Cast Focus Energy as a bonus action on Hannah and throw Infinipizza at her, move to E19, Poison/Mana Leech, attack Acacia, retreat to E20.

After Venia heals her, Destiny moves to L17, pops a Panacea, activates Strider, and shanks the Sapper. She then retreats all the way back to O17.

Echoss and Chi:
"Yes that's fair. Iti tend to be all over the place wherever we go however, and given nothing's stopped us yet... I think I shall be okay.
I can defend myself in a pinch.

And yes, I meant the Sleuth. I did what research I could before I came to Sussui so I have a somewhat passing knowledge of things here."

With that, Echoss finishes the sandwiches.
"Chloe would you mind coming over here and taking these down to the portal to the airship? There's something I need to grab from the portal back home real quick.
It would seem that we completely forgot to grab drinks, so I believe I should place an order."

Assuming Chloe grabs the sandwiches, Echoss heads over to the collection service portal, and quickly punches in an order for Sparkling Cider bottles. For the sake of ire's sanity the spares are just crafting materials (T4 or 5 I guess?).
After a few seconds of waiting, he pulls the little sled through the portal, picking up the box of fresh juice, and hauling it down to where Chloe it waiting.


Pionobot and Acacia:
Pionobot rolls his eyes. "Apologies but none of US are getting a pass from the Thymefield.
My bad for actually giving you credit where it was due.
I'll just let you wallow in your self pity when we clobber you again.
Or maybe the others'll help you get back on your feet, that seems to be a thing around here."

BATTLE ACTION EVENTUALLY

After Nettle is buffed by Auth, she moves to H16. Then, she uses Sing Unto Me on Dartfrog2, pulling it to J20. Then, she executes it with Rampant Growth, followed by Holyblade2 (J15), the Blizzard Robe (D20), and the Splintershot in the corpse stack at M19.

This gives her a total of +5 Threshold (including 1 from her trait). Her Threshold bumps up to 20. Now that the GravRobe is vulnerable, she uses one more Rampant Growth on it, increasing her Threshold to 21.

She uses her 1 remaining MOV to travel to G16 then Guards.

(A total of 200 SP expended this turn.)

Battle - Shooting Range

Mirror!Hannah remains where she is and fires at Acacia again.

Hannah herself, meanwhile, grins.

"So. Looks like the peckneck up there decided to shut up."
"It's just you and us now."
"Thanks for holding still, by the way."
"Before you obliterated that snake in a spectacular fashion, do you want to know who was the biggest pest for that thing?"
"That's right. Me. And some chick named Rosemary. Dunno where she ran off to... she was cool."
"Anyway, not important."
"Time to show you some of my power."
"This might hurt. A lot."

Hannah tosses a Calamity Crystal (Serpentile Cluster, Poison) at Acacia, backs up to (B10), and raises her bow up in the air. She brings it down, casting Corrosion on Acacia.

"Should've paid more attention to me."

---

Outpost Unity - "Carica"

Carica spots the two Rebels on top of the tower. Two, huh... she'd probably need sedatives of some kind.

She hides behind one of the nearby trees, and gets to work on making a potent enough area of effect sedative. She grinds up a Mental Cluster and Squall Cluster, mixes it with her signature toxic gas and pulverized Psychoid leaves (about 4 of them), and works with one Glass Sheet to contain it all in, making a few sedative grenades. The gas is unusually clear, save for scattered small particles that couldn't really be seen from anywhere distant. Given that Carica was in a Locust's suit, she won't breathe in the gases.

With the grenades in hand, Carica climbs the ladder. Once at the hatch, she slowly peeks her head up through it. With a swift hand, she tosses one of the sedative grenades at the Sniper, and the Spotter. She also leaves one between the hatch's edge and the hatch itself. She closes the hatch on it, breaking it open and letting the gases flow.

Once she knows for sure the rebels are asleep, she slowly enters the nest once more, finds the missing ID, pockets it, then skedaddles back into the forest.

Her and "Lilac" are probably gonna leave before anyone notices the problem up there... hopefully.

---

Crafting - Various

---

House - Adria

Adria nods. "Okay, got it. I'll keep that in mind."

Taeda asks why more people don't consider hands sacred. Even without woodmancy, they're extremely useful. "Maybe they were, back then, though perhaps to a lesser extent than what your folk experience. Back when prosthetics and cybernetics weren't exactly commonplace or effective, or nobody learned how do perform magic at all, let alone healing magic."

"Nowadays we have cybernetics and the like, so loss of anything short of your brain can be recreated with machinery, replacing and even surpassing their biological counterparts. I have also heard of places where regenerative magic is so incredibly well developed that it can resurrect the recently deceased, let alone limbs."

She sighs, shaking her head. She knows what the next question would be; why not use time-based technology to do it? "...While it is possible in theory, in practice using temporal magic or technology has complications. We've tried it a few times just to know, but it was swiftly outlawed. Those that lost their limbs would feel unusual, as if they had a sort of 'phantom limb'. It's said to be very uncomfortable and stressful."

"Resurrecting the dead with it, however... I don't think anyone would want to see what lies on the other side of death. It was sometimes depicted as being... nothing at all. No afterlife to take them away, no god to guide them... nothing. Just emptiness. However, that was only from the ones that managed to stay sane... imagine remembering that you died, and were suddenly brought back to life. T-that would traumatize anyone, unless they somehow did it so often that they've been desensitized to it."

"We never figured out what exactly causes this, and we really don't want to make people suffer... so it's outlawed for biologivcal beings, and not something to be researched further. Simply put, the ends didn't justify the means for us. Artificial Intelligence systems don't seem to mind, though; even those that mimic sapience. So they often make liberal use of it."

"Though that's not to say that we can't use it to save someone that's dying; slowing time to help them get to a hospital for a replacement organ or limb, or speeding up certain spots in the body for rapid natural healing, for instance."

1
Adria pauses to look back at the doorway, seeing a pair of people coming in, and a glitchy abomination opening it for them. Said glitchy abomination causes her to pale, but she swiftly shakes it off. She pays the glitchy boi no mind, and greets the albino person who's near the doorway. "Oh hello! Who might you be?"

2
Adria shakes her head as she properly turns around to face Verdana. "Doesn't ring a bell. I've only just shown up last night and slept in fairly late this morning, s-so I don't know anyone here too well yet, save for my niece Sophie and her bestie Dorothy. I was also just having a chat with Taeda about cultural and science-y things. Interesting stuff."

"...Tangent aside, I'm Madelyne Adria. It's a pleasure to meet you, Verdana."
"...Though I assume, i-if you had left just before I got here, you might know about my... l-less than stellar track record as of late?"

She sweeps her hair to the side for a moment to show Verdana the scar on her upper forehead. It's large, ugly, and has a distinctly black and red color palette, with hints of purple. It's very much unnatural, to say the least. After a few moments, she lets her hair down again to cover it up.

BATTLES - THE SHOOTING RANGE

The Reflector moves to H17 and uses their action to use Shields Holding on themselves, expending 15 of the 20 bonus SHP to generate a Divine Shield on themselves.
The Mirror Reflector moves to B12 and uses Shields Holding on Hannah, giving her 13 bonus SHP.

---

THE BORDER OUTPOST

Lilac looks at the floor.

"LILAC": Oh, I... I'm so sorry to hear that.
"LILAC": I don't really know what the Spherebreakers want. What their end goal is.
"LILAC": But, I'm... pretty sure it's not the destruction of our people?
"LILAC": I've been surveilling them for Commander Kudan for the past few days, and these guys are weirdly obsessed with not killing.
"LILAC": Like, seriously. They go out of their way to spare us Chairians even if it would seriously jeopardize their battle plans.
"LILAC": And they seem to hate Spark as much as we do.
"LILAC": I don't really get why we're fighting. If they would just stand down and let us take care of things...

She sighs.

"LILAC": For what it's worth, if your sister made it out of R4, she's probably still alive.
"LILAC": I know that probably isn't very comforting.
"LILAC": You're perfectly allowed to hate the Spherebreakers. I did too, once.
"LILAC": Now I just... hope we can get this over with, you know?
"LILAC": Whatever way it gets over with.

Calibri visibly blinks when the door is answered, having not expected such a quick response. Still, after a moment, he shrugs it off and gets around to explaining certain events to Chaos.

"Well, that's kind of a long story. I'll try keeping it short, heh. Give me a moment to remember."

A moment passes.

"Ah, right. You might have noticed a certain big guy who sort-of was present here doing random things isn't currently with us at the moment. That's partially because he didn't want to come, partially because there's some complicated political strife going on behind the scenes from something he caused, and partially because a rather large chunk of himself has pissed off to go look for... something from his past. Something about meeting an old friend from old times, so he said. Kind of cryptic, and while we can still ask him, he won't elaborate on it any further."

"As you can imagine, his crypticness and the fact that he's sent a large chunk of himself off on that adventure means his influence over his own company has weakened somewhat. To make things worse, the semi-recently-asserted existence of the Grand Empire means that people think they can get away with vying for power over one another, as well as harassment from the Grand Empire itself since we're still stuck in something hotter than a cold war but not an all-out war, leading to a small number of separatist movements and insurgencies manifesting themselves. That happening lead to a recall of us three to help stabilize the situation by... various means that I probably shouldn't elaborate on. And maybe some creepy shenanigans from the Experimental Department that I don't even know about."

A pause. Calibri's eyes briefly look more "tired" than usual, somewhat dull and darker perhaps, though he soon shakes off that feeling. Something's on his mind, but whatever it is, he's not letting slip.

"All that took some doing, and while the company does have access to some time-manipulation technology that would make a time police department have an instant collective aneurysm... I'd say it's been more than a couple of weeks on our end. Since we couldn't travel back to the past to engage here without seriously messing up already-established events, which would be pretty bad since it'd apparently open up the possibility of entities like the Chaos Butterfly acquiring the means to do the exact same thing, thus pretty much handing it a victory condition on a silver platter... Well, this is as close to a quick return as could be managed. Hell, even with this somewhat generous margin of error, we had to meteor in or risk giving a window of opportunity to the wrong kinds of people."

That wasn't very short at all.

"Still, we're back now, so it is what it is. Personally, I just want to relax and reestablish a presence here again right now, so..."

Calibri shrugs, then moves through the doorframe and wanders over to the kitchen. After all, there's people to talk to, people to see. Some old, some new. Once in the room, he takes a look around for a moment, then chuckles quietly.

"Almost looks like it hasn't even been a day since I left. So, what's been happening lately?"


(Verdana - part 1)
Meanwhile, in all of this, Verdana is still present, albeit by the door. He looks like he would've fallen asleep during Calibri's explanation of events if he weren't, you know, currently too awake to feel tired. After a moment, the albino fellow speaks up.

"Where is everyone, anyway? It looks empty around here. Well, not empty empty, but you get what I'm saying, right? There's just... not many people."

Since he wasn't around for the start of the Skylabs adventure arc, of course he wouldn't know where to go to find people. It would probably help to send him off on his way. Or direct him somewhere else if there's something else to throw him at.

(Verdana - part 2)
Mind you, having someone take note of his presence is certainly good for the immediate. Verdana perks up noticeably when he overhears Adria's greeting, turning his attention over to her. For a few seconds, he remains silent as he looks her over, trying to remember if he's seen her before or not... Memory fails him, annoyingly, but that's not too consequential. So, instead, a cordial greeting/reply.

"Hi there, have we met before? I'm Verdana. I was already around for a while before we, eheh, had to leave. Maybe I'd be more easily remembered for what I did?"

There's a pause. If one looks closely, they'd notice that the albino is glowing faintly. Par for the course, at least to those who are already familiar with him. Regardless, he soon awkwardly realizes his own lack of memory, which he'd somehow forgotten about just now, and continues.

"...Not that I remember what I did. I remember some things, sure, like helping out miss Nia in that one time there was a fight in the really big tree, and helping miss Venia hatch the bird down in the basement, and... other things. Anyway, who are you?"



And finally, EN. She stretches again, then goes to investigate the one thing that's immediately obvious to her. Namely, Rosie the tank Duneyrr. Despite the chassis change, she somehow seems to know exactly who it is in there...

"Heya there Rosie. Ah see ya've got yerself a new body, heh. Guess me ol'er work weren't bein' tha' safe t' be in... How's tha' chassis workin' out fer ya? An' 'ow ya doin' in gen'ral?"

Battle: The Shooting Range

Venia continues to indulge in speeches that are probably impossible to make in twenty seconds, but this is DTG and reality is almost literally a suggestion anyways.

"I don't care how powerful you are! We've faced monsters deadlier than you'll ever be! And you're not even right! Ware is empowering you right now in the hope that you'll kill us! Sorry, but you really aren't capable of this! I mean, come on, you don't need to be a genius to prove something's wrong here! Do you think we're trying to hit you with nerf darts, do you think those prosthetics are tougher than tank armor?! And yet here you are, taking leagues more punishment than you ever could the last two times we fought you-you basically went down in an attack each, now you're taking more damage than an actual tank could survive!"

"This isn't your power at all-this is Ware, manipulating the Thymefield to boost you, this is his power! Ware knows that we're going to destroy the Sphere and you'd try to kill us-and he's giving you a ton of power to do just that, just like almost everything else we've had to fight thus far! If that isn't proof that you're not doing the right thing, I don't know what else is! You're playing right into what he wants! You want Ware to win, you want the Iti to kill you all, you want to hand Ikea his posthumous victory?! You want to gamble on those odds, Aneura?! You think Abies would?!"

"I really don't want to hurt you! I feel awful just thinking about all the crap we've put you through, now! But you won't stop us! We're taking the last Glyph! And if you have any respect for the lives of your people, for the feelings of your friends who couldn't be here, for the memory of Abies who you loved, for the sake of Chaiere who gave you a chance at a better life, for anything at all-then you'll stand down NOW!"

Simultaneously, Venia shoots Nia a telepathic message for a quick plan. <"Let's do this!">

Venia moves to G13. Mid-move, she gives Acacia another Hat ping, then uses Affidavit Adjudication twice, refreshing her Valor Catalyst buffs, to give herself Ordo and give Nia Enlightened5, both for 3 rounds. Venia also immediately does Unexisting Force twice, targeting Acacia both times, and applying Friendship Force to Nia. Nia will have 2 stacks, and Venia will now have 4. Nia will also bonus act now to use the Luminous Rose to gain Ordo for 5 rounds at the cost of most of her remaining MP. Venia then reminds you this is all mid-movement by ending her round at I11, with full Heart.

Nia takes her round now, immediately firing off Super Soak to the south with 8 buff levels (Ordo, 2 Force, and Enlightened5). This will only hit Acacia, but by goodness it'll hurt. She will also apply her Ever Onward buff to Venia. She will then retreat to I12 with the boosted retreat from not moving before acting, and nom on some Halo Nectar for some much-needed MP.

Venia then spends all her Heart (which after her specials should be at cap), targeting Nidra and Destiny thrice, and Nia with the leftover two, healing them all with the stacks of Heart and emptying her reserves.

Finally, Venia finishes her round by unleashing Purge on Acacia. Again. This is boosted by four stacks of Force (+20%), her Empowered5 from the Valor Catalyst (+50%), Ordo (+20%), and the Purger Perk (+30%). :ashalottadamage:

"Stand down! Acacia Anuera, stand down!!"

(Small note: Ordo should probably be Advanced so that can't happen again.)

Meanwhile, the Wonderer moves to N20, and uses Displace with its trait to shift Irongutta to J20. It's now completely out of MP, but that won't stop it from taking a cheap shot at the Dartfrog.

---

Mariaaaaaa

"Fluffy fluffly fluffly fluff~"

Maria's basically doing the same thing she was last round, and this is fine.

---

Niaaaaaaaaaa

Venia keeps completely silent for Nia's guessing. It appears none of those were right.

Her talk on why she wants to be a Transcendent seems to strike a chord more heavily. "Oh, Nia!" Venia sweeps up Nia and goes for a kiss.

A good several seconds later, Venia continues. "... I think Mari's up at the Skylabs, meandering about. If that goes well I'll be meeting you at the house-I have the machine to deal with, make sure it's all prepped and such. I, uh, really wouldn't want anything going wrong."

---

Things

In preparation of build decisions that I will inevitably make later but don't have time for quite just yet, Venia purchases a clone of the Icicle Rose for 250 Credits.

Shooting Range
Use Yggdrasil's Vessel on self.
Move to C15.
Channel Magic (clone) from Nettle to Woodthorne.

Auth nods.

AUTH: Oh, hm... a "magical aptitude", so to speak, is a magic class that an individual innately excels in. I've noticed that Chairians, for instance, have an aptitude for wood, as an example.
AUTH: Imagine someone with the magical strength of Acacia, but instead of wood and earth, it's with time. And that's what my sister can do.
AUTH: Time bends to her whims... so I would say that it's probably similar to what Taeda and Adria were talking about.

Auth considers the question. Does he have his own strength?

AUTH: Well, the thing is that I don't have an aptitude. Or, at least, not an innate one in the same way my sister does.
AUTH: I feel I develop them as an extent of my shapeshifting ability, though I don't think I could tell you much about how that works. I believe my ink is something of a "null" aspect - one artificially introduced to allow me to protect myself.
AUTH: I think I could learn wood magic right now, hence why I asked Omo earlier about the basics. I wouldn't know how a Chairian casts without just asking.
AUTH: So, to bring the answer back: Yes and no.

Auth shrugs. It seems to be a complicated question for him to answer in regards to himself.

AUTH: On the topic of my sister, however, and I feel obligated to bring this up now... because we're twins, we do have something of a psychic connection. Which means...
AUTH: I'll save you the poor vocal mimicry. She's been bugging me since this morning for me to tell you that she says hello, and that she's also very excited to meet you.
If you wanted to say something back, she'll hear you.

---

Auth taps his fingers together.

AUTH: See, the thing is... Parabola doesn't exist. But even Parabola has its own rules, which to some extent it follows.
AUTH: Despite all of the bizarre things that happen there.

Auth proceeds to sigh, and his eyes glaze slightly. This doesn't seem to be a terribly nice train of thought.

AUTH: Then you get to the Iron Republic. It's a place in the Neath, on the Western coast but significantly south of London. It's built on top of a heap of Law Furnaces that are all competing at once.
AUTH: So the Iron Republic ends up a place where the Laws are completely arbitrary and change at the drop of a hat.
AUTH: Laws such as... the laws of motion, thermodynamics, conservation of energy and momentum...

Auth shudders.

AUTH: The Iron Republic is not a fun place. It's about as far East as Hell has an outpost, to my knowledge. I've been to Hell and it's nearly as bad as the Iron Republic, it's awful.

And Chloe probably thought London was bad.

---

Auth thinks for a minute.

AUTH: Like I said... I couldn't say it will. But I also can't say for you that it won't. The only one who can really decide that is you. I would suggest that you really think about it.
AUTH: In my experience with seeing it, the act of taking a life also takes something from those who do it. And they tend not to realize or notice until it takes something that's too important to them.

Auth pauses.

AUTH: Yeah. I would suggest that... you really think it through. Not to say that there aren't times it might be justified. Maybe for you, it is.
AUTH: But if you're going to commit, you need to be really sure about what you're going to do. That's just my opinion, anyway.
AUTH: And I would say that somebody who asks you to become a weapon and mindlessly hurt or kill others doesn't have your best interests at heart.

---

Auth flies to B12, and casts Perseverance aspected to Igniveil on Nettle.

(Remiel's Extinguisher is gone, so they shouldn't have the Relinquish penalties anymore.)

Remiel moves to H16, self-casts Toxin Coating from Abyssal Runes to add Uninspired(2,3), and attacks Acacia.

+20% damage from Dreamscaper. +20%HP, +10%MP, and Divine Shield during Regen, if no HP damage is taken.

==RP==
“Spark has nothing to say, does he? So he isn’t willing to tell you we’re wrong. Could that be because we’re right, and he would dispose of you as soon as you lost your value to him? See how easily he’s abandoned you, Acacia. You disobey him one time, and this is how he responds. Is that the behavior of someone who cares about you, who secretly believes in you? Or is it the behavior of someone who saw you as nothing more than a useful catspaw, and now that you’ve proven you won’t obey his every order thanks to having a will of your own, no longer sees you as useful at all?

See how he’s completely lost investment in this entire battle, only directing some turrets to fire down in and sending some paltry troops. He’s even left the intercom entirely, probably going off to figure out the next step of some plan, or rewrite his strategy to accommodate not having your magic available to him anymore. I told you that if he truly cared about you and respected you, he’d join the fight himself and fight alongside you. Now, he not only hasn’t done that, he’s completely signed off from the battle. That’s about the most blatant show of disrespect I can think of. I ask you again... does he really merit your service now?”

==BATTLE==
Crystal sprints down to D17, before slicing Acacia directly with a basic attack, following up with a War Scythe strike that he flows into a movement to C18. He then Infinidrops an Infinidagger into the Infininventory.

//////////////////////////////
ERROR: TRANS-MEDIUM TRANSMISSION RECEIVED. PRINTING...

Pope Bill moves northwest one tile to J19 and basic-attacks the Sapper!

TRANSMISSION ENDS.
//////////////////////////////

Battle: The Shooting Range

After being moved by the Wonderer to J20, Irongutta stomps his way over to F18 to attack Acacia from behind! This movement triggers Unstoppable Force.

Credit to DarkSide for this RP.

<ROUND 268>

THE CYCLE SHALL CONTINUE, FOREVERMORE.

...Which is a fancy way of saying "it's time to update".

---

In the spirit of rampant capitalism and also this thing called "christmas", a Christmas Tree has appeared in the house! As per usual, the presence of this incredible totem of festive joy is granting a massive discount to crafting costs! It's highly recommended to slide some gifts beneath the tree for those you care about. If you have something you wish to slide beneath the tree, please DM me what you'd like to put down there!

---

Echoss notes to Chi that he'll probably be fine. He can defend himself in a pinch, after all! Chloe raises an eyebrow.

CHLOE: ...You think you'll be okay?
CHLOE: Echoss, you're low-key one of the deadliest people I've ever witnessed.
CHLOE: Give yourself a bit more credit! I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a whole storm of random stuff.
CHI: A... "storm of random stuff" hardly sounds effective.
CHI: Though, miss Elem seems adamant about your effectiveness.
CHI: ...But, who would I be to doubt the power that all of you have displayed thus far?
CHI: I'm... sure you'll be fine.

Echoss then finishes up a bundle of sandwiches! Chloe also prepares herself a fairly simple sandwich with meat, cheese, and... lord, that's a lot of cheese. She places this sandwich in a container for later. Echoss then asks Chloe to take the sandwiches down to by the portal. In the meantime, he's gonna grab drinks.

CHLOE: Alright!
CHLOE: Grab something nice, okay?

Chloe prepares a large picnic basket, putting as many sandwiches as she possibly can into them. When it turns out there's way too many sandwiches to handle, she prepares a second picnic basket. She takes these two downstairs, as Echoss makes use of his portal system to get many, many bottles of juice. There are about 8 bottles of Sparkling Cider leftover, which enter the inventory. Chloe's eyes light up when she sees the drinks Echoss picked up.

CHLOE: Whoa!
CHLOE: This is like, the nicest stuff!
CHLOE: How'd you know I like this? Guess we're feasting like kings n' queens today!~

...Food seems to now be occupying Chloe's mind. Anyway, should they get going? Maybe they should find a nice place to set up a blanket, and start vibin'. Finally, Pionobot rolls his eyes towards the Cinderclast, dismissing her power. It's all part of the Thymefield, really.

ACACIA: W-What!? You think I'm being empowered by the Thymefield!?
ACACIA: Hah! There's no basis for such a theory!
CYPRESS: Requesting interjection. Done my studies. Thymefield properti-
ACACIA: S-SHUT UP! NOBODY ASKED YOU!
ACACIA: I-It's all me. This is all me.

...Doubt continues to flood Acacia. Her Confliction is hitting dangerously high levels, and whatever chill she had (none) is rapidly melting away.

---

Adria goes over some hand-based history with Taeda. With the dawn of cybernetics, everything (save for the brain) can be replaced., So... such worship wouldn't exist where she comes from. Taeda nods understandingly.

TAEDA: Prosthetic limbs, huh?
TAEDA: Only recently have those begun to pop up from place to place.
TAEDA: Cypress's work is really something! Though, with a prosthetic limb, you can't focus the power of woodmancy.
TAEDA: Though, I suspect that he could figure out a solution to that.

...Oh, also. Before Taeda can ask the question, why can't they just rewind time to heal vanished limbs? Adria gives this a no, and another "no" to bringing back those who have perished. Seeing the other side of death, remembering that you died, and suddenly coming back to life... that would traumatize anyone.

TAEDA: U-Um, I see!
TAEDA: I-I... do not wish to find out how that works! S-So I won't ask!
TAEDA: ...S-Spooky.

Taeda shivers the slightest bit. But at the very least, time manipulation can help with slowing down the rate they lose blood, or granting operatives more time to replace limbs and organs.

TAEDA: Oh, that could be useful!
TAEDA: All too often does someone perish on the battlefield, due to us being unable to support them quickly enough...
TAEDA: I-I'd... like to prevent that.

TAEDA: I wonder what else you could use time magic for, though?
TAEDA: Like... could you age a cheese wheel really quickly?
TAEDA: Or is time stuff really expensive, and only reserved for important things?

While Taeda ponders the realm of stinky limburger, Hannah decides to do a bit of crafting! She grabs the Deck of Spells, as well as a chunk of Raw Thymium. While it's a material of questionable canonicity, she's able to slap the two together to produce the... Deck of Recipes. Is... this a cookbook now? Odd.

Sophia then decides to create the Moonshocker Crossbow, combining a copy of Hera's Heartseeker, a Starite, 2 Sanctified Alloy, 3 Electrum Ingots, a Cyan Diamond, a log of Bronzewood, a Thunderous Regalia, 2 Crystalline Conduits, and a pelt of Fell Beast Hide to create the Moonshocker Crossbow! Seems like you can now load MORE spells into it. That might get deadly.

Finally, Hannah continues her romp around Outpost Unity. What warcrimes will she commit today?

---

The Reflector continues their travels through Outpost Unity. Or I suppose, "Lilac" is continuing their journey, but same difference, right?

---

Calibri recounts what's happened these past few day(s). It is entirely unclear if Chaos is actually listening or not. But, the GM is! Apparently, there were plenty of crisis's back home, and the three of them had to be recalled to help. Separatist movements, insurgencies... not the most fun of stuff. Apparently, it's been a few weeks or so from their end.

CHAOS: a few years?
CHAOS: he[c]k
CHAOS: well, a[t] leas[t] [t]ha[t] means i [c]an profi[t] off of ren[t]al fees
CHAOS: have i [t]old you ea[c]h i[t]em has ren[t]al fees? no?
CHAOS: well [t]here are now

...It is becoming rapidly apparent that Chaos was not listening. But he wants dat cash. He calculates the approximate cost of each rented piece of equipment to 10,000 credits, if he includes late fees. Given that each of them have their own sets of equipment, this comes to a grand total of 150,000 credits. He hands the bill to Calibri, totally expecting him to pay.

...After something occurs, Calibri heads over to the kitchen, where Chloe is just wheeling out an order of fresh sandwiches. She smiles gently upon seeing Calibri, passing a picnic basket over to her other hand before waving hello.

CHLOE: Oh, Calibri! Heya!
CHLOE: It's been awhile! How are you?

CHLOE: A-As for us, well... we went to these spooky catacombs, kicked the Rose Cult in their collective shins, defeated them, and now we're raiding a laboratory in the skies for the final Glyph!
CHLOE: It went pretty well, all things considered! I only died once!~

...Ah. That may be of concern to him. Just in the hallway, Verdana hears about some sort of laboratory in the skies. But how to get there? And where is everyone, anyway? Chloe perks up, quiet-shouting into the hallway.

CHLOE: O-Oh, hey! Verdana! Is that you? Heya!~
CHLOE: Everyone's up in the Sky Labs! There's a portal downstairs!
CHLOE: Can't miss it!

Finally, EN decides to go and visit Rosie. How's she doing? She waves to the Duneyrr, which angles itself downward to look at EN. A mechanical voice emanates from the cockpit.

ROSIE: GREETINGS, MOTHER.
ROSIE: IT IS A PLEASURE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
ROSIE: THE CHASSIS IS ACCEPTABLE. LARGER THAN I WAS DESIGNED FOR, BUT I WILL MANAGE.

Doesn't seem like Rosie's much for small talk, though. Giant sentient vehicles tend to be that way, right? I dunno. I haven't watched much anime with giant sentient vehicles. God knows they'd be about killing each other though. That's how it usually goes. It's like magical girls fighting one another, but it's sentient cars.

what am i even talking about at this point

---

Venia continues to say a lot in relatively short periods of time. Venia reinforces Acacia's belief that her powers are being provided to her by the Thymefield. Like, can she explain how she hasn't died yet?

ACACIA: I-I, u-um...
ACACIA: I-I... s-surely, that can't be r-right...
ACACIA: I am s-surviving because... y-you are n-nothing... c-compared to me?

...Yeah, she's not even convincing herself. Venia states that by fighting them, she's playing directly into what WARE wants. The Thymefield is boosting her so that she can wipe out the Spherebreakers, stopping them from... spherebreaking.

ACACIA: I-I... w-what? Of course I don't w-want him to win!
ACACIA: That gorilla... w-why would I work for him!?
ACACIA: J-Just shut up, o-okay!?
ACACIA: I-I WON'T STOP! I WON'T!

She's still not convincing herself. Elsewhere, over with Nia, she gives a silent "no" to each of Nia's guesses. She frowns.

NIA: Aw.
NIA: Was I close, at least? With like, one of them?

Nia then gives her speech about how she wishes to not be a burden to Venia. Venia responds in the way Nia would appreciate most- a passionate kiss. Though she wasn't really expecting it, she's not resisting either. A blushing Nia pulls away a few moments later.

NIA: Haah...
NIA: You're getting pretty good!~
NIA: Not... not that I knew much about kissing beforehand.

After giggling to herself for a moment, she listens to Venia. Mari's likely up in the Sky Labs, doing gamer™ things. Venia meanwhile, will do her best to make sure the machine is up and running. Nia swings her arm, giving a hearty thumbs up.

NIA: Hm, okay!
NIA: I'll go find Mari, interview her, and... let's be honest, she's a tech nerd she'll say it's awesome
NIA: But... she probably has a good view on these things, right?
NIA: And if what I've heard is right, there's... like... another Chloe to talk to? In a... mindscape?
NIA: Two Chloes! One for me, one for you~
NIA: Eheheheh~

Nia's gay energy seeps forth from her body. Even though it's the one pairing that cannot be.

NIA: Anyway, see you later?

Should Venia say so, the two will part and go do their respective tasks. Venia also takes this moment to clone the Icicle Rose, expending 250 Credits. Elsewhere, up in the Sky Labs, Maria continues to enjoy the company of a bunch of Spiralfloofs. flooooooooffffffyyyy!~

---

The Author explains the concept of "magical aptitudes" to Nana. Apparently, they're a sort of "magical class" that an individual excels in. Chairians all have an aptitude for woodmancy. For example, take someone with the brutal strength of Acacia, then equip them with time magic. Nana's face goes a bit paler than normal.

NANA: I-I imagined it, a-and I imagined a f-future where Acacia s-subjugates everyone and becomes q-queen of Sussui...
NANA: Isn't... isn't controlling time really dangerous? She could probably take over the world i-if she wanted!

Oh, does Auth have an aptitude? Well, he... doesn't. Or at least, nothing innate. His shapeshifting ability is what grants him his aptitudes. Or perhaps, his ink control is a sort of "null aspect". In response, Nana gives a simple nod up and down. Then, the Author also notes to Nana that he has a psychic link with his twin. Alicia says hello! A faint jade crosses Nana's cheeks, and she waves slowly and awkwardly towards the Author.

NANA: A-Ah! Um, h-hello!
NANA: I-It'd be... n-nice to meet you, t-too!

Nana can't help but wonder if his sister was watching her first kiss with him. She does her best to dispel the thought, but a thought is not a status effect, and therefore cannot be dispelled through conventional means. Back down at the House, Auth explains to Chloe that not only does Parabola not exist, there's somewhere weirder than it! The Iron Republic.

CHLOE: ...S-So, I just ate a fruit from a place t-that... doesn't exist?
CHLOE: I'm... I'm not even gonna question it at this point.

CHLOE: And... h-how do... i-in the Iron Republic...
CHLOE: ...I'm going to be here all day asking questions, a-aren't I?
CHLOE: I'm just gonna reason it down to "underground bat wizards", a-and leave it at that!

Underground bat wizards. She's probably not far off the mark there. Finally, over at the conflcit with Acacia, Auth implores for the Cinderclast to think it through. She immediately snaps back.

ACACIA: Y-You think I HAVEN'T been thinking this t-through!?
ACACIA: S-Seriously! H-How dumb do you t-think I am?

If she really were thinking this through, she'd have laid down her arms by this point.

---

Crystal decides to address Spark's absense. He has nothing to say. Perhaps the Spherebreakers are right, and he'd abandon her the moment she lost his value to him. Acacia violently shakes her head.

ACACIA: N-NO! SHUT UP!
ACACIA: H-He wouldn't! H-HE WOULDN'T!
ACACIA: I-I am... h-his... his...

She trails off, unable to properly finish the sentence. She has not been abandoned. She will not be left to die. Right?

---

Regalus gets assassinated! Or uh, not really. Hannah does her best, planting an arrow directly into Regalus's right eye. He dies. Except he doesn't. As Venia would probably say, it's kinda complicated. Did you know assassination is legal where Regalus comes from? He decreed it so. It's a good way to capture would-be assassins, especially since he can't die. The two of them leave "amicably", but that may just be because Regalus is a chill guy. Or at least, chill in the completely goddamn insane way, y'know?

Anyway, there's not really much I can do to actually respond to this post. But, if you're following the roleplay, definitely go read it!

---

<THE SHOOTING RANGE, ROUND 7>

Four crimson lasers have trained themselves upon Acacia’s forehead. The gentle sway of the airship and the guns cause them to dance across the Cinderclast’s trembling body. She can barely formulate a sentence, her hollow eyes glancing up at the Airship. The intercom emits a gentle droning of static. Seems like someone’s taken control again.

ACACIA: I-I… S-Spark?
ACACIA: W-W… What are y-you...?
SPARK: Mmm. Hello again.
SPARK: Isn’t it obvious what I’m doing?
SPARK: I’m ridding myself of a potentially troublesome asset.
PIONOBOT: (Cypress, turn on Harmonia. NOW.)
AUTH: Well, that’s rather rude, isn’t it? She tried her best for you and you’re just going to eliminate her like that?
CRYSTAL: I don’t think we’ll let you. She’s surrendered now, so she’s under our aegis -- and we protect our own here. Unlike you.
VENIA: Now, Spark-we could kick your ass eight ways to sunday, but let’s just be reasonable here.
VENIA: Perhaps a deal could be arranged?
VENIA: You don’t waste your bullets and we get, uh, what rude little thing were you calling her again? “A useless tool?” Still, certainly no further blood needs to be shed, now does it?


Spark sighs. Not quite what he expected. Really, he expected them to open fire on the Airship. Unbeknownst to him, Venia slid the Remote Airship Controller within her coat, arms crossed over it. Pionobot likewise already has Ircucvci half-drawn, and Crystal is already calling up a mental charge of reality-editing power. Auth takes a moment to step away, and wake Ette back up. A useful point to have her awakened in an argument, in his mind.

SPARK: Oh? You brutes are actually interested in making a deal?
SPARK: Out of everything I’ve seen since your arrival, this is perhaps the biggest surprise.
SPARK: Certainly. We could make a deal.
VENIA: And I trust our previous offer doesn’t cut it?
AUTH: Brutes? We could be far more brutal than we have been. We could have done far more against you than we have thus far.
SPARK: Now that? That’s more of what I was expecting from you.
SPARK: But… hm.

As Spark (pretends to) think, The Reflector, watching the proceedings from a few paces away, seems distracted. Their face twitches oddly, as if caught between two impulses. One briefly wins out, morphing into the Metallurgist’s.

“THE METALLURGIST”: We’re wasting an opportunity here. The dictator’s offered to kill his most valuable lieutenant right in front of us, and we can record the whole thing for his troops to bear witness to.
“THE METALLURGIST”: All we need to do is--
“ACACIA”: NO! I trusted him! And you’re going to let him…
AUTH: Not even a consideration. For one, we, or at least I did, made a promise to ensure Acacia survives.
VENIA: And he’ll spin it so that he’ll say we killed her. I know his type well enough already.


Then, from the airship, a metallic claw drops out. Three of them, in fact. Seems they’re usually used for moving cargo up and down from the vessel, but at the moment, they’re empty.

SPARK: Now… What do I want?
SPARK: Ah! Of course.
SPARK: Give me the Glyphs.
SPARK: You are in possession of the Chair, Ender, and Twitchy glyphs.
SPARK: Those artifacts are rightfully mine.
SPARK: Truthfully, we shouldn’t even be negotiating. I should be mowing you down.
SPARK: But, out of the goodness of my heart, we’ll assume they’re yours to give.
SPARK: In return, you could have Acacia.
SPARK: Does that sound fair to you all?

Acacia’s gaze shifts to the party. Though she says nothing, her eyes beg for help. Someone. Anyone. Even the people she just tried to murder. A glance passes between the party as they instantaneously consider their options, and wordlessly agree on a plan.


VENIA: Hrm, that is a very hard bargain, mister intermediary “Chairheir.”
VENIA: In exchange for Acacia, we hand you the vast majority of the fruits of our labor over the past half-week, likely taking them directly back to the citadel so your plan can complete.
AUTH: Unfortunately, we must decline. Allow us to make a counteroffer, perhaps?
VENIA: You see, we aren’t really brutes-for one, we know better than to trust whatever you have to offer, you’ll kill her no matter what we do, just to clean up loose ends.
AUTH: So, instead of your offer… Instead, what I would recommend is that you allow us to go free, with Acacia, and surrender the final Glyph contained here to us.
AUTH: You did just watch us make the strongest mage on Sussui entirely ineffective, no?


There’s the sound of scraping wood. What does a Chairian scratching their chin sound like, anyway? Point is, it’s actually rather unpleasant sounding.

SPARK: Hm.
SPARK: You drive a hard bargain.
SPARK: I don’t suppose I could have you reconsider?

One of the turrets points away from Acacia’s head for a moment, aiming for the ground next to her. It fires a single round, kicking up rubble from the ground. Immediately, the laser light slides up her body, locking on her head once again.

SPARK: I could shred her before you even get close.
SPARK: She would be no more than a pile of woodchips before you even raise your weapons against my airship.
SPARK: Final offer.
SPARK: The glyphs. If you would.

CRYSTAL: Good thing I don’t need to get close.

Crystal’s eyes flash purple as he uses his trait, abilities somewhat expanded by being outside a battle. Immediately, Acacia and the Reflector switch places, two simultaneous teleports rendering the effect entirely imperceptible other than a slight purple flash.


Slightly earlier and beyond most spectators’ notice, the Reflector, still in the back of the group, clutches their head, as if wracked by terrible headaches.

THE REFLECTOR: i… no, this plan is foolish foolish and insane what if he what if he…
THE REFLECTOR: what if we…
THE REFLECTOR: i… for her.

As the Reflector switches places with Acacia, a being completely identical to Acacia lifts her head up to face Spark’s airship and grins defiantly.

“ACACIA”: You think I’m just some broken tool?
“ACACIA”: HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT.

Sarcastic laughter comes from the intercoms.

SPARK: I suppose Acacia’s your negotiator, now?
SPARK: Fine, fine.
SPARK: I accept this transaction.

The skies light up with a tempest of gunfire. Vibrant flashes accompany each bullet from the airship, dozens of heavy caliber shells sailing through the sky. While designed for use against ground targets, even one of these shells would pose a threat to an airship. They zip through the sky, towards what Spark believes to be Acacia.

Suddenly, a luminescent dome erupts from “Acacia”’s prone body, catching and vaporizing bullets as they streak toward her. Some of the larger shells still penetrate the dome and collide with “Acacia,” but she does not yet fall.

“ACACIA”: I’m DONE being your puppet!
“ACACIA”: WATCH ME!
SPARK: ...Oh? By all means, that should’ve killed you.
SPARK: Allow me to step things up, then.
SPARK: …”Acacia”.

Wordlessly, the airship unleashes a salvo of missiles, four streaking down towards the fake Acacia’s location. And, instead of just focusing gunfire upon this fake “Acacia”, the turrets shift their focus to others in the area, and immediately open fire.

AND TIME SLOWS TO A CRAWL

Pionobot, Ircucvci in hand and faintly trailing purple smoke from the shoulder he still hasn't patched up, rushes to the center of the room where the real Acacia is, and picks her up. He starts back towards the exit, but before doing so, focuses for a moment and launches a pulse of light upwards towards the incoming maelstrom.

With that, he, and Acacia, are gone.

AND TIME RESUMES ITS COURSE

The flare detonates. Sending an enormously powerful whirlwind careening through the air above the center of the room. While unable to divert the missiles, and not exactly strong enough to reflect the other projectiles, hurricane force winds make it hard to precisely aim turret fire. The smoke wafting up from the various craters and recent explosions solidifying into one final message.

GET gorillaD MULCHHEAD

Outside, Pionobot sets Acacia down but continues pulling her along into the main labs.

ACACIA: B-But… w-why?
PIONOBOT: Welcome to the team Miss Aneura.
PIONOBOT: We'll answer that question later.
PIONOBOT: For now, we should keep moving in case Spark decides to commit friendly fire even harder.

Speaking of committing friendly fire even harder, one of the guns swivels towards the still-injured Ette. Another focuses on firing a barrage of missiles, which zoom off to Acacia’s new location. Seems he has vision on her somehow. This is accompanied by a chorus of blasts as the missiles reach the Reflector’s location. Though, thanks to the power of Fire Resistance™, they escape totally unharmed.

Chloe rushes over to Ette, positioning herself between her and the bullets. With a laser-enchanted blade, she rapidly swings into the sky, slicing bullets out of the air. As another gun retrains itself on Chloe though, she’s soon finding herself overwhelmed.

WHAM! A blast from above! Venia smirks-she had pressed the RAC’s call button moments ago, to fight fire with fire, and the fire had arrived-aimed almost exclusively at every system Spark’s airship had, including its guns, while its own are occupied on the ground. There was a reason she didn’t try this sooner-its name was Acacia, and she’s in the Spherebreakers’ corner now. Spark’s airship rocks and recoils from the hit, one of the guns going up in a blaze of smoke and flame.

With the Airship now under fire itself, and one of the guns disabled, Auth takes the opportunity to fly at some speed towards Ette and Chloe, who are both currently under fire. He puts up a shield to help protect Chloe and Ette - the nature of it, a liquid shield, should help moreso. Chloe takes this chance to help support Ette, and to try and make an escape.

CHLOE: O-Oh! Thanks for the save, Auth!
ETTE: T-Thank you a w-whole lot!
AUTH: You’re welcome - I thought you might have liked the help under fire.

Meanwhile, Venia gives Nia a quick high-five to regain her Ordo, and then moves towards the Reflector, fully aware of what happens after that particular dome of light takes a ton of damage. An errant bullet nails her in the gut-a blow that would have been a lot more painful if she had guts anymore, and as it was still displaced a lot of her mass-but she still manages to stumble over to the Reflector’s side before she falls to the floor.

VENIA: ACK! … I’m OK! I’ll walk it off!
VENIA: OK, uh… Quick word of warning, I have not done this before!
VENIA: Just prepare to fly up and hit the airship! It’ll get them off our case!

“Acacia” pulls herself up from the ground, one hand tracing runes to keep the shields in place. She turns to Venia, her eyes half-lidded and body riddled with bullets.

“ACACIA”: Venia, Venia, Venia. Always… always the thorn in my side.
“ACACIA”: For all the times… we tried to kill each other…
“ACACIA”: Didn’t expect you to be the person I die with.
“ACACIA”: Well. There are worse ways to go out.
“ACACIA”: Whatever you’re about to do, make it flashy. I want to teach that bastard a lesson.

Venia nods, and thinks-and focuses on her Ordo, as the Wonderer moves in to assist. With all the experience she’s gotten with manipulating it, she finds this fairly easy-the only matter is making it do something new, quickly and efficiently. Venia gets up on her knee, stares “Acacia” dead in the eyes, and breathes in.

VENIA: JUMP!

And they jump-so automatically that their body doesn’t actually register the motion, and the sensitive magic surrounding them goes undisturbed-it is almost less like a jump, and more like a force of will propelling her upwards. Then, a hole in reality pops up over “Acacia”’s head, taking them even higher-right up to the Airship, with the Wonderer’s power locking on and shoving them on a direct course for Spark’s airship. Venia’s gaze shifts to her gun as she starts firing directly at another gun with the Incandescent Key. Another explosion rocks the airship, fragments of a destroyed turret falling down upon the party.

“Acacia” stares down the ship of her other self’s master as she flies through the air. The shield is barely holding together at this point, and it would be so easy to let it go. But she waits a few more moments: just to get in range of as much of it as possible.

She breathes in, then raises her voice as much as her battered and bloody vocal chords can muster before passing out.

“ACACIA”: Eat splinters, Spark.

The shield collapses -- and the force of thousands of bullet impacts flies straight into the hull of the airship. This rips straight through the Airship. It launches up a few additional meters, misaimed strings of bullets ripping through the Shooting Range at obscure angles. The sheer force of the blast rips out the top of the airship, a spray of debris and munitions accompanying it. One more gun goes down, its supply line completely obliterated.

The last gun looks around nervously. Or at least, it aims from side to side nervously. The gunner manning the gun then gets a notifcation of a very, very fast moving object approaching it. Harmonia zooms in, delivering a flying dragon(?) kick to the last gun. Harmonia presses right through the turret, bursting out of it with a spray of unfired rounds. It continues to fly around the airship, unloading as much as it can into it. Down on the ground, Cypress is taking shelter behind one of Omorika’s new summons- a Behemoth.

OMORIKA: Does this work for a shelter, sir Cypress?
OMORIKA: My apologies that I could not provide more protection.
CYPRESS: Perfectly acceptable. It works nicely.
CYPRESS: Now, a theory. Given the damage…
CYPRESS: Look. There.

Auxiliary jets on the airship roar to life. While normally the ship’s Gravcore is enough for movement, to move at high speeds, an alternate source of propulsion helps. It begins to rocket up into the sky.

CYPRESS: Enemy vessel: escaping.
CYPRESS: Estimated escape: ten.
CYPRESS: Ten seconds.
OMORIKA: ...Ten seconds?
OMORIKA: How are we supposed to stop it?
CYPRESS: Unsure. Now, think-


A blast of web fires from across the roof of the Shooting Gallery. This is accompanied by an entire salvo of webbed strands! A squadron of spiders has assembled on the roof. Upon the back of the biggest one sits Hersilia, her lower half not morphed into that of a spider today. She points her staff towards the vessel, as menacingly as a spellcaster can.

HERSILIA: S-Spark!
HERSILIA: I won’t just let you get away with what you’ve done!
HERSILIA: Acacia… s-she’s my friend, damn it!
HERSILIA: I-I won’t forgive you!

More volleys of web shoot out from off the roof, entangling the vessel. Try as it might, the airship’s boosters are unable to overpower the strands of web tying it to the roof.

HERSILIA: Y-You guys! Spherebreakers!
HERSILIA: Don’t let it get away! Now’s your chance!
VENIA: On it! Spherebreakers! All-out attack!

Everyone pulls out their ranged attacks -- weapons, spells, item effects, consumables, Chloe desperately trying to slash the aircraft with a sword -- and levels them at the straining ship. A volley of projectiles surges skywards striking Spark’s ship with the force of an enraged party, while the party Airship (still nameless) and Harmonia continue to aggressively rip its hull to bits. One booster goes down. Then another. Slowly, the vessel begins to drift downward.

Crystal flips switches and mashes buttons on the Nightmarron Custom in an extended Passionate Petals sequence, Root Locking himself to the ground for pinpoint accuracy and firing blasts of armor-weakening dust, high-impact rounds, and rapid shots that precisely punch into the airship’s weaknesses and wear it down, building up a haze of sparkling light-infused dust around him as he does so.

Venia aims her weapon directly upwards, keeping up a sustained volley, alongside her summon, until a critical moment-when her reserves of power are at their fullest-and then, Venia forcibly expulses it all in an especially spectacular blast of force directly into the Airship, as holes in reality summarily slice into the hull, feeding back into Venia. The subtle reality-enhancing effect about her has expanded into almost looking like a spotlight for her-and also, for Crystal, who she shares power with as she begins to move closer to the latter.

The haze of light dust around Crystal snaps into brilliant white light before being drawn into his Ancient Shroud, lighting both Venia and Crystal up with the shared brilliance of Ordo. Crystal’s eyes shine purple and his still-firing weapon glows Ordered white as the Nightmarron Custom reconfigures itself into a new, different form... perhaps he entered its equivalent of the Konami Code? Venia slides into position right beside Crystal’s weapon, Incandescent Key continuing to fire-until the two weapons are lined up, like a pool cue ready to sink the eight-ball. Crystal’s weapon finishes its reconfiguration into a miniature wave motion gun -- comically, still with a scythe blade attached -- and he aims it upwards along with Venia, both Ordo and building dual-tech special power crackling between them as they both prepare to fire.


VENIA: By my command! Affidavit Adjudication! It’s curtain call!
CRYSTAL: By my sight beyond, and by my Word... Be erased!


With the pull of two triggers, their combined reality-bending powers coalesce and two shots as one fly upwards, far more like a singular howitzer made the shot instead. The projectile screams as it impacts into the airship, creating a white-hot explosion that blasts into the auxiliary jets, annihilating them. A good deal of the airship begins to crack and break apart, the energy dissolving large swathes of the ship as explosions begin to rock the entire vessel. The Gravcore has been heavily damaged. What remains of the Auxiliary boosters is only just barely able to keep the ship aloft.

With the guns completely destroyed, Auth takes the opportunity to zip over to Pionobot and Acacia on the other side of the arena. A black blur flies overhead, landing gracefully near the entrance to the firing range.

Pionobot waves Auth over, Pionobot and Acacia are past the first two wooden barriers, but the gunfire before the airship got dunked on seems to have ignited the final entrance back into the labs proper, blocking off their immediate exit. The two have ducked behind a hastily erected stone and wood barrier.

AUTH: I can’t quite tell if Spark ignited the barrier again intentionally…
AUTH: How are you two holding up back here? Can I help with some kind of healing?
PIONOBOT: I think Acacia's fine physically, and I didn't take any hits either.
PIONOBOT: That being said I might want that healing for a dumb idea I have.
ACACIA: Y-Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Let the injured lady bleed out!
ACACIA: It’s not like you spent the past f-few minutes beating me s-senseless!

Pionobot looks over at her. His head twitches for a moment, a faint whiff of purple. Auth, however, smiles faintly. He doesn’t seem too bothered by what was said. A swirl of white ink attends to Acacia’s wounds, patching them up swiftly.

PIONOBOT: Yeah, you're right, sorry.
PIONOBOT: Focus on her first.
AUTH: It’s fine - I figured it was worth asking. In case Piono had taken the liberty of healing you back here.
PIONOBOT: No, healing takes precision work in a way the thymefield takes issue with.
PIONOBOT: Not good for me to be doing that while under fire, even if not technically 'in battle' however the thymefield freaking defines that.

Pionobot looks up the airship, taking hit after hit and gradually losing ground to the onslaught.

PIONOBOT: ...Hey Acacia, I have a thought.
ACACIA: I-If the thought isn’t “put a hole in Spark’s goddamn airship”, I’m not interested.

Pionobot grins.

PIONOBOT: That was my exact thought, in fact. You got another one of those death spires in you?
PIONOBOT: I wanna try out supercharging you a bit further, see what we get.
AUTH: Did you hear Hersilia out there? She arrived to help out - I think it just wouldn’t do if you didn’t show off a little for your friend.
ACACIA: S-She’s… here?
ACACIA: W-Well… I guess I could make another of those spires.
ACACIA: Get me to the roof. I’ll see what I can do.
PIONOBOT: Got it, lemme know when you're ready to start casting, I gotta be pumping power into you the whole time or we won't get as much bang.

Auth rummages around in the inventory for a minute, before offering a Bottled Luck to her.

AUTH: Here, little pick-me-up. It’ll help with fatigue a little, I think.
ACACIA: Uh… sure?

Acacia bites the cork off the bottle, before ingesting the contents. The power of undistilled luck runs through her, affecting only one thing- critical hit chance. It is unclear why it doesn’t affect anything else, but Acacia doesn’t seem to acknowledge that.

PIONOBOT: Alright, Acacia, stand close to me. Auth, either do the same or head up to the roof under your own power.
PIONOBOT: Don't wanna use all my power on the elevator up.
AUTH: It’s fine, I can fly. Let’s go.

Acacia shuffles in close, towards Pionobot. It’s immediately obvious that she hates the idea of this, but vengeance trumps discomfort. At least today. Pionobot nods, and stomps down. The chunk of ground that the two of them are standing on launches in the air, flying up like a discus to a further point on the roof with a better vantage of Spark's airship. Auth uses his wings to shoot into the air, and keep pace with them. He seems to be analyzing the damaged ship on the way up, looking for an ideal point of impact. Acacia however, points directly towards the center of the ship.

ACACIA: What do you think? A shot right through the Gravcore should mulch the gorillaer’s airship.
PIONOBOT: The best kind of kill is overkill. Let's go for it.
AUTH: Sounds like a plan to me. Bring the thing down.

Pionobot sets his hand just above Acacia's shoulder, and a weakly flickering aura appears around him. The rocks on the roof rumble a bit, and the air heats up around him slightly. Acacia feels a rush of elemental power flowing into her, begging, demanding to be put to her uses. Holding Nidhoggr and Mimameidr in tandem, she begins to chant something to herself. Magical words? Some sort of ritual? A way to increase her power?

ACACIA: -there shall naught be even a shred remaining-

Okay, maybe it’s nothing quite as productive. The ground quakes as an absolutely torrential amount of wood begins to crack through the floor behind her. All of the non-burnt wood from the barricades. Several dozens of trees worth of wood. All of the leftover wooden rubble around the arena. As Acacia builds that up, Auth flies even higher into the air.

AUTH: Allow me a little time, while you build that up. I have something I’d like to give Spark myself.
ACACIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
ACACIA: I’m not waiting for you, though.


The wood begins to twist and spiral, snaking to her right. More wood pumps itself into the spire, and while that builds, Auth floats through the air, swinging his sword in a strange pattern, leaving trails of frost and light. Frost-lined sigils manifest on the hull of the airship, issuing a freezing cold throughout and slowing the Airship in midair. Then, Acacia finishes charging her spell, slotting a Core Regalia into Nidhoggr. While this wouldn’t be a flaming spire… the usage of a Regalia causes Nidhoggr to begin to smoke. Still, it’ll probably be fine.

ACACIA: This is it.
ACACIA: I… I am no longer your weapon.
ACACIA: You threw me out, and look where that left you!
ACACIA: You worthless piece of GARBAGE! I’ll show you your place!
ACACIA: YGGDRASIL REBIRTH!

As Acacia fires off her spell, an escape pod shoots from the top of the airship, zooming upward. This of course, does nothing to stop the absolute storm that’s incoming. The spire’s tip, still next to Acacia, begins to bloom and morph. Branches shoot from it, each bearing magnificent yellow leaves, like the ones found upon the Sky Labs. Cracks of unfiltered earth energy from the Core Regalia permeate the entire spire.

What has manifested here is what one would call a 1:25th scale replica of Yggdrasil, or at least somewhere to that scale. While absolutely beautiful, it would soon be rivaled by an unparalleled amount of destruction. With a thrust of Nidhoggr, the spire shoots forward. Or, it doesn’t so much shoot forward, as much as it does create a sonic boom as it rockets forth, the sheer force of the launch stripping many leaves off of the spire. A golden rain of leaves drifts down upon the Shooting Range.

The damage is immeasurable. Rolling a critical hit, there is no force in the universe that could tank this spire, save for the Reflector and their 100% Earth Resistance. The airship isn’t so much launched, as it is obliterated at the molecular level. This recreation of Yggdrasil pierces through the airship much like a spear thrusting through the air, the airship parting to make way for it. The airship, now with an extra hole in it, seems to pause in time as the Gravcore within it implodes.

Whatever’s left of the airship is consumed in a conflagration, which instead of rushing out as a fireball, condenses upon itself. For a few brief moments, the ship seems to collapse into a star. This star flickers and fades out of existence, and a surprisingly tiny, incredibly dense ball of scrap metal falls into the Shooting Gallery. It creates a small crater on impact.

Right as the spire makes impact, the escape pod turns. A sharp right, and the activation of accelerating jets. It looks like it’ll be zooming right over Acacia’s head.

PIONOBOT: You colossal IDIOT, you're giving us a free shot?
PIONOBOT: Yo Auth, think you can slow it down?
AUTH: You sure you want me to? We know where he’ll be headed - back to the citadel.
PIONOBOT: Yeah, of course!
PIONOBOT: You don't need to take him out of the air, just slow him down. I've got one last trick up my sleeve.
PIONOBOT: Acacia, stay on guard and protect yourself, just in case.

Auth nods at the confirmation, and flits into the air, swinging the freezing pattern again, aiming at the escape pod. As the pod begins to slow, something from within punctures through it. The tip of a blade spins through the escape pod, rending it in two. The two halves fall to the side as the passenger surges down towards Acacia, sword at the ready. His entire being seems to be swamped with the power of the Thymefield- more so than Acacia had been earlier.

It is roughly at this point that Pionobot attempts to intercept him, Armistyx at the ready in I LIKE YA CUT G-Scythe. Halfway through his arc, Pionobot realizes that this isn't going to work, and switches in midflight, tossing the armistyx behind him as it transforms one last time, bapping Acacia on the head. She promptly vanishes out of view with the armistyx, dropped into the floor below by the OPACITATOR-SCYTHE.

PIONOBOT: You know what, I really hope that spawn point thing works for robots.

...The figure doesn’t impact Pionobot. Whoever this is, they’ve come prepared. Held firmly in both hands is a titanic greatsword, roughly as tall as the man himself. They’re covered from head to toe in what seems to be a dark oak-hued “power armor”, clearly of Chairian make. Dazzling elemental crystals of all types are built into it, accompanied by a dark orange cape. And, built into one of their gauntlets seems to be a flamethrower, a Volcanic Regalia protruding out of it. All of this is accompanied by an ominous purple glow, the Thymefield roaring into life around him.

SPARK: You tried.
SPARK: Burst.

A torrent of flame surges from the flamethrower, dramatically altering his course. He rockets up over Pionobot, a secondary blast of flame rocketing him through a hole in the ceiling. As Acacia descends through the usage of the Opacitator, the two of them lock eyes.

ACACIA: S-Spark-
SPARK: You are forever my weapon.
SPARK: Your final act… will be to die by my hand.

Before Spark can deliver a fatal blow, however, another person gets in the way. A block of highly-pressurized red ink appears between Spark and Acacia.

AUTH: Can’t let you do that, Spark. Go back to the Citadel, as long as we’re here you’ll never be able to land a blow.
AUTH: And we’ll see you there tomorrow. Don’t think we’ll forget what you did here.
SPARK: You act like you’ve won.
SPARK: But, you should know.
SPARK: I’ve researched the Thymefield. I know how it behaves.
SPARK: And, if my calculations are right...

Spark fires his flamethrower backwards once again, causing him to rocket straight towards the barrier. Greatsword in hand, he thrusts forward, challenging the barrier head on. Though there’s some resistance, it doesn’t stop the blade from piercing clean through. Eyes wide with fright, Acacia is unable to react.

SPARK: ...then there’s nothing you can do to stop me.

The blade pierces right through her head, burying itself deep within her wooden skull. Though Spark was unable to pass through the barrier, it seems the damage has been done. He bounces off, like he just crashed into a water-filled mattress. Auth loudly clicks his tongue with frustration. Acacia stumbles backward, falling over. Sap begins to pool on the ground behind her.

SPARK: ...What a pity.
SPARK: I was going to incinerate her, but this will have to do.
SPARK: You. You’re the healer, right? You think you can save her?
SPARK: Humor me for a second.

Before Auth can retort, Spark steps forward. With a quick burst of flame from his boots, he carries this step into a hefty punch directly into Auth’s face. Assisted by the armor, it’s enough to launch him a fair distance away from Acacia, who’s life continues to fade.

Elsewhere, over in the Shooting Gallery, Venia barely sees what’s happening over the half-ton of wreckage that now cleanly spits the gallery nearly in two-but it’s just enough to cognize Acacia taking a sword to the core.

VENIA: No no no! Ette, get over there, do something!
ETTE: O-On it!

Crystal tosses Ette an Infinifruit, before Ette begins to run as fast as her legs can carry her, practically skidding around the corner and through the doors to the Shooting Range, Venia and others not far behind. She’s just in time to see Spark rip the blade cruelly from Acacia’s body, and plunge it into the ground as he pulls out something from his pocket. It’s a stone, engraved with a rune. Venia’s eyes widen- it’s a teleportation rune.

SPARK: I’ll be coming for you next, Spherebreakers.
SPARK: Until we meet again.

He crunches the rune in his hand. Much like the Praetorians before him, Spark’s form shimmers for a moment, before vanishing into thin air with a flash. Pionobot, looking down through the hole in the ceiling, sighs and collapses, letting off purple steam. Acacia lies on the ground, lifeless.

VENIA: Shit!
NIA: H-Huh? When did he…?
ETTE: N-No!
CHLOE: W-What j-just…?
CRYSTAL: We couldn’t protect her... even after everything we did.
OMORIKA: To think this would be the way Acacia would go out...
CYPRESS: ...Horrendous.

Hersilia, having seen the commotion from a distance, rides over towards Acacia’s body. She dismounts from the back of Freja, and immediately does sap begin to well up in her eyes.

HERSILIA: A-ACACIA! N-NO!
HERSILIA: Y-You can’t! Y-You c-can’t be dead!
HERSILIA: I-I… I j-just wanted… t-to see you be happy… t-to get away from all of this…
HERSILIA: I… c-could none of you s-save her!?

Auth interjects, dragging Venia over to Hersilia’s side. She barely notices his interjection, and continues to wail over her corpse.

AUTH: Tch… Don’t panic. We accounted for this and, knock on wood, it could have gone worse.
VENIA: R-right! The soul-catcher!

Venia rushes to Acacia’s dying form and immediately yanks out something from the inventory-like a waterskin, but with a fork at the end. She unhesitatingly jams it directly into where the Core is. A moment later, a small wispy form briefly makes itself visible between the fork prongs, turquoise (and surprisingly not brownish) and brilliant but terribly small-and seconds later vanishes into the sack. Hersilia takes the soulcatcher, and holds it tightly, still sobbing.

HERSILIA: I-Is… i-is this her?
ETTE: U-Um, I think so…?
ETTE: W-We’ll… we’ll bring her back!
ETTE: I-I promise!
HERSILIA: I… I hope… i-it is...

Hersilia hands the soulcatcher over to Ette. Respectfully, the ex-puppet takes the device, and slots it into the inventory. Ette sighs. She’d come back, right? Just like Nia did. But this time, there’s no Xavier to help. But still… everyone working together. They could overcome anything, right?

...Right?

Anyway, with Acacia dead, the Shooting Range battle has been cleared. You can now legally head further into the facility, though it'd probably be worth spending some time with the party before carrying onward into the Sky Labs. If you're going to revive Acacia, you'll need a plan, and some rather specific ingredients. If you do decide to enter the Sky Labs however, you'll need to take the airship in... or build a new cable car. Either would work, though each has their own set of risks.

Kalis will move to L16 and cast Deep Thinking in preparation for next turn, when it will hopefully be safer to move into range and start blasting.

For the previous turn, move to N9, use a Cinderfruit and one stack of Icicle Fall on the Pillager, then sprint to K13 with my action.

Echoss chatting with Chi:
Echoss chuckles. "'Random stuff' does not entail petty objects like sticks and books.
While I was still actively fighting I was using a back connection to the Echo Collective to feign 'duplication' of one-use weaponry we have in the inventory.
So elemental bombs, rockets, healing potions, shurikens...
Whatever we had on hand that I could find a close enough equivalent to on short notice.
That being said Chloe, if we do come under attack I'm afraid I'll have to act in a more supporting role. I can't really exercise my abilities that well while most of me is asleep, so I am not currently fit for combat. Obviously I'm not in any real danger either way, but it's something to keep in mind.
...Also I'll need to rethink my combat style once I return to active duty. I don't think my rampant thymefield smuggling will be a viable tactic moving forwards. I was rather pushing my luck with it already."


Echoss and Chloe moving the picnic forwards
Echoss blinks.
"I actually didn't have a specific person in mind. I just assumed that acquiring something high quality but not... excessively extravagant would be the best idea."
Echoss looks down at the bottles.
"This brand DOES originate on Earth, doesn't it?
That's rather serendipitous. I assume from your reaction that you already know what to expect however!"
Once the two move on, they probably set up in the room with the water sculpture. Of all the large rooms available this one still seems to be the most intact.


Pionobot goes to Cypress about an idea.
After a few moments, Pionobot hops down from his perch on top of the damaged ceiling, and slowly makes his way over to Cypress, still trailing purple smoke.
"Hey Cypress, I'm gonna go ahead and untie the people back in the Aviation Chamber.
Since Spark's officially denounced you and then... this... there's not really much point keeping them prisoner anymore.
Before I go...
The Skylabs have security cameras, right?
The electronics in the room are fine..."
Pionobot gestures to the still-active targets in the targeting range, not to mention lights and similar.
"Do you think we could... retrieve the security footage?
I feel like Spark would be... displeased if footage of what he did here began to circulate among the general populace, hm?"


Following that, Pionobot makes his way to the aviation chamber. While his trail of scented smoke has diminished, it's not completely gone.
"Alright folks, there's been a change of plans.
I'm gonna let you guys go. Obviously not with all your weapons, but enough to fend off any lesser Iti that might show up.
Electrophorous isn't a problem anymore. Funnily enough, you have Acacia to thank for that, she annihilated it before we got the chance."
He unties a couple of the less 'powerful' fighters, and hands them lower level equips from the Assorted Chairian Weaponry in the inventory.
"I do need to warn you, though.
Heading right back to base might not be smart, you should lay low for a day or two."
[insert the inevitable "oh yeah?"s and "and why's that?"s]
"A bit more than five minutes ago, Acacia Aneura attempted to eliminate the Spherebreakers on behalf of your 'beloved leader'. Accompanying her was a large detachment of elite soldiers, and Spark's personal airship with Spark in it.
We proceeded to, as we do, wipe the floor with everyone, Acacia herself being the only one to really do so much as land a significant hit on any of us.
Spark being useless, her soldiers all disabled, and even in her enhanced state Acacia not being able to stop us as a group, Acacia surrendered.
Do you want to know what Spark did?
Spark executed her.
You were all protesting so hard that Spark was just trying to remove a traitor to his cause. So quick to defend your precious despot. Less than an hour later and he personally executes the last remaining un-denounced member of the Highchair. Acacia, who was fanatically, unhealthily devoted to him. Acacia, one of if not the most powerful siege mage on Sussui.
He killed her just because she wasn't strong enough to take on every single Spherebreaker at once. When she did better than he did.
So, back to my recommendation.
If Acacia, Spark's best lieutenant and supposedly his equal in command, was executed without a second thought for failing again the entirety of the Spherebreakers at once...
What do you think Spark will do to you all when you're in range of his weapons again? You were up against less than half our number after all, and had the drop on us.
I suppose, in the end, its up to you to make your decisions. Officially, according to one out of three surviving Highchair members, we're enemies of the state, so I can see why you wouldn't trust me.
But personally, I'd wait until things calm down a bit before returning to somewhere execution-ready."


Lots of incoming Christmas Crafting:
Echoss giftlist: Boshi, Sophia, Chloe, Omo, Marron, Ette(?), Asha,
Pionobot giftlist: only Maple (something about gilding/decorating her gear since she expressed interest in that)

THE BORDER OUTPOST

"Lilac" disembarks and walks into Acorn Orphanage, using her "disguise tech" to casually dismiss her rebel outfit for a more standard civilian one on the way in. She looks around for Granny Acorn. Once she finds her, she smiles and waves.

"LILAC": Hi! I hope I'm not disturbing you.
"LILAC": My name's Lilac. I'm not really from around here, but... I was hoping I could sit down and talk to you.
"LILAC": Maybe ask you a few questions, if that's alright.

---

STATS + CRAFTING

New build: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pEJ...#gid=1361462781 (final sheet on this page). The only thing I haven't run by Ire yet is the special's cost, which I kind of just eyeballed, so feel free to crank that up or down. Critquotes are hiding below the sheet.

PURCHASE LIVING PLAGUE

In addition, we have a lot of crafting to do to get our new build / friend up to speed. The Reflector gets to work on it.



Any and all successful fruits of this crafting labor are immediately equipped by "The Scion."

---

ZONE 5

Thanks to Crystal for writing half of this RP. Please read it. We're really proud of it.

Also, the Reflector opens their two presents from NPCs.

Respec - Adria

Adria's Character Sheet here! Critquotes below the sheet.

---

The Shooting Range - Post-Battle

Hannah, being overly-focused with taking down the ship, didn't notice Spark until the very last moment. Of course, by the time she properly turned around to get a proper look at Acacia, she witnessed Spark rip his blade from Acacia's skull and teleport away. And, instantly, every last bit of wind was taken out of her sails.

Hannah stands at her position on the roof, the only motion on her end being lowering her bow and letting it slide down her hand for a short way until she's only holding onto the end of it. She looks on at the various happenings as her face contorts into... an upset-looking mess, to put it gently.

This was the third time she failed to do anything to stop a greater power. Three times was she effectively useless. Three times... all culminating into a quiet "...w-why do i even bother..."

...Hannah slowly walks back into the Shooting Range, and stares at one of its corners. She pulls out an arrow, and... doesn't nock it. Frustrated and on the verge of screaming, she throws the arrow into a nearby wall. It was one that was already coated in all of her toxins, and when it sticks, the wall corrodes, wasting away as a startlingly large hole forms.

Still frustrated, Hannah tosses her bow along the ground, skidding to a halt near the large hole. It is unclear why she did this in particular...

...She sits down right where she stood, curls up in the fetal position, and buries her face into her legs in a vain attempt to hide her crumbling facade.
"...w-why..."
"...why is w-whatever i do... n-never enough..."
"...i-i don't..."

...She chokes back a sob. She begins to doubt that she'll even be able to slay any sort of cruel tyrant she sets her sights on, let alone the eldritch abomination within the Sphere. She silently curses her inability to do anything of note.

...What was she even doing here at this point?
"...i-is everything i t-try to do... p... pointless...?"

---

Several versions of Hannah abruptly fizzle out of existence, leaving only the one in the Rebel Outpost, as well as the primary version here. There might be another one elsewhere, but that's for another time and place.

---

Outpost Unity - "Carica"

Carica leaves the sniper's tower, ID in hand. She slips back through the woods, and through the barracks. She turns as if she's going towards the runway from the edge of the barracks, but instead wraps around towards the "Lilac" still at base. She slips her partner the ID. She whispers to her partner. "Dunno how to modify that, I don't have much experience in that field. Think there's anywhere I should check out?"

---

Skylabs - Dorothy

...She wasn't sure what, but Dorothy started to sense an overwhelming amount of grief and sadness coming from further within the Skylabs. Given she just finished working on her thing within the railgun tower, she wanders into the Skylabs proper.

She stops near Alatus, noting his panicked expression. She peeks into what remains of the Weaponry Wing, and immediately gasps and staggers back in shock. Dorothy goes pale as she backs away, back towards Alatus. She turns towards him, looks him in the eyes, pure terror in her own eyes, and asks, simply, "W-w-what... h-happened?"

---

House - Adria

Adria continues her conversation with Taeda, nodding. "Yes, we do use forms of time manipulation to age certain things more rapidly or more slowly! That being said, though, we only use the cheaper stuff on non-essentials, like aging wine or cheese."

"The cost of the devices is directly proportional to their maximum effect. So, a cheaper device wouldn't be able to slow time to a near halt, or speed it up so whatever it's affecting is aging several hundreds of years every minute. Each device is tuned to their specific functions, so there's minimal chance of anything being overtuned or such."

"I wonder how many advancements were made in my absence-"

...Adria's head abruptly pops up. She frowns, and looks around the living room, not seeing anything threatening. "...I-I can't help but feel as though... s-something just went horribly awry, somewhere..."

...Then she properly notices the Christmas Tree, and gets confused. "...H-huh? Why is there a tree here all of a sudden...?"

She lifts herself up, and notices three presents addressed to her; one long and flat, yet reasonably wide; one of the other ones small and rectangular; the third one was... unusually large. All three of them were wrapped in blue paper depicting small white time pieces amongst snowflakes. The two larger ones were from Sophia, while the smaller one was from Dorothy. Adria blushes. "...G-gifts for... m-me? Did... did t-they already...?"

...Apparently not thinking that she should probably wait, Adria carefully unwraps each present. The long flat one held the Moonshocker Crossbow. The small one held the Deck of Recipes. The large one held a new Blazer and a Mysterious Processor. While Adria certainly appreciates the recipe book and the change of clothing, and the processor she might be able to research/use later... she's concerned about the crossbow. Even still, she's overjoyed that she received any gifts at all, smiling ear-to-ear.

It's at this moment that Sophia comes upstairs to see. She smiles as she sees her aunt unwrap the parcels. After a few moments, Adria notices her niece. Adria's still smiling, though through it she seems the slightest bit nervous. "Sophie..."
Sophia climbs all the way up the stairs to meet her, as Adria struggles to get words out. Her smile was faltering further. "...I... I..."

Sophia gets closer, and Adria's normally calm demeanor was fading away. A moment later, Sophia rushes towards Adria, arms outstretched for an embrace. Instinctively, Adria kneels down and also reaches out to do the same. She scoops her up and gives her a tight hug. Sophia closes her eyes and happily remains in the embrace, while Adria's composed demeanor completely breaks down. She buries her eyes into Sophia's shoulder and cries, gently whispering "i'm so sorry" to her repeatedly, all the while rocking back and forth. This continues for a good while, Sophia just letting her aunt cry into her shoulder.

Eventually, Sophia speaks up. "I'm okay. It wasn't that bad, just a lil' scary."
Adria keeps doing what she's doing, easing up slowly. "We all know that wasn't you doin' that stuff. But we're all okay! You're okay now!"
Despite slowly calming down as her niece speaks, Adria clearly wasn't in the right state of mind at the moment. "i-i should never have even looked at t-that... thing... i-i put you all in danger..."
Sophia softly shakes her head, in such a way that Adria could feel it. "But you did, to help protect everyone!"
Adria remains still. "y-you must hate me, though... f-for chasing you here, to this... t-this... war-torn planet..."
This time, Sophia vigorously shakes her head. "No way! You're family! You're a friend! You're da best auntie I could ever ask for!"
Adria loosens her embrace a little bit. "b-but.. the others...?"
"Same thing! Dorothy understands too! And Hannah just goes along with Dorothy, sooo."
Adria pauses for a moment, then softly sighs. "I-I... I see..."

The two let the embrace go on a little longer in silence as Adria slowly recomposes herself. Eventually, she stops crying. She stops looking and feeling so anxious. Her embrace loosens a bit more, and she uses a hand to gently brush the side of Sophia's hair.

Soon enough, though, Sophia speaks up again. "I, um... wanted you to have that crossbow so that you could better protect yourself, too!"
Adria gives a quiet chuckle, and a faint smile, before briefly pulling her in tighter. "...T-thank you, dear. I love all your gifts, I-I really do."

The two stay like this for another little while. Adria speaks up this time. "Y-you have projects to work on, right? I-I... heard you doing so downstairs."
Sophia nods. "Yep! But I can stay a lil' longer if you want."
Adria gives her a soft pat on the back. "Thank you, b-but I'll be okay. Just... knowing all of you are still okay makes me happy."
Sophia pauses for a moment, before nodding again. "...Okay."

The two disengage from their hug. Sophia skips off to the stairway, then turns around to wave goodbye to her auntie. Adria waves back, weakly smiling. "Bye, love you~"
"Bye bye!"

Once Sophia is downstairs again, Adria returns to Taeda and co, giggling. "S-sorry about that, I had to! Now, um, where were we?"

...She watches as Verdana runs off. "O-oh. Um, okay...? I don't think I was the only one who felt... whatever that was."
"...Now I'm actually somewhat curious, though hopefully i-it's nothing your team can't handle."
"...Hopefully."
...She seems unsure of herself on that. Given she hasn't met the whole team yet or heard about many of their accomplishments yet (aside from deleting a house monster from existence a few hours ago), it might be unsurprising.

---

Christmas

...A Mirror Image of Hannah briefly pops in to check out Chloe's present to her. She opens it up out of view of whoever else.

Adria, meanwhile, notices another present for her under the tree, from Taeda. Ecstatic, she runs over and gets to opening it, silently questioning why the heck there are two people wrapped up in ribbons here...