Psyker Landshark

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi

Between Esben's entirely truthful chicanery, Rudolf backing him up, and Galahad's own word as a dignitary of an entirely separate nation, it was evident the guard sergeant was entirely out of his depth. To say nothing of the godsdamned minigun pointed in their direction. The Dranan guards stiffened, looking furious while also taking care to not make any threatening moves.

Meanwhile, a bead of sweat ran down their sergeant's face at all of the separate pressures coming his way right this second. He kept his spear pointed straight up towards the sky, sucking his teeth in as he tried to consider a way to finagle his men out of this situation while also still doing their jobs.

Around them, various residents and passerby of the harbor began to take notice of the standoff, murmuring and whispering among themselves as they noticed a group of guardsmen being supposedly held up by a massive gun.

"Th' hell's going on now? Bandits?"
"Dressed a bit too well for that, aren't they?"
"Who cares? I just like seeing those tin clowns sweat."

"...How about a compromise, then?" The sergeant furrowed his brow, mind going a mile a minute to try to bullshit his way out of this while saving face. "Remain within city limits for the night. We will arrange for a boat to take you upriver to Brightlam and escort you to it in the morning."

Before anyone could respond to that, Neve stepped forward, gently pushing Eliane's minigun barrels down, nodding her head in agreement.

”It was inevitable that we would have had to see the Grovemasters. This is acceptable.”

Izayoi frowned, but shifted slightly, her hand removing itself from her sword's hilt underneath her cloak.

"This is your homeland. We can hardly gainsay you on this matter. I suppose speaking to your people's leadership would be our best course of action. Miina, you've stated you were familiar with this city, can you recommend an inn-"

The samurai turned to where she presumed their red mage would be, only to find her fellow mystrel seemingly absent.

"...Did we somehow lose her in the twenty paces between here and the ship? Imir take me, 'tis like herding coeurls!" She snarled, turning to stalk into the harbor proper.

"Miina mentioned she had enemies within this city. We should search for her, but not without a central base to regroup at first. You," She jammed a finger back towards the sergeant. "Where is the nearest church?"

"Er...there's only a chapel within the harbor itself. You want a proper church, you'll have to go out of the port and into the city. Six streets down to the west, make a left, it'll be on your right."

"Understood. Find us there tomorrow morning, then."

"While you're all on that, I'll go look for supplies, kupo." Goug raised a fuzzy paw from the back, where the caravan and chocobos had finished unloading from the ship. "Any of you mind watching the birds? That, and some of you ought to be resupplying yourselves, kupo." His pom-pom twitched in Rudolf's direction.

___

Elsewhere, Miina would eventually find herself ashore some distance away in the harbor, soaking wet. The streets in this area would be familiar enough. Though as she started to pass through them, a very recognizable voice would call out to her.

"That outfit...young lady!" Somehow, Cid was here. Within the walls of the harbor's sole small chapel, dusting the front steps. But here nonetheless. He blinked, seeing Miina. "I wasn't mistaken after all. But where are your companions? And you're soaking wet! This will not do. Come inside, you can dry up within the chapel. And don't look so surprised. I did say I was bound to the Mothercrystal's holy ground. That meant all of it."

@Raineh Daze

Iris Ascendis

I'll have a post up either tonight or tomorrow, depending

SPIRITUM

Kalina Kovalic

"He stopped being mission-critical the second I confirmed he was actually dealing to the imperials on the side." Was all she said to Gerard before picking the body up and sauntering over towards the RV.

Kalina watched dispassionately as Ivan's corpse burned with his RV, as per Gerard's suggestion and courtesy of a Fira spell from herself. Well. That was one annoyance in her life dealt with for good. Time to move on. She extinguished the flames with a wave of her hand once everything within had been turned to cinders and turned away, rejoining the others.

She arrived just in time to catch most of the discussion regarding the princess, and simply shrugged.

"I'm with Justice. Don't want an enemy royal on our hands for any longer than we have to. Let the spooks deal with this. None of the rest matters." Kalina gestured vaguely in Collette's direction, continuing to not treat her like a person. She still had no intention of making nice with the princess. Vangar was the enemy. Hell, the world's enemy. The number of bombed-out, conquered nations she'd traversed through her childhood made that more than evident. Better to just shatter their leadership and society and be done with it. Let them get a taste of what they'd did to every country between Vangar and Rassvet. This, of course, was something the rest of the squad knew perfectly well about Kalina, having dealt with her opinion on it enough over the years.

"Hm?" She tilted her head at Justice's last few words, mildly confused. "There's something to talk about? Think the whole thing is more or less cleaned up, boss."

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Yelling at Click is easy tbh, just ask Psyker

@The Otter

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Renar Hagen

"Your time is appreciated." Renar bowed his head to Sir Aglan before stalking off in the direction of the library he was pointed to. Hopefully, this lead would get him somewhere. The son had already been ruled out in terms of actions, lest he be playing at some inane scheme. And 'the butler did it' would just be trite if it were true. To say nothing of the fact that there would be no discernable motive, short of being bribed by outside parties. Best to double check later, but for now, questioning the son would do.

Renar entered the library, quickly pointing out the only person within who could have been the duke's son. He approached, bowing.

"Lord Dannic? Pardon my intrusion. I am Renar Hagen, one of the Knights of the Iron Rose investigating your father's condition. Would you mind terribly if I asked you some questions regarding the matter? Forgive the presumption, but have you gone through any of your father's personal effects at all since this began? Any journals or private documents that could give a hint as to what party could possibly cause this?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi

"Haaah...haaah..." Izayoi's breath was ragged, her aether reserves exhausted by her double-layered materia manipulation. She sunk her sword into the deck board as a crutch to steady herself, glaring up at the airship once it was confirmed that those in the water had been secured.

For his part, Valon clicked his tongue in irritation as he looked down at the scene below.

"Bring Hojo's meat doll, they said. She'd be useful, they said." He murmured disdainfully under his breath, bending his knees. "Brought down in one shot by some nameless mage girl. Gods, why do they even let that idiot have a laboratory?" The renegade dragoon leapt clear out of the airship, a purple streak coming crashing down where the waves were filling the ocean surface back up. Valon shot past Siren on his leap down, feet touching the rising water for but a moment before he leapt off the water itself. He took Leviathan's unconscious vessel in his arms on his way back up, narrowly landing once more on the deck of the airship.

Valon casually threw Siren's unconscious form to the side, her bouncing slightly along the metal deck as he looked back down to the Scurvy Fishman and its occupants.

"Alright, I'll admit it. You've impressed me. Your help is certainly far more impressive than mine, Galahad. As a favor to you and little Rudolf over there, I'll leave you with a breadcrumb: I serve the True King of Edren! Down with the worthless pretender Leonhart, may he rot on his ill-gained throne! Helmsman, take us away-"

Eliane chose then to take out the ship's pilot with a well-placed headshot, leaving Valon burying his face in one palm, his other still clutching his sword.

"Breathe, Valon. Stay calm. These things happen when you're surrounded by idiots." He muttered quietly to himself. Without any further options, he hurled his sword down towards Eliane, the blade flying in the path of her explosive round and being torn apart midair. Another bridge officer quickly took the helm, getting the airship lifted up into the sky and engines fired up to beat a hasty retreat before the Kirins could get lucky and take out an engine or two.

"Yarr, get tae fuck back here!" Bikke raised a fist in impotent rage at the fleeing airship. "Ye left holes in me ship!" After a moment, he exhaled, deflating. "Right, those cunts'll still get us all killed if we don't start patchin' up them holes they left in me ship. C'mon ye louts, grab a bucket, get belowdecks, an' start bailing!"

___

Two days later...

Sun, sand, and surf awaited the Kirins when they disembarked in tropical Costa del Sol, the pier giving a decent view of the famed resort city. Unfortunately, they'd barely made it into the harbor itself when trouble found its way to them once more.

"Halt!" A small squadron of guards accosted them, the hafts of their spears planted in the ground. "One among you matches a description for a person of interest. You will submit yourselves for inspection immediately."

Izayoi grit her teeth in irritation as the guards began comparing each of them to a poster, and that turned into outright grinding her teeth as one among them pointed to Neve.

"That's her! The runaway initate the Grovemasters are up in arms about. Initiate Shadebough, you'll report to Brightlam immediately under our escort. As for your abductors..." It seemed the guard had the wrong idea, starting to raise their spears.

"Hardly." Izayoi physically interjected, an arm raised between the local guards and Neve. "If the girl is to see her teachers, we will accompany her as well."

"You have one chance to release the girl to our custody." Their sergeant looked irritated, glancing back to one of his subordinates. "You, to the mustering post. Send for reinforcements, now."

@Marlowe

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Salvator Rasch

Between King's quiet advice and Kleo's reaction to the support team's provocation, Salvator tightened his grip on the hacksaw he was taking to his shotgun ever so slightly. First things first, a mental command to his armor's subsystem had a green acknowledgement light winking over his readout on the squad HUD King was patched into. Heard and acknowledged. He knew that much already, of course. But it didn't hurt to be professional, regardless. Too bad no one else wanted to be.

Except for whatever had dope-slapped Husk upside the head. Likely Salvator's own counterpart on the other squad. The voidhanger gave the speaker a brief nod of acknowledgement and thanks, deliberately choosing to gloss over Kleo's response for now.

"Understood." Salvator replied simply before shifting his helmeted gaze ever so minutely in the direction of both Kleo and Husk so that the biomechanical giant would notice. Another mental command had his visor blinking in Morse code for a moment. A simple offer: he'd ignore Husk's outburst if his counterpart ignored Kleo's.

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

She glowered beneath her conjured helm. Heresy. A relic of the past that should have stayed buried. Iraleth's ire grew as the man continued to spout blasphemy before reflecting her very own attack back at her. Grandiose displays of Essence weren't going to decide this battle, it seemed. Then she was just going to stab him instead. Just as well. She was approaching rebound as it was. Melee combat would be far more efficient in terms of stamina.

"Handle the reinforcements!" Iraleth shouted back in Chunji's direction before spreading her wings and surging forward. Her blade swung out, absorbing the reflected power back into it. This time, Iraleth kept the accumulated Essence in her sword as she charged, screaming.

"You claim Kazaar's might to be greater, yet he is not the one that stood victorious in the end! Justify your butchery all you like, Umbralist! You will fall this day, as you should have with the rest of your misbegotten cult!"

The Inheritor closed into melee and made to swing, but feinted and pulled her blow back at the last minute, instead slamming her shield towards the Umbralist's head before dashing to his side and striking out with her flaming blade at his flank.

Iris Ascendis

Getting it down in writing that I'll have something up tonight.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Ranbu no Izayoi

Everything became so much clearer at once. Of course Valheim hadn't stopped at just Bahamut. And now they were facing a demi-Leviathan within its greatest domain. Short of the ship capsizing, this was one of the worst possible situations for the Kirins to be in. Izayoi grit her teeth and raised her sword as one thalassic serpent came crashing down towards her and Galahad.

The samurai clutched her uchigatana with both hands, prepared to meet the watery construct when Rudolf came crashing down upon it, clad in the same shadowy darkness that Izayoi had vaguely remembered saving her life back in the desert. His dagger and darkness plunged into the skull, breaking the spell apart into water at the same time Robin savaged the one assaulting her with the opposing element.

Galahad took the opportunity to launch Izayoi into the air, and she adjusted quickly, taking in the view of the battlefield as she rose. Two serpents down. One had retreated into the water with Eve and Esben in tow. Deeply concerning. Miina's lightning assaulted that one in particular, and so Izayoi shifted targets towards the final sea snake, plunging down in its direction as her Wind materia infused itself into her blade, Ciradyl's performance ringing in her ears.

Blessed with the advantage of falling momentum and Ciradyl breaking the limits of what one could usually do with aether, Izayoi crashed through the final snake with a downward slash meant to cleave skulls. The Eidolon's projection dissipated into ordinary water much the same as its compatriots, and the Mystrel landed on deck as Neve's Medica began to mend the wounds of those still on board.

Meanwhile, Esben's rifle toss and Eliane's return fire began to scythe down what pseudo-Dragoons were left until only three remained, frantically boosting and weaving out of the way of the Household Guard's shots. Thankfully for them, Eliane's chaingun clicked empty, having run out of its limited ammunition supply. Even so, Valon frowned as he picked himself up from where Galahad had nearly kicked him off the ship's deck, now bereft of a spear in his hands. He drew his side sword and leapt up atop the ship's mast, surveying the situation. An intake of breath.

"Right." The turncoat decided to himself before raising his voice. "Anyone still alive, we're pulling out! I'm calling in the gunship!" His free hand sent a small burst of Fire magic up into the air with the aid of a materia orb embedded into his armor, serving as a flare to call his air support in. The Valheimr airship drew close to the ocean surface, and Valon leapt straight onto it as his remaining subordinates joined him.

"Siren, fall back! You have our package, get it on board! And Galahad," He shot his former friend a mocking grin. "I'll be wanting my spear back, next time! Don't go losing it before we meet again!"

"You've not attained victory yet!" Izayoi roared up towards the gunship before leaping up to the edge of the ship. "We must retrieve Eve and Esben!" She stared down into the sea where Miina's electricity had surged down towards, raising her katana with both hands.

At her peak, Izayoi would have had no doubts in her ability to split the sea. As she was now...? Wind surged around her blade. It didn't matter whether or not she could. Only that she must.

"I will provide an opening! Cover me, then capitalize upon it!"

The winds around her sword strengthened, beginning to rotate. Izayoi's Time materia gleamed as she invoked it next, speeding the gale's rotation with Haste, the hurricane-like blade beginning to intensify.

"Are you idiots going to gawk, or shoot her? I'm not the one holding a gun!" Valon barked at the trio of assault troops left, who promptly raised their rifle-axes and began to draw a bead on Izayoi, opening fire.

Izayoi leapt from side to side while still charging the attack, trying to evade the incoming gunfire as best as she was able. This was why she never used this technique in actual battle: it simply took too long to prepare outside of an opening gambit! Trying to maintain both of her materia at the same time was providing enough of a strain as it was, slowing her pace to the point where she'd need the aid of her comrades if she didn't want a bullet or five in her back.

After a few more moments, the winds around her sword sped to an acceptable level, and Izayoi halted in place.

"I can guarantee you but a few seconds! Save them!" She yelled towards the rest of the Kirins before bringing her sword down to release the gathered winds. The ensuing wave of air pressure tore a trench straight through the top layer of the ocean, passing next to Siren, Eve, and Esben and stripping the former of the comfort and protection of water around her. The three started to fall, but nature already began to reassert itself, the sea walls already crashing back down to fill the void of ocean that had been displaced. If any among the Kirins were going to make a move, it had to be now.