Exodus Testing Grounds

Exodus Testing Grounds
Date of Scene:	15 July 2014
Location:	Rieze Maxia
Synopsis:	Milla calls for help to deal with a Spyrix facility, but it turns out to be more complicated, until Mir just decides to be done with it.
Cast of Characters:	Crys Gattz, 13, 101, 253, 321, 340, 385, 413, 424, 481

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Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
Today we come to Rieze Maxia again, because Milla sent out a message that she'd sensed something wrong with the spirits at a location. A few deaths, but nothing quite on the scale of mass Spyrix use. It should be a small facility. She sent a map:

That message was sent to Confederates and Unionites alike.

The facility is within the snowy northern mountains of the world. It's past the capital of Auj Oule, and people flying there will notice that kingdom uses drakes and wyverns for travel between hubs. No airships, though. There's a warp gate near the facility for those who don't want to get there by flight though, and on foot is definitely a bad idea given the weather and terrain.

Within the mountains, there is a clearing, as if a crater dug in the cover of the mountains. Unlike the previous two facilities, this one seems to consist in four large metallic spires-- not buildings, just spires, and a lot of outdoors equipment, mostly computer consoles, plus a small building which must be where they sleep. There's about two dozen armed guards in all black plate armor; some have large hand-held coil-shaped cannons, others shields and halberds, while a few appear unarmed and man the equipment. On the ground, between the four spires, is a fist-shaped black and gold object, cylinder-shaped.

It doesn't seem like anything is going down yet.

The gathering point is a nice piece of high ground which overlooks the area, where Milla is waiting, apparently completely unaffected by the cold.

The radio frequency for cross-factional is 06.08.

Kirika (481) has posed:
A map. It's useful at the least, it'll do for now. Kirika travels by a mix of warpgate and swift trekking on foot, given how close she is to the transmission source upon arrival. The map will help her out immensely as she continues to make her way to Milla, that lithe and confident stride unbroken.

Upon making it to the meeting point, she is quick to note the technology and armed guards present, making sure to hide her presence from scrying eyes.

She doesn't need much to protect from the cold, even if she is dressed for heavy travel. "Greetings." Kirika says to Milla, bowing her head as she creeps down and observes the location for now.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Given that the facility in question is in the mountains, flying seems to be in order to Yuna - and so it's in Flight Form that she arrives, skimming through what clouds there are in an effort to cut down on actually being noticed by unfriendly strangers. It's not until she's within about half a kilometer of the location that Milla indicated that Yuna descends - clad in the winged, purple-and-white version of her Light Suit, and with only the tiny robo-faerie Elner to accompany her.

Upon reaching the ground, Yuna slows to a hover - staying in Flight Form, at least for now - and greets the others with a smile and either a wave or a polite bow, as seems appropriate. Friends (including Mir) get waved to; strangers just get the more formal gesture of greeting. "Any idea what we'll be walking into, Milla ... ?"

Li-Ming (413) has posed:
It's been a little while! Li-Ming has opted to escape the wicked clutches of the tournament medics and strike out to lend aid where she promised to give it. It's a small matter to sneak out of medical, jump the nearest warpgate and pick her way to where it's indicated she's needed on that handy map.

Stepping through that last portal immediately has her working a couple of small enchantments to provide a buffer against the weather. She finds her way to the meeting point without too much trouble beyond that, however... And she offers a nod to all present. "It seems we once again meet for a grim task. How then shall we approach?" Don't leave it up to her! Not if you don't want explosions!

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
Chrysanthemum can fly by herself, but she isn't today. She's riding in style on an airship! A REAL airship. And by that, do we mean a zepellin? NO! A ship with wings and floaty engines? NO! By that we mean a literal cutter of some sort, with a single mast that doesn't even have the sail up. It's running on the jibsail, alone, as that's plenty right now, and still manages to be running close-hauled toward the objective. It is, by all accounts, a normal boat.

It's just flying.

The anchor dredges into the ground a few dozen yards from the meeting place, leaving the boat sort of... drifting back and forth, even with the jib down. Chrysanthemum(and Mir if she wishes) leaps down with a rustle of her dress, a smoothing of the fabric, and a casual walk toward the others. "You called~?"

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz got the message from Milla and was pretty quick to respond to it. She had found no love fo the people doing it. This wasn't like some worlds where the spirits and gods? Deserved every nasty thing the humans and other mortals did to them. This technology was as nightmareish as WORKs playing around with D cells. Crys moved in making sure her radio was set to the right channel as she's coming in,.

She looks over to Li-Ming says "It might be so but it needs to be done."

She adjusts something on her wrist and a massive claw appears over her shoudler and arm, it clanks once with it's bladed talons. It looks like it could crack through a bulkhead.

"I'm about ready to go."

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
Off in the distance, there is something that would certainly prove a bizarre and stark contrast to large quantity of greys and whites nearby. A mighty bird with a down of vibrant reds and yellows weaves deftly in-between the mountains before it alights near the research facility. Oddly enough, though, it isn't alone. Someone had been... riding that crazy thing. Yes, and the mad rider seems to be descending now... and it is, of course, none other than Mithos, in all his overtly virile...

...okay, no, I'm not even gonna try. This kid looks absolutely ridiculous getting off of this probably legendary animal.

Said boy is graceful, at least. He gently pats the bird on its head, and it seems surprisingly receptive to the gesture. "Thank you so much, Aska. You can rest now." The Godly aviator does some semblance of a bow and adds a calm, dignified 'As you wish' before vanishing into a cloud of sparkles. Once this exchange has finished, Mithos bows to the group, giving fairly broad smiles of recognition to Yuna and Milla. "Hey, everyone. I hope I can help somehow!"

In this continuity, it might actually seem feasible that Martel could be his sister.

Tir McDohl (321) has posed:
Tir can't fly, though he can do many things. So he's arriving via warpgate, walking the rest of the way to the meeting place. Just a boy with a staff, nothing special. Also being quiet, he just sort of walks up to the place and considers the ground below.

"We're outnumbered," he notes. "Probably best to draw a few of them away, split their forces up so they don't overbear us. Whether or not you want that stuff destroyed, we might want to look at it first."

Mir (340) has posed:
Mir did ride with Chrys, since Mir's airships are rare and valuable! The slender Reyvateil showed up though, and hops off the boat with a little plant on the ground. She's wearing... clothes, thank god. In fact she's wearing a large duster, button up shirt, tie, pants, sunglasses, and a hat with the word 'PRESS' scribbled on it.

"I hear you needed some inquiries done into the balance of the world," she says calmly.

Psyber (253) has posed:
"Waddap, Milly-kins?"

Psyber asks in an overly casual tone. To counteract the cold, Psyber is wearing his usual outfit of duster over slacks and shirt with boots. He's also smoking, the half-gone Lucky Strike hanging out of his mouth lazily. The only real different is that he's also wearing gloves on his hands which cover up his fingers.

"Oh hey, it's you," Psyber says in a slightly cautious tone. It's uncertain if he's referring to Chrysanthemum or to Li-Ming, both of whom make the half-angel more than slightly wary to be in the presence of, though each one for a different reason. Still, he doesn't seem too phased. Mir, however, gets quite a friendly wave from Psyber, "Mir! Long time no see! How've you been? Nice new duds, I approve."

To Tir, Psyber looks down over the base and says, "Well, Ulysses S. Grant said 'In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.'" Psyber states vaguely, "So I vote that I charge right down the center while you guys do, you know, whatever."

He shrugs, "I also brought a rifle, so I could probably dome dudes from here.

Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
Milla nods and greets people who arrive in turn; she's grateful for the help, even if she's rather not drag random people into what she considers her mission. Psyber's nickname earns a half-confused stare from her but she decides to ask about it later. She shakes her head, at whether or not they know what they're getting into. "I do not know what we will face. If it is only those men, they should be easy enough to dispatch." She nods at Tir, then, agreeing. "That is a wise decision, to handle them. As for their technology..." The young woman makes a slightly uncomfortable face, obviously not entirely friendly to the idea.

"I must ask that the Spyrix not be given to those who would think it needs used and studied. It is those people who started this, delving into what they should not despite warnings. Your Superfactions have miraculous machines and magics that far exceed the Spyrix already; they would be of little use."

She is not entirely correct, but not entirely wrong either. You could think of a Spyrix as a do everything sort of technology, it's just a matter of having the right spirits to drain-- and the moral inclinations not to care your technology is using people as fuel.

Then to everyone: "If you would like to distract and draw them out, I will stay back until the time is right to strike. I do not think either the Four or myself are suitable for stealth."

Down below, perhaps miraculously, nobody has noticed people gathering up high. Instead, a man with red stripes on his black armor has walked tot he center of the spires, reaching down to grab the black and gold object. He holds it up, and waits.

Warning sirens make themselves heard, but it doesn't seem like anyone has spotted anyone else. It looks like they're clearing the area between the spires, except for the one guy holding the thing. Must be getting ready to start a test.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Most of what Yuna knows about the Spyrix amounts to 'superweapon'; while she's slightly curious, she's also more than happy to see a potential superweapon taken completely out of play rather than leave it for anyone to study - even her own allies in the Union. And given what she recalls from another world that delved into researching mana-powered superweapons, she doubts that the Spyrix could lead to anything good.

"I'm not exactly 'sneaky' either," Yuna says with a wry look at her armor - white may be good for arctic camouflage, but the purple doesn't help, and that's without factoring in that the armor leaves her head, thighs, and upper arms visible. However, the sound of the sirens surprises Yuna enough that she flinches, and she directs her attention down at the facility. "I don't suppose anyone here can steal that gadget out of the guy's hand?" she suggests wryly. "And are we going to be in any danger from whatever they're about to test-fire down there, if we don't force them to abort the test first?"

Kirika (481) has posed:
Kirika bows her head to those she doesn't know, which is most of the group here. Noting Psyber, she does speak. "Psyber, good to finally meet you face to face." He's her new boss, might as well be polite to the head of Heaven or Hell. As she peers to the scene ahead, and notes Tir's observations, she narrows her eyes. "I will be best at either distraction or infiltration, given my skills." She remarks.

Tightening her grip on Kinugiri, Kirika focuses for a moment before reaching back to rub her tattoo ponderously, as if considering her options.

~If you require an extra pair of eyes and ears, I may be able to assist.~ A voice calls out, heard by all currently present. That would be the tattoo, Kirika's familiar Hikage.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz smirks at Pysbers nick name for Millia, Milly-kins? She'll have to nopt forget that one. She tkaes note of Mir's arrival who gets a nod from the Newmand then she looks over to Psyber, giving him a faint smirk. Before she looks to Millia.

"I can think of one person right off the top of my head we don't let near this stuff.

"Right." R
She takes a moment to adjust the claw a little bit before she gets ready to move in.

"I'm ready here just point the way."

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
Mithos looks to Milla as she makes her suggestion, and it isn't terribly long before his chin falls into the palm of his hand in contemplation.

Tir McDohl (321) has posed:
Tir glances at Milla, then nods. "I have the feeling, then, that you don't want this test to go through. All right... Psyber? Why don't you... uh..." He thinks very hard for a moment, trying to communicate in Psyber's own language, and gets /kind/ of close. "Pop a cap in his bottom, and the rest of us can spread out and come in from the sides while the guards try to rush you, most likely. I don't like the idea of just attacking guards with unknown strength."

He turns and starts to jump down to skid along the ground, making his way to the side and moving to do the flanking thing.

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
Mithos looks to Milla as she makes her suggestion, and it isn't terribly long before his chin falls into the palm of his hand in contemplation."Stealth... like not being seen, right?" His expression dips a little bit. "I'm not really great at that, but... Gnome or someone could probably be a good distraction. And I could stay back here and attack with you! That doesn't seem like a bad idea, unless we don't want to be seen at all..." He goes back to thinking as another familiar face appears in another glint of light, looking... a bit pissed, actually.

"What'cha mean a 'good distraction'?" The cartoonish mole character puffs up his chest and gives it a hearty *POUND*. "Guys like me are too smooth and cool for distractions!" He pounds a fist into the palm of his hand. "If I do anything, I'm gonna go in there and smack 'em all around good! I'll wreck 'em! And then I'll break all of those Spyrix things!" He throws a few punches at the air before putting his balled up fists on his night non-existent hips, giving a classical sagenod. Mithos rubs the back of his neck.

"Um... maybe we should be a little careful? I mean, last time when we found that Spyrix, you and I... kinda..." When Gnome hears this, he instantly deflates. No, no, I mean literally deflates -- his balloon stomach loses quite a bit of air. After a looong sigh, he adds a noticeably quieter, "Ah... yeah..." Mithos pats him on the shoulder, looking to the rest of the group. "Maybe we should just let them come up with the plans." Gnome nods and goes off to sulk somewhere.

Li-Ming (413) has posed:
After taking a few moments to examine the openly displayed facility below, Li looks up as she hears Psyber, giving him a curious look. "Yes, it is. Surely you are not uncomfortable in my presence?" She glances to Chrys, grins. "Or another's? Interesting." Then back to being serious.

"If you require a distraction then I am happy to oblige." She approaches the lip over the overlook and, taking note of the goings on below before turning back to address the group over comms. That done, "It seems we have run out of time for planning. Who else would care to join me below?"

Before stepping down, she mentally marks a few targets - the spires with the armored figure, surrounding groups of enemies... then she starts to muster up a big conjuration before leaping from the precipice! She only falls long enough to get her away from the gathering of allies then she simply blinks to the ground below. The flashes of the short teleportation might draw some attention... or maybe the first of several firey missiles hitting the ground on the opposite end of the facility? Several follow, though it seems they aren't really -aimed- at anything just yet - a distraction, as she said! Though she'll be walking the next round in on anyone dumb enough to starts clustering together down there.

Mir (340) has posed:
Hearing the discussion Mir frowns. "Yes, I'm very familiar with humans wrecking their world out of greed." She scowls, but with what Chrys says she relents, "Fine." With a heavy sigh she steps to the side and... uh.. behind Psyber. And from there, she begins a song.

It's a very... deep, rumbling song despite her feminine voice. Haunting in many ways, and conveying a deep hurt and anger, a simmering rage that bubbles up from within. It doesn't /cause/ these feelings, it just expresses them very well, and as she sings a crackling purplish light begins to build above her head.

Also, her clothing spontaneously changes to a school uniform.

Psyber (253) has posed:
"Bust a cap in his ass, but you've got it," Psyber says to Tir with a wide grin. A moment later, there is a pad of paper in his hand and he is flipping through its sheets. He takes out one of the sheets and tears it from the pad with a quick swipe. In his hand, the sheet of paper quickly turns into something that is very much Not Paper. He also takes this moment to respond to Kirika, "Nice to meet you. If you wanna be on distraction, you should probably get moving."

The Heckler and Koch Prazisionsschutzengewehr (lit: Precision Shooter Rifle), more commonly known as the PSG1, was developed in 1972 in response to the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics. Since its debut in 1972, it has seen little substantial design change. At just over four feet in length, weighing a hair under 16 pounds, it is an elegant, pitiless killing machine capable of dropping a man at 800 meters with a cartridge roughly three inches long. There are only 400 of them in the United States due to an import ban. Heaven or Hell, and specifically Psyber as a collector of firearms, owns approximately 3 percent of them, or about 12.

Hoisting up his rifle, Psyber spins the rifle in his hands and then brings it up to his shoulder. Thankfully for the ears of all present, it has a very large suppressor on the end of it that takes the noise level down to roughly that of a balloon popping from across the room. Psyber's target is simple: The one holding the device. He aims a shot right for the center of his head.

After taking the shot, he keeps the scope on to see if anyone is charging up the hill towards his position. If they are, he'd move to shield Mir from any interference.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
Oh well, that works. Chrysanthemum tosses her hair back. "I will listen to the McDohl boy, Princess Evangeline speaks highly of him." So she darts off, suddenly, in the other direction. She doesn't fly, instead she Mountain Goats it down the side, whipping a sword out so she can look all dramatic leaping from place to place.

She doesn't actually use the sword yet, she's waiting for some people to react. For all her flippant nature, though, those few who have seen her in action can see that she's being relatively serious, for her.

Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
Having answers the important questions (no she has no idea what's going on, yes it's probably bad, yes the plan sounds acceptable), Milla stays back for the moment, allowing those more suited to create a distraction.

There is plenty to do here after all. There's the barracks, the various consoles all over, the spires, the man, and who knows what else. The two dozen guards which all need distracted-- admittedly, that one's about to get handled.

Li-Ming jumps into plain sight and starts NUKING THINGS. Or, rather, it looks like she is, which is good enough for the guards. Six of them break off the main force, attempting to chase after Li-Ming. They're hurling fireballs from their halberds, and it's making Milla frown way up there.

As Psyber fires at the officer, the bullet is consumed by a bright light, not unlike a small sun. It is vaguely holy, in RPG terms, but also fire, for those able to sense magic. A great surge of spiritual energy occurs as black lightning shoots from the device and into the officer's arm. He yells in pain, but it results in a manifestation. A young man, maybe mid-20's, appears next to him. His skin is orange-hued, and armored plumage forms a mix between robes and armor over his body, elegant but functional. His shoulderpads are two large avian heads, which from afar could make him look like a two-headed bird. One of his eyes is covered by a sun-shaped piece of armor, as if grafted into that side of his head.

The officer and his guardian don't make a move yet.
Instead it's a few of the idle guards who take lightning bolt shots towards Psyber's perch, but let's be honest, all that does for Psyber is give him new targets if he feels like continuing to snipe.

Chrysanthemum also draws a few shots-- machineguns from more of the guards, who shout something about intruders and not allowing them to disrupt the apparently successful test.

Kirika (481) has posed:
As the fighting begins, Kirika makes her move. She leaps down from the perch before glamoring up to give herself a cloak of invisibility, moving through towards the soldiers. Li-Mind's magic and Psyber sniping people will help as she draws her sword, and uses the distraction to cut down those soldiers not immediately either shot or fried.

"You would pervert the world around you for your own greed? You /will/ feel the cold steel of my blade for your transgressions, I assure you of this!" She roars in fury, clearly attempting to draw a bit of aggro as she makes towards a good concentration of soldiers, slashing with Kinugiri in a manner that's equal parts terrifying yet graceful to behold, her speed unlike any mortal swordsman.

She's seen enough of this world to know there will be no mercy for these fanatics, that much is certain.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Wait, are those guards --

"SHUGOSEIHEKI!!" yells Yuna, kite shield materializing on her left arm, and she bolts to her right, trying to interpose herself (and her shield) between one of the inbound lightning bolts, and Psyber. Sure, he can probably take the hit - but that doesn't mean Yuna's not going to try to help him.

Whether she manages to tank a lightning bolt for Psyber or not, Yuna takes to the sky after making sure he (and Mir) are okay. The shield's bulk limits her options somewhat, but she can still fly with it ... and fly she does - heading for the nearest of the spires, a sword materializing in her right hand. If any of the guards figure out what she potentially has in mind, they may try to cut her off - and she's half-expecting that they *will* ...

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
Apparently over his sulking by now, Gnome breaks away from his pouting corner and picks up his paw to give everyone a nice, big salute. Or... something like a salute, anyway - it's a little different when you don't have fingers. But whatever. Pretty soon, he has curled up into a ball and has started a Goron roll down the side of the mountain, trying to pop off at an angle that would make him bowl over a few of the mooks that Psyber coaxed out with his sniper fire. Hopefully, he won't get shot himself in the process.

Meanwhile, Mithos takes a while to process what's going on around him. He blinks a few times, looking back and forth between Milla and Gnome before, he, too, finally draws his sword. He jumps down in a manner similar to Chrysanthemum, albeit a bit less gracefully. Exspheres may make people more durable, but they don't do a whole lot for your coordination most of the time. Eventually, though, he reaches the bottom and goes at another soldier with some combination of fireballs, stabs, and force punches. Not necessarily in that order, but probably.

Li-Ming (413) has posed:
Breaking into an easy trot after dropping the first volley of meteors on prettymuch nothing, Li-Ming quickly finds herself greeted by a group of guards equipped with those awful weapons. She answers their fire with a smile and another rain of meteors. The projectiles pound the earth and the guards, hopefully, with blunt force, explosions and loads of fire.

Giving the group not another thought, she presses on, tossing fire and brimstone around liberally until she starts to draw near to the surprisingly still-standing spires with their... two occupants? Oh.

Rather than directly attack the occupants, she switches modes, cups both hands in front of herself and lets loose with a beam of arcane energy at the base of one of the spires... then she simply slices it to one side in an effort to cut right through. Of course, she won't stop trying right away if she doesn't cut through in the first pass. Should another group decide to throw themselves before her, she already has the means to remove them! Nice and clean but probably not painless.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz is now moving in with the rest of hte otehrs, she use her own power causing burst of ice and flame those that get too close would have to contend with the nightmareish claw, Crys is swift however with her movement she's clealry making sure she puts ther enemy down hard fast and moves on. She's clearly just heavy support here and she does not mind at all!

Psyber (253) has posed:
With one less lightning bolt to deal with, Psyber only has to take a few to the chest in his valiant job as both sniper and personal tank for Mir. The half-angel staggers a bit from impacts, but remains standing as he dusts off the front of his shirt and frets over a hole scorched into it.

"You know, it's been forever since you brought lunch over to the tower," Psyber says in an attempt to at least SOMEWHAT distract Mir from the very evident rage she is building up over this very topic.

Psyber raises his rifle again, but this time he instead channels a different power through it than a bullet. When the rifle retorts, a massive glowing bolt of energy streaks out, trying to strike the man who shielded his original target, "Heaven strikes down from afar! Hallowed Bolt!" If it hits the clearly spiritual being, it wouldn't do as much physical damage, but it seeks to apply a Silence Effect to its powers for the time being. Less damage, more incapacitation.

Tir McDohl (321) has posed:
Since he wasn't detected, Tir slides down the rest of the way and eyes the men hurling lightning that he's come down near. He doesn't bother to use magic, that might tip his hand early and besides, it's a waste when he doesn't know their capabilities. Instead the bandanna-wearing youth is rushing in, staff in hand. A staff against armed lightning-hurlers.

It's a pretty impressive staff though. With a running leap he dives right into the small group, whirling the staff about and slamming it into faces and limbs, doing quick and precise, powerful strikes. He'll let the others take care of the spires!"

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
When bullets are sent her way, Chrysanthemum uh... just finishes dropping down. "Bullet? Really?" They just sorta bounce off her skin, the woman giving them an incredulous look. At best they keep her from advancing so quickly, but from mooks like these the shells are doing basically nothing but being an annoyance. They don't even appear to sting!

It actually takes Chrys a moment to figure out what she wants to do. Finally she smirks and approaches more closely... so she can reach out and gather something from the men. The guards will have just a brief glow about them before Chrys begins to walk off, carrying several crystals with her. "Feel free to blow it up now. Let me know if you need my help~"

Mir (340) has posed:
Behing Psyber, the music builds... and builds. The purple sphere above Mir is growing, crackling, and soon thundering with an ominous rumble as her hatred grows more evident in the song. It's clearly there... hurt, anger, and yet some sympathy as well. Sympathy for the world, not humans. The words are there, but the translation effect doesn't have any effect on them...

Or, more appropriately, it's translating them just fine, as the song is entirely emotion. The desire to STRIKE DOWN that which has hurt someone, the desire to burn out and rail at the heavens for injustice done. And it's almost finished, with an ominous rumbling all around the small plateau that she's using as her launch platform.

Mir was serious about wanting to blow this up.

Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
Kirika swoops in with her blades; she cuts one of the guards before he can even react. The other raises his shield-- her blade would slam into it and come to a full stop, as earth spirits suddenly cry out in pain. The shield grows several rocky layers and the man's defenses are bolstered, temporarily. With surprisingly strength, he attempts to push Kirika back with his tower shield, causing a mass of earth spikes to follow after her, repeatedly piercing out of the ground to try and hit Kirika.

Yuna attempts charging one of the spires.
The officer in the center, though still in pain, points at her. "Aska! Obey and destroy the intruders! Do not allow the machine to be damaged!" Aska, next to him-- again, a young man in his mid-twenties, with orange skin and a flaming plumage that forms robes and armor around his body-- speaks up, briefly. "But Lord Maxwell is here. I would like to--" The officer snaps angrily: "SHUT UP! GO!" Aska sighs. The large avian-shaped shoulderpads light up, one with red eyes, one with blue eyes.

A massive dome of fire surrounds the four spires, incredibly bright and luminous. The fire-aspect is secondary, it's more burning holy light than fire.

That shield will have to be overpowered first.

Mithos batters a guard with flames and sword thrusts both-- it's not that hard. The guards don't seem to be too great at fighting-- but there's more than one, fortunately. As the first falls, another one suddenly creeps out of the shadows behind Mithos, extending twin, electrified daggers from her armor and attempting to shank him.

Li-Ming's beam slams into the fire shield, not quite blasting through yet. It's obvious it won't take much more punishment though, and Aska seems only half-hearted in his support. Two guards with tower shields and guns get in the wizard's way, bolts of darkness firing from their machine guns instead of bullets.

Crys also cuts through a guard with her opposite elemental claws, and is ambushed by a second with a massive cannon in his hands. He lets loose a bolt of lightning towards her, which scorches the ground on the way there.

Psyber's spell slams into Aska's shield. It flickers significantly-- the silence effect doesn't seem to take full hold, but the flaming shield dissipates already instead. The officer seems extremely angry. "Aska! What are you doing?! Using you is going to kill me so be GRATEFUL you useless--" The officer is interrupted by jolts of black lightning still shooting out of the device he is holding, making his life a world of pain. Aska furrows his brows.

Tir, completely undetected, gets behind the guards trying to keep Psyber pinned, and sends two of them to the ground with his staff-- finding their massive cannons not to be very good for melee defense. The two that remain glare at him, attempting to hurriedly switch to the machineguns on their armors and pelt the youth with bullets instead.

No one bothers Mir. Because no one can see her!
This can't possible end poorly.

On top of the threat offered by all the guards, Aska finally raises one hand. "SUNSHINE NOVA!" A massive ball of brilliant white light begins descending from the sky. It does not do anything except descend yet. Next round, though...

Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
The bullets do nothing! The guards glance at one another.
Welp.

Then Chrysanthemum does SOMETHING, and the three guards who were attempting to pin her just... turn on one another. One strikes a second with his halberd, incinerating him. The third fills the first with bullets, just as the first channels flames from his halberd into his hand, and at the third. They both drop to the ground, leaving three bodies. And she didn't even have to dirty her hands!

Psyber (253) has posed:
Psyber fired off his shots and is mostly hanging back in front of Mir, holding the rifle in his hands and watching out over the field while he interposes himself between Mir and the enemies. With the two of them so far off from the action, Psyber doesn't have much worry of them getting bum rushed. He's mostly on protection detail.

Kirika (481) has posed:
The spikes of earth rip clothing and flesh alike, leaving several nasty wounds on Kirika. Trying to rip herself free before putting all her might into a kick to knock the soldier back. She grits her teeth, her fury evident. And yet, despite her fury, she still fights with discipline and precision. To her credit, she's not milking the killing blows she's left so far.

Her blade is enveloped with flames, blazing hot with an impossible amount of heat. She tightens her grip on Kinugiri, and she lunges forth to slash towards the soldier with a downward slash that would split stone in two.

Tir McDohl (321) has posed:
Oh great. More guards and now they're getting ready for melee. The Rune on Tir's head flashes once before he lashes out with his staff again, the Killer Rune guiding his strike toward a lethal impact at the man's throat, he hopes. The other is allowed to get out his melee weapon, prepared to fight the swift McDohl General(retired).

"No thank you," he says curtly, too busy to deal with an honorable duel with these men. If they were interested in honor he wouldn't be here, so he does a small gesture and his other Rune pulses, causing an eruption of flames from the Rage Rune.

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
Mithos straightens out, almost ready to dash off in the direction of another guard when he's able to faintly make out the sound of the snow crunching under the feet of the new, veiled assailant. With a start, he spins around and parries one of the daggers, but the other one makes contact. He's reeling, but before they can do anything else, Gnome rolls over. With a huge, bulging vein on his forehead, he brings his massive shovel in for a swift, strong, horizontal THWACK aimed at the abdomen of someone who apparently -is- good at stealth. He immediately lends a paw to Mithos, helping him up off of the ground.

Mithos looks to Gnome gratefully before getting up with a visible wince. He's far from out of this, though! He holds his sword out and chants something quietly, eliciting the appearance of a soft green light that envelops him shortly after. After this, he and Gnome nod to one another, going off in the direction of one of the other towers.

They only have one Aska to defend them with, after all. Uh... right?

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
Chrysanthemum smirks as the men kill one another, brushing off her dress which shows not a scratch or tear from the bullets. "Well now, let's see about the..." A small pause. "Mir, are you still singing? Still?"

So bullets just bounced off of Chrysanthemum, and the woman is suddenly flying up and away, in a /very obvious/ hurry to get as far away from those spires as she can.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna lets out a yelp of surprise as the dome of holy fire flares into existence over and around the spires, bringing her up short. She wasn't expecting a *barrier* of all things, and she comes a little too close to plowing right into it before pulling up and braking to a hover.

She's debating what to do when Aska calls an attack spell, and the huge ball of light materializes high overhead and begins its descent. Yuna is barely able to glance up at it before she has to turn her face downwards again, wincing. Not that looking *down* helps, since it means staring at a similarly bright and fiery barrier. And Mir's been revving up for something huge, as she reminds people not to be in her way.

Yuna lets out a breath and starts putting distance between herself and the dome; Elner teleports to her side while she's on the way, and the two of them start conferring. Yuna has a tentative plan, if Mir doesn't manage to crack the barrier directly - and if she *does*, Yuna will then have a clear line (she hopes) to go charging in and start wrecking a spire or three.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz says nothing as she eyes the enemy shtye fire a bolt at her, she brings up her arm and the blast hits a photon barrier some gets past her but not enough to slow her down. She raises her free hand a pistol appeaing int it and she takes aim to fire several shots in the intent to down them with energy bolts from the weapon.

Li-Ming (413) has posed:
The barrier is enough to get a frustrated hiss out of Li-Ming as she watches the energy of her beam splash against it. Luckily, others seem to be adding to the press. Just as it seems the barrier is about to fail, she's forced to address two newcomers. Her beam narrows and she sweeps it to the side, cutting into the first of the two guards firing at her and rather than disintigrating him... simply causes the poor fool to explode like a living bomb.

She turns her beam back on the spire after the barrier comes down from Psyber's attack, cutting until... She looks up, the light making her squint before looking away. Now, she takes note of the goings son back up on the ridge. Very well.

"Here!" She begins to channel some spell or another, her hands gleaming blue as she holds them spread... and a flat disk of blue light appears just a few meters away. "A quick exit! Once you are through, get clear!" She remains in place for the moment, channeling to keep the door open for anyone planning to take it. Here's hoping none of those buttmonkey guards decide to mess about over here.

Mir (340) has posed:
The singing continues. It's reaching some kind of climax now. Have we mentioned it includes FULL ORCHESTRAL BACKING? You can tell it's nearing the climax because the brass section is suddenly blaring full force, and there's some electro-synth in the background building up.

Mir herself considers, "I could bring something by this week, most likely. I made a carbonated pizza that you might like just the other day." Maybe Psyber actually distracted her from her hatred a little bit. If so it might blunt the impact just a tad.

A tad.

Cymbals crash, and the rumble suddenly becomes a roar as the purple light coalesces, and the sky turns darker over that sun. From above, meteors materialize, blasting down toward the Spires in particular, but mostly 'anything unlucky enough to be in the crater.'

FALLING SKY

That's a LOT of meteors.

Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
Kirika's flaming sword cuts through the shield-- and not long after, the guard-- in one dramatic, clean swipe, and he drops to the ground without trying to oppose her any longer, or even replying.

Tir's lethal blow kills one guard on the spot-- no resistance. The other, quite relieved he managed to swap his cannon for something more aimable in melee, is suddenly consumed in flames, and moments later hits the floor too.

The guard attempting to shank Mithos gets shoveled unconscious moments later. This is incredibly un(dis? in? non?)graceful, but effective. As they split up, it becomes possible to assault, and badly damage, one of the towers. It seems that doing so causes Aska to deform a little bit, as if mana were leaking out of him.

The dome already being out, Yuna is able to charge at and cleave one of the spires as well. Aska's form distorts that much more-- not in a disfigured, disturbing way, just in a "this is a ghost losing consistency" way.

Crys shoots a guard! It may not be as classy as using the claws, but it works, so why change it? One more body slumps to the ground.

One more spire is destroyed as Li-Ming aims at it, through the guards. Poor suckers, really. Aska becomes agitated, but doesn't really DO anything for someone presumably about to vanish. Instead he just smiles at the officer.

"Well. I guess I wasn't good enough for your schemes. Sorry."

Mir's spell-- presumably, after everyone gets the hell out of dodge-- starts impacting the entire area. Computer consoles, what guards are still standing, the remains of the three damaged spires and the fourth one, the officer and Aska, are all consumed in the blaze. Sunshine Nova detonates-- but everyone has retreated, so there's little result. There is a massive explosion, of holy light, of fire, of meteors. The 'facility' is leveled. Entirely.

In its wake, the officer and Aska.

The officer, badly burnt, falls to his knees, and then face first onto the ground. He passes away. Aska, now completely ethereal rather than physical, and more resembling the shape of a two-headed sun-bird, though still humanoid, just gives an idle wave towards Milla's location. And then he dissipiates.

The officer's device is somehow intact. It seems to be a black and gold cylinder, with a large blue gemstone insisde. The gemstone is vaguely charged with magic but completely inactive now.

Kirika (481) has posed:
Just as Kirika observes the guard fall apart, she hears a lot of chatter over the radio. SHeathing her sword, she heeds the words of pretty much everyone and books it before Mir does what she has to do. Whatever it's supposed to do, Kirika knows it's going to make a lot of things explode on some level.

After the spell hits, Kirika takes over, bracing her ears for the noise only to look out at the destruction. "...may this world rebuild, no matter what its children may do." She murmurs, shaking her head.

Psyber (253) has posed:
"A carbonated pizza, huh? That sounds like it would be a unique experience to eat," Psyber says rather non-commitally. He has moments where he wonders if Mir knows her cooking is harmful and is just messing with him, or if she's actually trying to cook. He likes to give her the benefit of the doubt and think the latter, though.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Rather than trying to zip through the portal, Yuna resorts to trying to reach minimum safe distance by dint of using her armor's flight systems, and depending on Elner to help tell her when she should be safely clear of Mir's ungodly wrath and the descending Sunshine Nova.

And it seems to work out, although a couple of years have probably been shaved off of Yuna's life in the process. "Remind me never to borrow Aska to work on my suntan," she jokes weakly as she surveys what's left of the facility ... and blanches. She may not have attacked any of the guards herself, but it doesn't look like she even needed to in order for all of the guards to get slaughtered.

Elner points her at the still-intact gadget, though, and Yuna skims over to collect it, entrusting it to wherever Elner keeps her weapons when they're not in use. On that note, her sword and shield get de-equipped and vanish as well - one before she collects the device, the other as she's on her way - either to the portal (if it's still open after the sun falls on the facility and environs), or ... well, she CAN fly back via the long way to wherever the others are, it'll just take longer, naturally enough.

Tir McDohl (321) has posed:
Yeah, Tir's going to dive for the portal. "Uh oh." He knows an incoming big spell when he sees it. Time to get out of there! Between the sun and whatever Mir is doing... yeah, he's just going to take any offered exit he can get.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz shoot the guard downa nd keeps moving into the fiht she looks about for more, she doesn't talk to them, she doens't banter, no justice speeches. Nothing just her hunting the guards down, then putting them down. She seems intend to not leave them standing. She pauses for a moment her companionc reatuer floats by her head and then a sphere of energy surrounds her, as a huge glowing stag like creature appears raining bolts of light upon any near by guards or machinery.

Li-Ming (413) has posed:
Yup, hell's in the process of breaking loose here. Li doesn't relish the thought of being caught up in it, either, so she ducks through the portal just ahead of the... mess of meteors and explosions. She turns after exiting the portal and just looks on. Ah, it's a wonderful display!

The portal does survive intact, somehow, and it even fails to convey the fury and destruction going on at its point of origin. Very useful, these portals. Yuna surprises a little, coming through the portal -after- all the fireworks but... "I'm glad you could join us. So..."

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
Mithos wipes his forehead, turning just in time to see the ghostly apparition of Aska disappear. He tilts his head and taps Gnome's shoulder, gesturing in that direction. Gnome just shrugs. He has the sort of expression that says 'Yeah, I may be a spirit n' all, but I have noooo idea what's going on around here'.

And yes, Gnome's expressions could say all of that. He's very animated.

Soon, though, he and Mithos are walking back over to the group proper. The latter is breathing a little heavily, but he looks like he'll be fine. He's just a little meek for a legendary hero s'all. Soon, he breathlessly adds, "S-So... that's over." He takes a deep breath and exhales. He takes a look at the steaming crater that was once a testing facility and meekly asks, "Wh-What happened to the place we were... um... gonna go in?" He looks to Milla for an answer, as if she would know.

Mir (340) has posed:
Mir flicks her hair back and turns to the crew on Chrys's boat. "You there, why don't you get down there and salvage anything left?" She stretches and mns, "Well that's taken care of. Please don't hesitate to call on me again. Humans who destroy their own world's resources are a particular sore point for me. If you find any technology like that, I would be happy to take a look and design countermeasures, if needed."

Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
"Aska is dead," Efreet suddenly rumbles at Yuna, appearing from the embers left behind by the inferno moments ago. He snatches the device from Yuna's hands-- for a moment, at any rate-- glaring down at her from his height. Milla is not far behind, having jumped down into the crater once it looked safe.

"That is a Spirit Fossil," she explains, gesturing towards the device. "Or, rather, what's inside it is. The corpse of a spirit. I do not know what the device itself is. It is not a Spyrix, though. I felt no deaths or drain from its use, only from the assorted weaponry." Which is pretty much all nuked. Thanks Mir!

Efreet finishes Milla's thoughts, "It shouldn't be possible to bring a spirit back like that. Either way, don't disrespect the dead," he rumbles, before glaring towards Mithos' Gnome. "Just as annoying as ours."

To Mithos, Milla says: "This was it. Well, there is nothing left now. Auj Oule may send scouts to see what the noise and light was about, so we should probably not stay here too long." Then to Mir: "That would be appreciated. Unfortunately it seems none survived." 'Unfortunately' is relative. She doesn't really mind at all, it's just a saying.

Chrysanthemum (101) has posed:
The people on Chrys's boat have wisely stayed put. They start to move, but then Chrys points out, "Nothing survived anyway. Might as well get ready to weigh anchor and come about. Raise the mainsail, the wind isn't with us on the way back."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Is there a proper place to bury the Spirit Fossil, then?" Yuna asks politely, remaining un-nettled by how abruptly Efreet swiped the device out of her hand (before she could drop it into her 'inventory,' at any rate). "And ..."

She faces Milla, bowing deeply to her, and staying bowed as she continues, "I know you said you didn't want anyone studying this technology. However, with your permission, I'd like to analyze this - not to reproduce the technology, but to find ways to break similar devices more effectively, or interfere with Spyrix technology in other ways."

She straightens up from her bow. "If you'd rather I simply smash this here and now, I'll do so ... but any advantage we can bring to bear against Spyrix tech could help a lot if Auj Oule's government, or anyone else's, continues pursuing it."

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz looks around for a moment banishing her gear and sighing a little bit. She looked ot the othe5rs and says

"That's over now."

She sighs for a moment looking to Milla for a moment.

"It's funny I still can't hate the people who made me, it's not like I not seen newmans sadly do worse."
% Grahul? She wanted to slap the Newmans there really had.

Milla Maxwell (13) has posed:
"There is no need to bury the fossils. Spirits are not beheld to quite the same customs as you humans. As spirits are reborn, they do not think much of what is left behind, even if a reborn spirit cannot be said to be the same person," Milla says, simply. Efreet grunts, checking the casing out.

"Lord Maxwell. Whatever this is isn't a Spyrix, so it may be worth keeping intact. It could be used as bait. They'll want it back," he says, to which Milla hms, and nods.

"That is acceptable, I suppose. If you do not mind, I would like to show it to my handmaid first. Perhaps he has seen such a device before. He knows much more about the human world than I do," she admits, before adding: "As for Auj Oule... though we are on their territory, these men were not wearing Auj Oule colors. They seem to be operating in both kingdoms. I wonder if they truly belong to either."

Mithos Yggdrasill (424) has posed:
Gnome puts his paws back on his hips and closes his eyes, turning up what semblance of a nose he has at Efreet. "And you're as snobby as ever too, Proud Mc Flame Pants." Gnome sticks out his tongue at Milla's Efreet before Mithos steps in front of them. At that, Gnome just rolls his eyes and turns around, folding his arms. Mithos bows several times in apology before looking to Milla.

"O-Oh, really? That's all?" He rubs one arm with the opposite hand. "... well, I was glad to help! If you ever need me again, you know how to find me. Or at least... I -think- you do. Aska had a pretty easy time finding this place without a map, anyway." He looks briefly in the direction of the no-longer-there other Aska. "... but speaking of Aska... was that Aska, too? That soldier guy was treating him horribly. I..." He bites his lip and pauses briefly. "... I know what that's like. I'm glad if we were able to help him at all." Under his breath, he mumbles, "... and I'm glad we blew this place up, too."