The Avenger - Tuesday Evening Summit
Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (105/150) Lvl 8 Sandalphon (31/80) Lvl 5
Grimm (7/50)
Junior, Rika, & Edward’s
@DracoLunaris Blazermate, Sectonia, & Roland’s
@Archmage MC Geralt, Zenkichi & Edelgard’s
@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet, Pit, Primrose & Therion’s
@Yankee Juri’s
@Zoey Boey Roxas, Ganondorf, & Captain Falcon’s
@DoubleWord Count: 9767 (+10 exp)
Jr, youngest by far here, so young that that would mean he’d barely reach adulthood, asked.
”Afraid so.” Captain Falcon answered, having kind of hoped to break this news to kids in a more delicate way.
Jr certainly did not take this confirmation well, the boy just sort of starting into space, but his sister seemed almost nonplussed by this news because it was
”Longer than I was gonna get I guess” though she did make a groan of dissatisfaction afterwards.
Pit looked at Rika in surprise, a little disturbed.
"Longer? But... ten years is so short!" Sometimes it could feel like a while, but for a long lived race like his, in the grand scheme of things it would be like the blink of an eye. Eventually.
”I’ve dreamed about the other times I’ve been alive here. Most of em ended real quickly” the ship girl who’d been built to be a disposable pawn replied straightforwardly.
Zenkichi’s face was pale as he looked around the room, his heart thundering in his ears.
”I see why the Consuls are as they are, at least a little bit now. Although with no way to tell how much time is left…” Sectonia said, dejected, but also with a fire lit under her to control the system to eliminate such a fate for herself and those loyal to her.
”That's why they separate themselves from the system, to eliminate this expiration date. And they use the flame clocks in place of being able to use magic to extend themselves into perpetuity.” If anyone could read between the lines, they’d get the hint Sectonia was far older than she let on using this method before coming to the world of light, but she wouldn’t admit it if asked, not easily anyway.
”Indeed.” Said Ganondorf from where he was standing with arms crossed.
”Ok, that sucks. Maybe common medabots have a life span only a bit more than that, but us Medaforce using medabots are way more durable than that!” Blazermate said, angry at that being a thing.
”There is a lot you can do in 10 years. That's longer than most fixers get in such a dangerous profession. Even the great Red Mist didn’t make it past 30…” Roland said, his words more hollow than anything as if he expected this cruel fate in a way.
Primrose, standing with her arms folded in front of her chest, made a quiet
tut tut noise of disagreement with Roland's statement. She was one of the few that hadn't been blind sided by the sudden mention of the ten year time limit by the Avenger's commander (a fact that her fellow Orsterran hadn't missed, cutting a suspicious glance at the dancer). She did send a meaningful look Sandalphon's way, if only to imply that she now agreed with the archangel's decision to keep that piece of information secret even if it was too late. Then, her eyes slid back to the other Seekers and their reactions.
Ten years... It really wasn't a long enough time. But it would have to be.
Though he hadn’t said anything yet, Roxas was of a strangely similar mind to the fixer. Technically he only had a year before things got complicated and he had to return to Sora’s Heart. Granted, he was freed again a bit later on, but still.
Geralt, meanwhile, had to bite back a scoff. At least it meant he could, theoretically, die of ‘old age.’ What a world this was, where a Witcher could die outside of battle.
As a bunch of people started talking at the same time, Nadia held her tongue for once. She remembered what the miserable old king said back in ash lake:
we’re made like matches, and we burn out quick. During the journey so far, she’d harbored plenty of doubts. She’d doubted her own ability to survive and triumph on this campaign, and she doubted the campaign itself, too. Part of her wanted to run, to make a life of her own somewhere in the World of Light with the new relationships she’d forged. Her time in Limsa and Mafia Town had convinced her it was possible. But if she had less than ten years, how much of a life could she live? And at the end of the day, wouldn’t that still be better than dying even earlier under the boot of Moebius? Nadia slumped further down into her chair, numbly scratching her head. She was sharp enough, though, to mostly notice who did and did not seem surprised by the news.
Juri was on another track, apparently.
”Ugh. Can’t believe after all that the ‘commander’ is some moody, nerdy, tinhead.” She pointed at the robot.
”I’m gonna call you Not Simon Jarrett, since that’s what you introduced yourself as. It’s either that or Eugene Dinkle.”Edelgard, having already had her own lifespan woes, focused more on the story of the ship’s commander, the technology required confusing and astounding her.
”It is…an admirable goal, though. To save your people and help them find a new home. I wonder what would happen to somebody born of people from two different worlds, though. What world would they return to?” For that, unfortunately, the commander could venture no answer.
One of the Lost Numbers in attendance, the ship's quartermaster, cleared her throat and raised a hand lightly as she spoke. "I would not concern yourself with such things, especially before even reaching the Source. Eventually, the circumstances of our birth will be different, as well as the world we end up being raised in, the manner in which we are raised, and needless to say our memories -should they follow us- will be shaped in new ways." They may well be different people, so it ultimately wouldn't matter where they ended up in her mind.
Of course despite her words, it was something many Lost Numbers had thought about before, herself included. She assumed the data of children would go with the parent that gave birth to them, but if that was truly the case then in the next world, would she be separated from Haruka? Eventually remember a phantom existence she had no context for? And what of existences like little Ciel, Aurora, and Soleil? It was a silly thing to fret over, but sometimes Sagi did so all the same.
Things were starting to get a little off track, as large discussions like this tended to. Before even thinking about complex matters like what would really happen to the Lost Numbers, the Ace Cadet had to wrap his head around a couple of other things first. Maybe not now, though... The time limit had thrown him for a loop as much as anyone else, but if he treated it as just another thing included in the big info dump he'd been given not even two days ago then he could move past it now and think about it later. His own memory of the World of Light went back... a few weeks before meeting the Seekers in Lumbridge? So if he took that to mean that he 'came back' around that time—
Nope, not thinking about it now. Moving on."Alright. One of the things we have to decide is where we're all heading next, right? Well, I want to check up on everyone we left in the Frozen Highlands then finish what we started!" The Cadet said, jabbing his thumb in towards his chest.
"And if we run into that Consul? Then bringing him to justice while we do it would be a great N'd to things there."Leaving Albedo, Linkle, and Lucia behind hadn't felt great, but at the very least Mewtwo had stayed in Edinburgh to fill them in. Hopefully the Pokémon had managed to find them. It hadn't been long, but the Cadet would be glad to see them again. Plus the monster hunter was, well, a
hunter. Sure his quarry was normally way larger than one person, but he could survive in the wilderness and he could track, especially with the help of his scoutflies.
It wasn't surprising at all that the Ace Cadet had chosen that destination for himself, now it was just a matter of where everyone else planned to go.
“Understandable.” Sandalphon took note of his reply on a virtual ledger, and was ready for more. “Any other decisions?”
”Highlands. I am entirely aware that I do not have the capability to stand toe to toe with the best fighters of this world,” Edward said, putting himself down for the only real option between the two that he had before adding that
”I can also take note of who is going where so it's easier to keep track,” and flicking open a journal page to begin doing so.
”Yeah we could kick your and everyone else’s butts! So we’re going to the city,” Jr piped up, to which Rika nodded in agreement.
”I’ll go to Esaka. I have an easier time in a duel than in a group fight as it is, even if I can make myself unnoticed in a big brawl.” Roland said,
”The question lies… what if we are put up against each other? Also I’ve gotta assume if we fight something it's to the death with that whole galeeming… attacking… thing..” Roland said, rubbing his chin.
Nadia raised an eyebrow. “Like, in some kinda tournament? Well, fights between us wouldn’t be to the death, at least. We could even rig ‘em.” She shrugged. “Though…could be fun to see where we stack up ‘fur’ real!”
To be honest, Nadia was a little surprised that everyone had seemingly accepted Sandalphon’s plan without challenge and begun to divide themselves accordingly. She’d figured that some of the bigger personalities in the room like Sectonia would make their own propositions, especially since the archangel did not seem particularly insistent. She did possess a quiet self-assurance, though, and nobody knew more about the current situation than her, so it made sense to defer to her prudent advice. Nadia certainly didn’t have any suggestions of her own; on the contrary, one of the options was already getting her fired up.
“So, I’d finally have a chance to go mano y mano with fighters my own size, and actually combo some fools instead of ticklin’ giant monsters to death? Sign me up!” The catgirl was excited for a mission that might actually cater to her strengths for once.
”I feel that Esaka will offer only martial weapons instead of magical power so I will go for the other target. My Antlers can help cover some ground if anything.” It was clear on her face she was making the best of a bad situation as she didn’t like any of the choices. But she had to take one due to the information she had just learned. She didn’t have time to sulk, she had to get moving.
”While I’d like to be in a duel thing as Medafights are usually either 1v1 or 3v3. I’m really made for the 3v3. I mean… I do have a strong 1v1 strategy, but it's kind of a one trick pony. Heal myself and generate Medaforce, then spam Medaforce to deal damage and heal. I’m sure they’d be able to dodge that if they’re good enough.” Blazermate said, thinking by weighing the options by rocking her head.
”But the hunting team will need a lot of healing especially with Jr. going over to the martial arts place. So I’ll go over there.”Juri might have said something, if only to be disruptive. But she did want to go after that giant bird she got the clue for way back in Mafia Town. But Sandalphon’s intelligence caused a shadow to pass behind Juri’s eyes. She crossed her arms and crossed one leg behind the other. If
he was going to be anywhere in this world, it’d be there.
”I’m goin’ to Esaka, too.” She said, simply.
“Bleeegh!” Nadia
fell apart on the spot.
”Do the world a favor and stay that way.” Juri replied.
”I’ll go to Esaka, too.” Captain Falcon announced.
”I’m quite the fist-fighter myself so this city should be right up my alley. And…” He gave a sidelong glance in the direction of Juri and Nadia,
”...I have a feeling someone’s going to have to keep those two out of trouble.””Hmph, good luck with that” Ganondorf scoffed but then said,
”I’ll be going to the Highlands. I’d like to see this Consul L for myself and confirm the location of her Flame Clock.”"You won't be able to miss it," The Cadet said. He could tell Ganondorf all about it on the way over.
”I’m going to the Highlands, too.” Roxas suddenly piped up.
”I’m no martial artist. So I’m probably better suited to the other team.”Geralt piped up with his own choice, nodding at Roxas. “Either would be fine by me, but I’ve a feeling my nose might do us some good in the Highlands if we find ourselves having to track.” Loathe as he was to reduce himself to a bloodhound, it helped the team in Midgar position themselves in a good place before the Redshift cascade and may have saved them valuable time.
The decision was an easy one for Pit, especially so when his goddess agreed with said decision. Never far from Pit's thoughts (literally), Palutena had reached out to talk about the time limit, and the internal conversation had kept him occupied until now. Ultimately, they'd agreed that keeping up with the Seekers' mission was the best option at the moment. To that end… He puffed his chest out, his wings standing proud at his back.
"If we'll need 'expert duelists' at the Forbidden Kingdom, that's me!" he said with confidence. He'd be heading to Esaka.
Zenkichi shrugged, weighing the two options in his mind. He’d already been to the Forbidden Kingdom, so he eventually decided on that, and said as much. He was clearly still somewhat stricken by the earlier revelation, however, and his voice was faint.
A people-watcher in the first place, Primrose cast a sympathetic gaze his way. Among the Seekers, Zenkichi had a rather unique circumstance... and it wasn't hard to venture a guess as to why he was taking the sudden news much harder than others. She felt for him, and his daughter.
Sighing, Edelgard stood up.
”I…regret to inform you that I shall not be coming along for the next expedition. The people of Enbarr need their Empress. Nonetheless…I shall remain in contact with you via Sandalphon. Should you find yourselves in need of my assistance, or vice versa, we shall not be strangers. And should I find myself successfully able to reclaim the throne, know that we shall stand by you when you need it. First, however, will have to be the region’s Consul. Once I have built a strong enough group to depose them, I shall reach out for assistance.” Her goals might have been lofty, but the self-assurance with which Edelgard spoke indicated that she was supremely confident in her ability to achieve them. With that, she departed the room.
Sandalphon watched her go, impassive. Though loathe to lose allies in any context, a voluntary departure was the preferable option. At the very least, this wasn’t a surprise to her. After being approached by Edelgard before this meeting, the arrangements had already been made for her drop to the Theater of War tomorrow following the deployment of the Highlands expedition. With her in the wartorn region’s north and Nero in the south according to his message via Pit, the Seekers would hopefully have well-informed contacts in the region when it came time to take on the Theater of War.
In the wake of Edelgard’s exit, the archangel herself weighed in to keep the group on topic. “I am pleased that everyone concurs with my suggestions. I myself plan to join the Highlands expedition, but I will keep an eye on the Esaka proceedings remotely and can visit when needed.” She looked around, her ledger up to date on everyone’s decisions. She, the Ace Cadet, Edward, Geralt, Sectonia, Blazermate, Roxas, and Ganondorf were all bound for the Highlands expedition, while Bowser Jr, Rika, Roland, Ms Fortune, Juri, Captain Falcon, Pit, and Zenkichi had chosen Esaka. That left both teams even at eight members apiece, each specialized for their mission. Hopefully Esaka would have medical facilities with which to offset the imbalance of healers.
That left just a few members unaccounted for. Primrose and Therion, for instance. Sandalphon’s electric green gaze turned toward the shadows, where eyes of crimson flame burned in silence. Grimm had yet to decide one way or the other, and Sandalphon honestly wondered if he intended to play along with the others at all. He seemed to have some other agenda. “Additionally, I have received word from one Big Band, who is currently deployed to the town of Martira nearby and scheduled for pickup this evening. While he wishes the Highlands team well, he will also be headed to Esaka.” That meant an opening on the expedition for whoever might be available to fill it.
...though it would not be the Orsterrans.
Esaka didn't seem like the type of place Therion would prefer based on the way everyone else talked about it, but the thought of going to the Frozen Highlands appealed to him even less. Snow-soaked hikes and frozen cities?
No thanks. He was certainly no duelist, but if Esaka was anything like Victors Hollow back in Orsterra -turned up in intensity most likely- then at the very least there probably were things he could get up to that didn't involve pitting himself against muscle-heads. Betting pools, brokers, and plenty of tourists to be found if he had to guess. If everyone else headed there wanted to participate in some assumed martial arts tournament, he'd just put some money on them and stick to information gathering while they did it.
"...between the two, I'm leaning towards Esaka," Therion said simply.
"Heavily.""As am I," Primrose said afterward, which meant the two friends would be sticking together once more. At least it seemed that way until the dancer followed up with,
"the Forbidden Kingdom as a whole, really.
"Based on what we learned while there, I agree that Esaka is the best place to look. If it's not there, then someone who knows where it is will be. However, on the chance we could get a head start on the Guardian's location if it is elsewhere..." On the projected map, Primrose's eyes drifted over to the palace on the area's eastern side.
"Or if it may be prudent to secure easier passage between the Highlands and the Kingdom... as I've heard the Highlands' Guardian is wont to travel far..." Her gaze shifted over to the village marked 'Kanal' and the Tyrannian Plateau.
"Or even to keep looking into ways to get through to the city up north..." She looked at the massive unreachable City that Never Was then, eyes lingering before she brought them back to her fellow Seekers.
"...well, we don't need so many of us all in Esaka, now do we?"Therion's tail flicked in thought. She was right - they could all deploy together, but nothing was really stopping them from splitting up beyond safety being in numbers, especially when it was easier to keep in touch with each other than ever. Maybe, then, he’d look into some things outside of the city as well.
The commander nodded his head approvingly. “You all have settled the matter of destination most expediently. That just leaves the matter of who will assume leadership of the Seekers of Light in the field, as well as a second-in-command who will take charge of the other team.”
”We had very little choice, all things considered. We need to clear every area and gain what little we can learn in such a short amount of time to avoid a terrible fate.” Sectonia said, showing everyone that the 10 year time limit and how to circumvent it in some way shape or form was definitely on her mind.
”As for leader, I’d nominate myself, naturally. It's a queen's role to know how to properly delegate.” Sectonia said, snapping back to her more prideful demenur.
”It should be me while papa isn't here” Jr piped up, continuing the trend of royal arrogance with perhaps the most absurd prospect of the bunch. Still, he did have one positive point, which was
”plus I just led a mission and it went great!” which got a nod of agreement from one member of said side missions at least, namely his sister.
"Bowser wasn't our leader before! ...uh, right?" Pit retorted, though he looked less sure soon after he'd said it. The Koopa King definitely thought and acted like he was though, but it wasn't the same thing... Probably.
"Besides, you're too young."Which was a hilarious thing to hear from the mouth of a boy who barely looked like he was fifteen, even after fusion made him taller.
"I'm already the captain of our army back home, so... I could do it. Or be co-captain!" The angel might not have necessarily volunteered earlier in the campaign, but after returning from Skyworld he was filled with a lot more confidence and a greater sense of duty than before. Especially since he had some divine intervention available now.
”I could see co-captain for sure, but not the actual leader. Not being able to read is going to cause a lot of problems” Roland said, holding up a book lazily as his powers in this world involved the powers of the library quite heavily.
”And I’d rather have someone who isn’t a kid. Not even the City had kids leading the wings… I hope.” Roland continued. Although when it came to him putting his hat in the ring.
”I did run my own fixer office, but I feel there are others here better at leading people. I’m more… an advisor if anything.”"Well I'm not a kid, and I can read now!"”If Bowser were here, or Kamek, they’d make great leaders. But they’re not. And I’m more a support than a leader, so…” Blazermate said.
Based on what she knew of the Koopas so far, Sandalphon wasn’t sure about Blazermate’s opinion. Her pupils became @ symbols as she addressed the nominees so far. “Everyone should consider one crucial point of actual leadership. There is more to being a leader than giving orders. Leadership means taking complete and total responsibility for every member on the team. They must know each subordinate inside and out in order to utilize them to their fullest. Moreover, a true leader takes responsibility for the mistakes, faults, and failures of all members of the team. The lives of your subordinates are in your hands, and if they die, their blood is on your hands. Are you willing to pay that price?” Her pupils turned back to normal as she looked around, then down. “It is not an enviable position.”
Her words were the nail in the coffin for Nadia’s thoughts on the matter. “Yeah, nah, I’m good. I couldn’t lead a trip to the grocery store, much less one to the ends of the earth.” She raised an eyebrow at Sectonia. “That said, not to be a ped-ant, but you only lead mindless drones, right Toni? Dealin’ with people’s a whole ‘nother beast.” She then gave Pit and Junior a sceptical look. “And, uh, sorry, but I’m with Roland on this one. No way some rugrat’s sendin’ me to my death.”
”Mindless drones I use to do jobs that would be too dangerous or mundane for people with more worth.” Sectonia said.
”I did rule a large kingdom before all of this.” She then mumbled to herself
”but of course without Floralia all you see is a bandit queen…” Pit's feathers fluffed out a little as he began to feel defensive. He didn't mind not taking the mantle of leader, but he didn't want it to be because everyone thought he'd be bad at it! Sure he was young for an angel, but still! He was probably older than Roland and he was definitely older than Ms. Fortune. He also took his duties as captain of Skyworld's army seriously, anyone that had been with him up there would know that. He could lead, despite his appearance.
He managed to bite back an argument though and instead said,
"Okay, what about Captain Falcon?"Pit looked over at the man and splayed a hand out towards him.
"He's a good guy, he's got experience with worlds-colliding problems, and he's a captain too!"It did occur to him that he didn't know what kind of captain the bounty hunter was. Actually hadn't he talked about that once with Viridi? Still, to get a title like captain he must have led others at some point, Pit figured.
”Vote for me. Promise I won’t play favorites.” Juri chimed in with a grin.
Blazermate and Roland looked at Juri and shook their heads. Nadia didn’t respond either to her or to Pit’s suggestion, partially because she felt bad for misidentifying the angel as a child. She more cared about overall maturity than age itself, but it was harder to generalize Pit’s level of maturity, so she held her tongue. Sandalphon did consider the new nomination, though, and she gave Falcon a mildly curious look. “I would be interested to hear about your leadership experience, Captain.”
The Captain in question hadn’t said anything during this part of the discussion yet. And neither did Ganondorf, surprisingly enough. One would have expected the Gerudo Warlord to immediately nominate himself the same way Sectonia did. But he hadn’t. At least, not yet. As for Falcon, he looked around and laughed a bit.
”Well, you might be a little disappointed to hear that most of my ‘leading’ has been on the racetrack.” He said, willing to admit the honest truth.
”I’m a Captain by virtue of owning a personal starship called the Falcon Flyer.”After a pause he continued,
”But Pit here isn’t exaggerating. When it comes to worlds colliding, let’s just say… this isn’t exactly my first rodeo. I can still remember some of the old days, too. There were originally twelve of us, including myself. And our only real enemy at the time was Master Hand. I’m not sure if that qualifies me as a veteran or even as leadership material. But I can at least promise to perform those duties to the best of my ability if that’s what the majority here ends up voting for.””Hmph, you’re not the only ‘veteran’ here, Captain.” Ganondorf said, finally choosing now to speak up.
”And unlike you, I have actual experience as a commander. Both in my world and here in this one as well.” He wasn’t saying it outright, but he was certainly implying his self-nomination strongly enough.
”Mm…. Whoevers leading probably has to be really up to date on the whole consul thing… ” Blazermate said.
”Also has to be with us for awhile.””I notice so far a lot of those nominated are either ‘royals’, or are more commanders than leaders.” Roland said.
”I wonder which one of you guys is the most humane?” The way he said that sounded fair and measured, but there was a double meaning to that. Someone needed to have camaraderie, but if they were too soft they were too weak to lead.
"Should we even pick a boss?" The Cadet wondered aloud as the choice of leadership unsurprisingly turned out to be a much harder one than a destination. Throughout it, his own gaze had landed on Geralt, who he knew had a good head on his shoulders and had more than once reminded him of the Ace Commander, the leader of the monster hunter's old crew. That said, the Cadet wasn't about to volunteer the man if it wasn't something he actually wanted. Ace had his thoughts on everyone else that had volunteered or been volunteered so far, but with a group like this... He drew a hand across his chin before finishing his thought.
"I mean a permanent boss. We've come this far already with whoever stepped up at the time. Maybe for us it would work better if we could just choose commanders for each group we split into, and re-choose when we make new ones in the next areas."”Given that both teams will have more ability to coordinate via shared access to resources than they have previously had, it seems wise to have some form of coordination at least” Edward said, before placing forth a theory
”I’d suggest that, from what I have garnered, ‘leading’ this group has a lot less to do with commanding, and more about keeping track of various, hmm, strong personalities. Juri is perhaps the most extreme example, but I hazard to guess many of you are not inclined to ‘taking orders’ in a traditional military sense””Hey. As long as there’s somethin’ in it for me I’ll break whatever or whoever you want.” Juri responded with a casual shrug.
”Mm… While I haven’t gotten to know everyone all that much, that can work. With some of the more dominant personalities in the room.” Roland said, looking at Sectonia, Ganondorf, Juri, Falcon, Pit, and Jr.
”Constantly shuffling the team leader when the teams inevitably change for future missions to be the best person for that area and to manage that group of people might be best.” He then gave it a bit more thought with a low ‘hmmm’ before saying.
”The only problem would be if we need someone to talk for the group. Which doesn’t have to be a leader, just a good talker.””So what you're suggesting is to keep doing what we’ve been doing. Granted, it has gotten us this far in such a short amount of time.” Sectonia said, looking at Ace than Roland.
”And while it would work for what happens now, if this is finished with us the victors and we find a way to this ‘source’ to remove the time limits placed upon us, a leader will need to be discussed and agreed on. Otherwise we all may become the way the Consuls are many years down the line.””Continue as is?” Ganondorf interjected,
”You mean the same methods and tactics that resulted in losses for us down in the Dead Zone? All while Moebius continues to escalate their own efforts? Forgive me if I don’t see the wisdom in that plan.””I’m not sure we can blame what happened in the Dead Zone on our methodology.” Captain Falcon countered,
”That entire mess was just due to a single Consul’s ability. Can’t exactly account for something like that without being a precog.””Three, one of which got away and two others. One of which was deemed to be the strongest consul of them all that managed to be defeated.” Sectonia said, clarifying their accomplishments in the Dead Zone.
”Although you didn’t see the zone before the time rain. I wonder if attacking it before it became such a hazardous area would have been better or worse. Imagine what happened in that tree, but many times worse when it came to the creatures crawling around in that zone.”Sandalphon inhaled through her nose. “I planned and executed the Dead Zone operation with help from Bridges. Better information gathering on my part may have allowed us to be better prepared. It is true that some factors can simply not be anticipated, but I encouraged this assault even in the face of such unknowns. It should have been obvious that Moebius would anticipate the Qliphoth as our next target…regardless, as the one responsible, the fault is mine.” She paused. “In my experience, having a leader is essential, or an unconscionable amount of time is wasted on deliberation. And the person most fit to lead does not change with the context of the operation.”
”Information is valuable. That is why I extorted out as much information from Consul F in the Under as I could. But it's difficult to gather with such an enigmatic group. And we have that other group…. The Nobodies Roxas called them as well. They haven’t been hostile to us yet, but with how little we have of the Consuls we have even less of them.” Sectonia then shook her head, but got an idea. She then gave Sandalphon some relief
”Considering A was the cause of what happened in the Dead Zone and was known as the strongest Consul with powers that F, in his sheer terror couldn’t even comprehend when I interrogated him, there wasn’t much you could actually do.”Therion, who'd pretty much tuned out at this point as it didn't matter to him who was symbolically in charge, spoke up then.
"Why don't you do it?"He blinked at Sandalphon. She clearly was invested, had all of the information privy to the Seekers, had already coordinated them multiple times, and was a logical thinker among many... passionate personalities. She was already kind of leading them all anyway, at least from what Therion knew. Or did one failure in her eyes disqualify her?
”I second nominating Sandalphon for a leadership role. At a bare minimum, her ability to communicate with everyone is invaluable to group coordination” Edward said.
Jr sighed and then added that
”It sure helped out in the fight we had, we’d have been toast without her” reluctantly and a touch despondently, his own bid seeming absolutely in the gutter at this point.
Pit gently tapped a fist against his open palm, having only just realized that Sandalphon could be made their official leader. In the absence of someone like Palutena, Sandalphon might just be the next best thing.
"Great idea!"”It's not a bad idea I guess. She can still direct people and even heal even if she gets cat karted away. I don’t think any of us can come even close to that. At most if I put down a teleporter someone could come back, or Jr. puts down his paint. And didn’t Sectonia say she could be summoned as well to Kamek at one point or am I getting that wrong. Haven’t seen her do that yet.” Blazermate said, unsure, but pointing out what she saw.
”If it's about being able to give directions, isn’t she the only one that can put those markers on where to stand? I for sure haven’t figured out how to do that.” Roland said.
”I can put a glowing spot on an enemy's weak point, but that's as far as I go with that sorta stuff. Remember guys attack the glowing spot! I’m marking it to make things easier for you!” Blazermate said, explaining her Scan ability again.
”Sandy’s got a terrible poker face, though.” Juri said.
”Her eyes are like little emojis. Makes it way easy for Consul freaks to tell what she’s thinking. And if we invested in some ear pieces we’d be talking with each other even faster, so that’s not much of a skill worth lauding.” On those two points Primrose definitely agreed, but even so she didn't think Sandalphon would be a bad choice for leader at all.
"Keeping one's emotions from their face takes only practice," she said. She looked at Sandalphon again, appraising the archangel one more time before a small smile found its way to the dancer's own face.
"No objections from me."Juri pointed a finger at Junior.
”I vote for the baby turtle. It’d be funny.”Ganondorf could already see where this inevitably was going and rolled his eyes.
”All this talk for things to more or less stay the same.” He grumbled to himself,
”What a waste of time.””You’re just mad the baby turtle got more votes than you.” Juri teased.
”To be fair I would’ve probably voted for Sectonia if Sandalphon didn’t like, become the obvious pick there. Or Bowser if he was here but he's... What is he even doing?” Blazermate asked.
”Fine, keep things the same.” Ganondorf said,
”But don’t blame me if you just end up with the same results as the Dead Zone again.” At this point he was ready to conclude this and get back to business already. His statement earned a harsh glare from Zenkichi, and a derisive scoff from Geralt, who was only preempted from a retort by the Archangel in question herself.
The archangel fixed him with a steely gaze, her pupils their default power symbols. “I learn from my mistakes, Ganondorf. The wellbeing of my team is my highest priority, and my failures weigh on nobody more than myself. If the team sees fit to trust me with such a role again, I will accept the nomination.” She waved her hand, conjuring light screens in front of everyone who hadn't already made a definitive choice. On it were the names of Junior, Sectonia, Ganondorf, Pit, Captain Falcon, and herself. “If there are no more nominations or discussion points, we can cast our votes via private ballot.”
”And I learn from mine, as well.” Ganondorf retorted, saying nothing more and simply letting the implication hang in the air as the voting began.
”Papa’d say otherwise!” Jr chipped in just for the fun of it, before handing in his vote for himself, and with Rika following along to vote for him too. Both also voted for Sandalphon with regards to her getting them through an otherwise lethal deadzone encounter.
A tiny smiled ghosted across Geralt’s face as he cast a vote for Sandalphon as the Seekers’ leader. Zenkichi did the same with a vacant expression, his face recovering but still somewhat pale. He cast his vote for Pit as acting leader of the Esaka expedition.
When Pit himself voted, it was quick and easy. He incorrectly assumed that people couldn't vote for themselves, and so he picked Sandalphon as the campaign's leader, and Captain Falcon as her second. He was the one who nominated the pilot in the first place, and he did honestly think the man would do a good job. And as for Sandalphon, on top of finding her smart, kind, and brave, at this point he trusted his fellow angel more than most, and he already was much too-trusting of a person.
"There we go."Sectonia obviously voted for herself, her pride wouldn’t allow anything else. But she was aware enough to see where the wind was blowing. This was more of a Peach situation so this wasn’t the first time. What concerned her more was what happened afterwards, wartime and overall kingdom leadership were totally different things. And as such she wrote that while she would accept it if Sandalphon won, she made it quite clear that this was for seeker operations only and not related to anything kingdom related and would much rather take over when it came to that aspect. But for managing the other team, she put Geralt for now. To her it was a split between Pit, Roland, and Geralt as her martial arts knowledge was very low. Although if Ganondorf had been on that team strangely enough she would’ve voted for him to be the leader of that team. He might be her rival in this endeavor, but he had shown he knew what to do if he had to do it.
Roland was unsure of who to actually vote for. If he had his choice, he’d want there to be a couple leader elections. One for now, one for after this was done, and one if they survived a few years down the line. Really voting for who led him was a new thing and he wasn’t sure what to vote for. Sandalphon would make a good operations leader, but Sectonia, Ganondorf, and potentially Jr. would make great leaders for what happens afterwards. In the end, Roland wrote that down on his vote. Sandalphon if it was for the war, and a request for a revote with his vote going for the three royals after all this was done based on how they acted at the end of all of this… if any of them survived. Although when it came to who led his team, he thought about it. Geralt was too similar to himself, and Falcon said he didn’t have the experience and while he wasn’t a bad choice, Roland felt that he might not slow down for others that needed it. Eventually he wrote in Pit to see how the angel handled things. Granted if either Pit or Sandalphon put on a crown of thorns and started going on about apostates he’d be the first to act…
Nadia scratched her head as she thought about the ballot for a moment, her thoughts not so private. “You're not a bad vote by any means, Big G…” He had good qualifications, but those weren't everything. In the end, who would be mostly likely to care about the life of an underling like her? “I think Sandy did her best.” She went ahead and voted for the archangel. As for the acting leader, the one who'd be her direct report, it seemed like Pit and Junior had the most support. Kind of funny given what she said about rugrats, but then again, Pit wasn't really a kid, right? She wasn't totally sure until she remembered that Juri said her vote aloud, at which point Nadia immediately chose Pit to oppose her.
Blazermate was an easy vote. For the Esaka team she put Jr. since he wasn’t going to lead the whole thing. She didn’t know the others all that well by comparison and she valued seniority. But for a main leader she put Sectonia as she wasn’t sure between everyone and just ranked on seniority. She hadn’t seen what some of the others had seen when it came to Sandalphon’s abilities to point out where to go, while Sectonia was a nice big meat shield for her to hide behind and heal. She didn’t know Ganondorf enough to make a good choice but did agree he hit hard when buffed. And Juri was just out. Falcon she knew nothing about. Granted if Bowser was here, her vote would go for him no question.
Sandalphon’s eyes became inverted triangles as she considered various factors. “Among our nominees are some of our most powerful fighters who would logically be on the frontlines. Being a leader as well would not only detract from their output but concentrate an enormous amount of value in a risky position.” Her eyes reverted. “Of course, leading from the front could also be considered an admirable trait.”
After thinking it through, Edward ended up voting for Sectonia over Sandalphon. The latter’s stated intent to flit between groups raised the issue of leaving his team leaderless, while in a battlefield situation at least, the nature of Sectonia’s powerset made her a commanding presence upon it if nothing else. Very much the kind of woman you could build an entire formation around, if the fight at the bottom of the demon tree was anything to go by.
As for the other team, he had to admit, he knew rather little about them barring what had just been said. Pit being the head of Palutena’s forces was certainly a mark in his favor however. The Captain’s supposed levels of experience with the situation was meanwhile pitted against his lack of experience, well, leading. That said, a leader was also about being the face of a team, and the man had the physique and attitude that would surely garner respect from the martial artists of the region that team was heading for.
On the other hand, Sandalphon did have a point about the issues of leading from the front and, in his mind, this was very much not the kind of group that needed the boost in moral/courage that that sort of action garnered.
Unfortunately that point mostly pointed towards the literal child who was the one midline supporter among the nominations. Quite the quandary.
”Junior’s smart from what I’ve seen. And I’d like to see Consuls try to predict what he does. Haha.” Juri was convincing herself, amused.
Her comment settled Edward’s thinking, and he went with Captain Falcon.
Someone who was having the same kind of hard time choosing was Ace.
Ah man, this giggisux, he thought, squinting at the ballot screen. He had hoped the discussion over leadership wouldn't devolve into an argument, or become as tense as it had... he could still hope that once the voting was done that there were no hard feelings, at least. As for his own votes, he had to really think on it. Personally he didn't mind working under almost anyone, but he didn't want to give up his vote either. Everyone had preferences, after all. So he thought about it for a few long moments, weighing the pros and cons (at least the ones he knew) of each person. For the Cadet, a leader that fought alongside their squad was better than one that stuck to the sidelines. Someone who would stick to their bowguns if they knew they were right, but would also always take their comrade's feelings and ideas into account. Unfortunately for everything he knew about the six nominees, what he didn't know added up to a lot more... which meant his gut would be playing a bigger role in his choice than he'd thought. In the end, he voted for the two 'captains' - Falcon to lead the whole crew, and Pit for second.
Captain Falcon waved his screen away and politely abstained from voting overall. He didn’t have nearly enough of an ego to vote for himself. And besides, he didn’t think it was proper for one of the candidates to be voting in this matter anyway. Too much personal bias. Meanwhile, Roxas spent an uncomfortably long time staring blankly at his screen. He really didn’t want to vote on this either, truth be told. Especially not after it started becoming a point of contention toward the end of the discussion. But in the end he hastily cast a vote for Sandalphon, figuring she had it in the bag anyway.
Therion also voted for Sandalphon, more just to get this part of the discussion over with sooner. They probably should have just started with a vote and things would have ended up the same way, only quicker, like Ganondorf had pointed out. If the thief had thought about his first choice more than just a few seconds he might have gone with another option. Other than the one instance of Ganondorf's anger issues and demonic form causing some friendly fire that Therion was unfortunately on the receiving end of, the man had treated him well enough. The same could be said of Sectonia, despite the whole 'minions' thing. But he hadn't.
And as for the second in command (again, symbolically; he doubted any of the prideful Seekers would actually listen to orders all the time, himself included) that would look out for the group headed to Esaka... well, if one of them claimed to be a literal army captain, who was Therion to argue against that? So Pit it was.
Ganondorf… just stood there, refusing to cast a vote. His arms were crossed, his boot was tapping on the floor impatiently. This was a farce, as far as he was concerned. There was no point in bothering.
Given how quiet everyone else was at the moment, his demonstration was rather noticeable. Nadia shifted in her seat uncomfortably; she knew Ganondorf wasn’t all bad, and she didn’t want to see him make a fool of himself. “Um…if anyone’s done here, there’s nothing to stop you from leavin’, I guess.” She somehow managed to refrain from making a pun about being im-poll-ite.
Seeing the Gerudo king having a bit of a harumph, Roland gave him a bit of a condolence as well.
”Pretty sure you're more a king than a war boss.”. Much like Nadia, Roland didn’t see Ganondorf as a bad guy. He'd offer the same comfort to the other two royals, but Sectonia had a hard expression to read across the room and Jr. seemed to be more accepting about what was going on.
”I quite literally led a victorious campaign in the Sandswept Sky.” Ganondorf said simply,
”I believe that makes me a rather effective ‘war boss’ by definition.””From what I heard you made a big diplomatic move there as well, boss.” Roland said, not arguing with what he wanted to call himself.
”Hmm, yes. It’s almost as though I am effective at being both king AND commander.” Ganondorf countered, pointing out that those two things were not mutually exclusive. Both could be true at the same time.
Which left only Primrose to complete her vote. Truthfully she was of the mind that none of the Seekers were beholden to the leader they chose, as none of them were being coerced to be there or to follow orders; she could and would do as she pleased if she had a serious disagreement with whomsoever they ended up with. Even so, she seriously considered the options. A united front behind a strong leader probably would benefit them.
Her dark green eyes laid on each of the candidates in turn, her gaze heavy. Though she had said she wouldn't object to Sandalphon being their leader, and still wouldn't if things turned out that way, now that it had come down to a vote... Primrose had to go with Queen Sectonia. She knew the alien bee had a peculiar style of leading, but as long as Primrose had known her Sectonia had proven that she looked after her own. She was bold and clever too, on top of being powerful, and though vain beyond anyone else it wasn't hard to talk to her either. She may not have been the perfect choice, but none of the candidates were.
As for Ganondorf, the dancer had seen his statecraft firsthand and had engaged him in a semi-productive conversation not long ago. She had, at the time, thought to revise her opinion on the warlord. Even now she still thought that there was more than met the eye with him and that he had changed somewhat, however... the way he was acting now turned Primrose away from possibly choosing him. This was a man who could lead to be sure, but who also seemed to feel he was entitled to that leadership. And she would always think derisively about such men in power.
She didn't know much at all about the other man on the ballot, and the children were just that. Even so, those three were the choices for co-leader that would take command in the Forbidden Kingdom. Primrose felt she knew the Koopa prince well enough that she was confident in
not voting for him. He may make an excellent leader once he grew up, but right now she thought his heart wouldn't be able to handle the hard parts. Between Pit and Captain Falcon, both relative strangers to her, Primrose went with the latter to lead in Esaka.
Sandalphon consulted her screen. There were some votes missing, but she didn’t want to make a point about everyone getting their votes in, even if everyone’s thoughts did matter. “At this time I will assume everyone yet to vote has abstained. It seems we have one vote for someone who wasn’t nominated…congratulations, Geralt.” She quickly eliminated that submission. “As it currently stands, Sectonia, Bowser Jr., and Captain Falcon share a three-way tie for runner-up at four votes apiece. Five votes for Pit. And…nine for myself.”
Smiling, Nadia tapped her fingertips against her palm in a congratulatory golf clap.
Sectonia knew Sandalphon would win from the way everyone was talking, but it was good to see that some people respected her. She assumed the votes for Pit were to lead the other group so that didn’t bother her too much either. Although getting a tie with a literal kid, even if he was royalty was a bit… Well, as she thought it through she knew three people who voted for him and they were guaranteed and one of them wasn’t a serious vote so…
Roland wasn’t surprised, neither was Blazermate on that win. What did surprise Blazermate is that both of her choices were tied in third. She figured her votes really made a difference. Meanwhile Roland noted that Ganondorf came in last. Considering how people were around him, that wasn’t too much of a surprise, but hopefully he got at least 1 vote that wasn’t his own. Speaking of…. Roland had gotten an idea. A follow up on his voting request you could say…
”Hmm, well that’s that, then.” Captain Falcon said simply. You win some and you lose some. And honestly he wasn’t exactly super invested in the votes anyway. Either that or he was just very experienced and being a good sport about it all. A mix of both, really.
None of this was a surprise to Roxas, either. He just shrugged and continued to keep to himself.
Zenkichi gave a tiny smile and nod to Sandalphon’s election to leader, the knowledge that she would still be watching over them setting his mind a little at ease.
“I am grateful for your confidence. I promise to do everything I can to effectively lead the team on the difficult road ahead. For as long as I am able.” Sandalphon kept her acceptance speech short and sweet, not wanting to rub it in. She quickly moved the focus off of herself, as well. “And congratulations to Pit as well. The Esaka contingent will report to you for the time being, once everyone is deployed.”
”Yeah, right.” Juri said with a roll of her eyes.
Pit huffed at her, but in summoning all of the maturity he had that was all he did. He was glad that some of his allies believed in him enough to vote for him, and in time he was sure he could convince the rest of them too! So he turned to those that had chosen to venture to the Forbidden Kingdom with a smile on his face, laying a fist against his chest.
"I won't let you guys down!"Ganondorf exhaled and relaxed his posture a bit,
”If that’s all, then I’ll be taking my leave.” He said. No grumbling, no offered explanation of where he was going, just silent indifference. And just like that, he left and disappeared to some other part of the ship for whatever reasons were his own. Geralt watched him leave, his reaction earning an unseen nod of respect.
Jr was a lot less magnanimous in his loss than the king, letting out a sad
”Awwww” and a floor scuffing kick. Rika meanwhile gave a little ‘ohe well’ shrug, patted her brother sympathetically and tried to look on the bright side
”well at least Sandalphon won. And Pit seems nice I think? Plus, third isn’t bad?”Third was, in Edward’s opinion, a rather absurd position for a child to have reached, even if what joint third. Such was the nature of democracy he supposed. It would never catch on.
Throughout the lengthy discussion and debate, the Lost Numbers’ commander had remained completely silent, absorbing and cataloguing every detail about the intriguing individuals gathered before him. “It’s settled, then. We Lost Numbers will strive to help however we can with the operations set to start tomorrow. For the worlds yet to come.”
He looked around. “Right now, though, I believe that Chef Brace has orchestrated a feast worthy of heroes, to celebrate another step in your campaign. Please head to the mess hall to enjoy yourselves. Afterward, those who wish to do so may attend the memorial service in Stolen Moments to honor the fallen.”
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