bravenewworld | The Raids

The Raids

[As the people of Union begin to move out into the plains, they'll find that the Councilor's warnings were apt. Though not everyone is targeted, it isn't long before a few unlucky travelers find themselves on the receiving end of the same type of attack. The bandits, whoever they might be, are experts at swooping out of the blue, striking so swiftly that the victims almost never even catch a glimpse of them.

How exactly will they put this to a stop? There's so many, it seems impossible to take them out one group at a time... Perhaps they have a base somewhere.]

((This post is for both groups who wish for mods to run and players to thread freely amongst themselves. You may feel free to handwave having been attacked and thread the aftermath of that event. Please respond to the appropriate section depending on where your character is. Thanks!))

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As soon as Hotaru felt the power of Teleport washing over her, she shifted into her Absol form. She'd been training hard for these fights, but she'd done most of that training in her Pokémon form.

When they appeared at the forest's edge with Rise, she's ready to go, eyes sharp and taking in the scene. There's a Pokémon, yes, but there's also a woman leaping from it, towards.... Haruka, who's already deftly stepped in to block the bandit.

She responded to Haruka with a simple "Right!" Of course, they could also get information from the Pokémon, thanks to a certain somebody in their group being able to communicate with them. See, she was useful!

But best to make sure that Pokémon wouldn't be interrupting and backing up its trainer first and foremost, that was the priority here. She didn't know many moves that could reach a Pokémon in the air, but she readied herself to meet it with a Night Slash if it dove in, and called in Lilah, her newly-evolved Gothitelle to take care of it in the meantime. "Lilah, use your Psychic attack!"

Her Gothitelle gave a curt nod before launching the psychic assault at the Pidgeot.

[The Pidgeot takes the blast of attacks and stalls, falling to the ground. The woman who just jumped down is holding a giant club, more branch of wood than actual club. She now looks a bit nervous, clearly she wasn't counting on this

Rise stands up (after Haruka has moved over her, of course, wouldn't want this to get any more awkward), brushes herself off, and puts on a winning smile as Himiko moves in front of her and focuses her Calm Mind. Kaneda, for his part, hunkers down in the grass, ready to pounce on the raider and start nibbling ankle.

"Sorry, I was just practicing my damsel act. If you want to surrender, now'd be a really good time."

Rise makes the offer as she tries to assess the Raider, mostly wondering if she was an Enlightened or not.

Reuniclus swoops down to try to keep Pidgeot pinned to the ground, exerting force through its psychic plasma arms; normally it wouldn't use techniques like this, but it's learned a few things from its new Trainer. (It won't hesitate to subdue the Pidgeot with a Psychic attack proper should Pidgeot show more resistance than expected, however.)

Haruka does the same for the woman - "We can help with that" - attempting to take advantage of her target's nervousness to knock the club out of her hands with one sweep of her own arm; if she's successful, she'll turn the maneuver into an attempt to grab the woman's now-empty hand and pin her arm behind her back. Was there really just one raider this time? Odds this good make her nervous. They're too good to be true.

Haruka doesn't look over at Hotaru, but she trusts the girl to move. The bird should be subdued for the moment, and Rise and her Pokémon have Haruka covered as she deals with the raider. If the smaller girl wants to try the Pidgeot angle for interrogations, be her guest.

With Haruka's friend, Reuniclus, pinning down the airborne Pokémon, and Haruka and Rise dealing with the human, Hotaru figured out what could best use her expertise. She kept her senses open for anybody who would interrupt them, but otherwise moved towards the Pidgeot.

Speaking in the Pokémon's language, she said, "I think your friend," or trainer, "is giving up. How about you?"

Gothitelle, meanwhile, simply kept her own watch. She had defensive spells to use if something attacked, and offensive if something else showed up.

[There's the loud rush of air as two more Pidgeot come screaming by, attacking Haruka and Hotaru with a Quick Attack]

You'd think a Psychic-type would have seen that coming, but...

"There's two more of them! Knock them out of the air, okay?" Rise says.

Himiko nods and turns its attention to one of the new Pidgeots, raising her hands and attempting to mind-wrestle it into the ground with Psychic. Rise keeps her eye on the previously-cornered raider, in an impressive degree of focus. Probably because she didn't have giant pigeons dive-bombing her, really.

....and there's the calvalry. The bird's talons hit Haruka in the face; she staggers, grip loosening on her captive raider. If she recovers in time to keep the woman from escaping, however, she won't just reform her hold, she'll grab onto the woman's shoulder with her other arm and attempt to force her to the ground, ignoring the blood now trickling down the side of her face. She plants a knee on the woman's back to keep her down. She needs to get her prisoner secure and an arm free so that she can summon more Pokémon! What's more, if Hotaru has any chance of getting information out of their other captive, she has to buy the girl time. To do that, she'll gladly present a more imposing target.

"Don't give up!" she barks at Hotaru. One more try. They'll give this one more try before having to deal with these new distractions.

Reuniclus apparently doesn't care that its Trainer is under attack. It was told to keep this Pidgeot subdued. It is subduing this Pidgeot.

Edited 2014-07-30 12:50 (UTC)

Hotaru was caught by surprise as well, but thankfully her Gothitelle was prepared in case somebody else showed up, throwing a Psychic attack at the Pokémon coming Hotaru's way.

"Lilah! You focus on those two!" Knowing her friend could handle it, Hotaru turned her attention back to the captive Pidgeot. "And you! We need information. If you can tell us what we need to know, I promise that it'll make everything easier for all of you."

Her Gothitelle, meanwhile, was gearing up to send a Psybeam at the two reinforcements - the one that attacked Hotaru if it was going to be coming around again, and the one that attacked Haruka if not.

[Himiko and Lilah's dual attacks blast the Pidgeot out of the sky, but another shape leaps off and falls on Rise, bringing down a huge club with great speed at her head.

The woman under Haruka's foot, however, smiles grimly. Haruka feels the weight under her foot shift as the woman seems to vanish. She then finds herself surrounded by a blur of afterimages as the woman moves quickly around her. A third woman leaps off her Pidgeot as it takes the Psybeam and comes down on Lilah, this one holding a giant hammer]

Only flailing and luck had saved Rise from the first death-from-above attack, and she knew she wasn't going to get lucky a second time. In the split-second before getting her head smashed, Rise managed to have an idle thought about how self-defense classes would be a really good idea if she's going to continue trying out superheroics.

Fortunately, in that same split-second, Himiko used Protect, blunting the impact of physical attacks in the group. This had the fortunate effect of reducing the attack on Rise from KO, possible coma, and end of any non-radio acting career to a bruising assault that lays her flat and leaves her seeing stars.

That speed - an Enlightened? Haruka whips around in search of her escaped prey, foot out in a kick that she hopes will connect with the woman's head if she's sensing the enemy's location right. Either way, as soon as she's turned around, her Warp Band's shooting out two more signals. If the enemy's calling in reinforcements, so are they.

Her Honchkrow and Rhyhorn appear, ready for action (and hopefully flanking their target). "So antisocial," says Haruka, tense and ready to track sudden movements. "We just want to talk."

And hopefully the others can handle their own assailants. She'd rather not have to babysit.

Lilah steps back for a moment, throwing her arms in front of her and launching a Psychic attack that she hoped would knock back her would-be attacker.

Hotaru reacted quickly too, but she wasn't about to take her eyes off the captive Pidgeot they had, especially with the human somehow escaped from Haruka. Instead, she calls in her own reinforcements, her Litwick arriving via warp band. "Celosia, trap her in a Fire Spin!"

Between being hit with a Psychic attack and being caught in a Fire Spin, hopefully this woman would be out of the picture.

Edited 2014-08-02 04:22 (UTC)

Rise feels the grasp of a strong, callused hand on the back of her shirt, and then she feels the point of a steel blade at her throat.

"Everyone stand down."

The woman who had attacked Haruka notes she's surrounded, but gives her a cocky grin and stands perfectly still, although Haruka can see wind swirling around her feet. Meanwhile, the woman who attacked Lilah is entrapped in the Fire Spin and takes the blast from the Psychic. However, a blast of powerful wind disperses the flames not too long after, leaving the woman standing, albeit charred and breathing heavily.

Rise's surprised - in addition to the surprise of someone grabbing her and putting a knife to her throat, that is. She's surprised that in addition to the mind-blanking terror of suddenly having her life threatened, a small part of her mind also feels really annoyed that she's suddenly gotten herself in trouble for real. It's embarrassing.

Himiko immediately focuses her attention on her partner's assailant, but doesn't move yet. There's only so much psychic powers can do in a hostage situation.

"Sorry guys...," Rise says to the rest of the group, while trying to think of a way out of this. If anyone has any ideas just, uh, think at me...

Flying-type Enlightened. Well, that's just great. Haruka's most powerful attacks are all Ground-based, which puts her at a disadvantage here....

Except...maybe not. She's got a Rock-type on the field, and Rise has a trump card no one appears to have thought of yet. Hopefully the trip they've already taken won't have tired Rise's Gardevoir out too much. Time for a new trap. Haruka'll be the bait.

"Tch." Scowling, Haruka lowers her hands ever so slightly, though her Pokémon stay where they are. "Is this it? Or are you cowardly enough to fight more than one-on-one in addition to taking a hostage?"

What are you doing? she thinks in response to Rise's mental query. Isn't my ride good for more than one trip?

Rise's along for this mission in part because her Gardevoir knows Teleport. And Haruka spends enough time with other Psychic-types to have nothing but a healthy respect for that attack. As soon as Rise's out of the way, she'll have World Shaking unleash a Rock Blast on the enemy. In the confusion, Hotaru and her team should be able to get in a few more hits, too...and then maybe they can end up with a hostage again. But the odds are worse than they thought. This'll have to be their last gamble. She's not risking the others' safety on a fight they can't win.

The woman sneers.

"You guys are tough customers. Under normal circumstances we'd happily tangle with you all day, but we've got places to be. Drop your weapons and supplies, then step away. We'll take those in exchange for the girl."

Right. Okay.

Rise would take a deep breath, but that's not a good idea when there's a knife to your throat. She digs her fingernails into her palms instead to steady herself.

Himiko, I'm going to distract her, then you come over and teleport me next to Haruka, okay?

Himiko replies mentally, and then Rise starts crying.

Loudly.

Bawling, snivelling, I-am-either-dying-or-eight-years-old-and-want-a-Ponyta crying, complete with unintelligible wailing. At the same time, Himiko quietly floats up and, if the hostage-taker is sufficiently distracted, tries to Teleport Rise out of her grip.

Haruka only has time to unconsciously note that the raiders' goal was supplies - that's new information - before Rise bursts into tears and she suddenly appreciates that everyone in the Divine Defense Force gets roped onto the stage. So this is the power of a super idol, huh? She'll take it.

The moment she sees Himiko make her move, Haruka does too: World Shaking shoots off a Rock Blast, and Haruka tries to hit the nearest raider with an Aerial Ace. "Move!" she yells to Hotaru and the other Pokémon on the field; they do still have one Pidgeot captive, but if it breaks free during the retreat she's fine with calling this a draw. She learned these people are after supplies, not kidnappings for kidnappings' sake, and the way they fight rules them out as Gigas agents. It doesn't make sense, but Hotaru and Rise's safety comes first. She'll cover for them until they can get away.

"GUH!"

The maneuver takes the woman completely by surprised and she's knocked back as it hits.

"Damn it!"

Retreating back, they hop back onto their birds, leaving the one captured by the group alone with two of the raiders doubling up.

"Not bad ladies. We'd love to stick around but this isn't a winning fight for us. Ta!"

And with that they take flight, moving quite rapidly.

Blinking away disorientation as she and Himiko materialize next to Haruka, Rise brushes herself off and watches the raiders retreat.

"I am so ashamed that that worked."

Haruka smirks. Don't be like that, Rise. She'll compliment your acting as soon as she's satisfied this mission is concluded.

Seriously, though, those raiders aren't much for loyalty. They aren't sticking around for their Pidgeot. Haruka sighs and turns to Hotaru. "It's not talking?" she asks.

They'll only make things worse if they take this captive back with them - that'd be letting the enemy inside Union, even if under lock and key. If they can't get any useful information out of this Pidgeot, best to just let it take wing.

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The Raids

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