World Tree MUSH

One of the major hard parts, it turned out, was getting together the paperwork for requisitioning troops; Vincent almost wished he'd started doing that before recapturing Serrah. Still, it was for the glory of Hartford, and conquest is an easy way to improve Vincent's frankly atrocious standing, so it more-or-less worked out.

The other hard part was the fact that troop movements aren't exactly subtle, particularly when traveling through the World Tree.

Which means that the small village of Greenbridge, isolated but for Vines, has had plenty of time to figure out where they were headed, and to put out the word that they need outside help to defend against vampires. Greenbridge is technically part of the Kingdom of Tarsis, but the King has been busy with warmongering elsewhere in the world, and there's only a token handful of troops in silver and blue armor to protect against this outside threat.

Their commander, Sir Gregory of Numen, is standing in front of a hastily-constructed tent, waiting for the arrival of those who have answered the call; all present troops, Gregory included, keep glancing nervously towards the setting sun. They've heard that vampires like the night, after all.

Well, hopefully Greenbridge is willing to accept from a witch and two ghosts because that's who just shown up. Holly does have a habit of attracting the undead after all. She's not that great at getting rid of them though. Maybe she can try to convince them that the village isn't worth invading? Of course she's not quite fully aware what she's in for here.

    Rydia of Mist is not at Greenbridge because of a call for aid. No, if anything, a seven year old arriving to help would likely be met with confusion, disbelief, and then being turned away by most people on account of her age. It's hard to be taken seriously, even when she is technically an adventurer.
    The reason Rydia of Mist is here today is a much simpler one. The girl was simply passing through. Making her way from one vine to the next to return to Snowpeak garrison, the green-haire girl rides along on her trusted steed, Chocobo the chocobo. Not the most original of names, but she named him when she was four.
    Their path carries them by the tent, and the bird comes to a stop as the girl gives a tug on the reins. "Huh... What's all this about?"

Of those assembled is also Mirage Mouse, psionic mercenary and sometimes bounty hunter. Her reputation is grave, having worked for independents as well as more shadowy groups, all things considered--but it was not appearing as if the poor people here had a choice. She appears in her usual attire--long overcoat over her undersuit and boots, gas mask with large dish-like accomocations for her ears swept back along the sides, tail lilting down out of the slit that ran down the back of her coat. Her tail hung down along with her booted feet, as she hovered about a foot or so off the ground, eyes barely visible beneath the red lenses of the mask's eyes.

<Is this all who's coming? ..I don't usually work for next to free, but...> she telepathically broadcasts to those around her, turning to look at Holly, then Rydia. <Been a while, green one.>

    It's not the Hunter Vanguard's first rodeo when it comes to playing defense. His thus far limitless freedom has made the whole gun-for-hire gig even more romanticized in his mind as he's long given up on the whole idea of strictly 'scouting' things out and has fallen back on old habits like worthwhile payouts and phat lewt.

    And then sometimes he's just bored and all you need is a reason to shoot things.

    Cayde-6 strides in with all the casualness of a cowboy into a saloon, thumbs hooked into his belt as he strolls up to the sad tent where the commander awaits. His glowing blue optics skim the surroundings and take in the ones who seem to have answered the call as well. To break the tension, he offers a smile backlit in amber. "So. Vampires?"

Sir Gregory gives Holly and her ghosts a nervous look, but he seems to be much more comfortable with Cayde and, perhaps ironically, Mirage. There's a bit of resignation that there's only three apparent here, however. At the sight of Rydia, he nods to one of his subordinates.

The soldier salutes, quickly moves to intercept Rydia. "Ah, excuse me, young miss, but it isn't safe here," he says. "This village is about to be attacked by a force of vampires from another world." His eyes flit towards the westward sky once again.

Mirage's telepathic message elicits a frown from Sir Gregory, but he nods slowly. To Cayde, he says, "Yes, vampires. It is good to meet you all; I am Sir Gregory of Numen, and it is I who put out the word. Our reports indicate that there's a squadron from a Blossom named Hartford; the enemy forces appear to be commanded by the Duke Vincent D'Ambrosio and Countess Serrah Delany of the House D'Ambrosio, and consist of three vampire combat officers, and thirteen human soldiers. It is not clear if the Duke and the Countess actually intend to participate in combat, but what is clear is that they have already arrived in this world, and intend to attack from the forest to the north." He gestures towards the forest in front of him.

He looks grimly at those present. "We are ill-equipped to handle vampires, especially since we know so little of how they work in this other Blossom. We hope you will be able to assist us in dealing with this threat, and you will be paid to the extent that we are able for your services. Are there any questions at this time?"

"Oh it's the mouse woman and the summoner girl on the bird from before. Along with some armored man I've never met." Holly's pretty sure she never got any of their names. Her attention then turns towards Mirage, "Did you just talk inside my head using some kind of magic? Oh and don't worry about the girl, she has some powerful spells!" Despite the age difference Rydia is already a more comptent mage than Holly, not that's saying much.

 "Wait, that woman from the bank robbery is a vampire countess?! She didn't seem that way to Holly when they met before. 

 "It's always the ones you least suspect." Servis finally speaks up.

<Three plus thirteen--and they're all for hunting?> Mirage inclined her head toward Sir Gregory, tail flicking behind her. Her hovering by this point had become more like suspension in air, her feet flat against thin air as if she seemed to be preparing herself.

<As long as they burn, there shouldn't be any problems,> Mirage Mouse shook her head, still encased in the gas mask. <Unless it needs to be wood, that we use--or silver,> she directs her attention toward Greg again before asiding to her teammates.

<I sure did, did you think I was floating here on wires?> she half-turned and waggled a finger towards Rydia and Holly.

    Of course a soldier is sent over to tell her it's to dangerous. They always are. And in an instant the green-haired child bristles. "I was asking what's going on, not volunteering to stay and enlist." She spits, gearing up to to tug on her bird's reins now that she knows what's going on. But then she realizes there are familiar faces among the lot.
    "You." She recognizes Mirage Mouse. "--And hey don't rope me into vampire fighting!" She shoots at Holly when the witch compliments her spellcraft in front of the soldiers. The last time she got roped into vampire hunting she had to roll diplomacy for Dante, son of Sparda. And that always imposes Disadvantage.
    "... Cayde." She greets the rootin' tootin' Exo.
    But with a small huff, she hops off the bird and rubs at her eyes. "Well now I may as well stay and make sure you lot don't get yourselves killed doing something insane. ... Not that fighting vampires doesn't sound insane already."

    A nod is given to Gregory, a curious look at Holly. "Hey Sundance, you're seeing this too, right? Okay, just checking," he murmurs seemingly to himself. With that out of the way he grants the witch and Mirage a grin. "Name's Cayde," he says to all, head cocking then at the headspeak that isn't his Ghost's voice. He glances at Mirage before turning as someone that he does recognize is brought into their little group, giving Rydia a wave. "Hey kid! Long time no see! And your giant chicken!"

    "Doesn't sound like a whole lot to worry about..." He's counting off on his fingers before shrugging. "I mean, shoot something enough times and it's bound to die, right?" His eyes do brighten at the promise of pay. Always a plus! 

Sir Gregory frowns at Holly. "Oh, you've encountered one of them before?" he says. "I do hope your experiences prove useful in this battle."

He bows to Mirage. "Yes, they are all 'for hunting'," he says, smiling grimly. "They are all enemy soldiers, and may be dispatched as you see fit." He considers this a moment. "Fire just might be effective, yes. Again, we know little of the workings of Hartford vampires. But if not, I imagine the humans in their squadron will be perfectly flammable."

The soldier with Rydia recoils from her outburst. "I-I was just saying you shouldn't tarry here, is all ..."

Sir Gregory narrows his eyes. "Oh dear," he says. "Well ..." But then he pauses a moment, and peers at Rydia. After a moment, he shrugs. "In that case, young lady, welcome to the group."

The soldier looks surprised, but doesn't say anything.

Of course, at that moment, the sound becomes audible of a dozen or so troops marching towards them through the forest.

The first one to become visible is Vincent, floating a few feet above the ground, a tall man with brown hair and a razor-thin beard, wearing a black dress uniform with golden epaulets; he's holding a black metal scepter with bat-wings and a glowing purple heart-shaped gem at the tip. To his left floats a raven-haired woman in a black and red French maid uniform with a completely vacant Stepford smile. To his right is a miserable-looking young woman with black hair with a single red streak and a pair of tufts that look sort of like ears, and a glowing purple heart-shape in the middle of her forehead; she's wearing an elegant purple gown and a bulging leather bag at her hips. All three of them are red-eyed, attractive in an anemic sort of way, and have unhealthy-looking skin -- which is very different from the way Serrah appeared when she encountered Holly.

Behind them, thirteen soldiers in black uniforms with face-concealing helmets march out of the woods. They all have very obvious military-grade guns, and about half of them are holding them at the ready. And if one were to examine the shadows carefully, one might catch sight of three shadows which appear to be deeper than you might reasonably expect, even under the setting sun.

Vincent breaks into a fangy grin. "Well, then, hello!" he says cheerfully. "In the name of the Hartford Empire, I declare this village of Greenbridge to be the first conquest of ... the Hartford Empire!"

"You said 'the Hartford Empire' twice," says the maid, and even her voice sounds vacant.

Serrah hurriedly says, "I'm not here willingly, he turned me into a vampire countess by force and he's using that scepter of his to control me." Her voice, too, sounds different from what Holly might remember. Less scratchy and androgynous, but still obviously Serrah's voice.

Vincent jerks his head towards Serrah. "Hey, don't just say that!"

Without missing a beat, Serrah adds, "He can only control my actions, though, not my words. Careful, he's gonna make me throw baseballs at you."

"I don't see any wires, maybe you can be part of Servis's magic show after I make a new body for him!" Sarcasm is wasted on Holly, but Mirage's floating gives her an idea. "There's plenty of wood!" She points at the forest eagerly. "Then again setting the forest on fire might not be the best idea..." Even she can realize that. "Hello, I'm Holly and this is Servis and Lavaux!" She points to the ghosts as she introduces them. "Well, they're vampires so they already technically dead, but most vampires don't like fire or light. Just make sure not to hit the ghosts!"

 "Are you sure you're alright with this, Holly? You got pretty upset the last time you fought a vampire. And I don't think talking is going to work. That'll just go take over some place else, you're better off just punching." Lavaux wants to make sure the witch doesn't get killed herself

 "See, she's not doing it willingly! We just have to get the scepter!" Well, Holly was partly right at least. "Then I'm going to hit those baseballs back at him!" She wields her staff like a baseball bat pointing it at Vincent.

    RYDIA HAS JOINED THE PARTY

    It's settled. There's no questioning it as the girl shoos her chocobo off. "Come back when I call you." She says to the bird, earning a twitter in reply before it bolts off into the distance. Rydia at least looks like she's prepared for adventuring, as she checks the dagger at her belt and the whip resting coiled on her hip.
    And then the vampires come. Vincent declares the village as conquest. The girl immediately takes to the back row, sliding in behind the person she views as the most reliable member of the group, at the moment, as she gets behind... Cayde. She does the instant she hears that baseballs are going to be thrown, whatever baseballs are..
    Rather than sass, though, her focus is elsewhere, hands moving in somatic gestures, words of power dancing on her lips under her breath. The very mist that always flows around her roils and swirls with excitment as she breathes out power in every syllable.
    The skies shake. Clouds roll in, flashing with lightning and roaring with thunder... Before she releases her spell-- a single bolt of dazzling lightning lancing down from the skies with a whip-CRACK of thunder almost immediately.
    Aimed right at Vincent D'Ambrosio.

    "Aw look, they even have names, Sundance? You sure you don't wanna come out and say hi? I mean, you're a Ghost- Oh, company already?"

    Cayde glances towards the treeline, optics narrowing as his Ghost internally gives him a rundown as she scans the incoming troops. "Thirteen, three up front, and three anomalies." He says nothing as Rydia makes to use him as a wall, knowing it doesn't make her any less capable. "Don't get comfortable there, Rydia. You know I like to get right in the middle of things," he does warn.

    The head vampire guy speaks, and if the Exo had the means, his eyebrow would be twitching, just a bit. That doesn't however wipe the smirk from his face. 

    "I love it when they make it obvious who's the main target," Cayde says cheerfully as the opposing forces arrive. In one smooth, practiced motion he's drawn his hand cannon from his holster and given it a spin, squeezing the trigger as he aims at Vincent, just as Rydia casts her own spell.

    GMTA!

<So you're the one, the big man--the master of vampires?> Mirage Mouse turns fully to greet Vincent when him and his entourage show up--it's almost more like a movie or rockstar sort of entrance, than it was someone who's there to conquer the place. Maybe that was the idea.

<Such dead, lifeless, doll-like eyes--you must be a pretty cruel bastard to do that to a person, I like it. Too bad I've been hired to stop you," Mirage Mouse cracks her knuckles and holds her hands outward--a pair of dully-glowing blue bullpup-style submachine guns appearing in her hands thanks to solid hologram powers--clicking and chambering rounds like the real things.

<Lets parrrrtyyy--" Mirage throws herself into a dive, her guns spraying a huge volley of energy bullets--many likely peppering the area of the human soldiers--Mirage has been hired to kill them, she's not going for non-lethal injuries or disabling shots!

Serrah can't resist a slight cackle at Holly's remarks; Vincent just glares at each of them in turn, and the soldiers all exchange uncomfortable looks.

Vincent smirks at Mirage. "No, no, Miss Rat," he says, clearly recognizing that Mirage is a mouse and trying to call her a rat as the least imaginative insult ever, "I inherited Wilhelmina from my grandsire! She was like that when I got her! And to this day, I haven't figured out how."

The maid seems to notice the sudden change of weather, but can't get his attention as he says, "Well, it's clear to me that if you aren't going to surrender gracefully, I shall" KRACK-THOOM "WAUGH!" He staggers in midair, and Cayde's shot tears a hole in his chest, causing him to instantly drop to the ground.

Wilhelmina raises her eyebrows at the fallen Vincent. "Oh dear," she says, as if reacting to spilled milk.

The glowing heart-shape on Serrah's forehead turns into a black mark. In a swirl of shadow, her clothes change into a black T-shirt and rainbow-colored skort. "BYE!" she says, and then ... vanishes into thin air. There's no movement, no transition or special effect; she was there one proverbial frame of animation, and gone the next, as if the metaphorical video had skipped ahead.

One of the aforementioned deeper shadows grumbles, and transforms into a uniformed vampire with a military crew cut. "Well, that was inevitable," he growls. "Attack targets Armor and Mouse!"

This command, too, is all but unnecessary, as Mirage dives in and gets the party started. Two of the soldiers immediately drop like stones, but the survivors who already had their weapons out promptly start returning fire back at her! The remainder raise their weapons, and start firing at Cayde instead!

>> SUMMARY[Serrah Delany] >> Well, This Conquest Is Off To A Great Start!

"He teleported her away! That's not fair!" Holly tries to magically detect Serrah but doesn't have any luck. Maybe she can take control of her somehow like she did with Iota, but it wouldn't work if she has no clue where she is. Still if she can get the scepter she can free her at least, she summons her broom and takes off into the sky flying over ahead. The others can handle the soliders she's going straight for Vincent.

<You cannot catch this mouse~> The voice comes from everywhere, and nowhere--picking out the exact location is hampered due to the fact it's not based on sound--but the point Mouse is firing from is not unobvious--she kicks up a huge amount of earth with her telekinesis as she rolls to a stop--packing the ground itself and pulling it up as she raises her own holographic shielding to try and block the hail of bullets that soon descend. Earth and bits of rock are carved up by the high caliber rounds, bullets tearing through her coat and grazing her mask as she pulls her arms and legs in, nearly to a ball--before springing back up and letting loose another spray of bullets to provide covering fire.

<Burn them! don't let them get back up again!> she broadcasts to her allies.

    By now Rydia knows Cayde's tendencies full well. "I know, I know. You do you, you big tin can." She replies. "I'll just find someone else to get behind when you do."
    The report of the Exo's hand cannon is enough to make the girl flinch where she stands after her spell goes off, and she looks up in time to see the results; a felled Vincent.
    That is all well and good, and then Serrah just up and bails when Vincent seems to lose his hold over her. One less thing to worry about, Rydia supposes, but when the soldiers begin to open fire, and at Cayde no less, even she knows when it's time to move. Because the Hunter is not likely to stand there and take it.
    "Whyt!" Rydia cries as she dives aside, freeing Cayde to dodge as he pleases as the mist that lingers around her... Detaches from the girl.
    Floating over towards the soldiers, what manifests is a large dragon hatchling made of mist-- which draws a breath... And unleashes a torrent of frigid cold, holy aligned breath upon the soldiers.

    "Woo-- aah shoot," Cayde cuts off from an early celebration as he finds himself being fired at not long after. Guess it was too much to hope they were all incompetent!

    The only reason he doesn't immediately throw himself to the side is because he knows Rydia's behind him. There's but the briefest jerk of movement from him as he barely manages to pull back on his reflexes, shots grazing him as he debates over his next actions. He doesn't need to be a wall for long, he just needs to give the kid time to get out of the line of fire.

    Sundance shouts in his head, and Rydia's moving- his cue to do so himself. Cayde rushes-- forward, vanishing two steps from his original position. He reemerges right above the midst of the enemy troops as they're dusted by Rydia's dragon. Even before landing the Exo is already unloading with his weapon to clear himself a space before he looks for the other two shadows Sundance had registered, expelling a spent cartridge and slamming a fresh one into place before he returns to firing.

    "We only needa burn the vampires, right??"

Wilhelmina kneels next to Vincent, who coughs and grabs her arm. He looks up at the approaching Holly, blood-red eyes unfocused. "Let's leave this to the pros," he croaks, and then he and his maid transform into a shadow, scepter and all. "Oh damn it how did Delany get all the way to that other Vine so fast --" his voice says as the shadow flows back into the woods.

Two of them are taken out almost immediately by Mirage's ongoing assault, and a third one goes down a second later. The vampire officer strolls into the middle of the fray and catches one of Mirage's thrown chunks of earth, and tosses it back at her at nearly a hundred miles per hour -- and with surprising accuracy, too. "Target Green!" he barks. "She's casting another spell!"

Those are his last words.

When Whyt enters the fray, the soldiers start to scatter, but five of the remaining eight soldiers scream as they're knocked off their feet. The vampire officer lets out a higher-pitched inhuman screech ... and disintegrates into dust. The other three soldiers try to fire on Cayde, but his own fire makes short work of them.

Sir Gregory straightens up, and whistles in appreciation. "Very impressive," he murmurs.

But yep, there go the remaining two shadows, for those who can detect them. They're making a fairly circuitous route, trying to stay away from the dragon, but they are both headed almost directly towards Rydia.

Well, so much for that plan. Holly might have to try a more subtle method to get her hands on the scepter, but she's not exactly the subtle type. She tries to follow the shadow specter but starts losing control of the broom and is forced to bring it down in the forest. At least she doesn't crash but her skirt gets caught in a tree branch and leaves her dangling upside down.

Mirage finds herself suddenly grappling with the kinetic force of the large rock that's thrown her way--raising all of her force to push in the opposite direction of it's path to stop it.

"Hnnghh..." she grunts under her breath, likely inaudible beneath the mask, her guns disappearing and vanishing as she's pushed back and away from the fighting--thrown into a nearby copse of trees--several of them getting leveled by the path of destruction. Had the psionic mouse been able to push them down out of the way as she herself was pushed back--or did her body receive the full force of the impacts? It's unclear, for right now.

Meanwhile, Mirage lies battered and bloodied, in the wake of pushed up earth and destroyed trees, still furiously breathing as she struggles to pull herself up, several large trees rising up around her.

    "Let's not burn the vampires how about that for an idea?" Rydia suggests as she stands herself up and dusts off her knees once Whyt and the others make work of the soldiers. "And let's not target green either!" She shouts back to the men as she keeps low to the ground, ready to start running and dodging again if necessary, completely oblivious to the shadows on course for her.

    "Well someone said to burn 'em! I was just tryin' to clarify!!"

    Rocks flying, people flying- it's just that kind of day! "Sundance, status on the Mouse and the Witch? Wait- where're the shadows?" The Exo Guardian swings around, looking around anxiously. "Dammit, where'd they-- Rydia!"

     Cayde turns as he sees them, thanks to Sundance's input. He tosses another shot over his shoulder as he dashes in the direction of the zipping shadows. "Watch it kid!" he shouts as he raises his gun and makes a giant leap, taking aim to fire in their anticipated paths.

Holly would hear Vincent and Wilhelmina bickering for a moment, but they soon move further and further away from her.

The shadows come to a stop as Cayde springs into action. There's a moment of silence in the battlefield. A tree falls over in the general vicinity of where Mirage landed.

And then a white flag pokes out of one of the shadows. "It appears that there is no further point in continuing this operation," says a woman's voice; she seem to be the slightest bit bothered by this. "This was a much greater force than we could have anticipated from this village, and now there's no way for us to accomplish the mission we originally came here for. Will you permit us to retreat?"

Sir Gregory clears his throat, and steps forward. "That sounds reasonable," he says guardedly, looking to Cayde for confirmation.

    It's Cayde calling out to her that makes Rydia realize she's in danger. Jade eyes flick to the approaching shadows and she braces as best she can, not quite knowing how she's going to take on two full grown darkness imbued vampire soldiers.
    To the child's credit, she does not panic. She does get down fast as the Exo leaps into action to take out the remaining two vampires--...
    Only for them to surrender and ask to be allowed to retreat. For a moment, Rydia stares incredulously at the white flag. But then the girls heaves an immense sigh; part relief part irritation.
    She'll let the others decide what to do with them.

One of the trees that Mirage happens to pull up has Holly in it. On the plus side she's from freed from the branch, on the minus side she goes falling to the ground below narrowly missing the psychic mouse woman. She's a bit bruised from the impact but seemingly unharmed for the most part as she pulls herself onto her feet. She doesn't have a problem with letting the vampires retreat after all it's Vincent she plans to chase after now. Well, once she finds where her broom landed that is.

Rising up, Mirage Mouse hurls the trees around her--as well as the tree falling directly onto her--shattering several in half, which... if the nearby vampires hadn't dispersed already, would have made for great impalement tools. She floats back to the scene of the main battle, one of the eye-lenses of her gas mask shattered, looking a bit worse for wear.

<The rest got away? That's fine, last I knew this job wasn't by the head, or was it...?> she dusts herself off and looks around for Sir Gregory, checking to see if the others are alright, as well.

    "What the..." After landing, there's a moment where Cayde just stares almost uncomprehendingly at the flag that's held up, his gun still trained in the direction of the remaining shadows. Blue optics blink. 

    "Uhh..." 

    //I believe they wish to surrender//, Sundance helpfully explains.

    "-I know that! It's just... Huh. Not used to that." With his free hand he scratches at the back of his hood, glancing at Sir Gregory as he comes up to join him then. He nods, looking back at the two blotches on the ground.

    "Okay, but one false move and both'a you are toast, got that?" he warns, pointing from his eyes to them and back. He twirls his gun, holding it up and away from them in show of good faith. 

Sir Gregory shakes his head at Mirage's comment. "No, the only goal of our defense was to end the threat to this village," he says. "Don't worry, you'll be paid in full."

"Very well," says the vampire. "I suppose we shall have to go and collect His Grace as well. His Imperial Majesty will be interested to know what sort of fight the World Tree can put up." She rises up out of the shadow, and the other officer does as well. They give somewhat stiff bows to each of the defenders in turn, then rise off the ground and float back into the forest.

Sir Gregory nods in satisfaction, and smiles at the defenders. "I suppose the same can be said of our king," he says dryly. "I'm sure I'll be able to requisition enough payment to cover your services to a reasonable degree ..."

    Once the vampires are out of sight, Cayde turns to the others as they regroup, holstering his Ace of Spades. Nice job, people! He gives a big ol' thumbs up at the defending team and a bright Exo smile at Gregory.

    Aw yess, payday!