TheRoon

Arkham's eyes turned to Luce approached (10, 11) as they let loose a giant explosion of light. He let out a painful scream as he had been completely overtaken by the burst for 30 damage from a crit! (67, 1!) "ARRRGH!!!" He fell to the ground with a very loud thud and a clank, as he dropped his shield and javelin. "Tch...master R...ei..." And his life had been snuffed out just like that. Luce gains 74 exp and +2 Light exp. Luce levels up! HP, Mag, Skill, Spd, Luck! Spicy! Take goes to finish the battle by attacking (13, 9) the mage who tried to flee for 11 damage! (99, 71) The mage fires back! (13, 67) but Taka endures and finishes him off with skillful knifeplay! (63, 93) Taka gains 34 exp and +3 Hidden Weapons exp. With the final enemy defeated, there was nothing left. Eve took a good look at Luce. "Good work, Luce. Really." She smiled and stepped up. "I think that's all of them so..." She reached to give them a pat on the head, but stopped just short when she heard someone approach from behind. "!" It was a blond man in a coat! "Hah...hah...made it...agh..." He looked at Eve. "Sorry I'm late...the streets got chaotic and...well you two took the roofs and I couldn't...what'd I miss?" Eve looked the man in the eye and laughed. "...oh you poor man." MAP CLEAR! Mikhail heals Miles, Ichika, Taka and Luce. Mikhail gains +10 exp from healing Taka to full. 13/22 - 22/22 Mikhail gains +7 exp from healing Miles to full. 15/19 - 19/19 Mikhail gains +6 exp from healing Luce to full. 28/29 - 29/29 Mikhail gains + 17 exp from healing Ichika to full. 8/20 - 20/20 Total exp: 40 exp and +8 staff exp! Mikhail levels up! HP and Luck! Ichika tops Mikhail off 11/16 - 16/16 Total exp: 8 exp and +2 staff exp! Miles checks the wagon and finds a Thunder tome!

Luce rolls up (9, 7) and drops a Light onto Merc 4. (12, 6!) The cat was extra motivated today from the banter with Eve, and they dropped a bolt of light right into the poor Merc's head for 30 damage! They dropped straight to the floor! Luce gains 34 exp and +2 Light exp. Ichika follows up the ferocity by attacking Archer 4 (11, 7) up close! (5, 2!) However, she did not want to be outdone by the cat she guided. With motivation and spirit, she sliced through the Archer like leaf for 33 damage, and the bow fighter fell to the ground in a bloody mess. Ichika gains 34 exp and +2 Sword exp. More importantly, she has achieved Serenity through her strike. (1/5) Ali moves in (10, 5) and throws out a Light of her own upon Archer 3. (79, 100) The archer took the Light head on and fell to his knee, but he still stood despite taking 15 damage to the face. Alouette gains 10 exp and +1 Light exp. Miles ran up (9, 6) to finish the job on Archer 3. (33, 57) With a swing to his chest. (2, 13, 10!) Miles has become One with the Blade in that moment, as he was seized with a desire to send a message! So he sent out a flurry of swings, though realistically only one needed to connect. The Archer felt overwhelmed by his attacks and also dropped like a fly! Miles gains 34 exp and +2 Sword exp. Taka runs to inspect the wagon. (10, 9) It was mostly empty, the unknown attackers seemed to have come out from the wagon. It seemed like they left something behind though, a unique looking ring! Taka has found an Archer Band! Mikhail had been on the verge of death, but one swig of his handy dandy Vulnerary fixed that up quick! Mikhail restores 10 HP to himself! Finally, Eve moves to 11, 12 to block the path between Arkham and the gate and...talks to him. "Tell me something, Sir Knight." She eyed the armored man. "What sort of business do you have here in Isolde? Why attack today of all days, on a day of celebration?" "Hmph, you'd never understand our reasoning." "So what you're telling me is you don't know." "..." "I can see it in your eyes, you're just here for a quick buck from someone bigger than you and nothing more. What a shame." She smiled and lifted her hands up. "If I were you I wouldn't have bothered with this job at all. I would've been perfectly happy with a drink in my hand and good company!" He gripped his lance and gave the woman quite a glare. Enemy Phase 4 Arkham... This woman...I don't think I can win. That aura she's got is exactly like the boss... "Move, or you will be moved!" "Oooh, I'm so scared. Shaking like a petal on a flower...plenty around here to pick y'know. I could get you one and be back in time before you get inside." She smirked. "You know I can run circles around you, you know what I'm using...gotta work on that poker face, friend." "I'm done with your games!" Arkham attacks Eve! (60, 40) His spear just barely brushed by her hair! Eve doesn't counter attack. "...short tempered too, I understand." She closed her eyes as she evaded, and took a small sigh to herself as she felt the effects of her item fade. Stalling's up, power's down. No Nate either...mm this is bad. She slowly lifted an eyelid to show a brown eye instead of green, and she cast her gaze toward Luce who had been nearby. ...c'mon, my favorite stray. Shut him up for me. With a silent order given to Luce, she resolved herself for whatever would happen. The mage...has had his fill! He started to run! (14, 9) Player Phase 4

Renais settled herself after that scream, she was still fairly emotional so she did her best to not say anything else. Now more than ever she had to find Mikoto, no matter what Luthier did to her. She turned to Sari as he forced a smile and told Renais to prioritize Aly over his own wounds. "...fine, but you're not to push yourself until after I tend to you too." He's been through too much, but the group still needed him. Still, Renais agreed that they had to keep Aly under control first, the last thing they needed was for her to continue her rampage into a grave. So she healed her from afar. Renais moves toward 27, 15 to heal Aly with Mend thanks to Staff Technician.

The pinkette found herself spiraling down her darkest thoughts, it seemed like there was no end to it. But out of nowhere, she heard two voices, Syndra and Sari. They both did their best to reach Renais, and fortunately it got her to react. She lifted her head slightly. "...you...need me." Syndra let her see through the ruse, and Sari reassured her they are winning. On top of that, Gean's scream got through to her too, even in the face of death she was determined to do her part too. So with a deep breath the shorter girl slowly stood up and composed herself. "... thank you both." She gently spoke, and then resumed her glare. "My name is Renais Silvavolke, and I will reach my dream with my loved ones by my side. All of them." That included Mikoto, she knew she had to be alive. Monster or not. "So you can go to hell, asshole!"

The glare he sent back was frightening, but she stood her ground and maintained her stance. It was true, there weren't many fighters left that could match him around her. It was a problem, and one Renais couldn't find time to think on after he delivered some news to her. "...what? You're lying. Stop trying t-" But as soon as he pulled out a familiar looking tail, it practically silenced the pinkette. "!!!" Her eyes instantly shrank the moment she spotted it, and he continued by attacking her weakness, the very thing about her she hated. "N-no...Mikoto is gone...it can't...be..." The girl fell to her knees, and began to shut down. She...was only captured because of me. Because I couldn't...stand with her. Because I'm... Despite her best efforts to steel herself, she was not ready for this. She dropped her staff and hugged her arms tightly as she looked toward the floor with her shaky eyes. "It...it's all my fault...this all happened because I'm..." She couldn't bring herself to say it, but it that was a phrase that would haunt her forever. Weakness. I keep losing people because I'm...

The fight against Luthier was intense, and as Renais composed herself she rushed in as close as she could and thrust out her Rescue staff toward Sari. Renais moves 24, 13 and uses the Rescue staff on Sari and... "Luthier!" The pinkette called out to the man. "You know who I am, and you must be responsible for...whatever it was that impacted my life, but I don't care about that right now." She gave him a glare. "You're on the backfoot, we all know it. Now tell me where my Mikoto is now!" Renais still felt some small shakes, but she did her best to hide them and keep her composure. Everyone put in their resolve and strength to make it this far, she couldn't let them down after all of that.

Taka rushed toward the Female Mage (8, 12) and sliced at her side for a clean 12 damage! (22, 67) The Female Mage did not take too kindly to that and fired back with a fireball...but just missed the elusive ninja! (88, 94) After that dodge, Taka swung back to finish the job for another 12 damage! (44, 56) The mage dies on the spot. Taka gains 34 exp and +3 Hidden Weapons exp. Ichika presses her ferocity against Archer 2 who was not prepared for her to dart in (8, 6) and swing right for his arm for 8 damage! (43, 70) Ichika gains 12 exp and 1 Sword exp. Ichika has reached Level 6! +1 to HP, STR and SPD! Alouette resolves herself, and moves close (7, 3) to burn away Brigand 2, and cleanly succeeds with 16 damage! (90, 53) Alouette gains 34 exp and +2 Anima Magic exp. Miles saw his opening thanks to Ichika and ran in (8, 4) to finish the Archer with two clean 6 damage swings! (37, 67, 45) (83, 45, 52) Miles gains 34 exp and +3 Sword exp. Despite Luce's playful nature, the dancer was determined to clean house. So they slid (7, 5) past the bandit, waved at the pinkette, and burst him down with light magic twice for 10 damage a pop! (49, 81) (89, 68) Luce gains 34 exp and +3 Light Magic exp. Even on the verge of passing out, Mikhail was determined to do his part. So he dashed behind another tree (3, 5) and threw a knife at Archer 1 to finish him off for 4 damage! (7, 21) Mikhail gains 34 exp and +2 Hidden Weapons exp. Eve folded her arms and giggled at Luce's silly excuses. "Well if it isn't my favorite stray cat, and Ali! Finally glad you both made it. Though it is a shame all of this is happening..." She looked at the five as they cleaned up the men south of her. "You all did well, and I mean it. Thank you. Time to do my part now." In an instant, the woman dashed off toward the ice wall like a white blur. Her movements were abnormally fast, even compared to the ninja on the field. She reached a point she wouldn't normally reach (9, 12) and with a brief and quick fan the hammer technique, she dropped two shots into the Fighter as she reached her point. (78, 15, 76) (9, 78, 15!) The first bullet connected for 14 damage, but her second bullet struck for 16 damage as her Reflex kicked in, which allowed her to adjust the shot toward a more vital point. With that, the Fighter is downed immediately. Eve gains 18 exp and +3 Gun exp. Arkham watched in shock as his man had dropped like a fly. "You...you'll pay for that!" He felt it was time to get desperate... Enemy Phase 3 "MEN! Charge the group down south! They're all weak! Do not engage the pink haired woman! I repeat! Do NOT engage the pink haired woman!" "Someone's scared of holding a loss." Eve grinned. "If you drop your weapons now I'll go easy on you." "Hmph." Arkham, infuriated by the situation, threw his Javelin at the pillar of ice before him, with his full might behind the Javelin he broke through (17 attack) the 12 HP pillar (0/30) and it shattered apart before the woman's eyes. "That is my answer, you wench!" "...of course." She let off a small sigh. The last mage followed his leader's orders and rushed down south to support his allies. (12, 8 ) The mercenary moved forward too, steadily but cautiously! (11, 7) Archer 4 also moved cautiously. (12, 7) Archer 3 on the other hand moved (10, 6) close to Ichika to put in some damage (21, 57) and landed 4 damage on Ichika! Player Phase 4

It was finally time. Even with her vision slightly obstructed by her allies, she could see Luthier thanks to her sharp eyesight. She also saw Sari take a severe blow after he actually dealt damage to him, and Aly follow up with a powerful attack of her own. The man stared her down with a glare that could melt ice. "...ngh." Renais could feel her knees shake, despite her best attempts to stop them. Even if Luthier hadn't noticed her yet, she could feel how strong his magical aura was. Despite using the same magic type as Tio, the two couldn't be more different from each other. His aura was so...grusome, it actually shook her to the core. No...no not now. I made it this far, I said I would defeat him...so why am I scared now?! She grit her teeth and pulled her head down to see her own chest in Mikoto's kimono...which quickly reminded her what she fought for. "...ah." On top of that, she heard Sari's taunts toward Luthier, and remembered Tasha's words that she would make him fear death. Everyone had put their lives on the line, all for a slim chance to bring down the devil himself. ...I'm terrified, but I can't let that stop me. I can't. Not when everyone else is giving everything they have here. She took a moment to breathe and stop her shaky body. I can make a difference, I can ruin his plans too. As Renais calmed herself, she kept a close eye on the situation and waited for an opportunity to move. She felt this next minute could be the difference between life and death for everyone, so she kept her eyes sharp and on the fight ahead.

The meeting continued on after Daeran put in his thoughts, and it was an expected answer from a politician's son. Leon simply left things where they were and refocused on Alrenne. It seemed like the peacekeeping tour was more legit than he thought, he just hoped it would stay that way despite his better judgement bothering him. Alrenne moved onto the next step in the plan in that some of the pilots would have to be security for some diplomats, it seemed like it was up his alley and Kazue had volunteered already. He moved to do so himself, until he heard a familiar name. "!" Virion Altair. While they hadn't met face to face, the name still got to the red haired man. He was a target in one of his most important missions, and on top of that it was a mission that went wrong. "..." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. The normally talkative and open man became as quiet as a mouse, it was quite out of character for him so he expected to be called out. Settle down. He doesn't know your face, at least...I don't think he would. That mission was behind closed doors.

Renais simply took in her response, she could feel the fury in her voice. She truly meant to trade her life for Alvira if it meant saving her and defeating Luthier. It was a feeling Renais knew all too well, she wanted the exact same thing. "Do what you will. Even if you can't give me that promise I will give you mine. Give him hell." She left the conversation there, and meant to follow up on what needed to be done.

Even Renais didn't need her sharp hearing to pick up on that voice, he was very close by. "..." Renais gripped her staff, and took hold of her emotions as best as she could. She couldn't face him, and while she truly wanted to it was not the win condition. The win condition was to find Mikoto and Alvira, and then help them and the other Tigers out as safely as possible. So with that she turned to Tasha and approached her with her Mend. "Commander...Tasha." She looked her in the eye. "I know we haven't talked much, but as Gean's girlfriend I have to watch out for her family. You're not allowed to fall while you're under my watch now, remember that." With that declaration, she lifted her Mend staff to patch up the tiger. Renais moves 22, 11 and uses Mend to heal Tasha's wounds.

Mikhail dove right for the trees for safety (4, 4) and healed Ichika for 7 HP! Mikhail gains 9 exp and +2 Staff exp. Miles rushed (5, 2) to face Mercenary 1 with his Iron Sword! He struck true for 5 damage. (46, 26, 35) Mercenary 1 swung back and hit Miles for 4 damage. (10, 33) But Miles wasn't done yet, he sliced into the Mercenary once again for 5 more damage! (93, 74, 85) Miles gains 12 exp and +2 Sword exp. Alouette saw an opportunity to bring down one of the mercs, so she moved in range(6, 3) and with a quick fireball she did just that for 14 damage! (68, 63) Mercenary 2 took it head on, and just as she thought they were absolutely not trained to handle magic. "GUH!" So the man fell back onto the ground as his body was set on fire, but...at least he had a pretty sight before he faded out. Alouette gains 38 exp and +2 Anima exp. Luce, impressed by Ali's display of magic, simply had to see an encore! With a quick step and a pat they motivated Alouette to another action! (6, 2) Luce gains 10 exp from dancing. Ichika rushed toward Archer 1 (6, 5) and swung her sword out at the lightly armored man for 9 damage! (27, 20) Ichika gained 12 exp and 1 Sword exp! Finally, Alouette found yet another opportunity to bring down yet another mercenary. She shifted positions (5, 1) and dropped a fireball onto Mercenary 1 for 12 damage. (82, 92) With a chilling scream the swordsman fell to the ground and his life was snuffed out by the flames. Alouette gains 34 exp and +2 Anima exp. Enemy Phase 2 The mercenaries have been defeated, and the rest of the unit took that personally. So Ichika unfortunately had to take the brunt of their wrath. Brigand 3 rushes toward 6, 4 and swings his Steel Axe at her. It's a clean miss though (90, 34), and it gave Ichika a proper opening to swing back and take 14 health off the big man (45, 30) (99, 99). Ichika gains 12 exp and +1 Sword exp. Brigand 2 follows suit as he plants himself onto 7, 5 and swings his axe down at Ichika. Surprisingly, he hit! (6, 8). Ichika took 5 damage, and counted back for 18 damage (69, 11) (62, 76)! Ichika gains 14 exp and +1 Sword exp. Archer 2 wouldn't let Ichika breathe, he moved onto 8, 5 and loosed an arrow into her shoulder for 2 damage (4, 20). Finally, Archer 1 would decide to find a more vulnerable target for his arrows. He just spotted out Mikhail hiding near a tree, and he decided to take an angle (4, 6) to shoot him down. The archer thought he had him dead to rights with that shot, but it seemed he misjudged the angle and the arrow only hit his side, and just barely missed his vital point (15, 91). Mikhail wouldn't go down without a fight however, so he threw a dagger back in retaliation and it connected for 4 damage(94, 85)! Mikhail gained 12 exp and +1 Hidden Weapons exp. Meanwhile, the two mages continued to burn down the pillars. The female mage brought it down to 8/30, it was quite close to being a puddle at this point. The male mage brought his down to 12/30, but despite his slower progress the situation still looked dire. Meanwhile, Arkham looked back at the battlefield. He was quite surprised to find his unit had mostly been cleaned out. "Tch, unbelievable...EVERYONE! Wake up! We need to crush these attackers before this gets out of hand!" He slammed his spear down, and unfortunately for the five down south more men jumped out of two wagons close to the pillars. The fight wasn't over yet... Thankfully, it wasn't all bad news for the group. They had reinforcements as well. Two figures ran from roof top to roof top to reach the wall, and they finally reached the point where they could jump over it and drop down. One was a ninja, another native of Akatsuki. The other was a familiar woman to Alouette and Luce, though her hair wasn't red anymore, it was pink. The magical feeling Alouette sensed was around the pinkette, and she could possibly see that her eyes were bright green once again. "...Taka, take care of that mage. If that ice wall goes down we're in for a world of trouble." She looked toward the group and spun a revolver in her hand. "I'm going to go help our allies, they're in danger." Eve and Taka have joined the battle! In order to reach the fight as soon as she could, Eve has activated ???, she has spent a full turn to make it in time, so she has 2 turns left until the effects of ??? wear out. Player Phase 3

The five had taken the initiative well, but the time came for the enemy to react. Enemy Phase 1 The mercenary saw an opening between their small ranks and rushed after Mikhail for a sword swing! Mercenary 1 moves onto 5, 3 and cleaves at Mikhail with his Iron Sword! [17, 32] Mikhail takes 7 damage, but is able to take some revenge with a stab to the Merc's side for 2 damage! [63, 71] Mikhail gains 12 EXP and +1 Hidden Weapon EXP His boon companion, Mercenary 2, decided to join him in his assault and jumped at Ichika for his own slash. Mercenary 2 moves onto 7, 4 and swipes his Steel Sword onto Ichika! [28, 20] Thanks to her superb stance, she reduced the damage down to 5 from the stinging of the steel, and with a good counter she was able to damage him back for 7 damage! [23, 91] Ichika gains 14 EXP and +1 Sword EXP Meanwhile, the archer moved onto Ichika. Alouette seemed like a tempting target, but he was quite intimidated by her magic. Archer 1 moves 6, 6 and fires an arrow at Ichika! [17, 20] She simply takes 2 damage thanks to her powerful stance. Ichika gains 1 EXP Meanwhile, the rest of the unit had slowly moved to attack the five fighters, while the mages up north began using fire magic to start melting the pillars. Each Ice Pillar blocks off entry to the castle town and has a total of 30 HP each. The female mage moves onto 7, 12 and casts a fireball at the pillar on 8, 13. Pillar HP: 19/30 The mage mage moves onto 12, 12 and casts his own fireball at the pillar on 11, 13. Pillar HP: 21/30 The knight refused to move, he instead chose to direct the mages toward each pillar. If they get closer then I'll have to order the reserves to ambush them... Player Phase 2

Gean and Tasha were both incredibly motivated, they took down those soldiers in an instant. Renais couldn't help but keep her eyes on the mother and her adopted daughter, they were very strong. The pinkette kept a tight grip on her staff as she followed close behind, she kept an eye out for any danger she or the others may have to deal with too. Renais moves toward 23, 9 and keeps on guard.

The battle had begun, and the front liners had taken a flurry of light rays! Merc 3 stood no chance again Ali's light energy [56, 46] and was swiftly defeated! [5, 5] Allouette gains 34 EXP Brigand 1 has taken severe damage from Luce's attacks [80, 59], but still stands strong compared to his fallen companion due to his healthier build! [4, 5] Luce gains 14 EXP and +1 Light EXP! However, even with his stronger build, he succumbed to his wounds and fell when Ichika drove her blade into the man's chest. [20] [6, 4] Ichika gains 38 EXP and +2 Sword EXP! Miles had decided to approach the nearest cart to search...and inside he would find a lizard man cowering in fear. "D-don't hurt me...oh, you don't look like one of those ruffians." One look at Miles' expression had been enough, but really he just saw his appearance as motivation to leave. "Thank you, sir. Please be careful, I heard one of those scoundrels say they had more reinforcements hiding in their wagon. I don't know which one that would be, but be on guard either way!" He quickly made his way past Miles to high tail it out of there, but before he left he quickly put something in the swordman's hand. Miles has obtained a Vulnerary!

The attackers had noticed the five approach, and as soon as they did... "...I don't like the look of those five. Be on guard!" The armored man shouted out, and with that... The Wheel of Fate turns... Turn one begins!

At last, it was time. The pinkette in the kimono held her staff close to her chest as she watched Gean step inside. She had several goals to accomplish while they were here. Her biggest goal was to make sure Mikoto was safe and sound, though sound may be hoping for too much, she knew Luthier was too demented for that. Confronting Luthier about the boat was her second mission. He won't give straight answers, but she can at least try. "...here we go then." She spoke to Gean as she stayed close. Not today. I will not give into my fear today of all days. I can't lose track of someone I love ever again. Renais moves 23, 6

The battle within the smoke seemed to slowly die down, but some voices could be heard briefly from a few figures hidden in the smoke... "Tch, the Lohen princess is giving us some trouble, sir!" "Then we'll split off. I'll take our strike squad past the walls, you gather the remaining forces after the smoke clears and follow us in. We'll scatter throughout the castle town." "Leave it to me." The princess did her best to help the guards, in a brief moment however she noticed several figures move through the smoke, and she let out a frustrated groan. "Dammit!" She ran off through the smoke to chase them past the gate. "They're going inside! Miles, I'll leave the rest to you!" She shouted as best as she could before the smoke finally cleared to show a heavily armored knight and a few ruffians left. They didn't seem to have any emblems or markings to indicate what nation they served if any. Unfortunately they were the only ones alive, the gate guardians were all dead. "Men! Form up! We must join our comrades past the gate!" The command managed to get an agreeable shout from the remaining fighters. Alouette was determined to help the small group with their battle, Lorelei noted how strong her will power was. "Very well, I trust you'll be fine Ali. However..." She eyed the unknown soldiers as they approached the gate. "I noticed a small group slip in already. I know lady Alex will hound them until the day they die, but if the rest enter it will only complicate things further. So before I leave allow me to give you a gift." She brought a hand over her jade eye, and through her parted fingers it gave off an intense glow. Ichika may notice one of her swords rattle slightly, not enough to give away her secret but it was still noteworthy enough. Alouette could hear the princess mutter a soft chant under her breath, as a chilled wind flowed around her. The soldiers had nearly reached the gate, but stopped when they felt that same wind around Lorelei. "What in-!" The armored man gasped out as four pillars of ice had materialized and erected between them and the entrance of the castle town, they stood tall and proud, and acted as a shield before the dastardly men. "Argh, blast! Mages, melt down those pillars!" He commanded, determined to break in as quickly as possible. Lorelei staggered for a brief moment and took a breath, but she held herself well enough. "...I should be thankful we haven't experienced Isolde's infamous summer heat, otherwise those pillars wouldn't have been as effective." She looked at the group. "Still, that will only buy you so much time. Wipe them out before they break through, good luck." She gave Ali one last nod before she rushed off to help the fleeing civilians. The group was on their own now...

Well, Leon expected this at some point. If anything he was about to bring it up if Louise didn't. Not everyone answered yet, but Kazue did admit to not being able to take a life. He gave her a glance, a neutral one at that, but the man was worried for her well being. That's one, guess I'll do my best to look out for her. Bonner was the one he was least worried about, Markus and Esther answered and while they were satisfactory he wondered about Markus a little. Esther he had no grasp on at all. Alrenne did his best to move the topic along, but Louise was quick to bite back. "Heh, you're gonna go far with drive like that, Miss Park." Leon spoke up and looked her in the eye. "So you say you're fine with taking a soldier's life if need be? You seem like one of the pilots I need to worry about the least, but I hope that confidence can carry you to the point where you have to pull the trigger." The red haired man turned his gaze back to Alrenne. "I also agree, this is important. I know everyone here signed on the dotted line, but as a team we need to be on the same wavelength. I'm not expecting us all to sing Kumbaya around a campfire and be best friends, but we have to work together to survive. So knowing each other's MO is important." He turned his gaze to the rest of the room. "Regardless of how people feel about me, I will kill to keep my team safe. I want everyone back on this ship in good shape, so if I get a little crazy out there I apologize. Just all part of the job." He gave off a small smile.

Despite wanting to stay quiet, Louise voicing her concerns got the man to reconsider. "Yeah that's about the size of it, miss Park. Even then I'm just a random merc, so it only makes it a bit more interesting in my opinion. Aha!" The rank skip did get a small laugh out of the redhead, but he cut it a bit short. "Wouldn't exactly say it's pessimism when realism is more accurate, I had the same questions itching at the back of my head too ever since I got onboard. I can't imagine how much bank the federation put down on a project like this, but I did expect an elite core to go with the high end tech. No offense to any present company, of course. I also feel like this 'small' mission might not be so small." He folded his hands and leaned on the table slightly. He had a lot more on his mind, but he figured this was enough for the moment.

Renais wasn't too far behind Gean and Cin. Though she was not in her usual attire, she wore a familiar pink kimono with a purple flower pattern across it. The pinkette had tied her hair in a high tail and made sure it and the foreign outfit were as secure as possible, despite the chest area fighting back slightly. For the most part, she and Mikoto were about the same size so it was a decent enough fit. She held a staff in her other hand, she wasn't as visibly angry as Gean, but it really just showed how good Renais was at keeping her emotions in check when she's motivated enough. When Cin had moved to stop Gean, she rushed up to the two and gently put her hands on Gean's axe hand. "We'll find her, Gean. I'll never stop until we do, but please be calm. For me..."

Leon just gave Iskra a nod, he knew she was withdrawn so he just left the conversation to it's end right there and turned back to Sia. I am a bit of an intimidating guy, she's probably not interested in getting to know me. That's fine. Sia looked about as good as Leon had expected, but this wasn't the place to start flirting with her. Then came Kazue, with a hell of a kick that almost broke the doors down. The red haired man couldn't help but snicker quietly to himself. She was another withdrawn case, but with a raging fire inside that came out in bursts. With almost everyone here, Leon assumed the meeting would move forward, and Louise was the first to voice out. The former merc was on the same wavelength, he knew something was up, but for the moment all he could do was mentally prepare himself for the worst.

While the royals and their entourage had taken the time to decide who would check, if at all even, the situation took a turn for the worst. A wagon was at the front of the line, and it was under inspection by the guards. It seemed to take a little while, as the guard had been in an argument with the driver for some time. Though eventually, things had come to a head. "Be that as it may, sir. You'll find my documents are quite-" "I care not! You will allow us to scan through your goods, or be turned away!" "...feh." The driver fixed his cap over his eyes and took a heavy sigh. "Dearie me, I knew deep down this was unavoidable..." "!" The guards took that as a sign of hostility, but they were too late to take action. Smoke had rushed from the back and sides of the wagon, a lot of smoke. It flooded the area and enveloped the knights of Isolde. The air filled with confused shouts and cries, as figures moved through the black smoke and took their chance. A battle had broken out, sounds of steel against steel reached the guests who were still in line, but by this point quite a few of them started to flee the area. The sound of combat had even reached both of the royal carriages. Lorelei's head instantly jerked to the window, as she tensed up. "What...is this an ambush?" She turned to the trio in the card. "Alli, Luce, Ichika, we must evacuate." That being said, there weren't a lot of options for them other than the fields...but she realized there might be danger out there too. Meanwhile, the alliance carriage had decided on a different approach. "Hear that?" Alex spoke out, and opened the door. "An ambush. Miles, with me." The woman wasted no time getting herself out there, she was ready for something to happen and this was most certainly it. She looked ahead to see a large cloud of smoke slowly creep its way around the gate and waiting area. "Dammit, this is bad. Miles check the carts and make sure everyone is safe!" She pointed at Lorelei's carriage in particular before she ran off toward the smoke. Alister on the other hand hand narrowed his eyes at the situation. "Mikhail, go with Miles. I have a bad feeling this isn't it." He stepped out of the carriage himself and grabbed a short sword nearby. "I saw quite a few guests flee toward the hills, if this really is a planned ambush it's likely they have reinforcements outside. I'll secure as much ground as I can. I'm counting on you to help out here. Can I trust you to do that for me?" He eyed Mikhail, determined to keep the peace as best as he could.

The talk with Sia the other day was quite enlightening, Leon had prepared himself for the day as best as he could. It was a peacekeeping tour, but knowing how these things operate the situation can and will take a turn. The red haired man walked into the briefing room and scanned it quickly, hoping he would find Markus or Kazue. Guess they're both late. He meant to have a talk with them about what had to be done, but he found the topic pretty awkward and a good itme never came up. He wondered if it will during the meeting. Either way, the merc took a seat. At the moment, only Louise and Iskra caught his eye. He waved to Iskra and smiled. "Welcome, welcome. Good luck on the mission, eh?" He knew she happened to be one of the quiet ones, he found it hard to approach but now seemed good.

Renais had left Gean and Tasha alone, and went with Tanya as she offered to keep her safe while they help the others up. The pinkette didn't say a word to the cat, she just stayed in her thoughts. This is the second time I lost track of someone I love...then again, it's probably not just two times. She cursed whatever five years was behind her, Luthier seemed to know a lot more than she thought he did. Renais did her best not to cry, she did her best not to break down like she did when Liza left. That sadness was replaced by her frustration, she couldn't do anything to stop him from taking Mikoto. I am nowhere near the strength of everyone I care for, the Evokers, Mikoto, Liza, even Gean. One day, that dream will be reality, but until then I will do everything I can right now. Mikoto, wait for me...