2478/Scream to be Heard!
From Multiverse Crisis MUSH
| Scream to be Heard! | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 17 June 2015 |
| Location: | The Central Valley |
| Synopsis: | A 'concert' by the Noise Marines turns into a much larger conflict. |
| Cast of Characters: | Deelel, 274, 385, Karian Icefang, 626, 666, Lyria Mason, 749, 768, 804, 805, 809, 816 |
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
It's a normal day in the Central Valley for Union Outpost 8129B, until a gigantic, two-legged purple and pink war machine about fourty meters tall just treks towards it. At first it was all fun, games and mockery, until it was identified as a Chaos Titan of Slaanesh, and the figures atop it (about five or six of them) as Chaos Marines.
As the Sun sets, the Titan stops before the gates of the outpost; the Union marksmen in the watch towers take aim, and are suddenly overwhelmed by the Glamour of Slaanesh-- the Titan is sparkling, BRIGHTLY, FABULOUSLY, and it is making it very difficult to aim at it! It is obviously supernatural in nature.
And then things go to hell when the Titan, not a single gun or cannon on it, drops the bass. Dozens and dozens of speakers and subwoofers make the ground crack and tremble from the sheer volume of the dubstep, and the front half of the outpost is shredded by bright purple and pink waves of what must be Chaos magic of a sort.
The music continues playing afterwards from the Titan, though its terrible matter-shredding has been halted to allow Confederates entry into the outpost. STRATOVAR is atop the walker, a Noise Marine in purple and pink Terminator Armour. He is wielding a massive, lightning-crackling guitar. With him, six more Noise Marines, smaller, in regular Power Armour, wielding a variety of noise weapons; bolters, flamers, guitar-axes, all distinctive by their lack of cannon, having a subwoofer instead.
All six of the Marines have red crosses on all of logos that would otherwise be adorning their armor, as if they'd hurriedly spray-painted X's on anything that can identify them. Except Slaanesh and Chaos symbolism, that's still there.
- Vega (749) has posed:
It always pays to aid your allies.
Allies are there to be aided, and in turn provide aid. An alliance is a mutual partnership, based on survival, benefits, or some other, unified goal. Many often imagine that this is not the case, and presume that an alliance exists solely to benefit their needs, their desires.
These people are sorely mistaken. In the wide multiverse, where two vast and endless factions grind against one another with an impersonal brutality that swallows up those caught between them like grains of sand before the ocean, alliances are crucial to continued existence. To ambition. To desire.
The Dictator of Shadowlaw's ambitions and desires are without limit. One day, he intends to see that his existence is, as well.
High above the Titan, a silent helicopter flies, emblazoned with the skull-and-wings mark of Shadowlaw. From it, a tiny speck falls, almost imperceptibly small alongside the rampaging Slaaneshi machine-god. It is small, and red, and silent, and thus it is easy for the physical object not to be noticed as it plunges towards the ground below.
But the nearer it gets, the larger it seems. It does not grow, not physically - it simply seems as if its presence expands, as if the mere act of coming closer makes its dark and terrible presence larger by extension. The tiny speck falls alongside the titan, and then, abruptly, comes to a halt in mid-air. Around it, an ominous purple blaze burns.
The Dictator raises a hand from under his cape. A nearby hunk of rock rises into the air in an instant, wreathed in purple fire. With an almost bored gesture, the Dictator waves, and the heavy boulder goes hurtling towards the outpost as though it was fired from a cannon.
And then another. And another. And another. Like a one-man artillery machine, the Dictator lifts and flings chunks of landscape into the outpost in steady beat, adding to the cacophanous noise of the Titan and the destructive force of its bass.
- Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
Glare-NT is a sleek black metal robot with a few heraldic designs. At fifteen foot tall, it's not remotely as big as the Chaos Titan it has been trailing, but the sword on its hip and longarm on its back leave little doubt that it's a threat in its own right. Quiet, with nothing said as the Chaos Marines start their assault. Not even a weapon is drawn, but it's still a battleready stance, with a mechanical hand hovering near the hilt of the monofilament broadsword.
MORDRED does not fight a massively outnumbered or outgunned enemy as a general rule, it's unchivalric; but there's nothing unchivalrous about staying in the area in case his aid may have a meaningful impact on the outcome. And so, he waits to see what enemies appear, and if his aid seems needed, while swiftly designing a filter to reduce the noise he received from the Chaos Marines, because he doesn't like it one bit.
- Celestine (816) has posed:
The battle begins! This is Celestine first mission and she stands back as the mighty Titan carries out the will of its masters. Those aqua blue eyes stand out against the dark black scales and light gray under scales. The mohawk hair feathers on her head, along with lower arms and legs are white in color, moving gently in the breeze.
Her eyes fascinated by what she sees until the machine unleashes its subsonic waves. While it isn't directed at her, she can still hear it and it causes her to hunch down with her hands going over her ears. Her Raptor toe claws digging into the ground as her draconic back spikes that run down her tail rise up a bit in natural defense. It wasn't overly painful, but it /was/ surprising!
Once the music stops long enough, she gets down low and her pupils then down to slits before she snarls out. Then with a shove of her foot she is off in a quick sprint, much faster then any athletic runner could even keep up at.
She leaps up on the Titan's leg, before to the wall, and then flips up and over, before slamming both feet into one of the guards to knock them off. With a quick swipe of her hand to her hip, she brings a canister in her hand that extends out. Swiftly twirling it around and then using it to pole-volt over to another section of the base, and then leap down on some other poor unexpecting guard.
However as she lands down and flips off. She impacts the ground in a skid, to suddenly find one of the guards aiming down at her. Her eyes go wide as she rolls back and lifts up her arm. The bullet shot impacts the scales on her armor, causing them to nick only slightly. She huffs softly, before lowering her arm. Only to raise it again as a few more shots are fired. Then she starts to laugh gently. "Cute toy." She says with a purr. "But have to do better."
Then with a Raptor screech, she leaps for them and swings her foot around for a heavy kick to the head, not only to swing them around, but for her claw to make a nice gash, before she lands down with a back flip. Grinning wide with those sharp teeth on display.
- Cory (768) has posed:
Normally, the Time Patroller Chikorri would say HOORAY to have some trouble, because trouble means a chance to CUT LOOSE.
Most of her enthusiasm's drained off though by the staggering sight of the WEIRD FATE to have befallen the base. She arrived quickly from a warp gate and high speed flight all the way here, leaving her hovering over the base and just STARING at the musical mayhem.
"Whuuuh..... huh?"
Yeah, she's just staring. And quickly covering her ears. "Rrrrrgh. Geeze, what kind of troublemakers are these guys?!"
Forget just covering her ears. She's soon rubbing at her eyes too. Machines should not sparkle like that!
"O-okay, looks like soldiers in power armor and uhhh... IS THAT A GUITAR?"
Cue a jawdrop.
- Karian Icefang has posed:
he Noise Marines and followers of Slaneesh seemed all too content to bring out a corrupted Titan to their field, and agaist what some would consider an unprepared union. But the union had potent allies skilled in fighting the hordes of chaos. So from above, the classic thunderhawks fill the sky and emblazoned on it's side was the image of the Space Wolves. Inside the transports, the warriors of the Imperium sat in silent prayer, steeling themselves from the sounds of Slaneesh's music. "Hold strong, Brothers. We won't be alone here. Remember that the Allfather is with us, and will guard us from the traitorous filth." He muses.
Two lead thunderhawks moved in for a strafing run on the titan itself, but were merely the distraction so the other wolves could land safely.
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Fortunately, getting blindsided into a drum set didn't hurt Yuna as badly as it might have - mostly because her Light Suit did its usual job of taking much of the damage. She's still sore about it, though - more emotionally than physically - and hearing the waves of dubstep accompanied by the name of Slaanesh was basically all she needed to get up, transform, and head to the defense of the besieged outpost.
And given what she knows about Slaanesh (relatively little, but honestly more than enough), she's coming in loaded for the proverbial bear - she's already in her basic Light Suit when she emerges from the warpgate, and she has the full Matrix of Light along with her: the little robo-faerie Elner, ready with sensors to help Yuna take stock of the battlefield, and the three armored androids who are Yuna's partners and 'doubles'. Jiina of the Earth, Marina of the Sea, and Erina of the Sky are all ready to back Yuna up, or to combine with her battlesuit if she needs to be in another form.
... which, given that the hostile forces include a GIANT ROBOT (and walking concert sound system, at that?), seems incredibly likely. For now, Yuna gives thanks that her Light Suit includes some protection for her ears, and wishes there were something similar to protect her eyes.
- Herbert West (274) has posed:
Due to LUCK or HAPPENSTANCE, a contractor from the Union is in this outpost, doing some routine maintenance on some equipment. Not just any contractor though! They were fortunate enough to have the services of the ONE AND ONLY HERBERT WEST! His job is actually done, but this outpost is then assaulted by a most foul attack, one that West cannot stand by and do nothing about! Also a giant robot to go with the dubstep.
"Elsa! It looks like it is time to show the Union my latest project! BRING OUT THE ZOMBIO!" With a piercing wail of an electric guitar(which doesn't seem to be plugged into anything), Doctor West is now on the scene! OR, at least, his robot is. Stomping out of the outpost, this one is smaller and sleeker than the usual massive drum-shaped monstrosities he pilots. At about twenty feet tall, it's comparatively tiny, at least... but still large enough for two pilots, Elsa and the good Doctor himself.
As chance has it, the heavy-metal-blaring robot leaps up with a flare of rockets, landing with a crash rather near MORDRED. "Prepare yourself, harbingers of Dubstep! You face the INCALCULABLE GENIUS of DOCTOR WEST, and his Type-29DX Super West Destroyer Robot ~The Heart Grows Fonder~!"
The last bit might be harder to hear, because micromissiles are flying all over the place.
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel had picked up the distress call when she'd been out and about. She'd picked up Kyra along the way and she was airborne in a jet. She was not happy about what had happened at her friend's show but there had been little she could do. She'd been way to far away to help. However today here she was above the sight of the attack and banking towards it on her light jet.
"Hang on Kyra we're going to be coming in fast!"
- Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
Yesterday was quite fun.
It's actually a surprise to Nonon that she was able to go out again!
Her legs are a little sore, and she had a wave fist sandwich once, but is mostly okay!
Which is why she, dressed in the pink and white uniform of Honnouji Academy, hangs out on the Chaos Titan of Slaanesh, all glitzed up, a massive lightning-crackling guitar in STRATOVAR's hands. She's actually on one of the edges, kicking her legs cheerfully. "Now THIS is what this kind of music is probably good at~. ... You know, I wouldn't even mind them dancing to it like this~." She cheerily proclaims, looking down at the chaos that CHAOS! causes. It's these little things in life that make it so much more.
Then there's a ... what IS that?
Dragon...lizard woman? With the Titan already being compromised, Nonon gives a wave to STRATOVAR as she kicks off the Titan, leaping... straight out into the open sky. Grasping her hat, the miniature schoolgirl of Honnouji can be seen plummeting from the Titan quite easily, pink and colorful that she is. Especially when a shining light about the hat spins, three black stars growing as she slams into them as she falls, swallowing her up. The fibers about her expand and unwravel, clothing undoing itself as it changes, wrapping itself together once more in a black skeleton like motif - but it continues to grow. Swelling outwards to become the form of the tank, "Symphonia Regalia Grave~!" However, it's still a tank - roughly 20 to 30 feet tall - plummeting downwards with Nonon on/in the very face of it. "Presto!"
The tank suddenly loses the treads, multiple ports on the very back of it snapping open as the air about it is sucked in.
At which point the tank flies, "Well, I'm not too fond of their music, so let's try a classic! O Wunder : Sinfonia in G Major~!" The very moment the baton is swung, Nonon passes over like the Red Baron in a musical combat blimp, notes being shot out of the front machine gun style! The notes, as a few have seen before, are sharp. Quite sharp. There is also a lot of them. The Titan gets some AIR SUPPORT.
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Deelel would have found herself picking up an additional passenger besides Kyra. Insistant on going out to try and get her mind off of her crappy, crappy experience last night, Mirielle has noted she'd be shadowing the white mage. The poor Calculator is taken for a ride on Deelel's light jet alongside the white mage.
Kyra holds onto the light jet with a white-knuckled grip. Even from far away she can hear the pounding bassline of the dubstep Titan. 'Not bad' she had judged earlier. It's still pretty 'not bad' but since it's about to come down on a Union outpost, it's also kind of 'bad'. "Hey Deelel, what's the soundsystem like on this thing?" It probably doesn't have the volume to out-do that huge Titan with the speakers and subwoofers but-
"Er, wait, what do you mean 'coming in fast'? We're not going to jump from this thing are we?"
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
Once the whole 'shadowing' thing had gotten out in the open, things became much more simple for Mirielle Edelweiss. Simple, in this case, was not easy, or in fact 'safe'.
Becuase she was flying in a Light Jet, over a chaotic Chaotic battleground, seeing a giant Titan firing wubwub at poor victims, and...
And /Nonon/, with a giant... ship... music... thing!
Mirielle makes a mental note to avoid the hell out of both if they ever hit the ground.
To Kyra, and Deelel, Mirielle leans forward in the compartment, frowning deeply. "I knew that music of yours could be weaponized. Look, see, despair and destruction left in the wake of the bass notes. Truly, a weapon of great power." She mutters.
Then Deelel mentions they're 'coming in hot'.
"I would much rather a gradual and 'cool' descent! I think that would be agreeable!"
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
It goes without saying that the outpost isn't equipped to handle what's being thrown at it. Oh, it's not HELPLESS, either. The Union isn't incompetent by any means, and while their defenses may not be Elite-proof, that's why they have their own Elites coming in as we speak. As energy blasts pummel the base and Celestine takes a more personal approach to disabling guards in hand to hand combat, what is left of the guards retreat to the deeper levels and the blast rooms. Those are shaken, quite badly, by Nonon's strafing run. They won't last, either, but they're last LONGER. And with Elites coming in, just a bit longer is all they really need.
The different colors and styles of all the gathered Elites-- friends and foes alike-- cause Stratovar's grin to widen as large as it can go, strumming idle notes on his massive guitar. Flowing white-pink hair adorns the man's head; though he is HUGE (~9 feet), he doesn't have the rugged, rough look of an Astartes, but that of a teenage lead singer. The other Noise Marines, on the other hand, wear their helmets, though some have long hair just sticking out the edges even so.
As the Spaces Wolves' air vehicles circle above and come for a quick strafe, the Glamour of Slaanesh intensifies! The Titan SPARKLES, brighter, louder. Oh yes, it's doing sparkling noises. Dings, and pings, and plinks, and little star noises. It's very surreal and would likely be beautiful if it wasn't a Titan.
Stratovar gestures towards the Thunderhawks.
"FIRE THE BLASTMASTER!"
A singular cannon suddenly perks up-- well, cannon. Still a subwoofer. It glows a bright pink, and then suddenly fires out a constant stream of pink expanding rings, as though sound waves had been made visible. Unsurprisingly, you really wouldn't want your Thunderhawks caught in that.
"COME DOWN AND JOIN OUR RAVE, BROTHERS!" Stratovar laughs, as he openly screams on his Vox to make sure the Space Wolves heard him.
- Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
"Well met, Doctor West. I am MORDRED, Knight Errant." MORDRED alters the dubstep filter to also catch the other forms of music blaring on the battlefield, dim the noise to manageable levels, so he can hold a proper conversation with his enemies. "This is Glare-NT, the Armour of Peace." He draws the Monofilament Broadsword and points it towards WEST, "Let us dance to the beats of war, and see how fond your heart will grow."
After just enough time for Herbert West to get a brief statement in, MORDRED leaps forward, maneuver thrusters making this motion quite rapid. With it, the monofilament broadsword swipes in a broad arc, and Glare-NT's leap is projected to end right in front of Herbert's machine, from where it then moves back into a defensive stance immediately.
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel does not mind the other passenger at all still it's giving her a bit of a workout.
"A pretty good one but that thing's just huge. I think it's go more output. I figure we get on the titan itself and shut it down from there unless you two have a better idea? I'd love to Mirielle, but we're likely going to be under fire."
As if to highlight her point? Deelel's forced to evade some shots as they go. She does strafe for a moment as she comes in with the jet's energy machine guns.
She'll bank in low now 2which will give Mirielle a chance to get off.
"This is the best I can do, I'm going for the Titan as I said, Kyra? You Game?"
- Karian Icefang has posed:
Karian grimmaces as his men are hit by the blastmaster, but the old wolf lord wasn't about to let that go unanswered. "Ask and you'll recieve, traitor." He says. So, the back hatch of his thunderhawk opens and from it, and in a rather ballsy move, the wolf lord LEAPS towards the Titan, and fires the jump pack he strapped on. It's then that the Noise marines can get a look at Karian, the one-eyed Son of Russ opposing them.
- Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine continues to assault the non-elites, unaware of the coming of elites. Though she should be as they are the bigger threat! However, this is her first real combat match. Her first real chance of being out in then field!
It was exciting! New! Thrilling! She would be an easy target right now, as her entire sense are on the hunt. Though when the music plays again, she yelps and gets down low again. "Ouf... I'll need to see about getting something to deal with this..." That is when she picks up all the scents around her, the sounds of combat-- the yelling-- the smalls-- her eyes darting around for a moment.
Yeah, she may in fact be an easy target for someone.
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
If Nonon isn't close enough for Yuna to recognize her fully from the other night, there are at least two relevant details that *do* grab her attention in a hurry: pink hair, and weaponized music - loud enough, at that, that the Light Suit's earpieces don't really protect her very much. Or maybe that's just the whole 'weaponized' angle.
But before Yuna can make her decision, THE BLASTMASTER is unleashed - and the decision is very nearly made for her. "We've got to protect the outpost as well as we can!" Yuna calls out over the collateral from the sonic bombardment. Then she shouts at something resembling the top of her lungs ...
"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT *UP*!!! EL-LINE!!"
A pillar of light erupts around Yuna and her mechanoid allies, their five shapes (four and a half, if you don't count Elner's tiny form as a full 'one') rising into the air before they're completely obscured by the radiance ... and then the pillar diminishes again, revealing the sleek, angular, 21-meters-tall form of the Matrix Figure, El-Line.
And as soon as El-Line has finished materializing, Yuna calls out, "SHUGOSEIHEKI!!" as the winged white mecha brings its left arm up; in response to the second call, a large enameled kite shield takes shape, and Yuna immediately moves to interpose that shield between the Chaos Titan and the Union outpost.
She's more concerned about the outpost right now than her own well-being, clearly.
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Of course I'm game! I mean check out the speakers on that thing." Kyra shouts back to Deelel so she can barely be heard over the incredibly loud music. "Oh shit-evasive manuvers! Evasive manuvers!" Kyra's pointing out the very aggressive music that Nonon now has flying through the air. This does not exactly strike her as /weird/ either. Music is a completely valid weapon.
"Get me down to the Titan. I think we need to change the set list! I hope we can get close, though, it looks like there's some kind of funky-looking magic clinging to that thing. Just /look/ at those sparkles."
Before they leave though: "Mirielle don't die, okay? If shit gets too real, just run. You get PE credits for running." Kyra...actually sounds slightly annoyed as she says this.
- Herbert West (274) has posed:
"Haha! A knight and a MANLY OPPONENT!" West calls out. "ELSA! ENGAGE THE MANLINESS DRIVE!" He's already moving one arm up, the splayed shieldlike bracer moving to catch the arc or the broadsword. It slams into the thick plate, but doesn't cut... instead it slides off, leaving with a shower of sparks, a scrape of paint, and the shrill whine of servos stressed past their breaking point, a trail of smoke rising from the elbow. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea for West.
"Engaging, robo~" the female voice calls out. Snapping up from the waist, the Zombio's other arm draws a blade of its own... which then begins to spin at a rapid pace, revving up until it's a whrring drill.
"En garde! Bon vivant! Depeche Mode!" Doctor West shouts, diving toward the defensive stance with the obvious intention of applying a drill to the knight's guard. Because... because.
- Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
Swooping by and laying out the 'counter-melody' to THE BLASTMASTER-
Which is sparkling so brightly it adds to it's own sound!
That's actually pretty impressive.
However, Yuna doesn't just notice Nonon. Nonon most certainly notices, and recognizes, someone she's harassed. That's exactly what she did before, after all. However there's a sudden light pillar about her, leaving a rather sizable machine out to shield the outpost. It's about two to three times as large as her Regalia! Like, seriously, it's pretty big. Nonon was thinking about ramming her - but not when she's suddenly /that/ big. Of course, she has a common weakness from before. "How like you, again worrying for someone over yourself." She chides, cheerfully, "Well, I shouldn't be surprised - It does seem to be your forte~."
With Yuna in EL-Line, Nonon simply circles her, making it /quite/ clear as to what she intends. "But if you're into the whole self-sacrifice thing, let me help you with the SACRIFICE part of it~!" Regalia Grave cracks open below, two different hands pulling out what looks like a flute. As the melody speeds up, despite how cheery it sounds, it most certainly isn't. Especially not as the flute launches off towards the back of El-Line and Yuna! It's even got a loud whistling sound, and would explode like a heavy drum was beaten! With the same force as a missile.
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
Deelel brings in the plane-made-of-light in slower and lower, and Mirielle gives Kyra a small smile. "This truly isn't my preferred method of getting credits, Kyra... But without Dominic here to keep an eye on you, people may be worried." She offers, with a light, almost airy sound that didn't betray the odd sense of the words. Then she was out, leaping from a moving plane and gathering magic under her, a great working of mana and patterns...
And as she falls to the ground, she is boueyed up with a ball of yellow magic (that swiftly tints darkly), with two stilt-legs. It's a Chocobo!
It goes Wark! loudly. Then she grabs the summoned reigns, astride her NOBLE HORSECHICKEN, BLACK CHOCOBO. Because of course Mirielle has a black one. She guides it forward, looking at that helicopter. "To ensure that Kyra and Deelel insert properly, we should ensure air superiority..." She murmurs, before aiming a hand at the SHADOWLAW HELICOPTER and tossing a Dark spell at the winged skull.
A powerful psychic or telekinetic would be bad if he turned his gaze on the Light Jet!
- Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
Despite some deft dodging, the Drill-Sword penetrates Glare-NT's armour, albeit at a part of it that houses no vital components, it still decreases the overall integrity of MORDRED's Armour. "You have brought a lady to hand you manliness on the battlefield, Doctor West? Fascinating." MORDRED leaves it at that, letting others draw their conclusions freely. With the drill-sword still inside, and no apparent intent to remove it, MORDRED transmits some of his own music, it's harmless but perhaps distracting. He has chosen a form of techno that is at such a rapid pace, it is little more than noise to people who don't match his data processing speed.
"Do you like my music?" He asks while swinging his sword at the arm that holds the drill, with intent to cut off that penetrating weapon.
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
"Wh-- BY SLAANESH!" Stratovar exclaims.
His other six Marines all kind of stare.
"What? I've always wanted to scream that. Look, the pup is joining us after all! Give him an INTRO SONG!" Click, clack. The bolters are armed.
Three of the Noise Marines aim at the descending Karian, while Stratovar strums a mighty tune on his massive metallic guitar. The dubstep-fueled waves of destructive magic blast up towards the Space Wolf, to the tune of...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVUPYBY3sik
Yuna shields the outpost from incidental blasts from the Blastmaster, which is pretty good! It leaves her open to Nonon, but that's not the Noise Marines' business anymore.
Deelel is trying to approach the Titan still, causing another weapon on the Titan to turn towards her and her transport. The DOOM SIREN vibrates to the tune of the song the Marines are playing for Karian's approach, and fires a PINK LASER which seems to vary in height in accordance to the sound levels. It's like those shitty Windows Media Player visuals from back in the days, except in shades of pink and purple. And as a laser.
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Well, that wasn't how Yuna expected to confirm the pink-haired girl's identity. Although it's kind of nice to know for sure that it IS the same girl. Of course, it's not nearly as nice to get a flute in the back of her giant robot - particularly when the flute acts suspiciously like a missile.
The flute-missile explodes against El-Line's back, staggering the Matrix Figure briefly, but Yuna catches El-Line by burying the lower point of Shugoseiheki in the ground, then twists around, right arm raised as she tries to track her other assailant without vacating the Chaos Titan's line of fire on the outpost. "You're one to talk!" she retorts. "Sucker-punching someone twice and you haven't even told me who you are yet? I'm Yuna Kagurazaka, and if you didn't figure out I'm an idol singer, your ears must be so full of wax you can't even hear your own music!!"
- Cory (768) has posed:
It's CHAOS down there! LOTS of chaos. Enough chaos, at least, that nothing accost the airborne Saiyan. But from way up there... she sees plenty down below to accost. The young woman cracks her knuckles, a look of pure childish GLEE emerging.
DOWN she goes, landing before Celestine with a grand impact! The ground cracks and craters, scattering rocks and dust. "So. Think you can just go for the weak ones and get off easy? Nuh-uh!"
The young woman SLAMS both fists together, dropping into a fighting stance. White Ki erupts around her in what's at first a gentle flow... but it thickens and intensifies in mere seconds. Then...
Then it ignites, flashing a deep and bloody crimson!
By now, it shouldn't be too hard at all for any of Celestine's native planet to identify Chikorri's species. Her tail's wrapped neatly around her waist!
- Karian Icefang has posed:
The noise alone would have driven a lesser man insane. But the old wolf was no lesser man. He was a son of russ, so he rose up. Granted he was fighting against the sound. He narrowed his eye at the closest Noise marine, and had a little surprise for him. Unhelmetted, he stumbled over and grabbed for noise marine. If grabbed, the poor chaos marine would find that an unseen blade was sliding into his neck.
- Vega (749) has posed:
It is, in fact, about that time that the powerful psychic turns his gaze on the Light (warriors?) jet. Several hunks of landscape are released from the grip of distant purple fingers as the Dictator watches the dark spell fly upwards and crash against the side of the helicopter dispassionately.
On board the Shadowlaw helicopter, instruments go batshit mental. The helicopter's pilot freaks, steering it backwards and away from the battle as smoldering blackness creeps across the winged skull. Hurriedly, the chopper - little more than a delivery system - turns away from the battlefield and flies back behind allied lines as quickly as possible.
Vega watches it go, then turns his eyes on the Light jet. Intriguing.
He vanishes.
The Dictator reappears in a burst of purple slightly above Mirielle. His blank white eyes are barely visible under the perch of his hat. His unsettling, soulless gaze matches perfectly the unsettling, soulless grin spread across his face like a rictus-mask.
Very well. Two could play at that game.
Vega's cloak ripples around him as his arm rises into the air. Purple light wreathes the Light-jet like fox-fire amidst the furious flashing lasers of the Chaos Titan's barrage. As if a giant had suddenly wrapped its fingers around the jet, deep purple marks attempt to dig into the sides, pushing furiously at the structure as Vega's fingers close.
Then, with a single motion, he drags his arm downwards, expecting the purple fire to follow it to the earth behind Mirielle.
And bring the Light jet with it.
- Celestine (816) has posed:
When Cory lands down, Celestine snaps out of her lack of focus to look at the woman. "You are a Saiyan." She says softly, before her eyes almost glow white. "You are a SAIYAN!" She roars that out again, the raptor screech carries with an almost draconic roar that overlaps it.
The young fighter springs for Cory her staff yanked back like a bat before she swings it! "HE SHOWED ME WHAT YOUR KIND DID!" She snarls out. "YOU DAMN MAMMALS!"
- Herbert West (274) has posed:
"OF course! Elsa is my greatest creation, right Elsa?" West calls out in response to Mordred's taunt.
"You say that to all the daughters, Doctor," Elsa replies with surprising candidness.
"WHAT WHAT?" While arguing, he's still maneuvering... but it's pretty clear that West isn't really a swordsman, despite Elsa's skill in melee. That blade slashes down toward the wrist and cleaves right through it, the drill-sword spinning off and ending up burrowing into the ground. Meanwhile the techno beats are disharmonizing with the thudding and blaring metal that West is making.
"ELSA! Engage the PLASMA SWORD!"
"This model has no plasma sword, robo."
"Oh right, right. Just fire then!"
The end of the arm where the hand was severed pops off, revealing an empty barrel. This makes no sense, structurally, but it apparently functions when West points it at MORDRED and fires a blaze of energy.
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
Well, that's one less Chaos Marine to pester Karian. The surprise weapon causes the other five to take a step back, but Stratovar over there in his much larger armor just starts laughing even louder. "Well, let it never be said you turned down a challenge when it was presented to you, pup! No, just for now, I think I'll call you Space Wolf. Let's see if you earn KEEPING the name!"
The five remaining Chaos Marines do nothing-- it's Stratovar who steps forward, with Chaos-given speed that betrays the bulk of Terminator Armour. He swings his mighty guitar up, and then down, and it comes crashing with all the weight and impact of a Thunder Hammer, complete with the force field activating on impact to shred matter. That's more likely to be the roof of the Titan than Karian, but a man is always allowed to have hopes and dreams.
Meanwhile, the Chaos Titan does... Chaos Titan-y things.
Mostly that involves firing a lot of musical pink and purple beams at the shockwave and getting denied the destruction by Yuna. It's very unfortunate, for the Titan. It still looks freaking fabulous, though, you can't stop the Glamour of Slaanesh.
- Karian Icefang has posed:
Somehow, karian finds the strength to roll away from the guitar, and takes note of it. "I'd expect nothing less in terms of weaponry from a traitor..." He says. He draws his power sword and quickly lunges at Stratovar. But he also coyly grins. "Of course....I see a real target right here." He says. He looks over, aiming a grenade at the other noise marines, and if he got lucky, maybe he can take out a subwoofer.
- Project MORDRED (804) has posed:
Energy melts away a significant amount of Glare-NT's ablative heat shielding, revealing the solid armour layer underneath. "You wish to trade fire, Doctor West?" MORDRED asks the rhetoric question, thrusters firing as he takes to the sky and increases the distance between himself and Doctor West's machinery. The monofilament broadsword is returned to its sheath, and MORDRED reaches for the XTE lancepack on his back. "Lady Elsa, how many daughters has Doctor West made?" To keep them arguing, of course.
While this, hopefully, distractes them, MORDRED secures the XTE Lancepack below his Armour's arm, pressing it into the side, as the tip glows from the heat gathered within, until a tightly packed blast of superheated plasma is released at high velocity, going straight for what MORDRED presumes is Doctor West's cockpit.
- Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
The El-Line takes a flute to the back!
Deja-vu, isn't it?
Yet Yuna raises her arm, her robot's arm, to point towards her.
Nonon is /then/ verbally sniped, Yuna retorting to her. An idol singer of all things!? Of course, Nonon only just /has/ to smirk after she makes that claim. It won't come into play just yet, however! As the Symphony Regalia twists about, attempting to twist to El-Line's 'blind side' by flying around towards the opposite arm~. "Consider both charity performances." She bites back, "Since you'll be sitting in until the end for this one though, you miiiight be entitled at least to that. Nonon Jakuzure of Honnoujin Academy~." She proclaims, the baton in her hand twirling a bit as the Regalia makes a twist in the air, to face Yuna once again!
"Ahahah~. It's not that I can't hear it, miss Idull singer." She remarks, before patting her hat. "Maybe I am a bit tune death~, I can't hear that crap you call music!"
"I'm feeling generous though. How about a duet then~? My music IS missing a little something." As Regalia Grave swoops in, Nonon twists the baton around and points forwards, both halves of the Regalia reverberating, the air distorting befor eher as a massive shockwave rolls through, intending to shake, rattle and roll Yuna's EL-Line! "It's missing your screams, Idull singer! I bet they'll sound way better than the crap that usually comes out!"
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
As the power of Vega closes around the Light Jet, Kyra straightens, her body involuntarily shuddering at the proximity of the evil power that has ensnared the vehicle. "Deelel...!" she says warningly, "Deelel something's seriously wrong with the-" She's pretty sure the jet isn't meant to move like that.
Frantically, she tries to cast float on it. While the spell actually works correctly, it does little to prevent the Psycho Power from dropping the jet to the ground, not nearly strong enough to counter it. What it will do is slow down Kyra's (and possibly Deelel's) fall enough that it isn't fatal to either. The white mage strikes the ground roughly and does not get up immediately, half-curled up on the ground on her side.
- Cory (768) has posed:
Well, the only trouble with an approach like THAT is... it's INCREDIBLY televised. Cory frowns but braces herself, aware that while televised, that blow would REALLY HURT if she didn't do something.
So she does indeed do something.
She catches it.
Well, that's grossly understating the feat. The moment the staff comes at her she's using both hands to catch it.
The impact sends dust and dirt flying every which way and occurs simultaneously with another huge FLARE from Cory's Kaioken aura!
She staggers under the impact, knees buckling and almost giving.
"ARGH, that reminds me! I never did... get around to paying Rex-man a visit... gh!"
Cory breaks the guard only because there's TOO much strength at work here. She can't retaliate without losing her balance and momentum. So like a spring rebounding she seems to get LAUNCHED backwards, using all of the impact's strength to hurl her backwards. She lands wringing out her arms after a few swift backflips, and immediately sets about putting both hands to work slipping under her clothes and pulling out an assortment of arm bands and similar accessories.
They all hit the ground together like a sack of bricks. CRUNCH.
"And if there were more warriors like YOU around when that happened, maybe it wouldn't've been so awful. Got a name? Mine's Chikorri."
Yeah she's taking this FAR too casually.
But that might be disarming!
- Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine eyes still glow as she snarls as the staff impacts. She can only watch the Saiyan get shoved back and her tail lashes side to side. Her sharp teeth are clenched. "That is why I /was/ created. To make sure it never happens again!" She screeches out, before racing right for Corry.
Her speed was quick and she swings the pole, only it goes short. Instead it impacts the ground and aids in her flipping over. She rotates around in the air with ease, the staff breaks into two at her finger tips and she then takes both in her hands, twirling them around.
She watches the weights hit the ground and her eyes only narrow. "BLEED SAIYAN! BLEED AS YOU---" She roars out before charging again, this time swinging with great speed, mixed with her agility and strength. Swing left, right, rotate, impale-- the motions were smooth, but as Cory already noted-- she was not an expert fighter... yet. "--MADE THEM BLEED!"
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
Karian lobs grenades at the pack of Noise Marine spectators; four of them have the common sense to roll out of the way like they're playing Dark Souls, but the last is caught in the blast, along with some of the Titan's roof-mounted equipment. This seems to cause a LOT of anger in Stratovar, whose guitar suddenly sounds out of tune. Even by Chaos standards, the dubstep blared out by the Titan and the various equipment is just... wrong, now. It's not destructive. It's not GOOD. It's just really, really bad dubstep.
"You have RUINED our grand symphony! KILL HIM, BROTHERS!"
The four remaining Noise Marines charge Karian in a mad dash. One of them has a power sword and is KIND OF threatening. The other three are swinging their bolters and heavy bolters as melee weapons out of sheer rage.
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel is making a go for the Titan with Kyra on board it should be going pretty well? Or wait? That pink? How does any even insane thing tolerate that /shade/ of pink. That's the shade of pink that only exists to tell you? That your using too much pink. She's seen it coming and she's forced to evade she hopes Kyra can keep on. The light jet banks. She's banking to safety and getting ready to make her attack run or she was going to. Hopefully Kyra can make her way as well?
Deelel finds her jet is now caught in the hold of Vega's power. Deelel lets out a shocked cry as Deelel/s craft goes down slams into the ground and explodes in massive cloud of Voxels. Deelel her self is sent flying even as she hangs on to the light rod used to make the craft. She gets a horrible felling more so than the pain about Vega as she rises up and puts the rod on her leg. With a flick of her wrist the Dual Disc appears and she moves to close in on Vega, launching a lightning spell at him. Trying to keep his attention off her fallen friend. She does not know what Vega is but there's something really getting her unsettled here.
- Karian Icefang has posed:
Karian growls softly, a little disoriented from the new, bad, dubstep. But he still has the sense to move to block the power sword. As for the others, they would find their bolters being countered and it possible, those hidden blades flash out again to slice and slay the traitors.
- Herbert West (274) has posed:
"One, robo," Elsa replies. She's fully aware of that! She just likes to tease West... but so does everyone else.
"Elsa I'm trying to have a noble battle here!" West complains, once again forgetting to mute the speakers. He's flailing the robot's arms about, and then... the blast slams into the cockpit. Said cockpit is heavily-armored, so it doesn't kill West or anything, but the controls catch fire and the whole robot falls over, with West shouting 'OW OW OW!' the entire time.
Unfortunately this doesn't defeat the duo, it just puts West out of action. Wrenching open the cockpit door, the long-haired, elfin figure of a girl climbs up. Unlike West's fading attempts to fight the techno and dubstep, Elsa just seems less bothered, though her eyes show vague annoyance. Twirling two tonfas into place, she resumes the fight with a dashing leap toward MORDRED, foot lashing out for a ridiculously powerful kick. "Stay put, doctor~"
- Cory (768) has posed:
"WHOA--" Before she has any time to really think about things, Cory's got an angry Dino-girl in her face. ERP! Thankfully, instinct takes over where thought cannot manage. She attempts to leap OVER the swings but this time things don't work out in her favor. She gets clonked in the legs and gets sent tumbling end-over-end in midair, sending her into the rest of the blows.That'll be some NASTY bruises indeed! One probably cannot hear it under this awful din, but those blows are rib-cracking...
"Ghhhhkghh..."
She ends up spitting out a bit of blood, but this has only gotten her savage instincts revved up for a full-on BRAWL!
"Then SHOW ME better than THAT! You've got speed and strength, where's your SKILL?!"
Now that she has her bearings, Cory ducks down UNDER the swings at lightning speed and dives in past its effective range.
One of her hands slams the ground... and this is all the leverage she needs. her whole body moves with a rush SNAP KICK to Celestine's side!
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Well, THAT didn't go according to plan - neither Nonon's barbed and venomous rejoinders, nor the Symphony Regalia swinging around to batter El-Line's blind spot again. Blasting the flying sonic tank out of the air would probably be the most direct approach ...
Except that Yuna really doesn't want to actually HURT the annoying-as-heck schoolgirl, and El-Line's weaponry is really poorly suited to anti-personnel work - something that Yuna has had previous opportunities to find out. And apparently, the Symphony Regalia counts, at least as far as maneuverability goes.
On the bright side, while Nonon's next sonic barrage hammers El-Line rather mercilessly, Yuna is able to stifle the screams that Nonon is literally asking for ... and while she's focusing on what is indeed a 'blind spot' in terms of El-Line's ability to turn around and attack, it's not truly blind in the sense that Yuna can't see where the sonic bombardment is coming from. She endures it for the moment, waiting to see how close Nonon is willing to fly ...
And then El-Line whips around the OTHER way, leaving its shield planted in the ground and lashing out with its left arm to try and snag the Symphony Regalia out of the air with its left hand. If she can grab hold of it, the grip is going to be gentle but secure.
"At least I sing songs that people can actually ENJOY, instead of lobbing notes around like so many bullets!" Yuna retorts as she's going for the grab.
- Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine grins at the sight of blood. Those sharp teeth visible more so then before. However, Corry is right. She had the speed, the strength-- but skill? She was still working on that really...
The kick slams into Celestine side and she screeches in pain as it sends her away, she flies a bit, then impacts the ground, before at last sliding to a stop. The Raptor-Dragon coughs, as her spikes on her back to the end of her tail raise up, as she snarls.
She could use the blaster, but where is the fun in that? Instead she reconnects her staff, attaches the chamber back to her hip and widens her stance. Her tail lashes side to side. "You asked me name earlier, ape?" She then rushes forward. "You'll have to earn it!" She then leaps before dropping to the ground with her claws extended to catch Corry-- though if that fails, she will land and her tail will swing around like a bludgeon at the Saiyan's feet. "And being the /mammal/ you are-- You will /never/ have it!"
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
Karian has more than bad music to worry about! ... granted, the music IS very bad. It's an insult to music. At least, with regular Slaaneshi music, you can still say, hey, that's music. Not right now! As the Power Sword gets blocked, and Karian plunges his blade in another Marine's neck, the other three suddenly back up.
Are they afraid?
Is this fear?
Stratovar grins.
"YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY NURGLE CARD!"
Guitar TWAAA~NG. Still out of tune.
The helmet falls off the Noise Marine that Karian has impaled. The body underneath is not that of a fabulous Astartes, ready to rock for Slaanesh. It's rotten, green, mutated. Tentacles and spider legs cover half of his face, his mouth is more like an octopus strapped onto his face. And the dead Marine, he BLOATS. The smell had been held in by his armor, carefully and completely sealed.
An explosion of pus and pestilence threatens Karian as the body just bursts open on his Hidden Blade. Every disease known to man, the Nurgle Rot, and god knows what else is in there.
"Oh yeah! Now that, THAT'S HOW YOU PUT ON A SHOW!"
Silver lining, though, none of the Noise Marines dare approach Karian just yet, not until the green smog and dust has settled. THEY don't want to catch those diseases, either.
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
It's a horrible crash of... pixels... that heralds the Light-Jet's smashy-crashy, and the tossing of Kyra to the ground. Mirielle moves to her aid, as Deelel draws shwink-ing steel and starts throwing lightning at Vega. Mirielle doesn't have time for Vega, though fear follows her like a cloud, and darkness lingers in her steps. Her chocobo, however, does not fare as well, and as she looks down, she sees voxels have punched holes in her magical bird, revealing magicstuff and raw mana inside - the bird is just a simulacrum, and she tumbles down to the ground as her mount is simply blown out from under her with pure psychic power blowback.
"Uh... You deal with them for the moment!" She calls to the keyblader, before crouching besides Kyra, and applying some healing and support spells. "Come on, Kyra... You're not supposed to actually be suicidal. I am certain Landon, Soan, or Dominic will kill me if you perish... And you must disable this dub-step. I truly cannot understand it... I hate to say it, but DJ dead-mog is our greatest hero in this moment." She whispers, before applying Faith to Kyra, as a finishing touch to her bevy of buffs, and turning away. "I shall make sure that this Psychic terror does not interfere." She announces, hoping kyra takes the cue to GO FIGHT THE DUB-TITAN and not, you know, lay there dead.
To Vega, Mirielle simply stares him down, summoning up a staff in a flash of magic and holding it out lightly, preparedly. "That was some power. Like no magic I've seen. What do you call it?" She asks, her politeness cut with some steel, even as her legs threaten to wobble her right to the ground.
This is why she summoned the staff, you see.
- Karian Icefang has posed:
Karian looked over, and then saw, much to his horror what he had just stabbed. It was too late now, and the fact he was unhelmed meant he wasn't getting out of this one unscathed. The blast didn't get him, but the fumes alone managed to work their way in. This caused the marine to drop to a knee in fits of hacking, but he clearly wasn't going to simply roll over an die. He growls and summons up his strength, rising again despite his hacking fit. "I won't..*cough, hack* Fall here, or to you.."
- Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
"Oh, someone /is/ enjoying them/."
"I am!"
"Ahahahah~-eh!?"
The EL-Line whips about, left arm attempting to snag the Symphony Regalia out of the air - but Nonon was already twisting around with it. What actually happens is closer to the Regalia suddenly being smacked by the arm that lashes out, with Nonon not even facing the EL-Line when the Regalia is struck, making it twice as bad. The machine twists within the air before the uniform and student make a bee-line straight towards... the Titan!? "Ah, SHUT! UP!" She cries out, making it hard for her to get sympathy! It's looking very, very bad. The Regalia leaves a slight black trail as it screams down towards it, towards the glimmering, shimmering Titan.
Yuna might even wince as there is a clattering, Nonon at the very front of it as the Symphony Regalia clearly clashes down - but there's too much smoke to be certain!
Except it's far from over. The Regalia didn't skid off, or give off an explosion. Instead there was a call - and Nonon had to answer it, even if she /was/ smacked. That wasn't planned. Is it ever?
There's a clacking, a platform, piece by piece, sliding upwards from the center of the Titan, in the shape of an hexagon, as it rises. Yuna would most /certainly/ remember how this one goes, and how it looks like. Ten feet up, Nonon stands atop it - and taps the music stand. The very tapping of the baton against the music stand radiates through-out the area.
"Perfect~. Now then... FROM THE TOP~!" Bruised from the impact, Nonon is glaring daggers at Yuna. "I'm sure you all inside know this next song. It's called, "Hold the Line... Fire at Will~! SO DON'T SLACK OFF!"
Now, how did he do it again? "Everyone, together now!" The baton is raised - and then swung forwards. The subwoofers on the side of the Titan would begin to play the side beats, almost chorus like, drum beats radiating outwards like shockwaves. Instead of a 'drop' there's a 'build up' in the BLASTMASTER unlike before. More like what Yuna had seen yesterday. But Yuna wasn't synchronized with her spirits, or what not, was she?
The first fire of the cannon radiates outwards as the build up ends, the first heavy shot 'fired', a G-clef once more on the very front of it as it races towards Yuna, smaller versions accellerating from the remaining sub-woofers and speakers!
She'll get in the way, she knows it.
- Vega (749) has posed:
The explosion of voxels is of brief, passing interest to Vega. It would probably be more interesting, were it not for the fact that he has exactly no time to appreciate it. A lightning spell crashes into his chest, burning its way through his clothes in an instant. It leaves a nasty burn across his broad form, lightning crackling up his shoulders and along his eyes.
The man hangs there, limply, like a puppet with cut strings. For a moment, one might even believe that he's dead, if one wasn't paying attention to the act that he was still hovering off the ground. The lolling head is a nice touch.
Then it rolls back up into place, and the rictus-grin spreads at Mirielle and Deelel as Vega reaches up from under his cape and closes his fist.
"Will you, indeed, make sure I don't interfere?" Vega demands, lowering himself onto Mirielle and Deelel's level. He still towers over them, not just physically (though he is a giant of a man, over six feet tall), but with his mere presence - as if his presence was something that was custom-built for the express purpose of looming over people.
"And how will you do that? Will you challenge me as warriors? Will you face me on the field of battle?" There's an edge of sick amusement in Vega's voice, as though the mere prospect of violence delights him. He throws back his cape and spreads his arms.
"Very well then! Come, and see if you can stop me! By the end of this night, you will know what it is to taste my Psycho Power!"
His hands explode with purple fire. Vega flings his hands forward, projectiles of terrible Evil force screaming towards Deelel, Kyra, and Mirielle like rockets. There's no telekinesis in these bolts - only pain, as if pain itself could be a form of energy.
Surrounded by the chaos and madness of the legions of Chaos, it very well may be. And Vega drinks it in and wields that pain as his weapon.
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
"Oh dear. Coming down with a nasty cold there, Wolf Lord?" Stratovar will wander over, while the other three Marines stay back. "I'm sure your Apothecaries can fix this. If you get back to them at all. I do hope that Jump Pack on your back still works!"
The guitar Thunder Hammer is raised, and brought dow--
Stratovar halts, and he and the Noise Marines turn their attention to Nonon, her stage, her display. Suddenly, he does not want to hammer Karian anymore. "YES! YEEES! THIS MUSIC, IT IS BEAUTIFUL! STAND STRAIGHT, WOLF LORD! NEVER SAY I NEVER GAVE YOU ANYTHING, HEAR NOW, YOUR FUNERAL MARCH!"
Probably shouldn't be turning his back to Karian like that.
In his defense, though, Nonon is putting on a hell of a show, and Slaanesh would punish anyone who prioritized bloodshed over the appreciation of this supreme art form. Let Khorne worry about blood and skulls!
- Karian Icefang has posed:
Karian growled in defiance at Huron, at least until he turned around. A smirk emerged on his face, despite his seeming sickness. "Vanity...will destroy you." He muses. Except his /musing/ was actually him performing an attempted combo move. A certain dictator might notice the wolf lord pulling off a familiar dragon uppercut, powered with a jump pack. But the old wold would then try to grab and then slam him into the ground before...from the top of a titan. No fear in the wolf lord.
- Cory (768) has posed:
Following the kick Chikorri ends up ducking low. She skids straight for Celestine but SPRINGS off both feet, leapfrogging oVER Celestine's claw rake attempt. Of course the tail catches her in the side but even that's partially defended against - Chikorri spins around at the last moment and raises an arm to block. The sheer impact breaks her skin and knocks her skidding off to the side... but she grinds to a halt quickly.
"Oh brother. Are you fresh out of the shell or something? Because you're missing a crucial litle detail!"
Still cheery despite all the pain, Cory decides on her next move.
"KAIOKEN TIMES TWELVE!"
The ground all but EXPLODES from the sheer force Cory's tiny body exudes. Crimson 'flames' of a never-before-seen intensity stream about in a great bonfire.
With Celestine coming straight at her several times in a row already, she has a pretty good idea of what's going to happen next. So she takes aim quickly with... both hands cupped at her side. "Kaaa... Meeee.... Haaaaa... MEEEEEE......"
light sparks and sizzles. Like a new star's birth, blue-white energy crackles and expands between Cory's hands and swiftly fills it. The palms compress it, shape it...
Then ultimately unleash it as she thrusts both for Celestine. "HAAAAAAAAHH!!!"
With an unearthly thrumming, pulsing sound all of the power flies for Celestine as a beam of power thick as a redood!
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
"Wh--"
On one hand, Stratovar is in Terminator Armour. On the other hand Jump Packs are made to lift that weight up. The Noise Marine captain is slammed in the face by a fist, and then grabbed-- and he and Karian plummet towards the ground below, to the awe of the three Chaos Marines still atop the Titan.
With an earth-shattering crash, the Space Wolf slams the Slaanesh worshipper into the ground, creating a fairly large crater in the process. There's a grunt of pain, Stratovar spitting a few teeth and blood out, before he laughs.
"My, Space Wolf. I thought you a harmless, declawed pup, and here you are fighting Nurgle's gift to wrestle me off a Titan. Unfortunately for you, I won't be dying today... but good show! I'm disarmed, everything hurts, and the ringing in my ears is PREVENTING ME FROM ENJOYING THIS CONCERT. You have RUINED MY DAY, WOLF LORD. When Lord Blackheart catches you, maybe you'll see what made your own betray you and deliver a ship onto him."
Something clicks, and the Teleport Homer in Stratovar's armor is set off. He disappears in a flash of white light, thrust directly into the Warp. The three Noise Marines atop the Titan do the same.
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
That definitely was NOT as planned - Yuna wanted to grab Nonon's flying tank, not smack it out of the air. And she's wincing in El-Line's cockpit as the Regalia crashes ...
And she actually lets out a sigh of relief when Nonon reveals that she survived the crash - she doesn't even look as badly hurt as Yuna expected. On the flip side, Yuna is also scared on behalf of (at least) one of her allies; she knows how hardy Imperium Space Marines are made to be, and the fact that Karian is audibly (and visibly) *sick* worries her intensely.
The best thing she can do right now for Karian, though, is to end this fight quickly, so his Apothecary can treat him without coming under fire. And as Nonon finishes 'warming up' and the Chaos Titan resumes its sonic onslaught, Yuna braces El-Line and interposes her shield, the Wall of the Guardian Star, to intercept as much of the audial assault as possible.
And no, she's not 'synchronized' with her partners, at least not the way Nonon is probably thinking of. Elner, Erina, Jiina, and Marina collectively transform and combine to become El-Line; their consciousnesses reside within the Matrix Figure, but their mental interconnection does not include Yuna herself. They're paying attention, though, and as Nonon starts the orchestral bombing run, it's NOT just Yuna's voice that is projected from El-Line's external speakers.
"You call this music? Yuna's snoring sounds sweeter."
"There is a considerable deficiency in these harmonic patterns."
"This music doesn't have a good beat at all; you can forget about dancing to it!"
"I'd rather forget that somebody ever tried classifying this cacophony as 'music' in the first place."
"Looks like the judges have cast their votes," Yuna remarks, followed by a call of, "LIGHTNING SWORD!!!" The last two words come as El-Line raises its right arm, hand initially open; a brilliant flare of energy erupts from the upraised palm, extending and solidifying, materializing into a large, gleaming sword, its blade catching the ambient light - then beginning to glow as Yuna channels her power through El-Line and into the blade. "Your concert is over, Nonon Jakuzure!!" Yuna calls out. "I hope you like rotten tomatoes, because that's all your performance is worth!"
And with that, Yuna pushes her controls forward, and El-Line tries to stab the Chaos Titan *straight* through the subwoofer.
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Ngh...I'm not suicidal." Kyra whines. "Why you gotta follow me around and pick on me now?" She doesn't seem unconscious but she does seem to be in pain, which diminishes as Mirielle applies her own healling to the White Mage. "I'll try to get over there but...no promises."
She doesn't sound too confident about that. Her plan for dealing with the Titan mostly just amounts to "changing the music" which Nonon has just managed to do.
Then again the alternative of fighting Vega does not look to be that attractive either, especially given the very creepy way the Dictator moves. Pulling herself up to her feet, she slips behind Deelel and Mirielle. "....good luck." she murmurs to both, pushing a pair of small flasks into Mirielle's pocket. The two drinks are 'giant's drafts', also known as 'enlarge person' which could eliminate the height difference between Mirielle and Vega if she chose to drink one.
Kyra? She runs. She runs with screaming bolts of evil streaming at her. The shots do catch up but the effect is not as pronounced as Vega may hope since Mirielle was kind enough to leave a number of buffs on her-including Shell. If anything, being struck in the back makes her run even faster as she weaves her way around brawling combatants, avoiding marines, and heading right to the musical Titan. She doesn't try to attract attention to herself as she does so, trying to figure out in a basic way how it works since she's lacking in the powers of 'make that musical thing work right now'.
- Karian Icefang has posed:
Karian smirks as he watches Stratovar escape, and nods. "Next time...you won't escape." He says. Sadly, he goes into another hacking fit...and quickly tries to down a potion to stave off the rot, but he knew he would need more help.
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel is doing her best to deal with Vega even with the downing of her light jet. She's going to have to harass Mara or Beck about that at some point. A whole lot of questions are going to get asked but it can't be helped. She presses on not expcting what's happing with the man. She stare at the head goes back? Wait what the hell is that? She's not expecting that she stares at him for a moment.
"LEt's see how your Game is."
Comment the program and well there comes the pyscho power right at her.
She's forced to break off hee attack for the moment and well is able to evade the fireballs but shis has left her at a bad spot to make another strike, so she's left charging at Vega hoping she can get in close and give him a wack or two with the keyblade.
- Celestine (816) has posed:
Cory winds up the heavy attack and all Celestine can brace for impact. The force slams into her and the sheer ki-force drives into her arms. Her feet slide back and she is completely blasted back by the force of it which drives her hard into a wall!
Once the Ki Blast ends though her arms are smoking, scales have actually been ripped off by the kinetic force, but she is still standing. She grunts, but at least her eyes are not glowing. There was a sneer before she at last tenses up. Her muscles tighten and with a draconic raptor roar she springs forward.
Her legs carrying the distance at full speed, before she just goes to ram charge right into Cory to return the favor! Only if she does impact, she doesn't just let Cory fly-- Oh no! She follows the body and goes to bit, claw, and slash with the force of them both.
Though... this may not be the wisest of ideas either way...
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
With Nonon guiding the band members of the Titan, its weaponry is DEVASTATING. Every subwoofer, every speaker, every "cannon" is alight with energy, firing shockwaves of pink and purple, lasers, blasts, rings. What's left of the Union outpost is damaged very badly-- though its crew, now in hiding, is still mostly safe. All in all, the base has been damaged beyond repairs, but its personnel, or at least a nice chunk of it, is still safe in the reinforced panic rooms. Just a matter of extracting them... if other Confeds don't finish the job first.
But every concert must end, and Yuna's sword pierces the Titan. There's a cataclysmic rumble as machinery, and people, are damaged beyond repairs. It doesn't topple, or fall, but it's split wide open, and slows to a crawl, making it MUCH easier for Kyra to climb if she tries.
It lumbers forward, as if unable to stop, like a big mecha zombie. Its weaponry is offline, at least. When Yuna pulls the weapon out of the thing's chest, she'll see hundreds of men and women, melded to the equipment inside. They moan, they howl in suffering. For all the Noise Marines are ridiculous, their equipment is still of Chaos. And corrupt Titans tend to "integrate" the crew into the machinery, very unpleasantly. It'd be hard to tell if these are innocents or if they're Chaos cultists, given their inability to speak anything but painful groans.
All they CAN do is keep trying to drive the Titan.
Should Kyra seek to climb it, she'll find little resistance on her way to the top, though within the cracks in the vehicle's plating, she can see and hear the crew members all the same.
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
Mirielle stares at Vega, her staff holding her up. The two giant's drafts placed into her pockets are patted lightly, and the calculator allows herself a thin smile. "Don't worry, Kyra. Unlike you, I can calculate the odds." She calls, before turning back, to face...
Vega. "Forgive me, master of Psycho Power. But I cannot promise a good fight, or a grand battle. I'm certainly not willing to match you in martial skill." She continues, before drawing one of the elixirs and downing it, feeling alchemical strength fill her, as the sort, unimposing girl swells up with power, bringing her to... 'normal athletic girl size'.
Mirielle is not a very imposing figure, even Enlarged, and still smaller than Vega. It does strengthen her, and stead her footing. Sureity fills her, as her eyes are shaded by the reflection off her glasses, a determined gleam as her bangs fall over her face.
She casts, in succession, a bevy of protective spells. Shell. Protect. Reflect. Haste. She thrums with protective energy, even as Vega issues his challenge.
"All I have is 'math'. But I said exactly what I intend. I'm not here to ensure victory. Simply to stop you. The difference is simple. I don't have to win. All I have to do is make sure you don't get to Kyra."
She levels her staff at Vega, darkness drifting like a contrail off the tip of her staff, before a dark, crushing Gravity spell. Perhaps to clash with Vega's Psycho Power, she bursts it high, to try to keep him from going airborne again. To stand and fight her and Deelel.
- Vega (749) has posed:
Kyra's retreat is of little interest to Vega. The objective may have been to stop her, but frankly, Vega could care less about the objective. He's here, he's helping, but in the face of an actual challenge, he's much more interested in, well, that actual challenge. Fighting an enemy he can actually have a fight with is immensely more entertaining than chasing a medic or throwing rocks at a building. Buildings are for cannons to deal with, not dark gods.
Deelel dodges to the left of his Psycho Power, narrowly avoiding the wave of pure pain. This is alright by him. Projectile fighting is something he dislikes anyway. There's something primally satisfying about the brute force approach. Vega's feet hit the ground mere moments before Deelel arrives, and as she swings her Keyblade upwards Vega's massive, meaty fist comes swinging in for her stomach. A fist backed by superhuman strength moves to meet digital flesh as Evil-cleansing Keyblade comes down and meets metal armguards. The blade and the armguards touch with a flare of purple-and-white energy as two conceptual opposites collide. A Keyblade is a weapon of the Heart that kills things without Hearts.
Vega is something without a Heart, but something that has replaced that Heart with...the opposite of a Heart? Half a Heart? Both?
Either way, light and Psycho Power flare as one. Vega's entire upper sleeve explodes as light rocks down his left arm, scoring it with burns.
This is distracting. It is distracting enough that Mirielle manages to grab him with her Gravity spell, slamming him into the ground. Impossibly, though his massive figure hunches, the tall man does not bend or compress. Purple power flares around him as the solid rock, rather than Earth or bone, gives first. Cracks spread throughout as Vega is pushed further and further down, the impact spreading the crater around himself and Deelel further and further.
"How intriguing," Vega's voice echoes, as if he is not, in fact, currently struggling against the Gravity well crushing him slowly into the ground - or as if he isn't fully speaking with the confines of his body, "Then we share that in common. I am also not here to ensure victory."
"I am only here to amuse myself with the likes of you!"
Impossibly, Vega's arm rises against the gravity. The massive, burned appendage, blazing its darkness as if to proclaim its Evil to the world, reaches towards Mirielle.
Vega's soulless white eyes flash as his head tilts.
"Kneel."
And then above Mirielle comes a similar crushing force. It is not, however, Gravity. Vega is not a master of Gravity. Rather it is the hand of Vega himself, pressing downwards upon her with his pure Evil will. Gravity, magic - these are not factors here. It is cruelty, malice, pain, and anger that fill Vega's soul and give him strength - and there is so much of all of these things around him in the here and now.
- Nonon Jakuzure (805) has posed:
Of course she survived!
She'd never forgive herself for letting Satsuki down!
Yes, that's the important part.
Sitll, as Yuna brings up the shield, Nonon's eyes shrink with rage, focusing. "Why aren't you falling apart!" She exclaims, before four running mouthed spirits add their UNNEEDED and UNWANTED opinions on her performance, "And WHO ASKED YOU anyways! You're supposed to split!" You know, like all bands do. The resonance was supposed to shatter them apart and leave Yuna helpless! "NO ONE MOCKS ME!" Nonon cries out, voice sharp like barbed wire!
Lightning what?
"I'm NOT GOING TO LOSE!" She yells, stubbornly, "FORTISSIMO!" She declares, throwing the baton forwards again in rage, directing them to play LOUDER. Except there's a giant gleaming lightning sword, before the blade impales itself into the Titan - and the music completely stops. "You stinking BITCH!" Nonon spits out, slamming the ground with her foot and waving the baton around forwards, up towards EL-Line. "As if I'm going to forget YOUR UGLY FACE!" She turns, but then as the sword is pulled out, and the Titan stumbles forwards, Yuna gets to see Nonon fall down those flights of stairs, rolling and toppling down the excessive amount of them that she had produced because she /liked the idea/. Next time, she will likely /make less/.
The venom, now, isn't so much her sharp tongue. It's just good natured bile. They keep driving the Titan, but with no music to play, Nonon abandon's it - literatelly leaping down sections as soon as she gets to her feet and goes down the side. Somehow, dressed in that weird outfit, she's still trying to get away - and just running for it. "Someone get me out of here now!" She declares, bitter.
- Cory (768) has posed:
Rather than the sneer Celestine's wearing, Chikorri's wearing this crazy upbeat grin. And it's getting RAPIDLY CLOSER. WAY faster than Celestine probably expected.
Because instead of run away or stand her ground... Cory kicks off the ground and just ROCKETS for her opponent. Part Ki propulsionn, part running, she closes the distance--
Ohhhhh this will get UGLY!
"All you do is CHARGE!" She snaps out, catching the charge with one hand. The impact's TREMENDOUS though! She's driven back across the ground in just an effort to stay from being overwhelmed. It doesn't help her much in the end though. The following assault of claws and teeth rip into flesh and fabric alike, spraying blood everywhere!
But Chikorri's willing to try to fend it off with her arms. "And you LEAVE... BIG... OPENINGS!"
YEs, while her arms and upper body are getting savaged, she DRIVES A KNEE in for Celestine's gut. "Big, obvious moves are BAD!"
Yes, should that strike, she'll KEEP IT UP with the knee assault!
"The worst mistake so far's NOT CHECKING WHO FOUGHT ON WHAT SIDE, SILLY HATCHLING!!"
Only NOW does she let some anger flare out, but it's still kept under control!
That's not easy, because HER ARMS ARE SEARING WITH PAIN RIGHT NOW.
- Celestine (816) has posed:
Cory slams her knee into Celestine and she coughs out air as its all pushed out from her. Followed by another and another. Only after the fifth time, her eyes flare brightly and she then drives her own own claw into Cory's other leg, before chomping her teeth right at the Saiyan's face!
Once Cory does let go, Celestine slumps down to one knee. Coughing and trying to get her breath. She lets out a soft hiss before another cough is followed. Her hands digging into the ground. "Saiyan is a Saiyan..." She gets out with a rumble. "...You are not Confederate. So you are my enemy."
Those only slowly glowing aqua blue eyes on the edge of becoming white stare directly at her. "And it was the enemy Saiyans who came to the world... and there is no guarantee you are no different." Celestine then gets back up on her feet, holding her side however. There was then a dark smirk on her face, "But at the same time... if not for your people... I would not have been created."
Celestine then uses her tail to suddenly throw dirt up at Cory's face, before activating the staff once more, and then using it with a flouring to strike at one side, before swing down low to try and trip Cory off her feet. "So not only will you come to fear me-- but all of the Union one day as well..."
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel has an idea that this is not someone you want to take lighty. She's now upo close and trying to hit the man with her blade she knows he's powerful but whatever his real nature is? She has no idea but when the blade seems to react she was not expecting that. Nor a fist so hammy Brian Blessed would approve of it. Wham it impact inot her get she lrts otu a cry but ther'es no blood, she felt mostly like flesh? Yet given Vega's experiance something might bea bit off about her.
She's now forced back.
"Are you a Man or something else?"
Deelel manages to get out, she should have been winded by that hit, yet she has not. It's clearly hurt but not in the normal way. She's not sure if she's going to get a reply. While he goes for Mirielle? Deelel may have an opening and she launches her self at vega again with her weapon.
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Hey, my face isn't ugly," Yuna replies, sounding hurt - well, sounding a lot of things, right now: sickened by the sight of the Chaos Titan's crew, grieved at the state they're in, still ticked off at some of Nonon's insults ... and, yes, unhappy about the insult to her looks, but that last one is bringing up the rear, and might actually be somewhat feigned. Might be. "Ugly girls don't get picked as idol singers."
There's a pause, and then Yuna makes sure El-Line's external speakers are muted. "Elner, start scanning that thing's crew," she whispers. "Are there any of them that we can save?"
El-Line's sensors aren't as good as Elner's own, perhaps, but they do exist, and Elner's voice replies from a monitor, /Scanning now,/ as Yuna waits for the reply. The Lightning Sword disappears again, its purpose served for now, while Elner acquires and analyzes data ...
- Cory (768) has posed:
When the two finally disengage, Chikorri's gasping and panting for breath too. That big assault happened on the tail end of a massively powered Kamehameha that pushed her Kaioken to the limit. Then, SHARP TOOTH ATTACK! Her arms are torn up NASTILY. it probably looks worse than it is, but PAAAAAAAAAAAAIN.
And lots of blood.
She's slumped forward slightly, arms at odd, awkward angles and not ready to jump to a guard like before.
So she's easily taken advantage of. The dirt hits her eyes, forcing them closed on pure reflex. She's thwacked and tripped almost faster than she can think, but her experience is unmistakable here.
She can guess what's probably coming next after all, and... noope, not letting it happen.
Both hands come up next to her face at either side, fingers spread out...
"SOLAR FLAAAAAAAAAAARE!"
DID THE SUN JUST GO SUPERNOVA?!
It's BRIGHT. Brighter even than the sun itself. Everything goes piercingly, blindingly, nauseatingly and PAINFULLY white.
Cory figures, if she's going to be blinded, may as well return the favor.
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
Being commanded to Kneel works quite easily on Mirielle - she's not physically powerful, and the Giant's Draught that empowers her merely makes up the gap on the far physically superior Vega.
So, as the Dictator Dictates, Mirielle cannot help but 'obey', as the Hand of Vega smashes open palmed down with a crushing force. She cannot force herself to her feet with her staff, and is just put down, down, down, to her knees, with the sheer force of Evil, Malice, Suffering, Anger, and Cruelty. All of these things, that are so present without, filling the area...
They crush Mirielle.
And as she buckles, her barrier fields and shields turn dark, gathering up something. And as she's squashed like a bug by Vega, those shields become more and more opaque.
And then Mirielle gets an arm under her, and a knee. "You tell me to kneel, and fill me with these things? That you could crush me, with this? Yours is powerful, yes, a dark, glinting example of these forces. But don't... don't look down on me. You think I've never had to bear these forces?" Mirielle spits, as her Reflect shield finishes gathering up all of the excess Psycho Hand, and she reaches into the ball. "You don't look like you've struggled, scrabbled, and scraped for what you had. Let me show you." She growls, dark hatred filling her voice as she blows Vega's command back at him, with the full force of her own dark magics, which are not, on the nose, Evil.
Avaricious, to be certain, and capable of biding its time, obviously.
- Celestine (816) has posed:
Celestine had her prey. Right where she wanted her, she was getting ready to take that staff of hers and slam the butt of it into the Saiyan's head; Only to find the Saiyan was a dirty cheat! The area becomes bright white and given Celestine's own sensitivity her eyes try to adjust, but it overpowers her senses and she screeches in pain.
The Raptor-Dragon Hybrid was quick to pull away, her tail twitching in pain, before she actually /runs/ away from Cory. She then darts right over the wall, almost tripping on it and actually /runs/! Much like one would expect from a predator of the wild really...
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Getting to the Titan eventually proves to be doable for Kyra, Mirielle and Deelel now entirely occupying the Dictator's attention. Good thing too since that "man" seemed unpleasant to fight. Kyra will quickly climb onto the Titan, scaling the side only to stop as she notices it retreating and more or less splitting in half.
She sees the Union outpost, which is a big pile of rubble.
Hearing the moaning, she strains to peer over where the split itself is, where the people inside groaning in pain can be heard. Kyra's stomach twists. "T...this thing is /awful/!" she exclaims. "No way in hell I'm going to use it." she mutters, climbing off of the Titan and backing off with dismay.
- Vega (749) has posed:
The problem with fighting a psychic - particularly a *powerful* psychic - is that the concept of going for someone is less a physical thing and more the splitting of attention. As Vega's will exerts its force upon Mirielle, it is his body that reacts to Deelel. His burned arm comes upwards to literally grab the Keyblade in hand, and again, there's that horrible flare of purple psycho power and brilliant Keyblade light. Again, Vega's arm comes away burned, but this time, he does not release it. The light, and the darkness, build and build, purple force pushing against glowing power as Vega holds the keyblade in place with muscle and force. Against the massive gravity well, and all logic, Vega's foot comes swinging up for Deelel's chest, pressing his mighty boot into her stomach. It is as if it is a contest to see what gives first - Vega's arm, Deelel's grip on the Keyblade, or Deelel's arm and her shoulder socket. Vega even manages to leverage Mirielle's Gravity against Deelel, using his mighty height to press *down* and away instead of merely away, and amplifying his own massive strength considerably.
As Mirielle gathers up Vega's Psycho Power, there's a moment of curiousity behind Vega's soulless eyes. Oh, it can't be read, of course - there is no expression upon that face but his terrible rictus grin of delight - but curiousity nonetheless races through Vega's mind. That tinge of hatred and avarice is all Vega needs to feed, like some sort of horrible Hate Vampire.
It becomes immediately obvious that the Psycho Power part of the attack is not terribly effective. It crashes into and over Vega like a wave, sparking and reacting with the Keyblade more than it does Vega himself. Indeed, as the Psycho Power bits of the attack meet Vega's body, it seems almost to bolster him. His muscles bulge with sudden force, which is probably not a great thing for Deelel. His body seems to swell and grow under the attack, as if it was not an attack at all, merely returning a piece of some greater whole to his self.
The Dark magics, on the other hand, are *quite* effective. Where *they* crash into Vega's burned arm, they ripple and roil, digging into skin and smoldering with black energy. With Darkness on one side and Keyblade on the other, it seems like only a matter of time before Vega's arm snaps, unless he forces Deelel away (or rips her arm off) in the process.
But the psychopath starts laughing. It is a horrible laugh. It is a laugh without life, without joy, without kindness or love or any of the things you usually laugh for. It is a laugh that celebrates nothing and denies all celebration, a cruel and mocking tone that winds from the Gravity well and the burning darkness and the flashing strobes of Keyblade light.
"Child," The Dictator sneers, "You assume far too much."
It is at this point that Vega's purple power rises again. One might almost imagine strings of purple energy roiling off his body...
And then that force simply goes UNDER Mirielle, to upend her and flip her to the ground and smash her under the force of the rock. Under Deelel and Vega, the same energy begins to drag, fighting the Gravity spell with all its might. The rock rises into the air, shaking and quaking under the assault from both Vega and Mirielle. The trail of darkness continues to smolder, but though its tendrils creep upwards towards his face, he seems to take no notice of it, nor the horrible flares of energy that have seared the palm of his hand black, of the light that burns and burns against his fire. As the rock upon which he stands tears itself loose from its earthly moorings, Vega's free hand reaches out to grab chunks of the falling Titan, ripping free massive hunks of metal.
The metal comes spinning for both rocks - the one Deelel and Vega stand upon, and the one attempting to upend and crush Mirielle.
Mirielle and Deelel have power. But Vega can split his attention.
Can they?
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
The Titan just sort of continues walking ahead. Slowly. Lumbering. Sooner or lately its machinery will fail; it'll either explode, or fall down, and assuming people haven't gone out of their way to kill its crew, they'll just pass away as the life support systems go offline one after another.
If Kyra takes a moment to look on the roof she'll spot the chunks of flesh from the Plague Marine amidst the Power Armour plating pieces and such. These do in fact have every disease known to (modern) humanity and then some, nothing Esuna can't handle, but definitely something she'll want gloves to pick up, if she does at all.
Elner will report that it's probably possible to save a fair amount of the crew, but odds are their minds are broken and they'll need to have multiple, if not all, limbs cut off to be extracted from the Titan.
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
For posterity, Kyra does take a moment to get a picture of what she's seeing in the cracks of the Titan. Something she'll pass on in whatever report comes out of this incident later. It's a very quick action that she doesn't spend a lot of time doing since the more she looks at the people melded to the machine, the worse she feels. Her instinct is to save them but in just looking at them, she gets the suspicion that it'd take amputation to do so.
As she starts to crawl off, something unpleasant-smelling catches her attention and she spots the green bits of Plague Marine intersperesed between the plating. Being the chemist that she is, Kyra /does/ carry disposable gloves and empty sample containers on her at all times. Both are deployed rapidly to snatch up a piece of that diseased tissue with minimal risk to Kyra herself.
Fleeing the Titan, Kyra is quick to rejoin Deelel and Mirielle, hastening her movement as she sees just what the Dictator is doing to the pair. Though the temptation to hurl an explosive vial at Vega's back is high, Kyra instead focuses on reaching out with a spread cura aimed at both Mirielle and Deelel.
- Cory (768) has posed:
With Celestine running off, Chikorri feels like heaving a sigh of relief. She DOESN't though because her side's now as sore as it gets. Well, everything is now, really. What she DOES do is flip to her feet and just -fly straight up,- using the distance to clear her eyes at her leisure.
"Sheesh, CLAWS ARE NOT FUN!"
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The results of Elner's scans come up on the main cockpit display ... and for a moment, Yuna closes her eyes.
She doesn't know how many of them were innocents to begin with, or how many of them can actually be brought back from their current condition to function as healthy people again. But the Titan is still pressing forward ... it has to be stopped, and El-Line doesn't have the mass to just stop it in its tracks or hold it still. If she tries to take one or both of the Titan's legs off, the impact will probably do serious harm to most if not all of the remaining crew ...
"Elner," Yuna whispers, "can we hack the systems?"
/Unlikely,/ Elner replies from the screen next to Yuna. /And I wouldn't want to try./
Yuna squeezes her eyes tighter shut than they already are. "Is there anything we CAN do ... ?"
Elner doesn't answer - although there is one thing Yuna could still do, technically, it's almost certainly something she would balk at. But after a few seconds more, Yuna opens her eyes again, regret and resolve mixed on her face.
The Lightning Sword reappears in El-Line's grip, and is lifted for one more strike ...
And this time, when she brings the sword down, she's aiming for the Chaos Titan's powerplant - as cleanly as she can hit it, trying to finish the Titan off with one more stroke.
If the powerplant doesn't explode hard enough to kill what's left of the crew, she can worry about trying to save those who are left.
If it DOES explode, El-Line is going to be right there at ground zero - with Yuna wishing that she could take the full brunt of it on El-Line's armor and save what's left of the victims of the Slaaneshi cultists who've already hurt them so badly.
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel is going to leave Kyra to her mission of sabotaging the titan. She hopes her firend does well. She has no idea of the nightmare inside with it. Chaos really is just flat out evil and it revels in what it is to boot. Speaking of delaing with evil? Vega is not one to be stopped easily se's finding, what she is finding though her keyblade does not like him and reacts to him. As the two energy fields meet She's forced back.
It also seems to Deelel this guy has some Admin privs. Not that she's fightin but she doesn't seem to have a shoulser socket per say, no but a starge glowing crack is appearing on her shoulder there the joint would be.
She's foece to break off but then something worse comes his poiwer now pushes even. She's force to break off she's not said much, Vega isn't the sort of person that she can spend the timer bantering much with.
Then comes the enemy of all spacenoids. Gravity then just makes thing even wors as things star to fall? She's forced to start dodging, she's also fast and very agile as she bounds about trying to deal with the falling parts while launching a ice based spell at Vega before trying to get in another hit. How long can this woman Multi task?
- Huron Blackheart (809) has posed:
Yuna puts a lightning sword through a plasma reactor. The result is extremely predictable and explosive. It's not nuclear or anything quite of that scale, but if this had been a populated zone it would have been a very, very bad thing. As it is, the only one within range of the explosion is, luckily, Yuna's giant robot. It helps this is just a small Titan, too.
In the wake of that, there won't be a whole lot left, and definitely no suffering crewmen. A lot of chunks of Titan, what little survived the heat.
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
Bolstered by Kyra's heals, the mental battle that is combined with the physical one - a two-front war she is on the losing side of at least one of. Even if she could match Vega will-to-will, iron discipline against living embodiment...
She was still frail. The rock flipped up, around her, and she barely escaped being crushed under it. Haggared and bloody, she looks up, and towards Vega's aim to spear her with a chunk of metal. Timely heals from Kyra, however, send her a surge of power, and she scrabbles back, the metal burying itself just shy of her as she ducks back. "Kyra!" She calls, as the White Mage moves to take the field, shaking her head. "Well, this heroic stand seems foolish, now." Mirielle sighs, taking back to her feet.
Vega was not an enemy Mirielle wanted to fight for long. Thankfully, having to multitask and split her attention was neatly solved by the White Mage's intervention and rejoining of their arm of the fight. "Kyra, do me a favor..." She begins, drawing forth her wicked black Shady Shit knife. "Don't look at me." She finishes, as she drives the knife into her left hand with a barely contained agonized groan. "I think the assumptions I make are... within reason." She gasps, tears welling in her eyes, as a burning darkness swells from her blood. It is not the technique of the Dark Knight, burning health for power, but something more ritualistic. Knife still buried in her hand, her unmaimed right fingers release the weapon, aiming at Vega. "For all your Evil, you're still not strong against /my/ Darkness." She growls, and unleashes another torrent of darkness, this one sweeping out like a wave whose leading edge congeals into a dark arm and aims to both grip and crush Vega, as the rest simply blasts against him.
THIS MAY HAVE FUN EFFECTS, SINCE THE DARK LIGHT DARK LIGHT LIGHT DARK-NESS of the Keyblade Deelel is weilding also is being swung around!
With the expenditure of such power, though, Mirielle is forced to one knee, panting and trying to work the knife out of her hand without hurting herself even more.
- Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
In the wake of the explosion, the Lightning Sword dematerializes once again, the scorched and seared Matrix Figure sinking to its knees ... and then glowing brightly before El-Line dematerializes, fields of energy resolving into the four members of the Matrix of Light, plus Yuna, still in her Light Suit.
As soon as her feet touch the ground, Yuna collapses to *her* knees as well, curling up on the ground. Jiina gathers her up, and then the group disappears in a blink of light.
It's going to be a while before Yuna recovers from THAT. Blasted Chaos cultists and the gods they worship.
- Vega (749) has posed:
This right here is what you call a bad situation. With one of his (physical) arms basically useless from the brutal Keyblade light clashing against his horrible anti-Light Evil, even as Deelel backs off, Vega is at a disadvantage. *They* have a healer, and backup. *He* has...granted, overwhelming power, but overwhelming power is only useful if it is *actually overwhelming*. As it stands, not only is he divided by having to fight two foes at once, he's forced to try and keep up with the healer.
But then Mirielle changes the field entirely, and Vega has no choice. He vanishes in a burst of purple, his image etched in that bizarre-colored energy for a moment before it, too, fades.
Vega is not running.
Vega emerges in front of the massive blast of darkness. The rock he was holding up falls to the ground, shattering into pieces. The metal chunks fall, harmlessly, as the barrage dies. All Vega's attention, all Vega's Psycho Power, all the tendrils all across the battlefield are drawn back into him as the oncoming blast of darkness approaches.
Jerkily, Vega's burned hand rises upwards, as if it were a puppet's arm giving a command. Then his other hand comes up, smoothly, naturally, as if he intends to...but he couldn't possibly...could he? His arm, still roiling with Light and shadow, pulses with purple energy.
The wave of Darkness is massive. Mirielle's power is forceful, and massive, and backed by blood and pain and suffering and ritual. Ritual is old magic, and itself is backed by faith and tradition.
Vega floats in the air, arms spread before him, his rictus-grin now as if carved of wood, and braces.
There is a collision. It is a collision on a spiritual and mental level more than physical, but a collision of such power and force that it is *brought* physical regardless. Purple fire lights up the sky, flaring upwards and outwards in a fireworks display of the most absurd sort. Black energy crashes into Vega's hands, into the purple fire burning around him, and *holds*.
The ground cracks under the force of it - the ground, nearly twenty feet below. The hunks of metal and dirt picked up and thrown by Vega casually into the area are caught and flung about by the two great forces smashing together. Vega's entire will turns against Mirielle's, determined not to allow her magic to touch him.
He takes a step forward.
The Darkness moves a step back.
Vega's horrible, mocking laughter echoes even over the thunder of the two great powers meeting. It rings out through the silent battlefield as noise itself is subsumed into the burst of power. He laughs, and laughs, and laughs-
And then, suddenly, a spike of ice stabs into his good arm, and he isn't laughing anymore. Vega turns a fraction of his attention towards Deelel, and the Darkness shoves him backwards, slamming him forcefully against the fallen remains of the Chaos titan. Vega's rictus grin parts in a roar of challenge and defiance, of fury and delight - a warrior's roar.
But it is over when the Darkness touches the Light. There is a furious explosion as the purple curtain between them breaks for just an instant, sending shadows flying every which way, and consuming noise rather than bursting it forth. For a moment everything is madness.
And then, when it ends, Vega hovers there, missing his left arm and most of his coat. His body is burned fiercely, black energy roiling around him and slowly being subsumed into (or scattered by?) the purple fire of Psycho Power. The Dictator glances downwards at the stump where his limb once was.
Another blast of purple fire roils over it, hanging there in the shape of an arm.
"Enough," Vega observes, "I am outnumbered, and you have a healer. This is pointless. We shall meet again when I am not so disadvantaged."
And then he's gone, in another blast of purple fire, with his image carved in the air for a brief moment before it fades on the breeze.
It was not grinning.
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel knwos the dark is not always evil but well she'd distravted by Vega to catch just Miriell is doing to bck her up. She had no idea just what the Summoner was casting. She will be finding out very shortly just what will happpen. She know she's going to get over powered but she isn't expecting that darkspell. Her keyblade resoindes to this and it's plusing it's not doing so well the blades only recently bonded with Deelel. It's only recently woken up from a /very/ long slumber and well it doesn't go so well. She is sent flying in a burst of light as the blade responds to it she's down on the ground and trying to get back up. She's also got a number of glowing cracks all over her body.
"I ... see Vega."
Is all Deelel Manages to utter as she attempt to get back up fully. Ya she really had a heck of a fight today.
"What happened where did that ... blast of Darkness come from?"
She's let Vega leave, it's not like she could /stop/ him like this.
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Yeah this wound up pretty bad!" Kyra calls out, super glad that Vega's absorption with the two sufficiently distracted him from coming back with some timely support. Timely enough to save Mirielle a KO or worse in that one moment.
She tells her to look away, though. Kyra does not. "Wait, what are you doing?" she's seen the knife before, actually, when she used it briefly on her and Audrey that one time. She knows it's for drawing blood though it's still a surprise to see it coming out of Mirielle.
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
Mirielle turns at Kyra, a dark sort of disappointment flickering in her eyes. "I told you not to look." She murmurs, before drawing the knife out of her hand extra-slowly, wincing the whole time. Vega's announcement, and his leaving in psycho-fire draws a small, grim smile. "Well. He had our measure, but thankfully, force multiplication beats brute strength most times." She nods, cleaning off her knife carefully - hard to do one-handed - and stowing it. "I... ah... There are things in our world, and others, that have a power all to themselves, and if you know where to look - or are desperate enough to reach them - they can make all the differences." She replies cryptically, her corona of Horrible Shady Darkbad clearing even as Deelel seems to have taken umbrage to her use of Dark Darkness with Dark Sprinkles, giving the program a clinical once-over.
"Kyra, if you could, um, patch up your friend before they have problems, I think they may need some help... I'll fix up my hand, since it's my own fault." She sighs, a few flickers of guttering white magic twinkling around the wound. "Ermh... Maybe not..." She sighs.
- Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"What, you think I'm going to listen when people tell me not to do something?" Kyra deadpans, perhaps alluding to previous conversations shared between the two just a little earlier. "Well that sounds very vague and spooky. You sure you're not a Dark Knight Calculator?" Darkness and blood being used in any shape or form-it's an easy assumption to make. Maybe one safer for Mirielle.
She shrugs, "It's just another element." Is her casual conclusion, strolling away from Mirielle to tend to Deelel. "No big deal. Hey Dee, hold still, I've got this. Heal! The Scar of the Glowing Sun!" Healing nonorganics. Like a boss.
- Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks to Mirielle for a moment and actually seems to get a devent bit of what she's talking about but she doesn't say much. Pain light train has pulled into the station and Deelel's riding it. Hopefully not much longer.
"It be nice to not be cubing all over everything."
When Kyra asks her to hold still she does so as Kyra works her magic in every sense of the word.
- Mirielle Edelweiss (666) has posed:
Mirielle gives a little helpless shrug. "Maybe." She offers. "It'd help to explain a great deal." She mutters noncommittally, before taking a few calming breaths and focusing on switching over to healing her hand from 'DESTROYING HER ENEMIES WITH BLOOD AND DARKNESSSSSSSS'.
Some part of her is probably overjoyed that she tapped that well so deeply.
Another part of her is hyperventilating that Kyra, a Cosma-worshipper, saw her being all dark-knighty (or worse). Kyra, who she had been really trying to protect... Well, to be fair, she's friends with Cirra.
Mirielle slumps over onto the ground and starts worrying at her hand. "Just... don't tell Landon or Cirra, OK? I don't want them to worry. Over me, or about me." She notes.
