World Tree MUSH

    Siberia, a usually frozen wasteland in northern Russia on Earth.

    The Assassins have tracked the Templar agent known as The Brute to a location in a remote part of this desolate place. Currently, while a chill runs in the air the ground is largely unfrozen, the sun beats down from above in an unnaturally hot climate for the area.

    The location is a large ruin, smooth stone-like spires with strange engraved symbols. Some light up sporadically, emitting some kind of a field before sputtering out and recycling.

    The Brute stands in the open of a camp set up in the center of these ruins, barking orders to various workmen and people in chains toiling to dig down to the bases of these spires. "Get back to work you lazy bastards, if we don't make progress today none of you get rations." the Brute growls, shouldering a large axe over one shoulder, while lumbering around and overseeing the enslaved workteams.

    Nearby, the Assassin group is gathered, Piera is here, "Our target is the large man with the axe... if we can free the prisoners that would be beneficial, but doing so may be difficult with the number of guards." she says, drawing in the dirt with a stick, a basic overview of the ruins and camp. "There are guards here. Here, here and here." she pokes little marks around the perimeter of the camp. "A barrack is here." cross in one of the circles of a building. "The prisoners are kept here when they can't work anymore." another cross in a building next to the barrack. "I will attempt to sneak around the far side, if someone can provide long range support, and others come in from multiple other angles, we can divide their attention so not one person gets overwhelmed by their response."

    Good thing Dante brought a thicker coat today, for the journey here. It's even got rabbit fur trim! He's watching the slave camp through some 'borrowed' binoculars, watching the scene . "Goddamn, it's a whole prison down there." He muses with disgust, scowling in naked contempt of the Templars' operation.

    "Alrighty, time to kick their asses. If nobody has any objections, I'm gonna go on ahead." No jokes? THat's weird.

    This time. This time The Mandalorian has taken the job from the Assassins.
    After learning just how dastardly and monstrous the Templars could be...
    He's here. He doesn't seem all that bothered by the cold in the layers of his armor.
    That's when he unslings his rifle.
    "I can cover from a distance." He offers, snapping open the rifle's breech and slotting in an energy cartridge. "Just say the word and I'll take the shot."

    'Unnaturally hot' for this area is probably still pretty temperate. It's unusual, yeah, and that's a bit concerning. But it's also good, because the group shouldn't be freezing their asses off.

    Josuke's still bundled up warmly, but it may not be needed. Still, better safe than sorry, right? Better to have it and not need it than the other way around. It's a long, purple-colored parka and warm gloves over his winter school uniform.

    Those energy-sputtering ruins give him an idea, but that's something for later. There are people to save right now. Looking to Piera, he asks, "So, if we make a big enough racket, that'll draw most of the guards away from the barracks, right? That should make it easier for you to get in and take care of what's left."

  Siberia's climate isn't so far off from something like, say, Hoth. Rebel General Juno Eclipse had had reason to visit Echo Base, a handful of times. She hadn't cared for the climate, then. She doesn't care much more for it, now. The Rogue Shadow dutifully touches down beyond the ruins, though, and Juno herself lopes down the ramp, wearing her blasters and heavy winter gear. Her face is obscured by layers of scarf and snow goggles .

  The old General trudges to Piera's rendezvous site alongside The Mandalorian, sinking into a crouch (ignore the sharp pop of a knee or Juno's grimace). She reaches out, gloved hand indicating the guard-marks on Piera's map. "I can provide long-range support along with Mando." Her voice is crisp; British, Imperial. "I'm afraid I'm not much use in the front lines, unless I've got cover to hide behind." Her voice is pretty muffled.

  She looks pointedly at Mando, expression carefully neutral.

    Ever drawn to places that just can't keep clean of conflict or misery, Li-Ming does her best to not stand out. No naked weapon, glowing spells or explosions yet! Just quiet observation until the time seems right to make a move.

    Slaves or serfs or even war prisoners always left a bad taste in her mouth. "So just the large man with the axe?" Certainly, she's not too good to run a bloodbath out here but her mood is somewhat dampened by the cold. Whether or not it's cold for the area, she's a bit more comfortable in warmer climes. Best to be decisive and be done with it, no?

    She waves a hand to indicate the camp. "I can provide cover, should it be needed. In a manner of speaking. Otherwise, I can simply present myself as a target and count on you all to not let me die!"

    Emily is here in the form of a silver-haired woman wearing a Hawaiian shirt, slacks, and sunglasses. "I'll jump in with ya, D," she says. "Hm ... no shielding ..." She grins. "Well, at any rate, I wanna say ... we won't have any trouble getting the prisoners out, as long as I can get inside there and we've got someplace warm we can take 'em. In the meantime ... releasing capacitor seal 3!"

    She's surrounded by her three auras, and the silver one shatters as the other two fade. She pokes her head around the corner, takes off her sunglasses, and squints a bit. "On that note, Josuke," she says, "I might have something for you to look over the next time I drop by the Assassins' world. Or, actually --" She stops herself, then shakes her head. "Never mind, save it fer later. Not important right now." She opens a staticky portal which takes herself behind a wall near the brute.

    Blowing through the air, in a way that has nothing to do with the breeze, glowing white flower petals float over the area the Brute is standing in.

    "Good then." She looks to Josuke, "Not just me, whoever can get in first. Use your judgement and do not get yourself in so far you can't escape." Piera says to everyone before shifting to stand, pulling up her hood and setting off at a run in a long arc around to the far side of the camp.

    As those who go straight in are spotted, a bell is sounded, clanging resonantly across the desolate plains. Men emerge from the barracks and move to intercept, while others remain back to provide security. Prisoners are moved into the prison barrack and the door is deadbolted.

    The Brute stands in the open, looking at those approaching with a malicious grin. He's not even moving to take cover!

    It's on, then. Though Mando's helmet tips to a curious angle as Juno gives him such a pointed look about cover.
    He knows full well what she means. But once the map is laid out in detail he finds himself a good spot overlooking the ruins and compound, laying himself prone he brings his rifle to bear, sighting down the scope as he links it to his helmet sensors.
    Lining up a shot he takes aim, adjusting his scope for distance and wind, delicately making minute changes to the targeting reticle in his vision before he braces to fire, finger slowly squeezing on the trigger.
    He's aimed for the Brute's center of mass. He doesn't need to make any fancy trick shots, all he has to do is hit. All he has to do is land the shot and this man will be reduced to little more than a pile of ash and the faint smell of o-zone.
    The Mandalorian squeezes the trigger; a bolt of yellow searing light lancing from the twin pronged fork of the disruptor rifle.

    Josuke blinks a bit at Emily's words to him. "Uh... okay?" he replies uncertainly. There wasn't a lot of information there. But she does have a point -- whatever it is can wait 'till later.

    He nods to Piera's instructions. "Right. Be careful, everyone." And he'll head in there too! But he's not going to just charge the Brute. No, there's enough firepower that he doesn't need to rush in and start swinging. No, he's concerned that the prisoners might get used as hostages here once the mad rush starts.

    So he's going towards the barracks, trying to find a good place to enter. Of course he's probably going to come across opposition, so Crazy Diamond will be out and trying to punch guards out of his way. Which might be a little weird for them if they can't see Crazy Diamond, since it's gonna look like he's causing whatever force he's throwing at them just by LOOKING at them.

  The others that she recognises earn a cursory nod from the Rebel general. Juno shifts her weight before settling back on her haunches, studying the map while the others discuss, occasionally glancing toward the camp for confirmation.

  "Seems a great deal of effort for a single target." Juno's observation is thoughtful, though, because her assumption is that there's a good reason for this. Even from a distance the man with the axe looks like a credible threat. More than credible. He'd break her in half like a cheap toothpick without much effort, she's pretty sure.

  Mando's quizzical look earns an uncharacteristically irreverent grin from the scarred campaigner. It might seem like she's making him take all the risk, acting as cover, but it works. She knows something about beskar; namely, that it's outrageously strong.

  Then, it's time to go.

  "May the Force be with you all."

  With that, Juno turns, sinking into a crouch beside Mando, surveying the area he's aiming at. Both her blasters have made their way to her hands, and she seems to take a fraction of a second to consider her odds. Now the soldiers make their presence known, and Juno swings her blasters up to keep aimed at where they're most likely to start approaching Mando. As soon as she sees movement, she'll fire, alternating blasters and aiming as carefully as she can.

  She actually flinches as the disruptor rifle fires, though.

  "Keep after the big one." Juno's aside is quiet, meant mostly for The Mandalorian. "I'll keep you covered as long as I can, before they get in close."

    Content to keep stealing glances of the map for the moment while Mando lines up his shot, Li-Ming also does her best to try and keep tabs on the axe man. If it comes down to it, she's perfectly okay jumping in. She might even linger after the deed is done.

    Then it's go time. Mando fires and Josuke is on the move. Well then! She steps forth, "Be well, everyone!" She'll begin to head in the direction of the axeman; assuming Mando's aim was true and that rifle fulfilled its grim purpose there won't be anything to do but provide cover for anyone seeking to free the prisoners.

    She sets her jaw, silently admonishing herself for daring to make assumptions even as she winds up a hand to send an arc of electricity through anyone trying to flank Josuke or slip past and attempt to dislodge Mando and Juno from their position.

    Emily grimaces with embarrassment at Josuke's reaction; she hadn't meant to be that incoherent about her request. She simply smirks at Piera's comment about not escaping, though. She remains hidden behind the wall, but looks up in the direction she came from as the others overtly charge in.

    She therefore gets to see the Mandalorian's yellow bolt shooting approximately towards her. She covers her mouth and stifles a giggle.

    Uncharacteristically, she doesn't spring forward into the action. Instead, she watches the guards take the prisoners through the barracks door, making note of the current distance, its thickness, and so on. She closes the current portal she has open, and opens a new one.

    Just inside the doors, a staticky portal opens up and Emily steps through. "Hello," she announces, closing the portal and getting ready to open another one leading right back to the Assassins' staging area. "My name is Emily Nyx, and we're here to rescue you."

    ... Okay, that was characteristic of her.

    Dante makes absolutely zero effort to hide himself. He just runs, a red and fur trimmed figure sprinting towards the campsite. With Mando keeping cover, he has no issues with drawing attention if it means the squishier fellows in the team don't have trouble during this mission.

    Once he gets in range, Dante starts to open fire, laying down suppression fire with his pistols. No jokes, no witty comments. He'll let Emily handle the theatrics for now, while he deals with the guards, rapidly firing away with .45 caliber heat.

    Slavery is another thing Dante hates, and the Templars are starting to show themselves as WAY UP THERE on his shitlist.

    The Mandalorian fires his bolt rifle. The pulse of searing yellow flies forth. The Brute doesn't even try to avoid it... and the bolt strikes true... but spatters into harmless motes against some kind of barrier. The field flickers the same off-white hue as the broken pieces of the ruins before it fades back to invisibility. The Brute then lets out a belly laugh and points right at The Mandalorian. "Come down here and fight me in person, Little Man!" he bellows, voice carrying across the plains easily.

    Blaster fire rains down on the approaching soldiers, the red bolts felling some in their tracks, causing others to take cover and return fire with crossbows. The bolts are horrribly inaccurate and slow to fire at that kind of range, but these guys are firing in staggered volleys.

    Emily breaks into the prison barracks, as Josuke arrives at the door. The young delinquent finds a few swordsmen that are easily dispatched by his Stand, the doors are guarded externally by a pair of skirmishers, light armour, short blades and fiendishly quick by human standards. Inside, Emily is confronted by at least two dozen prisoners looking worse for wear, and four men with hammers and maces in gambeson armour. The four guards draw their weapons... but thenj get jumped by the prisoners, all of them desperate and given a sliver of hope. Emily can wade intot help if she wants!

    Li-Ming's support casting keeps the responders on their toes, some getting zapped, others snapping off crossbow bolts at the war-mage, but much like those firing at Juno and Mando, these are horribly inaccurate shots as the shooters try to find cover from the magic.

    Dante's bullrush gets the attention of a whole troop of men, two of them smaller versions of The Brute, wearing heavy armour with great hammers. They tank shots from those guns, dents being left in their armour but not piercing... the material looks to be made from the same metal as the structures, and the spear the Seeker was wielding. They move to block him, and while not nearly as fast or agile at the Demon Hunter, they're almost as durable, at least for a while!

    Oh crap, the target has an energy shield.

    Oh crap the sequel, there's MORE of him!

    Dante looks confused for a second before he rushes towards the Hammer Bros, switching from guns to his greatsword. Rebellion dances in Dante's hands as he duels the two soldiers. He could chop their weapons in half if they weren't made of that bullshit metal the Seeker had. So Dante just opts to brute force this one.

    He hammers away with his sword, using the weapon upside down in a mordhau grip as he relies on the crossguard to act like a hammer, and he grabs at one of the goons with the crossguard to trip him up. "Watch your step there, jackass!" Okay fine maybe Dante's able to provide some quips.

    He takes the shot... The Mandalorian doesn't miss.
    Yet niether does the Brute go up in a sudden flre of searing light. His atoms aren't ripped apart at a molecular level. He's not turned to dust or ozone.
    This surprising turn of events makes Mando quickly look up from the scope of his rifle. For all the poker face his beskar helm allows him to have, the sudden and complete bewilderment that flashes across his face beneath the beskar mask is almost palpable.
    "The hell...?" He mutters under his breath, popping open the breech of his phase-pulse rifle he loads another energy cell into the chamber and snaps it shut.
    Already his position is compromised, so he gets up.
    "Blackout, we're moving." Is the only warning Juno gets as he takes aim from a kneeling position, firing off another shot.
    Do they even slow this guy?

        So the ground troops are about what she's used to. She continues to harass the troops that fire at her from cover. "Come now, cowards. I can only kill you once!" As she nears one of the firing positions she pauses to draw upon her reserves of arcane power. Her hands stream something akin to sooty black smoke as she motions as if hurling something at a cluster of foes. There's a pause, then a roar as something not unlike a meteor pounds the first position - possibly along with it's occupants - into a smoldering crater.

    Advancing through the momentary plume of dust and smoke, she winds up again, preparing to repeat the cast while presenting herself as a credible threat to all on the field.

    Seeing the big Axeman take at least a shot from Mando's rifle, she takes aim and hurls another conjured stone. She's forced to pause after that cast, her breath somewhat labored.

    Is she vulnerable?

    Josuke isn't prepared for the fiendish quickness of his sword-wielding attackers at first. He has no armor, and is only protected by his Stand. Which thankfully is quite a bit tougher than he is.

    Speaking of which, his Stand takes a strike to the upper arm from one of those fiendishly quick blades; though the figure doesn't react, Josuke winces, and staggers back a step. The coat will shortly begin to show a darker patch there. But that's a concern for a whiel down the line. For now...

    For now, Josuke goes on the offensive. The fiendishly quick attackers are treated to a punch flurry from Crazy Diamond, the possibly-unseen attacker emitting its loud, droning, "DORARARARARARARARARA!"

    Emily nods at the guards. "Not you four," she hastily amends, pulling out a pair of baseball bats which ... couldn't possibly have been hidden behind her back. "You guys can just suck it."

    She strolls forward and starts joining in the prison brawl, whacking the nearest guard. "Play ball!" Beat. "Wait, has baseball been invented in this time period yet?" She tosses a bat into the air, snaps her fingers in annoyance, then catches it in one hand and whacks the guard. "Darn it, I should've checked when I was somewhere with wifi."

    She frowns, glancing over her shoulder at the door. That ... didn't sound like the guy dying, either. "Josuke!" she calls out, since he's reasonably close to the door and there's no mistaking Crazy Diamon's yell. "What's goin' on out there, son!?"

  As much as she can, Juno tries to keep her attention split between all of the combatants. It may become necessary to move towards another group, so it pays to stay informed, and to try to complement others' strategies wherever possible. 

  Li-Ming's well-wishing earns a curt but appreciative nod.

  There goes Emily, presumably into the barracks building. Hopefully she'll be able to evacuate the prisoners without much trouble.

  The old general checks the charge on her blasters one at a time. Half her attention stays on the hostile units, although every so often, she glances to Li-Ming to observe how the sorceress is covering her, and covering Li-Ming's six into the bargain.

  There goes Dante, flying down toward the campsite. She follows him with her blasters, picking off soldiers wherever they might present a problem to him. It's less effective the further away he gets, but she can lend a trigger for as long as he's in range.

  Motion catches her eye, and she watches Dante find his two uniquely tough opponents. She tries to snap off shots at them when she can, to help, but they're too far away for her to aim with any precision. Every little bit might be helpful, though, even if it means spreading her focus a bit thinner than she might like.

  She stares as The Brute deflects the disruptor rifle's bolt somehow, surrounded for an instant by glittering yellow motes. She gapes in open shock; as transparent as The Mandalorian is opaque. The old general is disciplined, though, acknowledging Mando's order with a grunt. She'll need no second encouragement to stick to his shadow the instant he starts moving. In the meantime, she reaches around him to snap off shots at the big guy.

  Juno can't help but think she's not much more than an annoyance to the big guy, though. At best.

  "I hope you have a plan," Juno asides, to the bounty hunter. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to run if he gets too close. I've got a nasty little hunch that breaking most of the bones in my body won't be much of a challenge for him."

    The Brute remains where he's standing, defiant as Mando's second bolt sprangs off his shield. This time the bolt is turned instead of shattered, being redirected into one of the spires and leaving a smoking impact mark in the metal. The Brute just chuckles. "It's pointless, Boy. Come and fight me like a man!" he goads, unshouldering his axe and resting it across both hands.

    Dante dances with the two lesser brutes. The one he trips goes down hard, but his buddy steps in to prevent a killing blow with a horizontal sweep of his hammer while the other recovers. They have good teamwork, and that bullshit Isu-tech armour protecting them, but it's clearly some kind of knock-off like the Seeker's spear, it wears down quickly, showing damage from the superhuman strikes of the Devil Hunter.

    Juno's blaster fire is about as effective as Mando's bolt, the red blaster bolts spranging off the shield though it gets more visible with each hit, taking longer to fade away, though it's unclear if it's absorbing the energy, or being depleted by the energy transfer.

    Li-Ming's Meteor bombardment clears a lot of the lesser mooks, the first ones not realizing before it's too late what's happening. Others react accoredingly afterwards, breaking cover and scattering so less of them take damage from the targetted AoE spell... when she attacks The Brute, though, one of the more fleet of foot ones comes charging up with a rapier drawn, aiming to skewer the sorceress when she's winded. The Brute, for his part, does move to evade the conjured stone, using his size and the weight of his axe to deflect it along with stepping aside. "Try harder, little girl!"

    Josuke's Stand makes short work of the Runners when he finally goes on the offensive. They crumble beneath the volley of fire from that machine-gun fist flinging Stand. Emily's bats are close enough to clubs as weapons that the guards, having clobbered a few of the prisoners, attempt to dodge the swings, though the baseball references go clear over their heads... as they're hit by the swinging weapons. As two of them fall, the weapons are taken up by more fit looking members of the prisoner squad and turned on the remainder, the guards being beaten to death with their own weapons once they are overpowered.

    Piera, after a few moments, makes her presence known by leaping on one of the Brute's two bodyguards, stabbing him in the neck with her hidden blade before fading into the ruins, keeping to the scrubby bushes around the campsite and working her way around to pick off other perimeter guards.

    Nope. Second shot didn't work either.
    "Dank farrik." Mando mutters under his breath as his second bolt is deflected just as easily as the first. That's not going to work, third time will not be the charm.
    "Don't have a plan." He admits to Juno as the Brute taunts him.
    This doesn't register on an emotional level.
    Instead of trying for a third shot, Mando slings his phase-pulse blaster back over his shoulders and starts rushing the ruins, drawing his blaster.
    Anyone in his way that isn't friendly gets a bolt as he makes a beeline for the Brute, taking a leap from his high perch and skidding down the slope of his highpoint until he comes to a halt before the big guy himself.
    "You want a fight you've got one." Muttered as he snaps his right gauntlet forward, a length of durasteel cable launching free to try and snare the Brute's legs and YANK him off balance if he can.

    "I'm fine!" Josuke calls out to Emily. His voice is as bright as it ever is, but there is a not of tension in it. "One of 'em just surprised me, that's all!" The shoulder of his parka is a little dark, and smells a bit of blood. Nothing life-threatening, though.

    Once the guards are down, though, he'll try to enter the barracks himself. And of course once he sees the prisoners turning on the guards... he will try to put himself between the prisoners and the guards. "Stop! They're down! They're not a threat to you anymore!"

    Sometimes that whole 'not wanting to kill' thing really gets in the way of a good old-fashioned murdering of someone who desperately deserves it, doesn't it...?

  Juno watches as the Brute defiantly brandishes his weapon and taunts The Mandalorian once again. Her response to that is to lean around The Mandalorian and snap off another handful of shots, blue eyes fixed on the target. She can see the delay of each fading shot, and apparently she takes it as an encouragement to keep shooting and put on the pressure. So, she does. "I'll see if I can wear him down."

  She looks on, tense, as she lets her blasters cool for a moment. She doesn't carry anything else, so having them seize up on her would be... inconvenient, if not life-threatening. Right about then she sees Piera leap onto one of The Brute's bodyguards before vanishing into the undergrowth, and nods, satisfied, at the sight of another ally.

  "I had a feeling you were going to say that." Juno's reply is resigned, heaved with an impatient sigh as she waits for her blasters to reach safe temperatures. "Come on, come on, come on," she mutters rapidly, shaking one of them and eyeing the charge on the other. She straightens in alarm as Mando throws his rifle over his shoulder, eyes widening in shock as she realises what he's about to do--

  "Idiot--!" Juno snarls, lunging after the bounty hunter. Yet for her complaint, the faithful old general is sprinting after the bounty hunter, showing much more agility than may be expected from an individual of her apparent age and hard living. She'll regret it, later, but his life might depend on it, now. As soon as she's closer, she leaps to one side, firing on The Brute with both blasters blazing in an effort to take advantage of The Brute's distraction.

  Hopefully she can get up faster than he can rush her. Juno's sprawled in the dirt now and trying to pick herself up as quickly as she can, but... that sprint had cost her. Not a very good time to present an opening... could be trouble.

    Dante has to give it to these guys, they're well-coordinated for a couple of second-rate mercenaries. They're lasting a lot longer than a couple of normals should against a Son of Sparda. Then again, Lady wasn't a slouch herself when they fought in Temin-Ni-Gru. Humanity's always had that spark that people underestimated.

    His sword clangs against the mercenaries' hammers and armor, trying to make cracks in their armor. "So what, do you guys do everything else together too?" He says, moving to swing toward the standing merc's neck.

    At this rate, Dante's really starting to see less and less reason to bother sparing these Templar douchebags, between this and the child enslavement scheme from before.

    Emily makes a face. "Well, that's done," she says.

    She takes a step back and smirks faintly as Josuke steps in, letting him handle the ... wounded. "Good grief," she murmurs. She peers at the stain on his jacket. "Oh, right, you can't heal yourself, can you?" She forgets if he's ever said it outright, but it seems obvious to her.

    In any case, she shrugs. "Arright, people," she says. "... uh ... hang on. Lemme just ... release Capacitor Seal 2 so it's a little easier for me ..." She's surrounded by the gold and pearlescent auras, the former shattering and the latter fading, before she opens up a staticky portal which quickly turns dark around the edges, leading back to Piera's staging ground. "Careful, everyone, it's colder there than it is here, but you'll be away from the fight!"

    She peers out the door at the Brute, watching him carefully for a moment. "... I mean, it would've been kind of hilarious if he did all that posturing and then immediately got one-shotted by armor-dude," she remarks, nodding towards the Mandalorian. "But I guess it was inevitable that he'd have a trick up his sleeve."

    Winded from the strain of channeling a bit too much arcane energy through her body but certainly not helpless, Li-Ming simply smiles to the changing man and his rapier. A silent promise if there ever was. The air between herself and her would-be assailant distorts as it fills with several criss-crossing blades of force. If he isn't clever enough to stay back, it's at least a relatively abrupt death. "Fool."

    To the Axeman, she crows, "No littler than the pieces I'm leaving of your men! Do you care so little for their lives that you won't order their surrender?" Of course, she's certain that no such thing will be coming. So, she shifts her gaze.

    Not that Dante looks like he's struggling terribly or anything but she just doesn't see any sense in providing a fair fight to these savages. So, regardless to the fate of the rapier wielding soldier she simply vanishes with a flash and a thump of displaced air.

    What follows isn't suitable for the faint of heart, as she reappears without warning in the same space as one of Dante's foes. To potentially grisly effect.

    Well, that's certainly effective. Mid-swing, one of the two brutes explodes inside his armour, the ruddy gold metal crumbling a moment later to reveal Li-Ming in his place. The remaining one lets out a blood curdling scream, before his armour finally fails and Dante gets a solid hit to the meat under the metal, sending the guy down for the count.

    Emily's portal gets a lot of the prisoners backing away from the 'magic', but the ones that took the weapons speak in some slavic language and get the others moving through it. Josuke would find one of the men too far gone, his skull caved in by a mace that's been unceremoniously left where it fell... in said braincase. The others are still breathing, though have broken bones and are bleeding quite heavily both internally and externally.

    Juno's fire causes something in the shield, and a pulse of force emits from it, though the barrier seems to fail, the pulse deflects the Mandalorian's cable harmlessly into the ground. The Brute then heave back with his axe, aiming to drive the Man in the Beskar Maask into the ground like a metal-covered fleshy tent peg, but the swing is very telegraphed.

    CHOP! Dante bisects the mercenary, shearing through isu-metal, flesh, and bone with one stroke. Rebellion is a nasty sword, with countless slain devils to its name. What's some guy with fancy magic metal armor? Dante's coat is stained in the merc's blood, and he barely flinches as Li-Ming telefrags the other mercenary. "Jesus Christ, Ming. You don't screw around, do ya?" He says, brushing MORE blood from his shoulder as he stows his greatsword. "Good thing I wear red."

    Well this sure is awkward. For a beat the Mandalorian is staring as his cable launcher is deflected as well. But then comes the reprisal. Thankfully the swing is so telegraphed it can be read from so far away that he can dodge it. He's not too fast in all that heavy beskar, but he is fast enough to roll under the incoming blow.
    Blasters won't work. Cables won't work. He won't bother wasting any Whistling Birds.
    He sure doesn't expect his flamethrower to be more than an annoyance and that's why as he ducks under the swing he shoots plume of flame for the Brute's face to cover his roll-- that tries to get himself behind the bulky bastard.
    Because in his other hand he draws his vibroknife, the sturdy blade humming to life as he tries to get it past that shield and into the man's back.

  Juno's eyes snap wide as The Brute's axe raises. Oh, crap. "Mando!" The old general lunges forward with a huff of breath, firing both blasters for all they're worth. The grips are starting to get uncomfortably warm through her gloves. She doesn't care. The noise is almost deafening. She doesn't care about that, either.

  Oh, well, he's got it. The swing was so telegraphed even she could see it. Both her blasters are withdrawn to give them a break, eyeing the charge on each. Low, but workable, and she can see from here what Mando plans to do in return.

  "Clever bastard," she mutters under her breath, lining up a shot with each of her blasters. While it probably wouldn't hurt Mando to actually fire on him, avoiding friendly fire is a hard habit for her to break.

    Likewise quite the mess, Li-Ming makes sure to stand clear as Dante handles the second armored mercenary. "Certainly not; though honestly this is hardly the most blood I've ever been covered in." What. Still, she half-turns to take in the fight with Juno and the Mando, sparing a glance to the barracks to make sure the field is still clear. Dante gets a glance at his comment, "Indeed. It seems that brute is well in hand, though I suppose it couldn't hurt to be ready." She can't help but want to at least hover.

    That Josuke can't heal himself is a reasonable thing to assume -- he's never been seen to do it before. "I couldn't before, but I can now -- a little. Just not with my Stand and not here," Josuke replies to Emily's question of whether he can heal himself or not.

    It's fortunate that Emily's portal serves as a distraction to get the formerly violent prisoners moving. He understands why they're so violent, so he doesn't blame them.

    But, more to the point, there are people he can still save. Crazy Diamond appears, and quick punches from the Stand send that time-rewinding 'fix' energy into the injured-but-still-alive guards. The one that didn't make it is less of a priority, but Josuke is still going to fix the body, so their family don't have to see them like that.

    Once he's sure the guards are as 'helped' as he can manage, he stands up and looks for a way out. If Emily's portal is still open, he'll head that way, otherwise he'll go out the door. The guards have been taken care of, so it should be safe enough.

    Emily is still leaving the portal open. "All righty," she answers Josuke, "works for ... me ... uh ..."

    She furrows her brow at Li-Ming's ... at Li-Ming. "Okay," she says in a conversational tone, "I don't even have a stomach, and it's still turning." She shakes her head and smirks faintly. "Jesus Christ indeed. Aaaaaanywaaaaay ..."

    She seems to brightens at the sight of the Brute's shield failing. Or at least, she acts like she's brightening. "Well, that makes this easier!" she says. "Uh ... yeah. Sooo ... let's see if I can't overwhelm that shield!" She conjures up five bolts, all aimed at the Brute. "Releasing Capacitor S ... uh ... releasing ..."

    She just stands there for a moment.

    And then she dispels the bolts. "... I ... can't do this," she says weakly, sitting down heavily in front of the portal. "I can't. I just can't. Shit."

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Emily.exe has stopped working.

    As The Mandalorian sprays flamw into The Brute's face, the shield flares, and the man laughs. He's lost sight of the man in Beskar though, and a moment later the slow blade does indeed penetrate the shield, sinking between armour plates in the man's back and cutting something important as he drops like a ton of bricks from the momentum of that swing. Piera flings a knife at a remaining guard who was sneaking up behind her ally, then moves in to secure the kill, ripping off The Brute's helmet and sinking her Hidden Blade into his throat. She pauses for a moment or two, looking to be somewhere else briefly, then simply says. "Your fight is over now, may you find solace in the next life. Requiescat en pace."

    The rest is a mop-up, any surviving guards flee into the wasteland, likely to die of hunger, thirst or the elements when the cold returns. The prisoners huddle up to keep warm in the safe area.

    The Mandalorian's blade strikes true, penetrating that seemingly invulnerable shield and bringing the Brute down. Just in time for Piera to make the final blow but...
    Something is strange. The beskar-clad bounty hunter seems halted, as though he's staring off into a distant space for some reason; albeit impossible to tell due to the dark tint of his T-shaped visor.
    It's only once Piera is done and bids the Brute farewell that Mando seems to come back to his senses, shaking his head out.
    "What was...?" He mutters, shooting a pointed look at the Assassin, before he deactivates and sheathes his vibroknife.
    "We're done here. I'll see you in orbit, Blackout." He says in his usual terse manner to Juno before he looks to the others.
    Emily gets a curious look, but he doesn't approach. He's more concerned with what he saw.
    But whatever it was, hasn't seemed to shake his convictions. "Call me again next time you want to take down some Templars."

    Josuke blinks at Emily suddenly... just shutting everything off like that. It's fortunate that everything seems to be coming to an end, since he's not sure what's going on, and sitting down like that could prove dangerous in other circumstances.

    As it is, he has time to help, it seems, so he'll crouch down next to Emily and ask, "What's wrong?" He's not going to hurry her along now, no. He'll keep her safe if he needs to.

  Pulling herself up short, Juno backs away as the burning Brute and his Mandalorian hanger-on thrash a little too close for comfort. The Rebel General checks her blasters' charge before holstering one -- power's dead -- and taking two-handed aim with the other.

  She doesn't get a chance to squeeze the trigger. Piera finishes the job, with considerably more of a mess. Panting slightly, Juno shoves the second blaster pistol into its holster, wobbles a bit, and then slumps to brace her hands over her knees, striving to catch her breath. Oh, sweet oxygen.

  It's with a tilt of her head that she notices The Mandalorian's pause, though. Why is he hesitating?

  Eh. Doesn't matter. Need oxygen.

  Without straightening or even looking up, she flashes a thumbs-up to The Mandalorian.

  Yep. That's nice. Go ahead. She'll catch up, when she can breathe again, and when her legs and ribs and lungs all stop burning. It's not until she can breathe without worrying about a heart attack that she bothers to straighten up, loosening the collar of her winter gear. One hand slaps at her earpiece.

  "Bring the ship around, PROXY. I'm ready. We'll rendezvous with the Razor Crest in orbit."

  Juno tries not to wheeze as she waits for her ship. Within seconds the sleek, predatory lines of the Rogue Shadow shimmer into being over the nearest open ground, snow churning and swirling furiously as its ion drives whip winds scented of burnt ozone around the area. As Juno trudges for the ramp, it smoothly descends for her to climb up, and then snaps shut with a hiss. The Rogue Shadow then lifts, landing gear tucking into its sleek profile.

  With an electric whine, the starship banks smoothly and arcs toward space.

    Emily grimaces, and shakes her head at Josuke. "I'm not sure who decided to program general-purpose civilian Eudaemons to be squeamish," she says, "but Li-Ming just took the cake, I think. I can't even wisecrack about how horrified my creators would be."

    She gets to her feet; in a swirl of silvery nanomachines, she transforms into her default form of an auburn-haired woman with robotic eyes, dressed in a midnight-blue business dress. Her gaze settles on the Mandalorian for just a moment, but then she simply shrugs. "Glad you're having fun, ladies and gentlemen," she says. "I'm quite certain that if I'd been created for military purposes, I'd be joining your, uh, your cheering. I'm-a check on the erstwhile prisoners. Reapplying capacitor seals 2 and 3!"

    The pearlescent aura reappears, the gold and silver ones rebuild themselves, and she strolls through the portal with a little wave. And just the slightest bit of unsteadiness to her gait, which only Josuke might be close enough to notice.

    As the Rogue Shadow leaves, Piera watches it go. She saw the man in Beskar there with her... but his conviction remained solid. That's good.

    Emily is shaken, even the Assassin can tell from how she's moving even from this distance... she will have to check up on her later. Josuke's doing well enough at least. Li-Ming and Dante are covered in gore, but that's likely the least worrying thing here.

    Piera kneels beside the hulking corpse of The Brute again, and searches for something. She pulls a bracelet from his wrist, forged in the same metal as the Ring The Runner had, and the spear The Seeker wielded. She puts it on her own wrist, and a pulse of energy pops up around her before fading away again. She takes it off and puts the item in a pouch. "Maestro will want to see this." she murmurs to herself, before standing, adjusting her hood and heading towards the nearest Vine to do a bit of rebound travel away from this frozen place.