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  • Old Guild Username: FinderOfPaths
  • Joined: 12 yrs ago
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    1. Penultimate_Pi 12 yrs ago

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10 yrs ago
I keep coming back here very so often, as if it would make my wanting to return any better. I don't know why that would be. I would just disappear again and regret it again, I'm sure.
1 like
10 yrs ago
i give up. why do I even bother if I can't be consistent? it's over for me.
10 yrs ago
I'm just... really in a bad time. I feel awful. I'm don't think I have the strength of will to show my face here again after letting everyone down.
1 like
10 yrs ago
just gonna bash my head on a door or something
10 yrs ago
whatever
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Alright, I posted now. I would've mentioned Hugh in that post somewhere, but I wasn't sure how.
The monk let out a breathy sigh through his nose at Tobias's response. It quickly turned from sarcasm to reality, however, as he commented on his own near-death experiences, topping off his lamentation with Sana's strangely violent behaviors. The rogue seemed especially off-put at how justified Sana seemed in her actions, and Hanzo realized that. These were criminals, and they likely always had been, but the gypsy woman seemed nigh-insistent that these were practically monsters in human form. Then, perhaps, she was too justified...

It wasn't going to change Hanzo's own viewpoint upon it. As unseemly lives as they led, the monk believed they all deserved another chance. An opportunity to realize their wrongs and turn their lives around for the better. Loathe as Hanzo was to admit it, such happenstance probably wasn't going to happen - these bandits either believed they had no other choice left at this point, or some really were so beyond regard for humanity.

As Tobias went up the stairs, Hanzo followed, needing to put their unconscious wizard to bed. "It just seems so... dissonant," Hanzo explained absently. "This morning, she was different than this. I can understand the want to get rid of these criminals before we set out, but she is taking this matter to an extreme. Certainly, it doesn't help that most of the others are privy to such violent murders, but..."

Hanzo trailed off, and by then Tobias was already off on his own-rooting through one of the rooms. The monk exhaled strongly again, the burdens of being associated with so much death weighing heavy. He looked into one of the rooms that was obviously unoccupied, and gently laid down Melvus on the bed within. Hanzo took some of the loose items on the wizard's person and laid them on the bedside table for him to find. If there was anything the caster was missing, Hanzo was not aware of it.

While Tobias changed into a new set of clothes (that weren't his?), the martial artist went downstairs. While Sana had taken a group out to get rid of the remaining slavers, that left the men here who were either resting or cleaning up the mess. Those corpses wouldn't disappear on their own, after all. Realizing that he had allowed one of the bandits to escape, Hanzo suddenly hoped that the slaver camp hadn't been informed of the skirmish at the town, as it might prove disastrous for all of them - both Sana's group, if the bandits were ready for them, and the town, if they sent out a stronger party to raid them.

It certainly looked like Mortosh was covering the corpse plan, though, as when Hanzo came downstairs, he witnessed the undead about to walk through the door with a dead body over his shoulder and a jar of ashes tucked under his other arm.

Noting the surprise still coming from the inn's remaining patrons, the monk put a hand up to stop Mortosh from dragging blood into the inn. "Here, I can help you burn the deceased. We should do it outside the town, so we're not polluting the local air," Hanzo offered to the undead warrior, motioning outside.
@Billsomething Sure, I suppose I can help with that. I'll get a post up soon.
Gimme a few minutes...
"Attention all Cadets, the mock battle is hereby over... you all performed as I expected you to do, which isn't saying much. Others performed better than I expected them to!"

Breathe in... breathe out...

"Oh, and one more thing... You all failed the mock battle. Reflect on your failure while you wait," The voice finally cut out with a mocking cackle.

"You would," Lora whispered within the confines of her emergency pod. The old man had approached the pilots with a vague, twisted announcement of a mack battle in order to test the factors that would make one of them the leader. Those factors, he made no effort to make clear, tested by a battle with also no obvious purpose made clear. He asked essentially nothing, and so the not-so-good doctor got essentially nothing. And then he laughed at them, because that was exactly what he was expecting of a couple of especially prodigious teenage Framewerk pilots.

Yes, he was the old rat that brought this project for the Framewerks into creation, but he was an old rat all the same. Why put him in charge? Why should the old even begin to dare have control of what they believe is best for the young? It was a classic conflict that began to seriously heat up in the second half of humankind's stay on Earth, with little learned from it.

It's a good thing Lora wasn't fighting for his sake, then.

"Hey Lora, could we... talk?" The receiver in Lora's headset rung meekly, Elora's tone seeming to have shifted back to its state prior to the battle. "There's something I need to say..." Lora didn't respond. She had a lot on her plate already, and this otherwise quiet soul didn't need to get caught in the middle of it.

"...I'm coming over," The voice on the intercom concluded, and cut out. Silence again. The pilot of the Caliburn sat still as ever, now ruminating on the battle some more.

Stukov was technically their first casualty, but in a dishonest way - he died before the battle could even begin, harnessing powers that nobody seemed to truly understand. Based on radar readings, Miles had been next to fall, the cocky lone wolf meeting some form of comeuppance by apparently not wearing his suit properly. Lora was having her doubts that the boy would make the grade to be in the team after this orientation, but now he had to be outright crippled. But that's just what happens when one gets too self-righteous.

Her thoughts turned back to Daemon's destruction. She was still curious as to what exactly led to Stukov's death like that. Lora was aware that his Synchro Rate was outstanding, nearly at 100%. But perhaps 'nearly' wasn't enough. Maybe he was trying to unleash that power before he was actually capable of wielding it. If only there was any salvageable evidence from the Daemon's wreck, there might yet be some answer.

A light knocking resounded on one of the capsule's walls. The pilot within turned her head to the side it came from, an eyebrow raised. "Umm... I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't know what overcame me. It was...scary." Elora, again. Lora sighed. She felt like an older sister who's younger sibling was coming over to apologize over a spilled glass of milk.

Lora began, "Don't think you did anything wrong. In a real battle, against a real Cruxi, what you did right there was exactly what you needed to do. You're just concerned because I'm not a Cruxi, and that's fair enough. It's nothing to apologize over." Her voice rung over herself inside the sealed metal pod, echoing to the outside world. Why she wasn't just opening the capsule to speak more clearly was anybody's guess.

Maybe she just wanted to be alone. But then again, perhaps she shouldn't be. One's own thoughts could prove quite dangerous in over-exposure.
I honestly was surprised that our two main heavy-hitter gun-ho characters both simply ruined themselves within the first couple of rounds. That was an awful big shocker that kinda threw out all the initial perceptions I had of how the battle would go. It also resulted in two of our more powerful Frames being lost early on, as it sort of narrows the team's firepower somewhat. Stukov's heavy machine with it's rockets seemed to balance out our lighter and more precise frames, but now that completely gone.

Personally, I'm a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to use Caliburn to its full capacity. Those secondary weapons designed for short to high-mid range would've made Lora a real threat if she had gotten the opportunity to pull them out properly, but Macabre and Diver didn't let up.

I'm still not quite so hyped on the team-up plan, since it amounted to a drawn-out 3v1 later on. It certainly gave the team more integrity as far as survival - Caliburn might've lasted longer than Macabre if Diver hadn't swooped in to support.

Overall, was far different when it started, kinda devolved a bit, I'm left a bit unsatisfied, Ryan is an asshole, and Lorenzo is an asshole-in-chief.

EDIT:
By the way, @Ariamis, have any of our Synchro Rates changed as a result of the fight? I seem to recall you mentioning that even this battle would affect the hard Synchro Rate, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Sure, Hanzo would set him down in one of the rooms. This would be a tad bit later, mind.
@Voltus_Ventus
Let me know when you start putting your plan into action, as I'll have to try and adjust my actions on the bride to coordinate with that.

EDIT: @Vash
While I'm still pondering over what I'll be posting, could you give me some descriptors of the bridge, and what I'll be dealing with up there with Grissom?
Understandably enough, Fiona seemed to be amazed. The monk got that expression a few times, whether it be from people never healed with magic, or from those not expecting for him to wield magical abilities. Ki was an amazing force when one learned to properly harness it, but in a sense it really wasn't that much different than magic - simply all coming with within, rather than shaping the without. When the warrior pointed out the bleeding gash on his hand, though, Hanzo decided it would be best to get that healed by the Sister.

Hanzo desperately tried not to even glance at the glorious bloody murder that had taken place in this town, but it seemed that everywhere one looked there was another ravaged corpse. This group of adventurers was really making itself out to be destructive gladiators, even when they were seeming to dispense justice. Of the two men that were merely apprehended, one had already been killed, and then brutalized yet further.

By the time Hanzo and Agnes intersected, the monk had gained a very distant look altogether, just averting his gaze from the battlefield entirely. He did spy a bit of the Sister's face, plastered with grim concern, and figured perhaps she felt a similar way as he.

Hanzo stomached his nerves and looked back to the rest of the group. The orc, goblin, and strangely enough the elf all acted as complacent as ever, it seemed to the monk. Hugh was looking astoundingly shocked for some reason, the wizard had fainted flat, and Tobias had a face somewhere between horror and disgust. Sana, meanwhile, was interrogating the last slaver with the threat of an arrow through the eye, while already having another eye impaled on that arrow. When the man finally stammered out what information he could muster, the woman suddenly twisted away her promise to let the man go, and shoved the arrow through his head.

"No."

All too suddenly, the monk let out what could only be a growl, clenching his fists at the sight of the execution. She slid the severed eyes off the shaft and returned the arrow to her quiver, spitting on the dead man. Time fell back several years, and Hanzo witnessed the sight of several gutted, severed, completely brutalized corpses strewn about. The girl, she was there, and she was behind it...

He took a step, and the crunch of the beaten-down dirt road brought him back. Hanzo exhaled suddenly, blinked once, twice... inhaled through the nose, and out through the mouth. None of that, not now. Fire was not quelled with more fire.

His thoughts did not stay internal for long, as the rogue quickly moved forth to object Sana's actions, and the actions of all the adventurers. It was made quite clear that whatever cause they were fighting for, the brutalization with which they did so was unacceptable. Hanzo could only agree. Tobias was fed up, and not afraid to put that into words. While Sana prepared for a raid on the slavers' hideout, the rogue quite swiftly rest his case and refused to have any more part in it, retreating to the inn.

Within the brief silence that took place afterwards, Sister Agnes coughed again, quietly pointing out the fainted wizard. Partly glad for something to take his mind off of things, Hanzo took responsibility and heaved the poor soul over his shoulder. Fortunately, Melvus wasn't too heavy to bear.

Before the monk followed Tobias, however, he shot a stern-faced glance back to Sana. Whatever had possessed her to do what she did, Hanzo hoped it could be purged. This world didn't need more cold-blooded, gory murderers.



"Are you alright?"

The question came to Tobias from Hanzo, still bearing Melvus draped over his shoulder. "I understand it is difficult to deal with murderers, no matter what side of the law they believe they are on," The monk attempted to sympathize, though how well the rogue would resonate with him was yet to be seen.
I think I'll be in group B, for a couple of reasons, really.
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