World Tree MUSH

    It all began with one transmission... 
    The Mandalorian sat at the helm of his trusty starship the Razor Crest, punching in coordinates and readying to make a lightspeed jump, when his console blinked at him, chiming with the notification that someone was trying to reach him. The channel was encrypted, which meant that whoever was sending this message didn't want it to be seen by anyone save for who it was meant for. Mando flicked a switch, allowing a small hologram projector to whirr to life and bring up the figure of an older, dark-skinned, man on the control dais: Greef Karga.

    "My friend, if you are receiving this transmission that means you are alive. You might be surprised to hear this, but I am alive too. I guess we can call it even. A lot has happened since we last saw each other. The man who hired you is still here, and his ranks of ex-Imperial guards have grown. They have imposed despotic rule over my city, which has impeded the livelihood of the Guild. We consider him an enemy but we cannot get close enough to take him out. If you would consider one last commission, I will very much make it worth your while. You have been successful in staving off their hunters, but they will not stop until they have their prize. So here is my proposition. Return to Nevarro. Bring The Child as bait. I will arrange an exchange, and provide loyal Guild members as protection. Once we get near The Client, you kill him and we both get what we want. If you succeed you keep The Child and I will clear your name with the Guild. For a man of honor should not be forced to live in exile. I await your arrival with optimism."

    Mando watched as the figure on the display faded out, and let a slow breath filter through his clenched teeth, he held off on his lightspeed jump, flicking another switch to open up a line to the Rogue Shadow.
    "Juno. We're going to Nevarro."
    That was just yesterday.
    With a quick stop to the planet Arvala, to pick up a loyal ally; an ugnaught by the name of Kuiil, and his companion; a supposedly reprogrammed Hunter-Killer droid by the name of IG-11, Mando and Juno then rounded up as many acquaintances that they knew would be willing to act as security, and punched in a course for Nevarro.
    It turns out. That bringing his own security detachment was a good idea. The so called 'loyal' members of the Bounty Hunter's Guild that Greef Karga had brought with him were only loyal to their wallets, and were simply waiting for a moment to kill The Mandalorian and take the child back to the Imperials on their own. But it was a change in Karga's heart that set him to gun down the Guild members before they could and reveal the truth about his own transmission. It was a trap. But he couldn't go through with it, and thus he became much more willing to give some actual aid rather than stab Mando in the back.
    "How many Imperials are we looking at?" Mando mutters.
    "The Client has four stormtroopers with him at all times."
    The plan changed. The Child was grudgingly left with Kuiil and IG-11 while Mando and the others would go to the city with an empty crib, act as though they were bounty hunters that had captured The Mandalorian alive, and try to get close to The Client, and kill him.
    Four stormtroopers, he says Yet arriving to the city, it's plain as day and easy to see that there are more than four stormtroopers here. The entire city is almost on lockdown, stormtroopers patrolling every street, scout troopers on speeder bikes at every entrance to the town, the people all locked up tight in their own homes, too afraid to so much as peek out their windows.
    The plan has worked so far. With Mando in a set of unlocked manacles, his blaster hidden away, the team has been led by a small squad of stormtroopers to the building that used to be the local cantina.
    To Greef Karga's credit, The Client DOES have four stormtroopers in the cantina with him as his personal guard. 
    "Look what we brought you. As promised." Greef Karga says, prompting The Client to rise from his seat.

    The Client is a much older man, with grey hair and a soft but cruel smile. His eyes practically light up when he sees The Mandalorian in shackles and the hovering crib floating at his side, pausing to... Marvel at the full suit of forged beskar.
    "What exquisite craftsmanship. It is amazing how beautiful beskar can be when forged by its ancestral artisans. Can I offer any of you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?"

  Although a lot could be said about the old general who's been tagging along with The Mandalorian, she is if nothing else outstandingly loyal. Furthermore, when she isn't busy searching for the bottom of a whisky bottle, she is a composed, skilled, and methodical person. Even better, her moral compass isn't broken like the rest of her.

  So when the coordinates to Nevarro are forwarded to the Rogue Shadow, Juno is quick to follow.

  Trusting in the Force that all these Imperials won't find a reason to shoot her in the back isn't comforting. A job is a job, though. She's stoically done all that's been asked of her.

  She's a professional, after all.

  Following behind The Mandalorian, she's made some minor alterations to look more like a bounty hunter. The scowl is genuine. Beneath her self-control, Juno seethes. It's as well The Child is absent; the apprehension, rage, and restlessness roiling off her would send him into tiny conniptions. Her right-hand blaster is shoved into the back of Mando's neck, as though she were leading a dangerous, untrustworthy criminal.

  There are too many Imperials here. The urge to shoot the stormtrooper leading them in the back is a physical weight over her shoulders. Juno's right hand twitches, slightly. The muzzle of the blaster twitches against Mando. Only a very meticulous eye would note that the blaster shoved against the back of his neck has its safety on. Too easy to screw up. 

  Her eyes slide right over Greef Karga and to The Client, and the general's suppressed rage slowly redoubles. Her teeth grind in the near-silence.

  The Client steps closer to The Mandalorian.

  "Trust me," she breathes to Mando.

  Smoothly, her thumb flicks off the blaster's safety. The Client is close enough now that he wouldn't be fooled if she left it off. Best lend some sincerity to the ruse. Carefully; carefully.

  Juno is there, almost but not quite blocking The Client, blaster digging into the back of Mando's neck. Those blue eyes burn.

  The protectiveness of the gesture might be touching in... uh, literally any other situation.

  The offer of a drink is tempting; so unreasonably tempting, and it's naked in her eyes for a moment before she clamps down on the urge. That, at least, is not an act.

  "No. Get on with it. I've spent enough time here." Her own voice sounds rough-edged to her ears. Unmistakably Imperial, too, but she never bothered learning to mask it. "Back away from the 'goods.' Now, please."

  And in the span of those last two words, the second blaster is in her free hand and pointed at The Client.

  It isn't off.

    It isn't difficult for Hyouka Kiyama to play the dour bounty hunter; she doesn't like anything about this situation. Oh, the trap made it worse, for sure, but the faux-elven cyborg came into this situation already dissatisfied with a plan that begins at 'use the kid as bait'. She's not happy about leaving the tyke with just an ugnaught and a reprogrammed assassin droid for protection, but... well, she's going with it. Grudgingly.

    At least it makes her own bounty hunter disguise more believable. She's had to borrow some local clothes and a blaster pistol for the deception, and for once her hair is down. "Pass." When Juno points a blaster, Hyouka doesn't flinch; if anything, she looks casual, folding her arms over her chest. It's not as if she'd actually use the blaster at her hip, but the Imperials don't need to know that. They can just go on assuming 'she doesn't think she needs to draw it'.

    It's an odd thing, being contacted by more advanced technology... but Machiavelli was always ahead of his time in more ways than one. When The Mandalorian put forth a request for aid, the Master Assassin dispatched the lead off-world agent he'd assigned. Piera Forta, only an Initiate but already burdened with responsibilities far beyond that lowly title, arrives with the others, and forms part of the entourage... though as they enter the city proper, she fades into the background, effacing herself with a lifted hood and a shift in gait to be inconspicuous. She also slinks out of the bubble and begins walking the streets, spying on the Stormtrooper patrols, mapping them out and taking a headcount.

    She reappears in the group a few moments before they enter the cantina, and slips to the back of the room, edging around to the side of the troopers and their ward.

    When Juno draws her blaster on The Client, a faint SHNK, and glint of metal betrays the Hidden Blade of the Assassin, her brown eyes peeking out from under the hem of her hood, and flickering faintly with a golden hue.

    The plan sounded solid on paper to Dante. Get close as possible to get rid of this Imperial guy, take out as many stormies as are thrown at them on the way out, and Mando gets to leave with his adopted son unharassed. Given the biblical asskicking the Imps have taken while trying to take out a crew like this before, it'd be folly to try and kill Mando again without incurring the gang's wrath.

    He poses as security with a guitar case just -happening- to be among his effects. He keeps a pistol trained on Mando the entire trip over as they pretend to hand him and the baby over, playing the part of some knuckle-scrapping fart in the wind mercenary type.

    Leaving the little guy with an assassin droid might be a bit of a risk, reprogrammed or not, but at least he's outta trouble, right?

    The second Juno draws her gun, Dante decides to hell with it and aims his pistol at the creepy old man's face too. "Not so fast, grimgram." He says, pistol cocked and safety off.

    He does take a bottle, and Dante chugs it.

    Perhaps one of the bespoke allies, Li-Ming immediately steps up to lend aid! These awful people seeking to take advantage of a child? No matter the unusual look of said child it turns in her heart like a killer's knife and sets her blood afire so of course it's a simple matter to throw herself in with the plan.

    The double doublecross of Greef gets a raised eyebrow. The presence of far more troop presence than initially indicated gets a suspicious look and then at the cantina it's all she can do not to laugh.

    For her part, the wizard does not look like a typical bounty hunter. She's fully armored, swathed in silks and jewelry where it can be seen despite her armor. She remains silent until the weapons come out and she takes a step to one side. Both to get a better view of things and to ensure she's not in the immediate area threatened by any pointed muzzles.

    "So you were saying? Drinks?" She has no interest in entertaining or being entertained by the man but even she acknowledges that talking /can/ let one seize the initiative more cleanly.

    Surprisingly there's someone here that doesn't have business here! Well, not this kind of shady stuff, anyway. No, the large purple-haired man who enters the cantina is not here for double deals. Besides, he looks like he's one of those types that's about as subtle as a brick.

    No, Tonbokiri is here for FOOD! Having figured that the best way to expose himself to the weirdness of the World Tree is to Just Go! And as it turns out, he's ended up here, on the planet Nevarro. Of course he's armed, though the spear is on his back, blade covered with the large purple sheath. He doesn't look like he has any intentions of using it.

    He's also not alone, though anyone who wouldn't know it, would think so. One of the Konnosuke is there as well, draped over his shoulders like nothing more or less than a fox-skin stole. But make no mistake, behind that mask he's recording everything that he sees.

    Though he pauses at the sight of so many people pointing blasters around a man in shackles. He sniffs -- a criminal, no doubt. The armored prisoner just LOOKS like someone that would have been arrested for something -- why else would someone walk around with a helmet on all the time, hiding their face?

    He's prepared to sit down and ignore it, because there are clearly enough guards to put down one little prisoner escape. And if not, and things get bad, he's there. So there's no reason to worry.

    Nonetheless, he says quietly, "...Konnosuke. Keep an eye on that one in the shackles, yes? Warn me immediately if that situation becomes a danger to anyone."

    The sitting-still fox doesn't move, merely offers a quiet, "...Right," to the suggestion. And with that, Tonobkiri puts the smile back on his face and looks for a table or place at the bar.

Some things never change, do they? 

Bars. Inns. Cantinas.

When it comes to the cantina at Nevarro, it's not at all surprising that such a place exists, albeit in a wildly more advanced aesthetic. Be it something more medieval or futuristic, there's always a place like the cantina for information, for food and what not. 

And with the fact this particular one is pretty good for potential work as much as learning the ropes at a place this this, it was as good a place as any for another kind of hunter altogether to be. You know, for information, be they rumors or just getting a better understanding of how things work for one place or another.

Regardless of things being relatively... easier, in some ways, Sonia had taken to one of the booths that afforded her a better angle when it came to keeping her back to a wall--or a seat, in this case--and hooded as she was, she gave off a general air to not be disturbed unless it were a matter of business. Pleasure? Well, someone may or may not've gotten something pushed in regarding that endeavour.

Add to that the change in pace with these stormtroopers and more, Sonia had taken to keeping even more to herself--from what she knew, the kind of power she wielded could easily be inferred as something else that was seen in way that was decidedly /not/ positive. So the less attention drawn to herself, the better. 

Her gaze from where she sat shifted under the hood of the cloak she wore--little change in her expression and simply taking a sip from a weathered mug as if the matter didn't actually affect her at all--which, she suspected something else was amiss right away. Something nagged at her senses even now, and when she spotted a certain someone plus the drawing of the blaster served to change the dynamic as swiftly as her practiced paranoia had been all of a warning bell to what was unfolding now.

But she relented from acting--just yet. Prepared herself to do so, absolutely. Given threats seen and unseen, she did not care to reveal her own hand just yet--inevitable as she suspected it might be, as she watched the exchange quickly go from 'polite' to 'menacing'.

    For Juno and Dante to point their weapons at the old man, that immediately puts the four stormtroopers in the room on edge, raising their own blasters at the group in the beginnings of a standoff. To his credit, the old man faces down the weapons with dignity, decorum, and calm. He does not panic, he does not shy away, he simply offers that cold, cruel, smile as she sinks into a seat in his booth.
    "There is no need for that, I assure you." He says, motioning for the group to sit. Tonbokiri's arrival has the stormtroopers shifting their attention at a new possible threat, and Sonia is, for the most part ignored in her shady corner as long as she sits there, and there is a droid that can be called upon to request drinks and food.
    Greef Karga gently motions for Juno and Dante to lower their weapons as he settles into the booth, tugging Mando with him.
    The Client simply folds his hands together as he settles down.
    "It is a shame that your people have suffered so." He says to The Mandalorian. "Just as in this situation, it was all avoidable. Why did Mandalore resist our expansion? The Empire improves every system it touches. Judge by any metric... Safety, prosperity, trade opportunity, peace... Compare Imperial rule to what is happening now. Look outside. Is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos." He muses, before his gaze turns towards the floating crib, clueless that it is empty.
    "I would like to see the baby."
    "--Uh. It is asleep." Greef deflects quickly, hoping to keep the pram closed.
    "We all will be quiet... Open the pram." The Client orders. ... As a stormtrooper leans in and whispers in his ear.
    There is a pause. A momentary spike in the room's tension, before The Client offers that cold smile once again. "Please don't think me to be rude. I must take this call." Said as he rises from his seat.
    As soon as he's out of earshot, Mando leans in Hyouka's direction.
    "Pass me my blaster."
    "You're only getting one shot." Karga hisses under his breath, as The Client moves to the bar, the stormtrooper there setting up a hologram communications device, the image of an Imperial officer appearing on the display.
    "Yes, Moff Gideon?" The Client says into the device.
    "Have they brought The Child?" The man in the hologram asks.
    "Yes, they have. Currently it is sleeping."
    "... You may want to check again." This 'Gideon' says, giving a motion of his hand as though signalling someone out of the holograms' sight.
    This is when the window shatters. A bright red bolt of laser light comes screaming through the cantina and slams The Client in the chest, dropping him dead to the floor. And then there's more. In the span of a few heartbeats, blaster bolts are tearing up the cantina, the four stormtroopers drop dead as their cheap plastoid armor does little to soak the impact and heat of every deadly ray that comes scorching through the room in a hail of massive firepower.
    "Down!" Mando says, ditching the ruse as quickly as he ditches his unlocked shackles and kicks over table as an impromptu shield. The deadly hailfire continues for a long moment before it finally comes to a stop.
    The hologram on the table fades, and the dust and smoke clear... To reveal a line of black armored troopers outside the window, a troop transport zooming down the street before it comes to a halt and a platoon of the white armored troopers disembark.
    A single TIE fighter descends from the skies, and the same officer from the hologram steps out after it lands.

    "You have something I want." He declares. "You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of. But you do not. In a few moments. It will be mine. It means more to me... Than you will ever know."

    Dante, once he sees the old man isn't budging, slowly lowers his gun. He keeps the bottle, and he continues to drink. Damn, but he's needed something to wet his whistle ever since they went on this long-ass space trip.

    He listens, paying attention to the Mandalorian and the Client. Suffering? What, is Mando the last of his culture or something? THat beskar's definitely rare as all hell, likely some kind of relic alloy judging by how effective it is and how seriously the Mandalorian takes it, he's never seemed to have taken it off, even to sleep.

    He keeps his pistol by his side as he notices the Client is off talking to his boss. Dude seems like some Imperial bigshot, even in the wake of their so-called Emperor's death they're clearly still kicking.

    And then laser bullets wreck everything. Dante dives for cover as the cantina is riddled in blaster bolts, the client and stormtroopers ruthlessly cut down in the chaos. It's like World War 3 localized in a single city block, and Dante retrieves Rebellion from his case and sticks it to his back. "Who the hell's firing?!" He calls out over the roar of blaster fire, and suddenly the shooting stops.

    Oh no. The gang's been bamboozled.

    'Pass me my blaster.'

    Hyouka doesn't need to be told twice. Her hand swiftly slides down to the blaster at her side, slipping it out of its holster and into the Mandalorian's hand. But it's as she's passing it across that the cantina comes under a torrent of blaster fire - and while she can weather the occasional shot, she's not eager to test out her body's durability against that much blaster fire. She dives for cover even before Mando yells, ensuring that his blaster slides in his direction.

    It's here that everyone will learn she doesn't need to say anything to activate her gauntlets; her arms transform without a word, the bulky black weapons locking in place and lighting up with that familiar gold-colored glow of earth-aspected mana. Her yell to the new arrival comes out in a terse, "We have a child. Nothing else matters. You're not getting him." She sounds... legitimately angry. That's a rare one for people who know her. She tends to veer from 'burnt out' to 'relaxed' to 'excited'.

    The first bolt kills The Client. This sends Piera down low in a heartbeat as more come crash through the side of the building. She peers out after the volley ends, pulling a trio of throwing knives from their sheaths under her cloak. "Those black-armoured men were not part of the garrison." she mentions, looking at the others in the room before turning back as the scream of the TIE closes in. "This is bad. I did not get a full count, but there are hundreds of the white armoured troops in the city."

    As the Moff speaks, the Assassin's teeth grit... the way he speaks screams Templar to her. Self important, pompous and entirely assured that his is the correct and only world view.

    The vibes are all just about right for something to go terribly awry, Li-Ming thinks to herself. Sure, there's a bit of a standoff before Greef intervenes. Sure, everyone's probably on a hair trigger for violence. Then there's the interruption of a call. From a holographic projection of a man that she can't really get a read on. Blasted technology.

    The new face entering for seemingly innocent reasons and the lone figure keeping to themselves are noted but... This patience thing is rather trying. There's something resembling an enemy right before us-

    Then the place is being shot all to hell! Without lending too much thought to the idea, she raises something resembling a half-bubble at the far end of the room toward the side where all the shooting is taking place. It's not a perfect placement and the shape of her spell does leave gaps to fire /around/ but those projectiles it intercepts it just... stops. Or rather, they slow down so substantially that they appear to almost crawl. Should be enough of a barrier for long enough that it helps people escape injury or death! For now.

    "The client had a client. Of course." For her part, she makes no move to take cover. In fact, she steps closer to her spell, preparing to meet anyone brave enough to attempt an aggressive push with a punishing blast of magic. "Then there will be hundreds of corpses here when we are done!"

    Hyouka is spared a sympathetic glance, though. Perhaps it's better if she dials down her bloodlust; that one doesn't seem to have the stomach for it.

    Not to worry, the big guy with the 'fox stole' seems more interested in whatever's available on the menu than what all's going on out there. Besides, that frowny sniff in the Mandalorian's direction must surely mean he has no intention of proving himself to be any inconvenience to them, right?

    Except then blasters start firing... and then people are in danger. Which of course prompts Tonbokiri to act.

    The large purple-haired man will stand quickly, and the 'fox stole' will immediately come to life. Knowing that there's going to be fighting, the fox grabs the ribbons of the sheath over that blade and leaps away, pulling the weapon free.

    Though his first act isn't 'RAAAR KILL'. It's actually to try to create a safe zone so that any innocent people caught in this mess can get away. He's not about to test his human body against that much fire, though. No, he draws the spear before him and spins the weapon at high speeds -- faster than a human could manage -- deflecting a goodly amount of the blaster fire from the area in front of him.

    This creates sort of a 'pocket' of safety behind him for the clientele of the cantina to use. And in fact, it's lined up with the nearest exit, so that's a good way to escape for the time being. This is likely going to be a temporary thing, since once the Storm Troopers outside gather their wits, they just might start shooting anything that comes close...

Other times? Yeah, Sonia might be requesting a refill from the golem--er, the droid. Given what was unfolding? Nnno. Not quite. The drink she was having simply served as a way to be attentive without drawing that attention to herself. A good thing, she believes.

Especially since that part of her that serves as her danger sense is giving off so many, many warnings. Without betraying the tension rising in her form, Sonia's gaze shifts around her a little bit--marking the Stormtroopers in her eye, but not quite feeling the reason for her paranoia beginning to spike upwards as it were. But it happens. 

It happens inevitably, and the sense that it's not so much inside as it is from where she's being attentive to. The hologram, the illusory shade of the man asking about this so-called Child, coupled with the minute flickers of posture, of the way The Mandalorian and others are acting. The gesture is what draws on that instinct to move, and it is just as blaster fire begins to rain down, that Sonia is moving, pitching away from her seat to make herself as small of a target as possible.

But it's not possible for her to avoid everything--the table at her booth /doesn't/ quite have the easily usable shield, though parts of the seating arrangements provide some cover. But one bolt singes--plus another and another still, dangerously close and tearing a line through  her cloak. But after the first few, the same instinct that drew her to anticipate an attack?

That instinct becomes manifest as her power bleeds into the area. Random, intermittent bolts, nothing she can truly *choose* to stop directly but the ones that *feel* like that they had the greatest chance of inflicting lasting harm are seized by the woman's magic. Raw force slowing, then tearing apart the bolts of energy from 'burn a hole through someone' to 'harmless light'. 

It's an imperfect act--solely because Sonia cannot see where they're coming from, only sense with her abilities where they're coming from, and the sheer volume is... problematic, to put it kindly. Occasionally were one's eyes anywhere near Sonia pitching herself down to the ground, they'd see flickers of light around her akin to a bubble, with a circular pattern beneath her that sharpens when a bolt that would have struck her simply does not.

Still, it should do to help with everyone else trying not to get eviscerated or having a hole blown through them beyond the others. Li-Ming's spellwork actually *helps* Sonia pick out more than a few much more obviously well-placed bolts to use her own arcane abilities against.

  Juno's eyes are locked on The Client. She can hear the four stormtroopers raising their weapons, but they are incidental. She can hear The Mandalorian's other allies moving and shifting about, but she has eyes only for The Client. They're blue, the colour of a clear sky; and they glitter with unbridled hatred.

  She glances only briefly to Greef Karga, just enough to acknowledge his silent instructions, but she doesn't lower the blaster immediately. No; she waits exactly two heartbeats before she does. Enough to show him she is absolutely, positively unafraid. The movement is so smooth it's almost not clear at what point she's no longer pointing the business end of the blaster at him.

  Oh, but she wants to.

  She doesn't react as The Client delivers his speech to Mando, face so carefully blank that it's clear she's masking her true reaction, and burying it deep. There is another creak as her jaw muscles work; a subtle grinding sound in the space between The Client's words. Her gloves creak around the haft of the blaster held at the back of Mando's neck.

  Blue eyes linger on The Client as he turns aside to watch the hologram, and surprise momentarily flickers through her mask of cold rage. This despicable slime has the ear of a moff?

  Oh and then the window is shattering. Down, Mando orders, and Juno drops like a string-cut puppet with a pained grunt. She's careful to put Mando between herself and the stormtroopers firing at them, because using the beskar armour as a mobile riot shield has thus far been a most effective strategy. She fires into the direction she knows the stormtroopers are in with both blasters, ducking around Mando to do so... but she stops, squinting, at the line of dark-armoured stormtroopers. No, those aren't stormtroopers. Those are something else--

  She's mildly disappointed she didn't get to shoot The Client, though.

  Juno reaches out and whacks Mando on the shoulder. "TIE fighter," she mouths, pointing up to the sky. She knows those engines; she can identify them in her sleep. And out comes...

  The blonde frowns, thoughtfully.

  "That man was executed," she whispers, to her impromptu beskar shield. "For war crimes. This is who you've got on your six? Oh, excellent."

  She stands straighter, although she makes sure to keep Mando between her and Gideon. Those blue eyes rake the Imperial Moff up and down, and then--

  "You Imperial filth are all the same." Her voice is a snarl, low. Her words are unmistakably Imperial in dialect, but at this point, she doesn't care. Both blasters snap up in the span of a breath and snap off two quick, precise shots. Most likely she won't be able to land a shot, but maybe she'll get lucky and wing the smug son of a bitch.

  Consequences be damned, as far as she's concerned. Those blue eyes are blazing, and for those who can sense it, her aura is one of hot, unreasoning rage, hatred; even a thin undercurrent of grief. Seems someone has an axe to grind with the Imperials.

    It is as the blaster fire halts and cools down that the stormtroopers outside begin... To work.
    While Tonbokiri, Li-Ming, and Sonia's efforts greatly reduce the deadliness of the incoming fussilade of blaster fire, the black armored stormtroopers outside simply stand in silence, their weapons trained on the window into the cantina. Because the troopers in white are bringing out what looks like some heavy duty equipment. A large energy generator... A tripod. And a massive blaster cannon ae soon put together in front of the cantina's window.
    And then. Juno Eclipse wings a shot at Gideon himself.
    The man doesn't even flinch as the searing bolt flies past his face just over his shoulder, it's a shot that would have been perfect if he was simply a single step just to his right, but he hardly even reacts to the attack for a moment, before he clears his throat.
    "Your astute lack of panic suggests that you do not understand your situation." Gideon says clearly. "I would prefer to avoid any further violence, and encourage a moment of consideration. Members of my escort have completeted assembly of an E-Web heavy repeating blaster." Gideon notes mildly.
    "If you are unfamiliar with this weapon, I am sure that ex-Imperial Captain Juno Eclipse of Darth Vader's personal and hand-selected Black Eight Squadron will advise you that she has witnessed countless rebels vaporized by the predecessor of this very model."
    "I can see you have brought... Allies and compatriots from offworld, but I can assure you that even with the help of the Assassin Initiate you have with you skulking in the shadows, that she will find no shade to hide in under the fire of this weapon."
    "Or perhaps you thought you could turn to a woman who wished for extraordinary power which she then wasted on a childish fantasy; tell me, Miss Kiyama, how are Alty and Leene, hm?"
    "Maybe..." He considers. "You believed Dante, son of Sparda, a blustering but legendary demon slayer would help in these dire times."
    "Then again I am certian that your compatriot Li-Ming, magical prodigy and pupil of Caldeum's prestigious Yshari Sanctum could be of help?"
    "I will admit, the legendary spear wielder was not an expected party to your cause, nor was the vampire hunter and matriarch of the Belmont clan. If anything, they are but bystanders caught in the crossfire that you have all drawn to yourselves." He seems to consider before returning to the topic of the E-Web.
    "Or perhaps, the decomissioned Mandalorian hunter, Din Djarin, has heard the songs of the siege of Mandalore. When gunships outfitted with similar ordinance laid waste to fields of Mandalorian recruits in The Night of a Thousand Tears. ... I advise disgraced Magistrate Greef Karga to search the wisdom of his years and urge you to lay down your arms and come outside. The structure you are trapped in will be razed in short order, and your storied lives will come to an unceremonious end. I offer reasonable negotiation... If you're wondering whether you can trust me? You cannot. Just as you betrayed our business arrangement I would gladly break my promise and watch all of you die by at hand. The assurance I give is this. I will act in my own self interest, which at this time involves your cooperation and benefit..."

    "I will give you until nightfall and then I will have the E-Web cannon open fire." he says, turning and walking away from the cantina.

    Mando is silent for a good long moment. Even in the face of hearing of Gideon's execution from Juno, he shakes his head. "He knew my name. I haven't heard that name spoken since I was a child."
    "On Mandalore?" Karga asks dubiously.
    "Mandalorian isn't a race. It's a creed."

    Pressing forward toward the flashing muzzles of the trooper's blasters, Li-Ming considers her spell. It has a finite duration. She waits several beats as the scene unfolds. The craft landing, that man from the hologram disembarking and- almost. She clicks her tongue as she looks on, Juno's blaster shot only narrowly missing that face she's already deciding she doesn't like.

    A glance is spared toward the weapon being assembled. It's a tool, a siege implement; she's faced more frightening contructions, though she's well aware of the danger presented by seemingly unassuming tools such as firearms and blasters.

    What catches her off guard is that knowledge. She listens, taking in the details of others in stride. She'll have things to ask her compatriots about later!

    When her turn comes she only laughs. "Fool. If you knew only a portion of what you think you know about me you would know me for what I am. I am no mere prodigy. I am a wizard!" Her hands come together and release a pulse of force as her slow time effect collapses - diverting most if not all of the captured blaster fire that hasn't been plucked away or otherwise intercepted.

    "Your graves await!"

  The sound of her own name freezes Juno Eclipse in her tracks. Her eyes snap wide, and the fear is naked as it flits across her expression for a brief instant. It was one thing to be revealed as a high-tier Rebel operative, but it's another thing entirely for someone else to know of her Imperial past. She makes no secret of her history, but it's not something she speaks about.

  Never mind the context in which that information was couched: An E-Web heavy repeating blaster, presumably aimed at this building, because this guy seems like he's just that much of an evil bastard. If he's a moff, he didn't claw his way that high in the ranks just for being nice. Her eyes flick to each ally in turn as they're called out, thinning her lips. So it isn't just Imperial and Rebel matters this moff is well-schooled in.

  She's beginning to understand why this man was executed for war crimes in her own chronology.

  Her eyes turn to Mando, however, when his name is given. So he does have one. Her gaze lingers on the back of his helmet for a moment before she looks up to Moff Gideon once again.

  He delivers his final threat.

  Juno's not aware of the enraged shriek, the aquiline war-cry, she gives voice to. She lunges. The old general springs with more agility and speed than she looks like she should be capable of, animated by the force of her own rage, but The Mandalorian is trained in the art of war. He might be able to seize her by the scruff before she has a chance to get herself killed.

>> GAME >> Piera Forta spends an Edge for: =Enhancing Assassin' Agility

    "Definitely a Templar." mutters Piera as she's mentioned. "If his words are true, that weapon is even more powerful than any of Da Vinci's creations, and they have changed the face of warfare forever... or would if Il Mentore had not destroyed their plans. I suggest we cut a path out of the city to a place we can regroup and form a plan. My skills are in stealth and subtlety, not direct confrontation."

    Having said that, some of those who have seen her fight before may question the validity of her statement, but she also lacks many of the ranged advantages others possess, being predominantly a melee fighter. "I will rush their emplaced weapon, everyone else, make a run for it, I will catch up."

    Piera then narrows her eyes, focusses for a moment or two, then with a shift, she's out the window and charging down the white-clad troopers manning the E-WEB, those throwing knives hurled before she engages to disrupt the operator so he doesn't just mow her down. She moves with an unnatural grace and speed. Some of the Troopers might even think she's some kind of Jedi as she moves into melee range and uses their own weapons against them.

>> GAME >> Dante spends an Edge for: It's Devil Trigger time.

    There's already a deep scowl on Hyouka's face when Gideon starts talking. Smug bastards like him get under her skin on the best of days, and 'someone is trying to kidnap a child' is not the best of days. It's all too obvious what he's doing; open display of knowledge, trying to get into their heads. She doesn't even give the jibe about her 'childish fantasy' a second thought. But following that are five words that shatter her utterly.
        'How are Alty and Leene?'

    Hyouka goes perfectly, utterly still. Her eyes widen faintly as the words sink in. Not only does he know about Alty and Leene... there's a veiled threat in those words. He was already trying to take the child, and now he's hinting at danger to her shinki. And here she is, worlds away from the two.

    The cyborg begins to quake gently with rising anger.

    And her already-immense magical presence begins to grow.

    DARGN utters a soft, "...hoh?" in a tone that mixes surprise and interest. The golden lines along her FISTEAU gauntlets brighten. Then begin to shimmer. Even the air for a half-inch or so around her body starts to ripple, faintly but visibly, as if she were radiating heat. That's when, in a tone entirely unlike her usual deadpan, DARGN begins to laugh. It's a soft, brief laugh, a muted noise, but a sound of genuine amusement.

    "Fufufu... humans really are interesting, after all..."

    The next thing she says, however, comes out entirely robotic, as if an automated announcement. "Activation threshold passed. Disengaging safeties. DraCor output rising to maximum. Dragonheart Mode online."

    From somewhere within Hyouka's abdomen, there is a shattering sound. The lines along both FISTEAU gauntlets abruptly change color - from the gold of earth, to a different, peculiar sky-blue. It's not the blue of her ice crystal, nor water, but something else. And that new glow is matched in her eyes - eyes which no longer quite resemble a human's. The pupils have stretched into vertical, draconic slits. That's about the moment that Hyouka begins to well and truly change.

    The armor on her gauntlets begins to shift. To slide. Plates and components disconnecting from the gauntlets themselves, sliding up her arms, forming plated armor all the way up to her shoulders... no, not armor. Scales. Ebon, metallic scales, exchanging some of the mass of her weapons for armor that goes all the way up her arms. More scales begin to appear on her body, a pair of strips running up her neck to her cheeks.

    And an entirely new set begins to snap itself into place down along her spine, forming a line of dragonscale that reaches the small of her back and then just keeps going - outward, away from her body, forming an entirely mechanical dragon's tail of pitch black. Meanwhile, each of her fingers is encased in ebon metal, her hands now transformed entirely to a more draconic set of claws, which light up in that same eerie blue that is now echoed in her eyes.

    As Hyouka rises to her feet, the scales emerge along her lower legs as well, shredding her shoes as they cover her extremities. Her tail lashes once or twice, moving as if it were made of flesh and blood. Her clawed hands flex, and when next she breathes out, there is a noticeable wave of warmth. And to magical senses, she has gone beyond simply 'draconic' - it's as if a genuine dragon stands there.

    "DARGN," Hyouka growls, her voice simmering with barely-contained anger. "What the hell is this?" The AI only responds with a soft, cryptic, "A dragon does as she wishes, Hyouka Kiyama. What is it you desire?" The woman narrows her slitted eyes, staring out the front of the cantina. "...I want to shred them for even thinking about laying hands on a child." DARGN utters in amusement, "Then follow your instincts."

    Hyouka vaults the counter and hurls herself out the front window without a second thought, roaring furiously.

>> GAME >> Hyouka Kiyama spends an Edge for: Activating Dragonheart Mode.

    Dante was expecting bluster, and he was expecting a lot of talk, but Gideon exceeded those expectations. Dante tenses a little when the Moff identifies him by name, and he blinks as the Moff seems to lay out everyone's backstory in terse, exact detail.

    He even knows the Mandalorian by name, and sounds like he had a personal touch in whatever happened to Mandalore. This 'Night of a Thousand Tears' isn't exactly a friendly sounding event.

    "Okay. I guess we did underestimate you guys." He concedes, poking his head out. "But you're downright deluded if you think you're anything like a demon. Lemme show you what a REAL demon can do!"

    Suddenly, the cantina interior flashes red and black, and Dante blasts his way out with wings buzzing.

    His Devil Trigger is kicked in, and Dante adopts an insectoid, reptillian appearance with an exoskeleton, razor sharp claws, and buzzing wings in place of his coat.

    As he flies out, he unloads a torrent of demonically enhanced bullets, more like laser blasts really, as the Son of Sparda adopts his Devil Trigger, shooting with pinpoint accuracy.

    He lands in the midst of Stormtroopers, stowing his pistols and drawing Rebellion. With an inhuman, guttural shriek, Dante swings his sword in a spin, and heads come off, blood staining white armor and golden brown sands.

    Absolutely no quarter will be given here. Dante has only one thing on the mind: RIP AND TEAR.

    Tonbokiri is visibly taken aback -- he didn't expect anyone to know anything about him here. Particularly since he literally just got here. That said, it doesn't sound like he's the only one who this guy has the number of. He looks around the room, marking the new people here. And as the man in black leaves, Tonbokiri looks around once more.

    "...Now that we all of us are acquainted... what now?" he inquires. This isn't his world, and he doesn't want to bring more trouble down on any innocent people that may be nearby. To say nothing of not wanting to bring more pain down upon the people here. This self-important guy seems to have them all at something of a disadvantage...

    Hopefully Konnosuke got that all recorded; whoever this is, is a credible threat, to be able to know who everyone was so quickly. Fortunately Tonbokiri's legend is dependent on people knowing about him. So he's not quite so put out by this man knowing a bit of who he is.

    "Tonbokiri!" Konnosuke calls from his hiding place. "Aruji is sending more help!" About that moment, two black portals appear in the ceiling, ringed with a blue light. In short order, two more blades fly down into the ground -- one a wakizashi with a white-wrapped handle, and one a short tantou blade,also with a white-wrapped handle. Then the holes in the ceiling close, and a moment passes, and the area around these two blades erupts into bursts of sakura petals.

    When they clear, in the place where the wakizashi fell, there's a man with long green hair obscuring one eye, in a blue military uniform with a white cape. Where the tantou fell, there's a younger man with black hair, also wearing a blue military uniform, but his has short pants. The man with the green hair wields the wakizashi that fell; the one in the short uniform wields the tantou.

    "Aruji as appraised us of the situation," the black-haired young man replies coolly.

    The green-haired man grins broadly. "And so here we are, to save the day~!"

>> GAME >> Tonbokiri spends an Edge for: Here comes the cavalry -- wakizashi: Nikkari Aoe, tantou: Yagen Toushirou

Bystander though the woman she might be, there's no helping the situation any more to dabble or discuss it. They're here to kill them and anyone else who was witness or party to the situation. Given what happened to the four troopers inside which were, ostensibly their own comrades, it tells leagues about what they would do--or wouldn't do. 

And what they wouldn't do is precious little. 

The words, however, draw Sonia up short. It's not so much the part about vampire hunter that is surprising--though it is--it's the other part. That's... a combination of plausible, likely, and plays merry hell with her, sending her thoughts racing in surprise. Not that she's even been here that long, relatively, on Nevarro! Never you mind the laundry list of facts the man seems to know--which tells her another important fact about him: his is war by knowledge. Something she can respect, but it's also something that tells her that it would behoove them to not underestimate him in the slightest. 

It's only paranoia if people /aren't/ out to get you, after all. 

Exhaling shortly, she draws herself up.

"I may be a 'bystander' to this, but a man like that can be ill afforded to persist. The ignorance, the casual cruelty, what little lives are..." Her head cants slightly to the melted, cheap plastoid armors of the stormtroopers. Of those caught in crossfire still and who would be even beyond all of these. 

She watches for a moment. She can do nothing less than to watch, when others spring forth--in terrifying and majestic and simply wrathful ways. Her cloak and hood becoming slightly more tattered by the release of such energies, of such furor. What can a hunter of monsters do in a situation, wherein the field lay rife not with monsters in the most traditional of ways, but those who mask themselves in the civility of humanity while being all the more awful?

"... Sanctus Espiritus. Redeem us. Redeem us in our final hour." 

When she utters these words, as soft as a prayer, the air around her changes sharply. Quieter, as if drawing all sound, all light, all sensation, before it billows back out again. Light wreathes her, tightly packed and dense that one might see it as an outline around her. Her eyes reflect this selfsame light, and she's suddenly on the mood. Cautious as not to impede the wrath of others, or get in their way, she nonetheless moves like quicksilver. 

And she's already atop the firing line of imperials--her attention focused like the predator she very well is at this point, coming out of a spiralling leap that added no small amount of force to the first of *many* whipstrikes being leveled one of the many troopers in black. 

And with that whipstrike--and those that follow--comes raw, arcane fury--to flay and tear apart her chosen quarry. Until it is done. The threat they posed was is not insignificant: neither will be her response to it. 

>> GAME >> Sonia Belmont spends an Edge for: Last Testament: Judgement

    And then... Hell breaks loose.
    Gideon had given the group until nightfall to make their decision. Everyone makes their decision in the span of just a few quickened heartbeats. Stormtroopers take cover as their own fire lances back at them, troopers in white screaming as Li-Ming returns their fire quite literally, back to them.
    It's as Juno gives voice to that war cry that a strong hand grips her by the scruff of her jacket. In the same motion, The Mandalorian shoulders his way past her, firmly putting the woman behind his beskar bulk.
    "You stay behind me." He reminds her. "Piera's going for the E-Web, we can't let her go alone, help me cover her."
    Because Piera is going to need that cover in a second. Her speed is insane, blaster bolts landing where the assassin initiate was milliseconds ago, as her hurled knives find chinks in white armor, causing the troopers manning the E-Web to drop, gurling on their own blood.
    And then. ... Then...
    A dragon and a demon are among them.
    The sheer explosive force of Hyouka's roar alone causes far too many of the white-armored stormtroopers to freeze, quailing in raw, abject, fear as dragon-terror grips their hearts. Only for Dante to go all out and start cleaving men apart.
    Blaster fire goes everywhere, the stormtroopers breaking surprisingly quickly. ... It's the troopers in black who remain stalwart and take aim. And unlike their lesser comrades?
    These Special Forces Troopers can actually hit their targets.
    They turn their aim on Hyouka and Dante, firing in controlled and horrifyingly precise bursts that would mow down lesser foes. But they are fighting an honest to god actual dragon and the Son of Sparda.
    And then. In the chaos of the whole situation going to hell... The Saniwa sends reinforcements. They will be needed as most of the troopers are cut down only to be replaced. For every stormtrooper that drops another two emerge from an alley or a street or around a corner. The city is crawling with Imps. Imps that are soon stricken down by Sonia's arcane fury, the Vampire Killer singing in her hand with every strike that smashes through plastoid armor as though it were paper.
    Mando is on the move though. Dragging Juno behind him towards the E-Web-- which he picks up, yanking off its tripod and begins to use like the heavy ordinance it is, a hailstorm of deadly red light vaporizing troopers left and right.

  Such is the force of Juno's rage that when she's shoved behind Mando, she can't quite abort her lunge, and bounces off the beskar armour. It's a testament to her rage that she can't even hear him. All she can hear is the roar of blood in her own ears and the thunderous beat of her heart. She's quick to follow as he's dragging her, but everything else is firmly outside her focus. Everything in the cantina is surrounded by a red haze.

  So much so that Juno only remembers belatedly to fire on the stormtroopers that immediately threaten Mando's position. She snarls, venting her fury on the hapless Imperial rank-and-file with the triggers of her twin blaster pistols. She's not the finest shot in the galaxy, but she also isn't the worst, either.

  She is careful to stay behind him, this time. No matter how infuriated she might be, Juno does at least have enough of that red haze burned off to remember to stick to Mando like glue.

    One blaster bolt hits Hyouka. Two. Three. Her body doesn't even jerk with the impacts. Under normal circumstances, even her body would not be able to just soak blaster fire like this. But this isn't a normal circumstance. Her tail lashes with agitation, and a low growl thrums deep in her throat; and with no further warning than that, the draconic cyborg hurls herself at the nearest black-armored trooper and lashes out.

    Her claws don't just glow with that strange blue light; they simmer. Streamers of what looks like blue fire trails each one; they carve through armor like butter, and sear with supernatural heat as they pass. "RAAAAH!" Slash, swipe, left, right, pure bestial instinct draws Hyouka through the battlefield, moving with a grace she's never shown. But there's just too many of them, and more regular stormtroopers besides. They need to be dealt with, quickly.

    'I want to mow them all down.'

    Instinct tells Hyouka what to do. There's a soft growl of effort, and then the back of her clothes simply shreds itself apart. A pair of twin mechanical spars erupt from her back, and from each of them a curtain of blue flames erupts... no, not a curtain. A wing. A pair of burning wings, and when she suddenly flaps them down there's a wave of heat and wind as they carry her into the air. One flap, two, and the woman is flying around, taking a wide bank to bring her back into position for a strafing run across the square. Just as she reaches the edge of the open plaza area, the woman opens her mouth-

    -and fire erupts.

    The heat is intense, even at a distance. Far hotter than an ordinary flame. So bright it hurts to look at. A stream of concentrated, furious blue fire, dense with magic, blown forth at hurricane force. The Special Forces Troopers and regular stormtroopers alike are subject to a torrent of dragonflame from above.

    Assassins can tangle with many 'lesser mortals' at once, but their endurance is as finite as any human, deep as the well may be. Piera can't maintain the level of speed and agility she started out with forever so it's good that the others jump into the fray and take some of the pressure off of her. She's nearly blinded when she looks at Hyouka's fully awakened form, averting her eyes before they burn away from the sheer outpouring of power. Instead she moves to intercept troopers coming in from the flanks, charging them down and leaping atop one to jam her Hidden Blade under the gap in his helmet. As she pulls the blade free, she shoves herself up, and back-swing swipes at another trooper with the still bloodied blade, aiming to slide across his throat with it. "Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent. I see no innocents here." she says with her smooth itallian lilt, a subtle grin showing under the shadow of her hood as she hunkers down and circles a trooper.

    She lunges for him, then steps aside at the last moment to bring an iron-glad gauntlet slamming into the back of his helmet. "Requiescat en pace."

    The darktroopers present a credible threat. Li-Ming, boastful and confident she may be, hasn't survived literal Hell Itself by being particularly foolish. The looming threat of merely delayed blaster fire dispelled, she turns her wrath upon the men in dark armor.

    Her hands trace the gestures of a spell and it presents almost immediately as a whirling disc of ice that hurtles into the midst of the darktroopers. It sprays deadly shards and bears with it a deadly, life-sapping cold while trailing frosty mist enough to at least partially obscure her for a followup. Will their armor be able to bear the brunt? Certainly not so for any troopers in white trying to seek refuge amongst their elite.

    She snarls, then lifts a hand, calling an entwined trio of crackling blue hydra heads into being. They emit a piercing keen, like that of a capacitor charging to it's limit before they each spit a bolt of crackling lightning, skewering anything that isn't currently being attended to by one of her comrades. Or sometimes cruelly delivering a killing stroke to the wounded.

    There will be no quarter given by this wizard. She will, of course, expect none in return. She does however smile with grim satisfaction of the savagery on display; she'd underestimated nearly everyone on her side until now. It's almost a gleeful, childish smile that pulls at the corners of her mouth. Knowledge is power and she's absolutely thrilled to learn so much so quickly!

    This would be why the Saniwa chose to send Yagen and Nikkari -- both are very highly mobile, and Tonbokiri is not. This becomes clear once they start moving. And when they do, they all three start moving as one -- clearly these three have fought before. They're also accustomed to going around allies in battle, since they are carefully weaving around the others fighting here.

    The tantou and the wakizashi whirl around the room like blurs, far faster than any human. Even the troopers in black would be hard-pressed to hit them. But hit the two of them these troopers do; in short order Nikkari is missing part of a sleeve, with angry blistered skin underneath from a well-placed shot, and one of Yagen's exposed legs is soon clipped by a blast as well.

    Even so, they serve as effective distraction targets, so that Tonbokiri can get closer. This falls to him because he has the longest reach of the three of them, and the highest strength. Of course, if the faster two of the three Touken Danshi can't avoid getting hit -- especially by those troopers in black -- Tonbokiri certainly can't; it's not long before one of his arms and part of his chest is burnt badly.

    And despite it all, he JUST KEEPS GOING. The rank-and-file troopers at least might end up being unnerved by this monster of a man, apparently human but just WILL NOT GO DOWN!

    Though the astute might also note that there are a handful of small spots on the blade of his spear that are glowing angrily. In fact, all three of the Touken Danshi's blades might be noticed to be doing the same. Each time one of them gets hit, another spot on the blade starts to glow...

    Turns out plastoid armor makes a poor defense against a demonically enhanced greatsword. This isn't exactly a surprise, but Dante's rage makes it even more deadly, as it cleaves through armor, flesh, and bone with ease. He lets out another feral screech, as he feels laser blasts strike him. It occurs to him that those black armored spec ops guys are a step above the usual stormtrooper. TUrns out, getting hit by blaster bolts STILL HURTS LIKE HELL. He growls as he tanks the spec ops' fire, and he begins to evade with lightning speed.

    Dante's wings carry him from point to point within eyeblinks, bringing him ever closer to the death troopers. Dante brings his sword out as he rushes one of the troopers, but at the last second the trooper actually evades that. So Dante just drops the sword and brings his guns out again.

    He and the trooper exchange a few strikes, rage causing Dante to seemingly ignore the hits as he brings his foot up and kicks the trooper into the air. Then he leaps up and unloads a hailstorm of fire on the poor soldier, shredding plastoid armor and flesh, before kicking him into the nearest building, leaving a bloody smear.

    Nearby troopers get shot too, each bullet from Ebony and Ivory leaving behind baseball sized holes in the armor as their wounds are seared by demonic energy.

    All the while, Dante's grinning like a madman, a fanged smile plastered all over his face as he goes from victim to victim.

Interesting fact--it's for times like this that Sonia sometimes uses this. It's focusing... everything she is into one point--something she had to use when fighting Dracula. Memories of that dances with what Gideon said moments before. Something that should not be known. 

In another time, men like these would be seen another way--men who just were following orders. But following the orders of a man like Gideon displayed himself to be? Sparing is not an option. She doesn't linger--moments in between she's wreathing the area around her in raw arcane energy that shreds--or outright halts--blaster bolts to give those she's fighting with a chance. Even if one hits her, it shimmers against the layer of light around her. One of those bursts from the black-armored trooper makes her pivot--not ignorant of the threat, but if anything making her redouble her onslaught--somersaulting backwards and practically dancing through the air before sending the length of whip towards that offending trooper--and with it, a flame that dances along it--the *snap* as it strikes his blaster-holding armor--

--causing it to suddenly bulge outwards from intense heat left in the wake of the armor being shattered there, the heat chasing down towards his weapon-holding fingertips and the whole thing *erupts*, reducing his arm and armor to little more than ash and cauterized flesh in it's wake. 

A twist in the air as she uses her somersault to use her whip to lash to part of building to pull her even further up--slingshotting her around and through a rain of blaster fire safely as she slings blasts of fire towards some of the rank and file--they might not have the aim, but she is cognizant that they're becoming a more numerous problem even as they fall, coming down on one unlucky stormtrooper feet first--and a sickening crunch in it's wake as she begins to work back towards the cantina. 

    It is apparent very quickly, that when it comes to sheer raw power... This group has even the Special Forces Troopers outmatched. The troopers in black go down just as well as the ones in white, but not without scoring a few more dangerous hits here and there. But really...
    In the face of a dragon's breath weapon, black plastoid melts just as easily as white.
    There are no innocents here. Not among the Empire's men as Piera shows how an Assassin can truly fight, and Li-Ming's summoned hydra shoots down more troopers and the trio of two swords and a spear maul aeverything in their path while Dante exchanges blows with a lucky trooper. That trooper isn't very lucky after a few hits. And Sonia... Sonia shows why her clan should stick to fighting the horrible things that go bump in the night. Normal men simply can't contend with that as she goes on the offensive.
    "Alright. I've had enough of this." Gideon can be heard, appearing in the chaos only briefly-- to aim his blaster pistol at the E-Web's generator. He squeezes the trigger.
    The resulting explosion shakes the ground and launches The Mandalorian through the air like a ragdoll before Gideon vanishes in the chaos once again.
    There's a lull in the battle. A brief silence as the group has completely cleared the square of stormtroopers. That silence is broken by a cough-- a wet gurgling splutter as The Mandalorian slumps against a nearby wall where he lands, bell completely rung.
    The sound of the rushing footsteps of more troopers coming to reinforce the area is only eclipsed by the shrill whine of a speeder bike, which comes shrieking down the street, blaster fire taking out more troopers on the way as an overly tall, gangly, lanky-as-hell droid disembarks the speeder bike, The Child resting on a chest harness attached to the droid and giggling from what was apparently a very fun, very fast, speeder bike ride.
    "Kuiil has been terminated." IG-11 notes solemnly. It is recommended to retreat inside the cantina and regroup beforre more Imperials return."
    Mando coughs and starts crawling for the door. He'll need some help getting inside. But once inside it's clear that... He won't be going far. That explosion was... It was powerful. If he's not mortally wounded, then he's at the very least a complete liability now as scrabbling fingers grasp for Juno's jacket.
    "That. really was Gideon." He says while IG-11 rips up several chairs and starts unwelding a grating that leads underground, The Child lingering close to the fallen Mandalorian.
    "I was a foundling. The Mandalorians raised me in the Fighting Corps. I was treated as one of their own. When I came of age I was sworn to the Creed... The only... Record of my family name was in the registers of Mandalore. Gideon was an ISB officer during the Purge." He explains between chokes, reaching for his neck. He pulls free a necklace... A Mythosaur skull shaped from pure beskar.
    "Juno, take this. --Take this. Show it to the Mandalorians in the sewers. Tell them Din Djarin sent you. You tell them the foundling was in my protection and they'll help you. I'm not gonna make it. Go."
    The sewer grating comes undone with a heavy CLANG as IG-11 kicks it in.
    "... Go. Let me have a warrior's death."

  Everything happens quickly.

  The lull that falls over the battle is enough to dissolve the heat of Juno's rage. The woman looks around, as though only just now aware of her surroundings, blasters lowering just in time to see Gideon aiming his weapon at the E-Web generator.

  "NO--!"

  Juno raises her own blasters to empty the charges at Gideon, but she's too slow. The only reason she's still alive is because Mando was between her and the generator; he's flung against a wall, and she's sent rolling into a graceless sprawl on the floor. Something that sounds suspiciously bone-like makes a sharp sound against the floor. She struggles to her feet, scrabbling over to Mando on hands and knees, coughing and wincing.

  "Mando." Juno sounds horrified, but she's right there to help him if he needs it. "Easy," she cautions, trying to help support that beskar armour. There's only so much she can do. He outweighs her even without the armour, she'd guess. "Don't exacerbate your wounds. Let me help you."

  As IG-11 deals with the grate, she focuses on helping keep Mando... well, reasonably upright, anyway. She listens in silence to his explanation. A hand reaches out to accept the pendant, as she holds it up to the light, eyeing both it and Mando as he relays his instructions.

  She seems to consider that.

  "No," she says simply, turning. "Help me," she implores the others. "I'll pay you if credits are what you want. Let's get him down there. Gently, though. He's going to need medical attention if we can get out of here alive."

  The Child might not like her being around. It might be that Juno's lucid, but that rage is still below the surface, tamped down and bottled until it can be uncorked and directed again, replaced now with a kind of clear-headed, wire-strung anxiety. Poor kid. General Eclipse just isn't a fun person for telepaths to be around.

    Piera takes a bolt to the shoulder from one of the SpecFor Troopers, going down with a pained grunt before she rolls back to her feet and retreats back into the cantina, showered by shrapnel from the E-WEB going critical. She even dips to help Mando inside. She says, softly as she places a weakened hand on Mando's Beskar-clad shoulder. "Many fall in the face of Chaos; but not you. Not today." She looks to Juno. "My left arm is broken in three places... I will try and support him from this side." she agrees, dipping to pull one of Mando's arms over her shoulder with her right arm to help drag him into the sewers if need be.

    A lull in the fighting... and someone's wounded! Yagen, the tantou-wielder, is immediately in motion. "Please lie still, I may still be able to assist you," he coaxes as he heads towards the Mandalorian. It's with a distinct limp, mind.

    Nikkari winces as well, his own wounds paining him. Yet all the says as he looks at the torn sleeve and blistered skin beneath? "Aa, how unsightly... and now Aruji will have to... replace my uniform..." Yeah, he's one of THOSE guys.

    For his own part, Tonbokiri is also moving to aid the Mandalorian. If he needs to be moved, the spear-made-human can assist in moving. His own injures do hurt, but the Mandalorian is more seriously wounded!

    Yagen looks to Juno. "I have medical training," he offers. "If he is huma-- I mean... biological, I may be able to assist, with the proper equipment."

    The red mist leaves Dante's eyes as his demonic form dissipates. He takes several long breaths, and he is about to say something witty as he grabs Rebellion as Gideon blows up the power pack to Mando's E-Web. The explosion knocks Dante off his feet, and in a panic he scrambles to his feet as he rushes toward where Dante landed.

    Reinforcements arriving, Dante thinks of holding them off, but retreats toward the bar.

    "Screw that." Dante says grimly. "We're not leavin' you."

    Explosion, silence, and for the first time, Hyouka runs out of targets. It will not last long. She swoops down to land with a last couple of flaps, before her fiery wings disperse entirely, and the spars retract into her back. The way she moves is far more graceful, far more... predatory, than is typical of her, for those who know her. But when she reaches the Mandalorian, the glances she gives to Dante and Juno are lucid, and the frown on her face is all too human. Kuiil terminated. Mando seemingly dying. The child is here, in the midst of danger. And more troopers are approaching.

    "...gh... if we didn't have to protect the child, I'd raze this town to the ground getting rid of those armored bastards." There's a low rumble deep in her throat, and her tail sways back and forth in agitation. "...but we need to stick with the little one." She doesn't like the thought of leaving. But if she stays here and someone goes after the kid, she'll never forgive herself.

    There's another glance at the Mandalorian, and then Juno, then a soft rumble. "...DARGN. Can I even disengage the FISTEAU like this?" The AI pipes up with a simple, "Yes. Just don't let go of that anger, or you'll lose your grip on all that power, too~." Hyouka glances out at the street, then makes an irritated noise.

    The armored claws around her hands quickly disassemble and fold themselves into her arms, but even after that, some of that black dragonscale remains along her arms and the backs of her hands. "Whatever you all decide, I can carry him. I could probably carry three of him."

    The sounds that come from burned and then harshly frozen armor are grating and tortured. The sounds from the people that previously occupied that armor are brief but equally miserable. Then they're quiet. Li-Ming shoots a savagely triumphant look up at Hyouka.

    There's a glimpse of that cocky man in black. She starts to point, teeth bared as she follows the line of his sight to that generator.

    Her ignorance of the outcome spoils her aim completely as a hissing, squealing red beam stabs into the wall of a nearby building and rakes upward before guttering out.

    The explosion necessitates a defensive posture from her, a barrier of rippling energy blunting the blast and saving her eardrums, potentially. "Damn that man!"

    Seeing both Mando and Juno tumbling out of the area most threatened by the blast, she almost roars with denial and outrage. Not again. NOT AGAIN NO.

    She steps lightly, skirting the worst of the damage and the child for sure as she looks down at the Mandalorian. "Agreed. I fear we must deny you this concession, warrior. You will live." Her declaration seems confident, almost a demand. She... Probably doesn't feel great to empaths or telepaths but she's keeping a brave face on. "Construct!" She turns away, storming over to where the IG droid is cutting at the grating. "Are you not medically trained?" What kind of nanny bot wouldn't be trained in some kind of nursing or healing?! "Go see to our wounded. I will finish the grating."

    No sooner than she's granted space she'll just vaporize the grate. Taking too long. Expedience is required!

"No." 

The moment it happens, it draws Sonia up short. She can sense it, feel it extant on her. Maybe it's due to something with the Child, or something in the midst of the flow of this conflict, that it's rapidly becoming a very bad hill to die on, as it were. 

Nonetheless, the quiet murmur leads to her breaking away from the fight almost immediately, and it does well to enlighten her as to more of what happened between the Mando and Gideon. Even a hint as to how Juno connected to it all, let alone Hyouka and the others. Yagen's offer of medical assistance *is* heard even as she approaches the Mandalorian. "Another time, I would respect your wish. However, others here will not, and it would do us no good to dawdle here any longer." The bloodied blonde brings her gauntleted hands together in a brief gesture of a prayer. 

A wintry blue light comes from her when she does this, as she spreads her hands outwards, gesturing, letting a swirling bit of chilling wind coiling and flowing through not just the Mandalorian, but even Dante, Piera, and Juno. Even the Child goes unspared, but the 'chill' of the wind is merely the first sensation of it, as the woman's healing ability pours out of her. 

She does spare a glance towards Hyouka. "We may well need your speed regardless, once we are below." as the healing finishes pouring out from her. Yagen's offer is probably best capitalized on once they're away somewhere safer, but Sonia's healing ought to ensure *everyone* gets to that point safely. 

    "Dank farrik." The Mandalorian grunts, dizzy with anger and pain. "I'll hold them off here. Long enough to buy you all some time, let me do that much." He says as Juno and Piera hoist him over shoulders. He's heavy. It's the beskar. Even without it though he'd probably be heavy when carried by two people who are also injured themselves.
    The poor Child is in the middle of all this, watching his father-figure get hoisted, surrounded by roiling raging emotions in pure turmoil. It's a wonder the little thing doesn't have a small conniption then and there, but perhaps its focus is mostly on Mando and his battered state; already making the little one distressed as it is.
    "I can perform a bacta infusion." IG-11 notes tonelessly to Li-Ming as she finishes with the grating. But... It might not be necessary. Not as Sonia performs some form of healing miracle that eases pain and reduces the severity of everyone's injuries.
    Mando heaves a heavy, weary, sigh.
    "Fine." he relents, defeated, as the group begins to clamber down into the sewer tunnels beneath the city.

  There is a loud crackling sound somewhere near Juno's ribs, and the old general blanches as she hefts one side of Mando and that absurdly heavy armour. A breath is hissed out between her teeth, but she doesn't give up her burden. Instead she looks past him to note where the Imperials are.

  "Dank farrik yourself," Juno counters, still tense and angry. But... "Thanks," she remembers to offer, to Piera. To her tally of wounds, she manages, curtly, "Cracked ribs. Maybe broken. Not sure if I dislocated a shoulder. I'll live. Come on, everyone; let's get on, before they decide to follow. Once more into the breach..."

  "On the other side," she tosses over her shoulder, to IG-11. "We're going to need it, but not here. Come on."

  Down she goes, grimacing all the way, and muttering a string of curses under her breath that might crisp the plating on that beskar helmet... well, as Gideon so conveniently pointed out, she was once part of the Imperial Navy. She learned to swear, there, too. And this situation definitely merits swearing, as far as she's concerned.

    Dante makes eye contact with the baby. And then he scoops up the little guy in his arms, when he realizes everyone else is a little occupied with doting over the Mando. "Hey little guy." He says as gently as he can, giving the child a pat on the head. One supposes he'll fill the roll of the baby's bodyguard while Mando's injured. "C'mon, little guy. Let's get down there..." And so, they go toward the sewers.

    The healing magic washes over Hyouka... and does nothing. Though enough magic runs through her body to make it close to a living thing, it is still artifice in the end. Those spots where clothes and skin have been scored away by blaster fire to reveal damaged armor and hints of artificial musculature underneath, they remain just as they are. But she's far less damaged than she would have been before her transformation, at least. The cyborg stares at her hand briefly, curling her scale-backed fingers; then, as Juno moves to try and lift the Mandalorian, the cyborg moves in on his other side. "Here, let me."

    Tonbokiri will be trying to ensure no one creeps up behind them as they escape into the sewers. Nikkari runs on ahead of the group, aiming to ensure they're not walking into a trap.

    And Yagen will be trying to assist with the Mandalorian as well as he can under the circumstances. Thankfully Sonia's healing magic will make that easier. And of course when IG-11 starts talking about some kind of healing technique he doesn't know anything about? Yeah, he's gonna be all over wanting to see that!

>> SUMMARY[Tonbokiri] >> Tonbokiri protects the rear, Nikkari goes on ahead. Yagen is geeking about a new healing technique he doesn't know but wants to learn!

    Having finished with the grate, Li-Ming turns to look on. Here is where she quails ever so slightly. Truly lending aid... Here's where she doesn't /really/ understand where to fit in. Fixing problems, eliminating threats... That's all fine. Getting hands on with things like injury or offering comfort to the wounded, dying just makes her wonder what to do. Even after seeing so much of it.

    So, when she offers she may come across as needlessly harsh. "If anyone else needs aid please say so now. The way appears to be clear below." She'll make way for Dante and the Child and then stop, regarding the scene with everyone trying to hoist Mando and his remarkable mass. She takes extra note of Juno and offers her right, unarmored arm. "If that vampire hunter's healing was insufficient, that droid construct indicated some capacity for healing. I would suggest you take my advice this time and accept medical attention."

    Still intense, still angry. Less unstoppered bottle of rage and more a roiling molten core of it. Waiting for an excuse!