Scene #7789: On the Threshold

Owner	Pose
S6	The location provided by S6's POD leads to this very spot, far from Indus in the heart of the windswept desert. The POD itself is on its side in the sand, half-buried by a collapsed dune and making periodic chirps to alert oncomers to its presence. The metal that S6 had mentioned is certainly present; and may have actually been the first thing to be sighted on approach. In the center of some naturally occurring stone spires, a colossal ring structure had been erected; hanging above the desert's dunes by enormous cables anchored into the stone spires. These had partially failed at some point, some anchors plainly broken and the ring structure, which had clearly once been level, is now canted precariously and rests at a sharp angle, partially buried in the sand. It looks like a war may have taken place here in some long-ago time. War machines protrude from the sand, in varying states of disrepair or destruction. Obvious military equipment sporting long-dead weapons. Not all of the machines are lifeless, though. One such construct lurches to life, unburying itself and shaking sand off its circular upper housing. The right arm, an elongated cannon, swings up into a ready position as it turns slowly on three pairs of legs, examining its surroundings.
Kale Hearthward	Another distress signal in the desert... what is with these androids and getting lost in the desert and having to fight off evil? Is it some sort of religious reference that Kale doesn't get? Whatever the reason (presumably actual distress and not as a joke) they're obliged to go looking - and as usual, Kale is up in the air, using his SUPERIOR BIRD VISION to scan the ground below and his SUPERIOR BIRD HEARING to listen for any movement he might have missed out on. He glances over at the thing emerging from the sands - it's not I6, though (at least, he hopes not) so while he makes note of it, he keeps looking...
Rita Ma	Rita is wrapped in her standard Very Ordinary Girl outfit today, having been caught too off-guard by the emergency to vary it up much: a neat cropped jacket over a simple white shirt, and a color-complementing green skirt with dress shoes. Nothing about it suggests combat-readiness. "What was Ms. S6 out here for anyway?" she asks I4 on the way over. "Doesn't it seem kind of like the middle of nowhere...?" And then, after a little pause: "You smell different. Is that a new kind of soap?" When the war machine exhumes itself, she muffles a gasp by putting a hand over her mouth and looks to him again. "That isn't one of yours, is it?!" But she doesn't wait for an answer. The Rita holding eye contact with I4 is already fake. The real one dashes forward, only visible as little puffs of sand where her feet strike the ground. Sometimes being up close to a big monster is safer than being far away. I remember Kana teaching my big brother that. Those long barrels- if I'm inside its guard, it can't do much, can it? The real Rita reappears clinging to the robot's back, searching for any obviously-vital components to stab her harder-than-steel fingers into. The fake one vanishes simultaneously, dissipating back into invisible tentacles. It gives the impression, to a casual observer, that she simply teleported.
Ishirou	Earlier, I4 is standing in front of a mirror. He's about three feet taller and two hundred pounds heavier and looking swole. Swole4 considers this look and waves it off. By the time the camera is back, he's more like himself again, he's about to consider another look, but then... The distress signal from S6's POD. I4 didn't even wait for a second, even though he shouldn't be in the world INDUS is, but here he is. Rita's with him and asks some questions. "Uh, long story. I'm not quite the same as I was the last time you saw me," A pause, "Oh...just to warn you, I'll bleed now just so you're not caught unaware." "She was out here because she found metal this far out. She was looking into androids that live outside of INDUS.." he slides to a stop, picking up the POD unit and trying to give it some quick repairs. Hopefully, it can give an insight as to where S6 is. "I gotcha POD," To his POD, "Upload what you can and send that over. I'm still capable of the data stream POD so don't worry about it." When the larger robot rises up, I4 fires a bot of energy from his hand to try and hit the thing square in the chest before leaping back. He goes on the back foot to keep his distance, and the blast was there to get a better scan of the object in question...it seemed hostile, so that was going to be his justification. "Alright guys, I've seen this before...but only in other cities data bases. This isn't an INDUS mech. Be careful as I give it a scan."
Tamamo	"To suspend a building of such size, I wonder if there had been some purpose for placing it here. There was, surely, to go to such trouble. And as for that which, I suspect, is a most disagreeable machine, I wonder as to the enemy it had been made to face. Or else, perhaps, I should ask why androids were made the size of humans. The human form is quite impressive, from some angles, but for combating an opponent that had never before been a part of the natural world, surely there were other choices that might be made. See, its legs to provide quite some stability, where a two-legged opponent of the same size would find the sand to provide little purchase, and little chance for leverage, once placed on its back." Tamamo keeps up a steady supply of commentary somewhere above and to the side of what's about to be a battlefield. Her own shoes aren't exactly well-suited to this place, either, which is she's made do by hanging onto Lilian. "Oh, just set me down over there, please." After looking about, she manages to spot the POD, but not S6. "We shall have to deal with this one before we look about with care, I expect... but can we simply draw it elsewhere? No, I suppose that would be too convenient. I cannot guess how it might be made to think. Perhaps there is even some item here it intends to guard." Her attack flits through the air like the collection of yellowed paper it is, only to burst into a collection of fireballs roughly 'in the mech's face.' It might be distracting, after all.
Staren	A distress call from one of the androids? Staren is prepared to respond, of course. Even if Lilian is likely to be here too... Hopefully, I4 and S6's other friends can keep her in line. Staren is wearing light body armor today. It's probably of complex, composite construction, but visible is a black, flexible layer with white plates attached wherever they can be, broken up into smaller pieces than most plate armor is. There are also golden wires and bits of jade and gems inset into the armor implying magical enhancement, which might explain why there's no helmet -- must be a magic invisible force-bubble deal. The overall appearance is is still relatively slim and petite as far as high-tech body armor goes. As always that blue messenger bag is at her side. With her head exposed, Staren's wearing her usual sea green hero scarf and a pair of goggles to keep the sand out. Her hair is... up in twin ponytails secured by scrunchies that match the scarf? Huh. Anyway, she's flying on a collapsible wingboard of some sort, accompanied by a swarm of those coconut-sized camera drones, which begin to spread out across the area searching for S6. <"How did you get left here? What's the last thing you saw happen to S6?"> Staren radios the POD, but it seems I4 is probably about to get that data anyway. For her part, Staren... does NOT engage the enemy mech just yet. It seems that the sight of this battlefield has given her an idea she can't resist trying -- she lands near a fallen machine that looks to have most of its limbs intact, pulls a rock with some runes painted on it out of her bag, and places it against the fallen machine. A pulse of magic, and it rises. "Defend me and them." Staren orders quietly, pointing out everyone but Lilian. Then she goes to do this several more times. The risen machines may have a broken limb or two, or even holes blasted into or chunks taken out of their torsos; the condition of weapons doesn't matter since the golems can't use them anyway. They are big, dumb metal, scurrying into the way of their 'living' brethren's shots to tank for the party. Those drones spreading out in the sky turn their sensors on the land below, looking for power signatures, signs of subterranean spaces, and the like. Where could S6 be?
Lilian Rook	Last night, S6 had told the Paladins that she'd detected 'metal' on patrol, some ridiculous two hundred kilometers from INDUS. It was so plain that Lilian had taken it as outright boring. She'd just wished her luck with it. No, that wasn't quite right. 'Enjoy yourself'? Whatever. It seems she can barely trust these androids to do anything. Why was she here before anyways? Something to do about energy killing the planet. Right, the mana turbines. What did that have to do with this. Nullborn don't use metal tools. Lilian enters the desert carrying Tamamo. However, rather than the princess carry she sometimes picks her up into before teleporting, she's resolved to make things a lot more simple. "Huh? Yeah, probably. Maybe there was an ocean here or something. Might have been strategic." "People used to know what they were doing, it's true. Before they got too wrapped up in the fantasy that nothing is wrong." "They're made to be humans because they're not made for war in the first place. They're toys. Servants. Luxury playthings. Something they'll dote on one minute and throw away in combat the next. Expendable souls. Like dolls." Lilian sets Tamamo down exactly where she asks, and does a couple of things she didn't. Dropping runestones from her carry case in the sand to turn it to sandstone, and rudely squeezing her thighs on the downlow before dropping her. It'd seem playful, were it not for her attitude on the way here. Since coming home last night; maybe even building for days, but especially worse then. The disinterested irritation with which she'd responded. The loss of gentle care in her touch. The constant choice of dark topics. And the look in her eyes --it's like she'd woken up with it --like the usual hints of tension, restraint, and uncertainty hadn't yet come back to her, even so late in the day. And yet where such a clear stare ought to seem refreshed and relaxed, it instead just feels . . . unsettling. The way she looks at Tamamo when she puts her down; even that, still full of obvious contentment for laying eyes on her, feels starkly unnerving for its cold lack of complexity. Instead, there is a distant "Out of the way Rita!" calling over the dunes, hoarse and smoky rather than filled with concern, and then a barrage of rifle fire on the giant machine. This might normally be a point at which Lilian asks why they're attacking a robot ostensibly meant to be allied with humanity, but it seems she's skipping that part.
S6	Rita is first on the draw, appearing on the back of the artillery unit's hull. The response is immediate, the machine twisting its torso sharply to the right, then swinging just as harshly to the left in an effort to shake the girl off while she jams her hand between the armored plates. Something crackles, rewarding her with a shower of sparks. S6's POD is collected. The repair is not going to be a quick fix, though. It looks like the poor thing's entire hover system got sliced through. It grabs onto the hanging arms of I4's POD though, dangling beneath it and keeping his hands free. I4's scanning efforts produce the unit's identification data, a string of numbers and the model type; most pertinent being that it's a Nazca Heavy Artillery Unit. His testing blast proves it when the shot slams into heavy armor. It's going to take a beating before it stops moving. Tamamo's charm erupts into flames in what passes for the artillery unit's face, scorching the paint covering the head. It suddenly whirls around, swiveling the torso independent of its base and presenting its back-- and its back-riding assailant, to further incoming fire from Lilian's rifle. It isn't a perfect defense, as the heavy rounds dig into armored plating around the wayward imouto. While the Artillery Unit is beset upon by smaller machines reanimated by Staren, S6's POD transmits its data to I4. Examining it might have to wait, though, as the artillery unit lurches into motion. The legs all flex simultaneously, drawing the entire chassis lower, and then it springs itself straight at I4 with full intent of slamming down on top of him with the weight of a light tank. The right-hand laser cannon ignites and the machine swings its torso in a full circle, unleashing a scarlet-tinged beam in all directions. Only its immediate surroundings-- within the radius of the barrel-- is completely safe. Now resting on sandstone instead of sand, the artillery unit rears up. The launchers on either side of its back swivel upward, hurling spheres of energy nearly straight up. Seconds later, these orbs rain down on foes far enough away to have avoided the immediate threat of the machine's leap and laser circle.
Ishirou	I4 had his head in the game today it seems because the moment the thing leaps at him, he flips back. Just as the thing would have landed, he seemed to burst away just in time. The sort of close dodge that S6 is usually more known for making than he was. However, he slides across the sandstone the moment his feet touch the ground, holding himself up with less grace. However, he held a hand up, as both PODs were ready, and a double charge ball of energy fired to try and take advantage of the evasive manuever and punch right through some less tough armor to open things up. I4 is already moving though, he considers dismissing the POD to get S6's POD somewhere safe. His scans continue, trying to get the feel for this thing before it becomes too much of a threat. Was it manned? He's not sure. It is best to assume it wasn't manned right now, but where could S6 be..? Without her POD she was at a disadvantage even with her superior combat skills. No, he can't just run off after her right now, the others need him here and it's not likely it'd let him go anyway. Annoying...
Kale Hearthward	Kale's lost in idle thoughts as he scans his eyes over the desert. More desert. Endless desert. He joined the Paladins out of a desire to see interesting places, do interesting things - well, he'd joined as the equivalent to a rebound date, after his previous squadron had gotten benched indefinitely, but he'd stayed because he'd gotten a taste of the wider multiverse, and after that the option of staying in one place, one world, just... didn't appeal anymore. But a desert like this just wasn't making the highlight reel, even if there were some interesting-shaped ruins, and interestingly-deadly lasers flying towards him. ... Oh. Sporting a few fresh burn marks, Kale spins around in the air, and focuses on the artillery robot - he'd assumed, on first glance, that it was either a trivial threat, or at least something the rest of the group could handle quickly before moving on - but, apparently not. He pulls his left-hand sword out, activates it by blowing on it, and gets himself oriented and aimed, and then he activates his thrusters. To those on the ground, it's like a falling meteor just drops out of the sky, Kale using gravity and jet-boots in tandem, drill sword held out in front of him like the warhead of a missile, as both a breaker for air resistance... and as a payload. If possible, he's going to drill through the robot, and hit or miss leave a long furrow in the ground behind it before he can come to a stop.
Tamamo	Tamamo is setting aside certain strange factors in Lilian's behavior over the past day, for the most part. This isn't the time for that at all. Far enough away to avoid the laser, but as Rita suspected, Tamamo's position proves little real defense against something with so much wide-angle, long-range firepower. She tosses up a series of defensive screens, just-so almost-symmetrical geometry glowing in the air only to be shattered as she's forced back, uttering an undignified, if quickly stifled scream, resolving into a groan as she draws out her healing talismans, applying enough to entirely cover the burn. "At least," she says, "that drew enough energy into this configuration -- and I have enough to spare. Let us, perhaps, finish this quickly, after all. I had not the chance to use these against the Mother-of-Pain." The healing doesn't really make it hurt any less, immediately. She'd need an entirely different magic for that, and it wouldn't be as useful, overall, in ensuring that she stays alive. "Can even such an existence shiver in the cold, I wonder?" There's little poetic in the name of the Atata Naraka. Its name can't even be read properly in her favored Japanese. It's merely that name given to a cold hell of not-quite-eternal shivering, and its invocation creates a field below the mecha that creeps up its legs, wrenching both with its sudden temperature shift and with the unexplained drive of anything caught within it to shake and clatter together. A full numbness is not a full defense.
Rita Ma	Rita remains stuck firmly to the machine despite its thrashing- invisible tentacles anchor her to its body, and eventually she finds something important-looking to gouge. Then: "Out of the way Rita!" Lilian... what's wrong with you? Even your voice gives me shivers now. You don't want to admit you've given in to the bad stuff in your heart, but I'm almost sure...! No time to think too hard, though. Kicking off with hair-fluttering force, she soars backwards through the air to land precisely on top of one of those enormous stone spires far above, just before the war machine is lit up by her allies. That makes defending against the sweeping laser easy: she hops down onto the opposite side of the stone spire, clinging to the bare rock with her fingertips. Tons of raw stone are between her and the beam when it passes through. It's a machine, so it doesn't bleed or feel pain. Going for anything besides the vital components will only slow it down. But I got a good look when I was clinging onto it! An invisible tentacle stabs into the rock of the spire. Rita drops and swings around in an arc like it's a high-speed grappling hook, detaching it once she's accelerated into a harrowing lunging drop. Less than a second after the robot's laser sweep completes, she skids by it in an apparent miss, kicking up an awful cloud of dust. But lagging a fraction of a second behind Rita, a huge, sharp tentacle slashes along the war machine's back, leaving behind a glowing blue gash edged with sizzling acid. That luminescent azure splash is the only thing visible through the dust.
Staren	Staren didn't think it'd target her, but then again, the way it's wildly swinging that laser cannon around, is it really 'targeting' anything? One of her golems rushes into the way of the shot, blocking most of it as she catches the rest of it in the arm. "Tch..." the force of armor ablating away makes her stumble back, not used to being so lightly-equipped. "I guess we have to deal with this thing if we want to search for S6..." She warps a bulky, heavy-looking energy cannon into her hands. Despite looking like it's made for a combat cyborg feet taller than her, she is somehow still able to lift and aim it. Staren climbs onto one of her minions. "Bring me closer." As it does, she warps in missiles that launch from the air around her as if ripple-fired, arcing around to assail the mech from many different angles. Once Staren gets within several dozen feet of the thing, she orders her ride to stop, braces the cannon against it, and fires a stream of those little 'comets' of energy, plasma projectiles being fired from three spinning barrels by some process that's making the pulse plasma ejector -- and Staren's body -- shake with the recoil.
Lilian Rook	Rita does the smart girl thing and gets out of the way when warned. Good. The burst of fire hadn't hit anything important, but Lilian hadn't really expected something that heavily armoured to be easily taken down from her current distance. What's important is that it's mangled up a section of armour, and removed an obstacle. "Foureyes, isn't that thing a robot? Can't you just hack it?" Lilian calls out, stowing her weapon again. She drops down from her high point on the dune, planting both heels apart to carefully ski down the wall of sand. She searches the area as she descends: Tamamo is behind her. Rita is crawling all over the rocks like a gecko. Kale has just arrived. Staren. I4 is over at the other side, judging by the flare of both pods. Lilian turns her descent to get a good view of him. "What's the holdup Four-" Lilian skids to a sudden stop. She sees him now. The tightness around her eyes, the tilt of her chin, the subtle turn of her head, the tension in her jaw. She's usually harder to read. But that one's easy. Betrayal. Disgust. "Just . . . keep at it." she says, stepping back once, and then again, and then she turns her back on him all at once, hair flipping over her shoulder. "Report anything you find, Inspector Unit Four." She descends to the ruined ground. Once she's up close, Lilian teleports through the laser assault entirely, planting herself with feet across both leg joints at the back region she and Rita had damaged earlier. Silvery-reflective magical corrosion gathers around her pulled back fist, which she then plunges into the damaged armour and begins tearing around inside, looking to rip and melt anything she can get her hands on. Previously, she was hoping to scope out vitals, but repeatedly slamming her arm all the way up to the elbow in this thing and watching it react to being dissolved from the inside out feels more cathartic. Once she dismounts, Lilian hops back to a clear space, looks to Staren, waves her down, then mimes turning up the inside of her left wrist and looking at something there, as one would a watch worn inner-style. Stuck to the underside of one vambrace is a blank tag with an extremely rough sketch of what is obviously Staren being shot in the back of the head.
S6	The double laser from I4's tandem PODs strikes the artillery unit in the lower torso, unleashing a shower of sparks as it scorches across the complex joints where the legs attach. The machine staggers. Kale slams into it from a high angle, catching the machine off-guard and collapsing its unsteady legs, digging a furrow in the sandstone until the inertia is fully consumed. While Kale announces himself, the war machine hauls itself back to its feet behind him, its joints rapidly icing over under Tamamo's spell. It can still move, though sluggishly, and the rapidly dropping temperature has rendered its armor more brittle than before. A fact demostrated when Rita reappears and slashes across its back. Not only does the steel plate part as one might expect, but the impact actually shatters the edges of the gash in addition to leaving it bleeding with lingering acid, scattering shards of superchilled metal. The brittle armor makes plunging into the machine's internals relatively easy for Lilian as well, aided by the damage caused by herself and Rita before. The steel fractures, cracking under the force. Liquified metal spills out through the openings amidst the scent of burning plastic and silicon. When she draws her hand out, the luminous pale blue glow of liquified mana clings to her fingers. The same as the contents of the androids' power sources. She got something important, though by the way the machine still thrashes as she jumps away, it has at least one backup. This weakened armor cracks and splinters further under Staren's missile and energy assault, surrounding the machine with dust thrown up by deteriorating sandstone. From within the dust cloud, the machine's optical sensor flashes blue, followed immediately by the scarlet pulse from its right arm cannon. A broad, red-tinted energy beam erupts out of the smoke cloud directly for Staren this time. As the dust clears, the artillery unit whirls its torso around, aiming the cannon straight at Lilian for a second, equally menacing burst. The launchers on its shoulders swivel upward again, this time at angles. Purple-tinted energy spheres are launched in parabolic arcs, scattering in multiple directions. These orbs burst in midair, releasing a dense rain of smaller lasers immediately beneath them.
Ishirou	I4 can see the attacks coming, simply put, the early scan was enough to get an idea of its offenses. When attacks come down, I4 is looking to where to be, not where it's firing. The balls are always where he was a second ago, managing to come to a skid on the safe side of the attack. Thankfully, right before Lilian leveled something that shook him. Calling him by the Inspector title, and not his name...or his nickname. Or anything else, that very firm reminder that he was once a tool, and that he was an android...the pain is enough to shake him for a moment. However, Lilian didn't focus on him, but rather on Staren. This is compounded by the fact she goes /hard/ on Staren. Lilian didn't like Staren, that's true...but never like this, and never in the middle of a mission like this. This comes back when Staren mentions Persephone, which...he sighs. What did you do, Lilian? Tamamo calls for help, and thankfully Lilian is focused on that. Ok, deep breath...he levels a scan to make sure Tamamo is going to be alright, but his focus remains on the machine. I4 leaps back and aims a hacking blast at the thing's center of mass. This time he attempts to hack its controls tries to overload its systems with junk data and attempts overheat its weapons to cause an explosion. He's not a flashy striker like Go or a ruthless dealer of death like Lilian, but I4 does have his tricks. Those tricks are mostly being an annoying radio bitch.
Kale Hearthward	ON THE TOPIC OF LILIAN ISSUING DEATH THREATS: "... Huh," says Kale to himself. He fires off a quick radio message - and then he puts the matter aside. If Lilian wants to set up a shadow op to make good on that threat, he'll join up, but he'll worry about that later. Right now - there's lasers. He goes on full-defensive, jumping back, trying to get clear (and not quite managing it). "This looked - a whole lot less threatening from up in the air!" he says, while looking for an opening. ... He finds one. He thinks. The wound torn open by the others - and the blue stuff leaking out, like blood... Still on the defensive, he uses his free hand to form a quick pressureball, and pitches it, trying to land it in the robot's wound - hit or miss, it goes off like a wind-aspected fireball a moment after it impacts, and if he's managed to wedge it inside the gaping wound...!
Lilian Rook	Lilian stops for a second to identify the goop on her fingers. It tingles a little, even through her combat skin. It smells, too. Really rich. The absurdity of it hits her in a moment of blind distraction, and then she laughs. The battlefield, never mind so close to the giant enemy, isn't the place for this, but she does it anyways, finding something too twistedly hilarious to stop herself. "You poor bastard~" she eventually titters to the war machine. "Spend that energy, kill Nullborn, they come back to fill you up again, more Nullborn. Dear god, you'd have lived a better life if you were built to pass butter!" She is also, briefly, taken away with bullying Staren. Then, Tamamo calls for her, and the sound of evident pain in her voice shakes Lilian out of it. At least, partly. ". . . Tamamo?" she blurts into her radio, as if just woken up. "Tamamo, where are you?" Lilian turns around multiple times on the spot, managing to look over where she'd come from before she fixes on Tamamo. Lilian teleports straight away from the beam attack again. However, heading to Tamamo, insisting on grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her up, staring into her eyes with a kind of unpleasant intensity, she catches the backblast of one of those descending orbs, having to cut off "Tamamo are you--" before moving again on raw, instantaneous reflex, mitigating the blast. Reappearing behind the cover of one of the stone spires, Lilian jumps up in a fury, drawing up a wildly coruscating ball of that infragold-vantablackness from fighting the Bulette, and screaming "Just DIE! I'm BUSY!" She crushes the abberant sphere into her fist, which then warps to the exact center of the machine she can visually pinpoint.
Rita Ma	Rita, of course, turns invisible again as soon as the risk of hostile retaliation exceeds the risk of friendly fire. As the energy orbs fly into the sky on lazy parabolas, she spares a glance skyward, analyzing their trajectories instinctively and juking for a place where none of them should land. She isn't looking up when they split into beams. Even in the kaiju fight, she came away without a scratch (except for Lilian's blade). But everybody gets unlucky sometime. Pain, pain, pain. (Where?) Burning flesh. Hungry? (No.) In an instant, higher brain functions are overridden by the flood of adrenaline. Rita skids to a stop, smoke rising from her shoulder- at first the char is the only part of her visible. Then she un-cloaks and pulls herself to her feet, seemingly disoriented. She moves without urgency. The look on her face is faraway, neutral. Legs okay. Arms okay. Eyes okay. Tentacles will grow back. (Run?) No. Prey almost dead. Burnt tentacles slough off her disguise like ribbons, exposing her real shoulder, neck, and half her face. At a glance, one might overlook the differences between the outer shell that imitates an ordinary girl, and the real mutant flesh beneath. But the latter is slightly paler; it has a grayish undertone, and is shot through with blue veins. She walks forward, stopping only to circle lazily as if surveying a dying herbivore. From thirty feet away she holds out her hand, having evidently found a satisfying angle. The remaining tentacles all unspool from around her, fully revealing the "girl" in the blue "dress" beneath. On one side, the ribbon-tentacles look blue-purple; on the other, they still look like Rita's dress, Rita's hands, Rita's face unwoven into strips. All of them arch back like vipers and strike cruelly at once, piercing deep into the metal from too many angles to possibly evade. Each one seeks a different weak point; each tip drools with the same cruel acid.
Staren	A doodle appears on Staren's arm. How did that get there? Staren tries to focus on the juvenile way the threat was delivered rather than on the reminder that if Lilian can do THAT, Lilian absolutely COULD just kill her. Radio banter ensues. I4 taking Lilian's side is worrying. Staren miscalculated. The Paladins can't all be like that, right? Staren expected trouble. This body is one of those vat-grown in parts and assembled with cybernetics, originally to be used as a 'cheap' spare for others back when Staren didn't draw on the Concord's wealth so much. The upshot here is, as it's been modified to look like Staren, if Lilian tries anything violent Staren can shut off the pain while still making sure Lilian's allies see a flesh-and-blood girl maimed and bleeding. The choice in armor, hairstyle, and even that unwieldy weapon are all to supplement this image and engender sympathy in Lilian's allies. (It's not ALL show -- Staren can absolutely be badly hurt and absolutely thinks people SHOULD care regardless of appearance, but... She has to do SOMETHING to push back against Lilian. She can't just let whatever happens happen.) It's her hope, of course, that the likelihood of looking like the bad guy pushes Lilian to not horribly torture Staren again. Because getting tortured sucks, obviously! The Giant Enemy Mecha has no such qualms, though! A directly-aimed shot blows the golem she ducks behind into pieces and hits her at still-impressive reduced potency through it, sending her flying across the sand and landing with her armor scorched and smoking, the pulse plasma cannon thrown from her hand. She moves to sit up, grunts and winces in pain, and numbs it while microscopic robots get to work on repairs and putting fighting drugs in her system. It's hard to fight AND deal with Lilian and the radio. She needs to keep this simple... Hmm. Melee is normally a bad idea, but this thing doesn't have arms to grab her with, AND if she's in melee she's too close for its big damn cannon! Straightforward strategy decided on, Staren goes from sitting to standing with the help of her armor's thrusters, twin vibro-swords appearing in her hands. Despite the name, the 'vibration' referred to is actually high-frequency energy that projects a shredding field around the blades -- this means that all but the weakest of humans and d-bees can swing the actually-pretty-light blade for effective damage as long as the power's on. But Staren's strength is magically enhanced right now. That cannon weighed 70 pounds and she was using it like a slightly-too-heavy pistol with autofire. Staren makes a series of long, thruster-assisted hops in a zig-zag pattern as she closes in on the mech, before stabbing and slashing at joints, jetpacking up to try and attack the base of the cannon as well, hopefully breaking something important!
Tamamo	"Lilian, my wards-- not holding." She'd lost a word, somewhere in there. Tamamo can't remember the last time she'd been in this much danger. At least, to speak of immediate, physical danger. She could better handle some other kinds, but had she gotten complacent? Had she thought too much of her much-praised blessings and wards, after all this time, that she didn't think some ancient machine could be a match for them? Perhaps she was merely unlucky -- another fate she does not frequently expect to apply to her, of all people. These last few moments would be a valuable lesson in humility and diligence, if she were only in the right frame of mind to appreciate them. She expected something worse would come, and dropped paper talismans all around her, erecting invisible barriers to confuse and deflect incoming fire, thinking to have learned from the last exchange, only for the splitting lasers to fill her space with such a hail of fire that there was no avoiding countless, small strikes that had circumvented the strongest layers of her defense. The damage to her robes will be no lasting concern, but now what's left of the cloth makes it harder to reach the wounds. It's fine. Her powers of healing are not to be underestimated. Her sleeves may stick to her arms, revealing how slight her form is beneath all that cloth, but plastering yet more talismans over her limb resolves the issue for now, and will have it good as new, sometime later. There won't even be a single scar. There won't be any problem at all, just so long as that doesn't happen again. It hurts. Lilian, why are you so far away? It hurts. As abruptly as ever, Lilian is there, looking her in the eyes. She's asking a question. Is she-- what? I'm not okay. Yet, I can still show a smile. Is that what she needs, right now? I'm so good at that. Lilian is gone. The battle is continuing. Tamamo doesn't have a good view, but she can tell, from the magic she'd already laid out, that it hasn't moved away from the field she'd set up. That's to its detriment, whatever its orders may have been. She doesn't need to move from this spot -- she doesn't need to so much as stand upright, to strike it again. It's as easy as snapping her fingers, the way the depths of hellish cold grow deeper, making all the ground dangerous, and metals grow brittle and twisted, carrying that sapping of heat up through its body. It would be likewise dangerous for any others caught up in it, but she expects that Kale and Rita have the mobility to remain clear, and that I4 and Staren won't get close. And Lilian... will be okay, one way or another.
S6	Cannon-arm still smoking, the artillery unit swivels its torso as it refocuses on the next priority target, ignorant of the Inspector's activities. Cracking into its systems proves an initial challenge mostly because it's a different kind of operating system; but once I4 sorts that out, garbage data starts building up in the machine's mainframe. As it whirls around in response to further attacks, the artillery unit's torn-open back armor is beset upon by Kale's elemental attack. The ball ricochets off the edge of the tear left by Lilian, bounces off the other side, and then sinks inside with a bright flash that staggers the machine. A second later, that same gash bursts outward in an array of vivid colors and sparks courtesy of Lilian's magical contribution. The superchilled armor now starts to superheat, causing cracks the spiderweb through the machine's structure and rendering its armor far less than useful. Fissures in heavy plate that are soon filled with narrow tendrils tipped with corrosive fluid, boring into the machine's internals while Staren hacks at its many legs. One leg finally gives out, followed by the other two on that side. Planting its cannon to keep itself upright, the artillery mech's launchers swivel upward and take aim again. Rather than fire, though, one of the mortar pods suddenly explodes courtesy of I4's hacking, the blast tipping the entire machine onto its side in a shower of sparks and steel fragments. Where it collapses, it thrashes for a few moments, slowing and then ceasing all movement, stinking of burnt wiring and red-hot metal. "Well, you've made your point," a familiar female voice announces. Observing the fight from atop the canted ring, an android woman in white, modified Indus fashion leans on a high-tech spear. Her clothing is not like what is worn by the androids of FANTOM, but more like what is seen on the human citizens. Most notably she is not wearing the usual eye-covering visor, and as a result her striking red eyes are clearly visible beneath silvery bangs. It's S27, one half of the android duo last seen fleeing Indus several months ago. She shifts, putting more of her weight on her weapon, "We're pretty anxious about tresspassers. If you want your Striker back, take her. Get lost and forget you were ever here. Do that and I'll forgive you trashing our guard dog."
Ishirou	I4 lands far enough away from the ice to be safe. When it goes down, he breathes a sigh of relief. He turns, eyes looking around until the voice breaks the silence. S27, which causes I4 to tilt his head just slightly. He listens to what she says but holds up a hand. "Am I a trespasser? INDUS tried to assassinate me, and they think they succeeded," I4 tries to put forward. S6 was here for a reason, but maybe he should have come. He imagines that she wasn't keeping anything that'd let her be tracked on her for fear of INDUS finding this place but. "Also, your guard was in an area, our friend was lost, and her POD damaged. If you want people to not have the wrong idea about you, maybe scan first and then attack, not the other way around."
Staren	Staren leaps atop the robot as the leg gives out, then feels it getting magically cold and jetpack-leaps free, sheathing the two swords in sideways scabbards suddenly behind her back. And then she realizes the danger is over, which means it's TIME TO GO. But how? Flight is not an escape. And Lilian can just gank her on the way back to the warpgate at any time. If she stays here, she could stay in view of one of the others... I4. Who knows there's a conflict and stated very firmly which side he's taking. Nope. Rita. Who arrived WITH Lilian before the initial torture session. Pass. Tamamo. Staren doesn't know her well, and proximity between Staren and Tamamo has historically pushed Lilian to illogical aggression. Bad idea. Kale. ...Well, they're not friends, but no one here is friends with Staren. Staren-friends are historically in short supply. Staren jetpack-leaps over to the group, closest to but not uncomfortably-close-to Kale. She doesn't look happy to be here now that she's realized she's trapped by responding to this distress call. She never looks directly at Lilian, but is making sure to keep tabs on her location through the drones. Great. How do I get out of here...? Well, at least she can gather a little more data on how people are feeling here. Her eyes unfocus as she brings up the ocean of stars in her mind, looking briefly at each one in sequence to read surface thoughts -- except for the star representing Tamamo, and of course, she daren't even attempt to read the tear-in-psychic-space that Lilian shows up as.
Kale Hearthward	Kale gets clear - Tamamo's being handled by Lilian, and Kale's typical solutions to problems are... likely to make things worse. He touches down, nearly-uncomfortably-close to Staren (uncomfortable for Staren, not Kale) and gives her an appraising look. Not a look of malice - just an appraising look, in much the same way a woodcutter bears no malice to the tree. The look isn't nearly-uncomfortable, it's straight up unsettling.
Rita Ma	To Staren, Rita's mindstate can best be described as "booting back up". Her higher brain functions are gradually reorienting themselves as she pulls her tentacles out of the fallen robot and re-wraps herself. Soon she'll feel ashamed of revealing herself so carelessly, but she's still too "out of it" for that. Staren can detect some wariness towards Lilian- something like regret, something like guilt, something like heartbreak. She can also detect an awful, chronic hunger underlying all her other thoughts and feelings; shadowy, half-formed daydreaming compulsions to rip someone's body open and shovel their organs down her throat until she needs to breathe, anyone at all, drink the blood to feel less empty and cold, crack the bones and suck the marrow out, the skin the teeth even the hair- but they're repressed with a wince of guilt every time they surface. Rita turns around with a gasp as the mysterious android starts to talk. "Yes, please!" she says in her best apologetically-formal voice. "That's all we wanted. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience!" But that Rita isn't the real Rita for long. She's left behind as a decoy, still moving and emoting. There's a quiet swish in the air, and the real one rematerializes directly between Kale and Staren, intercepting Kale's gaze with a cool and impassive look. She doesn't hold it for long, turning her back on the bird dismissively. "I'm sorry," she says to Staren bluntly, albeit in a quiet voice. She really does look it, with her slumped shoulders and downcast expression- and, according to that mind-reading, she means it too. "There's something really wrong with Ms. Rook. I didn't want to believe it at first. I thought she could be good even though sometimes she wants terrible things, like me. But it's true."
Tamamo	Healing wounds in the middle of a fight is a difficult business. There's hardly any comparison between the value of seconds and minutes. Once the danger has passed, Tamamo can breathe more easily. She hadn't quite reached even the first of several thresholds that would have meant a far more arduous recovery. It was just as she'd thought: 'as long as that doesn't happen again,' she'll be fine. And, just barely, they'd finished it before it could strike again. She hadn't been able to see just how it had ended, but the lack of lasers in the sky and the weighty, collapsing sounds of metal are indication enough, even if she's not looking. There's another voice, after that, and now she has to look. That means getting up, and moving out of cover, and incidentally canceling the lingering traces of her freezing field. It also means, in passing, that she takes Lilian's left hand in her right, and holds it like she's afraid she'll disappear the moment she lets go. No such concern shows on her face. It never does, when she wishes otherwise. They'd just defeated the 'guard dog,' so why would she be worried? They're the victors, and hers is an appropriately confident demeanor. Idly, she reaches her left hand over, and begins removing the strips of paper covering up what had been horrible burns on her right side, but are now just about gone, with only missing cloth to show for it. Even that, she'll mend, later, with no trouble. "That was our only object in coming here, though I wonder if that will truly be an end to your troubles, if this place was found, once. I wonder, as well, what differences do remain between your own circumstances, and his, now that he reminds me of that unfortunate business." Tamamo gestures in I4's direction.
Staren	Kale is thinking about how to kill Staren. Not in a 'here and now' way, but in the way one forms contingency plans. Still, in her current emotional state, Staren can't help flinching away slightly from Kale. She's about to move closer to Rita -- what's a little intrusive thoughts, especially ones that she consciously fights like that? -- But then -- Staren almost does a sort of mind's-eye double-take as Rita moves-and-doesn't-move and is suddenly there. Huh. Staren's so distracted by trying to understand that that her ears don't move until after Rita's apology. Staren tilts her head slightly. There's something really wrong with Ms. Rook. "I know." Staren replies softly. She considers passing video on an SD card or something, but decides this is not the place and time. The catgirl tries to give a comforting smile. "I can't help but think of the horrible ways technology can be used, myself..." She starts to launch into a conversation of comisseration, then pauses. Is that really... true, anymore? Has she thought like that at all, recently? What was the last thing she thought like that about? The mysteriously advanced robot? The Orb of Mist? No... The AI in control of the arms factory hidden in Washington D.C. All the dangers, and all the potential goods that something like that could do... Come to think of it, has she thought like that about anything since she returned to the present? Persephone Kore's powers... She hasn't once thought about how Persephone could just fly into a factional base and wreak all kinds of havoc were she so inclined. Staren herself HAS MIND-READING NOW and hasn't thought about how she could be using that and psychometry to manipulate and blackmail people. Well, until that thought right there. When she first learned how to move people between bodies, Staren was immediately aware of how it could be used to torture people and was worried about its misuse. What... changed? Did something change? Is she just failing to remember examples? It can't possibly be because of recognizing that she's a girl. That's stupid. It must be something else... ...Is it because... she hasn't had to think in the mode of The Archetype since coming back? Was what she thought was a natural habit actually some extension of her mental defense mechanisms this whole time? Staren has completely zoned out for a moment, trailing off in the middle of talking to Rita as she dives down this mental rabbithole.
Lilian Rook	The moment the attack robot is completely gutted, Lilian of course immediately returns to Tamamo. She looks vaguely ill. Pale and uncomfortable, nauseaus and restless. "Hey. Tamamo. You're fine, right? Everything is okay. Isn't it? I'm sorry I looked away. I got lost for a second and . . ." She also doesn't ever slip up strangely with words like 'got lost' instead of 'got distracted'. If that's what it is. She peels at the healing talismans as they are removed, and takes in a sharp breath, holding the air while her stare waves and looks away. When she turns back, the bruise on her face looks dark again. A thin trickle of blood runs down to her chin. Damage from the artillery attack? She had cut it pretty close. She focuses uncertainly on S27 for a good long while. She's staring at her as if trying to get just the right distance from a magic eye puzzle that the illusion will appear and it'll suddenly make sense. A few seconds after S27 starts talking, Lilian hesitantly, yet irritably, forwards, "Didn't I give you a communicator once? When I saved you back then. Calling would have been nice for situations exactly like this." She blanks out for a split second. "Oh right, S6. That depends entirely what you've done with--" there's a moment where her mouth forms the shape for 'it' and then corrects itself "--her since then. There are certain kinds of treatment I can't overlook."
S6	The android has not introduced herself; and yet Staren's probe picks up that she answers to the name 'Bryn'. Her state is protective, ferociously so, concerned and anxious. Only a few people here are able to fight. Herself, Sig, a few others-- they can only bristle and hope it's enough of a threat that these non-Indus interlopers leave them alone. It also becomes immediately obvious that there are other androids present. Whispers of worry and anxiety, some putting on a braver face to calm others. An entire community of people looking on from hiding. "Stepped wrong, huh?" S27 appraises I4 when he makes his claim, "Impressive that you managed to fake your death." Her gaze travels over the myriad group with a tense frown, "The point of a guard dog is to present the illusion of danger. If they think the place is overrun by old, hostile clankers, they don't spend too much time sniffing around." She turns in place, glancing back up the structure and jerking her head. From one of the open hatches, S6 emerges, glancing back into the shadow of the building. Her weapons flicker into place across her back as she turns back, her stance shifting as she slides down the canted ring with a streak of sparks. "The fact that you killed it is inconvenient but we'll sort it out," S27's gaze returns to Lilian this time, "There was some mistaken hostility. We had a chat. She said she was looking for us since her friend was targeted for decommissioning. Was looking for a safe place." Her head shifts, eyes swinging towards I4, then back to Lilian, "I thought about your trinket today, but we had to sacrifice it to repair something more important." Eyes closing, she shrugs, "It was just a few weeks ago, too. Rotten timing." S6 rejoins the party, quickly collecting her POD from I4 with a nod of thanks. Even a quick glance can tell she's unharmed; her POD must have been the only casualty in whatever scuffle they had. The drone clips its hands together around her arm, hanging upside-down, where it simply chirps PURSE MODE.
Tamamo	"It seems to have been quite a mess, for precious little cause, but I shall be glad that no lives were lost. Or rather... that 'guard dog' is not truly 'dead,' is it? I had not thought it quite 'alive,' but neither had I a chance to closely examine." It's not 'a person,' as far as Tamamo can tell, any more than the talking purse is, but it seems somehow rude to mention that to those who can, despite not being people, still listen and speak. Tamamo is still holding Lilian's hand, so she can't remove the talismans on her left side. To those questions, she says, "I will heal. I am quite good at that, no? You need not worry that even a mark remains." She then leans in to whisper something else.
Rita Ma	Rita can't tell what Staren's thinking. She can tell the catgirl's distracted, and also that she's just lost a good few pounds of biomass from being struck by an energy beam, and also that someone nearby is bleeding. There's a hole between my ribcage and my waist, cold and deep. So hard to focus on anything else. The smell is mouthwatering. I could slide my hands inside of her and pull her apart, tear the muscles out with a shake of my head, meat from bone, sweet and warm- Rita smiles a brave, reassuring smile and pats Staren on the head. (She doesn't even need to stand up on tiptoes to do it!) "You've got a lot to think about, don't you, Ms. Wiremu? I don't know what you're going through, but it must be a lot." A visually perfect replica of the science catgirl forms next to her, even imitating her body language without purely mirroring it. "If you want to go, I'll cover for you, okay? ... Be safe." Then Rita disappears once more, re-melding with her fake-Rita closer to the loop. "Ms. S6!" she says with sincere relief, running towards her at a jogging pace. "You're back! Are you okay? Did they treat you alright?"
Ishirou	I4 looks towards S27, he sucks in a breath, "No, worse. I found the truth behind what Androids are...well, /WE/ did, " he motions towards those around him. "They found out through another entity we weren't aware of until then...and well.." He shrugs, "Also I didn't fake it, my partner did. They tried to get her to assassinate me," he says. Listening to what's going on, and sighing, "You'd think that you'd have plenty of salvage out here for things..." he considers. When S6 is back out he does not hold back and tries to give her a hug. He was worried.
Staren	Don't do that, there's tech bits in me all over the place-- wait, she really is thinking this ALL THE TIME? Staren's eyes widen, and then she's patted by someone who radiates intense imouto energy, which makes it not hit the same as when Persephone or Seilatiya does it, or maybe it's just that she is all too aware that multiple people here want her dead. Staren steps up to her replica, and whispers, "Thank you. Let's make that Plan B, or work it into what I'm about to do." Staren approaches Bryn. "Excuse me. If you need your 'guard dog' repaired, I can help. Maybe get you some other protection as well."
S6	Hugging S6 surprises her. She shouldn't have been surprised; and yet she does let out an uncharateristic noise when hugged by her partner. It takes a moment for her to recover and return the gesture as best she can with her arms pinned to her sides. To Rita, she simply gets out, "I-I am fine, thank you." S27's crimson eyes narrow slightly, "So you know, then." Eyes closing, she picks up her spear and then releases it to float across her back in the same way S6's weapons are stowed, "When Sig stumbled across one of the old CARI labs, we knew we couldn't justify protecting Indus anymore. It's rotten to the core and has been for a long time. That's why we struck out on our own." "I won't fault you if you're trying to change that place," S27 continues, "But we've washed our hands of it. It isn't our problem anymore; we're digging out a living here." Turning a bit, she lifts a hand, "It's an old Nazca military post. We call it the Bunker. Free androids and friends of free androids are welcome here." The android folds her arms, regarding Staren with a flat expression, "If you think that'll make up for destroying it. I was thinking we'd get our Resolver on scrounging up replacement parts to fix up another one, but I guess it'll go faster with an extra pair of hands and knowhow."
Lilian Rook	Lilian, for a short while, is perfectly distracted by Tamamo's reassurances. Rudely ignoring the conversation going on --or maybe that isn't quite it; it's like it'd just completely slipped beneath her notice and failed to register-- she gets in Tamamo's way to squeeze bother her hands in her own, and then her torso in her arms. "Thank goodness." she sighs, essentially just murmuring into Tamamo's ear. "After the others I-- I was worried. That I changed it somehow. This is never going to change, right?" She pretty insistently refuses to be polite and let go until she gets that answer. And yet, when she turns back to S27 just starting to answer questions, now Lilian seems even more irritated by it, somehow. The back and forth flick is somewhat egregious, and more inexplicable. "You people. Typical. You could have at least used it once before pawning off my generosity for literal scraps." A moment later, she does manage to reel it in a little. "Oh whatever. I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I did, in the end, get to see your hideout, and the rest of your friends. You were so cagey about it last time, when I just wanted to help. I suppose I'll thank S6 for tripping over it, as much as a tremendously inconvenient pain as this has been." And then there's S6. "Ah, and there she is. Go on and tell us. How was it? And why did it take you so long? Your POD was just lying there this whole time." Then back to S27. "I'd like to know how exactly it is that thing is even running. That's a liquid mana battery, isn't it? How do you plan on powering it back up-- No, where were you harvesting it in the first place? I thought Indus was more or less bleeding the last scraps dry."
Ishirou	The hug is released after a moment, as he gives his partner a nod. He's glad she's okay and this was more or less an overreaction and a miscommunication. Though the thought that, they discovered the truth on their own. It makes sense that they didn't tell them that knowledge would have been dangerous to have. There is an exchange, to which I4 looks and those who can look into feelings, feels hurt. It caught him by surprise, and now he's just a little unsure for a moment. He sighs, depressed before he decides to stay quiet for now.
Staren	Staren gets to work, looking over the broken mech, drones and sensors helping her build a preliminary model of the whole thing to work out what's needed to repair it. Vambraces with extendible tool-arms are warped in, along with a supply of wires, Staren getting to work on some of the easier repairs while formulating a plan for the rest. She's sure she can get another power source, but the question about the mana battery IS interesting, and Staren's ears turn towards Bryn to listen to the response. Meanwhile, back at the Elysium Apex, a gopher or a robot is sent to... Hey remember that nullborn the Concord adopted? How some like, Concord mage-interns are feeding it by ritually sacrificing livestock on its way to the Apex cafeteria? Staren has some of that intercepted, only, a few steps later in the process. Because, if they all hang around here a few minutes longer, Staren gets up from her work long enough to walk back over to Rita. "Hold out your hands a moment." And then she warps in a large cut of raw bacon (wrapped in paper,) into Rita's hands. "Did you ever get to try this?"
S6	"I was overwhelmed and taken captive," S6 explains, "I was unable to collect my POD after it was damaged-- thank you for finding it, I4." The POD chirps wordlessly in gratitude. "The accomodation was not terrible for a brief captivity. I was not mistreated, merely questioned, and not released until now." Her gaze lifts to the raised part of the structure, "They are not hostile, I can confirm this." S27 folds her arms, regarding Lilian directly, "We're leaving an abusive society of bossy rich people dressed in the most expensive finery. On our way out, we get accosted by a bossy rich person dressed in expensive finery. How exactly is it surprising that we'd be evasive in answering your questions back then?" She closes her eyes, gesturing, "The fact that you're here, associating with a decommissioned Inspector without immediately murdering him is the only reason I believe your intentions in the slightest." One scarlet eye opens, "MCS. Ambiant mana collectors. Passive systems; we possess them as an internal system. It's not like the mana turbines actively draining the world's life away. We charge our batteries on what the world naturally exhales. It's a slow charge but a single mana cell lasts for ages if it's sitting in standby most of the time." "Sig and I, we went to Nazca first. We thought they might help us. The whole city's a Null Zone now, even after we destroyed the turbines there. If it's recovering, it's pretty slow going."
Rita Ma	"I'm so glad, Ms. S6! I know Mr. I4 would be so worried if anything happened to you." The whole conversation with Bryn is a little too involved for her to have much to contribute, but she's clearly sponging it up. These mechanical people... even though some of them are strong, they're treated like the lower classes, aren't they? That's so strange. Isn't it usually the strong who enforce power? In most places, their position is just below the rich. She's snapped out of her contemplative reverie by Staren coming up behind her, jolting a little in surprise. Her eyes widen as she glances beneath the paper. "Oh!! Ms. Wiremu, that's..." Not human meat. Not monster, either, so I won't get powers from it. It'll help me be less hungry, and I won't throw up, but... "Thank you! I'll take this home and make something really nice. I appreciate it!" That's a lie. She's going to eat it raw, but she's not in a bad enough state to do so in front of other people.
Staren	Staren tilts her head. She's surprised by the words even before realizing the thoughts contradict it. "I thought you didn't have to cook it? Oh well, maybe I misunderstood." She sounds a bit like someone who innocently got mixed up about who at the table is a vegetarian while serving the plates and has to swap one, like it's no big deal that someone has a different diet. She pats Rita on the shoulder and smiles. "Thank you. Enjoy!" She goes back to working on the robot.