DragonRage

In the interest of continuing to protect the townsfolk from these raiders, Maris dashes over to the closest available goblin and smacks it around with his fists and feet. [OOC: Pretty sure that second attack is a confirmed crit too! If I wasn't sure Maris would have died for it, I'd wish the ogre was the one eating this kind of lucky shot.]

"You're smoking magic gas that makes people paranoid, and you're surprised to be feeling paranoid?" Samantha points out reasonably, "Also, I'm pretty sure you can't become immune to things that way, just need a higher dose to notice it's affecting you. That's what they said in bio class anyway."

Samantha, drawn by the extremely strong emotions present there, remains in the courtyard. And she almost immediately hones in on Dackly's rather volatile emotional roller coaster. "Erh, hello? Dackly I think it was?" she greets the plant lady, "Are you alright? I kind of picked up some really strong, er, murderous impulses from you, and I wasn't trying to read your emotions I swear, but they were so strong I couldn't block them out. So, yeah."

"She did seem the sort to hide behind her creations rather than leading them from the front," Lexiel contributes, "But I discovered that her summons all share a potentially devastating weakness. They are draconic in nature. I don't know how; they're obviously not dragons, but they responded to magic that specifically affects dragons. If you have any bane weapons or similar spells and equipment, that could allow you to much more easily destroy the skeletons."

"Aron?" Cobalt asks uncertainly. He's pretty sure a plan is being put into place, and he'd like to know his place in it.

Maris runs over to the civilians being menaced by the goblins, and readies an action to strike the first enemy to go into his reach with his fists. "Do not worry! I shall protect you from these goblins with my fists of justice!"

"Uh, I'm fine?" It sounds more like a question than a statement. "I'm Samantha Grey. Pleasedtameetcha, Liliya. I- Ohmigod you look exactly like a rule 63 Malcolm Reynolds. Er, that came out wrong... Unless you liked Firefly in which case it probably came out right."

Lexiel groans lowly, and resists the urge to slam her forehead against the table. This is what she gets from learning diplomacy at the knee of the Tezzeret, the Multiverse's Biggest Asshole. "If you know what moonsilver can do, and were still unable to trap these entities, it's even more impressive than I'd thought that you've held out this long," She attempts to mollify the now irate noblewoman, "You've been on the ground for far longer than any of us. What do you believe absolutely must happen for the tides of this war to turn in your favor?" Hopefully, some schmoozing will smooth things over and get a clear objective on the table. Now it's starting to feel like applying for grants.

"You have moonsilver," Lexiel states flatly, "You have entire mines of moonsilver, one of the the most potent foci for sealing magic in the multiverse. Certainly the most potent I have ever encountered. And you're losing to magical constructs? I don't see how that's possible, if you have any conception of the value of your resource." She doesn't finish the thought by pointing out that Silef has to be either lying or leading a band of incompetents to not be sealing these servants in moonsilver prisons and then kicking the Sheinar troops' asses. But it's probably not too hard to deduce what Lexiel is thinking.

"I can incorporate any shape, but one that will be easy to secure to the charging station would be ideal. Take a look at this," Alexandria offers, projecting a holographic image. The lightning rods crackle behind them as they draw off excess energy. "I based the design off a Terran insect called an ant. They're known for their teamwork and industrious nature. This model is equipped with the ability to walk on nearly any surface, coordinate with its fellows through radio and blink code binary messages, and perform construction tasks, as well as harm intruders with their strong jaws and electric arc welder. Each will be approximately the length of your hand, and capable of self-replication by constructing more drones. Their intelligence level will be approximately that of a smart dog, and they will be loyal to us for we have given them food, shelter, and companionship. I also have a design for a mobile hive they will be able to use as a fueling station and central hub. They will be able to install modular hardware upgrades into themselves at the hive once we have the time to design them." Alexandria walks over to the fabrication station, and starts machining some parts. "The best part is that once I have constructed the first few, they will build the rest themselves. I shall need some steel and stone, some silicon, and some water to complete the first wave, and they will need more of the same to self-replicate."

"I believe a single, large power supply would be more efficient," Alexandria posits, "I could incorporate a fuel cell into each drone to store power from your magical gems, and they could return to it to recharge."

"Hm. I could create a network of self-replicating drones, loyal to us, that could oversee the castle for us, and save our attention for the most important of tasks," Alexandria suggests, "I will begin drafting a design. However, my generator is not complete and they will need electricity to fuel themselves. Can you create a source for them to use?"

Down in the engine room, Alexandria enlists Mar to begin construction of a Gravity Cannon, as discussed in the Discord.

"Assuming that the enemy elites have quit the battlefield just because the rules say they should seems unwisely optimistic," Lexiel posits, "We could attempt to use our rapid movement abilities to get word to your allies faster, but that wouldn't help them get an army to you in time. Nobunaga, Silef, you've battled these elite summons before, or met people who have at least. Are there any shared traits they have? Do you have any intelligence on the individuals? If defeating them will bring an end to the war, we should attempt to deduce their weaknesses and put together teams purpose-built to arrest or execute them, depending on the relative power levels involved. Capture for trial is preferable, of course, but not always possible without unacceptable casualties."

"Please excuse the Omn- The construct, ma'am," Lexiel's polite smile grows a little strained as she hears LOTUS, "I assure you that he's excellent at planning combat operations. However, his, er, tact protocols are malfunctioning. It's in his OS, we can't fix it without tools we don't have, terribly sorry." Praying to whoever might be listening that LOTUS understands it and is listening, she taps out a message on the table in what she remembers of Morse code as she speaks. 'I kno nt charge. Mk choce s oup. Lad neds person rustt. U et us ilkl if mad reh. Ro in wa wth no aly." Samantha, meanwhile, attempts to sidle away casually when the prisoner passes out. Oops. Of course, she's not great at subtle even when she isn't radiating psychic disturbances and cosmic power like a lighthouse.

"That doesn't surprise me," Lexiel prevaricates, reveling in her new ability to tell little white lies when she needs to without feeling like she's kicking puppies, "I tend to be difficult to scry, and that can mess up attempts to look at my allies. Doesn't do a thing to help my enemies, though, which can be handy." It's pretty close to the truth. After all, divination spells are pretty useless when they're looking for someone who's left the plane. "As for how we got here so fast, well..." Lexiel shrugs, causing her wings to ruffle, "We have a lot of ways to fly, and to carry the non-flyers with us. I am Strike Commander Lexiel, of Overwatch, and assuming you didn't start this war, helping to end it is exactly the sort of thing Overwatch was founded for. ...I suppose they're technically deputized by Overwatch, which would put me nominally in command, though I will not make significant decisions without consulting the others assuming time to do so. That said, I do have another agent of Overwatch here with me, by the name of Nobunaga. However, she has informed me that you've set up a magical field that is preventing her from assuming physical form. If allowing my trusted retainer to return to full capabilities would not compromise your security, we would greatly appreciate it were you to allow her to do so." Meanwhile, Samantha walks up to the captive, and attempts to read his mind, to see what he thinks of when Dackly asks her questions. Maybe that will tell her the answers. Of course, Samantha's fine control isn't exactly the greatest, and she's tried to do this maybe three times in her life post-Phoenix Force power up. But Navin told her she had to be more confident with her powers, and if this guy loses a few memories, well, he is evil, right? Besides, he's just a human, and they tend to be racist dicks. [Will it work? Will his head explode? Let's explore this together!]

"Really? Overwatch has been- Oh. Oh!" Lexiel shifts her narcojet rifle to hang from her shoulder on its strap, and shakes Atton's hand firmly, "Pleasure to meet you, General. Good to learn we've got experienced officers in our ranks. This may or may not sound weird to you depending on where you're from, but you've probably got more experience than I do in large-scale wars. Most of my battles have been closer to the squad level; my current rank is Strike Captain of Overwatch. Overwatch's heirarchy doesn't correspond that well with the US Army's if I remember right, but General is a lot higher than Strike Captain. Unless you have a major objection, I'll follow your lead. Though I reserve the right to speak up if I believe you're making a mistake, and I do expect you to at least listen to my advice if I have it. And that of our fellows; there's a lot of strong personalities here, and cracking down with military discipline is likely to end with a group making... ill-conceived choices. Sir. Better to let them have a say unless time is absolutely critical."

Maris doesn't really think punching a dude that big is going to work out very well. Fortunately, he has alternatives! He readies an action to dodge should attacks come his way, and attempts to convert the ogre to a higher calling, or at least give it a really, really nasty headache. "Inspiration is a constant. The dreamscape radiates transmissions from a higher power!" He informs the ogre, and anyone else who might be listening. "Only you can take a stand against materialism! But how should you navigate this divine universe? Although you may not realize it, you are mystical! Have you found your quest? The path to enlightenment is strewn with the castings-off of life! Base, physical goods shall only hold you back from enlightenment!"

"To my knowledge, I am the only person in our group with any military rank," Lexiel suggests, "If anyone here knows otherwise and wishes to step up, feel free to correct me. If not, I will do my best to represent our interests with honor and decorum." Samantha mostly just stays quiet in the back, and tries to pick up intent to kill them from the people they're surrounded by. She's feeling very tense and nervous at the moment; a week of training with the X-Men and a few years of infrequent LARPing have not prepared her for a full-scale war.

Lexiel attempts to put together a formation with her summons and Nobunaga to push forward more effectively, alongside any other allies who want to help. Teamwork and discipline are critically important in quality versus quantity battles like this, especially for the side with the quality. Samantha decides that the brute-force option might not be the best one. She starts looking for enemies who look like they might be in charge, at least of groups of soldiers. If she finds some, she'll use her Telepathic Suggestion to nudge them towards bad decisions, like sending their forces towards allies they have a bad match-up with, or not focusing fire effectively, etc.

Maris also volunteers to help the cityfolk. After all, a place that looks like it's already been attacked is probably the safest place to be. Why hit somewhere that appears to have already been looted? He heads out with the others who went to help, keeping a careful eye out for goblins and other unsavory individuals sneaking up on us.

Maris continues to try to help with the fires, while inspiring those around them to do the same. "The largest of blazes can grow from tiny sparks," He tells everyone in earshot who's bothering to listen to him, "We must deal with them while they are still easily extinguished!" Putting actions to words, he attempts to smother more fire by moving the table he kicked over, while looking around for a bucket of water or something else more efficient and wieldy to use.

Maris observes the fire he is now in front of. The fire needs to be put out. However, he doesn't exactly have anything that can easily extinguish it. Well, no guts, no glory. "Throughout history, humans have been interacting with the universe via supercharged waveforms!" He declares loudly and confidently. "Fire is just another kind of supercharged waveform that we bend to our will! I shall counter its waveforms with my own!" This said, he attempts to smother the fire by kicking a table over to smother it.

"That was... bracing," Alexandria comments, the impact having failed to shift her... weighty frame. "I second the suggestion that we avoid any potential magical hazards."

Samantha sticks close to Solomon's book vehicle, doing her best to cover its advance without exposing herself to a lot of fire. Battles this big aren't exactly her specialty at the moment. Lexiel, on the other hand, decides to observe Nobunaga's combat capabilities first-hand, since the summon is oddly reluctant to share any information at all about anything. The two of them tear into the enemy lines with bullets, blades, and lightning darts flying. Lexiel also manages to leverage some extra power by fluxcharging Nobunaga when it comes active. What little damage the minions manage to deal is easily healed off, as they learn why you don't mess with a high output, anti-magic blast cannon with backup.