Return of the Emblem Chapter Eleven: Unleash

[Ether]

"Even if it didn't end violently, I don't think a hostage would help much at all, not this far in... and Colin deserves better than that." Faatina attempted to add, though her voice was low. Opting to move, resting the man's head down gently, Faatina stood. It seemed that things were coming to a close, here. Nodding towards Chelsea and Sinbad, she started back towards their allies.

"C'mon... I don't think we want to be this far out if things go south." She stated simply, before turning back to the falcoknight... already trotting away. Faatina wasn't sure if her words would reach the woman, but it was worth a try.

"Take care of him, okay?"

[Mercakete]

When talk of Jethro came up, Gytha raised her eyes from where she was seated. Talk certainly sounded concerning. What? Raquel's father? Oh Leviathan, what's happened?

Nearby, Norbert glanced over to the shouted conversations. It deserved some attention, but he figured the higher-ups could handle it themselves. He was more invested in what was going on closer to him. It sounded like Faatina was going to head back to what could be described as their side of the field. He and those nearby were, after all, still pretty far into the enemy's side of things and quite a fair distance away from the Dauntless. Most everyone around -- Sinbad, Faatina, Valter, Chelsea, himself -- had an equine. It seemed like the only one who didn't was presently seated and holding her stomach.

Agreeing with the sentiment to regroup with the others, the pegasus rider addressed the mariner. "Hey, you coming? Faatina's right; we should get back to the others."

Gytha sighed. He was probably right, but she wasn't entirely keen on moving. She still felt sick and she wanted to pay as close attention to what happened to Raquel's father as possible. "I'll catch up with ye," she finally decided.

Norbert shrugged. "Suit yourself." With that, he looked back to the others. He was the furthest back towards the Dauntless so waiting for signs of motion back in that direction before taking off himself couldn't hurt.

[ReformBlade]

She wondered why Shadrak was shifting his speed a lot in such a short time but couldn't be bothered to seriously think about it. Right now, Katrina was her objective, however much she could focus on it anyway. Truth be told, Mushirah was still freaking out but having the chaos of battle not be in her face all loud and obnoxious was letting her calm down immensely. Mentally anyway. Approaching the wyvern a little cautiously, she called out. "Katrina...?"

Meanwhile, Aneda had the strength to stand again without support. "Jethro situation?" she echoed, not really liking the sound of it. What, did he die or something? Or is he like... on their side? He's the guy we've been going for, isn't it?

[Rothene]

Shaking off the various loose bits of damaged armour, Mireille surveyed the result of the fight. She was amazed that after everything, she was still standing, then again, she was tasked lately with holding up the rarely attacked rear as Raquel had a more capable knight to serve in the vanguard. Nevertheless, she served her part as dutifully as a knight should, but she found it wanting.

Throughout the long period of inactive duty,she had practiced on the theories from the thunder dragon on using magic. When no one was around, Mireille has successfully conjured her first bolt of lightning without needing to resort to the preset functions of the lightning lance. But that success came at a great cost to her. The lightning bolt was uncontrollable and rebounded, catching her armour fully and somehow rendering it brittle, which cause it to crack beyond repair in the last battle that had proven to be the fiercest she had ever fought in so far. It made her wonder, had she really not been doing her duties to give her so much time to master a new step towards being a magic user, so much so that Wrath punished her by taking away her primary source of protection? Then again, her shield was her symbol as a knight and that was all she needed. This will not stand, I am returning to the front lines and no one will sway my decision. Too long have I been shirking from my true duties.

Standing on the side of the Dauntless that faced the enemy, Mireille made a quick scan of her immediate surroundings. She mentally prepared herself to be ready to protect those less armoured and fleet of feet. But the lack of the custom made armour made her doubt her current ability to fulfill that role.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Rothene

[roymbrog]

Well, that hostage situation was as settled as it was going to be… Valter didn’t particularly like being called a crazy, but he wasn’t about to stick around to argue. Ellis sure didn’t. There were more words being flung on the other side of the courtyard, more stuff about surrendering and something else about Raquel’s father. It would probably be best to go figure out what was going on. So, he mounted up and started back towards the Dauntless. It seemed the others were about to head over there anyway.

---

Volga looked up, and when she saw it was someone from the group approaching she whined. Were they coming to help or something? The girl had said her rider’s name and the guy with her had healed the wyvern last time she got hurt. Carefully, Volga picked Katrina up again and started shuffling off towards the two.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Things were about to get complicated. Not that he expected simple anymore, but still.

Gar kept singing and eating.

[Phoenix]

The New Enemy

Faatina's words did reach Ellis and she glanced back over her shoulder to see that they were leaving Colin alone for the time being. Some others had been keeping an eye on this scene as well and once Ellis pointed and yelled, "Grab them," they came running. Three men armed for battle came over and hauled Colin off of the ground while some others helped those still unconscious. Ellis was relieved. No one important to the chain of command had fallen in the battle but they had still lost some good people. She glanced over at 'the enemy' wondering how all of this would end. Could they really join them? Did anyone want that anymore after all of this bloodshed? She wasn't sure but she certainly didn't, at least not so soon after this fiasco.

Volga was coming, so Shadrak's attention went back to that long enough for him to avoid the panic attack he was about to have, courtesy of the archers who were on edge. "Oh no, she's out too ... we didn't do so well as a whole, did we? ... urgh."

Meanwhile, the exchange between the organization leaders and Raquel's group continued. "Rrright. The 'everyone Raquel gives a damn about' situation, my bad, Samael amended, accepting Sardis' correction. "I don't mind if you surrender or not. On the one hand, if you do surrender, this inconvenience goes away sooner rather than later, or at least I can keep you people on a short leash. If you don't, then I get to test the girl's limits myself. I'd actually prefer the latter, if only for my own personal reasons," he explained to Blake and the rest. "It's true, we have the emblem, but unless we waste the remaining soldiers in this fort killing you all off, you'll likely try to take it back later ... and I despise pyrrhic victories with a passion."

"Hmph. What Samael is referring to with regard to Jethro is that this meeting was our one and only chance to put these grievances aside." Sardis answered Blake. "As much as I hate stating this, Samael's authority far exceeds my own. Jethro's life is in his hands after this and he isn't as ... merciful as I've been," Sardis explained.

"Riiight. Jethro may be especially loyal to our cause, but his very presence among us is costing lives thanks to you, his daughter. Before today I might have simply cut him loose, but now I'm actually quite upset at all of this. We invited you people here to talk. Look at this mess; you fools gorged yourselves like pigs," Samael explained with a bit of a forced smile. His mood was actually quite amiable but at the same time, his faction's forces were scattered all about and the culprits were right there patching themselves up and taking defensive positions.

"Raquel, listen to me. I have only until sundown to remove you as a threat. If I fail, Jethro dies. It doesn't matter that he's on our side now. Samael has had enough of your involvement. And as an added punishment for your interference, your entire family will be next," Sardis explained.

"What?!" And there it was; Samael was going to kill off her loved ones for this if she didn't surrender. That was disgusting. "How could you do something like that?! The rest of my family has nothing to do with this!" Then facing Sardis, she added, "And how could you answer to someone like him?! He's a monster!"

"My allegiance is none of your concern for the time being. Right now, all that should concern you is your decision. Surrender to us. After today ... I can't help you or Jethro," Sardis retorted. Not directly at least. If Samael is so set on destroying Raquel from the inside out, so be it; I can't help that, but Jethro is my ally and one of our most loyal. We'll need people like him in the future and I'll not see him dead just as part of Samael's murderous schemes. Alexis can be of use here I think. Who else can I trust with this ...?

Samael's attention went to Sardis for a moment. "Whoa, wait! You actually can help Jethro at the very least, Sardis. In fact, I encourage you to send him away somewhere. Do it. That will give you and Raquel both the illusion of hope and keeps it all from crashing down right here. Send him with ... Alexis or something. They're friends, right? You see, I don't want to kill Jethro right now because that could spark yet another battle. If she can leave with some hope that he'll live long enough for her to see him again, all the better. So yes ... send him away. I'm sure you were already planning to do so ... but I approve," Samael explained.

The look on Sardis' face was that of surprise and dismay. He wasn't so difficult to read after all, he supposed. "... we'll see," was his simple answer. Saving face wasn't a big priority right now but it was worth saying something. Focusing back on Raquel he said, "I can't help you or the rest of your family. You might as well surrender to us. If you leave, yours and their lives are all forfeit, and there is no way you can protect them all. You don't know who Samael will strike first or when."

"Well ... I don't think I can take Rico's head for some time. He's on the Al-Lyrae near Central, after all. Maybe Reina, though personally I'd like to copy her first. She shows promise as an earth mage," Samael mused offhandedly. "Also Sardis, stop trying to convince her that she has no chance of saving them all. You don't know that. Maybe she'll get lucky. Again, you don't know."

"I know you would rather she not join us so you have the chance to try," Sardis shot back. "... and that's enough. We can end this right here and right now. Raquel, I know you don't want to be a part of this, but if you do not surrender to me, you'll be putting everyone's lives in danger."

"I could kill some of them anyway. It's not like her serving us is going to make up for all the blood we lost."

"Don't listen to him! He wants you to continue fighting us on his terms!"

"If that's the case, then they have no reason to join us, do they? I guess we're just wasting our time then, hahahahahahah."

"Urrrgh ... and you said you wouldn't interfere."

"I also said if she harmed our forces again I would destroy her and everyone close to her. Look at all these bodies, Sardis. Just how are you defining 'harm' here?"

"Then what is the point of any of this, Sam?! If you plan to kill them anyway, then why offer her a choice at all?!"

"Because it's what you wanted," Samael came back with a frown. "If you bring her over to our side, maybe I can be convinced to let the issue of the numerous casualties go, but I spent my entire morning watching you throw away a couple of dozen men just to get the girl's attention. I'm not inclined to just forget all about it, and more importantly, neither are your men ... if you haven't noticed. Raquel ..." Samael focused on her again. "You know everything you need to know and then some. I'm your enemy, make no mistake. Now you can either stand with me and try to smooth all of this death over ... or stand against me and see if you can keep the familial casualties to a minimum. The choice is yours. So! Whaddya say, Raquel? Want to come work for me?"

She was a little exposed to ranged attacks at the moment, but she didn't care. Tears were falling from her eyes, but she didn't care. Her aura was visible again and glowing gold with the light of the emblem, but she didn't care. Sardis, for the first time ever actually seemed to be fighting on her or at least Jethro's behalf, but she just didn't care. "You bastard! You BASTARD! You're the most evil, disgusting, horrific, morally bankrupt person I've ever met! You're not even a person, you're a monster! How can you threaten to kill my family?! My father and mother! My little sister! My cousins! How could you be so unbelievably cruel to them when they didn't do anything to you?!"

"Whatever pushes your buttons, little girl," Samael replied with a smirk. "By the way, here's a third option; take your own life and then there won't be a purpose for me going after them. They'll be fine. You'll be dead, but ... such is life," he ended, pointing toward the coffins on the roof of the Dauntless. "Besides, I think everyone knows that no matter how this all goes down, Raquel Valcyn, you're going to die before it's all said and done. May as well die on your own terms, right?"

"Y-you ... you ... urrrrrgh ..."

He's ... ruined me. There's no way I can convince her to come over to our side now, Sardis mused to himself. Damn him and his schemes.

[-Cynthia-]

Aggressive Negotiations

If I were her I'd take the surrender option- save my family and friends from getting killed, and try to escape later or somethin', Nadya thought to herself, slowly moving Luca further and further out of the fortress.

Connor decided to retreat back to the Dauntless- nobody seemed to be cutting off their escape path there and he could throw some explosives and try to get away if the fighting went worse than it did the last time.

Veronika found the threats towards Raquel's family disturbing, but struggled on what to do next. If we fight, we likely die. If we surrender, we remain the hostages of a criminal organization with no one likely to rescue us. Death or captivity .. "So what happens if we leave precisely? If you are going to attack us anyway there seem to be only two options before us," she said, seeking clarification.

[Ether]

So the back and forth continued, with Raquel now absolutely livid... understandably so. She proved once again that she no longer appeared to physically require the Emblem to tap into it's power... power that was now native to her.

'I wonder if she'll let me take a look later on... knowing her, it's doubtful, I suppose...' Kit mused, her eyes still scanning the area for the... other guest at this morbid dance. Those thoughts that had been projected to that girl, and seemed fully confident that were they to manifest, they would fell the Dark Avian without question.

'While who that man is, commanding that Fallen despite, as far as I can tell, being the weaker of the two, I have to admit, I'm far more interested in you, my mysterious ghostlike voice of a friend... you seem familiar enough with that Cassandra girl, and if you're so eager to threaten me, I can only assume you stronger than the both of them... neither feels like someone I couldn't combat to at the very least a retreating draw. Yet you seem oh so averse to humouring me... just who are you, and what is your stake in this?' Kit pondered, knowing that the phantom would hear, just as he did before.

***

As she continued back towards the others, Faatina noticed that Raquel was now in a rage, and... glowing?

'Is she gonna throw out another goddamn solar flare?!' The paladin couldn't help but wonder, instinctively moving to shield her eyes.

***

So, being set on fire multiple times, blasted with dark magic, and stabbed with poisoned lances before falling unconscious deep into enemy territory sucks. Who would have figured?

Edited April 30, 2013 by Ether

[Phoenix]

Fortress of Ominousness

"Hm? Oh no, feel free to leave. Door's open; you'd know--you knocked it down. No one's going to harm you. As for what happens afterward. Well, we go to war, few holds barred. We'll leave your group itself alone and in tact until I run out of familial and favored targets, then we'll come for the rest of you. Sounds simple enough," Samael explained to Veronika as casually as ever.

"No ... I won't let you do that to them. They didn't do anything to deserve to be killed. Not a one of them," Raquel growled. Her voice was too low to carry far and only those close by could make out any of it. At least that was the case at first. "I won't let you do it!"

"If you're going to stop me, then make a move," Samael retorted, spreading his arms out and presenting himself. "I'll be pleasantly surprised if you actually manage to stop all of this on your own terms, Raquel."

Save your energy, Discovery. Samael can be defeated here ... but the cost will be too high. You will regret your choice long before the sun sets.

"... w-what?" Can't I use this power to stop him? How else am I supposed to protect everyone?!

Stay your hand and escape this place. Force must be applied wisely or it will destroy everything, including you. This is not the time or place. Take your companions and leave while you still can, Discovery. Please ...

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Raindrops keep falling on my head~ he mentally sang. This had almost gotten silly. Gar couldn't see, but he totally expected the jackass on the walls to be twirling a mustache as he talked about going a murderin' on everyone's friends and family. Good thing Gar had none of the later and most of the former were competent and or jackasses. And there was no way to find out his connection to anyone anyway. Except he just laid out bait for that. Oh well, it'd be... someone's funeral. And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed. Nothin' seems to fit~

"Yes, yes, smug jackass on the wall," Gar shouted as nonchalantly as possible. "If casualties are so important how about you be the one to take your own life and then we--and everyone who ever met you I presume--gets to be nice and happy and not murderous to one another." Gar let out a huge yawn afterwards. Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'~ "I guess all this doom and gloom and we can't possibly win is making me tired."

Gar finished off his apple and fell back on his back, looking at the incredibly angry Raquel. "If you're gonna do anything Raquel, do it now," Gar told her glowing self. "I'll back you up no matter your choice." So I just did me some talkin' to the sun~

Edited April 30, 2013 by Script

[Snowy_One]

As Connor entered the Dauntless, Robin looked up at him. It was now or never. She needed some protection if she wanted to survive any further encounters, and there was no point in putting this off. Standing up she approached him.

"Connor. I... I need some protection. Something to keep me safe from enemy swords. I thought my own agility and ability to fight at range would be enough, but it is not. I am worried that I will die if I do not get something to keep me safe in the next battle."

[Mercakete]

Well that was ridiculously terrible news. It was far worse than anything Gytha had anticipated. Not only was Jethro in danger of being killed, but so was Raquel's entire family and, apparently, friends. Plus, Jethro had actually joined Raquel's enemies. She was stunned, more at the latter than the former. That means most o' us're goin' t' be targetted... Saved fer last, though. N' so're our families n' friends, if I'm hearin' this right, if we don't surrender. Can they realla do that?

In spite of that question, Gytha had the sinking feeling that yes, they could do that. They certainly had competent fighters on their side and from all the people they'd been having to fight, it seemed like they had people everywhere. Do they even have people at sea? This was all quite concerning. There sure were a lot of lives in the balance right now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When people began moving back towards the Dauntless, Norbert rode Rizen back with them. The talk between Raquel, Sardis and the man identified as Samael was absolutely infuriating. The pegasus rider had to bite his tongue, though. This was too important for him to mess up. He kept a fiery glare on Samael, though. How could he threaten that?! Going after people's families just to break someone...! He could hardly think straight. Words weren't forming very well in his head he was so livid. If you're going to break someone, break them with your own hands! Leave their families alone!

In his opinion, Raquel should just annihilate Samael. It looked like she just might do that, too. For all her frailty, Raquel had a temper. The guy was literally asking for it, too.

[roymbrog]

After his arrival at the Dauntless and hearing the ongoing conversation, Valter was livid. Though his posture was relatively calm, it was easily betrayed by the hate with which he glared at Samael. He had half a mind to stick arrows through both the man’s eyes, if he was sure it wouldn’t get someone other than his target killed.

Besides, if they now had the emblem, Raquel had a trump card. It would be in Lilith’s best interest to take them out, if they could convince her. Well.. actually, that would probably be pretty difficult. She usually wasn’t that cooperative. He did have to wonder though, if this organization knew they were cooperating (however loosely that term could be applied) with a vasilus. Blurting out something about it right now would probably not be prudent.

---

Volga quickly covered the rest of the distance and gently placed Katrina one the ground in front of Shadrak and Mushirah. She looked at the shaman expectantly. She obviously thought it was time for the magical glowstick of feel betterness.

[Click This]

Mao had been conscious for quite some time now. Considering her position, however, she didn't dare budge an inch from where she had been faceplanted to the ground by that warlock. There was quite the interesting conversation going on mere meters away, but she was also painfully aware of the archers training their arrows near her position. If things went South and she acted dead, there would be a less chance she would become a large pincushion. So she stayed, in an excrutiatingly painful position, with an equally excrutiating headache.

The merchant continued to listen to what she could loosely define as 'negotiations'. She was ambivalent about the entire thing, really; she barely knew either group. Down to its core, it was a business negotiation. Samael wanted Raquel's cooperation. Raquel wanted her father back. Throw in a terrible battle, and this was the result; it was understandable that Samael was pissed at the loss of his men, and so was Raquel's reactions to that man. Looking at the situation objectively, Mao realized she had a lot to be gained by assisting either side; she did have a fleet at her disposal, after all. Morally, however, she couldn't stand for the situation. Hunt down Raquel's family, friends? What, for killing a few soldiers in self-defense? She highly doubted he even cared about them, anyway. Surrendering to a man that would freely kill like that would be all kinds of bad, no matter how much he glossed things over. If it came to surrendering, Mao would highttail it out of there.

Escape was the option Mao was more partial to. It didn't involve dealing with that man, surely the organization was so big as to have men everywhere. Mao was also in a position to help with a swift, armed escape if requested; after all, the company frigate was still a day's away in port, probably still offloading.

But... Bleh. She'd gotten herself into something really big this time...

[Rothene]

Hearing the words spoken by Samael, Mireille stood still, her expression unchanged, unaffected by the churning sensation in her stomach. Striking at families to get at others was dishonourable beyond all measure, it went against the code a knight had to live by. Unfortunately, the foe is no knight, but a craven of the lowest kind.

But a knight should also know their limits, and something about Samael's confidence worried her, and Raquel might make a move she would regret. But who was she to judge her master's decision? Best she could do was prepare for combat when it breaks out.

[Snike]

And so it was revealed that the white-haired man - Samael, and he was Sardis' superior, in more ways than one- was going to kill not only Jethro, but the rest of her family as well, if she didn't surrender. This was straight out of the playbook for western Ursian nobles, but worse, if only because it was the organization's damn fault in pulling the merchant in. What cravens, the lot of them! What was worse, was the fact that even if she surrendered, she was probably going to lose family members anyways, or get killed by Samael regardless.

The odd thing was, Sardis appeared to be trying to save Jethro. The white-haired monster even called him out on it. What was going on behind the scenes?

Anyways, Raquel reacted violently, what with suddenly spawning a golden aura and yelling at Samael. She looked like, especially after it was confirmed that they'd be able to leave without consequences, she was about to attack the Organization elite, judging by her words. The worst part was, the latter seemed confident and ready for that inevitability. That's probably because of the archers, who were present but had their weapons down. If Blake's employer managed to take Samael out, they'd just start firing and casualties would spike. Violence wasn't an option here, as much as it would satisfy all parties involved.

"Raquel, please, don't attack," Blake said, quietly, so that their enemies couldn't hear, placing a hand on his boss's shoulder. "You're just going to give him what he wants if you attack now. I don't care what your ultimate choice is, but attacking now will not end well."

Axel put the elixir he was carrying away and drew his lance from his back sheath. He might need this.

***

You'll find out soon enough, I suppose, given recent revelations. One way or another.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Snike

[ReformBlade]

"Katrina... Katrina!" Mushirah spoke up, checking to see if the rider was OK. She seemed alive, breathing still which was good and honestly, beyond that, Mushirah couldn't really judge her condition aside from knocked out. It was then she decided to answer Shadrak, feeling that familiar sensation in her eyes as they welled up, "No, I don't think we d-did. I Promised... to..." She tried to finish that sentence but she had to bite her lip just to stop herself from full on crying.

[Phoenix]

Fortress

Once Katrina was down, Mushirah tried to wake her, but to no avail just yet. Shadrak took out his staff and began trying to heal her, though he wasn't sure of the extent of the damage. Since she was fully armored, he would have a hard time addressing anything other than minor scratches until she was awake and could inform him of any internal injuries. "So help me if she's poisoned ..." he muttered to himself as he went to work. "We did okay considering the odds, and we're all still alive. Can't say the same for the enemy, and that's what they get for messing with us like this. Besides, it's not over just yet. Cover me while I try to help her up. You're still on duty, Mushirah." That last bit was an attempt to cheer her up some as well as get her focused on the matter at hand, but he couldn't really divide his attention any more than he already had to gauge its effectiveness. He just hoped it would get her thinking more positively again for the time being. He wasn't feeling too well either, but he wouldn't be able to vent any of that until they were safe again. He couldn't let himself vent any of that until they were safe again.

Meanwhile, Raquel was still wrestling with indecision and rage. What could she do, exactly? Blake and Hynos were both advising leaving, but that meant they would be in a race to save people from this maniac and she was certain that committing to that would lead to at least one death in the long run. That wasn't something she was sure she could live with ... though, neither was throwing everything she had at him and possibly losing people here. Both choices were quite similar, fight now and lose people, or fight later and lose people. She tried to calm down so she could think straight again, but she was still having trouble, even with support from those nearby.

"We're waiting, Raquel," Samael called down, still relatively open to attack and willingly so.

What if ... no, that wouldn't work. How about ... no. Wait ... Kit's ... no she's already here and hasn't attacked yet either. What about Lilith and Griffin ...? Gar did say that could make a good bluff, but those two could take them all on and end this here. I've already lost the emblem so aside from getting killed in the crossfire, we've got nothing to lose. We'll just have to get down and hope for the best. Raquel took out the orb Lilith had left for her back on the ship and looked at it intently as images of Lilith swooping down and unleashing destruction on her enemies filled her mind. "I've already lost my emblem piece, so there's no reason not to do it, right ...?" she said to Blake and Gar, referring to the orb she was about to break. Her golden aura was fading rapidly and was soon gone as well. That was when the last thing she wanted to have to consider assaulted her in a flashback of her dream aboard the Prometheus. She defeated Lilith by stealing her emblem piece and restoring her curse in the process. She didn't have to wonder if the artificial copy of her could do the same, it had just happened to her only minutes ago. If she called Lilith here, there was a really good chance she would have her emblem piece stolen too, and then it would be up to Griffin to handle everything, assuming he came at all. He might also be the only one to come, but even that wasn't certain. Suddenly the choice was a lot less favorable than she thought, and her expression changed entirely. Unless Griffin came alone, it was a gamble of sorts. "Ergh ... darnit. I don't know if even that's a good idea after all. That girl already stole my emblem piece but she could just take Lilith's too unless we stop her ..."

Samael finally let his arms down to his sides and began to frown again. "If you can't come to a battle with any sort of conviction, don't come at all. You clearly don't have any idea what you're doing and your indecisiveness is going to get you and a lot of other people killed. I would love to see what kind of violence you have in store for me, but you can't do it right now or you would have. And you obviously don't plan on surrendering to us or else you would have. So go. Leave this place and run to your loved ones. Stop wasting my time, little girl."

"Shut up," Raquel reflexively shot back. "This is all your fault! All of it! People dying if I stay, people dying if I go! It's all a bunch of crap, and you're a complete psychopath!"

"And again you only attack with words ... weapons so feeble, I'm disinclined to retaliate. Just go already, you and your friends. What, are you waiting for an armed escort? Get out of here before I blow you off the map!" Finally after holding a light charge for so long, Samael unleashed an intense aureola spell. The warning shot was an intense two and a half foot thick beam that struck near the center of the Dauntless, right on the corner separating the side from the roof from Samael's vantage point. It began to bore into and through the vehicle within a couple of seconds. The whole thing was rocked slightly by the initial impact, and if not for the angle and height the beam came from, the remaining explosives inside might have all gone off. The fact that they hadn't still didn't make Raquel feel any better about what had just happened, and both of her horses were frightened by the attack. When the attack ceased, the damage could then be seen without the intense light in the way, but there was a great deal of smoke and embers beginning to obscure things once again. The wooden facade layer near the impact points on both sides was completely incinerated and the metal had been melted. The middle coffin on the roof had also taken an indirect hit from the beam as it cut through the wagon and was almost completely incinerated as well. The molten metal that hadn't cooled off yet was oozing down the inner and outer walls glowing a fierce red while setting fire to more of the wood and sending smoke billowing upward. Connor and Robin had been especially fortunate, but the wooden outer shell of the Dauntless was quickly starting to burn. "Get out. I won't say it again," Samael said more firmly this time.

Raquel was shocked and speechless. Reign had ducked down during the initial impact since he had been a bit too close to that blast for comfort. Gabbie on the other hand wasn't, and rushed over to grab Connor and run. "Come on!" When push came to shove, Gabbie was true to her priorities. It was definitely a good idea to leave now, but putting out the fires should definitely come first ... for the mages. The explosives could still eventually go off otherwise, and she figured most of them would get caught in the blast at this range so her intent was to grab Connor and keep running toward the exit until she could safely summon Ringo without the wyvern getting shot down by overreacting archers.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya took the giant beam of light as a sign from above and decided to take off on Luca away from the fortress. If Raquel wants to fight or surrender or whatever, it's outta my hands now, she thought to herself, urging Luca to go quickly.

Seems like an odd time to place an order...well maybe not that odd considering what's happened. "Sure there are a number of mail shirts we can try to have fitted to yo-" he began saying to Robin before being cut off by the beam of light ripping through the Dauntless. He was untouched by the blast and luckily so were the explosives, but the Dauntless itself was now currently on fire. Gabbie had shown up near him, but Connor could only manage a vague 'uhh' sound in shell-shocked response.

I don't think even Lilith will get here quickly enough and I'm not sure having her try to get the emblem piece back for us is in our best interests right now- we could easily die in the process, Veronika thought in response to Raquel's plan. "I think we should go Raquel," was all Veronika said in a quiet tone. Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow, but they are allowing us to cut our losses before they get worse..

[Snike]

Raquel was about to summon Lilith, it seemed - Excellent idea. That was a a trump card, and they desperately needed one at this point in time- when she stopped- emblem fading-, and considered the fact that the doppleganger might take the vasili's emblem. Samael took that opportunity to go and lecture the merchant girl on conviction, which prompted another outburst from the latter, to which the reply was swift and violent. The organization elite released a blinding beam, which struck the Dauntless right in the center and set it on fire, from what Blake could see. Horses were spooked, and he didn't blame them. Luckily, the explosives hadn't gone off, but that was soon to change if that fire kept going. Even if they ignored that, with that attack, it was clear that they were outclassed, if things came to blows. Even if they were at full strength, Blake doubted that they could take both Samael and Sardis on, at once. They had to retreat, or face death.

"Someone get some water, or magic, or something, and put out the Dauntless," Blake said, shakily, once he came to his senses. "Everyone else should try and retrieve the wounded. Put them in the Dauntless if we can still use it after the fire's out. We need to leave, as soon as possible."

"Going to need cover," Axel shouted, as he put his lance away and took off towards Sardis and Arietta.

"... I'll cover you," the Ursian replied, before turning to Raquel and Veronika. "Can one of you two get the horses calmed down? It'd be appreciated." Without waiting for a response, the swordsman sprinted off to follow his red-armored ally.

[Ether]

'So tell me, you seem to have Cassandra under your protection, but what about that guy up there firing off his light lasers, you protecting him too?' The Dark Avian questioned the phantom, after he blasted a hole through Raquel's wagon.

***

Well, there was the flare... not from Raquel this time though, but Faatina was grateful she had braced for a lightshow, regardless. As said light cleared, and the Dauntless was left in shambles, the paladin blinked several times in quick succession.

'Damn... every single time one of these mages casts, something explodes... maybe I should have learned magic...'

[Balcerzak]

The healer had left, after digging out the bullet and healing the man, and the Rexian woman had followed suit. Sinbad was confused. They'd both called out to him to just give it up, but it seemed like they were missing out on the big picture, and giving up a golden opportunity. The enemy pegasus knight had chosen to take a third option, neither volunteering for hostage duty, nor letting them keep control of Colin, as she quickly left to fetch some additional assistance. The cowboy did a quick calculation, but without any of his allies to help, there was no way he'd be able to get the enemy swordsman over to the wagon and surrounded and secure, not before she returned. He'd probably have been able to finish hoisting him up onto Hatsune at best, and that would no doubt have been seen as too hostile, especially given he was so recently wounded.

And so he stood there for some time longer, frustrated his efforts were going to naught, but forcing the other side to make their move. If they were occupying time and energy here, at the least that would be buying some time and energy for the rest of his group, and they'd better be making use of it. Even for this organization, human resources had to be finite, after all. When the pegasus knight returned with her borrowed muscle, Sinbad just traded glares with her, and made a show of spitting loudly to the ground on his right. "Fair 'nough, looks like ya get yer way on this, at any rate. I'm sure if'n I were in yer shoes, I'd be doing the same, but don't make me any happier about things."

Sinbad turned on his heel, brought two fingers to his lips, and gave a whistle. Hatsune came trotting over as he strode to meet her and then the cowboy swung up into the saddle. Back to that monster wagon then, help out over there, I s'pose, were the thoughts on his mind until he heard the booming voice the man atop the wall was projecting across the whole courtyard. Sinbad hadn't really been paying much mind to the negotiations with that magic-slinging leader from the battle and the merchant girl and her confidants, but when this man chimed in, there was something that just went beyond the possibility to overlook or ignore.

‘I also said if she harmed our forces again I would destroy her and everyone close to her.’ This was soon followed up by, ‘You can either stand with me and try to smooth all of this death over ... or stand against me and see if you can keep the familial casualties to a minimum.’

Whatever Colin had said, whether Raquel's father had joined up with these folk or not, none of that mattered anymore. Their stance had been made abundantly clear, and Sinbad had no doubt that the man's joining was under duress, faced with some similar offer. He was apoplectic, he reached one hand for his pellet pouch, and another for his pistol, the only coherent thought in his mind was wishing his rifle hadn't been bust, as that would've been perfect for the job. Unfortunately, his left hand came up empty. Puzzled, he looked to the pouch, and saw it had been sliced at some point in the confrontation, and he had fired the last usable bullet into Colin, he'd have to spend time wrapping packages filled with shot and the right amount of powder before he could fire again. It would have been a long shot anyway, with the man up on the wall, in relative security.

Cursing in every language he could speak, the cowboy wheeled around and headed straight for the wagon, shouting out a final passing barb to Ellis. "Well, fuck. Rather be 'a crazy' than work for scum like that."

A bit of a ride later, and further shouted negotiations Sinbad no longer cared to listen in on, he'd pulled up close to where Gytha had parked the contraption, but he was just in time to see a massive cylinder of light melt its way mostly straight through it. His jaw just about dropped. They needed to get going, and they needed to do it now. The gypsy seemed to already have had that idea, and was out of there. Heh, no surprises there, he thought, and mentally scoffed. An attractive female lancer had already grabbed Connor and was dashing off, he seemed to remember she had a wyvern, probably was gonna call for it soon. Good, good. Who else needs evacuating?

Sinbad glanced around quickly, and spotted Reign on the ground, carrying someone unconscious. Looked like he'd been about to load her into the wagon, but hadn't managed to do so before the light burst hit, and now was understandably having second thoughts. "Throw 'er up here," the cowboy called down. "Reckon ev'ryone on a mount can ride double. Don't know if that wreck can be saved, and not gonna risk it. You think you can still manage here, or should I swing back for ya after riding out and dropping 'er off somewhere safely out there?"

Edited May 1, 2013 by Balcerzak

[Snike]

No, but, I would advise that you wait until the mercenaries are clear of the fortress before attempting to deal with him. It'll be even more of a right mess if you attack now.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Snike

[Phoenix]

Fortress

"You people have gotten your way enough for one day," Ellis retorted, nearly smirking in the process. She was still mounted and had her arms crossed, with her lance on a back sheath and her reins held loosely in her left hand. She also overheard the exchange between Samael, Sardis, Raquel and various others and wasn't surprised by the course it was taking, or Sinbad's response to it. Strangely enough, she found his failed attempt to load up a shot for the man more amusing than the insult he eventually settled for. "That's what I'd expect from someone on the losing side," she fired back.

When the beam of light came and bore a hole through the Dauntless, she stood there in shock. She wasn't surprised by the attack itself, only at the timing. She was also pretty sure someone inside had been killed, despite the height of the beam. These people couldn't be that lucky. "Wow ... he is in no mood," was her only comment for the time being. Figuring it best to return to the relative safety of her allies, she turned her pegasus around and trotted off, glancing over her shoulder constantly in case of an attack.

Shadrak took a moment to look from what he was doing when he heard a strange sound, something like a high pitched shriek or ringing mixed with burning noises. When his eyes caught a glimpse of the intense beam and its castor, he was humbled and a little terrified. Shadrak wasn't one to underestimate the combat capabilities of light magic, but the Dauntless was essentially an unarmed tank. Seeing it ravaged in such a way was indeed humbling and terrifying. Figuring the best course of action for now was to return to healing Katrina and then go over and try to help out, he let the matter be for now and got back to work.

Things around the Dauntless itself were getting pretty hectic, but Raquel was still recovering from the shock of seeing the Dauntless skewered by a simple beam of light. She knew for a fact some of her merchandise had just gone up in flames and for all she knew someone was gravely injured or even dead. To top it all off, they still had plenty of explosives inside and the whole thing could explode if the fires spread before they could put them out. Knowing this, she was hardly surprised to see Gabbie exit the wagon with Connor in tow, running as fast as she possibly could without dragging the teenager to the ground. That was when she decided to do her part. She couldn't address the fire, or at least she figured someone else would, so she decided to try and calm Sandrock and Riley. Calming one horse would normally be simple enough, but two was going to take some effort. She wasn't sure how much time she had, so she came between both horses and held out her arms, one for each of them, and began trying to soothe them.

Reign meanwhile handed Synthia up to Sinbad as carefully as he could despite the lingering poison and said, "I'll be fine. Worst case scenario, I get in some running exercise. We're gonna save this thing if we can. Raquel's not going to be doing too well for a long time if she loses her father, the fire emblem, her horses, and everything else she owns all within minutes of each other, so I'm going to try to get this fire put out before that happens."

With Synthia secure for the time being, it was time to try and address the fire. Reign could only think of a few options. One was to use wind magic to blow the flames away since they didn't have much water around, let alone on hand. Another was to simply take the explosives out of the Dauntless before the flames could reach them. The last option was to cut the horses loose and at least try to save them while leaving the Dauntless to explode with all of their stuff inside. It didn't seem like the right call just yet, so Reign headed inside to try and get the grenade crates out while hoping one of the other mages would address the encroaching fire, being careful not to let any of the smoke, embers, or debris get to him. When he found the grenade crates, he began to pick one up and that was when he noticed two things that were threatening to undermine his plan. The first was that the crate was quite larger and heavier than he remembered. This would take longer than he initially thought. That would have been okay in a sense if not for the second thing he noticed, the various fires burning inside. One of them was already too close to the crates for comfort. "Urgh, this isn't good. Time to loose the horses and run like hell," he muttered.

With the temperatures inside the Dauntless becoming staggeringly high from the intense heat, the sudden breeze that came forth was easily noticed by Reign. Looking to its source inside the wagon, he saw a strange disturbance in the air. It looked like a person constructed of air was leaning up against the small door at the front end of the Dauntless. Ordinarily the door was useless for anything but getting up to the driver's seat without having to go out from the back, or getting inside the same way, but now it was acting as a simple brace for the injured cloaked woman. Reign could tell she was injured due to her other arm nursing her torso, and he suspected her cloaking abilities were failing because of that as well, but couldn't be sure. He hadn't noticed her a moment ago and might not have if not for that spell, so it may have simply been the burden of casting wind and cloaking at the same time being too much for her. Either way, her spell was beginning to kick up and was forcing the interior flames to disperse or burn in other directions away from the explosives, and that's all Reign cared about for the moment. That was a close one ... I guess she doesn't want to die either.