1745/Training Session: Survive

Training Session: Survive
Date of Scene:	12 July 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Rashmi undergoes one of the final lessons in her enforcer training... A no-holds-barred fight against a fully ranked enforcer, in this case Chrono. Even if he is using a limiter, the match proves to be rapid, brutal and dangerous, with both pushed to their limits. However, Rashmi has a few tricks of her own, even ones Chrono isn't aware of...
Cast of Characters:	Chrono Harlaown, Rashmi Terios

---

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had his arms crossed behind his back, staring down (he was standing at the top of a hill) at Rashmi. He'd taken the position after creating the barrier. He looked... stern. Sterner than normal. "Rashmi, today's training is going to be a bit... different from the others. I'll be applying a limiter to myself before we start for one simple reason."

"I won't be holding back. I'll be coming at you with full intensity, intending to knock you from the sky and *put you down*. There will be no special gimmicks, no extra moving parts." He held his staff towards her. "And no mercy. Today's session is simple. Survive and do as much damage as possible within the timeframe. It goes until one of us can't go any longer. Any questions? If not, we'll start soon."

A small timer appeared in the corner of her vision, though it wasn't counting down yet. And a magical circle appeared under his feet, coiling magical threads across him. The limiter. Allowing him to come at her full tilt, without needing to worry about reducing his power.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It has been a *rough* week, since Rashmi learned that Mamoru had been kidnapped. A sense of building tension, prompting her to double-down on her project. The new accumulator tank sits against the small of her back, a comforting bit of extra weight... But she didn't feel fully *ready.*

So when Chrono announced a training session, she'd accepted almost before the words were finished leaving her boyfriend's mouth.

Even now, as he looks down upon her and announces the goal of this session is simply 'survive,' the nervousness that would normally have her throw a bit of weak sass, or give her second thoughts, now prompts only a swallow, and a nod. "Last as long as I can. No rules, no goals, no mercy." Drawing in a deep breath, she lets out a steadying breath, and takes hold of Nicomachea.

"Okay, Chrono... Let's do this."

Bad idea or not, she *needs* to know she's ready. And nothing will tell her whether or not he is, like facing off against Chrono going all out.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod. Then waved his staff.

            <<Stinger Blade!>>

Blue swords appeared in the air around her in a circle, in a steady spawn. Spinning once, then threw themselves. It was a flurry of bladed magical destruction, each blade coming a tenth of a second after the last, forcing her to dodge and weave around the assault if she wanted to try and avoid it. Worse? The blades kept appearing, swirling around her like a spinning magical blender...

All in an effort to lead her up, where he was waiting.

            <<Blaze Cannon!>>

To unleash a flaming vortex of destruction and send her slamming to the ground below.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << *BONG!* >> << FLIER FIN >>

The moment the swords began to appear, Rashmi rocketed upward in a futile attempt to escape the blades, and give herself more maneuverability when it turned out she could not. The first blade grazes her back as she dodges too slow, the next requiring a hasty Shield to help her escape the damage, as she jukes and weaves and is occasionally sent spinning from impacts barely deflected, or barely *not* deflected.

The pattern is eventually recognized, and the dodging becomes somewhat easier--

Her eyes widen as Blaze Cannon is announced, and hurriedly she throws both hands toward Chrono.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >>

Her directional ice shield is less a circle, than a shallow cone, festooned with irregular spikes and blocky outgrowths, all calculated to not only combat the temperature of the attack, but also break up the flow of the fire, channeling it outward and attenuating it. The result is that what begins as a tightly coherent vortex of fire splashes outward as it connects with the irregular surface area, creating a wide cone with Rashmi at its center.

The force behind the attack still visibly pushes her ground-ward, however, and by the time the maelstrom is done, Rashmi stands, faintly singed in the middle of a charred divot on the hillside, her shield practically a cobweb of steaming cracks.

Her eyes narrow up at him as she pauses to catch her breath, then crouches, leaping skyward once more.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR STINGER >>

*Five* golden swords materialize around her, orienting outward and launching in a staggered burst. Tuned for homing and shield-breaking, they serve as the lead attack paving the way for a follow-up; a trio of simple Barrets, conjured wordlessly and launched with as much striking power as the simple spell can hold.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown watched her get pushed down, his gaze cold. Good, she was able to deflect that blast. Even at a lower output it was hardly a delicate attack. Especially at close range. However, he was already diving down at her.

He had no intention of going easy on her this time.

And she launched her counter attack.

            <<Stinger Snipe!>>

Five orbs of blue magic circled around him for a moment, before flying out. One by one they pierced through the swords, before re-directing and going straight at Rashmi.

However, her three barrets seemed to catch him by surprise! He reacted quickly, his rod coming down to strike one of them, knocking it away and exploding it harmlessly. He wove around the second, narrowly grazing his coat... But the third struck home, hitting his chest and leaving a mark on it, making him stumble back slightly on his approach....

And it was then that she'd feel the all-too-familiar tug of a binding spell on herself, as four silent binds would start to materialize, attempting to bind her wrists and ankles...

A binding launched when she struck him, attempting to use the blow as a cover to distract her. Worse, the five stinger snipes were coming at her, albeit weaker due to having to pierce through her solar stingers first.

And he was falling towards her, staff raised to try and strike her from above, using his rod as a club!

Well, he did say no mercy.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Priority 1: Get breathing room.
Priority 0.5: Escape the forming Binds.
Priority 2:Don't get bonked.

Along the ribbonlike tails at the back of her belt, vents open up, as she attempts to solve all three problems.

    << SOLAR FLASH >>

With a flare of magic from the vents, she launches herself *upward,* aiming to pass Chrono, break the still-forming binds, and force the Stingers to expend more power in movement, all in one.

And it *almost* works; one of the Binds on her left ankle was too sticky to escape, and when she reaches her destination she's stuck for the moment in midair, a Shield forming to orient on the Stingers as they come in. Teeth grit as they impact on her shield, causing cracks, and valuable time has to be wasted by blasting the Bind off her ankle.

At least she escaped a club to the head, though... That's always helpful.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown swung at her as she passed him, his staff failing to land. He still had that smile on his lips and, believe it or not? He was impressed.

She was keeping up well. His little page mage was proving herself a valuable, and powerful, combatent. Able to deal with stress and complex situations in the blink of an eye.

But, unfortunately, so was he. He righted himself, rod out.

            <<Blaze Burster!>>

Small, tiny orbs of fire shot out from his rod, surrounding Rashmi...

Before they began to erupt. A mass area fire attack, like little tiny mines launched all over the battlefield that she had to try and navigate through. Worse, they worked to both distract and make it difficult to keep a proper eye on him as he flew up and up...

            <<Stinger Move!>>

Disappearing into a small, blue arrow, he flew up rapidly over the battlefield, twisting back around to try and get a bead on her before--

            <<Impact Cannon!>>

Launching a short, concussive cannonball-like blast of magic down at her, intending to LAUNCH her into the ground this time. Coming from above while she focused on the stinger's from below and the little mines she was surrounded by.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Wasting time on the Bind is paying off some *seriously* horrible dividends right about now. While the spell itself is new to her, the information Nicomachea feeds to her in short busts tells the tale; he's mined the entire area, *and* the Stingers are still coming... Too much is happening too fast, and the Stingers clip her more than once as she moves desperately to avoid the Bursters. Finally, she simply envelops herself in a shell of glittering, golden ice, that can take the impacts she can't completely avoid.

<< *BONG!* >> << ALERT! MASTER! ALERT! BOMBARDMENT ATTACK IMMINENT! >>

Rashmi's eyes flick up to Chrono's position, Nicomachea helpfully locking onto him through the slowly-decaying shield of ice, and an idea comes;

    << SOLAR SHIELD -- RED SHIFT >>

Rather than dodging through the minefield, she awaits the attack, her shield almost entirely converted to kinetic-kickback. When the cannonball impacts, the hope is that it'll not only get kicked to one side, but blast her out of the minefield, faster than the Stingers can follow. Hopefully she'll have enough breathing room to respond in kind.

...Is there a light source on her back?

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
And her shielding paid off! She managed to position herself at just the right angle where the blast sent her flying AWAY from the attack! Launching her out and, finally, managing to shake the stingers. She was--

And then she'd likely feel it. The magical circle of magic around her...

            <<Stinger Blade!>>

The swords appearing around her in a tight, spiral pattern. Directing her up and attempting to force her to go *very* fast to avoid them, in a tighter and tighter array...

All in an effort to lead her up and into a delayed bind. If she'd pick up on the trap, however, was up to her training.

His spells were quite rapid fire, the advantage of a non-intelligent device. He never had to delay processing. But it did lack the advantage of having someone to watch his back, as it were.

Could she leverage the advantage of having Nicomachea advising her against Chrono's superior casting speed? Or would he overwhelm her? This was what he needed to know, to see...

And, in a strange way, his heart was pounding in a way it hadn't in ages.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
There is a special kind of frustration in knowing a tactic, but having to bend to it anyway.

This is far from the first training session that Chrono has pulled this trick, and he even did a version of it to *start* this fight. But threats *need* to be honored, and while she'll never be the fastest of fliers, she does have the agility to avoid the incoming blades!

...Most of them. Her Barrier Jacket is starting to get a bit tattered, and so far she's only scored one hit by the time she nears the apex of the trap.

    << SOLAR FLASH >>

Rather than finish her walk up the 'garden path' and into the Bind, Rashmi swallows her nausea and flash-steps again to one side, out and away from the cylinder of blades.

    << SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >>

As if to answer Chrono's mass of fire, Rashmi begins a rapid-fire launch of ice Barrets, meant not only to saturate Chrono's area with fire, but ensure that the 'sticky' ice clumps where it hits, hampering movement more and more the more weight of mana collects.

And the light behind her shines ever brighter...

Though winded, and in pain, Rashmi is *grinning.* Because win or lose, she *is* proving herself to be ready, and she *can* stand up to whatever the world throws at her.

And it's all thanks to her boyfriend, currently doing his best to rain down agony upon her.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Rashmi managed to avoid the bind and, a moment later, it triggered. And it wasn't a normal bind, either. It erupted into fire. Blaze tomb.

Not comfortable. Good thing she evaded it.

As it was, she launched her own counter attack and he braced himself. His left hand moved out and he started to gather mana...

            <<Subzero Burst!>>

Ice formed out from his hand, the blasts collecting against it. A wall of quickly expanding ice flowed out, shielding him from direct contact with her ice, using his own ice. Hiding him from view. Forming a barrier outwards as the ice expanded, attempting to get closer....

And then exploded, the ice bursting into shards of magical ice of its own. Chrono...

Chrono was gone?

Then, a moment later...

            <<Stinger Snipe!>>
            <<Stinger Blade!>>
            <<Stinger Ray!>>

From the trees below, five little blue orbs of magic shot out, swinging around and coming at her from all directions. At the same time, a flurry of swords seemed to appear, flying wildly and erratically, some aimed at her, some aiming at the direction she was going and some seeming to just be in her general direction, an erratic and wild flurry to make it even harder to avoid...

And then him, charging out, machine-gun-like pellets of magic erupting from his wand as he surged up at her, his left hand reaching out towards her, to try and *grab* her!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Elation and disappointment war within Rashmi's heart, as the trap she escapes is a terrible one, but her own answer not only avoided, but halted entirely. << Well, every question has an answer... >>

Nicomachea's alarm pings her target's new location, and the workout resumes.

Barrets fly out to meet the attacks, Nicomachea doing rapid fire-control calculations to find the ones most likely to hit her and prioritizing them, as Rashmi weaves throughout the airspace, sweat pouring from her brow.

And then her boyfriend counters with his *own* barrage, forcing her to put up a rigid ice shield to deflect them out and away... just in time for her to notice his lunging grab.

<< *ping!* >>

With a wry, exhausted smile, she drops the shield the moment the Barrage peters out.

"Verbal command: Accumulator Purge."

<< *BONG!* >> << COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE. PURGE CHANNELS GREEN. ALTERNATE GRIMOIRE LOADED. AWAITING COMMAND. >>

She *doesn't move* as Chrono closes rapidly to grab hold of her, and instead dips her head to give him a peck on the nose. "Solar Buster."

<< *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BUSTER >>

Up to this point, Rashmi has never understood the strain of firing a Bombardment-class spell. Even if it's not pulling directly from her Linker Core, it *is* using her mana channels in a way they've never been used before.

So as the point-blank beam of improbably nonlethal destruction lances out through the centimeters of air between her and Chrono, Rashmi is hit by a wave of *incredible* vertigo, a sign that she is going to have to *practice* this spell before she doesn't have to worry about straining her Linker Core like this again.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was getting closer and closer, his hand reaching out towards her... And something was up. He could feel it. It was all about pushing forward, none the less. Expect the unexpected. But he knew her in and out, what could she--

And then the energy readings rose. She could see the moment it dawned on him. The moment the smile on his face, so calm and collected, wavered. When his eyes widened. When his fingers, grabbing her arm... let her go...

And his left hand went out, attempting to form a shield--

But it was too little, too late. The Solar Buster did catch him by surprise. While his spells were faster, they weren't able to bring up a defense capable of such a strike in such short a time. He had to... improvise.

            <<Subzero-->>--

But it wasn't fast enough. The ice formed over his left hand as the blast went off. Little drops of ice erupted around them, as he was sent rocketing down to the ground, crashing into a tree with such force it shook. His head rocked back and, for a moment, it seemed she'd won. His left arm had cracks along the metal plating, the garment torn. And he wasn't moving. Instead, he was slightly smoking...

She'd done it. She'd won. She'd beaten--

And a moment later... ice erupted all around her. One final spell.

            <<--Tomb!>>

His last hurrah. If she could escape that, then well... he'd thrown his all into that in the moment. There'd be no follow up.

Also, everything hurt now.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It was... *worrying* how satisfying it was to get that shot off. But as strained and sick and exhausted and sore as Rashmi felt, there was no chance of her avoiding the Subzero Tomb. All she could do is groan inwardly, as the ice closes in around her, freezing her in place.

And after a couple of minutes, with the block of ice just hanging there in the air, Rashmi's mental voice echoes in Chrono's head. << ...Okay yeah. Last shot was yours, you win love. ...Owwwwww. >>

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
It wouldn't take long after that that the tomb around her would crack and then release, letting her fall... into the arms of her boyfriend.

Who would promptly fall on his ass when he caught her. And she'd likely note he was sweating as well. "You've gotten a lot stronger," he said, grinning up at her. Slowly, his hand reached up to cup her cheek. "You're going to make an incredible enforcer one day, Rashmi. And I am so proud of you for it."

He'd then slowly lean in, pressing his lips against hers.

Earth girls really were something else. And that something else was magnificent.