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

[playing_hearts]

Of course! As long as you make sure it doesn't get lost or damaged.

[Alice how is this even your decision? But regardless, she's trying her best to protect the books, not keep them out of people's hands.]

I've been keeping everything pretty well organized. If you tell me what you want I'll get it for you.

[umslay]

[Good. Ales heads to his usual hangout to search for his books, and returns half an hour later carrying three of them.]

Is this some sort of emergency book transportation project?

[playing_hearts]

[Alice shakes her head.]

Not exactly. But with an army coming to invade, I thought we'd better do our best to protect this place. Information is important, you know?

[umslay]

[He smiles and crosses his arms.]

Couldn't agree more. Libraries are one of the most important things we could have as a civilization. [Just one sentence, and Ales already takes a liking to this girl.] I'll be staying the city anyway. Mind if I help out a bit.

Name's Ales! [he sticks his hand up as high as he can due to his short height.]

[playing_hearts]

Alice Liddell. It's nice to meet you.

[She reaches down and shakes his hand with a smile. She also appreciates anyone who understands the value of books.]

And I would be happy to take any help I can get. Getting all this done before the attack is going to be tough.

[umslay]

[He chuckles as he shakes his hands. It's so tiny, like a doll's.]

Ales Mansay. We might want to keep those last names, or else people might be confused who we are!

...Most folks call me "The Magician" back home, but I doubt that's going to hold here.

[playing_hearts]

[She raises an eyebrow, but her smile is amused.]

Quite a fancy title. What kind of magic did you do?

[umslay]

[His smile wavers, then turns into an uncomfortable smirk.]

Oh, well. [haha, he shouldn't have mentioned that] It's more of my appearance, you know. Top hat and robes, the whole shindig. Teensies are a magical race, so it's not really indicative of what I do.

[To distract Alice from that thought, he jumps onto a nearby pile of books and bows.]

Back home, I was a merchant, a hint-giver! Assisting heroes along their journey, trading Lums for medals, tinkering on the side, just little hobbies here and there!

[playing_hearts]

[Teensies? Oh, heavens even the name is cute. But he probably wouldn't appreciate her opinion that he is absolutely adorable, and Alice is far too polite anyway.

Although she is entirely too distracted by those thoughts to wonder any further about the title.]

This must be a bit of switch for you then. Being the hero instead of the guide, that is. Although, we could certainly use some better hints.

[umslay]

[He lets out a small laugh.]

I certainly wish we had better guides that those that were provided to us! Have you ever tried talking to Jessie and the others? Always hiding things, not explaining the history behind Crystallis; it gets frustrating for us who thrive on knowledge!

I'm glad I've found a job that lets me put my actual skills to use. I tried fighting in Esdham, and let me tell you, almost getting blown up or killed isn't fun.

...But I'm still going to protect his city. They need me, and I'm the only Heto that knows how to fly a ship.

[playing_hearts]

[Alice frowns thoughtfully.]

I haven't had the chance to speak to them personally yet. You'd think they would want to help us as much as possible.

[Seriously, what is the point of hiding things from people trying to save the world? Frankly it makes her a little suspicious of their motives.]

[umslay]

Hm. I wonder, too. Either they think little of us, or they're using us for their own gain.

[The latter possibility worries him. If it turns out they're being manipulated, he knows what he's going to do.]

I'll figure this out after the attack. For now, let's worry about staying alive and keeping these books safe.

[He carries a stack of three volumes from the floor to Alice.]

[playing_hearts]

When this is all over, I plan to have a talk with Jessie. So I guess I'll see how it is then.

[But Alice is a little suspicious by nature, so she's not likely to come out of that feeling any more confident about this issue. She smiles as she accepts the books.]

Right. First things first. We still have a battle to get through.