HereComesTheSnow

Secundi Lux

---

"Let's get goin', then! No skin off my back!" Selma crowed from on high, visibly relieved that it all worked out without a hitch in the end. Crystal was finally looking better now that she'd downed a couple of those pills, her mind seemingly set at ease by the medicine. When the apology came her way, the big girl had simply grinned and waved it away, the thanks hot on its heels. The girl's circumstances were still beyond her full understanding, but knowing they'd gotten her back in a good space was all that mattered, in the end. For that reason, she personally didn't feel like she deserved thanks, either— Wasn't helping a friend through a tough time what a friend was supposed to do? One by one, she watched the girls step out into the hall proper.

As Crystal passed by, Selma reached out for her once more—

"Everybody knows a meal's best when it's shared with friends, after all."

And threw her arm around the raven-haired girl's shoulder, joining her in lockstep and putting on any young sapling's winningest smile as she hooked her other arm around Chie in much the same manner. Hunching her back, she leaned downward enough to pull the two in close for a conspiratorial whisper as the trio walked down the hall, escorted on either side by their guards and a little behind an unmistakably purple mane.

"Now then... I know she plays it cool and collected, but we rush Rivka on three. Nobody escapes the line, not even our little tsaritsa. Make sure we get here in here!"

For the confines of a notedly Spartan and alert military base, the walk to the mess could have gone a whole lot worse.

Secundi Lux

---

It was around getting thwacked in the forehead by an errant stick of Watermelon Burst^TM that Selma found herself needing to sit upright again, the brewing conversation having caught enough interest to discourage her artfully sloppy lounge. Chie's answer was much like her own, in a way. A mother's cooking and a father's smile weren't terribly far removed branches from the same root of "family", after all.

"Worrying's pretty normal, I gotta agree. Just means you've got a bead on the important stuff, if you ask me." she concurred after the others had made reassurances of their own, favoring the Calcarian lass with a toothy smile that disappeared with Crystal's now-rising voice. The twintailed girl...

Well, to put it in familiar terms, her hackles were raised like a spooked dog, right before they started growling or barking at something. Her eyes darting about didn't look angry, but her pupils going huge and her breath going short and shallow reminded Selma of more than a few of her brothers, imminently before an explosion.

Some kinda stress that had suddenly swamped her—

"Hey, you alright?"

"Shit!"

"Woah! Hey, what's wrong?"

And there it was. The raven-haired Ars Magi to be rose to her feet quicker than her balance could keep up with, causing a momentary stumble that revealed five bright red lines upon her arm. She'd clawed through her skin that quickly? How hard of a grip did that even take? Whatever the hell had gotten into her, it was driving her towards the door without even a passing thought spared for those wounds... If Rivka hadn't stepped in and gotten (sort of) in her way, she might have already been out and into the hall by now.

First things first, if she was gonna hurt herself once, Selma didn't want her to hurt herself again. She too rose, in the wake of the pair, and covered the majority of distance between them with one, two, only three steps. Not enough to crowd her while she was in this state, between her cold sweat and listening to Rivka's pointedly calming tone Selma got the distinct sense that being a physical obstruction might do more harm than good. Cornering a scared animal was one of the Five Great Mistakes she'd learned as a young'un, and while Crystal was a clearly unanimalistic sweetheart as far as Miss Rosmarie could tell, some principles extended beyond their diction.

So instead, a hand fell upon the Norban's shoulder, giving what she hoped was a reassuring squeeze. Close enough to reach, in case things escalated. Not that she knew how any of this was about to go...

Truthfully, a panic attack wasn't exactly in her Amazing and Varied Situational Toolbox. It wasn't lost on her that this came about right after she'd tried to make the situation less tense, less strained either. It honestly felt like her efforts had backfired completely. Maybe she wasn't too good at heart to hearts.

"She's right, they've gotta have something here that can help."

But if she didn't try, she'd feel like a much worse friend regardless.

"We got through this much together already, didn't we? I'm sure you'll be okay. You can trust us."

The lightest of pressures backwards, a coaxing suggestion more than a command back into the room. Or a hug. Whichever was better.

Secundi Lux

---

"Buaaaaaaagh!"

A graceless thud accompanied the graceless groan as over six feet of jolly green giant flopped onto one of the cots spread through the room, face first into well-earned reprieve, spartan though it may have been. She'd not exactly slept on worse per se, but there were quite a few times she'd managed to nod off on similarly harsh surfaces. Stacks of hay may have been one thing, but bales of it, or for that matter sacks of root vegetables and tubers, were quite another indeed. This wasn't much more than sturdy fabric over an aluminium frame, so she personally placed them roughly evenly.

The material was a bit like a burlap sack, come to think of it. It was why it stood up to the rigors of her body slam.

"Certainly wasn't expecting that kind of welcome to the world of Ars Magi..." she murmured into the drab olive material, replaying the brief conversation they'd had with the good Captain in the van. Nox poisoning was less toxicity and more corruption into a mindless zombie? School started before you even hit campus, they said... albeit they probably weren't talking about this. Let alone that you had to throw out what you thought you knew about pre-established subjects.

To think that they'd need guarding to such an extent so soon with such clear reasons kinda put a damper on the fantasies every girl grew up with.

She turned, propping her head up with a hand, and considered the other three, this now in mind. They were all (more or less) quiet types. That didn't bother her at all— she knew still waters to oftentimes run deep. Keeping to oneself was just as much a virtue as being outgoing. You had to know how to listen and think just as much as you did talk and do. Selma was good at the latter for sure, but the former was definitely their forte. At least, that was her understanding. Maybe she'd be wrong.

But regardless, with what they had all just gone through, sticking to one's own head replaying that nightmare over and over again would drive someone nuts. Drive her nuts, at least.

For all she'd despaired at leaving her stuff behind, she didn't like the thought of it being the note everyone went to sleep on. Poisoned thoughts made for poisoned dreams made for a poisoned day tomorrow, which they definitely didn't need after tonight. Lightening the mood would go a long way, definitely.

"Y'know what I'm gonna miss?"

A question, entirely rhetorical, cast itself into the silent void between them all.

"Mama's stew. Always made me crash after a long day. She just loaded her biggest cast iron up with beef, potatoes, onions, and carrots, like she was prepping us for hibernating the whole winter away."

Her musings flowed freely and fondly, a nostalgic smile gracing her features. Nothing like home to set a soul at ease, right? Worked that way for her.

"At least, the pepper and stock sure warmed a girl up like it. What about you girls? Anything from home you feel like you're gonna kill for after a week?"

And, to be entirely fair, she was curious about her new friends, too.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Gerard Segremors

@VitaVitaAR@FlappyTheSpybot

Each time he swung, he was met with that stiff resistance. A flash of arcane force in thin air, suggesting the form of a barrier that never seemed present after the moment his sword had been stopped by it. He could force her back and keep her off balance as planned, but that seemed to be the extent of things— even as her eyes left him for what should have been a crucial moment, that pinprick of crimson light, harbringer of thunder, had already coalesced at her raised fingertips in the opposite hand.

She was not aiming for him, else she'd be looking his way and pointing that hand for his unprotected torso. Not at Maritza either, whom he assumed would have been her primary target. Her newly-acquired runic axe could punch straight through the barriers that he'd been flailing around trying to swat past in a single hew.

No. She was aiming past the two.

Even in this flustered state, she looked to get a shot off at the group behind?

No.

No.

He stepped in deep, wild desperation in his eyes beneath the glower of fury and iron of duty. Sword raised high into Vom Tag, it glowed crimson once more as it caught the light of the thundercrack that erupted in spite of his best efforts. His split-second read had been confirmed by the fact that neither he nor the Naga had fried, which meant that this needed to end now. He swung—

The crashing of shattered glass erupted from behind, accompanied by a death rattle and unceremonious thud of skull meeting stone.

The mage, Elva Fraus, simply lowered her arms as her grip on the arcane firmament of the world released, hair falling in suit.

"I surrender."

Remember, Segremors.

Tyaethe's words seemed to flash through his mind, cutting through the trance of combat.

This is a rescue mission.

Gerard tensed every muscle in his body, locking himself in place as the downward momentum of his cut ground to a halt just above their new prisoner's head. A credit to her composure that she so freely gave up while he was en route to beating the hell out of her, but a turncoat provoked little in the way of trust even if they came to one's own side.

He held it steady, not continuing the motion, but relaxing into a guard that kept edge and point more than close enough to discourage any sudden moves. His breathing deepened, slowed, and he pinned the magic user with a glare less outright bestial, and more wary.

"I take it your loyalties lie somewhere beyond the cause."

After all, no zealot would pull that stunt.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

gonna try and get something small up tonight to keep things moving

Secundi Lux

---

"I don't wanna hear it," the big girl huffed in simple response as she ran, settling into a cadence of long strides and steady breath, a rhythm echoed by the soldier behind the pair as he managed to pull himself free. "Only apologize when you've done something wrong."

It had been a poor choice, short-sighted and rash for sure. Doubling back like that definitely didn't make things any easier for the immediate goal of escape, yeah. But—

"Wanting to save somebody who's in trouble ain't that. Else I'd be apologizing too, y'know?"

And really, that was all she had to say.

Beneath the covering fire of Rivka, her pilfered rifle cracking through the subterranean air in tandem with those of their escort, Selma made quick work of the gap between them and their peers, sparing only a moment's thought to wince at the nasty gash that had opened up on Crystal's arm before their small unit surged forward again, towards the light of imminent freedom that gently filtered down from above. The counterattack had, thankfully, been enough to beat back those masked things enough that they didn't get the chance to go for any of the girls again. For her part, the erstwhile farmhand just tried to keep her wits about her, and ensure her passenger was never endangered.

"Up, go!"

At Wei's behest, she charged up the stairwell, the rest of their motley crew close behind. Taking two, sometimes even three steps at once, a broad and toothy grin playing across her features as the kiss of cold air began to touch her skin. Cold, fresh air— much more preferable than the stuffiness of a subway. The difference was subtle to people who commuted between the two daily, got used to it, filtered it into the background, but after their trials down there it was stark and liberating compared to the oppressive life-and-death below.

"We made it..." she panted, just as much to herself as to Chie and the others, having taken most of that case as what equated to a dead sprint.

Even having lived upon Hasta's "outskirts", Selma found herself taken a little aback by how much darker the cityscape before her was than what she was used to. Dimly illuminated by the weak, artificial off-white of streetlamps, the buildings were as blue-black monoliths in comparison to the seemingly omnipresent glow of the metropolis that had always been in her nighttime horizon.

If she squinted past the light they were under, for instance, she could see stars.

The telltale sound of peeling rubber and massed boots on stone pulled her out of the spell, as the four were quickly ushered into the cuboid, utilitarian, and definitely armored looking transport. By sheer luck of the draw (and taking a second to finally let poor Chie down so she could get in ahead of her), Selma was the last to enter, and occupied a seat closest to the edge, hurting a little for leg room but refusing to complain.

Especially given the circumstances.

"Pheeeeeeeeew..."

As the car (van? whatever it was) got rolling, and Wei set to work trying to at least close that nasty gash on poor Crystal's arm, she instead seemed to release the breath she hadn't known herself to be holding in one big ol' sigh before turning her gaze onto the other three, a somewhat tired smile on her face. Finally, they could relax a little.

"Looks like we made it out in one piece, gang. Three cheers for teamwork."

She raised her fist and pumped it with a small "Woohoo!" before continuing.

"Man, that was nuts back there. Never heard of masked ghouls like that, not that I can remember... Gonna give me the creeps for days. Anyone mind if I play us some music to lighten the mood a li—"

Whomever had deigned to be looking her way as she was prattling on saw the big girl's face freeze mid-sentence, as the spark of some intercepting realization took from her emerald eyes the light that hadn't ceased once throughout the raid upon the station.

Whomever hadn't, heard the dull konk as the side of her hard skull met the reinforced glass of the window beside her, suddenly slumped into the wall of the vehicle.

"My phone's in my backpack..."

A hollow, inconsolable groan floated through the car.

Aaaaaagh! Gott Verdammt!

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

If people want to post before me, that's all good

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

music on every post only way to play

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

---

[WARNING: Excessive Energy Signature detected within Area of Operation. Evasive Maneuvers Advised.]

A modulated, almost lilting baritone, representative of his mighty chariot's onboard electronics suite, floated into his ears above the sound of the churning maelstrom of gunpowder. A flashing overlay of the designated target area, form of his prey long obscured by smoke, dust, and flame, snapped his eyes into razor focus. Automatically, the display switched to thermals, revealing an array of bright spines that eclipsed even his constant bombardment, white heat coalescing within the field of red into a single point. The analysts back on base would surely puzzle over the mechanisms involved for months as they pored over the footage.

Kon's reflexes and instinct, honed over a hundred sorties, far outpaced that type of careful consideration. He yanked hard on the controls, willing the skyward knight to move.

A line of ichor, sickened sunlight, burst from the cloud below, a lance intended for the heart of the storm. Its passage was heralded by a symphony, or rather cacophony of warning chimes as his HUD went an alarming, deadly crimson.

On his back, The Bedwyr's wings swept in, cutting away the drag he had loitered upon till now.

An instant between instants was all the time he had. Beneath his helmet, Konstantin felt the edges of his mouth pull back away from the mask of stone he always wore. A breath passed through bared teeth, uncertain if it would be the last the man took.

And a roar flooded the cockpit, as every Vernier aboard the white and red crusader blazed to life in an explosive concert of blue-white momentum. Kon's shoulder blades slammed back into the gel cushioning behind him, the violence of action pushing the G-count past 5 as twenty meters of metal swept through the sky. Dodging beam weaponry was hardly a mean feat back in the Solar System, and if he hadn't had that briefest of moments' prior warning...

"Not bad." he breathed to himself, fangs now plainly bared in a wolfish grin. Not intent on lingering again for risk of another potshot from the alien's beam weaponry, he maintained thrust as the orbital approached the speed of sound in a wide circle. Raising his left hand, he mentally noted it an act of wisdom that he had stopped shooting during his evasion— the barrel of his second Super-22 had been caught by the beam in his wake, and had melted into a disfigured, rapidly cooling mass of slag.

Clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, he returned to comms.

<<This is Bedwyr. One of my guns is trashed, fire support capacity down to 70%.>>

Luckily the magazine had escaped the cooking plasma, or else he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

... That's an idea.

Returning the malformed derelict of a shotgun to its magnetic mount upon the Bedwyr's chassis, he pulled the drum, about halfway filled with canisters if his count was correct, free from the assembly as he observed the scene playing out far below. The alien mechanoid's armor had begun to shear and abrade beneath the sustained pounding he'd put it through, but the munitions had yet to truly crack the giant's gleaming hide. Like waves upon the coast, rather than a round through plating. In theory, he could have continued the cascade and worn it down— but theory tended to ignore when guns went "click" earlier than one would like.

He needed more punch. A thousand cuts of small explosions weren't quite doing the trick, but the larger, shaped penetrators fired by the twin Grecian heroes seemed to be faring somewhat better. That was the path to victory. Not a monsoon, but a singular bolt of lightning.

Drum of explosives in hand, so much like the ancient discus, the airborne Orbital swept into a tight arc downward as it bore into the six-o-clock position of the screeching metallic lifeform, now four clicks out. Locked in melee combat with Gypsy Soul, the red Orbital seemed miniscule by comparison as the crimson glow of its Samadhi lashed out, met by talons of an unknown alloy. Good, distracted.

<<Ground team, be advised. I'm coming in for a low pass on the second bandit. ETA is 20 seconds.>>

[Data transfer requested by PANDORA: Begin Patching? Y/N]

[Y]

As Merlon began to cross-reference its plot of the AO with the flagship-class scanning arrays of Pandora high above, Konstantin's eyes bored into the spined back of their assailant, a high plume of dust in his wake as the Bedwyr tore through the air just 50 meters up at three quarter mach.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

sounds like a plan. over here i'm just trying to reverse-engineer whatever the hell music attache i had for a post i noticed contained a dead link, so i'm keeping busy

edit: found it