[h2][center]Geralt of Rivia[/center][/h2] [center]Limsa Lominscuttle Town- The Black Bay [/center] [center]Lvl 6 (69/60) -> Friend Heart Lvl 6 (71/60) [/center] [center]Word Count: 1,150 words[/center] It worked. That was the overwhelming thought in Geralt's mind for a moment. A wave of healing energy washed over the Helmaroc King, the wounds it had been dealt closing themselves rapidly before his very eyes. Of course, he couldn't give that the attention it would have deserved otherwise, given that he was still split between keeping himself from falling and maintaining Axii's control over the bird-like monster. Thankfully, the effort required was not [i]as[/i] great as he expected, meaning that this really was essentially just a really big bird. He was still careful not to lose his balance, though, and that meant he was only able to get a general picture of the situation on the water's surface. Things were going well for the Blue Team, especially compared to when he'd first mounted the bird. He wouldn't quite pat himself on the back for this insane plan helping to free up the Atomos to help Shippy, because he saw that the waterborne ship's own team had done quite a bit on their own to improve the situation. What he would pat himself on the back for was the startled cries of a horde of Abyssals as they were ripped from the water in the talons of the great Helmaroc King and crushed into dust and Spirits, which poured out of the open-air cage their hosts had perished in and back to the surface of the water. Geralt was very, very careful not to stray too close to either ship, and even more careful to stay out of the line of fire of the Navy, lest they mistake him for an enemy in the chaos of the fight. As the battle raged, Geralt found he could fluctuate the intensity of the flow of power to his Axii Sign, allowing him to 'rest', if only for a few moments here and there. It was shortly after one such moment that he had the Helmaroc King slow and keep pace as it flew over the Atomos. "Hey!" He called to those below who could hear him. "It worked!" He laughed, happier than the others had seen him since his brief reunion with Yennefer. "Now let's- " And that was when it happened. The Demon of Kwolok Harbor showed itself. "Oh but of course!" Geralt shouted as he saw the massive monstrosity slaughtering Shipgirls, about other Abyssals like they were playthings, and otherwise wreaking havoc on their allies. "Time to go." He simply stated, ordering his mount to fly high, high above the others so that he could get a better look at their current situation. Whatever advantage he could glean might very well be necessary to turn the tide once more in their favor. Their goal was the river at the top of the crescent-shaped island, and the massive fuck-off Shipmonster was in between them and it. Sure, they could let the Navy bleed to death slamming their corpses against it and sneak around, but that left the possibility of reinforcements chasing them once their allies were slaughtered, which it certainly looked like they would be without further assistance. Whatever Shippy did before would likely be either frowned upon by the allies they were trying to help, conveniently ineffective, or too resource-intensive to do again, so he wouldn't count on it. Still, if the living vessel was capable of unleashing that power in a more focused manner again, it might do to factor it as a potential backup plan. The Atomos was slower than before with the added armor and weapons, and its maneuverability wasn't fantastic, but it was a single ship, albeit a flying one, making it theoretically possible to load the whole crew on board, send Shippy back, and just fly past the fighting. He had a feeling that wouldn't fly with some of the others, but the plan [i]was[/i] to get them past and into the heart of the enemy's territory. Wasting time-and possibly their lives-bogged down in the fight here wasn't exactly conducive to that plan. The more heroically-minded members of their team would probably resist, even if they ultimately acquiesced, as well. No, the best plan was one that took one or both of the Abyssal's biggest players off the board, allowing the Navy to fulfill their portion of the plan to the best of their abilities. The Princess that sent the bombers, and whatever the hell the new freak that showed its face was. Both, ideally, needed to go down. The sheer volume of armaments on both of them made attacking from above less than ideal, unless he could get directly above them without being detected. That itself would be somewhat of a challenge, but if he could pull it off, he [i]might[/i] be able to drop onto them and do some serious damage with bombs and blade. But it was risky, probably even riskier than this scheme he'd pulled off. Sizing Bowser up was a possibility, but given the Abyssals' superior aquatic mobility, they'd need to devote resources to neutralizing that advantage. The Navy could assist on that front, true, but it could leave them vulnerable to reprisal from lesser Abyssals. Ideally, Blue Team would be able to handle these opponents themselves. Cadet had that bow he was now using, in addition to close-quarters skills, Link was a ferocious swordsman with a few extra tricks Geralt still didn't quite understand up his sleeve. Hat Kid was bouncing around, seemingly with an answer to all of life's problems in the form of some kind of hat. That Frog guy had fought the Sorceress seemingly well, and hadn't gotten killed against the Abyssals yet, so he could help keep Shippy afloat. Blazermate could seriously power up somebody, but that would leave Shippy vulnerable while she did it. Nadia was new and a relatively unknown factor to the Witcher, but she seemed to be pretty damned resilient, and certainly not a bad shot with those cannons. Of course, there was also Sakura, Junior, and Kamek, but those three Geralt felt he had a good read on. For now, Peach was away from the fight as well, but she'd fused with a Shipgirl, so there was the possibility of using her to help box in the Abyssal leaders with Bowser, he supposed. The Witcher had ideas, but nothing solid. No cohesive way to blend these abilities together to take their foes down. It frustrated him, the guy who'd taken up the mantle of workshopping this invasion plan with Kamek and the other Shipgirl commanders (though it felt that they had little input on the overall strategy, just serving to give them some info). He stayed up, watching, waiting to figure out some weakness, some flaw in their opponent's formations, [i]anything[/i] he could use against them. There was always a way. Always something to exploit. And he'd find it, or his name wasn't Geralt of Fucking Rivia.