timeandtides_backup | The Lunatic Pandora

Current Location: Lunatic Pandora

Entry tags:

The Lunatic Pandora

Characters: Lufene, everyone who wants to go after her
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: The intrepid heroes of Gaia seize their chance to board the Lunatic Pandora and attempt to stop its progress.
Location: Lunatic Pandora (over Fum)
Date: 19th April, 1805
Warnings: Violence

Since it began its journey two days ago, the Lunatic Pandora had made its way slowly but surely across the Outer Continent, nearing its final destination with every passing second.

The sky around it was soon dotted with airships, come to track its progress. But none could yet halt it. To even make such an attempt, a party would need to get inside - and in the heart of the Pandora, Lufene was waiting.

[ooc: See this post for plotting! I will put up threads for the different groups. Feel free to start your own subthreads - and please, threadjack away! No posting order, let's do this party style. \o/]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[You'll find Lufene in the deepest part of the structure, near the Crystal Pillar. She'll appear unexpectedly.]

Rinoa was as wary as she'd ever been. After Lufene's brief appearance, they'd set out to search for her and Rinoa felt that she ought to be more help - she'd been here before, after all. Where was Lufene likely to be hiding?

Instead, she found herself almost unconsciously gravitating towards the place she knew Adel's chamber had been. They were close to it now. If there was any echo of power here, Rinoa was pretty sure that it was her own imagination overacting. But the Lunatic Pandora was unsettling. There was something alien about it.

"Guys," she said, forcing herself to voice her fear. "Um... I thought you should know. Back in my world, when we were last here, there was a Sorceress trapped here too. Sorceress Adel. So... Lufene might not be the only one we need to look out for."

Ursula followed along, as ready as she ever would be for something like this. She had fought many deadly enemies on the moon...and hoped that at least some of that experience would help her here. Peering around warily, she nodded at Rinoa's advice.

"Adel...what is she like? If we have to face her also, what can she do?" It was better to prepare while they still had the time, if they indeed had any. Of course, the princess would aid her group no matter what, but a little knowledge beforehand couldn't hurt.

"A sorceress," Balthier remarked as Rinoa lead them deeper into the structure, glad that their group had an experienced guide, though she seemed rather nervous about the whole ordeal. She certainly had every right to, he thought. "Good to know. We'll be on the alert. As Ursula asked, are there any particulars we should know?"

He held gun loosely in his right hand as they progress, laying flat against his leg and ready to be drawn at the first sign of animosity. "Even larger than it looks from the outside, I have to say."

Basch was also thankful for the experienced guide. To have to wander into this place alone and without any information was near suicide. The Captain stayed towards the back, to cover any preemptive strikes any monster might decide to do. His hand lay on the hilt of his sword comfortably, ready in a moment's notice.

"Like what kind of beasts we should expect while we wander these halls. We should be prepared for anything that comes our way. It would be helpful if you happened to remember."

With one thing on her mind, the only logical course was for her to go with the team that went inside, and since she knew Balthier and Basch, she opted to go with their group when they split in two. She was currently tailing the group with Basch, keeping an ear and an eye open for monsters, sorceresses, skanky genomes...

Rinoa was doing alright as a guide, so far. Still, Lightning was wary, and she glanced up at Basch as he spoke, nodding in agreement. "The last thing we need is to get jumped before we meet our target."

"I agree. Although she did send monsters ahead of herself when she struck before." Troia was still recovering from that attack, as were other areas of the world. Some of the damage wouldn't be undone for years yet. That thought put a stern expression on Ceodore's face. This woman's madness had to be stopped.

As a precaution, he began piling on protective magics on the entire crew: Haste, Protect, Shell, Blink. Better to be prepared than scrambling to defend, even if it could possibly be a premature action.

"She's..." Rinoa frowned. "She's got powerful magic, like Meteor. And... she can junction people, kind of like possessing them, to drain their power. There's nothing else here that's so dangerous, just a bunch of machines. She's probably not here," she added, more to convince herself than anything.

But if she was, this is where she'd be.

They'd reached the chamber. Rinoa stepped inside, her heart clutching with anticipation. Adel's seal lay exactly as it had back on her own world, a broken cage to hold a Sorceress. But there was no Sorceress inside. The place was empty.

Rinoa let out the breath she'd been holding.

Empty of that hurdle, perhaps. But Squall wasn't quite so ready to assume they were safe just yet. There was still at least one foe that was going to be every bit the problem Adel had been, if he was judging the situation right.

"Most of the monsters in the Lunatic Pandora aren't particularly difficult to defeat. I don't knew what Lufene what have brought with her, if she did bring anything, but the native monsters won't be a problem."

Provided they didn't have to go down into the lower levels, anyway, but somehow he rather doubted they'd need to.

Lufene appeared quite suddenly, floating before Adel's seal and looking down at each and every one of them. She'd been watching them, this band of fools, watching and waiting for them to waste time searching for her.

A cold smile spread across her face. "You've come a long way. A pity it's in vain. Run now, and you might make it. Delay a little longer and you won't get out in time." She put her hand to her mouth in mock horror. "Oh! Which will it be? Time is ticking..."

They wouldn't run, she already knew that. As they'd lived, so they would die fools. She'd already cast Reflect on herself. Now it was simply a matter of counter attacking at the right time.

Despite his usual verbosity, Balthier was not one to waste time on words when it mattered. He raised his gunarm and fired a shot directly at the genome; injuring her wouldn't be as simple as that, he knew, but it was better to act and see what parlor tricks she might pull to avoid it than to stand there and quarrel while they tried to puzzle out her defenses. If the shot did manage to connect, well. So much the better.

"Get out in time," he echoed with an arched brow. "A threat really ought to have a bit more flair."

Ursula, despite the temptation, didn't charge ahead. She first hung back and added to Ceodore's protective magics with Aura, suspecting they would all need it before this encounter was ended. Then she leveled her gaze at Lufene, assuming a defensive stance.

"We're not going anywhere, Lufene. You should know that by now." They'd come too far for that, and this woman had wreaked havoc enough on Gaia. She needed to be stopped, before she could cause more damage. And she resumed focusing, preparing for her next move.

Fran had remained silent and alert the entire time, but even with her sharp Vieran senses Lufene had managed to surprise them all in her sudden appearance. It was unnerving to say the least, but Fran stood her ground, shifting into a comfortable stance to draw her bow.

They couldn't turn back, not now. Rinoa knew that. Whatever unpleasant memories she had of this place didn't matter. She joined the battle, grim and determined.

Unfortunately, she made the mistake of casting Blizzaga at Lufene, only for the spell to rebound and hit her instead.

That hurt, a lot, and Rinoa bit back a cry of pain as her own magic struck her.

Basch's sword was immediately drawn, his body immediately going into a defensive stance.

"We care not for your tricks, Lufene. If you wish to fight, then fight! We shall see who the victor is."

Lufene simply rolled her eyes at Balthier, unimpressed. She deflected the bullet with her sword, then sneered down at Ursula and the rest.

"I'm counting on it."

With that, she swept the air in front of her with her sword, sending a wave of Darkness crashing into all her opponents.

Balthier grimaced as the wave washed over them, putting as much weight as he could on his back heel to keep himself from being put off-balance. He sneered, firing another pair of shots at Lufene in rapid succession. For the first time since arriving on Gaia, he found himself severely irritated that he did not have use of all the techniks he had mastered back in Ivalice. The gun would have to suffice for now -- or if Lufene's pockets had anything worth taking, he supposed that was his area of expertise, as well.

Thanks to Aura and Shell, that wave wasn't as bad as it could have been for Ursula. Still, it stung and set her off-balance, disrupting her gathering focus. She didn't bother with more healing via Chakra, since Regen was in effect.

After Balthier's shots were fired, Ursula charged and lashed out at Lufene with her claws, intent on putting Ceodore's Haste spell to good use.

Lufene was doing a very good job of deflecting their blows and bouncing their magicks off on top of that. A tricky one. Fran took three arrows, removed a feather from two of them and lined all three on her bow string. She fired them all at once, one going straight, two bending. A higher chance of damage, at least, that was the idea.

Rinoa was thankful for the Shell Ceodore had cast in that moment, because the combined impact of her own spell hitting her and Lufene's attack almost had her out for the count. As it was, she felt dizzy but she managed to gasp out to her nearest comrades.

"Can - can someone cast Reflect? Or I can't hit her..."

Magic was out-- not that Lightning cared much. She was mad, and was growing more irritated with every dodge and feint that Lufene threw her way. Lightning was already overflowing with the rage she felt towards the woman taunting them, and she wasn't going to let Lufene kill them without a fight.

So she paused in her steps, drawing a hand to her chest, the area around her glowing a soft pink.

The sequence was quick, complete with a flurry of rose petals, and Lightning charged forward, her summon right behind her.

"I can but..."

Doing so was risky, very risky. It looked like he was the only one with white magic in the group, aside from Ursula's Chakra, and Reflect would bounce off anything curative he'd use on the group. While he weighed those options, He cast Curaga on them all, wanting to ensure they were all covered before attempting Reflect.

He used the cover of Lightning's summon to at least get Reflect on Rinoa. To put it on them all would be suicide in this situation. He paused for a second and then thought. If she could cast black magic then...

"Hey, try casting on my sword." It wouldn't be as powerful as a Band, but effective enough and it'd go through Reflect too.

Lufene was getting into her stride now, blade twirling, utilising the power of darkness to its utmost. Both arrows and bullets found their mark, which irritated her; that hurt.

The appearance of the Eidolon was an unexpected bonus. She met Lightning's blade with her own, then twisted and slashed down at Odin, stabbing a Shadowblade into the heart of the Eidolon, thus draining its energy to replenish her own.

A second later, she cast Meteor, sending a barrage of powerful meteorites raining down on the party. She was mad that they'd managed to hurt her. Now she wanted them to hurt.

Lightning cursed as Odin was struck, twisting her own blade as Lufene did, moving in for a jab.

She wasn't fast enough; the spell was let out, and as close as she was to Lufene, she got the brunt, the meteors sending Lightning flying back to land on the ground in almost a heap.

Dizzy, and disoriented, it took her a few moments to get up, watching as Odin was also struck by the meteors and subsequently knocked out. She grit her teeth and swallowed.

Now? Now she was really mad.

The Curaga healed Rinoa and she felt much safer with Reflect covering her too. She shot a quick smile at Ceodore, immediately in better spirits.

Backing away out of range of both Odin and the Meteor barrage that Lufene sent down on them, Rinoa channelled her magic once again, this time aiming it at Ceodore's sword.

The Lunatic Pandora

Group II (Confronting Lufene)

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