World Tree MUSH

    Frontier colonies are similar to the pioneer caravans from the Old West, small communities living beyond the edge of civilisation and surviving on their grit, willpower and determination. This colony is on the middling size for such a community, about 30 people living in the prefabricated structures built from the ship that brought them here. Clustered around the power core; a Primus Nexus, in a loose ring, which might bring to mind the defensive curl of an armadillo, or the circling of wagons of frontiersman convoys.

    The soft taktaktak of a stylus would be drowned out in most places, but within the hull of the Type-29 Long Range Shuttle, a relatively substantial vessel about the size of a two-storey house. It's sleek and angular in traditional LineFleet aesthetic, with two nacelles holding 6-DoF thrusters, and shielding the delicate vanes of the Radial Drive behind the main bulk of the thrust assembiles. The main hull is about 15 meters long from nose to tail.

    Within the ship, huddle the colonists as outside in the colony buildings, Klon'Gan raiders ransack the place searching for anyone not within the secured vessel. Any of the 2 meter tall raiders that get too close are repulsed by the shimmer of the vessels shield, set into static bubble mode.

    In orbit, the predatory silhouette of a Klon'Gan battlecruiser hangs in the dark, as the much smaller frame of the Sanctuary breaches Linespace and emerges back into realspace.

    "Minerva, give me some good news here." clips Justina as she triggers evasive maneuvers, ducking the Sanctuary's nose to glide under the ventral axis of the cruiser. "Lifesigns aboard read as four individuals. A skeleton crew. They will be unlikely to engage and rely on the threat to ward us away from them." replies the AI. "Alright, signal the others, we're dropping them to the surface and keeping our distance. I don't want to aggrivate the 'gans any more than necessary."

    Raiders and stuff aren't Belle's usual thing. She's only out in the Tree to see new cryptids and stuff. At least, that's the excuse she gives. But Belle has a secret. Something she hasn't told many people, but... many have figured out. For all that she's athletic and works out and is super into archery and things, she's also...

    Kind of a dork.

    Hitching a ride through the Vines to a World that is full of hypertech and magic is totally cool! She doesn't know much about where she's going though, and the bespectacled girl did not expect to end up dumped within sight of a battle like this. She's been here a few minutes getting the rough idea of what's going on, but now that she's realized it's an actual raid, and people are showing up to help, well...

    "Okay, not the odds I really like, but..." Edging closer, Belle flicks her wrist, and an ornate bow appears, quickly nocked with an arrow to let fly at the oncoming raiders. Even if she can't take care of them by herself, maybe she can slow them down until she's close enough to get more serious.

    Soon after Sanctuary breaks into realspace, another ship emerges from faster-than-light travel and sidles into position beside the ship; a sleek purple gunship.
    Samus Aran, the most renowned bounty hunter across multiple worlds would, actually, normally divert her course to investigate a code yellow distress call. But the source of this particular code yellow incited a somewhat much more expedient response from the Hunter.
    That's why the gunship puts on speed.
    Tearing through space towards the colony it's a rough ride as the gunship swerves to evade any possible fire from the battlecruiser as the purple ship comes screaming down through the atmosphere to the planet and colony below.
    Stopping just short of touching down, the gunship opens fire. It is not a series of warning shots, as superheated plasma blasters lance hot death onto raiders with pinpoint accuracy.
    Only once several raiders have been atomized does the Hunter's voice speak over the loudspeakers of the gunship.
    "Raiding Klon'Gan party. This is my only request and your only warning. Leave now. Just walk away. Return to your battlecruiser and go, and I will let you go in peace. If you remain and continue your raiding activities I will be less inclined to show leniency. Once again I give you your options: leave now. Or be destroyed."
    With that announcement made VERY clearly, the gunship touches down; dropping its boarding ramp to allow Samus' passengers off before the Hunter herself debarks; already clad in the sleek purple and white armor of her Chozo power armor.

    It seems like tonight's going to get more exciting than Talia's used to when working for Justina. Klon'Gan warriors remind her a lot of Mandalorian raiders, or Force help her, Trandoshans or even Nozraki mercenaries. Needless to say, they're clearly a nasty bunch from what little she's gathered and not in the habit of treating their captives nicely. Thus, the Jedi Knight is ready to get to action.

    She's also tagging along with Samus! If anything she's all too happy to let the bounty hunter do the talking for now as the ship lands and Samus issues an ultimatum.

    Hopping off the ramp, Talia produces her lightsaber hilt and begins to make her way towards the colony, thumb hovering over her lightsaber's switch. Practically daring the raiders to attack, she waits.

    Matsu Shuzenji is a grump at the best of times. But looking down on the raiders from the deck of Samus' gunship, there is something more. Something harder. There is genuine anger in her eyes; a quiet, simmering fury. She knows the terror of raiders all too well. The fear of bandits stealing into a village with blade and bow, taking food and leaving fear, pain or death in its place. To see it here seems to have lit a metaphorical fire to burn alongside her much more literal divine flames.

    The young Phoenix Maiden is not a fighter. Not really. She might be able to take down some common bandits or people on the street. But not warriors like these. However, that shield, the barrier protecting the colony's citizens? She can work with that. She can feel it from Samus' gunship. It's a magical barrier. And magical barriers are something she knows how to use.

    As soon as the gunship's ramp touches down, Matsu is hustling down. Already there are a series of talismans in her hand. She gives only a yell over her shoulder of, "Cover me! I'll need some time for this," and then keeps moving, trusting that... someone will have her protected.

    Before she's even properly in range of the barrier, Matsu is beginning a chant... no, a prayer. A murmured prayer, infusing the spread of ofuda with not just mana, but will. And not her own. She calls upon a greater power, one equal to the phoenix that dwells within her.

    "O mighty Genbu, tortoise of the north.
        O august and noble fortress, lord of winter."

    Under her will, the talismans begin to drift out of Matsu's hands, shimmering with magical light - and tongues of flame start to dance along her body. Suzaku's fire wells up within her, bolstering her own magic, driven by her quiet, righteous fury at the invaders.

    "The innocent suffer here, and cower.
        The walls of their refuge buckle."

    Flames dance out and off of her body, settling into the strips of paper - which start to whirl around Matsu, an orbit that seems to kick up a faint but steady breeze.

    "I implore thee, lend thy protection,
         to these the meek and earnest."

    At once, the talismans spiral up into the air, tiny streaks of light that whip into the sky and then settle themselves around the barrier. Their rotation stops, but the light of magic and the shimmer of divine flame intensifies.

    "Let thy shell bolster the walls that turn away harm...
        And with Suzaku's flames forge them anew!"

    And all at once, the talismans slam into the barrier. A wave of fire passes over it, and left behind in the wake of the flames, the barrier takes on a grey tortoise-shell pattern; reinforced by the blessing of a divine turtle and the will of a divine phoenix.

    The arrival of the Sanctuary causes the Battlecruiser to shift orbit... actually moving to avoid the smaller science vessel. The Klon'gan empire has an unsteady truce with the Alliance after all. Perhaps even raiders would be loath to jepardize the peace. "Captain Aran, glad you could join us... we'll do what we can to keep the Battlecruiser out of the fight, but you will likely have to kill or wound the majority of the raiding party to drive them off... Klon'gan raiders are notorious for their tenacity." comes Justina's voice, though the comm channel has a lot of interference.

    Within the Refuge, the taktaktak of a stylus is deafening, the young human working feverishly on a contingency plan of her own devising. Imitation. As Samus' voice echos through the colony Hope perks up and slaps the comm button near to her workplace. "C-Captain! I'm so glad you came... the raiders threw up a communications jamming field, only the Type-Yellow frequencies still went through... keep them busy and away from the colony power core... I have a plan."

    The raiders turn as one takes an arrow to the back, falling and dropping the curved bladed weapon and angular pistol each is sporting. Three turn and return fire at Belle, green-yellow bolts of plasma lancing out of their pistols, while they charge in for melee.

    The Gunship vaporizes a heavy gun crew. They were setting up some kind of mounted cannon to bring down the Shields, though these men are replaced quickly and the cannon begins pounding the Refuge's shields, causing the blue-white barrier to flare and flicker with each impact. Some turn from the ship and approach the Hunter and Jedi their curved melee weapons held high as they scream their battle charges.

    The eagle eyed would spot a group heading towards the large power core at the center of the colony, with explosive charges in their hands.

    Matsu's barrier locks into place, and the interlocked scutes of tortoise shell help deflect the heavy plasma bolts.

    The reinforcement of the barrier with Genbu's blessing and her own flames succeeds, and immediately starts doing its work. It's definitely keeping that barrier up longer, but even still it's not going to last forever against all that firepower. There's little she can do other than stand watch over it; the young healer is absolutely not a front-line fighter. But those plasma gun crews... maybe she can do something about them, however small.

    Beginning to shift sidelong, trying to move so that the ship and its occupants are no longer behind her, Matsu also starts to harness Suzaku's fire. Though the same emotion fuels it, the burning, righteous ire for these invaders, the purpose to which she shapes it is much less defensive... and, perhaps, more suited to that emotion. She shapes it into several fireballs, which she flings off one after another towards one of the raider heavy gun crews.

    Belle can't help it. She YELPS when the blaster fire rains down from the trio, as she quickly is dodging aside. The bow vanishes as she returns it to its decorative state, and while two shots miss, one strikes her in the shoulder for... less damage than might be expected from a schoolgirl, but it still clearly hurts.

    The ones coming in for melee though... might be in for a surprise. As they approach, Belle's form grows larger, muscles bulging out and fanged muzzle erupting. By the time the cutlasses are there, the MUCH LARGER bestial creature is there to meet them, snarling as she leaps forward with a pair of claws.

>> GAME >> Belle spends an Edge for: Tier shift + action.

    Talia activates her lightsaber with a flash of green light, brandishing her weapon as she watches the raiders rush her. Talia takes a breath before she rushes towards them, blocking laser bolts with her lightsaber with ease as she leaps into the fray. With the Force guiding her blade, Talia fights nimbly with Ataru techniques, evading their strikes and blocking with the odd Soresu feint and guard. Curious, their weapons aren't breaking as quickly as Talia expects. It's not quite cartosis, but she's not easily slicing through their blades either. She runs a raider through with her lightsaber, slashing at another with her saber.

    Matsu reinforces the shield. This is good, and the Hunter nods both appreciative and approving of the Phoenix Maiden's actions as she listens to radio chatter aimed at her from two sources.
    On seeing the Klong'gan warriors undeterred by her initial show of force, to Justina, Samus says a single word. A word heavy with the weight of all the Hunter's intent...
    "Understood."
    She is far gentler, when replying to the girl inside Refuge; a familiar girl and the reason for the Hunter's expedient arrival.
    "... You did well to hold out as long as you did."
    But then she says to keep the raiders away from the colony power supply.
    Initially, Samus remains close to Matsu, intending to protect the Phoenix Maiden as she works... Before it just so happens that Samus spies a squad of raiders heading towards the power core with explosives in hand.
    "Can you take care of yourself from here, Matsu?" asked as Samus fires a few plasma bolts to harry the raiders rushing her.. Before she leaps OVER Them. A vaulting somersault jump carries the Hunter over their heads, the thrusters on the back of her power armor kicking in to give her an added boost while the muzzle of her armcannon snaps open...
    With a *click* the blue-tinted warhead of a missile loads into place. And with a shriek that missile, along with several more just like it go launching for the bomb crew. 
    Ice missiles are non-lethal by nature, but the potent eruption of chemicals and coolants WILL instantly flash freeze any organic matter they connect with, and she's reyling on that to slow down the raiders going for the power nexus.

    Matsu's fireballs splash divine flames at the various gun crews, detonating the power-cell of one of the cannons and sending the crew flying from the concussive wave. Others are engulfed in flames and flail to put them out disrupting their firing pattern until others step in to take up the crew positions.

    Belle's transformation doesn't disuade the charging Klon'gans, but those claws certainly put the point across that this is a bad idea. One is slashed clean across the chest, spraying pinkish-orange 'blood' all over, the second managing to barely get his blade into the path of those claws, sending sparks as the metal and metal-hard claws clash. The impact does knock him off his feet, into a nearby building.

    Talia's Lightsaber nicks and chips the Klon'gan blades, and the pained wheeze of the run-through and slashed warriors punctuates a lull in combat at Samus freezes the bomb crew in place. One clicking the detonator on his bomb and causing the group to go up in flames as the ice begins to form.

    Hope smiles and resumes working. "I couldn't have done it without the colonists help... we're nearly done with my plan, there'll be help coming soon." she replies, the taktak of her stylus resuming in earnest.

    Can Matsu take care of herself from here?

    The Phoenix Maiden gives Samus a slightly incredulous look. But sheer stubbornness kicks in, and she scowls at the Klon'gan fire teams. "Go." The shield isn't quite at a point where she's worried about its durability yet; however, it will be soon, and there's still too many of those heavy weapon crews. But her tiny little fireballs somehow managed to detonate one of the power cells. That's good. She can work with that.

    There are absolutely more fireballs being thrown at another plasma gun crew now.

    Samus watches impassively as the raiders detonate their own explosives.
    It's when most of them start to get back UP that she frowns behind her visor.
    This might not be so easy.
    "Help?" She replies to Hope. "Now I'm curious."
    But she returns her focus to the battle at hand.
    These raiders just won't stay down.
    And then there's... Belle.
    Where there had been a girl when Samus arrived, she now sees the much large, bestial, creature fighting the Klon'gan.
    Now comes the question: can the beast be reasoned with?
    "They're trying to destroy the colony power core. We can't let them."
    Samus emphasizes this by pointing her armcannon at the recovering bomb-wielding raiders, particles of light gathering at the muzzle of her weapon until it glows with the light of a fully-charged blast at the ready- which she unleashes in their direction.

    Being a giant werebeast(of some sort, mostly wolfish though), Belle doesn't seem to worry about hand to hand, does she? But being shot at is still an easier. Her greater bulk also comes with greater durability, but the plasma bolts can still hurt her!

    A snarl and Belle decides to close the distance. She's impulsive and not good at making complex plans, but this doesn't mean she can't think in the moment... her bestial shape still has a perfectly functioning human mind in there. When Samus calls out to her, she grunts, "'kay." Which seems more like a teenage dismissal than any lack of coherent speech!

    And with that said, she moves to protect the Nexus! A shield of some kind against the attacks would be good, but where is she going to get one of those?

    Belle grabs the downed raider that wasn't hurled into the wall, leaps forward carrying him by the leg, and slams him down onto the nexus to provide a nice, meaty barrier.

    There's a lull in combat as Talia watches Samus freeze the bomb crew solid. Huh. Ice missiles. Got it. "It's up to us, aim for the turrets." Talia says to Matsu before zipping off. Talia then leaps up to engage the gun crews, going across the scaffolding with nimble maneuvers while batting away any laser bolts fired her way. She goes for weapons and center mass strikes, delivering thrusts and swipes when she isn't cutting rifles and pistols in half, maybe taking an arm off instead in all the confusion, before she flings her lightsaber at the nearest turret to cut it down.

    The raider ranks are thinning out, and those cannons are barking less frequently, though there are cracks starting to form in the Refuge's barrier, the scutes of the shell beginning to flake away and expose the flat shell beneath. "Alert: Shields at 64% and falling. announces an androgynous voice with no inflection over local radio to those who can receive it.

    Matsu's fireballs, and Talia's lightsaber manage to detonate another cannon, and slice the barrel off a third while some of the wounded Klon'gan are pulled away from the battlefield in a swirling energy vortex. Some kind of teleportation. Others who have only been disarmed while keeping their limbs take up fallen weapons and reengage, putting pressure on Talia in particular.

    Samus' blast catches a sapper in the back, blasting him to the ground with a smoking hole in his armour. The physical blocking of the path with bodies of their comrades enrages the sapper teams, and they open fire with their plasma pistols at Belle and Samus. Spitting green-orange bolts at the two Nexus defenders.

    "Captain! I'm sending those reinforcements now... they'll be there in about thirty seconds. They're coming from the shuttleport on the far side of the Nexus." says Hope, scraping her stylus across the tablet, then leaping to her feet and dashing to the cockpit. "Refuge, prepare telepresence and get those Dolls moving, use IMIT-8 Protocol."

    Matsu doesn't generally keep a radio on. She's still getting the hang of this technology stuff. However, she has eyes, and magical senses besides; she can tell the barrier is starting to buckle. That initial spell took a lot out of her, though. Reapplying it isn't a good idea. However, she can augment what's actually there. Both her own blessing, and the original barrier over which it's laid.

    "I'm reinforcing the barrier," she calls out to Talia. "Cover me."

    Another paper talisman comes out, but this time she flings it straight onto the barrier. And rather than chant another spell, the young miko goes through a rapid-fire series of hand seals - and then simply begins channeling power into the spell, augmenting it and repairing a bit. It won't be enough, but it will help.

    "On it." Talia doesn't blink as she jumps over in front of Matsu, covering her from enemy fire as she bats away fire from the surviving raiders. She's pretty sure she stabbed a few of these pretty definitively. One of them she took an arm off! "Is it just me...or are these beings awfully stubborn?" She asks while her lightsaber deflects an energy blast back at the shooter. Hopefully this one stays down, but Talia doubts that.

    Belle... Shields the nexus with the body of a raider.
    Effective.
    But then comes the return fire. Samus nimbly tumbles and dodges incoming plasma, displaying an agility that is almost superhuman, even inside that heavy duty power armor as she suddenly...
    Curls up and rolls into a ball.
    A small ball. One that is perfectly armor plated into a complete sphere with a line of green light down the middle as though her armor shifted with her into this new spheroid form.
    Weaving and zig-zagging to evade fire, the Samus-ball suddenly LEAPS... And sticks a smaller sphere onto a raider's body.
    This one is beeping. And she's already rolling away. Because after a few more beeps that bomb will detonate in a small radius with a small but potent yield.

    Grunting heavily, Belle is trying her best to weather the return fire. She isn't actually as super tough as some armored sorts, just has a lot of meat on her extra-sized beast body. But there's something else to consider.

    As much as she loves beating people up hand to hand, she's really an archer at heart. And the magic bow she uses doesn't seem to care which form she's in... so when it snaps into her hands and she draws and lets loose an arrow or two, it has all the power of those amped up muscles behind it.

    Yes, the werewolf uses a bow.

    The raiding party is roughed up, some are dead, some have been recalled, but most are still up. Bleeding profusely but still resolutely defying the defenders... at least until the last cannon goes BOOM.

    Then, the sound of metallic clanking comes from the far side of the power Nexus and a few moments later, the ungainly strides of repurposed loader Dolls, and construction lifters come loping through the streets. They carry curved blades in a mocking imitation of the Raider's own weapons and they charge in much the same way... though they're completely silent save for the sound of servos and the strike of feet against the ground. They sweep through the remaining Raiders, sweeping them aside and cutting those down who try to fight by weight of numbers.

    In orbit, the Battlecruiser is adjusting position and then starts peeling away. Recalling remaining Raiders from the surface before its wingtips flare brightly and the ship 'stretches' into a pinpoint with a dull 'WHUMPH' of warped aetheric space. "Captain Aran, you did it. The Klon'gan have retreated back toward their borders."

    There isn't much Matsu can do but delay the inevitable like this. Talia will keep her defended long enough to do so, but it's still a metaphorical band-aid over a bullet wound. So when the ragged raiding party is driven off at last by the arrival of reinforcement Dolls, the young priestess slumps a bit. "...hate battlefields," she mumbles to herself, flopping down onto the ground and almost certainly earning herself a chewing-out later over dirty robes.

    It's only then that something she'd glimpsed registers.

    "...did I see a wolf monster using a bow...?"

    "I think you did." Talia says, as she stows her lightsaber as the Dolls arrive to provide relief and drive off the Klon'gans. She flops besides Matsu, just exhausted from all the fighting. "Today's been an interesting day. I saw Aran flash freeze some barbarians."

    Unlike Matsu, Talia doesn't have to worry about her robes getting all dirty! It's a good thing Jedi favor boring, rugged, earthtones.

    And there are the reinforcements Hope had mentioned.
    As the Dolls come bounding into the fray, Samus slowly lowers her weapon as the raiders engage and are met with scorn for their continued aggression.
    "Mm. I didn't do it." Samus murmurs. "We did it."

    Matsu side-glances at Talia, then lets out a little huff. "...Could you go and round up anyone who's wounded? I'll heal people." Much as she wants to sit for a minute, there could be people in the settlement that are dying.

    "Mmm." Talia drags herself to her feet before she goes to sniff around for the wounded, just in case. She'll lead them to Matsu, and let the Phoenix Maiden handle the rest.

    It takes a few minutes for Belle to calm down, but the reason why she wears loose clothing is evident now. She isn't a GIANT wolf monster, but is notably larger. After another series of deep breaths, she adjusts her glasses(yes, the monster had glasses on) and staggers a little. "I could use some healing, I'm not used to things that shoot." Yeah she'll flop down as soon as she can. Thankfully, she's tougher than she looks, but still injured.

    The colonists are largely ok. There are a few plasma burns, a couple of deep cuts in limbs, bandaged hastily to stem the bleeding. Then there's the team who were setting up the reinforcements. Some of them have magic burns on their hands from the crude handling of Primus Cores to rig up the utility Dolls into some makeshift combat rigs. They follow the Jedi to the healer readily... and then Hope steps out of her shuttle and approaches Samus. She looks up at The Hunter, smiling softly as she hugs her tablet to her chest. "Thank you again... C-Captain."

    And there's Hope.
    When the girl emerges from the shuttle, the Hunter is silent for a long moment. Before Samus gently lays her hand on the girl's shoulder.
    "You did well. I'm proud."
    It is a small, simple, gesture of approval from the bounty hunter. Quiet words that she can let Hope hold onto.

    Tired though Matsu is, she sets to work with surprisingly little complaint. Her healing will take care of every injury that's not somehow inhibited from being healed; even minor things like paper cuts or light bruises. It also probably feels rather nice - like a relaxing, warm wind that blows through the body, not just around it. There is, at the very least, a brief look over in Hope's direction, and for just a heartbeat, the Phoenix Maiden's expression softens.