Player Plot: It's Die Hard on a Ship

[desertbloomed]

Who: Closed to those who (before this posting) signed up for the plot. Feel free to comment to the Job Interview thread even if you haven't!
When: On or around early-mid November.
Where: In the sky! On the Pravoka Interviews take place at Ashelia's apartment in Lavode.
What: It's Die Hard on a ship.
Warnings/Notes: Violence, cussing. Okay, all done! Tag in, y'all! Please reemeber to tag yourselves :) Yippie ki-yay, mofos!

Loading up the ship seems to be going smoothly enough, despite the harried look on Lady-Captain Ashelia’s face. She walks to and fro, Kupozencrantz struggling to stay by her side, as she refers once, twice, three, four, more times to her iMog slate. She makes a call - and after a short discussion, appears to acquiesce. Loading and boarding seems to proceed apace. The crew is signed in, inventory is checked and double checked, and the maiden voyage of the Pravoka under Lady-Captain Ashelia B’nargin Dalmasca is on her way.

The atmosphere on the ship is calm and easygoing; there’s a lot of cargo to guard, but a lot of people to guard it. The meals are generous, just on this side of lavish, the mattresses in the (albeit cramped) bunks are surprisingly soft and fluffy (is that memory foam? Does memory foam exist on Vaikuntha?) and the air circulation would put some spas to shame. It’s a more or less pleasant time. Until it isn’t.



Shortly before midnight, with the crew scattered about the ship, the lights are cut. Radar and monitoring equipment just shuts down. The ship shakes and groans and, depending on where you are, footsteps can be heard. Hushed voices. Then, you smell something. Or do you? Before you can react, everything goes black. Blacker. More black.

When you come to, you have no idea where you are for a good couple minutes. The room spins around you. You try to move, but find you can’t move your arms. They’re tied behind you, or to the arms of another one of your companions, or above you...are you in the brig? No, you realize as you feel yourself sinking into the plush mattress beneath you. Not the brig at all. Regardless, your next course of action is clear: get free, figure out who did this, and make them pay.

Comments

[mech_and_mutt]

Red would leave the detective work and exploration to the others... but, unfortunately, he didn't have the ability to be quite so sneaky with his plays. At least it meant they now had members of their group on both sides of the galley.

Oh well. If he was going up against a group like this, no sense keeping himself held back. Even if he probably couldn't bring his DAHAK into a place like this, he'd be better off sticking to his own strengths.

He quietly reconfigured his Gunblade into its more familiar swordlike form, and switched himself over to Magitek Knight on his slate. Sky piracy could wait-- for now, it was back to his usual fare. And he'd take a moment to load in those •Water Bullets he'd been meaning to try.

Then, clutching his weapon to his chest, he gave Sephiroth a quick nod. Subtlety was never his strong suit, anyways.

[neverbeamemory]

Looking around between those bunched and ready to go, it doesn't take more than a moment longer for Sephiroth to realize that -somehow- he'd ended up on point. Not his intention really, but natural leadership has always been a silent quality of his when comes down to it. In any other world than this one, he'd relish the superiority it delivered; but here it grates a little, he knows how inexperienced he is in his asterisks probably compared to the majority.

Not about to own up to that fact any time soon, though.

Enhanced Counter up and Sephiroth steps away from the wall and begins to lead through the doorway (into the galley?), silently pulling his sword from his sheath and holding it close but edge-forwards. What he wouldn't give right now for just an ounce of the heightened senses he had with his previous form; for now, he'll just have to rely on a mixture of intuition and that second-nature tactical combat instinct of his.

[angealwings]

Angeal is not immediately behind Sephiroth - even while the silver-haired man might not remember, Angeal does, when it comes to them fighting together - but he has got him all the same. Fully aware just how short Sephiroth's time on Vaikuntha has been, he casts Adloquium, an additional shield to decrease damage coming to the Swordsman.

Then his attention returns to keeping track of their surroundings, ready to back up whoever needs it - or call on Eos, should the need arise.

His mind, now fully awake, is also trying to sort out how they all lost consciousness. There are only so many ways that can happen, but he needs more clues before he can be certain.

[desertbloomed]

As Sephiroth enters the galley, he'll see two figures immediately visible, sitting at two separate tables but nearby each other, a black mage and a paladin. By some stroke of luck, he is not immediately seen.

The galley is a large space, a number of long tables spaced evenly throughout, bordered on all sides by a balcony/overlook on a second level, the stairs to which are accessible from the back corner of the room, diagonally to the left of the door Sephiroth entered from. Underneath the overhang directly across from the door Sephiroth entered from is the kitchen, barely visible through the dim emergency lighting.

Meanwhile in the hallway Frisk is in, the trail of blood ends abruptly halfway down the hall. There's no clues as to where Holly went or who took her. There is a door halfway down the hall that opens up into a supply closet, and a door at the end of the hall that opens into another hallway. This side of the ship seems quiet.

ATTN: THE ROGUE IS PULLING

[daggercubed]

Still with his smokescreen up, Vax slips inside behind Sephiroth. He quickly slips to the side; his eyes are on the black mage. He hedges his bets for a moment -- and then decides that the Black Mage could pose a larger threat. He looks in Sephiroth's direction, though he cannot meet his eyes; then, he looks down at the Black Mage, as he steps behind calmly.

One of his daggers comes out. Vax's eyes narrow, for a moment.

Then he strikes for the assassin's back, with a quick flourish of the blade -- an effort to Assassinate him. This also, abruptly, makes him visible to everyone there.

[sassafrisk]

Everything about this seemed Very Much Not Good. Maybe there was some kind of mutiny on board the ship? Or was something more sinister at work here? Regardless, they couldn't stop now. But they had to be clever about this. They'd be at a disadvantage if somebody saw them as they were opening the door. This would require some... finesse.

Frisk reequips their shuko, jumping high into the air and flipping upside down to cling to the ceiling with their climbing claws. Then carefully, ever-so-carefully, they get out their grappling hook, tossing it at the doorknob to the surprise closet, twisting the knob to unlock it. Frisk then violently retracts the grappling hook, hopefully opening the door, then clings to the ceiling, making themself as flat as possible.

[neverbeamemory]

Immediately presenting the paladin and the black mage right there -albeit on separate tables- as they go through the door, Sephiroth immediately flicks his gaze around what details of the room he can make out and makes a left side-step, lowering himself more into a crouch and scoots a bit to put a table between him and what he judges as what could be line-of-sight for either of the two enemies.

Once the maneuver is performed he waits, hearing strained as much as he can mortally pay attention to it, just in case there was any tell he might have been spotted before slowly edging himself around the back of tables towards the table where the paladin was sat. He's already picked his target, based on his own strengths.

[mech_and_mutt]

So much for trying to slip through undetected-- It looked like they were going to fight their way right through this one. At least Vax went for the Black Mage first; hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about having fireballs slung through a tight area like this.

As tempting was it was to open fire with the gunblade then and there, Red caught himself with a second thought just before he pulled the trigger. No... the last thing they needed now was a bunch of noise to draw in the others. On the other hand, one way or another, they'd have to tie up that Paladin before he caught on-- or, worse still, before he could make a scene. And with Vax and Sephiroth both getting into position, all he needed to do was give them an opening to end this quickly.

Well, SOMEONE had to run in and let themselves be seen for that to happen, right? Hopefully it wouldn't cause too much of an obvious commotion as he opened onto the Paladin with a strike or two from his •Magitek Sword attack.

[songbird_slayer]

Knight, Illusionist, Templar. Okay. But who among them were allies...? Or were they all in the same boat? She needed to work this out before she proceeded. She had time before the others got here.

With another Dimension Door, she found a place to wedge herself and peeked around for a sort of clue. Sure, she could attack the lot of them, but where would that take them, especially if one of them may have asked them to meet 'em here?

[desertbloomed]

The black mage is taken completely by surprise; Vax's Assassinate scores a critical hit, and the magician goes down like a sack of bricks.

"Holy shit!" the paladin yells, springing to his feet as soon as Vax is visible. He draws his sword, but before he can do much else, is hit by Red's Magitek Sword. The paladin weathers the strike, though, turning to deliver his own Shock Break combo to Red.

There's a yelp from above them, though, as a previously unnoticed gunslinger springs into action, unleashing a Trigger Happy barrage against Vax.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the three men continue working on the computers. They mostly cycle through documents, scanning the text for something they don't seem to be finding. Madhuri is able to stay concealed.

Inside the supply closet, Frisk will find a myriad of cleaning products, brooms, mops, a med kit full of bandages and potions, some rope, coolant spray rags and a bucket.

[sassafrisk]

That... wasn't what they were expecting. There were supposed to be wounded hostages or something hiding in the supply closet in these movies, come on. Well, whatever. They grab the medkit and start cautiously moving towards the other end of the hall, pressing an ear to the door to try and figure out what's behind it before opening it up.

[angealwings]

Annnd since the time for being quiet seems over for the moment, Angeal summons Eos to start mitigating some of the damage to the group he is with. And, since he can't exactly reach the gunslinger, he darts to pull Vax at least somewhat out of the way of the direct target of the shooter. Guess he will soon be shielding each of the group, just to be on the safe side, soon.

[neverbeamemory]

Point for Sephiroth's intuition in trying to keep laying low until the right moment. That said, if the others hadn't gone and blown their cover then that gunslinger up on the second level might well have caught him by surprise; he might even consider thanking Vax and Red, later.

Launching into a full-on sprint for the stairwell in the left-corner, Sephiroth tightens his grip on his sword as he takes the steps as many as he can manage in each of his long strides. It's a small gamble in that the gunslinger might see him before he gets into melee range, but considering he's already launched a volley of shots at Vax, the threat needed to be dealt with.

Once there, the silver-haired warrior triggers Enhanced Counter as he charges, following with Shooting Star once he gets in range.

[songbird_slayer]

Hmm... wonder what they were working on. But seeing as they weren't talking, she wasn't about to glean what was going on from her hiding spot.

May as well be completely haphazard and play it on the fly like she always did. Whee.

She focused on the nearest of the three individuals, and playing the lowest key on her guitar, she applied a Charm. Let's ruin the dynamics of this trio.

[mech_and_mutt]

"Sonuva...!"

Come to think of it, this was the first time he'd actually- literally- crossed swords with an enemy since he first arrived. Red knew he might have a hard time outlasting a Paladin in battle without using DAHAK, let alone managing to tie one up. Fortunately, he had the likes of Vax and Sephiroth to help make short work of his targets--

--but unfortunately, these goons were bringing out the guns on them from above. Almost on reflex, Red swapped to hold a •Sentinel position besides Vax; Less than glamorous, maybe, but it would at least allow his allies to stay on their feet and keep hammering these kidnappers...

SORRY DW notifs were like "let's not"

[daggercubed]

"Gh!"

Vax is fast, but not quite fast enough to get away from the barrage. He takes two shots -- one through the shoulder, one in the side. He slams against the wall, blood left against it. He steps away, though, and glances at Red.

There is a brief nod. He steps to the side -- then throws down another Smokescreen.

[desertbloomed]

On the other side of the door, Frisk can hear...silence. There doesn't seem to be anybody there. If she goes through the door, she'll find another hallway, with several other doors to choose from; the server room, sick bay or a door that leads downstairs to the stables.

On the bridge, it would seem that Madhuri's luck has run out. The Charm spell alerts a hidden ninja to her presence, who breaks his stealth with an absolutely devastating Assassinate attack. The others look over, surprised. "What in blazes...?" the magitek knight mutters, unaware that the templar behind him is winding up for a strike...

Fortunately for him, but unfortunately for Madhuri, the illusionist sees this and smacks the templar over the head with his staff. The templar drops to the ground, dazed. "Some kind of spell, I suppose," the illusionist says, amused.

The magitek knight draws his gunblade, running towards Madhuri and the ninja. He extends the blade, keeping his gun trained on the spellbinder. "How the bloody hell she get in here?"

The ninja shakes his head. "I don't know, but this isn't that Lady-Captain, that's for sure. The rest were all supposed to have been captured already. So, then, my dear lady, how about you tell us how you got out? Was it her?"

Behind the gathered man and unbeknownst to them, the door to the bridge eases open. A figure sneaks inside, the glint of a sword barely visible in the dim glow of the navigational computer screens...

Back in the galley...

The gunslinger yelps as he sees Sephiroth bounding up the steps, backing up to keep some distance between them. Unfortunately for the gunslinger, the former Shinra general has legs for days, and the gunslinger is unable to avoid the Shooting Star combo. He's knocked backwards onto the floor, grunting in pain. He's able to keep hold of his gun and points it at the silver-haired man, letting loose a Flamethrower attack.

With Vax disappeared, the paladin continues his assault on Red, letting loose a Holy Blade.

[sassafrisk]

Before they head through the door, Frisk is struck with an idea. If they could cheat past enemies by going above instead of below... why couldn't the hijackers do the same? They thoroughly scan the ceiling of the hall, looking for any vents or somesuch that Holly could've escaped through, paying particular attention to the vertical equivalent of where the blood stopped.

If they don't find anything, Frisk will cautiously go through the door, sticking to the shadows like gum as they make their way to the server room. They'd peek inside before charging directly in; after all, such a valuable place was probably going to be guarded.

If there is a vent or something similar that Holly could've escaped to--or somebody could've dragged her through--Frisk will immediately parkour up to that point and wriggle through. Something fishy was going on here, and they were gonna find out what.

Regardless, Frisk shoots a message to Maddi, the other scout: mads, howre you doing? see anything important?

[angealwings]

Angeal has already put a protective shield around Sephiroth, and he can only hope it will help enough. For now, he casts another Adloquium, this time at Red, and then encourages the fae to make sure that the healing keeps coming.

He tries to take stock of the situation, to see who may be in need of direct assistance, when the slate vibrates and he hesitates, but long training means he doesn't take his eyes from the hostiles, not until they're neutralized.

Though he's ready to either attack directly again, next, or boost his allies' strength of attack. Whichever seems more important.

[songbird_slayer]

Frisk got no response. Pulling out the slate wasn't an option right now. After being struck by a rather beefy Ninja, she wasn't in tip-top shape, either. She wasn't precisely meant to be surrounded by four foes to boot. Whoops.

"How I got out? Goodness, is that all? You see, when you tie a solid knot around somebody's extremities, there's a pretty important little secret that only the masters of the trade will share with you. Makes sure nobody ever gets out, see, but the trade-off is that it uses extra rope. Because you all found me, I guess I can give you a trade secret..."

"MAKE SURE THE PERSON YOU TIE UP DOESN'T KNOW HER SODDING WAY AROUND ROPE!" The sound was like an artillery shell going off on sheer concussive force and volume, the Thunderwave rushing outward to overwhelm and drive back a few yards. She's not sorry about the tinnitus later.

[mech_and_mutt]

Okay. So things were getting a little hairy. And a little bit brawly. But this was nothing he couldn't handle-- especially when he actually had those trickles of health and the reinforcement of shields smoothing out the pummeling he was taking from that Paladin. He'd just have to--

Scratch that; the sound from the bridge left Red's ears pinned down against his head. OKAY WOW WHAT WAS GOING ON UP THERE?!

They'd have to finish this quickly. And since he couldn't get much past this Paladin, he'd have to bite the bullet and pour the heat on a little harder. an Ice-element •Magitek Laser would hopefully speed things along there.

[neverbeamemory]

"Ngh-"

Sephiroth had naturally pressed on in his attack stance when the gunslinger had been knocked down, only to have been met with a wall of flame as he'd gone to take his next attack flurry.

Recoiling from the fire as it met him head on, hopefully, the shield that Angeal had cast on him would take some of the damage away even if he could feel the burning heat as it wrapped around his whole frame. Stinging at his face, eyes and the top bared-part of his chest, in particular. Burns would have to be tended to, later.

A few stray ends of his long silver hair were singed, just before he made to quickly dodge out of the flame path and around to the side of the fallen enemy, on the way he attempted to deliver a swift kick; to disarm that gun from him. Smoldering, Sephiroth then raised and turned the sword in his grip before stabbing down at the gunslinger.

[daggercubed]

Vax takes advantage of being invisible. He grits his teeth, eyes on Sephiroth for a moment -- and then he slips around to the back of the paladin. He stays quiet, as he readies his dagger.

Then he stabs down, quickly, with another Assassinate.

"You may want to surrender!" he offers. "At any time!"

[desertbloomed]

The server room is also suspiciously empty, for how important gaining and maintaining control over the room would be. It's pretty small, considering how large the ship is, the lights on the various shoulder-height computer towers glowing in the otherwise non-existent emergency lighting.

On the bridge, the Magitek knight and illusionist are pushed back, the illusionist losing balance completely and tumbling to the floor. There's a crack as the spellcaster hits his head on a computer bay. The magitek knight is able to keep his footing.

Argh!" The ninja yells in pain but, unfortunately, is not pushed back. Recovering quickly, he brandishes a kunai, about to bring it down right into Madhuri's heart -

- but is stopped by Dual Braziers right to his own chest. Ashelia stands from her own hiding place behind a computer desk, hand extended. "Are you all right?" she calls out to Madhuri as she charges at the illusionist, voice louder than it may need to be so she can hear herself after Madhuri's Thunderwave.

In the galley, the fight rages on. The paladin weathers Red's Magitek Laser, thanks to his Desperation. He takes the opportunity to put a bit of distance between himself and Red, getting his shield up properly, and casting Cura on himself - and then is hit once more by Vax's attack. He goes down to one knee, using the shield to support himself.

Up on the second floor, the gunslinger is disarmed, but not before he gets one more shot off. The bullet ricochets, burying itself in Sephiroth's gut just as the former general's own sword buries itself in the gunslinger's.

[sassafrisk]

Well, Frisk wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking a deep breath, they take advantage of the server room's advantages to shoot a message to the authorities of both the airship's original destination and origin point.

Airship Provoka taken hostage by pirates. Original crew working on retaking ship. Assistance would be appreciated. [Destination], stand by with police force to arrest pirates.

Hopefully that sounded professional enough. Frisk will then proceed to check the sick bay, ping the rest of the airship crew with the location of their mounts, and rush back to their party.