World Tree MUSH

    The planet Bespin is a gas giant in the star system of the same name; Bespin. Though there is no habitable land or water on the planet it is still occupied by various mining outposts and complexes that seive the planet's atmosphere for a rare and highly sought after prize: Tibanna gas. Cloud City is one such complex, one of the biggest in fact.
    Cloud City floats with its lower portions in the clouds, where the rank and file workers suck up the precious tibanna from the planet while the city's rich and more opulently lived population lives up top, in a thinly breathable layer of the atmosphere known as the Life Zone. Though the entirety of Cloud City was once under Imperial occupation, in the five years since the destruction of the Second Death Star the city has been relinquished from the control of the now supposedly destroyed Galactic Empire and had flourished, and in that time, the starport and mining complex has become a massive tourist attraction, thanks to the lovely views, countless hotels, and casinos. The fact that the universe has opened up further and offworlders are able to easily make it to this tourist trap via myriad vines has only caused Cloud City to happily open its arms to offworlders and their money.
    The Razor Crest, a small silver gunship belonging to a man known simply known as The Mandalorian, is parked on a lower platform in the floating city to restock, refuel, and resupply in his quest ot remain ever on the run from the remnants of the Galactic Empire that hunt him down. The Mandalorian himself is currently on one of the upper levels, floating crib at his side ferrying the small green child that always accompanies him.
    "We're just here to refuel, lay low for a little bit, and plan our next move. What's left of the Empire wouldn't dare come here with what little they have left." He says to the woman at his side, a scarred veteran of too much strife, that he's come to accept as a travel companion. The city is peaceful. Nothing could go wrong as the pair make their way into a fairly open square with a small but quiet collection of people of all sorts of races lounging on benches here and there.

>> SUMMARY[The Mandalorian] >> Welcome to Cloud City.

    Uni, itinerant by necessity, has made her way to Cloud City on a personal quest, to spread her Faith to whoever will listen, by doing good deeds for them. Currently she's ferrying packages around the various mid-level merchants, and workshop foremen, the human-looking girl perhaps standing out in just how ordinary she appears. Though the sharp black dress with silver accents, and bright red irises might give her away too.

    In the midst of all of this calm, a small ruckus has started nearby. Nothing violent, but the security team nearby is starting to get a little loud. One of them moves enough to see the problem... a small girl, blonde, with an odd tiara on her head and dressing flamboyantly, including a cape? "Really, you should think of him not as a pet, but one of those things," she's saying, gesturing to a nearby protocol droid. "While he may be made of flesh - mostly - Ouroboros is a construct, and does not truly have a will of his own. Your metallic robots have more independent thought than he does." She puffs her cheeks out.

    "Honestly, I'm doing you a favor," she points out. "I certainly could just vaporize you all, but I'd rather just enjoy myself here and pick up some of that gas. Where would you even keep him? I will take full responsibility if he causes damage instead of myself. It's just very unlikely." Something about that sentence...

    The large, floating snakelike creature coils behind her, seemingly oblivious to its mistress arguing so heatedly.

  There is another ship docked alongside the Razor Crest, but this one doesn't carry any kind of identifying markers. It's some kind of light transporter with enormous ion drives, but other than that, the distinctions are unclear. The Rogue Shadow doesn't really look like anything else at a glance, aside from a loosely Imperial design. Its anonymity is a bonus, in this case.

  The scarred campaigner next to the Mandalorian has her arms folded, and while she's not scowling, her expression is stern as it so often is. Having to park the Rogue Shadow instead of hiding in orbit has her nervous, but even the ship has to rest sometimes.

  She's chewing on a toothpick, frowning as she looks out over the apricot and orange vistas. Bespin is beautiful, if deadly; the natural beauty is enough to momentarily distract from more pressing matters.

  "No. But do you really trust them not to?" Juno tilts her head, cocking a blue eye toward the Mandalorian's helmet. It might be a searching look if it were cast to anyone else, but there's nothing to see of his features. "I'll be keeping an eye out." She reaches up to tap the comm piece in her ear, head ducking. "PROXY," she murmurs, "I want you to monitor Imperial traffic in the area while I'm gone. If you see anything interesting, let me know." Her head straightens as she glances over at the Child, studying the little tyke for a long moment.

  She has, at least, learned to throttle her emotions down to a dull roar for his sake. She'd forgotten what it was like to travel with the Force-sensitive, and the realisation brings a dull twinge of something leaden, grief-shaped; but too old and familiar to be too raw or sharp.

  Rebel General Juno Eclipse shakes her head and sighs, closing her eyes. Her hands slip into her pockets as she walks; a long-legged stalking stride that either underscores her soldier's instincts, or a stride whose stiffness is hiding an old injury. "While it's not really unusual for them to want to get their claws into anybody with Force-sensitivity, it's imperative that they don't take custody of this little one." Juno tosses her head to indicate the Child. "Whoever or whatever he is, he's powerful. Incredibly powerful. Falling into their hands can only be trouble."

  She sighs again, folding her arms high over her head in a stretch. It's good to not be on the ship; even she has to admit it. "Too long in the pilot's chair..."

  Her attention swivels around at the sudden spike of activity and noise nearby, and it takes a conscious effort not to reach for a blaster pistol. Instead, Juno stares, flatly, as though she were trying to decide just what to make of all that. So far so good, but... you never know. And she definitely doesn't look like a local.

    It's hard to go for a peaceful walk around the World Tree when you have to figure out how to hide a weapon that's damn near the same height you are. So far the instrument case has worked, though Duncan's not keen on lying to anyone about what's in it if they ask. Particularly authorities -- they tend to take lying as an admission of guilt. Besides, how else is he supposed to transport a weapon that's essentially a big slab of metal?

    At least the armor doesn't get that much trouble. It's true one doesn't generally see pointy, sharp, black armor in this world natively very often, but... well, yeah. Duncan's definitely not from this world. Not that he cares who knows that; it's pretty obvious anyway.

    A tourist destination with casinos? Not a bad place for a faux-elf magitech cyborg to take some vacation!

    Not that Hyouka needs a vacation, really, but it sounded like fun and she can afford it at the moment, so... city in the clouds, why not? It's got casinos, it's got nightclubs, it's off in some place where there's spaceships and aliens, it's everything a lady like her could want in a getaway.

    So here she is, lounging on a bench in the square herself, dressed for a fun night on the town and pondering what to go see. "There is a famed band performing tonight at the Sleepy Gundark Cafe," DARGN suggests. Hyouka mms. "I was thinking about it. I'm curious what kind of music this j-"

    Her words cut off at a familiar sight. A certain scarred campaigner. "-huh. Think I see someone I know."

    Causing no trouble, making no ruckus and honestly minding her own business, Li-Ming has found a window to stare out of. It would seem her visitations to other worlds are following a pattern of increasing altitude. Maybe she's working up to actual space? Seems less of a deal to some of the other travelers passing through this node of society.

    Still! It's a nice refuge from the nightmare of her home... Plane? She really will have to find someplace to get her hands on an actual breakdown of the local cosmology. Something that can be enjoyed with tea, rather than intense, mind bending effort.

    The slight ruckus tears her gaze away from the clouds and her lips purse slightly. The security is truly being a bother, aren't they? Her uplifted gaze takes note of The Mandalorian, Juno and their ward and she just turns back to continue looking down upon the sky for once.

    While counting on trouble, she simply hopes for the best.

    All in all... It's a peaceful day on cloud city. Aside from a small girl and her pet giant serpentine thing being accosted by security anyway. That earns a tilt of the Mandalorian's helmet, T-visor facing Cagliostro, Ouroboros, and the security officers for a long beat out of plain silent curiosity.
    "Considering the Empire is in shambles?" he remarks to Juno. "Probably mercenaries and bounty hunters at best." He would know.
    He would know.
    "You rely on that droid to much." He does aside. But PROXY will find the waves clear on all bands. There just simply is no Imperial presence here anymore, the garrison on Cloud City having been cleared out years ago. "And what's this Force you keep talking about?"
    There are several familiar faces here though- specifically the Dark Knight and that wizard woman. Something about the situation sets the Mandalorian on edge. And he has good reason, considering what happens next.
    A shadow suddenly casts over the entirey of the plaza.
    A massive airship of black steel hovers over Cloud City. Powered by gigantic propellors it pushes through the air at a moderate clip before crawling to a halt. already the city's local defenses, armed cloud cars fly up to meet the airship-- only to be shot down as it opens cannon ports and begins bombarding them out of the sky.
    People go running. There are screams. The plaza clears out fast as the airship actually touches down some distance away and lands right in the middle of Cloud City.
    "... That look Imperial to you?" Mando asides to Juno.

  Tired blue eyes lift to Bespin's cloud vistas. The colours are pretty, but she's looking up because she can hear something. It's the low-frequency hum of a ship's engines, but the particular frequency sounds subtly wrong. It puts her teeth on edge. It's big, too big, and it has her shifting uncomfortably and putting a hand to her jaw. She can't see it yet, but--

  "PROXY was good enough for Galen." Juno's statement is very quiet, and it carries all the finality of a door slamming shut.

  "The Force? That's..." she answers, frowning. "No, it'll take too long to explain. Later. Over a glass of Corellian whisky..." she starts to say, before trailing off. A cloud car rises to meet the airship, only to be shot down, cinders and wreckage flung into the void.

  Quite suddenly both her blasters are in hand. They're not brandished; Juno doesn't make a big deal out of it. She just has them ready to fire, somewhere between one breath and the next. This probably won't end well.

  "I'm hoping that ship is here to be somebody else's problems." Juno takes a half-step forward, before turning to look back at Mando. There's a flicker of uncertainty in her face. "Too late to run...?" Her tone suggests she already knows the answer.

    Uni's path is blocked by the security team and Cagliostro, so she dismisses her packages into her Inventory. They'll keep.

    "Guys, come on, if there was going to be trouble, you'd already be arresting her." she reasons, before all hell breaks loose and much like Juno, has a weapon in her hands between blinks. It's a bullpup rifle, but doesn't look like any local Blaster model. "Get the civilians tos afety, and inform the garrison there's an invasion happening." she says, tone shifting from 'Normal Teenager' to 'Someone too old to take your BS'. She then starts making her way toward where the airship landed. If it's shooting down the local air defense force, they're clearly going to be hostile.

    An airship shooting down local security is instantly going to get Duncan's attention. He's not going to fight an airship, no. But an airship has to be driven by people (under most circumstances), so he's pretty sure a bunch of them are about to come out and do something they shouldn't be doing.

    He'd just caught sight of familiar faces, so he heads in that direction. Better to group up for now, just in case things get really bad really fast. They can always split up later. Of course he's also going to bring his sword out of the instrument case.

    Hopes dashed, Li-Ming will have to settle for a front row view of tragedy once again. For now, at least, before she turns on her heel and very nearly storms toward The Mandalorian and Juno. She'll shoulder past anyone she has to before stopping a respectable distance away.

    "I don't suppose this is some kind of odd coincidence." She scans around, sizing up anyone who isn't stampeding out of the plaza in a total panic. They could be plants, spies or- She gives herself a moment to pause and stop being quite so paranoid.

    "Though perhaps it's not unwarranted to simply seek an explanation." That is, of course, assuming noone is being shot or put to the sword before these strange assailants can be met directly.

    Though, judging by the duo's reactions she's going to assume that this is an unknown variable. Okay. For now, regardless, she simply takes a place somewhere visible within the plaza. She steals a glance at Uni curiously, and then to Duncan and his weapon case. "Yes, it seems trouble is brewing. I for one mean to wait; they attacked armed craft and I imagine it's not a terrific effort for them to flee an early assault and simply shoot this structure out of the sky. Make them commit if they mean to fight at all."

    "Is that Juno?" Hyouka asks, squinting. "That appears to be Juno," DARGN confirms.

    The cyborg stands up, lifts a hand to wave in Juno's direction, and calls out, "Ju-"

    A shadow falls over the plaza. "-eh?" Very shortly, the city finds itself under attack. Cloud cars have been trashed, people are fleeing, and the airship is... landing? Here? "...DARGN." The AI immediately responds, "I will monitor official channels." With no further word, Hyouka goes jogging over in the direction of the one person from this particular reality she knows. "Juno Eclipse? I'm Hyouka, I did a job for you a while back. What's going on with that?" she asks, gesturing at the airship.

    There's a pause.

    "...oh my gosh, is that a child?" She finally noticed the child. "Absolutely adorable but we should proably get the kid to safety." 

    Cagliostro scowls. "Airships? Here? Someone went through a lot of trouble to... wait, nobody knows I'm here, those can't be Alchemist airships..." The little girl squints up at the sky, dismissing the discussion she's having with the security guards to let them do their thing.

    "Erste Empire," she finally declares. "Now what would they want in a resort city? Oh, probably the same thing I'm here for. How bothersome. Let's hope it's one of their more reasonable commanders and they'll turn around after a bit of resistance. Now then..." She gestures, the park's ground shallow because they're technically on a ship, but enough to erupt into an earthen barrier to shield some of the civilians. "Stay out of the way, you'll only mess things up," she declares as if she weren't saving them.

    The subject of droids and the Force will most certainly have to wait now. Now with that airship landing in the middle of the city as it is, Mando's hand is edging towards his blaster already.
    "I don't think that's someone else's problem." The beskar-clad mercenary mutters. "Right now that looks like everybody's problem."
    But the city guard are quick to leave Cagliostro alone now, they don't need to be told twice by Uni as they start to rush the landing ship, blasters drawn.
    --Only to be cut down as multiple ports on the ship's hull open up and unload a hail of crossbow fire on them.
    "This is more like a bad dream than a coincidence." Mando mutters back at Li-Ming, as the ship's landing hatch descends and platoon of men in steel armor begin to disembark. Among them is...
    Unfortunately, Cagliostro, it is not one of their more reasonable commanders.
    Because among them is a small figure- absolutely tiny, dwarfed by his armored subordinates, is a harvin in a fine military uniform. He stands BARELY up to the waist of any of his men, at roughly three feet tall, ad casually gives a flick of his cloak as bespectacled blue eyes turn upon the city he's invading. There is a pause...
    "HEY." He barks at his adjutant, maknig the soldier nearly jolt out of his skin and armor.
    "-Sir?"
    "My chair...!"
    "U-uh..."
    "Chair! CHAIR, you HALFWIT." He snaps. "It's furniture!"
    "O-Of course, General Furias, my deepest apologies!" The adjutant says, motioning for several other soldiers to descend from the ship with a luxurious and extravagant seat carried amongst them, to set it down behind the tiny commander. He settles into his seat like it's a goddamn throne, smiling smugly.
    "Hmph. Thaaaat's better... Now I will watch as the wretches from this city writhe and squirm. Go. Find this 'Mandalorian', kill him and bring back the child." He says with a chuckle.
    "... My general..." The adjutant mumbles. "Perhaps this operation is ... Slightly excessive?"
    "... Huh?"
    "I mean... To just hunt down one man..."
    The liliputian general snarls.
    "Are you trying to say there is an error in my flawless judgment?"
    "N-no sir! I would never!"
    Furias narrows his eyes. "Careful, you're annoying me." ... "I trust that all the preparations are in order?" Mused as he rummages at his belt.
    "Yes sir!"
    "Good!" The harvin says with a smile. "Mmmm yes. Then you're relieved~." Before he RAMS his dagger into his adjutant's chest.
    Watching all this, The Mandalorian now has his blaster in hand.
    "I think reunions are going to have to wait." Muttered at Juno and Hyouka. "Never too late to run, let's get the kid out of here."
    "Oh look." Furias says with a sneer. "There they are." ... "Go get 'em." Ordered with a wave of his hand sending his troops to draw swords and begin their advance.

     ... Well, that's a problem. "Skyeye, sentry. Get the locals on the line and tell them there's trouble. Muster the defense forces and give me a ballpark figure on how many that ship carries as a compliment." Uni says, skidding to a halt and ducking behind some piece of terrain to protect herself from more crossbow bolts should they come. As the melee troops advance, they'll find themselves harrassed by burst-fire from Uni's rifle, the weapon spitting out 'pellets' that gleam with various colours, each impact a different element. Some freeze, others cause electric shocks, yet more explode into flames, and others are intense kinetic impacts.

    Bravette, meanwhile, rockets straight up and perches high on a building, wiring herself into a comms relay and ducking to start relaying messages. Her visor drops into place over her eyes and she shifts to Thermal to take a scan of the Airship, see if she can't pick out signatures inside. <"Hawkeye, Skyeye. I count about thirty troops, including those outside the airship. Perhaps more, the hull is interfering with my sensors.">

    Cagliostro follows the movements and figures out that they're after the armored man. Hm. Sigh. Sending a blast of flame to explode near several soldiers, Cagliostro moves toward The Mandalorian, leaping on her flying snake to glide over that way. She's not just blasting randomly, she'll see who is defending the area, electing to help out Duncan in this case so he can do his sword thingee. It is rather arbitrary though.

    "Now what would someone like you two have done to make the Erste Empire go after you~?" she calls out playfully to Juno and Mando. Then her playful expression grows a little more grim. "And General Furias himself. That little runt is persistent, too."

    Swords -- now THAT is a language Duncan understands. And that armor is almost comforting in its familiarity. No, he has no idea who these soldiers are, or where they're from. But the armor looks 'archaic' enough that it's familiar.

    Duncan is also a tank, so as the Mandalorian suggests fleeing, Duncan moves to block the enemy soldiers' path to their target, sword upraised in his left hand. Yeah, he's making a big target of himself. It's on purpose.

    Crossbow bolts will get swatted away with that sword; hopefully that'll mean most of the ones that are left will ping harmlessly off his armor. "I'll try to delay them as long as I can," he notes, vaguely Mandalorian-wards.

  For the moment all conversation is frozen. Juno watches, hard-eyed, as the city guard leave off hassling Cagliostro and instead make their way toward the landing ship, only for their advance to be stopped dramatically short. Her brows arch, subtly. That was surprising, but not entirely unexpected. What is unexpected is...

  Is that a child stepping out with the soldiers? No; despite his short stature, that commander is definitely not any kind of humanoid that she's familiar with. Juno hesitates for a few seconds, leaning forward without quite taking a step, craning to see. The soldiers scramble to fetch a chair. The general seats himself upon it. Both soldiers and general have some kind of disagreement, over which the general apparently wins. Oh, and then the general stabs a guy.

  Startling, but also not entirely unexpected; she's seen that kind of behaviour from her Imperial superiors before, once upon a lifetime. It brings her mouth to twist, sharply. The scowl is cut so deep into her face it seems to add ten years to her. "I don't like the look of this," she growls, low. "Get a move on, Mando. Take him and go. I'll cover your retreat. PROXY, bring the Rogue Shadow around. Meet Mando on the southwest promenade. Get going!"

  Slapping at her comm unit, she checks the charge on her second pistol. "Nice to see you again, Miss Kiyama. I remember you; you performed well." Both blasters rise to take careful aim at the approaching soldiers -- trained on them to disable, not to kill, wherever she can. Two shots are snapped off with surgical precision. "Interested in a job? We can settle the details later, but help me exfiltrate Mando and his travelling companion here safely. We may need to buy them time, depending on what kind of numbers we're looking at."

  Cagliostro calls out from above. A stray blaster shot craters the nearest structure close by to her.

  "I've got no business with you," the old general calls back, voice powerful enough to carry over the din -- when she wants it to. Her head turns to Mando. "Someone you know?" A blaster is twitched to indicate Cagliostro. "Trouble...?"

    "A bad dream, indeed." Li-Ming just stares, eyes hardening as the city's security forces are shot down by crossbow fire. Unamused but certainly not shaken by such a display, she half-turns her head. "If you feel like you will be able to flee, by all means." That said, she turns back to witness the grim display of a diminutive commander setting up as if this were some spectacle to be enjoyed over tea. She draws power into herself and begins casting a few defensive spells. Nothing with any visible effect.

    Pausing so that the bark of Uni's rifle doesn't drown out her words, "You know that small man?"

    With a wave of her hands and a nearly concussive thump as she channels more arcane power, she conjures a whirlwind into being, meaning to cut off part of the advancing line of soldiers. Should give Duncan a path to cut through without risking his back and some concealment for anyone behind him besides. Anyone caught up in the slightly erratic but mostly linear advance of the conjuration won't die pleasantly.

    "Knight, mind your flank!" At least, she's presuming that yes, Duncan is indeed a knight.

    "Job accepted," Hyouka says without hesitation. "I'm not about to let a kid get hurt on my watch." She brings her arms up in what looks like a practiced movement, starting to say, "Fi-" only to stop herself short as she realizes she's still wearing her night-on-the-town outfit. "...this is going to shred my sleeves."

    There's a glance at the child in its crib.

    "...Fisto, ON!"

    Her sleeves do indeed shred as her arms come apart, and the components of two massive forearms fold themselves out from within. In about two seconds flat, she's wearing a pair of huge magitek gauntlets, each glowing a bright cyan along several lines around its bulk. The air noticeably chills.

    So armed, the elven-looking woman falls in next to the Mandalorian. "Lead the way. I'll wreck anyone dumb enough to get within reach."

    "I have no idea who that even is." The Mandalorian replies to Cagliostro pretty truthfully. This is the first he's ever heard of the Erste Empire, but apparently their goals now lay in line with the Imperial Remnants if they want the Child.
    It's settled. Mando and the kid are going to book it. There's no questioning this from the beskar-clad hunter. "I'll ride the Rogue Shadow to the Razor Crest. It should be done refuelling by now." He says as Juno calls PROXY in to meet him. He turns to start a very brisk hustle away from the soldiers, the floating crib and Hyouka in tow.
    But that sure is a lot of guys Furias has brought with him.
    They're advancing, slowly but surely as they face down Uni's withering fire, trying to hide behind their shields and armor as some are burned, shocked, frozen, or bowled clean over. With their weapons drawn, they advance on Duncan, though hampered by the sudden gust of whirlwind force, causing them to slow, others going down from crippling blaster fire, some bursting into screaming flames thanks to the world's greatest alchemist.
    "Oh but I've got business with you." Furias calls back "I-..." He trails off.
    Runt.
    Small man.
    The general's eyebrow twitches in a tick of visible fury.
    "Runt am I..." Small, huh?" He murmurs, gritting his teeth.
    Before Furias snaps his fingers, calling a new adjutant from the ranks of his men.
    "Kill them."
    "Sir?"
    "I said. Kill them. All of them. The kid too. We can say it's for... Security, yes."
    "But the Moff said-"
    "I DON'T CARE WHAT THE MOFF SAID, I SAID KILL THEM DOWN TO THE LAST MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD! ARCHERS! MAGES! BURN THIS ACCURSED CLOUD CITY TO THE GROUND!"
    Funny thing about that. As soon as he gives the order, several robed figures appear atop the airship, carrying staves. Without even so much as speaking incantations they begin raining large balls of explosive fire everywhere. Ports open aboard the airship again and another hail of crossbow fire joins this barrage while Furias fumes furiously.

    Great... The one time she hopped Bravette was wrong... Switching to Fire rounds specifically, the Goddess Candidate switches fire from the frontline guardsmen to the deck-top Mages. They're the most clear threat to the city. She opens up, spraying them with pellets that explode into a concentrated, sticky flame. She then swaps weapons, pulling a scoped rifle from her Inventory and inserting a very bullt-like powercell into it. This, she aims at Furias himself. "No more hesitation." she says, as if a mantra to herself, and squeezes the trigger, sending a paralyzing blast at the tiny general.

    Keeping up such a hustle isn't difficult for Hyouka, who takes care to keep herself between the floating crib and the soldiers. But it's while she's bustling along that the madman's voice carries across the plaza.

    'Kill them. The kid too. Down to the last man, woman, and child.'

    Hyouka Kiyama very suddenly stops moving, like a machine coming to an abrupt, complete halt. Anyone happening to look at her face during that moment will see a split second of bare, unrestrained shock, that quickly transforms into something far, far more dangerous.

    The cyborg slowly comes around. Mist begins to roll off her gauntlets as the lines of elemental light brighten. With her back to Juno, the Mandalorian, and the child, the woman declares simply, "Change of plans. Get the kid to your ship. I'm going to give them something a little more immediate to worry about."

    And then she bull-charges straight into the barrage. A crossbow bolt sticks in her shoulder. A fireball blasts right into her abdomen. And she just... doesn't even slow down. There's visible damage - the fire even scorches her skin enough to make its artificial nature obvious. But her body is so technologically and magically hardened that it just doesn't even come close to stopping her.

    She aims right for whatever soldiers might be between herself and Furias - and smashing through the line with massive fists that unleash a burst of ice mana every time they hit. "Oi, bottle rocket! If you don't get your tiny ass back on that ship and leave, I'm going to mount you on the prow!"

>> SUMMARY[Hyouka Kiyama] >> +comp status: Tripped. Hyouka status: Angry mama borg.

    Leaving her twister to gambol about uncontrolled, raking at steel and flesh like some horrible, gradual disintegration, Li-Ming shifts her gaze upward despite the furious raving of the miniature commander.

    "Kill them all? Well then, certainly!" She breaks into a run, using her own spell for cover until she can get within range...!

    There's a flash accompanied by a bang of collapsing air and she's atop the ship! Braving Uni's hopefully accurate fire, she simply attempts to catch one of the mages by the face with her gauntleted left hand. "You heard your disgusting flea of a commander; DIE!" The next mage in line, if they aren't too ridiculously foolish to not flee or defend themselves, will end up skewered by a ray of pulsing red energy.

    Disintegration is a helluva way to die. Maybe she'll have the attention of her colleagues now! The first mage, the poor fool, she will unashamedly use as a human shield.

    Someone calls out 'knight', and Duncan pays attention, turning to cast a glance at his side. And of course he makes sure he's not in the path of Li-Ming's whirlwind.

    Though... the increase of force from the leader here is unexpected, and Duncan's taken off-guard. Now it's less 'cover a retreat' and more 'eliminate the threat to the city'.

    He barely dodges a blast of fire from those mages -- he can't hit them from where he is. And those crossbow bolts aren't giving him a chance to advance much. He doesn't have Hyouka's magical/technological toughness, so the crossbow bolt that sticks in his right shoulder very much does stagger him.

    The sensitive to darkness and/or negative emotions might notice a spike in him just then -- just as a red-black aura springs to life around his sword, as he taps into his Darkness. Physical pain works just as well as any other kind of pain, and having a crossbow bolt in the shoulder definitely hurts.

    But he'll wait, until he's approached by the mass of knights... before standing up fully and swinging his zweihander in a circle. But it's not only metal that's the issue; it's the radial blast of red-black energy that follows in its wake.

  "That's fine," Juno mutters. "The Rogue Shadow can get you two to the Razor Crest faster. If they have escorts, PROXY should be able to handle it. Just don't shoot my droid, or I might actually think about shooting you."

  It's a joke. Right? It is a joke, right...?

  Those blue eyes lift to the transport ship as it starts disgorging more troops. Hyouka earns a curt nod. "Good. We can settle it later. Our job is to keep them occupied, and away from Mando or the Child." The capital letter is almost audible; even she's started calling the little tyke that for lack of an actual name. "We're going to buy them both time enough to reach my ship."

  She checks her blasters' charge, to the tune of Hyouka shredding off her own sleeves. Juno looks over, one brow arched as though impressed, whistling low through her teeth. "Somehow, I forgot about those," she mutters. The old general automatically falls into the rear guard position, both blasters primed. If she caught that look on Hyouka's face, she doesn't reflect it. Her own expression is stony. Tired, too: The scarred old campaigner, dragged into one more battle.

  "Force be with us all," she mutters, shaking her head. She half-turns to make her stand beside Hyouka, raising both blasters as the other bull-rushes the barrage. Juno twitches as though she wants to sprint after her, as Hyouka takes a crossbow quarrel to the shoulder; her blasters train up, but those troops are handily dealt with Uni; her blasters train down, settling on a target that might open the path a bit for Hyouka. Furias' honour guard, or simply the day's convenient meat shields.

  Oh, and Hyouka's getting the Erste general's attention. Juno's eyes are flicking between potential targets, trying to make sure Mando and the kid can get away safely, but her blasters stay where they might be of the best help to cover Hyouka.

  "Get out of here," she barks over her shoulder at Mando. It's not a request, it's the Big-Shot Rebel General Giving An Order. "We'll cover you. PROXY can pick me up later."

    "Hmm, well if saving you will annoy Furias, I'm certainly going to do that," Cagliostro comments casually. Despite the chaos around her, she just has Ouroboros circle about her, protecting her from stray fire as best he can. The alchemist instead devotes her time to hunkering down and summoning more earth shields, erupting from the ground to provide cover for the others as much as possible. Simple but effective barriers against tha magical barrage raining down.

    "AHAHAHA! Come now Furias, you can't even beat two children and a lizard! Now you're wanting to fight professional soldiers and the Tree's greatest Alchemist? I'd say you're getting too big for your britches but..." She pauses and taps her pinkie on her lip. "That's not really possible now, is it?"

>> SUMMARY[Cagliostro] >> Taunting Furias while providing earth shields for others to hide behind.

    It's chaos in the streets of Cloud City. Civilians have, at least, thankfully all fled the area, but the local defenses aren't much of a match for the Erste soldiers and are staying out of this fight.
    Mando need not be told twice to get going, he's already gone. Though he does pause long enough to throw some deadly accurate blaster fire into the deluge of soldiers, dropping an Empire soldier or two with center of mass shots, he's not sticking around, and already gets far down the street with the kid in tow while using Cagliostro's conveniently placed earthen barriers, when Hyouka says there's a change in plans.
    "...?" He's answered handily when she turns around and starts bowling through men like a freight train that had its tracks laid through a china shop.
    No time to stop now though.
    Furias however, seems to have regained some of his composure.
    "Hah... You think you can help him get away? You? A collection of little girls, old women, and blackguard knights? You really think we'll let you get to that beat up old ship of yours? AS IF. You're going to- dfssfgaaahsgdfssfs!" His raving evil monologue is thankfully cut short by Uni's paralyzer round.
    Things do not go well for the soldiers or mages though as a squad of men approach Duncan, thinking they can handle him-- only for his Darkness to lash out and cut them all down in a swathe. And up atop the ship, the mages all turn on Li-Ming-- only to watch one of their number evaporate. Discretion is the better part of valor, they decide as they retreat quickly into the ship to get away from her and Uni's fire.
    Things have taken a turn for the worse for Furias though as Juno turns her fire on his adjutant- a stray blaster bolt destroys one of the legs of his chair, causing him to topple backward and roll onto the ground, slowly picking himself up...
    To realize he still has Hyouka charge-rushing him.
    "... Retreat!" He decides in that moment. "--Pick up my chair on the way!" He reminds his men as he scurries back into the depths of the airship, signalling his men to come with him lest they be left behind.
    None of the men bother to pick up the chair.
    "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! I'LL GET ALL OF YOU!" He does call back, practically frothing, thanks to Cags' jabs.

  The old general's blue eyes snap wide; Juno's nostrils flare in sudden hot anger as Furias has the audacity to call her old. There's absolutely no mistaking the sudden pinpoint of hot rage from her direction, enough for the Child to notice even at a distance. She's already stepping forward and out of formation.

  That's probably bad.

  "Old?" Her bellow is probably audible even to Furias, although whether he has the faculties to respond depends on how quickly he gets over the paralysis. Several shots are winged at nearby Erste soldiers, and she advances whether or not she actually manages to drop them. "Old? How dare you, you disgusting little troll; lounging in your success on the backs of--"

  Her blasters make enough racket to drown out her furious monologue, which is probably for the best. The more she goes on, the more cursing it involves. There's a vein standing out on her neck, jumping in time to her pulse. She's mad. No, she's not just mad. She's furious. And she's evidently... denied an outlet, because the disgusting little troll is packing up and leaving.

  It doesn't stop her from aiming at least half a dozen shots at the little troll, fired in rapid succession. Maybe she'll get lucky and put some holes through his beloved chair. Or his head. Juno isn't picky about which. "I look forward to the opportunity!" she roars after the fleeing general, with one last shot. It's not going to hit anything useful, but it does make her feel a little better.

    Uni shifts out of cover, and fires more bolts at the fleeting General, digging pits out of the hatchframe. "COME FIGHT ME NOW AND PROVE IT, COWARD!" she shouts back. "OR IS A LITTLE GIRL TOO MUCH FOR YOUR TINY, FRAGILE EGO!" She racks the slide, pops the powercell and replaces it, still advancing and firing. These bolts are now High Power, punching holes in the hull of the airship.

    Smash, smash smash. Hyouka is already doing her level best to reach the tiny tiny murderous commander, but there comes a moment when he speaks up that her charge, for just a moment, stops entirely.

    For the space of a heartbeat, there's a tiny look of incredulity in her eyes.

    "'Old women'...?!"

    It didn't seem possible for Hyouka to charge harder. But somehow, she pulls it off. About a half second after the airship's boarding ramp closes, there is a tremendous impact, and a massive fist-shape indent appears in the ramp, covered in a faint sheen of frost even on the inside.

    "This body was custom made to the height of timeless elven beauty, you child-murdering tuber! Next time I'm making mashed potatoes out of you!"

    Fortunately, she seems to be content with just leaving a frozen-over FISTEAU dent in the boarding ramp, because she's not trying to cling to the ship or tear it open. DARGN has been curiously silent, though.

    Juno isn't the only one who gets a bit of a problem with that. Scowling, Cagliostro stops raising earth shields, whipping about with a glower at Furias. "YOU don't have the right to call me Old Woman! Remember who you're talking to, child!" Her gestures this time are far different, streams of flame launching toward the retreating ship. Her ire isn't as deep as that of the others though, and after a few blasts she lowers her arms.

    "Stuck up little brat," she grumbles. Her lip turns up into a snarl... and then she remembers her act, spinning around and twirling her skirt. "Oh! Such heroic sorts! Driving off the invaders to protect innocent and adorable little girls like myself!" She pokes both her cheeks. "Tee hee!"

>> SUMMARY[Cagliostro] >> Unlisted Comp: Really Bad Actor

    Blood like ice, Li-Ming bodily drags her first mage victim after his comrades. "Come with me. I would very much enjoy a tour of your vessel." Whether or not the man is even alive, she'll just drag him along. Down into the ship.

    So of course she'll brave the fire raking the hull of the ship, the troops and whatever else may lay beyond the portal the team of mages fled through. Delving perilous depths is her wheelhouse, afterall!

    Nevermind any of the muffled violence as she advances, intent on killing or destroying anyone and everything she encounters. Let the ship flee the field all it likes. She'll find her way to the helm... eventually.

    Don't worry about that chair, Duncan's got it. And soon Furias will have it again. Kind of -- Duncan actually picks up what's left of it and hurls it at the fleeing ship, with a growl. Whether it smashes against the ship or just flies up uselessly and then comes hurtling back to the ground, it's still gonna be smashed -- insult to injury!

    "A pox on you, AND your chair!" he growls. "May it be infested with the mites of a thousand chocobos!" Notably, his voice is pretty damn low. When he's growling, it just sounds beastly. Pay no mind, he's just letting the last of his Darkness out verbally.

    Once the ship's out of sight, Duncan staggers again, panting. That crossbow bolt is still in his shoulder, too. And that radial blast ate some lifeforce, too.

    It's worth noting that he has noticed Li-Ming isn't there... but in his current state there's not much he can do to help her.

    That chair... Hoo boy that chair does not get off easy.
    It gets blaster holes punched through it. Then Duncan lifts it and hurls it through the air, causing it to smash into spliters against the ship's hull as it lifts into the air and begins to turn and fly away, even going so far as to leave some of their own men behind on Cloud city. The city watch can deal with them.
    Also the ship flies off with Li-Ming still on board.
    That's not going to be a problem at all.
    Everything will be just fine.
    Speaking of everything being alright, The Mandalorian's voice crackles over a tighband commstream. Though it's intended for Juno, Bravette and Hyouka can probably pick up on it as well and can relay it to the others.
    "Blackout, I made it aboard the Razor Crest with the kid. I'm powering it up now and prepping to leave. See you in orbit."

  Once it's clear this situation is about as resolved as it's going to get, Juno looks over, narrowing her eyes and jamming one blaster pistol back into its holster. She thumbs the charge on the remaining one, and her hand strays to the comm unit at her ear, flicking at it as Mando's voice buzzes to life.

  Blackout to... Juno trails off. She doesn't have a callsign for Mando. Good. PROXY, bring the Rogue Shadow around. Southeast promenade. I'll be making my way there, now.

  With that, the Rebel general nods to the others, and beckons Hyouka to follow her with a jerk of her chin. She'll take Magic Punchborg aboard just long enough to settle accounts and such, because the old general is as good as her word.

  ...She might find her way into a firefight or three along the way, though, just to bleed out the last remnants of her wrath on some convenient Imperial targets.

    <"Hawkeye, Skyeye. Package has cleared. Hostile is fleeing bearing 271 at 300. You will not catch them, even if you used your Divinity Drive."> the Shinki says, unplugging from her port and dropping back down to join her Master.

    Uni dismisses her gun, after firing a few more bolts at it as it lifts off and turns to leave. "AND STAY OUT OR I'LL MAKE YOU EVEN SHORTER!" she snorts, flicks her hair then turns and stomps back to what she was doing... Bravette perched on her shoulder.