#Gunblades of the Patriots

[toadeyes-miqote]

A name means nothing on the battlefield. But that's probably the nanomachines at work.

MaIGitEk GeAr!!! sEpcOps ArChoN!!! TeH BOx Is @ liE!!! aLl yOUr bASe aRe bElonGs tO LuTeBoW CoEuRl! ShArLaYeN iS gOiNg tHrOugh sOmE LaLillOLelO!!

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"This is Lahabrea." (No, this is Thancred. that smirk though.) The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be. shutup and take the last few days of my sub time. I want to go back to warmer climes before my sub ends for this season.

Run away.

Had to remember how to Solid Snake. Got it right on the second time. Time the magitek's movement pattern for taking down the soldiers or control panels. Risk a bit for the dogs.

Because someone went The Boss and give us Metal Gear Thancred.

My WoL's codename is Lutebow Coeurl to match her Dark knight's current Lvl 50 theme. Lutebow Gaelicat seems kinda too cute. So It was either that or Lutebow Miqo'te. Thanks Ocelot! That skypirate/cryptlurker coat finally comes in handy now. Gaius are you channeling Ocelot? or Big Boss in one of the MGS I can't play?

Was thinking of going Raiden what with all my Ironworks and Scaevan gear usually kept for the Castum based battles, but it was standing out too much for the Garlean aid theme, the concept behind it was "Out of contol lightup Magitek armour running amok, scares Garleans more than spikey goth armour" Will have to apologise to Cid for using his tech to scare people.

I even prepared an outfit for Zenos and it ain't even Nanomachines. Everybody is getting Ocelot gear because its just easier when I can't Raiden and Nier denied me Liquid's coat.... Excuse me while I check the chance of Zenos-WoL getting a Liquid theme outfit.

Since Metal Gear was English to me. I'm not using the JP cast for this trip. Unless we can Ghost in the shell?

This is probably not the Van Helsing glamour you're saving for. Both Bard Boys in the background in Adder gear

"Something over there? Just a box..."

I don't feel like bullying Emmanellain, the whole Ala Mihgo gathering, it felt like Thancred was staring at Emmanellain. I have this headcannon that because of how cleaned up and suave Thancred now looks, Emmanellain does not recognised him but is mildy wary of Thancred.

And what with Emmanellain trying to hide behind WoL/looking for a friendly face. His brother's friends Aymeric and Estinien are probably too intimidating for him. He knows he out of his league in a room full of badasses. He may be an idiot but he's her idiot brother now.

Thancred, being Thancred the social butterfly that I know him to be since ARR. Drawing in G'raha to the team(also possibly why Urianger sticks to him, post ShB shitstorm) and Estinien has no complaints. He's in charge of the socially awkward people. So him, Lucia, Yugiri and Riol makes up quite a big intel network. Lahabrea picked the right guy to possess after all.

I do the big Gathering post of who's who later.

Ok fine. My WoL went Railgun any Castum/factory fights, its a big surfboard like huge for a puny Miqo'te. We biribiri now? Or is that Emet of the multiple bodies?

[cidnangarlond]

I don't know what the quest is no clue but the achievement name is "Thank You for the Music" I'm going to yell

there's a fucking quest achievement named after an abba song I'm going to scream

[baidar-oroq]

23-Shuffle

(The Rising Stones, Mor Dhona)

Thancred watched as Urianger laid his cards out again on the table in front of him for the fourth time in the last half hour, closed his eyes, and selected one with an extravagant gesture before replacing it and shuffling the deck again. 

It made for something remotely resembling entertainment while he waited for Y’shtola to finish imbuing cartridges with aether for his gunblade, but as an application for an astrologian Thancred had wondered about its practical use. He crossed his arms over his chest as Urianger laid the cards out again and yet again selected one, looking at it with satisfaction before replacing it and re-shuffling the deck for a fifth time. “You would have a fine career at the Gold Saucer dealing cards if we ever find the world at peace, you know,” he pointed out. That drew a modest and entirely unmuffled snort of laughter from Y’shtola. 

“‘Tis not for gambling that I assay such maneuvers,” Urianger replied, laying out the cards again. “In times of direst strife, being able to locate the correct card for the situation is of utmost importance. One doth not have the time to search in battle, after all.”

“Ahhh, I see. And the dramatic poses as you do?” 

Urianger selected another card again, looked at it, nodded, and then reshuffled the deck again. “Allow me the rarest of moments of vanity, Thancred.” 

“You think it looks dashing,” Thancred replied. 

Urianger’s reply was interrupted by the chime of Thancred’s linkshell, and he raised a finger and said “Hold that thought,” as he answered.”Yes?” He frowned as he listened. “Baidar? Were you trying to get a hold of Y’shtola?”

“For once, no, I didn’t call the wrong person. Got Alisaie the first time, she was...amused. No. Actually, I have a problem down here in Vesper Bay and it seems more up your alley than mine.”

“Is this about your investigation for the Ironworks? Y’shtola told us what you were doing.” 

“Oh, yeah, it is. Dug into it and turns out that the shipment that was stolen had been stolen by Garlean soldiers.” 

Thancred blinked. “I’m sorry, did you say Garleans?” Urianger looked up from his cards, while Y’shtola finished imbuing a cartridge and frowned. 

“Yeah. We were questioning the clerk that allowed the theft and he said he’d been hired by someone named Servius pyr Verrus. Shortly after that, we got jumped by three Garlean soldiers. LIkely left behind to kill the clerk if he ratted them out. Had to kill them, they were shooting first and not even bothering to ask questions.” 

“A Garlean cell active in Vesper Bay? That’s decidedly bad news. What do you need from me?”

“Your expertise. I was in Othard for most of the Ala Mhigan war, and you spent your time infiltrating Garlean bases. Not going to lie, I’m over my head dealing with military intelligence matters.”

Y’shtola threw him the bag of imbued rounds, which he caught one handed, having anticipated what was coming next. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, then. See what I can bring to the table. Keep your eyes open.” 

“Generally do. See you soon.”

Thancred disconnected and looked at Y’shtola. “Your boyfriend has a knack for finding trouble, you know that?”

“He’s a Warrior of Light, Thancred. Trouble finds him well enough on its own..” 

“He was right to call me, though. I’ll notify you if things are really out of hand.” He walked past Urianger and patted him on the shoulder. “Keep practicing, Urianger.”

Urianger’s expression was best described as sour.

(Vesper Bay, later that day.)

Thancred found Baidar and Darya, along with another Viera woman who was clearly keeping an eye on a lalafell that he recognized as a worker at one of the local warehouses, beside a charred and burned wagon. In front of them in pools of dried blood were three bodies, covered by burlap sacks. A  few of the locals were ringing the scene, talking among themselves in whispers that increased as he arrived. “Hey Thancred,” Baidar called. “Thanks for coming.”

“Garleans active in our old home base, I wasn’t about to miss that. Darya, was the wagon your work?” She nodded. “I see Y’shtola is teaching you well then. And who might this beauty be?” 

He had directed this at the other Viera, but she nudged the lalafell with her toe and said “This would be the source of your problems, Jajariku. I’m Mist.” 

Thancred knew when a flirt had failed to land properly. “Well played, ma’am.” He knelt by the nearest body and pulled the burlap from it, examining the remains. “Hmm. Definitely the uniform of the XIIth Legion, though they’ve removed their insignia. Fairly typical of Garlean soldiers when they’re on deep penetration missions into enemy territory. Can’t hide their origin, but if all we’re left with is bodies like this we have no idea of their rank or much anything else.” He searched the pockets and came out with a coin purse, opening it. “Local currency, stamped in Ul’dah, generally used. They’d been operating behind lines for a while then. Long enough to have exchanged coin here. Has the feel of being here for a time.” “In Vesper Bay?” Baidar asked, scowling. 

Thancred dropped the purse on the body, covering it up with burlap again. He brushed his hands off and stood. “Vesper Bay, unlikely. No doubt the XIIth learned of the location of the Waking Sands from the XIVth Legion, which is why even after we relocated-and we Scions who were scattered after that unfortunate business with the Sultana returned-we kept an eye out for them. Raubhan had been doing it for a while, and after he decided to stay in Ala Mhigo that passed on to Pipin. No, this unit was likely operating in Western Thanalan and their presence here was a more recent thing.” He looked down at Jajariku, who was moving nervously from foot to foot, likely expecting the Garleans to try to kill him again. “You said someone calling himself Servius pyr Verrus contacted you?” 

The lalafell blew out a long breath. “Yeah. Biggest fucking mistake of my life. Told me to keep an eye out on any military shipments, or magitek, or Ironworks shit, and arrange for him to get a hand on it.”

“Hmm. If I had to wager a guess, this pyr Verrus was assigned to mapping Alliance supply lines during the Ala Mhigan uprising. Probably contacted a great many people in doing so. Thanalan is rife with people willing to put gil before patriotism, after all. I imagine he had no idea what he was taking, just that it was Ironworks.”

“Could they have, I dunno…” Baidar thought about it for a moment, clearly searching for a term. “Some kind of order to get their hands on Cid’s work?”

Thancred nodded. “Standing orders, most likely. If this was an intelligence unit-if they were spies-they could very well have been told to make acquiring Ironworks technology a priority. Highly likely that this unit has no idea what they stole.” Thancred looked at Baidar. “You haven’t mentioned what was stolen to this upstanding gentleman, have you?” 

Baidar shook his head. “Just what shipment was stolen. Not about to let a thief find out what was taken.”

Thancred smiled. “Very good, Baidar.” He thought about the situation for a moment, arms crossing over his chest as he was wont to. “If they were with the XIIth, odd that they’ve not been recalled by the Empire and are continuing their mission. Didn’t you say the VIIth had taken over on attacking at Ghimlyt Dark, Baidar? With this Weapon Project?” 

“Pretty much. The XIIth basically fell apart after Zenos was defeated and pulled out of Ala Mhigo.” 

“Perhaps the VIIth took over their infiltration operations, then.” Thancred thought about this for a moment. “Unless there was so much chaos when Ala Mhigo fell that this unit was lost, left behind, and they’re just following their most recent orders until they get new ones.” He looked up and noticed Darya was frowning. “Is something troubling you, Darya?”

She started, surprised at being questioned, before she said “I was, uhm. Just thinking, Had an idea, wasn’t sure how valid it was.”

“What were you thinking?” Baidar asked. “Right now you’re having more ideas than I am.”

She brightened at that, as she usually did at Baidar’s attention. As if your personal life isn’t already complicated enough, Baidar, Thancred thought. “Ahh. The idea, the thought I had was...you said that this man was keeping track of shipping to know what Alliance supply routes were?” 

“The Garlean commander, yes.”

She pointed at Jajariku. “Does it seem likely, then, that he’s the only one in the area he used?”

Thancred’s eyes widened, as did Baidar’s. “Oh. Oh, very good, Darya. That does seem highly unlikely. I still have contacts in Ul’dah, of course. Can start asking them. Baidar, would you mind delivering our ambitious clerk to the local authorities? I suspect little will come of it but it is worth a try.” 

“I’ll do it,” Mist said, nudging Jajariku in the back with her knee. “Try to get in the good graces of the locals, maybe get some work out of it.” She started to walk away, but she stopped beside Darya. “Take care of yourself, Darya. Looks like your life is very interesting these days.” She kissed Darya lightly on the lips once, then led Jajariku away.

“I feel,” Thancred said after a moment, “that is going to be an interesting story, whenever you get around to explaining it, Darya.”

Darya could only blush in response.

[dragons-bones]

More Complex Than You Think II: Achieve gunbreaker level 80. ✔

Bound by Faith: ??? ✔

Speaker for the Righteous: Complete the role quest “To Have Loved and Lost.” ✔

Gunnhildr’s Blade II: Complete the gunbreaker job quest “Gunblades of the Patriot.” ✔

Tales To Be Told: Complete the quest “Shadow Walk with Me.” ✔

*keels over*

[timblr-maniacs]

Deadly Junk: A Brief Review of the 'Junk Stores'

The ‘Junk’ Shop. A common presence in most cities, and these days, its name is sort of a cheeky joke. While technically one might find the goods there to perform other tasks, it’s known mainly by weapon enthusiasts, rebels, criminals and people who have to regularly deal with monsters as the place to assemble weapons for those who are not part of a professional military. Together with you, dear reader, I hope to explore the origin of this modern phenomenon, how it is tied into our history, and what might be in store in the future.

To begin the story, we should start with the dissolution of the Holy Dollet Empire, followng the Lunar Cry that destroyed the Centra civilization. This was a time of great chaos. The presence of monsters had greatly increased, and the Empire faced unrest as its claims of executing Hyne’s will sounded hollow with the sea of monsters and what seemed like the end of the world at the time.  Many nations, among which Galbadia and Timber proclaimed their independence, and Dollet, barely able to keep its own citizens safe and unwilling to battle, conceded after only token resistance.

Until this time, weapons being sold was a rarity. The world then was a far more peaceful one. Now, with no knights coming, and new governments not truly having established a military force yet, it was the time for innovation. The Gunblade has its origin in this era, and became a romantic image of the ‘Lone Knight’ defending the people from the depredations of monsters. In this era of course, they were sold quite openly, and weapon craftsmen would sell fully crafted weapons. Magazines like Weapons Monthly sprung up, with the results of various weaponsmith’s experiments with monster parts shared with the world.

The Sorceress Wars and Galbadia’s Conquests are what changed this. To explore the history and atrocity-fraught tales of the conquest is beyond this article, but Galbadia had centralized its fighting power, modernizing it rapidly in order to face the technologically superior Eshtar and their para-magic. In order to do so, Vinzer Deling had demanded all weapon development to happen in service to the Galbadian Republic and the war. Weapon shops were closed, with any of its former proprietors eagerly joining Galbadia’s war machine, if only to hold back Eshtar. 

After the war ended they found that Vinzer Deling was not of a mind to simply let them go back to their jobs. Some of them continued to work for the regime, others vanished in D-district prison or were executed. It was in the regime’s interests that travel between cities without easily restricted trains and cars was extremely hazardous, especially without weapons. In their power, they managed to put pressure on other countries, such as Balamb and even the Dollet Dukedom, to comply with these regulations. It was illegal to sell weapons, or weapon parts, or ammunition.

It was in this era that the Junk Shop was born. More specifically, in good old Timber itself. Filled with various resistance cells, there was a high demand, but a lot of Galbadian soldiers looking for weapon stores. It is perhaps the most audacious move that it was the person who bought out the weapon store when its old owner was arrested renamed it a ‘junk’ store, and proclaimed that he simply sold 'odds and ends’.  While of course, what he WAS selling was work space to turn various parts into weaponry. Both for the Resistance as well as other elements that had need of weapons.

Why was this never found out? If you ask the man on the street in Timber, the reason is that Galbadian soldiers were too used to their mass produced weapons and didn’t even consider such a possibility, but this reporter thinks that answer shows more patriotism than honesty. The answer must be sought in a combination of a shift in focus, bribery and, in the latter years, the military leadership of occupying forces in Timber consisting of relatively restrained and even timid figures, a far cry from the days of terror shortly after its conquest. (Consider the lack of retributive action after two attempts on Vinzer Deling’s life within a short time) And naturally, which officer would like to tell their superiors that they spent several manhours investigating a literal junk store. These stores were purposefully built as being hard to navigate, unpleasant to be in and filled with goods that were simpl red herrings.

Regardless, from Timber, the concept spread. Ironically, first to Galbadia itself, where the local criminal underground, as well as anti-government forces kept a trade going, and into Dollet and Galbadia, where they operated with relative impunity as the local governments were not very enthusiast about the ban on weapon stores, the result of Galbadian pressure. 

Of course, we are in new days. Vinzer Deling is dead, the Sorceress has vanished and Seifer Almasy has resigned all functions. The future leaves questions. Big questions like 'what happens with Galbadia, what happens with Timber’? But also smaller ones, like 'what to do with these 'junk stores’ Some people support them, as a part of our history, and a way for each person who has a weapon to have one personalized, having gathered his own parts. Others wish to return to weapon stores, with professional, reliable weaponry available for all. The world after all is still a dangerous place, and the Lunar cry in Esthar teaches us that we cannot rely on any nation, no matter how technological advanced, to endure. Other voices are raised that it is unacceptable that it is easier for a young person to acquire a gun or blade than an alcoholic drink. That the problem of monsters is best fought by professionals, and the problem of tyrants is best fought by free press and peaceful resistance.

So what is in store for the Junk Store? Will it be junked in the future? Or will our grandchildren still be dreaming of one day gathering the monster parts they need to walk into a store and walk out with their very own weapon? What do you think Maniacs?

[cidnangarlond]

a quest for gunbreaker being called "gunblades of the patriots" is pretty fun though... hello mgs4 reference

why does gunbreaker have so many cooldowns good lord. I can't keep track of all these there's like 6. I'm used to 2 max

[cidnangarlond]

tanks are up first

paladin

warrior

dark knight

gunbreaker only because there's an achievement called gunblades of the patriots or some shit

melee dps now

reaper. reaper mains I fucking hate you trying to be first in alliance raids and tanking stop pulling the adds this is the aurum vale not an unsynced dungeon get the fuck back here or I'll get you myself. anyway

dragoon

monk

ninja

samurai

everyone else in next post

I'm gonna make a post that's like. ffxiv classes based solely on images I have on my phone I'll do that in a bit