5488/Burning Bridges

Burning Bridges
Date of Scene:	16 September 2017
Location:	Brimsteel Frontier
Synopsis:	Broken bridges become big boss battles.
Cast of Characters:	Corona Arclite, 770, 1135, 571, Leyanne Mace, Kotone Yamakawa

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Corona Arclite has posed:
All it took was one look over the edge of Emberspill Canyon to see how the formation got its name. Like many canyons it had a river flowing through the bottom of it. But there was no water. This river was a rolling flow of lava, kept molten even at the surface by the intense geothermal activity that Brimsteel the scorching volcanic desert it was.

And you're going down there.

A rocky slope angled its way down alongside the southern wall of the canyon, and it didn't take long to feel the heat bubbling up from below. Thankfully it wasn't clichely narrow, but still one probably doesn't want to stray too close to the edges and risk some rock crumbling loose.

By the last third of the trip down Corona had stopped, pointing down below over the path, where some dark rock and twisted chunks of metal could be seen jutting out of the flow of lava. "There's what's left of the bridge that crossed over to t'north before. That's what we gotta go find out why an' iffen there's anythin' still usable down here. It'd save time if we can rebuild from the previous anchorpoints already lodged into the lava."

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    "Aw, hell, C'rona, if were goin down in to Emberspill we shoulda hired 'bouta dozen from the Fireclaw family. They'd love it down here," Target mutters in protest as the group has been marching down. As the temperature climbed, so did the marshall's volume. Brimsteel was a harsh, desert place, but getting closer and closer to a lava flow made it very apparent just how uncomfortable a Sparktail was around such things. Give'm a thunderstorm any day. . . . rare as those are.

    Despite complaints, Target would continue to march along with the group, canteens plentiful along the lining of his coat rather than as much ammunition as normal. He'd known for days where they were going, that wasn't going to stop the mutterings. "Bleh. Another bridge? Why do I got this feelin' I may find a familiar face 'round here. Maybe they actually stole their blasted bridge this time!"

Kung Jin (1135) has posed:
Walking down into a canyon with a river of lava in it -- yeah, this is a great idea. Kung Jin is, however, smart enough to voice that. HE'S going down there too, so if it's a fool's errand, he's ALSO a fool. Then again, he knew that. Just didn't like it when other people pointed it out.

He may or may not be dressed for lava-spelunking, in drab olive and dusty purple robes that might remind those from Earth-like worlds of the Shaolin. That's actually exactly what they are, since Jin is a Shaolin. Well. Was. But he doesn't have his head shaved. No, his long black hair is pulled up in a high ponytail over a circlet of sorts.

He stops on the last third of the trip, as Corona points out the lava and the destroyed bridge. He suggests, "Maybe it's a better idea to, I dunno... NOT put major anchor points for a bridge in billion-degree lava? That's kinda bad for metal, last I checked." He's keeping the sarcasm to a low level, relatively speaking. More seriously, "Why not just make it a suspension bridge and anchor it on either side? That seems like it'd be less trouble all around."

Thankfully he hasn't been complaining QUITE as much as Target Sparktail on the trip. Most of Jin's complaints had been grumbled snark far too quiet for many to hear unless they were close to him. However, Target's mention of 'stealing' a bridge gets a raised eyebrow. "Who'd want to steal a bridge? And why? Just to flip the middle finger to the road planners?"

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Hopping off of her buggy, Maaka arives with a dusty trenchcoat as she peels off her mask and scarf. The climb she doesn't mind, as she unslings a rifle from her shoulder. "Lot of heat, might be a problem if we get too close." She muses warily. The mercenary keeps watch, mostly scanning out with her binocular vision as she remains vigilant for threats coming the group's way. "Do we know if there's any history of attacks here?" She asks. The monk with a bow...staff...thingy, gets a yellow-tinted look from the cyborg. "Motormouth, much?" She asks dryly, before shrugging. "Someone's probably looking to curtail business around these parts, I dunno."

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace hops off Scrat next to Maaka's buggy. She herself is wearing a her red 19th PCMC armour, and she spends a few moments securing her bike before pulling a very large duffel bag from the back. She opens the bag and pulls out an M134 minigun. After a brief inspection of the gun, she turns to her bike and opens one of the huge panniers, hauling out an old Vietnam-era flamethrower tank frame, to which she has strapped a pair of 12v lithium batteries and 3,500 rounds of 5.56 NATO. She connects the belt/power cable to the gun, cycles the rounds into it manually, then straps the frame on. After a moment she picks up the gun, testing the mag-lock that holds it to the ammo rack should she need both hands.

Then she grins, flipping up the mouthguard of her helmet with a whir. "We all ready to rock?" she asks, underscoring the point by cycling the barrel cluster of her minigun.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa has come back to helpt out Corona who has been a long time friend of her's and so she were here. ALso the booze was good though certain types she'd avoid as one type actually melted much of her synth skin when she drank some of it. That was not a fun experiance for the cyborg. She is however looking at the bridge for a moment. 5R
"Yes we need to gigure out just what was going on, with it but geeze active lave too?"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite stifles a groan of her own as the attempt to steal the bridge over Geargrind Gourge on the other side of the frontier lands is brought up. Though less of the bridge itself and more the reminder of what else is kicking around the wild lands because of that. "Anchors an' supports were forged outta brimsteel alloy. Stuffs imperv'ous to intense heat or corrosion. So it can sit in lava no problem. Pro'lly driven into whatever unmolten rockbed lays beneath the river."

She pauses, flicking an ear while pulling her goggles up over her eyes properly. "Also would be val'able as hell on the black markets as Ah'm sure Target could tell ya. Geargourg's wasn't made outta it as much, but that's 'bout the only reason to try an' steal a bridge Ah can reckon."

Then she hops off the end of the path. Landing on the edge of one of the collapsed beams and parkouring her way up to where it has toppled from. "Either somethin' caused it fall down, or it wasn't as sturdy as folks thought. Either way's gotta be figgered out before they decide how to build a new one to get to the northern mountains." She graps the strut with one hand to brace herself so she can give it a thorough, professional examination.

Which is thoroughly professional engineering by stomping it a few times with her work boot. "Metal's still sound. So iffen it came apart at the joint some how..." she muses.

Kung Jin (1135) has posed:
Jin has indeed kept his weapon with him, preferring to have it nearby if the worst happens, rather than letting it reside wherever it goes when he disappears it. He may not have that few seconds to summon it if something attacks, or if he falls over. He's tied a couple arrows with ropes, just in case he does fall -- or gets thrown -- into the lava. Hopefully he'll have long enough to fire one if something happens.

Maaka probably would have noticed it -- as soon as she spoke the first time, he'd winced and pursed his lips, as if he was reminded of something unpleasant. But at least he'd had the good sense not to mention it. Her accent reminded him of Kano. He just hoped she wasn't the same sort. And then as soon as he thought it he silently chastised himself for it. That's racist or something, right? Nonetheless he does respond to her comment towards him. "Hey, I've been keeping my comments to myself. Mostly."

Leyanne he's actually met before, so he gives her a wave as she speaks up. Though strapping on PART OF A TANK gets a raised eyebrow. He doesn't say it, but he doesn't have to; his expression says it loudly enough -- '...seriously?'. And he answers her question, "Ready as we're gonna be, I guess."

Jin doesn't know Kotone, but she's an ally apparently! He nods at her statement. "Seems like that didn't cause the bridge to fail, so... yeah. Whatever it is, if it's strong enough to screw up a bridge that can withstand THAT--" He points down into the canyon "--For long periods of time, it's definitely bad news." And since she seems to be going on ahead, he offers, "Be careful."

He nods at Corona's mention of the metal the bridge is made of. "Oh, I see." And he does actually sound interested. Under his breath, "...Wonder if that's the same stuff Shinnok's using?" As Corona starts to hop over the broken remnants of the bridge, Jin does the same, but only so he can find some high ground. He's agile enough to be able to find a good vantage point. Why? So he can turn anything that comes after them into a pincushion at a moment's notice. The string of his bow isn't there, but when he pulls an arrow from the quiver on his back and nocks an arrow to it, the string appears.

Louder, so he can be heard, Jin asks, "Does it look like it was cut?" The question is aimed at anyone who'd be able to tell, not just Corona.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Maaka slings her SCAR again, before she produces her grapple as she follows Corona along the beams. She's nimble as hell, using the handholds deftly while she leaps from grip place to place. She also moves just in time to avoid having a strut fall on her head as Corona kicks at it. "Thank Christ, almost took my head off if it did fall." She remarks sourly, trying to ascend slowly as she moves to the side of Corona.

    She keeps an eye out, firmly planting the grapple into the side of the bridge remains as she hangs securely. Her hands poke about, mostly as she scans to determine just what could've done this to the bridge systems, checking if it was cut or just torn apart on the fly.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    First Corona heads out onto the bridge remnants, then Kung, and then it dawns on the kobold that she really wants it inspected rather than just coming down to have a look. A frustrated sigh rises up, Target takes a long drink out of one of the canteens he has (which anyone can ask for), and then he's following in Corona's wake.

    Crazy thing about this kobold, and most of his kind, is just how casually he's moving around on the remnants. Even the smallest little bits he seems to find balance on pretty well. It helps to be small and light when moving around, trying to keep out of sight, getting around fences, and not at all taking parts from a certain engineer's scrapyard. "I'll see 'bout gettin near the edges, try ta see if it snapped off'er somethin' else.." Pause. "Iffin I fall you can get all mah stuff, C'rona.."

    Well isn't that morbidly sweet?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa looks to Jin for a moment she's only heard of him by comm chatter bfore. She does tilr hr head at Jin for a moment.

"Right Lexie, I'll get to it."

Did she just call Maaka Lexie? Yes, yes she did. She gives Jin a slight grin and same to Maaka as she ripples in the air fading from view as her optic cameo kicks in. What is ahead looks like some kind of crazy platforming game. Though it's very much, real live and dangerous but away she goes she's got the mobility systems to handle it as she heads forward bouning from safe spot to safe spoit as she goes.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace gives Jin a smirk at his look. "I'm the heavy weapons mouse. It's what I do." She grins, and then starts climbing after Corona, until she finds herself a little stuck by the terrain. She pauses, keying her radio. "Anyone see any good spots for overwatch?" She asks. "I'm not the best investigator around, I figure I leave that to those of you who are, and keep watch. Plus, like Sparky said, there are tight spots there and I -am- an eight foot mouse. With this gun I'm close to eight hundred pounds, so... if there's any weak points it's probably best I don't go on them."

She chuckles, trying to climb higher to get a good sentry position for the group investigating.

Corona Arclite has posed:
"Half yer stuff is 'borrowed' from muh stuff in the first place!" Corona calls back in a mock annoyed tone. She uses her own grappler chain to hookshot over to a different support beam on the other side of the former bridge. Crawls around it a few times to inspect what's left. Then turns around to answer the other questions. "Honestly, Ah reckon it looks more like it was yanked over like a kid throwin' a tantrum when his buddy builds a bigger tower outta tinker toys." Thoughtfully strokes her chin with one gloved hand. "But there was no sign of anyone comin' out here with machinery up at the canyon edge..."

Bubbles boil up in the lava beneath the wreckage, churning aggitatedly. While the fox has her back turned from the structure she's standing on the molten rock hisses in a low gyser as a mechanical limb surges out of it to clamps claws around the wreckage. Must be made out of that same alloy as the bridge was magma-proof from, somehow? A similar clawed limb grabs onto another chunk of bridgework, while four limbs of heavier machinery rise up to dig excavator shovel 'feet' into the sides of the canyon. Pistons slam and clockwork whines as they work to lift a behemoth of metal and machinery out of the lava river, molten rock drooling off the sides in dribbles to splash back into the river below.

Corona turns slowly to watch the mechanical monster rise out of the lava, ears slicking back entirely beneath the brim of her stetson. "... frag me sideways with a brandin' iron."

Maniacal laughter rings from the domed section atop the machine. Debatable that it's gruff and gravelly later than whiny goat grating Target was probably dreading, as the machine tilts forward just enough for the portly humanoid mole to be sitting inside, working the controls with his oversized, jewel studded gauntlets. "Fwahahaha! Foolish overworlders! Fearing for your foolish structure's downfall has only brought you to your own!"

"... Well now we know what they were doin' with that metal they were stealin' b'fore," Corona finally deadpans sourly.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    Out on the edges of the remains of the bridge, Target has a front row seat to the rising monstrous construct that ascends from the lava flow below. When the laughter rings out, the Ranger can't help but cuss out loud a few choice Brimsteel styled words before, "I ain't ever lucky! GO AWAY KIT!" he yells before trying to make his way -back- into a more stable bit of the bridge's support structure. The last thing he wants is to get clamped down on by that machine monster.

Kung Jin (1135) has posed:
Jin smirks at Target's words about falling. "Always good to have your affairs in order, yeah?" Grim S.O.B. Then again, that's probably just a feature of his world -- there's been chatter about the Mortal Kombat tournaments over the Multiversal chatter band. With a world like that, it's hard NOT to be a little grim.

If Jin has any reaction to Kotone calling Maaka 'Lexie', he doesn't show it. When she starts to disappear, though, he blinks. "Optical camouflage. That's handy." He has indeed heard of it, despite his apparent archaic dress and weapon.

Leyanne's explanation gets a tilt of his head. "Makes about as much sense as anything else since I showed up." He doesn't mean Brimsteel, either. As for a good watching-over point? He relaxes the string on the bow, holding the arrow by the hand holding it to the haft of the weapon as the string disappears momentarily. And then he points to what looks like a good, secure spot. "Think that'll hold you, Tiny?"

Corona's reply gets a look from Jin, half confused and half incredulous. "Just yanked out? I really hope you don't mean just by hand. What in this world can do that, machinery or otherwise?"

There won't be time for Corona to answer. Because suddenly a mechanical monstrosity appears. "...Well. Ask a silly question." He draws an arrow back, but doesn't fire yet. He wants to take a look at this thing, try to find a weak point, and he can do that better when its aggro isn't focused on him.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace gives Jin a thumbs up and clibms to the overwatch point, above Corona and the others. She narrows her eyes as the lava bubbles threateningly, stepping to the edge to get a better angle. When the mechanical beast rises up out of the lava, she watches for a moment, bringing the gun up. As he starts to gloat, it's Tiny's turn to throw the mole on board a 'really?' look. She shakes her head a moment, letting him finish his little speech.
"YOU TALK TOO MUCH!" She shouts, her minigun grating up to speed before sending a flatulent burst of rapid 5.56 mingun fire over the monstrous spider's control station.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Just as Kotone calls Maaka 'Lexie', she sends the other cyborg a kissie face emoji over cyber-comm. That doesn't mean anything, does it?

    Of course, MOLE KING appears. "Goddammit, NOT you again!" Shee yells sharply with an exasperated sigh. "You got to be fucking kidding me." She moves to evade the mechanical monster, using her grapple gun to fling herself towards a ridge line, climbing onto the edge and grabbing her battle rifle.

    "Tiny, open fire!" She barks, before taking aim at the mecha the Mole KIng is using to climb, firing onto the machine's cockpit. Let's hope this canopy can't stand up to armor piercing 7.62 NATO, then again if it's lava-proof, that may be unhelpful.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
So there she goes as she pushe foward she ties to not think about the lava and Alexis message over commes amuses her enough that she bite back the hestation. She keeps going and she's also using boost jumping a she goes. Even some double jumping but she's very hard to make out a she goes. Then comes the mechanical monster she stops she stare she sights and she calls out her matter maniplkator, but this time she doesn't pull a light weapon, no it's some kind of man protable Mini gun fromt he looks of it. She's got a goof spot for the moment.

"Oh you have got to be shitting me! YOU IDIOTS AGAIN!?"

Why did it have to be them? She'll openb fire with the mini gun upon hte monster and will not sit still for too long but for now she's firing at the thing.

Corona Arclite has posed:
As if to demonstrate just what happened to the bridge, the clawed arm starts wrenching back and forth on the strut Corona is also trying to hang onto. "This must be my royal lucky day!" The Cavern King does indeed 'talk too much'. "I get to make you pay for disrupting the Landviathan's revival before it was finished. Do you have any idea how long it took my scribes to locate the proper chamber and kidnap enough sacrifices for the beast's hunger?!"

"Next time don't kidnap workers and plunder mines!", Corona manages to shout back, even as she's clinging to the remaining piece of beamwork with everything she's got.

Gunfire of various speeds and calibers rattle across the machine's frame, leaving dents and pockmarks sparking across the heavy exterior but nothing's found a place to penetrate yet. It's a testiment to how durable the materials made to endure Brimsteel's harsh environment are... just unfortunately stolen and used on some maniacal monarch mole's mad machinery instead.

Kung probably has the right idea though, looking for a weaker point to strike at. It may be heavy and dangerous machinery, but metal machinery needs places where it can move freely, right?

It's not tentacles thankfully, but several tubes do drop from the bottom the machine into the lava below. Followed by panels opening on the sides to deploy gun turrets manned by other molemen (with slightly less evillishly epic sunglasses than their master to protect their eyes from sunlight) that start shooting streams of the pumped in molten rock across the wreckage at the various adventurers.

Kung Jin (1135) has posed:
Monologues. Why is it always monologues? Jin isn't interrupting this one, though... he's hoping to get enough rope to wrap around this ugly dude's neck and hang him. Figuratively speaking, of course. Though he needs to move fast as suddenly the machine erupts with mini molemen shooting at them all. A couple graze him as he jumps to another vantage point, his robe tearing, the edges of the rip growing dark with his blood.

First things first -- minimize the amount of possible injury. In this case, make it so there are fewer guns firing stuff. So Jin starts trying to take out the molemen from a distance, jumping between platforms when it looks like he's going to get hit. This is probably going to draw aggro from multiple sources, and he's going to get hit or grazed at least once. And yes, he does totally smack a bullet away from his face or some other vital area with what looks like a wooden staff/bow thing, at least once.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Maaka gets a scan on the machine as she tries to search for weak points, noting how Kung Jin is doing the exact same thing. "Fuck this." She growls under her breath, before slinging the SCAR-H in favor of the other weapon on her back. She produces a tube-shaped launcher, unfolding the LAW and taking aim.

    She looks for the joints on the machine, before she fires off a rocket and tosses the tube, having used up the explosive. Hopefully she made that shot count.

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    The kobold does not like the lava-walker. He likes the Underking even less. The thing he hates the most? Being shot at with actual LAVA. "Nooo. NO NO NO NO! Don't you dare! FFFFFFFFFFF-" Between the clawed monster shaking the bridge supports, the lava being shot, and the underking TALKING TOO DAMN MUCH, it's too much for Target to really handle, and he actually loses his grip!

        Thankfully, Corona won't be reclaiming anything today.

    The kobold falls, back first, but lands on one of the huge stones jutting out of the actual lava flow with a thud. "Uuuugh.. what the- eh? Someone cookin bacon?" If only that were true. After another moment, the kobold shoots into the air above the stone, about as high as he can jump, "THAT IS TOO DAMN HOT!" he howls. Thankfully, he has his coat. And since he has his coat, he has his VEX. There's no morph ball tonight. Instead, it slips into combat mode, and that protects his poor footpads from the insane heat right below him. "Oh I'm so gunna .." is all that's audible. Body language makes it obvious this kobold is -ticked off-. There's no using a Purple shell right now, but what he can do is draw revolvers and aim for the now visible minions! "HEY! OPOSSUM PRICK!" Yes, its the wrong species. It's meant to make them angry. He starts firing shortly after his insult!

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace ducks back into cover as lava-bullets begin hosing over her cover. She slings up the gun to relocate, moving to a different rock formation before looking over at the mechanical spider. Aha, bingo.

She steps out of cover and the minigun cycles up to speed, hosing over one of the foot joints - hoping to knock out the hoses that supply it pressure, and make it collapse. "Oi, bitchtits, yer pissin me off."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
The look on Kotone's face as Leyanne makes a comment about Tentacles is contored a mix of do not want and oh god why. She has ot focus on the fitht she knows Mace ment nothing bad by it but, it seems to be a curse of her father's side of the family's culture. She keeps shooting, shells rain eveyrwhere and she keeps moving. She's forced to drop cloak at this point and she leaps away as she sees the tubes go. She knows where that is going and she rapidly is forced to move and keep moving least she get melted.

Corona Arclite has posed:
That's how you know you've got a good adventure posse at your back. Give them a few minutes of shock and awe and WTFs, and then they get right down to business. The business of kicking ass, that is.

Lava globs are bulleted about the wrecked bridge but the splay is thankfully short as the mole gunners are disposed of. Effective yet comically as one of Kung's arrows goes into the barrel of a turret, causing it to backfire and explode and send its gunmole arcing into the air with a trail of smoke to land who knows where. The other gunner swings his weapon in the direction of the insults, trying to follow the small target Target makes. Until a bullet strikes what would be right between his eyes. Which only shatters his sunglasses. "AAAAAAAH THE LIGHT!" But proves just as effective as he stumbles back while covering his face with his paws, and falls off the back of the platform. Unlike the machine, the molemen are probably not very lava proof.

"Sod trodding fools! You will not deny my comeuppance!" The mad king finally lets go of the wreckage with one claw-arm, if only to move it up to grab Corona off her perch, clamping the claws around the fox and lifting it up towards the cockpit. "Now I've got yo--what?!" But she's not there as the claws open.

The wily fox slipped between the clamps and to the underside of the arm, then dropped off to the other one to grind down the length back towards the wreckage. "Gotta be faster than that t'catch me, dirt rat!"

But with Corona distracting the Underking or what the butt ever he's going to be called, and Target and Kung dealing with the gunners, the badass ladies with the badass guns can do some real damage. Leyanne's minigun rips across one of the middle legs, puncturing lines and causing the shovel-foot to release. At the same time the rocket slams into a leg on the otherside, and while it hits the metal exterior it doesn't protect against the blastwave of an explosive like it does heat and bullets, shattering the limb. The knockback of force causes the machine to lurch to the side violently as the leg Leyanne knocked loose falls off the canyon wall.

"Good job! But for crissakes," Corona kicks off the end of the arm, "Let me get off before ya blow it up!" She lands on the wreckage the grapple-arm is still holding onto, and pulls her breaker off her back. The pulsarium core krackles to life, and one good charged swing is enough to smash the delicate grabber machinery to pieces and knock the more mobile limb off its grip.

Kung Jin (1135) has posed:
And this is the down side of specializing in meatbag murder. That is, fighting against other humanoid-type creatures. They have soft spots to stick arrows into. Machines don't so much have that going for them. Or in this case, Jin doesn't have that going for him -- there's no vitals that will instantly bring it down. Nonetheless, he does have one more options open to him.

Melee.

That's insane, isn't it?! Going melee with a giant mechanical lava spider thing, over a river made of lava?! Jin takes a moment to look around at the platform he's found himself on, making a quick mental calculation. "Right there," he decides, the words spoken under his breath.

He moves to a different platform, one a bit further away -- wait, didn't he say he was going on close? The explanation comes a moment later. Jin uses the bow to vault forwards, speeding at the monstrosity foot-first in a flying kick. Hopefully that should set it just a bit more off-kilter.

And it turns out, THAT's why he moved first -- when he bounces back off the robot, his trajectory sends him at another platform, one that he just barely lands on. In fact, he lands on the edge and teeters precariously! "Whoaaa..." Finally though, he gets his balance and settles safely on the platform. "Whew. Little too close."

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace opens up as soon as Jin is clear. Once again her minigun lets out its flatulent rasp and a hail of empty casings, the big mouse braced against the gun's recoil. She's quick on the shot to make use of Jin's staggering the Loveless-style monstrosity, hosing over the limb's joints one at a time in an attempt to induce a rapid collapse and send it away from Sparktail.

At least, that's the theory; with the one remaining rear leg, Mole King Bitchtits can still be an asshole and kick it towards him, if he's not too busy trying to hold on. She really hopes he doesn't do that...

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    Stuck on a rock near a hot place, the kobold is held captive by the winding mechanism on his VEX. It'd be able to change forms again in about 60 seconds, but until then, Target didn't wanna just stand still and be a .. .. you know. Target. Corona mentions the lava pumps. It'd be a hell of a shot from where he is, but eh! What's he got to lose?

    After using one of his speed loaders, the ranger starts to squeeze off one shot. Miss. Another. Miss. "Errrgh, they aren't good at this ran- wait.." Oh this is gonna be -stupid- but why not. "I HAVE A REALLY CRAZY IDEA!" he barks out, holstering the revolvers. HIs plan? Purple Shells. A whole handful of them. Clearly he's insane.

    Well, maybe not. Seeing as his VEX is currently in combat mode, it gives a boost to his speed. If he just speed boosts his arm, he can throw a crazy fast ball. If he's pitching some purple shells... well, "OY. C'rona! Puslarium gonna detonate in lava?!" She wouldn't even have 10 seconds to reply since about 6 of them arc toward the lava pumps.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Maaka uses her grappling gun to fire off a line, zipping her way towards an outcropping turrets fire on her previous position. She draws a Kimber .45 as she lands, taking potshots at the mole gunners before reloading and swapping to her rifle. The SCAR-H barks harshly as she takes shots at the machine's claw arm. "I dunno, we're pretty accommodating to kill you!" She snaps at the Mole King, loading a 40mm round into her rifle's underslung launcher. The HE shell is fired at one of the machine's limbs, specifically the joint of the arm.

    "Sorry!" She calls at Corona, before she reloads another grenade and fires once more, this time using flash rounds to stun the Mole King.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa Says "Oh you are getting your comeuppance all right!"

Kotone calls out o the moleman. She keeps moving she swaps weapons now the MM comes out the big gun vanishes and a smaller SMG takes it's place. The bullpup styled weapon is much better suited to moblity and moving around than the mini gun was. She keeps shooting at it but it seems that the thing is finally handled or just about handled. She will keep up the fire to just be cerain that this thing is don and gone. Well the machinery as others take stun rounds to the Mole King she will not fire on him maybe they could get some aqnswers she also does advert her eyes as she was warned.

Corona Arclite has posed:
"Get back here you wench! I'm not-WHAAA!" The mole king's rant is cut short when something slams into the dome and explodes brightly. "TINY FAKE SUNS NO FAAAAAAIR!" That is a lot brighter than his sunglasses are rated for! And while he's flailing from that some insane man's flying kick slams right into the side of the machine. His portly form can be seen toppling backwards and rattling around inside from the shaking caused by the impact. The force does make the machine leer more, and no more grappler arms to try and hold onto the wreckage, but more importantly Maaka and Lung also disrupted the operator from trying to counter-act their efforts!

Which is almost immeadiately capitalized on as the martain mouse rips her minigun across the rear leg on her side, tearing through limb and rock alike until it has nothing left to grab onto or with. Kotone's smaller but more precise shots swiss cheese some of the pressure lines on the legs of the other side, preventing them from working to pull the machine upright again.

Insane doesn't really cover what Target is about to do. "Event'ally, yeah! Once they soak up too much energy from the heat to contain.... Y'now, Ah wonder iffen Ah could make actual grenade versions of those." Yeah, fine time to muse a new idea, but what do you expect from an inventor?

Sure enough with the arms gone and the legs on one side smashed free of the canyon wall the monster machine lilts to the side far enough for Target to Fastball Special a few pulsarium shells into the pump opening, and a thunderous blast can be heard as assorted bits of machinery and lava plume back out of the opening. Like a firecracker being lit under an upturned pail the entire machine lurches violently to the side and back into the river of magma. Sure enough, it's so heavy that while it won't burn and melt it starts sinking down under its own weight.

A less volumenous blast can be heard as the cockpit jettisons. "CURSE YOU OVERWORLDERS! NEXT TIME I SHALL CRUSH YOU ALL BENEATH MY FURY!" the mole king can be heard screaming before the capsule deploys a giant drill and burrows away into the side of the canyon in retreat.

Corona just makes a face, her work goggles having also protected her from the bright flashes. "He sure talks all high and mighty fer someone that lives beneath everythin'."

Target Sparktail (770) has posed:
    With the VEX ready to go, Target is suddenly surging right up and out of the canyon thanks to his VEX system turning into a pair of wings. Handy, isn't it? See you next mission!

Kung Jin (1135) has posed:
Hopefully Corona's quick enough on the warning. Because as soon as Jin hears her warn to get away from the metal monstrosity, Jin starts the trip back to the trail they just left. Very quickly! Target laughing like he's lost his marbles doesn't do anything but make him move faster. With luck he should be able to get there before whatever Target's planning to do blows up. Figuratively speaking. And hopefully it doesn't blow up in anybody's face. Figuratively OR literally speaking!

He pauses in his retreat when Maaka warns them all to look away. Wouldn't do to try to jump blindly to a platform; that's a level of tanned he doesn't ever want to be. Fortunately he manages to mostly escape the blast zone, though he definitely feels a bit of the shockwave it creates. He winces a bit at it, though it doesn't seem to have done any damage to him.

Though no, it doesn't seem the Mole King is done for, since the cockpit of the device flies out and drills away, while he's giving his 'YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF MEEEEE!' speech. Jin sighs. "Y'know. If we didn't think you were coming back, we wouldn't know to expect you," he points out. Though he doesn't expect 'Mean Mister Mole-Asses' to be able to hear him. Or to listen, if he DID hear.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    "Fair's for suckers!" Maaka says with a laugh, as Jin proceeds to RIder Kick the SHIT out of the machine once she blinds the King. Eventually, the Machine and its driver is quick to escape. Maaka's just glad her eyes are prepped for flashes that bright, unlike the King's shades. Seems the same for everybody, luckily! This kind of heat is driving Maaka's sensors wild as she watches, and Sparktail explodes the hell out of the machine with explosive shells. "...I need those."

    She flips off the Mole King when he escapes, before she drops the mag in her rifle and reloads it. "We'll be waiting for you when you come back, you jackass." She hisses.

Leyanne Mace has posed:
Leyanne Mace watches the mole king eject, sending a brief hail of shots down the hole after him just to make sure he gets his arse moving. Then she lets her minigun hang from her left hand so she can light a cigar. She peers over the edge to make sure that everyone's OK, the barrels of the minigun smoking still. She clamps it in place on her pack, leaning back against the cave wall behind her.

"We came, we saw, WE KICKED HIS ASS!"

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite retracts her breaker hammer down to its portable size and tucks it away again. "Bandits, molemen, elderitch clockwork fiends..."

She pauses to pull a flask from inside her jacket, open it, and take an extra long chug from.

"Never a dull moment on this job."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa stops shooting as everything wraps up more of less. She sighs as the machine is finally stopped by her friend sna dallis and jin has made a good accounting of himself too. She looks to the Moleman for a moment.

"Right right, I'll get you next time Gizmo, next time."

She then realizes no one ehere knows of Dective Gizmo in all likelyhood here but it amuses her anyhow.

"He does just like a the villain of a show my siblings and I used to watch."

She looks over to Jin for a moment.

"Not bad at all thanks for the help."