Farming Shadows [Mission]

[Holly Mason]

She swore she would never do this again.  Even the most straight-forward sounding of missions always had some weird quirk that the obnoxious blonde woman probably knew about but didn't mention.  She was sure this one would be no different, but...dammit Holly couldn't bring herself to leave some crazy old man to die out there.  Apparently this guy was still trying to run his farm out here with all the shadows around.  She wasn't even sure how any plants managed to grow out here at all, but that was beside the point.  The shadows' assaults were getting stronger and there was no way the guy would be able to hold out for long.  So, it was her job to chase them away at minimum, but she wanted to drag the man back to civilization as well.  So, she was taking a job from the blonde woman in the gap again, but THIS one would definitely be the last one!

The farm was on the outskirts of the city, but given how many times she's traveled through this place it didn't take her too long to get there.  It was a fairly small farm, which was not surprising given he had to take care of it himself and that he was living alone at this point.  The signs of war were obvious as well.  There were numerous holes throughout the field, most of the fences were either destroyed or quickly patched up with the quality obviously suffering, even parts of his house had boards on them.  Really, it was impressive that he managed to hold out this long.

Holly went to go find the man himself so she could explain the situation.  It looked like her partner hadn't arrived yet either, but she could easily fill them in on anything interesting he said once they did.  She hoped the farmer wouldn't insist on fighting, but at this point she knew there was no point in trying to stop him.  Even if he was a civilian he had fought numerous battles, and this time he would have all of her support skills on his side so he would be able to fight even more effectively.  Really, she understood that it wouldn't be bad to have his help, it just seemed unethical to her still.  She wasn't sure if she'd ever get over that.

[Vice Ysal]

There was a string of familiarity when Vice had accepted the mission from the blonde over at the gap. Apparently he wasn't the first one to have taken the mission but then again that didn't quite matter right now. Still, there wasn't exactly much time to waste now that hew knew about it. He gave the broker a small bow for thanks before throwing himself outside. He knew the location, and he was pretty sure that he could make it there in time if he rushed it a bit.

The bursts of speed he put up, along with cutting some time through a couple of parkour tricks he picked up along the way, had been the reason as to how he had been able to arrive the destination a fair bit earlier than had he taken his time getting there. He wasn't exactly sucking in air, but there were some signs of effort visible on his face. Before any kind of explanations could have started, Vice managed to hop over the fence that acted as a perimeter for the man's little farm while making sure not to trample on anything.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

As you get to the farm, a small old man slowly hobbles out of his house, eyeing you over. Once he realizes that you must be the help that was sent, he motions you closer. The wave is coming. He speaks in a low, but audible voice while balancing himself on what appears to be an old fashion musket. I've survived out here long enough, but I feel that it is time for me to let go. But before I do, I want to protect my farm one last time before I go. Then, you can escort me out to the city.

As it would seem, the man wants you to help him defend his farm one last time before he parts with it. The actual job itself seems t be delivering him back to the city which is easy itself. However, before you can do that you need to deal with this. I suppose you want my secret to survival, though. See, I've been setting up perimeters of traps and such to prevent any shadows from getting in. Help me set up those first. Then, we wait. The old man hobbles over towards his barn. I have anything you might need in here. Bear traps, weapons, gasoline, you name it. Just make sure you know what you're doing.

[ ] Set up traps and such to before defending the farm! You have 2~ hours to do this! (Get creative)

[Holly Mason]

Holly nodded at the farmer's explanation.  She was surprised the shadows gave that much notice as she didn't think normals could actually sense them, at least not as well as users could.  Were the shadows coming after him just really strong?  Well, she was about to find out.  If he was going to be leaving after there probably wasn't much point in worrying about keeping the place too in tact.  The farmer probably didn't want to destroy it completely, but Holly didn't see much point in trying to save some of the outer fields that were probably too torn up to even grow crops anymore.  Just the house would be enough right?

Well, the obvious thing to do was to take advantage of any weakness the shadows might have.  If the house still had power they'd be able to take advantage of lightning and fire pretty easily, strike and probably slash and pierce as well if they constructed bombs correctly.  That said, she had no experience with this kind of thing because she was a highschool student and not a terrorist or something, so she wasn't quite sure what to do.  If the farmer was able, and it seemed likely given how long he was able to survive out here, she'd ask him to build as many as he could and put them around the perimeter of the place.  They didn't even need to be detonated traditionally, both Vice and herself could probably send out a few attacks to set them off from a safe enough distance.  The important part was that some exploded normally, like you would expect a landmine too, some exploded and sent shards flying everywhere like flechette round from a gun, and some sent more controlled particles flying at them.  That should cover strike, slash and pierce respectively.

As for her part, she was going to take some wire and carefully pull it around the perimeter.  She kept a bit of rubber on one end so that it could be plugged in when the time came.  She also ran some gasoline around the area with a trail leading into the near where they'd be standing so they could light it up safely.  Holly did make sure to keep it a good distance away from the house though.  Now, the important part to all this was less that they damage the shadows, though that was important too.  She wanted to funnel them to one spot, so she made sure to leave a hole for them to go through.  Then she made another circle of traps with the hole on a different part of the circle so that they'd either have to take more damage or delay themselves further.  Both Vice and Holly had ranged attacks, and it wouldn't surprise her if the farmer had a gun or something, so slowing them down or making them hurt themselves seemed ideal.

Holly wasn't quite sure how to incorporate wind, ice, light or darkness attacks, but hopefully this would be enough.  Either that or hopefully Vice had an idea.  Either or.

[Vice Ysal]

Vice wasn't expecting to see some burly old man to be the one behind all this, he wasn't looking for anyone who even looked remotely healthy. This kind of thing, surviving like this, this could never really be the work of any man who could easily consider themselves sane. Mad men, or how society deems them as such, would be the only ones capable of fending wave upon wave of abominations and some how live long enough to actually garner the attention of a mission labeled as 'Hard.' So when Vice saw the old man hobble up, his old musket with him as some kind of balancing stick, it was pretty much the picture he had painted in his head.

The biker shook his head. Awe could wait, there was business to be done and if they wanted anything dealt with they had to act fast. It seemed that Holly already had her own set of ideas to work with which left Vice to try and scrounge up the insides of the house for any advantage that they could gather up. Asking the old man for directions, a list of things he actually owned and that was accessible, the young man's brain went through a list of things that either made some sense or he had read in passing. He wasn't a bonafide pyromaniac but he did have some experience with making stuff explode. Composite, sulfur, matches, bottles, alcohol, there was a lot of home made items that could be used to manufacture something worthwhile and though Vice would've wanted to check them out one by one, he didn't have that luxury.

When the farmer had asked how he knew this, the biker just smiled and replied with a "Don't underestimate a half time delinquent." before gathering the materials needed for his recipes of destruction. Molotovs were easy to make, a few sticky variations for that long lasting burning effect, sugar, and a bunch of dry planks for other purposes. Vice instructed the farmer to make what he could, showed him how to and to just get ready, while the biker brought with him some of the planks over his shoulder and a a third of a gallon's worth of gasoline.

He saw Holly and her continuous handiwork, the end product forming in his head. That said, the young man went towards the first entrance and a few feet away from it summoned Arondight to gouge out some of the earth with an attack before placing over the planks hole and dunking everything with a good amount of gasoline to let them burn up when the invasion started. Heading back towards the house to find the old man more or less readied with the bombs, Vice proceeded to instruct him on setting up what bear traps he had on the other entrance that Holly was making. An exchange of funny looks and pointed glares happened before the old man just tipped his head and did so.

Turning towards the wall and slamming an open palm against it to test the thickness, Vice was pretty sure that the house itself wouldn't be much of a fort given it had some pretty damn rickety walls…and hopefully the old man wouldn't be too mad if they had to burn it to make sure the shadows burned. Fortifying the place took quite a bit of time at that, and Vice's preparations had at least given them some projectiles to slow them down first without exhausting too much of their powers. If these things were going to be coming in droves, well, endurance was going to be an important thing here. Which meant being careful with how they dealt with their enemies and what skills to use. Shaking his head as he grabbed some gasoline, a dried towel, matches and some kind of spherical paper weight, the young man walked on outside to discuss any last minute plans with Holly before the wave.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

With your setup complete, the old man looks it over quickly. Good. Just in time too. I can sense them. The old man that could apparently sense shadows pointed in the distance, over to a very large horde of shadows coming towards you! It looks like this is it! With your traps and such set, many of the shadows begin to get caught out them, or are outright defeated. As you can tell, there seem to be shadows of varying strengths. Not only that, but a few stragglers seem to be breaking through! Use some traps to your advantage or take them out with your persona!

Wave 1

Maya Drone x8

• Fatal End
• Viper Smash

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Pierce, Slash

Hand Drone x8

• Agilao
• Bufula

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Wind, Elec

[Holly Mason]

Okay, several of these traps were one use only, so it was important to decide when to use them.  This particular wave didn't seem that strong, so it probably wasn't necessary to light any fires yet.  On top of that, her persona's new abilities gave the team one of each of the known buffs without any energy expenditure or time on her part.  That said, her wiring out there should be reusable as long as the generator holds out.  If it was able to power the whole house like that then it should be fine for a little while at least, especially since everything in the house was turned off now save a few lights so they could see a little better.  Holly grabbed the rubber end of the wire and 'plugged it in' to one of the electrical sockets outside once the shadows were close enough that it'd be hard for them to stop in time to avoid the damage, but before they were right on top of it.

"We don't know how many there are, so I'm going to fight a little conservatively.  I'm sure one casting of Debilitate with my empowering aura will be good enough for you right?" her tone was somewhere between teasing and confident.  "I think we should hold off on activating more traps than necessary.  I turned on the electrical current I set up, but that should be usable in later battles as well.  They should start heading over there," she pointed to an empty patch of field, "if they want to avoid damage.  If they get through the first layer, the next hole is over there."

Sure enough, the shadows did seem to start to gather around that hole in the wiring in order to avoid the damage.  Half of them practically scrambled there like it was life or death, though a few did just continue right through the wiring.  They'd have to go through another layer to get to them though.  As she said she would, Holly herself cast just one stack of Debilitate before pulling out her knives.  She was trying to converse energy, yes, but really she was more effective with these than with her persona when it came to offense.  Rather than aim at the group heading towards the opening she created, she opted to pick off any stragglers that decided to go right through the wiring rather than trying to get around it.  Her attacks were extremely effective, so they didn't last long.  They didn't even make it to the second layer of wiring.  A few attacks came there way, but Holly resisted both types thanks to her armor.  Unfortunately, these shadows had ranged attacks as well, but they weren't that strong.  If it looked necessary, she'd heal before joining Vice in finishing off the other group.  If it was even necessary at all.  His offensive skills were quite good.

[Vice Ysal]

The thrum of battle begun to play on the drums as Vice could feel his adrenaline surging. Though he would be honest, and a bit curious, and say that there was some of the buffing spells mixed into it. Heh, looks like Holly got herself a few new tricks since the last time they were together. At the mentioning of only one stack of her signature spell, the young man just gave a confident smirk as his retort. Walking forward to act as the vanguard, and to decrease the time it took for his attacks to connect in the case that some of them knew how to wield fire, Vice then summoned his persona. The ghostly apparition of the fallen king stood tall behind him and without much fanfare commanded it to unleash a torrent of cost efficient attacks.

He could have probably taken all of the enemies in his present group with a Megidolaon but that would be fool hardy. Sure he had managed to cut down on the time it took the conjure but the sheer amount of power made its use rather limited. Knowing that, the young man sent out a Navas Nebula to take them down to low health and if any of them decided to try and play smart with some magic, a bullet in between the eyes often took care of it. His priority had been the magi, stupid spell casters that could destroy their fortifications in a heart beat, and so he couldn't quite focus on dodging all the attacks. Not long after the second barrage of Navas Nebula, some of the shadows feeling exhausted even, it just became easy pickings for the revolver toting teenager to take out any stragglers of the first wave.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

With the first wave of shadows taken care of, you notice even more start coming from beyond. Keep it up. We're doing good. As it would seem, the old man is doing just fine on his own. As for how he had been managing it, that remained a mystery. Ahead, you focus on the new enemies coming towards you. Like before, you should probably utilize the traps that you set up to help you deal with them!

Wave 2

War Magus x4

• Bufudyne
• Agidyne
• Mind Charge

Absorb: Repel: Null: Fire, Ice Rs: Wk: Slash

Corrupted Sword x4

• Brave Blade
• Gigantic Fist
• Power Charge

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Wind

[Holly Mason]

One wave down, god only knows how many left to go.  Holly rubbed her nose, while she hadn't forgotten that shadows could use fire-based attacks she was worried about them potentially setting that trap off themselves.  She set the trail far enough back that they shouldn't be set on fire themselves, and the whole field shouldn't go up in flames as long as the shadows keep aiming at them, but it was still troubling.  Even if she was the one that set it up, she wanted to avoid using it if possible.  Fire could be pretty destructive, certainly more so than small explosives or pit traps, so she wanted to avoid using it if possible.  The idea was still to defend the place, so whatever would cause the least amount of damage was the best way to go.

So, it was probably best to make use of Vice's traps if he wanted and her electric current.  She unplugged it momentarily and waited for the shadows to get back into place before plugging it back in.  It'd be difficult for them to avoid taking any damage this way, and as expected, most of them still moved towards the opening she left, though, like last time, a few still tried to charge directly through the wire.  Holly herself, played this just like she did the last one.  A single stack of Debilitate and then picking off the ones that charged right through with her knives healing the group if necessary.  The buffs that were on them before faded once the previous wave was defeated, but they came right back once more shadows were in sight without any time, effort or energy expenditure on her part.  

[Vice Ysal]

Vice was pretty damn happy for the massive help that Holly was. An ability to make both of them stronger just from being there and another one to pretty much tell the shadows to bend over and take it like a man. Dealing with the magicians weren't much of a problem, still somehow fortunate that they all carried with them a weakness in terms of his preferred attack. With the more destructive problem neutralised, Vice couldn't even enjoy the death throes of the dying magicians, the biker then had to bear his attention towards the swords who were making their way towards them with surprising agility.

There was a projectile that appeared out of nowhere from the back and arced towards the ditch that Vice had made. The clattering of the swords was followed by a resounding crash as the rickety planks that had been used to cover the hole the biker had dug fell apart and with them, the swords followed. A duo of unforgiving Navas Nebulas had more or less caused the group to dissolve. Thinking that it was over, Vice had momentarily allowed his guard down--which was repaid in full by a Power Charged Brave Blade. The attack flew at him at high speeds, that even with the minor boost and curse on the respective parties Vice couldn't quite catch it. The sword had been aimed at his neck and it would have killed him had it not been for one thing.

The Fallen King couldn't die by swords. Pushed back, yes, hurt? Not at all. An angry smirk fastened into place and a series of bullets had caused the straggling half dead Sword to shatter into pieces before melting away.

"We've lost the ditch! Stack me with a Tarukaja before the Debilitate for the next wave, Holly!"

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

Another wave down and another one began to show up. As they came, their numbers were beginning to diminish. However, the enemies were beginning to seem much more formidable. This looks like the last of them. Get ready, kids. Readying his musket, the old man begins to take down a few more shadows. As that happens, you notice a few more shadows come your way.

Final Wave

Titan Gigas

• God Hand
• Ragnarok
• High Counter

Absorb: Repel: Fire Null: Strike Rs: Wk: Pierce, Slash

Titan Jotun

• Heaven's Blade
• Panta Rhei
• Enduring Soul

Absorb: Repel: Ice Null: Slash Rs: Wk: Strike, Pierce

[Holly Mason]

The shadow horde was thinning rapidly and there were only a few left.  This was it, it was time to unleash everything they had, or at the very least, everything that was necessary to throw at them.  Holly still didn't want to use the fire, and considering how many traps they had left it probably wouldn't be necessary.  That was nice, the house and much of the farm itself would be able to stand after this.

As the shadows approached, she listened to Vice's words and cast one more stack of Tarukaja.  They were coming too quickly for a second, but if it looked like they were having trouble dealing with the shadows she could use it one last time.  In the mean time, she'd prefer to bolster their attack power with Debilitate.  And replug in the metal coil just as the shadows were arriving again of course.  This time though, she opted to cast three stacks of Debilitate.  If this was the last wave there was no reason to hold back.  Even if there were a couple more hiding out there, she could handle several more casts right now.  There was no harm in making her team as kickass as possible.

Casting all those buffs would just take too long though.  She'd probably be better off attacking herself.

Before she started to attack herself, she set off several of the small bombs she had hidden in the first opening she put in the wire.  Some of them did damage, some of them did not, some of them were reflected back into the ground, but she couldn't tell which type of attack was being reflected.  That could be really dangerous.  She was pretty sure only the Gigases reflected it so...

"Vice, take Gigas-type shadows down with magic!  The farmer and I will take care of the rest!"

So, she cast her debuffs and healed when necessary.  The rest of the time, she threw some knives at the Jotuns, who did not take her attacks very well at all.  They still took quite some time to take down though.  Most of them even made it to the second circle of metal wire.  It was troubling, but between her and the farmer it was nothing they couldn't handle.

[Vice Ysal]

“Got it!”

Vice called out as he felt the empowering spell of his support fall down on him. Apparently this was going to be the last wave…which meant there was no reason to hold back now that it’s come to this. Doing so would just give their opponents more leeway to deal damage to the territory that the old man would have most likely wanted standing after all this. That done, the other fighters had focused their fire on the Jotun which left the Gigas to him.

Unfortunately, after the debuffs had been placed and the boosts done, the Gigas finally decided to grow a brain and circled around the electric fence with a few of the other shadows straggling after it. The giant’s size was rather deceptive at this because the young man had never seen a freak that big run that fast. Unfortunately for the bastard, there were a huge amount of bear traps at the entrance at the back and it ended up tripping over all of them.

It would’ve been a humourous sight had Vice been more inclined to jokes during a battle. As it were, he had capitalized on the monster’s momentary weakness with a Navas Nebula. Unfortunately, the thing had some kind of ability to physical touch Arondight’s blade and enough skill to actually turn it around towards Vice. It was just a take and receive, with Vice being on the losing end for expending energy that could have been used for a better purpose.

Finally having rid itself of the traps, the Gigas roared as it reared a fist upwards before sending it down…with a golden fist coming in from the heavens to strike the Asian heretic. The guys up top were apparently too slow on the uptake because Vice had managed to get the fuck out of the way before it connected.

Then continued the nervous exchange of Megidolaons and Ragnaroks with Vice actually taking the damage on purpose to protect the house. Some attacks had been too far off and that much he was thankful for. He couldn’t exactly handle a dozen Ragnaroks andhope to survive without some kind of support. On his side though, there was a heavy amount of his own brand of Almighty Attacks to make up for the battle. And after calling forth of what else remained of his power, Vice hoped to high hell that it’d be enough to take this freak down.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

With the last wave of enemies defeated, the area seems to go silent for a moment. The fight seems to be over. The old man whom you had fought with just now walks up to you. I suppose its time. . . Lead the way if you will. He gives one last glance back at his home before following you back to the city.

Mission accomplished!

You received your reward: Tier 2 Elemental/Physical Amp Accessory of choice, 2,000 FP