LOCATION:  JAGGANATHIKA BRIDGE
TIME:  0630
DATE:  2025 - 10 - JUL

COMMANDER PRESIDING:  RUSTY 'SMOKER' SHACKLEFORD
TACTICAL OFFICER:  BATTLES

COMBAT PERSONNEL IN ATTENDANCE: DANIEL MATTHEWS, CALLSIGN 'LUCIFER' ; LYLA RAINES, CALLSIGN 'BLUE FOX' ; ARKADY DRAGOMIROV, CALLSIGN 'RED STAR' ; PAK NARI, CALLSIGN 'KUMIHO'; GABRIEL HOCKENBERRY, CALLSIGN 'GRUNT' ; CAPTAIN MAGDELDRIGAL, CALLSIGN 'KAZOO'

SECRETARY:  JUNO

THIS TRANSCRIPT SEALED, LEVEL 23E:  COMBAT PERSONNEL AND UPPER COMMAND ONLY

---

"Welcome, all of you.  Take a seat.  Coffee's on the pot,"  Smoker growls at everyone as they filter into the infamous ship's bridge.  Fortunately for the non-demonic amongst them, the bridge is within easy distance of the airlock.  They don't have to step over the chrysogonae with their whispered promises of intrigue, or track through puddles of blood (and other bodily fluids) left by happy erymanthoi.  The bridge itself isn't pleasant, of course.  There are far too many sharp edges, suspicious stains, and unpleasant designs.

Just about the only pleasant thing is the gorgeous many-fingered angylkae sitting in a chair nearby, strumming an antique harp and murmuring a soothing tone that takes some of the edge off of the soul-straining wrongness of the bridge.

"Let's start out by saying hi to the new guy, Arkady Dragomirov.  Heard a lot about you champ.  But this isn't an introductory cruise."  Smoker pulls out a cigarette which lights itself almost immediately, "This is a Code Black, and we've got to move fast.  Journeys just got back from a black ops mission with Jess Maraud.  The Lothlorien was on its last legs, and he only barely made it back in one piece.  And it's been a full week of limping along back to us.  Jess has been captured.  There's photo evidence of a mass manufacturing facility on a dead moon, and what's worse, it's near a strategic ventpoint.  Captain?"

The angylkae strums a harp and the viewscreen of the bridge flickers, showing their path.  They're taking an optimal route away from the abyssal bubble, following several ventpoints that should in theory gain them some distance.  However, one of them flashes black- a solar system near another ventpoint that would allow faster access in the long run.

"We originally discarded this route because it strayed too close to some of their fleet elements.  We also were receiving strange signals from the moon, hence the Lothlorien's scouting mission. Turns out the Abyssals have new communication protocols.  Worse, the Lothlorien was equipped to hold off just about anything short of a full fleet before it made a quickjump.  Journeys tells us they're building a brand spanking new fleet there, fast as hell and meaner than a rabid dog.  From examining their manufacturing facilities on the Buchenwald, we know they can build them fast.  We've already gotten some inkling they were developing new stuff, but we had no idea it was this bad."

Arkady knows about this all too well.  Those ships that splashed Spiderweb's flotilla were no joke; they tore apart the Paddy Wagon in seconds.

Arkady lifts his head off the table and waves his hand in a careful manner,  "Privet..", and helps himself to a cup of coffee. He reeks mildly of alcohol.

"Holy shit Lucifer! I was a huge fan as a kid. I'd shake your hand but blyat, my hands are shaking as they are..."

After Smoker mentions the new model of abyssal ships Arkady empties his coffee cup and pours another cup as he begins:

"Yeah those new ships ain't nothing to fuck with. I mean, the new frigates are equipped with ablative armor by standard and the ones I came across were equipped with fuckin' railguns... Those things pack a real punch. I mean, I know Spiderweb's fleet isn't really known for being heavy armored war crafts but shit..."

He takes a short break and takes a very long swig off his coffee cup.

"Those rail shells pierced through Paddy wagon as if there were no armor at all... Nothing..."

Daniel's one of the last to arrive, having no doubt been busying himself somewhere almost out of reach turning the Dead into a fine paste. He's not exactly thrilled about the look of the place but it's nothing he hasn't seen before so he chooses not to make a scene.

He looks over the marinated Russian top to bottom as he's referred to, frowning slightly as he concentrates on getting a read on the fresh Exalt.

"Welcome aboard, Arkady. I read your file. Seems you've been through hell, about time you got the power to pay them back."

The Zenith's frown deepens considerably as he listens to the briefing and Arkady's remarks.

"They got Jess -and- almost managed to wipe out Journeys before he could escape? Damn."

He glances at Arkady, interrupting his train of thought before it goes too far into what was clearly a painful memory. "Not to underestimate the tech - clearly we cannot let the production finish - but this couldn't have happened without the direct involvement of an Abyssal of considerable power or several normal ones. Do we have  any idea who we're up against?"

Grunt took a cup of black coffee and sipped it as they listened to the briefing.

He wasn't a pilot, so if he was being briefed on this...

"Is the shuttle less of a death trap this time?"

Having arrived on time, perhaps a bit earlier than necessary, Lyla does not appear to be too much at home thanks to the "lovely" setting. The familiar faces and Smokers attitude make it a warmer welcome, despite the dire circumstances. Though despite all this, she seems even more perceptive than usually.

"Welcome along Arkady."

She gives a friendly pat and a squeeze to Daniels shoulder, accompanied with a nod to all present. She sits down her legs crossed. Upon hearing the news, she digs out her nowadays metallic cigarette case and rests a cigarette on her lips, swiftly lighting it. There is a ever so slight shake of her head when Jess' fate is brought into play.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:01, Sun 09 July 2017.

"Yes.  We've got some last confirmation from Jess before she was taken.  Apparently there's a group of traitors. Dragon-Blooded calling themselves the Immaculate Order were running the security of the station, piloting a new type of ship." Smoker takes a long drag of his cigarette, "We can assume they have abyssal handlers, yeah, but I doubt they're any of the big three.  Battles, your show."

Battles waves away smoke from in front of his face, finally speaking up. "We can safely assume that, yes.  I'm betting that these are newer Abyssals.  Probably one to manage their design team, and one or two to test their new equipment.  We can also assume they know we're coming so we have to move on this fast."

"Wait, so repeat that?  We're gonna fight Dragon-Blooded?  Traitor Dragon-Blooded?  The hell?" Kumiho waves her hand in the air. "What the fuck?"

"That's right," Battles nods at her, "So instead of force polarization like we've seen before, we'll instead see a weaker overall enemy force but with the power spread more evenly.  We'll have three objectives:  1) destroy the facility ONYX SPIRE, 2) eliminate the forces defending ONYX SPIRE, and 3) extract as much information we can from ONYX SPIRE while we work on objective 2.  They'll know we're coming but they're not the only ones who've made some technological advancements.  Grunt, you'll be pleased to know that you'll be well taken care of in that regard.  Captain Magdeldrigal, care to fill us in?"

The many-fingered demon smiles at all of them and strums her fingers across her harp, a chord that settles them and also somehow communicates to them just how... angry... the angylkae is under her veneer of pleasant serenity.  "Thank you, Battles.  First of all the Jagganathika has undergone a massive retrofit since the last time it saw combat."  She plucks the harp, "It has the strongest engines of any Nike-class cruiser, including the Flowing River and the Enterprise.  We've also put a lot of work into equipping the entire outside of the ship with a thin layer of demonic tissue, which acts as a host for a thin skin of perroneles.  The Jagganathika is therefore fast and extremely well armored.  We should be able to survive depositing a strike force outside of ONYX SPIRE, and we'll be able to jump out of the system quicker than any other ship our class.  We won't be able to provide much in terms of fire support, so after your insertion we'll pull away from ONYX SPIRE, so you won't have to babysit us.

In addition to this we've managed to do the same for a Mercury-class transport, the Konnidan.  The Konnidan is run by Captain Fistfoot, and like most blood apes he loves hand-to-hand combat, so it's been redesigned for ramming operations.  Grunt and Arkady will be aboard this ship, which should smash into the bowels of ONYX SPIRE and give them a shot at hitting their mainframe.  Along the way you'll be accompanied by a new Infernal, Cosmo Corentine.  His job will be to draw attention at the upper levels and to work his way down to extract you if need be."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:15, Mon 10 July 2017.

Arkady sips his coffee and with a dissatisfied expression pours something out of a canteen to his coffee. Yes. Alcohol.

"Deja fucking vu. If we get spotted before we knock in the back door manouverability is key. Those railguns get their punch from extreme velocity, which makes them hard to avoid when they're not crewed by complete ass hats."

He crosses his hands and leans back.

"... Though disabling their power source renders them useless. Can't fire a gun without powder if ya know whadday mean? Does anyone have a cigarette to spare? I'm experiencing a minor sensory overload."

Smoker wordlessly slaps a cigarette out of a pack and holds it out for Arkady.  It's- blyat- actual real stuff, an actual honest-to-God cigarette from Earth.  The good stuff.  Most people never even see it.

"At least it isn't one of those damn onions," Gabriel muttered, finding the small silver lining, "I assume that even if we steal every secret they've got the place still needs to be blown. That a critical point or do we carry in something moon slagging?"

Daniel pats Lyla's hand as she puts it on his shoulder and nods in greeting.

"To cook up a fleet like that in such a short time there has to be quite the industrial complex on that moon. And since they managed to lay low as long as they did it seems there can't have been too many big materials transports going around either - which means they've likely excavated building materials from the moon."

He glances at Arkady who, based on the smell of grease and alcohol, was clearly the most mechanically inclined of those present.

"Where I'm going with this is there should be a huge complex with plenty of powerful tech to sabotage, spanning a large part of a moon whose structural integrity might be less than ideal due to the kind of strip mining the Dead are fond of."

He shifts his gaze to Battles.

"The rest of us will focus on destroying the fleet, I assume."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:54, Tue 11 July 2017.

First Endings, now Jess. Soon there wouldn't be any pre-Exodires even left. She pulls from her cigarette, and for now silently continues to observe the briefing.

"But remember you'll be dealing with ONYX SPIRE,"  He tells Arkady, "Which may be a whole different matter.  As it stands both you and Grunt have the most experience in dealing with Abyssal systems.  Grunt, to answer your question, Lucifer has the right of it- ONYX SPIRE is built right into the moon based on Journeys' observation, so an orbital bombardment won't be quite enough to put it out of action.  You'll have to find a way to neutralize it from within.  Unfortunately, we don't have anything quite strong enough to blow up a moon.  The last person who did that was Five Days Darkness and he says he can't do it with this one.  We do have a computer virus that might at least scramble their systems, but Abyssal systems do very well working alongside scrambling techniques since they're already so closely aligned with the entropic.  We're hoping that between the three of you you'll be able to figure out a way to destroy the lower levels of the facility and get out intact.

Meanwhile, yes, everyone else will destroy their fleet.  This is as large as it'll be,"  He says, glancing around the room; "The Jagganathika can't support any more ships, it's not a carrier."

"So, question,"  Kumiho glances around, "Biiig question.  Look, I was there for the Buchenwald, and how do we not know it's another one of their traps, with a bunch of ships jumping in-"

"Pilot Kumiho," A strident harp interrupts her, "That is because we will not care if it is or not.  For this mission the Jagganathika will be carrying an experimental VentDrive inhibitor, designed by Shun Xiao.  It'll burn through most of our Essence and probably kill quite a bit of our crew in the process, but while it's active nothing gets in or out."

Arkady takes the cigarette with both hands as if it was some sacred artefact, and carefully lights it.

"Suka blyat! An actual cigarette! Spasibo moj chuvak!!"

He exhales a cloud of smoke with a satisfied expression which gets more serious with a hint of clarity unbefitting his character as he hears the info

"An industrial complex of this size requires massive amounts of energy. There must be multiple power plants in the complex. If their systems are capable of dealing with Electronic sabotage we must rely on a mechanical failure.

Meltdown. Big boom. Really big.

Also, the manpower required to run such a complex would require drafting which will affect their crews training depth.

Also. I want their research data. I really want a railgun. Those things are actually quite badass.

Trust me. I'm an engineer."

"Since..there is no mention of Jess' rescue. Are we to assume that she is gone?" Lyla speaks hesitantly, her fingers drumming the edge of the table only once.

In reality she knew which answer to expect, but it was different to hear it out loud. She ignores her cigarette, the smoke wafting up as a small trail.

"It'll be easier to coordinate with this small of a team. Any specific tactics being put to use when destroying their fleet, or are we just going to unleash ourselves on them?"

"So steal the data, figure out how to make unknown technology blow itself up, and hope our own new technologies don't send us over to the other side," Grunt summarized as a tiny breeze spun the smoke away from him, "We get any cross confirmation on this place from the prisoner or his files?"

"A method to prevent warping? That's big. Hope we've got the resources to do it again if it works."

Daniel regards the people present as it's mentioned there wouldn't be much more, nodding in agreement at Lyla's words.

"Yeah, a small detachment is easier to coordinate and we won't have to worry about protecting any dead weight. That said, we need to work together and find a way to prevent the enemy fleet from focusing us down one by one now that there's no safety net of regular pilots."

"No problem, Arkady.  This tech's very big.  Too bad we can't do it willy nilly,"  A puff of smoke is blown away by the faint wisps of air around Grunt, "Took a lot of mojo to get that workin."

"The remains of Jacint, for example.  Empowered by a lot of chalcothetes and demjen, pouring essence into the receiver; kept active by the willing sacrifices of several marottes.  It's a lot of sacrifice to keep a road from opening, but we believe it's worth it in this regard."  The captain informs them.

"Arkady, I'll defer to your expertise.  Grunt, you're correct.  We do have limited confirmation of their tactics from our prisoner; he has told us that the Abyssals are considering leapfrog tactics, avoiding a simple chase in the off chance they can zip ahead of us.  He said nothing about a new fleet.  He said absolutely nothing about the Dragon-Blooded, which makes me think we need to lean on him a bit harder.  Lyla, Jess is..."

"Jess is off the table.  One way or another," Smoker drawls.  "Journeys told me he saw a shuttle going for a jump right after she was captured; that's how he broke his cover and ended up under fire.  We have to assume she won't be at ONYX SPIRE."

"So don't feel bad about going all out on anything except for ONYX SPIRE itself, at least until the Konnidan is clear.  No rigid tactics this time.  Follow your own judgment, watch each other's backs, come back alive."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:44, Thu 13 July 2017.

Daniel nods and regards everyone gathered, particularly the Exodites.

"Sounds good to me. Anything else or shall we get to it? Every minute is one more for them to prepare."

Lyla nods as well in regards to the destiny of Jess.

"No questions, or additions here," she exhales a swirl of smoke.

Arkady blows smoke with a satisfied grin on his face and keeps on sipping his coffee.

"Ready to roll blyat. Oh.. I think I forgot to mention that it's an honor to roll with you guys!"

He looks in Grunt's direction and points towards him with the tip of his cigarette.

"I'll trust your expertise on getting us where we need to be, you seem to know your shit."

Daniel gives Arkady a particular look that's at once approving and reserved. He'd seen too many good people cut in the bud.

"Don't hesitate to call if things get dire. Exaltation gives you a huge boost but at the same time it thrusts you into an entirely different league. Don't get cocky." He throws a glance at Kumiho as well at the end.

He gains a smirk as he nudges the young Russian's shoulder with a fist.

"Survive and you've got a swig of Russki Standart to look forward to."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:46, Thu 13 July 2017.

"Just don't expect any spy-vid stuff from me. At some point I just got used to breaching my way into places smart people avoid," Grunt told Arkady with a shrug, "The mechanical detail assessments will be your wheelhouse."

There is a faint smile on Lyla's lips, that soon turns to astonishment when she turns to Daniel.

"Wait. What. Now that is a dire situation, that you are STILL in possession of a bottle of Vodka. And -I- haven't managed to empty it yet. Tsk. Dibs on half a bottle."

"Alright, break."  Smoker slaps Arkady's shoulder, "I'm going to talk things over with the good Captain.  Rest of you go get ready.  We'll jump as soon as the Konnidan comes on in."

Battles is quick to start ushering them out, and they leave the hauntingly peaceful sounds of the Captain's harp behind them.  "Lucifer, for examination later."  He mutters in the Exalt's ear as he hands him a little USB.

"Yeah, should I be envious?  I never got a special Earth drink, and here he got a cigarette from that Smoker guy too."  Kumiho says to Lyla, "Hey, someone pointed something out to me.  Is my call sign too close to yours?  They said I'm stealing your style.  You know, badass interceptor pilot, fox call sign?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:57, Sat 29 July 2017.

Lyla arches her brow at the bubbly Lunar that bumped into her company on the way out. She sure didn't expect that.

Eventually she muffles a chuckle to her huge scarf.

"Oh. You smoke? And envious? Because of that sort of things. Pfeh. That totally uncalled for. It's just them and Daniel being polite. Besides he drinks whiskey himself rather than any other spirit."

She muses to herself for a moment.

"Kumiho means a fox? I didn't know that, but no, it doesn't bother. Not all foxes are like, and the fact that we share our talents in interceptors does not make us the same thing, or mean that you are stealing my thing. Besides any public attention that turns away from me to you, is only a good."

"I'm going to grab the bag of tricks they'll want me to take," Grunt told the group, "Any requests while I'm prying it free from requisitions?"

Daniel takes the usb stick with a nod. Good thing the situation was acute so curiosity couldn't set in.

He gives Kumiho a slight smirk as he throws an off-glance at Arkady.

"Or maybe you should take it as a sign of trust that I don't need to motivate your survival with booze. Either way there's something for you too, I'm sure."

"I'm good, thanks Grunt. And Lyla, Kumiho is the Korean version of the nine-tailed fox. They seduce boys to eat their livers or hearts, depending on the legend."

"Well..then there is again another thing that makes us different. And I don't mean the eating hearts and livers part," Lyla smirks, despite the jokish gentle tone in her voice.

Arkady notes Lucifer's note on alcohol and chuckles.

"Alcohol makes everything better blyat!

Then he turns his attention towards Kumiho

"I sure can get you a drink once we're back. Proper engine cleaning solvent."

And raises his cup and sips.

"oi blin."

"No, I don't smoke, but I do like liquor that isn't made out of old rice and cockroaches,"  She remarks.  "Or stuff used to strip engines, Mr. Arkady; I like to use that to fix my ship.  And hey, I've never eaten anyone's heart."  She pauses and looks at Lyla with an arched eyebrow.  "Hmm, gotcha."  Just what is she thinking?!  "After this is done we should all throw a big party.  Who's in?"

A huge demonic spider the size of a large dog stops in front of the group and bows.  The anuhles raises its jaws and chitters, "Oh great ones!  Please, prey follow me," - somehow they can hear it mispronounce 'pray' into 'prey' - "For I will be seeing you to Hangars and Requisitions.  I am Shuttle Pilot Maratus Volans, responsible for your handling while you are aboard the Jagganathika!  Anything you want, need, desire, lust for, I shall try to fulfill!  Also please don't stray too far without me.  The security forces aboard tend towards the overzealous."

"If it's properly distilled who cares where the starting hydrocarbons came from? Not like we have a bunch of wooden casks or years to age it," Grunt opined as he followed their arachnid pilot, "And my needs are met, Volans."

"A party could be nice, if the mission goes well enough," Lyla agrees with a nod to Kumiho.

"Thank you for the offer Volans, but Im fine currently."

"Nothing wrong with developing some Pan-Exaltation social bonds, I suppose", Daniel agrees with a smirk. "Better make it there, everyone."

He stretches his arms and shoulders as the group follows the anuhles. "Thanks Volans, but I'm good. Let's kick some Abyssal ass."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Mon 24 July 2017.

Arkady rises his finger in reaction to Grunt's statement, whilst taking a long sip of his battered canteen, as if to prove his point.

He looks at the pilot stating: "Nah chuvak I'm cool. Time to fuck Shit UP!  and when we've fucked them Abyssal up, we're gonna get fucked up SUKA BLYAT!!!"

LOCATION:  JAGGANATHIKA HANGAR
TIME:  2330
DATE:  2025 - 10 - JUL

COMBAT PERSONNEL IN ATTENDANCE: BATTLES; DANIEL MATTHEWS, CALLSIGN 'LUCIFER' ; LYLA RAINES, CALLSIGN 'BLUE FOX' ; PAK NARI, CALLSIGN 'KUMIHO'

THIS TRANSCRIPT SEALED, LEVEL 23E:  COMBAT PERSONNEL AND UPPER COMMAND ONLY

---

It's the old adage:  hurry up and wait.  They hurry to the hangar, leave Grunt and Arkady to the ministrations of Volans, and then... wait for hours for the Konnidan and the jump.

The Jagganathika hangar isn't like the ordered chaos of the Enterprise.  It's barely even a hangar.  The side of the ship has been torn open- jury's still out if it was intentional, a demon run amok, or battle damage- and they've simply rounded out some of the metal shards and added a force field to keep in the oxygen.  The hangar area was once several floors cut away to provide a resemblance to a flight deck.  There's only enough room for six or seven fighters, max.  All in all it's totally unsatisfactory for anything but a few expert pilots.

Fortunately, they ARE a few expert pilots.  They can see the Benisuzume and Janggunjeon waiting, sitting next to a battered old Icarus-class starfighter.  This is no doubt Battles' ride, the Leo.

These ships sit on the floor, tended to by an indeterminate number of slimy, oozing demons who look like they'd rather be anywhere but there.  Sesseljae- puppy-sized beetles- scurry all over the floor, lapping up spilled engine coolant.  Only one section of the ship is pristine, and that's because there are three interceptors there, painted tooth-white and sporting some unusual designs and modifications.

"Jump in 30 minutes,"  Battles informs them as he starts to put together a weird outfit that looks half flightsuit and half armor, "Then we leave hot.  Interceptors out first, then I'll guard the exit to make sure Lucifer can get out without any problems."

------

LOCATION:  KONNIDAN AIRLOCKS
TIME:  2330
DATE:  2025 - 10 - JUL

COMBAT PERSONNEL IN ATTENDANCE: DARKADY DRAGOMIROV, CALLSIGN 'RED STAR' ; GABRIEL HOCKENBERRY, CALLSIGN 'GRUNT' ; COSMO CORENTINE, CALLSIGN "CROSSFIRE"

THIS TRANSCRIPT SEALED, LEVEL 23E:  COMBAT PERSONNEL AND UPPER COMMAND ONLY

---

The Konnidan jumps in alongside the Jagganathika, and the two are quickly shuttled over by Volans.  The Konnidan is an ugly hunk of junk that no-shit has an asteroid and several skeletons lashed onto the bow.  They're met at the airlock by a huge Erymanthus, stinking of sweat and blood and even more unnameable juices; behind him must be the new Infernal.  He looks between the two and chuffs amusement, putting a filthy hand on each of their shoulders.

"Are you two ready to JOIN ME as we CRASH INTO A BLACK MOON?!"  Captain Fistfoot huffs and chortles, "I CERTAINLY hope so!  If not better JUMP INTO MY MOUTH while you still can!"  He slams their shoulders with a hand like a shovel head, "And time for you to get introduced to our NEWEST FRIEND.  And to meet the crew!  But first your NEWEST FRIEND."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:57, Sat 29 July 2017.

"Most moons outside binary or greater systems are black," Grunt said as he looked at the 'new friend', "I'm Grunt. Air Aspect of Many Trades."

The steps of the man standing a little over two meters tall make very little noise as he finally moves out from behind the Erymanthus. Clad in red armor, his face looks clearly damaged in a few places, giving his younger features a look somewhere between weathered and oafish. He smiles, widely. The expression looks a little strained, like he'd practiced in the mirror for a few hours before showing up. He glances over the assembled heroes, his one good eye roaming appraisingly over the new people.

"Corentine." he says, looking Grunt directly in the eyes. "Voyager, and more recently Chosen of Hegra and Adorjan. Good to meet another Exalt."

Suddenly distracted by something, he sniffs the air, oddly enough not towards the rather gigantic captain.

"Especially one with... actually, I'm certain I smell coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol." Cosmo's smile looks more genuine now. "You've caught me dangerously sober, I'm afraid. Makes me sensitive to the aromas. Heard the Solars were visiting and tried to quit drinking. Bad idea."

His armor opens its eyes... and promptly rolls them.

"Ah, and this is Wanda, my other half."

He faces the group a bit more confidently now, his seemingly blind eye shining with a soft red light. "We specialize in making a making a hell of mess and flying like a bat out of it. Or towards it, I guess."

He shrugs, then stares at the gathered to gauge their reaction.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Fri 28 July 2017.

Arkady scans the newcomer from head to toe with his eyes glowing with curiosity.

"Privet kamrat. Arkady Dragomirov, engineering. I think we're supposed to use callsigns so call me Red Star."

He extends his mechanical arm forwards but not for a handshake, but to hand out a canteen, and winks with a grin.

"Oh. And quitting drinking? Bad idea. In a mission it's worse to have a hangover than being... In a good buzz."

Cosmo stares at the canteen. A considerable effort is made to politely take the container from Arkady. "Thank you. It is good to meet you, Red Star." he takes a good sip, getting a feel for the flavor, apparently approving with a nod and putting a metal straw in... which then goes up his nose. He snorts what appears to be quite a bit in one one moment, before taking out the tube and sealing the container again.

"My callsign is Crossfire. And this is excellent. My compliments if you made it. Don't get more than a little buzz these days, at least not with alcohol. Normally have to go for injections for this sort of effect. I miss just... getting to taste the liquor like this."

"Course, can't complain about all the other nice upgrades. Makes bashing deadites' heads in a whole lot faster."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:19, Fri 28 July 2017.

"Good luck, and don't fuck it up!" She manages to wish after Arkady and Grunt, before they depart ways.

----

She never gets used to it, the hurrying and then waiting. It drives her mad. What was she supposed to do with the extra time in her hands, when there was no chance given to actually do anything with it. Lyla sighs deeply and shakes her head. Well, 30 minutes is not that bad.

It's always a relief to see Benisuzume. Its a sign that there is something to be done, and if nothing else, its a way for her to escape the buzzing crowds and people. Going on a mission was even better. Though granted it feels odd to leave on a mission from somewhere elsewhere than Enterprise...

"Well, those are quite something," she comments at the white Interceptors. "Shame that the paint job won't be the same looking after this."


Awfully nonchalantly she changes there on the spot from her usual jeans and tank top combo to her own bluetinted, and skintight, flightsuit taking some support from Benisuzume. She pushes her hair back in an attempt to make it stay on a ponytail so that it wouldn't get caught in the visor. Rest of her clothing she just dumps aside, it doesn't matter what happens to them. But her scarf, she wraps tightly around her neck.

"See you on the other side. Comms are open if you get in a bind", Daniel announces as the groups reach the intersection where they part ways.

--------------------------------------

Despite being standard military practice, hurrying somewhere only to stand idle never agreed with Lucifer. He had no need for gun or gear maintenance, no ship to check on, and while he didn't mind the little hangar it also meant there were no other pilots to encourage.

At least Lyla was there, and Battles was no stranger either. He could take comfort in the company of people that weren't likely to be snuffed out within seconds of starting the engagement. Luckily this included Kumiho as well this time.

"I'll be content as long as they return at all", he replies to Lyla.

As Battles announces the plan, he nods. "Got it. Let's see how Longinus looks like with materials like these..."

He walks to a clear area near the torn outer hull, looking around the hangar carefully before settling on a very particular spot. Slowly he widens and lowers his stance, driving his foot to the ground with a resounding thud, sending a ripple along the Jagganathika's floor that would warp and break metal - but for a ship of this build it's nothing but limbering up. The air around him starts rippling as that of the desert.

"Hear me, Demons of Jagganathika! Hear me, Spirits of Rage and Power! Lucifer calls for his panoply!"

An invisible force hoists Daniel upwards as three magnificent pairs of platinum wings, their feathers stained with crimson, erupt from his back. A blazing golden crown manifests a foot above his brow, shining bright enough to blind those caught unaware and painting the hangar in the brilliant hues of the midday sun. His hands go through complicated mudras at a rapid pace, tracing shining symbols in the air that quickly get painted in crimson tones. His voice gains a menacing bass undertone as it rises in volume, reverberating through the hangar as the ship shudders from his decree.

"Becoming thus the essence of retribution;
The steadfast gleam of the unsheathed rapier,
The falchion's forceful thrust
At the heart of thy empire..."

A swirl of energy and debris surrounds the floating figure. With each word, hunks of flesh seem to tear free from the hangar and join swarms of demonic insects in a fevered whirlpool around Lucifer. More and more demons materialize and interlock with each other, gradually forming giant pieces of organic armor that take the shape of a Warstrider around him - or, in this case, Hellstrider might be the appropriate term. The  result bears some resemblance to the build of the Jagganathika, only more ordered and containing the blaze of Lucifer's Anima Banner within.

Finally the maelstrom of demonflesh and green radiance settles and a bulky War(or Hell?)strider stands where mere moments ago there was only a man. A deep voice crackles into being through the comms.

"The Morning Star rises. Lucifer is with you."

"There's always a certain amount of isolated work they slot us into," Grunt agreed with a nod, "Big collections of us only tend to happen when unpleasantness is brewing."

"Kicking a moon in half is a pretty big thing. I know there's supposed to be some kind of rivalry between us and the Solars, but having all three of them here won't be so bad." he says with a shrug. "Gonna be weird seeing people I've read comic books about."

Lyla regards Daniel as he assembles his warstrider. It was always a sight to be seen and it never got boring. The shining light seems to fill every crack in the odd hangar, and even Lyla reaches out from her shadows that tackle it just to let it warm her fingers. The newly formed warstrider does though seem awfully wrong, and awfully normal at the same time. Had the cards been dealt differently...

"We hear you Lucifer, loud and clear. Blue fox here," Lyla returns testing her own comms out.

"Well not all of us can kick a moon in half..." Arkady points out. "Some can just poke them in half. You just need to know where to poke." Arkady winks with a joking grin.

"All the signs and collected data deduct that I represent what is known as Sola Twilight caste... I like to know things, and use that knowledge to my advantage. As fucking cheesy as it sounds, knowledge is power."

He opens his canteen again but almost immediately closes it again. The booze is almost gone so he has to conserve it. Instead he lights a cigarette (the shitty makeshift kind), blows out a cloud of bitter smoke, and draws his hood down to cover his eyes

"Are we there yet? Blin."

"Oh, that's not really paint," The Sidereal says as Lyla looks at the white interceptors, "That's Bone Squadron."

The interceptors seem to... unfold; their smooth surfaces turned multi-angled as the glamour surrounding them fades.  In their place are three bone-white Agatae, the Crystalline Wasps, famous for their beauty and reality-warping speed.  These are three extremely large specimens, which must make them ancient.  They wait dutifully until Lucifer finishes his transformation, then clamber onto the back of the Longinus.

"Pleased to meet you,"  One says in Lucifer's ear, "We're your ride."

"They're going to carry Lucifer out of the initial hangar, then teleport him right towards the enemy lines.  After that they'll all bug out.  They can't do that too often- three times, max- so after dropping him off they'll speed back to the Jagganathika.  If anyone needs a rapid escape call out for Bone Squadron and they'll pop in, grab you, and pop out."

"The pun was not appreciated, human."

"My apologies, Bone One."

"Well, now I feel better, how about you." The new Lunar says deadpan, "We have ejection seats that are giant wasps."

"Cutting chatter now.  This is Battles, prepared for conflict."

"This is Kumiho, all systems are live and ready."

"HEAR THIS.  HEAR THIS.  ALL HANDS.  This is Captain Magdeldrigal.  Set IFF signals for Lucifer:  Hellborne 1.  Set IFF signals for Blue Fox:  Hellborne 2.  Set IFF signals for Battles:  Hellborne 3.  Set IFF signals for Kumiho:  Hellborne 4.  Progeny of Malfeas and Cecelyne, She Who Lives In Her Name, Isidoros and Hegra and Kimbery!  Progeny of Oramus and Sacheverell and Qaf and Szoreny!  JUMP IN FIVE SECONDS!  FIVE-  FOUR-  THREE-  TWO-  ONE-"

The Jagganathika jumps, making all their stomachs lurch.  The Jagganathika doesn't have the essence dampeners that other ships do; if they were mere mortal men, like Smoker, they'd be puking their guts out right now.

And then they find themselves staring at a starscape, and far away a small moon with a little twinkle surrounding it.

"HELLBORNE FLIGHT, DEPART!  Meet at rendezvous and cover the Jagganathika as we retreat!"

"You know how space travel is," Grunt answered Arkady, "Long stretches of nothing between dense areas of lethality."

Lyla gives an approving nod at the bone squadron, covering her slight redness into her scarf for the silly comments she just made.

Eventually she climbs into Benisuzumes cockpit and runs a quick diagnostic. The ship humms contently as ever. All seems to be the way it always is. Thoughtfully she gives a small pat to the wall of the ship.

"Blue Fox ready to rock and roll," she responds casually having attuned her radio and mic.

"Last time my path crossed with an ancient demon on Earth turned out rather interesting", Lucifer muses. "Well met, Agatae. I leave my transport in your capable hands."

As the jump draws close the Longinus lowers its stance and grabs hold of something. Lucifer is silent inside it, but the shift into a combat mindset can be felt by anyone as a foreboding shiver, a calm before the storm.

The jump unsettles Lucifer less than most, whether due to something in Longinus's construction or sheer grit. He narrows his eyes as the hellish Warstrider around him emits a menacing snarl.

"Let me at them."

"On my way!"  Kumiho is first out, followed by Lyla; then Battles departs to protect Lucifer.  As they exit they get to view the Abyssal fleet mustering and heading for their location- then the grand sight of the Konnidan Jumping in on the other side of ONYX SPIRE, slamming into the facility when the Abyssal's backs are turned.

But the fleet doesn't turn around.

"Living forces,"  The voice that comes over the comm is androgynous and oddly pleasant, "This is Mournful Topaz Seraphim, current flight leader in this sector.  I am accompanied by the Gardener of Screams.  Please forward me your names so that respect may be given where it is due."

Hm. The Gardener of Screams is an older Abyssal, one that Jess often came to sonic blows with.  This Mournful Topaz Seraphim is a new one.

Benisuzume exits the hangar swiftly, but gracefully. The reflective blue surface of the ship shines in the emptiness of the space, soon to be part of it all. The ships plasma cutters glimmer nastily as Lyla takes some distance between her and the Jagganathika.

Then the comms open, and Lyla's smirk widens.

"Nice name dropping you got there. It's Blue Fox of the Living fleet, the one of the shadows. Did we wound Gardener so badly last time, that they can't speak for themselves?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:57, Wed 09 Aug 2017.

After the others are out the Longinus steps to the edge of the breach in the hangar, leaning outside with one hand holding to the top. It was almost time to launch.

"This is Lucifer", he responds to the unknown Abyssal with a voice that seems calm but holds back a thousand daggers. "Surrender now, fellow Seraph, or we'll give you something to really mourn about."

Lucifer is jumped out by the agatae to the meeting point!  One remains on his back, no doubt ready to push him.

"Gardener has surpassed the need for voice, Blue Fox, but is intimating the desire to fight you."  Mournful Topaz Seraphim responds, "I'm afraid I cannot surrender, Lucifer.  We both need to fight each other.  You and me, then."

"Saints and spirits, the pretentiousness is choking."

"You get used to it."

"Well, I've never been one to back down from a challenge. Let's dance then," Lyla declares, dry amusement filling her voice due to the commentary of Kumiho.

Despite the declaration, she doesn't speed in, but instead readies Benisuzume and if it would be audible in the emptiness of space, she'd rev the ships engines.  Instead of sounds the ship just glimmers in a shade of blue. She knows that Lucifer would be the one to barge in first, that would create a better opening for her.

Then she radios on their frequence  to Kumiho, Battles and Lucifer.

"To be honest, I have no interest in fighting Gardener alone, or fair."

((Initiative roll: 10, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 2 & 1
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Flight of the Golden crow 3 chi
Cover Ground: 66(16+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 50 (20+20+10)
FoB: 40(15+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 53 (18+25+10)
Delays
))
This message was last edited by the player at 22:04, Wed 16 Aug 2017.

((Initiative: 10, 8, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2 & 1
using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Ranged/Massive)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
Float 4-4-4 to River
Initiative: 13 (18+10-10-5)
))

The Longinus clatters and whirrs, systems aligning and weapons heating up as battle is about to be joined.

"Very well then. Let's see what you've got, Abyssal."

"I've got those smaller ships,"  Kumiho says uncertainly.

"Keep him distracted a bit longer.  He likes it when we group up,"  Battles advises Blue Fox, "But Journeys warned me not to underestimate those big ships- I'll keep them off your back!"

The Gardener of Screams gets the jump on them all.  He's fast, and he doesn't even move in that fancy interceptor.  No, radio waves ripple from his ship in an uncanny visual manner- one that shouldn't be possible.  He effortlessly sends a wave of solid, malevolent static at Blue Fox's ship, threatening to overwhelm her thrusters and buckle solid armor.

((Defense vs Gardener:  9, 8, 8, 6, 6, 5, 4 & 3
Channel 4 chi/ Crow eclipses the sun
Dodge vs attack: 26+20+5+10-5+20= 76 Vs 71
Awareness Vs disrupt strike: 14+20+10= 44 vs 21
Awareness Vs disrupt footwork: 28+20+10 = 58 vs 57
Delays attack after Seraphim))

Its a rarity that someone beats Bluefox in speed and that makes her sigh in frustration. Gardener had always carried a grudge of some degree with Jess due to their affection to sound, but they had all battled against each other before as well.

Benisuzume shifts only slightly, passing just right through the sound waves, some shadows growing outside the ship and redirecting the waves. The ghostly shape of the ship grants it little refuge. The attack is granted a nasty one when Benizusume seems to fade even more into the space with essence spilling out.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:46, Sun 13 Aug 2017.

"May I confess something?"  Mournful Topaz Seraphim messages Lucifer as the Abyssal ship holds position, "I've waited to meet you for so long.  I didn't think I ever would.  I feel so- unprepared for this.  They told me it would take years for me to be put into battle against you.  How do you prepare for a fight with a monster?"

((Defense Roll: 10, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2, 2 & 1
1 Metal, 1 Chi on Leading Ox Through River
1-3 Chi on Chi Aura depending on RR
Confidence vs QW: 22+20 Skill+10 AB+5 Laughs = 57 vs 74; 1 Ripple + RR
Confidence vs Disorient: Flowed 27 + 20 Skill+ 10 AB+ 5 Laughs = 62 vs 58, defends

Attack: 9, 9, 8, 8, 6, 4, 2 & 1
Flood 7 to extend attack
Flood 7 to ignore Armor
1 Metal, 1 Solar Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
2 Chi on Pinning Shot

Strike: 29+20 Strike+20 Internal+10 AB+10 Longinus = 89; Block -10; Damage +35 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 5 IKF)
Disorient Inspire: 28+20 Inspire (Fear)+5 IKF+10 AB+10 Manifest Destiny = 73 ))

Lucifer is surprised by the Abyssal's words - which lets them bounce around in his mind for a moment. What was the enemy going for by painting himself as an eager rookie and him as a monster?

"You sharpen your swords, ready your armor, steel your mind for the things you're fighting for", he answers as the Longinus's right hand starts glowing. The glow becomes a shine as a radiant spike emerges from the middle of its palm, pointed toward Mournful Topaz Seraphim's ship. "But most of all, you prepare to die."

A flash, and the spike is launched as from a railgun, crossing the distance in an instant.

"Those who fight for Nothing have nothing to fight with."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:46, Tue 15 Aug 2017.

((Attack roll: 9, 7, 6, 4, 4, 2, 1 & 1
all attacks against Gardener of Screams
Lashing Flurry 3 chi
Reincarnating Nine Brothers 5 chi
Strike: (19+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)+25(internal)= 79, better blocked
Secondary Strike: (24+20+10+5) = 59, better blocked
Burn: (21+10+10) = 41
Disrupt Strike with stealth: (17+20+10) = 47
))

"No problem," Lyla responds to Battles.

When Lucifer and Mournful Topaz Seraphim engage in a battle of rather violent wits with the result of Lucifer firing, Blue Fox dives into action under the cover of the bright light that Longinus shines on its surroundings.

Benisuzume wastes no time, and quickly enough the blue ship is next to Gardener of Screams ship, tearing at it like a shark that just emerged from the depths. The plasma cutters send off impossible seeming sparks that heat its surroundings. While the attention is turned to the shiny plasma, a small black shadow attempts to ignite a flame into the emptiness by burning sheer essence.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:35, Sun 20 Aug 2017.

((Lucifer receives Trivial Passion:  RESPEC.))

"I think you have made a bit of an assumption, Lucifer,"  His opponent doesn't move.  Mournful Topaz Seraphim doesn't move his/her ship- which Lucifer can see is heavily armored, so a subset of a bomber-type.  It's an easy shot to make, but the shot seems to just... hit the hull and bounce off unnaturally.  "Whoever said I fought for nothing?"

The Gardener meanwhile lets loose a subspace wail that throws some of Lyla's attacks off-track, but for the most part they get through.  The Gardener's interceptor is raked across the bow, but a combination of Abyssal sorcery and sheer bloody-mindedness keeps it from showing any evidence of damage.  Unfortunately the Gardener has a good read on her fighting style, and that keeps her from being too effective.

Around them the battle rages.  Kumiho has gotten boxed in by two squadrons and two of the new frigates, but seems to be doing OK; Battles in the meantime has engaged with three full cruisers and is holding his own, though he hasn't managed to do much damage.

((Next round init is up:
https://docs.google.com/docume...3DM/edit?usp=sharing))

((Initiative: 10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 2 & 1
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
*1 Chi to reduce Piloting Penalties by 5
Analyze MTS Fears: 20+5+10 = 35. (Interesting Times? >_>)
FoB: 15+15+10 = 40 / 2 Chi
Init: 19+10-10 = 19 ))

Lucifer's brow arches as his attack bounces off Mournful Topaz Seraphim's ship. It'd been a while since anyone had actually blocked his attacks with such apparent ease. He hadn't put quite his full strength in the attack, but more than enough to expect some serious damage - what sorcery was this?

His eyes narrow as he focuses on the ship's energy and Essence flows - there had to be some kind of trick to it. Not even Thanatos could've taken that hit without sacrificing something.

"I must say I'm impressed, Mournful Topaz Seraphim. Wonder how long you can keep that up?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Tue 22 Aug 2017.

((Initiative roll: 9, 7, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 & 1
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Cover Ground: 66(16+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 57 (27+20+10)
FoB: 40(15+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 54 (19+25+10)

Attack roll: 9, 9, 8, 8, 8, 6, 3 & 1
all attacks against Gardener of Screams
Reincarnating Nine Brothers 5 chi
Strike: (29 + 20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)+25(internal)= 89, better blocked
Burn: (26+10+10) = 46
Disrupt Strike with stealth: (38+20+10) = 68
))

Though there is no apparent damage on Gardeners ship, Blue Fox very much knows and feels when its a hit. And she feels in her gut that it must've been a hit, after all the ship was almost a part of her wrapped up in her essence.

Wasting no time, she gathers some speed for Benisuzume and spins around the enemy ship, the plasma cutters aiming back at the same spots as earlier. A small part of her wants to gloat about her possible success, but she knows better. It's not even near to being over just yet. It does though annoy her that Gardener knows what they are up against, and knows how to respond to her attacks.

With the speed gained from her attack, Benisuzume takes some distance between the ships, leaving after an odd veil of smoke, little bit like a squid trying to hide its movements.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:13, Sun 20 Aug 2017.

The Gardener of Screams seems to have Blue Fox's measure.  The sonic cacophony throbs as she darts into an attack, cutting into his interceptor's shields but otherwise leaving him unharmed.  She puts up a smoke screen, but he replies with the thing that made Blue Fox want to avoid him in the first place:

Not caring about distance or precise attacks.

His interceptor burns BACKWARDS, far from her.  Then his sonic counterattack rips through space and time, a rip of radio waves and hate that opens up to Blue Fox's right.  The yawning void not only rocks her ship but catches Battles some distance away, ripping away a small portion of Battles' shield.

"Stay spread out," Battles advises her, "That attack's only getting nastier as he gets older!"

"Long enough, I hope,"  The voice modulator on the other end cracks; Seraphim's voice comes out as quite a bit more feminine, "We both should hope to survive this."  Seraphim charges her ship forward towards Lucifer, the better to get out of the fracas surrounding her and to increase the fidelity of her transmission; "I was glad you didn't surrender.  I'd hoped to test myself against you.  I'm not disappointed.  You're everything they said you'd be.  The other Abyssals don't understand."

((Defense: 9, 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 1 & 1
Float 1-1
*3 Chi on +10 Chi Aura vs Secondary QW
*1-3 Chi on Chi Aura vs Secondary QW
Confidence vs. QW: 38 +20 Confidence +10AB +5 Laughs = 73 vs 72, Defends
Confidence vs QW Secondary Strike: 17 +20 Confidence +10 AB +5 Laughs = 52 vs 67, 1 Ripple+RR
Confidence vs Disorient: 19 +20 Skill +10 AB +10 L/F = 59 vs 58, Defends

Attack: 10, 10, 8, 6, 6, 3, 2 & 1
Float 0
Flood 0 to extend attack
*1 Solar, 1 Metal Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
*2 Chi on Pinning Shot
*1 Chi on Inspire +5
Strike: 18 +20 Strike +20 Internal +10 AB +10 Longinus +10L/F = 88; Block -10; Damage +35 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 5 IKF)
Secondary QW Attack (Proper Forms of Conflict): Flooded 21 +20 Inspire (Fear) +5 IKF (Zenith) +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs = 71
Disorient Confidence: 26 +20 Inspire (Fear)+5 IKF +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +10L/F = 81

Initiative: 10, 7, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3 & 2
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Ranged+Massive)
*1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
Float 4-4
CG: 23 +10 AB = 33
FoB: 15+15+10 = 40 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 17 +10 AB -10 Armor = 17))

Mournful Topaz Seraphim's words echo around Lucifer inside the Longinus's chassis. Her determination seemed ironclad as she sped toward him, her single-mindedness almost frightening. He felt unable to ignore her even as the battle raged around them.

But Lucifer's attention wasn't always a good thing.

"You wish to test yourself against me? Come then, Mournful Topaz Seraphim. But know I've stared into the Void you serve so often I've lost count."

He spreads his arms in an inviting gesture as the Abyssal bomber speeds toward him. As he does, Solar Essence crackles and arcs around the Longinus, building in intensity until Lucifer's Anima explodes from its back as six massive, blood-stained wings of light.

"And the Void has always blinked first."

Suddenly, the radiance gains focus. Rather than shine in every direction, it gathers, amplifies and blasts against Mournful Topaz Seraphim's ship like an incandescent river of light, wave after wave of Solar fury. As the battering continues, the Longinus winds up and starts charging to meet the Abyssal ship head-on.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:25, Tue 22 Aug 2017.

((Defense vs Gardener: 7, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1 & 1
Night tech: Channel 1 chi/ + 5 stealth
Crow Eclipses the Sun 4 Chi
Dodge vs attack: 22+20+5+10+20-5 = 72 vs 70
Stealth Vs disrupt dodge: 31+20+10+5 = 66 vs 62

Initiative roll: 9, 7, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4 & 3
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Flight of the Golden Crow 1 solar chi + 1 chi
Float 5-5
Cover Ground: 74 (24+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 47(17+20+10)
FoB: 41(16+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 54 (19+25+10)))

Blue Fox curses, not only because her attack seems to be in vain, but because of her hastiness also Battles got his share of the response. She pushes essence out to test the limits of Benisuzume, the darkness wrapping around the ship like it was never there. She spins between the soundwaves, the veil she left behind misleading some of them.

The battle field has once again changed, and Gardener seems almost out of reach. The afteburners of Benisuzume strike out blue essence angrily, glowing eerily from the surface of the ship. Almost out of the reach doesn't cut it though, and Lyla knows she can still catch him.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:19, Tue 22 Aug 2017.

The Gardener of Screams' ship seems to stall.  It spins in a crazy manner after firing off its shot at Blue Fox- something has certainly gone wrong with the ship.

Mournful Topaz Seraphim doesn't seem to get that Lucifer is about to go after her; she lets loose her next comment early, maybe after getting rattled from the blast of firepower that once again bounces harmlessly off of her ship.  "Again with the assumptions, you... you jerk!" She shoots back at him, "Has it ever occurred to you that I'm trying to reach out, that... that we're, on some level, on the same side?  I'm no more a servant of the Void than you are!"

Hmm, by the interference he's getting, she's restricted her broadcast to a tightbeam.

((Next round up:
 https://docs.google.com/docume...FX0/edit?usp=sharing))

((Attack roll: 9, 8, 8, 7, 4, 4, 4 & 2
against GoS
Strike: (34+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)= 69, better dodged
Disrupt block with stealth: (28+20+10) = 58
))

Like a fox that has decided to take revenge on the hound, that chased it earlier, Blue Fox dashes and spins effortlessly past the other ships back to Gardener of Screams. She packs a punch behind her blades with the speed gathered from the distance, and hopes again to sink them to the other ship. Under the cover of the plasma shining brightly, some shadows attempt to find gaps in his shields to widen them a little bit more.

"Whats the matter? Did I cut off your speakers?" Blue Fox radios to him.

((Defense: 10, 9, 8, 6, 6, 4, 3 & 2
3 Chi on +10 Chi Aura
1 Chi on Chi Aura
Float 6
Defense vs QW: 19 +20 Confidence +10 AB +5 Laughs = 54 vs 85, 2 Ripples+RR

Attack: 10, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3 & 1
1 Solar Chi, 1 Metal Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
1 Chi on Inspire +5
Flood 6 to ignore Armor, reduce max Chi Aura by 1
Strike: 17 +20 Strike +20 Internal +10 AB +10 Longinus +10L/F = 87; Block -10; Damage +35 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 5 IKF)
Secondary QW: Flooded 24 +20 Inspire +5 IKF (Zenith) +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs = 74 ))

At first Mournful Topaz Seraphim's seem to fall on deaf ears as the Longinus continues its charge, its torrent of light culminating in a final flash of brilliance as the Warstrider passes the bomber attempting to drive another massive spike through its seemingly impenetrable hull.

With the attack done, though, the outburst takes Lucifer completely by surprise, which may be why it manages to reach his thoughts rather than be discarded immediately in its absurdity. Could it be the Abyssal was indeed a victim?

He turns around, eyeing the bomber with a gaze that pierces the titanic armor of both Exalts' ships like paper. He adjusts his transmission to reach only her.

"You'll have to forgive me for finding those words implausible coming from an Abyssal. Explain yourself, then - if you're not an Abyssal serving the Void, who are you  and what are you doing here spearheading their armies? And most of all, what is it you wish to accomplish here? Give me a reason not to treat you as one of them."

((MTS inflames RESPECC to Minor.

I'd like to see what happens to Blue Fox before making GOS Init.))

Mournful Topaz Seraphim hovers her ship around to face Lucifer, not flinching from his intimidating aura.  Even the shot he makes does nothing, falling away against the totality of her defense.

"I already told you.  I need to improve, through conflict.  The ships fighting right now-" A pause as they see Kumiho wipe out two whole wings of fighters; Battles seems to be weaving in and out of capital ships, using them against each other- "- they're a part of it too.  We both want something very similar, as far as I can tell.  We want Yama's head."

Meanwhile, one terrifying thing about the Gardener of Screams is that he understands when and how to fight.  He's not always just mindlessly lashing out into the void; sometimes there are times the beat slows to nothing, a quiet husbanding of strength and stamina that forces Blue Fox's attacks to just wash around him.

Then he targets her with a single pulse of nothingness.  Before there was music, chaos and death.  Now there's the ghastly nothing, punctuated by short-ranged minigun blasts full of bouncing bullets aimed at the Benisuzume.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:37, Sat 26 Aug 2017.

((Defense vs Gardener: 10, 6, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 & 1
Crow Eclipses the Sun 4 Chi
Night tech: Channel 1 chi/ + 5 stealth
Flood 5-5
Dodge vs attack: 21+20+5+10+20-10 = 66 vs 73, 1 Ripple
Stealth Vs disrupt Speed: 25+20+10+5 = 60 vs 57, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Damage: 24+20+10 = 54 vs 51, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Dodge: 16+20+10 = 46 vs 45, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 12+20+10 = 42 vs 28, defends
))

Despite being at such a close range, Benisuzume does something similar to a cartwheel, and then rolls immediately back to being close range to Gardeners ship, thus dodging the bullets hurled at it. It was hard dodging invisible things such as soundwaves, and somehow seeing bullets light her monitors red is partially a relief. At least it was something real, something Blue Fox always missed in these years of being a Solar.

"Did I hit a soft spot?" She jests, despite some of her monitors alarmingly red, telling of a hit.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:09, Sat 26 Aug 2017.

((Init up:
https://docs.google.com/docume...8Yg/edit?usp=sharing))

((Initiative: 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3 & 1 ....wow
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
Init: 19+10-10 = 19
FoB: 15+15+10 = 40 / 2 Chi))

"Something tells me we want it for different reasons and ends", Lucifer notes dryly as the Longinus spews superheated steam into space. "You wish to replace him, then? Who's to say if the replacement will be any better?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Sun 27 Aug 2017.

((Initiative roll: 10, 10, 10, 8, 5, 5, 2 & 1
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Float 10-10-10
Cry of the Golden Crow 1 Chi
Cover Ground: 61 (11+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 55 (25+20+10)
FoB: 43(18+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 55 (12+25+10+5)

Attack roll: 10, 9, 9, 7, 6, 5, 1 & 1
all attacks against Gardener of Screams
Lashing Flurry 1 chi + 1 Solar chi
Strike: (40 flowed +20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)= 75, better blocked
Secondary Strike: (29+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume) = 64, better blocked
Disrupt dodge with stealth: (21+20+10) = 51
Disrupt speed with stealth: (17+20+10) = 47
))

Benisuzume pirouettes around Gardeners ship, finding a better place to aim and moving away from being directly i nfront of the miniguns. The ship leaves behind a trail of something resembling dust that wraps also the enemy ship in itself. Blue Fox pushes her ship on the verge once again, and lashes out furiously, packing quite the punch behind her plasma cutters hoping to pierce Gardeners defenses.

Though it does not stay with only one hit, as the cutters light the way something lingers in the shadows, crawling to find the mechanisms that operate the ship, and to once again disable something of use.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:50, Sun 27 Aug 2017.

The Gardener of Screams has to use some charms to keep Blue Fox from doing too much damage to his shields, but he's still standing as his opponent burns away.  He nonetheless sends another pulse of evil energy chasing after her, choosing to keep waiting for the right moment instead.  This pulse of energy opens right up in front of her, summoning what looks like a small black hole directly in front of her- with a cone of fire coming from behind.  Simply juking out of the way will be difficult!

---

"Wh-what?!"  The Abyssal sounds confused, "No, I want to kill him!  We hear all sorts of things about the Last Refuge, you know.  We've seen the schematics.  We know all about your decks and your libraries and your- whatever.  Do you know what it's like on the prison ships? The worst part of the Last Refuge is still better than that.  And who do you think likes it like that?"

There's a desperate animal tone to her voice,

"The Neverborn keep saying that everything has to end, sooner or later.  And that means Yama and the Neverborn too.  But hopefully Yama's first."

((Defense: 10, 10, 9, 8, 8, 4, 3 & 1
Float 8-8-0
1 Chi, 1 Solar Chi on +10 Chi Aura
1 Chi on Chi Aura
Confidence vs QW: 19 +20 Confidence +10 AB +5 Laughs = 54 vs 85, 2 Ripples+RR
RR: 19+15(+5)-10-16= 13, a Trivial

Attack: 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 5, 4 & 2
2 Metal Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
1 Chi on Inspire +5
Strike: 19 +20 Strike +20 Internal +10 AB +10 Longinus +10L/F = 89; Block -10; Damage +35 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 5 IKF)
Secondary QW: Flooded 28 +20 Inspire +5 IKF (Zenith) +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs = 78
Disrupt Speed: 27+20 Inspire +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs +5 Fears = 82

Initiative: 10, 10, 7, 6, 4, 2, 1 & 1
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
Float 0-0
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
Shaping Wave with Wu Wei - intensify Anima Banner's Crown: 21 +15 Skill +10AB +10 Manifest Destiny = 56
FoB: 16+15+10 = 41 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 17+10-10 = 17 ))

Lucifer frowns at Mournful Topaz Seraphim's apparent vulnerability. It was no doubt true that things weren't great for the Abyssals - much less the throngs of mortals imprisoned under the Neverborns' yoke.

Still, context matters. This was no time for bleeding hearts. A battle was raging, he would address the plight of those held by the Neverborn later.

"Is that where you're from, a prison ship? It could explain your situation - and determination, how you've gained such power in such short time."

At the same time it lent credence to the theory that the Neverborn were corralling mortals in hopes of catching an Exaltation - and twisting it somehow, perhaps? Is that what had happened to her?

Either way, every moment spent here was time away from accomplishing the mission he was sent on. If not through physical force, he would force his will another way.

A moment of concentration, and Lucifer's Anima Banner flashes into being once more. But it doesn't stop there. As he continues, Essence pouring through his Anima, there's something... different...  in the burning crown floating atop his brow. It seems somehow more captivating, more... Empyreal. So much so that the longer one looks, the stronger the urge to KNEEL becomes.

But there's more than suffocating, oppressive power in the light. It's not just the light of a conqueror, but that of a righteous man. A liberator and champion, not a tyrant.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:27, Tue 29 Aug 2017.

((Defense vs Gardener: 10, 8, 8, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 2
Crow Eclipses the Sun 4 Chi
Dodge vs attack: 28+20+5+10+20-5 = 78 vs 74, dodges
Stealth Vs disrupt Dodge: 22+20+10 = 52 vs 65, takes disrupt
Stealth Vs disrupt Speed: 15+20+10 = 45 vs 65, takes disrupt

Initiative roll: 7, 7, 7, 5, 4, 3, 3 & 2
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Recover from Disrupt: Dodge: 67 (37+20 awareness+10)
Cover Ground: 62 (12+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 53 (23+20+10)
FoB: 40 (15+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 44 (14+25+10-5)
))

Its odd seeing a ship practically stop as if it had just hit a wall. The pulse rattles the ship for sure, but the flames only lick the ship without doing any real damage. Blue Fox grunts in annoyance as she can feel how his pulse has stayed to resonate within her ship, rending some parts useless.

Like dealing with a bad case of tinnitis, she has to turn her attention from battle outside to the battle within as trying to find where the pulse has jammed itself. She turns and twists Benisuzume, and evens out some pressure, until the omnious pulse suddenly is gone...at least one part of her.

((https://docs.google.com/docume...yVk/edit?usp=sharing))

Once, a long time ago, Jess shared with Blue Fox that the Gardener of Screams considered himself the God of Distance.  Now Blue Fox knows why.  He edges past her in speed, the baleful non-sound radiating out from his ship as if it was right next to her.  He doesn't need to get in close like Blue Fox does- he just does.  And she has only a split second to realize that his very first salvo threatens to hit her before his ship even fires!

Mournful Topaz Seraphim, on the other hands, finally shows a chink in her armor.  She's silent even as Lucifer's attack washes over her craft.  He can feel her pour Essence into her defenses, leaving her vulnerable.  "Yes.  And on there they try to indoctrinate.  It doesn't work well.  I'm not easy to indoctrinate.  But if the Neverborn decide to give you power..."

Battles pulls a complicated maneuver.  One of the old Nanking-class cruisers tries to follow, only to take a several missile shots from other enemy cruisers.  It ripples, buckles, and explodes.

"You have a choice, in a way, because you can always die.  They're happy with that. But sometimes death isn't much of a choice either.  I don't have the option, not when Yama's around and my sister's still a captive."

((Defense: 10, 8, 7, 7, 6, 5, 3 & 1
1 Chi, 1 Solar Chi on +10 Chi Aura
1-3 Chi on Chi Aura
Confidence vs QW: 27 +20 Confidence +10 AB +5 Laughs = 62 vs 87, 2 Ripples+RR

Attack: 9, 7, 7, 6, 5, 1, 1 & 1
2 Metal Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
1 Chi on Inspire +5
Shaping Wave QW: 56 (+5/10 if Laughs/Fears apply)
Strike: 19 +20 Strike +20 Internal +10 AB +10 Longinus +10L/F = 89; Block -10; Damage +35 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 5 IKF)
Secondary QW: Flooded 30 +20 Inspire +5 IKF (Zenith) +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs +5 Fears = 85 - I dread to say this, but, Interesting Times? :V
Disorient Wu Wei: 31 +20 Inspire +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs +5 Fears = 86
Disrupt Toughness: 27 +15 Wu Wei +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs +5 Fears = 77 ))

"So you, too, are enslaved by Yama, albeit under different terms than his ghosts. More power and independence, yet more damned for having had a choice."

It strikes a chord. A thorn in his side from day one of his Exalted life.

Lucifer's crown flares, its empyreal flames expanding, then focusing on Mournful Topaz Seraphim's ship in a scorching beam. It burns, but not just physically; it's a scourge that strikes the soul, body and mind, a painful purifier.

"I am swayed by your plight, Mournful Topaz Seraphim. I will take it upon me to find your sister and liberate her, as I will all the Living under the yoke of the Neverborn."

As the assault shakes her ship violently, his divine presence seems to seep in and reverberate inside the Abyssal's ship and head.

"But your fight here is done. I know now why you can't surrender, so I must force it upon you. Fall before me, and I will take you captive to Last Refuge where you will harm the Living no more. You won't live in luxury, but you will be Yama's pawn no longer - and as you were captured in battle, no retribution will come to your sister."

((Defense vs Gardener: 10, 10, 10, 10, 9, 7, 2 & 1
Crow Eclipses the Sun 5 chi + 1 solar chi
Dodge vs attack: 40+20+5+10+15-10 = 85 vs 78, dodges
Dodge vs attack: 19+20+5+10+20-10= 64 vs 71, 1 ripple
Stealth Vs disrupt Footwork: 17+20+10 = 47vs 69, takes disrupt
Stealth Vs disrupt Toughness : 12+20+10 = 42 vs 62, takes disrupt

Attack roll: 8, 7, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2 & 2
against GoS
Float 2-2
Strike: (27+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)= 62, better dodged
Disrupt toughness with stealth: (18+20+10) = 48
))

She had always laughed in the face of danger and this situation was no other. God of Distance for sure, Blue Fox thought. Those who are too afraid to get hurt stay away from things. Funny enough, maybe she should start calling her the Goddess of Speed.

It thought not really a laughing matter trying to dodge all that is hurled at her. Most of the sensors on Benisuzume alert red not quite sure where the attacks are even coming from. In this case it is just best to dodge anything, and so the ship piruettes around, the shadows growing darker around it, dimming out the faintest light as Blue Fox dishes out her essence like it was Halloween Candy.

Then out of the emptiness, Benisuzume appears, right where it wasn't expected to be, back next to his ship, relentlessly following the other.

((Round 6:  https://docs.google.com/docume...lns/edit?usp=sharing  ))

The Gardener remains as infuriating as ever.  Despite her best efforts she can't meaningfully touch him.  What is speed when the distance is infinite?  Light travels an unimaginable distance but still ends up swallowed up by the void; likewise her attacks meet and are swallowed by the nothingness of the Gardener's patrons.

Blue Fox starts to get a crackle through her speakers unlike the others, and she realizes for some inexplicable reason the Gardener is LAUGHING at her.

---

Meanwhile, Lucifer's attack washes over Mournful Topaz Seraphim- but he can tell that she's shaken, her Essence finally dwindling down to the smallest of reserves.  "If only it was that easy," She admits to him with a wavering voice, "I've thought about it, but it's the coward's way out.  Being taken alive isn't an option.  The moment I surrender he does worse than kill her.  So I either defeat you here or I die or I get even sharper for the next time."

((Initiative: 9, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3 & 1
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
Float 3-3
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
FoB: 15+15+10 = 40 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 19+10-10 = 19 ))

Inside the Longinus's massive frame Lucifer sighs and shakes his head. Of course it couldn't be that simple.

"Be that as it may, it seems you've reached your limit. Looks like you have only the latter two to choose from."

((Initiative roll:  8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 2, 2, 1, 1 & 1
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Using 2 Mal Joss
Analyze Fears from GoS: 42 (22+10+10)
Cover Ground: 67 (17+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 61(31+20+10)
FoB: 41 (11+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 48 (18+25+10-5)
))

Sure, the whole battle was annoying, and she felt like a fly that was pestering something that it couldn't even imagine to reach. But like a horse fly, even if it was only a dent, it was still something.

Blue Fox snickers in turn as well. She relaxes her hold on the controls, and literally kicks in another gear. Glad to humor him some more, she was far from giving up, quite the opposite.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:54, Sun 24 Sept 2017.

((Gardener of Screams delays until after MTS, so go ahead Lyla))

Mournful Topaz Seraphim stays quiet, her ship falling apart around her.  It's being held together by sheer force of will alone by now; if it was anything else, it would've shaken to pieces just from the force of its own reactor.

"If you can be beaten, so can Yama.  If I can't beat you, what hope do I have?"  She asks.  She starts trying to pour the last of her power into a last-ditch effort to crack Lucifer's mental shell, but it won't be enough.  He can sense desperation rolling off of her like a foul stench.  "I have to do this- this has to be it!"

((Attack roll: 10, 10, 6, 5, 3, 2, 2 & 1.
all attacks against Gardener of Screams
Reincarnating Nine Brothers 3 chi + 1 Solar Chi
Strike: (42 flowed +20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)+ 25= 102, better blocked
Burn: (20+10+10) = 40
Disrupt toughness with stealth: (16+20+10) = 46

Add + 5 to all if Fears apply
))

There is a small break, where the two measure each other up, and for a moment Bluefox feels that she has to wait for her turn, being left behind as the slower one. Then suddenly he stays back, and she seizes an opportunity when it arises.

Benisuzume circles the other ship around, positioning so that its mostly surrounded by the emptiness of space, giving her more space to maneuver and leaving him less assistance, and so the blades once again light the void, digging deeply into what seems to be impenetrable.

One of them was going to have to yield, and Bluefox is not the one to start.

((Defense: 10, 8, 6, 5, 5, 4, 2 & 1
Float 5
Confidence vs QW: 18 +20 Confidence +10 AB +10 L/F = 58 vs 66, 1 Ripple

Attack: 9, 6, 6, 4, 4, 4, 3 & 3
1 Metal Chi, 2 Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
1 Chi on Inspire +5
1 Solar Chi, 3 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval
Flood 5 to ignore armor, reduce max Chi Aura by 1 die

Strike: 34 +20 Strike +20 Internal +10 AB +10 Longinus +10L/F = 104; Block -10; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1
Secondary QW: Flooded 23 +20 Inspire +5 IKF (Zenith) +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs +5 Fears = 78
Disrupt Footwork: 23 +20 Might +5 Breaking specialty +5 IKF +10 AB +5 Laughs +5 Fears = 73
Knockback (pull MTS to own Zone): 26 + 20 Might +10 AB +5 Laughs +5 Fears = 66 ))

As Mournful Topaz Seraphim's words dance on the edge of Lucifer's consciousness, he feels the Essence fed into them for the first time. It wasn't that the Abyssal wasn't fighting him, just that her choice of weapon was different. How much of it was genuine, was there something she was leaving out? He couldn't know. Either way, she'd made her case, he'd listened. It was time to move on.

His crown flares, striking menace into the heart of any Void servant watching as a massive expenditure of Essence surges through the Longinus.

"Yama has fallen before me once already, albeit as a pale shadow of his current self. He can be beaten, and so can I. But not by you, not today."

He reaches his left hand out toward the Abyssal's ship with an open palm... but no massive conflagration escapes. Instead, another massive spike shoots toward the Abyssal's struggling ship. Only this time there's something trailing behind the spike - a mass of tendons and demonflesh formed into a makeshift chain. As the improvised chain hook connects, Lucifer yanks mightily to send the hefty Bomber hurtling toward him.

"You've earned my respect today, Mournful Topaz Seraphim, so I will give you a taste of my full power. May you grow to match it, or perish in its blaze."

As the Abyssal draws closer, Lucifer's Anima Banner seems to grow ever brighter, searing, suffocating in its unbridled power. Then, moments before impact, it all coalesces into what can only be described as a miniature sun in the Longinus's right hand which is promptly driven against the Soulsteel chassis of that previously impenetrable behemoth of a ship.

The Gardener of Screams seems to dance his ship in place, only allowing Blue Fox the slightest of openings in his defenses.  Again, he waits and bides his time.  Then there's that familiar crackle of static-

that washes over Mournful Topaz Seraphim instead just as Lucifer starts his speech.  Mournful Topaz Seraphim lets out a scream of surprise and horror as her ship implodes on itself, a dark portal opening that no doubt shunts her towards safety.

"Kekehekhekhekheh... neither of you get that satisfaction,"  The insane Abyssal rasps, "We are so disappointed in her!"

((Lucifer, you can change your attack to MTS or something else.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:14, Mon 25 Sept 2017.

((Adjusted Attack: 9, 6, 6, 4, 4, 4, 3 & 3
vs GoS
1 Metal Chi, 2 Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
1 Chi on Inspire +5
1 Solar Chi, 3 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval
Flood 5 to ignore armor, reduce max Chi Aura by 1 die
Flood 3 to extend attack

Strike: Flowed 34 +20 Strike +20 Internal +10 AB +10 Longinus = 94; Block -10; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1
Secondary QW: Flooded 13 +20 Inspire +5 IKF (Zenith) +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny +5 Laughs = 63
Disrupt Damage: 26 +20 Might +5 Breaking specialty +5 IKF +10 AB = 66
Disorient Perform: 23 + 20 Inspire +10 AB +10 Manifest Destiny = 63 ))

Lucifer is taken aback at the older Abyssal's sudden betrayal, spending a second watching Mournful Topaz Seraphim's ship, previously impenetrable, instantly reduced to debris. The audacity...

"Disappointment? You have provided nothing but, to me or your masters. How fitting for you to only achieve something through betraying your comrades."

His voice is grave but seething, filled with utter disdain. The power surging through the Longinus had to go somewhere; might as well be the betrayer then. His improvised chain hook returns but a chunk of Mournful Topaz Seraphim's Soulsteel engine... That'd do.

"Demented Filth."

A blinding flash and the heap of rapidly unstabilizing scrap is charged with the power meant for Mournful Topaz Seraphim, then shot toward Gardener of Screams at the tip of another giant spike. Once the makeshift torpedo gets close, the conflicting energies of Solar and Void Essence cause a cataclysmic failure, threatening to engulf the Abyssal.

The Gardener of Screams has spent too much chi taking out his own compatriot.  He lets out a squeal of terrified static and whimpers before his ship is blasted to pieces by the Longinus.

The black vortex flickers around his ship, sending him... elsewhere.

"Good job,"  Battles radios them, "A little help now is appreciated."

Battles has been weaving in and out of the enemy ships, picking them off almost at his own leisure.  They'd never touch him, but it could take him a while to finish off those cruisers.  In the meantime, Kumiho's getting chased by a swarm of enemy fighters and a frigate.

"Shitshitshitshitshit," Kumiho curses, "It's hard keeping my essence up against these guys!  Someone take that frigate off of me!"

((Init: 8, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 & 1
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
Sheltering Water Intercession: 28 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 53
Waning Metal Protection Spell: 21 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 48
FoB: 16+15+10 = 41 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 14+10-10 = 14 ))

As Gardener of Screams's ship goes out in a massive conflagration of solar fire, the Longinus spews superheated steam all around to balance its systems. Lucifer's six blood-stained wings start wrapping around the Longinus, suffusing the Warstrider with a protective platinum glow.

"Acknowledged. Let's wipe them out before something else shows up."

((Initiative roll:  9, 9, 5, 5, 3, 2, 2 & 1
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Float 9-9
Cover Ground: 72 (22+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 55 (25+20+10)
FoB: 41 (11+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 43(13+25+10-5)
))
A small and very much disappointed "hmph" can be heard through the radio channels, emitted by Bluefox. How unfulfilling the whole show was. All the trouble she had put in the fight seemed to slip away from her fingers like sand. It was not really for honor and glory in the eyes of others, but satisfaction and accomplishment in her own.

She grunts at annoyance, and shuffles in another gear spinning Benisuzume in it's place as it readies itself for something else.

"Will be there asap," she responds to all present.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:44, Wed 27 Sept 2017.

((https://docs.google.com/docume...XQc/edit?usp=sharing))

The battlefield shifts.

Kumiho whips her ship around, burning straight towards Lucifer.  Her quick juke forces the following frigates to try to slew around to follow her, forcing them to bunch up.  Essence-infused rockets fly from Kumiho's interceptor, slagging several of their turrets.  But they have her in their sights, and they are FAST for such huge bulks.  The large ships flank her and bracket her, reducing her options while weathering down her shields.

"Fuckfuck, coming right atcha Lucifer!"

Meanwhile, the morass near Battles suddenly clears up as the third of those ultra-fast frigates bursts out of the cloud of opponents.  The Tamerlane has Blue Fox in its sights and it lets out a long fusillade of fire, the shots herding her into one direction and then opening up with somewhat accurate volleys.

((Defense vs Tamerlane: 7, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3 & 1
Dodge vs attack: 24+20+5+10-5 = 54 vs 50, dodges
Dodge vs attack: 25+20+5+10-5 = 55 vs 58, takes 1 ripple
Stealth Vs disrupt Dodge: 17+20+10 = 47 vs 35, saves disrupt
Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 16+20+10 = 46 vs 31, saves disrupt

Attack roll: 10, 7, 5, 5, 5, 3, 2 & 2.
against Tamerlane
Lashing Flurry 1 chi + 1 Solar Chi
Strike: (35+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)= 70, better dodged
Secondary Strike: (22+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume) = 57, better dodged
))

Instead of fleeing the shots, Bluefox turns Benisuzume to face Tamerlane and weaves among them, her speed still somewhat hindered thanks to the sonic disruption caused by Gardener of Screams. She spirals around the other ship, sinking the blades into the new target.

((Attack: 10, 9, 7, 7, 4, 3, 1 & 1
Float 1-1
Flood 1 to extend attack to Genghis
Flood 1 to ignore Armor, reduce Chi Aura by 1
1 Metal Chi, 2 Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
1 Solar Chi, 3 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval

Strike: Flowed 27 +20 Strike +20 Internal +10 AB +10 Longinus = 87; Dodge -5; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1 ))

Lucifer spends a moment reorienting himself to the battle around them, finally focusing on Kumiho speeding toward him with two Frigates and a swarm of fighters in tow.

"Keep going, Kumiho. I gotcha."

The Longinus begins what looks like an accelerated kata, making punching motions in different directions. With each strike a glowing ball of energy is generated, floating off into space with no apparent target. Afterimages of Essence trail behind the Warstrider's motions, multiplying the energy orbs flying off until the area is littered with dozens upon dozens of little starlets.

Then, a surge of Essence freezes each orb in place. Lucifer points his finger at one of the Frigates chasing Kumiho, and a barrage of blazing stars falls upon his target.

The new Abyssal frigate has legs, that's for sure; it powers up its thrusters and Blue Fox manages to dig into armor, but fails to deliver a killing blow.  Battles rockets past, dropping an essence bomb that digs into the Tamerlane's hull and causes its turrets to fritz out.

But that uses a lot of effort.  He's shot repeatedly as he speeds away from the group, the main cruisers having finally bracketed him.  Blue Fox can see his thrusters take one, two hits- and then criss-crossing black beams catch his ship, overwhelming the fields.

"Ejecting,"  He announces over the radio, "Jettisoning my core!  Blue Fox, pick it up and drop it off on Gaddafi in the next ten seconds!  I'm going to try to board Milosevic and access the databanks!"

The Hussein now has a new target, and the turrets on the ship try to track her.  Solid slugs of fire form solid walls in front of her as the beam cannon tries and fails to get a targeting solution.

Meanwhile, Kumiho barrel rolls to her right just as Lucifer lights up the sky.  The resulting explosion washes space with golden light and the Genghis simply... ceases to be; the shot has gone right through one side and seems to be continuing on forever.

Corvette group Sinan break from their formation around the planetoid and make for Blue Fox.  It seems all the other corvettes are converging on Lucifer and Kumiho.  None are close enough to really engage yet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:30, Mon 09 Oct 2017.

((Defense vs Hussein: 10, 10, 10, 10, 8, 7, 7, 5, 4 & 2
Dodge vs attack: 40+20+5+10-5 = 70 vs 61, dodges
Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 27+20+10 = 57 vs 53, saves disrupt))


Solid walls are solid, too bad she is quickly past them before they manage to get her entangled.

((Init is up:  https://docs.google.com/docume...jcA/edit?usp=sharing ))

((Init: 9, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 & 3
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
1 Metal Chi, 1 Chi on Glowing Bronze Mask: Opponents must flood additional die to extend weapon attacks into Lucifer's Zone

FoB: 29+15+10 = 54 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 18+10-10 = 18 ))

Lucifer gives a smirk of contempt as one of the Frigates chasing Kumiho is ripped apart, then mutters a few words and focuses, causing his protective aura to extend into a field of light. Locking onto him as he is would be like drawing a bead on the center of the Sun.

"Get inside the field if you can, Kumiho. I'll get that other Frigate, you handle the fighters!"

((Initiative roll:  9, 9, 8, 5, 3, 3, 2 & 2
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Cover Ground: 72 (22+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 53 (23+20+10)
FoB: 40 (15+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 48(18+25+10-5)
Shaping wave: core 54 (29+15+10)
))
This message was last edited by the player at 16:54, Sat 07 Oct 2017.

"On my way!" Kumiho calls out, turning on her burners and thrusting towards Lucifer.  She cuts the burners just long enough to flip, rake the Ogodei with a barrage of missiles- pushing it back into the crowd of fighters and annihilating half of them in a go.  The Ogodei's own fire is knocked off course, giving her a bit more room  Then she turns back around and moves for the relative safety around the other Exalt- but she doesn't quite make it into his protective field.

Meanwhile, the Tamerlane's engines flare up.  Battles' shot did a good job of zapping the turrets, locking them into place; it has no chance at hitting Blue Fox.  So instead it tries to ram her!

The Milosevic and Gaddafi focus on Lucifer with Battles down.  The Milosevic in particular starts laying down fire to restrict his ability to dodge their deadly beams.  The Hussein does the same for Blue Fox.

((Attack roll:  10, 7, 6, 5, 5, 4, 2 & 1
against Hussein
Lashing Flurry 1 chi + 1 Solar Chi
Reincarnating Nine Brothers 5 chi
Strike: (17+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)+25= 77, better dodged
Secondary Strike: (flooded 29+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume) = 64, better dodged
Burn: (25+10+10) = 45
))


"Okay, let's see who chickens out first," Bluefox remarks to herself as Tamerlane rams towards her.

Instead of dodging and zooming past the way bigger ship, she pushes more energy to her plasma cutters, and speeds forward, soon starting to spin like a drill. When the two ships take contact her front places cutters sink into the other ship, making her an opening into the ships intestines. It doesn't take long until the black and blue ship emerges from the wreckage that it leaves behind, Tamerlane hacked to pieces as it lights the sky with explosions.

On her way out, she speeds past Battle's ships core and snags it along, throwing it towards Gaddafi with deadly precision. Not paying much attention to the two ships, her focus has already moved onwards. Since Hussein took her as a target, she could as well do the same.

Taking some cover from the wreckage and ship parts that now cover the battlefield, Benisuzume appears in a cloud of smoke like an asteroid, hitting the enemy ship hard on its side. The blades skim the surface of Hussein ruthlessly.

And Bluefox can't help herself from feeling a little more cheered up as things are destroyed and set on fire.

((Minor on Hussein: Damaged Essence Shields))

The Tamerlane experiences a half-dozen simultaneous critical failures.  It doesn't just explode- the exploding pieces also explode, leaving nothing but the space equivalent of grains of sand.

She grabs the core from Battles' ship and flings it off towards Gaddafi.  If she was expecting a big explosion, she's mistaken.  Instead her sensors note it shining with red light and then shimmering to form the image of a supremely pissed off war-god, unbound from the sidereal's reactor.  The spirit disappears into the Gaddafi's superstructure.  No doubt it'll start wreaking havoc from within.

The Hussein is thus totally unprepared for Blue Fox's assault.  She slices and dices it, shredding through heavy armor to deal it quite a bit of damage.  It counterattacks with a spray of fire, almost wild in its efforts to hurt her- including a hasty shot from the main beam cannon.

In the meantime, Gaddafi and Milosevic aim their cannons at Lucifer.  The beam cannons- so familiar from the previous Nanking-class cruisers- glow a baleful black.  Their engines peter out and their essence shields flicker as they dump power to their main guns, and the next thing Lucifer knows he's in the middle of a storm of heavy beam weaponry and punishingly heavy slugfire.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:49, Mon 09 Oct 2017.

((Defense vs. Gaddafi: 10, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 & 1
Float 1-1
1 Solar Chi, 2 Chi on Eternal Temple's God-Armor
1-3 Chi on Chi Aura depending on result
Block Massive Beam Cannon: 34 +15 Block +10 AB +5 IKF +5 Laughs = 69 vs 70 (-10 from Sheltering Water), 1 Ripple
Dodge Primary Strike 13 +15 Dodge +10 AB +5 Laughs = 43 vs 75, 2 Ripples + RR; Toughness is 20 +15 IKF = 35
Might vs Disrupt: 12 +20 Might +10 AB +5 Laughs  = 47 vs 43, defends

Defense vs Milosevic: 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 4, 1 & 1
1-3 Chi on Chi Aura depending on result
Block Massive Beam Cannon: 24 +15 Block +10 AB +5 IKF +5 Laughs = 59 vs 53, blocks
Dodge Primary Strike: 21 +15 Dodge +10 AB +5 Laughs -5 Wave = 46 vs 61, 1 Ripple + RR
Hardiness vs Disrupt Toughness: 19 +15 Hardiness +10 AB +5 Laughs = 49 vs 43, defends
Hardiness vs Disrupt Strike:  18 +15 Hardiness +10 AB +5 Laughs = 48 vs 41, defends

Attack: 10, 8, 8, 8, 5, 4, 4 & 1
Flood 1 to extend attack to Gaddafi
Flood 1 to ignore Armor, reduce Chi Aura by 1
2 Metal Chi, 1 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval
2 Chi on Pinning Shot
Strike: 38 +20 Strike +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs = 83; Block -10; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1
Disrupt Strike: 24 +20 Might +10 AB +5 Laughs = 59))

The space around Lucifer is inundated with void beams and giant slugs; avoiding everything is all but impossible. However, with the wreckage of Mournful Topaz Seraphim's ship and others floating around him there's plenty of material to work with.

The matter becomes prioritization, then; a pyre of Solar essence distorts the massive void beams, causing them to inflict no more than a graze. The more conventional slugs find purchase - however, the Longinus is a colossus built to withstand such assaults and more.

A spray of blood - demonic or solar, it's hard to tell - flies from the Warstrider as the hits connect, but retaliation is immediate. A massive outburst of solar fire meets the Gaddafi's salvo halfway, giving at least as good as he gets.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:38, Thu 12 Oct 2017.

((Defense vs Hussein: 10, 10, 9, 9, 7, 4, 1 & 1
Crow Eclipses the Sun 4 chi + 1 chi
Dodge vs attack: 21+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5+20 (IKF) = 71 vs 71, 1 Ripple
Dodge vs Strike: 20+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5+5 (IKF) = 55 vs 53,  dodges
Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 29+20+10 = 59 vs 56, defends))


Maybe its the hastiness of it all, that makes dodging difficult, but not impossible. Benisuzume skips between the shots, suddenly stopping abruptly and then going the other way.

Lucifer is forced into a defensive posture.  The Gaddafi's main cannons, in particular, were aimed at the Manifest Destiny, and it scores a few hits on the weapon.  In return it tries to feebly raise defense, but to no avail.  The war ghost rampaging within sabotages some of the defenses, but sabotage means nothing when an Exalt of Lucifer's caliber is mad at you.  The responding strike all but guts the Gaddafi.  It's still functional but only barely so.

The corvettes close in on Lucifer and surround him, looping in to fire and then quickly retreating while the next one unloads.  There's Dragon-Blooded in Aldrete wing and they let Lucifer know with both elemental essence and foul doctrine.

"Avaunt, foul champion!"

"Die so that the world may be reborn!"

"Bow to the wisdom of the Neverborn!"

"May the Immaculate Dead guide my hand!"

"Give up, Lucifer!"

But the Jeffs wing is headed by Imperators.  Lucifer can feel their essence gnawing away at him as they silently join the rotating storm of corvettes to pick away at his flesh with more mundane attacks.

((Oh boy here we go

Defense vs Aldrete 1: 9, 8, 7, 5, 5, 2, 1 & 1
Block Fire Attack: 25 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs -5 better dodged: 65 vs 46, Blocks
Block Strike: 21 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus  +5 Laughs: 66 vs 28, Blocks

Aldrete 3: 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 3, 2 & 1
Block Freeze Attack: 23 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs -5 better dodged: 63 vs 41, Blocks
Block Strike: 18 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 63 vs 24, Blocks

Aldrete 4: 10, 9, 9, 6, 5, 5, 3 & 1
Block Poison Attack: 29 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs -5 better dodged: 69 vs 50, Blocks
Block Strike: 25 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 70 vs 27, Blocks

Aldrete 5: 10, 9, 8, 8, 8, 5, 2 & 1
Shock Block: 38 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs -5 better dodged: 78 vs 49, Blocks
Block Strike: 19 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 59 vs 30, Blocks

Jeffs 1: 9, 8, 7, 6, 6, 4, 4 & 1
Block Strike: 26 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 71 vs 62, Blocks
Block Burn: 24 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs -5 better dodged: 64 vs 10, Blocks

Jeffs 2: 10, 10, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2 & 1
Block Strike: 24 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 69 vs 29, Blocks

Jeffs 3: 10, 9, 6, 4, 4, 3, 2 & 1
Block Strike: 24 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 69 vs 50, Blocks

Jeffs 4: 8, 7, 6, 3, 3, 3, 2 & 1
Block Strike: 33 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus: 78 vs 43, Blocks

Jeffs 5: 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 4, 1 & 1
Block Strike: 27 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 62 vs 29, Blocks
Block Secondary Strike: 21 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs: 66 vs 27, Blocks

Initiative: 10, 6, 6, 6, 4, 3, 2 & 1
Float 6-6-6
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
1 Metal Chi, 1 Chi on Glowing Bronze Mask: Opponents must flood additional die to extend weapon attacks into Lucifer's Zone

FoB: 13+15+10 = 38 / 1 Chi :(
Initiative: 14+10-10 = 14 ))

The poor bastards flying inside his field have no idea what awaits them. With all of Lucifer's defenses at full power, the enemy might as well try to shoot a BB gun at the Sun.

Fire, Frost, Lightning, at least a tonne of bullets laden with various cocktails of Essence; all is shattered against the totality of his defense. The enemy, however organized, finds it impossible to pinpoint him in the field of blinding light and what shots do fly his way are swatted away like flies or ricochet off of the Longinus without a passing thought.

Of course, counterattacking against such a roiling armada would prove difficult; any fighter he snatches and tears apart is replaced by two others in the blink of an eye. Good thing he wasn't alone.

"Lyla, Kumiho - got the swarm all bunched up for you."

((Initiative roll:  10, 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 3 & 1.
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Cover Ground: 67(17+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 68 (38+20+10)
FoB: 40 (16+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 43(13+25+10-5)
))

"Roger that, Daniel," Lyla responds quickly.

Benisuzume turns in a larger arc, before enveloping itself in a cloud of essence and speeding the other way.

((https://docs.google.com/docume...ud0/edit?usp=sharing))

"Hold onto your ass!"  Kumiho jukes past several of Ogodei's shots, prepping her missiles.  Then she releases one volley followed by a quick second, more missiles than it should be possible for her to fire.  They pass into the cloud of corvettes surrounding Lucifer, exploding with silvery-white blinding flashes.  When all's done Lucifer is surrounded by a few scattered survivors of Jeffs 1 and 3, both Imperators.  The glowing hearts of their brethren surround him.

((Attack roll:  10, 10, 9, 9, 7, 6, 3 & 3
against Hussein
Reincarnating Nine Brothers 3 chi + 1 solar chi
Strike: (17+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)+25= 77, better dodged
Burn: (29+10+10) = 49
Disrupt: Strike (23+20+10) = 53
Disrupt: Toughness (20+20+10) = 50
Disrupt: Block (16+20+10) = 46
))

"I see you got everything covered there! Keep up the good work!" She hails Lucifer and Kumiho.

As Kumiho zooms in to aid Lucifer, Bluefox turns her attention back to Hussein swooping back in after her previous turn, the plasma blades lurking their way back to the same spots they just recently damaged.

The Hussein takes a long rake across its hull, buckling more plating but failing to do much to affect the innards.  In response the Hussein tries to knock Blue Fox around and goad her into coming in close with sporadic fire- until she's right in front of the beam cannon!  The beam cannon glows, giving Blue Fox little warning.

The Gaddafi's beam cannon, on the other hand, is spitting purple sparks into space and listing to the side.  The beam it shoots at Lucifer is weak, and the resulting cannonfire suffers.  It's not meant to keep firing at him like this, but the Dead cannot stop trying to kill.

Milosevic, on the other hand, is still in pretty prime condition.  The long volley of return fire at Lucifer is punctuated by a precise beam cannon shot- this one starting with a small 'painting' beam, followed by the much larger, deadlier volley.

The three remaining Exalts get a transmission.  "Battles here.  I'm on board the Milosevic.  It's not pleasant.  Try not to almost destroy it with a single shot yet.  Give me another thirty seconds."

"That's it.  I'm coming for all of you." A counter-transmission issues from ONYX SPIRE.  They'd heard that growling, exotic voice before- on Ceres.  Set Beckons, the Abyssal from Egypt, taken from one of the few survivors of the Arab Winter.  And, just like last time... "SET BECKONS.  And it is time for chaos to reign.

((Defense vs. Gaddafi: 9, 6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3 & 3
25 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs

Block Strike: 34 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs -10 Better Dodged = 69 vs 50, Blocks
Block Massive Beam Cannon: 19 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs = 64 vs 32, Blocks
Resist Disrupt: 16 +15 Hardiness +10 AB +5 Laughs = 46 vs 38, avoids

Defense vs. Milosevic: 10, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2 & 2
Block Strike: 23 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs -10 Better Dodged = 58 vs 56, Blocks
Block Massive Beam Cannon: 42 +15 Block +5 IKF +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs = 87 vs 68, Blocks
Resist Disorient: 14 +15 Hardiness +10 AB +5 Laughs =  44 vs 35, avoids

Attack: 10, 9, 7, 6, 2, 2, 2 & 1
Flood 6 to extend attack to Hussein
Flood 6 to ignore Armor, reduce Chi Aura by 1
2 Solar Chi, 1 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval
2 Chi on Pinning Shot
Strike: 32 +20 Strike +10 AB +10 Longinus +5 Laughs = 77; Block -10; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1
Disrupt Strike: Flowed 26 +20 Might +10 AB +5 IKF +5 Laughs = 66))

"Nice work, Kumiho!"

Lucifer's radiance proves too much for the Cruisers' targeting systems; locking on to him as he is, shining like the sun amid a massive field of debris thanks to Kumiho's decimation of the fighters, is all but impossible. The mundane slugs patter against the Longinus like rain, while the Beam Cannons are distorted and refracted toward nothing by his Anima.

"Gotcha, Battles. Lyla, Gaddafi is crippled so that makes Hussein the most dangerous eligible target. Gonna take advantage of the opening you've provided."

Just as soon as Blue Fox is clear of her strafing run past the Hussein, Lucifer gathers the Solar Essence protecting him and focuses it into a scorching beam on the Hussein. For a moment, the massive Cruiser seems like an ant under a magnifying glass.

((Defense vs Hussein: 10, 9, 9, 9, 7, 6, 2 & 2.
Crow Eclipses the Sun 4 chi + 1 chi
Dodge vs Strike: 17+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5+20(IKF) = 67 vs 58, dodges
Dodge vs Beam Cannon: 39+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5+5 (IKF) = 74 vs 72,  dodges
Stealth Vs disrupt dodge: 22+20+10 = 52 vs 51, defends))

The glow of the beam cannon doesn't quite manage to touch something that is literally just a fading shadow that has already zoomed past. It may had been a trap to the call of which Bluefox greedily answers, but she still pulls out the longer straw and pulls through all of it zooming past the enemy ship.

"Sure, go ahead. With that warning he is all yours," her tone heavily sarcastic."It seems we have managed to get some bigger prey back into the fight."

The Hussein takes a direct hit, the shot burning through the beam cannon and rendering it all but inert.  AS the ship starts racking itself from within, the rest of Jones flight closes in on Kumiho.  She's embroiled in a whirlwind of death, juking her interceptor and weaving through the shots.  Natural ability counts for a lot, and her time as an interceptor pilot has given her superb instincts.  "I'm okay, I'm okay, but some of these guys are good...!"

Meanwhile, Blue Fox finds herself at the receiving end of Sinan flight.  Two wings break off and burn for her with terrifying speed.  Only one is accurate.  This one has essence oddly similar to her own, no doubt a perversion of Dragon-Blooded essence; they're disciplined and open fire only when they can guarantee a shot at her ship.

And, by the planetoid, the floating platforms are converging...

((Defense vs Sinan 2: 10, 9, 9, 8, 6, 4, 2 & 1
Dodge vs Strike: 29+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5 = 59 vs 84, 2 ripples

((Defense vs Sinan 4: 10, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 & 1
Dodge vs Strike: 21 +20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5 = 51 vs 50, dodges))

Having put most of her focus on fighting the bigger opponents, the little flies manage catch her offguard. Reckless as always having spent all of her energy on dodging the impossible, the sudden shift in the size of her opponent shakes her confidence as the shots hit Benisuzume.

When the other wing comes for her, Bluefox is better in command, dodging swiftly aside, but just barely.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:11, Wed 29 Nov 2017.

((https://docs.google.com/docume...VUE/edit?usp=sharing

Minions can only cause ripples, not RR, so you're OK Lyla))

The corvettes rip apart some of Blue Fox's plating but they're nowhere near capable of taking her down just on their own.  Blue Fox's native essence insulates her, but a few more hits like that and something nastier-

- oh.  Like the platforms that are coming apart in sprays of metal and bone.  The bone coalesces around a figure that jumps from the Tsutomu, forming a great armored bonestrider.  Two platforms stick to it's shoulders, obviously acting as some sort of maneuvering jet.  The bonestrider immediately grasps the side of the Bataan-class frigate.

"I'M COMING FOR YOU!"  Set Beckons howls as the Tsutomu revs up the engines.

((Initiative: 10, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 4 & 2
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
1 Metal Chi, 1 Chi on Glowing Bronze Mask: Opponents must flood additional die to extend weapon attacks into Lucifer's Zone
Sheltering Water Intercession: 28 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 53
Waning Metal Protection Spell: 26 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 51
FoB: 17 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 42 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 14 +10 -10 = 14 ))

"Come then, Set Beckons. Show what you've learned since Ceres."

Lucifer balls his fist, causing some of the massive field of debris around him to gravitate toward him, then start rapidly orbiting around the Longinus.

((Initiative roll:  9, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2 & 2
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Float 3-3-3
Cover Ground: 63(13+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 52(22+20+10)
FoB: 44 (19+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 44(14+25+10-5)
))

"Well isn't this all a one big happy reunion."

Benisuzume weaves between the corvettes, finding a better spot to blend in with the other ships and the vast space surrounding them. The plating that was ripped apart is automatically covered by Bluefox's own essence.

Set Beckons starts burning towards the Exalts.  "Cease your sarcastic comments, Starcutter,"  He seemingly addresses Lyla, "They're as old and stale as the tomb!"

Kumiho has Jones flight bunched up, just like how she prefers.  She lets loose a wide salvo of missiles that all streak in all directions like a fantastic pyrotechnic carnival, obliterating all five flights in one go.  The remaining pieces help hide her from Ogodei's shots.

"Hey, Lucifer, more rubble for you~"

((Lyla up, Set Beckons holds until the Tsutomu can move))

((Attack roll:  10, 9, 8, 7, 2, 2, 2 & 1
against Hussein
Strike: (32+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)= 67, better dodged))


"Oh, damn, and I only thought to remind you of your own home. If you are already homesick, I'm sure your return can be arranged," Lyla assures with a smirk on her lips.

Her attention turning now more to the possible coming threat, she attempts to carve Hussein another one, just to spite and get rid of one obstacle on the battlefield. This time there are no tricks up her sleeve, just sheer brutal force.

The Hussein puts all of its energy into the entropy shields, reducing the effects of Blue Fox's plasma cutters.  The plate barely buckles.

The Tsutomu accelerates the burn and then launches Set Beckons in the general direction of the two.  Almost immediately it sends two slugs directly into the Abyssal's back, propelling him further just as he triggers the jets. The Abyssal rockets towards Blue Fox, raising a huge black khopesh- but that's not what he uses as a weapon.  He peppers the air around her with seeking missiles and light machine gun fire from weapons hidden in the bonestrider's chassis.  Several more rocket towards Lucifer, complete with an ominous chant that painfully dampens Lucifer's outer light.

"Ignore me at your peril," The Abyssal announces to them, "I am sand and storm!"

"Jesus Christ and Luna fucking on a daybed, do they all talk like that-"

"Young Lunar, your time will come soon enough.  Let the adults talk."

The Milosevic starts to act funny; the turrets wander in many directions before focusing on Lucifer.  The Hussein finally activates it's own supercharger, and the Gaddafi joins in.  The three of them throw a huge volume of fire at him, shredding all of the debris around him to mere splinters and sending them flying off in every direction.  Lucifer is bare and alone.

... Curiously, the Milosevic's fire also ends up wiping out the fighters around him.  Interesting, that!
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:51, Tue 07 Nov 2017.

((Defense vs Set: 10, 9, 9, 8, 7, 4, 4 & 3
Dodge: 43 flowed+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5-5 = 68 vs 64, dodges))

Even though the air seems to be filled with missiles and machine gun fire, there are several openings through which Benisuzume manages to weave through, the eerie black and blue shadow distorting and reflecting the ships shape making it harder to hit.

"More like sand washed away, and storm tamed after this battle," Bluefox declares.

Her focus is however mildly turned to the ships attacking Lucifer with all they've got. Her hand on the throttle, she is ready to move in for help any moment when the monitors turn red in colour. Soon enough her visor is filled with readings that tell of the current situation.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:22, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

((Defense vs Gaddafi: 10, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 1 & 1
1 Solar Chi on Jade Tiger Techniques
0-3 Chi on Chi Aura depending on RR, Toughness 35 (15 Base, 5 Zenith, 15 IKF)
Float 1-1
Block Strike: 20 +10 Longinus +10 AB = 36 vs. 75, 2 Ripples + RR
Resist Disrupt 18 +20 Might +10 AB +5 IKF = 53 vs 46, resists

Defense vs. Hussein: 10, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 & 2
0-3 Chi on Chi Aura depending on RR, Toughness 35 (15 Base, 5 Zenith, 15 IKF)
Block Strike: 17 +10 Longinus +10 AB = 37 vs 79, 3 Ripples + RR
Resist Disrupt: 19 +20 Might +10 AB +5 IKF = 54 vs 53, resists

Defense vs. Milosevic: 8, 8, 4, 4, 3, 1, 1 & 1
1 Solar Chi on Swinging Bell Defense
Float 4
Block Strike: 28 +25 IKF +10 Longinus +10 AB = 73 vs 79, 1 Ripple
Resist Disrupt: 31 +20 Might +10 AB +5 IKF = 66 vs 63, resists

Attack: 9, 6, 6, 4, 4, 3, 2 & 1
Flood 1 to extend attack to Set Beckons
Flood 1 to ignore Armor, reduce Chi Aura by 1
5 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval
4 Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
Strike: Flowed 34 +20 Strike +10 AB +10 Longinus +20 IKF -5 Wound = 89; Block -10; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1
Disrupt Strike: 26 +30 Might +10 AB +5 IKF = 71))

Lucifer crosses his arms to block the storm of fire leveled at him, but with his defensive spells broken it's not enough. Normally he could weather such mundane shots with ease, but he'd taken so much of it already - so very, very much. His ears ring from the cacophony of slugs battering on the Longinus, but finally he emerges in one piece - although the Manifest Destiny seems to have not held up quite as well.

Still, when the going gets tough the tough get going and he's far from disheartened.

"So you want attention, Set Beckons? Here."

Snarling as he scrapes the bottom of his Essence reserves, he surges power through the Longinus's own weapon systems and fires a massive beam of light at the Abyssal's Bonestrider.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:45, Wed 08 Nov 2017.

((Your init up))

Set Beckons is surprisingly agile in his bonestrider-meets-bomber, but not agile enough.  The beam pierces the bonestrider and washes out the targeting systems.

"Sand is blown back with the same winds that bring the storm!"

He's lost none of his bravado, at least.

And this seems like a cue to the corvettes... or something.  They cease their attacks and jet straight towards ONYX SPIRE, burning as fast as they can.  It's unlikely they're doing it out of fear considering they've suffered massive casualties.  More like they have something better to do.

"Hey everyone.  Clear of Milosevic in 5.  My war ghost is almost done in Gaddafi. And-"

There's a ripple of explosions in the hulk that is the Hussein.  The ship tilts to the side, bulges, and then collapses inwards as the black hole that powers its reactor sucks it to nothingness.  The pinprick black hole then vanishes in a pulse of Hawking radiation.

"Okkaaaaaay not far enough, I think!  Moving moving moving!"

((Initiative roll:  9, 7, 6, 6, 5, 4, 2 & 1
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Cover Ground: 65(15+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 52(26+20+10)
FoB: 44 (19+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 47(17+25+10-5)
))

"Sand always gets stuck in places you don't want it to be. Quite like you."

Indigo shaded flames burst out from Benisuzume, as she positions the ship a new, seeing where to dash first. In the cockpit Lyla turns one monitor to survey the doings of the corvettes, while most of her screens are filled with Set and the emptyness and rubble surrounding them.

((Init: 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 4 & 3
Using Blue Flame Dragon w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
1 Chi on Eternal Temple's God-Armor
1 Metal Chi, 1 Chi on Glowing Bronze Mask: Opponents must flood additional die to extend weapon attacks into Lucifer's Zone
Sheltering Water Intercession: 27 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 52
Waning Metal Protection Spell: 27 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 52
FoB: 14 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 39 / 1 Chi :(
Initiative: 28 +20 +10 -10 = 48 ))

Lucifer's been burning Essence in vast amounts all throughout the fight; it's time to breathe for a moment. The Longinus seems to heave a heavy breath as it spews superheated steam, mixed with flecks of blood, into space. As the Hell/Warstrider recovers, Lucifer chants and gestures to refresh his defensive spells.

((Round 11:  https://docs.google.com/docume...bMg/edit?usp=sharing))

The corvettes are trying to bug the fuck out.  They head straight for the Tsutomu, which opens up bay doors for their escape.

In the meantime Ogodei starts picking up speed, prow facing the main Solar threat.  It doesn't account for Kumiho, who maneuvers her ship between them and then unloads a prodigious amount of fire.  It doesn't do more than scratch the frigate, but it does keep the frigate at bay and keeps it from accelerating.

Set doesn't allow Lucifer time to breathe.  The Abyssal craft- it's clear now it's not quite a Strider, nor is it quite a Bomber- accelerates the last distance to get right up into Lucifer's face.  Quick slashes of the half moon sword distract Lucifer and pin him down, the speed and ferocity of the attack overwhelming Lucifer's style.  Lucifer's spells shatter as the Abyssal mutters vile incantations, breaking the spell before they can form.

"You dabble with those arts,"  Set Beckons chides him, "Allow me to demonstrate the finer uses!  And you, Starcutter-"  A grunt as he swings his khopesh into another furious blow, "- the Neverborn have QUESTIONS about you.  I'll enjoy helping them find the answers."

((Defense vs. Set Beckons: 10, 8, 7, 4, 3 & 3
Float 3-3
Dodge: 18 +10 Footwork +10 AB = 38 vs 68, 2 Ripples + RR, lose 2 Chi
RR: 68-35 Toughness = 33, Trivial Wound: Bruised Chest (Breath penalty)

Attack: 9, 4, 3, 3, 1 & 1
Strike: 19 +5 Strike +10 AB +10 Longinus = 44
Disrupt Footwork: 21 +20 Inspire +10 AB +10 MD = 61
Disrupt Toughness: 23 +20 Inspire +10 AB +10 MD = 63 ))

With his strider recovering and his spells interrupted, there's nothing for Lucifer to do but take the blows. He's rattled inside the chassis, bruising his chest but not much more.

All of his weapons are offline and his Essence is drained by the Abyssal's assault, so a flashy attack is all but impossible. All he can do is a half-hearted swing at the opposing strider-bomber with no real chance of real damage.

...But that's not the point. He grasps the bonestrider, pulling it closer so his gaze can be felt through bone and demonflesh. His voice is raspy, throaty and punctuated by heavy, winded breaths - but there's zero despair or disheartenment in it. Only menace.

"Don't get cocky, child. Two of your comrades, both stronger than you, have already fallen despite the armada on your side. Showing up when I'm battered and winded is smart, but your pretensions of valor are hollow."

Bone creaks and groans in the Longinus's steely grip, but before any real damage can be done he pushes the Abyssal away toward Blue Fox.

"You're up."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Fri 17 Nov 2017.

((Attack roll:  6, 6, 5, 4, 2 & 2
against SB
Reincarnating Nine Brothers 3 chi + 1 solar chi
Strike: (22+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)+25= 82, better dodged
Burn: (26+10+10) = 46
Disrupt Damage: 15+20(Stealth)+10(AB) = 45
))

"I thought you'd never ask," Blue Fox snickers in return to Lucifer.

Next to the two warstriders Benisuzume seems so lacking, almost modest and weak..if its natural ability to camouflage within emptiness is disregarded or that the plasma blades are always nastily shining out of nowhere. This time the ship and its driver make no exception.

As Set is pushed in her direction, the ship spins around him much like one would do pirouettes, the blades biting here and there, every nick meaning a small victory.

"Questions? Here is my answer," she retorts suddenly bringing the spinning to a halt and letting the cutters dig into the strider.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:33, Thu 16 Nov 2017.

"You're comparing me with a deranged madman and a wannabe goddess- both of whom have more power than sense,"  Set Beckons can't exactly match Longinus' might, but his will is strong.  He shows no inkling of fear as he scrapes his khopesh against Lucifer's chest, then allows himself to be thrown off.  The blade slips behind him of its own accord as Blue Fox scrapes by, causing her to veer off course- her blades only dealing only minor cosmetic damage to the bonestrider's structure as she flashes past.  "I've not gotten my power through age or simple luck!  But oh, to have both, like you two!  Imagine- can you imagine our blood singing as we duel through clouds of starsand?"

The Ogodei takes some potshots at Kumiho, who just jukes out of the way without too much trouble.

In the meantime Blue Fox finds herself flanked by the Gaddafi and Milosevic.  The two cruisers take this opportunity to try to pound her into submission with their heavy cannons.  Unfortunately for one- or fortunately for our heroes- the Gaddafi seems to have overexerted itself.  Or perhaps one of those cannons from the Milosevic hits the wrong section.  Within scant seconds the Gaddafi buckles from within and implodes, leaving a yawning gap of space behind it.

((Round 12 up: https://docs.google.com/docume...BaA/edit?usp=sharing))

The Ogodei starts picking up speed again, charging up the engines.  "Dammit, stay still!" Kumiho barks, "Don't make me start thinking I should switch to bombers!"

((Defense vs Gaddafi: 8, 6, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2 & 2
Crow Eclipses the Sun 4 chi
Channel 1 Chi.  You have a +5 bonus to Stealth or Finesse
Dodge vs Strike: 16+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10(AB)-5+20(IKF) = 66 vs 67, 1 ripple

Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 24+25+10+5 = 64 vs 59, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Dodge: 18+25+10 = 53 vs 47, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Speed: 22+25+10 = 57 vs 50, defends

--

Defense vs Milosevic: 10, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3 & 2
Channel 3 Chi: +15 to footwork
Channel 1 Chi x 2
Dodge vs Strike: 15+20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5 +15 = 60 vs 67, 1 ripple

Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 24+25+10 = 59 vs 52, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Dodge: 23+25+10 = 58 vs 51,defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Speed: 15+25+10+5 = 55 vs 50, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 13+25+10+5 = 53 vs 48, defends

--

Initiative roll:  10, 9, 9, 7, 6, 4, 2 & 1
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Cover Ground: 64(14+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 49 (29+20+10)
FoB: 41 (16+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 47(17+25+10-5)
))

One would assume that when two quite large ships give their all and litter the battlefield with bullets and such, that the weaker and smaller opponent would be caught in this net. But to assume anything like that is the first mistake they make. Bluefox was already waiting for this, and had readied herself. Her bluetinted essence slithered out from her, covered all the surfaces in the cockpit and turned itself jet black. The black essence found its way outside and embraced the ship.

To those watching it suddenly seems as if Benisuzume shut down itself, as all the light and life around it are drained. It's like a black hole that had appeared in their midst and had sucked the ship in itself. There was this absolute silence also within the ship, no humming, no drumming, no nothing. Whether the ship is hit or not, does not give away its location, as Bluefox calmly moves away, taking shelter in the bigger ships blind spots.

"If that was a request to dance, then let's," her voice sounds through the radios, without echo, without any distortion, as if whispered straight to ones ear, too close for comfort without actually being there.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:34, Tue 21 Nov 2017.

((Init: 9, 9, 7, 6, 5, 5, 4 & 3
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
1 Chi on Eternal Temple's God-Armor
Sheltering Water Intercession: 29 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 54
Waning Metal Protection Spell: 25 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 50
FoB: 16 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 41 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 17 +10 -10 = 17 ))

The Longinus hisses and whirrs, rerouting energy to account for suboptimal essence intake - but Lucifer's inner furnace is still more than enough to keep the hulk functional. His interrupted defensive spells are proven delayed more than shattered - something the enemy will have to keep concentrating on should they wish to keep the disruption up.

The Ogodei revs its engines angrily.  Kumiho fires off more shots but this time they do little than plink against plating.  "Hey guys, I'm not sure if I can keep this thing away forever!"

The Abyssal falls upon Lucifer again, slashing and stabbing even as arcane energies continue to disrupt Lucifer's spellcasting.  It's less a delay and more of a restart- but every time, the Abyssal's spellbreaking capabilities inflict more and more damage on Longinus.

"Don't attempt to whisper in my ear, succubus,"  Set Beckons shoots back at Blue Fox, "There are worse and greater things that whisper there!"

((Defense vs Ogodei: 9, 8, 6, 3, 3, 1, 1 & 1
Float 3
Block Strike: 31 +10 AB +10 Longinus = 51 vs 54, 1 Ripple
Resist Disrupt Toughness: 19 +15 Hardiness +10 AB = 44 vs 37, resists
Resist Disrupt Strike: 18 +15 Hardiness +10 AB = 43 vs 33, resists

Defense vs Set Beckons: 10, 10, 9, 7, 5, 5 & 2
1 Solar Chi on Swinging Bell Defense
Block Strike: 25 +25 Block +10 AB +10 Longinus -5 = 65 vs 58, Blocks))

Even though Lucifer's spells are shattered once more, it's not without cost to Set Beckons. The amount of essence and effort the Abyssal has to pour to the negation means the strikes themselves are less than optimal - a shortcoming which becomes apparent as the Longinus bats away each strike before grabbing hold of the enemy Bonestrider's arm on the final stab. Just as bone and Soulsteel threaten to start cracking in his grasp, though, a slug from the Ogodei hits Lucifer in the side, causing negligible damage but disrupting him enough for Set Beckons to wrest himself free.

"You're doing pretty well, Set Beckons. Wonder how long you can keep it up, though?"

((Attack roll:  10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 1 & 1
against SB
Float 10-10-10
Reincarnating Nine Brothers 3 chi + 1 solar chi
Strike: (21+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume)+25= 81, better dodged
Burn: (29+10+10) = 49
))

Benisuzume bridges the gap between it and Set quickly, appearing above the bonestrider. The plasma cutters are quickly hidden into the surrounding darkness, having slashed their way upwards upon passing the bonestrider.

A quick surprised laughter carries out from Bluefox's channel:"Woah, did I intrude your personal space...how rude of me!"

Set Beckons tries to get out of the way, but Blue Fox manages to cut into his armor- giving it a light slash.  But as she does there's a spark of malevolent entropic energy and the blades of her ship overheat, temporarily burning out the fuses!  Her sensors show the bonded war god working on the fuses, but it'll be a little bit of time before she can supercharge her blades again.

That's when the Milosevic lets out a solid storm of steel rain aimed at her ship, throwing slugs with abandon in the hopes of knocking her around.  The recoil of the shells further buckles the hull of the cruiser, revealing weak points across the ship.

((Defense vs Milosevic: 9, 8, 7, 7, 6, 3, 2 & 1
Channel 3 Chi: +15 to footwork
Dodge vs Strike: Flood 30 +20(Dodge)+5(Ghostly P.)+10 (AB)-5 +15 = 75 vs 77, 1 ripple

Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 27+25+10 = 62 vs 54, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Dodge: 19+25+10 = 54 vs 53,defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Speed: 18+25+10 = 53 vs 49, defends
Stealth Vs disrupt Strike: 16+25+10 = 48 vs 47, defends
))

Fuses being burned is a cause for many to retreat momentarily, and wait for the problem to be fixed. But for Blue Fox it was a small price to pay, and something that would just have to exist until further notice. It doesn't throw her off guard, and instead she just finds the battle more exhilarating with that little handicap.

Milosevic follows an already familiar pattern in its attack, which gives Blue Fox plenty of ways to defend herself. Having sped almost full speed past Set, she suddenly brakes and lets the whole ship just float in between all the rubble. The surrounding black shadows on Benisuzume push the ship around from the other floating wreckage causing the ship to move rather irrationally.

One stray hail of bullets manages to dink the ship, but for the rest she has already positioned herself to dodge behind Set.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Tue 28 Nov 2017.

((Attack Milosevic: 10, 9, 9, 7, 4, 4, 2 & 2
Flood 3 to extend attack to Milosevic
Flood 3 to ignore Armor, reduce Chi Aura by 1
5 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval
1 Solar Chi, 1 Metal Chi on Black Tigers Hunting
Strike: Flowed 29 +20 Strike +10 AB +10 Longinus +20 IKF +5 Laughs -5 Wound = 84; Block -10; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1
Disrupt Strike: 24 +25 Might +10 AB +5 IKF = 64
Disrupt Toughness: 22 +25 Might +10 AB = 57

Init R13: 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 5, 4 & 2
Using Vengeful Titan w/ Longinus (Massive/Ranged)
1 Chi to reduce Piloting penalties by 5
1 Chi to continue God-Armor
Sheltering Water Intercession: 29 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 54
Waning Metal Protection Spell: 20 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 45
FoB: 15 +15 Wu Wei +10 AB = 40 / 2 Chi
Initiative: 18 +10 -10 = 18 ))))

As the Milosevic unleashes its massive barrage on Lyla, Lucifer's retribution is immediate.

"That's enough out of you."

Amid the torrent of shells, a searing light erupts and makes every shell and piece of debris cast a momentary shadow. A single superheated spike arcs against the current of Milosevic's punishing output, instantly slagging every shell it comes across as it inexorably closes on the Cruiser.
This message was last updated by the player at 12:22, Wed 29 Nov 2017.

((Initiative roll: 10, 9, 7, 7, 4, 4, 4 & 3
Using Murderous Shadows (pilot) w/ Benisuzume (unarmed+saber)
Float 4-4-4
Cover Ground: 60 (10+15+5+10+20)
Ghostly presence: 49 (27+20+10)
FoB: 44 (19+15+10) /2 chi
Initiative: 43(13+25+10-5)
))

Momentarily the light shining from Lucifer pierces the shadowed veil that lingers around Benisuzume. Blue Fox' cockpit is filled with different shapes of shadows that are cast. She lets out a chuckle, before turning Benisuzume into a better position, the engines once again firing up, though circling the essence past the damaged fuse.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:03, Tue 28 Nov 2017.

The Milosevic takes the shot right down the gullet.  The internal sabotage and Lucifer's massive attacks are too much for the cruiser.  The whole system ripples and swells and then collapses in on itself, becoming a rapidly spiraling black hole that dissipates with a spectral scream.

The Ogodei starts glowing a baleful green as it overcharges it's reactor.  Thankfully Kumiho keeps it at bay with repeated shots from her main armament, forcing it to list and weave back and forth instead of lining up for an attack on the others.

Set Beckons does his damnedest, but he's still comparatively young.  He can barely keep up with destroying Lucifer's spells while still maintaining any sort of offense.  The latest slash of his khopesh has little force compared to earlier.

((New init up:
https://docs.google.com/docume...10g/edit?usp=sharing))

((Attack roll: 8, 8, 8, 6, 5, 4, 4 & 3
all attacks against SB
Lashing Flurry 1 Solar chi + 1 chi
Channel 1 Chi.  You have a +5 bonus to Stealth
Strike: (38+20(external)+10(action bonus)+5(Benisuzume))= 73, better dodged
Secondary Strike: (flowed 54+20+10+5) = 89, better dodged
Disorient Wu wei: 16+20(Stealth)+10(AB)+5 = 51
))

Encouraged by her little handicap, Blue Fox speeds behind Lucifer, the plasma blades cutting the light itself upon passing, the deep shadows drowning everything beneath it. Benisuzume arcs under Set, before bringing itself up and aiming for a few focal points on the Bonestrider. Being so close to the enemy, the sparks that the cutters set a flight are turned into black particles when Blue Fox essence drowns them beneath itself. Upon contact the shadows spread like a contagious disease aiming to damage him through the flow of his essence.

"You are suddenly terribly quiet, Set. Do you feel unwell?" Blue Fox' voice echoes in the comms. "We are happy to grant you a cure for that. It's called eternal rest. All you need to do... is give up."

((Defense: 10, 8, 5, 5, 4, 4, 1 & 1
Float 5-5
1 Metal Chi on Swinging Bell Defense
Block Strike: 24 +25 Block +10 AB +10 Longinus -5 = 64 vs 59, Blocks

Attack: 8, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2 & 1
Flood 5 to extend attack to Tsutomu
Flood 3 to ignore Armor, reduce max Chi Aura by 1
1 Solar Chi, 3 Chi on Iron Buddha's Disapproval
Strike: Flowed 28 +20 Strike +10 AB +10 Longinus -5 Wound = 63; Block -10; Damage +55 (15 Base, 5 Weapon, 10 Zenith, 25 IKF), ignore Armor, Chi Aura dice -1, Chi threshold -3 ))

It's not that Lucifer isn't winded and battered; he's just more used to stretching himself further and further at the edge of his capacity than his adversary. The extra split-second Set Beckons takes to swing is enough for the Longinus to reach out and grasp at the Bonestrider's wrist, halting the strike before throwing the Abyssal to the side as Lyla falls upon the enemy. Lucifer seizes the opening by firing a sphere of light far past the Abyssal, aiming to blast the retreating Tsutomu out of the sky before it can dock and create whatever trouble it's meaning to.

Then he turns back to the Abyssal.

"She's right, Set Beckons. You've fought well, but victory is beyond your grasp. The choice you're left with is death or surrender. Which will it be?"

((Battle effectively over, destroy Ogodei at your leisure))

Set can't fight both of them at once.  Running low on Essence and behind in strength, he can't stop Blue Fox from utterly outclassing him.  She rips through his defenses and shatters parts of his bonestrider, sending him into a careening spin that gives him just enough time to see Lucifer casually ignore him and splash the Tsutomu into a thousand large chunks.

Set Beckons lowers his khopesh as he tries to recover from the spinning momentum that Blue Fox just inflicted on his craft.  His Essence shielding goes down, his charms fade, and he lets go of the sword.  It's clear that even if he's not outright surrendering, he's no longer a threat.  "An interesting choice for a priest of any stripe."  The bravado is gone, instead there's a certain degree of gravity.  "There's a certain inevitability to this fight that feels... holy."
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:40, Mon 04 Dec 2017.

Benisuzume settles almost immediately on it's spot when Set lowers his weapons. Lyla maneuvers the ship silently so that she can see the two warstriders, both on screen and from the single window she has. He might've stopped fighting but that didn't mean this was all over.

"Kumiho, Battles, you alright there?"She reaches out through the comms, relaxing her hold of the steering system.

One last push.

Lucifer launches forward, latching onto Set Beckons's Bonestrider before gathering everything he has left for the moment; his Essence, the vestiges of his sorcerous defenses, the Longinus's heated systems... and launches a barrage of pummeling strikes, cracking and deforming the Bonestrider until it's little more than a coffin floating in space, although for now he's got air to breathe. Finally, unable to contain the power surging wildly through the Longinus's systems, he just purges it in the direction of Ogodei in a catastrophic flare. After that, his Strider seems to give out, slouching and spewing steam in an effort to avoid meltdown.

A few moments pass before anything is heard from inside; some might think of it as gloating or exulting in victory, but in truth Daniel needs some deep breaths to speak.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:37, Tue 05 Dec 2017.

Upon seeing Lucifers strider give out, she subtly veers Benisuzume on its side ready to act as a support in order to avoid any possible drifting or extra strain on his strider.

((EoB RR:
Lucy:  Manifest Destiny is Heavily Broken, a Major Action Penalty, Recovery 40.
Lyla:  A Trivial I don't care about much))

The Ogodei explodes in a vast halo of shrapnel, obliterating everything that's not Exalted in the general area.

"Hey.  Great light show out there guys,"  Battles tells them, "Floating... in space.  Yep.  Floating.  I've got my War God but he's tuckered out.  Can't see much besides the light out here.  I'll light a flare when you're ready to pick me up."

"I've got him,"  Kumiho announces as she watches Lyla move towards Lucifer, "Ready when you are, chief."

Set Beckons isn't so much a coffin as he is a... hm, a 9 foot tall man of bone, encased in larger bone.  Like a matryoshka doll of death and bones, hanging limply in Longinus' grip.

This message was deleted by the player at 01:03, Thu 07 Dec 2017.

Longinus thuds softly against the Benisuzume, stabilizing as Lyla offers her support.

There's a bit of a crackle before Lucifer's voice carries over the comms, indicating his Strider's systems are still coming online after a reset.

"Thanks for the assist, Blue Fox - and Kumiho, for covering my ass. Glad everyone's ok. Gotta save celebrations for later though."

He glances toward Set Beckons's Bonestrider, floating in space much like him - albeit even more wrecked.

"We've got a prisoner, I believe. Should we take him in now or focus on supporting the boarders?"

"I'll contact Jagganathika" Lyla responds and turns her channel to another frequency. "Jagganathika. Do you copy? This is Blue Fox. We have a prisoner, and are considering on joining the boarding team."

Just in case she does repeat the message again to make it reach the ship. Then she takes a moment to look through channels to see if she could catch the boarding team.

"Konnidan. Do you hear me? This is Blue Fox. Can you relay the contact to the boarding team?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:28, Thu 07 Dec 2017.

"This is Captain Magdeldrigal of the Jagganathika,"  The voice comes out loud and clear, "You're read.  Hell of a fight we just saw there.  We're going to allow you to take in the prisoner, but we can't put all of our eggs in one basket for the boarding team.  If some of you want to join that's fine but we'll need some of you here to watch over the prisoner."

"This Executive Officer BrokeFang of Konnidan.  Captain FistFoot is in big rock.  Can relay.  What message you want?"

A tiny red star glitters in the void.  Kumiho takes off towards it at high speed.

"Read you there, captain,"Lyla responds. "I'll do a survey on who shall depart with the prisoner, and then info you more. Over and out."

As for Brokefang:"Relay this:Situation's clear on the outside. Do they need any help?"

Lyla stretches her fingers and her neck, before continuing to talk to those present in the close by surrounding space:"Jagganathika is willing to take the prisoner in, but some of us should go along to look after him. Say 50/50. Any preferences? I also asked from the boarding team, if they want any help."

Daniel stretches as well, checking if there's a giant hole in his chest he'd failed to notice or something of the sort. He had a habit of getting a bit carried away and becoming oblivious to the extent of his injuries.

"Let's see what the boarding party says - Manifest Destiny's pretty banged up but I'm still in fighting condition. Don't want to mess things up for them if they've got it under control though."

"Relaying,"  Konnidan calls back to them.

"I've picked up Battles.  He's not in the best shape."

"Getting too close to a naked singularity will do that to you.  I can't throw down like you guys anymore.  I'm getting awful in my old age.  I can still probably babysit if necessary.  Jagganathika, any signs of them breaking through our interdiction field?"

"Negative.  It's working perfectly."

How much longer can we run it?

"Three, four hours before we start taking casualties from feedback.  And not the volunteers.  Six hours and we'll be a ghost ship floating through space forever, nothing short of the Neverborn will be able to board this thing and live."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 21:50, Mon 11 Dec 2017.

"Alright. Kumiho, get Battles and the prisoner back to Jagganathika. We'll mop up here and see if the boarders need help. You did good today."

The Longinus reboots with a slow yawning sound, starting to emit a faint, warm golden glow as Lucifer channels his Anima through it once more - preparing to purify the multitudes of the Dead floating in space after the battle.

He looks over his shoulder to the Agata serving as his thrusters.

"Hope you didn't get bored there. Figured keeping the enemies in front would be smarter in case an urgent need to move did come up."

"As much as I'd like to go wreck havoc and continue this little field trip with Daniel, I have to disagree on that, and say that it'd be better if I or Daniel depart with Battles and our package," Lyla suggests.

"I just don't want to risk anything in that end either if he..," she refers to Set."..Decides to do silly things. I'm not one for sneaking in groups anyway. Other opinions?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:37, Tue 12 Dec 2017.

"We're fine.  It is unusual to see such glorious displays of martial art,"  One of the agatae tells Daniel, "Though we would have felt better if we weren't covered in shrapnel afterwards."

"I'm pretty much tapped out."  Kumiho admits, "And I'm not much use on the ground right now.  Not without some major upgrades to my armament.  I mean, I'd get my cute ass kicked.  So I'm OK with returning to home base."

"If need be I'll enter.  But I'd worry about them just nuking the facility.  It'd be worth it to take one of us out, considering what we just did out here."

Lyla chuckles softly:"Sorry guys, my bad, I sometimes forget that all people have more commonsense and a feeling of exhaustion unlike us deranged ones."

Within the cockpit she momentarily lifts her visor and helmet to ruffle her hair.

"Unless we can send in someone undetected but its still a risk. But let's see what the team within tells us. Maybe they are almost done and we are just hindering their efforts with our chitchat messaging," she sighs and mumbles undee her breath. "..God I want a smoke..."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:40, Wed 13 Dec 2017.

"I guess. I've survived a nuke once already though."

There's a deep sigh from the Longinus.

"Still, if that's how they're gonna play it there's not much to do but hope they manage. If they do need help it's looking like you'd be the better choice though, Lyla. I'm not terribly talented at keeping a low profile."

The Konnidan's XO comes back on the comm.

"Red Star wants reinforcements fucking Sigereth's heavy cancercunt but Airboy thinks math is too bad.  More details when you show up.  Also Sigereth says she blows the game up if she tastes your essence."

"Clarify.  Sigereth?  The Second Circle Demon?"

"Well she ain't MY relative."

"Technically you're all related."

"Your mom's related to you."

Battles pauses a second and cuts out the Konnidan, "Sigereth's presence means she's been bound to the facility, both to protect it and to help with research.  She's likely hated every moment of it.  There's no point to playing a game where everyone loses.  She's probably bound by very specific rules but she's also likely developed loopholes."

"As I hate to turn down a challenge like that, its not worth toying and riskin everyones lives to meddle in with our presence," Lyla agrees.

"Guess there's nothing else for it but to trust the new guys, then."

There's a moment's pause - Clearly staying away from the action didn't sit well with him despite the amount of damage he'd taken, but he wasn't prideful enough to barge in if it would get others killed.

"I'll be a while, gonna cleanse what's left of the cadavers here. Plenty of scrap here too, if we want samples of their tech or just to scavenge."

"It's possible that one of us could enter, work without charms and focus on withholding our essence, and help that way.  We'd still be tough enough to survive and grant extra firepower on the floor.  The downside is that we'd be more vulnerable."

Lyla clicks her tongue.

"Well, I'm used to dampening my presence and my essence. But that aside they could just nuke the factory after finding out  my callsign just incase."

Momentarily it looks like the spaceship shrugs.

Daniel scratches his neck, glancing in Lyla's direction. "I'm... Not great at suppressing my powers, on the other hand. And I'm more recognizable by appearance too, whereas you're a specialist in stealth and muting your Essence. Looks like you're up, Lyla. Keep them safe."

The Longinus floats steadily among the scattered debris, glowing faintly as tatters of ghost corpus all around are cleansed and burn away in the Zenith's presence.

"Kumiho, get Battles and the prisoner to the Jagganathika. I'll be with you shortly."

"Konnidan. Blue Fox is joining the team. But just...use another callsign for me, just incase. Copy that?"

It was true that not much was known of her within the enemylines, but being extra careful was never bad. She didn't want her presence to lead to the death of many just because of a petty demon.

Then she steers Benisuzume towards the Spire.

"I'll promise to look after the kids, Daniel. You take it easy for a change."

"How does Facefucker work?"  Konnidan radios back to Lyla.

"On it." Kumiho lazily swings on by to grab the husk of Set Beckons and returns back to the Jagganathika.  "Hey, Els, can I suggest one?  Gyrfalcon had a list of anonymous callsigns just in case.  How's Diamond Sky sound?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:07, Sun 17 Dec 2017.

The sudden lovely suggestion tugs a chuckle lose from Lyla.

"I can't take a callsign thats already chosen by your guys," she retorts. "And of course, Kumiho. Though the competition is tough to beat something that ingenious."

She mulls over her suggestion. More in order to identify with it than to think if its good.

"Diamond Sky it is," she announces.

"Give 'em hell then, Diamond Sky. And if something goes wrong, call."

"Good luck.  Shine on, you crazy Diamond."  Battles radios over to her.

Lyla makes for the planetoid, and Kumiho moves into the Jagganathika, leaving Lucifer alone.

Lucifer spends some time purifying the remains of the ghost hordes and seeing if anything obviously interesting stands out from the debris before looking at the Onyx Spire, sighing and returning to Jagganathika.

There's more than a few shards of Malfeas out there.  But, interestingly enough, they feel... diminished.  They're mere slivers of his power, doled out to an unworthy few in the hopes that a slightly more powerful ghost will actually pose a threat to the living.  As such they equal perhaps a full shard of a more powerful imperator, like Cygnus, or...

"Eldest Lucifer,"  One of the Agatae tells him a few moments later, "You have been inspecting those shards for a while.  Are you quite alright?"

Floating in the void, the baleful green shards emerge one by one as their unworthy hosts burn away and float to encircle the Longinus like an asteroid belt orbiting the Sun.

...Anna. The failure from before his Second Breath, the librarian he never really got to know yet haunted him still - quite literally. Locked up amid salt and steel as a measure of mercy. Was her fate a reflection of mighty Lucifer's efforts as a whole? Was mankind not also caged in steel, hurtling alone through the Void, clutching at slivers of hope because he couldn't save Earth?

No. In truth, it had been like this ever since he'd put down the soup ladle and grabbed a gun. First, a vigilante with an elephant gun against the rotten underbelly of Los Angeles. Then a fledgling Solar against the world. Now, an elder Exalt facing the entropy of the universe. He'd always been staring down something much greater than himself, not because he thought he could win but because it was the right thing to do. It was his nature to rage against the machine, to not go quietly into the night. To push back the end one more day, every day.

The Agata's voice cuts through his reverie. There's a moment of silence as Daniel blinks, then sighs and pushes the thoughts from his mind.

"Yeah. I was just... Thinking."

He holds out his hand, reaching for the orbit of shards around him and focusing. One by one, the shards hit his palm and join the others with a brilliant flash of green flame, forming a single crystal pulsing with faint echoes of the dead Yozi King's power. He closes his hand into a fist, grasping the crystal ever tighter. The crystal creaks as cracks start running through it until finally it gives out and shatters, its nuclear essence fed into Lucifer's Anima.

"I'm about done here. Anything we need to do before we go see the prisoner?"

That makes him wonder, though. Did they have anything sufficient for an Abyssal? Cutting a ghost off from the Neverborn was difficult enough, but with the Black Exaltation...

"I would appreciate if you thought more in some place with atmosphere.  Breathing through essence can drain,"  The agatae seems to chide him, though Lucifer can tell it's the demon's own personal sense of humor- perhaps the finest little lilt to the voice takes off the edge of remonstration.  "There is nothing else, if you are finished communing with the Charnel King of Corpses.  Do other demons know you do this?  If not, your secret is safe with us."

"I'm sure some would claim thinking is much harder for me than breathing in a vacuum is for you", Daniel retorts with a pronouncedly deadpan tone. "I wouldn't consider it a secret, but some degree of discretion is appreciated nonetheless. I'm sure there's plenty who would get their panties in a twist over this, especially those with a chip on their shoulder about demonkind."

Throwing one last look around the battlefield and Onyx Spire, Daniel turns back toward the Jagganathika.

"How do you feel about it?"

There's a long pause.  For a moment it seems as if the agatae is offended.  Then it speaks up.

"That is an interesting question." He pauses further as he starts moving Lucifer back towards the ship, "You understand how Agatae are?  Our aesthetics?  This... offends our aesthetics."

There's another uncomfortable silence.

"There are beautiful deaths.  There are ugly deaths.  And there are ugly births.  A stitched together re-existence would be ugly.  Taking old into new, forcing it into new, unnatural shapes, is ugly.  Do you understand?  What is dead must sometimes stay dead, and in a way, though Malfeas's death was brutal and ugly, what has come out of it has been beautiful.  I am... uncomfortable... with your choice, Lucifer."

Daniel's tone is curious more than hurt or zealous.

"Hm. You're likely not alone in your sentiment and I respect that. That said - who's to say the shards I'm collecting are more to me than they are to the enemy - fuel? And even if I was aiming for a reincarnation of the dead Yozi King, would it really be uglier than having his shards continue to fuel the truest enemy?"

"If you think we cannot sense the essence of the Yozi-King in you, then you are mistaken.  Even if it is fuel, it'll have effects on you- and the demon world- in the future.  Make no mistake."  The agatae responds seriously, "And if you were.  Imagine the finest, most wonderfully beautiful food prepared for you.  Your most gorgeous dish ever made.  I speak, of course, of tacos, artfully arranged.  Now imagine you consume this dish.  Would your waste be as beautiful?  It's possible your waste may be excreted into a more beautiful manner, like Van Gogh's Starry Night, but the chances of course are slim.  We would prefer if the shards were... destroyed entirely. Or contained, then released before we finish our last jump."

"I don't mean fuel as in something that would burn away without affecting me. To be completely honest, I'm not 100% certain what my endgame is myself, but you did touch upon one of the top candidates right there."

Daniel takes a deep breath, idly watching the starscape fly by.

"From where I stand, eating Malfeas and shitting him out would absolutely be better than letting the enemy parade his undigested entrails around. However - you want things to have an end rather than creating something new and ugly from the remains? That's exactly what I'm doing. My main motivation for gathering the shards isn't to get them for myself, it's removing them from unworthy hands. He did refer to me as a prodigal son, after all."

A faint smirk forms on him as he recalls his brief talk with Malfeas.

Besides, from what contact I've had with Malfeas I doubt he would disapprove of using what's left of him for what I'm doing. And should it come to pass that I must fall... Well, I think nothing would do him justice better than what you've asked. You know how his shards normally work when brought close together? Just because it hasn't happened for me doesn't mean it won't. Bringing the Yozi King's true essence to the universe one last time is my nuclear option."

"Now we begin to discuss theology.  In order to understand, we'd have to enroll you into our College," The agatae responds with a worrying amount of zeal and glee at the notion. "We do not necessarily mean waste, but wanted to discuss this as a metaphor.  The byproducts, or the afterproducts, may never reach the beauty of the before.  Malfeas was beauty in his own way, as was your Unconquered Sun.  Both beautiful, glorious, eternally unstoppable.  Say you return Sol Invictus.  He will never really BE the Unconquered Sun again.  There will always be the little death hiding in him from the first time." 

The Jagganathika- ugly, spiky- looms ahead.

"A little ugly death resides in every single one of those shards.  I saw it, clear as the sun burning in my eye.  There is the glimmer of the corrupt and sick in it."

"I'm afraid my academical pursuits are limited to sporadic reading and conversations for the foreseeable future", Daniel comments as the Jagganathika slides into view. "I appreciate the cursory view to it you've given, though. I agree what is broken may never be exactly the same again, but I'm more of a believer in improvement via disruption anyway."

"Many would say I'm tainted for a multitude of reasons anyway, a little looming death is a drop in the ocean. Thank you for voicing your concerns, however."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:18, Thu 18 Jan 2018.

"How different you are,"  The agatae muses in his ear, "From the sun-crusaders of old, when every drop of demonic taint was sealed away in ancient tombs and guarded by old rituals."

The hangar opens.  Lucifer is guided in by the Agatae and dropped off in an area cleared by the crew.

"I can't say I was wholly different, starting out", Daniel concedes, "But even in the beginning I did realize that the Snake belongs in the Garden. Without sin and corruption there is no purity, no virtue, no justice."

As the Longinus's feet meet the floor, Daniel jolts momentarily.

"Thank you for your service. You might want to take some distance."

The Longinus might have seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut, but in truth the damage Lucifer had sustained was immense. Even though he'd managed to mitigate its effects by dissipating the damage and holding the whole together with his own will and Essence as the unwavering focus, he'd been on the receiving end of enough anti-ship slugs and void energy beams to annihilate a small fleet - and now that the time had come to break the whole back into its constituent parts, it wouldn't be pretty.

There's a discharge of essence as the Demon-Forged Champion of War shatters, rippling through the Jagganathika and followed by a tidal wave of blood more than a little reminiscent of the elevator scene in The Shining. By the end, Daniel is standing amid a scattered multitude of dead, dismembered or otherwise wounded demons and the area has a fresh coat of sanguine paint.

This is not a bad thing to the crew of the Jagganathika.  If anything they think it's an improvement.  There's a vast amount of cheering from the gathered demons, many of whom grab and dispatch the wounded or drag off the dead.  There's... not many to dispatch.

He's covered in gore and blood and his weapon hangs broken by his side.  Nobody makes any move to talk to him until he sees a Clamorous Cloud Arsenal wave a scythe with an assault rifle duct taped to it in his direction.  "The captain would like to see you!"  The cloud of weapons shouts at him.

As expected. No doubt dying as part of Lucifer's arsenal was a better end than many demons were going to get.

Daniel sloughs what little viscera he can off of himself, letting a pleasantly surprised "huh" as all of his limbs and organs seem to be fully functional. The elation fades as the Manifest Destiny proves less intact, however. He'd have to find someone to repair it.

"Right. Lead me there", he addresses the Tomescu absentmindedly.

Lucifer is led through the jagged, twisted ship, past a bulkhead with a shadowy silhouette of an immolated figure, and down past a messy mess hall.  The Captain welcomes Lucifer into her quarters with a quick wave of her hand, playing her harp with the other.

The Captain's quarters is a breath of fresh air- literally.  Clean and well-lit, it resembles an open-air room on a Mediterranean cost, probably Greek.  There's even the appearance of an ocean, complete with a breeze of saltwater from the windows.  Her music is a quiet, soothing tone, simple and relaxing.

"Welcome, Lucifer.  Please take a seat,"  Captain Magdeldrigal says as she glances at a stool, "I'm pleased to see you were successful.  Please report?"

Daniel takes a few mildly impressed looks around the Captain's quarters. He'd never been too dependent on comfort but right now he certainly didn't mind a bit of it.

"Wouldn't call it a success until the boarding party returns. I assume the prisoner's being handled."

Realizing his tenseness he makes his way over to the stool, sitting and taking a deep breath. The sea breeze, fake or not, was a welcome change despite the ever-present tinge of iron and sulfur rising from his clothes.

"Sorry. Not used to sitting down while the mission's in progress."

He heaves a sigh and leans back slightly.

"Engaged two Abyssals at first, Gardener of Screams and a new one calling herself Mournful Topaz Seraphim. Her style of fighting was... strange, singularly focused on defense to let her wield words. She was a lot more powerful than a fresh Abyssal should be, though. Apparently she's from a prison ship. Made her case about hating Yama and wanting him dead, but the Dead have her sister and are using her as leverage."

A frown persists on his face as he looks back to the strange encounter. How much of it was true? The enemy had every reason to lie, but nonetheless a curiosity lingered. And it's not like liberating the prison ships wasn't something he'd want to do anyway.

"Just as I finally breached her defenses Gardener of Screams took the opportunity to take her out - probably to avoid capture. After we shot him down we took on the fleet. Battles's ship was seemingly destroyed but he carried on. Then a third Abyssal showed up, Set Beckons. Showed proficiency with combat and spellcraft but lacked the raw power of the previous two. Whittled down the fleet while fighting him until he ran out of steam, then disabled him to bring him in."

He looks aside to his broken weapon.

"For once I'm fine, but Manifest Destiny took a beating. Gotta find someone to fix it. Anyway... That's about it. Lyla went to join the boarding team because the place is set to blow if they spot a Pre-Exodite within the premises and she's a bit better at masking her presence."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:19, Tue 30 Jan 2018.

"Take your victories where you can get them, but I understand." She says as she listens, "So we must assume two Abyssals temporarily wounded and out of action, one captured.  And I'm not surprised.  The Dead can't all be a monolithic entity.  They've got sentient beings doing their bidding, which means some of them have to at the very least hate each other.

My reports are that Battles and his ship's War God are doing fine.  He'll be back in action within a week.  He's not as sturdy as you are, but he makes up for it with flexibility."

The Captain smirks and strums her harp a little more, considering her next words.

"There are plenty of armorers out there, so I'm sure your weapon will be just fine after a bit of maintenance.  Now I'd like to ask you something personal, if you don't mind?  Do you recognize the sovereignty of a captain aboard his or her ship?"

"No doubt plenty of them hate each other. Their masters have far greater capacity for direct control over them, though, so any hope of subversion seems slim and any insubordination or infighting is susceptible to being snuffed out at a whim."

Daniel tilts his head curiously at the personal question.

"I'm pretty big on sovereignty, grunt or commander. So yes, a Captain is sovereign on their ship, but if they choose to use that sovereignty wrong it's going to be taken away sooner or later, from above or below."

He leans forward, elbows on his knees.

"Why?"

"I will take news of division within their ranks very happily." The captain shrugs at the thought, "And the Neverborn have been shown to disagree.  Take what we can get."

She strums a bit.

"Good, I'm glad you see me as not just a demon or a captain, but a Goddess in my own right- strange, how the lines blur now.  I've been speaking with Smoker.  I have to agree with some of his assessments.  You're being strung a bit thin, Daniel.  On one hand, I believe you should be placed on immediate bedrest and R&R.  On the other hand, I'm sure you're itching to interrogate our new pet Abyssal, and I realize you like to do what you like to do."  She looks over at him, "When's the last time you sat back and talked to someone who didn't view you as a golden god, had no reason to jerk you around, or didn't want to jump your bones?"

Thr amount of time it takes Daniel to answer is telling in itself.

”Well, Lyla and I sat down for a drink... Some time ago.”

It wasn’t that long ago, was it? Some weeks, maybe? They did have to go after one drink though...

”What you call being strung thin I call being utilized efficiently. My comfort shrinks against the backdrop of the survival of the Living.”

He arcs a look around the room’s serenity, leaning backwards and heaving a sigh in an awkward attempt to relax.

”I guess Set Beckons isn’t going anywhere for a little while so I’ll get to him. Look, I get it. Everyone’s thinking how long I can go before I snap. I’m not conceited enough to lie that I’m not tired or to not realize what eleven years of nonstop war can do to a person. And I know that while I’m one of the biggest hitters we have, the Living would make do for a while without me. But I ...  ”

There’s a brief, suppressed flash of pain in his eyes as he revisits the thoughts he’d had while scouring the battlefield.

”I mean, I guess it’s just that I tend to live in the moment, and any given moment I’d rather use the power I’ve been given for the purpose it was given to me for. I can’t afford to lose momentum or go soft because that’ll be the moment the Dead burst in and flush away the progress I’ve made.”
This message was last edited by the player at 07:28, Thu 01 Feb 2018.

"Mm.  Know what Smoker calls those?  I'm sure you do.  'Weasel words'.
 Bos taurus scat is still bullshit.  Or to put it in HR terms, you're suffering from 'presenteeism'.  You want to be used efficiently?  Fine, that means putting in some down time.  Your comfort may not mean much to you now, but in a year or two when you're shivering and just needing a break and finally snap?"

The captain keeps playing her harp even as she talks calmly to him.

"You know how old I am, Daniel?  Many demons are as old as me- at least, the smart ones.  The Neomah, for example, were fucking around trying to corrupt ancient Israel.  Asherah poles, hah!  Myself?  Greece and Cyprus, mostly.  I survived the Greek Heroic Age because I'm beautiful in body and in music, if not exactly in soul.  I met some interesting men, believe me, and one of them happened to be a Solar.  We didn't exactly have an affair."  She purses her lips, "I'm not sure I'd have wanted it to be an affair, either; mere sex can sully things.  We played music together for days at a time.  I was better, but only just.  You Solars and your cheating.  I still think about his missed notes and smile.  You'd know him as Odysseus, though some of the myths have changed and twisted over time.  He has this reputation as the trickster, winning mostly through guile and intelligence.  Don't be fooled.  He may not have your raw strength, but he had power.  Lyla is actually somewhat closer to him, I guess.  In battle he was terrifying, not just because he was a whirlwind of death, but because you knew while he was killing you that he'd figured you out hours before."

The breeze grows strong, bringing the smell of something delicious frying in olive oil through the sea air.

"Homer got some things right.  Like battles taking days at a time!  At the worst of our little fracas at Troy, Odysseus invited me to his tent.  This was pretty unusual, night attacks were common and I wasn't exactly welcome in the Greek camps, but Odysseus was a king.  Here I am, an enemy, possibly a spy, in the middle of the night, in a Greek king's tent, and we played music for a few hours.  Menelaus got drunk and showed up and tried to convince me to come to his tent, but that's another story.  We said our goodbyes, traded harps, and the next morning Odysseus slaughtered hundreds more demons than usual.  Then I was forbidden from ever playing in his tent again, which I promptly ignored, so I guess you could say the Fall of Troy is possibly my fault because I couldn't resist a proper ancient Greek jam session.

The point is that you can't assume they're going to attack at any time.  They'll want you to maintain that momentum.  That's how you get tired out and make mistakes.  It's what they wanted at Troy, just nonstop battling outside the walls until the Greeks would fall asleep where they stood.

And the other point is this- you haven't made a mistake yet.  You're strong, perhaps the second strongest I've ever seen.  I want to see you become the strongest, and I want to make sure you don't make a major mistake.  I don't think either of them will happen, but I can at least hope?  And that is such an odd emotion for a demon.  So I am going to order you to not only get some R&R but to find a friend besides Smoker to talk to, and it can't at all be about 'work'.  I want you in a healthy relationship, damn it.  So no, our reactor doesn't count, nor does the ghost you have chained up in your private quarters, and it definitely doesn't count Smoker since he's also badly in need of a forced vacation."

"It's been over eleven years of snapping any year now. And ten years of the Living being one bad day away from extinction. It's all started to sound like telling me to quit smoking while I'm standing in a burning building."

Daniel sighs heavily, then raises a surprised brow toward the end of the demon's little lesson.

"Look, I... Appreciate the straight talk, and the concern. And it's not like I detest the idea. But truth be told, by now I'm not sure I know how to act normal if I wanted to."

His mind is definitely dusting off old, abandoned reels as he tries to think of people to have a healthy relationship with.

"But... I mean, Lyla and I try to get together here and there to talk about things other than work. With varying degrees of success. Other than that...

...

...Yeah, I get your point. But don't talk about Anna that way."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Mon 05 Feb 2018.

"No inferences were made, only bare facts.  I didn't even know her name until just now.  All I know is that you have an Imperator important to you locked away in your quarters." She is quick to try to mollify him, "Lyla is a good start but she also has her own support network.  A healthy one, from what I hear.  May I make some suggestions?"

"She and I have a history. Not by a long stretch a happy one, but..."

He shakes his head.

"Trying to help her is the least I can do. Anyway, yeah, let's hear it."

"Ah, good."  She positively glistens with pleasure at his go-ahead, and the breeze picks up.  "Of course, I always have to suggest Nidhi Kapoor, she gets along with just about everyone, but that may not be your speed.  You need someone closer to you in power, or else I'd just suggest myself and a few young'uns but they'd just end up as- hmm- morality pets, for a lack of a better term.  I think that you and Sondok would get along famously, and I think it's a shame you haven't spoken much since Stone Place.  Goodness, you're a hard nut to crack... power always ends up isolating.  Ah, yes.  One more.  He's not as strong as you but he's an interesting one, and not one to be pushed around by mere power.  I'd seek out Ikon the Shipwright, a Demjen working on the construction ship Norfolk.  He's a bit of an odd duck, from the old Pacific, with a lot of strange hobbies."

"Nidhi seems nice, but I'm not sure we could do more than have confusing, if friendly, conversations. Of course I don't know her very well so I could be wrong."

Daniel leans back, frowning slightly as the list goes on.

"I wouldn't want to think I can't find a connection with someone less powerful than me. I despise ivory towers. That said, yeah, I'm probably a lot less intimidating to speak with if you're on roughly the same level of power."

He throws a glance and a smirk at Magdeldrigal at the mention of Sondok.

"You're not saying that just because of our affinity for brooding, are you?"

His gaze returns to the fake horizon as he chuckles faintly.

"To my understanding she hasn't spoken with anyone really, since Stone Place. Yeah, I could try and have word with her. Just gotta figure out how."

A curious brow quirks at the final suggestion.

"Ikon the Shipwright, a Demjen, huh? Sounds like a wild card. Anything more you can tell me about him?"

"You're not exactly wrong about Nidhi."  The Captain grants, "I mentioned Sondok, on the other hand, because she suffers in many of the same ways you do.  You two have a lot in common and you've fought back to back before.  I find it very odd you haven't made the connection.  Also, yes, you two are champion brooders, and I'm afraid that if you ended up in the same room it'd just be you two staring at each other for an eternity.  But if you'd like, I can set up an appointment as soon as you'd prefer.  She's not hard to summon if you know the signs and have the blood, and there are two engine crews I've been meaning to thin out for a while...

Ah.  Yes.  Ikon is a Demjen, but a most unusual one.  Of course he builds ships, he's built some of the best of them.  He's anthrophilic for a demon.  Spent a couple centuries living with the Polynesians and learning their styles.  As I understand it he's spending his spare time making a hobby ship- a large water-bearing vessel that he wants to convert into a pleasure beach ship.  Or something.  He badly misses surfing."

"I suppose one of the things we have in common must be the difficulty in reaching out when lives are not at stake", Daniel muses. "I'm not sure I want lives snuffed out to get me a date, though, even if they'd be culled anyway. Besides, I should be able to draw her attention myself - the bloodbath from where I discharged the Longinus can't have all soaked in yet. Knowledge of the signs should help, though."

He nods at the description of Ikon, though his brow remains quirked. "I'll see if I could check him out sometime I'm in the general area."

"Which means maybe, if not never,"  The Captain smirks at him, but then gets serious.  "Daniel, I mean it- this is not a date, this is networking and finding you better outlets.  I'd rather you didn't try to run around seducing half the Last Refuge.  You've already got enough fangirls amongst the young exalts, to say nothing of the minor cult of Dragon-Blooded.  But fine.  I'll try to find other ways to contact Sondok."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:38, Sat 10 Feb 2018.

Daniel seems genuinely confused for a moment.

"See, this is why I tend to avoid humor. I'm clearly not too proficient with it."

He shifts in his seat, wearing a frown that would be offended if he could get over the absurdity of the statement.

"Now this might come as a shock to you, but I haven't sought out any romantic relations at all since leaving Earth. And barely before that either as I've had better things to do for the past eleven years or so. By 'date' I actually meant 'arranged social appointment'. So I just might be able to rein in my wanton urges this time as well.

...

I'm quite sure I know nothing of this cult and I'm half-convinced I prefer it that way."

He shakes his head faintly, giving a half-amused, half-awkward chuckle.

"But yes, I'm ready to meet Sondok as soon as we find a fitting way."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:00, Sat 10 Feb 2018.

"I never said anything about romance here.  Besides, half-convinced?  Let me quote some of your own scripture back to you, 'So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth'!  I'll fix that for you.  The Dragon-Blooded were designed to be natural followers, of course, and they sublimated this into thousands of years of tribal tradition.  The Dragon-Blooded in the Last Refuge have become somewhat rudderless with Ragnarok.  And, well, you're the most visible pre-Exodite.  There are many, many, many young and fertile Dragon-Blooded who are itching to serve by your side, of course, and they see it as their righteous duty to do so.  Some in more interesting ways than others.  Especially those young Wood Aspects.

Daniel was so far outside his element that part of him wished Set Beckons would burst through the door with an armed nuke right about now.

”I... haven’t exactly been wantonly chasing carnal delights either.”

He starts responding to the explanation of the cult before wholly processing what was said.

”Oh. Well that doesn’t sound so bad, I mean finding unity in a common champion is definitely beneficial to the cause and rather than quarrel among who to follow it’s better to...”

Some rusted gears turn in his head and he leaves the sentence hanging, pinching the bridge of his nose.

”Look, you told me not to run around trying to seduce everyone. I assure you I haven’t been and won’t be.”

"Hmm, that is a problem.  Here I've been assuming you've not had meaningful relationships because of Celestial casanovity, but it seems you're more of a hermit.  Honestly, you do also need to get laid if that's the case, I mean, everyone assumes you and the Reactor have been fooling around for years now.  That explains an awful lot, actually.  Then I have another suggestion for you!  Fifth deck, room 513A, I do believe Kumiho would love to have a very frank conversation with you about unity with common champions."

It's very hard to tell if Captain Magdeldrigal is pulling his leg or if she's deadly serious.  Then again, demons- especially old ones like her- can be difficult to get a read on.

Daniel blinks. Then he blinks again.

For a moment he considers whether he should just shut up now, but in the end he decides to stick to his principle of honesty.

"...Just because I haven't put effort toward it doesn't mean I've been wholly deprived. But I maintain that my 'casanovity' is not something you need to be concerned about."

He did feel like seeing Kumiho could be a good idea - she'd done a great job covering for him, after all - but the way the Captain put it...

"... Seeing Kumiho was something I'd planned to do but you just made it sound questionable. Maybe I'll see to it after I've checked the prisoner is secure unless Sondok is available sooner than expected. Thanks for the info, though."

"I can't tell for sure where Sondok will be day by day.  For all I know she'll be present waiting for you by the door to the Abyssal.  Like I said, she's been a bit... sporadic lately." 

Magdeldrigal slows down her harping.

"Well, that's it for me.  I do hope you come and see me again.  I'd like for you to think of me as a friend and confidante."

Daniel nods.

”We’ll see. I’ll stop by the mess I made and send a thought her way. If you’ve got some signs to help with that I don’t know of I’d be glad to learn them.”

He takes a final look around the room and its relaxed atmosphere, stretching a bit. His tone is serious but not pessimistic, sounding more like an uncomfortable but honest disclaimer.

”I appreciate the gesture, Magdeldrigal. Be warned that the closer I consider someone the bigger the target on their back, though, even beyond that of a ranking officer. But I’ll try and visit when I can. Maybe you can tell me more of the truth about Odysseus and the company he kept, or other mythical heroes. Like the one you wish me to surpass.”

"Oh please.  We're all slated for death, one way or another; and I'm captain of the Jagganathika, so that means my chance of death is much, much higher than even you'd think.  If I'm not fending off the dead I'm fending off assassination attempts by my second and third in command, and then there's the death by paperwork they keep trying to foist on me.  You can't tell but my closet is full to the brim of unfinished forms.  If I open it up, it'll kill both of us.  I take it you're not into suicide pacts?"

"Depends, but generally not. I'm fairly convinced we're wasting our efforts on the Neverborn ships and Abyssals while the true enemy hides in places like your closet, though."

Daniel gets up, takes one more deep breath, and heads for the door.

"Didn't really think the warning would put you off, but don't brush it off either. See you 'round, Magdeldrigal. And thanks for the talk."

He dusts himself off - not that it helps much with his drenched clothes - and heads back toward where the Longinus was dismantled. It'd been a while since he'd consorted with demons from his own initiative.

Lucifer leaves the Captain's quarters, heading for the hangar.  There he finds most of the ships have been cleared out.  The Agatae have landed and are chatting amongst themselves.  There's a large contingent of demons of all types clustered around the blood puddle, lapping it up or chatting like it's a damn watering hole.

Which, well, it just might be.

Daniel pushes his way through the gathering of demons forcefully but calmly, holding a bucket scavenged along the way.

”Right. I made this mess so I’ve got dibs to it. Move aside for a bit.”

Unless interrupted he scoops up some entrails and viscera until the bucket is full, then signals the swarm to continue as he moves to look for a doorway with the right feel.

"Oh yeah."

"Huh, yep."

"Totally fair."

"But he's taking the best parts!"

"Shut up Keith."

This being the Jagganathika, ALL the doorways have the right... feel.  Jagged, bloody, a dark history... but what he really needs is one that would have, well, something worth protecting behind it.  That leaves a few options, like the Bridge or the Brig or the Engine Room.

Might as well cut down on unnecessary walking...

Daniel heads toward the Brig. Not only was it one of the more noteworthy places on Jagganathika, it was currently housing an Abyssal so it was certainly the portal guarding the greatest peril.

As he arrives, gory bucket in tow, he stops at the main entrance and takes a long look at it, then turns to the guards likely stationed on it.

"Here to see the prisoner", he starts matter-of-factly before continuing in the same tone, "But gonna try a ritual on this doorway first. I would appreciate zero interruptions."

Then, bucket in one hand, he dips the other to it and proceeds to paint various signs and runes on the doorframe starting from the bottom of the sides and building up toward the middle of the top. On each rune he splashes a handful or two of blood, giving the doorway and its wall an increasingly Pollock-esque outlook. Some signs he'd learned from Magdeldrigal, others from the Key of Solomon and yet others were his personal intuited variations of the signs painted on the doorways of Egypt to ward from the Angel of Death.

Finally he takes out a heart, the best-preserved and mightiest of the remains, then steps on the boundary of the doorway and raises his hand in offering.

He speaks in Aramaic. "Come Sondok, She Who Stands in Doorways. Pass not over this portal for Lucifer seeks your counsel."

((Learning for Summoning: 32+15+10+5 = 62 ))
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Mon 19 Feb 2018.

The guards are big, burly Firmin, much bigger than he's normally used to dealing with.  They nod dully at him- Firmin aren't very intelligent, from what he can recall- and leave him alone.

After a long time of preparation and what seems to be an eternity, the gate leading to the Abyssal captive turns jet black.  Stars shimmer in the background and a figure steps through.  It's been a long time since Lucifer has seen Sondok; she feels wrong, and he realizes it's because her hound is no longer at her side.  The huge axe and sword she holds in each hand barely touch the floor, leaving little dents in the metal.

"Lucifer,"  Her voice is a deadly hiss, "I am listening."

Daniel has a faintly concerned frown as he regards Sondok's different composure, but he gives a respectful nod nonetheless.

"There has been widespread concern for your status since the Ambush at Stone Place. Captain Magdeldrigal went for two birds with one stone by suggesting I contact you."

He pauses for a moment. What exactly was he supposed to talk about? Talking to Sondok seemed like a good idea coming from Magdeldrigal's mouth, but now that they were here...

"Battle's done for my part. Captured an Abyssal. Figured you, like me, might be interested in a word with him."

"I am a bird, that stones are to be thrown at Me?"  She responds with a faint tinge of acid to her voice, "A lesser demon feels... concern for My well being?  And what is the other bird that must be slain?  What is cause for such presumption?"

Sondok glances behind her.  That's also odd.  In the little he's ever interacted with her, she's never, ever given Lucifer the feeling that her neck could rotate beyond staring right at someone.  Door guards, after all, don't look back.

"And what would I want to hear from a chosen of the Dead?  Their words are worse than poison, Lucifer."

Eh. No sense beating around the bush.

"Myself. The good Captain's concern lies in me losing my sanity to Superman syndrome and she figured we would find common ground."

Daniel shrugs, although his expression says he doesn't exactly disagree with the notion.

"Both of us have lost much to the Neverborn. Set Beckons, while an Exodite, has been around longer than many of the Void-Tainted. He may know something of value to us, or at least the Living in general. If you don't care for it I can do it later myself, though."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:54, Thu 22 Feb 2018.

"I've read Superman.  Facile, shoddy work." She responds, "The human condition is more in line with that of his nemesis.  Regardless.  She's not incorrect.  We do have more in common than with most.

Except for hearing what the Abyssal has to say.  What can he say that we don't already know?  The Dead try to kill us at every turn?  The Neverborn bay at our heels like jackals?  They still cannot match our prowess?"

Daniel scoffs. "The quality of Superman we can both agree on. I actually hold a particular distaste due to the frequency with which I get compared to that drivel."

He crosses his arms over his chest, facing the elder Demon as one would a respected colleague.

"We know the basics of what the Dead aim for; what we don't know are the details. New Abyssals are being created at their prison ships and while they cannot match us yet their progress is accelerating. Finding the location of any of the larger ships could deny the Dead of a sizable chunk of resources they hold a finite amount of."

He glances where Sondok had glanced before, uncrossing his arms.

"The struggle we're locked in, while relentless, is not static or without end. To become routinized is to lower one's awareness; to become jaded is to restrain yourself. Beyond every crisis and tragedy is a prolonged war of attrition on the souls of the Living, and becoming numb to or disinterested about it is to step toward the Void."

Returning his gaze to meet Sondok's, he exhales and rolls a shoulder.

"Still, there's no guarantee Set Beckons actually knows anything worthwhile. I'll get to him later. Not like he's going anywhere."

"You have only yourself to blame.  Don't think I didn't see what happened in Seattle.  That was Superman style, at his peak, except I believe Superman would not have ended up in the hospital bed, reading emails from Sidereals."  She tilts her head, much like a dog would when looking at something confusing; "So you say.  Accelerating progress, now, where have I seen that before?  Perhaps when I first encountered Yama, who exalted just after you, but yet is similar in strength?  Or when I perceived the Gardener of Screams, exalted weeks after Jess, fighting her to a standstill?  We got the head start.  Now they are catching up.  That is how it's always been, even far before Ragnarok.  I am not numb, or disinterested.  This is business as usual to Me.  I have fought them at the doors of creation, since before your kind could fit two twigs together to make a crude shack."

Her eyes shimmer black, white stars within shimmering, guttering, ageless...

"So why would you wait, then?  Am I so interesting?"

Daniel tilts his head slightly himself.

"I know why the comparisons are made, but I will not change what I am to avoid comparison with a juvenile interpretation of heroism. I must admit I was not aware you followed my doings before Ragnarök that closely, though."

He takes a second to formulate a response to the ageless demon's last question.

"Interesting? Certainly. But that's a bit beside the point. I'm not that optimistic about finding out much from the interrogation and I'm not pressed for time to do it, while I consider your time valuable by default."

Something in Sondok's words had clearly made him think. Daniel cups an elbow in one hand while scratching his jaw with the other, frowning.

"Perhaps that's both the key difference and similarity between us. We are sentinels by nature, fundamentally opposed to the Void at our core and opposing it because of what we are at every turn. But for you this nature has been set since time immemorial, whereas I've grown into it and taken the mantle by choice. Kind of like a platonic ideal and a modern interpretation of it."

He shoots an inquisitive look at the starscapes in Sondok's eyes.

"It's not just about the elder Abyssals. One Abyssal I just clashed with, calling herself Mournful Topaz Seraphim, was markedly fresher than Gardener of Screams yet a match for him in raw power. There are always prodigies, I suppose, but I get a distinct feeling the Neverborn are somehow getting the hang of bestowing the Black Exaltation better the further we go."

"I am the Warden Soul of Ligier, the Fetich Soul of Malfeas, Sondok, She-Who-Stands-In-Doorways.  I did not have to... follow... your doings.  When you were wounded, and lying in your bed, have you wondered why none of the Dead tried to follow up on their attack?  You were the most dangerous thing in the world that needed guarding.  Did you think I really wouldn't be there?"

She listens to him and nods.

"There is disequilibrium, and they are twisting it to their advantage.  Usually there has never been this great a disparity in power between exalts- probably because upon the death of Sol Invictus and Malfeas, a great amount of power was released.  Imagine, if you will, the deaths of two titans who have withheld power for future exaltations to use against each other, and now they're dead.  The power doesn't just go away.  The Neverborn took some, yes, this is true, but the rest of it flies, like to like, birds to birds, dogs to dogs." She informs him, "The Neverborn could never manifest in reality until almost every soul is dead.  So, for every reaction, an equal and opposite reaction.  The servants of the Neverborn naturally grow to meet you, and are bolstered by power stolen from their opponents. The Neverborn no longer need to horde their strength against unexpected ripostes.  You can expect more like her."

Daniel considers for a moment, then makes a little nod of understanding. "Well, when you put it that way... I won't get into the semantics of following versus standing guard nearby, and it's not of much consequence regardless. Instead I will thank you for your vigil."

He listens to Sondok's explanation intently, nodding here and there in agreement.

"I agree with your assessment. The Neverborn have more power to impart - and the prison ships they control allow for conditioning mortals for the Black Exaltation on a very different scale from Earth."

He scratches the back of his head thoughtfully.

"It's not all bad, though. While on Earth the Neverborn had to work with less power and less influence on the world, they had more time for choosing and preparing their Abyssals. While the Abyssals' power rises, their personalities and devotion are beginning to mix. Whereas on Earth the Dead may have as well been a monolithic entity, their rapid creation of Abyssals during and after Ragnarök may well prove to be a strategic weakness in the form of division."

"To me there's a rather large difference.  Still."  She nods at him, "It wasn't the first time I've guarded a Solar.

We know they have prison ships.  They'll need to do this not only for the Black Exaltation but to breed ghosts.  There are charms that allow them to extract multiple ghosts from one soul, something unnecessary against one such as you but deadly to a normal mortal.  However, I am NOT heartened by an individualistic Abyssal.  This could mean... initiative.  Drive.  Or the progression to something... worse."

She stares at him.  Sol, but that stare isn't like something he's dealt with before, and he's dealt with a lot.

"Like you."

Daniel nods in response.

"I've heard of the ghost farming in the prison ships - another reason to liberate them when we get the chance, as if we needed any more. And yes, the potential for division is just a silver lining to the dark storm cloud of stronger, more individualistic Abyssals."

The he gets the stare. By now fear of facing anyone was a foreign concept to him, but there was something in the demon's gaze that he couldn't name. Something he could feel burrowing through his skull, cold claws on his heart. But it wasn't menace, at least not just that. His brow furrows as he meets the gaze, tilting his head faintly.

"I could interpret that in quite a few different ways so I'll have to ask you to elaborate."

"A composite,"  She draws the 's' out in a long hiss, "Or, perhaps, progression.  Apotheosis.  In the absence of the patron, the rise of the indentured.  You batten on the strength of Malfeas and Sol and have become.... different... in my eyes.  Who's to say that one of their own couldn't kill a Neverborn with time and power, taking its power into themselves, in addition to the power stolen from the Celestials?"

"That power isn't yours."

Daniel is silent for a long while as Sondok speaks. He crosses his arms, his gaze wandering from Sondok's stare to nowhere in particular as he ponders. Finally he speaks, his tone signifying he's still formulating his stance on the matter but confident nonetheless.

"It is true I might blur the lines between types of Chosen", he admits, "But it is a new age. Perhaps the only line that matters now is that between the Living and the Dead."

Lucifer is given pause by Sondok's latest words. After a moment he shrugs, though.

"Malfeas's or Sol's power? One could argue neither is mine. The latter was given to me without supplication, the former I've ripped from the hands of the unworthy. Yet Sol's power belongs with the righteous, and Malfeas's with the wrathful king. Am I not both? Do I not use these powers for purposes that Ignis Divine and the Yozi King would approve of? The power may not be 'mine', but it is mine to wield and inseparable from me so the difference is philosophical. And yet, were I not me, would these powers ever have come together? There is more to me than an amalgamation of Sol and Malfeas, the man I was before who still remains at the core."

There's a definite ardor to his words, but it is more than blind dogma from a zealot. After the fall of Sol he'd had to toil over the matter quite a bit.

"But yes, there is potential for much that was thought impossible before, and now that goes for the enemy as well. For better and for worse."

"Sol's power is yours.  Take heart.  If he didn't want you to have that, then you wouldn't have had it."  She answers him, "And it is true you spoke to my Lord within the heart of a star.  I can still see the marks of His fingertips on your neck.  But that doesn't mean He would have wanted you to take that unto yourself when there are alternatives."

Sondok steps towards him, "Touch Me and grant me the fragments of His power.  I am one of his last Souls.  His fragments belong to Me.  They are a part of Me.  I long to be reunited with them."

There's a faint... awkwardness on Daniel's face at the mention of Sol's power. Not embarrassment, but rather knowing what he's about to say could be misconstrued easily. Well, not like Sondok was exactly the icon of tactfulness either.

"Whether or not I deserve my power, or if it even belongs to me in the first place, is secondary to me. What matters is that it's used as well as possible for the cause of the Living."

As Sondok steps closer, he inhales deeply and crosses his arms, meeting the imposing demoness's gaze firmly.

"Your request is well-founded. Your claim to your progenitor's remains is legitimate. You are among the foremost warriors of the Living and I see your sacrifices and losses weighing on you. Yet I will not hand the shards over just yet."

He sighs heavily, shaking his head faintly before resuming eye contact.

"I will not presume what you've done with your time, Sondok, but you have been elusive and I must know the investiture is wise. If, like with my hospital stay, your efforts have merely gone unnoticed, I would hear it - and, once restored, I would have a promise of your active involvement."

"I have been crippled since Stone Place," She tells him, "And My work is... limited... to the policing of the Last Refuge.  There are many spies.  Dark workers.  People who have tried to force the doors of the Neomah ghetto.  But without Biryu I am lesser.  Biryu cannot be restored to me as I am now."

This admission seems to cause her physical pain.  The Deathlord had targeted her dog-soul first at Stone Place.

"Who are you to decide that I am not to have them?  If you do not, I will discuss this with the other demons of the Last Refuge, greater and lesser."

Although he clearly sympathizes for Sondok's loss, Daniel remains firm.

"I am Lucifer, and my task is to do what's best for the Living. I have no doubt you would make good use of Malfeas's power, but would you make the best? You are one of the last worthy inheritors, but you are not the only one. Perhaps Michael could use it for more useful improvements to the Last Refuge, perhaps The Red Queen would use it to make a flagship that turns a critical battle to the favor of the Living."

He uncrosses his arms, spreading them slightly in a conciliatory gesture.

"Know that I have no intention of withholding these shards from their kin for myself, Sondok. So far I've merely been collecting them, knowing their worth but unsure of their ultimate purpose. You have provided a worthy option, but for once I believe I should consider before acting. Perhaps I have enough to fill several needs. Now that the need is made apparent I assure you I will not delay."

Sondok hefts her axe up with an arm, "And I am Sondok, Warden Soul of Ligier, fetich soul of Malfeas.  My job is to guard Ligier and Malfeas as best as I am able.  It seems our tasks are at cross purposes."  Her face twitches, "Does Core know?"

"I have not yet brought the matter up with him but I wouldn't be surprised if he knew regardless. My intent is to contact him as soon as I get the opportunity and get his input on the matter."

Daniel glances at Sondok's hefted axe before returning to face her.

"Or do you not consider him suitable to have a say in the matter?"

"... He may have a better say than either of us."  Sondok admits, lowering her axe, "More than either of us combined, in actuality.  I would still prefer to be there during the conversation."

Daniel nods.

”I’m glad you understand. Of course you may join. We could try reaching him right away if you’d like - this ship should have the necessary equipment somewhere - or if you prefer I can summon you when I get in touch with him. Should be when I get back to my quarters in the Last Refuge at the latest.”
This message was last edited by the player at 00:44, Tue 06 Mar 2018.

"When you reach the Last Refuge.  Core is too busy to take our calls about these matters.  But I am always by his side,  one way or another, even if he doesn't know it." She tells him, "And I had considerable difficulty reaching this doorway.  Space here is... wrong.  I may not have the energy to return to the Last Refuge as we are now."

"We seem to have different views about Core's priorities or capabilities, but as you wish. So you'll accompany me to the Last Refuge the old-fashioned way?"

"That may be necessary.  I don't know why it took so much Essence.  I don't feel I have enough in My weakened state."  She turns to look at the doorway behind her.  "I think I may be missing quite a bit within the Last Refuge.  I will be upset if anything happens to My charges while I am missing."

Daniel has a momentary troubled expression as the discussion he'd had with Captain Magdeldrigal mere moments ago plays back in his head. Well, teaching was the best way to learn, wasn't it?

"My first guess would've been the unnatural geometry of this place, but I don't think demonic architecture should be a hindrance to you. It could have to do with the Abyssal onboard, as he demonstrated aptitude in Sorcery - or Necromancy, more likely. Nonetheless, if you expended what little you have left to return now, you would risk being unable to perform your duty regardless - and be vulnerable to assassination."

He shrugs faintly.

"For now it seems you only really have one choice. Preserving yourself is part of your duty. We will depart for the Last Refuge and contact Michael as soon as we can."

"And how soon is that?"  Sondok asks, "I recognize this as the Jagganathika, but what are we doing out in these wastes?  Aside from catching Abyssals."

"As soon as the mission's done. This is some sort of factory complex of the Dead, run by rogue Dragon-Blooded calling themselves the Immaculate Order. They have demonstrably made some significant breakthroughs and Jess, who was sent to investigate, went MIA, so we warped in and..."

There's a moment of realization.

"...Put up an experimental field to prevent reinforcements from warping in. On second thought, that must be what caused your difficulty as well."

He sighs. "We should be able to confirm that soon enough. We destroyed their fleet but the complex itself is still being infiltrated by a few Exodites and an undercover Lyla. The difficulty is in Sigereth - who has apparently been bound as a protector to the facility - being instructed to blow the entire complex up if Pre-Exodites are detected within the premises."

"Sigereth.  The Player of Games."  The disdain practically drips from Sondok's voice- she isn't one for games.  "A good thing you have that field, then.  I have no doubt she has hundreds of ships lying in reserve- but even she couldn't have foreseen a way to completely stop a warp.  But she is no friend to the Dead.  She must have written in dozens of small loopholes, or has been adjusting for their presence within this facility in a way to fulfill her binding as well as assist them.  To her, a binding is a game to be played."

"No doubt. Let's hope it works in our favor. Maybe she'll even be able to be freed and join us. Got anything specific in mind the infiltration team would benefit from knowing?"

He glances to the corridor.

"So, now that we're here I guess we should find something to pass the time."

"No, nothing specific.  Outside of the fact that her baidak are only part of her arsenal, and attacking her will lead to her army counterattacking from her soul.  But that's it." Sondok gives the barest of shrugs, "... I take it you have a suggestion."

Daniel shrugs back. "You already heard all the suggestions I had. I would ask what you do to pass the time, but I'm told the answer is solitary stargazing. Not like my ways are much more interesting most of the time."

"... Did they tell you to take me on a... date?"  Her eyes narrow, "This is hardly the appropriate time.  At least give Me an hour to prepare."

"It was actually my choice of words, but-"

>ERROR: Daniel.exe has encountered an unexpected error and must be rebooted

For once, Daniel is well and truly unprepared and spends a few moments processing what exactly happened here. He blinks, then blinks again, then opens his mouth along with a finger raised in confusion, then retracts it and finally takes a deep breath.

"...Well, we've established we have time to spare whether we like it or not."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:52, Tue 13 Mar 2018.

"Then it is acceptable.  Good.  You will meet Me here in one hour.  Dress appropriately.  The blood spatters are quite chic but unnecessary."

Sondok disappears with a faint clap of green light.

((Learning to figure out wtf he got himself into: 24+15+10 = 49)

Daniel frowns, unsure what exactly he'd gotten into and how. It was somehow more daunting than any battle, though.

...What exactly was the demon idea of a date anyway? What was appropriate attire for such an occasion? Black hooded robes? He spends a few moments contemplating whether he should just launch himself from the airlock instead.

He quickly reaches the point where he needs to do something else, though. So after a few glances around in hopes that nobody caught their conversation, he shakes his head and heads for Set Beckons' cell.

((Difficulty:  50))

Daniel has no.  Goddamned.  Clue.  By all accounts, Sondok is famous for eschewing this sort of stuff.  This is new, uncharted territory, especially since what little he does know about the more martial demon reproduction is that it involves a dozen participants, swords, and a pit of blood.

The cell opens to his touch.  The door is afraid of him.  Inside he finds the Abyssal suspended by hundreds of taut brass and copper chains, splaying him out like a gutted fish.  The Abyssal has seen better days.  The armor ripped off of his body has torn off vast chunks of his flesh.  If he was a mortal, he'd have long died of blood loss.

Set Beckons is conscious.  Barely.  One eye is a swollen mass of black tissue, but the other stares at him with a surprisingly green pupil.  He gives Lucifer a painful nod.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:55, Sat 17 Mar 2018.

Well, this was a much less unfamiliar sight.

Daniel pans his gaze through the demons' work before meeting Set Beckons's stare and returning the nod.

"I'm not here to waste either of our time. Give me something useful - prison ship locations, for instance - and I'll have you relocated to a more humane prison. Or don't, and what you've experienced will be but a prelude of things to come."

((Inspire to interrogate: 29+20+10 = 59
Float 3-3 ))

((Defense:
7, 7, 6, 6, 5, 4 & 1
*Won't be able to resist, floats the 7s))

"Can't give you that," Set Beckons mumbles, "Though I appreciate your, concern... for my... time." He drools some blood out on the floor, "I don't know... where they are.  They moved them... a few weeks ago.  Somewhere towards the core."

He tries to keep his head upright.  He fails.  It's the only part of his body not suspended by chains.

"If I... answer questions nicely... will you... answer mine?"

"Depends on the questions. You seem reasonable so I'm sure you understand the situation dictates I won't be giving any strategic or tactical information."

He steps closer to the hanging half-corpse, reaching to grasp his hair (or head, should he lack hair) and lifting it - not altogether gently, but not unnecessarily harshly either - to maintain eye contact.

"Their last known locations, then. Information about this Immaculate Order, or the Deathlords and their plans, or your fellow Abyssals. Then it's your turn."

"Reason... hah hah..."  He coughs as his head as lifted up, "I don't know your coordinate system, because ours is... new.  How about... where they're heading?  Towards the.... core of the... galaxy.  From here, eight... nine light years to the closest, the Leningrad.  Russians, of course.  Always the Russians..." He winces, "The Immaculates.  I don't know... who came up with them.  Maybe they... did.  Always death, lurking in us... young Dragon-Blooded.  Raised up right after the... after the Reconquest.  They... barely needed any... any help.  Humans are... are good at rationalizing... making a religion from nothing.  Basic... basic human need.  Acceptable?"

Daniel keeps a distinct stonewall expression as he listens, his mouth a taut line and eyes slightly narrowed. Then he nods.

"In times of insanity the madman is king. One more thing. What do they intend to do at the core?"

After Set Beckons' answer he lets go of his head.

"Right. Ask your question."

"Safety." He says simply, "Too far... the... the raid on the Pyongyang... spooked them.  Close to the... to the Neverborn, too far... for you to reach safely."

From what little Daniel knows about the truth path of the Last Refuge, it's been steadily moving away from the Core.  There's an awful lot of black holes near the galaxy core, after all... it would take a significant expeditionary force to get that close.  Hell, it might take half the fleet.

"Yes.  Who... cares for... the Dead?  On the... the Egg?"

Daniel tilts his head.

"Depends how you define care. The gods continue the cycle as on Earth, and those left behind keep the fallen in their hearts. Why?"

"You're missing some."  He says flatly, unable to let his head drop in Lucifer's grip.  "There's... always some.  Fall through the cracks.  The... the gods can't... always take them.  Some have... too much will.  Some... just shades.  Some... still have work... to do.  It's easy to... evade the gods.  Especially when they're... hmm... skating."

Daniel tilts his head. "Yes, the system is not perfect. What of it? And what do you mean by 'skating'?"

"Laziness,"  He tries to shrug and fails miserably, "We know what you're doing.  We've... heh... made a ... mistake."  He coughs, "Should have... just let you go.  In peace.  With... our blessings... even.  A... benediction.  But... Neverborn are greedy... sometimes can't see... the whole picture."

He looks Daniel straight in the eye.

"Breaking... into another... another time.  Through... through the Wyld.  The last Wyld... pocket.  If it exists.  Neverborn... won't say.  Probably... probably does, your hope is... correct."  He coughs up a bit of vile black phlegm, "Have you... ever wondered... why it hasn't happened yet?  If... it is possible... why not more... escapees?  Probably because... for once there is a unity... all that Florentine's... fault.  Or Malfeas."

The Abyssal cracks a small smile.

"But... I think the real reason... is nobody is willing... to admit the truth.  Not us.  Nor you.  Only... me.  And... only when... during... our holy fight.  An epiphany... like lightning... black and reversed."

Lucifer's eyes narrow as he gauges how much truth there was behind this madman's ravings.

"Open my eyes, then. What uncomfortable truth are we all blind to?"

"You will... need us." He tells Lucifer, "That... it's not possible... to break skin... without killing... a few cells.  The skin... between universes... the Fair Folk are... viruses.  Know the... know the way through.  What if... you make it to the barrier... and your Fair Folk... can slip through... but you can't?  Would she... stay?


"But humans... gods... Exalts... the skin protects... against them.  Stops conquering kings.  But just one group... can't.  The Celestials and Dragon-Blooded... bring order, adaptability,... fate, primal forces.  The Infernals... chaos and... defilement.  One imposes... on the barrier.  The other... weakens the barrier.  But one needed to... needed to finally make... the cut... that kills the barrier.  Us."  He smiles sickly at Lucifer.  "A... five or more... key... combination lock.  Foundation of... the universe... to keep things stable.  No way... all of us..." He starts to fade out but snaps back into place, "... and the ghosts.  The ghosts.  You... realize.  You are... you will... inoculate a new universe... with death.  The death... of this universe.  Why we should have... let you do it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:18, Mon 26 Mar 2018.

"You're implying entropy is native to our universe? That it needs to be introduced elsewhere? Never took the Neverborn to be so limited."

His gaze shifts focus from the Abyssal's eyes to nowhere in particular as he processes his claim.

"The Fair Folk might. She might not. No way to be sure until we're there. But I see your vision. Tell me then, Set Beckons: will you be the scalpel between realities? You realize yourself the Neverborn won't sanction your newfound purpose, so we the Living are the only ones who can realize it."

"No... entropy... is never limited." He shakes his head, barely, "But... in other places... there is balance.  We could... you could... hasten the end.  Speed up... the process.  Enemies, fully formed... in a world... unprepared for them."

The eye that looks at Lucifer is neither mad nor is it sane.  There's something different behind that eye:  purpose, or prophecy, or chaos.

"I will... cut.  The storm... that blows... across the dunes... may also redirect... the river... that fertilizes... new soil... and turns the old soil... sand.  In this... the death... is holy... and the Neverborn... may not forgive... but I must transcend... mere... mindless... aggression."

Enemies, fully formed - but allies as well. In a universe where entropy is not yet spiralling out of control... There would be death, suffering and chaos, but there would also be hope.

"I believe that death, like corruption, like suffering, like injustice and sin are all necessary for the existence of life, redemption, transcendence, justice and virtue. So come, Set Beckons, and be the dark seed in this new beginning. We will see if you will take root or be weeded out in the new soil."

He turns for the door but stops near the threshold.

"You have chosen to forsake the explicit will of the Neverborn for your own transcendent vision of entropy. Tell me - is such a thing possible for others serving the Void? Is it the spark of life flickering in you that lets you do this, or can the footsoldiers of the Dead be made to change their course like you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:23, Tue 27 Mar 2018.