Event || The Enemy Within

[melodiesmods]

Characters: All characters who signed-up for the event.
Where: In their heads.
When: January 15th.
Summary: The Heroes of Light have a vision-- They are living through a hypothetical future where the Sage share his knowledge with them, and things went horribly wrong as some Heroes of Light became the villains in this timeline. Maybe they'll revise their thoughts on getting all of that knowledge.
Warning: The apocalypse, deaths, tragedies, overall a lot of very bad things.

Mingle Threads: The Antagonists || The Protagonists || The Others || General
Free Open Threads: The Two Years || Other Events

#01 Attempts at Negotiations || Trano Golsaucia
#02 Tactical Espionage Action || Aqures Ixen
#03 Judgmental Glares || Aerilon
#04 The Fight for the Crystallized Bodies || Aqures Tosf
#05 The Dusk of the Heroes || Mysidia
#06 The Fight for the Moon || Lunar Gate
#07 Conflict Above the Stars || Moon Base
#08 The Birth of a God || Crystal Life Tree
#09 The Death of a World || Moon Base
#10 Where Everything Ends || Pandaemonium

Conclusion || The Sage in Mysidia

Comments

[vonspielburg]

[Well done, Pyrrha! Elsa smirks from her vantage point, while the foot soldiers encounter more and more nasty bullshit traps set up to protect the city.]

[Dispatching her Behemoth into the town square should discourage the rest of them from proceeding any further, but at the very least, she knows it will keep them busy so she can turn her attention to the matter at hand that really bothers her.]

[She makes her way to the control room, where the dispatcher is jabbing at a series of buttons.]

Any luck?

'I'm not sure. I think I've got the right frequency, but no answer yet.'

Keep trying. If Ales is on that ship, it's imperative I speak with him.

[needsteaplz]

You heard her, men! Arm the canons and get those cables set! I want you guys ready to move out in 10 seconds!

[As the men scrambled, Saori looked up to find her moogle. Their eyes connected and Brigid reluctantly flew down.]

You really want to do this, kupo? Just promise me you won't over do it.

I won't. I never felt more confident to do this now more than ever.

[The poor moogle looked at she was on the verge of tears when she saw her Hero not backing down. Brigid sniffled but gave a nod. Before Saori could throw herself into the fray, she just needed a job change. With the combined forces of her custom jobs, they were the closest substitutes to her powers as the goddess Inari.

Saori took a deep breath and held onto a railing. A second later, a golden aura surrounded her and it shot out like a ripple, encompassing the entire airship and everyone inside. A 30% boost in accuracy and luck would surely help.

Their aim was true and sound of relentless canon fire clashing with the WEAPON rang in the air. As the crew began to reload, Saori walked over to the edge of the airship.]

No matter what, keep firing! I'll see if I can slow the WEAPON down some more!

[She jumped. It was certainly a leap of faith that would make any assassin proud but probably label her as crazy. Heavy smoke came into view as Saori descended at high speed. Perfect. She extended her hand out and the black clouds gathered around. The Fumomancer job allowed her to use smoke as her medium to form practically anything to her desire including a shield in case her luck couldn't guarantee her not getting hit by canon fire. A long handled scythe with a blade just as long as her took shape in her hand. More smoke began to take the form of platforms for Saori to run across and towards her target. The blade found itself hilt deep into the WEAPON's left knee. That ought to slow down its recovery. ]

[pole_position]

[With the airship focusing its efforts on hobbling the WEAPON at the legs, Pyrrha is free to continue pushing forward with her semblance to try to crash Ales' ship into its midsection. It's a contest of wills and of strength now - her magnetic aura against the sheer might of the WEAPON itself. She'll hold out as long as she can, but it's clear to the huntress already that this will be the last effort she's able to put forth in this particular conflict. There's no way she's giving up now. Whatever comes of this, she needs to make it count. Hopefully the distraction from the onslaught of attacks from Kidd's crew will be enough to break the pilot's concentration long enough for her to push the airship into it.]

[umslay]

Fire the engines at maximum capacity! Do not let this ship crash into the WEAPON! [Ales screams into the radio in a panic. The flagship can be sacrificed for all he cares, but their precious WEAPON cannot be compromised under any circumstances.] Steer it away, not backwards! If we can roll off its surface, we will leave it with minimal damage! It doesn't matter if we crash; do not harm the WEAPON, understood?

[He slammed the voice transmitter onto the receiver. Sweat forms on his bald head as the hull of the ship crumbles, the noise drowning out the screams of any crew member unfortunate enough not to have escaped in time.

He pushes himself off the table just as the radio crackles to life. Ellie's hacker was successful.] Yes? [The only one it could possibly be is the lookout, as everyone else should be busy pushing the ship downwards and away from Graham.] Don't just stand there, tell me what's happened!

[bright_and_blue]

[There's a lot happening, but the WEAPON seems to keep its focus on the flagship its holding. It struggles hard against Pyrrha's influences, but ship's movement, it rolls is away from it body, it manages to just barely roll it away from itself. It it's not a smooth roll, and the ship was going to experience some tough turbulence.

Its arms now free, Graham can concentrate on the various attackers, starting with the ships that were firing on it. It's got some heavy firepower to warm up from the hatches on the WEAPON's shoulders. They better be prepared for some evasive maneuvering or they were going to be caught in a devastating firestorm. While those warmed up, the WEAPON swatted at Saori at its knee.]

[idleskypirate]

[He manned the cannons up until Saori jumped ship to activate her custom job. Vaan gave a curse under his breath, abandoning his canon and ordering the others to keep firing as he hooked a cable to himself.

The WEAPON was no longer immobile, they wouldn't be able to board just yet.]

I'm going after Saori, Captain! The crew is gonna have to wait on boarding until we immobilize the WEAPON again.

Mont, stop the cable when I'm far enough down, got it?

[His Moogle nodded and stood at the release. If there was one good thing about his mechanical arm, it was that its grip was much more secure and didn't suffer from burns using the cables like this. But he had to help Saori! He jumped clear off the ship, drawing his gunblade on the way down to fire at the hand aiming to swat the woman away.]

[not_most_days]

[It's a mix of pride and fear that fills Mary's heart as she watches Saori engage the WEAPON. She knows that the other woman is more than capable. In fact with her old powers restored like this capable didn't even come close. But the beast she was fighting was no ordinary craft either.]

Be careful out there Vaan. And take a few of them with you. I want some lines making tripwires in its path.

[One step at a time. As long as everyone does their jobs they have a chance of bringing it down.

She focuses her attention back on the helm and keeps up what fire she can. Anything she can do to keep the enemy pilot's focus on the craft rather than the Hero hitting it up close.

Spotting those hatches open she doesn't need time to think. Whatever they are the word 'mortars' slips through her mind. Since staying out of range isn't an option she closes the distance, doing her best to get as close to it and under it as she can.]

[vonspielburg]

[The operator finally connects, and turns excitedly to Elsa. She picks up the microphone. Much as she'd like to give her words some sort of preface, there's no telling how much time she does or doesn't have. That means she has to be blunt and to the point with the Teensie.]

Ales, this is Elsa. You're being used. Ask yourself why people with the goal of eliminating the criminals and offenders of their worlds have given you a free pass.

[That's the big point. If he's still there, she doesn't know. But in case he is...]

We shouldn't be fighting. There's something deeper going on here, but we won't be able to figure it out as long as we're battling each other, trying to stay alive. You know this is so.

[needsteaplz]

Ugh, stupid WEAPON! That should've taken out your knee!

[Saori cursed as she focused on dodging from being turned into a Hero pancake. She heard the hum from the shoulder hatches. Oh hell no.

She jumped away from another attempt to brush her off. Without hesitation, she began to climb up. Every chance she had, she tried to use her smoke weapons in some attempt to damage it. She finally climbed up onto the left shoulder and looked behind to the cables coming down from the airship. With more smoke arising combined with her power, they threw the cables into the ground. A wrong move from the WEAPON and it could easily run into a cable and fall. Drawing her sword, Saori drove the blade into the hatch opening.]

[umslay]

Elsa? [Confusion spreads through his mind briefly while he considers how she could have gotten hold of him. He had no idea she was in this area. A knot tightens in his stomach. His ship will crash any moment, Graham isn't responding, and the sky pirates are helping take down the WEAPON. And now the one person he trusted the most and turned her back on him wants to talk.

He doesn't have much time.]

I don't know how to came to that conclusion, but no one is tricking me into doing this! You used to understand, I'm doing this for myself! Mysidia will fall under our control, don't you--

[The feed is cut off by a loud crash.] Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! [His voice trails off as he runs away from the radio, forgetting to turn it off, and grabs his personal helicopter. Without time to waste, he pulls a lever that releases the emergency hatch on the wall and jumps out. The airship descends dangerously behind Ales as he floats downwards towards the plains just outside the city.]

[vonspielburg]

[Elsa curses under her breath once the feed is lost, dropping the communicator and running for the window. She picks up the spyglass and peers through it intently. All right, there he is. Still alive. She breathes a faint sigh of relief.]

'You really want that little creep to live?'

[The radio operator looks at her incredulously. Elsa turns back to him, setting the spyglass down.]

Remember it's not just one person. It's a whole world at stake, dependent on his welfare. He dies, so do millions of people. They do not need to suffer for the ill choices of just one of their own.

[Meanwhile, judging by the howls of soldiers, the roar of a behemoth, and the wet sloshing of thick black stuff, it's clear that Bullshit Is Happening to the invading foot soldiers. Elsa picks up the spyglass once more, to see if Ales chooses to press the attack, or flee the scene. She'll let him go if he leaves, but if he persists or winds up injured, they'll need to capture him and place him into custody. She'd rather do that herself.]

[not_most_days]

[Mary doesn't have much time to consider the fleet as she keeps focused on the WEAPON. She's a good pilot, but she isn't perfect and the ship is starting to take a few knocks from all the maneuvers she's putting it through. Alarms are going off in the cockpit, but as long as the craft remains airborne and the steering works she's staying put.

The WEAPON must be brought down first.

The loud crashing noises from above finally pull her attention as she sees one of the fleet shot down. She spies Ales but her concern is more with his ship. She breathes a sigh of relief as its trajectory is taking the city out of harm's way.

That distraction isn't without punishment however. The craft drifted upward, dangerously close to the WEAPON's leg. She pushes on the controls but she still glances off of it, the ship rocking with the impact. Something in the cargo bay explodes behind her, sheering a hole in the side of the craft.

She grits her teeth as she fights to regain stability. At least it wasn't the engine that just exploded, but the fates won't be with her forever. She can only hope she did some damage to the WEAPON as well.]

[umslay]

[Stupid soldiers. Stupid invasion. This isn't going according to plan at all, and now Ales is stuck on this continent with no place to escape. If he can run over the crystallized fields, hide out the bombardment, and hope his airship fleet razes the city to the ground, then he might survive. He takes off his black cloak, mentally apologizing for tossing away Lydia's gift, and keeps his hat on before trekking across the barren landing area. His blue skin will do better as camouflage.]