The Otter

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Just as the pair slid out the open window the engine of the ætherskimmer came to life, managing to keep them from plummeting like all the Valheimer not fortunate enough to find their ways onto any of the other skimmers. Not without difficulty—Esben was having to pull on the stick with all his weight to try and make the craft respond, but thankfully it did manage to do so—but at least they were keeping afloat and alive for a moment longer. "Ja, ja, for en herlig dag," he sarcastically muttered to himself.

It wasn't a lovely day at all.

He looked down to the rest, where the airship was about to impact Reisa and the mech she piloted, just in time to catch the incantation she was broadcasting out to them. He scowled down, muttering again—"Ikke bare bare. Just once I'd like something to go right! Jeg tror ikke det, Reisa! Over mitt lik!" He set the skimmer to hover, pulling his journal out, thumbed open to the newest page, marked with the same symbol that had been carved into the altar where Isolde had tried to trick the entire group.

Eos and Selene would have to disappear again, he had no way to maintain so much at once. Once again the pair would likely scold him as soon as he summoned them in again, but there was little that they could do to stop the explosion of raw æther coming out of the Ruby Weapon. He had no clue how Leviathan might react to being called on, so soon after her struggle with Siren and being dispelled by Reisa, or if he'd even have enough in him to call on her, but there was no choice but to risk it.

"Leviathan..." He winced as the connection was established, and the roiling, boiling storm of the eidolon's fury rushed through his mind as though a burst dam trying to drown out the village below. There were no words, this time, not like when she'd been unwittingly challenged by the Kirins, only the hate for the invaders that had wounded her pride, that sought to corrupt the land and the spirits themselves. Straining to be released, to try and visit her vengeance upon the one at their head. "Not like that," he tried to argue back. Like arguing with a tsunami...no wonder Cid had brought Ifrit along.

"Your barrier, Leviathan. Let her incinerate herself, and let that be retribution enough!"

The tide receded for a moment. He stretched out the glowing symbol, the spectral form of the gargantuan Sea Queen rearing up, eyes burning with a furious glare to match the Dragon King himself. As in his mind, there were no words for the invaders—just an enraged roar, as the conflagration was encapsulated by a quick-rising ætherial waterspout joining the spells cast by Rudolf and Miina.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Esben heard a clatter of Valheimer troops as, in the midst of diving for cover from Éliane's cannon, were thrown into disarray by his throwing the ship onto a new course. Metallic clangs as some of them crashed into the walls, jingling ammunition in pouches and belts, and a host of barbarian curses. Luckily for them, the invaders were stuck in a choke point of their own making, and with Éliane's own proclivities he wasn't terribly concerned about them yet. "Hope everything is going well over there!" he called out, before stomping down with one foot to keep one of the bridge crew bodies from flopping away.

He bent down, stripping away the deceased man's pistol, holster, and the pouch of ammunition he'd been carrying for it, tying them off to the side of his sword belt as quickly as he could. Cursing like the soldiers just past the entrance, he stepped over the body, half-throwing himself towards the console that had the throttles. Luckily, Valheim at least had a better idea than some of the ships he was familiar with in the water—letting the bridge crew have control of the engine power and speed, rather than having to try and get the commands down to engineering.

He slammed the throttles wide open. The massive turbines that propelled the airship roared over the forest canopy as they spun up higher, pushing huge amounts of air as the ship's approach to Reisa's weapon picked up speed. The screech of metal sliding against metal rang out as the ætherskimmer that had carried him and Éliane into the Valheimer flagship started to creep along the bridge back towards the busted open viewport.

Not good. Not that it'll matter if it's completely broken, but if there's a chance...

He vaulted into the seat of the battered aircraft, quickly scanning over the controls before putting his fingers on the one that he figured should power it back up. "Come on, tell me you've still got some life—Elly, be thinking of an exit strategy if I can't start this thing!"

If they survived this, he'd have to find a way to get the story to Bikke. Éliane may not approve very much, but even if their control of the ship was short lived, airborne piracy was certainly something new...

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

The pair of them mopped up the rest of the bridge crew quickly, freeing Esben to search for the controls to the vessel. Thankfully, they didn't seem to be terribly damaged from their entrance—ideally, they'd still work to complete the second part of his plan. He put both hands on the large yoke of the craft, turning back to Éliane as she confirmed that she'd keep watch on the door. "That's good," he said, pausing for a moment before continuing:

"Be careful about that first bit, though. Rudolf might have more questions if he ever hears it."

The monstrosity that was Reisa's new weapon was clearly visible through the shattered bridge windows. He knew there was no way the flagship would control like the ætherskimmer, in the same way that a frigate was ungainly compared to a racing sloop; still, he hoped he'd have enough of a feel for it not to completely miss his mark. An escape plan could be determined afterwards. The skimmer was certainly damaged, but maybe it would be good enough to get them out and to another ship without much trouble...or maybe he'd just have to rely on Éliane's wind materia.

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was good enough for government work.

He grit his teeth, pulling the yoke to turn the Valheimer flagship on a collision course with Reisa and the other gunship. "Make sure to brace yourself!" he called back. "We're about to start falling!"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Luckily, Esben looked up in time to notice the ordnance dropping from the flagship, breaking off from his pursuit of the other skimmers just to make sure he and Éliane weren't caught by whatever it was, either on the way down—or, more presciently, on its way back up. The pair glided slowly along as it started to shoot back up, Siren and Leviathan caught in its claws, as he tried to figure out just what he was looking at. "What in Etro's name have they done this time..." he muttered, as Leviathan was crushed into a spray of æther and Siren into a faint spray of blood.

It was almost disappointing, for the half a second he entertained the thought. After what had happened out on the ocean, he'd wanted to be the one to finish the undead woman off.

But they had far more pressing things to deal with than such wants and wishes.

Something that large, with no clue of the actual armour or combat capabilities as of yet, only that it was enough to crush an eidolon and her copy after a drop from altitude and had some sort of aerial capabilities of its own, was an obvious threat. Moreover, the remainder of the Valheimer forces were still active, including the flagship it had dropped from. Somehow, he doubted the ætherskimmer would be enough to combat it alone, even with the rest of the group working in concert. He could be wrong, of course, but he'd rather be safe than sorry.

"Éliane," he started, turning back to the pink-haired gunner as Reisa started her address, "We need something bigger to hit her with, ja? You would agree?"

"Absolutely!" she readily agreed, nodding rapidly back. He turned back to his controls, glancing up at the flagship. "Two birds with one stone, then," he mused to himself. "Aim for the windows, and then make sure to duck, this might be rough!"

He jerked the craft upwards, opening the throttle wide as it sped up towards the flagship that Reisa and her giant weapon had dropped from. He wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the Valheimer airships, even before setting off on the journey that eventually led to him joining the Kirins and fighting them face-to-face. The layouts were fairly standard, which made finding the bridge a simple prospect.

While the pair of them couldn't hope to commandeer the vessel guns and all, they could try to take control of its bridge. From there, they could, at the very least, turn the Valheimer flagship itself into a missile.

He leveled out quickly, flying straight for the flagship's bridge. After a moment to make sure he was properly level he let off the throttle and opened fire, aiming to shatter the wide windows he was aiming for, and heard Éliane's gun behind him doing the same. The next second he ducked low beneath the bit of windshield he had as the skimmer glided through the blasted windows and started to slide across the deck.

He leaped, rolled on landing, still slid into one wall as he came upright again. Not hard enough to give him much more than an annoying bruise, especially with the magic Eos had cast on them all as the fight started. He whipped his sword from its sheath, cutting down the first member of the bridge crew to come close to him in the same movement, diving forward to grab the woman's dropped pistol before coming up and opening fire on another one of the invaders that managed to recover from the shock quickly.

"Éliane, watch the door!" he called out to wherever she had hopefully landed safely. Another flash bomb from her to keep any of rest of the crew stunned would be helpful, but knowing her she'd already have one ready to go if she had any to begin with.

Another crewman popped up at the sound of his voice, falling backwards with a strangled cry as Esben fired another round into his chest.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

"I'd like to see any of you do any better your first time in one of these," Esben grumbled back. At least he'd kept from crashing, getting hit, or anything else bad, all while facing the people that were experienced with the craft. Not only that, but he'd managed to actual go on the attack with it!

That had to count for something.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Eos and Selene had little trouble interspersing themselves among the rest of the Kirins, their small size and speed helping them to evade the crossfire that was enveloping the deck. Even though they'd only all had a short nap to try and bolster themselves before the fight, Eos set about casting her magic over the group, shoring up their strength and restoring energy to tired limbs—as Selene weaved her own spell, ensuring the group could more than keep up with the barrage coming their way.

They, luckily, knew exactly what they were doing. Esben, where he sat in the 'cockpit' of one of the aetherskimmers, knew what his plan was...but without any piloting experience of this sort of craft, it was a far stretch to claim he had any firm idea of what he was doing. Mowing down a decent number of the hostiles facing them was a good starting strategy, but as they rapidly adjusted, he was left considering how to do the same.

While under fire.

The instruments at least seemed...somewhat intuitive. Flight level was simple enough to determine. One that, out of how it moved in the corner of his eye, he must assume was marking his altitude. A compass was obvious, one that was turning at the same time as the flight level, two of them that marked speed for some reason.

Easy enough to hopefully not crash.

He climbed and rolled out of the way of oncoming fire, one of the skimmers flying past underneath him. Once he came upright again he pushed the craft into a dive, drawing down on the flyer that was trying to evade him even as he could hear the other strain to turn and come after him. A fireball erupted overhead as he screamed underneath it, before the entire gunship was enveloped in a flaming vortex.

The lead skimmer turned hard and he followed, the three of them passing below the deck, skirting between the conflagration that surrounded the larger vessel and its hull. Tight as it was, he couldn't manage to get any lead on the first, so he kept off the trigger to keep from wasting any ammunition when he didn't have the faintest clue how much it held.

When they came up around the other side of the great loop they made, though, he could see very clearly a target that he did have a good bearing on, side-on to him.

Perhaps...too good of a bearing.

"Fy faen," he spat, pulling up rapidly. He passed over the top of the skimmer, gunfire erupting from behind him—whether from Éliane or from the skimmer behind him he had no clue, although none of it touched him, which was good. Ideally, he might've led the Valheimer into some friendly fire. Either way, he rolled upside down, dove, turned back and rolled again to right himself...

And nearly skipping off the deck as he rose again, he opened fire on the pilot that had so doggedly followed him around the ship.

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

Esben rolled deftly as the Kirins fell on the deck of the destroyer, one quick tumble over his shoulders bringing him back on his feet without issue. If travelling with the group had taught him one thing, it was that he could never hope for any plan to go anywhere close to how it was intended—it was nice when they did, despite complications, but sometimes the complications were too much. Like getting discovered the second they made it into Mizutani Tane's mansion—

—Or being knocked from the sky.

He ignored Valon's monologue, making a quick headcount of those that had landed on the deck. Making sure nobody had gone too wide or too short, that none of their party had to suffer the fate of an undignified tumble through the canopy to their death. Luckily, they always managed to avoid that particular sort of misfortune. "Alright, Eos, Selene, time to come out," he muttered, focusing on the aether-infused runes they'd written into his notebook to draw the pair back out. They winked into existence to either side of him as the traitor dragoon challenged them.

"Why do you always—"

"No time for that!" Esben pointed at one of the aetherskimmers. "I'm taking that, you two are helping me get there. Got it? Let's go!"

"Wait, what—"

While they may have been happy to see him still alive after having been so suddenly disincorporated during the fight with Famfrit, Esben couldn't afford to give them any time to catch up with what was going on. Miina and Éliane turned to Valon, a shot ringing out; Rudolf's gravity materia came into play, putting all the false dragoons under greater strain just to stay airborne, and with the fairies clinging to his cloak, Esben could feel their power combined to try and keep him as strong and fast as possible despite having barely had a nap before the fight.

He sprinted past the ring of troops surrounding them as they tried to keep up with all the sudden distractions, leaping onto one of the small craft. The Valheimer pilot looked up with wide eyes, slow to react to the grey blur that had suddenly boarded him, and Esben ripped him out of the seat and pushed him down to the deck. He fell into the seat afterwards, both hands on the controls, one finger on the trigger for the cannon on the prow, and yanked it to the side.

The craft jerkily turned, moving like an ungainly beast under the unskilled hands of its newest pilot—but he could get enough of a feel for it to keep it from rolling over and dumping him back out, or slamming into the deck all on its own. And of course, never one to give up whatever element of surprise he had, he pulled the trigger the instant the gun was no longer pointed at the Kirins, raking the Valheimer troops, false dragoons, and other skimmers with cannon fire. "Back on the rest, you two," he commanded the fairies. "I think I've got things from here, but if I crash, make sure to come pull me out, ja?"

Eos and Selene did not appear to be particularly impressed by his joke, but all the same, they took advantage of him laying down some suppressing fire to fly back to the rest of the Kirins so that the entire team could take advantage of their abilities.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

"Definitely not your sister, then," Fionn agreed, far calmer than the vampire next to him. "There seems to be a recent rise in thefts of such shards. It wasn't long ago at all that we were involved in the mess surrounding another." Gods and Goddesses forbid they could escape the trouble of these shards of Angroron; no, if anything he had a growing feeling that they were going to be the center of the defining moment of Fanilly's career as the captain, and all of them beneath her.

He did wonder how many of those shards were kept outside of Thaln, however.

Maybe he should have been less calm about it, like Tyaethe wasn't. Still, even if they didn't get the chance to travel fully abroad hunting the shards—and their thieves—down, it at least was the clear sort of thing that the Iron Roses were supposed to handle. It fit within their broader scope, going back to the original dedication as a devoted religious order, not just one that could do the bidding of the crown and have done with it. It was like he'd told Fanilly before—with Reon and Mayon behind them, there was no chance that they could fail, but undoubtedly they would still have to get through the trials and tribulations before them and put forth their greatest effort for it all.

Anything less would be a poor showing, and when you had divine providence on your side, you at least had to try and make the rest of the tale good too.

But that was business for later. Soon, ideally, very soon, but still later. "Of course, there's still our prior deal that needs to be satisfied. Duke Thedric's wits need to be returned, and we need our other prize—for your sister, if you haven't guessed." He spared a glance for their obviously-shocked captain. "We can negotiate finding the missing shard after our previous agreement is satisfied, assuming the captain agrees...?"

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Esben Mathiassen

---

While he'd managed to get his first good nap since the group was still in Kugane, Esben wasn't sure if that made him feel better or worse than he had been. Given the nature of what all was about to hit them, though, he didn't have much time to contemplate that or imagine the glare that Chisato might still have for him. Rarely a coffee person, even given the lack of sleep he'd had lately—the moment Rudolf let go of the half-full mug he'd passed over Esben drained it, focusing intently on the plans and concerns that were coming up.

In good time, as well, as the more vocal members of the Kirins immediately started to look his way.

"She shouldn't be here for this," he answered on the question of the turncoat SEED. "But Alex shouldn't have been here to begin with. The likelihood that we actually have to worry about her right now is low, but if she's crazy enough to throw in with Valheim, you've got the right ideas. Any information should be distributed only on a need-to-know basis, and everybody that receives anything should be verified beforehand. The big picture never leaves this room in one piece."

Unspoken was the agreement with Éliane that every prior method of secure communication had to be considered compromised. Given that Kayliss had found the pair of them to talk face to face, rather than relying on the usual sort of distribution and had Darri or someone else waiting for them to arrive, and given that she'd already noted that something strange was happening with Loki, then he could at least hope that SEED had already started to tighten things up even more than usual to stop up any possible leaks. But that still left them with the problem of coming up with any good countermeasures to possible infiltration, at least amongst themselves.

Countersigns were a good start, but not in the way they were usually come up with. "No normal countersign or passphrase would get past her, or anybody she might assign to any infiltration work," he mused after a moment. "She blends in too well for any shibboleth, she can copy any accent without trouble, and anybody she'd put forward would be drilled by her until they could do the same.

"Between her infiltration here, and then whatever information she may have gotten on all of us, whether generally, from being right in front of us, or from whatever Isolde may have told her, I wouldn't even be willing to risk it on any sort of semi-random word associations between the group of us. The only outlier would be Chisato, and if she had anybody in the city that could report back to her about our newest little ninja, I don't doubt that she could manage to piece together enough of a psychological profile on any of us to make educated-enough guesses at what we might come up with that could beat us out before too long."

He was plenty well aware that everything he'd just suggested about her capabilities must sound ridiculous. Like a bad joke. He was also keenly aware that she'd been considered the best spy that SEED had for quite some time, even before he was going on any training assignments. The risk of hyperbolizing was much lower than the risk incurred by not taking her as absolutely seriously as possible.

Perhaps it would be a bit convoluted, but he could see at least one decent way to come up with a list that she couldn't break short of absolute, random, freak chance, not to mention the trouble that Valheim would have with it. "I should be able to make something that will work for us, for a decent while, any time we split up. Zacharias, I'm afraid you'll be on your own on that front." He pointed out, dividing the rest of the Kirins into groups of two. "Galahad and Miina, put your heads together and get me a list of twenty-five distinct words that come to mind. Rudolf and Éliane, you do the same. Chisato, you'll have to give me something with at least five letters. Izayoi, I'll come to you at the end to have you translate things for me."

Maybe he shouldn't have drained that coffee so soon. He was still thirsty. He wordlessly passed the mug back to Rudolf. "I wonder...Maybe it would be worthwhile to commandeer an airship if the chance presents itself to us? Even if we have to abandon it before long, sowing some chaos of our own with some supposed 'friendly fire' could help quite a bit, not to mention whatever I might be able to gain from what they have stowed onboard. Besides, I'm sure Elly and Rudi would like the chance to play with bigger toys than they've got right now."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

---

Fionn had been willing to let Gertrude's willingness to pursue a contract with the Moonlit Queen go by without comment, content to entertain himself with the two fairies hanging around him...But to start casting aspersions on her sister, rivalry or no, was something that could cause them no end of trouble. Such should usually be hard to miss, even with the distraction of watching them all fight the hunt—not to mention that she might take it as an insult to her own pride, both in herself and her family.

Using the knights to try and push a wager, knock her down a peg, that could all be forgiven between them. The little queen might pout and rant, but that could all still fit within the 'rules' of how they interacted with one another. Outright theft would be another matter, and to immediately accuse one of them of such was a good way to make at least one enemy, if not two. While they might seem capricious by normal mortal standards, fey beings like the queen and her sister were still very particular about rules of exchange, who owed what and to whom; taking Duke Thedric's mind, troublesome as it was, was a reasonable retribution, demanding repayment for an insult...by the Moonlit Queen's standards.

Not to mention that sending the knights to try and get something more from her as part of a wager, only to turn around and steal something out from under all of their noses, was just as far outside the usual tactics. Forcing them to operate under false pretenses like that was risky and duplicitous in all the ways that the fey usually tried to avoid. Certainly, while he hadn't been the one to hear the details of it from the Moonlit Queen's sister, he doubted that any of those who had would have missed something like that woven in to whatever they were told.

"I'm with Tyaethe," he spoke up, turning away from Fiadh and Laoise. "Let's find out what it was before we start throwing out speculation as to who. I'd hate to make any insults that we owe satisfaction for."