Powder Miner

Blood ran from the mouth of the monk of the Hitomi Order - she was heavily wounded, after all, blood running down her body in streams, and several burns marking her now. But her face was in a grin nonetheless, a grin of triumph and genuine enjoyment. The fight had been an intense one, and had seen her very nearly killed, but now it looked like she was going to be victorious, and she had more or less had the time of her life. THIS was what Yoko lived for! She sent her fist flying at Chelchis again (not aiming for a kill, simply because she couldn't get away with it). "Aaaahahahaaa!" Hands of Stone on Chelchis, nonlethal takedown! Yoko's fist impacts squarely into Chelchis' head, and though the Fallen Baron's helmet provides a bit of protection, the sheer blunt force traveling into Chelchis' head, combined with the spirit flame that wreaths it, is enough to knock the four-armed alien out cold, sending her twisting in midair to the ground. Chelchis takes 25 damage and is knocked out cold. Hirata simply waits -- she isn't intending to get involved in the action herself, after all. She has a gigantic six-armed mutant for that, after all. Yoko's fist is raised in triumph, and a grin is on her face... but that doesn't last for long, the reason being that said six-armed mutant abruptly picks up the unconscious alien, swings her, and slams her directly into the victorious monk, who (barely standing in the first place) is promptly sent up in the air for about six inches before she falls to the ground, quite unconscious as well (and also still bleeding heavily). Ichi deals 10 damage to Yoko, knocking her out as well! Initiative Status The fight concludes!

"Hah, if you wish to join the fray, then by all means, let us fight too!" And with that said, Yoko went back to focusing on defeating her current opponent, letting out a shout (this time, more triumphant, as she'd brought down that strange defensive field the four-armed warrior was using), and swinging directly for Chelchis' body. Yoko uses Hands of Stone again on Chelchis, getting that damage race on! That's 2d6+14 again. Yoko sends a fiery swing Chelchis' way, and for the first time it actually manages to connect with the Fallen Baron's body itself, a slight crunching noise ringing out as Yoko's fist slams directly into the Ether-eater's chest, fire blasting out across Chelchis' front even as Yoko's fist itself makes direct impact. Yoko deals 19 damage to Chelchis! Chelchis is rocked backwards by the punch, but not enough to spoil her aim -- the scrap gun fires dead center, and small pieces of shrapnel slam into Yoko's body, drawing more blood and burning her yet more. Yoko is bleeding heavily, burned in several places, and barely on her feet at all... but she is on her feet. Chelchis deals 8 damage to Yoko! Announcing her presence, Hirata enters the fray! But the brilliant roboticist is far from alone, the large mutant she's cybernetically created entering the fray ahead of her and acting as her vanguard. Hirata and Ichi join the fight! Initiative Status

Yoko would have to be relentless -- for her to survive, to defeat her opponent, she would have to no longer falter, to not slow down. And so Yoko threw another punch at the creature. It wasn't just a mundane blow, however -- the second tattoo upon Yoko's body, the moon tattooed near her collarbone, emitted a bright white glow -- which suffused the flames on her arm as she swung at her shielded opponent. Yoko uses a Hands of Stone on Chelchis, boosted by Full Moon Tattoo -- dealing 2d6+STR (6)+DEX (6)+SYN (2) damage and disabling Blink for the remainder of the battle! Yoko was afire and aglow, both of her tattoos emitting light as she pushed herself to her limits, power drawn from her soul and thrumming twice with her blow -- Yoko's fist, flaming, wreathed in white light as well as orange, connected solidly with Chelchis' shield -- and this time, the fire and the force were enough to bring the shield down totally, the field winking out as Yoko's fist passed through. The force had been robbed by the collision of Yoko's fist with it, but all that was needed was a tap of Yoko's fist against Chelchis' chest, causing the white glow around Yoko's arm to pass into Chelchis. Yoko does 22 damage to Chelchis and disables her Blink ability! Faced with the loss of her shield, Chelchis attempts to set herself a retreat from the monk's next blow -- but she finds that she detects an intangible but distinct feeling of violence, chaos, and madness within her, disrupting her ability to push on the Ether, and causing her attempt to prepare a teleport to fail. Blink, disabled, is not used! Initiative Status

Yoko's grimace grew tighter and tighter -- it seemed that she had underestimated her opponent, and the two wounds on her paid testament to that fact. Nonetheless, the fire of battle and violence welled within her, and Yoko simply did not have the opportunity to slow down! With a roaring shout, Yoko swung another punch at her shielded opponent. Hands of Stone on Chelchis, doing jack shit because of Blink. Yoko takes a fiery swing at the furious Fallen Baron -- but greatly to her consternation, her fist flies through nothing but empty air, as Chelchis pushes with the power of Ether against space itself, popping away and leaving her unharmed. Chelchis' blink causes Yoko to miss! Chelchis doesn't hesitate to counterattack, and her scrap-gun makes a solid hit this time, a piece of shrapnel lodging just above Yoko's pelvis and burning -- drawing a pained and angered noise from the kikage zumi! Chelchis does 8 damage to Yoko! Initiative Status

Yoko's face warped into a grimace when her attempt to grab her opponent was halted, and she ceased bantering -- that had the potential to be a problem, it really did. She didn't have much room to maneuver now, so Yoko was going to have to take measures she would have preferred not to take. The fiery tattoo upon Yoko's stomach started to glow a fiery orange... and a scant moment later, Yoko's fists set into a blaze -- and not only were her fists aflame, but her eyes began to glow an orange color as well. Yoko pops Blaze Tattoo, adding DEX+SYN to all unarmed attacks for the rest of the battle! Yoko's Blaze Tattoo takes effect, the woman now illuminating light from her eyes and arms and stomach. Yoko gains the Blaze Tattoo status! Chelchis took another shot with her weapon, not wasting the time that Yoko took to activate her tattoo, but unfortunately this time its scattered shot mostly only grazed the now-aflame woman, not even cutting her beyond a scrape, but instead giving her a simple burn on the right shoulder. Chelchis deals 4 damage to Yoko! Initiative Status

Yoko tutted at Chelchis. "Tut, tut, words, words. Let us speak with our ACTIONS now!" That shield had been quite strong, Yoko had discovered, but no matter -- the time was not presently for contemplating, it was for fighting! Accordingly, Yoko rushed towards Chelchis, aiming not to punch her but instead to grab the four-armed alien and force her into a grapple. Six arms hadn't worked as a grapple target before, but maybe four would! Yoko uses Violence One on One on Chelchis! Yoko rapidly discovered that the answer to the question of "can I successfully grapple something with four arms" is "no", as at the moment of Yoko's approach, Chelchis deftly pushed her away with her lower arms, rebuffing the Dragon monk's advance totally. Yoko fails (7, 16) to grapple Chelchis! Chelchis, on the other hand, was less interested in making an advance -- and more in preparing herself for Yoko's next one, setting up an Etheric push against the very fabric of spacetime to allow her an escape from Yoko's next strike. Chelchis gains the Blink buff! Initiative Status

Yoko grinned even wider when Chelchis began to draw her weapon, and rushed in her direction, a fist raised back -- telegraphed, yes, but only so as to strike with maximum force. "THEN VIOLENCE IT IS!" Yoko hadn't a clue what this Whirlwind and Darkness it was talking about were, but she didn't really need to to beat the shit out of it satisfyingly, did she? Yoko uses a Strength of Bishamon boosted Hands of Stone, giving it a 20% miss chance but adding STR damage to it! Yoko rushes at Chelchis before she can get her shot off, flinging a wild blow at her head! Chelchis' shields pop up and neatly prevent Yoko from making any actual contact with the Fallen Baron's body, but enough force was put into the blow that the shields are left flickering and weak, barely up after Yoko hits it. Yoko deals 21 damage to Chelchis' shields! Chelchis fires her scrap cannon at Yoko, her finger depressing the trigger the moment after the punch, and flaming shrapnel strikes the monk! Though it has not greatly bloodied Yoko, the scrap coming from Chelchis' gun does make a slightly seared cut along her unguarded midriff. Chelchis does 7 damage to Yoko! Initiative Status

Yoko gave Yvette a look of disappointment -- though, thanks to her attitude, not quite one of disapproval. "We will have to fix that. Pure dependence upon an underling is simply asking to be gutted when that underling is indisposed or unable to save you. You ought to be able to fight for yourself, for your own sake." She then turned back to Chelchis, with the same arrogant mirth as before. "I'm not an animal. I am a human -- and my potential as a human is very much above that of a mere animal creature. I know not what you are, but if you do have a soul I suggest that you spend more time seeking your own true limits rather than focusing on taking care of subordinates." Suddenly, her grin turned noticeably bloodthirsty. "As for strength -- I do not bow to threats, you see. My way of life is violence. My body is violence. My tattoos are violence. My soul is violence. My defense is violence. I study violence, I seek violence, I commit violence, I weather violence, I tap into the deepest, purest well of violence that I can within me. Should the time come for you to prove your strength against me, I welcome it, for such violence is how I shall attain enlightenment, and how I shall explore the boundaries of the human soul within a world, no, within realms of violence. It would simply be a step towards the realization of what those heights of violence shall be -- and should you decide to act upon your need for a relationship of strength, I shall be waiting gleefully."

Yoko gave Chelchis a look crossed between amusement and disdain. "I believe you misunderstand me. I am not arguing that one must be soft on their underlings -- I am saying that your concern for respect is forced because of your dependence upon underlings. If you did not depend upon them in the first place, you would not have to worry about them respecting you lest you be replaced, hmm? I don't concern myself with "stronger leaders" because the only thing that I rely on to crush my enemies is myself -- my own ability to punch their ribs through their back. If I were to be obsessed with keeping minions in line to do my work for me, it would be because of weakness. "Civilized" is just a word the weak use to explain their own dependence upon the very obligations that trap them and threaten them and made them weak."

Yoko crossed her arms and listened to the exchange around the new arrival for a while, before she finally let her opinion be known. ”Bah, underlings, the lash? You stand too focused upon hierarchies, I say, four-armed creature. I am impressed with how you willingly cast your title aside in dealing with us, new woman. But I want to know: are you capable of fighting? I am interested in your personal capacity to commit violence so long as you travel with this group. Too many already are incapable of it, it seems — though I have been pleasantly surprised by the girl with the pillow, even if she did only devastate so many of those hostile creatures with her weaponry.”

(The three Labor Golems at each southern Satomi weapon should also reload the weapons they’re stationed at, if we’re the ones deciding that, by the way)

Yoko smiled and then put her hand to her chin in thought, for a moment. She'd seen him telegraph punches terribly in their earlier spar, so it didn't seem like Deadlift had any real training in a way of fighting -- he could benefit from it immensely, she figured. With THAT strength, that much raw power, if Deadlift properly directed it, the damage he could so would be truly immense. "Mmhohoho, I see, an interesting capability. I ought to see if I can teach you a proper martial art sometime. I'd like to see what a power multiplier that could be. If these are your capabilities without martial arts, with it I'm sure you could prove even more formidable an opponent for our enemies."

Yoko watched the whole interaction around the mutant rather languidly — she wasn’t really concerned with whether it lived or not, seeing as she’d got her violence from the encounter. It had been surprisingly worthwhile, even! The battle had gone from one pathetic creature she destroyed in one blow, to a swarm of them and a much larger creature, and had actually seen her bloodied, which very much pleased her — through hardship, through violence, that was how she would channel her chaos, and she had gotten both. The fate of the actual beast didn’t really matter to Yoko in comparison, if it couldn’t put up a good fight anymore she didn’t really give a damn what happened to it next. ”Well, I must say, I’m quite satisfied, creature dead or no. This was a far more challenging battle than I’d expected to face after I crushed that first one! I had to actually fight for it. It was fascinating seeing you pull off that growing technique as well, Deadlift. You appear more and more powerful every time I see you do something.”

"Gabriel!" Obviously, it didn't take a lot of thought for Perlita to choose what to do next -- nobody else was harmed too badly, though the girl with the ghost might need something later, and her dear friend (and the only link she had to home) had just been mauled by a bunch of (now mostly dead) horrific, twisted abominations. "Here, I've got you! Crawford, Diarama!" Perlita's Persona made yet another appearance on the battlefield, and with yet another matching wave of her arm, Perlita sent her most powerful healing spell in his direction, the pink magic hopefully sealing up his wounds and leaving him in top form. Perlita uses Diarama on Gabriel, healing him for 6d4+SYN (12) health from the move, an additional SYN (12) health from Altruism, and (if Perlita's hurt before making the move, because she is at full health) she heals SYN (12) health herself.

Navin found himself shaking his hands a bit painfully as he watched the dragon return to haunt them -- he'd pushed his special form of Vyana a bit hard, and he doubted he was going to be able to get anything out of certain motions for a little while. He might be able to form an explosion from a sideways motion, and from his palm, like he often did... his Concussive Slap. He then looked at the only target he'd be able to use it on -- the gigantic skeletal dragon. "...oh." He looked back at his palm. "Oh." He looked back at the dragon. "This is just begging to become difficult, isn't it?" Navin sighed... he didn't really have much of a choice, did he? No, no he did not. And so with a half-terrified shout, Navin rushed at the dragon, prepared to leap up and hit it with an explosion and then a literal slap. Navin uses Concussive Slap on the Dracolich, dealing 2d6+STR (10)+SYN (11) damage, and reducing its INIT by his SYN (11)! He also has a 21% chance to delete a buff on the Dracolich, if it has one. His dodge chance is 18%, but only against melee attacks. Active Cooldowns: One-Two Punch (2 remaining turns), Piercing Strike (1 remaining turn)

If there was anyone who wasn’t going to be slowing down, it was the kikage zumi in the room, and with a shout Yoko didn’t hesitate in hurling herself at the mutant - but this time instead of trying to grapple it she was just trying to knock the thing’s fucking block off with a punch. Yoko uses Hands of Stone on the surviving mutant, doing 2d6+STR (6) damage!

Yoko blinked as the woman with the pillow abruptly came in and slaughtered everything smaller than the big creature that they were facing. ”...well then.” Yoko stood there looking stupid for just a moment — she most certainly had not expected that. Perhaps she would have to revise her mental estimate of this Hirata girl. But for now, she did still have something to focus on: that big one! And since she was no longer in quite the same amount of trouble, Yoko was quite happy to rush it. And so she did, leaping at the mutant and attempting to bend it backwards with a grapple — if she could get it into an awkward position it wouldn’t be able to do much but swipe at her while the others obliterated it from existence. Yoko uses Violence One on One against the big mutant, forcing it to make a DEX check against her currently 6 DEX or only be able to target her (and vice versa)!

Satomi immediately ran as fast as she could over to the southern wall, swords, shield, and siege crossbow bouncing against her armor and kimono -- it was where her most complicated weaponry was located, after all, and she felt it was her responsibility to operate it. Even if it was mounted upon a wall that she had since surpassed and which appeared to have been... defiled by Azgrurk. She forced herself to take a deep breath, or at least as close as she could get to one while running. Functionality over prettiness was one of the core pieces of the Crab, yes? It did appear he had done something useful, even if it was atop her own work, and she ought not take the role of the Crane here. Once she got onto the wall, Satomi began speaking immediately, even as she stationed herself at the axe trebuchet she'd created and began to get to work examining it and cooking up ideas for potentially making it more deadly. "Tattletale! If you believe yourself able to operate the group-shot trebuchet please do so, otherwise I'll simply want your help in reloading it! I'm going to handle the axe device now and be prepared to deal as much damage as I can when those ogres get into position, but those hordes will need dealing with as well, especially the specialty troops!" Satomi starts South and uses the Destructive Inspiration Trump on the Axe Trebuchet, giving her a 33% chance to deal x3 crits with it and deal an additional effect on said crit as well!

Yoko spat blood after being converged upon — she wouldn’t lie to herself, that hurt like all Jigoku. But of course, that was the point, was it not? If Yoko was being wounded, it was at least a sign the fight had become much less lopsided, and Yoko grinned. Of course, she found herself distracted by Deadlift, as he suddenly transformed, and utterly horrifically at that, bones breaking again and again as his skeleton was cracked and crackled and pulled apart, his muscles swelling and flowing, the man managing to abruptly grow to twice his height through his spiritual power, and to practically burst with musculature. It was fascinating to Yoko, who stared in undisguised awe. Still bleeding, but in an excellent mood, Yoko chuckled impressedly. ”Hohoho... ohohoho... you are very, very impressive, Deadlift, impressive indeed...” When the mage came up to heal her, Yoko’s attention was barely on her. ”Hitomi Yoko,” she answered absentmindedly, ”Dragon monk.” Then she quickly caught the incoming spells and whirled towards another mutant, dealing it a solid blow. Yoko uses Hands of Stone on M1-Mutant 8, for 2d6+STR (6) damage!

LOTUS watched as the minions were whittled down, and decided that it may be time soon to refocus their offense -- and he could detect that the Tactical Uplink connection had flickered back into existence, so he would very much be able to help do so. "Alright, I think it's going to be time to go after the gold egotist himself once you all have finished these rounds of attacks. If you plan to attack him, here is the best data that I can provide on the optimal manner in which to do so..." As the data streamed in from his Tactical Uplink, LOTUS relayed the weak points that he could observe on Gilgamesh and on Gilgamesh's style of defense. Isobel found a smile working its way onto her face -- thanks to the efforts of Jade and of Dackly, things seemed to be going very well indeed! Noone was severely hurt, and they had thinned the numbers of these things a little bit. She knew that she shouldn't get herself too jazzed up, lest she make a mistake, but she felt that this was a good sign, at the least. "Good job, everyone! Let's see if we can't keep this up! Now, as for me, hmm... maybe this will be beneficial." She approached Soryn. "Here, eat this! I've got a healing chemical in it!" LOTUS uses Weakness Pinpoint on Gilgamesh, while boosted by Tactical Uplink: Partial! Attacks made against Gilgamesh will have a 10% chance to deal double damage for 2 turns. Isobel uses Healing Poppy on Soryn, healing him for 3d4+INT (12) HP! Isobel has a 15% dodge chance.

A wide grin stretched Yoko's face after her blow instantly crumpled the entire chest cavity of the mutant -- while perhaps it was disappointing that her enemy was in fact so weak, there was always pleasure to be derived from caving in the entire torso of your target. That was sufficient violence indeed. But it was not over yet! Yoko turned and watched as she entered a room and saw it was full of creatures... but she just grinned. Perhaps this would be more of a challenge. With a shout, she rushed one of the creatures. Yoko just keeps punching these things for now, using a Hands of Stone on M1-Mutant 2, for 2d6+STR (6) damage!

Yoko grinned and cracked her knuckles when the strange, utterly twisted-looking six-limbed thing skittered rapidly towards her and Deadlift. Now, this thing might have been all kinds of bizarre and horrifying, but to tell the truth Yoko wasn't terribly fazed -- as long as it died well enough when she hit it, she wasn't really in any trouble, was she? And if she was in some trouble, well, perhaps that would just get her closer to enlightenment in its own way! "Haha, excellent, something to kill! HYAH!" Yoko ran up at the creature, and swung a particularly wild blow at it, throwing practically her entire body into the strike. Yoko uses Hands of Stone on the creature, and also activates the Strength of Bishamon Trump on it, for a total of 2d6+STR (6)+STR (6) damage but with a 20% miss chance!

Yoko actually seems to consider these words from Deadlift, and it's a few moments this time before she slowly shakes her head this time. "You present interesting points -- and if it were strictly power that I were seeking, I would likely agree. But it isn't quite power -- it's violence that I seek, and to hold myself back may lead to interesting forms of violence but it certainly leads to less of it overall, and it is a restraint, order -- a limit upon my inherent chaos. It isn't about challenges, quite... it's about utterly smashing my foes into pieces, about expressing my violence, getting it as much as I can! From that perspective, going anything less than all out in a non-spar is something to be done sparingly."

Yoko thought Deadlift's words over for a moment and then she frowned. "Bah, if I ever held myself back against something I'm not specifically trying to avoid maiming, it would defeat the point somewhat. I must push myself to the utmost in every situation, and I must exercise my violence and channel the chaos of my soul to the greatest degree I can, because I desire to push myself to the deepest boundaries of the human soul and to its greatest capacities. Limiting myself strikes me as something that would greatly pervert this course. I do what I do to maximize my violence, and that is not reached through limiting oneself but through breaking past one's limits. Even if weakling opponents may not allow me a chance to break my limits against them, they at least allow me to test myself through my techniques."

Yoko jogs up right behind Deadlift, continuing to grin bloodthirstily, her fists raised as she prepared for combat. ”Haha, well, I don’t mind getting my hands a little gore-splattered when the time comes for me to commit violence. I am, in fact, looking forward to it!” She mimed a punch into the air. ”Here’s hoping there’s something down this hallway that can make it fun, too, yeh? Not just some boring mindless grunt-mashing. I’d like to show off my martial arts prowess and the power of my tattoos, but I can hardly do these if we just face some pushovers.”