86/Lost Logia: Digital Chaos

Lost Logia: Digital Chaos
Date of Scene:	14 July 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	A Jewel Seed crashes into an important data center and causes severe chaos before Precia Testarossa sends Fate, Riventon, Firefly and Starfall Omen after it. They encounter Nanoha, Guardian Sukiyaki and The Red Princess as opponents! Riventon seals the Jewel Seed (Number IX - 9!) and gets some alone time with it before it gets into Precia's clutches.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Takashi Agera, Runealy Waldia, Nanoha Takamachi, Fate Testarossa, Ren Morimoto, Lana Voselle Miata, Precia Testarossa

---

Precia Testarossa has posed:
Mitakihara at night is lit up. Little twinkling lights in the windows and the blurred night sky, polluted by said light, blotting out stars. Except for one. It sparks in the sky before it crashes down into Mitakihara Data Centers Inc and smashes a window. A lost logia. a Jewel Seed, crashes into the window, smashing it at the surrounding wall before embedding itself into a computer monitor.

The monitor comes to life, despite this and strange things start happening as traffic lights go crazy. Hospital systems start acting odd and dangerous. Lights go off and on in various buildings, it's abouslte sudden chaos.

"Fate." says Precia Tesatrossa. "Get me the Jewel Seed. It will make me...happy." Precia says. You want your mother to be happy. Don't you Fate. She then looks up. "Anyone else who gets it, or helps retrieve it, will be well rewarded. Consider it a valuable addition to your next assessment." she says, before she starts coughing and leaning off camera. She gets her bearings again. She starts cast a spell, a Mid-childan spell circle summoning strange, armored golems around her as she sends them off, off towards the building, a squad of about ten of them to support the team as she turns off the transmissions.

The jewel seed is easily detectable to anyone else. It puts off strange energy, and is clearly a dangerous source of magic as it takes control of the local internet and control systems of the city. It glows as it starts to form shadowy tendrils around it's self, forming a strange, misty 'body' around itself surrounding the monitor it's stuck in.

FContend with the Jewel Seed, and Precia's retrival team! Who'll get the Lost Logia first!?

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi was out at night. She wasn't supposed to be, but she's been transforming in her bedroom into her barrier jacket and flying out her window. Today. She has Yuuno with herm the ferret riding on her shoulder as Raising Hear beeps.

c+ink< Signal Detected, Master. Jewel Seed. Lost Logia. c+ink> states Raising Heart. Nanoha Takamachi can see something crash into a building and then... all heck breaks loose. Buildings start flashing, traffic lights go crazy. What other things could be going wrong?

"Raising Heart! Setup a barrier!" she says, Raising Heart starting to cast the barrier spell as it aims to encircle the large part of the building and portion of the city the Jewel Seed is in- unless another caster does it first.

She then starts flying towards the position of the Lost Logia.

She's not there yet, but she's getting close, looking like a pink contrail in the air on her approach!

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    Rune understands very little of what just happened. She did not witness the initial impact, but she was at least in the general neighborhood of it while scouting this part of Tokyo.

Yet even she can notice the chaos that is unfolding, remarking aloud: "I have never seen this city's glass towers act this chaotically! What could be amiss?"

A walk through the streets gives her some hints. A barrier has emerged, and strange... creatures walk toward a building. Nanoha is in the air.

This is enough to convince the princess that the situation is not just unusual - it is dangerous. With her tiara summoned and placed on-head, she transforms from a mere Radiant Heart student to a princess in red, staff in hand as she rushes to catch up to the golems.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    A late game with extra innings is what has Ren Morimoto out at this time of evening. He doesn't mind the walk at night, feeling strangely unbothered by the shadows and darkened corners he passes by, which only make the points of light all the brighter as he steps into them. Even a place as busy as downtown seems a little more magical at night.

    And then, of course, everything goes sideways. He's waiting at a corner to cross the street when he hears something crash through glass nearby, and then the traffic lights start blinking in a way they definitely aren't supposed to.

    "Huh... that's weird," is all he has to say about it, at first, but then a street cat twines its way through his legs, rubbing against his ankles.

    The cat meows sweetly and looks up at him, and Ren's just about to bend down to pet it when it whispers: "Psst! Something strange is going on! I sense an odd energy source nearby all of a sudden!"

    Ren freezes, hand outstretched and half-crouched. "Oh it's you," he says, voice flat. And maybe louder than he meant to, as he doesn't want people to think he's a weirdo that holds conversations with cats. Because that is definitely a cat, yep, totally. He straightens up and looks left, then right, then clears his throat as he backs awkwardly up into an alley nearby.

    "Mystic Saibashi, to me! Let's cook!"

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    Mother is God in the eyes of a child.
    And to Fate Testarossa no word, nor desire, nor request is more absolute and infallible than that of her mother, Precia Testarossa.
    Thus, when the Grand Mage so much as says her name, the twin-tailed blonde's attention becomes as focused and hot as a laser, scarlet eyes falling half-lidded as she grips her cherished Device, Bardiche, in one hand.%R    "Yes, mother..." The girl says in a voice so quiet it's almost a whisper as she sets off to her new task; to retrieve the Jewel Seed, as her mother bids her.
    Boots land with a gentle click-click atop a lamp post as Fate prepares herself to storm the data center, the form of her wolf-woman Familiar, Arf, hovering at her side.
    "Fate..." Arf says, tone pleading. "Fate, please don't push yourself too hard... Not for her."
    "I'm fine." The blonde replies to her faithful Familiar, eyes falling closed with an almost tired sigh. "I'll be fine. Because I'm strong." She whispers, eyes fluttering open as lightning dances in the sky behind her, thunder roaring shortly after.
    It is the sudden creation of a barrier spell that hardens the child's expression.
    Someone else is here.
    Someone else seeks out what rightfully belongs to her mother.
    Tired scarlet eyes follow the pink contrails of light that herald a familiar figure.
    [SIR.] Bardiche ings in her hand. chy[ENEMY APPROACHING.]
    By the time Nanoha arrives, Fate is once again in the air, hovering in front of the smashed window. Waiting.
    "Don't get in my way." The blonde says, tone glacial at first, before her expression softens by a degree, voice quieting by even more of a fraction.
    "... Please."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi Agera recieved the transmission from Precia requesting assistance, and recieved another one not too long after instructing hom to answer that call - one of the Witches or perhaps Tomoe himself, indicating they'd like to get the value of having helped Precia Testarossa.
    Takashi would have joined the hunt for a magical artifact to put it into Obsidian's hands on his own initiative anyways, he was already reaching out to Hotaru to join him when the second message hit.
    "Well, now it's on us to do a good showing out there. I was going to ask if you *wanted* to come, but now it looks like we're going anyways." he says, tapping his phone.
    Hotaru doesn't like to go places via the Dusk Zone itself, so after the two of them are henshined, they head through an Obsidian Door - the two of them arriving just as the barrier goes up.
    And his device immediately goes a little bit nuts. It doesn't speak in proper Midchildan or Belkan, it just makes a spray of disconnected vowels and beeps. Then grows quiet.
    "Well, maybe this is the thing that has been messing with my calculations this week..." he muses aloud as Riventon and Firefly make their way to the site of the enraged digital youma. "Fate will be here too, Firefly. Show her and myself the results of your training." he advises. And then he pats her on the head.. "Remember what we talked about when you first spoke to me? Today is one of those days. It's time to be a controlled wildfire alongside us... Firefly. Be as mighty as we know you can be."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly was nervous. Of course she was nervous. Precia's message... likely meant Fate. And Fate was her Kohai. And she had... made a.... less than stellar impression last time. In fact, she'd made an abyssal showing. So she wanted, desperately, to make up for it. To show that she could be a good senpai. That Fate could depend on her.

So she transformed and followed him, grateful to be able to skip the whole... dusk zone thing.

Upon arriving, however, a barrier went up momentarily later. "Riventon-senpai, I'm going to move to support Fate-chan."

From there, she took off, flying up to join Fate... at a... much slower speed. Because, well, honestly? She suspected Takashi would be the one best able to retrieve the object. She could delay, buy time.

Not to mention the creation of the barrier... She gulped, moving up behind Fate. Not speaking, though, just giving a nod. Eyeing Nanoha. Unaware of the... unspoken tension between the two.

She WOULD be useful this time. Her training, her efforts. All of it. Her value WOULD be proven today.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Lana admittedly doesn't care much for random pieces of Lost Logia, aside from what she already has. They have a history of being dangerous and unpredictable, and Lana prioritizes her own survival too much. On the other hand, if there's a reward in it for her, it might be worth her time if she can get some energy out of this.

    This is actually her first time deploying with a group. She reflects upon what her role in a team even is. Backline fire support makes the most sense, but Starfall questions whether she's doing that out of reason or cowardice. Maybe there isn't that much of a difference in the end.

    Lana arrives late on the scene, flying low over the buildings with dark energy instead of any Belkan magic. A barrier goes up, and she knows it's not hers. She mutters, "Is it the TSAB again?"

    She flies just a bit lower. Getting arrested before you're strong enough to end the world would be too embarrassing.

    Lana quickly spots Fate on her way towards the magidigital mess that the Jewel Seed is making. After that, the bright pink comet that is Nanoha is a bit hard to miss. "It's already happening."

    She dives down between buildings, pulling the pendant up from her shirt collar, and shouts her henshin phrase.

    "Break the Hands of Time! Nightmare Chain, Deploy!"

    < Beflecke die Erde >

    A flash of off-white yellow later, and Starfall Omen's barrier jacket appears around her. Nightmare Chain appears in her hand, taking the form of a long staff. A burst of speed creates a shockwave of red magic behind her as she rushes to catch up to Fate. Nightmare Chain pings the other Obsidian devices to announce her presence.

Precia Testarossa has posed:
Precia Testarossa is left to her bloody coughing fits.

The Golems are indeed walking into the barrier, looking like large strange armored figures. They are walking at a brisk pace, the barely sentient servants are easy to catch up to though.

Two raise their hands and cast what looks like shoot barrets into the air towards Nanoha, while others will shoot at interlopers that specifically are not currently working with Precia. They are making their way to the building with the smoking hole in the side. Even in the barrier, the world is in chaos. What is that thing doing, exactly?

Ghostly tentacles continue to form from the thing, poking into the next computer, and the next, taking over networks, the local internet, not even websites are safe now, as important things start going offline. It's volatile.

It's also playing havoc with the local wifi. Not that it matters to anyone right now here.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
"D--deathscythe..." she says. It's the name she was given so it's the name she knows. She frowns as she comes to a stop near the opening in the wall. She grasps Raising Heart as Yuuno hops off her shoulder and onto a nearby building top with a little leap and a spin. "Be careful, Nanoha!" says the ferret.
    Nanoha barely nods and keeps looking at Fate. "I can't. I'm sorry. That's dangerous...! No one should have it! But I'm going to seal it. So it's not harming anyone again...!" she says, frowning a little..."C..cannon form." she says, Raising Heart forming into it's bombardment form, gripping the pistol grip as she raising it firmly, and determines herself.

Then Firefly joins Fate, wordlessly and she frowns... two versus one... Yuuno looks worried. Nanoha looks worried. She takes a deep breath. "Cross Smasher.....!" she says, quickly

c+ink< Cross Smasher. c+ink> repeats Raising Heart as a large bombardment spells lunges out at the two in front of her, bright, pink energy just surging forth and aiming to explode around the two mages- Fate and Firely.

This, however, leaves her open to the golem's shots, Yuuno swings his head as a spell circle forms around his body, and casts a round shield, blocking some of the shots, but not all as Nanoha takes some of them head on, making her wince and move upwards, and away from the opening as she tries to avoid taking more fire. "F-flier fin.." She spouts.

Two wings form on her feet as she gains more maneuverability.

"G..get me... a long range...targeting..." she mutters to Raising Heart.

c+ink< Confirmed, Master! c+ink> says Raising Heart.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    The alien princess has no idea what wifi even is, let alone why it should concern anyone. What does immediately worry her is the golems raising hands aggressively. "Hnn? ...Ahh!" A surprised shout, as they start launching projectiles! Her boot wings light up with a silver-blue glow, rocketing her above the golems' blasts.

This gives her a decent view of what is going on. Fate is in the air, guarding the window. Nanoha is here too, and giving Fate strange names. Starfall Omen is also here, and several other unknown-to-Rune arrivals are showing up. It's a lot to take in all at once!

Unsure who is on who's side, who is here to do what, she makes a safe guess and aims her wand down at one of the golems, and voices her worries aloud even as she does this: "Not a one among those gathered here appear to be Deathscythe's mother. Where is she?" Apparently the princess overheard Fate's 'name.'

Even as the princess descends, she fires a thick green gem down at her attacker - one that aims to explode into emerald sparkles if it strikes!

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    The cat is right at Ren's heels as he beats feet into the alleyway, though between one shadow and the next the cat has disappeared, and in its place is the spirit guide Umeboshi, a translucent floating blob that flails its chubby little arms as it tosses a pair of cooking chopsticks over to Ren.

    The henshin process complete, Culinary Guardian Sukiyaki does an impressive set of wall-jumps to get himself up to the tall rooftop of a nearby building, the blade of his sword flashing intermittently in the light as he moves. "Is that what's made everything look weird?" he asks, staring down at the strange colorscape he now finds himself in. His boots scrape against the edge of the roof as he looks over the edge.

    "I don't know," Umeboshi says, tugging with concern at the short kimono Ren's wearing. Don't worry, some powerful deity out there also saw fit to grant him pants in his transformation sequence. "But I think it's bad news!"

    He can see combat being initiated above, his eyes going wide at the pink energy bombardment that lights up the sky. "Uh, should we... get involved with that?" he asks, a tinge of uncertainty to his voice.

    Which is matched by the tone Umeboshi says, "I'm not sure..." in.

    Actually there are a lot of people starting to gather, Ren's noticing. His grip on his sword tightens, but he hesitates, unsure how -- and where -- to get involved.

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    It is, perhaps, for the best that Fate does not see Precia coughing.
    It had been almost surreal... Awakening one day; strange gaps in her memory, to see her mother so... Transformed.
    Memories of Precia's vibrant days, so quickly replaced with the vision of a ghost of a woman by comparison, gaunt and racked by illness. It worries Fate deeply...
    But if she doesn't see her mother coughing up blood; if she is unaware that the woman's illness has progressed so terribly to ravage her body; Fate can focus on what is ahead of her.
    Quietly, for a moment, Fate basks in the almost painful memories of those wondrous days of braiding flowers into her mother's hair, when Firefly arrives, as does Starfall Omen with her. Fate half-heartedly glances over her shoulder for a beat before giving a slight nod to the two. Under normal circumstances, Fate is certain she could take this girl on, Nanoha being little more than an amateur child from a backwater planet. But right now, with a Jewel Seed at stake, she does not want to risk even the slightest of missteps.
    After all, they say the best fencer in Italy is not afraid of the second best, but the worst.
    This girl's inexperience made her... Unpredictable. It made her hard to read.
    IT's fine. Fate is strong. She shakes the thought from her mind as soon as Nanoha blurts out a name.
    And for a flustered moment, the blonde blinks, absolutely dumbfounded, realizing that the outlandish name 'Deathscythe' applies to her.
    She had almost entirely forgotten the name that Riventon had given her.
    "..."
    It leaves her shocked for just a beat before she sighs softly.
    "... Fate Testarossa." That is her name.
    But then Nanoha opens fire.
    The sudden fusillade of pink light that comes straight for her is fairly impressive for a child with no formal training. But Fate has trained hard, harshly, and intent since she was small, to prepare for a moment just like this.
    [EVASION.] Bardiche pings in warning to Firefly and Starfall Omen, as Fate is already on the move, a blur of black and gold as she jukes; the searing heat of Nanoha's spell evaded by a fraction of an inch as Fate twists her body aside, Barrier Jacket and cloak searing from the magical assault as she lunges to close the distance between herself and this pigtailed interloper,.
    [SCYTHE FORM.] Bardiche announced, head snapping back with a hiss as a blade of electric light glimmers to life.
    "... I'm sorry." Is all she whispers as she swings. It is a quick, efficient, and brutal stroke that intends to cut Nanoha out of the air from directly in front of her.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon's device alerts him to Starfall Omen's presence, as intended. It replies back, also speaking for Firefly's. Firefly is running off to make herself useful, and while Riventon doesn't quite chase after her, it does cause him to increase his pace from 'slowly looming' to 'walking quite quickly' towards what he assuumes will be the lines of battle.
    There's another garbled transmition that's audiable from his device as he watches the others start to trade projectiles and dodges. Since Sukiyaki's not entered the fight but Starfall Omen has announced an intent to, from Riventon's perspective it's Precia's youma-golems, Fate, Firefly, and Starfall against Nanoha and the strange princess. Which means the odds are in his side's favor in the skirmish, and he should focus on...
    Riventon turns and walks towards the hole in the wall where the goal of the fight actually is. Raising a hand, he collects Dark Energy in his palm before turning it upside down, where it drips to the ground in globs, each glob forming a humanoid shadow with glowing red eyes, that races into the building ahead of him. With flensing claws of Dark Energy the not-quite-youma will try to do as much damage to the jewel seed creature as they can, to weaken it, so that it can be sealed. After all, everyone else has seen fit to be so busy so quickly.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly felt a little relief, now. She realized... the golems. Her. Fate. Riventon. A third she didn't recognize. Surely, they would retreat, seeing such a powerful--

But they didn't. Instead... She raised her weapon, forming a cannon. "Wait, don't--" But it was too quick. Bright magic enveloped them. She, unlike Fate, was not very fast. Instead she more dropped out of the air, one of the blasts grazing her, a second singing her butt-cape...

And then BOOM. They explode. She shrieked, the dust and dirt surrounding her... and when it cleared? She was still floating in the air, surrounded by a dark purple barrier. And slightly burned. She'd... tried. She was doing better. But she really wasn't anywhere near Fate's speed. The fight had only just started and she was already panting with exertion. "P-please. There's no need for us to fight here. You can't win this. You're out numbered and while we have no desire to hurt you, we will hurt you if we have to."

Still... The fact Fate gave her full name to the other girl... it filled her with concern.

On top of that, there was another. A strange woman. Attacking the golems? Well, Fate likely had Nanoha handled. It seemed this read lady would be hers. She aimed her glaive at her, before releasing it. Purple blasts of magical energy were released, flying through the air at the Red Princess. While they weren't the most damaging attacks... they weren't meant to be. She was launching suppressive fire, more aiming to drive her back and away, while the golems got to work.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Starfall Omen watches as the fight between Nanoha, Deathscythe, and Firefly begins. If no one pays any attention to her, maybe Omen can make her way to the Jewel Seed. While Nanoha's bombardment is going off, Starfall gets an idea. Nightmare Chain transforms into a two handed cannon on her silent command. Quickly a multitude of relatively thin but numerous shields appear around Starfall, covering her from multiple directions and layering one on top of the next.

    A nicer person might consider shielding Firefly and Fate, but... villain.

    Starfall rushes towards the window, leaving a trail of bright red in the sky. It's hard not to notice her or where she's going. Some of Nanoha's bombardment smashes into the shields, breaking one after another, with Nightmare Chain pushing to its limit to rearrange and reform the magical white circular shields to cover up the ever-increasing holes in her defenses.

    Some of it gets through. It can't be helped. The first hit fills Omen with terror, and she freezes up for just a moment, but the familiar darkness inside her urges her on regardless. She's just going to have to be brave enough to take whatever hits get through, no matter how much they batter her and toss her around. An dark void which seems to radiate the feelings of predatory hunger surrounds Starfall allowing her device to protect her just a little bit more.

    Even with all her defenses, that little child has this much power...

    < Untergangsflamme >

    She lifts up her rifle-like device and squeezes the trigger, unleashing a steady stream of shots covered in black fire. Omen's shooting at the window, or more precisely at the wall that the widow is on, trying to make a wider entrance and destroy whatever cover the Jewel Seed monster might have. She holds her fire once Riventon goes inside, and follows in after him.

    "Can you contain it?" she asks in a cold tone.

Precia Testarossa has posed:
Precia Testarossa is not here. She sent the goons to go get what she wants. (Goons may include Fate and friends.). She's safe somewhere else. Maybe watching through magical monitors. Who knows. Maybe she's eating cake. (No she isn't doing that either.)

The two golems keep shooting 'shoot barrets' into the air at Nanoha to keep anti-air fire on her.

A golem gets smacked by an exploding green gem from The Red Princess and gets flung to the ground by the blast. It gets up slowly and mechanically before it starts returning fire at Runealy.

One of the Golems detects The Culinary Guardian, shoot barrets- orbs of energy that are flung- start peppering his general area soon.

The Jewel Seed, the giant blob of energy that's formed around it screams something horrible as dark youma-like creatures attack it, it lashes out with strange dark tentacles, the same ones it's using to infect the various electronics in the data center into the youmas, and the entering two mages.

Whatever this thing is, it's angry now if it wasn't before. It knows you're there now and it seems to be reacting like a feral creature backed into a corner now.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    A name. The princess hears a real name this time. Not 'Deathscythe', but 'Fate'. It is a name she is too distant to make much comment on right now, but she now has a real name to go on when trying to learn more about Fate's situation.

She spots Riventon for a moment, wanting to pursue him... but Firefly has other plans. The princess almost spots the glaive blasts in time. "Hmm?!" A startled shout as her boot-wings glow and begin to boost her backwards in mid-fall... an evasion that is a split-second too late.

She manages to avoid a direct hit from all of Firefly's blasts, but the first catches her cleanly in the ribs and draws a hurt cry! The princess lands on her feet, but wobbling - narrowly avoiding falling over on the sidewalk. The rest of Firefly's shots miss, but the one that hit clearly had an effect. Enough of one to make the princess stare at her. "Your weapon is not like the others I have seen in Tokyo - it resembles one a Knight would use, yet you are clearly not one of my sworn friends. I cannot even fathom who I am outnumbered by, nor for what purpose. If you wish to avoid a battle, then parley with me and explain yourself. I shall listen and be considerate! I... wh?!"

She is interrupted mid-speech by her other attacker. The princess' boot-wings flare again, as she leaps aside from the golem's attacks. One clips her in the ankle, but she endures it with a wince and takes aim. "And tell your companion to cease this at once, if you wish to be heard! I will not entertain peace talks while I am under assault!" Then she launches another wand-orb, though this one splits apart in mid-air to send a wide spray of emerald sparkles at the golem.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi is avoiding fire from the golems and heard Firefly's pleas but she frowns. "I'm not...backing down!" she says with determination...", but all this leaves her open to attacks from Fate as she speeds up and swipes at her. She throws a round shield and Fate impacts it----

And it just shatters, as Fate cuts into Nanoha, tearing at her barrier jacket, her armor as she 'nrgs!' in midair- the shield mitigating very little- but enough that she isn't put out immediatly--- but she quickly speeds upwards, aiming Raising Heart as she calls out. "Divine Shooter...!" four pink orbs forming around her as she fires them off all at once, homing a little as she then squeezes hard at the pistol grip..."Fate..Testorossa?" she says. That's... a more proper name. Right?

"F-Fate-chan if you're so sorry we don't need to fight! We have to stop that Jewel Seed, look at what it's doing..." she says. "Think of what it can do in the wrong hands we... we need to stop it, now!" she pleads.

Yuuno can only watch at this distance. "Nanoha-chan..." he says lightly.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    There's no way to tell who's who in this fight, not when Ren is utterly clueless as to the players on the field. He's frozen, unsure of what to do, wanting to assist the outnumbered Nanoha out of instinct but unable to trust himself to have the right of things.

    After all, hers was the first attack he saw. He can't know for sure who the good guys and the bad guys are in this situation...

    At least until one of them starts firing at him, and it's only quick reflexes that prompt him to jump out of the way of the energy orbs that are thrown his way. Well, that's as good a way as any to figure out who to attack, so he rebounds off the wall of a taller building and aims himself towards the golem that's attacking him, sword coming around in a heavy arc in an attempt to cut the golem in half!

    Once he's landed, he looks over to the Red Princess fighting another one of the golems and calls out, "Hey, do you have any idea what's going on here? What these things are?"

    Her speech is, at least, reassuring enough to convince him that she's a good guy. After all, she's talking about peace and all that!

    Just as he opens his mouth to inquire further, that scream sounds. Ren flinches and looks up to the massive hole in the wall of the nearby data center. "Or what that is?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly gasped when she hit the other girl. Oh no. No no. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Did she--

But the girl WAS okay. She let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the girl was okay. "I... I am Firefly. Magical Girl Firefly. My companions and I, we..." Though, the talk was... it made her pause. A knight? She wasn't a... knight. She was...

She shook her head, eying the woman. If she was really willing to listen then... She had to try! This was exactly the kind of thing that she was training for! However, when the princess launched an attack on the golem, she dove down. Intersparsing herself between the two, she tried to swing and knock it away...

Only for it to split apart into a spray of sparkles. She shrieks, her device forming a barrier around in barely in time, but it crumbles quickly. While the blow is reduced, some of the blasts slash across her arms and legs, leaving dark marks across her body and making her stumble back. She manages to remain standing, supporting herself by digging her glaive into the ground by the handle. She looks back at the golem. "S-stand down, I'll handle her. Go... go help the others," she said before looking to Red Princess.

"Y-you want a parley? Very well. Those... things? In that building? Are dangerous. They need to be contained and recovered carefully. If they're not, they can go out of control and create a lot of damage. We're trying to contain them. However, we cannot allow them to fall into the hands of just anyone."

Firefly took another deep breath before readying her glaive. "I don't... want to hurt you. We don't want to hurt you. So please. Don't try and force your way through. This is for your own good."

There was a lot of sadness, when she said that though. She told the golem to stand down... but honestly... she didn't expect the other girl to stand down. Especially when Ren joined her. She glanced back towards the screaming thing before cringing. "And that, right there, is why we need people to stay away from it. Riventon-senpai CAN contain it and stop it from hurting people. But he needs people to NOT interfere. So please... stand down. Please? Please... I don't... want to hurt you..." she said, her hands shaking when she stared at the two of them.

She could do this. She had to do this. She had to protect them. Even if it meant hurting them. She would NOT let them down AGAIN!

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    She's not backing down.
    Then there simply is no choice.
    Though even Fate winces when she cleaves through Nanoha's shield and into the girl. Though Nanoha opens fire once again, Fate's free hand forms a circular spell sigil; a shield with which she swats aside several of the homing bullets intended to shoot her down, albeit in Nanoha's self defense.
    When the smoke clears, there's another scorch on her Barrier Jacket. Was it skill or a testament to Nanoha's luck that she scored such a hit?
    Regardless, Fate pauses ever so briefly at the girl's plea.
    The Jewel Seed is running rampant... But she can hopefully put her faith in Riventon and Starfall Omen to handle the Lost Logia while Firefly tends to the other two interlopers and she fends off this girl.
    Slowly, Fate turns to actually look at Nanoha; to look at her, not through her. And the blonde sighs.
    She sounds so tired. And there's a painful weight in the scarlet gaze that glowers at Nanoha; a deep and profound sadness behind those vivid, half-lidded, burgundy eyes.
    "I must bring it back to mother." She says, conviction returning to her voi<span class=" bold_fg_y bg_n ++ e.
    chy">[SIR.] Bardiche pings, the stoic Device's support bolstering the girl's slowly chipping morale.
    She does not want to hurt this girl.
    Hurting this girl is far from her intended goal.
    Hurting this girl is the last thing on Earth that Fate wants to do.
    But.
    Mother is God in the eyes of a child.
    And the pain that glistens in those silent red eyes becomes more palpable than ever.
    "For mother's sake... I'll do anything."
    It is with this renewed resolve that Fate closes her eyes, a multitude of spell circles forming at her sides, shifting in shape into countless golden gleaming arrows of electric light.
    [PHOTON LANCER: PHALANX SHIFT.] Bardiche announces as she readies her spell.
    "Even if it means shooting you down." She says, resolve fully returned.
    And thusly, like a general upon the field of battle, she raises her Device. And swiftly lowers it, heralding the beginning of the assault.
    "Fire."
    [FIRE!]
    Unloading a massive fusillade of countless bullets in Nanoha's direction.
    "Forgive me."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon's not entirely sure his device is up to the task of sealing it. Axion's been on the fritz for a little bit and doesn't seem to be reacting well to being in the presence of the Jewel Seed. Therefore...
    "Naturally." he responds to Starfall's question. Worst case, he figures he'll pummel the heck out of this thing to make it passive, and then trade places with Fate.
    Each of Riventon's hastily-created Youma dissolve on contact with an attack aimed against them - they're not true creatures, just manifestations of force, youma shaped but truly closer to the orbs other Device Mages might summon. They do, however, help soak the rage of the <span style="color:reature.
    c#00CCFA"><RUNDEN SCHILD.> His device calls in a female voice as a circular shield just like the other Midchildans can create erupts in front of his hand to shield him from the creature's rage - even if the words were Belkan.
    "Wait, if you're here..." he says, pausing to look at Starfall Omen. "Well, there's still the golems." he says. "Still should be to our advantage out there..." And then his device pings as the Cullinary Guardian enters the battle, and Firefly's device reaches out to his. "...nevermind. Okay let's deal with this quickly. The ones out there may be in dire situations soon and that means we'd have exposed backs while we fight whatever the hell this is."
    <SCHATTENSCHLAG.> his device calls out, in a more masculine voice, and several sweeping black lines of energy rip through the air at the cornered Jewel-Seed Creature. "Just go down, you freak. Sounds like I'll have business outside soon." he says to the animalistic intelligence, wincing when he hears what he's pretty sure is Firefly's shriek, but relying on her and her Device.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    "Well that sure looks like a Lost Logia," says Starfall with a hint of resignation. This is now a thing that she will have to deal with. At least she won't be alone, and at least it wont be her problem afterwards. If someone else in Obsidian wants to deal with ancient artifacts of questionable safety, then the eventual backfire will just lead to a potential promotion for Starfall later.

    "Who has time for diplomacy right now?" she grumbles out loud, after hearing Runealy's words.

    The Jewel Seed's dark tendrils come after her, and her first notion is to step back and issue a command. "Claw Mode!"

    < Ja Mutter >

    Nightmare Chain shifts forms again, surrounding Omen's hands and making a set of three claws on each hand. Is she planning on getting close enough to fight? Well, not quite.

    < Dichtungsketten >

    The claws lengthen and turn into long, black cable chains covered in a red glow. As Lana swings her arms, the chains lash out like whips at the Jewel Seed's dark tendrils. The first two lashes are meant to keep the chaotic magic away, but the third is meant to strike the blob of darkness that the Lost Logia is covered in, glowing white and wrapping around the out of control artifact. If the bind sticks, Starfall will start draining energy through the chains. She has no idea how bad this idea probably is, but she's about to find out.

    "If it gets too bad out there, I'll go," she offers to Riventon, raising her voice above the chaos currently surrounding them. "The sooner we claim this thing the sooner we can help resolve things out there." Does she actually believe that he can seal this thing for real? Maybe, maybe not. She'll be sure to blame him later if they fail, though.

Precia Testarossa has posed:
Golems continue their assault on Nanoha, the Culinary Guardian and Runealy, they don't respond to diplomacy, they're more like magical dumb youma. They can't be reasoned with, not like this. Precia would most likely need to stop them herself and she's too busy now monitoring the whole mess as much as she can. THe networking is on the fritz now.

The golem hit by the culinary guardian goes down, leaving nine of them left, and one of the others pick up the attacking slack for the other, aiming weak shoot barrets at the Culinary Guardian now, along with another, as he now has to contend with two of them.

Two others now attack Runealy, as the attack against them get intercepted by Firefly, leaving them unharmed.

The Jewel Seed, meanwhile, screeches inhumanly as it's smacked by various attacks, it starts to retreat into itself, forming a stronger 'blob' of darkness around it, trading attacks for defense as lines of black rake into it, as it's energy is drained it screams again, the blob growing slightly smaller little by little. It's a good idea it looks like.

The energy probably tastes very spicy though.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    The Red Princess calls to Guardian Sukiyaki, "I have not even the faintest of ideas which factions are clashing, nor their motives!" This is an incredibly formal, archaic way of saying 'no idea.'

Then she calls out Starfall Omen with a defensive, haugthy rebuke: "A minute of parley may yet spare us from five minutes of battle, and save any among us from actions we could never take back!"

Firefly shields a golem, drawing a raised eye from the princess... who responds to the raised glaive by aiming her wand at Firefly. This is probably not what is meant by 'gunpoint diplomacy', but she does not attack. "Firefly, then? If you speak true, if you endeavor to end the chaos and screaming and danger, then request our aid and h--" She is interrupted by the golems resuming their attack. Rune's boot-wings glow, launching her into the air over the barrage. "I will have no more of your deceptions! You call for peace, all while your companions assault us!"

She begins glide-descending toward Guardian Sukiyaki. "With me, then! We shall end this treachery side by side!" While moving to 'form up' with him, the princess spins in mid-air to aim at Firefly. Her wand grows another orb, launching it at Firefly. Unlike the previous one, this orb stays intact in mid-flight... it will explode into an emerald mist against whatever it strikes.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi eyes go very wide when Fate summons up a fusillade of countless bullets. She raaises a round shield... she raises countless of them around her but she only blocks very few. Many, many get through and pepper her, heavily.

All Yunno can do is watch as Nanoha gets shot from the sky, she looses flight capability and she starts falling towards the ground- she gasps...

Yuuno quickly waits until Nanoha falls close enough to cast starfall. a midchildian spell circle quickly forming around the ferret as Nanoha's quick descent suddenly slows considerably and instead of a dramatical smash into a roof, it's more like a general 'oomph' onto the rooftop Yuuno is on top of as Nanoha is knocked clear out of the sky.

Nanoha winces and has her eyes closed. She opens them slowly when she realizes she isn't smashed through a roof. She hops back up and frowns up at Fate, hard. "Yuuno-kun.... thank you." she says, looking down to the Ferret.

She looks down to Raising Heart. "Do you still have that long range targeting vector I asked for...?"

She asks, breathing hard and in ain. Raising Heart Resonds. c+ink< Yes, Master! c+ink> says Raisinbg Heart. She aims at Fate and closes her eyes, "Divine..."

c+ink< Divine... c+ink> she then calls out "...BUSTER!" c+ink< BUSTER! c+ink> and the mage fires off a blast of powerful, sudden energy as she shakes, trying to keep upright... but near the end, she merely collapses onto her knee. She's spent. She's in pain. She might need to concede this one.

But she has to 'try'. Even... even if it means missing classes tomorrow because she's so sore.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    Dodge left! Duck! Juke right! Sukiyaki is doing everything he can to avoid those energy spheres being thrown his way by the golems. With two of them focused on him, he hardly has time to even think about attacking in return.

    The screeching makes him seize up, enough for one of the energy blasts to catch him off-guard and throw him to the side, though he catches himself by digging his blade into the asphalt to slow his momentum so he can get his feet underneath himself.

    "Well sounds like we're both in the same--" This is when the translucent spirit guide that has been floating its way over from allllll the way up on that rooftop finally makes it to Ren. "The strange energy I detected is up there! Why are you fighting these creatures?"

    Which, oh my god Umeboshi, read the room. Ren gets hit in the stomach with another energy barret while he's turning to respond, though this time he absorbs the shot with an oof and gets pushed back a few feet yet still remains standing.

    He nods up to the Red Princess and adjusts his grip on his sword, the purpose of which becomes clear when he attempts to use his sword baseball-bat style to slam the flat face of it into a golem and send it careening up towards Firefly!

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly let out a sigh of relief. Good. They could be reasoned with. She was--

And then the golems started firing. Dang it! She turned to face them. "I said cease! Stop firing! Pause! Stop! Reboot! Disable!" she yelled.

<Behind!> Her devices cry went. That strange, vile sounding voice once more going off. She turned in time to see the blast. Her glaive struck out, attempting to deflect it. "It's not--"

Only for it to explode. She was enveloped in the emerald mist. She let out a stunned, pained cry... right before one of the golems struck her. The blow hit hard, her device trying to shield her, but unable to fully. She lay there, under the damaged golem... A few tears going down her face. She tried to protect them. She WANTED to protect them. WHY WOULDN'T ANY OF THEM LISTEN TO HER?!

The golem, a moment later, hit the ground around her... cleaved in half. Firefly, bruised, bleeding from at least three different places, her suit torn and burned... and her right arm... sparking? Slightly?

"Fine. FINE!" she yelled. She then took off, flying AT them. That was something she hadn't done before... and when they were side by side, she slashed.

Her glaive streaked through the air, leaving a wave of dark purple magic in the air. More than that, though, while her blasts before had been slightly painful, the swing of her glaive was far, far more dangerous. Many, many times more powerful than her long ranged blasts.

Far more than Firefly had intended. She didn't swing a second time, the realization hitting her on what she had just done... and possibly could have done... Losing control like that. She hesitated, leaving herself wide open.

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    Photon Lancer is one of Fate Testarossa signature spells. Phalanx Shift amplifies its power by increasing the spell's volume considerably. She is sure- no she's certain that even if this girl is able to weather her assault, Nanoha will not be able to continue fighting afterwards.
    She is... Not quite correct in that assumption as Nanoha falls from the sky... Fate begins to turn away- to turn towards her goal, the Jewel Seed and the others.
    [SIR!]
    It is Bardiche's warning that saves her in the end. Head turning back to the fallen pigtailed girl to see the pillar of pink light on a direct course coming right for her.
    "Gh...!"
    Snapping her hand up, Fate raises a round shield of golden light from her fingertips, the light cracking like glass on the heavy impact of the spell slamming into it, her glove searing away, fingertips burning as she funnels more of her strength and sheer will and determination into her shield.
    Yet still, it shatters like a smashed windshield.
    Even then, Fate's reflexes carry her, jinking aside at the last second, the beam only grazes her. But what a graze it is as she's launched spiralling away from the impact, teeth clenched as she slams into the wall of the nearby building, stunned for a beat with a low hiss of pain. It takes her a second to recover, and when she does, she peels herself from the side of the building.
    "... She can't possibly have anything left in her..." Muttered under her breath.
    [LUCKY SHOT.] Bardiche says, resentfully.
    It takes her a moment to survey the scene, however.
    Firefly is battling both The Red Princess and the Culinary Guardian... Fate makes a snap decision; lancing down from her height at breakneck speed. Her intent is simple.
    She intends to come from out of nowhere with that gleaming scythe of hers and catch Sukiyaki from behind with a vicious slash from a blind angle as Firefly lunges in and, perfectly reasonably, attacks the two with her glaive, before Fate lands, cape fluttering behind her gently as she pants softly, exhaustion and pain beginning to set in, through the adrenalin. But...
    Firefly won't be so wide open with her kouhai right there to watch her back, now.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon, at least, is getting a flood of data from 'two' devices; while he does genuinely want Firefly to be in good shae and whatever her inner monster is controlled, the weaon she's wielding doesn't come without its own benefits to his research, either. It's art of the reason he's able to focus on the fight inside, without being too distracted by wanting to see what's going on, outside. Internally, to his device, he asks 'Can we seal this thing?' to which it relies verbally c#00CCFA<LIKELY.> "Good enough for me." Takashi says aloud. And then he turns to Starfall.
    "It's working, but it's not working fast enough." he grumbles. "Fate has things under control but I'm not sure about Firefly. Either give this thing one hell of a blast, drain it dry, or give the ones outside some support, if you would? Either way we need to spend less time in here or buy more time to spend. And I *can* seal this thing." If it was likely according to his device, then he could do it. He would do it. Because he was exceptional. Turning impossible to doable and likely to guaranteed. At least in his own head.
    Magic circles in urle-blue erut beneath him. "I'll break through your defenses and cature you, relic. Nothing escaes my desire." c#FA7D00<ZERSPLITTERN STECHEN!> the device calls, as a giant spectral almost-maw of Dark Energy with sharp gleaming teeth erupts into being and flies over to the Jewel Seed, snapping down on it with a burse of energy and an attempt to rip through the barrier by gnashing repeatedly at it. But his focus on it is distracted by the sudden burst of warnings from Firefly's device. And then, Fate is there to help. He doesn't have to be. Not yet. Just a little longer. Just a little more. Get the Jewel Seed. Record the data. Give the rock to the scary lady. Process the information. Just a little more.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    The energy drain seems to be working, which encourages Starfall in a way, but... well, this is a Jewel Seed. You know she can't do that without a cost, right?

    That 'spicy' energy travels up her chains, through her arms, and into the dark being that lives inside of her. Voselle, the dark creature, loves every nibble of this chaotic energy, but he doesn't have to bear the pain of it. That burden lies solely on Starfall, and it's a damage she can't mitigate through a barrier jacket alone.

    The painful energy pulsing through her arm causes skin to rip and bleed. It's bad and it hurts. Starfall almost lets go, but the passenger in her mind won't allow her to.

    < Essen > demands her device, telling her to keep eating. That's not the voice it was using before.

    "Are you serious right now?" protests Starfall.

    < ESSEN! >

    Despite all hardship, Starfall Omen draws even more, draining energy from an accelerated rate from the Jewel Seed. Will this calm it down? She can only hope. Otherwise this is a waste of her time and physical health, regardless of how Voselle feels about it.

    The magical chains themselves also take damage, links cracking and almost breaking, only to be immediately replaced by a dark facsimile. As long as the energy she burns is less than the energy she gets, it's a net profit, right?

    Next time, she's delegating this part to a Perfect Bit or some other energy-draining youma, though.

    "Do the needful," she shouts to Riventon, and resolves herself to holding it down for as long as it takes him to seal it. "We've almost got it. We can extract our allies after."

    She's gonna make Obsidian cover her medical expenses one way or another after this.

Precia Testarossa has posed:
Precia Testarossa seems to not care about a cease fire. The golems keep firing, even as one is launched up into Firefly and destroyed. They continue to attack The Culinary Guardian and the Princess as shot barrets continue to be flung into the air.

Precia Testarossa frowns and taps her monitor screen. That brown haired child... who was she. That girl... she makes some notes as she continues her monitoring.

Still, the fight against the Jewel Seed continues before the dark maw chops into it and Starfall Omen keep draining energy, it screams something horrid before the relic finally fully retreats into itself and falls out of the screen. It however, begins vibrating across the floor. Someone outta seal it before it tries to take off through a wall or something. Or through one of the two mages in the room.

The Jewel Seed is now sealable!

The Golems are continuing their mindless assault while this is going down, attacking the things that aren't obvious Obsidian agents.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    The princess raises an eye at Umeboshi's arrival, but becomes less worried when Sukiyaki seems to be having a discussion - one-sided or not - instead of attacking anyone.

Sukiyaki strikes a golem in spectacular fashion, and Runealy offers immediate praise and encouragement: "Wonderful! Continue your assault!"

Any further comments are cut off by Firefly's charge. The princess tenses up with a startled gasp, trying to boost-jump backwards from the glaive assault... and in the end, has to swing her staff at Firefly's own weapon as a last-ditch parry. This works, insofar as it means Firefly does not cut the princess apart. It does, however, sacrifice the wand to Firefly's blade - it is sliced through, then evaporates into white and gold sparkle-mist!

When Firefly hesitates in the aftermath of this assault, the princess does likewise with wide eyes, realizing what almost happened... but her mother's advice, oft-repeated over the years, rings in Rune's head: 'Hesitation while facing demons may well end in an innocent person's demise!' This scenario isn't quite what the late queen meant to apply that teaching to, but it snaps Rune back into action regardless.

She reaches inside her dress' bow, pulling out a smaller, ruby-tipped wand and aiming at Firefly. She fires, sending a thin and sparkling red ray at her... foe? Would-be ally? Firefly's behavior is confusing the princess, and she errs on the side of not wanting to be cut apart by the glaive - opting to strike first. All of this occurs even as Fate arrives, meaning there is simply no chance for the princess to call out a warning to Sukiyaki.

What also happens at the same time as that is the golems continuing their attack, and this time their barrage connects cleanly; Rune is struck in the side, and driven to a knee by the blows!

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi frowns and looks to Yuuno. "Come on Yuuno, we... we need to leave now.." she says, watching Fate leave. "Fate-chan..." she says to herself. A name. A name for those sad eyes. She takes off and leaves a sudden pink contrail, leaving the scene. She could continue for longer, but... she is outnumbered now. She could take on Fate longer. But what if one of these others joined in. She'd be beat.

So it's better to run. She doesn't like it. But...

She doesn't have much of a choice. She'll probably be sore tomorrow. Missed Classes. Arisa and Sukuza more worried.

Oh she's defiantly seeing the counselor soon. She won't like it.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    The golems remaining get a sweeping glance by Ren, a rough headcount of those yet still on the battlefield.

    A grimace forms on his face, one of determination more than hesitance, and the Culinary Guardian tightens his hold on his sword. But then the golems and their energy spheres are the last thing he needs to worry about.

    Something in Ren's head tells him it's better to dodge than deflect Firefly's attack. Call it the beginnings of battle instinct, or just plain old common sense, but whatever it is, he listens to it. His knees lock as he pushes hard against the ground, leaping up and out of the way of that deadly glaive strike and its accompanying magic.

    He lands some meters away, breathing hard moreso from panic than actual exertion yet thanks to his magic-infused constitution.

    Only the timely yell from Umeboshi of "Suki watch out!" saves him from Fate's sneak attack, but he still takes the slash to his unprotected back as he desperately tries to twist out of the way. It cuts through the fabric of his kimono, leaving a line of red across his now-exposed skin as he cries out in pain, just one sharp "Ah!" before he bites down on his lower lip.

    Even still, he's not out of the fight just yet! He hefts his sword into a defensive position, wincing with one eye closed as he does so, but turning to face Fate. "Okay, let's do this... Boiling Broth Torrent!"

    Sukiyaki's blade slices through the air, gleaming, and a wave of steaming-hot broth emerges from it to rush towards Fate!

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon drops the control of the maw, which dissapates into wispy fog, the moment the Jewel Seed becomes a Jewel Seed again. "Cover me!" he shouts to... well, likely to Starfall, but it's kind of just a general order, or expectation, as he runs over to the Jewel Seed and outstretches his arm.
    <SEALING...> <VERSIEGELUNG...> <SEALING...> ... his device calls, as black chains encircle the Jewel Seed and his hand shakes furiously as he tries to contain the power of the Jewel Seed.

"I can't... I can't seal it here... But... I can seal it... somewhere I'm more powerful!" he says, his eyes lighting up. "Axion, tell the girls to back off, I'll have this. I'll deliver it to Precia as soon as I'm back. Make sure the two girls get out safe, Starfall, and I'll give you maximal credit for this, I'll say all I did was seal it!" Takashi reaches out and grasps the Jewel seed in his hand and... seems to regret that very quickly, screaming out. "Screw you, stupid glowing rock!" he shouts.
    And then, a few moments of shaking hand-grip later and he's jumped into the Dusk Zone with it.

    Back in the Dusk Zone, his device immediately finishes and absorbs the seed, romtly reorting. c#3877C9<Verinnerlichte, Nummer Neun.>
    "Hmmm, I wonder how long I can say it took to get back to Obsidian from this very off course Dusk Jum? Gotta buy me at least an hour to study this thing..." he mumbles to himself. "... oh, and excellent acting, Axion." c#00CCFA<Vielen Dank, Meister.> it replies.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    As the Jewel Seed turns passive, Lana withdraws her chains and takes a step back. Leaving Riventon to handle that thing, she breathes heavily and tries to recover. She uses her device to contact Fate and Hotaru.

    <<Riventon is sealing the Lost Logia now. We've got what we came for. Pull back!>>

    She does not even mention her wounds, or the blood dripping down her left arm. Starfall can't afford to show weakness this early. Earlier, when that painful energy was coursing through her, she almost did. The device mage stands up straight, her left arm twitching slightly from the shock. She pulls her jacket-cape over her shoulder to cover it up, then turns towards the hole she made in the wall.

    "I'm pulling out soon, too," she says to Riventon. "That thing is your problem now."

    With that, she raises another series of white, circular slowly spinning barriers. They cover the hole in the wall and a little bit of extra, making sure that Riventon has the privacy he needs to finish sealing the Jewel Seed. When he suddenly portals out, she tsks. "Well, that's that."

    With a burst of red mana, Starfall immediately flies over to the girls. Standing behind Firefly and Fate, she raises another series of shields, this time with a tinge of darkness around them, between them and The Red Princess and Gaurdian Sukiyaki. Nanoha seems to be fleeing, so Starfall doesn't pursue.

    She doesn't mind shielding them this time. If she gets full credit, that might mean more energy for her, right? She's sure it will, one way or another.

    "It's done," she shouts to Firefly and Fate. "Riventon has the Lost Logia. Let's go."

    A blue portal opens behind her, showing her subspace beyond. It's not the dusk zone, but it has its own horrors and is a lot more cramped.

Precia Testarossa has posed:
Precia Testarossa will deliver a glowing personnel review of everyone involved here today, to their actual superiors. It'll include words like 'compotent' and 'valued asset'. This will be a good thing to have on file when it comes time for promotions later. If your superiors care about such things. Or something to burn when you mess up.

Precia Testarossa WILL have something to say about the delay it takes to get to her. But it'll be...in person. Later. Riventon will have his hour at least to study the thing, without incident.

The Golems, however, stop fighting and start to melt back into the ground in sudden spell circles, much like they we're summoned.. when the action is completed. They are merely gone and no longer an issue.

Everything is quiet now, and it seems the goons she sent are now on the retreat. The goons being Riventon, Starfall, Fate, Firefly, etc, etc.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Firefly let out a sigh of relief, though. They were okay. They were both okay. This was why she had to stick to gentle attacks. The relief turned to worry when suddenly BAM! She was blasted. While the attack was softer than the others... her device wasn't able to shield her this time. It hit her in the stomach and she stumbled backwards, falling to one knee and digging her glaive into the ground. It hurt. It hurt so much.

A few tears started to fall down her face. She didn't WANT to do this anymore. Why did they have to keep FIGHTING? Why couldn't they--

Her eyes went wide when her kohai was suddenly being bombarded by BOILING BROTH! She tried to get up, only to stumble and fall forward, wincing when she landed on her stomach. "O-ow..." she whined, giving a soft sniffle.

"F-Fate-chan!" she yelled out. "G-get away from her!" she yelled, not that she could keep fighting. She was hurt, exhausted. Her right arm was sparking. Her device was exhausted. She... she had to keep going. They had to... She, for the first time, started to reach into that dark energy inside her... Maybe if she stopped fighting it and--

Then her device made an alert. <Objective achieved. Jewel Seed retrieved.> Her device then playing the message from Starfall.

They... they'd done it. They'd done it! She gulped before calling out. "Kohai! We're leaving!" she called out.

Though, how, she didn't know... And then Starfall answered it for her. Suddenly, the girl was there.

With the barriers up, she... weakly climbed to her feet, as it was more 'climbing' than standing at this point. And hobbled away.

However... her eyes fell on the blood dripping down her arm... and... honestly?

None of this really made her happy. She was happy she succeeded. It... hurt. But there was osmething she could do. Something... genuinely good. As she passed Starfall, she reached out and grabbed her arm. There was a momentary flight of light coursing over her... and the bleeding wound would close.

It was a small thing, it wasn't like she could heal severe injuries in her state. But it was something genuinely good, something she COULD feel good about... Before she just... more... fell through the portal, rather than walked through it.

Fate Testarossa has posed:
    Scoring a successful hit is a small victory. But it is not the victory Fate seeks here. And once she's landed at Firefly's side she stares down Sukiyaki and The Red Princess with tired scarlet eyes.
    Only for a torrent of scalding broth to come flying at her.
    "Gh...!"
    Fate's hand snaps up, a shield spell spreading from her fingers. But she's tired and hurt. The hot steaming broth comes licking around the sides and over the top of her shield, burning her arms as she weathers the attack as best she can while backing up.
    They have what they came for. There's no more need for this.
    "..."
    [SIR.] Bardiche pings at her when Starfall Omen delivers the news, and a tired, burned, Fate goes following after her and Firefly into the portal.
    Sigh.
    She can't go home to Arf smelling like meat broth.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Starfall watches as Firefly passes by her without a word. She wasn't a healer or a savior by any means, but she had the ability to protect herself and, sometimes, her allies. When Firefly reaches out to touch her, the darkness inside Starfall starts to recoil and almost... shift inside of her, away from the healing magic. To the young girl's credit, Starfall's wounds do close. The bleeding stops, and it feels a bit better. This kind of magical first aid is probably the best she could hope for in a place like this. Starfall makes a mental note of Firefly's power, while Voselle nervously insists that Starfall stay away.

    Shut up, she says mentally. You got your energy. I'm getting my healing.

    The dark passenger quiets down. It's her partner, not her boss.

    Starfall backs into the blue portal. She had intended to abandon these two girls, thinking that they could retreat on their own, but perhaps Riventon was right to cut a deal with her. Once the three of them are through, Starfall closes the portal.

    Later, she'll make sure that everyone gets to where they need to go safely, and also make sure that they don't see anything in subspace that they shouldn't. For now, she's just glad to be gone.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
    The princess regains her feet as the golems cease to be, aiming again at Firefly...and realizing it might not be necessary. First, Firefly seems to be exhausted - and that strange sparking is worrying, too.

Then Firefly announces a retreat. The princess is able to immediately restrain the urge to give chase. "Do not pursue!" It is advice meant for Guardian Sukiyaki, though she is unsure whether he even needed to hear it or not. "Either they truly are hurt and we need not hound them further, or this would be an ambush."

Her wand lowers, then disappears when it seems the retreat is genuine - Firefly's allies really are leaving. "I... still have not even the slightest of ideas what purpose this battle served." She looks aside to Sukiyaki, standing with a notable lean to her torso after the blows she has taken. "Are you... at least not greviously injured, I hope?"

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    That his attack is not a complete success doesn't seem to surprise the Culinary Guardian much, not now when he's already injured. He straightens up with a wince, which perhaps answers the Red Princess's question, even though Ren immediately shakes his head.

    "I'll be fine," he says as he leans the tip of his sword into the ground, letting it rest as he, himself, rests against it. With the golems gone and the bad guys portaling away, he allows himself a moment to just breathe.

    But then there's Umeboshi, the floating bubble of spirit guidance, at his side. "We should go! You're going to need a big meal to take care of that cut."

    All Ren can do is repeat "I'm fine!" but he casts one last look over the princess, lifts his hand to offer her a lazy salute, and then leaps away, up to a nearby rooftop to make his escape. If he has to briefly kneel down and grimace through the pain once he's up there, well, best no one can see that.

    "Thanks for the team-up!" he calls down as a final goodbye.