5618/Fragments: Venus

Fragments: Venus
Date of Scene:	28 December 2017
Location:	Origin System <WF>
Synopsis:	The trail of Fragments--and troubling Corpus developments--leads to Venus.
Cast of Characters:	Kushiko, 1119, 1145, Yang Xiao Long, 1137, Staren

---

Kushiko has posed:
Things have been quiet, since Elites of the Multiverse had accompanied the Tenno on an infiltration mission at the Cambria site on Earth. The presence of a strange energy signature had led to the discovery of data, theorized simply as Fragments were affirmed. Furthermore, information recovered pointed the Lotus to send some feelers out when it came to another powerbase in the Origin System: the Corpus. Specifically, their experimentation with what may or may not be Orokin technology, something that the Grineer attempts to sell to them, usually successfully, but all information points that this experimentation does not originate from one of their salvage sales.

Perhaps more troubling, that it may not come from the Orokin at all.

Even without this consideration, there remains what the fragments /were/: memories, pieces of data, of the Weave that exists between all Cephalons, beings of light and thought and logic. Three pieces woven together, into a vision of that cracked cube that represented Ordis' conceptual being that was known. A sinewave that was part of a halo of light that drifted in and out of focus, pulsating as he spoke--without the usual glitching, sometimes unhinged aspect of him. For those that knew of Ordis, this perhaps could be the most troubling part.

"I have hidden the truth of my existence... from the Operator... from myself."

        "Take it from me, knowing is hell."

    "Stop now. You will want to laugh, you will want to scream."

            Yet, it continues.

"My search began as the essential question: What am I? Bones of steel and space, lungs that make air. If I am a machine, how can I think?"

"This would be forbidden by the Orokin, a manifestation of their true enemy."

"I serve the Operator above all else. It defines me, fills me with... love? The greatest Orokin fear is a machine... aware."

    "Yet here I live, a spirit of steel and light... made by them.

                "A Cephalon."

Kushiko has posed:
This is what's played again, for the benefit of those who had yet to learn this, and for Kushiko herself, who was in a different frame, a different body, depending on how one looks at it. It was a transport ship that she had arranged, larger than the average, but perfectly suited for everyone to reach. Whatever faction they be--even if none at all, instructions sent to individuals would ensure they could arrive for clandestine pickup and rendezvous at another ship--or rather, a station, the docking bay to which was sparsely occupied save by the Tenno herself.

With Ordis electing to remain incommunicado, and the nature of the mission aboard a Corpus vessel orbiting Venus, she sat on a cargo container and stared at her hand. This Warframe was called Mag, though not the Tenno 'copy' that could be sometimes seen by others who were arriving here. No, this one had an infusion of advanced technology that made standard Warframe tech pale in comparison. Were it not for those alloys, gleaming with ruthenium, it'd be easy to mark her appearance as that of 'standard ninja', down to the tabi-styled feet. For those of a certain technology level, a faint background energy radiated around her, that seemed almost like electromagnetic, but it was ... somehow alive?

Regardless, she sat there, and waited, while the fragments played their almost haunting message, a slight shimmer of light in the palm of her hand, displaying Ordis' fractured yet whole cube.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Thankfully this time Josuke doesn't have to nick a ship to get here. As awesome as that was, it was also really dangerous, and he didn't want to do something like that again. So being picked up outside the warpgate from his world is a relief. Jotaro insisted on waiting with him, so the ship's pilot(s) got a glimpse of an older white Japanese man with black hair and a white outfit while Josuke boaded.

Anyway. Thankfully Josuke doesn't have any sort of technological sensors to get weirded out with Kushiko's weird electromagnetic effects. Though if it's strong enough it might cause some feelings of paranoia in Josuke's sadly unshielded bioelectric brain. But then, Kushiko's been pretty nice so far, right? So there's no reason to be afraid.

He hopes...

Josuke looks to the cube and tilts his head. "It's an AI, isn't it?" he asks.

Origami Hiiro (1145) has posed:
    Along for this ride is. . . a teenage japanese girl. What are the odds of two japanese teenagers coming along on a highly dangerous ninja space mission? Well, it's a girl who really just wants to spend some time being her instead of being /just/ a pretty warrior. Origami Hiiro. She's not nearly in such danger being exposed on ships as on. . . 'Earth', she'll concede the name, so she's not going to transform until or unless it's fight time. "It's a good thing I don't need to fully understand this. . . But I can get us through a lot of different security problems if I'm careful." She grins to the assembled. She knows that's got to be useful, and that makes her happy.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang is also along for the ride. The blonde is largely quiet, checking her gauntlets before returning them to standby mode. "So, gameplan... find some data fragments and wreck some Corpus toy, about right?" she asks.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
There is a gigantic person here. It's sort of hard for someone this big to hide, so he's not even bothering, it seems. What is this individual doing aboard a starship in the void of space? Well, that's an excellent question!

Basically, a weird blue cube showed up and projected a message that went something along the lines of 'help us, Asterios, you're our only hope.' Thus, there is a minotaur wedged between a pair of shipping containers, sitting cross-legged with a pair of immense axes set across his legs. There's a... weird bubble helmet over his head with gasketed cut-outs for his horns. His mane is lodged all up in there, and a little air supply unit is hosed up and into the glass bubble.

"Mmmn," Asterios says as he waits for the signal to move. He seems to be... nodding off.

Staren has posed:
    Staren has adventured at Kushiko's side many times, but has somehow scarcely had the opportunity to visit her world... until now.

    A fully terraformed and inhabited Venus is quite a sight, from orbit. It's not the only inhabited Venus he's heard of, but Rory's world's venus with its floating, sealed habitats in the clouds is quite a different matter than another world like Earth. It's so easy to think it looks like some random Multiversal planet -- it's not like the continents of Venus are a familiar shape to him.

    Arriving with Kushiko, he is briefly taken aback as /something/ starts to assault his systems, but then fades as Kushiko controls it. Fortunately, his armor is hardened, designed for battle -- the most at-risk part is the radio. Momentarily confused, he starts running various scans, noticing the highly unusual EM fields in the area, and the way the harmful parts are bending around people even with no visible source of the distortions. The hell?

    "What is that?" He asks. "Are you doing it?"

    After things are explained and he watches the video, "So these 'Orokin' are afraid of AI, and yet they made one? Curious... So, taking out this Jackal will make the Corpus back off before they can misuse whatever Orokin stuff they might find here... Do I understand the basic premise of the mission correctly?"

Kushiko has posed:
She waited to answer--swirling lights visible in that cyclopean-looking head of Mag not really seeming to shift in any particular direction at first, but she waited to ensure everyone who would be here, well, /would/ be here. When people arrive, the sensations of electromagnetic energy, of that possible 'weird' sensation would probably diminish, as she reins it in. No reason to be afraid--if anything, the switch flips from simmering threat to guardian matron when she's addressed.

<"Yes and no. An artificial intelligence is what they're close to, but not, according to them. Synthetic life. 'We are creatures of light and memory, but creatures nonetheless.'"> As she says that, she takes on a slight air, as though she were trying to imitate someone in quoting them. Without context, it might falter. <"As far as I, as we, have ever been aware of, Cephalons like Ordis are AI, but not like the greatly 'shackled' forms that exhibit little personality and are little more than walking turrets that the Corpus use."> Which causes her to gesture again.

<"That's part of why we're here, to tackle the Corpus. They're a merchant guild that employs robotics and other security proxy as they don't have the benefit of the clones the Grineer are. But they're also possessed of higher technology than they are. Plasma weapons, lasers, railguns."> The gesture seems to have activated a display, light casting a hologram nearby, depicting several examples: boxy helmeted Corpus themselves wearing differently colored environmental suits to their bipedal security drones that look like someone took the latter half of an animal and used that template for making these 'MOA' drones.

<"Wouldn't worry about security unless they use it to try to lock us down in any one sector. They're likely to know we're here to destroy this Jackal prototype.">

Finally, she answers Staren properly, with a modest smile in her 'voice' as it were. <"It is. My apologies. Here in the Multiverse, there's been enough people who rely on technology in a deeper way than most. Mag does not oft wish to come out, lest others become... discomforted by her presence alone. So as weird as it might feel, be assured that we are in complete control."> So no friendly fire at least. Yet there's another, very important question to be answered, one that it heartens Kushiko to hear asked.

<"They were deathly, deathly afraid. They created terraforming drones that were bound for another system, the Tau system, to traverse the Void, which are now known as the Sentient. For this reason, they were gifted with an extreme degree of adaptability and resilience, bordering on true self-determination. As their name suggests, they inadvertently gained sentience, which coupled with their own innate abilities made them a dangerous threat to the Orokin Empire."> She leans back slightly.

<"The Void, which they had to traverse, was poison to them. It made them... sterile, to use another term for it. They were made to create an interstellar rail, like a warpgate network, except it had to be physically created along the way, and they would not be able to return.">

A bitter sound from her, <"They, like us, were tools. Except we were made better.">

Kushiko has posed:
A thought occurs, and she nods, <"Effectively, yes. There's little honestly sometimes stopping them beyond Orokin automated defenses where they and the Grineer try to salvage it, but it takes a lot of time for either side to try to adapt and use it, so this should set them back for a while, Staren.">

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    "Right... well, I'm not really good with computers, so I'll handle defense and interception for the rest of you." says Yang as she stretches. "Any weakpoints I should know about, tells for what weapon loadout they're using?"

Origami Hiiro (1145) has posed:
Origami listens mostly silently. Mostly. Feet tap to a beat only she seems to hear. "Bottom line is. . . we have to stop them from testing and using this Jackal and they're a bunch of corporate cronies with tech they don't understand?" She smooths a lock of raven-black hair dyed electric blue - her concert style tends to follow her - "These people sound like a bunch of jerks and that's even before the whole Sentient. . . thing. Just tell me where you need to go and I'll do what I can, alright? ORIGAMI's got your back." There's the sensation of having said that word more forcefully, even if she didn't actually raise her voice. It's like branding.

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens, and nods. "So... do we know if they already have parts of this Sentient we need to relieve them of, or do we still have the chance to drive them off before they get any?" He looks to Yang as she comments. "I'm good with computers, but not really with hacking in a hurry unless their defenses are pretty abysmal... If we need to analyze some stuff though, maybe I can do that. Ah, yeah, tells for weapons, good point, what are their defenses like? Any weapons we should favor, or avoid?"

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Josuke listens to the explanations as Kushiko offers them, looking to the display of light showing the Corpus. Lasers and plasma? "Hmm. Not something I can punch away with <Crazy Diamond>, I bet," Josuke observes. He'll have to concentrate on dodging. Not the first time, just a little inconvenient. He agrees with Yang on one point. "Yeah, these computers are way beyond a tech level I know anything about." Origami gets a smirk. "That's usually the best reason to go break someone's stuff, is they're using it to be jerks, right?" Staren's questions get quiet from Josuke, because these are things he'd like to know too.

Kushiko has posed:
The question of types and things to look for is actually pretty good! The image switches to a standard MOA, identified by their green color. <"Weakest kind of MOA. Simple plasma turret, and love swarming."> Which lets her also show what looks like a locker--two types, actually. One looks like a normal locker for a humanoid, if Corpus-themed, but the other is taller, and instead of opening vertically, looks like it bisects. <"Sometimes when security is fully alerted, more will deploy out of these. Alternatively, they can sometimes be hijacked, and the MOA inside can have its systems keyed to defend us."> Next, an yellow example. <"Shockwave MOA. They rush, and use their feet to release a shockwave of energy that can be leapt over and knocks you down if you don't get above it. After they'll fire as normal while recharging their systems for another. Both kinds can be hit here or easily knocked down themselves."> She indicates the central spot at the apex of their legs. The 'head' really.

<"You might also see these; Ospreys. They're pretty fragile, and instead tend to support other proxies. Yellow-orange mine ospreys deploy energy orbs that will explode after a short period of time or if they're stepped on. Or someone thrown into them by say, a shockwave."> If she could show a smile, she could, <"You can guess how they might try and make that part happen."> she deadpans. <"As to damage..."> She pauses, before rattling off types. <"Electromagnetic energy is a universally useful type of attack to throw against them. Their robotics are weak to radiation, or 'light' as some people call it elsewhere, but their shields can mitigate this. Cold bypasses this, as would electromagnetic. If you've none of this, know that higher impact like from typical shotguns are pretty good."> she concludes before addressing the questions the others have.

Staren's in particualr, draws a brief pause. <"It's doubtful. The Corpus were a lot like the Orokin, as the foundations of their own power base right now is based off what they could salvage when the Orokin fell. If any race of humans were close to the Orokin, they might be the closest. I doubt it, but the energy signatures we traced to here regarding the Fragments might be why it's a prototype."> she offers. <"The Sentients don't like /anyone/ but we're not going to deal with that here."> Thankfully.

Nonetheless, she nods in brief assent, gesturing towards the ship for everyone to start boarding so they can get moving, barring any more questions. Of Josuke's question, she nods--for as much as she understands Crazy Diamond. <"No, not something that's properly solid. However... I might be able to give you some temporary aid once we're aboard. My shielding can be extended to others, but in cases like yours and for others here... really temporary."> It's an apologetic tone that accompanies such words.

Regardless, once everyone is actually aboard the ship, it'll take off for the target--engaging multiple stealth systems to allow them to approach the staggeringly massive Corpus ship that could be seen through viewports and video panels. Mercifully, tech that helps people /breathe/ won't really be needed, unless someone breaches a window. Not that anyone would even ever think of doing that, would they?

Kushiko has posed:
Either way, it doesn't take very long--how far away were they? There's distance to be sure, but indications measurable by say, Staren would indicate 'yes'. A good sublight speed, but one way or another, people will be able to disembark, the ship basically lodging itself against part of the vessel, boring its way in via fuselage insertion stingers to let the motley crew come aboard--dropping, or lowering--into what looked to be a currently unoccupied locker room. The vague cross-shaped room held unused suits hanging, freshly cleaned and sterilized, lockers both locked and unlocked, storage, the whole kit and kaboodle.

It's quiet now. But the inhabitants here are not kind, the angular terrain, cobalt-colored steel floors and overhead giving a pretty plain indicator of where to go forward from. Distant *clack* sounds of MOA feet on the alloyed surfaces indicate that while there are enemies here, they've not yet picked up on those being here. Mag herself starts hustling forward, gesturing for the others to follow her lead at least, the hydraulic hiss of the door splitting open to provide access to the rest of the ship. <"Let's go. They'll know we're here shortly, but take them out and it won't matter."> After all: knowing that they're here is different from knowing where they're at.

A notion demonstrated by her catching sight of a lone MOA, and since it's in the way, she gestures. Electromagnetic force *rips it* off the ground, clear to the wall behind her, splitting it into about a half dozen pieces, electricity crackling. The corridor lay head, and with it, a number of enemies--from crewmen patrolling to ospreys and MOAs--though at least no shockwave MOAs yet. Some are walking away from where the group will be coming from.

Others? Not quite so lucky, presuming the group moves swiftly.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Oh hey, holographic dossier! Josuke can almost hear the theme of that one mecha game playing. Actually no he can't, that was released on a games console he doesn't have. Either way he's still listening to the explanation. The note of the lockers gets a nod. "I could destroy those if I find them," he notes. "If they're not hacked, I mean." And it's good that impact will generally work, since that's about all Josuke's got in a straight fight. Though clever use of his restoration abilities could prove, well, clever enough to be useful.

Josuke nods to Kushiko's mention of her shields. "Not to worry. Any help would be <great>." Yes, he said that in English. Sort of. Josuke's command of English isn't really very good."

Once they're all deposited in what looks like a Corpus locker room -- hopefully it doesn't smell like a high school gym's locker room, phew -- Josuke gets an idea. He looks at one of the suits, tugs on the material, and gives a thoughtful pout. Yeah, he's gonna nick one of those suits.

    There's a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, if he's caught out and looks like the rest of these dudes, he might buy a few precious seconds before shields get raised to pummel the enemies with his Stand. And secondly, if someone DOES decide to bust out a window or open an airlock, there's a slightly better chance that he'll survive if there's some source of possibly breathable air on his head.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang nods to the explanation. "Right, hit 'em hard in the face. I can do that." she deploys her gauntlets. "I don't have any of that fancy damage stuff, unless my Impulse shells work. They're Fire and Energy Dust. The Impact shells are pure Energy." she remarks before the ship docks and she drops down through the breach.

    The demonstration of power from the Mag 'frame makes Yang smirk a bit. "Nice... lets get to business then." she slams her fists together, then launches herself forward on a pair of kinetic blasts, the shotgun report probably alerting everything in the corridor at least.

    Not that they get a chance to really react, as Yang slams her right fist into the 'head' of a MOA, releasing another blast of energy into it at impact. Even if this doesn't take the MOA out in the first hit, she recoils, and spins to kick the Crewman with the extra momentum, sending the poor sap into a bulkhead hard enough to dent the metal. "Like I said earlier, I'll run interference, draw security away from the tech guys. Get the data, I'll keep 'em busy!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens to the tactical briefing, making plans to deal with each type of foe, and readies his laser rifle, swapping his laser pistol out for a sidearm that looks like a large revolver, of all things.

    "More like a mobile base than a ship..." Staren comments at the sight from windows.

    Once they're in, dropping out of the obligatory vent, Staren looks around. Spotting no immediate threats, he looks for cameras.

    Following Kushiko, he trains his rifle on the Moa being smashed against the wall, a split second before his mind can process it being smashed to pieces. Seeing the new enemies, he hesitates for a moment to let any stealthy types do their thing first -- but Yang's launching in, and she's certainly not quiet! He helps her out by firing three-pulse laser bursts at nearby enemies! If the enemies walking away turn around, he'll fire the underbarrel plasma grenade launcher at them for their trouble!

Asterios (1137) has posed:
Finally. The time has come for battle to be joined. The transport delivers its deadly cargo, deploying a highly-trained kill team right into the heart of a Corpus orbiter. They are strong, they are swift, they are in command of powers beyond comprehension, they are each more than a match for dozens of Corpus robotics, they are...

...They are...

...Missing... someone.

...

Where is Asterios, and why is there a vaguely Minotaur-shaped hole in one of the airlocks.

                             A FEW MINUTES AGO                              

Everyone is talking about things like railguns and artificial intelligence and beings of crystal and light and all kinds of things. Asterios gives a big, sleepy yawn and slowly rises. He is... Looking for something. Something to help him concentrate. It has to be here somewhere. That thing that Master uses to wake up in the morning...!

                     RIGHT NOW, ABOARD THE CORPUS SHIP                      

Joe Prodman, the significantly less famous cousin to renowned Index champion and Juggernaut-Wrestler, John Prodman, quietly sighs as he stares out into the vacuum of space. How did he get posted here, in the ass-end of nowhere? Who did he piss off? He could have been a contender, you know? He could have been somebody.

Well.

At least there's a nice view.

Joe watches as Venus turns far below. It's said that this planet was once a horrible wasteland of overheated greenhouse gasses and sulfuric rain. Now look at it. There's ice everywhere! What wonders of terraforming technology, those Orokin towers. Now there's nothing outside the window but the stars, the beautiful, frosty world down below and--

And--

"aaaa" A voice rumbles as a fist pounds against the glass. Joe's head turns, slowly, toward what appears to be an enormous half-naked man with a glass helmet floating through the void of space. "What the Prof--"

                                   CRACK                                    

                                 SHOOOOOOM                                  

Asterios smashes right into the ship just as the others make their landing. Alarms start shrieking as doors immediately go onto lockdown. This doesn't help Joe at all. He squawks helplessly, held by the scruff of his neck as this horrifying inhuman monster casually smashes the back of his hand through a moa, barrier and all... Which then goes flying into and bisects a /totally/ different moa. The creature proceeds to tear open the sealed door between the pair of robo-closets. What does he want? What could he be searching for? Asterios stares Joe right in the eye, and the crewman is suddenly thankful that he remembered to use the bathroom before his shift.

"Coffee?" Asterios inquires. Joe holds a trembling finger in a vaguely 'forward' direction. The minotaur nods, slings the crewman over his shoulder, and proceeds inward. Coffee first. Then the Jackal!

Origami Hiiro (1145) has posed:
Origami is one of the last out of the gate into the firefight. Simply put she'd been exdpecting things to be stealthy like last time. That clearly didn't happen, and in fairness most of this team were not stealth-related, or even stealth-adjacent. They were the opposite of stealth. So she sighs, pulling her goggles up and over her eyes, as brass and piping explode out over her form into a bomber jacket getup and brass everywhere. "I'll go find the big lug, we go way back," she offers, as she goes shooming overhead.

    Indoor flight is. Um. It's tricky, okay? Especially when you don't so much as fly as violently launch yourself in the direction you want to go until you make another launch. There's a lot of damaged ceiling and wall paneling is what I'm saying. At least it marks the path Amelia took, hunting for the minotaur by the assumption that things will be especially disturbed wherever here is. Oh, and the occasional crunched in Corpus mask. Now the ship /definitely/ knows something is up, but panicking the whole ship is a kind of plan, right?

Kushiko has posed:
A couple of different, varyingly /intersting/ things occur as the group begins to Go to Work, as Josuke donning his suit means he'll get some shielding that Kushiko's Warframe can actually augment a little bit! It also dawns on them that they're missing their Bull.

How does he keep *doing that* is a mystery from which she's going to have to compare notes with sometime on. Regardless, an affirmative sound comes from Kushiko at Origami's words about going to find him.

Josuke's actually insanely lucky. He didn't pick a suit that was still waiting for decontamination and cleaning. So no 'weird' smells (it's hard to say awful, maybe it smells like credits, plastic richness? Nevermind...) In either event, his Crazy Diamond's pummeling is probably going to suit him very well when it comes to a majority of the Corpus here--shielding doesn't hold up well vs. impact, and you could class them fists as highly impactful.

Which is something that Yang oh-so helpfully demonstrates in the next few moments herself as the group begins their progression towards where the Jackal is being currently staged. There's ways to go, but with this Elite group, it's likely to take less time than they might think to get through them. Indeed, the punch draws the attention of a few more crewmen--enough that they see one of their comrades and start barking orders through that harsh dialect of theirs--but that's all they get out.

Because the next sound they make is unmistakably painful as they're sent flying thanks to Staren's launched grenade--a nearby Osprey that swooped out from behind a bulkhead catches part of the plasma blast from the grenade launcher. Another one is slammed upward into the ceiling before dropping back down in a motionless heap. Blue orbs of energy from plasma rifles start coming from further down the long corridor and sprawling cargo area beyond it. About a half-dozen MOAs; their fire never quite reaches the group, owing to the way the energy seems to burn out. Doesn't stop them from trying. But hey, they're running and gunning.

So's Mag, lifting the long rifle she has and demonstrating it's particular ability: that of it being a railgun, a quick charge, and the railgun sends a slug square into one of them, blasting it apart, given Origami's intent to go find Asterios.

Speaking of and talk about being blasted apart...

It shouldn't be too hard to find Asterios--he's actually right along the theoretical path the group will be needing to go. And speaking of that path, she twists sharply in alarm. <"Ship's in lockdown--well, that's definitely from pressure breach,"> she almost calmly says, briefly and mentally marking where Josuke is. She gestures, open palm clenching into a fist as she sends a radial wave of energy outward--it actually starts just outside where Yang is, before continuing further. Some distant sounds of *popping* could be heard, shields going on the fritz from something or the other, adding to Josuke's own and altering the magnetic polarity on several sections of debris left behind by Origami. More importantly, she's darting to a terminal and engaging emergency systems to actually /stop/ the air and pressure breach from further in the ship.

For Staren's interest, it's a pretty neat thing if he has a chance between fights to watch--shouldering her rifle, it seems to bring up a holographic interface from hers and she accesses the system and forcibly makes her own path into the ship's network and triggers it to bring emergency doors and seal off that now airless section once Asterios is through.

Staren has posed:
    "What do those alarms mean?!" Staren shouts, and Kushiko explains quickly enough.

    There's a group of moas approaching. It's not a problem yet, but it will be -- Staren decides to shorten their lifetime by firing a missile into the group! He's packed his armor's shoulder launchers with types useful for this mission -- this one doesn't so much explode as release a concentrated burst of EMP, hopefully softening up if not completely draining their shields to leave them easy pickings for his laser rifle and his allies.

    Kushiko's interaction with the terminal will be an interesting thing to observe when he watches the recording later, certainly! Although he might end up checking it sooner if he has to work with a terminal later today...

Origami Hiiro (1145) has posed:
There /is/ a decidedly tingly sensation from that polarity drain. But Amelia doesn't use anything that could really be considered an energy-shield, so it mostly passes over and through her. Fortunately, as she radios across to Kushiko, there's going to be some clearance out of her way pretty quick. She can crunch up some walls but bulkheads are made to be sturdier than her. So she when she does come in ahead of a door that refuses to open, she instead makes a quick 270 to put her foot through a nearby MOA's head-pelvis-thing, then kicking the discarded legs back across the path toward the nearest Corpus figure, an unfortunate Prodman who seems to have either totally missed the crazy brass woman flying through the area or was very studiously trying to pretend he didn't see anything.

    The door opens, and Amelia punches it, looking like she'll meet up with their wayward minotaur any moment.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Fortunately Josuke's Stand won't be affected by being enclosed in the suit. And yes, it is fortunate that he took a 'clean' suit -- he'd been looking for weird stains and whatnot, but it's hard to tell if something's irradiated by looking at it. Jotaro would call him careless, and Josuke would probably agree. But hey, it seems like a good idea at the time!

But yes, fortunately Josuke picks a 'clean' suit. And also fortunately, this is something Kushiko's familiar with the workings of, so she might be able to tweak the workings of it! And on top of it all, Josuke's hair fits in the helmet without too much squishing.

Josuke will provide what support he can on the path, pummelling MOAs and Crewmen, and possibly flinging things at the flying bastards. But that's not all. Some of the path that was wrecked on the way, Josuke may be able to fix, if it causes difficulty in movement. Or if he botches the fix job, purposely or not, it may create new features in the hallway that can serve as cover for allies or trouble for enemies. If any of the group of Elites gets damaged, Josuke should be able to repair/heal the damage. Fortunately that ability doesn't really discriminate between 'thing' and 'person'.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang hops back, launching herself away from the plasma blast from Staren's grenade. Her gauntlets shift subtly, and the woman ratchets her right arm back once she lands, slinging it forwards and firing an explosive packet of energy down, in the wake of Staren's missile, likely finishing off those not taken down in the initial blast. "I'll head down that way, see if I can't draw off the security from you guys. Go get those fragments, I'll meet up with you at the Jackal!" she says to the others, taking off down the corridor at a dead run, using her Aura to augment her speed.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
Joe Prodman has had better days. When he woke up this morning and collected his usual cup of (Frohdzen) CreditCoffee, he had no idea that he was going to spend his diurnal shift being hauled through the ship by what appeared to be an ambulatory mass of meat and casual brutality. At least, he thinks as his captor casually slaps the helmet (and consciousness) clear off one of his coworkers, there are no Tenno. A supra clatters mournfully to the ground.

"This... way?" Asterios asks, pointing vaguely down a hallway. He has no minimapping capabilities, so he's going to be doing this the old, hard way! That is: Interrogating a terrified captive.

"Yes! Yes. The coffee room is right over there," Prodman shrieks, not quite noticing that the minotaur is pointing down a very un-lighted, very locked up door. "Just--" CRUNCH. Screeeeeeek. Prodman pales as the monster peels through another section of the hull and strides confidently by what looks like some kind of weird squat Moa, except with a big old snow-plow mounted to the front end. Except instead of weapons, it seems to be... vacuuming? BuRoombra beeps and whirrs with sudden distress as it rushes to try and repair the chaos left in the Minotaur's wake. "What is this?" Joe asks the world. "Profit, how have I so offended you?"

Profit has no answer. Neither does the next unlit door as the Minotaur yanks it off its hinges and smashes it right through a surprised trio of moas. And right into the hallway ahead of Origami. "Aa?" Asterios blinks as he emerges, then turns and gives a happy wave at the People He Recognizes. "Aa! Ori. Got lost! Looking for coffee. Want to... come along?"

Up ahead... Yes. Up ahead, he can tell. He can smell it. The coffee is waiting.

Kushiko has posed:
Unbeknownst to everyone, a terrible secret lay in the direction of the Coffee, Prodman quaking and fearful as Asterios Advances.

One thing that makes it easier to hack a system? Having someone like Josuke be all punchy crazy with the--well, Crazy Diamond. She sees enemies on her local HUD, but with him on the job, his sealing of one broken area prevents further reinforcements from actually reaching them, and possibly making it a bit of a slog. This is a good thing.

Yang makes for a pretty good bangup job herself, though the crewmen are adjusting to her wild tactics--some of them using a more continuous beam instead of the ones that fire single pulses. Really, these might be comparable to laser cutters--perhaps some old tools made into weapons by some, but given the mess she's made of some of their buddies, might be hard to blame them as a few give chase, one of them deploying an Osprey to follow after her.

Unfair and totally safe ways to deal with MOAs? Why, you're thinking like a Tenno would, Staren! Were it not for her attention at the console, she'd be doing something helpful with that as well, but given that action, she'll have to save it for the next set they end up encountering. After all, she herself very well /is/ an EMP weapon, especially with the way her Lanka sniper rifle is kitted out to be.

It is particularly /satisfying/ to certain instincts to see how the MOAs break apart and simply get /demolished/ as the EMP of the shields is an effect that chains to their systems, making strange, animalistic screeches. Perhaps the way they can communicate? Who knows. Maybe just a shock tactic from severely shackled AI that lay within.

Where the Coffee beckons, a truly awful mystery is within as Asterios advances through broken MOA and terrified Roomba-likes.

The Corpus themselves are somewhat scattered, beyond the cargo loading and unloading zones that the MOAs were coming up from. One particular crewman peeks out from behind a column of steel, and before he has a proper chance to fire, the Warframe extends her hand--and a strange bubble of energy appears centered around him, locking him in place.

He fires--but immediately the bolts of plasma energy from the Dera he's using arc back around and into him--and he starts making sounds of pain thanks in part to her other, sweeping gesture--shards and shrapnel from Origami's violent progression through to belt and slice and make short work of him. Even when he's dead, he kind of hangs there--the electromagnetic field strong enough to lock his bones, his suit, /everything/ into place. It's not something she lingers on.

It's also something preventing a few other Crewmen and Ospreys from actually firing past the bubble. <"Keep going!"> she calls to the others. <"My Magnetize won't hurt you, but if you fire anything near, it'll draw it in, amplify and set off an explosion. Again, won't hurt you."> Someone from ALO might argue she's got a hell of a cheat code against friendly fire.

While she moves to a side area as they start arriving where Asterios himself arrived--with Origami following--he is about to make a discovery most profane. The smell, it's... good. It's surprisingly good. They must know the value of good coffee here. Perhaps some genetically modified or superior refinement for their beans--hopefully nothing powdered. Past a refrigeration unit, which through its clear doors one can see numerous pints of 'Greedy Milk' labeled milk... with some weird, helmet-eyed Grineer on it, there lay the other thing in this breakroom...

...It's the Jackal.

...or more accurately, it's a pallet of figures for Origami and Asterios to behold. In cute little boxes, one might even say. One of them is unboxed, laying there. It's little 'head' seems to bobble of it's own accord; a nearby sign says 'NEW: LIMITED EDITION JACKAL NOGGLE'...

...guess the Corpus are looking to make some sales.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Seeing Kushiko's electric field keeping the Corpus in place, and hearing her explanation of the ability, Josuke gets an idea. What if he breaks the wall near the field and then uses those broken-off pieces as projectiles against enemies? Why would he do that? Because when he 'fixes' where he broke, any wall shrapnel still stuck in the enemies will pull them to where the electric field is and they might get caught up in it too! This should make an even better cover zone, and cause more trouble for any pursuing enemies!

Josuke isn't too sure of what everyone else has found, but assuming he gets to where Asterios and Origami are, he peeks into the door. Mind, it probably doesn't help that he's wearing a Corpus outfit, if Asterios wasn't aware that he did that. But the speech ought to help -- it's in Japanese, and sounds like a teenage boy. "Everything all right in here?" he asks.

He probably doesn't see anything particularly dastardly about the bobbleheaded thing, but then again, he doesn't have context for how horrible the Corpus are.

Origami Hiiro (1145) has posed:
Amelia is about halfway through correcting Asterios on the usage of names before she decides to drop it. It's not that she doesn't respect Asterios' intellect, she just knows a pointless battle when she sees one. "Coffee, eh? You're on. I could use a good rich roast myself. I take it this sack of potatoes has been pointing the way?"

    Having Amelia along for the ride simplifies things. There's less pausing to dismember a MOA here or punch a Prodman back through the door he popped out of for the Minotaur whe he's got the equivalent of a horse-fly with a mule kick buzzing around.

    Just picture it for yourself, maybe put on something like a ballet piece, put the camera on a trolley and follow Asterios as he walks along, and enjoy a woman made of brass and jets appearing and disappearing out of your frame as she careens through the Corpus ship like a wrecking ball. End with a decent amount of things on fire and the two of them standing there staring at a pallet of noggles.

    <"Er. Little wobbly dolls, here. I'm gonna make some coffee. You're up Prodboy! How do you work your coffeemaker?">

Asterios (1137) has posed:
"It's ProdMAN!" Joe's protests seem somewhat feeble considering that the hallway outside the recroom more closely resembles a warzone than a ship's corridor. All they're missing is a horrible infestation and it'd almost be like Eris all over again. Besides, it's hard to look manly when you're still being manhandled by an enormous bull-man. At least Asterios remembers to sling the guy back over his shoulder and set on the floor near the coffeemaker.

At least he knows his place. Soon, there is delicious, life-giving energy nectar steaming on a table. But in the meantime, Asterios is... Occupied.

He appears to be bobbling that little noggle's head rather enthusiastically.

...

...

"I think," Asterios says, "We should take this. Give as presents. Holidays, season for giving, right?"

Giving a bunch of LIMITED EDITION NOGGLES away? FOR FREE!?

THE PROFITMANITY.

Staren has posed:
    Staren makes a :D expression behind his visor as he's pleasantly surprised to learn that EMP doesn't just drain moas' shields, but destroy them outright! While he's looking for a new target, Kushiko shreds a corpsman. If his head is intact, Staren makes a note on his map to possibly grab the guy on the way out. He can trade information for getting his life back! Staren follows Mag, for the moment. "Say, did that terminal say anything about where these fragments are?"

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang has to duck behind some cover as the lasers start coming in beams rather than pulses. She ratchets the slides on her gauntlets, then leaps out, kicking off the wall opposite, and firing a pair of shots to launch herself into the crewmen group, as they try to readjust their aims. Her fist slams down into the deck, and causes a shockwave, much like one of those MOA models.

    Her arms are singed, and some of her clothes are torn and burnt, despite her Aura mitigating some of the damage.

Kushiko has posed:
Turns out, one of the Fragments Staren asks about is a lot closer than they realize. A ping on her own sensors relays a bit of information, and thanks in large part to Josuke following the lead she gave, it's very quick and easy for her to make her way into what looks like to be a utility/storage area, where the 'Fragment' lay. Sadly for Staren, crewman's head... is /not/ in any good condition whatsoever. Yeesh.

But that's perhaps not nearly as interesting as what happened with Josuke's picking up on the cue Kushiko gave out, as the field starts pulling them in slowly, his addition of 'fixed' pieces and broken pieces in equal measure sees them yanked in /much/ faster, the magnetic field starting to break apart and shred the crewmen, a stray Osprey and Moa before they start to falter--right before the field implodes, sending a shockwave of force outward that could be /felt/--but not harm anyone save the unlucky Corpus. It's like a shower of sparks and tiny motes of electrified shrapnel, made more potent with Josuke's addition to clear the proverbial field.

The Fragment itself, on the other hand is a peculiar thing. Almost mystic as much as it's high tech looking, it resembles a collection of cubes, smaller, bright white and cerulean with a misty wisp encapsulating it. Like it's a puzzle piece to something else. Mag extends her hand, a small hardlight aperture appearing on her wrist and back of her palm, scanning it, perhaps? But not long after she starts doing that, the light itself begins to get sucked inward like through an event horizon in the palm of her hand as she captures the Fragment and stores it. <"That's the one here..."> she begins, before the Lotus speaks. Why would the Lotus speak?

Because of the chaos Yang's causing. Good chaos, mind you, but chaos all the same. <<"Heads up, Corpus security proxies are approaching from a side corridor a little ways ahead. However, there's a barrel of liquid nitrogen just a little further ahead where you can rejoin the others. I advise detonating on your way through from a slightly safe distance. Sending the information now.">> While the crewmen are pretty much *out* of the fight (possibly worse, but hey, advanced medical tech exists...) the Osprey remains, if staying at a distance thanks to the shockwave sending the crewmen flying and into nearby bulkheads.

The information given to Yang directs her around a corner, past a supply 'closet' of sorts, and there's an area where if she turns right, it'll lead her towards the path that she'll soon see the others upon. But more importantly, the barrel of LN2--or more colloquially known as liquid nitrogen. About where those reinforcements will be coming through. A good blast should set it off in an explosively /freezing/ way. (Freezerburn?)

In either event, it won't be too difficult for the group of Yang, Mag, Josuke and Staren to reach where Ameliagami, Asterios, and Probeman are at. And by some way of being overheard, like say the Lotus tapped into the systems like the proper space mom she is for monitoring progress and not at all because she loves her space kids and making sure they don't traipse with the wrong crowd--

Ahem. EITHER WAY, when Asterios mentions about giving them away, her voice comes across the local band for the group and for him. <<"An excellent idea. I'll have them retrieved and brought aboard while you and the others make your way to deal with the Jackal... how odd. I'm detecting a Fragment energy signature there as well.">> A small degree of searching would be able to discern it's exact location--tucked away behind what looks to be a seemingly secure storage container. It'll require Kushiko to come up and scan it, but that won't take long either, once she arrives.

<"Dibs on one of the noggles,"> she quietly murmurs on the way through. Poor Joe. He'll probably never hear the end of this debacle, if he makes it out of here intact.

Kushiko has posed:
Once coffee and other varying supplies are acquired--including the Fragment, which necessitates the second showing of her extending her hand, unfolding the hardlight interface from her systems, the 'Synthesis Scanner' is something she properly explains now. <"Whenever we use this, we either make a copy, or otherwise completely take it into ourselves, digitized and able to be replicated. These Fragments don't seem to activate until there's more pieces. I thought they might have since I have the others on me, but they won't... 'fit', if that makes any sense, but they won't activate.">

Perhaps anticipating the question that might be answered, regardless, it seems like the last signature is likely within the Jackal somehow. A disquieting notion. But more pertinent, while they have a breather, the way forward is largely what remains. <"Detecting the signature about 80 meters out from here, which now that we have these, it seems that's right where the Jackal should be.">

She steps momentarily out of the recroom itself, and a lone crewman quickly discovers that his attempt at using cover does not help him, the sniper rifle she's using punching through the cover and knocking him off his feet, stone cold dead.

<"Let's get moving."> she murmurs.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang listens to the comm, pulls her Scroll out with one hand, while firing an explosive bolt at the Osprey, either to drive it off, or destroy it outright. It isn't aimed, a literal snap shot in the direction of engine noise. "Right Lotus, got it. Heading out now." she replies, then follows the map directions.

    She ducks under incoming fire, lilac eyes tracking to the barrel as she darts past it, and with a quick kip up, then kick off the nearby wall, she spins midair, fires a pair of explosive bolts back at the barrel, then rolls through the landing to rejoin the others. "That should keep 'em off us for a little while!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren follows Mag, eyes widening a bit as she shreds some more foes and then they find the fragment... "Is that it? Huh. I wonder how it works?" And then she... picks it up? "What did you just do? Was that a personal-scale Vector Trap???" He hasn't seen them used in a long time.

    And then they rendezvous with... "Are you /making a Corpus make coffee for you?/ Geeze." Staren looks over the noggies for a moment, but doesn't see the value. Besides, now he has the data needed to 3D print one if he wants. Kushiko explains how her inventory works. "Ah, I see. So more like the Matter Manipulator."

    He continues following Mag, priming his targeting systems with the expected location of the Jackal. He also makes a note of the sniped corpusman, if Mag missed the head.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Josuke has thankfully left that electrified area behind when the implosion of electromagnetic energy occurs. Though he's still surprised by it, since he's not THAT far away. "Whoa! What was...?" He turns to look, and winces. Oops! He hadn't been trying to do that! Nothing for it now, though. Josuke feels bad, but he WAS defending himself, so...

Lotus's words, however, draw his attention back. <"Where?"> he asks. As it turns out, near where they are. Sadly, Josuke has no way to do ranged damage aside from flicking things with his Stand. He'll need to leave the liquid nitrogen to others with better ranged abilities.

He's mainly just sticking with the group for now, pummelling anything unfriendly that has the bad judgment to stick its head up (figuratively OR literally) in his range.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
Joe Prodman is not having a good day. First he's abducted by what appears to be an unsleeved Rhino with twice as many horns as ususal. Then he's dragged off to the coffee room and forced to supply his captor with a free (FREE) serving of delicious brand-name coffee. And then, to add insult to injury, a Tenno (!) and the rest of their horrifying motly crew of space pirates (!!) decides to ramble in and abdscond with an entire crate worth of merchandise!

And now... Now they're talking about punching in the Jackal prototype!? No! There are lines, and this is crossing it! Joe Prodman will not stand for this! Not when sitting down means he's getting fired so hard that he'll probably be packed into the next set of anti-Formorian torpedos!

And then the minotaur... rips the entire coffee maker out of the wall and shoves it into his hands, abruptly aborting the incoherent fear-rage with a sudden reminder that /this thing can apparently rip things out of walls./ "Carry this." Asterios says to the flabbergasted Prodman with a grateful pat upon the head. "Will help install at home. Yes?"

The prodman says nothing. And is also utterly incapable of moving at present- that coffee machine is heavy! Asterios apparently sees this as assent. He nods and... straps the prodman and coffee machine both to his shoulders before goes ambling off after the others. "I also want a noggle! Also more, for children of Paris!"

But that can wait. Because now... They are going to GLORIOUS BATTLE! Asterios takes the front, leading the charge like only an oversized bull man can. And better still, with Prodman and coffee machine strapped to his back, Asterios has full access to BOTH hands! Twice the axe-power! What a wonderful thing!

Origami Hiiro (1145) has posed:
Amelia is getting some lovely coffee and Greedy Milk going. Adventure is important but getting your big lug functional is a worthwhile venture. She could use some good coffee after the noggle situation anyhow. On the radio she comments: "Okay, got coffee and... our minotaur is on the move. I'll keep up with him after I finish my mug."

Kushiko has posed:
And keep them off it most certainly will! The liquid nitrogen goes off /explosively/, forcing yet another security lockdown in a different way while blasting apart several of the MOAs and slowing down the few that remain. They won't be bothering the group, especially when coupled with Josuke's supportive work with his Stand. It should be noted he has taken a few of them off guard solely thanks to the suit he's wearing--might have to find a way to keep it and get it fitted a bit better for him at a later point!

Staren's words drive a quizzical response to Kushiko, who tilts her head. <"I don't know what a Vector Trap is, but there is something we use called Kinetic Siphon Traps. Little bit different and don't do what this Synthesis Scanner of mine does. We use something similar to the scanner for purposes of capturing high value targets for transport."> Totally not a screamingly painful experience for them whatsoever. Trust us.

(It absolutely is a surreal experience, yes.)

Speaking of painful experiences, it seems that the Corpus managed to keep his head--the helmet knocked off on the impact, yet the shot itself burned a solid hole through the suit, through the heart, and out the back. If he really plans on an intact head to do something crazy with, Mag-Kushiko's not going to stop him. <"Hope your Master will be alright with him around."> Kushiko remarks, a slightly bemused tone to her voice that would accompany a smile, if Warframes could smile. They can't. The child absolutely can. <"Just a little further,"> she adds, cautiously sweeping forward. She seems like she's expecting further attack or hindrance from the Corpus forces there...

...but nobody came.

Instead, it's a remarkably straight shot into a massive chamber--a smooth steel floor, the staging area possessed of four columns. A few platforms about twenty odd feet up overlook it, and open corridors along the upper parts of the octagonal room would typically allow for other Corpus to observe weapons tests, or inspections of MOAs or other things.

Like this. Like that giant, quadrupedal Jackal sitting silently--well, compacted, slightly--legs tucked in as close as they can be. The robot appears dormant--surely they couldn't have left it unactivated, primed and ready to be destroyed, could they? Just as the group fully arrives--all the doors, in and out, /lock down/. And with a screeching, pulsing noise, it rises--taller and bigger than Asterios, and amidst its screeching, it could be understood. Be it the Multiversal effect, or the fact this has more intelligence, it's sentiment is simple:

    <Enemy Analysis: Organic. Threat Level: Impotent.>

And that's right about when it lifts one of its forelegs and *SLAMS* it down, sending a wave of energy outward along the ground--like the shockwave MOAs of before, its twinlinked guns at its head unleashing a barrage of gunfire first towards Mag, which causes her to start cartwheeling to one side as she yells, <"Scatter! Don't give it a chance to focus on any one of you!"> while literally taking a hunk of metal with her electromagnetic power and launching it at a leg. It's intending to cripple, if briefly.

But it doesn't land. The Jackal /LEAPS/ out of the way, clinging like a spider to one of the columns. <Futile Attempt. Upgrades Active.>

This might be more difficult than expected...

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Josuke winces behind that Corpus mask/helmet when the doors lock down. He'd been intending to use the Corpus crewman's suit to get close, but with the thing now on the ceiling, Josuke will have to tip his hand earlier than he'd wanted to. Making things worse, it's on the ceiling! Josuke is a short-range fighter, with most of his abilities only effective within six and a half feet of himself.

Yang has an idea, though -- her explosive power could be just the thing to take the gun turret out, but she needs to get close too. "Yang!" he calls out, summoning Crazy Diamond. The Stand places a hand down close to the ground near Yang, intending to let her step up onto it. If she does, Josuke will note, "On three! One, two, THREE!" And on 'three', Crazy Diamond would try to fling Yang in the direction of the Jackal's turret!

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang leaps to the side, opposite from the evasion of Mag. She rolls through the landing again, firing her gauntlets to leap back up to her feet, and get some distance from the shockwave. A few bullets strafe along her Aura, causing welts to show up and some parts of her clothes tearing up from the very near misses. "Doesn't matter what upgrades you've gotten, ya giant scrappile, I'm gonna beat you into a tiny little cube!" she snarls back, her eyes turning red as her anger stokes from an ember to a flame.

    She gets herself behind one of the other pillars, gathers her strength and slams her fists together, causing a kinetic burst "I BURN! She rounds the column, then leaps onto Crazy Diamond's boosting hands, and with the launch, she fires behind her half way to close the distance.

    She reaches out to grab onto something, anchoring herself as best she can before smashing her free fist as hard as she can into the Jackal's weapon pod, unleashing blast after blast of kinetic energy with each punch, accompanied by a shotgun-like report. "I. HOPE. YOU'RE. HUNGRY!" she roars.

Staren has posed:
    Staren just fires another EMP missile as soon as he's in the door, followed by a quick shot from the beam cannons to check if its forcefield is up, and if it's not, a half-dozen miniature HEAT missiles launch from his armor to blow holes in the Jackal and hopefully hit something sensitive.

    Whether the shields are down or not, though, the sight of the twinlinked guns sends him running for cover behind one of the pillars.

    Staren begins considering the capabilities of the considerable variety of weapons on his person and how they can be used here. Missiles can shoot from behind cover, and a sufficiently powerful explosive might break the pillars so the thing can't climb... Nah, if he can muster that much power, better to just hit the Jackal with it directly...

Asterios (1137) has posed:
Asterios knows something of hunting monsters within a maze. He knows that the closer one approaches to a true monster, the fewer defenses one tends to encounter. When one's master is confident in one's abilities, why waste resources on meaningless defenses? If an intruder has made it to the heart of a Labyrinth, then they could easily tear through whatever other traps and forces that might have otherwise impeded them. The only thing left is to test strength against strength. Brutal power against brutal power. Asterios knows. He senses the danger lurking ahead. Something waits for them.

The Jackal.

Joe Prodman squeaks and squirms in sheer terror at the tell-tale clatter of Kinetocor-class motor servos coming alive. The minotaur, however, is not so intimidated. The machine issues its threat. Asterios answers with a roar that reaches deep down into the primal nerve centers of the primate brain and lights a fire underneath the reptilian fear response. The voice he uses is one etched in smoldering pictograph upon the caveman-wall at the kernel of conscious thought.

Predator.

The machine stomps, unleashing a tremendous shockwave. The minotaur leaps boldly over it, one great axe hooking upward onto a platform just overtop of the entranceway. He twists, muscles pivoting his massive body up and over the railing.

The enemy is strong. It's fast too. Armed with heaven only knows what. Asterios responds with another roar, power reverberating through the very air. Violet lines suddenly begin spiderwebbing across the arena walls. "Get lost. Wander. Die. Releasing Noble Phantasm!"

Metal screams as it shears apart, a massive three-dimensional maze erupting from the chamber walls as pieces of the starship are ensnared by an entirely foreign force. At the heart of the labyrinth dwells the minotaur; no matter where he goes, he carries it on his back. And so the maze manifests itself, providing platforms just large enough for Asterios and his compatriots to make ample use of... While being entirely too small for the Jackal to adequately maneuver. The walls Asterios forges are thick, strengthened with primitive sorcery, and yet entirely too thin for the machine's legs to find ample purchase.

This is...

                      THE ETERNAL AND UNCHANGING MAZE                      
                         --==CHAOS LABYRINTHOS==--                          

Origami Hiiro (1145) has posed:
Amelia comes sailing into the room with arms extended like a certain lost boy, sailing in on the breeze. She's carrying a few spoils of war. The first is an empty space mug.It's first because it gets a jet assisted launch toward the Jackal. It's immediately followed by Amelia herself, prepping the second of her spoils like a baseball bat: Joe Prodman's Trusty Prova. She comes shooting in with a blast, taking a swing at the Jackal's knee, pulling the stun trigger as she does.

Kushiko has posed:
For what it's worth, the Jackal is prepared, for the most part, expecting potentially a wide variety of attacks, most notably its designers were expecting, say, the average or even above average Tenno or Warframe. This in part was why it knew to avoid Mag's creative use of Pull.

What soon became clear, however, was its inability to truly deal with powers of a different variety, and creatively applied, at that. While some are quite similar, if not outright possible to make the Jackal's sensors /think/ it's dealing with some strange new Tenno Void-derived power, but it doesn't know it, and it can't /deal/ with it.

Terrain shaping like this is not something the Jackal can properly deal with.

Especially when the walls, the columns can no longer aid it, and only will aid the Jackal's opponents. It pivots enough to actually avoid just /falling/ straight onto its proverbial ass, but that's only in time for Josuke to have launched Yang into range. Machinegun fire, perhaps futile, perhaps not, is fired with staccato bursts. At first, it seems to do NOTHING, distressingly.

That changes the moment Ameliagami SAILs into that leg. The strike of the Prova is dead on /perfect/, disrupting the shields long enough for its head and machine guns to become vulnerable, quickly becoming twisted wrecks of slag and molten metal. Yet as the machine briefly seems to falter from the Prova strike, emergency systems quickly recur it. The threat of the twinlinked guns is removed, all the same.

Twistedly, the voice, the /presence/ that Asterios gives off, which would nominally make any normal being /fearful/, or wary even as an ally is the kind of thing that puts Kushiko herself at ease. Be it the aspect of predator, or something, someone who she could, strangely, have at her back or fore and not be worried. Something deep inside the broken child sees that, in Asterios. Something instinctively... kinlike.

Yet there was not time to dwell on such esoteric matters.

Staren's maneuver is very, /very/ well-timed, as she moves out from behind cover. She momentarily puts away that choice sniper rifle, calling out, <"Sorry, going to borrow these for just a moment, Staren!"> She gestures, a vaporous miasma pulsing from her hand as she guides those missiles into not just a precision shot, but amplifying, specifically hitting the very same leg the Prova had just struck. Making it vulnerable once more to those HEAT missiles. Mag's unilateral focus seems to be making sure Yang doesn't suffer anymore than she has, injury wise, and making others hit all the more harder with ranged attacks such as these. Where Asterios controls the lay of the land, she exerts a terrifying, expansive control of electromagnetic energy and using it to debilitate the Jackal further.

Yet, the Jackal is not so debilitated, not hindered by pain as it rises again, despite the HEAT missiles. When it rises this time, panels open on its undamaged legs and along its rear--dreadfully near to Yang--and numerous blue bolts of energy escape it. It thinks it has possible target locks, but the maze may disrupt it--attempting to practically blanket the maze and everyone in it with numerous plasma grenades, starting with trying to tag Yang off its back with a trio of them that rocket towards her.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang's too focussed on slagging that turret, too tunnel visioned in, that the panels opening up and spitting out explosive plasma at her catches her off guard. "Wha--- SHIT!" she manages, crossing her arms in front of her face to absorb the brunt of the explosion. BLAM! She's thrown off the Jackal, sailing through the air and slamming HARD into a wall, leaving a Yang-shaped dent in it.

    Debris and dust obscures her, and it seems she's down for the count... at least at first. The dust cloud suddenly BURSTS, and the blonde stands back up, stamping one foot down as her hair floats up in unfelt breeze. Eyes burn as red fires, flames lick from her golden locks and she roars an animalistic, primal sound of pure rage. Blood drips down from a cut in her hairline, more cuts can be seen along her torso, arms and legs, and a flickering golden light traces over her body, showing the compromised nature of her Aura.

    Despite all this, the brawler launches herself forward into combat again, her punches even stronger than before, the blasts larger, causing the deck beneath the Jackal to buckle with each strike.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
"Whoa!" Josuke notes the weird warping of space going on. But there's platforms he can get to, so he utilizes those; hopefully that means he can get above the Jackal. Or, well. Into a place where he can get some cover, anyway. This is damn handy, because he dodges a blast that's aimed at him!

However, suddenly he hears Yang over the radio -- sounds like she's been hit! "Yang!" He calls through the radio. "Hang on, I'll come help!" He looks up, to see where she went. He winces at the impact, but before he can get to her, Yang seems back in the fight. And only MORE ticked now!

He tries to move around so that he can pincer the Jackal with Yang's attack. And then Crazy Diamond flings Josuke towards the Jackal. Hopefully there's a platform near enough, but if not, Josuke will just cling to the Jackal while re-summoning Crazy Diamond for a super-speed pummelling. With any luck, from the opposite side as Yang's beatdown.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
The Labyrinth is a terrifying thing only when it isn't understood. A maze whose solution is known is impossible to lose oneself in, after all. The minotaur casts the enormous machine a baleful gaze as it stirs and retaliates, unleashing a barrage of brilliant, blue energy. He moves, hunching his shoulders to dip behind a wall and down a nearby corridor. A missile collides with the maze wall behind him, erupting in a bright, blue plume of superheated gas. More chase after, guided by whatever strange and arcane technology powers the Jackal's FCS.

They give chase. The minotaur runs. He runs, and runs, and runs, diving through corridor after corridor and taking turn after turn until finally he erupts from within the cage of walls and emerges...

Immediately on top of the whirring, screeching machine.

The minotaur lands next to and underneath the Corpus proxy as its missiles chase after.

...And might just end up smashing right into the machine's back right as the minotaur directs his full, monstrous strength upwards and into its underbelly. Twin axes, forged in the age when gods walked amongst men, scissor upwards with steel-shattering might...!

Staren has posed:
    And now, a maze! Staren will need to be careful with his aim to fire through it... so when Kushiko takes care of that, he quips back, <"No problem, you can make sure my attacks hit all you want!"> It's not as crippled as he'd have hoped from the initial volley, though. Hmmm...

    While he considers this, destruction rains from the heavens! Staren looks up and tries to dodge, but he isn't expecting blue bolts of energy to be /plasma grenades/! Fortunately, his own forcefield is pretty good at dealing with energy attacks. Not enough that he can just tank instead of dodge, but getting caught in some of the blasts isn't as bad as having his field ripped to shreds by the machinegun would have been. It's kind of refreshing to see the energy-optimized quirk be useful for once -- it seems like he always gets targeted with machineguns.

    Anyway. Just blasting it with explosions is problematic as people fight it in melee. But he DOESN'T want to get in melee himself, in case one of those legs sprouts pincers or something. To that end, once the plasma barrage is over, he tries to find a spot atop the maze walls to snipe from, and just starts repeatedly shooting his laser rifle at one of the legs, hoping that the light, amplified by stimulated emission of radiation, dumping megajoules of energy into the Jackal will eventually add up to enough damage to cripple it. Surely the Jackal can't withstand their combined assault for long, he thinks, right?

Kushiko has posed:
Many, many insane, differing things seem to happen, all at once and yet one thing after another. Mag herself is struck, but only once, the Warframe rolling to one side, and focusing herself on making sure what plasma grenades /didn't/ hit couldn't hit or pummel others further--like Amelia, a sweeping motion and she pulls them out of their arc, preventing further calamity.

One strategem has definitely came into being rather quickly: pummel one leg, let others pummel the main body silly. And while the Jackal was able to at least get one person off, it's not really able to do the same when it comes to Josuke and now /Asterios/ bringing themselves to bear.

With every hit layed into it, be they from fists, from axes, from Semblance fueled rampages, shards of metal, alloys rent, fieldron energy reserves ruptured feeding... something. Something that becomes obvious as those pieces, those shards, that shrapnel starts flying in guided, high-speed arcs--though it's hard to /see/ it sometimes--just blazing, lilactinted streaks of energy, as thin as threads, as thick as cords, becoming a magnetic storm that starts to eat and help magnify everything her comrades are doing.

Amelia is nearby--a target, a threat, that in the Jackal's disjointed-from-assault priority systems, that's perfect to be slammed into, having since eluded plasma rampage. But it never gets that chance.

Because that leg is ripped clean off. And it's not the only one.

The electromagnetic force is the kind that, even though it will not bring harm to others, is something that can be palpably felt down to the bones, yet in a way to /brace/ everyone yet still standing. Energy is sapped from remainder systems throughout the ship, wreathing around herself, then around Yang, around Josuke, around Asterios, around Ameliagami, around Staren. It's puzzlingly invigorating. It interacts in ways it shouldn't, like with Yang's Aura. It feels like a kind of magic, a prana. It has to be energy, or so Staren's sensors might tell him. It's all these things. It's none of them at once. It's the will of the Guardian that Mag truly epitomizes.

Crossing her limbs in front, she makes a gesture like both ripping and grabbing. The other limbs--they don't yet quite buckle and fall from it, but choicely placed fists make it happen. An axeblow sunders it the rest of the way. Armoring and shielding alike is horrendously rent from it as it struggles to make one last plasma cluster launch.

Something cut short by one of Staren's targeted blasts from his rifle. The site of the rear launcher ruptures, smashed into hundreds of tiny shards that become part of the electromagnetic storm that once was, pieces being used to hammer and slice and disrupt shields.

One last blow, and the 'face' of the Jackal is practically sundered, smashed inward and the whole thing simply collapses, Crazy Diamond leaving an absolutely /ruined/ main body in his wake--but it's right around the midsection as the security proxy starts to crumble that he'll be the closest one to see--the Fragment, as it were. It starts to coalesce, no longer /part/ of the quadrapedal thing, seemingly drawn like an essence, akin to a soul, and yet not.

Staren has posed:
    And it's down. Staren gives a curious look at how the Fragment coalesces like a videogame drop, or a soul from Priscilla's world, but there's no time to analyze it now. The heat is coming. Staren only spares time for a quick look at the Jackal -- if a part looks valuable and small enough to get into his bag, he'll take it, and likewise if some material looks potentially valuable, like the armor, he'll strip some with the matter manipulator. But they probably can't tarry. Once others are ready to go, he goes with them. Since their exit path is different, that corpus from early won't get revived... oh well. Lotus says he probably knew nothing of value anyway.

    Any forces they encounter on the way out face the same tactics as on the way in, of course.

Yang Xiao Long has posed:
    Yang keeps punching, her eyes burning red. She doesn't stop, even as the machine faulters, as it's torn apart by the sheer force applied to it from herself, and the others. Even once it's destroyed, the blonde keeps punching at one piece of it, denting and buckling it further.

    Knuckles bleed, Ember Celica clicks as its ammo runs dry, and then begins to dent and warp from the furious power being forced through it... and then, like a storm passing, it ends.

    Yang's eyes fade back from red, to lilac, her hair extinguishes itself, and the blonde just keels forward mid-swing, thudding unconscious to the deck, a bloody, exhausted heap.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
The Jackal falls, coming apart into so much twisted metal and useless scrap. There's not much left of the Corpus proxy that can be called salvagable. Well. Mostly. The glimmering, flashing Cephalon Fragment materializes not long after the Jackal collapses. Asterios stares into the pretty, blue light...

...But then finds himself distracted. His rage abates entirely as he goes and spots something /else/ shiny among the robot's remains. It's... It's...!!

"I found--" Asterios holds aloft what looks like a little bronze oval. "POTATO!"

It's... An Orokin Cell?

Beat.

"Aa! Gold Friend!" Asterios gawps, stomping over towards where Yang collapsed. "Hold on! We will go soon!"

And so, with delicious techno-organic super-energy potato in one hand and unconscious Yang in another, Asterios begins moving towards extraction. No friend left behind!

...

...

Meanwhile, Joe Prodman continues to have a Very Bad Day.

He's probably getting fired for this, isn't he?

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
That's a weird sensation, Mag's abilities somehow invigorating him. Strengthening Josuke means strengthening Crazy Diamond, since his Stand is part of himself. Which means, if there's anything left of the Jackal after that, the pummeling is only going to get worse!

Finally, though, the thing gives up the ghost. Which turns out to be rather literal, doesn't it? Since it's carrying a piece of the thing they're trying to reassemble. "Aa! <Great> job!" This is to everyone, once the Jackal produces the Fragment. And once it's all scanned in and there's an extraction point marked, Josuke starts towards it. Though not before he makes certain Yang's taken care of. She is -- Asterios seems to have her -- so he just heads for the exit.

Kushiko has posed:
Once again, it is a fairly swift process--far faster than it has a right to be as she gestures, fingers outstretched, little hardlight interface, resembling some vague asterisk-type thing. She scans it, synthesizes the data within so as to be something to drawn from her proverbial 'hammerspace', as the crude term would be used. She might say foldspace or something else.

Either way, it doesn't matter--what matters is getting the drops, some Fieldron Samples, some other salvagable bits, credits and the like, and booking it out of there, though with making sure people like Yang and Josuke are doing fine, since to her estimate, she /knows/ Yang took a hit, and well, Josuke? Josuke who has done exceptionally well is still someone she's been trying to make sure hasn't been subjected to too much crazy.

It's a relief to see him standing, and after making sure Yang's only exhausted but not /too/ critically harmed, they can all start moving--in theory. The mention of an Orokin Cell draws her attention--and coupled with what Asterios /also/ recovered... this is going to be a recipe for disaster. Or amazingness. Time will tell.

However, once the group finally assembles and disembarks via a handy ship at the end--the same one they came aboard in, which used another 'insertion probe' to clamp onto the ship, the Tenno would become... alerted, plainly put. <"The fragments, they're becoming active!"> And so they do, with the voice of Ordis as before. Much the same story as it was before they left. But... perhaps more troubling.

                             "What is a Cephalon?"                              

"At first it seems to be a forbidden thing, a computer that thinks and feels. Yet I have flaws, phantom memories, I am something else."

                "More like an image, a ghost... an abomination."                

The disturbing words continue. "I feel a dull pain; a phantom life... there are holes in my diagnostics. If the Orokin made me... they omitted the 'how'. I am neither code, nor precepts... I must be a reflection of something... /ugly/."

His voice drops to a whisper. It's painfully obvious now, that his voice, his speech--if an AI he truly is, is nothing synthetic anymore. "I should have stopped. But the Operator slept and I cycled on and on and on. I began to think that a Cephalon cannot be made. They are found, like pearls, torn from muscle."

                      "Polished, and then set in chains."                      

... well. That's... troubling, to put it gently. Kushiko does not speak--aboard the ship, she merely stares at the cube and cubes and shimmering blue light. Sinewaves pulsing. Like she were holding something very much alive, yet only the pieces of a fractured thing.

Josuke Higashikata (1119) has posed:
Not to worry, Josuke seems fine. In fact, he's concerned with the others. He'll probably end up towards the back of the group on their way out to make sure nobody gets left behind. Once they're safely back on the ship, the helmet of the Corpus suit comes off -- and he's going to fix his hair. Because of course he is. In fact, he's in the process of doing this when Kushiko gives the headsup about the Fragments activating!

And he watches and listens to the voice. No, that's no machine. One can hear the disturbed note in the voice, the pain... the shame. Josuke waits until the Fragment stops speaking and then speaks up himself. "...I can't imagine what that's like. To end up doubting EVERYTHING about the simple fact that you 'exist'..."

Kushiko has posed:
Eventually she breaks her own silence, the cyclopean 'eye' fixated on the cubes before dismissing them, returning the fragments of discarded memory now found again to her foldspace. <"I wonder... if it's because, as he says, he wasn't made. He was something else, then he was a Cephalon."> A faint noise. <"I think I'm the Operator he speaks of, but I don't know. I slept. For centuries, I slept. Cryo, after we killed the Orokin.">

Another, pregnant pause. Yes, she killed their masters. She doesn't know how that may sit with Asterios, for instance. <"We... I... We... dreamed. We awakened, yet we still dreamed. We built places, secret places, to hone our skill. Before the unification. Before we were pulled from our second dream."> She seems to trail off. <"I need to investigate this more."> she concludes at last. There's something deeply wrong--not just with Ordis, but the Tenno before the group.