Scene #5164: The Corpse of the World Yet Lives-2

Owner	Pose
Priscilla	The nightmare landscape of Njorun's fallen remnant's, part physical hell of magmatic ruin, part delirious fever dream of undead plant horror, is probably one of the last places someone would want to return to after already experiencing it once. All but this group, however, have never had the chance to. After all, they'd never left; absorbed into the great tree's chaotically deteriorating being and losing their definition as anything more than extensions of it. Even smashed asunder over millions of square miles, however, Njorun is still so vast that there is enough of it left intact to keep exploring for years. That would be ridiculous though. Much of what was retrieved last time is still being analyzed, but all indicators point to the idea that Njorun's perpetually decaying ruins will not, in fact, be around forever. Taken out of its 'radius of effect', the samples actually seem to have settled somewhat, regaining enough definition to be, at least, scrutinized for what they actually /contain/, and how badly the individual components have been effected by their ongoing muddling with their hundreds of exotic counterparts. It's like Njorun's 'aura' itself is part of the process. The books are still nonsense. There appears to be the fragments of a code, possibly a critically important one, involved, but there simply aren't enough samples to make sense of it. The Infinite Library would be need to be conquered and plundered at a larger scale than the few disks and tomes that had been possible to swipe last time. Likewise, the Ring's data is badly fragmented, though at least generally accessible. The purest and most intact data by far, is that concerning individual Elites in a vacuum. Their training, and /especially/ sparring records, get worse and worse the more complicated they are, for whatever reason. People had wanted to see the Vaults, though, and that's the destination of today. That entails not crawling around Njorun's fallen boughs, but staring down its cracked open roots, split by the leaning of its own, impossible weight, which provide endlessly deep, pitch black holes into the earth, serving as organic, steeply vertical and winding tunnels. It could possibly be too much to hope that the underground transport infrastructure is more intact, staring down the lip of any of them, but it might be worth trying, even if that entails navigating miles of hot volcanic glass and sharp fragments.
Kazusa Ujikane	Once again, Kazusa Ujikane has come along. At this point, she feels obligated to see it through; obligated to plumb the mystery of just what the hell happened to absolutely sunder both factions' home bases in such a crippling way. A lot of people here might not remember the Union fondly, but it was important to her. It brought her so much of the good in her life right now. So it's worth finding out what happened, if only so they can lay it to rest properly. Even if that means what will probably be a very tiring climb. Whiiiiine.
The Kid	The Kid has returned. Not for any love of the place, nor for any drive to learn its secrets. Simply because he was asked to. But now that he knows that not all the dangers in this place consist of beasts, he's come more prepared. His belt is laden down with bottles of all shapes and sizes, various brews from the Distillery intended for dealing with whatever Njorun might throw at him. His trusty hammer is slung across his back, along with his shield. His paired Duelling Revolvers hang in holsters strapped to his thighs also. Right now, he's setting up ropes for those without flight (like him) to abseil down into the depths. He's fast and methodical, caring little for the vertigo-inducing drop that faces him every time he sends a rope down. The Rippling Walls killed any fear of heights he might have had, and the Calamity made sure it was good and buried.
Kushiko	Given what happened last time, it would be no surprise two things would happen: one, that Kushiko elected to bring along Nova Prime (due to her portals and other abilities) and Helios (since it, as a Sentinel was more scanning and data collection focused) and two? Ordis was still of course assisting in piloting a transport, albeit by forming a remote connection similar to what he does when guiding Kushiko's Liset. Said ships were being left behind, and both Ordis and the Lotus provided a command and control type of support to the Tenno. As far as the climb goes, she actually looked forward to it; the root and plant nature of Njorun's remains was strangely familiar to her, albeit you know. Severely fucked up. <"We can form portals as necessary and needed, but the momentum transferrence is not a good thing."> She would frown if her Warframe could give the face, but it's evident in her voice; even if it doesn't actually /come/ from the petite Warframe. <"I'd like to advance first a little. I should be able to cling to the root system here even going down."> Gorram space ninjas.
Haguro	Haguro is here, too! Again. She's far better equipped for an expedition today, carrying not only a more modern digital camera, but a satchel full of flares and extra sacks along with a grappling hook and extra rope! In retrospect, she probably should have practiced with the grappling hook before bringing it. She's fumbling with the hook in question, trying to find a good, stable spot on the lip to actually hook it on before even trying to climb down. "This is... A lot harder than it looks on TV. Can you really just throw these to get a good hold anywhere...?"
Carna	This is the second expedition into a deep dark place in the past week or so. Carna does not fear heights, but she has died an adequate number of times from falling to be wary of gaping chasms and bottomless ravines. Also, dark holes often have things inside of them, and she'd just as soon not face them. But their goal may well be within one of the gaps in light and shadow. As such, the Lantern has come prepared. She has purchased equipment with the funds she has accrued, including emergency flares, an electric torch, quite a bit of rope and some other climbing equipment, and some weapons she is more comfortable using than a short spear. A few mundane but high-quality knives are on her person, strapped over her armor and beneath her cloak, and she has both her crossbow and a healthy supply of bolts. But that is approaching the limits of her equipment load tolerance without losing mobility, so she is leaving the rest to anything she might scavenge during the exploration. The cloak and hat wearing dead woman does not seek to socialize at this point, instead evaluating the environment for threats, looking over the devastated landscape withs its emanations of death and decay, and paying attention to those she is with to get a better idea of what they can do. For reasons. It seems at least one of those present had the same idea Carna did in relation to climbing gear. Good. That will help stretch out her own supply longer. Carna raises no objection to Kushiko's scouting, and responds to Haguro with a simple, "It requires practice."
Metal Man	Metal Man does not like this place, not anymore it's twited nightmare and brings back memories of a very old threat one that still scares him over a decade later. He did nto voice this however and now he moved to the vault she needed more data and he kept alert this time several grabby copters were flying along behind him though should they need some help getting aroun they would have it. "I don't like this I feel like something's going to blow up in our face. Just had a lot of experiance with things like this. Forgive me if I'm cautious but I seen dead realities animate and try to kill us all."
Priscilla	Priscilla is, of course, at the fore, as is her duty as a leader. A proper leader; not one who sits at the back and drones out legalese, or one who hides in the shadows and sends subordinates to win or die by the hand of chance. Even with the partial map retrieved from the previous excursion, as well as the North Star, though, Priscilla can only try to direct the group so far. While the scattering of branches is easy enough to plot and reconstruct using technology she pays people to learn nowadays, the weight of entire small countries toppling Njorun from the top down has done a much different kind of damage to the labyrinthine sprawl that had once kept it anchored, and the fact is, they can't pick and choose which branch to follow. The lower layers of Njorun are unavoidably stacked on top of each other. "Do so." are her first words of the operation, directed to Kushiko's Nova as she busies herself trying to squint into the dark. She accesses a small pocket, pulling out a twinkling stone of seven shifting hues, and drops it into the black pit. There is a long, long period of silence, and then a piercing sound more like a shriek than a chime, as it confirms the drop is entirely deadly. For that reason, she has to appreciate the Kid's utter lack of fear of heights. Of course, living in Lordran, one comes to view death drops as sort of normal, but climbing all over them had never been her thing. For the moment, she helps out Haguro, walking over to where her she has last fumbled her hook and picking up the iron claw in her hands, finding a suitable spot, and then driving it in with tremendous force, before tugging the rope a little and confirming "Not precisely, but this shalt do for now, yes?" "Thine concerns art noted, Sir Metal. They art, in fact, quite well founded, and thus thou shalt be forgiven for them. However, fearing the legacy of the old is what continues to give the Union and Confederacy hold in our era. They hath passed. They deserveth no further sway. Let us abandon unnecessary deference to their perceived might." That said, she can't fly either, so she'll probably be taking one of the Kid's ropes down, after he's removed himself from the bottom. It's clear she isn't really a climber, but rope burn doesn't seem to be a thing, even for her seemingly delicate hands. The choice of root in particular seems to have been a luckily accurate one. Soon enough, its steep verticality starts to tilt into an up-and-down horizontal ride, as the twist from the earth turns its corkscrew into hills. The destination of more hiking than abseiling is a transport station; one of the larger, non-metropolitan ones. The decaying, arboreal walls converge in great number here, becoming a knotted ball thats sheer density has largely preserved it from the impact outside, and forming a cavern large enough to serve as a big city's main subway terminus. The myriad flags of unified worlds have fallen from the walls, jarred free from their poles, and leave a garishly coloured carpet of jumbled coats of arms and logos to trod across without respect. Decorative tiles have shattered in placed, exposing the warped flesh of the tree beneath them. Teleport pads are cracked, and many magical circles have been buried or smudged by debris. Even the physical rails for high speed transports have broken, or sizzle with dangerous arcs of electricity, where bridges and walkways have collapsed over them.
Priscilla	Down here, though, this deep, some of it still /works/. Here and there, isolated pools of sterile illumination emanate from lights powered by backup generators, humming and occasionally flickering, to reveal various transport methods in /some/ state of repair, albeit taking on a spooky cast when surrounded by blackness, and superficially damaged enough to appear long abandoned. Like a haunted carriage from a ghost story, they present themselves a viable, but menacing promises of perhaps leading somewhere. A central map of the underground still exists, self-lit, but with its holography sputtering frequently, showing the routes onwards. Most of it, quickly referencing the new data, leads to dead ends or open abysses now. The two most valid choices require either skirting Njorun's massive medical sector, that once treated arbitrarily huge numbers of Elites with near make-believe mishmashes of tech and magic to cure all wounds in days, or the engineering section of one of the city-tree's hundreds of titanic power cores, where unfathomable amounts of energy were generated through every promising source from any world that could be plundered for special ores or artifacts or superfuels. Either one of those could be incredibly dangerous by now.
Kushiko	Indeed, just as Priscilla and the others affirm it, the Warframe nimbly leaps. She seems to control her descent somehow a bit, before coming into contact with another root, armored fingertips gripping and sliding down. Energy seems to be channeled through her. She also gathers a ball of energy within her hands--casting tendrils and ribbons of light outwards--Molecular Prime, spreading a radial wave of antimatter energy to cast some light into the dark that her own suit's beam does not inherently manage to cover. She's also maintaining a careful eye on the others--she wants to be able to produce a Wormhole if one looks like they might be slipping in order to catch them. An electrical arc sometimes flickers from her hands and legs to where she's clinging to. Sometimes she just outright drops, before gripping again. And as she does this, she begins to relay data of what she's seeing up to the others. <"It starts going away from being completely vertical about--here."> Pinging those with the equipment. Explicitly stating the amount of meters for others. <"Seems to corkscrew for a bit, so it'll be good for catching your breath."> Kushiko has none of these concerns. <"Opening a few Wormholes to shortcut downward and limit the time you people may need to be on rope."> Indeed, such things are done, and they pulsate and glower, a flat 'panel' floating in space, with a thread of energy trailing downward. <"No hostiles sighted so far. Continuing to scan. Coming up on remains of a transit network and terminals. There's a map hewre, but it's barely operational. Par for course."> She finally ends up dropping, one hand and a knee planted as she cradles the Sancti Tigris double barrel in the other. Helios is totally scanning stuff if he can pick stuff up but right now Nova-Kushiko is maintaining a cautious lookout so the others can have a safe arrival and conduct the necessary work.
Carna	Following the descent via rope, aided by Kushiko's scouting efforts showing where is safest to traverse, and the arrival at a map, Carna sets about making a reproduction of such in her journal. She has no idea of the holographic projector is transportable somehow or not, but with a copy of her own, that matters less. "I think it is better this way," she remarks, on the subject of Njorun's status. She does not elaborate on what that means unless asked, and instead raises a battery powered light up to help inspect the walls and surroundings more closely. Between the two most viable options presented, Carna voices her opinion, though un-asked-for. "The fuel supplies seem the more useful option. They would facilitate a wider range of tasks, bodily repair included." She turns to look over the others, before fixing her gaze on Priscilla. "Assuming that we have come to secure resources. My knowledge of the details of this expedition remains incomplete."
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa looks at The Kid's ropes. She looks as Kushiko. She looks at the ropes. She looks at Kushiko. No portals yet. Pout. By the time they get to the bottom, she's breathing hard, shaking her hands out. Grump. Grump grump grump. You are so getting grumped at, Kushiko. On they go, through what seems like the crypt of a long-lost civilization... but for once, she's technically a citizen of it. She's beginning to understand how the 'sole surviver buried for thousands of years' feels on seeing the ruins. It's sobering, even moreso this time somehow. But they arrive at what amounts to a fork in the road, and after getting an idea of what their options are, Kazusa frowns. "...Either way, I don't think we're gonna be safe," she murmurs. "But... I think we oughta go past Medical. If we go by the old power cores, I think I'd probably end up having to use a card just to stay alive. And the only card I've got left is..." There's a little shake of her head. "Bad idea, using it here."
Haguro	"Practice! R-right. I... Will need to do more of that once we finish here." Haguro murmurs in response to Carna and as a mental note to herself. She messes with the grappling hook a little longer before watching Priscilla closely while she secures it, a thoughtful hum escaping the boat ghost after a few moments. "Huh? Oh, I'm S...! Ah. Th-thank you both. This... Yes, I think this should do nicely." She's getting there. With the grapplnig hook secured, Haguro seems much more confident as she starts climbing down carefully, glancing around every now and then with her shoulder turrets moving about slightly. "If something does reanimate from what's left here... We'll just have to defend ourselves and be careful." She replies to Metal Man, looking anxious yet determined enough to keep moving. With the options given, the ship girl speaks up relatively quickly. "Fuel isn't a bad thing to have too much of. If we can use it ourselves, we could even dig deeper around here and circle back towards the the medical area on our way back. Or..." Kazusa's murmuring has the boat girl raising an eyebrow out of concern. "We'll keep you safe, Miss Ujikane."
The Kid	Kazusa thinks she has it bad. The Kid is also descending on the rope, carrying enough equipment that the weight is probably at least half of her own. Not a single complaint escapes his lips. Though, there is a brief moment of panic where one of his bottles slips from its belt loop, but he manages to catch it and secure it under his chin. Once again, when the floor levels out, out comes the parchment for some rudimentary map-making. The holographic map is likely... out of date, but the Kid does use it to map out the subway terminus, marking out where the exits might be. But, which path to take? Kid looks to Kazusa and says, "Always go with local knowledge." But it seems that everyone else feels that the engineering department has more plunder of worth. Kid shrugs, he's used to being talked over. "We'll make it work," he adds, agreeing with Haguro.
Metal Man	Metal Man Says "I should know that better than anyone. You are correct in that fact. Out with the old in with the new?" Metal Man keeps his wits about him as he keeps with Priscilla for now he looks the roots. Metal Man pauses at one flag it's of an old but worthy foes world he moves to put the flag back up as it should be before moving on. A Final act of respect to someone who showed him respect. HE caries on with the rest and makes use of his innate agility to keep from getting to be a problem. He looked to Haguro for a moment as he tilts his head at her. "Right and more fuel isn't a bad thing no. Hopefully there are things we can make use of. Don't worry miss we got your back, She's right. We'll keep you save you have my word on it."
Priscilla	"Either shalt clear our way downward, for the eventual goal of the vault, but though I believeth the power core in the way of such a route is the largest detour, thou maketh salient cases. I shalt sanction this." Priscilla doesn't really stop to record the map. There's no need to. It was standard for visiting Elites, up until not very long ago. It really is quite a distance, though. There's the chance that it might be totally clear, and just a long, long walk. There's a chance they'll have to blow through a million emergency doors on the way. There's a chance it's full of even worse than the zombie simulacra on the way to the Ring, or some other, more subtle hazard. Ultimately, as creepy as it is, Priscilla weighs the options with a good minute of thoughtful expression, before reluctantly directing the others aboard one of the physical transport cars, reasoning "Shouldst there be issue, it is possible to disembark. Shouldst there be some perversion of magic or science that allows for instantaneous travel, we may not be so fortunate." That entails stepping all aboard the most functional-looking capsule car available, highlighted starkly under a pool of flickering, almost clinical incandescence. Priscilla pauses only long enough to allow Metal Man to hang his chosen flag, with a curious expression, and a subtle nod of approval, before hitting the power button in the cabin, and being relieved when it reluctantly boots up with a juddering rumble of magnetic engines, rocking people on their feet as it wobbles up to a steady posture hovering over the rails. Blessedly, the trip is made in quiet. Less a relaxing pause, the high speed plunge through the canals of Njorun's underground veins is a tense sort of silence, with the quiet whine of the engine punctuated only by the monotonous tempo of emergency lights and security stations whizzing by at tremendous velocity. The parts where it goes dark, or the rail skips on a fracture, are the most nerve wracking, as the speed involved ensures that a crash would be extremely serious, but nothing of the sort occurs, leaving the only part of anyone going really fast when it suddenly stops, their heart rate.
Priscilla	The power core is quite a sight. Njorun was too large for it ever to be practical to somehow generate all its power requirements from one, preposterously huge source. It'd be too complex, impractically maze-like, and potentially volatile, or vulnerable to attack, even for the Union's near-infinite staff to want to deal with. One would be forgiven for thinking this particular core is exactly that, though, as stopping by the fogged overlook windows, that encircle the entire chamber, and peering through the filth of plant matter, the place is large enough to fit a New York city block, skyscrapers and all. The tunnel to continue directly ahead is quite thoroughly destroyed. The other station is at the opposite end of the vast room, on the bottom floor, for employees to use. As-intended, every single bit of the complex is in tight, emergency lockdown, after it has read near total destruction of every single power line it was supposed to be providing energy to. All consoles are glaring their locked displays, all door scanners are prompting emergency clearance, the dying speakers occasionally sputter out tinny and badly garbled evacuation instructions that echo forlornly around the dim, monolithic cave of a facility. The floors have buckled in parts, where rotten sub-routes have pushed through the plating, and blossomed into flower bulbs that resemble electrical lanterns, both in shape, and the light they give off. Great cables with the thickness of small houses dangle from the ceiling, many completely severed, and oozing what alarmingly appears to be red blood, like cut arteries to a giant heart. The artificial ley lines pulse eerily through the bottom level's floor, like glowing veins, and some kind of stiff, crimson overgrowth has tangled all elevators, platforms, and catwalks, then rapidly died and hardened, locking them in place. The central reactors are much like the skyscrapers the room could contain, albeit studded with thousands of glowing lights, denoting banks of fusion generators, and a bank of converters at ground level that converts the magical energy syphoned from the earth into startup charge. Spent cores and fuel tanks litter the ground, jarred free from their slots from the crash, along with a handful of functional ones, still pulsing with light. Many more locks on the machinery itself are broken, or else hiss steaming coolant from breached ignition chambers. The giant converter, however, is bizarrely intact.
Haguro	It's been a while since I rode one of these... I hope it's safe enough." Haguro comments anxiously as their ride arrives, hesitating for several moments before finally stepping inside. Someone has to head in the first! ... It's probably just not her. She's trying to become braver, but that sort of thing takes time! It's not until after the capsule car reaches its destination and her fears of crashing are finally gone, howeer, that the ship girl finally remembers to take out her camera. She's still somewhat shaky on her feet, though, the stress from all the dimmest parts of the ride and the constant worry of crashing apparently taking more out of Haguro than she had expected. Even the sight of the wrecked tunnel and plant-damaged floors are a relief. "Something's taken root around here... A-at least that means it's stable enough to walk on." She doesn't sound all that convinced, but saying it out loud does help the boat girl prepare herself a little more for those bleeding cables. Her turrets twitch as she watches the liquid oozing out, and then... She starts taking pictures. The oozing ceiling blood, the lantern flowers on the floor, and even the bank of converters focused on the giant one. "What do you make of all this? Mm... Maybe we could take some of smaller parts back with us."
Kazusa Ujikane	Well, they're going down past the Core. The Kid tried, and she gives him a grateful look, but the majority rules. She'll just have to hope the environment itself isn't lethally infested with malignant energy of some kind. After all, The Beast isn't loaded right now. Then again, Kazusa muses, she's not sure whether she's more scared of 'needing to use it and not being able to', or 'needing to use it and being perfectly able to'. Sticking close to Haguro, the card-user steps onto the transport car, looking around. "...used to ride on these all the time," she murmurs absently, plopping into a seat. She's pretty tense the entire way, and when they finally get there, the poor girl needs a moment just to catch her breath and calm her heart down a little. Then she just kind of gapes, because even as an Elite, she never had access to the power core areas like this one. This is new territory even for her. But of course, there are systems still online. Once she notices them, Kazusa's going to head right over to one. "Hey, Priscilla, we oughta see if our codes still work. Normally I don't think it would, but they're in emergency mode..." Hey, you never know. There might have been provisions in emergencies for any Union Elite to handle this sort of problem.
Kushiko	Truth be known, Kushiko didn't have a particular preference--only that a location get picked after securing this area, which once it was, she turned her attention to Kazusa and some of the others. <"Wormholes descending isn't a sure fire thing. We can use them pretty well and it will not harm us but others who aren't prepared it may be worse."> Still, Kushiko is apologetic. <"As the others say, we will protect you."> As if to demonstrate this, if Nova could smile, she would as she swaps from that gorgeous devasting twin-barreled shotgun to this massive two-handed greatsword that would be at ease for /Priscilla/ to use as a normal sword. Ohyeah, did we mention Nova loves being the 'artillery' role? Back to work, swapping the Galatine back for her shotgun, the blade cast in lilac light before being 'folded' away. Though some of that work first is the trip itself and keeping an eye out. So to speak--Warframes don't really /have/ those. <"Creepy,"> is about the most out of her during the trip at first. It's the arrival that draws an astonished sound from the child who guides the construct. <"... oh wow."> That power core dwarfs even what /she/ has seen of Orokin, on Lua and places beyond. In the Void. Everything is just... /insanely/ massive. The bleeding aspects are once more familiar to her, and now the place begins to remind her of a twisted Infested ship ruin but somehow she feels the Infested ship was better off. Helios begins conducting scans, buzzing his twitchy self over to Haguro, the ship soon finding herself and her work complemented by the U-shaped drone, circular bits in the 'u' oscillating rapidly. <"If those codes aren't working, I can take a crack at hacking them."> she offers. <"We might be able to use our Void shields to replenish some of these sub components... huh. The converter looks a lot more intact than it should be.">
The Kid	Kid nods to Kazusa, and boards the transport with a bit of trepedation. Not just because of the risk of damage blocking their route. As proven in their initial examination, he has troubles handling transports. And indeed, he remains very still and quiet for the whole trip, trying not to let green creep into his gills. Thankfully, they arrive without him throwing up, and he is among the first to get off and breathe deep. Looking up at the massive power core, his eyes widen just the slightest amount. "That's incredible..." For the first time, it sinks in just a little bit that the loss of Njorun might have been a more terrible thing than the Calamity. And this is just one of the two superfaction strongholds... Shaking his head to dislodge such thoughts, he gets to work. Since everyone else is chipping in on how to progress, he decides to pick up the slack on sample duty. Some of the bottles on his belt are empty for just this purpose. With a bit of a grimice, he collects some of that apparent blood seeping from the power cable. Without his machete, he resorts to a loose bit of jagged metal to saw at the stem of one of the lantern bulbs. Using his hammer, he tries to crack off a sample of that crimson undergrowth.
Metal Man	Metal Man catches Priscilla's look and nothing needs to be sai there as they move on. The way aahead is twisted and creepy to the robot master as he finds it's queit. That makes it worse for the very old elite. Oh so much worse, quiet in a place like this is a cause to worry in the end. The path goes down to the power cores. He mutters for a momentt. "I should have talked Wily into comming with us for something like this..." Maybe an later time they could? Then again this place was dangerous and Wily's combat craft might not work here, then again he might have the alien suit still /somewhere/ but for now he keeps goingand looks over the reactors for a moment. "Never been down here and heh I neve got to ride in one of thsoe myself Haguro given i'd be shot if I got that far in, I'm not Shadow Man." He looks over to the Kid for a momen before trying to size up this place keeping watch for enemies or other dangers.
Carna	After Carna's last encounter with a subway train, she is leery of the transports. If the machine catches fire and trap them all inside, burning for eternity (unlikely, since all of those present can presumably die, providing an 'escape' of sorts), she will be very unhappy. However, she is more unhappy when they reach their destination than during the trip there. The Lantern cranes her head to look above them, peers cautiously around corners, and otherwise tries to inspect this environment that is so full of places for enemies to lie in wait, or assholes with giant bows to snipe them with entire trees or whatever. "Am I to assume this place is abandoned, or not?" she heard Kushiko previously mention no hostiles seen, which implies there is the expectation of such as a possibility. The others might be nervous just based on the surroundings, but they too seem to be wary of threat beyond toppling skyscrapers. A pair of knives are drawn, curved like half-moons but too compact to be scimitars. She pokes at things cautiously if they look trapped, trying to remain at a distance or ready to dodge-roll away if something goes off. Unless she sees something that looks immediately portable and stashable on her person, she does not try to scavenge yet. She doesn't know enough about what she's seeing here to feel safe messing with it.
Priscilla	The complex is certainly worth gawking at, but not much will get done unless someone comes up with a solution to open the way. These superfactions were built by having such infinitely huge access to so many unique resources, that even the rarest can be pilfered from a million iterations, as evidenced by thousands of special fusion cores littering the floor, and ley lines that would form the backbone of a world arbitrarily threaded through the room. It's all been done to impress the idea that the Union is far beyond the scope of any one world, and especially any one Elite, to deal with, and even as badly broken down as it is, pushing through serious, anti-Confederate defenses by force, is beyond the means of such a small group to do in a convenient time frame. Just looking at the half-functioning monolith of barricades, computers, magical wards, folded turrets, and every other aspect of the Union's min-maxed defenses, at the far end of the room, seems to make Priscilla bristle in some personally offended way. Staring more closely however, one can see the umpteen layers of security starting to blend into one another, like a heat mirage or a bad dream, where force fields briefly develop runes and automated weapons beep like locked doors, like they've forgotten what concept of "defense" they're supposed to be. That's what there is to find, for the curious. Aside from that, the lantern bulbs actually release little cracks of lightning and showers of sparks when cut, dimming immediately once they are separated from the floor (and the sparks become blood as they land, like the Kid had popped a capillary). The motif continues to the cables, where they have ceased to be technological conduits, and taken on the role of vital arteries more literally, oozing Njorun's metaphorical lifeblood in a grotesquely realistic sense. It seems like he wouldn't want to get any on him. When actively contained, the gore transitions to some kind of warm, glowing state, and tingles like a battery on the tongue. The most portable items besides, of any worth, are the booster cores that are the size of shoeboxes, compared to the main fusion cores scattered all over that are more like trucks. Most of them are something like metal-capped, dull glass fuses, but one can find arcane geometry etched on each cap, and some kind of inert, black, hovering sphere inside rather than a burnt wire.
Priscilla	Using the codes proves to be a viable avenue of progression, and just as the other two, half-explored routes had been, a hazard in of itself. The power station is more reticent to open full access to just any Elite like the Ring would, not built for their convenience. Only entering status of "Confederate attack" grants them any privilege, as members of the UEF. That also starts the warmup cycle and full diversion of power to the massive defensive checkpoint. When powered, it seems to stop forgetting what it's supposed to be, visually resolving as definite and concrete. The access consoles beside it even boot up, in their little checkpoint booths. However, the facility is using power to get itself running again. Perhaps only a third of the fusion material is useful. Some of what looked to be intact outright melts like wax candles as soon as it's used, like the supply Kushiko and Kazusa had found at the Ring. The converter is what still remains strangely pristine, and failing to draw from the ley lines that have grown cancerously all over, it draws on something else. Specifically, everyone else. The whole power station fills with the imagined feeling of strong gravity pulling one inward, but what it draws towards its center isn't their bodies. Arcs of electricity visibly shoot from Metal Man's chest and into the converter's conduits. Dead Lights are forcefully wrenched from Carna's jealous grip as much as the machine can. Void energy bleeds from the Nova warframe, dimming Kushiko's transference link as the strange energy suffuses the converter core. 'Soft' souls stream from Priscilla to fill its tanks, in a ghostly white stream of hazy flame. Haguro's tanks, conversely deplete rapidly, as the fuel burns away into boiler steam that the converter covets. The Kid is buffered by the special properties of his drinks being sapped away from all over his body in multicoloured smoke, and Kazusa likewise, as the image of the Beast begins to slowly fade from her card as the hungry vortex sucks the sole remaining active card's charge away. There's no telling what it might take from them once those run out, to keep the checkpoint working.
Carna	Having so recently witnessed inanimate objects that bled, Carna gives the blood that pours from severed lines and sparks of light a wide berth. She is content to let others prod for now, too unfamiliar with this place to either understand or feel safe poking. She was never allowed in Njorun before, due to her status with the Union. Certainly not to this part of it. This is all alien territory to her. But when some terrible engine starts up, begins consuming large masses of stuff, and then moves on to trying to steal her very sustenance -- the stockpile of fragments of spirit that she has hoarded so painstakingly -- a switch is flipped in what passes for a dead person's brain. KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT go her Lantern instincts. She throws a pair of fire bombs at the converter, one after the other, then raises her hand cross bow and starts filling with every bolt she has, special or mundane, until she runs out, it 'dies', or she sees evidence this isn't working and she needs to try something else. There are only two options for her now. Kill the thing that is threatening her or escape. She is not yet at the point of abandoning everyone here, not out of loyalty but because she is not yet convinced her demise is imminent. But she has lost all sense of 'person', giving in to the madness of a fractured mind cobbled together from so many pieces of others', and behaving as an animal confronted with a direct threat to its continued existence. What impact this has on the mission, if any, is no longer a concern. Either the thing taking from her dies, or she does. And she is very intent on not dying again.
Kushiko	Documentation. Sample collecting. Everything that can be done, will be done, through the combined efforts of those here, though Kushiko doesn't get in the way where she can, sometimes giving the Kid a hand, other times simply taking it in, though the pristine nature of the converter is nagging at her something fierce. She doesn't quite clue in on the aspect of anti-Confederacy the same way Priscilla or even Metal Man and some of the Elites here might, but she does get the sensation she used to get when it comes to the Orokin, and it too, drives some bile through her. <"... even if we've seen similar with infested surfaces, this is beyond reason,"> she mumbles, watching a capillary-like burst of electricity and blood ooze. She collects one of the cores she can personally store through the energy folding tech her Warframes are capable of. Totally not a hammer space-like equivalent, nope. <"Hngh, this is way too familiar for comfort,"> she notes of the melting-wax power supply. The idea she has to maybe try and use her shields to power it and instead /way more power/ than she's used to having drained--like a Void energy storm--hits her all at once. The effect is immediate, the lights dimming briefly on Nova Prime as simply starts to drop like a stone, a last minute adrenaline surge, instinctual by whatever it is inside the Warframe driving her backwards. Whether that gets her out of range of the drain is a coin's tossup. Because with the way it's interfering with her Transference, actually trying to utilize something that could overflow with energy and direct at the converter like say, Zenurik? Not necessarily the best of ideas. Besides, the staticy warnings that do arrive from the Lotus amount to GET OUT NOW because having the girl get drained /through her Warframe/ is not an acceptable turn of events.
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa keys in her code. And... well, this is /like/ a Confederate attack, right? So she keys that in, and tries to get /something/ running, hopefully something small, intact, and not very dangero- Aaaaaw, crapbaskets. Kazusa feels the 'tug' from her purse, despite that the converter is ostensibly pulling from her card, rather than her. She visibly shudders, then staggers, and the reason quickly becomes clear. First, her purse lights up with a shimmering, white light, something that anyone with magical senses can easily spot is a very pure, potent mana. That light begins to siphon off towards the Converter... and then /Kazusa/ lights up with that same light, suffusing her entire form in a bright argent glow. The mana flows from her, into The Beast, and from /there/ towards the Converter. The draining process has the girl swaying on her feet a little, but surprisingly, it's a lot /less/ damaging to her than a drain of physical stamina or health might be. There's a /lot/ there to spare... but that's an interesting fact to note in and of itself, as is the fact that she apparently powers the Cards directly. She also can't do a thing right now, though. The drain's pretty much got her incapacitated with a sick feeling.
Haguro	That's foul-looking. Alas, Haguro's here to work diligently for both personal growth and the good of the Concord she's sworn her allegiance to, and so she continues snapping away pictures of all the nasty shit! She's paying particular attention to the defenses that had once protected her allies from the Confederacy, glancing towards Priscilla, Kushiko, and Kazusa in particular just to gauge their reactions. Soon, however, her attention shifts back to the converter. "Eh? Wh.. What's happening?" Haguro lurches with a jolt and a cringe as something starts pulling on her from the center of the room. She isn't quite sure what the source of it is, but it soon becomes clear when those lights and arcs of various kinds of energy begin to flow towards the center of the room. "It's... Draining us?" Haguro can already feel herself weakening and her gaze growing unsteady, that darker part in her core gnawing at her and straining to break free. She's just about to tip over, too, when Carna's firebombs snap her out of that odd haze and into a more frightened retreat. Upon realizing that the person attacking the converter is not directly attacking her, though, the ship girl stomps a foot down to steady herself before staring straight at the converter. "It's the large machine! We need to keep away from..." Noticing that Kazusa's in that odd swaying state as well, she musters up just enough strength to throw herself at Kazusa and try to carry her away from the converter.
The Kid	The Kid hisses between his teeth as the arcing electricity from the lantern bulb shocks him, shaking his hand and sucking on the burned spot. As for the blood, he swirls the bottle as it turns into some glowing liquid, a single eye quirked. "Huh." And then he suffers one of the worse cases of booze sweats he's ever experienced. For the Kid is not just carrying his strange, empowering alcohol on his belt. He's also consumed some recently, as he pretty much has to do to remain functional. It leaves his body in the form of vaporizing sweat, making his eyes go wide and panicked. He doesn't understand at first, until he feels something he hasn't for a long time. Bone-dry sobriety hits him like a truck driven by a prizefighter, and leaves him dancing like a puppet with only half its strings. He staggers, looking more 'drunk' than he ever has before, moving as far away from the converter as he can. Purely on instinct, he hurls the bottle of liquid energy at the device, as if in some vain hope that it would take the offering and leave them alone.
Metal Man	Metal Man takes note of the neither power station there's something strange here the gravity is noted and he's trying o keep his footing. He takes a moment and stares at the energy, he feels something isn't right more so than normal. Then owner start to arc from his chest and he staggers back his caution was warranted he is afraid and he looks to Carna for a moment. "You could make this worse!" He calls out and then readies his blades it seems his words were incorrect so it's time to go. He's going to try to pull out away from the Converter. "I have to agree it's time to go." the Old master is just spooked it's basically eating his power and if he falls and ends up left behind? He doesn't want to think what this place would do to him. Hell he's the small candy any of the others being twisted is far more terrifying to him when he thinks on it for a click. He moves to try and help with the Tenno's warframe though he's not leaving anyone behind.
Priscilla	The further one gets away from the converter, the less severe the drain becomes, but the size of the room, or perhaps the fact that it /is/ "the room", ensures that total escape is impossible. Only hopping back on the car and absconding would really do it, most likely. The Kid, at least, briefly distracts the machine from himself, as it goes for the closer source of his thrown concoction. Why it doesn't go for it /and/ him simultaneously isn't clear. Otherwise, two things besides retreat happen. Metal Man starts gunning it for the checkpoint that had lit up, dragging Nova Prime with him if he has to, taking the initiative to get out ASAP. Priscilla seems to think this is an excellent idea, as she rushes into action along with him, trying to get ahead of him to the security chokepoint, and hitting as many overrides as she possibly can with her limited, stored access. "Pray, be prepared, Sir Metal. Thou art still, to these systems, a recognized Confederate. Thou may be in danger if I am unable to complete this." She has never been a systems engineer. It should probably be simple to open the doors and declare an end to the state-of-emergency status, but . . . Meanwhile, Carna has gone absolutely bonkers on the converter. The sheer size of the ridiculous device, spread between all the towers and connected to each at the base, ensures that her firepower is not capable of wholly disabling it, but as she blows off components here and there, shorting couplings and shooting off antenna, its hold on her, specifically, weakens, and the drain of only her Dead Lights slows. Recognizing this, Priscilla immediately orders the others to follow suit. "All of thee, maketh haste! Destroy as much of the device as thou art able! Hurry! I care not for salvaging it for now; there art others like it, and whilst it is needed to shut these doors and arm these defenses, it is not necessary to leave them /open/."
Kazusa Ujikane	Haguro is able to tackle Kazusa away from the Converter, getting the girl far enough from it that she's finally able to muster up some control of her body and start moving on her own. "E-eheh... thanks," she murmurs. Meanwhile, Carna discovers a possibe solution... but Kazusa's in no fit state to enact it. And she doesn't think anyone here might qualify for The Beast at the moment, besides. So instead, she waves Haguro off, and starts to carevully amble her way towards Priscilla, where at least she'll be out of everyone's way. Even now, though, she's doing far better than a girl of her age normally would. She's still pretty well awash with bright white magical energy, for that matter.
Haguro	"Nn... Y-you're welcome, Miss Ujikane. And sorry for grabbing you so suddenly!" Haguro nearly topples over with Kazusa before slowing down just enough to set her down and stagger in place, that same distracted grimace crossing her face again. It would be so easy to just let go and have someone else take care of things, but... ... But darn it, Haguro didn't come here just to let someone else do things. She came here to prove her own worth, too! Slamming her hands into the ground to push herself up, the ship girl swaps her explosive shells out for solid rounds, then takes aim at the converter. "U.. Understod! We can't... We can't use bring any data back if we die here, anyway." After a few more moments of clumsy aiming and eventual kneeling to steady her aim, the heavy cruiser fires on the converter with her dense non-explosive rounds!
Kushiko	Once Nova has been pulled away just enough, the voice without presence gives out a quick 'Thank you', to Metal Man, as her systems begin surging back to life in full. Now that she's upright, she gestures with a hand, light coalescing together into a solid orb matching the silver-like gilding of her Warframe. And then she does so again; this time firing twice into both orbs and guiding them forward. They radiate a bubble of energy, both of them--it may offset the drain the Converter is currently doing, but the twinned, Antimatter Drops will absorb any firepower in their vicinity to about six feet in every direction. <"Whatever you can, fire it into those and get clear!"> She has no idea how effective it'll be. She's hoping the contained, highly volatile antimatter reaction will cripple the converter to some degree. And with that utterance, she guides the twin orbs not to the same spots, but to places to maximize rampant, destructive capability as she quickly reloads her shotgun. And blasts several more times to join Haguro's output. Maybe some of those shells will get guided into the singularity-like antimatter 'drops' she's guiding to the Converter as she makes a fighting escape.
Carna	Carna runs out of bolts. She only had two fire bombs. And while she has a few other weapons on her, the immediate need to destroy destroy destroy this thing because it can't can't can't take from her won't WILL NOT never never never means she must kill it now now NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOWNOWNOWNOWNOW and so she doesn't switch from weapon to weapon to weapon, she just goes for her 'big gun', an untested, wholly unsafe, extremely unhealthy option, that is still healthier than to be eaten gobbled up consumed like so much bones and meat and souls. She extracts a container from within her cloak, a sealed black box, fastened nice and tight and secure with wards taught to the Blue Scholars by a Lord of Silence, a magic of protection and healing and time that keeps the contents untouched and untouchable, until the seal is broken. And then she breaks the seal. And from within, she extracts a shaft of silver, with a shard of some tarnished metal on the end. The silver begins corroding immediately, the air corrodes immediately, the dripping corruption of the accumultaed despair and curses of all of humanity for nine billion years, in a vessel that is a mockery of holiness, of divinity, and devoted completely to the task of drawing the ragged breaths of suffering from the lungs of the damned and the pure alike... And slots the rapidly-blackening bolt of blessed silver tipped with a shard of the broken Holy Grail or whatever passes for such in Carna's world, into her crossbow. She takes aim, and fires it directly at the converter. If she had the presence of mind to speak right now, she might say something like, 'be cursed and be destroyed'. But that would require a level of functioning beyond her awareness, beyond her focus on killing the threat, destroying it, and reducing it to nothing. It may be far larger than she is, massive, interwoven with so much else, but she is predator, not prey, and she will not be eaten. Not in part, and certainly not in whole. No one and nothing else exists for her unless it is perceived as a threat. No allies, no weakened Kazusa, no inoperable Nova Prime, no passed out Haguro, no commands from her leader, no advice from her comrades, no cautioning from any friends that might be here. The shard of the Grail should, unless prevented, fly straight and true, leaving behind a trail of whispered curses and written words of despair that linger in the air for a time before vanishing, and strike its target. Though what effect it has Carna doesn't even know. She doesn't know if it will fix the problem or make it worse. She just wants the drain on her personally to stop by any means necessary.
Metal Man	Metal is no coward but this isn't a good idea to hang around here and lose an ally. "No worries, I'll pull out if need be. It should still flag you as Union right?" Metal Man Is going to make sure the Nova gets the heck out of here. He woudl be wise to not get out of here. Once the Tenno is clear he'll let her warframe go. He takes a moment o hang back he knows he's going to have to flee if this fails after all and he's not going to mess up the mission over something like that. "Right man what else is ...." Metal Cuts himself off before he jinxes everyone and makes their lives worse.
The Kid	The draining sensation ceases as the Kid nails the device with that liquid power. Though his brain is still buzzing from a lack of alcohol, his survival instincts take note and a plan quickly forms. Pulling a bottle from his belt, he downs it quickly. It tastes like none he's had before, simply alcohol with no means of making you a better worker. This takes the edge off his shakes as he edges back towards the bleeding power line. He fills the empty bottle with blood, aiming to convert it back into liquid energy, before tossing it at the converter! He only hopes it helps everyone else long enough to break it. He does this, over and over. Eventually, he's just dumping the bottle contents rather than drinking it, because the rush of alcohol may impair his aim.
Priscilla	The ways in and out of Njorun may be built up on layers of near-psychotic paranoia and the spoils of millions of tamed worlds, for the express purpose of keeping the Confederacy's Elites out, but nobody goes through the effort of nuke-proofing their batteries. Not even Njorun's designers. A team of the Multiverse's deadliest is more than a match for the power-draining device, that has somehow forgotten the physics that determine how it's supposed to drain it, and what from. Battleship-grade penetrators rip through its casing and plunge meters through the internal circuitry, breaking circles of arcane geometry and wrecking physical components one after the other on the way through. Metal Man pulling Kushiko's Warframe to safety allows the quadratic buildup of the antimatter drops to follow suit into the breach, absorbing the last few shells of Haguro's salvo and instantly multiplying its charge. Said charge goes untouched, as The Kid throwing bottles and bottles of Njorun's lifeblood onto the machine diverts /all/ of its attention. Even as a Multiversal physics soup, the converter prioritizes the newest form of the power it was originally built to convert and transport. The antimatter hits with full force, detonating wide enough to level most of the fusion towers nearby, which, of course, causes a chain reaction of exploding nuclear cores, and devastates the array, leaving a gaping hole into the base of the power network. Finally, Carna's bolt --her shard of the Marble Guardian of Lostrata-- flies into the breach, and where the tarnished silver arrowhead thunks into the wood with an almost comically ordinary sound, the Ley Lines are suddenly genocided all around it. The artificial magical network necrotizes almost instantly, as black curses gush along its glowing veins, withering the glowing 'flowers', rotting the chaotic pseudo-wood into acrid mulch, and plunging the room into a deep, final blackness. At the first possible moment too. When Priscilla holds up her glowing stone, she reveals that she is standing by an open checkpoint. While the power grid was up, sustaining the magic and machinery with the essence of Elites, she had finangled the computer into opening everything up. With the power now out, the barricades hang open and the wards remain dark, and the active defenses that would conversely prevent someone from walking right through, are switched off. It takes power to open a door, but once it's opened, it's open. "I think that shalt be well enough, for today." Priscilla concludes with a weary sigh. "The way is opened, and the obstacle that lies adjacent is no more. There is no sense in continuing with any less than full strength, whence there is nothing to stop us from returning."
Kazusa Ujikane	That's about the moment a weight settles against Priscilla's leg. Released from the drain, Kazusa pants, slumping against the nearest solid object. That turns out to be Priscilla, whom she leans against without reservation. "Phew... jeez... just... just gimme a moment... that was... pretty crazy." As with her surprising resistance in general, the nerdy shut-in recovers shockingly well from the ordeal, giving Pris a brief pat-pat on the calf when she finally stands back up. "Yeah, I think you're right there. Man, this is like some... some kinda MMO raid or something. We keep pushing on and fighting bosses a little further in every time." Jesus, just how much mana does she /have/?
Kushiko	Credit where credit's due--Kushiko was fairly certain that given the energy-sucking elements to the Converter, her gamble to throw not one but two antimatter /bombs/ (basically) was something that could've gone badly. The Kid's diversion with that liquid power, the shard of the Marble Guardian by Carna, everything and everything, even she found herself somewhat shielding of Metal Man, the more 'veteran' multiversal by most. <"Thank you,"> she adds one more, the faceless Nova Prime 'looking' towards the Kid and bobbing her head in appreciation as she looks again to Carna. <"... Carna, are you alright?"> Given the rather... energetic (to put it mildly) display there, and what was happening to her being something she suspected was similar to what happened to her... ...honestly she's still kind of stunned by what she's seeing and experiencing through her Warframe at present. The explosion and resultant chaos that unravels then ravels back together. The glowing points of energy funnels on her back brighten to join the glowing stone before the First gets everything back up and working again. <"Was that... supposed to be here?"> She felt it was a fair question, but all told, she's certain no answer will be all the more enjoyable to have. <"I mean, beyond everything else that isn't supposed to..."> There's a little raggedness in her voice as her Warframe works to steady herself. It's reflecting something unusual that not many have seen in her--a certain lack of composure. Whatever that was hit her harder than she's voicing. <"Nevermind, I think I have enough energy to make us some wormholes and get out of here once we're back on the other side."> Yeah, she's definitely of mind to extract as Priscilla suggests.
Carna	Carna does not seem to register that the fight is done. Or perhaps she is simply recovering. Or dazed after her freak out. She stands at the edge after watching the devastating firepower thrown around, the rotting effect of the Grail shard, as though waiting for the decay to get up and form itself into a body or something. She still keenly feels the loss of Dead Lights. Perhaps she's waiting expectantly for them to come back to her now that the enemy is 'slain'. When Priscilla begins speaking, Carna twirls around, points her crossbow at her, and pulls the release repeatedly. There are a series of metallic clicks as a wheel turns and mechanisms work, but the empty weapon fails to discharge anything. It takes several seconds for Carna to stop trying. Then her hostile eyes relax slightly, but there is no other evidence in her mostly-covered face of regret or shock or guilt, and no apology comes even after she takes the time to put the weapon away. She just... Centers herself, watches Kazusa clinging to Priscilla with dull curiosity, and returns to looking at the remains of what tried to eat her. Waiting. When Kushiko speaks to her, her answer is much more subdued than her reaction to the Concord leader daring to make noise where Carna could hear. "Will it return what it took if I wait long enough?" is her reply. She does not confirm whether she is 'alright' or not. Perhaps that omission is answer enough. Kid offered blood to the machine to distract it. Dimly, she wonders if she should harvest some for herself before she considers returning.
Metal Man	Metal Man looks up as he was keeping back for the most part eveyrone else is more than able to take thing down. He nod sone to Priscilla in agreement. "I may be a liablity if old system still flag me as a fed I should be more cautious on fruther trips in here." He moves to make sure everything is secure and seems to be in a dcent modd also holy crap the Tenno are not to be messed with given Nova is flinging Anti matter around like candy. He's very glad she's on his side. HE didn't mind the cover however either he'll pay Kushiko back at a later time
The Kid	The Kid leans against the wall and slumps to the ground. His breath is unsteady as he says, "I'll be fine... jush gimmie a minute." Going from sober to hammered again that fast has broken even his own high alcohol tolerance, but his teeth aren't floating just yet. True to his word, he's back on his feet soon and walking unsteadily. He offers a wave to Kushiko, not really looking in her direction. "Any time... but hopefully not every time." A line that probably makes much more sense to him than anyone here. It's a good thing they have Kushiko's portals, because he's not doing any rope climbing in this state.