[center][abbr=Pit][img]https://i.ibb.co/7VzgY22/pit.png[/img][/abbr]
Word Count: 1254 (+3 exp)
[u]Level[/u]: [b]5[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 160/50
[b]Location[/b]: Dystopiascape - Midgar, Suoh
[sub][color=lightgray]ft. [@Lugubrious] as Luka[/color][/sub][/center]
Just when it seemed things would be winding down, other factions within the city stirred. It was a constant at this point, every day for the few days the Seekers had been there something was going on. And now, a new rebellion. It was impossible to miss the broadcast, what with all of the monitors around the area - plus it was actually viewable by non-psychics. Pit watched the man on the screen, listened to his words, and did his best to understand them. General Karen was intense, but he condemned the city's corrupt leadership and spoke of awakening, freedom. Although Pit might not know much about Midgar and frequently found himself confused with the vast political web cast over, he could tell that the people in charge were bad guys. Most of the people that wanted to replace the guy in charge were also bad guys. So Karen, who opposed all of them, must have been a good guy... or, at least, less of a bad guy.

Moreover, going off of what Luka and Yuito said the general had found a way into the deepest part of the city. That was where the Seekers needed to go, wasn't it? One of Galeem's Guardians was there. If at all possible Pit wanted to help the people of this city, but the campaign against Galeem was their main priority. If Karen already knew the way, and had even secured the space, that would be a huge step forward for the Seekers! Plus he must know something about the whole "turning people into Others" thing, he'd mentioned it himself. They could learn how to turn Princess Peach back to normal!

The caveat being if the man was an ally. 

Pit approached Luka. The angel was tired, his clothes dirtied and torn from battling since morning, and his wounds only just healed over from Roxas' magic, but his eyes were bright, curious, and hopeful.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Ka-ren. He knows about the Others and everything, do you think he knows who's behind it? How to get to them or stop them or...!"[/color]

He then stopped himself, recalling a piece of information from a couple of days ago. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I mean, we should try and meet up with him either way! We could help him, team up. He's your brother, right?"[/color] 

Luka remained quiet following Pit's first question, the gears turning in his head. His expression made his internal conflict clear enough, but the angel's follow-up brought the young soldier's worry into even sharper relief. Clearly, Pit wasn't the only one this had occurred to.

"Yes, you remember correctly. Karen is my older brother. We both came from nothing, in more ways than you might realize. Growing up, we had nobody but each other for the longest time. Given everything that's going on, you probably have a right to know. We were both born as duds, and sold off by our father to the Administration for experimentation. Its thanks to them that we gained psionic powers at all. I always believed that to be the extent of it, granting power to the powerless. But looking back, it's easy to see how this would change after the discovery of fusion. Begun with the psifish, and eventually perfected with P-types."

Though initially confused with the tangent, Pit let him tell his story once he realized what it was Luka was saying. As might be expected, Palutena's loyal solider showed not a hint of judgement in regards to Luka's past. If anything it brought to light the unique perspective Luka had on everything that was going on.

After taking a deep breath, and looking around the area, Luka continued. "I said that to say this. Although we've drifted apart since Alice's death, I believe in my brother. Karen is principled to the point of disobeying orders he disagrees with, so much so that he's been written up at least fifty times. He may very well already know what I've recently come to expect. That the same scientists have developed -and weaponized- other means of transformation. As for who this mystery faction is, I can only guess. Given the sheer scope of this operation this might very well go all the way to the top, but Karen didn't just say 'the Administration'; he said 'New Himuka.' Still, it's hard to imagine that Zanotto and Konoe aren't involved somehow. And as far as scientists go, there is none more infamous -and secretive- in Midgar than Hojo, Shinra's head of R&D."

Luka furrowed his brow, crossing his arms. "One other thing. I doubt that Karen went to the troubling of breaking into Arahabaki just to make that broadcast. Arahabaki is the server for Psynet, which theoretically includes records of everything ever sent through it. If Karen could access it directly, he might be able to uncover classified data. Maybe the answers we seek. All the more reason we should go there and see for ourselves."

Luka's answers assuaged many of the misgivings Pit could have had about the sudden change in situation. They were of the same mind that Karen had, or had access to the information they needed. Since meeting Luka for the first time up until now fighting alongside him, Pit felt he could trust the young man's judgement - so if he would put his faith in his brother, Pit would do so as well. They could help Karen overthrow the city's corrupt leaders, get Peach and any other victims of Other-ization the assistance they needed, and be that much closer to destroying the region's Guardian. 

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Then we'll go,"[/color] Pit said, completely decided on their next course of action. He grinned at Luka, hopeful and reassuring. Now that the poor guy had to worry about his elder brother on top of his squad mates, going to see said brother in person would hopefully ease some of that worry. Then the angel glanced at everyone else. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"On to Arahabaki! No arguments, right?"[/color]

As some discussion continued, another question came to Pit's mind. "New Himuka"... He didn't think he'd heard that term before, and was having a little trouble fitting it into the vast puzzle that was Midgar itself. Another name for the city, maybe?

He turned back to Luka and asked, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"By the way, what do you mean by 'New Himuka'?"[/color]

"That's actually what I want to know, too," Luka confessed, giving his attention back to Pit after chiming into the talk between Midna, Yuito, and Hanabi. "Back when it was just Suoh and the OSF, 'New Himuka' was the name of the country's governing body, which commanded authority over the OSF and all its dealings. In Midgar, though, it's the presidential administration that's in charge. The continued existence of an organization called New Himuka makes me think of another faction trying to seize power, but Seiran's backing the rebellion against New Himuka and the Administration. And then there's the fact that the brainwashed soldiers were saluting it..." He took his head. "It's messy, and hard to piece together from the outside. We can be reasonably sure of one thing, though: New Himuka, and anyone involved with it, is our enemy."

[i]'Just Suoh and OSF'... I guess a lot of this stuff is from the same world,[/i] Pit thought. If those familiar with it didn't know the answer, then he probably had no hope of figuring it out. But ot wasn't exactly a leap in logic to consider anything working with the rotten ruling party to be working against them. So Pit nodded, committing Luka's words to heart. 

[indent][/indent]

[center][abbr=Octopath Travelers][img]https://i.ibb.co/88KWNj5/OTbanner.png[/img][/abbr]
[sup]____________________________________________________[/sup]
[color=FFC6C6][u]Level[/u]: [b]8[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 253/80[/color] [color=2e2c2c]------[/color] [color=BC8DBF][u]Level[/u]: [b]7[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 128/70[/color]
[color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color] [color=2e2c2c]----------------------------[/color] [color=gray]𝙱𝙿[/color] [color=gold]●[/color][color=gray]●●●●[/color]
[color=lightgray]Word Count: 1032 (+2 exp)
[b]Location[/b]: The Under[/color][/center]
After leaving the strange area behind and reuniting with the other half of their underground expedition group, brief greetings were exchanged and breaks taken. Primrose stood with the others, listening to everyone else catch each other up on their separate experiences. She hadn't the slightest idea how to explain what had happened on their side so she simply refrained, letting the other group piece things together between Stetson's words and Nadia's puns. 

At the same time Therion found a rock to sit on. Though Tingyun mentioned the dwarves could give them a lift, he wondered if they would ultimately find themselves at the place as them in time for those beers. It sounded good, regardless if the offer was even meant to extend to the Seekers. What he wouldn't give to be hunched over the bar of some tavern right now, rather than in a dark cavern miles underground about to head into another fight. 

He and Primrose both listened to Overhard's explanation of what was about to happen, appreciative that they had a heads up for once. Primrose wasn't sure if her fairly newfound physical strength would cut it against a robot, but she had her magic to fall back on. Speaking of magic... while they had the time before starting she performed a series of dances for everyone present, bolstering their defenses and their physical and magical attack power. 

With his attack power shored up, Therion rolled his shoulders and braced himself for battle. If nothing else he knew he could avoid the line of fire pretty well and get in quick to strike at the thing's weak spots once they were exposed while some of the others handled fighting up close.

He met Primrose's gaze and gave her a nod. In turn she looked to Stetson. [color=D34C25]"Ready when you are,"[/color] she said.

Once things kicked off, the Travelers separated from each other to join in flanking the Caretaker. 

Primrose went right. When the robotic limbs emerged she summoned her newest striker into being near the one closest to her, letting the Animus of Will have a go at it while she cast a spell. The dark magic of Moonlight Waltz crashed against one of the Caretaker's vents. She cast again, enjoying the protection of her Baldur's Shell against the laser rounds of the other robot appendages as she did so. The one nearby was battered by the Animus' thorny, lance-like arms - and when the striker's time ran out Primrose jabbed it with her own Ice Lance. 

Therion went left. With his quick reaction speed he flicked a pair of crystal darts that would deal magic damage at one of the machine's open eye ports, then once they closed he backed away from the robot arms that snaked out into the open. He stayed in the back line for the most part, letting the others draw fire while he focused exclusively on the Caretaker. If he didn't need to donate his mana to any of the team's casters, then he could use it to fire off magic knives straight at the thing. He helped stack damage onto the vents even as the machine started to spin faster and faster, getting closer only when one of the eye slots opened.

Seeing his chance Therion darted in with his short sword in hand. With the robot arms otherwise engaged he thought he had a clear path, but a flash of orange in front of him abruptly halted his advance. The plasma barrier came up unexpectedly, and Therion was mentally kicking himself for not [i]expecting[/i] something unexpected even as it singed him and shoved him away. [color=BC8DBF]"Damn."[/color] He backed off again to avoid a burst of laser fire turned his way.

His fellow Orsterran had gotten closer to the Caretaker as well, and since she wasn't as fast as her friend she had more time to stop herself before colliding with a barrier. Primrose focused, casting Vengeful Spirit to fly right through it toward the eye of their target. 

This was doable, she thought, but she remained conscious of the fact there was still much more to go. Overhard had laid out three distinct phases of the battle that would play out as the Caretaker's energy depleted, the second of which was about to begin. 

By the time more robot arms appeared alongside new, four legged robots, Primrose had discovered that her pyromancy was a bad match up against them. She stuck to her dark magic and the rumbling of earth provided by her Stone Gauntlet. A tremor running along the ground could trip up the patrol bots for just long enough for herself or someone else to take them out, but it was slower going than she would have liked. So many new sources of enemy fire made avoiding all of it incredibly hard, and the shield of her Baldur's Shell got used up quickly. 

[color=D34C25]"Ugh!"[/color] After a nasty hit she used her teleport to get away from further harm, ending up directly behind one of the metallic arms. She attacked it since she was already there, a flare of darkness erupting from the impact point, then planted her feet and conjured a boulder to give herself some cover with one hand. The other swapped between healing and offense.

Meanwhile, Therion had returned to his usual hit and run tactics. Taking full advantage of any openings he could, he gradually helped pile damage onto the Caretaker's vents and eyes. He was much more successful in dodging the attacks shooting throughout the cavern until one of the machine's deployed sentries got a bead on him. He noticed the red tracking light on him before the first shots came, diving out of the way and summoning his striker.

Therion hunkered down behind the Junicorn, safe from direct shots from the sniper turret. It continued firing its rounds, each shot getting progressively stronger - so much so that the damage started to leak through the Junicorn's defenses and affect Therion himself. He tapped the striker, willing it to shoot down the turret while it still could. The red lance shot out of the monster and destroyed the unit, and once another grew back the Junicorn turned to fire at more. One less thing to worry about for now.