[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/5r7OTIh.png[/img]
[b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1482 (+3) (+11)
[b][color=Aquamarine]Midna: level 8[/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aquamarine]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](136/80)
[b][color=Aquamarine]Location:[/color][/b] Kunad Highway
[color=Aquamarine]Warp Charges:[/color] 1 (+1 from fight reward)
[hider=warp locations]
Virgin Victory teleport room
Top of the Split mountain
Outside the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage
Tostarena Town
[/hider]
[/center]

[color=Aquamarine]”Hey! Did ask specifically how bad it was gonna be, give me some credit”[/color] Midna retorted when she was accused of being optimistic about taking on the whole city. It wasn’t like she wanted that to happen after all. That said [color=Aquamarine]”If it's any cold comfort, it is that if a consul is around to brand them as a public enemy, then it's not like we’re alone in that department. With how bad this threefold crisis and internal conflict is, I’ll be amazed if they have much left to spare to send after us if it comes to that. So we’re bugs in the dark, hiding front he boots, but there's way bigger things for the boots to worry about than a bunch of bugs scurrying around this town, and that’s something”[/color] 

She also took that moment to fill them in on what she could do [color=Aquamarine]”When it comes to gear, I’m good with close combat weapons, have guns but no real training with them, lots of experience riding and some in driving. Then I have some lighting, sand, dragon, shadow, summoning and giant hand magic. Pretty much the works. So I’m pretty versatile, in no small part thanks to all the spirits I’ve fused with”[/color] 

[color=Aquamarine]”But what’s probably the most unique is that I can do this”[/color] she waved a hand and summoned a stack of crates out of the twilight realm, the boxes all neatly stacking up in an instant right next to her [color=Aquamarine]”which is to say, I can store objects in the twilight realm, with some pretty big upper limits too. No people though, they turn into beasts, and even animals get warped a bit, though I can also set up portals that can let us travel long distances safely. Once we’re settled, I’ll probably set one up, which would let me link back up with base via a … pretty convoluted rout I admit”[/color] 

She’d have to jump to the virgin victory just outside Garudo town, then through the metro to twilight town, then through warp graffiti back to smash city, to be exact.

[color=Aquamarine]”and I need to be there to bring people with me so it’s somewhat limited in usage, but I could make a trip to get mercenary reinforcements if we need them... Anyway, point is, if you need stuff stashed, I’m your princess”[/color] she asserted, before she started tapping each box to banish them crates home again.

[color=Aquamarine]”Princess Midna, to be exact”[/color] she added, realizing she hadn’t actually introduced herself [color=Aquamarine]”nice to meet you all”[/color]

Then, once she’d tidied up, she had a think about all the info they’d gotten, the princess borrowing a chair and lounging in it, legs crossed at the ankles hanging over one arm rest while she folded her hands behind her head and had a ponder about what they should do.

Three big threats, three big forces opposing them, and any one of them or the government themselves could be harboring the guardian. It was interesting to see that the same robots from the desert were also here, but in far greater numbers. Or perhaps they had just skimmed the edge of their territory down there and gotten lucky. Something to inform home base about, she thought. 

Still, she left any follow up about that to Geralt, as it was, sort of, now his purview given he was the one who had asked.

So she kept her talk and commentary to the rebel groups, at least initially.

[color=Aquamarine]”Can’t say any of those rebels are any more reliable sounding than the one back in the desert”[/color] she had to admit, but she did give each their own time, talking as much to herself as she was with the Twins.

[color=Aquamarine]”The goals of the first group, this Avalanche, are just irrelevant, seeing as, if we win, then this false tapestry of a world won’t exist anymore in a week or two. So who cares if it harms a planet that soon won’t exit, unless we are close to some kind of breaking point”[/color] she said, somewhat unkindly, even if she could see how such a thing would be worth fighting for otherwise. Which was a plus [color=Aquamarine]”Still, as objectives go, saving the planet sounds like a noble one, so I’d guess the people in it might be just and principled, to an extent, so if we remove Galeem’s blinding light from their eyes and point them at the true threat maybe we could co-opt them for our own cause pretty easily”[/color] 

[color=Aquamarine]”Second, the hermits… are just an endemic failure of the government made manifest. I’ve read about this kind of stuff, where the people don’t feel safe, they form their own, inevitably corrupt and crime ridden, militias and gangs to protect themselves. If we free them, they’ll still mostly care about their own communities, which is kinda fair, but basically just makes them not worth pursuing as direct allies”[/color] Midna said, basing all this on her royal education rather than any real world experience. The thought of using them to acquire some of that hoarded gear at blackmarket rates did not even cross her mind.

[color=Aquamarine]”As for the third, this ‘reunion’? I’d fold them in as part of the Chimeras crisis. A symptom that we need to fight the disease to resolve”[/color] Minda said simply. Did she feel bad about these effective plague victims? Yes. But that did not mean they should not be treated as such, even if she imagined the regime was likely far more heavy handed than it needed to be. 

The other, smaller groups or individuals were not exactly worth considering seeking out, other than, perhaps, as people who could be attracted into the fold of whatever organization they ended up being a part of.  

So, if it came to groups to join, and who’s resources to use, that left the government agencies, which apparently they could likely sign up with without worrying about being arrested the moment they tried. The requirements for becoming members of Psych-OSF and Neuron sounded pretty specific to her, psychic powers and seeing the unseen, so that left just Desperado Enforcement as the easy option.

For them, however, the newly caught up Riden added some more details that shot down that possibility in her mind, namely by shoving them from the ‘helpful’ column into the ‘problem to be dealt with’ column.

[color=Aquamarine]”Huh, and I was just about to suggest shacking up with them would be a good idea. Never mind then”[/color] she said, and in hindsight, the whole recruiting of those who have nowhere else to go sounded very shady. 

[color=Aquamarine]”In that case, I have … three suggestions”[/color] The princess said after a bit more ruminating, before she stood up and found a suitable location to address the rest of the party.

[color=Aquamarine]”First is co-opting Avalanches, if we can find them. We get them onside, and we get access to a well armed force and, hopefully, whatever dirt or information they have on the city, which might let us work out if the regime is hiding anything Guardian shaped”[/color] she explained, before jumping straight into the potential downsides that that plan might have [color=Aquamarine]”Course, problem with that is if we get found working with them, or them for us rather, then doing anything with the government gets next to impossible, and even just fighting the crises with them is itself hard, because any time they show up we risk it becoming a three way fight”[/color] 

[color=Aquamarine]”Basically, I think they’d be good long term, once we’re out of the city, but in it, might be more trouble than they are worth. Depends what we can get them to bring to the table”[/color] she summarized

[color=Aquamarine]”Second is we try and get into Neuron, assuming we can get magic or machines from them that let us see these invisible foes and we aren't barred from joining because we can’t do that on our own. They are fighting the biggest danger, might have some principles, while also having some regime connections. If we’re going to join one of the government groups, I’d go for them”[/color] the princess explained, before adding [color=Aquamarine]”Again, if we even can”[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”Lastly, and I think this is my preference, we go our own way. Kinda. We make our own mercenary company, we make a name for ourselves by going on the offensive against the robots, because they are the only ones whose origins we actually know and can attack directly at the moment. Plus, some of us have experience fighting them from when we met some of them in the desert south of here. Assuming we can pull something off, we use the clout from that success to get government funding, and maybe muscle in on Desperado’s own funding and importance in the process to try and break that threat as well, or at least weaken them. Maybe absorb some of the other smaller ones if they have any potential or principles while we’re at it. Go from being just a bunch of roaches to an actual force for good in the city”[/color] 

[color=Aquamarine]”Those are my ideas anyway”[/color] the princess conclude, before saying [color=Aquamarine]”ok, floors open again, thanks for listening”[/color] and returning to her chair to wait and see what people thought, and what other ideas they might have come up with.