Session 111: Beating the Elite

On their way to acquire scintillant for the Luminous Engine, the crew of the Starfall have encountered a problem.
A group of bounty hunters calling themselves the Elite set a trap for our brave adventurers, eager to claim what riches their doubles had boasted of during the Yinha heist. Fortunately, a crew member, Shaul Shotlocke, had laid a trap for them, securing the lives of the Cardian shippers on whose deck this battle rages, though the battle is not without casualties thus far.
We join three of our four brave adventurers in the middle of the raging battle, as the fourth has checked out early…

**

Linnet closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, hands folded at her sternum. Those hands arc upward and trace a fountain shape; at its crest, Linnet spins in a circle and flings her fingers upwards. A sprinkle of starlight fills the air and settles to the ground, glittering faintly, pulsing with potential.
As Linnet's braid comes to rest, she strokes a finger down the cards in the holster at her hip. The slight rippling noise seems to carry very far upward.
Adam Carelle is somewhere out of sight and dropping fast. Max and Jeremy Buck look at each other, and then at Isa in the center of the deck, the one responsible for breaking up their little party band.
(Isa is not, unfortunately, there anymore.)
They then realize they are looking at the place Isa used to occupy, and then instead look at the only person remaining on the ship, Captain Bast of the Starfall himself.
What Bast gives them in return could, generously and at a hefty discount, be called a smile.
Max charges forward, rolling low as Jeremy goes high, each trading off who takes swings and shots at Bast in turn.
When neither find their mark, a synchronized set of superkicks goes high. Max tags Jeremy, rolling back as Jeremy springs forward, and this time Bast isn't quite quick enough to get clear of them both, and finds himself sandwiched between a barrage of gatlinged projectiles and sparks of nonelemental magic, rocking him in place. Then he gets kicked in the face, the air around his head exploding.
The Bucks each make complicated hand gestures, and then lightly tap their fingers together in celebration.
That seems to get through where exploding shadow tentacles didn't, knocking Bast flat, jets sputtering and leaving a large oil stain on the deck before kicking back in and shoving the prone moogle a few feet towards the prow.

There is still an inert viera slumped on the deck of the Meteor, with one woeful bat perched atop his head singing a funereal dirge. Because the bat in question is doing this singing entirely in ultrasound, the details of this artistic and beautiful epic song are forever lost to those around. Still. It's quite good. Nuanced use of meter and metaphor both.
Madden Fisher, the only other member of the Elite still up on the deck, clambers out of the chains encircling the Cardian vessel. "Goddamnit," is all he has.
Bast hops up into a crouch, the jets practically shoving his feet under him, and then leaps up into the air, curving back towards the deck with something that looks like bad news in hand. He smashes it hard on the deck, pulling out of the dive at the last moment - and frowns as a whole lot of nothing happens behind him, a trickle of blood flowing from his nose.
The bounty hunters remaining on-deck have only the barest fraction of a second to be confused or amused (or bemused, which Isa can never remember the definition of) at Bast's failed attack before a whole lot of something happens. Specifically, a whole lot of angry Cardian descending with a whole lot of velocity and a spear with a whole lot of cranky war god inside it.
Madden Fisher slams back into the same set of chains, just ten feet to the right.
The force of Isa's impact sends splinters flying up from the deck, and the oil puddle Bast left behind flares up with a blue fire.

"Oh you think that's funny, do you, you think that throwing my friends over the railing and into those chains is funny, do you, you think this is a big laugh for you and your friends. Well I got some news for you, I'm not laughing!" Kenny cannot get his feet on the ground, nor can he move from his position Air Anchored in place, but he can slash one of his custom-made swords down in a vertical arc, sending a beam of light searing through the air, one that splits to target both Bast and Isa.
"I am!" Isa yells with a nasty, nasty grin as she jumps out of the way of the incoming beam.
Bast just throws himself into a long dive, the beam barely clearing his pom as he jets towards Kenny and slicing clean through some of the ship's rigging, leaving smoking ropes dangling in its wake.
Muttering under her breath, Linnet pulls a card and sweeps familiar clove-scented sparkles over Yves. "Up you get, mate."
The Bucks, fallen on the ground surrounded by burning oil on a ship that is definitely in distress, scramble over each other, crawling and slipping and tumbling. "Get him! I'll get her!" Max shouts.
Of the barrage of magical projectiles and whistling bolts, only Isa is winged.
Isa whirls in the air as she is struck, but it doesn't seem terribly serious as she orients herself for her next dive.

Yves lurches to his feet, the bat on his head flapping vigorously to avoid being dislodged. "...ow," he says. "That's. Uh. Ow. Where was I? With. With the bats." He blinks several times, one of them in Linnet's direction and likely meant as thanks. "Oh. Right. We were. De-pirating the pirates who are worse pirates because we're ethical pirates and they're not, with the... the stuff..." Still looking rather unsteady on his feet, he jerks a sharp motion off toward the other ship with one hand.
And a cascade of lightning, so bright as to be nearly blinding in the split second that it exists, follows.
"...might wanna sit down," Yves mutters to himself, doing exactly that on the deck. "Ugh. Gonna need painkillers after this."
Kenny Sigma hangs in mid-air, no longer part of this plane of consciousness. Madden Fisher lands to the right of the original indentation in the chains and does not rise. Someone's knee connects with the base of Yves's skull, a skull that is then the center of a booming explosion. His assailant rolls to a stop on the deck of the Meteor, circling the stricken Cardian ship, points his fingers to the sky, and proclaims, "ADAM CARELLE, BAY BAY!"
Yves makes a mildly traumatized noise from where he's sitting on the deck.
Linnet gives a disgusted "I just fixed that" sigh.

The distant boom draws Bast's attention away from the unconscious Kenny and he pulls back a sleeve with an angry tsk, a metal rod with an odd cap on the end springing out about a foot - and firing an arc of lightning back towards the Meteor, striking Adam Carelle in the back as he crows over a dazed-looking Yves.
Somehow, someway, Carelle blindsides Bast, still crackling from the lightning-infused attack. "ADAM CARELLE, BAY BAY!" he shouts, the explosion behind him, the oily flames roaring higher and higher.
Bast collapses against the metal tendrils still holding up Kenny's unconscious form, fire and spite spent for now.
Isa's not laughing anymore. When she descends, it's not a general attack against the remaining bounty hunters. It's the point of the spear. It's a focused dive against one person in particular. Jeremy Buck feels the full force of her attack, the Frost-Fair Blade leading the impact of her armored boots by a hand's breadth. The shock makes the flaming oil dance and sway, and when the smoke clears she is still crouching on the man's chest, her spear entirely through his heart and into the deck below him. She rises, pulling the spear free as the blood begins to crystallize on the blade. She looks at Max, face as cold as her weapon. "You can go and mourn him, or you can stay and join him." Nothing in her expression gives a hint as to her preference.
Max sinks to his knees, staring at the body of his brother. His mouth is open, but no sound emerges. He will not fight again.

Isa turns the gaze on Adam Carelle.
Carelle puts his hands out to his sides, palms open, circling back toward the chains connecting his ship to the Cardian one. "All right. You win. Done. We're done!"
Isa pivots to watch his retreat, giving Linnet space to get in and tend to Bast.
"Let us take his body," Carelle calls out. Max has yet to blink.
Yves is still sitting on the deck of the Meteor, looking rather bemused. "...anyone... need more lightning?" he asks in the general direction of the nearest person on his side. Linnet? Yeah, probably Linnet.
Linnet glares at Carelle. "Someone needs to teach thee silence; thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows." She kneels by Bast and pulls the same maneuver with the card and the cloves. Then, she raises a hand to the sky and twists it to the right. The glittering stars on the deck rise and surround the Meteor's crew.
Isa steps back from Jeremy's body, as stars surround her. "Take him. Take them all, and never let me see your faces again."
Carelle walks forward, very pointedly and very slowly reaching into his coat to bring out two Potions, making no sudden movements. Hate twists his face as he gives one to Madden to bring him around, then Sigma afterwards.
Linnet extends a hand and brings Bast to his feet, then Yves. Once Yves is upright, she returns his hat. "Looks better on you."
Sigma carries the dead Buck to their ship, navigating the chains carefully. Madden carries the catatonic Buck over his shoulders.
Carelle is the last to retreat, glaring at Isa the whole time. He lingers on the deck of the BTE, then turns away.
The chains disconnect, pitching the Cardian ship down, but just for a moment; it quickly levels out.
Bast sways a little as he stands up; Linnet's grip and Isa's stillness seem to reassure him that the battle is over.

Isa watches the BTE tack away, then turns back to Bast. Her face is still cold and hard; there's a glint of relief in her eyes at seeing the captain standing, but that is all. "Do what we came here for," she says to him, "before someone else gets an idea." She signals to the Meteor then, and when the skiff swoops in she jumps across.
"...don't do any jumping, you're still not far from busting an artery if you sneeze." Linnet sheathes all her cards and returns to anxiously hovering form.
Yves puts his hat on. He is doing a lot of bleary blinking still, despite looking... if not exactly hale and hearty, far more able to handle stiff winds and accidental elbows to the face. "...what... we were doing something. Right. What should I be doing now?"
Bast follows Isa's departure, slightly crosseyed, then shakes his head to clear it. "Right." He looks over at Shaul, whose services as a guard are no longer required at the moment. "Let's go take a look in the hold."
Shaul escorts them down to the hold, where it is clear they will have their pick of the scintillant, plus anything else; the crew is in no condition to object, what with all their guards unconscious or badly injured.
Linnet is never more than about two feet from Bast and Yves, but she does stop to talk to Shaul. "So what'll you do now?"
"I'd hoped for a share of the bounty, but seeing as that's not in the cards..." The moogle shrugs. "Look for more work somewhere. Last two crews I was on went south, regardless of why, so it might be hard to find work. But hey, I'll figure it out."

Bast stops in front of the prisoners, leaning against a crate taller than himself. "Gentlemen. We have dealt with your little pest problem, but I'm afraid we've taken more damage than we expected and will need some resources to patch up. I'd count it as a favor if you would blame it on them." Bast's smile is wide and entirely guileless, eyes half-closed behind his mask.
He walks along the crates and stacks, slowly tapping them as if trying to make his mind, before his hand stops on the scintillant. He turns to Shaul and Linnet. "This looks nice. Shiny. Give me a hand here?"
Shaul rolls up his sleeves and assists.  The battered crew offer no resistance.
Linnet has never been much help at lifting things, and a crate of metal is no exception, but she huffs and puffs her way into progress. No way she's letting Bast or Yves lift anything more than their feet.
Yves is using one hand to keep his hat on, and the other to make sure he doesn't run into doorways while walking through them.
Before picking up the last load, Bast turns around, tips an invisible hat to the crew, and sends a cheap but sturdy knife sliding along the floor over to the tied-up prisoners.
"What the heck is this stuff, anyway?" Linnet mutters between clenched teeth.
As the boxes are handed over the railing to the Meteor, Bast looks at Shaul. "So. I hear you're looking for a job?"
"Looks that way," Shaul replies.
With the last of the crates transferred, Bast looks like he's about to hop over - then settles for a less sprightly clamber. Safely on the Meteor, he stretches a hand out to Shaul across the gap. "Come on, we'll talk details on the way back."
Shaul hesitates, as if expecting the hand to be withdrawn. When it stays there, he grips it gladly. "Thanks, Captain."