(no subject)

[straykitty]

Who: Renne, Donnie, Yuki and Aira
What: Routine raid turns cleansing cult installation and salting the earth
Where: A hidden research facility on Larendt
When: Mid-February in between normal Corsair operations
Warnings: Violence, potential mention of human experimentation

With the Isles Above on lockdown, finding a target had been difficult. However, with Renne's network, nothing was impossible, especially when one knew how to access Society archives and knew certain doting n'er do wells would probably look the other way if they saw it was her. The facility she found was a small research installation nestled in the forests of Larendt. They should have ample Ether stones for their purposes, but also shouldn't have been too hard to knock over.

After assembling a crew, she booked a Corsair ship out to the fallen isle of Larendt. The facility was fairly easy to find, as usual the Imperials never really thought to conceal their labs, even if they were within the Corsair's operating zone. The door was reinforced steel, but that wasn't a particularly large issue. Withdrawing her ENC, Renne, gave her team one final look. "Are you all ready?"

Comments

[purplexing]

Some kind of magic, so far as Donnie can tell. He tests his arm with a slight wince as he continues to stare in horror at the approaching soldiers. The different movement behind them catches his attention, and he knows they'll have a lot more problems with both armed soldiers and...whatever those are.

Get it together, Donnie! He can't do anything too widespread, not when Nyammy's jumped right into the thick of things, so he extends his staff again. They aren't stopping, but are they even aware of what's happening anymore? The soldiers who don't seem affected don't seem to even care, so this...this has to be some strangely anticipated development?

He doesn't understand it, he doesn't have time to understand it, not when the scary ones are advancing. Violet light flares around the end of his staff, tracing out a blade. He hasn't made use of this sort of thing since his run-in with Adolfus, but he has a feeling these guys won't stop with a few whacks of a metal stick. Spinning his makeshift glaive, he swings it around to try disarming- maybe even literally so- one of the glowing soldiers as they come at them.

[testygirl]

Well, shit. Now that this has become a full-fledged horror show, the only thing worth focusing on is the team's survival—and that means dispatching as many of these crazed freaks as she can in whatever way possible.

For as long as they're unarmed, Aira can use height to her advantage. She slings herself up again, and while hanging, she divides her hair further into a few separate spear-like points. The ceiling isn't that high, so she does have to avoid the grasping hands of the berserk soldiers. From her vantage point, she can see where the more sane ones are moving for the discarded guns.

With speed, poise, and elegance, she swings across the room; at the same time, she unleashes several harsh kicks and stabs with her pointed hair, aiming for heads this time, which do make for easy targets when attacking from above. She'll look to land once any bullets start flying.

[nyammy]

With these guards being unarmed, even if overtaken by some dark energy, Nyammy doesn't see a need for her shield yet. Instead, she relies on the skills she gained as both a cat and as a magical girl, lashing out with claws and throwing in some kicks as well. Her kicks are, notably, about as powerful as you can throw in this world - which is to say, she's used them to launch monsters the size of buildings around in her own world. These guards are much more.... susceptible, to that level of force.

Most of her thoughts and instincts are dedicated, at this point, to simply ending the threat. But she's keeping enough of her head in the game to make sure she's not getting in anybody else's way while doing so. Teamwork is still relatively new to her, when not directly with her partner, but not so much that she's going to be an active hindrance.

[straykitty]

Donnie's glaive bites deeply into the arm of one of the attackers but doesn't even slow him down as he and two others surge forward to grapple the turtlekin, one of the two attackers quickly falling to a spike of hair. The attack seemed to be dulled, among the boons the aura appears to give is enhanced durability.

Aira feels a bit better, the strike to the vitals takes out two of the attackers including one of the ones rushing Donnie, whereas her kicks sends them backward a bit but does little to stop their momentum as two more close in on her.

Nyammy fares reasonably under the circumstances, her kicks sending assailants flying and her claws biting deep, although the physical wounds don't seem to stop the attackers as two manage to grasp at guns and begin firing bullets infused with red ether that feels positively demonic at her.

Ether surges from behind the line as Renne screams with uncharacteristic rage and sweeps into the backline, her scythe biting into the neck of one of the gunners and halting against the spine for a moment before finally cleaving through and sending the head flying. She immediately leaps on the second gunner and sets to work attempting to puncture his throat with the broad tip of her scythe.

[purplexing]

Donnie hadn't expected such resistance against his magick'd blade, and he quickly reverses the spin of it as the possessed(??!) soldier makes a grab for him. Just as well one of the others is handled by Aira, the remaining seeming to be enough of a handful for the turtlekin.

Somewhere he hears Renne's scream, something frightening in that itself given she's always seemed so composed. Gunfire erupts and he flinches out of reflex. So much happening, so fast. He swipes at the soldier coming at him in some vain attempt to keep them back, finally in a panic turning his glaive forward to thrust its glowing point directly towards the soldier's chest.

[testygirl]

"Aim for their vitals!" Aira shouts. "Don't hold back!"

That's probably obvious to everyone at this point, but since Renne seems to losing it, she tries to sound supportive and authoritative rather than overwhelmed or panicked. The words help to keep herself steady, if nothing else.

After landing, Aira crouches low in response to the gunfire. With two more berserk soldiers bearing down, she uses both hands to propel herself into a twirl. Her hair forms around one leg like a whirling drill, and she kicks at the closest enemy, piercing up through their chin. Then she jerks her foot back and flips into a second attack, swinging in midair and gouging the second one through the side of the head.

It feels disgusting. Sickening. Acid nausea bubbles up from Aira's gut, but she forces it back down. Focus, focus. On to the next.

[nyammy]

With the guns back in play, Nyammy prepares to bring her shield back, but she pauses as she sees Renne moving to handle them. Right, teamwork. If she made a shield that bounced back gunfire, it could ricochet back into Renne. Trust that she could handle them.

Nyammy instead turned toward mopping up whatever soldiers were left. Going for whoever wasn't already being taken care of by the turtle-boy or the masked girl - or perhaps going for one of those, if it looked like help was needed. A spinning kick from her could drive a man into the ground if she wasn't careful - and at this point, she wasn't going to be.

[straykitty]

The more aggressive and decidedly more lethal tactics overwhelm the soldiers as the smell of blood and death washes over the cafeteria. As the chaos clears, what few non-combatants remain are huddled in a corner.

Renne steps forward, her eyes blazing with hate and her hand equally blazing as she gathers fire ether into an increasingly large ball. Her intent is clear - she'll burn the whole room and those within it, but is also not especially thinking logistics such as making her own escape. If there are objections to be raised, now might be the time.

[purplexing]

The glowing blade pierces its mark, and when the soldier begins to slump limp, dead, Donnie steps back, the blade vanishing in motes of light as the body falls to a heap that starts to pool towards his feet. All at once the smell hits him, the bloody outcome all around. He stares numbly, shock the only thing keeping him from getting nauseated.

The heat that blooms from behind them has the turtlekin try to pull his mind out of that precarious space that threatens to blank out, his head slowly turning as he looks towards the source. It still feels like his processes are all so very slow, his wide eyes widening even more at the look on Renne's face, far from anything he would have ever expected to see.

"Renne..?" His voice comes out a whisper, his brain trying to kick itself in gear. He may not be the best at discerning emotions but it's so very clear that the expression Renne wears does not mean for anything good. "Renne- stop!" he shouts, his limbs feeling stiff as he lurches in her direction, reaching out to try grasping her arm. He still has no idea what's specifically set her off but this sort of response is all too extreme.

[testygirl]

Once she feels the heat, Aira retracts her hair and her gaze shoots over to the source. Time seems to slow for just a second or two, and a memory flashes in her brain: Renne referring to herself as the Angel of Slaughter, and claiming that she was at peace with her past.

All of that is related to this irrational outburst, probably. Maybe if Aira had asked about the details, and they'd talked more, then this extreme reaction could have been mitigated. That's irrational in its own way, but she still wishes she'd tried.

At the same time, Aira's body moves on instinct. She shifts back to her regular appearance and jumps directly in front of Renne, standing with both arms extended out from her sides. She can't help but wince at the stinging heat, but she keeps her feet firmly planted.

"Listen to him, that's enough! If you want to torch this place, then at least wait until we're not still inside. I mean, do you really want to risk burning up this adorable face?!"

[nyammy]

Nyammy is having her own thoughts as all of this happens. She hadn't thought she'd even have use for the purifying powers of her Amity Ribbon Tambourine here, and had in turn not given any thought to it. But now here had been these soldiers, overtaken by some sort of dark power, and she'd been unable to respond in any way but brute force. It reminded her of how she'd started off her career as a Precure, and she wasn't happy about that.

But without Mayu - Cure Lillian - she couldn't make use of the Tambourine, couldn't heal or purify that darkness. At least as far as she knew. Maybe she should've worked on that - been ready for today, found a way to do it on her own.

She's caught a bit flatfooted, then, when Renne shifts into a pure attack mode of her own, ready to torch... the civilians? The regular doctors here? Donnie and Aira were already working to stop her, and Nyammy was simply standing there, caught off guard. What had prompted this change? This outrage?

Perhaps she'd be able to do something, use a Nyammy Shield to block the flames if they were launched forward. Perhaps.

[straykitty]

Renne's eyes burn with rage, but there is a faint flicker of recognition as the flames stop expanding, although they are not going to be extinguished.

"I am going to cleanse this filth from the world," she says very deliberately. "And then I am going to salt the earth it was built on. I recommend you stand aside."

Her voice cold, flat, and full of contempt.

[purplexing]

He's already trying to suppress some bad flashbacks of fire, but he's not going to stand there and let an ally roast them alive. The flames aren't growing anymore and that much he's thankful of, but the heat is still uncomfortably close.

"We came here for a reason," he says with a steadiness he sure doesn't feel. "I don't know what's going on here, or what's your previous experience with...with whatever that was, but it's bad, and if there are more facilities connected to this, we need to find out so no one else runs into these surprises without being prepared. We need intel. But if you torch this place now, we lose that chance."

[testygirl]

Damn. Holding Renne's gaze, Aira thinks for a second that she could try to forcibly restrain her. Unfortunately, that fire is bad news; it could easily set Acrobatic Silky's hair ablaze if she tries to use that, and she can't think of any other way to physically stop her. Either Donnie or Nyammy would have a better chance while she has Renne's attention—but still, it might not be smart to even try.

"Come on, he's right." Aira takes in a slow breath, then her throat bobs, and she finds herself giving Renne a sad but determined little smile. "I'm not going to stand aside, even though you're totally terrifying right now. You want to protect people, right? Focus on that. I trust you, otherwise I wouldn't have signed up for this in the first place."

[nyammy]

Nyammy is running through the words and events in her mind, trying to draw a frame of reference from what she knew.

Renne's words were much more purposeful just then - no longer simply running rampant, but convicted. It reminded her of Gaou's - the spirit of the extinct Japanese wolf who'd come to prey upon humanity in retribution. It was hard to reconcile a desire to harm with the very justified reasoning behind it, though Yuki had found it easier than her friends had.

But she'd found it easier specifically because his retribution had painted a target on Mayu's back as well. Here... who was Renne hurting but some Imperials? She had no reason to sympathize with them.

But then, it was obvious the other two - Donnie and Aira - did, at least somewhat. Much like Mayu, they were too kind for their own good.

When she spoke, it wasn't necessarily because it was the right thing to do, and honestly, if Renne launched her fire right there, Nyammy would only try to ensure Donnie and Aira were safe from it without bothering to shield the others. But still, speak she did. She did it for the other two, bleeding hearts that they were. "Miss Renne, you're speaking from a place of hurt and anger. But you didn't choose teammates who would abide by hurting people who have already given up. You'll need to convince them, or they'll stand in your way. And I don't think you want to hurt them."

Sorry if you were counting on her to physically stop Renne. Could she? Probably better than the other two. But she'd rather focus on rescuing Donnie and Aira, if it came to that.

[straykitty]

"I will not suffer these monsters to live."

Renne's tone is a sibilant hiss, but she does seem to regain enough control to speak. Her tone is even on the surface, but the roiling rage underneath is clear to see.

"They are using Gnosis. A vile drug used to transform those who take it into demonic beings. It is among the result of extensive research, often conducted on abducted children. This is a cult facility, and I will burn it to the ground and kill everyone inside."

She pauses for a moment, before sighing.

"Although if there are any children left I suppose we can liberate them first."

The ball of flame hasn't diminished in its potency at all, but she at least seems calmer and it's not expanding at the very least.

[purplexing]

Donnie's not getting any less anxious about the situation, and really, he's not sure he feels any better once Renne explains. ...but it does at least give reason to her response, the revelation turning his gut.

"Still standing by my earlier point. Maybe there are more- I'd rather hope not, but..." He shakes his head. "Can...you put that out for now? If we're going to sweep the place to see if there are any children held here, we can't be burning it prematurely."

He's not saying he won't let her burn it down after, so there's that?

[testygirl]

Aira does think that there is some evil beyond redemption. And since she believes Renne—it's hard not to, with all her intense conviction—then Aira has no interest in sticking her neck out for any of the creeps who work here. Protecting them was never her biggest concern, anyway. Mostly she didn't want Renne to completely lose herself, or for the two others to get caught up in her rampage.

In any case, she's extremely grateful for her teammates, and for Donnie's voice in particular. Who knows if she'd have been able to talk Renne down on her own.

"Yeah." Her own tone has darkened, and she shoots the huddled up workers a disgusted look. "I don't care if you do burn them alive, but it would be safer to deal with them some other way. If there's a chance we can save even one kid, then that's what we have to prioritize. No way am I budging on that."

[nyammy]

"Gnosis, is it...?" She ponders the implications for a moment. "It's not dissimilar to what the enemies in my own world use. Unfortunately, I don't think I can dispel its effects on my own."

Glance to Renne. "Best to make sure they can no longer use it, then."

Which is to say: She approves of your plan. She doesn't comment on the saving of the children; she figures that much is just obvious.

[straykitty]

"Very well. I shall extinguish this and we can set to work."

Which she... kind of does. Taking the ball of flame, she launches it directly at the gathered prisoners, who start screaming in pain as they begin burning. One of the researchers yells "you won't get away with this, failure!" in between pained screams, but the fire is at least contained to the prisoners.

"Now then, shall we go? Or would you prefer I finish these ones off first before we move on?"

Her demeanor is deceptively calm. It could best be described as extremely dangerous.

[purplexing]

That....is not exactly what Donnie had in mind. He chokes off any shout in protest as the flames hit, quickly turning away his eyes, not that the screaming is doing anything for his imagination. But if they can still yell such things...

He clutches his staff tightly, giving a curt shake of his head as he tries to mentally block out the tortured cries. Maybe...maybe they do deserve it.

"After you," he says quietly, stoppering up his unease as best he can. He does pause, glancing at the discarded weapons before stooping down to pick up one of the guns, tucking it into his belt. A 'just in case.'

[testygirl]

Accompanying those awful screams is a fresh, sickening wave of doubt: did she just do the right thing? What would Momo or Takakura have done? She doesn't want to think too hard about that, even though she almost certainly knows the answer. Maybe—probably—she was lying to the group about not caring, and lying to herself. Or maybe she was just scared of what could have happened if she tried to stop Renne by force. And no doubt some part of her was hoping that Renne would hold back after all, and at least execute them in some less cruel way, despite everything.

It's a lot. Her head hurts, her chest hurts, and there's something like the taste of lead in her mouth. The smell in the room almost makes her throw up again, and she needs to get out.

"Do what you want."

Heading for the door, she ends up brushing past Renne rather brusquely. Then she mutters "I'm sorry" to Donnie while passing him. It's a worthless apology, but the words still slip out.

[nyammy]

Humans with bleeding hearts will be the end of her, Nyammy swears.

Not that she hadn't felt bad for a bit there. But hearing of their evil deeds had done a lot to curb that.

"Let's get to it, then." The magical girl walks out with the rest of the group, ready - perhaps more ready than some of them - to finish business here. Rescue some children. Stop some evil.

[straykitty]

Watching the others reaction, Renne sighs a bit. She should have done more to protect them from this. She shouldn't have lost her composure. Well, what's done is done. As the team exits, she slashes one final time with her scythe, bringing the agonized screams of the burning researchers to a sudden end before following the group.

"If this is a cult facility, I know what the other doors are," she says matter-of-factly as she catches up with the team, striding purposefully as she leads them to the door that was on the right.

"If any survive, the children are in here. I will enter alone. I don't believe you all want to see this."

[OOC/CW: Folks are free to come in or not - if you do it'll get a bit more graphic in terms of the state of the kids in there so fair warning before we proceed. If she goes alone I'll gloss over it]

[purplexing]

The turtlekin glances at Aira. Maybe they're useless words, but they're still something he latches onto, some odd reassurance that maybe he's not in the wrong for having such conflicting thoughts on the matter. His shoulders hike up sharply at the sudden silence that falls behind them once they've exited, not making him feel much different from when they researchers had been screaming in pain. He wants to be sick, and he wonders how their simple mission had turned so dark, so quickly.

He takes up the rear as they follow Renne's lead, up until they stop at the next door. The warning isn't something he brushes over, not after what just happened. It takes some effort to swallow down the knot of anxiety that feels like it's only tightened in the back of his throat. Donnie's hesitation is evident, torn between wanting to help, wanting to do what's ...right? and the dread of what all could possibly lie beyond. Would he be a coward for staying behind? He feels some desperate need for some kind of mental self-preservation, especially when he knows those edges have been fraying.

It might not have been all that long for his mental deliberation, but to him it seems like far longer. Donnie squeezes his eyes shut for a moment before he slowly lifts his head to look at the others.

"...I'll hang back. And handle things if anyone else comes this way."

He can do that much, at least.