Sylvia slid down in her chair with a sigh of relief. Despite her keen manipulation of the gummi ship she was afraid of being shot on her first official mission, before she got her first keyblade. She could hear the cheers coming from the radio but she paid little attention as Beatrix soon began to talk "Sylvia!" She screamed. "Good job, but don't get c***! Attack the troop carrier! It has shields, so your best bet is to disable it's engines first!" Sylvia admired the woman's ability to yell so much, she grabbed the controls and flew towards the troop carrier, the jackpot. She flew in uneven swoops to make sure the other fighter wouldn't be able to attack her while her main attention was on the carrier. She decided to go for the drive by approach, and she revved the engines of her little fighter gummi ship and zoomed by the carrier shooting at one of the engines while she passed. She turned to make another approach.

Tekun knew the time had come to act. "Enough waiting." He thought to himself and drew his blade silently, approached carefully to the door and rushed in and swung full force at the nearest heartless. They would have the advantage, if only by a little. First strike would help.

Althiea
Althiea pulled herself from the pod just seconds after Tekun had rushed forward with his assault. landing upon her feet with a light clank of metal. "Someone's Enthusiastic" She remarked, pulling her blade from its sheath and rushing in behind Tekun as support. Blade clutched at her side with both hands, poised to strike. Blade slanted downward in her grasp, a rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Anticipating rising, eager to cut down all that stood in their path.

Niniva
After a brief moment of silence, Niniva turned her head slightly towards his direction. She felt increasingly uneasy in his presence, something was off. "What are you..?" She boldly remarked after the passing of a few moments of eerie silence. Suspicion in her voice. Her fingers grasped tighter upon the handle of her short blade, though it was not yet drawn. Eyes peering over upon her accomplice with a vacant gaze, as if her words didn't match her demeanor.

=== Niniva ===

"What am I? Perhaps I should be asking you the same question. Or rather, who are you? Do you even know yourself?" He suddenly rose and took a step toward her. "You claim to be a Nobody, yet you obviously emote. These aren't the false ones we put up as a facade, oh no... anger, discomfort... they're quite real and show in your luminescent eyes.." His hand shot up and gently brushed against her neck. His finger slid toward her chin and tilted it upward at a slight angle. Niniva's flesh was cold, yet his fingertips warmed it with a simple touch. "Your beautiful, deep eyes... aren't that of a demon as I..." His change in dialect was startlingly sharp, from a derelict nothing to an aristocratic gentleman.

===Sylvia===

The carrier did just as expected. Nothing. It had shields to absorb the first few blows, but it was already weakening. No turrets, no guns, it seemed like the only defense it had were indeed those two fighters, both of which were unable to step in. By the last shot, the shields were flickering, at best, signifying they would surely fail soon. "Damn it, there's not much time left..." Beatrix muttered softly, banging her fists on the console. "This is Sabin, I've taken over for Tekun and am approaching the carrier, please advise a target." Beatrix ignored him for now, instead speaking to the other pilot. "Sylvia, I don't think taking out the engines will help us, but there's two other targets you can try to take out." The general stated. "The front of the vessel is, naturally, the coc.kpit. If you manage to take that out, the troops may be helpless. The second target is the central portion, where the troops are located. The hull there is much thicker than anywhere else on the ship, but if you breach it, the Heartless will be sucked into space, or choke... If they even need oxygen. The choice is yours, relay it to the other ship and focus your fire!"

===Tekun & Althea===

The first Heartless was a pilot, who was about to exit the room to inspect what the racket had been. It was rare to see an expression of surprise on the Heartless, especially this Shadow, but as it stumbled back, inky black blood pouring from it's chest wound, it was clear that was what it had felt, if it could feel. The pilots were not fighters, and so, even this one attack, was enough to dissipate it. But now, the surprise was lost, and two Heartless guards and one pilot still remained. The guards, slightly bigger and actually less intelligent seeming quickly stepped in front of the pilot, showing teamwork, another skill their kind were not known to possess. The pilot, in turn, focused his attention back to flying the vessel they were all on.

Initiating Combat

Heartless Protector x2
HP : 30
MP : 20

Shadow Pilot
HP : 1
MP : 0

After successfully attacking the carrier her General Beatrix spoke "Sylvia, I don't think taking out the engines will help us, but there's two other targets you can try to take out." The general stated. "The front of the vessel is, naturally, the coc.kpit. If you manage to take that out, the troops may be helpless. The second target is the central portion, where the troops are located. The hull there is much thicker than anywhere else on the ship, but if you breach it, the Heartless will be sucked into space, or choke... If they even need oxygen. The choice is yours, relay it to the other ship and focus your fire!"

"Yes ma'am" replied Sylvia while relaying her message to the other gummi ship. "This is Sylvia again," she said "I'll be heading over to the coc.kpit to take out the pilots of the carrier." She turned thee gummi ship and rolled underneath the ship, firing a few shots at the belly of the carrier, hoping that attention would be focused there. She then rolled out from underneath the ship and flew above the ship, maintaining her speed so that she could shoot at the pilots. When in sight she rapidly fired the lasers on the ship then zoomed away to the right and returned quickly for another volley as she zoomed by again.

Tekun gave a bit of a cackle. They were on the defensive already.

"I'll kill you all. You don't stand a chance." He said as he swung his blade, removing the blood from it in a single swipe. He went back into his stance in a second, looked at one of the two guards, there was no way he'd hit the pilot, they'd all have to be killed, not that he intended on letting any of them live. He closed in on one of the guards in a split second, performed a feint, moving into the left and readying up a swing midway through he spiratically changed directions and came in from the right, hoping the heartless would fall for the manuver and be struck.

Niniva
She felt a chill down her spine, the vague yet unmistakable feeling of nervous driving coursing through her body. Her eyes stared up into his own, his voice suddenly changing so sharply. Her knuckles white as she gripped her weapon, yet she took no offensive. Strangely he was almost enchanting. With a sudden jerk she tugged her face away, her sandy cheeks turning a hint pink in embarrassment, Unease setting within her. "Tell me.. what was the purpose for bringing me out here.. was it just for this mission?.." she questioned, taking a step backward and resuming her previous gaze of distrust. "You seem unlike a Nobody, yourself" She retorted, still seeking the answer towards her question. Something almost felt familiar about him, yet foreign. Something of origin that bewildered her.

Althea
Althea smirked to herself, weapon readied at waist level, the tip of her blade pressing against the surface of the floor, both hands grasped at the handle. Just as Tekun dashed off for his attack, Althea bolted off in unison. However she aimed towards the other Guard. In the conclusion of her sprint, she she allowed herself to skid a short distance towards her target, swinging the edge in a diagonal sweep towards her adversary, using the momentum of her inertia to help propel the ferocity of the attack.

=== Niniva ===

The man stood there for a minute, his pose ever-so-elegant. He then abruptly slumped back into his Nobody stance and laughed artificially. "Just because I can't feel doesn't mean I can't pretend to enjoy entertainment. You're here because I'm here and I'm here because I want to be. I also want you to dance like a chicken for me, but I doubt you'd be so kind." His voice had reverted back to its usual dull tone. He was definitely a master of deception, regardless if he felt emotion or not. Being able to mask his words in such a way, concealing his ardor or lack thereof... it was either a finely honed skill or a natural effect. The only way his secret could be revealed would be to poke and prod for three lifetimes. Unfortunately, the average person lives a mere one.

"At any rate, we should continue with our objective. Scout the area." He returned to his bleeding sample and studiously examined the remains before adding "Oh, and try to live through at least that." The forest around them was completely still, showing no signs of life. Nonetheless, a weathered crossbowman could've easily hidden himself amongst the heavy underbrush. Scouting could've proved useful... or she could have kept firing questions at him to find out exactly who he was.

===Sylvia===

The Heartless pilots were indeed distracted by the shots, attempting to figure out if their opponent would breach the thick hull protecting their cargo, and how they should respond, when the gummi ship appeared in the corner of their vision. They tried to respond, but the shots came too fast, and the completely defenseless coc.kpit was hit. If their shields had been still active, they would've survived, but now, the glass protecting them from the emptiness of outer space shattered, and the shots vaporized both pilots, together with the entire piloting compartment.

"Looks like the engines are failing, if they stay in orbit, hold fire, we can salvage most of the ship, and more importantly, it's cargo." Beatrix came across the radio. "Well done, Sylvia, the disaster seems averted."

===Tekun & Althea===

The Shadow guards tilted their head at the cackle, obviously finding it rather strange sound. Being Heartless, they were unphased by the male's taunt, or maybe they just didn't understand the language. The chosen guard threw up a defense, attempting to avoid the feint, only to be hit in the right, sending him careening away from his ally and the pilot. (-10) But the creature quickly recovered, lunging forward with the bloodthirst that Heartless were known to show, slashing at Tekun's chest for 7 damage.

Althea's opponent was equally unprepared for the first hit, it's attention having temporarily been averted by Tekun's assault on his comrade. It turned back to view the woman just in time to see the blade make contact with it's form, the extra momentum sending it flying against some of the coc.kpit's instruments, shattering them and sending a painful looking jolt of electricity through it's body. (critical! -18)

Tekun
HP 108/115
MP 24/24
&
Althea
HP : 130/130
MP : 26/26

VS

Heartless Protector
HP 20/30
MP 20/20
&
Heartless Protector
HP 12/30
MP 20/20

Tekun ignored the slash he had suffered, it was nothing to be concerned about, he remembered back on his home planet, he had been beaten within an inch of his life by the enemy, only to feign death and be rescued shortly after, besides, Beatrix did alot worse to him. Ever the opportunist, he rushed the one who had been slammed into a control panel and aimed his sword, thrusting straight at the injured foe, aiming for the sternum.

A sense of relief washed over Sylvia. She had accomplished her first mission, and she now understood that the battles and the flights were much harder than any stupid Keyblade Academy could muster. Sliding her back down the chair she watched wondering what would happen to the rest of the ship. Her impatience for her own keyblade quickly returned now that the more urgent matter had been dealt with.