FujiwaraPhoenix

Heavens Torn Asunder

Prologue

The nation of Tenkai, led by the once-Emperor Hifumi, has fallen. Once bound together under one banner, the land has since been left fractured by the assassination of their leader and the ensuing power struggle. The ministers and warlords bickered and fought, and in a single motion the land was left divided. Those who returned to their homes built up castles and armies, and thus began a great civil war. For ten years they fought, consuming the land in fire and brimstone...

Until finally, only nine banners remained. Nine clans leading their own men, finally seeing that the commonfolk were beginning to grow weary of the fighting and seemed to be on the verge of rebelling, chose to lay down their arms—if only temporarily—and rebuild.

And rebuild they did.

It has been fifty years since, and the lands of Tenkai remain divided. But even so, a single spark could easily reignite the flames of war, and consume everyone once more...

Tenkai

Toukai is a land of humans and youkai—the two coexist, though occasionally under more dubious terms. The land upon which the nation was founded is somewhat isolated from those nearby, with mountain ranges and deserts to the west and the ocean to the east; ultimately, this means that foreign intervention or involvement in their affairs is all but impossible.

In short, these domestic affairs are to be settled by those living there and them alone.

Provinces and Clans

The lands of Tenkai have been divided into nine major provinces, each led by a single clan. They are, as follows:

• Mifu (美風) Province — Amami (天海) Clan
  Bordering the eastern ocean, Mifu is very intertwined with maritime matters. The bounty of the sea supplies the people with what they cannot gain from the land, and ease of access to salt means that bartering for what else they need from other regions is fairly commonplace.
• Miwatari (神渡) Province — Izumo (出雲) Clan
  A landlocked region with equal parts forests and hillsides, Miwatari is more famous for being a spiritual center for the people of Tenkai as a whole. Shrines and temples dot the landscape, often run by one of the many practicioners of onmyodo that the region teaches.
• Yamakawa (山川) Province — Shisui (酒々井) Clan
  Surrounded by hills and mountains, Yamakawa's natural borders allow for it to place focus onto agricultural developments. Behind the rugged landscape that protects them lie plentiful fields and, arguably, some of the best alcohol in the nation.
• Hakkou (八綱) Province — Shirogane (白鐘) Clan
  With access to beaches and ore-rich veins, Hakkou is one of the premier locations to obtain ore from. Excess ore is often traded off for the sake of supplying the people who live therein, but all else is funneled towards arms and armor.
• Nohara (野原) Province — Tsuchimaru (土丸) Clan
  Nohara is, more than any other region within Tenkai, known for it's abundance of horses and the power of it's cavalry. Boasting more than enough land to tend to animals, the region's ability to cross large swathes of land easily means that they can defend or attack on a whim if the need arises.
• Hinomiya (火ノ宮) Province — Ibara (茨) Clan
  Unlike many of the other provinces, Hinomiya is powerful because it functions as a natural chokepoint and buffer between Mifu and Hakkou. That status means that they are allowed to play both sides and benefit from the trade within while also deterring either region from pushing towards the other.
• Haruki (春樹) Province — Rinka (林下) Clan
  A region that truly embodies the bounty of the land, Haruki is filled with forests and fertile farmland; such abundance means that they supply many of the other regions with food (incidentally more often than not), which means that no other province wants it to fall into another's hands. Their abundance also allows them to invest in luxuries, leaving its people better off than more (or, at least, those who can afford said luxuries).
• Myojin (明神) Province — Wadatsumi (海神) Clan
  The land of the former capital. Though once ruined and razed to the ground, the people of the province have begun to rise from the ashes of their former glory, supplied in part by the discovery of a precious metal whose properties they are apt to keep under lock and key. With access to the ocean in the south and enough farmland to feed its people, most of the other regions have left the province well enough alone, but with a careful eye trained upon its residents at all times.
• Gekkou (月光) Province — Takasaki (鷹) Clan
  Covered in mountains and hillside forests, Gekkou is far more difficult a region to advance on. Most of those who live here do so by foraging off the land, and the winding paths and low visibility mean that most others would choose to leave the province and its residents be more often than not. However, they do not necessarily thrive off the land, either, leading many groups within towards either trading with those close or towards less... 'Agreeable' methods of negotiation.

---

So... In short, this is an idea for a fantasy Sengoku Jidai (aka Warring States or 'that thing with Nobunaga') RP that takes place in... Well, what is effectively fantasy Japan if it had a landmass the size of China.

Oh, and with magic, obviously. And technology somewhat closer in nature to that of the Heian era than that of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (so no firearms).

Ideally, players would start out in one (or, if the numbers are too large to allow for just one, two) of the provinces mentioned above and inevitably get swept up into the fervor of war, but those matters can be more easily set up after I see what a tentative cast and player count would look like.

The idea is mostly fleshed out at this point (or so I believe), but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. For those already interested, however, here is a form to get ahead of the curve if you so choose.

Form

[list][*][u]Name[/u]:
[*][u]Age[/u]:
[*][u]Race[/u]: Mainly to differentiate between humans and youkai (and youkai subtypes).
[*][u]Appearance[/u]:
[*][u]Personality[/u]:
[*][u]History[/u]:
[*][u]Abilities/Skills[/u]:
[*][u]Other[/u]:[/list]

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

The Horizon — Command Room

To Teodora's comment, Ms. Morrison simply brought one hand towards her chin and nodded, her eyes lightly closed as she considered the younger girl's words.

"Hmm... Well, a core would not actually be all that unlikely, given the general composition of the Warped as we saw from the combat footage," she spoke, opening her eyes again before gesturing towards one of the cameras. "The creature seems to see the world through a bunch of eyes, or so the scientists said during your initial engagement—and as Kim surmised mid-combat—but the sheer quantity of them makes it unlikely that they are priority targets. A centralized core, however, would seem more likely to be your target. This is not to speak before the experts have, though; once Selene is repaired and we've examined the Warped some more, though, we will call you two back in before your next sortie. You may spend the interim as you wish. Dismissed."

With that, the blonde woman simply rose from her seat to leave the room, leaving the two Pilots as they were. Elise simply glanced at the continued video feeds for a moment before sighing and rubbing the back of her neck. It was one thing to retreat to gather more data, of course, but retreating as a result of her own failures and almost dying for it...

Needless to say, that didn't feel great.

"So... I guess we're free for a few hours," she said before glancing towards Teodora. "You going to do anything for the moment, or...?"

@Medili

---

Perth — Sewers

The sounds of metal crashing against concrete as Louisa charged into the fray meant that any remaining attempts at secrecy were all but abandoned, and whatever enemy lay before the group was now fully alerted to the Frame Pilot stampeding towards them. The scant footsteps became swift and scattered, their frequency increasing with each passing moment.

Of course, with a lack of light in the sewers proper, figuring out how many of the enemy was present was easier said than done.

The screams that had pushed the young woman into action, however, seemed to turn into more of a chorus—mangled screams, cries for help—that, upon closer inspection, was distinctly inhuman in nature. A mocking mimicry of the cries of the dying—but to what end?

It was in the middle of that din, however, that beasts would begin to spring out from all directions—doglike Warped with fins began to leap out from the sewage beneath, attempting to claw and bite at whatever drew near, while frog-faced humanoids attempted to fall upon the group from above.

Under the cover of darkness, an ambush like this could easily change from 'manageable' to 'dangerous' with a single misstep.

@Laduguer@VitaVitaAR@Mole

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

Sydney Harbor

There was a bit of a bittersweet smile on Elise's face as she nodded in turn, following back after Teodora as she made her way back towards headquarters. Ultimately, the two of them had managed to find their target, but being caught off guard and being forced to retreat definitely was not something to feel good about.

"Yeah. I hope repairs won't take too long," the young woman remarked as she gazed back out towards the ocean. "...Curving lasers and regeneration, though... And in the middle of the ocean, to boot. How troublesome..."

Though lost in her thoughts for a few more moments, Elise soon realized how far she had fallen behind Teodora and quickly ran after the young woman in front of her. It wasn't as if she had any room to worry at the moment, after all—not with Selene in the state that it was in.

Once the pair had returned to the airship, docked above the waters nearby, Elise's first stop ended up being the engineering bay to drop off her Chi-Mechframe for repairs. There were a few furrowed brows and slight grimaces as those present looked at the damage, and now that she was able to see the full extent of the problem, the Frame Pilot had half a mind to agree with their silent assessments.

After all, a massive hole in one wing did not lend itself well to hopes of a quick touch-up.

Rather than linger in the area to watch them work, though, Elise ended up returning to the command room to see what footage the drones had gathered. Of course, with that came the presence of Ms. Morrison, who seemed to be quietly watching the live feeds anyways. Once the other Frame Pilots had arrived, though, the blonde woman turned around to address them.

"Constanza, Kim. I suppose that you're here to rest after your earlier engagement," she said, glancing between the two present before turning back towards the screen behind her. "I also had a call come up from engineering just now regarding the damages taken while scouting. Repairs should be completed by nightfall, if all goes well."

"...Understood," Elise responded, nodding her head as she looked at the ocean reflected across all of the cameras in front of her. "I don't suppose that there's anyone on analysis looking into this one?"

"Patience, Kim; I have two currently on the job. They've identified this Warped as based on a jellyfish, of course, but with only a few minutes' worth of footage, there is nothing conclusive yet to be said about our target."

Of course, that included the matter of how the two of them were supposed to kill said target in the first place. But even so, staring silently at the open ocean seemed... Less than productive.

@Medili

---

Perth — Sewers

The entrance to the sewers was indeed larger than expected, and the tunnels, dark as they were, did not lend themselves well to immediate exploration. The further they got from the entrance, the less they could see; the lights of the Pilots' Chi-Mechframes provided some solace on that front, but with such low visibility and the constant sound of flowing water and sewage to their side, calling the endeavor 'risky' might have been an understatement.

...Or, well, it would have been, had the three present been ordinary people.

Once the entrance to the sewers had grown far enough away to become little more than a dot of light in the distance, the sound of footsteps—footsteps not their own—would intermittently meet their ears, if only barely so.

Nothing seemed to be immediately present, though, but as the canals began to twist and turn and the three continued forward, the scent of blood in the air could very well catch the group's attention. If not that, though, then the barely-muffled scream in the distance very well could.

@VitaVitaAR@Mole@Laduguer

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

Sydney — Coastline

With the Warped rapidly being left behind and Teodora flying away at full throttle, Elise took a deep breath and turned her head around to look at the lasers shooting after them. The fact that the monster could send out homing projectiles was most certainly not something that she had expected given the briefing from HQ, but given the targets until then there was likely no reason to need to home in on a target.

This by no means made the issue any less irritating to deal with, though.

As the pair of Pilots approached the shores of Sydney Harbor—the Opera House barely visible over the horizon—the lasers that had been chasing them slowly began to fade away before finally dissipating. That removed the issue of urgency, of course, but ultimately nothing really changed about their situation.

Once Teodora had made landfall, Elise was lowered onto the ground nearby. Though she had seen no injury, a return to The Horizon was all but necessary—as was a discussion about how to deal with the monster where it lurked. A few drones seemed to be flying overhead out to sea already, given the black dots that the young woman barely noticed sailing over the horizon, at least—a sign that their work hadn't all been for nothing.

"Eugh... We should head back," the young woman said, disengaging her Chi-Mechframe as she glanced back out towards the ocean. "I expect that we'll have to head back out to try and finish the job next time, so maybe the reconnaissance footage might give us something more to work with."

@Medili

---

Perth — Provisionary Office

"Hm..."

Sherry listened quietly to Louisa's suggestion before slowly taking a step back with her eyes closed. The woman seemed to be lost in thought for a few moments as she considered the situation, but ultimately there was little else to be said if the people that had been hired to help resolve the situation were willing to stick their necks out so easily.

"Well, the least I can do in that case is drive you to the area. Not like I'm some sort of superhero like you three are, after all," she said, pulling out a keyring and spinning it around her finger. "We have a little time before nightfall, at least."

Once the three Frame Pilots were ready to leave, Sherry would lead them downstairs and over to a car—a government-issued van, of course; with little fanfare as the four entered, the vehicle slowly revved to life before moving through the roads.

The group's destination was, of course, the nearest sewage treatment facility; with a manhole being too dangerous to risk opening up, the safest route (at least in terms of entering the locale) was the wide canal that funneled everything there to be handled. It was a dirty job, of course, and no one present seemed to be happy about being there in the first place, but it was as good a place as any to start.

"I think I'd be more of a burden than anything if I followed along with you, sadly," Sherry said, opening the door to the van to let the Pilots out, "so I'll probably be on standby at the office if you need me. I have a simple request, though: please don't destroy the sewers while you're down there, if at all possible. I know that some things might be hard to avoid, but, well..."

The woman trailed off before sighing and shaking her head.

"Never mind. Good luck out there, you three."

@VitaVitaAR@Mole@Laduguer

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

Sydney — Coastline

With the water rapidly growing closer as her body spiraled out of the air, Elise gritted her teeth and braced for the worst——

Only for the timely arrival of Supplice to save her from what would have likely been a gruesome death in the ocean below. A nearly-instinctual sigh of relief left the young woman's lips as she allowed her body to relax in her companion's grip before the sound of more lasers breaking through the water reminded her of her current position.

"Thanks for the assist," the half-Korean girl said, nodding her head as she turned her attention towards her Chi-Mechframe. "...I don't think I'm flying again 'til that wing gets looked at."

Though the opening salvo had since subsided, the returning fire from Supplice seemed like it had done surprisingly little—which, given the size of the Warped, might have been expected. As more beams flew through the air, Selene took a moment to examine the waters where the Warped had been struck.

And disconcerting as it was to see, even the small amounts of damage that had been inflicted by the beam rifle were being recovered, missing pieces of fleshlike form being regenerated at an alarmingly fast pace.

"...Of course it regenerates," Elise sighed as she looked back up towards Teodora before a call came in through their communications channel.

"This is HQ; the target's location has been verified. Selene, Supplice: disengage the Warped and return to base. Over."

"...Well, I suppose there's nothing else to be done. Sorry, but you might have to lug me back the whole way," the white-haired girl said as the lights below began to intensify once more.

And at once, another barrage of lasers broke through the water, piercing through the skies and curving back around, almost as if to chase after the two Frame Pilots flying through the sky.

@Medili

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

Sydney — Coastline

Slow as she was to catch up with the others, Elise found herself able to slowly hover over the ocean below with a virtual HUD in front of her to supplement her vision. Though she could not naturally see into the ocean, her Chi-Mechframe would at least allow her to peer ever so slightly into the depths. Diving in would obviously be the best method of getting a glimpse within, but given the situation, that would be nothing if not suicidal.

In the midst of her search, though, Pyralis' voice would ring loud and clear to her communications channel—and given that Teodora seemed to be moving into position, it seemed prudent that she should do much of the same. Temporarily closing the display in front of her, Elise looked at the map in her peripherals before responding.

"I think it would be best to examine it together, then. Selene, heading to your position now."

After a short cruise in the skies above towards the other two Chi-Mechframes, Elise slowed to a stop next to both of her companions. Unlike the other two, she had no real way of increasing her flight speed, which meant that they were left trying to identify whatever was underwater without any real visual aids. Now that she was here, though, whatever Pyralis had found was most certainly visible to the naked eye—and stretched well beyond that of even the largest aquatic animals.

"...Huh. I see what you mean," the young woman said, slowly moving about to gauge the size of the monstrosity for herself. "This thing is... Huge."

After finally slowing down again, Elise once again activated the HUD in front of her face and attempted to get a better look into the waters below, hoping to at least get some sort of clearer visual beyond all of the oddly-glowing lights underwater. What she found, though, was a bit more disconcerting than what she had hoped.

Some sort of odd fist-sized blue ball with a dark blue center seemed to be floating about connected to something translucent—or so she saw with her first look within. As she flew on above to get a better grasp for as to what that might have been, though, that thing seemed to be one of dozens, if not hundreds more attached to the body of the beast below.

And worse still, one of them seemed to be pointing towards her now. And another. And more still—

"...There's no way it noticed us, right?" Elise muttered, half out of a faint hope in her heart before the lights beneath the water began to grow brighter and brighter.

"I think it's hostile! Evasive maneuvers!"

With barely any time to react, Elise twisted her body around and to the side, dragging her Chi-Mechframe with her as a multitude of lasers seemed to pierce through the ocean below and towards her position. Through gritted teeth, the young woman pulled out her sniper rifle and took aim—

Only for one of the lasers to curve back around from behind, smashing into one of her wings and sending her hurtling towards the ocean.

@Izurich@Medili

---

Perth — Provisionary Office

"..."

Staring silently at the map that Hoshiko had marked up, Sherry seemed to have tuned out everything that the Pilots were saying as a frown slowly crossed her face.

"...There's no way I could have overlooked that... Could I...?"

Fingers tracing along the locations where Hoshiko had marked up and checking what map she had been using, the woman simply shook her head and stated her thoughts to the three present.

"The sewers. All of these are close to the main sewage canals in the city," she said, taking a deep breath before stepping back. "There are a few clusters at these two locations, given what has been marked, but even the more scattered incidents do line up with that."

Of course, traversing said sewers on foot could be a task that would take days, but at the very least, this might narrow down their choice of action somewhat.

@Mole@Laduguer@VitaVitaAR

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

Sydney Harbor

Glancing towards her two companions for the mission ahead, Elise took a deep breath to still her heart before activating her Chi-Mechframe. The mechanical equipment quickly formed around her body, and without any further reason to delay her advance, the half-Korean girl began to slowly float up into the air.

"Selene, moving out for reconaissance."

And with that, she was off.

The design of her own Chi-Mechframe prioritized stability over speed, and so unlike Supplice or Infernus, Elise had to move at a slower cruising altitude to search over the region. While the others went towards deeper waters in their search, she would remain somewhat closer to the harbor, attempting to examine deeper rather than wider in her sweep. The day prior had been spent scrutinizing the already-defended harbor and helping to fully secure it from any Warped attempting to push further into the city's lifeline, of course, which meant that today was the first day that they would actually begin to move into deeper waters.

The scent of the sea breeze would likely take a back seat to the three pilots, however, given their current goal. As much as a flight over open waters might have been a thought more reserved for days of relaxation, it was unlikely that taking in the scenery would be in any way smart.

With that said, if either of the two pilots further ahead took a moment to pause, the sight of an odd pulse of light from within the waters below might have caught their attention. Though the sun's rays did shine and bounce off the surface, the deeper waters below were blotted out—save for the occasional odd glimpse of that which should not have been.

@Izurich@Medili

---

Perth — Provisionary Office

As the Pilots discussed the possibilities as to what could be instigating the incident, the person assigned to the case until then—a woman by the name of Sherry Brown—sighed and picked up a few maps from her desk and carried them over to the three.

"I've already done an analysis of the victims before you three arrived," she began, placing one onto the desk in front of the group, "and there doesn't seem to be any immediate link here... Or, well, at least in terms of the people themselves. Haven't gotten around to checking the data points other than the frequency of attacks where the deceased were, though."

After placing the other maps on hand in front of the three Pilots, Sherry stood back up and promptly returned—this time, with a stack of profiles on the deceased.

"Might go a bit faster if I'm not the only one working on this like they made me do for the past two weeks. Would it be too much of a hassle to start trying to sort what I've got here? Autopsy reports, addresses, all that other stuff... Maybe something'll come up?"

Sifting through that information could lead interesting places; varying (but subtle) differences between the bodies of the deceased, for instance. Some bereft of pools of blood beneath their bodies, other with limbs missing, some with both, even. Others, notes mentioning their supposed activities before their passing—some returning home after a late shift of work, others drunk on the street...

But no witnesses, and seldom any attacks to those who could have had some nearby.

@VitaVitaAR@Laduguer@Mole

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

Saitama Prefecture — Outpost

Despite her readiness to actually do some extra work (that she, admittedly enough, hadn't planned to do that night), Elise soon found herself summarily booted out of the kitchen by Xuan-Yu. Though she had initially intended to argue about his choice of action at that point, the other Pilot seemed less-than-inclined to hear her out, much less let her back in to work.

It was irritating, yes, but ultimately there was nothing really to be done about that stubbornness at this point. The best she could do—at least, in this situation—was to speak with the other soldiers who had been drawn by the allure of food and drink to be had.

The praise from them towards her and her colleagues by those who came to eat was some small solace as she realized that there would likely be some sort of reprimand in her future, but to show such worry at this time would drag down the mood of the area.

The least she could do, then, was attempt to socialize—speak to those present and convey their thoughts to the others still on The Horizon after the night was done.

---

---

Australia

The Horizon had lingered another day or so in the skies above Tokyo, as per the details of their contract for the reclamation of Saitama, before promptly setting forth towards southern seas. The mission, after all, seemed to have resolved without a hitch, and without any immediate intent to reclaim more land and instead to stabilize what they had taken back, there was no further reason to stay around.

That, in other words, left those on board free to pursue other missions elsewhere in the world—or, at the very least, as free as the captain would dictate. With the success of their first 'proper' mission at their backs, other nations seemed inclined to follow in Japan's stead in enlisting their aid.

Which, in other words, left them where they were now. Efficiency was the name of the game now, and splitting up the Pilots and sending them out from there seemed like the best way to accomplish that.

---

Perth — Provisionary Office

The first stop after arriving in Australian airspace was the city of Perth—or what they could keep hold of, at least. With its (comparatively) closer proximity to the mainland, the city had been able to muster up enough resources to stave off the Warped, but that put it at equal threat to be invaded by threats that bled over therein. Though isolated from the larger cities on the eastern coast, the people of Perth had managed to hold on in spite of everything. The results were by no means pretty and they had by no means been able to thrive, but here they remained.

Of course, without any Frame Pilots, the city found itself at a loss with regards to how to deal with it's newest problem—a string of disappearances and murders that did not seem to be done by human hands. With law enforecement focused towards the external threats, the people in charge had decided it more prudent to cover the issue up and request aid in handling whatever it was that was threatening the city from the inside.

Whether or not that was a good plan, however, remained to be seen.

The only information that the three Pilots had been given to start with, though, were a series of locations at which the incidents had taken place and alleged times of death for those presumed deceased. The trends leaned towards the later hours of the day, which at least narrowed the timeframe down, but the locations, spread throughout the city as they were, seemed less than helpful.

@VitaVitaAR@Laduguer@Mole

---

Northern Territory

With the threat of Warped higher the further away from the bastions of civilization, it would seem almost foolhardy to have been flown down into the midst of the sun-beaten brush. But a mission was a mission, and so the two Pilots had arrived thus; whether they wished to be here or not was another story.

An abandoned facility, not too far from where the aircraft the two had arrived in had landed, stood in front of them. Nature had begun to reclaim what was left of it, at least—as had the Warped which had undoubtedly taken root within. Their mission objective was simple—retrieve the core of an AI module located within the lower levels of the facility, along with any other things of interest they could find, before leaving. The first took priority above all, of course; given how it seemed to still be active in spite of the death of the people within (enough to send out a request for retrieval of its own volition), doing so could prove to be valuable.

Could, of course, was the key word here.

@ERode@JDubs

---

Elise Kim

Sydney Harbor

As far as punishments went, a verbal dressing-down and some supplemental work aiding the technicians on board for a day were far from the worst that Elise had expected to do, and in that regard it hadn't been too much of a loss to handle what they had been given to do. But with another mission on the table (and this one no less daunting than the last in her eyes), the young woman had no leeway to linger upon what had happened.

Not with the problem in front of them, at least.

It had been less than a day since The Horizon had landed in Sydney with the intent to recover, which had left her and her partners for the mission—Pyralis and Teodora—time to get a lay of the land. Ultimately, though, that meant that most of their time was spent near the coast.

After all, their target lurked within the waters nearby, not inland. A 'giant aquatic Warped', or so they had been told. Reliant on trade as the city was, losing access to a port was not something that they could afford—and with the Pilots here still in training, something of this magnitude had required external help.

In other words, theirs.

With a sigh, the half-Korean girl leaned on the railing in front of her as she stared out towards the ocean. Despite being marred by underwater barriers and blockades to impede the smaller Warped from catching them unaware, the harbor at least looked somewhat reminiscent of days gone by.

A moment of nostalgia, then, to take in the moment before they were to head out for the day for some more reconaissance. Ordinarily, sonar or radar would have picked up some trace of the creature terrorizing the bay, but the lack of any proper response on that front meant that they would have to do things the old-fashioned way.

Or, at the very least, by air. A boat in this situation seemed borderline suicidal.

@Izurich@Medili

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

Saitama Prefecture — Outpost

Though the man in the suit seemed less than pleased at Xuan-Yu's choice of language, the Pilot at his side seemed to be mildly amused at how things seemed to be panning out. The explanation that had been given seemed innocuous enough to him, and even if the higher-ups likely wouldn't have approved of this sort of thing, something like this—a taste of days since gone—would likely bring spirits up.

Or, well, so he believed.

"Well, my friend here is probably a bit too uppity to allow for something like this," Akio began, smiling as he clapped a somewhat-irate 'Takemiya-san' on the shoulder, "but as the person who formally outranks him out here, I'd say that a morale boost is just what the people down here need. By all means, feel free to set up what you need. I'm sure that some warm food would be a welcome change of pace—doubly so after staring death in the face, right?"

The man in the suit seemed unable to actually speak up against his 'superior' and his okay, stickler for the rules as he looked to be, and after biting his tongue to refrain from attempting to argue back chose to take a step back from the aircraft and bowed.

"Takemiya Shinji," he spoke through gritted teeth. "We shall be in your care."

Choosing not to push the man's buttons any further, though, Akio simply walked over to where Xuan-Yu was waiting and took in a whiff of the food before smiling.

"Fast delivery, I'd say. All right, I'll lead you over to the kitchen crew and send out a notice to everyone. We have roughly 50 people stationed here, us two included, so make sure to portion everything accordingly. Also, I see you have a few crates of beer here, too; I don't think I need to say this, but just so my second-in-command doesn't start breathing down my neck afterwards: try to keep from giving any one person too much. This is still a military outpost, after all, so I want everyone to be somewhat ready in case of an emergency order from base. If that's all, then I'll lead the way."

If there were no further questions to be asked, the brown-haired JSDF Pilot would promptly grab a box of the chicken and begin walking back towards the center of the camp. Shinji, it seemed, had already left—likely to convey his superior's orders to the rest of the on-site personnel.

Though surprised by how easily things had panend out, Elise simply shot another sidelong glance towards Xuan-Yu for his cover story before picking up the boxes of edamame she had left off to the side and following after.

Hopefully her co-worker's plan would pan out well enough...

@ERode@Laduguer

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

Elise Kim

The Horizon — Hangar

Working off of a timer as she was, Elise wasted no time in making her way back to her room and changing into something a bit more suitable for the weather outside. As comfortable as her current clothes were, walking out in a spring night with them—delivering a bunch of goods to the soldiers below, no less—seemed both stupid and tone-deaf.

Making sure to don a light windbreaker before she left, the half-Korean girl quickly ran back towards the hangar, where it seemed that Xuan-Yu had decided to not simply set out without her. Of course, Hoshiko's delivery would likely have played a part in that decision, given how she had brought over actual food instead of snacks, but ultimately the reason mattered less to the Pilot than the result in this case.

"Sorry for the wait..." she said as she re-entered the room to hear Hoshiko's scream of triumph over... Something or another. With an expression of confusion plain to see on her face, Elise turned towards the source to see the younger Japanese girl in what felt like a somewhat uncomfortable position with the boxes of karaage stacked in her arms.

"...Need some help?"

Without waiting to see if the girl would even accept (which, all things considered, she likely wouldn't if given the chance), Elise quickly walked over and slid a few boxes off of the stack that Hoshiko was carrying into her own arms before placing them with the rest of the food and drinks that were being prepared.

"Good to see I made it, though," she said, deciding to take a seat as the rest of the food was loaded onto the aircraft. "I'm ready whenever you are."

---

Once everything had been loaded on and the people who had decided to tag along had entered, the hangar's door would slowly open and allow the aircraft to slowly lift off and depart the ship. Ordinarily, one would have expected the door to have not opened at all and their efforts denied, but it seemed that there was at least one other party sympathetic to what Xuan-Yu had intended to do.

The flight towards the secured zone, unexpected as it was, immediately caused a buzz within the JSDF forces below. Though there were still a few patrols milling about, most of the group was concentrated within the camps in the center—likely in part due to the security cameras installed in the region to allow them to monitor the area without worrying about losing good men and women to any stray Warped that had somehow managed to escape the last few sweeps of the region.

Once the aircraft was brought closer to the ground, though, the Pilots within would be greeted by a man in his late fourties, his brow furrowed as he stared at the group as his suit and tie were buffetted by the wind. Once it had landed, though, the clearly-irate man decided to simply speak candidly towards the group.

"I didn't hear anything from the commander about further reinforcements," he said, glancing at the group and what they were wearing. "Is there something that you need?"

"Ah... Well, not that we need, no, but—" Elise began to say, only to be promptly cut off in turn.

"Then I would recommend you head back. We are in the middle of a military operation, after all, and so—"

"Takemiya-san? Is there a problem?"

Just as he had been cut off moments before, the voice of someone else cut through the conversation. The source—a young man with light brown hair—quickly ran over once he saw exactly who the man was talking to.

"Oh, you're the Pilots they asked to help with the operation here today, right?" he asked, a bright smile on his face as he looked at the group. "I'm Kougami Akio, a Frame Pilot working for the JSDF. I didn't get to see you guys in action since I was assigned to help with the other offensive to the north, but everyone's been speaking pretty highly of you since I arrived. So... What brings you here?"

Compared to the more taciturn response of the other man, Akio's demeanor seemed a bit less standoffish—and given how 'Takemiya-san' had chosen not to respond, maybe this encounter would be in their favor.

@ERode@VitaVitaAR@Laduguer