>>5088513
And then there’s the more immediate problem: the remaining Abyssal Ones, Constanzia and Rafaela. Of the two only Constanzia technically qualifies for the title, since Rafaela was only ever ranked second behind her twin sister. But the two together are part of the problem. Nearly inseparable and capable of closely synchronizing their yōki power even from before awakening, they were one of many little experiments the Organization conducted when selecting and producing its warriors. Constanzia brings raw power to any battle she enters unlike any other opponent you’ve ever met – you and your companions were lucky to escape her with only a few missing limbs between you. Several weren’t even that lucky. But she’s not exactly what you would call a “deep-thinker”, which is a role she leaves to her sister Rafaela.

The two of them have supposedly formed a band of an unknown number of awakened beings and taken over a town. You have no idea why they would choose to do this now, but you can hazard a few guesses. Two, in fact. The first is that they know you have formed an impressive band of warriors yourselves, and that you have the military and logistical might of a large nation behind you. The other possibility is that they’ve become aware of the Organization’s foothold in Sakia and the activities of their pet Claymore Clarice, who has been eliminating targets for them including her own fellow warriors.

“We’ll go ahead,” you decide, intending to take your mother and her fellow Abyssal One Salem to where Constanzia and Rafaela have supposedly dug themselves in. “The others will be one day behind us – one day to scout out the situation and signal for them to make their own move.”

Zoe, the fourth and final member of this team, nods thoughtfully. “I understand your reasoning. You wish to draw out any other awakened beings in Rafaela’s arsenal and subject them to a long-ranged bombardment. This will make them furious, and when they grow furious they will also grow stupid. They will recklessly engage their attackers where your comrades in arms will be waiting.”

“That was the general plan, yes,” you acknowledge. “And without better understanding the situation we won’t know exactly how to set up our ambush, or whether that strategy will even work.”

“And what will you do if it does not?” Zoe asks.

>We have to focus on taking out Constanzia and Rafaela. If that does not have our entire attention our attack will lose momentum and fail.
>In that case we fall back and see to the rear guard team. So long as my comrades survive we can try again under more favorable conditions.
>We’ll have to plan ahead for such a contingency. If things go badly, I’d rather see them withdraw and leave us behind than suffer losses.
>Other?

>>5088515
>We’ll have to plan ahead for such a contingency. If things go badly, I’d rather see them withdraw and leave us behind than suffer losses.

>>5088515
>We’ll have to plan ahead for such a contingency. If things go badly, I’d rather see them withdraw and leave us behind than suffer losses.

>>5088515
>In that case we fall back and see to the rear guard team. So long as my comrades survive we can try again under more favorable conditions.

>>5088515
>>We’ll have to plan ahead for such a contingency. If things go badly, I’d rather see them withdraw and leave us behind than suffer losses.

>>5088515
>>In that case we fall back and see to the rear guard team. So long as my comrades survive we can try again under more favorable conditions.

>>5088515
“We should have contingency plans prepared, of course,” you decide, “but if it comes down to it I’d rather have them withdraw and leave us behind than suffer unnecessary casualties for our sakes. I can only speak for myself there, though I’d imagine you feel similarly?”

“You’re correct,” Zoe agrees immediately. “Though I am positive there are many who would disagree with our shared priority.”

“Especially where you’re concerned,” you nod. “You’ve been a mentor to entire generations of our fellow warriors, myself included, so as far as I’m concerned you’re a treasure... which is why I want you to withdraw as well, should things get too out of hand.”

“I’m not doing that,” Zoe disagrees immediately, every bit as immediately as she agreed with you just a few seconds ago.

“You know I have a point,” you insist.

Zoe nods. “Yes, but once again you’ve under-valued yourself. You are a leader among the Hazari people and many of our fellow warriors of these most recent generations look up to you now. Many others in your own generation owe you their lives, as do a previously-unthinkable number of awakened beings.”

“You may not realize the degree to which you are the proverbial glue that holds our comrades together, but I cannot overlook it – and I cannot allow you to die if I can prevent it.”

“You say that,” you counter, “but I couldn’t forgive myself if you died trying to protect me. I refuse to let that happen again.”

Zoe nods, understanding the sentiment. “Of course. But you must also be aware that much like Olivia, I am already quite old. I have been looking for a warrior who could serve as a mentor to our youngest in the event of my passing for many of those long years.”

“And what, you think I’m the best candidate for that?” you scoff.

“I do,” she insists quietly. “I know what you did for the young warriors you call your ‘ducklings’, as well as for those the Organization would have rejected as ‘failed’ hybrids. So I want you to promise me before we depart on this mission, that you will survive it. It would bring comfort to my heart.”

>... why are you saying this to me?
>I can’t promise that. No one could.
>I promise.
>Other?

>>5090949
>... why are you saying this to me?

>>5090949
>... why are you saying this to me?

>>5090949
>Stop raising death flags Zoe.

>>5090949
>... why are you saying this to me?
She clearly knows nothing of cliche

>>5090949
>I promise.
>"Your comfort is my worry, but I suppose that's the prerogative of elders."

>>5090949
>I promise

>>5090949
>>... why are you saying this to me?

>>5090949
>m
“... why are you saying this to me?” you demand quietly. “Why are you saying this at all?”

After a moment and a slow blink, Zoe explains. “Do you know why I was assigned to Lavinia, Noel?”

You shake your head. “I assume you’re about to tell me it was to protect the old bastards and their operations there?”

“I was there because the Organization was afraid I was likely to rebel,” she tells you calmly. “The same way you did. Only they had those fears about me ten years before you were born.”

It’s not like you didn’t understand what she said... but it’s not immediately clear how that information connects to what she said before. It must be obvious from your expression, because Zoe continues.

“They allowed me to start to grow attached to each class of warriors, only to see them sent off to fight and die,” Zoe tells you. “They knew I could not help it, despite knowing that it would only bring me pain later. For decades my form of rebellion was to pass on as much as I could to each generation in hopes that some would survive, but I think I was also waiting for someone.”

“Waiting for someone?” you frown. “Do you mean waiting for someone to start an uprising?”

She shakes her head. “I am as aware as any warrior before or since has been that while our aging may be arrested by the procedures we undergo, we are not immortal. Whether it be our hated enemies, our own comrades’ blades, or the slow creep of time, every single one of us will die.”

“Cheery.”

“The person I was waiting for was a warrior who cared about our sisters as deeply as I did,” Zoe insists with a slight smile. “I wanted to meet a warrior who could take up the role of mentor to our younger sisters even after I am gone, regardless of how I may meet my end. And now that I think I have found her, the last thing I want is for her to die before me.”

“I do not have any plans to die or anything like that, so you need not worry for me. I simply feel that my survival is less important to me than that someone inherits my heart.”

“And you think I’m the one to do that?”

She nods. “Have you looked at your sword lately?”

After a moment, you concede with a sigh. “Alright, point taken.”

...

You take your plan to the others, and hammer out the final details. Aurora, Justina. Helen, and Valentina will be the warriors guarding your mortar crews and riflemen, who will travel overland by horsecart along with your own hunting party until you approach the town in question. Then they will allow you to get out ahead at dawn, and will position themselves to strike at dawn the next morning.
>1/2

>>5091806
“If it seems you’re about to be overrun,” you tell them sternly, “withdraw as safely as possible. Leave us behind.”

“The awakened beings under Constanzia and Rafaela’s control will scatter,” Sabela insists, “so long as they are defeated. Staying conservative does make sense.”

>Try to let the mortar crews do most of the heavy work. They have plenty of rounds.
>Rely on the mortar crews to shake the awakened beings up, then take them out while they’re disoriented.
>Remember the basics – always try to fight four against one, using any dirty tricks you can think of.
>Other?

>>5091818
>>Rely on the mortar crews to shake the awakened beings up, then take them out while they’re disoriented.

>>5091818
>Rely on the mortar crews to shake the awakened beings up, then take them out while they’re disoriented.

>>5091818
>>Rely on the mortar crews to shake the awakened beings up, then take them out while they’re disoriented.

>>5091818
>Remember the basics – always try to fight four against one, using any dirty tricks you can think of.

>>5091818
“Allow the mortar crews to soften them up,” you suggest, “and disorient them. Then you can move in to take out a few at a time – don’t get too greedy, or you might end up surrounded.”

“Got it,” Aurora nods in understanding. “And in case we do get surrounded I’ll be holding my specialty back, to give us the opportunity to regroup.”

You’re quick to agree to the plan. “That’s a good idea, really. I’m glad that we’re thinking along the same lines.”
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 4, 3, 10 = 17 (3d10)

>>5093206

Rolled 2, 4, 7 = 13 (3d10)

>>5093206

Rolled 6, 2, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>5093206

Rolled 9, 8, 1 = 18 (3d10)

>>5093206

>>5093206
You keep aware and vigilant while you’re traveling eastward, from the point where you cross the border into Noroit onward. This is normal of course – all warriors were trained to listen carefully for chatter and rumor, and that vigilance is a difficult habit to shake even after years of operating away from the Organization. Often it doesn’t get you anything for your admittedly small trouble, but this time you do hear something interesting as you are fetching dinner for your comrades on the ground floor of a roadside inn with its own communal kitchen.

“You there,” you insist of a traveler in a well-worn raincloak. “tell me more.”

...

“A yōma infestation?” your mother repeats when you meet with her, Zoe, and Aurora while the others eat dinner. “That’s growing rare these days.”

“Do you want to do something about it?” Aurora wonders aloud.

Zoe shrugs. “It is possible that ordinary humans could have misinterpreted the appearance of an awakened being for a common yōma.”

“Or it could be nothing,” you admit.

“So are we going to do something about it?” Aurora repeats. “I’m hearing a ‘yes and no’ sort of response here.”

“It’s a more important mission to engage with Constanzia and Rafaela’s faction,” you admit. “However it is difficult to ignore yōma appearing after several months of inactivity, and it is possible we could learn useful information.”

“It’s a valid question what it would be best to do,” Zoe admits. “We should also consider the possibility that our own movements will be scouted, much as we are trying to do against Constanzia and Rafaela.”

>I’m open to suggestions.
>I’m against delays and sidetrips this time.
>I’m always in favor of a clean sweep.
>Other?

>>5094115
>>I’m open to suggestions.

>>5094115
>>I’m open to suggestions.

>>5094115
>I’m open to suggestions.

>>5094115
>I’m open to suggestions.

>>5094115
>>I’m always in favor of a clean sweep.

>>5094115
“I’m open to suggestions,” you admit.

“Then let me go first,” Zoe insists quietly. “I would like to observe that while yōma only ever show what might be considered a predator’s cunning, awakened beings are capable of tactical thinking at the small scale and strategic insight at the larger.”

“You think we should approach this as though we were facing an organized army,” Sabela summarizes.

Zoen nods in agreement. “I do. Would you disagree, miss Sabela?”

Your mother shakes her head. “No. At least in Rafaela’s case you’re absolutely correct.”

“Just because they could be doesn’t mean they are,” you observe calmly, “so the next step would be to discern whether we are actually at risk of being scouted.”

>We’ll divert through the area where rumor has yōma activity, but generally keep moving.
>We should avoid the area, especially if there’s a chance we’ll lose the element of surprise.
>We should make a quick strike – destroying a scouting contingent would be a bonus.
>Other?

>>5095362
>We’ll divert through the area where rumor has yōma activity, but generally keep moving.

>>5095362
>We’ll divert through the area where rumor has yōma activity, but generally keep moving.

>>5095362
>we should avoid the area, ...

>>5095362
>>We’ll divert through the area where rumor has yōma activity, but generally keep moving.

>>5095362
You decide to modify your plan, and swing just close enough to where the yōma are rumored to be active so that you can get a feel for the strength and character of their yōki auras. If it’s consistent with lesser creatures, you can make the decision at that point whether to spend time exterminating them based on the threat they present to the locals. If it’s consistent with awakened beings, it could quickly become a test of tactics as you treat them as an advanced guard sent by your enemy and eradicate them.

“Not a bad way to approach it,” your mother admits. “Try to find a way to turn it to your advantage regardless of what it might actually prove to be... your father taught you well. He always was a canny man.”

...

It takes perhaps half a day out of your anticipated travel plans to reach the town you had heard of, an idyllic community nestled among rolling hills and woods through which a wide, lazy river flows. That river provides an easy route through the area, as the town is on one fork of the river – which appears to be, of the two, the one more easily navigable. There is a road along the other fork which passes the town before joining with a road that leads through the settlement itself, progressing onward after the two branches of both road and of river meet.

It’s amazingly convenient, as you can pass close to the town while searching out yōki signatures from a distance, all without committing to an engagement.
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 4, 9, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>5096286

Rolled 8, 8, 1 = 17 (3d10)

>>5096286

Rolled 7, 5, 1 = 13 (3d10)

>>5096286

Rolled 3, 7, 4 = 14 (3d10)

>>5096286

>>5096286
As you pass the town you slow down slightly, so that everyone can have an easier time getting a sense of what might be across the river. That may not have been necessary had you brought a specialist sensory-type, but you didn’t anticipate having to use your senses in this way.

“What can you feel?” Helen eventually asks your mother.

She raises her eyebrow. “What can you feel, Helen?”

“Three of them over there,” Helen replies, “not in a group.”

“They feel too calm,” Valentina offers.

“Good observation,” Zoe replies. “It could be they haven’t noticed us.”

“Or they’re Awakened,” Justina counters.

“Not everything is a trap,” Zoe insists calmly, “sometimes things really are what they appear to be. However assuming they did notice us yes, it is possible that they are awakened beings hiding their auras by holding back.”

“At least they can’t suppress their auras deliberately,” you shake your head. “I’ve gotten that sometimes... it’s annoying.”

“No kidding,” Valentina sighs. “You remember that one in Skansen?”

“I remember,” you nod with a smile. “First mission we had together... it seems like a long time ago.”

“A lot has happened,” Valentina shrugs. “And our time since then has been split between more and more companions – especially yours. You take different people with you on your missions deliberately, right? To keep from forming cliques?”

“When people come in with little groups that’s hard,” Helen admits. “Though I find it’s always good to take people out of those groups too, from time to time, even if they sometimes know how to work closely together already. It’s a balancing act.”

“I’m kinda happy I came in basically by myself,” Aurora smiles. “It’s actually kinda nice not being in a clique, just being my own person, you know?”

“We’re getting off topic,” Salem sighs. “Are we going or not?”

>Clean sweep, one way or another. Go in assuming the worst.
>Let’s take this for what it appears to be and not waste the time.
>Treat it as an exercise. Gather information, launch a precise strike.
>Other?

>>5097386
>Treat it as an exercise. Gather information, launch a precise strike.

>>5097386
>Treat it as an exercise. Gather information, launch a precise strike.

>>5097386
>Treat it as an exercise. Gather information, launch a precise strike.

>>5097403
>>5097420
>>5097466
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 8, 1, 2 = 11 (3d10)

>>5097891

Rolled 2, 3, 5 = 10 (3d10)

>>5097891

Rolled 6, 1, 4 = 11 (3d10)

>>5097891

Rolled 3, 9, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>5097891

>>5097957
You have saved us.

>>5097891
“We’ll treat this as an exercise,” you decide in the moment, “either way. If they’re ordinary yōma they should be exterminated anyway, and we’ll confirm that they still exist. If they’re awakened beings we need to destroy them systematically so they can’t report our presence.”

“We’ll have to proceed quickly from here,” Aurora declares. “So their absence doesn’t alert Rafaela either.”

“Can we do it quickly enough?” Valentina asks aloud.

Zoe nods. “Yes, though we may need to push the mortar crews slightly.”

...

The strategy is fairly straightforward, a modification of the plan you intend to use against Constanzia and Rafaela’s subordinates. The mortar crews set up in a location you scout out, across the river from the town, and you remain with them to offer criticism. That’s one major difference. Instead, you would ordinarily be going forward with your mother and with Salem. This time they’ll be the ones to flush the targets out into the open.

Which is precisely what they do, only by frightening the yōma out into the open by their sheer presence. There’s three of them, all transformed into their monstrous forms, and fleeing erratically.

“Short flight time,” you insist curtly. “Fire when ready.”

Your subordinates from Hazaran take a few shots to figure out how to make this work, but eventually settle into a system where they can coordinate in putting three rounds on a single target, rather than trying to adjust for the target’s movement.

The first one goes down, followed shortly by the second.

“Staggered rounds,” you order. “Cover for our warriors.”

Three explosions keep the final target, already wounded, from moving freely while Helen, Valentina, Justina, and Aurora sweep in to finish off the three yōma.

>That was good, but you have some issues with performance. Everyone will have to be faster and better.
>You can’t be certain your presence alone will draw the enemy out, so you need to refine your plans.
>With your senses your comrades can spot for the mortar crews, even when their targets are near civilians.
>Other?

>>5098156
>You can’t be certain your presence alone will draw the enemy out, so you need to refine your plans.

>>5098156
>You can’t be certain your presence alone will draw the enemy out, so you need to refine your plans.

>>5098156
>You can’t be certain your presence alone will draw the enemy out, so you need to refine your plans.

>>5098156
>>That was good, but you have some issues with performance. Everyone will have to be faster and better.
>>You can’t be certain your presence alone will draw the enemy out, so you need to refine your plans.

>>5098539
>>5098156

>>5098156
Yule.

It’s the end of another year in Scaithness, and everywhere people are celebrating having made it through with their health and livelihood. How they usually do this varies from person to person, from family to family, but it generally involves a warm hearth, warm food, and warming drink. The days are short and dark, the weather is unforgiving, and so quite simply people need each other.

The castle’s staff have concluded their business of organizing the Queen’s contributions to the local celebrations – ales, and cheeses, and cured meats to stretch everyone’s own supplies a little further, especially those of less means. Candles light all the little windows, even in the barracks where soldiers take turns coming in from the cold for warm stew, toasted bread, and ale.

But one lone figure, swaddled against the icy winds, isn’t huddled indoors with food, drink, and company.

Noel Tiberius di Hazaran sits on a rock in front of a row of swords, which have yet to show even the slightest signs of tarnishing. Many sigils she only knows now after all these years of caretaking, but some are more intimately familiar. She knew their bearers, even if only briefly in some cases.

“You’re out here alone again.”

Valentina stands behind Noel, queen of her homeland. Service in the Organization brought them together in a way they never would have otherwise, made them comrades, as close as sisters.

“It’s a lonely time of year for the dead,” Noel muses quietly. “Too cold, too dark. Places like this remind the living too much of how badly the winter could still go for them if they’re not careful, or if they’re unlucky. For our fallen warriors, precious few of us know about them in the first place.”

“My dad used to tell me to always look out for the people who look out for others,” Valentina muses as she takes a seat near Noel. “So I hope you don’t mind the company.”

After a moment, Noel smiles. “No. No, I don’t mind it at all.”
>1/2

>>5099027
Noel continues to work, weaving winter-blooming flowers into evergreen wreaths – hellebores, crocuses, and camellias. Before her are swords, each representing a warrior lost, planted into the ground in front of her. One at a time Noel places a wreath over each hilt, which settles around the crossguard, green and white and violet, collecting little bits of snowfall already. It’s a little bit of beauty in the cold and the dark, one which very few people will ever see.

“I know you do this each year,” Valentina muses, picking up a wreath in one hand and a flower in another. “We... well, we all do.”

“Needs another hellebore I think,” Noel muses, carefully handing Valentina a slightly purplish flower. “Nobody said anything about it.”

“This is your way of grieving,” Valentina shrugs, threading a stem of hellebore into her wreath. “That’s usually something private.”

“Some people might say we can’t do anything for those who’ve already died,” Noel answers, hanging another wreath that she’s finished to her satisfaction. “My father would disagree. He’d say the best thing we can do for them is to carry on in the same spirit we shared.”

“And that ‘spirit’ involves caring for our own,” Valentina nods. “Even if they’re no longer in a place where they can see it.”

“You could frame it that way,” Noel agrees as Valentina hangs a wreath of her own. “Or you could view it as doing what feels right. Many perspectives are technically correct, and all lead in the same direction. It means sometimes I do feel a strong sense of certainty.”

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Valentina smiles. “It’s the same way a lot of us feel following your lead. You, and Helen, and Aurora... bringing so many awakened beings into Scaithness was pretty divisive, you know.”

“I’m not surprised,” Noel admits. “And I knew that I could count on you all to give them a chance, because you were all willing to trust my judgment... and I knew that if it was going to be a problem one or the other of you would tell me about it.”

“Justina,” Valentina chuckles softly. “Justina would have told you.”

“Probably.”

The last wreath now sits around the last sword – not one of the greatswords carried by the silver-eyed witches but a finely-crafted sword of the Hazari style. Broader but shorter blade, handle sized to fit in one hand with a large pommel and a smaller guard, and engraved on the forte with Emma’s sigil. A weapon made but for a single purpose, to honor one whose own blade has long gone missing.

After a few moments, Valentina touches Noel lightly on the shoulder. “There’s food ready inside, if you’re ready.”

“That sounds nice,” Noel agrees. “Thank you, Valentina.”

“Of course, Noel.”
>2/2

>>5098156
“We can’t be sure that our presence alone is going to get whatever awakened beings we encounter out into the open,” you realize with a frown. “Which means one of two things – either we’ll have to charge in, and force them out into the open while under fire, or we’ll have to shell a neighborhood from a distance.”

Helen crosses her arms – clearly she’s considered this as well, and the issue doesn’t present a comfortable choice. “It could be easy to view this as coming down to a difference between putting ourselves at risk and putting civilians at risk. But it’s not quite that simple.”

“If we fail then keeping the locals safe doesn’t really matter,” Aurora sighs. “So that’s one complication.”

“There isn’t always a way for everyone to survive,” you observe, your tone flat with resignation. “That’s always been true. But this may be the first case where we have to accept it.”

There’s a long pause, decidedly less than comfortable. The reality of the situation is that this will almost certainly get messy no matter which route you take. Attack to draw out the awakened beings and the sight of warriors and awakened beings fighting it out would almost certainly force people out into the streets to flee, which could easily get them killed. Any mortar rounds that fell more than a few feet from their intended target would be falling in and around homes. Either way you look at it, people are going to die.

Zoe catches you looking at her and shakes her head. She won’t be of any help.

>Suggest that defeating Constanzia and Rafaela will drive the other awakened beings into the open.
>Your mortar teams’ misses will kill fewer, compared to awakened beings using them as shields.
>You and your companions should be the ones to take all the risk, from your enemy and from the shelling.
>Other?

>>5100885
>>Your mortar teams’ misses will kill fewer, compared to awakened beings using them as shields.

>>5100885
>>Your mortar teams’ misses will kill fewer, compared to awakened beings using them as shields.

>>5100885
>Other?
Roof knocking. Fire some low-yield rounds onto rooftops to get the civvies and ABs out before blowing up the whole neighborhood.

>>5100885
>Suggest that defeating Constanzia and Rafaela will drive the other awakened beings into the open.

>>5100885
“The worst case scenario is the awakened beings start taking hostages,” you decide.

Helen is quick to agree. “I’ve seen it before, yes. It could very well be something they already have planned.”

“In that event a few stray mortar rounds would pale in comparison with the lives that could be lost,” you add. “That must be avoided at all cost, so my view is that we need to accept that the best way to do this is the way that accepts but minimizes the risk of casualties. Agreed?”

After a moment, Helen nods. “Agreed. Aurora?”

Aurora nods silently.

Helen turns to Zoe. “Agreed?”

“Yes,” Zoe agrees quietly.

“Valentina? Justina?”

Two more nods.

“Salem? Sabela?”

“I know you must hate it.” Sabela muses quietly, “but this is the correct decision.”
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 8, 10, 9 = 27 (3d10)

>>5102162

Rolled 7, 2, 1 = 10 (3d10)

>>5102162

>>5102162

Rolled 8, 1, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>5102162
fuck me and my brain farts

Rolled 8, 8, 4 = 20 (3d10)

>>5102162

>>5102162
When you reach the town you were told about, you do so with your support team well behind you, perfectly according to plan, set to arrive just before dawn tomorrow morning. That gives you time to examine the town, at a respectful distance, over a period of hours. You can assume that your presence has not gone unnoticed either, but not a single awakened being leaves the settlement to investigate. So either they don’t realize what’s holding position outside the town, or they don’t consider this particular permutation of fighters to be a threat.

There are just a few thousand people living within this town, which is well-organized on a grid system, and there are just a few awakened beings. Most of them as you slowly work your way around the perimeter, ringed by low wooded hills, you notice hold themselves close together in just a few blocks. It feels like the two strongest, almost totally certain to be Constanzia and Rafaela, stay within or close to a large building near the center of town.

“There’s a clear pattern of clustering,” you muse. “Constanzia and Rafaela have either taken over the town hall, or designated a building as some sort of palace. Kind of irrelevant honestly. The others are mostly confined to one neighborhood.”

“For the time being,” Zoe observes.

“Unhelpful, but true,” Salem shrugs.

Sabela shakes her head. “That situation could change quickly, and we still don’t know where the civilians are within the town,”

“That doesn’t matter either,” you frown. “It’s simply a matter of shifting our strategy if they shift theirs.”

“It does matter in the sense that our initial approach should be tailored to fit,” Sabela insists.

“Agreed,” you nod.

>Propose working to contact the local people, tell them to shelter in basements, wine cellars, anything like that.
>Propose holding back for the time being, launch your attack to coincide with the shelling to give the awakened beings no time to react.
>Propose that when the others arrive, you engage with the lesser awakened beings first to thin out their numbers.
>Propose that when the time comes you draw Constanzia and Rafaela out into the open.
>Other?

>>5103073
>Propose working to contact the local people, tell them to shelter in basements, wine cellars, anything like that.

>>5103073
>>Propose working to contact the local people, tell them to shelter in basements, wine cellars, anything like that.

>>5103073
>Propose working to contact the local people, tell them to shelter in basements, wine cellars, anything like that.

>>5103073
>Propose that when the time comes you draw Constanzia and Rafaela out into the open.

>>5103073
“We could warn the locals,” you suggest. “Sneak in as best we can, tell them to hide as best they can in the basements, in cellars, in wine caves maybe. Anything they can do on short notice.”

“Quite a risk,” Sabela muses, “but it would probably work.”

“I can suppress my yōki better than most warriors,” you continue. “It should be me.”

“I was the one who taught you that trick,” Zoe counters. “And I am by far the more competent with the fighting style that goes alone with it. Your own specialty relies too much on using your yōki.”

“And which of us has done more espionage and sabotage work in the last few years?” you cross your arms.

“Against normal humans,” Zoe shakes her head.

>We’ll both go. It’ll get done faster that way.
>Alright, fine. First sign of trouble we’re backing you up.
>I’m going and that’s final. Just trust me on this one.
>Other?

>>5105705
>>Other?
Coin flip.

>>5105705
>Alright, fine. First sign of trouble we’re backing you up.

>>5105705
>I’m going and that’s final. Just trust me on this one.
If things come to a fight it'll be too late to hide your yoki anyway.

>>5105705
>Alright, fine. First sign of trouble we’re backing you up.

>>5105705
“At the first sign of trouble I come in after you,” you insist curtly. “Non-negotiable.”

After a moment Zoe nods in agreement. “Very well.”

...

Zoe wasn’t lying, she really is excellent at suppressing her yōki aura to a level that most warriors would need a suppression pill to even get closed to matching. And if she can fight like that with any reasonable level of ability... honestly that’s something you wouldn’t mind seeing sometime. But the downside is that it’s hard for you to keep track of her, so what you end up having to do is feeling for the awakened beings she’s trying to avoid in the evening dim.

She’s there for several hours, and you don’t sense anything amiss. Eventually she returns to where you, Salem, and your mother have been waiting in a ditch just out of sight.

“So?” Salem presses.

Zoe nods curtly. “I noticed seven awakened beings... and chose to avoid them entirely. The word should spread to take cover just before dawn.”

“How many cellar doors did you notice?” Sabela asks curiously.

“A few,” Zoe assures you all, “with several buildings have some basements or below-ground apartment rooms.”

“Large enough?” you ask.

She nods. “I believe so, yes.”

...

You give the mortar teams explicit instructions based on Zoe’s recollections of where most of the seven awakened beings tended to cluster themselves, as well as spending a moment to make sure your comrades can all more or less sense the awakened beings as well to give the mortar teams further targeting information.

Everything is in place for the planned offensive to start at first light – even the angle your mortar teams will be firing from is favored by the rising sun cresting a low hill to their backs and placing them in shadow while illuminating their targets. Every detail you can control for has been seen to, every factor you can imagine has been considered.

The time to begin creeps ever closer, until a dim glow is visible at the horizon.
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 10, 9, 5 = 24 (3d10)

>>5107147

Rolled 2, 10, 3 = 15 (3d10)

>>5107147

Rolled 2, 1, 3 = 6 (3d10)

>>5107147

Rolled 10, 6, 5 = 21 (3d10)

>>5107147

>>5107147
It begins with a few muffled thumps over your left shoulders, the mortars placing rounds right in the middle of the neighborhood where the other awakened beings are clustered. After a few successive hits, some of which crumble parts of the buildings, the awakened beings start to leave cover, moving towards the source of the assault and leaving you a clear lane to the center of town.

...

“So, you succeeded in drawing our forces out,” Rafaela muses as you step out into the courtyard in front of the town hall she and her sister have taken over. “But do you really think that your little friends can survive, outnumbered almost two to one?”

“If I didn’t think so I wouldn’t have brought them,” you frown. “We’ve come for either your cooperation or your heads.”

“You’ll have neither,” Rafaela glares at you sharply.

You glance at Constanzia, who is a few steps ahead of her sister and to her left. “Do you feel the same way, Constanzia?”

“Stay out of this, Rafaela,” Constanzia insists curtly. “This is my fight.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rafaela frowns. “Against both Salem and Sabela? This will take both of us working together whether you like it or not.”

There’s a long pause. “I’ll stay out of your way, then.”

Constanzia nods. “Good. But I also want the pink one.”

“That one?” Rafaela glances at you. “What’s so special about her?”

>We’ll split up to start. Sabela and myself, Salem and Zoe.
>We do this as a team. Take out one first, then the other.
>We need to do this conservatively. Outlast, wear then down.
>Other?

>>5108430
>We do this as a team. Take out one first, then the other.

>>5108430
>>We’ll split up to start. Sabela and myself, Salem and Zoe.

>>5108430
>We do this as a team. Take out one first, then the other.

>>5108430
>>We’ll split up to start. Sabela and myself, Salem and Zoe.

>>5108430
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 10, 8, 5 = 23 (3d10)

>>5109598

Rolled 7, 7, 7 = 21 (3d10)

>>5109598

Rolled 1, 9, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>5109598

Rolled 1, 2, 2 = 5 (3d10)

>>5109598

>>5109598
“We’ll go with formation Tha,” you suggest, referencing a letter in the traditional Hazari syllabic script – the oldest iteration of which used to look like a bull’s-eye. “Sabela, do you follow me?”

After a moment, she nods in agreement. “Yes, I think I understand.”

The formation you’re calling for is to keep your own group together, to the degree you can, but to keep Constanzia and Rafaela separated on either side of your group. That way you can engage each of them two against one while forcing them to consider the risk of accidentally hitting each other if they’re not careful, and allowing you all to call out threats from any angle so that you can either evade or assist if you spot an opening to do so.

“Zoe,” you mutter, “follow Salem’s lead.”

Your mother begins to awaken, her small form quickly dwarfed by Constanzia and Rafaela’s hulking awakened bodies lined with armored plates and blade-like spines. Both still appear to be mobile, more or less, which of course you already know to be true.

Salem also fully awakens as well, for the first time that you’ve seen – four arms ending in wicked claws, each lined with feather-like spikes up to her elbows, and two forward-swept horns that protect the side of her head which honestly resemble your own when you truly ‘let loose’. Her lower spine produces a lightly-armored tail with two barbs the length of your forearm, which whips a few times as if to stretch a set of muscles that have gone stiff and cold.

Then they both make their move, and you follow close behind with Zoe.

Between Salem’s tail and Sabela’s hair the two Abyssals manage to separate Constanzia and Rafaela almost instantly, and Zoe quickly realizes the advantage to the formation you decided on.

“Very nice,” she muses thoughtfully. “But I’m afraid it won’t be enough unless, just this once, I put in a little extra effort.”

There’s a tangible change in her aura as she energizes her own body, her muscles visibly rippling as she shoots straight to what you think is around half or two-thirds of her theoretical maximum. As testament to her control and experience it’s a near-instant process, and her body is less obviously warped by her own power.

>Match Zoe’s level of release.
>Exceed Zoe’s level of release.
>Push yourself as far as you can.
>Other?

>>5110256
>>Exceed Zoe’s level of release.

>>5110256
>>Exceed Zoe’s level of release.

>>5110256
>>Exceed Zoe’s level of release.
PV

File: 519.png (389 KB, 600x418)

389 KB PNG

>>5110258
>>5110284
>>5110288

>>5110256
>Exceed Zoe’s level of release.

>>5110256
>Push yourself as far as you can.

>>5110256
You decide that given the circumstances, it makes sense to exceed Zoe’s level of awakening so that you and your mother will be better prepared to face down Constanzia. You can feel your body changing as your yōki surges through it, swelling your muscles and lengthening your limbs. As those changes settle in, leaving you in a semi-awakened state not too dissimilar to your mother’s fully-awakened form, you turn your attention to matters of technique. Against an Abyssal there’s no question that you have to use the white strikes technique, focusing your yōki into your blade and turning it into the perfect tool for executing a true monster.

Clawed fingers strike for your vitals, aiming first at your throat, then trying to disembowel you. Sabela faces similarly fierce attacks, though she has comparatively little to fear thanks to her extreme healing abilities. Behind you Salem and Zoe fight against Rafaela, whose attacks you sense are less ferocious but more calculated and skillful.

Thankfully your formation seems to be working exactly as intended. You and your mother can support each other, defend each other, and occasionally even flank Constanzia to get in glancing blows. But when Constanzia tries to either rejoin Rafaela or attack Salem and Zoe behind you, it’s fairly simple to move yourselves to keep the formation firmly between them. It’s not even two against one, but like this it’s almost better than two against one since each pair can warn the other.

Constanzia seems less than impressed. “How irritating,” she grumbles, swinging her arm to try and take Sabela’s head off. “You’ve found friends who are as annoying as you are, Sabela.”

“Aww, hear that Noel?” your mother muses sarcastically, “she finally noticed you!”

“I usually prefer not to attract attention,” you grumble, backpeddling to evade a powerful swipe at your gut.

You bring down your blade in a perfectly-timed counterattack – the edge stops against Constanzia’s outer arm, but only does a little bit of internal damage that quickly heals.
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 1, 10, 10 = 21 (3d10)

>>5111430

Rolled 8, 8, 9 = 25 (3d10)

>>5111430

Rolled 4, 9, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>5111430

Rolled 5, 3, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>5111430

>>5111430
The battle between the six of you is brutal. In a sense it has to be, because it’s the only way anyone involved would even know that it’s happening – rapid regeneration means there’s hardly any lasting damage. So it begins to dawn on you that not just Constanzia and Rafaela, but your own mother and Salem too, seem to deliberately choose vicious avenues for attack which sometimes border on cruelty.

Constanzia and Sabela each just about disembowel each other at various points, while you keep aiming to slash through Constanzia’s skull to liquify her brain with a penetrating blow, settling for slashing at her internal organs when her head proves too well-guarded. The fight between Rafaela and Salem is just as brutal, almost animalistic, with natural fangs and slicing tails serving in place of swords.

But there are a few points that stand out to you. The first thing is that while Constanzia’s guard is very good at protecting her vitals her limbs are still exposed, almost to the point of being deliberate sacrifices in favor of protecting the targets she must realize you’re really after. Second, it seems that both Constanzia and Rafaela are both very much focused on your sword and Zoe’s as the main threats from either of you – which is a good way to concentrate one’s efforts with a sword-wielding opponent, since the sword is the primary means of delivering lethal attacks. Third, Constanzia is favoring Zoe as the true goal in her attacks and maneuvers, you figure by at least half as much over Salem. She probably realizes that Zoe’s lower degree of awakening means her regenerative abilities are likely weaker, in addition to her overall abilities being more hampered by her unwillingness to maximize her yōki use.

This makes her the easy target between the two, and because Salem is obviously feeling a need to step in and cover for Zoe at times it’s difficult for her to capitalize on the small openings Rafaela is leaving every time she prioritizes Zoe.

Meanwhile, you also get the sense that Constanzia isn’t prioritizing you the same way. In fact, you almost feel as though she isn’t taking you as a serious threat. So long as she can protect her head and her main internal organs from your bladed assault she seems content to keep you at a bit of a distance and focus more on trying to figure out a way to kill your mother once and for all.

>Take a moment to switch out with Zoe – Constanzia won’t take her seriously in that configuration.
>Use Constanzia’s lackadaisical attitude to your advantage, and sneak in a few enhanced kicks.
>You need to be more daring here. Give Constanzia something she has to acknowledge and fight.
>Other?

>>5114007
>Take a moment to switch out with Zoe – Constanzia won’t take her seriously in that configuration.

>>5114007
>>Take a moment to switch out with Zoe – Constanzia won’t take her seriously in that configuration.

>>5114007
>>You need to be more daring here. Give Constanzia something she has to acknowledge and fight.

>>5114007
>You need to be more daring here. Give Constanzia something she has to acknowledge and fight.

>>5114007
>You need to be more daring here. Give Constanzia something she has to acknowledge and fight.

>>5114007
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 4, 4, 1 = 9 (3d10)

>>5115051

Rolled 4, 5, 8 = 17 (3d10)

>>5115051

Rolled 1, 9, 5 = 15 (3d10)

>>5115051

Rolled 4, 10, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>5115051

>>5115051
>m
You decide that something in this equation needs to be changed to shift the flow of battle back into your favor – splitting Rafaela and Constanzia up while concentrating your own forces was a good initial plan, but so far you haven’t truly been able to capitalize on that. One key aspect to your enemies that you can remember is that Constanzia isn’t much of a thinking, and leaves most of the strategy to Rafaela. So of the two of them Constanzia is actually the one who loses the most from having been separated, at least in theory.

The only way to turn that particular fact into the momentum shift you’re looking for is to apply more of your raw potential to the fight, to apply more pressure to Constanzia – potentially creating a situation where either you or your mother can deliver a blow Constanzia won’t be able to recover from.

“Interesting,” Constanzia muses as you draw out more of your yōki, transforming your body even more dramatically. You can feel the crown of horns gracing your head, your muscles rippling beneath your skin and your bones feeling like they’re going to crack. Further even than that, further than you’ve ever gone before. “Very interesting, Noel Tiberius di Hazaran.”

But something feels wrong. On a primal level, it feels... exciting. Like there’s a charged tingle running through your body, your heart beating faster.

“Show me more,” Constanzia demands, turning her attention to you and leaving you no opportunity to consider what is happening to you.

You parry Constanzia’s assault, but you can’t shake the feeling... the feeling that using this much yōki feels GOOD. The sensation that if you used even more yōki you’d feel even better, that you would have nothing to fear from the Organization, from Clarice, not even from Constanzia.

Then your mother hits you in the head, and hard.

It’s a staggering blow, and you stop consciously drawing out yōki. Your muscles, which had begun to swell, begin to contract again, and the fever that seems to have taken your mind cools. Your sense of perspective returns... though you also feel that you’ve kept the horns.

“What was that,” you frown.

“So you do have limits,” Sabela muses quietly. “That’s what other warriors run into... the allure of awakening. Be careful.”

Constanzia seems less than pleased. “Well, that was almost interesting.”

“Sorry, sister,” Rafaela muses, having eased off from Salem and Zoe. “I was almost ready to be happy for you.”

>Engage with them verbally, give yourself a moment to clear your head.
>Get back into it with Constanzia, coordinate carefully with Sabela.
>Try to jump Rafaela in a surprise attack, make it three against one.
>Other?

>>5116756
>Try to jump Rafaela in a surprise attack, make it three against one.

>>5116756
>Try to jump Rafaela in a surprise attack, make it three against one.

>>5116756
>Get back into it with Constanzia, coordinate carefully with Sabela.

>>5116756
>>Engage with them verbally, give yourself a moment to clear your head.

>>5116756
>3d10, best of four
Will try to get around to updating during my lunch break, assuming I actually get one tomorrow.

Rolled 8, 4, 8 = 20 (3d10)

>>5117917

Rolled 10, 8, 6 = 24 (3d10)

>>5117917

Rolled 9, 5, 1 = 15 (3d10)

>>5117917

Rolled 4, 4, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>5117917

>>5117917
Mobile is having issues - but only when used as a hotspot. Will keep trying, but it may be early afternoon.

>>5117917
“Thanks,” you tell Sabela, your voice noticeably distorted at first until you can better rein it in, “for the knock to the head.”

You hadn’t even noticed that your awakening had gotten that close to out of control, you were that caught up in the sirens’ song of it all. So that’s the slow creep most awakened beings probably felt? No wonder they’ve never seemed particularly interested in talking about it – for most of the awakened beings in your company, your mother included, it must be something of a source of shame.

The battle quickly resumes as Constanzia and Rafaela make another attempt to regroup, and your own party is forced to maneuver again to keep them apart. This is starting to reveal a flaw in your plan – the two of them are communicating non-verbally, with subtle gestures and flicks of their eyes, directing a frontal assault here or a sidestep and a flanking move there. While it can’t coordinate on the level of specifying a claw or a kick or a bite, that’s not really necessary since both awakened beings are simply attacking as fiercely as they can from moment to moment. All these little gestures need to be is quick and visible, quicker than your own hand signs can be.

Despite that you and Sabela begin to pick up on them and adjust, while you can’t see Zoe or Salem doing it but you feel that Salem may have. Zoe however feels a little like she’s struggling to keep up.

Eventually Zoe makes a misstep, and Rafaela rushes to take advantage.

“No you don’t!” you protest, slinging your sword and embedding it in Rafaela’s arm, pushing it out of line so that it misses Zoe.

In a move that confirms your suspicions, Zoe grabs the hilt of your sword as that part of Rafaela’s arm passes her, yanks it free, and delivers a surprisingly efficient slash across Rafaela’s right eye.

The awakened being howls in pain, and Zoe momentarily twists and twirls the two swords in her hands.

“Thank you, Noel,” she muses, eyes glinting gold with rare malice. “It’s been a while since I used two swords – the loss of power will sting, but I think the quicker pacing should make up for it. What do you think, miss Rafaela?”

“I think I’m gonna enjoy ripping out your entrails and strangling you with them, Zoe,” Rafaela growls back.

“Well, I suppose we have a different definition of ‘enjoyable’ then,” Zoe replies, “because I will enjoy seeing you try and fail.”

“... no weapon,” Constanzia narrows her eyes at you.

>No weapon, no problem. Your fists are better at wearing enemies down anyway.
>Your regenerative abilities are also strong – switch roles with Sabela and play defender.
>Play things more cautiously while Salem and Zoe take advantage of Rafaela’s wounds.
>Other?

>>5118901
>>No weapon, no problem. Your fists are better at wearing enemies down anyway.

>>5118901
>No weapon, no problem. Your fists are better at wearing enemies down anyway.

>>5118901
>>No weapon, no problem. Your fists are better at wearing enemies down anyway.

>>5118901
>>No weapon, no problem. Your fists are better at wearing enemies down anyway.

>>5118901
>No weapon, no problem. Your fists are better at wearing enemies down anyway.

>>5118901
>No weapon, no problem. Your fists are better at wearing enemies down anyway.

>>5118901
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 8, 7, 8 = 23 (3d10)

>>5120369

Rolled 8, 9, 5 = 22 (3d10)

>>5120369

Rolled 6, 5, 9 = 20 (3d10)

>>5120369

Rolled 10, 1, 10 = 21 (3d10)

>>5120369

>>5120373
aight going with this tomorrow, may have time over lunch and in the evening for two updates

>>5120369
“My sword’s where it needs to be,” you reply with a sidelong glance at Zoe. “As for my weapon, my ultimate weapon has always been – me.”

You raise your fists, and test the flexibility of your shoulders and the backwards-raked blades near your elbows, finding everything to be satisfactory with your partial-awakening.

“Do you truly believe you can defeat me with your hands alone?” Constanzia muses with a smirk. “A true awakened being?”

“Not alone,” Sabela insists, standing at your side. “My daughter is here because I know what she can do.”

“Then let’s see if your faith will be reward...”

You cut off Constanzia’s words with a dash, throwing a series of rapid punches at Constanzia. She blocks them with her arms, but the blows are punishing – striking deep into her muscles right down to the bones. Each punch could easily kill an ordinary human, and would probably do the same to most unawakened warriors were they to connect with their head.

But it’s not until your mother steps in to join you that you see some progress. When she steps in to take a blow meant for you, which opens up the left side of her chest under its savage force, it gives you the opening you need. Leaping past Sabela, so close the fine mist and the spraying droplets of her blood lightly paint your left cheek, you ensure that her pain isn’t for nothing.

Your fist finally connects with Constanzia’s temple, staggering her for a moment, and giving Sabela a chance to slide closer and grab hold of Constanzia’s left arm. Pinned in place, left with an openhead and neck, and stunned from a punch that hit the opposite side of the inside of her skull, Constanzia can’t really stop you from continuing to pummel her for several seconds.

Each punch feels like it’s meant for someone you’ve lost over the years. For one of the many warriors who didn’t make it this far, who died in their ambush of your hunting parties so many years ago. Young warriors, just girls really, who never even realized what they did wrong to offend their Organization or to deserve such a fate, who never had a damn chance. And not just for those who died, but for those who were maimed, those who lost their innocence or their direction, those who were left traumatized.

This rematch is personal to you beyond what you realized at first. It’s almost intimate.

A particularly heavy blow splits Constanzia’s cheek and breaks shatters her nose, forcing Sabela and Constanzia to separate so that your mother can stay upright. Her wounds have almost completely healed already.
>1/2

>>5121290
Meanwhile Salem and Zoe have shifted their own battle against Rafaela’s favor as well – Zoe having to some extent ‘sand-bagged’ her foe, pretending to be weaker than she actually is. Now armed with two swords she’s proving to be more than a mere thorn in Rafaela’s side as she tries to get past Salem to rejoin her sister. Harrying cuts leave long lines of weeping violet, not nearly so dramatic as the wounds Salem inflicts but enough to keep Rafaela on her toes so long as she’s within the reach of Zoe’s blades.

Constanzia is slow to recover, shaking off her disorientation from the repeated blows to the head. But despite being wounded it’s clear that you can’t approach carelessly. She is still an abyssal one, after all, and she could easily lash out and cause you some real harm.

>Aim to hit her in the guts this time, make her cripplingly sick to her stomach.
>Keep aiming for the head, give Sabela chances to take it off Constanzia’s shoulders.
>Try a new gambit, see if Sabela can give you an opening this time to hit Constanzia’s eyes.
>Other?

>>5121707
>Try a new gambit, see if Sabela can give you an opening this time to hit Constanzia’s eyes.

>>5121707
>Try a new gambit, see if Sabela can give you an opening this time to hit Constanzia’s eyes.

>>5121707
>>Keep aiming for the head, give Sabela chances to take it off Constanzia’s shoulders.

>>5121707
>>Aim to hit her in the guts this time, make her cripplingly sick to her stomach.

>>5121707
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 3, 4, 7 = 14 (3d10)

>>5122092
DONT DISAPPOINT ME!

>>5122094
you disappointed me

Rolled 1, 1, 1 = 3 (3d10)

>>5122092

Rolled 5, 2, 2 = 9 (3d10)

>>5122092

Rolled 3, 3, 2 = 8 (3d10)

>>5122092

>>5122092
“Sabela!” you shout. “Clear!”

“Right!” she confirms, immediately understanding what you meant – you want her to give you a clear opening on Constanzia, and she obliges you once again by taking yet another gruesome hit that shreds her left arm which she holds up as she charges in. But this time she hardens her hair and uses it to penetrate Constanzia’s outstretched right arm as well as her legs, before spearing the ground around their feet. “Do it now!”

But with her left arm still free, Constanzia takes aim with her fingertips. The razor-sharp nails impale your mother, clearly piercing a lung, before two hit you as well – one through your upper ribs and out past your left clavicle, and the other through your right wrist. Clean wounds that begin to heal almost immediately, but that for the moment have you largely incapacitated.

“How adorable,” Constanzia muses, slowly withdrawing her claws to bring you closer to Sabela. “Mother and daughter perishing together – this is how it should be!”

“... don’t you dare...” your mother coughs.

“Hm?” Constanzia glances down at Sabela.

“... mess with my daughter you bitch!”

In a burst of incredible strength Sabela uses one of her arm blades to sever Constanzia’s arm, swiftly extricating herself and slicing through the claws with her other arm blade. “Noel!”

With an inhuman roar you charge the rest of the way past your mother and drive your fingers into Constanzia’s face, two fingers into each eye, and pulp everything around your fingertips.

She howls in agony as you destroy even the nerves and sinews connecting what’s left of her ruined eyes, sending pulses of yōki through the orbits to rupture tissue and bruise bone. Then you push behind your ribs to force the claw out through your wound, and use that and the one that had been in your wrist to impale her throat.

“You hurt my mother,” you growl, “you crippled my friends, you murdered my comrades. You show no remorse, you share no basic humanity, and you rejected the chance to change. You’ve chosen to live as a monster, Constanzia, and I’ve resolved to kill you as a human.”

“That’s it!” Constanzia screams. “That’s fucking IT! I’ve had it with all of you, I don’t care if it’s a good fight anymore! I’ll fucking kill you all!”

“She’s...” Sabela half-laughs, half-coughs, “she’s totally lost it!”

>You and your mother are in a bad way. It makes sense to regroup with Salem and Zoe.
>You have to finish this quickly, before you and Zoe suffer too many wounds.
>Try to draw Constanzia into a trap, have the mortar crews shell her while she’s blind.
>Other?

>>5122377
>>Try to draw Constanzia into a trap, have the mortar crews shell her while she’s blind.

>>5122377
>You and your mother are in a bad way. It makes sense to regroup with Salem and Zoe.

Those rolls ouch

>>5122377
>>You and your mother are in a bad way. It makes sense to regroup with Salem and Zoe.

>>5122377
>>You and your mother are in a bad way. It makes sense to regroup with Salem and Zoe.

>>5122377
>You and your mother are in a bad way. It makes sense to regroup with Salem and Zoe.

>>5122377
>Try to draw Constanzia into a trap, have the mortar crews shell her while she’s blind.

>>5122377
>3d10 best of four

Rolled 9, 3, 3 = 15 (3d10)

>>5123826

Rolled 6, 6, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>5123826

Rolled 8, 10, 4 = 22 (3d10)

>>5123826

Rolled 8, 7, 9 = 24 (3d10)

>>5123826

>>5123826
You scoop your mother up by throwing her arm over your shoulder and dash to regroup with Zoe and Salem, trailing blood in both lavender and crimson spatterings. “That could have gone better,” she muses.

“If you’re cracking wise without coughing up blood you must be able to stand on your own,” you reply, shrugging her arm off your shoulder. “What do we do about that?”

“Nothing!” Sabela laughs, moving straight into a position to attack Rafaela. “At least not for now!”

It’s a bold strategy, one which you’ve entertained since earlier and rejected feeling that the time wasn’t right. But right now is a perfect opportunity and your mother knows it, since its’ going to take a while for Constanzia to heal her completely mangled eyes.

Salem is just as quick to make her move, flanking Rafaela together with your mother, and Zoe uses a burst of speed to slip below Rafaela’s arms as she moves to defend herself from the sides. Zoe lands strikes to the backs of Rafaela’s knees, and you move in low to punch Rafaela in the gut. Your yōki projects right through her body, rearranging her innards without her consent and forcing a little blood out not only through her mouth but her nose and even her eyes as well.

“Where did you go!?” Constanzia demands.

“Sister!” Rafaela shouts, shaking herself free of Salem and Sabela’s grasps. “They’re here!”

Zoe quickly tosses your sword back to you for a moment, just in time for you to set your blade against Constanzia’s blind charge. She runs into it, bowling you over and trampling you underhoof but taking what basically amounts to a yōki spear in her gut, sending her crashing to the ground.

“Regroup!” you shout. “Quickly!”

It’s mostly you and Zoe who have to scramble, honestly. Salem and Sabela were already out of the way, and can just swing back to regroup with Zoe. But you have to get a little more creative, tossing your sword past Constanzia to draw her attention and get the sword back to Zoe. When Constanzia pounces in your general direction you’re already in the air, vaulting over her so that you can eventually kick off her back to rejoin your party.

While you and Sabela have largely recovered, your enemies have been worn down by your unusually aggressive strategy – so while it looked bad for you at first, it looks even worse right now for them. Even if you’re badly bloodied and torn up at the end of it, you’ll win so long as they’re dead at the end of it.

>Shift focus back to Constanzia, keeping her angry and disoriented will keep her acting stupidly.
>Keep your focus on Rafaela – the “brains” of their duo is wounded at the moment, so finish her.
>Split back up again, keep wearing both your enemies down and rotating as necessary.
>Other?

>>5124086
>Keep your focus on Rafaela – the “brains” of their duo is wounded at the moment, so finish her.

>>5124086
>>Shift focus back to Constanzia, keeping her angry and disoriented will keep her acting stupidly.
Even if her sister can warn her, it's gonna be imprecise and slow

>>5124086
>Keep your focus on Rafaela – the “brains” of their duo is wounded at the moment, so finish her.

>>5124086
>Split back up again, keep wearing both your enemies down and rotating as necessary.

>>5124086
>3d10, best of three

Rolled 5, 7, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>5125613

Rolled 8, 2, 2 = 12 (3d10)

>>5125613

Rolled 9, 2, 2 = 13 (3d10)

>>5125613

>>5125613
You flick your fingers briefly at Rafaela, to indicate your intent to your teammates, before committing to your strategy. If you can eliminate Rafaela entirely then it’s just down to Constanzia, who hasn’t exactly impressed you with her own strategic insights. So you fall on Rafaela with a renewed sense of urgency, trying hard to corner her together with any other one of your company so that someone of your number can land a fatal blow.

“Damn you!” Constanzia roars, hurtling past you at reckless speeds. Sabela sacrifices an arm, swiftly setting to work regrowing it, all for the apparently for the purpose of tricking Constanzia into thinking she’s on the right track.

She immediately moves, of course.

“Sister, you missed!” Rafaela shouts as she struggles to keep a step ahead of you, Zoe, and Salem all at once.

Constanzia struggles to reset, while your team minus Sabela struggle to pin Rafaela down.

What eventually changes things is your mother making another bold move, throwing herself headlong at Rafaela and taking a blow to the same side of her body where she’d sacrificed that arm – this time, pinning Rafaela’s hand and arm where it penetrated her shoulder. And that’s all the opportunity you need to land a wild, hammering blow against the side of Rafaela’s head.

Zoe also manages to get in a few deep slashes, while Salem gouges a significant section of Rafaela’s flank open. But even at the price of your mother’s repeated maiming, Rafaela has yet to go down for good.

>Double down on your plan, make sure your mother’s pain wasn’t for nothing.
>It’s your turn to play defender – you can heal almost as well as Sabela, only slower.
>You need to find something to change the balance – maybe change the battlefield.
>Other?

>>5127213
>You need to find something to change the balance – maybe change the battlefield.

>>5127213
>Double down on your plan, make sure your mother’s pain wasn’t for nothing.

>>5127213
>>You need to find something to change the balance – maybe change the battlefield.

>>5127213
>Double down on your plan, make sure your mother’s pain wasn’t for nothing.
We committed and still have a chance here

>>5127213
>You need to find something to change the balance – maybe change the battlefield.

>>5127213
>3d10 best of three

Rolled 8, 7, 5 = 20 (3d10)

>>5127911
GO HIGH!

Rolled 4, 8, 10 = 22 (3d10)

>>5127911

Rolled 3, 4, 10 = 17 (3d10)

>>5127911

>>5127911
Stalemates happen sometimes.

When they do, there are a few rules for breaking them. The first rule is that they can be broken by a daring, well-timed shift in strategy sufficient enough to swing tempo in your favor. The second rule is that you can break a stalemate by exploiting even minute advantages to incrementally enhance your position. The third rule is that the most certain way to upend a stalemated situation is to change the rules, either by resetting the rules of engagement, by changing the battlefield itself, or by redefining the conditions of victory.

The third option is the one you’re aiming for. Simple, but effective – if you can come up with an approach to it, that is.

The most obvious plan is to draw the two awakened sisters into a different area, one where the terrain will favor you to a greater degree. Had you decided to do something like this sooner, or had you felt like holding out a little longer, drawing them out towards the mortars and Helen’s team might have been the ideal course of action. But at this point you can feel that the others have already engaged the other awakened beings, meaning that the mortar teams likely have exhausted their rounds already and that bringing more awakened beings in your companions’ direction will only serve to endanger them.

So that leaves one obvious alternative – to take this fight into a different part of town, where the streets will work in your favor. You know from your father’s experience that bridges can provide that sort of advantage, allowing a smaller force to either hold off a much larger one or even defeat it depending on the two forces involved. So what you’re looking for is something that will accomplish something similar.

“Follow me,” you call out quickly to the others.

You pick your way through the neighborhood, until you find what you’re looking for – a narrow street between two lines of apartments four floors high each.

“This’ll do,” you declare aloud, turning to fight.

“Okay,” Salem mutters, “how though?”

>We’ll pack them into this narrow alleyway, use their size against them.
>We’ll split them again for good measure, one on each end of this street.
>We can and should use the buildings themselves to our advantage.
>Other?

>>5130130
>>We’ll pack them into this narrow alleyway, use their size against them.

>>5130130
>>We can and should use the buildings themselves to our advantage.

>>5130130
>We can and should use the buildings themselves to our advantage.

>>5130130
>We’ll pack them into this narrow alleyway, use their size against them.

>>5130130
>3d10, best of four
>DC 18

Rolled 3, 7, 7 = 17 (3d10)

>>5131509

Rolled 9, 4, 7 = 20 (3d10)

>>5131509

Rolled 1, 9, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>5131509

Rolled 4, 9, 6 = 19 (3d10)

>>5131509

>>5131509
The buildings serve two purposes – limiting Constanzia and Rafaela’s movements, while also creating a trap.

And they fall for it, hook, line, and proverbial sinker.

“I just need you to hold them here for a moment,” you tell your mother and Salem.

The engagement looks pretty similar to how it did before, with your mother taking worse hits more often to create openings where she can attack Constanzia, while Salem brawls almost as recklessly with Rafaela. Zoe follows you into a nearby building – on one side of this narrow street is a church, which has a high tower on the nearest side. The fight is being carried out in the shadow of that tower, which suits your plans just fine.

Sabela watches you and seems to understand, maneuvering carefully so that Constanzia and Rafaela end up fighting back to back.

“Let’s do it,” you tell Zoe, before smashing your blade through one of the supporting pillars of the tower. “We’ll have to time it perfe...”

“Now!” Zoe shouts back at you, having done the math in her head and decided to smash the next pillar in this exact moment.

You oblige her, and after taking a few more hits the tower manages to work its way free from the rest of the church, dragged down by its own weight. All of that weight quickly comes down on top of Constanzia and Rafaela’s heads. They disappear under the rubble, but only temporarily.

“They’re working their way out,” you realize aloud.

>Time your next attack to hit whichever pops up first. One or the other has to die NOW.
>Use the rubble to your advantage, to blind your enemies and make their footing unstable.
>You can actually use this time to reposition – try to spring the same sort of trap on them again.
>Other?

>>5131610
>>Time your next attack to hit whichever pops up first. One or the other has to die NOW.

>>5131610
>Time your next attack to hit whichever pops up first. One or the other has to die NOW.

>>5131610
>Time your next attack to hit whichever pops up first. One or the other has to die NOW.
Whack-an-abyssal

>>5131610
>Time your next attack to hit whichever pops up first. One or the other has to die NOW.

>>5131610
>>Time your next attack to hit whichever pops up first. One or the other has to die NOW.

>>5131610
>3d10 best of four
>DC 19

Rolled 3, 9, 9 = 21 (3d10)

>>5132426

Rolled 10, 7, 8 = 25 (3d10)

>>5132426

Rolled 5, 1, 8 = 14 (3d10)

>>5132426

Rolled 5, 10, 8 = 23 (3d10)

>>5132426

>>5132426
When Rafaela eventually bursts from the rubble, you’re ready for her. A bladed appendage grazes your side, but you plant your feet and throw a wild haymaker punch at the side of Rafaela’s head. The attack is successful beyond what you might have hoped, the yōki shockwave that passes into her head actually rupturing blood vessels in her eyes, turning them beet-red in an instant. A moment later your mother strikes from the opposite side, sliding her arm-blades into Rafaela’s chest and nearly slicing her in half as she withdraws the blades.

With her spine having also been severed, and her lungs now in ruins, Rafaela can’t stay upright.

Constanzia is slower to push the rubble away.

“Rafaela?” she demands loudly. “Rafaela, what’s happening?”

She has quite a few brick fragments lodged in her eyes that seem to be slowing her healing process, and Rafaela can’t speak. Frothy violet ichor flows from her mouth as she tries, brought up from her chest as words become a cough.

“Rafaela!?” Constanzia snaps. “Quit messing around, you know my yōki sensing isn’t as good as yours when we’re like this! I need you to synchronize with me! Rafaela!”

But she gets no response from her sister, whose brain and lungs are still sorting themselves out at the moment, which as badly mangled as they are could take a while.

>Mercy-kill Rafaela before she gets the chance to synchronize properly with Constanzia.
>Try to cripple Constanzia as well, now that you have her down to four on one odds.
>Explain to Constanzia that her sister is dying. You’re honestly shocked it NEEDS explanation.
>Other?

>>5134419
>>Mercy-kill Rafaela before she gets the chance to synchronize properly with Constanzia.
It would be cruel to leave her suffering like this, an AB could stay like this for longer than a human before they die and thats just cruel.

>>5134419
>Mercy-kill Rafaela before she gets the chance to synchronize properly with Constanzia.

>>5134419
>Explain to Constanzia that her sister is dying. You’re honestly shocked it NEEDS explanation.

>>5134419
>Mercy-kill Rafaela before she gets the chance to synchronize properly with Constanzia.

>>5134419
>3d10, best of three
Will post results in a new thread

Rolled 4, 1, 9 = 14 (3d10)

>>5137329

Rolled 6, 9, 6 = 21 (3d10)

>>5137329
Go high

Rolled 3, 7, 9 = 19 (3d10)

>>5137329

>>5139035
New thread