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Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces


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''And what about the rest of the cult?'' John said. ''Is everyone gonna be present at the manse at the time we head there?'' <Hmm, depending on the circumstances, we might end up having to kill them all, at least everyone inside the manse at the time, and ensure none escape, to temporarily hide what would happen. If we do win that is. There's always that chance. And going back a little, that might prove to be a bit of a problem, considering things.> And the shooting incident came back to mind once more. Well, no use trying to just forget about it. It did had the chance of coming back again if they really had to resort to killing them all.

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"The arrive in fragments idea could work, but what I'm more concerned about right now is their numbers," Blake stated evenly. "Even at full strength they outnumber us by half, and the advantage of surprise can only do so much..." He paused for a moment, then asked, "How far out is the manse from the city, and if we were to try and 'leave' the area via land, would they call in the authorities or other reinforcements to help pursue us?" The swordsman had something in mind, evidently. What it was depended on the response.

Edited by Snike
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Restaurant

"Not spoikes, but I do have somethin' similar in moind. The only backup weapon I'll have on foot are my feet, so I want to see if I can't get a pair of blades grafted on." Gabbie explained.

Guild

"Oh looks like it won't just be us, huh?" Mandy realized. "More people! That's just fine by me, but I think I will need your help on this one, Tali~" Being pressured into helping was all it took to throw off Talitha's aim and she had already been preparing to take a shot at the target. The arrow missed it completely and got stuck in the wall between two bricks. Talitha felt sick inside seeing her shot ruined so easily.

Hell

"What are you waiting for? That was a direct order." Sardis clarified. That sad streak he had going was long gone. Jethro put his foot back to enter a defensive position and unsheathed his sword just to be safe. Cassandra recognized it, the same sword he always had on him. The exact same sword. Despite how torn she was, she didn't let anything but her hesitation reach the surface. She had to do something ...

I can't do it. I can't. I can't kill my own father. I have to think of a way out of this. I've got to come up with something or ...

"None of Raquel's memories, Burke?" Sardis asked suspiciously.

He's going to kill me. But I'm not the real Raquel anyway. Maybe it's better this way. I don't know.

"What are you waiting for, Cassandra?" Sardis inquired impatiently.

No. I'm not going to let Sardis just kill me here after everything I've been through. My father isn't a weakling. I probably won't be able to beat him anyway. I ... I think maybe Sardis is just seeing if I'll do it or not, not actually trying to kill him. But if I'm not convincing enough ... "I'm sorry ... but ..."

"But what?"

"I don't have much of a chance against him without a weapon of my own." she explained. No emotion whatsoever.

"You don't have a weapon?" Sardis was a little surprised and Burke laughed.

"Hey, I did all the hard work making this girl. The least you could do is outfit her, you knife eared vagrant. Dark tome or a combat knife. Or both. Chop chop!~" Burke played right along with it.

"Hmph. Alexis, your knife." Sardis conceded. She produced a dagger from her coat and then promptly handed it to Sardis, who then passed it to Cassandra. "Now then. Kill Jethro. I won't say it again."

It's now or never. Please, dad ... don't give me an opening ... Cassandra pleaded silently before leaping to the side of Sardis. Now there was no one standing between her and her target. Jethro parted his legs further to make sure he was well grounded for the first attack. Cassandra would be starting off this battle. And so she did, lunging at him like a wolf. Jethro swung hard to block and Cassandra nearly dropped her knife when the two blades crashed into each other. She was forced back and so was Jethro. Her wrists were shaking from the impact, but she couldn't afford a delay and attacked again. She almost caught Jethro off guard, but he blocked her with a powerful swing. Each clash was painful both mentally and physically. What was worse was that nagging feeling that she wasn't being convincing enough for Sardis. I've got to do something, but I can't kill him. How can I get through?

"Sardis! Is this your idea of a joke?!" Jethro complained as he launched his own attack and tried to cleave Cassandra. She just leaped right over the attack and went sailing over him. When she landed, he looked open, so she started an attack of her own. As Jethro began his swing, Cassandra went low and the sword passed right over her. Now think! Cassandra lunged aiming for Jethro's stomach, but she ended up stabbing his armor plating instead when he lowered himself. No damage, but at least it looked real. Next she leaped back to avoid any counters he might have been preparing and the two were at a safe distance from one another.

"Jethro, if you fall here, what use would you have been to us in the first place?" Sardis asked.

"Don't overestimate me. Everyone makes mistakes." Jethro shot back. Cassandra moved in right in the middle of Jethro's reply, nearly exemplifying what he'd just said, but he still blocked her attack, and then he delivered a kick to her stomach that sent her straight down onto her back. "Back off, you!" he yelled as she fell back.

Urgh ... that hurt. Why is he working with them? This doesn't make any sense! I can't even ask him why he's doing this! Argh!

"Sardis! Call her off! Now!" Jethro demanded. "She's perfectly willing to cut me down and you know it. This thing isn't my daughter ... or even a decent copy of her." Those words struck Cassandra so hard that it shattered her blank expression. Had she not been picking herself up the way she was, someone might have seen the horrible look on her face.

"You may be right ..." Sardis mused, not officially putting an end to it just yet.

Burke crossed his arms while he watched. Be strong, Cassy. Revenge will be all the greater.

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Thinking for a moment Zach said "The information I was given really didn't say if everyone was going to be there or not. But if I were to guess, I'd say the entire cult is still going to be at the manse. Not just the combatants."

"The manse is barely half a mile from the town, right on the edge like I said. As for them going after you on land....... I really couldn't say, but I don't think they really have any plans at the moment for you going inland. This is an island, where exactly would you go?" He asked in response to the blue haired man.

Edited by Eail
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"So, what would you have us do?" Faatina asked the supposed Mandy, before seeing Aneda give her a smile before shaking her head. Faatina gave Aneda a somewhat confused glance at that, before turning back towards Mandy and Norbert.

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"Blades on your feet huh?" He leaned his elbow on the table, chin in his hand. "Sounds like it could be dangerous, both for you and the opponent. Not to mention the counterbalancing that'd be needed... Ah well." He sighed, smiling. It could be worse, I suppose... She could try beating people to death with a desk or an iron pipe. Actually an iron pipe would be pretty brutal... Yeah scratch the iron pipe one away, that one is actually better, but like... Gah, when's the food gonna get here?! "Soon, just calm down..." Leaning back in his seat, arm draped over the edge. "Don't mind me, I'll butt out of this."

Finishing up the figurine and putting the brush aside for a moment, Nanahm took a step back and admired his work. "Not bad... not bad at all, though I wish it didn't take so long." He blew on it lightly, as if that would make it dry significantly faster. fortunately there seemed to be some discussion going on nearby, something about a man's... something or other.This warranted some stealthy investigation. Being fresh out of stealth, Nanahm simply sought out the noise to find a small group of people discussing something. For the moment, he made his presence known but he didn't try to engage the conversation. However, he was holding his wyvern figurine in his hand and he decided to pay more attention to that at the immediate moment.

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Connor

"Where on the foot were you thinking? Having a heel that is a blade might look cool, but is pretty impractical for combat or even just walking around- you'd keep getting stuck in stuff," he said to Gabbie, trying to picture dangerous footwear.

Org

Wait, Sardis is making him fight his daughter? Well not really his daughter, but she still must look a lot like her... Clara thought to herself, watching the fight in a somewhat shocked state.

Sardis is trying to prove the armor guy's claim that this 'Cassandra' isn't Raquel at all? She seems to be having a little bit of a tough time though...do artificials have the memories of their copy? I should probably listen to Layla when she talks about artificials more often- though being constantly reminded of my "inferiority" seems to keep me from paying attention. Cloe thought to herself.

Edited by -Cynthia-
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<Well, here goes nothing...> ''And what will be done regarding them?'' John asked. ''They can easily find out that they failed to capture Raquel and can spread the word. Well, only if we let them that is.'' <Killing them all sounds drastic. Then again, after what they've done sympathy may be one of the least things they can get. And if they can manage to tell the authorities all the trouble done into hiding it from them would be undone, and certainly complicates things as well.>

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"If we go 'n small groups, will th' earlier groups have t' start th' fightin' b'fore th' others get there? If not, how d' th' earlier groups keep from bein' found out b'fore th; others arrive?" asked Gytha, picturing a bunch of cloaked group members trying to fit in with the enemies in the manse (and failing a good bit since she wasn't certain about what that would look like.) "N' how long should one group wait until it goes t' th' manse after th' last one went?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Mandy mentioned they'd need the Fallen woman's help and asked for assistance without even answering Norbert's question, the pegasus rider's clenched fists tightened. He wanted to say something to point out how outrageous it was to be treating a Fallen so civilly or something to that effect but any sentence he began to form in his mind even before speaking dissipated near immediately due to a lack of finding the right words, which was only adding to his frustration. Finally, he managed to request with strained patience, "I would like to not work with the Fallen, please."

Edited by Mercakete
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Deciding to tackle the scary woman's question first Zach clarified for her "It wouldn't exactly be like that, once everyone is outside of the city we meet up again before going to the manse. It would be suicide to rush in there with only two or three people. As for the waiting period...... I don't really know, maybe twenty to thirty minutes? Or would that be too much of a wait?"

Giving a sigh he responded to the wyvern rider as well "The solution to that problem should be fairly obvious shouldn't it? Simply don't leave anyone alive left to tell of what's happened"

Edited by Eail
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Oh no. That's another shooting waiting to happen right there.

"Zach, there is something you should know." said Robin in a nervous tone as she glanced over at Gytha. She wasn't trying to single out the woman, but she was sure that both woman could see the inevitable conflict that would arise if Zach's plan of 'kill them all' was taken into effect.

"I have taken an oath to never taken a human life again. I refuse to kill people and... you know me well enough to know I will also refuse to kill any prisoners that we take."

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<I knew it.> John thought, seeing Robin bring up her stance against killing. <Well, perhaps it is for the best to bring it up now instead of when we're already at the manse.>

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'Okay, there's obviously some kind of story behind that oath. But right now isn't the time to get into that'

"That won't be a problem Robin, I'll do the deed myself if need be." Zach responded to his friend . "Nobody else has the same feeling about killing though do they?" questioning no one in particular.

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Meeting

Robin's insistence on not killing seemed kind of pointless to Reign unless she was the only person in the group allowed to kill anyone ... but that didn't make a lick of sense. Maybe she wasn't planning on letting anyone else execute any prisoners, either. Now that would be a problem. "A bow and arrow aren't meant for sparing life." Reign noted a bit coldly. "I don't see why someone else can't do it, though. What's the problem?" he asked while shrugging.

Raquel was in her own thoughts for awhile until she finished envisioning the plan for herself. "Okay sooo we get some cloaks, take separate routes to the mansion, launch the rescue, and then scatter and meet back up at either of the ships." Raquel tried to summarize the plan as best she could.

Restaurant

"Was thinking more of attaching them to the back of the heels, but high up enough so I'm not sloicing up the ground and dulling them just by walking." Gabbie clarified. "Hey, you can give some input if you want. Doesn't bother me." Gabbie shrugged. It would be a little awkward if Davod just sat there arguing with himself while she went over gear details with Connor. Maybe if the food had already arrived, but it would still be a short while, probably. Neela returned with the drinks. Step one, complete.

"Here ya go~" she greeted as she placed them in front of the patrons. Davod ended up with two. "Save at least one of those until after you start eating, okay? I can get you some milk too if you'd like." she offered. Just seemed like the right thing to do.

Guild

"Fallen? You mean Tali? Weeeell ..." Mandy began to address that but couldn't quite find the words herself.

Tali meanwhile crossed her arms and looked away from Bert with a huff. "I'm not interested in testing racists, anyway ... unless it's the evasion test." she retorted threateningly.

"Now now," Mandy finally found a good way to explain her companion and spoke up again. "She gets this sometimes, but Tali's only half fallen. So maybe you could 'half' work with her or something." She giggled afterward at the simpleton logic she'd used. "Seriously, it's no big deal. She's as kind and warmhearted as any other dark avian~"

"Uh, Mandy? There's a dark avian down at the arena ... tearing the place apart ... as we speak. You really wanna make that argument?" one of the guild members reminded her.

"Oh he just needs a hug~"

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"My aim has been good enough so far to allow me to wound and disable without killing. I took my oath back when Raquel recruited me when a man whom I had shared time in prison with was slain while fighting. You may consider it silly, but... I wish to respect the lives of all human beings. If you wish, we can talk about this later, but as Zach said, now is not the time to be doing so. Just know that I will not approve of the slaughter of any captives we may take."

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".....You won't allow me to kill any prisoners that are taken in this fight?" Questioned Zach. "In that case I'll just have to make sure there are no prisoners to execute."

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"A Fallen, huh? I've never seen one before..." Faatina noted with curiousity, looking Tali over with genuine interest.

"For shame, Norbert. If you are to judge people, do it based on thoughts and actions, not based on parentage. To attempt to determine the worth of a person based solely on where they were born, or to whom? That is deplorable... I expected better of you." Turning to Tali after giving Norbert a dissapointed glare, Faatina bowed her head to the woman.

"I apologize for my comrade... he should learn to better hold his tongue... it is an honour to be working with you."

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"Okay so long story short, cultists are gonna attack us. Zach wants to save a girl that was harmed by the cultists and now we're planning to attack them with a sneak attack.

So why are we talking when we have a plan?"- Chelsea mumbled to herself, trying to recap the events that were taking place.

Then Robin was speaking again, about not killing anyone, again. "Allright then, you don't have to fight with us then. You can stay here and get back to fixing dinner for everyone!"- Chelsea told Robin with a grin plastered on her face.

"Sooooo~"- she drawled out as she turned to face Raquel.

"We can't bring our mounts inside the manse?"

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"Look, Norbert, I don't think showing immediate animosity is going to help you out. I mean look at the targets over there." Aneda pointed, "I don't think you'd wanna pick your fights so recklessly. I can understand your reaction but do keep it in check, mkay? If it's not okay we can go right here right now if you wish, maybe get you to let off some steam..." She knew she was prodding at this point, but she figured he had enough common sense. "I mean if it's ok, that is. I assume friendly spars are a-ok in here, right? If not, well... I guess we can take it somewhere else. Either way, I hope we can all simply put aside some silly prejudices for a little while at the least."

"I gotcha, I gotcha, I'm sure it's gonna be fun experience, ma'am, haha... and yeah I'll take the milk too I suppose." Turning back to Gabbie, Davod halfheartedly waved his hand, "Nah, I'd feel like a third wheel in this particular discussion. You both seem to have something in mind, but if you want my opinion on anything, just ask."

"So that's what's goin on..." Nanahm muttered to himself, listening in on what Chelsea had said. Deciding to expand on it, he stepped forward. "That's just a basic outline, that's not a plan of attack, Chelsea. How are we gonna sneak in would be a plan, not simply the sneaking part. Normally I'd volunteer for this kind of stuff, you know, fighting and whatnot, but if it's espionage, yeah, not gonna work with me. What are we working with here again? And is there really any rush?" Nanahm questioned. He wanted facts, and he was gonna get him. Raguni knows he's failed at doing that before, but he was gonna follow through this time.

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Veronika

"She said she wouldn't approve of it, not that she wouldn't allow it. We may be able to learn something useful from a prisoner, but there doesn't seem to be much incentive to keep them alive," she said simply.

"We aren't in a huge rush Nanahm, but we'll lose the element of surprise if we wait too long. Though how we're going to get inside the manse is a fair question- I doubt they'd just open the doors for us."

Connor

"How long do you want the blade to be then? Not as long as a normal sword I assume- that'd be almost impossible to walk in," Connor said to Gabbie.

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''Actually, I'm sure they are really going to leave their doors open for us.'' John said. ''After all, they are expecting us to head in there and fall to their trap. Unless they have guards or lookouts on their front gates we can just get there and go inside without problems.''

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Meeting

"No thanks. That's all I really need to know." Reign replied to Robin. "You guys are going there to kill them, right? Are you not willing to kick down a few doors or somethin'?" he asked the group in general. 'Sneaking in' wasn't how he imagined the whole thing going down originally. John mentioned the original trap, which had crossed Reign's mind too, but he figured the cloak strategy would jeopardize that angle, and allowing themselves to fall into the trap was risky business. "Iiiii think you have to choose between a surprise attack or a trap reversal here, guys."

"I don't think we should bring our mounts into the mansion, at least ..." Raquel replied to Chelsea. She wasn't sure if bringing the mounts would be a good idea period or not because while they might assist in battle, they might also undermine the cloaks if there were any witnesses. Planning attacks like this turned out to be something Raquel was very put off by. It was more dangerous to be attacked at random, but planning out operations like these were a little stressful. She imagined Lilith simply busting in through the roof of the building, grabbing the girl and flying away with her before anyone knew what happened. Then she sighed heavily while the talking continued.

Restaurant

"Four and a half inches long overall with an upward curve. Need to make sure they don't come back from a neck slash or a skull pierce." Gabbie answered immediately, sparing little detail for the young alchemist.

"Okay, then, I'll bring you some milk with the food, as well, sir." With that, Neela turned from the table again and began to walk away. "He's so brave." she said as quietly to herself as she could. The worry was quickly replaced by pity.

Guild

"An honor, huh?" Tali wasn't sure what to make of that. To her it was just a standard evaluation they were about to run. It would have been shrug worthy if she wasn't surprised. "You can duel in here, but try not to disturb anyone. Also try to have a referee present. It's annoying when little rivalries turn into bull blown battles because people don't know when to lay off." she added.

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'Nanahm, Nanahm.......... Why does that name sound so familiar to me? Could he be the same one?'

Turning to the only person taller than him in the room Zach questioned "Are you the same Nanahm that left Ohka years ago? You weren't content with the mercenary work that was there correct?"

Facing Reign he responded to what he had just said "I have no personal preference on what plan you all decide on, we could probably find a way to make either work."

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"Well of course. I wasn't planning on a duel to the death, just a little friendly stress relief. But only if he sees fit to continue what he started... Anyway, when can we get started, if I may try to move things along, or are we the last in a long line or something?" Aneda inquired, hoping to try and change the subject instead of egg Norbert on further.

"Huh?" Someone knows me...? "Uh, yeah, I'm from Ohka and I left a few years ago... I don't see what that has to do with what's being discussed here at the moment but I'll talk when we've got free time." He looked to everyone else in the current vicinity before speaking up, "Now I know I literally just got here and only know a very small portion of what's going on, but I'd have to say going for a surprise attack would be better in terms of odds than a reverse trap. Unless we know exactly how the trap would pan out that is, we can't account for everything. A random assault, though, can easily turn a potentially unwinnable fight into a landslide victory, we just need to approach this carefully." Really, Nanahm just liked the thrill of a chaotic battle as opposed to a structured and clever plan. Raguni be praised...

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"Yes, an honour. I'll admit I've never met one of the Fallen before, but from what I have heard, you are naturally quite powerful, and your skill with a bow speaks for itself." Faatina replied, before righting herself back to a normal standing position from her bow.

"Regardless, what would you have us do to begin the evaluation?"

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