2554/Foundry Fracas

Foundry Fracas
Date of Scene:	29 June 2015
Location:	Brimsteel Frontier
Synopsis:	Molemen disrupt a facility exposition tour. How'd they get in there?!
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, Staren, 673, Corona Arclite, 750, 770

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Corona Arclite has posed:
Upon arriving at Loadstar it wasn't hard to find where one was suppose to go. Especially since there are steam-powered trams running from the gates to the inner depths of the Industrial District, giving riders a short but thorough view of the monoliths of steampunk industry that made of that portion of the frontier city. A few of the newer plants use tesla towers and pulsarium power generators for energy needs, but in the end the purpose is all the same.

Like a tower of steel and chrome the Cassavhan Foundry stands amongst the center of them all, smokestacks puffing at a constant yet almost leisurely seeming pace.

The front of the building features a rather large pair of brass and chrome decorated doors, in front of which Corona is standing. Or more aptly leaning against the frame, with her hat down partway over her face while she's waiting for the arrivals. Or taking a nap while doing so. Quite possibly both considering her typically busy days.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    A chance to learn about super-geothermal power and alien metallurgy - and record the explanation for Argonaut perusal - is simply too good of an opportunity for Rory to pass up!

    As is a ride through STEAMPUNK LAND.

    Riding the tram, she's looking every which way like an excited Kid! Although her white robes do look a bit too thick for the locale she shows no sign of sweat or overheating...

    When the tram does finally arrive she's quick to disembark and make a beeline for Corona, offering a wave in greeting.

    "What a fascinating place this is. So much heavy industry!"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa is hanging out with Rory today she's happy for a chance to catch up with Rory and several other friends. She's wearing a bit of a different outfit then normal. She's got something new from the looks of it today. A short sleeved lab coat, which is a dark blue a black undershirt that hugs her body a bit. Black shorts with very high leggings and boots she's also got an etco attached to a wrist mount on her. It seems she's been playing with her smart clothing. (OOC image ref http://imgur.com/WSnjuW5)

"Tell me about it, steam tech being pushed this far is only fiction back home and it's a sight to see such heavy industry and get most of it's not been automated into the ground."

She's pretty clearly excited.

Rebound (750) has posed:
    Seems that Rebound has decided to tag along. She does so enjoy helping Corona out. Plus Corona's world is a very interesting one, and one of the few that Rebound can wander around in without needing any kind of disguise. Speaking of which, she's in no disguise currently, opting to wear her pretty standard gear.

    She hops up next to Corona and that huge door, "Hey." She says, with a little grin to the desert fox, "So what's the deal with this place, anyway? You don't think bandits would get this far into the city, right?"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite shifts her position as she hears familiar voices, and thumbs her hat away from her eyes as she looks up and smiles. "Ah, there y'all are. Was startin' to wonder if the tram broken down or somethin'." She takes another moment to adjust it straight and pushes herself up off the wall. "Figgered y'all would rather meet a familiar face before we get to the fun stuff. This is where most of what Loadstar -does- happens. Resources from the mines and whatnot come in, get processed, and what ain't used fer our own needs is shipped out." The vulpine's tail gives a fwish as she turns to pull a large lever to open the doors. "Use to be all over Brimsteel. Now, thanks to those warp gate thingin's, all over the Multiverse."

She takes a step back as the doors open with the click-clatter, smirking over her shoulder towards Rebound. "Iffen anyone got this far inside, it'd have to be more than just a buncha aspirin' thugs. Not that ain't tried."

The first room within the clockwork doors looks fairly typical for your entrance lobby. The walls and floor are paneled in polished mahogany wood, with the occasional bit of copper and silver trim to the decor. A few chairs on each side by the walls, forming a simple path towards the desk at the back of the lobby, and another set of gear-driven doors beyond it.

"These are some of your friends, I take it?" Standing just in front of the desk is a rather elaborate woman. Or at least her 'southern belle' style attire is elaborate compared to the most of gruff, hard working folks around here. But at the same time she was, like Corona, a anthromorph animal instead of a human. In this case, a collie. Of high breeding it would seem, as she makes a rather flowering formal bow to the group. "Callie Cassavhan, though most folks around these parts simply call me 'Miss C'. Welcome to the heart of Loadstar, as they say."

Staren has posed:
    Staren is here, too!

    At this point, he's mostly just taking stuff in. "Hi." everyone gets a simple greeting. He /is/ wondering, how mechanical technology can do the things he's seen Corona's machines do... so it should be interesting to find out!

    Staren nods back to the collie-girl. "Staren. Pleased to meet you."

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    Off to one side of the Lobby, likely just keeping an eye on Miss C, was a particular kobold of a particular descent who was totally not short. Don't even think the word. Do you understand?! As everyone filters in the ranger glances up, offers a wave, and then starts to slip over, "Oi, C'rona, how many were you expectin' anyway?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Seeing Corona gets Rory smiling fiercely, but she asides to Kotone, "Enjoying the smart clothes? I don't recognize that setting!" not that she's tried lots of settings herself...

    In the group goes, and she answers the woman with a nod. "Rory White, of the Argonauts!"

Rebound (750) has posed:
"Howdy, Miss C." Rebound says, as she bows her head to the collie woman. She's trying to fit in with the local lifestyle as best she can, but she grew up on Clint Eastwood and John Wayne movies, so her mentality when it comes to this type of world may be a bit skewed.

    At least she's not wearing a cowboy hat or anything rediculous like that, because then she'd just look goofy as hell.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa bows slighly to Miss C and she smiles as she comes up from it.

"IOts good to meet you Miss C and thank you for the welcome. I'm Kotone Yamakawa."

She turns her head to greet Sparktail as he arrives.

"Sherrif."

She also looks back to Rory for a moment smirking.

"This isn't a standard setting I fiddled with it."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite shrugs her shoulders a little to Target. "It was an open invitation. Thought maybe some of the business types might be interested, but those folks are always so busy." She gives a knowing glance in the collie-woman's direction as Miss C turns after the greetings and walks towards the doors on the opposite side of the desk.

"Your friends seem more genuinely interested rather than just the prospect of business, Corona. So I am not really going to complain." She takes a moment to turn a set of gears on one panel of the doors, which must be some sort of unmarked combination lock as the two portions of metal clunk loudly and slide open a few moments later. "If you will follow me..."

On the other sides of the doors the wood paneled floor gives way to metallic clink of catwalk gratings. The group would find themselves walking out onto a suspended platform over the actual factory floors. Machinery as far as the eyes can see, the ones visibly in motion consisting of giant steam-powered metal presses and tooling devices. Conveyor belts driving by clockwork engines chug ores and materials between processing stations, while heavier assemblies are handled by overhead chains and hoists.

"My great-grandfather was one of the founding fathers of Loadstar Depot," Miss C explains as she walks up to the guardrail. "This foundry and the rail depot where his work. When the others decided they didn't 'get enough' out of Brimsteel he bought up their shares in the land and business, and my family has been the administrative force behind it ever since."

Miss C turns to the group, but waves one arm out past the work floors, at the towering collection of furnances way in the back, the depths behind the their grates glowing hot red and white. "Many of the alloys developed for Brimsteel's environment, including the one it is named after, can only be processed at extremely high temperatures. It would take too much of the limited supply of pulsarium to generate it, so instead we pump the very fiery depths of the planet's volcanic nature for the power."

Staren has posed:
    Staren watches with interest, nodding occasionally. He takes in the factory... special alloys enabled by the extreme heat of unusual technology... reminds him of another world. He wonders if Morg would like to see this?

    Ah well. "Pulsarium?" Staren wonders. "Sorry, I'm from offworld. What is that?"

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
Only after eveyone else has followed after Miss C, does Target follow along, bringing up the flank. He knows a lot of the story of Loadstar but it never hurt to hear it again. Idly he wonders if Miss C's gonna mention the folks that helped her out along the way, but hey, she'll get to it when she gets to it. "Took a whole lotta work, can't ever deny that 'round here."

Rebound (750) has posed:
"How much work does it take to pump that much lava up?" Rebound asks, as she thinks about the woman's statements about pumping magma out from the core of the planet, "I mean it's just really cool you can do that. Can you generate power from all of that as well?" She's heard of geothermal, it seems like it'd be a good way to make electricity.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa listen as the story about this colony and what it produces gets her notice. Kotone grins a little bit and speaks u after Miss C has finished up.

"That's quite the story and now I see why so much has been invested on this planet. It's still something to sew what you managed to build here. Given the enviorment and some of the other locals. Seriously some guys tried to steal a bridge a while back. Geothermal power's a very good idea where you can make use of it and this planet is about as good as it gets for it's use."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona is the one the answer Staren's question, by unslinging her hammer and holding it out for the energy chamber in the center of it's head to be seen. "It's a crystal that is a highly efficient energy producer." She taps the casing with a fingertip, "One of these powerin' a boiler is how we can make steam engines that run just as good as yer offworld tech, 'mongst other things. Only forms in the deepest, high pressure areas of the planet though, so it's tough to get at."

"Yes, but mining and processing it is one of the biggest boons to Brimsteel's stature. And yes, the thermal heat from the furnaces is also the foundry's main sort of power, the heat exhaust and gasses from the forges runs through turbines as it's pumped out of the building."

Miss C folded her hands behind her back idly, huffing in faint annoyance. That bridge scandal, what was up with that? "Course round here you've always got others that want to just take for themselves and not give their proper due in return. But that's why we thankfully have the Rangers, and people like Miss Arclite." Corona makes a funny face when she's referred to so formally. "Without them we wouldn't still be here. Pity Ol' Rusty isn't around to see these days, bless his soul."

"Place would of fallen apart around yer father's ears without him," Corona retorts wryly.

"Aye, that it would of." Miss C chuckled softly. "If you all would like to see the actually machinery floor we ca--"

And that's when a thunderous crash from the depths of the factory cuts her off, the collie immeadiately snapping her head back in the other direction as steam vents begin screaming and workers quickly scramble to cut off the flow to damaged pipes. "--What in the bloody blue hells was that?!"

Corona hops up on the railing next to her, letting her exceptional hearing do the work. "Echoing sounds like it came from the material vaults!" Corona uses one of her grapplers to yank herself up into the maze of overhead piping.

"... She's impulsive, just like Rusty was in his younger days." Miss C shakes off the brief moment of reminencing. "Come on, the storage buildings are this way!" Despite that billowy old fashioned dress she proves to be quite quick on her feet, leading the rest of the group across assorted walkways through the foundry.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
     Just a split second after the explosion rings out through the facility, Target's at the railing, looking toward the sound, trying to get an idea of what it could hvave been. When Corona mentions it may have came from the Vaults, the kobold is off like a shot through the facility. Someone seems to be really familiar with the place! Given his size, there's also a lot of places he can squeeze through that the others may not be so lucky getting through.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks. "Wow. It really /is/ like ghost rock." he can't help but blurt out at Corona's explanation.

    Then he goes back to listening, until... his ears flatten and his tail bristles at the sudden CRASH. When Corona pulls herself up into the pipes, Staren follows, firing a grapple tag gun from inside his left sleeve. Between that, the jump boosters in his shoes, and the energy wings, he hopes he can keep up with her!

Rebound (750) has posed:
    "Well hell." She must have jinxed them, Rebound thinks, when she mentioned bandits getting this far. She is off like a shot after the others when they dash off. She's pretty impulsive of her own, and it shows when she's off after Corona, itching to fight whatever it is that's down in the storage vaults.

    She catches up to Corona with a few quick hops, "What do you think it is? Bandits? Some kind of monster? Oh what if it's aliens, you guys have aliens right?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa says "Ah I see, kinda like the crystals used by the Flotilla's ships and the like? I think I get the giest of it. Humm curious so deep core mining I do know people whod be ablke to do that if your looking for help with that."

She was curious to now more however aqs she listens there quite a lot to this place then something happens.

"Right lets go."

With that Kotone is moving with the group as they go to check out just what's going on there.

Corona Arclite has posed:
You might expect the business lady to just stay back and let the heroes handle this ... Nope, not on Brimsteel. People have to fight for their own well being enough around here, especially a family that's been making their own way as long as the Cassavhans. Which is probably why there is even such a thing as a IN CASE OF EMERGENCY BREAK GLASS case with a shotgun in it in the first place, which Miss C unceremoniously smashes open and takes with her along the way.

"Like I said b'fore, no normal bandits would be able t'get easily this far in," Corona retorts as she hops over a cluster up pipes and bounds up some ductwork. This is her environment and she's not easy to keep up with, though she's holding back a bit so the other less familiar folk can keep track of her.

By the time everyone is meeting back up she's already at the vault, and finding the doors still closed, undoing the lock. Which gets a huff from Miss C. "That's not the right combination."
"Combination be damned," Corona retorts as she pulls the final lever. "I -build- the thing, remember?" She gives a grunt and the machinery takes over, swinging the heavy door open.

Inside the vault is a mess. Shelves have been knocked over, barrels toppled and crates busted open. Metal ingots and alloy panels scattered all over the place. Or being snatched up by the numerous stocky, armor clad figures wearing darkened visors over their vagely rodent-like faces. Kotone probably reconzies these guys, if she remembers the little fiasco on the train with the molemen a while back. Corona definately does, if the way she cusses under her breath is any indication.

But the source of the crash is more likely the thing sitting in the break in the back guarding the tunnel up through the floor and wall. It looks like a tank. If a tank were powered by a huge steam engine, that is. And instead of a turret had two large metal and rock smashing fists mounted on heavy piston and gear driven ramming apparatuses.

Miss C, despite having her shotgun up, looks a bit perplexed. "... I thought molemen were only an old folklore around these parts."

Several of said molemen start running back into the tunnel behind the tank thing with whatever they can carry as locals arrive.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    A vault, a door, and Target is waiting by the time everyone shows up. The moment the door swings open and all the molemen are inside, Target blinks, pauses, then the Ranger parts take over, "STOP!" he calls before chasing after them. As he goes, he actually jumps and lets his VEX system engage, tearing off after them in something that resembles a certain bounty hunter's morphing ball device.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    It's been such an interesting study so far, having the peace be shattered so abrubtly is not at all cool. But Rory, scientist or not, generally pacifistic, has armed her internal (hidden) weapons and rushed into the vault with the others.

    "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Is her scathingly angry greetings for the raiders.

    That, and pulling back the sleeves of one of her arms. The flesh splits open - it isn't a pleasant sight, there is even a little bit of something like blood - admitting a tiny protrusion. One simple weapon, likely. She doesn't have many.

    ALthough she doesn't yet move to fire...

Staren has posed:
    When Staren arrives at the vault with Corona, he is pleasantly surprised to see that even the employees in noncombat roles are equipped to fight here. He wonders how skilled she is? She seems confident, so she probably knows what she's doing.

    The vault is a mess. "Geeze..." And there are molemen. "Why /wouldn't/ there be mole men? I mean, we have a fox woman and a collie woman..."

    That moment of letting his mouth run on automatic is used to let his brain pick a course of action. He reaches down to his belt buckle, turns a circular decoration that is apparently some kind of hidden dial, and then light spreads over his body and coalesces into metal-and-crystal armor. Staren jumps and kicks off the wall by the entrance, making a booster-assisted leap towards the tank! He figures, if he can get in and disable it, the molemen aren't going anywhere -- even in the worst case, then they'll have to leave most of their spoils behind!

    As he flies through the air, he fires a volley of plasma bolts at the molemen to keep them on the defensive.

Rebound (750) has posed:
"Well that's an interesting peice of kit." Rebound says, as she looks over at the smash tank, "Neat design, but it seems less practical than a drill." She muses, as she looks it over from the door, "So can we beat these guys up?"

    She's probably going to just beat these guys up, taking a running leap to get into the air, and then bouncing off of a wall to try to put herself between them and their tank.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa :is hot on her fellow's trail s she arrives hot on the heels of the rest of the party. She's had the sense to come armed to this just incase as they get into the vault she pauses for a moment and narrows her eyes.

"The Mole Men /again/?! Was not hte bridge enough for you!?"

She cxalls out ands she's bringing up her blaster pistol, where did she hide it in her outfit? She has set to stun and she's ready to fire now.

"So just stop this or we're going to have to make you very unhappy."

Corona Arclite has posed:
If anything Miss C recovers from the surprise quickly, because a moment later she's yelling "GET OUTTA MY FACTORY!" and firing off her shotgun. That and the plasma shots from Staren scatter the molemen farther, some dropping their pilfered goods as they scramble for the invasive tunnel.

When Target tries to follow though the steam-tank slams one of it's large metal fists down in front of the Ranger, though being in his little armor ball he's more likely to just bounce off the obstruction that get hurt by it. The other arm takes a swing at Staren trying to fly close to it, gears and pullys screeching the entire time it does so.

Rebound gets in between one group and their escape, though one of moleman drops his loot to pull a, somewhat clichely, pickax from his back and swing at the roo woman to try and keep her away from the others.

"Rory!" Corona shouts as she slams the butt of her hammer into one moleman's face, and he stumbles backwards with a screech while covering his eyes because she busted off his visor. "Shoot yer adhesive thingies into that tank's exhaust stacks! It'll block up the steam engine!" She'd do it herself but she's a bit busy as a couple more of the armored moles try to dogpile her.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
Ever play pinball in real life? Ever BE the pinball? Well that's what happens for Target when the tank decides to swat at him and his VEX. The thing goes pinging around for a few moments while a really loud, "AUGH!" can be heard from inside. While he would love to transform out of the Pinball mode, the system is still counting down its wind time until it can change again. That's probably why a string of slurs start echoing out of the sphere, directed at the tank, and the many ways in which the kobold would love to introduce his shotgun to its various bits.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    A very good idea. A very good idea indeed. Rory extends her other hand after taking some cover. Tactical software guides her motions as she rapidly runs calculations. Air pressure, distance, gravity... as she raises her integrated 'goop grenade' launcher - which extends from her other hand's palm as a hollow barrel - she takes aim...

    And FIRES. The device makes a noise much like a potato gun - THWUMP!

    Off the 'grenade' goes...

    "Hopefully...!"

Rebound (750) has posed:
    A pickaxe? That's not a good weapon to go up against. Rebound shifts her position to block the handle of the pickaxe, because blocking the pick part of it would be a terrible idea. She lifts one foot up and moves to kick the moleman in the chest with one of her big 'roo feet to send him flying away.

    "C'mon you assholes, you're not getting away that easy!" She yells out, shifting her position again and moving to strike at one of the others with an elbow, intending to bring them down quickly with several furious blows. She loves fighting in close, and is glad these guys don't seem to have any weapons.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa sees they are runing she brings up the stun blaster and starts firing blasts at the molemen the blue pluse waves should hopefully hit some and they might get some more of these nutbars for qustioning. Kotone also keeps an eye on Rory as she pings her for a tatical overlay. She contiune to get what shots she can as she's now attempting to well just do some riot control. This blaster is already proving it's worth. She'll leave the tanks to others.

Staren has posed:
    Staren leaps through the air! He doesn't expect the tank to just PUNCH him, though -- it connects, catching him right in the chest and sending him to the ground, rattled. The armor's a little dented, but it's meant to stand up to military weapons -- it can handle a rock-breaking punch without much difficulty. Still, Staren's a bit dazed from the hit, inside the armor. He scrambles to his feet, brandishing his beam saber while he gets his bearings.

    If he gets a moment to think unmolested, though, as his mind clears the solution is obvious:

    The sabers merge back into one in his left hand, while his right pulls his magitech staff from his bag and points it at the steam-tank, and a bolt of /lightning/ shoots out. Hopefully it'll fry an important component or stun the pilot!

Corona Arclite has posed:
As if to answer the previous question of being able to handle herself, Miss C pegs a moleman right between the eyes as he tries to sneak up on Rebound beating up the others. They're persistant little buggers, but other than wearing more armor than your typical outlaw they're not really suited for dealing with big kangaroo feet an a prize fighter that knows how to use 'em. Stun bolts leave a scattering of unconcious bodies while the others have fled into the tunnel, certainly not with as much material as they had hoped. For whatever reason they have. Seriously, no one has really seen much of molemen until recent actions.

The goo splatters atop the stacks, getting gunk into the innards good before it starts to set. Normally electricity wouldn't be that big of a threat to a machine with few electronic parts, but with steam-engine already glogged up, the heat of the current accelerates the build up of gas pressure within the engine's tanks.

Until the whole thing just explodes from the build up. "Shit! Thought it'd just stop runnin!" Corona yowls as she dives, tackling Miss C to get her to the ground as metal shrapnel is slung about the vault.

The blast also collapses the rest of the wall and material around it, burying the tunnel and part of the remains of the fist-tank underneath it.

Staren has posed:
    BOOM! Staren reflexively takes a defensive posture, and is surrounded by a spherical amber forcefield -- shrapnel ricochets off, leaving a spiderweb of cracks. He drops the field afterwards, and looks at the wreckage. "Uhh, whoops! Didn't think it'd /explode/..." he rubs the back of his neck and looks at Corona sheepishly, then around the vault to survey the damage. "Everyone alright?"

Rebound (750) has posed:
    Rebound had just managed to put down one of the molemen when the sound behind her roared. She turned around for just a moment to see the steam tank about to blow, and dove for cover, finding herself sailing through the air not under her own power.

    She lands with a thud on her back, thankfully knowing how to land from all her years of judo. Still hurts like hell, "My ears are ringing, but I'm alive.." She muses, sitting up slowly and rubbing her head, "Thanks for the save there. Miss C."

Rory White (673) has posed:
    When Rory's thermal imaging picks up the IMMENSE heat increase... "TAKE COVER!" is her warning. With only a second or two of warning. That worked TOO WELL. FAR TOO WELL.

    Well enough that she makes a brash, panicked dive back towards the entrance. And if Kotone's anywhere nearby she'll probably tackle HER to the ground on the way out too!

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has done pretty well and she's managed to hit some of the fleeing molemen with stun bursts from her blaster. She's makiong ready to press the attack when things start going bad. Before she can get clear? She's tackled by Rory who sends Kotone flying and soon would find that she's got a Rory ontop of her. She looks sheepish and replies "umm hi!"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite shakes herself off as she gets to her feet, and helps Miss C back up afterwards. "Yeah, I think we're all okay."

Both give a glare at the remains of the tunnel and tank.

"STILL got no idea where those dirty little varmints come from, though."