Multiverse Crisis MUSH - User contributions [en]

3038/WMAT B2 Geralt of Rivia vs Mortimer Balman

2015-09-17T03:15:18Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/17 |Location=WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes |Synopsis=Geralt faces down Mortimer Balman in an evenly-matched battle! |Thanks=Mortimer for bein..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/17
|Location=WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes
|Synopsis=Geralt faces down Mortimer Balman in an evenly-matched battle!
|Thanks=Mortimer for being a great opponent and Karian for being commentator!
|Cast of Characters=454, 828
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Honestly, it kinda puzzled Mortimer that the humans of this world called these lush rolling plains 'wastes'. There was greenery as far as the eye could see. Wastes are something barren of life or close to it. These are the things he thinks about while waiting for his opponent to show up so the match can begin. One of the local media people told him it was time, Geralt would be there presently. Up on his feet, knife clasped to his hip, Mortimer began walking out onto the field..      Wearing the same camouflaged uniform he had worn during his bout with the Bloody Crow. Various shades of blue patchwork, with a worn and tattered mantle that was hung and clasped loosely to the shoulders and collar of the shirt. Pant legs tucked and tethered into his steel-banded boots. Gym badges signifying fourteen of the eighteen Pokemon elements can be seen stitched onto the legs, seven for each leg. A knife hangs from one hip- two feet long, almost a shortsword more than a knife- bearing finely, cruelly shaped barbs, and on the other is a Fenrisian-style combat knife.      The wind makes his fiery mane flicker like a torch. His ears flatten to the sides of his head to blot out the noise of the crowds. Geralt should be coming out about now, too.. 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      And here he comes. The wind whips at Geralt's long white hair, held back in a loose pony tail, his face dusted with grey stubble. His golden eyes, like those of a cat, seem to glow even in the light of the midday sun.      His Kaer Morhen armor - leather, chain, all finely made - might not be as impressive as Mortimer's gym bages or camoflauge, but it gives off the impression of an understated fighter. Where Mortimer has two knives, though, Geralt has two long blades slung over his back.      He doesn't appear to have any supporters in the crowds over on the stands. No Triss, no Dandelion, and certainly no Yennefer. But Geralt doesn't seem to mind. He strides over to Mortimer, looking him up and down, and adopts a loose but ready stance.      "Balman." 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Mortimer flashes a sharp toothed grin. "I hear tell yer called the White Wolf, Geralt. I look forward t'seein' how yah got such a moniker.. Never seen a human with Liepard eyes afore." He falls back into a stance of his own. Leather, chainmail.. Good for turning blades, and arrows. Mort has no such armor, only his own flesh between himself and the Witcher's swords. And whatever fancy magics he has in mind. "Let's give the audience a good showin', aye?" 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      "And I've never seen anything like you before," Geralt replies, voice gravelly, like he's older than the man of middle-age that he appears to be. He reaches behind him, drawing his steel blade, and turns it in a loose circle before settling into a stance.      He nods. "Aye. May the best man win." 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      That voice. Geralt might be older than he looks, kinda like Mort himself. Two old bastards going at it eh? That makes this all the more interesting.. The announcer cries out for the fight to begin. Mortimer's feet dig into the ground and launch him forward, getting the initiative over Geralt this time. He bobs to the left, the opposite side of where Geralt is holding his sword, and puts all of his weight on his leg, bouncing up off the ground and spinning in the air. If the Witcher isn't quick on his feet too, he's going to be tasting the high-quality stainless steel wrapped over Mort's booted feet! 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      Geralt is quick. Decades of fighting experience in a body that was made beyond human by potions and magic gives him enough agility to deflect arrows, effortlessly dodge thrown objects, and go toe-to-toe with viscious beats armed with only a blade.      So, Mortimer's boot catches him on the side of the chin, whipping his head around, but it's not the worst it could have been. Geralt spits blood and ducks away from Mortimer.      His fingers dance and Geralt shoves that palm towards Mortimer - and a wave of telekinetic force blasts out from his palm! 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Just before he can finish sticking the landing, Mortimer is unceremoniously lifted off the ground and flung across it. His back hits the dirt pretty hard, making him grunt and growl quite loudly. "Psychic/Fighting type.. Shoulda guessed.." Throwing his legs around, he spins back up onto his feet with a wince. Humans are the worst thing to fight. Well if the strange Liepard-eyed man has psychic tricks, no reason for Mortimer not to use his own. He puffs out a large ball of flame as he runs back in Geralt's direction, which flies just ahead of him, drawing the Fenrisian blade as he runs.      The flames are a feint, though. The ball itself is hot and bright but not long-lasting, something to distract the Witcher for a precious moment while Mortimer himself bursts through it, swinging the sword in a powerful downward-cleaving strike 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      Ah, a fireball. That's going to be a problem. Geralt makes another strange display with his fingers and points to the ground he stands on - and a great golden hemisphere comes to life around him. The Quen sign, a magical shield.      It absorbs the worst of the fireball, although Geralt's hair might get a touch singed, his skin a touch reddened. As Mortimer comes bursting through the flame, the shield dissipates and Geralt rises, leading with his foot - and goes to kick Mortimer square in the abdomen!      "You'll have to try better than that," Geralt taunts. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Wait, what. Mortimer has only enough time to realize the fireball has hit some kind of SHIELD before he catches a foot in his gut, stopping his charge before it can go anywhere. He coughs hard and stumbles backward, wincing as he puts a hand protectively over his stomach, leaning on the sword a bit. "Urgh.. Well I guess it's back t'basics then.." Sucking in a half-choked breath of air he rears his head back and, very simply, starts exhaling a wide gout of flames over Geralt's position. Let's see how well the shield handles being bathed in flames 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      What's worse than a fireball? Fire breath. With the shield already fading away, Geralt has barely a second to duck aside - but he still gets clipped by the scorching flames, heating some of the chain of his armor red hot. Might even scar some of the flesh it catches. Geralt takes a second to bat at his hair with his gloved hands. That caught on fire too.      Rolling, Geralt takes up the sword that he had dropped, and then leaps toward Mortimer, whirling the gleaming blade around his head, before he lets it fly for a horizontal blow! 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      The blue uniform turns red, blood welling up quickly as a sharp gash is torn across Mortimer's chest. A deep cut but nothing vital struck too hard. Of course, getting so close to Mortimer means that, well.. Geralt is CLOSE to Mortimer. Even as he cries out in pain he's drawing in more oxygen, and this time when he expels boiling hot flames, the Witcher is much, /much/ closer to the source.. Ideally that means it will hurt more. 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      Geralt ignites. The Witcher vanishes behind the conflageration of Mortimer's flame. When the flames die down, if only for a moment, Geralt is still standing, although he's clearly badly burnt. He grunts, hand shaking as he pulls a vial from his belt. He uncorks it and drains it down in one long gulp.      And, just like that, Geralt's flesh reknits. It's not going to be perfect and, really, given how his face twists and how his lips press into a grimace, it's clear that the cure might be just as bad as the affliction - but it means that, even if it is only a temporary relief, a magical elixir that'll reknit his wounds and keep him in the fight, he'll survive until he can get to a proper healer.      And so Geralt turns, staggering and wounded, and makes the sign of Aard again. That telekinetic wave blasts out, flattening the grass as it goes. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      "Oh no yah don't! Mortimer is wise to the Witcher's wily tricks this time, and he flings his body out of the way of the Aard sign's blast. The grass and weeds alone feel the brunt of the unseen hand shoving across the air, this time. Spinning through the air, Mortimer puffs out more balls of flame to keep Geralt on the defensive, landing upon the ground on his toes and one hand, scrambling to get over to the White Wolf and push his brief advantage.      The Fenrisian blade lashes out in what seem to be a series of wild and uncoordinated strikes, while the grass around Geralt catches fire and burns. A sudden twist of Mortimer's body and both of his booted feet fly past Geralt's face, trying to kick him off balance so he can't do more of those blasted fancy tricks of his! 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      Geralt's blade whirls and sings through the air, intercepting some of those puffs of flame. Most of them add to his discomfort, sure, but don't set him alight. As the grass around him catches and burns, Geralt leaps over the flames, holding his blade between him and Mortimer - and then both of Mortimer's feet find Geralt's face, breaking his nose, and driving him backwards.      Geralt staggers, brushing his bracer against his nose, wiping away some of the blood. With his free hand, he sets his nose back to how it should be. That's going to need a healing spell, though.      And then Geralt charges, taking his sword up in both hands, unleashing a flurry of strikes! And when he swings, they are big, heavy blows, sweeping wide and long - and yet they are perfectly controlled. It's not the maddened swings of a berserker or an untrained soldier, Geralt is wielding the blade precisely as he intends to. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      If he wasn't in the middle of such a fierce duel, Mort would commend Geralt for his tenacity and ability to handle pain. As it stands he's busy trying to hold back the blows of that powerful steel blade. Unfortunately for Mortimer, this Fenrisian knife was only meant as a replica. Strong steel for certain but it's still only a subpar version of the real thing. The blade snaps and Mortimer's eyes go wide, suddenly left with little more than his own flesh and bone to block the Witcher's cold steel.      Which as it turns out, doesn't block steel very well. In fact, it doesn't really protect at all!      But just before the Witcher can land a final blow, Mortimer's hands clap together around the blade. His uniform and mantle now shredded thoroughly by the White Wolf's blows, blood spilling from all over- including where he is holding the blade, the old Typhlosionmorph forces it to stay still.. And, presuming Geralt wants to keep his blade, forces him to stay put as well.      The temperature suddenly skyrockets as Mortimer lets out long growl, which increases until it is a howl. The very air around them becomes oppressive, choking, and volatile. Small wisps of flame pop at random as bits of ozone explode into tiny firelights, and the field around them for quite some distance is reduced to little more than wafting cinders in a matter of seconds. 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      Geralt sucks in a breath as everything around them ignites. Some part of him would really appreciate some assistance from Triss right about now, given her affinity for fire magic, and a situation like this is really why Witchers shouldn't fight wizards - at least, not without fair distance and a crossbow.      He tries to keep hold of his sword, but it eventually gets too hot to hold. Freshly scorched and smoking, Geralt ducks away from it, evidently letting Mortimer keep hold of his blade. And he leaves something else behind, too. A small bomb.      It detonates like a flashbang, throwing out shrapnel and hopefully giving Geralt a moment to catch his breath! 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Now Mortimer has a NEW sword. He'd thank Geralt for that, except suddenly his face was full of SHRAPNEL. "RRAGGGH?!" Holding his newly acquired chunk of red hot steel, he stumbles backward, flailing it wildly for a few moments.. He's starting to run hard out of steam here. And now he can't see. The pain.. Push it down. Pain is telling you important things, Mortimer, but don't scream about it. Must be.. Cautious now. Geralt is nearby. He can hear the man breathing in the heated atmosphere.      Pointed ears flicker around until the hollows tilt themselves in Geralt's direction. There he is.      Two steps forward, and Mortimer appears to.. Vanish. It's an optical illusion- a sudden burst of intense speed that makes it look like he's going ridiculously fast. Which he is, but not to some insane degree like those Z fighter people do. He is however, behind Geralt in the space of a second, and spinning hard on his heel with the burning blade to slash the human across his back! 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      Geralt notes the flit of those ears. "Oh," he begins, sounding /incredibly/ frustrated, "'course you've got supernatural hearing." He draws himself up to his full height, not stooping over despite the pain, and he goes to draw his other blade - the silver blade, suitable for killing monsters.      He's fought invisible monsters before - vampires, mainly. And so he turns, maybe anticipating Mortimer's strike from behind, and intercepts the burning blade with his silver one. The shock of intercepting the blow sends pain ringing down his arms and Geralt bites down a curse. With their blades locked, he can't swing without opening himself up for another strike.      So, there's only one thing to do.      Geralt headbutts him. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Geralt does however, slightly misjudge his distance- his head slams into Mortimer's bloody chest with a loud THUMP. Which hurts! But not enough to really stop the Typhlosion. "Not really.." Without their blades being locked, Mortimer is free to use his free hand to quickly reach out and grab the Witcher by the hair, and drag him up. Mort's seven feet tall, remember. "Yer just loud."      And then he rears his own head back, and starts banging it /repeatedly/, attempting to demonstrate how proper headbutting is done. 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      Geralt grunts in pain as Mortimer takes him by the hair, drags him high, and headbutts him. Once, twice - and then Geralt is so disorientated that he's not sure how many times that Mortimer keeps hitting him, only that he does, and only that it hurts a whole lot.      Even disorientated, his vision blurry, Geralt wills his fingers to /move/, to empower them with the movement that might summon up one of the signs. He's pretty sure he's done it right and so Geralt raises his hand, putting his palm as close to Mortimer's face as he can. "Eat this," Geralt murmurs.      This time, the telekinetic wave of Aard is practically a point-blank cannon ball! 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      "Eat wh-" Oh. Oh yeah! The human has fancy psychic magic tricks! Forgot about that. Well too late to remember it now, what with Mortimer flying across the battlefield again. At least he drops Geralt's sword, so hey he can get that back. Mortimer falls to the ground in a crumpled heap. Exhausted. Not done yet, though. Gotta keep going.. C'mon old man. Get up. Get UP.      Slowly, Mortimer drags himself up onto his feet. Baked dirt and blood and chunks of metal wiped from his eyes as he does so. There.. There he is. There's three of him in fact. None of those Geralts look much better than Mortimer feels. Okay.. C'mon old man. Summon up just a bit more strength and finish this fight..      Mort's mane bursts out suddenly as he dredges up what strength remains in him. Flames trail in his wake as he rushes past, and indeed around, Geralt, once, twice, and three times. A blazing inferno is created around the Witcher, and from within that blaze a fist wreathed in that inferno flies out to punch straight /through/ him. 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      C'mon, old man, all you need is just a little bit more. Geralt might get dropped, but it takes him some time to pick himself up. He staggers, drops to his knees, and then manages to rise again. He finds the sword that Mortimer dropped, although the steel blade seems a bit worn given all the heat, and he holds it in one hand - his silver blade in the other.      But, with a sword in each hand, he can't make any sign to protect him from the inferno. Geralt burns and he shouts out, roaring in pain. His armor ignites, his hair ignites, the air reeks of burnt flesh, scorched leather and burning hair.      But then Geralt comes roaring from the flames, practically naked and burnt down to the muscle in places, swinging both of those blades like a whirling cyclone! All of his remaining strength has gone into this last burst of adrenaline - will it be enough?! 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Yeah, yeah that's about enough. The two swords lacerate Mortimer quite ferociously, enough to cause him to bleed quite profusely! The boiling blood hisses as it lands upon the ground, melting the dirt a little bit and cooling rapidly. The temperature drops.. And so does ol' Mortimer.      He doesn't get back up. 

:'''{{#var:828|Geralt of Rivia (828)}} has posed:'''      And Geralt goes down pretty much immediately afterwards, collapsing onto the smouldering dirt without a sound. Scorched and burnt, delirious and probably concussed, the old wolf appears to have won this fight. But only just. 

}}

2855/TARGET: Retrieving Resources

2015-08-20T03:42:54Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/20 |Location=Mining Station Zephyr (MZ) |Synopsis=The Red Lanterns need resources for their crusade - Razer is sent to retrieve some. |Than..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/20
|Location=Mining Station Zephyr (MZ)
|Synopsis=The Red Lanterns need resources for their crusade - Razer is sent to retrieve some.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=215, 692
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Razer's arrival at the Mining Station is heralded by a flash of red light. The Red Lantern hangs in space without any apparent aid or vacuum suit. His power ring protects him from the absence of oxygen, the solar radiation, the crippling lack of anything except infinite blackness.      Atrocitus desires resources for his great crusade against the Green Lanterns of Oa, and Razer is here to ensure that they arrive. The Confederacy, of course, will recieve their fair share - providing the Union is unable to stop him. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     How is Iria outside without a special suit? A special shield is around her head, generated by her suit. It acts like a helmet to protect her from the vacuum of space and things like that without loading her down. It's amazing the technology they have on Planet Myce, isn't it? Especially when you're an elite bounty hunter!     Upon arriving at the station, Iria quickly spots where Razer is coming from and she prepares to advance on him. "Stop right there!" She yells. "You're not taking anything from this spot, so get out of here now!" She scowls as she stares down her opponent. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "I wholeheartedly beg to differ," Razer replies, voice cool. He glances at Iria, looking uninterested and aloof. "I'll be taking anything I choose to take, and there is nothing you'll do to stop me. Atrocitus' will be done."      With that simple comment, Razer raises his ring hand - and lets loose with a burst of red energy! It's not his most powerful strike, more a way of testing Iria. Seeing if she'll flinch. 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Iria does flinch, but only a little bit. Her armor isn't made to be invincible, but it does protect her somewhat. She skids back a little, then draws her pistol. "You're gonna have to go through me first!"     Iria twirls her weapon a few times, as if to show off her weapon handling skills, then aims it at Razer. "I may look small, but let's not forget that big things come in small packages!" She then fires a shot. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      The shell pings off Razer's shoulder arm, leaving a dent. He is sent spinning but quickly corrects himself, already leaping to the attack! "That is acceptable!"      Razer, enshrouded in a fierce red aura, leaps towards Iria, one fist raised and ready to strike!      He's quick and, as soon as he gets close, Razer throws a powerful blow at her middle! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Remembering things like this from her fighting training, Iria attempts to tighten her stomach and absorb the blow. But the punch is too quick for her to do that. She is hit hard and she doubles over, losing air from her lungs.     "Damn it!" She curses, holding her stomach with one hand while attempting to get air back into her lungs with the other, thanks to the built in oxygen generator with her shield.     "You wanna fight personally? I'm fine with that!" Iria yells once she's recovered, her voice echoing within her shield as she goes in with a swift kick to the stomach. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Razer seems to grin when Iria yells at him. "Then show me your anger! Fight me!"      He backflips away from the kick, landing on his feet on the outer hull of the station - the metal crumples under the impact. Razer shouts out and charges, putting one shoulder down, and brings one elbow up, aiming to slam it into her head! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Iria finds her head getting hit hard, and while some might call her hard headed, she doesn't exactly feel that way now. She finds herself groaning and feeling herself getting a little dazed. "Owww..." She grumbles, rubbing at her head and glad to find it's not bleeding, although there will be a major bruise there for awhile. She glares up at Razer.     "Show you my anger? I'll show you a lot more than that!" Iria yells as she attempts to leap up and deliver a jumping kick at the side of Razer's face! 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "Then why don't-" Whatever else Razer was going to say is cut off by the foot slamming into the side of his face. Razer chokes on his words and slams into the hull of the station, rolling. His ring flares brightly and tears a great gouge from the hull, slowing him.      Razer stands and, from his ring, sends out great bands of red energy that wraps around a section of damaged hull. With a shout, he flings a big chunk of metal at Iria! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     That's a huge chunk of metal. And it's coming right at Iria! She tries to get out of the way, but being in this gravityless space makes it hard to utilize her acrobatics. She gets hit and smashes into a nearby wall. "Son of a bitch!" She exclaims as she gets up, finding her face a little cut up. Thinking quickly, she draws her sword, which has a blade that goes from being a chain to an actual solid sword blade.     "You want to play with metal? All right!" She rushes in and attempts to slash with her sword. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Razer's facial expression seems to say: wait, what?      He's surprised that Iria has just come at him like that, sword raised. She lands a good blow on him, too, and Razer cries out. Iria's blade comes free with blue blood and Razer grunts as he stumbles away, hand on his abdomen. "Why- you!"      Red fire burns around his hand, pain feeding his rage, and a long red whip erupts into life from his ring. Razer raises his hand and lashes at Iria, again and again and again, the energy whip tearing great slashes from the mining station when he misses! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Crack that whip! Just not on Iria!     Iria gets whipped hard and she finds herself struggling to stay on both feet. She stumbles and nearly falls, but she gets back onto her feet again. "Unngh... this is getting too ridiculous for my own liking!" Iria exclaims as she attempts to rush in and slam the handle of her blade into the head of Razer. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      The handle of her blade clips the armor of Razer's helmet, setting his ears ringing and disorientating him for a moment and causing his scarlet whip to vanish from his hand. He blinks, and frowns. That ringing isn't going to stop for a while, it seems. "Then allow me to put you out of your misery!" Razer shouts.      Red energy crackles around his hand but this time it's not a whip. No, a wicked looking punch-blade forms around his wrist and hand, and Razer leaps towards Iria, thrusting the point of the blade towards her! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     The blade strikes Iria and cuts through her armor. She cries out and staggers back, watching as the blood comes out of her. "Damn it... I've been overpowered!" Iria thinks to herself as she goes for what looks like a large cannon. "I'm going to have to break out the heavy artillery!"     She levels this cannon at Razer and says, "I'm blowing you away!" Then she fires. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "What in the name of Atroci-"      Anything further Razer was going to say vanishes under the onslaught of Iria's giant cannon. Maybe she really did just blow him away entirely, utterly wiping him off the face of the station. Where he stood, there's only a huge smoking hole leading into the innards of the station. Razer is nowhere to be seen.      But then he floats, wavering from side to side, out of that hull breach. His red armor is blackened and charred, as is his alabaster skin in places. The red aura that rolls over his form flickers haphazardly. "That," he murmurs to himself, "Was too close."      But he won't fail, can't fail. Atrocitus doesn't take failure lightly. And so Razer draws himself up, clenches his fists, braces himself, and unleashes the full extent of his rage on Iria.      A storm of red fire bursts from his throat, a destructive vortex of pure, unbridled anger and hate! Razer roars, melting the hull of the station beneath his attack! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     Iria finds herself going backwards quickly and then onto the ground (or whatever you wanna call it.) She finds herself struggling to breathe, blood flowing down her face and from her injury. Her armor is showing heavy signs of wear and tear also. Yet she refuses to give up quietly. She rushes in with a shoulder tackle, using a burst of adrenaline to show she's serious about fighting to the end. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      The wrathful energy from Razer dies down almost immediately, and he finds himself on the back foot as Iria comes charging through it, before he's had a chance to catch his breath. She slams into him, that burst of adrenaline pitching him back and throwing him to the ground. His helmet appears to /crack/, one of the wings flying off, as his head slams against the metal hull. Ears ringing, burn injuries, surely a concussion...      Razer rolls, groaning, and goes to wrap chains of red energy around Iria as he lays there prone - and to slam her against the hull of the station in one final blow! 

:'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''     It is indeed one final blow, as Iria goes down hard, and this time she doesn't get up. She reaches up with a fist at Razer, glaring daggers at him. "You were just lucky. Next time, I'll finish you good!" Then she presses a button on her wrist device and she teleports away.     All the while, she's mentally plotting revenge against this guy for what he did to her as well as for taking the Mining Station. 

}}

2846/Jasper's Factory Fight!

2015-08-19T10:49:02Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/19 |Location=The Factory (TF) |Synopsis=Looking for a fight, Jasper goes for another Target Zone, and runs right into Karima who proves a t..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/19
|Location=The Factory (TF)
|Synopsis=Looking for a fight, Jasper goes for another Target Zone, and runs right into Karima who proves a tough opponent!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=235, 836, 858
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      The Factory. Broken, barren, windswept plains. It reminds Jasper, on some level, of the various worlds she's fought across in the service to the Gem Homeworld. To her, this place - and the wider Multiverse - is just one more battleground for her to conquer, to crush beneath her heel.      She's just there, all of a sudden, amidst some of the most broken battlegrounds. The Union holds this territory but perhaps not for long, not once Jasper's smashed throught their defenders.      She's a tall woman - nine feet, maybe - with a musculature that could best be described as 'outrageous', like a professional weightlifter. The wind tugs at her mane of long, thick white hair. She scowls against the wind, and advances upon the Union lines.      They'll need a savior! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      The dragon had made it a point in recent days to go to fairly large lengths to improve herself and to train when she could, especially in light of her missing the WMAT for the second year. It irritated her greatly, to know that she was again, missing out on the best chance to possibly prove herself in front of her faction. The taunting call over the radio almost instantly garnered her attention, and after a little bit of background checking, it was pretty easy to find out where this loud attacker was broadcasting from. Karima makes a beeline for the factory, but judging by the wreckage, the large woman had clearly been here for a decent amount of time, and apparently, quite incontested. She sends the last message over the wide-range radio just as she swoops in, folding her wings in to allow for a smooth landing, a good dozen or so feet from Jasper. The dragon whistles as she looks up towards the towering orange lady, crossing her arms in the process. "Wow. Humans come in huge carrot colors now? Jeez, just when I thought I was figuring them out, a new crayon stops out of the box." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper eyes off Karima with a curious expression, like a wolf inspecting a prey animal - there's something primal and dangerous about her expression that quirks a grin across her face. She drops half of a Union vehicle of some sort, seemingly like she had torn it in half with her bare hands.      The grin gives way to a frown. "Human?" Jasper replies, her voice low and seething. "Do I look like one of those weaklings?" She stomps towards Karima, kicking up dust with each step.      "No, forget the question! How about you get a feel for what I am instead!"      In a moment, she's charging, one fist raised and ready to strike, a glowing corona of golden fire building around her fist! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      Karima generally considered herself to be a fairly large individual compared with most elites of the confederation. But when Jasper rushes in, it's clear just how much of a size advantage she's got over her. Even so, she's grinning the whole time she approaches her, and just before the punch lands, she brings up one of those thick metal bracers to parry the punch, redirecting it over her head. At the same time, she grabs the huge woman by the hip and uses her own momentum to toss her off balance behind her. "Usually people are asking me that question. But you want a fight lady? You've got one. Bring it." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper goes flying. The Gem woman lands in a heap, crumpled in the dirt. For a second, she seems shocked - but the shock gives way to rage. She slams her fist against the ground and, for a moment, it seems like the whole area shakes. When Jasper rises to her feet, a golden helmet has settled over her head. Of course, the wicked prow on the helmet makes it clear that this is more of a weapon and less of a piece of defensive headgear.      With a roar, Jasper charges again. This time, though, she lowers her head, extending that heavy armored prow so she might catch Karima with it - that might hurt! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      Karima smirks when the toss works just as intented, but her expression shifts when the woman's fist hits the ground hard enough to have her feel it from that distance. And just like that, the woman is on her again, charging like a bull. The headgear comes in as a surprise as she comes in again, faster than before. She raises one of her bracer covered forearms up to block the attack, the impact rattling her hard enough to hurt. Even with that, she digs in her foot-claws and only manages to slide a few feet from it. Her free hand channels some chakra, forming a basketball sized fireball with it. She brings it around firing it directly into Jasper's chest to blow her back a small distance. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Clang! Helmet meets bracer and the sound might send ears ringing, but Jasper doesn't even seem to notice it. She's drawing her head back, tensing the muscles through her neck and shoulders for another strike-      -and then Karima blasts her in the chest. Maybe it's some reaction to her Gem physiology or just from the strength of the blast, but Jasper slams right into the dirt... again. She emits a strangled noise from her throat that begins as a hiss, turns into a snarl and culminates into a roaring crescendo.      She charges again. This time, she leaps into the air, and looks set to drop her elbow squarely onto Karima, with all of her strength! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      Karima winces from the fireblast in such close range, but the attack worked like it needed to. Unfortunately, all it seemed to do was make her even madder than before. She was expecting another charging move, but when she goes up for the elbow drop, the dragon tumble-dives out of the way, though not completely scot free. Her tail tip catches the slightest edge of her blow, causing the dragon to wince. She pulls out of the roll and stands up again, masking the pain behind a cocky grin. She motions with her hand, a finger to be precise. She points towards her and then rolls her finger back towards her, beckoning the large woman to come at her again. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      The ground gets the worst of it, as it turns out. Sure, Karima's tail gets clipped, but Jasper's elbow punches a great big dent where she had been a moment ago. Jasper growls and she picks herself up amidst the dust and smoke, a hulking silhouette, radiating anger even then.      Through the dust, her golden eyes glint. She must pick up on Karima's taunt, because she comes charging in again. Maybe this tactic works most of the time, with her size and fury - but it's not working so well now, when she's meeting an opponent that can slip around her.      But this time, Jasper isn't resorting to one strike. No, this time, she headbutts in a quick flurry of one, two, three strikes! Crash! Crash! Crash! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      The dragon's feeling pretty good about herself about now. This lady didn't seem that tough. Pretty strong sure, but not that tough at all. It's about at that exact second when she realized that again, this woman was not quite what she seemed. Rage was not an emotion Karima was unfamiliar with, but this one seemd to thrive on it. Faster than she had been before, the charge comes in, and just as she was ready to toss her for the second time, the headbutt nails her right in the face. A second hit knocks her off balance and the third sends her rocketing backwards. She bounces off of the ground, tumbling head over heels uncontrollably until she finally finds her footing and digs her claws it again, slowing herself. She places a hand on a broken rock pillar next to her, looking through the smoke that attack kicked up. She flares her wings and sends a small bit of wind out from them to clear the air, allowing her to see her opponent. The dragon spits out a small bit of blood on the rock next to her, glaring back towards Jasper. "It's about time you got serious. I was starting to think you were all talk." She crushes her hands into fists and crouches down. She charges forward in much the same manner that Jasper did, but with the added bonus of igniting her fists just in time to land a flurry of blows to the muscular woman's mid-section, ending it with roundhouse kick to the same section. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper weathers the blows as best she can, but the hits are good ones and by the last few, she is actually falling back under the onslaught, building up some space between her and her opponent. She falls back, holding one hand to her side, and sucking in breaths. "I'll show... you... just what I am..." she growls out, evidently still more than willing to fight even though she is, really, getting hammered.      Maybe more so.      Jasper brushes some dirt from her striped face with the back of her hand. The visor of her helmet is cracked, although her anger still isn't. Jasper charges back into the battle, and this time, she is just a storm of blows - feet, fists, elbows, knees, and more than a few headbutts! She fights like a brawler, using her strength and size to just overpower Karima - or at least, that is what she hopes! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      Now this was a fight! Karima stays in close quarters this time, and growing somewhat used to her fighting style, starts actively blocking, parrying and dodging most of the attacks. Each time that crystal headpeice interacts with her bracers, the resulting *CLANK!* resonates throughout the battle field. But, on the other hand though, the dragon's showing visible wear and tear now; clothes were getting ripped, abraisions were showing up on her scales and a small trickle of blood seeps from her lip. On the last headbutt strike, Karima strikes back, driving a knee into her chin to force her to stand up again. She follows up with two quick palm slaps to the belly and ends by grabbing Jasper by the mid-section and simply throwing her with the use of her feet in a very basic karate throw. "I'll tell you what you are...done! You picked a fight with the wrong elite!" 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper doesn't seem to show the same signs of physical damage, although she's clearly tiring, expending whatever energy it is that a Gem uses to maintain their form. That's what she has to be, if the fact that she appears to have a gemstone for a nose is any indication.      But she's not down yet.      Karima's knee slams into her chin, causing Jasper's head to snap back under the blow. She shouts out, in surprise or maybe pain, and while she reels from that, Karima capitalises on it to hammer some blows into her her middle. Again, Jasper is thrown aside, slamming through a spire of jagged minerals. As the dust settles, nothing moves.      And then a great orange arm thrusts from the under the broken material, and Jasper follows, gasping for breath. There's a low growl in the back of her throat and, suddenly, Jasper is blazing with a flaming corona of golden energy.      She smiles like a shark and her body shifts into a chaotic mass, for a moment - all spinning spikes and whirling edges. And then that blazing comet streaks out, straight for Karima, as Jasper's body emerges from the blinding light. It's like she's just going to ram Karima! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      Despite her size, Karima's got the strength to go toe to toe with the giant lady, and even enough to straight uproot her from the ground. Still though, it was getting tiring, and just as soon as the dragon gets up, the orange woman is up again too. Again, she's expecting her to charge, either directly or from the air at an accellerated speed. What she wasn't expecting was...a glowy orange spin dash. The attack hits her wholesale, sending Karima spiraling off to the side and landing hard on her side. She rolls over herself for a few cycles before kicking a foot into the ground to stabilize herself. She turns towards Jasper's form and takes a rooted martial arts stance, shoring up her feet on the ground and taking a deep breath. She exhales a moment later and her fists, which were lit with an orange blaze, intensify to orange white, illuminating the area around her. She pulls her hands together, gathering energy between them, the chakra swirling between her palms, soon filling them with the same energy. As she's doing this, she takes another deep breath and a similar light spills from her snout. She looks forward to roughly where her opponent was going to be and fires a large, erratic looking bolt of white-hot-orange energy, and following it up by firing the blast from her palms. The two attacks swirl together and combine to a streaking comet of fire, leaving behind circular rings as it tears through the air towards Jasper. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper lands kneeling, one fist on the dirt. She's sent Karima flying and Jasper allows herself a predatory grin. /Good/. Jasper hears Karima stabilise herself with that kick and she turns, leering at her draconic opponent, balling her fists.      Jasper begins stalking towards Karima with long, powerful strides. She's barely taken three steps before Karima nails her with her energy blast. It strikes well and true and causes Jasper to just utterly vanish under the flash of white-hot energy, obscuring her entirely. By the time it has dissipated, there's a new landmark in the Factory landscape - a great trench where the blast has scythed through the earth.      It's silent. Maybe Jasper has been defeated, but then an orange hand claws its way up and out of the trench, pulling the rest of her body behind it. She takes a step, then another, then collapses to her knees. "You- You think you've won? You think something like /that/ would defeat me?!"      She rises, slowly, unsteadily. "Ggh... I'm not done yet..."      She glows again, but this time it flickers for a moment. She surges from the ground and towards Karima, fists ready to land a punishing hammer blow! 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:'''      The dragon always hated this part. The waiting game. The smoke has to clear and you inspect the blast zone to make sure that your opponent is down for the count. Unfortunately, the dragon didn't have to wait long before an orange hand appears out of the explosion radius of the attack. The translucent smoke eminating from the path the fireball took wasn't enough to obscure that signal. Jasper's faultering doesn't gather a smile or much of a reaction, but rather, a wary, careful eye. This lady was as hard as a rock and likely even tougher than she was, judging by the amount of abraisons the dragon had now. Far, far more than she was intending to have. The next attack was just as wild as the rest of them, and rather than dodge, Karima puts up her guard again, forming an 'X' over her head with the punch landing square in the middle of it. The blow is severe enough to where it rattles not just the bones in her upper body, but even her teeth. She grounds her stance to spread the impact, but it wasn't enough to avoid all the damage. Blood seeps from out of her nose and her muscles ache. No more of those. She swings both of her arms out from herself, moving the brutish woman's fist out of the way, leaving the air above her open. She somersaults behind Jasper and grabs her by the midsection, clutching tight. Her wings flare outwards, stretched taut. "How about we go for a ride big girl?" With a powerful flap of her wings, she attempts to lift Jasper from the ground, and if successful, the two of them tear into the sky. At the apex fo the flight (or at least as much as she could muster) she stops flapping and lets the two of them drop, wrenching Jasper into a series of backflips as they speed back towards the ground. A few dozen feet before impact, she kicks Jasper away, leaving her to spiral into the ground, head over heels. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper's fist slams into Karima's guard, and Jasper /pushes/ with all of her strength. But then Karima has redirected her strength, found a way behind her and has grabbed her in a hold. In her grip, Jasper writhes and twists and does everything she can to break free. If Karima didn't know better, it'd be almost like panic.      What, being in a hold makes her freak out this much?      In that sense, Jasper's probably relieved when Karima plunges back down towards the dirt of the factory and then releases her. She spins towards the ground, in an uncontrolled fall, and - with a resounding boom that shakes the plains - impacts, hard.      She's not moving. It seems like Jasper has been stopped.      For now. 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima lands quietly a few dozen feet away, panting lightly. She leans over, placing her hands on her legs to brace her position, looking over at the slightly flattened body of the orange hulk. A grin finally crosses her features as it finally seemed like she was down for the count. "You know what they say about the bigger they are...but I gotta say lady, you are one HUGE chick. Jeez. Felt like my wings were going to tear off." She waits a moment before speaking again, standing upright once more. "Hey cupcake, are you still in the land of the living?" 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      She's conscious. Barely. Probably because she's, in a way, just a projection - and Jasper's clinging to remaining substantiated through sheer force of will. She won't be weak again- she won't surrender. She can't-!      "You..." she hisses, ".../you/..." Her words die off into incoherent muttering after that. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     What a busy day.     Lights and sound fill the air around the dirt plains as a massive amount of dust was kicked up by the sudden arrival of a large flying green pod. The translucent window pane opened up as a green-skinned woman with diamond shaped hair leaned out. "Jasper! We don't have time for this!" She chided in a fussy tone. She quickly typed away on a holographic datapad, as a beam of green energy shot out and latched onto Jasper and begin lifting her into the air. "We have a job to do!"     Though she did take a brief moment to look down upon Karima. Peridot was much smaller and thinner than her orange compatriot. But, she had a unique talent for glowering. Her eyes narrowed some, but she doesn't throw out any taunts, or curses. She appeared to merely be sizing her up, visually scanning and documenting her form.     "Hm..." She rubs her chin, before pressing another button. The window pane of her flying green pod becoming opaque to hide her from Karima's view. A hole opens up in the bottom of the ship, and pulls Jasper into it. Once the orange gem was safely aboard, it closes up and zips away, leaving the area silent and dark once more. 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima 's eyes go wide when the pod seemingly shows up out of no where, properly scoops up the giant lady, another smaller green lady pops out long enough to stare at her, and then the two of them just...skidaddle off. She marely stares at the entire scene play out in front of her, too stunned to do anything. When it's clear that they are leaving though, she reaches out towards them, but by that time, it's far too late, as they are out of sight and the Dragon is far too injured to give chase. She shakes her head dismissively. "That in the hell was that thing? Who -ARE- these people?" 

}}

1518/The First Strike

2015-08-17T09:51:33Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/02/06 |Location=Void - Astroidia |Synopsis=Razer, with Confederate allies, goes after a pair of Green Lanterns. The Union sends their own Elit..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/02/06
|Location=Void - Astroidia
|Synopsis=Razer, with Confederate allies, goes after a pair of Green Lanterns. The Union sends their own Elites to assist the defenders of justice!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=8, 513, 524, 692, 702, 704
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      The trap is set, and Razer waits.      It's a simple enough plan. Take a derelict civilian starship, fix it with a fake transponder, strand it in an asteroid field, and let it scream a distress call out into the void. Help, we can't get out! Help, we've lost power! Help, we're running out of of oxygen...      The only person in the ship is Razer, of course. He's not sure where his Confederate allies are - perhaps elsewhere on another vessel or hiding behind one of the asteroids. They're not his concern.      Before too long, however, he has his wish. "Hello, friend!" comes the voice from outside the vessel, "I am Tharon of the Green Lantern Corps! We'll have you out of there in no-"      He doesn't finish his sentence. Razer ejects the cockpit into the Green Lantern's face, and follows it up with a quick blast of red hate-energy. He's just about to follow it up with another when a /second/ burst of green energy wraps around his legs from behind and hurls him against the side of the derelict vessel.      Oh, so there's /two/ of them. With a thought, Razer burns his hate through the green bands and bursts free.      The battle is joined. 

:'''{{#var:524|General Zod (524)}} has posed:'''     The Kryptonian dropship is a matte black, making it hard to distinguish visually from the void. Only the blue flare and distorting wash of its engines mark its passage across the astroid field, beetle-like form hurtling nimbly through the obstacles. On board are a pilot, gunner, General Zod, and any Confederate allies that required both transport and breathing supplies.     Zod says ruefully. "I'm sorry, I don't have anything that would help maneuver in micro-gravity."     The ship burns onward towards the conflict, rear ramp opening with its atmopshere retaining field up as it prepares to fly by Razer's little ambush. 

:'''{{#var:702|Meriax (702)}} has posed:''' Meriax cannot breathe in space. So she took someone else's solution to that problem. Meriax returned to her 'half-dragon'-like humanoid form, even though she wasn't entirely used to it yet, and obtained a breathing apparatus from General Zod: a thick collar with a forcefield-like helmet. Her horns don't quite stick out of it. Meriax being Meriax, she is already trying to figure out if she can reasonably take it home or if she's going to have to give it back later. The problem, of course, is that except for yesterday, the last time Meriax took humanoid form was a couple decades ago and she was much younger then. She didn't really have much to wear, and so she's wearing something that looks like part of a bolt of red silk turned into a robe, wrapped and belted around her. It leaves her arms bare, as well as the big draconic wings and thick tail that she keeps even when she shapechanges, but it still definitely looks like an improvised design rather than a real outfit, and she doesn't like it. She really needs to get some clothes. Still, she wants the chance to seize some loot. And so she throws herself out of the shuttle once the ramp opens... and immediately keeps going in a straight line. Meriax beats her wings frantically, but doesn't actually change her flight path. "Bah!" she yells, digging in the satchel she brought with her for... something. A couple moments later, Meriax's flight path starts to curve in the general direction of Razer. This is because she is holding a little vial, and the vial is fountaining water apparently endlessly away from it, pushing her. She looks smug. 

:'''{{#var:704|Albert Wesker (704)}} has posed:'''     "I came prepared." comes the Transatlantic growl of one ALbert Wesker. He is decked out in gray and red zero-g EVA equipment, a spacesuit borrowed from the Fed armory that will ensure he is completely protected from space's vaccums, as well as able to manuever in zero-g with ease. He's also armed out with a generic laser pistol, as well as one of the plasma guns stored aboard the vessel.     When the ship's rear ramp opens up, he's right with the General leaving and ready to join the fight. It doesn't take long to catch up with Razer's ship, and Wesker raises his plasma rifle in preparation for reinforcements arriving. That signal the Green Lantern gave off will call more sheep to the slaughter, no doubt. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' So a Green Latern had called form help she was aware of the group which came from certain universe bue she had no idea bout this one. Either way there'd been a call for help, right? Also she was not used to space really she was however aware of the hazard of space so she was in a suit, why? She didn't wna to take micro meterors if she could help it. It was a failey generi but very sleak lightly armoured suit all things considered. Her light jet had had many mods from over the years such as when she took to Arthur's game so it's at least fucntional here leaving a small becon of light in the void. Her suit faceplate is solid black from the outside so it be har to tel just who the female is but it's close enough she figured the guys in green are hte laterns and she's already now attemping to open fire on the red Latern. Bolts of light blue light etch across the void as she tries to take a few short bursts of fire at the red latern. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Anyone whose paying much attention to their radars and distance scanners is in for quite a sight. Something ELSE is approaching the seeming-derelect - it has been for a while in fact.     At first, the lengthy (if short for a starship) hollow hunk of metal appearing on distance scanners seems none too special. But it has no IFF, no thrusters...     In fact, as it nears the crisis site... just what IT IS becomes readily apparent.     It's a rusty, beat-up eighteen-wheeler that once had quite a green and blue paintjob. The engine's running (SOMEHOW - how exactly is a mystergy, given the lack of oxygen to burn...) and exhaust puffs out of the twin pipes jutting up from either side of the cabin. It's steaming along with misty light gathered around the wheels... and stretching out behind the vehicle and its impressive (yet likely empty) trailer... well, glowing and glittering silvery track marks.     In space.     What the hell.     At the helm is one spunky foxgirl who's grinning from ear to ear. She's wearing nothing more than a simple rebreather-oxytank combination where special space gear's concerned, her bare flesh open to the cold and the radiation and apparently none the worse for it.     "Oho! Looks like pirates, not a call for help. Didn't the Union CATCH this?!"     One can only guess at just what sort of strange events lead to Finna deciding the best way to get out to investigate this and make good on her obligations was to take a truck fit for the junk yard... 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      The two Green Lanterns don't appear to recognise the incoming Confederates as a threat. And why should they, with no experience as to what might be about to happen. The Green Lanterns are heroes - no one would be so brazen to attack them like this?      That is, except for the strange fellow with the red energy.      So, the Green Lanterns focus on Razer. They wrap him inside a cube of green hard-light and, for a moment, it seems like it's going to work. But Razer gets angry, and his rage courses through him and out of his power ring, and the cube shatters into a thousand pieces that vanish into the vacuum. With a shout - that impossibly carries across space - Razer lashes out with a whip of red energy, sending the two Lanterns spiralling into space. One of them collides with an asteroid.      They're fighting to detain, and it's clear that Razer isn't.      Still, Deelel's blue bolts take him in the back before he can pursue either one of them and Razer turns, a scowl on his face. 

:'''{{#var:524|General Zod (524)}} has posed:'''     Zod thinks this might require some lateral thinking here, and veers off from Wesker and Meriax to grab a passing asteroid. He accelerates this towards the Green Lanterns, using it as a kind of cover before kicking off from it, shattering it and sending a flurry of meteoroids towards the heroes. Then he follows this up with a quick burst of speed around and aims a double-ax handle squarely at the smallest looking Green Lantern. 

:'''{{#var:702|Meriax (702)}} has posed:''' Meriax steers herself via careful application of her vial of water. It isn't /actually/ infinite, despite what it looks like; if she uses too much of it, she'll have to put it away to let it recharge. And while she can power it with her own energies, or draw its enchantment into her, she's not sure either one is actually as useful for moving as just... using it. As a result, she uses her thumb to cover part of the vial's opening, reducing the amount of water that comes out. Meriax has never maneuvered in zero gravity before, and her instincts with flight are all wrong; she keeps trying to bank and beat her wings, and with no air, neither does anything useful. Then she has to correct with the vial. It's patient work, and Meriax is not patient; she comes close to bouncing off a couple asteroids until she gets the hang of it. Meriax eventually lands on one of the asteroids. 'Land' and 'on' are overstatements, really; she kind of hits it at an angle and hooks her feet against a rippled section of it, stopping her from skidding away from it. Instead, she hangs off it, keeping her feet placed as best she can, and recorks the vial. This gives her a good view of more incoming, as well as... a truck? Meriax doesn't know trucks normally don't move in space, but the wheels are a pretty good clue; none of the other vehicles around here are driving on them. But Meriax isn't interested in them - she wants prizes! Meriax's tail lashes as she looks around. She thought they were going to approach a lair, but there's nothing here, unless it's in one of the big rocks. She jumps off her asteroid toward another, bigger one, wings automatically spreading wide to glide even though there's nothing to glide on. It's bringing her close to the Lanterns, from behind from their current orientation - the incoming Unionites probably see her, since she's bright red and not hiding, but if they don't think of her as a threat... 

:'''{{#var:704|Albert Wesker (704)}} has posed:'''     Just as the fight begins, Wesker notes as one of the Lanterns is sent towards an asteroid. He narrows his eyes, sighting him down with the plasma rifle as his grav-pack sends him hurdling closer and closer. The rifle kicks against his shoulder a little, and blasts of directed energy sail through space towards their target.     This is slightly less fun than fighting on solid ground in hand-to-hand, Wesker decides to himself. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel sees that she's got Razer's attention, her face is hidden so it's anyone's guess what expresion's on her face she does however make a comment. She's going top pull a loop she doesn't expect Razer to give up but she always tries there's been the rare time where it works that makes the attempt worth it. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     With eagle-sharp eyes Finna gets a pretty good idea of what's going on over there. And that the two Unionites - herself and Deelel - are not the only responders. But with strange green and red energies flying about, the fact that battle's begun's plain enough for anyone to see. She moves into action quickly.     The truck REVVS, somehow gaining speed and making this horrible screeching noise as she spins the wheel quick as a top to one side. Soon the great thing's coming careening around. The trailer swings WILDLY, carefulyl aimed to clip Razer without striking the Green Lanterns!     The move, however... is anything but truck-like! If anyone familiar with big cats, wolves, and other quadrupedal predators they'd know the way it goes skidding past and turning around is more like some beast pouncing and then landing again, readying for another blow!     "Why was the only thing out there to grab... THIS CLUNKER?! I wanted the shiny one!" 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "And I suggest you leave," Razer growls to Deelel. He raises his hand, the ring glowing around his finger, and snaps off a blast of red energy in her direction!      Meanwhile, the two Green Lanterns come under attack. Zod aims at the one who didn't identify himself as Tharon and while they both raise barriers to deflect the meteoroids, the smaller Green Lantern takes a direct hit from Zod's double-blow. He collides with an asteroid, sending cracks through the space rock, and retaliates - hoping to bind Zod in green wrappings to prevent him from attacking further!      It's a good thing Meriax had just used that asteroid to sneak up on the pair.      Tharon raises his ring and sets a barrier between Wesker's blasts and the other Green Lantern. And then he charges, moving through space with no obvious assistance, and going to hammer his fist, blazing with green energy, against Wesker's chest!      Just as Razer has targeted Deelel, however, and fired off the blast, he gets slapped with a truck. Razer goes spinning, counters his momentum with a blast of rage, and, shouting, aims a coruscating beam of hate right in Finna's direction. 

:'''{{#var:524|General Zod (524)}} has posed:'''     Zod is bound by green energy! But the Lantern has made the mistake of not obscuring Zod's vision and the Kryptonian lashes out with white hot beams of heat at the smaller Lantern, aiming for the face to ensure maximum blindness! 

:'''{{#var:702|Meriax (702)}} has posed:''' Meriax sees opportunity when something hits her asteroid. Honestly, she was getting kind of unsettled out here. The way space feels... she doesn't like it. She doesn't like the helmet thing, and she doesn't much like her inability to fly or really hear properly either. It's just unsettling in a way she cannot clearly describe. But given a target and an opportunity, and all's well again - at least for a few moments. Meriax grins, showing teeth that look just a little more pointed than they really ought to be. She pulls herself along the asteroid, getting 'above' the Lantern's impact point. Meriax slams through part of the asteroid with frankly inhuman strength, sending bits and pieces of it flying as she tries to hammer through to the Green Lantern. She inhales, as if preparing to breathe flame despite her current humanoid form, but thinks better of it - probably because she just remembered she's wearing a forcefield helmet, and while she is immune to her own flame, she's not sure it is. Plus, it wouldn't do anything useful. So instead she coughs out a bit of hot air. Pulling herself the rest of the way through the asteroid, she pulls something else out of her satchel - a plain if rather thick iron wand. Pointing it at the Green Lantern, Meriax fires it from behind while Zod comes from the front. The wand fires a blast of rocks and stone in a shrapnel-like cone. Some are sharp, and some are blunt, but all of them come with impressive magical force. She isn't trying to kill like Razer is, though - she's just trying to batter. Maybe she has a plan? 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel replies to Razer. <Not happening.> is Deelel's reply s she's coming right at him. She can't do eveyrthing but she's given the Green Laterns two less things to worry about, right? So there she goes as she opens fire again as the hate beam is going right for Finna, there's nothing she can do and lets be honest? Deelel knoes the Exalted can do a lot of crazy things and she's confident Finna will be all right, so what does she do she's taking more shots at Razer with her light jet's guns. 

:'''{{#var:704|Albert Wesker (704)}} has posed:'''     Wesker doesn't have the luxury of a power ring to counter this attack, but he does have grav-jets. With quick thinking he moves his jets to boost himself to evade the flying fist. His reflexes are keen enough to counter this as well, as Wesker brings the butt of his plasma gun into the Lantern's chest with a growl.     He does have to wonder, if Razer's ring corresponds to rage, and these rings are will powered, literally...what other emotions could be out there?     What indeed. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Danitall, helping the two Green people's the priority here according to Deelel! And as Finna glances around at her mirrors she can tell that that ain't gonna be the easiest thing ever.     Particularly when a big beam of red AWFULNESS comes and blows a giant hole through the truck's trailer near the end. The structural integrity's now a wreck, but for a truck in space... how much does that matter, exactly?     Bits go flying off, unbound by gravity, in an eerie dizzying dance of rotating fragments.     The rest of the truck's shaken and goes skidding sideways oddly, but...     Then, a bestial howl echoes through space, the engine is INEXPLICABLY heard to revv as Finna grabs the wheel and puts the pedal to the metal!     The grill distorts into a rusty chrome-toothed snout and maw, the silvery-mist-covered wheels and the axles bend oddly into shapes similar to legs, the trailer tightens ever so slightly and the ripped part at the back lengthens just enough to look kind of like a tail...     The thing has stopped merely ROLLING AROUND in space.     the silvery mist now seeps from every pore across the truck as axle legs slam down into empty space and hoists it up like a beast roaring dominion over its territory!     But instead of a true roar, there's just this impossible-in-space sound of a growling, guttural old engine trying to fake a roar.     Either way, it BOUNDS AND LEAPS through space, somewhat skidding and somewhat charging and dashing. Silver light explodes from the cabin and enshrouds the whole vehicle, congealing into the phantasmal image of an enormous fox...     And this beast-machine now charge-throttles to Razer, loping on axles that still turn wheels at blinding speeds. NONE OF WHICH shoudl be able to propel something through space...     But best not worry about that too much.     The metal grille has an appetite for Red Lanterns right now. CHOMP! 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      With a bright flash, Zod's eyebeams slash through space and find their target - the head of the second Green Lantern. There's a bright green flash as he tries to raise some level of protection... but then he shouts out, hands going to his face, putting him in just the right frame of mind of absolute panic and /fear/ for Meriax to blast him with a cone of rocks. They batter the Lantern and send him tumbling away into space - and granting Zod his freedom.      Wesker blasts Tharon in the chest with his rifle, sending him spinning away, smoke impossibly rising away into the void. Tharon raises his fist, holding his wrist like it's a weapon, as his ring glows with emerald light. "Surrender now and you won't become an enemy of the Green Lantern Corps," he snaps.      Razer dives, dodges and spins his way around many of Deelel's blasts, but many of them clip him and his snarls of anger and rage and pain are proof of that. He snaps off a volley of red blasts in Deelel's direction, and then he turns and murmurs...      "What in Atrocitus' name is that?!"      Razer's ring glows, and encases his fist in a glowing, flaming armored gauntlet. He waits until the last moment, and then swings down in a powerful downwards punch, aiming to crush the cab... head... snout... whatever.      ...Just as the Finna-Truck-Beast-Thing catches him in its jaw-grille! 

:'''{{#var:702|Meriax (702)}} has posed:''' Okay. Meriax is /entirely/ sure vehicles (even if she lacks the experience to identify a truck beyond some kind of wagon derivative) don't normally do that. Maybe if they were an enchanted truck - but with her head in a bubble of air, she can't even try to smell the magic on it! All she can smell is ... well, not much, actually. Either way, it distracts her for several long seconds. Fortunately, the Lantern is blind or at least dazed, so he doesn't get far away. That grin stays as Meriax pushes off the ruined asteroid, gliding toward the injured Lantern with her big wings spread. Meriax draws a bit of the power of the wand into her as she approaches. When she uses it this time, it's with a practiced sweep rather than the sharp thrusting gesture she shot shrapnel with, and instead rocks start building up around the Lantern's hands and feet - basically, binding his limbs still with stone. She can break it later and get the ring out... or that's the goal, anyway. She starts to slow down as she glides as the earth magic pushes back - it's still being projected from the wand, just not as shrapnel. But she's pretty close to the guy, and it looks like she's going to grab him when she gets there! 

:'''{{#var:524|General Zod (524)}} has posed:'''     Zod is freed, and this is probably a bad omen for the remaining Lantern. The Kryptonian signals for a flyby, the dropship careening and darting through the field of debris to strafe Finna's Starfox Truck Thing with pulses of bright plasma bolts. Zod really hopes they're not going to have to replace the dropship afterwards though.     The General himself rockets towards Wesker's opponent, going for neck and armhold to restrain the Lantern, to let Wesker get some clear shots at the opponent. Of course this has the potential to go very bady, since Zod only has his armor to protect him from the plasma rifle and he could end up in the way. Hopefully the Lantern's will to power is no match for Zod's hideous strength. 

:'''{{#var:704|Albert Wesker (704)}} has posed:'''     "Empty threats." Wesker snarls, before he charges the Lantern only for Zod to jump into the fray. His red eyes widen for a moment before he smirks a little, and then he raises his plasma rifle to blast away while he moves in close for another beatdown.     It's clear he REALLY likes hitting things, as he smashes his weapon's stock into the Lantern's face and stomach repeatedly with a savage glee, before tossing it aside to let the weapon float as he drives his fist into the Lantern's neck. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     CRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!!     Well, when all's said and done... no matter how freakish it seems or scary it looks, the metal that makes up the STARFOXTRUCK is... just ordinary metals used to make trucks. Not exactly special and not exactly reinforced by a lot of magic.     The cabin's crushed in one fell swoop and the engine block's wrenched out of position. With all the fuel lines busted the motor cannot keep firing... and so it sputters out. How it managed without OXYGEN may remain a mystery forever, but apparently fuel it cannot do without.     At about this time, one would have to wonder if the truck ever was a beast. Looking at it... nothing's changed. There was no period of the transformation reversing, but rather... one's own mind is simply brought to question just what that was. have you been getting enough sleep, onlookers? Was your mind playing tricks on you?     The answer comes when the crushed windshield, already shattered and held together merely by being special, shatter-resistant glass... is punctured clean through the rest of the way. A long, brown, scaley THING the size of a man's arm - no, perhaps two or three times - reaches out to wrap around the offending fist with its foremost part. It doesn't hold on hard, and it doesn't need to. Because the end opens wide like some dreadful mouth...     ... revealing a bloodshot, lizard eyeball. The eye ruptures at the edges, squiring a stream of burning, poisonous blood for Razer!     ... And the rest of the body follows. The truck's crushed cabin bulges outwards, creaks, groans... and then SHATTERS as the unholiest of impossible beasts comes plowing out and STAMPEDING THROUGH SPACE.     Like some kind of moth emerging from its metamorphosis, the truck is discarded entirely, an empty shell. Now...     A great beast with four pillar-like legs, shaped overall like an elephant or a mammoth comes barreling out into view. It couldn't have fit INSIDE the cabin, it's easily BIGGER than the cabin!     And it's one aim is to gore Razer on an enormous rhinoceros horn protruding from its forehead!     As the beast emerges, two great bat wings unfurl from its body, revealing reptilian scaling.     The creature also has the antlers of a proud northern Moose, the tail of a TYRANT LIZARD, tusks, teeth like a hippopotamus. None of its limbs should be able to propel it through space, nor should its roars be audible...     But somehow this ordinary logic does not apply to this horrific beast. As it swings around for another blow at Razer the great tail splits apart into countless cobra heads from the end inwards, all of them seeking to strike and bite and latch on! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' DEelel has well Razer a bit on the ropes but she's seeing how badly the Green Laterns are doing. She thinks given how out numbered and possibly out classed it may be best to grtab the Laterns and run at this point. She breaks off but not before her jet's clipped by the blast of red energy. She pulls away but are there small cubes comming from the damaged part of her jet? Yes, yes there are Meriax and Zod would find Deelel breaking off from Razer and going after them she's got a plan it's not to win, no it's to try to get to the Latern s she fires shots a t bot as a distrction but she's got to try and get close. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Green Lantern Tharon finds himself in trouble. Zod grabs him from behind, putting him in a neck and armhold. Before the Lantern can summon his Will to break himself free, Zod opens up with a volley of plasma blasts. They pierce the green defensive forcefield around the Lantern, and Wesker hits him again and again.      But when Wesker's fist hits his neck, someone goes 'snap' and the Lantern gurgles out somehing inchoate.      The ring, still glowing, falls from his fingers - and speeds off, into the void.      One down.      The other Lantern, blind and in no shape to defend himself, has no defense against Meriax binding him in rocks and stone. He's still breathing, still alive. Deelel might still save him!      Razer shouts out his rage as the cabin collapses under his fist. Breathing heavily, spitting air through gritted teeth, Razer examines the truck. It gives him a good long look at that /thing/ as it comes clambering out of the truck. He's never seen anything like it, and while rage annihilates fear and prevents him from being /scared/, he still takes a few shocked meters of floating to ensure he has some distance because that /thing/ doesn't make physical sense.      A few meters of distance don't really help when it tries to gore you and manages to sink countless fangs into you. Razer grunts as the cobra heads pierce through his Red Lantern suit and a short, dark moan builds in the back of his throat.      In only a few seconds, it has built into a violent, high-pitched crescendo as Razer fuels his hatred with his pain and - in a bright flash of caustic, coruscating red energy - seems to violently and incredibly detonate. 

:'''{{#var:702|Meriax (702)}} has posed:''' Meriax glides the rest of the way to the Lantern. Her foot lashes out - it shifts as it does, becoming more reptilian, three-toed and red-scaled, like her natural dragon form's. (Both feet do, in fact, though she's only grabbing with one.) She grabs the Lantern with her foot, wrapping her toes around his upper arm like a bird perching on a branch. Her wings beat, though that doesn't move her; what does is her firing the wand randomly 'down', the kickback of the rock that goes flying pushing her 'up' from her current orientation. Deelel firing gets her to flinch. She almost drops the Lantern, but squeezes harder a moment later. "Get your own prize!" she yells in her helmet, which automatically transmits to nearby radios just so she's not in a bubble of silence. "His ring is mine! You can have him back if you want, but I get the ring!" Meriax can't actually get at the ring immediately; it's somewhere under the stone bindings. She'd have to break them to do it. She really doesn't know anything about the ring except 'it's magic, probably?' and 'it makes green force'. But that's enough for her to get all greedy about it. Meriax points the metal wand at Deelel, menacingly, and draws on its power more solidly. Her toe-claws, horns, and wing-talons all suddenly turn silvery-steel and razor sharp, like steel knives. It's not nearly as freaky as the other monster, though - which Meriax recoils away from at first, and then roars back, a reptilian challenging sound all out of proportion with her current body (5'3, about 16 years old, though admittedly with enough dragon parts to make it imposing). 

:'''{{#var:524|General Zod (524)}} has posed:'''     Hmm... Well, it seems that Tharon was much more fragile than Zod though. He had not intended for the Lantern to die at all. Oh well. His gaze shifts suddenly as the ring flies off into the void, then again as the Spacefoxtruck erupts into some kind of crazy alien monster. He releases Tharon's corpse and moves to support Razer and Meriax, leading with a flying right hook to the space flea. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is making for the downed laterned now at this point she know she's going to becoming under fire and well she's comming in to face fown the dragon she looks she doesn't like the idea but a life is worth more than a power ring. The ring can be recovered later. Deelel knows enough that the ring being removed here in spoace will kill him. <It's what's keeping him alive. He'll die from the enviormental condtions the moment tou go for it." She watches them transform she gets they are dangerous, yes but she's seen some crazy things in her life. The Black King comes back to mind briefly. She is slowing down. As the roar is made Deelel pulls something off her hip, it's black, shaped like a hockey puck and goes flying right at Meriax, it also has a lighted section that's getting smaller and smaller. It's a light grenade of the sort used for non letal riot control on her world. What does it do? It goes off in powerful flash of light. If she's able to she's going to make a dash for the latern to get him out of here. She knows she won't win a two on one or worse odds. 

:'''{{#var:704|Albert Wesker (704)}} has posed:'''     Wesker regards Tharon's body with all the emotional attachment of a smashed bug, the more pressing matter getting his attention as he looks at the spacetruck.     His gravboosters kick in as he joins the fray, firing plasma blasts at Finna's vehicle repeatedly while Zod takes care of the punching. It's clear to him that the Kryptonian is better suited for space combat here, given his solar-powered abilities. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     Not making physical sense is the whole point! That moment of shock and confusion's all Finna needs to land her blows!     But the Space Monster lets out a scream of whale song at the retaliation. All that energy slams straight into it and sends it soaring off backwards through space, sizzling and charred.     It might've been more bark than bite, really.     All the beast's flesh and some exposed bone RIPPLES, slurps, and shifts. It compresses down into a much smaller shape as if sucked through a straw. But at the same time a ghostly silvery-blue fire emerges from its flesh and envelops it in a blazing moonfire aura.     A shape emerges from all the chaos... humanoid, 'standing' on two feet with silvery light flowing from them as though empty space were solid ground. The white-silver 'flames' are too thick to make out facial features besides some kind of maw, and behind a big and thick tail's slowly wagging back and forth in irritation. One side's bloodied...     But the fullness of their shape, any apparent gender, eye color, and other things is just impossible to make out. It's more like looking at a humanoid whitish-flame than anything else.     Oh and one other thing. Some kind of bulging shape, wreathed in the same flickering and obfuscational energies, is wrapped around its head.     The creature does appear to be breathing hard, and pained. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      It takes Razer a few moments to recover from that attack, hunched over and breathing heavily. His eyes flicker with burning crimson embers and he glances down at his flickering ring. That burst of energy used up much of his reserves.      With the humanoid creature revealed from the sundered beast, Razer raises his ring hand and, with a enraged shout, sends a crimson beam square for Finna as she seems to be attempting to recover! 

:'''{{#var:702|Meriax (702)}} has posed:''' The dragon-girl with the metal claws doesn't seem worried about Deelel's comment. "Then he should have worn one of these collar helmets," she says. "Because I, Meriax, came here to get something, and it's not like there's anything else valuable around." Her eyes flit off to keep an eye on GIANT SPACE FLEA as it becomes GIANT SPACE SILVER ENERGY. That was a mistake. Deelel throws something at her, Meriax doesn't recognize it immediately - and her reflexes fail her. Automatically, she exhales a thin blast of fire... but she has a forcefield helmet around her head. It doesn't break through, filling her helm with dragonfire for a split second. Meriax seems completely unharmed by this. But it /does/ mean that her fire didn't incinerate the thing flying at her, and Deelel's disc goes off about two feet from her face. Meriax roars in surprise at the sudden flash of light. There is a weird ripple, her body is surrounded by fire for a few moments as she startles away from the wounded Lantern, probably scratching up his arm when she does it - When it clears, Meriax is there... as a dragon. Not a big dragon; given her humanoid form wasn't fully grown, it probably isn't either. The collar is looped around her horn at the thickest part near the base, and it seems to be giving her enough air that she's not suffocating, but she does /not/ look happy. She's also let go of the Lantern. She makes a lunge, but the shotgun-like spray of shrapnel doesn't move her very much - she's too much heavier in this mode, and she's sluggish. If Deelel is fast, she can get him away! "How DARE you do that to me?!" Meriax swings her claws for Deelel while trying to dive toward the Lantern - and she is both very strong and temporarily equipped with razor-sharp claws. They may as well be swords, especially the big one on her spur. Big swords. 

:'''{{#var:524|General Zod (524)}} has posed:'''     Acting in radio orders, the dropship starts moving towards where the blinded and entombed Green Lantern is. Capture, not kill. Meanwhile, Zod himself moves to try and deal with Deelel, trying to grab ahold of the vehicle she's on and impart some spin of his own to its motion. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     For that brief bit of time, Finna was vulnerable. Or rather... unwilling to move when she needed to cathch her breath. Manuevering, shpapeshifting in space, and making that truck do what it did... all were INCREDIBLY exhausting.     If it were not, she would not now be wreathed in a flood of the power she'd unleashed and couldn't hold back anymore. Her anima blazes and burns from the effort to save herself from the blast that struck down the great beast. Her movements are now lethargic and delayed... but...     An incoming rush of red light?     Finna raises one 'burning' claw, silvery energy flicker-sizzling... and that slash slams right into the hateray!     The energy's dispersed in all directions... some of it. Others... it just EXPLODES strangely, warping and weaving outards and utterly obscuring her.     But when the light fades... she's...     Gone? 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel says <Sorry to disappoint you but you'll have to loot that ship over there.> Deelel is making for the freaking Latern she knows things are bad right now. She knows she's not going to win a brawl but she can save a life so that's whatr she's going to try to do. Also there's a frekaing full out dragon. <Yes.> Deelel also pick up Zod comming in she just is barely able to get clear make het grab for the downed Laterna n and is going to get out of here at top speed. It's clear she knows she an't win today and is going to get the hell out of here. 

:'''{{#var:702|Meriax (702)}} has posed:''' Meriax, as it turns out, is /really unhappy/ about Deelel rescuing the Lantern from her. "Nobody steals my things!" Meriax bellows - but in this environment, she can't pick up enough momentum to keep up with someone actually capable of controlled spaceflight, and she can't breathe fire because of the helmet (she likes to be able to breathe air). "I'll get you for that! I'm the great dragon Meriax! I - " Meriax cuts off because she is having to maneuver around an asteroid. Deelel can definitely get away from her during that. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Two down, a few thousand to go. Razer regards his Confederate allies with a curt nod before he flares with red energy and takes off, heading elsewhere. With the first blow struck, they'll be less easily led into a trap next time.      But that is next time. Atrocitus' will be done. 

}}

2093/Razer Strikes!

2015-08-17T09:49:41Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/04/25 |Location=Planetary Plains |Synopsis=Razer tracks down rumors of Green Lanterns, only to be intercepted by some Union Elites... |Thanks=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/04/25
|Location=Planetary Plains
|Synopsis=Razer tracks down rumors of Green Lanterns, only to be intercepted by some Union Elites...
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=583, 692, 695, 718
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      There are rumors of Green Lanterns being active out in the Multiverse and those rumors are what have drawn Razer, at the head of a squad of heavily-armored Red Lantern soldiers, to the Planetary Plains. The setting sun casts his red and black outfit - distinctive in its sleek bladed glory - into a more ominous shade, long shadows stretching along the ground.      It really doesn't take long before the Lantern soldiers are trashing one of the local farmsteads, upturning apple carts and breaking down fences, while the locals cower away. Razer stands nearby, looking aloof and disinterested, as he asks again where the Green Lanterns are hiding.      Unfortunately for Razer, this seems like a dead end. Unfortunately for the farmers, this makes Razer a bit angry... 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' "Hmph." Mantigora's reptillian tail flicked back and forth a few times. "Typically this draws out those claiming to 'protect' the sniveling underlings of society fairly quickly." Her arms are crossed, one clawed finger tapping against the opposite bicep. Much like Razer she had little interest in the mere peasantry. She was waiting for the eventual worthy opposition to show up. Not waste her energy on scaring up the locals. 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Farmstead troubles! Though while far enough out that an alert isn't fired, Duke was already out here on a passing by. The red dragon dino digimon was most here to clear his head and just, well, enjoy the peace. A peace that ended as soon as someone decided to trash up the place. The Guilmon X peeked over the hill side to see the chaos below. His gold eyes watching the chaos, the bullying, just everything that was wrong. Including the defenseless. His eye ridges narrowed at the sight, including how they were shoved around. His razor sharp teeth bared at how some of the houses burned. Flickers of his memory ignited, of such devastation caused by another force. The screams... the pain...     ++ BADUM ++ Then as he heard the voice over the global radio his eyes narrowed even more. He can feel his digicore surge, as his feet claws dig into the earth. Those gold eyes starting to glow blue. He can hear the people's pleads.... ....He could hear his old world's people's pleads....         ++ BADUM ++ There was a flash of light off in the distance, the charge ignited the air above as clouds made way from the energy burst. They rolled for a bit as electrical bolts could be seen dancing between the clouds. Then on top of the hill, a humanoid knightly figure stood. His cape bellowing in the wind, with a halberd land in his hands. "You all shall cease!" His voice carries out across the wind. "Or I shall make you!" He then raises up his halberd lance, the double edge axe blade glistening slight against the sunlight. "This is your only chance..." 

:'''{{#var:695|Doran (695)}} has posed:''' The thing about radio chatter is that it sometimes draws unintended attention. Whether the conversation over the frequencies was designed to draw out Union or not, really no longer matters. Sometimes intervening is simply the right thing to do. The fact that Doran heard Duke's voice and figured out what was about to happen from there is secondary. There is no sudden explosions of light, nor is there an entrance to speak of. Instead, a purple Western dragon flies at best speed to join Duke's side. "Getting yourself into trouble without me?" Doran's child-like voice sounds grimly amused. "One of these days you'll learn to call for backup." 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' In the time Dukemon has arrived in all his knightly glory and proclaimed himself here to defend the farmland and it's hapless inhabitants, the reptillian woman that was accompanying Razer ... is already gone. Did he succeed in actually driving an aggressor off with just voicing his intentions? It can never be that easy, can it? The more appropriate answer is that while the digimon were arriving and announcing their doing so, the Stalker had already stepped back and into her stealth cloaking. Alas, no one can see the way she's circling around in a very predatory manner that way, blades silently sliding out from her forearms. Then there's movement right at the corner of Duke's field of vision as the Draken abruptly leaps from her stealth, thrusting one set of absurdly long blades at his backside. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Razer watches Duke arrive with barely disguised contempt, icy-blue eyes narrowed. He clenches his ring hand and a red aura bursts into life around his body, and he promptly waves off his accomplice to deal with this interloper.      "I think that you're certainly welcome to try," Razer remarks, voice grim. "Mantigora, do you think you could see this one out?"      As Mantigora leaps towards Duke, a second person - Doran - arrives. Razer sighs and raises his right hand, sending a bright red burst of ragefire right at the purple dragon!      "And one of these days, you'll learn to stay out of my way!" 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Those gold eyes glances over to Doran as he shows up and makes his remark. "I did... and I got it." There was an amused tone in his voice. "Besides..." His eyes narrow as he looks out toward the scene and goes to make his move, his armored feet carrying him and then shoving him off the hill in a large leap. "Someone had to pull their ire!" Duke lands down on the ground after his leap and flames can be seen irrupting from around his finger tips. Though for a moment he caught something in the corner of his eye. The Dragoon Digimon only has a moment to realize that was /one/ of the missing individuals and while he tries to step around to get a better look. It was all part of the plan it seems. Mantigora leaps in to strike for his backside and the Medieval Dukemon goes to turn himself, to bring around his halberd, but he was to slow. Rogue--- always the nemesis of battle tanks. Her long blade cuts across his Digi-chrome armor, sparks fly on the impact of the weapon impacting the armor, it carves into the armor, leaving a nasty cut in the metal, but Mantigora will need to move quick! For while he blade may have made the first cut, his Halberd is swinging around to repay in kind with a swift swing of the weapon. He can only catch the blast of red in the corner of his eye as it heads for Doran. He is sure his best friend we'll be fine... Hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:695|Doran (695)}} has posed:''' The ragefire blast hits Doran in the left shoulder, scorching and cracking the prominent purple orb. The impact is severe enough to spin Doran around completely before catching himself. Either the dragon Digimon wasn't paying attention, or he didn't think it would hurt that much. Most likely the latter. Doran hisses softly, right hand reaching up to the cracked shoulder. "Lesson learned." He suddenly snaps his hands up in front of his chest, palms facing each other, as bright flames burst to life in and around his hands and forearms. "Fire with fire it is." He brings his hands close together, channeling the fire in-between, before suddenly twisting his palms outwards and launching a fireball at Razer in return. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Since she only used one set of arm-blades to strike, Mantigora has the other pair to try and parry the counter-attack with. Despite her reptilian appearances she's nearly as flexible as a feline, twisting to do so with little discomfort. The effort is a partial sucess, as she manages to strike the halberd with her own weapons, but the force of Duke's swing his still enough to toss the lighter Stalker away from him. Mantigora flips with the backward motion to land in a crouch, using her blades to dig into the ground as well to brake the momentum. Tail lashes a few times to re-situate herself. "Bulky and heavy armored, just like Garok warrior." Her nanotech eyepiece flickers over one eye, but her scanners can't make sense of what Dukemon's armor is actually made of, and flashes #-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: +hr --UNKNOWN ALLOY-- a few times. Which only makes her grin a bit more, fanged teeth showing between her lips. "Good. Dislike easy prey." She pushes herself upright, forming a pair of discs from her nanotech reserves in her hands, and launchs them at Duke. Despite being thrown they fly incredible fast while spinning, thanks to her augmented strength, the mono-molecular edge formed by the nanos making the discs exceptionally good at penetrating, even against heavily armored targets. 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Duke watches as the six foot six Draken gets thrown back and then gives her a cold stare with his gold eyes, his stance shifting as he readies himself and the flames glow in in hand. He is standing around seven foot six, a foot taller then she and only watches her predatory smile, which causes his hand to tighten for a moment on the shaft of his weapon. As soon has the discs are thrown, the Dragoon Digimon jumps back with a twirl to his step and throws out a fire ball at one of the discs to knock it aside, before sending his halberd to slam into the next, clipping the metal of the axe blades and chipping away some of its alloy. His gold eyes peer over to Doran and then at Razer. "Doran!" Duke calls over to his friend, "Watch yourself, you two may be evenly matched, but..." Duke doesn't finish that statement, he doesn't need too. There was concern enough in his voice that there may be more to Razer then either of them could understand. Instead he turns his focus back on Mantigora, "But you..." He then roars out a battle cry, the halberd busts into flames, as the winds bluster around him. The halberd slams into the ground and the flames spurred by the wind go rushing right for Mantigora attempting to wash over her if she doesn't move quickly. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Well, he's right, Mantigora does move quickly. She's already moving by the time he's swatted away her weapons. What he might not be expecting is that her moving is running -right into- the flames rushing towards her! The fire surges around her, licking at her form with its hot touch that causes visible energy crackle as it deplete more of her personal nano-shielding and leaves scorch marks in her armored duster. Some of the fire hisses as it crackes at her exposed skin, charring some of the scales. But she's a native of a volcanic wasteland of a planet, the fire still hurts but the intense heat doesn't phase her in the least. Nor does it stop her from leaping out of the flames at the end of her dash, ignoring for the moment anything that might be on fire to aim a flying kick at Duke's chest. Then spin with the impact to thrust her other foot at his armored face as she kicks off again. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Razer raises an eyebrow at Doran's display, raising one hand as if he thinks he can just bat the fireball aside. He does try it, the back of his palm colliding with the fireball - it detonates and obscures Razer behind fire and smoke.      Frowning, Razer draws himself back to a standing position, fire licking over the edges of his armor. The forcefield from his ring appears to have protected him from the worst of it, but it still /hurt/ - going by the expression on his face.      "Fire is nothing next to rage," Razer spits, raising one hand to let loose a bright red beam of energy, as he goes to charge Doran! 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Mantigora comes charging in and Duke widens his eyes in surprise, "What?" Is all the Digimon can get out in some surprise to the fact she just keeps moving right at him. He observes her in some astonishment that she is leaping right at him and the fire has done little but scorch her scales a bit. Her foot lands against his heavily armored chest and then her other foot lands against the armored face, the Digi-chrome cracks a little bit under the impact, but when she flips off, those gold eyes narrow sharply, "Oh no you don't!" He barks out, his free hand coming around to actually snatch that scaled tail of hers. Once his fingers take hold, he turns his body and goes to actually slam her into the ground with all his strength and with enough force that he actually has to leg go of her. He then spins the Halberd, not giving her much time to recover, and then goes to bring it down in both of his hands with a hard cleaving motion. Duke may talk the hero talk, but he doesn't walk the hero walk. 

:'''{{#var:695|Doran (695)}} has posed:''' Doran glances out of the corner of his eye at Duke's warning and his snout lowers in a barely-perceptible nod of acknowlegement. It's all he gets while Razer is enveloped in smoke and fire, but the Red Lantern seems to be getting far more annoyed than anything. The Multiverse really is an interesting place. The Dorugoramon's wings flare as he increases his height, the laser searing past harmlessly. "Ah, is that what drives you?" He crosses his arms over his chest, drawing his knees and tail close as Razer charges. "I have some pent-up rage of my own." Doran's eyes suddenly blaze as the air seems to tremor in his immediate vicinity. "DORU --" He snaps his whole body outwards, releasing a scything shockwave towards the incoming Red Lantern, "-- DIN!" 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' There is actually a shrill yowl as the digi-knight grabs Mantigora out of the air by her tail. He has, be it uninentional or not, come across one of the shortcomings of her race -- how much they depend on those tails for balance. Even with her augmented reflexes without the stability Mantigora can't do much to stop from being slammed into the ground with enough force to crumple it into a slight impact crater. She heaves the breath knocked out of her, rolling over only to see the halberd being thrust down at her. Almost instantly her tactical hardware notes the open space between the prongs of the blade and she manages to shift just enough for the blades to miss piercing her, but still caught in the opening to pin her down. "Well well. Not bad. Strong and persistant. Pity it wasted on protecting those who too weak to fight for their own needs," the end of the remark is practically spat between her fangs. But as she's speaking she wiggles her hand to the side of her waist, grabbing one of presents from another ally from her inventory and slipping it on. She has just enough movement to angle the weapon up at Duke, and though the glinting blades at the first thing to be seen, it's the shot that fires from the barrel partially concealed by them that the knight actually has to deal with! 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "You don't know anything about me," Razer retorts, meeting that shockwave head on. It blasts him into the air, tumbling for a moment or two, before Razer counters the momentum with a blast from his ring. In the sky, Razer hangs for a few seconds, catching his breath.      And then, with a frenzied yell, dives right back down towards Doran, red energy building around his two extended fists! 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Duke narrows his eyes at her words, "Silence!" He barks out, those gold eyes sparking with a bit of blue in them. "Don't talk to me as if aiding them is such a horrible act, for it is /you/ and your /friend/ who picked this fight when you went after the helpless! Like /cowards/!" Duke yanks the halberd free and then to goes to slam down the bladed weapon once more. "Now die like one!" However that is when he catches the barrel between the glint of the blades and his eyes go wide. Just for a moment a flicker in his own vision of something else, but whatever it was--- it matters little. The shot impacts Duke in the shoulder and is enough to blast him back, where he staggers a few steps. As he catches a glimpse of Doran and Razer's battle in the corner of his eye, something bothers him about it, and his eye goes wide, "Doran! Careful! He might be getting stronger!" Though concern for his friend also may leave him in the open to the stealthy rogue... 

:'''{{#var:695|Doran (695)}} has posed:''' Doran barks what probably should've been a laugh as he lands firmly on the ground, tail swaying behind him. "True." His wings fold like a fan as he crouches, glowing eyes pinned on Razer as the Red Lantern dives right back towards him. "I guess words are useless anyway." He suddenly leaps off of the ground straight towards the incoming Razer. The rage-infused fists slam against the silver blade-like flares of his shoulders, shattering them almost completely, but Doran ducks his head so his horns hook under Razer's torso. He attempts to toss Razer over his back with a toss of his head, and his spearhead-tipped tail stabs at the Red Lantern like a scorpion's strike. Though he can faintly hear Duke over the fight, he can't spare a moment to indicate that he understood. He'll have to make do. 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' Mantigora can practically taste the almost savage anger from Razer, but she doesn't really have the time to enjoy it right now. However the release of the pin and then Duke's recoil from the shot does by her enough moments to roll back onto her feet. While the digi-knight has not struck her directly often in the fight, she was clearly feeling how much stronger than her that he was. If it wasn't for the reinforcing weave of her nanoskin she would probably be even more battered than she appeared to be. The predator does not miss the shift in his attention though, and while brief it is enough of an oppritunity for her to move. A gutteral, almost feral warcry splits the air as the Draken lunges at him again, lashing out with her blades. Though if he does move to parry her he'll find it easy enough to do... Almost too easy... Because that's when the -real- Mantigora rushes in, having let her holo-clone serve as a feint, as she now aims a impaling strike with her own blades at his side, trying to find a proverbial kink in his armor. 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Duke see's Mantigora moving in the corner of his vision and goes to leap back with perhaps more speed then someone in his armor should move. As if the weight of the armor has little impact on him, but there is also a kick of wind as he does so. Yet when he notices that version of her fade, his eyes go wide with some surprise. "...A fake??" As his foot lands down, he does have time to react, as the predatory amazon was right there at his side and her blades going in for a strike. The pierce into that digi-chrome, but she will find no blood, only cracks in the armor splintering from the impact points and a hiss from pain from the knight. Duke moves himself away, breaking her piercing hold on him, and left behind is the tale-tale sign that shows that this knightly warrior wasn't even truly 'living' like many beings she has perhaps faced. For while her blades went in perhaps not as deep as she may have hoped, the damage was apparent. The edges were pixaled and deeper in was a green glow of grid lines of the mesh frame of the living digital being. The Dragoon Knight went to rest his hand toward the wound as he staggered a step back and closed his eyes a for a moment, only to snap them open with far more vigor in them. "Is..." He then takes hold of the halberd with his other hand, "...Is that the best you got?!!" He roars out toward her. He sweeps the halberd back, which then starts to shimmer with red light as flames dance around his foot and toward the halberd itself. Duke then swing the Halberd upward as he yells out, "RAGE OF WYYYVERN!" As soon has the Halberd fully swings the flames seem to dance in the air as if almost frozen in. That is until the form a head of a dragon and it roars out before soaring right for Mantigora, taking on wings and flying right for her with it maw open wide. The flame dragon threatens to give chase and if it was to catch the speeding rogue, she would not find herself engulfed by the magma flames, but exploding with great deal of force. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Boom! Razer's fists slam home on Doran's shoulders, seeming to do some rather grievous damage. Before Razer can strike again, however, Doran hooks him with his horns and throws him over his shoulder. Razer's already moving to counter it, but not fast enough.      Doran's tail strikes well and true, piercing past Razer's forcefield and into his Red Lantern suit. Razer shouts out and, losing control his his powers, drops to the ground, incidentally totalling a tool shed in the process.      It takes him a few seconds to rise, groaning in pain, one hand to his abdomen. There's a slight flicker of red energy around him once again as his forcefield returns and this time, when Razer roars, a torrent of pure /rage/ bursts forth from his lips, aimed up towards Doran in the skys above! 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' The lack of blood on her blades or dripping from the wound catchs Mantigora's attention as Duke pulls away from her. How strange. She did not know of many species that did not ooze -something- upon injury. Even robotic autonomous lifeforms tended to drip oil or some kind of lubricant. Though prehaps this is why her tactical scouters were returning errors in their readings? Attention snaps back to the fight at hand though. Despite her experiences this was something new and dangerous to her, something few Draken got to experience at her age. She would probably smile. If it wasn't for the massive dragon of flame being flung at her. She's not stupidly thinking she can just run through it this time, instead opting to crouch defensively and shield her face with her arms. Unfortunately for her, the flame-dragon EXPLODES instead of burning. The blast along is enough to hurtling her backwards, hitting the ground hard and carrening for a few moments before finally stopping. Mantigora groans a bit, digging one hand into the ground to push herself up onto her knees and spit some dirt out of her mouth. She shifts her left leg to get up, but winces as it partially buckles before she can get off the ground, gritting her teeth. Instantly she can tell the muscles are torn, if not the bone itself broken. It was going to take several minutes for the nanotech to splint that together. Minutes she might not have. Until SUDDENLY TRACTOR! ... Yes, a farm tractor abruptly comes careening towards Duke. That instead of having a driver, has been stuffed full of a sizable amount of explosives. Mantigora just stares incredulously as Skuzzler waddles up next to her, stroking his goatee with one stubby hand while holding the thumb-pad remote for the controls he wired to the tractor with the other. "Is -that- where you have been this entire time!" The Chua hffs. "You're welcome." "Yeah, yeah," Mantigora hisses between her teeth. "Sometimes you -are- useful. You know gratitude isn't natural to my species." Skuzzler huffs out of the corner of his mouth. "Close enough." And he hits the detonator for the explosives. 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Duke takes a step toward Mantigora, noting that she is injured. The Halberd vanishes from his hand, before he looks at her. "Leave and I will not pursue, for you to continue would be..." This about the time he hears the tractor. "...Hm?" All he can do is look at the machine coming right for him and while he does attempt to leap back, he grapes the edges of his cape as he does so. The explosive force comes as he lands down and uses his cape to surround himself. The fire roars over him and engulfs his body. Rocks, grass clippings, it all flies by and smoke rises up from the sheer force of the destruction. Even scraps of the tractor fall down to the ground. Yet a figure rises from the fires and with a swift throw of his cape around the flames almost seem to obey as they extinguish down to a low ember, before he throws the cape back around his shoulders once more. His white armor though is charred in some locations, the cape with a few burnt holes in it, and the gold of his armor lost of its shimmer. "Cute." He says to them both. "But fine. If you want to play that way." Duke says coldly as he extends out his hands. The embers start to burn brightly once more as the winds raise the hot ashes into the air. Those very ashes start to swirl around hi body, before the flames start to follow the wind. Duke steps back as he extends out his claw hand and the flames continue to burn brighter, being looped up into the cyclone of ash and soon blazing fire. Duke looks over to Mantigora and her Chua, before he raises up his index finger and does a 'tsk tsk' motion. Then with a swing of his other arm, ignoring the pain in the side, the Cyclone follows his direction and spiral right for Mantigora and Chua, attempting to catch them in the vortex of fire and spiral them in its blazing, feeding fire. Though while he leaves his Cyclone to do some of his dirty work, he winces a bit inside, as his hand drifts down to his side, the cracks starting to extend a bit from the sheer stress he is now placing on his body. "...alexis... is going to shoot me... for being so foolish..." 

:'''{{#var:695|Doran (695)}} has posed:''' As Razer falls, Doran takes just a moment to recheck his condition. His shoulders are heavily injured, bluish grid-lines criss-crossing exposed holes and through cracks, and he can barely rotate his shoulders. He still has some strength in his hands and has partial range-of-motion in his arms from the elbows down, but he knows he's extremely lucky with how that went. There were any number of ways to have been countered, all of them with worse results than he'd gotten. When Razer roars, Doran is utterly unprepared for the torrent of pure rage that lances towards him. He barely gets his arms up in a guard, flames gathering to try to bleed off the energy, but it does little to help. The impact is heavy and drives him backwards -- higher into the air. He can feel the plating across his entire body cracking and peeling away under the ragebeam, and in desperation engages in another high-risk move. He tucks his wings close, wrapping them around himself, and corkscrews his body as flames envelop his body entirely. Instead of trying to get out of the beam, he instead dives through the heart of it directly back towards Razer in a fast-accelerating diving tackle. "BRAVE METAL!" 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      The torrent dies off quickly, wisps of red smoke the only thing left. Rage burns hot, but it doesn't necessarily burn long. So, when Doran comes roaring out from the beam, Razer can't ready another attack - not yet.      Doran's charge carries Razer through a barn and out the otherside, crashing him into the ground. "Ungh..."      He lashes his fist against Doran's snout, the hand blazing with red energy! "Bravery?!" Razer snarls, "Don't make me laugh!" 

:'''{{#var:583|Mantigora (583)}} has posed:''' "Well, that was fun." Skuzzler discards the remote over his shoulder like it was a toy he no longer had interest in. Which is pretty accurate for the Chua approach to most matters. Do science, make it explode, move on to the next thing. "Not that Skuzzler care or anything, but she-Draken is important to future survival against big things that not explode easily." "Oh just help me get up," Mantigora snarls in return. Even if for once she was really glad she kept the obnoxious space-hamster around. Even if it looks rediculous helping her stand as Chua are only a bare three feet and some spare inches tall. Even as Duke decides to fling one more attack their way. She tenses up, bracing for another strike. But Skuzzler taps one of the controls on his suit, and a 'beehive barrier' style energy field appears in front of them. The attack plows into it, and while some of the embers are chucked at them around the shield's limited width, it does disperse most of the cyclone propelling them. Still painful. Definately better alternative to being crispy fried. "And yet with tech like that you're such a coward half the time," Mantigora huffs. "Chua still prefer to indulge destructive tendancies from afar," Skuzzler replies with a shrug. "As long as you stay useful." She does give a final glare at Duke, but then triggers the recall to beam them back to her transport ship. Well technically it's Skuzzler's transport ship, but he's too figity to object otherwise. 

:'''{{#var:695|Doran (695)}} has posed:''' Doran gets socked square in the muzzle, his neck twisting as his head rockets away from the rage-infused fist. His wings flap as he hops backwards, opening a slight distance between them, but he looks extremely unstable in his movements. The edges of his many cracks and wounds start glowing gold, and his entire form flickers once or twice like static. No more time. He crouches down, looking all the world like he's about ready to just curl up in a ball and die. Instead, he suddenly pivots on his heels and swings his tail like a flexible baseball bat, hopefully to send Razer flying away from the farm! ...Or Razer will counter and he'll find himself in a pile of his own voxels. It's definitely one last effort, either way. 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' Duke watches as Mantigora retreats with her little friend and he nearly drops down to his knee, but forces himself to stand still, hand staying to his side as his gold eyes gaze across the farm area to where Doran and Razer are fighting. He notices the static form for a moment and his eyes go wide before they narrow. Duke takes a few steps before he shouts out to any remaining people, "Get out of here! Go!" His own gold eyes are dimming in power and he can feel his own power starting to wain. They were /both/ running out of time, so like Doran, he would do what he must to try and protect this place. Protect the people. Protect life... The Medieval Dukemon kneels down and places his hand to the ground. The area under him glows brightly as enchanting light forms a symbol below him. The energy rises as electrical current sparks from the glow. Duke then stands up and extends out his hand, the crest below breaks into several crests around him, circling him as they all spiral and spin. He takes a slight step back as he extends out his hand, the crests starting to encircle his hand, engulf it with its power, his eyes starting glow bright blue as he draws in all of his energy for whatever attack he is preparing.... 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Maybe it's because curls up like that that Razer hesitates, lowering his glowing hand. He frowns, watching Doran for a second - and that second is all Doran needs to pivot on his heels and clobber him with his tail.      "What the-" is all Doran is able to hear before Razer is out of hearing range, flying through the air like a very angry red and black comet. He might come back, perhaps, but between that blow, the lack of any apparent knowledge of the Green Lanterns, and Mantigora's own retreat, it's very likely that the Red Lantern will decide that it's not worth any further trouble. He's got wounds to nurse, after all! 

:'''{{#var:718|Duke (718)}} has posed:''' As soon as Razer is knocked out of the ball park, Duke roars out and then throws his hands to the side, killing the channeling of power as the air quakes around him in a wave and the energy irrupts upward in a flicker of electrical charge. The Medieval Dukemon about keels over to his knees afterwards, breathing heavily, as he tries to get back up to his feet and only looks across to where Doran is before speaking out over his unseen comm, "...Alexis..." His voice rasps as energy becomes fleeting and his body shimmers with flickers of light. "...we need you..." Those were the last words from Duke, as he at last crumbles over onto the ground. His body glimmering before engulfed with light and when it fades away a small four foot Guilmon X lays on the ground, battered, slightly burnt in a few places, and a nasty deep wound in his side that is not only pixelated around the edges, but showing the deep digital mesh within, and a bit of blood from the external layer. He laid there out cold, but at least.... ...at least the people were safe... ...at least... they were all safe. 

:'''{{#var:695|Doran (695)}} has posed:''' Home run! Doran lifts his head long enough to watch Razer disappear into the horizon, a content grin on his muzzle. The grin doesn't last as he looks around, though. "We... need to work on... collateral damage..." He tries to stand up... only for the golden glow within his wounds to fully encompass his form and shatter, scattering bits of data in fast-dispersing golden motes. Only Doran in his Dorumon form remains, and the Child-level Digimon collapses flat on his stomach with his ears drooping. His own form shows the after-effects of the damage taken in his earlier form, especially around the shoulders and torso. He's even missing a few teeth where Razer had punched him! "Owwie..." That's about the extent of Doran's thought processing right now. At least Ryuu will definitely come fetch them if Alexis doesn't beat him to it... or hitch a ride... 

}}

2705/Target: Of Ice and Fire

2015-08-17T09:47:45Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/01 |Location=Caverns of Prophecy (CP) |Synopsis=Razer, alongside Ferham, launches an attack on the Caverns of Prophecy - and gets a vision ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/01
|Location=Caverns of Prophecy (CP)
|Synopsis=Razer, alongside Ferham, launches an attack on the Caverns of Prophecy - and gets a vision of his future in the process.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=20, 516, 692, 824
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      For weeks, the forces of the Union and the Confederacy have been locked in a battle for the Caverns of Prophecy. Despite the thin air and freezing temperatures, neither side has had course to abandon the field. It's a dangerous place, but the ability to discern insight into possible futures is too great to pass up.      That, at least, is why Razer has come.      In a flash of red energy, the Red Lantern appears at the entrance to the caverns. The red sections of his armor glow with a certain sense of malevolence and the hate and anger just seems to roll off him like oil on water. His Red Lantern forcefield will protect him from most of the environmental dangers here. He waits there for a time, electric-blue eyes staring into the cave and then behind him, down the steps. Looking for threats.      "Be ready, machine," Razer broadcasts to Ferham through his power ring, "I do not think that the Union will abandon this place without a fight. 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "Strange place," Ferham intoned a bit sullenly as she teleported down at the entrance to the caverns proper. She would have flown there, course, or still have been airborn--but her wings wouldn't aid her too much in this place, unless there was any long drops. "I prefer the term Reploid, or gynoid, whichever," Fer momentarily looked just a bit cross at the red lantern, her arms crossed briefly before she began trudging down into the caverns. Her whip was already out and in her left hand, the pink shining cord casting weak illumination on the walls. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     With nothing else to do, why not accept a challenge and do something for the Union? And even if Toph hates the cold weather and thin air, hopefully this won't take too long. When you're fighting you often build up a sweat anyway unless you're fighting total chumps. Who knows what that guy on the radio is like? It's not like she knows all of the Confederates and people fighting for them.     Arriving at the top of the mountain, Toph does look slightly out of place as she's only wearing a jacket over her usual clothes. Of course she isn't wearing anything on her feet, and she wriggles her toes a bit. But it's easy enough to tell what's going on around here. For now the young girl raises her voice, calling out. "All right, dunderheads! Get your asses over here so I can kick them off of this mountain!" Yes, she's being bratty and confident as ever. 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Fiora manages to arrive as well, atop the mountain, in her normal fighting clothes. The cold of the Howling Abyss is enough to steel someone against most extreme places, magic or no. She smirks at Toph's loud, brash declaration. "Mm. I like it. Bold. I think this will go well, for us." She draws her sword, bringing it up to her face, in a salute. "Come and face us, if you dare. Show us the strength of that resolve!"     Fully on board with the brashness, the swordswoman stand ready for whatever opponent that has issued the challenge. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "I'll try to remember that," Razer tells Ferham, in a tone of voice that says he doesn't really care. He heads down into the caverns, the ominous red of his aura clashing with Ferham's pink illumination. At the sound of Toph and Fiora, Razer tells Ferham: "Deal with the blind child, she shouldn't be much of a threat to you. I'll handle the other one."      And, with a roar, Razer brings his ring arm back and then /hurls/ a crackling orb of hateful red energy directly at Fiora! "Fall and perish!" 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Fiora closes her eyes briefly, after her opponent appears. "To underestimate your opponent is the most costly of errors. Let us hope it doesn't cost your ally their life!" Her eyes flash open, as she swings her sword out at the projectile. The tip of the thin blade meets it, and a few streaks of that energy rebound in the process, scraping against her cheeks. The wounds, themselves, are minor, and her light armor is enough to ensure the wounds remain that way. But, as for Razer's reckless opening attack?     Like any duelist knows, force can be overcome with finess. The sword is a flash, the tip of it stabbing at the blast of energy. With a flick of her wrist, the blast rebounds off her blade, straight back at the one who threw it. "TOO SLOW!" 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      Ferham emerges from the mist of the caverns, or rather the pink glow of her whip does before the rest of her fades into view. "What...?" she looks down, at the bunned hair, the subtly milky eyes, the bare feet.      "You're Toph Beifong aren't you? We've been a bit behind in the territory area lately," she gestured idly with her right hand, to the area around them. "I can't imagine it's very comfortable in this place without shoes, though..." Ferham tapped a booted, heeled foot to the floor, causing what looked like a sheet of ice to race out and cover it around Toph! 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Until now Toph has only known Fiora through the radio, and there's hardly any better way to get to know people than through fighting. The comment earns a slight huff from the earthbender, and she rubs her arms a little. "It could be a bit warmer here... let's focus on winning this quickly so we can get back home. I think I would like to warm my feet in the sand on the beach before I go to bed."     Of course she overhears Razer's comment to Ferham, arching an eyebrow. Man, when will people in the multiverse ever learn?     At least Ferham seems to know who she is. At the question she nods her head. "The one and only!" And then she points out how cold it is. "Oh really?" Toph says, a deadpan look on her face. "I didn't notice." Though when her opponent causes ice to shoot out at her, she reacts. Though not quick enough, considering ice is a bit harder to track at first.     The ice stings at her feet, and Toph winces as she jumps back, slipping slightly with a cursed mutter before she steadies herself... and kicks out to return the favour.     Instead of ice however, the ground shifts underneath them as a series of large, jagged spikes shoot out towards Ferham! 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "I underestimate nothing," Razer snaps, bringing his arm up for a backhand strike. He nails the red blast with his forearm armor, sending it careening off into the wall of the cavern. But the simple power of it throws Razer aside, into a set of stalagmites. With a growl, the Red Latern picks himself up, dust floating off his forcefield like smoke. Snarling, Razer twirls his arm and a red lash of energy slips from his ring. He whirls it around his head and then snaps the rage-filled whip at Fiora, the tip slicing through rock and air with equal ease! 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Anger is a powerful thing, when you wield it properly. But this man? It fills and defines him, in a way that Fiora has rarely seen. It is, however, a glaring weakness. One she is now intent on exploiting. She flicks her sword out in response to the attack, lunging forwards sharply, ducking down and to the side, the whip catching her shoulder and melting at her armor, deep enough that it strikes the leather beneath and burns through that to her skin. She winces, but loses none of her momentum, as she moves in to counter-attack.     She closes the distance with surprising speed, the tip of that sword thrusting out lightning-fast, at the center of her target. 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "Huh, guess it was colder than I thought," Ferham blinked at that, but has to issue a little amused noise. "I... don't want to hurt you, but this is a dangerous place, and I think you knew that, hmm?" she smiles a little, bringing her whip up--but then stalagmites shoot up and around her, the femmebot cart-wheeling briefly before coming down in a roll.      "It must have been hard to sense the ice since it was coming from everywhere, but what about this?" She snaps her whip, bringing it down quite close to the girl's feet--like in a western when people shoot at the floor to make someone hop about. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "I'm not a little kid!" Toph points out with some annoyance when her attack misses Ferham. Yes, the ice was cold. But it's something else to track the progress of a person's movement...     The snap of the whip is felt even as Ferham first begins moving. By the time she raises her whip Toph is already moving, stepping aside in a typical martial arts stance. As a result the whip barely touches Toph, certainly not enough to make the determined girl flinch as she's already lashing out with her left hand, her fingers gesturing to the earth around Ferham as it rises up. If she isn't quick, she's in danger of getting launched upwards by a large earthen spike as it shoots up. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Rage, anger, hate, /pain/, - it radiates off Razer. When rage can overpower, it is the most powerful asset a Red Lantern can have but, when it can be redirected, it becomes their greatest weakness. Perhaps unfortunately for Fiora, Razer has a lot more anger where that come from. His power ring glows like a dead star, siphoning off Razer's own rage and turning it upon itself, into one mighty feedback loop.      The tip of Fiora's blade slips outward, slipping through red armor plating and into black softsuit underneath. It pierces through, drawing blood, and Razer roars.      That pain-filled roar becomes the catalyst for his next attack, pain giving way to incoherent rage, and Razer's hand comes up, fingers clenched like a claw, and he unleashes a torrent of red energy upon Fiora! 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "I... didn't say you were?" Ferham raised an eyebrow at Toph's apparent annoyance, looking a little confused. "You must be talking about my co-worker, don't mind him," she waved a hand lightly, as if to wave off Razer's earlier 'child' remark. However unfortunately for Ferham this apparently has called down the wrath of the freaking gods.      "What the--wooaah!" Ferham's high heeled booted feet are suddenly hanging down from above, straightened out and shaking as she apparently was sent head first into the ceiling. Ouch. Pulling herself down, she craned her neck, making a CRIK sort of noise, and shook her head to regain equilibrium. "Okay, that really hurt," she swung her whip down, hanging from a stalactite and sweeping her whip out in a fine arc toward Toph. 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Fiora's knocked back by the rage-fueled attack, the claw marks visible against her breastplate, still smoking. "Nngh.." The energy feels as though it's pierced through her, even if the damage isn't visible. She catches her breath for a moment, and brings up her sword once more, into a parrying stance. But, from that, she's easily able to recover. She dashes forward again, lashing out with her blade, in several lightning-fast swipes. Back and forth, at various angles, the blade comes cutting through the air.     But she's not just flailing around. No, each strike is meant to hit something important, in one way or another. Precision is key. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "Then what's with the crud that you don't want to hurt me?" the blind girl asks. "We're fighting, you should be focused on doing what you came here to do regardless of who your opponent is," she adds even as Ferham pulls herself down from the ceiling. And ugh, the sound of her craning her neck? It makes Toph shudder slightly. Not a nice noise! But she has to focus, she reminds herself as Ferham swings the whip again.     This time however it's harder to determine where the whip is coming from, and she lets out a pained yelp as the whip digs into her arm and side, drawing blood and clearly cutting into the flesh there as she staggers back. That too hurt, but it's not like she and Fiora will give up just because of some injuries that medical can patch up again, right? They came here to do a job!     So Toph grits her teeth together, ignores the bleeding and pain in her arm and side as she raises her hands up... and yanks them down, seeking to collapse the ceiling down above Ferham! 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "Well, I'd rather not, but you are kind of defending this place, and well, as the saying goes, you knew I was a rattlesnake when you picked me up? Or something like that," Ferham let herself drop down from the stalactite, her boots sending spiderweb fractures through the ice for several meters around where her feet impacted. "Unlike my cohort, I am not sure exactly what he is--I think he eats people, I still have some reservations with using lethal force," she shrugged, the sama stalactite she had been clinging too now coming down to pin Ferham like a red iron butterfly!      "Augh!" Ferham finds herself momentarilly pinned by it indeed, slapping a gloved palm down against the floor and sending what looked like rippling ice shards that flew up from the floor in a trail heading right towards Toph! 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     What kinda stupid saying is that? "What kinda dunderhead picks up a rattlesnake to begin with?!" the blind girl demands. Seriously, how moronic can people get? Oh well, at least she can appreciate her opponent being out to maim and kill people, not all Feds are that bad at times.     Which means that Toph has less reason to use her metalbending directly on her. Though she does feel tempted when Ferham sends another ice attack her way. The earthbender cries out as the cold attacks her feet, chilling her skin, muscles and tendons to the point where it hurts. The ice shards too bite into her feet and shins, and Toph winces in pain. Okay, this outright hurts! As Toph stumbles back she leaves blood, some of the ice shards breaking off and remaining stuck in her legs. No time to tend to that now! She looks as determined as ever despite her pain, and she throws both arms out.     In response two earthen walls rises on each side of Ferham, moving to slam together. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      She's faster than he is and, really, probably more in control of her actions. Fiora's blae lashes out, back and forth, again and again, precise and controlled. The blade strikes Razer, drawing blood where it slides off armor plating and into the underarmor, but Razer doesn't seem to slow or even acknowledge it. Rage, it seems, is one hell of an anaesthetic.      Still, a thousand well-aimed small cuts can bring down even the most powerful opponent.      Razer's anger coalesces into his hand and it forms a sharp, jagged punchblade that extends out from his wrist. The Red Lantern draws his arm back, summoning all of his strength into his elbow and shoulder - and then thrusts the blade towards Fiora! 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "Precisely," Ferham nodded her head. The ice shards seem a bit brittle however and shatter here and there after they lance up and out of the cavern floor. The earthen walls slam against either side of Ferham, however, soon after they seem to budge before crumbling apart as the femmebot pushes both of her arms out to either side, like she was breaking out of earthen crucifixation.      "Guess all the cold made the earth a little brittle," she whipped her helmeted head back and forth to free a clump of it that had been hanging off one of the crests of her helmet. Next, that whip snaked out from the handle in her left hand, apparently seeking to wrap directly around the earthbender and try to constrict! 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Well, this one is definitely a lot stronger. Fiora's barely able to get out of the way in time, which leaves a deep gash along her side, that goes straight through her leather outfit, into flesh. "Hnn! Mm, don't think I'm taking you lightly, either, dear.." She reaches behind her back, grasping her parrying dagger and drawing it with a flourish, knocking away Razer's arm. "Mmm. So, I won't hold back, either.~"     She takes a single step, and she's gone. Just dust kicked up off the rock, behind her, where she /was/. And she's suddenly behind the Red Lantern, weapons drawn. Both blades swipe at him from behind.. and then the side.. and the other side. If he turns to try and counter it, she seems to move just a little bit faster. Not just precision, but speed. Superhuman, even. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Damnit, what's the deal with this lady? Toph frowns as the femmebot pushes the earthen walls aside. She must be sturdier than most...     Or perhaps the cold is affecting the earth, even if Toph hates to admit it. Stepping forward, Toph is just about step forward, but then there's that blasted whip again. All this ice makes it harder to see, that much is clear, and it also affects the earth more than she would like to admit.     Little warning is given before she feels something wrap itself around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides. "HEY!"     The young girl struggles, wincing as she feels the whip dig in and restrain her. Ugh, this even makes it hard to breathe, and she can feel her arms and torso become bruised from the force restraining her. But she doesn't need her arms or legs to bend...! Defiantly the blind girl moves her head back before she throws her head forward, focusing on opening the ground underneath Ferham into a pitfall with spikes! 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "The longer this battle continues, the stronger I become!" Razer retorts. But then Fiora is gone and the Red Lantern turns left and right, bewildered and frustrated. "Get back her-!"      Pain. The blades bite deep and blue-black blood flows free from the wounds. Razer cries out in pain, staggering forwards, but that cry of anguish quickly becomes one of white-hot rage.      His body humming line a tuning fork, pain and anguish and rage and frustration melting into one uncontrollable force, Razer seems to /explode/, sending out a wave of cavern-shaking, red-tinted force!      He's still there, of course, breathing hard at the end of it all, his armor pulsing as if it has a life of its own. Perhaps it, and the ring he wears, does. 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "Feel free to struggle, that's an electromagnetic construct," Ferham smiled as she walked right up to Toph, noticing she was rather caught now, and she seemed to depend on using her arms to move the earth. She wasn't depriving Toph of ALL air, not quite--though it was just enough pressure to give the girl a little... incentive. The sudden pitfall beneath her booted feet however catches Ferham by surprise, her green eyes going wide and her mouth an oral ring of surprise before she's plummeting down. Spikes, a robot's ONE WEAKNESS!      Clanging down below, the whip unwraps from Toph's midsection--only to snag one oif her ankles and tries to pull her down with Ferham! 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     And Fiora is, predictably, knocked back by the wave, slammed into the wall of the cavern. She rights herself soon enough, and wipes some of the blood from her chin. "Rage is truly an impressive source of power.. But, I wonder what will end up winning, today? Shall we see?" Back on her feet, Fiora changes her stance, off-hand with the dagger behind her back, sword held out in front. She lunges once more, throwing out a series of stabs, multiple strikes, again aimed at specific places. It's almost a dance, as her feet move, lighting-quick and with deadly accuracy. Precision and grace, against sheer, brute force? For Fiora, there can be only one victor. Only one outcome, when an unstoppable force meets an immoveable object. The one that's more precise. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Down the pitfall Ferham goes, though just as Toph is about to step away once the whip unwraps from her torso and arms... it wraps around her ankle?! A startled yelp leaves the blind girl, though she fortunately takes less damage falling into the pitfall, mostly thanks to her bending. Sure, some of the spikes scratch her and stab her in places, but she manages to unbend some of them, bending them into sand that softens her fall. Her landing is still rough however, and she winces, cursing words a girl her age should not be uttering.     Raising her arms she quickly gestures in Ferham's direction, and in response the earth shifts, seeking to wrap itself around her head before it slams into the wall of the pitfall. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "It shall be me," Razer roars, "It will /always/ be me!" When Fiora comes to strike at him, Razer attempts to counter her blows. He has a lot of strength, even just without his ring, but each blow goes wide. As Fiora cuts at him, again and again, her blade coming free with blue-black residue along the blade, Razer's frenzied blows don't even come close to hitting her. Precision and speed, for the moment, seem like they're going to bring the Red Lantern down. It can be heard in his breathing, felt in the rise and fall of his chest, seen in the bit of blue that he spits up over his lips.      And then Razer reaches out, gauntlet seeking out Fiora's pink fringe. And, with her held, he raises his ring hand - and goes to blast her square in the abdomen!      "Just die!" 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      Ferham had apparently impacted something down below, and looked worse for wear--likely getting a bit of a spike right through one part of her, perforating the pernicious femmebot! However, she has Toph with her down here now, having trapped the earthbender in a small depression in the earth made of... earth. Surely there is no way this could possibly go wrong.      "Ow--" Ferham has the dramatic stuffing taken out of her when the earth apparently gets her into a headlock and slams her against the wall of the deadfall.      "STONE COOOLD," Ferham yells as she busts out of it, trying to get Toph into a similar head lock, actually trying to pull the earth bender up and off her feet, so she can't keep contact with the ground! 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Perhaps it's luck that enables Toph to evade the attack as she steps back, or perhaps it's skill as she steps aside. "What are you, blind or something?!" Toph taunts as she throws her arms upwards, earthen spikes aiming to slam Ferham against the walls of the pitfall again.     Better finish up this soon, as she's bleeding a fair bit here. And right now moving hurts. The longer she fights, the more blood she will lose. Her feet are aching thanks to the ice burns from before too. 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     That hand finds naught but air, and the woman that fringe belongs to isn't present. The follow up, as haphazard as it is, doesn't catch the nimble duelist at all. "Death? Death is a dance, one I've all but mastered. Shall we dance, you and I? And our song, it will be steel!" Not just her sword, but the woman herself, blinks to and fro, weaving a circle around Razer, with the sound of her sword cutting through the air the only think one might be able to notice, save for the duelist herself, blinking in and out of vision, when she stops between dashing. "This.. this is my dance. My waltz. Fighting isn't just rage. It's an art. I am an artist, and this.. this is my brush. People like you? You are the both canvas and paint." 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      As it would turn out, it's rather not a trap that Ferham had pulled the young earthbender into, as Ferham now erupts over the mouth of the chasm she had been dropped and later pulled Toph down into. She's gitted her teeth and her arms are scrabbling to pull herself out of that put, apparently seemingly getting dragged back down by the earth appendages, lashing out with a boot at the girl beneath her in the pit.      "Let go, I don't want to get any of that grit in my armor!" she whines, though she does put actual force into that kick. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     The kick is something Toph sees coming, but just as she's about to either evade or attempt to block it, the pain from her previously inflicted injuries stop her. Raising her arm, Toph winces as pain shoots through her side, and she staggers slightly as the kick connects with her chest, knocking the air out of her and sending her back into the wall with a pained cry. It aggravates her injuries, making them bleed more and the blind girl is visibly wincing at the pain.     "What about the grit I have gotten into these damn cuts?" she demands through clenched teeth.     She raises one arm while she uses the other to press against the cut in her side, then lashes out with her hand to turn the walls of the pitfall into sand. Sand that seeks to wrap itself around Ferham. How about getting that into your armour? 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      Razer is flagging, wounded and weak from numerous cuts, some deeper than others. "No, people like me are /strong/. We do what must be done! You're weak, pitiful - prepare for your annihilation!"      Razer lashes out with another blow but this one seems to go straight past his target. Huh, guess he really is losing the battle. Of course, in a moment, it becomes clear that Razer - as angry as he may be - isn't without some form of guile.      That red lash wraps around a set of stalagmites and, with a flourish of Razer's hand, sends them flying in from behind Fiora. Razer is already leaping clear, but will Fiora be fast enough to evade? 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "Well you could wear armor, or you know, SHOES," Ferham snarls back at the mouth of the pit, pulling herself up finally. The sand that suddenly yawns open to envelope her does indeed catch her up to her waist, the armored woman looking like she's none too amused with this, cringing as she tries to pull herself out, as if she had been trapped in cement somehow.      "Urgh--okay, have fun down there with no air! haha!" Fer raised her hands and forced a giant piece of ice, which she then lets THUNK down into the open pit, rather anticlimactically, sealing it. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     "Real earthbenders don't wear shoes!"     Seriously, if Pepper can't get her to wear shoes, then who will?     When Ferham seals the pit however, it's quiet for a bit. But not for long.     The earth erupts underneath the femmebot's feet again in a series of large, sharp spikes, and in the middle of it all... stands Toph. Sure, she's shivering and obviously cold, freezing and in serious need of treatment for frost bite... but like hell she's giving up now. "You keep forgetting /who/ you're fighting!" the blind girl reminds her. 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Fiora is struck by the thrown rocks, and falls forward, but doesn't seem done yet. "Weak and pitiful? Ha.." She spits out some blood, and stands again, unwilling to falter in front of her opponent. "Strong, yes. I never said you weren't. But there's many kinds of strength. And yours is all too easy to become lost within. Blinded by." She raises her sword in a salute, and carges forward again, but unlike before, it's no mere jab. She wants to strike true. A crippling blow, that she might end this battle with. Or, at the very least, one that will hopefully give her an upper hand. "En guarde!" 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      "IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN D--Ack--Ow," Ferham had finally freed herself from the cement-like grip of the earth only to be sent barreling back by the force of the Toph-1000's emerging from the shattered ice. Ferham herself looks like she's quite worse for wear, a few signs of electricity coursing from a broken gem-like lens on her body.      "So, we'll call it a draw then?" Ferham isn't giving Toph time to respond however as she spins toward the entrance to the cave and pushes off the ground, her wings carrying her away. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      "You think I'm lost!? You think I'm /blind?!" Razer snaps, drawing himself up to his full height, even as it seems like Fiora had skewered him. The ring sustains his life, would do so even in a vacuum, and that mortal blow - while debilitating - isn't as crippling as it should have been. Still, a few more like that, and even Razer's ring would be hard-pressed to be able to provide enough energy to keep him in the fight.      No, she'll show her blind rage.      It's an easy memory to find, made easier by the ring that whispers to him and points him down the right path. In his mind, the memory is far darker than it ever was in life. The sky darker, smokier, the sun casting everything in unreal scarlet tones. He holds Ilana's head in his lap and, it's like everyone always said about death - she really does look like she's just sleeping. He remembers what he screamed: ILA-      "-NAAAAAAAAAAA!" Red energy bursts out of Razer, like it can't be held in his body. It pours from his eyes, through the numerous wounds that Fiora has visited upon him, and roars from his mouth like an unimaginable torrent of white-hot rage, unending, unstoppable, blasting through rock like it's not even there.      All of it aimed squarely at Fiora. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Off her opponent goes, and Toph blinks at the comment. "That only counts if you don't run away like a lily liver!" she snaps. Fine. If she wants to retreat, then she won't attack her anymore. Now that only leaves that angry guy left. Maybe Fiora needs some assistance bringing him down? She's hurt, but she should be able to keep it together until the fight is over. Though she will have to head to medical soon enough...     The effects of Razer's rage is felt easily enough, and Toph frowns as she hurries towards where he and Fiora are fighting.     "Dunderhead, you're blinder than me!" Toph's voice comes from behind Razer... and if he turns to look, he might also spot a large rock that's coming straight towards him. 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Indeed, an impressive show of power. Unrelenting and unwavering, and the cavern shudders to behold it. But Fiora's voice speaks, and it's coming from right next to him. Just how fast /is/ this woman? "Yes. Very, very blind. Whatever anger drives you is poison in your veins. I know not what it is, but for now? It certainly doesn't matter." She steps forwards, sword still in hand, and bumps the flat edge against his chin. "You have a lot to learn, but for this lesson, precision and grace will defeat raw strength, just about every time. There's a time and place, after all." She flicks the blood from her sword, and draws her fist back, to slam it into Razer's face. The ornate basket hilt of her weapon is quite sturdy. More than solid enough, to not deform under the blow. 

:'''{{#var:692|Razer (692)}} has posed:'''      The thing about that nova of anger is that the memories it drags with it, they're not pleasant ones. The star that burns twice as bright lasts for half as long - and Razer's rage burns far, far brighter than that.      "Then do it," Razer spits out as Fiora talks, "Kill me. Do i-!"      Fiora punches him in the face with the hilt of her sword, turning his shout into a strangled grunt. He stumbles back, obviously concussed-      -and gets promptly cleaned up by Toph's boulder.      Unconscious, Razer bounces off the other wall, the red sections of his armor flickering as the rage, not only dulls, but is momentarilly stilled.      His course carries him into the pool and the Red Lantern sinks, the pool flickering with red light.      Someone will need to fish him out. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:'''     Down into the water he goes, and Toph sighs, kicking her heel into the cavern floor to attempt to raise a pillar underneath him so he doesn't drown. "He really likes being angry, doesn't he?" Like that solves anything. And sheesh, killing your opponent isn't very classy. He's like... anti-Aang.     "Nice job, seems we managed to deal with them well enough, huh?" Toph comments, then winces. Ow, this seriously hurts... 

:'''{{#var:824|Fiora Laurent (824)}} has posed:'''     Only after she sheathes her sword, does Fiora allow herself to falter, falling to a knee and gasping for some air. "Oof. That he does.. but, pure anger is no way to win a duel. I learned that, a long time ago." She takes a few breaths, before getting to her feet again. "Mm. That did go well, all things considered, however. My first victory, of the many to come." 

:'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''      There is the sound of crumbling from above, as a bit of debris fall from the cavern roof--what looks like a long magenta glowing rope descending from the ceiling...? Ferham's whip! It snakes down and actually wraps around Razer's torso, around his waist and shoulders forming a kind of harness (obviously a specialty of Ferham's) and the Red Lantern is tugged on a few times before he's pulled rapidly from the cavern floor up inot some kind of hole in the roof and gone. Ziiiip.      Later, as Ferham hauls Razer up and tugs him through the crack she made in the ceiling, she folds an arm around his waist and takes off into the air. Going a bit slowly, since the Red Lantern apparently weighed a bit. 

}}

User:Bradster

2015-08-17T08:25:03Z

Bradster:

Hey, this is my talk page. Not much to say. My first and most well-known character - and therefore name on the MUSH - was Bradley Carbunkle. I've also played other characters such as John-117 (the Master Chief), Batou, Bane (from Nolanverse Batman) and Shockwave (of Transformers: Prime fame). I also had an OC who I let lapse through mindlessness - Velocity from the Michael Bay Transformer films.

I currently play Defiant (from Worm), Razer (from the Green Lantern series), Geralt (from the Witcher 3), Jasper (Steven Universe) and - of course - Brad Carbunkle.

I have noticed that I tend to play characters that are robots or have some sort of crippling emotional problem. I'm not sure what that says about me.

2820/Jasper's Return

2015-08-17T08:24:09Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/16 |Location=Gem Warship <GW> |Synopsis=Jasper returns, much to the shock of Peridot and Lapis! |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=836, 849, 858 ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/16
|Location=Gem Warship <GW>
|Synopsis=Jasper returns, much to the shock of Peridot and Lapis!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=836, 849, 858
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     It's about midday, and work continues on the kindergarten. The biophage-like injectors are still being set up and linked with will become their collective power core. Whether that power core is what's currently used by the warship or not remains to be seen. It will have to be unless Lapis and Peridot are able to find an alternative power core. At the moment, a collection of robonoids are outside the ship working on said kindergarten while Lapis remains on the bridge.     It's been a startlingly quiet day after the dance with Peridot and the fight before that. No more trouble from the blue gem. Sitting crosslegged in the co-pilot's seat, Lapis watches the kindergarten through the command bridge window. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     Peridot walked onto the bridge from the weapons bay. she had been storing all the excess injectors there for her to work with, occasionally hauling one out to the more spacious command bridge to work on them a little less impeded. As was typical, her holopad hovered around her and gave her a constant read-out of various status's on the ship. Primarily her interface with her robonoids and what they were doing. Coordinating that many small machines was no easy task, but Peridot had a few thousand years to get really good at it.     Upon seeing Lapis, Peridot smiled lightly. Though they had an argument a mere day or two prior, the nearly successful fusion dance that followed had instilled confidence in her that had previously been missing. It had left her the impression that between the two of them, Kindergarten was in good hands. Things were going to be okay, and on top of that, she had even more good news. "I finally got around to running analysis on the two of three of the remaining injector groups. Damage is not nearly as severe as the initial group I've been repairing."     "I'll be tasking the plug robonoids with the transference of the ones I have repaired to the ground and begin moving some of the ones from the weapons bay here for repair. Excavation on the ground is going smoothly, the complex will be ready to have equipment moved in soon and we won't be so cramped up here for much longer." It seemed Peridot couldn't resist summarizing a report of her activities to someone, even if she didn't work for them. Since she couldn't transmit any to Yellow Diamond or... anyone, really. It was a void she kept filled by diligently keeping Lapis up to date. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      The almost serene tranquility of the warship's command bridge is suddenly broken by a slow, heavy pounding at the hexagonal door the seperates the room from the rest of the ship. Bang. Bang. Bang.      The next heavy bang pierces the center of the door, courtesy of one giant orange fist.      It can't possibly be-      With a snarling growl, the giant figure shoves the door open and steps through, backlit, her shadow falling over the bridge. She's breathing heavily, the deep sound in the back of her throat sounding more like a series of growls than anything else.      Even backlit, the sheer size of the figure, her mane of wild hair, and the slight glint of a gem set in the middle of her face makes it quite clear who it is.      Jasper.      She points one finger squarely at Lapis. "YOU! I *KNEW* I'd find you here!" 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis looks back towards Peridot when she begins speaking and relaying her report. Some of it loosely flew over her head, the technical details and statuses of the respective injectors remained a mystery to her. That old gem technology was something she was familiar with, but she could never work on it with the capability that Peridot has. "That's great news, Peridot." Lapis replies, taking hints from Peridot's own tone.     Turning fully from the swivel chair, Lapis faces Peridot while she continues with the report. "So the kindergarten can start soon." At least, that's her understanding of what's going on here. She can't help but think a little bit about what Sunstone said. Her story about Peridot and their planet's own kindergarten, but she momentarily shoves it out of her mind. "That will be nice to have everything moved out. We'll --" The bang on the door freezes her reply as she peers over to the source. What?     As the banging continues, Lapis looks more concerned, "What is that? It can't be the corrupted gem.." Bang! Bang! Crash! Jasper comes in through the door. Immediately Lapis bolts upright to her feet.     "J-Jasper!" she shouts in surprise, backing away slowly. "I.. W-what..? How?!" She glances to the door, there's no real way to escape here, though she's pumping with the equivalent of adreanline. Her backside collides with the ship controls and she braces herself back against them with her hands gripping the sides. Her eyes bounce once to Peridot, then back to Jasper. She actually looks quite scared. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     At first, Peridot thought it was Steven. Which was not inherently logical. Steven would be hard-pressed to make that much incoming commotion. But who else could it possibly be? The only other person who had access to the ship was Ferham, and Peridot had her performing task far from the ship. Had she returned early? Then Lapis suggested corrupted gems. That seems very logical. Peridot knew she should have had them disintegrated! "What on Homeworld?" She asked, looking toward the door as the banging started.     She had been holding a soldering tool when she left the weapons bay. It fell loosely from her fingers as Peridot's eyes shrank to small dots. Her mouth hung open in stunned silence as a wash of feelings rolled over her. There was her escort, right in front of her. Jasper. Peridot was certain she had died. But, she was once also certain that Lapis had died as well- even before unification. Things had gone so terribly awry that day.     but after the confusion rapidly cleared it was replaced by another emotion... Joy, of all things. Jasper was an immensely useful asset to Peridot's mission, up until she took it over. And however much they disagreed, they both had Homeworlds interest in their heart. Which is something Peridot could always get behind. As the soldering tool clangs against the ground, Peridot raises her arms and begins walking toward the orange gem.     "Jasper! Jasper you're alive! I thought you'd been reduced to shards!" She says approaching her. "It's been terrible here! We're basically stranded! Oh, I have so many reports to file to you!" She had completely misread the situation, and had unwittingly placed herself between Jasper and her true target, Lapis. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Oh, things had gone so terribly awry. They'd gone bad in a way that Jasper had never thought possible - defeated, and by a fusion at that! Rose Quartz, beyond her grasp! And then, as she'd taken on the power and mantle of Malachite, she was bound and chained and dragged beneath the waves. The indignation, the rage, the fear...      Jasper's arm comes up and out in an orange blur, sweeping Peridot aside! "Out of my way, Peridot! That Gem-" She thrusts a finger at Lapis again, "Must pay!"      "Surprised to see me, are you?" Jasper snarls, stomping forwards, stalking closer to Lapis. "You think you could get away from me?! Did you really think that you were *powerful* enough to contain *me*!? We had those Gems within our grasp, and you- /you let them escape/! There's no water here for you, Lapis, no water - and no hope!"      She's incensed. Just what happened between them? 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     The irony being that Jasper despised fusions, saw them as weak. Just when she'd thought she could get the upperhand on Garnet, on the crystal gems by fusion... The one person she fusioned with betrayed her and dragged her under. Lapis forced Jasper under the water, kept her chained down and repressed. Now she was free.     Lapis makes a little noise as Jasper jabs her finger in her direction. She flinches as though it might fly off Jasper's fist and impale her.     Jasper was right, there was no water nearby. Nothing she could do to avoid this. With a cracked voice she shouts out, "You were going to hurt them!" Jasper was out of control. There's no telling if Steven would even poof if he sustained too much damage, there's never been anything like him.     As Jasper gets closer, Lapis leans back further. The gem on her back glows as her wings sprout. Diving quickly to the left and with a flap of her wings, she darts for the door around Jasper in flight. Or atleast, she tries to. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     "Out of.. huh?" She blinked as Jaspers massive tree trunk arms raised faster than she could respond to it, to even register what was happening. The thick slab of muscle caught her in the shoulder, lifting her off her mechanical feet. She spent a brie period airborne before contacting with the floor roughly and sliding across the room until her back slammed into the smooth gemstone wall with a clatter. "Ah!" She cried out as the pain jolted through her body. Her shoulder, back and her hips managed to feel numb and sore at the same time.     She stayed down, for the moment. Unsure of what was happening and not completely eager to get slapped out of the way again without knowing why. Her brows arched in a worried expression as she looked back and forth between Jasper and Lapis, listening. Confusion took hold as she listened to Jaspers accusations. Had Lapis let the crystal gems escape? Peridot squinted. She didn't believe that. One thing was consistent in the reports, Lapis hated the crystal gems as much as Peridot herself.     Then as Lapis sprouted her wings and began to fly, Peridot blinked. She fully expected Lapis to deny the claims. But her statement... it made no sense? Of course Jasper was going to hurt them. Hurting them was the reason Peridot requested someone like her come along to begin with! She started trying to get back to her feet, as the pain in her back reasserted it's presence. She grit her teeth, and for the time being watched. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      "They were weak!" Jasper retorts, towering over Lapis as she leans back. "Of course I was going to hurt them. The fact that you defend them makes me sick! You turned your back on your own kind! And for what?!"      Her arm snaps out again with speed that is in stark contrast to her titanic size, snaring Lapis by the upper arm as she tries to dive past. "You're not going anywhere!" She'll just let Lapis dangle there in her grip as she turns to Peridot. "That is, unless it's a cell..."      Jasper watches Peridot rise and seems a slight touch more content now that she's, once again, established her particular brand of pecking order - whoever hits hardest leads. Unless she doesn't want to lead, or Peridot knows better. Which, Jasper reflects, tends to be the case.      "So, Peridot, I think there's much I need to know. Why this one isn't in a cell, where those Gems are, what's our situation and - oh! - and where exactly we are! And don't make it too technical, you can see I'm clearly not in the mood."      She gives Lapis a brief shake to impress her point. 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis gasps and let's out a small shout as her arm is taken. Jasper's hands are huge in comparison to her. Given her speed and velocity, the torsion causes some rather significant discomfort in her shoulder. "No!" She shouts, as she goes limp, held up a bit off the ground by Jasper's grip. Concentration clearly disrupted, her wings disperse back into nothingness.     She'd worked so hard to make everything just a little bit better. She was with homeworld again, helping them restablish gemkind. She saw the need for them to continue with the kindergartens, to save themselves from extinction if homeworld didn't exist anymore.     "I'm not going back!" She struggles a little bit as Jasper threatens to put her back in the jailcell.     Shaking her seems to stop her struggling, causing another gasp of pain. She briefly looks up to Peridot, a defeated expression returning that Peridot likely hadn't seen since the warship was headed to Earth. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     Peridot's brain felt like it was in overdrive. Had Lapis betrayed homeworld? Other dark thoughts flowed through her head before she forced them out; those ideas would have to be scrutinized later. She couldn't know how deep this went without more intel and wild speculation would not help. She finally managed to get up and walk back over, her brows still arched in a worried expression.     "Jasper! I don't.." She looked to Lapis, and back to the orange gem. As Jasper mentions throwing Lapis in a cell. A cell? Peridot had been relying on her. Trusting her. She was slipping into madness the weeks before Lapis showed up. Peridot had invited her as a free citizen. "You're mistaken! I don't know what this is about but Lapis has been helping me! She's been loyal to Homeworld since I found her!"     Peridot's brows furrow in concentration as she looked back to Lapis. "She would never betray us!" And then, perhaps surprisingly, Peridot reached and grabbed Jaspers wrist. The one holding Lapis. It wasn't immediately clear what she was trying to do as she didn't have the strength to pry Lapis free, but it felt better than doing nothing. She pulled on it as much as she could. "Let her go! You're hurting her!" 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      "Words are meaningless, brat," Jasper snaps to Lapis, hefting her to bring her eye-to-eye with her. "Actions are the one thing that matter." With Lapis subdued, as she always should have been, Jasper returns her attentions to Peridot. As Peridot pulls at her arm, Jasper /smiles/. And it's not a pleasant smile, it's the feral, toothy grin of a shark. "I know," she says, which is possibly the one phrase that could sum her up perfectly. Maybe not out to inflict pain like a sadist is, but certainly not willing to care when she causes it. Her wrist is almost impossible to move.      She says nothing, does nothing, just stands there like an impassive statue. Maybe she's impressed by Peridot's sudden resolve, even after being slammed like she was, or maybe she's just stopped caring about it. Maybe she's aware that Peridot is still, technically, in command of this ship and the mission. Either way, whatever the reason, Jasper drops Lapis to the deck of the ship.      "She'll know better than to do it again," Jasper seethes. "She's loyal now, sure - but I wonder how loyal she'll remain when we run into those rebels again. I'll be keeping an eye on you." The last phrase, going by how her golden eyes wander down to glare at Lapis, is obviously directed at one person in particular. 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis frowns when brought up to eye level with Jasper. She doesn't struggle or try to escape. Jasper could at this moment inflict more harm on her than just hurting her arm, and she knows it. Then Peridot begins struggling to free her! This grabs Lapis' attention for a bit, and she looks back up to Jasper. That toothy grin and malevolent voice.     Then she's released and dropped to the floor. Clearly not expecting this, her feet skid against the floor and she lands on her back and behind with a small yelp, hands bracing her the best she can against the impact.     Slowly she gets back up to her feet, giving Jasper a look in return to her comment. Taking a few steps back, she gives Jasper some distance. It's obvious that she's scared of Jasper, but that's always been true. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     Peridot let Jasper go when she let's Lapis go. She exhaled quietly. It almost just dawned on her what she had just done. She hadn't consciously stood up to Jasper, it had just happened before she had a moment to think. She could very well consider herself lucky Jasper didn't just poof the both of them and sort it out for herself. Though Jasper was her escort, there wasn't a whole lot Peridot could do to stop her from commandeering everything.     As Lapis gets back to her feet, Peridot looks to her wrist then to her face. "What's this all about?" She ask squinting. "What is she talking about? You said in your report that you had no idea what happened to her!" She waves her hand in Jaspers direction. "Everything got scrambled after the ship went down."     She looked to Jasper as well. "Someone tell me!" She curled her fingers into fist at her side. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper crosses her arms, meeting Peridot's gaze with a cool expression. To admit what happened would mean admitting that she had fused with Lapis, would mean admitting that she wasn't strong enough to handle the rebels without needing /help/, it would mean admitting /defeat/. It's utterly anathemic to her. For all her raw strength, Lapis - empowered by an ocean's worth of power - had been stronger. It didn't matter how much Jasper had railed against Lapis, how she had thrashed and roared and screamed inside Malachite... she had been held there.      So, Jasper doesn't say a word to Peridot beyond a grunted 'hmph'. She glances to Lapis and in that glance is an unspoken command: be very, very careful about saying anything. 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis looks to be largely unharmed. Gems are tough things, even soft gems like Lapis Lazuli. Having gotten a little distance, Lapis looks between Peridot and Jasper. Peridot, demanding to know what had happened, and Jasper giving her that stare. She had to say something, but even /she/ didn't want to admit what really happened on that beach.     "I.. did see Jasper after the crash," Lapis says carefully, tiptoeing around the events that occurred. She could risk Jasper's wrath, but something tells her that is unavoidable either way. Still, being completely truthful might make it worse. So she fabricates further.     "Jasper was going to detain the Crystal Gems and I tried to stop her. Using the Earth's ocean. The Crystal Gems got away." She looks away as she says this, rather than meet Peridot's stare. In this version, the failure appears to be hers. She was the obstacle that gave the Crystal Gems enough time to flee. The only constant truth was that she had acted against Homeworld. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     "You tried to help those crystal clods?.. those rebels?" Peridot put a hand on her hip, as her brows furrowed even further. "Do you know how many Homeworld gems they've killed during that little rebellion? All the trouble they gave me while I was trying to resume Homeworld activities on earth!" Peridot took a step back from her. This was big news, though-- Lapis was spared, it seems from the full truth. An unspoken conspiracy between her and Jasper to hide the real truth. The truth that would have sent Peridot off the deep end. Trying to let some gems escape was one thing. But trying to imprison Jasper for all eternity?...     Peridots angry expression shifted to something more... disappointed. Perhaps even a little hurt. "This is why you're so friendly with that ridiculous Sunstone! They've infected you with their earth like ways. Are you some kind of double agent? Trying to warm me up to their agenda?"     "And what about the mission? These gems you love so much, would gladly hand our entire species a death sentence and completely tear everything we've worked so hard to achieve down." Peridot grabbed Lapis by the shoulders, however it was not with the same spirit of how Jasper had just done it. Peridot was pleading with her. "In order to save gem-kind. We have to kill this planet." Peridot squinted stating the facts bluntly and clearly. "They have, and always will stand firmly against that. You cannot live in both worlds. We cannot let ourselves be snuffed out in this corner of the galaxy." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Ah, that's more like it. Jasper's gloating grin says enough - Peridot's on the case and Lapis is at least smart enough to keep the worst part of it to herself. Peridot might be concerned out of some Homeworld loyalty, and Jasper might be too, but it's the damage to her /pride/ that's the most worry to the larger Gem. She'll let her smarter companion stress the importance, the necessity of the mission. Truth be told, Jasper's only here to ensure it gets done - the task itself doesn't matter. She can respect Peridot's blunt facts, though.      "They'll get in the way again, and I'll be there to meet them," she says. "Sunstone?" Jasper grunts the question. "Who is that? Why should we care?" Ah, Jasper. She's not the most forward-thinking Gem, only really thinking about the next six feet in front of her at any time. 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis brushes Peridot's hands away with her own, "I know what it means, Peridot!" She affirms this with a level of authority. She knows what kindergartens do to planets. She knows that it drains them to lifeless hulks for gemkind to thrive. It is a fact of life for gems, it's something they accept as necessary.      Homeworld gems are perfect. Homeworld gems are superior. Homeworld is perfect. Homeworld is home.     "The crystal gems are monsters," she agrees, they kept her locked in that mirror for so long. Even if Earth did have a chance of being something else, something.. not necessarily perfect, but different, it doesn't now. The multiverse isn't Earth. "Things are different now," Lapis explains, for the benefit of Jasper as well as Peridot.     "We're the only ones left. Supposedly there are more gems, but we can't find Homeworld. We're all that's left. This isn't one kindergarten in a thousand. This is our last one." The tone she takes is sullen. She knows the stakes here, and nothing she's done has been against the kindergarten.     Lapis gives a hard stare towards Jasper, obviously defiant, "Which means our mission against Steven is over." 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     Peridot let her hands get brushed aside. She had said all of this to lapis before, but hearing Jasper make all these accusations, and even hearing Lapis admitting she raised a hand against Homeworld. Peridot had to make sure. She had to get it out there again. She had to know her friend was not going to backstab her.     She closed her eyes for a moment. "... I'm sorry." Lapis had convinced her. Had said the right things. Peridot was not the sort to throw out apologies very easily. This prompted her to turn her attention to Jasper.     "Lapis... is correct. The Steven has been shifted to being a low priority target. We have far more grave concerns to deal with Jasper. We three are the only three loyal to Homeworld on this planet. Perhaps in this galaxy. I don't know exactly what went on between you two. But, it's all in the past now. Lapis was once my informant, but now she is our ally. We are all three of us, irreplacable resources for our cause. We are all we have."     "There.. is much we have to catch up on. Things are different now, everything has changed including the mission." She folded her arms. "We are not on the earth, or universe that we knew. " Peridot winced. "There is no Yellow Diamond for us to bring the Steven too. I don't know if she, or Homeworld exist here. I've spent weeks searching... broadcasting. I can find no evidence of Homeworld, period. Until It is located, I am forced to operate under the assumption that it is no longer there."     "However I am coming across more and more evidence of Gemkind on earth. The three of us are the only documented gems on this planet. Save for- Sunstone and a few corrupted gems we have bubbled in the brig." She looks to Jasper at this. "Sunstone is a gem who once held a position like mine. A planet conqueror. She learned about what Quartz did, and sought to duplicate her results. I was sent to put a stop to that situation... and, Her rebellion had a drastically different ending. I thought her dead, until she showed up here."     "And she's just as rebellious as I remember her." Peridot concluded. "A threat that I've continued to monitor." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      "What?" Jasper snaps at Lapis, "You think you can give orders to me?!" Her tone is dark, like she finds it funny. And she's not known for having a good sense of humor. She seems to be about to press the issue, to demonstrate the apparent humor in it all, when Peridot speaks up.      "But it's not 'Steven'," Jasper insists, "It's Rose. It's gotta be- that shield, that gem! Why play along with her /obvious/ charade?!"      Still, while Jasper always /hears/ people, for once it seems like she's actually /listening/. If this is all true, and Jasper trusts Peridot's position - if not the Gem herself - to have no reason to think any of it is a lie, then this is a big problem. It's an opportunity, sure, but Jasper is nothing if not a loyal warrior for her homeworld. The fact it could just be gone...      It vexes her, to say the least.      "Then keep looking for Homeworld, you can't just /lose/ a planet! But if we have more Gems revealing themselves, we face the very real prospect of being outnumbered..." Jasper grins as she says this - no, she's not worried about being outnumbered in the least.      "I'll prove I can be magnanimous then. Like you say, Peridot, we'll put everything in the past and continue with what we can. Under the assumption that I won't have to deal with any such interference from the brat again." She'll hold a grudge, too. Anyone who's known Jasper for as long as these two have could easily assume that.      "What's our overall status? Robonoids? Weapons? The ship? This Sunstone, is she actively working with Quartz's forces?" 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis shrinks a little bit when Jasper snaps at her. Nothing will change that she's frightened by the presence of this gem. Peridot might forgive her transgressions, even for the 'Steven incident' but if Yellow Diamond is out here, and she is, then Jasper will not hesitate to tell her everything. Anything after that will be worse than the mirror.     But the possibility exists that Jasper will spare those details for her own pride.     Jasper makes a good point about losing the planet. A planet full of homeworld gems likely trying to find where they are just as much as Peridot and Lapis are. "It's possible coming to this universe damaged their infrastructure," Lapis admits softly, not daring to suggest Homeworld in all its perfectness could be disabled under normal circumstances. "All the warp pads we've found have also been damage, though that might have been from the Crystal Gems. Who we've not seen at all. Sunstone has also declared she is not a crystal gem." 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     "Status is sub-optimal but trending upwards." Peridot answers, creating her holopad out of her fingers. She floated the display in front of Jasper that had various reads out flashing at regular intervals. It went over many things. Including the status of damage around the ship, blueprints of kindergarten and statistics on available resources including Robonoids, injectors and escape pods.     "Your battle did a massive amount of damage to the ship." She tried to keep the sass levels to a minimum. But, she was Peridot after all. There was only so much she could do. "I spent a few days repairing the core and got the ship back off the ground. However there is significant damage done to the hull, it can fly but it's not space worthy yet. After my attempts to locate Homeworld failed, I started immediately on repairing the injectors which is halfway complete. We need to get kindergarten up and running asap."     "Lapis is correct, Sunstone does not identify as a Crystal gem. But make no mistake, when I tried to put a stop to her rebellion.. a life time ago. She brought down the warship I was on just the same. So far, attempts to coerce her to our side have been fruitless. Approach with extreme caution." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      "Hmmmm..." Jasper murmurs, arms crossed. The display is floated to her and, while she looks at it, it's clear she's only skimming the information presented to her - if she's even doing that. She looks bored by it. Yes, yes, damage reports, blueprints, escape pods that she never plans on using...      "Yes, good. This Sunstone doesn't have an army? No supporters?" The look on her face is, well, fairly /happy/ as far as Jasper goes. A foe with no one to help them? That's like shooting fish in a barrel! "Caution? Are you serious? She's one Gem. If she attempts to stop us, she'll end up in the brig with the rest of the trash."      Something ticks over in her mind, then, and she glances at Lapis. "'This universe'?" 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis frowns a little bit at the thought of Sunstone imprisoned, but doesn't share any additional thoughts on that. Shifting a little bit, she nods at what Peridot says. "Sunstone is peaceful, for the moment." If she can at least paint her as a non-threat for now.. But she shakes her head, "The Union supports her, in that she belongs to that faction." She eyes Peridot warily for a moment, the creases under her eyes seemingly more visible than usual.     This encounter has been plenty stressful.     "We're in a new universe, Jasper.." Lapis says carefully, "In some place called the multiverse. The humans aren't weak here." 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     "Lapis is correct. She has no army that she commands. But, she has supporters." Peridot answered. Her lips pursing at Jaspers bored reaction to her holopad. All that documentation took work! She takes the pad away and reforms her fingers. "But so do we."     "When I arrived, I was alone for many weeks. Initially I could find no other gem, gem technology or structure. Therefore, I found it prudent when an opportunity to forge an alliance with a powerful faction. I took it. The people of this planet, are.. strange. Different from the ones we knew. We are in direct competition for control of this planet with many other individuals of varying power... some rather frighteningly strong. As I understand it... These competitor have decided to pull their resources into an uneasy alliance called the confederacy. Of which, we are apart of."     "This puts us in opposition of the aforementioned union who have taken it upon themselves to halt the work of beings such as we. So long we lend aid to our allies when battling these foes, we will in kind receive resources that we are in desperate need of." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Lapis' words provoke a sceptical response from Jasper, etching it all over her face. Humans that aren't weak? What is Lapis even saying? "I'll be the judge of how weak they are," Jasper tells Lapis in no uncertain tone of voice.      Jasper sets herself down into one of the seats and she seems entirely too big for it. "The Confederacy..." she murmurs the word as she listens. "Tell me more. What're the terms of this alliance? I won't be ordered about by some non-Gem - that's degrading! That can be your job, Peridot!" 

:'''{{#var:849|Lapis Lazuli (849)}} has posed:'''     Lapis goes quiet under Jasper's skeptical response. Her seat's also been taken by Jasper. With a slightly quieter voice, Lapis says, "I'm going to my room." And she turns to start walking away, unless ordered to otherwise stay. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     "We take orders from no one!" Peridot said back quickly. She appeared to be insulted that Jasper would even think she would work for a human.. At least without some manner of weapon pointed at her gem first, that is. She certainly wouldn't do it of her own accord. "We have more..." She squints. "Guidelines. Best practices. Suggestions." She went on, closing an eye. "We can throw them out the window, but we are trying to get what we need. It's more.. of a cooperation. Just don't kill any of our allies... without good reason." She suggest as a compromise.     Peridot nods to Lapis as she leaves, letting her go. "Don't forget. I wish to have your aid when I begin moving the injectors to the ground." She didn't mind that Lapis was leaving. It was best for the time being because of the topic she was about to go into. She waited... and then looked to Jasper. "The alliance is already paying off, as a monstrous human of sorts had been harassing me until I identified as a confederate. I then successfully negotiated a deal that prevented him from attacking Lapis and the Steven, and instead redirected him to assault Sunstone." She folded her arms, and smirked. "Preserving an asset to our mission, while taking another out in one fell swoop! It was brilliant!" 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper doesn't even give Lapis a second-glance or anything approaching a friendly farewell. She probably assumes she'll go right back to her cell, maybe missing the usage of the word 'room'. "I think I can handle not killing any of them, without good reason." Of course, isn't that just so subjective?      "How devious of you," Jasper says to Peridot's choice of tactics. "If we can keep those Gems busy with our allies, we can get this mission back on track after that little disaster on Earth. And a supply of allies would be an easy way to ensure that my strength is as it's always been. Beyond compare. Hmm." She adds, leaning back, and the chair /creaks/. "You could say I'm almost looking forward to it. It's been a while since I've had a /real/ challenge." And what was Garnet, then? Or Malachite? 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     Peridot grinned. There was something she didn't get from Lapis. Validation for when she managed to utilize her cunning towards treacherous ends. Peridot never needed praise... but she certainly wanted it.     "Our next priority, now that Sunstone has her hands full is the acquisition of a power source capable of powering the complex beneath Kindergarten. Currently the warship is providing the power we need, and the defenses. However that means it's tied up as an asset here and cannot be deployed when I need it to more pressing fronts." Peridot walked over to the command console, bringing up imagery of Kindergarten itself. "Of course, I've had to dedicate a lot of time to the injectors, if they don't work this whole operation is for nothing. But, I'm growing increasingly satisfied that we have an ample supply of working injectors. Though we did lose a few in the crash."     "I currently have no solid leads on a replacement source. But we need to find one, and then take it by force if we need to." She looked over her shoulder to Jasper. "Do you think that will satisfy your need to punch things?" 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper uncrosses her arms so she can slam one big fist into her waiting palm. That seems like a yes.      She glances at the imagery of Kindergarten, squinting at it. "If you have enough, then you have enough," she says about the injectors. "Just tell me what kind of power source you want and where to find it and I'll bring it back - I don't care about the science behind it. I want this ship moving again, in case we need to eliminate any particularly invasive holdouts of vermin. I'd anticipate a response from the Crystal Gems, particularly if they think I'm still..."      A slight pause then, Jasper frowns.      "...busy." Yes, that's a good word. Good thinking, Jasper. 

:'''{{#var:836|Peridot (836)}} has posed:'''     Peridot nods. Though in the imagery of Kindergarten she took notice of a small blue smudge flying away from the ship. This gave her some pause. But she chose to not alert Jasper about it. She had after all, treated Lapis like a free gem. She considered briefly that Lapis was perhaps going to warn Sunstone about Jaspers arrival. This makes her frown. But, surely Lapis wouldn't immediately betray them again. Not after that talk. No... she trusted Lapis, still. Her bottom lip presses against her top, and she switches cameras to get her off the screen.     "I'm on it then. In the meantime You will find your quarters largely in the state you left them in. I have documented everything that has occurred here since my arrival, and you should be able to access these reports and logs in your terminal. That should get you up to speed on all things of relevance. Including where we've been storing the Steven." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Thankfully, Jasper seems to miss Lapis' departure. It's a small miracle for the other Gems, perhaps. She leans forwards, elbows on her knees as she listens to Peridot. She won't lower herself to saying she'll do what Peridot says, like it's an order, but she nods - and that's enough to let Peridot know that Jasper will go away and study.      At that final mention, though, Jasper grins. "Well, at least we have /some/ good news," she says, and then makes her way out of the bridge. All business, as always. 

}}

2827/TARGET: Jasper's Rookery Rumble

2015-08-17T08:17:52Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/17 |Location=The Rookery (TR) |Synopsis=Jasper decides to make her mark by assaulting The Rookery! |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=826, 858 |T..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/17
|Location=The Rookery (TR)
|Synopsis=Jasper decides to make her mark by assaulting The Rookery!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=826, 858
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      The source of all the threatening noise over the broadband is none other than, well, a giant orange titan of a woman wearing a ridiculously huge helmet, her wild mane of white hair emerging from beneath it. The helmet does nothing to hide her expression which, at the moment, is looking vaguely bored.      She's thrown the gauntlet down. Where are the defenders? So many people have promised her a fight by doing this and, if she doesn't get one, she'll be going back to the warship mad! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' Tall for a Hyur, but nearly as tall as Jasper. Bertram has come wearing robes and wielding a long, mace-like staff. He's not rushing, merely walking until he notices someone who seems to be his likely opponent. "Jasper, I take it?" The White Mage strokes his beard in thought, he's already cast a protective magical shell to surround him, aether removing energy from attacks aimed at him. A thin layer of earth and sand subtly coats him, providing more defensive strengths. "I do not desire a fight, but if you force my hand, I must needs act." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper turns to look at Bertram, lips pursed, eyes squinting at him. "If you don't desire a fight," she growls out, "Then why come to the battlefield?" She slams one foot down against the earth and the ground shakes.      "Is this it?" She makes a show of craning her neck to look behind Bertram. "One little human?" Her voice is practically dripping disdain. "Fine. You'll have some measure of respect for answering my challenge - but only one of us will be standing when I'm through with you!" She's roaring by the end of her words, and Jasper charges, quickly leaping towards Bertram, one knee raised! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' "Because some things must needs be done, no matter how unpleasant they may be." Bertram answers, and then he's kneed in the gut, the protective sand and stone cracking and falling to the ground even as the White Mage is sent flying backwards. Without further delay, he starts weaving magic, he's clearly not knew to the fields of war. He calls upon the earth below them to rise up and strike Jasper, that it may harm the Gem and that the weight of the land may slow her movements. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      As Bertram goes flying, Jasper lands on her feet and continues to charge, her footfalls heavy and crushing. She's bringing her fist back for another strike when the ground itself rebels against her, throwing her down, slowing her as she tries to rise, snaring her hands and knees.      "Neat trick!" Jasper snarls, pulling against the earth with angry grunts and growls, "But it's not going to save you!"      As if to punctuate her words, Jasper /ignites/ in golden-white fire for a moment, burning away the ground around her so she might free herself, and then leaps at Bertram, one burning fist extended! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' "It's no trick, it's Conjury." Bertram responds, raising his arm to block the burning flame with his robes. It's still a searing heat, and the suppressed wince shows it hurt, but it's clear those robes offer some protection from flame and fist. With a quick movement of his staff, the air itself lays on an assault onto Jasper, wind flowing in patterns that ought to cut and scrape, like decades of the erosion that wears down mountains condensed into a short period of time. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      "It's a cheap trick!" Jasper retorts, "Fight me with your fists!" It's no surprise that she'd obviously want to fight on a level that obviously favours her size and, almost certainly, whatever experience she has.      Still, for all her bravado, Jasper pauses as Bertram waves his staff. Maybe it's a feint? Maybe he's trying to trick her? She's not sure, but as that wind begins to whip at her with the power of concentrated erosion, Jasper roars and slams her head down.      She catches the full power of Bertram's spell on the wicked, heavy prow of her helmet, setting its toughness against the winds and, luckily for her, seeming to deflect most of it. And then, head down, arms extended like the horns of a bull, Jasper /charges/ Bertram! She might just run right over him! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' "If I was going to fight with my fists I would have joined the Pugilist's guild." Bertram doesn't seem to be getting emotional about it, swiftly stepping aside to, to a certain degree, evade the incoming headbutt. It still hits him in the shoulder, and he's forced to stumble backwards more than he'd like. At the same time, he calls upon the next element he influences, calling forth a large amount of liquid, aimed to hit, and push away, Jasper like the water spilling forth from a breached dam. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Bertram's watery attack strikes Jasper well and true, maybe because she has her head down and was charging in a straight line. In any case, it sends her sprawling and she slams into the walls of the Grey Citadel, dust, stone and mortar raining down on her.      Jasper's head snaps up. Water. /Water/. How she hates it, how she'd spent so long beneath the waves, chained by that pitiful Lapis! The water dripping down into her eyes and matting her hair evokes those memories of imprisonment, of being helpless, of being /weak/. Jasper strikes the walls with her fists as she rises and, for all the feral glee she displayed before, her eyes are different now.      To put it bluntly: she's pissed.      She charges Bertram again, but this time she pulls up just in front of him. She roars and, with each roar, slams the prow of her helmet down on Bertram! Crash! Crash! Crash! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' Bertram, unfortunately, hadn't quite anticipated this response. The first couple land solidly, though eventually he does manage to get out of range enough that it's merely a mild bruise rather than a heavy, painful bruise. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to rise your ire." He sounds pained when he says it, though not cowed. The warrior of light then calls upon the ground again, though unlike before, this time it's not aimed to slow Jasper down. Several sharp stalagmites spear out from the ground near and below Jasper, easily capable of impaling the gem if her reactions aren't fast enough. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      With her mind in the right place, maybe Jasper might have been able to react fast enough. Maybe. But not this time. The stalagmites find their mark, puncturing Jasper and impaling her. Jasper cries out, but, once more, it's more of an anguished roar - like a wounded animal - than anything that acknowledges the pain first and foremost. After a second of hanging there, Jasper's arms and fists come down on the stone that's impaled her, shattering it and leaving the majority of it hanging out of her form.      So, she snatches Bertram up by the arm. "Apologies?! WEAK! PATHETIC!" She turns like she's putting all of her strength into an Olympic hammerthrow, spins Bertram around in a wide, dizzying arc, and then releases.      Hopefully, sending him to collide right with the fortress walls! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' Though he manages to brace himself for impact, Bertram's landing isn't as gentle as he would have preferred. More painful bruises, and his wrists are getting lacerated. "I think you need to relax, miss." He states, a subtle warning for the magic about to come. He calls upon the elements to bring forth overwhelmingly strong soothing energies. Enough to make someone weaker than Jasper fall asleep entirely. It's unlikely it'll affect her as much, but a lesser drowsiness may still work to the White Mage's advantage. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Jasper's busy pulling the rocks and stone from her body, heedless of the pain - or that it's probably worse than just leaving them in. "I think you-" She wavers on her feet as the magic falls upon her. "...you..."      Her eyes close. The helmet vanishes from her head in a golden flash. For a moment, it seems like Bertram has actually managed to neutralise the giant Gem warrior!      But then Jasper's eyes snap open, focusing on Bertram. "I can't be chained! I can't be contained! I can't be stopped!" Jasper growls, staggering towards Bertram. She might be awake, but she's not at the top of her game. She swings wildly at Bertram and, while she might be a bit fatigued from the spell, she still has much of her strength in those blows! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' It seems Bertram's gamble paid off. He can't avoid the attacks completely, but at least they don't hurt as much as before. He staggers back, bleeding from a hit to his nose. Again, he calls upon the wind to erode the gem's holomatter, "I don't want to chain you, I want to drive you away. If you require medical assistance, I will be glad to provide it if you pledge to leave." He looks absolutely genuine about this. "If not, tell what I assume to be your friends in the Confederacy that this is for Gaius van Baelsar." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      The winds sweep at Jasper again but, this time, she doesn't have her helmet to deflect the attack. So, Jasper raises her arms, and /pushes/ into the winds. Her arms fray and rip and tear under the assault but, step by step, Jasper closes the gap between herself and her opponent, grunting and growling.      "I've got your pledge for you right /here/!" Jasper retorts, gripping fist in hand, and whirling about to drop her elbow onto Bertram! "And this is for /me/!" 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' Bertram blocks the elbow with his already wounded arm, resulting in a clearly audible crack. That's a broken bone. "Very well." Bertram sounds disappointed, but not surprised, and heraises his staff to call upon his healing magics, weaving the curative powers of elements into himself to hopefully great effect. "Pray don't think this is over yet, miss." 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      "It's not over while I'm still breathing!" Jasper replies, and she grins and that helmet reappears over her head, a visor over her eyes. She watches Bertram with something approaching glee - because an opponent that can heal like that just means she can hit them that much harder!      Jasper glows, alighting with white flame and golden fire once again, and this time when she charges Bertram she takes flight, leaving a bright tail behind her like a comet, and blazing a scorched line where she travels! With one shoulder down, it looks like she's going going to do her best to tackle and crush the mage! 

:'''{{#var:826|Bertram Silent (826)}} has posed:''' That hurt. That hurt a lot. Though not crushed, Bertram is shoved back significantly, and doesn't look to be in a good shape. And, being low on his magical reserves, Bertram does the only reasonable thing. "Fair enough, you win this day." And he starts to cast yet another spell, a magic that is designed to carry him to an aetheric beacon in a brief period of time. If uninterrupted it shouldn't take long for him to disappear into the aether. Gone. 

:'''{{#var:858|Jasper (858)}} has posed:'''      Perhaps luckily for Bertram, Jasper's comet charge carries her well past him. She turns on her heel, and races back towards him! "Get back here, I'm not done with you-!"      But her hands find only air, grabbing at where he had been just moments ago. 

}}

User:Bradster

2015-08-08T08:15:18Z

Bradster:

Hey, this is my talk page. Not much to say. My first and most well-known character - and therefore name on the MUSH - was Bradley Carbunkle. I've also played other characters such as John-117 (the Master Chief), Batou, Bane (from Nolanverse Batman) and Shockwave (of Transformers: Prime fame). I also had an OC who I let lapse through mindlessness - Velocity from the Michael Bay Transformer films.

I currently play Defiant (from Worm), Razer (from the Green Lantern series), Geralt (from the Witcher 3) and - of course - Brad Carbunkle.

I have noticed that I tend to play characters that are robots or have some sort of crippling emotional problem. I'm not sure what that says about me.

287/The Herald

2014-07-27T00:34:01Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/07/26 |Location=Urbania |Synopsis=A new entity makes its presence known in an attempt to draw out the Union-aligned Autobots. |Thanks= |Cast o..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/07/26
|Location=Urbania
|Synopsis=A new entity makes its presence known in an attempt to draw out the Union-aligned Autobots.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=132, 290, 304, 374, 481, 517
|Tinyplot=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      URBANIA      Like a giant upturned hand, the unknown vessel is visible above the glittering towers and spires of Urbania. It hovers there, immobile and unmoving, while its crew and passengers make their presence known. Fires burn in some of the buildings and smoke rises in great, dark plumes.      Wolves the size of horses with obvious cybernetic enhancements hunt down anyone who tries to run, devouring them and casting their broken bodies aside with a shake of their powerful jaws. Taller figures in black armor with red visors stalk through the streets, firing at random, blasting apart any ground vehicles they find. They say nothing and heed no cries for mercy.      It's clear that Urbania is under attack, but the question remains: by whom? 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Urbania's rooftops find themselves host to a fox tonight, hunting for prey. In this case, Kirika has gone from monsters of flesh and magic to abominations of steel and Energon. The transformers assaulting the city are scoped upon by a pair of crimson eyes, the hunter's sword held in hands tightly as she plots which to attack first.     She settles upon one of the mercenaries first, leaping from the rooftop and descending upon the merc with her sword drawn. Her blade strikes for the head, aiming to split the Transformer's head into pieces before she goes to work on the rest of its body the rest of the way down.     When she's finished, the half-kitsune makes it stick with a slash to the leg, and then letting out a torrent of flames as she glares in the direction of the other mechanized beings. Eyes narrowed, she is resolute as she springs to the city's defense. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      It's a question that Beelzebumon really doesn't give a shit about.      Standing upon a building some distance away from the scene of carnage, the Demon Lord watches, his arms crossed in front of him as he does so. With a loud sigh, he lets his head droop, then lifts it again and says, "Well, someone's having a party, and they never bothered to invite me."      He hops off the edge of the roof and lands on the ground with a heavy thump, then calmly walks over to his daemonic motorcycle Behemoth and mounts up, pulling out a shotgun as he does so.      "Guess I'll just have to invite myself. C'mon Behemoth, let's ride."      With a loud roar, the hellish cycle pops a wheelie and speeds off towards the fire and the death. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The design of the ship is completely unfamiliar to Black Arachnia. This being the Multiverse, she knows better than to be surprised by this fact. What got her attenton is the cybernetic 'wildlife' which is roaming around - the wolves in particular - and somebody demanding that Autobots come to face him. Whoever 'he' may be, this isn't a situation that the Maximal spider can simply ignore. But she's also not stupid enough (or 'heroic' enough, some might say) to just go charging in. Instead, she quickly skitters up the alley side of a building that isn't on too much fire yet, peers over the edge to the street below ... And leaps, trying to latch onto the back of one of those wolves and start hacking into its systems. No warning, no 'or else,' just a pounce off the roof and beginning to forcibly interface with the wolf's systems, assuming she's able to ... and Black Arachnia has NEVER been a slouch at hacking. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' In a situation like this, a simple pistol isn't going to cut it against those things. Which is why Rebecca Chambers has swapped out her standard weapons for something more powerful. Namely an assault rifle, custom made S.T.A.R.S. issue, with plenty of clips available. And she's going to need to make every shot count it looks like from what she's seeing happen. She also has her grenade launcher available if things get too rough, but she doesn't have as much ammunition, so that's more of a backup thing. From her vantage spot nearby, Rebecca peers through her binoculars, and her jaw hangs open for a few moments. "These things... I..." She trails off, unable to finish her sentence. Then she puts her goggles away and a stern look appears on her face. "Get with it, Rebecca! You're with S.T.A.R.S., you're not supposed to let anything faze you!" She double-checks the clip in her assault rifle before she slowly starts to move out, not wanting to be caught off-guard by those weird things. 

:'''{{#var:374|Sakura Kasugano (374)}} has posed:'''     Sakura Kasugano arrives at the scene of the incident, having to run up a building to get a good vantage after arriving through the nearest portal. When she gets here, she looks on and...gasps. "Oh my god..." she whispers to herself, watching the wolves tearing through people, as well as the taller humanoids blasting everything in sight, cars, buildings, anything moving. "Why would anyone..." she mutters...before looking down, seeing several humanoid armors nearing her chosen building.     Furrowing her brow, she swallows a lump in her throat...and jumps. Trying to aim herself at the head of the closest one, she cups her hands to her side as she drops down. "Haaaa...." As she gets closer, she tries to unleash it point-blank in its face, hands thrust forward as a burst of blue light shoots forth from her palms. "-DOUKEN!!!" she screams as she finishes it, hoping ht could make some kind of dent. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      These things, whatever they are, aren't very tough. Kirika splits one in half, sparks and green energon flying from the hideous wound. Her flames wreath over a handful of other mechanical mercenaries and they go to find cover, returning fire with their rifles. Their weapons, however, don't seem to be much of a threat to an elite.      Beelzebumon hits the streets, finding plenty of fire and death. One of the cybernetically-modified wolf-things - a Steeljaw - comes flying at him from an alleyway as he screams past on Behemoth!      Rebecca has barely managed a few steps before one of the mercenaries spots her, opening up with its rifle on something close to full-auto. The shells blast apart asphalt and concrete but none hit her - it seems like she's a much smaller target than they might be used to facing!      Sakura manages to leap onto one of Lockdown's servitors, and quite literally blows its face off with her blast. It falls back, smoking, leaving its two companions to continue the fight!      Black Arachnia manages to grab one of the Steeljaws. It thrashes hard - by Primus, it's strong! - but she can manage to keep it down, beginning to try and hack into its cybernetic systems. What might be unexpected, however, is that despite the obvious amount of cybernetic modifications and armor, the thing has an /organic/ brain. Might these things be used to hunting creatures with an affinity for cybernetic devices? Perhaps. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      The Steeljaw leaps, but it's claws and teeth fail to find their mark as Beelzebumon suddenly throws his bike sideways and skids along the ground, narrowly evading the cybernetic wolf.      As the two of them skid, Beelzebumon leaps from the seat of his sentient ride and launches himself towards the robo-wolf, his Berenjena Shotgun blazing twice before coming down upon his prey with a thrust from his free hand, aiming to impale the beast upon his claws, "DOWN BOY!" 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' An organic brain behind the cybernetics? Yep, that's unexpected ... but Black Arachnia was less concerned about actually taking over her unwitting mount's brain - - although it WOULD be nice to have a ride that isn't thrashing around and trying to shake her off like a robronco in one of the Cybertronian carnivals' side attractions; she has to hang on with all eight legs to avoid getting flung off and left open for something ELSE to try and rip several of her limbs off - - and more focused on trying to tap into the link between the wolf and wherever it's getting orders from. That's GOT to be what the cybernetics are for, if the wolf has an organic brain ... and if she can dig into the command-and-communications relay deep enough, she'd love to usurp control of her unwilling ride *that* way, but information comes first ... 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' As the first mercenaries open fire on Rebecca, she twists her body and crouches down a little, awaiting the inevitable shots... but they never come. Rebecca opens her eyes and sees that she's like an ant to them, and that means their accuracy against her is very low. In other words, she doesn't get hit at all. Nevertheless, Rebecca isn't about to stand around counting her blessings about how tiny she is. Instead, she attempts to locate some kind of cover. "Like trying to fight an ant with a machine gun," Rebecca comments as she races towards a nearby parked car, while opening fire with her assault rifle. "Except this ant is fighting back!" All while zigzagging occasionally in case she steps into the path of a shot unwittingly. 

:'''{{#var:374|Sakura Kasugano (374)}} has posed:'''     Sakura managed to get the point blank Hadouken to blast one of those attacking humanoid bots in the face, taking it out in one hit. Gasping as she landed on the ground and watched it fall, she turned back over to the other two nearby. She sees the sheer size difference and took a deep breath. There is going to be a problem here...but you know, Sakura might as well try and make up that big size difference. It's not so much the scale as it is just what they're actually doing that affects her the most.     Perhaps that's where she gets the gumption to run up to one of the other two servitors nearby, reeling her fist back and soaring up into the air straight into the chin of one of them, fist tightened up as she turned and tried to push all her energy, all her force into her hand with a cry of "SHOUOUKEN!!" 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     As the Transformer splits apart, Kirika moves on to the next target in sight. One of the Steeljaws will be intercepted by Kirika, the half-kitsune tackling it mid-run before she drives her blade into it. CUtting through flesh and cybernetics, Kirika leaves a messy carcass behind as she then turns her attention towards another of the mercenaries now.     She attacks low this time, evading the merc's fire as she slices deep into his leg to topple him, climbing nimbly as her katana leaves slash after sacred slash, cleaving steel like paper with sparks and Energon spraying all over.     She finishes with a decapitating strike at the neck, and her leg lashes out to kick the head free should her blade not cut enough synthetic tendons on its own. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      Beelzebumon puts one of the cybernetic hunting animals down with his claws, sending thick yellow viscera flying through the air. Even with the two blows from the shotgun and the blow from his claws, the beast continues to thrash and snarl in Beelzebumon's grip!      Rebecca continues to duel with some of Lockdown's mercenaries, blasting away at them. Sure, she might just be an ant with a machine gun, but enough little ant bites can bring down someone - and that seems to be what's happening as another mercenary hits the ground, smoking and bleeding energon.      Sakura decapitates another one, launching the mercenaries visored face into the air with a shower of sparks and thick, green energon. The third and final one blazes away with its rifle, but only seems to tear apart a store front.      Kirika, for her part, manages to tear apart one of the Steeljaws in mid stride. It, too, flails about for several minutes before seeming to realise that it is dead. Antother mercenary falls and Kirika kicks its head across the street. But there's still more. Many more. Black Arachnia, however, is busy getting her cybernetic hooks into the Steeljaw's mind. There's a few cybernetic interfaces that look like some sort of command relay but it becomes clear that these things don't take any kind of transmitted order - they're loyal to one master, like a more simple dog, with just enough intelligence to be able to problem solve.      Of course, it's about that that time that Black Arachnia might take a missile in the back. The ground shakes behind her and a large figure advances through the smoke - black, angular, and face hidden by a visor that is similar to the ones that hide the faces of the mercenaries, although this one is green. Lockdown rolls his head left and right as he advances on Arachnia, fists balled. 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      "Feisty little bitch, aren't you?" Beelzebumon states with his arm buried deep in the beast's back, pinning it down, "Even this badly hurt and you're still fighting... guess it would be a little cruel to leave ya like this..."      Then he places the shutgun directly against the Steeljaw's head and cocks the hammer, "Guess I gotta put ya down like Old Yeller.."      And then he pulls the trigger and a single shot rings out. 

:'''{{#var:374|Sakura Kasugano (374)}} has posed:'''     That's two down, one to go for Sakura. It's good that she's able to knock their heads off as easily as she's been able to. But still, with the rest of the chaos around Urbania, it's only a small consolation. And with the third still firing, she's still on guard, especially when the shots end up firing over her and through a store front as she ducks away and runs out of the line of fire. "UWAH!"     Knowing she needs to at least stop this one before it can tear up anything more, she finds one of the straighter vertical walls nearby...and starts to run up it. She manages to wall walk her way up to at least head level before leaping off it, trying to aim herself at the head of the third one and latch on. At least, latch on long enough to bring her fists together and hammerfist it in the head as many times as it'll take to bring this last servitor down. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Now that's REALLY interesting ... but the Maximal spider doesn't really have time to truly appreciate how interesting it is before *BOOM!!!* Right in the spinnerets ... and that's going to sharply limit her ability to transform for a little while, too. *Not* good at all. Still, she's able to pivot and look up at the approaching robot ... 'up' being much more of a key word than she would ever like it to be in this case ... Oh well, faint heart ne'er won fair lady, as Silverbolt would almost certainly say ... or something sappy along those lines. Black Arachnia rears up and launches her mandible grapnel at Lockon, trying to latch on right below his neck, and attempts to reel herself in while priming a dose of cybervenom for injection. She's depending HEAVILY on the element of surprise right now - more heavily than she WANTS to, really, but she's mildly desperate. Just a little. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' After firing a few more bursts of gunfire, Rebecca stops for a moment. She ducks behind the cover she's found to reload her assault rifle. She's already managed to prove that she's a formidable foe, even if she is smaller than them. "Looks like they underestimated me. Too bad for them!" She says with a smirk. Once she's finished reloading, Rebecca pops back out and sweeps the general area, attempting to locate the closest mercenary (or mercenaries if need be,) ready to open fire at a moment's notice. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika catches the sight of what must be the leader of these brigands just before she realizes what's happening, and she calls out to Blackarachnia in dawning horror as to what is happening. "NO-!" Of course her shouts are cut off by a sniper blast that is more akin to that of a cannon going off, and she ends up assailed with her own foes to deal with.     With a fury, Kirika slashes up one before grabbing on, using him as a platform to bounce off of to the next Transformer mercenary with a vengeance. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      Beelzebumon finishes off the Steeljaw with a quick blast. He, however, seems to be all alone now, although the air is still thick with smoke.      Meanwhile, Sakura leaps onto the third and final mercenary she is facing and begins hammering her fists against the red visor. It bends, yields, and shatters as she continues to lay about the being's head with her fists. Eventually, something gives way and the servitor drops into the street.      Rebecca finds no more armored mercenaries. That's good. What's not so good is the pair of Steeljaws that come barelling around the corner, snarling and growling, yellow drool flying from their metal jaws!      Kirika leaps from one mercenary to another, ending up on the second servitor's shoulders! He goes to grab at her, shouting something in an unknown language.      Black Arachnia comes at Lockdown. With his slow, determined strides, it is easy enough for the grapple to find its mark - and easier still to come reeling in. Kirika might be the first to see it - Lockdown's right hand shifting, plating seeming to boil over itself, and become a wicked, angular hook.      Which he promptly buries under Black Arachnia's abdomen, finding a gap between spider sternum and legs. "What a wretched being you are," Lockdown spits behind his visor, a voice like dark velvet. The visor retracts, folding into itself, revealing a silver face, scarred and battered, emblazoned with tattoos. A pair of glowing green eyes regard Black Arachnia with obvious contempt. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The hook finds purchase inside Black Arachnia's armor - not hitting any critical systems on the way in, thank Primus, but she doesn't really want to place bets for when it's on the way *out*. And the face behind the visor is about as ugly as she expected it to be. "Which 'heritage' would that be, scrap collector?" she hisses. "Which side do you think *I'm* from?" She's ready with the cybervenom now - but she doesn't bite. Not yet. She's writhing in what ought to be VERY convincing agony (since she's not faking the pain ... at least not all of it), hanging on just enough to keep gravity from ripping that hook through her systems and servos. Keep him talking, get his guard down ... if she tried to bite now he'd just eviscerate her. "And while we're chatting, where are *you* from? Didn't catch your name yet ..." 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      With a yank, Beelzebumon pulls his bloody hand free from the motionless beast and flicks the yellow ichor off, before holstering his shotgun once more, "Well, that was an amusing diversion... c'mon Behemoth, let's go find something else to amuse us."      Behemoth rumbles over and snarls it's engine.      "Oh c'mon Behemoth, don't be like that! I didn't mean to ditch ya during that skid! I just had to deal with that mutt!"      Behemoth rumbles a bit more sullenly.      "Tell ya what Behemoth, the next one of those critters we run into, I'll let you turn into road kill. How's that sound?"      Behemoth's engine purrs.      "That's more like it! Now let's go find something to turn into street pizza." And with that, Beelzebumon climbs back into the seat of his motorcycle and tears off towards the fighting. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Nimble as Kirika can be, she is sadly caught by the hand indeed. Letting out a shout, she attempts to sever the Transformer's hand at the wrist. Chances are she could, but this is suddenly getting a bit more dark.     "RELEASE ME!" She roars, snarling at the mercenary before she lets out a fistful of fire in his face. Said fire happens to be the sort of fire that can and /has/ melted steel before, a nasty little surprise indeed. 

:'''{{#var:374|Sakura Kasugano (374)}} has posed:'''     Sakura continues to bang on the visor and the head of the servitor she attacks, smashing it repeatedly with double-fists until it finally starts to fall...after which, Sakura realizes she didn't quite think her method of attack through well enough, as she falls with it. "Eep..." When the servitor finally crashes down, she's forced into a roll, pitching herself forward to avoid an abrupt stop. Finally coming to a rest against the remains of a nearby postal box, she pulls herself up, dusting off her skirt.     That's when she looks up and sees the rest of the city area, frowning...and the calls ont he radio make her even more concerned. Her eyes cast back and forth, before she decides to run up another building, nearly running out of grip before she catches her hands at the top of the roof and pulls herself up. Grunting a little, she sits atop the edge to catch her breath, and get a better vantage point to see where the worst of the damage is right now. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Rebecca yells out a few things that we can't quite repeat here, due to the censors' policies. All we can say is that she's definitely not pleased by the sight of those things, and the way they're so much bigger than her. Rebecca immediately switches to her Grenade Launcher, knowing she must make every shot count due to what little ammo she has, and then loads an explosive round into it. It might be powerful, but against things like that, it's not going to do much... at least not as much as she could hope. But every little bit counts. "You want me? You're gonna have to come and get me!" Rebecca exclaims as she fires a pair of explosive shots, one loaded quickly after the other, at the Steeljaws. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      Lockdown turns, hook still buried in Black Arachnia's spider-belly, and goes to fling the Maximal Autobot through a nearby glass storefront. He steps after her, as slow and collected as before. It probably hurts however, on the plus side, she's in no danger of being immediately eviscerated. If she doesn't get up quickly, however, he's going to put his foot against her neck!      Kirika melts the face, hand and much of the shoulders of one of Lockdown's servitors. It hits the deck, ruined. The battle is thinning out now, leaving only the intimidating angular figure of Lockdown in the near-distance. Sakura, too, might be able to get a better view from the top of one of the buildings.      Rebecca practically pops the first Steeljaw with a grenade to the face, blasting it into bits and pieces. The second, however, jinks at the last minute - and leaps at her, slavering!      Beelzebumon might almost think he's out for a pleasant weekend drive, given how clear the streets are. Still, it's easy enough to head towards the sounds of fighting, finding a city street strewn with dead mercenaries, wolf-beasts, and the apparent mastermind of the attack himself, seemingly intent on finishing Black Arachnia off! 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The storefront windows shatter as Black Arachnia is hurled through them, a few sparks and dribbles of mechfluid marking her flight path before she vanishes into the hopefully-deserted shop ... But by the time Lockdown gets in there to look for her? No spider. And the trail of leaking mechfluid just *stops* against the far wall ... (In actuality, Black Arachnia's switched on her electro-disruptor and is clinging to the ceiling, letting the 'leaking' fluids start pooling inside one of her body cavities. It's none too healthy, but lying helpless somewhere would be FAR worse for her long-term well-being. Now if she can just get the drop on this guy ...) 

:'''{{#var:132|Beelzebumon (132)}} has posed:'''      "Huh, I am seeing a distinct lack of things to make into roadkill," Beelzebumon states as he drives through the carnage, "Guess someone must have already beaten us here."      Behemoth rumbles angrily.      "Hey, it's not MY fault that the wolf thing didn't die when I stabbed it with my hand! Most things die when you punch a hole clean through their chest! Besides, I'm sure we'll find something."      Then as Beelzebumon and his bloodthirsty motorcycle comes around the corner to see Lockdown and Blackarachnia.      "How about that? Will that do for you Behemoth?"      The bike rumbles eagerly.      "I thought so. Let's have some fun!"      And without missing a beat, the Demon Lord and his hellish ride surge forward, angling towards a car as they gun it. Pulling back on the handles, Beelzebumon pops a wheelie just before they hit the car, resulting in the two launching them high into the air... right at Lockdown's head.      "BEEP BEEP! COMING THROUGH MOTHAFUCKA!" 

:'''{{#var:374|Sakura Kasugano (374)}} has posed:'''     Spotting the large figure of Lockdown in the distance from her chosen buiding, Sakura frowns, seeing Black Arachnia impaled on one of his hooks. "Geez..." she gasps, pushing herself off the edge of the roof and landing on a lower one, quickly breaking into a run soon as she lands. She's not exactly the roof-hopping type, so she just gradually drops lower and lower until she finally hits street level, sprinting as fast as she can toward Lockdown and Black Arachnia's direction once she's got her feet on the ground. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika evades the falling Servitor, before she makes her way towards Lockdown with a fierce yell. Sword at the ready, she teleports in a flash of petals and light before reforming right behind of the Transformer leader.     Lockdown will feel something slashing into his back after a brief distortion of reality, with Kinugiri biting deep inside of his back. Landing, Kirika slashes at Lockdown's heel next, her sword biting with electricity at the limb.     This will not end well. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Deciding right now is the best time where actions speak louder than words, Rebecca simply decides to run as fast as she can, hoping to put some distance between her and that incoming enemy of hers. "Damn it, I really bit off more than I can chew this time!" She mutters to herself. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      Lockdown stares into the broken store. Invisibility? That's new. His green eyes scope left and then right, his mouth set in a thin line. Hmm. He takes a step back-      -and promptly takes a motorcycle to the side of his head! With a grunt of surprise, pain and - perhaps - indignation, Lockdown spins away from Beelzebumon and back into the middle of the street.      Kirika is on him then and something slips into his back. It bites deep and energon begins to leak from the wound. Growling, Lockdown kicks backwards - going to smash Kirika with the back of his foot! Ouch! And Sakura is in just the best location to see all of this go down.      Rebecca breaks into a run, but the Steeljaw is hot on her heels, thick strands of drool going everywhere! It'll catch her in moments! 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika probably is going to regret this choice, once she regains consciousness. The bounty hunter's foot boots his attacker back just as Kirika is about to dodge, her manuever foiled as she actually skips across the pavement like a stone across the lake. It's as painful as you can imagine, her clothes ripped and several gashes left in her body by the time she's finished with being booted back.     Her wounds are pretty nasty, even as they knit together and Kirika regains her bearings. It takes a pause or two, and once she's done re-socketing her arm Kirika narrows her eyes and glares at Lockdown.     Take Two occurs with Kirika throwing a bolt of lightning towards Lockdown, then another and another before she leaps towards the leg and slashes hard. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Let's hear it for the cavalry, Black Arachnia thinks. She stays upside down as she moves along the ceiling, heading back towards the outside wall, and Lockdown himself ... right in time to see the scrap collector trying to punt Kirika. And she leaps, flipping right-side-up as she goes - not that she REALLY needs to do that part, but it's more convenient for the next step ... which is digging her palps into the back of Lockdown's shoulder and injecting a dose of cybervenom to scramble his systems. She'd love to dose him with something more painful, paralyzing, and/or corrosive, but this is what she was able to synthesize internally on short notice - and she doesn't know all the fine points of how the junk-hunter's systems work, so the more precise she tried to make the effect, the higher the odds would be of it simply NOT working. Scrambler is good enough for this situation. (By the time she bites, she's also visible again. Not as intended, but it's kind of a moot point by now.) 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      Kirika's bolts of lightning strike true, blasting shards of black metal from Lockdown's body and driving him back. He grunts with sounds that are something between shouts and bursts of static - utterly inchoate. He goes to raise his left arm, having now shifted into some sort of energon blaster, but his shots go wide as another bolt drives him back!      This allows Black Arachnia to leap upon him, and sink her fangs into his shoulder. He's a bit different to most forms of Cybertronian life but it should have an effect. But then Lockdown reaches behind himself with surprising flexibility, goes to grab Black Arachnia by her limbs and spins her like he's tossing a hammer. He hurls her against a thick concrete wall, face set in a scowl. "I'll be relieving you of that invisibility system, scum," Lockdown replies, stomping his way over to Black Arachnia - although it seems like he's moving with a bit less control, a bit of a tremor in his step... 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' This time, the spider has her wits about her enough that when Lockdown flings her away, she's able to twist around in mid-air and catch herself on impact, landing feet-first (even though a couple of her legs aren't working right; six feet is plenty to absorb the impact safely, though) on the wall. "If you're putting me on your shopping list, at least get the name right, junk-dealer," she scoffs. Then ... "Black Arachnia ... MAXIMIZE!" She jumps away from the wall she landed on, flipping around in mid-air as she transforms from her spider form into her robot mode. It's not the smoothest conversion ever, due to the toll that's been taken on her systems - but she CAN transform, which expands her combat options quite nicely. She can use her combat claws to full effectiveness, for one thing - and while not all of her leg lasers are operational, enough of them ARE that she can rake Lockdown with them while she's closing in. She feints right, darts left, then dashes around behind him to try and rip her claws through the hydraulics in his legs. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Rebecca decides enough running is enough. She decides that it's time to try firing again. She turns and fires another explosive round at the enemy. "Here, eat this!" She yells, hoping the blast will at least give her some breathing room. Then she tries to pick up the pace, although from the panting she's doing, it's obvious she's running out of steam... 

:'''{{#var:374|Sakura Kasugano (374)}} has posed:'''     Sakura continues to run toward where Lockdown is. Sadly, fast as she is, she's still only so fast. She finally does manage to get to where Lockdown is, and....wow. That is definitely big. "Oh geez..." she mutters, looking as the large bot starts throwing things around, including one of the allied Transformers she's aware of.     Swallowing another lump down in her throat, she rushes in. Small as she is, she can mostly just focus on his legs, but hey, that's always a good place to start. It's the same general idea as attacking a human sized foe's ankles. Rushing at one of said ankles, Sakura uppercuts at it once....twice...three times, attacking it with as much force as she can with her Midare Zakura technique. "TOHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     As Blackarachnia goes low, Kirika will go high. She sprints towards the nearest wall to Lockdown, before she proceeds to run her way up before using the muscles in her legs to propel herself towards Lockdown's chest, her sword slashing out at his torso before she reaches to grab his shoulder.     "Your hunt ends here and now." Kirika growls, before she slashes down at Lockdown's shoulder, remembering which one had the hook in it. Her blade envelops itself in fire, melting through circuitry and Energon as well as armor plating. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      Black Arachnia comes at him. Lockdown is ready. Her lasers burn against his armor, leaving scorch marks on the glossy plating, and his arms shift. The hook comes back out, but so does a wrist blade that is as long as his forearm on his other hand.      Arachnia manages to get a good hit on his legs, tearing something free, but Lockdown knows the value of redundant systems. He stumbles, then drives his hook into Arachnia, going to use it to drive her off-balance, to spin her and wrench a limb in its socket, to drive that wrist-blade deep into her! In combat, Lockdown is fast - and constantly moving. It's like he can use her kinetic energy against her.      Of course, before he can do too much damage to the Maximal, Rebecca nails him with a grenade. The blast knocks him to the ground, crumpling a ground-car beneath his weight. Sakura hits at his ankles, and Lockdown goes to kick her away as he rises. Kiraka buries her sword in his shoulder, and something pops - thick energon runs from the wound and the heated blade only seems to do more damage to Lockdown. That seems like a weakness. He goes to swat at Kirika, like she's just an annoying insect.      "This is /my/ hunt!" Lockdown shouts at her, "And you are /all/ gonna die!" 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Her *optics* aren't damaged; Black Arachnia can see the blade on Lockdown's other arm perfectly fine - and while she parries the hook well enough to avoid being impaled again, Lockdown's size by comparison means he has the twin advantages of weight and reach, plus he's as maneuverable as any Predacon on top of that. Which is really kind of an unfair combination. Fortunately, her allies start throwing their weight in on her side before that damn sword can drive deep enough to pierce anything vital - but the snarl of pain will give away that she's been hurt pretty badly ... and if he's going on like this about being a 'hunter,' then trying to lose him is PROBABLY going to be a lot harder than it would be normally. For now, Black Arachnia tries to back off and get a good line of fire on Lockdown's face - and opens up with all six of her functional leg lasers, trying to target one of his optics with the combined beams all on the same point. If the others can keep him from closing the distance and nailing her ... 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Rebecca realizes, with horror, that she's out of grenades, and doesn't have the time to reload just yet. Instead, she switches back to her assault rifle. "We don't care what you want, just leave us alone!" Rebecca yells as she opens fire once again. 

:'''{{#var:374|Sakura Kasugano (374)}} has posed:'''     Unfortunately for Sakura, even if she managed to do some damage to Lockdown's ankles, the quick swipe back with his foot ends up catching Sakura flush, a small cry of pain escaping the schoolgirl as she's flung back into a nearby building. Crashing into the wall, the poor girl slumps down bonelessly, head tilted to the side, utterly out cold as she hits the ground. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      One down.      Rebecca might not have grenades, but rifle fire is enough to bother a Transformer of Lockdown's universe. It's like throwing rocks. It makes it harder to concentrate on the real targets and so, Lockdown twists, going down on one knee and snapping off a volley of energon bolts in her direction.      He rises at just the right time to take a volley of lasers from Black Arachnia, leaving scorch marks across the silver plating there. He's driven back, turning away from her volley of laser bolts, and kicks a ground-car over towards Arachnia!      He turns to face Kirika, and he smiles. There's no humor there. It's a grim expression that says: you are welcome to try.      And then she leaps into the air, brings her blade around, and quite literally disarms him. Lockdown's arm, blade and all, drops into the ground. Bright green energon, thick and scalding hot, sprays from the wound. Lockdown roars in presumable pain, reaches down to snap the wrist blade from his own arm, and /hurls/ it like a throwing knife at Black Arachnia, the blade spinning end over end.      "Ship!" Lockdown calls, "We are withdrawing!" 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' A car comes flying at Black Arachnia. This is not an insurmountable problem; she ceases fire and leaps, pulling out her mandible grapnel to help pull herself out of the car's path ... And then a blade comes flying at her JUST as she's dodging the car. She swipes at the blade with the claws on her free hand, and manages to avoid getting either impaled or bisected ... but even the FLAT of a blade that relative size packs a wallop, and the spidery Maximal goes through a second-story wall. Not a window. Not even windows, plural. Just a solid wall. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika feels her blade cut through cybernetic tissue and mech fluid, and she grimly smiles in satisfaction back at Lockdown, until she realizes that he is not going down that easily. With a run towards Blackarachnia, she's about to knock the knife out of the air with her own strike before the Maximal handles it for her.     Lockdown's announcement is reason enough for Kirika to go tend to Blackarachnia, sheathing her sword and climbing her way up to the hole in the wall to go find and help Arachnia to her feet. "Are you able to hear me?" She calls out, searching for the Maximal with concern. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Meanwhile, Rebecca is calling in a MedEvac for those who need it. "We're gonna need a lot of transport," Rebecca says into her radio. "Yeah, that's right. And please hurry!" After that, Rebecca attempts to check on her allies as best as she can. 

:'''{{#var:517|Lockdown (517)}} has posed:'''      The sun goes out.      At least, it seems that way as Lockdown's huge vessel hovers above the battlefield. In a moment, a great hatch opens beneath the vessel and begins to draw up Lockdown into the great maw - along with every other bit of metal in the general vicinity, although Black Arachnia and the rest are far enough away to be outside the area of effect.      And then the starship is gone, Lockdown with it, leaving only the smoke, the fires and the dead. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "He didn't damage my audio sensors," Black Arachnia responds dryly, trying to extricate herself from the interior wall that she plowed into before her flight came to a halt. She's making decent headway with that until a couple of limbs come in contact with the severed ends of a high-voltage power line. LOTS of sparks fly; fortunately, Black Arachnia's own Spark is not among them ... although there's smoke (or steam, maybe) wafting from a lot of different poitns on her now half-transformed body by the time it settles to the floor. She'll just wait for medevac to get here and transport her back to Njorun Station ... or anywhere they can toss her into a CR chamber, which is about what she needs at this point. 

}}

CAT-4:Insurrector

2014-07-08T12:16:18Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/07/06 |Location=PPDC Earth |Synopsis=Category-4 Kaiju 'Insurrector' launches an attack on Los Angeles. Striker Eureka and Union forces are sen..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/07/06
|Location=PPDC Earth
|Synopsis=Category-4 Kaiju 'Insurrector' launches an attack on Los Angeles. Striker Eureka and Union forces are sent to bring it down - however, Lute has other ideas!
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=20, 25, 143, 188, 235, 272, 477
|Tinyplot=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:25|Striker Eureka (25)}} has posed:''' LOS ANGELES JULY, 2024 There's been another alert from the Breach. They're getting more frequent now, with less time to relax and repair. Jaegers are dropping and, with them, so is the PPDC's funding. By now, the Wall is almost complete around many of the major cities of the world. But, until there, there is the grudging acceptance from the powers-that-be that the Jaegers are necessary to defend the world. One of those Jaegers is the Mark V Striker Eureka, deployed to Los Angeles to interecept the newest alert from the Breach - a big, mean Category 4 Kaiju codenamed 'Insurrector'. The call goes out to the Multiverse, too, because by now the PPDC is facing enough problems that they'll take any help they can get. Like a giant silver knight, Striker Eureka stands in the waters of the North Pacific, just past the Channel Islands. Insurrector should be here any minute, and the Hansen team will be ready to meet it with knife, missile and pure, unbridled Australian machismo. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:''' Insert the surfing music from Pokemon here. Really, Lute doesn't have /much reason at all/ to be here. This is just another random world, and not one he really has any reason to be attached to. So, one might wonder, why the hell is he even here? Well he hears that there is a giant fricking monster here. And he wants to try and punch it into submission until it listens to him. This is, frankly, likely impossible. But you never know! It's worth a shot. With the translation effect, it might even understand what he is saying. And so, he is riding in, currently standing atop the back of his Tentacruel. His Tentacruel surfing along the water. Lute's identity is somewhat hard to tell at the moment, though. For, he is wearing a ragged old poncho, with a hood covering his face. He simply stares at the Kaiju. Glaring at it dramatically. And he lifts a finger, pointing at it. "You..." "ARE COMING HOME WITH ME." And then he throws the poncho off. For dramatic reasons. Yes the poncho was entirely purpose and only for style. 

:'''{{#var:272|Yunomi Stadler (272)}} has posed:''' INsurrector. What a name. Still reeling from her last round of combat and sporting medical gauze around her right arm, Yunomi Stadler was hovering over the right shoulder of Striker Eureka -- the face of the outsider a familiar one to the PPDC. Her red and blue armor was shined up for show, the brassy bits and clips catching the light, her naginta in hand with its shimering halo surrounding the blade's edge. She shifts her weight slightly in the air, rolling one shoulder. But she turns to the Jaeger, and gives an affectionate smile as she lowers her goggles. "Are people taking bets on if I'll be spined this time?" she questions over the local band. 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima makes her way into this...completely unfamiliar area. Again, she wasn't much of one for doing extensive traveling given her appearance and her high chances of getting lost but this place...she was not a fan of. Far, far too much water. Getting the distress signal from before, she made it here in pretty good time, the dragon making use of her wings for sustained flight. It wasn't long before she came across the giant robot waiting in the ocean and she alters her course to land directly on top of it's head. Noting just how much ocean is out here, she trembles a little bit, but she remains quite stable. She shoots a glance over Yunomi and offers her a confident wave. "Is this the place where the party starts?" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:''' Water. Lots and lots of water. Yeah, there is no way in hell she's getting in /that/. Damn, this makes Tony Stark's pool seems like a little bath tub! No, there is no way she's stepping into the ocean. So Toph Beifong, master earthbender extraordinaire... is standing on the shore of one of the islands. There is a displeased frown on her face. Her arms are crossed, and she sticks one foot out, and dips one toe into the water. Ugh, ocean water /reeks/. Just what the hell is she supposed to do if these blasted things are in the water? These things are heavy, so if they walk on the ocean floor nearby then just /maybe/ she ought to notice something with her seismic sense. Maybe the others can pin point something to her. Maybe there's metal she can use... speaking of which, it should be easy to know where that huge Jaeger is due to the sounds it makes. And the fact that it's metal. Either way, she has to do /something/ to help out here. 

:'''{{#var:143|Haru (143)}} has posed:''' Haru doesn't have a giant robot to fight in. He would probably break one if he tried to pilot it. And he can't fly, either. Well, not in the typical way. He can float rocks, and he can stand on the rocks he can make float. So that's how he's chosen to get here. He looks like he's concentrating pretty hard on keeping that rock in the air. Seeing Toph down there Haru lowers the rock he's on to the ground with a bit of a thump. It's a big rock, it's hard to make it a soft landing. But at least Toph should know he's there. "Sifu Toph?" He may or may not realize what the problem is. 

:'''{{#var:477|Tenshi Hinanai (477)}} has posed:''' OUT OF FREAKING NOWHERE A gray stone, roughly shaped like an acorn and easily the size of a small car, slams into the beach hard enough to throw up sand in all directions. Zig-zag shide tassles flutter down from the sacred shimenawa rope wrapped around its upper half, the lower bit currently embedded in the beach. Upon the stone, grinning like this is a perfectly normal method of travel, is the rogue tennyo Tenshi Hinanai. Seated on the stone, braced with her hands, she laughs brightly with those red eyes closed, "Oh man, that was great! I gotta do that more often!" Kicking her feet up, the angel hops off her perch and plants her boots on the sand, "So hey! You're that dirt girl from last time!" Lifting a hand, Tenshi points straight at Toph, "You have earth powers same as me, right? I bet you prefer standing on it, too, right? So--" Raising her arms, the tennyo declares, "Why don't we work together and cause a nice big upthrust earthquake under it?" Gesturing, she adds, "That'll put some dirt under its feet we can all use, right?" 

:'''{{#var:25|Striker Eureka (25)}} has posed:''' It's remarkably calm, all things considered. The waves buffet against Striker Eureka's legs but the titan doesn't even notice it. As the sun begins to set, the Jaeger's silver plating is cast in an orange hue. "No bets in here, Miss Stadler," Herc says from the cockpit. "'sides, we all know the boy'd be angry if y'got injured an- OY! MATE! That thing is not comin' home with you!" Herc suddenly shouts. He must've heard Lute. Insurrector emerges afer a few more minutes. It is a Kaiju, no mistaking it, all grey-green and scaley. To the onlookers, it's like someone took a big, scaley gorilla and combined it with a crab. It's got a huge, armored back plate, a crab like face and two big pincers above its four other limbs. A long tail snakes back and forth through the water. The Hansens shout over the comm-link and Striker moves, swinging its arms down and out - a set of twin-pronged blades sweep into view. Time to fight. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:''' It's easy enough to sense the rock nearing, and realizing that it's moving thanks to bending. So she doesn't look nervous or shocked when Haru arrives, though she still looks mostly annoyed with the problem at hand. "Birdie," she greets him with a slight nod, her attention still on the ocean in front of her, where the enemy will come from. Perhaps Haru will notice it, how Toph doesn't carry herself with as much bravado as she normally does. When teaching and lecturing she acts as if she is the most important person around, which she of course is when it comes to teaching earthbending... but now she seems just... annoyed. Shoulders slumped, lower lip pouty. Then she sighs, muttering under her breath. "... I can't see in the water. And I'm still learning how to swim." Oh well, at least Tony isn't here to tell her 'I told you so' over and over. "I wish Katara was here." Waterbenders would have been really useful in this situation. When the gray stone /slams/ into the beach next to them though, Toph's eyes widen in surprise, and she turns her head slightly. And then she recognizes Tenshi. At first her gaze hardens, but not because she was called 'dirt girl'. Still, no reason to strike out when the bratty angel hasn't done anything yet. Toph nods her head at the question though. "Yeah, I do." She /is/ the greatest earthbender, after all. And huh. The plan makes sense. It will be easier to manipulate the earth with /three/ earth users here. With a slight smirk on her lips, Toph nods, then turns slightly towards Haru. "Birdie, time for some practical training and evaluation! You keep up with me and Tenshi, and seriously... keep up your tiger stance! We need /solid/ stuff to deal with that Kaiju and to get something for us to work with, got it?!" Yes, Toph is tough on her lily livers... err, students. 

:'''{{#var:272|Yunomi Stadler (272)}} has posed:''' Yunomi wrinkles her nose at the the radio, and in lieu of giving in to a paticularly weird request from the radio, she shoots out over the water, the brightness of the naginata leaving a trail behind her. Her goggles give a flash, and begin feeding her information as Pidge leaps to life in her bag, and begins to orbit her head, coming out of his pocket and beeping in time. She careens out to the side of the crab in her usual formation, trying to get an idea on the... giant. enemy gorilla crab. And her stomach gurgles. What a time to be reminded of food. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:''' As the Kaiju errupts from the ocean, Lute and his Tentacruel are /far/ too close of it for comfort. At least, if he were a /normal and sane/ person, he would be. As the ocean shifts as it bursts out of the water, Lute simply just grins, looking towards it. "DOWN BOY! BAD KAIJU! BAD! You only try to destroy cities when /I say so/. But if you come with me, we can make that happen sooner! Also I'll feed you whatever you want, and give you a cool little kaiju-house to live in!" It seems Lute is going for a carrot/stick approach. And for part of the stick, Lute has his Tentacruel /fling/ him into the air, towards the Kaiju's head area. Lute's fist is surrounded in a burst of Ki energy, filling it with power. And he attempts to punch down it right in the sort of face area. Or really, more of using his fist like a hammer being swung down. 

:'''{{#var:143|Haru (143)}} has posed:''' Haru looks at the appearing kaiju with a look somewhere between surprise, disgust and confusion. That's...actually kind of cool. But it's a danger, so it's gotta go. He also figures out the reason Toph's not her usual brash self, and frowns. He didn't realize she couldn't 'see' in the water. But he supposes it makes sense. Though before he can say anything about it the rock slams down near them. Yes, he's standing near Toph now. So he was there the whole time. Who is this Tenshi woman? Looks like Toph knows her and... ack! He immediately pays attention when Toph calls out to him. "Yes, Sifu Toph!" he calls back firmly. 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima blinks as she's completely ignored by both the robot and the one who was up there with her, and upon seeing the robot arm itself, she takes off from it's head, deciding to let the mechanical man handle that on his own. The size of the Crab-rilla easily outweighs any of the local fauna she was aware of, and it's hard to...not just stare at how big it was. She frowns as she hovers in the air, slowly pushing herself back towards land and crossing her arms. "Alrighty then, fine. Ignore me. Give me a reason to help you again." She turns around towards the shore, seeming like she might leave, but spotting a small gathering of union folks on the beach causes her to reconsider. She sighs a little bit and makes glides over towards them at a fairly easy going speed, landing behind them by a few feet. "Let me guess, you guys are here for ugly too huh? Any plans on how to take it down?" 

:'''{{#var:477|Tenshi Hinanai (477)}} has posed:''' "Alright!" Tenshi raises her hand. From her belt, a bladeless sword hilt suddenly twirls up into her grip and erupts with a blade of orange light, like flames. In her other hand, the tennyo produces a handful of cards. Five are selected, fanned out through her fingers, "So work with me now, you two! I might be a mighty Tennyo commanding immense power over the Earth, but a quake this big is something even I need help with-- SPELL CARD!" The center card in the five she'd chosen suddenly glows orange, same as the sword blade. The other four cards turn blue, then disappear into the middle card's glowing aura, causing it to intensify, "Heaven and Earth!" That glowing card leaves her hand, floating, while Tenshi grasps her sword with both hands and whirls it around, thrusting the blade into the sand at her feet. "Land That Oversees The Distant World Below!" The effect isn't immediately visible, it's also not centralized on Tenshi herself. Pressure is building, however, in the seafloor directly in front of Insurrector. Cracks form, then start to shift against each other. Pressure is building rapidly towards a Blind Upthrust Earthquake in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Oh the PPDC science team is gonna LOVE this one. The Hansons are probably hearing all about the Sudden Tectonic Instability or whatnot. And it's only gonna get worse with two Earthbenders to pitch in! 

:'''{{#var:25|Striker Eureka (25)}} has posed:''' Giant enemy gorilla crab - that seems about right. As Striker gets ready to cut it into pieces, Insurrector advances with a strange, gorilla-esque loping stride. It hisses, mandibles flaring. If it understands Lute at all, it gives no sign. Until he punches it right in the face. Insurrector hisses loudly, and its mouth opens up like the goddamn Predator and tries to swallow the little fleshling whole! Thanks to Tenshi, however, it'll probably miss because suddenly the ground gets very, very unstable. The Kaiju digs its pincer-claws into the ground, keeping its balance but going still. Striker steps back, legs spread, arms out, as the pair of Hansens try to keep themselves in synch so their war machine doesn't dopple over. Luckily, the Mark V is the most responsive Jaeger class in the world! "What t'hell is that?!" Chuck spits, "Fuckin' earthquake?! At a time like this?!" 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:''' ... man, this bratty angel really likes to think she's in charge, huh? Toph arches an eyebrow, then snorts. Poor Haru being stuck with two bossy girls and the ability to command earth better than him. Even as Tenshi gets ready, Toph catches the sound of another voice, blinking and turning her head just a bit towards Karima. "Oh, yeah! We're here to help take it down! And we're going to do it earth style! Considering how big it is, you might want to attack from afar if you can!" As Tenshi gets started, Toph assumes a wide legged stance. And Haru better well follow suit. Throwing her arms forward, Toph focuses on the earth that she can feel Tenshi working on underneath the water, Toph grits her teeth and begins concentrating. And with the combined might of the two earthbenders and Tenshi's magic, the earth does move. As the earth finally rises above ocean level, Toph calls out. "Go for the pincers, Birdie!" In her own unique bending style, Toph does a repeated motion with her arms, hands going from fists to spread fingers as a dull earthen pillar knocks into the Kaiju, attempting to distract it to give an opening to Striker. 

:'''{{#var:143|Haru (143)}} has posed:''' Haru nods to Tenshi's words. "Let's go." And as per Toph's instructions, rather than that Crane stance nonsense she's been trying to train him out of instantly relying on, prepares for some Tiger Style Earthbending! Karima's presence gets his attention, he remembers her! Haru nods. "Yeah. We can't let it get to shore. But from what I heard, its blood is poisonous so we can't cut it." Tenshi and Toph apply their abilities, and Haru follows suit. Toph's mention to go for the claws has him turning, concentrating, and trying to raise 'walls' from the newly-raised ground edgewise in front of the kaiju. Not to stop it, though. Hopefully he's been able to aim between those claws so that when he directs the 'walls' to move apart, it'll move the claws aside. If all goes well, the kaiju's 'arms' will be open. And the claws will hopefully be blocked from immediate ability to retaliate against a frontal assault. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:''' With the sudden earthquake, Lute only /barely/ manages to avoid getting out of the way of the Kaiju. He /does/ have a plan for if he ends up stuck inside of the thing, but still. He wants it as a /pet/, and one that doesn't have a giant hole in its stomach. Still, the force of punching down on the crab does push Lute up a bit. And, using the momentum, he tries to flip midair, to land atop the head of the GIANT ENEMY CRAB. He pulls out a Pokeball, and recalls Kaelin, his Tentacruel, into it. He then immediately releases Kaelin, also atop of the head of this beast. He sends a message to the Tentacruel, and its tentacles stretch out, trying to cover the eye of the Kaiju. Lute, meanwhile, frowns at the thing. "Bad crab! Bad! You lose vision priveleges until you start listening to me! But, since you seem to be hungry..." Lute pulls something out of his pocket. A piece of jerky. He tries to toss it into the crab gorilla's mouth. "Din din time!" He seems to be pointedly trying to ignore everyone else here. It's not that he thinks they don't /matter/, it's more of, if he can seem unattached to the people trying to kill it, it might listen to him more. 

:'''{{#var:477|Tenshi Hinanai (477)}} has posed:''' The seabed shakes violently. In the same instant, the sword in Tenshi's hands pulses with orange light. It pulses again, more brightly, and the seabed beneath Insurrector and Striker Eureka shudders again, more violently. The combination of tennyo and two earthbenders causes a third, even more violent tremor. And then, with a burst of power, the Sword of Hisou fires a great pulse of light into the ground at Tenshi's feet. Immediately, the seabed beneath Kaiju and Jaeger slips. With a titanic rumbling, a column of solid stone and seafloor mud rises up through the water until it breaks the surface. It's surprisingly flat. And kind of octagonal when viewed from above. But definitely big enough to punch the snot out of a Kaiju on top of. Back on shore, Tenshi yanks the Sword of Hisou from the sand at her feet. The blade disappears and she tucks it into her belt. With another gesture, the Keystone she'd arrived on rips itself free and the girl hops up onto it. Wiping her forehead from the exertion, she glances over her shoulder at the two Benders, "So how were you two planning on getting over there?" 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima flares her wings again as she starts to turn around, listening to the humans gathered on the beach. She seems to consider something for a moment and turns to look down at her thick metal bracers that go up her arm. She offers a small sigh and looks back towards the creature before speaking again. "Sounds good. If you can find some way to slow it down, do that. I've got an attack in mind that'll mess it up, but I'm probably only going to be able to do this once. Let's hope he doesn't notice." She then takes a step back from the conentrating earth benders and takes a wide-footed stance of her own. She takes a deep breath and holds her arms at the ready at her sides, fists drawn tight. Her bracers glow with a green heat between the interlocked plates and with a massive *CHA-CHUNK!* noise, each ring pops off from her, the impact of each one hitting the ground sounding like someone is dropping one-hundred pound weights on the ground. There's eight rings in total, so after each one had hit the ground, the dragon goes through a pretty noticeable change. Black tatoo markings are present on her bare wrists and with no more bracers to keep the chakra contained, the tatoos spread across her scales, simialrly to a snake. They make mostly swooping, curved designs as they spread across her body, eventually sending those marks over her face. Once this was done, rather than remaining black, the tatoos pulsate a somewhat disturbning dark red. The air in her general vicinity heats up considerably. She speaks again in roughly the same voice. "Remember to hold him still. I won't be able to do this again." 

:'''{{#var:272|Yunomi Stadler (272)}} has posed:''' Yunomi is hanging back for now, through her naginata's blade is glowing white hot, barring Lute's sudden ejection from the gorillacrab's head. But she can't tarry too long. She grits her teeth, and goes in. She sails through the air smoothly, turning over to her back as she makes an incoming sweep, up and around, the blade of the naginata shining bright as she attempts to make the first cut at the armjoint of the creature's massive arms, trying to burn through tendon and chiton and insides. First order of business: Remove the most obvious threat. 

:'''{{#var:25|Striker Eureka (25)}} has posed:''' There's a deep 'boom' as the earthbenders clobber Insurrector with the earth itself. Insurrector howls, angered, and stumbles through the ocean waves as the mantle of the planet seems to do its best to kill it. It doesn't even seem to focus on Lute, who is trying to shove food down its throat. It snaps blindly at Tentacruel, but probably can't actually dislodge it. A battle between those two beasts would be a sight! They're right, though. That maneuver did get the Kaiju to put its claws out, and so Yunomi finds no problem in severing them. The air is filled with smoke and steam as the wounds cauterise and the windows in downtown Los Angeles are surely shaking with the sheer fury of the scream that comes from the kaiju's maw. But Striker's got an opening. The Jaeger moves in, and plants its fist on the side of Insurrector's head - the Hansens probably clobber Lute's pokemon too. The Jager steps past the Kaiju's head, while it is still flailing about, and pistons its right elbow into the other side of the Kaiju's head. And then one of those big, meaty gorilla arms of the Kaiju comes up and Striker ducks away. For a skyscraper sized robot, it sure is quick! 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:''' Reaching up to brush some hair away from her face, Toph frowns a bit. "Slow it down, huh?" They should try to do that, indeed. "We'll do our best then, just be patient for a little bit!" And as Tenshi gets on her rock, Toph follows suit with a firm kick to the ground, making a pillar out of the sand that sends her up and onto the rock. "We'll hitch a ride, you don't want the blind girl steering!" Motioning for Haru, the young earthbender reaches out to hold onto Tenshi with one hand. Just in case. "Come on, don't be a slowpoke there, Birdie." As for Tenshi? "Take us closer, just make sure we don't get /too/ close to Mister Pinchy there, okay?" He doesn't seem like the cuddly sort! "My student and I can throw some more attacks while you fly us over!" Heck, she'll even start now by reaching out with her free hand, again doing that repeated earthbending move in order to cause another quake over on the Kaiju's end of the platform. Better slow it down so Striker isn't struck itself! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:''' Though Lute and his Tentacruel manage to keep ahold, they are shaken and damaged as the Kaiju keeps getting moved around. Lute just frowns, and look towards the Jaeger. "HEY DUMBASS! I'm on here too!" Lute isn't the brightest now, is he? But, he looks down at the Kaiju. And smiles. And he starts speaking in a sing-songy voice. "Alright boy, alright. We're going to get you through this. I want to be friends with you, alright? So if you wanna be friends with me, too, go ahead and snap at the giant robot thing with your pincers. If you do it, and be good, I might even let you destroy the city! Who's a good giant crab monster gorilla thing? You are! Yes you are!" And Lute gives the top of the Kaiju's head a hug, while scritching its head a little bit with his hand. 

:'''{{#var:143|Haru (143)}} has posed:''' 'Get over there'? Haru blinks. He was /just/ about to say he didn't think going over there was a good idea, since he and Toph will die if they get stepped on by that thing. But with Toph agreeing to go over and telling him to get on too, ther'es not really much of a choice. Though at least she seesm to be considering safety when she notes not to get too close. So he nods, and boards as best as he can. This may or may not occur with the assistance of a floating rock. Karima's suddenly doing...something! His notices this as he's boarding with Toph. Hold it still? He nods. Maybe he can figure out how to do that. As soon as he can, he'll be trying to do something to do just that, hold the kaiju in place. He's trying to maintain that Tiger Stance. Crane is too soft for this and he knows it. Once he's able to, he brings his hands forward and raises them, but not like bird wings. Like a tiger's claws. He's trying to bring the earth on that pillar up over the kaiju's feet, hoping to at least slow it down. 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima 's wings flare out as much as possible as she crouches down, placing a hadn on the ground. Fire starts to swirl around her feet as it slowly starts to envelop her. "Dragon Install Release!" With that, she takes off like a bullet, cracking the earth with the impact of where she was once standing. She rockets overhead, using her hands to project a solid beam of fire to help her wings propel her forward. It doesn't take long for her to reach the embattled monster and once there, she rockets far up above it. Once to a safe altitude she begins to channel...something. She holds her arms up to the sky and after a moment, a ball of flame is created. It grows in size rapidly, quickly outgrowing it's creator in size, and it has no signs of stopping soon. It'd likely register on the robot's heat signature systems with the both the intensity of the flames and the light it was giving off. She's likely got a decent amount of time before she's ready to attack though. 

:'''{{#var:477|Tenshi Hinanai (477)}} has posed:''' When Toph grabs on to Tenshi, the tennyo recoils, "--Hey! Don't just grab on! I'm a celestial being, for cryin' out loud! Aren't you mortal? Show some respect to someone who's achieved Nirvana, here!" With three passengers on a one-tennyo keystone, it wobbles unsteadily out over the bay, possibly making an equally unsteady hovering sound. This isn't helped by Tenshi being tired from launching such a powerful spell already, though it's not bad enough yet that she can't conceal it. Once over the keystone-UFO passes over the coast of the makeshift seabed pillar, Tenshi just stops trying to float it entirely. The keystone (and the Benders on it) drops. The angel floats upward, by contrast, "Head's up! Two earth-controlling humans, dropping off!" She then floats upward in a spiral, relocating her sword to her hand once more but not calling forth the blade. Rather, Tenshi floats up and circles around Striker Eureka at shoulder level, gauging her next move while taking a good look at what's happening with the wounded kaiju Insurrector. 

:'''{{#var:272|Yunomi Stadler (272)}} has posed:''' The claws drop, hissing and steaming, and the smell makes the mage's stomach lurch. Maybe she'll have the chicken this evening. Yyeeesh. She comes back up out of her arc, surveying the surroundings. Striker with his one-two punch, the Earthbenders and the heavenly being with their holding the huge thing still, and beginning to pelt and slow the creature down. Everything is going well -- And then fire. Yunomi feels the heat and hears the roar before she really realizes it, and she careens upwards with a yipe, thinking it's going to be coming her way. Her ears are pinned back, and her tail has acheived full 'poof' status. "What in the world --" she begins -- but when she realizes it's someone from her own team, she feels rather sheepish. So she brings her goggles back down... and seels herself for a fiery blast! 

:'''{{#var:25|Striker Eureka (25)}} has posed:''' Whether through simple luck or the fact that Lute actually managed to break through to the Kaiju, the crab-gorilla beast that is Insurrector lunges at Striker Eureka! The Jaeger steps back, ready to intercept the giant's arms. Haru and Toph, at least, slowed the Kaiju down so it wasn't as fast as it otherwise might've been, and as Striker grabs Insurrector's arms in its titanium grip, Karima seems like she's getting a prime shot to hit Insurrector right in its belly! Striker has a prime shot of its own, too. With a series of raucous shouts over the communications channel, Striker's conn-pod darts forwards and slams right into the Kaiju's face. Once, twice, three times! Teeth and bits of carapace go flying from the repeated impacts but it doesn't seem like either side is going to stop grappling with the other! 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:''' With the creature listening to it, Lute is more enthusiastic than he had before. He smiles, though. Well, if that worked, time for even /more/ strategy! He continues scritching the things head. "Hey, Mr. Crabs! There are a lot of enemies here! We should try something a bit safer! Turn around the other way. Then we can get you /really cool weapons/, like make your claws diamond sharp, so you totally can take them on! It'd be awesome! Really really awesome! And then we'll definately manage to destroy the city! I'll get my Confederate allies to help you! I'm sure all of them will love you, and give you lots of delicious treats and stuff, too!" He continues to scratch, and also sends Kaelin a mental order to take its tentacles off of the eyes, to let it see better again. This is going so well! 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:''' "Yeah yeah, celestial brat... I achieved metalbending, so that makes us even!" Toph counters with a snort. But she is far more concerned with their safety as the keystone moves, a bit tense as it wobbles over their trip across the treacherous bit of water... man, Tenshi better not crash this thing! And when they reach their destination and the keystone drops, Toph can't help but let out a tiny shriek of surprise, losing her grip on Tenshi and grabbing onto Haru instead with one hand, her eyes wide in horror for a moment. Okay, there's earth down underneath...! She can feel it! Still, she reaches out, pulling her hands up to raise an earthen slide for her and Haru, and the blind girl lands solidly on her feet once they reach the end of it, even reaching out to help steady Haru. "Let's topple it over!" she calls out, then rushes off along the edge of the seabed platform, concentration on her face. With solid earth between her and the damn thing, it's easier to 'see' just how large it is. And it will make it easier to know where to strike. "Its left hind leg!" If they can work on that, then they might help unbalance the thing. Coming to a halt, Toph plants her feet firmly in the ground and throws her arms back before she does a slow and wide movement with both her arms... and raises a large, sturdy wall on each side of the Kaiju's left hind leg. "HELP ME OUT HERE!" Toph calls. It takes a lot of concentration and work to do this with large masses of earth, it's easier done with two earthbenders... and unless she gets some help, the damn Kaiju might break loose too early. 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima continues charging her special attack from far above, the fireball reaching sizes that houses would be significantly worried about. About the time it hits the size of a bus, things start to look a little...uncertain. It's giving off a massive amount of light and the flames are intense, but the surface of the pulsating yellowish orange fireball is rippling and threatening to lose shape. Fortunately, at about that time, two opposite angled rings form around the edges, smoothing it over and containing the fire. She shoves her right hand into the bottom of this massive orb and the energy seems to shrink. She reabsorbs the fire far quicker than she had created it, until soon only the rings were left..and they fit around her hand. At that point, the dragon's tattoos glow to match the intensity of the flames she'd just fanned, and now ith the axis points around her hand and the fire gone...it was time to go to work. She drops out of the sky and rockets herself down towards the Gorilla-crab, the dragon radiating so much heat that it was causing a visible distortion around her. She rears her powered fist back as she approaches the apex of it's neck, and taking Toph's complaints in full, Karima makes contact, driving her fist directly into what is hopefully the spine of the creature, hoping to shatter it. When her fist connects, an explosion larger than the ball that she'd created should occur, the light likely engulfing the bay for a few intense seconds before subsiding. 

:'''{{#var:143|Haru (143)}} has posed:''' "We're not diseased, you know," Haru complains a little at Tenshi's indignation. But he doesn't complain farther. There's more important things to worry about. Namely, falling from the sky. A movement of his hand has a rock from that 'platform' floating up towards him that he hops off of before the Keystone crashes down. He directs the catching rock down to where Toph is, and hops off. That business with Lute is going to have to wait. They can't just 'hope' Lute can get the thing to go away. So instead he takes a position next to Toph and copies her movement, aiming to do the exact same thing and help unbalance the kaiju. 

:'''{{#var:272|Yunomi Stadler (272)}} has posed:''' That was some fancy pyrotechnics. And Yunomi is very, very happy that it hit the gorilla crab and not her. IT lights up the bay, and as the fire dissipates, Yunomi comes down, still with a more anxious-than-usual expression on her face as the naginata's blade flares up once again. She banks hard, twisting her body as she turns to try and take some of the attention off Striker -- and some force to Toph's idea. Yunomi gives a swing of her naginata, a burst of golden sunlight forming a cresecent, and spinning down, heat rippling off it as it passes through the air as she aims for the rear carapace opposite of Toph and the other Earth-shakers. 

:'''{{#var:25|Striker Eureka (25)}} has posed:''' It's hard to tell if the creature is listening to Lute, given that it has engaged Striker in one hell of a grappling contest. Neither Kaiju nor Jaeger seem to be able to force the other out of it. And then everything goes wrong. Toph and Haru manage to topple Insurrector, at around the same time as Karima comes burning in from the sky. All in all, she's only off by a fraction of an inch, but the detonation misses Insurrector's spine, sparing the Kaiju the worst of it. Yunomi manages to draw a deep wound down the Kaiju's hind flank, but the force of the explosion quickly sends both Jaeger and Kaiju off the little rocky battleground and into the water. With Lute, presumably, still clinging to Insurrector! For a moment, everything is quiet. Insurrector, it seems, has vanished beneath the waves. There's a terrible thought then: What if it is actually listening to Lute? 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:''' Thank god Lute can breath under water. Oh wait. Uh. He can't. Actually, thank god, Lute isn't /that/ much of an idiot. He knew that the fights here usually happen in the ocean. So he brought a high tech breathing device with him, and shoves it in his mouth as he goes along. It is uncomfortable regardless, and he is keeping a /really/ good hold to make sure he doesn't lose grip. His Tentacruel is helping him stay in place as well. Lute would brag about this but hey, he can't talk underwater. Not that he isn't /trying/ anyways, but all that comes out on the radio is a bubble sound. 

:'''{{#var:20|Toph Beifong (20)}} has posed:''' Feeling the large creature give in as her and Haru's combined efforts unsettle that one leg, Toph can't help but grin. "NICE!" she calls out. And with the other attacks striking mister Pinchy, it seems like it's going to fall over... But Toph didn't think that the Jaeger would follow suit! Surprise crossing her face, Toph blinks. But the damn large thing is made for being underwater, right? And she can also feel that it's intact. Metal is easy to sense. Either way she begins running ahead, though she seems unwilling to head all the way to the edge. Just in case the Kaiju returns again. "... you think that that air brain will be okay?" she asks for Haru, some concern on her face. Lute might be acting real stupid at times, but even he doesn't deserve to drown, right? 

:'''{{#var:272|Yunomi Stadler (272)}} has posed:''' Yunomi has high confidence in the Hansens. They haven't let her down yet. She flies down, about thirty meters above the water as she gives a low breath out and searches through the waves for the Jaeger, the Kaiju, and the poor Pokemon trainer who she kinda does feel bad for at this point. His heart was (questionably) in the right place. And she picks up the movement. And over the local band, you could catch the very u nusual sound of Yunomi uttering cursewords under her breath. "Insurrector is heading out to sea -- with Lute!" 

:'''{{#var:143|Haru (143)}} has posed:''' "I hope so," Haru replies, heading over to where Toph is. He's a little more willing to look over the edge, though. Yunomi's announcement over the local band gets a blink. "It's...what?" He's rather shocked, but like Toph he is an earthbender, and can't control the water. And even with his sight intact, if he can't see where the thing is, he can't do much about it... 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima weathering the explosion at point blank is bad enough, but the thing isn't even dead? Once the explosion subsides, she's expelled most of the energy in her fist, but she's still got some basic chakra left. Ignoring the screaming of her muscles for the time being, she pushes off of the Corilla's back, flaring her aching wings again to regain flight. When the Kaiju makes it's move by trying to go out to sea, she follows suit, attempting to match it's speed. She starts lobbing multiple fireballs into the things back, hoping to slow it down. Unfortunately, with it being underwater, the effectiveness of the attacks is dimished, but they should still be somewhat uncomfortable. Spires of steam would be rising from the sea with each fireball lobbed. 

:'''{{#var:477|Tenshi Hinanai (477)}} has posed:''' Tenshi gathers her power in preparation for another attack--but then the kaiju and the giant robot both tumble right off the platform she'd worked so hard with Toph and Haru to make! The tennyo dismisses what she's doing and just leans forward, squinting down at the turbulent waters of the bay with a frown. "Well, I hope they kill it, 'cuz I can't hit it if I can't see it." ... "Well, I can just shoot tons of bullets and lasers everywhere..." This seems to be a solution the angel is legitimately considering, though she shrugs it away and descends until she's closer to ground level. 

:'''{{#var:25|Striker Eureka (25)}} has posed:''' Slowly, Striker Eureka begins to rise. Even a responsive Jaeger still has a done of metal to move and, sometimes, you have to move it carefully. "Sensors're fried," Herc reports. But then news comes in that the Kaiju is retreating - with Lute in tow - and there's silence for a moment, and then shouting from both pilots. Karima pursues, dropping fireballs down into the ocean, but Insurrector's backplate is all thick bone so any that hit don't cause it much of an issue - and it just dives deeper in response. Lute has a Kaiju. God help everyone. 

:'''{{#var:235|Karima (235)}} has posed:''' Karima growls as it starts to go underwater to avoid her fire attacks. She starts to slow down, unable to keep up with the kaiju any further, her body's screams of pain finally being heard and more unfortunately, felt. The desire to go on chasing it into the ocean is still there, despite her hatred of the watery area. The dragon roars in frustration, angrily summoning the last of what she could do from her position. She opens her mouth and shoots a thick pillar of flame directly towards the reteating Kaiju's back, this one being a bit more intense than the fireballs but still diminished by the water's presence. She shudders violently as she tries her best to slow the thing down. -THIS- one she was going to feel later. 

:'''{{#var:188|Lute (188)}} has posed:''' Lute, meanwhile, is guiding the Kaiju back to his own personal island. Yes, all Confederate Elites get one, and they're fairly big, so hey. Where /better/ to keep a giant Kaiju? Oh, I'm sorry. His name is Mr. Crabs. 

:'''{{#var:272|Yunomi Stadler (272)}} has posed:''' Yunomi's taken off, but those fireballs don't look company-friendly. She hangs back, grits her teeth, and turns. She lets her naginata cease its illumination, and floats back towards the rising Jaeger. She doesn't look up to its COn Pod. Instead, she calls down to the EArthbenders and Tenshi. "You should drop this plateau back into the bay; you wouldn't want to mess up the currents too badly. This ocean's already fucked up enough." she calls down. 

:'''{{#var:477|Tenshi Hinanai (477)}} has posed:''' "What if I don't?" Tenshi shouts up at Yunomi. The orange blade of the Sword of Hisou ignites and she swings it up, resting it across her shoulders in the shape of an enormous nodachi. The girl grins, eyes hidden by the brim of her hat, "Think about this--The humans should be thanking me for giving them so much more land to build their silly little houses on!" The tennyo laughs, then, and whirls in place. With a gesture, her abandoned Keystone floats back up from where she'd discarded it and then she floats over to intercept, until she's simply standing on it. The Sword of Hisou's shape changes to that of a normal katana as she lowers it, placing the blade between her feet and resting both hands on the hilt. "If you want it gone, humans have lots of ways to break stone. But honestly, I did them a favor. As the saying goes, do not look the gift horse in the mouth." 

}}

Samson and Delilah

2014-06-23T04:29:44Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/06/22 |Location=Los Angeles |Synopsis=Cameron goes bad. A Multiversal team responds to stop her, and the aftermath of it puts John and Sarah i..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/06/22
|Location=Los Angeles
|Synopsis=Cameron goes bad. A Multiversal team responds to stop her, and the aftermath of it puts John and Sarah in conflict with each other.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=3, 7, 24, 27, 62, 385, 391
|Tinyplot=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' LOS ANGELES Early Afternoon The transmission points to a location in the industrial area of downtown Los Angeles. In one of the man-made canals, a silver SUV sits derelict, flipped entirely onto its roof and surrounded by shattered glass and broken, twisted metal. The afternoon sun paints the car and its surrounds into an ominous orange-red, and the fact that no one seems to be moving around it is only more worrying. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' The sound of a car engine approaching wouldn't be out of the ordinary, save for the fact it's being pushed hard. Tires squeal in protest as a sleek red sports car skids around a corner and comes to a stop. The driver-side door opens, and Elise steps out, drawing her pistol. "Comms check, anyone read me? Come in." she says, before closing the door and approaching the crash site carefully. No point rushing in when the situation is unknown. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' One of her friends is in trouble. Subtlety be *damned*. Yuna Kagurazaka is literally flying to the coordinates that Elner was able to map John's last transmission to - not in her cruiser, not in a giant robot, just in her Light Suit's Flight Form. Elner's flying along next to her, the little robo-faerie much easier to miss by comparison to Yuna's purple-and-white-armored form; Jiina and Marina are following them at a slight distance, also in their armored forms, ready to break off or move to assist Yuna if the situation calls for it - like a change of armor, or just supporting firepower. But Yuna's not wielding any weapons at this moment - the additional physical mass could slow her down, or the shape of a weapon might cause just a bit of turbulence. Speed is of the essence right now, and between a pleasant day at the beach being rudely truncated and hearing John's calls for help, Yuna is in a particularly nasty mood. "Kagurazaka here," she answers Elise, "on high approach ... got visual." Again, subtlety be damned; Yuna practically drops out of the sky, maintaining just enough vertical thrust to make it a controlled landing ... barely. "Elner, start scanning - *everything* - and sift out possible trails to follow." "Scanning now," the robo-faerie replies, its tone as calm as Yuna's isn't. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa had hit the armoury before she'd followed up Elise bringing her own gear with her Kotone while not a heavy combatant she had other abilities that were useful even with just what was a civilian grade body in her world. She was taking a moment to looking for active wireless signals in the area was she moves to get out and she goes for her own pistol, she seems on edge and she's talking only via cybercomm as well. <...I think I need to go through basic at this rate with how often I go out, Ma'me.> She's cautious and was following what training she had. She was also keeping tabs for any signals she might pick up, it left her wondering what could the military grade bodies of her world do? 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' As Elise gets out of the driver's side door, Reina Kinney literally throws open the passenger's side door and leaps out swiftly, sweeping her rifle from side to side briefly before quickly shutting the door with one boot-clad foot and then sweeps again. Already Reina's sixth sense is going full blast, and that's not just because of the crash site either. She narrows her eyes as she crouches down slightly and begins to approach the crash spot carefully. She stops briefly at one point, her eyes darting from side to side as if she's possibly expecting an unpleasant surprise, before she continues towards the crash site again. 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' Having been out exploring this Multiverse a little bit, Jono had found a world very much like his. The warpgate led to Los Angeles, so he was enjoying a pleasant walk. Now, if that SUV got into the canal the way it looks like-- i.e., flipped and fell in-- it probably made a hellacious racket. Not only that, but the arriving Elites, particularly Yuna, are making quite the show. So of course Jono's going to head in that direction. He has all his fiery flamey-ness wrapped up at this moment, so he looks like a pretty normal guy. Brown hair, brown eyes, confused and curious frown on what of his face can be seen. Just that... he's got everything south of his nose wrapped up with black cloth. And he's wearing all-black. Jono leans over a fence blocking the canal and looks down in there. What the hell? 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' Blink and you may miss it! A pair of light columns flash into an alley near the crash, and sooner than anyone would expect... Roll and the robo-dog Rush, the former in her dress rather than armor, rush out of the alley! She looks left and right in a hurry, the Robot Master's face is panic stricken! Cupping both hands up near her face, she calls out towards the wreck, all while running, "John?!" 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' No one responds to either Roll's shout or Elise's communications check. As Reina approaches the crashed vehicle, she doesn't notice anything more surprising then what is already there. As she explores the farside of the wreck, however, she finds Sarah Connor. She's bleeding and, while not unconscious, she seems fairly injured. At Reina's approach, Sarah manages to push herself to her feet, steadying herself against the wrecked car. "It was Cameron," she hisses through gritted teeth. "She's going after John." Yuna's scan would turn up a wealth of information but, due to her encounters with Skynet's machines before, she's able to begin trimming it down. Across the canal, leading up towards a huge warehouse - probably one for some sort of heavy-duty container shipping - there's two sets of footprints. One is the hurried pace of someone running, and the other is implacable and steady. They must have gone in that direction. It's a good thing Cameron is still with John, right? 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Elner flies a bit higher, to map the trail(s) more accurately; Yuna moves to where she can see/hear Sarah and Reina. "'Going after' him how? And - you mean she caused the accident?" As she asks her question, Yuna's already starting to take flight again - not very far, her feet are just barely no longer touching the ground, but that also means that her fidgeting is far more noticeable. The only thing that keeps her from taking off as fast as her flight systems will go, probably, is waiting for an answer and the clarification that it should bring. That it will *hopefully* bring, at least ... 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' Seeing Sarah struggling to her feet near the wreck, Roll enters double time and hoofs it over to the wreck. "M... miss Connor! You're bleeding all over!" Her face contorts in horror, but Roll thankfully has an answer for this. Currently ignoring the matter of Cameron and instead focusing on the one at hand, Roll extends a hand. The hand flashes with streaks of light that whirl and lock into place, forming the Mega Buster - but in the red and white trim of Medikit Mode! "Let me treat that before you bleed out!" And if allowed... well, time to spray on some healing nanites that can seal the wound and keep Sarah from bleeding out. If she's not stabilized fast...! 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' "Ma'am, try to stay calm and don't move too much," Reina says as she gets closer. The name Cameron doesn't ring any bells for Reina, but from the sound of how Sarah is discussing the name, it's obviously not someone friendly. "We need a medic here!" Reina says to her allies. She attempts to get a look at how badly Sarah is injured, but not being a medic makes it difficult to diagnose her. When Roll gets to her, Reina breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that there's medical aid there. "Just stay calm, OK? We're gonna find Cameron and John." Reina's voice is still firm, but it isn't very loud either. She then takes out her binoculars and attempts to survey the general area, trying to find any possible clues. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise comes running up once the coast is clear. She holsters her pistol. She looks around the others, before speaking. "Whatever's happened... we need to protect John and disable anyone going after him." she states, before pulling a white device from inside of her jacket, she then adjusts some settings, making the device emit a high pitched but low volume whine for a moment. "Set your Arc Throwers to 2.51GJ... that should disrupt the systems of a robotic hostile, or just piss it of royally, either or." she says. As Roll works on Sarah, she looks to Yuna. "Can you track them? If so, I want you as our eyes in the sky." to Kotone. "Stay close... we might need you to help with Cameron, if we can get to them in time." she does spare a glance up to Jonothon, but makes no comment. Reina is given a look as well. "Try not to damage Cameron... this might be a fault or other glitch, we don't know why she's suddenly going after John, but we need to find out." 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' That looks bad. Also there are flying people down there. Jono hops over the fence and comes down to the place where all the people are gathering. However, he stays back from the main wreck site, not wanting to be in the way. "'Ey. You lot need any help?" he asks, in a thick Cockney accent. It's worthy to note that his 'voice' is not at all muffled from being wrapped up. And there's no movement under his face-wraps. The astute might note it's not in their ears at all. It's in their heads. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa gets no wireless signals if there were killer robots, she'd not run them networked active unless they needed to. Much like how cyborged troops would normally operate after all. She now looks about for a moment to Roll and then Elise as she says "Right, I plan to not stray." She takes a deep breach okay keep calm they got to not lose it here. "People can be hacked in my world. It could be a case of that." She's already booting up several information feeds. She alsmot think they might want to look into some anti cyborg weaponry from her world. The problem would be getting the connections to get it, that's the biggest thing but she pushes that away. <We need more information.> 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' "She stepped out of nowhere and flipped the whole car," Sarah replies to Yuna, tersely, "Yes, the metal bitch caused the accident." Distracted by Yuna as she is, she can't exactly stop Roll from applying the nanites to the wound in her side. Sarah gasps, grimacing, but at least she won't bleed out. "I'm not going to stay calm," she tells Reina, moving off in the direction that matches the footprints Yuna detected. For a wounded woman, she's making good time! "I'm going to find her and tear her apart, piece by piece." As Reina surveys the scene with her binoculars, she might just catch sight of Cameron ducking into the warehouse. She's moving slowly, with a strangeness to her gait that's almost a limp. Even with the binoculars, however, Reina can tell that Cameron is heavily armed - looks like a shotgun and some sort of submachine gun. But it's definitely Cameron, as Yuna's information would indicate. John is nowhere to be seen - he's likely hiding somewhere. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna's expression darkens. "Ms. Baum, for the love of any God you care for, *stay put* and leave this to us." She nods tersely to Elise, "Will do." And then she FLIES straight up, tracking by sight the same trail that Elner's sensors have already mapped out. The Matrix Divider materializes in Yuna's hands, and she sets off, following the trail; Elner is once more sticking close to her to back her eyes up with its sensors - not that Yuna has an HUD that'll help that much, but the link between them tends to suffice. It's not going to take much more than a minute for Yuna to catch up with Cameron, at least close enough to engage the Terminator girl ... unless somebody actually orders Yuna to hold back, anyway, and *that* assumes Yuna would *listen*. And Elner is now worrying about Yuna ... enough so to relay those concerns to the others who are part of this mission. 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' Well, no response from the people on-scene. Not that he expected one, they've got more important things to worry about apparently. Yuna streaks away through the sky and Jono goes to his radio. Just in time to catch Elner's message apparently. And to reply over it, "'Ey, I know I said it once, but I didn't 'ear anybody respond so... if yer need help, I'm 'ere. Call me Chamber. What d'yer need done?" Hopefully that would get some attention. Since he's not sure whether he should stay here with the SUV or go follow Yuna now. Also thank God for telepathic radios. Otherwise this would be a lot more difficult. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' At first, Reina seems to sneer only a little as she seems to find nothing. But then she literally does a double take as she sweeps back towards where she thought she saw movement. And indeed, she did, as there's a woman there, limping, but with several weapons. That sneer turns into a deep frown with gritted teeth as Reina lowers her binoculars and puts them away. "I think we found our girl, and damned if she isn't packing heat," Reina says with heavy sarcasm. As Yuna starts her flight, Reina calls out to her, "Yuna, be careful! She's heavily armed, and we don't know if she has other things hidden up her sleeves." She then responds to Elise Leroy, albeit with respect and understanding. "I understand, I'll be extra careful with her." She doesn't respond to Jonothon just yet though, for whatever reason. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise sets off after Sarah, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "You will better serve your son by staying safe. You're wounded, and going up against anything while wounded is a bad idea." she says. "I understand your frustration, but I will knock you unconscious if I need to." she adds, staring Sarah down if need be. Whatever comes of that, Elise then sets off across to the warehouse. "Okay, Eyes open people... we don't know what's going on inside, she could be laying an ambush." She 'stacks up' next to the door, pistol drawn and Arc Thrower in the other hand, both held up near her face. "Stack up, we breach on my signal." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa hears about the flip out, and already has has her pistol ready and is holding it as she was trained. She sys nothing else as she's now going to get moving and Kotone is also trying to use some basic zooming functions to see if she can spot Cameron. She moves ahead not brekaing formation here. That would be damn foolish for her to do so. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' "CAMERON!? Cameron did this? But I thought..." With Sarah charging off, Roll's left in the dust, her lips twitching with obvious doubt. Why would Cameron did that? Wasn't she a GOOD Terminator? Looks like she'll have to give chase too. Roll bursts into a sprint, and that same energy fromb efore covers her. All but instantly, she's wearing the Mega armor, in its normal pink and red color scheme. "C'mon Rush! Stay alert for any surprises!" Barking once in confirmation, the red robodog bounds after Roll! 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Sarah Connor shoots Elise a glare that could probably be an effective weapon against Cameron's hyperalloy chassis. And then it passes and she smiles sweetly and says, "Thanks for your concern. I'll call Derek." She pulls her phone from her pocket and gets to doing just that. Up on the other side of the canal, Yuna takes to the roof while Elise and the others get ready by the open loading dock door, the sort of thing you back up a truck through. On the roof, Yuna manages to track down a big glass skylight - but there's no sign of Cameron through it. Or John. But there's no gunfire either. That is, above all else, a good thing. Still, if Cameron has her optics on that big open loading door, things are going to get bloody. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' As soon as Elise has reassured Sarah things will be OK, and then she moves into position, Reina nods to her superior and moves into position as well. She looks around a few times before gripping her rifle tightly. "On your command," Reina says to Elise respectfully. Her face doesn't show it, but deep inside her adrenaline is rising rapidly. Namely because she doesn't fully know what a Terminator is. But she's about to find out... 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise looks to those breaching with her, and lifts her left hand. She's subvocalizing over radio, but gestures with a partly opened hand. 3... 2... 1... Following closely after Yuna makes her entrance, Elise rounds the door, pistol up and Arc Thrower at the ready, her eyes adjusting quickly to the shift in light, scanning for movement or perhaps the glint of chrome caught in the light. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' If the skylight can simply be opened - with or without breaking a lock in the process - that's how Yuna would rather go in. If it has to be smashed through, well, she's in a smashing mood at the moment, thanks very much. And she's well aware that present-day weaponry would have its work cut out for it trying to breach her Light Suit. She can't lounge about in front of a dozen AK-47s or a couple of Vulcans like fighter jets carry, but she's less susceptible to getting seriously wounded when shot like that than a number of her allies are - and she's VERY inclined to take the 'fight' to Cameron. If it really is her - Kotone brought up a good counter-prospect. But Elise is ready on the draw faster than Yuna expected, and the Savior of Light summons her shield before plowing through the skylight (opening or smashing). She's being TERRIBLY unsubtle, even going so far as to yell, "CAMERON!! I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE!" 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Yuna crashes down through the skylight with the cacophony chorus of shattered glass. She lands, yells- And takes two solid depleted uranium slugs to the chest with all the power of a full-auto combat shotgun. Cameron steps out from behind some shelving, shotgun in one hand, SMG in the other, walking right into the line of fire without a care in the world. Her face is bruised, smeared with dirt and ash, swollen and cut. She's been in something serious. Turning her gaze away from Yuna, but keeping the shotgun trained on her, Cameron sights her SMG in on those coming through the door and lets loose with a barrage of armor-piercing shells. 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' Well, it seemed like the woman in the SUV was okay. He's got the basic understanding of the situation-- someone was being chased by someone else, and the chaser was trusted by the chasee. So he hops back over that fence and heads for the warehouse, where everyone else seems to have gone to. No one told him /not/ to follow. For the time being he keeps his face wrapped up, since he doesn't want to alert anyone inside just yet. Entry is made and Jono picks then to reach up and pull the cloth wrappings around his face down. The moment he does, red-orange energy much like a staticky fire begins to emit from his throat, wreathing his head in flames. There's no trace of a mouth under it, either. Suddenly there's stuff coming his way! And Jono's response is probably a predictable one. "OH BOLLOCKS!" His eyes flare the same color as the energy emitting from him, and a rush of that flame-like energy fires from him. It's not fire, though. In fact, it creates a solid wall of energy that, if it doesn't stop the shells outright, should leech a lot of their energy from them before they reach him. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise tracks to Cameron... then gets hit by three of those armour piercing bullets. She crumples, falling to the ground and rolling behind some Convenient Cover. Roll would notice that Elise's vitals haven't dropped that much. The high penetration rounds just went right through, and her regeneration is stitching up the damage... not that Cameron would really notice, more like as not. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' In much the same way as no-one expects the Spanish Inquisition, Yuna was not expecting depleted uranium slugs. Fortunately, her Light Suit's breastplate is up to the challenge, especially with the battlesuit's defensive aura. It *still* rocks Yuna back on her heels, even as she manages to take the second slug on her shield instead of the breastplate - and as she's recovering, she drives Shugoseiheki's lower corner into the ground, freeing her arms from the straps and ducking behind the shield for extra cover ... but the Matrix Divider is glowing, steadily brighter and brighter, beginning to crackle with flaring arcs of light and power. At maximum charge, she leans around the edge of the shield - faking once in case Cameron is THAT ready with another shot - and then pulls the trigger, trying to blast Cameron around hip level. It's even a concussive blast, rather than piercing or shearing or disintegrating. Her skin disguise will be MUCH the worse for wear, and the shock of the impact should do a good number on the Terminator's electronics - but apparently, Yuna has just enough control at the moment that Elner's earlier warning is not relevant. ... at least, not yet. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa waits for the go, she's no trained soldier but she can listen well and listen she does. She moves in weapon ready as she starts attempting to keep alert for anything she's got the XCOM produced side arm up and ready. She knows how dangerous combat cyborgs are, and what they can do to augmented personnel. Cameron is the product of a machine which wishes a death of all flesh. She knows, what could happen here, her cyberbrain would keep her safe from a lot of small. Kotone does not think she acts pulling the trigger and diving, or trying to dive out harms way the shot might have come quick but the aim's not so good she hits the ground hard with a crunch that gives away her body's true weight as well. She's got the presence of mind to check for any signals that might be effecting the terminator. She then is trying to scramble for cover. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' Reina rushes in just after Elise, and is just in time to be hit by one of those bullets. Even though her shield protects her from damage, the impact still knocks her to the ground. "Oh dammit!" She yells out, ignoring the pain in her right arm that came from falling on it. "Just my falzing luck," She adds, as she quickly dashes towards a nearby crate and takes cover behind it. "So that's our target, now the question is, how do we stop the son of a De Rol Le?!" 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' Roll decides not to use the door after hearing gunfire. Her tactical programming suggests a different point of entry, and so... Banzai! "HYAAAH!" ... She DIVES through a window. CRASH! BAM BAM! And she STILl takes a few shots. Sparks fly from her Ceratanium as an ever-increasing array of gouges start deepening, the barrage of bullets is enough to wear through, even if a short spray can't. Aura is tricky like that! "Cameron, what's this about?! You nearly killed Miss Connor!" Roll shrieks, pleadingly. But she's no fool. Roll raises her Mega Buster, and a wave of light signals her mode change into the deep and light blue of ICE SLASHER. Shots of pure, super-chilled liquid and frozen atmospheric gases lash out at Cameron's weapons! 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Jonothon's wall of energy seems to stop the shells from hitting him, leaving him unharmed - for now. As Elise rolls into some convenient cover and Reina finds some of her own, the shells just keep coming. Could Cameron have compensated for their movement and the cover? It seems that way! The warehouse is filled with the reports of sub-machine gun bursts as Cameron turns this way and that, snapping off bursts with perfect, machine precision at, well, everyone. As Kotone's bullets hit home, they tear through Cameron's clothing and make little 'ping' noises as they meet the endoskeleton underneath. Cameron turns to engage Roll, although she says nothing, and Yuna's concussive blast slams into her back. Driven to her knees, Cameron seems stunned. And then she rises, just as Roll knocks the sub-machine gun out of her grip. When Cameron turns back to face the others, her left eye is glowing red, surrounded by ripped flesh and chrome metal. The sutures on her cheek have come open, and the skin hangs loose revealing the intricate machinery of her jaw. Unconcerned, Cameron racks the slide on her shotgun and snaps off a series of shells - one for everyone it seems. She's fast! Kotone detects nothing. Maybe Derek was right, after all these months. Maybe her mission was to gain their trust and kill John. Maybe, beneath her pretty face, she's just no different to Cromartie, something made all the more apparent by the gleaming chrome. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise grits her teeth as the bullets pound the crate to splinters. She dives across the open space to another crate... just before the DU slug shatters the new cover. "Cameron! What is your mission?" she shouts, shimmying along the floor behind a low metal construct to help deflect more shots her way. "State your primary directive!" She's trying to get closer, hoping against hope she can get in range for the Arc Thrower before eating a face full of DU slug... or getting chokeslammed by the machine. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna ducks back into the shelter of Shugoseiheki before the next depleted-uranium slug that's aimed in her direction has a chance to get there, although the low-pitched *whang* of a high-density bullet hitting a comparably high-density slab of protective alloys is disconcerting enough in its own right. "You're failing your mission, you dummy!!" Yuna shouts. "If your mission is still to *PROTECT* John, you're failing it by the act of betrayal itself ..." She pauses just long enough to breathe in deeply. It might serve another purpose too. "And if your mission is to *KILL* John Connor, you're STILL gointg to fail it, BECAUSE *WE'RE GOING TO STOP YOU!!!*" And rather than coming out around the left or right side of her planted shield, Yuna erupts *OVER* it with the Matrix Divider flaring, brandished over Yuna's head and looking like she's got a lightning bolt by one end - just before she brings her weapon *SMASHING* down, aiming for the spot where neck meets shoulder - and unleashing the power she'd focused into her weapon in one concussive shock, a blow that should bring even a Terminator to its knees - and the impact might well force Cameron to relinquish her grip on her guns as well. 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' More shells? More fire! Jono's got plenty of that, it seems. And this time it's a sustained burst, so that not only does it come back to aim at the shells, but once they're dealt with, it reaches out to strike at Cameron. It's not a full-strength blast, those cost him too much energy. And it doesn't feel like fire, it doesn't burn. If it even hits, it'll feel more like a punch than anything else. This he aims at Cameron's legs, hoping to distract her so that Yuna doesn't get hurt. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' Reina is skimmed in the shoulder by the shotgun blast, and while it barely hits her, it hurts pretty badly all the same. "Damn it!" She exclaims, looking up quickly before attempting to fall back behind another object that will give her more distance between Cameron and herself. She then reaches over to touch her shoulder, and reels back when she finds that her shields didn't fully do their job. Her shoulder was skimmed, and there's blood coming out of the wound. "Wish I had Monomate with me," Reina mutters with a scowl. She doesn't want to risk giving away her new position if she can help it, otherwise she'd use her Resta technic. For now she simply peers through the scope of her rifle, watching Cameron to see what happens next. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is shocked she managed to hit, she'd have expected something like that to attempt to dodge, if only to avoid needed damage. She stares at the damage that's been done. She's also not picking up any direct outside interference, such as some sort of remote override. No there seems to be nothing she however just stares at the damage terminator the mix of robot skull expose and human face cause something in Kotone's own mind to stall. Her hand reaches up to her own face for a moment feeling it, it feels normal but there's something very much like the true nature of Cameron under her face. Kotone pauses, where the hell is John. That snaps her out of it "What did you do to John!" She seems to be coming out of it but the sight of the terminator like that is not going to ... leave her any time soon. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' "Cameron," Roll blurts demandingly, "Stop this right now! And tell us what is happening. You should know how outmatched you are by yourself like this! How does this protect John?! HOW?!" Not only is she angry, but she's upset for a whole other matter. Roll genuinely hates seeing anyone in this kind of shape, and Cameron's an utter mess under an assault like this. "But if I /have/ to tear you down to your servos and drag you all the way back home to get answers, don't think I won't!" That's probably more a threat than anything else, but boy does she sound angry! Roll's armor changes again, this time to gray and darker grey! What the heck could that be...? Well, the last was a subduing shot, and this is little different. Her Mega Buster pulses, and BELCHES OUT A THICK GLOB OF extremely quick-drying concrete at Cameron's legs! 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' "To terminate John Connor," Cameron replies, her voice still sweet and horrifyingly normal given the contrast of skin and metal. She seems to ignore everyone else, focusing on the higher-priority target that is Yuna. Her shotgun barks twice more, but Yuna's leap takes her out of hte line of fire. And Yuna drives Cameron to her knees, the weapon hammering into Cameron's shoulder. Her shotgun clatters to the ground and Elise zaps her with the arc thrower. And if there's one thing Terminators are vulnerable to, it's a sudden surge of electricity through their chassis. And before Cameron can rise, because she still shows no sign of abandoning the fight, Roll seals her legs in concrete. As strong as she is, denim is nothing special and one of her legs is in a sub-optimal condition. She tries to rise and she's not angry or sad or frustrated - just neutral. Thanks to the scope, Reina sees John first. He's bloodied from a few small cuts along his face - likely cut from the car crash. "Hold her arms! Pin her!" John shouts. He kneels down by Cameron's head, screwdriver in hand. "John?" Cameron asks, "John. You can't do this. You don't know what you are about to do." "Yes, I do," John snaps, "You were going to kill me!" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Yuna kicks the shotgun away (while trusting Elner to track where it went - it needs to be retrieved later) and then wraps her arms tightly around Cameron's left arm to immobilize it, trying to tug it into an orientation that'll further hinder any efforts by Cameron to get her arm free. .... and for good measure, since that positions one of her forearms near Cameron's side, the vambrace on that arm ratchets open, the array of pulse blasters that was hidden within the armor priming to fire. Just in case Yuna can't keep her hold effectively - or Cameron tries to pull a fast one. 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' Well, Jono missed, but at least she's down. John's directing them to hold the obviously not-normal girl with the red eye down, and Jono makes to do that, trying to assist with pinning an arm. His strength is just that of a normal human, however. Not only that but he's about 50 or so pounds lighter than an average human his size. So he probably can't immobilize that arm on his own. But he's gonna try. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise moves to grab Cameron's right arm, bracing all her strength to restrain it. As John comes running up, she looks him over, then returns to focusing on restraining the arm. It's a robot, so it's going to have an inexorable amount of strength... She's keeping the Arc Thrower primed, just in case. It has one more charge in it before it becomes useless. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' As the others start to pin down Cameron, Reina decides to take this opportunity to invoke a Resta technic on herself, healing the damage to her shoulder and her arm. She doesn't want to use a group technic just yet, for fear she might accidentally revive Cameron. Instead, once she's healed up, she draws her rifle again and slowly approaches Cameron, keeping the weapon trained on her. "I suggest you surrender now," Reina barks. "You've already lost, so just give up!" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is going to do something very stupid now as she sees others go in, she holsters her pistol rapidly and moves in she got weight and is stronger than a flesh and blood human. She now makes a run for her aiming to tackle their target. Hopefully she can help Jonothon with pinning the terminator down so hopefully someone can make a move. "If your going to do it! DO IT NOW!" Kotone is struggling now as she attempt to pin the combat cyborg along with Jonothon, Hopefully her weight might help a bit... 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' "Cameron, you'd better explain fast!" Roll cries, suddenly clapping a hand up over her mouth as she realizes how pissed John is. Not that she can blame him. But still... "John... John, just disable her! Don't destroy her chip! She's been helping you all this time... there has to be a reason for this!" 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' With a 'pop', John wedges the screwdriver under a part of Cameron's exposed cranial casing and gets to work. Cameron doesn't appear to pay any attention to the people holding her down, but she's still fighting. "No, John. You can't do this. You're not doing the right thing - this is not the right thing, John. Things are good now. Things are fine now. I ran a test. Things are good now. I'm fixed now. You can trust me now - everything's good now." John stops. He looks down at her, at the half-metal half-skin face... and falters. Until Kotone shouts at him. "She doesn't know, she doesn't!" Cameron insists, "I'm good now, I'm good. I ran a test. Everything's perfect - I'm perfect. I'm sorry for that I did, I'm sorry." Her head turns as best it can, trying to find John in her line of vision. "It wasn't me - you have to understand, it wasn't me! That wasn't me, you can't let this happen, John, you can't!" John pops open the CPU port. Cameron shouts, "Please, listen to me! Listen to me! I don't wanna go! Please, John, please! John, listen to me. I don't want to go. Please, John. Please." Her voice cracks. "Please. I'm good now. Listen to me. I don't want to go. I'm sorry. That wasn't me. I'm fixed now. I ran a test. Everything's perfect. You can trust me." From the door comes a terrific shout, an order: "JOHN CONNOR!" It's Sarah. And Cameron, eyes wide, plays her final card. "I love you! I love you, please. I love you, John, and you love me!" Silence. John's face... is unreadable. He reaches in and yanks Cameron's chip. Immediately, beneath the combined efforts of the Multiverse, her body goes slack. Just like a puppet with its strings cut. And then, just a few moments later, an ambulance pulls up behind Sarah. Derek and one other man in a paramedic's uniform - Charley Dixon - step out of it and just... stare at the sight. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise grits her teeth as Cameron fights... and when the body goes slack, she lets that arm go, and looks at John. "What happens now?" she asks, looking at the chip, then over at the inert body, before finally back up to John's face. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' Reina stares at Cameron for a moment, but her face remains very stoic. "So that was a Terminator?" She finally says after a moment. "Those things are mighty tough. I'd hate to see what might happen if they were infested with SEED." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' The sharpest of ears might hear a faint but high-pitched noise from Yuna's pulse blasters as she maintains her grip on Cameron's arm - although an extra hand or two from somebody else would certainly be welcome; Yuna's face just hardens further as she works to keep her grip on the Terminator's arm, to keep her from returning to open combat - because with John this close, there'd be next to nothing to be done to protect him other than bodily scooping him up and running like hell. And even when the chip is yanked and Cameron goes limp - Yuna *still* doesn't relax, even though the pulse blasters power down and her vambrace closes. "Don't ... *ever* ... lie about love," Yuna whispers harshly, even though Cameron can no longer hear her. Only John is in a position to really see a couple of tears trickling down Yuna's cheeks - although who knows whether they're from sorrow or anger or something else. Yuna's face gives almost nothing away - but her eyes are still narrowed in the fury that drove her in pursuit of Cameron. It's Elner who flits down to speak next, "Are there diagnostics that can be run on her CPU - any way to try and trace what happened to flip her into 'terminate' mode? Either yours," the robo-faerie looks at John, then glances at the others present, "or anyone else here?" Only then does Yuna force herself to relinquish her grip on Cameron's arm, and stalk away to retrieve the shotgun. On the way back, she focuses on emptying it of shells - removing the magazine if there is one, or just cycling through and removing each shell through the ejection port. 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' Jono doesn't quite get all this yet. But she's down now, at least. Seems like it anyway. He looks up as the people show up and... uh. Yeah. There is a dude who looks like his head's on fire. Pay no attention. He looks at Reina as she speaks. "Terminator?" He looks down at the now unresponsive female cyborg thing. It's Yuna's tears that get his attention next though. He frowns, and as he moves, tries to pat Yuna on the shoulder, rather awkwardly trying to offer comfort. The rest of this seems well in hand. 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise glances to Elner. "We could take the chip to Vahlen... I'm sure she could figure out a way of running a diagnostic or recovery program without endangering the base... or Shen might have some ideas." she offers, glancing to Elner, before looking at John again. "It's your call, John." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa has managed to help with Cameron being pined. To say there isn't an element of horror with Cameron's pleading. Either Skynet does understand it's makers on a very deep level, or it's legit. She does not say a thing as John pulls the plug on Cameron. She relaxes once the chip is removed. She looks to Roll for a moment, as people ask what to do. "That's a possibility you also may wish to contact. Roll's Creator Dr. Light. He may be able to assist." Kotone is looking shaken by what just happened. If it was a glitch the horror for Cameron must have been a kind of hell even an human who is augmented like she is? Could understand. If not? Damn Skynet's more human than she'd like to admit if it could make things to pull off such a thing. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' Roll's breath would stop if she actually breathed. As it is, she's filled with very noticeable tension, her face has gone pretty pale. She steps carefully up towards John, as if spooked by his sudden display of mechanical expertise. That was pretty jarring and disturbing, and she's a robot who's worked on others! "L-Like Kotone says, my creator can help too! She... she might have some glitch John. Or maybe someone hacked her! ... I refuse to believe she'd say anything like that as some kind of trick!" The Mega Buster has vanished and Roll's bunched her shoulders up, clapped her hands together and tightly folded them... this is VERY messed up! "What happened..." 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' John clasps Cameron's chip in his hand, cradling it close to his chest. When Yuna and Elise and Kotone offer alternatives, John just shakes his head - over and over and over. He says nothing. It's not just that she could be fixed - his trust in her is shattered. There's that old adage, about a dog which has tasted blood. Derek and Sarah hold a muted conversation about Sarkissian. Hard drive? Trashed. The man himself? Dead, killed by Sarah by the sounds of it - and John saw it all. "Damn," Derek murmurs. As Charley wanders here and there, dispensing medicine and first aid to whoever needs it, he mentions that he saw Cromartie kill an entire unit of FBI agents. The bad news just keeps coming, it seems. Sarah approaches John. "I know what you saw today. I know what you did, and I'm so... so proud of you. Maybe you could fix her. I know you want to try. But I can't let you- I just... I can't." John turns his head to look at her, and his body is tense and stiff and positively humming with frustration. "So burn her," John seethes. "Let's get the hell out of here." "There's a burnt-out car, just outside," Derek says. "We can use that. Give the metal a proper burial." Derek and Charley seem to get put on hauling duty, picking up Cameron between them and taking her body outside. John wipes at Cameron's chip with a small cloth, saying nothing. "What she said back there..." Sarah says, watching him. "Everything she said, it was a trick. You know that, right? They don't feel anything. They don't have feelings. They don't know love." John doesn't look up. "I know that, mom." He hops up, following Charley and Derek outside. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' "If that was true, and she was programmed to do that, then why has she helped you all this time?!" Roll blurts, completely not understanding this decision at all! 

:'''{{#var:62|Elise Leroy (62)}} has posed:''' Elise... just stays where she it, slouched against a wall as Cameron is carried out. "Another name to add to the wall... another life, lost in the fight." she reaches into her vest, and pulls out a bundle of dogtags. There's 12 individual tags, including her own pair. 

:'''{{#var:27|Jonothon Starsmore (27)}} has posed:''' With his efforts mostly ignored, Jono works on wrapping up his face again, hiding the fire. Looks like the danger is over, so there's no need to stand around on fire like the worst case of heartburn ever. 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Where did she get depleted uranium slugs for a shotgun?" The question probably sounds like a huge non-sequitur, but Yuna's now holding an empty shotgun and however many super-dense slugs Cameron didn't get around to firing - and she's quite happy to hand the empty shotgun to somebody else, stock-first of course. (And it's completely empty, she's made sure of that. The receiver MIGHT be damaged for good measure; Yuna doesn't care if the gun is unusable, just that there's no ammunition left in it.) "If she was hacked, maybe whoever messed with her systems gave her the weapons as well ... or," she looks at the Connors, "are depleted uranium slugs your load of choice for fighting Terminators, and she just happened to have these handy when whatever it was happened to her." Yuna takes a deep breath. "We don't know *what* happened before John called for help. Somebody care to fill us in?" The fact that Yuna is thinking to ask questions like this is probably a good sign vis-a-vis her temper. Of course, John's safe now - naturally Yuna's coming out of the fury that drove her earlier. Jonothon's proximity and the pat on the shoulder may well have helped - Yuna's tears have certainly dried, and her gaze is clear. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' As John stalks his way outside, Sarah says: "They are. They're very effective against the machines, especially at close range. We were attacked - Sarkissian and one of his men. We killed them and Cameron tried to take a shot at John. She knows everything about us - bank accounts, our contingency plans... our weapon stashes. She must've located one." Outside, Charley can be heard trying to make conversation: "Y'know, I saw her do this. With the other one." "The only way to be sure," Derek replies, "Especially with this one." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is kinda quiet for a moment, she's not sure what to say this is beyond her. She also suspected her world would be nightmare fuel for the Connor family. She' snot sure what to say here she look to Sah and jone as she thinks for a moment. "You'd need to check her files on her chip or memory units" She just feels cold now inside a feeling not right with this whole affair... 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' "I... I don't understand." Roll's shoulders slump sadly. "Why would she do this? If she was really tricking everyone all this time, why didn't she strike earlier? This can't be right!" 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' Looking to Roll, Reina finally speaks. "I can't say this for certain, but there's a good possibility there may have been some other kind of ulterior motive that we don't know about..." 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' That brings Yuna up short. "Then ... damage from the attack might have flipped her program? Caused a short circuit or something so that her 'protect John Connor' directives got inverted?" For all that she was angry enough to go for a kill shot earlier, she *didn't* - and she gives Cameron's 'dead' chassis a curious look now. "Elner, start scanning, high resolution ... any signs of circuit damage? Or structural -" She falls silent, not even sure if it's worth it now ... but Elner's running the requested scans nonetheless. For whatever good it will do. And Elner knows, but doesn't say, that even if there *was* damage doesn't mean anyone can necessarily fix it. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Derek looks over at John as he approaches and holds out his hand. "John, chip." John just stares right back. He steps into the car and settles next to Cameron, fiddling with her hands until she's holding her own chip against her chest. He sits there for a few more moments and stands up, getting out of the car. "It's what they do," Sarah says. "They gain your trust, and then they kill you. She was just the most advanced model. Maybe," Sarah adds to Yuna, "Maybe. But once is never and twice is always," she says. "The flare," John says. "Where is it?" Charley looks to Sarah, she nods. He hands it to John. For a long while, John sits there as Yuna talk, just staring down at Cameron. Even with the exposed metal, it just looks like she's sleeping. Elner's scans turn up nothing except damage consistent with the recent battle, and a particularly large blow in the back of her cranial casing. Maybe she's right. And maybe, because of her, John thinks the same thing. He looks up to his mother and their eyes catch. "I'm sorry," John says. And, in a flash, slips Cameron's chip back inside her head! Instantly, panic. Derek: "John! Don't do this! John, don't do this-!" Sarah shoves him back. Charley has, wisely, already gotten the hell out of the way. "John, she'll kill you!" Cameron's one good eye opens, and her exposed optic flickers to malevolent red life. 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' Roll does the smart thing... and charges up to Cameron, to put the squeeze on her body and keep her arms restrained! ... Just in case... 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' "Concussive damage to her cranial module," Elner reports - just as John rolls the dice. The Matrix Divider instantly reappears in Yuna's hands - but she neither takes aim, nor starts charging for a major attack. She can snap off a shot without charging, but it won't do much, particularly if that shot's the only thing to save John's life. Luckily, Roll is closer and can try to restrain Cameron. And Yuna doesn't WANT to take the shot. "Concussive damage, Elner?" she asks. "I'd hate to see a friend die because of a misunderstanding ..." Her tone is rather pointed. It's also completely true. Elner flies closer to the car, perhaps preparing to intervene as well if push comes to shove. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Roll grabs her and Yuna has a weapon. Cameron turns her head to look at both of them - it's the only sign of any movement she makes - before she looks to John. "Are you here to kill me, John?" Cameron asks him. "Are you here to kill me?" Silence. The moment stretches out for a second, and then several seconds, and then a minute. And then longer. Cameron just stares. "No." John look to Roll, to Yuna, to Sarah, to everyone who has come this far and has been put in mortal danger by the machine in front of him. "Promise?" he asks. "Promise," Cameron replies. Slowly, John extends his hand to her. To Roll, he says: "Let her go." 

:'''{{#var:3|Roll (3)}} has posed:''' Roll... frowns a little. She can see where the worries are coming from after all. With a look to Sarah and then the others that came to help her.. she relaxes her grip and takes a step back, but stays on guard. "... You better mean that, Cameron. What happened? Did you short-circuit or something?!" 

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:''' Trust can be a terribly fragile thing under stress, and Yuna's trust in Cameron has been badly shaken. She can only guess at what made Cameron delay so long in answering John's question. But Cameron makes the promise that John requires of her ... and slowly, Yuna lets herself relax. She won't fully stand down until Roll releases Cameron and the Terminator confirms word by action - or in this case, inaction. But should the promise be confirmed, Yuna will let the Matrix Divider disappear one more time. "Elner, if you can help them with repairing Cameron's systems, I need you to do that ... I'm gonna go get Shugoseiheki." She turns to head inside. Elner stays next to the car, starting to run a more detailed scan and look for damage that it can assist in repairing. This also lets the robo-faerie continue to listen to the unfolding of events, while Yuna heads back inside to find her shield and retrieve it from where she left it. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa sighs and nods for a moment. She falls in to walk with the other she seems very tenses still but at least not fearful. She seems to be lost in thought for a moment but does manage a reply to John. "Right, let's get moving, shall we." She never thought her life would end up anything /remotely/ like this. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' John holds out his hand to Cameron. It's the moment of truth. Cameron looks at it, reaches for it... ...and lets John pull her out to the car. She turns to look at Roll, and she frowns, looking almost thoughtful. At least, half her face does. "I don't know," she says at last. John lights the flare and drops it into the car. It begins to burn, bright and orange, washing the area in a warm glow - but it does nothing to dispel the ice that seems to have fallen over the Connors. They are positively glowering at each other. John and Cameron on one side. Sarah and Derek on the other, and an inferno between them. 

}}

What He Beheld

2014-06-22T05:23:23Z

Bradster:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/06/21
|Location=Los Angeles
|Synopsis=John, Sarah and their allies go to put the squeeze on Sarkissian in response to his extortionate demands. But the future is always shifting and events are transpiring in unexpected ways as pawns are moved across the board. And Sarkissian himself is more than he appears.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 24, 38, 304
|Tinyplot=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' No one tries to extort anything from Sarah Connor, much less two million dollars. That sort of thing makes Sarah Connor mad. The meeting place is a little street in the Los Angeles CBD, in the vicinity of what looks like a computer store and LAN cafe, and the Connors pull up in their big, black SUV. Inside, John and Sarah doublecheck their handguns and holster them. John doesn't have one, and the young woman sitting next to him - Cameron - doesn't need one. The job is a simple one. Get in and convince Sarkissian that attempting to blackmail them was a mistake and, in the process, ensure that they never have to worry about him again. With that accomplished, they should be able to get him to tell them where he has stashed the Turk, the chess-playing computer that will, one day, start playing chess with nuclear arsenals. Inside Sarkissian's store, the lights are still on. It looks like there's still plenty of clients, even in the early evening. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' There's a member of the Connors' party who is not in the SUV with them ... or in a car, or even at street level. But if anyone were watching the local rooftops, they might catch sight of a large spider-like robot skittering and jumping her way across said roofs until she reaches the computer/LAN store. And there, Black Arachnia stops, already surveying for access points. Preferably of the hardwired variety, but she can make do with a wireless connection - but she's also looking for physical entrances to the building from the roof, just in case there's no way into the network from up here. ... or in the event that a robot (in disguise or not) could lend some weight to the Connors' arguments. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' How does one hide a nearly seven foot tall, heavily armored super soldier? Well we're in Los Angeles, so the answer is you don't. This town is known for it's weirdos, and people who love to dress up in costumes and take pictures with kids for about twenty bucks each. Right now, Noble Six is walking down the street, across the street from the shop in question. She's fully armored up, and is stopping to pose for photos and such, as needed. This gives her an excellent vantage point to see inside of the shop, as well as see any threats coming from the street. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa had come to help she wasn't sure about how to deal with the person blackmailing John's mother but she agreed if Turk need to be handled before it starts playing out the sort of thing that the anti cyberists on her world feared, hell she feared would come to pass somewhere else? Here she actuall wearing a jacket over her normal outfit to hide more traces of her cyberentic nature and a pair of wrap around hades cover her eyes. God this was in a strange way a blast from the past for her with how this world was to boot. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Derek leads the way into the building and the door lets out a pleasant sounding chime as he steps through, followed by Sarah and John with Cameron bringing up the rear. There's maybe a dozen young people in the LAN cafe area, no one in the actual shop, and a pale, gaunt-faced man with a perpetual frown working the counter. "Where is he?" Derek asks him. The clerk blinks. "Who?" Sarah grabs the man by his shoulder and forces his face into the wooden counter top. "He," she says, icily. "Need I repeat?" The clerk, slowly, raises his hand and points towards a door on the other side of the LAN Cafe, almost hidden by a vending machine. A few people have looked up from their games and Internet to look at the people hassling the counter guy. On the roof, Black Arachnia would find what looks like a fire escape. It looks like it could be forced open easily enough. There's a wireless network, something which seems to be the LAN Cafe's service, but nothing else. It's likely that this Sarkissian fellow is fairly switched-on when it comes to technology. Amidst the camera flashes and excited night people, Noble Six doesn't see anything too threatening - although the SPARTAN might get a glimpse through the window of Sarah and Derek's diplomatic efforts inside the store. And of the clerk reaching under the counter for something. Police alarm? Panic button? Warning signal? Who knows. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' First order of business: gain access to the building's network connections ... which, of necessity, starts with the wi-fi. How quaint. But that's just the customers' side of things - what good is a wireless network that stops at the building's walls? If you're gaming with others locally, that's one thing, but a cafe like this HAS to connect to the Internet somehow ... Black Arachnia quickly penetrates the network's security, hides her presence within it, and starts locating the Internet connection proper. If she can get access to the business's phone network connection as well, all the better. If all goes well, she'll be able to lock down the electronic perimeter before the clerk has time to push any buttons. She'd do better with a physical tap-in of some sort, but no time to rummage around for promising-looking wires or junction boxes. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is just keeping herself out side she can pull some stunts that this world isn't ready for. She's a bit bolder as to her the sorts of counter measures that could deal with someone like her even a rookie. She also had tapped some files on older programs that might have had counter parts here which means she could attempt certain exploits that were not known to people. She's going to start moving to lend Black Arachina a dital hand as she makes use of her wirelness connects to try and see just what suyprises the people are dealing with are packing. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The SPARTAN is still watching through the window, in between taking pictures, and when she sees the hand starting to dip below the counter, issues her warning over their radio frequency. She excuses herself from the crowd that had gathered, and makes her way across the street, to get closer to the building. She knows she could take a shot from here without missing, but taking out this guy now, well, that'd pretty much ruin the plan entirely. She'll need to wait until she's 100% sure that he's about to pull out a weapon before she draws her own. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia gets inside the network without much issue - this is Windows XP-era stuff! - and quickly gets to shutting down the electronic perimeter. It seems like that she and Kotone won't ave much issue doing whatever it is they wish. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they can find much in the way of surprises - either Sarkissian is just a small-time crook who's somehow got his hands on the apocalypse device, or he's very good at hiding his stuff. Inside, Derek, Sarah, John and Cameron move deeper into the building. It's completely different once they get through the door, all white and business-like with harsh, flourescent lighting. As they round the corner, they find Sarkissian. He's a decent-sized man, where his size comes from muscle and not fat. His hair is close cropped, dark but greying, and his eyes go wide as he spies the Connors. Perhaps thanks to Arachnia's techno-wizardry, he's completely flat-footed. So much so that he drops his cup of instant coffee and runs for it! Outside, Six peers through the window. The front desk clerk rubs at his temples and slouches against his counter, no weapon in sight. However, there's three people moving towards the LAN Cafe, coming up the street. They're wearing grey coveralls, and Noble Six might be able to make out the rather telltale bulges of some sort of automatic weapons hidden on their bodies. Probably sub-machine guns. Trouble, in any case. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Oh, 'shutting it down' would be EASY. Black Arachnia's trying to be a bit more subtle than that - leave the customers' network traffic unimpeded, but - if there's an emergency signal going from that button, for instance - attempting to keep it from getting out to cause trouble, immediately or later on. That standalone button, if a button it was, is probably rather conspicuous for its simplicity, so it gets intercepted, interdicted, and stifled entirely. She probably SHOULD see about heading inside, though, shouldn't she ... ? 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa she's looking to see what she can find there's not much in the ways of things laying in wait for them in this old grungy version of cyberspace. Humm so just what is going on here she's not sure and she's very much concerned at this point she's brought a weapon with her, and has a nanovest on so she's got osme protection. What was going on here? Either wy she's be moving in and Black ARachania would find Kotone's own prence she's going to attempt to stabotage anythign relatd to their target's own information networks and make it seem like nothing's wrong to him. She's not as effient as Black Arachina is however. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The trio of armed individuals look like they might be looking for trouble. Six decides to intercept them. She's not sure if they're more of those robots or some sort of human strike team. Either way she is going to try to stop them non-violently, as taking down three people in the middle of a street in LA is not the best idea unless they've started to attack. She moves towards them and sets herself in a position to keep them from entering the store, going back to her posing and playing like she's just some cosplayer. She'll determine their intentions first.% 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Sarkissian gets ahead of the group and ducks into a room, slamming the heavy, metal security door behind him. "John," Sarah says, "Go check the office - see if he stashed the Turk in there." John nods and races off, beginning to check through each door and each room until he tracks down the office. It's a decent sized room, filled with filing cabinets. Sarah turns to Cameron. "Can you get through the door?" Cameron steps up to the door. She looks at it, eyes going high and then low. "Yes," she declares, "But the wall would be much faster." And so, Cameron steps to the side of the door, clenches her fists, and begins to punch the wall, shattering cinderblocks. Her fists are a blur and, inside, Sarkissian is probably wondering what the hell is going on! Up on the roof, there are just subtle tremors as the only evidence of Cameron's handiwork. Up there, Arachnia has prevented any news from going out. No one should be finding out what happened here. And, thanks to Kotone, is anyone is monitoring the place remotely, no one will be able to see anything going wrong either. Early 2000-era technology is nothing to a Cybertronian and a future-tech cyborg. Everything's silent. As Six takes up the doorway, striking a pose, one of the grey coveralled men remarks: "Excuse me. We'd like to, y'know, get inside." Six has faced Terminators before and these three? They don't seem the type. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The nice thing about being hooked into the network wirelessly is that Black Arachnia still has relatively unrestricted mobility, as long as the signal strength doesn't bottom out while she's moving around. So, keeping an eye on her wireless signal, she creeps over to the front edge of the roof, peers down over the edge ... And shoots her mouth off. Literally - that's where the mandible grapnel is located in her spider form, and she launches it down to grab one of the three guys, preferably one that's NOT in front, and just - yank him straight upwards. By the shoulders, so he shouldn't get worse than a mild case of whiplash ... At least not until she lets go, flipping him up and back in an arc that should land him cleanly on the roof. The impact ought to knock the wind out of the guy, ESPECIALLY if he lands on his back - and if that's how it goes, Black Arachnia turns and skitters over to crouch over top of him, looking all terrifying-giant-cyborg-spider-about-to-eat-you at him. "Who sent you?" the Maximal hisses, mandibles and palps quivering as if she'd love to dig into a fresh, hot meal of gun-toting thug. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' Well since Black Arachnia is going to be taking one of them, Noble Six reaches out to grab the other two by their overalls, and haul them up into the air. She figures that lifting them up off their feet will probably surprise them to inaction. But if that doesn't work, she'll just slam their heads together with the proper amount of force to knock them unconcious. This should be a good way to keep them from getting inside, without having to hurt them too bad. Plus BA is able to interrogate the third one, this'll work out for everyone involved. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa sees that she's got that all cleaned up at this poing and message the transformer. Her voice over cyberspace has an odd reverb that maker her sound more like an older Gen Transformer than a human. <<You all right up and and damn you got to be least class A with the stunts your pulling there.>> She's keeping her profile low as she's not a fighter but she is making sure no one will know just what's going on there and that she thinks is of use. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' With a final push, Cameron caves in half of the wall and steps through, followed by Derek and Sarah. The room is empty except for a single computer. A small hatch, some sort of duct or escape tunnel, lies open. Sarkissian is gone. Outside, Noble Six abruptly knocks out the two men with the ease of a pair of rag dolls. Some of the people photographing the SPARTAN cheer - what a show! With their focus on Six, they completely miss Arachnia hauling one of the greys up and onto the roof. His eyes go wide as he comes face to face with the spider Maximal. He says nothing, instead, going for something in one of his pockets! Meanwhile, John is tearing the office apart. He throws open filing cabinets, tears open boxes, yanks open drawers - and nothing. No sign of the Turk. John steps over to one end of the room, what looks like a storage nook, and gets that open. Inside, there's a young girl, coloring away on some spare paper. "Hey..." John begins, "What're you doing here?" "Waiting for my daddy to finish work." John kneels down to her level. "Okay, listen. I need you to stay in this room with the door closed, okay? Even if you hear loud noises or you get scared, you have to stay in here. Can you do that for me?" She smiles. "Yes." John grins. "Yeah? Okay." He shuts the door behind him, leaves the office, and goes to pick one of the locked doors. And that's when Sarkissian grabs him and puts a gun to his head. John is hauled out into a side alley, possibly just in sight of Kotone, followed quickly by Sarah - who levels her own weapon at Sarkissian. It's a stand-off. Or is it? 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Protip: when a giant robot spider hauls you away from your compatriots and tells you to talk, digging in your pocket is the wrong answer. And Black Arachnia DOES have hands - well, manipulators - in her spider mode ... but they're not conveniently placed for grabbing the mook's arm and keeping his hand out of his pocket. At least ... not directly. So she skitters a couple of steps back, seizing the mooks arms just below the shoulders - and then advances again, forcing his arms VIOLENTLY upwards to pin to the rooftop. The dislocation of shoulders, or worse, is not entirely unlikely as a result of this maneuver. More to the point, even if he DID draw a weapon, he won't be able to aim it at her. He might be able to pull a trigger - *might* being the key word - but unless it's a grappling hook pistol and he can pull himself out from under the giant cybernetic spider, it's not going to do more than make a fair amount of noise and make her even angrier. Something drips from her palps as the Maximal spider hisses, "I'm not going to repeat the question again, so listen and answer: *who sent you*?!" 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The crowd seems to think it's all part of the show. That's good. Six looks at the two unconcious guys, and fishes the weapons out of their coveralls, since the last thing she wants them to do is wake up with their guns on them. "Hate to say it folks, but the show's coming to an end. Thank you all for coming out, and have a nice day!" She's trying to disperse the crowd now. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' The crowd disperses, although many of them don't seem happy to have been asked to leave by such a great cosplayer! It's highly likely that they'll be getting home, trying to track down just who was so amazing at portraying a SPARTAN on the streets of Los Angeles. Soon enough, Noble Six is just there with the two grey-coveralled men. On the roof, Arachnia pins the man to the ground. Something pops in his upper torso and he shouts out, in obvious pain. "Nnngh!" he grunts, "You can't fight the future," he spits out, bites down on something, and he begins to froth at the mouth, spasming in Arachnia's grip. Down in the alley, the standoff continues. The door opens and Derek steps out. He's moving slow, gun in one hand, guiding the little girl from Sarkissian's office with his other. "Let him go," Derek says, with the quiet ice of someone who is making a very unspoken, very violent threat. Sarkissian stares right back at Derek, although he clearly looks out of his depth. "Not my kid." "Not mine either," Derek replies. "Are you okay?" Derek asks the girl. "Yeah," he murmurs, setting his hand over her eyes. "You're okay..." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is not part of the main force at this point, she pauses for a moment wondeirng what's going on. She pauses for a moment noticing as Sarkissian has grabbed John she maqkes her move heading for him, for once glad she can put this almost cursed body of her's to use, Sarkissian has no idea what she is right. She's moving in and is just moving in a bit not grabbing her weapon in the open. "That's enough out of you I suggest you let him go. The future has changed already there's new variables on the field." She looks at Derek for a moment she's supicous of what Derek is going to do. Then again he may just be covering the kid's eyes. She does know with how things are with John's explaing about Camreon if there's one like here there could be others and she attempst to see if there's any sort of wireless activity from the kid or the man holding John. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' It's a good thing for these guys that they're unconcious. Six hauls them up over her shoulders to get them out of the street, and then heads for a more secluded area so that she can perform emergency dental surgery. Honestly she doesn't really care if she hurts them in the process, because it's clear they'd rather die than tell what they know. Once she has them in a more secluded area, she grabs the first, and opens his mouth. Following Black Arachnia's suggestion for which tooth to try, Six pulls out her combat knife, and ever so carefully inserts it into the man's mouth, the intent being to try to pry out that suicide cap without setting it off. She just hopes he doesn't wake up while she's doing this and she has to stab him. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Derek whispers out a quiet, "Ssssh, sssh-sssh..." As Kotone approaches, Sarkissian turns, distracted, although he keeps his weapon pressed against John's neck. He opens his mouth to say something and- Derek shoots him in the head. John flinches. The girl screams and Sarkissian drops onto the alleyway ground as Derek holsters his pistol. "Thanks," he says to Kotone, and then says to the young girl, "Let's go inside." Sarah moves over to her son and hugs him, tight. It takes John a few seconds to catch his breath. "He has a computer," Sarah says, "We'll pull the hard drive and you can look through it at home. I don't think we should stay here any longer." Out of sight, Noble Six drags the greys to a hidden spot and gets her combat knife into their moth. The first suicide cap comes off easily, the man none the wiser - although his jaw might sting in the morning! However, the second man wakes up to find Six's knife in his mouth - and he screams. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The sound of the gunshot makes Noble Six hesitate, which gives the man she was working on long enough to wake up and scream. She pulls the blade from his mouth and covers his mouth with her hand to muffle his scream. "Listen to me very closely. I don't want to kill you. Do you really want to kill yourself? Because if you do, then do it. I won't stop you, I already got your friend's suicide cap out. I can extract all the intel I want from him. So it's up to you. Ask yourself, Is this the hill you want to die on? Make your choice, and make it quick." She removes her hand from his mouth, and lets him make his choice. She even stands up and moves to the other grey, pulling zipcuffs out of a pouch on her armor and tying his hands behind him. This guy was going to be a POW one way or another. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' The man makes his choice. There's a subtle 'crack' of him breaching his cap and, soon enough, he begins spasming. He's gone. Just one for Noble Six, it seems. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa seems to have helped or fucked up there's a look of stark shock and horror, more at the effect of the shot than the act happening. He was holding a friend hostage, clearly not caring about unleashing a crazed AI upon the word. Now she gets what Derek was doing, at least the kid /didn't/ see it directly. She grimaces and then looks to Sarah for a moment. "I can help look the data over, if you need it." She looks a about for a moment and notes "I got every camera around here scrambled there shouldn't be an issue but this won't hold forever." 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "Black Arachnia, maximize." It's kind of hard for a giant spider to rifle a corpse's pockets. In robot mode, Black Arachnia is not so restricted - and she goes through everything the guy's got. If she can fish the broken suicide capsule out of the guy's mouth, she does so - analysis of the residue could prove interesting, although it's a long shot. She also multitasks, checking the 'Net cafe's computers for logs of phone numbers called and websites visited, e-mail addresses received from or sent to ... You never know what might just offer a useful clue. But it's going to take a while for her to go through, too, even if John and/or Kotone are going to sift Sarkissian's own hard drive as well. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' In a few moments, John has Sarkissian's hard drive pulled from the computer. The store has cleared out by now - the clerk and the gamers have all apparently fled. Derek returns, holstering his weapon, followed by Cameron. "Thanks," John says to Kotone, "But I'll be fine with it. I kinda just want to go home now." Black Arachnia goes through the 'net cafe's computers but there doesn't seem to be anything immediately incriminating there. It makes sense - one wouldn't conduct such a sale through a public space. Everything must be on the hard drive. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' Noble Six brings the one that she did successfuly operate on to meet with the rest of the group, "Lets put him into the SUV and you all get out of here before the authorities show up." She notes. Last thing she wants is them getting caught here. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' "Works for me," Derek says to Six. And so the Connors file out - Derek first, then Sarah, then John and then Cameron. The grey is tossed in the back and Derek assures Six, "Oh, I know just what to do with someone like this." He gestures to his clothing but says nothing more about it, not even to John and Sarah as they drive home. Later, after the police have been and gone, after the bodies have been collected, the front desk clerk returns to the store. He moves down the hallways, into the secure back room, and stops. The man frowns, and adds another line to his frown-creased face. The Connors didn't accept the two million offer. Now, he's going to have to hurt them. Margos Sarkissian pulls his phone from his pocket and makes a few calls. By tomorrow morning, everything will be in place. 

}}

What He Beheld

2014-06-22T05:22:29Z

Bradster:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/06/21
|Location=Los Angeles
|Synopsis=John, Sarah and their allies go to put the squeeze on Sarkissian in response to his extortionate demands. But the future is always shifting and events are transpiring in expected ways as pawns are moved across the board. And Sarkissian himself is more than he appears.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 24, 38, 304
|Tinyplot=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' No one tries to extort anything from Sarah Connor, much less two million dollars. That sort of thing makes Sarah Connor mad. The meeting place is a little street in the Los Angeles CBD, in the vicinity of what looks like a computer store and LAN cafe, and the Connors pull up in their big, black SUV. Inside, John and Sarah doublecheck their handguns and holster them. John doesn't have one, and the young woman sitting next to him - Cameron - doesn't need one. The job is a simple one. Get in and convince Sarkissian that attempting to blackmail them was a mistake and, in the process, ensure that they never have to worry about him again. With that accomplished, they should be able to get him to tell them where he has stashed the Turk, the chess-playing computer that will, one day, start playing chess with nuclear arsenals. Inside Sarkissian's store, the lights are still on. It looks like there's still plenty of clients, even in the early evening. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' There's a member of the Connors' party who is not in the SUV with them ... or in a car, or even at street level. But if anyone were watching the local rooftops, they might catch sight of a large spider-like robot skittering and jumping her way across said roofs until she reaches the computer/LAN store. And there, Black Arachnia stops, already surveying for access points. Preferably of the hardwired variety, but she can make do with a wireless connection - but she's also looking for physical entrances to the building from the roof, just in case there's no way into the network from up here. ... or in the event that a robot (in disguise or not) could lend some weight to the Connors' arguments. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' How does one hide a nearly seven foot tall, heavily armored super soldier? Well we're in Los Angeles, so the answer is you don't. This town is known for it's weirdos, and people who love to dress up in costumes and take pictures with kids for about twenty bucks each. Right now, Noble Six is walking down the street, across the street from the shop in question. She's fully armored up, and is stopping to pose for photos and such, as needed. This gives her an excellent vantage point to see inside of the shop, as well as see any threats coming from the street. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa had come to help she wasn't sure about how to deal with the person blackmailing John's mother but she agreed if Turk need to be handled before it starts playing out the sort of thing that the anti cyberists on her world feared, hell she feared would come to pass somewhere else? Here she actuall wearing a jacket over her normal outfit to hide more traces of her cyberentic nature and a pair of wrap around hades cover her eyes. God this was in a strange way a blast from the past for her with how this world was to boot. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Derek leads the way into the building and the door lets out a pleasant sounding chime as he steps through, followed by Sarah and John with Cameron bringing up the rear. There's maybe a dozen young people in the LAN cafe area, no one in the actual shop, and a pale, gaunt-faced man with a perpetual frown working the counter. "Where is he?" Derek asks him. The clerk blinks. "Who?" Sarah grabs the man by his shoulder and forces his face into the wooden counter top. "He," she says, icily. "Need I repeat?" The clerk, slowly, raises his hand and points towards a door on the other side of the LAN Cafe, almost hidden by a vending machine. A few people have looked up from their games and Internet to look at the people hassling the counter guy. On the roof, Black Arachnia would find what looks like a fire escape. It looks like it could be forced open easily enough. There's a wireless network, something which seems to be the LAN Cafe's service, but nothing else. It's likely that this Sarkissian fellow is fairly switched-on when it comes to technology. Amidst the camera flashes and excited night people, Noble Six doesn't see anything too threatening - although the SPARTAN might get a glimpse through the window of Sarah and Derek's diplomatic efforts inside the store. And of the clerk reaching under the counter for something. Police alarm? Panic button? Warning signal? Who knows. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' First order of business: gain access to the building's network connections ... which, of necessity, starts with the wi-fi. How quaint. But that's just the customers' side of things - what good is a wireless network that stops at the building's walls? If you're gaming with others locally, that's one thing, but a cafe like this HAS to connect to the Internet somehow ... Black Arachnia quickly penetrates the network's security, hides her presence within it, and starts locating the Internet connection proper. If she can get access to the business's phone network connection as well, all the better. If all goes well, she'll be able to lock down the electronic perimeter before the clerk has time to push any buttons. She'd do better with a physical tap-in of some sort, but no time to rummage around for promising-looking wires or junction boxes. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is just keeping herself out side she can pull some stunts that this world isn't ready for. She's a bit bolder as to her the sorts of counter measures that could deal with someone like her even a rookie. She also had tapped some files on older programs that might have had counter parts here which means she could attempt certain exploits that were not known to people. She's going to start moving to lend Black Arachina a dital hand as she makes use of her wirelness connects to try and see just what suyprises the people are dealing with are packing. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The SPARTAN is still watching through the window, in between taking pictures, and when she sees the hand starting to dip below the counter, issues her warning over their radio frequency. She excuses herself from the crowd that had gathered, and makes her way across the street, to get closer to the building. She knows she could take a shot from here without missing, but taking out this guy now, well, that'd pretty much ruin the plan entirely. She'll need to wait until she's 100% sure that he's about to pull out a weapon before she draws her own. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia gets inside the network without much issue - this is Windows XP-era stuff! - and quickly gets to shutting down the electronic perimeter. It seems like that she and Kotone won't ave much issue doing whatever it is they wish. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they can find much in the way of surprises - either Sarkissian is just a small-time crook who's somehow got his hands on the apocalypse device, or he's very good at hiding his stuff. Inside, Derek, Sarah, John and Cameron move deeper into the building. It's completely different once they get through the door, all white and business-like with harsh, flourescent lighting. As they round the corner, they find Sarkissian. He's a decent-sized man, where his size comes from muscle and not fat. His hair is close cropped, dark but greying, and his eyes go wide as he spies the Connors. Perhaps thanks to Arachnia's techno-wizardry, he's completely flat-footed. So much so that he drops his cup of instant coffee and runs for it! Outside, Six peers through the window. The front desk clerk rubs at his temples and slouches against his counter, no weapon in sight. However, there's three people moving towards the LAN Cafe, coming up the street. They're wearing grey coveralls, and Noble Six might be able to make out the rather telltale bulges of some sort of automatic weapons hidden on their bodies. Probably sub-machine guns. Trouble, in any case. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Oh, 'shutting it down' would be EASY. Black Arachnia's trying to be a bit more subtle than that - leave the customers' network traffic unimpeded, but - if there's an emergency signal going from that button, for instance - attempting to keep it from getting out to cause trouble, immediately or later on. That standalone button, if a button it was, is probably rather conspicuous for its simplicity, so it gets intercepted, interdicted, and stifled entirely. She probably SHOULD see about heading inside, though, shouldn't she ... ? 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa she's looking to see what she can find there's not much in the ways of things laying in wait for them in this old grungy version of cyberspace. Humm so just what is going on here she's not sure and she's very much concerned at this point she's brought a weapon with her, and has a nanovest on so she's got osme protection. What was going on here? Either wy she's be moving in and Black ARachania would find Kotone's own prence she's going to attempt to stabotage anythign relatd to their target's own information networks and make it seem like nothing's wrong to him. She's not as effient as Black Arachina is however. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The trio of armed individuals look like they might be looking for trouble. Six decides to intercept them. She's not sure if they're more of those robots or some sort of human strike team. Either way she is going to try to stop them non-violently, as taking down three people in the middle of a street in LA is not the best idea unless they've started to attack. She moves towards them and sets herself in a position to keep them from entering the store, going back to her posing and playing like she's just some cosplayer. She'll determine their intentions first.% 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Sarkissian gets ahead of the group and ducks into a room, slamming the heavy, metal security door behind him. "John," Sarah says, "Go check the office - see if he stashed the Turk in there." John nods and races off, beginning to check through each door and each room until he tracks down the office. It's a decent sized room, filled with filing cabinets. Sarah turns to Cameron. "Can you get through the door?" Cameron steps up to the door. She looks at it, eyes going high and then low. "Yes," she declares, "But the wall would be much faster." And so, Cameron steps to the side of the door, clenches her fists, and begins to punch the wall, shattering cinderblocks. Her fists are a blur and, inside, Sarkissian is probably wondering what the hell is going on! Up on the roof, there are just subtle tremors as the only evidence of Cameron's handiwork. Up there, Arachnia has prevented any news from going out. No one should be finding out what happened here. And, thanks to Kotone, is anyone is monitoring the place remotely, no one will be able to see anything going wrong either. Early 2000-era technology is nothing to a Cybertronian and a future-tech cyborg. Everything's silent. As Six takes up the doorway, striking a pose, one of the grey coveralled men remarks: "Excuse me. We'd like to, y'know, get inside." Six has faced Terminators before and these three? They don't seem the type. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The nice thing about being hooked into the network wirelessly is that Black Arachnia still has relatively unrestricted mobility, as long as the signal strength doesn't bottom out while she's moving around. So, keeping an eye on her wireless signal, she creeps over to the front edge of the roof, peers down over the edge ... And shoots her mouth off. Literally - that's where the mandible grapnel is located in her spider form, and she launches it down to grab one of the three guys, preferably one that's NOT in front, and just - yank him straight upwards. By the shoulders, so he shouldn't get worse than a mild case of whiplash ... At least not until she lets go, flipping him up and back in an arc that should land him cleanly on the roof. The impact ought to knock the wind out of the guy, ESPECIALLY if he lands on his back - and if that's how it goes, Black Arachnia turns and skitters over to crouch over top of him, looking all terrifying-giant-cyborg-spider-about-to-eat-you at him. "Who sent you?" the Maximal hisses, mandibles and palps quivering as if she'd love to dig into a fresh, hot meal of gun-toting thug. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' Well since Black Arachnia is going to be taking one of them, Noble Six reaches out to grab the other two by their overalls, and haul them up into the air. She figures that lifting them up off their feet will probably surprise them to inaction. But if that doesn't work, she'll just slam their heads together with the proper amount of force to knock them unconcious. This should be a good way to keep them from getting inside, without having to hurt them too bad. Plus BA is able to interrogate the third one, this'll work out for everyone involved. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa sees that she's got that all cleaned up at this poing and message the transformer. Her voice over cyberspace has an odd reverb that maker her sound more like an older Gen Transformer than a human. <<You all right up and and damn you got to be least class A with the stunts your pulling there.>> She's keeping her profile low as she's not a fighter but she is making sure no one will know just what's going on there and that she thinks is of use. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' With a final push, Cameron caves in half of the wall and steps through, followed by Derek and Sarah. The room is empty except for a single computer. A small hatch, some sort of duct or escape tunnel, lies open. Sarkissian is gone. Outside, Noble Six abruptly knocks out the two men with the ease of a pair of rag dolls. Some of the people photographing the SPARTAN cheer - what a show! With their focus on Six, they completely miss Arachnia hauling one of the greys up and onto the roof. His eyes go wide as he comes face to face with the spider Maximal. He says nothing, instead, going for something in one of his pockets! Meanwhile, John is tearing the office apart. He throws open filing cabinets, tears open boxes, yanks open drawers - and nothing. No sign of the Turk. John steps over to one end of the room, what looks like a storage nook, and gets that open. Inside, there's a young girl, coloring away on some spare paper. "Hey..." John begins, "What're you doing here?" "Waiting for my daddy to finish work." John kneels down to her level. "Okay, listen. I need you to stay in this room with the door closed, okay? Even if you hear loud noises or you get scared, you have to stay in here. Can you do that for me?" She smiles. "Yes." John grins. "Yeah? Okay." He shuts the door behind him, leaves the office, and goes to pick one of the locked doors. And that's when Sarkissian grabs him and puts a gun to his head. John is hauled out into a side alley, possibly just in sight of Kotone, followed quickly by Sarah - who levels her own weapon at Sarkissian. It's a stand-off. Or is it? 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Protip: when a giant robot spider hauls you away from your compatriots and tells you to talk, digging in your pocket is the wrong answer. And Black Arachnia DOES have hands - well, manipulators - in her spider mode ... but they're not conveniently placed for grabbing the mook's arm and keeping his hand out of his pocket. At least ... not directly. So she skitters a couple of steps back, seizing the mooks arms just below the shoulders - and then advances again, forcing his arms VIOLENTLY upwards to pin to the rooftop. The dislocation of shoulders, or worse, is not entirely unlikely as a result of this maneuver. More to the point, even if he DID draw a weapon, he won't be able to aim it at her. He might be able to pull a trigger - *might* being the key word - but unless it's a grappling hook pistol and he can pull himself out from under the giant cybernetic spider, it's not going to do more than make a fair amount of noise and make her even angrier. Something drips from her palps as the Maximal spider hisses, "I'm not going to repeat the question again, so listen and answer: *who sent you*?!" 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The crowd seems to think it's all part of the show. That's good. Six looks at the two unconcious guys, and fishes the weapons out of their coveralls, since the last thing she wants them to do is wake up with their guns on them. "Hate to say it folks, but the show's coming to an end. Thank you all for coming out, and have a nice day!" She's trying to disperse the crowd now. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' The crowd disperses, although many of them don't seem happy to have been asked to leave by such a great cosplayer! It's highly likely that they'll be getting home, trying to track down just who was so amazing at portraying a SPARTAN on the streets of Los Angeles. Soon enough, Noble Six is just there with the two grey-coveralled men. On the roof, Arachnia pins the man to the ground. Something pops in his upper torso and he shouts out, in obvious pain. "Nnngh!" he grunts, "You can't fight the future," he spits out, bites down on something, and he begins to froth at the mouth, spasming in Arachnia's grip. Down in the alley, the standoff continues. The door opens and Derek steps out. He's moving slow, gun in one hand, guiding the little girl from Sarkissian's office with his other. "Let him go," Derek says, with the quiet ice of someone who is making a very unspoken, very violent threat. Sarkissian stares right back at Derek, although he clearly looks out of his depth. "Not my kid." "Not mine either," Derek replies. "Are you okay?" Derek asks the girl. "Yeah," he murmurs, setting his hand over her eyes. "You're okay..." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is not part of the main force at this point, she pauses for a moment wondeirng what's going on. She pauses for a moment noticing as Sarkissian has grabbed John she maqkes her move heading for him, for once glad she can put this almost cursed body of her's to use, Sarkissian has no idea what she is right. She's moving in and is just moving in a bit not grabbing her weapon in the open. "That's enough out of you I suggest you let him go. The future has changed already there's new variables on the field." She looks at Derek for a moment she's supicous of what Derek is going to do. Then again he may just be covering the kid's eyes. She does know with how things are with John's explaing about Camreon if there's one like here there could be others and she attempst to see if there's any sort of wireless activity from the kid or the man holding John. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' It's a good thing for these guys that they're unconcious. Six hauls them up over her shoulders to get them out of the street, and then heads for a more secluded area so that she can perform emergency dental surgery. Honestly she doesn't really care if she hurts them in the process, because it's clear they'd rather die than tell what they know. Once she has them in a more secluded area, she grabs the first, and opens his mouth. Following Black Arachnia's suggestion for which tooth to try, Six pulls out her combat knife, and ever so carefully inserts it into the man's mouth, the intent being to try to pry out that suicide cap without setting it off. She just hopes he doesn't wake up while she's doing this and she has to stab him. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Derek whispers out a quiet, "Ssssh, sssh-sssh..." As Kotone approaches, Sarkissian turns, distracted, although he keeps his weapon pressed against John's neck. He opens his mouth to say something and- Derek shoots him in the head. John flinches. The girl screams and Sarkissian drops onto the alleyway ground as Derek holsters his pistol. "Thanks," he says to Kotone, and then says to the young girl, "Let's go inside." Sarah moves over to her son and hugs him, tight. It takes John a few seconds to catch his breath. "He has a computer," Sarah says, "We'll pull the hard drive and you can look through it at home. I don't think we should stay here any longer." Out of sight, Noble Six drags the greys to a hidden spot and gets her combat knife into their moth. The first suicide cap comes off easily, the man none the wiser - although his jaw might sting in the morning! However, the second man wakes up to find Six's knife in his mouth - and he screams. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The sound of the gunshot makes Noble Six hesitate, which gives the man she was working on long enough to wake up and scream. She pulls the blade from his mouth and covers his mouth with her hand to muffle his scream. "Listen to me very closely. I don't want to kill you. Do you really want to kill yourself? Because if you do, then do it. I won't stop you, I already got your friend's suicide cap out. I can extract all the intel I want from him. So it's up to you. Ask yourself, Is this the hill you want to die on? Make your choice, and make it quick." She removes her hand from his mouth, and lets him make his choice. She even stands up and moves to the other grey, pulling zipcuffs out of a pouch on her armor and tying his hands behind him. This guy was going to be a POW one way or another. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' The man makes his choice. There's a subtle 'crack' of him breaching his cap and, soon enough, he begins spasming. He's gone. Just one for Noble Six, it seems. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa seems to have helped or fucked up there's a look of stark shock and horror, more at the effect of the shot than the act happening. He was holding a friend hostage, clearly not caring about unleashing a crazed AI upon the word. Now she gets what Derek was doing, at least the kid /didn't/ see it directly. She grimaces and then looks to Sarah for a moment. "I can help look the data over, if you need it." She looks a about for a moment and notes "I got every camera around here scrambled there shouldn't be an issue but this won't hold forever." 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "Black Arachnia, maximize." It's kind of hard for a giant spider to rifle a corpse's pockets. In robot mode, Black Arachnia is not so restricted - and she goes through everything the guy's got. If she can fish the broken suicide capsule out of the guy's mouth, she does so - analysis of the residue could prove interesting, although it's a long shot. She also multitasks, checking the 'Net cafe's computers for logs of phone numbers called and websites visited, e-mail addresses received from or sent to ... You never know what might just offer a useful clue. But it's going to take a while for her to go through, too, even if John and/or Kotone are going to sift Sarkissian's own hard drive as well. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' In a few moments, John has Sarkissian's hard drive pulled from the computer. The store has cleared out by now - the clerk and the gamers have all apparently fled. Derek returns, holstering his weapon, followed by Cameron. "Thanks," John says to Kotone, "But I'll be fine with it. I kinda just want to go home now." Black Arachnia goes through the 'net cafe's computers but there doesn't seem to be anything immediately incriminating there. It makes sense - one wouldn't conduct such a sale through a public space. Everything must be on the hard drive. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' Noble Six brings the one that she did successfuly operate on to meet with the rest of the group, "Lets put him into the SUV and you all get out of here before the authorities show up." She notes. Last thing she wants is them getting caught here. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' "Works for me," Derek says to Six. And so the Connors file out - Derek first, then Sarah, then John and then Cameron. The grey is tossed in the back and Derek assures Six, "Oh, I know just what to do with someone like this." He gestures to his clothing but says nothing more about it, not even to John and Sarah as they drive home. Later, after the police have been and gone, after the bodies have been collected, the front desk clerk returns to the store. He moves down the hallways, into the secure back room, and stops. The man frowns, and adds another line to his frown-creased face. The Connors didn't accept the two million offer. Now, he's going to have to hurt them. Margos Sarkissian pulls his phone from his pocket and makes a few calls. By tomorrow morning, everything will be in place. 

}}

What He Beheld

2014-06-22T05:21:37Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/06/21 |Location=Los Angeles |Synopsis=John, Sarah and their allies go to put the squeeze on Sarkissian in response to his extortionate demands..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2014/06/21
|Location=Los Angeles
|Synopsis=John, Sarah and their allies go to put the squeeze on Sarkissian in response to his extortionate demands. But the future is always shifting and events are moving as pawns are moved over the board. And Sarkissian himself is more than he appears.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 24, 38, 304
|Tinyplot=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' No one tries to extort anything from Sarah Connor, much less two million dollars. That sort of thing makes Sarah Connor mad. The meeting place is a little street in the Los Angeles CBD, in the vicinity of what looks like a computer store and LAN cafe, and the Connors pull up in their big, black SUV. Inside, John and Sarah doublecheck their handguns and holster them. John doesn't have one, and the young woman sitting next to him - Cameron - doesn't need one. The job is a simple one. Get in and convince Sarkissian that attempting to blackmail them was a mistake and, in the process, ensure that they never have to worry about him again. With that accomplished, they should be able to get him to tell them where he has stashed the Turk, the chess-playing computer that will, one day, start playing chess with nuclear arsenals. Inside Sarkissian's store, the lights are still on. It looks like there's still plenty of clients, even in the early evening. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' There's a member of the Connors' party who is not in the SUV with them ... or in a car, or even at street level. But if anyone were watching the local rooftops, they might catch sight of a large spider-like robot skittering and jumping her way across said roofs until she reaches the computer/LAN store. And there, Black Arachnia stops, already surveying for access points. Preferably of the hardwired variety, but she can make do with a wireless connection - but she's also looking for physical entrances to the building from the roof, just in case there's no way into the network from up here. ... or in the event that a robot (in disguise or not) could lend some weight to the Connors' arguments. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' How does one hide a nearly seven foot tall, heavily armored super soldier? Well we're in Los Angeles, so the answer is you don't. This town is known for it's weirdos, and people who love to dress up in costumes and take pictures with kids for about twenty bucks each. Right now, Noble Six is walking down the street, across the street from the shop in question. She's fully armored up, and is stopping to pose for photos and such, as needed. This gives her an excellent vantage point to see inside of the shop, as well as see any threats coming from the street. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa had come to help she wasn't sure about how to deal with the person blackmailing John's mother but she agreed if Turk need to be handled before it starts playing out the sort of thing that the anti cyberists on her world feared, hell she feared would come to pass somewhere else? Here she actuall wearing a jacket over her normal outfit to hide more traces of her cyberentic nature and a pair of wrap around hades cover her eyes. God this was in a strange way a blast from the past for her with how this world was to boot. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Derek leads the way into the building and the door lets out a pleasant sounding chime as he steps through, followed by Sarah and John with Cameron bringing up the rear. There's maybe a dozen young people in the LAN cafe area, no one in the actual shop, and a pale, gaunt-faced man with a perpetual frown working the counter. "Where is he?" Derek asks him. The clerk blinks. "Who?" Sarah grabs the man by his shoulder and forces his face into the wooden counter top. "He," she says, icily. "Need I repeat?" The clerk, slowly, raises his hand and points towards a door on the other side of the LAN Cafe, almost hidden by a vending machine. A few people have looked up from their games and Internet to look at the people hassling the counter guy. On the roof, Black Arachnia would find what looks like a fire escape. It looks like it could be forced open easily enough. There's a wireless network, something which seems to be the LAN Cafe's service, but nothing else. It's likely that this Sarkissian fellow is fairly switched-on when it comes to technology. Amidst the camera flashes and excited night people, Noble Six doesn't see anything too threatening - although the SPARTAN might get a glimpse through the window of Sarah and Derek's diplomatic efforts inside the store. And of the clerk reaching under the counter for something. Police alarm? Panic button? Warning signal? Who knows. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' First order of business: gain access to the building's network connections ... which, of necessity, starts with the wi-fi. How quaint. But that's just the customers' side of things - what good is a wireless network that stops at the building's walls? If you're gaming with others locally, that's one thing, but a cafe like this HAS to connect to the Internet somehow ... Black Arachnia quickly penetrates the network's security, hides her presence within it, and starts locating the Internet connection proper. If she can get access to the business's phone network connection as well, all the better. If all goes well, she'll be able to lock down the electronic perimeter before the clerk has time to push any buttons. She'd do better with a physical tap-in of some sort, but no time to rummage around for promising-looking wires or junction boxes. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is just keeping herself out side she can pull some stunts that this world isn't ready for. She's a bit bolder as to her the sorts of counter measures that could deal with someone like her even a rookie. She also had tapped some files on older programs that might have had counter parts here which means she could attempt certain exploits that were not known to people. She's going to start moving to lend Black Arachina a dital hand as she makes use of her wirelness connects to try and see just what suyprises the people are dealing with are packing. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The SPARTAN is still watching through the window, in between taking pictures, and when she sees the hand starting to dip below the counter, issues her warning over their radio frequency. She excuses herself from the crowd that had gathered, and makes her way across the street, to get closer to the building. She knows she could take a shot from here without missing, but taking out this guy now, well, that'd pretty much ruin the plan entirely. She'll need to wait until she's 100% sure that he's about to pull out a weapon before she draws her own. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Black Arachnia gets inside the network without much issue - this is Windows XP-era stuff! - and quickly gets to shutting down the electronic perimeter. It seems like that she and Kotone won't ave much issue doing whatever it is they wish. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they can find much in the way of surprises - either Sarkissian is just a small-time crook who's somehow got his hands on the apocalypse device, or he's very good at hiding his stuff. Inside, Derek, Sarah, John and Cameron move deeper into the building. It's completely different once they get through the door, all white and business-like with harsh, flourescent lighting. As they round the corner, they find Sarkissian. He's a decent-sized man, where his size comes from muscle and not fat. His hair is close cropped, dark but greying, and his eyes go wide as he spies the Connors. Perhaps thanks to Arachnia's techno-wizardry, he's completely flat-footed. So much so that he drops his cup of instant coffee and runs for it! Outside, Six peers through the window. The front desk clerk rubs at his temples and slouches against his counter, no weapon in sight. However, there's three people moving towards the LAN Cafe, coming up the street. They're wearing grey coveralls, and Noble Six might be able to make out the rather telltale bulges of some sort of automatic weapons hidden on their bodies. Probably sub-machine guns. Trouble, in any case. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Oh, 'shutting it down' would be EASY. Black Arachnia's trying to be a bit more subtle than that - leave the customers' network traffic unimpeded, but - if there's an emergency signal going from that button, for instance - attempting to keep it from getting out to cause trouble, immediately or later on. That standalone button, if a button it was, is probably rather conspicuous for its simplicity, so it gets intercepted, interdicted, and stifled entirely. She probably SHOULD see about heading inside, though, shouldn't she ... ? 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa she's looking to see what she can find there's not much in the ways of things laying in wait for them in this old grungy version of cyberspace. Humm so just what is going on here she's not sure and she's very much concerned at this point she's brought a weapon with her, and has a nanovest on so she's got osme protection. What was going on here? Either wy she's be moving in and Black ARachania would find Kotone's own prence she's going to attempt to stabotage anythign relatd to their target's own information networks and make it seem like nothing's wrong to him. She's not as effient as Black Arachina is however. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The trio of armed individuals look like they might be looking for trouble. Six decides to intercept them. She's not sure if they're more of those robots or some sort of human strike team. Either way she is going to try to stop them non-violently, as taking down three people in the middle of a street in LA is not the best idea unless they've started to attack. She moves towards them and sets herself in a position to keep them from entering the store, going back to her posing and playing like she's just some cosplayer. She'll determine their intentions first.% 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Sarkissian gets ahead of the group and ducks into a room, slamming the heavy, metal security door behind him. "John," Sarah says, "Go check the office - see if he stashed the Turk in there." John nods and races off, beginning to check through each door and each room until he tracks down the office. It's a decent sized room, filled with filing cabinets. Sarah turns to Cameron. "Can you get through the door?" Cameron steps up to the door. She looks at it, eyes going high and then low. "Yes," she declares, "But the wall would be much faster." And so, Cameron steps to the side of the door, clenches her fists, and begins to punch the wall, shattering cinderblocks. Her fists are a blur and, inside, Sarkissian is probably wondering what the hell is going on! Up on the roof, there are just subtle tremors as the only evidence of Cameron's handiwork. Up there, Arachnia has prevented any news from going out. No one should be finding out what happened here. And, thanks to Kotone, is anyone is monitoring the place remotely, no one will be able to see anything going wrong either. Early 2000-era technology is nothing to a Cybertronian and a future-tech cyborg. Everything's silent. As Six takes up the doorway, striking a pose, one of the grey coveralled men remarks: "Excuse me. We'd like to, y'know, get inside." Six has faced Terminators before and these three? They don't seem the type. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' The nice thing about being hooked into the network wirelessly is that Black Arachnia still has relatively unrestricted mobility, as long as the signal strength doesn't bottom out while she's moving around. So, keeping an eye on her wireless signal, she creeps over to the front edge of the roof, peers down over the edge ... And shoots her mouth off. Literally - that's where the mandible grapnel is located in her spider form, and she launches it down to grab one of the three guys, preferably one that's NOT in front, and just - yank him straight upwards. By the shoulders, so he shouldn't get worse than a mild case of whiplash ... At least not until she lets go, flipping him up and back in an arc that should land him cleanly on the roof. The impact ought to knock the wind out of the guy, ESPECIALLY if he lands on his back - and if that's how it goes, Black Arachnia turns and skitters over to crouch over top of him, looking all terrifying-giant-cyborg-spider-about-to-eat-you at him. "Who sent you?" the Maximal hisses, mandibles and palps quivering as if she'd love to dig into a fresh, hot meal of gun-toting thug. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' Well since Black Arachnia is going to be taking one of them, Noble Six reaches out to grab the other two by their overalls, and haul them up into the air. She figures that lifting them up off their feet will probably surprise them to inaction. But if that doesn't work, she'll just slam their heads together with the proper amount of force to knock them unconcious. This should be a good way to keep them from getting inside, without having to hurt them too bad. Plus BA is able to interrogate the third one, this'll work out for everyone involved. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa sees that she's got that all cleaned up at this poing and message the transformer. Her voice over cyberspace has an odd reverb that maker her sound more like an older Gen Transformer than a human. <<You all right up and and damn you got to be least class A with the stunts your pulling there.>> She's keeping her profile low as she's not a fighter but she is making sure no one will know just what's going on there and that she thinks is of use. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' With a final push, Cameron caves in half of the wall and steps through, followed by Derek and Sarah. The room is empty except for a single computer. A small hatch, some sort of duct or escape tunnel, lies open. Sarkissian is gone. Outside, Noble Six abruptly knocks out the two men with the ease of a pair of rag dolls. Some of the people photographing the SPARTAN cheer - what a show! With their focus on Six, they completely miss Arachnia hauling one of the greys up and onto the roof. His eyes go wide as he comes face to face with the spider Maximal. He says nothing, instead, going for something in one of his pockets! Meanwhile, John is tearing the office apart. He throws open filing cabinets, tears open boxes, yanks open drawers - and nothing. No sign of the Turk. John steps over to one end of the room, what looks like a storage nook, and gets that open. Inside, there's a young girl, coloring away on some spare paper. "Hey..." John begins, "What're you doing here?" "Waiting for my daddy to finish work." John kneels down to her level. "Okay, listen. I need you to stay in this room with the door closed, okay? Even if you hear loud noises or you get scared, you have to stay in here. Can you do that for me?" She smiles. "Yes." John grins. "Yeah? Okay." He shuts the door behind him, leaves the office, and goes to pick one of the locked doors. And that's when Sarkissian grabs him and puts a gun to his head. John is hauled out into a side alley, possibly just in sight of Kotone, followed quickly by Sarah - who levels her own weapon at Sarkissian. It's a stand-off. Or is it? 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Protip: when a giant robot spider hauls you away from your compatriots and tells you to talk, digging in your pocket is the wrong answer. And Black Arachnia DOES have hands - well, manipulators - in her spider mode ... but they're not conveniently placed for grabbing the mook's arm and keeping his hand out of his pocket. At least ... not directly. So she skitters a couple of steps back, seizing the mooks arms just below the shoulders - and then advances again, forcing his arms VIOLENTLY upwards to pin to the rooftop. The dislocation of shoulders, or worse, is not entirely unlikely as a result of this maneuver. More to the point, even if he DID draw a weapon, he won't be able to aim it at her. He might be able to pull a trigger - *might* being the key word - but unless it's a grappling hook pistol and he can pull himself out from under the giant cybernetic spider, it's not going to do more than make a fair amount of noise and make her even angrier. Something drips from her palps as the Maximal spider hisses, "I'm not going to repeat the question again, so listen and answer: *who sent you*?!" 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The crowd seems to think it's all part of the show. That's good. Six looks at the two unconcious guys, and fishes the weapons out of their coveralls, since the last thing she wants them to do is wake up with their guns on them. "Hate to say it folks, but the show's coming to an end. Thank you all for coming out, and have a nice day!" She's trying to disperse the crowd now. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' The crowd disperses, although many of them don't seem happy to have been asked to leave by such a great cosplayer! It's highly likely that they'll be getting home, trying to track down just who was so amazing at portraying a SPARTAN on the streets of Los Angeles. Soon enough, Noble Six is just there with the two grey-coveralled men. On the roof, Arachnia pins the man to the ground. Something pops in his upper torso and he shouts out, in obvious pain. "Nnngh!" he grunts, "You can't fight the future," he spits out, bites down on something, and he begins to froth at the mouth, spasming in Arachnia's grip. Down in the alley, the standoff continues. The door opens and Derek steps out. He's moving slow, gun in one hand, guiding the little girl from Sarkissian's office with his other. "Let him go," Derek says, with the quiet ice of someone who is making a very unspoken, very violent threat. Sarkissian stares right back at Derek, although he clearly looks out of his depth. "Not my kid." "Not mine either," Derek replies. "Are you okay?" Derek asks the girl. "Yeah," he murmurs, setting his hand over her eyes. "You're okay..." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is not part of the main force at this point, she pauses for a moment wondeirng what's going on. She pauses for a moment noticing as Sarkissian has grabbed John she maqkes her move heading for him, for once glad she can put this almost cursed body of her's to use, Sarkissian has no idea what she is right. She's moving in and is just moving in a bit not grabbing her weapon in the open. "That's enough out of you I suggest you let him go. The future has changed already there's new variables on the field." She looks at Derek for a moment she's supicous of what Derek is going to do. Then again he may just be covering the kid's eyes. She does know with how things are with John's explaing about Camreon if there's one like here there could be others and she attempst to see if there's any sort of wireless activity from the kid or the man holding John. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' It's a good thing for these guys that they're unconcious. Six hauls them up over her shoulders to get them out of the street, and then heads for a more secluded area so that she can perform emergency dental surgery. Honestly she doesn't really care if she hurts them in the process, because it's clear they'd rather die than tell what they know. Once she has them in a more secluded area, she grabs the first, and opens his mouth. Following Black Arachnia's suggestion for which tooth to try, Six pulls out her combat knife, and ever so carefully inserts it into the man's mouth, the intent being to try to pry out that suicide cap without setting it off. She just hopes he doesn't wake up while she's doing this and she has to stab him. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' Derek whispers out a quiet, "Ssssh, sssh-sssh..." As Kotone approaches, Sarkissian turns, distracted, although he keeps his weapon pressed against John's neck. He opens his mouth to say something and- Derek shoots him in the head. John flinches. The girl screams and Sarkissian drops onto the alleyway ground as Derek holsters his pistol. "Thanks," he says to Kotone, and then says to the young girl, "Let's go inside." Sarah moves over to her son and hugs him, tight. It takes John a few seconds to catch his breath. "He has a computer," Sarah says, "We'll pull the hard drive and you can look through it at home. I don't think we should stay here any longer." Out of sight, Noble Six drags the greys to a hidden spot and gets her combat knife into their moth. The first suicide cap comes off easily, the man none the wiser - although his jaw might sting in the morning! However, the second man wakes up to find Six's knife in his mouth - and he screams. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' The sound of the gunshot makes Noble Six hesitate, which gives the man she was working on long enough to wake up and scream. She pulls the blade from his mouth and covers his mouth with her hand to muffle his scream. "Listen to me very closely. I don't want to kill you. Do you really want to kill yourself? Because if you do, then do it. I won't stop you, I already got your friend's suicide cap out. I can extract all the intel I want from him. So it's up to you. Ask yourself, Is this the hill you want to die on? Make your choice, and make it quick." She removes her hand from his mouth, and lets him make his choice. She even stands up and moves to the other grey, pulling zipcuffs out of a pouch on her armor and tying his hands behind him. This guy was going to be a POW one way or another. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' The man makes his choice. There's a subtle 'crack' of him breaching his cap and, soon enough, he begins spasming. He's gone. Just one for Noble Six, it seems. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa seems to have helped or fucked up there's a look of stark shock and horror, more at the effect of the shot than the act happening. He was holding a friend hostage, clearly not caring about unleashing a crazed AI upon the word. Now she gets what Derek was doing, at least the kid /didn't/ see it directly. She grimaces and then looks to Sarah for a moment. "I can help look the data over, if you need it." She looks a about for a moment and notes "I got every camera around here scrambled there shouldn't be an issue but this won't hold forever." 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "Black Arachnia, maximize." It's kind of hard for a giant spider to rifle a corpse's pockets. In robot mode, Black Arachnia is not so restricted - and she goes through everything the guy's got. If she can fish the broken suicide capsule out of the guy's mouth, she does so - analysis of the residue could prove interesting, although it's a long shot. She also multitasks, checking the 'Net cafe's computers for logs of phone numbers called and websites visited, e-mail addresses received from or sent to ... You never know what might just offer a useful clue. But it's going to take a while for her to go through, too, even if John and/or Kotone are going to sift Sarkissian's own hard drive as well. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' In a few moments, John has Sarkissian's hard drive pulled from the computer. The store has cleared out by now - the clerk and the gamers have all apparently fled. Derek returns, holstering his weapon, followed by Cameron. "Thanks," John says to Kotone, "But I'll be fine with it. I kinda just want to go home now." Black Arachnia goes through the 'net cafe's computers but there doesn't seem to be anything immediately incriminating there. It makes sense - one wouldn't conduct such a sale through a public space. Everything must be on the hard drive. 

:'''{{#var:38|Noble Six (38)}} has posed:''' Noble Six brings the one that she did successfuly operate on to meet with the rest of the group, "Lets put him into the SUV and you all get out of here before the authorities show up." She notes. Last thing she wants is them getting caught here. 

:'''{{#var:24|John Connor (24)}} has posed:''' "Works for me," Derek says to Six. And so the Connors file out - Derek first, then Sarah, then John and then Cameron. The grey is tossed in the back and Derek assures Six, "Oh, I know just what to do with someone like this." He gestures to his clothing but says nothing more about it, not even to John and Sarah as they drive home. Later, after the police have been and gone, after the bodies have been collected, the front desk clerk returns to the store. He moves down the hallways, into the secure back room, and stops. The man frowns, and adds another line to his frown-creased face. The Connors didn't accept the two million offer. Now, he's going to have to hurt them. Margos Sarkissian pulls his phone from his pocket and makes a few calls. By tomorrow morning, everything will be in place. 

}}

Effectiveness and Nail Polish (John Connor)

2014-06-18T08:32:07Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2014/06/12 |Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles |Synopsis=Cameron is an enigma. John Cameron isn't sure what to make of her attempts to 'ju..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2014/06/12
|Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles
|Synopsis=Cameron is an enigma. John Cameron isn't sure what to make of her attempts to 'just make conversation' or many of her other quirks.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=24
|Tinyplot=
}}
It's a strange thing to sift through a Terminator's CPU chip, looking for clues. You have to keep the chip on just enough power to sift through its databanks without waking up the main programming - it is like glimpsing dreams. This one, the one that the women in its memories is lovingly calling Vick, is odd. All these memories of the woman, Barbara, someone who had no idea that her husband had been replaced with a cybernetic killing machine, who thinks that the man she loved was just injured in a car accident, something she uses to explain his odd behavior.

John watches the fragmented memories, again and again. Barbara was dead now. 'He gained her trust,' Sarah had said, 'Made her think he was human. Then killed her.'

All because of the thing she was working on. "Finish it," Vick says in his monotone, again and again. "Finish it."

John closes his laptop, figuring that he won't get anything more from it. The ARTIE program is important to Skynet, that much is clear. Important enough that a Terminator was sent back to protect its chief project manager. He turns toward his bed and jumps, startled.

Cameron is sitting there, staring at him. She looks away, towards her hands, as if she's aware that she's been caught out.

John takes a breath and is suddenly aware of the sharp smell of acetane. "You scared the hell outta me. How long've you been sitting there?"

"A little while," Cameron replies, not looking up at him. John frowns. It's a normal response from Cameron - logical, factual, but almost rather evasive.

"It was effective," Cameron adds, "What he did. When he touched her lips."

"...effective?"

"I could see that she liked that."

The room is silent. John turns back to look at the killing machine on his bed and asks, confused, "What are you doing?"

Cameron looks down at her right hand and then extends it out towards John, nails up. Her fingernails are bright pink, painted with perfect, machine precision.

"No..." John crosses his arms and folds himself over the top of his desk, feeling awkward. "When you say things like that. What're you doing?"

"Just making conversation."

"Since when do you just make conversation?"

"I don't know. It just seems like something I should do."

"Well, was having Morris impersonate me with Cromartie also something you thought you should do, no matter what happened to him?"

Cameron answers without hesitation. "Yes. Cromartie won't go back there. I wouldn't."

"The only way that I'm reassured by that," John begins, slowly, "Is if I remember that in the core of your chip you're just like him."

Something which is hard to keep in mind when she's sitting on his bed, in a dress, painting her nails.

"You cannot tell mom about that. Promise me."

But before Cameron can respond, there's the sound of heels on the wooden floorboards. "Hey," Sarah says. "Do I smell nail polish?"

Cameron looks at her, holds up her right hand, slowly waggles her fingers as if to indicate that she's been painting her nails. Sarah, seeming unimpressed, crosses her arms. The fact that Cameron had kept Vick's chip, hadn't told anyone about it, had soured their already cold relationship.

"What're you guys talking about?"

Cameron moves off the bed and replies, "Just making conversation." As she moves past Sarah, she turns her head back to look at John - and winks at him.

A Hard Lesson (John Connor)

2014-06-18T07:52:25Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2014/06/04 |Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles |Synopsis=John Connor has never really been able to forgive his mother for being human. |Th..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2014/06/04
|Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles
|Synopsis=John Connor has never really been able to forgive his mother for being human.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=24
|Tinyplot=
}}
It was dark when John Connor finally returned home. The house was quiet. Even so, John wasn't surprised when he was interecepted just inside the front door by Cameron. She never slept. She didn't have any frail, biological need to turn her consciousness off for a third of every day. She could never be vulnerable. She didn't have to deal with what John was dealing with. She wasn't born to a mother and a time-travelling father, she was built.

Cameron watches him for a moment, face impassive. "Hello, John. There's dinner in the refridgerator. Derek Reese got Chinese take-out."

"Not now, Cameron. I'll have some in the morning."

Cameron tilts her head to one side. "But breakfast is the morning meal. You have pancakes for breakfast."

John shakes his head. "It must be pretty simple being a machine, right? Everything is ordered, programmed, logical. You don't just... change your mind. If you got locked up in a hospital, you'd just think the same thing, day after day."

"It is not as simple as you think," Cameron replies.

"Yeah. Look, I'll see you in the morning. And I'm sorry to worry you and mom."

"Cromartie could have found you. I would not have been there to protect you." /Something/ flickers across Cameron's face then and John catches it but has no idea what to make of it. "I can't let anything happen to you."

"Yeah..." John replies, "I know. Goodnight, Cameron."

Later, John lies awake on his bed. He hasn't even gotten changed. He stares at the roof, trying to figure out what to say.

The door creaks open, John rolls onto his side. He knows it's his mother. He can place everyone in the house by how they walk. She walks across the room, slowly, and settles at the foot of his bed. She says nothing. The silence between stretches out into what feels like an eternity. Someone else is moving outside the room. Possibly Derek but probably Cameron.

"I never wanted you to see that tape," Sarah says, at last. "I was gonna destroy it. But... since you did, did you notice the date? The date on the tape. June 8th, 1997. Do you know that date?"

John doesn't say anything. It takes him a second to unclench his jaw and swallow away the tension, turning onto his back so he can face her. "I do now," he replies coolly, "That's the date you gave up being my mother."

He instantly regrets it.

"That's the date I broke out of there," Sarah continues. The words hurt her, but Sarah Connor doesn't cry. She's had no tears since the death of his father. "The day you came for me, I was coming for you. Because about three seconds after I signed that paper, I knew I couldn't live with it. I was coming for you, and I was gonna die trying."

John swallows again. "You almost did."

"So did you."

He looks to her again and the ghost of a smile crosses his face. "You were mad as hell about it. Yelled at me..." His voice catches and his eyes water. "Told me what a stupid move it was."

"I might have oversold that a little." Sarah places her hand on her son's knee. "I'll always find you."

"I'll always find you."

With nothing more that needs to be said, Sarah takes one last look at her son and leaves. Learning that your parents are fallible, that they can be weak and fail, is a hard lesson.

The Tournament (John Connor)

2014-06-18T07:02:32Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2014/06/01 |Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles |Synopsis=Sarah refuses to allow John to enter into the WMAT, but John has other plans. |Th..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2014/06/01
|Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles
|Synopsis=Sarah refuses to allow John to enter into the WMAT, but John has other plans.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=24
|Tinyplot=
}}
"John Connor," Sarah tells John in that no-arguments tone she uses so well, "You are not entering that tournament."

"That's not what-"

"It's too dangerous," Sarah continues and she repeats the familiar wisdom, "Keep a low profile. If something happens to you-"

"I know, mom! I know. But-"

Derek Reese, over by the fridge with a beer in his hand, cautions: "Just listen to your mother, John."

John frowns. "Okay, look, just listen for two seconds. Please. This thing, this tournament? It's a great chance. All this help we're getting from the multiverse? They don't work for free. If we win, we get something. If we win, we get our name out there."

"Which is precisely the opposite of keeping a low profile," Sarah remarks. "You don't think Cromartie won't be watching that? Won't be watching for us? I can't let you take that risk. I'm sorry."

John hates those rhetorical questions his mother uses. She patronises him and then Derek and her fall into step. Sure, they're just looking out for him, but if he's going to be some great leader, why don't they ever listen? Why don't they ever let him explain himself?

John takes a breath.

"No," John says, looking over the table as the fourth member of the Connor family entered the kitchen. Cameron looks at each of them in turn, not quite understanding why everyone seems so tense.

"I'm saying we enter /her/."

First Aid (John Connor)

2014-06-18T06:57:00Z

Bradster: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2014/05/06 |Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles |Synopsis=In the aftermath of the rescue of Derek Reese, John Connor has a pair of awkward ..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2014/05/06
|Location=Connor Residence, Los Angeles
|Synopsis=In the aftermath of the rescue of Derek Reese, John Connor has a pair of awkward conversations - one with Cameron, the other with Charley.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=24
|Tinyplot=
}}
John Connor can't handle being inside the house anymore. There's a man bleeding out on the kitchen counter. A man they went through a lot of effort to save, only for him to get his lung nicked by a bit of shrapnel right at the end. Derek Reese. His uncle. His biological uncle was being operated on by Charley Dixon, the man who John thought might actually be a decent stepfather. All because he went and grabbed him from his home and dragged him into this mess.

All things considered, Charley had taken it pretty well. He knew everything now - the reason they disappeared, why they had brought a bleeding man into their home, what Cameron was. Out of everything that had happened today, Charley's words to John - "I just wish you could have trusted me" - stung the most.

He just needs a second to think.

Stepping into the shed in the backyard, John takes a breath. It takes him a moment to realise he's not alone.

"You look nervous," Cameron says, in the back of the shed. The lights are off but she doesn't need them to see. "Would you like a sedative?" she continues, "There are sedatives in Charley Dixon's bag."

John flicks the light switch. Cameron is standing by one of the workbenches, her leg extended at an angle that would be a remarkable display of flexibility for a human. It takes John a second to realise that she's not wearing pants but she is wearing purple underwear. In spite of the fact that she's cut away most of the flesh around her knee joint, leaving the gleaming chrome of her endoskeleton exposed and revealing what she truly is, John blushes.

"Do you know who that is in there?" John asks her, dispelling his brief bashful spell. "Who's dying on that table?"

"Yes," Cameron replies instantly, turning back to tinker with her knee. "That man is First Lieutenant Derek Thomas Reese with the 132nd S.O.C. Operational speciality: Tech-Com."

"No, I mean, on a personal level. Do you /understand/ who he is?"

Cameron looks up. "Records indicate that only his blood relation is his brother - Kyle Reese."

John closes his eyes. Sometimes talking to Cameron is like pulling teeth. "And what information do you have about Kyle Reese?"

"Imprisoned at Century Sector Work Camp with John Connor, 2015. Escaped with John Connor, 2021. He was officially declared MIA in 2027 after being assigned to protect Sarah Connor from a Skynet attack."

John looks at her for a moment, questioning without saying anything. "Is that all?"

"It seems like a lot."

"It is."

But it's not the whole truth. And it raises more questions. For now, John doesn't focus on it. He tries not to focus on Cameron either. He should've found out where she was before going for a walk.

"How's the knee?" John asks.

"Damaged."

"I can tell," John drawls. He steps over to the walkbench and examines the metallic knee joint. "Can it move?"

Cameron demonstrates. Something whirrs and clicks. John knows machines, he knows how they should sound. That's not a good sound.

"Yeah, something's damaged in there, something probably got knocked out of alignment." As John talks, he slides over a toolbox, pops it open and pulls out a multitool. He brandishes it up at Cameron and grins. "Now, this won't hurt a bit."

"Of course," Cameron replies, "I don't feel pain."

John shakes his head, lays out a few more tools, and goes to work on Cameron's knee joint. She might be different, sure, but Uncle Bob all those years ago seemed to have a better sense of humor.

Later, once Derek was out of the woods, Charley finds John in the living room. John had packed up all of his paramedic gear. John was always very good at that sort of thing, logistics and efficiency, and now Charley has some idea why. To John, Charley looks old. So much older than before. His hair was greying when it had been flat black before. To John, it's only been a month. To Charley, it's been eight years and he wears every bit of stress as a new line on his face, as a new streak of grey through his short dark hair.

And eight years worth of questions stretch across the living room and between the pair.

"So," Charley says. "A, ah, a cybernetic organism over... a hyperalloy combat chassis."

John nods. "That's what she says."

"'She'." Charley shakes his head, waggling a finger as he picks upon that point. "That's kinda weird, isn't it? Because she isn't really a she. Um, she's not really anything, is she? But I guess you get used to her. Right?"

Charley had talked to Cameron. While she had been skinning the Terminator with a combat knife. Charley was still reeling from it.

"Yeah," he was saying, "You end up looking at her like she's a normal girl."

John laughs. "Normal? No. Definitely not normal."

"But, yeah, I- um- I guess it's easy to forget. What she is. Y'know, the more she's around."

John hasn't stopped smiling since Charley called Cameron normal. His face splits in a grin. This is all so ridiculous. He knows that Charley only ever got nervous about topics when they related to, well, certain things. And eight years hadn't seemed to affect that little quirk.

"Are you asking if I like her?" John asks, grinning. "Like, like-like her? No, dude, come on... That's insane."

"Is it?" Charley asks, not believing him, and he takes a step to settle onto the couch. "Don't forget, I used to see you down at the bike shop. With that girl."

"What girl?"

Charley tilts his head towards John and gives him a sardonic look. "/The/ girl, Johnny. Come on, with the parts counter? The one with the tattoo right there?" Charley points to his neck, as if to jog John's memory.

John smiles, rolls his tongue over his teeth and looks away.

Charley leaps on it. It's just like old times. "I mean, how many times did you and I go back for just the right brake pad?" The words are like a criminal charge, albeit a teasing one. That was Charley's justice. For all his close-cropped hair and tough demeanour, he was gentle and heartfelt in everything he did.

That's why, of all the men he had seen come and go, John wishes Charley had've been the one to stay.

"I thought I was being so clever..." John admits.

"And every time, I thought, yeah, that's my Johnny, he'll manage it."

Those words seem to have an effect on John. It's like the smile on his face becomes brittle, sad. That would was still fresh.

Charley glances down at his watch. "Now, I've got to go. Let's hope it isn't another eight years."

"It's only been a month," John replies, without thinking.

"Yeah. Right. Well." He holds out his hand to John and pulls him into a hug, clapping his hand on his back. He says, quietly: "Don't forget what she is."

And then Charley is gone, picking up his bags. He steps out of the living room, saying over his shoulder: "Take care of your mom for me."

User:Bradster

2014-06-17T14:56:04Z

Bradster:

Hey, this is my talk page. Not much to say. My first and most well-known character - and therefore name on the MUSH - was Bradley Carbunkle. I've also played other characters such as John-117 (the Master Chief), Batou, Bane (from Nolanverse Batman) and Shockwave (of Transformers: Prime fame). I also had an OC who I let lapse through mindlessness - Velocity from the Michael Bay Transformer films.

I have noticed that I tend to play characters that are robots or have some sort of crippling emotional problem. I'm not sure what that says about me.

My current plan is to app a Confederate of some description. Let me know if you have any ideas!

User:Bradster

2014-06-17T14:50:08Z

Bradster: Created page with "Hey, this is my talk page. Not much to say. My first and most well-known character - and therefore name on the MUSH - was Bradley Carbunkle. I've also played other characters ..."