Guild's War 4: Operation Popping Daisies

[♥ Azzie]

Azzie managed to start flying just before her injured foot hit the ground. She needed no urging to flee from that scene; the bird turning to jelly in mid-flight was most definitely not an experience she wanted to repeat. Without looking back she flew after Tiger, silently hoping the shuttle would not take off without them.

[Zylaa]

((Castle Kestrel library))

"I could kiss you right now," Hunty said.

"A pity we missed the Valentine's Day crackship," Zylaa said, because the fourth wall had been getting off way too lightly so far in this roleplay.

"Alright, fine. However, I do have conditions. In exchange for our surrender, I want information. If you find the Horsemen, you have to tell me. I don't care how, smoke signals, sending the Blarf with a note, whatever. Just tell me. Consider it an exchange, since no doubt having us out of the picture would make your employer happy. As soon as you agree, I will leave and order the surrender."

It sounded like a fantastic deal to Zylaa. Information was hardly a heavy price to pay for the misplaced respect of their magical overlord. She allowed herself to feel quietly smug as she waited for her Captain to give the official yes.

[icon]

(Back at the Brass- Ninja HQ)

And then, just as unexpectedly as he had arrived, the Mayor decided to leave. Clemmens, observing from the background for a while, came to the conclusion that since the device was technically his, he should be allowed to bring it on the Mayor's trip, and promptly picked it up off the table. He decided to ignore the fact that it did, in fact, belong to Spacefleet now.

On the way out to the tank, he made sure to pick up his pack of items. He made his way onto the giant vehicle with a particularly subtle wumph-wumph-CLANK-rattlerattle-CLANK. The device was blinking again; I have that dot-dash code manual, I know... where is it? Ah, there we go! He pulled the small booklet off his backpack from its space in between the rag and the backscratcher.

"Now, what was that code..."

He thumbed the pages, listening to the code. The machine asked about zombies, which Clemmens hadn't really factored into the entire situation apart from the Mayor's whole plan of marketing fashionably macabre clockwork items to a new undead market. He decided to tap out a quick response.

"All good here but have heard about zombies elsewhere. Going to find out with other Brassporters."

After a moment's thought, he decided to add in a quick, "Hello, by the way." No sense in being rude to anyone who might be watching you through a strange mechanical device that may or may not have weapons.

[Amneiger]

"Sir," Amneiger said in response to Fraze. "Mage Manor has been taken by the zombies. All the mages are running for it, and we're leaving too. We ran into a few mages, we're letting them board one of our shuttles." Amneiger recounted what he'd heard of the conversation with Death over Celestial's communicator as saw Tiger and Azzie coming and waved them over.

[Bacon]

As he turned back towards the manor to hold off any zombies coming after them, he barked into his radio "Cal! You haven't been doing a very good job of keeping me updated about what's going on out here!"

"Apologies. The situation keeps changing before I can finish my analyses. It would be easier to keep an eye on things if I was within the atmosphere."

Bacon cocked an eyebrow as he gunned down a zombie. "Wait, why aren't you in the atmosphere?"

"You told me to observe from a high orbit. That's what I've been doing."

Bacon jumped as the jelly eagle landed extremely close to him. In fact, he jumped a foot or two higher than would normally be possible thanks to his gravboots.

Turning his attention back to the radio, he asked "What? No, I said high-altitude observation! Why would I want you to observe from orbit?!"

"I have no idea. I'm just doing what you told me to."

Bacon sighed and continued firing on some incoming zombies. So the reason he was without useful tactical data was because his ship misunderstood him? Typical.

"We're joining you!"

Bacon lowered his weapon and turned to the two new mages approaching them. "Come on, let's go!"

[Fraze]

((Mage Manor))
From a distance, Hellas observed with distaste as Alabaster and the Librarian struck their deal. Reluctantly, he ordered the zombies to return to Castle Kestrel, making sure that Krisseh moved out as well.


"So you're being forced? You seem like a good person otherwise. Have you tried fighting back at all?"
Brick looked Dragus with a confused expression. "I got an injury in battle once that left me paralyzed for three days," he said. "Any time I tried to move something, the message just got lost halfway down. That's what finally convinced me to retire. This second life is like that. If you try to think about breaking free, disobeying, it just--it doesn't work. I don't want to fight back, either; our commander has reasonable plans, even if her methods aren't pretty."

"...Wait. I'm talking... meaning... you took my stuff... How had I not noticed? Yes, the potion is from my own efforts, though the brew itself is ancient. Potions are my hobby, though that one in particular was rather difficult."
Brick turned back to Ellen and grinned. "Distract someone with an obvious action, and take their stuff with a subtle one. It's a pickpocketing trick that's older than time. Although--" he took another look at the potion bottle, before putting it into a shirt pocket. "I recognize this stuff, it's hard to come by and even harder to fight. The toughest opponent in the world is your own mind, s'what I told all the new recruits. You lot over there," he called to a group of zombies leaving the Manor, who turned and began to approach. "This young lady is coming with us. Make sure she doesn't come to any harm." The zombies nodded, surrounded Ellen, and then continued walking.


--------

((Spacefleet))
Fraze listened to Amnei's response with a slowly changing expression.
"Things just keep getting better, don't they," he muttered to himself. "All right," he answered Amnei, "Find out where the mages are going. The zombies should be easy enough to track. I think I'm going to head down there myself."

Despite his title, the Commander had never set out to command anything. His preferred place was on the battlefield; or better yet, infiltrating the enemy's base.
To this end, went to a safe, opened it with a retina and palm scan and a passcode, and scrutinized the contents. He took a shot glass filled with a silvery liquid from inside, and poured it over his head. It quickly spread to cover his entire body, feeling familiar, like a well-worn glove. With a thought, it retreated down below the collar of his suit and up above his cuffs, leaving his head and hands exposed.
On the other hand, being the Commander had its perks. He also removed a rat-sized black bundle, which, with the press of a button, expanded to a standard-issue Spacefleet plasma rifle, complete with a clip of pea-sized grenades mounted on the side. It fit snugly on his belt.
Finally, with a spoken phrase, the flying personal security drone activated. Resembling a black wasp, it tucked away discreetly in the collar of his uniform.

He made arrangements to take a ship to the surface, and made one final call. It would be left as a message, for the recipient to listen and respond to at her leisure. "Celestial? This is Commander Fraze, once more. I've decided to come down to the surface; I'd like to speak with you personally. Is there a place we can meet?"

[Pixie]

Ellen listened to his explanation, disgusted at herself for falling for his trick. She straightens up in alarm when Brick announced his plans to take her. She lets out a terrified, confused, whimper.

"What! I never said I was going to!" She exclaims, even though she knew her opinions where of little importance to the enemy.

No! This can't be happening... I'm not a threat now.. so I didn't think of something like this being plausible

She glanced at Dragus , and hollered frantically "Inform the others!"

She noticed an impressive sized mob of zombies approaching her. She darts around to find a breach in the undead mob. Having her dagger stolen and her powers exhausted, she could only try and make a break for it. She could not focus on a single way out because of her elevated state of panic. Despite her efforts, she was drastically outnumbered, and breaches where filled as the zombies got closer to her. After only a moment she was enclosed in a circle of undead minions.

Oh. My. Gosh. What can I do now... I'm surrounded. They are far too numerous. Trying to fight back would be futile. And I can't run anywhere...

She stood shaking in a circle of zombies. She shrinks down where she stands, with her arms crossed in front of her vital area. On impulse, she began to shift into a cheetah. The base of her tail and the start of a pelt had barely formed before she was morphed back into her human form.

She resumed her defensive position, and then lost her resolve entirely. She began to weep. "I hate this! I don't want to go..." She muttered beneath her breath "This is scary..."

I had wanted to go back to the castle to get the others to help defend this place.... Now it looks like I'm going there against my will, and the manor has already fallen. The manor has already fallen!

[Terra]

Zephyr followed Amneiger and Bacon, thankful to find that there was little difficulty navigating the interior of the Manor. He picked up his books as they hurried through the hallways, holding them under his left arm while still holding his sword with his right - he could always drop the books if he had to fight someone.

They exited the Manor, and Amneiger started talking to someone on his strange communicator thing.

"We need evac, now. Bacon and I found a mage whom we're bringing with us. Hurry, before the zombies get here."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strange metal vehicle of some kind appeared from behind the trees. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before - shiny and strange and more perfect-looking than any kind of vehicle that existed in his homeland.

Amneiger entered the vehicle, turned back, and spoke to Zephyr and Bacon.

"Come on."

Zephyr hesitated, but he stepped onto the vehicle. This was going to be interesting.

He turned as he heard Tiger call out, with Azzie in tow. Good; at least some of the other mages were safe.

He wondered how many others were still out there, getting injured or killed.

[Draco]

((Mage Manor))

Dragus watched and listened to whatever Brick had to say. He steps forward when Ellen begins to panic.

"Wait. I'll go as well... To make sure she stays safe."

He bows lightly to Brick.

"You have my word as a knight that I will not interfere unless I see potential harm to her, or of course, if we are released and meet again in battle."

He removes his sword and holds it out to Brick, but then drops it to the floor, it disappearing into a shadow.

"My weapon has been delivered to a friend for safe keeping. He will know what it means."

---
((Ebi River))

Draco continued to travel north. He was walking to take a break from running when a sword jumped out from a shadow near him. He stopped to pick it up. Inspecting it, he knew what it was. He strapped it to his waist and continued to walk.

"Oh ho! Your cousin's sword! What does that mean? He's dead?"

"No... If he was dead it would have remained with him. It's just a sign he was captured."

"But why remove his sword? Wouldn't be easier to keep it and break out later?"

"Of course, but this way he looks a bit more harmless. Then he can learn from them. I can send the sword back whenever."

"Then why not send it back?"

"Like I said, he wants to learn. Therefore he volunteered to be captured."

"What a idiot."

"I sort of agree, but you have to respect what he did too... Now where in the world is that other army of undead?"

---

((Brassport))

Gil nodded his head to Owen.

"I'll meet you there. I flew my craft over here."

With that he ran off to get in his ship. Within minutes he was in the air flying to the hanger and the airship.

Toshiro shrugged.

"Meanwhile I'll remain in the city. Take care of Gil, he can be a little... What's the word for it... A pain in the neck? No... There's something that fits him perfectly. Ah, a moron. But to be honest, he's a genius when it comes to machines, but he neglects so much. Well, you'll understand. Don't let him blow anything up, unless you want him to."

He starts walking out, waving to the others a bit.

"Just send the word if you want those gates shut, we'll be on it. I'll be sending out a few groups of ninjas to follow you from the ground now as well."

With that he was gone.

((Just assume Gil either parked his aircraft on the airship, or left it in the hanger and got on, whichever is easier or more possible))

[Huntress]

Castle Kestrel

"Alright, fine. However, I do have conditions. In exchange for our surrender, I want information. If you find the Horsemen, you have to tell me. I don't care how, smoke signals, sending the Blarf with a note, whatever. Just tell me. Consider it an exchange, since no doubt having us out of the picture would make your employer happy. As soon as you agree, I will leave and order the surrender," Celestial said, looking straight at Hunty.

Hunty smiled and shrugged. "Why wouldn't we agree? It's a win-win for everyone involved. I didn't even say that we would run after the Horsemen; you got all the information we just got. You can dispatch a fellowship of mages if you so please and cut us out of the trouble entirely.

Although if you want to employ our shall we say, piratical expertise for the purpose of the quest in question, we may be able to come to an agreement," she added after a thought. "Good luck with it either way."

She leaned against the nearest bookshelf with a scowl, rubbing her temples. This was the sort of tangle she didn't like to be in. Too many precarious balances that could land her in hot water when tipped.

But then again, that was their average life these days anyway.

She dug up the private communicator again, fumbled with the buttons for a moment and fired off a message to Fraze. "Hey, what're you currently up to? We should have an a-sap sort of talk about this whole zombie thing."

[Bacon]

((Spacefleet HQ))

Andy dug out the old pass key and tossed the shoebox back into the closet. At the moment, the key was useless, but he intended to change that. Picking up his personal radio, he made a call.

"Commander Fraze, this is Andy. As I'm sure you're probably aware, this latest reassignment hasn't done any better than the last several. I've made several mistakes this month, including one today. To be honest, sir, we both know I'm only good at one thing. I would humbly like to request reinstatement, sir."

With that, Andy left his quarters and headed towards the marine locker room. With any luck, by the time he got there the key would work and he could recover his old equipment.

[Elcie]

((Somewhere between the ex-mercenary base and Mage Manor, I guess?))

It had been years since Elcie had set foot in Dunburrow or the surrounding lands. Since departing the Mercenary Guild, the ex-commander had traveled, operating solo and taking whatever jobs came her way. Now, she'd decided to return, in no small part because she was leaving behind quite a few people who wanted her dead.

Fewer people in Dunburrow wanted her dead - indeed, there was always the possibility that she'd been gone long enough that few would remember her. It was an appealing thought - less complicated. Unfortunately, it looked as if "less complicated" wasn't what she was going to get. The former mercenary HQ was gone. Two villages she'd passed through were in ruins. And most tellingly, she'd seen zombies earlier - at a distance, fortunately, through the scope of her sniper rifle. Easy shots, and ones she hadn't taken, not wanting to announce her presence.

Now, she was proceeding with caution. Elcie was no ninja, but you didn't survive long as a mercenary without having some knowledge of stealth. Keeping the rifle close at hand, she headed toward the river, recalling that she could reach Mage Manor if she followed it south. Not that she'd ever had much contact with the mages, but if anyone knew anything about why the dead were being raised, she supposed it would be them.

[Gelquie]

<<Spacefleet Moon Base>>

Alaric waited patiently for the reply. He knew it wasn't normal for someone of his rank to bring his request to the commander directly. But he figured that something like this was important enough. Eventually, he finally got a reply.

"Very well. But it is imperative that you stay out of visual range of the zombies, and make sure to contact me before taking any action. Try to contact Prof. Amneiger and Capt. Bacon; I think they could use some support."

"Yes Commander. At once," Alaric said, nodding before closing his communications port. Afterwards, he questioned why he had to nod when there was no video, but he decided that was the least of his worries. He immediately went through his satchel to determine what he had and what he needed. He wasn't quite sure whether he had to contact the Commander before taking any action due to reasons of rank or due to reasons of PR with the Mages. After thinking about it for a moment, he decided that it was probably a mixture of both.

He pondered the two names. Amneiger he had met before, though he didn't know him well enough. But Captain Bacon? He hadn't heard of him before, which was surprising given how relatively new Alaric was to Spacefleet. In fact, he wasn't even sure if he saw him in the database.

Well, he could check the personnel records later. For now, he had to get going if he was going to get into position. He walked off to gather his things.

About 20 minutes later, Alaric had taken off in a one-man defense shuttle, making his way towards the planet while making calculations of what orbit he should take to not be of interest to the zombies. He had to do that before doing anything else.

----

<<Castle Kestral>>

Gelquie walked as fast as she could to the library, wanting to get there quickly but at the same time not wanting to tire herself out. She'd been up for quite a while. To be honest, she was already quite tired, and all she really wanted to do right now was sleep. She could probably deal with the situation later. And Mage Manor has always been reliable to be the safest place for her to rest, even in times of trouble. It'd be the perfect place. After all, no one bad could get in, and no one on this side could use the portal unless they knew the mental password.

After some time searching, she finally found herself at the foot of the portal. She looked around for anyone else or any signs of potential danger before giving herself a sigh of relief. Finally. She could go home. And if she couldn't sleep, she could read and find out more about the Horsemen. With a soft smile to herself, she mentally thought of the password and vanished through the portal.

<<Mage Manor>>

Gelquie was rather confused at first when she found herself in the gardens of Mage Manor. She was sure she wanted herself inside. Then again, perhaps it was the Manor playing its tricks again. Sometimes it liked to torment her like that and put her in an awkward or hard-to-get-out-of position when all she wanted was some rest.

"Again?!" Gelquie started. "Why that egotistical insufferable--"

She didn't finish her sentence as it dawned on Gelquie that something was wrong. She could no longer feel as much power emanating from the Manor, the Manor looked to be in a greater state of disrepair, and she could hear commotion in the distance. She stood on her tiptoes and peered over the walls to see an array of being retreating from the Manor. Including...

Zombies. There were zombies here. And even they were leaving? It couldn't be the power of the Manor, though. Now with how weak it was emanating. That emanating power... She couldn't say that she and the Manor always got along, but she would be lying to say that she didn't feel safe to feel it. But now it had fallen, and it wasn't there anymore.

Gelquie stared up at the massive walls of the Manor, darker and hollower to her now. Her last--and to her, her only--sanctuary now stood only as a shell of what it was. She fell to her knees and looked helplessly at the Manor.

"Wh-what happened to you...?"

[Celestial]

((Mage Manor))

The librarian rumbled, its body quivering in what had to be assumed was the creature's version of a nod of agreement. Ignoring Hellas, it withdrew back into the Manor, filling up the whole building with its body, pushing out any remaining mages, feeding off their fear as they went. It had to take what it could get. It watched carefully as the mages retreated away with the fleeters and to its surprise, found itself hoping that they will do well. At least that they would somehow find the Archmage and perhaps they would work something out.

But it was none of its business. The librarian headed to where it was supposed to be, the library, and picked up the book with its tentacles where it had left it. Except it could not concentrate. It just felt wrong to have surrendered a place which had...tolerated him at least. He did not know much about human convention but in books, this was not something you did. Not unless you were the villain or at least unlikeable. But it could not move either, otherwise the Manor would be overrun with zombies.

It had to at least warn the archmage. The librarian wrapped itself around the outer shell of the Manor, giving the illusion that it had filled the building. It then stretched out a tendril towards the basement. No time at all passed before it found what it was looking for: an Underdeep crack, extending far underground. The tendril, thinner than an insect hair now, slipped into the crack and trawled through the Underdeep towards Castle Kestrel where she was last heard of.

However, when it saw Gelquie outside, howling, the librarian poked its head out of the doors, taking on his face.

"The Manor has fallen to the zombie army, Gelquie. Go with the other mages. Run away. There is nothing left here," it said.

((Castle Kestrel))

Celestial could not help but notice Zylaa's smug smile as she waited for Hunty to accept her offer. When she finally did, it was no surprise for her. Her terms were generous enough and the pirates' loyalty to anybody was never particularly strong.

"Thank you. I shall consider that offer, although forgive me if I treat it with caution," she said, giving the pirate captain a shallow bow. "Good luck to you too."

She headed for the exit of the library, closing the door behind her and heading to the portal to head back to the Manor. However, as she got close to it, she felt an uncomfortable presense, one that she had felt a long time ago but still filled her with dread. The Underdeep.

Celestial whirled around to come face to face with the librarian's head on top of a very thin black tendril. Her eyes widened but she kept her composure.

"Librarian. I suppose you have a good explanation for why you're outside your library and...well, like that," she said as calmly as possible. The librarian nodded.

"Mage Manor has fallen to the three generals. I am looking after it. The mages have fled, some on their own, some with the Spacefleeters. I don't recommend that you go back now," it said. Celestial bit her lip. Mage Manor falling was not a good sign. It meant that the army was strong enough to overcome even its defences. For a moment, she felt hopeless until she remembered what Death had told her. No, this was even better.

"Alright, fine. And your...appearance?"

"I am an underdeepling. I mean you no harm. I just like books."

Right. An underdeep creature that loved books. Well, stranger things had happened in Guild Wars.

"Good. Look after the Manor for me," she said and then turned back to the librarian as a thought occurred to her. "Can you reach the other mages?"

"Yes."

"I am going to need you to organise them them. Tell them to meet me at the mouth of the Ebi river. We're not out of the fight yet, we're only just beginning."


"Good to hear."

The librarian's face drew back into the tendril and fell away back towards the underground Underdeep. Celestial stepped away from the portal and leapt out of the nearest window, soaring over the landscape. As she did so, she took out the communicator and listened to the message Fraze had left her before turning it on.

"Yes, Commander, I would like to meet and I could use your help. There is a village at the mouth of the Ebi River. Does that suit you?" she asked him. As she did, she turned into a dragon and flew towards it.

((Mage Manor))

The librarian let out a thin tendril along the grass of Mage Manor, hiding in the shadows until it reached the Mages and Fleeters. It cralwed up Tiger until it was level with her ear, invisible to anybody observing them.

"The Archmage is at the mouth of the Ebi River. Go there. And look after my gloves."

[Fraze]

((Mage Manor))
Brick frowned slightly at Dragus' course of action. "A man only allows himself to be captured if he intends to gain something from it. I question your motives, but then, I'd likely do the same thing in your position. Let's go, then."
Brick turned and continued walking, heading with the rest of the army back toward Castle Kestrel. "You know," he said, "this is my homeland, even though I now seem to be conquering it. I'd like to know what's happened to it over the years. I grew up and retired in a village called called Bridgelough, have you heard of it?"

As the army passed by the Manor graveyard once again, a new batch of undead mages dug themselves up from the ground and filled out the ranks of those lost in the battle. They had stayed in their graves during the battle, bringing down the Manor's defenses from afar so as not to attract notice.

Hellas strode at the front of the army, and caught sight of Elcie as she approached. The soldiers behind him halted with a thought, while Brick and Alabaster's armies continued moving, keeping a distance. "Hail, stranger. What business do you have here?"

((Central Dunburrow))
After moving through his final town, Sukhbataar turned south and began a march toward the Manor. When he was about halfway there, however, his orders changed. Slightly grumpy about not getting to participate in the battle, he swung westward toward Castle Kestrel.

((Spacefleet))
Shortly after Fraze fired off his message to Celestial, he received another one.
"Commander Fraze, this is Andy. As I'm sure you're probably aware, this latest reassignment hasn't done any better than the last several. I've made several mistakes this month, including one today. To be honest, sir, we both know I'm only good at one thing. I would humbly like to request reinstatement, sir."
Andy? The name seemed familiar, but he couldn't place it at first. He skimmed through the personnel roster.
...Oh, right, Andy. This would be a complicated case. Fraze reviewed Andy's file. It was true, he wasn't doing all that well, getting shuffled around from one position to the next. The familiarity of this predicament gave Fraze a twinge of sympathy.
"All right," he responded. "Report to the training center, I'll let them know you're coming. We can start you on some simulations to see if you're ready to get back into the action. Get a psych evaluation once you've completed that. We aren't involved in any actual action down on the surface just yet, so hopefully you'll have time to get back on your feet."

No sooner had he finished alerting relevant offices than he got a response from Celestial.
"That all sounds good. I can meet you there in about an hour, if that works for you."

Then came the message from Hunty. "Hey, what're you currently up to? We should have an a-sap sort of talk about this whole zombie thing."
...Things had almost been going well. "Depends, is this an in-person sort of talk? If so, I'm meeting Celestial soon, town at the mouth of the Ebi river. Otherwise, let's hear it."

Walking quickly toward the hangar, he considered his options. This was looking suspiciously like a Meeting-with-a-capital-M, in which case he didn't want to come alone. The logical option would have been to bring a few Subcommanders along. But then, Bacon and Amnei were already down there, and despite differences in rank, they had been his friends and occasional confidantes for a long time.

He sent a message to their ship. "This is the Commander. I'm heading planetside soon, going to meet with the Archmage and I want you both to be there. Let me know where you are and I'll meet you when I get to the surface."

Arriving at the hangar and stepping into the ship, he had to admit, this was way better than paperwork.