(no subject)

[reynardfox]

Who: Agrias Oaks, Amuro Ray, Chris Lightfellow, Fanya Szekely, Isabelle Reyne, Rey Za Burrel, Sesshomaru, Shinya Aiba
Where: Mundane Sector - Edo
When: 12 July 2006
What: The IPA stages a crack-down on an opium house which they believe is a front for Syndicate operations. Naturally, some of the drug runners are less than pleased about this, and fighting erupts. (1/2)

Watch For: Rampant silly abuse of the fact that the combat system lets you enter your own attack names as you go. Craaaazy.

Mundane Sector - Edo

Edo is a collection of planes linked together much like the Holy Roman Empire cluster, incorporating worlds which seem to focus on the island state of Japan, from the Kamakura period to the Edo period. The countryside here is pristine and scenic-homes and family farms are present, as are forests and rivers. Larger cities also exist; they bustle with commerce, though they remain under the watchful eye of the Shogunate and the samurai. Outsiders and troublemakers aren't exactly welcome here.

Contents:
Amuro Ray
Chris Lightfellow
Fanya Szekely
Isabelle Reyne
Rey Za Burrel
Sesshomaru
Shinya Aiba
Obvious exits:
Black Ships leads to Mundane Sector.

Night has fallen on the city of Edo. All along the coastline, wooden huts are illuminated by paper lanterns, lending themselves to a vibrant nightlife. Gambling, drinking, prostitution, and opium is all found here. One of the larger ones, a two-story building protected by a couple of rough-looking fellows with sheathed katana, is part of the Syndicate. A lifeline, so to speak, that provides money to any number of causes - ranging from padding Don Shadow's pockets to funding Dr. Moreau's experiments to providing illicit and largely unknown income for Zeon.

Unfortunately, when the samurai discovered foreign involvement, they contacted the IPA. That would be why Chris Lightfellow, flanked by a couple of her men, is approaching. She has a dark, wool cloak covering her armor; it would hardly suit her to appear European here. Someone else is flanking her - an ally of hers, rather than another agent. She looks at Agrias and nods. "That building there," she says, quietly. She points at it. "We had better be ready. Also, to warn you..."

The woman looks at the bay, and the dark waters there. "We'll have a surprise shortly after we burst in." She smiles a little at that.

The ally follows just behind Chris, allowing the other knight to walk in front of her, out of respect as much as out of unfamiliarity. She doesn't know this land, but that doesn't affect her eagerness to help any less.

If Agrias Oaks wears her armour, it's well hidden. She wears a thick black cloak, with a hood drawn up and over her features. Her sword is sheathed at her side, hidden under the folds of the cloak. Her shield was left behind, perhaps trusting in her agility to negate any damage she may receive. Hopefully.

Her head is tilted down, and she walks with her customary limp, her stride purposeful but for that flaw. "Understood, Lady Lightfellow." Her voice is naturally soft, and she seems to make an effort to keep it even quieter. It isn't very loud, but in a district like this, you never know who you can trust to overhear and use information. Especially when any one of them could be Syndicate operatives. "I will be ready." A flash of golden eyes as she lifts her head, just slightly. "Is there a particular target you would prefer me to secure?"

The nice thing about being in the Edo period is that most people don't really look up - there's not a lot of reason, and unlike some other worlds... there probably were not ninja armies leaping around on the rooftops, engaging in ninja army battles or other silly things like that. And so Nanoha is sitting on top of a nearby bench, waving a period paper fan back and forth in front of her, dressed in her oldest kimono, which blends in fairly well with the other wear around here, although there are more western outfits than she might have expected from what her history class had taught her - these Syndicate hideouts were always such seedy places - couldn't they find something more... well, reputable to use to make all their black market deals?
But she offers a slight nod to Chris and Agrias - keeping an eye out for anyone who might try and follow Chris and her knights in. After all, it could get hairy if there were some more guards or thugs waiting nearby, or just off on break and returning.

Fanya Szekely, who had been here on entirely proper business, steps out of a back room of the opium parlor, looking slightly fuzzy. Her lips purse, just a little, and she adjusts the kimono's waistband.

Really, she thinks, the Orient does have more to offer than silks and spices. She comes to a halt, standing not far from the entrance and looking at one of the glowing red lanterns through the window, expression dreamy.

One of the figures walking up to meet the others, just a bit shorter than Chris and Agrias, is clad in a plain grey men's kimono borrowed from Hayato. The wide-brimmed hat he wears obscures most of his face, but the voice is unmistakeably Amuro Ray. "Just give the orders, Lady Chris," he whispers, holding onto a small metallic device with one hand. The Gundam is, seemingly, nowhere to be found.

But far be it for a pilot to go on a mission with little more than a hidden laser pistol, right?

"Not in particular, but many of these guards are good swordsmen. I'd like to have a few good swords of my own," Chris replies quietly to Agrias, as the two walk up. She looks at the opium den with grey eyes, regarding it and those moving around it. The woman who moves out draws only a blink; she is more focused on the two swordsmen out in front. She reaches a hand into her cloak, as she approaches.

Nanoha receives a nod; it seems the woman knows she is there. When Amuro approaches, she slightly smiles, and nods to the curly-haired boy as well. "Of course, Ensign Ray. When Agrias and I advance to take the swordsmen, lift it up - then the two of us and Miss Takamachi will rush into the building." She nods once again, and then looks sideways, towards Agrias again. "I'll take the one on the left, you take the one on the right?"

The two swordsmen look at them, for a moment, but then look back away. It appears they don't think much of them. The one on the right, a balding fellow, addresses Fanya, however. "Say, lady," he says, in Japanese, "have a light?"

Night had fallen and transportation at such times was...innefficient, even with all the resources they had, nightly travel was apparently not worth the trouble in this part of the various worlds. No matter, he was in no hurry, and the sole crate he wanted to see brought to destination was still unopened.

For among the substances present, a single mansized metal casing exists, kept hidden by a wooden crate to mask it's true nature. The symbol on it unknown to the locals, but Shinya knew that those who would disregard the biohazard sign may not like it much. He had no interest in the town, and rested against his merchandise, getting some shuteye as he could rather than joining the Syndicate thugs in their primitive game of dices.

"That is certainly understandable." Agrias lowers her head again, before the torchlight reflects from her eyes again. See? Totally inconspicuous figure limping along in a black cloak. Could be an old man, for all the guards ought to care. She frowns, under the cloak's hood. "It is merely my hope that this matter may be finished with as little fuss as possible."

"Understood." The Ivalician knight reaches into her cloak, drawing herself up nearer to Chris and waiting. "They do not appear particularly skilled. The man on the left slouches." She narrows her eyes, studying them carefully. "This will not be difficult." She glances over as the woman walks dreamily from the establishment, with clouded eyes, tilting her head up to see a little better as the two men stop her and ask for a light in some foreign language. "Hmph..."

Fanya turns dark, dreamy eyes towards the approaching person. Ah, they speak Japanese! Fanya is very confident in her ability to speak this strange tongue, and so she answers without benefit of a translator. In low light, of course, she does not stand out very greatly.

"Extremely, greetings," she says, with a carefully controlled bow of her head. "Of light I have little, with great apologies, although you may, of course, appreciate with me this lantern, if such is your wish." She smiles after this.

Sesshomaru is probably the only person who belongs here, and even he isn't from around here!

Oh well. The silver-haired demon is standing outside the opium den, leaning against a wall with his arms folded over his chest. Rin, mercifully, is nowhere to be found.

Inside, however, Jaken is busy casing the place looking for someone who's dead, or close enough. Demons don't eat human food, remember, so it's best not to ask what the little kappa with the two-headed staff is looking for. Probably livers or something. Yokai are weird like that.

Amuro nods, following after the others and keeping a low profile. The red hair visible beneath the rim of the hat might not blend in with Edo entirely, but it's hard to see in the shadows of night. "I'll bring it up when the time is right. No need to scare the locals. You make your move when you're ready."

Although he can actually speak Japanese, he doesn't speak to any of the locals.

Nanoha just remains waiting. If Chris and her friend can handle things on their own, that's probably for the best - it would make things appear to just be something of a local action, as opposed to the IPA breaking the place up. Her own abilities would be a bit too flashy, and she intended to hold back unless there was some sort of foreign element involves in all of this. She does raise an eyebrow slightly as he spots an interesting, rather beautiful - such a strange way to put it, but the term fit - silver haired man by the den. Where did HE come from...?

Noise.

There is too much noise outside, to the point that it's becoming bothersome. While not one to go check outside given his clothes and appearance, Shinya does cease his rest, getting back to his feet and turning his attention toward the source to try and make out what is being said.

Due to that, he does not notice the little demon scampering about, not that he'd care much.

"Very well, then... here we go." Chris nods her head once to Agrias, and then moves past Amuro. It would be best to give him time to move away - just in case more come swarming out before he can create his distraction. The knight looks once to the side, at the limping woman next to her. With their cloaks, they might appear to be patrons. This is what Chris hopes for, as she comes up the stairway.

Fortunately for them both, the two guards are distracted with Fanya's broken Japanese. The balding one on the right blinks at her, before he says, "Pardon? I couldn't make that out?"

The thinner one on the left shakes his head, before he looks up to find the cloaked Silver Maiden walking towards him - and looking like she might move past. He reaches a hand out, to grab her shoulder. "Hold on," he says, again in Japanese. Chris grimaces, feigning ignorance - though the translator in her ear makes the tongue understandable to her. As his hand grabs her shoulder and finds the armor under it, she suddenly ducks down.

Then, she shoves forward and lifts her body up. The swordsman shouts in a panic, as he falls down over her back and smashes through the wooden railing.

An opium den. It reminded her of London, 1820. But at present, her profile is the only thing presented towards the room, an open fan spread and lifted slightly to hide most of her face. The only thing that could be really seen of her is a crimson kimono, expensive, and embroidered with a fierce, asian dragon that curled up along her back and down her spine, while the tip of its tail snaked around the neckline and curled over where her right breast would be. Whatever this woman was doing, she seemed to be quietly sipping her tea, and playing a game of dice with three other men.

It was also quite obvious to the trained eye that she wasn't alone. Three figures dressed like ronin seemed to be stationed strategically in points that wouldn't trifle much with their reaction times should something occur to their covert charge. One was at the bar, quietly sipping sake. Another one seemed to be watching one of the serving girls milling about. And one...well, the one that was most obviously with her was a huge, hulking beast of a man in a kimono too short for him, hunkered on his hunches like a hellhound near his assumed mistress. We shall call this one "Bunny."

Well, there it went. Things would likely start to get very noisy and exciting now - so it was probably time to do her job. Standing up from her bench, Nanoha flips open her fan in front of her face, before digging into her kimono and pulling out a small pendant, with a spherical red crystal mounted in a gold setting. She holds it close to her ear, and whispers to it - and one might imagine a faint musical chime from the pendant, before the young girl holds I out in her hand in front of her. Anyone who passes close by might notice that it has some inscribed lines upon it... which, if observed, shift closely, as Raging Heart performs a scan of the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
Besides the IPA members, at least.

The black cloak wasn't a bad idea. It hid the bright silver of her armour quite nicely, and it kept the guards from becoming too suspicious. She blended in well, looking just like another patron, complete with an unsteady limp that looked too severe to present herself as a threat.

Unfortunately for the guards, assuming Agrias Oaks to be infirm or useless is a grave, grave mistake. By the time Chris heaves the guard up and over her shoulder, Agrias throws her cloak back with a snap of her arm, and she brings her sword up. The blade is scabbarded, the knight having no wish to kill the men; merely stun them. It's with a quick, serpentine dodge that she puts herself behind the man, the scabbard lashing out and stunning the man from behind; a sturdy kick sending him to join his companion.

Agrias straightens, hobbling a little as she regains her balance, and inclining her head to Chris. Done.

Amuro, surprisingly, does not join in with the assault right away, nor does he survey the area like Nanoha. Instead, he dashes off for a moment, and presses a button on the handheld object. A simple control device, easily enough to program.

And what is that control device hooked up to? It becomes evident when the water of the bay near the docks bubbles, and a white, metallic giant rises up from where it had been stored beneath the surface, water draining away as the pilot dashes towards his Mobile Suit. The cockpit door opens, and Amuro throws the hat away as he jumps in, activating the Gundam as it looms and climbs out of the bay.

Its eyes glow.

Fanya says, "Hm?" and smiles towards the hapless mortal once again.

Her eyes widen as the man is approached and then dealt with so summarily. She takes a step back, which is either pure method acting or actual surprise. This is not expected or anticipated!

No, she tells herself, I will NOT hide behind something. It took sixty years to get over the LAST time, and this is just a WOMAN. She gives the two a look of archly miffed indignation, and turns to shuffle quickly back into the den of ill repute. She also, for a reason that might be mysterious, whistles the first four notes of Beethoven's Fifth symphony. This may be a signal.

She isn't looking towards the water, which may be for the best.

Sesshomaru watches the Gundam rise from the bay. Oh, well isn't that just lovely. The demon lord makes his way towards the door, none-too-gently shouldering aside anyone who happens to get in his way. "Jaken!" his voice booms over the chaos, as people no doubt start to flee out of any door or window they can get ahold of. "Make it fast!"

Inside, Jaken redoubles his search. The chaos actually works to his advantage, as everyone who isn't running is probably dead or unconscious. Finding a particularly gray-looking specimen, the kappa prods the woman (corpse?) with the end of the Staff of Heads. No response. "Hmm..."

More noise, conflict? He can't be sure, but the young man prefers caution over carelessness. Pressing himself against his crate, Shinya keeps only a small angle of vision toward the door.

The shortlived sound and the silence after cements the source of the noise in his mind: It's not some random brawl, but an actual threat to this operation and his own goals.

Stepping away from his hiding location, the Radam commander moves forward to stand near the door, removing a crystal not from a pocket but rather from the very skin near where his liver is. And there, the young man waits, crimson eyes focused ahead and waiting for them to open the entrance. He could no doubt skip this, but it's no fun.

Despite the chaos, she could hear it. There was something going on outside so much as it was occuring inside, and then the whistle. Hm? Despite the urge to arch a single eyebrow and hold a 'what is it NOW?' expression of exasperation on her face, the woman with the fan looks remarkably calm. Even as her drunken playmates whistle and cajole at her that they make this game 'much' more interesting, she hides her smile behind her fan and says something, politely, along the veins of 'no thanks, make your move.' Bunny sniffs the air, and growls lowly at the ones near her.

But then she sighs, and inclines her head slightly to the ronin drinking sake. "Charles." It was an order, not a question.

Charles, at a passing cadre of Japanese merrymakers, is suddenly not there anymore, assumedly to go and look for the one who gave the signal. The raven-haired woman tsks softly. "Honestly I can't take her anywhe-" Whoa wait a second. Something suddenly wasn't right in here. She suddenly felt dirty.

Her sharp eyes slant to the side, catching sight of something....squat and green...darting back and forth livelier bodies. What IS that? Some kind of -was that an infernal? She never knew they could be so...ugly.

"Bunny," she murmurs, and the cone-shaped-hat-wearing head lifts up slightly, and starts sniffing once. She then goes back to her game.

Nanoha takes a moment to stare at Raging Heart.
"...you're kidding me."
~~Confirmed. Large Mechanical Object has been detected surfacing from the bay. Signature matches one 'Gundam' registered to IPA.~~ Raging Heart replies simply, and Nanoha shakes her head. Well, obviously something a bit bigger was going to be going on here than she had been expecting. What would it be? More giant robots? Giant space monsters? GIANT ROBOT SPACE MONSTERS? ...no need to get worked up -she'd find out soon enough.

"Oh, bloody hell," Chris remarks as Fanya high-tails it into the opium den. Her eyes quickly shoot to the side, towards Agrias, before she nods her head once. She draws her sword out - not intending to use it if she doesn't have to, but it happens to be good to have the threat of force there. "Well, we may have to force our way through." She looks over her shoulder and into the street.

The two knights that came with her come running up, standing in behind her. Then, the woman turns and looks back towards the entrance of the den. "That thing behind the house is with us - it should back us up," she states. Then, she moves forward - into the entrance. She shouts, loudly, "IPA! Everyone stop where you are! The Mobile Suit outside is ours and we will use it!"

It's probably best if nobody watches the sea right now, as the relatively peaceful and less than technologically advanced Edo is about to be besieged by not just one giant robot. The skies above the sea may not be cloudy, but they're about to be flooded with little variously colored specs followed by jet trails, which proceed to become larger and larger... until they're in plain view. And not a moment too soon do these giant robots immediately start to unleash their various giant robot weapons, and the horizon suddenly explodes with lasers and missiles. It seems this large force is targetting the other giant robot in the vicinity, naturally starting a giant robot battle for supremacy. But on the other hand they seem... less concerned about this so-called opium den as plenty of the wayward shots blast into random pagodas and shrines. These suits may seem familiar to anyone who has previous experience in the subject of Zeon. In fact, a few of them look like carbon copies of Zeon mobile suit designs. But they seem to have a completely different marking, and besides the hulking backpacks they use as jet propulsion, something seems... different.
Of course, identifying them may be the least of one's concerns at this point.

Amuro has been instructed to do two things with the metallic goliath that is stomping towards the opium den.

Draw attention away from those planning on infiltrating the opium den, and scare the crap out of the opposition. The Gundam does look rather monstrous in the night sky, eyes illuminated, face hidden in shadow, and a glowing "sword" bared. He's not to create too much in the way of property damage, if he can help it.

The cloud of Mobile Suits approaching from the horizon was NOT on the agenda. "...What the hell?"

The RX-78 takes off rapidly, as it becomes evident that those Zakus, of an unfamiliar design, aren't here to help. Without sounding much in the way of warning, the Gundam whips out its pulse-rifle and open-fires on the enemy suits, as Amuro stares. Are those really Zakus...?

Amuro Ray misses Rey Za Burrel with his Space Invaders? attack.

"Damnation." The second knight throws off her cloak, snarling her curse to the skies, where a veritable fleet of machinery battles for supremacy. It isn't the battle that her anger turns towards, though. It's the spectacular amount of collateral damage they're causing. Her next question is directed towards Chris, as she draws herself up. "Are those with us?"

Amuro's next actions pretty much answer the question. Guess they're not with the IPA.

"I suppose it's to business, then," she murmurs. Agrias turns her attention back to the opium den. Free of that black cloak, she's in her usual armour, though without a shield, and with a scabbarded sword. Still, she cuts an imposing figure; squared up with pauldrons and breastplate making her seem far more bulky than she really is. She doesn't call out to the enemy, instead waiting and following Chris' lead.

Shinya Aiba smiles, almost pleasantly. He thought he recognised that voice, and the pretty face is indeed the one from the beach. "What a surprise." states the young man, far too friendly to be genuine. "But unfortunatly, your presence is unwanted here."

His hand snaps toward the ceiling, the bloodred crystal snapping open as the man shouts at the top of his lungs. "TEKSETTER!" before being encased by a replica of the crystal for a whole three seconds: This is no Sentai or Shoujo transformation, Radam don't care for this slow stuff.

What appears after is nothing human. Taller than the man who was there by at LEAST two feet, wider, and entirely of crimson and black with glowing red eyes, the Tekkaman laughs, drinking in the terror of the patrons at the sight of Evil. Leaping forward, the large warrior seems to intend to literally punch the lead knight out of the establishment.

Fanya knows where this dice game is. She moves towards it, hastily, especially when she starts hearing 'IPA Agents' and 'mobile suits'. She's full, she doesn't want to rip anyone up particularly right now, this place is too atmospheric, OH why can't she just ENJOY this warm dreamy feeling instead of having to struggle against it!

Then - good! She reaches up and puts both hands on 'Charlie's' upper arms. "Good," she says, looking to the side again. "Good. Good! We are being - what is the term that they use? I do not know, burst. We are being burst, I think," she says, looking up at the towering figure again. "They are saying something about mobile suits. Are those not the enormous machines?"

Shinya Aiba switches armor modes to Tekkaman Evil.

Shinya Aiba misses Chris Lightfellow with his Take it outside, because I will jab.

Sesshomaru doesn't seem the least bit interested as Chris explains what's going on. Instead, he turns to look into the den and calls out again: "Jaken! Now!" After all, it's not like he really cares what the IPA is doing here, as long as they don't bother him.
Inside, again, Jaken leaps almost a foot into the air. He knows that tone of voice, and if the noise outside is any indication, this is a very bad place to be right now. "I knew I should have been a ferryman!" is the last thing he says to the assembled drunkards and cokeheads, before hightailing it for the door as fast as his stubby little legs can carry him.

Charlie seizes Fanya by one arm, the Templar silent as the grave (hah hah hah) as he uses his bigger frame to shoulder his way through the hysterical crowd once TEKKAMAN EVIL reveals himself (and promptly turns the drunken fool sitting next to him into a gibbering, quivering idiot garbling about Kuei-jin). With a grunt, he shoves his way through, unconsciously sending a hapless waitress flying through the room as she was unlucky enough to get in the way. Whooopthie. Using the thing that just manifested by the doorway, Charles was busy muscling Fanya out through the back.

The ronin watching the girls stands up, and drinking the last of his sake, straightens and takes a look at the woman in the crimson kimono. Bunny looks a little tense, his haunches tightening up and growling under his hat, though one has to wonder what he's growling at - the thing that looked MUCH bigger than him, or the threat against Her Excellency.

The fan-wielding woman slowly rises up, and bids goodbye to her cowering dice-mates, turning slightly on her heel to start making her impromptu procession out towards the back.

In other words, yes, this crew didnt know the meaning of the word "stop."
The wild spray of green plasma fire for once DOESN'T hit Amuro's new friends, as they suddenly switch their formation into a defensive one and huddle together... and then suddenly they spread out and continue their barrage of laser and rocket fire. Fortunately enough for Amuro's attempts to keep it low collateral, they seem more focused now. But unfortunately for Amuro himself, they've began to focus on HIM. One strange Zaku-like mobile suit reaches inside its shield and produces a beam tomahawk, which the "Zaku" almost expertly throws towards the Gundam's right arm. All other attacks at the moment fly off in random directions unintentionally at the moment. Aim was never really a high priority at the military academy, apparently.

Rey Za Burrel misses Amuro Ray with his What genius thought of using tomahawks and boomerangs in space, anyway? attack.

"What in the bloody-" Chris hadn't expected the black-haired man there to do that. The suddenly inhuman, armored thing before her makes her quickly jolt to the side. When his fist comes swinging towards the Silver Maiden, she steps to the side. It shoots through the air, making a heavy wiff - which tells her that Tekkaman Evil is not of human strength. She takes a deep breath, then looks at Agrias.

"This could be trouble," she states, before driving forward. She may not want to cut down others if she can help it, but she has no quandries with baring her sword against something like this. The blade slashes out in an arc, flashing as she tries to carve into Tekkaman Evil's side. "Don't worry, just try to drive them out!"

The two Zexen Knights with Chris shove through the door; one of them lunges forward, with his blade drawn and readies it for the patrons that might come forward. The other man, however, stops as he sees Jaken. "What-what in the world is that?!"

Chris Lightfellow misses Shinya Aiba with her Slash attack.

Fanya makes one of those little 'mmf' noises as she is grabbed and towed. She goes willingly once the pressure begins and looks back in the direction they came.

Most vexing, she thinks, before they arrive, and she makes little shooing gestures at the gamblers. She says to the templar, as they head outwards, "Have their buildings ALWAYS been of such flimsy material?" From her tone, this question is rhetorical.

To the people of Edo, it must look like a storm of light is erupting in the sky, with giant metal figures dancing among it. Amuro's view of things is far less romantic.

Something flashes in his eyes and in his mind, and the Gundam swerves away from the thrown tomahawk and up towards the left. Has Zeon been revising their Heat Hawks? He'll have to make a full report on these Zakus to the Federation later, provided he and Edo remain in one piece.

The mobile suit swerves upwards, pulling out the beam saber and flying in to slash at the Zaku that had targed him with the heat hawk. The saber flares slightly as Amuro swings it towards its target, the pilot trying to get a better look at the mobile suits as he moves close-range.

Amuro Ray hits Rey Za Burrel with his To be fair, giant lightsabers are kind of silly too. attack.

~~Danger! Major energy spike detected!~~ Raging Heart reports a moment after Shinya reveals his true colors, transforming from mild mannered pretty boy into eight foot tall mass of pointy Radam Death Machine. She can't see him yet, as Evil is still inside threatening Chris, but this was probably something a bit beyond the Knights that were there. They had been expected Yakuza thugs, not something with this sort of signature.
Pulling Raging Heart out of her kimono, Nanoha holds the crystal up above her head, and shouts out four words. "Raging Heart! Set up!"
~~Order of Set Up was received.~~ Raging Heart returns, the words scrolling across its surface in flowing script. ~~Stand by. Ready.~~
~~Drive Ignition.~~
Nanoha's kimono dissolves away, replaced rapidly by her white and blue Barrier Jacket and dress, the Raging Heart expanding and its gold frame transforming into a staff, a slide lock appearing and running up its length to lock into place just below the headpiece, and Nanoha pulls out a clip from her pouch, slamming it into place as she runs into the opium den after Chris, Agrias, and the others.

"I assume they are not to escape." Agrias lowers her head, freeing her sword from its scabbard with a sharp 'snickt' of leather and steel. The stray blow from the large, armoured man is a little unexpected - while it doesn't strike Agrias, it does cause her to stagger back in an effort to dodge it, crashing against a table. She stumbles, further delayed and separated from Chris as a crazed patron brings a bottle down against the Ivalician knight's head. Ow.

"Curse it!" Her recovery takes her near to the fan-wielding woman making her escape. Agrias blinks hard, clearing the starbursts from the boundaries of her vision. And then, she notices the woman trying to escape. The woman seems a little too unruffled, considering the situation. "Halt!" Agrias raises her voice to a commanding bellow, cutting with ease above the mad commotion. Her blade flicks up and out, pointing to the woman unwaveringly.

"You will stay your path! Woman! You are wanted on the grounds of drug smuggling by the IPA. I am Agrias Oaks, in temporary service to the IPA! Drop any weapons you may be carrying, and come with me!" Rounding, she lunges until she can put herself in the path between the fan-toting woman and the back entrance. The sword glimmers red in the lamplight, though the silver hasn't been blooded just yet. Hopefully, it won't be... but it does make an effective threat.

The poor sap in the ZAKU was left defenseless without his Heat hawk, and before Amuro can even get a good look into it the beam saber slices straight through the mobile suit, crossing the cockpit and vaporizing the poor pilot inside as the mobile suit splits in half and both ends explode into tiny bits. The mobile suit force, initially surprised at what just happen, continue their assault. sky rains with missiles and plasma beams, and various close-range equipped mobile suits circle around, searching for an opening. This time, one of the Gouf-looking mobile suits flies straight in and lashes out its right arm, sending a sharp iron tendril out towards the Gundam's chest in an effort to knock it out of there formation, as having a powerful Gundam flying around in between your formation is never a good thing.

Rey Za Burrel gets a glancing blow on Amuro Ray with his LOL heat rod attack.

You would think something almost two and a half meters tall would not be so agile, and yet, the crimson armored man not only jumps over the slash, he lands ON the sword.

Okay, so Shinya is cheating with his back thrusters, but still, he remains an ass.

"You could hurt someone with that." He even taunts, before snapping a hand forward. It's no punch that Chris has to worry about, but a crimson tendril that comes from beneath his wrist intended to tie her out, and if successful, drag her with him about seven feet in the air outside of the Den. The man wants SPACE, damnit.

Shinya Aiba misses Chris Lightfellow with his Tekkline, it retrieves weapons, ties up people, it's your all purpose throwable rope stun.

"Most probably, Lady Szekely," muses Charles in his monotone baritone, making his way into the kitchen, the back door wide open where the kitchen staff had fled. "I've not been in these parts myself. And with good reason. They say the Kuei-jin are formidable opponents. Attempts by us to take root into the east have failed in part because of them." He explains this patiently enough, then again, out of the three Templars guarding the bishop, Charles was the most "blue-blooded" of all of them.

He also didn't have much of a sense of humor, or a sense of rhetoric.

Which was really half the reason why the Bishop was there to begin with. She had been scoping out just WHY that was, and perhaps encounter one of these Kuei-jin or Cathayans in person. The Gates opening to the public had been most fortuitous, it would've given her a better way to get insight on what went wrong in centuries past so as to move foward.

Drugs? Really. The woman in the crimson kimono stops, inclining her head slightly against the edge of her open fan. "Oh?" she muses, turning around and lifting a delicate hand, snatching the back of Bunny's hakama as he tries to just LUNGE towards Agrias. It seems that there is something just a little bit...off...with this, as despite the man's hulking size, the woman maintains her grip on him easily like keeping a naughty puppy at bay. "And what proof do you have, lady, that I have, save for my presence here? In some parts of the world this would merely be considered circumstantial."

The fan snaps closed, the end of her fan tapping softly against her lips, dark eyes fragmented with gold resting of Agrias. The tilted expression on her mouth looks, if anything else, rather amused.

"Are they even HERE?" Fanya says as Charlie tows her along, wrinkling her nose at the pungent smell of the little kitchen. "Pfeugh!" She continues, "This is perfectly ridiculous! I have seen nor smelt no Cathayan or Gaki or whatever ridiculous name they call themselves. Is not this province seperated from them, regardless? I was told it was an island chain!"

Ah, anachronism.

As they get out into the somewhat sultry Edo evening, Fanya looks up towards the sky. "Ugh," she says again. "Do you not think this is poor grace of them, to bring such machines?"

When Shinya lands on Chris' sword, she stares for a moment. That strikes her as nearly impossible, especially for someone of his size. However, when she sees the red tendril begin to come from her wrist, she quickly rolls to the side and yanks her sword out from under his feet. That's when she discovers that Tekkaman Evil has actually used his thrusters to pull the sword-standing stunt. She swallows, and then wheels herself back around.

Cloak trailing after her as she turns, Chris replies with a quiet, strained, "That would be the point." Shinya might catch a glimpse of silver under the armor, before the woman twists and stabs her blade forward with a hard shove - trying to stab it into the Tekkaman, this time.

Chris Lightfellow gets a glancing blow on Shinya Aiba with her Stab! attack.

Sesshomaru nods in satisfaction as Jaken makes his escape, beginning to walk away from the opium den in a disgustingly casual fashion. He was there for reasons that had nothing to do with drugs or justice, so the battle between the IPA and the Syndicate doesn't mean much to him as long as they stay out of his way.

Poor Jaken will just have to get dinner somewhere else. Oh well!

The strike of the heat rod throws the Gundam off-course, sending the heavy mobile suit rocketing to the side and out of the crowd of Sortazakus. Its pilot manages to steady it, wiping sweat off of his forehead before he looks into his viewer. Just concentrate. Just concentrate, and you can hit them and take them down over the water, before they wreck the city below. They're not aces. They're not the Red Comet. Just poor saps in Zakus.

The vulcan cannons on the side of the Gundam's head aim and rapid-fire at one of the Zakus, as the Gundam tries to lure them further over the water and away from the city.

Amuro Ray misses Rey Za Burrel with his I have a guns on my head jab.

Agrias looks amused as well, but not the kind of smug amusement that the lady wears. She shifts her grip, gauntleted hand tightening over the hilt of her sword. The blade glints, and she lifts it a little higher, pointed at the face of her smirking adversary. What is it with evil and quasi-evil having to be so insufferably arrogant, anyway?

"No proof, my lady, but your sudden departure coupled with the extremely unconcerned way in which you leave suggests to me that you do, in fact, have some connections to the operation that is currently..." Being busted. "...under investigation." The sword flicks a little. "I suggest you not move. I am not afraid to resort to force, if it is warranted, but I do not wish to harm you. Please cooperate, and you will not be harmed. Please drop the fan." Well, they can be weapons in Ivalice, anyway. You never know.

The blade cuts.

The blade CUTS.

That fact pisses the Tekkaman more than anything else attached to it, the gender, the wielder is irrelevant, the blade just managed to make a very small gash through the organic/crystallic armor. And the eyes glow, as Shinya's wrists suddently grow blades that are a foot and a half long each. His handmotion is a wide one, trying to force a parry of his left armweapon before his right hand dives for an overhead shoulderslash, followed by a booster enhanced knee knockback.

Shinya does not like to be cut by worms.

Shinya Aiba misses Chris Lightfellow with his You know that Tekklancer thing? Well, I gotta keep it somewhere, and those armguards ARE bigger than my wrists, so putting two and two together...plus, it's handy for times like this attack.

Nanoha dashes into the opium den, looking for the source of that major power spike... it doesn't take too long, because Evil is very big, very black, and very imposing looking. Not the sort of person that you would want to run into... well, here. Inside of a dark, smoke filled den of thieves and criminals. But she notes that Chris is fighting this thing... and this isn't going to end well. Which Chris might not be able to recognize it, Nanoha can tell this thing is equipped with some sort of flight unit, which means that once it decides it wants *out*, it may bring the entire building down in the process.
Dashing past Chris as the knight makes her attack, Nanoha brings her staff across her chest and tries to body check Evil - not that she expects to move him, but as she gets close she shouts out, "Raging Heart! Target us up three hundred! Now!"
~~Confirmed.~~ Raging Heart replies, and a glowing pink circle appears around Nanoha for a moment... and she vanishes inside of it, hopefully taking Evil with her. Where they appear? About three hundred meters in the air above the opium den, and hopefully away from any innocent bystanders.

Nanoha Takamachi successfully targets Shinya Aiba with her Really taking this outside now action.

Chris' eyes widen, as she parries Shinya's sword. "Too... strong," she says through gritted teeth, staring over the locked blades. As the right hand one comes in, she starts to turn quickly. Then, however, she notices something moving past. She blinks, snapping her head down to look, and misses Nanoha. When she turns to look up, light flashes - and Shinya has vanished. She stumbles forward, right into a patron, who she doubles over. "What in the..." she murmurs, then says louder, "Where did he go?"

Charlie rolls his eyes slightly as Fanya sniffs and pfeughs at the smell of the kitchen. "Lady, please, keep moving forward and don't mind the metal giants," comes the mutter as he starts to lead her further into the darkness, where they're most comfortable.

"Oh? You mean as 'suddenly' as everyone else departing from this establishment with all the commotion going on outside? As for my calm demeanor, perhaps I'm just not predisposed to panicking." The Bishop waves a hand deftly to one side. "Could you really confidently say I know something that is going on at the present moment? I've never see HIM before, for certain." She gestures to the Tekkaman fighting the silver maiden. "Perhaps you're looking for the green thing that just scurried out of here 'suddenly', while he was skulking about the corpses like he 'knows something'."

Arrogant? Her questioning of Agrias' authority was quite legitimate! No one got arrested just for THAT. She wasn't even RUNNING. When Agrias demands that she drop the fan, she taps it slightly on her mouth. "No. I don't believe I will. If you wish to apply whatever force you deem appropriate, go ahead." She takes a step to the side. "Bunny, ball-ball."

She releases the hakama. The large, hakama-wearing guard tears away from the suddenly released grip, seizing his freedom and his chance to get some fighting done tonight. The Templar SLAMS down in front of Agrias, and straightens to hunch over her, his shadow casting over his form. Under the hat, those hidden eyes are glowing. And there was teeth. Lots of it.

The Tekarmor is not a technological marvel. It does not come packed with sensors and conventional radar, Nanoha easily blindsides and rams him, and then...zoop.

No longer on ground, Evil's instincts kick in as he activates his thrusters, moving away from whatever is touching him while removing the blades from his wrists, connecting them into a double-lance. His eyes set on the source of this...displacement, his helmet hiding any emotion.

"A bold move, girl." he admits, before asking a simple question: "But are you in such a hurry to die? Once I am done with you, I will finish what I started." he states, passing a finger over the sword wound, the gash closing itself as he expends a trickle of energy and concentration to it.

Shinya Aiba heals Shinya Aiba with his Minor Armor Repair action.

The first thing Nanoha does, of course, is disengage, pushing with her staff to knock herself away. Gravity does the rest, and she falls downwards a good twenty meters before she decides that she's opened enough room, skidding to a stop in midair as a pair of glowing pink energy wings appear next to each of her feet, holding her aloft. And she turns, looking up at the Tekkaman for a moment, her eyes determined.
"I know that this was a rather rude interruption of... whatever it is you were doing down there, but if you keep fighting here, its possible a lot of people could get hurt!" she calls out, swinging Raging Heart around so the staff is pointing at Evil. "I'm not sure who you are, and I know Lady Chris is a good person, so please don't fight anymore, and you can probably leave and not worry about what else is going on!"
After all, she doesn't know that this is necessarily a 'bad guy' - there are always a lot of possibilities. Meanwhile on the ground nearby, a young man with sandy blonde hair wanders along, holding a few packages in his arms as he looks around... before finally looking up and dropping them. "...what is she doing this time?" Yuuno asks to himself, rather exasperated. She said she had something to do earlier - not that she was going to get into a fight!.

Fanya accepts further hustling. Once they have reached the dim and sultry streets of Edo, the Vinculum begins to reassert itself. "Where is Isabelle," she says, more than asks, looking around sharply. "This is ridiculous!"

She does not stop allowing herself to be led, although she continues in this vein: "Has she even fed tonight, or is this some form of exsanguinist dabbling? Did YOU?" She looks sharply up at the Templar now. Ah, patience.

Agrias stands as tall as she can make herself in the face of this new adversity. Golden eyes regard the hulking guard, shifting her grip on her sword. She's already calculating how best to disable the creature. If she can knock out this loyal follower, then perhaps she might be able to get to the woman herself. Even if that harpy's railing on about how she has no legal grounds, blah blah... intuition is still a powerful contender, in Agrias' mind.

Besides, she's just too bloody arrogant not to be hiding something. Of some sort.

She lunges forward for the guard with surprising agility, her injury either forgotten or compensated for with due speed. Her sword flashes out in a blaze of red-silver, flicking out to test his defenses rather than to injure. She isn't necessarily aiming to strike, though perhaps in the controlled madness of a scuffle, she may get lucky...

You get a glancing blow on Isabelle Reyne with your This is just a test~ feint.

The black and red Tekkaman hovers quietly, listening to her words, and terribly amused by them. Such kindness, to extend an offer of peace to HIM, Tekkaman Evil!

"When armies march, ants die. Look down, and tell me they do not look the same." in turn asks the Radam warrior, very clearly giving HIS philosophical standpoint about the whole thing. If he didn't have something inside, he would no doubt have used his Voltekka from the very start. "And someone will get hurt..." he admits, feigning sadness in his voice, before dissapearing.

And a second later, Shinya reappears in melee range, his movement barely discernable, his speed faster than a blink. "You." is all he says, before swinging his Tekklancer in a wide diagonal slash motion.

Shinya Aiba hits Nanoha Takamachi with his Slashy slashy attack.

"Agrias!" Chris shouts. Honorifics aren't something for the middle of battle - she wants to be certain that she gets the woman's attention, as she's moving outside. "I'm going after the one who escaped!" she shouts. "My men will be here to help you handle whatever else they have in store for us!"

The woman turns on a heel, then. After a moment, the Tekkaman and Nanoha will see the Silver Maiden dart out the door and begin running down the steps she stormed a moment before, and into the street - and in the direction Fanya had fled.

Even as Bunny happily makes himself useful, Isabelle was already out the door, followed by her last, remaining Templar.

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. With Bunny taking care of the one who just attempted to -arrest- her of all things while she hadn't even done anything, the Bishop emerges from the back door with the other ronin, the woman gesturing with a hand for the man to stay behind so he could haul Bunny out of there in case it was needed. Hence the silent one stands by the door, crossing his arms over his chest like a stone sentinel and staying put.

The Bishop herself was moving unescorted in a quiet, gliding pace, reaching into the folds of her kimono to unfold one of those traditional, tiny umbrellas, heading for where the rest of them were waiting. Even the clacking of those wooden sandals was silent.

Despite his size, Bunny manages to dodge enough that Agrias' sword only slices the fleshy part of the large templar's arm, though while blood trickles, it doesn't look too fresh. With a snarl, the hulking form rounds about, muscles along his arm tensing just a bit as long claws suddenly lance out from his fingers. And with that done, he charges forward, taking a swipe at Agrias.

Isabelle Reyne misses Agrias Oaks with her Women are so mean to each other feint.

...he was *fast*. Surprisngly so - Nanoha jerks backwards as Evil reappears right in front of her, and his weapon comes around. Bu instead of slicing into soft flesh light he might have been expecting, there is a discharge of energy as Shinya's weapon slams into a point blank energy shield that appears as it is struck. The shield robs most of the energy from the blow, although it does pierce through and cut into Nanoha's shoulder, leaving a deep gash in the fabric there, as well as some blood, but the magical girls' barrier jacket is formidable protection in its own right.
Raging Heart chimes, before intoning, ~~Flash Move.~~ And Nanoha vanishes as well, her flyer wings ending her rocketing a good hundred feet away as she holds onto her shoulder for a moment. No crying or even whimpering - just an assessment of the damage. And she can still fight. And she smiles. "I can see I'm going to have to try harder to get you to listen to me then!" she replies loudly. "Raging Heart! Cartridge Load!"
~~Load Cartridge.~~ her intelligent weapon chimes, and the collar just short of the headpiece ratchets back with a loud *c-thunk*, ejecting a spent shell casing as the magical charge inside of it fills the weapon, preparing it for battle. Nanoha spins the staff around, and adds, "No matter what it takes!"
~~-Volley Barrage.~~ Raging Heart reports... and a stream of pink energy shots blast forth at high speak, streaking towards Evil like miniature cannonballs.

Nanoha Takamachi gets a glancing blow on Shinya Aiba with her Shooty Shooty attack.

"Damn it." Agrias gives a savage grin with her curse, throwing herself to one side and rolling as best as she can to avoid the blow. Quite simply, the thing is a freaking colossus, and hopefully her agility might do her well in this battle. She knows how to fight without a shield, so with some luck, she won't have to be scraped up from the floor with a spatula. Unfortunately, her trajectory takes her into a chair. She surges to her feet, bulling the stubborn furniture out of her way and clearing herself some space to fight with.

"Lady Lightfellow!" Coughing, the Ivalician knight's answering roar comes from the other end of the room in acknowledgement. She needs no help, yet. Hopefully, she can take care of this mess on her own.

Agrias pauses, stance balanced and light, sword held at the ready. How best to take care of this shambling monstrosity? Golden eyes flick between all of his potential weak points, ready to dodge at a moment's notice - it would hurt to get struck by a blow like that.

'...Hurt,' as in, she'd probably have more than that limp of hers to worry about.

Spying an opportunity, the knight leaps forward, sword flashing a path through the air. She isn't aiming to feint, this time. There's no percentage in feeling out her opponent. This thing wants to kill her, and while it does rankle to have to resort to force, it would help to disable this thing completely before continuing her pursuit.

You critically strike Isabelle Reyne with your Stabbums! attack.

Had she not called out at him, Shinya may have taken longer to find her. Turning at the direction of the voice, the Tekkaman soldier readies himself, lance raised to deflect the blast...

Except there's a metric TON instead of one. Some are deflected, but it's a minority as many pepper his armor, causing marks and some causing holes from which something red oozes out. "Another non-human, hmn, who would have thought there would be so many beyond the portal." he thinks aloud, grabbing the lance at both hands and twisting half of it by ninety degrees.

The result? Well, rather than being a == it now looks like a +, a giant shuriken.

You can probably guess what he does with it too: Toss it, obviously. Little girl or not, Nanoha picked a fight from which there's no such thing as mercy.

Shinya Aiba hits Nanoha Takamachi with his Tekklancer Evil Special: Shuriken Form attack.

There is a feral howl as Agrias CRITICALLY STRIKES Bunny! The poor thing. The sword also tears off a good bit of the top, the hulking form staggering back and crushing a bar stool with his foot, clawed hands clutching at his chest. But that was it....at the present moment, Bunny seems to shake it off some, and instead reaches out with his ginormous hands to rip half the bar counter apart with his bare hands.

Hefting a good-sized piece of the opium den over his head, he whirls around, and with more force than what should be humanly allowed, simply because he isn't, he hurls it straight towards Agrias' head. And even while he's doing that, Bunny leaps to the side, landing on another table and crushing it yet again under his weight.

The silent one absently adjusts his pants, and grunts. Edo-era underwear was pretty damned uncomfortable.

Isabelle Reyne gets a glancing blow on Agrias Oaks with her Have a drink, or a hundred attack.

You take 11 damage.

"This is really not what I had expected at all," Fanya, who is presently speaking in Spanish for the sake of intra-Sabbat communications, says to the Templar. "I had planned to doze silently here and return - ugh!" She is likely quite recognizable as the woman from before, to say nothing of speaking a Western language without translation gear. She may have avoided 'Charlie's' difficulty entirely by skipping the question; Tzimisce, at times, roll like that.

Nanoha isn't staying still for this - she rockets along through the air, heading to Shinya's left as she moves. The pink energy shots don't detonate or disperse as they strike Evil - they bounce off, spiraling off in many different directions into the air. The best course of action was to remain mobile during such a battle - just standing around would give Evil more of an opening to use the sorts of rapid close melee attacks like he just had.
The crossed lance spins in, and Nanoha spins around, smacking it away with her staff - but the angle is bad, and her barrier jacket field sparks again as one of the blades slams into it as it is deflected to Nanoha's side. It leaves a cut there as well, but nowhere near as bad as the one on her shoulder from a few moments before. "I am a human! I'm a mage with the Time Space Administration Bureau! My name is Nanoha Takimachi!" the magical girl calls out. "And what are you called?"
He probably wasn't going to answer right away. Mainly because there is another *c-thunk* as Nanoha expends another cartridge as she flikes along, weaving for a moment before firing off a blast with her staff. This time instead of a machine gun style stream of shots, itfs a fan of them, twelve firing out along separate vectors in a wide circle... before they all suddenly turn in midair and dive right at Evil.

"Wait!" Chris shouts out towards Fanya. She does, indeed, recognize the woman as the one before - and had noticed her escape. The Silver Maiden jogs after her, sword still drawn. Blood drips from it, from the blow she struck against the Tekkaman before. "Halt!" she then shouts a second time, this time much more forcefully. "You're under arrest! If you'll come with us peacefully, we'll let you go in short order!"

Nanoha Takamachi hits Shinya Aiba with her Well, do homing shots count as some sort of special? attack.

"Perhaps. I hope at least, Lady, that you weren't seen doing anything incriminating," Charles muses, canting his head slightly and his far-seeing eyes looking through the darkness...or seems to. His sight, after all, had its limits, but his bonds with the others were enough to let him know what is going on. "Barnes is having his fun, it seems."

And then there it was. HALT. An elegant eyebrow cocks slightly, the 'ronin' turning around and laying a hand on the hilt of his sword, a step forward, but just slightly in front of Fanya. He really had to wonder about this strange tradition of crying Halt. Does it ever work? Does anyone really stop?

"And no, I have not fed. Have you?" He nods in a rather...implied gesture...towards Chris.

Agrias dances back and out of the creature's range, wrenching her blade out of Bunny's arm. Good. Wounded, and that makes things a little easier. Perhaps he's a little more unpredictable in his pain and anger, but by her estimation, that may potentially cause him to do some really stupid things.

One really has to wonder how a thing like that got a name like 'Bunny,' but maybe that's a better question for some other time.

Well, hello, there. Suddenly, there's half a bar top spinning towards her face. Agrias has enough time to widen her eyes and stare, before recovering good sense enough to duck. The wood rips against her arm as it goes by, though, and it wrenches her back and off her feet. She rises slowly, bracing against a table and shaking her head to clear her eyes.

She springs back quickly enough, though, seeking to circle and find a weakness to exploit. The sword flicks close and away, dancing as surely as its mistress in an attempt to bring the creature's guard down, and hopefully, to find a worthwhile strike.

You critically strike Isabelle Reyne with your ...How'd that thing get named "Bunny," anyway? attack.

Seeker bullets, and a girl who claims to be human? Her powers have nothing human to them, perhaps they are common on other worlds, who knows. Spearless, the Tekkaman crosses his arms and endures the barrage, the shots finding some of the softer spots of the armor, but some bouncing off on the harder ones. He snaps his hand forward, the wire extending and retrieving the spinning shuriken that was halfway through the boomerang-esque trajectory, returning to a spear-form with a twist.

"My name is Tekkaman Evil." is all this child needs to know, before he dissapears again. He doesn't show up in her face, but dives from below as everyone expects above. His lance is held for a rising charge, the tip held firm with both hands to try and see if he can rip this energy field apart.

The strike takes Bunny again, but only does just a little bit of damage. Whatever it was, it seemed to get less and less human at every hit that strikes true. Bunny shakes his most recent injury off....and despite the torn clothes, the claws on his hands and on his feet that tore through the tabi socks he was wearing, he hunches on all fours on a table, dark blood dripping from his wounds. And then, springing from his perch....something happens.

Bunny is no longer there. Instead, the large, gray wolf that has taken his place tosses the hat it was wearing with a snarl, and lands on another table, and leaps for Agrias. Jaws snap mightily for her throat, a heavy load of fur and muscle intending to send her down and get her bleeding some more.

Besides, he was getting hungry.

Isabelle Reyne misses Agrias Oaks with her You look good enough to eat attack.

Shinya Aiba gets a glancing blow on Nanoha Takamachi with his If cavalry could fly, I bet they'd do this too attack.

Arrest?

Fanya half-turns. "I am -under arrest-?" she says, with the same rhetorical incredulousness. "I -beg your pardon?-" She rests a hand over her heart, giving the silver-haired woman a look to match her voice. "And under whose authority do you make such claims?"