Session Start: Sat Dec 03 17:26:47 2005 Last time, on Hunters: The team was at the Palace to discuss the intel provided by the Americans with Her Majesty... except there was a little delay. Sakura apparently had a motorcycle breakdown, and dragooned Minami and Taki to help her. So the rest of the team cooled their heels with Anzu and Princess and waited for their missing members to get there. They did, and the Queen's schedule was rearranged to fit them in, and... [Monday, March 28, 2004 - 1530 local time] [The Palace "throne room"] [session start] * LadyMysteria is doing what she does best when it comes to meetings with the Queen: looking as controlled as she possibly can. As the team walks in, the audience room appears just as it has before. The Queen is perched on her mound of cushions, looking as imperturbable and regal as ever. Standing around her are six Princesses - Oak, Squeegee, Purity, Majestic Tiara, Raindrop, and looking somewhat frightened off to one side is Princess. * PrincessSakura makes seven, and she strides up to face the "throne" with a small smile on her face. Her footsteps are hard to hear over the storm which has blown up outside and is lashing the windows with pelting rain, obscuring both the view of the bay to her right and the mountains to her left. * LadyMallet is in full uniform- butterfly wings and big goofy boots and ribbons and fluff and brightly colored and tiara with a glowy gem. No Mallet, though. She's giving off an aura of repressed energy. She stands in the center of the group, a little in front, as she tends to. If the Princess's en masse are affecting her, it's not showing. * LadyMysteria takes a moment to adjust her hat, making sure she's at her sharpest. She looks... tired, and perhaps a bit angry. It's hard to say, but she's not exactly seeming herself today. Must have business on her mind. * LadyNightshade is in her (thankfully) now black uniform, looking uncomfortable to be in it and even less comfortable to be around so many Princesses not to mention the Queen herself. She eyes the group suspiciously. * LadyHeat is, as always the least dressed up, simply because her uniform is the most utilitarian. She tries not to fiddle with her belt of water bottles as she stands in front of the Princesses. * Lord_Darkmoon strides into the room in full uniform, looking regal and lordly as ever. His Katana is at his hip, and his wooden sandals clack on the hard floor with each foot-step. He turns his head slightly to take in each of the women and girls waiting to greet the group, before looking straight ahead. When he comes to a stop, he offers a deep bow from his waist, but his gaze is sure, and holds no hint of deference when he rises. * Lady_MakeBelieve is in her traditional eye twisting blue and white uniform, hanging back in the group, but watching the queen carefully. * LadyRoyal stands quietly, waiting. Your Majesty. May I present the Hunters team. * LadyNightshade stands there awkwardly at the introduction. * TheQueen nods formally and looks directly at Sakura to make a polite reply... and stops. Completely - her mouth half open, her eyes slightly out of focus... * Lord_Darkmoon inclines his head briefly in acknowledgement. Then lifts an eyebrow at the Queen's odd look. * Lady_MakeBelieve focuses harder on the queen. * LadyRoyal frowns and blinks. Your Majesty? * PrincessSakura speaks softly, respectfully... but is that a faint, faint note of humor that you detect? Surely not. ... Your Majesty? * LadyMysteria frowns a little, but says nothing. * PrincessSqueegee turns around, and her eyes go wide as the Queen pitches forward off the top of the mound of cushions. ...! ! ?! * Lord_Darkmoon , almost instinctively, rushes forward to try to catch her. * LadyMallet rushes forward to try and catch her. Your Majesty! ... * LadyRoyal looks around, trying to see any avenues for an attack of some sort. * LadyMysteria stiffens, but she doesn't move. She looks around, but she doesn't move. * LadyNightshade doesn't look annoyed. No. She stands there trying to be concerned. * Lady_MakeBelieve moves up far enough to keep the queen in view, but doesn't attempt to touch her. There's a logjam at the base of the throne, as everyone crowds to catch their falling queen. Somehow, the woman is gently lowered to the floor, propped up slightly at the base of the cushion pile. ... is this like before, Tiara? * Lord_Darkmoon backs off, out of the press of bodies (and -definitely- away from Tiara), once it's clear the Queen is well handled. * LadyMallet backs up once she's set down. She glances sharply at Mysteria, suppressing a shiver. Only the fifteen of you are in the room - there is no attacker here, there is just a gaggle of very freaked-out young women. ...I didn't see it happen. I heard it was less... sudden. * LadyHeat wonders what's going on. It seems to her as if this has happened before. * LadyMysteria shakes her head; the nervousness starts to shine through. "Then we are in for trouble, if the last time was a good enough example." * LadyRoyal lets off a soft curse under her breath. There is no other concentration of MG's as large as TM, though. * LadyMallet jumps a little. "Don't SAY that." May I suggest that we back up and give her Majesty some space? Perhaps only one of us standing so closely over her would be more conducive to her comfort and our accomplishing something today. *looks at Squeegee when he suggests 'one of us'* * LadyMysteria grits her teeth, almost like she doesn't want to say anything at first. "Still, we should try to put those out on alert." Of course there isn't. How many MGs are at the palace now? * PrincessSqueegee moves in as the crowd backs up. Fifty-two. Plus visitors like you. ... and you're right. The closest thing to that much Earth power... is probably here. I see you're thinking what I'm thinking, Make- Believe. * LadyNightshade looks over at Sakura knowingly. * Lady_MakeBelieve nods * PrincessSakura just shakes her head. * LadyRoyal frowns. The forces of evil grow bolder. * PrincessMajesticTiara blinks. "But how could that happen? We're SAFE here!" Of course we are. ... sure, right. Oh, and how do you know that, Tiara? You have been safe. How do you know that can't change. Takeuchi was safe. * LadyMysteria shrugs. Let's see if she recovers and tells us something before we start jumping to conclusions. But it's the PALACE! Nothing can reach us here! Of course it can't. * LadyMysteria nods. "Still, Royal. I'm not going to hold my breath." The Queen is good and swooned - she's breathing shallowly, but otherwise not moving. Mm. ... you're an idiot, Tiara. Mallet, that can wait. Now, now, Mallet. It's not polite to point out others' obvious deficiencies that way. * Lady_MakeBelieve turns to Tiara. "Thinking like that is what leads to rude awakenings. Only a fool doesn't prepare." * LadyNightshade looks around for some place to sit. She's suddenly very tired. Or maybe you're just blind. Things have been getting progressively worse and worse and hitting closer and closer to home. There are no chairs in the throne room. It's not a huge jump to think that here's a possibility. * Lady_MakeBelieve lobs a cushion gently at Nightshade * LadyNightshade moves to lean against the wall, then. But... but... It isn't... still. Right now, we're going to have to clear out heads. And Tiara. * LadyMysteria looks at her dead-on. "This is turning into a real war." * PrincessMajesticTiara looks almost hysterical, sputtering wildly. I assume the audience is done? ... and we need to stay above water to win. ...calm down, Princess Majestic Tiara. Remember the dignity of your rank, if nothing else. I think that the meeting has just started. * PrincessSakura rubs her hands together, as if to warm them. Or is that to prepare for something? * LadyMallet nods. "Tell Tiara to either sit down and shut up, turn on her brain, or go to her room." Leena, shush. * Lord_Darkmoon rests a hand on Mallet's head. "Quit prodding her. It won't help. We need her useful." * LadyHeat has completely lose the thread of the conversation, and decides to have some water. Do you think the Queen could use any? I can warm it up for her. *turning to Sakura* My Princess, you were saying? * LadyMallet crosses her arms, and hrmphs. "Good luck with that. Anyways, what's up next?" * PrincessRaindrop steps and takes Tiara's hand. "Mati, it’ll work out... c'mon, let's go get some help." * Lady_MakeBelieve whispers to Norcliff about staying alert for signs of magic. * PrincessMajesticTiara tears up, but lets Raindrop pull her away and out through the waiting entrance. * LadyNightshade sighs. Right now... I have to say we need to stay alert. Even if this is a false alarm. * Lady_MakeBelieve tries to get Sakura's attention "It might be wise to post some sort of lookout, if there isn't usually one at the Palace" We cannot afford to be caught with our skirts up. Nothing new about that. * Lord_Darkmoon colors a bit, looking at Mysteria's outfit before he can stop himself, at her comment. * LadyHeat goes to say that she's not wearing a skirt, but then decides against it. * Lady_MakeBelieve sends Norcliff out of the room, to try to avoid the magic blinding. Darkmoon, could you stay alert if Norcliff tries to contact you? * LadyMallet nods. "... I guess the bit about Hardhat's gonna have to be delayed until she's back in the land of the living." * PrincessSakura nods. "We do keep a watch, but things will have to be done. I can, Make Believe. Yes, definitely. ... so now, we wait. And pray, I suppose. How far ahead did this happen last time? A couple of days. ...huh. ... But that's probably not a good thing to count on - she's had premonitions out to a couple of weeks before. I see. I was talking to the Queen, and she had been agitated well before that. I believe the visions were hitting her rapidly. And then she passed out before she could finish talking. * LadyMallet looks away, trying to focus on something else for the moment, and looks at Princess. "... you okay?" Then we likely have at least some time to prepare. For now, let us conduct the business for which we're here, and then move on to attempts to prepare for whatever dark eventuality her Majesty is seeing. * Princess is really wide-eyed, and looks like she doesn't know whether to be confused or terrified. Maybe someone should take Princess out of here. ... seems like a good idea to me. Princess, wanna get some fresh air? She has more right to be here than you do, Lady Nightshade. Whether she has a right or not, she doesn't look happy. Fine. Should I leave? Um... well... I'd rather know what's happening. But thanks, Leena. * Lord_Darkmoon blinks, and looks over at the little girl, as if just realizing she's here. He opens his mouth to say something, then closes it, leaving it to Leena to handle. Instead, he rounds on Oak with an almost...dangerous...look. "It is not becoming of a Princess to insult those of lesser rank." Nobody's leaving until we figure out what we're going to do about this. And snapping at each other won't help. ... hang in there, then. I don't know. What _are_ we going to do? * LadyMallet turns back. "We're going to talk about the other issue we came about!" Keep our eyes open... and look for clues, I suppose. You know. Sato. If something's going to happen, there might be warnings. It's even less becoming to try to deny her the right to execute her responsibilities. And Oak, you shut the fuck up and quit squabbling. Get your head on straight, so we can make something of this mess. Mallet, don't make me kick you out. Lady Mallet, do try to be polite despite provocations. Be the bigger woman. *he smiles at her, winking as in a shared joke* My Princess, if you would? *to Sakura* ... what, is it common practice around here to let the Princess Petty Squad snipe at everyone but themselves in a situation where we really honestly need to be talking? * Lady_MakeBelieve sighs You're not helping matters, Mallet. ... Sato doesn't matter - well, I suppose he does, but we have to do something to prepare for THIS. * PrincessSqueegee gestures at the Queen. * LadyMallet mutters something under her breath. * LadyMysteria shrugs yet again. "Don't fight fire with fire. And... mn. She's our warning system. Does... she keep any sort of journal of what she senses?" Stop bickering, please! Darkmoon, it was nice of you to think of me, but please, I want to be here. * LadyNightshade just stays quiet and watches for the moment. * PrincessPurity is grinning at Mallet, but not saying anything. * LadyRoyal rolls her eyes at Mallet. * LadyMysteria nods to Princess, then takes a deep breath. "I suggest... well. I suggest that if the Queen has any sort of visions that might be relevant, she should note then down in case they can shed some light on the present, when she's not awake." * Lord_Darkmoon smiles at Princess. "Good. You are perhaps the best person to be here, and certainly have the most right," he says, gently. Any little clue helps. As for when she's into with us... mn. I want to say we buckle down and watch for trouble. She doesn't have one now, though, and she hadn't seemed concerned before. ... that's got to change. A lot has to, and we're being forced into it. ...does the Queen have a Pet? No, she never wanted one, and one never came to her. ... Princess. * LadyMysteria blinks, almost as if she remembers something. "Vacation. Remember the vacation?" * Lord_Darkmoon looks to Mysteria, and nods, once. ...what? ...hn. ... this is just a suggestion, and you don't have to do it. But if you have dreams, too... could you... y'know... ... * LadyMallet jogs over to one of the windows, right up to it, and looks out it. Lady Mallet, could you go find some juice or something for the Queen, in case she awakens? * Princess grimaces. "I don't like to think about them... and Darkmoon and Make-Believe know the last one I had, anyway." Kyou can give her some water if necessary. Even still. Juice. Some cold water too. Anyone else want anything? Anything will help, and if yours have some relevance... * LadyHeat offered a while ago. * LadyRoyal nods at Heat. * LadyMysteria offers a smile. "It's your choice, though." No thank you, I can take care of my own snacks. If you run into Tiara, some Sake might do her some good. * LadyHeat hands over a bottle of water. "I can heat it up if anyone wants hot water." Sake too. A lot of it. Princess, writing about them might make it easier to not think about them. Leeeenaaaa... * LadyMallet has shifted into an almost mono-tone. She starts walking to get stuff. What part of "nobody's leaving" isn't getting through? * Lord_Darkmoon looks at Sakura and Royal, then shakes his head briefly. I'll be back so quick it'll be like I never left! It's getting them out of your head. Don't worry about it, Mina. * LadyRoyal shakes her head and turns her back to Mallet. If I could make myself have one, I would, but it doesn't work that way. * Lord_Darkmoon puts a hand on Royal's shoulder, and whispers, "Let her go." * LadyMallet heads out of the room proper, breaking into a faster run the closer she gets to the door. ZOOM. GONE. * LadyRoyal shakes Darkmoon off. "Stop babying her." * LadyNightshade slides down the wall she's leaning against until she's sitting on the floor. * Lord_Darkmoon lets his hand return to his side, and turns to Princess, but doesn't say anything, just yet. Princess has prophetic dreams? There's no guarantee that they're prophetic. I hope they aren't... I have lots of dreams about the future, and some of them come true... doesn't make me a prophet. * Princess eyes Lord Darkmoon, and shudders. Just sometimes they seem special... like they're important. Which is why I asked. ...we should talk about that sometime, Elly. ...yes, auntie. * LadyRoyal raises an eyebrow. * Lord_Darkmoon raises an eyebrow. * LadyMysteria blinks once, but doesn't say anything else. ... ...and who is in charge, anyway? That's perhaps something else that needs to be established. This happened last time, too, only we didn't worry about it so much then. We don't have a second in command. Princess Squeegee, if you would make that decision, please? *said with a bow as deep as the one he gave the Queen upon entering* ...I guess we know who Darkmoon nominates. Who was the Second Princess? Perhaps not one person? Maybe the Princesses as a unit? She's dead. I was the third. ... although that could lead to trouble. I see no problem with seniority. * LadyRoyal valiantly suppresses a snerk at Maya's suggestion. * LadyMallet comes back in, considerably more steady, with a tray of drinks, that she's holding carefully with both hands. Tiara was number four, but I don't think... The order of empowerment seems to have little to do with...suitability. *looks at Sakura briefly as he says this* Here's a novel idea, maybe we should go by actual experience in these sort of situations. I second Nightshade. I'm in charge of Palace security. I really, REALLY don't want to add to that responsibility. I don't think anyone has experience with this sort of situation. Well we're only Ladies. It's not like our opinion matters anyway. Indeed, Lady Nightshade. One's capabilities as a leader should be the most important qualification. There are a few...obvious...choices, based on that criterion. *looks at Squeegee and Sakura again* * LadyMallet sets the tray down on the floor a little away from the hubbub of people. It would become inconvenient for them to Order all of us. If the Ladies disagreed with a particular appointment, there would be problems. Power is, of course, a second prerequisite. It would be inappropriate for a Lady or Lord to hold such a position, for example. They wouldn't have a choice if it came to do or die. ... if it came down to one person, I'd suggest Squeegee. Squeej really has run things for a while now, anyway. * Lord_Darkmoon smiles darkly, and nods in agreement with Purity and Mysteria. * Lady_MakeBelieve shrugs ...dangit, I don't want this. You're the best qualified in my opinion. ... and if not you, who? I trust you, Mayuki-san. I think we all trust you. That only adds to your qualifications, really. Oak, maybe? * LadyMallet doesn't sound to enthusiastic about her comment. * PrincessOak looks torn. "I think seniority is a better way to do this." I refuse to do it, and you're insane if you want Tiara running the show. I agree, but perhaps Purity would care to defer to Sakura? * LadyMysteria sighs. "Oak wears her beliefs on her sleeve, and that can backfire if she decides with her arm leading her head. Purity... that settles that. And Tiara is falling apart already." Seniority shmority. If this gets as bad as it could, we'll want someone with a head on their shoulders. No! It would be a really bad idea to put me in charge. Sakura is not... sufficiently political, yet. Sakura's still one of us in mind, you mean. * LadyMysteria smirks, for a moment. ... still, you have something of a point. ...that's true, though - some of the other Princesses would have a problem with Sakura. Exactly. Well I'm sure that will matter a whole lot when they're banging on our door with guns. Bite the bullet, Squeej, looks like you're stuck. * PrincessSqueegee sighs and stands up. "All right - if all four of you support me, I can make this work." * LadyMallet blinks, then starts laughing. "This is a new way to confer authority. And it totally makes sense, too!" * LadyMysteria smiles. "A start." Politics require a face that is both seen to be trustworthy, and is at least nearly as capable as those who follow believe her to be. Congratulations, Princess Squeegee. I am sure you will do well. *bows, again* Oi, let's not make a big deal out of this - hopefully it will just be a couple of days... ... Let's hope so. ... yeah. * LadyHeat drinks her water. Mmm-hmm. Well, now that that's settled... * PrincessSqueegee realizes everyone is waiting on her to take charge. "Oh. Um, so, we have a crisis." Sounds about right. Sakura, what can we do to beef up security here? And you have the full support of the Hunters. I have Norcliff watching out for possible magical threats. Actually, I want to do more than just tighten security. Cool! Sugar-glider warning system! * LadyMallet frowns. "There's two main sources this could be, and I bet it's Hitachi/2osen and whatever they’re doing with the ningyo. The other main possibility is Sato. Anything we can do preemptively to either of them?" ... * LadyMysteria can't help but chuckle at Princess. I can bring him by later, Princess, if you two want to talk. ...I don't think it's Hitachi-2osen. Haga seemed to be the only person working against us left there, and well, he's not there any more. Woofy wanted to speak with him too. There's two rats that sunk with the ship. They didn't drown. ... They will be...dealt with. Mn. Yeah... but if the Ningyo make a play, we'll have our usual means of detecting that. Right. That shouldn't be a problem. * LadyMysteria steps a bit closer to Darkmoon. "And we can at least squash them without too much fuss. They tend to not change tactics." I'm not so sure. They got whatever they were after last time we met. They've got a different plan than before, and more think-tanks behind it. Human think-tanks, no less. The other thing is that Her Majesty doesn't really sense Sea attacks ahead of time. * LadyMallet blinks, longly, then nods. "Point." ...oh, I'd wondered about that. That's why she always passed those along to you. That's a very good point. So it's a threat from our human enemies, most likely. It is, therefore, a moderately safe assumption that it will be our most recently unmasked foe who launches whatever disaster her Majesty is currently viewing. Safe enough that it should figure prominently in our preparations, though not so much that is should be exclusive. ... you know I hate waiting for them to move. Granted, we have to deal with Sato carefully. Do we have enough of a plan yet to where we can preemptively strike if it's him? ...not exactly. ...anyway, if we presume they're going to attack here, then I want to take advantage of that. We still need to find a means of contacting the Emperor personally...and privately. --Sorry, my Princess. Go on. * LadyMysteria looks to Rin, opens her mouth... closes it, focusing on the conversation again. I want to bring *more* Ladies here. I want to turn the Palace into a shredder that will permanently mangle whatever force they can bring to bear against us. ...missiles, bombs. Suicide bombers or kamikazes. Maybe training sessions would be a good idea? * LadyNightshade just watches the conversation, not saying anything. ... Have we a means of defending against those, Princess Sakura, if we gather that many around to provide so tempting a target? Look at the resources they've had so far. I think planes might be a bit far-fetched as far as that goes. They've been strictly covert as well, before. Missiles do not require planes. Nor do suicide bombers. And if you think about it that way, they could have used those tactics against any of their targets. They tried that at T.M., but only as a backup plan. They wanted the bloody massacre first. I don't think that's really an option for them, Lord Darkmoon. They seem to be able to recruit out of the JSDF, but not bring the actual resources of the army to bear. Question is... ... they needed an opening for TM. The other girls need to be more prepared for what's coming... ... if it's them, what's gonna set them off? Oh, absolutely. We'll tell the Ladies that we think something is coming. If Her Majesty has had her premonition, then something must have tipped them off already. ... I hate to take it this far, but perhaps some sort of trap might be in order if they do indeed come here? * PrincessSqueegee nods... ... could just be something as simple as them being too good at spying us out. That is what our Princess suggests, I believe, my Lady. No, more so. Not just a frontal assault... something to flank as well. Oh? Such as? ... I like that idea. Yes, I'm going to step up monitoring of the surrounding properties. If we're good, we may be able to see them setting up. We'll want a good, clear out if we have to pull out. Draw them in, slam the door shut and break out the sticks. At the very least, let them know we're not going to stand around and die. You know... even though they got the drop on us at TM, we ended up slaughtering them. * PrincessPurity gets a predatory look on her face. ... so why are they so confident now? We did, but not without cost to ourselves. We were completely unprepared. We do not know how confident they are. They may be desperate, instead. That can be even more dangerous. * LadyNightshade makes a sort of inaudible sound and looks down at her feet. We want an out. Do we know they're confident? Maybe this is a desperate strike, a gamble for victory. Exactly, Oak. And I think it's a good guess that if they're coming here, this place isn't good any more. I agree that it can be dangerous, but it can also work to our advantage. Do we have a backup safe house? Not... really. Even still. There are a few places. Afterwards, if there are more... do we make a stand here, or withdraw? * PrincessSakura grins. Afterwards, we go public. Depends. Can we get the media in on this, give it enough of a spin to counterattack? * LadyRoyal snorts. "With Handcuff's mom? Of course." We already have Akahara-san here. We can get her to cover the attack live, and explain what we think is going on..." * PrincessOak turns white. "No way." ... That is so insane that it could work. That... wow. Them doing something stupid like attacking perfectly innocent magical girls who want nothing but love and peace is just begging for the chance to open up a chance to get the Emperor on our side, leak what we know about him, and make a big hole in his public opinion shield to bust in. Do that, watch the denials, then move! Their political arm's going to have to react if this goes public! If it plays out really well, we could probably go and take out Sato immediately. * LadyMallet grins, predatorily. "And then... chomp." This is... quite a radical solution, Sakura. Again, be careful of hopes to take out Sato immediately. At the very least, this could take so much wind out of this movement's sails... and Purity. Desperate times, desperate measures. In order to not make that simply turn us into the second bad guy, we -must- force him into dishonor, first. * PrincessSqueegee grabs a couple of cushions and sits back down. ... * LadyMysteria smiles. "It's all about misdirection. I know a lot about that. Get someone looking one way, then pull the trick. Voila. Magic." We *can't* go public! * Lady_MakeBelieve has stopped paying attention to this political nonsense. * LadyMallet eyes Purity, then back to Oak. "Why not?" And why not? ...you mean kill him? Yes, Princess. But we should probably make him undergo official execution, instead. ... we won't have to lay a finger on him if this works out right. Her Majesty has always planned on going public eventually. And with everything that's happened we've been edging closer... He's got strength because of his position and his secrecy and his resources. If we blow them all away, he's done. The time will have to come. If we're forced into it, we might as well make it work for us. Maybe we could *capture* him. ... and then hand him over to the authorities? ...with documentation... wow. * LadyMysteria pauses for a long moment... then cackles. "And an initial show of goodwill!" ... my, I feel giddy. But... aren't we risking everything? Yes. ... but to do nothing is to throw it away. I'm not sure Her Majesty really wanted to come out so soon. Not necessarily. We can keep some Princesses in the field, and not pull all the Ladies in. Hell we don't have room for even half here. ... I'm still worried. We've got no idea why, if it's him, he'll be making a move, or what triggered it. The best laid plans fall apart the moment battle is joined, Purity. Sakura... I want you to start bringing Ladies in. Make it the better combat Ladies... Oak can help you choose. ... if we're going public, will this place still be okay afterwards? It will probably be no safer... but what can we do? That depends. We may have to relocate, but... we did choose this site for its isolation and defensibility. ... we should get the extra family members out of here. We've got a couple of backup sites, right? * PrincessSakura shakes her head. "No, that would be giving things away if they're already watching. And we don't have that much extra housing." ...hm... Athena, can you work up some orders to pass around... all the Ladies who don't come in need to be prepared to go to ground, and eventually reform if things go wrong. I...may be able to find -some- extra housing. I will have to speak with my...cousin. * PrincessSqueegee eyes Darkmoon. ... Sakura. What part, if any, will we play? This is NOT a time to hide things, Rin. I'm not sure yet. I'm actually thinking about having you guys keep a watch on the IMA. It is more that I am not certain it would be both available and safe. I will report to you and Sakura when I know more, Princess Squeegee. * PrincessSqueegee nods. Also, since Minami is somewhat exposed, we'll have her move in here. Mm. ... * LadyNightshade sighs. * LadyRoyal scratches the bridge of her nose. And so it continues... ... rough plan for Sato's down. Nothing on the ningyo front yet... with the Queen out, can we do anything about Hardhat? I pray this works out well enough to let us get on with out real goddamned jobs. * PrincessOak makes some notes. "Sakura, I think there are a couple of teams that I want to bring in whole... I'll get you a memo." Mallet, I still plan on looking for her. Hardhat can wait. ...she couldn't be the threat her Majesty is seeing, could she? ... ... doesn't feel right, but it's a possibility. ...that's a thought. Damn, with the firepower she has, she could... ... Hardhat flattened a house... but the Palace? She flattened a park, too. She also flattened the park... ... guh. You weren't at the park, were you. I suddenly wish I was. My God. ...no, you don't, my Lady. I think she believes that most of the other girls are "redeemable" or whatever. So she wouldn't want to kill them. * LadyMysteria looks as if whatever happiness was in her just poured right out. Would that cause the Queen to conk out? Haruko, Norcliff can sense Hardhat, right? Kyou's got a point. It doesn't quite make sense for it to be Hardhat yet. He can sense Princesses in General. She's brainwashed about the Queen and you guys, Squeegee, not the regular Ladies. ... she'd bad at tracking people, though, ask around to see if anyone around here has seen her. * Lord_Darkmoon snickers. "She was actually wearing her hardhat and seemed surprised when she was spotted." She's really, really bad at it. She'd have to tail an MG to find this place. Hmm. Could you have him stay here, and watch out for Princess-level powers that approach, but don't come all the way here? ....maybe we will need to do something final about her. Okay, post word to watch out for a girl in a hardhat. The first time, Norcliff became...ill. It was most distinctive. I hope that's not it. But you guys did say that you could see the Hardhat coming, right? Maybe there would be time to evacuate. Yes. There were a few minutes. Best practice evacuation drills, nevertheless. Only if people were REALLY, REALLY fast. We should identify Hardhat's mundane identity too. Get Fork back on that. In case she clues up and tries walking around without a hardhat on. She said she was still looking when I called her. Okay, we have a plan. Some plans. It is a start. But what then? * PrincessOak still doesn't look very happy. "I really don't think Her Majesty will like waking up and finding out we went public." I have not decided on that yet. The other big thing still at large is the rats and the fish. ... any thoughts there? The rats? ...rats? The ones who jumped ship with the Ningyo when they sunk the Americans ship. Hitachi 2osen's leadership. We can't do much until they surface. We don't need to talk in metaphor here. ...which reminds me. We can probably expect something within the next two weeks. And they haven't, yet. There's some muttering on the stock market about that. ...one week, now, isn't it? * Lord_Darkmoon stops, counts days... "Yes, one week." ... that's why I haven't dismissed them as a possibility for the Queen passing out. I guess I was hoping that was the raid on the US Navy base. * Lord_Darkmoon grumbles, "I wish I could -talk- to him before then," under his breath. As Mallet observed, neither of those two have resurfaced. * PrincessSqueegee eyes Darkmoon. "I'll keep that in mind." Was there something else the Queen had brought us here for? * LadyMallet mutters. "I'm actually hoping it's Sato. We got a plan for that." Hardhat we can deal with far enough in advance. Hopes are nice, but not useful in these preparations. I dunno. I think we need to go ahead with what we have. Chiako, even if she's unhappy that we outed the Hierarchy, she'll be more pleased we defeated our greatest threat. * Lady_MakeBelieve mumbles about how the Ningyo are the greatest threat I'm still worried about the Ningyo. Whatever they're up to, we've just got a when, and it's way too close to the Queen passing out to be dismissed. We've handled the Ningyo before. ... and if the Ningyo didn't cause her to pass out, then we got two things erupting way too close together. * PrincessSqueegee nods absently. "Yeah." Handled their Queen? The Ningyo will come when they come, and they're rather up- front. Without humans to think roundabout for them... * LadyNightshade has her head resting on his knees. She's not even hardly listening anymore. ...once. Once? One time, we did. It was a long time ago, though. You were still Lady Oak, weren't you? * LadyMallet frowns, and glances over at Taki, and pads over to her, nudging her. * LadyMallet drops her voice, talking just to Taki. "What's wrong?" Don't worry about it. I'd just made Princess myself... we can handle her, if we can get Her Majesty back. ... you know saying that is only gonna make me worry more. Had her Majesty made Queen, yet? And you're just going to have to deal with that, aren't you? * PrincessOak smiles fondly. "She did, that night." ... sounds like a moment you never forget. Oooooh, right, I remember when she came back from that... she changed, after that. ... don't break your back with it. I'm here, and you can trust me to help you carry it. .... don't self-destruct with your secrets, okay? Yeah, we can deal with the Ningyo. Okay, let's go with this - I'll decide tomorrow on the media part. Leena is ignored. Secrets are. * LadyMallet frowns, and nudges Taki again. "Hang in there." Darkmoon... we need you at full usefulness for this upcoming mess. Yeah. The glowing thing? Fix it. Today. Purity's right here... What is this? ... ... eh? * Lord_Darkmoon turns to Sakura, and his face hardens. "Rin's not going to like that. We -still- don't know what it is, and further, if Purity 'fixes' it, I will -not- be at full effectiveness, if it's anything like what happened to Mallet." * LadyMallet looks back up, over at Darkmoon, then at Purity. "You screw it up, and I'm feeding you your own arm." It won't be like that. She won't be trying to brain you, like with Leena. ...yeah, that was... well, if she came at YOU with the Mallet, you wouldn't hold back either. No, I wouldn't. * LadyMysteria can't help but chuckle. Frankly, I fail to see how the glowing interferes with my combat effectiveness; it is getting close to time I should be returning to school, though. ... I'd let Feral catch it. I certainly couldn't take it. *smiles sardonically* It interferes with your ability to hide, to disguise yourself. And we may need that. Just do it. There's no point in arguing * Lord_Darkmoon meets Sakura's gaze for a few moments, expression as unreadable as he can make it, before sighing. "Very well." * LadyMallet eyes Purity flatly, cracking her knuckles. I'll uh... I'll go do something else. * Princess scurries, certain that there's something here she doesn't want to see. * Lord_Darkmoon raises an eyebrow at that, but certainly does not object. * LadyNightshade stands up slowly and looks directly at Sakura. Yeah, I'll go work up my list. I'll see you later, Sakura. * LadyRoyal glances at Taki. * PrincessPurity begins glowing whitely. * Lady_MakeBelieve watches, curious about what’s going to happen. Well... it seems more and more people are finding out about this. What, precisely, is the problem? * LadyMysteria gets back from Darkmoon... and starts to look concerned. It'll have to happen sooner or later. He had an encounter with some strange magic while not transformed. Pixies They haven't... well, they haven't explained it, but... ... I shoulda done it. * Lord_Darkmoon draws his Katana, and levels it at Purity. "It only manifests in my detransformed state." The Katana turns into a Tessen, which Darkmoon snaps open in front of himself. When he lowers it, Rin stands there, glowing, in a white kimono with a red flower print. * PrincessSakura makes odd gestures pointing at Make-Believe behind her back. ...uh. * LadyMysteria shakes her head, slowly. Uh... * PrincessPurity blinks. That's quite odd. I know! * Rin smiles mysteriously, and looks amusedly at her glowing hand. "We still have no idea what, exactly, happened. I would have preferred to discover that before undergoing your...treatment...but no progress has been made."