Scene #2477: The Fortress Oath.

Owner	Pose
Aloisia Harlaown	An invitation to meet at the Shed. A relatively vague one from Rashmi, saying that she had something of hers? Well, Aloisia wasn't one to turn down a mysterious invitation even if it /wasn't/ one of her closest friends on this planet, so Aloisia barely hesitated on making her way to the Shed. ...There was very slight hesitation. Mostly just to get changed out of her school uniform into a relatively nice casual green dress that had a few little frogs sitting at the bottom edge of the dress, sitting on lilypads, the upper half of the dress becoming a night sky. ...Yeah Aloisia has really ended up just leaning into the slight frog theme she'd ended up with when shopping for green-and-blue things for her room. This, along with a pair of relatively nice wedge sandals is what she's wearing when she walks into the Shed. Yep. The absolute model of a noble knight right there.
Rashmi Terios	<< TXT to ALOISIA -- Hey Alo-chan! I have something of yours, can you meet me in the Shed? >> That was more or less the entire text of the message in question, after which Rashmi hopped off her bed, and slung her bookbag over her shoulder. "Hey Chiyo-chan," she said to her present roommate. "I'm about to do some casual weapons smuggling, wanna come with?" Someone must be in a good mood, if they're talking about casually breaking extremely grave laws. But, the mahou ife has its own realities, and as she waited for Chiyo's answer, she sent off a quick message to Koji, via Hanzo. << TXT to HANZO -- Hey, Koji-kun! How'd you like to get some combat readings in a brand new Belkan-style Device? And then we can talk Hanzo? Meet us at the Shed! >> She talks as if it's a fait accompli that Koji will join people, voluntarily. Because it is. He will. He may be sour about it, but sometimes? Everyone likes to be included.
Chiyo Sakai	Chiyo Sakai had been laying on her bed reading when Rashmi jumps up drawing her attention away from the textbook with a single raised eyebrow. At least Rashmi's good at filling her in on what was going on, even if the breif explanation just raises the other eyebrow with it. The briefest glance is given toward the history book she was reading. Then it's tossed back to the bed with a shrug as she rolls off to her feet. "I'm in. Reshbal would bug me to death if he didn't find out what that's about, anyway. He hasn't had any juicy gossip in ages." Just in case she snags her bag slinging it over her shoulder before she slips into her shoes preparing to follow. She was in casual, relaxed clothes of a skirt, a light jacket over her blouse (it was still chilly out!) and just some regular canvas shoes. Nothing at all that would scream 'mahou'.
Koji Silvia	Slooowly... Sloooooooly... A slightly shaky hand with a set of tweezers with a little Gundam visor sticker over a painted head. SLOOOOOOOWLY... <<MESSAGE FOR YOU MASTER.>> The word Koji emit is indelicate, indistinct, and missed as the sticker is crooked! Not like really crooked but 'You know and you think everyone will know too' crooked. Sitting up from his cooking/model station and the magnifying glass, he looks over at Hanzo, and the message from Rashmi is displayed. His shoulders just slump a moment, and he just moves the current model up on a shelf in the closet, and then digs into his Snacktuary for some extras he stashes into his Device. << On my Way. >> Cut to him meeting Rashmi and Chiyo, and following along from behind in his school athletic uniform, zipped up and hands in his pockets.
Aloisia Harlaown	"...Huh. Nobody else is here yet." Aloisia comments absently as she looks around the Shed. "I guess I rushed here too quickly." Mmmmm.... MMMMMMMM.... ... Whelp. When they arrive at the shed, Aloisia has tied up her already-tied-up silver hair into a handkerchief to protect it, and gotten out the cleaning supplies, wearing a somehow-procured apron and having started cleaning and dusting the Shed. Just because, well, if she's waiting /anyway/ she might as well get some of the cleaning out of the way. She's sure that there's some sort of cleaning schedule for people to go off of, but nobody is going to complain about not having to clean too much on their next cleaning duty, right? Don't mind the absent, slightly off-tune humming as you enter the shed today. It's just a knight cleaning. Yep.
Rashmi Terios	Koji is met with delight, as if it wasn't a fait accompli that he'd join. Because after all, he might have had something he'd really rather do! But he's here now, and the sight of her other friend boosts the redhead's spirits immensely. If it were any other day, she might be keeping up a constant stream of chatter on the way to the Shed, but this time? The only question worth asking is 'Okay what was that about?' and it's not really an explanation she wants to give twice. Thus, she bops along to the edge of the woods in pleased silence, friends in tow, and opens the door for them to precede her into what is objectively the second-coolest Secret Base currently in existence, and the first among the ones she knows about. "Alo-cha--" As she enters, she pauses, blinking rapidly. "...Alo-chan you're cleaning? The place needs cleaning?" She opens her mouth to ask another question, but then a horrible thought occurs. "Who's been cleaning it until now?!" Either she needs to find the rota and get herself on it, or find out who has been keeping the place only slightly-disheveled, and apologize dearly. Shaking her head, she steps in and shuts the door behind her. "Anyway uh... Alo-chan I asked you here because I was gonna just knock on your door, but then I remembered the dorm ceilings are a lot lower than here, and, well, holes. So..."
Chiyo Sakai	Chiyo Sakai flashes Koji an easy grin when he joins them. It had been a bit since she'd seen him out and about when it wasn't a fight of some sort. "Hey Koji. Been good?" It's a simple question but one she genuinely means as she hopes he's been having a decent time of things. Her own was... Not something she'd been talking about a whole lot lately. As Rashmi opens the door to the Shed she follows in stepping to the side. The plum-haired girl blinks at the unfamiliar face of Aloisia only a moment. Unfamiliar perhaps, but if she was in here it wasn't a huge leap of logic that they were on the 'same side' as it were. A glance is cast toward Rashmi with amusement. "I mean, I tidy up a little in here when I'm moving things around, but otherwise it kind of... Seems to be okay on it's own?" Mostly. To Aloisia she offers a smile. "Hi, I'm Chiyo Sakai."
Koji Silvia	Koji does that guy thing of blowing out a breath and looking to the side as he cups his hands behind the back of his head while walking along, "Hey Chiyo. Getting along. Tell Ojii-san that my dad loves the guava mochi." But then he adds, "I've got a solo dormroom at least for the rest of the school year. It's fun. You should come by... Hanzo's almost done with reprocessing Godzilla. It's going to be epic." Out of nowhere, a wrapped onigiri comes out, and he tosses it into Chiyo's hands, "Here... Cod Roe and Bonito flakes for him." Last to enter, he has his phone in his hand not for any bad reasons, just out of habit for the space to change out, "Hey Aloisia. You still owe me some practice, you know. I need some more sword versus knife training."
Aloisia Harlaown	It's moments after the others that arrive, that Aloisia has her hair back untied from that handkerchief, folded back up, and slipped back into a pocket (Yes, the dress has pockets.) and back to her normal more put-together appearance. "I had time while I was waiting since I live on the campus, so I figured I might as well dust it and tidy up a bit." Pause. "It wasn't very dirty, mind you. Just a little dusty. ...As I am newly on the side of light, I wouldn't be the one to ask who's been cleaning it though. I'm sure someone has though, with how generally clean it is. Maybe there's a janitor?" She muses out loud. Talk about the dorm ceilings being lower than here, and holes. Hm. "Hole-- oh. OH. Are they done?" Her purple eyes light up as she starts putting two and three together. And others were there now, too. One she recognized -- one she did not. To Chiyo, she dips into a proper bow towards her, the ever so slight flourish as she introduces herself to her, "I am Aloisia, the Crystal Knight of the Earth and Moon." She introduces herself, just the slightest bit of pride in her voice as she says that. Sword versus knife training. "Hello Koji! Of course, we'll have to do that sometime soon, before the poor Device gives out." She says, giving a soft laugh. ... Poor Platinklinge. It was not designed for use by a Knight like her. "...Speaking of, I might need to turn over Platinklinge for some proper maintenance before that, though." Pause. "Oh wait, before you had talked about doing it with training weaponry, rather than real weaponry." Ha ha ha ha~. She's already moving the tables and desks towards the edge of the shed for more space in anticipation.
Rashmi Terios	"Crystal Kni-- Oh wow so you talked to both of them!" Rashmi says with a pleased laugh. "Well okay then! That makes this even better!" Stepping to one side and away from her friends -- mostly so they don't catch the glare -- She henshins in a flash of golden light, and collects Nicomachea from his place above her shoulder. Nodding as the desks are moved to the wall, she tilts her head. "...And this'll give me the chance to give Platinklinge the maintenance he probably needs... anyway! Alo-chan, if you'd like to change into your armor, I need to make some introductions. The sisters are... well, you'll want to get reacquainted all over again." "Chiyo-chan, Reshbal, quick explanation; Alo-chan was on Obsidian's side, but that was mostly because a lot of lies on her forebear's behalf, and mistakes in her education. Then there was a big surprise oops, and-- well things got pretty bad for Alo-chan for awhile, but her Devices came off worst from it, and I've been rebuilding them." She turns back to Aloisia, and smiles gently. "And, yes, I'm finished."
Chiyo Sakai	Chiyo Sakai catches the riceball tossed her way with a grin. "Ah, Bonito will love it," she assures him while her attention shifts to her bag to tuck it away for now. "I'll give it to him when he shows up tonight." He usually did come back to the dorm to sleep at least, even if most of his time these days were spent wandering or hanging out at the cat cafe with the other cats. Free food, pets, and kittens. She'd probably do the same if she were a cat mascot. Attention shifting back to Aloisia as she bows, she too dips down to bow in turn. It wasn't that she was being rude when first introducing herself, it was just rare that many people used that introduction anymore. She follows suit quickly. "I'm the Ginga Hanma," she offers in turn only to ... pause. "Ah? Earth and the Moon?" Why did that sound familiar? A glance is cast toward Rashmi with eyebrows drawing together suspiciously. "Both of them...?" A single deep breath is drawn in before her eyes widen again at a thought. A realization. "Wait wait, do you mean Endymion and Serenity? Mamoru and Usagi?"
Koji Silvia	Giving a faint shrug of surprise, the boy in residence says, "I didn't know she was that kind of Knight, or that you're with the Ginga crew. Congratulations. Do you have one of those cool little mecha like Samekh?" Hanzo vanishes, and weirdly... there was a henshin, but then Koji's back in his athletic clothes... like it's just a useless flash of light. Hands in his pockets, he wanders forward a bit and adjusts his glasses to take a look, "So, just a warning Aloisia... we're coming up on the worst time of year for students here. It's Mid-terms Season. Pretty soon we're all going to be eaten up with studying and prepping for tests. BUT... after, in July, we get a break. Which means that a lot of students will be going home to family, or going on trips. There's a lot of Japan to see... and I bet there's something you'd enjoy. Beaches... Mountains... there's an island with a LOT of cats on it..."
Aloisia Harlaown	"Yes, I texted Usagi and Mamoru apparently happened to be there as well, so... I did get to talk to both of them. And they showed me a wondrous sight before the re-swearing to restore my Knighthood." Aloisia says, her gaze going out the window in a kind of fond, thoughtful way. It had been a relatively short moment with the two -- but clearly something that had left a good impression on her. The golden flash of light draws her gaze back over towards Rashmi afterwards, and she gives a bit of an awkward laugh at the mention of maintenance of Platinklinge. "I"ve been doing what I can for him after each fight, I've had to do a lot of replacements. He was not designed with plasma in mind." She says softly, pulling out that Device, restoring it to its full form -- it LOOKED like it was in excellent condition, the blade and outer housings of all of its components in good condition. ... Opening it, however, would tell a different story of burnt out connections and damaged magical circuits. It's not damaged beyond repair --but definitely beyond what the more basic maintenance Aloisia is capable of performing. She activates her Knight Armor -- a relatively basic affair just activating over her dress, more than a true Knight Armor, before setting the silver zweihander on the desk nearby Rashmi. "'Mistakes' in my education is an understatement. I would equate it closer to moderately unsuccessful brainwashing, myself." Aloisia says, her tone moderately bitter at that. "Luckily, that is over now, and those connections severed." She pauses as she looks towards Chiyo with a soft smile. "Yes-- my time on this planet has been short, but I have fallen in love with it, if I'm completely honest. And..." She pauses. "I uh. I magically severed the noble titles of the Karstein-Steiner line -- which I was technically a part of, while empowered by a Lost Logia." She pauses. "It... well. It was more or less... ceremonial, but it felt wrong not to be a sworn knight anymore, and Rashmi recommended Usagi as a good option to renew my oath of protection." Ahem. "So. Yes. I am technically sworn to them, though more to the earth and moon's protection itself. Not that I've been /particularly/ effective recently, without my partners." Hanzo and Koji are in their regular athletic clothes! And warning her about midterms. "Hah, I fear no studying!" Pause. "...Mostly because I experienced this last year while attending. I have been maintaining mostly reasonable grades, bearing in mind the whole 'being MIA for three months' thing." ... yeah that dipped her grades a bit, even if they'd mitigated it a fair bit for her. It was just a lot to catch up on. "..." "I will have to visit this island of cats."
Rashmi Terios	Koji being in his 'athletic clothes' earns him an amused look from Rashmi, a smile of the whole 'hey if that's how you wanna do, you do you' variety. And when Platinklinge comes out, Rashmi is already frowning just a bit in worry... And when she steps over to open an unseen panel on the zweihander, and a curl of smoke comes out... she closes her eyes, slowly closes the panel, and takes a deep breath. "...Okay yeah Platinklinge gets a spa week," she declares gravely, and just... slides the entire sword into Nicomachea's gem, then looks up at Aloisia gravely. "I'd give you a lecture on how to properly care for your Device," she begins, "but you're right... you're just too much for him, really. So... allow me to introduce." The great red crystal on the book's cover is tapped again, and it's only Rashmi's Barrier Jacket-enhanced strength that allows her to pull out... It looks like a shield, sort of. Two huge, thickly technological metal points extend up and down, surrounding a large, spherical green crystal. Detailing on the mechanical portions of the shield suggest wings, but there is zero doubt that the primary function of this Device is to stop anything it gets in the way of. "Vorhutschwester." Then she repeats the motion, but now the reason for meeting in the Shed is understandable; the lance is long, easily eight feet of sleek metal and crystals; its guard is an angular four-pointed star sweeping back from the lance's haft, and the business end is split halfway down the middle, with two vicious-looking blades forming the lance's point... a point which could easily be confused for some kind of railgun. "Schutzschwester." Stepping back, she gestures with her free hand, from Aloisia to her armaments. "Crystal Knight of the Earth and Moon... I give to you, Festungseid. May they serve you well."
Chiyo Sakai	Oh, oh this is NEWS. Not only does Chiyo grin in a broad, almost gleeful way as she learns this particular tidbit, but her left eye suddenly glows a bright red instead of the natural pink hue of her irises. Just the one eye though, not both. "Ha! My cousin is knighting people now? That's great!" She was so going to use this to her advantage somehow. Mostly by teasing them. A light bounce on the balls of her feet come as she turns her gaze over toward Koji flashing her teeth in another grin. "After I lost my powers as a Culinary Guardian, they invited me to join them. My partner is Reshbal, the twin to Takuto's Cybody. Although his powers are different." It's as she mentions powers that the glow in her eye fades back to normal. "I heard there's a training ground that was put in here awhile ago that can adjust for those who use it. Might want to use that." After the breif explanation on her own part she falls silent. Rashmi's appearing of the weapons was most interesting after all. She'd seen devices before, sure, but none like these. It was mostly Rashmi's and Koji's.
Koji Silvia	The reveal makes Koji take a step back, and well... when you have a knife on a rope... even if it's a magical one, the comparison is pretty impressive. Enough that he gives a low whistle, and then a nod, "I'm almost worried if I scan them, one'll cut me and the other will just shut me down." Moving back, he settles next to Chiyo, and for a moment just grins, giving Aloisia her moment, but he does end up saying quietly to Chiyo, "I was serious about the coming by. I know I kinda... turn into turtle if I'm not careful. Been trying to get into some hobbies. Normal stuff. I started making gunpla again. Admittedly..." He chuckles some, "It started as a joke. I asked Sugata-sama if he would let me see Samekh sometime, and I wanted to do a thing with him... pose-fighting with the models. I know it's silly, but I thought it was cool. I guess I didn't feel like I could do that kind of stuff with Mamoru around." He stops as he's babbling a little, but then gets to the point, "So... you wanna try take two on the whole friend thing? No promises... but you haven't lived until you've been inside a movie."
Aloisia Harlaown	"I have done what I could to care for him -- but the level of repairs he requires are beyond my skills." Aloisia says, her tone actually a bit sad at that -- poor Platinklinge. She truly did the best she could for him and it shows, but it's also clear it reached a point where she was unwilling to do more, lest she cause more harm than good. Platinklinge held up remarkably well in spite of all of that, though, for being basically the most basic form of device possible, as a Magic Sword rather than even a proper Armed Device. And the twin devices are pulled out, first, Vorhutschwester, that familiar emerald crystal surrounded by that beautiful device. And out comes the lance that once was her Indomitable Sister. She who knew not defeat. Her hands gently trace over both devices, undoubtedly changed, but restored. She closes her eyes, gently lifting both devices, her forehead lightly pressing against the crystals that were their cores. And she is absolutely silent for a long moment, even while others talk around her. <TRANEN STEHEN DIR> <NICHTS, PRINZESSIN.> The twin devices ping, and Aloisia gives a soft chuckle. "It is good to see you two, as well." She says, shifting to hold that shield and lance more properly. Things may still need an adjustment, but that familiar weight of the shield in her hand felt perfect, and even the weight of that lance felt perfect, though ... different. And the ripple of her true barrier jacket -- changed, much like those devices, though still heavily reminiscent of that armored dress she used to wear. "Phew." She says softly, exhaling. "Platinklinge's armor was functional, it worked, but it feels nice to have this familiar armor back." Her eyes finally open as she looks towards Chiyo. "I apologize, I was not ignoring you, simply... greeting my dear sisters." Her smile is a little bittersweet now, but still joyous. "I do believe that's a good idea, to use that training ground that is." She pauses. "The Ginga group are solid friends -- a good group to be with, they were there every step of the way of my recovery, from what I understand of ... admittedly jumbled memories." Koji gets a slightly more playful smile, "And it would be the shield that would cut you, of course. Vorhutschwester is still as feisty as she was as the Unstoppable Sister." She says bemusedly. There is a slight shift of that lance, the tip of it splitting open and a crystal sliding out briefly, before sliding back into place with a ka-chunk and series of clicks. "Mm. And the usual surprises for the Schlossknacker is there, I see. If somewhat different. Excellent." There is a pause, and then a serious look to her face. "This shall make Seriss Nyx regret always hiding behind that shield of hers."
Rashmi Terios	"Ordinarily I'd agree," Rashmi says, nodding at Chiyo's offer of the use of the range. "But the Zone is... well, built so that every shot goes completely on target. And I'm gonna need to see if they need any kind of adjustments in their alignment." She falls silent for a moment, looking between all three, and flushes. "...I mean look they're the second Device -- and third, technically -- I've ever built, and Alo-chan deserves the absolute best. So... I called in Koji-kun, to do what the Zone can't; give me numbers I can work with, without translating Entrapta-chan's chain of logic first." With that, she takes in a deep breath, and grins at Chiyo. "He's not wrong, you know... Nicomachea makes a fantastic movie screen, sure, but Hanzo? Let's just say that 'VR cinema' absolutely deserves to be its own category of art, once we figure out how to manage it for Earth people. And the knighting thing, I mean... It was either Usa-chan, or one of like half a dozen mermaids that leapt immediately to mind." At which point, she tips her head back to indicate Aloisia in her Knight Armor, grinning. "Doesn't really look like the type for underwater mobility, y'know? So whaddaya say, everyone? Who wants to step outside, Barrier up, and put the Knight through some paces?"
Chiyo Sakai	Chiyo Sakai watches as Aloisia reconnects with the devices both curious and perhaps a bit understanding of the silence that ensues. Having Reshbal, who could speak inside her head when he wished, was equally as distracting at times. It was kind of nice to have him there though when he wasn't whispering secrets of those around her at least. She wasn't alone. "It's quite all right. I understand," she assures to Aloisia with a dip of her head in her direction. Then her attention shifts to Koji with a soft smile. "I'd like that. And Ojiisan wouldn't mind seeing you around more again too, I'm sure." Chuckling she adds, "You ought to meet Taro-kun as well. He helps out at the store. Practically family now." There was another she would have introduced him to, but here she falters before shifting her weight to one foot. "I'd like to catch up Koji, yeah." Looking to Rashmi, and Aloisia again she inclines her head to the pair. "I get the need to test things out. And for only being your second attempt, Rashmi, this is amazing," she points out with a gesture toward Aloisia's new.. old? Weapons. "So do whatever you need to test. I haven't tried the range out myself yet." Looking around she sighs quietly, "I should get going on patrol though. I'm keeping an eye out for a certain knight of my own. But let me know how it goes!"
Koji Silvia	"Stay safe out there, Chiyo. If you want anything post-patrol, my window's always open!" Giving the Ginga a ganbatte fistpump, he pushes of his spot and heads towards the doorway, "And I'll try and make sure to stop by the shop soon... and meet... Taro? Taro." But as he holds the door to allow her to leave, there's that slightly pensive look, just for a moment, before the reflection passes over his glasses, and it fades. Then to Alo and Rashmi he gives a little smile and pushes them back up in line with his eyes, "So... before we begin, this isn't going to be a bout between you and me, Aloisia Stauss. You're going to learn a little bit more about how my magic works than most." And he slips outside... to wait...
Aloisia Harlaown	Ah, the zone makes it so that shots go completely on target and designed by others. Aloisia gives a simple nod towards Rashmi. "I understand -- that is good for output testing, not good for alignment and effectiveness testing." Aloisia responds to Rashmi. "...We perhaps should see about getting alternate modes into it, utilizing Intelligent Device simulation technology would likely allow for a more comprehensive combat simulation as needed." Aloisia muses out loud. Chiyo is listened to quietly, before she says softly, "It is amazing. You should have seen the state they were in before... they gave everything to help ensure that I would survive the ordeal." She looks down at her devices. And then the talk of going on patrol and keeping an eye out for a certain knight. She flashes a slightly playful grin towards Chiyo, "Hm hm! I see, I do hope your hunt for your knight goes quite well. I'm sure this will go well, but knowing Rashmi..." She glances towards Nichomachea. "There shall be a full recording for you to peruse later." That tone is ever so slightly teasing. "..." Koji gets a slight look as she moves to step out of the Shed. "It's just Aloisia now. Stauss isn't a name I claim anymore." She says softly. It's not an angry response, just a gentle correction. She glances down at her twin devices, which were shifting and moving slightly, pieces of both moving around in place as she puts the devices through various little tests of her own pre-test. "Shall I deploy the barrier, or do you intend to so you have more control of the flow of information, Rashmi?"
Rashmi Terios	Hanzo's theatrics draw out an exasperated chuckle from Rashmi, but as Chiyo mentions finding her own Knight on patrol, her smile slips... And she closes her eyes for a moment, letting a sigh out through her nose. "...Four," she mutters, then shakes off the gloom to grin and wave her roommate out. Turning to Aloisia, the redhead chuckles. "Look I can't help it if Nicomachea is purpose-built too. And yeah, let me handle Barrier duties for this. Partly for the background readings, but mostly because everything that comes out of your Device has to be analyzable. And that's harder to do when I'm filtering out Barrier frequencies from every spell you cast. So!" Waving ALoisia after Koji, she follows the Knight out, finds Koji, then nods, waiting a few moments for Chiyo to get well clear. << BONG! >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >> Inside a bubble at least half a kilometer in diameter, the world is now painted in warm tones by a staticky-golden sky. In the center of the bubble, Rashmi takes a deep breath, turns to Koji, and nods. "Okay, Koji-kun! Impress her."
Koji Silvia	"Impress her? How about this..." << PHANTOM ZONE - CINEMA. >> For a half-second the world around the three is completely black, even under their feet. The sensation of ground is there, but it is like standing in a blackout in the middle of winter in a field... there's no sound, there's no light, nothing... However, that moment passes and like a cloche being raised from a meal to reveal the first sight and smell of food, the darkness vanishes to reveal an entirely new place. It's a quarry-like valley with high stone walls that end up being a natural channel towards a timeworn castle keep with a thick wall that stands between it and anything that might charge it. A large place, almost a small city rising above it on the rightside, with some towers around the stacked stone edifice, and going up to what looks like a castle that is slowly succumbing to time. To the left the wall stretches, blocking off an area between it and a sheer mountain face. It's mid-day as far as the sun shows, a chill wind picking up and coming from the open end. For Rashmi, it's immediate recognition. It's Helm's Deep from the Two Towers movie of the Lord of the Rings. The air smells like the end of winter, and there's a rustle in some old banners hanging in place on the castle for the Rohirrim. "Unfortunately, Hanzo can't do the people who should be here now... but I thought, given your Devices... this might be a good place to help you enjoy the return of your friends, Aloisia. Are you ready to see what you can do?" << PHANTOM - CLONE >> For a moment, a half-dozen hexagonal shields appear about 20 meters away... but then the same black-effect covers them, resolving into... tall, bestial male creatures, with almost piggish and deformed faces, scraggly hair, mis-shapen armor that has white handprints on it, and swords that are little more than chopping blades with a point on their back. Yes... this is Helm's Deep, so he made Uruk-Hai. They all bellow, spittle shooting from tusks mouths, and proceed to beat on their shields and ready for battle!
Aloisia Harlaown	"And an excellent purpose it is, being a true support device." Aloisia says with a simple nod. "Those that choose to use those are rare and always have a great effect on whatever battlefield they stand on." A soft exhale as she looks at the twin devices, adjusting things ever so slightly here and there. Alright. She lets her eyes close momentarily. "I will have to break in the grips. They're so very fresh and new." And a bit stiff. But workable, at least for now. Those eyes being closed also functioned for multiple purposes, a silent conversation with her Devices, going over spells, any changes, any adjustments needed to be done to the magical circles to adjust to their new forms. Phantom Zone - Cinema. It's likely for the best that Aloisia's eyes are closed when that darkness takes over. And her eyes open to that cloche with the scent of food, the stone walls of a natural channel towards a timeworn castle. It's mid-day, and though there weren't ... necessarily people there, she could somewhat tell. This is a battlefield. And there are a bunch of bestial male creatures. "Hm. It is a good battlefield, yes." The beating of shields. The bellowing of tusked mouths. And Aloisia's shield lifts as well, light igniting along its edges, as several slots open along the length of Vorhutschwester. <KRISTALL> <STACHELN.> Energy gathers in those slots, before launching several scattershots of crystal spines up into the air above those Uruk-Hai. And in mid-air above the battlefield, a series of smaller belkan magic circles catch each of those spikes, reorienting them and launching them at high speed down into the hordes. "Wide-area attack test, completed." "Proceeding to close-range vanguard position." And jets fire from the side of that lance, as Aloisia flies up and over towards the battlefield, intent to follow up that wide-area bombardment with simple intent. To crash into the front lines and test the piercing power of the lance against those shields.
Rashmi Terios	Rashmi flushes, pleased at the praise given to her and her Device. It might be a small thing, and the redhead is very much farther along than the half-panicking newbie of two years ago... But it's just nice to be vocally appreciated. Her greatest weakness, however, is that her poker face is almost as terrible as her singing voice. Even when she tries to look dignified, serious, and supportive as the blackness lifts to display the new battlefield... She is, instead, very very quietly making a sound akin to the whistle of a teakettle. Alo approved of the battlefield, but Rashmi is utterly fangirling. As Alo launches off to play with her new toys, Rashmi takes a few steps back, summoning a half-dozen screens over Nicomachea's pages, and leans toward Koji. "I can't believe you actually did it. 'VR cinema' would make such good marketing copy..."
Koji Silvia	Koji cannot talk right now... sweating because the is a Belkan and she needs a target-rich environment. As the six are taken out by a wide-area attack, the shields hidden inside burst, but also measure the strength of the attack in real-time, and a link between Hanzo and Nicomachea begins feeding the data on each hit, how each was hit, where it was hit, and how much damage it took to destroy it, and estimated remainders Three dozen more shields this time, each one the size of a tea-plate, each one then covered with another Uruk-Hai, and these ones just raise their swords and go running like mad bastards at Aloisia so she can slay them. Once he finally has the next wave focused and is panting a little, he mutters, "I thought she's start melee... whew..." Now he can address Rashmi, "I can't take all the credit. The uhhh... I got inspired by... the book Molly gave me... and the movies were just the best example. It let me try out the game rules in a setting. Hanzo then said he could just remodel the whole movie series... and here we are." He winces, watching Alo get down to business. They die bloody and violent deaths, but the blood isn't real, and their swords will unfortunately pass through her if they hit. But they do at least act like they're deflected by the shield!
Aloisia Harlaown	"This is literally what I was just talking about, ja." Aloisia comments back towards Rashmi. She hadn't seen any of the Lord of the Rings, of course, so it just looked like an excellent battlefield to her compared to Rashmi's own fangirling. Meanwhile those Uruk-Hai seem to have some slight reaction to them, some slight resistance -- Just those shields of course -- but still a decent enough reaction, as swords swing at her, and she reflexively meets them with her shield or a Wall spell in response, not holding back on her defenses -- even summoning a Pyramide Enfall as a high-output-spell. She would also explicitly go out of her way to test Plasmabolzen and Schlossknacker, even potentially after the Uruk-Hai are all gone again... She's not using literally every spell in her repertoire, but a good spread of them to help ensure that Rashmi gets a good battery of test data, and the two devices get a reasonably acceptable stress test. ...Also probably Hanzo does at the same time. She's not cackling madly. ...But there is an unmistakable slightly battle-crazed grin.
Rashmi Terios	"Well she's definitely in melee now," Rashmi murmurs... Then at Koji's admission, an indecipherable look flits across her face, and she rests a hand on the boy's shoulder. "We'll get her back," she says with rock-ribbed certainty. "Then we can play the game with her. But uh... Probably you should show her this, but nobody else who plays. I've been hearing about 'forever DMs' and it sounds like you'd be a natural for that." Letting her hand fall away, she studies the flood of data coming from Hanzo, and Nicomachea's own sensors, nodding to herself as she peruses the readings. "Hey, Koji-kun?" she says offhandedly, after a bit. "How d'you feel about the trebuchets from this scene?"
Koji Silvia	"I think it would be a good idea." Across the battlefield, there's suddenly fires of the hills, war-drums playing, the smell of smoke and metal and then suddenly... CHUNK-UNK-UNK-UNK-UNK The sound comes again... and again... a fourth time... five... six... Remote-fired Barrets from magical circles, something that is not easy to do in combat, unless you're someone like Chrono, but in this case are firing on long slow arches down towards Aloisia... But each looks like a stone ball wrapped in chains and ON FIRE. Rashmi's earlier comments actually make him blush a little in the ears, "You're probably right. About the whole... thing..." Helpfully, he adds, "But I think I have enough left to use some Boost Shields and the targets to make a Ogre. Wanna see?"