GROUP 3: SO I OPEN MY DOOR TO MY ENEMIES—

[dipolar]

WHO? group three, see below links.
WHAT? hrhr: retreat missions.
WHEN? february 9th, you're here forever.
ANYTHING ELSE? planning and submissions.

CHARACTERS WILL ENCOUNTER THESE OBSTACLES:

—Locating the base and arriving without interference by the Turks or the Regency.
—Getting at least one person past the soldiers and into the base.
—Scouting the base and locating Atatürk without causing an incident.
—Handling soldiers who might interfere with attempts to reach Atatürk.
—Combating any Regency soldiers assigned undercover to the Turkish side.
—If anyone is captured by Turkish or Regency soldiers, you'll have to stage a rescue.
—Successfully gaining an audience with Atatürk and acquiring amnesty.
—Returning to Lone Pine in one piece.

RAISING THE DEAD AND SCOUTING, 18/30
yoshitsugu otani, dorian pavus, jon snow, jeyne westerling, sebastian michaelis, ashitaka, hei, noctis lucis caelum, chiron

"Raising the dead and scouting goes well, if not smoothly. You have to dodge enemy combatants the whole way, and it's a little hard to get the intel and supplies you need when you're also trying not to get shot. Somehow, you manage it! Probably through the power of positive thinking. And murder."

—chiron and hei do an initial scout to map out the turkish base and find entry points
—hei stresses that everyone stays with at least one other person so as to not get separated/held hostage
—yoshitsugu uses his spell to raise the dead for an hour to gather information about the turkish base/plans
—yoshitsugu experiences convulsions as a result of using the spell and dorian will use his revival spell on him to help him recover
—entire group stops to plan out specific teams and what they’ll been doing, team a and b are born
—sebastian recounts the letters he found in the tunnels verbatim to the group, mostly sharing the atatürk part
—entire group decides that non-lethal action is to be taken, so they can easily discuss terms with atatürk without killing his men
—noctis and jeyne act as contacts between their separate teams to keep information fresh and to relay important updates
—jon provides the bottom halves of turkish uniforms so their disguises can be put together; they steal the top halves from the dead soldiers yoshitsugu has raised because we're here to demean literally everybody

COMBAT WITH THE REGENCY, 13/30
hei, noctis lucis caelum, chiron, sebastian michaelis, ashitaka

"Combat is where things get difficult. While nobody dies, a few characters are seriously injured. You can decide who and how. Likewise, if you have anybody due for a kidnapping, now would be a good time. But, essentially, this is a close call. You lose ground to the enemy, some ANZAC soldiers might get caught in the crossfire, some precious resources may be lost! Your choice, but something goes to shit."

—chiron using magical detection to weed out the regency agents and the entirety of team b engages the three regency soldiers in combat
—hei uses his ability to shock memory out of the people who may have spotted them using their powers, with the exception of regency soldiers
—noctis will be using warp-strike takedowns to reduce their chances of detection, as they're near-silent and an instantaneous skill
—ashitaka gets kidnapped by the first of the undercover regency agents somewhere in the middle of this because he's literally and figuratively cursed, leaving them down a group member
—sebastian leaves team b and joins team a to fill ashitaka’s empty diplomat position, because he can do anything and likes to show off
—yoshitsugu avoids his kidnapping somewhere in the middle of this, with chiron on rescue duty to facedown the second undercover regency agent
—dorian will use blood magic in a desperate attempt to save himself from capture from the third undercover regency agent

ACTUAL DIPLOMACY, 16/30
yoshitsugu otani, dorian pavus, jon snow, jeyne westerling, sebastian michaelis

"Actual diplomacy is terse, if only because it feels difficult to get a foothold. Atatürk gives little away, and is very quiet and cautious in his delegations. He doesn't fill you with confidence. But in the end, he does come around, admitting to seeing your point. He'll do what he can to call a cease fire."

—team b attempts to come to an agreement and work things out with atatürk
—yoshitsugu attempts to talk atatürk down from a strategical point of view, "there's no sense in attacking when your enemy is already retreating"
—jeyne uses the locket to take the stance of women missing their husbands and lovers, as well as their children having no fathers; she's especially good at calming people when tempers run hot, as well as appealing on more personal levels
—jon speaks with atatürk on a personal level: "no more men have to die - i know you've watched your countrymen fall, i know everyone values bravery, we do too, but these deaths mean less and less when no one is fighting anymore”
—dorian has a gift for politics and has sat in on war counsels and engaged in political debates, making him approach this from a political angle
—if things start going badly, yoshitsugu will use his guilt spell to sway atatürk to their side of the discussion

Comments

THIS IS SO LATE

[dipolar]

'Drastic' is the word he'd use to describe Dorian's expression and it's far too late for him to do anything about it.

He should be concerning himself with the Regency agent who's doubling back to get away from whatever trick the mage is pulling, but the sight of him dragging a blade from chest to wrist is enough to distract both of them. Self-harm is never something Hei's cringed at; he's used knives against himself as a means to an end to escape enemy clutches before. He knows it'll do the trick, if their conversation about how taboo the art is was any indication of its power. That's the only shred of faith he's willing to spare.

And it works, for a time. The agents bow and writhe and Hei's grip tightens around his dagger, springing into action — all the while keeping an eye on a flagging Dorian whose energy wanes with the exertion. Hei makes a quick and dirty fighter, merciless as he takes point against one of the Regency agents who's staggered, kicking up mud at a jackal mask with his foot before cutting the blinded enemy down at the stomach. It risks his own exposure to the second who aims their blaster at his side and he feels the burning bite of plasma strike him below the ribs, singing a hole in his uniform. Bad, he realizes, when the almost gooey energy splashed him scrapes at layers of skin and muscle until he's certain stained bone is peeking out of his jacket.

There's no time for the shout that should come and Dorian knows this as well, the two of them silent through their tribulations. He thought he could keep it up, fight through in their dangerous states, but — he's dreadfully unlucky. Things rarely ever stay good, souring quickly. 'How can it get any worse?' a popular phrase that sums up the majority of the sad years he's spent clinging to this wretched life.

The sudden wrenching of old injuries barely healed by time. Hei can hardly recognize why his own body reacts as violently as it does when he knows he can withstand pain on a scale no human could cope with, but, when his eyes dart to Dorian, it's the warning look that sends a thrill up his spine and promises him that he's wrong — because it can always get worse. There's no lag in his step when it dawns on him, immediately wrenching a tired body away from the Regency to rush at his comrade as the agony spikes and his vitals go haywire.

He activates his ability and slaps a hand over his wounds with a sudden jolt of electricity, trying to cauterize the bullet wounds that rip open and bleed at Dorian's word. "Dorian!"

Hei knows why he's doing what he's doing, forcing a comrade into becoming his weapon against too-strong opponents who have the upper hand, but it puts their lives at risk. He'll need someone close who can fend off the fools who get too close while acting as the blood bag necessary to hold their ground and finish the mission — it's worrisome that they've targeted him. Ashitaka was first, Dorian is another, and he's lost track of Noctis which makes his discomfort grow all the more unbearable, but the only way to find him and check on him is to finish this. Kill these bastards who've been brainwashed into obsessing over the True Peace to a degree that makes them mindless murderers just the same as their enemies.

"T-Take them out," a strained order, yanking impatiently at the collar of his own uniform to make the drawing of blood from his shoulder and bicep that much easier — helped along further with a press and wiggle of his own dagger into a pockmark scar from an age ago.