The Battle for Caldera

[bravenewmods]

The time for action is at hand, and the players have been set in place. Those who choose to make an attempt at diplomacy head off at the appointed time to meet with Valeria, the clerk and representative of the general who leads the Gigas army. Those who wish to take more direct action against Gigas leave with General Ironbrand to put their plans into motion. In the meantime, the refugees continue to stream into Union, while supplies are gathered and flow the other way.

The outcome of this war may very well depend on the combined results of these four efforts…

((This log will be a catch-all for all four efforts of the attempt to save Caldera. There will be four different parts of this post: Diplomacy, Aggression, Refugees, and Supplies. The first two should be well established, but the Refugees portion will encompass bringing those in Caldera who require help to Union and giving them medical aid and care, while the Supplies portion will encompass people in Union setting up shelters and gathering resources to send back to Caldera, as well as other miscellaneous tasks that may be of help. Gathering resources may entail leaving Union to explore out in other areas. You all signed up for groups, so please try to maintain these groups when posting, particularly to the Diplomacy and Aggression sections. The other two may be more free-form.

Mods will be responding at least once every 24 hours to keep the logs moving.

EDIT 5/31: Please try to group up if possible! We'll generally try to wait for threads to have 2-3 people before we jump in. Threads with 3+ may attract the attention of something a little more... interesting.))

Comments

[bravenewmods]

Don't let them get away!

[Two soldiers leap at Lea, tackling him to the ground while two others take off after Roxas]

[thefloorislava]

Shit!

[Lea struggles under their grip. He snarls, then sets himself aflame] Get... off!! [One of the guards suddenly gets a full body tackle from a very angry gabite, his typing protecting him from much damage from Lea's little conflagration. Sharky doesn't consider himself much of a fighter, but like hell he's going to leave Lea high and dry. Especially with Robin no where to be found]

[meguriau]

[ Meanwhile Roxas continues to try and run from the two soldiers that are chasing after him and his Pokemon. He wants to go back and help Lea but he's not strong enough to do that. But in an attempt to slow them down Keeper and Sora both use Fairy Wind and Disarming Voice respectively. ]

[bravenewmods]

[The ferocity of Lea's attack is stunning, the first guard backs off while the second guard fumbles and releases a Sneasel who attacks the Gabite with Icy Wind as it emerges from its ball, Another soldier comes up behind Lea and smacks him in the back of his head with the butt of his rifle

Roxas fares a bit better, the dual attacks harassing the soldiers who fire their rifles, the shots wild and inaccurate as they start to fall behind.]

[thefloorislava]

[oops, well, that didn't work out well. Lea reels, his vision dark and blurry from the blow to his head. He does manage to stay awake, but only just. The world swims around him and he hears poor Sharky cry out from the very effective ice type attack on him. The gabite barely remains standing, and uses the chance to whip up a sandstorm to hide himself in.

Oddly enough, another soldier, face hidden by gear, sidles up behind the guard who hit Lea... then suddenly explodes in a wave of dark energy. Robin's Night Daze is a pretty powerful attack, now that he's recuperated from his fear and found his bravery]

[meguriau]

[ Roxas wants to go back and at least stay closer to Lea but has little choice but do the opposite as he tries to find a hiding place from the soldiers as they fall behind while avoiding the shots (thankfully that was easy enough with how inaccurate they are).

But not before Keeper uses a Metal Sound, more to cause a noise than to lower their special defenses. ]

[bravenewmods]

[The combination of the Metal Sound, Night Daze, and Sandstorm throws off both the attacking soldiers and the pursuing soldiers - if only for a few moments. Roxas and Axel both have the opportunity to act freely.]

[thefloorislava]

[the sand seems to clear and Sharky is no longer anywhere to be seen. Where he was standing, there's just a hole in the ground, deep and dark. Lea manages to sit up, his vision still blurred. Robin helps him to his feet. Lea makes a quick motion to grab Roxas and pull him back close.

He then surrounds himself, Roxas. and their pokémon in a circle of flames several feet high]

How far does that teleportation of yours reach, Roxas? I want you to use it to get out of here. Take Robin with you and run. Alright? I don't know how long this fire will hold them off.

[meguriau]

[ Roxas was glad that he was able to circle around to where Lea could grab him when the soldiers were distracted. But he could only frown when he hears Lea's idea. ]

... 500 feet. But can only teleport myself.

[ Keeper jingles her keys and Sora flicks his tail, both giving the impression that if they have to they'll go into the warp band. But Robin was another story. ]

[bravenewmods]

[While they're talking, the soldiers start to recover. Some blind shots are fired into the fire field, coming dangerously close to the duo.]

[thefloorislava]

[Lea intensifies the heat of the flames, sending out a few tendrils to shoo the soldiers away.

Urgh. He'd been afraid of that... He narrows his eyes, thinking. Then he gestures to Robin]

You. Stay with me. You're my strongest friend, and I need backup. But if it gets hairy...

[Robin doesn't seem too happy about it, but he nods in response]

Alright. Roxas? Run for it. Get your Pokémon to safety. [Lea shouts into the hole in the ground] SHARKY! [the Gabite pokes his head up, blinking. Lea tosses him a dried sitrus berry from his pocket to help recoup some of the damage from Icy Wind] You go home. [Warp Banded!]

Now, on my count of three, I'm going to explode this shield and I want you to teleport as far as you can.

One... two.... three!! Go!

[Lea does as he said he was going to do, sending the ring of flames explosively outward]

[meguriau]

[ Roxas complies and brings back Sora and Keeper into his warp band. Then on the third count he teleports as far away as he could from the area just as directed. ]

[bravenewmods]

[The Soldiers are flung away by the exploding shield. As they recover, some of them start moving forward to encircle Lea]

Take him alive if you can, looks like the bugger's on his last legs. The doctor'll want to examine him.

[thefloorislava]

Like hell you are!

[Lea will fight until he can't move anymore. And Robin didn't wait for a command. Instead, he raises his arms and smashed them down, unleashing another shockwave of Night Daze. Lea himself pulls his weapons, twin chakrams cloaked in flame. he vanishes in a flash of darkness, reappearing behind the group of soldiers. His teleportation skills weren't as advanced as Roxas'; that was about as far as he could go. But he hoped it would surprise them enough that his thrown chakrams will catch them off guard.]

[bravenewmods]

[Unfortunately, they're starting to get used to his tricks. While the Night Daze definitely does some damage, before he can launch his chakrams he takes two successive rifle butts to the face]

[thefloorislava]

[At least one thing worked. But it was a powerful attack, and Robin couldn't just spam it all the livelong day. The rifle butts connect, giving Lea a few painful, bleeding injuries and another fuzzy head. He falls to the ground, and his weapons clatter beside him.

Robin gets between his friend and the soldiers, bristling his fur and growling ferociously. But this was bad. Real bad. And Lea didn't want Robin to die here just because Lea had made a stupid mistake]

Sorry, bud. T...time for you to go home...

[though blood stings his eyes, Lea manages to find the right button on his warp band. Robin protests, but the sound is cut off as he is warped back to Union, back to safety, leaving Lea alone.

At the very least, Lea sets himself ablaze. If these bastards were going to try and grab him, they were going to get burned at the very least]

[bravenewmods]

"Net him! Don't let him get away!"

Two strong nets are launched at Lea. They both appear to be somewhat flame resistant, whatever it is he's not burning them nearly as well as he probably should at the current rate of his flame.

[thefloorislava]

The nets weigh him down, and Lea is captured. He's running out of energy, and he's not sure he can beat this one. His chakrams are out of reach and weren't responding to his call. Even the shadows weren't offering an easy escape, he couldn't focus enough to use them. Was this going to be the end for him? The flames die down a bit.

What a shitty way to go out.

[bravenewmods]

[One of the guards sneers at Lea and smacks him across the mouth with his rifle for good measure]

This one's caught. Go find his friend, he can't have gotten far.

[thefloorislava]

[Lea is content to let things go dark. Well, perhaps not content. He was still young, after all. He had a lot he wanted to do with his life, still. Perhaps "resigned" was a better word. Yeah. Resigned, he thought to himself.

That is, until he hears them say they're going after Roxas. Roxas, who was still a little off in the head. Roxas, who was lost in an unfamiliar and unfriendly city. Roxas, who Lea had sworn to protect.

He feels something well up inside, a heat, a light, that starts at his core and works its way all the way to his fingers and toes. Like lightning. On the outside, it just looks like Lea's started to glow, dimly at first and mostly in his eyes, then so bright that it was blinding]

Don't... don't you DARE TOUCH HIM!

[Lea suddenly erupts in a swirling vortex, a column of fire thirty feet high. The nets, and anyone standing less than five feet away, are reduced to ash in a matter of seconds. Lea stands up, shaky on his feet. Claws have burst from his fingers and toes, destroying his shoes in the process. A long tail whips behind him, with a row of spines and a bright flame at the end. He snarls, showing fangs. And behind him, ferocious flames in the shape of wings silhouette him.

He doesn't pick up his weapons. Instead, he digs his new claws into the ground. The earth below him rumbles, then starts to melt.

THE FLOOR IS LAVA!]

[bravenewmods]

[Cocky sneers suddenly turn into screams of pain and horror as several soldiers are incinerated instantly. The rest turn to flee, several nursing severe burns from Lea's eruption]

[thefloorislava]

You won't get away!

[Lea's "wings" flare, and he surrounds the fleeing soldiers in a barricade of flame. A barricade that closes in on them. It doesn't burn as hot as the fire of his evolution, but it was still a good blast. And it was still eating up the oxygen in the immediate vicinity at an alarming rate]

[bravenewmods]

[Several of the soldiers start screaming in pain or choking in the air. One of them falls to the ground, fear stamped on his face and tears streaming down his cheeks]

Please! Please! Have mercy!

[thefloorislava]

[Lea approaches his prey, each swish of his tail making a loud "fwoosh" sound, like a torch in the wind. His lips are drawn back in a snarl]

Mercy?

[What a stupid request it was. Lea felt no compassion for these people. They were going to hunt down Roxas. They were going to give them both over to be experimented on, and probably kill their pokémon if they had been captured.

... Ah. Their pokémon. If he burned these fools alive, their pokémon would perish as well. He reduces the flames so that they won't pass out, but it rages too hot to be passed]

You pieces of garbage. If you release your pokémon right now, I'll let you go.

[bravenewmods]

[The men scramble over themselves to throw out their Pokeballs and release their Pokemon, who flee the scene almost immediately]