Mogusao kept his arms folded the entire ride down the ascendalator with Montlac at his side, both moogles fully decked out in black armor representing House Kuporo. After a bit of silence, the black moogle lord spoke up. "Gizmo. I have a question for you."

Gizmo leans against the wall of the ascendalator, resplendent in her own black armor "What's on your mind?"

"Why is the old maid coming?" asked Mogusao angrily as Ms. Kuporia giggled and rubbed a wet rag on a dirty spot on the back of Mogusao's armor.

Gizmo glances over to Kuporia and stumbles backwards in surprise "...how long has she been standing there? Sheesh, maybe she'll be useful as a trained ninja."

"Now, now, dearies..the MK II has no medikupo staff, so I'll be right there to patch you up!" Mogusao grimaced and rubbed his right hand down his face. "This is going to be a long night."

Gizmo grins at Mogusao "Just be glad she's here to help. Speaking of which, seen that other fellow who insisted on coming with?"

"The suspicious human? No, but it matters little. You and my warriors will be more than enough to defend the vessel." Once the ascendalator reached the underground dock, Mogusao and Montlac stepped off of the device while Ms. Kuporia hummed and giggled away. "I do not like this abomination that we will be fighting on. Let us hope that penguin can get us close enough to board the ghost ship."

Demonicor was standing on the dock leading to the MKII, waiting as the ascendalator came down, nodding to the moogles "Madam Gizmo, Mister Mogusao... ahem, Ms. Kuporia." he was flanked by a few human-looking soldiers, most sporting guns of some kind, one with a sword, as well as someone with a sword thst seemed more like a civilian "I see reputations matter little to one such as yourself, but I don't plan to let you have all the fun."

Gizmo waves to Demonicor "Ah, speak of the demon... just try to remember we'll be in a metal coffin underwater. Try not to get too overzealous swinging at a ghost coming through the wall and take out our ride."

Mogusao rolled his eyes at Demonicor as he pressed on into the submarine. 'Fun', he says. And the cleft largely viewed his kind as the violent ones. "We'll be attending your leader's little speech before we head off. Anyone missing will board the ship then." explained Mogusao as he made his way to the bridge, Montlac remaining behind at the hatch to ensure that everyone was on board.

Demonicor laughed a bit as he waved his people onto the sub "I'm certain the mark two is much more resiliant than all that." turning with a flourish, he bowed and waved Gizmo and Kuporia in "Ladies, after you."

"Such a gentleman! Thank you, kupo." said Ms. Kuporia with a cursey, climbing through the hatch and making her way towards the sick bay.

Gizmo boards the sub, giving a respectful nod to Demonicor. Ah, this place brought back memories... of like last week. It would be nice to see what it could do besides hold prisoners.

--Some time later, before Oboyo's speech with the entire Paranormal Deliverance Force--

The crowd consisted of more than just people associated with the Jinsaka Manor. Families of the warriors who have volunteered to go were present as well as various onlookers.

Upon reaching the deck of the Crusader, Oboyo turned around to face the massive crowd. One by one, voices began to soften into silence while he paced left to right, looking out over everyone. "Take a good look around you. THIS is what this world is about. No matter who or what you are, you've chosen to band together to fight a fight that no one else would. It was never about destiny or the stars..being that special chosen one meant to be here. It was about choice. You heard the truth and you chose to accept it. That's why you're here..that's why we're all here."

Lines and lines of black moogle warriors stood at attention next to soldiers from Cosmo Canyon and students from the White Tiger School. Boos and wasps floated silently in the air, hand in hand. "And we've lost some good people who gave everything to get us here. It's up to us to make it mean something and do them justice. The fog guide, the phantoms..they aren't a threat to us. They're a threat to everything, everyone. Those are the lives we're fighting for. That's the scale."

Off to the side, the Gitmidur's engine began to roar to life as Launchpad lifted the helicopter into the air. "It's been a long journey, and no one's coming out without scars. But it all comes down to this moment. We win or lose it all in the next hour. Make me proud..make yourselves proud. They want to know what we're made of? I say we show them, on our terms. And we'll bring our people home!"

By that time, the Gitmidur made its way above the Crusader, Egon throwing the rope ladder down just behind Oboyo. Raising the Spirit Rune on his left hand, Oboyo reached out to grasp the ladder with his right. The rune began to emit its bright cyan light as the helicopter began to lift him off the Crusader's dead. "This ends here, tonight! With us! For the saviors of the cleft!"

With that, Oboyo began to climb up the ladder while the Gitmidur flew him off. Those designated to the Crusader or the MK II began to make their way to the vessels, ready as they'll ever be to face a war that one could have never been ready for.

"Hmm..not bad for a human. Let us hope Nanaki, Ip Man, and the others are able to draw enough attention away for us. I am eager to swoop in on the enemy from underneath." said Mogusao as he stood by the submarine's hatch, taking count of his warriors as they got on board.

Gizmo looks out over the gathered crowd. Quite a bit more than she was expecting. She knew they most likely won, the future still existed but... she still couldn't help but feel like she couldn't let them down. "The best tactics are often the simplest ones. Sneak attack and divide their forces."

"Oui, you must be careful with zee words, monsiur Kuporo. Au bout du fossé, la culbute!" said Jean as he hopped inside. "Heh heh heh. 'Au bout du fossé, la culbute!' He's out of his vector." said Sho with a wicked grin on his face, following inside as well. (Translation: Pride comes before fall.)

Looking around at the gathered crowd, Demonicor nonetheless kept an eye on his civilian charge "You're good to go with that thing? It's working okay?" the other man simply nodded, hand idly brushing the sheathed sword. Demonicor gave a nod of his own before following Jean and Sho inside "Come on, it's likely going to be quiet and boring for a ways. We'll want to have something to do in the meantime. My people can look after themselves well enough."

Gizmo nods to Demonicor and pulls out a deck of cards "Hopefully it won't take too long, but I could probably show you a game or two."

With the last of his warriors on board, Mogusao placed a hand on Montlac's shoulder and nodded, sending the armored moogle into the submarine. He took a step back and glanced over the crowd once more and crossing eyes with Nanaki, who stood at the bow of the Crusader as it left the Shrike docks. With a slight nod, Mogusao hopped inside the submarine, the hatch closing behind him as the vessel pushed away from the dock, following behind the massive Crusader.

---The three vessels departed for the Noctog Ocean, where they lied in wait until the sun sat. Just as Oboyo saw in his vision, an unusual fog formation began to appear seemingly from no where towards the east, causing the Gitmidur to take off from the MK II's pad while the MK II submerged under the water.---

Gizmo throws down a card with a picture of a monster, a few numbers on it, and arrows all around the edge, onto a playing grid. "Hah! Remember, no arrows means no blocking from that direction!" she cackles, flipping over the poor defenseless cards and taking her winnings. A sound from up above distracts her "Hmm? Anyone else hear that?"

Demonicor sighed as his cards were swept away, giving a small shrug "Easy enough to beat a novice. You don't pull punches when you teach." he looked up, tilting his head and listening a bit "Yeah... it sounds about right for a haunting."

Bronz winced out of one eye before turning around and squawking at Elenor, who stood overlooking the bridge with Mogusao. "Hmph. Part of me wished Oboyo was mad and we'd be going home shortly. Are your people in position?"

Mogusao nodded, drawing his swords. Of the eight warriors in the bridge, Montlac included, he stepped closer to them and held the swords out. "Long have we lived by the moon, our ancestors forsaken by the ones they once called their brothers. The traitors lived in the light and were called heroes while we were outcasted, forced to live on their scraps."

Jean stood next to the intercom button, holding it down for Mogusao's other warriors to listen. "That oppression ended when one moogle struck the false hero down, claiming his swords and paving the way for the posterity of TRUE WARRIORS! I'm talking about all of you! By the blades that we have kept for generations in memory of this, Ayvuir Blue and Ayvuir Red, we will strike these departed spirits down and prove to these humans the wrath of House Kuporo!"

Holding the blue and red blades up, the black moogles roared loudly, their voices echoing all across the ship. Elenor nodded as Montlac and his unit took up defensive positions all around the bridge. "Crew of the Gitmidur MK II! The enemy is before us! Stay focused, and we'll give them a hell of a greeting!"

Demonicor stood and drew a knife from his side, leaving his lost cards as they were "We should probably get going, they'll likely come from the front, or whatever side that's facing them... You don't plan to light the sub on fire do you? We kinda need the air." he held out a hand to the moogle to help her up.

Gizmo calmly puts the cards away during Mogusao's speech, taking out her crystal and kneeling down in prayer to the spirits "Luna... I seriously hope your power works on these ghosts or I will be pissed." Ok, so maybe not a prayer so much. She accepts Demonicor's hand and follows him.

"Here they come! Bronz, start turning 50 degrees right. All personnel, brace for the enemy on the port side!" barked Elenor through the intercom. "That larger one on the..is that a horse? That must be one of the 'riders' that Jinsaka mentioned. He seems to simply be watching us."

Elenor nodded. "I'm sure they can sense living beings on board, but don't know exactly what we are and what we're capable of. We can't make him tangible if he comes near us; he'll get stuck and damage the ship."

Mogusao grit his teeth, glancing off to the left side of the ship in case any phantoms entered the bridge. "Did we not plan what to do beforehand?!" Elenor kept her gaze focused on the stationary rider. "We did. It's just a matter of 'him' doing his job."

Demonicor made his way to the bridge, knocking one of the doors along the way, bone knife held in hand, a multitude of some kind of gems set in the hilt set in the hilt and along the backside of the blade "Gentlemen, and gentlemoogles, I wish to suggest a moment of silence... for our enemies. They may join us, however, they will not be able to stay as they are. Lets drive these ethereal bastards wherever they belong."

Gizmo picks up a folding chair and uses her crystal on it with Luna's blessing. Fire melts, earth mends, wind cuts. Moon... the chair glows with a pale light "Let's hope this affects undead like using the blessing directly..."

Little by little, a dozen red phantoms made their way through the submarine's exterior. Four appeared in the bridge, four near the hatch with three black moogles and Jean, and four towards the rear of the ship with three other black moogles, not far from Ms. Kuporia in the sick bay. "Remember! Once you shoot them, they'll be stuck inside! The flares expand a few feet, so aim for groups!" shouted Elenor through the intercom.
"Oui! Fear not! A l'troit mais entre amis!" shouted Jean as he fired a shot at the phantoms near the hatch, rendering them tangible. (Translation: It will be tight, but with friends.)

"Well, lets see if my experiments work as well as yours will Madam Gizmo." Demonicor leapt for the less tagible ones as two of his troops did the same, the others standing back with guns at the ready.

Gizmo shouts out "Moment of truth, here goes nothing!" before swinging the holy folding chair at a nearby phantom. Ideally, the mana energy should still prove harmful... but she'd never tried with it bonded to a physical object before.

Mogusao stood his ground and watched as Demonicor and Gizmo engaged the four ghosts, gritting his teeth. There was too much firepower in this room. "Montlac! Check out the rest of the ship!" Montlac nodded and took another black moogle with him, making his way to the hatch where Jean and three other moogles were engaged with four tangible ghosts.

"Au revoir!" shouted Jean as he waggled his eyes a couple of times, unleashing a flurry of piercing strikes with his rapier on one of the hatch phantoms, reducing its material down until it dissipated. One of the three black moogles let out a valiant 'Kupo!' before bringing his massive (to a moogle) hammer down on another of the phantoms, squashing it completely. Two remain.

Gizmo pounces on the nearest tangible ghost, chair first, jumping up and down on it to smash it into ectoplasm. She yells down into the corridor "How are things down there? Mogusao? Montlac? Numbers?"

Demonicor moves up and pushes the soldiers aside after their failed swings miss, stabbing the remaining ghost himself "This looks to be just the mooks, a testing wave. They're scouting us."

"Kupaargh!" shouted a black moogle near the hatch, falling lifelessly to the floor after taking a swipe from a phantom's ghostly blade.

"Yeeaaa!" shouted Montlac as he rushed through a phantom with his spear towards the rear of the ship, pulling it out and slamming the ghost to the ground with the spear's head, bringing it down upon it to finish the job.

"A little more even now. But.." Mogusao paused, watching the viewing screen. It seemed another wave of phantoms was beginning to advance on the MK II.

Demonicor waved one of his gunners back toward the hall "Go help the others, you're a bit redundant up here at the moment." the gunner went back down the hall, toward the hatch.

Gizmo tsks. Mogusao was an arrogant prick, if he said things were even that was not good. "I'll be back." she says, tucking the chair under one arm as she charges to where the combat sounds strongest, holding her crystal aloft and channeling a flash of holy light through it. Probably not actually harmful, but with any luck it'd disorient them.

The soldier lines up his pistol, watching and waiting for a clear shot, firing as the PDF members clear away from one of the ghosts.

"We've made some progress, but there's still enemies on board. Bronz, face the starboard side towards the advancing unit and keep pressing on to that ship!" ordered Elenor. Bronz nodded and did as he was told, allowing the MK II's starboard to be the target of the next wave. Six phantoms emerged in the bridge, five on the starboard side with Sho and three moogles, and four more appearing in the rear to back up the two that were still there.

Gizmo perks her ears up at the orders and fights to stay stead as the boat turns. When it stops, Gizmo makes looks between the moogles with her and the hallway "Stay safe." she says, smashing one phantom over the head before approaching the center of the starboard side where the fighting would be strongest.

Demonicor stayed at the front, prepared to protect the captain, glancing over at his flare gunner "Be ready for them this time, but wait for a few to come in." the man nodded, taking aim for the wall as Demonicor prepared to leap toward it at a moment's notice.

As the six phantoms arrived in the bridge, a black moogle took aim and fired at a pair huddled together, sending Mogusao in an aggressive dash towards them. Once close enough, he leapt into the air and unfurled his wings, performing a somersault in the air before coming down on a phantom with both blades, splitting its ghostly material up into harmless chunks.

Jean shouted something in French before hopping to the last one near the hatch, performing a series of artistic rapier strikes until the spirit broke down. No more remained on the hatch side.

"Prepare to be iterated!" shouted Sho as two of the moogles fired rounds from their flare guns, rendering the five phantoms tangible. He then ran for the neared phantom, shouting "Sine!..huh?" before the ghost swerved out of the way, its blade coming down on the third of the three moogles on the starboard side, detaching the creature's head. "An inverse matrix!?" shouted Sho in shock, glaring at the phantom hatefully.

"I am Montlac Mokusen, son of Montray Mokusen! If you fools value your deaths, then flee while you still can!" shouted the spear-wielding champion of House Kuporo, driving his spear through another phantom while the other four black moogles remained engaged with the other five phantoms there.

Gizmo grimaced. She was expecting to brace for a charge, not watch people die. She'd wanted to conserve her energy, rather than expend it all early on...but she needed the range. Gizmo channeled Salamando's blessing into a pistol before kneeling down and firing at the phantom that killed the moogle.

The soldier looked at the hatch area, determining it was clear, and made his way to the assistace of the others on the starboard side, aiming as he walked into view, putting a bullet into one of the tangible ghosts "Come on, they're not so tough."

The soldier on the bridge waited for the ghosts to group up, firing off a flare near the group of phantoms as Demonicor waded in, dematerializing another ghost with a thrust of his bone knife, the gems on his blade glinting oddly.

Mogusao found himself cornered by two phantoms, using both blades to parry the spirits off until someone could back him up. His defense was exceptional, but one phantom managed to knick his arm. "Fools! You are unworthy of even FACING me!"

"Stupid zeroes!" mumbled Sho as he missed a turn kick on a nearby phantom while another drove its blade through a black moogle's chest.
Montlac thrusted his spear towards another phantom, spinning it around twice before slamming the impaled ghost into the ground over and over again until it dissipated.

Gizmo allowed the gun to dissipate as she hurried to join the fray, blocking a sword swipe from one of the phantoms before bashing him in the face with it. "Numbers, you are fucking useless you know that, kupo?" she yells out. If this kept up their own dead would outnumber the dead on the other side.
The sword wielders ran forward to take on the ghosts, one swiping clear through while the other managed to disarm his phantom, literally, its sword and arm dissipating as the gunner opened fire... missing entirely and planting a bullet in the wall to clank against the bulkhead.

Demonicor ran up and dispatched the wounded one "Good, better, now just aim more for the center of their bodies." he looked at the soldier who fired the bullet "And that is why we're using silver bullets, because it's less likely to turn the ship into swiss cheese."

Elenor watched as a third wave began to advance towards the MK II, leaving behind only the phantom rider and its final regiment of spirits. "Seems now it knows we mean business. Bronz, face our other side to the enemy then keep pressing on for that ship! Come on, Helios..any day now.."

Mogsao grunted silently, seemingly ungrateful for the human intervention even in the face of danger. Three phantoms remained. With a loud charge, Mogusao threw his red blade towards one as he followed after it with his blue sword in hand. The red blade pierced the phantom while Mogusao leapt into the air and swung Ayvuir Blue straight down the phantom's middle, retrieving Ayvuir Red in the process.

"Die, radian!" shouted Sho as he ran towards the submarine's wall to kick himself off of it, dropping forcefully down on one of the remaining two phantoms in the starboard side, repeatedly smashing his foot into its ghostly material until it was no more.

Montlac attempted to thrust his spear into another phantom, only to miss his mark. Wide open for attack, the red spirit swung its blade at the black moogle champion, leaving a nasty gash across his chest. "Hrrraaagh!" he shouted loudly while the other four moogles were engaged with the other phantoms.

The soldier took aim with his pistol again, looking for a clear shot, giving a curse and backing away a few steps "Too damn many bodies..." he lowered his gun and went back to the hatch "Hey, frog, any action over here?"

The gunner held back from firing as the sword wielders moved up, sizing up the last couple ghosts on the bridge and slashing them down. Demonicor gave a shout "Get back from the wall! That's not the last of them yet!"

Gizmo is busy blocking the attacks of a particularly aggressive phantom, her chair-shield flying out of her grasp. She stumbles to the ground as the phantom closes in for the killing blow, before calling forth her gun again and emptying almost an entire clip straight into his face. That seems effective enough. Rather than let her gun dissipate this time, she chucks it over at a phantom approaching one of the remaining moogles, where it bounces off the ground before exploding against the phantom in a fireball.

"Port side, prepare to face the enemy! Take them out and stand your ground, we're almost to the ghost ship!" shouted Elenor through the intercom system. With that, eight phantoms appeared in the bridge, six on the hatch, and five more on the rear.

"Damn hectopascals!" shouted Sho as he somersaulted his way to the remaining phantom, kicking its blade out of its hand while the last black moogle tears it apart with his axe.
Two of the phantoms on the rear side merge together into a larger spirit wielding two blades, catching Montlac and the four black moogles by surprise. It proceeded to spin around violently throughout the room, sending the moogles into an evasive state. Two of the moogles had their heads cut off in the process. The larger phantom and three smaller ones remained, along with the five intangible ones.

Gizmo gets to her feet, finding her second wind with her aggressor gone. With just the one phantom left on the starboard side, Gizmo grabbed her shield and ran to the rear of the ship. Things didn't sound good there.

The gunner pulls up his gun up as the ghosts phase in through the wall, sending the bullet straight through it to clank uselessly against the bulkhead, before he gave a curse "Get some glow on those things! I can't hit them as is!"

Demonicor walked into the fray as the bridge ghosts got flared again, striking through to dissipate it, continuing on into the middle of the group to stab another before rolling across the ground to avoid swiping swords.

The sword wielding troops walked up, swiping at a ghost, teaming up to take it down as the gunner took aim, shooting down another "How many more of these things are there?!?"

"Tear through their deception!" ordered Mogusao as a pair of black moogles fired off spirit flares, rendering the phantoms tangible. "Yeeeaargh!" shouted the moogle lord as he glided towards a phantom, tearing it apart with his blades. One of the phantoms swerved behind one of the sword troops, raising its blade up to bring it down upon the soldier.

The remaining pair of moogles near the hatch fired off rounds at the intruders, rendering them tangible for Jean to move in with a piercing strike to take one out.
"..Sir Mokusen! What is..?!" asked one of the black moogles as the massive phantom cleanly cut another moogle in half. "Stand your ground! There is no room for fear in the Dark Guard!" shouted Montlac as he parried a phantom's strike nearby.

Gizmo charges into the rear of the sub, throwing her holy chair over the moogles' heads at the larger phantom. When that seems insufficient, she summons forth another pistol and fires shot after shot at it, doing her best to ignore the gun's incessant flickering.

The gunner pulled up and fired, slapping the bulk near the hatch with another bullet as he curses, moving in closer "'Here, use this,' he said, 'a rifle is a liability.' he said... damnit."

Demonicor stood and dissipated another phantom as his sword wielders took down another pair, the gunner shooting through one but not quite killing it. Demonicor moved back toward the middle of the room "Hey, do we have eyes on the other parts of the ship?"

Mogusao paused to glance at the viewing screen. The ghost rider and its final regiment were still there. "Elenor! Whatever your plan is, I suggest you follow through at once!" With that, he twisted and turned towards another phantom, taking its arm off before rendering it vulnerable to a series of Ayvuir slices.
"Salut!!" shouted Jean as bashed a ghost from behind with his elbow, driving his rapier through it from behind.

Gizmo's shots serve to break the larger problem down a little, drawing its attention towards her. "Yeeeaarrgh!" shouted Montlac as he leapt into the air and drove his spear through the big phantom, pulling it back out and slapping the head of the spear on the ghost's side. Sent helplessly to the floor, Montlac finished the job with a few more impalements.

Gizmo picks up a hammer laying by one of the dead moogles. Much as she liked the chair, in the end it was a glorified tower shield at best. The initial practice swing against a nearby phantom missed, but after a parry with the hammer haft a follow up swing to the chest stunned the ghost long enough for an aimed crush to the head.

The soldier squeezed off a few rounds at one of the ghosts as he ran up, throwing the gun aside and simply punching at it "Fine, you useless piece of junk!"

The gunner on the bridge shot wide of one of the ghosts, the sword wielders taking on another ghost apiece, tearing through one and barely catching the other, Demonicor darting back into the fray again to finish it off "This honestly is going far better than I expected... something feels exceptionally wrong with that."

Elenor folded her arms and kept her gaze focused on the viewscreen as the ghost rider leading the phantoms held its pointed lance out and began to charge towards the sub with the final regiment of phantoms. "Elenor!!" shouted Mogusao while the phantoms closed in quicker than the rider.
Jean pat the gunner on the back and said, "Bonnee volontee est reputee pour le fait." before hopping to another phantom and excercizing his swordplay upon it until it dissipated.

His back exposed to the smaller phantoms, Montlac roared painfully as a ghostly blade left a bloody mark down his back just in between his wings while another phantom removed another moogle's arm before detaching his head. (Jean translation: Take the will for the deed.)

Gizmo screams out in rage as Montlac is attacked, dropping the hammer and tackling the phantom in a blind fury. She was surrounding by the dead of her kind, and worse still someone she kinda sorta cared about was getting hurt. Gizmo tears the ghost's throat out with her teeth before bashing it's head against the floor until it stops moving.

The soldier near the hatch moved on to another ghost with a sneer "How's this feel then, you bodyless punks?" he launched his fist into the ghost as he took a blade across his other arm.


Meanwhile, in the water around the sub another battle was beginning.
The M85 landed in the water and sank for a few moments while it engaged it's aquatic combat subroutines. The two multi-purpose turbines on it's back spun to life, spewing water behind the mechon and propelling it farther down towards the Mk. II and the ghostly rider assulting it. It pointed it's gun arm at the rider and opened fire.

At the same moment, a friendly chirp echoed over the sub's intercom, letting the PDF members onboard know that friendly reinforcements have arrived. The death machine and the undead rider continued to clash outside the sub, the wounds of their fight echoing through the water and rattling the sub with each blow they struck.

A confident smirk formed on Elenor's face at the timely arrival of the M85. Another strategy thoughtfully executed. "Bronz, face the starboard side to the enemy! This is the last one, everyone! Take these phantoms out, and get ready for boarding!"

With that, the final wave of phantoms appeared within the ship. Ten in the bridge, eight on the starboard side, and an additional six to the five already in the rear.
"Celui que est lent a manger est lent a travailler!" shouted Jean as he executed an expert display of swordsmanship upon the last of the phantoms. (Translation: Quick at work)

Another black moogle is cut down by five remaining phantoms, leaving just Gizmo, a wounded Montlac, and one last black moogle to keep them at bay. Seeing this, the last black moogle made his way to an intercom unit nearby, begging the bridge for help. Were only the black moogles not so blinded by pride, help could have came sooner.

Mogusao's eyes widened as he heard the report, pressing the button for the shipwide intercom. "Frog! You and anyone else with you, get to the rear of the ship as soon you've secured the port side!"

Gizmo roars and tackles another phantom to the ground, but rather than kill it, she hauls it by the arms (oblivious to the slashes it does to her in the process) and proceeds to beat another phantom to re-death with it.

Demonicor began to move down the hall to check the rest, when the warning came through on the incomming bridge foes "Well... isn't this a nice cluster we ran into." he rushed back to his allies as the ghosts materialized, spiking another ghost with his bone knife to dematerialize it. The gunner took out another ghost with a couple shots, the swords teaming up again to pull down another "Well sir, you did say it was easy... how's that theory holding up now?"

Jean glanced to the other two moogles and Demonicor's soldiers before nodding and heading for the rear of the sub.
"Then let's give them a hell of a greeting!" shouted Mogusao as he waited for a pair of black moogles to fire off spirit flares, rendering the remaining phantoms on the bridge tangible. He then proceeded to shout a battlecry before charging through a phantom with his blades, turning back to finish the job.

"Heh heh heh!" shouted Sho as the last black moogle on the starboard side fired off spirit flares at the invading phantoms before running over to the intercom, his plea for help getting cut off early as a phantom sliced him in two. Sho grit his teeth and tried to side kick a phantom, only to miss by few inches. "Stupid sons of digits! Follow the order of operations!"

"Stand strong, brother! House Kuporo does not fall without returning the favor!" shouted Montlac as he took another phantom with his spear.

Demonicor rushed off down the corridor after the call for help "You guys stay here, I've got this!" the soldiers nodded and both took out a ghost apiece, the other sword wielder looked worriedly after Demonicor before moving closer to the flare shooter.

Demonicor dashed down the starboard side, piercing a ghost and giving a yell to announce his presence "Sho, calvary is here, and your numbers are looking up."

"Face the wrath of House Kuporo!!" shouted Mogusao as he kicked himself off of the side of the sub, performing a somersault in the air before slicing through two phantoms with his blades. "May your deaths bring you suffering!" With that, he turned around and finished them off.

Montlac grit his teeth and took a few steps back as backup arrived. Jean hopped his way towards a phantom and prompty missed his strike while one of his black moogles met an untimely demise.

Sho turned to face his backup as a phantom punched him across the cheek, sending him down to the floor. "..Paranthesis first, radian!" shouted the eccentric mathematician as he kicked himself off the ground.

Gizmo means to say "Thank you." to the support, but what actually comes out is "RAAAAAAAAAGH!" Close enough. She grabs a hammer off the ground and pounces on another phantom, holding him down by the throat while the other slams the hammer down into his skull "DIE, KUPO!"

The soldier snags his gun back up as he runs after Jean, heading for the back "Come on, you piece of junk, work this time!" he squeezed off the rest of his clip, for the sake of certainty, dissipating a pair of ghosts in the process.

A phantom broke away from the rest of the group on the bridge, heading for the gunner, shrugging off the bullet that dissipated its shoulder and stabbing straight through the gunner's chest. The sword wielding civilian shook off his fear for a moment and stabbed through the ghost, dissipating it and crouching down as the soldier began to dissipate "Don't worry about him kid, he'll be back on his feet in less than a week. You just focus on keeping them off me... unless you wanna handle the flare."

Demonicor moved closer in toward Sho to protect his back, swiping up a flare as he jabbed at another ghost, looking over his knife "Can't keep this up much longer..."
The other soldier swung through the ghost, taking off a bit of its material and its arm, but not destroying it as he backed away.

"Carve this day into your very existance!" shouted Mogusao as he swiped through a phantom with Ayvuir Red. "For it is the day you thought to defy the greatest house of the Beast Kingdom!" Mogusao continued on, swiping through another with Ayvuir Blue.

Jean tried to focus on a 'Renew' spell as his wide eyes gazed over Montlac's wounds, but the screams of agony made it too hard to concentrate.
Despite his wounds, Montlac showed true resolve for his house as he dived back into the fray, thrusting his spear through a phantom's chest and slamming it into the wall over and over again.
Sho spit a little blood out of his mouth as he somersaulted his way to a phantom, bringing his feet down upon it and sending it to the floor. "Sine!" he shouted, following by a repetition of his feet mashing the spirit into a puddle of ectoplasm. "Cosine! Tangent! Tangent! TANGENT!"

The soldier in the rear cursed multiple times again as he dropped out his clip, dropping his gun again too as he made for a ghost, giving a yell and punching through it as the ghost scraped its sword across him.

The flare equipped soldier snagged his friend's gun as he nodded to the sword wielder nearby "Go, help him out, he needs it more than I do." the sword wielder stood still for a moment before rushing off to help kill the other ghost with a combined slash.

Gizmo takes a hard swipe across the back from a phantom sneaking up on her, a splash of crimson hitting the floor. For once, she doesn't scream. She's deathly quiet as she turns around, grab's the phantom's arm, and bends it backwards until it snaps before driving the phantom's sword through his own chest.

Demonicor stabbed through one of the ghosts, dissipating it on his way past sho to stab into another, which fails to immediately dissipate, the phantom's blade slicing through his shoulder before he could manage a more lethal strike, grasping his shoulder as he managed to not vomit from the pain "Yeah... That blade feels a whole lot worse..."

"By the blood of Lini, false hero of Ivalice! I will cast you out of this world!" roared Mogusao as he tore into another phantom with his dual blades.
Jean let out an uncontrolled 'RIBBIT!' as he managed to maintain his focus long enough for his 'Renew' spell, sending a stream of bright green energies over the wounded Montlac. The gash across the moogle's back began to close up, the pain soothing and leaving him feeling energized.

"InnnnFINITY!" shouted Sho as he reared his elbow back into a phantom, hammer fisting its head, performing a turn kick before throwing an offensive spin kick at what was left of the spirit's ghostly material.
His wounds partially healed, Montlac grit his teeth confidently as he spun his spear around and sent a phantom to the floor, impaling it over and over again.

Gizmo started to come down from her berserk high. Rage, always had a way of abating way too quickly, and it didn't help that the tide of battle was swaying, and she could start to feel the pain of all her wounds. She didn't bother to get up from where she'd last killed a phantom, simply summoning forth a flickering remnant of a pistol. She raised it up to aim at one of the remaining phantoms, summoning forth all her courage and motivation for one last shot. The weapon solidifed for just a moment before firing.

The soldier walked up to the last ghost with a grin, dodging and moving out of range of its blade as he taunted it "Well, looks like my commander gets to see me live long enough to blow up your precious little ship. Wherever you're going after this, I'll not see you there." he closed the distance and broke the ghost up with a few well placed strikes.

Demonicor let his blood drip to the floor, not really able to bring himself to move, grasping enough concentration to fill the blood with his energy, a phantom growing into being, composed of blood, rushing one of the other ghosts and stabbing through it with its blood blade as Demonicor slid to the floor "Here's hoping I'll have enough for the portal..."

"Such is your fate!" shouted Mogusao as he brought his blades down upon one of the few remaining phantoms in the bridge.
"So zetta SLOW!" grunted Sho as he ran along the wall and twisted his hips, bringing his heel down on one the three phantoms remaining, crouching down and slamming his fists into its back over and over until it dissipated.

Jean, Montlac, and the remaining two black moogles took a second to breath. The phantoms in the rear were gone, but not across the rest of the ship. "Let us make haste to the star--" Montlac was cut off by Jean, who placed a large froggy hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "Non, mon ami. You must zee Madame Kuporia at once. Zee wounds must be painful, non?" Montlac glared angrily at Jean. No black moogle seeks respite until the battle was over.

"Sir Mokusen..we'll be fine, kupo!" said one black moogle. "You are the new Champion of House Kuporo, don't throw your life away in this rotten human vessel!" said the other. Montlac sighed as Jean nodded and headed for the starboard with the last two moogles.

"Oh Jeanne... jeanie.... you're just in time. You can drag me off to medical-ical bay. I think he has this for now" Demonicor motioned to the blood phantom (which dispatched another of its semi-transluscent friends) from the spot where his blood was beginning to pool, holding his shoulder "If you would, kindly."

Gizmo begins limping her way to the rest of the combat. Sure, it hurt to move, but she'd find some way to contribute. She could afford to get patch up once the sub was safe, and nobody else was dying. After all, her life was less precious than those around her.

The flare soldier grabbed the gun and turned on the ghosts with it "You bastards! What did you do to him!?" he unloaded a few rounds into the nearest ghost, dissipating it in a less than efficient fashion as the other sword wielder tried to comfort and calm the first.

The one soldier grasped his gun and holstered it before moving in and sweeping Gizmo off her feet "Come on, off to medical with you. You can be fixed up quick-like, and be back to tearing out throats and hearts in no time. he smiled down at the moogle as he took her off to see Ms. Kuporia.

"Pathetic!" grunted Mogusao as he slammed a phantom's blade away with one blade, taking its arm off with the other. "Why bear arms if you've not the skill to use them!?" asked the moogle lord before slicing the spirit into nothing.
"Hmm? Oui, of course, Monsier." said Jean as he wrapped an arm around Demonicor to guide him towards the sick bay, where Ms. Kuporia was treating Montlac's wounds.
Trying a new tactic, one of the phantoms threw its blade towards Sho, who glanced towards it and moonsaulted out of the way, only for the blade to make its way through one of the black moogle's heads.

Demonicor stumbled to his feet, leaving a trail of blood along the way to the medical bay "Hey, you got tadpoles somewhere?" he trailed off a bit "Nevermind, I'm no longer sure where I was going with that..."

The soldier on the bridge, put another pair of bullets through one of the remaining two ghosts before his gun began to click, simply ineffectually throwing it at the last ghost.

The blood phantom moved over to one of its cousins, mirroring it as they faced off, striking each other precisely before they both dissipated, leaving behind just a pool of coagulating blood.

Mogusao turned around to face the last phantom on the bridge, who received an empty gun to the head. He began to steadily advance towards it before he came to a halt and gestured with his blades for the phantom to charge him. "If you have any notion of intelligence, then hear my words, spirit..your failure was decided the moment you left that ship." The phantom showed no indication of responding, merely floating towards the moogle lord with its blade out. "Hrrryyeaah!" shouted Mogusao as he cut cleanly through the phantom in the shape of an X, its ghostly bits lying still before melting into ectoplasm. "Most impressive, Lord Mogusao. I'm glad you decided to come along with us after all." said Elenor, gazing over the ghostly mess left behind by the black moogle warlord and Demonicor's soldiers. Mogusao mumbled softly before spitting out a bit of blood. "..I owe it to two of your own people. One, to repay a favor. The other..to give a proper greeting."

Believing that the unarmed phantom was defenseless, the black moogle on the starboard rushed towards it with his own blade. Far from vulnerable, the phantom formed a sharp edge out of its arm, slicing the moogle's pom from its head. The moogle collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain while the phantom picked up its sword and drove it through its tiny chest. After picking up its own ghostly sword, it turned to face Sho, who stood in a fighting stance, waiting for the phantom to make its move.

After a brief pause, the last phantom made a quick dash towards Sho, who had a sick grin on his face. "3.14159265358479323846264338328!" he shouted at an extreme speed, ducking as the phantom swung its blade past him. "SOH!" started Sho as he rose up and threw a powerful uppercut through the spirit's arm, grabbings its blade before bringing it down diagnally through it, "CAH!"

Dropping the blade, Sho mumbled "TOA!" before performing a roundhouse kick, sending the ghostly bits into a worthless heap on the floor. After placing his foot on the floor, he threw his fist into his other hand's palm. "CRUNCH! Into the garbage."

Demonicor stepped out from the medical bay, a white cap over his shoulder, gems glinting out of it like tiny eyes. He looked more than just wobbly and pale. He very simply looked like he shouldn't be standing at all, a pale blue haze surrounding him, ignoring Kuporia's instructions to lie back down "I need to do this. This is a thing I need to do. Death should never be a barrier for a good plan... I just need to hold it back a little, that's all...." he shuffled down the hallway, bracing himself along the wall toward the hatch.

Gizmo stumbles into the medical bay with the soldiers help. She looks fine, but the suit has an auto-repair to seal any breaches and keep protecting. She activates something in the suit, and the pieces fall off into a fractured orb. Her ripped blue jumpsuit has been stained a dark purple around her midsection, as well as a few cuts along her arms. "Ugh, that looks terrible..." she comments "Got any painkillers so I can go back out there?"

With all the phantoms gone and the M85 locked in combat with the underwater ghost rider, nothing stopped the Gitmidur MKII from taking position underneath the ghost ship.

"No matter how we do it, there's going to be some flooding. We also need to run a headcount before we proceed. Are you going on board, Mogusao?" asked Elenor, her gaze moving from the viewscreen back to the black moogle lord.

Mogusao shook his head. "I am only here to defend this vessel. The fight against that spirit belongs to your people..if any of them are still alive."
Ms. Kuporia glanced at Gizmo's wounds, painkillers conveniently in hand..though she did not offer them. "Heavens, dearie! You can't fight like that! First the gentleman, now you? Take a seat at once!"

The soldiers followed after Demonicor as they noticed his movement toward the hatch, bracing the last between them "Orders would be a good idea right about now sir..."
Demonicor braced himself back against the hatch, nodding to the middle soldier as the haze around him increased "What happened to him?"

"Some sort of phantom trick, I don't know, he dropped his sword after striking one down." Demonicor winced at that and waved them in closer.
"He's soul linked, right?" Demonicor reached out his hand to touch the man's forehead, waiting for confirming nods, before wrenching his hand back as the soldier's body began to turn to ash "There... fixed... he'll be fine when you see him again."

Gizmo sighs and does as she's told "I just don't want anyone getting hurt while I'm here is all. The more I can take down, the more that strike me instead of someone else..."

Some time passes, and information is exchanged across the ship. The casualties were heavy, but the mission was a success. This still posed a question, one that Elenor asked to any who could still walk and listen in the sickbay after making her way there. "We're not through here yet. We're Oboyo's only avenue of support. Still, I can see that we're not in much shape to be providing that. Mogusao insists on defending this ship. What about the rest of you? Will you make this charge of ours worthwhile?"

Gizmo raises a paw "I'll go. I joined up to see where this goes. To be a part of something where I don't know how it ends. I can't possibly turn back now."

Demonicor still looked pale, and still held a blue haze about him, but he was sitting up a little straighter after his troops had escorted him back to sick bay, a needle and an IV drip shoved into his arm "I have a few extra troops waiting at the ready for the boarding party, which I was hoping I'd have deployed by now... probably for the best that I was forced to wait."

Demonicor sighed and shook his head "I'll accompany you to the top with my men, and pull in my reinforcements, then try to make it back down here."

Ms. Kuporia gave Gizmo and Demonicor a nasty scowl. "Out of the question, kupo! Ms. Elenor, shame on you! We should head back to the manor!" Elenor shook her head. "We've come too far to go back now. Thank you, Gizmo and Demonicor. Anyone else?"

"Oui! Count moi in too. Ce qui est fait n'est plus a faire!" said Jean as he held his rapier up valiantly. "Heh heh heh. Why not? It'll be more trash to add to the pile!" said Sho. (Jean translation: Don´t leave till tomorrow what can be finished today.)

Montlac nodded his head. "Then Lord Mogusao and the rest of us will stay here to defend this ship. May the moon guide you." Elenor nodded and began to head for the bridge, calling out orders over her shoulder. "Then make your way to the hatch, and don't open it until I gave the command!"

Demonicor stood with a light bow to Elanor and made his way toward the hatch with the help of his troops, using the IV stand as a rolling walking stick "Thank you for the work you've done Ms. Kuporia. I'm sure you don't mind me taking this along?" the blue haze was slowly lessening around him.

Gizmo nods to Kuporia "I promise I'll come back in one piece. I'm just worried if I don't go, other people won't come back at all." She gets up and makes her way toward the hatch. Kuporia's aid helped, but it still looked like she was going to have to resign herself to leaning against a wall and taking potshots.

Ms. Kuporia tried to object, but the only things that could escape her raging mouth were 'Kupo that woman!' and 'How the kupo could she do that!?' Jean gave the elderly moogle a polite bow before following after Demonicor and Gizmo while Sho merely laughed at her on the way out.

Elenor entered the bridge and stood in the closest thing to a captain's chair, a spot where she could view every screen. "Take us up, Bronz. And keep it steady. I want them to get in and out before they get soaked. The penguin nodded and pulled a few switches on the controls, causing the submarine gradually ascend until the outer hatch made a loud sound, indicating that the MK II breached the fog ship's wooden exterior.

Elenor's voice then rang out on the intercoms throughout the ship. "Alright, boarding crew! Open the hatch and go! Things might get a little wet in there, but it'll take a lot more than a little hole like this to sink that thing. Get in there and support Oboyo and bring an end to this! Good luck!"

Gizmo climbs up the hatch and into the fog ship. This was it, the final battle. There was no turning back. Well, actually she could totally go back down and chill in the medical bay, but she TOLD herself there was no turning back.

Jean and Sho followed behind Gizmo and Demonicor, closing the hatch behind them. What awaited the four was a threat they couldn't possibly hope to face: dozens of phantoms waiting inside on standby. But rather than advance on the intruders, the spirits all turned in one direction, remaining stationary. Somewhere on the old ship, a brilliant cyan beam shot through to the sky, an action that sent all the phantoms into confusion and turmoil. The path ahead was clear..the path each phantom faced. The path to the Spirit Rune.