Where:  Aboard the Ragnarok, and in various areas of Midgar.
WHO:  Terra Branford, Irvine Kinneas, Ward Zabac, Dragonclaw, Squall Leonhart, Nida Dyre (COMMlink voices are: Kain (Rescue), Vincent (Garden), Squall (Command), Irvine (Ragnarok), and Barret (Infil).
Why:  This is part 1 of the Battle for Cloud logs.  In this episode, our intrepid heros aboard the Ragnorok are trying to trick Shinra forces into engaging them, giving the other teams a chance to break in and get Cloud out.





Ragnarok

        The cockpit of the Ragnarok, pilot and copilot chairs reside forward, navigation and communications officer seats are present as well. Towards the back of the compartment is the door leading deeper into the flying warmachine.

                (controls for flight instructions.)
Contents:
Dragonclaw
Terra
Communications: Ragnarok
Console RS1
Obvious exits:
(O) Out  (H) Internal Hall


Terra is sitting in the navigational operations chair, mostly because she needed to get off of her feet for a couple of minutes.

Irvine glances around with a strangely light smile as he enters the Ragnarok. Receiving his orders had felt like some enourmous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. This communications thing isn't frontline combat, which wouldn't have bothered him either, but hey, at least he's not gonna be thrust into the position of 'Garden Hitman' again.

Ward steps in quietly as ever, harpoon slung behind his back, looking at those assembled thoughtfully.

Dragonclaw is exploring the interior of the Ragnarok without touching.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Squall checking in. Let's have a final soundoff here, should be five of us live now.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Team Rescue, standing by.

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: Ragnarok, standing by.

[CCOM 4000] GARDEN: Evacuation, standing by.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Still prepping, stand by.

Terra is sitting at the navigational officer's station, because her feet hurt and she wanted to sit for a minute before the slaughter gets rolling. Ulp, it's the commander. So now she gets up!

Irvine is standing already, right by the communications area, having already fiddled with it a little, from the looks of things. He's careful not to lean on anything, though he usually does.

The door opens and Squall stalks in, looking deadpan and thoughtful. The engine vibration is dim but heard, and the activity has been growing for the past hour.

Ward is already standing, harpoon slung over his shoulder, being careful not to crash into anything. With the harpoon or himself.

Dragonclaw stops not pushing buttons and looks up as the others do.

Selphie, as per usual, is later than the rest. Huh. -Right- before Squall enters, even. Fancy that. Hop, hop -- she tugs on her socks, as she makes her way inside. c_c Oops. Head to stand by Irvine! c_c;

Squall stops and looks over the bridge crew, and gets down to business. Maybe he got sleep, maybe not. "We're about to head out to the staging area with the rest of our forces as soon as a few more people are loaded. You all have your orders, now's the time to ask any questions you need answered right now."

Dragonclaw hesitates. "Can I not wear other clothes for mission?"

Squall looks puzzled a moment, before smirking and nodding. "Sure. Just keep an eye out, stay near the back. The troops all have the disguises."

Selphie does, indeed!, have a question. And she raises her hand, even as her other finishes tugging on her sock. She's a good girl.

Squall looks at Miss Excitable. "Yeah, Selphie?"

Selphie gives this little... exhasperated? Nah, smile, as she now stands straight. The -last- time she disguised herself and went into some type of base-type-thing, she remembers part of her downfall... "What's their salutes look like?" n_n "You know, to look authentic! If it comes up!"

Terra says, rather embarrasedly, "Where should I sit?" Although she waits until after Selphie finishes her statement/request. Erk. c.c Maybe she oughtn't to have waited.

Squall shakes his head, explaining to Selphie, "We're just going to look like AVALANCHE people to draw them out. Minimum engagement if possible. We won't be going in. And Terra, just take a seat, we'll be heading to the staging area in a minute." He looks over the team, frowning, apparently missing someone.

Irvine isn't overly happy to be without his usual getup. The only thing he refuse to leave behind being the beaded necklace he's got under the disguise. No way he's gonna go without it. He reaches up to tug at the his ponytail, listening without comment or questions.

Ward gives Squall a worried look, because he knows who Squall is probably realizing is missing about now. And he's not the only one.

Squall does turn to the side, presumbly to check on status with his own communication device

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Squall here. Anyone seen Laguna? SeeD is about to head out.

Selphie whews. Well, that solves that. She doesn't say anything else, though, she's a good girl today. c_c
Irvine glances over at Squall, lifting an eyebrow. Seems he's clued in on who's missing now too.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Laguna is with us. We are go.

Terra checks the little med_packet on the pouch of her sword-belt thingy, as well as reviewing the stocked Cures with her mental birdy buddy. OK, groovy.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: let us know when to pose our strike

Squall pauses, frowning deeply, and he turns to look at Ward. "Laguna's with the infiltreation team," he tels him.

Ward freezes and frowns. "....?" He looks out the windshield at Balamb for a second, still frowning slightly.

Irvine chews at the underside of his lower lip, glancing away from Squall again, definately not envying him his position.

Nida heads back into the cockpit after conducting a few firsthand checks on things like lateral slipstream stabilizers and torus capacitors. "Ragnarok systems are ready," he reports on the way to the pilot's console.
      
Squall shakes his head, looking acutely frustrated. "Trying to be a moron," he mutters. "He better not get himself killed or I'm going to arrest him." Never mind that arresting a deadman is messy, but... "Alright, let's move out." He walks over to strap himself into the seat next to Nida.

[CCOM 4000] GARDEN: This is Vincent. Evacuation team gathered and ready to move.

Ward grimaces and looks for an empty seat, or gets set to head for the passenger deck. Thankfully he still remembers the layout of the place.

Irvine finally sits, pausing a moment to grin at Selphie and wink at her. Does he take *anything* seriously for two seconds? Sheesh.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: This is Kain...we have landed.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Affirmative. Standby.

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: Irvine here, Ragnarok systems are ready. Standing by.

Selphie lets out a little 'whoo!', despite the worry over Laguna. It's her birthday, she gets to shoot stuff, ain't NObody gonna ruin 'dis day. She beam!s to Ivine's wink, as she hops over to her little weapons-system console. Hers! o_o

Dragonclaw just stands. "Sit? Er - do I need to sit? Not comfortable, on the tail..."

Terra tugs the tank top she'd gotten issued, presumably based on reports of Tifa's fashion styles, downwards. Why couldn't she have gotten a Yuffie-style outfit? She might have... fit in it, normally. The jeans are nice though.

Squall glances at Dragonclaw, answering, "Well, just find a good place to hold on to that doesn't launch missles."

Selphie shoots Dragonclaw a -look-. "You heard the man."

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Now preparing to begin infiltration, will soon be entering the theatre. Will report when objective has been located.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Alright. Try to keep their excitement down until everyone gets into position.

Nida efficiently taps and slides mechanisms to guide the ship through the warm-up sequence, absently putting on a headset with one hand as he does so. "When we go evasive, it's quite likely that gravity and the floor won't always agree on which way is 'down'," he observes. "I wouldn't recommend standing without bracing yourself fairly well."

Squall gives Nida a sideways look. "You've been practicing on the video games, haven't you?" Perhaps he's wondering if they should have packed barfbags.

Dragonclaw looks around. "Uh...uh oh, then?" Since he doesn't know /exactly/ what won't launch a missile and obliterate Garden, he sits quite serenely on the floor, tail extended behind him, and wedges himself against a side wall.

Selphie eyes Nida, too, to boot. Sitting down, she -shouldn't complain-, since she's manning the weapons and all, but... It's -her- Ragnarok! ;_;

Nida taps a switch on the manual control yoke, unlocking the controls and smoothly tugging them back towards him as the craft starts to rise from the ground. In reply to Squall, he just smiles a soft little politely enigmatic smile. "Ragnarok is airborne," he announces as the dragon-craft ascends with barely a jolt to indicate it.

Terra reaches around for the Fastenable Seat Belts, going *ka click* and smiling faintly. Now she's not gonna go splat! And... the yawning wiggly feeling in her stomach must mean they're going up. The smile gets a bit wider.

Squall stays quiet, looking over the controls and cluthing his communicator. The ship is odd at the best of times, looking somewhat alien, but he seems at his social low.

Irvine slouches in his seat, and if you didn't think it possible, somehow the gunman turned communications person manages it anyway, seat harness and all. Who gave him this job anyway? He's sooooo frivolous it borders on irresponsibility. Well, on first impressions anyway.

Dragonclaw just sits, face showing as little expression as usual.

Selphie kicks her feet in her seat, also buckling up. Whoo! "..." She's just -dying- to break the mood, but... Must hold back. ...No! Can't! While everyone else is quiet and such, she bubbles, "So-- Who's gonna wish be 'happy birthday' first? Huh, huh?" C'mon, lighten the mood, please. c_c

"You'll be getting plenty of birthday wishes from me after this, darlin'," comes the response from Irvine, tilting slightly to the side to grin and wink at Selphie again. Oddly enough, he seems *happy* about all this. He is, somewhat, though for reasons solely his own.
      
Ward did indeed find a seat in time, barely, and sorta hangs onto his hat, uh, bandanna. Well, actually, he's scratching his head and wondering why Laguna went on infiltration, but that's something else...and blinks at Selphie. It's hard to keep up on these things, so unsurprisingly he had no idea it was Selphie's birthday. Well, can't say happy birthday, so he just grins.

Dragonclaw looks up at Selphie. "I am supposed to say 'happy birthday'? Is this day that you were birthed?"

Nida glances lightly back at Selphie in between checks on his positional readouts. Glancing back to them, it doesn't seem as if he's going to reply until his light tenor voice begins quite to sing quite steadily, "Happy birthday to you..." Whether or not anybody else joins in, he's going through the whole song.
      
Squall doesn't glance up from his singleminded study of the controls for a while, until Nida starts... singing. Looking up as if the guy was nuts, he glances over to Selphie.

Terra decides to join in at the second line, in a nice if rather weak-sounding soprano. "Happy birthday to you..." She gives a smile to Selphie, and then looks back towards the windows. Pretty.

Irvine chuckles and joins in with Nida and Terra, "Happy birthday, Dear Selphie..."
      
Selphie most literally squeals with nothing less than pure delight at Irvine and Nida, clapping happily. But! She spares a comment ro Dragon, nodnodding. "Mmhmm--!" She beams Nida-wards, then Terra-wards! "Whoo!" Yes, Squall, you're beamed at -- if not just because she was already beaming when she looked to the commander. Aaah! And Irvine! Yaaay! She's gonna overload, you guys.
      
Dragonclaw doesn't know the words, but he can figure 'em out. They're pretty repetitive. "Happy birthday to you!" He is an /awful/ singer, with a voice that doesn't know how to pronounce half the words, but at least he can be enthusiastic. Sometimes. "That right?"
      
Squall stirs as the song winds off, and digs something out of one of his uniform pockets. Holding it up, it's... the plastic coin. "it's for luck, right?" he asks her. "Or do I give it to you for your birthday?"

Selphie laughs, and nod!s at DC. Of course, she does glance back towards Squall even in mid "Whoo-hoooo!", complete with arms in the air. She loves you guys. "--Luck? Well, hey! Yeah, I guess it could be! But you don't give it to me, Squall. -You- keep it, okay?" Yeah, she dodges the whole 'You're the King of the festival!' bit, go figure. Tee. Hee. Hee.

Irvine slouchs back into his seat, lifting his arms to lace his fingers behind his head. Glancing at the console in front of him, he seems to just zone out, lost in his own thoughts. Not like he's got much to do at the moment anyway.
      
Nida interjects calmly, "We're approaching the first waypoint. Beginning landing sequence now." Something of a residual smile from the birthday song still plays upon his lips until it's swallowed up by his general piloting concentration.

Terra taps her fingers on the edge of her console,taking care not to nudge any of the controls; however, it's mostly orbital mechanics and the like, she gathers, so it's not a very major concern.

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: Ragnarok approaching first waypoint.

Squall tucks the coin away safely and turns back to his displays at Nida's words. "We're staged here already in disguise," he explains. "The coast is not far, we have gunboats for retreat. Remember, try not to engage, we're just here to draw attention away."
      
Selphie just sits tight now, much more happier than she was before, and -- well, even though she doesn't use a gun, she's -sure- got an itchy trigger finger. She just does what the angsty guy tells her to.

Dragonclaw stays sitting. "Can I stand now? Is it safe?"
      
Nida brings the Rangarok down into the landing zone, relocking the manual controls to bring it down by console command. A light electronic drain noise is audible as the main engines go to standby mode. "Ragnarok has landed," he reports.
      
Squall nods, studying the displays, before swiveling to the others. "Alright, listen up."

Irvine glances over his shoulder at first, then swivels around. These chairs are fun. He lifts an eyebrow at Squall, waiting.

Terra unfastens her seatbelt, but doesn't rise, looking over towards Squall attentively.

Selphie sits up much straighter, now. And listens! Go figure. Hurry, Squall, before something shiney nabs that attention.

Dragonclaw stands back up. "Listening."

Ward nods to Squall, also releasing the safeties on his chair.
      
"We're a little ways from the disguised troops. I want each of you to try to direct as much as you can. If we get serious fighting, retreat those groups. I don't want us to suffer too many injuries." Or casualties. "We're here to distract and draw out, so try to give the other teams as much time as we can. Irvine, report any major changes in our ability to hold up. When I order a general retreat, troops proceed to the gunboats, and everyone here get to the Ragnarok. We'll fly in and cover the retreat with the weaponry, then proceed to phase two. Everyone got it?"

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Distraction team watching for ShinRa reaction. Stand by.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Standing by.

Er, sure. Irvine releases the straps, sitting up a little, though that irritating little smile of his never fades. He nods to Squall wordlessly, then glances around at the others.

Selphie nods, though she's not satisfied with the amount of blowing-things-up, but well, she'll be okay. Unfastening her seatbelt thingee, she thumb-ups to Squall.

Terra nods, and does - instinctually - a salute. Even if she is out of anything resembling a uniform... jeez, this tank top is much too roomy. ._.

Squall nods and unbuckles his retraints. "Alright, let's head to the distraction troops. If you want, there's some disguises about, but stay back behind the main group until we get ShinRa reaction."

Nida nods once and continues the system power-downs into standby mode before unhooking following the others out.

Ward stands, slinging the harpoon over his shoulder again. His normal clothes look ragtag enough to qualify as AVALANCHE, most likely, since the group was never very big on uniforms.

Irvine slowly rises to his feet, making sure the small comm unit is strapped to his side and on. He glances at his seat briefly, sighing that he's leaving his hat there, but hey, he's gotta keep up appearances. No hat. Waiting for the others to head out, he's not in any big hurry.

Dragonclaw checks the claws on the axe - then grins. Or at least shows off those teeth. "I am ready to do so."

Terra gets up and makes her way towards the exit, not quite running, but moving quick. She rests a hand on the hilt of her sword on the way, too.

Selphie procures thos nunchakus from where-ever she keeps them, even as she heads for said ramp, and -- even waits for -Irvine-. Go figure.

Gun against his shoulder, commlink on, Irvine glances toward Selphie and winks as he follows the others off the ship.

East Continent - Veldt Savannah

        A rather dry place, like any other savannah. Tall, dry grasses blow in the wind and could conceal any manner of roaming creature here... As is typical with such places there are watering holes around and about, frequented by all manner of creature. This is clearly not the safest of places to travel alone.      
[Obvious Exits: (SE) South-east, (E) Mobliz]
[Players: Squall, Dragonclaw, Ward, Terra, Irvine, Selphie]
[Things: Ragnarok]

Squall glances back to see that the slow guys are all here, before striking off briskly toward the southeast.

East Continent - Grasslands Area - Northwest Fields

         While mountains and rocky terrain predominate this section of the
continent, there are areas in which civilization has sprung. The most
blatantly obvious is toward the west, where the great arcology of Midgar has
been established. It is to the north that a small town can be seen, drawing
people who are not entirely dazzled by the high-paced lifestyle of the great
city. This is Kalm, which lies on the banks of a river and also near the sea.
To the southeast lies a passage past the sprawled length of the mountain range
slicing this continent into several pieces. Those with knowledge of the area
would be aware that the mountain pass leads toward the swamps and the old
mythril mines...  
    
[Obvious Exits: (W) Midgar, (SE) Southeast Fields, (E) Coast, (NW) The Veldt,
(N) Kalm]

[Players: Squall, Dragonclaw, Ward, AVALANCHE Armed Rabble (80)(Squall), Irvine]

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Entering theatre now... something is wrong... very wrong.
Feels like a trap. If we were expected, suggest rescue begin thier move
without us... they may not have been expected. Will attempt to draw force our
way if things get sour... otherwise will attempt to support.

AVALANCHE Armed Rabble (80) mill about in formation, dressed like scum and armed
to the hilt. A whole lot are recognized as SeeD and people from Garden. They
wave to Selphie cheerfully.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Current location?

Irvine glances at Squall rather suddenly, reaching up to touch the earpeice.

Dragonclaw joins in - well, if not formation, cluster. Of course this involves
some of the people moving away from him, and some more moving closer to hide
him in the crowd.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: We jsut got in the door. No confirmation if it is a trap
however...

Nida absently checks the status of his autocrossbow, looking every bit like he'd
raided Biggs' (ver. FF7) old wardrobe, down to the head
bandanna-tied-as-headband.

Squall is indeed talking into his mouthpiece, and glances at Irvine as he slows,
approaching a group of squad leaders from the troops. He looks deadpan, but
the look he gives Irvine is one of concern.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Standing by...orders?

Ward is hard to hide, on the other hand, so he stops a distance away and watches
for a second, partly letting Squall reach his SeeD, and partly just looking
for where the tall people are.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Affirmative. No sign of reaction to the troops yet out
here. Rescue team, current status?

Terra unfastens the fallout-prevention strap of her sword, and ties on her own
bandanna, this time in peasant-outfit-type covering. Her hair could be a
security risk, since there's about two people with that shade.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: All quiet up top. Too quiet.

Squall turns to locate Ward, calling to him calmly, "Infiltration team's getting
suspicious. But nothing bad yet."

That irritating little smile of Irvine's is gone now, the first time he's
actually begun to act serious at all in this. He doesn't say anything into the
mouthpeice, though, nothing to report for them yet. Instead he watches Squall,
merely giving him a helpless shrug in response.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Check. Let's see if we can't get more out of them from here
so we can begin. I don't like the quiet.

Ward grimaces. Oh, great...he doesn't have a very happy look now.

Selphie glances around. Neato! New places! New fac--Hey, no, not new faces. She
beams, and wavewaves back. Aaaah, the life of Selphie. --Hokay! Battle-mode!
Ka-ching! Bounce. -Her- little 'disguise' is actually something that only
slightly resembles Yuffie's, in all actuality, though much less... revealing?
And no leg-brace, or big arm-brace thingee. She -met- the girl, for crissakes.
Even got the bandana. Whoo!

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: no longer true...whatever they're doing...it'll happen now!

Dragonclaw, being even more conspicuous then Terra, just stands in the middle of
a cluster, trying to be more or less obscured and failing awfully at it.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Squall sounds a little alarmed. "What? Something happen?"

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Heideggers laughing...apparently over the loudspeakers.
There's no mistaking him.

Irvine chews at the underside of his lower lip again. This is _not_ sounding
good.

Squall freezes a moment, staring at his compiece. He looks up sharply at Irvine.

Irvine shakes his head at Squall, he _doesn't_ like this, at all.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Infiltration, alarms. Top team sounds like they're in it.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Definatly a trap... <More Gyahahahas on this end> awaiting
orders fromInflitration Commander.

Terra looks back and forth and tries to see if anything's coming on the horizon.
The local monsters have probably all been slaughtered by now, if they weren't
smart enough to scoot off in the first place.

Squall stands a moment, glaring at the horizon, before turning to the gang and
the troop squad leaders. "It sounds like they've been discovered. Rescue team,
at least. Infiltration team hasn't reported in yet." He glances over the
troops a moment, frowning at their expectant faces.

"I don't think we're going to be much of a distraction..." Irvine adds with a
tug at his ponytail.
      
Selphie does spare a glance to Irvine, for one reason or another, and finds it
rather unnerving to see his expression. Okay -- look to Squall. Doubly
unnerving. Thankfully, Squall talks before her imagination can come up with
anything. She does little more than nod to Squall, before... Irvine? Looking
almost worriedly at Squall, she just... stands there, expectantly.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Status reports as often as you can then.
      
[CCOM 4000] INFIL: What the!?! Need confrimation: Why were we not informed
Infiltration Leader was going to be a huamn bomb?

Squall nods thoughtfully at Irvine. "It sounds like a trap. We can't really set
the ground now, they'll just dig in and let us come to them."

Ward grimaces. "......" If Squall is watching, he can figure out as usual what
Ward is trying to get across, but it's plain to just about everyone that he's
ticked, and ready to knock some ShinRa around with his harpoon.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: What?! That wasn't in the plan!

Irvine blinks rather suddenly, hand against the earpeice again. He didn't just
hear that, did he?

Nida doesn't look particularly unnerved, although he doesn't look unconcerned
either. "Are we going to do through with the distraction plans, or make an
alternative?" he inquires calmly.

Squall pauses to explain into his compiece, "What?! That wasn't in the plan!"
Aside, he rolls his eyes, informing the others, "Barret's turned into a human
bomb or something. Why isn't anything easy?"

Nida says "I don't think you want an answer to that, Commander."

"Because we wouldn't be here if it was, Squall," Irvine retorts, totally
breaking rank without realizing it by not calling him Commander. He glances at
Selphie to give her a smile, trying to reassure her.

Terra says, turning her head towards Squall in puzzlement, "A living bomb?"
Must've been the hot dogs.

Ward groans, or would. It comes out as a loud sigh, rather, and he grits his
teeth. Whoo, it's Ward's dark side. Don't see this often.

Selphie pikus. "Awww, crap! He needs to learn how to follow -rules-." Hrmph.
She's being good, he can be too! c_c But then she spots an Irvine smile,
and... Okay, well, we'll figure this thing out. "We'll be -fine-, right? Yeah!
We always are, no big deal." Heh heh... hoooo.

Squall eyes Irvine a bit balefully a moment; it's not the lack of rank there,
it's the answer. He shrugs at the questions, saying, "I guess Barret has a
different plan in there. I just... well, let's see what we can do." He turns
to the squad leaders, ordering, "Organize your people by squad and await the
go."

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Engaging the 70th floor...Reeve is up here, as are his
guards.

Nida detaches to his squad of dozen-or-so skirmishers and sets about to
organizing them into a single mass of guerilla tactics.
      
Selphie nod!s to Squall, turning to the sea of familiar faces. Yay. As was
mentioned earlier, battle-mode-Selphie, compelte with Nunchaku Action, is
takin' over. So! Without so much as a giggle or a 'teehee' of any sort, she
begins phsyically and verablly herding her group. She does, however, 'Whoo!',
for the sake of 'Whoo!'ing.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Affirmative.

Irvine wonders, for a moment, who the heck Reeve is. Ah well, no time to ask
now. He glances up, watching the Squad Leaders shuffle their squads about,
privately glad it's not him in any sorta leadership position.
      
The SeeD leaders salute and turn to trot to their respective squads, who mill
around anxiously. It's hot, they're waiting around wanting to shoot things,
and giving the direction of Midgar attentive glances.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Inflitration commander preparing to take Elevator. Appears to
be attempting negotiation, and access to elevator. Uncertain if we can stay
with him.
      
[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Stay with him.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Will do our best.

From the Looming ediface of Midgar... slowly... Two object can be seen...
leaping from the Plate. They are quite large and they land before the gates a
good distance away. Appearantly unhurt. Slowly they begin to move foward...
and it can be seen they they appear to be... giant... Robotic... Scorpion-like
creatures. They have Humanoid Torsos and long cannons for arms... their tails
curl up in unison as they advance. Guard Scorpions./
      
[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: It appears Midgar's taking some of the bait. We have...
Scorpians? coming at us...

A cry goes up from some of the troops as they've spoted something! Eighty sets
of weapons turn toward Midgar. True to orders, the party fans out into squads,
moving into flanking positions. More target, more disperse. The tension goes
up a bit, but they hold well.

What the heck? Irvine blinks at the sight of 'Guard Scorpions' headed toward the
SeeD disguised as rabble. He says something into the commlink, looking not
really nervous as much as weirded out by the scorpians.

Dragonclaw just kind of follows one of the squads, finding one with enough
people in it to hide him - or so he thinks, it still doesn't work that well.
Axe comes out as he glares at the machines.

Squall turns, more at hearing Irvine's report in his earpiece, and studies the
approaching things. "Well, that's something then." He waves to the squad
leaders to give orders, and turns back to studying the handiwork of milling
about. "Weird. What are they?"

Terra rests her hand on the hilt of her sword, shading her eyes from the
slightly-dirtied sunlight to peer at them. Jeez... it looks like weird
mechanical monsters weren't just an Imperial hobby.

Ward looks over at the scorpions and frowns. Massive...mechanical...on the other
hand, there's about eighty-five people here, counting those who arrived on the
Ragnarok. This ought to be interesting. Ward unslings his harpoon and wraps
his hands around it firmly, giving it a short heft. He looks ready, yep.

Selphie glances up, having -not- herded anyone afterall (hehe c_c;;), and uses
her hand as a visor against the sun. "Euuuuw. Grody-looking." She hates
scorpions! Nose scrunching up, she liked the Galbadian Spider thingee alot
more.

Nida glances towards the scorpions with his special Nida high-tech binocular
thingies. Lowering them with a squint, he directs two of his squad to keep up
the watch while he slowly scans around to the sides and rear. Very possibly
it's a distraction for the distractors if current themes are keeping up.

Irvine flicks the gun down, not really aiming it. He's cocky like that, feeling
as if his weapon were more like another part of him then a separate extension.
Time to just wait now, and watch. "Scorpians, robotic at that. Well, at least
they make it interesting."
      
[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Sephiroth is negotiating with Reeve...the latter is not in a
fighting mood.

The Guard Scorpions crest a rise... leveling their Arm-Cannons at the troops...
Their tails curl up higher and begin to pulse with energy... and something
else comes down from the plate... something... huge

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: We've got movement. Scorpians coming in closer... and what
in the world...

Two SeeD squads make coordinated gestures at the things, one for each, and with
a roll of thunder, a nice line of Thundera spells lance into the Scorpians.
It's almost as impressive as a GF... but not that cool. The other one...the
other squads eye it, preparing spells as well.

The massive creature looks closer... It has... four arms... it is a red and
black monstrousity... nearly 40 feet tall. It slowly rotates to a standing
position... landing between the two Guard Scorpions. Proud Clod.

[CCOM 4000] GARDEN: Vincent here. Evacuation of the port is underway. We will be
ready and mobile in the next hour. Requesting status, Command.

Irvine speaks into the commlink again, staring up at the massive hulk that makes
up Proud Clod. Good god, what in the name of Hyne is that? However, he can't
help but grin, looks like there's gonna be some real action after all.

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: Looks like we've got a forty foot monstrousity coming at
us. Four arms even.

Squall, standing and watching the progress on the two lesser things, blinks at
the apprearance of... "Nida, get the Ragnarok warmed up," he says, turning.
We're just drawing out machines here, not troops. Rest of you, get ready.
Terra, if it looks really bad... use him."

Dragonclaw, generally passive in his mob, notices Proud Clod - how can you
/not/? The axe, still clenched in his left hand, points at it - though he
doesn't let loose anything. He's just pointing. "Watch out!"
      
[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Affirmative, putting Ragnarok on standby and preparing to
engage. We're not drawing out troops here, just machines.

Nida notes to his squad, "The guerilla idea seems to have been voided.
Coordinate with group C, get ready for heavy assualt and defense. I've got to
go ready the ship." Dismissing them all with a nod, he waves once to Squall
and starts back towards the Ragnarok.

A low, rumbling, metalic voice rises from the machine known as Proud Clod.
"Halt! You are in Violation of ShinRa Territory... Throw down your weapons and
retreat the area or you will be Atomized."

Terra nods, briskly, to Squall. . o O ( Don't fall asleep, now. <*squawk*> ) She
pulls out her sword, more for psychological value than anything, and faces
towards the monstrosity. Even if it is still approaching - and now
threatening.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Elevator access denied. Negative on negotiations. Heavily
engaged... uncertain if Leader has sufficent explo-*hufff*-sives to destroy
ground floor. Opponents do not appear impassive to that threat so far.
<Gunfire in background>

Selphie mouths, 'atomized?' even as she takes a step -back-, eyeing her
nunchakus even as she holds them in front of her... Yeah, nunchakus vs. Proud
Clod. Maybe she'll just go hide behind someone. Teeth clenched, she looks the
thing over -- she DEFINATELY liked the Galbadian spider thingee more.

Squall frowns, issuing a general command, "Defense, -then- offense. Atomized
sounds pretty bad." And shouting after Nida, "We'll be right there!" To the
rest, "Fall back -slowly- if you can, this is doing the objective little good
to stick around."

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: If you can't get up, get out. Let me know when you get
clear, or if you can't.

Proud Clod slowly... rumbles... the massive Cannon behind it's head slowly
lowering down towards the troops.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: RED ALERT! RED ALERT! Kefka is on floor 70. Repeat, Kefka is
on floor 70!! RED ALERT!!!

Dragonclaw knows what to do when told to defend. Roaring, once, to draw
attention to him and away from the people he surrounds, he gestures with his
axe in the direction of Proud Clod. Between him and it, the grass writhes and
grows, speeding up into long tendrails, though it doesn't do very much but
grow /straight/ up in a barrier. The rocks shortly join it, piling up into a
stack and a half-wall for anyone who needs it to hide behind.

The second wave of Thundera picks out proud Clod. Seems some of the leaders want
to see what effects would... uh, do anything to the monsters. Lightnign cracks
down on the thing, multiple spells in unison, it seems.

With the gun still semi-aimed toward Proud Clod, Irvine follows orders, though
somewhat reluctantly. Though, he's gotta crane his neck to look up at the
thing. Gods above, what's it capable of?
      
Selphie has no problemo with falling back, which she promptly does -- but
slowly, as per ordered. "I'll say," she notes to herself. She's not wearing
her Target T-Shirt today, is she? Whew. Hey--! Neato trick, DC! She'll mention
it later. c_c

Proud Clod shutters from the impact... but doesnt go down... The Guard
Scorpion's tails slowly begin to glow... and lances of high powered energy
shoot down at the ranks of Spellcasters.

Terra decides that the moving of that Really Big Gun qualifies as a major
problem. She glances at Squall, biting her lower lip, not wanting to violate
orders without some kind of confirmation; besides which, at the moment,
they're just well-armed riffraff as far as Shinra knows. This is a good
illusion to maintain.

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: We're being fired on. Drawing back slowly. *somehow sounds
calm*

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Situation is managable, will take ti-<Brief burst of static>

The bolts sear through two squads like butter, and the predictable thing
happens: those around scatter, their leaders urging them to scatter in with
some tactics in mind. THe whole mass of them picks up pace, and heading
-back-, toward the coast. It's not a slow retreat, but... "Terra, nail them!"

Squall calls, before turning and cupping his hands. "Retreat!"

Irvine mutters something into the commlink again as his gaze shifts toward the
targets of the energy blast. Dragonclaw's antics don't go unnoticed either. At
the order to retreat, Irvine frowns, backing up a little quicker, but he's not
going until he's sure the majority aren't gonna get toasted.

Dragonclaw isn't going anywhere - he's too deep in concentration. /Now/ that
there's a wall in place, rocks on the far side - about thirty feet distant -
begin to vibrate, bend and crack, in a natural pitfall. While there's no-one
there, Dragonclaw's only trying to make a barrier that's harder to get over,
given the height of the wall compared to the depth of the crumbling ground.

The Barrier is raised... But it doesnt stop Proud Clod. A massive arm shoots
foward and though it, shattering and grumbling rock. Machine Guns open fire on
the Giant's torso... As the Scorpions pepper the ground before the troops...
all three not attacking... but coaxing them to try and retreat faster.

Squall turns to the others. Calm is fine. The machines are... well, big, but
he's in his element here. "Come on, let's get to the Ragnarok to try to cover
them." With that, he sprints off at a followable pace.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Rescue team, status? *behind him, sounds of what seems to
be crunching rock and odd zotting sounds*

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: Retreating back. *sound of scattered automatic gunfire*

Retreat?! Oh, yeah, what-ever-. This is, of course, when Proud Clod bursts
through that wall, and starts firing and stuff. Pausing for a moment to let
out a 'hmm,' she decides that yes, retreat is a nice idea. "Coo~ooming," she
calls, even as she turns and follows orders. Good girl! Follow, follow...
--Hey! She glances to Irvine, whether he's mobile or not, and notes, "C'mon!"

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Continuation of negotiations between Sephiroth and Reeve.
Kefka's presence doesn't seem to be affecting them...yet.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Situation managable. Heavy resistance, but we can make it.
Will take time.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: Affirmative, both. Falling back to cover SeeD retreat.
Staying won't win anything for you guys.

Irvine turns then to follow Squall at Selphie's prompting. Tiiiime to go! He
says something into the commlink breathlessly, glancing over his shoulder once
in time to see the peppered automatic fire from the Scorpians.

Proud Clod rumbles deeply... the living brain within the Monster watching as
they forces begin to retreat. "Objective agknowledged..."

Terra rests the blade of her sword against her palm and closes her eyes, coaxing
out her guest in the head as the troops break and retreat. Seconds pass, and
she remains almost perfectly still, and then... with a slight step forwards,
there's a release of glowing energy around her.

A bank of dark clouds thunders, forming a circular shape over the area between
the woman and the technological terrors. Then, with an almost heavenly choral
notes, manifests a huge yellow bird-like form, giving a triumphant screech as
it spreads its wings! Facing down the machines, it starts to gather energy
around its beak, before finally letting it go in a sparking half-sphere over
them; the sparking electricity turns into a single glowing blast, and then the
creature vanishes, back from whence it came. The job done, Terra joins the
general retreat.

Dragonclaw doesn't /usually/ run away. Today is an exception. Seeing his barrier
crumble, he stays put exactly long enough to make sure that he's not going to
trip over a displaced rock from his pitfalls and then runs off in a reptilian
lanky gait toward the others.

Indeed, the Squads are falling back, delivering as many spells back as they can
manage, which isn't as much as if they stand their ground. Some do, just long
enough to get a volley off, though it's obvious a few squads have run out of
the right kind of spells. But as the sky darkens, there's a cheer, this is
familiar to some of them, and the retreat gains some order, and speed.

Ward runs for the Ragnarok as well, since he has a working knowledge of the ship
in case it's needed...but then he glances back one more time and sees that no
one's been left behind, and he keeps going.

The Guard Scorpions crackle and shudder in the wake of the attack... one falling
while the other is flung back to land on it's back... Clod However... remains.
Electricity crackling though it and causing it to take a single step back...
but the Guardian Force will not beat Clod this east... It regains the step,
leting out a low growl

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: negotiations appear to be going well. Kefka seems to be
planning to interrupt however.
      
Squall glances back to make sure the others are behind him, and shields his eyes
against Quetzacoatl's handiwork. As the light fades and Clod remains, he nods
to himself and waves the general retreat. Most of the group is already
streaming toward the coast, a notable number of them... left behind, or
carried and dragged.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: *static*Do you need...*static*...we're ready to...*static*
.
Dragonclaw was facing the other way and missed the fireworks. Drat. He slows
down, walking backwards, to try to bring up the grass around Proud Clod's feet
and slow him, but it's a half-hearted effort.

Some of the troops stick to Dragonclaw, providing some shielding with spells.
They got a look at what he did, wow! and it's a good retreat, if anything.

Irvine taps the earpeice, noting the static caused by Quetzacoatl's sudden
appearance. Though he avoids junctioning personally, he's rather glad he's one
of the few with that attitude.

[CCOM 4000] RAGNAROK: *static* anyt-- *static* Repe-- *static* please?

Proud Clod Ignites his rocketpack, rising straight up and into the air... The
ground groaning then it /rips/ chunks of earth up as it takes to the air. This
is no ordinary Machine. This is a machine designed to take down WEAPON.

[CCOM 4000] INFIL: Resistance thinning out and pulling back. They "Have thier
target in sight." Information on who or what "Target?" amy be?

[CCOM 4000] GARDEN: Vincent's voice requests in a terse manner, "Command,
report."

Selphie doesn't really -need- to see Quetie, she's seen him before. But she does
register that he made an appearence, grinning a little toothily as she glances
up towards the sky. Follow, follow! She erks as she hears and slightly feels
PC's movement. Uhm. Yeah. Outta here.

Irvine doesn't waste anymore time, occasionally glancing over his shoulder as he
clamours toward the Ragnarok.

[CCOM 4000] RESCUE: Target is...Sephiroth!!!!

Dragonclaw is running. Fast. He stopped to bring up more grass, so now he's
/really/ running.

Selphie is focused, now! She's sure she'll get to blow something up once on
board Ragnarok, so wastes -no- time, and -no- glances back.

Terra is flat-out running, to catch up with the others and to make up with her
relatively short legs. She also put her sword away, since the idea of falling
on it doesn't appeal.

[CCOM 4000] COMMAND: *crackle*...general retreat for SeeD...*zzztts*...medical
team...*crackle*

(Continued in Part 2)