[center][h3]Esaka, the Tiered City[/h3]
[b]Yayama Yama[/b]
Status: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCj8pqVqa1M
LV: 6, EXP: 51/60
Word Count: 636 (+1)[/center]

It wasn't long before Band and Nadia picked up the now second-newest member of Gold Team trudging her way toward them. Yayama's expression was unusually distracted, the dark knight lost in thought and hardly paying attention to her surroundings. She knew this could be a mistake, given their reason for being here, but she trusted her teammates enough to give her time to react. Also unusually, her distraction was (mostly) not taking the form of brooding at the moment, or arguing with her recently-resurfaced dark side. It might not be Eorzea or a reflection of it that she was defending at the moment, but having a clear shot at a threat to the realm had sharpened her focus considerably. 

Internally, she reviewed her memories of conflict, assessing each one for relevance before deciding whether to dive in further. Implanted or not, Yayama would be making full use of her experience to ensure everyone here walked away alive except for their target. They could replace losses, in theory, but a group like theirs simply couldn't sustain more than a minimum level of attrition, and treating her troops as disposable had not once occurred to her. . . Not that the Seekers were hers, or troops in any traditional sense, but the military training had her thinking in those terms anyway. 

Of all the Warrior of Darkness's past battles, the most relevant one was the assault on Eulmore. A shining city of sinister light, controlled by a tyrant of unexpected power and his lethal general, with the ability to turn the citizenry against all contenders for his oversized seat. This was tied to some [i]exceptionally[/i] bad memories, perhaps those of her darkest hours - but as she had found strength then, she would find strength now. 

She focused on the practical considerations. Anyone nearby could become an enemy at any time, so isolating the target was paramount. She'd need to review techniques for nonlethal subdual with her teammates in the likely case that they failed to totally cut off the Consul from potential brainwashing targets. This fight would require exceptional vigilance - [i]or a willingness to discard the other ashen shadows of this world[/i] - to ensure that it couldn't turn against them at a moment's notice.

Then there was the issue of the target simply being able to flee. Catching someone by surprise was all well and good, but there was an oft-neglected downside to attempting to take down a powerful foe outside their fortress. If one's walls were broken down, then there would be nowhere to run - but if one were merely separated from them, there was still the ability to beat a hasty retreat inside them once more. Most of her foes had been conquered under the former condition, often after striking out and being repulsed. Truthfully, she wasn't sure what they could practically do to stop the Consul from using brainwashed civilians as a smokescreen and fleeing in the ensuing chaos should the fight go poorly for them. 

[i]Well, the answer is simple then,[/i] she supposed. [i]We'll just have to hit them so hard and fast they simply don't have time to realize that they're losing this battle.[/i] Her considerations largely finished for the moment, her awareness returned to her surroundings, just in time for her to nearly bump into Band. She awkwardly stopped short, her startlement at their proximity obvious. It was times like these where she was glad for her short stride length, as if she were the size of someone like Hoary, she wouldn't have been able to stop before plowing cleanly into her metallic friend.

"Ah, hello there," she said, acting as if nothing odd had happened. "Any news to report?" Yayama asked, deflecting from her somewhat maladroit arrival. "I was just considering our tactics going forward."