Event #05: FIREWORKS FOR NEW YEAR EXECUTION LOG

[vivalamods]

EVENT #05: FIREWORKS FOR NEW YEAR EXECUTION LOG

The time is nearing midnight as New Year revelers mingle, many already quite drunk. The night air is crisp and cold as the Empire prepares a fanfare and fireworks display to ring in the New Year. Concealed among the revelers, cloaked Corsairs fan out, preparing to play their part. The explosives have been set and primed, all that’s needed is to broadcast the message and get out, ideally without losing anybody. Simple, right?

For most of the Empire, the event goes off without a hitch. However, in the mining community of Vindess, and in the Imperial City of Bluvink, the explosions shake the settlements to their foundations. Screams of panic start to spread as the Mine begins collapsing upon itself in Vindess, while the weapon’s facility in Bluvink goes up in flames, albeit surprisingly contained considering the amount of ordnance usually stored within.

Panic erupts into the streets as confused Imperial soldiers spring into action, barking orders and drawing weapons, although they have no idea who caused this. The speakers, placed to play the Emperor’s New Year speech and provide musical accompaniment to the fireworks show, suddenly spring to life. The Corsairs step up to speak, knowing they have little time Imperials track down their signal and re-take control of their communications system, as well as send soldiers to beat down their door.

MISSIONS

Sign-Ups are still open but we will post the current groups as they stand. The following missions are available, you may participate in as many missions as you wish so long as they are in the same region.

There will be three major stages to each log, each receiving their own top level. The final top level, Escape, is open to all characters in the region and can consist of multiple threads or one big singular thread depending on preference. Villain plots will take place during the first two stages. Depending on numbers, if desired players can combine stage 1 and 2 into a singular thread. If combined, the header should read [LOCATION] GUARD AND PROPOGANDA

Bluvink Guard: Heavily armed and armored Imperial Shock Troops, as well as a flight of three Feder Armors will be dispatched to keep the peace and destroy the Corsair group. The Guard group needs to beat or confuse the Shock Troopers during the speech
Conflict: The Shock Troopers will be out in force and will be quickly trying to track down the signal. If Troopers with scanners are left alone they will quickly encircle the broadcasters so the Guard will need to harass or otherwise disrupt the scanning to keep them guessing while the broadcast happens.
Sign-Ups: Nephenee, Yuki
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read BLUVINK GUARD
Region: Bluvink

Villain Plot - Terra:Wearing the Slave Crown and enhanced by the Empire’s boosting drugs, Terra’s consciousness sleeps while her body is used to wreak havoc.
Conflict: Terra will be going directly to the Propogandists as soon as they are identified, and will need to be stopped lest she burn them alive in their hideout.
Sign-Ups: Donatello, Natalia, Deedee, Harlock
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read VILLAIN PLOT - TERRA
Region: Bluvink

Bluvink Propoganda: As the people of Bluvink look on in horror, the propogandists will have to broadcast their message and garner sympathy from the masses.
Conflict: The people of Bluvink lead very comfortable lives in no small part to the factory and the industry and work it brings, losing it, even if no civilians were lost, is going to be a blow to the community. If the propagandists aren’t able to make a compelling argument, the populace’s mood will get ugly fast and they will actively help the soldiers find and eliminate the Corsairs.
Sign-Ups: Atom
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read BLUVINK PROPOGANDA
Region: Bluvink

Bluvink Escape: Once the message is broadcast, the team will need to escape. A disguised airship with two armors (players may choose 2 from the list) stored in the hull will be available for the Corsairs to make their getaway.
Conflict: The guard will be fully mobilized by this point and will likely attempt to give chase in Armors and airships, although they will likely break off when leaving Bluvink airspace.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read BLUVINK ESCAPE
Region: Bluvink

Vindess Guard: The Guard within the mines is much more meager, and with the miners turned to the side of the Corsairs they will be caught considerably more flat-footed. Two Schild Armors will be on standby and may be deployed once the Corsairs are found.
Conflict: The area will be chaotic and the civilians can be expected to be unhelpful at best to the soldiers. While keeping the soldiers off the team is important, what is equally important is ensuring the soldiers don’t turn on the civilians and start making examples of them if they suspect collusion.
Sign-Ups: Ilhpyl, Rezo
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read VINDESS GUARD
Region: Vindess

Vidness Propoganda: While many of the core mining group have turned to the Corsair side, much of the townsfolk may not know of the plan or have misgivings, and still count on the mine for their small town’s income. The atmosphere will be confused and upset.
Conflict: The Vindess community doesn’t have much, but they do have the mine and the consistent profit it brings in. The operation is going to change their lives and they must be convinced that it will be for the better or they may turn on the Corsairs.
Sign-Ups: Renne, Shu, Link, Thomas
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read VINDESS PROPOGANDA
Region: Vindess

Vindess Escape: Once the message is broadcast, the team will need to escape. They will also need to evacuate any of their co-conspirators who are still in the town. A hidden airship with two armors (players may choose 2 from the list) loaded into the hull is available, but by the time the broadcast is finished more guard will be mobilized and they can expect heavier soldier activity, more armors, and airships.
Conflict: While the guard is much weaker and more provincial, they are likely going to attempt to go after civilians for colluding with the Corsairs. The Corsairs will need to quickly evacuate civilians, both co-conspirators and those caught in the crossfire, before they can leave.
Requirements: To participate in this mission, your thread header should read VINDESS ESCAPE
Region: Vindess


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Comments

[singlemilletgrain]

"Mm."

Shu murmurs back imperceptibly as her eyes slide in the direction indicated. Was it possible that they had been discovered so soon? She supposes that if the... communications network (she lacks the correct verbiage) were entered illegally, one could detect that such a thing were happening. Still, to pinpoint the location of their operation would be shockingly shrewd.

The movement of the shadow is slow. Perhaps stealthy. Somewhat staggered, as if they were taking cautious and deliberate steps, taking a moment to pause to assess the situation in between each motion. Shu continues to sweep the front porch quietly, but her grip on the broom tightens as the shadow emerges from the left lane into the light to reveal...

..........a little old lady with a cane taking a pause for breath after each step.

Shu coughs slightly.

"...Good day, Grandmother."

"Hmmmmm?"

"I said, good day, grandmother."

"I heard you the first time don't make assumptions you little hussy I'll have you know I got a perfect score at Doc McCoy's just last Tuesday you know what he said to me he said my hearing is just as good as my 30 year old granddaughter's imagine that me at my age well that showed her trying to put me in an old folks' home just cause I'm getting on a little in years you young 'uns all the same just cause a gal's baby factory is closed you all think she ought to be shut away well I used to haul up that ore just the same as the best of those boys Foreman Johnny that's what we called him his name was Albert Fish but we called him Johnny 'cause one look at him would dry a girl's cooter right up what with those mad-dog eyes and the tobaccer mouth well Foreman Johnny he says to me Bella I'd take one of you over ten of those cock o' the walks any day of the week you know why you got grit Bella and you got guts and them boys they ain't got any mo -- "

Shu is frankly quite thankful when a Molotov cocktail flies in from the opposite direction without warning and lights the porch on fire.

[newmemorywhodis]

It's a pity their places weren't switched; Link would have happily listened to the little old lady ramble. Being talked at was one of Link's best skills.

But then - movement, from the other direction! The molotov cocktail comes in too fast for him to intercept, but the moment it hits he's pulling out a handful of splash fruit and tossing them at the blaze.

Where is the enemy? He didn't see the one that threw it, but he knows roughly where it came from. Pulling his bow from his back, he quickly Fuses a shock fruit to an arrow, and fires it in that direction.

He might not have direct sight on a target - but the shock fruit creates a electrical burst when it hits, temporarily stunning anything caught in the blast. Did he get them?

[singlemilletgrain]

((Aw shoot I wrote a lengthy response last night but it looks like it got eaten T_T T_T
here is a much shorter version))

Shu is momentarily stunned into inaction by a harrowing shriek from the elderly woman's mouth at a frequency that could paralyze a banshee. She immediately turns and... limps away at a pace comparable to a three-legged sloth. Shu hurries to the woman's side.

"Come along, Grandmother."

"Don't touch me missy I can get on by myself you're probably in cahoots with those arsonists!"

Shu wonders if perhaps this woman is actually a member of the enemy forces. If so, the plan was working well.

Meanwhile, over on the side of the battle where useful things were happening, the Splash Fruits have doused the initial fire enough to turn it into smoldering sparks, which would be cause for celebration if another three incendiary devices weren't flying their way towards various parts of the house. From the shadows, a group of five figures emerge. Three in the armor of the Imperials, one in civilian clothing hanging back. If Link peers closely, he might spot a sixth body twitching slightly on the ground.

The lead Imperial barks a harsh order and points; the soldiers lift their guns and begin to fire upon the archer on the roof and the horned woman by the side of the porch. Shu gasps as she realizes that they had absolutely no qualms about gunning down a civilian woman and immediately leaps in front, raising her shield.

"Link... I will need to protect this woman for the time being. Remember what I told you about my abilities. I will use Samsara when they enter my field. Please aim accordingly."

Prior to their stand, she had briefed Link on her ability to loop the movement of all those who tried to enter a space she controlled. No matter how quickly they advanced, they would find themselves looping back to their point of entry infinitely. ...For a certain length of time, anyway.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link ducks down, as bullets fire over his head. He could try to deflect them with his shield, but Link wants his bow at the ready. Five of them. Four close together, all pointing their weapons up at Link. If he sticks up his head, they'll fire.

But what if they weren't firing at him?

Reaching once more into his pack, he pulls out a flower Shu won't have seen before: one with dark purple flowers around a brighter pink centre. A muddlebud.

All he needs is one shot.

Fusing it to his arrow, Link waits for just a second - waits for the moment when there's just a brief pause in the gunfire, even with the fires starting to burn the roof beside him - and then aims, and fires. The muddlebud lands right in the centre of the cluster of soldiers, bursting into a cloud of dark purple spores. One that makes all of them...confused. Off-kilter. Muddled.

It also makes them think that everyone is an enemy. Including those right next to them. It won't last forever - just for a few brief moments - but it'll give him time.

So while the soldiers start shooting at each other, Link fires off several more arrows, all Fused with Splash Fruit, all of which he fires at the additional flames. He's not going to let them get to Renne and Thomas. Who...he should really warn, shouldn't he?

"Building's on fire," he says to Renne and Thomas through the comms, before turning his attention back to the fray.

[straykitty]

There is a brief pause on the other end, before the voice that answers is, on the surface, sickeningly sweet, but holds a definite, dangerous edge.

"What did you do?"

[singlemilletgrain]

The tactic has some moderate success. As they turn and start shooting towards their comrades, a few of them go down fairly quickly. Those shots that go wide, though, are some minor cause for concern as they lodge into dirt and rocks and trees around the area, and one even, from the sound of breaking glass, makes it to a distant house somewhere unseen. Shu flinches in some slight concern.

Behind the soldiers, the civilian dives for cover as one of the soldiers turns towards him.

"It may be dangerous to have them shooting away from us. I believe we can handle their fire."

When they recover their senses some ten seconds later, two of the soldiers are downed, but the leader and two others remain. Behind them, the one stunned by the Shock Fruit is getting shakily to his feet. Bella, thankfully, has been sufficiently cowed, too frightened now to do anything but hobble away while screeching about communists. Meanwhile, Link's quick action with the Splash Fruits has kept the entire wooden house from going up, though small flames still threaten to gain some traction.

"Why don't you toss me the Splash Fruits? Stay on the offense, and I will take care of the defensive position."

Speaking of which, the commander is directing the soldiers forward while keeping a position in the rear. The lackeys rush towards the front door and...

Blink back into existence 50 yards away as Shu holds one hand in the position of the prithvi mudra and concentrates.

[newmemorywhodis]

In response to Renne, Link doesn't say anything at all. Instead, he just opens up the channel - and lets her hear the sound of gunfire and chaos for a few moments. That's enough to get the idea across, he figures.

And then he closes the channel. He's got enemies to deal with.

Especially since he had not expected the soldier's bullets to go as far afield as they did. He's seen ballistic weapons since arriving here, but Link's still more familiar with bows and arrows. Shu was right; better to have these weapons directed at them. Only trouble was, he couldn't just toss the Splash Fruit to Shu. They'd burst, and then all their water would end up on Shu and not the fire.

So instead, Link leaps off of the roof of the building. Pauses in mid air to shoot several arrows at the Commander. Then lands right before Shu, where he pulls an armful and Splash Fruit out of his pack and pushes them into her arms.

And then swaps his bow for the Sword and a shield, charging straight for the lackeys Shu just blinked away.

[singlemilletgrain]

The soldiers' enthusiastic charge turns into a bit of a stumble as they glance around, confused at how they seem to have made negative progress. This gives Link ample time to launch himself into the fray with a whirl of sword strikes. The first catches one unawares and he reels back with an injury to his dominant arm, but his partner attempts to retaliate with a bayonet strike from the butt of the gun.

Slightly more competent than his underlings - and better outfitted - the commander of the team raises a ballistic shield to deflect the arrows. "He's a distraction. It's the rebels inside the house we want. Stop messing around with him and stop that broadcast." With this, the recovered Shock Fruit'd soldier gets to one knee and raises a launcher to his shoulder. With a pull of the trigger, a weighted net flies out and spins towards Link.

Behind them, the civilian who led them to this location has decided he has done his civic duty for the empire and hightails it away.

Shu, finding herself with an armful of jiggly, bloated gourds, rebalances herself and begins to put out any flames in the immediate vicinity. The sheer deluge of water the fruits are capable of producing is impressively voluminous. The burning rooftop proves to be a challenge, though, and she quickly makes for the ladder to the side, clambering up as quickly as she can with only one usable arm.

She begins to see why Link has an infinite magic bag.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link didn’t expect the net.

It twists around him, tying up the Sword and making it hard to move. He could try and cut through it, but that was going to take time. And Link would be vulnerable while he did so.

Then a tiny little idea sparks in Link’s mind - almost like the sound that shrines make when he figures out their puzzle.

And so Link Fuses the net to his shield.

One moment it’s wrapped around him, the next it’s been pulled to his shield, somehow shrinking in size and the entire net sticks to his shield. A net-shield. What does it do? Link has absolutely no idea.

But it’s not around him anymore. Now he can dart forward - heading right for the Commander, the biggest threat - and when he’s right in the middle of the soldiers, he spins, the Sword striking in a wide circle all around him, knocking them off their feet if they get hit.

“Hyah!”

[singlemilletgrain]

No one is entirely certain what happened exactly, except that one moment, a soldier is reaching out to try to disarm the swordsman and the next, the net seems to have mostly disappeared. Some years after this day, an Empire soldier will reflect on this confrontation and muse that there were more things in heaven and earth than were dreamed of in his meager nervous tissues.

The soldier trying to grab at Link's sword subsequently finds himself missing a few fingers as Link spins, the one already injured is knocked out of the fray entirely. The clever fellow with the net launcher, already kneeling on the ground, sprawls out of the way of a direct hit, though loses his grip on his weapon and is unable to try a second shot.

"Hmph."

The commander's shield holds up with a heavy clanging echo as he alone faces the swordsman.

"You do magic tricks? I've got some magic for ya."

Activating his weapon and crackling with energy, he raises a stun baton and slams it against Link's shield, in hopes that the metal will conduct the electricity.

Behind them, Shu has reached the roof and clambers to her feet. In the time it took her to make it to the top, the fire has spread along the roof rafters fairly considerably and she shields her face from the smoke. Nothing to it but to spread out the Splash Fruit coverage as much as possible. Hopefully Renne and Thomas aren't being smoked out.

[newmemorywhodis]

In all of Link's experience as a warrior, a knight, a hero, there was one basic principle to battle that he'd learned:

Don't get hit.

The other lesson he'd learned is that getting electrocuted while holding metal weaponry wasn't fun. So Link doesn't bother to attempt to counter attack; he just dodges, rolling to the side while the baton sails past him.

His eyes glance at his shield; maybe the Fused net would counter the electricity, but Link doesn't want to risk testing it. So he swaps it; putting the metal shield away in his pack for something rather less conductive. Unfortunately, Link doesn't have a proper wooden shield. He just has a pot lid.

Eh. Not the best shield. But he'll make it work.

The commander's eye is twitching - now seeing that some of his advantage is gone - as Link begins to circle around him. But the rule still stands: don't get hit. The electricity from that weapon would still be enough to stun Link for a second, and he can't let that happen. He needs to be able to help Shu. But Link thinks he's got the measure of the commander now, and if he waits for just the right moment...

...so when the commander strikes once more, Link moves. And as he dodges, the world slows down.

While to everyone else, Link is suddenly moving very, very fast - as he strikes the commander repeatedly in the space of a second.

[singlemilletgrain]

"You fool!" calls out the commander as he sees what Link has discarded his metal shield for. "Who even owns pots that size?!" The incredulity of the situation is enough to momentarily distract him as he chastises Link; as Shu ponders whether or not any of her cookware would have a wide enough circumference to accommodate that 'shield,' Link leaps into action.

One-two, one-two, and through and through; his vorpal blade went snicker-snack. In one blink, he is loosening his grasp on the shield, in the next he is bloodied, and in the final moments, he is sent flying to the ground.

Speaking of the ground, the man with the net gun is attempting to surreptitiously crawl away while Link is distracted, having decided that this tiny elf man was likely some sort of demon from the nether reaches of hell. And his contract did not involve slaying demons. Alas poor Yorick, for when he crawls ten feet away, he finds himself teleporting right back to where he started.

Meanwhile, vast quantities of steam are emerging from the roof as Shu floods the rooftop indiscriminately. She can't really see anything anymore, but as they say, fire cannot kill a dragon.

[newmemorywhodis]

Who says people couldn't have really big pots? They did in Hyrule. Although Link always seemed to end up breaking them, somehow...

Right now though, it's the back of the soldier with the net gun's head that Link smashes, as he gives it a heavy whack with said pot lid as he runs by. That should take care of them, while Link races to help Shu.

He can't see any better than Shu can. But what he does have is the rest of the Splash Fruit, so as he stumbles around through the smoke he liberally tosses them around anytime he spots any hint of burning embers.

Really, it's a good thing Shu's been growing more of these for him.

When it's all over, he finally opens up a channel to Renne and Thomas again.

"Fire's out," he says.

[straykitty]

"You and I will have a discussion on proper reporting later."

The comm goes silent again but there is a dread pall accompanying Renne's promise.

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu is having the exact same thought as she chokes in a cloud of steam and smoke. Rubbing her sooty face, she hands the remainder of Link's Splash Fruits back, then reaches back to tie up her long hair, streaked now with ash. She doesn't entirely enjoying the sensation of soot falling into her mouth as she tries to speak.

"All clear with the combatants?"

The field of green she sowed glow brightly for a few moments as she heals both herself and Link back to full vitality. Then the plants shrivel away, shrinking back into the ground.

"Let us depart this place as soon as they are finished. The commotion will surely draw more."

Time to make a hasty retreat.

[newmemorywhodis]

A...discussion? On proper reporting?

(You shouldn't have said anything, a voice whispers in the back of Link's mind. An old voice, from a long time ago. Now she's not happy with you. Now you've gone and said something wrong.)

Link does not reply to the message. He just moves closed to Shu while she heals him, and nods.

Yes, everything is clear now. Yes, they should leave soon.