Scene #2890: First Odyssey

Owner	Pose
Septette Arcubielle	As luck would have it, the main warp gate in the Deep City isn't too far from the Geomagnetic Pole used to teleport into Armoroad's labyrinth- perhaps it's their similar space-warping properties drawing them together; perhaps it's mere coincidence. Regardless, it certainly makes things easier for Septette; she doesn't have to lug the impromptu group's supplies very far! The little robot is perched atop a pile of medical supplies, whetstones, rations, backup weapons, warp wires- everything an aspiring adventurer might need. Even if they're not necessary for her cybernetic companions. In front of the waiting yggdroid, of course, is the warp gate; behind her is a cavern whose interior glows an actinic magenta with the Geomagnetic Pole's energy; on either side is the gorgeous Deep City, a place blessed with ancient ruins and elaborate magitech, and home to both aquatic and terrestrial flora thanks to its unique environment. But this is no sightseeing trip- or if it is, this isn't the place that Kotone and Maaka are here to see! Once they arrive, she'll beckon them to follow her towards the glowing cavern...
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is ready as she's going to be for this, she's clearly brought some extra hardware with her, she's packing yes her normal pair of side arms, the SMG but also there's a rocket launcher across her back as well. She was packing what she could she also had several of her cheap recon drones hovering by her head she seems to be about as ready as she can be. "All right in for a penny, in for a pound, I'm ready to go." She'll follow after Septette now and she's already on her guard she recalls her sparring session.
Alexis Maaka	It's a dungeon crawl. Not the fun kind, the bloody, dark, and depressing king where you go into a dangerous area and have to pack for a lonnnnnnng time. Thus, she's loaded up her EM-GASH rifle with drum-mag esque power boxes that give her extra charge as well as a capacity thrice that of her normal mags. Cocking the rifle, she also fits it up with a heavy barrel and a grenade launcher before cocking her sidearm and also a ten gauge shotgun of Imperium make from the Callidus Amicae. "Well, time to go into Hell itself." She says mockcheerily just as her helmet closes shut. Slinging her weapons on, she begins to follow along with Septette and Kotone casually. "Ko', make sure you start running like hell if something happens to either me or Sep." She advises, "I reeeeeally do not like the odds of this run."
Septette Arcubielle	"Our odds are fiiiiine," Septette says reassuringly as she tosses the heavy backpacks towards her newly-arrived companions and touches one hand to the glowing, pink Geomagnetic Pole. It's a beam of energy that rises up into the darkness above, swirling in a cylindrical vortex until it dissipates against the barely-visible cave ceiling. "I thought long and hard about where to take you two," she admits, "but I think you'll like this place..." She turns her attention back to the Pole, and the scenery fades away with a strange noise, replaced by an almost-blinding omnidirectional light. When it fades, they're in a place that looks like a sunken city- not like the bustling Deep City, but dreary and uninhabited, the claustrophobic streets overgrown with coral and seaweed. Despite the aquatic flora and fauna, it's easy to breathe- if any of the party needed to- and it doesn't feel wet at all. Movement is unimpeded, as well, though small, harmless fish dart through the 'air'. Clearly, some strange magic is at work here... Septette motions towards a staircase leading downwards, beneath the city's cobblestone streets. It looks almost like the entrance to a subway... it's even closer quarters down there, where there's a ceiling, but bioluminescent fungi light up the darkness. Half-seen things slither away at the party's advance, though that may not last for long.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa isn't sure what to think about this place it's an old city which clearly has been under water for so long. IT also doesn't feel wet? That bothers her more than anything she is expecting to feel wet but she isn't. Also she hopes she proofed her gear properly for a place like this. She follows after Septette and looks over to Alexis. "I'm not the only one that feels this way, and it doesn't feel wet here and I can breath. I don't get it..." If it wasn't known to be infested with monsters she might almost find this place pretty.
Alexis Maaka	"How sweet." Alexis grumbles dryly, training her weapon as she begins to move first down the staircase. Underwater scenery is enough to creep her out just a tad, as she activates the tactical light on her weapon. Her muzzle bats away a few fish that 'swim' too close to Alexis, and she carries on as she begins to head downwards. Otherwise, she doesn't fire unless something begins to leap out at them.
Septette Arcubielle	Thankfully, those narrow and overgrown hallways open up to a larger room after a couple of twisting turns. There was a door here- carved from solid stone, easily a foot thick- but it was smashed to pieces years ago, so that even the rough edges of the broken stone are covered in growths of colorful coral. Septette's clattering footsteps and whirring motors seem to have scared off the smaller wildlife, making what awaits them in the larger chamber even more startling. "Here we are," the little robot announces cheerfully, unfolding her limb-mounted blades as she steps forward without hesitation. The ceiling of the chamber is taller than the previous rooms, and it's inlaid with strange runes; the floor is cracked and scuffed, but seems to have been a colorful mural in ages past. There are decorative Greco-Roman pillars close to the walls, and an altar at the far end of the room that looks to have been deliberately defaced. Behind it is a huge mural, showing a pallid, inhuman creature with its eyes closed and head tilted back. Its body is white as snow, tinged with coppery green and rust-red in places; it has feathery gills in place of hair, and slits on either side of its neck. A thin-lipped mouth and webbed hands complete the piscine look of the monstrous, yet oddly childlike, figure. Despite its disturbing subject matter, the mural cannot hurt them. The guardian beast lying on the altar, however, can. It's an enormous serpentine fish, with bony 'blades' jutting directly from its skull, and scales like armor. The creature's eyes seem to gleam yellow as it slowly rouses itself, spreading its lobed fins, and glares piercingly at the party as its mouth opens in a silent challenge!
Alexis Maaka	"Ech." Maaka makes a mild face over the fish-child thing. However, after her first impression she takes a second look. Kid almost looks cute when you get past the scales and such, and the cyborg tilts her head curiously. "WHo do you think it is? A Prince or something?" She muses, before hearing the creature rousing. "Guess not that thing, definitely." Her rifle raises and aims to the creature, and she doesn't waste time in opening fire upon it with bursts of electro-magneticly enhanced fire.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is just on edge she looks about the ruinss, she's looking for what might be a hostile lifeform here. She nods to Sept as they have indeed arrived and she's veyr much on edge. She takes a look about for a moment and she looks at the mural however she doesn't think too much of the thing as well? There's something on the altar that seems ready to rip them apart. She's already moving to raise her SMG as she looks at the thing. Well she tries not to look too hard, but she too is opening fire with the SMG, and also she's starting to move! Do not sit still is a lesson she long learned when it comes to fighting.
Septette Arcubielle	Septette herself stands off to the side, watching the situation carefully and ready to intervene in case the other two Elites get themselves in real trouble. This encounter, however, seems to be well in hand. The fish draws back, disoriented by the unfamiliar sound of gunfire; it holds still for a split second, and that's enough time for Kotone and Alexis to score several clean shots along its serpentine body, as well as a couple of hits that punch visible holes clear through its skull. Scarlet blood drips from the creature's wounds as it writhes, and for a moment, the beast regains its bearings and charges at Kotone, twisting its head to turn one of its sharp-looking horns towards her. Then one of Alexis's shots catches it through the eyeball, and it lets out a birdlike shriek as it loses track of its prey and slams headlong into a wall. Seeming to have lost its buoyancy, the monster squirms on the floor for a second or two, desperately trying to lash out at the explorers to no avail. By the time it goes still and succumbs to its wounds, the fish's body has been torn apart to the point that it's scarcely recognizeable. It seems like an easy victory for the newcomers. But if even the 'ordinary' wildlife here can survive multiple headshots from weapons like those... what are the apex predators like? "Consider that your welcome to the Abyssal Shrine," Septette replies in a congratulatory tone. "You did a good job handling that one, but it's not the biggest fish in this pond. That thing," she continues with a nod towards the mural, "is- was- the Eldest One. 'Prince' is a good term for it; 'demigod' or 'high priest' would also be close. It was the only Deep One with the power to create more of its kind. 'Cute', perhaps, but..." She pauses, looking almost wistful for a moment. "Not even the Eldest could escape the control of the Abyssal God. Things might have been different if it had."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is keeping up the shots for now and she she scores several hits. She's not sure that the thign is dead given the alien nature of this world. She's right ot be considering so. She'll attemps to twist out of harms way with inhuman speed and just avoids gettging hooked by the thing. IT doesn't last much longer, she pauses looking at the remains. "Lovely wildlife here...Oh I expect c'thulu to show up at some point." Then the Abyssal God comes up after all she's thinks. "I'll keep that information in mind it might be useful at some point."
Alexis Maaka	Alexis gets in one last shot to the creature's head, making sure it stays dead before she glances to Septette. "Deep One? As in the shit in Innsmouth?" Pause. "What? I read." She slings her rifle before she inspects Septette further, "So this is the shit you were made to deal with huh? Yeesh." She glances arond, before she begins to look for a route further down in the caverns themselves. "So what else do we have to deal with, huh? Got any hints for us, coach?"
Septette Arcubielle	"Not the same," she replies in a chiding voice. "Translation Effect renders their name in my language to your closest equivalent. That happens to be 'Deep One'. They're little like whatever fictional creatures you may have read of." Then, glancing from Alexis to the mural and back, with a slight smile: "Not to deal with that, specifically. You'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. As for what's in store... well, it'd ruin the experience, wouldn't it~?" She takes the lead again, taking a well-concealed passage through to another corridor ending in a similar stone door. This one's intact, and bulkier than the last, with no obvious mechanisms. When the yggdroid presses on it with one hand, it gives way with apparent ease, though the noisy grating on the floor indicates it probably weighs a (literal) ton. Here, grates line the walls; it looks as if there were holding cells of some kind branching off of the room. Was this a jail? The bars are several inches thick each, but something has torn through one of the grates violently. "Huh," Sept muses as she steps into the room. "It was here a few hours ago..."
Alexis Maaka	"/What/ was here?" Alexis asks sharply to Septette, before she levels her rifle around, scanning to see what could've broken free. No doubt, it's something nasty, and it cannot be far from here. "Uhhhh...who votes we get the hell outta here and come back with more manpower?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is keeping things in mind she does attempt to lean other tongues but it's a bit slow going even given the sorts of things she could download into her head these days. She takes note and fall sin with the others. "Humm looks like this one's functional?" She'll eye the bars for a moment and she stares for a moment. She's now looking about to try and figure out what's down here. "They seriously sent you into solo clean out places like this, and this is just the fodder?"
Septette Arcubielle	"Your opponent," Septette answers Alexis cheerily. "A beast of burden for the Deep Ones, you might say. They kind of went feral after the Deep Ones disappeared, but there was one that made its nest here. Was hoping I could pit you against it; show you one of the horrors of the labyrinth..." She glances over at Kotone and grins. "Solo, yes. When there were Deep Ones here. For months at a time, without maintenance or support. It was FUN." She doesn't sound at all sarcastic about that last part... Something makes a low, rumbling, gurgling sound and throws a shadow around the corner. Something big. Septette immediately splits into a grin... that fades the instant she sees what it is. A tall, androgynous, slender thing with white skin, loose golden bracelets hovering around its hands, and three eyes partially obscured by feathery gills sprouting from its scalp. Piscine slits adorn its neck and chest, and there's an old, open wound in the middle of its torso that seems to have been deliberately and crudely kept from closing with a jagged piece of metal. Its expression is difficult to read, but as it freezes momentarily, it seems just as surprised as Septette. The party has encountered a Deep One.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa pauses for a moment she looks at Septette, there's a blank look on her face for a moment as she hears just what the magical android is planing for her to do. She can get get and the fact that Septette seems to legitly to find it fun? Starts to worry her quite a bit about thing. Okay this was going to be a heck of a challenge for small fry such as herself. Then something else shows up, something unexpected and she stares at the thing almost freezing up. Oh dear lord is that a Deep One?! It seems it might be a Deep One. Oh from the looks of things it's totally a Deep One, and things just got real.
Alexis Maaka	That is /definitely/ a Deep One, even if Alexis has no idea what they are. She stares at the creature, aiming her rifle at it as it begins to drink it all in. "You're having too much goddman fun with this." She mutters to Septette, before she begins to draw closer to Kotone in protective instinct towards the younger cyborg. And then she begins to blast away at the Deep One, aiming for center mass with three-round bursts.
Septette Arcubielle	Any trace of amusement or 'fun' has completely disappeared from Septette's expression by now, replaced with shock- and, after taking a seeming eternity of subjective time to analyze the situation, with a blank mechanical severity. "Use the warp wires," she says, her tone curiously devoid of urgency. "Get out. This isn't--" Then Alexis opens fire, and the silent standstill between Septette and the Deep One breaks just like that. The pallid creature makes a strange gesture towards Maaka just as the first bullet punches through its torso, and the other two bullets slow to a crawl as the air around them seems to thicken. It sidesteps just millimeters out of their trajectories, then releases the spell, leaving the bullets to strike the wall behind it. The Deep One opens its mouth, showing rows of translucent needle-like teeth, and speaks in words formed from deafening silence, somehow blotting out the background noise with unearthly sounds that shape themselves into comprehensible words: "Metal demons, old and new. You would pursue me even here? ... Delay them, servant." Just as Septette starts to call up a protective magical barrier, a grotesque walrus-like beast plows through the wall to her left, forcing the robot to halt her casting and spring out of the way before it can tackle her. It turns towards Kotone and Maaka, showing branching tusks and a grey-skinned, wrinkled face, and roars thunderously!
Alexis Maaka	"-shit!" Alexis sees the bullets stop in place as they hurdle towards the deep one. She doesn't hesitate to break out bigger guns, launching a forty-milimeter grenade round from the underslung launcher. Point blank, it's risky as hell but she does make a move to get Kotone clear of the blast, then she braces herself for impact. Her suit's withstood worse before, but she does want to be careful. After that, she lets the rifle dangle on its sling as she swaps to her shotgun, chambering a shell and blasting away repeatedly. "Try and dodge these, you freak!" She roars, knowing the monster might have trouble evading buckshot.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is getting the clear idea about this they should be running. It's not however not going to be as Alexis goes in. Kotone supresses the urge toe get out of here at this point. She looks at the thing for a moment. She's not sure what to think about it but she does hear the words. "Oni huh? Fine with me." Kotone seems to be ready to fight she can't really run at this point and she's been slowly changing in that regard. She brings up her SMG and is opening up now, trying to just supress them for Sept and Alexis to make use of it.
Septette Arcubielle	Maaka's grenade streaks towards the Deep One, but its minion interposes itself between them before she can see it strike home. A muffled explosion and plume of smoke hints that it went off, at least, though it's impossible to tell how effective the explosive really was. Fortunately, the larger beast doesn't seem to have the same magical wards as its master; Maaka's buckshot tears through its thick hide, exposing the tattered muscles and bones in its flipper-like forearm. Kotone's shots also pierce its skin, matting the beast's fur with blood where they impact and causing it to recoil briefly. The creature lets out an earthshaking roar of pain and rage, then pulls the rest of its enormous body into the debris-strewn room, practically blocking the two cyborgs off from Septette and the Deep One on the other side as it bares its claws and aims a sweeping stroke at each of them. They'll have to go through it if they want to help! Arcubielle shouts something that's partially drowned out by the explosion: "... this way, Eremita!" "YOU BROKE OUR ALTARS," the Deep One- Eremita, apparently- shrieks in its bizarre tongue, cutting through the din of combat. "You cast down our GOD, and took away our Eldest! What more do you WANT from us?!" Each word Eremita emphasizes is punctuated by a noise like a thunderclap, a glow of nameless colors that dances along the walls and ceiling, and- to the susceptible- a sudden spike of nausea. Due to the towering creature blocking their way, it's hard to see what direct effect the Deep One's spells are having, but it doesn't sound good.
Alexis Maaka	"Oh terrific." Alexis growls, as the beast proves itself hard to put down. She goes back to blasting with shotgun rounds, only stopping when the weapon goes empty and swaps back to her rifle. She still has rounds in the magazine, and she goes back to firing away with it, pausing only to reload another grenade round as well as swap magazines. "Kotone, please tell me you still got rockets!" She calls out to her friend, firing again with the forty mike-mike at the massive beast.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is not sure about this thing and is quite worried about this given the tales about the deep ones on her world. IF they were anything like it. She gets a few shots in and is now dancing back trying to keep herself from ending up hit by who knows what. Then comes getting cut off from Sept, she ends up getting cut up pretty good the claw digs into armour made that to stop bullets. The claws dig into her synth skin and the machinery underneath. She lets out a cry and opens up agian as she pulls away. "GET OFF ME YOU FISH MAN!"
Septette Arcubielle	The furred beast's organ structure seems decidedly unusual: the pair of cyborgs land a handful of headshots between them, but either the bullets don't penetrate its thick skull, or it doesn't keep anything important in there. As a few bullets strike it in the torso, however, it abruptly ceases its offensive and emits a gurgling howl, trying to backpedal away from them before collapsing onto its side, and twitching violently before going still! Now that the creature is incapacitated, they should be able to slip past it. What awaits them on the other side is a gaping, smoking hole in the floor, easily ten feet across, and leading down into an ominously featureless abyss below. Septette stands on the edge, peering down as if trying to decide whether to pursue. She doesn't seem injured, but looks shaken nonetheless. Glancing back over her shoulder, the yggdroid smiles wearily and nods towards her companions. "Thanks for taking care of that one for me... I don't think it's a good idea to pursue, for now," she adds with a concerned glance towards Kotone's wounds. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I certainly didn't expect any Deep Ones to have ventured back here... especially not her."
Alexis Maaka	As soon as the monster is dead, Alexis lets her rifle hang as she produces a nanorepair syringe, essentially a medical kit for cyborgs, before she grabs Kotone. "Hold on, lemme help with that." She says, before she gives the younger cyborg's wound a little jab. The little nanobots should do their best to help stablize the wounds, and Alexis is quick to be by Kotone's side as they begin to go. "We'd better get going, I don't wanna burn through any more ammo at this rate." She says, before turning to glance at the creature. "Say..." She scans it, before approaching the beast with a knife. Yes, she is going to get to cutting some tissue and bone samples for research as a gift to Kyra, why ask?
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is not sure about the creature she doesn't really want to know. She does notice the shots don't hit something imporant in teh head, then she gets it in the chest. She watches it collapse and drop down she's not sure if it's dead. She's going to creep past it now and peer down on the thing. "I'm not going to argue with this, and wait you know this one? I'll ask about it later, let us get out of here before it calls more friends after us."
Septette Arcubielle	"'Know' is probably too strong of a term, but we've met," Septette replies, some of her characteristic cheer returning. She gives an approving nod to Alexis's scavenging, then- after a moment of thought- ties a Warp Wire around the beast's foreleg. "More efficient this way- we can just teleport the whole thing back. I'll freeze it and ship it to Kyra later." She reaches into her pack for a second warp wire, and tugs on both ends of the one tied to the monster, making it disappear with a quiet crackle-pop as a demonstration. "Just use yours like that. Very user-friendly; they'll take you back to the geomagnetic pole." After that, Septette looks down the hole again, a hard-to-read expression crossing her face as she peers into the void. "I don't think Eremita is likely to call any other creatures against us. She wasn't trying to 'win'; just get away. She's done that now- no need to throw more warm bodies at us."