Scene #5068: Clearing Out Monsters

Owner	Pose
Kari Wolf	This part of the Four Caverns is a pocket near the confluence of water elemental flows and fire elemental flows. Though Neo-Arcadia does not have the expertise to manipulate magic, the creation of geothermal activity by this confluence serves the city's needs for geothermal energy generation. The place is awful though. It's well over 120F in this cavern pocket, with muggy steam everywhere. Underfoot are natural hot springs and geysers as natural hazards. The smell isn't much better, reeking of sulphur fumes and other dangerous gases. That said, it has a sort of austere beauty from all the mineral formations within. Assuming the locals don't kill you and add you to their ranks. The undead are thick here, and are also overgrown with crusty mineral deposits from the geothermic action here. They range the gamut from ordinary zombies carpeted with salt crystals to skeletons who seem to have simply been fossilized into strange walking mineral bones. Even the few immaterial undead seem to have been infected by the confluence of elements here; wailing haunts of steam or ghastly sheets of mobile fire.
No. 9	Steam, heat, boiling water, the roiling pall of sulphur, the burble and splut of odiferous mud. Potentially reeking, particularly and in this case literally crusty undead... you might have picked the ONE place that Nine's particular signature odor is almost entirely, utterly lost. Even giving the fact that the ever present rolling heat, high balmy humidity and the slew of chemical odors that are prevalent throughout the place is going to make it particularly punishing for anyone who might have to ride in close contact with other people on the trip home. For the moment however, the freshly washed nature of his hair and the high humidity of the place has the ratty, dirty blonde strands going crazy, the utterly grown out mop of a long-gone-to-seed mullet is even more a tangled, frazzled mess than it usually is, leading the mutated hulk of a troglodytic degenerate monster to look like a cross between a barbie and a my little pony doll let into the none-too-tender hands of a four year old a little too long. It's honestly a little... painful, to look upon. "Phhh-h." Blowing the hair out of his face, the scarred lines and wrinkles dance across that ugly leathery skin, those stained dark eyes with their glowing irises turn towards the ceiling, all around those bare rock walls, and down across the mostly blinding wall of steam that the group will all too soon be wading in to, propping the very large, very clunky, very blocky and very awkward weapon he's bearing, one he isn't usually seen with on his shoulder. If we were honest with ourselves, it looks like the kind of cardboard-and-duct-tape hackjob one might see by one of the more B or C listers at a con. "Well, shit." Thank you once again for such an eloquent observation Nine. Both informative and relevant in turn. Slow clap.
Corona Arclite	The steampunk buggy pulls up a few meters away from the section they're suppose to be clearing out. Corona stands up between the rails of the rollcage to hold up a pair of greebly binoculars to her eyes and take a look. Flicks back an ear with annoyance at what she sees. "Looks like the walkin' dead's adaptin' to the local environ." Then tosses the binoculars over her shoulder into the back seat and grabs her hat as she jumps out. "Com'n Hopalong. We got some undead varmits to wrangle up." The magitech jackalope emits a hissing reply, and stuffs a few more lumps of coal down its mouth before clamoring out of the vehicle and bounding after its maker. Corona pulls out Forgesweeper, cocking the shotgun one-handed then flipping it into proper grip as it's pulsarium power supply warms up. Neither her or her clockpunk companion seem bothered by the heat and sulfuric steam. Probably because this isn't much different from Brimsteel's own harsh frontierlands.
Taro	Taro is the highest ranking member of the Church of SHODAN in Neo Arcadia, and his blue cabochon holy symbol etched with its sigil dangles from its cord looped around his neck and overtop his armor. Though he is steeped in his faith's knowledge and rituals, and has personally communed with the CyberGoddess, none of this means a thing to the undead. Apparently this particular religion can neither rebuke or control them. On the other hand, Neo Arcadian plasma buster pistols have previously proven to be effective against the shambling dead. So there's that. Anyone who might one would have been allowed to borrow one from the city's armory. The android, mercifully, does not normally need to breathe, and he can dial back his olfactory sensors to lessen the assault on his nose and tongue. He's tied his hair back into a small stub of a ponytail in an attempt to tame it under all of the humidity, though it hasn't fully succeeded. He's also, unsurprisingly, sticking fairly close to Nine during this foray - the Golem is both ally and bodyguard, and so it would be helpful to both if he doesn't stray too far. "It is rather unpleasant," he agrees.
Kirito	"Man, that posting really should've said more about the heat... and the smell." Kirito quietly complains upon setting foot into the infested caverns. He saw that Neo Arcadia was looking for some undead extermination so they could expand geothermal energy gathering... seemed harmlesss enough, right? And like any good adventure, he can't resist the call of a good hunting quest... not with really good pay at stake especially. The new base needs funding, and slaying zombies to get it is hard to argue with! Except... for that... SMELL. "Uweh... I wish noseplugs were an equip... maybe some kind of mask?" More muttering from the Spriggan, but he unsheathes his blade with a practiced motion as always. A bit of minor grumbling does nothing to quell his love of a good battle... "Can't help but wonder what kinds of names these things would have if we were in ALO." The Black Swordsman notes airily, before he drops into a combat stance... ready to commit to the slaughter. He does, however, take note of the others who are showing up... looking this way and that. Nine and Corona both get examined heavily, sized up by the practiced warrior's gaze. The presence of Taro was expected, but he can't help but shift and fidget ever so subtly upon laying eyes on him. He can just hope that Taro doesn't hold a grudge...
Tomoe	Tomoe has to eat still and pay her internet bill after all. Or she's not going to be able to do much of anything in the multiverse. She was following along from Kirito and saw the pay was pretty good. Given she's a Salamander she's not /as/ bothered by it. "I dunno some Salamanders would love this plce but the smell...At least it's not actually in our lungs, right?" She falls in step and seems to be in a good mood. "Likely a terrible pile of hilarious Engrish?" she falls in along side asn pulls otu the moon cutter,. Crona she knows Nine? Nine gets her wary given his history as a Confederate elite, she's seen the reports after all.
Kari Wolf	The undead sense the sparks of life... It's unclear whether it is a sense of hunger or a hate for the living that drives them, but the undead are drawn to to the living like moths to a flame. The brightest spark is that of Corona Arclite, who can see the shambling dead emerge from the steamy mists in no small force. Nine is more alive than the avatars that Tomoe and Kirito are using, and so draws mineral-enriched zombies and skeletons towards Taro and himself. Finally, the dim threads of life that make whatever the ALO avatars work in the Multiverse draw a few walkers who have clearly seen better days. No sign of the more intelligent immaterial undead yet though. Perhaps they're waiting to see which of the new prey is weakened the most by the common mindless dead...?
No. 9	To Kirito's eyes, Nine would scream tank. Maybe a bit slow, probably rather strong, and notoriously hard to take down from a combination of toughness as well as meatiness that would be rather... well, not so much hard to handle so much as frustrating to have to deal with. Also ugly crazy degenerate and he stinks, so a battle not only frustratingly long but also frustratingly... frustrating. The optional boss they put in to punish you for seeking out hard-to-find optional bosses. One of /those/. Now mind, Nine is used to being stared out. He figures if someone else wants to hurt their eyes bouncing their gaze off his ugliness then hey, why not. But the glance that's thrown Taro's way gets the degenerate cyborg brindling up tight, baring surprisingly white, blunt teeth and clacking them threateningly at Kirito, his eyes blazing brighter. Hss! As for Tomoe, warily eyeing the ex-Confederate soldier isn't necessarily the worst idea. He has quite the reputation, and a whole lot of it is well earned. But the glances and wariness is entirely forgotten as the mass of undead menace turn towards him... and Taro. And Nine is put in a uniquely stressful position. Normally the bodyguard protects from damage. Nine is in the unique position of putting Taro in danger by the simple fact of being a technically organic being with life signs and body heat. Um. Well. Crap. And seeing the undead round on him and, much much much much much more importantly Taro, the GOLEM-style ANMC bulks and hisses once more, his expression getting frankly, CRAZY, in the face of all that animosity towards his adopted brother and friend. "Right. Taro. Do me a ffff-f-f-favor, use this," And then Taro is being handed that big big clunky ass weapon. "Hypervelocity. Magnetic railgun. Super sonic rounds. Good for groups. I won't be... mindful, enough t' use it." Because his bro is in danger. He feels his sanity slipping pretty damn quick.
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite didn't realize so many people here were cyborgs or artifical lifeforms of some kind! ... Though in hindsight, considering the population of Neo-Arcadia it maybe shouldn't of been such a surprise that most of the lifeforce brains craving freaks are attracted in her direction. Oh well. Hardly the first time she was a bit over her head. "Y'all ain't gettin' no dinner outta -this- little grey fox!" But shouting is quickly drowned out by the furious retort as she fires off Forgesweeper twice in quick succession, sending a scatterblast of zorching hot plasma spraying towards the horde. "Get down," she snaps at her sidekick between firing rounds. Ears swivel back as Hopalong crouchs down close to the ground, making an even lower profile of itself. There's a faint buzz and click as his leg mechanics prime, ready to launch at the first things to get through Corona's barrage of firepower.
Taro	"Does the VR simulation include olfactory input?" Taro asides to Kirito and Tomoe. Neither the young man's acceptance of the job nor his presence here has been ignored, if Kirito's looking for a sign on where they stand. "If so, then I will note that for the next firmware update." He cuts off any further light conversation as the sounds of shambling grow nearer. The heat and humid obscure his vision past a point that's far too close for his liking, and so he tries to keep track of the location of the others as the first of the undead appear out of the mist. He moves to draw his buster pistols from their clips, but then unexpectedly his 'brother' instead presses that great hulking rifle of his into his hands. Ungainly and badly balanced, he finds as he hoists it onto his right shoulder, but he voices no complaint. "Don't wander too far." He knows what's likely going to happen next, and all he can do is pray that Nine doesn't lose too much control too quickly. There's a definite hum as the weapon powers up, and Taro braces himself as he lines up the nearest knot of skeletons and zombies in the weapon's targeting sights. Even so, the first firing nearly lands the android on his armored prosterior. That Corona is drawing more attention than the others isn't going to go unnoticed, but for now he's going to concentrate on felling the ones closest to his side of the cavern.
Kirito	"... Oh... come on..." Kirito makes a face at Tomoe's answer. Are the monster names really that bad? "How about... <Encrusted Ravager>...?" As he attempts to pronounce the English though, it does indeed come out pretty awkwardly due to his accent. He might know how to read the words and what they mean, but that definitely doesn't mean he's good at pronouncing them. Anything to distract him from the freakish look that Nine just sent his way. Kirito suppresses a shudder. What is WRONG with that guy? ... Other than 'everything', a sarcastic inner monologue of his declares... But seeing that the majority of the things are headed towards Corona, Kirito gulps. "Keep an eye on the foxgirl, she might get swarmed!" It doesn't take much for him to realize that the zombies are WAY more interested in her than anyone else here. For obvious reasons. For whatever reason, these zombies don't trigger his loathing and fear much. Not like the ones from a few days ago... or those of a few years ago. These are clearly not ex-people to his brain the way a plague-ravaged city's population was. For all he knows they were summoned from the Plane of Zombie. So he takes a combat stance without fear, and allows his sword to ignite with a frosty gale and white-blue energies! he rushes towards the nearest group and lashes out with a tremendously powerful and speedy blow his arm alone couldn't have managed, a deep thrust. Icy crystals splatter evey which way in the air following the strike... but the sword changes direction abrubtly and cuts sideways, then down, up... and with a final motion he YANKS the blade free by cutting up and out through the zombie and swinging wide to his side to clop another hard on the head with the remnants of the ice-burst! The ice-elemental Sword Skill, 'Savage Fulcrum.' The shockwave's enough to strike several zombies bunched up....
Tomoe	Tomoe is not going to be hositle to Nine, but she's going to be very much on her guard for trouble. She falls in she noties Corona nad gives her a grin for a moment. "Good to see your alive Corona!" The tank is chipper and she looks taro for a moment "Yes, it similates everything, or the victems of SAO would have gone insane from sensory input issues." "No no that wasn't too bad, I mean more like things that were unintional lewd names." To think Tomoe has always had a standing offer on English and honesly Kirito's been a big help with her Japanese too. Tomoe is not afraid of the Zombies but she's cautious she always is and she then launches into the attacks with her Naginata she's not doing taking todaty it seems.
Kari Wolf	The barrage of firepower from Corona results in many undead exploding into dangerous shrapnel of mineral shards. The same goes for the ones blown apart by the King Golem's weapon as used by Taro. While the hardness of the shards varies wildly, they're going to probably get into joints and scratch up any exposed soft tissues. It won't be terribly fun. The first few zombies sliced up by Kirito go down, in spite of the hideous scraping noise of the mineral-shot dead flesh against the blade. The ones that are hit by the shockwave elemental technique though, shatter much like the undead that were shot by his allies. Tomoe has a slightly easier time with her naginata, avoiding the worst of any backlash from dying undead due to the reach of the weapon. Nine is pressed in on all sides by the unquiet dead, with sharpened talons scraping greedily at the golem's flesh. Now that the undead are closer, the extermination team can see tiny blue pinpoints of light in empty sockets, gleaming with an undying hate for the living. Though individually they fall quickly, there is a horde of them here, and what ones do find openings in the offense of the party members lunge with open maws and outstretched arms to attack.
No. 9	What is wrong with Number Nine? Well. That's quite a list. Probably first off is a general bad mental state borne of various chemical imbalances that would've been best addressed in youth that, in an adult male led to negative self destructive impulses and a sort of ambient soul fatigue a little to the left of depression and to the right of chronic fatigue paired with a genetic predisposition towards lowered seratonin levels and a susceptibility to habit forming substances and situations as a method of coping. Add three or four pumps of laziness, a shot of feeling sorry for himself, a twist of incredibly empty gaping self esteem issues, a brief zestful grating of bad life choices, and a carefully measured out draught of one incredibly horrific bad decision, heavily infused with both self loathing and guilt over the fact that it was his decision, and therefore ultimetly exactly his fault. Mix with ice, shake, strain through 72 hours of unmedicated deeply invasive full body surgery minus any and all sorts of painkillers or anything resembling a bedside manner and the introduction into his body of an empathically emphatically hostile life hating semi-sentient partially colonial awakened hostile organelle, followed by extensive gaslighting, both sensory deprivation and overload oriented torture, sleep food and contact deprivation and copious amounts of dehumanizing brainwashing... add some muddled sugar and mint, and you have the world's most fucked up mojito. Enjoy. Please imbibe responsibly. As for Nine? His answer is to bare those all-too-human-teeth and ROAR, a rasping, half mechanical sound and a loud echoing call of trepidation, shaking hatred, madness and a brash bravado of shaken warning, and launch himself at the nearest group. His overlong arms brush the ground with thick metallic fingertips as he closes in, one hand clamping around the ankle of one of those half fossilized skeletal shamblers which would abruptly find itself being utilized as a particularly ungainly and knobbly club, whipped at and then through a couple of the particularly crubbly zombie shamblers like a miniboss in a beatemup with a heavy chain. He lashes at the horde rising before him, that unholy howl of his continuing even as the flecked saliva builds at the side of his lip, his eyes blazing crazily as the group closes in. And yet his eyes keep drifting towards Taro. Honestly if the horde drew him down and devoured him, his thoughts would only be to his friends and to the horror of the bio-outbreak that would be unleashed if the containment field he utilized were to fully fail, trigguring a NM outbreak. Fun.
Kirito	THESE ZOMBIES EXPLODE AND SPRAY HARMFUL FRAGMENTS! That's terrifying. Kirito winces fiercely as he's pelted by the crystal and rock shards. They shave off chunks of HP, but nothing his Battle Healing can't handle in a flash. Still... pain has become a thing, more and more, that he must deal with. This little amount won't stagger him though. Instead of getting stunlocked by this he twists his second weapon into action. It shines with radiant light as he LUNGES through the formation as though rocket-propelled. This one's element is Light, and it draws a shining trail through the air.... He comes to a halt only to hear Nine's bestial ROAR. THAT gets the Spriggan's eyes going WIDE open. Nine is very quickly shuffled onto Kirito's 'most worrisome dudes in the Multiverse' list, mentally...
Corona Arclite	As the first zombies through the barrage of plasma lunge towards Corona's position there's a loud mechanical bang not unlike a cannon going off. Save it's not a cannon, just the tensed gears and springs releasing to send Hopalong rocketing over the rocky terrain at the front of the approaching horde. Slamming into the lead zombie like a jackalope shaped rocket it leaps off and into the rest of the group in a whirlwind of mechanized fury, lashing out with shovel-like forepaws and jackhammering kicks. "Atta boy, keep 'em busy!" Corona flips her shotgun around and shoves it back into it's sling as she turns and scampers back to the buggy she rode in on. She doesn't want to be out in the open if these things are gonna spew rock shards and viscera every time one of them dies! There's plenty of ducking and dodging as is before she vaults over the rollcage and drops back into the driver's seat, kicking a lever as she does to rev the steam and pulsarium driven engine back up. She's got something to deal with such a target rich environment but it needs a moment to wind up to speed, hopefully Hopalong can keep bashing zombies long enough for it to do so.
Taro	Taro rights himself with a grunt that's equal parts irritation and effort, and dials back the audio in his right ear. Nine, Tomoe, and Kirito are all manning the front lines, which works well and fine for their respective fighting styles (or general mayhem in Nine's case) but not as well when one's trying to lay down cover fire with an imprecise weapon. Particularly one meant to be wielded by someone with considerably more mass. If he has been handed what's effectively a turret, then better that he start using it like one. And since so far he's not been attracting much attention on his own... He crab-walks over to a stumpy stalagmite or otherwise builtup mass of mineral and stone and kneels down, the upper crust crunching in protest as he sets the underside of the rifle atop it. Firing angle, accounting for ceiling, is less than ideal. Still. The rifle hums again as it finishes charging, and he triggers another blast in an attempt to land it further back behind the front lines.
Tomoe	Tomoe knows the wonders of having reach and is loving making use of it. These undead don't bother her too much there is a shudder but it's not like the sort from a Romero film that would be harrowing to her. Or those say from Priscilla's home world. Those things still gave her nightmare. She keeps moving and is almost dancing, people might take notices that she's a lot more agile than one might think her to be, "Well if you got an idea of how to stop these things from comming back and lets be honest we need to dispose of these things after!"
Kari Wolf	The unlucky fossilized skeleton that No. 9 grabs and flails about with like a weapon is quickly battered into broken chunks of stone-like bones as it slams into other undead. It'd be comedic if not for the raging King Golem at the other end. The motley assemblage of undead doesn't seem that deterred by the fury of the golem's attacks, and press forward in clawing waves. It seems that Hopalong isn't drawing the attention of the mindless undead at all. At least, they don't seem to react to the steampowered jackalope until it actually kicks them. By then it is generally too late for the more brittle undead being to react to the more sturdily constructed Hopalong. But the ones that are missed or otherwise unharmed by Hopalong simply continue straight towards the gray fox and her ride. Taro's efforts aren't in vain, as the rail rifle takes out a knot of undead that were swifter on their feet than their fellows; ones that were headed for Corona and Number Nine to boot. There's a pretty pile of pulverized minerals and body parts to speak for Taro's work, onerous though it may be to wield the giant rifle. The shadows seem to grow longer and darker around Taro's perch though, like ink running and pooling of its own volition. Kirito's Light-based elemental attack is far more effective in that it disintegrates the flesh from around the minerals, leaving intact crystals and nodes. The undead seem to be thinning out around the swordsman and Tomoe through their combined efforts. Heads are rolling from the naginata swings and the undead aren't quite able to keep up with the more nimble Tomoe.
No. 9	Claws don't bother him. He heals, he's scarred. He's fucked up anyway. The thing that he isn't paying attention to and SHOULD be is the sheer press of former human flesh. See most people in this state would be dragged down and devoured. Nine is... a bit tougher than that. He's heavy enough it's hard to knock him over and teeth buried in his tough, leathery flesh are more likely to be left in the dimple of the wound then to rip at the GOLEM's metallically reinforced mutated muscle and hide. But the press, the wall of flesh, the tide of the undead, even for Mister Stupid and Reckless over here it's like beginning to sink in quicksand; if the quicksand were angry and drunk and trying to bite you. So sort of like 3am ex girlfriend bootycall quicksand. Which, um, doesn't exist. Nevermind. Bad analogy. He's getting tired of being borne down and crushed beneath the half crystalline, crusty groaning horde, so out of the press an arm reaches, ironically like a zombie rising from its grave. It is followed by an elbow flex and a hand settling onto a rather questionably structurally intact skull, which, predictably, causes him a bit of trouble when it caves in with a wet crunchy sound. But that is followed by another, that thick gore-smeared mechanical hand rising up once more, the intact lower leg of the fossilized skeleton propped across three or four undead and used as a brace to pull Mr. Big and Ugly up. A tottering big-ass boot finds a shoulder, partially collapses a spine, finds another brace and- rising his eyes to his brother, covered in glittering crystal and beslimed by half decayed blood and gore he looks like, just, the absolutely most fabulous ghoul you could imagine who wasn't decked out in epic pimp gear. Eyes on Taro widen, catching a glance of that rising darkness- and even as his hand rises, finger stabbing out he stumbles, halfway falling back into the clawing swell of undead corpses. "TARO-" and then cut off.
Corona Arclite	Some bits of stone and bone from the ones Hopalong smashes clatter against the riveted plates of the buggy while Corona is busy adjusting dials and making sure gauges are reading right. That's going to take forever to clean out of the cracks and seams later. Hopefully nothing wedges into any The persistance is rewarded finally with plumes of steam hissing out from the back of the buggy as hydraulics lift a cylindrical module up from the back and out over the top of the rollcage. A ring of six tubes extend out of the end, and with a click-clacking of gears start to rotate. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" That's Hopalong's warning to break from the zombies and dive under the vehicle for cover. Because moments later the gear-and-steam driven minigun gets up to speed and roars to life into a hailstorm of many, many, MANY rounds pumped out into the zombie horde. Individual shots might not do much to their petrified bodies, but take those hits repeatedly is going to start adding up and cracking through. Or so Corona hopes.
Taro	"I would give funeral rites, but I doubt the CyberGoddess would take them!" Deadpan aside, Taro's expression shifts from merely dour to grim. This reminds him all too much of at least one mission he and Nine had taken for Hellsing, and he even remarks as such to him privately. The thought then drops to a lower priority as the EM Rifle completes its cycle of reloading and recharging. With Corona having moved further into the back line, Nine is taking the brunt of the undead's attention. It would be easy to understand then why he mistakes Nine shouting his name as a cry for help. More mineral-grit crunches as he pivots the rifle on its improvised stone axis, bringing it to bear on the zombies and skeletons closing in on his adoptive brother. If he aims any closer, he risks hitting the Golem himself. Which he could no doubt otherwise survive, but not like this. "Hold on!" He pulls the trigger again, letting loose another round. Then, he reflexively ducks his head as Corona makes her actions known in a rattling of even more serious cover fire. In the heat of the moment, tt doesn't occur to him to look where Nine was pointing.
Kirito	"Haaaaaah... score one more for the typical undead weakness." Being a very genre savvy gamer can sure come in handy in the Multiverse. In way more ways than just one or even five... "Then... let's clean this horde up!" He shoots Tomoe a confident smile rather briefly... then sets his gaze firmly on the zombies rushing for him. The chance is subtle to the eye, but almost palpable to less overt senses. Kirito's stoking himself up, sharpening his spirit through willpower and focusing his killing intent like a third sword to wield. The more he travels out into the Multiverse like this, the more that the long-buried Black Swordsman emerges. With every mission like this, he regains his edge. On the 'downside'... he's a bit less daringly mischevious. There's no time to be too reckless with lives on the line. The rank air whips into a fury as he transitions instantly from stationary swordsman to a blur of black moving fast enough for the air to CRACK thunderously. Not even bothering to use a sword skill, he aims to swoop past a grouping of zombies and chop off their heads with his enchanted obsidian blade while moving almost too quickly for the eye to see!
Tomoe	Tomoe is just making use of attacks, physically she has some magic but tends to use it to support when she can. If she can melee? She's going to melee and that's just how it is. She dances around strike out. She'll even make use of caverns terrain to get about, with a lot of acrobatics as she goes. It's hard to think right now she's the GU's main tank with her moving likt this she'll even end up flipping over ont of them. "House cleaning huh? Is tht what this is? I should have used a broom today!""
Kari Wolf	The horde is consists of a whole lot of mineral wealth and stragglers at this point, with the combined onslaught of Kirito, Tomoe, No. 9, Corona Arclite, and Hopalong. Well, at least Neo-Arcadia can harvest the mineral remains of the undead here to pay for the geo-thermal tap and the assistance rendered. There's a field of destroyed undead between the six of them, with the stragglers stumbling pretty hard over the various chunks of their ruined peers. But Taro seems to have attracted the attention of some undead shadows. Perhaps the raw power draw of the huge gun futzed with their sense for the living? The shadows creep upon Taro's legs and back, bringing a sudden deep chill to contrast with the too-hot atmosphere of the cavern pocket. Electricity is being drained by the touch.
Taro	Taro feels a sudden chill in spite of the combined heat of cavern, weapon, and his armor, though he doesn't know why. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, thralls, those are the forms of undead he's familiar with, thanks to Hellsing. These are outside his knowledge base, and frankly almost outside his sensors' range. His first real indication that something is Seriously Wrong is when his energy levels begin taking a sudden and unexplainable drop, slightly slower but nearly as severe as a long point-to-point teleport. His armor's energy pack falls victim as well, and more quickly.He looks down at himself, and begins to bring up a hand. That act obviously slows, nearly coming to a complete halt as the augments slow from the power drain. "What..?!" He then tries to work furiously to ditch the armor, but he's fumbling. He's going to become a locked prisoner in his own armor in a moment.
No. 9	So. Um. Who wants to see a berzerker rampage? You? Do you want to? How about you? Well brace yourself. Get a drink. Settle back in your seat. Because you, ladies and gentlemen are about to be front and center, 40 yard line, THE premier seats for what is about to go down. Because Taro is in trouble. And Nine... he can't... he just can't. Now before, Nine had been... trying to climb. Over, out, he had been trying to climb. This was more like swimming. An aggressive lunge forward, hands going out straight and then hooking viciously to the side, pulling himself through until he hits a pocket of steamy, stinking, blessedly free air. There is a lunge, a crouch, and another of those rasping roars, and Nine is lunging at his adoptive brother, his eyes full of madness and his face streaked with gore. There is a blur of orange. Nine has drawn the gunblade. Now, the gun part? Probably utterly useless. The blade? Probably useless. The ionized force edge? Might be useless. Might not. Maybe 50 50. But? He doesn't care. He won't stop until his brother is safe, and so even as Taro is starting to bow and slow and shut down from the energy drain, Nine is in full sputtering grit toothed eye blazing ridiculously stupid overblown berzerker rage. Whether this will save Taro or just give them another target? He doesn't fucking care. Taro is in danger. That's all he knows. All he can know.
Corona Arclite	The gratuitous application of firepower goes on for several minutes before smoke starts to hiss from within the minigun's casing. Several gauges start to wobble their needles towards the red zone so Corona lets go of the firing stick before the weapon overheats and severely damages itself. Though by the look of it the worst of the horde is thinning out. "Tch. Minin' is a lot less fun when ya gotta fight for it." There's clamoring against the metal side of the buggy, but it turns out to just be Hopalong climbing back up into the cab once its stopped raining bullets. "Ah reckon," Corona gives her goggles a tug to make sure they're on firmly in place, then grabs the shift stick, "we show these stragglers what rocks -really- are weak to." The fox yanks down on the shifter out of P and past R and even D to click into place on B. What does 'B' stand for you ask? Seeing as a normal vehicle shifter doesn't have that setting. Well that's a very good question. Corona stomps down on the throttle, and as the buggy screechs its tires to roar forward, the drill on the front end starts spinning up to rock crushing speed. Apparently 'B' stands for 'Bore'. And with that quad suspension in addition to the drill the aptly named Boom Buggy won't have much trouble with the terrain or the obstructions of the redead-undead remains to tear into what remains of the zombies, and then just run them over if need be. If nothing else, keep them from swarming towards 9 while he's busy bezerking all over whatever attacked Taro.
Kirito	"heh...." With the horde largely crushed, Kirito does something Tomoe won't find odd at all... but others might. he swings the blades he holds as if to clean them of anything stuck to them, then slides them neatly into their scabbards in unison. The same thing he -always- does after finishing a fight... Except... CLUNK CLUNK WHUNK, the nearby clatter has him turning about to STARE at Taro's situation. "What's... what's going on there?!" His reperieve really didn't last long, but he's still trying to deduce what is HAPPENING so he can figure out a countermeasure...
Tomoe	Tomoe Sees that things seem to be oer or at least they are making a good deal of progress here as they hack and slahs. Tomoe no ends up spinning around like a tornado as she moves to rip into the beasties she keeps tabs on everyone else to make sure she doesn't end up cutitng into them. Deep down? She's really enjoying this? No she's loving it but then with the last of the horde are done she stops and moves to lean. She moves put he spear on her back and laughs. "Well that was a workout...wait what? What's going on?"
Kari Wolf	Just one of the shadows is disappated by the ionized force edge of Nine's weapon. Seeing as how Nine is much more alive than Taro, several of the undead shades go for the King Golem, warmth and life leeching away from where they touch. To those who are watching, it looks as if the darkness has come alive to attack both Nine and Taro. Grasping tendrils and half-glimpsed evil faces somewhere within the shadows. Corona's drilling attachment/drive makes short work of the stray corporeal undead, seeing as how they aren't nimble enough to get out of the Boom Buggy's way.
Taro	Nine wittingly or unwittingly draws some of the unliving shadows away from him, slowing the drain from his own systems. It comes too late for his armor - the energy pack has been drained to a mere trickle, leaving him all but locked in place. And he has no idea why. Though he can still move his hands, when he tries to clench his fingers around one of the shadows, they touch nothing but a sense of severe cold. "Energy drain," Taro gasps the words. "Armor...I can't stop it!"
Corona Arclite	After the last zombie has been crunched Corona cruises to a stop back by the others. Leans forward a little to peer at what's going on, like people are fighting shadows while Taro is sprawled on the ground. Groaning about loss of energy. Which is all she needs to hear. "Just get ridda those.. things! Com'n Hopalong." Corona and her companion both hop out of the buggy, and the vixen grabs something else from a compartment before hurrying over. "Hang on." Turns out the thing she grabbed was a crowbar, which she tries to pry the drained armor off with. Hopalong remains at her side, ready to chase off anything that tries to come after her while she's trying to help Taro get some movement back.
Tomoe	Tomoe says "The darkness really?" Tomoe isn't sure what to do about this but then she has an idea she starts chanting in badly accented norse as she starts to have gold words fly around her. There's this final moment when the spell finishes as the rays of light start flying at the darkness hopfully it will do something. "Kirito keep out of getting close we're pretty much a buffet if it's draining energy1"
No. 9	Draining is never fun for the Golem King. See, the Neo Mitochondria don't like being depowered. They tend to draw down deep, pulling up energy reserves, firing up the old furnaces and refusing to be placed into a disimpowered state. Which means? Nine? Is suddenly very hungry, very tired, and very very crazed. It's hard for him to fight off the Neo Mitochondria's effect over his mental state when he's going down and, through fighting the menace, they're going up. But Taro... Taro is soon gonna be rendered immobile. Helpless. He needs help. Now Nine's job is to keep his brother-monster safe. A glance at Corona as she's trying to pry Taro out of his armor. His own hand shakes as he reaches down, along his side, approximately at kidney height or so. Fumbles. There's a grunt, fumbling around, and a long drawn out hiss. And a rather, bloody, high tech looking extension cord is eased forth, offered to Taro, the light in his eyes dimming to a mellowed dark and rolling amber."Promise me you'll at least get away from here." There's a pretty good chance Nine isn't necessarily going to die here, but he's losing energy fast, and he's not gonna be very good for helping Taro out. Taro's gotta get away from here. Let the others do the fighting. Keep himself safe. The blood on the cord and plug sizzles and falls away, another tug unwinding a bit of a spool. Nine's a cyborg and all, but yeesh, that's a bit of a ghoulish attachment nevertheless. He's brushing back some hair from the back of Taro's neck, muttering in embarrassment the entire time- "Sorry, sorry, I know this is weird sorry, sorry I know this is strange sorry. Here, here here here um-" At least the fizzling water boiling off it would make it more or less sterile? Well, more sterile then it would've been anyway. Yes? Yeah. Um. Yeah...
Kirito	"Are you kiddingg?! We can't just stand there doing nothing!" Kirito's reaction is instantaneous. Even if he might not be very close to Taro, he's not about to leave an ally to fend for themselves while he just stands there watching. THAT IS A TERRIBLE thing to do! That said, what CAN he do? He can't see what's going on. But he can make a pretty sharp guess. They were warned about spirits... and energy-draining, ghostly touches points to one solid conclusion. Taro's being assaulted by something invisible. And if that's the case, there's one possible solution... He dives straight over to Taro, drawing his sword again. Once again he raises it into a Sword Skill posture, and once again it shines brilliantly with the Light element of before. But he doesn't COMPLETE the skill and begin its animation, he just lets it stay at the 'ready' position. If his hunch is right, perhaps whatever's haunting Taro will be repelled by being too close to something of Light element!
Kari Wolf	Corona's efforts aren't in vain, as she does distract some of the shadows with her aliveness, drawing several to her. It spreads the pain, sure, but it means an individual person isn't getting hit with all of them. Cold and numb affects those places the shadows touch... The shadows hiss evily as the combined light spells of Kirito and Tomoe hit home. It illuminates them starkly against the people they're attacking, and sears them awfully. Their incorporeal flesh bubbles and boils away at the touch of the light magic, destroying them utterly.
Taro	Finding chinks in the armor wide enough for a crowbar (especially since it had started off undamaged) is a bit tricky. Taro's words are a bit weak and slurred, but he's still conscious enough to give Corona some directions. "There, between shoulder and arm, where it meets the wing assembly...aah!" He twitches a bit as the shadowy creatures suddenly dissipate, not so much from painful chill but at the sudden lack of it. The armor makes click-clacking creaking sounds as locks are brute-forced open. Thankfully Nine is there to keep him from pitching forward while he's unbalanced. "Thank you..." he breathes. Followed by, "I'll be fine." Never mind his appearance being the opposite. "You don't have to..."
Tomoe	Tomoe watches as her and Kirito's diea work the beasts seem tobe no more she lowes one hand to make sure the things are gone. "i eveyrone all right? No problem honesly lets make sure these things don't come back, right?" She notes tiltingher hed and looking the caves over for a moment "Man it must suck do reovations break into a new cave and monsters come boiling out..."
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite shivers as she feels the cold presence, making it difficult to work with the crowbar a bit even with the instruction where to pry from Taro. "Hopalong... heat things up a little..." As usual, the non-living construct is being ignored by the specters. Though his photonic receptors can't see the shadows. So instead he just starts venting hot steam around himself, Corona and Taro to try and ward the cold based spooks off while the vixen is working.
Kari Wolf	There seems to be an eerie calm now that the corporeal undead hordes are so much dust and rocks. With the shadows sent to the hereafter by light-aspected magic, the danger is gone as far as anyone knows. It seems the mission was a success, albeit having a harrowing end thanks to pesky incorporeal undead...
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite helps Taro back onto his feet if allowed. "Got a bit sticky at the end there but Ah reckon we pulled it off. Now y'all can get to settin' up yer thermal generators and what not."
Taro	"You idiot." Those words are directed at Nine as he extracts himself from the now unconscious Golem's grasp. There's no venom in his voice. It's almost affectionate. He somewhat grudgingly accepts Corona's help regaining his feet. "Yes, thank you. Thank you all." Normally he would bow, but he doesn't completely trust his balance. A deep nod to the rest of them will have to suffice. "The sooner we can start building, the better off my city will be." He casts a glance around them, eyes lingering on the undead now hopefully fully dead, before shifting his gaze to Nine. "I'll bring him home." He knows that he'll wake up ravenous, likely raving. Not something the rest of them have to see.
Tomoe	Tomoe says "Well tat was a thing wasn't it?" She looks to the others as she walks over to them. "What? Your my employing letting you die would be bad for my reutation. Riught 'll help Kirito if it's needed. Whelp this should settle my bills for the month. So that's not so bad righ? We should get out of here though if we're not needed any longer. You know where to drop off my payment."