Skyside 5

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra assesses the situation in a quick moment, then backs up from the edge of the roof quietly and slowly...before becoming a black and gold blur that leaps out and streaks over the street, onto the goblin's rooftop, using her EAS to cross the gap, before dropping onto the sniper's position. By her experience, it's unlikely he's either fast or strong enough to lift a heavy sniper rifle, take aim and hit a target moving as fast as she is before she's on top of him. She's actually aiming to drop right on top of him, if possible, hopefully either disabling him relatively quietly, or at the very least, keep him from using his weapon. One of her own weapons is drawn, but she's hoping not to have to cause that much noise yet.

[Shadowcaller]

[Getting Out of Dodge]

"Oh, huh. So what are you then? If you don't mind me asking that is." Anika asks, just really making small-talk as she is keeping an eye out the car window. Hopefully Electra would be done soon, this waiting around made her itchy for action even if it was just driving the hell out of here.
"Death to knife ears." They can hear the car mumble as if it was whispering underneath its breath, thinking they can't. "Primitive tree humpers."

[Fighting KABAL]

The goblin is indeed not fast enough to react to that. He loudly grunts as she lands on top of him and struggles violently against her with his little body, attempting to slip away underneath her. One of the human KABAL goons look up, frowning. Had he heard something?

[Gullara]

[Getting Out of Dodge]

"Oh shut up." Kirk slams his hand on the dash. "Svartalv would be the proper term, while elves are some messed up spirit things. We just look like them for some reason." Kirk could go into some more details, but even he wasn't totally clear on that. There are some competing theories, and Kirk never really cared anyway.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra strikes in one swift motion, following her momentum from landing on the goblin to smash at the back of his head with her fist, aiming to knock him out with one blow. She does her best to pull back her artificial strength so that the blow won't kill him, but given the fact that she's wearing armor and has metal bones as well, it would be very easy for her to mistake what would normally knock someone out for a killing blow, especially on a smaller creature like a goblin. No sense in killing him if she doesn't need to, after all.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

The goblin stops struggling as she delivers a powerful blow to his head.

And there it is folks, proof that Electra is a protagonist. She can knock out people for longer periods of time without causing lasting trauma!

However, as he lays unconscious underneath her, she can hear a voice from headset. "Samson, respond."

[Getting Out of Dodge]

"Weird. But then again, some claim that my people are related to those blue trolls, so your ancestors would beat mine." Better being some weird spirit thing than a troll!

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra was expecting this, and instead simply holsters her own weapon, before snatching up the goblin's rifle and taking stock of the situation below once more, looking for KABAL members that are standing apart from the group that might make easy pickings from here. She's aware she doesn't have much time before they send someone to investigate, but if she can manage to thin the numbers out a bit, it might make things a bit easier when it comes time to move that truck out of the way.

[Gullara]

[Getting Out of Dodge]

Kirk shrugs, not overly concerned with the topic. It's ancient history as far as he's concerned. It's just a bit odd when it comes to the Nexus.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you new with Vigil? I would normally have some idea of who's with them, and I'm sure I'd have heard about you." Kirk says, his smile slick.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

"Respond?" The voice repeats, shortly followed by a, "****."

Down below, she can see that most of the KABAL members have formed a line in front of the truck. There are a couple that are standing behind this line though, two that are just talking to one another and a third that seems to be busy with his microphone...

[Getting Out of Dodge]

Anika smiles back right away. "Yep, I'm pretty new. Pretty sure you'd heard of me otherwise, I tend to make a big splash wherever I go." She proclaims making a "explosion" gesture with her hand. "I usually don't work that well with people ordering me around but as long as they provide me payment and food for stuff I'd do anyway I think I got a pretty sweet deal."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra snaps the rifle up to her shoulder and takes careful aim at the man messing with his microphone. Presumably, he's their comms man, and can probably call in reinforcements. Granted, -all- of them should be able to do that, but KABAL doesn't seem to be the most competent bunch. Still, he might also be the commander on site, in which case, taking him down might cause a bit of chaos. At the very least, it will focus the rest of the squad's attention on her, and perhaps make it easier to draw them away. She waits until there's a clear shot, either at his face, or neck, since he's presumably wearing a helmet and she wants to make a clean job of it. She hasn't used a rifle in quite some time, but her targeting systems assist in making small adjustments that keep her aim steady and true, and when the shot presents itself, she squeezes the round off, just as her brother taught her, so long ago.

[Gullara]

[Getting Out of Dodge]

"A big splash wherever you go, hm? Does that always involve being a bear that falls from the sky? Or do you like to mix it up?" Kirk smirks.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

BANG

The human falls over, his brains blown all over the wall behind him.

Now the rest of the KABAL troops look around in panic, though they can't even tell who has been shot right away. It will be a few moments where Electra can get in another shot as the KABAL members are just confused of what is going on. A number of them are taking cover behind the bus, but others are just trying to see from where the shot came.

[Getting Out of Dodge]

"Sometimes a bear, sometimes a snake, and sometimes even an owlbear." She attempts to make these horn gestures above her head, only to bump her hands into the roof of the car. Damn human-adapted vehicles! "Sometimes even just as me. The very best of forms."

Then gun shots are head, uh-oh.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra racks another round into the weapon (assuming it's a bolt action; if it's a semi-auto, she'll skip that part), and prioritizes targets. Anyone standing in the open with a rocket or missile launcher is highest on her priority list to dispose of. Next on the list is anyone carrying large bore heavy machine guns, gatling guns, or anything obviously magical. After that, it's pretty much a crapshoot. Once she finds a suitable target, she'll waste no time in dispatching them. This will probably be the last shot she'll get before they figure out where she's firing from, and based on what they do after that, her plans could go in a number of directions.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

These troops are carrying very similar gear, they do not appear to be just any random goons with a mish-mash of gear (which they have seen every other KABAL so far wearing). Instead, they are all, beyond their light armor, equipped with automatic rifles and hand guns. None of them have any unique gear beyond that.

Therefore, she is likely to shoot one of the soldiers that didn't seek cover, hitting them right in the chest.

The response is their closest ally firing back at her while another drags the most likely dying soldier behind the cover of the truck. The soldiers are unlikely to hit from this distance, but perhaps they would at least force their attacker to take cover.

They're going to call for back-up of course, but that is going to take a while to get here.

Now most of the KABAL troopers are getting behind the truck and an alley near it. For now, some of them are simply firing back with their assault rifles while others are just keeping an eye out.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra ducks back into cover, dropping the rifle, and reaches into the hidden compartment inside one of her boots, producing a large zip-tie handcuff, which she uses to tie the unconscious goblin's hands together, before she drops off the side of the building away from the truck, firing her EAS to slow her descent. When she reaches the street, she'll blur once more, a gold and black streak heading for the truck's cab on the opposite side from where the soldiers are taking cover. The ones in the alley are going to be a hindrance, but there's unlikely to be any civilians in there with them. As she passes the mouth of the alley, she'll rotate her shoulders a bit further as her left pauldron snaps open and a pair of micro-missiles streak out into the group taking cover. These are multi-modal missiles set in flash-bang stun mode. Effectively, she's just tossed a couple of stun grenades into their midst, mostly in case any civilians ran to hide in the alley when she started shooting earlier. With any luck, this should buy her enough time to make it to the truck's cab and get the vehicle out of the way.

((Hope this works better now))

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

((I should clarify, the alley the other KABAL soldiers hid in was on the opposite side from the truck. This might require you to edit your post.

| | ------------|
| |-------------|
| | <==Truck |
| | Alley=>
| |-------------|
----------------|
----------------|
-Electra==> |

Does that clarify it?))

[Recaiden]

Noble Estate

"I'll help her learn and grow, and if that helps you, we're all happy. She is my priority. Not you. Although I will admit it's nice to chat with somebody who isn't either family or dead." Grandmother hasn't even had those to talk to since Rahilda was captured by slavers.

"Not safe! Not safe! No sky, no wind! Not safe, not safe!" Is Stormwing's response, as she lets herself get led away and chained up outside, without fighting or resisting in anyway- except by shaking as the adrenaline wears off. She's outright eager to get outside, in fact. When she's chained up, however that occurs, she'll shift until she's comfortable and soon fall asleep. She knows now that as hateful as her captivity is, it could be worse.

((Thanks for the reminder, Earl ))

Nai nods. "Good. We're interested in seeing her powers develop, and those of her descendants. We don't consider you to be a prisoner here, so as long as you don't cause trouble for us, you can aid her as you see fit."
She starts back to see Rahilda.
"Do you expect her aunt, the witch, to take any interest in either of you?"

A strong chain fastened to Stormwing's collar, with the locking clip where they connect probably being the weak link.
She'll be woken mid-morning the next day, taken off her chain, the last to be added to a flock of harpies (not including the plausibly nocturnal Moontalon) being shepherded into a broad building clockwise from where the cells were. It's a sort of gymnasium, where they're to be measured! Physical dimensions, corroborations of their reported age by divination spells, tests of physical fitness, inducements to fly and be photographed and clocked and sketched.
There are other captives here: winged humans, avariel elves, little bat-winged goblins, an angel, a nightgaunt. A study of flight in humanoids. It's carried out mostly by the one who bought them in the first place. And his...twin brother? And a third copy of him, and a fourth? There's also a nervous-looking jackalwoman involved in recording the shapes of their wings.
If you're compulsively plotting escape at all times, the gym-lab has one main double-door, two side doors, and rows and rows of windows. There's a catwalk for ominously looking down on things whose ladders could provide easy access to the high windows even for those who can't fly.

[Earl of Purple]

Noble Estate

"My daughter won't do anything the unicorn doesn't want her to. And he won't get involved with Rahilda unless she contacts him, or he does something I don't expect. I can't see the future, you see. Some can, diviners and oracles, prophets and soothsayers." She could help Rahilda summon a ghost of one, and Rahilda can then let herself get possessed to enable her to use the spirit's abilities.

Moontalon is nocturnal. But since she'll probably be brought here one night for the same process, I'll put it here. Her wings are shortest, and she's also quite short. Magic proves she's actually eighteen, a year younger than she thought. She's the slowest and most agile in flight, and her movements are utterly soundless. She has the least amount of endurance, and can't fly for anywhere near as long as the other two harpies.

Carrion is the skinniest, with the largest wingspan, though she isn't the tallest. Divinations prove that she's twenty-three years old. She's the weakest physically, and not the fastest flyer or the strongest, but she has a lot of endurance, more than the others and with her large wings she could glide for a very long time.

Stormwing is the tallest and bulkiest of the three harpies, and the strongest flyer. Her wings are long and narrow. Divining magic proves she's twenty-five. She's got quite a lot of endurance as well, but she's mostly built for power, fighting the sea and the sky when she hunts.

All three harpies have vision far excelling a human's, though in different ways. Stormwing's sight lets her see through water, especially clear water, without the distortions or flashes that hamper human sight. Moontalon's eyes are very good at dealing with low light and can see in colour even on moonless nights. Carrion's eyes are very good at long distance sight, able to spot red from a mile up... Though scent is her main sense.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

The soldiers fires off a few rounds against the incoming Electra, but if they can't hit her, she will be able to reach the truck without any problems.
As she reaches it, she can see the soldiers staring at her in surprise right before she fires in the flash projectile. They cry out as they're suddenly blinded.
However, as she climbs into the truck, the door opens on the other side and one of the soldiers who was taking cover there is raising her gun at Electra.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

A couple of rounds barely graze Electra's armor, bouncing off of it, but leaving scrapes where they pass, and none hit her directly. She's halfway into the door when the soldier on the other side opens the other door. Quick as a flash, she ducks back and leaps upwards and forwards, landing on the truck's cab, drawing her weapons in the same fast, fluid movement. She was hoping to not have to kill any of the soldiers hiding on that side of the truck, but firing a micromissile into the space where the remaining group is will probably not catch all of them. Her armor shifts back to the yellow and gray colors she had earlier, when Anika attacked the KABAL truck. She might be able to handle them a different way, but she's hoping not to have to kill any more of them, if she can help it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

The soldier is left in shock at Electra's quick, fluid moments, and simply fires off a few bullets where Electra was a moment ago in an act of pure desperation. She us not even sure if the bullets could hurt this robot-lady anymore.

The other soldiers covering behind the cab, three of them to be exact, not including the wounded soldier they dragged behind here, are also raising their guns but do not have the angle to fire at Electra from this position. She can see one of them starting to fumble with something though, and it might just be a grenade.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra, having line of sight on the soldiers, points her weapon and fires three quick shots, sending three crackling yellow orbs that unfold into spiderweb-like nets crackling with electricity at the group on the ground. If any of them touch the webs with bare skin, they'll get a nasty shock, akin to being hit with a taser, and the webs persist for a short while. Throwing that grenade is now going to be a bad idea. She'll move over to the edge where the soldier who fired at her is, pointing her weapon downwards towards the woman and speaking calmly, but keeping herself mostly out of the line of fire.

"Give it up. You're outclassed and outgunned. This ends one of two ways: you either walk away, or I kill you all. Your choice."

[Recaiden]

"I don't expect prophecy. Just your best guess. And it sounds like the unicorn has no particular interest."
Nai shakes her head, wondering if it's characteristic of ghost to be overly literal, or if it's just Rahilda's grandmother, perhaps her age, or a joke.
Back at Rahilda's cell, she heads over to the slave.
"I'd like you to let yourself be possessed."

Quite right about Moontalon. And they'll correct the little owl about her age.
After preliminary examination of their wings, Stormwing gets further testing. Lack of strong flight would be the hardest thing to compensate for. She might see one of the bat-winged humans that own the estate watching her-in-particular from the catwalks.
And those eyes! They'd gotten a sense of it when Stormwing had to be compelled back to her cell, but it's another thing to see the performance in a controlled environment. Moontalon will be taken to the central tower's surgery the next night; the owners just need to borrow one of her eyes for a while...

[Earl of Purple]

Noble Estate

"The unicorn wants to be left alone, in its swamp. Maybe gain a bit of power, more allies it can call on to defend its privacy, spread a little corruption here and there." It's been noted to be a black unicorn. Probably a characteristic of Grandmother, or perhaps a consequence of the magic she wielded in life.

When they move back to her, Rahilda smiles. "I can do that, certainly." The girl has a quick look around, double checking that the only ghost present is her grandmother's. That done, she closes her eyes, focuses her breathing and lowers some of her internal defences- if Nai can tell. "Grandmother, you may enter." The words aren't important, it's just a way of letting the ghost know the potential host is ready. Grandmother nods and walks around so she is behind her descendent, before walking into the same space as Rahilda. Grandmother's lines blur, before fading completely, and the girl opens her eyes again. They glow a pale greyish blue, and when she speaks again, it's her grandmother's voice. "Thank you, Rahilda. Oh, my. One forgets how enjoyable it is to breathe. Since I'm here, is there anything you would like us to do?"

Moontalon nods when her age is corrected, but takes it in her stride. Stormwing notices the attention, but tries not to react to it. She's still glancing over at him far more than usual.

Moontalon won't fight during the trip to the surgery, though the surgery itself, and its aftermath, may be a different matter. It depends on if she's awake during the procedure, whether it's returned before she awakens if she is not, and what state the eye is in when it is returned.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

"Shut up, bitch!" The soldier replies with fierce bravado, aiming up at Electra. She does not fire however, but the reaction might be enough for Electra to fire back.
If it isn't, she continues. "Reinforcements are already on the way, we got monsters that will eat you right up. All we need to do is stall you a bit." She claims, the other two soldiers unsure what to do, they just keep their weapons aimed at Electra. The soldier with the grenade slowly moves their hand downwards, keeping the grenade pressed against her leg.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra's targeting sensors allow her to see what the muzzle of her weapon is pointed at, and she sees the soldier's reaction, but lets her continue, noting the soldier with the grenade. She quietly draws her other weapon.

"Are you willing to die for a distraction? Is this company family for you?" The soldier is probably bluffing, and hasn't considered that the traffic jam they've caused is most likely going to delay the arrival of reinforcements, unless they can be delivered by air. Still, it never hurts to be careful. Electra muses that she probably should just kill them all and get the truck moving, but the fact that this woman hasn't started shooting again means she's perhaps worried that her comrades might not feel the same as she does.

[Recaiden]

"So quick." Nai nods approvingly at the possessed girl. Ah, the eyes give her away. Still, quite something.
"I don't recall you having any particular abilities you might make use of once in a body. What can you do with her that Rahilda couldn't herself?"

Moontalon is sedated for the removal, but should wake soon after, with her her eye still gone. It's dangerous/expensive to keep people under too long. But I'm sure her eye will be returned in fine condition. Eventually.

[Earl of Purple]

Noble Estate

"Nothing she can't do herself, that is true. However, I have a lot of experience in spirit-calling, and I can use that experience to help Rahilda. Awaken more complex objects and summon ghosts that have been dead for longer." The latter is partially because Grandmother has been calling spirits for longer, which means the ghosts she started with have now been dead for over a century.

Moontalon will try to remove the bandage over her hopefully temporarily empty eyesocket, asking why it's there when stopped. If she's then informed she's had an eye removed, she'll nod sagely... Before whipping forward one of her hands to try and gouge out the eye of whoever she's talking to. Most of her movements are slow, sedate and fairly calm. The speed of this attack is far faster than her usual movements and would very easily take people by surprise. She'll stop fighting the moment she has either taken the eye or if she's pinned or injured in response. Moontalon can't fight her mind-control collar; but as noted her attack is the fastest she's been seen to move, and it might not be activated in time.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fighting KABAL]

Electra's targeting sensors allow her to see what the muzzle of her weapon is pointed at, and she sees the soldier's reaction, but lets her continue, noting the soldier with the grenade. She quietly draws her other weapon.

"Are you willing to die for a distraction? Is this company family for you?" The soldier is probably bluffing, and hasn't considered that the traffic jam they've caused is most likely going to delay the arrival of reinforcements, unless they can be delivered by air. Still, it never hurts to be careful. Electra muses that she probably should just kill them all and get the truck moving, but the fact that this woman hasn't started shooting again means she's perhaps worried that her comrades might not feel the same as she does.

[Fighting KABAL]

"I'm no coward." The soldier replies without hesitation, stubbornly aiming the gun at Electra without any hesitation.

But then one of the other soldiers suddenly speaks up. "Uh... tell us why you were here and we'll retreat. Then we can at got something to show to the boss." He suggests.
The third soldier, the one with the grenade, has her hand gun aimed at Electra. There is no telling what will happen if that grenades lands...

[Recaiden]

"Could you call up a ghost for us by name? USL-LSDF Commander Alexander Collignon. Been dead near a century, and I doubt he's rested easily since."

Moontalon takes the room by surprise, clawing out the eye of the medical technician explaining what's happened to her, a swarthy elven man. He, predictably, screams and grabs at his bleeding face.
Then the mind-controlling kicks in, a copy of the man who bought her in leads her away while the surgery room is re-used for opposite purposes.
They head downstairs, and by the time the owl is released to be herself again she's been strapped into what looks like an evil dentist's chair. Full body restraints (including cables for wings and some unused bolts for people with extra sets of arms or legs), little arms with clamps and tubes and knives and pointy crystals, a heavy tube-covered helmet that swings down to cover one's eyes.
"That was very impressive, Moontalon. But it was also completely unacceptable, and you're going to be killed for it."

[Earl of Purple]

Noble Estate

Grandmother-as-Rahilda closes her eyes and sits cross-legged on the floor, or a bench or bed if one is nearby. Her legs are crossed, and her breathing is controlled as she enters the summoning trance. "Alexander Collignon. Alexander Collignon, I wish to speak with you. Commander, can you hear me? USL-LSDF Commander Alexander Collignon, I call you. Come to me." His ghost should be able to hear her from the second time she said his name, and feel compelled to come and appear. If his spirit is in an afterlife, it will also hear, and may be more inclined to respond, depending on the nature of the afterlife. If he's a ghost haunting his place of life, place of death or an enemy or loved one, his arrival will be slower, as he has to cross physical as well as spiritual distance.

Moontalon frowns. "He took my eye. I took his eye. It is fair and equal. But if you must kill me, take off the collar. I will die as myself." The sensation of being controlled has really shaken her, and she didn't like it.