The group had begun work on setting things up right away, with a plan to have a basic organization of their space by dinner. Lunch had only just ended, leaving them the whole afternoon.
Since the facility was so large, and their group was so small, they were fortunate enough to have way more room then they knew what to do with. However, it was almost guaranteed that they would be ambushed overnight. Yuxzn and Rhyde were hard at work making overnight battle preparations as a result of this. Everyone had been left with a poor night of sleep, and would only suffer yet another night of the same at this rate. Some were wanting another after-dinner nap, much like the night before. Rhyde effectively had his hands full.
Dinner was however it's own problem. They didn't have any easy access provisions, they would have to go hunting. Collecting Amber-leaves would help with both food and overnight defense. Hunting the yheirqae could therein also provide them with food, but not in the middle of the daylight sun, they would have to settle for more river fish when it came time for dinner. As such, the four girls, along with Zyuixqs and Chyurae, offered to get some food from the river.
Mhyl was happy enough picking plants, which Thanrie was actually enjoying too. "Did you know that back at the palace, I had spent a lot of time taking care of the flowers? I know I was just being let to do such a thing, but I've been the type that wanted to have some meaning with something, and bringing that something to some flowers just felt good." Thanrie surprised Mhyl by casually talking about princess life. However, considering they were tending plants again, the correlation was obvious. It was almost symbolic how the same princess had shifted from some elegant refined flowers to wild rugged weed-like plants.
"Well, the library didn't have many plants inside, as that could affect the books, so I never got to see much about plants for my life here. I haven't really been motivated by the plants like that." Mhyl looked back at the others fishing right at the side of the river as she talked. She clearly just didn't want the alternative. "Still, I like how useful these plants are. They are capable of so many things. Not only are they thriving in such harsh conditions, but they provide so many useful things. Did you know your medicine and bandages both came thanks to these plants? They are also really healthy to eat, even if they don't taste like the world's best thing in the least."
Thanrie put consideration how thankful she had to be for these little plants. They weren't even pretty, especially in a field of the same color. But they were wonderful things, having given them a new home, after saving her life.. and they were food, medicine.. a very gifted plant. "I wonder how they taste for you, anyway. Elves are supposed to have stronger tastes, after all." "Maybe, but everyone had their own unique tastes. I'm pretty sure that the way these taste for you isn't the exact same as it is for Qheria. It would just mean that, if I was human but otherwise myself, these would taste like they do, but seem milder in taste. Still wouldn't match your own." Thanrie contemplated Mhyl's explanation, and just shrugged.
They continued for a bit longer when Mhyl suddenly stopped. "Thanrie, get the others now, we might have a problem." Mhyl rushed to pack up what they had, to have it set safely aside. Lwyn was actually doing the same while the others showed up, mostly because they had fished enough fish for today. "Mhyl, do we have a situation?" Qheria was concerned about what Mhyl might have noticed, and her worries were more validated by Mhyl gesturing to her headset. "There is a lot of tiny movement following the river downstream. We can't actually see it from here, but I managed to notice the movement. The movement is following the river, but keeping a distance from it, taking cover in the hill. That's also why we can't see anything, I have no sight on what it is. However, there is a lot of individual movement." Mhyl finished packing as she made her statement.
The whole proceeding was in English, so the guys had no idea what was going on. "Zyuixqs, go tell Rhyde that our elven scouts have spotted something unknown moving towards us, a lot of unknown. We might need to be ready. Lwyn, take Chyurae and bring back this supplies, then take to a scouting position on our new home. I know you can climb it. Chyurae probably can't, but he will need a safer position, in case this is going to be a problem. Tell him to go find Yuxzn and get more instructions." Qheria was already taking charge of the situation, although her first priority was to still get their experienced leader on the scene.
"Qheria, you should go up the roof with Lwyn. Your own jump gives you an advantage at that height, and getting access to her information on exactly what Mhyl has found will help us take further actions. Mhyl meanwhile might be our best scout, but she can't fight at all, if things go bad. We need her somewhere that is easier to defend, so she should probably go with Chyurae. Lwyn could go straight to getting eyes on the situation that way too, but our unarmed elves will need to go through Yuxzn then. Yuxzn should be with Rhyde, so that won't slow us down much." Thanrie was already coming up with new ideas, having considered their new gear.
"Actually, Thanrie, you have a point, we need to make the best use of our resources. So while I will have Mhyl and Chyurae bring back the food.. Thanrie, you can move faster than any of us. Rush to Rhyde, give him a report of the situation, then rush back. Tell him that Mhyl and Zyuixqs will be there soon after you to support with the process further." Qheria noticed that Thanrie had forgotten about one of them in this process. It was the most efficient use of their resources. It did leave Zyuixqs with little to do, but he would still be rushing straight for Rhyde in the end.
Lwyn and Qheria traveled back with the other elves and Zyuixqs, but detoured once they reached the wall of the facility. Lwyn started climbing straight up, still being bested to the top by Qheria who had only jumped up. "Yeah, I'm still not seeing anything, but we know Mhyl's sight is really good. What about you?" Qheria waited for Lwyn to finish climbing, though she was still getting worried. "Where was it again? Oh, wait, let me guess. That way. Yeah.. Mhyl wasn't wrong. From this height I can definitely see something moving." Lwyn was trying to spot details of the small motion edging from the hills.
Thanrie was quickly back outside. "Any updates?" "Confirmation, but nothing more. Whatever it is, it's intentionally trying to hide in the hills." Thanrie shrugged at Qheria's report. Thanrie was getting a pretty bad feeling about the situation again, but had no idea how to properly handle it. "Lwyn, if you are seeing the tips of movement in the hills up there, what color are you seeing? Is it any shade of yellow, or is it more brown or gray?" "Uh, looks gray, like moving rocks." "So, the same color as bandit helms?" Yuxzn had shown up near the end of that, getting the tail of Lwyn's details, and made decided Elaethyx inquiries to get to the root of the issue quickly.
Mhyl showed up at that point, still hanging around the doorway. She knew if there was to be any trouble, she had to go inside. "Uh, yeah, every shape now looks... like people. Myself, I don't get to see colors, but people are probably in any possibility a big problem." Mhyl confirmed Yuxzn's train of thought for the other elf-kinds present. This however said nothing for any of the humans. "Thanrie, Qheria, we're suspecting a bandit problem, it looks really likely. Going to need to defend our new home on the first day, I guess." Lwyn readied her crossbow as she spoke in English.
Zyuixqs showed up right after that, with Rhyde close behind. "Welcome Rhyde, already assessing the situation and formulating a plan for you. Our elves present have discovered the enemy." Yuxzn made a formal report for Rhyde. "Ah, so that's what this is about. Qheria, good work on promptly taking action in the event of a potential threat. We will need to have Mhyl get the inside to lock everything down, especially the main door. We have some additional combat personnel, but they should stay to defend the interior. We still have a potential threat of yheirqae attacking once inside gets darker." Rhyde honestly didn't sound optimistic, which was troubling.
"Oh no F~~~ing way!" Lwyn had reverted to english for her exclamation. While the others knew her to swear on occasion, they knew it was only for special situations. That means Lwyn had seen something. "Lwyn, what do you see?" "A familiar face guiding the pack. That bastard Hammer-face is a part of this. He's even with sir-lance-alot, talking with even a third new shitface of some kind. Wait, doesn't that make this THREE leaders, and then also three bandit groups? Holy hell!" Qheria did not like the answer Lwyn gave to her question. The fact that they could be seen now also implied they were leaving the cover of the hills.
Mhyl was spotting this herself without her headset as Thanrie translated into Izhaethyx. Thanrie really wanted to include all of the original swears, and felt out of place omitting them. "Three leaders isn't good news at all. We need to make the most of our resources, but we haven't had time to prepare anything. Yuxzn, any plans possible with this little opportunity?" "Unfortunately, I don't have enough to work with to make a decent plan at this point." Rhyde was really feeling the weight of the situation, hearing Yuxzn didn't even have anything.
"Hey, Yuxzn, have Thanrie bring you that chain we found. Qheria, jump the chain up here, we can tie it to the roof. This way, we can have some ranged fire safely from the roof." Lwyn was the one who came up with quick ideas instead, passing off a plan in Izhaethyx before switching back to English. "Mhyl, Qheria and Thanrie are going to get us a way you guys can climb up here. You can scout from here safer than on the ground, though we still need to watch for arrows. There is a bunch of cover on the roof though, so that might help." Lwyn was kinda proud of her idea for a reinforced position, having liked where she stood at that time.
Everything was in position before their enemy arrived. Even the chain was pulled up to the roof, preventing anyone else from using it. Hammer-face called out to them. "Ah, so da hills were 'fested with vermin. Or I guess da river, ya left the hills, didn't ya. Well, ya see, our camp is burning right now, so we'll have ta take ya up on yer 'ospitality. Though, first we have ta make the place more comfortable, startin' with bashing some 'eads in." "Oh wow, so that was YOUR camp! That's hilarious." "Oh, I see, the Hyxzaelni is hiding 'ere too. Maybe we should stamp yer head in before ya surrender this time." At Hammer-face's usage of his previous insult, Lwyn was infuriated once again.
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Lwyn took aim and fired, though the shot was blocked by the maul. Even though the blade was enough to chip it, it was still a giant thick heavy block. The fact her shot was blocked was impressive. Hammer-face took the invitation and signaled the start of the attack. Arrows flew in Lwyn's direction, who wasn't near cover at the time. However, with a twirl, her magnetic gloves attracted every passing arrow into her own arsenal. She used the magnetic pull of her gloves to do a throw of each arrow, many of them striking true and taking a number of bandits down.
Thanrie was next into the fray, before her enemies could blink. Dashing forward, she used her momentum to throw her weapon in a massive arc, calling it back to pass through a large number of bandits, all falling from the deathblow. Many turned to her to attack, but she was already gone, moving frankly far too fast for them to deal with. Most of them instead pressed towards the facility, and it's other residents. Qheria slammed down among them in a giant leap, using her belt to accelerate her fall rather than decelerate, and landing on her shield. The force smashed several of them at once, as she then leapt away once again.
Yuxzn was firing arrows in volleys to take down bandits as well, though his arrows didn't have the sheer penetration power that Lwyn's blades did. Her throwing blades were now even dramatically improved with an acceleration effect from her gloves when thrown. Rhyde tried to join Qheria, but just couldn't keep up, so instead went bashing bandits with the dual morning stars. When he got overwhelmed, he always found bandits around him dying, often as Qheria landed nearby. Zyuixqs was trying to support Rhyde, being simply unable to keep up to Thanrie at all. His pole weapon just didn't have the same melee reach as her chain blade.
Suddenly, the lancer leader rushed at Rhyde, driving him back and off guard as one of his morning stars were pinned to the ground. Zyuixqs went to go help, but Hammer-face stepped in. Zyuixqs turned to, for the third time, stand up to Hammer-face in the defense of a friend. Thanrie came in fast, blade not in chain mode, as she went to deflect the maul as she had before. Meanwhile, Qheria came down hard on the lance, forcing the leader to stumble and release his hold on Rhyde. Both leaders turned to the other two girls.
The lancer tried to charge at Qheria, but she leapt over the assault. The lancer however didn't stop at that, and charged at where she landed as she was recovering her footing. Her second leap didn't land properly at all, leaving her struggling to keep on the defense, no room to attack at all. Rhyde tried to help, only to get pinned again. Qheria rushed to defend, giving the lancer the opening he needed, and he smasher her with the side of the lance into the ground.
Hammer-face, being the mauler, turned to attack Thanrie, only to need to deflect another blade. He then decided on a new course, and trampled right through where Thanrie was, forcing her to dodge out of the way. He continued past her, in the direction of the facility, and crashed into the wall. There, he started to climb it. It seems Lwyn wasn't the only ridiculous climber. Lwyn had no angle to shoot from, so she went to fire at him while magnetically dangling from the roof. A maul went through the space the blade passed through, as the wielder went on a frighting rampage towards Lwyn.
Thanrie went to try and help, only to find herself faced with the third leader. This one had giant wrist blades on both hands. Thanrie threw her blade at him, and he dove down on the chain, pinning the blade. When she pressed for the blade to come back, it was instead her going to the blade. The force of the impact freed the chain, but she was right beside her attacker. She swung to attack, and he deflected and countered. Her gear had weathered the blow, but it both hurt her and damaged her gear. Too many hits like that, and it would draw blood for sure, if not worse. Thanrie realized in that instant that her foe was a defensive fighter.
Zyuixqs had gone to try and help Thanrie, but had no idea what he could do to help. Instead, he focused on the bandits around her, so that she could focus on the foe in front of her. Rhyde was starting to get the same idea, his own attacks on the leader was only making Qheria's movements more predictable, so he started going after other bandits as well. Yuxzn was useless in close range, and their foe was closing in quickly. Lwyn had him occupied, but Mhyl was still vulnerable. "Lwyn, I'm making sure Mhyl is safe. I hope you have another good idea. I'll be right back to support you." Yuxzn was taking priority on making sure Lwyn didn't have to worry about Mhyl, using Elaethyx to be subtle.
Mhyl found herself brought to the bottom of the facility, at the other side of it. Chyurae, good at hiding, was actually somehow there with the door unlocked. The two of them rushed inside and resealed the door. Yuxzn then went to go back up the chain, only for the chain to fall into his hands. Hammer-face had made it to the top and was going on a rampage. He had smashed down where they chain was anchored, unhinging the chain. Yuxzn no longer had a way back up. He looked for a good angle to support from, but found nothing. The other bandits were noticing he was on the ground, so he was forced to instead turn to defend himself.
Qheria was slowing down due to the pace of things. At one point, she was caught off guard, and the lancer struck into her shield. She was going to be pinned. She braced herself in the impact, but she wasn't strong enough to hold ground. In an act of desperation and creativity, she slanted her body forwards, so she was more horizontal than vertical, and activated the belt. The belt launched her forwards into her enemy with way more pressure than her foe could muster, throwing him backwards and crashing him into the ground. The lance was thrown aside, and Qheria opened her palms in her rush. The blades came out, and drove right into the leader's arms. However, she herself was completely open now, and the blow did not finish her foe. Having fallen back upwards onto the ground, Qheria was wide open to being pinned by her foe.
Thanrie thought back to some of the practicing she had been doing with Qheria. Not once had she ever won against a defensive style. This wasn't for fun anymore either, losing this could cost her a lot, and she only had one chance. She took a deep breath to try and stay calm. She had never won, but she had learned a lot from Qheria. There was one thing she had been waiting to try, but had never had the chance. Thanrie rushed her attacker, blade still attached, and swung down on her foe. The claws came up, clearly to pin the blade and put her in a really bad position, but she was expecting a counter. Instead of connecting, this was a feint. Using her new boots, she skimmed aside from her enemy, her own blade only passing through air, while the claws met with nothing. In that instant though, she was behind him, had momentum with her weapon, and he had left himself open. She swung around with the same movement, striking his legs. This passed through armor and drew blood instantly. However, she didn't want to strike his legs, she was aiming for the torso, the speed of her movement made her accuracy suffer too much. Having finished with her momentum left her blade in the ground and herself totally open. The claws came around, and pinned the blade into the ground.
Lwyn was stuck in a close range fight wielding a long range weapon. She tried to aim a shot, but was forced to dodge the oncoming maul instead. She ejected one of the blades, considering she could at the very least use them like a dagger. The maul came again crashing down, leaving her only to dodge. Several dodges later left her with nothing, driving her close to the edge. With little room left to go, she jumped off. Hammer-face wasn't expecting this, and got close to the edge. However, Lwyn had gone magnetic, and made her way slightly along the roof. Leaping back up, she had just enough opportunity to get behind him. She plunged the blade into his back, drawing blood but not capable of doing more in that case. He roared in rage, readying to turn to strike her. Out of reflex, she turned the gloves on again while holding the back of Hammer-faces metallic armor. She was behind him, and he couldn't get her off. His rage roared on at this, as he spun to throw her off. The gloves however were far too good at holding on. In his spirals to get her off, he slipped from the roof, and they both fell. The leader made sure he landed on Lwyn, causing her immense pain, and had her slip from the magnetic hold. She was now down, and his maul was ready.
Mhyl was following everything with her headset, watching with a cheer as each of them made their own personal successes, and then cringing in fear as the situation started going really bad. However, getting a clear view of the situation, she had another concern. More people had entered the situation, several taking down the bandits already present, leaving the bandits falling remarkably quickly. The newcomers were surging through the ranks, some of them approaching the fight of the three leaders.
The claw wielder's other weapon didn't decent upon Thanrie, instead it had blocked a blow from another source. "Sister, you really have been getting yourself into the worst of situations lately, haven't you?" Ihzyhur's Claymore crashed into the claws from the wide angled, blunt side of the blade, preventing the claws from trapping the weapon. "Ihzy! What are you doing here!?" "Looking after you, obviously. Lets just finish this quick." Thanrie was surprised to see her brother, but more surprised to watch his blade start to freeze in the heat of the sun. The frigid vapors smoked from the blade, as it crashed against the claws of the leader, shattering them into dust. Another swing down upon the leader and the claw wielder's life was put out similarly.
Qheria braced for a blow that never came. "Honey, are you okay?" "MOM!?" Xyithy had pressed into the lancer with her shield, driving him away. She readied her sword in anticipation. Qheria got up, surprised to see her mother all of a sudden. "You've worked hard I see, but you've been hurt enough. I hope you don't mind if I bring an end to this." Xyithy's blade started to mist vapors into the air, making the weapon appear almost invisible. She stepped forwards, still out of reach of the lance itself, and swung down with her blade. An invisible slash passed along and through the lancer from that extended range, ending him for good.
Aelyiq stood among the other Wardens, looking for Mhyl. He generally expected she was most likely inside the building, so their first order of business was to secure the field outside. The wardens had spread out to take out the bandits, the yellow grass turning green in their wake. Most of the bandits nearby were also turning a shade of green, having been poisoned to death instantly without taking any injuries. Watching the Wardens at work was frankly terrifying. In a way, he felt generally out of place in all of this action.
Lwyn tried to get up, tried to escape the blow, but was too injured to move. Hammer-face's maul came down, but never connected. A fierce fiery explosion blasted him into the wall behind him. "Lwyn, please be okay. The Arch-Magus won't let me live this down if I have to tell him his Grand-daughter died." Ehryinae stood there, brandishing nothing more than a.. walking stick? Lwyn didn't have the strength or words to answer, she was stunned in more than one way. Hammer-face was getting up to finish off the job, so Ehryinae raised her staff again, a ball of flame appearing over it. The sphere launched into Hammer-face, igniting him completely. When the flames died, nothing remained but embers and ash.
Having wiped out the bandits completely, everyone begun to tend to the damage and wounds, and to get everything cleaned up. There was a lot to be discussed.