Terraoblivion]

So that was what they were up again. Brutish and primitive enemies seeming to fit more in a less developed world than Midchilda. "I have visual on the enemy. They are roughly humanoid and heavily armored. They carry swords and have axehead like protrusions from their limbs. They don't look very fast or agile. As long as we stay mobile we should be alright."

[Drascin]

Taltha mulls the information for about a second.

"I'm not so sure" she tells Albin through the link. "It is possible that the robots just found and blew the cameras up, but by miss Satria's description they look too... baseline, too much like grunt-robots, to have been programmed for such things. I'm thinking it's likelier that whatever is blocking your access to the cameras was directly caused by one of the people responsible for all this."

Which means someone was pretty interested that the rest of the world didn't look inside the warehouse. Logical, really. Security measures used to hide the fact that there were illegal activities were only to be expected. She wouldn't be surprised if the whole central security system on the warehouse was rigged to self-destruct on a button press, just to prevent compromising camera footage from reaching wrong hands, actually. She just hoped whoever made these things didn't think like that.

She leaves that trail of thought and keeps talking to Albin.

"That, or they are being directly controlled by an actual human intelligence, of course. Remote control is a very factible possibility. I assume we can't detect any incoming signal?"

[Terraoblivion]

There was more to this. The question of why someone had attacked the warehouse also remained to be answered. Someone was clearly keeping something in there that someone else was going to great lengths to get. That raised several questions, however. "Do you know who owns the warehouse and what they are using it to store? The behavior of the robots inside is likely influenced by this."

Turning off from addressing Albin, she instead addressed to the others. "It seems clear that our first priority is to save Mr. Raus. Apart from this learning as much as possible about why the robots are here and what they are after is the key. So i suggest that we one of us heads to get Mr. Raus out of there to the ground mages who have cordoned off the area, while the rest of us deal with the robots. Once Mr. Raus is safe the first one will join us. Any objections, suggestions or volunteers?"

[Artemician]

Chen contemplated the available information, one hand stroking her chin thoughtfully. Robots, especially heavy movers and grunt specimens as this group appeared to be, were usually programmed with a simple command structure; usually specific to whatever task at hand, or in general, to obey orders. Staring that robots patrolling, she tries to determine just which variety these patrolling robots belonged to.

<I roll a Notice check to determine the nature of the Robots' programming.>

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

"If the robots simply blew the cameras up, then it would be possible to reach the security systems and check the previous footage - but that is not the case here. The system cannot be accessed at all. There is always the possibility that these robots did it, but if you want to know my opinion... I don't think if they did it alone. There are no signals, though - they appear to be automatic."

Chen's observation seems to acknowledge Albin's words - these robots move in a manner that suggests programming, not remote control. And rather simple programming, on top of that.

"Melina is currently checking the information on the warehouse's owner. It will take a while, but we will let you know the instant we find something."

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Alright, well it seems pretty simple to me," Tara says. "We rescue the civilian, beat up all the robots, then investigate the warehouse to see what's up with the cameras! Who's with me?"

She moves forward, Device held forth. "Let's do what Taltha said. Whoever has the best defenser spells, go protect Mr. Raus! Everyone else, with me!" With that, she dashes off in the direction of the nearest group of robots, charging up energy until she gets about a hundred feet away...

[roll0]

[Terraoblivion]

Tara clearly wasn't one for approaching carefully and controlled, on the other hand she was not one to waste time confirming all sorts of things before acting. "We are going in. I'm going with Tara. Taltha i think you are the one most able to protect Mr. Raus, you go get him to safety." With that she raised Yoichi to point at the nearest robot not charged by Tara.

Initiative - [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

The closest group are the six robots located at the southern entrance.

Initiative: [roll0]

If you've rolled higher than that, feel free to post your action. They notice you when you are around 250 feet away, so you start your round at that point. Apparently perception is not their strongest point.

EDIT: My mistake.

[Terraoblivion]

Following Tara with her eyes for a short moment before turning her attention to the robots. Taking brief aim she pointed Yoichi at one of them as a shimmering green wedge conjured itself over the grip of the bow. "Yoichi, Seeker." The device gem flashed briefly in reply. Affirmative. Seeker!"

The wedge rocketed forward from the bow, speeding straight towards the closest robot as it quickly passed by Tara on its way to the target.

And since i have such extreme range i feel secure enough to use all-out attack for this for the extra +5 to hit. Attack [roll0]

[Drascin]

"Understood. Let me know if you need help, though. Chen, stay with them, the rest of the robots will probably come here attracted by the fight,and you might be needed here" With that, she arcs out a bit to avoid robot detection and goes around the warehouse towards the supposed point where the man would be found.

"Melina, how many enemy units are there around Raus?"

Initiative: [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0] <- Taltha's initiative
[roll1] <- robot's toughness

The energy arrow goes right through the machine's chest, getting stopped only by the ground behind. Electric currents spark over the robot's armor, and it falls down on its back. And explodes.

"A patrol of two hostiles is nearby his location. They do not seem to be aware of his presence, though." Melina's voice is calm as usual.

[Artemician]

"Orders received, and understood, Master. Be careful." Chen replies.

<I automatically beat the Robots in my initiative, which is +16>

Casting a critical eye over the remains of the stricken robot, Chen plunges dropping altitude sharply before breaking off into a swoop, approaching from just-above ground level. Banking sharply to avoid containers and vehicles, she approaches the robots at high speed.

"Okay Tara, we're going to set up an initial frontline. We'll break the bulwark and tie up the lines for our Fire team to pick them off."

With an intense look on her face belying her cool words, Chen waits for Tara's attack, following which she will assault a robot with an outstanding brutality only possessed by enraged domestic servants.

[Drascin]

Taltha reaches the other side of the warehouse in a moment, and inspects the zone carefully. She is well away from robot perception range, and wants to localize the exact point where the man is, and the positions of the two robots relative to him, plus anything else that could call her attention or might clue her to something.

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Taltha notices a humanoid figure kneeling behind an L-shaped pile of large metal crates, that obscure it from the sight of two robots that just walk along dangerously close to the other side.

[Drascin]

(OOC: Does he seem to be wounded or hurt?)

They're way too close to him to risk an area attack. She gets closer to ensure her aim. "I should get them a bit further from him"

"Etheric Bind"

A ripple in the air opens from a direction away from both herself and the kneeling man, and half a dozen blue energy chains ended in dangerous-looking arrowpoints emerge from it, heading right for one of the two robots. She was putting her faith on the fact that their programming looked rather basic - it was her hope that, hit or miss, they'd follow the chains believing the attacker to come from that direction. That should give her enough time to get near the man, grant him a flying spell so that he wouldn't weigh her down, and get away from there at top speed.

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

(What is the range from which you use the power? Remember that Snare has penalties for long range. As for the man's status - he's too far away to tell at the moment, before you approach.)

[Drascin]

(As much as I can force it without being found out, really. You tell me how much is that. And awww.)

[Tengu_temp]

(Around 300 feet? It's -4 to your attack roll, though.)

[roll0]

[Drascin]

(OOC: I'll take the penalty. The point is not actually hitting, it's that they feel under attack from a different angle and hoping they go try to counter that. You know, like in Metal Gear. Also, I'm not sure I want to know what those two rolls are for...)

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

The robot jumps back, avoiding the chains, and looks into the direction form which they came - of course, there is nobody there. The second one, though, notices Taltha and one of its shoulderplates raises, a yellow glow underneath! After a short charging, a beam shoots into her direction! Fortunately, she manages to avoid it easily.

[Drascin]

Taltha interposes her shield to the blast. However, she was not happy.

"Well, it was worth a try. They seem more perceptive than expected. But looks like I'll have to try the direct method"

With that, all doubts forgotten and with a steely expression in her face, she rockets forward in a direct line, blocking easily the incoming fire, and when she's at an appropiate distance (read: when I no longer have penalties), three empty cartridges fly from Freyalise (used to give me +3 attack with my next power, and yes, I'm emptying three cartridges already. I can't last in direct combat, I'm a support mage, so I have to end this quickly. +3 to nullify the -2 I'm going to get to hit both with the autofire, and an extra +1 because I feel like it), and its voice can be clearly heard.

"Harpoon Rain: Miserable Fate"

The space warps around the blue-dressed woman, and literally dozens of speeding pointed chains emerge, delivering a rain of forcelines that burrow and shortcircuit every piece of machinery they find.

(If the dice aren't on my side here, I'm boned, yeah. Anyway, here goes the roll. [roll0])

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

The chains burrow deeply into the robots' forms. The first one limps down and, when they dissapear, falls down to the ground lifelessly, but the second one doesn't seem to mind - they apparently missed the vital parts of its structure! It fires a second short, fortunately even slower than the first one.

Another robot seems to approach from north, although its pace means it probably didn't notice the battle yet.

[Drascin]

"I don't have time for this" The remaining chains vanish from the holes they perforated, and as Taltha blocks another shot, she gets some cover from the coming robot behind some boxes

"Etheric Bind"

Chains appear from the robot's back, and try to grapple it by surprise (hoping they don't get 360º perception - that -2 to defense from surprise would really come in handy here...). Meanwhile, knowing that if he was conscious he would have seen her and she knew where he was, Taltha tries to contact the man through Freyalise's communication power. "I'm here to rescue you. If you are alright, get ready, because we'll have to get away fast"

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Reflex:
[roll0]

[Dragoon]

This will be a good team to be with. Lucius had stayed quiet, most of his questions were answered by his teammates. When Tara and Chen break away from the group, he follows. Once he gets about 100 feet away, he aims for a different robot that Tara and Chen. Final Burst. A new drill appears and blasts off towards the robot.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

The chains entangle the robot, prohibiting it from moving from its place - not from shooting, though, but its limited movement results in a shot so feeble it doesn't even require dodging. This AI is determinated, but very bad at shooting...

The man, hearing the message in his head, stands up and looks up to the sky, into Taltha's direction.

[Tengu_temp]

Ah, ninjaed by Dragoon.

[roll0]

Lucius' drill hits the robot's arm, shredding it off. The main body is still operational, though.

[Drascin]

(OOC: how many turns do I have before that other robot notices us, more or less? I want to know if there's time for a quick Shield Boost just in case. And towards what direction do we get out of range quickest?)

[Tengu_temp]

(At this rate? If you don't make any attempts to hide, at the next turn. And there are no enemies to the east nor south, so those are the fastest directions to run away.)

[Drascin]

(I thought I was already making an attempt to hide - I did mention I was taking cover behind some boxes so that it didn't see me, right?

Anyway, original plan, then)

"I'm going to make you able to fly - just think of it, it's designed to be easy to use."

"Boost Sign: Flight"

With that, a blue aura appears around the man, giving him the power of flight (4 ranks, to be precise). Taltha rushes him "Come on, get out! They have limited range, and the flight is fast. I'll stay here as decoy until you've cleared their radius. Direction east is clear, go a good distance and then turn and go towards one of the military retinues. Go!" With that, she gets out of cover and faces both robots, attracting their fire and concentrating in defending herself.

[Tengu_temp]

(Ah yes, I see it now.)

Torn - if that's him - is well-built, with short brown hair and a goatee. The right sleeve of his jacket is shredded and blood-covered, its scraps used as an impromptu bandage for a wound on his arm. He shakes his head with a determined face.
"No miss, I can't move from here. My arm will be okay, but... Nanoha is still inside! I won't leave without her!"

[Drascin]

She freezes in the middle of the step that would have taken her out of cover. "Nanoha?" Her mind flew for a second to Takamachi, the known Ace of Aces, but there was no way these pathetic machines - seriously, she could build things with better aim with a toothpick and some chewing gum - would pin down someone with half the abilities the history books attributed to her. The girl inside was probably named after her, though.

"This is Taltha. I found the target. He says there's still another person inside, and in possible danger. We have to hurry" she communicates to the others.

"You will not be able to do much in your current state, sir, except at most cause her even more trouble. I promise we'll get that girl out of there. But first, we need to get you out of range and healed. I can heal you myself, but I can't do it while shielding you" She pokes her head out a bit and unleashes another flight of chains from the back of the coming robot, to stop it from coming nearer.

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

"Yes - Nanoha is my daughter. If... if I knew this would happen, I'd never bring her here!"

Taltha's spell completely binds the incoming robot, making it unable to even move its arms. The first one notices it and shoots into her direction, the mipact from the beam hitting the crates making them shake.

"Alright, I will do as you ask... but you really must save her! She is only five years old... I won't forgive myself if anything happens to her! Please, I count on you!"

After these words, Torn leaves the area to the southeast - the flight spells helps him do so very fast, and he doesn't grab the attention of any enemies. At least any visible ones.

[Drascin]

(Okay, I think this should be enough for now to resolve my little personal escapade. I want to ask the others whether we should try a pincer entrance through multiple points - in which case I should stay - or just concentrate firepower on the entrance and plow through there- in which case I'd have to go back)

Taltha looks at the man go, slightly relieved. One saved. But there was a small child in there. She really wanted to just enter there and take out every one of these rusted canisters - you do not touch a kid in front of Taltha if you know what's good for you -, but she knew full well she couldn't. That irritates her immensely. But she had to keep calm. She shoots another layer of chains to the robot that is still shooting, to immobilize it completely (snares can layer, if I remember correctly)

"The remaining civilian is a child, five years old, will respond to the name of Nanoha. We have to get her out of there. What is the situation on the entrance?" She asks.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Assuming there's still some around, Tara rushes forward to 100' distance, takes sight of one of the initial cluster of robots and prepares a spell.

"Ready..."

"Homing Chakram"

"Go!"

The diminutive teenager spins around like a discus thrower, launching a circular blade of energy that spins through the air and homes in on the targeted robot.

Attack Roll (Toughness save +10, Homing in case it misses).

"More civilians trapped inside?" she asks on hearing Taltha's report. "Right. I'll go in and eliminate the enemy! Who wants to join me? Oh, and nice name."

[Nerd-o-rama]

I confused this forum with plothook for a second

[roll0] (still +10, still Homing).

[Artemician]

With a riar, Chen darts towards one of the robots, bringing down a dimunitive fist to strike at its main body. The jewel on her glove flashes red briefly.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Dragoon]

After watching his attack damage the robot but leave it still standing Lucius quickly responds to his teammates, Hey, Tara, hold on, don't go quite yet. I should head in first, since I can cloak myself, possibly. Taltha, we seem to be holding our own. As he watches for enemy attacks.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]

Tara's chakram cuts the robot in two diagonally, the top side slowly sliding down from the bottom one. Chen does no worse, and she punches through the other machine's armor, its body exploding around her arm.

The robot attacked by Lucius raises its only free arm slowly, and then electric currents run over its body! Its limbs fall off and it stops functioning.

From the remaining two robots, one charges at Chen, trying to slash her with its sword, but she is too nimble for the lump of metal. The last one's shoulderpads rise, revealing two beam cannons, and it shoots them into Tara's direction - one of them connects!

(Toughness save DC - 22. Inflicts bruises, not wounds.)

The warehouse door is closed. Should Lucius want to sneak in, he'd need to open it first.

[Nerd-o-rama]

[roll0]

Tara is caught solidly by the counterattack and is momentarily stunned.

[Drascin]

Calm down, curb your impulses. You will not help that child by entering and being blasted in the head, Taltha thinks to herself.

"If you can cloak yourself," She answers Lucius "I would vote you enter and attempt to find out the girl first. I don't think we should risk entering weapons blazing when there's a chance of either side accidentally hitting a hidden child"

She pokes her head again out of the boxes, making sure no other robots sneaked on her while she talked. If there are none coming, she approaches one of the two bound robots. She starts giving it a quick analysis.

"So, Chen, do you think you could... open the door for Mr Rosenberg?"

Ah, there. Taltha locates the main energy source of the construct. Then, with a thought, she makes one of the multiple chains holding each of them in place lets go, twirls, and stabs vertically right through the genarator and the main capacitor, rendering them out of energy and therefore out of commission without causing an explosion that could attract undue attention.

[Artemician]

<This is not a new turn, but rather, a Takedown Attack performed in a separate post, because you can't add rolls in post edits>

As the mechanical contraption explodes around her fist, Chen wastes no time in victory celebrations. Snapping her left leg up and around, she aims a mighty blow at the next robot.

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

The catgirl's kick sends the second robot flying into a nearby crate's direction, crashing into it, leaving a huge crack and falling down to the ground lifelessly like a broken puppet.

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio had tried to keep her cool and take quick stock of the situation. This was interrupted when the robot hit Tara, however. She had to protect her before the robot struck her again.

"Yoichi..."

"Seeker"

"Fire"

She once more threw caution to the wind and left herself open to counter attack. She raised her bow and a new energy arrow formed at the arrow and flew straight for the robot, only curving slightly to avoid hitting Tara on the way.

With the arrow fired she calmed down a bit and took proper stock of the situation. "I agree. Lucius, if you can head in and protect the girl. Chen, Taltha is right open it for him if you can. And Taltha if you are under pressure join up with me and Tara. We can hold them off better as a group."


Attack - [roll0] (toughness +9, homes twice)

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

The last robot starts to charge its beam cannon again, energy visibly sucking in from the air, and getting ready to fire again at Tara. Mireio's arrow hits the cannon and the machine stumbles back on one leg before exploding.

[Artemician]

Extricating her limbs from the ruins of the destroyed robots, Chen sighs, and shakes the black oil and gear bits from her fingers.

She takes a gingerly step back, surveying the shut warehouse door with an engineer's critical eye.

"You want me to bust this open, Master?"

[Drascin]

With the arrow fired she calmed down a bit and took proper stock of the situation. "I agree. Lucius, if you can head in and protect the girl. Chen, Taltha is right open it for him if you can. And Taltha if you are under pressure join up with me and Tara. We can hold them off better as a group."

"I am fine. The amount of enemies in this zone has been almost negligible up to now, and they have been taken care of. I can proceed to another objective if needed, or I can meet the main group." Taltha knows her grasp on military tactics is... flimsy, to put it mildly, so she wants some input from the rest of the group or the people at the HQ if at all possible. If not... well, she'd have to improvise. She wonders whether there was any window on the warehouse, to get a look at what is going on inside...


Extricating her limbs from the ruins of the destroyed robots, Chen sighs, and shakes the black oil and gear bits from her fingers.

She takes a gingerly step back, surveying the shut warehouse door with an engineer's critical eye.

"You want me to bust this open, Master?"

"If at all possible, yes. We need an entrance point, and high chances are the door is the easiest to bring down. However, if not, have no compunction in opening a hole in the wall or the ceiling at your discretion, by any means neccessary. Material damage is unimportant here" Taltha could not see the door from where she was, after all, and she trusted Chen's judgement to find the weakest point with a look.

[Terraoblivion]

Seeing that she had gotten rid of the last robot, Mireio flew towards the ground to land besides Tara. "Nothing serious happened, right?" A slightly worried look was visible on her face as she was talking.

"Then join up with us and we will prepare to enter the warehouse once Lucius has scouted it out for us. I think there is nothing more to do out here, at the moment and we can deal with the last few robots afterwards or let the regular forces handle that. Our priority right now is to save the kid and get as much information as possible on why the robots showed up."

[Drascin]

"Then join up with us and we will prepare to enter the warehouse once Lucius has scouted it out for us. I think there is nothing more to do out here, at the moment and we can deal with the last few robots afterwards or let the regular forces handle that. Our priority right now is to save the kid and get as much information as possible on why the robots showed up."

"Understood." She takes off, vertically first and then straight for the group. I assume she'll arrive fairly quickly. "Heading there now. Is miss Severn all right?"

[Artemician]

"Acknowledged, Master.

Taking a step back, Chen flexes her hands briefly. Casting another keen eye over the structure, she looks for the vital point to hit that will cause the door to collapse inwards.

[roll0]

Regardless of whether she sees such a spot, a sudden thought occurs to her.

"Ladies, kindly get ready to blast anything that comes out. This is going to be very noisy, and doubtless attract unwanted attention."

And with that, Chen thrusts right hand in front of her, fingers outstretched. "Zerstören," she intones coldly, and a blindingly white beam of plasma lances from her fingers, to strike the adamant door.

[roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

[roll1]

(There are no windows.)

Chen melts a large hole in the door, the impact throwing what remains from it inside the warehouse. The inside is dimly lit, and the first thing that's noticable inside... are many, many robots, facing the door and with their charged cannons ready to shoot. A barrage of yellow beams fills the air! Most of them miss the targets or get dodged, but four hit Chen, and one hits Mireio!

(Toughness save DC 22, deals bruises as before. There are 20 robots inside and most of them are standing in a tight group.)

[Artemician]

"Blast!" Chen riars in rage as the lasers slam into her, not striking anywhere debilitating, but hurting like a pack of bees nonetheless, as well as throwing her backwards.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

(3 saves failed.

Also, do we roll Init?)

[Tengu_temp]

(Yes, please roll initiative.)

Robots' intiative: [roll0]

The impact of the attacks throws Chen back around 15 feet in the air. (3 bruises + stunned for 1 round)

[Drascin]

[roll0]

"Chen!" Taltha rushes even faster to the entrance, anxious.

"Everyone, give me a clear area for a moment, this attack does not discriminate friend or foe!"

When it's her turn, she lands - not coincidentally, in a point between the robots and chen, providing her what cover she can - and looks. If the robots are still mostly packed up, she raises Freyalise, a cartridge flies from it (+1 rank)

"Chain Binding: Harpoon Field"

and a brilliant circle of blue and green magic appears in the ground under the drones, and from it, dozens upon dozens of arrowchains burst upward, gripping everything that they come across and hampering their movement.

[Dragoon]

Mireio, Chen, are you two alright? His worry was more for the familiar. Blast these one seem to be able to hit better. But I do need to save that girl. "Vanish." As he calls upon one of his few abilities not from Bohrer. He flies inside and moves away from the robots, not be near any of the robots so that Taltha won't accidently hit him as he searches the area.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Tara shakes off the effects of the blast that connected to see the other enemies in ruin and everyone headed for the warehouse. "Or we can all go in then. Ya," she says, still a little woozy.

[roll0] (3 Dex mod to determine the tie)

Rushing toward the door with the others, she winces in sympathy as Chen takes three solid hits. She notices Taltha's field of chains and observes, "Well, I guess now is the time to be graceful. Cover me!" before dashing in to the cluster of enemies, ribbon-like whip extending from her Device.

"Scourge Form"

[Artemician]

"I'm all right," Chen pants, "Just need to catch my breath"

[roll0]

Round two

Shaking her head to clear the fuzzy feeling, Chen moves forward to support her Master, while providing blasting at the nearest robot with beams of Plasma.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

[roll1]

(Results in another post.)

[Nerd-o-rama]

((Okay, so, the long and short of it is that, since these guys are Minions, I can take 10 on attacks against them and use Takedown Attack to keep moving through them until one passes its Toughness Save.

All-out Attack 2 (+2 Attack -2 Def), meaning my attack rolls are all 22. Damage is +10+Modifier from Autofire.

Apparently Snare is not a continuing effect on its area. Uh-duh. So no Reflex save needs from me.))

"Oraaaa!" Tara dashes in among the bound robots, beam ribbon whipping forward, back, and all around her as it strikes each robot several times in rapid succession, forming a very pretty but very sharp pattern of scarlet energy in the air.

[Tengu_temp]

Taltha's chains bind all but three of the robots, leaving them an easy pray...

Tara's attack, swooshing past the whole group of enemies and slashing at them, seems to have no effect at first... and when she stops, all of them slowly fall apart into neatly-cut pieces, and then explode, filling the warehouse's inside with light for a while.

Stealthed, Lucius quickly flies through the warehouse - everything apart from the robots just exploding behind his back in the southern part are metal crates of various (but usually goddamn huge) size, roughly half of them smashed open or in pieces. The northern part has even more of them, obscuring the view and forming many good places for an ambush... and suddenly, he hears voices!

"What have we here?"

"Aaah, no! Help mee!"

"Silence, brat."

The first one is low, sounds as if its owner had quite a lot of barely-controlled rage, and clearly belongs to an adult woman. The second one, though... is that of a little girl!

(If you're not Lucius, DC 20 Notice check to hear that.)

[Nerd-o-rama]

Tara beams at the remains of the robots. "That was very good, Noble Ether! A+!"

"Thank you, my master."

[roll0]

Tara hears nothing, sees nothing, knows nothing.

[Drascin]

[roll0]

(Goddamnit! Failed by 1?!)

Taltha blinks for a moment at the instantaneous carnage that Tara left in her wake. She had seen turbines with less centrifugal might (OOC: Nerdo, that was pretty damn sweet if I say so myself. I guess it's one of the advantages of being the only one who understands the rules here :smallbiggrin:)

She shakes her head, and turns to more important matters

"Chen, are you alright?" she says, while kneeling and applying a glowing hand to her wounds (Prayer of Healing - do a DC 10 Thoughness check with a +10 bonus, and heal a condition plus one more every 5 points you beat it. Should be enough to get you to full). Meanwhile, she turns her head a bit towards the others "Does anyone else need healing?"

[Terraoblivion]

Surprised by the blow Mireio didn't get ready to fire at the robots before Tara finished turning them into neat little piles of scrap. She knew that they were in a mobile unit and some of the most talented mages around, but this was still impressive. It was clear that Tara was highly talented naturally. In an excited voice she called out to the girl who had just cleared their problems away. "That was amazing, Tara. You will surely be an ace in a few years with skill like that."

Moving into the building to join Tara in surveying if anything threatening remained before trying to find the missing girl and hints of what the robots were after.

Notice - [roll0]

Like the other two girls Mireio didn't hear anything from deeper into the warehouse. "It seems like we stopped them. Time to find the girl and what they were after. I am hardly bruised, but i should be at my best in case something we haven't discovered is in there."

[Nerd-o-rama]

"I'm okay, but if you're free," Tara says, absently rubbing her left shoulder where she'd taken the first blast.

[Drascin]

"It's no problem. To be sincere, I enjoy this more than blasting machines" Both Tara and Mireio were only slightly bruised, so they'd save time if she just healed both at the same time. When she finishes with Chen and makes sure she's prefectly alright, she raises her hand a bit, and a soft, nondirectional green light covers the area they are in (Bubble of Relief. The bonus is only +7, but it's Area, which hits you both and allows us to save some time). "That should do"

She then turns her communication on.

"Lucius, any luck yet?"

[Tengu_temp]

Apart from healing, Chen has her natural regeneration, so even without rolling I assume one round is enough for her to regain all health.

Anyone who wants to look around this part of the warehouse, roll Notice again. The door to the northern part is half-open and partially smashed.

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio moved around a bit to see if the sore spot in her side was gone, concluding that it was. "Thanks Taltha. Now let's see if there is anything interesting in here." Heading out to follow her own suggestion she started poking around the crates and whatever else was stored in there to see if she could find any hint of the girl or whatever the robots were after.

Notice - [roll0]

[Nerd-o-rama]

[roll0]

Noooothiiiiiing!

[Drascin]

Nodding, Taltha separates herself a bit, and starts to cover the part of the warehouse that Mireio wasn't

[roll0]

(A 3?... Today the dice surely don't want me to notice anything... And it seems I'm actually the highest roll... *sings* we are a buuuunch of myopic maaaages...)

[Tengu_temp]

You actually manage to find something - in one of the longer containers (fitting for a truck) there is an inactive, partially disassembled robot - but it doesn't seem damaged. More like someone disassembled it, or it wasn't assembled properly and didn't activate because of that.

And one more thing. One of the container's sides is smashed, as if something pierced through it. But it apparently did so from the inside.

[Drascin]

Taltha steps back a bit, looking at the dismantled robot (if I can deduce something via a Knowledge check, please tell. Taltha has 18 intelligence and genius-level engineering ability, but I sure don't) "I found something. But it's not the girl. Partially constructed robot, seems it did not activate due to its incomplete state. The container has been broken from the inside, however, which suggests it might not be as inactive as it looks" Normally, Taltha would want to analyze the thing screw by screw, to learn more about how it worked, but right now the thought of the child was foremost in her mind (and was, in fact, mostly what was keeping her on her feet), so the robot wasn't archived in her brain as "interesting piece" but "Search failure and remotely possible danger"

[Terraoblivion]

Thinking over what Taltha said for a moment. "Is it the same as the others? If so then it seems to suggest that the robots were stored in the warehouse and activated due to some currently unknown trigger. Does the box say anything about its origins? If there is nothing else in this part of the warehouse let's head to the other for now. We need to save the girl and clear the area before we investigate properly."

[Drascin]

(I'm afraid I'm going to need Tengu to tell me all that before I answer you, Terra :smalltongue:)

[Tengu_temp]

The robot looks precisely like the others. If it was made by human hands, the builder made a mistake at one point, if it was made by a machine, it hiccuped. When you produce something en-masse (and these robots surely were), defects that don't work at all happen, and this robot is an example.

The container bears no visible marks that might indicate its origins. At least not visible after such a brief search.

[Drascin]

(And nothing that clues me as to what or how smashed out? Relative size at least, marks of scorches, something? I'm going to be back when we save the girl, to give it a more thorough investigation, but I want a quick analysis about whether it's safe to show our backs to this box before going. I've played to many videogames where a smashed anything means something is going to come and try to kill you to not feel a bit disquieted)

[Tengu_temp]

Right. It seems that the thing that bursted out of this container was the size of the robots you're facing, and didn't do so in one try - breaking through the walls took several attempts.

[Dragoon]

Hearing the people trying to drag the girl away, he mentally contacts his teammates and mission control, Be careful when you move closer, there are quite a few places that robots could hide on the way and plenty of them as well., also looks like there is someone else here with the robots. I believe trying to kidnap the girl. He moves closer, keeping vanish up, and if he can get to the other side, create an illusion of himself that rushes up to the person from where he came, which shall say. "Hands up, let go of girl now, you are completely surrounded." Also it will dodge any attacks throw at it, to it's best ability.

((Assuming the illusion doesn't drop concealment, if it does, then, scratch the illusion and Lucius will attempt to see what is going on))
((Also assuming our base is within 20 miles))

[Drascin]

(Alright, that should be enough info for now. Seems the robots were simply stored in groups, and there was another in the container. I was kinda worried there was a chance this one would explode on me or something when I turned my back. I have played with too many sadist DMs to trust even a fly ^^u)

"Yes, same model. Nothing that I can see about procedence, but I can hardly run a test battery now. Let's proceed and find Nanoha" She hurries up to the others' position. Come on, where was the child? She dared not think of the possibility that she was actually hurt, or even... no. She shivered, and then focused again. Most certainly not, she wasn't.

Then she hears Lucius message.

"Understood. We're heading there. Try to make sure the culprit doesn't escape or hurt the girl" and with that, she gestures to the others to move and unceremoniously starts running towards the zone where Lucius is.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

(post comin')

[Terraoblivion]

"Understood, Taltha. Let's proceed to the other part of the warehouse. Nanoha is in danger." Following her own directions Mireio headed towards the busted door to the northern half of the building. Lucius message worried her. "I see. We will be there as soon as possible, try to detain them until we get there. If possible avoid lethal damage, they might be able to tell us what is going on. And where in the room are you and the girl? So we don't hurt either of you by accident."

Turning to see if Taltha and Tara was keeping up she started running hoping to enter the other room in time to aid Lucius. With a shield up she felt confident in her ability to deal with the robots.

"Yoichi, defend me"

"Yes, master. Protection!"

Initiative - [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Moving around the corner, Lucius notices the source of the voice - a tall, rough-looking woman, with yellow eyes and dark brown hair, kept in large spikes at the front and a long ponytail at the back. The lower layer of her clothes - baggy pants and midriff-bearing top - is black, and the upper one - a sleeveless vest and thick gauntlets, boots and headband - is red. And it's all covered in small metal plates here and there, irregularily. She's holding a small, maybe 5-6 years old girl in her hand, wearing a yellow dress, black-haired and not really looking like the legendary Nanoha. The little girl tries to struggle to escape her grip, fruitlessly.

The woman is also surrounded by at least half a dozen of robots, although they don't seem aggressive. She turns into the illusion's direction.

"And you are? This kid's adoptive mom? What a joke." She releases her grip and the girl falls down to the ground with a squeak. "Beat it. A grownup's busy here."

(Anyone approaching the second part of the warehouse can hear this clearly now, without the exploding robots making noise and all.)

[Drascin]

Taltha reduces her pace a bit, moving more quietly now. "Try to use the containers to hide and surround her" she tells the others. "If she doesn't let the child go, we will have to force her, and surprising her is our best bet to make sure she doesn't hurt her. Lucius, keep distracting her"

[Dragoon]

"Wow, I guess you do see yourself as old, then." The illusion prepares a "blast," trying to draw her attention. Lucius mentally communicates to his teammates. There are over a half a dozen enemy robots here, I'm planning to grab the girl and get as high as I can be careful on your way here. Turning to contact the young girl. Nanoha, I'm going to rescue you, that person there is going to come from behind you and carry you up, please trust me on this. He then flies to next Nanoha, drops Vanish, grabs the girl and flies straight up. "Don't worry, I, Lucius, will keep you safe."

[Drascin]

Taltha blinks for a half-second. So horribly reckless, but now it was done. "Okay, change of plans" She flies towards the room as fast sa she can without hitting the walls and... (OOC: Any chance to fire a Harpoon Field off and not hit Lucius and Nanoha? I'll also start rolling initiative now)

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

The woman simply folds her arms and looks at the illusion as it's preparing for an attack. Lucius manages to grab the little girl without any complications! She is still shuddering, but after hearing his words she looks at him fearfully and calms down a little.

"Done playing? Scram and stop wasting my time. Come tincans, we're leaving!"

(If you shoot the harpoons after Lucius flies up, they won't hit him nor Nanoha.)

[Drascin]

Taltha stops herself in the middle of the gesture. She stays on edge, but the woman was acting... strange, and shooting binds at people who hadn't even shown aggression was not something she did. She gets out from cover with decided steps.

"Wait" she says in her best clear, commanding voice. It would have taken a very observant someone to perceive the little trembling underneath that revealed that she was forcing herself very much to do this, and was staving off panic by sheer force of will.

"I'm afraid that is not going to be possible. The TSA wants to ask you some questions about this robot outbreak. Please come voluntarily with us"

She stands ready for anything, however (OOC: basically, I prepare action in case she tries to escape)

[Dragoon]

I don't think my illusion really worked on her, blast. Watch for her vanishing. He mentally communicates. But in case it did, he has the illusion point "Bohrer" and prepare "Drill Trap." Lucius prepares to leave back the way he came, since protecting Nanoha was the most important thing he could do right now.

((Will double move out if I can and then wait for information from teammembers before reacting))

[Terraoblivion]

Seeing the scene in the room she aimed Yoichi in the direction of a cluster of robots as a large number of arrows started appearing around it. Speaking in unison with her device as she initiated the attack.

"We have to do this, Yoichi. Plasma Strike!"

As one the arrows sped towards the cluster of robots, spreading out to cover a large area slicing through metal and twisting their paths to return whenever they missed.

Area attack from a rank 7 power. As far as i can tell i don't need to roll any dice for this

[Drascin]

(OOC: Goddamnit, Terra, I wanted to try diplomacy for once! :smalltongue:)

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

Don't ninja this post!

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

"Oh, the rest of the family is appearing. How sweet." The woman's voice sounds so cynical tasting it would probably be a hazard to health. "Screw you. I'm not going with you, and if you try to stop me, you'll be sorry. You have two seconds to be gone. One, two, too late. Beatup time."

In that exact moment Mireio appears, pelting the inside of the warehouse with energy arrows! Surrounding crates and the robots get pelted with holes, although two of them are still able to move after this treatment (the other fall fall down lifelessly). The woman avoid the rain of missiles with a lazy-looking, but extremely fast sidestep.

"You're done for. Glutsiegel!" A sword materializes in her hand! It's not very long, obviously one-handed, and very broad, ending not in point but in a blunt edge, giving it a rectangular shape. And its red hilt holds a revolver system for cartridges!

Taltha can react before the woman can do anything.

[Drascin]

Taltha sidesteps and readies her shield, and at the same time space warps a few steps behind the woman, and chains sprout, trying to grab her from behind (the attack is twice homing, by the way)

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
Hidden modifier!

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
[roll1]

The chains wrap around the woman tightly, binding her! Her expression can be described as a slightly bored frown.
"You're too cowardly to use attacks that actually hurt?"
Suddenly, in a flash, she raises the hand with which she holds the sword (and it's both left, and she's wielding it upside-down), and the chains break, fall off and disappear!
"I didn't plan to fight you at first but everything about you just asks for a beating. Get them!" The last two words were directed towards the robots, and they raise their swords! Not only that, but one of the large crates behind her suddenly bursts, and from behind it other constructs emerge! There are two of them, and they look similarily to the previous ones, only around 12 feet tall, empty-handed and even bulkier. Around 10 robots of the familiar type follow behind them!

Lucius manages to leave the warehouse by flying through the southern passage.
"Everyone, can you hear me?" It's Albin. "The reinforcements from the ground army should be there any moment now!"

(If you haven't already, roll for initiative. The above are the rolls for the robots. In this round only Tara, Chen and the two robots that survived the hail of arrows didn't move yet.)

[Drascin]

Taltha barely bats an eyelash. She knew she was outclassed the moment she stepped in this room. She only hoped she could hold her long enough for the reinforcements to arrive.

"Cowardice would not seem a fitting adjective for one who leaves her enemies alive. After all, killing is easier" she retorts, adrenaline pounding in her veins wildly. She readies herself for defense.

"Get the kid OUT!" she practically shouts at Lucius mentally.

[roll0]

As soon as she can, she lets go a Harpoon Field right in the middle of the robots. The woman would not be caught, but her companions would have an easier time mopping up the robots that way.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Ooh, a swordfighter!" Tara says enthusiastically. "Let's have a duel!"

"Saber Form", says the Device as the energy beam becomes shorter and denser. Weapon ready, Tara salutes her opponent and rushes forward to lock blades with her.

[roll0]

"So, what's your name?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

((Didn't realize at first I had an action this round. So, here's my attack. Basic move and attack for now.))

[roll0] (Damage +10, all of it Penetrating)

[Dragoon]

Lucius whince slightly at Taltha's yell which interrupted his response to Albin. Listen, we have some good news, the ground army reinforcements are almost here. I'm out of the building. Do you need my help or should I take Nanoha to here father? Either way, be careful. The urgentness in Taltha's command lets a crack into Lucius's smile, which he was wearing to keep the young girl from crying.
"They know what they are doing, master." Bohrer reassures Lucius.

[Tengu_temp]

The woman parries Tara's attack with little effort.
"Hmpf. The virtue of the path of least violence and honorable duels - what's next, heart-shaped beams? I know someone who'd you get along with perfectly, but, unfortunately for you, she's not here. There's only me."

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Really? I'm sure I'd love to be introduced. Wouldn't you, Taltha?" Tara asks, a little competitive seriousness edging into her voice as she backs up a pace for her next attack (which I'll wait on in order in case the situation changes.)

[Artemician]

"Honour? In a time and place like this?" Chen snarls in frustration, teeth flashing. Throwing a cartridge forward and upwards, she leaps into a breakneck rush, snatching the cartridge in midair and crushing it between her palms.

The DragonBreath flashes a brilliant green, a shimmering glow so brilliant that the air itself seems to waver around them. Their form flickers - wavers, and where there were once brown gloves, there are now a pair gleaming golden gauntlets, crackling with power.

Charging forward, Chen jumps onto the woman like one of her wild cousins, attacking with feral abandon, attempting to establish a hold, to claw, to rake and to tear.


I use a Cartridge to boost my Strike Power by one.
[roll0]
If my attack connects, I will switch my Gloves to enhance my Strentgh by 9, and attempt to enter a Grapple.
[roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

[roll1]

Chen leaps at the woman ferociously and tries to grapple her, but she gets pushed away - that woman is very strong! There are results of the attack, however - several small scratches, and one larger one on the cheek (1 bruise).

"Hey, not bad - you can actually land a hit on me."

Two robots brandish their swords and charge forward! One of them tries to attack Chen, the other Tara, and both are so slow their slashes are easily dodged.

(Next turn. All of you can move before the enemies.)

"Mister...? Where's dad...?", the girl asks Lucius. At least little kids can perceive his gender accurately without any trouble.

[Drascin]

(OOC: errr... is my spell going to do something or not? I mean, I'd like to know if I did something before continuing to post...)

[Tengu_temp]

(The harpoon field at the robots? You did your action for the previous round, so you need to do it in this one. Unless you used 3 cartridges and I didn't catch it...)

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Hey, stop that!" Tara says irritably at the robot that engaged her before somewhat idly stabbing her sword through the nearest approximation it has to a head. "Can't you see I'm fighting a time-honored traditional mage battle here."

[roll0] (Power Attack 2, Toughness +12)

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

Tara's blade gets right through the robot's head with almost no resistance. And then it blows up, still impaled.

(It wasn't one of the huge ones, in case anyone wondered.)

[Drascin]

(Okay, okay. I had thought the Etheric had been a result of the action I readied, not my turn action. Okay then, here it goes)

"Chen!" she shouts mentally when the little blaze of power smashes into the enemy. Don't be so reckless! she thinks. No, I have to focus, she'll be alright.

Chen and Tara seemed to be able to hold themselves against the woman. Therefore, she and Mireio should try to focus on the incoming robots or they'd gang up on them. That at least she could try. She does a rapid calculation as to how to catch the maximum number of robots inside the area, if at all possible just so the two big robots fall in but her companions and the woman in melee with them didn't, and lets loose the magic

"Chain Binding: Harpoon Field"

[Tengu_temp]

(Ah, you see, you indeed readied an action, but readying is a standard action which you performed in the last round. Sorry for all the confusion.)

[roll0]

The etheric chains wrap around the robots, restricting the movements of most of them almost completely! Only one of the larger and one of the smaller ones are able to move at all, and another of the smaller ones dodged and didn't get caught in the area.

[Nerd-o-rama]

(Since the woman apparently hasn't moved, I get a Takedown Attack!)

After the robot's explosion, Tara whips the sword back around in a surprise backhand maneuver, hoping to catch her opponent off-guard.

[roll0] (Still Power Attack 2 for Toughness +12)

[Tengu_temp]

She parries Tara's swing once again.
"You're boring. The cat's better."
She suddenly opens her eyes a bit wider and her face loses its focus. "What...? Damn.", she addresses nobody in particular.

[Artemician]

"Reckless, eh?"...

Maybe you're right!

Rebounding agilely off the floor, Chen aims a flying kick at a nearby robot, before pushing off and using the momentum from her kick to strike at the woman again in a rapid blitz.

I swap my gloves back to Strike again, hitting both the robot and the woman with a Rapid Attack
[roll0]
[roll1]

If I hit the woman, I attempt to start a Grapple Attempt, using my unboosted 14 Strength.

[roll2]

[Tengu_temp]

Rollin!

[roll0]

[Dragoon]

Taltha or Albin, where is the child's father? I can handle the robots out here, but I don't want to put her at risk. He flies a little to the east, to make sure they are out of range of the robots. "We moved him to safety, Nanoha, in just a second, someone will take you to him, most likely me." He beams at her. Blast it, I'll miss out on watch those two, my idea for a picture might be as natural for them.

[Drascin]

(Okay, Extra Effort as free action to add an Alternate Power)

Even as her magic circle (on her previous turn) appeared on the ground, to the imminent chagrin of the drone army, Taltha's mind had been working at a lightning-fast pace. She's too fast and too strong, she keeps blocking miss Severn and even Chen is having trouble keeping up, I don't know what we can do, she...

Wait

She looks at Freyalise in her hand. Taltha's eyes acquire an absent glaze, as she starts running the necessary design changes through her head at monstrous speed even as the chains flailed and grappled mercilessly. If she rerouted the alkari generators and modified the secondary prana circuits of the Boost Sign mind function... but doing that the fast way could literally burn part of Freyalise's mechanism...

"That is not a problem. If she wins, I'll be worse off" Freyalise ironizes in her childish, mocking voice.

"But..." No. Freyalise was right: she had to try. She could cloud her mind and reflexes. That way, Chen and Tara could knock her out.

She made the image on her mind clear, and gave the order "Freyalise, reroute"

"Of course, Master" the staff purrs. Once the design is ready, with the energy of the mage the device could make temporary modifications to itself. It wasn't marvelously precise, which here meant it risked damage to the device, and would not last, but should be enough.

As she looks intently at the three meleeing women, she channels everything she has with her utmost care into the staff, and a purple, sickly looking pentagram star manifests, as if a particularly dangerous aura, around the target woman.

With a satisfied voice, Freyalise intones

"Weakness Sign: Mind Seal",

and the spell goes off. Sparks fly out of Freyalise's end, but Taltha is so preoccupied with aiming the field she barely notices (-1 point to the power due to Fade. Lose a Homing feat).

[roll0] (and I'm fully willing to spend my Hero Point ensuring a hit if the result of that's too low)

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

[roll1]

The little girl nods and smiles. "Okay!"

"A man identified as Torn Raus has met with the southern group of ground army and is currently receiving first aid." Lucius receives a response from Melina. "The northern group is about to engage remaining enemy forces."

Indeed, if Lucius looks very carefully, a small group among the humans observing the warehouse is carrying some long objects. Probably staves.

---

Chen's kicks the head off the robot's body, electric sparks flying everywhere, and proceeds to attack the woman.
"Aufruhr Schild!"
Runes appear around the woman's feet in a pattern, and Chen's attack is met with a solid shield of red energy. It's too hard to pierce through, and forces her to leap back.
The voice belongs to Glutsiegel, and sounds a lot like a male equivalent of its owner, including the very friendly and cheerful tone.

Immediately after that, Taltha launches a beam of weakening magic! The woman ducks and rolls to the side, ending up kneeling on one knee, several drops of sweat on her face - she dodged it just barely.

[Dragoon]

Thanks, Melina. Communicating to the group inside, if he can Reinforcements from the north have reached and are about to take on the robots outside, I'll be back, soon, though hopefully not needed. He turns to Nanoha, "I'm going to be flying fast, ok, so hold on tight, we'll meet your dad soon." After making sure he's holding on tight to Nanoha, he takes off, trying to go fast without wearing himself out.

((Heading south to where the ground army is, double move))

[Tengu_temp]

As Lucius flies in closer, it turns out that these people are indeed TSAB's ground army soldiers - one of them is kneeling besides Torn, and judging from the aura surrounding the wounded man's arm, he's just being healed.

The little girl makes huge eyes when she notices him, and calls out loudly; "Daddy! Daddy, I'm here!"

"Nanoha? Nanoha, you're safe!" Torn stands up, disregarding his wound, and start running into Lucius' direction! If/when he lands, the girl leaps from his arms and runs to her father too, who grabs her, lifts her in the air and hugs tightly. "Daddy is so glad you're safe...!"
Tears of happiness flow down their faces.

One of the soldiers salutes Lucius. "Ma'am... what is the situation inside?"

[Dragoon]

Seeing the child cry out to her father, Lucius flies right next to her father,"Special delivery." Now I need to draw a picture of them, just remember that. Turning to the soldier. "The four other members of my team are probably still fighting someone, actually, I'm worried that they may need help with her and the rest of the weak robots. Unless you have other orders for me."

[Tengu_temp]

The soldier shakes his head. "No - we are actually ordered to help you and storm the building in the same moment the northern group does. Which means..." He apparently receives a message. "Now! Go, go, go!"

All the soldiers - eight of them - start to run towards the warehouse, their staves ready to shoot any robots that appear in sight. Some flashes of light can be seen behind the building, at north.

Torn turns to Lucius - his face is both happy and serious at the same time. "Thank you so much for rescuing my daughter! I swear, I will never forget it. Are you that blonde woman's colleague? Could you tell her one thing from me? I... I'm sorry that I doubted her."

[Terraoblivion]

The woman was trouble. She was just too good for them to fight easily. But Taltha had the right of it, they could not just ignore the robots. She had been hit by one and it hurt like hell, even if it wasn't a major blow. Letting a whole bunch of them free would be bad. Tara might need her help, however, the woman seemed to be handling her and Chen with frightening easy.

Hesitating just a second to check on the battle in the air she returned to focus to the robots. Hopefully she would get rid of them now and let them focus on the woman herself. Capturing her would be a great help in uncovering what was going on.

"Plasma Strike"

The swarm of arrows erupted around Mireio and headed straight for the bound robots, curving back and weaving through the air as they reaches the edges of what she could control at once. Flashes of green light played over the robots before her attack came to a halt.

Like last time. A DC 17 reflex save to reduce or avoid damage from the attack. I am saving my cartridges for the woman.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

Tara's attack decimates the robots, resulting in a chain of slightly green-tilted explosions! When the dust has settled, only the large ones and one of the smaller ones remain.
(Damage - one big robot: 1 + stunned, the other two: resisted).

"There go the tincans... Glutsiegel! You know what to do!"
"Ja, Meister. Drachenabzug: Vulkan Feuer!"
Three empty cartridge shells fall out of the sword's hilt. The woman smashes it, upside-down as usual, into the floor, and a giant blast of fire bursts from the ground into your direction, enveloping everything on its way! After the attack passes, you can see that it left a hole in the ground. The woman jumps in!
"You got lucky. If there's any brains in your thick heads, you better forget about me."

The robots struggle in their chains - the larger one that didn't get overwhelmed by Tara's attack manages to break free, and stands on the hole, covering it with its body (it's too large to get inside). The others do nothing.

(Area attack - Reflex save DC: 26. Toughness save DC: 31 [23 if you make the save and don't have Evasion]. Deals bruises.)

[Dragoon]

"I will, and your daughter's very astute." Seeing the ground reinforcement go after the robots outside, Lucius takes off to enter the building. The reinforcements are here, I'm assuming you four need me in there? Seeing a hole in the wall explode from the outside, Lucius rushes in, and sees the giant robot in the hole and his team heavily injured, if not unconcious. "Who do you think I am, that I would let you get away with something like this?!" He yells at the robots as Bohrer uses a cartidge. "Final Burst."

[Tengu_temp]

The woman's attack also makes a huge hole in the warehouse's ceiling, and is visible from outside.

[Drascin]

(I assume the area hit me... DC 26 reflex, autofail, and DC 31 Thoughness, also autofail. Well, people, it was nice, but I get down in this stop. Someone make sure to get my unconscious body to the medics, please, because I don't know how many turns you get as "dying" in this game, but I doubt they're many. I'll roll Toughness now)



(dit: Yay, a 1 :smallannoyed:. Like always, when it comes to staying alive, my rolls stink. Immediate Fortitude it is. Anything under 5 and I'm dead. Yay again)

[roll=Fortitude]1d20+5

[Terraoblivion]

The explosion triggered a string of explicitives from Mireio, as she threw herself through the air to the left clearing the blast zone as she tried to see the result through the haze. "Everyone. What's your status? Able to continue fighting? We need to finish this quickly or we will be overwhelmed. I'm fine myself."

Reflex - [roll0]
Toughness - [roll1]

[Drascin]

(Hm, you can't add rolls in edit, apparently. Trying again)

[roll0]

Aaaaand I'm dead, people. A 1 and a 3 consecutively. It would seem the forum roller hates me. Well, it's been nice gaming with you all :smallsigh:.

Edit: Ah, apparently Tengu edited to mention it's only bruises. Whew.

Anyway, Taltha, status, out of commision, as she's blown completely by the explosion and smashes with a painful sound against one of the containers before falling down. Ouchie.

[Tengu_temp]

(You can't die. This is non-lethal damage. In M&M, and coincidentally Nanoha too, it's lethal damage that's out of ordinary.)

[Dragoon]

[roll0] He watches as the drill goes on course, his anger slightly pacified.
I just need to take out the robot and then get everyone back on their feet. Don't be dead, don't be.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

Lucius' drill missile slams into the robot from above, drilling a huge hole in its armor and knocing it off balance, pushing one of its legs into the hole.

(Bruised + Stunned.)

[Nerd-o-rama]

Oh...that looks bad...

"Prot--"

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Nerd-o-rama]

[roll0] (Hero Point reroll of Toughness save...forgot how to actually do this...treat the die result as a 19, so 29 total).

Tara is taken totally unawares by the enemy's attack, unable to even roll with it or bring her protection spell to bear. Only through sheer Nanbuesque luck does her barrier jacket hold, leaving her singed and somewhat disoriented, but still in the fight.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Smoking slightly, Tara's expression turns grim.

"That's because you're not the only one who can do that. Noble Ether! Cartridge Looooad!" she instructs.

The hilt of the device pumps in and out, firing and ejecting four shells in rapid succession! "Blade Fury!" Tara charges down at the retreating enemy, sword held high above her head, smashing through her defenses with a powerful blow (that leaves her equally wide open) and following up with a rapid succession of strokes from her supercharged device. "Zan zan zanzanzanzan!"

(Spending four cartridges to add +1 to my attack and the autofire modifier. All-out Attack for +5 Attack, -5 Defense).

[roll0] (Damage +10, Autofire, Penetrating) (EDIT: Forgot the +1 for the cartridge and the +2 for charging! So 37 total on that attack. -7 Defense, though....)

[Terraoblivion]

Determined not to be outdone by Tara and equally determined to apprehend the woman, Mireio raised her bow. "We are not some random ground forces mages you can kick around. Yoichi, now."

The revolver chamber in the bow rotates four times, blowing an expended cartridge out each time. "Cartridge load. Armor Pierce, spreadfire version!" Countless arrows appeared around the girl, shooting directly at the woman in a seemingly endless barrage. The concentration on keeping the barrage up seems draining on the girl, however, as her movements in battle grows slightly slower.

Going pretty much the route of Nerdo with this. Adding autofire and +1 to the attack. Which means i forgot to add the +1 when i rolled. So i hit AC 31. Damage is +7 and autofire and penetrating.

Attack - [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

(You cannot hit her - the large robot obscures the hole in the ground she jumped into. If you somehow got past it, maybe you could attack her, but otherwise it's impossible.)

[Terraoblivion]

(Then move the previous action on to the robot in the hole. If i am lucky i might smash it enough to create a way through it.)

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
Mireio's shots hit the robot in a chain of explosions on its armor, but none of them penetrate it. The armor itself got damaged rather heavily, though (1 damage).

[Artemician]

[roll0]
[roll1]

Chen has Evasion 2, and takes only half effect. Even so, she still fails her save -.-

Mildly bruised by the shockwave of the blast, Chen nonetheless recovers her acuity relatively quickly, jumping back into the fray with characteristic abandon.

[Dragoon]

Seeing his teammates take care of the rest of the robots, and realizing everyone else had came out of it still standing. He moves over to Taltha to heal her. "Sorry for not being here during the important fight. Healing Touch."

((Has 4 ranks in it))

[Artemician]

"Trying to get away?"

Chen thumbs a cartridge, clapping her hands together and thrusting three cartridges into a slot located behind her wrists. The gauntlets flash a brilliant blue, and a pair of spidery, silvery blades emerge from their wrist guards, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Psi Blades of the long-gone Kra'Toss warrior caste.

Leaping forward, Chen spins and slashes all the enemies in her path in one swift motion. If she is able to break past the lines, she will somersault into the hole blasted by the woman, blades still extended.

PIME TARADOX!

Chen hits a robot.

Expending three Cartridges for the Mass Charge Effect, and charging all the Robots at once, if possible.

[roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

(Chen gets stunned and staggered - without the use of cartridges/extra effort she can only make one move OR standard action per round.

The only one who hasn't moved yet and is able to move in this turn is Tara [because the woman is not targettable], so let's wait for Nerdo before continuing.)

[Terraoblivion]

A frustrated look crept over Mireio's face as she saw the way the robot just ignored her attack. "Damn it. She got away. Lucius help Taltha, we will stop the robots and then try what we can find here." Still slightly winded and unbalanced from her attack she stood there looking at the last two robots almost challenging them to find some way of getting away as well.

[Drascin]

Seeing his teammates take care of the rest of the robots, and realizing everyone else had came out of it still standing. He moves over to Taltha to heal her. "Sorry for not being here during the important fight. Healing Touch."

((Has 4 ranks in it))

(If I understand this correctly, since I went directly to unconscious I only need to make a DC 10 roll, and you give me a +4 bonus... autosuccess. For once. Yay :smallbiggrin:)

Once the energy of the healing touch makes Taltha's brain reboot, she opens her eyes, clouded by an obvious expression of pain. Still, she gets up, after staggering a bit, trying her best to stay strong and not prove even more of a liability.

"...thanks. What happened while I was out? Is Chen alright? And the kid?" she asks in a tired voice, her head still buzzing too much to allow her to assess the situation herself.

Ouch. It feels as if I was hit by a demolition engine she thinks to herself. Still... no broken bones, and it seems most of the bruising was already healed by Lucius's healing spells. Her barrier jacket would probably need a couple mends tomorrow, though.

[Nerd-o-rama]

(Sigh. If that's the case, just apply my wtfpwnage to the boss robot.)

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio turned to glance at the newly recovered young woman as she rather incoherently started rambling off their status to her. "Chen has taken a beating, but is still fighting. Tara as well. I'm fine. The woman got away though. I think the girl is fine, but you need to ask Lucius. These large robots are tough, however."

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
The flashes of Tara's weapon disappear... and then electric currents crawl over the robot's body, and it falls apart into several pieces! Right afterwards, these pieces explode, leaving only several, easily cleared mechanical elements that block the hole!

With Taltha losing consciousness, the chains disappear! The other two robots take advantage of it - the larger one charges at Chen and tries to slice her in two with one of its wrist-mounted axeblades (Chen, even in post-explosion shock, is too agile for the blow to connect), and the smaller one shoots a beam at Mireio, which connects!

(Toughness save DC: 22. As usual, deals bruises.)

Chen's attack gets stopped by the massive robot's thick armor.

(Characters who moved this round: Chen, Lucius.)

[Terraoblivion]

Feeling a faint singed smell from her barrier jacket where the beam hit her, Mireio shrugged it off. "Almost there Yoichi, once more. Armor pierce." An unusually narrow, pointed arrow formed at Yoichi's grip before it sped off heading straight for the large robot aiming for the core of the machine.

Having fired her shot she hurled herself to the side through the air to get behind some of the remaining crates in the warehouse, hoping to get out of the way of future beams from the robots.

Toughness - [roll0]
Attack - [roll1] (DC22 toughness, penetrating and full all-out attack once more)

[Dragoon]

"The girl is safe and with her father, Torn apologies for doubting you. Though I will need to see to your familiar. But you are alright?" With slight concern in his voice. Lucius glares at the last two robots, wishing he could attack them, but realizing his teammates could handle it.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]
Mireio's shot makes a large hole in the robot's chest, making it take a step back. The machine is still functioning, though (damage + stunned).

[Nerd-o-rama]

Tara looks worriedly between the enemy's blocked escape route and her comrades. Mireio, Chen. Have you got things covered up here? I want to chase down the leader.

If they respond in the positive, Tara will use Scourge Form to clear out some of the debris and head after the bad guy. Otherwise, an attack roll on the minibossbot is forthcoming.

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio turned to glance in the direction of Tara. She could not let the girl just run off like, she had to help her defeat the woman. Together they could do it, most likely at least. "It's too dangerous to go alone. I'll come with you. We need Chen to remove the wreckage so we can pass. Lucius and Taltha should be able to deal with these and can join up with us once the robots are defeated."

[Drascin]

Taltha cracks the slightest hint of a smile. That is good. She's safe...

Bang! Taltha recovers her perceptive functions in a flash when the sound of the shoots fills the air, followed by Tara and Mireio' questions. I thought we had already finished! she thinks, and pulls up quickly while her body protests the treatment. They had alredy fought, and the child was safe. It should be done already. She was starting to feel a somewhat unusual emotion - frustration.

"Yes, we will take care of everything here. Reinforcements should be about to arrive anyway. Please don't worry and chase her. She has a lot to answer for"

In fact...

"If you want to be able to catch her, I could boost your speed" she says

(delaying action momentarily until I know whether people want me to try to shoot the bigbot down, heal, or start putting everyone at about 2500 mph max speed - one every 6 seconds, tho, I don't have area yet - to be able to try to catch her)

[Nerd-o-rama]

Tara hesitates for another second, nods, and flies up to hit the larger robot with a flurry of whip strikes.

[roll0] (Basic attack, Autofire, reach)

[Nerd-o-rama]

Wrooooooooong!

[roll0] (written as 1d10+10+10, because Hero Point rerolls are always 11-20).

[Terraoblivion]

Thinking for a fraction of a second before answering Taltha's question. "Speed up me, Tara and Chen. We will go after the woman. You and Lucius will join up with us once the robots are dealt with, ok? I don't think any of us are seriously hurt so don't worry about that." With her directions answered she looked to the hole to see how easily she could get there and after the woman.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

Damn, this robot is tough. (Damage + stunned. Forgive me for such a brief description.)

[Drascin]

Thinking for a fraction of a second before answering Taltha's question. "Speed up me, Tara and Chen. We will go after the woman. You and Lucius will join up with us once the robots are dealt with, ok? I don't think any of us are seriously hurt so don't worry about that." With her directions answered she looked to the hole to see how easily she could get there and after the woman.

Taltha nods from behind the box she had landed against - she had a position of cover, and she was hardly going to leave it until she finished - and answers Mireio instantly

"Understood. I can only do it one at a time, and it'll only last eight minutes, so make sure to act quickly and take much care. Also, I cannot route this to myself, so I'm afraid that, when or if I get to join you, I'd be much too late" The frustration in her mental voice is evident.

Still, she raises Freyalise a bit, and it shines

"Boost Sign: Sonic Flight".

And with that, Mireio is now the happy owner of 4 more ranks of Flight, putting her at rank 8, with an average speed of 2500 mph if I remember my tables correctly (also, if someone is less ranked, just throw me a cartridge or two. I sadly burned one too many against the robots)

[Terraoblivion]

Thinking for a moment at what Taltha was saying, Mireio nodded in her position of cover where Taltha could not actually see her. "Come join us anyway, we might need help after the fight as it is. Also there is no point in staying split up once the issue here has been solved. We can always ask the normal troops to do the investigation for us. Now if we could just blast that robot away. Can you strengthen Chen so she can remove it? Like the front door."

[Dragoon]

"Need this?" Lucius hands Taltha one of his five remaining cartidges. "Though at the rate we're going, she'll be long gone by time we finish weird robot." Lucius hoping he was wrong.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

The human-sized robot, probably seeing that its blast has no effect, moves up to Mireio (I can't read) Tara and slashes her with its sword! It'd be annoyed by the fact that its enemies are conversing instead of fighting it, if it wasn't a stupid emotionless can.

(Save DC 22, but deals lethal damage!)

You hear explosions coming from the north.

"Everyone, what's your status?" It's Albin. "We've got reports about a huge explosion just a moment ago!"

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio quickly flew over to the wreckage of the robot and started digging through it, half turning her head to talk to Tara as she did so. "I think we can squeeze through it to head after the woman." Working fast to avoid attracting the attention of the robots she still send a message out to answer the queries of mission control. "The situation is mostly under control. The woman we found blasted a hole in the floor to escape, one of the robots blocked it to prevent us from following. We are currently working on eliminating the last two robots and getting through the wreckage, i think i am almost through to whereever she went."

[Nerd-o-rama]

[roll0]

Post goes here.

[Nerd-o-rama]

(Christ this is embarassing. Spending two catridges to Counter (i.e. parry) with Scourge Form).

[roll0]

"Alert." As the robot escapes Tara's notice and almost sneaks up on her to end her career as a mage in a highly embarrassing manner, Noble Ether's cartridge system pumps again and it whirls around of it's own volition, parrying and riposting the robot's energy sword.

(Tengu said he'd allow an Instant Counter even though I already rolled Toughness. Thanks, Tengu.)

"..."

"That was close. I have the best Device ever!" Tara beams after a second of contemplating her luck.

[Tengu_temp]

[roll0]

(Only this one time, due to the circumstances and players not being aware of this rule. Normally it's before you roll toughness.)

Tara's riposte cuts the robot in two, both halves falling to the ground with a loud clank.

[Drascin]

Thinking for a moment at what Taltha was saying, Mireio nodded in her position of cover where Taltha could not actually see her. "Come join us anyway, we might need help after the fight as it is. Also there is no point in staying split up once the issue here has been solved. We can always ask the normal troops to do the investigation for us. Now if we could just blast that robot away. Can you strengthen Chen so she can remove it? Like the front door."

"Understood. And yes"

(Mmmm...Art, I don't quite remember what you did... what do I have to boost, again? ^^u)


"Need this?" Lucius hands Taltha one of his five remaining cartidges. "Though at the rate we're going, she'll be long gone by time we finish weird robot." Lucius hoping he was wrong.

"Thanks. And yes, it is remarkably more resilient than its peers".

She gets the cartridge in the chamber, just in case, as she prepares the spell for Chen.

[Terraoblivion]

Mireio paused for a second in her digging as she heard the attack on Tara. A look of worry on her face washed away into relief as the attack was blocked. "Thank god you stopped it. Lucius, Taltha do either of you have cartridges you can spare for me, Tara and Chen when we go after the woman? We might need them."

[Dragoon]

Seeing Tara finish off the robot, Lucius was ready to take on this escaping woman, though the large robot continued to survive. "Well, I can give one cartidge to Mireio, Tara, and Chen to leave myself with one, but I do have one question. What did she do to cause the hole in the wall?" Being the only member not to see what happened. If the others attack and don't finish it off, I'd better attack it again.

[Nerd-o-rama]

(There's still a large robit last time I checked. It's been wounded and stunned a couple times, but it's still standing).

[Terraoblivion]

Hearing Lucius' offer and questions made Mireio pause in her digging once more to reply. "She loaded some cartridges and made an explosion that looked like a volcano. Hopefully she won't have enough cartridges to do it again, though we should be able to withstand it if she does. Also thank you for the cartridge, i owe you."