View source for 5100/Back To Business As Usual

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/02/20
|Location=The Industrial Behemoth
|Synopsis=Tesla tries to claim a bunker found in the mountains, but intervention happens.
|Cast of Characters=368, 1057, 304, 446, 750
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:368|Tesla Armadia (368)}} has posed:'''<br>Ultimately it wasn't hard to get the junkers away from their find. Stratos had been airdropped in, using her weather tech to whip up a whirlwind on the way down. Both to guide her descent and to drive off the previous occupants with the blasting winds throwing around rock and scrap debris.<br><br>But as the men had fled they did put out several distress calls about their big find in the mountains being intruded on and potentially stolen. With that in mind it's not hard to find the range of mountains on the boundry of the Industrial Behemoth's roaming grounds. Or the actual location, because the sleek and shiny dropship that previously arrived stands out like a bruised thumb against the more greebly retro-future style of the factory ships and mining craft that pick through the mountains. As if the armadillo curled into a gear logo emblazen on the hatch doors wasn't indicator enough who is up to trouble here.<br><br>The heavy doors of the bunker also stand out from their rocky frame, still currently locked tight. Several Gremlynx are in the process of trying to cut through said doors with laser torchs and jackhammer drills. Others are in the process of trying to assemble some basic defenses around the site... Emphasis on the trying. They are better at breaking things than they are building, but like the obedient little freak minions they are they're trying.<br><br>Tesla herself stands on the deck atop the dropship, watching the proceedings with her hands folded behind her back like usual. In contrast Stratos has gotten out a pool chair and is reclining at the back of the ship. "Com'n Boss, relax a little. Your hired help is doing all the dirty work right now."<br><br>Tesla turns her head just enough to glance over her shoulder. "In this line of work it's not good to let one's guard down for too long."<br><br>"Yeah yeah, I know." Stratos gives it a dismissive wave and picks her smoothie glass back up. "But do you have to be so terse about it?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1057|Alopex (1057)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;How does that saying go...? When it rains it pours? It was a strange phrase, one that Alopex knew the meaning of, but was curious on just how it came to mean how she felt right now. Only day and change earlier, she had been in a dystopian version of detroit, trying to help the people of that city despite the opressive government that had formed. Now, another call for help goes out from the sort she figures the 'law' wouldn't really be concerned about. Salvage workers and scrappers out on a dig. Too far out of the way for more 'typical' enforcement to go, and not enough paperwork for them to follow to be comfortable doing so. Result? A sigh, gear gathered, another note left for her partner, and off into the wilds she went again. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On approach, something seems familiar, here. Maybe it was the sort of area the call came from, or maybe it was the dropship that gleamed like a clean skyscraper against the dingy surroundings, either way, something in her gut was making her think she'd find someone here she hadn't seen in a while, and not the good kind, either. If she comes across anyone that sent the call for help, she'd ask what they know before heading toward the 'dig' proper.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:'''<br>Since the Multiverse got broken, Black Arachnia has been trying to recover as much in the way of Union data and resources as she can stake a claim on. Whatever bunker was located out here *probably* wasn't Union property - but given some of the details in the fleeing workers' distress call, the Maximal spider isn't overly inclined to overlook the find.<br><br>Rather than try to sneak up on Tesla Armadia herself and her likely-heavily-armed minions, though, Black Arachnia is being sneaky and stealthy and underhanded, picking over the dropship to see if there's anything she can capitalize on, steal, or sabotage that could slow down Armadia's getaway. Why settle for a straight fight when you can stack the deck in your favor ahead of time ... ?<br><br>Of course, the Maximal spider is stealthed up while she's doing that. If the dropship has security or anti-tampering sensors (and if Tesla is as smart as she seems to be, it ought to), just waltzing up without masking her presence would be a recipe for ... well, it might make a distraction. A costly one. No, Black Arachnia is being *careful* as well - electro-disruptor active to mask her visually and across as many electronic spectra as possible, and being very cautious what she pokes, prods, or pries at.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As the dropship hovers in the sky, those around might notice that...there is another ship moving toward it. A wooden ship of impressive size sporting old-fashioned cannons in ports along each side and a much larger cannon pointing out the front of the ship. Someone could probably stand in that foreward cannon without hitting their heads! <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Standing on the long plank at the bow of the ship is a tall woman with flowing red hair wearing an extravagant black dress and an equally extravagant ballroom mask of the same colors. And held in her hands is a hammer as big as she is. When her ship nears the dropship, the foreward cannon makes a heavy clack and a bullet the size of a tractor trailer with a shark-like face painted on it can be seen peeking out of the gun. "You! Stop this right now or face the consequences! The oppressed people will not tolerate your presence or your attempts to take what is not yours!" she demands, her voice carrying quite well.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:750|Rebound (750)}} has posed:'''<br>The location was very clearly marked on her GPS. Rebound had responded to the signals being sent out, the description of what was attacking was FAR too familiar for her.<br><br>She hadn't taken too long to get out, and had picked a location above the dropship to peer down from. She was scouting, until she spotted the dropship. And of course the sudden arrival of the airship above her makes her blink in surprise, "Damnit. Nobody ever leaves well enough alone." She rises up from her spot where she was scouting, and jumps. She's aiming direct for the windshield of the dropship. She's going to drop in on Tesla, quite literally, crashing through the window and engaing the mad doctor herself, instead of going through the minions this time.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:368|Tesla Armadia (368)}} has posed:'''<br>The dropship is sealed up tight, with little in the way for exposed external equipment other than the engines that propel the craft. On the other hand it's clearly meant to primarily be a transport, and not, at least visible, loaded with any of the nastier sort of defenses the technopath is capable of. As long as the notso itsy bitsy spider doesn't poke deep enough to tip Tesla off there's a robot that's not one of her own around, she should be able to slink around the ship with little difficulty.<br><br>Especially when there are other things to get her attention, like the approaching airship... with a vagely familiar style to it, though Tesla can't put her finger on it right away. "As I was saying," she mutters to her henchwoman before turning ahead again to look at the ship and it's very large cannon. Tesla lets out a soft sigh unfolding one arm to reach up and adjust her glasses. "And who are you to say what I can do or not do? Besides, this location has a good chance of containing materials belonging to my... former alliances. I'm only possibly picking up something the upheaval tried to throw away."<br><br>"So much for just relaxing for once." Stratos remarks as she tosses her cup away and gets out of her chair, tossing her scarf back over one shoulder and pulling a gunlike device from her belt. "Yea yea, you were right Boss, don't rub it in."<br><br>"Of course not. Now, if you would be so kind as to move that obtrusive hunk out of this airspace we can go back to wor--" And that's when a mutant roo slams into the windshield just in front and below her spot on the roof deck. That was reinforced translucent plasteel and Rebound still hits it with enough force to cause cracks and spinters in it. "--Or nevermind. Stratos, deal with that airship," Tesla barks, even as she's activating her own armor.<br><br>"Fine with me!" Stratos points her weapon at the airship, and it crackles loudly as it fires a bolt of lighting at that big metal cannon. "Go shove your overcompensation in someone else's business!"<br><br>And with all the other activity erupting the fox has gone unnoticed as well for now. Damn ninjas.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1057|Alopex (1057)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Look at all those WONDERFUL distractions. Between the airship, Rebound's dynamic entrance, and Arachnia stalking around (not that Alopex can see her), it gives Alopex a chance to focus on the thing the distress call wanted protected! Honestly folks, what's the point if these creatures down below skitter off with what's desired and just wait for a pick up later? Hmmmmm?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Stalking ever closer, Alopex eventually comes upon Tesla's minions trying to put together ramshackle defenses as others try to carve their way into the 'digsite'. For a moment, she digs around her belt, finds a trio of small gray spheres, and then tosses them into the center of the Gremlynx. Smoke bombs! They all erupt with a 'PAFF' and start to obscure the area... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mind the shadows darting through the smoke.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:'''<br>As is so often the case, Black Arachnia's reaction is split more or less evenly between being pleased that somebody takes security seriously, and being annoyed that the 'somebody' is an adversary. She's still weighing those thoughts against each other when something hits the windshield hard enough that she can *hear* the material giving way.<br><br>... Well then. The dropship has just lost some importance, but the Maximal spider still sinks her palps into one of the engines, injecting a dose of cybervenom; it shouldn't do anything until that engine actually gets throttled up for a while, but when it does? Well, that'll be one ship Black Arachnia doesn't want to hitch a ride on.<br><br>Time to turn some of her attention to the dig site proper, now that Tesla and her main combat minion on-location are preoccupied. The cybernetic spider skitters across the intervening ground, taking note of the smoke bombs going off. She won't be the only one trying to get in, it seems ...<br><br>Well, one thing at a time. If she can sneak up on a Gremlynx while it's distracted by the smoke and whatnot, Black Arachnia will sink her palps into *it* - not to inject, this time, but to try and 'feed,' to suck out whatever energy or nutrient-circulating fluid the construct might be running through its leg. She hardly ever does this, but it's a thing her spider form is capable of, and she *has* had to fall back on it when Energon's in short supply ...<br><br>Like, oh, the past couple of months.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "The fact that they called for help is proof enough!" the 'mystery' princess says to Tesla. "You have no rights to the materials! If you did, these people would not have fled and you would not be forcing your way inside! Retreat now and you can minimize your losses! Press the issue and we-" Sarracenia's little speech is interrupted as Stratos pulls...a lightning gun! The shocking attack hits the giant bullet dead on within the cannon, and there is a forceful explosion that rocks the wooden airship and causes a cloud of black smoke to appear in front of it. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A cloud that suddenly distends as that massive shark-faced Bonzai Bill comes flying toward the drop ship. The large projectile emerging from the smoke creates quite the ominous effect as it flies at less than impressive speeds toward Stratos. "...And we will destroy you!!" Sarracenia finally finishes her previous sentence, hanging from the tip of the bow by one hand after the lightning strike rocked her airship. A few plant creatures with roots for legs/feet and leaves for arms/legs and a big red tulip-looking bud with a mouth full of shark-like teeth as their heads. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All the covert ops go unnoticed by Sarracenia. She's equally unobservant as she is conspicuous. But, she does have a nice view of the roo impacting the windshield!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:750|Rebound (750)}} has posed:'''<br>Rebound hits the reinforced plasteel window and it cracks it, but it doesn't bust in like she had planned. She grunts again and then pulls back with a hand, slamming downwards with the reinforced gauntleted fist into the window, sending more cracks through it, as it spiderwebs out from the force.<br><br>She hauls back and hits it once more, until there's enough of a hole in the window to stick her head in, "Here's Rebby!" She pulls back and jumps, letting herself drop down, this time making her way through the plasteel with her whole body, not just her head. Now she's inside the dropship with Tesla. She can't help but laugh.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:368|Tesla Armadia (368)}} has posed:'''<br>While no one else is paying attention to the work area several smoke bombs go off, sending the horde of minions into a panic. Gibberish speak not unlike the screechs and yowls of a cat rings through the obscuring blanket as several run around in circles, only to collide with each other. Another swings the oversized wrench it was using, slamming it into another Gremlynx instead of the 'shadow' flitting about and sending the poor minion crashing into the side of the bunker door. Two of the more heavily geared Gremlynx lower their jackdrills to peer at the one that slatted against the door between them. Look at each other... and throw their paws in the air as they run off with ever more of that incoherent yowling.<br><br>They're not really the brightest of minions.<br><br>One does have the sense to grab the turret it was putting together and swing it around to try and lock onto the 'shadow' in the smoke... But fortunately for Alopex that's the one that Arachnia grabs onto. The Gremlynx shrieks loudly, and seems to.. well... deflate is almost the closest explaination as the cyber-spider sucks whatever biomatter the disposable workers are cloned from out of it. That can not taste very good either, though.<br><br>Tesla takes another step back as Rebound continues to slam against the window, one armored arm up just in case as it does finally shatter apart. "Figured it would be one of you." Not the wittiest of retorts, but Tesla isn't mincing words as she fires one of the kinetic beams from her power gauntlet at the mutant. "You've developed quite a dangerous habit of trying to break my things."<br><br>"Aaaw frostbite," Stratos mock-swears as the cannon fires even after she blasted the airship. She holsters the lightning gun and jumps off the airship, scarf ends fluttering behind her just as dramatically as a cape... and then whipping around as the Banzai Bill slams down near the dropship and the impact shockwave sends her reeling across the ground instead of totally awesome 'super landing pose' you intended to make (yeah you know, THAT one). With a hiss she rolls back onto her feet, the tech built around her forearms opens up to reveal several vent-like orafices as the power cables running to it light up, and Stratos lifts her arms to let out a cyclonic blast of windpower at the airship. "I repeat ... OVERCOMPENSATING! Geez, worse than Defiant and his fancy-ass robodragon."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1057|Alopex (1057)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The smoke begins to fade, and in the middle of it, Alopex is standing, staring at the door, and coincidentally, at Black Arachnia at the same time. Seeing the Gremlynx that was about to start spraying and praying bitten into, the fox gives a nod to the cybernetic spider. She HOPES they are on the same side.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Another glance is given the area and if there's no other Gremlynx to be seen, the fox would make her way to the entrance and give a knock on the door. If there ARE any left... well... they may have a very bad time.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:'''<br>Black Arachnia returns Alopex's nod, even doing a brief thumbs-up with one manipulator before tossing what's left of her 'prey' aside. No, that tasted downright foul, but she didn't really have any better choices handy.<br><br>"Let me see what I can do," she comments to Alopex, and if Alopex gives her some room, Black Arachnia does her own examination of the bunker's 'entrance'. If there are any electronics she can hack into, all the better. If not, she lets Alopex go back to figuring out how to get inside.<br><br>If this is going to take a while, that turret might come in really handy ...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is true, the cannon seems somehow unharmed. But, the ship itself is obviously splintered a bit around the cannon and there is some smoke rising from the bow of the ship. The wooden airship shudders as that blast of cyclonic air hits it, then starts to spin slowly. It is at that point that Sarracenia lets go. She brings her hammer down and stands on it as she falls, using it to cut through the air and divebomb Stratos. The falling, hammer-riding princess creates a V-shaped wavefront in the air as she plummets, and her aim is surprisingly accurate. She probably won't hit Stratos directly, but the shockwave of her impact and the debris it throws up might cause some damage! <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The airship meanwhile has somehow already reloaded that Bonzai Bill launcher. Another shark-faced projectile is ready and waiting to be fired!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:750|Rebound (750)}} has posed:'''<br>The blast does strike Rebound as she was getting set back up to fight Tesla, and she crashes into the control pannel up at the front, "Ow." She reaches over and slams a hand down on the panel, closing the blast doors on the dropship, "Guess what Tesla." She says, as she grins, "I'm not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with me!"<br><br>She pushes off with her back foot, driving across the inside of the dropship to strike at Tesla the old fashioned way. It's a close quarters battle, which is something that the kangaroo specializes in.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:368|Tesla Armadia (368)}} has posed:'''<br>Who's going to have a bad time? As the fox and spider approach the doors the other less cowardly miner Gremlynx turn, snap shut their faceshields again, and raise up their weird drill-jackhammer tools like weapons to ward them off. Well except for one that decides that's lame and tries to ride it like a motorized pogo-stick instead. Which other than the erratic bouncing and flailing about, goes about as well as you can imagine. Still probably not something you actually want running into you though.<br><br>Stratos shields her face with her arms as Sarracenia decides to drop the hammer personally, skidding backwards on rocky terrain from the shockwave erupting from the impact. "Oh, so now you want to get up close do you?" Stratos manifests a sword that, sticking to her theme, looks like it's frozen over with ice. "Then I hope you don't mind cold cuts!" Yeah, that's a terrible pun. Pay more attention to the fact that she lunges at Sarracenia with the frost-sword while she's making said terrible pun.<br><br>What was suppose to be a simple extraction was turning into an all out chaotic fiasco rather quickly. Intervention had been expected, but Tesla seems to have underestimated the amount of possible opposition that still wanted a piece of her hide. Tch, sometimes reputation isn't such a great thing.<br><br>Tesla uses her armor encased arms to shield herself from Rebound's strikes, even with every blow denting the layers of alloy in farther and send sparks flying. Good thing Rebound has those drivers to brace her arms when punching at armor. And leave a ringing in Tesla's head from the feedback through the power suit being synced with her technopathic powers. "But is it really so wise to trap me in my own ship?" Unbusted screens flash to life as Tesla gives a mental command to power the dropship back up, followed by several access panels snapping open and electrified cables lunging out of them to grapple Rebound like artifical snakes. Or other imagry we probably don't want to go into. "You should really learn to pick your battlefields better."<br><br>But as the ship's simple design also uses the engines as generators for power, this means that cybervenom is going to start spreading through the internal systems all the more quickly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sarracenia smirks despite herself at the terrible pun, but that smirk is quickly wiped away when that sword is thrust at her. The princess twirls to one side, managing to take only a small cut to her side. She still cries out as if she has been impaled though, even as barely the blood of a skinned knee stains her side. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sarracenia keeps spinning even after the strike and uses the momentum to bring her hammer around. "I prefer...pate!" she says as she swings her hammer hard, attempting to smash Stratos with all her might and the absurd weight of the DK hammer. Even if she misses, the princess keeps spinning like a top, bringing the hammer around again and again.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:'''<br>Sometimes, 'not as planned' just does NOT cover the situation.<br><br>Kicking herself for not getting a clear and definite count of the Gremlynxes, Black Arachnia does the smart thing: she turns and bolts, putting distance between herself and the minions. There's an encrypted tight-beam squirt to Alopex, though - not terribly WELL encrypted, since she doesn't know who the fox is, but it's a short message and probably not that hard to decode.<br><br>And by 'short,' I mean just two words: "Get Down"<br><br>Black Arachnia quickly reaches her immediate goal - the turret that was being worked on earlier, then abandoned by its Gremlynx operator-to-be - and just as quickly, she sets to work firing the thing back up, checking its ammo load, and then opening fire. Just a few brief, stuttering volleys at first ... but if Alopex heeds that message and hits the deck, Black Arachnia will *happily* open fire on the Gremlynxes at full firing rate. See, she *figured* this turret would come in handy. Just didn't figure how quickly, or in what way.<br><br>Meanwhile, the cybervenom - which was really meant to stay concentrated in the engines - is starting to dig into the dropship's systems. Black Arachnia didn't have time to analyze the ship or customize the cybervenom that well, so when it takes effect, it's going to take effect *hard* but in a rather non-focused manner. Her plan was to give the dropship, oh, half a minute of flight before the engines would (if the cybervenom worked as intended) undergo a catastrophic shutdown due to general subsystem failure. She didn't reckon on the ship's engines being used for much *other* than flight, so with the 'dose' spreading further into the dropship's systems, the effect is very, very likely to be 'diluted'. That should still screw things up nicely ... but Rebound may have to cope with some of the effects too, depending on how the ship is wired.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1057|Alopex (1057)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Seeing some of the braver minions staying at the door, Alopex simply smirks, holding up her hands, "Look, look. We all know that-" she pauses, ear flicking at Arachnia's communication. "Strike that.." she muses before just taking a seat, lotus style, folding her arms. "How about I give you a free shot.." she offers, pointing at her jaw, trying to draw the creatures into a false sense of security... just as Arachnia opens fire. Heh heh..<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:750|Rebound (750)}} has posed:'''<br>Oh crap, she really didn't think this through. Though isn't that pretty par for the course for her? She pulls at her right hand when one of those cables wrap around her arm, snapping some of the cables. As she's going to pull her left hand from it, the venon shorts out the systems. She winds up with a surprising jolt through her arm, but it enables her to rip those cables free, "Shit, that hurt.." She grabs some of the broken cables, still wrapped around her arms, and whips them around to try to crack them against Tesla, "When trouble comes along after all!" She tries to whip the cables from her other arm around Tesla and pull the mad scientist closer. After all, she needs to get her right up close and personal.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:368|Tesla Armadia (368)}} has posed:'''<br>Alopex... appearing to just sit and give up actually gets more confused looks out of the Gremlynx than actual attacks, as they garble back and forth in bewilderment. But a distraction is still a distraction and no one sees the cyber-spider fire up the turrent until it's too late and send them scattering. And collapsing when hit, as their 'armor' was more for protection against mine hazards than defense guns. There's no ludacris gibs but the biomatter ooze leaking out of the armor's joints when they collapse still isn't a pleasant sight.<br><br>Stratos actually cringes for a moment at the screech. "Oh come on, that barely scratched you! What kind of hero gets pissy at a little blood li--ack!" As Sarracenia starts to wind up most literally Stratos flips the frost sword around and stabs it into the ground, which causes a wall of icy spires to rise out of the ground where she does so. That the hammer smashs through, as expected... but Stratos wasn't expecting the girl to -keep- spinning like a mad top, and takes a hammer hard into the side that sends her sprawling across the rocky terrain again. Welp this didn't go as well as planned at all.<br><br>&lt; Boss, I don't think this is worth the effort much longer. &gt; &lt; Agreed. &gt; Tesla gets the cables whipped around one arm, grabbing it the cluster with her gauntlet as well to keep from getting yanked around too much, but part of her attention is elsewhere as she directs the dropship to glide low enough for Stratos to grab on before starting to lift off. She leans to the side to avoid the second whipping.<br><br>Then clenches her other hand into a fist, the battered armor sliding aside to deploy the double barrel bolters built into the armor. "Now where was I--AAAAUGH!"<br><br>That would be about when the engine goes into a spasm from the cybervenom, causing the dropship the lurch violently from the lack of stability. At the same time Tesla loses her focus on holding the cables and the weapon ready, instead grabbing the sides of her head.<br><br>Stratos watchs as the dropship veers off instead of actually coming to her, prehaps for the better as she'd prefer to not get crushed. "... On second thought, looks like I'm on my own." Fortunately the experienced villainess is prepared for this sort of thing, as she pulls a cord that unfolds a windglider from her pack. "Time to make like the wind and blow!" Which she literally does, using her own wind generators to launch the glider off the ground.<br><br>The technopath was still syncing with the ship's systems as the cybervenom took its full effect, unnoticed while she was focusing on Rebound. And while it's not directly effective on her, the technopathic feedback is like all the electronics in the ship shrieking in pain, inside her head.<br><br>The dropship wobbles unsteadily mid-air, kilting up at an awkward angle as the engines struggle to find stability, but with Tesla only hunching against the bulkhead in pain there's no direction to it, causing it to teeter and totter haphazardly while trying to lift away from the mountains.<br><br>Might be a good idea to get off that ride before it gets any wilder, Rebound.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:750|Rebound (750)}} has posed:'''<br>The sudden shock of Tesla's falling over in pain catches Rebound off guard, "Uh. The hell..?" She tilts her head a bit, but then suddenly has to shift her weight as the dropship loses altitude under her feet, "Oh hell." She gets it now, Tesla is controlling the dropship with her mind. Which means that whatever is hitting her is causing her to lose control.<br><br>She makes a split second decision to do something stupid. She dives forward and grabs Tesla around the waist, hauling her through the air and towards one of the hatches on the side of the ship. She drops back onto her tail and kicks the door with both feet, knocking it outwards, before leaping through the door and into the air with Tesla in her grasp.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sarracenia huffs in annoyance at Stratos. "It still hurt!" she whines as she spins. The smashing of the ice wall and the villainess beyond brings a satisfied grin to the princess's face. Sarracenia comes to a stop, then charges after Stratos with her hammer raised, ready to fiish the job. "You blew it already! Facing Hammerella in direct combat is always a foolish endeavor!" she says as she closes in, only for Stratos to take off into the sky. "Hey! Where are you going?!" Sarracenia demands as Stratos takes off. She gestures with her hammer, and the airship (which had only just now recovered from the whirlwind attack) lets out a thundering report as the broadsides along its left side fire, sending plenty of missile-speed Bullet Bills after Stratos. One can almost hear the dozen or so shells laughing maniacally as they try to close in on Stratos! They aren't terribly fast or maneuverable though.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:'''<br>"Ah, the sweet sound of a trump card going off," Black Arachnia remarks as the dropship suddenly destabilizes. She may or may not have heard Tesla's shriek as well, but the dropship suddenly going off-kilter is evidence enough of the cybervenom taking effect.<br><br>Nothing like ruining a villain's day to make *your* day look that much brighter. And Black Arachnia didn't even get shot at! .... in any significant amounts.<br><br>That should give her and Alopex a much better chance to see what can be made of the bunker. Still, Black Arachnia is pragmatic enough to make sure what's left of the Gremlynx's will *NOT* be getting up to trouble them any further.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1057|Alopex (1057)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;All that Alopex has is a smile as Arachnia mows everyone down. SUCCESS! Once everything seems to be taken care of, the fox stands to go and check on the door, only for the drop ship in the air to start going, basically, insane. She starts to idly wonder if she should be anywhere remotely under the thing! Maybe the digsite can provide some shelter. As she walks up, she draws the blade from her back and will force her way in if need be. At least she knocks first.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:368|Tesla Armadia (368)}} has posed:'''<br>The windglider isn't terribly fast either, but it is fairly agile thanks to its operator having direct control of the air current it's riding on. Makes it fairly easy to bob up and down to avoid the barrage of Bullet Bills bombarding her, leaving them to fly wherever it is they go when they fly off-screen. Then Stratos pulls the glider up and turns so she can make a mocking shout back at her foe. "Hammerella? That's the second lamest superhero name I have ever heard!"<br><br>There is no chance to ask what the first is, because there's one Bullet Bill lagging behind the pack due to a late cannon ignition. But it's that slowpoke that gets close enough to Stratos while she's mocking the hammer girl to explode. Not going to say the line so we don't get sued, but you can just imagine the 'ping' as she disappears hurtling off into the sky.<br><br>The dropship continues to wobble about in the air, though it does succeed in pulling up over the mountains.... And then plummeting down straight into the valley afterwards as the engines shut down completely from the haywire systems, and without a pilot or technopathic guide, just drops out of the sky like a rock to crash somewhere for junkers to find and pick through later.<br><br>But the ship goind down, not to mention no longer being directly near it, does allow Tesla's head to clear a bit, realizing where she is. This is.. slightly embarassing.<br><br>Then while watching the dropship go down Rebound would feel the armor go limb under her arm. Looking down she'd see just the body piece there, and a hole in the ground where Tesla used her gauntlets to dig away after squirming out of it. Though with the state of affairs its a safe bet she's digging an escape rather than trying to get inside still.<br><br>Also, you probably want to throw that armor away, it's likely to have some sort of self-destruct mechanism to prevent it from being captured and reverse engineered.<br><br>The bunker... is a bunker. Big and obviously military in its design, though sparse and clearly unused for a very long time. Though there might still be some general stockpile still lying around, these things are rarely completely empty.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Hammerella hmms as Stratos comments on her superhero name. Is it a lame name? It seems likely considering where she got the name, now that she thinks about it. But, she hadn't thought of a real superhero name yet! Fortunately, her Bullet Bills get the job done, and Stratos might just be able to hear the mocking laughter as she is blasted into the sky by the lagging Bill. "Which means you were beaten by the superhero with the second lamest name! That makes you the first lamest villain!" <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With that settled, Sarracenia makes her way toward where the other heroes have gathered. "Is everything secure?" she asks the others, finally taking stock of who all is here. A fox lady, a roo lady, and a spider/spider-lady. "...is there a convention I missed? I would have brought my tanuki suit!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:'''<br>So the bunker is just a bunker.<br><br>Well, it's wasted resources of a sort, but nothing that can't be replaced. Tesla's attempt to take the bunker was stymied, what resources or supplies it *has* can be fone through for useful stuff, and Tesla Armadia herself is somewhat the worse for wear as a result. Black Arachnia can't really complain about that set of outcomes.<br><br>"Don't think I caught your name," she says to her vulpine ally-of-convenience. "I'm Black Arachnia. Used to be with the Union."<br><br>No need to explain what she's doing now.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:750|Rebound (750)}} has posed:'''<br>"Oooh. Neat." Rebound is distracted with the explosion of the dropship, and then she feels the armor shift. She turns back and sees Tesla has vanished from the armor, "Well at least I can take solice in the fact that Tesla is naked somewhere." She says, more to herself than anybody else, as she takes the chestplate as a souvineer.<br> <br>
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