Mission Log #4

[modaccount]

How It Works

Welcome to the fourth mission log in Annexed!

How Mission Logs Work: There will generally be two main missions per month, with different focuses tailored to different skillsets (usually stealth vs. fighting, though other skillsets will be tapped on). Each mission will be posted in phases, with a prompt for the start of each phase. The plotting post will give you a rundown of what the missions are, how they might go, and what might be discovered. Characters may partake in whichever pat of the operation they choose, whether it's a large prominent part or a more supporting role. Characters may participate in both missions, and as many phases as they wish.

Mod Guidance: Players may request occasional scene-setting when they hit a point where they're unsure what might happen next in a log or what their characters might encounter. There will be a "Mod Guidance" comment that players can reply to in order to request this kind of scene-setting.

Completion of Missions: There will be a submissions comment for anyone who's threaded out a portion of the mission. Once a thread has been completed at least halfway, please submit your character's progress and plans for the thread to the submissions thread. These submissions are the main way that the mod will decide how the mission went in the next month's wrap-up post, so they are very important!

Plotting Post: Here!

The Invasion

Several months ago, there was a mission to deliver supplies to an endangered outpost of the Witches Camp. This outpost is called the Northeastern Front, and is in a particularly highly disputed piece of territory. There are constant raids and espionage by the Sylphid, who are trying to claim the area for settlement and to provide a much smoother route of invasion for the Witches Camp itself.

Just this morning, a scout from the Northeastern Front stumbled into the Witches Camp, dehydrated and starving, on foot, to report that the outpost has been completely taken over by the Sylphid, who hit with a surprise attack in the middle of the night. The scout reports that the outpost's inhabitants have been shut into locked cages and are being held without food or water, and that the Sylphid are occupying the camp completely.

The Witch is proposing a mission to retake the Northeastern Front. If this outpost remains taken by the Sylphid, a full on invasion of the Witches Camp can't be far behind, not with such a pivotal location taken over.

The Witch will be calling a general meeting at the Command Center where she will explain the situation and the proposed missions to stop it.

Mission A: Scouting the Scene

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: recon, stealth

This mission will focus on recon and stealth. Characters will travel on hover-ATVs to the Northeastern Front, where they will park in the jungle outside of the range of scouting by the Sylphid, and approach on foot. They will approach and learn the rounds of the Sylphid guards as well as release prisoners from the cages and take them out of the outpost to be rehydrated and fed.

PHASE I: RECON
The first phase of the mission involves the trip to the Northeastern Front, which is a trial unto itself, and working out the rounds of the Sylphid guards that are patrolling around the edges of the city. The biggest challenge of this phase will be getting to the Northeastern Front and parking at the rendezvous location outside the outpost, considering the terrain of the jungle and its inhabitants.

The Northeastern Front is to the northeast of the Witches Camp, nestled in the jungle just at the edge of The Troop. The outpost has been the subject of constant Sylphid attack and espionage since it was founded, but is very necessary for keeping track of Sylphid movements in the area, which is a highly disputed piece of territory. There have been several battles in the area previously, and it is only barely held by the Witches at this time. The trip to the outpost is hazardous, a rough-hewn barely-cleared path that winds through the jungle, and which must be navigated with great care. There are several hazards along the path.

⇝ Jungle Terrain: The path is mostly overgrown and very twisting, which is done on purpose to camouflage the path in the jungle. Only those who have been instructed on how to follow the path can follow it with any kind of confidence or ease. There are shrubs, tree roots, and other natural barriers that threaten anyone who travels the path too carelessly.

⇝ Wild Animals: There are a great deal of wild animals, many of them oversized, that will be both familiar and unfamiliar to people from Earth. There are large sabretooth cats, snakes and insects that have grown to the size of small buildings, wild boars, oversize deer that can take out a hover-ATV with their antlers and hooves, slime monsters, venomous and carnivorous plants, and many others. Be creative and come up with whatever monsters you like!

⇝ Sylphid Agents: The area is also swarming with Sylphid agents - scouts and hunting parties searching out the path itself and threatening the rendezvous point. Avoid these parties, or take them on, either is completely acceptable.

⇝ Magical and Mechanical Traps: Some of the Sylphid scouting parties have found portions of the path from the Witches Camp to the Northeastern Front, though they haven't yet found the rendezvous point yet. These scouting parties have set up various traps of both magical and mechanical types. Some of these traps can be deadly - pits with spikes at the bottom, flying logs, magical tripwires that disintegrate parts of the people caught in them. Again, be creative and feel free to come up with traps of your own.

Once the group has made its way to the rendezvous point, they will sneak up to the Northeastern Front and take their places in the jungle surrounding it, well-camouflaged with gear they've carried on their hover-ATVs such as ghillie suits, and watch the rounds of the guards to get a good idea of the best points of entry. These should be marked on a map of the area that will be provided for download on their personal devices.

PHASE II: INFILTRATION
Once they have divined the pattern of rounds that are run by the Sylphid guards, the recon and infiltration crew will be tasked with sneaking around the camp and mapping it out, as the Sylphid have rearranged it after taking it over. This includes the movements of the people inside and the location of the cages that the previous residents of the outpost are being held in and the movements of the guards that are keeping watch over them.

There are some notable locations within the camp:

⇝ Mess Hall: Where the Sylphid are being fed and where they congregate when not on duty. The mess hall serves meals but also functions as a sort of bar and communal hanging out location with a few pub-style games like darts and a pool table. Here is where you'll find a large amount of the Sylphid at any given time. Best mapped but otherwise avoided.

⇝ Armory: Where the Sylphid go to collect body armor and weapons. The best place to get armed in the outpost. There's less of a congregation of Sylphid here, but the ones that are seem to be quite ready for a scrap. Another place mapped but otherwise avoided, unless you want to try to steal their weapons out from under them - a dangerous idea.

⇝ Tents: The bulk of the outpost is made up of tents that each house four Sylphid. These were taken wholesale from the previous occupants of the camp and redistributed to Sylphid, without being moved. In the area of the camp that's just tents for housing Sylphid, the maps as they are still apply.

⇝ Cages: Brought in by the Sylphid and with rebels packed into them like sardines, the cages are kept at the 'back' of the camp, in a relatively dark area that's close to the jungle. There are consistently 6 guards on duty, all of which will need to be subdued before any liberation of the rebels within can occur. Each cage holds about 8 rebels, and there are 12 cages in total. The cages are each solid metal and under the influence of an anti-magic spell, one per cage, intended to keep the inhabitants of the cage from doing magic and rendering any spells to unlock the cages useless. The cages will have to be opened using lockpicks or brute force, with saws that will make quick work of the locks having been provided by the rebels for this mission.

PHASE III: LIBERATION
The final phase of the first mission will focus on liberating the rebel residents of the Northeastern Front from the cages they've been imprisoned in. This sounds simpler than it is, considering this phase of the mission is meant to be as stealthy as the previous phases, hopefully retaining the element of surprise for the takeover battle that is to follow.

Characters who have been watching the camp will have found that the guards watch the prisoners for a shift of 6 hours before being relieved by a new wave of guards, and that other than these guards, there isn't much attention paid to the cages. The Sylphid are quite confident that the inhabitants are too hungry, thirsty, and magic-blocked to get out of the cages, and that the guards watching them will catch any dangerous business before it happens.

The best bet would be to silence and take out all the guards as quickly as possible after they start a new shift, preferably at night. Under the cover of darkness, these infiltrators can then open the locks as quietly as possible and free the prisoners, taking them back to the rendezvous location. The prisoners will be quite sick from dehydration, hunger, and abuse, but will recover quickly once given rations and water, and be ready to aid in the battle to retake their home. The people of the Northeastern Front are very hardy people, who take pride in maintaining their independence and their hold on this dangerous and highly-contested piece of land - they do not take kindly to being taken over, overpowered, and locked up. They'll have a lot to prove to themselves and, in their minds, to The Witch, once freed.

Try to make the liberation quick, though, because once the prisoners are released, there is only the remainder of that guard group's shift before the next shift arrives and discovers that the prisoners are missing!

Mission B: The Battle

Mission Appropriateness: Chipped or Stripped
Mission Focus: open battle

This mission will focus on open battle to take back the Northeastern Front. Once the prisoners have been removed and taken to safety, a force will approach the outpost on hover-ATV and suit up in body armor and arm themselves with weapons to retake the outpost. This will be a knock-down drag-out battle, straight up, with characters routing and taking down Sylphid, capturing prisoners for interrogation, and trying not to destroy the infrastructure of the camp.

PHASE I: ASSEMBLY
Before the final battle to retake the Northeastern Front, the troops must gather at the rendezvous point for briefing, to help with reviving the prisoners who've been freed from the cages, and to generally get on the same page for a plan of attack. The Witch herself will be at the rendezvous point, ready to give an empowering speech and to personally participate in the battle, wielding powerful magic and carrying a magitech sword that she's very skilled at using.

Characters who are attending for battle will face the same dangers coming to the rendezvous point that the first crew faced, with the jungle terrain, animals, Sylphid scouts, and other dangers applying just as much as it did for the stealth group. Once they reach the rendezvous point, they will find that it's set up almost like a mini-camp, complete with patrolling guards and a tent where they can pick up a bowl of mushroom and rabbit stew to fortify themselves before battle. While they eat, they can look at a map that's been set up in the tent with a cohesive and well-scouted layout of the camp. It's recommended that people coming in to participate in the battle familiarize themselves with the map and know where everything is located within the Northeastern Front.

The battle will be beginning anywhere from 5 hours or less after the liberation of the prisoners, and this time can be spent helping revive prisoners, memorizing the map, making plans with fellow rebels, and coordinating with The Witch and her people. There will also be a round table discussion of the battle's plan of action, so if you have a good plan, this will be the time to speak up and make yourself heard.

PHASE II - INVASION
Before the opportunity arises for the Sylphid to raise an alarm, the group ready to carry out the attack on the Northeastern Front will sneak their way through the jungle to the clearing and descend upon the enemy all at once, from all sides.

This is to be a relatively straightforward attack, and between the new extrauniversal arrivals and the NPC rebels, there should be enough people to be on an equal playing field with the Sylphid in the area. This will be a knock-down drag-out fight, with both sides going hard and fast, sword against sword, magic against magic, and skill against skill. Both sides will be heavily armed and wearing body armor and will be pretty evenly matched.

About halfway through the battle, however, anyone may find the Sylphid commander in the mess hall tent with the radio, asking for backup. Before anyone has a chance to stop her, unfortunately, there will be a call sent out for backup from Zephyr. But realistically, how could they get here with any semblance of time to spare, right? Right?

PHASE III - SURVIVAL & SUCCESS
Just as the tide of battle is starting to turn in favor of the rebels, the backup from Zephyr arrives in the form of three powerful mages with their equally powerful familiars, arriving via a teleportation spell.

These mages are the most powerful the Sylphid have in their arsenal and won't be easy to win against. The mages and their familiars are as follows:

⇝ Silhara and Dragon: Silhara is the name of the first mage to arrive. She is possessed of powerful fire magic, including fireballs, flmespouts, and the ability to manipulate fire, and has a dragon as a familiar. The dragon has stone skin, almost impossible to penetrate and powerful fire breath, as well as vicious fangs and claws. The dragon stands approximately 12 feet tall and is about 20 feet long from the tip of the tail to the snout. The dragon does have one weak spot - a place at the base of the throat where the plates of the stone skin overlay each other, which must be hit with a precise cutting blow while the dragon is inhaling in preparation to unleash its fire breath.

⇝ Dark'ness and Hydra: Dark'ness is the name of the second mage to arrive. They are possessed of powerful shadow magic, including the ability to take control of a person via controlling their shadow, the creation of complete darkness, and they have a hydra as a familiar. The hydra has 4 heads and with each head that is cut off, two more will grow from the neck, with each head bearing vicious poison-dripping fangs. The hydra stands at approximately 10 feet tall and is about 25 feet long from the tip of the longest snout to the end of the tail. The hydra does have a weak spot - the heart, which must be pierced in order to kill the thing, or all of the heads being beheaded at once so no heads remain.

⇝ Dendrite and Chimera: Dendrite is the name of the third mage to arrive. He is possessed of a type of magic that hits people in their nervous systems, allowing him to cause immeasurable pain without touching someone or to completely immobilize someone with a timed strike of his fists against sensitive parts of the person, and he has a chimera as familiar. The chimera has the heads of both a lion and a goat protruding from the large catlike body, and a snake for a tail. It has powerful headbutting abilities with the goat's head and vicious fangs in the lion's head, along with powerful claws and a venomous bite from the tail. The chimera stands at about 8 feet tall and is about 14 feet long from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. The chimera does have a weak spot - it is exceptionally weak to beheading, and will lose control and go berserk if either head is removed, completely losing control and refusing to obey its master's commands, though a berserk chimera is a very powerful thing. Best to remove both heads at once if possible.

Once these three mages have been defeated, the tide of battle will turn, and the remaining Sylphid will flee the camp, leaving it to be taken over by the rebels and returned to normal.

NAVIGATION

Comments

Questions.

[modaccount]

[concord_dawned]

Is it possible to take a page from Hercules's book and prevent the hydra's heads from regrowing by cauterizing the stumps?

Re: Questions.

[nouskaiananki]

Force Users have some ability to tame and communicate with animals. Which is to say, Vader is going to try (and fail, badly eventually.).

But how successful could he be in trying to use the Force to attempt to wrest control of the dragon from it's mage? Could he get a sense of it's mindset and emotions? A name? Etc?

[maskedtyrant]

More of a post-mission question rather than a during-mission question, but would Codi be able to use Speak with Dead to get some intel out of one of the defeated bosses (probably Dendrite since she participated in killing him)?

Mission Submissions.

[modaccount]

<b>Characters Involved:</b> <b>Link To Thread:</b> <a href="LINK">Here</a> <b>Summary Of Thread:</b>

[tech_nically]

Characters Involved: Link and Tech
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: The two sneak around the overtaken outpost to do some recon, locating the prisoners and making note of the security.

Characters Involved: Marc and Tech
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: Marc and Tech work on freeing prisoners.

Characters Involved: Vader and Tech
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: A Sith Lord and a clone trooper face off against a mage and a dragon.

[maskedtyrant]

Characters Involved: Codi, Link
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: Codi (in a magical disguise) and Link (just regular disguised) tour the Armory, where Link is given a shiny new murder tool and Codi formulates her future Armory destruction plans.

Characters Involved: Codi, Tech
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: Codi blows up the Armory, Tech comes to inspect the rubble and finds Codi in it. They make their escape using Pass Without Trace.

Characters Involved: Codi, Juhani
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: Codi and Juhani's Tether brings them together on the battlefield, where they combine their respective magics to try and take back a key point on the river.

Characters Involved: Codi, Donatello
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: Dendrite and his chimera find Codi, but they also find Donatello. The four of them have a pitched battle that eventually results in Dendrite having to put down his own familiar after it loses a head and berserks.

Characters Involved: Codi, Morgan
Link To Thread: Here
Summary Of Thread: An alternate version of the Dendrite fight, where Codi interrupts an ongoing spar between him and Morgan.

Mod Guidance.

[modaccount]

Please reply here with a link to your thread and what kind of guidance you are looking for (scene setting, etc.)

[tech_nically]

A-Ia Recon

Tech remembers the previous trip to the outpost well enough. Making a delivery without the additional concern for speed and time then hadn't made the trip any easier. He fully expects things to be more complicated this time around, especially with Sylphid on the prowl. Familiar with the twisting, difficult path as it is, it's no surprise that he volunteers to drive one of the transports out. He remembers the route and its rougher areas to traverse.

"Keep an eye out for the wildlife," he advises whoever's along for the ride. "And anything else that might be out there." Getting chased by another giant creature isn't something they need right now.


A-Ib Recon

It's all on foot from here. Tech moves carefully and quietly, apparently no stranger to this sort of operation. True, his squad usually prefers louder approaches but he can handle stealth when it's needed, and Wrecker isn't here to get impatient about things.

His visor down, the clone slows to a stop, bringing a fist up to signal that he's doing so as he continues to look out ahead. "...I'm picking up a few heat signatures from what I'm assuming are a roaming patrol. There are a few areas of concentrated bodies, but we'll have to get closer to discern anything more as to who's who," he says quietly.


A-III Liberation

"Clear."

They're still running on a tight schedule, but at least taking out the guards currently posted by the cages has gone without a hitch. It's nice having capable people to work with, and it means for less things to worry about. However even a capable team can only be so effective depending on external factors. Tech scans the surrounding area, both with and without the infrared of his visor.

"No alarms have been sounded that I can tell. We need to hurry however. I'll keep an eye out for the next guard shift. Will you need assistance with the cages?"


B-II Invasion into B-III Survival

The typical chaos of a battlefield, while not unfamiliar to him, is something Tech finds he has not missed. Things are ultimately just a little more difficult to keep track of when he can't efficiently multitask. That however doesn't mean that he isn't effective in holding his ground as needed as he is still a highly trained soldier, and he makes each shot count with the two blaster pistols he wields.

Used to fighting with a squad, it's not unusual to find him gravitate towards others to lend his support, watching their backs if they're otherwise preoccupied with something or someone in front of them. Woe to any Sylphid that might think they have the upperhand with some tech-aided weaponry as somehow they just stop working in mid-combat whenever the clone's around. It might be funny to see him holding a hand out almost Jedi-like in some instances, right before some energy weapon cuts out.

It's a little later as things wear on that Tech suddenly lifts his head, bringing a hand to the side of his helmet. Whoever's nearest him will get the grim report. "I've just caught an outgoing transmission. They're calling for reinforcements." But surely that can't be too bad. Things look to be falling in their favor, although the longer things go on, the more worn out the Rebels will be.

---

...whatever Tech might have been anticipating by way of reinforcements, a dragon is not one of them. But then neither are any of the other creatures that come with the mages that have apparently answered the Sylphid commander's call.

His eyes widen behind his goggles as he stares at their latest opponents. "That...does not look good." And yet it's not as though they can simply retreat. ...of course when a dragon is getting ready to hurl fire at you, you only have so many options and most of them aren't all that great.

((OOC: Will match format!))

A-Ib Recon

[newmemorywhodis]

Despite what one might assume, Link also proves himself able to move stealthily. He doesn't have his Stealth Armor - pity they didn't find that instead of the Rubber Armor - but he knows how to keep his footsteps quiet. To move slowly, and carefully, to avoid notice.

"I can look," he says softly. In fact...he pulls out his Slate, opening up the camera rune before showing Tech. At first, it just shows the jungle in front of them. But after a tap of the screen, the picture zooms in.

Link looks back at Tech. They'll still have to get closer - but maybe not as close, if they use the Slate as a telescope?

AIII

[fightingevilbymoonknight]

"Shouldn't, so long as nobody does somethin' stupid," Marc says, lifting the keys from the guard who'd been carrying them. Like usual, he's wearing someone else's face for this. "Stay close, though, and be ready to move."

B-III

[nouskaiananki]

Vader wasn't sure if Tech was completely sure he was the one who was at his shoulder - he'd come up fast and improvised a few patches to his make-shift armor in field and things got damaged. His left forearm was bare, which said a lot given the leather covered a micromesh of Mandolarian iron which had been ripped from his arm.

But if he'd not known, Vader quickly corrected that by squaring up slightly in front of Tech.

What was it said of the famed Hero With No Fear? He'd look the (krayt) dragon in the eye and never even slow down.

"Steady Tech." Slow down? Not even a hair. Shift his body to shield Tech? Without hesitation.

Bucky Barnes AKA the Asset | MCU | Heba (but brand new)

[worthallthis]

I. Lurker - Pre-Mission, for your introduction needs

In the latest round of new faces, there's a silent, dour sort of person. He doesn't say much. He makes regular prowls, almost patrols, around the outside of the camp and methodically up and down its streets, and there's a tight, pinched look to him, like maybe moving hurts. He might occasionally loiter in alleys staring out at people as if trying to figure them out.

He pokes at the clothes shops, because he's mostly wearing things scrounged from the trash-- washed, sure, but still pretty ratty-- but he looks like he doesn't quite know what to do with them. The multiple layers of sleeve he keeps pulled down over the knuckles of his metal arm, trying to keep it as inconspicuous as possible.


B-I. Preparing

It's only been a handful of days since the fluffy-haired girl broke him out of the Sylphid cell, and he's been given no orders. No maintenance. No direction. Nothing at all.

But then there's the briefing. He's not suited for infiltration. He can sneak, he knows how not to be seen, but usually in cities or suburban areas, not jungles-- and not against magic. He doesn't have enough intel to really be of much use for that. (Yet.)

But there's an attack. That he can do. Despite a few half-hearted protests about recovery and acclimation, he still shows up at the rendezvous point and waits for the recon teams to return, loading up with whatever weapons they'll let him take, absorbing as much of the plans and layout as he can from the scouts and freed prisoners. He doesn't say much, but he's clearly alert and focused on the mission ahead.


B-II. Assassin

At first, he keeps to the trees, letting others rush out into the fight. He doesn't have his strength and speed, now, not like he's used to. But his aim hasn't suffered any from whatever the Sylphid did to him, through that chip thing. So he paces back and forth from behind the main line, sniping enemy combatants with relative ease: head and eye and throat shots whenever one or another is unprotected, wing shots and kneecaps and gut shots when he can't get at those.

He's protective. He's covering his team. Anyone on his side of the camp who finds him or herself in hot water will swiftly find bullets raining out of the trees or from behind a burning tent to take out the worst threat.

Then he dives in with his metal arm swinging, deflecting bullets and punching people out of the way, when somebody really needs a rescue.


B-III. Grudgematch vs Hydra

The asset has to be told what that multi-headed monster is called, because while his previous handlers had been clear about the whole heads-growing-back thing, he'd never considered it as being an actual monster. It was a metaphor. A fancy name for a secretive political group.

As soon as he hears the name of that beast, though, he has a moment of wavering before his mission goes crystal clear. A hydra. A hydra. Belonging to a person who controls shadows. He, a thing made to live in the shadows, is going to fucking murder the shit out of it. He can't cut off its heads? Fine. He'll shoot them through the eyes before lobbing grenades at them.

That's basically what he does. He circles widely, shooting at the beast and hurling the occasional well-timed explosive at it, taking advantage of debris, tents, and as many other soldiers and attackers as possible to keep it and the mage distracted.

I

[maskedtyrant]

It's in one of those alleys that Codi catches Bucky's eye - or perhaps it's the other way around. She caught him staring at the back of her head almost ten minutes ago while she was making her usual rounds of the shops, mostly to connect with her preferred vendors and only partially to buy stuff, but had elected not to do anything about it immediately. People watch her sometimes; their motives don't have to concern her, necessarily, and the attention rarely disturbs her. She simply watches him back, catching glimpses of him out of the corner of her eye as she goes about her business, to try and determine where his interests might lie.

Eventually Codi figures that she has as good of a picture as she'll get from indirect observation. He's obviously a new recruit and likely an extra-universal abductee, judging from the tattered state of some of his clothes and the awkward mismatching of the newer ones he has, respectively. And yet, in spite of the obvious fish-out-of-water look of the guy, he's got a process going. He knows how to stay out of the way and, if he knew the location a bit better, probably out of sight. Codi's also not the only person he's been staring at. Taking notes, perhaps? She's tempted to clock him as a Sylphid spy, but surely they would make more of an effort to blend in or stay hidden, rather than sitting in this weird middle-ground that the asset has chosen.

There's only one route left to take, now: The direct approach. Waving her goodbyes to a magical trinkets vendor on the other side of the street, Codi casually crosses the crowd of people between them, making her way to the alley at a sedate, but purposeful pace. Her expression is carefully neutral, though unavoidably curious, and she's deliberate about the amount of distance she keeps between them, wanting to get close enough to be heard but far enough away to keep from scaring the guy off. That ends up being the far wall of the alley. She leans her shoulder against the cold stone, like she's catching up with a fond friend.

"Can I help you, stranger?"

I

[scarabwings]

Layla's spotted him around camp a couple of times since leaving him at Central Command to be briefed on the situation more thoroughly than the escape from Sylphid holding had allowed, but has so far opted to leave him to his solitary prowling. But she's in the store when he enters, looking to replace a shirt ruined by dragonet blood, and she sees the gleam in the shopkeeper's eye, familiar from markets the world over.

She sees, too, how far his sleeve has been tugged down, how much of the metal hand it covers, and so when she strolls up to smile at him across one of the tables of textiles like he's an old friend, she offers in lieu of greeting, "You might want to consider gloves. A bit less fiddly."

Marc Spector + Steven Grant | Moon Knight | Tian

[fightingevilbymoonknight]

A-I. Recon

Marc circles the camp, slow and quiet, taking in layout, routes in and out, possible obstacles to knock over or place himself carefully beside to avoid detection from certain angles, spells in place around the cages, and the faces and conversations of of the guards.

He hushes whoever's buddying up with him today, and points silently at a pair of guards on patrol, coming up on their hiding place. He motions for them to withdraw to discuss their next move a little further from sharp Sylphid ears.


A-II. Infiltraiton

After mugging a couple of those patrolling guards, Marc has cast illusions of their faces on his own and his current partner's. "In and out. Maybe see if we can't steal some cage keys, huh?" he grins, under the now-familiar sensation of a face that isn't his own.

He shrugs into the guard's jacket, hefts the guard's rifle, and starts into the camp.


B-I. Battle Prep

A full assault is not something Marc and Steven are really... great at. Give them hallways and corners, two- or three-man missions to get in and out, but open air battles? No cover? Nah.

Instead, Steven is out, and he is casting Mage Armor and Bless on everyone he can get his hands on, until he runs out of spells and energy. "Hold still," he scolds whoever he's grabbed now. "This will help keep you safe! Or, well. Safer, anyway."

B-I

[purplexing]

Donatello would've appreciated something of a warning before getting grabbed randomly. To be fair he's also pretty wired, restless for the upcoming battle. He's partially eager to get out there, feeling a little more confident now that he's got a key piece of equipment back. Two really, if he counted his goggles that the Witch's Rebels had returned aside from the battle shell Layla had recovered for him. Mystic tech and two spells to his name? Let him at them!

"Bwuh?" he blurts, taking a moment to register Steven.

B-I. Battle Prep

[newmemorywhodis]

Link had been about to run past, keen to find a good vantage point up high. But then Steven grabs his arm, and Link stops to look at the man.

"What does it do?" he asks, curious, as he feels Steven's magic settle upon him.

A-II

[scarabwings]

"You're enjoying this," Layla says, tone and expression both playfully accusatory. Her appearance might be entirely alien to her - a brief glance in the reflective surface one of the Sylphid's ATV windows had been incredibly jarring - but her voice, at least, is still her own.

She falls into step with him easily in spite of his longer stride, noting the placement of the tents that form most of the housing, clusters and alleyways and spots where a useful distraction might be staged.

[maskedtyrant]

I. Mission A | Phase II (Armory) | OTA

Infiltration and recon, at this point in Codi's tenure with the Witches, is basically wrote tactics for her. Not to say that she finds the process tedious or boring at all - every mission provides its own challenges that she can't underestimate, and every month her own ability to counter those challenges grows in new and interesting ways.

For example, the previous excursions into heavy Sylphid territory combined with her propaganda efforts basically plastering her grinning, ginger-haired head on every screen in Zephyr, have basically destroyed her future attempts to walk in the front door of any Sylphid compound. Or so one would think. But Codi anticipated this, and has put some time into branching out her magical knowledge to compensate. A set of worn-in Sylphid military fatigues, combined with a swift cast of Disguise Self just outside the camp perimeter to scramble her features and dye her hair, was more than enough to get her and her similarly-dressed companions through the front gates. As new recruits fresh from Zephyr, it would be very helpful if they could spare a soldier to show them around. A small tour couldn't hurt operations much, right?

After about fifty minutes of wandering around the outpost, led by someone who probably actually was a fresh-faced Sylphid recruit, Codi starts to feel her concentration waver. Her spell needs to be refreshed. She passes a glance to her teammate, arcs her eyebrows in a silent attempt to grab their attention, then taps the shoulder of their guide.

"So all the gear is--eh?" They turn abruptly at the interruption. Codi provides a sheepish wave.

"Sorry," she says, giving a strand of her artificially brown hair a bashful twirl. "Mind if we have a quick look around? My friend's kind of a weapons expert, and I think it'd be really nice if we had a chance to, y'know, see what's on offer?"

II. Mission A | Phase III | OTA

Evening turns to night. Codi has long since split up with her initial group of infiltrators, having decided to stay back and maintain her disguise for the long haul. There's a lot to be gained by living the life of the enemy, after all, especially when you're the kind of person that doesn't have any moral scruples about being a turncoat. Codi happily participates in drills, socializes with the soldiers, even signs herself up for a few rounds of watches - especially those around the Armory and prison cages. No one wants the graveyard shift for either of those, after all. All the while, it isn't too difficult to find excuses to dip away on her own once every hour to renew her disguise. She even forgoes it entirely once it gets too dark for anyone to see her features that well.

Unfortunately, it might not have been effectively communicated with HQ that she's elected to stay behind, and not everyone coming in to free prisoners may recognize her as she stoically stands guard in front of the Armory or in front of a cell of miserable prisoners. She's being monitored too much to send messages over her phone to warn anyone of her location, too. So really, there's only one good way to make sure that she isn't taken out along with the enemy: To make herself available to take out the other guards.

IIa. Codi is only stationed with one guard in front of the Armory, and she has discovered quickly that the man is a complainer. Only a few minutes of casual small-talk in and she's got him thoroughly riled up about how inefficient the local command structure is, how his experience should qualify him above guard duty, and ironically, how understaffed such a sensitive forward installation this is. Codi nods along, the perfect picture of sympathy, while she periodically glances out of the corner of her eye for movement.

IIb. Having five other guards to deal with outside of the prisoner cages is a bit more challenging. She could theoretically get all of them distracted at the same time, but any display like that would also draw too much attention to them as a whole, and that would be counterproductive. Picking them off one at a time until she's the only one left is also out of the question. Options are slim. Honestly, she needs help to pull this off, and she knows it.

Just when it's looking like she'll have to call her shift a failure (or a success from the Sylphid's perspective), Codi hears a noise from the edge of the jungle. Just a slight rustle of leaves. It could be an animal, but it could also be her teammates.

She has to gamble. "Hey, did you hear that?" Codi whispers harshly to the other guard stationed at this particular cage. When they turn to look at her, she points over their other shoulder - the opposite direction from where she actually heard the noise. "Over there, I think?"

Diligently they follow her instructions, and Codi can only hope that her deliberate misdirection singles her out as a friend rather than foe.

Mission B | Phase II | OTA

The fight comes to Codi while she's asleep. Not in the mass of tents, of course; after her stunts with the other guards, it would be highly suspicious if she left her post and didn't say anything about where the others went or tried to find relief for her own position. Instead, she simply made her way back to the Armory, slipped into one of the side dressing areas for suiting up, marked it as occupied, then shut her eyes to try and recoup some of her used mana from the previous day's espionage.

Sounds of not-so-distant shouts of alarm and gunfire are more than enough to wake her up. She jolts up, sobering quickly. This had been the plan all along, yet Codi still finds her heart hammering in her chest, adrenaline mixing excitement with animal fear of being caught. It only takes a few moments before she hears the door to the armory burst open as soldiers rush in to arm themselves.

She only has one chance at this. Breathe in, breathe out. The mana flows through her chest, then with a sweep of her hands, up through her arms and pools at her fingertips, lingering and buzzing in her palms like a couple handfuls of bees. The sensation is oddly familiar, and yet so much different from her abilities - controlled, in a way that she had resigned herself she would never reach.

But here she is, defiant of all expectations. A wicked grin splits her face. Then she shoulders open the door and aims her outstretched arms across the room, towards the rack of weapons that she knows includes a bandolier of grenades.

"Arc!"

The choice of words is superfluous, but it does its job to complete the cast. Lightning Bolt releases from her palms, channels through a satisfyingly large clump of soldiers between her and the other side of the room with several loud pops of exploding bullets, then instantly ignites several of the grenades at the end. The explosion is massive, taking off the entire back wall of the armory in one clean shockwave that rocks Codi off her feet and backwards into the changing room she just came from. Her head hits a wall and she slumps, dazed, while around her, chaos ensues.

Mission B | Phase III (Dendrite/Chimera) | OTA

Inevitably Codi makes it into the main fight. There's no escaping her dramatic destruction of the Armory cleanly, not only because it's a central location far from any easy routes of escape, but also because word of the explosion and its source has turned a lot of heads. Namely, Dendrite's.

The man and his chimera have her surrounded presently, Dendrite in front and his familiar circling around back. Codi stands proud, in spite of the fact that she was just moments earlier trying to use Pass Without Trace to scuttle her way through the tangle of fights before being cut off. Obviously Dendrite's battlefield perception is more focused than the typical Sylphid goon's.

"Here to dance, big guy?" she taunts, arms out at her sides, toothy grin lopsided. "Not very sportsman-like to bring a partner to a one-on--"

Dendrite, apparently not keen on being distracted by Codi's grandstanding, launches himself forward to strike.

((I'll match styles, if you don't want to do prose!))

B-II

[tech_nically]

The explosion is certainly enough to draw attention from outside. Tech jerks his head towards the armory that now streams smoke and dust, hurrying his way over. While he has no doubt the cause had to be from one of their number, with the resulting he's not sure if they've managed to get clear.

Blue-ringed light eerily lights up the hazy air as he fires at some of the Sylphid who run to investigate the scene. The clone pulls his visor down to help him better navigate the area as he closes in, stepping into the smoking husk of the armory. He keeps his guns at the ready but most of the people that had been inside look either knocked out or worse, flung like ragdolls from the explosion.

His HUD picks up another form in the back and he moves towards the changing rooms.

"...Codi?"

He shoves one of his pistols into a holster to free up a hand as he touches her shoulder, checking her over for injuries.

B-III hope this works

[purplexing]

"It's like they all popped out of a book just to annoy me with their proof of existence!"

A familiar green figure bats away soldiers with expert spins and thrusts of his staff, finding it easy to look irritated at the appearance of the Sylphid reinforcements rather than the welling fear he feels given that the mages came along with mythical creatures! Never mind that this is an alien world of magic and technology and that he's actively fought little dragonish pests the month prior, how dare..!

He kicks away another Sylphid, blinking as he sees one of the mages taking interest in a target. Most likely his chimera isn't far behind. Donatello pulls down his goggles down, zooming in after the lunging Dendrite and all the more glad he's worked on tweaking the mystic readouts. Oh, isn't that what's her face?

It must be a hero thing. Raph's got it trained into them. He'll file a formal complaint later. If there's a later.

It's a side thought even as he careens towards Codi and the mage, his battle shell's flight rotors unfolding and sending him zooming in, backlit by a fuchsia blaze. That same glow envelopes his bo and lights up the rectangular markings on his skin as the head of an articulate mechanized mallet traces into place over the staff when he swings it to the battle cry of "Fibonacci!"

Juhani | Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic | OTA

[tarisian_cathar]

Mission B

Phase I

Through several missions, she has become something of a known quantity to those who fight for the Witch's uprising. Some of them, in turn, are familiar faces to her, as well - both sides being seasoned veterans of this sort of fight. She can be found with some of those soldiers, arrayed around a table - eating a quick meal of that stew while they study the map.

"They would be foolish not to have this open area zeroed in," she said, putting aside a newly empty bowl and pointing. "Look here, this ruined village on the far side - that would be a nightmare to fight through. We'll have to flank it."

There's a tone in her voice that even those that know her might now have heard before - a Jedi like Kenobi would have been familiar with it, however. The confidence of an experienced front line combatant. A leader of same.

'We could work along this old embankment, over the culvert,' one of the soldiers suggested, drawing a pencil along the map. Juhani nods.

"We'd be in cover up to...what, the last fifty meters of that village? If we attack from vehicles we can be in their positions before they can begin to turn their guns around. Excellent suggestion, that's our way in." There is a rumbling of general agreement at that. They know they can rely on Juhani. She knows she can rely upon them. They can risk death together. And they will.

Phase II - Invasion

The culvert turns out to be built into a decently sized embankment, earth long ago heaped over a stone construction to allow water to be taken elsewhere - and Juhani is peering over the top of it with a pair of binoculars, while her troops below have a last moment for pre-battle preparations. A few see to their light vehicles, others check the heavier weapons that will provide cover for the last dash; a few consume the local equivalent of a last smoke. Juhani slides back down, with a nod, looking at those around her.

"No sign they've seen us," she says, "so the plan remains the same. I hope to see all of you after the battle. May the Force be with you."

The soldiers don't know the Force, but they know her, and so the chorus of replies comes with some confidence. Moments later, the vehicles roar over the culvert, and surge toward the village. Juhani rides the lead one, lightsaber in her hand, gripping tight to a seatbelt to maintain her balance.

For the first thirty meters, nothing happens - and then a slow array of fire begins as the Slyphid in the village realize the sudden peril. As the first troop carrier slides into the village, turning broadside to give exit cover, she leaps from it with the Force, somersaulting in the air and the bright blue blade of her saber flashing into life.

She lands, blade dancing in an arc around her head, deflecting a blast back at an unfortunate Slyphid who emerges from cover to try and down her in the opening moments. And then she's off, into a house. The sounds of combat can be heard, the slashing sounds of the saber, the shouting of the Slyphid, counter-fire; one Slyphid comes flying out of an upper window, slamming into the ground below. Finally, there is silence, and Juhani shortly afterwards emerges from a ground window frame, ready to proceed.

Above her, the majority of the building detonates - she'd apparently found one of the enemy's artillery positions - and neutralized it.

But combat shows no sign of stopping. You may find her later in the fight, covered in dirt, soot - most of the village has fallen but the last few buildings now contain the vast majority of the remaining defenders. It's becoming a slow grind, and that's not what the rebels need in the long run.

So what remains needs to be cleared by a Jedi. And perhaps her allies.

Phase III - Last Stands

The village is barely held and cleared before the counterattack begins. Juhani barely has an hour or two to try to regain some energy through meditation and rest before she's forced back into combat.

And it is a desperate thing. And the counterattack is just beginning to break when there is a roar upon the skies, and Juhani looks upwards, wearily.

Wonderful. It's a dragon. And that is when Silhara chooses to strike, launching a fireball at Juhani, who just barely raises her Heba-granted shield in time to deflect it.

'It is your time to die,' Silhara says, stepping forward, the Dragon alighting on a half-destroyed building behind her. 'So perish now, in fear and fire.'

Juhani stood tall, tired but prepared - be this victory or a last stand.

"I fear neither death nor pain, villain," she practically spat, the lightsaber coming to life again in her hands. "But before the end? I am certain you will."

But now would be a very, very good time for aid.

II

[maskedtyrant]

Juhani probably senses that Codi is on her way well before she actually shows her face in the fight. Her own contribution to the ambush - a fairly large explosion from the Armory - has already broken her focus on closing off her Tether connections, and the subsequent rush of adrenaline from the battle has kept them wide open ever since. There's apprehension and fear, instinctive, animal things that Codi couldn't fully shake even if she wanted to, because she understands that they're driving her to get somewhere safe.

What she doesn't fully realize is that 'somewhere safe' is, according to her brain, wherever Juhani is. Not until she's close enough to see the woman's lightsaber flash in the fray and recognize what's happening.

Balls, not again.

Oh well - might as well lean into it. At least Codi had the sense to cast Pass Without Trace on her dash across the settlement-turned-battlefield, and she keeps it up now, even after she breaks her cover by running up behind a Sylphid soldier whose gun is trained on Juhani and unloading her pistol into the base of his head. He crumples, boneless, Codi barely waiting for his corpse to hit the dirt before she leaps over it to put her back to Juhani's.

"You're late!" she teases over her shoulder.

[newmemorywhodis]

Phase III: Dark'ness and Hydra
The battle had been going well for Link, right up until the point where the darkness mage and her hydra had appeared.

Link had moved straight for the hydra, Mipha's Lightscale Trident flashing as he struck at the beast. He loped one head off, then another - but soon they grew back. And worse, before Link had the change to try an new strategy, Dark'ness took advantage of his distraction.

The mage's shadow stretches forward, like a living thing - until it connects with Link's. He stiffens, sensing that something is wrong - but when he tries to look, he can't move.

Not until his shadow moves, and that moves him.

The mage laughs, victorious and delighted. "Take that, prep!" she crows. "You're mine now."

[jedied]

"This thing has way too many -- ugh -- kriffing heads!"

Rey shouts as she drops down from somewhere, having done her best to lop off yet another head fast enough that the others with the same idea could catch up to its regeneration. There weren't enough of them yet; this wasn't going to work without better timing.

She spies Link having suddenly frozen when just seconds ago he'd been hacking heads off the thing with abandon, and the mage's words are just audible over the rest of the clamor of battle. With a snarl of her own, she flings out a hand and gives a solid shove through the Force in the direction of the mage.

"Leave him be!"

Boba Fett | Star Wars Legends | OTA

[concord_dawned]

b.ii: invasion

Ever since Boba arrived in the Broken World, the times he’s felt truly in his element have been few and far between. His first mission had come close: engaging the enemy in aerial combat had been a welcome rush after months spent stuck in a cell. But as undaunted as he’d been there, it’s here and now that it becomes clear that this kind of brutal, unrelenting combat is much more in line with what he was trained for.

The Sylphid are already being set upon from all angles. Pushed closer and closer into the center of the clearing, they put their backs to one another to try and to create a viable defensive formation. Boba takes it upon himself to prevent this from happening. His combination of jetpack and weaponry make him a dangerous and highly mobile target, dropping behind enemy lines to unleash bursts of blasterfire and flame, then jetting away just as quickly before the Sylphid have time to coordinate a counter-attack. More than a few Sylphid fall to these rapid assaults and those who don’t are thoroughly disrupted; with their eyes on the skies, they’re that much more vulnerable to pushes from the Witches’ main offensive force.

As the Sylphid begin to wise up to Boba’s tactics, however, it becomes more and more dangerous to drop in on them solo. As such, Boba switches to a more opportunistic approach. Anyone already engaged with Sylphid forces may suddenly find themself with back-up dropping in from the sky, laying down cover fire—sometimes of the literal variety—as he descends.

b.iii: the hydra

Giant monsters storming the battlefield aren’t really what Boba expected when the warning of reinforcements had gone out, but he’s nothing if not resolute; he’ll fight these just the same as he fought the Sylphid.

The giant, multi-headed serpent is the creature closest to his position and thus is the one Boba targets first. It doesn’t take long for the creature’s true power to become evident: by the time he joins the fray, its four heads have already divided into six and there are shouts among the group not to target its necks. The creature is well-apprised of its anatomy, though—it uses its heads as weapon and shield alike, flashing out to either attack or intercept incoming assaults, and dividing further when a wayward blow manages to split one of its slender necks. The more they fight, the more Boba and the others are being set upon by more and more pairs of venomous fangs.

Boba is lucky—his armor protects him from most of the attempted bites, though at this rate, it won’t be long before fangs manage to pierce his flight-suit rather than bouncing off the duraplast plates. He fends off another bite with a blunt strike of his gauntlet. How do you defeat something that actively benefits from being harmed? Already the ground is slick with the creature’s blood, but that hardly matters when the monster itself is constantly, impossibly regenerating. It’s almost a paradox: the faster they kill, the more deadly it becomes—

Two minutes. The number flashes into Boba’s mind unbidden, an apparent non-sequitur in the chaos. The others are beginning to fall back, but Boba hesitates.

Two minutes. Why does that number seem so important right now—?

And suddenly, he knows. One of the hydra’s heads lunges for him and he leaps back, nearly colliding with someone behind him. Doesn’t matter. Do they have a blade? He looks them quickly up and down—a lightsaber would be best, but if that’s not available—

“The next head that lunges, cut it off,” he says, quick and harsh over the din. Immediately, there are protests from the others and immediately, Boba silences them.

“Shut up,” he growls. A flick of a switch on his gauntlets lights a small flame, flickering in front of a port above his wrist. “Just trust me on this.”

He doesn't actually know if it's going to work. He's going on a hunch here, but it's not one he has time to explain and whether or not it works, he needs to find out fast.

b.iii

[worthallthis]

If this results in multiple more heads to fight, the asset is going to be peeved. He knows how hydras work. How HYDRA works.

But he can take orders, as well. And whittling down heads, if it does work, will make getting at its body easier.

So he grunts in answer to the order, and lunges at the beast itself at his first opportunity, apparently heedless of his own safety, to take his larger knife and hack at its extended neck while it tries and fails to chomp on his metal arm.