Pokemon Umbral Mission 3: Faynoc's Folly

[Astral Harmony]

Primary Objective: Make Faynoc Run
Step Objectives
- Neutralize the Honmyr Prideguard's cordon
- Recruit the Miltank Pokebrid Muon
- Eliminate all HPG soldiers, HoA cultists, and enemy mercs as necessary
- Allow Faynoc to escape

The alarm went off, finally bringing the dullness of the peaceful days to an end. With new motivation, the Watchmen hurried to the briefing room. Rayleen was there, already suited up and armed.

"I see a lot of smiles today. That's good," Rayleen said. "I'm been dying for the next battle as well. And today, I'm certain we'll be very gainfully employed. Behold the holoprojector."

The holoprojector displayed Prime Square, one of the major areas of Fainas Metropolis where people gather to do inane things like fall in love or whatever. "This is Prime Square, one of the major areas of Fainas Metropolis where people gather to do inane things like fall in love or whatever."

...If there was an author avatar in this RP, a main character was sure to punch it.

"Our efforts against Faynoc's Harbingers of Ascension cult has apparently not been in vain. The egotistical fool has actually come out of hiding to deliver a public sermon right in the dead center of Prime Square. Obviously, what happens to Faynoc falls under the Watchmen's jurisdiction. I know a lot of you want Faynoc dead, myself as much as anyone. However, we're going to have to swallow our rage until some other time. We need Faynoc to retreat from Prime Square, alive and well. He's probably the only person in the world who can lead us to his hidden facility, Millenium House. There are others, of course, but they seem to die in horrible ways by your awesome efforts, for some reason."
"Why is he doing something stupid like a public sermon?" Cecilia asked. "Faynoc knows that the Watchmen are on the lookout for him. Why else would he try to have you killed off? But this just seems like a blunder of epic proportions."
"Must be recruiting," Whitney assumed. "Moera, The Light, and The Dark were a few of his top crusaders. And now they're history, along with several other lesser crusaders that showed great potential, my brother Wyatt and myself among them."
"But don'cha think 'e coulda been a li'l more discreet?" Milsha asked.
"He must be running out of patience," Rayleen guessed. "Who knows how long Faynoc has been at this, but I'm willing to bet that this whole time, he hasn't hit any considerable snags in his efforts to build an army of Pokebrids. Not until several months ago when the Watchmen started getting involved, anyways. I don't know about him personally, but when someone just comes along and starts kicking over the card fortress you've spent so long building, you tend to kind of lose it. If Faynoc can't control his temper at losing some of his best fighters, he's going to do something stupid. Now might be our best, if not our only chance to capitalize on his fatal mistake."

Rayleen gestures towards Aster, who nods, leaves his seat, and goes to the front of the room. "This briefing was called a bit later than it should have been so that Lloyd could have an extrasensory peek at the scene. Go ahead, Lloyd."
Aster nodded. "Reynold Faynoc is indeed in Prime Square. Judging from his appearance, the man is a Lugia Pokebrid. There was a little girl next to him with her head, arms and legs encased in strange armor. There is currently a lot of chaos. Faynoc's sermon has drawn Pokebrids and desperate civilians to his request of aid. It seems like the police tried to interfere, but they were driven back. I'm...not certain as to why, but there appear to be a large number of Honmyr Prideguard soldiers in the chaos. They have cordoned off the entire square and a small portion of the military force is fighting Faynoc's personal guard and any unalligned people who have been swayed by Faynoc's promises. There appears to be a stalemate, but it's difficult to tell. There's so much smoke. And for some reason, I also saw blue fire."
"Oh, yeah, there's some kind of military parade in the city," Calisto chimed in. "Maybe the police asked for assistance? I don't know about this blue fire, though."
"Maybe a combat vehicle of some kind." Rayleen guessed. "Anyways, a document is already being faxed back and forth and signed. With it, we should be able to pass through that HPG cordon without incident. Notice that I said 'should' and not 'will'. Burkmont doesn't like me and his deep-seated hatred for me may cause undue interference for us. Use the document to try and get through, but if they refuse to break it up, we have permission to engage them. They've been getting a little too proud and comfortable with their high authority. We'll send that disgusting fatass a crystal clear message that he really should learn not to interfere with me and my comrades. Anyways, by Lloyd's psychic probing, it seems like the clash between the Harbingers of Ascension and the Honmyr Prideguard has only recently started, suggesting that no serious offensive or defensive measures are set. You shouldn't need to concern yourselves with enemy Shook Troopers, Snipers, or Destroyers. At least not at the start. Piercing through the cordon, if that becomes our only option of advancing, should give you ample experience in facing HPG soldiers."

Rayleen then gestured to Whitney, who stood up as well. "My friend Muon told me about Faynoc's public sermon. Thanks to her information, we stand a much better chance of succeeding. I know you probably have questions about her trustworthiness, but I'm begging you. Please save Muon. She and I are the best of friends and I know she wouldn't betray my trust."
"Huh," Harliette said. "I thought you and I were the best of friends."
"I can have as many best friends as I like, thank you very much. Hmph!"
"Isn't there something else you can say that might make us want to help her?" Bretton asked Whitney.
Whitney looked thoughtful. "Umm...her sex appeal is over nine-thousand?"
"That'll work for me," Bretton conceded.

Pokemon Umbral, where Internet memes go to die.

"This is going to end up being a wild crossfire. There's going to be us, the HPG, the HoA, and various innocent Pokebrids and civilians who are caught up in the middle of it all. Because I'd rather we didn't cause any undue civilian casualties, I'm restricting us by not allowing a Destroyer. The widespread destruction Destroyers like Lexhur could inflict would definitely cause highly undesired trouble for our operations in the future if innocents end up dead from our artillery strikes."
"Anyways, to summarize, you'll need to breach the HPG cordon. Find and rescue Muon if you can. I'm certain she'll be a huge help in the coming fights. After the cordon, you'll need to get to Faynoc and destroy enough to his cultists to force him to flee the scene. We'll need to cover his retreat as well, but try not to make it too obvious that we plan to tail him all the way back to Millenium House."
"Who's going to be tailing him?" Lola asked.
"I'm planning on having all three of our kunoichi allies keep track of him," Rayleen said, indicating Kirie, Chizuru and Mika. "Faynoc might get wise about what we intend to do, so there may be a great deal of time separating the moment he flees to when he returns home. He's likely to take a lot of detours and even stay at various locations for days at a time until he's certain that he has avoided both capture and pursuit. Thus, I think it's best to employ all three to what should be an easy task for them."
"Not to mention boring," Kirie groaned lightly.
"Aw, it'll be fun!" Chizuru said cheerfully. "To be honest, I haven't tracked anyone in a long time. I should use this opportunity to refresh myself."
"Relax, Chizuru." Mika said. "You're one of the best in the business of stalking your prey. This guy may avoid the police, the military, and even the agency, but he won't escape the Kimonos."
"That should be it," Rayleen said with finality. "We don't know what the blue flames were that Lloyd saw in his vision, so be prepared to fight something highly dangerous. We also don't know what the little girl standing by Faynoc can do, either, so watch out for her as well. I know it's going to be rough going without a Destroyer's assistance, but I'm afraid you'll have to make due. The HPG soldiers' weapons and armor and their Engineer's devices tend to be made of metal, making Rachel's Magnet Crush a valuable tactic in crippling soldiers. As for the HoA cultists, you'll have to match them type for type. Now, are there any questions before we get ready to depart?"

...Wait, what about-?

"Oh, yes, a leader!" Rayleen suddenly remembered. "I'm nominating Impact as the leader, with Pierce and Renny as tacticians. Impact will have the authority of ignoring your advice, but I suggest that Impact gives both ears to you two. After all, there may come a day when he is leading on his own, and your advice could benefit him in the future when he moves on to command forces of great power."

Wow, Rayleen. It's like you totally know.