Event || The Empire Strikes Back

[melodiesmods]

Characters: Everyone participating in the event
Where: Aqures Ixen
When: July 27th to August 02nd
Summary: The battle for Aqures Ixen is about to begin! The Heroes of Light are going to do their best to defend Aqures Ixen, but will this be enough? Feel free to participate and reply to appropriate threads. New top-level threads will be posted regularly as the battle progresses.
Warning: N/A, will be updated.

July 27th || Mingle
July 28th || Bomb Defusing / Imperial Assault
July 29th || Mingle / Attack on the 13th District / Aerial Battles / Imperial Camp
July 30th || 14th District on Fire / The Hospital / Mognet Office Attacked
July 31st || The Fire Spreads / Betrayals
August 01st || The Second Wave / Ultima Weapon
August 02nd || Final

Comments

July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[melodiesmods]

[It is obvious not all of these flames are real. Yet, what is also obvious is that more and more of the fake flames are becoming real as time passes. Now four more districts look like a living hell and are seemingly burning. Doubtlessly a few buildings are burning for real and will soon be reduced to ashes. If nothing is done, next the Hospital as well as two of the key districts, the 03rd and 07th ones, will be on fire as well.

There is someone behind these supernatural flames. It is only a question of finding them.]

July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[forcegalactic]

[Not on his watch.

Barkeep arrived to Crystallis only a few months ago, and he was just starting to get attached to his new home. Now the Empire just had to come and ruin everything by burning it to the ground. His house, his saloon, his place...<

With a renewed vigor, the Barkeep storms throughout the 11th District, healing civilians wounded by the fire and taking a swig of elixirs he carries in his bag. There was an Illusionist to find, and he's going to have more than a few words for that guy.

In the meantime, Annie finds any other Moogles still around and demands they help with searching through the 14th District for any signs of the Illusionist, mostly by approaching fires and testing if they're hot or not.]

C'mon, kupo! We can't slow down!

Re: July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny is also running around the 11th District, trying to find an Illusionist he has no idea how to spot. If he couldn't do that, he'd at least help get any civilians or injured fighters out of the way. It made him regret the fact that his main Job class didn't include any healing spells.

He spots the Barkeep while there, and flags him down.]

Hey! Any sign of this Illusionist asshole?

July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[forcegalactic]

[The woman stands up and thanks the Barkeep, who points her in the direction of the false flames.]

There's a rescue party down that way. Avoid any place that feels hot! [He yells after them and turns to Johnny.]

Nothin'. I've been running all over this place lookin' for them, but so luck so far. Kobato and the others are puttin' out all the real fires they can find, but the one we're lookin' has to be closer to the fake ones.

[He turns to the wall of fire spreading to the west. It looks quite dramatic, the flames highlighting the small man's face, his robes blowing behind him.]

There's still half the district to got through. You comin' with me?

Re: July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[nomorecowbell]

[Nanami and her Moogle were helping to put out fires, mostly by having her test to see if fires were live or illusion by using water or ice magic. Hari would then mark it with a flag and the time -- real fires could spread.]

This one's fake!

Ugh, have they found this guy yet?

July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[forcegalactic]

[Fake? Those were words the Barkeep wanted to hear. Finishing his Cure spell, he jogs over to Nanami.]

Here? Where else did you see the fake ones? [He panted as he spoke, hands on his knees. Running around an entire district was a job meant for exceptionally fit people, not middle-aged store owners.] If we- if we follow that trail... [He lifted a finger to point to the fake fire.] We might find the Illusionist behind this.

July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[unyieldingspirit]

Wouldn't they have thought of that, kupo?

[still, Sika comes, with K'pandolu following to keep an eye on her and some water spells and ethers handy.]

July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[forcegalactic]

[Annie sternly demands a group of Moogles she's with to continue digging through the house before flying over to Sika and K'pandolu.]

Or~ they might think that we'd be so busy looking for them up north and checking on the people living in the 11th district, no one would be coming back here. [she crosses her arms] Imperial soldiers can be sneaky like that.

Re: July 31st || The Fire Spreads

[nomorecowbell]

[With the fire spreading, Nanami had begged off running messages to help put out fires. She'd found Hari, who assured her that the house was Just Fine (for the moment), and pointed her at the nearest fire brigade.]

Hey, anyone got a water spell?

[she was only just starting illusions, but she could still duplicate spells she's seen. And maybe her class skills would help her find out some pattern to the fires that would let her find the arsonist.]

[dragonflame]

I can! It's nice to meet you again.

[She ran over, looking over the flames. Sure the people she had been working with were currently having problems, but she knew that instead of bickering among themselves, she wanted to go out and continue to help. She trusted the leader to take care of things around here anyway. Gripping her staff]

Waterga! [She unleashed a rather large ball of water, unleashing it on a wide area of the flames.]

Did that help?

[nomorecowbell]

[Nanami nodded]

Watch which areas sizzled. Those are real fire. If the fire doesn't react, it's illusion fire. We've been keeping track.

[her moogle held up his book to show that they had]

[kobatonotdobato]

[Kobato had been running around at least the 10th district, trying her hardest to find whoever was behind the fake fire that turns into real fire. She wanted to find them and she wanted to stop them herself. If it was the person she thought it was after all, she kind of wanted to see them again and make sure.

Ursa-chan had been sent off towards another distract for both people to help evacuate and to see if she was any more successful.]

[whereishe]

[Yuna has equipped herself with red mage and gunner making it easy for her to tell which fires were fake and which were real. She'd cast water on them and watch to see if they had changed.

Her gaze stops at Kobato point towards one of the buildings that she just put out.]

This fire is real which means that the illusionist might not be near here. We should head in a different direction.

[Yuna walks up next to Kobato and to say so bluntly, she looks horrible. There are bags under her eyes and her body is covered in scratches that were unable to be healed. She should really rest and yet she's pushing herself to continue with one person in mind as she steps forward.]

[kobatonotdobato]

[Kobato looked concerned when she finally laid eyes on the other, but she knew that most people were tried and worn out right now after the fighting had been happening for a while. Even she found she couldn't sleep for long periods just in case, however she was aware enough to cast protect on the both of them before saying or doing anything.]

How about this way?

[She points towards direction the flames seem to have been going. At least that was what she was thinking anyway, she couldn't really tell.]

But...Maybe you should stop for a moment.

The Fire Spreads - Following the path

[whereishe]

[Yuna looks awful, there are cuts and bruises covering her and she isn't wearing enough clothing to hide them from sight. She looks tired and hurt but she continues to move through the burning city.

She casts watera as she moves trying to find the trail of fake fire that leads towards the Illusionist. It won't take her long to follow if she does so systematically but she's tired and she's pushing herself to her limits.

There are so many people here that she wants to protect.]

The Fire Spreads - Following the path

[free_spirited_wind]

Yuna!


[Bartz suddenly pops up next to her. He keeps forgetting that running around invisibly means that you are very likely to startle people. Especially people who are in the middle of a huge battle and are already on edge.]

Are you okay? Did you find the guy yet?

The Fire Spreads - Following the path

[whereishe]

[Yuna jumps and almost casts watera at Bartz before stopping herself. She places a hand over her heart suddenly feeling a lot more tired than she had before.]

Oh, you scared me!

[She takes a moment to catch her breath and then shakes her head.]

I haven’t but I’m trying to help put out some of the fires so we can see what isn’t really.

[Yuna points towards a flame to her right.]

That one was fake when I cast watera on it. It hasn’t changed but I’ve kept an eye on it.

[sizedoesntmatter]

[Yugi could only do so much given the marks and bruises he himself had gotten. He wondered the next time he saw Yuffie if she would yell at him or something. But as he ran, using a low leveled water spell he was trying his best to help out along with Buer. Skidding to a halt he couldn't help but stop seeing that not all the flames were being put out before seeing someone else near by.]

Excuse me, have you noticed that some of the flames aren't going out?

[whereishe]

[Yuna nods.]

I think there is an illusionist. It's spreading us pretty thin fighting off the flames and determining which are real and which aren't.

[She casts towards another building and this time the flames go out with her intense water spell. The rain helps but somehow the fire keeps spreading into the city.]

The Fire Spreads - Following the path

[unyieldingspirit]

Allow me.

[without further notice, K'pandolu casts Cure on Yuna. Most of her attention, though, is on the flames.]

Have you found anything suspicious?

The Fire Spreads - Following the path

[whereishe]

[The cure helps a little but it doesn't give Yuna back the energy that's she's lost. So much has happened and she keeps pushing herself forward. Her gaze looks over towards K'pandolu and she nods gesturing to a nearby flame that seems unaffected by the rain.]

It's an illusion.

[Though she isn't able to pin point where it is.]

[wickedone]

"Watera!" came from behind her as Albel held out his gauntlet, taking on the next building. Another illusion.

The warrior panted and wiped his brow with his good arm. Magic was hard, and it was so hot amidst the flames. Not to mention that he'd sprinted back to his unit after checking on Mognet -- which he had run to from the hospital. Bangs plastered to a sweaty forehead and gasping for breath, the cocky swordsman definitely looked worn down.

He wasn't sure which Yuna this was, but he supposed it didn't matter at the moment. "Are the others sweeping the other streets?" he asked, assuming there must be a group hunting down the illusionist.

[whereishe]

Yuna turned, her long braid flipping through the air as she took in the sight of Albel's worn form. She didn't remember meeting him before but it was obvious that he was on her side.

"Yes. I don't think the illusionist has been found yet." She looked up towards the sky as if looking for some sort of signal. "I've found several fake flames trailing from that end but I can't find there source."

Yuna was tired and her tone betrayed the wear that she felt from being active for days with little to no rest.

Confronting the Illusionist

[charming_jerk]

[After gathering a group of Heroes in the area, the team manages to narrow down the location of the Illusionist casting the flames by following the ones not damped by the rain showers.

Johnny and his temper won't let him hold back once they find her, and before anyone can do much of anything, he tries to catch her off-guard with a Blind spell.]

[kobatonotdobato]

[Kobato really wasn't much of a fighter as her abilities only seemed to stick around the healing and summoning area. currently the latter wasn't as useful at least nor yet in her mind anyway. So instead Kobato used her abilities to make sure everyone was protected by using Protect on everyone in the fight.]