mcd900

A smile crept onto Arielle's face once more; this really was quite the cast of a crew. Righteous ones with more justice in their hearts than sense, one with a smile on his face and ice in his veins, and thankfully, a couple professionals - oh, but of course, there was one more, wasn't there? She hadn't said much about him just yet, but she'd get there... She leaned over her desk, almost casually, comfortable, hands resting on her edge of the desk. "Certainly. I would be more than happy to set a meeting between you all and my chief of security - in fact..." She deftly keyed the holographic keyboard floating just above the desk's surface. "There we are. She's one floor down, and will be expecting you after this. I'm sure she'll be much better suited to talk through the, ah..." Arielle paused for a moment, the word hanging on her tongue. "...technical side of matters - much your specialties, I'm sure; there's more familiarity to be found there than here." Her eyes lingered on Louise for a moment. "I've no doubt you have your own opinions on how matters are being addressed here, and as such I greatly appreciate your... cooperation, in how you intend to go about resolving this issue. As you say, miss Park, there is a touch more flexibility in a person's approach than a machine." She raised an eyebrow at the redheaded man, her smile not fading, as he apologized for his outburst. Interesting. Too much fire in you to stop yourself from the beginning, but you know well enough when to stop. Experience with toeing the line? Or is your brain just catching up to your mouth? "Miss Captain Silverwind, you are of course free to retain the black box until such a time as you've run whatever tests you like on it - after all, it doesn't belong to Avyndor Heavy Industries, though I'm sure there are those who'd love to analyze it once you're finished with it." Arielle tilted her head just a bit at Sia's continued discussion of the stolen parts. "Well, should you find the rebels, I think you've already established that your approaches may be better than ours - though of course if your discussion with my security chief Miss Shezsacosh leads you to a different conclusion, that will of course be up to you. And should you find the parts... we would appreciate them back, naturally. I think they'll be rather unlike most HEX equipment you may have seen before." There was almost a smirk as Sia saluted, but she was back to all business as the older man spoke, meeting his seriousness in kind. "If they're based out of a single location, it would have to be somewhere in the undeveloped zones. Anywhere they've terraformed, we'd notice with the kind of equipment they have. There's only so much you can do to hide HEXes in a city, no?" A finger raised to her chin in thought. "Not from this moon... well, perhaps they have some kind of outside help. It's hard to know, honestly, but maybe Miss Shezsacosh will have a better idea." Ah, but at long last, he was addressing her directly now - the son of such a notable CEN politician in the Jupiter Sphere - she could see the resemblance from he minute he'd walked in, seeing as she's spoken to him a not-insignificant number of times in a political capacity. Her eyes narrowed, almost imperceptibly. "Ah, Mr. Vhane... that's a fine question. For a long time it was peaceful, to tell you the truth - the occasional rally, handing out pamphlets, nothing concerning. Not that I really intended on acquiescing on too many fronts, but we didn't so much as lift a finger when it was just talk." She sighed - the most exasperation she was willing to show. "The raids are a more recent development. It didn't seem like where things were trending towards... it was a surprise to all of us. Actually, they've even made some moves on a CEN facility - we have an agreement to allow use of some of the underdeveloped zone by the CEN for their research. I suppose those involved might not have realized it didn't belong to us? My head of security will have the details; you could even visit the facility yourself, if you like - they might appreciate the visit." Ambassador Huang gave a short half-bow, no shortage of effort on his part to appease. "Ah, well then, Miss Avyndor, it sounds as if we'll be making the rounds, courtesy of the Dawn. I think that's all we had for you personally, isn't that right, Captain Silverwind? Our warmest thanks for your time. We will, of course, be in touch should we resolve your issues, or find anything that requires your more immediate attention." Arielle circled around her desk, sitting against the front of it, giving a small nod to the group. "Very good, Ambassador. I'm glad to hear it. It was my pleasure to meet all of you; but please, don't keep Miss Shezsacosh waiting. She is quite busy as of late, after all."

"Mm, it's good... It's nice to see that everybody is getting into things well. Training together like this is good for more than just improving our skills." Laniva stayed to the side as a number of sparring matches began, watching from the sides with Syta as some honestly quite impressive fights took place. There was certainly quite a lot to be said for the skills of their instructor today... After several of the sparring matches had concluded, Laniva nodded to herself, deciding it was finally time to join in. "I'm going to go see if Gean wants a rematch. We did some practice a little while ago. Want to come watch?" She gave Syta's hand a little squeeze, before walking over to join Gean, Syndra, and Renais, the healer already being called away. "Nice fighting, you two. Looks like you handled yourself pretty well against Syndra's magic there." Laniva rolled her shoulders, already all warmed up from her morning run. "Want to have another match, Gean? A little more experience against swords never hurt, right?" Seila had taken the morning slow, and around the time the Tigers were gathering outside she had already gotten comfortable with a book and a cup of tea, having planned for a good part of the day to continue in that manner. It was only from the rising noise of practice fighting - not something she was particularly unused to as a mercenary, but one that she hadn't heard to such a scale for quite some time - that drove her to rise from her seat, peering out the window curiously. "Oh, what's all this, now... ah, looks like the Tigers are already making themselves quite at home, here." "Hmm. Amera, it looks like the kind of thing you might enjoy... Want to see if you can join? I don't mind taking my reading outside, it's a nice enough day, certainly."

It had been a rather pleasant morning. Syta had joined her for her morning run, which was a good addition to her routine; Laniva had been rather happy to find Syta willing to come along, and with Gean joining her for the occasional morning spar, she was finding herself to be spending a lot less of her days alone doing her own thing. Syta, of course, had been contributing quite a lot to that outside of the mornings; Laniva had certainly found nothing to complain about. This morning in particular, however, the morning run had led to them being slightly late - well, perhaps not even late, but noticeably-not-early - to the training exercise all of the Tigers (and the rest of their group) were committed to this morning. The two of them finished off their jog, filing into the courtyard somewhere around the middle of the Tigers' arrival, having decided to pick up their pace a little as they'd become aware of the time. "Whew... okay, here we are. It looks like they haven't started yet... look, there he is, over there." She turned to Syta, gesturing towards the small but growing group of Cinaed, Alvira, Jeremiah, Versaris, and that new face they'd met yesterday - Roxanne. "My armor is still back in our room... mm, it'll probably be okay. It's sparring... let's go join them." Still full of energy, she gave Syta's arm a little tug, already setting off from the courtyard entrance to meet the others.

The faint torchlights in the distance began to come into view; in turn, this meant their own would be visible, and time was running short if they meant to make their move under misassumptions of their identity in the darkness. The tome at her belt was no small comfort to Rina, though there was yet still a weight at her side she felt the absence dearly of... at least, until Rivane came riding to her side. She laid a hand upon the sheath of her sword, grasping it, but not making to take it from him until he had spoken his piece. He gave her some kind of look - not one she could ascertain the meaning of in the brief moment it lasted - but it certainly seemed meaningful; or perhaps the torchlight dancing amongst the trees was merely adding a touch of fancy to her imagination. Either way, she set the sheath back at her side, finally whole once more, looking back up to Rivane upon his mount. "I am no fool. I have no illusions of what you intend to be our 'victory' this eve. I do not intend to perish in this wood, nor allow any such event to befall the princess." Her eyes narrowed, slightly. "Perhaps you have forgotten, sir, but there is no less honor in serving my lady to the fullest." Turning on her heel with her last word, she took her tome in hand, walking south towards the nearest light. Rina to (18, 14), Light Merc 4.

There was something of a glint of panic that began to show from behind Ambassador Huang's eyes as the pensive air of a diplomatic meeting shifted quickly with Kazue's indignant questioning, followed by damage control. Arielle's expression only shifted from a frown to a thin, bemused smile, however; and she shot the ambassador a quizzical look before turning her attention to the other primary authority in the room. The corner of her lips rose in amusement slightly as the captain reined in her subordinates. Oh? A feisty bunch, these... Interesting. "The pleasure is mine, Captain Silverwind... Ensign Fujiwaru and Lieutenant Silvavolke, was it? I'll remember that." It seemed that the two vocal ones in the group were the outliers; the others a mix of focused on their task and reining in their two overeager companions. "Full authority, hmm? I see, I see... Hmph. The CEN is certainly quick to step in, and with no small step, at that, having heard 'concerning information'... and you haven't made any mention of anything concrete obtained prior to your arrival here, I might note." Her eyes narrowed. "Not that I need remind you, of course, that the agreement signed between Avyndor Heavy Industries and the Council of Earth Nations specifically states that Callisto is under our exclusive jurisdiction, hence why you have an embassy here and not a governing building... but that is, I suspect, a matter to which your superiors have denoted of little concern, and not by you yourself." She paused briefly, delicately taking an espresso cup neatly embossed with the AHI logo from her desk and having a slow, thoughtful sip. "It's clear to me from your rather personal feelings on the matter..." - she glanced briefly at the two upstarts in the room - "...as well as your professionalism that your interest is in settling matters here cleanly. Which suits me just fine... after all, I'd certainly hate to the whole project to the CEN now that we're really starting to make strides towards terraforming the whole moon by ourselves." Not to mention the look of what might happen if I don't agree... if they're giving a fancy ship to investigate based on rumors who knows what excuse it'll take for the CEN to embargo us. "Your questions, then. The first matter - our response to the security incident. Now, I don't have the exact... strategy, I suppose you military types might call it - that we have for these matters myself. My chief of security has discretion in these kinds of matters - it's important to know what and when to delegate. What I do have, however, is a report from her." She looked up, perhaps a few feet above the tallest of her visitors, and with a deft swipe of a finger from her free hand, the desk projected a cluttered mess of digital paperwork to meet her gaze; a couple more swipes, and a document came into focus. "It seems here our belligerents had just conducted an armed robbery of one of our development facilities. Let's see... no injuries to any company personnel - excellent - but they did get away with a number of parts from one of our more sensitive military projects. Nothing nefarious, mind you, before I arouse your suspicions; but it's new HEX technology and that's all I'm willing to part with. Corporate espionage comes in all forms, I'm afraid~." She waved her hand through the projection, sending the light scattering for a brief second before it winked off. "The nature of the response, then, is twofold. The first being the recovery of company property; the latter being that HEXes with weapons are hardly something we can tread lightly with; the safety of our personnel is utmost. Hence, a large part of our security is automated - a machine can be replaced. Otherwise, we handle most of it through contractors who are more than aware of the risks involved." A sigh, and her expression darkened slightly. "I suppose she was hoping they'd surrender, but... well, they're not supposed to fight unless you don't comply. It's not a good look for the company, I must admit, and I suppose I have you all to thank for preventing some disastrous headlines. Perhaps I'll have to speak with my security chief regarding our approach here..." She set her cup back down on the desk, now empty. "Your other main question, then. The others you say you encountered, posing as my employees." A hint of irritation was creeping into her words, now. "I certainly do not know of any team of mine that has the impunity to act in such a way. Perhaps there are some malcontents who hoped to abuse our company's governing authority on this moon by masquerading as our security forces... in which case, messy as it is, you'd have done us a second great favor. I wouldn't put such a scheme beyond them... from what we can tell, they're primarily a single group, but loosely organized. 'Room for a few brash individuals to make a lot of wrong decisions'... I believe was the wording used in one of the reports. But beyond that, no. No idea." She crossed her arms, seemingly finished. Huang responded promptly, inclining in a slight bow, almost a little too eagerly; but there was enough potential for a communications breakdown here that it was best to be sure about smoothing things out while they still could. "Very good. Miss Avyndor, my personal thanks for your willingness and cooperation in this matter. It shall be my personal guarantee to you that we have this matter resolved as quickly as possible, and I'm sure Captain Silverwind feels the same as I, being representatives of the CEN." It was a bit early to be making a political move such as buying time, but Huang was shrewd enough to know that opportunities to meet directly with Arielle would not be the easiest thing to find; the less the crew of the Dawn left uncertain, the better they could address the issues here...

The receptionist dipped her head, holding a clinical smile as she addressed the wary Captain. "Yes, ma'am. Right behind me, at the back of the hall; take it directly to the top floor." Sia's glances around the room were met with little more than the blank stares of a couple security personnel standing impassively against the walls, and the faint echo of their conversation in the large room. Huang nodded in thanks to the receptionist, smiling with all the charm of a career politician, giving a quick look back to the rest of the group. He paid little mind to the slight banter between Louise and the android that had come along. "Well then, seeing as we're already a bit late - let's not keep Miss Avyndor waiting any longer, shall we?" It was a fast elevator, but the ride to the top was long nonetheless, enough to leave them all alone without onlookers, with naught but their thoughts for a long moment; and when the doors finally slid open, they were greeted with an aerial view of the city below through the floor-to-ceiling reinforced glass windows that circled the penthouse office; the space was divided in two, the rear half upon a raised platform. A sleekly designed but heavy wooden semicircular desk stood towards the rear of the room - Huang nodded appreciatively at it; tasteful use of wood must have been carefully thought through, needing to be shipped on a long voyage through space. Gazing down at the city at the rear of the office was a woman smartly clad in businesswear, continuing to look down as the party filed into the room; it wasn't until the noise of steps against fine stone floor drew silent that she turned on her heel to face them, eyes falling upon each for a brief moment before coming to rest on the two obvious representatives, approaching to speak across her desk. "Welcome to Remansburg - our little slice of the future, as it were. Allow me to apologize for the... misfortune you came upon at your arrival - to my understanding you were caught between our automated security patrols and some, ah... malcontents. They have been rather a pain for some time now, so intent on standing in the way of progress, by all accounts... ah, but where are my manners - allow me to introduce myself." There was something of a sly, knowing smile that crept across her face - of course, they knew who she was. "Arielle Avyndor, Avyndor Heavy Industries CEO. I handle the business side of things... my parents, talented scientists though they are, rather lack the acumen to manage a project of such scope as this. You could say I was born for this~." "Now, I know what a CEN business meeting looks like... and this certainly doesn't happen to be it." She crossed her arms. "It does happen to be quite a hint that there's a brand-new battleship docked in my city rather than a luxury shuttle. Glad as I always am to receive the CEN... I do wonder what your intent is here." Huang listened eagerly through her speech, tenting his hands for a moment before his response. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Avyndor; I am Ambassador Jin Huang, here representing the CEN, of course - another colleague of mine has joined me here, but she is currently attending to some tasks at the embassy. Allow me to introduce you to Captain Silverwind of the Imminent Dawn and some of her crew." He was all warm gestures and smiles. "The, ah... purpose of our visit here, unfortunately, is to do with the... malcontents you've mentioned. To put things succinctly, ah... we have heard some concerning information on the situation here back on Earth. Captain Silverwind is here to lead an investigative task force with... full authority." The CEO's lips curled into a slight frown. "Is that so. It is rather a shame to hear you've not come for happier matters, but that's life, I suppose." A neutral face again, as if the frown were but a mere momentary misstep. "Well, in that case... let's get right to it, then. I'm sure you have questions."

"...?" As Miria stepped up to one of the stands, the rest of the group at the bazaar following closely behind, Seila cocked her head slightly at the child running through the group; but soon enough her attention turned back towards the man - Barios, he introduced himself as - offering an interesting selection of wares. The man had a good eye, it seemed; the second merchant today to have a rather tailored selection, first describing a magical sword to Miria, then... "Ice, hmm? I don't see that very often. And yes," - she smiled, adjusting her hat a touch - "your estimation is quite right-- wha...?!" The cat suddenly around her shoulders, purring against her was no less a surprise than she ever was, despite this kind of thing happening innumerable times before. "W-whoa... hi there, Amera." Seila blushed slightly at the praise, reaching a hand up to give Amera's ears a quick scritch, though not before reddening further at her words and her brows. "A-Ah, hey...! Down girl, later... h-how about I take a look at what's here, first, okay?" The mage let out a quiet huff, but the petting continued nonetheless. Laniva was occupied with taking in the sights of the bazaar, the stall they'd all visited being the center of her immediate attention - enough so, in fact, that she was oblivious to Syta's more-than-usual want for her fluffy ears. Said ears, for that matter, were flicking gently at the pitch, aimed though it was at Miria; a sword to help against magic was rather piquing her interest, given her typical inability to fight well against mages, which they'd recently come up against no shortage of. She gave Syta's hand a small squeeze, turning to glance at her; as Laniva did, she felt a little flutter, and her tail swished a little. "Mm... See anything interesting, Syta? There might be something I want here, actually..."

Rina let out a mildly incensed huff, cheeks tinged a faint red at Raz's implication that she might enjoy such a thing as being fed by the princess. "Hmph. Better than one of you, certainly. But do not imply that I am so... perverse as to revel in such a thing. Save such for your own fellows... or yourself." It was embarrassing more than anything else, and an utter inversion of quite possibly every convention she'd ever gone by. She sighed, rather defeatedly, not having really any barbs to throw back at that mocking - and it would be unladylike to persist upon such a topic, besides... Taking a bite of the apple as Jilyn presented it to her, her eyes fell away upon nobody in particular; out of the corner of her eye she faintly saw a smile forming on Willow's face, and it was the most she could do to not redden further. So persistent had she been upon not meeting anyone's gaze in the moment, though, that as Willow approached to presumably free her wrists from their binding, Rina hadn't seen the impending berry; and her eyes went wide for a moment, then narrowed to a glare, hardly softening as her hands were freed. "H-How dare you...?! I see that I am no less your prisoner for having my hands freed..." She sighed. "Worry not, you will continue to find me... restrained, if not in a literal sense." What unrepentant cheek...! She paused for a moment, before addressing Jilyn, rather significantly less frustration in her voice. "T-Thank you, Princess... I do hope that will not be necessary, again, and I... suspect you feel the same way."

"Yes, I fear that may be so, ma'am. We'll need our wits about ourselves." Alrenne snapped a brief salute to Sia before turning to the tactical map, taking over. "Recovery of the wreckage is complete... good. Lt. Reed, bring the patrol in as soon as possible, and let them know to get themselves somewhat presentable - we'll need to speak to Avyndor Heavy directly." He tapped a couple buttons on the map, nodding quietly, then glanced over to Reed again. "And send a message ahead to the docking authority to let them know we're coming. They'll have seen us, but... no need worrying them about a battleship fast approaching." "Yes, sir - right away." The rush of motion from after the battle slowly came to a close, and as the radar reports came back clean one after another, it was time to collect their patrol and move on. The Dawn made good time to the lone city of Callisto, the industrial city and heart of Avyndor Heavy Industries' presence on the moon. At a glance, it might have resembled any other city; but a lingering look would reveal its carefully planned nature - wide streets, large enough for bigger industrial vehicles or worker HEXes to walk down, without exception, and buildings of modular construction, their boundaries carefully measured in numbers of lots, the most of which being industrial or corporate buildings of some type. It had all grown 'naturally' over the course of years here, and was missing only a scant few of the urban luxuries found in the colonies or Earth - but any growth remained only within those bounds such as the company allowed. Dotting the roofs of larger buildings were atmospheric defense batteries; with terraforming as incomplete as it was, and only a localized atmosphere maintained, the risk of asteroids or other debris from years of war throughout the system impacting the surface from orbit was an ever-present threat. There was a life here for people; but the AHI logo was never out of view, a constant reminder of the watchful eye and guiding hand. The sight of the CEN's new model battleship drew many an eye without fail, but all was relatively normal as they docked at the city's larger shipyard, the only one that could handle the size of the Dawn, having initially been designed for the largest class of cargo vessels. Touching down, the crew set about readying to meet the CEO of Avyndor Heavy, one Arielle Avyndor; it was time to see about getting some answers as to their - putting it lightly - rough arrival to Callisto. The plan was straightforward; the Dawn would remain in port with XO Alrenne holding down the fort, half of their pilot's complement remaining with the ship, while Captain Silverwind would - accompanied by the other half of their pilots, as well as one of the CEN's ambassadors - head directly to the corporate headquarters of AHI for a now rather overdue meeting. "Is everyone here? Good. Now, some of you will be accompanying the Captain to her meeting. You're not expected to carry on any of the discussion yourselves, leave that to the Captain; just maintain your decorum and protect the Captain should anything happen. The rest of you will remain here; in the Captain's absence I will hold command on the ship. I have Ensign Fujiwaru, Lt. Park, and Lt. Vhane selected, plus HAn4. I'll need two volunteers." Alrenne didn't have to wait long; Leon and Bonner were ready and willing. "Excellent. In that case, the two of you will also be going. Now, Ambassador Huang will also be with you; Ambassador Ryeilleur will be going to the embassy to make some inquiries as to the situation here. If there are no questions, let's be about it." The small group found an escort from the company waiting to convey them directly to the headquarters, the intent of the Dawn having been made known to company officials as they docked. There was no shortage of hushed murmurs as they walked to the cars, but from there all was near quiet save the hum of engines, leaving the crew to take in the city as they traveled. Soon enough, they were walking through the pillared front of AHI's corporate headquarters, the vaulted ceiling inside rising high above the doorway, the reception desk some twenty meters within the building itself. The entrance hall certainly spared no expense, nor wanted for space, a grand expression of wealth standing in contrast to the more urbane and regular setting the rest of the city presented; without a doubt this was the seat of power of the company. Huang's eyes darted around the place, taking it all in, shoulders relaxing slightly, lips forming a thin smile. "Well, that rather messy business as we arrived aside... perhaps I was overconcerned over being assigned to such an, ah... remote, position. It seems that Callisto is not as lacking for character as I had worried." The receptionist was hurriedly tapping away at her computer, though as they came in she looked up to meet some of their eyes, expectantly. "Hello, and welcome to Avyndor Heavy Industries - we have been expecting you. Miss Avyndor is awaiting you in her office on the top floor; please let me know if I can assist in any way."

There was a light blush on Laniva's face the whole walk; deepening ever so slightly as Syta wrapped her arm around her partway through, feeling her against her side. Still, given her usual tendencies to fluster harder than she did, she was doing quite well, by her own measure, and for the most part was just happy that there wasn't too much of a spotlight on the two of them as Amera all but shot towards each restaurant (and then nowhere in particular, not knowing where the bazaar was). "Mrah... I-I don't know either. She's so... hyper. But, um... I'm glad the difference is obvious. It's reassuring..." Her tail swished a bit, shyly. "Oh? The bazaar does sound interesting... and we have plenty of time. Let's go see it, then." Seila stumbled a bit as Amera leaned on her shoulder in search of... either the bazaar or Ember, the latter of which shared her interest in destinations in town. "Ah - whoa, easy there, kitty... down." She patted Amera on the shoulder, turning with the very-interested cat to face Ember. "Oh - you'd heard of it before? That's good, means it's likely to be genuinely interesting then. Shall we be off then, everyone? I think it's down that way, a few streets over... easy now, Amera, you can't see it from here even on my shoulders, okay~?" It was a short walk from where they'd wandered into town to the bazaar, and they saw the building itself shortly before they'd reached it, on account of its size. It was somewhat busier than the rest of Eslcas had been, though this wasn't the greatest of surprises; the city was in a bit of a slight mood despite itself, though the bazaar seemed to have retained the previous heart, comparatively. Leading the group through the doors, Seila took in a view of the place; quite the number of assorted shops around - a good place to wander through for those with such idle time as themselves, fortunately enough. A variety of goods; some mundane, some matching the other shops and armories scattered around, more miscellaneous curios to be found... It'd be a little bit before they found anything uniquely of interest, though they did have a good deal of gold between them all. "Quite the place we have here... does anyone have anything particular in mind? Perhaps we should look for some of that changing inventory Ember mentioned?"

Cia slowed down her run towards Esther's machine, glancing off to the side to catch Avery approaching - well, hell, it was one clunker of a Gen 1. Some serious care put into it, sure, but that's a Gen 1 alright... well, beats Gen 3 maintenance. Can fix up a Gen 1 with an arc welder and scrap steel... "Alright, alright... You're right." She groaned, looking at the machine. "Egh... no, I've got this one. You take care of the others. Check on Silvavolke when he gets back - that chobham armor took some hits, don't know what made it under." Amy was reining her in as well; her shoulders fell a bit - was she being too harsh? Eh, maybe a bit... "Yeah, yeah, okay. It's probably fine, but..." She keyed her comm, looking up at the Dawn's HEXes as they hopped back up into the hangar, their pilots zipping down from their cockpits for some needed rest. "Hey, bring up a spare right leg with the modular armor plates from supply. We're half an hour out from the capital, I don't want anyone doing any cowboy fixes on this million-credit equipment to do it in time - we're gonna do a swap and refit it in the workshop. I want a full diagnostic on it." She waved to a couple nearby techs, gesturing vigorously at Esther's machine, pointing to the far side of the hangar to indicate where she wanted it. This was gonna be a long thirty minutes. "Hey, watch that zipper in the hangar, alright? You're gonna give one of these wrench jockeys an eyeful, you keep that up.." Alrenne stood by on the bridge, steadfast as Sia continued to give orders, despite struggling somewhat; she was doing an adequate job nonetheless, though. "Yes, I agree, Captain. Once all are aboard, let's get underway as soon as we can. Debrief... will likely have to wait until after any discussions we hold at the capital - I doubt there will be time before we arrive. You should... focus on recovering until then. If necessary, I can handle the remainder of the pilot recovery, ma'am." She certainly seemed as if she could use a couple of minutes... Kiria gave Gean a mousy nod as she let her know to refer to her more casually. "Oh, uh, okay, sure! Gean, then. Mm, um... yeah, that'd probably be good! The Dawn's so big, I'm sure they can figure something like that out." She gave a quick look off to her side towards Reed, who was still all business, monitoring the comms traffic between the Dawn and its pilots. A quick nod to herself, and she got right back to watching her radar screen, tuning the distances, checking, checking... still coming back blank. Cia grimaced a bit as the Arde was left in a bit of a heap on the hangar deck. Hmm, what have we got here... Have to pull the data from the onboard systems, what else can we do with this... maybe a new cockpit, we can probably refit this at some point. "... huh, wait, what's this?" Still stuffed in a holster at the lead Arde's hip was what looked like some kind of custom weapon - never even drawn. SR point bonus: The Dawn obtains a 145mm Quickdraw Revolver!

Rina sighed quietly, letting her head hang for a moment before nodding. Like as not - and in this moment she certainly did not - the Princess was making a rather good point; and it would do their motley group fair little good were she to collapse of exhaustion, twice so were it to be solely her feelings keeping her from eating. In this scenario, it would be no little obstacle to surmount, of course, but... She turned to face Willow as the dryad responded to the Princess' request. Rejected, of course, at least for now; predictably so - it was rather clear who was giving the orders in this group of bandits. There was a slight huff. "I should think that I am tending rather towards well behaved, for a captive. If it shall spare the Princess the duty of my care, then I shall continue as I have over our travels today." Rina glanced at the apple briefly as she brought it out from the bag, with another light sigh, turning towards Jilyn. "I do suppose there is little other choice if I am to remain bound, Princess... and you are right, much as this is somewhat... to my discomfort." A small nod, slowly. "If it is not any trouble upon your part, then, Princess, I will accept... thank you."

"Ah... m-mrahh. R-Right, of course you wouldn't..." Laniva blushed as Syta leaned in closer, and again at her compliments and her little reminder. Kise's excitement was palpable from across the courtyard as they watched, and she nodded at Syta's remark. "Mm, that is pretty unusual... mmh?" Syta was latching on to her arm, now; and she was feeling really quite warm in the face, now, but she smiled back nonetheless, squeezing her hand a bit tighter. "Of course, Syta..." Seila stood quietly by as she listened to Ember come to much the same conclusion as she had herself - no purchase. Though she had been rather more actively interested in a set of gauntlets; Ember's promise to possibly come back was a touch more than she'd given the fox herself - but it seems neither denial was to faze her as she was more than satisfied with the year Roxanne had given her. And to speak of that; she cocked her head slightly, observing the side effects; little more than a brief moment's stagger, and it was as if nothing had come to pass at all. Odd, to be sure. Nonetheless, as they'd all had their looks through the shop and the last two from the Tigers were catching up - they'd had some kind of conversation a little distance away, and ended up rather attached - it seemed their brief sojourn in the courtyard was at an end. She took two Tigers' approach as a bit of a prompt of her own, giving Amera a pat and a scratch between the ears as the cat Clouded leaned in closer. "I guess that means you have all you need already, huh, Amera~?" They'd wandered into town at a bit of a relaxed pace; their mixed mercenary group was ambling down one of the main streets of Eslcas now, having come out in search of food... seafood, it seemed, was the current front-runner. They'd seen at least a couple of options, of which invariably none had failed to catch Amera's attention to some degree. Seila did little but laugh quietly at her antics; it was a more than familiar behavior by now. She briefly stopped towards the end of one street, turning to face the others. "Hmm... Well, once we've made up our mind and eaten, we probably will still have quite some time for us to spend in town. I think I saw a sign about a bazaar in town as we were walking earlier... shall we take a look at that as well?"

Alrenne turned first to Galatea as the AI projected itself onto the tactical map, contemplatively placing his hand on his chin as the shimmer took a murky form. It was hard to tell much about it from an outline; but Galatea's theory was more than likely right. Interesting... An extra appendage? These machines are designed, not born... it cannot be vestigial - not unless someone is hunting us in some kind of... luxury HEX. No, it must have some kind of functional purpose... that's a terrifying thought. It's clearly some kind of machine under active R&D... "Hmm. No, Galatea, I don't recognize that machine. In fact, I've never seen anything with that kind of capability. If that's all the data we have... well, we can draw a few conclusions from this. That kind of persistent shimmer could have been nothing less than some kind of all-aspect camouflage, else some of our sensors would have picked it up. Advanced technology... someone is watching, and doesn't want us to know." But did they tip their hand too early? Surely we weren't meant to see that... this is becoming too damned complicated. "Your suggestion regarding discretion is acknowledged." He glanced back towards the captain's chair - a more than reasonable addition to the deck, given the potential... risks - and observed Sia, already recovering after her inhaler. She could take care of herself, clearly; of that he had no doubt. A commission such as captainship - and at such a young age, no less - meant every single aspect of her performance had been under a fine lens, and such a potential impairment would not have been let slide if there was so much as an iota of risk. He nodded his assent as she replied to each pilot's request to return or remain on patrol; her judgement was none the lesser for her current physical condition, that much was clear. Looking at the holomap once more, he took stock of the situation; the rebels had come from the north, escaping to the west, the automated HEXes having followed them until they ran into the Dawn. The shimmer hid northwest, and the fake AHI security pilots had approached from the southwest. Hmm... The southwest? That's hardly plausible for AHI security to patrol in the first place at such a remote location, especially since it seemed like they were supposed to be returning. And given the exchange Lt. Park had with them, they had very little intent to maintain any kind of real cover; so they weren't planning on having us come along quietly for a talk. The emblems on the side of their machines were very apparent... some kind of false flag attack, then? But to lose as one-sidedly as they did - they must have underestimated us, there's no other reason to throw away their lives like that. Amateurish work, no matter how you view it... He keyed the comm. "Commander Bonner - as you return from patrol, recover the remains of that lead Arde. It was a clean shot through the cockpit; I doubt any of the information equipment is still functional, but we might as well take that chance." A brief flick, changing the frequency. "Hangar - this is Alrenne. Prepare to receive damaged pilots and a captured enemy unit." Kiria, for her part, was spinning in her operator's seat (she'd been far too excited with her own discovery of this fact upon boarding the Dawn, but had managed to not let it show too much) with a boundless, anxious energy. The radar reports came back clean one after another, checking each spin. She went right past Gean, stopping herself mid-spin, slowly turning it back to face her, listing a bit dizzily to one side. "O-Oh! Um, yeah, I guess that was pretty good, huh? Oh, but, I didn't really do much myself, it's just a radar... um, but, you did great, miss Gean! I mean, with the cannons and all, it looked like everything was great! Um, is that weird to say? I don't-- I don't think it... is? Whoa--" She listed and leaned right out of her chair, almost falling to the ground if not for Lt. Reed to her side catching her, pushing her back into place. "Easy there, Ensign... The battle may be over, but we're still on duty, you know? Even if you did a good job~" Reed was smiling, though her brow let the mildest hint of irritation at her antics. Kiria squirmed back into her seat, giving Gean an abashed smile. "Right! Right. Yes. Thanks, Lieutenant..." "Understood, sir." Cia stuffed her communicator back into her jumpsuit after receiving the message from the XO, grimacing at the thought of the repairs the engineering team would have to be doing. Just their luck - there just had to be something suspicious going on, the mission couldn't just go like the briefings. Ah, damn... Doesn't help half these pilots are green. Except the Lt. Commander. That guy knows how to actually use his armor... Taking a moment's break, she let out a deep breath. The pilots were still on their way back to the ship, and once they arrived there wouldn't be so much as a breather until everyone's machines were back in shape, so now was the best time. Glancing to the side, she caught a glimpse of Amy on her comm. "Talking to anyone interesting~, Amy? I guess there's not that many options... crew's only so big after all, haha!" It could have been anyone, though, for all she knew; and the smirk she'd briefly given Amy was wiped right off her face as Esther's HEX landed right on the deck. "Damn! Hey, what the hell are you doing jumping like that onto the hangar deck when you're this damaged?! You know how long it takes to replace the leg on one of these from the knee down?! There's like thirty of this model in existence, we're not tripping over spare parts like Peacekeepers!" Alrenne paced the bridge - briefly - while thinking, then turned to Sia. "Captain, I think we should move on as quickly as possible. We're almost certainly within sensor range of the capital. We should probably make our best time to the capital, lest we make an, ah... poor impression. Especially seeing as we're not here on a combat mission." We weren't, that is...

Seila pondered the offer quietly for a long moment. Thirteen thousand gold was a lot - more than any of them had, more than the three of them combined - and even with a sixty-six percent discount, it still came out to half their sum. She idly toyed with the brim of her hat as she watched the fox pitch to her other potential customers, Ember, Jesse, the sheep - Roxanne, she called herself - the sheep taking to the fox rather quickly. A year of life... She was no trained merchant, but thirteen thousand gold was not an unusual sum for an artifact of such quality, she felt. A year of life... I have never heard of such magic before. Is that truly the worth of a year of life, then...? Nine thousand gold? It is... not untrue that we have slain for less. Nine thousand gold, then; is that the cost of power, to her? 'Fair exchange', she says... Seila crossed her arms, listening to her continue - she did indeed have a talent for perceiving magic, it seemed; though admittedly her acknowledgement of Ember as aligned to fire was... relatively unimpressive, compared to the rest. To call out thunder as her own specialty, though, was more notable. "Mm. It is an impressive tome... but even with such a discount, I find myself shrinking from the thought of paying so much when I could not control such powerful magic. You might find Amera or Ember more willing to purchase something, and I would be glad to lend them the gold should they need it, but I am sorry to say I can do no more myself than thank you for showing me such a rarity." She dipped her head in appreciation, hat following. "M-Mrah...? O-Oh, no, um..." Laniva's tail swayed a bit as she suddenly found herself closely observed by a concerned Syta. "Nn... i-it's nothing, Syta, it's just... it's silly, really..." She huffed a bit, suddenly feeling rather embarrassed with how seriously Syta was asking her now. "Hahh... mrrh. It's, just... with how Amera is, I was just a little worried that you'd treat me like an actual cat... like y-you'd bring me a fish or something. It's, it's silly! I told you it was silly..." She was blushing ever so slightly now, having a little difficulty looking at her directly, ears flopping a bit, tail all over the place. "I'm, I'm fine. Really." After a brief moment, Syta's flinch at being called out by Kise not being lost on her despite only catching it out of the side of her vision, she sighed. "U-Um... thank you, though, Syta... for asking." She gently tugged on Syta's arm, bringing her just a bit closer from around her back, taking her hand in her own, face flushed. "C-Come on, the others are probably almost done looking at her shop now..."

Cia swore under her breath as pilot after pilot came in for repairs. "Gah, what the hell... What's the whole deal with Gen 2 HEXes if they still get beat up this bad? Ugh..." She applied a final spot weld, then slapped the HEX's leg. "Alright, good enough... Okay, everyone, get clear! Prep the catapult! Combat launch!" Markus launches, firing as he speeds off the deck! (52, 14) 16 damage to Arde 2S. 11XP to Markus. <<What?! Damn, from the ship...?!>> Louise finds her target and pulls the trigger! (11) Critical! 45 damage to Arde 3S, destroyed. 40XP to Louise. The beam pierces the cockpit of the machine, and it crumples to the ground! <<Scythe Three, cover...! Scythe Three?! Three, come in!>> Azame restores 4HP to Markus. 4XP to Azame. Leon twirls that halberd and swings down! (24, 77) 10 damage to Lancer 4A. It doesn't let him take it for free! (35, 51) 1 damage to Leon. 11XP to Leon. Alrenne peered out the front viewport of the Dawn as Sia gave the order to fire - there was a bright flash as the main beam cannon of the ship illuminated the HEX... (10, 17) Critical! 45 damage to Lancer 1S, destroyed. 40XP to Sia. It was quite the shot - the past few had been effective, insofar as a glancing blow from a ship's cannon had a marked tendency to cripple a machine - but this last cannonade had landed squarely upon the HEX, and there was little left but smoking ash. The Dawn is certainly a fine ship... Iskra sharpens her senses to the extreme, sighting and shooting! Sense. (1) Critical! 21 damage to Arde 2S, destroyed! 43 XP to Iskra. <<This wasn't part of the job--?!>> Scylla rushes forth! (99) Miss! 1XP to Scylla. Bonner cleans up with a sweep of the cables! (18) Critical! 15 damage to Lancer 7A, destroyed! 4XP to Bonner. Esther, hungry to make her part in things, pops the pin! (12) Critical! 27 damage to Lancer 4S, destroyed! 40XP to Esther. Level up! 94 10 7 28 2 87 16 +MELEE/+SHOOT/+SKILL/+SPEED/+DEF Enemy Phase 10 Lancer 4A keeps up its counterattack against Leon! (23, 95) 1 damage to Leon! He puts a swift end to things! (1, 12) Critical! 39 damage to Lancer 4A, destroyed. 33XP to Leon! Level up! 16 14 11 39 45 89 64 +HP/+MELEE/+SHOOT/+SKILL Lancer 2S pivots, firing on Esther in the wake of the grenade explosion! (10, 58) 10 damage to Esther. The extra arm and the cannon mounted on its hardpoint swing down for the HEX to take hold, and the cannon roars! (7) Critical! 33 damage to Lancer 2S, destroyed! 40XP to Esther. <<Guys?! Oh, oh shit, oh shit--!>> Lancer 3S, last standing, panickedly puts some rounds towards Scylla as she Dodges! (44) Miss! 1XP to Scylla. Alrenne crossed his arms, staring at the nearly-clean tacmap, musing. "Captain, perhaps we might be able to capture that one - now would be an opportune time, seeing as he now stands alone. It would shed some serious light on the situation... well, possibly." Player Phase 11 The Dawn rushes forth, autocannons alight! (64) 9 damage to Lancer 3S. 11XP to Sia. Iskra slows it down with a burst of rifle fire! (48) 10 damage to Lancer 3S. 11XP to Iskra. Iskra's too alert to stray into the enemy's counterfire! Scylla rushes in to nab Lancer 3S and wrap things up with a weaponless punch...! (25) Critical! 27 damage to Lancer 3S, destroyed! 37XP. The HEX crumples, perhaps a little too quickly for the optimists in the squadron... Level up! 31 65 73 68 46 98 25 +HP/+MELEE/+SPEED "...hmm. Well, nothing is guaranteed upon a battlefield... Ensign Kiria, we are clear now, yes?" "A-Ah... yes, XO, sir. Radar reports no hostiles..." Map clear! SR point acquired. "Good. Well, then. Captain, let's recall our pilots... perhaps we ought to keep a couple out of the ship on patrol, if we stay to investigate here. That... shimmer... is admittedly weighing on me somewhat."

Their travels were uneventful. There was not so much as a single suspicious snapped branch, a far-off crunch of a leaf under an armored boot, no clink of steel against steel as plate pridefully refused to hide its presence. No, it had been quiet, and with her wrists bound as they were, there was little else to do for Rina than march, march and think; the walking was no issue, of course, she'd plenty of practice, and of course she'd set off on her own journey thinking to be escorting the Princess around the country. It was just her and her thoughts, then, and despite what had transpired she felt as if there was sparse little to think upon. No matter what explanations she pondered, in the end the one that made sense was the one that had been explained to her, and by the Princess no less; so she walked on, trying to come to accept such a sudden upheaval of her life. As they made camp, she walked with Jilyn towards the outside, settling down for the night. She bristled slightly as the Princess helped her with her hair and armor, but she bit her lip and kept her silence; it would be little else than whining to voice her discomfort to none other than the Princess' ears - there were none to admonish here. "Bandits such as these... I know not whether they will let me free soon, but they shall find little use for me as a captive. For the knights to be so treacherous... surely there is no value in the life of one of the Lower Rung." She lowered her head. "...ah - Princess, I could not ask..." The sound of footsteps interrupted her, though; and as two of the bandits approached, she eyed them warily, though perhaps less so than their initial meeting. The fatigue of the first was apparent; too tired to deign to use her name, perhaps. "The prisoner is carrying herself as well as she ought." As the dryad set the bag of fruits down, she turned her head slightly; even after a long day, it felt as if appetite was the furthest thing from her mindl...

"H-Huh?! What are you talking about..." Laniva mumbled quietly at Amera's words, not quite knowing how to react to Amera's cat analysis - no, she certainly didn't mind pets, but she wasn't spending her every moment pining for them quite like Amera was... and rather openly at that. "It's not... mrahh..." All too quickly, though, the conversation shifted, long before she could marshal any kind of proper protest; the topic at hand yet another victim of Amera's boundless energy, now rather pointedly focused on fish. It's nice to see Syta having so much fun, but... Her tail swished gently, ears flopping a bit. She's going to start thinking I love fish and bringing fish back to camp if Amera keeps this up... Seila, for her part, joined Syta in laughing at the all-too-obvious humor, though cutting herself off with a bit of a huff as Ember stole her opportunity to pet those fluffy ears, sticking out her tongue. "Hey! I was gonna do that... come here, you!" She chased after Ember as she walked off, hat bouncing on her head as she gave a quick wave to Bella as they went their separate ways. "Emberrr...!" Catching up after a moment, the mage quickly raised herself up on her heels, giving Ember's ears a quick ruffle with an unserious grumble. "Hehe, there. Now we can call it even~." As they stepped outside, Seila pondered Miria's question. "How long... mm, a little over a year, I think? Not too long here, most of it was in Kansei - ah... now, what might we have here?" There was quite the interesting shop here, now; but perhaps even more so the shopkeep; so many tails...

Markus sends a cannonade Lancer A4's way! (10, 44), (88) - half is pretty good! 13 damage to Lancer A4, 11XP to Markus. Level up! 94 54 5 72 12 79 95 +SHOOT/+SPD Markus regains 1 ammo per weapon and 5HP for docking this turn. Bonner spins up the slicer, (87), but swings wide; (29) taking a pittance of 90mm for the trouble! A second swing (23, 57) finds its mark, but doesn't finish things. 13 damage to Lancer A7, 1 damage to Bonner, 4XP to Bonner. Leon twirls that halberd forwards, finding the gap in the Lancer's armor! (10, 4) Critical! 27 damage to Lancer A5, destroyed, 37XP. Enemy Phase 9 Lancer A7 and Lancer A4 fire on Leon from on high! (43) (77, 17) - all the shots find their mark, but with only minor effect! 4 damage to Leon, 2XP. <<Scythe Two advancing. Keep me covered, we're moving fast here.>> Arde 2S charges after Louise, managing to stay just enough in range to toss an AP Slug her way! (88) Louise's evasion is too much for the targeting systems to keep up with. <<This is not happening...!>> "Here they come... All units, move to support Lt. Park and counterattack. Let's put an end to things swiftly; there are too many mysteries we need to investigate here, and we have no time to get caught up in a battle like this." Alrenne squinted at the display as Tristan brought it on screen, barely catching the shimmer; but it was only a moment till it was off screen - either it had just been a brief fluctuation in whatever new cloaking this was... or they'd all been seeing things. "Ensign Kiria, do another scan. I want to be sure." "N-Nothing there, XO, sir... it looks like nobody else is coming this way at least, though." "Hmm. Alright. Lt. Calvin, log that footage. We can analyze it after the battle." Just another on the pile... Player Phase 10

Seila crossed her arms under her robes, bemused at the array of reactions Amera was throwing out; she had to admit, it did give her a mild sense of satisfaction to tease the cat so, and in that moment she understood Bella just a bit better. I don't know if I could manage it quite as well as she always does, though... "Now, Amera, one or two is fine, Amera, but don't go asking all of these Tigers to spar, okay? I know I said you need to spend your energy on something, but you're going to wear yourself out if you go fighting everyone, okay?" Hahhh... This cat. How does she go forgetting her own hobbies, really... Inclining her head, she let her hat fall to cover a small smirk, answering Ember's in turn. Not to be left behind, though, she slipped her own shot back at the hound, quietly, just enough for her to hear. "Mm. You sure look happy about that, but are you really going to manage~? You've been a little less than subtle recently." Laniva tilted her head, almost confused at Amera's sheer unbounded energy, a good half of which was spent protesting to the mage calling out from behind. She nodded along a little as the other cat Clouded rattled off her list of enjoyments, blinking a little at the sudden barrage of casual compliments. "I--, um, o-oh, sure...? A bunch of people call me Lani, so that's fine, and um... sure, we can spar. That'd probably be fun. I've only had a couple chances to recently, but it's good to spar with someone instead of just training by yourself..." She went pensive for a moment, tail swaying, though not quite matching the energy of some of the others in the room. Mm... hobbies? I guess I don't really have any right now, do I...? Her brief train of thought was interrupted by a small squeak - her own, she realized after a moment - at the sudden surprise public pet, and she gave Syta a quiet huff. "Mrah...?!" She blinked, but stayed with her all the same as she walked; it was... comfortable, there at her side. "Mm... food might be nice. We've been traveling for a little while, so it's mostly been travel rations. But you all might know the town better. We really just got here, after all..."

Rina was quiet a moment; a long moment, as each of her captors - no, that wasn't quite right - several of her captors and the princess - spoke to her. Her silence hung in the air a moment as her eyes shifted from face to face; to the dryad, the feline, the former knight, lingering on the princess. She opened her mouth as if to speak, finding no voice, biting her tongue instead, her gaze lowering to the ground. It was another long moment, then, before her gaze rose once more, glancing momentarily, almost longingly at her rapier as the feline made to pass it to the lance-bearing falcon. There was a look in her eyes like a withheld sigh of disbelief; but when the words finally surfaced. they stood resolute. "There can be no other explanation for the princess - forgive me... the empress - to stand before me, unharmed yet for my own fellow knights' betrayal." "I am no fool... and yet, they have sought to make a fool of me and a mockery of our oaths. Lower Rung I may be, but I have not forgotten my loyalty; my duty to my liege. I should be willing to aid you, empress. Fortuitous saviors these people may be, though... I shall not forget their designs upon you. And if it is your wish to return to your rightful reign, then I will protest any of their attempts to dishonor you... intentional or otherwise."

As she rose, Rina found the two nearest her with little in the way of answers to soothe her confusion; the feline crouched down towards her, speaking, and she held her ground; even in such a situation as this it would be unbecoming to be so easily cowed. Her eyes narrowed at the mention of her fellow Lower Rung; there was little need to guess what had become of him, given the swiftness of their attack and his notable lack of presence. "Hmph. I am Rina de Minerve... knight of Halspria. Do not so much as think to implicate my having any designs on the princess' life. I should think it more appropriate for myself to do so of you, seeing as it was my duty to escort her..." Rina paused, her mind catching up with her initial indignance, trying to make sense of all that she had seen. "The king has not been killed. He is... He is resting at his estate; he is ill, and abed. Ser Evelyn's knights..." It simply didn't make sense. She was not prone to making mistakes in her sight; and yet Ser Antonio had attacked the princess - she had seen it with her own eyes - even though they'd been casually conversing merely moments before, escorting that carriage together... and as if she needed anything else there Princess Jilyn was herself, practically debasing herself with every word she spoke as she asked these bandits for aid. At this, she began to struggle against her binds futilely. And now she wishes to go to Bravia...? Why...? It... Would Ser Evelyn truly do this?

"Nn..." At some point the world had become tangible again, though she hadn't yet opened her eyes. There was a sense of lingering pain in her arm; it kept her from awakening in too bleary a state, and she certainly recalled what had led to such an injury occurring, not that she had come to understand the events during her unconsciousness, of course. The familiar weight of the rapier at her side in its sheath was absent; and the tome she kept in a pouch at her waist was similarly missing. Between these and the bindings she felt ever so slightly digging into her wrists, it was obvious enough that she was held prisoner; there were voices, relatively calm - her captors. As her eyes slowly fluttered open - somewhere halfway through, a poke in her side hastening the process ever so slightly - she caught a blurry glimpse of the princess; kneeling; kneeling but unbound, and the same confusion that had filled her mind earlier returned. Closer to her, though - closer was the bandit with the axe she'd rushed at in the chaos of the ambush, accompanied by... not quite a full dryad, a half-dryad? Another bandit, surely. Also becoming apparent to her was that everyone was rather distinctly at a right angle; she righted herself quickly, at least as best she could with hands bound, consciously attempting to maintain at much of a modicum of poise as... well, as could be had in this situation. "Ah... I suppose you could be none other than my captors. I certainly recognize you."

Louise delivers a beam, express service to Arde S1's cockpit! (82, 25) Critical! 39 damage to Arde 1S, destroying it! 43 XP to Louise, level up! 17 84 52 28 32 90 66 +HP/+SHOOT/+SKL <<What the shit?! Oh, fuck--!>> <<Serves you right, asshat...>> <<...This is Scythe Two. I'm taking command. Get that sniper before you end up like One.>> Kazue, emboldened by her comrades, dashes in with her halberd! (100 to hit, 4) Critical! 48 damage to Lancer 8A, destroying it! 37XP to Kazue, level up! 5 45 18 64 59 88 44 +HP/+MELEE/+SPD Azame sprays some more nanofoam, healing Scylla for 5HP! 5XP to Azame. Markus pops Tank A4 with some HE shotgun shells! (100 to hit, 18) Critical! 30 damage to Tank A4, destroying it! 37XP to Markus. Sia gives the order, and the crew of the Dawn answers! (86, 91) 15 damage to Lancer A6! 11XP to Sia. Leon presses the assault, shotgun firing! (10, 91) 6 damage to Lancer A6. A spray of 90mm rifle rounds answers his call! (78) 2 damage to Leon, 11XP. Bonner takes the lead, Rotating Slicer cutting away! (37, 56) 13 damage to Lancer A7. It switches to its saber, cutting back! (24) The blade makes solid contact, but can't cut through the armor! Bonner takes another swing... (84) Miss! 4XP to Bonner. Esther and Iskra move south. Iskra is fully repaired and reloaded from turns spent on the ship. Daeran fires at Lancer A6! (100 to hit, 22) Critical! 27 damage to Lancer A6, destroying it. 37XP to Daeran. Enemy Phase 8 Arde 2S chases after Louise, shotgun announcing the attack! <<You're not going to get away with that again.>> (32, 79) It looked like a good shot, but... missed! 1XP to Louise. <<Bullshit...!>> The enemy Lancer squad advances behind the lead Ardes! Lancer 7A shifts over, firing past the lead units at Markus, just slightly behind! Markus chooses to Evade. (69) Miss! 1XP to Markus. Lancers 4A and 5A maintain their position on the high hills, firing down at Daeran and Kazue! Lancer 4A's shots land on Kazue as she shields herself! (24, 45) 6 damage to Kazue, 1XP! Lancer 5A's shots land too - but Bonner shields Daeran, protecting him from damage! 0 damage to Bonner as defends Daeran, 1XP to each. Alrenne crossed his arms as the Captain gave him the news; this battle was more than just automated units out of control, now - and if it was true that someone was masquerading as AHI security forces, then this did indeed run deeper. How much, though; that was another question entirely. "...Perhaps it's fortunate that we've identified that these radicals exist before we speak to AHI. This is something we will have to discuss once we arrive at the capital. For now, though... it's time we finished up this battle, I agree. Let's move south to join Lieutenant Park as soon as possible." Player Phase 9

The world was a rapidly-fading blur, now; so shocked had Rina been by what she'd seen, she hadn't been able to marshal herself to attempt to evade the incoming horseman's lance. As she crumpled, however, she didn't meet the ground as she'd expected, instead finding herself grabbed, pulled onto a horse, and it was all she could do with her fading strength to maintain her hold on her rapier. I... I-I don't understand... why would the princess... why would Ser Antonio...? Why...? Her expectation from a moment ago soon found itself fulfilled, however; she couldn't make out the words, but there was some hurried conversation - hurried commands, perhaps? - and she found herself unceremoniously in a heap upon the ground. It was the most she could do to groan in pain at the heavy blow to her arm before lapsing into unconsciousness, lost to bewilderment...