3420/TMatM:Artifacts of Black PT2, Come Clarity

TMatM:Artifacts of Black PT2, Come Clarity
Date of Scene:	19 November 2015
Location:	Void - Deeper Void (North)
Synopsis:	The Artifacts of Black Rain have taken over Royce and are doing something to the weather system of the planet. Elite response is swift, and the threat neutralized, only for another to rear its head. HK-47 manages to kill Royce, and take three of the five artifacts with him as he escapes.
Thanks to:	Everyone who came.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Staren, 619, 673, 754, 883
Tinyplot:	The Man and the Mission

---

Royce Artega (883) has posed:
    A few hours have passed since the Ganemede was secured, and the mystery surrounding the crash deepened with the revelation that Royce sabotaged the craft.

    Now, not only has a mysterious flying shape been spotted by Sanae and subsequently lost, but a large storm front has appeared on the horizon, festering and boiling like some great living thing.

    In orbit, joining the ships that responded first, are the TSAB cruisers Haven and Morning Star, tuning fork-shaped craft much like the Ganemede and Asura. They've taken aboard the wounded, and deployed additional Ground Forces and Enforcers to bolster the Elite presence.

    The question is, though. What do you do now?

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    Unable to pursue the object she had seen, Sanae hadn't been left with much recourse but to return to camp, such as it was. That the air itself feels really strange, in light of this strange storm, helps that decision. The arrival of TSAB reinforcements was appreciated, though, especially since so many had been injured just trying to do what htey could to contain the other lost artifacts. Something that the foul fiend that made off with the others was no doubt counting on! Yet, as Sanae hovers in and sets her feet down for a moment to catch her breath, it still strikes has as strange that Royce could have been behind it. There was no mistaking all the things everyone found to suggest it, though. Maybe he was tempted, or mind controlled, or something!

    "If he took them, do you folks have something to track them, then," she wonders to the TSAB personnel? "I seem to recall that they give off energy signatures...or something like that." She does vaguely recall it from a few months ago, but she's just inserting generic sci-fi lingo in place of what was probably a far more specific local term.

Staren has posed:
    Staren has made his way into the wreckage. His 'go investigate the weather' idea has a problem: Weather is kind of big, so it would be helpful to pinpoint the source. So, he returned to the ship and has spent most of the past few hours getting the crashed ship's scanner working again. "Alright.... here we go!" He reaches over and dramatically throws a knife switch (even if there wasn't one before, he wired it in while restoring power.)

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory's response to 'strange storm is coming' is EVACUATE. The Cognizant Odyssey has rendezvous'd with the TSAB reinforcements, looking mighty pathetic compared to the much greater ships. But she has deployed some weather balloons to study the storm, hoping to gather data that an orbital survey might miss.

    "I can't pinpoint a person-sized target from orbit, so I'll focus on studying this strange storm for now. If you can locate the noted saboteur transmit coordinates and I'll deploy some of my own forces to help investigate!"

HK-47 (754) has posed:
     Tracking down the fleeing meatbag who had sabotaged the crashed vessel Ganemede had proven more easy then hoped. Particularly due to the fact that a rather obvious conglomeration of storm-cells had begun to form in the general direction the target had left in.

     After his many experiences with Jedi and Sith alike, HK-47 was willing to bank on the likelihood that this was not mere coincidence.

     ...

     The problem was in proceeding from here. For that, he had called in support, so to speak.

     In the relative chaos of the rescue operations, a small vessel had managed to loop around the planet to land within the deeper woods where the droid had retreated to in the wake of his hunt. His heavy cloak and hood were still intact, if not slightly more dirt-stained, and his weapons systems were still fully charged and stocked.

     Of course, considering the amount of Elites here - though fortunately many were not actual Union members, many likely had sympathies - it payed to take precautions... hence why the droid was now greeting six new cloaked forms as they strode off the opening cargo-ramp, a pair of glowing yellow photoreceptors visible beneath the cowl of each hood. One of them soon strode forward to present the elder unit with his preferred equipment; the HK-Series Disruptor Rifle. "Statement - HK-51 is ready to serve, progenitor-unit HK-47."

     In a single swift movement, HK took the rifle from his subsequent-generation units and pulled it beneath his cloak, mounting it to his back as he turned around to begin stalking back through the foliage. "Acknowledgement - Form up on me and keep your optics open for the target. Our query is a rather spindly meatbag in possession of assumedly-potent artifacts of an unknown nature. Acquisition of these relics is our current objective."

     Of course, they couldn't quite be so open about their movements. They were hardly a welcome sight at the moment, especially among any Union members...

     ... but, luck permitting, they would be too focused on the rogue meatbag to take immediate notice... and, in conflict, they may even weaken each-other enough for the droids to make off with their objective relatively easy.

    It would be painful to stay out of initial combat and not immediately partake in open destruction... but one of the merits of being an assassin droid was patience and perception, awaiting the opportune moment to strike.

    Perhaps by the time they got there, conflict will have already started. If so... they would at least have an enjoyable show to observe before making their own move.

     ... though if the situation required it, a well-timed push, shove or thermal explosion couldn't possibly hurt.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is not happy she knows things are going to get better before they get worse and she looks over to Rory on the tac net, her own avatar a sharp difference from her normap apperance, pale white hair an clearly mechanical look to it were the biggest differnces. Also the outfit seemed to he a mechanical body suit of some sort.

<< I don't like this either let me grab some of the drones if you need my help there.>>

She was still also tracking making use of the scanning systems aboard Rory's ship to see what she could do to follow up her eariler hunt. Well she was accessing them remotely that is.

Royce Artega (883) has posed:
    "Yeah, I think the guy in the giant mech is working on it now. Glad we managed to vent the toxic fumes, now we can start salvaging what's left." says one of the Mages to Sanae.

    Staren's tinkering has the Long Range scanner working! For about a minute before it konks out again. It /does/ show there's a massive energy reading right smack in the center of that storm system, and it isn't moving, so, maybe, whatever it is, is maintaining the storm from there.

    Rory's weather balloons would be kicking out all kinds of funky, contradicting data. The weather isn't just strange, it's downright unnatural!

    Meanwhile, HK-47 and his little posse make their way through the local flora largely unmolested. The TSAB is focussed around the crash site, waiting for the Elites to make a move.

Staren has posed:
    Staren's already started running back to his machine, and broadcasting the coordinates to the others, by the time the machine conks out again. "Ugh... well, it wasn't moving! We have the coordinates, move out!"

    The Star Hawk takes off, quickly accelerating to two and a half times the speed of sound. Time to see if he can fly through a storm...

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    The green-haired girl glances over at Staren's robot thoughtfully for a moment. It's still way too soon for selfie-taking...and that cool looking 'mobile suit' from earlier doesn't seem to be in the area. Probably either returned for repairs, or is out actively looking, as well, Sanae figures! "Hmm, I see," she smiles to the TSAB agent. "I'll go pester the pilot instead of you, then." She drifts over in that direction. Literally, since she soon leaves the ground again, floating up to hover at sensor-level of it, or whatever qualifies as that. "You worked it out that fast then," she calls in? Before noticing the sounds of acceleration, or more like feeling it, "Hey, wait!" Tsk, what a jerk, rushing ahead like that. Not everyone can fly at Mach 2.5!

    At her far more leisurely pace, though, she does her best to follow. Assuming the path he's taking is a straight one, it's pretty obvious what he must have picked up on. She keeps her flight relatively low, being careful of any errant winds that might lurk higher, given the sudden density of the storm, and how utterly weird it is. She also readies her wand again, looking like little more than a piece of cardboard on a stick, as she goes.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has made sure to keep an idea about the data they are getting and she's pretty baffled by it herself as she takes a deep breath.

"We should be going to chekc this out I think. I'm going to head in and move out."

With that she'll move out on foot as fast as she can go she's going to try to beam up to Rory's ship shortly but the question is how fast she can go on foot.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    As the squadron of droids stalks through the woods, HK-47 takes note of the many entities converging on the storm cell's epicenter, working to pick up the pace as best he can without drawing attention to himself.

    On the negative side, they would likely be there well before the droids made it on foot; flight had many more adaptive options as an advantage. However, on the positive, it would mean that the droids had a strong chance of arriving in time to observe what would hopefully be a rather colorful display of violence.

    And then from there, make their move to acquire the relics.

    Thus, they proceed to continue moving through the foliage, keeping watch for anything that got too close to them... and buckling down their cloaks in the even the storm cell started generating any copious amounts of wind or rain.

    Smudged photoreceptors were quite the annoyance, after all.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    <<Interesting change of attire, Kotone.>> Rory comments, unsure what exactly has brought about this change in her companion.

    "There's a strong chance this weather is supernatural. Nothing in it seems to conform to any meteorological phenomenon for this planet's climate! ... Though I'm no meteorologist, it's hard to doubt the AI when it's this confused. What kind of magic would work on THIS scale?! That's terrifying."

    Thankfully, Staren's down there on the ground and his mecha has quite an array of usable sensors. Her attention largely shifts to perceiving the world through the eyes of his mech despite the storm's interference.

    She is unwilling to risk too much when there is really NO NEED to do so. If need be, she can beam drones to his location by locking onto his beacon after all!

Royce Artega (883) has posed:
    Staren gets to the point first. And as he flies headlong at Mach 2.5, he would find the weather becomes MUCH worse, /VERY/ quickly. Almost like it's actively trying to hamper his progress with sudden shifts in wind direction, intensity, sudden flurries of hailstones, the full gauntlet. He'd be able to spot something in the center of a giant funnel cloud, a blue and gold point of brilliant light, which then suddenly gets a lot brighter. A voice carries on the wind, clearly belonging to Royce... though it has an odd resonance, like it isn't him using that voice. "Foolish boy, you know not what you deal with. Behold the power of the Regalia of Black Rain!" Another voice joins the first, mechanical, digital, unfeeling. <STURM AUFSTIEG ANGRIFF!>(Storm Rise Attack). A sudden null-space opens up in the storm winds, and a crescent-shaped pulse of sickly blue energy rips forth, as if to hack the Star Hawk in two!

    Sanae might spot the attack coming, as she's further back, maybe she can use her wind controlling powers to slow the storm down.

    Kotone's approach is largely unnoticed. Staren's doing a very good job of being 'Big Shiny Distraction'.

    Rory's scanners will start picking up patterns as Royce keeps using his abilities. Each attack makes the entire storm fluctuate and ease, even for only a split second.

    HK's team would spot groups of flying Mages, and teams of ground-bound ones moving ahead of them, setting up a perimeter maybe?

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    It was fairly obvious, from how quickly it had boiled up, and the fact that it doesn't really seem to be moving in natural ways, that this wasn't just a freak storm. With all the indicators heading in that direction, it just clinches it. Sanae continues flying towards the center of the maelstrom much like the Star Hawk, and while her divine robes do provide a measure of magical protection against the elements, how quickly the weather and air currents change inside of it is still quite disorienting. Fortunately, she has a slight advantage in this case, as she's a priestess that speaks with wind spirits. The worst of it doesn't affect her too badly.

    Then she notices that sickly blue light again, lashing out! While it is a bit difficult to maneuver in this kind of space, being further back serves her well in this case. The blue light is also familiar -- it's just like the light she saw as that object flew off before! "Huh, that has to be...hmm, well, since it's become like this." She suddenly stops in mid-air, her green hair blowing in the brisk winds flowing around her, both her own and from the storm. It's sort of using this storm as a defensive screen for its activities, right? If there's anything of 'Royce Artega' left after that thing got a hold of him, maybe this will lessen their combined capabilities. That is, she takes her wand into her clasped hands, and mostly closes her eyes to concentrate. The light wind that normally envelopes her body while she's in flight begins to expand in a shell of its own. It's sort of the same principle as noise-cancelling headphones. She's trying to fight back the disorderly winds with contrasting ones of negative amplitude, to bring a bit more order to the chaos, and maybe clear things off.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
<<Thanks,I'd been fiddling with my avatar a bit, given the lives we lead I think I want it so she doesn't look anything really lkike me. Also It's kinda fun to play with this.>> %% She quickly talks on the mission channel, she's got an escape plan as Rory can get a lock on her and she keeps moving in given the distraction Staren's given her? She does take a moment to cloak for all the good it might do to get closer, there had to be something here she could work with, right?

Rory White (673) has posed:
    There's just NO piercing that storm very effectively. Rory frowns. Kotone's really going down there?

    "Roger. Preparing a landing zone."

    The COGNIZANT ODYSSEY's teleporter surges to life, beaming down a drone. A Dwarf, to be honest. One of the few she has that are suited for combat. Rocket launchers and lasers and extra armor plating and a very heavy transmitter!

    It appears roughly 250 meters away from the confrontation but starts ambling closer. Might take a minute or two before it's even NOTICEABLE though... it's got a lot of terrain to cover and the Star Hawk is Rory's relay for the transmission.

    Because the Dwarf's transmitter can't reach the Odyssey, even if the Odyssey's transmitter can reach the Dwarf.

    Once she has a lock though... "ready to teleport! ... Please be VERY careful, Kotone!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren transmits video to the others as he approaches. "Are you seeing this?" When it calls itself the Regalia of Black Rain, he comments, "What the heck is /that/?!" And then an attack comes. Staren tries to dodge, but it's not enough, he's going too fast -- The crescent strikes off-center, cutting into armor plating, stripping bits of metal off. It can't actually cut the mecha in two, but it's a respectfully powerful attack.

    Staren's mecha veers off, shooting into the sky, quickly outpacing further attacks. "Rory! Can you enhance the video? Confirm that our target is actually in that bright light, or is it just the center of the magical effect?"

    Staren, meanwhile, gets out of range, slows down, and... hovers, in hybrid mode. Even if Rory /can/ pinpoint him, how can he hit a /man/ inside a /storm/?

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    A perimeter guard even with this many Elites on site? They were certainly being cautious. More so then HK-47 expected from most meatbags.

     How annoying.

     "Whispered Command - Avoid them for the moment, if at all possible" the assassin droid directed his subordinate units, the group of seven machines continuing to slink through the woods to their target even as the storm in the distance began to worsen. "I do not wish to have any interruptions or unneeded distractions between here and our target."

     Receiving acknowledgement from the HK-51's, HK-47 continues to maneuver ahead to the center of the storm mass, moving to close the distance as the weather begins to downpour and avoid direct contact with any enemies for the time being.

    Their target is the meatbag in possession of the relics. To them, anything else in the way is either secondary at best or a distraction at worst, tempting as it may be to simply shoot their way to their target.

     And as they advance, the droids all note curiously that the storm patterns seem to be actively targeting the encroaching mechanoid construct, a massive construct of pure energy slicing into the large machine's armor.

     The conflict had already started. Time to start getting into position.

    Upon getting close enough, the HK's will split into groups - two groups of two droids are selected to take up whatever sniping or ambush positions will give them shots at either approaching Union of Independent personnel... and the last group of three, including HK-47 himself, begins searching for an area from which he can try to get visual conformation of the meatbag that is seemingly inside the storm cell itself... and decide how and when to try launching his own attack.

Royce Artega (883) has posed:
    Royce is indeed right in the center of the light-mass. Surrounded by swirling storm winds and wildly fluctuating weather elements. Rain, hail, snow, everything. Now he's gotten another moment's respite, having seemingly driven off the mech, the possessed Mage goes back to what he was doing. Sanae's attempts at Wind Control do hamper him, but he can't seem to find the source of the interference, so just pushes on, trying to overwhelm it with sheer force.

    The Storm gets worse. Much worse, and rain begins to fall in earnest. This isn't any normal rain though, each droplet is jet black, and it begins to burn away plantlife near the center of the storm cell. Like Acid Rain, only much worse.

    HK's groups manage to sneak past the perimeter, just as the Barrier Team erect their containment shell. A huge, multi-kilometer bubble that encapsulates the entire storm in a distorted bubble of dimensional magic.

    Rory's connection remains true through the Barrier, as her connection to the Star Hawk is unaffected. As is the lock-on for teleport to Kotone.

    "Nya'bu lec'trahm zor'ub nass." A chant, repeated over and over as the Lost Logia begins its purpose.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    It could be any number of things. Perhaps the slightly more alien atmosphere than she is used to controlling. Or that the spirits here aren't as easy to contact. Perhaps even that she's trying to displace and disrupt the influence of a powerful artifact in its own right. Whatever the case, Sanae doesn't seem to be making enough headway that she's going to be able to do much more than slow this down. She figures as much, and as she asks something over the speaker on her dated smartphone, her eyes re-open with a slight frown on her usually smiling face. "I don't want to think that Mr. Royce is a bad person. He must have had his reasons." Or perhaps, the thing that currently has him in its sway did.

    Regardless of that case, she's soon maneuvering her way through the freakish weather patterns, her robes' divine nature helping to resist it, but never entirely. Ablative winds literally sharp enough to cut draw blood from her as it tries to tear at fabric and skin alike. Amid the howling winds, and approaching that terrible black rain, she calls out, "Mister Royce, if you can hear me, fight back against it! It's not too late yet!" She's keenly aware of the others -- minus HK-47 and his small droid army, that is -- that are currently prepared for the worst, but it's worth a try. And if it comes to it, maybe it'll at least distract him for the others to deal with him, going by current radio discussions, which she has thoughtfully lowered the volume on.

Staren has posed:
    Staren tries to think of an idea. How do you /fight/ this guy? These are poor conditions for ranged weapons, and poor conditions for melee weapons.

    The mecha hovers there just outside the storm, in plane-with-arms-and-wings mode. Staren thinks, and thinks, and talks to allies, but this is getting nowhere. Finally, he comes up with... /something/ that might be an effective weapon.

    <<I've got an idea, give me a moment.>> Staren pops the canopy, and makes the Star Hawk lift its hand up as he scrambles out onto the palm, and pulls from his bag -- another bag, this one not magical, but full of grenades. He cuts it open, then scrambles off as the mecha clenches its fist around the payload.

    <<Alright, I'm going in!>> Strapped into the pilot seat again, Staren closes the canopy, armor telescopes over it, and then he builds up speed and flies into the storm. Hybrid mode's top speed is about 585 MPH -- a quarter of a kilometer per second. In seconds, he's back at the center, speeding towards the bright spot. The plane-with-arms-and-legs opens fire with the railgun attached to one arm, making it seem like this is a strafing run... but it keeps getting closer.

    Staren tries to grab Royce. That's his real goal here. Even if he can only hold him for an instant. Then he tries to fly Royce out to the edge of the storm where he'll hopefully be less powerful -- but if Royce proves too much of a handful (ha), Staren lets him go and flies off.

    Because the smart material the grenades are made of has tried to stick to him now -- and the grenades are set to detonate right after Staren flies clear of the blast!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is going to act as a diversion for STaren she doesn't have much to do other than distract the man whose been taken by the thing. She does think about the coment Albert is right she needs to get a proper armory now. She's going to do what she can to distract the guy while Staren goes in.l She'll ready and throw a flash bang with all the strenght her body can muster ot hopefully distract him.

<<FIRE IN THE HOLE!>>

Rory White (673) has posed:
    The Dwarf is a slow, plodding thing. But eventually it reaches a plateau and deploys a series of stabilization pylons into the ground with *KH-THUNKS*

    ... Oh boy.

    Why does it need those?

    The answer comes as some of its panels open up and out swivel LARGE, UNFOLDING GUN BARRELS that lock into position and BRIM with power. Those are not normal guns.

    Horrendous noises are the least of anyone's worries when the DUAL HEAVY RAILGUN RIFLES open up, firing slugs at speeds exceeding mach 6. The storm is not going to be enough by itself to change THAT kind of momentum significantly!

    They're aimed for Royce's arms, but away from central body mass... oh boy.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    As the droids are conveniently sealed into the barrier with their quarry and their competition... the droids cannot help but stop to regard the falling jet black rain as it dissolves large quantities of the plant-life like natural acid... yet obviously not strong enough to degrade more durable materials, as the droplets trickled harmlessly down their heavy cloaks.

     What a delightfully-lethal compound. If this was only one of the effects the relics could achieve, HK was now wondering if he may perhaps find some way to replicate the effect for use in assassinations. A beverage spiked with a singe drop of this, or a small dosage into the cleaning solutions meatbags used in their self-cleaning rituals, could prove highly effective alternatives to the known poisonous compounds.

     However... that wasn't to say they ought to let their guard down. If enough acid built up, or if the acid droplets became concentrated enough... it might start affecting the HK's as well.

     As a result, the droids, after taking up their respective positions, begin taking whatever cover they cold find with the plant-life being destroyed around them - boulders, gulches, ditches or the like - as HK-47 himself had one of his subordinates take aim at the damaged machine-form, prepared to fire if deemed necessary. One squad takes note of other artificial entities, aiming at them with the intent to cripple or distract. The other two line their weapons up against the green-haired meatbag in robed garments. HK-47's squamates take aim at the immense machine while HK himself levels his rifle at the storm, awaiting an opportune moment to try and take a shot.

     That moment soon comes when the immense combat machine charges forward to try and grip the meatbag in the center of the storm, the droid seeing the grenades being dumped upon it's palm by it's pilot.

     ...

     And so, at long last, after the machine makes it's move, the droids /fire./

     The coordinated attack seems to come from nowhere - seven bolts of simultaneous disruptor fire shooting out from varying patches of the landscape. Two of them arc for Sanae. One shoots for Rory's deployed Dwarf after it fires. Another streaks toward Kotone. Two more fly for the Star Hawk to try and lance through the gash in it's armor... and the final one is directed toward Royce Artega, attempting to exterminate him by way of painful disintegration and hopefully claim the relics he leaves behind.

     Directed application of chaos is now in effect. And if Royce begins falling back to earth, a cloaked form begins racing for where he will land, intent on prying the artifacts from either his dead limbs, or his /soon-to-be-dead/ limbs.

    Either way... this mad dash at the end is the droid's big gambit to obtain rather powerful items. And success will likely have very bad consequences for anything organic.

Royce Artega (883) has posed:
    A lot of things happen all at once. Sanae's words seem to fall on deaf ears... though the chant does pause and the storm begins to dissipate... Then Staren charges in and a wordless roar of defiance lashes out. Royce can't get a shot off though, and the explosions of energy directly against his armour stagger the Mage, breaking his consentration and sending the storm out of control. Railgun slugs pepper him next, shredding the flesh of his arms and causing the Sword and Scepter to fall from his grasp. And then HK's disruptor shot lands, punching through the weakened cape, and vaporizing the man within.

    The Artifacts, having lost their power source, shut down, and the storm begins to blow itself out.

    Only thing left is to claim the artifacts. Whether HK can get to them before the TSAB mages or any of the Elites can react, is to be seen.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
    It all happens so quickly! As an Elite, of course, Sanae is used to things happening fast that way, and in some cases she can perceive sequences that would baffle the average person. That reaction time sadly can also make things play back painfully slowly in retrospect, which is dreadfully something that seems likely to happen, in the coming days. At first, it seems like maybe her words might be reaching some shred of him that might be left, but -- perhaps wisely -- the others that were gathered here weren't taking chances with their plan. They open fire, as the green-haired girl yelps, already far too late, "W-wait, I think he's..." Then 'it' happens. As Royce is staggered from the less lethal assaults, another comes from a decidedly different vector, and he's...basically reduced to his component molecules, right before Sanae's eyes.

    "Mister Royce, oh no!" That didn't match any intentions she heard over the radio, though, and she immediately wheels about to try to look for the source. In the process, she gets two similar energy bolts aimed at her. One is a narrow miss that blows a scorch mark through one billowy sleeve, but the other lands solidly into her shoulder, searing it as she lets out a cry of pain and holds it. The magic of the robe absorbed most of the brunt, but that still hurt, badly, and it's likely a serious burn. She quickly takes evasive maneuvers, in case of a follow up, which also means she's in no immediate position to try to stop any shenanigans below.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is glad his plan seems to have worked, when suddenly, he's distracted by an attack on his own machine from a different direction!

    The precisely-aimed surprise attack, hitting the wound left by Royce's cutter attack, is enough to sever the arm, which crashes into the trees below. <<He's got allies on the ground!>> Staren transmits, frantically searching for them as the tacnet tries to trace back the source of their weaponsfire. As the Star Hawk turns around, one of its wing-mounted missile packs opens, and a dozen minimissiles launch, dividing into pairs and flying to the sources of the half-dozen bolts that struck his machine and his allies -- at least, where the droids were when they /fired/ -- exploding in 30ft-wide fireballs of superheated plasma when they reach their destinations.

    The acid rain is still falling, but Staren's machine can last for a bit, at least for a few seconds while he determines just how 'over' this fight really is... His main hand out of comission, he activates his beam shield and uses it to at least keep /some/ of the rain off his machine as he hovers there, looking for new enemies.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory's SHOCKED at the events that transpire. Not only does fire come out of nowhere.. it utterly wrecks the attempts to capture Royce alive. Although in a way justice might have been served... given the horrible outcome that left many dead in a crash... Rory flinches. Why? Who did that? Who used such a weapon without ANY finesse?

    With the storm clearing up, Rory's sensor readings from the weather balloons immediately pinpoint things down there that should NOT be.

    Eyes in the sky turn on HK-51s and HK-47...

    The Dwarf takes a heavy hit to the side, disabling ONE of its railguns and slagging chunks of the armor, but it still takes aim almost immediately at the aggressors. The whole body swivels around and OPENS FIRE with booming K-THUDS, accurate out to easily half a kilometer in these conditions. The Hk-51s might be in trouble!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is a moment too late she sees the shots comming and only too late as she now gets about the droids. HK has certainly left a very bad impression with Kotone at this point. She's breaks fof form any attempt to combat she thinks she spots one of the fallen items, there's nothing more to be done about Royce and the worst part is she'll have perfect recall o the whole grizzly event, like she needed more of that rattling around in her head.

She sprints making for the item in an attempt to grab it and get the heck out of here with it, her intent is to turn it over to the TSAB the moment she is able to and she thinks something's going to need to be done about HK sooner or later.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    The result... is perfection.

    In a single stroke, all opponents are off-balanced and the primary target utterly disintegrated. The result of the droid charging his weapon to full power.

    And as the relics fall from his evaporating body, the droid begins his mad dash to recover them - or as many of them as possible - as the HK-51's begin covering fire.

    One opponent - the mage - actually survives the attack by blunting it with some form of energy-diffusion, though she seems soundly out of the way as far as being a threat.

     The mech however... is another story.

     As a dozen missiles launch for them, the HK units begin trying to disperse - the key word being to /try/, as one of them is caught in the explosion and largely reduced to a flaming, shrieking pile of slag that is tossed several feet backwards before all but shattering on impact with the ground. Two more have portions of their cloaks ignited, which quickly burn away - revealing the silvery metal forms beneath as they furiously dodge the downpour of missile fire, their shells taking increasingly-severe scorching.

    As soon as they are out of the range of the missile fire, they begin trying to resume their attack on Staren, their disruptors capable of bypassing energy shields... though there aren't any more convenient gaps in the armor like with their last shots, and their target is far more durable then the HK's are.

     The two HK-51's that had assaulted Sanae begin turning their fire towards the recovery teams of mages that try to close the gap, one proceeding to snipe with disruptor fire while the other lobs a destructive thermal detonator to try and scatter, disorient and disorganize them.

    The last two HK-51's... are set upon by railgun fire that sends one all but leaping for cover as it's fellow is torn to literal scrap by the hail of lethal fire. The other tries to launch a counterattack by lining up it's disruptor to try and blow off the other railgun, though the non-stop shooting makes it very dangerous and difficult to get a good aim.

     HK-47 himself uses the chaos to his advantage, abandoning his duplicates as distractions as he swiftly approaches the site where the relics were scattered upon the death of Royce.

    In quick order, the droid begins taking the relics as he finds them, their fall-trajectory logged in his photoreceptors, swiftly locating three of them.

     However, it is after he picks up the third relic - the fallen staff - that the assassin droid realizes someone actually managed to get past the HK-51's to him.

    An individual he /recognized/... who had at least one of the other two relics in her possession.

     Raising his wrist and preparing his flamethrower to fire, HK-47 faces down Kotone as he slowly takes steps backwards, processor torn between trying to risk a fight for the last two relics and trying to cut his losses and get out while he has the chance. "Warning - Back away, /meatbag/. Eager as I am to engage in battle, these items take precedence and I cannot afford to damage them. So surrender the artifact and stand down, and I shall promise you a /quick/ demise."

     He couldn't /really/ afford to draw out a fight, lest he either lose the relics he'd obtained or damage them all in a battle... but if nothing else, he would at least try to leverage the intimidation factor he believes he may have gained for his successful surprise-attack thus far.

Staren has posed:
    The Star Hawk's beam shield is like the kind of shield you wear on your arm, except projected, rather than covering the whole thing. While the mech may be tough, Staren can't just sit there and take blaster hits forever. However, Staren is hampered by the fact that that was the arm with all the guns on it -- the left arm has the shield and a 3-shot extra-range missile launcher. Not nothing, but not what he wants for dealing with a half-dozen opponents.

    At least now he can see the HK-51s. And he knows HK-47 is here somewhere, and must have been the one to kill Royce. But why? What benefit was there to killing /everyone here/?

    Right now, Staren has more immediate concerns. He does have 48 more minimissiles, at least. Another pack opens, and more pairs of missiles fire -- at each of the remaining HK-51s, and at HK-47 if he's far enough away from Kotone that she won't get caught in the blast!

    The Star Hawk flies down to where the arm fell, transforming to humanoid mode and landing, crouching down to pick up its additional missile pod. Now Staren has more missiles, and more options. He tries to block the blaster shots with his shield while picking his next targets, only to find it useless against them. Drat!

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Thanks to her overhead telemetry, Rory really doesn't need to worry about where the HK's are. It's pretty obvious, save for the few that manages to get into cover. Thet rouble is... there's a LOT of them and her only weapon down there is a single Dwarf. The Dwarf is normally meant for MINING, not really a prolonged battle.

    The turret does track with machine precision though, laying down fire on the remaining HK it was going after just as the other HK opens fire!

    Well... who knows if it strikes, but the return fire does disable the other railgun, reducing it to slag.

    For a bit... that looks like that.

    Then the top opens up and a SEEKER MISSILE LAUNCHER unfolds from a compact form, opening fire immediately.

    Never reveal your ENTIRE hand until the last moment!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is now face to face with prehaps the most infamous combat droid in the history of both the Galatic Empire and the Galatic Republic. She knows she can't beat HK to all of them the droid is going to get out of here with some very dangerous prizes, she hopes to prevent him at least getting one of them as she gains support from Staren and Rory she's going to make a go for it with the cover.

"I can't stop you from getting away with everything but I can stop you from getting all of it."

She moves making a dash for one of the relics nad moving with the speed and aglity not of something of flesh but something like HK. She's going to have to trust in her friends at this point.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    As more missiles begin flying from Staren's suit, the HK's proceed to scatter again - and again it isn't fast enough for all of them as one is swiftly consumed in the explosions and turned into slagged shards. In turn, the HK unit firing at Rory is blown back as it's cover is systemically ripped apart by the railgun shots, the destruction of the railgun coming too late to save the droid's rifle as it is punctured and detonates, tossing the HK units backwards.

     It is still getting back up when the seeker missiles begin firing, the HK trying to scramble for cover only to be followed and have it's legs blown off before another obliterates it's body entirely.

    It is here that the HK's change tactics... with one now moving for the mages, the HK-51 closing in on them and activating flamethrowers to panic and immolate, trying to get as close as possible so that the overhead mech cannot fire on it without firing on the mages... and in turn draw out the distraction and assault as long as possible.

    For that was the true purpose of this attack - this effort to kill all present had several objectives. The first was to disorient, distract and confuse while their progenitor unit escaped with the relics - their own existences were now secondary to that goal. The second... was to exterminate individuals who could prove troublesome, especially since at least one was a recognized associate to, or at the very least an acquaintance of, Juno Eclipse.

    The mech likewise was something HK's databanks identified as Union-affiliated... and any of the unaffiliated here were likely more sympathetic to the Union if they were working with him like this.

    In a way, it could be seen as the continuation of the war-path the HK's had been enacting against the Union as of late; anyone with connections to them were, in their eyes, fair game.

     It is in the continuation of that goal that one of the remaining HK's, seeing the destruction of it's fellow at Rory's hands, decides to do all it can to remove the other combatant - as Staren's missiles fall, the droid sprints /straight towards/ Rory's dwarf in a suicide charge to draw the seeker missiles onto it - a target moving as close as possible to the source to try and catch the shooter in the blast as well... and, ominously, it's core begins pulsating.

     The precursor to to full overload as it's self-detonation protocol takes effect.

    Charging without any intent to survive past this day, the HK-51 - should it actually make it's way through the missiles - streaks toward the Dwarf before leaping at it, the chest-light pulsating wildly as the machine boldly gives out the proud-sounding deceleration of "SELF SACRIFICE!!!"

     Were it not for the fact that it was a tool of mass-murder trying to take it's opponent down with it in an act of spite, it might actually look as noble a sacrifice as it's voice might have made it sound, regardless of if the suicidal unit actually does or doesn't make it through the hail of missile fire coming at it... but if it does, the unit in turn will go out in a different blaze of glory as it's core overloads and self-destructs. If not, it ought to at least draw enough of the seeker missiles away for the last HK-51 to continue harassing Staren and Rory for a few more precious seconds.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    As his subordinate droids fall one after the other, HK-47 knows all-too-well he cannot risk a confrontation - if he were /alone/, he was confident he could exterminate the meatbag, even with her surprising display of Jedi-like reflexes. But as it was, between the two other machines and the enclosing recovery teams, HK was outgunned and outnumbered.

     ...

     But in the end... it hardly mattered. He'd assassinated the only meatbag that could have likely tracked these relics - regrettable as it was to lose that information - and he had the majority of the relics and caused severe damage to all parties. Statistically, it was victory - not a complete one, but enough to be satisfactory.

     ...

     In fact, statistically... he was better off being the /only/ one to take any of the artifacts back intact.

    Thus, HK-47 glowers as Kotone as she races for the last artifact, the droid deciding that she may actually have the right idea - "Veiled Threat - My sentiments exactly."

     Pulling at his equipment belt, HK tugs free his thermal detonator and lobs it for Kotone, taking his chance to make a break for it as he dashes through the woods at full-speed, his intent on fleeing now plaintively evident.

     Either Kotone follows him and isolates herself from back-up... or she stays behind to save the relics from being blown up in the grenade burst.

    Granted, HK /wanted/ to take all the relics, and he didn't wish to see them destroyed... but in all honesty, the burning destain for the meatbag who had interrupted him fueled his spite-filled decision to ensure that if he could't take /all/ the relics that, if nothing else.... he would try to ensure he was only one taking /any/ relics.

     And if she did save the relics... it would be at the cost of letting him go. Either way, the droid felt he had attained a victory in at least one measure of the word.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    KABOOOOOM!

    The Dwarf is... completely incapable of dodging, really. It's a giant lumbering mining machine.

    But as the two machines go up in a huge fireball... Rory is still safe on the Cognizant Odyssey, mildly frazzled at the shocking feedback and momentarily stunned. "Kotone... get out of there!"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa can't get them all he knows this as there's the grenade, she's going to make a dive for the two items grab them and bolt as fast as she can go.

<<RORY GET ME OUT OF HERE>>

She calls out over the tact net a she's running from all she's worth.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    There's really no delay there. No sooner than the message is sent than the Teleporter - already waiting for this eventuality - is locked onto Kotone's signal. But will it be fast enough?

    <<On it!>>

Staren has posed:
    "Hmph." Staren grunts in annoyance as all those missiles catch only /one/ of the droids. At least they were distracted enough to let Rory take down another and a third's weapon. A fourth actually charges the dwarf. The two missiles targeting that one just don't detonate, since the dwarf is tagged as friendly, dropping into the ground with a thud, but Staren doesn't actually care about the dwarf -- it's a disposable drone.

    Now, getting close to Staren's allies is a good idea, but it's one Staren's ready for: The reason that he bothered picking up the handheld launcher is that it has /other/ types of missiles besides the ones that make great big fireballs.

    HK's escape attempt is better, though -- Staren prioritizes saving the mages, which may give HK enough time to escape. Those remaining HK-51s though? The panel on the front of the launcher opens to reveal dozens of missile launch ports, and now... You know what? It's /one stupid robot/! Screw this. /Seventeen/ micromissiles fire, spreading into a tight grid pattern. Some are bound to hit -- those that do try to ram into armor and explode! Confident that either the HK-51 won't survive or the mages can finish it off, the Star Hawk turns the way HK ran, then leaps into the air, transforming and flying over the trees in hybrid mode, searching for HK-47!

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    And so the droid fails to obtain the last two relics, or even prevent them from falling into the hands of the opposing meatbag as a teleport system - something he had last observed during his failed assassination of the Corellian smuggler Solo - takes the target to safety.

    And in doing so, clears the path for his escape. Something the droid cannot help but feel some degree of satisfaction in.
    The destruction of Rory's Dwarf and the teleportation of Kotone with the last two relics leaves just the single HK-51 to stall out Staren... which ends up being a rather daunting task considering the amount of missiles that are sent streaming at it.

    At this point, the sole remaining HK-51 decides that if it must go inactive, it will do so fighting, raising it's disruptor rifle to take one final shot at the Star Hawk out of spite to try and delay it or damage it further - and then after that parting shot is fired, the missiles turn it and the ground it stands on into a glassed crater, leaving nothing left but atomized steam where the droid once was.

     Hk-47 on the other hand, still in his hooded cloak and stalking through the woods, proceeds to make use of his headstart to try blending into the foliage as he leaves the are that was affected by the black rain, opting to try blending in as best he can at places and moving only if he feels Staren has passed him by.

    If this pattern holds... he will maintain it until he returns to his stashed transport ship.

Staren has posed:
    Staren doesn't actually keep looking for very long. There's just too many places to hide, too much area to cover -- the chances of randomly running into HK-47 is slim. Staren returns to guard the mages as they do their sealing thing.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
    At last, patience and persistance wins out as the Star Hawk soon enough abandons it's search procedures and returns to observe the mages seal what remains.

     And soon enough as a result, HK-47 returns to his transport and enters, taking the pilot's seat as he powers the vessel up and takes off, moving to outrun detection before they can respond.

     They will likely not notice him immediately... and by the time they do, he will have already engaged his vessel's hyperdrive.

    As the stars fade and dilute into the corridor of hyperspace travel, HK-47 takes a moment to acknowledge the three relics he'd managed to successfully obtain, musing on how the investigation and subsequent acquisition attempt had gone far better then hoped, even if the end result was not quite optimal.

     However, his obtaining possession of three out of the five artifacts still made it a statistical victory for him... and the secrets they may contain would likely prove a very interesting distraction for his Master to puzzle over.

     And perhaps, once the secrets were uncovered... he might be on the receiving end of upgrades that could mimic their ability to destroy organic materials.

     One could only hope.

     Thus, placing his vessel onto autopilot, HK-47 moved to place the relics into the secure hold for the time being, then began his recharge cycle, wondering just what opportunities these devices may unlock in the future.