Preparations for a Fierce Battle

[forcegalactic]

Who: Everyone
What: A meeting to discuss the plan of attack against Palitutu
When: July 13th
Where: Old Observatory
Warnings: Threadjacking and discussion is heavily encouraged

[Anyone approaching the Observatory can smell the meeting long before they enter the building. Mordecai and Ellena worked hard the past several days cooking dishes for the Heroes and any guests they brought, resulting in a tiring contests of who could cook the most.

Dishes from Mars. Dishes from Ellana's world. Pastries. Any snack the two of them could find the recipe for. If there were some people that were unsure whether to come to the meeting or not, free food is the strongest argument.

The largest meeting room is prepared with tables and chairs for everyone to sit down, with sofas lining the sides. When everyone settles down and grabs a plate, Mordecai steps onto an area at the end of the room devoid of tables and chairs.]

Alright, alright. We got food in our stomachs, so it's about time we get this started.

Now, we all know why we're here. Palitutu's comin' in less than a month, and we still need to come up with a plan of attack. Seein' how big this team grew, there's gonna be a wide differences in opinions. Last thing we need is all of us disagreein' on what to do at the last minute.

[Like a few days ago. That was a disaster.]

We have plenty of reason to believe that she's not gonna listen to anythin' we say and kill us at the start, so we'll need to prepare our openin' move. There's plenty of ways to fight a WEAPON, but we gotta work together to do it in an efficient manner.

So. Now that I got your attention, what ideas do you have to offer?

Comments

[unalive_them]

[And at that, Deadpool gets to his feet, clears his throat and speaks...]

I suggest we get the entire town to stand up and fight along side us. I mean, don't they have Jobs, too? [Yes, there are looks.] I know, I know, 'they're citizens, we're supposed to protect them', blah, blah, blah, but the last time we tried to play bodyguard, we kinda lost a few people. And besides, training the town citizens is a really popular trope in these sorts of situations!

[A beat]

Iiiiif that doesn't work, I'm going to need a Magitek Armor and someone to make a really big sword for it to hold. I got Cyber Ninja all maxed out and since our wonderful mods never clarified what exactly we can't cut, when the little rampaging tater tot decides to shoot us, I can jump in and cut the laser!

[umslay]

Ales is quiet during the meal. He had slowly been losing faith in the rest of the Heroes since January, but today, his calm and tired eyes are stark contrast to the energy he used to have when talking. Palitutu has to die.

During a lull in the conversation, Ales stands up.

"Last year, I heard that a group of Heroes hacked into Ultima WEAPON. If we want the tides of the fight to turn in our favor, we'll need to take control once more. I'll hack into it as long as someone helps me sneak over there."

[thegreatninja]

I've fought the weapons before, each one has their own ticks. We just need to figure out what it is. Maybe attack on two sides. Have a few heroes, maybe those with Onion Knight mastered take it on in the front while others take it apart another way.

[Yuffie rolls her shoulder in a shrug.]

It's just a machine. It can be taken apart or whatever, we just need to survive and make sure that a whole city block isn't taken with it this time.

[That last comment is spoken with more venom than she intends to use.]

[line_piece]

I'm going to fight her giant robot with my giant robot.

[Plain, simple, elegant.]

[scriptrix]

Thanks to the help of the Crystal Knights and other Alchemists, I've managed to produce enough enhanced armor to protect six Heroes of Light from having their Jobs disabled by Palitutu. All I need to do now is figure out who's going to get the equipment. I'll be sending out a Mognet notice about it soon so we can get that all figured out, but if there's anyone here who wants to make a case for it, I don't mind talking about it now.

[im_pancake]

I want to put this out right here and now - we need to stop thinking selfishly. This idea that this is a fight that only we should fight and no one else should get involved because they would die is... it's just silly. Crystallis is their world as much as it is ours.

Yes, we were brought here to save it from the Calamity, but we shouldn't hold the burden to ourselves. When Palitutu contacted us, she told me that she never liked how selfish we acted with our other actions - how our parties and such only involved us and not the citizens of Aqures Ixen. And that's what we're doing now. We're not "protecting" them as so much as we're just pushing them to the side.

I want to ask each and every one of you this - if the shoe was on the other foot, if the people in this world was brought to your world to save it, would you want to join in, too? Or would you rather hang back and go "this is not my problem"? You just assume that everyone here thinks the latter, but I guarantee all of you that they think the former.

RE: Calamity || The "Plan"

[shinrasfinest]

Between Deadpools' declaration he was going to form a miltia, alongside the other tired concerns with regards to the length they should involve the general population in their fight with the Calamity and/or Palitutu, and the various other plans being voiced; about hacking and giant robots and the crystal knight protections he'd known about already, Sephiroth remained stood away from any particular table or chair for the most part. A lot of his time spent listening, but otherwise in silent contemplation.

There were concerns, while important in their own right, which sparked fierce debate and they were bound to do so no matter the time of day. There was also the question of how they were going to have some 'safety net', by military means or otherwise, to counter a potential WEAPON attack if it did indeed fall that way. But there was something that bugged Sephiroth about that plan; Palitutu has had the WEAPON in her possession all this time, and has only issued an ultimatum comparatively recently. If she had wanted to cause mass destruction like that, at any point up til now she'd had the means to do so. So why wait?

Jack had put it simply and it felt strange that the silver haired SOLDIER seemed to be falling alongside the same wavelength more often than not in recent days. Palitutu, for all her plots and schemes, was certainly not insane. For all she had used and manipulated the Heroes of Light, stopping the Calamity was for sure a goal that they shared. Only she'd now come to the reasoning that they weren't going to do so, and so this cycle was a dud. Better to wipe the slate clean and start over, if it was that far gone.

So it was up to them to prove her otherwise. Clearing his throat, Sephiroth approached somewhere near one of the central tables, casting a long glance around the room for anyone who might meet his. It seemed very much, like it was time to get some work done; almost as if a teacher had suddenly crept up from somewhere inside the otherwise stoic and often moody SOLDIER.

"Might I suggest we attempt to obtain some common ground, with regards to what we do and do not yet know about the Calamity and how to defeat it?"

He paused, as if to wait for more people that might have been only half listening yet at the same time there could be people who chose to ignore him, as well.

"I doubt I'm the only one somewhat overwhelmed by the pieces of this puzzle and no clear way to put it together. But if we could solve this, or at least identify gaps in what we need to know still, we might even stand a chance to avoid this whole situation entirely."

[ooc: If it might help, maybe start a sub-thread with a relevant topic of discussion to make it easier to find later for everyone? idek.]

[pole_position]

Is it possible that Palitutu is trying to create an opportunity for a second attack on the city by calling us out to the Calm Plains to confront her? Is anyone planning to stay in Aqures Ixen instead of going out to meet her? At the risk of splitting our forces, it might be a good idea for some of us to stay behind in case this is meant to be a diversion.

I had to write this tag three times before it posted ><

[not_most_days]

[Kidd looks around at the group gathered before her, a mix of people who had gone along on the Diamond WEAPON mission and those who wanted to learn more about what had happened. She frowns at the absence of a particular person. She'll be fine handling this but she'd feel better if it were Malik doing it. After one last look around she raises her voice so that anyone nearby can hear.]

I apologize for the delay in keeping you all updated on this, but other things wound up consuming our attention for the past few weeks, as you all well know, and it took some time to follow up.

As many of you know, the Diamond Weapon was being excavated at the north end of the Lost Continent, and it was our goal to do something about it before Palitutu or the Calamity claimed it. We didn't want to face either turning it against us. The forces we met there were clad in Heran dress, and were mostly moogles and tarutaru with some humans with them as well. I doubt that they were operating under orders from the Empire itself but more likely they were with Palitutu and her faction.

[She frowns as she continues.]

As we secured the area and were discussing amongst ourselves what to do with the Weapon, an old friend of ours decided to show his pom. Artemicion was there long enough to reveal to us that Palitutu had abandoned uncovering the Weapon in part because of Narashima, and the concern that the Weapon would be turned upon us.

He then chided us for "messing up enough things" and acting "without plans". His opinion that we should all leave it as it was and go on our way.

[She allows for a beat as the oddity of Palitutu's "concern" sinks in. She also scans the crowd for general reactions, given the recent horrifying events. It wasn't like their foes' words were without merit.]

Myself and the other members of my guild who were present were in favor of destroying the Weapon, making sure that it wouldn't fall into any hands, right or wrong, and to wipe it from the board. The risks seemed too great and I'm still not convinced that wasn't the right path.

In the end though we came up with an alternate plan, and I suppose it was a good one. It's true that we may be able to make use of the Weapon's power, but many of us know what may go wrong if it's left blindly in our hands. In the end we decided the best plan was to contact Esdham and turn it over to them.

[She looks around for Sephiroth or Jade, or even Sparks, to see if they wish to take over.]

[ninjainviolet]

[ No, Barkeep, not everyone has a full stomach, though the ninja appreciates the effort that had gone into the buffet.

Although, Sheena isn't exactly sure why she had come to this meeting. She really has nothing to contribute--even though a careful observer may notice her starting to say something, then closing her mouth. So, she sits, confused--as always--by Deadpool and his comments, occasionally looking down at her crystal she's spinning slowly between her hands as she thinks about the Calamity.

It had stopped when they had gone back in time, so why hadn't it started again when they had returned? Instead, it had started moving again about the same time they all had the Sage's vision a few months later--and hadn't stopped. But had sped up after they had had those weird illusions thrown at them and is probably still moving fast.

So, what had kept the thing at bay for those months? What had they done during that time that had stopped the Calamity?

Even a casual observer will notice the ninja's furrowed brows and may want to approach her about her thoughts at some point. ]

[murimurimuri]

[Simon has been sitting in the back of the room, close to the exit, watching and listening. Eventually he raises his hand.]

Are there any plans to like... evacuate? Maybe get some heroes to escort civilians far, far away from the danger? I mean like really, seriously far away? Has anybody volunteered for that yet?

open

[red_planet_blues]

[Sparks has been unusually quiet, leaned against a back wall with his arms folded. He still looks tired, though maybe not quite as exhausted, as when the murders were going on.

While he doesn't say much of anything, he is listening. After most folks get their pieces in, he finally steps forward. He slaps a hand down on a table and leans on it, leveling a look at everyone in the room.]

We're not involvin' citizens. If anyone of 'em comes forward and wants to help, if they got a combat Job and won't get themselves immediately killed, send 'em to the military headquarters and have 'em talk it over with them. Don't stop 'em. But don't encourage them either. We're here to protect 'em, not throw them in the line 'a fire. Let them have their festival. They need it.

We get as much of the military on our side at the site as possible. But some need to be left in Aqures Ixen to keep an eye on things. I'll have the force out in droves that day.

I only got six Jobs mastered. Soon 7. But that means I ain't Onion Knight material. What I do have is a Magitech robot, so you better believe I'm gonna be on the front lines for this.

[That's all he really has to say, and now he feels awkward without knowing how to end this. He looks at everyone, standing up straight, clearing his throat. After a beat, a thought strikes him.]

Should... Should I send someone out after Deadpool? I should, shouldn't I.

[just_want_normal_knees]

Um, excuse me!

[And there's Ruby, raising her hand, trying to get someone's attention.]

Um, I know we're all thinking of fighting Pali-whatsits, but um... shouldn't we also try to figure out how to stop the crystalling and all? Like, ah... I dunno, use the Melodies of Life thing on the Crystal Tree?

[Sheepish grin here]

I mean, I know it's probably this awesome attack and all, but maybe it was meant for the Tree?