5740/MDCC: Orderly Onyx

MDCC: Orderly Onyx
Date of Scene:	16 March 2018
Location:	The System
Synopsis:	Enter the Onyx Drive and assist the local DCC against the viral monster Omega Panzer. Meet Struo, Conati, and the city of Vector
Cast of Characters:	Lexicon, 1149, Silica, 6258, Arthur Lowell, 1137, Deelel

---

Lexicon has posed:
    Vector, the Onyx City of Designs. A city composed of a massive incustrial complex centered around an ostentatious wing-decorated Cathoderal. Metal, glass, pipes, and machinery... in the main assembly complex. The Skyride platform carrying those who had arrived for yesterday's tour lowers its altitude, passing over a dividing wall. Immediately, the steel and glass gives way to brickwork, shale roof tiles, and brass pipes that occasionally leak steam from joints in the tarnished pipeworks. Lowering again, the SkyRide pulls up next to what looks like a loading platform, and it's here that both Struo and Conati disembark.

    Immediately, the younger of the two turns, producing a long-barrel rifle in a flicker of white-tinted pixels. This is lifted and she peers through the scope, at a second platform on the opposite side of the street. After a moment, she lowers it, "Ah, cool. Kei already dropped it off." She nods once, directing attention to that same opposing platform and the long crate resting there, amidst obviously broken machinery set aside for scrapping.

    "It's a stakeout," Struo states plainly, folding her arms, "So all we have to do is wait for the virus to fall into our trap."

    --So all we have to do is wait for the virus to fall into our trap.--

    Some distance away, a processing drone turns around, still carrying its cargo of a worn out fabrication arm. Its single red optic narrows, zooming in on the DCC's face, then swinging aside to the Candidate. Zooming out, it produces a panorama of the entire party of would-be virus hunters, emitting a clicking noise. After a moment, the drone's camera swings over and zooms in again. An outline forms around the discarded crate, the HUD filling with various data points.

    After a moment, the drone shifts its cargo, discarding it into the payload of one of its comrades.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty steps off the Skyride platform alongside Struo and Conati. Following the latter's line of sight, he can see the crate in the distance. Judging by her words it's apparently the special tech that is being used as the bait. Very well. Now they just have to play the waiting game. Thankfully, Krusty can be a patient man.

    Waiting...

    Waiting... ...

    Waiting... ... ...

    Krusty just look so cool, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes closed and a bit of a smirk on his face as his long coat gently sways in the wind. Soon.

Silica has posed:
    Keiko dismounts the Skyride gingerly, then nods to Struo's assessment. "Yeah, but if this thing is as old and smart as you say... we might be walking into a trap too." she remarks, fitting a little device over her eye, then clicking her tongue to cause Pina to lift up off her shoulder. She then speaks two words imperiously. "LINK. START!"

    Keiko's body is engulfed in a wireframe that emerges from the Augma, filling in quickly with textures in a two-part wave, traveling all the way over her body until she's fully covered.

    The transformation completes with the, now a little shorter and younger looking, girl, standing with a pair of cat ears twitch to sounds, and a cat tail flicks from side to side in anticipation. She makes a gesture with her left hand, pulling something down, then tapping at invisible buttons. A few taps later, and three other pets appear to join Pina. A slender winged serpent, a stocky FrostBoar, and a stoic Hawkbat. She busies herself playing with them.

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    As he had missed yesterday's tour, and only just arrived to meet the others by Syndicate request, Lemeza takes this moment of calm to properly survey the area. He quickly scribbles notes in a notebook as he does so, taking extra care to sketch the processing drone when it turns toward the party. Once he's satisfied with his initial survey, he closes his notebook, pockets it, and starts rummaging around in his backpack for his laptop.

    He flips it open and starts clicking around, opening a couple programs in preparation for the upcoming battle. Satisfied, and setting his pack down with the laptop on top, he then breaks out a thermos of curry and starts shaking it vigorously. "All right. I've got a lot of questions, but the most pertinent right now is, what is this virus capable of against beings who aren't programs?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur is good at waiting. It helps that he actually keeps a small TV and an aged, still-functioning GameCube in that Sylladex of his. So when they set up to stakeout, it's not like they need another pair of eyes or anything, he just dumps his TV down and plays some Smash Bros. This required picking a number of Leaves off of his Tree Modus, which means a bunch of other crap is sitting around here on the loading platform too now, but hey! It passes the time.

    Arthur has carefully calculated his forced grin to gleam from as many angles as possible. When the processing drone gets its panoramic view of him, his teeth shine brightly, the kind of anime gleam that goes along the whole length and ends with a tiny "ting". Aside that, though, he seems utterly oblivious to the thing. He's definitely got his ears out for when someone calls out the alert about the odd drone and its notable fascination with the prototype.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
The trap is set. The heroes wait in ambush. Patiently, they stand in silent vigil until their prey is in position.

But where... is the bull of the labyrinth...?

Well, actually, he's pretty good at this whole ambush predator thing. It was, in fact, his schtick back in the days where all he'd do is wander an endless maze eating whatever he could find. It turns out that living underground for hundreds of years with nothing to do teaches you, among other things, how to be very, very patient.

And so... The minotaur is actually not visible, at the moment. He's hiding! Kind of. How do you hide a giant bull man?

Uh.

Carefully...?

Deelel has posed:
They were on the hunt now, Deelel was Keen to do this and do this by the numbers so to speak. Well it was more of a stakeout to use the term? She had no real sign of trouble with this. She may just join Arthur in playing smashbrows while they wait. Also trying to not think she might be using a system where there were beings like her connected to it. She looks over ot Krusty for a moment after Arthur does terrible things to her in the game.

"You want a go?"

Lexicon has posed:
    Waiting again. Conati lowers her rifle, dismissing it back to her inventory in a flare of pixels. Since it's become time to wait again, she pulls up her phone again, though she glances up. A perplexed look crosses her face, however, when she realizes that the largest and most conspicuous member of the group is mysteriously absent. She eventually surrenders, going back to the game she was playing on the System Bus platform when everyone started arriving.

    Struo takes note of Krusty's patience, folding her arms with her eyes closed. Silica's comment gets a nod or two, "Yes, I've actually accounted for that. At least, I think so. Dealing with something this crafty is always going to be tricky..." A faint wirring gets her attention, and with a 'hm?' she opens her eyes again. A salvage drone, about knee high to most people here, scuttles along on a single wheel. Reaching a worn down assembler unit, it extends manipulators and lifts the machine, then turns and departs from whence it came. Struo smirks lightly, glancing up at the crate on the far platform, which other drones are starting to work on.

    "He's got a time limit. The robots will eventually pick up what he wants and run it to the recycler, so he'll have to show up or he'll lose it." Glancing back towards Silica, Struo just looks for several seconds after the digital avatar has taken the girl's place. A hand lifts from its folded position to cradle her chin in thought. Eventually, she speaks up, "It's a nice look, actually. I'm not sold on the hairstyle you go with, but that's a personal taste thing." Leaning forward, she inquires, "It's not Digital Divinity, though. What's the mechanic you're using?"

    "Here we go," Conati states, not looking up from her phone. The comment pulls a briefly flustered/furious look from the elder DCC. A moment later, Struo just closes her eyes with a 'hnf'. An angle that puts her facing the right direction to identify a newcomer. Blinking, the resident Drive Core Controller lifts the hand from her chin in a casual wave in Lemeza's direction, beckoning him up to the loading dock platform.

    "Sorry, I didn't notice you. Have you come to help out?" Her hands shift, one resting on her hip while the other gestures, "It'll probably be driving a vehicle. Like a tank or a robot. So, I guess whatever lasers and missiles do to non-programs."

    Across the way, the processor drones set about their rasks, collecting broken and disrepaired appliances, machinery, and other old and sparking equipment. One, however, climbs up on top of the crate containing the prototype cannon, moving back and forth as if gauging the dimensions. Eventually, it stops and turns to ascertain its observers, then hops down and scuttles out of sight-- without any cargo.

Silica has posed:
    "It's not, no. This is. Well, it's hard to explain. I used to log into a VRMMO game and 'walk out' of the game... but not the whole world is a hybrid VRMMO. A bunch of the best VR players got a thing called an Augma... it lets us 'log in' to our avatars." replies Silica, looking over at Struo. "This avatar is kind of a legacy from the first MMO... when I was like, thirteen." she then earperks over to Conati, then turns magenta eyes to the other platform, seeing the drone acting weird. "So, it's using one of your scrap drones as a shell right now?"

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty casually dismisses the offer from Deelel with a wave of his hand, "I'm fine." Lately he's found his whole life to be a game, which makes actual video games not as appealing. Besides, he's concentrating.

    At Silica's question about the virus and the drone he lectures, "When trying to catch a fish, one needs to be patient. A few small fry might nibble on the bait so you don't want to reel in too early, otherwise you'll end up with nothing. The time to strike is when there's a proper bite." Naturally the drones would continue about their business regardless of the operation occuring. And that probably includes preparing the prototype for destruction.

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Lemeza nods in affirmation at Struo. "I have indeed. I'm answering a request that Profound Badness sent out, actually. Once we're done dispatching this problem, I'd like to look around a bit more and get a feel for how a realm like this works." He then opens up his curry thermos and proceeds to start drinking up, not bothering with the usual bowl and spoon method. "That said," he directs this next part toward Krusty, "we're waiting for a red glowy thing on a tank. Right? So when we catch Big Red, we reel in." He smiles and lets out a rather contented sigh, glad to be on the setting side of a trap for once.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel keeps smiling though. "All right, Krusty." She is not quire aware of Krusty's situation as she turns back to the game. Then again when it comes to the digital? She's from a layer ort two deeper into the whole game thing. It seems soon it will be go time.

"What's the human saying? Get them hook line and sinker?"

She notes as she keeps playing for the moment.

"So like a Tojan then, Silica?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "YO HOMIE!" Arthur calls out, to Lemeza! He's got a sort of 'quiet loudness', in the sense that even while trying to avoid drawing attention, he sort of gets emphatic anyway. "PROFOUNDBADNESS up in this motherfucker. How's those HAPS? When it comes to VIRUSES, think of this BIZ being kinda like what a SWORD can do to someone who's NOT A SWORDFIGHTER. I mean, you know, you got that HARDCORE PURPOSE-DRIVEN DESIGN, for real dog, but there's still PLENTY of CROSSOVER, you dig?" He looks like the kind of guy who can dig that. Arthur rolls backwards off of the crate he's sitting on, pausing the game as he does, and sort of stylishly flips around to greet Lemeza. "Call me ARTHUR though! Great meetin' ya." He says, immediately attempting to assault Lemeza's hand with a series of pounds, bumps, low-fives, finger-wiggly motions, slides, grabs, twists, turns, and other maneuvers of the classic art of Coolkid Handshakes in a cool greeting.

    "Yeah, SHORT STUFF there pro'lly got a GOOD EYE on this, what do you think?" He says to the group in general after Silica makes her observation, amid the handshake, looking as casual as he can in case another drone is watching. "Think we're pro'lly about to get some CRAZY NOISE up in this soon. LOCK IT, STOCK IT, and get ready to ROCK IT, yo." His eyes are lighting up with eagerness about a potential upcoming fight...

Asterios (1137) has posed:
MEANWHILE, ASTERIOS IS...

...Still being patient, quiet and observant. Wherever it is he's hiding.

He's certainly... not visible at the moment, though. Hm. Weird.

Lexicon has posed:
    Struo returns her attention to Silica, returning to cradling her chin as she hears out the explanation. She lets out an appraising noise, "Very interesting. So one could say you effectively are both a digital and organic being, at this point?" With a nod, she adds, "You fit in, that's for certain." When the drones are brought up, though, and Krusty relates it to fishing-- Struo hears none of that explanation. Instead, she's whirling around to stare at the platform, "What, no way! Impossible! The possibility of anyone-- virus or not-- cracking my encryption is about as likely as getting hit by a person falling from the sky!"

    Self-consciously, she glances up, then straightens her posture while returning her attention to the equipment, "I'm suddenly not comfortable with this plan--"

    "Oh, you probably shouldn't be," a synthesized voice responds, in a rather posh accent. Struo shoots a look aside and down, fixating on one of the salvage drones. Conati likewise glances up, pausing her game and just staring at the knee-high robot as it moves both manipulator arms behind itself, "In fact, your level of comfort should be at its absolute minimum." The single red optical lens narrows, zooming in on the DCC's face, "Much like your security measures, my dear." An arm is lifted in a gesture, "Now, if you don't mind--"

    A gunshot rings out, and the drone shatters into dozens of sparking bits. Conati lowers her rifle, though jumps when the voice picks up again.

    "That was rather rude," a second drone comments in the same voice, spinning in place, "So if you don't mind, I'll take what is mine and be off."

    The far platform's shutter door reels up, in immediate response. With heavy steps, a six-legged walking vehicle steps out. It's unpainted--and as a result, the multiple sources of the tank's various parts and armor can be made out. A hodgepodge of objects and items arranged into the unmistakable shape of a spider tank the size of a pickup truck. As it approaches the weapon crate, the front two limbs lift up and unfurl into clawed manipulators.

    Of a more immediate concern is the salvage drones. Because it seems as if every single one in the area is in league with the virus-- Presumably, Omega Panzer. And, once the spider tank itself appears, the salvage drones go on the attack with cutting torches.

    "--Crap..!" Struo produces a rapier from her inventory, in a flare of pixels. She uses this to deflect a drone leaping for her face, and as she pushes it away, that familiar white light surrounds her, "This isn't a trojan..!" Her voice changes mid-statement, as Onyx Soul's far heavier blade turns a pushing deflection into cleaving the small robot entirely in half, "--It's decompiled once I get my hands on it!"

    Conati can't help but laugh, a wry laugh as she lifts her weapon, "Didn't expect him to take them all over to hide his presence." Glancing aside, to Lemeza, she adds, "You can stick around as much as you want, but Arthur's right-- we've got a priority right now!"

Asterios (1137) has posed:
And suddenly, there's a pair of enormous hands wrapping around steel limbs controlling the manipulators.

A muscle-bound figure emerges from the weapons crate. No, not 'emerges.' It literally phases through the material concealing the cannon from view. A great mane of white hair billows in the wind over a pair of jet black, crimson-beaded eyes.

Asterios the Minotaur, hidden carefully... In the one place nobody would ever think to look for him.

"Got..." His lips split in what is quite possibly the most unsettling grin this side of the Njorun ruins. His hands squeeze tight, the minotaur's incredible strength being brought to bear to turn the machine's arms into lengths of scrap metal. "...you!"

Well!

THAT SURE EXPLAINS WHERE HE WAS THIS WHOLE TIME.

Silica has posed:
    Silica's ears flick around to the hacked drone, then her eyes shift to lock onto the opposite platform. "GO TIME! Watch the boss pattern and keep safe!" she says, more out of reflex than anything. She draws her dagger, lifting her hands and begins speaking those words of power Krusty probably will recognize by now. "Oss Sér Ulma Eimi Lind Og Sveró!" a cylindrical formation of interlocked blue hexagons appearing around everyone. (Even Asterios as he appears, the effect delaying so as not to give him away too soon), she then clicks her tongue, causing her pets to spread out and engage the drones to keep everyone else clear so they can attack. "I'll handle support. Hit that thing and hit it hard!" she calls, tail poofing out in aggitation.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    It's when the voice comes from a nearby drone that Krusty's small smirk grows in size. He casually straightens, unfolding his arms as he begins to saunter forward. He doesn't seem to be paying attention to the virus's monaloguing as his finger makes several swipes. A light briefly glows around him, his massive armour suddenly manifesting, cloak billowing out behind him as it does.

    There's a glint in Krusty's eyes beneath his glasses as the main body of the virus, the spider tank, reveals itself, "There's the big catch." Krusty moves a finger to push his glasses up his nose, just at the moment that their Minotaur ally reveals himself and restrains the virus.

    As a drone leaps towards Krusty to try and torch him, he swings his arm towards it, using his large gauntlet to knock it a away. Shortly after he swipes his finger a few more times, his large axe manifesting in the air in front of him. After appearing, it falls down from its own weight, blade shallowly embedding in the ground.

    Krusty dashes forward, hand reaching out to grab hold of the two-handed weapon's grip. Shifting it into both hands Krusty leaps, swinging the large weapon up over his head and then down towards the ground with a cry. The curved axe blade glows as it strikes and fissures begin to open up, moving forward into the group of drones in the direction of their boss, unleashing upward torrents of magical skill energy on any drones in the way. Krusty is apparently trying to clear a path, which he begins to run through.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks to Lemenza and dose not recall runing into them before the game time is just about over at this point. She gives up on the game for now as it could be getting closer to time for them to act and it seems h3er hunch was right.

"Any code can be cracked, it's a matter of time effort and processing power."

The gun shot rings out as the drone gets shot and it seems they found their target with that Deelel is moving to get into action.

"Thank you kindly SIlicia."

She is thankful for the buff and she summons her own keyblade.

"If that is the case I'll go on the attack."

With that Deleel is sprinting after the target with a good deal of inhuman speed. After all it's as Silica said, it's GO TIME!

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    "Good to meet you, Arth--" The Panzer's arrival cuts Lemeza off, and he responds by... hastily typing a few words on his laptop? Does he realize this is a fight going on? The answer shortly reveals itself to be yes, as a brief flash of light engulfs Arthur, then the other allies, who would feel a general sense of being able to hit harder and take more of a beating in return. After this, Lemeza draws his pistol and starts sizing up the main tank, primarily just looking for a weak point for now. He remains near his laptop for the time being, pistol-whipping any drones who get near him.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "Hell yeah you're 'bout to TAKE WHAT'S YOURS!" Arthur calls out to Panzer, immediately LEAPING off of the loading platform and into the air. A heavy black steel broom, bristling with strange industrial additions, flickers into his hand, and he mounts it, blasting off with a rocket-boost, shouting. "I got a BEATING here with YOUR NAME ON IT, MOTHERFUCKERRRRR!! COME TAAAAAKE IIIIIIIIT!!!" He surges head-on through any of those drones, taking the burns directly into his body and suffers a harsh -- though thankfully less harsh than it could be, thanks to Lemeza -- crimson drop on his visible Health Vial bar... Until thankfully a +BARRIER pops up on him, and the Health Vial is braced with an extra blue HP bar! He drops in close behind Krusty, and begins condensing the amplifications he's gathered from Lemeza Kosugi with his own heavy magical power.

    "BRING IT HOME, DOG!" He calls out to Krusty. "FUCK 'EM UP and KEEP 'EM OFF!" And as Asterios holds the thing in place -- or so Arthur hopes -- the small mage actually winds up /leaping/ onto Krusty's larger armor, bracing his broomstick over one shoulder to steady his aim, and then blasting an absolutely massive artillery strike of raw fusion energy and dangerous gravitational tearing directly at Omega Panzer's midsection, hoping that Asterios holding it still will make it have to take the huge column of flickering black and white energy head-on, and stun it long enough that Krusty and Deelel can finish closing in!

Lexicon has posed:
    The drones were mostly a distraction, and those which go on the attack are swiftly dealt with in preparation for the main event. A main event that is currently grappling with an enormous bull-man over a box that /might/ have a gun inside. With its manipulators pinned, Omega Panzer leans back on its four legs, a single red optic on the forward body section fixated on him, "Well. What a surprise this has become." Metal groans under the strain, one of the arms buckling. There's a rattling burst of explosive bolts, however, as both arms cut loose at the elbow, leaving Asterios with no Panzer to assert his strength against.

    No longer held at arm's length, due to not having them, the tank digs its feet in and hurls itself forward, towards the Minotaur's midsection. Not necessarily intended to harm him, but more intended to knock him off the loading dock. When Arthur's spell goes off, Omega Panzer actually lets out a grunt of surprise, a tense, "Ghh..!" as armor strains and joints buckle. Magic erupts from below when the tank drops to its 'knees', and it promptly scoots back until it slams into the factory wall. Brickwork gives way, but not enough for the tank to break through.

    The stubby half-arms straighten, slotting small-caliber weapons in place of the discarded manipulators. Machine guns are raised, opening fire on the closer Knight and Minotaur. It takes a moment for the tank to actually move, though, its eye turning from red to blue as it unfolds its legs and stands up, maneuvering away from the building with slow steps. Similar guns unfold from panels along the tank's back, flanking the round dome that would be its turret. These swing around, opening fire on the support team as well as the charging Deelel.

    "Damn..!" Onyx Soul darts aside, slamming her enormous sword into the platform between Omega Panzer and Lemeza to act as a bullet shield. Glancing over her shoulder, the DCC barks, "If you intend to do something, do it! Otherwise, find cover!"

    Conati, meanwhile, has already done so-- her back pressing up against a discarded cargo container as Silica's spell enhances her defense. She calls out, "Thanks!" before glancing out of her cover, "It bears a superficial resemblance to one of the older Mk.4 Autonamous Sentry Vehicles... If it's really based on one, than it has multi-target tracking and engagement options." Ducking back when bullets strike near her cover, she adds, "The dome on top is the turret, but it has nothing mounted. Probably meant to take my prototype. Heh..! That means it has no heavy striking power, just suppression and anti-infantry." Lifting her rifle, she dismisses it, only to replace it with a new, fancier sci-fi cannon. When she racks the slide, it hums to life, and she glances back out from her cover, "If I can get a good shot..!"

Silica has posed:
    Silica dives for cover behind a crate when the drones are dealt with, and bullets start to whizz past her. A few find purchase, punching through the fantasy armour and leaving little red spiderwebs of damage decals in their wake. They don't actually punch through the girl, but the impact will likely leave some nasty wealts and bruises. She clicks her tongue, and gives a whistle to her pets, making them scatter from the incoming anti-infantry fire. "In case you hadn't noticed, a lot of us /are/ infantry!" she calls over to Conati, then trills sharply, making Nana scamper over and hunker down, erecting an 'ice wall'.

    Silica steps out behind the wall, holding her arms up and incanting another spell. "Ek skyt tuttugu smár striõa!" the final word acting as a 'stop' command for the FrostBoar. The ice shield shatters, allowing a fusillade of yellow 'Wind Spikes' through the air, aimed to strafe along the closest side of that bubble turret, trying to disable some of the machinegun emplacements.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty is only briefly surprised by suddenly finding himself being used as a platform from which Arthur can launch his assault. Thankfully though his Adventurer strength allows him to handle the weight. He continues his charge towards the spider tank, large axe occasionally swinging out to meet any drones in his path, slicing them into bits.

    But even in his charge, Krusty does not ignore the goings on of the entire battle and his allies. A couple have taken on support roles it seems, Krusty feeling his abilities boosted. Others, like him, are moving to assault. In particular though, it seems Conati requires some assistance lining up a shot. So Krusty calls out to the others that are also charging the spider tank, plus the Minotaur that's already there, "Go for the legs! We need to reduce its mobility."

    It's at that moment that Krusty finds himself under fire. Raising his left arm to cover his head, he continues to charge through the hail of bullets. The sound of them pounding his armour is loud and while they don't penetrate, the sheer number of rounds from the machine guns are whittling away at his HP. But for the moment, he can take it.

    As Krusty finally reaches the virus he moves his arm back to hold his axe with both hands. Unleashing another battlecry he swings the large weapon towards one of the spider tank's legs. Krusty doesn't imagine the tank's armour is light so that the blade will go right through. But as long as he persists with future strikes, he should be able to break its defense.

Deelel has posed:
The Big guy has grabbed the target, while Arthur us moving Deelel is following suit, the basic bobs abnd wave as she closes in with her keyblad out now as she makes fo the target but then comes the guns, Deelel casts a spell of her oen causign herself to overclock a bit and speed up. Then as that happens she throws her Keyblade like a boomerange for one of the guns hoping to damage or distract it.

"Let's see if you got game virus!"

Then there's Krusty who is rapidly proving himself to be someone trusts in combat she calls out.

"Better hope this tank isn't set read only! Or we'll have a glich of a problem."

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Once the machine guns come out and Onyx Soul starts barking orders, Lemeza decides it's better to be a moving target. With the drones dealt with, he can focus on the machine guns bearing down on him - and although most of those bullets miss him, one of them catches his right shoulder, causing him to wince but not significantly reducing his effectiveness. Regardless, he doesn't seek cover immediately, rather choosing to fire several shots of his own at the Panzer's guns in an attempt to disable them quickly.    After firing his volley, Lemeza finally dives behind some cover, taking a few shots to the legs as he does so. This injury is a bit more potent, as this time the attack draws blood, and it's starting to affect his mobility. The adrenaline of the fight blunts the pain for the time being, at least.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
So it turns out that robots don't actually need their limbs. Not properly, anyway. The drone-tank pops its emergency explosive bolts, causing Asterios to issue a short, surprised grunt. But where other warriors would have been briefly gripped by the sudden change in battle parameters and confronted with a momentary crisis of choice, Asterios... Is, at his core, a very simple creature. He does not hesitate but for a split second, which ultimately saves him from being flung off the docks. Instead, he drops low and immediately charges into the battle tank.

This leads to two unforeseen circumstances. The first is that he charges straight through Arthur's spell and ends up covered in gravitational torsion bruises and plasma burns as a result. The second is that, when the machine retreats, Asterios is allowed to pick up momentum.

This is bad.

For it.

Small arms fire tears into the minotaur's exposed flesh, heavy metal slugs digging bloody holes in his massive body. And yet, it seems that his endurance isn't just for show-- he plows on through. Bullet after bullet smashes into him, and yet...

The minotaur reaches its target. With a deafening roar, he leaps and goes to... Grab hold of the tank by its chassis.

And then, using a conveniently placed warehouse rooftop (that will need replacing from having a minotaur dragged across it), decides that the best way to immobilize this thing is to... Leap into the air, flip it around and suplex it into the ground.

Or, you know, try to.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur can only BARELY evade the gunfire being laid down at Krusty, who is one hell of a beefier tank than Arthur is. He catches stray gunfire over one shoulder as he leaps up and above, slipping deftly around Silica's windspikes in a way that's designed to make sure he maximizes their effect on any weapons tracking him, trying to use that multi-enemy tracking against it! Krusty is going for a leg, Silica, Lemeza, and Deelel going for guns, Asterios going for... A suplex?

    Oh hell yes. Arthur halts hard in the air, going motionless. And then both arms lash out hard, as if grasping something massive. In the air far above, a shining green spirograph builds up as the suplex reaches the top of its arc... And then it sets, flickering green and white rapidly. The gravity in the area just around the huge tank increases, MASSIVELY, into an unspeakably intense crushing force designed to not only enhance the heavy suplex, but pin the tank itself... Though everyone around it will have to work a fair bit harder to stand.

    "HaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA...!!" Arthur's shouting rises into a pitched battle-cry. "SIIIIIIT DOOOOOOOWWWWWWN!!!" And the force multiplies, creating enough intensity to crack the ground in a perfect circle with the sheer gravitational disparity. The column of space where gravity is so intensified is marked with shuddering, flickering black energy moving transparently through the whole of it. Arthur himself remains high above... A dangerous spot if that dome turret manages to fight through the incoming DPS and lock onto him! He'll /need/ that cover!

Lexicon has posed:
    "You're right..!" Conati responds to Silica, "Sorry..!"

    Omega Panzer continues to take steady steps back, orienting its machine guns to track multiple targets at once. The main dome swivels, though displays it has no weapon mounted, and may just be used for additional target acquisition. It even turns away when Silica's wind blades slice across its side, disabling one of the dorsal guns by punching holes through the feed mechanism. Damaged code scatters from the impacts, like any Program shedding red fragments.

    With Asterios charging in, the machine guns on its arms quickly lose the ability to track, and while he wrestles the main body it's only the body-mounted dorsal guns that can even target him. While tank and minotaur struggle, Deelel's thrown keyblade smashes another cannon right off its mount, clattering to the ground, its barrel red and smoldering. Working alongside the Minotaur, Krusty's axe buckles one of the forward legs, throwing the tank off-balance, which gives Asterios the opportunity he needs to lift it right off the ground.

    "..Right..!" Conati can see where this is leading, breaking from cover and jumping off the dock. A ring of light shoots out around her feet, surrounding her in a pillar of pixellated white energy. A white-drill-haired Onyx Sister rises out of the lightshow, clad in a black bodysuit and sporting far sleeker Processors than her sister. As she ascends, Conati holds out her hand, trailing light which forms into a... well, a fork-barreled cannon overall larger than her body.

    When Lemeza start smoving, Onyx Soul nods at him, pulling her massive blade free and taking to the air on those diamond-shaped wings. His shots strike home, jamming the remaining dorsal-mounted machine cannon and preventing any further damage to Asterios, even though the arm-mounted guns are still a very real threat.

    Until Asterios slams it down on its back. And Arthur amplifies the impact with insane gravity manipulation. Legs flail, as the tank is unable to right itself under its increased weight.

    "Perfect!" Conati calls out, floating to a stop beside Arthur. The massive cannon in her hand is swung up, leaking energy from the sides like a glowing mist, and she thrusts it downward, "BRAVE CANNON!" The pent up energy is unleashed with enough force to push the floating Candidate further up, though the beam slams down into the armored underside of Omega Panzer's tank-body, over several seconds. When it finally lets up, she swings her cannon skyward, "Struo!"

    "I got it!" Onyx Soul responds immediately. The blue coloration of her sword's blade changes to a fiery orange-red, trailing embers as she ascends, glowing eyes fixated on the weakened underside of the viral tank. Bringing her blade upward, she calls out, "Don't think you can survive...!" And then she dives right into Arthur's gravity well, leading with the cleaving edge of her sword. Accelerated such, the Drive Core Controller slams into the Panzer's underside in a pillar of flames, "VOLCANO DIVE!"

    The tank promptly explodes, scattering parts in all directions. In the center of the crater created when Asterios and Arthur slammed it down, Onyx Soul rises to her feet, surrounded by the flames of her own attack.

Silica has posed:
    Silica watches the sister's combo artes attack, then lights her yellow wings, lifting up into the air to check the settling debris cloud, and the area around it. As the others start celebrating, she tries to quell it. "Don't celebrate just yet. That was just the shell. We need to take out the controller, the pilot. Confirm it's been deleted!" she says into radio, clicking her tongue afterwards to send Hibiki, Kobayashi and Pina down to search for movement.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel hear the idea about the legs even as she's coming under fire, she does get one of the cnaons though and KRusty has boughgt her time evne as the Keyblade is still in the air, Deelel slides. She pulls a hockey puck like item from somewher eon her person and twist it lobbing it for another of the legs as she moves to leap up and catch her keyblade.

then comes the fact that little bit wasn't so needed hopoe as comes the Volcano drive she gets clear as the thing explodes and that looks like it might be over, well for now.

"...over kill but then again? Only way to be sure, or was that nukes from orbit?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur's gravity crush disperses, thinning into a shimmering black line, then it fades entirely. Soon, he's floating back to the ground level, such as it is, putting his broom back into his strife deck. None of that makes any sense, so what most people see is just that the broom disappears abruptly. Then he drifts around, looking about with a glowy flashlight of starlight. "Come out come out, Panzeeeeer! I've got WHAT'S YOURS here for ya!" He says, with far more confidence than someone who's actually kinda bloodied up by stray gunshots ought to have.

    He's not expecting to find the pilot, no, but he's at least gonna have a good time hanging out with the friends after all this.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty knows gravity magic when he sees it and so he quickly jumps clear of the spider tank as Arthur uses the force (of gravity). Combined with Asterios's wrestling skills and the combo move from the Onyx duo, the spider tank is shattered, the virus defeated.

    At least, that's what appears to had happened. But Silica does raise a good point. Considering the virus was able to bypass the Struo's security... Considering that the spider tank is destroyed with no sign of its pilot in the remains. Krusty wonders if they might be seeing a case of possession, rather than hacking. Which means the virus may not have been destroyed along with the spider tank... But how do they track it?

    Krusty turns to the expert, asking of the Onyx sisters, "I assume you operate your machinery on a wireless network. Is it possible that the virus has infiltrated it?"

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Lemeza ducks fully under cover in response to the explosion. After it subsides, he peeks out to see a blasted pile of scrap that vaguely resembles the robot everyone was fighting. He gets up, and is about to begin the celebratory getting-to-know-everyone-else-/properly/ when Silica shouts about the pilot. Taking heed, he instead trains his sights on the center of the crater, ready to shoot if anything moves. With the heat of battle winding down, though, his wounds start to matter - his right arm starts to sag a bit, and he staggers a bit as he moves in toward the crater's center. "Argh..." He finally realizes he's in pain. "Once we're done here, I really need to visit a hot spring. A proper tour will have to wait." His tone seems to suggest that the team's job is done here.

Asterios (1137) has posed:
Asterios suplexes a giant robot tank.

WITH INFINITE GRAVITY.

The good news is that it's pretty much gone after the Onyx sisters finish it off. The bad news is that, like every horror movie ever, this monster slaying ends on a stinger. Is the monster truly dead...? Asterios stands amidst the rubble, turning his nose to the air. Can he... Smell malicious code?

"The virus was in all the local drones. Maybe you should... Call them in."

Lexicon has posed:
    The flames surrounding Onyx Soul dissipate a few seconds after Arthur dismisses his gravity well. Onyx Soul herself shifts her posture when she no longer has to brace so hard to stand up, turning to examine the wreckage surrounding her. After a moment, she floats up off the ground, widening her search. It's in direct response to Silica's warning, or perhaps she was already thinking about the pilot and checking to see if she'd gotten it. When the answer is a 'no', the grip she has on her sword tightens.

    "Ah, right..!" Onyx Sister brings her free hand up, huge cannon aimed skyward while she calls up a screen, "I was able to pick up drone locations even though Omega Panzer was controlling them... Only a few are still functional-- None are moving."

    Still looking at her screen, Conati floats up a bit more, swinging her cannon down and to one side. After some fine adjustments, she fires, and a yellow blip on her holographic screen disappears. Aim swings around, and she fires again-- another going dark.

    "I'm afra-aaaid that will do you no good, dear," Omega Panzer's voice sounds out from a crippled drone. The one that Onyx Soul had carved in half before. She shoots a look at it as it continues to speak, "I've already made my escape. Oh, but please don't compare me to a trojan. I'm far more sophisticated than tha-aaat primitive codebase." The red eye flickers, then resumes its glow, "I recognize when I am soundly beaten. So I shall take my le-eeeave of this Drive. For now-ow." The eye goes dark, then, "Ta-ta, my darling DCCs and honored guests."

    The ruined drone promptly explodes. On Conati's screen, the other contacts she'd picked up also begin disappearing, in time to small explosions scattered around the warzone of the Steam District.

    Onyx Soul lowers her hand from shielding her face, her teeth bared in obvious frustration, her hands clenched tightly. Her sword's ridiculous size magnifies the shuddering rage she's feeling right now.

    After a moment, though, the DCC closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, letting it out in a dismissive 'hnf', "He ran away. I guess that's how he's lived this long. So he can keep trying and failing to harm Vector, as often as he wants, I'll stop him every time."

    Conati drifts sidelong, descending to ground level near Lemeza, "Ah, you're human, right? A medical program should be able to help patch you up. It's on us, since you got hurt helping Struo." Straightening, she dismisses her rifle and raises a hand, waving, "All of you, actually! I'm inviting you guys all to hang out at the Cathoderal to rest before you go home!"

    Onyx Soul shoots her sister a look, which is shot right back at her. After a few moments of locked eyes, Struo surrenders, dismissing her sword with a shrug, "I have no objections." A flare of light rises up around her. When it dissipates, Struo folds her arms in her normal form, eyes closed, still looking frustrated, "It's not like I was going to invite them myself."

Silica has posed:
    Silica drops back to the ground, eying the byplay between the sisters. "And I thought /I/ was the cat here." she murmurs, before clicking her tongue, calling her pets back to her side. "Thank you all, you did an amazing job." she says to them, feeding each a special treat before returning all but Pina to their resting place in her Inventory. The Cait Sith decides to remain transformed for now. It's not like she got shot up or anything.

Lemeza Kosugi (6258) has posed:
    Lemeza nods toward Conati, accepting her invitation. "Thank you. I'll be fine, but I might as well take advantage if you're offering." He starts pacing back and forth a bit to make sure there isn't any permanent damage. "Nothing a hot spring couldn't fix, so that's good." He then turns to Arthur. "I'd like to speak to you after everyone's recovered. You seem like a one-stop shop for exactly the sort of information I want to know. Would you mind?"

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    "HELL YEAH, I love HANGOUTS! And NOT BLEEDING." Arthur says, beaming and planting his hands on his waist like he just doesn't give a shit about the fact that his foe has escaped. Honestly he probably doesn't, considering that he's kind of averse to killing. "Show me what's HAPS with that CATHODERAL, yo, let's see if the INSIDES are as good as the OUTSIDES, dog!"

    Then he approaches and re-greets Lemeza through a less lengthy but just as convoluted fist-bumpy greeting. "I've got the LOWDOWN on the DOWN-LOW, the UP-HIGH, and everything IN-BETWEEN, homie, you need the DEETS, I've got 'em! Drop me that LINE, bro, I'l get you what NEEDS GETTING." Looks like that's a "yes"! Probably.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty hefts his axe up onto his shoulder as the virus reveals its continued survival. As he suspected, it's beat a hasty retreat. Not surprising, considering the forces arrayed against it. Krusty doesn't even both with using a health potion as his condition isn't that bad. If he were expecting further fighting, sure, but he can let his normal regeneration handle the damage.

    At the offer of a place to rest before returning home, Krusty spins his axe around and plants it in the ground with one hand. With the other he manipulates his invisible menus again, the axe quickly disappearing into light. His armor quickly follows suit, returning Krusty to wearing his Alliance uniform. Krusty adjust his glasses and then gives their two hosts a polite smile, "I'd be happy to accept."

Deelel has posed:
The battle comes to an end for the moment, DEelel's keyblade vanishes as she falls in with the others in the aftermath she seesm to eb okay.

"Humm so looks likt hey'd been working this well for a while as you said. Looks like they had an idea for an escape plan too. This one's going to be tricky to deal with."

Understatement Deelel major understatement.