The Protags Lose A Fight (But Not The War) Burst: S3

[12:22] * Oxford changes topic to 'Borte jagt'
[12:25] * Kraken is now known as Naida
[12:25] * Aori_Radidjiu is now known as Lily_Blevins
[12:26] * BigTentacruel is now known as Henriette
[12:30] <@Oxford> Naida wakes in the night to the sound of thunder. It takes a moment to realize where she is, as she fumbles around for a lightswitch that isn't there. Isolated and off the electric grid, the tiny cabin, and the forest surrounding it, is pitch black.
[12:33] <Naida> She rubs her eyes in an attempt to replace coffee. It is not particularly effective. After a moment, she gets up to take a look outside, stumbling around in the dark.
[12:35] <@Oxford> She can hear the quiet breathing of Henriette and Lily on the floor beside her, but there doesn't seem to be any rain coming down. The thunder rolls again, strangely sharp and defined. Looking through the cabin's one round window, she sees the dense forest around them, but in the distance beyond the trees something is burning red and falling slowly to the earth.
[12:37] <Henriette> Henriette's is a little more like a dull snore. She's sprawled out across the floor, arms and legs splayed every which way.
[12:38] <Naida> Naida wonders when she'll wake up for a moment. After a few precious seconds, she remembers what their current reality is and her eyes widen. "Hey...uh...guys?" She clears her throat a bit and stomps back inside, intentionally making as much sound as possible. "Shit's happening!"
[12:38] <Lily_Blevins> Lily, half-asleep, replies. "Then go fertilize the woods."
[12:40] <Naida> "Nonono war shit! Probably!" She tries to shake Lily awake.
[12:40] <Lily_Blevins> Shakeshake.  "Buuuuhuuuuhuuuuh war's don't live how do they shit"
[12:41] <@Oxford> Now a few faint shouts are making it up to them, through the forest valley. They sound like they're coming from the south, where the valley slopes down into flatter terrain. It was in that direction that the front line stood when they went to sleep last night.
[12:42] <Henriette> Despite looking like some kind of spider trapped in her own web, Henriette finds a way to sit bolt-upright on her knees, silently taking stock of where she is and what is happening. "This isn't Cremvale," is her contribution.
[12:43] <Naida> "Remember, cabin in the woods, war things. Henri, wake her up." Naida grabs her pendant and quickly transforms. She steps outside to take to the air for a better few of what's happening.
[12:45] <Naida> *view
[12:46] <Lily_Blevins> After another BOOM goes through, Lily wakes up and grabs her pendant.
[12:46] <Henriette> "Oh! Yes!" Now her mind is on topic. She grabs Lily's shoulder. "We have to get up. It could be time to move on, ma belle." Henri looks to the door to wait for Naida's reaction, hoping they can just go back to sleep.
[12:47] <Lily_Blevins> Henri grabs Lily's shoulder, says something, and all Lily can think of is how nice it is to have a fellow warm, lovely human being by her.  She grabs onto Henri and gives a light peck on the cheek.  "Only if you get up with me, dear~"
[12:48] <@Oxford> From where she is, she still can't see much, but the shouts and screams are less muffled. She can hear gunfire now, too: mostly the single crack of rifles with an occasional burst of machinegun. It's definitely coming from the front line, where Cimbrian and Albaean forces have dug in against the advancing Novgoraadi army.
[12:49] <Naida> Naida drops back down to the cabin. "The titans are clashing! What's the plan? We gonna wait around to see if any of our kind show up?"
[12:50] * Henriette blushes deeply. "L-Lily, we... I..." The world in front of her goes hazy for a moment as she enjoys the attention and affection of her companion. The gunfire is lost on her for a moment as she just leans her head on Lily's shoulder. "Oh, this must be a dream, girls. It's so strange..."
[12:51] <Naida> With a groan, Naida locates some pots and pans to bang together loudly. Or whatever the loudest thing she can find is."
[12:51] <Naida> -"
[12:51] <Lily_Blevins> She gives Henriette a loving headrub, exulting in the soft textur- BANG BANG BANG
[12:52] <Lily_Blevins> she jumps a little, blinking, then another BOOM in the distance causes her eyes to focus in.  "Oh!  Oh!!  Right!"
[12:53] <Henriette> "Oh! No! Not a dream! What... what was I doing?" Shaking her head-- though that felt so nice-- she tugs her own pendant from her pack and stands at full attention, not transforming just yet due to the brilliant light that accompanies her form.
[12:57] <Lily_Blevins> The other girl however, does transform, as her form isn't quite as BRIGHT AND SHINING as Henri's.  "Naida and I can monitor from afar, Henriette do you have any kind of distance viewing ability?"
[12:59] <Henriette> She does but... "If there's something reflective out there, I can. I haven't tried it without being able to see it, though." She focuses on her pendant, searching with her magic for a reflective surface that she can see out of, a bare helmet, a rifle muzzle, anything.
[13:03] <@Oxford> The age of gleaming brass buttons and flashing sabers is long gone, and Henriette struggles to find anything reflective enough to get a clear picture through. She gets a few dark flashes from greased metal parts and copper casings, but nothing she can make much sense of geographically. She knows there's a battle underway, but that's about it.
[13:04] <Henriette> "Nothing useful, I'm afraid..." she says, eyes flashing a bit in time with the rifle muzzle bursts. "They're fighting, though. The war is at our doorsteps again." She keeps quiet that she's actually a little excited to be doing things so close to the battles again.
[13:05] <Lily_Blevins> Lily grabs her portable radio.  "We'll let you know ifsomething happens, then."
[13:05] <Naida> "So what's the plan? Don't engage unless pendant users appear?"
[13:06] <Lily_Blevins> "...as much as I'd like to help, magic tends to not be subtle, so yeah, let's keep ourselves out of the way unless we're needed."
[13:08] <Naida> "Suppose we should limit radio communication to the bare minimum. Don't need to give ourselves away and be branded as traitors."
[13:09] <Lily_Blevins> She nods.
[13:11] <Naida> Naida gets her radio set. "Alright...uh...go team? Good luck and don't die?"
[13:16] <Lily_Blevins> "Yeah, let's go."  Out the door she goes.
[13:16] <@Oxford> They take off, spreading out once they clear the treetops. The valley continues for about a kilometre south before opening up into flatter floodplains along a river whose name neither of them remember. Below, they can see flashes of light and an occasional string of tracers from positions dug into the north side of the river, and artillery shells exploding all around the Cimbrian forces.
[13:18] <Henriette> Henriette sneaks her way out of the cabin on foot, watching the horizon carefully as she heads for the trees to the west. Like hell she's going to wait inside.
[13:18] <Lily_Blevins> Lily tries to find a good set of trees to perch from and observe things from.  Leaves are great cover.
[13:23] <@Oxford> She alights like a giant bird into a tall cedar, which sways slightly with her weight. The artillery shells are starting to slacken off, and she's beginning to see return fire from infantry units crossing the river. It seems as though the Novgoraadi forces are attempting to secure a bridgehead under cover of darkness.
[13:23] <Naida> While the sky is still dark, Naida keeps afloat far above the battlefield in the comfort of darkness. She watches for planes and other things that soar in the night.
[13:30] <@Oxford> There don't seem to be any airstrikes going on in the immediate vicinity, but Naida can hear the whistle of artillery shells arching back and forth as each battery tries to target and eliminate the other, leaving the infantry to fight at close quarters. Back on the river, strange raft-like vessels can be seen moving north by the shadows they cast on the water.
[13:31] <@Oxford> Henriette moves west, finding herself going up the steep sides of the valley. She is soon going on hands and knees, scrabbling for handholds in the darkness, but it's very tough going.
[13:34] <Henriette> Well, this is silly. She wouldn't have gone this way if she'd known she'd be up against a cliff face in a light skirt. This is hardly pragmatic. Wait, but doesn't she float? Who needs to climb when you can just levitate up the side of the valley if it's not too steep?
[13:40] <@Oxford> She slows down a little and stops trying to push off with her legs, and her natural floating helps carry her up the hill. It's still a little awkward, and she has to pull herself around and over some obstacles, but she makes better time and gets to the top of the hill eventually.
[13:42] <Henriette> That's better. From the top of the hill, she looks around, surveying the landscape and locating muzzle fire. Though, honestly, she's trying to use this height advantage to feel any magic in the air in case the Novs brought extra firepower.
[13:47] * TemporalMechanic ([email protected]) has joined #WorldWarBurst
[13:50] <@Oxford> Lily and Henriette are both down among the trees, but Naida has maintained her altitude, and gets a clear picture of something that glows brightly in the darkness. Unlike the explosions, it lasts for a few seconds at a time, and unlike the flares fired off to illuminate the infantry assault the source of this light seems to move about erratically, appearing above Cimbrian positions one by one.
[13:53] <Naida> Somewhere between a sense of excitement and dread, Naida talks into the radio. "Got a firefly dancing over the Cimbrians. Engage?"
[13:53] <Lily_Blevins> "Roger."
[13:56] <Henriette> "Shall I join you or should I sit out on the fun?" Henriette asks over the radio. Her transformation will probably give most soldiers pause, so she wants to keep it as an ace up their sleeve. Besides, she's kind of a one-shot nuke fighter anyway. That's her shtick.
[13:57] <Lily_Blevins> "Hmmm, standby for now, but be ready."
[13:57] <Henriette> "Roger that. Standing by."
[13:58] <Lily_Blevins> "All right, engage."
[13:59] <Naida> Naida swiftly drifts to the skies above their target and begins to descend. She waits to either catch sight of Lily or be noticed before engaging.
[13:59] <Lily_Blevins> Lily swooces right on up to where Naida is.
[14:02] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin (Henriette) - Valley (Lily, Naida) - North Bank (???) - River - South Bank'
[14:11] <Naida> Naida moves to the North Bank to get a better look, but in an attempt at diplomacy, she doesn't make any attacks.
[14:13] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin (Henriette) - Valley (Lily) - North Bank (Naida, K, A) - River (S, M) - South Bank'
[14:16] <@Oxford> As Naida approaches, she can discren two seperate figures flitting through the night sky. One is carrying a large weapon of some kind that glows orange, while the other can be seen only from the occasional muzzle flash illuminating the clouds of gunsmoke around her. Two more figures appear to be further back, covering the company of amphibious tanks that are crossing the river.
[14:19] <Naida> Naida mumbles into her radio. "There are at least two now, and based on the group size seen previously, probably more than that."
[14:19] <Lily_Blevins> "All right then, we'll definitely need backup right away if things go south."
[14:24] <@Oxford> The two flyers above the north bank seem preoccupied with mopping up the last remains of a Cimbrian firebase, but as Naida closes, one of the two above the river bursts into brilliant flames and charges in, swinging a burning flail in a circle above her head. She has wings like an angel and golden armor, and a wreath of fire haloes her head.
[14:26] <Naida> "Oh shit, I think it's the same group we crossed before!"
[14:27] <Lily_Blevins> "Which probably means it's still four....hrm."
[14:29] <Lily_Blevins> "When we fought them before, we had Cille around to shield us, but now it's just the three of us...if they decide they want to fight, our odds aren't the best."
[14:32] <Naida> "We'll want to drag them back to the cabin and focus on subduing them. Lightbulb, is there anything you can prepare magical or mundane while we round them up?"
[14:34] <Henriette> "For holding them still? Of course there's something magical I can do. Mundane, though... I'm not certain. I've relocated for the moment to keep my eyes on the battle." She thinks there rope in her pack, but that may not do a lot if they can't get them to de-transform, and who knows what powers they might have...
[14:37] <@Oxford> The warrior-angel thrusts out her hand, and pale orange flames course over Naida's body. The light surrounding her takes a moment for her eyes to adjust to, and as she's blinking to clear them, she looks up to find the flail hurtling in at her in a tight arc. The blow knocks her tumbling through the air, but her barrier prevents any serious damage.
[14:37] <Naida> "Like some mega empathy mirror th-" Ow.
[14:39] <Lily_Blevins> "Well, looks like they've begun hostilities...too bad, huh."
[14:46] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin (Henriette) - Valley (Lily) - North Bank (Naida, K, A, M) - River (S) - South Bank'
[14:47] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin (Henriette) - Valley (Lily) - North Bank (Naida, K, A) - River (S, M) - South Bank'
[14:53] <Lily_Blevins> Okay, so, Lily Links the girl at Naida's position that had the glowy orange weapon as Primary, and then the girl that just attacked Naida (M) as Secondary with her Minor action.  She then substitutes her Major with a Minor to use Curse on the Primary girl and inflict both targets with Bound.
[14:55] <Lily_Blevins> OR IN OTHER WORDS, Lily pulls a hairvine out from her head, murmuring something as any moonlight intensifies on it, and then tosses it long, ensnaring two ofthe girls, growing larger and sticky on them.
[15:02] <Lily_Blevins> "Lightbulb, if you can come and help me assist Nightshade, that'd be great"
[15:06] <@Oxford> The other girl, that avoided Lily's vines draws two flintlock pistols and floats towards Naida. She motions with her hand and says a prayer, and an invisible force seems to connect Naida and Lily together. Then, she fires both pistols at the girl, and a cloud of shrapnel slashes viciously across Naida's exposed flesh. To Lily's horror, the same cuts form of their own accord on her.
[15:07] <Henriette> "On my way." Holding her pendant close, a blinding light, brighter than direct moonlight, brighter than the sun at high noon, shines like a beacon from all around her. It's visible for miles, but then Henriette rises into the air, clad in her angelic garb and holding what looks like a tower shield almost larger than herself. Every flash of muzzle fire reflects into it, causing it to cast
[15:07] <Henriette> forth a beacon like a lighthouse.
[15:10] <Henriette> Passing from the Cabin to the Valley, Henriette swoops up beside Lily. "Hopefully not too overkill. I only meant to startle them." She carefully lines up her shield. "What would you have me do, ma belle? I'll try not to go all out if you want me to."
[15:11] <Lily_Blevins> "Not all out yet.  I've linked two of them together, they'll be easy to take out at once, so focus your efforts on them."
[15:13] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin - Valley (Henriette) - North Bank (Lily, Naida, Kaija, Aamu) - River (Slyvi, Marja) - South Bank'
[15:37] <Henriette> As she takes aim, her shield burns brightly and light seems to pour off of it towards the trees below, where it disappears into the leaves without harming them. She fires a wave of broad, diffuse light that carries with it images of the sky lit with awful fire, a kind of angelic armageddon. It slams into the first two Nov girls.
[15:42] <@Oxford> Kaija and Aamu gasp and cover their eyes in the face of the waves of light. From their trenches below, soldiers of both sides stop firing for a moment and watch in awe as the night is suddenly lit up like noon. The Novgoraadi infantry waver and flee, running back toward the approaching amphibious tanks, while the Cimbrians let out a cheer and redouble their fire.
[15:42] <Lily_Blevins> "Hmmm, well, now everyone knows we're here."
[15:44] <Naida> "...though they don't quite understand why."
[15:47] <@Oxford> The brief respite doesn't last long. Even as the troops on the ground are trying to reorient themselves, the smallest of the enemy girls shouts and dives on Naida, stabbing down with her parasol, her frilly red dress bouncing.
[15:55] <Naida> Naida tries to surround herself in layers of bacteria as the tiny girl prepares to impale her. "...shit...uh...K-Kaija? Or...something?" Impending pain.
[15:58] <Lily_Blevins> "We're going to fall if we don't go all out at this point."  She sighes.  And hopes they get an inch in before they all fall
[16:06] <@Oxford> The tiny girl's mouth forms a tight smile as she feels the parasol strike home. Its pointed tip is sheathed in red energy as to stabs through the layers of bacteria and thrusts deep into Naida's stomach, emerging out the other side. Her barrier responds quickly, ejecting the foreign implement and packing the wound to prevent bloodloss and keep the tentacled girl fighting.
[16:08] <Naida> A torrent of cursing in Cimbrian screeches through the radio.
[16:10] <Lily_Blevins> "Henry, I should apologize, I meant to ask you to attack, and because you misinterpreted that, now we're in a bad way."  Flower blossoms sprout all over Lily's body to staunch the bleeding.   "Let's do our best, though."
[16:12] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin - Valley (Henriette, Lily) - North Bank (Naida, Kaija, Aamu) - River (Slyvi, Marja) - South Bank'
[16:18] <@Oxford> From above the river, a glow of green energy forms, illuminating the end of a staff and a priestess in green robes carrying it. She fires a barrage of glowing bolts across the river at the north bank, filling the air with beams that track in toward Naida.
[16:19] <Naida> Swearing intensifies.
[16:26] <Henriette> A fierce glare appears on Henriette's face. "Enough!" Her shield blasts forth a charge of light bright enough to blind anyone foolish enough to look at it. It arcs towards the two nearest Naida and detonates between them, like a small sun suddenly burst forth in the sky. Henriette hopes the other two won't try to keep going once this attack finishes. All she has to do is force a truce.
[16:29] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin - Valley (Henriette, Lily[down]) - North Bank (Naida[down], Kaija, Aamu) - River (Slyvi, Marja) - South Bank'
[16:31] <Lily_Blevins> The flowers covering up Lily's wounds wilt, and then crumble to dust, asLily falls down.  At least it's not a big fall.
[16:34] <Naida> Likewise, the bacteria enveloping Naida disappears in a cloud of spores, leaving her to plummet.
[16:37] <Henriette> "Naida! Lily!" she shouts, even as the last of her magic leaves for her attack. There's a fading trail of white light arcing from the explosion to her shield, a conduit for further damage, but she needs to cut it loose to save the other two. Her eyes lock fiercely on the one who didn't get hit by the explosion. The rest won't make it out. She'll make sure of that.
[16:42] * Oxford changes topic to 'Cabin - Valley (Henriette, Lily[down]) - North Bank (Naida[down], Kaija[down], Aamu[down]) - River (Slyvi, Marja) - South Bank'
[16:48] <@Oxford> The young girl in the fancy clothes tumbles from the sky, her dress blackened and burning. The one in all black is diving toward her when the blast hits her too, and drives her forcefully into the muddy shore of the river. Their bodies land next to one another, unmoving.
[16:49] <@Oxford> Above the river, the angelic one rocks from a massive blow as Lily's link transfers the damage to her as well, but she stays flying somehow, supported by the healer in green.
[17:05] <Henriette> Henriette stings a final pulse into the conduit and breaks for Lily, catching her limp form in her arms just before hitting the ground. She immediately bolts towards Naida, landing on the ground and laying Lily in the mud for a moment while she holds her shield up defensively towards the others. "Come on... we're not enemies," she mutters. "Do not do this!" she shouts in Cimbrian at
[17:06] <Henriette> them, a phrase simple enough that even she can say it right.
[17:21] <@Oxford> The two remaining Novgoraadis cling together. The one in green robes seems to be supporting the burning angel, whose flail draws in tendrils of holy fire as she charges up a devastating attack. Her focus in locked on Henriette. "Don't move!" shouts the robed one from over the valkyrie's pauldron. "Throw down your talisman and we'll talk!"
[17:23] <Henriette> "Promise me there will be no more fighting until we talk! I won't let you trick us!" Henriette shouts, holding her pendant in front of her. It's still in hand, so its power still courses through her. She's not sure she'll be able to maintain her form if she lets go of it, but she has to try something.
[17:25] <Lily_Blevins> Lily, weak and untransformed, but not knocked out, gets up with her little strength and nudges Henri.  "Do it."
[17:27] <@Oxford> "On my life, I do so swear," says the Novgoraadi, with strange formality, "and on my honor as a priestess of Novgoraad." As she gets closer, Henriette can see that her lips do not move in time with her voice, mouthing out words in some strange foreign tongue.
[17:30] <Naida> While Naida remains facedown in the mud, small shadowly gremlins dance on her back, shaking their fists in mock anger at the speakers on either side.
[17:31] <Henriette> Henriette places the pendant on the ground, struggling to maintain her transformed state through proximity alone. "Then let us talk. I want to know what a Novgoraadi girl is like first-hand. They say a lot of things about your people back home, you know."
[17:37] <@Oxford> The robed girl sets down, and her fiery angel steps aside unsteadily to check on the other two Novgoraadis. Now Henriette can see it clearly: the girl's voice comes, not from her mouth, but from a small brooch on her robe, that speaks in clear Cimbrian even as the priestess mouths in her native tongue. "What lies they tell matter little to me. I am Sylvietnya Nostromov."
[17:37] <@Oxford> She glances down at Cille and Lily. "Are your comrades injured? We have field hospitals behind our lines you may use."
[17:38] <Lily_Blevins> Lily gets herself up.  "As a Priestess of the land, and a nurse in all but name, I think we can manage."
[17:39] <Henriette> "It matters to me. It is what they tell our soldiers, et they fight yours, Sylvietnya. My name is Henriette LeClair." She wraps an arm around Lily as she stands. "Slowly, ma belle. Slowly."
[17:41] <Lily_Blevins> She accepts Henriette's help graciously.  "Besides, Naida there isn't someone a normal doctor would want to treat!"
[17:42] <Naida> One of the gremlins pretends to be injured, seeking the support of the second. The second proceeds to trip the first and laugh silently.
[17:45] <@Oxford> The armored angel cradles the small girl in the burgundy dress in her arms, and when the little one stirs she shouts something to Sylvi. The other downed pendant user, the one in stern black wools, is sitting up by herself and brushing the mud from her long skirts.
[17:49] <Lily_Blevins> "Would you like a talk later in somewhere less...precarious?  I know your side knows the frequency of our radios, what with what you all did last time."
[17:49] <Naida> The grey-skinned girl shudders, causing her shadowy passengers to flee to oblivion. She manages to lift her face clear of the mud. "...we still live? Chivalry isn't dead!"
[17:52] <@Oxford> A hundred metres down the river, the first tanks are making it to shore, their flotation skirts looking like a canvas shower curtain sprouting tank treads underneath. The first has barely lowered the skirt to clear the driver's view when it takes an anti-tank shell right to the tracks, and they spin off in a spray of mud.
[17:52] <@Oxford> Its gun tracks toward the Cimbrian position even while its companions press on up the floodplains.
[17:55] <@Oxford> Sylvi glances around the battlefield, a worried expression growing on her face. "Only if I am assured you will not harm our forces here. Leave your talismans with me, and I will bring them to the place of your choosing tomorrow evening. It is better we meet face to face."
[17:58] * Henriette glances to Lily. What do they do?
[17:59] <Lily_Blevins> "Considering what happened last time, I guess it is only fair."  She tosses Sylvi her pendant.
[18:03] <@Oxford> She catches it, smiling. "Your showed us mercy once before; we would dishonor ourselves if we did not return the gesture now."
[18:04] <Lily_Blevins> She smiles back.
[18:05] <Henriette> Very well. The light leaves Henriette's form as she returns to her normal clothing. She tosses her own pendant to the Novs and looks defiantly at them. She lets Lily decide where they meet. She's the one with the brains.
[18:05] <Lily_Blevins> "Do you know a good meeting place around here?  We haven't stayed here long, so we don't know the land well."
[18:10] <@Oxford> Sylvi frowns. "When this attack breaks through, there will be swarms of soldiers here for weeks. We should meet somewhere quieter. There is another bridge, further up the river, that was destroyed by bombing, and should be abandoned. Meet us there, under the north span."
[18:11] <Lily_Blevins> She nods.  "Excellent.  We shall see you there once we have had time to recover."
[18:13] <Henriette> "Very well."
[18:14] <@Oxford> A second tank in the column crossing the river is hit, and it burns from all ports as it sinks slowly into the mud, but more are coming it take its place, one after another. The Cimbrian defenders are falling back piecemeal. "You should go now; you're vulnerable without your powers. Follow the riverbank west, and you'll reach the bridge before noon tomorrow. Wait for us there."
[18:15] <Lily_Blevins> She waves.  "Till then!" And then starts heading along.
[18:15] * Henriette helps Naida up and follows Lily quietly, glancing back over her shoulder at the Novs. She still doesn't quite trust them.
[18:17] <@Oxford> From the looks on the other Novgoraadis' faces, Sylvi's plan is not a popular one, but they don't voice their disagreements with their soft-hearted leader. Even without the support of the pendant users, the Novgoraadi attack seems to have succeeded for now. With the defenders routed, the weary infantrymen trade rifles for shovels, and begin digging in for the inevitable counterattack.
[18:18] <@Oxford> /session