Andromeda hovered slightly behind the others as Achelois did whatever it was she did to sense presence inside the building. They waited, and she could feel the tension building. Finally, Achelois announced that there were two life forms in the building. Well… that was good. Only two. That meant no scary monsters or mass of Chaos agents, right? Though she wasn’t sure if those would count as the type of life forms Achelois could sense.

When Enyalius gave her orders, Andromeda nodded. “Right behind you.”

She held her wrists up and flew closer, waiting for the countdown and the moment they broke through. Her heart was picking up pace, and she hoped this would be a simple, straightforward rescue.

Then again, when is it ever?

Now Aktypris felt a warm glowing pride, which reflected in her wings glowing a bit more brightly, spreading through her body when Enyalius validated her idea. She mentally congratulated herself and stood a little taller, though she wished she could stop shivering already so she could appear more dignified. She briefly thought about going along with them when Enyalius called for volunteers, then glanced at Shadow from the corner of her eye. No, no it was probably best that she stay right here.

She watched Enyalius, Achelois, a dark young senshi and the one who seemed very oceany who had conversed with Varuna for a bit as they took off towards the building to inspect it. She once again felt a grin break out on her face, then glanced at Shadow again, sidling a little closer to him. She was vaguely envious of him right now, he seemed comfortable enough in that jacket of his. She briefly thought of asking to borrow it, then flushed darkly at the thought. No it looked better on him anyway. It made him look darkly handsome she thought. She stood there shyly, half of her attention on Shadow and half of her attention curiously on the hovering dots above the building.

Achelois nodded at Enya’s orders, fast and quick was definitely the way to go if they could.  She glanced down back at the others on the ground.  Hopefully nothing would happen to the others while the small search group went in.  Achelois positioned herself behind Andromeda, her staff ready.  If needed she was ready to using her calming energy, depending on how the next few moments unfolded.  She glanced over at Nocturnus, a sly grin on her face, and winked at her.  “We’ll let them,” she nodded to Andromeda and Enya, “destroy the place and make sure nobody gets hurt… mostly.”  She looked back to Enya, ready to assist if necessary.

Sailor Europa


After seeing Enyalius and Achelois land, Europa landed on the ground as well. Despite being newer to going on missions, the rookie senshi were giving good suggestions on how to approach the building. She watched from a distance as Achelois, Nocturne, Andromeda, and Enyalius moved closer to try and get a gauge on who was inside. On edge now, she summoned her scythe, grabbing it by the staff as it appeared in a flurry of wind. As soon as they needed to move in, Europa wanted to be ready.

Sailor Nocturnus

Sailor Nocturnus nodded at Achelois' comment, the young girl poised and ready. She aspired towards being as strong as Sailor Enyalius and the others someday, but she knew that "someday" was certainly not "now." She couldn't even imagine the embarrassment she would feel if she charged in, overestimating her abilities, and had to be rescued by her older and wiser teammates. She was a fighter, and she had fought alongside them before, but she knew she was ill-suited to be on the very front lines of this attempt.

"Three."

Enyalius dove downwards headfirst, increasing her speed as quickly as possible to gain momentum; as the flat rooftop came within range she did a neat roll, dispelled her wings and summoned her sword and shield, mentally preparing for the impact and following confrontation. Holding her weapons above her head, she plummeted feet first towards the building, bracing her legs for impact and tearing through the metal. She grit her teeth - this shouldn't hurt too much.

Quote :

Enyalius attempts to attack the Building!
Building defenses are active! Enyalius is hit with the defenses!
How much damage?
--An 8 is rolled
--Chaotic Electricity - no armor bonus.
----A total of 8 points of damage.

Enyalius is unable to break through the building, stopped 1 foot above the surface by Chaotic energy.

Instead it hurt a lot.

When she was within a foot of the surface she was met with an incredible power surge that immediately slowed her down; it was as though she had kicked into an active electric generator. She grunted with the sudden pain and bent her knees, intending to kick off and bounce away from the surface. She summoned her wings to help.

Quote :

Enyalius attempts to jump away from the surface! 
Does she make it? Enyalius's dexterity is 12. A roll is required.
--She rolls a 2.
----She is unable to bounceback.

Enyalius is unable to change her trajectory; as she spends time closer to the surface she is dealt more damage.

Enyalius is attacked by Chaotic Energy defenses.
How much damage?
--an 18 is rolled
----Total of 18 points of damage holy mother of pain

As she bent her knees they buckled beneath her and instead she fell to her hands and knees on the cold metallic rooftop. She cried out in pain - something she was not known to do - at the sudden onslaught of energy that raced up her arms and legs. She shut her mouth forcefully, cutting off the scream, and forced her eyes open. Feathers landed on the rooftop around her, twitched in the energy, and turned to ash. "DON'T TOUCH THE BUILDING!" she shouted, her words slurred as she concentrated on not biting her tongue. How the hell was she going to get out of this?

Aktypris continued her adoring half watching of Shadow. It was almost enough to make her forget about the cool weather on this planet. She saw motion from the corner of her eye, and it took her a few moments to realize the scouting senshi were doing something. She turned her head, her eyes widening as she saw the senshi diving at the building. She had been about to say something when Enyalius' scream echoed across the landscape, along with a shout about not touching the building.

Her wings flicked open to full length as she cried out, “The others are in trouble!!” Without another thought, she kicked herself off the ground hard, flapping her wings and flying at the others. As she got closer, she could see Enyalius kneeling on the surface of the building, and seemingly in pain. “What's going on, what happened?!”

Sailor Europa

Whe she saw the smaller group of senshi descend on the roof, Europa moved towards the rooftop to catch up with them. She got there just in time to see Enyalius crash down on the roof-or at least try. She was slowed by an invisible force, and then collapsed onto the roof instead. She was acting like she was being shocked, so was the roof electrified?

Europa racked her brain for what they could use to help her. What did they have that wouldn't conduct a current? Ice might work.... Trying to stay calm, Europa turned to the other nearby senshi.

"Some kind of energy attack is running through the building," she said to Aktypris. "Does anyone have some kind of rope for her to grab? I can freeze it to repel the current."

Andromeda watched as Enyalius dove toward the building, readying herself to follow. However, just before she could, something happened. Enya seemed to have hit an invisible shield, and for a second it seemed as if she was trying to fly back up, but she couldn’t. Instead, she fell onto the roof of the building. The shock of hearing her cry in pain was like being doused with cold water. Andromeda’s first instinct was to dive in after her, but she held back as she noticed Enya’s body spasming, her feathers burning.

She could barely make out the words of warning. Electricity?

Half her chain had already begun to extend before she realized it was metal and would not be a good idea. She felt helpless and panicked, looking at the others.

When Europa offered to freeze a rope, Andromeda practically shoved the chain in front of her face, holding its end so that it didn’t reach all the way down just yet. She let out a length that she judged to be enough to reach Enya.

“Would this work?”

Sailor Europa

Europa inspected Andromeda's chain. It was definitely long enough to reach, and she was fairly shre she could keep it frozen enough to insulate it.

"Yes, this should be fine. Hold it still..." Europa backed away enough to use her scythe without risking hitting someone with it accidentally. She took aim with the curved blade, and then slashed at the chain with it.

"Europa Cold Typhoon!" A chilling wind exploded from her scythe, curling around the hanging chain like a small tornado, freezing the metal as it touched it. "I'll keep this going so it doesn't melt!"

Quote :

Sailor Europa uses Cold Typhoon (4MP) on Andromeda's Chains.
Does it hit?
--Automatic hit; chain was being held in place.

Andromeda's steel chains are coated in a thick ice!

Future Event, as discussed on Skype:
Andromeda uses Steel Chain Cascade (3MP) to lasso Enyalius
Does it hit?
--Automatic hit; Enyalius is not moving.

She held the chain in front of her as far as her arms would go, hoping Europa wouldn’t accidentally freeze off her hands, too. She stayed as still as possible as the other senshi pointed her scary looking scythe at her. Coldness bit into her, and ice began to coat the metal. The moment it was completely coated, Andromeda let the length of chain drop, willing it to tie itself around Enya’s waist, avoiding pinning her arms and wings.

With a powerful yank she pulled Enya off the roof, flying higher and higher away from the building.

Please work!

Something cold wrapped around her waist and pulled her upwards, off the surface and through the layer of snapping electricity. The pain continued for every moment any part of her was within its reach, and until she had been pulled free she was too weak to move. But once she was fully free, her wings beat weakly, pushing her up and away from rooftop surface. She was out of breath and feeling twitchy; all she wanted at that moment was to sit down. And then kick the crap out of whoever was responsible for that. But first she followed the chain up to Andromeda and offered her a weary smile of thanks. 

"Well, that was rough," she commented lamely, her voice cracking. She looked around the group until she found Europa, "Was that your ice?" she asked, connecting the face to the name, the name to the elemental connection. "Quick thinking, thank you."

OOC:

Achelois loosened her grip on her staff; her fingers regained their color as blood flowed back into them.  She watched as Andromeda pulled Enya to her and released her from the chain.  She watched as the weakened Senshi pulsed her wings and regained her composure.  She didn’t miss a beat as she figured how she was saved and by who, praising their quick thinking.  Achelois fluttered over to Enya and, staff glowing, she focused her energy on Enya, sending her the biggest amount she could.  After she had done all she could for the moment she continued to give her a once over, deciding if she needed more healing.  As she considered Enya’s state, a smile broke across the still face, “That was totally just to give the others a teaching lesson right?”  Her words were light and filled with warmth.

Shadow's study of the wide metallic structure raised some interesting questions. Where was the entrance to this place? Who was trapped inside? And why did it remind him of a late 20th century shopping mall?

Those queries were put to rest by the unfamiliar pained scream of Enyalius. Someone was set on keeping outsiders away from this place by energizing the outer shell of the building.

Now it was time to start asking more prudent questions, Shadow decided as he ran close to the sealed building. He searched the outer surface for possible entryways or weak points on the walls, while also looking for emitters or other control modules. If it was deemed impossible to break in from the side of the building, then he could at least make an effort to bypass this particular trap.

OOC:

Quote :

Achelois uses focused heal, 1 target, for 3 MP
--Enyalius regains 15 MP

As she felt a wave of soothing energy wash over her, her muscles stopped actively aching so much, but she still felt the need to sit down. She was going to thank Achelois - she was in a rather thankful mood at that point - but Achelois's quip turned her thanks into a groan. She had known she'd pay for those teaching remarks at some point.

"I'm going to go sit down. Don't get close to the building," she repeated, though she was 100% confident none were eager to follow in her footsteps. Spreading her wings wide, she coasted, pumping once or twice to keep completely clear of the structure, and glided down to the ground once she had cleared it. She aimed generally for the group of senshi that had elected to stay put, watching as Shadow ran back towards the structure she was flying away from. 

When she landed she immediately sat down, her brows furrowing as she felt the bite of the black sand beneath her on her hands and thighs and realized too late that it wasn't sand at all, but tiny shards of black glass. It kept getting better and better. She took a deep breath, her breathing finally normalizing, and looked to the others, "He knows not to touch the building, right?"

Quote :

Shadow can see that the panels of black and dark grey metal are mis-matched, but fit together and layered snugly. Beyond the obvious front door, he cannot see any other opening or blemish on its surface.

Aktypris watched anxiously as Andromeda and Europa worked together, making a frozen chain to wrap around Enyalius and yank her away from the building. She felt relieved, if slightly useless, but decided to tell herself that was simply how this battle went. She'd have her moment to shine in the light, and show everyone, especially Shadow, what she was capable of. She watched Enyalius flying away from the building, then saw Shadow approaching it. She flew forward and down a bit to him, holding a hand out as she hovered two stories above him and called to him. “Be careful mr.Shadow! There's some kind electrical thing going on with the building! Don't get caught!” Her expression was full of concern and worry as she looked down at him, quite unaware of the extreme peepshow she was currently giving him up her skirt.

When she heard a scream come from where the others had gone to check out the building, her head whipped towards the sound. She summoned her staff, extending it to its full length, body easily shifting into a defensive position. Before she could say anything to the new senshi about staying put and being on guard for any threats, Aktypris took off towards the others. Soon, Shadow, who had been studying the building took off towards it as well. 

That idiot! She thought. The girl had no clue what she was doing. She just took off without thinking. Shadow, she could trust to know what to do in a bad situation. Aktypris? The senshi seemed to act and react without thinking about consequences. I'll be amazed if she doesn't get herself killed on this mission. 


"The rest of you stay here and stay ON GUARD. We have no idea if there are any more threats in the area and it would be best to not be caught unaware," She called out to the group of newbies she was suddenly left with. When she looked back at the group, it looked as though Europa and Andromeda had come up with a way to help Enyalius. Good, as long as they can get her out of that, whatever it is. 

No footprints here, either..


Shadow crouched just outside of the building perimeter, observing an imaginary walkway that extended from the front door to the field of dirt. Seeing nothing of immediate interest, he took Aktypris's advice and backed a few more feet away. The ground approaches were all covered, but what about the air?

He turned to call out to their leader who, thanks to Achelois, was now significantly less injured than before. "Enyalius! Did you see any openings on top of the structure?"

"None," Enyalius replied, raising her voice to be heard across the distance between them. "We'll need to do a perimeter sweep," she announced to the young women around her, "Just like you suggested, Varuna." She paused, "Pair up and fly around the building; see if you can find any entrances or weaknesses in it's structure. If you find anything, call out and reinforcements will come your way. And whatever you do," she looked up at all of them from her sitting position, "Don't get too close to it."

Dismissing her weapon, she walked over to Leviathan, tugging on her arm before she could go anywhere. She had a variety of reasons for wanting to pair up with Leviathan, one of them being to keep an eye on the senshi. She still remembered that she had attempted to run out of fright in the last mission. Maybe if she kept her grounded and focused on other things, she wouldn't be so scared. 

"So you like Pokemon too," she said quietly. "Common, let's talk in the air."

Aktypris was relieved Shadow didn't get hurt, and lighted down on the ground near him as he conversed with Enyalius, despite the distance. She glanced up him and down a moment to make SURE he was okay, then smiled with some minor relief to see he was perfectly fine. She listened as Enyalius told them to pair up and check the building. She turned to Shadow and smiled widely. “I can help you search, Mr. Shadow! Should we check this wall while the other pairs check out the other walls?” She smiled and moved a little closer to him, now remembering her task of discovering what made him happy, and extended her senses towards him once more.

Sailor Nocturnus

At Enyalius' comment, Nocturnus fluttered over to where Achelois watched over their injured (but thankfully partially healed) companion. The child still reeled inside after everything that had just happened. Watching her idol encounter whatever evil energy protected the massive building had been only just short of physically painful for Sailor Nocturnus. Her first reaction had been to dive after the other sailor soldier, but she stopped herself when the more experienced woman warned everyone back. She could still feel the tension in her muscles, lingering even now that Enyalius was no longer in critical danger.

Sailor Nocturnus' dark uniform nearly blended in with the looming structure and the black sand. She stared up at the blonde and tattooed healer with imploring doe eyes. Their leader had requested that the sailor soldiers pair up for surveillance, after all.

"Perhaps we can go together?" she asked timidly.

"Please say 'yes'! Please say 'yes'! Please-please-please," the little one hoped fervently.

Achelois continued to hover over the area as Enya spoke with Jasper and the others.  She told everyone to pair off and search the perimeter.  Achelois wondered if she should stay or go look around when Nocturnus came over to her.  She couldn’t help but smile as the young Senshi asked her to pair with her.  Her eyes were vibrantly green when she agreed,” That sounds like a great idea!”  She barely kept herself from squealing at the thought of pairing off with her.  She look around the building, wondering where a good area to search would be. “Since we’re up here, why don’t we look around the top for any openings?”

Sailor Nocturnus

Thrilled to be on a small "team" with one of the sailor soldiers that she admired, Sailor Nocturnus nodded almost immediately at Achelois' suggestion. The blonde could have recommended nearly anything, and Nocturnus would probably have agreed reflexively.

"We can start here," she replied, gesturing to the area that Achelois had indicated as the top. "If we don't see anything, we could head across it to check the other side."

She kept her eyes open and tried to keep her senses alert. Whatever Chaotic entity they were up against had already caught them somewhat unaware with the barrier around the building. She was hopeful they could avoid another altercation.

Although she said it would be too obvious just to break in, they decided to do it this way. Oh no…this is asking for trouble. “There’s a catch,” she muttered to Vulpix. “No mission in the world would complete so easily.”
 
“Don’t worry,” she heard him saying from her shoulder. “There’s always a first time. And they are not stupid – they will have reasons to do it this way.” Yeah, he’s right, she confessed to herself. They are more experienced than I am, I think they know better. Panacea watched them how they went to the building. Keep calm, Panacea – they know what to do. She was surprised by herself that she was worried about them. After all they just got to know each other a few hours ago. How long ago was that? That she was worried about someone who wasn’t Vulpix?
 
Actually she hated it to be worried about someone. Panacea was more or less the calmness itself but it changed completely whenever she got closer to anyone. Due to the things she saw back then she got worried whenever someone was in danger. Even if it was just a little tiny danger.
 
She tried to distract herself to keep calm and so she turned to Vulpix and started a little chat. “Oh Vulpix - What would I just do without you?,” she said warmly. “I hope you feel better now…after the super frightening landing,” Panacea said ironically and poked him.

Suddenly she heard a loud yell from the building. She turned around and saw the hurt Enyalius. “Oh no,” she shouted. “We have to help her!” She started running towards the building until she noticed that she couldn’t do anything. First Enya had to get off the building before she could heal her. This was Panacea’s big disadvantage as a Sailor Soldier. She could only help when it was too late. Every cell in her body could have screamed but she knew it would be useless; keeping a cool head was the best thing to do. She looked to the ground and took a deep breath. Meditating would be good now.
 
Panacea noticed how Europa and Andromeda tried something to help her. She couldn’t see exactly what they were doing but she was sure that they tried something. Suddenly they threw a frozen chain over Enyalius to lasso her. Panacea was right. When Enya sat down she wanted to come to the aid. However, Achelois got ahead and gave her new energy. Although Enya was still a bit injured she looked a lot better now. Thank goodness, she will be okay!
 
For sure, Panacea was glad that she felt better now – but at the same time she was sad. Sad about the fact that she couldn’t help her. She felt useless. Why did I come along if they already have a healer in the team? She was not sulky or mad. But she felt redundant; like a fifth wheel. It was bad enough that she was just a healer…but now her healing powers were not even needed.
 
She stopped wallowing in self-pity when they got a new order: Pairing up with someone and investigating the area. Panacea looked around and searched for someone who was still alone as well. She targeted Europa. From what she saw now she was a prudent and friendly soldier – perfect choice. “Hey, are you still looking for a partner?,” she asked with a smile on her face.

Sailor Europa


Europa blushed at Enyalius' thanks, but smiled. She really didn't need the acknowledgement, she was just happy that she had been useful at all so far. "You're welcome." After Enyalius had been patched up by Achelois ans Shadow had taken his own look at the building, the decision to split into pairs to investigate the area had been made. When she saw that Soul had gone to pair up with Leviathan, Europa allowed the others to find their own partners first. She would pair up with whoever was left. 

She was momentarily surprised when she was approached by Sailor Panacea and her fox partner. She had spotted the animal earlier, but didn't want to intrude on the new senshi. 

"I am, actually. Would you like to pair up?" she asked.

Oh, Sailor Leviathan wasn't kidding. She was really into Pokemon. She seemed to understand that something terrible was happening but she was far too distracted in her 3DS game. She looked at the suffering of Sailor Enyalius with brief curiosity but then went right back to her game.

She felt someone grab onto her and immediately flinched. She then realized it was Sailor Soul and looked at her with brief disinterest.

"You want to talk?" she said. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Talk if you want. What's your favorite Pokemon?"

She put away her 3DS in one of her infinite pockets and took to the air alongside Soul. Her fin-like wings might have accidentally brushed her. She didn't seem to really care about what was going on, going so far as to outright ignore the chaos that was just going on.

Nothing felt more relieving than seeing Enya up and away from that horrible energy field, and when she was finally able to fly on her own, Andromeda let the chains go, pulled back into her bracelet. She glanced at the older senshi and hoped she could convey her relief that nothing more serious had happened. Letting Achelois take care of her, Andromeda looked back at the other group to make sure everyone was still accounted for.

She had never seen Enyalius so shaken before that she actually had to go sit down. Hugging herself to stop the mild trembling that had started after the adrenaline vanished, she watched the conversation around her. Enya asked everyone to pair up and search the perimeter. Everyone started pairing off with each other, and already being in close proximity with Europa and having just worked together with her successfully, Andromeda looked that way, but Panacea beat her to it.

She shrugged and flew back to the rest of the group, hovering beside Varuna. “Want to go team up?” she asked with a smile. “Guess we should’ve listened to your suggestion in the first place.”

What? Really?, she thought. Panacea was surprised - she didn’t expect Europa to agree. Since she was a lone wolf and spent most of her time with herself she actually had no idea of how to interact with others. Who would have thought? That it’d so easy to establish contacts?
 
“Sure! You are Sailor Europa if I’m not mistaken...right? I’m Panacea as you may know,” she said calm yet warmly. She wanted to go on when her partner started coughing out of nowhere. “Oh, and this is my guardian, Vulpix,” she added. Panacea turned around and gave him a dirty look; he always did that when she forgot to introduce him.
 
“So, what do you suggest? Where should we go?,” she said and paused for a few seconds. “I heard that Achelois and Nocturnus want to look around the top, so every place but the top.” A friendly smile flashed over her face.