No Planes, Just Girls Burst S3

[18:08] * Oxford changes topic to 'Grodsnille Outfitters - Cimbria's Finest Apparel & Fishing Gear'
[18:09] * Firespitter ([email protected]) has joined #WorldWarBurst
[18:11] <@Oxford> The quartet rises above the silent smokestacks of the factory, into a sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. Below, the ongoing retreat from the Vaulme Line continues, as the straggling remains of the Cimbrian Field Army fall back to the safety of the Bur river.
[18:15] <Cille_Lund> Cille is on guard! ...Cille and her rainbows, which seem to follow her!
[18:20] <Lily_Blevins> Lily is in the air, scanning the horizon for anything incoming.
[18:21] <@Oxford> Over the rushing winds of their ascent, the radio is like a whisper in their collective ears. "-edquar...over-ru-...equest assi-" From this height, they can make out the winding path of the Bur beneath them, and further south the patchwork of lakes that link the Vaulme Line.
[18:25] <Cille_Lund> ...Those words sound like words she was told to expect to hear, and disregard. ...But as she couldn't hear them quickly, there's not much point attempting to entirely decipher them.
[18:31] <Cille_Lund> *clearly
[18:31] <Naida> "Hey...so...had you guys ever actually fought against ground troops before?" Naida continues to hide within the group well after they've left the line of sight of their own soldiers. Got to make sure none of them are secretly eagle people.
[18:33] <Cille_Lund> Obviously, that question doesn't apply to her, so she glances at the ground--and right back up, she doesn't need the ground to suck her in, eeeesh. Never had the time to take in the view.
[18:38] <@Oxford> The countryside south of Grodsnille is less hilly than it was where they had driven through earlier, and the golden fields are dotted with spots of blue and green from innumerable ponds.
[18:44] <@Oxford> The message coming through the radio is clearer the higher they rise, and once the girls have reached a comfortable patrol altitude there's fewer outside noises.
[18:46] <Cille_Lund> Cille will totally listen closer once it becomes clearer! She was told to disregard it, yeah, but she also told herself she didn't expect to listen to that idea too hard.
[18:51] <@Oxford> "Vaulme Headquarters has been overrun. This is Vaulme Actual, en route to Bur HQ. Request assistance immediately!"
[18:52] <Henriette> High in the air, Henriette watches the landscape carefully. "Well, non... We... had one or two encounters with a magical monster, et a prisoner, maybe... Nothing like this. This will be... a learning experience."
[18:54] <Lily_Blevins> "Hyup!  Mostly air experience for us!"
[18:55] <Cille_Lund> "...There it is. We were told to cover the retreat, and not to respond to calls from aid beyond their lines...I think that's beyond their lines?"
[18:58] * Aori_Radidjiu ([email protected]) has joined #WorldWarBurst
[18:58] <Naida> "I was still half-asleep, are we covering the guys that pointed guns at us, or the guys calling out on the radio?"
[18:58] * Lily_Blevins ([email protected]) Quit (Killed (NickServ (GHOST command used by Aori_Radidjiu)))
[18:59] * Aori_Radidjiu is now known as Lily_Blevins
[19:00] <Lily_Blevins> "Hmmmm, Henriette, do you want to help them?  It'd be disobeying orders, but..."
[19:00] <Lily_Blevins> "...Cille, how well do you think you could hold down this location?"
[19:01] <Henriette> "If this location seems well-protected, perhaps one or two of us would not be missed?" she offers.
[19:02] <Cille_Lund> "I think since I'm...radiating rainbows, I should be free of magic residue! That means if worst comes to worst, I can apply myself harder, so I can hold this place pretty well!"
[19:03] <Lily_Blevins> "Okay.  Henriette, you and Cille cover this location.  Naida, we're going off!"
[19:05] <Cille_Lund> "Roger!" She would like to have been the rebel, but hey, this still works.
[19:07] <Lily_Blevins> "Vaulme Actual, this is Lotus, currently at Bur HQ.  Unfamiliar with the territory, what heading would we need to go at?"
[19:09] <Naida> "Uh...okay." She wrings a tentacle nervously.
[19:09] <@Oxford> "Read you, Lotus. Proceed on heading 2-6-0, 13 clicks. Currently stopped at red barn with silo."
[19:09] <Lily_Blevins> "Got it, over!"  She waves at Naida to follow her and dashes off.  "We'll try to be fast, Henri!"
[19:11] <Henriette> "Roger that, Vaulme Actual," she echoes. "Laylah en route to assist. We have your back, I believe it is said! Over!"
[19:14] <Naida> With a nod, she drifts after the fearless leader.
[19:14] <Cille_Lund> Look on the bright side, this way, they don't have to be even bigger traitorous scum! ...She opts to not actually say this.
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[19:17] * Fomalhau1 ([email protected]) Quit
[19:17] <@Oxford> With Henriette and Cille vigiliently maintaining the perimeter at Grodsnille, Naida and Lily race down the specified vector, scanning the ground for a red barn.
[19:25] <@Oxford> From this height, only Naida's eagle-eyes can pick out the dilapidated farmhouse in the field below, and just beside it, behind a twisted old oak tree, the faded red barn.
[19:29] <Naida> "I...I think I see it...follow me, L-...ah...ma'am." She slithers through the sky, her dark form out of place with the picturesque skies. She glances at the ponds and fields below, gloom weighing heavy in her eyes. "...such a shame, it's quite beautiful..."
[19:30] <Lily_Blevins> Lily keeps an eye out behind Naida, looking about for any SURPRISES
[19:32] <@Oxford> As they get closer, Naida can see a fraying tire swing dangling from the tree, swaying slightly in a light breeze. The broken windows of the farmhouse look down at it like empty eye sockets in a skull.
[19:35] <@Oxford> Peeking over the top of the barn, the corrugated metal roof of a grain silo stands out against the bright blue sky.
[19:36] <Naida> "Lily, you should lead, they might shoot otherwise..."
[19:36] <Lily_Blevins> She lands, looking about~.  "Hello~?"
[19:38] <@Oxford> The barn door is half-open, but the inside is covered in shadow. Only a thin sliver of the straw-strewn floor is visible by the light coming through the door.
[19:39] <Lily_Blevins> Lily flattens against the side of the bar, and puuuuushes the door open gently
[19:39] <Lily_Blevins> *barn
[19:42] <Naida> Naida awaits Lily's gruesome deaths a stone's throw from the entrance. Normal people throw, not magical girl throw.
[19:45] <@Oxford> The door slides open on squeaking metal rollers, letting in more light to the barn. It falls over the engine and front tires of a rusty tractor, and as her eyes adjust she can see a little further by the light seeping in through the cracks in the roof.
[19:47] <@Oxford> Her eyes catch sight of a dull green box of metal with a few flickering lights on it, sitting on a stool of some kind in a shadowy corner of the barn.
[19:48] <Lily_Blevins> She motions for Naida.  "Hey Naida.  Do you think that's a radio or a bomb?"
[19:49] <Naida> "Um..." She casually slithers over to the door and peers in. "...I have never seen a bomb in the first place..."
[19:55] <@Oxford> From her vantage point, Naida can clearly identify the coiled wire of a radio headset.  The blinking lights are right where she would expect the 'sending' and 'power' indicators to be on a standard Cimbrian-issue military radio.
[19:56] <Lily_Blevins> "If it's a bomb, it's  atrap.  If it's a radio, it could also be a trap."
[19:59] <Naida> "...yes, it could be a way to lure reinforcements, and our attempt at using the radio would immediately let them know the trap was sprung...I'm afraid I'll have to defer to your order."
[20:00] <Lily_Blevins> She kicks open the door to see if there's anyone behind it, and if there isn't, she's getting out of here.  If there is, well..
[20:04] <@Oxford> The door slides back into the wall with the dull crunch of rotting wood. Light floods the barn, and beyond the tractor she can see a military-style radio sitting on a stool, leaned up against the back of one of the stalls. The handset has been tied in the 'send' position.
[20:04] <Lily_Blevins> Up in th eair, back to HQ.
[20:04] <Lily_Blevins> MOtioning for Naida to follow.
[20:05] <Lily_Blevins> She lets out a sigh.  "Of course I have to do the stupid things."
[20:06] <@Oxford> As she's turning to leave, Lily feels a faint breeze from something dropping out of the rafters of the barn. Several somethings, in fact, which land crouched in the dry straw, quiet as cats.
[20:07] <Lily_Blevins> !!!  "We need to go!"
[20:10] <@Oxford> Naida, facing towards them, sees the four girls clearly. Their uniforms are pale blue jackets and dark navy skirts, and as Lily summons her magic to herself, they transform in unison.
[20:11] <Lily_Blevins> "Naida blast them now"
[20:14] * Oxford changes topic to 'Barn (4 ???, Lily, Naida) - Orchard - Fueling Station - Road - Grodsnille (Henriette, Cille)'
[20:17] <Lily_Blevins> She mutters on the radio "Holiday..."  Sigh.  "It was a trap."
[20:18] <Lily_Blevins> *Laylah
[20:20] <Henriette> "Lotus?" Henriette responds. "Should we head your way or are you coming to our position? Over."
[20:21] <Lily_Blevins> "We're going to try to come to your position but we're outnumbered by other pendant users.  Over."
[20:23] <Henriette> "Other pendant users? Very well!" She motions to Cille. "We are en route, Lotus. Stay safe. We might be able to get the drop on them. They may not be expecting more."
[20:23] <Henriette> "Over."
[20:23] <Lily_Blevins> "They used our radio Laylah, they might be listening right now, over."
[20:23] <Naida> Without hesitation, Naida materializes two bacterial bows with two arrows of shadow each, launching them at the four aggressors, the multitude of tentacles required for such a feat leaving a dull 'twang' sound in the air from the grimy bowstrings. "We're meeting them in the middle I take it?"
[20:24] <Lily_Blevins> "Sounds good."
[20:26] * Henriette makes a mental note to read up on scrambling radio communications after this mess is over. "All the same, stay safe. Over."
[20:26] <Cille_Lund> "Roger~" She can WALL those nerds! She just has to make it!
[20:27] <@Oxford> As the four Novgoraadi girls transform, they're pelted with a barrage of shadowy arrows that annihilate whatever they touch. The shafts plunge into their barriers and ricochet off, driving all four backward, grimacing.
[20:32] <Cille_Lund> Cille charges ahead! Recklessly. Of course, she has a plan for this. Just let them TRY to do anything with her on watch. Her barriers intensify at the very idea...as well as the rainbows.
[20:32] * Oxford changes topic to 'Barn (4 ???, Lily, Naida) - Orchard - Fueling Station (Cille) - Road - Grodsnille (Henriette)'
[20:35] <Henriette> Henriette rushes for the battle. She can feel the pent-up magical energy in her begging for release. If only she'd remembered to let it go before the fight. It's going to make things risky. On the horizon, she can probably be seen already, though, a shining beacon coming towards the barn.
[20:38] * Oxford changes topic to 'Barn (4 ???, Lily, Naida) - Orchard - Fueling Station (Henriette, Cille) - Road - Grodsnille '
[20:38] <Cille_Lund> Cille can probably be seen too, since the barn must be in pieces, and she's still surrounded by rainbows. ...Slightly disorienting.
[20:45] <@Oxford> The four foreign girls charge out og the barn, their staid military uniforms replaced by brilliantly-coloured finery. The first looks like the embodiment of the term 'Valkyrie': a white-winged angel in golden armor, fiery halo above her head. She swings a massive, flaming warhammer down towards Naida.
[20:49] <Cille_Lund> Cille feels that she should let someone know they fucked up, and that the loud explosion she probably heard was from someone that's about to get smacked. She FEELS IT. So, she...barriers. In two places at once! A barrier appears near Naida and Cille! Both flip. Somehow, Cille is where Naida was, and Naida is where Cille is!
[20:51] <Lily_Blevins> "Cille!  Nice timing!"
[20:51] <Naida> Throwing an array of limbs up to try to block the attack in futility, Naida finds herself falling from the sky before recovering quickly with a yelp.
[20:59] <Lily_Blevins> Some leaves blow past Cille as she guards, their scent soothing her.
[21:00] <Cille_Lund> She appears, and...HAMMER TIME. OK, she wasn't actually expecting a flaming warhammer. She forms a barrier with some magical oomph, but that isn't enough, especially not with how surprised she is! It breaks, and dissipates! The soothing is nice, as she's pancaked.
[21:01] <@Oxford> The flaming hammer crashes into Cille instead. For the first time, she feels a blow connect through her barrier, driving her to the hard-packed dirt. The fire spreads onto her armor, burning her from within her protective layer.
[21:03] <Cille_Lund> ...And the soothing feeling is replaced by that of a burning sensation! She's still able to get up, though. "Yeah thanks but owowow why did it have to be a flaming hammer--totally fine though but ow I'm actually feeling pain, that's new!"
[21:04] <Cille_Lund> "Alright you jerks, anyone feeling up to making me feel MORE PAIN?" She challenges them!
[21:07] <@Oxford> Another girl comes in behind the first. This one is a petite little girl, clearly younger than the others and dressed as a country gentlewoman, with a frilly bonnet and a wide layered dress, both in burgundy. She bears down on Cille, until one of the girls behind her shouts, "Kaija, toinen!"
[21:12] <Cille_Lund> Cille gives a sharp look to the enemy party. Your hesitation makes her think. The rush of being hammered is a rush indeed. ...Maybe this is her finally getting into a fight?
[21:12] <@Oxford> The speaker is a woman in a square black hat, woolen leggings, and a thick black coat. The costume would look dour, if not for the profusion of gleaming silver buckles and the pair of ivory-handled matchlock pistols strapped to her side. She carries a banner with large words in a foreign script. She sweeps it across from Lily to Cille, and then follows up by discharging a blunderbuss at Lily.
[21:13] <Lily_Blevins> A flurry of leaves blow into the blunderbuss, and it jams up as the girl pulls the trigger.  Lily grins.
[21:16] <@Oxford> The girl in the burgundy dress swiftly adjusts her target and bounces toward Lily, twirling a pale yellow parisol. She swings it down firmly, and it suddenly extends to fire a lance of dazzling light toward her.
[21:22] <Cille_Lund> "And there's the smart one." She switches places with Lily with a more manual swapping of places! "Maybe she's bilingual, hence the trap! Guess we have someone to blame." She forms a stronger barrier, which shatters once the attack is stopped cold and repelled! The barrier fragments seek out all four of the girls for a good ol' stabbing.
[21:26] <Cille_Lund> She mutters in Cimbrian, to herself, mostly. "[Or maybe everyone just knows Albaean...]"
[21:26] * @Oxford ([email protected]) Quit (Read error: Connection reset by peer)
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[21:29] * ChanServ sets mode: +o Oxford
[21:40] <@Oxford> The youngest one glares at Cille and spins around to hurl a swarm of butterflies at Lily. The fourth girl strides forward, wearing a flowing green robe and carrying a twisted wooden staff set with an emerald. She raises it above her head, and soft white light clusters around the end of the rod in a glowing orb.
[21:41] <@Oxford> "Marja, tule!" she says in a firm but gentle voice, and takes off toward Henriette and Naida. The armored angel follows behind her, warhammer leaving trails of fire behind her.
[21:42] <Lily_Blevins> Lily coughs a bit.
[21:43] * Oxford changes topic to 'Barn (Kaija, Aamu, Lily, Cille) - Orchard (Sylvi, Marja) - Fueling Station (Henriette, Naida) - Road - Grodsnille'
[21:49] <Lily_Blevins> Sunlight intensifies on Cille, making her feel warm and fuzzy and good inside.
[21:51] <Lily_Blevins> She tosses a vine at the girl in the thick black coat, which gently wraps around her and then extends to one of the other enemy girls as they flee away.  It's not restrictive, but it links them together.
[21:51] <Cille_Lund> Cille grits her teeth. This...she feels sort of sick, and hot cause the burning-why would you intensify SUNLIGHT on someone that feels like they are on fire-hold on this still feels fuzzy, hurrah!
[21:57] <@Oxford> The black-coat glares at Lily and tosses her banner to the ground, drawing the pair of pistols at her side with crossed arms. She fires two shots at Lily, the matchlocks burping forth a cloud of blackpowder smoke.
[21:59] <Lily_Blevins> Lily calls up rapidly growing grass to block the bullets, but they pass through...
[22:01] <Cille_Lund> A barrier is placed in front of the grass! The bullets don't even get a chance to hit the grass, as they bounce right off the barrier (to a blue flash, and quite possibly the words 'NO DAMAGE')!
[22:01] <@Oxford> Cille's magic blocks the lead balls, but shards of glowing metal still cut through the barrier. Lily begins bleeding badly, the sticky red pooling against her barrier.
[22:02] <Lily_Blevins> "Urgh." She tries to apply pressure to the wounds to slow them.
[22:13] <Cille_Lund> However, taking no damage still poisons people (or makes them bleed). What a world. She attempts to shoot the one running off (Sylvi) for an attempt at scoring big or going home, though the barrier slicer holds no oomph.
[22:14] <Cille_Lund> ...Because it has a delayed acceleration. It quickly starts sheering the sky!
[22:14] <Cille_Lund> Or shearing it. Whichever.
[22:17] <Cille_Lund> In response to this development, a defensive aura envelops Lily. Reflector!
[22:19] <@Oxford> Sylvi sees the attack coming in and shouts a command with fearful urgency. The ball of light hovering at the end of her staff expands suddenly outward, blocking some of the attack. Damage clearly goes through, however, as Sylvi's robes are torn to shreds.
[22:22] <@Oxford> The little girl with the parisol shouts angrily as she sees Cille's blade slice into Sylvi. She spins the umbrella open and angrily slashes down at Lily, shouting furiously.
[22:24] <Lily_Blevins> A vine from Lily's hair lashes out and blocks the parasol!  "Nope!"
[22:27] <Henriette> With a shout, Henriette raises her hand skyward, a tremendous clap of thunder sounds as light streams in from all around them. It's blinding, but perhaps if the enemy looks hard, they can see an angry Gaulian glaring at them through the light. "Je vais vous eviscerer!"
[22:34] <@Oxford> The thunderburst shoots through the abandoned orchard, driving Sylvi and Marja to the ground. They disappear in the blinding white light. As it fades, their bodies lay in a heap on the ground, uniforms scorched  and charred. Back at the barn, the wool-coated girl gasps as her transformation shimmers and disappears, and she falls to the ground as well, clutching her heart.
[22:36] <Cille_Lund> CRASH. "And there she is! ...Terrifying as always."
[22:38] <Henriette> The look her face after the attack isn't one of victory. It's somber. She only attacked them because she had to. Damned war. They're probably very nice girls, too, and now they'll be killed for certain... just like Vladko would have been.
[22:39] <@Oxford> Kaija shouts in disbelief and drops her parisol. She takes a few tottering steps forward, but then Aamu freezes her with a shout. "Juokse, Kaija!" she screams, her voice breaking.
[22:40] <Lily_Blevins> She clasps her hands and sighs.  "Sorry.  Either you or us."
[22:42] <Lily_Blevins> She nudges Cille.  "Learn any Nov from Vladko?"
[22:43] <Cille_Lund> "You all never gave me a moment with him, didn't have a chance." You can't tell if she sounds irritated because of the question, or because she's still aching from the burning, the side-effects from the link, and getting hammered.
[22:44] <Naida> Taking advantage of the shadows created by the blast of light, Naida easily steps back into the barn before the compromised girl, bow already drawn and ready as bacteria crawls up and around her.
[22:44] <Cille_Lund> "Not that I don't doubt we share a language somewhere. The fake message was perfectly understandable." Or the fact that there was a trap, there's that too.
[22:46] <Naida> As a shot in the dark, Naida speaks to the girl in Cimbrian."[I do not intend to kill someone in the same shitty situation as me, so if you understand me, we'll try to strip your armaments and get you somewhere safe."
[22:46] <Naida> +]
[22:47] <@Oxford> Naida's tentacles leap out at the girl, but her comrade's words shake Kaija from her trance in time for her to stumble away from the grasping bacterial strands. She flees, running through the fields beside the farm house.
[22:48] <@Oxford> As she runs, copies of herself slough off from her body, one after another. Two become four, and then eight.
[22:54] <Cille_Lund> She...nearly starts to block her, but...there's 8 now. WELP, that's not going to work.
[22:55] <Henriette> With the fight winding down, Henriette takes her opportunity to search the girls for pendants. She regards each one with a careful look of concern. What to do? They can't be set free, but if they're taken back, they'll die... or worse.
[22:55] <@Oxford> Cille tries to erect barriers in front of the fleeing girl, but though she can block one or two of them, there's no way to stop the small army of little girls fleeing across the farm. With three prisoners to deal with, watches as the fourth opponent escapes back toward enemy territory.
[22:56] <@Oxford> /session for me, sheesh.
[22:56] <Cille_Lund> "...Three out of four, and now one's going to assume they're all dead, and hate us."
[22:56] <Cille_Lund> "...Hurray?"
[22:57] * @Oxford ([email protected]) Quit (Quit: Goodnight, and good luck.)
[22:57] <Lily_Blevins> "Take their pendants, leave them here.  Say we killed them."
[22:57] <Henriette> "I think that might be the best answer..." Henriette chimes in.
[22:58] <Lily_Blevins> "They'll have difficulty getting back to their superiors to get new pendants, but they'll at least have a shot to live on."
[22:58] <Henriette> "Or be shot by soldiers on the field. Maybe not such a good answer."
[22:58] <Naida> "If we can, I'd suggest finding some farmer's clothing...their effectively dead if they're caught with what they've got."
[22:58] <Henriette> "What would you want them to do for us?"
[22:58] <Cille_Lund> "I guess it's my turn to be the cynic. They were perfectly OK with laying a trap here, so we might want to be slightly more cautious."
[22:59] <Lily_Blevins> Lily walks over and shuts off the radio.  "Let's get rid of this so they can't screw with us, and then I agree with Naida, find some clothes around here to leave for them, close the barn up so nobody notices them as they pass by."
[23:00] <Lily_Blevins> "Leave them a note, maybe?"
[23:00] <Henriette> "In a language they probably don't know?"
[23:00] <Naida> "Hey, doesn't Cille draw things?"
[23:00] <Lily_Blevins> "Somebody here knew Albaean, since they sent that message out."
[23:01] <Naida> "Cille, can you draw a picture that basically conveys the idea of 'Hey, we get it, we're the same, we'll try to cover for you, so don't kill anyone and try to find somewhere to escape to?'"
[23:01] <Cille_Lund> "'We're not terrible people.' I wonder how that'll work out--no I don't don't even suggest that, I just read." She better not have went through her desk. She totally went through her desk. That's where THE ONLY THING SHE HAS EVER DRAWN was! Deny to the end, deny to the end.
[23:02] <Naida> She totally went through Cille's desk.
[23:02] <Lily_Blevins> "...if you think you can do that.  Maybe make it magical or something, I don't know."
[23:02] <Cille_Lund> Deny to the end.
[23:03] <Cille_Lund> "...I guess I can draw something, though. Pictures communicate better than words, I guess!" Though there's no escaping this. Just draw intentionally slightly worse.
[23:04] <Cille_Lund> "Can someone hurry up and go back to patrolling the line, though? They could have been used as a distraction. Lo and behold, we're all here now instead of patrolling!"
[23:05] <Lily_Blevins> "Ah, got it! I'll go off back to the base Cille you have your radio let us know if something happens!"
[23:07] <Cille_Lund> Dammit, why did it have to be Lily. "Got it!" She gets out a piece of paper, and begins...drawing something or other! You think.
[23:08] <Lily_Blevins> Lily flies off back to Bur HQ
[23:09] * Lily_Blevins is now known as Aori_Radidjiu
[23:09] <Cille_Lund> Oooh, always wanted to do this.
[23:09] <Cille_Lund> /session