World Tree MUSH

    All across the World Tree, Vines have appeared. Fluctuating and temporary, they beckon adventurers to go through - or perhaps appear in just the right place that some go through without even noticing.

    The destination appears to be a swamp, covered in a thick white fog that makes it hard to see more than five feet ahead. There are sounds - blasters firing, bolts of red and green light streaking through the fog. Did the Vines drop you in the No Man's Land of a warfront?

    Occasionally figures move in the fog, braving the swampy waters to try to reach the other side. Those figures tend to draw the immediate focus-fire of either side, and when they splash down dead, they're covered in scorch marks from the blasters.

    It's a stalemate, then?

    But then two streaks of light, one blue and one green, ignite. The humm of lightsabers follows them, from one side of the battle to the other. They strike, and strike, and strike, deflecting blaster fire. One side of the battle advances behind the two Jedi. Their trump card.

    Above the battle, the Keepers sit in a transport, under which a large cage is affixed. Elise is already transformed into her purple armor, and split into two. One keeps looking down and whimpering about the height. The other hurls her binoculars down into the fog. "I can't see anything! How am I supposed to show you how this works?! Whatever, we'll wing it. Go down if you want to see it first-hand."

    Elise waves her hand down towards the fog. There's a rumbling from the cage. A massive hand, decayed, with glowing purple veins rips its way out. The creature jumps down into the fog and lands with a crash that silences the blaster shots.

    Then there's screams! Lovely screams. A roar that starts tearing through the advancing army. The blue and green lights move towards it. Bodies rise, even in the No Man's Land. Fallen Imperials and Republic Commandos alike, their skin darkening, their veins bright and purple. They attack almost immediatly, with claws that grow out of their gloves, with their now-sharpened teeth, former enemies now allies in zombiehood.

    The Gage-Class Transport that's currently being used for this carries several markings all over it. It's also very pointedly hovering over the battlefield at a low altitude. The owner of said ship, Darth Calamitas, is currently standing on the bridge with her hood up, "Calm down, Eli. You're making Lise upset." For the sake of her own simplicity, she's named the aggressive one Eli and the passive one Lise. 

    She snaps her fingers, "Bring the ship down. Land us at the backlines." Said massive transport descends after the cage is dropped. It's still a few dozen feet off the ground, but it wqants to stay out of the way of the monster that just came out of the cage. She lost six troopers just getting it in there. It wasn't until after they'd trapped the live rancor, killed it, and then resurrected it using Elise that someone suggested next time killing the rancor FIRST and building the cage around it. But you can't make a zombie without breaking a few eggs. 

    "Ooooh~. They brought Jedi. How fun. Normally, I'd go out and crush them myself, but really I want to see what this 'zombie' of yours can do. Put on a good enough show and I promise I will give you some Sith Holocrons on the nature of harnessing life essence." A little give and take in her relationship with the newfound apprentice is always something to encourage. Aily folds her hands behind her back and watches the slaughter. 

    "I will head down myself later if the jedi persist in being a problem." She seems... unphased by the death of the ground troops. They should have been stronger, that way they would have survived.

    "This does complicate watching anything," Vivian is saying. She's actually giving a reassuring pat to the whimpering Elise's shoulder, showing that kind and thoughtful side that is... usually around, actually. For someone with her goals she's pretty nice, most of the time.

    Her harsher side is only showing in that she makes no remark on the loss of life ongoing right now. Concentrating as she is, she has no trouble handling the emotions right now, and her empathy is more a help than a hindrance. "Well, you've certainly managed to provoke fear and shock."

    For the time being she isn't in an illusion, saving her magic, which means the winged woman is in her full splendor.

 Claudia is here! And oddly happy about it, for being both mercenary'd out by her new allies. She's not a Keeper, however the Harvesters has sent her in to do a job and the aliance was convenient enough. But her purpose here today puts a salve on the bubbling rage just under the surface of her warm, companionly smile. 

 She's also smartly not here in Templar colors. Instead she's gotten ahold of a black hoodie unzipped over a metallica t-shirt. There's also the pair of military camo pants and leather gloves with a good pair of combat boots. Hoodie down, it conceals a good bit of her scarred face. 

 An ajoran cross is still on her though, a silver one on a cheap chain. The Ajoran has been rather fascinated, and a little terrified, of the techno-airship they're in. She has this giddy grin on her face and fingers that cross quite a bit. "By the Saint, never would I have thought that little slum-lass Claudia would ride the heavens this way! Hah hah haaah! It sends chills down my spine! Oh, was this what it was like when the Braves walked the land and the foul Pharists put to the torch by the Father's wrath!?" 

 She's a bit loud and excited. Silly luddite. 

 She winces though as that cage drops, her hand glowing white with holy energy instinctively. 

 "...You really are a wretched lot! Ain't right to do to a man. Well. Some might deserve it. Hah, maybe you caught a few bluebloods, eh? Serves 'em right, the scum-sucking swine!" She encourages to Elise, and to the group at large. Fog's a problem though. 


 A glance to Aily, Vivian getting only a passing glare. Blueblood, bah! 

 Shrug. "Don't you worry, moppet! I am sure we'll get a few of these Jedi heathens! Just remember our deal. I help you lot get those undead lads up and goin', I get to stick a bunch of nobles. Don't rightly care if it's during or after. Knight of my word, I am! Trusty Claudia, that's me!" She lifts her hip flask, and starts chugging, leaning on the ship as she looks out. Then out comes a pipe, a zippo, and she's fouling the air. Her boot taps, impatient, hand occasionally balling into a fist. She's eager and hungry for noble blood.

    If you were technically on lunch break and just //happened// to wander into that fuzzy little instance that blurred the lines between the world you know and...well, something altogether different, then surely you can't be held responsible for getting caught up in things that you forget to check in with the Tower. Right? Right. 'kay, just so we're clear there.

    Sounds of battle certainly aren't something unusual for the hooded Exo that moves carefully through the mists. At the first shots registered, he'd brought his trusty weapon to hand. Even when you have't been out on the field for a long while, old habits die hard.

    "So, just to confirm, Ghost, we're nowhere on the map where we should be?"

    Floating at Cayde's shoulder, his Ghost, twitches its vertices as it gives something of a nod. "Affirmative. But there's ...a //lot// of activity I'm registering out there, and I'm not sure this is a good idea..." the little AI replies.

    "Aw come on. What could possibly go wrong? ...okay, don't answer that, stay out of sight and sights, and go see what the hell's going on." Double-checking his ammo, Cayde starts forth as his Ghost disappears into him with a brief shimmer of light. Oh, there's a lot of movement out there, all right. Hopefully having glowing eyes and mouth don't make him too obvious a target.

    Elsewhere, the Styx Adrift had been serenely drifting amongst the stars. With jumpship cruising at light speed at its set course, Thanatos-4 had engrossed himself in reading once again from the myriad of ancient texts and scrolls kept on hand, to pass his time. It is the twitter of his Ghost that pulls his attention up from somber study.
    "Thanatos. Thanatos, you might want to take a look at this." Dis chirps, prompting the Guardian to reach over and thumb a button on one of the consoles to bring the ship to a halt. "It's a new path. It wasn't there before, I just picked it up." The little floating construct pipes, sounding pleased with herself.
    "Mm." The Warlock replies, giving laconic voice to his slowly mounting curiosity.
    "Where do you think it leads?" Dis muses.
    Thanatos is given a choice; continue on his set course, or turn down towards the unknown and unexpected.
    He wouldn't be a Warlock if he did not turn to face that unknown. He adjusts his coordinates, and in far less time than expected, the small jumpship is deposited over the swampy battlefield. Glowing optics assess the situation below.
    "I thought this would be interesting." The Exo mutters under his breath.
    "Uhhhh. Thanatos... They're like Thralls."
    "And?"
    "Thanatos. *Zombies*. How is that not interesting?"
    "Fine. But we're only going to observe." The Warlock says, snapping his helmet into place and spending several moments rummaging through his armory for an appropriate loadout, in the event observation goes south. "Put us down there."
    It's a flash white light that transmats the Guardian from the safety of his ship and into the mists of the swamp.

    Well okay. Wandering samurai, that's a good term, because Yahiko sure is wandering. Seeing a Vine pop up like that, he of course looked into it... it might be a clue as to how to get home! And that is... kind of his driving goal right now.

    Splashing into the muck is not what he expected. Wearing sandals as he is, this is REALLY unpleasant for him. "Oh, that's just-" A pause, and suddenly his wooden sword is out, leaving the metal one sheathed for now until he can get an idea of what's going on. "A battle?"

    A battle with zombies? "I'm really starting to dislike actual magic," he mutters. Because he's almost immediately slamming the tip of his sword into one to use the blunt wooden weapon to drive it back, while he gets his bearings. Right into trouble, huh?

    "She can handle herself," the dominant Eli responds, huffing. Lise kind of continues being uncomfortable but between Aily and Vivian's encouragements is calming down, so that's probably good.

    It also helps the transport gets lower.

    Glancing back up, the Elise that's able to stand straight and get angry crosses her arms, shrugging at Claudia. "Who knows. Royal zombies ain't any different from regular ones, doubt you'd be able to tell." As for the deal, it wasn't her business. Killing Jedi was more up Aily's speed, and ensuring there were two less on her list of issues was probably worth a Harvester's presence.

    Out in the fog, te battle resumes, although it seems infinitely more chaotic now. The lumbering rancor isn't getting much resistance from the commandos it charges into - and with its victims, more zombies rise - but those two Jedi have slowed it down.

    It's easy for an empath, even for Aily, to discern the advantage of these undead warriors. No fear, no pain. They're emotionally dead, except for the hunger. Lost limbs won't stop them, and when they kill they spread.

    Maybe the most important of all, though, is the fear they spread across the battlefield. Even the Jedi are uncomfortable - their connection to the Force is subdued, just a tad, but enough to make a difference. The Republic troops aren't keeping to their formation as tightly either.

    The battle with the beast rages on. The green-bladed Jedi slices open the rancor's sides. Purple goop splashes out and hits the blue-bladed Jedi in the face, and an immediate cry of "I'm blind!" causes the green-bladed one to fall back, using the Force to keep the rancor's fist from crashing into both of them in response. All the while zombies approach from every direction.

    Yahiko doesn't wait to get involved, perhaps becoming sympathetic to Copen's cause. He effortlyly dispatches one of the beasts, crushing its head if he puts enough force into it - but the purple goop that splashes out like blood might make him consider new tactics. It's slightly corrosive, but mostly it gets all up in your eyes and blinds for a few moments if you let it.

    Aily keeps her hands folded behind her back, giving Eli a smile even as she huffs, "I'm sure she can." She then lifts her head to watch the viewscreens try to discern what is happening through the fog. 

    She looks over her shoulder towards Claudia, "If you are so eager for a fight, by all means, take the field. The swords of Jedi are said to be rare collectibles when captured functioning. But even their component parts are worth a great deal on the auctions." Aily never completed her quest for a Magenta Crystal. Too much of a hassle. She settled for silver, "Higher-ranked Jedi use more customized parts. Worth more. I'm sure your church could use the money." 

    "Hm. Do you sense that?" She says vaguely, "I feel a foreign presence in the battle. A lack of fear. A curiosity. Hope. I believe that Heroes have arrived to ruin your fun, Eli." She comments as she scratches the underside of her chin and continues debating if she wants to wade into the muck herself.

    It's too bad that Claudia's hatred forces her into such assumptions. If only she knew what Vivian had done to the nobles of her world. But the Swan remains silent and instead works on soothing Lise, at first. Right up until she too senses... something else.

    "Mmm... most likely. We should see about taking care of that." She doesn't have much investment in it... this is only a test after all, not something critical to her. Still, the need for surveillance is obvious. The Swan sighs, "I will see what I can see." Stepping out of the craft, she lets her wings catch her, waiting until she's clear before trying to find a perch to settle upon. With her coloration she's mostly a silhouette in this fog, but an unusual one.

    "They can TRY," Eli says, not bothering to look back out the transport. "I'm pretty comfy here. I know what my little guys are up to, whether they're fine or not this'll still cripple those guys you don't like's advance. Besides, low-visibility fightin's not my thing. You guys can actually sense people, you'll fare better."

    Lise, meanwhile, waves timidly at Vivian as she departs. "G-Good luck, p-please don't die, it's not e-easy to bring people back w-whole...!"

    "There's somethin' off about this," Cayde mutters. Internally, his Ghost reports its findings, only confirming his suspicions. After all, for a battlefield, there's an eerie lack of shouts and screams, or at least, not as much as one might be expecting. It's not adding up to the blips that his Ghost picks up. 

    Movement in the fog not far in front of him has the Hunter snap up his Ace of Spades in a heartbeat, and he can see them as they make their approach, armor bearing the scoring of blasterfire, but their gait isn't smooth, and the broken plating on the helmet is rather telling, even if his Ghost hasn't already started to warn him. "Iiii don't think those are Thralls." He's seen, and the moment they even start to lurch in his direction, Cayde lets off his warning shots. Well, all right, they're not exactly //warning//, but when you're dealing with not-quite-dead things, they don't really handle warnings very well, now do they? 

    Good thing Yahiko used the wooden sword. There's still enough of a splatter to get blood on his arm, the hiss of pain and the sudden burning sensation warning him not to get too close. This is something very WRONG all right. And now there are more gunshots, and what seems to be panic amongst... well, everything. What is that huge beast, anyway?

    Yahiko is liking this less and less.

    Flicking the tip of his sword clean, he winces as he cleans off the blood that did manage to splash on him. He has some breathing room, for a moment, but it still leaves him without much direction beyond grouping up with some of the people who are actually alive.

    Which means dashing over the muddy ground, splashing through it and already ruining his kimono. Ugh. "What... ARE these things?" He hasn't noticed Vivian... or well, he sees the silhouette, but hasn't put it together that she's a THREAT yet. He's too busy sizing up the undead forces and his possible allies.

    Boots slog through the muck and swampy wetland mud as Thanatos makes his way through the mists, relying on readings from his Ghost moreso than his optics. He wanders the battlefield, a silent observer, stalking through the fog, silent and unmoved by the violence and death unfolding around him.
    He watches the zombies with an almost detached fascination, before something else catches his curiosity. The flutter of a familiar cloak in the haze. The Warlock's attention turns, and soon he follows that instead. It is when Cayde stops to confer with his ghost before opening fire on the zombies that Thanatos sees the Ace of Spades and it confirms his suspicions.
    "I know that cloak."
    Of course he would. Any Guardian that's dealt with the Vanguard has seen that cloak. It is now that the Warlock levels his auto rifle, squeezing the trigger and putting a brief volley into one of the undead that starts wandering in his direction.
    "Cayde-6."
    Dis pokes herself out of Thanatos' coat, cycloptic eye focusing on the Hunter Vanguard. "Oh WOW. I heard you weren't allowed off The Tower."

    Cayde-6 and Thanatos-4 have it a lot easier than Yahiko for sure - the guns afford them safety from the splatters of the zombies' strange, glowing purple blood, and a few choice shots reduces the lumbering undead to dust, leaving behind only the broken armor of the Republic Commandos they once were, or the uniforms of Imperials. They tally a few kills amongst themselves easily.

    Yahiko can avoid the zombies with careful navigation - it helps that the two that came with him just drew their attention. At least the swamp is pretty consistently a swamp and occasional tree aside it's not too treacherous.

    Of course it's a lot easier to navigate using the roars and screams. That rancor isn't a very quiet fellow, screeching as its fists slam into the Force-generated barrier of the green-bladed Jedi.

    Thanatos-4 and Cayde-6 finally get a good view of it, too. That large, green and black beast with glowing purple veins, half-decayed, wailing away at a dimly blue dome of light generated by a woman in brown robes, desperately trying to protect the man with her. He's younger, not quite as robed.

    The rancor finally breaks through her shield. The two Jedi are sent flying back, past a line of white-armored troopers. They drop down and open fire on the rancor with their blasters, but it doesn't seem to slow it down much. They won't last without help. And if the rancor doesn't get them, the dozens of zombies rising out of the fog will.

    Aily COULD go out and help Vivian deal with those heroes outside. She COULD do that. But she could also stay on her ship and keep watching. It seems like a pretty even fight down there anyway, "You're right. That is going to crush their lines." Aily says, flopping backwards into a command chair as she watches the action ungold, "And it feels like things are pretty even. I wouldn't want to go out and ruin the show." 

    She snaps her fingers and a Sith Trooper brings her only the most exquisite of off-world imported snacks. Which happens to, in this case, be a giant bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. And one of the last bottles of Tarisian ale in the known Galaxy after that whole thing with Malak went down a while back. Planet never really recovered. Lost a great alcohol. She internally grumbles over the over-zealous Sith Lord. 

    But then she pops a Dorito into her mouth and munches, "You girls want a snack?" She asks, observing the battle, "Who do you think will win? Vivian or that kid?"

    Despite hearing his Ghost report the approach of another presence, Cayde doesn't pay it much mind until he hears his name voiced. The Hunter Vanguard cringes briefly like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar. Once the last of the zombie troopers have been dispatched, he turns, twirling his gun as he plays it casual.

    "Oh hey! Fancy that, runnin' into space wizards out here," he says. Dis's comment prompts a scowl. "Uh, okay. I know this looks bad, but I //swear// I was just goin' on a ramen run before I ended up in thrall-town. Pseudo-thrall town." He shrugs, and then jerks about when he hears the monstrous screeching. 

    The light of the lightsaber wielding Jedi helps to draw the eye in this mist, and now that his attention's been properly directed, Cayde gasps. "Oh, they grow 'em big out here. So um. Yeah." He glances at Thanatos-4. "That doesn't look good." The monster, the odds against. Giving a waggle of his gun, it's probably clear what Cayde might be thinking to do. 

    "I mean, we're here, right?" he says, already turning to head towards the Jedi and their dwindling forces. 

    Elise is offered food! This means that Lise stutters some kind of response that might be taken as 'yes if it's not an issue please', but mostly comes out as half-words. Eli steps in to fix that by saying: "Sure, didn't know you had Doritos around here."

    Shared hunger, doesn't matter which one of them eats. Small mercies, not having to feed three mouths instead of one.

    "Where'd you see a kid anyway?" Eli asks, squinting to stare through the fog with no success. "I guess that shape over there could be a kid. Or a bush. Or a crouching man with a gun. It's hard to make out."

 "Jedi, Jedi...right, remember the brief. Robed fops that fancy themselves knights of that heathen god of theirs with the glowy stickers! If they're expensive must mean the lot of them's nobles anyway! Or close enough. Heretics, nobles, ain't picky here moppet!" Twitch. Claudia makes a rude gesture to Aily. 

 "Bah, we've coin enough to see to our duties! Still, never anything wrong with scabbing something shiney and using it to see a common man down on his luck has bread and a sticker, I say! Right you are, lass, away we go! Bring you back a trophy quick like! Say your prayers like a good moppet while Aunty Kinborrow's gone, eh?" A boisterous laugh and a flirty wink, then the scarred woman is down the exit ramp with a jaunty bounce to her step at an unhurried pace. Those long legs eat up space when she wants them to. 

 Out into the fog, and she stops briefly to try to surveil with a nicked pair of Sith viewing goggles. It takes her a minute to get them to somewhat work. Smack smack smack. One of the lenses cracks. Shake shake shake. She gets enough so that she can spy rancor and flying Jedi, along with the soldiers. There's heroes out there no doubt, but they're not /her/ objective per se. Unless Vivian or Aily or one of the Elises speaks up to her. 

 No, she's soon stalking over to the Jedi. Will take her a bit to get over there though. She's not hard to spot, as she's glowing holy white at the legs and hands after pocketing the viewers. That should help keep any zombies from getting any silly ideas like 'eat the Templar'. 

 She makes sure to mutter arcane words as she gets going though. A wave of magic washes over her. 

 "Regen!" Never go into battle without buffs.

    "And I didn't expect to come right across the Hunter Vanguard." Thanatos counters dryly. "Uh huh..." He replies, displaying his exact level of belief of the ramen run story.
    But his own attention shifts towards the rotting Rancor.
    "Nope. Doesn't look good." He agrees,
    The sheer size and build of the beast reminds him of a Hive Ogre. He makes his decision.
    "May as well." A pause. "I won't tell Zavala I saw you, if you don't slack off. Deal?"
    It's a bluff, he won't be seeing Zavala anytime soon as he makes for the beleaguered Jedi, auto rifle raised again to start peppering the rancor for its attention.

    The others are taking bets on if Vivian can beat Yahiko, but Vivian is just watching right now... or she was, before finally deciding to alight down upon the ground. Well, bog. It doesn't seem to bother her, getting her feet all mucky, though her wings are tucked neatly out of the way to keep them clean. Can't fly with wet feathers.

    Well, actually she can, but it's annoying.

    Vivian lands near Yahiko, but rather than engage in battle, she just stares at the youth. "Well then, it looks like they are in trouble. Are you going to be helping?" She even makes sure to step aside, giving plenty of room.

    "Do I look like I'm slacking?!" Cayde sputters, exasperated as he waves his hand cannon in emphasis. Bluff or not, the threat of tattling to Zavala rankles him. "Hey, not a word to Ikora either, okay?" 

    But with Thanatos already opening fire, the Hunter isn't long in joining him, leveling his gun to empty his rounds into the large, decaying target. Any concerns about getting into trouble seem abruptly forgotten, but it's really no secret that Cayde's always longed to be back out in the field. This...might not have exactly been what he'd had in mind, of course.

    "Just got them imported. I also have some oreos and I had my troopers abduct a chef from ancient Edo to learn how to make this 'takoyaki' and 'sushi' that people seem fond of." She says that second part pretty casually, in the same tone you'd expect a Darth to talk about abducting someone from their own for the purposes of expanding the menu her servants can cook. 

    She holds the bag out towards Eli, letting her rummage around in it, "When you've been doing this as long as I have, you learn how to tell the difference between bushes and people. It's an instinct thing. Vivian's squaring off with someone PRETTY strong. I'm curious if he will take a swing at her." 

    Aily continues to sit in her command chair. She might appear lazy, but she's also making sure someone's here to watch the Command Ship in case it gets stormed or something. She's just ALSO being lazy.

    Okay, people are shooting at the giant... dead thing. And two metal men are arguing or something? Yahiko has seen some weird stuff, after all. He's already swapping to the metal sakabato instead of his training sword though... that giant beast looks like it might be a little tough.

    Then Vivian appears, with his sword out already, and just starts chatting. "Huh?" Yahiko stares at her wings, then shakes his head. "I think I might have to help them. It doesn't look like that thing is going to stop. Or feel pain. Excuse me a minute, miss." He isn't really 'polite' so much as he has no reason to be blunt.

    If Vivian isn't going to stop him, Yahiko will be dashing toward the rancor then. This time he's actually going to be zigzagging about... and using the cutting edge of his blade, the reverse side, to attempt to hamstring any zombies on the way. Keeps them from splattering in his eyes or anything, and should slow them down. "You guys need any help?"

    Thanatos-4 has the rancor's attention alright. After crashing through the line of troopers, it turns to what it perceives as its new meal, still holding one of the white-armored men in one of its massive clawed hands. Not dead yet, so that could be fixed.

    Although the beast seems to be rearing up to use the Republic trooper like a mace against Thanatos, so attempts to save him are going to have to take that into account!

    Cayde-6's shots do help. It seems to be really hard to slow that thing's momentum once it gets going, but it lacks the natural defenses of a live rancor. It's not regenerating, for one, and the damage is piling up pretty fast. Bullet hole after bullet hole, where the scales permit it. On the bright side it's not trying to bludgeon Cayde, just Thanatos!

    On the not-so-bright side the upper half of a bisected zombie crawls at Cayde's legs and tries to latch on. It's trying its best despite circumstances!

    Claudia is left alone by the undead, at any rate. It's not because of the holy aura - actually, light agitates Elise's zombies, go figure - but it's because she kinda controls them. Enough to make them leave an ally alone. Finding the two Jedi isn't hard, either. They're behind that rancor fight, recovering from being hurled back. The green-bladed woman is helping the blue-bladed young man clear his eyes of that awful purple gunk, finally, while yelling for the troopers to fall back.

    All the while Yahiko works on clearing his way to the rancor. Hamstringing the zombies is pretty clever - they fall into the bog water and slow down significantly. Good way to stop them from surrounding the heroes.

    BACK IN THE TRANSPORT, Eli huhs. "Y'know you could just like, rob a convenience store on any Earth and you'd have enough Doritos to feed a legion of esports enthusiasts. Doubt it'd take you longer than a minute or two, not much a corner store owner can do against a laser sword and magic shove powers."

    Munch munch, though. Eli even passes some back to Lise! How nice.

    "So why wouldn't he take a swing if he's fighting her?"

 Wall of vaguely retreating troopers in front of her focused on that abomination of a rotting rancor? Two 'noble' Jedi focused on each other, perfectly distracted? Claudia Kinborrow is a knight, but one who's made her name on the battlefield. She's no royal diplomatic sword clutcher, she's a good red-blooded Ivalician. Thus, she has zero compulsions about attacking from the flanks. It's just good sense really. 

 She's still a glowy holy light ball though, so stealth is mostly thanks to the fog she walks right out of. Also she's whistling a marching song. Pausing, she puts out her pipe casually, and then raises her fist. Slamming it into the muck, she ignores the new drycleaning bill as she smashes her holy power into the dirt. 

 "EVENING TO YOU BLUEBLOODS! May the Saint forgive you your sins, step lively to the Father now! Saint Ajora's Cross!" She howls, snarling as a fast-moving line of holy chi tears through the muck and earth, evaporating both as the furious holy strike aims to smash right through a line of troopers and heads for the two Jedi. 

 Claudia's eye is wide open, a vein vulging on her forehead as she gives into all that stored up rage from the trip here, at having to breathe the same air as a noble, as some filthy Keepers. To the Jedi, and maybe the Sith in the area, she's a squirming hotbed of anger, bloodlust, and killing aura. 

 A self righteous mess, really.

    "Any number of reasons. One of the most common is he may not realize she's a threat. That's why I have a silver lightsaber and wear lighter colors. People make assumptions based on aesthetic. The greatest battles are one with a single blow on an unaware opponent." Aily explains to Eli as the two munch on chips, "Consider that your first lesson in the ways of the Sith. Victory is all that matters, not how you achieve it. There is no honor in defeat and there is no shame in victory." 

    Aily leans back in her chair a bit more and squints, "There is only strength and weakness. Those who can and those who cannot."

    "Cayde-!" His Ghost's warning sounds in his head, and the Exo is in the middle of slamming another cartridge into his hand cannon when half of a humanoid form starts clambering at his feet. "Augh! No! //Getoffame!//" he shouts, dropping the barrel of his gun to fire a blast near point blank into the zombie's face.

    Dancing back from the dissipating remains, he turns around in preparation to give Thanatos some supporting fire, with perhaps half a mind to dart in there and try cutting through some rancor fingers. He's not sure how tough the thing's hide is, dead or not, although the progress with their consistent blasts has been effective so far. 

    "-whoa, where'd you come from, kid?!" It's kind of a boggling thing to see as Yahiko comes racing through. Well, kid or not, Cayde can appreciate that he knows what he's doing with that blade. Although he's not so sure it's a good match for the undead behemoth. 

    With Thanatos being threatened with a poor trooper club, Cayde focuses again, taking aim for the joints of the rancor's arm. He only gets about a couple shots off when he hears the shouts from behind- or is it to the side? Glancing over his shoulder, he watches as...//something// goes surging across the ground towards the troops they were trying to assist. "...uh-oh."

    It looks like Aily won't be getting the fight she predicted... or will she? Vivian watches Yahiko move, her wings lifting and an eyebrow arching. The youth only has a sword, but it is metal... and he's going to help the metal men? She even lets him get close enough to speak to them! Why not? She's... playing with them. And perhaps, underestimating them.

    The flicker of disturbing, /tugging/ power that comes from Vivian tearing life force from the surrounding air precedes, for an instant, the quick slashing cut of wind magic that she sends toward Yahiko and the two Guardians. It's not actually meant to hurt them... just to point out that she's a threat. "This is really not your fight. Let them defend themselves, hmm? Or the next one won't miss."

    Yahiko emerges from the mists and soon enough the Hunter and Warlock are joined by a Samurai.
    "Possibly." Thanatos answers Yahiko. "Probably." He quickly re-assesses as the Rancor's attention turns towards them.
    Then Claudia launches into the Jedi, with the cries of a zealot.
    "Most likely." He assesses a third time, leaping straight up into the air- and he sails upwards out of the path of the improvised trooper club. His boots do not set back down on the ground.
    He, instead, glides in a reverse parabolic arc, landing himself on the zombified beast's back.
    "Thanatos this is a bad idea." Dis says from where she hides in his coat.
    Unslinging the shotgun from his back he aims downwards, three shells fired in quick succession, hoping to at least annoy the beast before he flicks his hand, hurling a sphere of sickly purple energy through the air, trailing dark light behind it as it seeks to home in on Claudia and fend her briefly away from the Jedi and republic commandos.

    Yahiko is TRYING to help, but in the middle of introductions the wind cut slices through, slashing across the air and making him spin about. He's already holding his sword at the ready, and so he has his full attention on Vivian when she announces her thoughts.

    "... we need to help those men. Do you two think you can do that while I handle this one?" The young boy seems pretty confident of that. His eyes narrow. "I think I've heard of this one, even." Unfortunately he knows very little about what Vivian can DO, and is having a hard time remembering her name.

    He isn't going to sit idly by though. In a burst of water and mud, he's moving, trusting that the other two can handle the rancor and Claudia... or maybe getting Vivian out of the way first. He isn't anything approaching Kenshin's speed, but he's still very fast in his own right.

    He's not going to try to kill her though, instead aiming to body-check the woman, to just keep her from messing with the two strangers who... well, he assumes they are going to help!

    "That so? Guess it's gonna be tought for me when you've got a half that can and a half that can't," Eli says, jerking a thumb back towards Lise, who sinks into her seat as much as is possible. As if it would help make her less visible with that vibrant purple armor.

    "I'm with you though. Winning's what matters. Guess that's why Sumeragi was so keen on torturing me. Means to an end." Torturing her isn't accurate, technically they were torturing the other two. She only joined the party after the fact. Identities are weird, though.

    BACK IN THE FOG, Claudia smashes through the withdrawing troopers. The Jedi rise immediatly, the green-bladed one pointing her palm towards the monk and generating another of those dimly blue shields to stop as much of the impact as possible. They look at each other, nodding silently.

    The situation still isn't to their advantage. They're shaken by the sight of the undead, the blue-bladed Padawan especially. When Thanatos-4 seeks to help them, they take the opportunity to go in.

    One from the left, one from the right, assisted by inhuman speed and steps that almost seem to be on the bog water rather than in it. Blue and green blades swipe in an X, trying to pincer Claudia.

    All the while Cayde shoots the zombie at his feet, and then takes shots for the ranzor's arms. That turns out to be a good idea. The rancor loses an arm, and the trooper who was in it falls in the water. The beast staggers for a moment!

    All the more when Thanatos gets on its back and unload shotguns into the beast's head. Its scales tough it out, but barely. Another blow there would probably finish it off.

    It's angry, though. Of course it is. With its remaining arm, the rancor tries to pick Thanatos off its back, to hurl him at Cayde! It's also splashing awful purple goop everywhere from all those wounds, so that probably won't help Thanatos in the least. Cayde is safely out of range of that.

    Not much targets Yahiko. Those zombies he hamstrung are closing in slowly, but he can probably walk circles around them. Might have to watch his steps through, the bog water makes them harder to see.

    "If Lise is a part of you, you just need to make that part stronger. Overcome the weakness. Make her feel something besides fear." Aily crosses her legs and relaxes in her chair, watching the carnage below, "I'll give you a bonus lesson for free. We Sith live by a code." 

    "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken." Aily tilts her head sideways, "Sound familiar? It should. It describes how you wound up on my doorstep that rainy night. If you two are the same person, then you are your own passion. Your own strength. You cannot deny your weak half, only help it to become stronger like you are." 

    Aily clenches her fist, which she then unclenches and grins at Eli, "And the stronger you are, the sooner you can make sure no one ever hurts you two again."

    One problem down, a whole slew to go! Cayde looks a bit torn as Claudia advances towards the Jedi- who at least still have the strength to fight back. Maybe keeping the big thing off their back will be the best tactic for now, although as he swings his gun back in the direction of the rancor, wind literally cuts through the fog and towards them, too sharp and sudden to have been natural as it tears through the Hunter's cloak, setting it flapping wildly as he brings up his arm. "This just keeps getting more and more weird," he mutters. 

    "Uh, sure- don't get yourself killed, kid!" That he shouts at Yahiko as the boy goes running over in Vivian's direction. Welp, they better make good on their end.

    Cayde watches as Thanatos makes his flying leap, grinning a bit. "Ah, a warlock after my own heart. You got this!" As Thanatos shoots, Cayde turns, making way for the troops, what's left of them, and the two Jedi to cover them as they attempt to take on Claudia, rapidly firing off shots to whittle away at the undead that might try to surroud them.

    There we go. Yahiko is heading right for Vivian! And Vivian... lets him. No wind magics, no fancy illusions, just lifting her wings and letting the boy slam into her. It's curious that he isn't using that sword... but that's to her advantage, as it turns out.

    Vivian isn't shy about letting the water splash upon her, or the mud splatter everywhere. She grunts as Yahiko slams into her, hands scrambling to grab at the boy and... use her magic. Her more feared abilities, that is, as she immediately begins to siphon life force from Yahiko, or more accurately roughly TEAR the life force from him, as much as she can in one go. Being distracted by the impact will keep her from getting too lethal though.

 If Claudia were paying attention to him, Thanatos might just have earned her respect. Leaping onto an undead beasty and riding them? That takes bravery and the kind of glorious death wish that makes a proper martyr. No, she's too focused on murdering Jedi and anyone standing between her and them. 

 On the upside, this means Claudia isn't paying attention to the men. She's no Celebrant, but a White Monk is more skilled at White Magic than most give them credit for. Thus that darkness makes her skin crawl, and she looks over to see that ball of horrible Void flying right for her. Unlike some, Claudia is no acrobatic monk. She's a knight despite not using a sword. And so she grits her teeth and prepares for pain. 

 Arms cross, her chi floods into her arms in turn, and she takes a single step to the side. She may not be Lord Folmarv in terms of strength, but she's experienced. That strike of Void barrels down on her with a swiftness, smashes into her holy-covered arms, and the resulting reaction sends smoke and muck up into th air. Claudia howls in pain and is flung backwards. The sleeves of her hoodie are ruined, and now both arms are covered in a new set of bruising and general wounding that looks absolutely agonizing given the curses she's tossing in Thanatos' direction. His parentage is compared to several types of animals and insects in seconds. Claudia is skilled that way. 

 Yet she's not left her feet, and the Regen spell is already slowly repairing the damage. The robo-wizard's plan would have worked, if the Jedi hadn't rushed right in towards her! So she concentrates on the first threat. The pair of Jedi speed towards her like ninja. Agility is a pain for her. But speed? She can deal with this level of speed. Sucking in a breath, she mutters a prayer to Saint Ajora. With the added knockback, she's able to take up a stance and focus her chi and body. Then the twin Jedi crash down on her with those slicing lightsabers. She knows how deadly they can be, from the briefing. 

 Entire body coiled like a spring, Claudia is suddenly wreathed entirely in holy energy. Rather than block, rather than try to back off, she waits until the pair are swiping for her in unison. Time seems to slow as survival instinct, training, and physical perfection combine. All it takes is a single step forward just before those shining swords are about to remove her arms. 

 Claudia Kinborrow's left leg smashes towards the woman's arm, sending that first blade barely short. The edge of the lightsaber cuts out some meat from her shoulder as the superhuman strength of a White Monk attempts to break her arm like a cookie smashed by a hammer. The other Jedi would find a fist cracking into his wrist, again deflecting the blow such that she takes a glancing strike to the leg and she'll try to turn the man's hand to shattered bone and sinew. 

 She lets out a breath. Her body shivers. Even for one of her stamina, Hamedo isn't an art used lightly. She grins, grunting in pain. 

 "And they say we lowborn lack manners! Not even a 'How the feck are you, mangry curr'? Saint hates liars and mannerless knaves, don't you know?" If it weren't for the pure hate running through her tone, she'd sound airy and friendly. 

 Then the fist currently trying to break the Jedi on the right glows anew, and her eye narrows only to turn to Thanatos atop that steed of the undead. 

 "AND YOU'RE A BLEEDING ROGUE, YOU ARE! Honor to meet you, plucky little highborn-shoelicker!" This woman never runs out of insults and volume, it seems. 

 "Aurablast!" Then she's radiating a blast of holy chi aimed to smash into Thanatos. Right through the Jedi she's trying to punch if she can manage it! Ruthless, this Templar!

>> GAME >> Claudia Kinborrow spends an Edge for: Hamedo-Counter on Twin Jedi

    Still perched on the rancor, Thanatos is lining up for that last shot to the sweet spot with his shotgun... When the beasts' remaining arm clutches him by the leg.
    There is a grunt; a very undignified sound as he's bodily hoisted and sent hurtling through the air with the force of the beast's throw. He hits the ground hard, bouncing several times before coming to a halt in a skid. He lays there for a moment, motionless as his mechanical body gives him very detailed sensations and details about what exactly is battered, what's broken, and what's going to ache in the morning, as he pushes to his feet.
    "The back of its head." He grunts, motioning at the Rancor. "Scales are buckling, get a grenade up there." He's already working on closing the gap between himseld, Claudia, and the Jedi, in spite of his battered state, cursing as the Jedi advance on the monk instead of retreating with the opening he had given them. This will not end pleasantly. He can't fire into the melee without risking hitting the jedi.
    And he can't halt his own momentum in time to avoid the surge of chi that lances towards him.
    There's another curse. And then a wet splatter and splash as a dismembered arm goes flying through the air. The arm belongs to the Warlock, who lays collapsed in the swamp muck, not moving.

    Okay, closing with the enemy was a BAD idea. Yahiko screams out loudly as something is ripped from inside him metaphysically, the boy struggling to jerk backward. His sword is not in a good position though, so for a moment it looks like he's taken down for good.

    Then the scabbard, hooking up when his palm slams down on it, swats upward toward Vivian and levers him away, struggling out to splash into the water. Unfortunately this makes him fall into reach of a zombie's grasp, so he's not able to get too far away.

    As a result, Yahiko is not nearly as mobile of fluid as usual, and results in a desperate slash downward with the blunt-edged blade, slicing through the bog to kick up a spray of water and muck, splashing violently toward Vivian to hopefully get him a moment's rest... and that also gives him an idea instantly. As soon as he extricates himself, he works to roll back and lure the zombie closer to HIM...

    Eli thoughtfully glances back at Lise.
    She then shrugs.

    "Yeah I guess so. It's not like I've got a way to take over the body. Lucky her, that bond of ours lets us fight just fine. She'd need some prodding but I know she'd follow instructions."

    Couldn't explain it. Probably something to do with being one. The primary Elise might be weak-willed and skittish but that's exactly why she'd work so well with the third personality. We don't talk about the second.

    "Pretty cool you've got a whole culture of people minded like that though. Must be a deep and rich history of crushing the opposition and taking their candy. Better than standing there and taking it."

    Lise whimpers something about being sorry and trying her best. Mostly it's about being sorry.

    BACK OUTSIDE, Cayde-6 rapidly solves the zombie problem, now that he actually has his full attention on the task. There's not a lot of the small ones left by now, and one gunshot at a time there's less and less. By the time he has to reload at all, there's not a single figure in view that he needs to consider shooting, besides Claudia (and the rancor). No hungry moans, even. It opens up the path for the troopers to fall back, as instructed by the Jedi, without getting ambushed and mauled.

    But Claudia, she's making herself quite the issue. She stands her ground, much to the surprise of the two Jedi. Their lightsabers don't find the purchase they thought they would, even if they do injure her. The monk strikes in retaliation, breaking the woman's arm and the man's hand both. The two fall into the water behind Claudia, their blades off. Actually, the Padawan lost his sword entirely, the weapon somewhere in the water, probably at Claudia's feet. Damaged from the exchange. Won't ignite again, but Aily could probably be convinced to fix it.

    The green-bladed woman reignites her lightsaber, taking a defensive stance. She urges the younger man to withdraw, and given his broken hand, he complies after only a little bit of arguing, disappearing in the thick fog. The remaining Jedi reaches out with the Force, trying to push Claudia back to buy herself just a little bit of time.

    Meanwhile the rancor celebrates its victory by charging straight at Cayde-6 and not even giving him a moment to breathe. That arm lances forward, trying to grab him and then stuff him in its mouth. If he lets it happen, it'll expose that spot Thanatos-4 pointed out pretty well.

    Yahiko attempts to lure a zombie towards him. This is extremely easy, seeing as how the undead kind of do that to begin with. A couple of them, still crawling in the water due to their legs having gotten slashed out, are trying to pincer Yahiko. They might like, bite his sandals off, he'd better be careful.

    "...okay, he doesn't got this."

    It seems a lame thing to say, but it's the first thought that makes it out of his mouth as the other Exo stares over at the battered form of his fallen compatriot. Ohh Ikora's gonna kill him.

    With a shake of his head (and a mental shout from his Ghost), Cayde looks from the woman who'd struck Thanatos down before tracking back towards the laboring undead rancor. 

    Scratch that, that rancor just found a second wind...or...however that works with a dead thing. His glowing optics widen as the creature comes barreling towards him, finding himself scooped up in its remaining claws. Everything blurs as it jerks him around and towards a disturbing amount of teeth, closing in fast. He jerks his gun arm up, his body bursting into gold flames along with his Ace of Spades, and as the rancor seeks to munch, Cayde lets it have it, his left hand pounding the hammer of his gun with each squeeze of the trigger as he makes several blazing shots, solid beams of energy, go off in rapid succession. It's shoot everything in the face day. Or mouth, rather. One way or another he'll make use of that wound Thanatos had inflicted, even if it just makes it easier for his Golden Gun to bust through the thing's rotting cranium.

    Vivian grunts as the scabbard slams into her side, knocking the wind from her in a bad way. She wheezes, glowering at the young boy that just made a fool of her. His lack of fear, however, is helping her stay centered... keeping her own empathy from running away with her emotions. "That's very noble of you," she notes. "I don't really have any reason to hurt you, but-"

    Then she's splashed with mud, left sputtering and backing away. Her wings beat, fanning herself before she flings out her arms, sending several razor sharp 'knives' through the air, at the same time her form distorts and wobbles, blurring to make itself less distinct so Yahiko can't do precision hits.

 Claudia strikes true, and a deep, dark part of her flares with enjoyment at the death of an enemy. One defending a /noble/ no less! Yet the part of her that's a faithful Ajoran girl finds pity. He's obviously duped by the highborn Jedi. Another common man struck down, no matter how queer he may look. She pauses, and makes an Ajoran cross in the air. Her tone is somber as he lay unmoving. 

 "To the Father with you, on a Templar's blessing! Bleed your sins onto me, lad, and never again shall these highborn knaves turn your brave and mighty soul to fell purpose!" A heartfelt prayer. She tips her hip flask out as the Jedi back off for a second. The last dregs are then sucked down in the moment of freedom in the battlefield before being tossed aside. 

 Claudia trembles for a second. Off runs the man after a squabble, and she deftly kicks up the unworking lightsaber. It's pushed into a pocket, and one brow rises as the woman reignites that glorious green sticker. The Templar laughs aloud. 

 "Highborn leaving a highborn straight out to dry, eh? Chocobo bite my hind, but now I've seen everything indeed! Pity you then lass! Ahhh, at least you are not a coward like that knave! I mean, really? Lose your sticker and run away? Pathetic, can't you Jedi heathens use your fists or keep a backup!? Brave of you though. Give you that much. Fine fine fine! Going to give you a knight's death, moppet, and may Saint Ajora forgive us both our sins!" 

 Just as she finishes her words she's suddenly shoved back by an unseen Force. Her short hair flutters, and she's pushed back with another good cuss. Then she slams one booted foot down, and her legs strain against the push of about seven or so feet. Chi flares in her legs, muscle audibly pops and strains, and she bends her knees hard. 

 No words, just a howling warcry, and she leaps into the air with purpose. It's a reckless, rage-filled charge worthy of a Sith lord. Her eye stares upon the jedi, but she doesn't see the warrioress. No, she just sees a noble. /Her/ noble. There's only one noble to her, no matter how many she kills. That face is the face of a man who left her and a loyal unit of soldiers to die amidst an esper's flame. 

 The falling kick is relentless and unerring, as she puts all of her strength in an attempt to smash the lady Jedi's body utterly. Vengeance towards this jedi 'noble', her life's work and her furious hate.

    That's great that Vivian doesn't want to hurt him, but Yahiko is panting and wheezing too... he had life force drained! And now spurts of blood are spraying out, his kimono stained with crimson in places. Vivian looks frail, but she's a lot more of a challenge than he expected.

    It's a good thing that despite his youth, Yahiko has a lot of combat experience... and has seen some shit. So the zombie clawing at his leg is not a problem, it's an opportunity! An opportunity to kick the zombie upward and-

    The slash is with the blunt edge of Yahiko's blade, intentionally. An impact on the front of the zombie that causes the back to explode open, spraying Vivian with the purple blood and irritant. The point isn't to win. The point is to get away so he can help the Jedi and the others get out of there.

    Flames are not edible. Who'd have thought. Cayde-6's shining display of gold light does its job, dissuading the beast from munching on him. The rapid shots from his gun probably had something to do with that too. And as predicted, landing them where Thanatos-6 left a mark does impressive damage. Soon enough the beast is headless, skull and neck torn apart by the energized shots.

    The rancor falls into the bog water with a terrible splash, and then frees Cayde from its grasp. It's dead, finally. Re-dead. However that works. Its body falls apart into harmless dust, not a splash of awful goop to be had thanks to the flames.

    Claudia spouts what appears to be nonsense to the Jedi. Despite the state of the battle she still has control. The green blade doesn't falter, and her eyes never leave her mark.

    "Such anger. You're blinded by it," is all she says. It's a sad tone, one that's already realized she's giving her life so that her Padawan and the rest of her unit can live. One that pities the foe before her, rather than hates her.

    The green blade twirls, and she leaps to meet the falling kick with a slash of the blade. The strike puts her weapon in harm's way, and whether or not the green blade can slice along that leg as intended, it's smashed when the foot connects with the hilt and then keeps going.

    And then her chest.

    With a crunch and a splash the Jedi hits the water again, her heart and ribcage completely crushed in. Further away, the Padawan feels a tug as the Force informs him of the outcome of the fight.

    The Republic's advance is halted entirely on this front. Aily could signal the Empire to march forward now, if she so pleased. The fronts would clash again a mile or two in, but ground is ground!

    There's not a whole lot of zombies left either. Crippled ones, either from the fighting or from Yahiko's arrival.

    Minus one, for the one he just tore open to hit Vivian with the awful purple goop they contain. The remaining Jedi and the wounded troopers would probably appreciate his help nonetheless if he can make it.

 When the Jedi leaps to join her? Claudia's eye widens. There's an almost joyous look towards this brave soul. Despite her hate, something sparks in her chest. A knight and soldier's admiration of a woman ready to give her life for a comrade. In that moment, the soft-spoken Jedi erases her presumed blood in the Templar's heart and becomes a foe worthy of her skills. She enjoys breaking the woman, no doubt. Another brief rush, of victory, of causing pain and destruction. The euphoria driving her own demons deeper into that dark corner of her mind to be forgotten. 

 For a night and a bender sure to come. 

 That sword pierces her leg true. Right through the calf, only barely avoid the bone, and Claudia can't help a sucked up hiss. The burning plasma of a lightsaber is horribly painful, and the newfound hole is going to have her limping for a bit. But she's relentless, and utterly righteous in her purpose. She smiles, and kneels down for a moment. 

 "Eh. Wouldn't go that far, moppet! Only half blind, promise! All of my rage is ready for you highborn lot. Saint bless you, going to help the good and faithful common ma rise up and be free! Go to the Father quietly now, lass. Caught me true! If only the world weren't so rough, eh?" She closes the dying Jedi's eyes, and takes off her necklace. 

 Laid on the woman, she applies a good Cure 2 spell on her leg and starts making her way back to Aily's ride. 

 Once on? 

 That broken lightsaber and the remnants of the second are offered to the woman. "Fix the first one, keep the shattered sticker. Buy you a whole bender's worth of bar hoppin', Sith moppet if you do me true friend!" She limps, and then tries to smack Aily on the back in a way-too-friendly way.

    The flames die down with the last of his shots, and as the glow fades from him, Cayde's not left long to be proud of his handiwork as he yelps when he goes down with the heap of dead rancor, landing in the muddy water as the claw that had clutched him evaporates into dust. No goop is definitely a plus, but it takes him a try or two to find firm enough footing as he gets to his feet and slogs back towards more solid ground. 

    He lifts his head to survey the remains of the battlefield, the outcome grim. It would be a lie to say he wasn't relieved to see that Claudia was retreating, but he's not even sure if any of the Jedi survived, although they at least have a few of their troopers. Too little, too late. "I think now's a good time to get clear if you can," he advises them, already resuming his scan of the area as he stumbles over towards Thanatos. "Where's the kid...?" 

    "Don't call me kid, I'm right here," Yahiko says, stumbling out of the fog with his sword snapping into the sheath. "I didn't beat her, but I got us some time. Enough to get out of here, I think." He nods, "Yahiko Myojin. I'd say it's nice to meet ya, but I think we all would prefer to do it somewhere else, huh?"

    The splatter-hiss makes Vivian scream this time! She absorbed some life force, so the earlier bruising wasn't bad, but she has nothing to counter this! The Swan curses, seeing the boy vanish into the fog. Well, whatever. This was more a test than something that furthered her own goals. She doesn't pursue, just spitting and heading for the transport.