[CptSteel]

"Light..! Alright, let's do this.." With a mighty push off the ground, Lynae jumped up and used her momentum to push through the door.

As she got past the trapdoor, Lynae readied herself for any trap or ambush; prepared to fall back if need be, though she kept up a solid enough guard so that she wasn't completely relying on retreating.

[willow_lark]

Lynae bursts through the trapdoor to find herself in a large room. The sandstone walls immediately reminds her of the ruins outside the cave. The room is large and square, roughly 45 meters by 45 meters. The floor is stone, though sand has been blow in over time to provide a decent coating across the floor. The trapdoor Lynae now stands in front of is a few meters from the north wall directly behind her. The only exit to this room is in the western wall, on the corner with the south wall. Not only is there are large, 3 meter wide opening, but the corner's ceiling is partially caved in. Natural light seeps in from above. Windows dot the other walls, small things only for lighting.

The southeastern corner of the room is piled with crates and barrels. To their left is a large yellow jeep. The remaining five bandits are loading crates into the back of the running jeep. They turn to Lynae and half drop their jaws in surprise. The other two furrow their brows in undisguised anger.

"Screw the loot, get in!" one barks, clearly in charge. He's a older man, with a large bushy beard. His eyebrows are huge. He swings into the driver's seat as the others scramble for weapons.


(OOC: We're going to try an experiment with turn orders. I'm going to state a new turn order at each post, using the letters of each player's name in VLPS. For example, LPVS means Lynae is next, then Patchouli, Vidalia, and finally Sona. Each GM post will have that order list.

Order: LPVS

[CptSteel]

After landing smoothly, Lynae stood up straight and with a sigh, looking toward the scrambling men; she said under her breath, "I've had a long day. You ain't making it much lon--" She stopped herself as she sensed the older man's aura. Creating only a few bubbles, Lynae endowed them with explosive dust and threw them to the jeep as quickly as she could, trying to end any fights before they started.

Getting into stance, she looked down to the trapdoor. "The boss has an unlocked aura!" This wasn't exactly the knight-ess in shining armour gig she thought her first mission would be.

[Flooberoid]

Patchouli sighed and followed Lynae as she leapt up through the trapdoor. She couldn't help but wonder if perhaps, at any point, they could taken a break- not to rest, but to actually think for once. But hey, if everyone had common sense, what good would Patchouli be?

"Easy, Lyn..." Patchouli muttered. She threw two needles, one from each hand, with pinpoint accuracy towards the two jeep tires they could see. That should hold 'em... assuming their ride didn't burst into flames and explode. The odds of bringing these guys home alive seemed to be dwindling rapidly.

[MissyMidna]

Vidalia followed standing behind Patchy, as soon as Lynae said something about one of them having an unlocked aura, oh did she jump to her team leaders side eagerly. Vidalia was careful not to get hit by Lynae's bubbles. Using her sword she pinned one of the man's feet to the ground then aimed two green swords at his neck.

"Are you going to surrender or let me play with you?" She asked him playfully.

[willow_lark]

Sona jumps up with the rest of her team, swinging to the left immediately. She goes around in an arc, coming at the jeep from the front side with her chakrams drawn and ready.



The first attack to reach the bandits is Patchouli's needles, piercing into the front left tire.  Vidalia's ghostly swords appear next, slicing into the jeep cabin as the aura enabled bandit moves his foot out of the way just in time. Finally Lynae's bubbles arrive, the three explosives crashing into the side of the jeep.

They simultaneously explode, the concussive force nearly tipping the jeep over. The men who had yet to enter the jeep dive away from the explosion, leaving only the bearded bandit in the radius. Vidalia's phantom swords are blown apart by the bubble exploding near it. As the jeep falls back onto it's wheels, the bandit remaining in the jeep leaps out of the seat, looking no worse for the wear. It's clear his aura protected him and is still active. Three of the bandits run forward, clearing the room with charging attacks against the girls.

A tall man with a rat tail hardo and a belt full of daggers targets Patchouli, throwing two daggers at her while running. He draws two more from his belt as he gets into melee range with the faunus.

A burly man, seemingly 300 pounds of muscle at close to seven feet tall, runs (rather pounds) towards Lynae. He has a combination gauntlet and knuckle duster on each fist, and he twists his whole body into a right hook aimed at Lynae's chest.

The final attacker is of an average build, and a foreigner. He's got mistralian features, and wields a double sided spear, with blades like a naginata. He is faster than the other aggressors, reaching Vidalia and swinging upward in a diagonal slash across the girl's body. He then spins backwards and holds the weapon in front of him defensively.

The last of the normal bandits, an angry faced short man, shoots a rifle from the hip in Sona's direction while clambering into the back of the jeep. The bearded man draws two cutlasses from his sides and takes a iron stance against the approaching Sona. He stomps the ground, braced and and telegraphing he will not be moved.


Sona charges at the bearded man, keeping herself low on the approach. Thankfully none of the bullets hit her person and she closes the distance, coming at his from his left. With a yell she swings her left chakram in an upward cross too soon to hit him as feint. She plants her left foot and continues to twist into a high roundhouse kick aimed at her opponent's left arm. She smiles slightly, positive this will either knock him over or cause him to lose a sword.

Order: SPLV. Sona's turn is above

[Flooberoid]

As a flying dagger grazed the aura around her face, Patchouli's eyes widened and her quills flared up. This was short lived, however, as she took a good look at her attacker. She relaxed, even sighed a bit, seeing this maniac rushing towards her without a care in the world.

"What you hooligans don't seem to grasp..." She opened the flap of her pouch and drew out another paralysis needle. "...is that without aura, you can't lay a finger on me!" She ducked around to her left (her assailant's right), thrusting the needle into his shoulder as she circled around. In his inevitable bewilderment, she attempted to pull him by the hair and pin his left arm behind him with her hand.

[CptSteel]

Seeing the man running toward her, Lynae backstepped as far back as she could in that short space of time that was him attacking her. His punch just managed to hit the girl's shoulder as she was beginning to change direction, but she continued on turning and as hastily as she could, Lynae leaped away from the man; gaining enough distance for he next attack.

"Tsk, Tsk." Lynae wagged her finger at him mockingly after she made sure she was far enough away that he couldn't punish her for it. Not willing to waste more dust, Lynae let out a barrage of bubbles, virtually creating a barrier between the bandit and her. "ARI ARI ARI!"

 They inched slowly toward the bandit, and if they hit; they would surely put his muscly body to the test.

[MissyMidna]

Vidalia decided to step back and just play defense since there was multiple fighting currently taking place making her feel lost. She simply sent a few phantom swords to aid each of her teammates. One for Sona, two for Patchy and one for Lynae.

[willow_lark]

The bearded dual wielder sees through Sona's feint with a dark chuckle. He drops his sword then steps back with her kick; grabbing her ankle at it flies at his person. Using her own momentum against the girl, he swings her around behind him. Sona is slammed into the side of the vacated jeep with a terrible crash. The momentum she had would have her yowling in pain even with her aura full, and not to mention he swung her harder to add more speed to her collision. He drops her foot and grabs his blade again.

"What's wrong kitty kat? All out of Aura?" He chuckles darkly over the pained girl. Sona is saved from a follow up attack by Vidalia's ghostly semblance, which her attacker dodges by stepping away from the injured faunus.

(OOC: Nine lives will trigger for Sona due to damage.)



The rattail bandit clicks his tongue as his right arms falls limp. Quickly connecting the needle with the effect, he smirks as the girl complains about how easy this fight is. As she steps behind him and grabs for his mobile arm, he steps back into her and slams his booted foot onto hers. Using the momentum he gains, he swings himself around to his left. He leads with his arm and he backhands the girl with his closed fist. It is less painful than were to use the dagger in his hand but doing it this way pushes Patchouli back and gives him space.

With a sneer, he uses his mobile arm to pull the needle from it's opposite. He feels the paralysis weakening already. "We don't all need aura to protect us. Some of us are actually skilled." He's almost taken by surprise when Vidalia's blade dives towards him. He barely dodges being skewered for his bravado. He's unable to completely avoid the second blade, a gash appearing down his back from the blade's edge. He snarls in pain.



The bear of a man turns toward Lynae's new position. The first of her trademark bubbles pelt him and it almost seems like he was ignoring the baseball sized aura flung at him. After a heart pounding moment of thinking he's immune, he puts his arms up with a grunt and shields his face from the attacks. Unable to see through his arms, he still advances towards where he saw Lynae attacking from.

His blindness leaves him unable to dodge Vidalia's blade, piercing through his side. He only grunts, lending more suspicion that this man felt nothing.



Connecting the blades to Vidalia, the mistralian attacker swings aggressively for the defending girl. He attacks with a thrust with the head blade of the dual halberd followed by a slash from the tail blade. When these are blocked by Vidalia's katana, he makes a sweep with the length of the weapon, attempting to trip the girl.

Order: PVSL

[Flooberoid]

Taking the backhand with little reaction, Patchouli regained her senses somewhat and stepped away from her opponent. "Oh my, maybe you're better than I thought. Still clueless though," she chuckled softly as Vidalia's blades made contact. Thanks Vidi. Lemme make it up to you... Patchouli tossed a fan of basic needles at Vidalia's attacker, then drew a claw of needles for her right hand. She then adopted a defensive stance, allowing her opponent to make the next move.

[MissyMidna]

Vidalia isn't ready for the man to rush her. She forgets that she even challenged the man in the first place, but no worries; she actually saw this as a fun game (when doesn't she?).  Her phantom swords are at her side waiting for her command to attack the Mistralian. Vidalia neglected to keep her balance, the man successfully pushes her down along with the phantom swords exploding as they hit the ground. If it hadn't been for Patchy's needles Vidalia's aura would have dropped. As retaliation Vidalia kicks the man in him most intimate parts with her foot and gains a bit of ground. In her defense, he played dirty first.

"Thanks, Patchy!" Vidalia yells happily.

[willow_lark]

Sona slams against the bandit's jeep and can not prevent the cry of pain from escaping her lips. Her back slams against the huge wheel of the jeep. As she hits the jeep her aura suddenly spreads over her body again. Not only that, it seems to pulse and a flash of golden force shines from her prone form. The force spreads from her in every direction, travelling at it's farthest a few meters from the source. It knocks the jeep again, pushing it on two wheels again for a half second before it falls to it's resting position once again.

Her opponent is taken by surprise and hit by the final meter's worth of range the golden blast has. He is buffeted by the wave and forced to take a step back, but seems to have to taken no damage.

At the same time, Sona gets her breath back with a cough. She rolls up from her prone position and dives into combat again. She leads with a low slash across the thigh of his front leg and then slashes with her left Chakram diagonally across his chest. Stepping back from her slash, she readies to block a slash with her left Chakram and counter attack with the right.

[CptSteel]

Lynae blinked blankly at the built bandit, and with a sigh retreated back even further. Angry that she had to waste even more dust today, Lynae begrudgingly imbued a bubble with fire dust and threw it towards the bandit's clothes, hoping that they'd get caught on fire. "You're a real pain in the ass." Lynae prepared to jump back even further, standing waiting for her opponent's move.

[willow_lark]

The built bandit continues to keep his face protected, and doesn't see the change in bubbles. Lynae's fire bubble hits him and pops in a flare of bright flames. The flames cover the bulk of his body for brief few seconds before the flare created by the bubble disappears. The flames left behind certainly do not disappear however, catching on the the bandit's shirt and hair. He lets out a low, gravely growl, still somewhat intimidating despite it being a cry of pain.

He gives up defense, again charging for Lynae. He launches into a desperate dive at Lynae. Both his arms are out stretched trying to wrap his arms around the girl and bring her into his now flaming, bear like embrace.



The rattailed bandit glares death in Patchouli's direction. Grabbing another dagger from his belt, he rushes the huntress in training with a flurry of slashes. Each slash is simultaneously slower than it should be from the back injury and over extended due to his rage. Patchouli is able to deflect these blows easily, though blocking both his weapons with only one claw of needles quickly strains the poor girl's guard.



Sona's slashes land well against the dual wielding bandit. With a flash his aura absorbs the damage, confirming what Lynae sensed. He does not stand by idling any longer, swinging an overhead slash with his right hand scimitar. Sona deflects this swing and goes in for her counter attack, which is met by the bearded bandit's own off hand weapon. Momentum lost he steps back to let the huntress in training make her move, ready to respond.

"Devito! Where the hell is that support fire?!" He shouts in the direction of the jeep.



The Mistrali bandit groans and collapses onto his knees.

"ORDER: LPVS"