Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy.

[analyzing]

Who: Draftees
What: Battlefield shenanigans + anything in between.
When: 12th -14th December.
Where: Underground Research Facility.
Summary: Violence! Fighting! ...and your temporary bouts of non-fighting too, if you like. You may want to label which day it is + the location in your thread title!
Rating: G to R?! Everything applies!

[For all your battle-and-in-between needs! Please refer to the modpost and the OOC plotting post for details and so forth! Don't forget to state the day (Day 1/2/3?) + location in your thread too! ♥]

Comments

[trueknight]

[A shout of warning was hardly necessary, especially once the scream of a child rang out. Yuri was only thankful that Luke was able to react quickly enough -- even at his quickest, Yuri may not have been able to make it in time, due to the distance.

Regardless of that, back up arrives for Luke in the form of a carefully aimed Azure Storm -- a set of light blue blasts of energy, traveling through the air with the intent to either blow the enemy away, or at the very least, draw its attention away from Luke.

Yuri himself is right by Luke almost seconds afterward.]

Get her away from here!

[fabrecation]

Right!

[The attack worked, and while their swords are still clashed, the Third Party member cringes once his side is hit, and he looks up at Yuri with a sneer. Luke uses that opportunity to drivee his sword up to throw the enemy off, and as the soldier steps back and exposes a part of his chest, Luke pushes his right hand out as it glows a red color-]

Raging Blast!

[The glow gives off a light explosion, and it throws the enemy back through the air a few feet. That gives Yuri enough time to plan out his next move, and for Luke to turn and grab the girl to his chest and lift her up with his free arm, then run. He might run into more soldiers on his trek back to Sector 1, and it would be much harder with one arm full and a girl holding him tight around the neck, but he'd do whatever it took to save her.]

[trueknight]

[... Huh. That's an arte he can use too.

But that thought passes through his mind for barely a second before he snaps right back to the task at hand -- finishing off this enemy as quickly as possible.

Yuri follows up on the air time given by Luke by executing another arte -- Shining Eagle -- in order to keep the enemy up for another moment or two. This is quickly followed by a Severing Fang arte, several more sword swings and parries (the enemy isn't helpless, after all), and a final, fatal slash across the enemy's chest, once such an opening has shown itself.

All in all, it takes a minute or so for Yuri to finish the job. He'll be heading in the same direction as Luke as soon as he's done, hoping to catch up with him for additional back up, if necessary.]

[fabrecation]

[Which Luke could probably use. Sector 1 is still pretty far away, and a couple of soldiers caught Luke running towards it. Having been in the middle of a war while escorting civilians, Luke has had his share of having his attention caught up on a few things at once in battle, though he had help while doing so.

Once Yuri catches up, Luke's already brought one soldier down with a stab to its chest, but he's having trouble with the second one. He's down in a kneel while pushing against the enemy's sword with his own - he'd had the wind knocked out of him with a surprise blow to the stomach, and it was by luck that he was able to raise his sword and block the next attack while down on his knees.

With both hands, it'd be easier to get the soldier off of him, but he's using the other to keep the girl close to him and to cover her from the enemy's attacks. One thing's for sure - if they try to get her, they'd definitely have to go through him first.]

[trueknight]

[... Yeah, this doesn't look good. Yuri's just glad he made it before it could get any worse.]

Luke!

[Calling out his name was less meant to tell Luke that his back up had arrived once more, and more as an attempt to distract the soldier currently cornering him. Nevertheless, he's charging right at the enemy soldier, readying a vertical slash for once he's within range of it.]

[fabrecation]

[As soon as the pressure lessens with the enemy noticing Yuri, Luke jerks himself to the side to roll out of the way, tucking the girl in so that she won't be thrown around too much. His stomach still hurts, and he's slightly out of breath thanks to it, but he still gets up on his knees with this sword at ready.]

Thanks! [He says quickly, and while he glances at the way to Sector 1, he still looks back at Yuri's battle with the soldier. If Luke could just find an opening, he could finish this, and the two of them might not get separated so often...]

[trueknight]

[Yuri was about to go for a set of possibly lethal slashes when he notices that Luke hasn't left yet. ... But why? What is he standing around for?

Instead of questioning this, Yuri makes a move resembling a bum rush before slamming his hand on the ground in front of him, causing a light blue wave of energy in the form of a wolf to force itself forward -- an arte called--] Lone Wolf Charge! [---which he is using to blow the enemy back, stunning them. And leaving them quite open, for a moment.]

[fabrecation]

[Luke was just about to jog ahead when the enemy was forced back by another arte, and that gave him quite an opening. The soldier kept its focus on Yuri, so he didn't expect the sudden stab to his back. He could only let out a few choked sounds before he fell to the ground, revealing Luke standing behind him with his sword raised and the girl's face pressed against his neck. Thankfully, the child had decided long ago to look away from all of it and just let whoever her rescuers are do the rest.

Still, Luke can't stop the cringe on his face from showing. Maybe Yuri would write it off as him still trying to recover from practically being sucker punched in the stomach.]

All right, let's go!

[The rest of the way looks pretty clear so far, so Luke shifts his hold on the girl, takes in a deep breath in an effort to clear that winded feeling, and run ahead again.]

[trueknight]

[... Yuri's seen a cringe like that before. The sort of look one gets when they're forced to do something they don't want to do, aren't used to doing or trained to do, or just find wrong. Something he's seen from people who aren't used to seeing death or killing -- or probably just people who are unsuited to be around it.

... There's no point in pointing it out or confirming that he's reading that look right for now, though. That would only serve to distract Luke, and the last thing that would be is helpful.

So, he'll just nod when Luke mentions leaving, following by keeping his pace a few steps behind him. Even if the road ahead seems to be a clear shot to safety, he won't be taking any chances by leaving both their backs open to any possible incoming enemies.]

[fabrecation]

[Thankfully, there are only one or two more run-ins that are easily taken care of. At least, physically, for Luke. Once they reach the Sector, Luke sets the girl down, and she looks at the two of them with a long look of gratitude before she turns and runs, and an older woman who looks somewhat similar to her runs toward the child and gathers her up in her arms.

Luke has to smile a little as he leans his hands on his knees and pants lightly.]

And these... are Malnosso?

[trueknight]

[Seeing the girl reunited with what he assumes is her mother brings a slight smile to Yuri's face as well, for a few moments. It's quickly replaced by a look of neutrality, though -- mostly because he knows there are many others waiting here, hoping to have a reunion like that with their currently unaccounted-for loved ones.]

... Apparently. It's a little difficult to associate them with some of the trash we've dealt with in the past, though. These guys seem a lot less ... evil.

[fabrecation]

It's a lot easier to think they're just... faceless things, huh? Maybe we're just thinking about them all wrong...

[Once Luke's caught his breath, he straightens up and stares at the citizens who are there, scared and nervous, some still looking for others who were left behind in the city. Even bad guys have people to love and care for and reasons behind their actions; at least, most do.

He purses his lips, then turns to start his way down the hallway. He just has to keep telling himself that all of this killing is for the people he's leaving in the safety of the sector.]

Let's keep moving! There're still a lot of them back there.

[trueknight]

Maybe ...

[... Or maybe these aren't the same people who used to taunt and insult the village, in the past. Maybe just seeing them having families and being helpless against the onslaught brought by the Third Party is just putting things into a different perspective for him.

... Dammit. Things like this were the reasons why he didn't want to learn to much about his enemies.

But there were much, much better times to think about this, so when Luke mentions heading back out--]

Right!

[--he follows. Who knows how many people are out there that still need their help? Malnosso or not, Yuri just doesn't have it in him to ignore the helpless -- even if some of them may be amongst those he swore to take revenge against. As almost conflicting as it feels to be doing this, his thoughts on the matter would have to wait, for now.]