1128/Zombie University
From Multiverse Crisis MUSH
| Zombie University | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 12 December 2014 |
| Location: | Void - Space-Time Storms |
| Synopsis: | The Mariage assault a magic school. |
| Cast of Characters: | Maya, 162, 320, 401, 558, 570, 597 |
| Tinyplot: | Power Games |
- Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
Kimiko arrives, naturally from the direction of the warp gate, moving at a pretty good clip despite her inability to fly. For just moving around, she doesn't need the weight of her armor, and so she takes steps some ten or more meters at a time, pushing against whatever's handy for extra thrust.
While she is looking around for the enemy, she's also a bit distracted by what Signum told her the other day. The Confederacy has some way to steal the Mariage's power? Will this become a chance to do so? Only if said Confederates show up, she supposes. But with that distress signal traveling wide as it is, perhaps they will.
- Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
A streak of purple passes overhead. Zephyr is observing the area before descending. The streak makes a sharp 120 degree turn, and the mage lands with a solid crunch of stone beneath her armoured boots near to one of the huddled groups. "There other survivors?" she asks them, flashing her Device in a flourish to rest over her shoulder. "If so, gather 'em up, and get 'em outta here... I've got buddies comin', we'll clear these things out."
- Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
"Damn Mariage are becoming more trouble than they're worth to deal with," Flint comments, sitting in the back of a transport ship from his much larger Main Ship as it skims down through the atmosphere and circles around in over the University. He has an assault rifle in one hand and looks incredibly annoyed that he's actually going into combat for once.
Still, he's tired of the Mariage and the more he destroys the more he hopes to backtrace them to their origin. So he's actually ready for war this time, hopping out of the back of his ship as it makes a pass, he rolls on the ground, jacket moving around him and a hand on his hat to keep it steady. Then he hops up to his feet and looks around for where to head.
- Maya has posed:
Kimiko would not be along a hulking mechanical thing is coming with her at this point it. Maya had told Runner to help Miss Shinobu and to listen to her, hopefully he will for the most part listen to her. It paws after her after her on all fours and looks like some sort of /tank/. It's also not seemingly happy about things given what happened to Maya. Even it can sense what's gone.
- Material-D (597) has posed:
"Annoying," says one of the Confederate arrivals. A tear in time and space, purple-black in color, rends open the sky and ejects a silver-haired girl. Yami sighs, fluttering wings as she surveys the area, and she lowers to join Kimiko on the way to the others, letting the more appropriate Zephyr talk to the civilians.
"Something is odd," she notes to Flint and Kimiko. "There must be a Controller nearby, the Drones are not swarming."
- Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
For once, Fate and Arf do not deploy from home. The blonde and her Familiar are holed up in the back of Flint's transport. For the record Arf looks very content; though Fate is as broody as ever. Perhaps moreso than usual tonight as she sits in silence in the back, Bardiche resting propped up over her shoulder.
"Neh, Feeeeito! Don't look so down! Wasn't the ramen great?"
"Mnh."
Arf knows when to drop her silly habits though, suddenly much more serious as she asks, "It's about those girls isn't it?"
"... Mn."
The conversation is over though as the good captain swings the ship down low enough for the blonde and wolf-woman to leap out as well. In an instant at Flint's side is a MASSIVE red wolf, made of nothing but muscle and claws and fangs. Fate is, in the meanwhile looking for the closest congregation of people caught up in all this mess.
This might end up putting her on a course for Zephyr, maybe. Oops.
- Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
The students in the school are huddled and startled when Zephyr and Fate join them, but they obviously aren't Mariage, so... they part to allow an older man, with a short but salt-and-pepper beard, to step forward and speak. "We managed to take out two of them, but the things... they hide in the shadows and strike when we aren't looking. And I suspect they merely let you in... getting out will be harder. They're hiding in the houses."
Indeed, that is becoming clear. As the dog, Yami, and Kimiko head for the school, and Flint tumbles to a landing, shadowy figures dart from the houses, sticking to the sides and alleys between the homes. Bardiche may have to kick in for Fate, because from the window of the school, a sudden crack sends a slug toward the young blonde.
- Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
Flint rolls to a stop and readies his energy rifle. The Pirate Captain isn't used to all-out combat, and so is slightly out of his element. He prefers trickery and fancy fights. But he rarely gets those against the Mariage.
He lifts up the rifle and looks to the wolf next to him. Arf actually finds him scratching her between the ears as he looks around and says, "We should find survivors that are pinned down and help them. Any you can track for us to intercept?"
- Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr's expression shifts subtly as she hears boots coming up behind her. She looks over her shoulder and spots Fate, expression unreadable. As the man steps forwards, the brunette shrugs. "Stay together then... we'll clear out a path to escape by."
Whether it's by some fluke, Zephyr's mismatched eyes spot the shift in the shadow behind the window, and she blurs out of sight, appearing again between Fate and the Mariage shooting at her. <RAMPART AEGIS!> chimes Divine Wind, her claret call heralding a hemisphere of purple energy appearing and deflecting the slug into the ground harmlessly. The impact point on the shield shows a large 'dent' and several cracks spiderwebbing out, but the defense holds. "Sneaky F'ralth..."
She returns fire, reshaping the Barrier into motes of purple light that then flash out to batter the window with consentrated explosions. <IMPULSE CASCADE!>
- Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
Kimiko gives a careful nod to Yami. "Searching is not... among my strengths. I will focus on defense." Searching, no. Detection... maybe. When the enemies come to /her/, it's far easier to find them.
Coming to lightly land on the ground level, but selecting a spot with a clear view of many paths, she's expecting to be easily surrounded. And by the weaponry she summons, she's not even preparing for that eventuality--a large and absurdly heavy-looking metal bow is slammed into the ground by its stabilizing spike, and the coiled-wire string pulled back to an audible creak of straining steel. Even with this unusual weapon, however, she shows her magically-gifted proficiency, firing one arrow after another in every direction. Not /at/ anything in particular--each arrow is likely to simply hit a wall somewhere, with just enough force to enter a few inches.
It's the extremely fine, nearly invisible chains carried by each arrow that really matter, here. The chains join together in a coil beneath her right foot, and her ear is tuned to any vibration among them.
- Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
"Rrrrrrr..."
For the record, ear scritches are pretty nice. Arf is MASSIVE though. At the very least up to Flint's chest in war form, and very different from the spastic ramen-loving puppy on Kaiba's plane just the day before. "Heeeeeeeh... Well let's see. Fate-o went that way so..."
The wolf lifts her head, test-sniffing at the air. "Hey how about a little game. Whoever mauls less of these cheaty fast zombies on the way treats the winner to..." Wait for it. "Ramen~."
Arf's going to start sniffing for others on Flint's suggestion.
Fate however says nothing as she comes across Zephyr and the clustered huddle of students and refugees. Those scarlet eyes are as icy as ever before the report of the slug on a deadly course right for her sounds off.
She's fast. Inhumanly so, but even she can't fully protect herself from attacks she wasn't expe<span style="color:ting.
c#ffec8b">[DEFEN--]</span> Bardiche begins to announce before Zephyr is in the path. Someone's been working hard, it seems, as scarlet eyes widen just a fraction, when the TSAB mage puts up a shield for her. For a long beat, Fate is silent. It's Bardiche that speaks up first.
[IMPRESSIVE.]
Fate's glacial expression flutters, ever so faintly and briefly, before she puts her war face back on. "Mn. We need to get these people somewhere safer."
For NOW though, for their protection she taps Bardiche to the ground, the sudden CHUNK of a cartridge loading into place as the Device announces: [DEFENSER PLUS.] Erecting a golden barrier dome around the group so Fate and Zephyr don't have to worry too much about them while working.
- Maya has posed:
Runner is moving in at this point the dog is mechanical however and some of it's weapon seems to be mass but what's that in it's mouth when it opens it? It seems to be a canon of some sort. It sems to be intent to get into the fight as it moves along after ht's master for the day. With that Runner moves in to follow to guard her.
- Material-D (597) has posed:
"Hmm..."
Yami thinks for a long, hard minute, then... decides what to do. "We will set up a Barrier. Likely the magic-using students will be caught within it as well, but there are other advantages to using such. Collateral damage will not be a <span class=" fg_m bg_n ++ oncern."
cm"><TEMPORAL BARRIER></span> Yami's Device announces, causing a wave of power and slight dimming of light to wash over the area, enveloping this section of the town and university all at once.
- Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
It's a good plan all around, and the Confeds and Union are all working together pretty well. This is good, because the Mariage are far more coordinated this time. The ones with the blades are being very careful to approach slowly, and are even careful to avoid tripping Kimiko's wires. They really aren't built for stealth, though, and she can sense them coming closer, if behind cover.
But with Arf's help... Arf can smell one of the strange beings sooner, and alert Flint and Runner if she wants. Kimiko will sense the Drone rising as well, crawling from a second-story window and in a position to pounce Kimiko. Runner is not of interest, today.
Zephyr has intercepted the bullet, and thus the students are protected by Fate! Great! They huddle under the barrier, murmuring a bit, and the Mariage... is gone? Yeah, gone.
Flint isn't left alone though. One of the Drones bursts through a window, trying to tackle him down without using blades this time. Another is leaping toward Arf, erupting from a doorway, but she has a much longer way to sprint.
This is at the same time as the Mariage from before shoots from a different window... at Zephyr. Only this time, she's backed up by another controller, who snaps off a shot from the other side, also toward Zephyr. The new one's aim is much more careful and deadly than normal.
- Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
"Agreed." she taps her own Device on the ground. "Lets go Dee. Mistral Form, Drive!" the axe shifts form, shedding one blade before a pair of spinning turbine blades begin orbiting her. <IGNITION. MISTRAL SQUALL! EMPOWER MODE!> The TSAB Mage then looks back at Fate. "Make you a deal." she offers. "Whoever gets the most kills gets treated to ice cream when we're done." she offers, a little smirk forming on her lips, though her eyes are steely serious. "I won't lose to you, though. Not again."
She blurs out again, appearing right in the window of the first Controller. "Yo! Sup!" she's got a LOVELY bleeding wound on her cheek from the second Controller's bullet, but doesn't seem to be paying it any mind, as she launches herself into a rapid series of Strike Arts slashes at her target. The Bits remaining close and boosting her speed.
- Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
Kimiko considers. A spear would give her the advantage of reach--but she has no guarantee that piercing one location will take one of the Mariage out of commission. Best to assume that full destruction is necessary. Someone did mention 'zombies' when the topic first came up.
She keeps aware of the encroaching enemies, but makes no motion toward them, instead directing Runner to watch her back. Between that and her own reflexes, she is... quietly confident.
Leaving her bow where it is, she raises her eyes, slowly, summoning to her hands a spiked maul--a weapon rather like a sledgehammer, but for the top spike and back hook. While it looks terribly heavy on her frame, the first to enter her range will discover the speed with which she can swing it--as well as the precision with which she can strike a target in the air, unable to quickly change its trajectory.
- Maya has posed:
Runner meanwhile opens his maw at this point as he seems to be taking aim for the mariage and a huge honking beam of the sort that could go through several of the drone units. It follows it up with a simple shrapnel grenade to follow things up.
- Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
Oh hello. Arf's nose knows, and if the nose knows then no one gets caught saying 'Oh noes!' when... Bad stuff happens. "They're already on top of us." The wolf idly comments to Flint like absolutely nothing in the world is wrong with this. As the windows bust in and one drone leaps her, Arf throws herself right at the Mariage, putting every ounce of her strength and massive bulk into a bone-shattering shoulder throw, before looking to get her jaws around the woman if that wasn't enough to put her down.
Fate is not like Arf. And Zephyr is most certainly not Nanoha. The blonde's reply is a very brusque, curt, and flat one.
"No."
Just like that she's already in motion, a streak of gold, as she takes aim, arrows of gold light forming before streaking off at the Controller as well with an announcement of: [PHOTON LANCER.]
"... Ice cream later. This isn't a time to play around."
- Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
"You asking me on a date there lo-" Flint gets cut off from responding to Arf when she declares they're already on top of them, "Already on top of u-?!" And then the Flint Bad Luck kicks in as a Mariage jumps out a window towards him, trying to tackle him to the ground. He is caught pretty head on by the undead woman.
Which means he goes sprawling backwards onto the ground with her on top of him. Panicking at the unfortunate position he has found himself in, he flails on the ground and tries to get the assault rifle into place so he can pump her full of laser and get her off of him.
If the lasers kill the Mariage, he tries to push her off of him before she can explode messily.
- Material-D (597) has posed:
You all knew it was coming as soon as Yami sealed off the area.
With the others under attack, she's somewhat surprised that she isn't... but that just makes her more wary than before. "Hmf. So you would ignore Us? That shall be your mistake."
As is unsurprising, she raises her staff and begins sending a rain of blazing fireballs down, a meteor swarm that slams into the various houses and just starts razing the town flat. Fortunately she's with Unionites nearby so she put up the Barrier first.
- Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
It's pretty messy 'outside' right now.
The Drones are now all over the group out there, with Runner and Kimiko and Flint and Arf all being swarmed abruptly! They took care this time, and worked together, though... so it's a slaughter of the Mariage. They can't stay hidden because Yami is flattening the houses, and when they come out Kimiko instantly knows, and thus can hammer one down with ease, and be ready for the next. Runner's shrapnel shreds one, and Flint successfully chews his to pieces. Looks like the deadly ones aren't going after him this time.
As usual, the Mariage start to melt into black goo, and catch fire, as soon as they are taken down.
Fate and Zephyr go after Controllers, though... and the Controllers are shooting back. A few shots toward Zephyr streak toward her before the slices manage to cut through the gun arm... only for the other arm to form a blade and come in from the side in a rapid, vicious swing! Still, the Controller is hurt.
The one Fate fights also gets tagged in the shoulder, but surprisingly survives by ducking into the window again. A moment later, it's in the window below, snapping off a shot toward the mage from the much different angle. This one is very canny.
- Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr gets winged by more bullets, shreds showing in her barrier jacket as the high speed slugs rip through the fabric portions. Nothing gets a critical spot though, and she nearly whoops in triumph as the gun-arm gets sliced off... But she's trained enough against her Simulation to be more aware than that. The blade-arm meets the head of the Mage's axe. "Not this time."
The Mariage Controller would then get a very close-up view of Zephyr's right palm... before the view changes to the growing purple sphere of an <IMPACT BULLET!> She fires off the short-range cone-shaped blast at point blank. She just hopes the Controller isn't as nimble as her Simulation opponent.
- Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
... Clever. Ducking into cover like that and then striking from a lower angle gives Fate little time to react. A sidden sidestepping jink and the blonde grunts as dark moisture begins to bloom from her midsection. Nowhere vital, thankfully, but it was a pretty bad clip as she takes cover against a nearby wall.
Grunting as she rests her hand over the wound, Fate powers through the pain by forcibly ignoring it. This is easier said than done, and the girl is a little pale by the time she is able to put herself into action again but.
[SONIC MOVE.]
She crosses the distance between buildings in less than a blink, too fast to be tracked by the human eye as she raises her scythe.
From where she places herself BEHIND the <span style="color:ontroller.
c#ffec8b">[GOOD NIGHT.]</span> The only warning given before she simply seeks to cleave the woman in two.
Arf in the meantime moves on from the original woman attacking her, as the Mariage are left with nowhere to hide with buildings getting smashed all around by Yami's heavy bombardment and -swarm- around her and the pirate captain. She lets out a howl. A sky-piercing, baleful sound as she bares teeth, before the war-form wolf throws herself headlong into the masses in a wild frenzy of jaws and bladed claws.
You sure you wanna go on a date with that, Flint?
- Material-D (597) has posed:
<ENERGY BOOST>, Yami's staff announces. She's pretty horrible at targeting individuals, so it's an easy choice: reinforce her allies. Streaks of dark magic crackle down to Flint, Arf, Runner, and Kimiko, lending them extra power and speed to deal with the melee. They probably don't need it, but she figures it's better safe than sorry with these things.
"They keep multiplying. We are beginning to get worried," she admits from her position in the air, dodging aside and increasing altitude so she isn't as much of a target.
- Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
Maybe not, but Flint lives dangerously, Arf.
The man springs to his feet after shoving the Mariage off of himself. He lets the wolf go to work at the forefront. He's going to try to find cover and mostly just lay down fire for people. The laser bursts coming from his assault rifle are aimed to cut down Mariage as they come, trying to hold his position as best he can, "We may wanna consider leaving with survivors!"
- Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
Razing the town, given that it won't affect the /actual/ town and its civlians, outside the barrier, is actually what Kimiko prefers. Removing the hiding spots will just make her job easier, though if any of those fireballs land on her network it'll screw with her detection ability--made less relevant as the obstacles (in the form of buildings, and then rubble) are removed.
Her maul takes one target after another, both crushing organs and tossing aside what are suddenly corpses, to then combust. As a weapon against essentially unarmored opponents, it is as brutal as it is effective--but with their apparent mindlessness, she has no sympathy for the Mariage. She doubts they even possess sympathy for one another. She could pull out a few more tricks with it, but the smart ones appear to be focusing elsewhere, and Yami's support narrows the openings in her defensive stance yet further, already near to nonexistent with Runner at her other side.
As her field of fire clears, she returns to her bow, setting down her maul in one hand to summon the kind of arrow one might assume was meant for dragons, rather than people--were it not for the razor edges that fan out from the point, lending an array of rending surfaces to a missile that, even when pulling back the string with one hand, has the weight and force to pass clear through a target.
To anything that won't come to her, she'll bring her weapons to it.
"I am not made for mobile fights without an end in sight. Show me to a target, and I will destroy it. Otherwise, I can only clear this area."
- Maya has posed:
Runner can however act to be a living shield for Kimiko which it's going to do however it's clearly not too happy as more fire power comes from maya's /pet/ seriously it's got beam canons and explosives what else does Runner have? Micro missiles that's what and they fire off from several not with in it's body however it is going to be taking a pounding as it's not very agile. Runner whines a little bit but seems to get what Kimiko wants.
- Yagami Hayate (558) has posed:
Razing the town is pretty effective. The Mariage weren't meant for stand-up fights against this level of power... not until they've reached horde size. Which, while much larger, these are not. The hammer and firepower going after them is... really cutting into their number.
Zephyr slices into her Controller and it goes down, and Fate disarms hers quite literally, as one arm tumbles away and melts. The Mariage next to Fate grunts, then hisses, "Soon..." Yes, she talked.
Then, abruptly, she's opening a small rift of blackness, stepping through as several drones attempt to do the same. They're retreating, cutting their losses in dealing with these powerful Elites.
- Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
Kimiko is thorough in her work. She counts this as a virtue. So long as staying within the barrier isn't likely to put others at risk, she's willing to spend a little more time making sure that all of the Mariage are dead or gone. So long as they aren't /here/ it may not matter which, but she'd still rather 'dead' than 'gone.'
Only now does she relinquish her bow, and her established position, instead moving out with her hammer still in hand, sweeping her gaze over and behind every piece of rubble that somehow withstood Yami's attack, looking for the lurkers. She doesn't let herself think that they've all gone until she's made sure it's true.
- Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
Zephyr seemed pleased when the Controller bursts into flame... what's left of it anyway. She floats out of the building again, then does a fly-by of the other windows, dropping purple wisps that fan out in her wake. <AREA SEARCH!> "Lets make sure we're secure, Dee. Get those Area Searches into the nooks and crannies... leave nothing unsearched."
The wisps are visual info only, like magical floating camera-drones, really... still, it's more eyes than she has on her own.
- Flint Hawke (320) has posed:
With the Mariage in retreat, Flint takes a breather and leans against a piece of rubble in the town. He's certainly not as capable of destruction as half the dangerous women he seems to encounter on a regular basis, but he certainly tried his best as a foot soldier for today.
Taking a moment to relax, he pulls a long pipe out of his coat and taps some shredded leaves into it. He lights it and begins gently smoking. He'll keep an eye out for other Mariage, but this has been quite a lot of action for him for tonight.
- Maya has posed:
Runner doe snot seem happy but for once it's behaving as 8it cuts down those enemy unit's its able to, seriouly Maya considers this thing her pet. Either way Runner's still watching the Mariage flee and attemps to pick off a few of them as it's best able to finally it's beam cannon powers down and it whines a bit.
- Testarossa Fate (401) has posed:
Fate has apparently won ice cream. Right now though the blonde has a sour taste in her mouth after the Mariage escape.
Soon.
What could that have meant?
For the moment she's just going to quietly clutch her belly and bleed. On the bright side this probably gives her a chance to spend time on board the Black Sun's medical area and maybe have a chat with Hayate and Chikade. On the not so bright side, she is quietly biting down pain that would make seasoned soldierspass out.
Arf is meanwhile already pawing at Flint for more ramen.
