Scene #5055: Doll Factory

Owner	Pose
Celes Chere	Another call to arms, another trip to the 'World of Ruin'. That's not a very catchy name, but it's certainly fitting, especially today's destination. Located conveniently not too far from a Warpgate, the meeting point this time is the top of a hill overlooking large mountain chains, amidst which the ruins of a gigantic tower can be seen. Calling it ruins is generous, it's really more what's left of the ruins. The land here, more than elsewhere, is tainted, brown, almost lifeless, and the sky takes on a red tint. Looking down the hilltop, one can see, if they look carefully or have it pointed out, a few small chimneys sticking out of the base of the mountains, almost hidden behind a huge chunk of the destroyed tower. There hadn't really been time to brief everyone on the nature of the mission, so Celes takes care of it, figuring Terra will fill in any holes if needed. "I'm sorry for the short notice," she says to everyone. "But if this is really a Magitek factory, that means they have an Esper, or are going to need to get one for production to get anywhere. In both cases, time is of the essence. We don't know for sure what they're making. It could be Magitek Armor, it could be automatons, it could even be Magitek Knights like myself. But it can't be good. So... the objective is very simple. We go in, we destroy everything that looks like it could be used to make stuff, and we make sure it can't be repaired. Capture or kill at your leisure, the people inside won't do you any favors. If some of you can feel magic, then please guide us. Something like an Esper is bound to be visible to you and would lead us right to the core of the factory." She glances towards Terra and Kyra. "When we're ready, the three of us can cast Float on everyone and we'll just hop off this cliff. You can't see them from up here but the blast doors going in are behind," she points towards a massive, broken stone pillar, "there."
Kyle Katarn	Kyle's already present. decked out in black tactical gear that looks like a mix between Rebel and New Republic issued equipment, and more modern Terran kit, a BDU with a vest and that iconic Rebel scout helmet as well as a blaster rifle with a scope attached, configured as a carbine. Sharp eyes may notice it's really just a DH-17, with a collapsible stock welded to the back and given rails bolted onto the hand guard, complete with tactical light and angled grip. "I got the Force, might be close enough in this case." He comments, nodding to Celes when she gives her briefing.
Kyra Hyral	From Kyra's limited understanding of Celes and Terra's world, she can liken an 'Esper' to a 'Divine' from Galandia. So the thought of somebody 'having' one was a little mind-blowing to her. How could a god allow themselves to be leashed? And yet there had been some examples of this in the Multiverse. Her own thoughts on her own world aside, the idea of it sickened her, standing for everything that made science look bad. She's not in her usual schoolgirl-and-hoodie outfit for this mission, opting for a set of tighter-fitting light armor that's /slightly/ reminsicent of a certain Carbunkle/Rabbit but not quite in the same black of her alter ego, sporting a more gunmetal grey. She's still loaded up with belts and bandoliers for her items and weapons. "I'm pretty good with the Scan spell. I'll be able to detect an Esper right off the bat, given how you've described what these are like." She does pause to eye both Celes and Terra, but doesn't say anything. Maybe she's cast Scan on both before? She gives a double thumbs up to Celes. "Of course. Just give the word."
Kirito	The job posting had been sparse on a few specific details Kirito tends to be nosey about, but the premise sounded good... So someone not normally with this merry band flies in from the nearest warp gate, approaching very noticeably from the skies and swooping down using the flight provided by fairy wings. The Black Swordsman tucks his feet down and comes in for an uneventful landing in time to hear the briefing... and have a look at who's gathered. As soon as he lands, the Spriggan's wings vanish... and he's glancing about at everyone else gathered here. It's a warrior's gaze. Sizing them up. Only Kyle Katarn gets his brows piquing. Terra's HAIR is enough for him to blink a few times at her, but he seems mildly pleased by it if anything. "Ohooo... You guys assembled a pretty decent party for this..." Cracking a smile, the boy's tone shifts from impressed to confident as he introduces himself. "I'm called Kirito. Saw your request on the Syndicate postings. Looking forward to working with you." Confident, but also a little hesitant. He's not so big on the 'polite' thing... And something about Celes' entire demeanor has him veering towards politeness.
William Pauwel	"Afraid I don't got any of that magic sniffery, but if there're machines down there, you can just leave 'em to me." Any chance to do right by another ruined world is one that Will can't help but seize on. The cowboy's about as geared up as he can get without pulling out some major firepower. Aside from the usual assortment of gadgetry, the Solano is holstered and ready at his hip. Maybe he can't do magic, but the likes of Edgar Figaro have proven that you can't exactly underestimate a guy packing sufficient amounts of firepower. "If there's an esper down there, we can't just let it sit. Heaven only knows what they're doin' to it." Or rather, Celes and Terra certainly know. But most every possibility is pretty god-awful. Will squints over the hilltop, peering keenly at the chimneys in the distance. "...If the smoke comin' from those stacks is any indication, whatever they've got down there is probably active." "Hey Celes, Terra," Will glances over, "That magitek armor probably ain't the end of it, is it? Should we expect a security system? Robots?"
Genji Shimada	Where someone in the Watch needs help, Genji Shimada is there without hesitation; Celes and Terra in particular have earned good will as of late. "It isn't as if I have anything particularly pressing," he replies to Celes with amusement. "The life of a wandering vigilante provides little opportunity for passion of Odotte! Maniax tournaments. I am typically free to help." He tilts his head slightly while he listens to the briefing, looking out over the landscape. "Would you like me to scout as usual once we reach the ruins?"
Terra Branford	Wearing lightweight armor and an obviously well-forged sword at her side, Terra nods at the statement Celes makes. "It... might be that the Esper is too far gone if you find it. Please trust me when I say that it would be better to put it out of its misery than let it live there, if it's too weak to escape. It is my hope that it will not be so weakened, though." Will's question is answered with a sigh. "Robots are... possible, but unless they've been manufacturing more, they aren't likely to be in good repair. Magitek weapons are the most likely danger we'll face. I'm wondering who it is in there..." She shakes her head, "All right, I guess we'd better get moving. " As Celes stated, a Float spell is available for people who want to just jump down.
Deelel	Deelel was worried about this affair she knew how dangerous M-tek armours were and how rabidly? Both Terra and Celes wanted them to /never/ be a thing again. O here she was and she was forming up with her friends and allies she fell in near Celes and summoned her keyblade there was a lot ot take in but she got the basics about its. She at least thought she did at the very least. So here she was and waiting to move in. 5R "Undertood Celes shall we get to it?"
Celes Chere	"It might help. I don't know," Celes answers Kyle, because she knows nothing of the Force. A nod to Kyra, indicating it should work fine. Kirito gets a different kind of nod, one of greeting, as she smiles appreciatively. "Thank you for coming. The more the better. We don't know what's in there." Terra answers Will's question, and quite well at that. In the end there's only one way to find out. Genji gets Celes to consider. "There might be another entry point, but given the state of the area it could be hard to find it. We'll likely need to resort to brute force this time, but I wouldn't worry. Empire installations are pretty straightforward." Well, that's everyone then. Celes nods, and no doubt alongside Kyra and Terra, provides Float for people who can't fly or smoothen their landing from a cliff jump. It's basically featherfall. It does not take very long for the group to touch ground and find the blast doors. Large mechanical footprints are visible all over the area, and there's not a speck of dust on the doors. Reaching the keypad to the side, Celes inputs some codes, and the doors rumble open. God bless the fact they ran out of competent engineers to do things like 'update security'. That is when three loud smashes resonate behind the group, as three suits of Magitek Armor land. They seem a bit better off and more advanced than the ones the group encountered in that camp. Not by much, but these are obviously better models. Celes frowns. "Tch. Everyone in! I'll handle them." Celes positions herself between the group and the three suits of armor, drawing Save the Queen. "Go! There's basically nothing they can do to me, so let them waste their time on me!" Inside, the factory is... sterile. Everything is shades of rusted steel and metal. Industrial is another word. Paths and hallways go for long stretches, built to allow large mechanical contraptions to move unimpeded. At the end of the main entry hall, there's a big elevator, and nothing else. The first level must just be an entrance.
Kyle Katarn	Float is very useful, as Kyle leaps fearlessly over the cliff only for his fall to slow. He hands, blaster in hand, about to cover the door with the weapon as he whirls back to see the Magitek armor arrive. "Damn, so much for stealth." He mutters, taking off a couple of potshots at the machines. Looking incredulously at Celes, Kyle is about to go back her up before she encourages the others to keep going. "You cannot be serious." He says, regretting leaving her to fend for herself. Damn that heroic urge of his. He shakes his head, before he takes off toward the elevator, rifle raised as he makes a go for it.
Genji Shimada	"That suits me just fine as well," Genji replies to Celes, giving his shortblade a brief flourish. "Sometimes it's nice to act in the open." Down they go, and there's the door, and... there's the welcoming committee. The shinobi hesitates for a moment, looking between Celes and the armors; but she's pretty insistent these things can't hurt her, so he just gives the mage knight a nod and turns to head in. He'll stick... not quite in the middle of the group, but rather on one side, where he can see around everyone else and has a clear shot at anyone apporaching or following. Of the main entry hall, Genji observes, "Hm. Rather open. Keep eyes peeled. We don't want someone sneaking up on us." With a quick flick of his wrist, the ninja has a trio of shuriken in hand. Just in case.
Kyra Hyral	Of course, Kyra does her part and casts Float on all those who need it for their little cliff jump, herself included. She seems to be familiar with handling leaping with float and does not hesitate to jump down. "What? Are you sure you don't need help, Celes?" Kyra frowns a little but is nonetheless urged onward into the factory. "...yep." is all she can say once inside, "...this sure is a factory." As they make their way towards the elevator, she murmurs to herself, tracing her finger through the air before her, casting a Scan spell before her eyes as if it were a lense. She looks around with the spell before her, trying to discern a direction that contains an inordinate amount of magic.
William Pauwel	"Well, I'll keep my eye out," Will rankles his nose at Terra's warning. "Wouldn't be the first time I go into a ruins expecting not robots and end up with a giant the size of six barns trying to punch my bones into paste." Tellus is kind of Like That. But soon, the time for questions is over-- and the time for questING has come! The sensation of floating gently downwards is... unfamiliar. Not unpleasant, but definitely not normal. But from there, it's right back to being on-foot and making one's way into the factory, when all of a sudden-- MAGITEK. /SHINY/ MAGITEK. "Wh- Celes, are you sure?" Will glances at the magitek knight, his gun already drawn. His gaze flickers between Celes, the squadron of powered troops, and the inside of the facility. He clicks his tongue against his teeth and turns to go. "Y'all better stay safe. Give 'em one for the rest of us!" In they go! To... an elevator? Will 'huhs' and immediately goes to work trying to figure out how to make it move. Time to PRESS BUTTONS
Deelel	Deelel doesn't find too much to worry about she will deal with what they cnounted in here she has no issue with M-tek but Celees will hld them off so she heads on trusting In Celes to surive this fight. She will move with the party and heads for the lift at the end and she keeps watch on Kyra whild she casts a spell. Hey someone should watch her back right?
Kirito	The Spriggan steps forth into the factory, the wings that had carried him down to it shriveling the moment there's no light from the heavens to give them strength. Fairies can only fly under the open skies... But it's okay, even if it's a little gloomy in here. Spriggans have nightvision. And Kirito... Kirito is used to surprises. He's drawn a black sword from the scabbard across his black moments before the mechanical monstrosities even touched down. Indeed, the same motion has him vaulting AWAY from them. But what on earth warned him of their presence? Call it finely honed battle instincts, if anything. Virtual though it might be, the look of fear on his face as he rapidly analyzes the threats is pretty real... But Kirito doesn't just bail on Celes. He waits briefly... just long enough to see just HOW she is supposedly immune to harm from these things. With that settled... he presses on, keeping his sword at the ready. "She'll be alright. We'll have to deal with those things on the way out though if she doesn't!" He's not looking forward to it. ... Full metal bodies mean his sword will have a rough time of things... the Durability is top-notch right now, but... Well, no use worrying about that, right? "So how come those things dropped in on us? Didn't she enter the right passcode?"
Terra Branford	Oh joy, magitek. Terra knows something the others don't, though. She looks at Celes and nods, "Call if you need help. They might have surprises." Never know! She doesn't look worried though, and on the way in she explains hurriedly, "If anyone knows if they can take them on safely, it would be her. You'll have to trust her." Sword drawn now, she rushes in with the others, scanning the factory quietly at first. "All right, this looks... cleaner than I expected. Everyone be on your guard. The Esper has to be in a secure location. Even weakened it will be dangerous to normal humans."
Celes Chere	As the group goes down the elevator, which puts up absolutely no resistance in cooperating, they can see Celes already hard at work using her sword to either block or negate magical beams blasting out of the Magitek Armor. Runic is still OP, plz nerf. Going down the shaft, the group has a few minutes to chat and look around. Through openings in the walls they can sometimes see hints of an assembly line, though it isn't moving, nor is there anything on the belts. Through both the Force and Kyra's magic, it would appear there is no Esper in the factory. Which is unusual, as Terra might explain, because you can't make Magitek without an Esper. After a few moments, the elevator hits the bottom level, leaving the group in a large room. This seems to be where they stored the Magitek Armor, judging by docks and wires, but none are there right now. Three are obviously upstairs, but there's enough docks for fifteen. Account for however many don't work right now, there should still be a few suits. Come to think of it, there should be GUARDS, too. Or at least automated defenses. None of that. The group can move forward into the next room, revealing the factory floor itself, a massive room filled with conveyor belts, assembly machines, piles of parts and computers. There's a door leading into storage and maintenance in the far back, and a small office to the side that looks unused, probably where an engineer would stand by normally. This place really doesn't seem to be occupied after all, if you ignore the fact everything is online, just... idle. Then it comes into view. A smaller machine, clanking away as it assembles metallic circlets. They're kind of bland, obviously meant to be worn on the head. Unenchanted, not magical, but Terra couldn't mistake them for anything else.
Genji Shimada	"They were probably watching the entrance," Genji replies to Kirito as they move. "Or perhaps they simply came back at the wrong time." Sheer sour luck is not a surprising happenstance. What IS, though, is 'a complete lack of defenses'. Even accounting for the state the world is in, this is way too unguarded. So as Genji moves, he moves slowly, cautiously... and as soon as they reach the factory floor, he seemingly disappears. He's not actually gone, of course; he's just using the terrain, going into Ninja Sneaky Mode(tm) to quietly scout around just in case they're being watched.
Kyle Katarn	"That's...weird." Kyle says after a pregnant pause. "There's no trace of an Esper here." He has no idea what an Esper should feel like in the Force, but he does know what Terra feels like, which may be close enough? She obviously isn't human, he can tell that much at a glance...but that may be the Force talking. "...where is everyone?" He asks, as the silence begins to get to him, frowning as he wanders to the circlets. "Maybe the facility got scuttled."
Kyra Hyral	"Well that's weird." Kyra remarks. "Other than us....I don't see anything else here. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero." There's a frown on her face, "This is the right factory, right? Because I don't...sense anything. Don't you need magic to make magitek?" It doesn't go unnoticed that there are no guards or defenses down here. She stiffens up a little bit, thinking, "Uh, this might be a trap you guys. We should be on our guard." Hey, why else would that be the case? There's no esper, no visible security. Nothing running except for that one machine. Kyra scans that machine too which is assembling the circlets, but probably turns up nothing there either.
Terra Branford	"That's strange," Terra admits concerning the lack of guards. "And nothing? You can't make magitek without an Esper. Maybe... I hope it isn't dead already. Maybe it escaped? But then the should be damage." She is just quietly musing, her sword slowly lowering. She's still wary and on guard, but no point in holding it up like she was if there's nothing to fight. A thoughtful look takes over her face as the group explores. Right up until she sees the machine with the circlets. She doesn't shout or give warning, not even yelling for Kyle to get out of the way. Which could turn out unfortunate if he isn't alert to the sudden flare of anger and fear. More 'terror' actually. "FLARE!" It is not a fire spell. It is one level up, a tremendous blast of magic aimed at the machine, uncaring if anyone happens to be staring at it and getting a face full of magical energy and heat. The damage is focused entirely on the machine though, in a sudden snap from the quiet girl to a terrified, magic-hurling woman.
Kirito	Kirito hops out of the elevator, sword still drawn... but apparently unneeded. He's starting to frown now. WHO would leave a facility like this... clearly functional and in pretty okay condition... totally unguarded? There was talk of a 'Doll Factory', though. Kirito's eyes narrow as they come across the circlet-manufacturing machine. He's not sure WHAT to make of it, but he doesn't approach carelessly! That's probably a good thing because the next moment, BOOM! "HYAHGH?!" He leaps AWAY from Terra as she goes ballistic on the device. The Spriggan's eyes are as wide as they get. Just a bit freaked at her sudden, unexplained fury! The very next second he rapidly glances around to see if there is ANYONE watching them or moving to ambush, adrenaline heightening his awareness to the max! He's just hoping that Terra's not about to flip out and start blasting the rest of them. REALLY hoping so. "H-hey, calm down!"
William Pauwel	"Yeah, it's... quiet. Too quiet," Will mutters, immediately spawning a threat two doors over. "I've got a bad feelin' about this." That threat is now a Champion with fire immunity and a thorns aura. Of course, as quiet as this place is, it probably wouldn't be a surprise if something like that /DID/ jump out at them. "These machines ain't inactive. Someting must be powerin' them," he observes, peering up at the idling machines. "And there was smoke coming from those stacks. Maybe they're powering it with something... Like a coal furnace, or something? That'd have to be a hell of a power plant for somethin' like th--" FLARE Will yelps at the sudden blast of heat and light. He reflexively starts firing in that direction as well, bolts of blue-white energy streaking into the blossoming explosion. It's only when he realizes just what's at fault that he calms down. "T-Terra?" Will calls, "Terra, what's wrong? Was there somethin' there!?"
Celes Chere	It's odd, because no matter how much people probe the room, there's... really nothing to feel. Kyra's scan reveals that the machine is meant to be operating on magic but doesn't have any, so it's assembling completely mundane circlets right now. It's weird. Until some walls click, and Kyle immediatly feels the presence of other people in the room. A dozen, at least. Nothing unusual about them, at least no more unusual than Terra. Definitely less unusual. It's when Terra casts a spell that the lights in the room go out. A man leaps from an opening in the wall, landing on the machine with incredible, obviously Hasted speed. A sword flashes, crashing into the thunderous Flare blast. The machine, and the man, are badly scorched, but he grins a wicked smile when he lowers his sword, and his entire body lights up with the same light Terra's spell produced. Dressed in shades of red, gold, green and white, with a now on-fire cape, the blond, blue-eyed man chuckles, and this despite the fact he's on Flare. It's one step up from being on fire. Was that some variation of Runic? It didn't seem to block the spell very well, but he's definitely empowered by it now. "Well now! I thought you'd never arrive. I bet you're wondering where our Esper is, aren't you? Truth is, we don't have one. We figured we'd lure one here. Why settle for any random Esper when we can have the single most powerful one we've ever seen?" He's not wrong. "Now then! To answer your second question, they're all right here with me." Eyes light up in the darkness. Robotic footsteps make them get closer. Magitek Armor approaches from every direction. Occasional sparks from the armors cast extra light on them-- these are still in a pretty bad shape, but they were Kefka's stockpile. The ones he fielded in his tower. Better plated, sharper claws, stronger magical engines. "I'd really rather you surrendered. I promise we'll try to keep the pain to a minimum. Once we have the Slave Crowns powered up, you won't even care anymore anyway."
Deelel	Deelel @emit As they ride the life down nothing seems to be going too wrong or them but that leves her very unesy, very uneasy now. She grips her keyblade as she waits. She then gets off with eveyrone else she wonders where is everything? She has no idea then a idea hits her mind she doesn't ike it. Could it be a trap? Everything is onine and idle she paues at them and she looks at the circlets peering at them. "What are those? Some sort of decorations.
Genji Shimada	Terra's response to the machine is alarming, to say the very least. But the sneaking shinobi very quickly puts together the pieces, once the lights go out and the man starts crowing about his victory. Unfortunately, he has made the mistake of granting a cyborg ninja the cover of darkness. "Heh heh heh... hahahahaha!" Genji Shimada's voice echoes maddeningly around the room. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, do you? It's like a child handing an adult a claymore, and crowing that he has won because the claymore is too heavy to do anything with." There's a sound from somewhere nearby the man. A fluttering, shuffling sound, like someone moving quickly. "I will give you a hint - you should not attack a force whose capabilities you do not know. Especially after angering them enough to get them to fight seriously." From nearby one of the Magitek Armors, a trio of shurikens go flying - towards one of the OTHER Magitek. Genji is deliberately trying to lure them into attacking each other, and then getting the hell out of the way. Step 1: Sow confusion.
Kirito	The lights, who the heck turned out the lights?! Kirito grips his blade ever more tightly, scowling as his instincts scream 'trap' a good few seconds too late. He's all but cursing himself mentally - how did he not guess? If it was a game, it would've been a little more obvious... A bunch of information's taken in at once. These things are Slave Crowns. The term's meaning is obvious. And they plan on turning this magical maiden here into their power supply... Kirito's scowl deepens, but his mind remains clear. With practiced reflexes he lowers his weapon but extends his free hand into one of ALO's spellcasting postures. Glowing rings of spell words suddenly spin about him, each ring locking into place with the respective word he chants... "Oss náða nótt lysa auga!" <Give us eyes that illuminate the night.> With the chant for NIGHTVISION completed, the spell word rings combine, flash, and spread out as a brief gray mist across the party. Anyone caught by it gains the Nightvision buff, quite helpful for fighting in this nasty darkness... With that out of the way, the incensed Black Swordsman turns his blade towards the magitech knight. His teeth are clenched in anger, but he still attempts reason. "Do you have any sense at all? Even if you win this, you lose. A rescue party coming after ours will have five times this many warriors. So, asshat, what's your move?"
Kyle Katarn	Kyle feels someone, many someones, in the room as the lights go out. He levels his rifle at the man when he arrives, but he doesn't fire yet. Actually, once his buddies show up, Kyle just laughs. "You kriffing idiot. You have no idea who you just picked a fight with." "Kyra? Hold this." He tosses his blaster rifle to Kyra, before suddenly he flings his helmet at the man directly, like a baseball to knock him off balance. Before the hat makes contact, Kyle draws his ligthsaber, his weapon emitting the blue blade with that familiar whining hiss as he lets his lightsaber and the Force guide his way (and Kirito's night vision buff, good call there Ki), and he engages one of the Knights. Terra can handle the boss directly, this is her fight he wagers. He'll content himself with hacking one of the Duel Armors with a lightsaber, which is perfectly fine by him.
Terra Branford	This was a routine thing, really. Well as routine as it gets. Terra was acting normal, then... not. She almost throws another spell,b ut the green-haired knight restrains herself. "He intends to put those Slave Crowns on us. To have us fight our friends." It's a simple enough answer. It also likely explains her panic and anger. She's just shy of changing, herself... but that is something she isn't going to give him the pleasure of doing. "Don't hold back, anyone!" She sure isn't. The others are shooting or doing their own thing, Terra skips the magic since it would just empower him. Instead, her blade is out again, and she's leaping forward to show that even if Celes is the master of the blade between the two of them, Terra is no slouch with that glowing, shimering artifact weapon.
William Pauwel	Beyond the flare, there is... A man. Will sees him for just a fraction of a second, before the room is cast into darkness. Then he sees him just a little more because the guy's cape is apparantly on flare, and that's one step up from being on fire. "Slave Crowns? You're goin' to have to pin us down before you stick any of yer fancy finery on our heads, pardner." But then, maybe he thinks this small army of magitek armors is enough to pull that off. "Should have known it was Terra that y'all were after, after we figured out there weren't no espers in here. But y'all've bitten off more than you can chew! These folks here ain't nothin' to shake a stick at. Two've 'em've got swords that'll cut right through metal like butter!" Will grins as his eyes suddenly glisten with a catlike glow-- darkvision!? "We've got magic and cyborgs and whatever Kyra is galore! And... and me." "But don't count me out just 'cause you've got bigger guns--!" Will grins, the Solano whirling around his finger. Its light fades from bright, blue-white to a barely visible, rippling field. "It ain't the size that counts, or the menace that it's got, it's how y'all use it!" He fires at each of the surrounding magitek armors. The air wavers and crackles with every pull of the trigger as he launches wave after wave of electromagnetic chaos at each of the machines. If it's as effective as it was against the ones topside, then this should help thin the herd-- or at the very least, shock a few into temporary nonfunctionality.
Kyra Hyral	Sloooowly, Kyra turns to look at Terra, squinting through the Scan spell again. "...hmmmm." She looks back to the fancily-dressed man that hopped in, "Damn, it /was/ a trap! I wasn't crazy! Maybe I have the force too, Kyle." Kyra reaches for her belts, not busting out with her magic because she just saw the fancy guY EAT A FLARE LIKE IT WAS NOTHING which is bad, bad news. She didn't want ot test if that was a black magic only thing either. No sense to waste /her/ magic in powering this guy up more. Instead, she grabs an egg-shaeped object from her belt that looks mysteriously a lot like a grenade. This gets tossed to one side of the surrounding magitek armors. After a few seconds it beeps and unleashes a blast of lightning, basically representing a Kyra-made EMP grenade. "Huh, oh, thanks~" Kyra gleefully catches the blaster and makes absolutely no hesitation in using it herself, firing off a few of the shots at another section of the magitek armors that didn't just get an EMP at their feet. "Will! I am a /white mage/!" she says, VERY OFFENDED. "Really now!!"
Celes Chere	"You just had to make this hard! Come on now, we NEED you to make this work, and I didn't spend all that time creating a credible leak just so you'd come and leave! You WILL stay and fuel our devices, and those of you who can't will make fine soldiers!" There's just an hint of insanity in the knight's voice. His tone shifts a lot, highs and lows that don't really make sense. Genji's shuriken plant themselves into the pilot of one of the suits, who yelps in pain. He jams a green button in his cockpit, which floods the armor with sparkly green and white magic, slowly healing his wounds. The pilot of the second suit seems to be managing, BARELY, to keep tabs on Genji. Those goggles aren't just for show, but Genji is a hell of a ninja, so even with equipment, it's the pilot that's failing. The Magitek Armor lets loose a beam of fire magic in his direction, not threatening an ally yet, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. "MY move, kid, is that by the time anyone comes looking for you a bunch of us'll be fighting for us and we'll have enough crowns to replenish our ranks and build new weapons. Our old factories were powered by random Espers, think about all we could achieve with a powerhouse!" the knight replies to Kirito. Terra denies him further spells, engaging the man in swordplay. He's not very good. As warriors go, he's still wet behind the ears. Terra's glower sword cuts past his defenses a few times, cutting red streaks across his arms and chest. He starts pushing back, finally, his blade letting off violent Flare explosions with every impact, hoping he can push Terra back on that power alone. "You're making this pointlessly hard on yourself! You've worn those things once, you should rejoice you can go back to living without a care in the world!" Kyle engages one of the Duel Armors. The lightsaber cuts through the plating like butter, severing an arm already, but getting that close to the armor has risks in and of itself. Not only are those massive claws sweeping for him (the one arm that's left, anyway), but a blast of lightning shoots out of the chest too. Will's shots don't seem to work as well this time. None of the armors hit just topple over and break down immediatly, though the burst of electromagnetics interrupts the healing action of one of the two Genji is engaging, and causes one to start malfunctioning, its legs sparking wildly. It's that suit which, in retribution, has its core currently flash an ominous dark purple and black, before the air around William might start feeling... heavy. That's no beam, it's a Death spell. Kyra's EMP has the same effect as Will's shots, causing one of the suits to start fritzing uncontrollably, while her shots weaken the plating of other ones. The one she inconvenienced in particular manages to turn towards her, its core/cannon glowing a hot red and black, before a blast shoots out, right for her. Spoiler, it's Flare too. That's popular today.
Genji Shimada	Genji is very good at what he does. It doesn't hurt that with his cybernetics, he tends to put out a little less heat than a normal person, and he can shut off those lights besides. He's done so now, and on top of that he's careful to stay as close as he can to one of the magitek suits, so the other can't afford to get more precise. Some scorching on a leg plate is the worst he suffers; but nevertheless, an instant after the fire blast goes off, the cyborg seemingly disappears. Or at least, only for a split second. He's swinging himself around /behind/ the armor he's been shadowing, tossing himself up onto its back where he can dart forward and attempt to forcefully unseat the pilot. These men are too well-trained to easily be led into shooting one of their own... so the next best thing is to just steal one of their rides and do it himself.
Kyle Katarn	"Oh /shut up!/" Kyle snaps at the Knight, before he goes back to engaging this Magitek opponent. He has speed on his side, and also a lightsaber. He lunges forth to strike, then backs away accordingly, using distance to keep from getting slapped away by the remaining limb. He leaps high in the air, going towards the cockpit of the minimecha. Grabbing onto the remaining arm, Kyle slashes at the limb to remove it entirely. "You should probably consider running." He tells the pilot mid-slice.
Kirito	Kirito's teeth GRIND together. If they were real teeth and not fairy teeth... they might actually crack or something. That answer, the insane lilt in his voice... it makes his blood run cold and mind burn hot at once. His sword-grip tightens. The situation here is incredibly dangerous. Each of those armors gives him a dreadful feeling. Even damaged as they are, they might be a mid-boss. ... Which means his life is far more in danger here than he thought it would be. He knows nothing of these things but what he can deduce at a glance. Very little of that Knight's capabilities. But he dives behind some machinery for brief cover and futzes with his menu... equipping his second sword with a flash of blue light and drawing it the instant it's fully materialized. This is scary as HELL. Back on a bed somewhere in the new base his real body's certainly broken out into a nasty sweat, heartbeat rising rapidly. But... dammit, no time to think! "You crazy BASTARD! Down with these dreams of yours! I'll end them RIGHT HERE!" Tolerate this kind of madness? The Black Swordsman? Never. A furious light burns in Kirito's eyes. But since the knight is preoccupied... he targets a Duel Armor. The Black Swordsman leaps out in front of it, his skid halting at perfect timing for his low-held sword to gleam as his avatar registers a Sword Skill beginning posture. It gleams a frosty white-blue and lashes out with lightning speed again to draw a '4' across the machine, which promptly explodes with arctic fury. Icy spikes bursting every which way from the glowing trail it cut! The moment it stops, his second blade ignites. Wreathed in flame he unleashes another series of deep, seemingly-rocketpowered slashes with strength and speed far beyond the limits of sense. Flames blast every which way! But the assault doesn't end there... now the first blade comes to life again with a crackle of purple and arcs of lightning... The barrage continues. The lightning combo, then an Earth-element beatdown with the left sword, and a Wind-element slash-slash-slash from the right.... Anyone who's spent ANY time trying out ALO knows that this is flatly impossible.
Kyra Hyral	For a few moments, Kyra's feeling really good. It's all thanks to Kyle, in fact-it's a wonderful compliment to be compared to a genuine Rebel. She admired them quite a bit, in fact, from Galen to Kyle to Juno. All of them had left great impressions on her. But that moment is only in passing, the reality of the situation being pretty /pressing/. They have an all-out melee on their hands and she seems shocked to add, "Wait, they're going to put those mind control crowns on /all/ of us!? No way!" Then she feels a sudden spike of magic, her head snapping to the one warming up that flare-flavored beam. "Oh hell no-!" she cries out, "REFLECT!" She weaves the magical shield out in front of her just before the blast comes at her, hitting the shield with enough force that the deflection actually knocks her across the room, almost hitting the caped man, flying into a second magitek armor. The first, of course, has to deal with its own reflected Flare beam. Meanwhile, the slightly stunned Kyra rolls around, trying to avoid being stomped by the armor she just collided with. "Hey Terra, what's this guy's name anyway!? Who is he?!"
Deelel	Deelel looks to TErra for a moment pausing "Wait what users can be HACKED?!" That terrifed her so deepy she can't explain it furhter but she ode snot hold back she does not hold back at all her keyblade comes up and the lightning starts flying at the devices she does not want to even know if they might work on her ow not the thing need to be taken out. Then the lights go out and she's now on her guard as she moves to try and engage Deelel ius not going to hold back at all however s the warning are givenand wose there are the ME-tek armors to worry about she's going to try to do what damage she cna to the machinery here in support of her allies but man the EMP? That makes her feel a bit queezey and she's a bit more vunrable to the enemy's attacks. She's also thankgully giving off more light.
William Pauwel	The magitek armors... Don't go down!? Well, that's probably what happens when you add about twenty or thirty levels to them. At the very least, Will manages to shut some of their auto-repair functions off. Will blinks through the darkness at the decidedly uncollapsed things. His heart drops into his stomach. The air grows heavy. No. Wait, no. The air is actually getting heavier. Then, suddenly, it's more than heavy. It's burning. His skin is on fire, his organs burn from the inside, his insides writhe and crawl and struggle as if they were trying to literally explode from his throat. Will's scream cuts into a wet, sickly gurgling noise as LEVEL FIVE DEATH pours right into someone who has the magic resistance of a wet paper bag. He hits the floor... and proceeds to do nothing for a while. Well, nothing except 'writhe in agony as death itself tries to kill him permanently.'
Terra Branford	The blades clash, but the explosion is more than Terra bargained for, even if it was her power to begin with. The blast throws her off-balanced, slamming her against a wall with a wince and forcing her to raise her sword again. "I have no idea," she admits. "But I don't think it will matter. If you really want magic..." She is in no hurry to keep this up. SO she isn't going to try. The others seem to be holding their own at worst, but it would be better to provide some means of turning the tide. Kirito is going all out, she sees. Need more of that. "Bahamut," is all she says, quite simply. With a thundering roar, her magic flares up, and the shimmering image of the King of Dragons solidifies above her, glowing eyes briefly taking in the scene. The powerful attack is a summon, not a spell. Let's see how this half-assed Runic handles that, with 'that' being the beam of white plasma-like energy.
Celes Chere	Genji grabs a pilot, cuts his seatbelts off, and hurls him out. This gives him about five seconds to figure out how to operate the Magitek Armor! There are medals for foot movements, a bunch of clearly labeled buttons like 'ICE' 'FIRE' 'BOLT' 'HEAL', but also smaller switches and buttons that aren't labeled. The reason his time is limited is because the man who ate three shuriken has turned his armor back around and seems to be opening fire immediatly, angled up towards the cockpit instead of the armor itself. It's a fire beam. Kyle removes another offending arm from the machine. The pilot considers, and the Magitek Armor swerves, keeping its chest tracked on Kyle, as another surge of magic builds up inside it. This time it's an ice beam! Really, the arms might as well be for show, that cannon is the crux of what makes those armors dangerous. Kirito basically goes ham on one of the Magitek Armors. It's sliced apart in a flurry of slashes and elemental attacks, and after a while there's just sparking scraps and limbs left. Did Kirito avoid hacking the pilot apart? If not, you can consider that guy to be hightailing it to duck behind any cover he can find. Kyra finds reflect to be a pretty good tactic against the Armors, sending a Flare right back at it. It explodes. Violently. To no one's surprise. Deelel had some time to charge that spell, so her lightning bolt, impacting one of the suits Will's shots weakened, causes the Magitek Armor to detonate. The pilot hits the ground moments later, unconscious, but alive. If probably very badly burnt. Luckily for Will, that was the armor that was harassing him. Terra's action elicits mad cackling from the knight. "You-- you can SUMMON even more Espers? YES! WHY SETTLE FOR JUST ONE, WITH YOU WE CAN HAVE ENOUGH TO RESTART -EVERYTHING-!" You're not imagining it, that lust for power sounds eerily familiar. It's probably not a coincidence the toys in this factory are Kefka's. This is not an Empire loyalist. So how DOES Runic fare against Megaflare? Well... a LITTLE bit better than all the machinery in the room, that's for sure. Bahamut's breath blasts through the assembly lines and belts, scorching them into ashes. The knight's sword puts up a valiant effort trying to tank the attack, too, and for a moment, just one, it looks like the glow around him stops looking like Flare and starts looking like Megaflare. Then his sword cracks. He seems to realize this. He tries to pull out, but the sword shatters in his hands, and he's blown back, scorched from head to toe by being in the center of the blast. What hits the ground is a charred husk that could look like a corpse from certain angles. Now the problem is, everything starts shaking. He wasn't a load-bearing boss, but those were a lot of explosions in a very confined space. Of the six Magitek Armor suits: 2x were destroyed, 1x is hijacked by Genji, 1x is firing at Genji, 1x is firing at Kyle and missing both arms, and 1x is now bolting for the elevator because the pilot clearly realizes where this is going.
Genji Shimada	Genji slides into the Magitek's seat as quickly as he can - and without even pausing to think, slams his feet to the pedals. The good news is that this allows him to avoid being melted entirely by slinging the armor forward in a lurch. The bad news is that this is only /barely/, and the cyborg's back fairs a bit worse than his leg did when he was fully dodging. That's going to take some repairing, for certain. But now Genji is in a magitek armor. And that stomping of pedals has given him an idea how to work the thing. And he only has a few moments to spare before he needs to get the hell out of there. So in the time he has left, Genji is going to turn his new ride around, point it at the man shooting at him... and slam all of the buttons. All of them. Except Heal. He's not touching that one. That would be counterproductive.
Kyle Katarn	"Oh COME ON!" Kyle actually groans in protest, before he jabs his lightsaber right into the cockpit, to stab the pilot. Whether or not that actually finishes the guy off, Kyle's certain nobody can really keep going after a lightsaber to the chest. He would know. Once that's done, he sees Terra's opponent fall dead in horrible fire, and it's pretty clear everything is going kaboom. "We gotta go, now!" He runs for WIll's prone body, picking him up in a fireman's carry before he runs like hell for the exit.
William Pauwel	Will, still suffering the lingering after-effects of 'being stuffed to the gills with death magic,' dangles like a particularly lethargic sack of potatos from Kyle's shoulder. He's probably going to need at least a couple castings of curaga.
Kirito	Kirito's slashes were aimed away from the cockpit up top, but the pilot definitely had to deal with the splashing blasts of elemental fury there! Definitely wouldn't be comfortable... but he should make it. Kirito's not about to stab a dude who turns and runs. he's got WAY better things to do! Like spin around the moment he can move again - a few seconds after the Mecha crumples... - ... and get an eyefull of MEGAFLARE. /WHOAH./ He stops gaping and staring pretty quickly though. The rumbling is OMINOUS as hell. "GET OUT OF HERE!" He, too, knows the traditional signs of PLACE IS ABOUT TO BLOW, even if it makes little sense at the moment. BACK TO THE ELEVATOR HE DASHES, the moment that he confirms Kyle has Will...
Terra Branford	If Terra were the type to say 'good riddance,' she would. But she isn't, so instead she just... looks at what happened. Someone is grabbing Will, so now they can... get out of here. She glares at the corpse, but sends one (much smaller) blast of lightning toward the remaining slave crowns just because, bfore bolting with the others. "Slave Crowns are... a touchy subject," she explains in her more natural voice to Kirito and Kyle. "I don't like them." You think? It's not like they didn't kind of imply she'd worn one before. "Is everyone here?"
Kyra Hyral	MEANWHILE... Kyra suddenly cares a whole lot less about whatever remaining armors there are because she is just all /over/ Will. Both hands lay upon his writhing body as she channels the life-giving energy of white magic into him, starting with the aptly-named Life spell. Although he wasn't unconscious at the time, the Life spell basically was developed to counter various death spell energies. Once that has at least stabilized Will, she follows up with a Cure spell as she runs after the Jedi. She jumps into the elevator with the others, paying little attention except to making sure thatr Will doesn't DIE HORRIBLY.
Celes Chere	Genji slams ALL THE BUTTONS. The Magitek Armor fires out a multi-colored beam of, presumably, ice, lightning and fire, which annihilates his target completely. And causes the Magitek Armor he's piloting to start sparking wildly out of control and overheat. That does not look safe to stay in if you don't know how to open a panel or three and perform emergency repairs. Kyle is certainly right that a lightsaber to the chest is very lethal. The armor falls idle as its pilot's grip no longer keeps the controls in place. Terra ensures there isn't even a single surviving Slave Crown. They might not be powered but why wait for them to be? Just have to hope this was all of it and that they didn't ship them out anywhere. That'd be terrible, right? The party makes it to the elevator and rides it up, watching the complex crumble beneath them. They eventually reach the entry level and run out, coming across Celes who's in the process of knocking her last opponent out. She seems extremely alarmed at the fact the group is running our, things are shaking, and some of them look injured. "What did you DO?" On the bright side, the facility is thoroughly disabled. So that's mission accomplished. Maybe you'll even be able to get Terra to talk about things eventually!
William Pauwel	Life + Death = ...? Well, usually it results in the living thing dying, because that's kind of what happens when life gets added to death. Or it turns someone into a zombie. BUT IN THIS CASE, because of the strange interaction between Death the Spell and Life the Spell, the two energies slam into one another and fizzle out in a bright lightshow of magic power. Will might have stopped breathing there for a second, but now he's also stopped writhing around like every nerve ending was on fire. Instead he dangles for a moment before coughing up a spray of ~sparkling green cure SFX.~ "Uuuugnnnnnhhhh," Will groans. "Whyyyyyy?" Because champion mobs, William Pauwel. Because you had a bad feeling about this, William Pauwel. BECAUSE IT WAS QUIET, TOO QUIET, WILLIAM PAUWEL. The world is cruel. Its justice, poetic.
Kyle Katarn	Kyle has Will over his shoulder like a sack of cowboy potatoes, as established before. He looks like a long suffering babysitter in the movies, just after a long day of hijinx chasing around the kid. "We ran into some guy trying to make us wear some slave tiaras. You know how it is." He says, shrugging as he keeps Will slung over his shoulder, looking downright pristine by comparison.
Genji Shimada	Fortunately, Genji has no plans to stay in the Magitek. As soon as the beam's fired, he's leaping out of the seat and getting the /hell/ out of that factory. His response to Celes at the top, however, is decidedly calm, even a little glib. "The working conditions in there were atrocious." Sigh. "It's regrettable, but we had to close it for all those code violations."
Kyra Hyral	"Haha, that's funny. You're funny, Genji." Kyra's amusement sounds pretty genuine. But she only seems like she's half paying attention because she's so busy taking care of William, ensuring that he survives his massive death spell encounter. "You're pretty lucky, by the way, Will. Normally people won't survive that. It shows you've got some pretty strong willpower on you. And fortitude." That might not be a hundred percent true but having Will feel good about himself is known to improve recovery from death spells. Kyra's read the papers on it.