5465/ICoT: A Bastion of their Own

ICoT: A Bastion of their Own
Date of Scene:	31 August 2017
Location:	The Bastion
Synopsis:	The Kid leads a team of Elites up Mount Zand, a sacred place to the Ura... and a Bastion for the beasts of the Wild.
Cast of Characters:	The Kid, 1094, William Pauwel, 215, 325, Kotone Yamakawa, Staren, 673

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The Kid has posed:
    Mount Zand. Once a holy place to the Ura, where their prayers to the Pantheon would surely be answered. Now, just an unusually tall hunk of land amidst the islands in the sky. From a distance, it's hard to tell much of anything about the place. It's so thoroughly choked with flora that the slopes are invisible. This frustrated Rucks to no end, as it made pinpointing the Shard difficult.

    Speaking of the Shard, how it came to be on the mountain is a curious thing too. It was carried there by a Pecker, something that Rucks witnessed himself. That Peckers are attracted to shiny things is no secret, but something as weighty as a Shard should have dissuaded the corvid. And yet, it supported the stone's weight all the way to the summit. And it is to the summit the Kid will climb to retrieve it.

    However, even in this post-Calamity world, Mount Zand is still holy to the Ura. And in the midst of this tenuous peace, invading this place seems a dangerous prospect. For that reason alone, Kid wants a small strike force to get in, grab the Shard, and get out as fast as they can, least any Ura patrols spot them and leap to the wrong conclusion.

    This force will join Kid at the midway point, where he will scouted out the mountain and put together a plan of attack. And, shockingly, the force will include Rucks himself. "Gets a little lonely at the Bastion with everyone gone," he explains jokingly if asked. Though he still clutches at his cane, that Army Carbine across his back is well-oiled and he carries it well.

    As the group arrives on-location via warpgate... things have already gone south. The Kid is lying in the thick vegitation, pinned down by a Lunkhead trying to crush the life out of him. He's driving his War Machete into the soft flesh behind the stone mask the froglike thing wears, but is slowly being enveloped by vines conjured by a Bootlicker that towers over him. And even worse, a flock of Peckers circle overhead, cawing as obnoxiously as they can, almost like an alarm system.

    "Shut 'em up! But quietly!" Kid shouts as the Lunkhead gets off of him, only to leap several feet into the air, aiming to crush him again!

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Agent Parsons is quite quick to strike here. "Right!" He tensely calls out, all urgency and no volume. Literally! Telepathy is a great thing for that. He slams forward quickly, zooming over the ground and levitating, while planting two fingers on his left temple. A pair of massive, translucent hands reach out fast, trying to clasp and close around the creature's body! Especially around the throat, to prevent any errant animal cries. If it attracts more creatures, they'll have even less of a chance at stealth!

    Parsons has enough telekinetic power to arrest its momentum and prevent it from giving away their position and their intrusion with a heavy impact on the ground, but while maintaining focus to hold it in place and immobilize it, he'll need someone else's help to finish it off! Otherwise, the creature will probably break out of his grip!

William Pauwel has posed:
It's been months since Will's been anywhere near what used to be the City of Caelondia. Though, there's not really all that much to remind a soul that anything used to be here at all. It's just a mess of floating islands, shattered landscapes, broken dreams.

And an intrepid team of adventurers trying to put it all right.

Will joins the others in their trek up the mountain with all the equipment a Digger might possibly need to survive the precarious climb ahead of them. He's festooned with ropes, his frontier ensemble has been reinforced by layers of knitted scarves and thick protective pads. His gun is...

Holstered.

It doesn't stay holstered for long.

"Ah, shit," Will whispers once they come across The Kid, but is attention is drawn elsewhere almost immediately. Into the sky, towards those... Those damn, noisy birds. Now, Will's got nothing against friends of the avian persuasion, but if there's gotta be a choice between fighting them and fighting folks whose only problem with him is that he's up on a mountain that don't belong to him, then his next move is obvious. "Y'all help the Kid," he calls to the others as he unlimbers the Solano from its holster. Its blue light instantly flickers and fades into a rippling, colorless and near-invisible aura of energy. "I'll take care of the rats with wings...!"

Will turns his weapon to the sky and pulls the trigger. Waves of electronic chaos surge upwards, each one carefully aimed to intercept a different bird in flight. On contact, they'd each be subject to a burst of paralyzing electricity.

And unless someone looks REAL close, they probably won't see exactly what it is that's taking these things out.

Iria (215) has posed:
If it's stealth you want, you can count on Iria.

If it's action you want, you can also count on Iria.

Regardless of what it is you need, she's the bounty hunter for you!

Coming through the warpgate, Iria spots those bizarre birds as well and she quickly draws her pistol, fully loaded in advance, and fires off a couple of rounds at them. "Didn't know I was going to be doing some hunting today. I would've brought a rifle with me!"

Rhapsody (325) has posed:
    Well isn't this just a warm welcoming party? Critters attacking everywhere, plants choking out anything they can wrap around, the Kid already in trouble.. "Right, straight to the point, today!" Rhapsody makes note of before charging from the gate toward the lunkhead Agent Parsons is hopefully keeping under control.

    Given the chance, the dragon draws one of her spellblades, lunges, then slashes at the creature in an effort to give Flamel a much needed hand.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Mount Zand, it was a holy place to the Ura and she would try to be respectful given this world did seem to have had active gods at one point or might /still/ do so. She was ready to be sneaky though clad in her stealth armour and even with a strange face plate covering the upper part of her face Kotone was here and ready to go. She was quiet looking at Rucks and the Kid, seeing both on the field =showed how important it might be. She'll open up tac net connections to anyone working here who is able and willing to. The Bird s meanwhile are handled by Ko pausing to pull a survival knife out backed up with her super human strength and the fact these things are animals. It should hopefully be enough for her to help.

Staren has posed:
    Mount Zand, holy site to some god that doesn't do anything and therefore is irrelevent and wasteful to spend time worshipping. Staren wouldn't care one whit what the Ura think, except that his last visit proved /some/ of them could be reasonable, so... He'll try not to cause trouble here.

    Moving stealthily through vegetation is difficult for Staren. He can cut and scorch it, or fly over it, but both are pretty visible. Cat form might almost be useful here if the world weren't so full of dangerous monsters -- he needs his armor! If only Rory had a spare of that felinoid of hers...

    Oh well. He comprimises, using flight-assisted jumps from tree to tree to stay above the thickest of the vegetation but still get some tree cover. And comes upon The Kid in trouble! He takes aim with the laser rifle, but the kid is saying to shut 'em' up, plural. So not the thing attacking him...? Staren looks up. Oh. He's not sure he can hit such small targets quickly and quietly.

    But others are handling them anyway. Okay then! He takes aim at the lunkhead. "Rhapsody!" he gives her a heads up to give him an opening, waits for one, and fires!

Rory White (673) has posed:
The robo-feline that Rory's been slowly tinkering with is pressed into service once again! This time it sports military camouflage and finer texturing, and heavier armoring in key places. The weapon mountings have been made modular and turned into independently swiveling mounts. A half-dozen laser emitters are placed strategically around its body, allowing four to focus on any one target at a time and no area to go without coverage.

    It's a far more militant loadout than she's rather bring to a so-called 'holy place', but she steps through the warp gate with optics aglow with determination!

    Or maybe that's just how they normally work.

    She wastes no time target-locking the circling peckers and rapid-firing laser bursts at all of them. Which, of course, are invisible beams - apart from the electric violet bursts of light where they strike the peckers and hopefully set them ablaze anyways!

    "How odd. Those creatures usually join the fray! Why the behavior change? Are we near their nesting grounds?"

    The robo-feline turns its head to peer questioningly at Rucks...

The Kid has posed:
    The Lunkhead descends, only to be grabbed by invisible hands. Normally, it would begin to let out frantic, panicked croaks over this, but they clamp down on its throat and silence them! Rhapsody slices through its rubbery flesh while Staren's laser burns right through its stone mask to finish it. That's one saved Kid!

    The birds overhead are knifed down, shot down, lasered down, or stunned before plummeting to the earth. The lucky ones land on the mountain. The unlucky ones fall past it, and keep falling. Rucks is stroking his moustache as Rory turns an inquiring eye to him. "Reckon I got an idea, but I'll wait to hear what Kid has to say." He then raises that Carbine and picks off the Bootlicker that is ensaring Kid in vines. A single, clean shot through the head silences its humanlike cries and frees its victim.

    Kid rises, pulling stray vines from his body and nodding his thanks to the group. "Thanks. But keep it down with the guns, least 'till we get higher. Less chance of being heard there." He starts wiping the gore from his War Machete off on the grass as he reports his findings. "There's a lotta new structures... not just Ura ramps, but things that look cobbled together from scrap. And the place is dense with everythin' the Wild has. Peckers, Stinkeyes, Swampweeds, Bootlickers, Pincushions, Anklegators... I think I even heard a Lungblossom higher up." He shudders.

    Rucks just continues to stroke his moustache and nods. "I figured. The creatures of the Wild... they're buildin' a Bastion of their very own." The Kid's eyes go wide, and he starts to say something before Rucks raises a hand for silence. "But we have'ta take the Shard. It's for the best. Lead the way, Kid." The boy with white hair frowns, but takes out his bow and notches an arrow before guiding the party up the mountain.

    Wooden ramps make the ascent easier, allowing the party to crawl through the bush without worrying about where they put their feet. Higher above them is manmade structures, made of wood embedded into the soil. Ura places of worship no doubt. However, barriers of carved rock and collapsed trees make the direct route tricky. Here is where Kid points at the signs of animal intelligence. How recent the tree collapses were based on the condition of the stumps they fell from, the freshness of the torn ground based on nature growth... it's undeniable, the beasts of the Wild did this.

    They stop just below the structures. Kid finds a bunch of Cael supply crates, and wedges his Machete into them to get at the contents. And at that moment, Pincushions sprout all around and begin spraying their needles! Not directly at the party, but all around. Marking a killzone, making it hard to escape. Within it, Stinkweeds erupt from the ground and begin filling the air with noxius fumes, choking the nose and burning the throat. It's so thick it actually minimizes visibility.

    And then three familiar shapes comes towards the party. Like shark fins sticking from the ground, accompanied by a low rumble as they move. Anklegators, much smaller than Queen Anne, but just as dangerous.

Staren has posed:
    Staren's immediately looking thoughtful as The Kid describes signs of structures ahead... his eyes widen a bit when Rucks suggests the /animals/ are building things! "Could it be that they develop some sort of intelligence in groups? No, you're saying having the shard is making them smarter somehow?"

    At least there's ramps now. "Of course, just because they're showing signs of intelligence doesn't mean they've turned into /people/." He comments, as The Kid points out how fallen trees were carefully selected. "What /is/ going on, though? You guys seem to know more than you're telling us..."

    But then there's needles, everywhere! Wearing down his forcefield... and when the fumes(?) erupt, Staren takes to the air to get away -- he doesn't know whether it's just poison, or acid after all!

    Unfortunately, he can't drop a missile or grenade with his allies in the same area as the monsters, and he can't pick the monsters off because of the fumes! It's almost as if...

    ...As if they planned around the group's capabilities.

    Well, Staren was just saying last night about how you have to be prepared for everything... And a quick mental search of what he's got on hand turns up something...

    Hovering over the battlefield, Staren pulls a small canister from his bag, and drops it. It explodes (not forcefully enough to hurt anyone) into a cloud of black dust which sticks to everything.

    And as the dust outlines things, the outlines show up on the tacnet he shares with Rory and Kotone. Time to start picking off monsters! Staren turns his armor's beam cannons to that end!

William Pauwel has posed:
"Y'all don't have to worry too overmuch about the Solano here at least," Will says as birds start falling like lawndarts into the surrounding snow. "Unless these Ura folks know 'bout what a plasma discharge sounds like, I don't think they'll even know what I'm carrying."

The weight of his sidearm does little to reassure Will today, though. Not... With everything that they're seeing. Structures not apparently built by human hands tower all around them. Will's lips draw into a tight frown. "...Those critters built all of this?" He looks... Pensive. Suddenly uncertain. "Ain't there a way we can convince 'em to come along with us to /our/ Bastion? I mean, there's plenty'a room there now, ain't th--"

Will's thoughts are interrupted by a sudden fusilade of needles, a choking gasp of toxic fumes, and... Sand sharks!?

The wildlife here is almost just as bad as the ones he's got back home.

Will chokes and wheezes on the smothering fumes. His weapon shifts as he draws it again, turning from colorless and transparent to a hot, angry orange. When Will pulls the trigger, it's not lightning or plasma that emerge, but tongues of flame.

He kind of hopes this stuff burns.

He also hopes the cloud won't just explode.

Iria (215) has posed:
The initial battle is a piece of cake for Iria, and the ramps make things a bit easier too. Yet she's got a look of uneasiness on her face, almost as if she's got a premonition about something here and now. And it looks like she's got the right idea.

Needles shoot out of pincushions, and while they don't hit Iria, they do get too close for comfort. "Ahh, crap!" She says with a hint of annoyance as if she knew something like this was going to happen. And then the stinkweeds do their thing, causing Iria to cough and gasp as she drops to one knee, trying to get as close to the ground as she can. "Ugh... this really sucks!"

As if things couldn't get any worse, right Iria?

Well, it does.

Sand sharks show up, and almost immediately the needles and stink are trivial to Iria as she draws her revolver again and attempts to fire upon them as best as she can. "Had I known THIS was going to happen, I would've brought harpoons with me instead!"

Rhapsody (325) has posed:
    With one big fella down, and a whole bunch of other things dealt with, Rhapsody takes in the group that's assembled, gives a nod in hello to the group, and especially Kid, before sheathing her spellblade and moving to follow after everyone. "Building.. that's kind of interesting. Kind of a shame, though, isn't it? They're trying to survive here, just like anyone else. Wish we could figure out a way to share-" the thought isn't allowed to finish as a whole lot of trouble just sprouted around everyone!

    Between the choking fumes and the needling assault, the guildmaster is having trouble focusing. It doesn't help she's about coughing up a lung because of the fumes, but the way they strain her eyes makes it hard to see. Rather than actually fight, Rhapsody has to take a knee, trying to get to some kind of breathable air. "I can't see!" is the call for help she cries out with.

Rory White (673) has posed:
This is a strange turn of events! Rory's reactions are machine-like. the robo-kitty prioritizes leaping away from the approaching Anklegators detected seismically, using her integrated mapping software to guage where things SHOULD be despite the thick fumes. This, however, leaves her open to a half-dozen NEEDLES, which bite deep into the metal hide where there are chinks in its armor and draw a spray of sparks from the synthmorph!

    "What effect could the Shard have on biologicals exposed to it for a long time? More to the point, this is a holy site to the Ura."

    As she speaks, Rory instantly exploits Staren's target painting, all her lasers locking onto different creatures and hitting FULL OUTPUT. They're silent killers, but the fumes make them visible - blue-violet beams that incinerate miniscule amounts of Stinkweed fumes on their path to kill the plants themselves with precise pulses of intense light!

    "Not enough time has passed from retrieving the Shard for THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN to be affected by whatever emissions it produces. It's more logical to conclude that the wildlife of Mt. Zand were already exceptional for some reason, leading to them wanting the Shard."

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    "Phew, thanks Rhapsody. A Bastion of their own...? Huh, you mean this might be like one of those genius dolphin conspiracy situations?" Parsons says, tilting his head. While he does this and walks with the others, he's pulling something out of the surface of his own head. It's... It's a silencer. A translucent silencer, which he settles "into" his own finger. Well, that's apparently going to solve noise issues, combining his espionage expertise and his psionic marksmanship abilities.

    He blinks a few times, in a sort of confusion. "Is that... Something the Shards are doing, or the Calamity did, or is that just how the fauna here are? Just, normally? No no," He makes an odd gesture at Rory. "I bet the Pecker took the shard /because/ they're building a Bastion here!" He speaks quietly, sneaking as they push on further and further. "I definitely need to figure out what's going on here. This is so strange, I need to know what's going on."

    And here's a chance to find out. The supply crates turn out to be an ambush!! A rush of fumes assails him and he can do little to hold it off. "Augh! No more horrible Wilds gasses!" He shouts, still rather traumatized by Jawson Bog. The needles tear into his legs before he manages to levitate high above them, and the noxious substances in the air tear through his throat and lungs, but he'll survive the damage, one hopes. What's more relevant is that, despite the passive damage over time, he plants a pair of fingers on each temple, concentrates, and begins emitting a dramatic white light from behind his secret-agent sunglasses.

    Who here has the most neural mass... Probably those Anklegators! Irresponsibly, he leaves himself in a quite vulnerable position, as he attempts to psychically invade those anklegators! Presumably to fight their aggression directly, and to drive at least one or two off psychically, but also for the purposes of DISCOVERY! What strangeness lies in their minds? Do they HAVE minds? Is something psychic controlling them? Agent Parsons has absolutely no idea, but his lust for information about this situation sure is going to make him try to find out, even if it's at his own expense!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa gets hooked up with Rory and STaren and they are good to go. She will move to end up cleaning the knife then putting it away. She'll now make to start to cloakc faind from view. She'll take note of the warnings thoug. It ownd' be easy going forward, she can ge the creatures wanting to not die but people in the end? If she has to chose she'll chose people over wildlife. She keeps moving though. She'll make use of being cloakeed ot get the jump on their attackers. She'll make use of her SMG attacking like a phantom as she goes.

The Kid has posed:
    Before they arrive at the ambush, Rucks answers Staren. "Don't think so much into it. The Wilds is a dangerous to them as it is to us. Takes more'n bein' tough to make it. Gotta be smart too." He also looks to Rhapsody and Will and says, "No. Best we can do is give 'em a clean kill. That's the only kinda mercy we got these days. Don't worry, our Bastion is best for everybody." As the assault begins, and Rhapsody begins to choke, he pushes her down from behind and gets low himself. The fumes float, which means the ground is relatively clearer.

    During the ambush, the Anklegators get a majority share of the attention. It makes sense, they're the most 'aggressive' of the lot. The soil itself is their armor, soaking up most of the impact from the bullets, and the lasers just start boiling the moisture in the soil before anything else. Telepathic assault though, no amount of earth can stop that. The horns stop as Flamel quells their aggression, giving Kid time to walk right up and rip them from the soil so everyone else can finish them. The Anklegators are possessed with a predator's cunning, if not a lot of intellect. There's no sign of them being controlled, but it seems like Peckers have brought them food in exchange for not attacking other creatures... but also, they get bonus rations for driving off Ura patrols.

    The flames from the Solano do not ignite the fumes, thankfully. But adding the smell of burning vegetation on top of them as he cooks the Stinkweeds and Pincushions is... ugh. They cook relatively fast, and Kotone's stealthy bullets help them along their way. The fumes begin to clear, revealing Kid and what he found in those crates. A mortar cannon, which he is going over and examining, before hanging it over his shoulder and bringing some mortars to use with it. He's also carrying a gramophone he found.

    After a quick break, and some generous sharing of Healing Water to tend to wounds and rinse eyes out, the ascent continues. Now they walk through the Ura structures, with high wooden wall acting as defensive structures between narrow wooden walkways. The summit is in sight... and the Peckers are surrounding them. Sitting on those structures, glaring at them with beady eyes. None make any aggressive moves though.

    Finally, they reach the top... and the Shard is in sight. Floating at the centre of the summit, a flatland carved from the peak. Surrounded by all manner of flora and fauna. Pincushions and Wallflowers sit at the back, having formed actual firing lines. More felled logs give them cover, while the party is in the open. Lunkheads stand with Bootlickers and Stinkeyes as Swampweeds bloom along the perimeter.

    But their fumes are the least of their worried.

    At the very back are two massive flowers, with teeth and tusks of hardened chitin, surrounding a gaping maw. They are giving off fumes too, fumes that are... intoxicating. In the same way that Jawson Bog was.

    Kid stares straight ahead, at the Shard. "We can grab it 'n go..." he mutters. "There should be a Skyway between the Lungblossoms. It'll be rough, but we can rush for i-" Rucks clamps a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head. "Put 'em down Kid. It's for the best."

    The young man lets out a shaky sigh, before taking that Mortar and planting the legs. "I'll back y'all up. Make it quick." And then the Peckers take to the sky, cawing up a cry for battle.

Rhapsody (325) has posed:
    Near the ground, pushed further by Rucks for her own safety, the dragon gasps for breath as the others take care of .. well everything. "Ugh! Nature is -literally- attacking us here! The simic and the gruul would adore this place," she mutters as the fumes finally disperse. She speaks her gratitude to Rucks for his help as she dusts her coat and clothing off. Seems Kid found a few spoils, and useful ones at that. He can explode things now. At distance! "Good find!"

    Further along the path still, and after some of that offered water clears the stinging from her eyes, she gets a good look at everything they're going to have to deal with. "If we weren't trying to make so much noise..." she muses, thinking about the need of a bigger dragon. Her flying around up here could draw too much attention. Same with using the lightning bolt charges in her spellblade. With a resigned sigh, both spellblades are drawn, "Welp. If we have to take it-" the peckers take to the sky, making a mighty racket. Make it quick, Kid says. "So much for surprising them, lets go!" and charge in she goes, ready to slice anything that moves.

Rory White (673) has posed:
A mountain of vicious wildlife atop a vicious mountain seems fitting, but Rory would have rathered they not come face to face with what appears to be the nastiest-looking plant she's ever witnessed. "I have seen vidgame wildernesses less dangerous than this. Knowing humanity rose to prominence here despite such creatures speaks very highly of the civilizations! ... But this is no time to admire what we must surmount."

    The Argonauts would love samples of some of these creatures, and thankfully her Morph is equipped for such. But for now... she starts with an OPENING VOLLEY of sweeping sustained laser fire, raking varying beams back and forth across the distant Pecker swarm!

Iria (215) has posed:
No matter how hard Iria tries to take on the situation at hand, it always seems to get worse. Nevertheless, she switches to her assault rifle (note, ASSAULT RIFLE, not hunting rifle) and loads a clip into it. With a yell, she fires upon the Pecker swarm as well, hoping to try to at least get them to disperse or something.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Oh thank goodness, some healing. Parsons is in real need of that. It's not like he wasn't still breathing that horrid gas during all that. It HURTS! His lungs are bad right now, real bad, but at least they're not THAT bad now. He takes deep, experimental breaths, before moving on. Parsons also examines that nice stuff The Kid found. Huh. Seems interesting. He's absolutely fascinated with what the gramophone might contain.

    For now, though, time to move on. Time to ascend. Time to, specifically, try to get up there without enraging these Peckers. They're clever sons of bitches and Parsons is less inclined to make any aggressive gesture at them, especially not some kind of projection, until they show hostility. And boy do they show hostility! Oh jesus christ. They've amassed some kind of army up here!!

    Parsons just HAS to know what's going on.

    Is there one superintelligent Pecker ringleading the group? Is this just how Peckers are /naturally/? Parsons has to know, this is far, far too strange and new. So, with no ambush this time, he gets a chance to errect his shield. It should be able to keep out most of the gasses, though not the psychohazardous fumes of a Lungblossom, which, in smaller doses, threaten a dangerous, encroaching mental hazard that deals some significant destabilization to his psionic abilities! Not to mention to traumatic contusions that spread in glowing, neuron-shaped patterns over his body as the swarm of animals falls on him.

    Right now, though, he's casting his mind out and among the animals, trying to pick up on one with a bigger mind than the others, and flooding any of the ones that lack it with a rush of changes, trying to pit them against those tremendous Lungblossoms and tear up the alliance that the local ecosystem has formed against them! But if he can find some source... Some Flock Chief... He's going to try to change it. To placate it.

    Specifically, he heard Rucks is getting lonely at the Bastion, so giving him a pet murderhawk for the time being would be optimal.

William Pauwel has posed:
Will coughs, wheezing out the last of that terrible, burning vapor. They've finally reached the summit! And there, the shard they've come all this way to fetch. The Chaser chokes and coughs a few more time for good measure. Maybe it's a good thing it feels like his nostrils and throat are on fire right now? It keeps his mind off that cloying, sweet scent in the air.

But hey, everyone made it. They're here now, their destination is right in front of them. It only took a trek up a mountain, a trip through the beginnings of something like a bestial civilization. The shard is at its heart. This is their Bastion.

Is this... Really the right thing to do?

He's seen what's happened to places deprived of these shards before. Will this whole place, this holy mountain, go tumbling into the abyss if they remove it?

Will's lips draw into a tight grimace as he unlimbers his gun again. The Solano's light flashes its natural, pale blue as he fires off a quick series of shots into the swarming peckers.

And meanwhile, he... Continues to think.

Staren has posed:
    After the fight, Staren lands again. The forcefield emitter discs on his chestplate have all blown out except one... and from the way it was flickering, that probably won't hold against an entire attack. "Perhaps something else here is controlling them? Maybe related to the Ura's religion somehow, a forgotten, animal-controlling... entity that wants the shard and is coordinating attacks against us." Flamel says the peckers are the ringleaders... huh.

    And then they reach the summit, and... Oh my. No cover, and he can't just use a big flashy fireball to get rid of them... At least he doesn't have to deal with the gas thanks to armor with its own air supply. The peckers should be the priority target, but... Rory can probably track them better than he can.

    He sweeps a line of fire across the pincushions and wallflowers, taking the laser off burst mode to fire single shots at the plants... /hopefully/ enough to take each down.

    The forcefield stops a few needles before shattering, many more continuing on to hit his armor, scratching or lodging into it... That /can't/ be good for its continued structural integrity. Hopefully this will be over before that becomes a problem...

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone has helped to thin out the horde she will keep moving now she's noticed the strange behaviour of the animals they are flat out fighting smart. There's no other word for it and working together what has the shard effect on them? It's something to look into later when they lives are not on the line. So she keeps moving keeping tabs on all her allioes as best as she can and she'll move to help Rory out somewhat as she opens up on the pecker swarms along side Rory.

The Kid has posed:
    The battle is joined! Rhapsody charges in with her paied blades and begins swinging. Several Stinkeyes go down before Lunkheads hop up to her, using their own faces to block her swings. And while she cut down many Stinkeyes, more bloom from the ground around her and try to drive their thorns into her body, emanating their powerful odours. The Swampweeds float their own fumes her way too, as do the Lungblossoms. Did the Peckers see how she faltered at the ambush and passed the info along?

    Rory begins sweeping the cloud of Peckers above with lasers! But, the birds are prepared, in a highly disturbing way. Those that die first are snatched up in the talons of those behind, and used as shields to cover their descent upon the AGI. Sharp feathers and cruel beaks fall upon Rory, trying to rip at the lasers, pull them out of her! They also swarm Kotone, talons attempt to grip her as wings beat, trying to pull her airborne as the Pincushions focus fire on her... they want to leave her an open target!

    As Iria fires into the air, the Peckers repeat the same trick, using their dead bethern as shields from her bullets. The Wallflowers in the distance fire at her, using dense bullets of pollen to strike from afar! And the worst past is, returning fire just makes them close up their tough-as-iron petals to shield their vulnerable pistils. Yes, this keeps them from firing for a bit, but there are so many that one opens again for every one closed.

    Flamel's mind reaches out to touch the creatures. Each and every one has some level of intelligence, like Rucks said. They all possess that animal cunning like the Peckers. Even the flora has enough mind to read, but they're a bit more simplistic. The thing that unites them is... the Calamity. Only such a disaster could force such disparate lifeforms together to form a common goal. They're survivors, just like Kid, Rucks, Zulf, Zia, and the Ura. He finds no evidence of a Flock Chief, but there is one Pecker flying high above that is more wizened and experienced than the others.

    Will begins firing off heavy blasts into the swarm, but Lunkheads take objection. One leaps into his firing path, before crashing down before him with a heavy croak! It leaps again, trying to headbutt him, shove him down so his two smaller buddies can dogpile and crush him!

    Staren's lasers cut through the Wallflowers and Pincushions. The former close up to defend against the beams as best they can, but Pincushions have no such defence. They are burned up, significantly reducing incoming fire. But now Peckers are swarming him too, trying to rip at components of his armor!

    Kid and Rucks are opening fire too, the former picking off Wallflowers with singular, precise shots when they open up. The latter is lining up that mortar, firing shots to blast apart the logs that form cover for the wildlife. Rucks aims again, fires... and his shot passes right through a Wallflower like it was empty air. A childish giggle fills the air as the old man scowls. "The Pantheon..."

    And indeed, now everyone will find random attacks just pass through enemies without hurting them. They seem to notice this particular change, and renew their attack with increased ferocity! The laugh echoes again, as Kid speaks the name of the god that has seen fit to test them.

                                      OLAK                                      
                                THE CAREFREE SON                                

Staren has posed:
    If the birds are shielding themselves from below, Staren will just have to fly up... But instead, they come to him! He electrifies his armor, though if that's not enough to at least stun them, he's going to be distracted with trying to fly away.

    Also, the Kid just used a freaking /mortar/, so apparently the Flashy Weapons Threshhold has already been passed. Grenades are fired at wallflowers and used as an airburst weapon against swarms of peckers -- plasma minimissiles burn 30ft-wide swaths wherever allies /aren't/. At least, that's Staren's plan... once he sees an attack GO THROUGH, he knows he can't afford to waste ammo, leaving him firing energy weapons wildly at the birds.

    "So someone IS here. What do you want?!"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Even with being cloaked the birds are smart enough to track where she's comming from worse they are using the dead as bullet sponges. What the hell is going on are they that smart or is something directing them? She doesn't know she has no idea. She hears the laugh she isn't sure just what's going on with the giggle but then she hears the words the Pantheon one of the gods? She's too busy fending the birds off and trying to not be pekced to death right now.

She'll get a few shots off but mostly she's trying to swat them away.

Flamel Parsons (1094) has posed:
    Parsons attempts to gently nudge the more wizened bird into a path towards the Bastion. And, you know, friendliness to humans, the assumption of safety there. No harm in giving Rucks a friend. If he can remember to explain that to Rucks, anyway.

    For now, though, he has bigger problems to deal with. The sustained fire is crumpling his barrier, and the damage bleeding through his mounting, more and more. Especially the mentally fraying effect of that Lungblossom gas, it's distorting his psychic abilities badly. He's going to lose concentration and become unable to maintain astral projection soon! Without that option, he's going to be far less useful, so he makes as much use of it now as he can.

    It looks like Rucks' shot is phasing through their enemies. Are some of these impossible to hit...?! Parsons can only think of one possible option. If they're not able to hit the enemies... Maybe Parsons could turn their foes on each other with more strength! As soon as any of the enemies demonstrate that strange intangibility, Parsons sets upon... Their allies! Trying to turn the allies against their potent and dangerous brethren! Maybe, he hopes, fellow wildlife will be able to strike where the party cannot. He's mostly hoping because in a few seconds his barrier's going to collapse and he's going to start getting stabbed, poisoned, disoriented, and otherwise heavily brutalized by the oncoming fire, very badly.

William Pauwel has posed:
Will's heart just doesn't seem to be in it. Maybe it's how hard these guys are trying to defend their home, but something about taking the shard at this point just feels... Wrong? His response is sluggish- too sluggish to avoid getting buried under a couple of enormous frog-monsters and their even larger buddy. "Ghhhhah, come on you... You varmints, this ain't--" The Solano discharges. The shot...

Passes right through one of the Lunkheads like they weren't even there. "-fun...ny?"

No.

That laugh.

That childish giggle...!

"Oh," Will's eyebrow twitches. "Oh. Oh no, it's--"

                             SEVERAL MONTHS AGO                            

There's just a repeating .webm here of a giant hand smashing Will's face through a never-ending wall of bricks. Overlayed is a laughtrack.

A... familiar... laughtrack.

                                    NOW                                    

"NO." The Solano... changes. It shifts at a fundamental level, transforming into a larger, more robust weapon. Will struggles an arm out of his terrible, froggy prison and seizes hold of a handle extending out from one side of the weapon. "NOT TODAY, YOU JERK." Will holds the trigger down.

What results is a veritable onslaught of rapid-fire plasma bolts slung out at blinding speed. Sure, Olak might be able to save these things from SOME of them, but with this many, and fired this quickly, well... You know what they say on Tellus.

"CHASERS MAKE THEIR OWN LUCK!"

Rory White (673) has posed:
Using their comrades' burning bodies as shields. Rory's so astounded at this clever tactic that she ceases firing to analyze it more carefully. It's a waste of three seconds - and that's enough for them to get all over her and rip at her weaponry! Actually ripping the lasers out of their mounts is a heavy-duty job. The joins are firm. ... Unfortunately, the actual mounts give way instead, several tearing free in the cacaphony of cawing and pecking and talon-ripping. Rory is ENGULFED in the swarm.

    Organic beings would probably panic at having dozens of wings fluttering in their faces. Rory is panicking in her own way though, curling up instead.

    All without saying a single word as she focuses on what's happening. Analyzes radio chatter...

    And reconfigures her Morph's power output to route energy where it normally doesn't: her outer skin.

    *SNAP* *CRACKLE* *ZORCH!* In no time at all bolts of lightning arc through the Pecker horde as her insulated paws deny the outpouring electricity grounding.

    Which makes the bird horde the path of least resistance. It's going to smell an AWFUL lot like charred poultry soon.

    Yet one more reason robots can be grateful for lacking noses.

    "Fine. If this is a trial, I will prove myself! It will take more than clever birds and overgrown flora to halt our advance!"

The Kid has posed:
    If Olak can even hear Staren's shouted demands for answers, The Carefree Son lives up to his title by not caring to answer. The electroarmor does indeed stun the many Peckers swarming him... and curiously, not a one of them seems to phase through the attack. The grenades also hit home, scorching the petals and stems of the massive flowers and making them groan in an eerily humanlike tone.

    Kotone's frantic swatting smacks a few Peckers away, but some get to enjoy that phasing effect, her blows hitting nothing but air. However, they can still grab her, and trying to carry her over the edge of the summit!

    Will has had experience with Olak, it's true. The child's laugh becomes louder, even more delighted as he begins screaming and changes the Solano, blasting through the Lunkheads! A few do travel past, but several hit thanks to sheer volume and the froglike things go down. He even manages to clip some that are carrying Kotone away, saving her!

    Flamel's mind touched the elderly Pecker, and it caws angrily! However, it can also tell what is a losing battle when it sees it. And even if the wildlife has numbers and the Pantheon on their side, the Elites are not budging. So it swoops away, heading east. He also reaches for the minds of the wildlife to turn them on each other. Many of the fauna seem resistant, but the flora, with their more simplistic mindset, seem susceptible. Now, Lunkheads find their vulnerable backs peppered with needles, Peckers and Stinkeyes shot down by pinpoint Wallflower shots! His gamble was correct; they cannot phase through the attacks of 'allies.'

    Rory buzzes with electricity, same as Staren, and that does a fine job of getting them off. Her declaration makes Olak laugh more too! However, she is now left with no weapons... and yet, that attack hit every single one. The Kid is peppering the summit with mortar fire now, and every explosion is going unavoided. "... it only works on direct fire!" he calls, figuring it out. He rushes forward and plants the mortar again, launching another shot, one that sinks right into the maw of a Lungblossom, blowing it apart from within!

    With that factoid, cleanup becomes easier. Rucks borrows the Kid's grenades and begins tossing them. What he lacks in speed, he makes up for in precision. And eventually, the summit is. Bodies choke the floor, and many Peckers are flying away now. Various unpleasant scents choke the air as Kid strides forward and claims the Shard. Ruck coughs into a fist and looks around, that childish laughter fading, apparently satisfied.

    "Don't you worry none. It'll all be worth it in the end," he says. To everyone, to Kid, to himself.

Staren has posed:
    Oh good, shocking works. It's been a more useful upgrade to Staren's armor than he expected! To Rory, he retorts: "If it's a trial, we don't care. We'll take the shard and leave while this entity plays games with itself." And with the direct-fire problem identified... Staren's only problem is he has so many explosives he can't fire them fast enough to use them all!

    "Let's take the shard and go, before the Ura come."

William Pauwel has posed:
It only works on direct fire? Great! Because /that/ means Will has every right to swap his weapon's standards munitions out for INCENDIARY ROUNDS. Surely 'being on fire' doesn't count as direct damage, right?

Right.

But soon, there's nothing left to shoot. Soon, the Wild Bastion is nothing more than a blasted, burning wasteland.

Will breathes heavy and hard among the waste, and only once the fury- and the giggling- fades does he finally realize the scope of the damage.

There's a ping of guilt, there, right in the depths of his heart.

Beat.

"Hey Flamel," Will calls, "Agent Parsons! Y'all and I need to talk. 'Bout a friend of mine."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
So it was a trial? Very well she'd so her best to try and impress this god and help them pass this test. She mutters somthing silently alng the lines of give me strength she mutters as she keeps going however she ends up getting grabbed and they are trying to carry her over the edge. That's when the eelware in herbody powers up and she dials the setting up to make use of it Will happens. Those that remain get the eel ware houseven as she become a living bird stapper for a moment.

Now saved from having to test to see if she can fly her arm flapping. She drops back to the ground and moves to keep going seeking to clean up the animals here but she also kinda annoyed the god would use them in such a way. They had a shitty of enough time as it is really too.

Rory White (673) has posed:
For once, Rory didn't bring the right weaponry. But who could have expected a TRICKSTER GOD being a jerk on them?! This surprise, mixed with frustration and disgust, is ALMOST noticeable in her damaged body's demeanor as the robotiger rises unsteadily and takes stock of the situation!

    A quick sensor analysis reveals... everyone is intact enough! Nobody is terribly injured.

    The fact that Kotone was nearly carried off has her AGITATED and she quickly bounds over to Kotone and Will as things settle down... largely thanks to copious amounts of explosions and mind-altering willpower!

    "The Pantheon... what does it WANT?"