Double

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@NobodiesHero@Savo@RyuShura@DangDude

Was Renny leaving the straw that broke camel's back or something? Seriously, where the hell is everyone?

FF7: SOLDIER [Big Game - Always Accepting!]

Role: SOLDIER 1st Class
Location: Junon
Tag: Caius - @Sudkurve, Laphicet - @Tenma Tendo, Astral - @Renny, Damian - @Zarkun

---

Before Alain could offer a reply, a groaning noise from the Cricket told him to get off the machine's back and to do it right the hell now. Just as the machine fell off the barrel, but before it fell too far out of view, Alain's form seemed to shoot up from it like a rocket. He jumped with enough height to land safely back on the Sister Ray barrel but left it at that. He shot a silent glare in Damien's direction, and then broke that silence with a retort.

"Oh no you don't." Alain snapped back at the older SOLDIER. He took a few steps forward as if ready to throw a punch. Thankfully he restrained himself from doing so, "You're not pinning this crap on me! You are the one who butted in, cast a Demi spell without even fully assessing the situation. That laser weapon was aimed squarely at you, responding to you're actions. So no, this is on you, not me. And I'll make sure Scarlet knows exactly who is responsible for this debacle." as if by perfect timing, that was when the Radio Command came in, "And speak of the devil, let's see what she has to say about this."

Inwardly, Alain was mentally bracing himself. Of course they would all be getting reprimanded, that went without saying. To think otherwise would have been foolish, not to mention naive. Still, as long as Scarlet was made aware of who was most at fault then that person could at least catch the brunt of her ire compared to everyone else. Honestly, the whole damn company was a broken mess the closer to the top one looked. People who either didn't care or were actively just in it for themselves were running the show. That much was common knowledge. And that fact was something Alain was seriously considering seeking to change somehow, though how a single SOLDIER - even 1st Class - could change anything about a company whose dirty laundry likely went all the way up to the top was a question to be pondered another day.

Even if it has to be by the tip of my spear, I can't just sit idly in my position any longer... I have to climb higher.

FF7: SOLDIER [Big Game - Always Accepting!]

I guess I'll vote yay.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@Savo@RyuShura@DangDude

*poke* Hello?

FF7: SOLDIER [Big Game - Always Accepting!]

Role: SOLDIER 1st Class
Location: Junon
Tag: Damien - @Zarkun, Laphicet - @Tenma Tendo, Astral - @Renny, Damian - @Zarkun

---

Yes! The Slow spell worked without a hitch, and better yet the superweapon seemed to lose track of Alain's location! The SOLDIER frantically ran his hand over the metal armor of the Cricket. All mechanized weapons had an emergency kill switch that could shut them off. If he could just find the Cricket's... there! Relief washed over the SOLDIER. Prepared to shut the weapon down and end its attack on the spot, he reached out a hand and...

"Alain, move!"

The voice sounded vaguely familiar, another 1st Class that Alain had met, but did not know personally. This was bad timing, but Alain tried to salvage this, "Wait, don't!" he yelled.

"Demi!"

Alain's expression turned to horror as his heart sank. At least for a split moment before the painful G-forces of the Demi spell kicked in. Still on top of the Metal Cricket, Alain was caught up in the gravity spell, "Argh! C'mon!" he said through painfully gritted teeth as he tried to move his arm. He didn't have to move it much, just an inch or so to reach the switch. Alain cried out again, both in frustration and in pain, but the Demi spell was too strong and he still couldn't move. Only after the spell ended and the beam fired did Alain finally reach the kill switch and threw it with a shaky hand. But the damage was done. The Barrel was sliced off and falling toward the city.

In moments like this, time always had a habit of feeling like it slowed to a crawl. A thousand thoughts raced through the SOLDIER's head then. How much damage would this cause? How would they be reprimanded for such a miserably botched mission? How many people were down there? How many personnel? How many innocent civilians? Would this be like Banora Village all over again? Then there was the one question that burned hotter than all the others. It burned so hot it made the SOLDIER's blood boil. Still lying facedown on the back of the Metal Cricket, Alain's eyes shot a furious glare, one aimed squarely in Damien's direction.

"Why? You... what in the #@$&^$&* HELL were you thinking? It's a superweapon! What did you think would happen if you attacked it directly?!" Alain angrily slammed a fist on the Cricket's back, "So close... so goddamn close! I only needed one more second. One. More. SECOND! Goddammit! $#$@!" his eyes became watery. Tears? More or less. Though whether they were from pain, horror, or just plain rage was unclear. In fact it was probably mix of all of the above.

Alain was too damn angry to even bother registering that others had showed up. One of them even attacked the Cricket's legs and went for the eye at the same that Alain reached the kill switch. One thing was for sure, someone in the higher ups needed to hound Heidegger's ass to install remote kill switches in every single goddamn one of these weapons so this crap could never happen again. Hell, if no one else did it, Alain decided that he'd do it himself if he had to. Between this and the towns of Banora and Kalm, Alain wondered to himself ever so briefly if he was on the right side, but then quickly dismissed the thought all the same.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@DangDude

I didn't acknowledge it in my post, but the ship's pilot is Launchpad McQuack. Feel free to acknowledge that fact in your post if you want to make him introduce himself to Mira or something.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

Posted, finally. Went ahead and ended the current battles to move things forward. As for Dawn Island... well that will be addressed in my next post. For the sake of brevity, go ahead and have the premise of the war and stuff be explained to you by whichever NPC you're accompanying. If you need to take control of them to make them answer your questions, you have my permission to do so.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

~Traverse Town, Third District~
@Savo@RyuShura

"Yes, of course!" Aerith didn't have a plan of her own, so she was content to follow with whatever Ambrose was cooking up. As he requested, she used the last of her reserves to put up a barrier on him, hopefully whatever he did would work since the flower girl would be too drained to provide any further aid after that last barrier.

"I'll draw his fire, just you watch!" Yuffie proclaimed, probably not the smartest thing in the world to announce one's battle plan aloud like that, but Yuffie followed through. The ninja cartwheeled away from the group and off to the side on her own. From the moment she was away, she started flinging out whatever was left of her shuriken supply in Vexen's direction. Whatever it took to destroy airborne projectiles and simultaneously keep Vexen focusing his attack in her direction. As a ninja, this was a strategy Yuffie was not used to, normally she would be launching a surprise attack while someone else drew enemy fire. It sort of gave her a newfound appreciation for Leon, since he was usually the one fulfilling that role for her.

As for Vexen, he was preparing for his coup de grâce when some noise from a device he had on his person got his attention. It was his communicator speaker, producing an unfamiliar voice. Well, unfamiliar to everyone except for Vexen, "Pull out... Emperor... council!" those were the only words that the defenders could hear, thanks to Vexen's ice storm drowning out the rest of the message. Vexen himself seemed to hear and understand the message in its entirety, however.

"...I see." even as Ambrose's strike was coming his way, Vexen responded by surrounding himself with ice walls. They were put up hastily, so they weren't entirely strong and shattered easily enough. But by the time they did, Vexen was no longer present. The walls were a cover for his retreat, the Imperator seeming to have transported himself out of Traverse Town while hidden behind the ice barrier. In moments, all the ice shapes left behind in Vexen's wake shattered into particles of magic that dissipated in the air. The battle was over and Third District was quiet again.

"Y'all hear me down there? Empire's ships are turnin' tail up here. Looks like we won!" the voice could be clearly heard coming from communicators that both Aerith and Yuffie carried. It was Cid Highwind, who was in charge of the Gummi Ships defending Traverse Town from the Imperial Fleet. No doubt his ships had been busy keeping the Imperial Fleet from a full-on landing.

~Traverse Town, First District~
@NobodiesHero

"Like you, huh?" said Leon, his expression serious before revealing a brief smirk, "Then this should be pretty interesting." Ashe was on the move before Leon could say anything more. That was entirely like her, Ashe was always all too eager to get back in the fight. Where most fighters got weaker as a battle dragged on, Ashe only ever seemed to get stronger. That made her alright in Leon's book. It looked like she was only drawing the Masked Man's attention, though. Maybe this fight was draining her more than she was letting on? Either way, Leon had a decent idea what to do with this opportunity.

While Ashe made her move and the Masked Man was distracted, Leon held his Gunblade up close to his face and tightened his focus. Then he held the weapon out horizontally and it ignited with a hot blue energy that appeared to dramatically increase the size and length of the blade by several times. It was his signature skill, transforming his Revolver Gunblade into the much more powerful Lionheart. The weapon now ready, Leon made his move.

The Masked Man dodged the aerial attack easily enough by taking a small jump backwards. Between her injured left side and the usual telegraphed nature of such jump strikes, the attack hit only the pavement. Still oozing with Darkness, the Masked Man made no visible or audible response to Ashe's words. Instead he silently moved to make another lunge. But like the last, Leon once again got in the way. This time, Leon's weapon made a much more powerful strike that sent the Masked Man tumbling back to the ground before them.

When the Masked Man stood, this time his movements seemed... off. His staggers were rather... jerky in nature. Almost like some kind of machine with chinks in the cogs. The visor of his helmet was cracked, but not enough to reveal who it was behind that mask. Before the Masked Man could launch another assault, however, his visor seemed to light up somehow. It was a new set of orders from those who commanded him, and without any words or farewells he vanished into a portal known as a Corridor of Darkness. First District was safe once more.

"Y'all hear me down there?" Cid's voice, coming from Leon's communicator, "Empire's ships are turnin' tail up here. Looks like we won!"

The Lionheart's blue light died down, and the weapon looked like the Revolver once again, "Well, that's a relief." said Leon with an exasperated sigh, "Let's get the others," he said to Ashe, "we need to report what happened to the Queen." he was referring to Queen Minnie of Disney Castle, but this was the first time he would take Ashe with him to see her.

~Marchen~
@DangDude

When the fireball came, the Imperator held up his massive book, using as a shield to block the Fira spell for him. Between these two, and the two attacking from a distance in their vehicle, this was looking to be an annoyingly drawn out battle. Thankfully for him, though, a voice on his communication speaker interrupted his thoughts, "Zexion, the surrender is final. Report back, the Emperor demands us for another war council." it was an unfamiliar voice to his foes, but Zexion nodded his head as a dark portal opened up just behind him.

"My job here is finished. This battle is over now." and with that, he stepped through the portal without another word and it closed behind him.

"We... won?" asked PJ, the heavyset canine driving the vehicle as it came to a stop next to where Max and Mira stood.

"I dunno, man. He said his job was finished. Doesn't sound like a win to me." Max said between heavy breaths.

"There you guys are!" it was a new voice. Sounding like it was some kind of loudspeaker, mainly because it was. A ship descended down toward the village. It wasn't a large ship, but decently sized. Enough to transport the ground vehicle and a number of passengers at the very least. A hatch opened up, one large enough to the drive the vehicle through, "The Empire'll be blockading this world, we got maybe a few minutes tops to make ourselves scarce or we'll be caught!"

"What about the world?" asked Max.

"Sorry, Max, we're just one crew. There's nothing we can do..." the voice on the speaker sounded apologetic, but he wasn't wrong.

"This village! What about this village, then? It doesn't look very big, I'm sure we can fit everyone on board!"

After a hesitant silence the voice responded, "Alright, but you gotta be quick about it or there'll be a blockade in our way. I may be good but I'm not that good." that confirmed that whoever the voice belonged to, they were the ship's pilot.

"Look, I know this probably all sounds strange," said Max to Mira, "but if you want yourself and this village to escape you've gotta help us get everyone on board so we can escape. I'll explain as much as I can on the way, I promise!" he didn't wait for a response and went about looking for as many villagers as he could gather. Soon enough the ship would be leaving the planet altogether and making its way to a place Max called Disney Castle.

FF7: SOLDIER [Big Game - Always Accepting!]

Name: Alain Stratos
Role: SOLDIER 1
Location: Junon
Tags: @Renny@Tenma Tendo

It was the rockets that gave Metal Cricket away. For such a heavy machine to make that kind of jump, it needed high-powered thrusters which of course meant a noisier entrance. But even though the rockets announced the weapon's attack in advance, that advance was very small. Alain only had moments to decide how to react, and in a split decision he chose his spell.

"Slow!" the machine had already grabbed him by the time the spell was cast, but the Slow spell managed to produce the desired effect. As intended, the Metal Cricket's jump practically slowed to a crawl. And while this was only going to last a few precious moments, that was enough to dampen the impact and allow Alain a slim window to reposition himself. While he didn't normally get the luxury of controlling his momentum in midair, the close proximity of the Metal Cricket allowed him to stop his descent by clinging to the Metal Cricket's mandible-like apparatus. From that moment it was a matter of pulling himself up onto the machine's back, just in time for the Slow spell to wear off.

"Kill switch... where's the damn kill switch?" Alain asked himself as his eyes darted back and forth in a search for what he hoped would be a mechanism to force an emergency shut down. Shinra wouldn't develop a weapon like this without including an on-board kill switch for just these types of emergencies. The only problem was that Alain didn't know where it could be found, and he wasn't exactly in a position to call Heidegger and ask, either. He had to act fast, taking too long would just end with him getting thrown off the Cricket's back and he'd just be back at square one again.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@NobodiesHero@Renny@DangDude@RyuShura@Savo

Okay so if anyone needs me for collabing (so far I think Savo has mentioned it) then my usual free time slots are Wednesdays and Sundays around 6pm ~ 9pm CST. I'm actually available right now if anyone needs me but tonight is an exception, Wednesday and Sunday are my normal nights where I can chat.