Multiverse Crisis MUSH - User contributions [en]

TargetZoneSys

2022-07-22T18:50:34Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

'''>tz/holdings/view <PLAYER>:''' View a particular player's zones.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owner ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/cards/autoplay <COLOR>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone with a set of cards sorting for the highest of your preferred color. This command must be confirmed before it can be completed.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>:''' Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>:''' Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

'''>tz/color <COLOR>:''' Where the color is a hex color code for the color you want to use for your zone, this colors your zones and name on all views.

'''>tz/zone/explore <ZONE NUMBER>:''' If you own a zone, this command begins the process of adding a new zone link, to either an existing zone or a new zone.

'''>tz/zone/link <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NUMBER>''' Link two zones. The cost depends on their distance from your HQ, and between each other! You must own the first zone, and the second zone being owned by you decreases the cost.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>:''' Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/activity <ZONE NUMBER>=<SCENE NUMBER>:''' This may be used when you've attended any scene this day (the scene number), but don't plan to run one. It can be used to boost collaborations, or just cash a reward personally for attending scenes somewhere else. This command is provisional for Beta 2, and subject to change.

'''>tz/elite/raze <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' As above. Invasions reduce Green while leaving Blue unharmed, while Razings reduce Blue and double the Green value. To be used in scorched-earth or especially violent and ruthless actions.

'''>tz/elite/unplay: Rescind your post!'''

'''''Elite Residency'''''

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>:''' Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

'''>tz/missions/cancel <MISSION NUMBER>:''' Cancel an improperly-posted mission.

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-07-22T18:49:56Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

'''>tz/holdings/view <PLAYER>:''' View a particular player's zones.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owner ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/cards/autoplay <COLOR>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone with a set of cards sorting for the highest of your preferred color. This command must be confirmed before it can be completed.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>:''' Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>:''' Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

'''>tz/color <COLOR>:'' Where the color is a hex color code for the color you want to use for your zone, this colors your zones and name on all views.

'''>tz/zone/explore <ZONE NUMBER>:''' If you own a zone, this command begins the process of adding a new zone link, to either an existing zone or a new zone.

'''>tz/zone/link <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NUMBER>''' Link two zones. The cost depends on their distance from your HQ, and between each other! You must own the first zone, and the second zone being owned by you decreases the cost.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>:''' Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/activity <ZONE NUMBER>=<SCENE NUMBER>:''' This may be used when you've attended any scene this day (the scene number), but don't plan to run one. It can be used to boost collaborations, or just cash a reward personally for attending scenes somewhere else. This command is provisional for Beta 2, and subject to change.

'''>tz/elite/raze <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' As above. Invasions reduce Green while leaving Blue unharmed, while Razings reduce Blue and double the Green value. To be used in scorched-earth or especially violent and ruthless actions.

'''>tz/elite/unplay: Rescind your post!'''

'''''Elite Residency'''''

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>:''' Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

'''>tz/missions/cancel <MISSION NUMBER>:''' Cancel an improperly-posted mission.

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-07-06T04:10:03Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

'''>tz/holdings/view <PLAYER>:''' View a particular player's zones.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owner ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>:''' Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>:''' Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

'''>tz/zone/explore <ZONE NUMBER>:''' If you own a zone, this command begins the process of adding a new zone link, to either an existing zone or a new zone.

'''>tz/zone/link <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NUMBER>''' Link two zones. The cost depends on their distance from your HQ, and between each other! You must own the first zone, and the second zone being owned by you decreases the cost.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>:''' Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/activity <ZONE NUMBER>=<SCENE NUMBER>:''' This may be used when you've attended any scene this day (the scene number), but don't plan to run one. It can be used to boost collaborations, or just cash a reward personally for attending scenes somewhere else. This command is provisional for Beta 2, and subject to change.

'''>tz/elite/raze <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' As above. Invasions reduce Green while leaving Blue unharmed, while Razings reduce Blue and double the Green value. To be used in scorched-earth or especially violent and ruthless actions.

'''>tz/elite/unplay: Rescind your post!'''

'''''Elite Residency'''''

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>:''' Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

'''>tz/missions/cancel <MISSION NUMBER>:''' Cancel an improperly-posted mission.

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-06-28T23:00:08Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

'''>tz/holdings/view <PLAYER>:''' View a particular player's zones.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owner ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>:''' Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>:''' Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

'''>tz/zone/explore <ZONE NUMBER>:''' If you own a zone, this command begins the process of adding a new zone link, to either an existing zone or a new zone.

'''>tz/zone/link <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NUMBER>''' Link two zones. The cost depends on their distance from your HQ, and between each other! You must own the first zone, and the second zone being owned by you decreases the cost.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>:''' Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/raze <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' As above. Invasions reduce Green while leaving Blue unharmed, while Razings reduce Blue and double the Green value. To be used in scorched-earth or especially violent and ruthless actions.

'''>tz/elite/unplay: Rescind your post!'''

'''''Elite Residency'''''

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>:''' Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

'''>tz/missions/cancel <MISSION NUMBER>:''' Cancel an improperly-posted mission.

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-06-28T22:43:07Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owner ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>:''' Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>:''' Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

'''>tz/zone/explore <ZONE NUMBER>:''' If you own a zone, this command begins the process of adding a new zone link, to either an existing zone or a new zone.

'''>tz/zone/link <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NUMBER>''' Link two zones. The cost depends on their distance from your HQ, and between each other! You must own the first zone, and the second zone being owned by you decreases the cost.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>:''' Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/raze <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' As above. Invasions reduce Green while leaving Blue unharmed, while Razings reduce Blue and double the Green value. To be used in scorched-earth or especially violent and ruthless actions.

'''>tz/elite/unplay: Rescind your post!'''

'''''Elite Residency'''''

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>:''' Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

'''>tz/missions/cancel <MISSION NUMBER>:''' Cancel an improperly-posted mission.

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-06-28T22:11:12Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owner ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>:''' If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>:''' Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>:''' Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

'''>tz/zone/explore <ZONE NUMBER>:''' If you own a zone, this command begins the process of adding a new zone link, to either an existing zone or a new zone.

'''>tz/zone/link <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NUMBER>''' Link two zones. The cost depends on their distance from your HQ, and between each other! You must own the first zone, and the second zone being owned by you decreases the c

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>:''' Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/raze <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>:''' As above. Invasions reduce Green while leaving Blue unharmed, while Razings reduce Blue and double the Green value. To be used in scorched-earth or especially violent and ruthless actions.

'''>tz/elite/unplay: Rescind your post!'''

'''''Elite Residency'''''

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>:''' Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

'''>tz/missions/cancel <MISSION NUMBER>:''' Cancel an improperly-posted mission.

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-05-24T20:05:20Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owners ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>''': Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>''': Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>''': Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>''': Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>''': Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

'''''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!'''''

''(Wiki-Editor's note) There are 10 points to allocate across 3 fields. A field can have a value of 0.''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/unplay''': Rescind your post!

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>''': Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

'''>tz/missions/cancel <MISSION NUMBER>:''' Cancel an improperly-posted mission.

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-05-22T16:51:33Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owners ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>''': Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>''': Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/unattack <ZONE NUMBER>:''' Rescind the previous action.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>''': Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>''': Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>''': Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

'''''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!'''''

''(Wiki-Editor's note) There are 10 points to allocate across 3 fields. A field can have a value of 0.''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/unplay''': Rescind your post!

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>''': Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Let the outcomes be what they are. When your Elite card is played, rejecting an opposition scene is allowed but means forfeiting. A >tz/defeat is their consolation prize for no roleplay.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

Midway

2022-05-22T02:52:38Z

Namazu:

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Midway
|Color=ff0000
|Char_id=1122
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/7kzYJgb.png
|FullName=Midway
|Gender=Female
|Species=Shinkaisei-Kan
|Theme=Kantai Collection-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=Princess of Progress
|Faction=Unaffiliated
|Rank=N/A
|Ranktype=Unaffiliated
|Groups=--
|Quote=You claim this hurts you? Irrelevant. You are a machine of war. Your purpose is to destroy. Pain has no meaning to you.
|PAge=30
|AAge=76
|Aging=No
|Height=200cm
|Weight=59kg
|Hair=White
|Eyes=Red
|Voice=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5quGz3UFoGY Kawasumi Ayako]
|Song=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ggynn8co1g Somnium ~ Arsenal]
|Profile=In the abyssal navy, there are numerous motivations. Some members seek a semblance of belonging, others search for a forgotten past, and still more seek only to become the most efficient killers. This dark admiral is an abyssal scientist, unconcerned with concepts such as restraint which serves only to hinder the steady march of progress. Arising from the lingering hate of a vicious battle fought long ago, she embodies the technological superiority held by one side of that battle and seeks to constantly improve her abyssal underlings, whether they want it or not. Outwardly, she is a cold, calculating individual who beholds all before her with an air of lukewarm disdain; a scientific, observational veneer stretched over carefully restrained rage. While she does command a fleet of abyssal warships, including her own artificially ascended creations, her personal arsenal consists of large numbers of abyssal attack aircraft. Per her own augmentations, however, this is not the limit of her offensive power; scattered reports suggest she consumes other abyssal ships and mounts their weapons to herself.

|Defining='''Display Their Might:'''
An embodiment of grudges and hatred left over from violent battles in the past. Offensively and defensively, she fights on the scale of warships and military installations.
*'''Toughness···:''' Striking her body is like striking solid steel; leaving marks and wearing down her endurance is far easier than leaving any sort of major damage. She regularly resists naval artillery fire and aircraft bombardments. An implacable foe.
*'''Strength···:''' A woman who has manhandled battleships without difficulty. Midway wields phenomenal strength. Lifting massive loads and throwing or slamming them about is an effortless venture. A true juggernaut when taking to the field.
*'''Combat Options···:''' Ranged options such as Abyssal fighter planes and bombers, naval artillery, machine guns, torpedoes, and depth charges. Melee options such as sickle claws, spiked armor, teeth, integrated blades. Standard Abyssal weapons have a distinct early 20th century feel and function, as Midway originated from the second world war.
*'''Arsenal - Ranged···:''' In addition to the usual wartime fare, Midway occasionally fields fantastical equipment. Experimental weaponry that would normally be impossible with the level of technology she is usually associated with. Wide-area tesla cannons, hydrosonic torpedoes, radio-guided bombs, rapid-fire rotary-barrel artillery, Armor-shredding drill shells.

'''Ordering Carriers:'''
Leader of the Black Fleet, one of the three major fleets of the Abyssal Navy. Midway's reach is much longer than that of a single individual.
*'''NPCs···:''' From the simple destroyers up to the modified Water Demons, Midway's minions are ship-themed warriors that typically operate in units, armed with the weapons she develops. Demons such as the Re-Class Aviation Battleship usually take on commanding roles and often act on Midway's orders without her present.
*'''Intrusion Immunity···:''' The unprepared psychic attempting to read or exert influence on Midway is met with a fathomless abyss of thousands of voices, shouting orders, screaming for help amidst thunderous explosions, aircraft engines, and gunfire. Identifying her own thought thread in the madness of war is all but impossible, much less focusing enough to challenge her willpower.

|Significant='''Admirals At War:'''
A prepared commander must make use of all forms of intelligence while conducting strategy.
*'''Extraordinary Senses···:''' Through use of radar, Midway can see through dense smoke, fog, bad weather, or simple darkness. Sonar has lower fidelity, but may detect objects through walls and floors by the sounds they make.
*'''Remote Viewing··:''' Scout planes launched by Midway can roam far and wide. She may choose to see through the eyes of any aircraft she launches, including fighters and bombers, even during active combat.
*'''Analysis··:''' Identifying critical exposed vulnerabilities or where vulnerable things may be concealed behind armor, as well as the best ways to bypass or penetrate that armor. Her specialties lie in physical protections and discerning ways around them. This is nearly instinctual. More esoteric defenses such as energy shields confound this sense.
'''''Stealth - Hunter·'''''

'''Tactics Are Crucial:'''
Additional abilities and resources available to the Admiral of the Black Fleet
*'''Adaptation··:''' Midway can dive underwater to any depth, does not breathe, and is unaffected by pressure differences.
*'''Water Prowess···:''' She can stand, walk, or skate on the surface of any body of water as well as move unhindered beneath the surface.
*'''Wealth·:''' When money is needed, Midway merely turns to the vast quantity of ships that have sunk over the centuries with holds filled with precious cargo.
'''''Knowledge - Tactics··, Repair - Improvised·'''''

|Minor=--
|Disadvantages='''A Pacific War ''<Trouble>'':''' She is an avatar of the rage and madness of war. This equates to a very intense temper that could be described as 'volcanic', hidden beneath the surface until it suddenly explodes. When prodded by failure, loss, treachery, or something she perceives as imperfect, she becomes fixated on it. In her research, this drives her to focus on a single project until its completion to the complete halt of all other development. In battle, this has an effect similar to tunnel vision. Even when beset upon by multiple foes, when suitably provoked, Midway fixates all of her attention only on the one doing the provoking. This lasts so long as her attention is retained and her frustration is kept high and her temper is not directly provoked by others present.
}}

TargetZoneSys

2022-05-21T19:27:39Z

Namazu:

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owners ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>''': Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>''': Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>''': Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>''': Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>''': Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

'''''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!'''''

''(Wiki-Editor's note) There are 10 points to allocate across 3 fields. A field can have a value of 0.''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/unplay''': Rescind your post!

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>''': Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

'''>tz/reside/name <NAME>''': Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

TargetZoneSys

2022-05-21T18:00:20Z

Namazu: Created page with "This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference. TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things..."

This page contains the contents of >TZ/HELP for easier command reference.
TargetZone System is currently in BETA and details may change. This page will be updated until things are finalized; keep in mind that as the system evolves rapidly during testing this page might not always be completely accurate.

== TZ Main ==

'''>tz''': Open main menu, view territories, potential scenes, and your configuration.

'''>tz/missions''': Open missions menu

'''>tz/claims''': View pending claims

'''>tz/threats''': View pending attacks.

'''>tz/holdings''': View a general lay of the land.

The easiest way to use this new system is to simply use '''>tz''' or '''+rp''' to see available scenes, and roleplay in them! Use '''>tz/elite/defeat <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you opposed the scene creator and won, or '''>tz/elite/collab <Player>=<Scene Number>''' if you helped them or otherwise were present in a friendly way.

== >tz/help/scenes ==

'''>tz/elite/triumph <NUMBER OF ATTACKERS>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have played an Elite Card, experienced an attack or other opposition, and have triumphed. State the number of enemies you triumphed over, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the card player, and not the individuals who opposed them.

'''>tz/elite/defeat <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you successfully opposed someone playing an Elite card, preventing their triumph. State the enemy, and the log number for the scene. This should not be used by the card player (scene runner), and instead by the opposition.

'''>tz/elite/collab <PLAYER>=<SCENE NUMBER>''': Use this command when you have completed a scene in which you collaborated with someone playing an Elite card, assisting them or even simply socializing. State the ally, and the log number for the scene. This should be used by the collaborator, and not be used by the card player.

== >tz/help/owners ==
'''''SENDING CARDS TO ZONES:'''''

'''>tz/cards/play <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': Support a zone you own using a particular card.

'''>tz/claim <CARD NAME>=<ZONE NUMBER>''': If a zone is unclaimed and neighboring a zone you own, you can claim it with this, and its starting parameters will be defined by the card played to claim it -- unless a competing claim beats yours! Starting green is defined by the claiming card's green, the winning claim is defined by the highest red.

'''>tz/unclaim <ZONE NUMBER>''': Start the process to release a territory, or cancel a claim.

'''''ZONE INTERACTIONS:'''''

'''>tz/attack <ZONE NUMBER>''': Lay siege to an another zone using the combined forces of every zone of yours that's adjacent to the target zone.

'''>tz/zone/name <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE NAME>''': Rename a zone! It can be any name at all, but we recommend it being something unique.

'''>tz/zone/desc <ZONE NUMBER>=<ZONE DESC>''': Describe a zone! Write down what you think you're going to be doing with that zone and its resources, if you feel like adding a lot of flavor.

== >tz/help/elites ==

'''>tz/elite/config <RED>/<GREEN>/<BLUE>''': Configure your own Elite card. Red is your capacity for infrastructure destruction or defense, blue is your capacity to understand, explore, or exploit resources, and green is your capacity to create new infrastructure!

'''''>tz/elite/config must be performed before you can act as a free agent!'''''
''(Wiki-Editor's note) There are 10 points to allocate across 3 fields. A field can have a value of 0.''

'''>tz/elite/play <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Support any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("building defenses", "performing research on wildlife", "rallying troops to assault the nearby zone"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/invade <ZONE NUMBER>/<ACTIVITY>=<TIME>''': Attack any zone using your Elite card. This declares your intention to be open for a pickup roleplay scene! Provide a one-sentence description of your activity there ("sabotaging infrastructure", "beating up all the goons", "burning the libraries"), and a description of the time you have available to scene ("1 hour", "2 hours", "the rest of the evening", etc).

'''>tz/elite/unplay''': Rescind your post!

'''>tz/reside/config <COLOR>=<AID/DEFY>''': Configure a personal residence. This can only be done if you don't own territory. Aid or defy via a certain color to produce a very small bonus that scales with regional activity.

>tz/reside/name <NAME>: Name your residence.

'''>tz/reside/desc <DESC>''': Provide a brief description of your residence.

'''>tz/reside <ZONE NUMBER>''': Select a zone in which to reside.

== >tz/help/missions ==

'''>tz/missions''' to view available missions.

'''>tz/missions/post <ZONE NUMBER>/<COLOR>=<ACTIVITY>''': Post a mission to the missions board. Color should be the Resonance color you most want (red, green, or blue). The activity should be a simple hook ("Take control of an infested factory", "Study and capture the local wildlife", "Build essential power infrastructure", etc).

'''>tz/missions/take <MISSION NUMBER>=TIME''': Take a mission. Say how long you have to complete the mission! For example, "I've got two hours "

== >tz/help/views ==

The majority of views can be accessed through pueblo links. This information is provided for the benefit of non-pueblo users.

'''>tz/viewarchetype <ARCHETYPE NAME>''': View the deck which a zone draws from. ''(Case-sensitive)''

'''>tz/viewcard <CARD NAME>''': View a card. Doesn't work on Elite cards, +finger the character instead!

'''>tz/viewzone <ZONE NUMBER>''': View a zone, its archetype, its description, and so on. If you're the zone owner, you can view its currently played cards and its log.

== >tz/help/gamerules ==

The new Target Zone System is a simplifed 4X structure, designed to create and incentivize pickup roleplay and leadership roles. Zone owners, referred to as Strategists (temporarily), may assert control and/or protection of target zones in Secundus, and the strange Echo inhabitants therein. By doing so, they can extract useful resources from these zones (represented by cards). These resources can be re-invested in their zones to improve them. Zones are adjacent to other zones based on their Warpgate links, and allow for claims or attacks to adjacent zones.

Any player characters (Strategist or otherwise) may create a player card, referred to as an Elite Card, which is significantly more powerful than non-player cards. By claiming, investing, and conflicting, the Target Zones system should create a complex and enjoyable automated metanarrative to encourage pickup roleplay, while providing mechanical rewards to highly active roleplayers and roleplay-creators. The game is played in turns, with one turn occurring each day.

'''RESONANCE'''

Zones are marked by three metrics: Red, Green, and Blue Resonance.

Green Resonance determines the number of cards that can be played to a zone, and acts as the "HP" of a zone's defenses. It represents the total capacity of a zone to receive and sustain resources: Infrastructure, manpower, and other necessities of receiving and using the contents of cards. It determines the number of cards (excluding Elite cards) that can be played to a zone. It is reduced by attacks or an upkeep value determined by its distance from the owner's capital base.

Blue Resonance determines the productivity or exploitability of a zone, and acts as the "mana" of a zone. By increasing the Blue Resonance, you increase the number and quality of cards received from the zone, requiring higher investment per level. It represents the knowledge, research, and explored resources of a zone, by which it creates useful manpower, technology, or resources. It is not reduced by a standard attack, and all gains persist indefinitely.

Red Resonance determines the attack power and "armor" of a zone. It represents the currently deployed military, security, and conflict-winning resources in a zone: Soldiers, hazards, defenses, weapons, or heroes. Red Resonance provides a flat reduction to incoming damage, and reverts to 0 after every day-cycle.

'''CLAIMING ZONES'''

Zones are claimed by using the claim command to send a card to them, and may only be claimed if you have a supply line to maintain ownership of a zone, meaning it must be adjacent to another held territory. Its starting Green resonance is determined by the card used to claim it, and uses any existing Blue value. In the event that multiple claims are made over a zone, the claim with the highest Red value wins (dice are rolled in scenarios of equal red). Claims can only be made on un-owned territories.

'''ATTACKING ZONES'''

When attacking a zone, one Strategist declares their intent to attack a specific targeted zone. When the daycycle occurs, the Red Resonance of all of the attacker's zones that are neighboring the defender's zones are added up to an attack value. The defender's zone's Red Resonance determines the defense value. The Green Resonance of the zone is then reduced by the overflow of the attack value vs the defense value (or remains zero, if a focused defense occurred).

'''HOME BASE'''

This is the central location that determines upkeep values. At this time, it cannot be moved (pending design and possible updates). Strategists cannot be mechanically forced to lose their home base, which will always have a base +10 minimum for all Resonances. However, if a Strategist chooses to do so, they may unclaim their home base to withdraw ownership of the zone, representing a retreat or defeat. This is subject to MUSH consent rules.

== >tz/help/etiquette ==

Remember your home. All events in the Secundus area are subject to the same rules as events in the main MUSH.

Remember who you are. Don't deploy your own alts to directly assist each other.

Respect time. It is strongly recommended that scenes remain below a three-hour duration. A one to two hour duration or lower is meant to be standard. This is a roleplay option for people who can't dedicate six hours to a scene.

Pace yourself. I know poses balloon out even if you want to do a light scene. The use of >clock is mildly encouraged if time gets out of hand (+bbread 14/115)

Stay true to yourself. When the opportunity is available, do not repeatedly reconfigure your Elite card just to win more. However, optimal deployment of alts isn't condemned.

Keep it clean. Play well, but creating small, quality scenes is the priority.

Talk it out. Territory owners succeed when they ask for help. Free agents succeed when they take missions.

Stay objective. Csys combat is a pretty neutral arbiter, and is standard for combat unless you know the other guy and feel comfortable not doing that.

7432/The Mirror Sea Pt1

2021-03-19T22:49:02Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2021/02/19 |Synopsis=After some time in tense peace, the Princess of Progress has shown herself in a section of the Great Ocean patrolled by a unit..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2021/02/19
|Synopsis=After some time in tense peace, the Princess of Progress has shown herself in a section of the Great Ocean patrolled by a united seagoing peacekeeping force known as the Azur Lane, and their ideological rivals, the Crimson Axis. It is neither of these factions that draw Midway, but rather, rumors of a facility operated by the mysterious Sirens, concealed within a dangerous patch of ocean: the Mirror Sea.
|Cast of Characters=1122, 685, 7061, 457, 7075, 7
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Entering the Mirror Sea is remarkably easy. So easy that one could even do it without realizing. The initial transition is subtle, unlesss one looks back whence they came -- and sees their own image and the infinite expanse of the ocean reflected back on them. It's a bizarre phenomena, poorly documented, poorly understood. Major shipping avoids these Mirror Seas when they appear, as entire flotillas are known to disappear into them if they don't escape quickly.     Sometimes, entering the Mirror Sea is intentional. Such an incident is today, as announced by the Princess of Progress. Somewhere in this region, the Abyssal known as Midway lurks. It's not the kindest environment for normal sensors or radio waves, though the Multiversal-tuned Radios work much better. Radar keeps turning up false contacts, as it bounces off the distant walls and obstructions of the Mirror Sea itself.     Wedge-shaped aircraft, distinctly different from those fielded by the Abyssal Navy, engage in a dogfight against the ball-shaped Abyssal Hellcats more well-known to be fielded by Midway. As the aerial battle plays out, both sets of warring aircraft clearly ignore surface-bound newcomers. In the distance, initially not showing at all on radar and yet plainly visible; black and gray hulls of futuristic-looking warships marked with glowing crimson lines. Far too small to have human crews, and yet, clearly participating in the battle with anti-air energy weapons. The biggest one is perhaps only the size of a large truck, despite its clear purpose as a battleship.     And in the middle of this formation, the Princess of Progress, a gaunt and ghastly figure, ghost-white skin, billowing white dress, and wide eyes glowing scarlet; perfect circles of crimson hate. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     "All units, switch to visual tracking, Radar will be useless within the area of effect." Shigure transmits before contact with the border of the Mirror Sea. She's come alone, talking to other responders as she unhooks her rigging from her back, bracing for whatever trickery the Princess of Progress has in store. "Air Wing, you are weapons free on any threats inbound." As the barrier is crossed, and the scale of what's happening is revealed the Destroyer slows, and turns off bearing just slightly. "That's Midway in the center... but what are those other ships, I have never seen that configuration before..." 

:'''{{#var:7061|Lily (7061)}} has posed:'''     Somehow getting the direction to this Mirror Sea, the most out of place boat in this field of warships... a simple speed boat driven by Rei with one more figure on the back, Lily herself, with an assault rifle under her arms. "Hi hi, Lily here! Don't mind us, it's a new area we just /have/ to explore!" the boat just speeding past... and right into the mirror sea with a yell of excitement. "Rei, keep it steady, keep it steady."     "Understood~. Be careful, Lily, I'll be here if you need the boat again!" Lily just nods while the boat slows a bit down, not by much, both of them looking at the strange area... looking behind to watch the mirror image just get smaller and smaller as that speedboat just churns on, hopping over some waves.     And there's an air battle overhead... strange ball shaped things and black, wedge aircraft going at it.. and strange warships in the distance... "Hmm." she gets this grin on her face and aims her arm. A grappling hook shoots out and grasps at the Hellcat ball, yanking the girl off the boat and into the air, "WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! Oh this is faaaaaaasst!" beat "Hellcat?"     Well, if she's going to let her borrow it... might as well make some use of it, "Okay, bring me higher..." as bullets from the assault rifle spray out to shoot at the wedge-aircraft, adding a bit of anti-air firepower to this planething! 

:'''{{#var:457|Evangeline (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline, the little Neuroi, follows after Shigure in the air. <...understood...> she radios back at the advice about radar, her voice quite soft and with little inflection as usual. Once the barrier is crossed she too slows to a hover. <...they look like...Neuroi...> Evangeline says over the radios. <...but...Neuroi cannot operate on water...> she adds.      She flies up higher, then tries to zoom in on one of the strange watercraft, trying to identify it. And she broadcasts the video feed to the others who can receive it. <...should I scout ahead...?> 

:'''{{#var:7075|Nanoha Takamachi (7075)}} has posed:'''     The battlefield personified, Midway, has been traced to this location. As Shigure moved to investigate, Nanoha was only too happy to join along and provide support. She's not faced off against the Abyssal, though she's heard of her and her kind. Potentially dangerous. And should probably be investigated when they express interest in a location.     And a weird location it is. Flying along not too far behind and above Shigure, Nanoha glances around as they move deeper into this part of the sea, "Do you feel that, Raising Heart?"     The staff in Nanoha's hand chimes, <Confirmed. Medium levels of interference. Caution> Nanoha nods along in agreement, before focusing on what's happening ahead. An aerial battle by the looks of it, with some of the forces registering as Abyssal. The others... Unknown. Though their colour scheme looks just a tad menacing.     Still! Don't judge a boat by its paint job. Nanoha radios a signal to the other Paladins in the area, "We should try and establish contact with the unknown force. They might prove to be friendly and can help in taking down the Abyssals." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' For the first time in a very long time Kotone's life had been very quiet, between her more mundane paladins duties she'd had time to catch up with friends and even her family. However it wasn't to last as here she was in the Mirror sea with Shigure, Eva and Nanoha. Koton thanks to Evangeline ability is up in the air with her flying along. Her body looks seek now with glowing red lines looking much live Eva save for her face which has a transparent red visor over it. She seems pretty pumped to be flying. <<Thanks for the help Eva!>> Kotone has a few hovering drones with her though they latched on to her body for the moment as she keeps up with Eva. <<Right switching scanning modees>> Kotone has a few non-radar options and will shift to infrared hopefully the heat signatures from the enemy are not masked in some way. <> Kotone would brank heading or the unknown high tech ships which she'll try to contact. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     The Princess in the middle of the unknown flotilla lifts her head, fixating those wide scarlet eyes on the first to wander into her apparent range. It's an expression the destroyer may recall from earlier encounters; in the brief moments when the roiling rage concealed within Midway is briefly brought to the surface. She raises her arms to either side, talon-tipped fingers angled upward. Something sparks behind her, materializing and expanding itself into a sleek backpack-like shape. A grid projects past her hips on either side, expanding itself into armored arms housing multiple gun turrets on the left, and a flight deck on the right.     Wordlessly, the Princess sweeps one arm back, the other thrusting forward.     The unknown fleet milling around Midway swings into action. Being so much smaller despite their obvious intended roles, these are a bit more maneuverable than one might expect, coming about into a battle line remarkably fast. The larger vessel, its profile suggesting a battleship or heavy cruiser, opens fire on Shigure with a spray of spherical blue orbs. Around it, the smaller escorts swing their anti-air batteries towards the aerial intruders, filling the sky with bursts of blue beams and orange-tinged bursts. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     The Princess fixes Shigure with that wild glare... and before the destroyer can register what's happening, she's pulling some kind of rigging on and then /ordering/ those small unknown ships into attack formation. As they open fire, she calls. "Evasive Maneuvers!" pushing the throttle and... taking a direct hit. The orbs strike home and she's knocked skidding sideways, a plate of metal falling from her Rigging, trailing smoke as it's slagged from the impact. "Damage Control, lay to turret three. All gunports, open fire!" she brings her rigging up, and fires back at the picket line of Production Models, lobbing 12.7cm shells at them. "Reload. Armour Piercing. Ahead full, bring us about, bearing 165." she murmurs to herself, and adjusts course to take her in closer to the Princess and her new allies... Midway will know what's coming. A torpedo run. 

:'''{{#var:7075|Nanoha Takamachi (7075)}} has posed:'''     Nanoha continues to fly along with the others, cautiously watching the forces ahead. She's just about to get on the radio to contact that unknown fleet when Midway chooses to take notice of their approach. Nanoha watches the battlefield manifest her equipment, "Oh, this can't be good..."     Even as the call for evasive maneuvers comes in, Nanoha starts swerving through the air as those unknowns begin to rain laser fire down on them all. Bolts rush pasts Nanoha as she turns and rolls through the air. Bursts explodes around her, scorching parts of her Barrier Jacket that are caught on the edge of the explosions. Nanoha takes a few hits as she tries to evade, but not enough to worry her just yet, "So much for potentially being friendly!"     The Aerial Mage is already preparing a counterattack as she maneuvers through the air, spell rings appearing around the head of her staff. She points the weapon forward towards the front line of the enemy formation, an orb of pink forming and quickly growing in size. Once her spell has charge, Nanoha calls out, "Photon Smasher!"     The orb bursts, a large beam of pink rushing forth to quickly close in on the first of those unknown ships. But as it strikes, Nanoha turns her staff to the side, causing the large beam to sweep around. It cuts through the water, large clouds of steam rushing upwards. It also threatens to blast any of its targets apart. 

:'''{{#var:7061|Lily (7061)}} has posed:'''     Lily smiles a bit, this is just too fun for her. As such, she draws herself closer to the Hellcat, firing out some more sprays of gunfire to take out some more aircraft.. at least, that's when the blue beams and orange burst. "Lily, incoming anti-air fire. Please be careful!" "Of course... hey, Hellcat. Bank around, let's avoid this." as it follows Lily's commands, it ducks down to try to avoid the fire while Lily's assault rifle dissapears and gets replaced with a sniper rifle. "Rei, anti-armor bullets, please." "Loading. Inventory set, you can reload now." "Got it, reloading!"     Lily swings herself around to land right on top of the Hellcat, kneeling and holding herself tightly to the flying ball... "Hey, keep steady, I need you to be steady please." she requests from her 'ally'. She aims, looking at the bigger ships, looking for the bridg, maybe she can snipe a weapons control officer...     There's the aim... and... the click, the anti-armor shell causing recoil, sending the girl off the hellcat... only to relatch right under it with her grappling hook. "Woah..." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone is closing on on the unknown fleet but soon she's finding out this wasn't the best idea at all. The small high-tech ships will bring their AA systems online and open up. She and Eva would fin they are under fire and while Kotone is fast? She's not fast enough to avoid all the fire coming her way. She takes several hits which pit across her body, and to her surprise, the breaches start to seal up. There's still damage but there are no open holes to worry about things getting inside her. Damn that was cool she muses before she banks. What was an interesting effect of what Eva did to her. She will level her arms which morphs into some sort of rapid beam emitter much like her SMG or assault rifle which she uses as she'll do a strafing run on the ships opening up on her. 

:'''{{#var:457|Evangeline (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline looks over at Kotone as she is thanked and gives a very slight nod. <...you're welcome...> she says before following after Kotone and Nanoha.      Despite being able to see the other ships lining up and Midway pulling out some kind of...cybertech fit out? As she is looking at it, those AA shots come in. Evangeline's shield flares, a sphere of hexagonal energy plates appearing around her.      But, despite that, noticable portions of her body and arms are gone by the time she gets through the barrage. As Nanoha engages from one direction, the ends of Evangeline's arms begin to glow a sinister red. She takes up a flanking position with Nanoha and brings both arms together. The glow intensifies until it looks like a red star in the sky. Almost in time with the mage's pink beam comes a thick red beam of energy. It too cuts into the water and starts sweeping across the ranks of the unknown ships. At first it only leaves glowing red in its wake, but moments later the sea and any ships caught in the ray are caught in an upward explosion if not outright suddenly and violently disintegrated by it.      And after hearing Nanoha the little Neuroi adds after a moment. <"...Breaker Beam..."> 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Shigure's barrage buries itself into one of the escort MP vessels, blasting out the opposing side. As it lists, burning, the vessel dissolves into cubes, which in turn vanish into glittering crimson particles. Lily's unable to locate any sort of crew; but that looks important! An anti-armor sniper round punches through the squat bridge tower of the cruiser-like vessel. Similarly, this results in an explosion. The larger ship doesn't start to dissolve, but it does catch fire, and whatever was destroyed casts all of the gun batteries into chaotic disarray.     Kotone's strafing action punches holes through several of the escorting ships, softening them up and drawing their attention. A great pink laser sweeps across them next, trailing explosions and a great wave of water. Before the wave has even settled, Evangeline sweeps in the other direction, drawing destruction through the flotilla with another blast of water and force. When at last the sea settles, only the bow section of the heavy cruiser remains, pitched upward, sinking as it dissolves into scarlet particles.     This leaves Midway on her own, somewhat charred by the wide-angle weaponry being used, but still very much standing. Her expression does not change, wide-eyed and staring, mouth concealed behind that brace of horrific spines. Her outstretched hand retracts, her posture shifting as the Princess begins gliding backwards across the rolling waves. A hanger door on her rigging slides open, and wedge-shaped aircraft begin spilling out onto the flight deck and hurling themselves into the sky-- distinct from the spherical Hellcats she's used in the past.     As the aircraft spiral their way up to their preferred altitude, Midway's choice of offense is with the guns on the opposite side of her equipment. The numerous turrets swivel, many elevating. One at a time, in a quick ripple of gunfire, the cannons loose out their shells. Small scarlet orbs. After traveling a few meters, the orbs burst; splitting into cones of smaller, needle-like blue projectiles which travel much faster.     Her motions are slow, drifting predictably from side to side. If Midway is expecting a torpedo attack from Shigure, she's not acting on it yet. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure continues approaching, bringing her rigging cannons up to tank through the split-shells. The needle-like projectiles digging into the metal, leaving charred and slagged marks in the metal and those that hit her body shredding away uniform fabric and leaving black marks on the newly exposed skin beneath. "... Something's wrong... Midway is acting strange." as those triangular aircraft launch and being spiralling up, and Midway goes into a very predictable movement pattern, "Those are not the Hellcats, either."     Regardless, the little destroyer continues approaching, hunkering down a little bit to get some more speed, before launching a spread of torpedoes at the drifting Princess. She does this by angling the launchers, then performing a 'bunny hop' as the gas projectors launch the little murder-sticks in a narrow pattern, bracketing Midway's maneuvering drift. 

:'''{{#var:7075|Nanoha Takamachi (7075)}} has posed:'''     Nanoha pulls away from her sweeping run as she watches the unknown fleet sink. It's unfortunate, but they only seemed to be automated units anyway. No signs of any actual intelligence, that Nanoha could tell.     Turning her attention to their apparent commander-or servant, Nanoha's not sure at this stage-Nanoha watches as a large number of aircraft begin to launch from Midway's rigging. They could be a problem. Thankfully, aerial combat is Nanoha's speci-<Master!>     The warning is too late though, one of those shells fired by Midway catching Nanoha straight in the chest and exploding against her. The only saving grace is her defensive magics which absorb much of the blast, though her Barrier Jacket takes a number of rips in turn. And Nanoha herself begins to plummet out of the sky after that hit.     Thankfully though, Nanoha is able to return to her senses in time to pull up, avoiding an impact with the sea and skimming across it at low altitude. Shaking her head to clear away the blast, Nanoha chides herself, "Focus!"     Once more turning her her attention towards those fliers, Nanoha swings her staff out to the side. Several pink orbs appear around her. She then points towards those formations, calling out, "Sacred Cluster!" The orbs rush forth, closing in on the fighter groups. And once amidst them they explode, releasing bursts of magical shrapnel in all directions to try and pepper the fighters to bring them down. 

:'''{{#var:7061|Lily (7061)}} has posed:'''     Lily just /grins/ at her shot and Rei zips around, this time heading towards Shigure, "Good job, nice hit! Though, please be careful..."     "I got it, I got it..."     "Are you sure?"     "Yes, how many more anti-armor bullets do I have left." beat "Nevermind...     As Lily tries to get back up on her mounted point on that Hellcat, the bullets continue to come, the scatter shells nail her Hellcat and it explodes, shrapnel from the plane and the shell make red cuts upon her body as she falls, looking for another Hellcat to latch onto, the grapple hook firing off to latch on and yanking the girl once more. "Okay, okay.... and..." once more, she aims, Midway seems to be unaffected but this is fine... she aims at a destroyer this time... firing off another anti-armor shot, that recoil sending her swinging back and dragging the Hellcat down some more! 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone's team up with Eva for the attack run and it goes pretty well against the strange ships. It's far from over though as Midway is not using the sort of rigging she's used before. She's not the only one to notice this either and soon she's hearing this over the comms. A plan is formed, focus on the rigging. She gets the idea she'll start to make ready for an attack run but as she's plotting Kotone would get caught with a good deal of fire that catches her left flank blowing a chunk of it out, it's painful but the regeneration thankfully helps with that, and it's going to take a bit to seal /that/ breach. "Damn I got cocky..." She'll follow EVE in and this time a different weapons forms from her arm it's Kotone's rail gun or it looks like it if Eva gave it a makeover which it did. It's some kind of energy cannon and it charges up as she takes aim on her attack run opening fire for the back portion of Midway's rigging as she flies by. 

:'''{{#var:457|Evangeline (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline has to take a few moments to recharge after unleashing her beam. In that time, the counter-attack from Midway takes its toll. Those needle-like shots punch through the Neuroi's shield and perforate her sleek black form. Pieces of her fall through the air, slowly flowing away into the air in pink sparkles that look like cherryblossoms.      Most of the damage is not too bad, but a number of those needles hit right in the center of Evangeline's chest, punching through the black shell there and exposing...something that shines with a bright and quite lovely rose-colored light.      It also causes Evangeline to let out an -actual- screech, one of those ear-piercing screeches similar to metal scraping on metal. She starts to lose altitude, and for a moment it looks like she might crash into the water. But, before she hits the glow fades as her shell reforms.      Evangeline flies back up into the sky and forms up with Nanoha, and as the mage unleashes another powerful attack Evangeline's arms and leg panels glow before unleashing a multitude of vectoring red beams, each one turning at sharp angles to go after their target. Namely Midway and her strange rigging. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     As the wedge-shaped aircraft ascend, they're set upon by spherical Abyssal Hellcats, diving and swooping through the formation with the chatter of gunfire. Many of the launched bombers are shredded by the onslaught, bursting into crimson dust. One gets snatched in a Hellcat's jaws, dragged along, burning before it breaks apart. The distinctive white spheroid planes then immediately scatter, breaking their formation as Nanoha's magic explodes.     As soon as the blast of magic dissipates, the Hellcats swarm back in, hot in pursuit of the unknown planes who survived the magical bursts. Lily's new Hellcat behaves as the previous one, obeying her directions, though this one seems somehow anxious to get in on the action. It occasionally swings unpredictably to open fire on the unknowns as they wander close to its crosshairs.     Water settles around Midway, also caught in Nanoha's blast. Despite trailing smoke, she continues her rearward motion, her expression unchanged; wide, staring, unblinking. Lily's latest shot punches through the flight deck on Midway's side, blasting out the rigging's underside. Something catches fire inside, black smoke curling from the hole with occasional flames. Kotone's rail cannon drives another hole, this time through the bulk of the rigging's superstructure, blasting a chunk out the opposing side along with the rail slug.     Evangeline's lasers converge on her next, from multiple angles, surrounding the Princess in crimson light and the resultant smoke and debris of an explosion. No sooner has this concluded than Shigure's torpedoes find their mark; an attack that Midway did not even seem to register as coming. This further obscures her in the columns of water and smoke. When it finally sloshes back into the sea, the Princess is significantly worse for wear.     Trailing smoke from multiple breaches and on-board fires, scorched and seared in multiple places on her body and dress. Several of those ghastly tusks have broken, partially exposing her mouth; which remains in an impassive straight line. One of her eyes is missing, that side of her face just an empty void with a single glowing red spot where the eye belongs. As she moves, pieces break off, as if her entire body were cracking, shedding crimson particles. She lifts her right hand, fingers spread.     Both halves of Midway's rigging split open, yawning apart like jaws with teeth made of jagged steel. The flight deck side only pours out flaming wreckage; while the gunnery side's interior glows with blue light. After a moment, it belches out a sphere of energy. After a few moments, this sphere starts casting out lasers in all directions, targeting not just the five gathered warriors fighting her directly, but also the weaving aircraft swarming above her. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure, having dumped her torpedoes, turns to gain distance, but gets skewered by one of those lasers from the giant ball. It punches clean through her leg, dropping her to a knee with a pained grunt. "D-Damage Control, lay to the engine room." A small group of fairies drop from her hip rigging, and slap a giant bandaid-looking hull patch on the hole in her leg, though her speed is limited by the damage.     The normal operation for a Destroyer in Suicide Range of a Battleship is to break line of sight and gain distance... however this is open water, and she's running on limited engine power after that last hit.     Shigure decides to abandon SOP, and turns back in, bringing her cannons to bear and opening fire on the (fake)Midway, holding up a barrage of shells and aiming for the blue side of that transformed rigging, attempting to disable it so it can't fire another of those big energy balls. 

:'''{{#var:7075|Nanoha Takamachi (7075)}} has posed:'''     Nanoha watches her shots take out a number of the wedged fighters, only for them to move on to engage the Abyssal ones. Even though Nanoha doesn't know Midway personally, this definitely seems like some strange behaviour. Shigure does raise a good suggestion as to the nature of Midway, though for the moment it doesn't really matter. They can sought it out once they've brought her down!     That ball of energy is fired, lasers beginning to lance out at many in the combat zone. Nanoha included, the Aerial Mage starting to weave through the air, diving down close to the water's surface to minimize any openings to those deadly lasers. A couple manage to sweep across her, burning parts of her Barrier Jacket away, but she continues to press forward, heading towards faux-Midway.     Nanoha raises her staff forward, pointing towards Midway. Orbs of pink begin to form in the air around her as she flies, Nanoha starting, "Axel Shooter... Avalanche Shift-" More and more orbs begin to appear, dozens of them. Until finally Nanoha calls out, "SHOOOOT!"     The orbs all burst, rushing upwards as beams of light that dance through the air. They spread out, weaving around each other and the aerial battle playing out in the skies. But they soon begin to rain down on mirror-Midway's position from all directions, repeatedly blasting her and the water with magical explosions. 

:'''{{#var:7061|Lily (7061)}} has posed:'''     Okay, that was it, these strange ships keep firing at her and she was having no more of this, time to end this and have a talk with the pretty dressed lady...     "Concentration," Lily starts, "Bullet Line Eraser..." she continues, "Explosive Shot." She swings herself up to mount back up on the top of this new Hellcat, "Sentry Style..."     "Lily? A lot of buffs are going up, what's going on?"     "Aiming..." she replies, "Spot something for me."     "Okay... aiming... relaying position, relaying shot vector."     "Wind speed check, Hellcat stability, check....."     "Lock on. Right there, Lily!"     "Anti Armor bullet loaded... catch me, I don't think I can recover properly from this shot!" and with that, there's a bang... and Lily gets veryeeted off the Hellcat, sending her spiraling down towards the ocean ... and the Hellcat does whatever it does! The speedboat turns around to maneuver towards Lily's position, should no one else be near. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone scores a direct hit from the looks of it leaving a hole in the rigging in its wake. It seems that's where it's going to be for her. While she can fly thanks to Eva? She's not used to it and makes a rookie flying mistake and gets caught up in the laser storm. It's painful she's looking a bit ragged now even with the regeneration. She looks at Midway she hears the idea to rescue her. As something is indeed off with it she will now turn about in the aftermath of the laser storm and brings several systems online. Her arms both morph into energy canons of some sort and emitters on her body which she tries to return the favour to Midway. Aiming to take out her rigging rather than her. "Not done yet!" 

:'''{{#var:457|Evangeline (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline just gazes down at Midway as the Abyssal princess's form starts to flake away. <"...where is Midway...?"> she asks, both out-loud thanks to a speaker watch and through an open frequency. <"...and why would you want to impersonate her...?"> she adds as she starts charging again.      That bright, sinister red glow returns to her arms as she takes aim. <"...and if you are not her...why did you attack us...?"> she asks as that star-like glow illuminates the area again.      She should probably wait for the answer before firing, but she can't just hold that energy forever. She floats upward so she has a more downward angle, probably to help ensure none of her allies are caught in the incoming attack. <"...Breaker Beam...">      The little Neuroi fires another beam that is as tall as she is. <"...no one deserves to be held against their will without just cause..."> 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Midway slumps forward, steadying herself with an outstretched leg rather than collapse after expending so much energy while so heavily damaged. As she recovers her poise, Shigure hammers her with shells, igniting the Princess' body and equipment. Orbs of pink magic pummel her through the growing cloud of black smoke, staggering her back a pace. Her rearward gliding motion has ceased, now, and she raises one hand to shield her face from the barrage.     A single high calibur round from Lily's rifle punches through her chest in a spray of crimson powder. The shell doesn't slow down; punching out through her back in a blast of shrapnel, then boring through her back-mounted equipment. The slug erupts from there in a spray of flames and shards of steel, disappearing into the ocean.     Hammering her equipment with additional fire breaks more pieces away, scattering chunks of burning metal into the water. A large portion of the structural tower collapses under Kotone's gunfire, sliding off into the sea.     Evangeline's questions get no answer. Midway merely lifts her gaze to the little Neuroi, struggling to bring her remaining weapons to the right elevation. This doesn't succeed before Evangeline fires, enveloping the Princess in a pillar of crimson that blasts up the water around her. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     As the water rains back down, two figures can be seen, now. The new one, coming in low, thrusts their hand up at a sharp angle, piercing the standing figure through their backpack; that hand tearing out through the chest, clutching something.     The water falls down completely, exposing Midway impaled on the outstretched hand of... Midway. The critically damaged imposter twitches, dissolving into scarlet particles, while the newly arrived one draws her outstretched arm in. The sphere she clutches, pulsing with golden light, creaks. With the sound of shattering glass, she crushes it in her hand.     This newly arrived Midway recovers her stance, standing placidly upon the waves, her arms slowly crossing. Despite her confident posture, this Midway is also damaged. Scorched, burned in places. Pulsating scarlet cracks run up her other forearm, though she seems to ignore all of this. Instead, silently, she taps her sleeve with her steel-tipped talons.     "And that is the last one. Welcome to the Mirror Sea. I see you have recieved as rude a greeting as I." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure staggers, dropping back to a knee as Midway kills... Midway? Okay this is getting weird. "Explain." she states, blue eyes meeting red with a defiant narrowing. Damaged as she is, she would likely fall prey to the Princess if she turned hostile now, but this whole deal has the normally placid kanmusu on edge. 

:'''{{#var:7075|Nanoha Takamachi (7075)}} has posed:'''     Nanoha comes to a hover as their combined firepower overwhelms the not-Midway, until finally it is defeated...     By Midway herself.     Not entirely unexpected, given the cryptic and ominous commenting the battlefield has been making during their battle. Still, it's an interesting sight to see.     As the metaphorical dust settles, Nanoha too is a little concerned about another potential engagement. So she hopes that none of the others get the idea to attack the real Midway and encourage one.     Shigure asks Midway to explain, Nanoha also wondering, "Who were they? And why would they create a fake version of you?" 

:'''{{#var:457|Evangeline (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline just hovers in the air for a few moments before she slowly floats down closer to the water. "...Midway...you are not captured..." she says in that quiet voice of hers. The Neuroi's head tilts slightly in an obvious imitation of an expression of curiousity. "...yes...please explain...and keep in mind that we are all still combat ready..." she says before looking around at the others to see if they are alright. 

:'''{{#var:7061|Lily (7061)}} has posed:'''     And there's a crash right onto the speedboat... "Waaah! Lily!" Rei shouts as the boat comes to a stop... she pulls out a pistol and starts shooting LIly brazenly with blue colored bullets. "O.. okay okay, I'm up, I'm up... ow..." "Don't scare Rei like that. No flying... you're not equipped for that." "But Rei, that w..." "Lily..."     A defeated look is on LIly's face, "Alright.." a pause before getting and turning to look at Midway getting defeated by... Midway? "Umm."     "Who's Hellcat balls were I riding?" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is aware she can't hold on much longer even with the regeneration that Eva has given her, she's put all she had into it but it doesn't sem to be enough. Just as things seem lost? Midway shows up? Wait Midway shows up? What the heck and kills the other Midway. She'll stop hovering there. "Wait what and Mirror sea?!" 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "This appears to be the primary defensive function of the Mirror Sea," Midway intones, "Replication and weaponization." Her head inclines slightly, "Upon arrival I was beset upon by a number of duplications of myself." Those glowing, scarlet eyes narrow. This whole time, she's had that half-lidded, chained malice expression. The measured Midway that Shigure has seen before. The face Midway typically wears. Before her internalized rage boils enough to shine through.     Unfolding one hand, she gestures, "One wandered off. Obviously, to confront you." Her hand resumes its folded position, "I suspect this is technological, rather than magical. Interesting, is it not?"     When Lily asks her unfortunately worded question, the Princess' eyes close, "The aircraft are mine." Behind her, the sea splits apart, the enormous bulb of her parasite rising into position. Its colossal mouth opens, baring mismatched human-like teeth. Hellcats begin circling above her, descending down into the parasitic rigging in a fashion not visibly dissimilar to a tornado.     "As this Mirror Sea and what it is attempting to conceal exist within the ocean, they belong to me." Her eyes open slightly, narrow slits burning with crimson, "I need only claim it. You are permitted to assist if you wish. If your wish is to deactivate this anomaly for the sake of civlian shipping, I suspect our goals are in the same location. If you wish to obstruct me; well. The location is unchanged." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     "So, it is some kind of technology, analyzing and copying combat data from anyone entering its area of effect... this will likely mean that I and my allies will be copied also." muses Shigure, pushing herself up onto her feet again, looking wobbly from the damage. "Protecting civilians is my main goal... if our goals align I see no reason to fight." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa get an understanding of what's going on with the sea. "So it copies invaders and throws them at the invaders. Quite the ability." The end of the fight is allowing her regenation to get some progress in and that's goos she has no want to fight the real Midway right now. She looks to Shirgure and then back to Midway as she nods. "I agree a fight would be rather pointless." 

:'''{{#var:7075|Nanoha Takamachi (7075)}} has posed:'''     Nanoha floats there, a pensive look on her face. The implications of the Mirror Sea's function... Shigure speaks of it out loud. There's a possibility that they too have been copied. That is a great concern.     Though as Midway questions whether they will assist or oppose her, Nanoha considers for a moment. This place appears to be a common threat, which creates the possibility of cooperation. But... "Depending on what it is exactly that this place conceals, a partnership may not last forever. But I would rather try and work together. Conflict will simply create greater danger for us all in the face of a threat like this." 

:'''{{#var:457|Evangeline (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline is quiet while the others speak, just watching Midway. She doesn't trust the Abyssal. But, she also gives a slight nod when the others talk about working together. "...as long as you do not try to make Shigure go Haguro...we can work together..." she says, then raises an arm to point it at Midway. "...but...if you try anything shady...I will not hesitate..."      She notices Rei shooting Lily and pauses a moment before moving as if to stop her. She even gets a bit of glowing red at the end of her arm. "...you should not shoot your friend..." she says. 

:'''{{#var:7061|Lily (7061)}} has posed:'''     Lily hmms a bit, "I see, thanks for letting me use them, it was good to get around." and then there's Evangeline... coming in... with red on her arms.     Rei blinks, "Shoot? Oh, it's my skill, Healing Shot. I just shoot her and she gets healed. It's not powerful but it works well enough! It's not like I'm shooting to injure her!~" 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "That is my suspicion, yes," Midway affirms to the various comments on the function of the Mirror Sea, "It appears to be a common feature in waters controlled by the Sirens. Thus I am given to believe it is an anomaly utilized to conceal something else of importance." One hand raises, fingers stretched out, and then closed, "It shall be mine. The fate of the device behind the Mirror Sea is of no interest to me."     Once her Hellcats are gathered up, Midway's parasite closes its mouth and then rolls itself off of her back. It disappears into the water below, as mysteriously as its arrival. "I have no interest in committing betrayals. While we are undeniably enemies, this endeavor is of greater priority." The Princess glides forward, then, passing between those gathered, "I understand that there is no reason to trust me. Therefore, I have little to gain by breaking what little trust has been offered. At least for now; we are allies. As tenuous as that relationship may ultimately be."     "Resupply and repair. We shall resume this expedition later. Better-prepared." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa looks to Midway for a moment she seems to get where she's coming from. "Sirens huh? I'll not forget that." She sees as Midway will be packing uyp she'll look to the rest of the group and seems okay with the deal. It's better than a two front fight over this place. "Yes I get it it tenuois but it's better than a two front war." She takes a deep rbeaht and ponders for a moment "We should get back to the base to heal up and rearm..." She also gives a faint smile to Eva as well, she seems pretty thankful for the help today from her. 

:'''{{#var:457|Evangeline (457)}} has posed:'''      Evangeline stops her approach and after a moment the red glow fades. "...that is strange...guns that...heal..?" One can almost hear a processing sound coming from the Neuroi as she floats motionless until finally she nods. "...okay..."      With that, she turns to face Midway and the others again. Her head tilts slightly at the smile from Kotone before she addresses Midway again. "...you do not command us..." she says, then looks to Shigure. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure nods to Midway. "For better or worse you have held to your word." she replies. There is some respect for the Princess here, though guarded. 
}}

Rhongomyniad

2019-05-11T02:08:17Z

Namazu:

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Rhongomyniad
|Color=#0099FF
|Char_id=6864
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/6CXtf91.png
|FullName=The Tower That Shines at the End of the World
|Gender=Female
|Species=Divine Spirit
|Theme=Fate/Metastasis-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=The Lion King
|Faction=Paladins
|Rank=4-Chevaliers
|Ranktype=Member
|Groups=--
|Quote=Look. Do you see it? Even if this is not the edge of the World, a world like this is beautiful. My lance will protect this brilliance.
|PAge=22
|AAge=Yes
|Aging=No
|Height=171cm
|Weight=57kg?
|Hair=Blonde
|Eyes=Green
|Voice=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QCIHFlfwdw Ayako Kawasumi]]
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03O3faj_Mw4 Knights of Justice]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCiJGl9NOBQ Rhongomyniad]]
|Profile=What happens if King Arthur does not die when she is fated to? The Goddess Rhongomyniad is a divine spirit who was once that human king, ascended through centuries of contact with a divine artifact. Having recently regained the memories from when she was human, she has taken it upon herself to become a living god of justice and chivalry, using her identity as a human king to inform her decisions as a goddess. Though confident in being a king, she does not properly understand human individuals. Her emotions lack a genuine feeling and she has difficulty truly understanding the feelings of mortals. When matters turn to force, she is no slouch, as the former King of Knights. Her weapon of preference is the one from which she is named, Divine Lance Rhongomyniad, an artifact that stabilizes the age of men by sealing away the divine, the demonic, and the phantasmal. Though Rhongomyniad does tend to charge ahead, a selfless paragon to inspire others, this also leaves her recklessly exposed.
|Defining='''The One True King:'''
* Wielder of the Divine Lance Rhongomyniad.
** ''Weapon Mastery - Rhongomyniad:'' Mastery of the Divine Lance and how it is used in battle.
** ''Attack List - Ranged:'' The Divine Lance may also be used to fire beams of light, at varying intensities. The highest output is sometimes called the Light of Judgement.
** ''Attack List - Melee:'' She may choose to use other weapons at a competent level. Swords, spears, lances, and shields, the tools of any knight.

'''Everything The Light Touches:'''
* The Divine Lance Rhongomyniad exists to stabilize the world of man, a weapon against the phantasmal and supernatural.
** ''Bane-Demonic, Bane-Divine, Bane-Mythic Beasts:'' The lance causes additional harm by rejecting the existence of demons, angels, gods and demigods, dragons, chimeras, hydras, sphinx, and similar great mythical beasts.
|Significant='''Long Live The King:'''
* The various physical qualities and talents of Rhongomyniad.
** ''Superhumanity:'' No longer human, she has ascended to something like a god, with physical attributes exceeding human norms.
** ''Vehicle Mastery - Single Riding:'' Horses like her charger Dun Stallion, but also motorcycles and similar one-person transportation.
''Mobility:'' Rhongomyniad may use magic energy to generate thrust for empowered dashes or jumps. Referred to as a Mana Burst.

'''Laugh In The Face Of Danger:'''
* The various mystical qualities and talents of Rhongomyniad.
** ''Field Shaping:'' The beams from Rhongomyniad may scar the land or destroy structures. She may also produce castle towers and walls from the ground, using the Lance.
** ''Oration, Buffs:'' When speaking as a King, Rhongomyniad has a commanding presence which can inspire listeners. This charisma may also encourage soldiers rallied around her in battle and boost their fighting spirit.
|Minor='''Change Is Good:'''
* ''Hammerspace:'' Weapons and armor are stowed within the Divine Lance and can be drawn or changed into at a moment's notice. Also changes of clothes.
* ''Mind Reading:'' As a goddess of chivalry, Rhongomyniad can identify if someone in her line of sight is a chivalrous individual.
|Disadvantages='''Remember Who you Are <Trouble>'''
* Rhongomyniad no longer thinks as a human does. Her behaviors are largely guided by the reference manual that was her former life, through the alien perspective of a god. Outside the practiced role of 'Being A King', she lacks social graces and has a distinct difficulty with appearing 'Genuine' even when she's trying to be. She also refuses outside assistance, in a firm belief that a King should stand alone as an example to others. This, combined with relying on the guidebook of her former life, can further lead to dangerously selfless acts that are remarkably poorly thought out.
}}

6308/The Citadel of the Vile King

2019-01-25T19:19:25Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/24 |Location=Londinium |Synopsis=The citadel of the dragon tyrant, Caer Gwrtheyrn, invites King Arthur and comrades within to confront Vort..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/24
|Location=Londinium
|Synopsis=The citadel of the dragon tyrant, Caer Gwrtheyrn, invites King Arthur and comrades within to confront Vortigern over the future of Britain.
|Cast of Characters=6856, 1099, 954, 1103, 6864, 863, 42, 7, 528, 533
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' Caer Guorthigirn, sometimes also spelled Craig Gwrtheyrn, Voltigern's City, Arx Guorthigirn, Citadel of Vortigern, or Craig Craig Gwrtheyrn, Vortigern's Rock, is a bumpy, detached hill in the remote countryside of England, a hilltop surrounded by a small forest that looks like it would have been the perfect place to build a small fortress, once upon a time. That is, until a week or two ago, when an actual citadel did spring up there again. A construction fo stone and dark steel, it wasn't constructed by the locals, but rather appeared under the sheer will of the dragon called Britain. Unmanned, uncrewed, for the barbaric king no longer had "people", it sat there ominously, killing the land, the nearby forest, and the sky itself. Even at peak daybreak, no sunlight manages to pierce the pitch black veil around the fortress, or maybe it would be more accurate to say the citadel eats all the light. An open challenge had been issued, to King Arthur and his allies. Vortigern would wait in his citadel, knowing full well he didn't have to life a finger to make them come to him. If they didn't, his citadel would reclaim Britain for him. There are likely Warp Gates nearby, and nothing in or out of the citadel makes an effort to stop people from entering it. The heavy gates open in front of the first arrival, whether they try to open them or not. Inside, a massive hall leads to a throne room. Images from the past flash, like flashbacks or phantoms made real for just a moment. The Knights of the Round Table are being overwhelmed by Vortigern's men. Lancelot and Mordred take the front, like savage murder engines. Bedivere yells for Arthur and Gawain to break through while they hold the line. Gawain and Arthur enter the throne room and are swallowed by the darkness inside. It might be a warning, too. But no one bars entry to the throne room either. Inside, a man - or a black hole in the shape of a man, at any rate - sits on his throne, in a room illuminated solely by candlelight. He does not rise for arrivals, or so much as say a word. Vortigern's hand rests on his spiked warhammer, sitting by his throne, a mace that for a moment looks to be the size of a warhammer, the next the size of a car, the next the size of a house, the longer one stares at it. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      This is a reminder.      It touches the back of the King of Heroes' mind in an unpleasant manner. It is a reminder of a distant age, of an age of gods when mankind's destiny was not their own. No matter how unhappy Gilgamesh was with what humanity had made of itself, it was still something humanity /had/ made of itself - had made free from the intervention of the divine, of beasts like himself, and like Vortigern. That was a choice he knew he would make. It was a choice that, in the end, Gilgamesh needed to make. Sumer had to fall. Babylon had to fall. That was all that there was to it; that fall would bring about something that gave mankind the chance to be more than mere slaves.      So in this moment, he is not here for Rhongomyniad. Oh, he is, of course - she appeals to him on levels far beyond the physical, in the same way as the lady Priscilla, a creature like them isolated from the realms of man and god alike, caught between two worlds. But there's more to it than that.      The King of Heroes does not walk into a place in his shining golden armor unless there is something more serious than simply a whim.      He is the shining light in the darkness. Where he walks, he seems to glow, a golden soul matching the castle's blackness. It isn't light so much as the appearance of his aura, the *power* of the King of All Creation, the *light* of his charisma and his majesty. His gorgeous blonde hair is slicked back in spikes. His perfect face is framed in a frown.      He walks through the halls, admiring them. They are well-made. Of course they are. They were made with magic. They might as well *be* the Dragon Lord.      The gleaming light of the King of Heroes stops in the center of the throne room. He does not bow. He does not kneel. The King of Heroes has never done either of those things in his life. His glowing red eyes simply focus on the Dragon Lord, on the black spot in the shape of a man.      Then those red eyes close.      "You know who I am."      It isn't a question. It's a statement.      "I do not need to name myself before you, remnant of a fallen age."      Gilgamesh's eyes open once more. "I offer you this kindness, beast of the forgotten times, king under the mountains of time. Leave. Retreat into the Other Side. Flee this place. No shame, no dishonor, will befall you. None would mock you from turning away from the Wedge of Heaven. Walk away, and leave this era to the humans who should rule it."      "Even I..."      Gilgamesh flexes his fingers thoughtfully. "Once I am done correcting their course, even I must do the same. All things have their time. Yours has long passed. Mine is yet to come and yet long ago."      "Don't be a fool. Don't force me to destroy you."      "Walk away with your pride, your honor, and your power intact." 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     When Kord arrives, he arrives looking somewhat worn down, one of his horns cracked, strange glowing 'gashes' along his form. They don't seem to impede him all that much, just embodying the wear and tear on his body after a big fight. It hasn't been long since he full-body tackled Good King Moggle Mog, and already he walks into the citadel, all the way up to the throne room, a twenty foot draconic creature that slinks through the manmade structure like a cat flowing through an enclosed space. He does not impede anyone, instead flowing by like a brief fog of red and black if he needs to, briefly intangible but carrying a strange mystical weight to him. It would feel weird to stand in the area of his body for any period of time.     He eventually stands before Vortigern, his pale eyes baleful and unhindered by the darkness.     To emphasize Gilgamesh's words, "You shall halt your encroachment on the world of the living." It's spoken gently, stating a fact of his own. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus arrives, carrying a long silver spike in one hand.     The reason for this, is the fact she's arrived in her Divinity form, Processors flaring large clockwork wings as she pulls up and floats away from the local Warpgate towards the giant citadel. Gems embedded within the mechanisms glow a faint blue-white, and seem faceted, like ice.     She approaches the black fortress, saying nothing as the others take point on their oaths and declarations... but she does offer her own once she's close enough. "The Organization will fall, your part in its machinations will not continue so long as my source code still compiles." With that, she stabs that spike into a nearby surface, driving it down a good foot into it, then summons her staff in her other hand. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Alongside the golden armor of the King of Heroes strides the shining silver armor of the Lion King. White furred mantle flowing behind her, the Divine Lance held firmly in hand, and clad in that distinctive lion helmet with the signature mane; this is unmistakably King Arthur who accompanies Gilgamesh into the heart of Caer Gwrtheyrn.     Memories tug at her mind. Possibly intended to warn or intimidate her-- she ignores them. They receive little more attention than is required to cross-reference them to the memory held within her mind, that distant previous life that defines her humanity. The possibly-expected emotional reaction simply does not occur.     She comes to a stop beside the King of Heroes, shoulder to shoulder with the taller armored figure. The Lance is lifted, turned point-down, and rested against the citadel floor with one gauntlet firmly wrapped around the weapon's haft.     "The Age of Gods has ended," the King states plainly, "You exist only as a remnant of a remnant, representative of a long-bygone age. Do as the King of Heroes requests and depart this place. Return to where you rightfully belong."     She then lifts the lance into a more ready position. The metal bands wrapping it begin to unravel, the Lance's pure light seeping through the forming gaps.     "If you do not comply, than you shall be once more destroyed by King Artoria Pendragon, the Goddess of Rhongomyniad." 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      It figures that Haguro's first visit to Britain would be when it was under siege from a remnant of its own past. Her own demise at the hands of the British has not been forgotten, and there's probably some sort of dramatic irony that she's shown up now alongside those that had come to save Britain. Not that she's had much/any love for the people of Britain generally, but...      Perhaps she'd be best served focusing on watching things for now. Expressing her own half-formed thoughts wouldn't do her any good, and the images flashing before her eyes cause her to flinch slightly from the barbarism of it all. Even as nonplussed as she is with Britain as a whole, the bravery of the knights still inspires... Something in her.      The Abyssal Cruiser's not quite sure what it is, but it's something. Spotting Vortigern and the Elites coming in to meet him, she keeps her mouth shut for the time being. Her attention is split between the one on the throne and the Elites in place. Gilgamesh in particular gets a long stare from Haguro, and Kord's arrival actually has her shifting around uncomfortably. For better or for worse, Theurgus doesn't quite get the same reaction.      Rhongomyniad, though. She recognizes the lance-bearer, and there's another long stare. It's an awkward situation. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's not really involved with this world much, despite accidentally kind of declaring war against the Mage Association, but he knows that bad stuff happens here and people need protecting. So apparently Vortigern is a dragon in this world and is attacking, but ISN'T a Servant...? It's kind of confusing, working from shreds of information and not someone more closely involved explaining it all. Still. For a multiversal adventurer, 'kill the big monster' is pretty straightforward!     A jet fighter with shiny, reflective plating flies over the forest, transforming into a 40-foot mecha and landing in front of the forest. "Where's the dragon?"     There are a couple of people among the gathered heroes that could be called dragons, but Staren's seen Kord and Bahamut before, of course. They're not the target. But they DO enter the castle.     "...Oh. /That/ kind of dragon." The human-shaped kind with supernatural abilities. Got it.     Well, he's all the way here! And there's a decent chance that the guy will turn into an ACTUAL dragon and take the fight outside. So, Staren grabs a laser rifle and his bag and hops out of the cockpit, energy wings briefly appearing to slow his fall -- he heads into the castle with the others, walking interspersed with brief flying hops.     And into the throne room they all come. The Bad Guy is just sitting there, waiting for the speeches, not just killing them or making them go through a trap-filled gauntlet just to reach him. What the hell?     Gilgamesh and some lion-helmed woman shed some light on the situation -- although he doubletakes when she gives her name. It's the girl version of Arthur again? She looks a bit different...     Well, since it's speechifying time, Staren chimes in:     "I'm no god, but I can tell you this: If you want this to be resolved in the manner of gods, you should take their offer. Because if you don't..." he hefts the laser rifle in his hands, and has the mecha outside aim its railgun right at Vortigern. How hard could it be to shoot through the walls? It's worth a shot once the fight starts.     "We will resolve it in the way of Man." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' There was more to deal with back in England there had been something horrible let slip. So here she is again to help with dealing with this the castle leads her feeling cold from the moment she sees it. She looks at the place it's clearly an open challenge and she knows they are going to have to meet it. AS she finds her way in the image of the past flashbacks. Gil and Kord give their warnings, and she gets a bit more insight on Gil as well she will wait, keeping her weapon lowered as she waits for what will happen next, if the spirit listens she won't pick a fight but The King of Heroes is correct, this is their only chance to back down. 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      Just outside the border where darkness devours light, a collection of glowing white runic circles appear before forming into a sort of guide path. A draconic roar thunders through the air before Bahamut breaks through each circle in turn, shattering them like glass as he plummets toward the ground. It starts to look like he is going to crash into the ground, but his massive and majestic wings spread just in time to arrest his momentum. Still, he causes the ground to shake somewhat when he lands, crouching to absorb the impact before letting out another roar and slowly standing to his full height with his arms crossed over his broad chest.      The King of Dragons (of Spira) cannot abide a known evil dragon, and has come not only to assist the king of this land but to defend the honor of dragonkind. He makes his way into the castle behind the others, having to be careful of any areas meant more for a person of human sizes. Once he reaches the throne room he takes up a position behind the other two kings and growls menacingly. "If it is but a shard, will it even understand our words?" he wonders aloud as he looks over the collection of those already here.      Haguro and Kord draw his attention most, for they could easily be fiends if they were on his world. He makes a mental note to keep an eye on them. Staren and his machine draw attention of a more positive sort. And not to be outdone, Bahamut smirks lightly. "I am called King of Dragons on my world. You are an affront to all I stand for. As they have said, stand down and dismantle this tower or..." He holds out a hand and power builds in it before it forms into a flame of pure energy. "...prepare to be destroyed." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     A distorted voice rings out from the throne. "King Gilgamesh of Uruk. The king who failed humanity beyond all others. You allowed greatness to deteriorate and ultimately die. Look at your legacy. The Age of Civilization, the Age of Man, is not Britain's proper future. Britain was meant to be so much greater than this. Humanity could have embraced great powers, tamed the divine and risen to greater heights, but shunned it all for what? Modernity? Convenience? Humanity does not need your guidance, King of a Fallen Kingdom. You failed them once already. I will redistribute your treasures to the worthy, and with them reclaim Britain, then the World."     Vortigern rises, but only at the sound of Rhongomyniad's voice. The pitch black head turns to look at Kord and Theurgus. "I am encroaching on nothing. I /am/ Britain, and its will to rise ever above the fates others have confined it into." For a moment, his form appears massive, like he really is the size of the country.     "And you, Red Dragon," he rumbles at Rhongomyniad. "I warned you when you struck me down. This country has no future under your rule. Look what has become of it! Look at the failure you share with the Tarnished King. I will break that spear of yours in half on my knee and release the future it so callously denied Man."     Haguro is not addressed, because she does not speak - but Kalia appears in proximity to her, floating in mid-air idly. "This is interesting, right? His restless spirit wanted back into the world. We granted him that request, although that might be overstating our abilities. It would be more accurate to say that blood flowing in the streets of London brought him back. Either way, we're eager to see what happens. Whether he wins or loses, we think it'll have been worth it."     The sheer amount of ill-will in the room is, in and of itself, Kalia's prize.     Staren actually causes the Vile King to rumble in laughter. "The way of Man indeed. For left unattended, Man eschews greatness even when it stands before him. Your toys cannot threaten a country. They cannot threaten /me/."     Another dragon enters. Vortigern's body turns, and his warhammer rises from the floor, grasped in one hand. "I will break that resolve and drink your blood, beast. With it I will rise to even greater heights. This citadel is meaningless to me. I will break it myself if it gets in the way of this." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     Vortigern's aura swallows the entire room.     Holy weapons lose their sheens. Lights dim. The effect even attempts to encroach onto Gilgamesh's treasures, but only once he deploys them, if he does.     The aura crushes your chests like massive hands trying to choke the air out of your lungs.     And Vortigern's hammer falls, towards Rhongomyniad and Gilgamesh, like an impossibly massive warhammer. 

:'''{{#var:533|Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' There is crushing darkness. There is a stifle of holy sheen, of the bright lights. Even Gawain's defense is tarnished ever so slightly, the sun blotted out by the darkness that is Britain. But Vortigern cannot stifle one thing...hope. Bursting in faster than any normal human could run, Gawain runs through the aura. It chokes at him, taking away his breath, pushing his chest back. It's enough to force him to almost stop his charge. But he doesn't. Because Gawain defeated Vortigern once before. He can do it again. "...Never fear, it is I! Sir Gawain!" The knight draws Galatine in one swift motion, and moves to slice into the shadow that is Vortigern, sword igniting in the process, holy sunfire attempting to burn through the usurper. "Vortigern! We slew you once! What makes you believe we cannot do it again?!" 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The response only gets a loud and confident scoff from Kord. He has no desire to argue the point with Vortigern, not when he seems intent on destroying everything he touches. The dragon stands tall among all the others in the room, the throne hall of this great citadel.     The aura falls over him like a cloak. It's a familiar feeling, and so soon after the powers of the Good King Mog. He breathes a sigh as he feels it dig into his flesh, and he simply... lets it. He lets it wash through him and over him, and he knows it will pass in a moment. His eyes briefly close, and then he opens them as the pain of the Vortigern's dark gravity passes. He has an answer now.     "That was a mistake."     The dark twists and sharpens, and then becomes a spiderwebbing array of terrible jabbing spears from all directions, trying to find purchase in the heart of the being before him. Shadows gouge into stone and slice through metal, annihilating everything they touch. In the swirling black, Kord's eyes half-lid, sorrowful that he has to fight a god, or perhaps a dead image of faith. It's not something he enjoys doing, though he attacks out of necessity anyways. He's not about to let his feelings get in the way of what needs to be done.     He doesn't hate Vortigern at all. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      There's a moment where the King of Heroes is completely, utterly silent. Amidst all the loud, roaring children around him, amidst the insults being hurled about to the dragon, the King of Heroes's silence is notable. Meaningful. His eyes sink shut once more.      Then, as Vortigern speaks, he twitches his lip upwards in an irritated sneer.      "Mongrel."      Gilgamesh's eyes open. "Worthless mongrel. You think I failed? You would blame me for these peoples' failure? How incredibly arrogant. Just like a god to think in such meaningless terms. That only one person could be responsible."      The King's face alights with red tattoos as he challenges Vortigern's aura. "I merely gave them the right to do as they pleased, without the intervention of things like you. I am responsible, yes - but I will correct *my* part in this error. The rest is up to them. If they will not be led..."      "They will be bled."      Vortigern comes in swinging. His dark aura meets Gilgamesh's blazing gold. His mace smashes into the King's stomach, sending him flying into the wall of darkness. For a moment, Vortigern might even believe that he had defeated the King of Heroes.      If, perhaps, he is some kind of idiot.      What emerges from the hole is not the King but an absolute slew of weapons. Gilgamesh emerges from the hole behind it, riding a magic carpet, hanging above the battlefield like a sun as the Knight of the Sun arrives.      "You want to insult me, mongrel? Want to try and mock the King of Heroes? Normally I let such trash flow off my shoulders, but today I'm feeling particularly spiteful!"      The King slams his fingers downwards, and more weapons come pouring out of the sky above Vortigern, hammering downwards with overwhelming force from two angles. "I wonder why! Could it be that my mercy was rejected by an upstart wastrel? Could it be that my kindness was spat back at me by a worthless beast?"      "Go on, you pointless mutt! Tell me what else you'll do! Tell me how else you think you're better than me!"      "Making me laugh myself to death is the only chance you have of escaping this alive!"      "Fuhuhahahahahahahah!" 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Reclaiming Britain? Claiming Britain, even? That's somewhat laughable, but not entirely foolish. Haguro keeps a low profile as the voice addresses the gathered Elites, but her silence now comes from thoughts and ideas rather than uncertainty and anxiety. She narrows her eyes as the shadowy figure calls itself Britain, and she nearly jumps out of her skin when Kalia appears nearby.      "Eh? I-I guess. If this is what's lurking under Britain's surface, though..." Haguro furrows her brow, glancing at Rhongomyniad again briefly before turning to Kalia. "Is London really in that bad of a state right now? It's not surprising because London, but... Maybe you're right. Seeing how this all goes should be worth it for me, too."      With her mind set, the Cruiser tips her tail off her shoulder as she braces herself when that crushing force strikes at her core. She endures it at first, then screams while clutching her chest and lurching towards Vortigern.      "You're Britain, right...? Then show me how strong Britain is! Show me that Britain deserves to stand!" Shouting towards Vortigern, Haguro lunges forward with her front-tail priming its guns, firing a volley of rapid blasts while the Cruiser moves in to strike with a haymaker of her own. They're not aimed at Vortigern's 'body', however, but at the shadowy figure's warhammer! 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      Bahamut listens quietly as the creature called Vortigern addresses the group, each in turn. It seems his question about this remnant perhaps lacking a mind is answered. The creature's words to Bahamut make the metal dragon smirk. "I am Bahamut, Aeon of Bevelle and King of Dragons. My resolve will not break even in the darkest of nights or the most dire of days. The people of Spira crushed a creature not unlike yourself with their resolve, and I am their champion. This may not be our land, but we will not allow another world to fall to such dark days."      The last few words are a bit strained as the dark aura's pressure asserts itself, but Bahamut's solid build manages to weather the worst of it. The gunmetal blue dragon grins at Vortigern. "You will have to do better than that, so-called dragon." he says before finally firing the spell he has been holding in his talons since they first entered the throne room. The orb of swirling blue, white, and grey flies toward Vortigern before exploding in pure energy, seeking to immolate him more powerfully than mere fire. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus brings up a barrier, interlocking hexagons of blue light to absorb damage as she tries to move, but one cannot dodge an attack that strikes every possible place at once. She's engulfed and her Processor crystals dim, losing power and forcing her to drop to the ground.     She isn't defeated yet, though that sapped a lot of power, she can feel it. "Charta, increase Resource allocation..." she says into her comm pearl, then raises her staff. "Crackling impulse, amplitude aligned. Scintillate and ionize, strike and sunder. Upon the high mountain, split the void! THUNDEROUS REBUKE!" Her staff flares brightly, the gemstone shifting yellow-gold, before a bolt of lightning lashes out at the source of the aura, seeking to disrupt the effect. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "Mm," is the only noise Rhongomyniad has in response to Vortigern's admonishment. There's no denial, no impassioned rebuttal. Just that sound, as if she accepts the statement at face value. This is what he truly believes, after all. There is nothing to be said which would change his way of thinking.     She has no such expectation from a fragment of a memory.     As that great hammer swings down, the Goddess' lance fully unfurls. The braided metal bands disperse into motes of light as they unravel, exposing the Lance's core as a shining golden light in the vague shape of the weapon for which it is named. The light of the Lance burns away the aura of the Vile King as it washes around her-- It is rather the hammer itself that slams down upon her.     At first, it appears as if the King of Knights has been crushed. As the dust thrown up by the impact fades, however, it becomes clear that the hammer has not actually struck the throne room's floor. It has, instead, impacted a layer of pure white stone that has burst from the floor. There's a rumble as this pillar shoves back against the Dragon Tyrant's strength, pushing to the ceiling and revealing its true form-- as a section of castle wall.     The stones realign to create a door near floor level, and Rhongomyniad steps out, her helmet deformed. Reaching up one-handed, she removes it, casting it aside, ignoring the line of blood rolling down the side of her face from her scalp.     "You challenge the World that has rejected your existence," her words are level, lacking rage but also passion. The castle wall section descends once she has stepped out of it, "This is a battle you have already lost."     She lifts the spire of unimaginably Divine light in her hand, pointed to the ceiling. The maelstrom of clouds overhead begins to roil, as something disrupts the effect that the citadel's presence has on its surroundings. More immediately, the floor within the Citadel responds as well-- A series of white stone battlements rise out of the floor around Vortigern's feet. Once she is certain that her allies are out of the circle, Rhongomyniad thrusts her Lance forward-- and the floor erupts into a full-sized castle turret, fully intent on crushing the monstrous King against the ceiling of his own castle. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa hears the voice and the word that come make her narrow her eyes a bit. She knows those words she's heard them so many times from Gil she'd lose count if she wasn't a full conversion cyborg but they do bring up a point she'd not considered. Urk only exists in memory and ruins on most worlds. She does not say anything else on that as she braces herself. "So you have made your choice, whatever one might say about the King of Kings? Urk left us a legacy of ideas and concepts we built upon as you condemn the modern world have you not thought of what might come of us? The stars lay out before us and to claim that we will need to be as numerous as the stars. If The King of Kings was a failure do you think his tale would be the oldest work of literature known to mankind?" She has her own feeling about Gil but she understands the debt that is owed to Urk and him. As the attack start Kotone cloaks and she's just gone she's able to get clear of Vortigern's assault she's moving in on him and she'll open up with her assault rifle sending a burst of fire to try and keep him tied up, this man is already dead. He needs to go back to his grave and that much is clear, to her. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Kalia is here and MAKING THINGS WORSE GODDAMN IT. Staren shoots at her, not because she HAS to be shot on sight but because she is obviously enhancing his enemy's power and you shoot the damn buffer first. He'll talk in a moment, but it IS Vortigern's turn right now. Vortigern, who scoffs at the power of Man! Staren can't help but give a sharp, derisive laugh at the apparent ignorance. "HA! The workings of reality itself will be my 'toy'! And you're part of reality!" And then his voice becomes strained as he's being... crushed?? "Though... not for much... longer!" He looks at Kalia and tries to speak, but he's being crushed. Damn that stupid aura! His synthesized voice comes out of his helmet anyway. "What's 'interesting' is that you only show up to help people hurt others. Never to help them help eachother. Quit acting like you don't have an agenda."     He gives the fire command to the Star Hawk. A stream of metal projectiles is flung into the castle walls at several times the speed of sound. Staren hopes they get through. If they at least start opening a hole to shoot through, he'll supplement them with missiles to widen it.     While the words come out of his helmet and the bullets come out of his mecha, Staren's scrambling to counter the effects of the crushing aura, pulling a couple of hyposprays from his backpack and disconnecting his helmet just enough to bare some neck to apply them. Artificial red blood cells full of oxygen, and healing potion because he may as well. He's not sure how long it'll help, it's not a long term solution, but hopefully it'll last until someone stops the crushing effect. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' GAWAIN: Gawain enters, if late. Vortigern's hammer rises, blocking Galatine with a bit of strain. Its holy light seems to diminish, dying in the presence of the Vile King. "If you believe yourself able to defeat centuries of hatred, then I welcome the challenge, Knight of the Sun! I will drink your blade's light and reminisce in the despair I inflicted upon the two of you back then." Vortigern's hammer swings in a wide arc, trying to catch the knight and smash him to the other end of the room. KORD: Shadows pierce through the Vile King, but it would be hard to tell whether they inflicted damage or not, owing to the being's... appearance, or lack thereof. A hole remains a hole, even when wounded. He doesn't bleed. He doesn't vocalize pain. His hammer swaths the air, and despite the distance between the two, it feels as though it is right next to Kord, the weapon's size truly impossible to tell with just eyesight. It is massive, yet fits in his hand like a nasty warhammer. GILGAMESH: Countless weapons fly at Vortigern. The holy amongst them seem less valuable. Less shiny. It might be a bigger afront onto the King of Heroes than anything he could say to him. They impale the Vile King, and his response is to grow. Now twice the size of a man. Three times. The weapons are like needles sticking out of a pincushion. "Whether you die of laughter or by my hand is irrelevant. I blame you because you were the King. Your people's faults are your own. Your people's future, your responsibility! You claimed to be wise but could not see that humans would waste the chance given to them." The warhammer doesn't swing for him this time. Vortigern reaches out with his palm and closes it towards Gilgamesh, and darkness attempts to skewer him from every direction. HAGURO/STAREN: "Not anymore," Kalia responds. "They fixed it." They motion towards Rhongomyniad & crew. This is cut short when Staren SHOOTS KALIA, who this time is missing a chunk of their head from the more accurate shot. They glare at him. "Rude." And vanish, for the time being. They're still on magical radars though. Probably watching from a window. Where it's safe! HAGURO: Vortigern's hammer is apparently made of sturdier stuff than he is, because in response to the incoming volley, he swings it, smashing the ammunition away, and back towards Haguro! Oh no! STAREN: And the same is true of Staren's incoming shots, too. Vortigern's speed picks up, his size increases yet again, now four times the size of a man, and he smashes those incoming rounds and missiles right back at the Star Hawk, and a few inside the citadel at random, with impunity. BAHAMUT: An explosion crashes into Vortigern. He isn't knocked back - he stands his ground, and grows again in response. But not in size, this time. Those gauntleted hands, however hard they were to tell apart from the rest of his shadowed body, gain talons. Wings begin bursting from his back. A beam of concentrated black, red and purple light shoots out of his head, straight at the dragon. THEURGUS: Followed shortly by lightning, also crashing into Vortigern. It trails along his shadowed body, seemingly to slow him down momentarily, but the continuous beam of darkness fired at Bahamut goes straight for the mad magician next, as the Vile King has but to turn his head to change his target. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' RHONGOMYNIAD: His hammer smashes into a sudden wall. He scoffs. "Camelot will not shield you now, Red Dragon. It could not then, it will not now! A battle is only lost when one accepts that it is! I have done no such thing!" He couldn't. Vortigern couldn't, ever, accept loss. With his dying breath he had denied Arthur to the end. Walls attempt to crush him, and he fights back. His empty hand punches through the walls, letting them impact him so he can prove his strength. In a moment he is before Rhongomyniad, towering over her. He reaches down to grab her outright, to try to physically squeeze the life out of her. KOTONE: Rounds impact Vortigern, now so large it would be hard to tell if they hit or were just eaten by the hole in the world that is his body. The king's foot slams down, and the citadel shakes under his weight, massive chunks of the ceiling threatening to crush Kotone underneath them! 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The hammer swings, and Kord can feel it coming toward him. So he responds accordingly. His body weaves out of the way of the strike, and the mace scrapes along his body, gouging only a small wound in the dragon and making him stagger a step or two away. He anticipated the attack and so it didn't do enough to take him down. He moves back and away, and sets up a defense of solid shadow that he may use to mitigate whatever Gilgamesh is about to do to the Vile King. From here, he does what a Pokemon does best... he shoots element-infused lasers.     In this case, a great blast of blue and purple energy, ripping through the room in a thin beam toward the Vile King's center of mass. It does not project light, and instead simply warps the perception of space around it. Indeed, this is a Psychic blast, and Kord's mouth remains shut, his eyes instead glowing with psychic energy as he projects the attack toward his foe.     It has a 50s-alike energy beam sound. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Diamond Soul isn't the most rugged of DCCs. Lexicon is by far the toughest of the existing set. So as that beam of vile black rakes across her, she attempts to dodge, but the energy dissipating aura stalls her ascent enough that she can't even mitigate the damage. Her barrier shatters, and she's slammed back into the wall of the hall. "GUYYAHH! Ch-Charta... f-full allocation..." Her body is a spiderweb of damaged code, red cracks breaking through the surface texture of her body as she falls to a knee, using her staff to support herself.     The silver spike blossoms an antenna from its exposed tip, and a beam of light seems to pierce the blackness and into it, before being directed into an aura around the DCC. "Guardian Kernal, Superior Defender, bring unto us the executables thine Processors doth bear; as we render unto thee. Ensure the attempts of the malicious Virii prove fruitless! Annihilate their Offenses! Vanquish their Renderings. Rend the Null! Blizzard Chains!" Her staff gem shifts to the same blueish white as her Processors, and she stands as the spell circle erupts around her. A similar one appears beneath the Vile King, before giant frozen chains made of glacier ice lash out to attempt to bind him down and bury him beneath their icy embrace. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' There is a tactic to deal with someone who is using Therm Optic cameo, area saturation and that's just what the fallen King does. The chucks of the ceiling fall and Kotone is caught under them. Had she been how she was before her assaulted by a thug? She'd be a smear here she's hurt but it's not the end of her. To an outside observer it seems like it. Kotone let out a cry and vanished under the wreckage. They go still for the moment nothing moves trapped under them Kotone hears Gilgamesh's warning and thinks it's time to get off her as very hard. The rubble shifts and Kotone lifts it with everything she has and she's not done there as she's holding a massive slab of wreckage to the point it's straining her enhance cyborg body and then she throws it at the fallen King. "THIS IS YOUR CASTLE TAKE IT BACK!" She heeds Gilgamesh warning and will leap away with everything she can muster, she'll make a three-point landing away, cloaking again as she hits the ground. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      "Did they? That's not too surprising, but..." Haguro spares a glance at the Elites that aren't herself and Staren at Kalia's gesture, but doesn't have time to freak out at the former shooting off a chunk of the latter's face as she's beset by her own ammunition being swung back at her.      "Wha.. Mister Staren! Why'd you do that?!" She can still yell a little, at least, even as she whips her tail in front of her to bear the brunt of most of those returned shells. She winces at the explosions, apparently still capable of feeling everything through them, but at least her head is safe!      For now. Hearing the call to keep her distance, Haguro breaks into a run as she starts firing yet more shots at Vortigern. Instead of aiming for the weapon (since that didn't work out great), her next volley is aimed at... Nothing?      It's aimed all around Vortigern! His arms, his legs, even the ground at his feet is not safe from her rapid shots as she focuses on limiting his movements and throwing off his footing! 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      The hateful beam crashes into Bahamut, knocking the large dragon back and leaving marks and dents all along his metallic hide. He growls as he slides back, digging his talons in to arrest his movement. "Are you such a fragment of your former self that you must steal the power of others? Or were you always so weak as to draw your strength from others rather than relying on your own?" Bahamut growls at Vortigern.      Bahamut hears Gilgamesh's warning and smirks lightly before taken several large steps back. He may be proud, but he is no fool. When an ally requests that you step back, you do just that. "Have at him, King of Heroes." Bahamut rumbles as he prepares another spell of his own. Lightning seemed to have the most effect so far, and so Bahamut's talons arc with blue-white energy before he unleashes the spell upon the creature which is looking more and more draconic all the time. Electricity explodes outward from Bahamut and a deafening thunder shakes the air in its wake. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren frowns at Kalia's departure, but there's no more time for her now.     Reflected railgun slugs fly in the Star Hawk's general direction. Some of them hit! It is not dodging right now. Staren activates his forcefield in time to have a reflected shot shatter it, then thinks to just /stop shooting/. He's already taking to the air as Gilgamesh tells everyone to stay back -- and that's fine with him! His own plan for how to retaliate ALSO works best if noone is close.     He hopes Gilgamesh is kidding about the planet thing, though.     Staren flies out the hole his mech made, the cockpit opening just long enough to take him in. He realizes he can breathe now, but can't relax and enjoy it: Vortigern needs a pummeling immediately!     The Star Hawk readies its gunpod and looses a salvo of missiles of varying size. Staren didn't bring the huge missile packs this time, but this is nothing to shake a stick at! 15 or so missiles of varying size spread out then converge on Vortigern -- some detonate into fireballs hot enough to strip the electrons off most nearby atoms, while others detonate in a more concentrated attack, shaped explosions turning bits of metal into penetrating lances of high-energy physics!     Most importantly, swatting them out of the air should just destroy them or set them off early, unless something /really/ weird is going on. Which it might be. You never know with scenarios like this. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      No one has ever wanted to see the King of Heroes angry.      As the spears of shadow impale him from every direction, as they try to punch through his golden armor, give up, and just go under it, there is a well of fury bubbling up underneath the King's perfect features. Blood, holy and glorious, spills out of his wounds. The armor is pried apart by the shadows, falling into a gap in space. The magic carpet disappears. The King plummets to the ground.      The King of Heroes hits the ground hard enough to make him bounce.      He is bloody. Very bloody. He's also shirtless. His hair falls back down around his head, from the spiked-back slick to the handsome cut he usually wears. The rain of the Gate of Babylon ceases. Many of those treasures, oozing with tainted darkness, are stabbed into the ground throughout the castle. The auto-recovery Noble Phantasm simply isn't kicking in. Gilgamesh simply refuses to kick it in.      They're tainted.      His collection. Tainted.      His works. Mocked.      His people. Threatened.      The King's blood-soaked hands clench into a fist. His red eyes stare dully into space.      He's been taking it seriously the whole time. Vortigern is the first opponent that, like Enkidu, has deserved it. Has *needed* it. Or, rather, Vortigern is a remnant of an age that was his responsibility to end, a remnant that had fallen to someone else. Someone standing near him. A beautiful blonde holding a holy lance. She had...picked up the trail he had laid down. She had closed out that age of humanity being slaves. She had killed this beast before.      And, in truth, he could let her do it again. He knew that. But...      'I blame you because you were the King. Your people's faults are your own.'      The King of Heroes pulls himself to his feet. The blood and cuts are all across his chest. His hair hangs in front of his eyes. Vortigern is correct. He was the King. It was his responsibility to do better. He could have left them with...he could have given them more. He could've shown them...he could've...      'You claimed to be wise but could not see that humans would waste the chance given to them.'      Of course he could.      Of course he saw that. Of course he saw humankind's reticence. Its unwillingness to move forward. Its inability to...      ...to guide itself.      He had gambled. He had gambled and hoped and believed in those people. He had wanted to believe in that spirit, in those humans. And when he had emerged in the future, he had found his life had been spent - his /friend's/ life *would* be spent - toiling to make a future that repelled him. He had waited, and hoped, and dreamed, of a bright and beautiful future where all mankind held the universe in its palm.      He had been rewarded with grey prison-towers.      And, for an instant, he almost is willing to admit Vortigern is right.      For an instant. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      And then the golden key falls into his hand. There are no speeches. There are no dramatic words. There is no mockery. There is simply the King, taking it seriously. There is simply the King.      No words are spoken as he raises it up into the air. He shoves it into a ripple and turns it as though it was unlocking a lock. He turns it to the right, and the world begins to quake, as though the world knows what is coming, as though the world understands what is waking up. Music begins to swell beyond the pale as that red aura erupts like a spider's web. The light spreads out in criss-crossing circuitry etched in the sky. The world seems to grow dim.      No. The world does not grow dim.      The King's aura is simply more brilliant than the sky.      The light drowns out all color as the red contracts. The key vanishes. Gold and red contract into a single point in the King of Heroes' hands. The world gives a final, shuddering quake of protest as the red lines trap the dark shadows cast by the King's glory, as the glory congeals into a handle. The world knows, and the world fears, and the world can do nothing but know and fear, for this is something beyond its capacity, beyond its reason, beyond its understanding. It is a thing not forged of any concept in the world but of things that came Before, when the world was still new, and like any child, the world fears the parent's wrath. The air shivers. The land shakes. The castle quakes. The sky beyond the castle roof trembles. The King of Heroes raises the thing in his hands and levels it at Vortigern as the world stills and the shaking stops and the sky beyond turns blue once more.      It is a flat-topped cone of black and red, an unassuming-looking thing on a handle. The red etchings throb as Gilgamesh swings it once through the sky, leaving contrails of harsh bloody light. The King holds it up in front of him, his fingers along its side, his eyes full of affection and joy as though he were embracing a lover. He looks at the thing as if it is his only joy, as if it is his only wonder, as if all the rest of the treasures of the world are meaningless before it.                             EA - SWORD OF RUPTURE                             

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      The King swings it down again. It starts to spin, three distinct pieces etched with red light. The red contrails reverse. The world trembles once more, but not in fear. It trembles obediently. The air begins to buffet the ground, tearing up chunks of the castle, grinding them against the vortex. In moments, the unassuming object is surrounded by a tornado, a whirling, shredding storm of red light simply held in the hand of the King. It follows his motion into the sky, shockwaves tearing apart the castle as he raises it. The whirling object grinds against the laws of space themself as the King pours his glorious power into it. Amidst the deafening roar the King opens his perfect lips to speak, and despite all of the chaos, all of the thunder, all of the majesty, his voice can still be heard flawlessly, as though he was right next to every ear on the field. I speak of genesis. The elements amalgamate, coalesce, and bring forth the stars that weave all of creation.      The power surges. Beneath their feet, the earth begins to collapse. Magma burns forth, erupting from cracks all the way down to the core. The molten land is driven away from the King by the sheer force of that red light, drunk into the vacuum, and then extinguished. Trees catch fire before they, too, are shredded and drawn into the cyclone of destruction, the unrelenting cylinder of power. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:''' I speak of the beginning. Heaven and Earth are divided and Nothingness celebrates Creation. My Sword of Rupture rends the world apart.      Gilgamesh's eyes blaze with crimson flame as the red lines stretch across his body like a creeping virus.      The whirling, grinding vacuum grows black as even light is obliterated between those horrible red lines. The whirling grows. The music swells. A feeling of terror and joy seeped into the land comes surging to the surface as the world sings in praise of its creation, joining Gilgamesh's symphonic assault. The King's eyes are nothing but a bloody glow as the pulsating, grinding, horrifying tool of genesis ascends above his head, a sceptre of rule in the hand of the perfect king. The vortex that turns the stars, this heavenly hell signifies the end of the eve of genesis. Subside with death!                                  ENUMA ELISH                                        The blazing red comes swinging downwards. It is not focused. It is not aimed. It does not target. There is no aiming this. There is no targetting this. This is not a precision weapon. This is not a weapon that can know precision. It simply consumes, consumes, consumes. in the thundrous red light. The world splits, the sky ends, and everything ceases to be. In its place is a blazing inferno that is at the same time pure darkness, an endlessly-stretching hellscape of primordia that burns without casting light. Only the light of the Enuma Elish, the light of the Star of Creation, can be seen, as it dictates a new world into existence. Enuma Elish consumes, splits, and recombines, as the act of Genesis is remade, as Time stands still and stretches, as the World itself is torn to shreds. 

:'''{{#var:533|Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' "I believe hope can defeat anything, with time and effort, Vortigern. And we're all putting in effort...so the time is now!" It's a little cheesy coming from Gawain, and the hammer smash hits him at the side, not fully smashing through his armor but vibrating through it enough to bruise into his ribs as he slides backwards across the floor, coughing heavily as he tries to steady himself. It's a powerful hit, before Gawain comes back in, rushing forward with the blade. Despite the holy light diminishing, Gawain has a plan. Thrusters on Galatine suddenly kick up, as the blade boosts Gawain forward, sunfire burning to its brightest as it moves to try and impale Vortigern in his chest. It probably won't be enough to kill the monster even if it hits his 'heart', but it should definitely hurt... And then Gilgamesh gives his warning. Gawain's eyes rise, as he moves to try and rip Galatine out of Vortigern if it impacts, and moves to dash and leap out of the way, superjumping into a crouch, hoping his armor will stop whatever happens from killing him. Ea is unleashed. Somewhere, the Mages' Association is freaking out. And Gawain keeps moving. He knows that this attack could kill him, if on accident. The magma splintering burns into him. The inferno briefly touches into his armor. But he avoids the brunt of it, which would probably erase him. Hopefully, Vortigern doesn't. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "I have never expected Camelot to shield me," Rhongomynaid states in that matter-of-fact tone of hers. When the Vile King reaches for her, she tenses her legs. Mana erupts, and she soars for the ceiling, out of Vortigern's grasp. The turret she summoned suffers damage, and then crumbles as it recedes back into the Citadel floor-- and the Goddess' face displays the faintest touch of unhappiness for the sight. This glimmer of emotion disappears when she re-fixates her gaze on Vortigern himself.     "For I have always been the shield of Camelot."     She thrusts the Divine Lance skyward once more. Something slams on the reality being enforced on the countryside by the citadel's presence, and the hideous black clouds overhead rumble as if with the thunder of an oncoming storm. Golden light starts piercing through the clouds in places, but it is not the sun that burns into the exterior of this imposition.     Rhongomyniad lands upon the floor of the throne room once more, several meters clear of the Dragon Tyrant. She quickly rights herself as she skids to a halt. Her eyes survey the situation, falling on Gilgamesh after a moment of assessment. A small frown touches her face. This feeling is unpleasent. Her attention returns to Vortigern, green eyes glowing softly. Ea's effect on the castle is impossible to ignore, and as rubble falls from the ceiling, the goddess raises her weapon once more.     "Behold the light that splits the Heavens and tethers the Earth."     The roiling clouds above Caer Gwrtheyrn at last part with a sound like cracking glass. A great golden spike of light descends through the opening, burning away the darkness with divine radiance. It clashes with the ominous energies of Ea, the unmistakable purity of the Tower that Shines at the End of the World, surrounded by the Anti-World might of the Sword of Rupture. It crashes into the vile citadel from directly above, crashing through the upper floors and towers.     "I am the Tower that Shines at the End of the World. I am the goddess Rhongomyniad. Your existence in the World of Man is rejected by the Anchor of the Storm."     An unimaginably pure, divine radiance breaks through the throne room ceiling and descends upon the manifestation of Vortigern, converging on him from above as the energy from Ea engulfs him from the front. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' KORD: A blast of light impacts Vortigern, now six times the size of a man and winged. He stands his ground - he grows in response, as if that were required to endure the blast. Seven. Eight. Nine times. The ceiling of the citadel breaks over his head, the Vile King's shape shifting, slowly, from a humanoid, armored knight of pitch darkness, to something less human, more draconic. Features lenthen. Limbs become less relevant. THEURGUS: And the great Dragon of Britain endures Theurgus' blast next too, the cold ice joining with Kord's assault against the increasingly large king. He takes a step back, finally losing something akin to grounds under the pressure. KOTONE: Hurling chunks of the citadel back at him barely registers, though. He grows again, and again. The citadel is crumbling around him. Onto him. He does not care. HAGURO: This time, the warship's rounds find purchase. In fact, the countless blasts finally disarm Vortigern, whose massive hammer falls to the ground. The walls of the citadels quake from the impact. Some begin falling outright. BAHAMUT: The state of the citadel is helped in no way by Bahamut's thunderous blast, but the Vile King refuses to give the heroes more ground. Even as the energy blasts him, and visibly causes flinching, his pride won't let him show weakness. STAREN: Staren's assault is likewise met with stoic denial of progress. Vortigern, stubborn old king, grows taller in response to the damage he presumably takes. Soon he'll outsize his own citadel, and then some. GILGAMESH: No words. Only red, all-destroying light. Vortigern, a hole in the World, is attacked with light that destroys the World. It might be what saves him. The ground gives way, the citadel is blasted into nothingness. By the time the light of Ea fades, the battlefield is a sundered hilltop surrounded by the ashes of a forest and cracks in the earth. Vortigern slams into the ground. GAWAIN: And he is scorched by Gawain's defiance. Galatine plunges into its body and trails up, cutting shadows and causing no visible damage, but the howl of the dragon, weakened by Enuma Elish, makes it so pointedly obvious that Gawain inflicted SOMETHING. RHONGOMYNIAD: Then the Light of Judgment falls. A brutal onslaught of golden light to match Vortigern's darkness. The grounded dragon is scorched, seared, battered, and yet... a towering black shape rises in the light. A towering black dragon rises, larger than any castle, than any citadel, than any man-made building. The Dragon of Britain may as well be the size of Britain now, for all eyes can tell. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' EVERYONE: Vortigern's fury is inescapable. No distance is too great for the dragon's reach at this size. His claws try to rend all present; when his wings spread, the wind could sear flesh off bone. When his mouth opens, the breath of nothingness it unleashes is DEATH, bolstered a thousandfold by the White Dragon's hatred for those who oppose Britain's true will. Notice: KALIA has shared DEFINING SKELETON CATCH with Vortigern. "I will not die! I will not return to being a fragment of an age past! Britain NEEDS me! This wretched world NEEDS me! Fall, Red Dragon! Fall with your spear, fall with your light, fall with your knights!"     Shockwaves of cutting darkness shoot out of the Vile King's body, joining the claws, the breath, the corrosive winds. It's an all-out, reckless offensive. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      There are not a lot of people the King of Heroes *cares* about.      That is because there are not a lot of people who can understand the King of Heroes. Most of them are...stupid. Most people are stupid. It's a sad fact of the world, but most of them would rather puff out their chests and show off than listen, and shout morality at him through half-understood ideas. But there were a few, a rare few, who were like him. Priscilla. Enkidu.      Rhongomyniad.      The King of Heroes surges forward. He is unwilling to lose something precious to him. It isn't the woman, it isn't the physical Rhongomyniad, it isn't even the goddess. It is...      It is that tenuous tie of genuine affection. That tenuous, fragile thread of understanding. That...      ...that feeling that he isn't alone.      The King is fast. He is much faster than he has any right to be. He moves into the path of the Dragon, levelling Ea back at the thing. The Sword of Rupture splits the attack down the middle. The blasted hilltop scores deep cuts as the Sword of Genesis splits the offensive. The King grabs the sword with both hands, holding it tight.      He is directly in front of her.      In this moment, he is, indeed, a Hero, by all definitions. In this moment he is shown to be the King.      The Sword of Rupture is an overwhelmingly powerful force but the King is not. The King, already bloodied, already spent. The King, who must fuel Ea with his own power. The dragon's onslaught is...intense. Forceful. Powerful.      It's enough that when Ea's spinning stops, Gilgamesh is left to take the hit, and is sent falling backwards past Rhongomyniad, bloody and half-dead. Ea disappears back into the Gate of Babylon as the King comes to a spinning half.      He's still alive, still /awake/, but...      ...if he hadn't protected her, he might have another attack in him.      If he hadn't...spent his power on that...      ...that...      ...meaningful...?      ...action...?      The King's head hurts. Blood spills out of his mouth. He coughs.      Was it meaningful? Did it mean *anything*? To him? To her? To the world? Was this a moment of folly on behalf of the King of Heroes? Surely...surely if he had sacrificed her, he could've simply...      If he had left her to her own devices, he could've...      ...she didn't need the...      ........ 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Enuma Elish shines through the barrier of darkness, and the light of Rhongomyniad right behind it. Kord winces from the power of unmaking and justice, and turtles behind his shadows enough to prevent becoming a nuclear shadow stretching across the fields as a result of being near something that is so antithetical to his very being. His flesh can be heard hissing over there for a second before he gets out of the way of the beams of light that shoot through the claws of his jagged shadow shield. And then the attack is over, and he sucks in a breath, briefly widening his eyes as they adjust to the changes in light and the environment. His head raises.     The Dragon of Britain stands before them, and its claw comes down at him. He reacts promptly, and flaps his wings, weaving out of the way of the worst of it and mitigating some of the damage that could have sent him to the ground. He gains in altitude, and spreads out his wings and tail in a Y-shaped pose. His mouth opens wide, full of vague teeth. Black electricity surges across his form as the power of Destruction dances along his body. It isn't as bombastic, it isn't as thematic, it isn't as purposeful or emotional. It's just a raw force of elemental destruction in the form of a beam fired from his mouth toward Vortigern.     Light, air, the very fabric of reality tears, much like Enuma Elish, but more primal and simple. 

:'''{{#var:533|Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' Everyone moves to strike down Vortigern. Gilgamesh fires Enuma Elish, one of the most powerful things Gawain has ever seen, besides Rhongomyniad's lance, which is equally powerful. Allies fire blasts and strikes and bullets, and move to slay him. But it's not enough. Vortigern reveals his true form, the dragon of darkness. Gawain prepares himself. He clutches onto Galatine, as he returns, armor scorched and melted, and faces Vortigern. "I slew you once before. I will do it again. I will be the sun that pierces your shadow! Take this!" The knight begins channeling large bursts of mana. He needs to do this. The others have used their strongest attacks, so will he. Galatine is thrown into the sky, as Gawain shouts out. "EXCALIBUR GALATINE!" A sun forms, even in all this darkness. It's bright and piercing, but smaller than the real thing. Galatine spins around in it, as a massive sword of sunlight shines down into Gawain's hands. He clutches it and the monumental blade, and turns to Vortigern. He has no words. He needs none. As blasts and bursts and everything else comes at him, Gawain takes it like a champ, the sun's blessing making it so even though his armor melts and burns, the knight himself weathers the blow. The sword of sunlight is struck down. It moves to slash straight through Vortigern, to destroy him once and for all, hopefully. Holy sunfire moves to burn through his darkness, bringing light everywhere it strikes. This is the sister sword of Excalibur. This is the sun. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      If Haguro didn't have an inferiority complex before? Well. She's going to be running for quite a bit. Between the psychic beams, the icy chains, the lightning blasts, the missiles, the confounding rocket-swords and incomprehensibly large lances and reality-screwing drill swords... How is Haguro supposed to even compare with that?! She picks up speed as she hears SOMETHING going on behind her, but getting out of the blast radius is far more important than looking at whatever it all is. And then she hears Vortigern. How did he survive all of that? Perhaps it doesn't quite matter as much as the fact that Vortigern /is/ standing at all, albeit as a massive dragon that makes her stop and stare for a few moments. Despite the fear and the intimidation factor of suddenly being faced with something so large, however, Haguro can feel her spirit welling up even as that dragon unleashes unholy death upon the gathered Elites. It's her time to leave a big impact of her own, too. Shooting and punching can only get her so far, however, and the only thing she has left in her arsenal is... Not really all that practical against a human-sized target. This time, however, this is not a human-sized target. It's the perfectly-sized target. Haguro starts running back towards Vortigern. Her tail snaps and even roars angrily as the Abyssal leaves all sense of form and refinement behind her. She darts in erratic patterns as she strains to avoid getting torn in half by those claws, although they do dig into flesh and leave black ichor dripping from her body. She slides to try and evade the breath of death, although it still sucks the life out of her and the color from her already pale skin. She trips trips on her way forward, but catches herself at the last moment and starts hurling herself forward with both hands and feet not unlike a wild animal. She has to do this. It's not her home, it's not her people, and it's not even her place to do this, but she must. She opens her mouth, but instead of a well thought out retort relevant quip, or a thought-provoking question... Haguro screams. No, it's more of a war cry, like someone that's psyching themselves up to put their all into something as they hurl themselves into the air and start glowing. It turns into more screaming as her body warps and the air warps around her, the Abyssal's form becoming less and less like a person with each second. Something's wrong, though. The warship itself is covered in odd growths, its turrets lined with teeth and its sides covered in black scales, barnacles, and even stains that look like blood. Metal screeches, the stench of gas fills the air, and the Abyssal warship surges forward as it sails through the air right at the massive dragon, all of its guns firing with reckless abandon in its head-on course to slam right into the dragon. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa doesn't seem to do much with the rock but when you have the likes of what Gilgamesh and Rhomgomyniad have let slip hell everyone else? She's like a bug, she keeps going she keep moving and this is all that saves Kotone from what's about to come. He catches Kotone with his claw and rips a large portion of her frame off wires and other mechanical systems are exposed where a human's gut would be the look on her face is one full of pain but there's also a mix of anger and defiance. How can she just cower after what's been let slip? She keeps her balance and rapidly tries to reroute some of the damaged systems. Kotone then looks up at the King for a moment. She does not have any legendary weapons and her shell is stock when you get down to it. She is, however, stills standing and she has a present form an old friend. Kotone moves forcing her damage body into action in the wake of Sir Gawain's attack she goes she kick in her double jump systems and get to the apex of a huge jump she'll land on the massive king if she can and will keep going higher and higher until she reaches up to the head with the apex of her jump she pulls something from her matter manipulator. A bandoleer full of plasma grenade which are currently armed and beeping as they count down. Before gravity takes hold? Kotone throws it down aiming for the vile king's maw. "We reject you, you are the sort who'd step on all I have ever known and all those I love!" She'll fall away praying the Grenades will do their work. She'll land some distance away and make ready to attack or defend if all the power let lose isn't enough to down this horror of the past. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     It is difficult for Rhongomyniad to stand proudly like this when the Sword of Rupture is blasting a hole in the skin of the world's reality. Rhongomyniad's hair and mantle flutter madly from the clash of energies between Ea and the Divine Lance, as the castle is obliterated, as the forestland is incinerated. The furry mantle tears from the force that she must lean into, even at this safe distance, until the cacophony fades and the scar on the world is exposed. Glowing green eyes stare out across the exposed hellscape beneath the World, then lift to the shape that looms above it.     The great dragon of Britain shows its true form at last, upon the ruined hilltop of Caer Gwrtheyrn. The monstrous being that the Goddess Rhongomyniad knows from memory and from instinct to be the great wyrm Guorthigirn Ddraig, The Dragon Tyrant Formerly Known As Vortigern.     Her stance shifts to one of defense when the dragon readies its offense, but a shadow leaps in front of her. Quickly, Rhongomyniad swings the Lance away, raising her free hand to shield her face from the whirling energies around her. Her arm lowers enough to squint over her bracer. This silhouette...     When the figure collapses past her, she turns to avoid it, and yet reaches out. The Divine Lance is dropped, and the King's fall is halted by a strong arm around his back, the familiar furry white mantle falling into place behind him around an extended arm. As he ruminates to himself the meaning of his actions, she stares down at him, face cast in shadow, eyes glowing that alluring emerald green. Uncommon on the face of the Goddess, the vaguest expression of unhappiness. The slightest indication of concern. She mouths a word, but no sound comes out, which seems to surprise her.     After a moment, Rhongomyniad crouches, letting Gilgamesh down to the ground gently. She unfastens her mantle and leaves it with him as she rises. That barest look of sadness and concern gives way to one of determination just before she turns from him and steps out of his field of vision, giving him an unobstructed view of the sky-- and the gleaming golden pillar that is once more parting the clouds.     Rhongomyniad collects the discarded Divine Lance, its light intensifying once more as she approaches the massive dragon Guorthigirn Ddraig. There are no words to be said, now. She barely registers the warship shelling it. She is tangentially aware that Gawain is still on his feet, giving his all. That the dragons Kord and Bahamut still fight. That the robotic human Kotone continues to shine with valor.     The only thing that dominates her attention is Guorthigirn Ddraig.     With the great wyrm beset on all sides, Rhongomyniad lifts the Divine Lance once more. The skies split once more around that great pillar of golden light, tapered like an enormous lance that descends on the dragon from above. It is followed by another. And then another, slamming into the beast again and again. The more it resists, the more she pounds against it, like a hammer driving a nail-- pounding the Dragon of Britain through the hole carved into the World by Ea.     The Goddess' brows are set in a different way than usual. This is not the impassive, slightly uncomfortble glare she has become known for.     Rhongomyniad, for as subtle as the difference in her expression is, is actually visibly angry. 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      Bahamut...can do little but watch all of this. He always considered himself one of the most powerful entities in existence, but here are at least two that show they have as much if not even more...no, undeniably more power than himself. Somehow Gilgamesh and Rhongomyniad are able to contain the destruction to only their foe...and the landscape. It is humbling, and Bahamut already works to keep himself humble.      The gunmetal dragon is left hovering in the sky on his powerful wings as Vortigern unleashes those huge claws and that nearly atomizing heat. Bahamut is hit by both and plumets from the sky like a small comet. He lands hard in a smoldering crater, barely moving.      But moving he is. "I told you my resolve would not be broken!" Bahamut's deep, booming voice pierces the smoke, followed by the sight of his striking blue eyes, and he leaps backward, somersaulting through the air to land on all fours. He firmly plants each limb, four sets of heavy talons anchoring him firmly into the ground.      The golden gyro hovering above his back starts to rotate, steadily getting faster. His wings spread as gold-white energy starts to arc over his body and into the gyro. Then it arcs once more and starts gathering in front of his open maw. Steadily it builds into a massive orb of swirling blue, white, grey, and purple energy. Soon it is as thick as Bahamut is broad. He sees what Rhongomyniad is doing, and his wings give a few flaps. He can't fly as fast as he usually might while he is charging, but he may be able to assist the Goddess in her efforts.      There is a pulse of energy, then a beam as broad as Bahamut is tall lances out and toward the vile dragon. The swirling beam of pure destructive energy surges forth for several seconds, and when it finally does pass the very air and land detonate upward in an eruption of even more destruction. It is no Enuma Elish, but very few things have survived it in his experience. From his elevated angle he should be able to add at least some weight to Rhongomyniad's efforts. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The image on Staren's screens of ENUMA ELISH tearing apart space (and probably time) reflects in Staren's eyes.     This power, too, is part of reality. Because it exists.     One day, something like it will be his. That is the true power of Man, which Vortigern doesn't understand.     Rhongomyniad reveals her identity as The Tower That Shines at the End of the World. He'll have to look that up after this, it might be important.     Everyone piles on attacks, but the hole in the world just gets bigger. Are they feeding it, or is it just losing its ability to control its form? The moment he thinks of the former is terrifying -- then Staren realizes that if they were making it MORE powerful, it wouldn't grow the fake, tiny form.     But that is small comfort as claws and winds and breath tear into his machine. Some of the others aren't fighting any more. Rending it apart almost like paper. He has seconds left, maybe.     Staren considers fleeing. If Vortigern is to be triumphant, the world that rallies to fight him will be better off for Staren's presense.     But what about the rest of them? They're giving their all. Even Gilgamesh, for all the disagreement Staren has with him. Can he really leave them to die?     However...     All powers are his. All the possibilities of the Multiverse are potential tools at his disposal. Staren's dislike of gods is not over what they can do, but how some of them act. That there is power in faith and divinity is undeniable -- how could anyone who's seen what he's seen think otherwise? The faiths he denies are those that are misplaced, those whose gods don't follow through.     And despite all of Staren's preparations for the contrary, time and time again heroes have won. Some of them have fallen, but the enemy is always defeated.     The chain of reasoning goes through Staren's mind in nearly an instant. Seconds left.     The left shoulderpack opens. The Star Hawk drops its gunpod and pulls out a mecha-sized revolver. It looks like a goddamn giant Colt Peacemaker with a triple-M monogram on the side. Staren sometimes says it's the weapon of a god, but the truth is it was created by a man, long before they became a god. A man who would do anything to protect those who can't protect themselves. A man who risked his soul stealing secrets from demons, and when there were no more secrets to steal, risked it to bind those demons' very essence to perform 'impossible' feats.     Staren doesn't have any faith in gods he's never met, or seen do anything.     But he has faith in his friends.     Giant mechanical hands point the barrel at the hole in the world, the enemy of all people, and pull the trigger.     It looks like two bullets fly out. And then ten more as Staren empties the cylinder. But perhaps the point isn't just how it works, but the intent behind its creation -- the intent to help Staren slay the monsters that threaten people that need protecting.     Morg would want this thing dead. Nonexistant. Staren has absolute faith in that. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     Vortigern's fury, it turns out, was a fleeting moment.     The sun shines down on it and sets it ablaze, the Vile King too weak from the combined assaults to continue devouring holy light. A blast of black electricity, courtesy of Kord, joins the radiant slash, and Haguro finally has the opportunity to go full-size and slam into something so large that it must feel satisfying, even if there's no blood to be seen for her troubles. There's just the flinching of the dragon, caught under heat, lightning and ship, joined in by countless explosives moments later.     The massive beast slumps down, rumbling.     Rhongomyniad rearms the lance. She attempts to batter Vortigern out of the World. He refuses, claws digging into the land, carving new valleys that'll need to be named.     "I REFUSE, KING OF KNIGHTS!"     He does. He really does.     Shots from Staren blast Vortigern's head down, and the grip of his claws on the planet weakens. He screeches, louder.     "/I REFUSE/!"     It was exactly like last time.     The flare from Bahamut finishes the job, Vortigern's grip, if nothing else, faltering just long enough from the assault that Rhongomyniad is able to land her final blow.     Vortigern curses King Arthur's name to the last second, as the massive beast is shunted back outside the World, and things start clearing up. The sky lightens, the sun shines through.     This chunk of land is pretty screwed up though.     Away from the literal pile of red circles that stacked up, Kalia adjusts their scarf. That was great. They're happy they could help that old man get another swing at their hated enemy, even if it didn't work out. Everyone deserves that chance if they want it bad enough.     Ah well! They're gone, the next moment. No sense staying. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     As the field clears, the fate of Theurgus after the Dragon King's attack is revealed. She's still where she landed after being struck by the black beam, but face down, revealed as the debris clears away. She was caught not just in the fury, but in the backlash of the King of Heroe's and King of Knight's attacks. Angry looking splits of red damaged code criss cross her body, and the damage has propogated far enough that she's lost her transformation, a blue-haired woman in a modified labcoat laying where the Goddess was.     Someone might need to get her out of the area. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad slams the Lance home one final time, as the combined might of multiple magical weapons at last weakens Vortigern enough to eject him from the World. The golden light of the Tower that Shines at the End of the World wedges itself in the hole in the World's skin, fully blocking the opening. A stray wyvern or wolfman may have crept through in the interim, but this can be dealt with later. For now...     She holds out the gleaming Divine Lance in her hand, releasing it. Shining white castle walls begin to rise around the conical shape plugging the opening. The pillar of light flickers, then disappears, as a small castle fortress takes its place. Plugging the hole in the Skin of the World until the scar can be healed. Although this fortress has no gates, no doors, and no windows. A solid structure of tightly fitted stone, nested upon the top of Caer Gwrtheyrn.     It doesn't take her long. And once she is finished, she turns her back to it, fixing her emerald gaze on the fallen King of Heroes. She approaches, metal bands materializing and winding together around the Lance's light in that tight, distinctive braid until the weapon is sheathed once more. Only then does it disappear completely, and she knees beside Gilgamesh.     She doesn't ask. She doesn't even hesitate. Rhongomyniad merely bundles the King of Heroes in her discarded, bloodied mantle and then picks him up in...well, a princess carry. Turning once more, she casts her eyes over the battlefield.     "...Friends. Comrades. Each of you. Paladin, Concord, Watch, Free Lancers-- All are welcome to recuperate within the walls of Camelot. My gratitude for your help this day is boundless. England, in turn, owes you a great debt that I shall endeavor to repay."     She then departs, leading the way to the shining Holy City. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     And then Vortigern is gone.     Smoke wafts from the barrel of the Annihilator. In the now-clear daylight, the mecha holding it can be seen to have huge claw marks torn out of it, all the armor on its front burned away, part of its internals slagged or rusted or turned to dust or whatever the strange shadow aura did to it. Unsteadily, it drops to one knee, with the screech of straining metal and some loud cracks as more parts buckle and things inside spark.     The cockpit opens and Staren drops down on a line, then runs up to check on the others. Sure, he seems fine NOW, but later it will be a strain on his body cleaning up everything he just put in his blood. Perhaps mainly a strain on his kidneys, really.     But hey, not dead! Always a plus. His cortical stack would not save him from his entire body being shadowblasted, after all.     Staren gives a brief glance to most of the Paladins -- if they're in need of immediate medical attention, of course he'll help, but for the most part he's concerned with Kotone and his fellow Concord. Staren runs up to them and actually asks "Are you okay?" to each one.     Anyone who needs evac (like Theurgus) is beamed up with him to his ship momentarily. "Thanks," Staren replies to the goddess's offer, "But I need the tools on my ship. Maybe I'll drop by later, though."     Coming back to repair the Star Hawk will take awhile, although already, tiny drones emerge from its form, crawling over it to make what repairs they can without additional materials.     For now, it kneels there like a giant metal statue in memory of the battle. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Distorted roaring continues to erupt from the Abyssal Cruiser long after it had already crashed into the dragon-form of Vortigern, now stranded on dry land while the dust settles from the finish of that battle. It takes a few more minutes before that noise subsides, and Haguro reappears.      Facedown. She's still shaking as Staren comes by to check on her, nodding after a moment while trying to steady herself. "C... Close enough. That was a... That was a good learning experience." She comments, furrowing her brow slightly when Rhongomyniad welcomes everyone into the castle.      Well, it wouldn't hurt to TRY and see a little of the interior as long as she behaves herself. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is holding one arm over her gut and looing to Staren for a moment she looks to her friend long for a moment. "Ya I could use some repairs if you would be so Kind, funny how I'm now all steel and I still feel pain. So ya I could use some help if your offering." 

:'''{{#var:528|Bahamut (528)}} has posed:'''      After the energy of his Mega Flare fades, Bahamut has to land and just...groan. He has dozens of cracks and craters in his metallic hide, his wings are frayed, there is at least one deep gash in his side, and he can't even stand up straight. So, he just sits there to at least recover some energy. He watches the building of the sealing castle, and Rhongomyniad picking up Gilgamesh. And chuckles just a bit at Gilgamesh's reactions and watches Staren scurry about checking on everyone. He chuckles and smirks as Staren asks him if he is okay and waves the scientist off. "I will be fine. But, thank you for your concern. However, if anyone is in dire need, take these." He reaches into a metal pack well hidden amongst his scales before handing Staren a dragon-sized handful of healing potions and a few feathers that would be easy to identify as downy feathers from a phoenix. Now that the battle is over, Bahamut even spares a potion for himself.      Then he finally rises and makes his way to Gilgamesh and Rhongomyniad and hands them potions as well. "Well fought. That vile creature never stood a chance." 
}}

6338/The Badger and the Samurai

2019-01-25T19:05:17Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/24 |Location=The Shrine of Adversity |Synopsis=Mortimer has been wanting to throw down with Nobunaga for some time. |Cast of Characters=630..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/24
|Location=The Shrine of Adversity
|Synopsis=Mortimer has been wanting to throw down with Nobunaga for some time.
|Cast of Characters=6307, 454
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     The Shrine of Adversity's interior is already reacting to the presence of the one who waits here. The dull black interior has overwritten itself into a feudal Japanese castle with a wide courtyard, immaculate white stone, laquered brown wood, and black roof tiles. At a glance it appears in perfect condition, a well-maintained palace that any garrison would be proud of.     Waiting in the center of the courtyard is the samurai warlord, Oda Nobunaga. Her scarlet cape flutters gently on the same breeze that teases her hair. The simulated sun glimmers off the golden jewelry and the great sunburst sigil on her cap. Her eyes are closed, hands outstretched and resting on the hilt of a katana that rests vertically before her.     What kind of ruins the scene is that she's not alone. Somewhere around a dozen creatures mill about the edges of the courtyard, knee-high to the warlord, resembling her in appearance and dress and yet very obviously not human just by their proportions. Congregating in groups of three or four, the Nobbu simply wait for the show to start, chattering their names amongst themselves. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Mort and his crew come sauntering into the Shrine. He's been here a lot lately. It brings back fond memories of the Bar and Brawl... And their magnificent proprietor. When the old badger gets to where Nobu is waiting, she'll see him pausing and staring blankly up at the place, with a wistful look. Lost in thought. He looks kinda like /crap/ actually. Judging by the damage done to his uniform and the scar tissue over recent cuts he's been in a pretty ugly fight. So too has his crew, but they look less obviously savaged.      The massive Thunderwolf tilts his head at the tiny Nobbus, looking between them and the full sized proper Nobu, and then sniffing at them curiously. The butterfree and the wartortle however, seem content to just lazily nap on the great beast's back.      Mort does not appear to be armed, aside from the fact that his head is giving off a constant wraithly flame from which occasionally take the form of face-like wisps.. 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     A giant wolf doesn't seem to startle the Nobbu, who -- upon seeing something of immediate interest -- start congregating around the beast. Much like pokemon, they only seem to chirp their name in various permutations, though it's an easy enough noise to tune out.     Nobunaga herself lifts her face, crimson eyes opening. The brim of her cap casts her face in shadow, and her eyes quite clearly glow for a few moments before she lifts her face moreso and the natural light drowns it out, "Ah ha, Balman! You made good time. Although you certainly look the worst for wear, this place should care little for that."     Her hands shift and she collects the katana by its scabbard. The weapon is lifted, turned sidelong, and then tossed to the pokemarine, "Here. A gift. While it is of no special make or property, a warrior with empty hands is a sad sight. Perhaps you are the one who shall create a legend with this unchristened blade."     Her hand lowers, and she curls her fingers around the hilt of the katana tucked into her belt. This weapon is drawn in a smooth arc, glinting in the light. Held one-handed and down to the side, Nobunaga raises her free hand to gesture, "Is it to your liking?" 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      The Thunderwolf, suddenly surrounded by noisy chibis, starts moving carefully, prancing a little as confused canids tend to do- despite its mass it is able to carefully navigate its colossal paws without crushing them. Though one or two are bound to be bowled over when he sneezes at them, and then bounces out of the way so that they are all in front of and not surrounding him. They will need to be careful of the wagging tail, lest they be launched as though by trebuchet.      The tossed sword... Unceremoniously CLONKs Mort right in the face. "Ack!" He manages to grab it as it falls toward the ground. "Sorry about that, got lost in a memory or two there.. Ah?" He looks at the sword. For someone who's seven feet tall, a standard katana is somewhat short. However.. He attaches it to a couple of belt loops anyway, and then twists the scabber a bit. "Light weight." He rests the opposing hand on it, drawing and slashing in front of him in a single quick motion. "The curve is a bit steeper than I prefer, it makes a number of stabbing motions awkward to aim." A few quick spins and then a rapid resheathing. "The edge sounds sharp and the swing is sturdy. An excellent slashing weapon. The workmanship is exceptional, but not masterful. An ideal weapon for a soldier who will put it through more abuse than a noble who has spent a lifetime trying to master every intricacy of a sweeping stroke, makes it a bit more durable if a bit less sharp. Kieri would have approved." 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     "Hmm!" Nobunaga seems pleased that the gift was accepted, "A weapon fit for a warrior, rather than a priest or coddled prince. You are astute." The woman grins, "You also seem versed in its use. This is good. It spares me the need to teach you how to avoid mishandling and breaking it."     Her hand lowers until she simply props it on her hip. Her cape flutters in the breeze once more, as artificial as it is, "Shall we commence to our duel, then? Though I have a history of striking first, I shall permit you to make the first move in this game." 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Mortimer nods. "Yes.. Kieri spent years trying to get everyone in our platoon to master the East Contikan forms of swordsmanship- which are, shockingly, similar to your Japan's, specifically. Parallel cultural evolution is /fascinating/, especially when there are so many vast gulfs in development, wouldn't you agree?" The old man walks into the arena calmly. "You even have similar naming conventions. Oda, Watanabe, Date, Nakamura, Takahashi.. So on and so forth."      He takes a moment to stretch his limbs. "Oh? Well, if you're going to be so polite, it would be terribly rude not to oblige you. Hm.. ...You are a /strange/ target, that much is certain.. But let's see." Studying Nobunaga is odd to him. She carries herself like someone who should be built in a very different way.. That's a good tactic, thinking on it. If he tries to gauge her as he would normally, he won't have a clue. Well! That only leaves one option.      Pressing the assault to see what all she can actually DO. Mort spreads his legs, leaning on the one that's further back... And then dashes forwards with considerable speed, drawing the blade in a swift motion again and trying to bring it across Nobunaga's midsection. It is not a delicate and cautious strike, if he was wielding a more Western-style blade one might swear it was a move meant to crack armor. 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     When Mortimer moves, Nobunaga braces, but doesn't bring her katana up defensively. Rather, the tension in her legs is released in a backwards leap. She doesn't quite clear the swipe of the sword, which carves across her middle and colors the latter half of its arc with crimson, splattering across the sandy castle courtyard. Motes of golden light scatter around her as she's airborne, with another set hurling off when she lands and slides to a stop.     It becomes immediately clear why Nobunaga did not appear to carry herself as a samurai swordswoman. Each mote of light expands, elongates, and then bursts-- replacing itself with an ornate Japanese rifle. A dozen or more such weapons float around her and along the path of her jump. The matchlocks swing back with audible clicks as the arquebi swing around, leveling on the badger marine.     "Am I that strange?" she says as she straightens, reaching up to tug her hat down. The glow in her eyes becomes obvious again, "It is because you expected a swordswoman" That same hand is held out, aiming even before the rifle has fully materialized in her grasp, "And got a firing squad!"     It's only about a third of the manifested weapons that actually fire, the others spreading out so they aren't so conveniently clustered together. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      "Eh? What the-" Guns! Magic.. Guns? --Wait those are arquebus! He knows what those are, which means he's trying get the hell out of the way, though he only manages to dodge a couple of the shots. The rest of them burrow into his flesh. Musketballs hurt. Not in the same way modern bullets do, because they don't bounce around in the flesh the same way the modern bullets do. "Magic, huh? I can do that too.. Let's see if I remember Master Mifune's teachings..!"      The sword is flicked clean of blood, and woven in a short circle. This carves symbols into the air, cutting black geometry and weaving threads of magic into something tangible. "Kiss the feet of Shaymin and rejoice with Trembling at the Dawn of Spring lest Thou perish along the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little." The geometry that hangs in the air seems to crackle with electricity, and the wind kicks up as though a storm is on the way, "Cursed Iron Forest: Southern Monsoon Winds!"      He swings the sword and releases a surge of electricity in the shape of a wide cutting blade, which is followed by a huge rush of wind and debris, and the sound of a thunderclap. 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     "Magic?" Nobunaga repeats the question, "Not in the least! What you witness is my Noble Phantasm, an aspect of who I am and the legacy I carved into history!" She brings her sword up this time, defensively when the spell erupts. The slash wave shreds her cape, while the electricity surges through her body and leaves the woman smoldering.     "If this is how it is to be, though..." She lowers her weapon and thrusts her free hand out to one side. "Behold the descent of the Demon King!"     Promptly, the castle also bursts into flames-- The entire castle and courtyard seems to 'melt' from its pristine state into a version of itself that has been the brunt of a siege. Walls show damage, support buildings are destroyed. This isn't an effect of Nobunaga's abilities, but the Shrine reacting to the changes in her inner world and projecting it the same way it had done to project the castle itself.     A burst of flames also erupts around Nobunaga herself, although this quickly resolves into an even larger collection of rifles, "Prostrate your corpse before Three Thousand Souls upon the Three Steps of Nagashino." Her katana is raised, and the rifles all swing around to aim at the single point in space currently occupied by a fire badger, "And scorch your soul against the Demon King's Three Line Formation!" She sweeps the katana down, and the guns begin to fire.     The first row fires, swings back from the recoil, and disappears. The second row performs much the same, while a new line of weapons materialize in the first row's place. The third line of guns fires and disappears while the first row aims and the second row reappears. A seemingly ceaseless volley of shot and fire and the laughter of a Japanese warlord. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Ah hell. Surrounded by guns. Well that's not good. Nowhere to dodge.. Nowhere to run. That's how it always is, isn't it? Mort hunkers down and tenses his muscles, short fur rising up like spines. He braces for the impact.. And then it hits him, pretty much full force. But he had just enough time to brace for such an attack.. And stands back up, panting and bleeding like a stuck pig from dozens of brand new bulletholes. He's probably gained five pounds in lead alone!      Huff, huff. "That wasn't magic before, then? *Huff* Well.. Let me apologize, I didn't realize, felt an awful lot like magic.. Hits hard, either way. But.. Y'know, there's a reason we never bothered with such silly toys as /guns/ in my world..." He opens his mouth. There's a really bright, orange glow coming from the back of his throat..      And then a beam of intensely concentrated fire slashes across the air. And Nobunaga, for that matter. 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     Nobunaga brings her sword up once more, and the volley fire from her various rifles ceases for just a moment. She gestures with her free hand, "Forward!" and the lines of rifles around her respond by dropping in front of her and turning vertical, creating something of a barricade of weaponry. It's hardly airtight, as streams of flames surge through. Powder explodes, and various weapons are destroyed, dissolving into their component energies.     Oda Nobunaga stands, smoldering, in the aftermath of the flare, scorched. Parts of her uniform are on fire, which she ignores. She spreads her hands to either side, sword still held, to demonstrate her survival, "To refer to another warrior's weapon of choice in such a disrespectful manner? I thought better of you, Balman. Perhaps I was too hasty in my judgement of your character."     She raises her free hand, palm outward. More weapons begin materializing around her, increasing in numbers rapidly. While the number of rifles before would have equipped a squad, this is rapidly approaching what would be needed to supply an entire army, filling the air above and around the burning castle.     "The Demonic King of the Sixth Heaven permits you to die."     Her fingers close together, and after a heartbeat, she snaps them. The rigid adherance to the three-volley fire pattern is retained, but hardly to detriment-- as it results in the courtyard being bombarded almost without pause from absurd numbers of guns, from all directions. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      "Perhaps you have. Of course, such disrespect has its place in a battle you know- it riles you up so *beautifully!" Mort /was/ going to use that opportunity to make one last ditch effort to cut her down. Bullets pepper him endlessly, simply from pure saturation of the field, no matter how fast he moves he's being shot /endlessly/.      When the smoke clears, Mort's standing only a couple of feet from Nobunaga's gun line, panting heavily. "Damn.. That was... Incredible.." Huff. Huff. Huff. "Did I mention.. How /incredibly/ gorgeous that is.. When ya go all out like that? Gwa.. Ha haaa.. Haaaa..." THUD. He hits the ground like a brick. 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     The storm of shot and gunsmoke only ceases when Nobunaga raises her hand again. Close to a thousand rifles hold fire, those that had discharged disappearing, replaced by fresh weapons at the ready, but holding. She simply stares at the towering marine, prepared to signal another volley.     When he collapses instead, she ^lowers her hand, staring down at Mortimer with faintly glowing crimson eyes, "A man's life is but fifty years, nothing but a dream in the great order of things."     ...     "Yeow--!" The woman jumps suddenly, slapping at the fires still burning at the edges of her uniform, "--Hot, hot, hot--!" 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      The butterfree with the incredibly British mustache slowly flutters over and holds out a tiny paw, lifting the unconscious Mortimer off the ground. "<A rousing and magnificent duel, your Ladyship... Or.. Lordship? I apologize, I do not grasp why you call yourself a King and not a Queen, please forgive this humble servant for his lack of understanding. Do you require assistance to leave the arena as well?>" 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     "Lord Nobunaga," the Daimyo corrects once she's attended to the immediate concerns of her outfit, "And I will depart on my own two feet." She raises her hand and makes a round-up gesture. The rifles she had created begin disappearing in great numbers until the massive formation has completely dispersed.     The way she walks is slow and steady, so as not to aggravate anything until the Shrine does what it does, though as she departs the combat arena, the scene of the burning Japanese castle also dissolves, and the Shrine's battleground reverts to its regular default state. 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      The butlerfree bows his head a bit, "<Of course, Lord.>" And then carries Mort out as well. Who immediately wakes up as the Shrine's bizarre powers start rewinding and shocking his body in ways that irritate the Hell out of him. "Okay.. That was /fun/. Gwahahahaha!" The old marine's laugh is coarse but jolly. "I did /not/ realize you could just summon infinite arquebus. That was fuckin' /cool/." 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     "Of course!" Nobunaga shoots over her shoulder at the massive marine, "Although it is not infinite, one thousand rifles is more than enough to overwhelm a single man, and this is not the extent of my limitation." Her gaze returns forward, as the damage to her body and clothes reverts. The tattered cape billows out with her steps even as it's being restored to its initial glory.     "You are a straightforward man. My summation of your battle strategy was correct, although not necessarily your capability. This was something of a surprise to me. But no more!" 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Mort gently touches on the ground. "Thanks, Switch." "<Of course, sir. I shall retire to rest a bit more, if you don't mind..>" "Go ahead, man, go ahead." The butterfree yawns and flaps back over to the wolf, curling up on it to sleep. "Yes, I kept it simple this time. No need to be too fancy. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect out of you.. Summoning up a point blank, mass artillery barrage certainly was not in my expectations, but I haven't fought one of you Heroic Spirits before." 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Mort gently touches on the ground. "Thanks, Switch." "<Of course, sir. I shall retire to rest a bit more, if you don't mind..>" "Go ahead, man, go ahead." The butterfree yawns and flaps back over to the wolf, curling up on it to sleep. "Yes, I kept it simple this time. No need to be too fancy. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect out of you.. Summoning up a point blank, mass artillery barrage certainly was not in my expectations, but I haven't fought one of you Heroic Spirits before."      He claps his hands together as the bullet holes in them rewind themselves out of existence. "Sometime, we shall have to find a means of comparing war strategies and tactics in a battle simulation as well! That should be quite entertaining." 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     "The battle of Nagashino," Nobunaga states plainly, "Where I expertly commanded rifle and yari divisions against the overwhelming might of the Takeda cavalry, and utterly crushed my enemy despite their numerical and mobility advantage." Nobunaga turns around, arms folded, "This is one of many stories I carved into history, and the origin of my Noble Phantasm."     The warlord spreads those hands, then, "It is but one of many battles to my name, but perhaps my most well known! The Takeda were defeated so soundly that the entire clan collapsed and I seized their lands within a month, you know."     She then brings a hand up to cradle her chin, "Hooh? You never struck me as an army-level commander. Perhaps a squad leader is what I figured to be your experience." 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      "I think I mostly read about your earlier battles, rather than Nagashino. Honestly it was kinda hard keeping up with the history, people kept changing their damned names every time someone got adopted or whatever. Kind of a weird habit but again, not one I'm unfamiliar with." A brief pause. "Takeda.. I understand that's an important name to /your/ history, but it just.. That's the name of a long-standing ramen chain to mine. It conjures the most peculiar images to my mind.." He shakes his head a bit. "My rank in the Groudan Marines was Field Operations Sergeant, 2nd Class. There are three classes- 1st class was largely concerned with materiel and supply lines, 2nd class is a direct battlefield leader, and 3rd class was more or less relegated to administrative duties. The prevailing theory behind my billet was that, if no officers are present or have all been slain, a trusted Enlisted soldier can take command and continue to lead operations until such time as new officers can take command. In practice.. The enemy targeted our commanding officers so frequently and with such vigor that the General Staff figured screw it, ranking NCOs would have replace them entirely. So between scenarios, they made me take strategic officer training classes as well."      Reder tortles from atop the massive wolf, which has come to stand beside them, "<At the great city of Ten-Lein, when the Ditto struck down Colonel Al-Dimashqi, Sarge there had to take command of our entire battalion. We held the last bridge into the heart of the city. Even when the Air Forces' Commander Dandachi took the field, he deferred to *my* Sergeant.>" The littl wartortle has a predatory grin and no small hint of pride in his voice. "She's not really gonna have much context fer that battle." "<Yeah, but it's *our* big battle.>" 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     Nobunaga nods once, "I see, so it's more of a battlefield commission in your force." She grins lightly, "The modern organization always amused me. That a general would avoid the fronts out of petty fear for their lives. This is what makes them insignificant in comparison to someone like myself." She turns around, then, raising her hands and folding them behind her head as she strolls, "If the generals were present to command their forces, than perhaps they would not have a need to rely on enlisted men to do their jobs for them-- wa ha ha ha!"     Her head turns just enough to glance, "This is the perspective of a warlord from a different era, however. I understand the rules of war have changed. In the same vein-- as you experienced, I am not human, and it would take more than a sniper to end me." 

:'''{{#var:454|Mortimer Balman (454)}} has posed:'''      Mortimer nods. "Of course. I take no offense. I was never /supposed/ to have to take that kind of command- at most, I was supposed to lead a Company of maybe 200-ish. That said, I can explain the modern organization to you later if you'd like. There IS a logic behind it, though more than a few people I know would happily say that Generals should definitely lead from the front." A grin is cracked. "I will admit, the looks on the faces of men and women who would, in the past, occupied a position not too dissimilar from yours, as I dictated to and argued with them, was /quite/ enjoyable. Thankfully it was a rare private amusement, most people understood the stakes well enough to just debate rather than bicker." 

:'''{{#var:6307|Nobunaga (6307)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, I know about it," Nobunaga waves the comment away dismissively, eyes closed, "I simply don't care for it. However, if you would rather regale me with tales of your war, and listen to tales of mine as you seem so interested in doing, let us do so as civilized beings."     Nobunaga shifts, reaching under her arm and into her cape. When she pulls it free, she holds a squat round kettle, black, with intricate designs scored into its shell and three little stubby feet protruding from the underside.     "Over tea!" 
}}

6227/A Shining Introduction

2019-01-20T00:06:56Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/12 |Location=The Pinnacle |Synopsis=The Titanic Exalted God-King, Xianren, invites his Concord allies to a gala to introduce himself. |Cast..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/12
|Location=The Pinnacle
|Synopsis=The Titanic Exalted God-King, Xianren, invites his Concord allies to a gala to introduce himself.
|Cast of Characters=6846, 1086, 6810, 518, 42, 527, 1123
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' The invitation went out soon after membership had been finalized. Xianren, one of the Titanic Exalted and god-king of the stellar system known as the Pinnacle, has joined the Concord, and has invited any allies to celebrate their new connection at his palace on the rim of the Spiral, the vast cosmology of which the Pinnacle lies in. From the warpgate out in space, they'd be brought to the planet-holding in a luxurious carrier-ship, with a small squadron of protective fighter-ships around it. The ship is extremely luxurious, larger than a private jet and big enough to suffice as an apartment for someone extremely well-off to live in. Complimentary wine and snacks are offered on the ride, and a team of human servants await every order. Outside the windows, there's occasionally alien life-forms, like a ship fleet towing a massive space kraken, but not much other than that. When the ship docks, it's on a planet of blue grass and white rocky trees. There's a massive landing strip with different similar ships, trees surrounding the landing area to give it a look of 'nature'. Servants lead the group out and down a path, riding in what is basically a jeep made out of blue jade except it hovers instead of wheels. If they have their own transport, they're allowed to take it along the silver roads up to the palace. The palace itself is massive, probably six floors, exterior made of golden metal with silver trim. The architecture is a mixture of primarily Chinese sensibilities with those of the modern Western spires flowing upwards. The group is brought through the front door, where a bevy of servants in matching dark-green uniforms come in slowly as not to overwhelm, moving to take coats, belongings, and anything they want to be put away before quickly moving out of the way for what appears to be a 'butler' in black and white robes comes to lead the group to the dining hall. The dining hall is basically the size of a gala room. There's an entire classical instrument band with shining metal instruments set up, and the table barely takes up any room despite being huge and in the center, allowing walking space for those who want it. The room could probably fit over a hundred people easily, and with table expansions, seat that many as well. Servants have appetizers ready, and standing near the head of the table is who must certainly be their host. Xianren stands at eight feet tall, a rippling mountain of bronze-skinned muscle in the form of what could probably be described as a 'perfect body'. His head is sized well for his body, completely bald with piercing green eyes and a content look on his face. He's dressed in classical Chinese robes, the type an emperor might wear, black and red. When people eventually arrive, he speaks with a calm air, moving to greet his new allies. He doesn't seem smug or like he expects people to be awed, instead just treating all of this as normal. "Salutations. Welcome to my palace. I am Xianren, Sovereign of the Pinnacle. I hope your journey fared well?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      So that's cool.      Seifer Almasy is only a tiny bit grumpy about all of this. Ultimately he's trying to enjoy the flight - enjoy the weird food, enjoy the SPACE KRAKEN and being waited on hand-and-foot by random servants instead of his wife, et cetera - but there's that little voice in the back of his head. That's damnable little voice that says *this is what real impressive people look like*. That little, insecure voice that reminds him that he's only King of the *Moon*, not King of a *galaxy* with spaceships and space krakens and space planets and so on and so forth. Like, is this competition he has to deal with to get written into the universe? Does he have to be more impressive than guys who can *literally buy planets*?      "Fuck," Seifer mutters into his cup.      By the time they arrive at the palace, he's doing his best not to sulk. The host of servants is another thing in the checklist. Note to self, get more servants. Note to self, get a giant dining hall. Note to self, ask Caster if the Moon Cell can make a bigger palace. Note to self, ask Caster if there's a way he can be eight feet tall. Wait, no.      What the fuck?      Seifer just sort of stares at the man for a moment before he gives him a blase thumbs-up. A little of this is awe. A little of this is him not wanting to open his mouth and fuck things up for the Concord. And a little of this is just...Seifer being Seifer.      "Seifer Almasy. Fox Knight, Hand of the Concord, King of the Moon." He almost adds his usual /kind of a big deal/ but he's pretty sure it'd draw laughs. His jaw juts out very very slightly as he presses his back teeth together in unspoken irritation at the thought of it. 

:'''{{#var:6810|Raziel (6810)}} has posed:''' 'Once more, I journeyed to lands unknown.  It was, in a word, nice to have no obligations to do something other than one's own curiosity, and of course, the choice to pursue methods of avoiding one's fate without being stuck in the trappings of my home.  While I represented the Concord, the Multiversal group I had allied myself with, it was as much for me as it was for them I arrived.' Raziel of course, accepted the invitation.  Exiting the warp gate into the realm of space, but also inside the opulent ship that would ferry them to the palace.  He took the time to explore where he could, and of course, catch the eye full of space.  A sight he had never seen in his life. 'While the ship would be more interesting to some, I felt myself drawn to the void in which this ship floated in.  Incomprehensibly vast, and so I am told that all planets reside in some form of void like this.  where night stretches on forever...and the blinding light of the sun also, similarly, resides.' Raziel does not eat or drink, calmly and politely declining any to do as such.  The ghoul simply watches talks when addressed, but is more than happy to be left to his thoughts.  The body of the wraith in flesh is that as one might expect of a dead man.  Ghoulish, blue, and obviously not alive.  Upon landing, Raziel once more observed his surroundings. 'How odd is the grass and color of the trees on this planet.  Not at all like that on Nosgoth, where the grass was green, this was blue.  Where our trees various shades of brown, these trees were more like white rocks.  As we landed, the 'pad' as they called it was obviously very artificial, though a smattering of nature was left there to try and cover up this fact, much like someone who is balding combs their hair to one side.' Walking into the palace itself, it was definitely large.  Over the top even...not the largest he has ever seen.  Kain was not one to be contested for opulence, but this would give it a run for its money.  Here too, the ghoul walked if not harassed, moving into the room easily enough.   His eyes turned to the man as he introduced himself.  simply allowing him to do as such, and not interrupting him.   'The palace was not the largest structure I have had the pleasure of visiting, though it was impressive in its own right.  In the designated area was the person who had invited us.  Large, standing easily a chest above myself.  Obviously, projecting power, and attempting to impress us.  Well dressed and well spoken, he addressed us.  Not as subjects, but as equals.  That much, he was at least someone with a decent head on his shoulders, and strived to keep it as such.' "I am Raziel, the former right hand of Kain's Empire, currently dead." He says, his titles not as long as they once were.  Though if he were to believe that he could also be called Massiah.  Though the word was hated...reminding him of what such a title entailed.   The man moved, walking next to Seifer, as if to give him a look, not judging but curious.  Then to turn his gaze back on their host.   

:'''{{#var:518|Yuuki Kuran (518)}} has posed:''' Across from Seifer Almasy in the Apartment-Carrier is Yuuki Kuran, enjoying quite enthusiastically a servant giving her a full on foot massage and pedicure (not that she especially needs one, but service with a smile and all that) as she sits, cross-legged, hands steepled thoughtfully. "Is something the matter?" "You seem troubled. Is it..." Yuuki worries, partially distracted as her foot is kneaded at. "... Seasickness?" Her brow quirked, her voice is an innocet question, a single finger raised in an 'I've got it!" expression. Perhaps not. Once on the ground (and her socks and shoes pulled back on, with some mild reluctance), Yuuki piles into the jade floatyjeep with the others, eventually arriving at the palace proper, marvelling starry-eyed at the whole structure. Her hair, defying windswept logic, merely needs a hand run through to adjust it behind her right ear instead of six hours with a brush and swearing. She bows, though not low - a respectful dip, and then back to standing. "Noble Xianren, as Director of the Concord, I welcome you and all that is yours to be our partner in the Concord. This is Raziel-" He introduces himself. "And Seifer Almasy." He introduces himself as well. "I am Kuran Yuuki, a princess in my own world, and the Concord's chief diplomat. The First, Lady Priscilla, wishes to extend her warm greetings as well." Ironic, being as Priscilla is rarely warm, but there is that 'chief diplomat' speaking. "Your application was immesurably well-recieved, and we all look forward to working with you, o System Lord." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is not really a fancy party person. But, he's kind of a bigshot now, so he can at least show up to gatherings like this and try not to make the Concord look bad.     Staren beams down outside the palace. Fancy dress events happen just rarely enough that Staren mostly doesn't bother having fancy dress clothes. Not sure what would look best on him, he falls back on a sort of military uniform aesthetic. It's blue, and vaguely military or perhaps police, with a button-up shirt and slacks with a clear crease in them, and military-style boots. Over it all is a long coat -- The overall effect at a glance is not unlike an Amestris military uniform, although the details are all different -- there are patches for the Lazlo Defense Force Tactical Response Unit, the Union Elite Forces, the Wings of Nemesis, and the Concord, and a couple of old campaign ribbons and a small medal from the Union days, and of course, whatever the rank insignia for a Hand of the Concord is. As a single concession to opulance -- people in power always show wealth at these things, right? -- he wears an opal pendant set in ornately decorated silver, hanging from a leather-and-wire thong about his neck. And of course, he has his magic bag hanging at his side, because /you never know/.     He briefly takes in the palace's exterior, but it doesn't seem so fancy to someone who makes regular visits to Grand Dorado. Staren suddenly wonders if part of the /point/ of decorating the capital so damn /fancy/ is so that noone who regularly visits will be so wowed by architectural shows of wealth anywhere else, short of the likes of Yu-Shan perhaps. Hmm.     Staren shakes his head at the servants offering to take things. He likes having things -- if he didn't want it on his person, why would he have brought it in the first place?     Seifer gets a friendly smile and nod. Staren wonders what's making the man sulk, but maybe it's private stuff. Seifer used to call him 'stalker', so, he doesn't want to reinforce that image.     Oh hey, introduction time. An eight foot tall man isn't weird at all, this is the Multiverse. Staren looks up at him and imitates Yuuki's bow. "Staren Wiremu, Hand of the Concord." He doesn't have as many titles as Seifer. He wonders if that matters, at meetings like this. Like, does it look bad if leaders of the Concord don't all have lots of titles? He'll have to ask later.     The cat-man extends a hand to shake, and gives Xianren the smile of an introvert who is smiling because he's at a party and you're supposed to smile at people. 

:'''{{#var:527|Zero Kiryu (527)}} has posed:''' Zero hates all of this because it smells like vampires magnified by hundreds of orders of magnitude. The fact that Raziel is right there, interminally pinging his radar as something Incredibly Weird But Definitely A Vampire, doesn't help at all. Neither does the fact that he has, frankly, been undereating lately. The environment around him is a blur. Mostly, he filters it out as he drifts at Yuuki's flank. Rich people places, rich people things. It's impressive, but he hates it for the same reason he hates the spaces that Yuuki usually occupies. It's usually evidence of a very predatory mindset by the people involved. It's only when introductions are occurring that he manages to pull himself together and offer some sort of acknowledgement. From the Director's side, he says simply, "Zero Kiryu. Bodyguard." Then his attention grows foggy and distant again. His posture slackens, and one gets the impression that his energy is bottoming out. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Throughout the journey, a certain pint-sized blonde has been largely silent. Standing beside the windows overlooking space (and eventually the planetscape the ship descends towards), Major Tanya von Degurechaff is in full dress regalia. Ornate piping in gold and red over a rich green uniform, immaculately pressed and decorated with various service medals. Gold embroidered epaulettes. A cavalry saber hangs at her side, equally ornamental.     The tiny Major's arms remain tucked behind her back, staring down at the planet's details when it comes into view, fixating on the palace. A slight smirk crosses her face when, after the disembarking and other rigamarole, she arrives at said palace. Arms still folded behind her back, the girl nods once, "Sovereign Xianren, thank you for the invitation."     A hand reaches up, removing her peaked cap now that she is indoors. Instantly, a sprig of hair springs up to attention while the girl sweeps the cap across herself in a gracious bow to the opulent host, "If the gala is even half as impressive as the transportation, it will still be a most memorable occasion." Straightening, she tucks the cap under one arm in a practiced fashion, "Major Tanya von Degurechaff, Imperial Army Mage Corps, 212th Aerial Mage Battalion, Hand of the Concord. At your service." 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' As the guests of honor filter in, those green eyes register each of them one by one. As people introduce themselves, Xiaoren watches, bowing his head to each in turn, and accepting Staren's handshake, his own incredibly firm and strong, though it takes him a moment to accept. He seems to appreciate Tanya's introductory bow. "Director Kuran, Hand Seifer, Hand Staren, Hand Degurechaff, Raziel, Kiryu. It's a pleasure to have you. I have prepared specially for your visit." He shifts his body ever so slightly in the direction of a waiter. "Please pour everyone a glass of wine. Cheltian tear-red, oldest label." The servant nods and quickly heads through a side door to get the wine, returning soon after to pour a glass for each person present, Tanya included. It's a blood-red wine, and it's probably not made of standard grapes, if out of grapes at all. Not moving yet to take a seat, Xianren continues. "The meal will be served shortly. If you have any requests, one of the servants will take them for you. For now, I feel I might as well explain who I am and where we are, as to my knowledge, there is no world like this one known in the Multiverse." That brings an ever-so-light smile to Xianren's face, before he moves to continue. "This planet is Acasia, on the rim of the Spiral, the vast cosmology that we can thank the Titans for. I conquered this planet one century ago so that I would have an outreach from the rim, as my system, known as the Pinnacle, is far further inside of the Spiral. Like all Titanic Exalted, this is my right as a ruler and leader of man." A pause, before he sips his own wine. "As one of the Titanics, I am a king. I am excellence, and have been empowered by Theion because of my excellence to rule over the stars. Because of this excellence and my beliefs, as well as the excellence of what I had found, I have joined the Concord. I foresee us working together proudly to further our mutual beliefs." And then, a slight wave of the hand, as to signal 'Any questions?'. 

:'''{{#var:6810|Raziel (6810)}} has posed:''' "Do not waste your good food on me, good sir. I do not consume food as I had once in life. It is not a boast or excuse, I assure you. I can no longer actually process food as you would serve it." He says, as politely as he can. It is far easier to say 'I can't eat' than to explain how he even functions anymore. The glow around his arm brightens at the sound of food, however. 'With our introductions made, and explanation's given, I considered the other guests. Seifer, the very titleful and boisterous fighter, who seems put off by something. Princess Yuuki's desire to embrace the opulance here, and seemed quite apt at her job as diplomat. Staren who seems at ease here...though with him being at ease here, and many others not...it only served to prove my point that something is weird about him, but I can not put my finger upon it. Then there is Zero, who I have only met once, and heard only a handful of times more over the radio. He too, was ill at ease, or at least appeared to my eyes to be as such. Of course, it was hard to read him, and more curious was that. And then finally, the major Degurechaff, who I have heard less from. Small, but I would not discredit her for size alone.'     "I am unfamilar with your Universe's...creation. I am not sure of who the Titanics are, nor what it exactly means to be 'Chosen' by them. Does it mean that you are a leader, empowered to do their will? Or it proof of your right to rule?" he asks, simply wanting to know more about a subject he was simply uninformed of. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Yuuki gets a headshake. "Naw. I'll tell you later," Seifer says, rolling his shoulders. He takes a sip of the wine, but he's not much of a drinker, so it's mostly just to be polite.      "So you rule...star/s/. Plural." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Wine? "Oh, um..." Staren starts to protest, then stops. He's not sure if it's rude, and the nanomachines will purge the alchohol from his system anyway. But then... oldest vintage? That's /super/ valuable, right? "Um, no thanks." He holds a hand out in a stop gesture when the waiter is about to pour for him.     'Do you have any seafood? I mean... I guess just serve whatever you think is good, I can try local food?' he whispers to the waiter.     "So, um... what's the rim, what's a Titanic Exalted, and what is Theion?" 

:'''{{#var:518|Yuuki Kuran (518)}} has posed:''' "Ooh, Zero, there'll be a meal, too." Yuuki asides, her starry amazed eyes returning for a few moments. The whole place was so bright, so gleaming, opulence and majesty, so unlike the dreary greyscale of vampire life. 'Brooding' was a pallate and it was blacks and greys and crimson red. This was bronze and gold and verdant emerald. "A vast cosmology..." She favors Xianren with, her imagination playing out in her eyes, before she coughs once into her fist, resuming a more measured and stately poise. "Excellence is absolutely one of the highest virtues of the Concord - and you, of this world, certainly are convincing in excellence. So, let us all work together, going forward." She takes a wineglass, dipping her nose into the glass and breathing deeply. "Ooh, this is really good!" She exhales, returning to her more anime girlish enjoyment of the scenery and festivities. "Ah, Xianren. I have a question. You are very large - much larger then the servants. Is this because of your abilities, or...?" 

:'''{{#var:527|Zero Kiryu (527)}} has posed:''' They want to feed them. Of course they want to feed them. Zero receives the wine without complaint, but he just ends up staring at it in... not disgust, of course not. He likes food, and drink. They just don't really do anything for him, which is throwing him for a loop right now because holy /shit/ is he hungry. A flash of temptation to just drink it in the hopes that it'll let him choke it down a little longer strikes him, but he knows that it won't do anything at all. Drinking something while you're dying of thirst and feeling as if the fluid did not even touch your lips just makes it infinitely worse. Again his focus returns momentarily, sliding from his glass -- held lightly in one hand -- and Yuuki. On the whole, the look he casts Yuuki isn't mad or irritable. It isn't a projection of negative feeling so much as it is an immediate expression of misery. "Thank you for your hospitality." He says to Xianren, all the same. Evidently, despite the self-neglect, he's at least /trying/ not to be a complete pill at the moment. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya is provided with wine. As a matter of politeness, she accepts it. The goblet is sniffed, and then very briefly tasted. The reaction is obvious and also obviously something she attempts to conceal. A sort of muffled shudder. Upon recovering, she admits in a humbled tone, "Sovereign, I appreciate your generosity, but I'm afraid my palette can't handle something as potent as this."     The rich red wine is handed to Seifer, without even a glance. He's an adult, he can probably take it.     "To build on Staren's line of questioning, I am curious about what resistance you and your empire encounter in this Spiral. What can we expect to come from this region which would rather take up arms against you and us, than join us." 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' Raziel gets a sympathetic nod. "I see. That is a shame." He considers his question, and then moves to respond. "The Titanic Exalted are those who have been given a taste of the power of one of the Titans who created the cosmos. I am blessed by the power of the Titan Theion, the Empyreal Chaos, king of all, though the Titan Qaf, the Spear that Pierced Heaven and Earth, has given me his blessing as well. I was chosen for my excellence, and it is from my further excellence that I have survived in this position for over three centuries. I am one of the lords of humanity." Seifer is glanced to next. "Yes. The Pinnacle has multiple, as well as several planets. My tenure has allowed me to expand my territory over the centuries." The wine is rather strong, but it's amazing quality. It can't be described as tasting exactly like normal wine, but it has that tang and that kick and that burning feeling, and it's definitely alcohol. Staren also gets a reply, after Xianren takes another sip of wine. "The rim is the border of the Spiral. Imagine that it's the outside of civilization. We have less command out here due to how positively large the Spiral is, however, we are in the process of fixing that. Theion is as I explained before, the creator of the cosmos, the king of the titans. He has given me his power, and so I am one of the Titanic Exalted." A servant, meanwhile, accepts his request for seafood when he whispers it. Yuuki gets an actual broad smile when she mentions his size. It seems like he might even chuckle, but he doesn't. "It is because of my control over my essence and my abilities that I am this perfect. It is because of my actions, not my birth, that I have reached the pinnacle that my system is named after." Zero is glanced to, Xianren moving to meet his eyes. "Of course." Xianren is about to reply to Tanya, nodding about the alcohol, when a security guard in black fully-masked armor steps through the door. Xianren doesn't seem too pleased to see them. "What is it?" The security guard speaks up. "Sovereign, an unknown ship was registered. The one who investigated it is dead." Xianren inhales, and then turns to his guests. "I will return shortly." Well, Xianren says that, before one of the side doors into the hall (not the one the security guard came out of) is kicked flying open, as multiple entities approach, filtering through as a servant lies dead behind them, killed before she could yell and alert their entrance. Zero and Yuuki can smell the blood as it spills, and would be alerted first. Five magitech armored people, in different colors - red, white, blue, green, and black - one with a sword, one with a spear, one with tonfas, one with a shuriken, and another unarmed, as well as a leader in front, a woman with black hair and a red silk tunic, wielding a long chinese sword and a short one at her side. "You won't return anywhere, Xianren. One less of you Infernals for the sake of the Spiral!" The woman takes in the Concord with some surprise, she didn't expect that many people. But either way, the group moves to lunge forth, attacking with their weapons, taking on anyone who interferes...as the woman goes for Xianren himself. If someone doesn't interfere, he straightens up, his presence strong. You can feel him no matter where you are, like there's something rippling inside of him trying to get out. He'd catch that blade with his hand, allowing it to barely break the skin, as he turns unconcerned to the others. "I apologize for the inconvenience. You may help me deal with this, if you'd like." Part of him wants to see what his allies are capable of. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer puts the wine down.      He is immediately handed another glass from Tanya.      He looks over at her, then looks down at it, then looks at her, then looks down at it. Then he just sets it down next to his own cup. He's not really a big wine guy. Also, he's only twenty for ten more days.      Seifer listens to the guy politely, and at least he can respect that he's huge and buff and powerful because he *worked for it*. There's something to be said for guys who weren't born special, who didn't get handed everything or get blessed with some nonsense magic, but who struggled and pushed and worked to become something amazing.      Yeah, Seifer...Seifer doesn't know how Exalted work.      But then the attack happens. Five people in five colored outfits bust in the door shouting about infernals. Seifer immediately understands that is happening here. /They're the bad guys/.      Obviously. He's working for the Concord. The Concord is the good guys. Therefore...      Seifer just sort of puts one foot on the table and leaps over it, diving into the path of the woman attacking their host. His gunblade crashes into her weapon, and his hand snaps outwards to snap his fingers and blow up the air between them.      "Listen, lady, I don't know what your problem is, but if you want a fight, you can have a fight with me! An' when you get back to wherever it is you came from, you tell 'em Seifer Almasy, Fox Knight, handed you your ass!" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Amidst the guests is a small child. Oh, a child might be considered a poor target for freedom fighters, but anyone who consorts with the Exalted of Theion is likely already too far gone to save. Thus, when EXCITEMENT suddenly breaks out, it's a sure thing that someone goes for the easy looking pickings.     Tanya von Degurechaff's hand goes to the cavalry saber at her side. Her eyes go from the natural, if vibrant blue to a suddenly bright, unmistakable blue glow as she draws the weapon free. A smokey blue glow surrounds the saber when she places it between herself and the sword swinging her way. Magic clashes against Magical Material, the display saber's blade bending and Tanya letting out a grunt as the blow shoves her away from the table.     Sliding to a stop, still on her feet, Tanya lifts her sword to examine the kink in the blade, a frown on her face, "...I liked that one. He said it was quality, too. A shame." The weapon is discarded as she begins to speak. The red gem at her collarbone begins to glow as she speaks. The blue glow in her eyes also begins to wash out.     "May God grant me the wisdom to see the flowered path, and the strength to defend it from these faithless invaders."     Her eyes now awash with gold, Tanya's hand lifts from her hip. Her service pistol is unholstered, a shining, well-oiled Luger. Her first target is the Dragonranger with the sword, and what comes out is more like a golden, high powered laser than a 9mm Parabellum. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's ears perk up as the security guard talks. "Should we--?" he starts to ask, but then... Hell breaks loose! Or perhaps is broken into? Staren makes a note to try to save the guard later, but his immediate reaction is to duck behind the table, draw his laser pistol, and slip on his flight ring.     He kind of wants to ask what this is about -- the multicolored armor means they're obviously a team of 'heroes' fighting for some ideal. Maybe they can be reasoned with -- But there are two other Hands here. What will they do?     Fight.     Well, he can't just sit here. Hopefully he can fix them and interrogate them later.     Staren opens fire, aiming the pistol over the table without exposing his head. He can see through it just fine, and the dual lasers impart the energy equivalent of multiple grenades to the tiny points they hit.     "Surrender, and we can talk about this!" It's... an offer, albeit kind of a weak one what with him shooting at the same time. 

:'''{{#var:6810|Raziel (6810)}} has posed:'''     Slowly, Raziel sighs, and rises from his seat.     Turning, he faces the strange new people as they interupted this event.     "Excuse me, I would rather this happened another day." He says, calmly, not afraid of them...oh no. He isn't afraid of them at all. Infact, from his hand a blade appears, the glow on his arm finally manifesting into a spectral blade, as he starts approaching the group of assaulting color coded dragon rangers.     However, it seems they are passed negotiation.     "Well. Then I suppose we're going to do this then." He says, calmly, as he starts approaching.     'Bursting in without warning, these...color coded raiders appear to have issues with our host. However, before talks could happen, Seifer leaps at them. Well...without much room to speak, it was time to actually face them in combat.'     He tumbles towards one of the ones with a spear, aiming to try and get inside his effective range, and use the blade to thrust repeatedly at the chest of the Dragonblooded.     "Do not worry, you will pass to the approprate afterlife." 

:'''{{#var:527|Zero Kiryu (527)}} has posed:''' The first whiff of blood is what catches Zero's attention, and practically speaking it serves as an alarm bell. He's absolutely starving, and because he's absolutely starving his eyes suddenly come alight. The natural violet is replaced with a luminous red that builds. His poor posture is corrected as he pays careful attention to the door through which, moments later, armored figures come through. His eyes land on the bloodied weapons of whichever of them did the deed, and trail towards the door beyond which the dead servants no doubt lie. Despite KNOWING quicker, it actually takes the vampire hunter longer to actually wind himself up to doing something. By the time he's properly caught up, someone has attacked the central conspirator, the sword ranger, and the spear ranger. That's perfectly fine, by him. He inhales deeply and steps forward. Momentarily his attention follows Raziel, and that strange blade of his. The wraith's nature clicks properly into the back of his mind. It would be strange, if not for the fact that they're basically the same sort of walking irony. Better if he himself doesn't draw blood, Zero tells himself. He steps in, pushing into the space of the Dragon Blooded bearing tonfas. Whether he's attacked first or achieves initiative, Zero makes a grab for one of the tonfas and attempts to jerk it away with both hands, giving it a firm twist as he goes. If he's successful he comes about with it, spinning it in hand to make a strike with it towards the target's helmet. 

:'''{{#var:518|Yuuki Kuran (518)}} has posed:''' "How wonderful. While many find themselves chosen, a dedication to self-improvement could be called the most Concord of traits!" Yuuki agrees conversationally. She would so like to speak at length about this, perhaps even trade some health tips over wine and dinner. Then, the spatter of blood, and Yuuki's head snaps up, a light 'sniff sniff' of the air. "System Lo-" She begins, but it's the explosion that follows immediately after. And the POWER RANGERS!!! "Really?" Yuuki begins, crossing her arms, not even lowering her wineglass. "Really-?" Her tone is cold, unimpressed. "You're coming to kill our newest member? Our new partner?" Yuuki sweeps her glass towards Staren as he Offensively Demands Surrender. "Unacceptable. Surrender to Staren - now. Otherwise..." Yuuki brings up her free hand to rub her face lightly, as if put upon. "Seifer, Zero, if they won't surrender, kill them. This is now a matter of the Concord's reputation." 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' Everyone moves to join the fight, except Yuuki, who calls out orders. Which, to Xianren, seems fitting, she's the director. Seifer moves to clash with the swordswoman leader. She seems very capable with a sword, but Seifer's a master of the gunblade, and so as their blades clash, preventing Xianren from being harmed.. Seifer is able to force her back, but suddenly, she charges her blade with red energy, putting more force into it and allowing her to spin it and move to strike him backwards, as a red light suffuses her, as the Mars symbol appears on her head glowing in the same red light. "I am Glory Ever-Marching Forward, and while you're all unexpected...we must do this for Autochthon. Everyone, don't accept their surrender! Fight until your last breath!" As she shouts that, everyone else is being fought. Tanya clashes sword against sword with the red Dragon-Blooded, though he beats her blade back. As she draws her gun though, he takes a defensive stance...and is shot anyways, not with a bullet or a plume of flame, but with a powerful laser that pierces his armor. He's sent reeling backward, wound cauterized immediately but still causing him to clutch his chest, before he's rallied by his leader's cry, and moves to strike at Tanya. Staren's shots hit the blue Dragon-Blooded with the shurikens, blowing through his armor, so he throws several shurikens back, aimed at Staren's gun, curving around to try and disarm him,, them backed by the wind that suddenly forms around them. They pierce hard, and move to return to his hand if not stopped, though Staren can probably shoot them out of the air if he puts effort into it. Raziel focuses on the green Dragon-Blooded with the spear, and aimed for his chest. He pierces the armor and gets the guy on the sword, but green essence flows around him, keeping him alive long enough to strike back at Raziel and try and pierce him with the spear. Though the wound should be fatal, if Raziel can keep his strikes up! Zero fights the white one with the tonfas, and manages to jerk one away. He spins it in hand and slams it into the white Dragon-Blooded's helmet, knocking it loose and revealing a young man with blonde hair and a sharp frown on his face, who tries to strike Zero back with the other one if he can clock the fighter in the head enough to daze him/maybe give him a concussion. The black Dragon-Blooded is about to move for Yuuki with an unarmed grab. However, before he can hit her, Xianren is suddenly in the way, clutching the man's arm. He starts crushing the armor in his grip, before using the other hand to remove the guy's helmet. He must be a teenager, no older than 16, and he's probably not ridiculously older than that in experience based on the raw fear he shows. Xianren speaks up to the group as everyone fights. 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' "To back up the director's words, I will personally guarantee whoever surrenders will survive. I willn ot kill you even in execution. You will have a place." And then, white flames appear from his hands, and start burning into the martial artist's face, who he smashes into the ground over and over, causing him to scream in agonizing pain. Before the man is engulfed completely in it, he shouts out. "I surrender!" Glory screams out, "No! Don't fall for his lies!" Xianren just smiles patronizingly. The fire dies down. "Then declare your fealty to me." The dragon-blooded pauses, swallows, and then speaks up. "I declare...I declare my fealty to you." Xianren inhales again, and then speaks again. His words have an edge to them, as when he speaks, a white symbol appears on his forehead, a rippling symbol of eight rays connected to an empty circle. "[ansi(#24FF41,You are mine now.)]" The words are like razor-wind, and for those who can detect it, supernatural. The screaming stops from the Dragon-Blooded, as does his lack of confidence, as he drops to his knees. "Yes, my lord." The other Dragon-Blooded who can still react are horrified. It seems he just took over this guy's will. Xianren simply throws the servant to the side. He doesn't really hurt the guy, and keeps his promise of letting him live, but the man's in his way. The White Dragon-Blooded remains where he lands, silent as to not displease his new master. "Anyone else?" 

:'''{{#var:6810|Raziel (6810)}} has posed:'''     The spear comes for Raziel, but Raziel is quick on his feet, only catching the edge of the blade across the shoulder. To Raziel, this is not more than a scratch...to a living thing that would be a devestating blow. He quickly moves around the spear, aiming to grab it with his free hand, and hold it there with his surprising strength. Enough time to thrust his blade forward, into the chest of the Exalt again, once more trying to hammer in the wounds he is inflicting, trying to take this guy down as quickly as possible. The spear, as it was, does not leave his hand unless he puts a signifigant force behind trying to remove it.     He has a plan for it, but for now he can simply hold it or let it fall to the ground.     "Take the man's offer, or I will offer your spirit to the director there. At worse, she finds a use for you...at best you have no chance for resurection." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer has a dumb idea.      Seifer's going to try his dumb idea.      Seifer forces his soul force into his hand. His palm comes up to catch the glowing blade. This is such a stupid plan, but the wild grin on his face says that he doesn't care. The wild grin on his face says that he knows the Concord can fix him if this goes wrong, that he can't bear not to try this out.      The blade contacts his palm. It draws blood.      There's an explosion.      There's a spray of blood against the Sidereal's face.      Seifer closes his hand around the blade and jerks it backwards, his wild grin intensifying.      "Y'know," he says to the Sidereal, "I didn't think that was gonna work."      He stopped the momentum of the sword with explosive force inside his own palm.      With the sword clutched in his hand Seifer goes on the offensive. His foot comes up to kick her in the stomach, to try and dislodge her blade from her. His gunblade flashes outwards to keep her reeling, to keep her moving, to keep her from stabilizing. Another slash, another flash. He's relentless in his stabbing, in his cutting, in his motions - and it's obvious that he's just trying to disarm her.      "I!" Seifer says, "Would take the guy's offer, if I was you, lady! You've got a nice face; be a shame to waste it dying 'cause you threw yourselves at us!"      Xianren tells them that the Sidereals' /thing/ is manipulating Fate, and Seifer's wild eyes flare up. "So you do stuff with fate, huh? Then boy should you be cursin' yours! 'cause you're up against Seifer Almasy - an' I ain't never let fate tell me what to do! Fate..."      He wheels his foot around for a kick at her throat, "Can go fuck itself!" 

:'''{{#var:527|Zero Kiryu (527)}} has posed:''' What kind of warrior is Zero Kiryu? The whistle of the remaining tonfa is met with a raised arm. It strikes with force and CRACKS violently, a bone within the arm breaking audibly. The pain doesn't seem to register, though. The sacrifice, calculated. He can afford to lose the functionality of his arm for the next few minutes, and in so doing he gives himself an opportunity. It's the sort of thing you'd expect out of one of the Infernal Exalted, but he CLEARLY isn't one of those. He spins the tonfa in his other hand, building centrifugal force. By himself, Zero Kiryu is only moderately superhuman. True, he is good at throwing that weight around, and true he can rip limbs off. But there's always something to be said for using tools. At the moment of impact-- He brings the tonfa in, in a wide swing that bears it towards the Dragon Blooded's side on the final revolution he can twist into it before bringing it forth for impact. The actual force, of course, is substantially higher than he could achieve with a regular blow. His head twitches slightly in the direction of the black-armored dragon blood. But the matter is handled, and there is no need to re-direct his efforts. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Shoot them out of the air? What is Staren, a robot? Well, not today he's not. The shurikens cut into the pistol, disabling it and knocking it from his hands. "Ow!"     As he reaches into his bag and pulls out another pistol (this one shoots tiny missiles with kinetic penetrator warheads tipped with explosive to soften up armor), he comments to Xianren, "Okay, sparing him was good, but I don't think making him sound creepy and mind-controlled did much for getting them to surrender."     "OKAY!" Staren shouts as he continues firing, "How about you at least shout your ideals at us so we know what this is all about? You probably want to do that anyway, right? C'mon, if you were quiet pragmatic types you'd have blown the building up rather than charge in and make a big scene, so let's hear it!" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "Do it," Tanya states to Raziel, her eyes glowing golden. The gemstone hanging at her neck mirrors the shade, almost boiling with the light it gives off. What appeared to be a decorative crystal revealed in this altercation to be some kind of amplifier artifact.     She draws her pistol up as it expends its cartridge, an ordinary brass casing clattering to the lush carpet at her feet. Her gaze remains fixated on the red Dragon blooded with the sword, already recovering and coming after her. This grown, armored man is rewarded for his efforts by an upturned, derisive frown.     "Disappointing."     Two shots are loosed from her pistol this time. Ordinary bullets leave the chamber, but by the time they reach the sword-weilding Dragonblooded, each parabellum round explodes with the force of a hand grenade. Probably not the best option in a crowded room owned by a rich guy, but if it's objected to-- well, she can easily reason that the less concussive option didn't keep the guy down.     Her pistol is kept aimed this time, eyes narrowing as they slide sidelong towards what Xianren just did. She doesn't get it. This kind of power is alien to her. But the power is unmistakable now that her senses are on full combat alert. With this Exalted in full form, she can't help but compare his presence to another so-called omnipotent being she's encountered. 

:'''{{#var:518|Yuuki Kuran (518)}} has posed:''' Chaos, across the battlefield. Heroic shouts of never surrendering. Every day, Yuuki strayed further from the path of 'Good', the path of Light. The Dragon-blood leaping the table to go after her leads in with a flying punch. Yuuki doesn't even lift a single finger, instead closing her eyes to sip at her glass of wine. The air about her is still. Her defenses are not tested, nor is her glass more than wobbled by the aborted air of the fist brushing her hair askew like a gentle spring breeze. There's a loud gulp of wine - perhaps steadying. "System Lord, I place no blame upon you. They broke into your palace, and made an attempt on your life. As I just finished speaking of elsewhere - the Concord is fully behind all its partners, and expect all its partners to be fully behind the Concord. We are the business of excellence, and dwelling on failures and little stumbles would be beneath me, beneath you, and beneath the spirit of our relationship. You are a part of our family, now, our group, and each one of us deal with this..." Yuuki sighs, opening her red-amber eyes and placing her glass down, mere dregs left. "... And handle it in our own ways. Staren is an expert roboticist, combat pilot, and weapon adept." "Seifer is a swordsman that reversed the sure-killing strike." "Raziel is an immortal shade of bitter vengeance, possessed of a hero's heart." "Tanya is a terrifying leader of men, personal combatant, aerial ace, and powerful mage." "Zero is the most adept hunter of monsters I have ever met." "And I am very tired of people bursting into the room like they are the protagonist of some epic tale, that the odds will break their way, and that nobody else matters - or is an obstacle to be overcome." Yuuki's eyes begin to glow with an inner light, a red light. "Submit to us, dinner-ruiners, to our new Partner, Xianren, and learn from his excellence firsthand. I demand it." She announces, her voice as well a powerful compulsion to compel the Dragon-blooded to cease fighting and give in, and join their fellow in... ........wwwwelll, thralldom. 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' The Dragon-Blooded fighting Raziel is stabbed even more, his spear prevented from being used, but he remains stubborn. He sounds older. "I'd rather...hrrk, die than let him take my mind!" So if Raziel executes him, he slumps to the ground, dead. Blood splatters on Glory. Seifer has stopped the blade with the explosive force of her palm, and she immediately realizes they're not dealing with normal threats, disarming her. Staren shouts for them to explain their plans...and she does, sort of. "Don't you know about Autochthonia?! Don't you know that they're chasing us further from the Spiral, from our home? These /Infernals/ won the war and come to destroy us for it! And after planning this for so long..." She doesn't say anything further, though, because as Yuuki speaks up with her command, she moves to cover her ears... And Glory disappears. Strands of red light trail behind her as she vanishes from the premises, having used some sort of ability. The other Dragon-Blooded, especially the one fighting Staren, seem shocked by this. And they're also starting to submit, those who survive. The one fighting Zero is bludgeoned and brought to his knees, and puts his hands in the air. The one fighting Staren is blasted backwards by the impact of an explosive missile and is unconscious and badly injured, but he probably (maybe) would have surrendered anyways. Tanya's is also blasted back, though he remains conscious. He almost considers moving forward, fighting to the death even in his injuries, but in the end, he drops his sword. It seems the Sidereal escaping has taken away their will. Xianren walks forward and one-by-one, forces each of them to submit to him. Then he speaks those rippling words, the white energy around him growing stronger, and they submit. One of them is dead, a ghost for the use of Raziel. "Let her escape, she'll make sure they fear out strength. I will make sure these men are sent to be interrogated and converted to akuma. I will add that what the woman said isn't wrong...but she believes she's the hero." "They always do." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer has a triumphant grin on his face. The Sidereal disappears, and he flips the sword into his palm hilt-first.      His cut, burned palm.      That he exploded from the inside.      Seifer drops the sword, swearing up a storm. Another explosion cauterizes the wound, and he shakes his hand irritably before picking up the sword and holding it delicately.      "Well that was fun."      "I'm in a way better mood now." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "OH COME ON!" Staren shouts, as the Servant of Mars escapes.     The battle is ended. Staren collects his damaged weapon, and makes his way around the room, offering and applying nanobandages to wounded on both sides. He just nods at the comment about heroes. He recognized that about them on sight, after all. "I want to know about what he said." Staren points at the spear-wielder Raziel slew. Why do they say you take their minds?" 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' Staren gets a reply from Xianren once he's finished binding the Dragon-Blooded. "Because they don't like being subservient to another. They don't like being shown where their proper place is, underneath me, but then, once they're akuma...they understand. The Titans make sure of that." It does not have a tone of 'I'm a scary evil guy' even though the words are pretty harsh. It just sounds matter-of-factly. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     When the red Dragonblood finally submits, Tanya at last lifts her pistol off of him. She clicks it onto Safe, then swings the weapon down to slot it into the holster at her hip. With a sigh, she collects the bent ruin of her dress saber, examining it in both hands. That wasn't cheap. But there's no way ordinary steel would stand up to an empowered warrior, so she can't really blame the weapon.     The saber is discarded to be cleared up with the other damage, and she approaches the surrendered Dragonblood, "You made the correct choice. Your life will continue." Leaning forward, the twelve year old tells this grown man, "Live a long life."     She then leans back from him, glancing towards Staren, "Isn't it obvious? You saw what he did, didn't you?" The golden glow fades from her neckwear, and from her eyes. She doesn't elaborate-- Xianren is already on that, it seems.     Her eyebrows form a straight line at Seifer's antics, an expression mirroring the deadpan tone of her comments via radio, "Oh no. My innocence." 

:'''{{#var:527|Zero Kiryu (527)}} has posed:''' Zero doesn't press the matter when the White Jade Ranger cedes the battle. He stows the tonfa he's already carrying by simply thrusting it through his belt, and takes the other from the Dragon Blood as well. He only had to do it this way because his right arm is still healing from where he allowed it to be broken. He issues a great sniff, and strides back over towards the table, seating himself next to Yuuki. With a noisy, uncomfortable-looking twist he sets his right arm properly so that he doesn't need to /re-break/ it in a few minutes. Inhaling deeply, he shuts his eyes and leans back a little ways. The only way to be certain that he's not asleep is that his body is wound up like a spring. That is to say, the relative relaxation of a body at rest just isn't there. 'What's wrong' with Zero Kiryu might then become relatively plain, even to somebody not looking closely. He's doing all of this while suffering some sort of chronic pain. 

:'''{{#var:518|Yuuki Kuran (518)}} has posed:''' Yuuki slackens her poise as the Sidereal flickers away, the other Dragonblooded swiftly being cowed and then enthralled by Xianren's white flame powers. Staren asks about the will thing, and Yuuki shrugs. "Perfect free will, totally unlimited choice, leads people to make wrong decisions. Some people say that freedom is the best, highest, most fundamental 'right', but I think that there's more people that think that binding free will and total free choice away is a total good." Yuuki favors Staren with a thoughtful look, as if daring him to go 'mind control is wrong!'. It's not a bait she leaves up long. "We call them 'rules'. Those who want to break them demand freedom. That somehow rules don't apply to them." 

:'''{{#var:6810|Raziel (6810)}} has posed:'''     Raziel looks at the man.     "Well, while I respect your decision...free will does come with a price, consiquences." He says, bringing the sword down once. Aiming to remove his head from his shoulders. Dropping the blade, as he gives his body up to fade into the Spectral world and becoming a wraith again. Of course, appearing before the now powerless dragonblooded spirit. Moments, later, he appears grabbing the spirit and starts aiming to bind him. Slowly dragging him back into the material world as a ghost, but held by Raziel.     "So, I suppose we need to speak now...this time the conversation will be on a different footing. Either you answer...or I allow the soul reaver devour your soul." 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' Raziel rips out the ghost of the fallen Exalt. He'll tell them what they want to know, which is as follows: They've been planning this assassination for quite some time, having set themselves up in position. They originated from the Gunstar Autochthonia, and this was a rare mission in which a Sidereal took the field. Thanks to her, they knew Xianren's rough schedule (though they couldn't track him directly due to fate reasons), they knew all the entrances, they knew everything...except about the Concord. They weren't expecting such powerful companions. The ghost requests to be allowed to pass on, slightly pleading. Xianren is fine with it. Xianren, meanwhile, after the Concord does whatever they're going to do, is going to find out what abilities they used to get in through further interrogation and then punish anyone who was in on it. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "You know, I could've just bandaged your hand." Staren comments, to Seifer.     At Xianren's answer and Tanya's response, he hangs his head and sighs. "If the only way to get people to follow you is by reaching into their minds with magic and changing them... If your endgame requires that you make everyone you're saving no longer the people they were... I get that sometimes there isn't time for anything else, like on the battlefield, but if it's your go-to M.O. it does say worrying things about the prospects of whatever you're working towards. Even setting aside my moral concerns... you get /this/." He waves his hand to indicate the corpses and where they entered the room. "And if you could make Multiversal allies, so can they. "I doubt you can do it to an entire world forever."     Staren turns to the spirit, clasping his hands together behind his back. "So. Aside from the whole mind control thing, what did you die for?" 

:'''{{#var:6810|Raziel (6810)}} has posed:'''     Raziel looks towards the soul, "Be thankful that my allies are merciful." he says, calmly, And then he releases the ghost..before pulling the standard that covers his mouth. WHat is revealed is half a face, the lower jaw completely gone, and the tongue gone, nothing hangs there but a hole...and the ghost is drawn into the hole before it vanishes. With a sucking breath, Raziel jerks, his wounds healing as he covers his mouth up. 

:'''{{#var:518|Yuuki Kuran (518)}} has posed:''' Yuuki, while Raziel's questioning session (with Staren and Xianren) and then weird masky-ghost-no-jaw-release, lingers at the table, before drifting over to Zero. "You should eat, Zero." She gestures at the food, though it's a bit dismissive, as if it was a table of 'stuff' and not 'extraordinary opulence'. "It's hard to see you so low. Didn't we find a compromise for you? To... feel better?" She places a worried hand on his (wounded) shoulder, touch light. "I'm sorry, for acting like that. For dragging you here, too." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer shoulders his gunblade as Yuuki goes over to Zero and Raziel eats the guy. He watches Yuuki and Zero for a moment.      Huh. So that's what it looks like from the outside.      He looks over at Xianren and holds up the sword. "You got a sheathe I can put this in?" 

:'''{{#var:6846|Xianren (6846)}} has posed:''' Xianren allows the ghost to move on, and watches Raziel's 'eating' with curiosity, though when Seifer asks for a sheath, he snaps his fingers at a servant. "Sword sheathe." It'll take a few minutes, but they'll get Seifer his sheathe. Food is still offered to anyone who wants it, but Xianren is understanding that no one may have the appetite, especially in this bloodied place. Servants are already cleaning up underneath them. Xianren's glad that his guests are not upset, though. If they were... That ghost wouldn't have survived. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Are you kidding? This is probably like super extravagant tasty food! Staren still tries some. He may make some requests to bring home, too -- a salad, and a blood wine. For friends. 

:'''{{#var:527|Zero Kiryu (527)}} has posed:''' Zero opens his eyes again in response to Yuuki's approach and statements. He looks between her, and the spread at the table. There is a flicker of intense agitation that might have, a few months previous, resolved into an angry retort. But it doesn't. He looks between Yuuki, to the table, and then towards the blood that spatters the floor from people being stabbed repeatedly. Then, back to Yuuki. "Later. Not here. And it's fine." He says, shutting his eyes again. After a moment's silence, it occurs to him to open his eyes and look towards Xianren again, nodding towards him, "Medical condition. Your food is fine." 
}}

6027/An Avenger In Paris

2019-01-20T00:05:56Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/09/09 |Location=Paris |Synopsis=The FateParadox Avenger blasts his way into Paris, out for blood |Cast of Characters=562, 1086, 1123, 42, 1137..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/09/09
|Location=Paris
|Synopsis=The FateParadox Avenger blasts his way into Paris, out for blood
|Cast of Characters=562, 1086, 1123, 42, 1137, 1143
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Paris, the city of lights. Known as such as one of the first cities in Europe to adopt gas lighting. But now in the hours approaching dawn, only the flare of anti-air cannons light it up alongside spotlights that track a small, rapidly moving target that zooms through the sky above. No retaliatory fire flies from it, but they do rapidly drop to escape tracking, only to zoom along the Seine, travelling so fast that a fine spray of water kicks up on the paths surrounding it.     "DEGURECHAAAAAAAAFF!" screams the figure in a raw voice, carrying only anger and vengeance. Mobilizing soldiers and police are struck cold by the violence it promises. The figure abruptly pulls upwards and begins zooming through the crowded streets, pulling off hairpin-turns to duck through narrow allies and diving through tunnels ot make his path as erratic as possible. To evade pursuers? Or to find something?     "SHOW YOURSELF, DEVIL OF THE RHINE!" He turns up and blasts towards the Eiffel Tower, darting under it before soaring straight up past it. There just above the top sits Ruler upon his staff, watching the figure with what can only be described as 'perturbed interest.'     Avenger has come to Paris to grant his own wish. He evades more fire from the ground and resumes his flight in, around, and above the city. "ANYTHING TO THE PERSON WHO BRINGS ME DEGURECHAFF!" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Paris, City of Lights, Pastries, Cow-Dudes, and The Empire. One of the first cities in Europe that Seifer Almasy has ever been to, on account of Europe not even remotely being a thing where he's from. The cobblestone streets are a familiar sight, but the gaslamp streetlights? The Eiffel Tower? Nothing like that where Seifer is from. At best, at *best*, the biggest city Seifer's ever seen is Timber, and he was only there once for a (failed) graduation exam. Paris is *massive*, sprawling, and easy to get lost in.      So he totally did.      He's spent most of the last day being super lost in Paris. City of Lights and Pastries got his attention, and he, being an enterprising young man with nothing better to do without hanging out on the Moon, went exploring.      He's sitting on a bench, looking at the Seine and munching on a pastry, sending Caster a text and a photo, when the figure goes shooting past. The water splashes across Seifer's face, sogs his eclair, and splashes all over his phone. His paper box of other snacks? Ruined. Any shopping he had been doing? Ruined.      Yeah.      Yeah.      Seifer stands up. As the figure goes screaming past, Seifer takes a second to shake himself dry and then goes running after the guy. Erratic tunnels and twists and turns are no problem for the paramilitary operative; he's been memorizing erratic tunnels since he was a little kid at Garden. As the guy goes under the Eiffel Tower and jumps up, Seifer does the same, springing off the metal.      "HEY, ASSHOLE!"      Seifer hurls the soggy container of eclairs at Avenger. It's a distraction; a distraction that's rejoined with a ball of fire from Seifer's Command Spell hand, exploding the container into nothing so much as a fine miscolored mist.      Seifer passes through the mist, gunblade swinging.      "APOLOGIZE WHEN YOU FUCK UP SOMEBODY'S DESSERT, YOU SACK A' SHIT!" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:''' Minutes ago     The early morning has its own routines. Waking up, hygiene needs, setting out the uniform for the day, verifying all creases are perfectly pressed, that boots are impeccably shined, that medals are polished. A ritual that prepares one to face the day. A ritual that is interrupted when a soldier bursts into a young officer's room, "Major, we're under attack!"     The young girl in her white nightgown, boot in one hand and polish cloth in the other, rewards the intrusion with an expression that could curdle milk.     Immediately he recoils and turns his back, snapping to attention, "--Uh..! A Legendonain mage has infiltrated Paris, ma'am! He's calling for you by name."     "Understood," she responds curtly, "Knock next time or I'll carve that rule into your skull." Now     A fully clad and uniformed Major Degurechaff exits the Imperial garrison, slotting a magazine into her thompson. The weapon is then left to hang by its strap, "Inform all batteries to cease fire."     A free hand is held out, and a soldier places a bullhorn into it. She adjusts the device's settings while muttering, "Asterios, stay intangible for now. If we can get him down to talk, kill him as soon as his guard is down. Find a good position in case he just opens fire on me."     The little girl takes a breath, closing her eyes. When she opens them and starts speaking through the bullhorn, her voice is very different-- Squeaky and young, bright, cheerful, everything that anyone who knows Tanya von Degurechaff would not think to association with the young major.     "Mister! Please come down so we can talk! We had our disagreements, but I'd like to reach a peaceful resolution~!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     A Servant is 'invading' Tanya's Paris, according to the radio. They were supposed to keep to their own affairs and not cause trouble.     Only when Staren is already on his way does he remember that one of the Servants is an enemy of Tanya's, someone she killed in war and who is out for revenge. It's probably that guy then. No way is Staren beating someone from Tanya's world in a dogfight... maybe he'll have to play sniper? Shooting and then relocating before the Servant can find him? It's a plan, at least.     Staren emerges from the warpgate wearing his armor and... riding a broom? That, that is a thing that's happening. Staren can fly, but he made the possible mistake of designing the magitech to take input from neural signals being sent to shoulder muscles. So long flights can... if not exactly tire him, tire out those muscles specifically, making flight hard. So, the broom Belldandy gave him remains a reliable method of transportation for those times when the distance isn't quite long enough to use a spaceship or his mecha.     Anyway, he flies low over the streets, trying to stay out of sight of the Servant, looking for possible sniping spots. He sends some drones up -- he brought a bunch of little quadrotors -- to start mapping out the area and hopefully get eyes on the Servant so Staren knows where to avoid -- he'd like to maintain the element of surprise until his first strike.     Although the MOST surprising thing is Tanya's... change of tone over the bullhorn. Staren nearly flies into a wall at a T-intersection from sheer what-the-hell. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' In many ways, Paris has become a home for the legendary Minotaur of Crete. His presence was an unusual one at first-- who could really call a ten foot tall minotaur with a sweet tooth almost as big as he is anything BUT unusual? But it's hard to stay mad at a cupcake as bright-eyed and innocent as Asterios. With his incredible strength, the reconstruction efforts dotting the City of Lights and its immediate surroundings have progressed more rapidly than any could have predicted. And now someone's come knocking on that city's door, looking for someone very near and dear to the minotaur's heart. There doesn't seem to be anything in particular near Tanya Degurechaff, but the sense of danger in the air around her is palpable. Of course, considering who this is, that might just be because she's Tanya Degurechaff, regardless of how adorable and tiny she might appear to be. But the fact is that she hasn't come out in the open unprotected. The minotaur lurks nearby, ready at any moment to emerge and defend his master and the city of Paris. ...Hopefully it doesn't get wrecked too hard this time. 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      Touta is probably the last to hear that things are going down. He doesn't have the kind of connections that the factions have, but at the very least he can say that he's quick to arrive when he hears the news. While he intends to show up this time around, he can't very well say its because of the Servant itself that's causing trouble. It's really a shame though. He's in France, one of the greatest places in the world (and not even just his world apparently) for food and he can't even indulge right now. He'll definitely need to take a picture later to show his cooking pal, but for now he's keeping his eyes out for some certain figures. Not that he doesn't plan to intervene if things go awry but he's hear to see one of three people, and surprisingly one of them isn't the person whose flying atop his staff.     Theo Morrison.     Reiji Arisu.     Queen of the Concord, Priscilla.      These were the people he was hoping to find at the scene, but no such luck. There's plenty of other Concord individuals that can be seen around though.     The first he spots is...Seifer?! Yeah, looks like he was chasing the Servant that was flying around. What was he doing here? Did he mistake this Grail War as Tamamo's or something? He doesn't think that's the case but it's possible. Then there's.../THAT/. His head turned towards the direction of the voice on the microphone.      "That's..."      Touta recalls this girl vividly from the Lumiere incidents. Even though she was a small child she had no problem pointing a gun and pulling the trigger. Touta's seen some legitimate monsters but she was...Well...She reminded him of the immortals he knew. They appeared small and innocent on the outside, but were much more capable than they appeared. Of course, the moment he hears that voice even he gets thrown off...      For the time being though, he was still just a bystander on the streets of Paris. For now anyway... 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Avenger's sojourn above the romantic Seine is interrupted by the romantic knight, Seifer! The sweet scent of charred sugar and chocolate fills the air as he gets caught in a cloud of mist, and almost meets a gunblade to the face! However, he brings up a trench gun to block the swing, and puts the brakes on his skiing flying apparatus to try and make Seifer overshoot his leap and fall into the river. "Away from me, boy! I've no time for you!"     It is then that he hears Tanya's call over the bullhorn. "TANYA DEGURECHAFF!" He pivots in midair and screams towards her locations, travelling at speeds his equipment would never allow in life. However, even as he hurtles towards her position, he does not open fire. Is he going for a kamikaze attack?     Staren has plenty of good picks for a sniping location, but the mazelike structure of Paris means there is no single point that would permit him total overwatch of the city. The Eiffel Tower is the highest point on the map in the area if he's just looking to maintain the high ground, however. It seems that Ruler had the same idea since he's floating just above the top of it and watching the goings-on.     As Touta loiters on the street, he gets approached by a Gendarmerie who takes him hard by the shoulder and begins shouting at him in rapid-fire French. Fortunately, or unfortunately, all of it gets translated by the translation effect. "What are you doing out here, stupid boy?! Don't you hear the sirens? The gunfire? All the good kids are at home in bed, which means you're either a buffoon and a vagrant. I arrest vagrants, so be a buffoon and clown somewhere else!" He ends that with a hard shove before rushing towards the garrisons that Tanya emerged from. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer is really goddamn good at what he does. When the trench gun comes up to block, Seifer adjusts. The blade hits the gun, and Seifer presses off the blade. It's some mid-air acrobatic gunblade /bullshit/ for sure as he pirouettes upwards, killing his momentum when the Servant stops. Seifer's lips split in a wild-eyed grin.      "Boy, huh!?" He says as he rises, "Motherfucker, you don't even know who you're talking to!"      "The name's Seifer Almasy! Remember it - 'cause I'm gonna be showin' up in all these fucking Grail Wars! Mages are gonna be summoning me from here till Judgement Day!"      "SO CALL ME BOY AGAIN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"      The Avenger dives. Seifer throws his hand backwards. Another fireball shoots out, but this one's not to attack, it's to send Seifer shooting downwards. He's following the Avenger like a bullet, firing multiple shots of fire to accelerate. It's stupid and risky and dangerous as hell, the kind of thing you could only really do if you had no regard for your own personal safety and thought you were completely goddamn immortal.      Good...for...Seifer?...      He hasn't thought through the whole *landing* thing, but that's fine. He figures he'll just get Avenger to break his fall.      Because boy is that gunblade going right for Avenger's back, and boy does Seifer intend to ride him into the ground like a comet.      "TOO BAD FOR YOU! YOU MAY NOT HAVE TIME FOR ME, MOTHERFUCKER, BUT I'VE GOT PLENTY OF TIME FOR YOU!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Of course Staren's eye is drawn to the Eiffel tower... And there is... Ruler? Staren flies up to him before getting embroiled in a fight. "Hey." Staren asks when he gets close. "Isn't this breaking the rules?" Honestly, he can't begrudge Avenger wanting revenge, but Ruler's intervention making the upcoming fight easier would always be nice. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "There's no reason to fight any longer!" Tanya's squeaky voice declares over the bullhorn, "Please, let's talk~!"     That got his attention, at least. Avenger's making a beeline straight for her, and she has little trouble recognizing the weapon he's carrying. The exact reason he's not opening fire-- that Hague violation he's brought along. A weapon that will be most effective at close range. She's taking an awful risk calling him down when he's got that thing on hand.     A hand raises, and she rests it over her chest, "Lord, grant me the strength to protect my home," A golden glow wells up from inside the round jewel worn at her neck, filling the crimson gem with deific light, "So that I may step forth unfettered to praise Your holy name." Her eyes close. When they open, the blue is completely washed out to a glowing golden hue. Then, she throws her hands to either side, weapon still hanging at her side. As if she's welcoming Avenger's approach, showing herself as --well, armed, but not in a position to make use of the weapon.     But ready to defend herself if needed. 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''     There's a legitimate surprise when someone in law enforcement actually calls him out for being in the area where all the action is occurring. While Touta definitely has no issue in a place like this it would definitely make sense that the guy would call him out. After all, he is still just a kid. That said, the moment he starts heading in the direction of the garrisons a red flag goes off in his mind. He knows that if this girl is calling Avenger out that this will go south quick. So the moment he starts rushing towards them, he runs back towards the Gendarmerie.      "Hold up! I was looking for some of my friends! They're still around here! We got separated when all the commotion happened! Have you seen anyone running around at all?!"      That's definitely a lie, or as far as he knows it is, but he figures if he can get this guy's help in looking for kids that don't exist than it'll definitely be safer than having him try to deal with Elites. He may not be a Paladin but he'd like to try and keeping any civilians out of this mess. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Master wants to talk. Or so she says. But like the pitcher plant lures its prey close with honeysuckle nectar, Asterios knows that it's nothing but a ploy. Because she told him so. Seriously he's an adorable minotaur with basically zero social guile. If she didn't tell him explicitly, he probably would have thought that this was all just sunshine and lollipops. But she did. And it's not. And moreover, that thing. That -Avenger.- The tone of its voice sends a chill down the minotaur's spine. It means to kill. To hurt the one who is his master. This cannot be permitted. As soon as the Avenger swoops down close enough, he might briefly notice an unusual shadow loom overhead for the briefest of moments. And then the minotaur would fall, with all of his might, right on top of him. Incidentally, this might also mean dropping on top of Seifer. Whoops! 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Avenger is a hellsent spectre of vengeance. A man who went from dutiful soldier and faithful father to a maimed killer seeking revenge on a child. Being a Servant has only amplified these traits, seemingly rendering the man hellbent on Tanya, letting nothing stop him between taking her life.     But even as he hurtles towards his target, someone seemingly willing to accept his anger with open arms, something that the pursuing Seifer says stops in in his tracks. He comes to a sharp stop and turns on the pursuing knight, taking the gunblade to the chest so he can lash out and try to grab the scarred man by the throat. "There is no glory in this, /boy/. Everything you want to do should be done in life, not sought as a spectre." He then attempts to launch the knight down at Tanya, before raising his gun... and getting dropped on by an invisible Asterios. So now Seifer, and by extensions Tanya, has that hot mess coming down on them.     Up on the tower, Staren quizzes Ruler, which makes the mage look at him with a puzzled expression. "You would think so, but is he? I mean, he's being a real pain in the ass, probably woke up the whole city by now. But I don't know if 'making a nuisance of yourself,' counts as interfering. Honestly, if it did, I would have taken out most of the Servants by now. He clearly wants this kid dead, but he's just posturing right now. Maaaaan I am not cut out for this." He continues grumbling, but seemingly spots something in the distance. "Hey, listen. Gotta deal with something real quick. Shout over that radio you lot use if he actually does something." And with that, he blasts away from the tower down into the streets. A real lackadaisical Ruler, this one.     Touta is about to get yelled at some more, when something drops behind the officer and lifts him into the air by his shoulder. "Thanks for finding my stupid great-grandson sir. You can go now," says Ruler, letting out more than a little murderous intent. The Gendarmerie's anger leaks out of him, and he babbles something about 'not doing it again' before running after his unit. Ruler puts his hands on his hips and scowls down at Touta. "What are you doing here, brat? I got Ruler stuff to do, don't expect me to pay your bail or something." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      "Dipshit!"      Avenger grabs him by the throat, and Seifer's hand goes to Avenger's. The gunblade's dug in, now. Seifer's eyes are wild and his grin is half-snarl, half-delight as he pulls the trigger. The gunblade *vibrates* in Avenger's chest, a horrible, thudding motion.      He gets thrown downwards. Asterios is coming down on top of them both. Not a great place to be, especially if you *can't fly*, which, you know, Seifer can't.      But Seifer *is* really goddamn crazy.      "GILGAMESH!" His voice is hoarse; after all, a superhuman hand *did* just partially crush his throat.      As he plummets, a grey-skinned giant just sort of.../appears/ out from behind him. The giant is clad in a red cloak; it has three arms on one side, and three...cardboard cut-out arms?...on the other. The giant points downwards as he and Seifer fall, at Tanya.      Blue light comes shooting out of Tanya and into the giant's hands. The light congeals into a sphere. Seifer snatches the sphere out of Gilgamesh's hands and shoves it into the blade of his gunblade.      He's mere inches from hitting Tanya - and the ground - when he swings the gun up and shouts a wordless cry.                                 LIMIT BREAK                                                                GUNBLADE ARTILLERY                                    Tanya and Avenger both get a real good look as the Gunblade just *expands*, turning from a long, thin blade into a MASSIVE long, thin blade. Seifer jams the gunblade into the ground sideways.      He falls down.      The blade bends.      He stops an inch away from Tanya.      He grins and salutes.      And then he's *flung* upwards, the gunblade soaring with him. The massive thing comes swinging around as he passes Avenger, and, at the last minute, he pulls the trigger-      -the vibration is like *thunder* as the artillery cannon goes off in his hands, shaking like a chainsaw blade as Seifer passes by Avenger.      The gunblade shrinks as Seifer swings it over his shoulder and reorients himself for another fall. "Asshole!"      "You think there's no glory in being such a goddamn legend wizards want to pull your ass back from the dead to fight for eternity?"      "You think there's no glory in just /walking/ that path?!"      "What kinda chicken-wuss answer is that, huh!?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren didn't mean the ruckus, he meant the obvious intent to kill Tanya. But Ruler is gone before he can clarify. So, if Avenger attacks Tanya and fails to kill her, THEN Ruler will help them? Hmm...     Staren looks for Avenger... who's already under attack. He can hold back in hopes Ruler will intervene, or he can take action, and further void any claim that Avenger is doing more than just defending himself?     ...He doesn't know Ruler. It's not worth gambling on him. Staren sets down on the Eiffel tower, lines up a shot, and fires a three-pulse burst of intense laser at the vengeful Servant! 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' The good news: Asterios' surprise grapple was successful and he's now dropping straight down to earth with an Avenger in his grasp. The bad news: Asterios has no good way of actually slowing his fall down. Also, he's holding an extraordinarily dangerous, aberrant heroic spirit. These are not necessarily good things, but Asterios will have to make it work. "Whoever you are. You. Will not hurt master," Asterios, ever the bull of few words, growls between his teeth as the wind tousles through his hair. He grunts, catching sight of Seifer's (actually pretty damn impressive) acrobatic sword maneuver and hatches a brief but brutal plan. His muscles strain against the empty air as he pivots, twisting to drive the Avenger's body into Seifer's artillery cannon. Whether or not he's successful, the very air shudders and trembles with the thunder of high caliber lead. The minotaur grunts as the pressure wave rattles his bones and hammers the inside of his skull-- but a single artillery shell is nowhere near enough to put the berserker down. Shaken and bruised, Asterios never-the-less turns to try and drive the Avenger face-first into the Parisian streets below...! (And hopefully, not on top of Tanya in the process) 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Seifer is thrown directly at her. Tanya's face contorts briefly in surprised dismay, and she brings her arm up. A step back is taken, right when light is pulled directly from her. The normal blue is tinged with streaks of gold, particularly the light that emerges near her computation jewel. Not quite grasping what's going on, she takes another step back, going for the SMG hanging at her side.     Scant inches, face to face, Seifer's salute and grin is returned with a wide-eyed, bewildered expression. This lasts the entire second or two before the energy stored up in the gunblade springs Seifer away from her. The surprise gives way to a cold, appraising gaze when the knight weilds his altered Gunblade-- which is actually a gun now, as opposed to his usual denial of such being a good idea.     Well this one's just full of surprises, isn't he?     Shielding her face from the explosion of Seifer's copied artillery, and lacking her own flight unit, Tanya takes the time bought by Seifer's insane creativity to move from her spot in front of the garrison.     She waves her free hand as she passes in front of the fence, rallying troops on the other side, "Forget the tanks-- SPAA! Anti-air units, mobilize! I want a machine gun on every roof, and a flak gun in every intersection!" Once at what she's determined to be a safe distance, the girl digs her heels in, whirling about in a slide and raising her weapon, "And get me a flight unit!"     Surprised and disorganized troops, shaken awake by the commotion and the shouting Major, at least start to get their acts together. 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      Okay, Touta was fully not expecting Nagi to show himself before him. He knew that the man was in the area but for the guy to actually drop down to him, he honestly didn't expect him to. What's probably the most shocking is the gaze he gave that guy who starts going off. Though when he starts questioning him the first response Nagi receives a response that's well... Touta inherits his great-grandfather's scowl quite well.      "If you deciding to pay bail is anything like you paying for you sushi I wouldn't dream of it. Besides, why do you care? As long as I'm not messing with the war it doesn't matter right? Listen, I'm just looking for some people. I'm not gonna try smacking any Servants around this time, unless they start messing with the people here. So just do your job and don't worr-"      Touta's attention gets pulled away from Nagi as he sees the fight continue in the distance He has no idea what Seifer's doing but whatever it was he ended up launching himself upwards into the air back towards Asterios. Now, Asterios was a pretty big guy, Touta's seen him in action and is pretty sure he can survive a fall like that, but while Seifer definitely looks pretty cool with his slash on the way up...He's not looking so hot on the fall...Can he fly...Apparently not.      "SEIFER!"      Touta doesn't even give Ruler an indication of what he's doing. His mind's already made up on what to do. Before his great-grandfather's eyes his body blurs as the boy darts towards the battlefield. Fully intending to catch this lunatic from out of the air before he has to explain to Tamamo why another one of her husbands has disappeared! 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     A baffling confluence of events takes place. Seifer somehow manages to cheat a hard landing again via an extending blade, launching him back up at the plummeting Avenger, pinned and grappled by Asterios. He's struggling to get his weapon raised, to point it at Seifer to meet his aerial charge. "Glory does not provide for a family! Glory does not put food on a table! Glory just gets you sent off to gain more glory until you die! And then you get summoned as this husk of the person that was! Better that I kill you here and spare you that!"     From the distance, Staren's shot whizzes through some narrow gaps to catch Avenger, scorching his hand and making him drop his weapon. Now, there's nothing stopping Seifer from scoring that upward slash. It could prove fatal. It would mean Tanya is spared her enemy, but also that Seifer violates one of the rules of the War. 'Only Servants can kill Servants.'     The limit break hits home, carving through Avenger's military coat, slicing his face in half, severing that eyepatch. That should be it. Touta rushes in and tackles Seifer, knocking him aside. Frankly, this probably saved the gunblade knight's life, because blood does not issue from Avenger's form.     A formless ichor issues forth from the great wound. The air fills with the droning buzz of locusts. The substance that should be blood hurts to look at. It seems to be composed of static, but it fluctuates between colours that the mind can't comprehend. The taste of the end of a battery fills the mouths of everyone present.     And then reality snaps back to normal. According to local timepieces, 45 seconds just passed in an instant. The street has been caved as if Seifer's limit break went wide due to Touta's tackle. Avenger now stands on the roof of the garrison, looking just as perplexed as everyone else likely is. Then suddenly, Ruler appears to get the man in a tight headlock.     "All right, break it up! That's enough horsing around. Everyone go home and get some rest, I'll handle this guy." He's trying to sound joking, but the tightness of his smile implies that he just wants this wrapped up so more questions aren't asked, 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Ruler has stepped in. Tanya squints against the bizarre material shooting out of Avenger from the damage he's taking. When things freeze, her eyes snap around, narrowing suddenly.     Being X..?!     Her eyes return to Ruler and Avenger, now on the roof of her garrison building. Being X... Or was it Ruler? It was mentioned that he was once a powerful wizard. Eyes narrow. Coincidence is possible, but...     "Very well," the girl lowers her SMG, quickly clearing the chamber and unslotting the magazine, "Avenger. If you want to settle this, we'll meet on the Rhine. That old battlefield is still being repaired. At least you won't threaten any innocent civilians with your antics, there." The gold washes out of her eyes, and she fixes those blue marbles on the man, "We'll settle this, Servant to Servant."     Her eyes travel the slight distance to Ruler, "As for you. I have questions you will be answering later."     With that, she raises her empty Thompson. Scrambling soldiers, some already in self-propelled AA guns, slow to a stop to stare at her. But the order is clear: Stand down. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' One minute, Asterios succeeded in performing his first impromptu dual-tech, and was in the midst of grinning victoriously over the fact. And the next... The next, the nature of the world seems to go topsy-turvy. Something that burns Asterios' brain erupts from the hole in Avenger's chest. He tastes acrid death. Everything goes /wrong./ A split second later, and Asterios is... standing next to Tanya as if he was just ordered to pull back from an epic battle of some stripe or another. The berserker blinks his dark eyes once, then again, and looks down to stare at his very empty hands. "Aa?" Asterios murmurs, squinting hard. You can almost hear the gears in his head struggle and fail to turn. "..." He clenches his hands into fists, then opens them again-- as if testing to make sure that everything is in fact back to normal again. "What." Asterios asks, turning his gaze up toward Ruler. "Was that...?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Oh good.      It's that kid again.      Now, a normal, well-adjusted human being might say something like 'hey dude, thanks for the save.' A normal, well-adjusted human being might say 'that was pretty cool' or 'i'm glad that worked out, i was probably gonna die.'      The second Seifer is on the ground, he shrugs Touta off without so much as a by-your-leave. In fact the look on his face is one of /annoyance/.      He throws a potion up in the air. It won't heal him much but it'll cure his sore throat. He rounds on Touta and grabs him by the collar; the weird taste in his mouth, the weird hiccup, all of that just glosses right over Seifer - not that he doesn't /notice/, but that he's occupied.      "You dense motherfucker!" Seifer shouts, "You made me fucking MISS!"      "I DON'T FUCKING MISS!"      "MORON!" Seifer rounds away from Touta and shoulders his gunblade, looking up at Ruler and Avenger. He stands there for a minute.      Then he just goes right up the wall.      Seifer doesn't bother to slow down. He jumps up the window, one, two, three, four, five. He lands directly in front of Avenger and Ruler.      Seifer's blade flashes.      It stops a hair's breadth from bisecting Avenger, and probably Ruler, right through the neck. The blade is quite *literally* a hair's breadth away from both of them as Seifer gives them a long, cold look. Seifer stopped that sword so precisely, so *perfectly*, that it's...frankly staggering. Only somebody beyond Master-level could pull that off. Somebody *absurdly*, *stupidly* gifted, who took that gift and polished it till it shone like the sun and then kept on polishing because he had to *outshine* the sun.      "Motherfucker," Seifer says.      "*You* may be some crybaby bitch, but I'm a goddamn hero. I've killed a *god*. You can't even kill a /teenager/. Cut your chicken-wuss bullshit. Nobody cares what a coward thinks."      "And you," Seifer points at Ruler as he shoulders the blade, "You fuckin' remember this. You remember that I made this choice. And the next time you try and get in my way, you think about how this choice coulda gone, and you ask yourself - /how confident am I that he'll make that choice again?/"      Seifer turns away. "Be real fuckin' confident. 'cause you ain't gonna kill me. I'm Seifer Almasy. Remember it."      And then Seifer hops off the building, jams his gunblade into the side to stop his fall, lands, shoulders the blade, and goes walking off. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren actually hit his hand? A lucky shot, he thinks to himself, and tries to keep Avenger in the sights while the laser cools...     But then... ichor that... hurts to look at. A taste of electricity and metal, and... Ruler's breaking up the fight? What the heck just happened? Oh right, servants often have some kind of reality-warping power. Could Ruler's be some kind of time control?     Staren can't hear Ruler from the Eifel Tower (or maybe he can,) but one of his drones is in range. Staren nods. He keeps Avenger in his sights until it's clear he won't give chase. And then... Well, he has no interest in hanging around WW1 Paris, so off he goes. 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      There's no processing what happened. One moment he was ready to catch Seifer as he fell. Instead...He tackled Seifer mid-swing? Did he overshoot the launch? He knows he was going fast but did he really overdo it that much? Well...He wasn't complaining completely. He knows that Avenger was by no means a good guy. He also knows that technically speaking the person wasn't 'alive'. All Servants, even his friends were simply magical familiars. Nothing more. That said though, even if this guy was on a ballistic rage he hadn't actually attacked anyone that wasn't his target or got himself involved. So it makes him think if only for a moment...      Though Touta's snapped back to reality as Seifer picks him up. He's pissed. Really pissed. More than that he's blaming Touta of all people for missing his shot? He tries to speak up but he's quickly cut off by Seifer. It's hard to focus on his insults though when some sort of weird sensation was going on in his head. What was that weird taste in his mouth. It'd probably be at the point that Seifer picked him up by the collar that he'd throwing hands with Seifer. Besides the fact Touta went out of his way to save him from impeding death, the guy blamed him for missing?      Perhaps the worst display he saw from Seifer though, even more than just simply checking him or the disrespect from before was what would occur next. He placed his blade to Avenger's throat as he was being restrained by Nagi...And then threatened Ruler's life. While Touta might have had some bias, the fact the guy had done nothing to the guy and Seifer still threatened his life...Well, to put it simply he would have never expected such behavior from Nozomi. Ultimately, Seifer leaves more pissed than he was before.      So in the end, Touta didn't find any of the three people he was looking for. Touta ended up pissing another person off in the Concord. He still probably has Priscilla pissed at him. There's a stinging and metallic sensation in his tongue. This has been a really awful day.      Touta doesn't want to retreat. He wants to know what the hell just happened. He wants to know why everything felt so distorted for that moment and what was giving him this weird sensation. If he wanted to...If he really wanted to he thinks he could make Nagi talk. By force if needed. But...He's not Seifer, and this war at the end of the day wasn't any of his business. The only reason he's butted in so far has only been for a few reasons.      He looked into more originally cause of Nagi. But now that he showed he had no interest in anything but the grail, Touta stopped there. He tried helping Reiji speak with his father which while he did ended up getting him enemies with Priscilla as well as locked up by Theo. Now he was gonna get blamed for something else he didn't intend to do?      Man, if he was a Servant at this point he'd have luck Rank E.      "Take care, gramps..." He slowly walks away into the streets of Paris. 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     The police and soliders stand down at Tanya's signal. Some of them are throwing up, having been caught in the confluence of 'whatever-that-was.' Ruler smirks down at her, keeping Avenger in a tight hold as he tries to struggle free to extract revenge. "You might have questions kiddo, but I have no obligation to answer. Suffice to say, what just happened was a 'mistake.' Won't happen again." When the girl throws down the gauntlet at Avenger though, he immediately ceases and looks at her with a crazed grin. "I will hold you to that, Devil. Should you go back on your word, it will be those around you who suffer." Ruler just rolls his eyes.     Ruler looks to Asterios and gives a pretty genuine shrug of 'I dunno.' Avenger though, now that he's not about to die, takes a moment to leer at the Minotaur. "You're her Servant, aren't you? Place no faith in your position, monster. The moment you are more useful as a sacrifice, she'll throw you away with no hesitation or remorse."     And then Seifer runs up the roof and threatens both Servants with his gunblade. Ruler raises an eyebrow as he begins to crow, and Avenger begins to shout an answer, but he's cut off by Ruler clamping his hand over the other Servant's mouth. He's smiling at Seifer. "Potty mouth aside, I like you. So let me tell you something. Had you killed him, that would have broken a rule. 'Only a Servant may kill a Servant.' You and me going at it? That can't be allowed to be routine. That's gotta be a climax. So if you're looking to make it big, learn the rules, and maybe we can face off properly."     All the while, Avenger had gone silent under Ruler's hand, and his one visible eye was shining in a way much like Tanya's does when she prays. He begins to convulse, prompting Ruler to remove the hand and expose the deep belly laugh he was issuing. "My Master just informed me as to what you are trying so desperately to cover up, Ruler! You absolute fool! What hope have you got, placing your trust in these fools?! They'll-"     In an instant, Ruler pivots and drives a fist into the Servant's stomach. The garrison under his feet trembles from the force as Avenger is sent flying into the air, quickly vanishing from sight. "Phew. Sorry about the mess," he says to Tanya, his face fixed in a rictus of quelled anger. He looks at Touta's departing back, and hesitates for a moment, like he wants to go after his relative. But he shakes his head before hopping off his staff and flying after Avenger. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "We will meet again on the Rhine," Tanya repeats to Avenger. When he goes after Asterios, her eyes dart towards him, then back to Avenger. She seems to relax a bit, then, letting some of that confidence enter her voice and quell her tension, "You shouldn't have called him that." She's not going to bother refuting the claim that she might ditch Asterios if he becomes less than useful.     Because it's kinda true. But. There's also a caveat to that she doesn't feel a need to vocalize.     When Avenger's eye turns to that deific golden glow, though, Tanya's eyes narrow suspiciously.     And then he's gone. And Ruler, shortly after.     Tanya's face, in the mulling of her thoughts, has transformed to a glower that could kill a man. Her eyebrow twitches, teeth bared in a frustrated grimace. After a moment, her eyes close and she takes in a breath. Letting it out, the Major relaxes her expression.     "I need to know something. Begin the investigation." Turning back to the garrison, anger just bubbling under the surface of her carefully measured tone, she adds, "Turn over every rock in the Multiverse until you find out who Avenger's Master is." 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' 'Monster.' The atmosphere darkens instantaneously. It's as if the temperature has plummeted two dozen degrees. The massive minotaur standing behind Major Tanya Degurechaff seems suddenly infinitely more terrifying, as if everyone was standing in a room with a hungry tiger and only now realized that it has been licking its chops the entire time. Tanya's right. Avenger shouldn't have called him that. "Next time," the one called Minotauros growls in a voice that seems at last to fit a monster of legend. "It will be a servant. That kills you." And then, Ruler punches Avenger into the sky, and the terrifying atmosphere seems to lift. "Mmmn," Asterios grunts, saying nothing about the potential of being abandoned, should he ever become a dead weight. Perhaps so. But that just means he'll need to make himself as useful as possible. He has... debts to repay, after all. 
}}

6135/To See the Path

2019-01-19T23:55:33Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/10/29 |Location=Shrine of Adversity |Synopsis=Nie Li holds a cultivation examination in the Shrine to discern the natures of his fellow Concor..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/10/29
|Location=Shrine of Adversity
|Synopsis=Nie Li holds a cultivation examination in the Shrine to discern the natures of his fellow Concord members.
|Cast of Characters=6739, 1086, 6709, 70, 42, 1123
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     The area of the Shrine of Adversity that Nie Li's chosen has been configured to look like a serene grassy plain through which a river gently runs. The plains are surrounded by thick forests, and in the far distance (certainly more illusion than reality) huge mountains - barely visible at all as silhouettes covered in dense mist - tower high across the horizon.     A pleasant breeze drifts through, which is grand... because the meeting place is an open air pavilion (each of its four faces aligned to the cardinal directions), with a simple wooden table and a number of chairs setup around it in the middle. Nie Li's standing at the north edge between two pillars, and...     And yet again, it's quite obvious that this person who speaks so much and has attracted this much interest from everyone is clearly a kid. He's shorter than basically everyone who's interested in showing up, and maybe only JUST hit the onset of puberty. No matter how you look at it, this is a kid.     But this clearly-a-kid has laid out a variety of transluscent clearish-blue crystals of different sizes on the wooden table... 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer Almasy can't help but show off a little.      It's part of his nature. He's a glory-seeker, a man who lives in a dream of romantic invulnerability, a questing Sorceress's Knight aiming to carve his legend into existence itself. He's cultivated (heh) for himself an image, and it's an image he's perfectly fine to embellish whenever he has a good chance, and this is a pretty great chance.      He cuts a dashing figure. He's blonde, and handsome, a model prettyboy with a slender build mostly hidden by his large white coat. A blue vest, trimmed with white lines, sits above utilitarian grey jeans. Black combat boots brush across the green grass. His long gunblade, Hyperion, is slung over his shoulder, held in one hand, resting the back of the weapon against his neck without fear.      Oh, and he's wearing a fucking blindfold.      A white blindfold, in fact. It's wrapped entirely around his eyes, three times, tied behind his head like a bandana. It's thick enough that he can't possibly be seeing through it, especially wrapped like that.      He walks up to the table. He doesn't bump into it. He stops directly in front of it, then tilts his head to the side, clicks his teeth white, and whistles.      A red-cloaked specter emerges from his body. It's nearly thirteen feet tall, and grey-skinned, with pupilless white eyes. Its back is covered in phantasmal swords. Four huge grey arms stick out from one side; the other side is hidden under its tattered shroud, making it impossible to tell if the huge ghost has lost its arms or is just holding the cape shut like a tryhard. Three cardboard arms sit from its shoulder. Its pants are a ridiculous white-and-purple polkadot affair.      In its top hand is a translucent pizza box. In its middle hand is a translucent bottle of some soda with the kanji for FAKE written across it. In its lower hand is a phantasmal plastic cup. Its bottom hand is empty, presumably to allow it to eat freely.      The grey specter sits down on the field, pops open the cardboard, and pours itself a drink. Seifer, meanwhile, swings the gunblade off his shoulder and taps the table.      "So what've I gotta do, huh?" 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Republic City held many wonders for a(n arctic) country girl like Korra, but the most wonderful was the Pro Bending circuit, which she had got a slot in a team on with some friends she had made. The Fire Ferrets were still in preseason, but that was no excuse to slack off. Far from it, with the Republic City Council still deliberating on how they wanted to handle the situation with Amon and his Equalists, Korra had almost too much time to practice and train. And more than enough energy to outpace her partners. During pro bending, she only gets to practice one element - at the Shrine of Adversity, she can go as hard as she likes with all three elements she had mastered. It makes for excellent practice, and a variety of opponents. Nothing that can be gained casually, however, gives her satisfaction. Showing off to people she doesn't know and dominating people who don't have even a quarter of her power rapidly had left her without any casual opponents, and her abrasive tact had left her with only dummies and bags. It had suited her for a few weeks, losing herself in her own head and letting her mind wander and be still as her body moved through the motions. It wasn't the same as pro bending, with hundreds of people screaming and something on the line. So, with the strange setup of Nie Li's grassfield and table, it had drawn the Avatar's attention, who approached the reincarnated xanxia 'master' and the blindfolded swordsman with his Extra Chuuni With Sprinkles headghost fresh off a high-intensity workout routine, a towel loosely hanging over her head and shoulders, and her normal outfit stuffed into a gym bag, having traded it out for a high-collar'ed workout top, short pants, and cloth wraps around her arms. With a breathless air to her curiousity, Korra stepped up to the plate. "You, uh, selling some sort of crystal?" She asks, her hands coming up to finish towelling off her hair and upper arms. "Refreshments? Garunteed to improve your gains?" She continues, a smirk crossing her face. Oh she's been peddled to at the Shrine already. There were always health nuts and those that peddled to them. Those who sucked down powders and special milks. Elixirs and additives. Juices and juicers. In a few weeks, Korra had seen it all, or so she thought. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla can show up a little more soberly by comparison. This is partly because of a certain self-assuredness, but also possibly because she'd just skewered a cocksure teen through fifteen parts of his body without flexing a muscle yesterday, so a lot of her cards are already on the table as far as it goes with their host for today.     It doesn't stop her from just appearing out of thin air, though that's more for having cut the lengthier of process of walking through the grass for such a ways. The clearing is so wide and open, with that sort of refreshing natural air and sense of 'pristine' energy, what with he mountains and gentle river, that it becomes the kind of thing she hates just quietly strolling through, especially under the sun.     She's wearing a little less than most of her fancier getup --the casual version of the white and trimmed gold and silver pulling double duty as traditional for Anor Londor royalty and 'really expensive and pretty' for Concord functions, if such a thing can have a casual version. 'Stripped down for combat' might be slightly more accurate, if she had reason to expect any.     Oh, and she's also huge. In the open setting, rather than the cramped captain's cabin of the Walrus, Priscilla doesn't suppress it with a heavily airquoted 'mortal' guise. When she stops at the table, she's more than a head taller than Gilgamesh, whom she largely can't seem to take her eyes off of, given just how weird his appearance is, and possibly trying to grasp how he ordered pizza inside Seifer's brain. It's thankfully not too uncomfortable of a stare, given that her general demeanor is relaxed and neutral, and so involves no freaky paranormal stuff. Just kind of socially awkward. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is not a martial artist. His mindset when it comes to fighting for real is that it is an unfortunate necessity, and he views fighting for fun as more of a test of skill than a philosophy of life or a path to enlightenment. He'd be more at home PvP dueling in Alfheim Online than practicing at a mystic monastery.     Still, he's curious about Nie Li's 'cultivation' -- it sounds like it plays a large part in one world's survival, so it's good to know about it, and furthermore, he wonders if it might be related enough to Creation's use of essence that what knowledge he has about that could be turned to aiding Nie Li's world.     And there's always, always, at the back of his mind, a part of him that wonders if this is a way to gain more power that he can use to make the world better. It rates it as 'pretty unlikely', but hey, he hasn't even SEEN what cultivating is yet. he hasn't even seen Nie Li fight! Maybe they're more like battle mages or something.     Anyway, Staren's here, in his usual labcoat. He approaches the table. "Hi." He starts to ask for exposition, then closes his mouth and waits -- obviously Li is ging to explain what the crystals are for once everyone's gathered, anyway.     And... Seifer is doing some weird blindfold thing. Huh? And now, Staren sees Gilgamesh for the first time, and jumps back in surprise. Or maybe he did see him back in... was it Asher? Still. "Um."     Staren recollects himself, and nods in greeting. "Hand Seifer. And Gilgamesh, I presume?"     And then someone he never expected just walks right up. "Korra?! Where've you been?" They were never close, exactly. More like a friend-of-a-friend, or more accurately a friend-of-someone-he-and-his-friends-were-trying-to-redeem. The lack of any recognition on her face cuts off further questions. "Oh. Um... Nevermind. Welcome to the Multiverse."     And here's Priscilla, at full size. Staren looks up at her and nods. "First." He's not sure how formal he's supposed to be, as a Hand. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya von Degurechaff is likewise not a martial artist. However, she is curious about magical disciplines different from her own. The descriptions of this 'Cultivation' have piqued her curiosity.     An extremely small, blue-eyed blonde girl enters the Shrine of Adversity, her arms folded behind her back. It's unclear why such a young girl is in such an austere military uniform until she speaks up in that familiar voice of hers.     "Almasy. Staren. Miss Priscilla," She comes to a stop, habitually clicking her heels together in the same crisp action, "And Nie Li, I presume." An eyebrow raises when her eyes travel to Korra, a face and voice she does not recognize. After a moment of withering inspection, her gaze returns to the Cultivator.     Tanya distinctly does not acknowledge 'Greg'. Not even with a glance. 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     With Seifer ambling up BLINDFOLDED, Nie Li takes a few steps towards him - and the table - to watch, obviously curious at that display. He casts a sheepish grin the white knight's way, clearly suppressing the urge to point out how ridiculous and unnecessary that showy approach is.     Then Gilgamesh appears and the boy takes a half-step back. And Gilgamesh... is Gilgamesh.     The boy shakes his head to clear it, just in time for Priscilla to appear! He has to look WAY up to meet her face. "Nie Li gives his respects to the First!" He exclaims in a friendly fashion (if awkwardly translated by the Multiverse), bowing even slightly and executing a fist-and-palm salute.     Nobody else seems to get even that much from him. The boy maintains his casual demeanor, even as he sweeps his gaze over Staren and Tanya - whom he doesn't know - and then...     Who the heck is this? The moment that Korra nears the pavilion, Nie Li's eyes go wide as if he was struck by a powerful breeze in the face. His attention swerves to lock onto Korra and he steadies his posture, unwilling to give an inch in her presence.     "We are testing spiritual aptitudes for martial arts and Cultivation techniques. I'm Nie Li. Who are you? Someone worthy of joining this meeting?" His tone suggests he feels she is already, but he casts a meaningful glance at Priscilla.     The questioning is obvious. He doesn't recognize her, and isn't sure that anyone's spiritual secrets should be revealed in front of Just Anyone!     To the group though (seemingly assuming that the First will allow her here on some intuition or another), he gestures at the Crystals. "These are Primary Soul Crystals! They're used for testing basic traits. The grade, intensity, attribute, and form of a Cultivator's Soul Realm. Using them is simple. Just inject some of your inner energy into them and try not to be too rough about it. ... To be honest, I'm not sure if this will work. I have other methods, but it requires a little physical contact." Which, in his experience, many people aren't comfortable with. Especially girls. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      The phantasmal Greg waves at Priscilla. Then it offers her a cheerful thumbs-up. To the mercy of everyone, Greg apparently can't talk unless he's manifested. This is probably something to be thankful for.      Seifer laughs at Korra. "Nah. Some kinda test to see if I got aptitude for some shit. I dunno. Doubt it, but, hey. We'll see, huh? Hey, by the way. Seifer Almasy. Hand of the Concord. King of the Moon. Fox Knight. Kind of a big deal. Nice to meet you." The Gunblade Knight grins.      He tilts his head backwards at Staren. "Hey, Stalker Guy. Yeah, that's Greg. Sorry. He can't really talk like this."      Greg waves at Staren, nods, shrugs, and somehow eats a bite of his pizza through his cowl. It is probably enormously bizarre to think about even *beyond* the fact that for real how did he order pizza in Seifer's head.      (The box also has the kanji for FAKE written across it)      Seifer also waves over his shoulder at Priscilla. "Hey, Boss Lady. Lookin' good."      So that answers *that* for Staren. He nods over his shoulder at Tanya. "Yo." Greg does not seem particularly put out by Tanya ignoring him, but does give her a wave anyway before he goes back to his food.      Seifer listens to Nie Li's explanation, then shrugs. "Aight. So I just touch the thing?"      He does so. Seifer is not shy about physical contact in this case. 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra finishes arriving at the table even as she draws some looks - quite used to being gawked at. When someone (Staren) is surprised at her name, she perks up, a brightness in her smile and a surity in her gaze as she rummages around for a pen in her gym bag. His disappointment at her general 'oh do you want an autograph or a "sell-fy"' has her pointedly drop the (quill) pen back into her gym bag. "I've been here, random..." She looks him up and down. "Coat... guy?" She flashes him a 'hi, I'm famous and I know it, you are allowed to bask' smile and light wave, with that under control. Perfect. Nailed it. Ni Lie recoils at her, and then rallies, but Korra doesn't notice - and doesn't return the reaction, even though by all righs were she spiritually attuned and aware, she would probably bristle like a cat exposed to a zucchini. "I'm Korra - the Avatar. If it's a spiritual bulking meeting, then of course I'm qualified to be here." She sizes up (and up and up) Priscilla, her back straightening as she did so. Well, she wouldn't be passively PHYSICALLY dominating this meeting by the transitive property of Priscilla just casually claiming the SWOLE SQUARE herself. Che. "Bend the rock, huh?" She asks, swiping one of the Primary Soul Crystals off the table like she was supposed to or allowed to (which, by dint of nobody shooing her off, obviously she is) and closing her eyes, focusing on the crystal. She wouldn't need the stinky Avatar State to show off with a rock - her earthbending was top-notch already. Seifer's greeting gets her to laugh in good humor, cracking an eye to peek at him. "I'm kind of a big deal as well. But I only have, or need, one title for now." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     This Korra seems more... confident? That's not quite the right word. Self-assured. Perhaps she was able to complete more of her training before the Multiverse happened this time around. He doesn't comment on 'coat guy', but after she introduces herself, he nods and does the same, "Staren, Hand of the Concord."     He looks back to Nie Li. "'Soul Realm'?" Staren inquires about the unfamiliar term. He's hear Nie Li say it a few times but he's not sure what it really means. Are these crystals going to open some kind of inner world they have to go in and explore, like one of Flamel's mind dives? It's a thing that just happens sometimes, in the Multiverse.     He's not showy in touching the crystal. He just holds out his hand, places his right index and middle fingers against it, and pushes a tiny bit of Potential Psychic Energy into it. He knows enough about magic to do that much, at least. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla can't really sit at the table, but that's not really the point now is it? It's more than just about size (and a little bit of comfort), but about presence. Even doing essentially nothing, in a relaxed and neutral state, the air around Priscilla is unnaturally still, heavy, and a little cold and thin, like a reminder at being at the top of a frigid mountain under heavy clouds occluding the sun. There is a chill static to it. A long shadow. A feeling of a boss theme playing very, very, very quietly.     She ends up kneeling down by the pavilion, given the idyllic 'weather' inside the Shrine of Adversity. Since Staren immediately recognizes Korra, the tip of her tail curls, her vertical pupils flick over once, and then she very subtly shrugs, turning up a palm. "The larger the sample size thou hast to work with, the more accurate thine readings shalt be in future, yes? If she is someone of significance, as Sir Staren wouldst seemeth to believe, so more the better."     Her attitude is not obliviousness to what is set out on the table and what it means to visualize it. It is the kind of confidence that sits on a cloud, effortlessly floating above other forms of self-assuredness. A zen detachment from concern that anything here today could inconvenience her in any way. When she reaches down to sweep her primary soul crystal from the table, she regards it for much longer than the others, dead last to engage in actually interacting with it. She goes about it the same way she does producing souls(tm) for any other occasion. Normally they'd form one of those wispy flames, but instead all that spiritual essentia goes into the crystal.     "In truth, I am interested as well, in the capacity of seeing how such aligns with the metaphysical propensities of those I rely on." i.e. lemme see Starens/Seifer's/Tanya's test scores gimme gimme. 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     To Korra and Seifer, Nie Li explains, "You need to push your inner energies into the crystal, not just touch it! The crystal is like a mirror. You need to give it something to reflect." He seems amused by this minor misunderstanding, but it's a good-natured amusement. The analogy might not be the best either, but it should be enough to point out that you don't just squeeze it something.     Even if Korra's manner is aggravating him, he'll subdue that for the moment. Since she's bold enough to use the crystal and reveal her spiritual nature to everyone here, he might as well let her!     KORRA: Once she does use it properly, Korra's stone swiftly shines with light, the crystal straining to contain the radiance, looking very much like it can barely handle it. Against a brilliant indigo background of large shimmering sparkles, a swirling mass of solid colors coalesce to a point, then blossom outwards into a gorgeous lotus. The inner four petals each sport different colors - the rich brown of Earth, the vibrant red of Fire, a mint green that is a bit faded for Wind, and a brilliant sapphire of Water. Yes, the Wind petal is atrophied and neglected, making the lotus display akin to a three-legged and wobbly table.     Nie Li is trying to suppress his awe at this display. And he's totally failing for once! "This... what is this? Indigo soul realm, that's not been seen in millenia. It may as well be a legend! Attribute and Form... even though the balance is completely off, it's entirely stable. What is this 'Avatar' position...?" He's VERY intrigued by this, even if Korra's obvious arrogance is something he'd rather not have to deal with.     STAREN: Staren has absolutely no trouble injecting his Soul Force - PPE and ISP as he knows it - into the Crystal. The artifact gleams and crackles with blue arcs that very much resemble the ley lines of his world in miniature, using the exact same color. The arcs are short-lived though! The core of the crystal fills with scattered yellow stars. The energy comes together in no time, forming into an impressive duo of large-and-small golden gears gleaming with a metallic luster. The gears are properly fitted together, turning slowly.     Nie Li folds his arms at this, puzzled. "Yellow Soul Realm. Not bad at all. Attribute is Metal... no, Gold? I've never seen Soul Force take this form though. Golden Gears..." The youth is simultaneously intrigued and disappointed. After all, if he doesn't recognize it, how can he work with it? "I wonder if there'll be more Gears in the future, if you continue down this path! ... Whatever it is." He casts a questioning look at Staren, perhaps wondering if he wants to try explaining it so far.     SEIFER: It might or might not be an easy matter for Seifer to get the Crystal to cooperate... but once he does, the injected energies gather at the center and spread out. Red glittery sparks of his not-insignificant soul energies shine through clouds of swirling silvery-black-grey that fill the crystal. The clouds periodically erupt with flaming plumes in the same manner that thunderclouds would crackle with lightning. As soon as the clouds finish forming, a metallic gleam pierces them... and the shining, polished form of his own gunblade Hyperion descends, slowly rotating in the center of the crystal.     At this, Nie Li scratches the back of his head a little awkwardly. "Red Soul Realm. Same as me. The Attribute... another I don't recognize. There's affinities for both Fire and Metal, but Hand Seifer has spent so much effort mastering this weapon that it's overrun the Soul Realm's original Form. That's very impressive! I need to think about what might help with this path." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     The tiny Major rubs her chin at the responses of the crystals collected by those three who stepped up to be inspected. Her eyes wander from one to the next, then Nie Li himself as he reads the result. Eyes wander once more to Priscilla, overseeing the proceedings like some kind of covetous dragon.     The thought brings a small smile to her face, and perhaps a tiny 'hnf' of amusement. The idea that the Concord leader is very much a creature of her nature. Only when other dragons hoard gold, perhaps this one hoards information.     Tanya's kind of dragon.     With Seifer, Staren, and Korra examined, Tanya decides to try her hand at it. Closing distance to the Cultivator's table, she unfolds a hand from behind her back and gingerly collects one of the gems. It's held up between her fingers. Her hair is disturbed by some unfelt breeze, and the blue of her eyes becomes suddenly intense-- an unmistakable glow. Her head tilts as she observes the reaction, then her eyes shift to Nie Li. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla lets the crystal rest where the raw stuff that is souls usually appears from one's hand like the wick of a candle flame. As she does, the blank crystal immediately fills with brightly glowing constellations of luminous, sky blue light. Glittering stars of cold blue-white spiral and flood its bounds, multiplying in number over the space of several seconds.     The motes of light are caught in a wild, fluttering whirl, like flakes of brilliant snow in a tempestuous winter gale. The transparency of the crystal looks to be faintly frosted up from within, as if intense cold had meaning to it. Specks of amber gold pop and fizzle in the spiritual 'snow', as scattered embers caught in swirling eddies from a disturbed bonfire. The attribute is completely different from the surrounding cold, being something both divine and fire aligned, but it isn't an integral part like Korra's combined elements. The embers are something more external than that; they are the lingering marks of some hugely impactful spiritual modification or evolution in the past, stained on her soul, rather than indicative of Priscilla's core nature.     The form at the center is that of some sort of winged dragon, easily recognizable as one. Closer inspection indicates the number of wings to be four rather than two, like something vaguely apocryphal, and it has a third eye set between its huge horns. The dragon in the ice and wind and snow is clear only for a few moments though, because there is something wrong with it.     Quick as blinking, the pure blue and white spirit form becomes a black hole. As the amount of soul force in the crystal continues to exponentially multiply, the form at its center just becomes a deeper and more penetrating blackness, until the dragon's nature as a dragon is in distorted. It flickers like static, gutters like a dying candle. Its form is a darkening blossom of ink; a wraith of black frost, a vicious swarm of flies. Rather than breaking down and fragmenting like something is going wrong, it only grows /more/ defined -/more/ certain and obvious.     There is supposedly a limit to what these crystals can take though, and Priscilla's world dynamics mean she has absolutely stockpiled magnitudes more soul juice over a thousand years than a typical measuring device would ever be ready to handle. It explodes quite violently in a wash of wild energies and tiny fragments. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's not really surprised by Korra's results. He doesn't actually know much about her, but the Avatar's ability to bend all four elements is one of the few things he does know. His own crystal briefly flashes the familiar blue-white color he associates with raw magical energy, and then... huh. "Metal? Something that only exists when the earth is refined by the hand of man? What does Gold mean, in this context? Gears... machines, I guess? I mean, I make automatons... tools... physical and otherwise." He takes his best shot at explaining.     Seifer's got some odd stuff going on too. He's gunblade-elemental? Wow. "Those look like gunpowder explosions." He comments.     And then Priscilla. Nothing is really a surprise, though, until it shatters. "Woah! Did you keep putting power into it, or did it just... do that?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      "Got me," Seifer shrugs, pushing up his blindfold so he can see *colors*. There's some barely-contained jealousy at Korra's brilliant display. That's...powerful. Overwhelming. /Special/. Seifer...well, all one has to do is know anything about Seifer at all to understand why he might be jealous of something like that. Especially considering how hard he had to struggle to get the crystal to just *work* for him.      Staren's is kind of neat, but it's not obviously Super Special lke Korra's, so it gets less of a jealous stare.      Priscilla, though, Priscilla gets a similar jealous stare to Korra as the crystal explodes. Almost without thinking, Seifer brings his gunblade around.      People get a good look at /why/ he says he got good. The strange weapon *dances* in the air, knocking fragments into other fragments into other fragments. The blade is so fast it's hard to watch, hard to *follow*, an explosive movement full of grace that moves beyond 'just swinging a sword' into 'something like art playing out in the air.'      Seifer is in no way kidding about his swordplay being able to fight gods.      The end result is that he just sort of...*parries* the fragments. For *everybody*.      "Shit," Seifer mutters, "Warn me next time so I can put my blindfold down, huh, Boss Lady? Don't wanna get that shit in my eye." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "If thou were likely to be hit in the eye, thou wouldst hath put it back on thineself, or at least used thine hand instead of . . . that." Priscilla says to Seifer. It genuinely always catches her off guard, every time. "Besides. In this Shrine, it is not as if thou wouldst be permanently blinded anyway." She leaves the absurdity of Seifer being better able to defend himself blindfolded unstated. "The idea that thou hast turned thine very own soul into an image of that weapon . . . perahps I shouldst be surprised not, but it is still a sobering reflection nonetheless."     "The former. I was not told to cease." she says to Staren, surprised enough to bat her eyes at the thing blowing up, but not ruffled enough to make excuses. The dispersing energies quickly cease swirling around and gradually gravitate back into her, 'falling' into her, inside of an invisible event horizon. "I can only maketh guesses. Gold is known to be an especially rare metal, typically ascribed mystical, ideological, or cosmic properties rather than strictly utilitarian, as much as I understandeth it is supposedly used in computers." she continues. "Perhaps thou art simply too eccentric for plain steel. Perhaps it is something relevant to the colour. I hath noticed Sir Li hast fixated on the meaning of such." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods. "It is a quality conductor of electricity... but I doubt that's what this measures." 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     PRISCILLA: Priscilla's crystal results are hard for Nie Li to make out, since it keeps changing from one thing to the next. If he weren't so keenly experienced in these matters, it'd be quite a problem. But he committed the whole thing to memory at a glance... and as he stops coughing from the weird smoke that takes a bit to dissipate, and brushing fragments off his clothes, he chokes out, "I should have expected that from Priscilla. Azure Soul Realm, nearly the best there is. Snow Wind attribute, with a secondary of Holy Flame... I think. As for form... what I saw is similar to Winged Dragon, but that void... this is beyond my knowledge. I can safely say what techniques suit you, but the rest... will be up to your own fate. Without further testing, that is." And Nie Li seems... intimidated by what just happened there. The suggestion of further testing is given with a hint of HESITATION. He very subtly shudders. Something about that display actually SCARED him, and he's just trying to maintain composure in front of his allies.     TANYA: As Tanya pushes her energy into the crystal, it's a bit slow to respond. After a minor pause, the clear center swirls to life, turning glossy and metallic, and filling with cyan-shaded sparkles of light. These are quickly overshadowed, though, as the metallic luster hardens and darkens, and the core of it glows a hot, molten red. The illusory 'ground' splits open in a shower of molten metal. In no time at all, the formless luster is sculpted into an erupting volcano, spewing its molten guts into the 'sky'. Though on closer inspection, those aren't chaotic lumps. Each is a tiny bullet, trailed by flame.     That's how it appears at FIRST... but as soon as she syncs up with her Type-95 gear and its power begins to enter the gem, the entire thing clouds over and becomes indistinct with an uncharacteristic white-gold radiance. The volcano is gone, replaced by a sizable, ornate, gaudy winged cross held behind golden gates, shut tight and unyielding. Moments after this resolves, the crystal rumbles, cracks, and EXPLODES in the same manner as Priscilla's, showering everyone with a rain of mostly-harmless fragments and a cloud of quickly-dissipating golden fog.     At this, by the way Nie Li's expression twists, it's clear he's not sure whether to laugh or cry. TOO RIDICULOUS! And so this is what he exclaims. "The Concord is full of ridiculously exceptional abilities. Cyan grade Soul Realm. Like Seifer, your Attributes are based on Metal and Fire. Another Form that I haven't seen. But that second display... I can tell you nothing about it. It's a mighty power... something deeply refined and pure, almost sacred. But it far overwhelms your own. If it were me, I'd be hesitant about letting something so different and overwhelming into my meridians. This thing is safe to use...?" He'd be VERY amazed if there aren't any drawbacks with that freakish display! 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra re-closes her eyes when the actual effects start, focusing her (admittedly meagre, by Avatar standards) spiritual power into the stone. The results... Are predictable. It doesn't say or confirm anything that she doesn't already know. In fact, the lotus petal representing wind causes her to furrow her brow and focus harder, when she sneaks a peak, trying to remember the lessons Tenzin taught her, how to Be The Leaf. But it's not enough. She's not at the right place to embrace the power of wind. She is, as the stone shows, a three-legged table, but filled with incredible spiritual power. Nie Li's reaction is finally noticed, but Korra spends a moment focusing inward, and then places the borrowed stone back on the table, where she got it. There are other displays - Priscilla explodes hers, and though Korra winces, there's a moment of internal rationalization that passes, and she starts making handmotions to accomplish -- something. Seifer is there, though, with his blade. Instead of needing to take care of it, it's taken care of. Korra lets her foot fall back to the ground gently, and her hands fall to her sides, before bringing them up to grip either end of the towel around her neck. "Gunpowder, huh? That's pretty cool. I've never heard of a gunpowder-bender before. In fact... What's gunpowder? Is it like platinum?" Staren gets gold - and gears. A surprising thing all told. "You know, you remind me of our sponsor - Asami. Her father is revolutionizing Republic City, and he's know throughout the kingdoms and nations as an innovator. I didn't think you could be spiritually innovative, that's kinda cool." Korra seems entirely unmoved by her own results - the fact that the Avatar has incredible powers is something she plays off badly as 'more of the same', though her chest remains puffed out, shoulders back, a casual power stance worn by those 'secure' in their self-image of power. "And... A sacred essence. That's impressive too. Are you your world's Avatar?" "You know, Seifer, you remind me of Chief Sokka - he wasn't a bender, but he became legendary for his swordplay, his keen tactical mind, and his generous nature. He..." She smirks. "Well, he was a big deal too." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer looks even more disappointed when Tanya has the same sort of Attribute, but moreso, /and/ turns out to have a Second Secret Special Power. No, not disappointed - frustrated? Annoyed? His own stance has subtly shifted, like he was expecting something else, and is somewhat...put out, maybe? It's hard to read him.      He glances at Korra (since the blindfold is still off). "Yeah, well."      He shoulders his gunblade again. "Sounds like I'd like him." No one has ever called *Seifer* *generous*, but then, nobody's ever called him *dignified*, and that's two cute girls who've called him nice things in the span of like two days. He's down with that. Sure, he's married, but he's not /dead/. It does, in fact, noticably perk him up a bit. Seifer's mood swings almost as quick as his gunblade. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya observes the crystal's response to her influence. A volcano spewing metal-- no, bullets. Curious symbolism, and unexpected to be sure. She gives it a few moments to make sure nothing else is changing, before she reaches a decision. Her free hand is raised to her chest, resting over the Type-95.     "Grant me wisdom, O Lord, that I may understand Your plan and guide the world to the Golden Road." Her eyes wash out from a glowing blue to a golden hue, mirrored by the sudden and intense glow of the Type-95 itself. She observes the reflection in the gemstone, eyes narrowing.     Because Tanya is actually holding the crystal, its sudden detonation catches her off guard. Her free hand shoots up to shield her eyes while shards bloody her outstretched hand.     Yeah. The injury isn't permanent. But the hiss between her teeth betrays that still hurts.     "It nearly scattered me as a thin red cloud across the skies of Europa once," the girl hisses as she wraps her hand in a handkerchief-- to keep it from staining her uniform, no doubt, "But it is both safe to use now and also my only option." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla knows precisely jack about Avatars and the construction of their relevance. Nie Li seems to be incredibly impressed by her crystal turning indigo, and something about an attribute balance in her. Priscilla is unsurprised to see that her soul is very much the frost of the Painted World along with the spiritual burn where the Lordsouls left their mark, but that tint is testament to the fact that she'd attained and performed an exceptional, epic transformation. It's not the same as someone apparently simultaneously maintaining four completely different natures within their soul, all somehow working in balance, just on their own natural merit.     Since she isn't the Cultivation expert, she's not sure what to make of it academically, but she has that unblinking-eye'd, flat-expression'd, swishy-tailed stare on Korra, -the one that corresponds to some kind of deep and faintly inhuman appraisal- so she must believe the all-but-stranger's extreme confidence is merited by something.     "Well then, Sir Li, wouldst thou care to interpret the results to layman's terms?" she asks, patiently, without taking her eyes off of Korra for a while. "Certainly, I am very interested in learning further aptitudes of the Concord's finest." They slide over to Tanya. "As well as any as of yet unknown risks that may be apparent to thine expert opinion." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Shattering crystals! Staren does flinch, twice, and resolves to wear his goggles for any further tests. That Nie Li is scared by the Lifehunt is no surprise... it's pretty terrifying. And Tanya's got the power of God, right. Makes sense.     Staren looks pleased to be called 'spiritually innovative', even if he's not sure how well Korra knows what she's talking about.. "I look at it as solving problems, but... to say that's an instinctive part of me wouldn't be wrong." Then: "You know Sokka?! Oh right, of course, you're from the future. I'm glad things turned out well for him, he seemed like a pretty cool guy." Staren nods, he thinks fairly positively of Sokka too.     Would Seifer like Sokka? Staren's thoughts briefly consider the matter. "He asks a lot of questions." Staren comments. After a moment or two of thought, he amends, "He also tells a lot of... jokes." 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' "Sure, I know Chief Sokka. I was born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe, and he was one of the most important Chiefs of the age. Really, he's an inspiration to the whole tribe, though I did hear..." Korra gives a tiny, knowing smirk as her hands move to her hips, her thumbs hooking into the waistband of her workout shorts. "Well, his propensity for... 'jokes'. But, jokes or not, he was an amazing swordsman, and a tremendous Chief. Soooo." Korra shrugs and cants her head. "Yeah. He was a pretty cool guy." 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     "Metal is an intrinsically inward element. Metal is firm, unyielding, and forceful. Practical and wise. As far as quality's concerned though, Gold is an especially pure form of it, and it's exactly as the First says. Gold's also used in several elixirs that slow down aging. Several ancient empires thought it held alchemical secrets to immortality... but as far as I know, nobody ever managed to escape the cycle of life that way. It's a fine and noble Attribute to have for making inscriptions, weapons, armor, even buildings, if you know how to control it. There's several Cultivation techniques suitable for nurturing a Gold physique... At this point in your life though, it's hard to say whether you always had this affinity, or you forcefully changed to it through your own efforts. Either way, Gold is fairly rare." Nie Li explains for Staren.     To Priscilla, he smiles a bit sheepishly. "Perhaps we should try again with an Intermediate or even Master grade Soul Crystal. I don't have any of those on me at the moment though. The crystal exploded because your raw power was simply too much for it. These are beginner grade Soul Crystals." He does seem a bit embarassed about this display. "... Something tells me you might even shatter a Master-grade Crystal."     He looks over his shoulder in a vaguely alarmed manner at Tanya though. After all, the way her crystal exploded felt a bit different. Her explanation is cause for concern to flicker on his brow. "As you are right now, that power could destroy you if it went wild. I don't pretend to understand the specifics of your world or what you've done to mitigate it, but if you want help, I might be able to provide some." It's a carefully and formally chosen set of words. Probably because she's a girl. He seems so much more willing to act casual towards the guys!     Like with Seifer, who he notices seems to be upset about his results. "There's something to be said about the purity of being a single thing, Hand Seifer. So what if you're Red Soul Realm? I am too. So what if all you have is a sword? Put in enough effort and that sword will cleave dragons in half and the take the tops off mountains." This is delivered with a tone full of proud CONFIDENCE. It's one of the things he's sounded MOST sure about all day, in fact.     He spends a moment pacing back and forth... then holds a hand out to accompany offering his opinion. "Any of you would be considered unmatched geniuses in Glory City. Major families would bend over backwards and pay anything to win your support, if you were citizens. I'm not even sure if I'd be a suitable opponent for this bunch." This is stated with a grand and appreciative smile. He does ever so much appreciate the hard work that went into gaining what he's seen, after all. Perhaps more than most.     "In Glory City, everyone's aptitude is tested before they start training. This is because it's best practice to match a technique with one's innate aptitudes. Priscilla here has a Snow Wind attribute, so she would have great benefits practicing Snow Wind attribute Cultivation techniques and martial arts, but would have a terrible time with Lightning Fire arts. The Form is also very important. A friend of mine has one that, if properly developed, leads to the ability to self-resurrect a number of times... but this innate talent would go to waste without the right Cultivation technique. Everyone here has already spent a great deal of effort walking their own that changing outright would be recipe for disaster. But I believe there are things I can teach you, if you have the desire to learn." 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     "You may as well keep the stone." Nie Li explains to Korra. "Once used, the crystal is attuned to that person who used it. If anyone else uses it and mixes their Soul Force with the imprint you left, it's only useful for getting a rough idea of the Soul Force's grade and intensity. Glory City forgot about this, so a lot of Cultivation knowledge regarding Attribute and Form was lost completely."     "You have such a rare and intriguing innate talent. I might not be qualified to give you that much guidance!" he grins a bit. It's true that her power is amazing. But the bluster is failing to impress, and for the sake of not causing friction in this meeting he's playing along with it. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "I do not require assistence with this," Tanya states evenly. The look she fixes on Nie Li during this response is unimaginably cold, despite the radiant golden glow of her eyes. She recomposes herself, however, by removing her cap and running her uninjured hand through her hair while taking a breath. A notable hair sprig springs back up right before she places her cap back over it.     "It is a challenge I have already conquered, and made my own." Not entirely a lie. It'll have to suffice. "I should have expected this to happen, to be honest. God's power is great, after all."     There isn't the slightest hint of bitterness to that line. Or enthusiasm. She's deliberately suppressing any emotion in its delivery. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Gold doesn't tarnish. Although easy to reshape, it is difficult to dissolve. These properties have granted it special significance in the minds of humanity for a long time, long before anyone knew about electricity. Hmmm... yes, I can see it. Easy to change the physical shape of--" suddenly he's gone, and a black housecat with his kerchief is sitting in his place, for nearly a second before being replaced by his usual form again, "--but difficult to change the /nature/ of. Very perceptive." He looks down at the crystal.     He vaguely recalls the first time he realized that people treat people differently for arbitrary reasons. Was he 4? 5? 6? Something like that. And he'd known it wasn't /fair/. And that un/fair/ was somehow wrong.     Somewhere along the way, he came to prioritize mercy over justice, yet... he'd held on to his own beliefs even when he feared the Union would brand him an outlaw for them.     Gold, malleable but unyielding.     "I think I was born with it." Staren says, staring through the table.     Then he comes back to the present, listening to the evaluations of the others. Nie Lie's evaluation of Tanya is... interesting, and slightly concerning. He turns his head to watch her face closely.     After the comments about testing before training, Staren comments, "Yes, on my world it's best for mages to start training young, too. It's difficult to hold as much... energy, if you don't start at an early age. My interests lied elsewhere, but my experience in the Multiverse made the utility of magic /quite/ clear."     He takes the stone and pockets it, once Li mentions they've imprinted on it.     "I believe she has other teachers in mind." Staren comments, re: Li not sure if he's able to guide Korra. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla politely waves off the issue of crystal grade. "If thou were able to ascertain all the relevant attributes, then the need to ascertain the intensity is not so pressing, I wouldst assumeth." For some reason, she seems overwhelmingly more interested in hearing the explanation of the relevance of gold as an element, and the youth's apparent experience with directly visualizing and academically plotting designer courses for souls. It's the first she's ever heard of it, and her world is already extremely unique for even acknowledging soul enhancement as a fundamental art. Her stare is visibly intense, absorbing what she hears without blinking.     "Any further knowledge thou couldst share on the relevance of these colours and forms wouldst be appreciated, though most pressing amongst mine questions art those that hath to do with the benefits of these techniquese thou espouse and endorse. I hath heard thee discuss them in the sense of teaching ordinary men, so, then, what wouldst a perfectly standard individual stand to gain from this? What typical effects? I must imagine that this Glory City seeks not to test and train its citizens for frivolous reasons that provideth no benefit to the city at large. Likewise, what is it that thou wouldst expecteth from one with an already matured, rather than early and formative, 'soul form'? Hast thou experience with those of already significantly developed power?"     This is a lot more than she usually grills anyone about pretty much anything without at any point sounding as if she is demanding that the person justify themselves. The questions have the sense that they could be far more pointed, coldly aimed at the vital points of Nie Li's proposal and poised to kill it if insufficiently logically defensible, but her interest is too intense to sound entirely neutral. "Thou art certainly young to be so knowledgeable in what I assumeth to be a densely academic field. I likewise imagine that Glory City must be a rich repository of knowledge and talent." 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer rolls his shoulder in a one-sided shrug. "Man, I can already cut dragons in half. I've killed a god. Dunno what I was expectin', that's all."      "It's cool. I'm not that worried. I know I'm a badass."      He was just secretly hoping that he had some kind of unique talent on top of it. 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra nods after the explanation (of how she and everyone else is a genius talent who would all be wanted) of the culivation and soul levels, reaching forward to pick back up the Soul Crystal and dropping it in her gym duffel. "Alright, sure." Her hands freed from casual standing, she re-shoulders her bag's strap with the adjusted bulk of the crystal - and adding her towel to the mix, since just having it over her shoulders was getting annoying. The withering gaze of Priscilla and hearing things like 'unknown risks' (which is about Tanya, not her) keeps the Avatar's pose and posture from deflating. But she doesn't lock eyes with the intensity of Priscilla. There are people she could absolutely stare down. Taller (not bigger, as Korra prides herself on her physique) men have loomed over her and puffed out and she shamed them for it. With the First of the Concord, however, she has an Artifical Chill going on. Even if her temper and ego was bristling, meditation was not beyond her. She was better than starting a fight when she was being praised, anyway. "Actually..." She begins, at the mention of training. "I've hit a plateau with my training with my airbending teacher, Master Tenzin. So I'd be game to try something new. It could be pretty useful, too. The Avatar has access to all the knowledge of the previous Avatars going all the way back to the beginning of the Cycle. If I picked up some new moves, or new techniques... It'd be a good way to leave my mark on the legacy of the Avatar." Korra laughs, a genuine bellow of 'ha-ha-ha!' "Oh, man, and if I did nothing else but ate noodles in Republic City after that, I'd be a pretty good Avatar. Some of the past Avatars did some... Not-great stuff." She sobers up. "So, yeah, Glory City? I'll check it out. I'm not looking to get too involved in politics, though -- I've got enough on my plate with the fate of my entire world hanging over my head. I'll pass on signing up with any 'great houses' for now." 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     The response that Nie Li gets from Tanya is almost disappointing. If it didn't mean that he'd be far, far away from that THING of hers, he would absolutely be disappointed. As it is, the youth shrugs his shoulders and airily answers, "Then I'll not bring it up again. Only wish you luck." No, he's not even going to say that she could come back later... though with this response, it's pretty evident he will still help an ally who asks for it.     He looks aside at Seifer, grinning with a bit of mischief. "Hand Seifer is disappointed too easily. Innate talent? Birthright? Sure, these things can be an advantage... but relentless spirit and courage will break through any barrier. And what good is natural aptitude that's spent poorly? Not that we're done yet." It's too early to be mopey over these results!     Grinning confidently, he fixes Priscilla with a look. A fiercely pleased one. He's grateful to be working with people who actually think about practical sides of things! "Everyone in Glory City is born as just a human. But through training, one learns to break the body's limits and slowly refine it. The meagerest of achieverers can hoist and hurl boulders the size of cows, go without sleep for a week, shrug off a few knife wounds and rises above simple diseases. Any expert of Glory City can be expected to be able to memorize any face, event, or chant instantly. Strength, speed, resilience, all these things keep climbing. My senses are so sharp that when I focus, I can hear the insects crawling in the grass and feel a knife flying at me from behind by reading the wind. These are just the benefits anyone would get, without even bringing up the art of merging with Demon Spirits."     Speaking of which, as he stands there rather confidently... Nie Li's body ripples and glows. In under a second he shoots up in stature, going from a short kid to a SEVEN FOOT TALL and quite girthy... PANDA? Well, this does indeed look like an anthropomorphic giant panda, with some artistic licenses taken to the fur color. His clothes have thankfully stretched and reshapen to match instead of ripping!     And as if to demonstrate, he reaches out with two meaty fingers and pinches the table, then yoinks it straight up with expert precision. The crystals that remain unused on it don't even budge. What kind of muscle control IS THAT, anyways...?!     After setting it back down, Nie Li's transformation reverses. Even the form shift is smooth and graceful unlike a great many across the Multiverse that tend to be explosive and lengthy.     "Those who gain in power and enlightenment live longer and think more quickly and more clearly. With enough training and the right techniques, this discipline can be used for healing, weaponsmithing, combat. It's interwoven into all of Glory City's culture and economy, because it falls to the Cultivators to defend the city from the threats it constantly faces and cull the numbers of Demon Beasts that lurk outside the walls. Those who reach the loftiest heights have created whole worlds from nothing, but as you can probably guess... almost nobody lives long enough to reach that status. It's the kind of power that gods wield."     A long exhale later. "For someone who's already gone this far on their own, most of the techniques I can teach are useless if used blindly. But there might be Cultivation practices that align enough with your existing path to bolster it without harming it. Making your own path this way isn't unheard of, but it depends heavily on finding your own truths and sticking to them."     He grins over at Staren. "Staren just had such an experience. I can feel the difference in his aura, slight as it is." Just... what is he getting at here, exactly? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren folds his arms and looks from Nie Li to Seifer as the former notices the latter's disappointment. "Seriously. You think it doesn't bug me when other people build stuff and it just /works/ for them, because they're called 'mad'? Even the good ones, I was kinda jealous of. So I gathered knowledge and studied on my own. Sometimes I've been lucky and information fell into my lap, perhaps, and now, I make things that are replicable, scalable, and work when I'm not around. Because I'm doing it the hard way. Your skill with a gunblade won't 'run out' when someone drains you of psychic power or puts up an antimagic field, it's not the result of bargaining with demons for their secrets that will one day bite you in the ass. I mean, c'mon, you're Hand of the Concord. Not every measuring stick is gonna rate you as super double awesome -- what if there were, I dunno, a species of aliens that only cared how tall you were? Priscilla'd be set, but..." he starts to gesture to Tanya, then thinks better of saying more.     "...Anyway. We're already super double awesome, whether the world knows it or not." He makes a fist. "Embrace that metal affinity!" He smiles at Seifer.     Nie Li discusses the things that spirit cultivation can bring, and Staren's just like... 'oh.' "But I can already do all of that, just by transferring to a robot body."     And then Staren jumps back in surprise when SUDDENLY PANDA. He doesn't meet that many other shapeshifters, so it's always a surprise! His eyes widen as the table is yanked up, and... "Wait a minute, why didn't the crystals fly off?"     "Live longer, think faster or more clearly? Check. Technology brings healing and makes weapons as well. Creating whole worlds... I mean, I can do that too. I just haven't made any that anyone /lives/ in yet because I don't wanna mess it up."     He's a bit surprised and confused about being told he's just had a mystic experience though. "What, what do you mean?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      "You guys are more concerned than I am about it," Seifer says, and there's the /sense/ that he's lying a little bit, but it's more jealousy than it is a lack of confidence. Seifer Almasy is not someone who has ever lacked confidence in his life.      But Seifer is someone who wants to be a romantic knight in the literary sense, a heroic figure. Heroic figures are frequently born, not made, after all. People like Priscilla, or Gilgamesh (the gold one). People with overwhelming power because they were born to it, who *also* can benefit from honing it. Learning that he had something special, something nobody else had...well, a lot of Knights have that kind of thing. Even in other worlds, probably.      And the brief hope that he did have something special, followed by having that crushed by Tanya twice over, was somewhat.../disheartening/.      But Seifer is also the sort to use annoyance to his own benefit. And Seifer isn't the type to talk about such things openly. So the look on his face is largely a passive one, and he shrugs again. "I get it. Anything with hard work. Man, I told you, I can kill *gods*. I *know* the value of hard work. An' I know I'm a goddamn badass." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla meaningfully looks over at Staren when Nie Li starts using the words 'live longer' and 'nobody lives long enough'. Not in a way that he's supposed to exchange glances. She just /knows/ what he's thinking.     Still though, the thirst is not quite as well hidden as most of her feelings usually are. As much as can be made out, there are gears turning, scenarios playing out, and further lines of inquiry taking shape behind the self-evident -if inscrutable- ambition in her eyes. "I mineself" she begins "as well as mine homeland, knoweth much of accumulating and strengthening spiritual power. The size, the brightness, the intensity and might of the soul, with many such effects as thou hast made mention of. This is the first I hath heard however, at least with real, academic credence, of achieving the same with technique -with study and guidance and practice- rather than the crucible of life and death."     "Thou hast mine interest." she states, obvious enough already as it is. "I am interested in seeing what it is that thou art able to uncover in others, as much as I am interested in seeing thine own development, as an Elite and Partner of the Concord, in practising what thou preach. It is an avenue I most understandably see much promise in, and which conflicts with few others. Everyone possesses a soul, regardless of their aptitude for magic or science or martial skill."     She spares a minute for Seifer. "It is also one that I believeth holds more nuance than can be gained solely with such preliminary examination, as I hath heard Sir Li indicate. Thine affinity may not be news to thee, but I expecteth there may be doors open exclusively to thee beyond it." She spares a second minute for Staren. Nie Li claims that he can sense a change in Staren's 'aura' just from looking into himself in a roundabout meditative fashion, indicating that if he's not lying, his spiritual senses are many times more refined than hers are. "Thou in particular hath very seldom explored that side of thineself."     She doesn't have a crystal to keep, so she just kind of examines some shrapnel, all of it somehow having failed to pierce her skin. "Worry thineself not too greatly with what thou believest others art committed to in their 'soul forms', Sir Li. The Soul Arts of mine homeland in developed in ways thou art not yet aware of, but it wouldst be a grave falsehood to claim that it is talent and compatibility by which I hath come this far. A thousand years I hath lived a bedfellow with death. This broken crystal is evidence solely of struggles beyond mine counting, paved with so many slain I scarcely remember, and quite possibly built on little more than perseverence. A theorem, or perhaps even simply an idea of why, wouldst be a significant change of pace."     Read: it's getting hard to find things to kill that yield appreciable progress towards another soul level. 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     "You know, Hand Seifer." Nie Li begins, sensing Seifer's jealousy - even if probably not the specifics of it. "There was a man who lived in a city very like mine once. He was born with basically nothing. A poor youth from declining nobility. Somehow he clawed his way through the Fighter's school, and earned none of the things he chased. There was nothing special about him. No wealth. Not the greatest looks. He even had a Red Soul Realm. That man lost everything when Demon Beasts overwhelmed his home, and had to be protected by everyone when the survivors fled the ruins. He wanted the strength to protect everyone, but instead saw everyone he wanted to protect ruthlessly cut down by heartless monsters."     His gaze is cold as it gets here. Almost sad. "That man survived though. For whatever reason. And over time, just through the struggle to survive, he rose above every expectation his home could've had. He traveled to other worlds, gained mastery in almost every human art and reached heights of power and enlightenment his home could never have even dreamed of. Everything that those around him had thought was special and extraordinary talent turned out to be shitty, overrated nonsense. He and everyone he'd grown up with were nothing but frogs living in the bottom of a well, unable to see how grand the heavens really are."     With a long exhale after that, he gathers his composure and proclaims, "That man eventually came face to face with a tyrannical individual who claims absolute dominance over dozens, hundreds of worlds. With everything he learned and accomplished, he fought this Sage Emperor face to face, exchanging blows that caused the ground to split apart and the clouds in the sky to fly around madly."     His expression kind of flattens, then he asks Seifer, "This man, what do you think happened to him? Did he win or lose that fight?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer gives Nie Li a Look. He hadn't /said/ any of that, after all. There's a moment when Seifer leans forward a little, and looks him in the eye.      "Listen. I don't like when people peek in my head. Normally if you did some shit like that, you'd have to hear Greg, an' I wouldn't give a shit 'cause anybody who can put up with Greg for thirty seconds is basically giving me thirty seconds of quiet.      "So next time you go rootin' around in my thoughts, you ask me first."      Seifer shoulders Hyperion again. "I dunno, you lost, right?"      The Gunblade Knight taps Hyperion on his shoulder. "C'mon, man. You know way more about this shit than any thirteen-year-old should. It's pretty obvious. An' your face pretty much tells it like it is. You're not very good at hidin' your emotions."      Seifer rolls his shoulders. "Guess all that lookin' at other peoples' made you forget how to keep your own in check, huh?"      "Look. I told you. I'm not all that concerned about it. I appreciate the talk, but you don't need to worry. I've got confidence in my skills. I /know/, unquestionably, that I'm good at what I do. Hell, I'm not just good, I'm the /best/ at what I do. Ain't nobody around like me. So relax. I don't need to be told that shit."      He shrugs at Priscilla. "Yeah, probably. It's not a big deal, boss lady. It's like gettin' a test back and seein' you didn't do as well as you hoped, that's all." In a room full of people who scored over 100 thanks to Extra Credit. 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     Nie Li's grin is ALMOST smug as he points out, "Hand Seifer overestimates my abilities. Reading thoughts is nearly impossible... and unnecessary. The jealousy is clear in your eyes." That's... almost turning his own accusation right back at him, without actually refuting Seifer's, isn't it?     "You're right though. In the end, I lost. By a hair's breadth, I lost. Because I was alone." His tone's mixed here. Clearly the boy's sore about it. "Keep what I just told you to yourselves though." He casts a glance over everyone here. A mildly wary one. "I absolutely do not want Glory City knowing this just yet. There's too much at stake if I'm going to avert the disaster that's three years away."     He calms down then... and the more casual demeanor returns. "Staren! It felt like a little breakthrough... could I have just imagined it? With so many powerful people around, it's hard to say. Are you not in tune with yourself enough to feel it?" He's honestly puzzled at this. There's too many variables here. FAR too many. At the explanation of 'switching bodies' and using all this gadgetry though, he jsut fixes him with a weird look. No, he doesn't understand that. Not yet.     Finally he turns to Priscilla, who he did indeed listen to somehow through all of this chaos. But who has the most intriguing things to say on the subject of this Cultivation. "Likewise, this is the first I've heard of an art that calls specifically for death to progress. There's a few abominable Cultivation techniques I absolutely will not teach even if I knew them which have a few similarities, but nothing as potent as what you seem to have achieved. All without losing yourself to it, too. ... What kind of heights can you reach with the secrets I can teach? That's something I'd like to see as well!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren's ears and tail perk up in surprise as Seifer pulls the reveal rug out from under Nie Li. Sure, he doesn't put much stock in physical form, but it's so rare that someone bothers to hide such things! Well, except for dragons, perhaps.     And the Multiverse is so full of Unusually Talented Children that Staren didn't see anything weird about it. He looks to Nie Li for an explanation... ah, so Glory City wouldn't notice him.     Staren scratches the side of his neck nervously. "It felt like a breakthrough just /now/? Or like I recently had one? Because I mean..." He looks around. Concord leadership can be trusted, and Korra won't know what he's talking about and probably won't use it against him anyway. "That argument with the mage's association? I've never had something like that go /well/ for me before. So I suppose increased confidence could show as a recent change to whatever mystic senses you've got going on there." He is a hair nervous about admitting that, though -- obviously, it conflicts with the very image that winning the argument allows him to project. 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra gives a little smirk. "Well, I mean..." Nie Li never answered her previous request/proposition/acceptance of outside advice or a second opinion. "... I wasn't going to, but does that mean you'll show me a few moves?" She ribs lightly, before glancing between the towering Priscilla and the unassumingly protagonist Nie Li. "Honestly, if there's a way for 'everyone' to get powers, it could probably help me out, right now. So even if you have some basic things, I'd be willing to go through the basic motions." A distant look, like Korra was briefly in another place - specifically, the Equalist rally, but that's not intuitable without being a mind-reader - before she's back to a more 'natural' casual standing stance. "If not, that's fine too. I'm sure I'll get a great lesson from Tenzin about how to be a leaf, instead." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Why would you wanna be a leaf?" Staren asks Korra, puzzled. 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' "Because a leaf doesn't get beaten up by a bunch of spinning wooden paddles, mostly. Well, I can do the paddles now, but it doesn't awaken anything in me. Just reminds me of Pro Bending." Comes Korra's answer, very matter-of-fact. 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     Nie Li spends a bit puzzling out what Staren's asking and concludes, "Earlier when you were talking about the nature of Gold. I picked up a ripple from you that felt like hitting the verge of a breakthrough. You don't feel any different?" He ends up rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Since we use our powers differently, maybe you aren't as sensitive that way." Of course, there's still the theory that what he felt had more to do with Korra over there radiating all that energy!     A fact that still bothers him a little as she faces him and boldly makes such a claim.     Oh great, she's practically BLACKMAILING him. The boy's expression darkens into a vehement scowl. "I've been trying to be nice and not confront you since you're a girl, but you are really pissing me off. You walked in on the meeting, randomly declared yourself worthy of our company and my opinion because of some natural aptitude you didn't even explain when asked, and now you're trying to hold a dangerous secret over my head for your own selfish reasons. Avatar this, Avatar that. Tell me exactly why I should give you what you want, instead of split you in half with my Thunder God's Meteorite Sword?"     And just like that, Nie Li does indeed take a step towards Korra. Granted, it's a step UP onto the table. A fancy, ornate, electric blue sword appears in his hand from a swirl of energies and he promptly SLAMS it tip-first into the table with a reverse grip. The blade sizzles and crackles with very visible bolts, and the air turns quite clingy and charged with static.     And like that, he proceeds to stare her down.     But as for actually going at her... will he actually do that? It doesn't seem so. 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer just sort of holds up his gunblade between Nie Li and Korra.      "'cause nobody can die in here," he says, "So you might as well not do that, 'cause it's a pointless waste of your time an' hers. Plus, attackin' a cute girl....I ain't wild about that, y'know? It's one thing if she's an enemy, but she ain't, so why make her one?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "O-oh." Staren stammers at Li's explanation. "Your comment on whether I was born... Gold, or shaped myself into it... I was just thinking that I've had a strong sense of justice since the moment I learned that injustice existed." He twiddles his thumbs. "Even if I prefer mercy to justice now..." He sounds less self-assured about the subject. Thinking about his behavior when he was younger. There were many mistakes made through well-meaning immaturity, and remembering them puts him in rather a less-confident mindset, at least about some things. "I suppose that could be significant? I mean, I never really /thought/ about the mystic significance of that before..."     Oh crap sudden flip out! "Because her world probably depends on her or some junk like that!" Staren holds his hands out in a 'stop' gesture, before Seifer's words sink in and he remembers where he is. "Oh, right." 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' "You know?" Korra begins, her back straight and her shoulder square, but her stance still casual. Easy. "You shouldn't get into business as a street merchant. I think you've got this whole thing a little mixed up." Korra brings a hand forward, even staring down a Thunder God's Meteorite Sword. Power becomes Nie Li, spiritual, if not physical. And Korra, seemingly in the dark the whole time, now finally has it dawn on her. The hand taps the table. "This isn't a private place, and you've arranged a public showing. But, you know, you didn't turn me away either. I asked if this was some new Shrine thing, too, as you apparently asked me about the Avatar, so..." Korra doesn't remember being asked about the specific nature of the Avatar, but, she supposes, none of these people were from her world. It took getting used to, not saying 'I'm the Avatar' and then people going 'ohhhhh' and nodding. "Staren-" She thumbs to him, before crossing her arms and staring down Nie Li, sword and all. "Even sorta seemed to know me. I didn't think I needed to explain myself. And, as much as you've been teaching, which I appreciate, I suppose I didn't think I needed to show off. Everyone was showing off a little. But if this is a Concord thing..." Her shoulders rise and fall. Controlled, rolling visibly and deliberately. A very elaborate shrug. "I wasn't blackmailing you. I said - 'well, I wouldn't do that anyway', because I wouldn't. I don't even know where Glory City is. And I don't know what a Sage God is. And I have no reason to even believe or suspect any of that is crazy. But you said not to do it. So I won't." Her arms loosen, before she spreads her stance, fists closing. Seifer's gunblade gets in the way. "Oh, nobody will die. He's offering to go a few rounds. It's the Shrine, remember? We'll have a good spar. Work ourselves out." Her foot scuffs the floor as she rises it incrementally before bringing it down, two blocks of earth cut out of the ground to hover before her like raised fists. Korra flashes a little grin bereft of all good humor at Seifer. "I've got this under control. Or not. But - well, can't die here, can I?" "I'm the Avatar. Master of all four elements. Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. Balancer of the Human and Spirit world, ambassador to the nations. I hold the power and knowledge of every past Avatar, whose memories guide me." "And you're some guy with a sword who's got a great pitch but an awful front door. Do we have a problem, Nie Li?" 

:'''{{#var:1086|Seifer Almasy (1086)}} has posed:'''      Seifer shrugs and slings the gunblade back over his shoulder. "Hey, you do you, lady."      "I was just doin' my job. Concord shouldn't be makin' enemies of people who wander their ass in here without a pretty decent reason, or the Boss Lady sayin' so. If you wanna fight him, an' he wants to fight you, I ain't gonna get in the way." 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra stares down Nie Li, but she actually spares the breath here, because of course she does. "It could be some test. I'm still seeing. I'd currently rate it at a spinning fan test and a half. I'm still getting shamed in front of four people, but they're people I don't know. But, this time, I could fight back at the fan, so, I probably wouldn't be totally ashamed." Her fists open and close at her sides, the rocks just sort of hanging in the air as she breathes. "Probably. It's a nice sword." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods to Seifer, then looks to Korra. "Shamed? I don't think that. I'm, uh..." He scratches the back of his head. "I'm not here to judge anybody on their martial talents. And I thought the whole crystal test thing made your power as a bender pretty clear to Mr. Li. I think this was all just a misunderstanding. Like you said."     Staren looks to Li. "I don't think she's planning to go mess up your city. She's just..." He thinks back real hard on what he knows about Korra. "...Looking for something interesting to do. I dunno what the other Korra was running from, or even if she really was, but she always struck me as way more interested in going on an adventure or hanging out with a new friend than goin' home."     He looks to Korra again. "And here you are. Drawn to our shrine, instead of... whatever else you'd be doing. Something about spinning fans, apparently. And what's wrong with that? We're all out in the Multiverse because it's more interesting than whatever we'd see if we just stayed home." He looks between them. "I just hope you have better taste in friends this time. And if you two want to have a /friendly/ spar," he emphasizes the word friendly, "This is certainly the place for it." 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' "Wait wait wait wait wait." Korra begins, dropping her tension on a rock and turning to actually look at Staren. "Did the... ppppprevious me do something dumb? Also, I did my research! This is the premier training grounds in the Multiverse. I'm training. Gym bag! Workout clothes! Training. This is Avatar business. I thought exposing myself freely to more things would help me figure out airbending, like Pro Bending helped me figure out the fan thing." She turns back to Nie Li. "Man this Multiverse thing is weird. Another me? If you said another Avatar, that'd make more sense." 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     Nie Li's staring her down. He almost fully expects her to flinch, freak out, run off, or at least put up her dukes.     But Korra does NONE of those things, and instead stares him smack in the face. LECTURES him, even!     That.... makes him pause. It's hard to tell - merely a shift in his breathing and his sword grip - but it does make him pause.     Going over recent memories with an exacting focus and new perspective brings another nearly imperceptible twitch to his brows. But the boy's still staring hard throughout Korra's entire shpiel. It's hard to tell if he's going to give any ground here.     He absolutely doesn't want to. The last thing he wants to do is admit that he might have made a mistake. Because that's a thing he almost never does. Both make obvious mistakes... or admit them. It's a hard grind on his gut as he considers whether or not he misinterpreted Korra's intentions somehow.     And she seems a little more casual now, anyways. "Tch..."     Eithe way, with both Seifer and Staren getting involved, Nie Li makes a dramatic show of banishing his weapon. It disperses into mists that are sucked into the ring he wears as quickly as it came, and he solidly steps back onto the ground like any normal person should be standing.     "Fine, fine, I'm in the wrong today. Must have misheard you through all this chaos." The show of tension he was going for dies down quickly as he exclaims this in a casually apologetic tone, one might take when apologizing even when they know they're in the right. Except it's too obvious, so it's just an overt show of melodrama. "Hmph. Some kind of divine maiden with a deep connection to her world?" Being somewhat generous with the term 'maiden' in his fairly biased image of what such a girl ought to look like, but he seems to accept this notion almost TOO easily.     Has he run into something similar before, maybe?     After another deep breath, he decides to speak his mind. "Hm! I don't know what world you came from, but no girls I've met act like you are. That's kind of interesting." And kind of JARRING, but he's not about to say THAT to her face. "Getting used to this Multiverse will take some time!" He finally blurts out in more good-natured humor. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren shrugs. "If you did something dumb, then I and my friends did as well." He sighs. "If you must know, you befriended the trickster god Loki." Staren glances to Li, "From one of Earth's pantheons."     Then back to Korra. "He found out about another version of himself, that became an evil monster, and feared he was fated to share the same future. He reminded me of... an old friend, and I wished to help him avoid that fate. And some of my friends believe in giving people chances and helping them become better. So we did the whole 'try to redeem him' thing, but it just wouldn't take. Because in the end, he believed that his nature as a divine trickster exempted him from not behaving like an asshole."     "And he blamed everything that happened because of his own behavior on other people and that sad, unavoidable fate of becoming an evil monster, woe is he." Staren sighs. "Mortimer will forever bear the scars of trying to protect him from himself. One day, I guess Loki got tired of it all and went... somewhere else. You disappeared around the same time. I figured you'd run off together." Staren shrugs. "So that's the story of the other you. Now you know.     Staren rubs his chin. "Actually, no, that's the story of Loki, really. But I didn't have much interaction with you. You were his one friend who didn't care if he changed his ways or not." " 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' "Dumb-Me had a trickster god with a dumb name as a boyfriend." Korra repeats, editorializing. It puts her extremely tempestuous relationship with Bolin, who was a sweetheart and still a good friend, and Mako, who was a hardass edgeyboi but also a sweetheart and still a good friend, and their sponsor, Asami, who she had not decided to (and/or been written into cringy romance with, dear reader) involve herself directly with beyond learning how to drive a Satomobile with (but was currently going steady with Mako) into a stark, shocking relief. "Huh. I thought my own stuff was bad, too." "Neat." She drops the other rock easily, and extends a hand to Nie Li. "Well, it's a cycle. The elements - Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water - that's the order the Avatars appear in. I'm the latest one. The previous one, Avatar Aang, was from the Air Nomads. He saved the world. I hope to be just as great, but..." She gestures around. "The world's not really in danger, just one city. So I thought picking up some new moves would be a good legacy, too." Korra's hand is waggled once, inviting him to shake it, if he doesn't pick up quickly. He might! "Well, there's no girl like m-wait, no, there was, she was just weird and had a trickster god for a boyfriend. Dang, that was going to be a good one too. Let's leave it at a misunderstanding. I'd be happy to learn from you, and show you what I have, but if it's a 'Concord thing'..." Korra gives a hearty chuckle. "Well, your boss is even more gigantic than me. So I guess it's not so strange for there to be large women around." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren shrugs and nods slightly at the summary. Then laughs, good-naturedly, when she starts to spout a cool line then realizes they've ruined it. "I've met others from your world, though. Though I don't know what a Satomobile is. We weren't close, but Toph was a fixture of the Multiverse until recently -- you just missed her by a couple of years. I hear she's chief of police in your time, quite a shock if you'd known her in her youth! So that's how I know about bending."     "And Sokka, his was a brief but very inquisitive visit! I understand your world doesn't, or at least didn't, have much in the way of advanced technology or mass-produced machinery, but he picked up stuff like spaceships and orbital mechanics like that!" He makes a finger-snapping motion, but doesn't actually snap his fingers, because he never figured out how and never cared to ask.     Staren looks over at Nie. "So, besides all the stuff you mentioned, what else can Gold cultivation do?" 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra is caught trying to be cool and failing, so she has a moment of genuine back-of-the-head-with-the-free-hand-scratching moment while she 'eh-heh-hehhhs'. "They've got four wheels, and pedals and sticks, and go around pretty fast. They're transportation. I've seen them all over, really. Well, more delicate looking ones. Satomobiles are... really solidly built." As for Toph, Korra blinks once. "Oh! Her daughter is Chief of Police, actually. Of Republic City. I know her, her metalbending corps are very elite. She disappeared a whilea go. Nobody knows where. Probably doing Toph Things, whatever those are." Korra shrugs, because she doesn't know what Toph Things are. Toph Things are being a swamp hermit, apparently. 

:'''{{#var:6739|Nie Li (6739)}} has posed:'''     Staren's usual method of conferring Crazy Half-Related INfodumps out of nowhere has Nie Li turning to listen. That said? The huge pile of information is a lot to absorb at once. "... I'm just going to settle on, the Multiverse is a wild place. If you'd like, I can try treating this friend of yours." It could be a good way to win more support and learn more about the Multiverse, sure, so he puts the offer out.     Back to Korra... her sense of humor is obviously getting to him. Even if just earlier, her overt self-importance was aggravating him. Oh well, can't have everything, huh?     "Ah, I guess we never did officially declare it as a Concord thing." He comments, dismissing that issue and sweeping it under a rug.     Slowly, Nie Li mentally kicks himself. It's so easy to forget that he's the only person who knows how this stuff works, so even if others were to get a gander at it uninvited... what are they going to learn, exactly, from a vision of a metal volcano that spews bullets or golden gears turning in harmony?     Or the chaos that befell Priscilla's crystal.     And out comes the hand. That, also, gives him pause. For a few seconds he doesn't seem to know how to respond to that gesture. Then recognition shows in his eyes. Clamping down on cultural begrudginess for the sake of the gesture, he reaches out to accept the handshake, careful to match her strength.     "Hah. You're an interesting one! Alright, I'll not bring it up again. As for whether I'll teach you anything... we'll discuss that after I've meditated on everything that happened today." he's not about to say 'rest' because he just went on a big tirade proclaiming that he doesn't need that much sleep. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren 'snaps' his fingers again, "Metalbending, that's right! Hearing that her future self achieved it inspired her to invent the technique! ...Hmm." Staren furrows his brow in thought, then shakes his head slightly and mutters, 'no, that makes sense.' He's seen enough timeloops by now to recognize that they don't need to 'make sense' in the context of a strictly past-to-future chronology.     He nods at Li's statement that he'll explain later. It's been a busy day for mystic martial artists, it seems. 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra smiles, and shakes twice, her grip almost calculated in it's casual firmness. She grips no harder than an adult man of her age, but it's all control. There's nothing to be gained from CRUSHING his hand. If anything, Nie Lie potentially overgrips for a split second, but he's also a trained, two-lifetime martial arts master. He can match any grip, even if it takes a Demon Spirit cultivation technique. "Oh, you know, I just realized." Korra begins, as she draws her hand back from the simple, empty-if-satisfying handshake. "You probably would prefer a bow. I'm really sorry, you seemed confused! I was trying out a new Republic City tradition that everyone around here seems to know." She brings her closed fists together, before her center, and bows. "It was pleasant seeing your demonstration. I hope we can learn more from each other." Her words are chosen, deliberate, and spoken with a just-north-of-grave intonation of an offical declaration, like in some dojo. "Huh. Hey, did previous Korra figure out Airbending somehow?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren blinks. "Huh? No, I don't think so. I think she knew two elements..." he stares off into space for a moment. "Earth... and I wanna say water, but..." he continues staring at something only he can see, like he's searching through a long document. 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' "Water was my first to master. Earth became second nature quickky after training, and fire came after a lot of practice, but it fit when it did. Air..." Korra trails off. "I think Earth was so natural to me because it's my natural aptitude. It was Avatar Aang's hardest to learn, so I guess everyone's different." She explains. "Being as free-floating as the leaf, but also as hard and unyielding as the earth takes practice. And a mentality I've not fully developed. I'll get it. Even if I have to go out and find it myself..." Korra clenches a fist. "I'll definitely get it." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren mutters, "Trapped in the spirit realm? Man, what else was going on that I've forgotten..." Long pause. "Oh man, that stupid dungeon." Long pause. "Ugh, dammit, you don't even mention it in your own introduction!" Long pause. He sighs and lowers his gaze in reaction to something. Pause. "...But here's Toph mentioning she saw you bend all four. What?"     Staren sighs and scratches his head. "I'm going to have to do a more in-depth search of my records to see if you ever happened to mention any information useful to yourself, I'm afraid." 

:'''{{#var:6709|Korra (6709)}} has posed:''' Korra raises a hand. "That's fine. I appreciate it, Staren." She bows to him, though her tone remains conversational, her fists coming together again. "It's nice to meet you again, for the first time." The irony is not lost on her, as she's the one delivering that line. "Even if another me figured it out, she was different. She got into a relationship with a god, went on crazy adventures, and left. She was on the run." Korra shrugs. "I'm not running from anything. I'm searching. My journey isn't hers, and borrowed wisdom probably won't help. Being told 'you can bend metal!' helps you think about how - but I bet even a young Toph had to try and think and work at it. Airbending is something that I have to understand." She winks. "But if you find some hidden secret, don't hesitate to say it. Sometimes what you need is to tough it out, and other times you need a push, something to make you realize. I could bend all the elements when I was very young, but when I started training, I even stopped being able to Firebend for a bit. The more I learned, the harder each one got." She grows wistful, recrossing her arms as she thinks. "When I first found that flame inside me, the flame of life, the heat of being whole and living, it changed my perspective, but it took meditation, and coaching. I think it'll be that way for airbending too, but..." She gets sheepish again. "When Tenzin talks about breathing exercises, I feel the fire, not any special air essence." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods, and smiles. "Nice to meet you too. And if I remember anything, I'll let you know." Cheerful girl, for someone that people locked in a box and tried to electrocute, apparently. The things you find out digging through old memories...     "Good luck figuring it out." 
}}

5736/The Morning Ends

2019-01-19T23:46:15Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/03/10 |Location=Lumiere |Synopsis=The end of Lumiere's ancient past |Cast of Characters=974, 964, 290, 42, 954, 1100, 1137, 1151, 1154, 6, 112..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/03/10
|Location=Lumiere
|Synopsis=The end of Lumiere's ancient past
|Cast of Characters=974, 964, 290, 42, 954, 1100, 1137, 1151, 1154, 6, 1123
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     Enark managed to open a small breach in the Corruption by clearing a tunnel through it, just last night, to allow Nozomi Houken to enter Emblem City on a solo stealth mission. She successfully retrieved Tamamo no Mae, the last remaining among the missing (not counting Crow and Carna, who are still in there somewhere). And something extra. But SHE will have to wait until another time. Since last night, Enark has repeatedly exhausted all his magic energy, running himself ragged and bloody, trying to carve a tunnel through the Corruption. It went faster when Empty Tidings joined in to help, duplicating Enark's skills and abilities. They have used wards Enark has developed that rely upon Purity to keep the awfulness back. There is now a direct path through Enark's study to the door that hangs in mid-air. Streams of Corruption still flow around the edges, but the glyphs and sigils carved into the frame keep the evil-looking ooze from intersecting the path that Elites have to take to go into Emblem itself.     The walls of their 'tunnel' are hideous and best not looked at. They portray visions and glimpses of things better left unseen, temptations and trickery, sudden changes in perspective that can cause one to stray from the path without realizing it. Appropriate warnings would have been provided already.     Enark looks absolutely terrible, and will absolutely not be going with them, as useful as his healing might be. Someone has to stay back, hold onto all of their anchors, and make sure they have a home to come back to. Besides, Empty Tidings can probably reproduce Enark's healing and water barrier magic for now at least.     The door ahead of them shows an indistinct view.     It's dark on the other side, but there's a faint light source regardless. No sign of paintings, weird towers, or huge expanses of white space right now. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' There was technically a need for support that unfortunately, a good three of Kushiko's four frames did not directly provide. Unless you count 'kill everything in a 100 meter radius' a support skill, this is why the frame of choice was her technical 'first', Mag. This might explain why the air got a little more charged once she was there. The first instinct someone who had a fully technological origin might have is to be worried--Mag was appropriately named, for her dominion was electromagnetism to such a degree that even the ferrous material in bones was not beyond her reach. Yet as much as one could feel creeping terror, it was highly brief because that presence, that field of electromagnetism wrapped itself around those who were gathered here--as though to mark them, acknowledge them with a guardian spirit. She looked to Enark--well, 'look' as much as a cyclopean, faceless Warframe head might look at anyone, the technorganic frame placing a hand on his shoulder, boxy-looking sniper rifle tuckled in her other hand. <"Don't push yourself anymore than you have to. You're just as important too, you know."> She gave a very slight nod to Tidings, a sense of caution in her regarding the Exalt given what she had to do the last they met. She was still a little... uncertain she did the right thing there. But doing the right thing does not mean the same as doing the necessary thing. Mercifully, she was ignoring the sights and sounds from the walls as she turned, the tabi-footed 'classic' ninja stylings looked unassuming, but great power lay within the feminine figure. With parts of her 'armor' floating rigidly. Somewhere, science is crying. Nonetheless, she turns her attention towards the door, then to the others as she walks up to it. <"As long as we don't get too crazy separated, and depending on what we might be running into, I'll be able to provide shielding for us,"> she offers. She needed targets, respectfully. <"Past that, none of you need worry about the usual effects powers like mine would have on you."> She props the long, railgun sniper on her shoulder. Presuming further still, that they don't have power incontinence at least. <"Let's bring everyone home."> she concludes, before heading for that door once everyone's ready to leap into the proverbial breach. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' As they say, it's just another day in paradise, right? When you can consider a place like this 'paradise' then you know you've gotten accustomed to it. Don't believe it? Just ask Rebecca, who's pretty much gotten used to this whole place and how bizarre and grotesque it can be. It barely even bothers her any more. Instead, all that matters to her is that she deal with the task at hand. Loading a clip into her Beretta and then fastening the flashlight to it, Rebecca nods to the others as she prepares to move out as well. "We've come this far, and there's no way we're backing down now!" She says as she heads for the door. "We're gonna finish this!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     A week has passed, and Staren's had time to finish customizing his replacement armor. It looks exactly the same as it used to.     "You've done incredible work, Enark. I don't know where we'd be without you, but... not anywhere good." Staren looks towards the door. "Although I guess where we're going now isn't anywhere good..." he shakes his head. "But you know what I mean." He approaches the door, stopping for just a second or two to nervously glance at his diagnostic readouts. But all systems are showing green right now.     He steps in. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Kord is here. He is much larger than he was, and so it takes some doing for him to get around the cramped spaces here and there in Lumiere... though it doesn't actually seem to impede him very much. His agility allows him to slip through narrow spaces with ease. The great red and black wyvern waits for everyone else to enter the tunnel before he does just so he doesn't impede the group, and keeps watch of their surroundings. His bright blue eye with the white pupil slit idly glances at the party as they shuffle on by. He doesn't even blink, and hardly seems to breathe, the draconic creature's form wavering like black smoke, gentle light and bloody mist given form.     He's quiet. He usually was even before the change. His excited smile, though, is a lot more easy to read. He's going to get into a fight he can feel hyped about, and that's a rare pleasure in his life. A truly simple circumstance for battle. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne Mace has left the dog-tag with Enark. She's not let go of it since he gave it to her, attaching it to the chain that carries her own tags, and only after fighting with herself for several moments was she able to give it back to him for safekeeping. Then a moment of compassion; she sets a hand on his shoulder and reassures him they're going to bring everyone back. With that done, she sets about getting prepared, dropping the huge duffel bag she's carrying and opening it up. She's among the last of the group ready, purely because of how long it takes her to attach, calibrate, and load her Bushmaster gun.. After unstowing the M242, Crocodile according to the name, she has to put on the steadicam-derived support rig, connecting it to her onboard power supply and so forth. It takes a while, but eventually the heavy weapons mouse has her heavy weapon set up and plugged in. A boom mike extends from somewhere in her hair to near her mouth to provide communications, while a cable snakes from the datajack below her left ear and into her backpack. Stepping up next to the others, she looks into the tunnel a moment before averting her gaze "I second the 'stick together' plan." She says. "It's much easier to provide cover fire if we're close together. But don't bunch up too much, yeah?" With that said, when everyone goes through, she's among the first, probably not far behind Staren. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Asterios is also here. Or rather, Asterios was also here. Asterios is now already charging down into those nightmarish, corruption-ridden corridors like a man on a mission. He is, of course. He has so much to do and so little time. A world to dismantle. Gods to shatter against the rocks. His master had given him an order: to destroy all that had taken so much from him. And so he will. Corruption be damned. There is nothing in the endless depths of this twisted, malevolent world which he will permit to stop him. The minotaur's rage is intense indeed. ...Well. At least this way he's going to be up front to tank whatever hits might be coming the party's way. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Empty Tidings did what she could, helping Enark recover from his grievous injuries enough to actually escape the last time they were there. It might have left him with some fishlike scales instead of scabs... but they'll go away with time, don't worry. She's back again. She stands with the rescued and the rescuers, dressed in a primarily black kimono decorated with vivid floral designs. Her hair is long and black, without a hint of the scarlet that made 'Eve Ren' stand out -- except for the scarlet ribbons tied up in it, each bearing small brass bells that ring with every step. She looks to the others. The Warframe gives her pause. She smiles at it, very slightly, and then turns to the entrance. "I intend to find the one who created this place," Empty Tidings says clearly and deliberately, "and feed him his own liver." She strides forward. Her right hand, apparently normal, is curled into a tight fist. 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' The Wandering Dog was part of the group. Dressed in his tunic and cracking his knuckles, there was a thumbs up to Enark for his assistance, as well as a nod to Empty Tidings. "Let me punch them a few times. They need to know the consequences of what they've done." Unlike Balences, there was no mask when he was ready for action. Unlike Balences, he was covered in scars. And unlike Balences, he never had doubt, and had no issue tearing people apart. No issue killing the person who caused this. The martial artist started to stride forward, and then broke into a run through the tunnel. Wandering Dog's honed senses would help him find anything strange in their approach, and he'd try to keep up to Asterios, so that whatever Asterios tanks, he could punch through. "Alright, big guy, let's tear them apart!" 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' There was hell to pay for her and Jeci too. The other woman had been made to overlay her ti supress her and yet she'dd been someone and she didn't feel right hating this other her for lack of another term. So here she was in the tunnel still not in the best of shape from her last operation against the Mask of Winters but she's got a job to finish here. She's still feeling bad about what she did to Enark but there's little she can do now about it. She moves down the tunnel silent her expression gruim there's hell to pay and she intends to collect. She takes a note of Leyanne who seems to be thinking much as she is with the weapon's she's bringing, good cover that will make her job easier. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     'Destroy this place,' she had said, when she broke the tenuous hold this so-called 'god' held over Asterios. A simple command, but one that even Tanya has been surprised by the result of: A furious minotaur charging into the heart of Emblem City with every intention of razing it to the ground. Something that the small Major is well intending to do herself.     As soon as she exits the tunnel on the side of Emblem, Tanya ascends-- having acquired a new flight unit and a fresh stock of ammunition for her Thompson sub-machine gun. While she rises, the young girl thumbs off the safetyof her weapon, her voice coming forth loud, clear, and confident.     "Give me the strength to uphold the strong, the will to support the willful, and the fury to aid the furious in pursuit of Your Divine Rule," As she speaks, the blue glow of her eyes intensifies, then washes out to a deific gold. Her ascent slows, then stops as she stares down at the city, "Grant me the power to spread Your will to this faithless world, and spread Your name before the nameless who claim your station."     Pupils contract, and her lips split into a wide grin that almost looks like she has fangs. Free hand lifting, she swipes it to one side, generating a holographic targeting grid in front of her.     "I'm not leaving until whatever misbegotten creature that operates this dimension is crushed underfoot, beaten, and broken! TEAR THIS CITY APART!" 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     Enark stays back and waves weakly at the mixture of concern, thanks, and so on. "I'll be here when you get back. Just be certain that all of you return." He then just sits there and tries to meditate. Healed wounds are fine and good, but there's a stark difference between that and stamina and magic energy reserves.     ==Everyone==     As everyone goes through, they emerge in the form of... Bolts of energy that streak down from a starry night sky, with a moon looming large and pale. They strike down all in different places around Emblem City, ravaged by a mixture of their past conflict and now seemingly some sort of enormous upheaval. Tremors, perhaps.     In each case, something may be noticed beyond the immediate surroundings. All abilities which exceed human normal, unlike the first time they came here, are not suppressed, but rather enhanced. They would feel more powerful than normal, more skilled, sharper of senses, of wits, or of whatever particular Advantages they have over completely normal right-off-the-street muggle sorts.     Hopefully they won't need it. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Asterios and Tanya==     Asterios finds himself deep underground, along with Tanya. They are in some sort of chamber. A machine room or something. The same one where the architect named Large witnessed Coeus creating his 'Crows'. Meaning there's an elevator around here somewhere too. There's not a lot of room to fly indoors, and taking off quickly with the expectation of flight could easily lead to ramming directly into the ceiling. Hopefully Tanya's flight is more controllable than that.     Blood is still sticky and goopy all over the floor, leading out into the hallway that passed by the elevator, but it's definitely older than when Asterios and Leyanne, in their other personas, were here last. The stained throne, the pedestals upon which globs of mechanical viscera were places, the pipes and machines that compose the walls, all of it is still here.     And Coeus' body lays torn apart upon the thorne, apparently already 'dead'.     There is no sign of any divine presence still living within it.     However, there's an unsettling noise coming from somewhere in the general area. Maybe... Outside this building. In that big empty space that the Selenes once transported him through. Will they be so friendly this time? If not, it might be up to Tanya to fly Asterios out of here.     That will work out great, definitely. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Count Kord==     Kord descends in a streak of lightning to the street somewhere. He, like Asterios and Tanya, and everyone else, will have been aware of the changes to how Emblem City looks, the night sky, and everything else, by passing through it. The information is processed and recorded in memory, even for those moving close to the speed of light.     The difference is that he is stranded alone in a street line with identical shattered buildings on either side, that seems to go on forever in either direction, with occasional abandoned vehicles to break the monotony. Whether he just looks hard enough or takes to the air to get a better view, he will spot a marble fountain, with a blocky black silhouette sitting on its edge, with two pointy ear or horn-like protrusions. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Empty Tidings==     Empty Tidings arrives in a bolt of poisonous essence, sizzling the marble bridge she lands upon. She has arrived directly in front of the Temple of Phoebe. The huge mega-cathedral is the biggest source of light available right now, and seems to be what is reflecting off the moon to in turn provide light elsewhere, in the absence of the now-expended sun. The statue of Phoebe still stands there. The one that, when it was damaged, resulted in the PRAYER System failing.     To hide an engine that produces fake miracles inside of the fake image of a goddess... That makes a sort of twisted sense, doesn't it? The core of the PRAYER System, right here in the place where everyone prays. It's actually obvious on hind-sight. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Kushiko==     Kushiko arrives in a place in Little Arcadia. A church that serves as one of the entrances to a newly-constructed underground shelter. All the other noble souls, the dead of Emblem City who were conspicuously absent during the initial rampage of the Elites through Emblem City. They are all gathered inside, including a number of orphans who knew Kushiko as Soupi. Even a band of kids who played at being heroes in order to 'protect' people... Who now seem to have become actual heroes through PRAYER Sytem, equipped with arms and armor. They react quickly, but panickedly, their lack of experience turning into confusion and fear as some machine thing just magicks into existence in front of them.     One of the kids says shakily as he holds out a large sword towards Kushiko's frame, "H-hold it right there! In the name of the Gargoyle Knights!" 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Boom.     Kord appears, his silhouette briefly warped by his recovery from an unusual event. His head lifts and his eyes open, and he takes in the dark surroundings around him. Darkness was his ally, no shadow could hide its truths from him. He turned his head to observe his surroundings, closing one of his eyes briefly to take in the devastation. He is beginning to understand what this place was meant to be, after processing the memory without the hatred and anger coloring his memories.     "Where did he go?"     Kord was only here to rescue Crow, first and foremost. His priorities had shifted during his actual-death experience. He spreads both of his wyvern-like wings, and gives them one strong beat, which launches him forward down the road. He takes the low path, and conceals his presence by appearing like a shadow among shadows, to make it hard to spot him if one isn't looking right at him as he passes by. He swerves through obstacles and even unconsciously avoids crashing into a light post by just phasing through it briefly.     He comes to a halt at the fountain when he reaches it, and comes in for a landing, the shadows bleeding off of his body like smoke. He lands and inquires to the shadow...     "Crow? Is that you?" 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Leyanne Mace and Tomoe==     Leyanne and Tomoe arrive 'upstairs' from Aserios and Tanya, by an unfathomable distance. The same building that was once Coeus' Worskhop, now transformed into a hollow tower with windows on floor after floor after floor of empty space. They stand right outside the place now labeled LUM-01 that they fought to protect last time, right before Enark brought Leyanne's anchor to her and was near-fatally wounded by Tomoe.     A pale yellow light shines up from the peak of the building, but is increasingly flickering and growing weak. The gray and red lights that came from the mountain and Phoebe's temple, respectively, have already extinguished.     The city breathes. And then says in a voice made of creaking timbers, crumbling masonry, the vibration of foot falls on streets, the breaking of glass, So you came back. My children. My family. You returned to me after all. I knew they couldn't corrupt you.     The voice truly seems to come from all of Emblem City. Every street, every window, every building, everything. The God Within The Walls' true nature IS the city.     Come, there's not much time left. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Rebecca Chambers and Staren==     Staren and Rebecca arrive somewhere completely different. They arrive on top a mountain. A really, really, really, really big mountain. So tall that seeing what lies below is difficult due to the fog and clouds that ring it. They're so close to the night sky that it almost feels like they could reach up and touch it. Somewhere down there might be a forest. And there's something glowing in the distance to their south, illuminating the cloud layer. But otherwise, it's just the two of them up here. Alone.     With a very large boulder, blood-stained, and four sets of broken chains and manacles lying around it.     I greet you, but I do not welcome you. You should have stayed in the place that waits for you. You should have held tightly to your homes. The voice is sourceless, sounding right nearby, everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. I am called Prometheus. You have claimed all of your people, and one of mine as well. Why do you return? 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Being accompanied directly by his Master seems to have given Asterios a serious case of the bloodthirsties. The only thing that can quench that kind of hunger is a furious smashing. Or... Perhaps, just maybe... A mystery. Of sorts. Asterios materializes first, but only by the slimmest of margins. He was, after all, charging ahead at non-relativistic speeds. His crimson eyes glow in the darkness, taking in the... Familiar sights around him. No. Not quite familiar. It's old. So... Very old. Asterios is silent for a moment, glancing back at his master's arrival. "This is... Where Coeus was. Where we met with him. His throne. His creations. His blood." There's a beat as that voice echoes through the halls. Asterios feels his hair stand on end. "That's... Him. Coeus. He's... Where? Above us...?" Asterios frowns, glancing around. "Master. We should go up too. But... It's a long climb, and there was another corridor down here we didn't see. Maybe we should check that first...? If not, I will climb and carry you up." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' As the breakthrough is made they come under fire, it seems it's not unexpected. Tomoe will rapduiluy start dropping a defence buff on anyone allies who is near her, it might leve her open, bug givne the level of fight they are going to be facing. She also feels a hell of a lot more powerful all of a sudden like her wounds of the previous day are lessned and she's ready for a fight. She keeps an eye on Leyanne as she make ready to protect the heavy weapon's mouse. "Family!?" She sputters and moves foward making sure to guard Leyanne as well this is going to be getting crazy. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne Mace growls and looks around when she hears Coeus' voice, aiming around with her pistol. Paird... the echo of Paird wants to listen to him. But the memory of her first love is a sharp, raw wound across her half-plastic heart, as fresh here as the day it happened. "Corrupt me?" She spits. "That's rich, coming from... anyone in charge of this place. You... wiped our minds. You overwrote us. Paird deserved... her own life, afterlife. She deserved more." She swings the gun around to cover, looking for Crows, Selenes... anything that suggests this might be a delaying tactic, keeping an eye on Tomoe herself. Quietly, she adds "I think... Coeus senses that... we mourn for them." 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Wandering Dog==     Wandering Dog arrives... Right in front of the home that he once dwelled in as Balences. The family house, with all its memories. Years? Decades? How much time passed with them while he lived out someone else's life? They should still feel real. They should still feel as genuine as if they had always been his. And while most of the house is dark like everywhere else in Emblem City, the kitchen window has a light in it. Flickering. A candle has been set on the dining room table, and there's a woman sitting at it, hands folded beneath her chin.     Balences' wife. Waiting for him to come home. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     ==Rebecca and Staren - Prometheus's Mountain==     Being a streak of light isn't unlike teleporting, except this time, he's aware of the whole process and able to percieve the world around him. Weird! As he reforms, he notices that all systems are working at above 100% normal capacity. Strange... is he being decieved? He feels super-capable, though...     Staren starts to look for the city below until a voice speaks up, and he turns towards the boulder. "Two of ours are still missing. One may be irrecoverable, but we're not giving up yet. Also, we still need to find the Lord of Fear and stop him, for good this time. What about you? Why are you working with the Lord of Fear? And what is this place's deal, if it was not his creation?" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     The ceiling was a surprise. Tanya arrests her ascent, fortunately, before she slams into the chamber roof. Gold eyes sweep the immediate surroundings, followed closely by the muzzle of her weapon. Spotting no immediate threat, however, she lifts her rifle skyward. The safety remains off. Using her free hand, she briefly shields her mouth and nose while examining the blood-covered floor. Unintentionally masking her disappointed scowl. Did someone already kill the bastard before she could get a piece of him?     Asterios explains. Through some distant memory, perhaps, and Tany alowers her hand from her face, "So this is the workshop you mentioned. I'm not a fan of the decor." When the very walls shake, she glances upward at the perceived source. Her own ahoge almost straightens in response, her body going tense.     "Sounds like it," Her weapon is shifted, gaze traveling the chamber once more, "I can fly, Carrying me isn't necessary." She's floating right now, after all.     Thankfully she doesn't have to walk in all that blood on the floor. Some neurosis or another always makes her uncomfortable, even on the battlefield of the Rhine, when it came to the crimson essence of others. Nothing to do but power through it... Or avoid it under some pretense or another. She pauses before the shredded remains upon the throne. The scowl returns. The physical body is meaningless, it seems. Which does match what Count Kord had said. Physical violence is probably not going to be the ultimate solution to this mess.     Recovering her expression, Tanya draws her pistol, takes aim, and discharges a single round into the corpse's head. In a practiced motion, she slots the weapon back into her holster, turning towards Asterios, "Physical violence is probably not the solution. But it's still satisfying. Before we proceed upward-- what is the noise I've been hearing since our arrival?" 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Tidings expects to step through the passage into someplace alongside her erstwhile allies, ready to make righteous declarations (blugh) and fight evil for goodness and light (ick). That does not happen. The poisonous comet hits the bridge. Green fire blazes across the formerly pure white stone, leaving it burned and darkened. When the flash of viridian light clears, Empty Tidings is left standing there alone. She adjusts her kimono with small motions, tucking a stray lock of hair back into place. Her expression, turned upon the Temple, is sour. She approaches, walking calmly towards the colossal statue and the bigger building. Primordial Essence flows through her body. It surges, a strength greater than what she is familiar with, surges through her body. False skin on her right hand flakes away, turning her exposed hand and wrist to carved black stone inlaid with delicate brass patterns. Fiery Old Realm characters hover just above her sleeve, rendered in green flame. If something is watching her with any sort of supernatural surveillance, that power gives a very clear, very literal message, laid over whatever else they see or hear:                              THE MONSTER IS HERE                               "A Temple seems a fitting place for a tomb," Empty Tidings says to no one in particular. "I think I'll tear it down before taking that statue of yours. Won't that be a grand thing to see?" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' This could be very interesting, to put it mildly. When she descended, she noticed--she /felt/ the augmentation of power, not unlike what it felt when the Void's corrupting energies worked in her favor in the midst of unsealing a relic of the Void thanks to an extradimensional rift. Yet this was different--and more concerning their missing comrades. Especially seeing as while it was left unsaid by her, she was keenly ready to wreck things as well, only to find the place has been torn apart by something. <"... what in the world happened here?"> she half-murmurs to herself before finally finding herself where she was--and that's when memories assail her in the best--and worst of ways. Thoughts she might have had about checking comms-wise with the others are briefly dismissed as she regarded the children, and the church itself. It pained her, for an instant--yet, there was something else that made it insurmountably worse-- And that was picking up arms against her. The mention of Gargoyle Knights besides, she was momentarily taken aback in a way. They were orphans, like she was--not just Soupi, but the child herself. She and countless others from Zariman Ten-Zero. Her mind briefly flashed there as Mag seemingly complied--becoming stock still as her mind flickered and briefly considered. <"I'm sorry, but no."> she 'speaks'. Ever that peculiar disembodied aspect that said the voice /came/ from her, but without actual vocal chords on the flesh within it, well. Electromagnetic energy began to well up in her. <"I'm here to help, to save two friends of mine. You knew me as Soupi, but that's not who I am. This is who we are."> she finishes, half-gesturing to herself. But she's ready to seize those weapons--however, she'd rather not--not yet. The fact that they could be fooled into whatever Coeus or these Titans wanted them to be was one thing. However, they might be defending what remained. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Traveling in the form of a bolt of energy? Well, Rebecca's traveled in many other methods of teleportation and what not ever since she's been in the Multiverse. So traveling like this really doesn't seem to bother her at all. In fact, it's not until she lands and discovers that she feels a bit more... powerful? She finds that her Beretta feels almost like a feather in her hands. Not to mention, other things like her reflexes and her wits seem a bit more sharpened. "This must be the work of this place," She says initially to herself, but then notices Staren beside her. "Looks like I didn't wind up alone," She adds with a slight smirk, but then frowns as she realizes where they are. Up on a really big mountain, with an appearance that matches the atmosphere of this place well, but for some reason it's making Rebecca uneasy. Then there's the issue of Prometheus, and for some reason it causes Rebecca to freak out. Fortunately, Staren takes the role of speaking, so Rebecca simply stands at attention as if attempting to present a respectful appearance to Prometheus. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Count Kord==     Crow looks up at Kord, only recognizing his new form by virtue of having seen it before. It smiles weakly. "Hey. I guess my goodbye didn't stick." The smiles fades. "I told you already. I can't go with you. I have to stay here. I'm glad you came back for me, but I wish you hadn't." Crow looks down at the street, and at the blocky appendages it wields now. "Miss Carna can still be rescued. Don't let this world reset with her inside of it, or this will start all over again."     On that note, Carna heard the thunder, saw the light, and now can hear the voice of a god rumbling through the city. She is making her way through the darkness, tracking the silhouette of a monster she saw in the sky. Her arm is reattached, by crude means mostly involving reclaiming her chainsword and tying the limb to the stump with it, but she's wounded and weak. She never regained any Dead Lights in Lumiere before coming here.     Faintly, she thinks she hears voices, and starts heading that way. Limping slowly. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Kord frowns at Crow, looking visibly angry by the shadow's words. He sweeps one of his claw-tipped wings in a gesture of exasperation and barks back at him, his voice picking up. His neck fluff poofs up in clear agitation, and his nose wrinkles, and the light in his eyes builds.     "You never told me WHY!"     He slaps his claws down into the stone. "This place isn't a home!" he adds, "This is a prison! If you were a part of it, you have grown beyond that! This isn't your home, because you have been fighting it since the very day we all got trapped in here!" He points a claw in an accusing fashion at Crow.     "Unless you can give me a GOOD reason not to bother, you are leaving with me, AND Carna," he concludes. 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' Wandering Dog froze to a stop as he appeared outside the house. He knew it like the back of his hand. All the cracks, the places he wanted to paint up or repair, that he planned on making into a project. The normal life he had inside, the loving family. The martial artist stook a step forward, noticing the light inside the window. His wife. Waiting for him. He'd never abandon her, he told her. He loved his family, he showed in his every action. But that was Balences. Wandering Dog may have been Balences, but he wasn't anymore, and he knew this all for the lie it was. He knew where his real emotions pointed him. But regardless...Wandering Dog couldn't be sure what the deal was with her. Was she an actual spirit? Or was she a prisoner like he was? If she and the children were prisoners, they needed to be released. If they were spirits...well. The Creationite duck down, picking up the key from under a rock by the windowsill. Slowly, Dog moved to start unlocking the door, before stepping inside. For once, he didn't take off his shoes. It wasn't necessary, because this house was going to crumble in the end. And then, he approached the kitchen, looking like a different man. Scarred and rugged, a man who has spent every day of his life learning to fight. He doesn't know what to say, so he just stares in her direction for several moments, and moves over to her. He just needs to get close enough to touch her. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Empty Tidings==     There is no immediate answer to the Infernal. The glow of the temple seems to be gradually ebbing. Visible so. Little ripples of light pulse out from it in fainter and shorter intervals. Power bleeding out of it. Then the voice of Phoebe speaks. Coeus' voice is like moonlight, like machines, like learning, like the joy of discovery, and the cold analytical mind that can do anything in the name of progress. It IS invention.     Prometheus' voice, though not yet heard by anyone except Asterios, and now Staren and Rebecca, was a wall, a tomb, a colossal weapon lying dormant. It was a civilization that grown outwards from the base of what they knew as a monument, a holy relic, that provided them with knowledge, with power, with culture, but which was a slumbering disaster waiting to unfold, even as it prepared them to deal with the inevitable cataclysm.     Prometheus' voice IS foresight.     Phoebe is the embodiment of fury, of wrath, of heroism and bravery, of light cast by fire that burns cities and reveals the future in its embers. Phoebe's voice is power, and propehcy, and destruction, and the boldness of humanity, all in one. Every tone speaks of something that is pre-ordained. Every syllable is either inspiration to greatness or a blade of doom hung over Tidings' head waiting for her to unleash it.     Phoebe IS prophecy.     But the three of them are much more.     IF Coeus is the Moon, and Prometheus the Earth, then Phoebe is the Sun.     If Coeus is the forge that crafts tools, then Prometheus is the weapon spawned from that craftsmanship, and Phoebe is the one that wields them.     Her message to Empty Tidings is simple, and direct, and unambiguous:     YOU SHOULD HAVE RUN WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE.     The temple dims further as a pillar of sunlight strikes down from the heavens, severing the bridge in one sweep, and sending it starting to fall away from Emblem City towards the void. Standing on the temple island with Empty Tidings is an incarnation of Wrath. A female figure, composed of searing fury and righteousness.     She does not wait for the Infernal to be ready to fight.     Her sword of sun's fury springs into existence, and she surges forwards in the blink of an eye. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Tanya straight up doubletaps the corpse in the throne. Asterios watches with that characteristic, thousand-mile stare of his. "Mmn. Yes, it is. But... Master. I don't think the sound is coming from... /up." Asterios turns his head to the ceiling. It's a bit of a tight fit, but... Still. "No. It's from down below. Something is... Even deeper than we are. They said this place was still under construction. If there are more floors beneath this one, then..." It's difficult to say exactly what that terrible noise might be. Not machine-noise. Just some kind of... awful, terrible clamour. Asterios' lips draw into a fine line as he deftly scoops his master up onto one shoulder. "We should investigate before we head up. There might be... something important." And so off he goes. The first and most obvious place to check is back the way he came a lifetime ago-- towards that mysterious corridor to nowhere. Perhaps there's a way down? Perhaps there's... Something else. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Tomoe and Leyanne==     The city sighs, releasing pent up pressure of steel plates and concrete tunnels and skyscrapers stacked on top of each other. Coeus sounds saddened by the rejection by Leyanne. But answers to Tomoe. Yes. You are all my family, even if not by blood. I consider you to be under my protection even now. I was mistaken in my methods of trying to keep you safe. I see that now. Prometheus helped me realize it. But it is not too late to make it better. What are your complaints? Your grievances? How would you rather this city be?     Energy gathers in LUM-01, crackling blue electricity surging up the tower's exterior. I have vey little left now. Come, tell me your wish. Do you want your powers back? To be told all that transpires here? To retain this corrupted self alongside your pure one? To come and go as you please? I can grant you one wish. I have enough left for that. What is the price I must be to bring you back?     The lights flicker in abandoned buildings, as Coeus tries to bring some of its drained city-body back to life.     Come now. Do not waste what we had together over a tantrum. I can admit my faults. Now it is time to come home, Jeci, Paird. Coeus's voice sounds so tired. So weak, compared to the majesty of before. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Having drawn attention to the unidentified sound, Tanya nods once, turning in place as she tries to pinpoint the source herself. Asterios has a similar idea to hers, though the method is...decidedly different. He simply picks her up. The miniature Major bristles immediately when gathered, like a cat that doesn't like to be handled, but at the end of the day he is still a ten foot bull man and she is still a waifish, malnourished pre-teen.     Tana settles on Asterios' shoulder with a put-out expression, somewhere between a scowl and surprise. Composing herself, she lifts her Thompson again to double-check the magazine. Despite having spent no rounds. Perhaps the same sort of 'relaxation' behavior as when a stressed cat starts washing its face.     "You understood, good," she states, "I do want to investigate anything of interest here before we venture deeper." Like the unsettling noises she's hearing. And anything in this 'workshop' of value. Lowering her weapon, she flips the safety back on, "It'd do no good if we passed over something that'd wind up being important later. But you know this place better than I do."     Also Asterios has made it clear that he won't accept 'no' to offers to carry his Master, today. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Rebecca and Staren==     I do not know the answer to all of the questions you ask me. This is Emblem. Or was. It has recently been rechristened 'Lumiere' as we altered the system. We were trying to keep the dead safe, even from themselves, until it was time for their reincarnation. And that required the manipulation of memory, the sating of egos. It was all going to be erased when they came back anyway, so what did it matter? But everything is all wrong. The voice of a silent sentinel, an ancient obelisk overlooking human civilization, letting them bask in its shadow, even as that shadow grows deeper and deeper, resonates with them all.     I do not know why this all feels so off, but it does. The Corruption that swamps us may have something to do with it. Perhaps... We are not really us. And there is some other force, on par with the Unshaper, that has made our world and time melt into many others. There is a pause. Either way, it is clear this is not working. We must abandon this plan. You do not belong here. We must release everyone who has been trapped. I have advised my companions appropriately. It would be wrong to hold anyone prisoner when they have somewhere to go home to.     The cloud layer parts behind Staren and Rebecca. The two you seek are below. With how strong you are now, you can get there. Before you depart though, please tell me about yourselves. What of your families? Your homes? Who taught you to be who you are? What are your experiences as mortals, and how might this have been done differently? The closest thing I have to a family are those two, and one who is gone now. Who set you on the path you are on now? 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' "My family and my home?" Rebecca bites her lower lip, looking down as she thinks of this. "Well, I was the child of Deborah and Joseph Chambers, and while it was never understood why, I was considered to be a child prodigy. I don't think anyone or anything taught me to be the way I am, I was just born naturally that way." She takes a deep breath and blows it out before she continues. "I mean I graduated college at the age of eighteen, which is very young, I admit. I was hired by the Raccoon Police Department with the promise of being given a research lab if I did some work with the Special Tactics And Rescue Service... but then." At that, Rebecca's voice trails off, as the painful memories of Raccoon City float into her mind again. "The Umbrella Corporation unleashed their viral weapons all over my hometown of Raccoon City. It was too much and the government had to destroy the whole city." She shakes her head. "And what could I have done differently?" By now, Rebecca is gritting her teeth. "There was really nothing else I could have done differently. After the first incident with their viruses, Umbrella quickly covered up the whole thing by saying it was a fire caused by my team after we crashed our helicopter. To top that off, the chief was in line with Umbrella, and he went along with the whole thing, suspending the team indefinitely and stopping all of our efforts to expose Umbrella." A pause as Rebecca realizes that she's ranting about the whole thing. "But what could I have done differently?" She sighs. "I could have attempted to leave Raccoon City and spread the word to the outside area about what Umbrella was doing. As far as I knew, the chief didn't have his authority outside of Raccoon City." By now, Rebecca's looked up again and says, "I guess the who set me on the path that I am on now was none other than my own enemy, the Umbrella Corporation. I've devoted myself to fighting against them and their monsters. It's made me a lot stronger and more determined." She smiles a little. "Kind of ironic, that your own enemy sets you on the path to who you truly are." 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Kushiko==     The boy with the sword falters, eyes widening as Kushiko says she's Soupi. Or was known as such. "N-no way." The toussled red hair on his hair is roughed up further as he lets his blade touch the floor with a loud clang and runs his other hand across his head. "No, there's no way. Soupi..." he steps forward. "How could they do this to you? Are you... Inside of that somewhere?"     A blonde girl comes forward as well. "I recognize her voice! Soupi! That's Soupi!"     "Kartha, stay back!"     "Soupi's come back to us! I knew she would! It doesn't matter what she looks like!"     The armed orphans all come running forward after the one called Kartha, a mix of horror and gladness on their faces. Kartha sobs hysterically as tries to cling to the warfame with both arms. Then a young dark-skinned boy with white hair pushes his way through the crowd. "What's going on?"     The red-haired kid, hanging back, says, "Rasiel--"     "That's Resaran now." the other boy snaps coldly.     "R-right. Resaran, this is Soupi! She looks different, but she says she came back!"     Resaran looks upon the mechanical form now worn by Kushiko. "Where's Lasyra?" he asks calmly. "She was abducted last night, along with Miss Maej. Did you bring her back with you?" 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Count Kord==     Crow looks saddened by Kord's response, and just keeps looking at the ground. A good reason for why it can't leave here. A 'why' beyond 'I belong here'. "Well, there is one." Crow looks up. "If I leave here, I'll die. Things born of this place can not survive outside of it. No matter what."     Suddenly, Carna, staggering up the street behind the two of them, looks up and sees them. She yells out, "KORD! GET BACK!" Carna points at Crow. "THAT'S NOT CROW! IT'S ONE OF -THEM-!" It's amazing that Carna can even remember Kord or Crow considering this Carna never met the latter of the two, and she never saw Kord in his new form. But she, like the others, has been strengthened. And that includes both her senses and her memory.     Crow looks up startled for a moment, but then back down without denying the accusation.     Then a wave of blue descends upon them. A curtain of pure menace, and Crow looks up again, this time in fear, as a blue-colored version of itself stands several blocks away. A gleaming sword of red energy in hand, and empty black sockets and equally empty grin alike in the face of Midnight Blue.     Crow stands slowly, and raises both hands above its head. Veins of gold appear all across its body, glowing from within and causing shining armor to become visible through the darkness. And a mask. Just like the one that Coeus' wore, like the ones that appeared in the walls.     Crow's hands become taloned gauntlets and begin rapid-firing beams of moonlight towards Midnight Blue, as the nightmare creature flickers in and out of reality, dodging fast enough that the ground and buildings warp behind it in a tunnel vision effect, before leaping into the air, blade swinging down...! 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne Mace tenses on her gun. "My name is Leyanne." She growls. "Paird... is someone else, someone who deserved more than to be a lie made up to keep us in a fucking prison." She looks around sharply, angrily. Looking for threats, in case this is all one big distraction. "My grievances? Well, the main one is that I was never dead, I never belonged here. I have a home outside, a life. I came to help this world, to stop the... the... the doom I saw in my dreams. And in return I got locked up, what the fuck man? You claim to love this place and all I wanted to do was help." She sighs a little as Paird's memory surfaces. She deflates a little, some of the anger seeming to leave her. "Look, man, if you're doing this to try and save this place from that same apocalypse I saw in my dream... then I want to help. But when all this is over I'm still going to be angry at you. I'm gonna want... some kind of justice for Paird. She shouldn't have had to end so that... I didn't." 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Wandering Dog==     Alloy is her name. Like everyone else in Emblem City, she bears a name that seems completely normal to them, but strange now in hindsight as an outsider. But it fits her. He brought her balance. And she mae him stronger. She is waiting when the door opens, looking pensive, but resigned. The man that appears before her doesn't look like her husband. But it only takes a few moments for her to smile. "Welcome home."     Then she lets out a shuddering breath as she looks down again, pressing her lips into her tightly-balled-together hands. "When I heard they'd taken you..." She shakes her head. "I knew you had to come back at some point. But I didn't know if it would still be... You."     She raises her head and one of her hands, to look at the wedding ring on her finger. Picture albums are scattered all around on the table. Old-fashioned ones, instead of the digital media and the magical memory crystals. She'd always preferred simple, easy-to-touch, 'real' things over the newest invention to come out of the Workshop.     "I sent the children to stay at the shelter." she answers an unasked question. She looks down at the photos. "So what happens now?" 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Phoebe appears, and her glory is rendered in the purity of the blast shadow. The searing light casts away all shadow. The brilliant illumination of the Goddess descending from on high forces believers to their knees in supplication and demands even the righteous lower their head in deference. The unfaithful are driven back by her presence. The unbelievers are struck down where they stand. Empty Tidings suffers none of these things. She is no wide-eyed peasant, praying for salvation. She is no holy warrior, whispering psalms alongside the rasp of steel. She is no bitter chemist, muttering formulae in ignorance of the heavens. She is no screaming heretic, demanding the faithful be undone. She is something entirely worse. The Goddess flashes forward, and the sword of sunlight sweeps towards the challenger upon the church's doorstep. There's a blinding flare of two-tone luminescence, the golden sun challenged by its green Hellish cousin as the blade intersects the flaming glyphs alongside her stone hand. The crash is titanic; the sound is deafening. The Infernal is still standing. Her strength is unholy. The power of this place allows her to keep her feet; the power of her own godlike patrons allows her to fight against it. She laughs in the face of the divine, a sound of mad joy ringing out in the sunlit courtyard. Her laugh is carried alongside her, flung away from the Goddess Phoebe by the strength of the blow, spun through the open air. She twists and falls, dropping back to the edge of their chosen battlefield. "You should have chosen your victims more carefully," the Infernal retorts. Her sleeve is burned away to nearly the elbow, incinerated by solar fire. "Have you the slightest idea of whom you face?" She springs forward. A tiny hop, then a headlong rush low along the ground. She darts left, then right, planting her foot and swinging in with a one-handed hammerblow. Her shadow splashes backwards behind her, a huge spectral silhouette cast in the shade that the sunlight does not touch -- and then reaches forward underneath the two of them, injecting a terrible curse into the Goddess' domain with her Primordial power: The doubt and uncertainty of facing a being who Fate itself cannot constrain. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' "You tried to strip away my life from me. You tried to make me stop being me. How is Sheena Armstrong the crouption anymore than Jeci was not a person herself?!" She listnes though it may very well be a trap but she's going to listen right? There's anger here but also a chance to find out what's going on here. She does want to try to learn jut what happened. "Why did you take us? Why did you change us? Why do you consider this keeping us safe?" She pauses at Leyanne's comment. "I am not dead either, I'm very much still alive here, I have to also ask before I arrived here did Jeci actually exist?" With how the multiverse works could Jeci be an alternate version of Tomoe native to this world? There's anger in her voice but she's trying to control it trying to understand /why/. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Asterios and Tanya==     The mechano-corpse jerks under the shots a bit, and the head barely connected by wires and tubes falls off to the floor with a clatter-sploosh in the blood puddle. As the two of them begin heading down the unexplored passage, the unsettling noise becomes fainter as they go along. The passage seems to go on forever from the flickering lights in the ceiling, spaced evenly, one after another after another. But soon enough they come to a mirror. A mirror that doesn't reflect them. And what it does reflect is not a perfect recreation of the hallway behind them. Instead it reveals... A door in the wall. Back the way they came, about as far as Asterios is tall.     If it doesn't reflect them... But it DOES reflect a door...     Another shudder wracks the structure they are in as Coeus speaks more faintly, less audibly once more. It seems he's talking to someone other than them. Maybe they're keeping him distracted. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Kord is startled out of his incoming shout at Crow by Carna's words. The being's status as one of the things that kept them trapped into this place, the revelation that it isn't the shadow he's come to understand as an ally, makes the Count lift his head back. But he briefly wonders if that's even true, and his face shows an emotional maelstrom... then he's knocked out of even that when that damned thing that attacked him before reappears. His head turns and his pupil shrinks, but--     'Crow' attacks, revealing his similar nature to the city god that had tried to imprison them. His head jerks to look at that mask, then back toward Midnight Blue. His eyes quickly follow the being as it advances, and the great wyvern surges forward...     The force of the impact between claws and red energy is immense, blowing out nearby windows and cracking the stone beneath him, blood dribbling from his claw-tipped wing. He moves with incredible speed, his body warping in ways that shouldn't be physically possible, an almost cartoonish bend of his body to try to knock the weapon away from both him... and the 'fake' Crow. An explosion of red and black energy would surge outward as the young Yveltal would promptly follow Midnight Blue and try to slam the other set of wing claws into his middle and drive both of them back in a launching attack into the rest of the city, moving like some kind of stylized watercolor painting. It's clear his 'ascension' has had some interesting effects on his mass, making his movements flow as if guided by gusts of wind. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Tanya might protest being manhandled, but Asterios has been away from her for SO LONG. When he returned, it was everything he could do to keep himself from immediately snatching her up in a great big hug and remaining that way for a good hour or so. Fortunately, Asterios remembers that Tanya does not particularly enjoy physical contact of that specific variety-- and so Serebryov had to suffer the dread embrace of the minotaur in her stead. But this-- this is a way to make up for that distinct lack. Asterios cants his head carefully toward the corridor walls as they proceed deeper and deeper into this... Can it even be called a workshop? It's a charnel house. That's all it can really be described as. Those strange noises grow fainter, and soon they find themselves somewhere... deeper. More secret. A strange, dark mirror which reflects that which is not truly there. Or perhaps, a mirror which reflects the truth? "Mmn," Asterios murmurs, his eyes keenly judging the door in the mirror-- as the structure shudders and speaks. What is this? What's going on? Wait. Asterios frowns-- if the Coeus could walk through the walls of the city, then the city is itself part of him and... Does that mean they approach his... heart? "Master," he says, moving to the approximate location of that mirrored door. "I'll try to open it." How does one open an image of a door, though? Well. Asterios is going to try a... trick. A pulse of his own world-shaping power, doubled by whatever force is empowering them in this space. He focuses his will on that empty space and reaches for the door he knows must be there. Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Empty Tidings==     Phoebe pursues Empty Tidings as she laughs, is there when she lands. She is right behind Empty Tidings as she darts left, then right. Is right there to receive the retaliatory strike as the Infernal turns with her fist in the air and brings it down. The sword of the sun flickers, not like a mere guttering torch, but like a star going through its death throes. The shadow cast behind cuts off any hope of running to the edge and leaping back up to Emblem as the massive cathedrals falls. But Phoebe seems to have no intention of running.     She plants her own feet, burning holes through the marble by turning stone to vapor explosively, and then responds to Empty Tidings. I know you to be one who will lose everything again, and ruin everything you touch on your path back down to HELL. The last word is emphasized with an upswing of the dying blade, as the shadow sweeps underneath Phoebe's feet, poisoning them and sending veins of green to mix with the brilliant red and yellow and white of the Sun. And her body starts its dying star process as surely as her sword, before unleashing a pair of scorching beams from her eyes directly at her opponents. To burn the sight out of her as surely as this cursed shadow is eating away at the courage that is the core of Phoebe's being. 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' Wandering Dog thought as he looked at her. He remembered every important encounter, the good times, bad times, hardships. All of it. If she was at all a prisoner, he knew her well enough that he wanted her to be free. "I don't look that different now, do I?" A short chuckle, if a bit cold - it's a deflection, trying to escape the emotions. He moves over to the table, slowly, and reaches for her hand. It's an action that seems soft, friendly, but he's willing to use his considerable superhuman ability to make sure he grabs her hand if he needs to. Focusing on the energy inside him, Wandering Dog simply needs to know that if the abilities he uses against the undead and spirits would work against her. It's not foolproof, but it'd answer the question enough for him. It'd be enough for him personally to know whether or not she's a ghost or someone who doesn't belong here. "Good. They deserve better than all of this chaos. You do too. You should have gone somewhere safe." There's a sigh, as he glances at the pictures. He remembers when one of them was taken, at a birthday party. It was a good day, with cake and laughter. A type of day he'll never have again, not the same way. "I'm leaving again. Back to the world of living, after the others tear this through. You need to know, deserve to know. This isn't an afterlife, it's a prison. Most of us never died. I'm flesh-and-blood, and I know that for a fact." It's blunt and simple, but he needs to be blunt and simple right now. "I am Wandering Dog, not Balences. I remember the life of the living, even if our memories are mixed in it. And if they're keeping you prisoner here, too, I'm taking you with me." 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Leyanne and Tomoe==     Another surge of power flows through LUM-01 as Coeus hears the rejection the two of them offer. So it is as Prometheus said. You were never... Who I thought you were. I trapped innocent people here. That was never my intention. How could I have made such a mistake...? There is a pause as the city shudders. My sister is dying. And so am I. There is not enough time to make things right. Not for you two, and now for all the others. I suppose all that is left is to-- The City God trails off as a trio of the fake Crows appear. One red, one green, one white. Didn't they get killed before!? Leyanne killed the white one herself! The other two attacked at the bridge but the others dealt with them!     This time, however, black smoke trails from their eye sockets, and runs from their mouths liquidly as they come running down the side of LUM-01, blades at the ready. Is this an ambush after all!?     No! Leave them be! They are no traitors! Stop! It seems these 'Crows' are not listening to their maker. More cracks visibly form all around, in various buildings, in the streets, as they draw power from Coeus to attack those he wishes to protect. Accelerating the death of a god who was as fooled and betrayed as the ones he imprisoned, while thinking himself their guardian. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     ==Rebecca and Staren==     "Do you mean to say that Emblem is a previous iteration of what we know as Lumiere, somehow brought back in this... area?" Staren asks. He looks down at the cloud layer, then back at Prometheus. "If this is a trick... you've seen what we can do. Already, two of our number have sworn revenge. Then again, I suppose such a threat seems either superfluous or empty -- you wouldn't mess with us unless you thought you could get away with it." Staren doesn't refuse, though. Perhaps the chance that some morality might rub off on this being is just too tempting to resist.     Maybe Prometheus knows that, and is wasting his time.     He clasps his hands together, then stretches his arms over his head before returning to a neutral stance. "You really want to know? ...I suppose I should start with my father."     "He was from a world that didn't have magic or anything. Something is wrong with our ability to read what others are feeling. Perhaps because of this disability, we both have always had sympathy for others who are disadvantaged and desire fairness... Or perhaps our logical minds just see a fair world as a more ordered one." He shrugs. "In absense of positive social contact, we took in stories to try and understand people. And, you know, people love making stories about heroes and villains. That probably affected us deeply. But to guide our interactions with other people..."     Staren begins to pace. "Everything else in the world follows fundamental rules, or at least, it used to seem that way. Atoms follow physical laws which can be observed, then predicted. The stories said right and wrong was important. Surely something so important must have fundamental rules too? My father searched for an answer, but it all seemed to come down to the golden rule, or something close to it. 'Treat others how you'd expect to be treated.' 'Treat others how you'd hope to be treated, in the same situation.' And for all the situations he encountered, it seemed to serve well. And that's what he taught me. Mom wasn't of such a philosophical bent, but agreed that it rung true with her intuition as well."     Staren stops and turns to the stone. "I wasn't perfect, of course. People are naturally greedy and self-serving, and my reduced ability to tell when I was hurting others exacerbated these tendencies. But if ideals only meant something if you did them all the time, rather than something you aspired to live up to, no people would be idealists." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Perhaps going out into the Multiverse just exposed me to more things than Dad encountered, both in Neotokyo and adventuring around Earth. He was a preparedness freak -- so was /his/ father, really -- but me, it seemed I had to prepare for so much more. I saw heroes lose, I saw good people disappear. I had to understand more, I had to prepare. And really, how can the golden rule be applicable to all situations? What if the being you're interacting with doesn't have desires or values or even emotions or psychology remotely close to a person's? What if you're trying to teach morality to an AI that doesn't have any of that, because you have to program it first?"     Staren resumes pacing. "The golden rule was false. Or rather, an incomplete model. I served with the Union. Time and time again, these 'heroes' showed up on a world and enforced their will, backed up only by their own strength. It came down to violence again and again. They talked and begged and pleaded with 'villains' to change their mind -- because that was their will, too -- but it never made any difference. What did was force."     He stops and turns to face the boulder again. "We value what we value. What is right and good is programmed into us, written upon neurons and souls just as a lower animal's need to eat and survive and mate, or a math program's need to solve for x. Fortunately, people share a lot of common programming -- and even across the Multiverse, such programming is incredibly common. There's no higher morality written into physics, although woulds where reality is shaped by concepts reflect it."     Staren shakes his head. "I don't understand all the details well enough to build a mind that knows right and wrong. Few do. But, that's not the point. The point of all this is that my guiding principle is me." He jabs his thumb at his chestplate. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "While people have a lot in common, our experiences are different. Who taught me to be who I am? To some degree, everyone I've met and everything that's happened to me. I've spent enough time on the philosophy lecture -- I can't tell you every incident that shaped me. My parents love me and endorse the adventuring life. I had the fortune to grow up in a city where noone looks down on someone else because of their species or physical appearance. All who are willing to live together, to tolerate, are tolerated and welcomed. In a world that was like the Multiverse in miniature. Perhaps in other circumstances, I'd be less idealistic and not think we can build a perfect world. I almost did turn my back on the Multiverse, multiple times. But allies taught me not to distrust them, and Morg and Twilight taught me what it was like to have someone I could trust completely. I'm lucky, but one day I'm going to figure out how to bring a better life to everyone. Better according to the values we share -- although the implementation may look strange to those used to thinking of death as unstoppable and inevitable -- but people don't really value death. They're just afraid to face that people die for nothing."     Staren takes a deep breath. "How could this have been done differently?" He paces again. "That depends on your goal. What did you hope to achieve? You still didn't answer my question as to how or why you had our friends. Did you want to give them paradise? You could have asked if they really wanted it, at the cost of leaving others behind. You could have helped them achieve dreams including others, instead of without them. If you're asking for advice on how to tear us apart form eachother and weaken us... ha! I'm not going to help you do that."     Staren turns and leans over towards the rock, peering at it. "What about YOU? What kind of being are YOU? What is your programming? Do we even have compatible values?" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya reflects inwardly as she and Asterios venture deeper into the complex. Letting her rifle hang by its strap, she cradles her chin with one hand, supported at the elbow by the other. While she seems to deeply consider the bloody floor and endless stretch of walls. When the mirror comes up, the lack of a reflection of herself and Asterios initially has her think it's just an extension of the endless hallway, until the lights hit it just right for her to catch the shine. Her eyes narrow, and she examines the image and its inaccuracies.     The structure shudders. Out of habit, Tanya looks up. With a thoughtful noise, she notes. Distant. No danger. Like artillery in the distance, targeting something else. Her attention returns to the mirror, studying it with a little frown. Turning her head, she inspects the depicted wall directly.     When Asterios goes for where the door 'should' be, Tanya's eyes glow again and she floats off his shoulder. If he finds something-- great! But she wants a closer look at the mirror itself. Just in case there's more to this than meets the eye-- This kind of symbolic stuff is sinking in to the Major as a real theme of this place, rather than what she'd consider 'logical'. Which is kind of infuriating, in a way. As part of her inspection, she produces her knife, using the pommel to tap on the mirror here or there. Because if this winds up being a trap than using her hands to investigate would be a dumb thing to do. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' The mingled looks of horror, shock, maybe even fear are not... necessarily things she wants to deal with in terms of what they were here for, to say nothing of the sensations it provokes. Because there's an analogue, that she half-imagines, remembering her 'real' self, yet comparing that to her past life--a life full of holes that the life as Soupi made more than a few favorable comparisons to. It's the happiness she sees among them that makes it nearly bittersweet. Getting hugged was very nearly too much--the tension of electromagnetism abates, if just a little bit as the slightly taller figure drops an arm around the blonde Kartha for a few moments, before quietly sighing. <"It's kind of like Titania, except I'm in her."> Her being Mag, or comparing it to Titania as she gestures with a hand--projecting the image through the emitters of the girl that they would recognize--if only just. She--Kushiko--did not have much change compared to Kushiko, excepting that her face now bore that blackened ring of scar tissue 'round her right eye. The same tussled hair, and now more glowy eyes, pulses that seemed to be out of sync with one another, more akin to a heartbeat through the image. Granted, it was a projected image of her from about the shoulder up. <"It's what I always was, always should have been... I don't honestly remember."> Maybe something in whatever they did to her subconsciously drove it; maybe it was that Void within her. It was hard to say, to think about even now. It was an honest answer to the question of 'what did they do to you?'--because she wasn't thinking about what they saw as Soupi--she thought about herself. Memories dredged from beyond. The experiments. The pain. The lashing out. It was reflected in a pensive expression the projected image of Kushiko. But now, was the time to answer more questions of the Orphans. More to the point--she remembered the name--Lasyra. Gargoyle... was it their past, or their future? The Stone Devils, the Gargoyle Knights... and her with her damnable memory regarding it all! Yet the names niggle at her very, /very/ slightly. Especially Lasyra, and maybe... the others. More than she realizes, before her faceless aspect looks at each of them in turn--mirroring the face she's able to present in perfect sync. <"I don't know where either of them are..."> Wasn't her name also Lacey? She searched her--her Soupi's--memories carefully; Maej was probably someone /else/ taken, but she couldn't quite recall explicitly whom. So it was an honest answer as could be. <"You've all taken up aliases, haven't you, for being the Knights now?"> she wonders aloud, her own memories drawn to 'current' Lumiere and past experiences there. Lasyra... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe gets what amount to an actual apology and she seems to thuiunk it was honestly intended to be what it was. "I never expected an apologsy I never got one form the man who trapped mein the death game." Death game? Then comes the crows afdter them. "For what it's worth ... I will accept what you ahve said, I think it would piss off Jeci to ignore something so sincear." She turns to the Crows as they are coming in. "Leyann light the attackers up." She starts to chant a spell causing her blade to flare up with blazing white fire. She seems ready to attack. She will do what she can to try and guard the very one who captured her. "Let him meet his end in some measure of peace..." 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne Mace listens to Coeus. She nods, slowly. An apology? It's... a start. And if he really is dying, it'll have to do. "If we can help, we wi-" She's cut off by the approach of the three false Crows, narrowing her eyes and swinging the big Bushmaster gun around to cover them. She looks at the white one, pointing at him with a cybernetic finger and an angry glare. "Oi, fucknugget... didn't I kill you already?" she growls. And then... Coeus tells them can't control his creations. It's not a setup. At least, not from him. "We'll talk more in a moment, if you can. Save your strength.. If we put these things down fast, you don't... get drained as fast, right?" Whether the answer is positive or negative, Crocodile, her Bushmaster cannon, wakes up. Normally, Leyanne's got to ease off every five rounds or so to adjust her footing... but right now? She feels like she could empty the entire hopper at these pseudoCrows without needing to take a few steps. "Lighting them up! WHitey's mine though!" She keeps both triggers depressed, sweeping the cannon across the three Crows, aiming for centre-mass. Well, as much as you can aim a cannon like that, anyway. The noise can probably be heard all the way over at the other battle currently ongoing. The white one, of course, gets a slightly higher weight of fire aimed in his direction. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:'''     THE BATTLE WITH GOD Phoebe is fast. Faster than she is. Wherever Tidings goes, she's there, ready to attack, laying into her with her sword of dying sunlight. The Infernal's body cuts and burns, but she doesn't register the blows. She strikes back instead, resonating strikes of bare-fisted fury against a sword that carries with it the hopes of the heroic dead. It is, on its surface, the purest sort of battle there can be: good versus evil, fought to claim dominion over the souls of the many. Empty Tidings pivots, facing Phoebe again. She widens her stance, hands up, wisps of smoke trailing from her burned kimono. She's smiling, meeting her gaze with glints of green behind her eyes. Her mirth seems to be wiped from her face when she hears that utterance. Something strikes an unfortunate chord. The sword rises. Empty Tidings blocks it with her right palm, parrying the ascending stroke with a flash of sparks of sun against stone. Her arm is forced wide. She sneers, opens her mouth -- Light strikes her, eye to eye. The beams do their work. Her eyes are burned from their sockets, instantly scorched away. She's too stunned to make a sound at first, the sudden heat boring into her head making her flinch and throw herself to the side. She brings her shaking hands up to her face... and then lets out a howl like a wounded animal. She shakes her head, side to side, body swaying with a sort of frantic panic. "No... no, no, no no no no no!" She moans in pain and agony. She drops to her knees, clawing at smoking sockets. "Not this! Not the dark! Not the dark!" She reaches out blindly, begging in a babbling, quavering voice, "Don't leave me in the dark! Mercy! Have mercy!" She shuffles forward on her knees, black tears rolling down her face as she sobs brokenly, the ink-like liquid dripping to the marble ground and sizzling away in wisps of smoke. She's left in darkness, a prisoner cast there by the judgment of the light. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Wandering Dog==     Alloy takes the man's hand when he reaches for her. Feeling the roughness of it. She squeezes it softly in her own. When he uses his powers to try to determine if she is undead, she flinches a bit, like it startled her, even if she shouldn't be able to feel it. She is... Something. Both more and less than simply dead. Yes, his abilities will work upon her. But she is less real than even a ghost. She's... A memory. A reanimated memory, who has gained stability and strength, a firmly established identity, a soul, by building new memories with Wandering Dog and their family. She is a reanimated memory of someone who once existed in Lumiere, but doesn't anymore, given a second chance. She is much a part of this place at the photo album in front of her.     If she understands what was done to her, she doesn't show it. She just smiles at him. "There are others who can look after them. Someone had to be here for you. I couldn't be certain you'd return in time to make the evacuation. If I'm going to spend my last moments again... I want them to be with you."     She tries to listen to Wandering Dog as he explains, her eyes showing intense focus, even though there's the feeling that... Her hand is gripping tight because she already knows he's not staying even before he says it. And she doesn't want to let him go again. "'Wandering Dog'," she tries out lightly. "Not the 'Masked Dragon'." She closes her eyes. "I wish I could go with you, and bring our children too. I know you said you aren't him. But I will never be able to see you as anyone else."     She opens her eyes again as she relaxes her grip and lets her hand slip away to go underneath her other. "And you're sure you're doing the right thing? That nobody is tricking you? I know how trusting you are, how you see the good in everyone. You aren't letting some villain use you?" 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' And then, the moment Phoebe so much as moves a muscle, she's there. Empty Tidings lunges without so much as a hint of uncertainty, a trace of pain. She moves like there wasn't a thing holding her back. She attacks with a kind of speed and fury that speaks of a cessation of restraint, a joyous sort of fury that comes from letting go of all there is to hold onto. Everything but fury. Survival is fury. The Green Sun Princess explodes into a corona of color. Vidirian light streams from her body, colored by wisps of bruising violet and flecks of pitch blackness. A disk of utter dark burns itself onto her brow, so black it hurts to look upon, so absolute it swallows up the light that dares approach. The ground shudders and cracks as she ascends, propelled at the Goddess, matching her step for blinding step. The world seems to come apart as she trods upon it. Her hand is enough to sunder a city's gates. Her strength is enough to shatter mountains. Her grip is enough to break a world. She stops playing with the sword, stops meeting her blow for blow, and attacks her like the monster her presence screams about. She endures the light of a dying star, surrounded by the corona of a Green Sun, the light that illuminates all of Malfeas, the poisonous illumination that gives daylight to the Demon City. She endures it. She takes hold of it. She grabs, and twists, and tears like she was plucking the wings off a fly. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Rebecca and Staren==     Prometheus listens silently. Or it can be presumed that he is listening. Hard to say with no physical form to go off of. I see. So you began training young. Your talent was encouraged, so that you would be ready to face conflicts. And when corruption came to your home, you fought against it with all you could... But ultimately, it was your enemies that made you what you are. You could have been something else, someone else, if not for them. Your story is similar to mine. I will take it under advisement.     Staren's story is longer than Rebecca's, but it is not the length that matters, but what is beign said. The importance of the intent behind them. Words are clumsy things, like symbols. Unfit for describing the core principles and concepts underlying existence, let alone the variables called people that dwell within it. And Prometheus takes Staren's story just as gravely and significantly as Rebecca's. Stories of heroes and villains, even if not the whole truth, are important. Having an ideal, a principle, even if it is ravaged over and over again, is important. But what is more important of all, is to believe in yourself. To decide who you are and follow through, no matter what happens. Even if you must adapt and adjust, even if there is no cosmic principle of truth and justice, you must decide for yourself what is worth protecting. Even if all hope is a lie, you can not give up. Because hope can give you strength to prove it is not a lie after all.     Prometheus is silent again for a time.     I did not bring them here. I think we were being used. Convenient former guardians, if what you say is correct, forced to revisit our roles, but as jailors instead. Whomever is responsible for this... If it is within your goals... I hope you two will put a stop to it. The opening in the cloud layer grows larger. A flickering of gray light appears on the boulder in the shape of a person. The chains that lie idly are recreated in phantom smoke, binding the figure, as he tries to raise himself up. Prometheus snaps one chain, then the other, and then the ones on his feet as he stands on the earth again.     I will remember you both, for as long as I exist. Even if that is not much longer. I do not know if they will reach the outside, but if I am able, I will write down your stories of heroes and villains, and they will hopefully inspire more like you two, and all of those who have come with you, to not allow such travesties to repeat. Prometheus reaches out lightning fast, clapping a hand on Rebecca's shoulder, and then Staren's, smoothly and gently. And then they are energy again. And they are appearing down in Emblem City, closer to those they seek. 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' Well, then. So she's not a prisoner. But she's something special. Wandering Dog knows she's not the person most dear to him. No one will ever be again. But she's the person most dear to Balences, without a doubt. At the same time, her words do cause the briefest of doubt...is he being tricked? Memories conflict, as he sighs. "But you can't. I spoke too soon. I'm sorry." Wandering Dog moves over to the pictures, picking one up briefly before setting it back down. "I took this name a long time ago. It's not the name I was born with, and neither is Balences, but the names still have power. Doesn't matter if it's real or fake, the face you present is what people know you as." There's a laugh, as he shakes his head. "No, I'm not being manipulated. I know exactly who I am, and who I was. I know why I took this name, something I could never forget. The time I could have had this." He waves his hands, to the pictures, to the house, towards the children's bedrooms. "And I left it to wander. Like a stray dog who takes what he's given and then runs off to the next person who'll give it to them. Who could have had the best life and went and when he considered changing his mind, it was too late." But, there's a grin. He was always a person with a wide smile as Balences, and Wandering Dog still was. "But then I was a hero. Protected people. If anyone's a villain, it's the ones who kept me here. And I'm going to correct that. I need to go." He turns, moving towards the doorway, but then stops, not proceeding. He talks to her without turning away. "Ask of me one thing, and I'll almost certainly do it. I won't stay here, but I'll whatever you seek. It's the least I can do to remember you." 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Asterios and Tanya==     The mirror cracks under Tanya's tapping. It's far more fragile than actual glass. LAlso, it starts bleeding, and the pungent smell of rot emanates from it. Cloyingly thick. As 'glass' shards fall away, rotting meat is revealed inside the walls. Well, if this is part of Coeus... That implies his health is already on the decline, doesn't it?     Asterios succeeds in opening the invisible door in the wall, reshaping the world so that it exists instead of being a mere reflection. On the other side is... An enormous heart, made of a mix of machinery and flesh. Three columns surround it, computer towers of some kind, sleek and reaching from ceiling to... Down below somewhere unclear in the darkness. However, there is something else too.     The screaming voices of countless Unlit swarming below. Many of them have climbed up the huge heart and eaten away the majority of it. The heart pumps weakly, tubes carrying away some black ooze, as dials bounce their needle more and more weakly from one end of the scale to the other.     Unlit shouldn't be here. Shouldn't exist here, if this is 'the past' or something. But they're here. They've been eating Coeus all this time, and as a result, Emblem City is dying.     At the core of each of the computer towers is a drop of liquid energy or something. One looks like the Sun, one like the Earth, and another like the Moon. Red, Gray, and Yellow.     The deafening screeching of trillions of dead things is beyond painful. But with their enhancements, the powey they possess here, they can endure it. They can fight. They can decide... What to do here.     They found the heart of the 'enemy'. And it's already under attack by another enemy. What now? 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Count Kord==     The shockwave unleashed by the clash between Kord's wing and Midnight Blue's blade sends ripples up and down the street. The movement of the wing hurls Carna and Crow away as well. The blade, with its owner still holding it, are hurled backwards, like when Kord hit him befor, on the bridge. This time, however, Kord follows. The godlike-being hits Midnight Blue into a building, tearing across its surface, only for the fake to come surging out of the building even faster, disappearing and then reappearing as it jumps from surface to surface.     It's like the stronger and faster Kord gets, the stronger and faster this thing gets too. And again, that sense of familiarity. Kord KNOWS this thing. From outside of Emblem City. Is this another trick of Luc's?     Then Midnight Blue vanishes. Is gone... Up above! It hurls its sword like a bolt of crimson lightning, directly at Kord's heart.     The impact is incredible. Strong enough to jerk the city up to meet Kord instead of trying to hurl him down to it. Possibly the only way to overcome the insane, godly speed he possesses... To change the world around them. But the sword didn't cause the impact.     There's a much smaller figure lying on top of Kord, the blade of Midnight Blue in its back. The death blow meant for Kord, taken by Crow instead.     "Hey... Don't... Die on me... A aecond time... Okay?" Crow asks. Then it collapses, dissolving into bits of light and shadow before even hitting Kord's body.     Midnight Blue stands on a roof top and smiles widely, as the night sky goes red as blood. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' The scent of rotting flesh is infinitely worse for someone with the senses of a true Predator King. Asterios doesn't recoil at the smell; he know it far too well. Rotting, fetid meat. This place-- this structure is decomposing. The flesh of the god Coeus is falling apart, dissolving at the foul touch of some unfathomable malice. What sickness could afflict a god? The door opens. Beyond, a... Computer- something which Asterios does not recognize. He doesn't need to. The throbbing, half-decomposed organ throbbing weakly in the center of the room is enough for him to know. The minotaur makes a sound of disgust at the sight of... That. The vortex of malice underneath the weakening pulse, clawing at the flesh, devouring it, feeding corruption into the veins. The minotaur feels... Not just hatred. Fury. Anger. Rage. His hand trembles, raising an axe into the air. He can end this now. Take his vengeance. Put an end to this corpse of a god. But... Then. Then what? A voice at the very back of his mind cries out to stop. To think. To recognize this for what it is. What purpose could be served by bringing Asterios and Tanya here, to the very heart of a god? They, who have the most reason and inclination to kill him? Asterios is silent for a moment, and then he turns to his master. Words are exchanged. A decision is made. Asterios swings his axe-- Into the swarm of shadows flooding the heart. Smashing at the unlit. His power, magnified, is turned against the darkness. The beast roars, unleashing a bellowing sound that even these undead monstrosities must recognize-- if they possess even a fragment of that intelligence that all living things hold. Somewhere, deep down, a small part of the minotaur remembers building this city. And so, a small mercy. He will kill the darkness first. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Leyanne and Tomoe==     omoe's white fire engulfs the red and green ones, the latter losing its legs to Leyanne's cannon fire, making them screech as corruption pours from their faces. The fake 'Crows' were silent before. Something has clearly changed in them. The green one falters in its descent, and when it hits the ground it splatters grossly. The red one still draws a pair of black energy blades either way, and leaps at Tomoe to engage her in battle with furiou swipes, as its exterior burns away, revealing more Corruption sludge bleeding out of it. Like everything inside of it was just replaced wholsesale with that stuff.     Leyanne's attack tears into the LUM-01 building that the Crows run upon, causing explosions of masonry and discharges of power, and the dying voice of Coeus in their minds. The white Crow falls heavily, injured by the cannon fire, and tries to stagger towards Leyanne with a whip of darkness in its fingerless 'hand', but it should only take another salvo to its face to tear through it. Whatever the Corruption did to get them up and running again, it left them fragile and weakened. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Even light taps shatters the glass. Tanya reels back in surprise, her free hand going for her Thompson and bringing the weapon up. However, no foe surges forth. Instead, a more fearsome enemy assaults the young Major. Making a disgusted face, she brings her right hand up, covering her mouth and nose in the sleeve of her battle suit's elbow. Her eyebrows twitch, scowling at the wall of rotten meat oozing and putrid before her.     Floating back, she quickly resumes her position near Asterios as he reveals the hidden door by opening it. And the second foul sensation assaults her senses: The wailing of undead. As soon as the door opens and she hears it, the girl flinches. An eyebrow lifts as she casts her gaze through the opening, into the chamber beyond. The servers. The heart. And the zombie horde covering it all like feathers on a waterfowl. Her eyes narrow, and an unspoken exchange is shared with her Servant, unhindered by the shrieking din.     A decision is made.     Tanya lifts her Thompson, thumbing off the safety as she begins to speak, not shouting and yet audible over the chaos of the Unlit, "As I enter the shadow of the valley of Death, I shall fear no evil, for the Lord has granted me the power of His salvation." Amplified by the strange effects of Emblem, and further amplified by the Type 95, the Computation Jewel worn under her outfit glows so brightly that a golden glow shines through the heavy material of her coverall battle suit. A holographic targeting grid materializes, glimmering green in front of her as she settles the sub-machinegun against her shoulder, "Hear His word and be at peace. See His light and know that you are forgiven." Small x-shapes, flashing red, wink into existence across Tanya's entire field of view.     "Amen."     When Tanya squeezes the trigger, she keeps it depressed, emptying the thirty-round magazine of her weapon. And each round, fused with magic, splits and multiplies as it travels, scattering into the massive undead swarm that her own Servant just hurled himself into. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Kord moves with instinctual wrath, his body moving in rememberance of battle he hasn't ever had in this form before. He swings and bolts from place to place to clash with Midnight Blue's blade, surges of red energy bursting here and there throughout the city as he attacks and defends in a surging flow of violence between two supernatural beings. But he gets blindsided by the teleportation-like abilities of the creature that continues to attack him, and slammed so hard into the street that it craters, chips of stone and pavement flying, a car overturned by the impact, and he has a follow-up attack coming at him before he can blink...!     That gets interrupted by the 'Crow' he was told isn't the real one, which still protects him regardless.     Kord doesn't react well to this. Years of hardship well up in his head, countless failures, his pride once more bruised by the loss of something he considered 'his,' in perhaps a more positive way than that implies. There's a surge of form and light, and what stands there a moment later is not a monster made of smoke and blood, but a man in red and black clothing with a pair of black horns in his long red hair. His claw-like hands seal around a weapon familiar to him, formed of surging shadows from Crow's destroyed body. A simple, solid black scythe. The wind tugs on a collar of white fuzz on his regal attire, his pale face drawn into a vicious frown, a pair of fangs jutting over his bottom lip like those of a vampire. His tail is still present, curling and whipping from side to side. He's somehow gotten edgier.     He leaps off the ground and clears the distance between himself and Midnight Blue in the blink of an eye. He attacks with the force of an angry god, appropriately enough, a surge of black energy blowing outward with atomizing force that blows apart whole buildings in its path and creates a tidal wave of debris. It isn't just an explosion, it's a blast of pure destructive energy that spares nothing in its path, not even the dust it kicks up or even the very air itself. It is so loud that it rattles the entire city and shakes the ground. Any sparse clouds that sit above part from the wind kicked up from the vacuum force of this attack. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne Mace is a little more selective with her second salvo. Hopefully she hasn'd done /too/ much damage to Coeus. She looks around for further targets warily, looking around. She moves to try and get a shot on the other Pseudocrow, although she finds herself unable without hitting her ally. She holds her fire, raising the gun up and out of the way.. "Tomoe!" she calls. How you doing with Red there? Need a hand -" The distant echoes of Kord's attack ripple through the streets. "Phobos! You hear that? Something's pissed!" 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Kushiko==     The kids look confused. This is totally over their heads. The image of the not-Soupi seems to convince some of the undecided, while discomfitting others. "So... You're coming back to us, right?" one of the kids asks.     But Resaran interrupts, "I'm asking the questions here." His tone is not like one that should belong to a child. It's like a grizzled military veteran who has seen far too much. "Yeah. The Gargoyle Knights all have our own names. Shouldn't you know that already if you're the real Soupi? Or Titania... Or whatever you call yourself?"     He shakes his head. "If you're our friend, then you'll go get Lasyra and bring her back. If you're not... Then you should't come back."     Not everyone looks like they agree with Resaran. But before them is a mechanical monster claiming to be someone they know, and next to them is someone with a face they know for sure.     Resaran turns and walks away, heading to the stairs that lead underground. After a little while, the others start following. Kartha is still crying as she clings to Kushiko. "B-but this is Soupi, right? This is her! She's back! Right? I mean who else could it be. Y-you know where Lacey is, right?" She looks up at Kushiko, with wide, slightly unhinged eyes, clinging with her hands, and then heading over to the protection. "Hey, c'mon! C-can't you all see? This is Soupi, right? It's g-g-gotta' be... It's..." As people come forward and start pulling her away, she thrashes and struggles wildly, her crying sounding more and more hysterical, until it begins to sound like laughter.     And eventually, Kushiko is left there, alone. None of them can trust something that looks like her. No matter what Soupi's memories say, that these were her friends. That they looked forward to her delicious meals she brought to them. That she helped them smile.     All of them have rejected her, and chosen to follow Resaran back downstairs.     The ground is trembling violently in the midst of all this, as red light shines through the stained-glass windows. There's no time to linger here. Something is going on. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Could it be that the Lord of Fear used the caretakers of this place? But then why won't Prometheus tell him anything about them?     He's teleported again. Aware enough to see what MIGHT be crow die. He has no idea how to save Crow... all he can be sure of is that SOMETHING is fighting Kord, and it needs to be destroyed.     All of his abilities are amplified. With robotic speed, he runs towards the building Midnight Blue is perched on. His reactor is supercharged too. This means he has PLENTY of energy to draw off and store for an attack. There's no outward visible effect, no telegraphing, the usual glow covered by his armor as he starts to run up the side of the building...     And then he's on a building chunk in midair, manifesting wings and frantically trying to dodge some of the collateral effects of Kord's attack! But if Midnight Blue survived that, he is SO ready to follow up! 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' <"Look, my memories are a little screwed up, okay?!"> is the first, defensive retort. There was more truth in that than she'd readily admit, incensed a bit. Frustration threatened to boil into her, but the Tenno within relented from letting that happen. She had to, as the memories--the good parts--were something she was finding herself /wanting/ to hold onto. How could she not, with the inability to fully recall her own? There was no way she could convince them right now, not as she was, nor perhaps should she. But there was a problem at least--Lacey, Lasyra--this much she remembered. The business with 'Luc'. She'd have to compare notes with Kord and Enark once they were concluded here, perhaps sooner. But if Lacey--Lasyra, was kidnapped, she was brought perhaps /out/ of... <"... I promise to do everything I can,"> is as much as she's willing to offer, to make it more solemn and genuine. <"I know what I need to do,"> she calls out to Kartha, though her hands curl into fists. The laughter. The way Resaran talked, everything. It felt ... /odd/, to certain sensibilities. When she was alone, she murmured more to herself: <"We are the *Child of the Void*. I am Kushiko. We are Tenno."> She reaffirmed herself in this regard, quietly, then looking to her hand, ruthenium gilding wrapped around her fingertips. A nascent cloud of energy coalescing into her fingertips. But that notion of contemplation, of furtive thought is not permitted to last. No, not with the tremors beneath her feet here in the Church. The final pieces were settling, and both girl and living weapon united as one. She'll come back to the church--but for now, with that red light out the windows, and /knowing/ what that represented... It was time to move, and move she would, heading out and away from the redlight--at least to keep it from striking her, and to find it's source, the Warframe moving swiftly and using nearby buildings and even crumbled ruins to adroitly manage this task. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Empty Tidings==     So much as moves a muscle? Phoebe moves while Empty Tidings is still pleading. Mercy is not one of her traits. However, that just means that Empty Tidings attacks that much sooner. Phoebe is dying and the Infernal is stronger than ever before. She is wounded, sun spots forming on her body as energy discharges in place of blood. As poison seeps through her, and makes her die that much faster. The demonic figure beats down upon what's left of this goddess, over and over and over, until she is down on her dissolving knees, unable to fight anymore, but only to endure the blows as more pieces of her are torn off.     The cathedral falls out from underneath them as the unceasing force shatters the ground, separating the statue of Phoebe in which the PRAYER System is kept from the rest of the cathedral. Phoebe's Temple falls down into the void without them, faster than they are falling, like the statue is all that was slowing its descent.     Phoebe's dying flames try to grab Empty Tidings by that indestructible arm of hers, that once bore an image of Phoebe herself upon it.     I pity you. I go to die in honor, defending what I love. But all the power you hold, the strength you have used to so utterly crush me, to tear apart this once-paradise... Will simply lead to your own downfall. Mercy is not one of my traits. I have delivered my prophecy. Now I take it from you with a curse. All the power left in her, the last vestiges of power of a star going nova, is channeled into her hand, as she attempts to imprint her own crest upon the Infernal's arm. Endure the promise of redemption until your dying days. The knowledge of what you can do instead. Its fulfillment as you pursue what you desire and find it hollow. Let you never know happiness unless you abandon what you have endured so much for, and to know that happiness is possible. Let you lose everything again, just like we did.     Can the curse planted by such a dying being actually take hold and have any meaning? Empty Tidings has already demonstrated her superior power in battle. That wounds and even the loss of her eyes do not matter. Can the brand of a goddess of prophecy matter one single iota, if it even sticks?     Hard to say right now. But one thing is certain. The sky above Emblem City high above has gone red, and it is very distant. But there's a screaming mass of the hungry dead, the Unlit, coming closer and closer, audible now that the battle is over, and the chunk of Temple ground that the statue is on plummets towards them. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe's spell works better than she oculd of she sees the code and wonders about the nature of this place a bit more in the bac of her mind. She fights she fights hard the mock Crow the red one faces her attacks. It doesn't fall yet, but she is doing damage to it. She keeps going after it trying to incernate the sludge thing with a barrage of close up fire and sword attacks. "I don't know what you are but whoeever master minded this?! I am going tp take a piece out of them. I'm holding my own keep yours down. She doe snot know mow much longer the one's she's trying to protect will hang on but damn it she's going to keep fighting with good support from Leyanne. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Wandering Dog==     Alloy nods, accepting what has happened. Accepting what Wandering Dog says. No matter what his real identity is, their love was real. She smiles, saves her tears for after he leaves. Closes her eyes. Then opens them. "Okay." she says simply. "Then there's only one thing I can ask of you." She stands up, walks over to Wandering Dog as the door, and embraces him one last time. She kisses him, if he will allow it, with all the love she has in her body. After a dozen seconds or so, when she has to stop or else she won't be able to bear him leaving if it goes on any longer, she makes her request.     "Never stop being the hero I always knew you were."     The ground is trembling. The sky has turned red as blood. It's time to go.     She just stands there and smiles. Holding back everything else. Hoping that this last loving vision of her will be what he remembers her for. Not the loss or the parting of ways. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Asterios and Tanya==     Asterios strikes at the Unlit, at the Corruption. Not at the one already on his way out, the dying god that is doomed no matter what, but at his tormentors. The manifestation of the Corruption that caused all this. Tanya unleashes her magically-empowered rounds that split and multiply. And the combined effects are possibly beyond anything expected. Asterio's blows practicaly liquify the half-ooze monsters, tearing them asunder in a veritable hurricane of force that roars in every direction, swirling and smashing the ocean below.     Tanya's bullets multiply... And multiply... And multiply... Until she is mowing down hundreds, thousands, millions of them. The ooze slacks and melts down into a puddle of filth at the bottom of this vast chamber. The three containers with Earth, Moon, and Sun in them, abruptly detach from their towrs. The servers float in the air for a moment, almost seeming to be looking back at the two in the doorway. Then they blink out of existence.     The building trembles more violently as the mechano-flesh heart pumps its last few spurts of 'blood'. A hole opens behind Asterios and Tanya. A portal leading out of here.     A last gesture of... Thanks? Reconciliation? Apology? If those servers were even part of Coeus to begin with, that is. But what else could they have been? Either way, the building they are in is suddenly... Falling. Falling fast. Tanya might not notice as quickly because of her flight, and relative speed, but as even Asterios might start to lift off the floor in the fall, it's clear they need to go. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' The Monster tears the Goddess asunder. Pieces of her are flung away. Chunks of a person-shaped solar fire go plummeting off the cathedral-platform. Her poisonous presence taints every fragment, every shard, every spark, cursing and casting down the protector of this place piece by flaming, bloody piece. She breathes hard, looming over her. Her cheeks are wet with black tears. Smoke and shadow oozes from empty sockets. She is a witness to the deepest darkness there could be; no form of it, even the absence of things with which to see the the light, could ever take her sight. Instead, it marks her as the abominable thing she is: a creature of that same darkness, meant to clash with those who wield the light at every turn. For one on whom fate has no hold, life certainly seems to enjoy taking certain poetic licenses anyway. That accursed hand halts. Phoebe speaks. The Infernal cocks her head at the voice. She presses her lips into a thin line. Foreign power eats into the thing that is her hand, the physical representation of the Yozis' hold on her body and soul. The mark is etched, carved into unbreakable rock. Does it matter? Does any of it this matter? She's lacerated and burned, beaten, battered. Her eyes are gone, seared away. Her chest heaves with the heavy breaths of exhaustion, but there are no other signs she's so much as acknowledged any of it. No signs that this curse of prophecy will do anything but irritate her. She's simply unstoppable. Isn't she? Lies. Damned lies. Lies in everything she does. Lies in everything she is. She isn't invincible. She just plays the role. The Monster lifts the Goddess with her hand of flesh and blood and casts her into the abyss, one final act before this world is left behind. 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' Those dozen seconds are basically an eternity, and once it's done, Wandering Dog just nods, and gives her a thumbs up and a grin. It's slightly forced, but the intent is true. "Of course. You can count on me." And then, Wandering Dog is out the door. On the way out, Wandering Dog takes one last stop to look back at the house, and then leaves. He begins a dash across the buildings and running across walls, hoping to use his enhanced mobility to find one of the others, an objective, or the way out. The blood red sky gets a growl from him, as he begins to remember something, and he just shakes his head. Maybe it's time to finally let go after all these years. Wandering Dog shouts as he moves, as everything falls apart. "Hey! Where are you guys, everything's falling apart and we need to get the hell out of here!" He's going to regret missing getting to punch one of the gods, but, this was worth it in its own way. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     The miniature Major swiftly ejects her spent magazine, discarding it and immediately slotting in a new one from the clip on her suit. As the slide is racked to arm the Thompson, though, she observes the outcome of her spell. The liquification of ravenous dead under her bullets and Asterios' divine-forged axes. She lifts the weapon skyward, though, when it appears that the two warriors made short work of so many abominations.     Golden eyes lift when those server machines lift, turn, and disappear. They narrow slightly, and the girl scowls her dissatisfaction.     The ground shaking doesn't go unnoticed. She doesn't feel it, but the world shaking around her is an obvious thing. Tanya is already considering escape options when that portal opens, and she draws attention to it-- "Asterios, we're leaving!"     She doesn't depart until her Servant does. Though right before she leaves, she unfixes the four grenades from her belt. Held in a cluster in one hand, she loops her finger through the pull-cords, "When you took him from me, I made a promise. Just because you were sick doesn't mean I'm not fulfilling that." With a yank, she pulls those cords loose, and all four grenades begin hissing. With an underhand, she lobs all four grenades into the heart room, "It's meaningless. You're already dead. It's the principle of the thing. Consider it a mercy killing if you want."     Not that Tanya actually feels sorry for Coeus. She's incapable of it. There's simply the ... PR to be had in mercy-killing a suffering, dying 'god'. She doesn't wait for the grenades to detonate before taking her own exit through the provided portal. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:'''     Let it never be said that the minotaur lives solely for destruction. He is driven by rage-- by the animalistic fury that paradoxically kept him sane for so many years spent in the Labyrinth of legend. But even then, there is an intelligence behind it. An awareness that, given time to grow, might have become something great in its own right. And yet instead, he was used for his entire life- nothing more than a tool and an instrument for those who held power over him to wield.     So now, is it any wonder how gleefully he smashes the darkness that surrounds him? That he now has a master who actually /listens/ to him before handing down orders. The minotaur strikes at the darkness, his blows hammering shockwaves that tear into the sea of corruption. Again and again and again, until finally... Something changes.     The servers detach and disappear. Asterios stares after them for a moment longer, before the world starts to give way and-- Coeus, or perhaps those machines-- open a way for them to escape. Asterios takes it. Before the world falls away entirely-- they have to go. He waits at the gate for his master to do her work.     Perhaps they didn't really get to enact their vengeance after all. It wasn't by their hand that the world of Emblem City was destroyed. Tanya's actions make sense-- there is a principle to be upheld, after all. That principle might be 'fuck you, got mine' but anyone who might care about the details is already dead anyway, so it doesn't matter!     But still, a small part of him, deep down inside, is quietly satisfied at the outcome. Is it because Coeus was dead? Or could it be a mote of pleasure at being able to save something, anything of a former life long past? And still, there's a nagging sensation at the back of his mind-- They... were used by someone, weren't they?     "Master," Asterios says as they leave together, "This... Isn't over yet. I think. There was a reason for all of this." The minotaur aims to find out what. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Count Kord, Rebecca, Staren, Carna, Kushiko, Tomoe, Leyanne, Empty Tidings==     Midnight Blue is not expecting the transformation, raisin an army and actually looking surprised and dismayed for the first time. Unlike when Kord was growing stronger before, this power boost is not matched by the construct creature. Perhaps because it's not just Kord's strength alone. Kord streaks upwards, flipping skyscrapers end over end only for them to disintegrate in the wave of power that chases after him. Midnight Blue barely brings its blade up only for the blade to crack and slam into its own face. It tries to fight back, tries to desperately adjust to Kord's fighting, to strike from behind, but with how Kord is now... He could block it with his scythe without even looking.     With Staren at the ready to blast Midnight Blue across the city, they will soon find themselves at LUM-01, right where Leyanne and Tomoe are fighting. Together, Leyanne and Tomoe took down enemies that can not stand up to their enhanced powers and team work. They drew upon their experiences as both Sheena and Leyanne, as Tomoe and Tiny, as well as upon Jeci and Paird, and used that connection to this place and to what lies outside of it, to assert, 'NO, this is NOT how it should be. We may not LIKE this god, but he deserves better than to be betrayed right when he seeks redemption!' And it works. Their strength, their souls, destroy their foes.     Cannon fire, flame, and sword, leave the fakes oozing messes on the street, right as Midnight Blue slams into LUM-01 and into its hollow interior, carried on Staren's massive attack... With Kord right on his heels.     Kushiko leaping from piece of crumbling city to piece of crumbling city is in a good position to get everyone together in one place and them get them a door OUT of here. There doesn't appear to be any other exit (unless one is 999 sub-levels underneath this place. And right now 'his place' is falling, along with its streets, its buildings, everything holding it together, so they'll be down there the HARD way if they don't leave faster. She is integral to that.     Wandering Dog may hear the voice of someone call out to him in response. Carna yells out, "Here! I am not sufficiently empowered to flee on my own. Assistance would be welcome." Leaping from street to wall to rooftop to chunk of street falling through the air, until he reaches the devastated battle ground left behind by Kord and Midnight Blue (mainly the former), Wandering Dog is just in time to be a hero again.     A hero always arrives at the last minute. Both Rebecca and Carna look like they could use some help getting to where everyone else is.     ...haha... Coeus' voice whispers softly in an alleyway somewhere. ...now I see... I wonder what would have happened if we'd started from the bottom, and added more levels between us and the living world...? Then Coeus is gone.     Prometheus is gone.     And Phoebe is certainly gone, her embers swirling into a whirlpool of cursed energy below. A distortion of reality that sucks in the Corruption of the swarming masses, the voices of trillions of shrieking undead growing louder and louder. No telling where the warp leaves, but hopefully 'out'. Because the alternative is being eaten by Anti-Soul weapons. And no matter whether truth or lies, that is not something most people walk away from feeling okay about it. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Seeing Midnight Blue weakened from the strike, Staren flies towards it, thrusters burning bright as he accelerates. The armor on Staren's arms pops off (note to self: Make it so the replacements can stay attached when doing this) and if someone were actually looking closely in all the chaos and movement, they'd see them glowing from the light of electricity arcing all around them, shining brightly as Staren crosses his forearms in front of him in an X.     And then in a flash, he's on the other side of Midnight Blue, arms uncrossed, having sliced through the creature with robotic strength and dumped who knows how much electric energy into it. There may be dramatic toku-style explosions, just this once.     Normally, using that attack drains Staren all but completely. But right now? He's free to grin at his handiwork and then run off to help Carna to the door, if needed, before meeting up with Kushiko. "Is everyone here? Let's go!" 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' As Carna calls out, Wandering Dog heads for her location, and leaps forward, moving towards her and Rebecca. "Alright, then. Let's get out of here!" Offering to support whoever needs assistance to move, he'd pull them forward, using his superhuman ability to continue moving even with passengers, continuing to leap from chunk to chunk, and leading them towards Kushiko and the others. "Go, go, go! The whole place is falling apart and we don't want to be caught up in all of this! Everyone alright?" It was over. This prison was going to be destroyed, and Wandering Dog would never have to deal with it again. But he'd always remember it, and he'd always remember being Balences, even if he told the others not to treat their alter-egos like people. It was something he'd allow himself. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Right after that blast, there comes another one. A beam of red light that streaks toward Midnight Blue right when there's an opening and strikes with even more force than the last. This time, it's raw and primordial destruction, and it streaks through the sky and distorts the light around it as it annihilates even the spiritual light particles on its way to its target.     As the attack's residual effects clear, Kord flits down from the sky to catch up with the others. He uses his shadows like tendrils with sharp, angular fingers to gently pick Rebecca up and lift her out of this place, his face a vision of neutrality after that battle, but no longer human in appearance... overcast with the image of two white eyes and a zig-zag mouth, as if it were a simulcrum of Crow's own visage. His hair is gone.     He finds it easier to do this than to maintain his human facial features, when he can't accurately maintain them during this stressful period. Inspired a bit by the simplicity in Crow's own appearance. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Kushiko would probably be a *little* bit better off had she brought Nova. Seems like as much as she was prepared to engage in combat of a martial variety, this instance found her within combat of a more personal, subjective variety. As it goes to that notion, there's little she can do for actually dealing with it right now, though her 'gaze', such as it were, lingers at the direction of the Church. <"We're not done here at all,"> she murmurs more to herself, echoing a sentiment of the bull, even if she wasn't aware of it. And then she calls out--her voice... /resonating/ throughout the crumbling System. <"WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE! IF YOU'RE OUT HERE, BE READY TO GET TO DEBRIS THAT YOU SEE MOVING TOWARDS THE LIGHT!"> They'd need to catch up on, well, everything here. What she will do however, is start... /magnetizing/ things. Like great slabs, walls, things like that, some that have natural metal inside, others simply their trace materials--she'll create platforms for people, either to bring them to where she is, or otherwise assist in their evacuation. Staren gets a slight shrug, as she has waaaay too much focus on what she's needing to do. This would be /so much easier/ were she Nova, but the concepts are similar. Except she has to do it with her /true/ self. It's almost a shame the children in the church would not see this. Maybe it's for the best. Energy ripples and resonates--and a figure manifests--no, coalesces out of energy, rectangular patterns of light as she swirls out of it like an event horizon drawn through as she hovers out of her Warframe. A Warframe that, against all odds, /continues to do what it's doing/. Energy flows out of her like a dam breaks--because with /everyone/ empowered, it means what she is, her true self has a chance. Because in order to even /do/ what she's doing here, she just forcibly transferred herself--from her Orbiter untold distance, no, /out of this world completely/ using her Warframe as that conduit. Ought not the reverse be possible? "Get ready to go in quickly!" she manages to say, her voice strained with the energy roiling out of her much like a living, breathing thing of chaos and more. Pale green light intermingles with lilac before reaching a shade of gold that seems to make a shape of a 'cape' from her back, bleeding the excess away as she presses her hands forward and focuses an extradimensional beam of energy into the open space in front of her. It makes a resounding *CRACK* as it 'connects', and the girl--visibly straining with the effort--pulls her hands apart like she were grabbing ahold of of the open pinhole, and splitting it open into a big enough gateway to get people through. She can't move from here, just yet--she'll have to be the last one out, the very space around her shifting and warping with the effort, almost buffeting at people with the act. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Empty Tidings watches the Goddess plummet. She keeps her eyes fixed on the sight for long moments. She sees the distortion... and sees the things around the outside. Best not. The Exalt, still wreathed in her resplendent wrath, turns to the other possibility. She grasps the remains of the crumbling platform and tears it apart, flinging it upwards in pieces ahead of her... and then, with superhuman agility, leaps from piece to piece to approach the growing pinprick that will lead them to safety. She comes down fast, a green comet that approaches the Tenno-made exit at speed, and threads the needle to get out without crashing into the waves of distortion on either side. Up, over, in. She's gone in seconds. This forsaken place will be lost, and she won't be lost with it. Her right arm aches. It isn't supposed to be able to do that. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe keeps fighting maybe it's futile but she keeps fighting none the the less. She fights hard she fights brutally against this thint but it's too late she knew Coeus wasn't long for this world. SAdly and they pass but with their foes fallen at least he had a moment of peace she hears this last words but it's time to get out of here it time to go she'll grab tiny pull a crystal from her inventory and call out. "TOKYO!" Both vanish in a flash of light... 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     Kord chases the falling Midnight Blue down through LUM-01... And then fires his beam of pure destruction into him as the golem flickers and distorts, derezzing as the forces holding it together collapse. When Midnight Blue finally dies, Kord and everyone who was abducted may finally feel like the part of them that was left behind here, the piece of them that was missing, has been restored. Midnight Blue was a golem comprised not just of a distorted piece of Coeus's body... But also a piece of each of the eleven abductees, and fashioned into a form that was directly antithetical to Kord. So whenever Kord got stronger, so did his Bane.     But that's over now. And so is Emblem City. Everything explodes, flies apart. Anyone who hasn't exited through a portal yet falls through empty space, as beams of light zip by them. Everything is bright now. There is no ground, no sky, no ocean of death, no anything, just them and light.     And a shadow that peels out of Kord's body as he falls, forming first into the solid body Crow was given, and then into a more realistically humanoid one. Semi-vampiric, like Kord, taking some traits from him. There's no mistaking those horns, even if they are now very Yveltal-like. Just like Kord is wearing traits of Crow's old self in turn. Crow is...     Female, apparently. At least based off of the body it--she was given. THAT'S awkward for everyone who has been calling it a 'he'. But hey, Crow is back! Raven-haired, very pale, with white eyes, but she smiles as she watches everyone falling towards the portal that Kushiko has made. The hole formed by twisting reality with the power of the Void, and making an exit. Everyone is in the same place now.     Crow reaches out for Kord's hand, even as her fingers disintegrate. An effect that spreads upwards. She looks startled, but then smiles. "Hey. Thank you all for coming to help me. I really appreciate it. But I remember everything now. I don't think... Cro was the greatest person. There's another me out there somewhere. The me that isn't from here. Look after them. Forget about me, and try to live your own life. You did everything you could for this place and more." Crow dissolves more and more, as she falls away from them, up into the light as reality contracts. "And don't tell Enark about me, please. I don't want to break his heart again. He'll find the other me eventually. Let him believe I just forgot everything. You know he is... About failing to save people. I'll look after what's left of this place, and make sure no one abuses it ever again."     "Thank you."     Then Emblem City, this pocket reality, everything, is gone.     And those who left through Kushiko's portal or the one provided by the Lumiere System, are back where they started, in Enark's study, now free of Corruption. The books, furniture, shelves, everything is warped and corroded, twisted and wound together like vines made out of the room iself. And Enark is sitting on the floor near the Shrine. He looks extremely weary still. And... Very old. And his hair has gone stark white. He weakly says, "Oh, good. You made it. Did you save everyone?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Oh hey it's Enark's study. Staren looks back the way they came, then to Enark. "No. We didn't get Crow... and I'm not sure what happened to the... 'civilians' we saw the first time -- whether they were real, or projections, or what." He takes off his helmet, and scratches his head. "That world wasn't even the Lord of Fear's creation -- he tricked some other beings into putting the people he kidnapped into it. I guess the more you think about it, the more clear it is that we've been completely outmaneuvered. We didn't catch him, and someone /else's/ world just got destroyed." 
}}

5729/Then The Morning Comes (4)

2019-01-19T23:44:21Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/03/05 |Location=Lumiere |Synopsis=Prepared, the party re-enters Lumiere to confront its mysteries |Cast of Characters=974, 1100, 954, 964, 112..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/03/05
|Location=Lumiere
|Synopsis=Prepared, the party re-enters Lumiere to confront its mysteries
|Cast of Characters=974, 1100, 954, 964, 1123, 1154, 290, 1151, 562, 513, 42, 1137, 6
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Warp Gate Terminal Station==     Elites knowledgeable of technological applications of portal creation and modification have gathered at an artificial warp gate near a Warp Gate Terminal Station. Any necessary aid from technicians is available, and a ton of weapon emplacements, wards, and other defenses are situated in the area just in case the unexpected happens, and somehow something comes after them. Their goal is to use a Warp Gate connection to a beacon known as a Shrine of Light, a local-equivalent of a natural warp gate, in Lumiere which was transposed into the artificial reality of Emblem City to punch through its defenses, allowing a team to show up inside without dealing with the currently-contaminated 'front door'.     There are still seven people to rescue, and anchors have been retrieved for all of them. Now all that's left is to fight their way through any opposition, or, if possible, sneak in, and extract their people. This transit method will take 'longer' due to the number of relays it has to go through, meaning it will have to be started first, so that when this group is ready to insert into the prison dimension, the other team can synch up their own efforts to arrive at the same time.     Unfortunately, it seems adequate sealing and purification experts couldn't be gathered in time, and Enark's research into any rituals related to containing the Corruption in the past are not being especially fruitful.     So they only have two entrances this time.     Hopefully that is enough.     They begin in five minutes. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Umberdark Tunnels==     In an abandoned subway system in Lumiere, the land of the dead, a place that was dark, frightening, and dangerous when first Elite explorers found it, and that has now turned into a warm and welcoming location, with wall-affixed lighting fixtures that glow a soft pale-yellow light, moon emblems and imagery on the walls and support columns, and the ancient marble is as clean and fresh-looking as though it had been newly made.     This place has exhibited highly unusual temporal and spatial anomalies (unusual for Lumiere, anyway), and Enark feels this is where those who focus on magical or other methods of portal creation and teleportation can create their own breach, a new entry point into Emblem City, to catch its rulers and protectors by surprise. They will need to time their incursion with the other team's, but should start the process right now.     They need to have an entrance in four minutes. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City - Lumiere System==     The changes to Lumiere System are complete. This is no longer Emblem City. It is something else. Something new and forboding. It is what Coeus has told the noble souls who have elected to defend their homes, the 'battle configuration' of Emblem City, designed to repel invaders and put a stop to their corruption once and for all. PRAYER seems to be off-line except in as much as it provides the altered forms and appearances they are accustomed to, but a drop of Coeus's blood on the forehead of each allows them to keep their powers, whereas all the other noble souls are in hiding in homes and secure facilities, so that they can not become victims in the cross-fire or abducted easily.     Coeus seems certain that they will attack today. Maybe Phoebe's gift of prophecy predicted it.     Either way, they are all here. And so are strange smooth-fleshed Selene upgrades that look nothing like any Selenes seen before. They come in a variety of colors, some are taller or shorter, or longer of torso and limbs at least, but regardless of their configuration they have the same features. A featureless fleshy creature with a range of cartoonish expressions on their faces, and a pair of horn or ear-like protrusions at the upper corners of their heads. For some, their expressions are fixed, while others may change slightly.     But so far, most of them just seem to be smiling, their gleaming circles for eyes staring unflinchingly and unblinkingly, as they leap from roof top to roof top, patrol the streets, or stand with the gathered defenders.     Only one of these constructs, called 'Crows', stands apart from the others.     One whose pale flesh has darkened greatly, to a midnight blue. This one's eyes are pure-black, empty holes. Like pin points of the Abyss.     The enemy will be here soon. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:'''             ==Team Emblem== Paird is out on the streets along with the Crows. The blue-haired woman has armoured herself up a little, with curved plates that clearly used to be a part of the engine cowling of her flying machine, now repurposed for the defense of her city, her afterlife. The rivet gun she built and mounted to it at the start of the Trouble has also been dismounted and she's carrying it, heavy straps helping her support the weight. The spot of Coeus' blood on her forehead feels strange. It's still wet, even after a reset period, and yet it didn't leave any stains on her pillow. Or the sponge she washed her face with. As she gets into position, she gives a nod to the Crows on either side of her, nervously. "So it's today, then?" She asks, nervously. She's not even sure if the things can speak. "Well. I'm ready." 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Kord stands in wait at the artificial warp gate, where he will be one of the first into the accursed place. He has his Pokegem hanging from his neck on a chain, containing the Murkrow that was brought with him to save him from the very place he was held prisoner within not long ago. His helmet is removed and he already has his scythe in one of his hands, the weapon hanging loosely. His facial expression is intense, and his inhuman eyes focusing on where he needs to go next. He isn't even wearing his cape today, so his strange red and black tail sways and twitches behind him in plain view.     He is hardly blinking as he waits for the window to act. Once it opens, he'll move with singleminded purpose, a monster whose stuff was taken and is itching to get it back. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' One case example of 'teleportation expert' in this case is belonging to Kushiko, though with this knowledge and the application of it must be through the petite form of Nova. The Tenno operator knows not only through her own, but through manipulations and utilization of Orokin-era gates that exist in her world, and they are remarkably similar to the Warp Gate system here. Yet that's not quite what she'll be doing: she'll be working down at the Umberdark Tunnels to make a tear through reality, though not in the way she's typically accustomed to. Which is why it's a good thing she can do this without having to really /worry/ about fighting, at least not initially. She's equipped for it--a gleaming shotgun attached to her back that as much as it looked like a work of art, it looked all the more perfect for cutting someone into pieces. One of her additional pieces she's broguht with her is a crafted 'Key' she calls it, a device normally used to enable gates to begin with, but with enough energy poured into it, can help her possibly /force/ her way into a place she doesn't have access to. Attunement, you could say. And given the transit needs, she's also providing her own, highly stable worm holes as needed for those wanting to even get here as needed, to bypass certain parts of territory. As to her gates, they're two way, and tend to retain momentum. Speedy thing go in, speedy thing go out. Further more because of this, her usual energy output and capacity is /much/ higher than usual. An additional bit of Orokin-era tech is fueling the Warframe's energy output and capacity to greater degrees, which means the energy funnels on her back and the back of her head are glowing brightly, with the control surfaces unfolded slightly as she works. Tiny balls of condensed antimatter energy orbit around her, sometimes flitting off to fuel and stabilize something else before a new one reappears in orbit around her body. She'll leave Warp Gate modifications to others: hers is going to be tearing reality a new hole down here. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:''' == WARPGATE ==     Today is not a day for semi-automatic small-clip rifles.     A thirty-round magazine is fed into a vintage Thompson sub-machine gun, the slide racked. A twelve year old blonde in a one-piece battle suit flicks the safety to 'on', then slings the weapon. Additional magazines are collected, then tucked into the bandolier worn over the suit. Four grenades are likewise gathered, hanging from a belt off the back of her hips.     Equipped for war, Major Tanya von Degurechaff activates her flight unit, ascending until she is eye-level with her contemporary Count Kord.     Calmly, she tugs her right glove up, exposing the crimson Command Seals glowing softly against her skin. Distractedly, she speaks out loud, "This is the part where one of us is supposed to say something motivational to inspire the troops. But frankly I'm simply pissed and have nothing on my mind but retrieving what belongs to me and killing the idiot bold enough to try stealing from me." The glove is tugged back down, tight and professional, with a snap, "I don't care if it's a 'God' or merely an imposter. Whatever lies on the other side of this gate is going to get out of our way." Dipping her head, the girl's lips split into a wide, near-feral grin, "Or meet its maker." 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' Among the Crows stood a hero. Balences stood not far from Paird, black dragon-styled mask on his face, which covered the dot of blood on his forehead. Dressed in a long tunic and pants, there was a black scarf around his neck, as Balences' eyes scanned the area and the houses, a thumbs up to any windows he saw. He didn't know if people were watching, but he'd like them to know he has their back, as he cracked his knuckles. He could fight. He could feel it inside him, the ability to do so. It was all about breathing properly. "Keep your chin up, Paird. With us at the helm alongside these guys, we'll be able to hold them back. We're heroes, you know?" It's hard to tell, but Balences is probably doing a toothy grin under that mask, as he gets into a battle stance. Unlike his shows, it's much more...technical. Proper. A martial artist's form. "Let them come at us! We'll take all of them down, don't you worry! We'll protect everyone. Our friends, our loved ones." Even if, inside, Balences has doubts. And they're not about his abilities, either. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' AT THE WARPGATE: By now, Lumiere has become a place that Rebecca is fully used to, even though she wishes she weren't. It's just like how children get used to their schools but wish they weren't there. Then again there are no strange monsters waiting to get you in school. For Rebecca, though, it's not just another day in paradise, but part of her mission that she accepted a while back, and the fears she once felt coming here are replaced with determination and bravery and a young woman who is eager to do whatever is necessary to rescue those who have gone missing from whatever has gotten them! She is currently loading her weapons and checking her supplies to make sure she's all ready to go. After she's done, she stands up and tightens her kevlar vest before putting her weapons in their holsters or strapping them to her back. Finally, she begins to put on her fingerless gloves, making her look like the S.T.A.R.S. member she's always been. With a sweep of her hand, she brushes her bangs back, making herself look more combat ready. Then she looks around to any others who might be gathered nearby with a stern look on her face. "Let's be careful out there, OK?" Rebecca says. "We're in a critical spot right now and we can't afford to take any chances!" She raises an eyebrow at Tanya's speech but otherwise says little else. "Some people prefer to be blunt, I just get to the point," She whispers to herself. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Eve Ren is amongst the forces defending the city from the invaders. She has been blank-faced since she awoke, a sort of thoughtful nonexpression adopted except when addressed. Then, she smiles, speaks polite platitudes, laughs reassuringly, and moves on with her duties. She's doing wonders passing out quiet, personal reassurance for the heroic souls that have volunteered for defense against the invaders. It seems like she's found religion overnight. But then, she's always had that depiction of Phoebe, hasn't she? She holds her right wrist in her left hand, silently gripping the false hand, presently curled in a fist against her chest. It looks like she's lost in silent prayer. An easy mistake to make. Madness often looks like faith when the lights are down. 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:''' It's been a bit since Eryl was out in the field.     he's with the warp gate team, stretching to limber up his still-fleshy parts, before taking catalogue of his inventory. The inside of his coat is loaded with ammunition for his built-in weapon systems. He looks among his compatriots, and then the environment. He's read the reports, but nothing can really prepare you for something like this.     Tanya's cold words makes him raise an eyebrow, but he steps up. "Well, it's fortunate that I'm always willing to give such a speech. Though, now that you've pointed out that it's meant to be motivational, my job is harder." He stands before the gate, and looks to the assembled. "We all have different reasons for being here. Some might have loved ones trapped in there, others might be looking for payments. Our reasons are our own, but our goals are the same. We will penetrate this prison, rescue those trapped within, and escape with all hands. I'll not tolerate a single 'noble sacrifice' or 'staying behind to hold them off.' This is the kind of place where such things seem the only way to secure any kind of positive outcome, but that is ridiculous. We are the ones who make our endings, so let's make this a good one."     He stands ready for the technicians to give the okay, before striding through the gate. He kind of tries to take point without saying he will, but if someone marches right ahead of him, he won't force the issue. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''             ===Team Warp Gate===     Not long ago, Carna and Enark made a journey to Creation in hopes of finding something that would aid them in bringing Finna out of Emblem City! They might have hoped for an artifact of some sort. perhaps a trinket of home. But what they got was...     A living, breathing, new addition to the team. A young woman with raven black hair, incredibly fair skin that's almost aglow with health, and earthy brown eyes, a face that's slimmer and sharper than Finna's but still bears a considerable resemblance, who is dressed in an elaborate gown of dyed leathers, beads, feathers, and furs, and carries a golden bow that glows like a torch, as if forged from pure spirit-stuff.     She's nervously watching the others, seeming reluctant to speak much up until now. If Enark is here, she'll be sticking closest to him until the time is right!     "We simply must break through! Is there nothing I can do to aid the effort?"     This girl is Merry Breeze of the Laughing Winds tribe. And she is here to rescue her sister! And she'll be rushing through the moment she can!     === Team Emblem ===     Nico Zangt is patrolling with Balences, marching along with the man in her modified scholar robes, clutching a bow of silver, ears flicking left and twisting right for the least sign of trouble like radar dishes. She's one of the defenders of the city, but...     "I don't like this rearrangement. It all feels off." She whisper-mutters to her companions. The new models of Selenes are creeping her out! Too uncanny valley! The new buildings are too angular, too regular. It's causing something deep within her to roil and rage. But it's just more reason to drive out the invaders so things can go back to the way they were! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''                        ==Team Hack-The-Shrines-Of-Light-System==                         Staren arrived with a large crate of parts and has been tirelessly setting them up around the warpgate. He's in his combat robot body, armored up for a fight except for his left arm, which remains unarmored but reveals red metal 'skin' -- it may look something like a gauntlet, but it's a little too small for him to actually have a hand inside it -- it IS his hand.     What he's assembling is a curious mish-mash -- there is a big metal boxy piece of electronics larger than a person, and connected to it is a more steampunk-looking assembly of wood, brass, glass, and wires. The assembly consists of a large circular part with vaguely antenna-like things sticking off it, large enough to walk through -- the purpose of this should be obvious, given this part is positioned right up against the gate itself -- and this in turn is hooked up to a stand with a sort of socket at about hand-height looking like something a bit larger than an arm is to be inserted in it, while around the base are a collection of canisters of mysterious fluid.     He also has a heavy metal disc drilled into the floor, and has tied several harnesses to it.     When people are gathered, he explains. There's a hint of nervousness in his voice. This has to work. Of course, even if it DOES work, there's an awful lot that can go wrong with an experimental reality-tunneling device.     "So. This machine, in essence, opens a path for the warpgate outside conventional reality, and imparts a sort of... defense-piercing effect that will HOPEFULLY break through whatever defenses are blocking a conventional connection, to the warpgate, so that it sort of tunnels up out of reality and then back in." He is torn between explaining in extremely verbose and possibly worrying detail, and trying to impart the minimum possibly emount of information. "These harnesses are so we can pull ourselves back if the tunnel doesn't... connect, or something. Just in case something goes wrong. If we come out at the shrine, we can disconnect them, and the tunnel should stay stable as long as the machine is running." He casts a nervous glance at the canisters of fluid. Then back at the assembled team. "There should be plenty of time. The power draw's not actually that much, the warpgate is doing most of the work.     When all are ready, he pulls a gauntlet with wires along the back from his bag, puts a small clear crystal in his palm, closes his fingers around it, and inserts the gauntlet into the socket. There's the whine of electronics powering up, and then he turns his hand sideways, and the gate activates. He withdraws his arm, leaving the gauntlet in the machine. "This is it! Let's go!" And through he goes. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Warp Gate Terminal Station==     Carna stands with the others outside the artificial warp gate. She is quiet, as usual of her, and intently focused upon the device that Staren is making work. She heard what happened to Enark when he was exposed to this Corruption. What it did to Enark's mimic, and to other people who faced it. It made air solid in their throats. It made particle beams twist around like ropes. It made swords melt and sting their wielders. It made shadows giggle and taunt and space contract, and all sorts of other weird stuff.     She does not care to experience any of that herself. So whatever the techies here are doing will spare them such a fate, and allow them to fulfill their duty: to save those trapped without any memory of themselves.     Finna's sister is likely quite out of her element, but any necessary information and support has been provided. She is the anchor for Finna, most likely. Carna has a jar of dirt, a beret, and some dog tags in a backpack for Leyanne. Tanya's speech is a reminder that not all anchors are merely passive reminders of home, but active agents in bringing the missing back.     Count Kord is as focused as the Lantern is, though he likely has far more emotional investment, having been a prisoner himself until recently. Their enemies will know their wrath with all certainty.     The gate activates. It's ready. As Eryl reminds them they aren't here to die to rescue others or stay behind, but to make sure EVERYONE gets back, Carna feels a tug of memory. Isn't that like what Enark said? No more losses. 'We have to be smarter. We have to be better.' And what he said to Priscilla after her rebuke. 'Our lives are no longer just our own.'     It feels... Foreign to her mind, even if she feels like she should understand it. This selflessness thing. But half of all that makes her up is her loyalty. And if it would be a betrayal of her allies not to come back home with them and make sure they do too... Then there's no other option is there?     As Eryl leads the way, Carna follows.     They pass through, hitting relay after relay, gate transfer after gate transfer. At one point, there's a sudden black film that immerses them right as they pop out of the other end of the warp gate, but they bypass it without contact. They made it through, and arrive in...! 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Tunnel Team==     Kushiko and Enark appear to be the only ones working on making a reality hole. Their entry will be violent, and likely noticeable, but also happen much faster than the other team. They are the surprise attack group. Kushiko should have an easy time making her portals work however she needs them to in such a place with such weird and damaged reality layers. It's simply far more permeable here than other places in Lumiere.     Enark has gone into many dangerous situations before with the others, but usually in larger groups, and there was far less on the line in regard to he himself having to fight. Now, there's a team of two and he is hypothetically half their firepower. Likely far less than half, given the arsenal that Kushiko carries in her war frames. The scholar tries to steel his nerves, casts water shields upon the both of them pre-emptively to soak any unexpected damage, and looks nervously at Kushiko. All her talk of sacrifice at the meeting... "Remember, the mission objective is to get EVERYONE back. That includes you. No sacrifices. I do not care what you were 'made for'. You are you. You are precious to us. And not coming home will be considered a mission failure. So fight with all your might to make sure not a single one of our friends and family get left behind. Alright?"     Then... When Kushiko is done, and they receive confirmation from the others that they have just entered, Enark yells out, "GO!" He leaps through, whether he's first or second. The wormhole is disorienting, but thankfully quite stable, even with the uncertainty factors they're dealing with. And when they pop out the other end, they arrive in...! 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' ==EMBLEM TEAM==                                   Large looks... Less uncertain than he normally does. Although he still seems to be plenty nervous about this whole situation. Still, something is different-- and it's not just the Crows. He feels a pulse, a connection with the city that was not there before. Large murmurs a quiet prayer under his breath, gently tilting the enormous club resting in the concrete nearby.     "It's strange, yes," Large answers, shifting anxiously from foot to foot. "But not terrible, I suppose. The clear lines will make this easier, at least." There's a beat as he peers at the multitude of Crows and frowns. "...I hope our new friends are as strong as Lord Coeus says, regardless. I have a bad feeling about all this." 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City - Lumiere System==     One of the Crows answers Paird in Coeus's voice, Yes. I have analyzed their tactics. Whether they intend more hit-and-run attacks or a full-fledged invasion, in either case, they will not prevail.     Balence's speech receives naught but silence from the Crows, except for a distant clicking sound, like a number of switches being flipped one by one. Then a different one with squinted eyes says, I have every confidence that you will not give in to them, no matter what trickery or deception they attempt. Everyone is depending upon us. Everyone's hopes and dreams. Everyone's hearts are beating as one. Can you feel it? That is their strength, and now yours as well.     Jeci's plan is a good one. Focus on what they can do best. With a combination of PRAYER and the new abilities awakened by Coeus in them (abilities that feel very familiar and natural), there's no need for one person to try to cover everything. They are a team. Another of the Crows speaks up in response to overhearing Nico, and looking upon Large, the architect who so enjoys adding embellishments and artistry to the city. We can make it better when there are no more intruders trying to destroy it all. We can build it again, from the ground up. Make it a work of art that puts old Emblem City to shame. But first we must protect ourselves. It looks towards shell-shocked-seeming Eve. We can make everything better.     And then...     The Crows suddenly take off in multiple directions, splitting up. Some are headed south-west, and some north-east. They are here. A breach near Phoebe's temple, and another near my workshop.     There's a flicker in the power flowing through the city, making one of the Crows halt in its tracks and look up, as though seeing something others aren't. Then, it rejoins the others headed south-west. Trailing behind it, its shadow has gained a face of its own. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==INTRUDERS==     ...Some big blank space. Ambiguous. Uncertain. Escher-Space? Something like it? But this time there's no stairs and doors going off in every direction. Just a flat plane. And sign-posts stuck in the ground. The team that arrived by Warp Gate can, in the distance, make out a ribbon of blue, and a suspension bridge over it, and beyond that, a sprawling city the likes of which has rarely been seen outside of Barrowville's seemingly-infinite Urban Decay. In fact, it bears a lot of similarities in appearance. The sky here is just as blank and indistict as everywhere else this far out. But it transitions to muted sunlight, cast around the edges of an eclipsed sun, further in. This is... Very different from what both the rescuers who were here before and the rescued among the missing saw last time.     The tunnel team arrives in a similar location, but closer to the city boundaries. The border of 'something' they are nearest to is buildings, including a tall one, new to Kushiko since her last visit, with 'LUM-01' printed on the side in the distance. The air hums with the energy it is gathering and channeling. Occasional bolts of blue lightning crawl across its exterior. Oh, and as the water shields Enark put around Kushiko and himself collapse into puddles on the ground as soon as they arrive, there's something else that the tunnel team, and the warp gate team, discover quite quickly.     All of their powers, their abilities, any traits of their physiology or training, that exceed a normal human's appear to be gone. Or if not gone, suppressed. Smothered somehow, by some enormously powerful force that weighs down upon them, blocks their minds from making the necessary connections - interrupts it somehow.     And now, regardless of their forms or functions, they are basically all 'normal'.     This may present a complication to the rescue mission. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     As soon as Staren steps out of the shrine of light, even as he starts to reach for the harness release now that they've made it, he falls to his hands and knees. "What is this...? High gravity?" He struggles to turn his head and look at the others. "But you're all fine..." Well, they may not be /fine/, but they aren't all being crushed under the weight of armor meant for powerful cyborgs, at least. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:''' -- WARP GATE TEAM --     Kord's shock when he hits the empty space, stepping through into a fog where even his weapon feels heavier in his hand, and he feels himself robbed of the blessings that made him what he is. He struggles and staggers for a minute, and his eyes -- now a surprisingly ordinary shade of blue -- scan his surroundings in search of the source of the odd feeling. His tail, though, seems to still be present.     "Fine! Everyone, break whatever looks important! This could be magic of some flavor, a curse placed on this place!"     And then he hefts his scythe up to his shoulder and begins to jog forward, grimacing at how slow and weighty he feels without his superhuman abilities. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:''' == Warpgate ==     On the other side of the portal, Tanya's flight unit emits a creak. The blue glow of its gem fades, and she promptly drops to her feet with a stagger and a surprised shout. She doesn't fall, but she does wobble precariously for a few seconds. When she recovers, she immediately leans back, glowering down at the unit strapped to her hips.     In response, the gem sparks, but fails to light again.     Baring her teeth in a mix between a grimace and a grin, Tanya considers her options. Magic really was the only thing that made her exceptional. Without it, she's just a child. A very vulnerable and fragile human being.     There's a brief moment where it looks like she might be having a panic attack, shaking hands collect the strapped Thompson from her shoulder. As she flips the safety off, Major Tanya von Degurechaff uncertain expression becomes a wide-eyed grin.     "What an honor... Giving me a handicap JUST SO YOU STAND A CHANCE..! AHH HA HA HA HA~!" 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' "We're not going to die! Not here and definitely not now!" Rebecca says with an even more firm look than before. "We came here to rescue those in need, and that's what were going to do!" As if on instinct, Rebecca grabs her Beretta and clasps it firmly, ready to move out at the drop of a hat. And apparently, someone just dropped their hat, because the order to move out has just been given. As in right now! "Roger that!" Rebecca replies, quickly taking off towards the wormhole, not caring about what it will feel like or where they might end up. This is their effort to start the rescue mission, and there is no turning back now. In fact, even as Rebecca steps into the wormhole, whatever happens doesn't faze her at all. Whether she gets dizzy or blacks out, she doesn't care. Her adrenaline is in high gear and she's eager to use it! "Don't worry," Rebecca says gently. "We're coming to rescue you! Just hold on!" At the same time, Rebecca hopes they aren't too late to rescue anyone. Then they finally arrive... ...And it's rather weird. Namely since other people seem to be experiencing negative effects of some kind. Rebecca feels fine, but she gets the feeling that the place is doing this to the others. "I've really got a bad feeling now." She holds her Beretta closer and more ready. "Whoever's behind this better watch out!" 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:'''                              ==At The Bridge==                                   Something emerges from the swirling darkness. No. Not emerges. It was always here. Here, standing where it had been trapped at the very edge of the world. A giant of shadow and blood, instinct and madness. It stands like a great, crimson scar upon the world, as if someone had punched a hole through the fabric of reality and mended the tattered fabrics into... something. Something ten feet tall, bristling with barely-constrained power, clad in tattered timespace, skin flayed and torn to reveal burning, rippling musculature beneath. All is silent as the intruders approach. The guardian merely stands at his vigil, its eyes twin pinpricks of red against a black backdrop. But as they get just close enough, that changes. The beast roars, its voice hoarse with rage and pain as a great axe erupts from the darkness and falls into its hands. It slams its massive foot into the bridge, causing the entire structure to oscillate, twist and writhe. The beast has come.                      --==!WARNING!WARNING!WARNING!==--                                                THE BEAST SHACKLED BY RAGE                                                ROARING WRATH AT WORLD'S EDGE                                                      THE PREDATOR KING                                                    --==!WARNING!WARNING!WARNING!==--                       

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' ==Tunnel Team== Fun fact about Kushiko's Nova Warframe--it totally wasn't the most durable of her 'frames--she relied on deft dodging, and even taking advantage of swiftly made portals to sometimes get out of dodge. Truth be told, she wielded an absolutely /absurd/ damage potential--the ability to drop down waves of slowing, vulnerability-inducing waves of antimatter energy coupled with even more energy that took and amplified damage dealt to explode violently? Still, as an engine of destruction she was, the Warframe didn't even so much as /look/ at Enark. Yet the Scholar could /feel/ a palpable stare, a look of the oddest serenity emanating from her as her hands gestured and swept as she made energy coalesce together. She was almost there. <"I know. I won't be me until I get what I need back. What they took from me. It's not the first time..."> she starts. Her anchor was being kept safely, the lullabye of her surrogate mother, of Margulis, fresh in her mind. The water shields work well with her own antimatter 'orbit' around her. <"It's hollow in here. I need to fill that space before I can fix it inside me,"> she admits quietly. She tugs loose her Tigris Prime shotgun from her back once she focuses a spike of energy *inward*, synchornizing near perfectly with the entry. <--> EMBLEM CITY - OUTSKIRTS <--> It's the actual entry that's both a hint of weird and /messed up/ that as she was getting ready to unleash hell once she had a good bead on things here when she immediately senses what's /wrong/. Because it's an oh-so familiar sensibility. Suppression to her was very much like Corpus Nullifiers in her world, but this was far more spread. The other weighty feeling is something that she adjusts to--making sure the Infested flesh within her surrogate body didn't have any issues. You know, checking her guns, her mobility and the like and checking on Enark first of all. Normal human physiology limits were pretty close to what she was at; it may limit a few things. Problem for those jailors: she wasn't completely limited by this. Her greatest skill was to adapt, and overcome, and reducing her physical capability meant her mental capability remained. <"Stay close and look for anything that looks fragile and important. Anything that looks like it's drawing energy off or into itself."> Instinct dictates this is probably how she and Enark might find what they need. She also attempts to do more than this; using her suit's sensors to try and pick up on jamming. If she can. If not well. Time to look for smashable objects of import. Like in the direction of the LUM-01 marked building. Internally, for the first time in her life, the fragmented parts of her persona weave together into a united front of almost childish rage. The power being forced to dull her blade is something she resists with more anger than she's ever felt, distilled into something short and simple, her Void-granted abilities railing at the mere /concept/ of being contained. /Fuck/ these guys. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:'''     ==TEAM EMBLEM== Paird never was one to sit around and wait. Now they're here, she's got something to do. She turns and runs towards Coeus' workshop - least she can do, after he gave her the ability to defend her home. Her armour clatters and clanks as she jogs, moving to block their route to the city itself. She shows no signs of fatigue. She positions herself squarely in front of the entrance to Coeus' workshop, a hot rivet chambered in her gun. She lights herself a cigar and stands to wait, patiently. The sentry has her spot... and Crows as backup. "Let them try and take my chance at reincarnation, will they?" She mutters, sourly. "I'll show them what for." 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' The Intruders were here it was time to fight the sky is black it feels foreboding this war mode is pretty much a very scary hing for her but she needs. She kn ow they have ways to defend it and they are some of the ones to fight to get their paradise of an afterlife back. There's little choice on this right? "So we should be ready for anything then. I know everyone is why can't they let us have our ... afterlife in peace? Life was mirsable enough for many here..." She frowns but seems ready her golden eyes are filled with some serious determination at this point. % Jeci readies her spear and looks to Parid for a moment before she looks back to what's ahead of her. "Lets stick together there's strength in numbers Parid." She will wait there going to make ready to guard the way to LUM-01. "They will have to get through us, these sorts are like the jackasses who killed me." 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:''' =TEAM WARPGATE=                                     They stride into the warpgate, and bounce from relay to relay. Eryl is privately thankful that his implants help settle motion sickness, because would give him a real bad bout of it otherwise. But all journeys come to an end, and his feet soon land in a foreign city...     Something is wrong. WEAPON SYSTEM STATUS SWS_001 "ONE HAND CLAPPING" OFFLINE SWS_002 "FLOWERING HEDGE" OFFLINE SWS_003 "UNMOVING TONGUE" OFFLINE SWS_004 "GOLDEN WIND" OFFLINE SWS_005 "UNGRASPABLES" OFFLINE     It's not just that either. His limbs weigh upon his form in a way they haven't in a long time. The inside of his mouth tastes bitter from his augmented saliva. His insides feel heavy, wrong, missing important things. It's just like how it was when he was first made into a cyborg.     His mouth twists into a strange grin. "How nostalgic..." he muses to himself as he examines his own hands. He then takes a breath, and looks to everyone. "I expect you're all feeling something similar. Weaker, depowered. This does not change our mission, but I understand if any of you would rather back out. But I believe we can all still do this, if we work together. We were not always what we are, and we made it to today with what we had. Fall back on your old skills! Rely on dirty tactics! Keep your back against the wall, or another person's back! This day can still be ours!"     He then goes to the signposts, reading where they point. Specifically, he would like to know what the river is called, and the name of that suspension bridge. The splash of color is eye-grabbing... and so is whatever is emerging from the distant structure.     "I think... that should be our first point of interest," he says, before making his way to it. Slowly, quietly, using as much cover as he can. But once he gets close, the figure begins to lose its temper. "Oh hell," he cusses under his breath as the Bull begins to rampage, distorting the bridge's frame. He comes out, palms raised. "Peace friend, peace! I mean you no harm!" 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' HEADING SOUTHWEST "Then let them beat with the fury of a thousand storms!" Balences replies to the Crow, as he prepares. He never used PRAYER, but just awakened abilities. They are his strength. He'll find out what's going on here and protect his city, one way or another. And then, the Crows split up as the intruders arrive...but one stops. It looks up, and then continues, and there's something strange about its shadow. Balences silently moves to follow it, moving to rush towards the BRIDGE, southwest. Balences dashes rapidly to keep up with the Crows or even surpass them, when he sees the massive monster in the distance. His eyes widen under the mask as the performer moves to try and reach it, speaking to any others near him on the pursuit. "What the hell is that? Is that some sort of defense weapon?" And then, if he's close enough to be heard, he shouts out as loud as he can. "Halt, evil-doers! You cannot harm our city! The Masked Dragon will stop your advance!" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:''' == Warpgate Team ==     When the Beast appears, Tanya's laugh cuts short. She scowls up at the bulky monster, swinging her Thompson down into a ready position. However, the little girl pauses. She squints at the Beast, wind tousling the sprig of hair protruding from her head. It almost seems to straighten in the same moment she has some internal revelation. A thumb triggers the safety back on and she slings the weapon.     "You aren't going to get through to him with words, Fairfax," the Major comments as she steps past Eryl, tugging at her glove.     She steadies herself on the wobbling bridge, thrusting her right hand up to display the red sigil on the back of her hand. The Command Seal, proof of her contract with the Berserker, Asterios. Raising her voice, she puts every tiny bit of bravado into her tone as her tiny body can muster.     "How DARE you threaten me!" A fury the likes of which few have ever heard surfaces from the miniature Major, "BEYOND ALL ELSE, YOU BELONG TO /ME/! YOUR WILL IS /MINE/! I command you, and you WILL serve me! /I/ AM YOUR MASTER!" 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:'''     > EMBLEM-SIDE - TUNNEL EXIT < "We're going to fix everything," Eve whispers. She shudders. She moves. The Crows rush away, and Eve follows. She ends up crossing the empty city alongside them, leaping obstacles and weaving between barriers. She isn't flying, or teleporting, or doing anything of the sort; she's just fast on the ground, quick on her feet. Eve is quiet the whole way. She gets to a building. Eve slows, hugging the side of it. She moves smoothly and quietly up to the edge, and then peeks around it. The Crows will draw most of the attention, she thinks. She's going to wait until they do that before she does anything on her own. Eve's left hand trembles. Her right is still clenched in a tight fist. Kushiko may recognize the glimpse of crimson hair, looking out from a deep shadow, watching her. It's just for an instant, though... 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     === Team Emblem - Center ===     Nico Zangt grins sheepishly upon realizing she's been overheard, and casts a silly look at the Crow that picked up on her worries!     They're not entirely subdued, either. Something seems odd about this. Why this tiny group appointed to defend? The very same people that the invaders seemed to focus on corrupting...? The scholar in her has come upon this quirk, and it's gnawing slowly on it.     Just as the concrete jungle cityscape gnaws on something ELSE in her heart.     "Yeah, yeah. My arrows are going straight for the knees. Then I'm gonna shake them all until they cough up some answers! And then Large can sit on them until they beg for mercy!" This jovially spouted description of intent is perhaps not wholly accurate, but it is her best attempt on the fly to lighten everyone's spirits a tad!     Nico SHUDDERS as a chill goes down her spine from something not far away, but for now, she's listening to the warnings... "To the workshop! Sorry, Phoebe. Gotta keep the city working first.... unless you have a better idea? Following your lead, Balences!"     === Team Warp Gate ===     Through the warp gate! It's just as disorienting as the last few times she's used the otherworldly things... no, moreso. Because this time when Merry Breeze sets foot in the unfamiliar streets she stumbles and cries sharply in distress! For she has grown used to the power, the light of justice coursing through her veins.... and as her grasp of the Sun's Holy Essence dwindles, so does her golden bow. It fades into incohesive motes of light, leaving her unarmed.     "What sorcery is this...? Have I been lead into a trap...?!" No, there's no way anyone would go this far to trap her... right?     Nevertheless. Whether she can feel the sun's warmth in her soul or not, she is here to rescue her dear sister!     Then, just as she's regaining her composure, the Beast appears! And Eryl... tries to speak with it? The shamaness scowls. "You cannot be serious! We don't yet know how to appease that creature--" But then, Tanya rushes in just the same. And she bites her tongue just like that. Looks like she'd better think twice about that matter. Hopefully.     Briefly she glances around at the architecture. Kicks the pavement they walk upon. And frowns. "What a dreadful thing to do to the land... how is anyone to grow food here?"     Leaving the matter of the Beast to Tanya for now, she scans the horizon for any trace of her sister. Or perhaps somewhere she might find a bow. Maybe there's a hunting store with one in the window, right? This is a city! 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:'''                          == Team Emblem - Center ==                         Large seems momentarily surprised when Coeus' voice emerges from those myriad crows. "Milord you are... I see, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Those are, after all, your flesh and blood, aren't they...?" The architect-turned-fighter chuckles and shakes his head. "It's fine. I'll do whatever I can. With the power you have granted me..." Large's eyes pulse with power. The city itself begins to rearrange, providing him with all the footing he needs to rapidly move to rejoin the others. Large bounds inexorably towards the workshop. It's like Nico says... They have to keep the city running first. But... Why does he feel suddenly... so uneasy??                              ==At The Bridge==                               The beast's roar is the kind that penetrates the very innermost hollow of the skull, seeming to resonate in that deep, primordial lizard-brain that all humans carry with them. It is terrible, primal, forged of the essential nightmare which taught the ancestors of man to fear the dark. And then it finds itself charging a little girl. And the roar turns to an anguished scream. The monster falters and trips over itself, crashing into the pavement and leaving a long, bloody streak across the asphalt as it edges ever closer to its would-be prey. Except... It's writhing, gripping at its head as if it were suffering some incredibly, indescribable pain. A voice like a broken thunderstorm cries out-- MA...STER-- HURTS-- CAN'T... STOP. HELP... PLEASE! 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City - Outskirts (LUM-01)==     Enark is far more shocked than Kushiko. He wasn't particularly strong to begin with, but to be cut off from even what little magic he possses is quite the slap in the face. "This is... Unexpected." Even when he tries to plan for everything, he can't plan for everything. Though, to be fair, they came up with their plan and then acted upon it within only two days. That's not nearly enough time to work out all the kinks. Even so, this has all the earmarks of a disaster all over it.     Should they pull back?     Kushiko seems to be determined to keep going. So... Enark does too, running along in his blue robes as best he can, crossing the vast blank white space between here and the border. When they pass onto the city streets, and find themselves near that huge building crackling with power, he sees two people come to face them, guarding the building's entrance. The blue-haired woman was previously identified as Leyanne's incarnation here. The other, as Tomoe. He... Unfortunately doesn't have the anchor for Tomoe. Staren does. Carna has Leyanne's jar of dirt. Both of those people are SOMEWHERE ELSE, and it seems radios aren't functioning.     But he also has Leyanne's dog tags (or those of a fallen friend, at least), and her beret in a pouch. So he starts trying to retrieve them, hoping that like the anchors did for others before, they will draw the true Leyanne out. "Miss Mace!" he calls out as he slows his approach a bit. "Miss Leyanne Mace! Please try to remember who you are! My name is Enark." He waves the dog tags around in his hand, simultaneously trying to help Leyanne come back to her senses, and to distract the two protectors while Kushiko locates the jamming beacons.     Sensors work about the same as human senses right now, so if she can see or hear the red energy that radiates from the beacons in waves, she can track them down. And then, it's just a matter of using her weapons as weaponry.     Hopefully nothing will show up to stop her.     He fails to notice the eyes peering from the shadows, and is so focused on Leyanne and Tomoe (or whatever they call themselves now), that he might even miss the figures that suddenly appear in boxes of light around the jamming beacon as Kushiko arrives to destroy it. That's out of sight, around the corner.     Or the way that a couple of them causes glowing weapons of white light to appear in their hands as they approach her menacingly, giving their simplistically-designed, cartoonish smiles.     And with what Enark is trying to do, Large may be arriving just in time to see another ally turn on them. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City Bridge==     A monster appears on the bridge. Carna feels vastly weaker. The chains around her arm are gone and now she just holds a sword. One she can scarcely remember how to use. The smell of the living all around her is gone. Or rather, she can not differentiate it from any other odor. She also feels... Lost and confused. Ever since she 'woke up dead' there's been whispers in her head, annoying her, prodding her, giving her suggestions. She tried to ignore them so hard that she stopped hearing them at all. But now that they're actually legitimately GONE, she can tell that 'not noticing them' is very different from them not being there.     There is no more urging. No more suggesting. No more encouragement. And that loss of purpose makes her worry deeply about whether coming here was really her idea and desire after all. But the others start running, passing by the sign posts, which mostly amount to arrows, and a scarce few words.     When Eryl checked them, he would have seen one that says 'City Limits' pointing away from the bridge. The other, towards it, reads 'Emblem City'. As people seem to be running towards and onto the bridge from the other side, the 'Emblem City' side, the monster between them begins to surrender to the commands of its master.     It seems talking is the solution after all, as Eryl attempted, and Tanya succeeded at. Or maybe it's that Tanya is here to draw forth the truth identity of the besst.     Quite fortunate, since Carna does not know if they could have taken such a foe on their own, regardless of tactics or armament. It was a nightmarish shape that instilled terror into her. But she turns to look at Merry Breeze, her discomfiture with the unfamiliar environment, how lost she is. They just turned a fight that looks utterly unwinnably stacked against them into a victory, or are on the road to it. "I have no reason to think any of us will succeed or survive this battle." she tells Finna's sister bluntly. "But they do. So I will trust in them. And you must trust in your sister."     She can't do much right now. But she can try to make one even worse off than she is feel a bit better.     Rebecca is not affected by the suppression, but no doubt her gun will come in handy. As people start crossing the bridge, strange shapes, with two points on their heads like horns or ears, smooth-skinned and jointless, with cartoonish faces, come leaping and running into view as well. One of them produces some kind of laser polearm in its hands, and a red-colored one produces a glowing blade in each hand. They move unnaturally quickly, especially to the now-mundane senses and reactions of the rescuers, bouncing off the bridge cables and soaring through the air.     Blades of energy rain down from above from the red one, targeted on...     The Monster!?     In the midst of this, easy to go unnoticed, a large dog with shaggy black fur goes running past the warp gate team, heedless of Monsters and Crows and raining blades. He seems to have something in his mouth, and is making a beeline for Balences. With Nico Zangt also here, and her sister right on the other side, they might catch sight of each other, even if from afar. 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Having a little girl walk out in front of him when he is trying to negotiate is extremely unusual. But she does it with such confidence that he doesn't raise an objection. Her words are harsh, a far cry from how he likes to handle this kind of thing. But he can't deny its effectiveness, as the Monster swerves to avoid them.     "So, you're here for him? Very well, let's get him back to normal an-" He pauses as figures begin to cross the bridge, approaching them. "Hello! We are just here to-" A laser weapon is drawn, and energy bolts are sent raining down towards the Monster. Eryl's face stiffens, and he begins running towards the prone, bloody figure.     "Stay down! Hands behind your head!" he shouts at him, before leaping on his back and curling up. Raising his metal limbs to face the sky, the falling blades, aiming to soak them up. While he is far weaker than usual, his limbs are still sturdy, hopefully able to soak up this attack. "Return fire!" he orders on instinct to Tanya, Rebecca, and Merry. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:''' -- WARP GATE TEAM / The Bridge --     Kord had come to a skittering halt when the Beast had appeared on the bridge, a monstrous form that seemed quite familiar. The red-haired man breaks into a sprint, though, when he hears the sound of Tanya's voice nearby, and the beast before them struggles against his own fury, not able to control himself. "Asterios... tch," the man puffs out as he goes, ready to take off right past the monster... when he notices the Crows that suddenly drop upon the bridge, and they make a beeline for attacking the ally they just came here to save.     One of his subordinates.     He jerks his head to look at Eryl, frowning briefly, then does a loud, vicious overhead swing to try to hit the red Crow right in its center of mass with the point of his scythe as it descends. He shouts to the others, then, as he does this...!     "Go! I'll fight them as best I can! We need to wake the others up! We can't just sit here on this bridge!"     He will not allow his people to be threatened. But can he really fight most of these things by himself, without his enhanced body, without the help of Pokemon partners like other Trainers?     "Go!!!" Even barked at Eryl, "This spot is not what we're here for! Don't let them stop you!" 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:'''     ==Team Emblem... Team error.== Paird levels the cannon at Enark. "I just want you to leave me to die in peace! Isn't it- Isn't it... that... that..." She stops, faltering. She drops the cannon, walking towards Enark. She reaches out her hand to him, stepping forward. She takes the dogtags from his hand - and with her other hand, swings a right hook vague direction of his face. Whether it connects or not, the blue-haired woman collapses to her knees, staring at the tag. "Jessica." She whispers. There's no bright flash of light or anything, no flashy effects... just... a shift. One moment, there's a tall, but not quite abnormally tall human, the next, Leyanne is knelt there, staring at the dogtag... somehow, despite her giant size... she semes small, and vulnerable. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' At Lum-01 Jecie pose has chaneged a bit as she sees some of the invaders arrive it's time to meet her fate, but what does she have to fear she's already dead, right? She sees there are invaders coming and she steps forwth to meet them. She looks to Enark for a moment her golden eyes narrowing at him for a moment. "Stop with your lies, that is enough. I saw what you done to them. She Jeci grunts, Tomoe may have been warped but some things they couldn't get rid of or maybe but she's going to charge at Enark letting out a loud warcry someone's going to ahve to deal with Jeci here as she seems hell bent to stop these monsters, but she's also possibley not ready to deal with those who are backing up Enark evne in a supressed state. "GET AWAY FROM PAIRD!" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' ==TUNNEL TEAM: ECCENTRIC BOOGALOO== There was a small hope; especially with what was going on noisily at the other end of this Lumiere System/Emblem City; she remembered what she could as Soupi, though remembering it also filled her with yet more fury, something she didn't usually give way to when she was in a combat situation. There was a very, /very/ brief consideration for actually falling back, but they had honestly come too far to give up now. Were it not for some personal experiences, she might be as distraught and put off as poor Enark was. <"Be careful,"> Kushiko gently but curtly reminds Enark as she begins her search. It was a little disorienting at first to reaccomodate to two facets: one, that all of Kushiko's frames, including Nova here, had no physical eyes. It was the suit, the sensors, that somehow managed against all odds to retain sensory input whatsoever. Two: she was used to sometimes looking around, which was a little muddled but still just enough to catch sight of Eve. She knew more, thanks to the kindly old woman within the stone in her possession saying as much. <"We have more pressing issues,"> she murmurs half to herself, half to the gem in hand. Her measure of 'storage' had allowed her to quickly question and listen as she knows what needs be done--the respective 'devils' in their own ways working to accomplish this. Especially because even though she is faceless, tranquil fury radiates from every inch of the technorganic frame. <"I'm going to erase this from existence,"> she quietly seethes, and it's something of a promise due to a cognitive realization of what happened in her escape from here. Had she the power, there would be untold devastation being unleashed. But she doesn't. So some straight forward surgery was more in line. Specifically, the way she levels the twin-barreled shotgun up, and fires two quick blasts from it--each blast throwing a deadly storm of pellets from each, and once she's fired the second shot, she rolls to one side, strafing in anticipation as she snaps open the breach-load shotgun to reload it on the move. Her intended targets were simple: try to blast the jamming device and one of these twisted mockeries of a Crow. The shotgun itself is brought up post-roll as she keeps it trained towards the jammer and the shadows. <"I know you're over there! I got plenty to go around!"> It's a calculated risk to call out Eve--not her usual style either. But the petite, black and purple with silver gildings to her body needed to draw her out and get that fist-sized stone where it needed to be, but also needed to get that jammer blown up as she fired again. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:''' = Warpgate Team =     Tanya remains steadfast when the Beast charges, falters, and collapses. She only lowers her outstretched hand when it has slid to a complete stop before her. Puffing her chest out, she cuts a stoic look standing above the brought-low monstrosity, staring down at his face with those ordinary blue eyes of hers. Wind tousles her hair, ahoge swaying in gentle motions.     "The pain will not end until this city is destroyed," Tanya comments. Her head lowers, bangs casting her eyes in shadow. Without their typical magical glow, however, the effect is lesser than usual, "Do what you do best. Asterios. Destroy this place that tortures you. Every building. Every road. Every brick. Until nothing is left of this prison."     Her eyes lift to look past the fallen Beast, and she un-shoulders her weapon, "But probably not this bridge, just yet. We're still using it."     Tanya actually uses Asterios'(?) body as cover. What? He's big and durable enough, and she's small and fragile. The safety is flipped back off. While Eryl goes on the defense, it's Tanya who pops up from behind the currently prone Beast and unloads a burst from her sub-machine gun, "Shut up, Kord!" She shouts over her weapon, "We move as a unit or we don't move at all! Like Fairfax said-- No moronic self-sacrifices!" 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' BRIDGE TEAM: It's a good thing Rebecca wasn't affected by whatever it is that's affecting her comrades around her! Namely since a monster has appeared... or rather a large amount of monsters. They are definitely not friendly based on how they look, and Rebecca knows they intend to kill them. Her adrenaline shifts into high gear when she spots the laser polearm of one monster and then sees the glowing blades of the other. Now they're coming at her, bouncing off the bridge cables and into the air... Obviously intending to strike Rebecca and the others. Or not? Because the monsters seem more intent on taking on Asterios instead. Nevertheless, Rebecca's not going to stand for it! "Leave him alone!" Rebecca yells as she opens fire on the monsters, hoping to stop them as well as draw their attention to her in hopes of protecting Asterios. At the same time, Rebecca's pulled out her tactical shield and is holding that with her left hand to give herself a little extra protection. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Oh shit, giant monster! Also some hero yelling, but the monster is more pressing. Staren struggles to release the safety harness and trigger the armor release, grunting as he gets up to his knees and the plating starts falling off, then standing up. It seems Tanya is handling the monster, who was-- "Asterios?!"     But there's no time, Eryl's running off. Can they still do this? He reaches into his bag and pulls out a submachinegun. At least that still works... although he can't seem to smart link with it.     He's in no hurry to close the distance to Balences though, stopping on the bridge at a distance he thinks he can shoot across, and shouts:     "We're not here to harm the city! We're here to help YOU! And if you are too selfless for that to matter... then tell me, hero! Are you really content hiding here, when the world out there needs you? You have another life promised, but what about all the people who don't? Do you have a duty to help them, or not?!"     It's a longshot, but... without the advantages of technology, what has he got? 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' TEAM EMBLEM - THE BRIDGE Balences is prepared for a fight, their team and a monster against the intruders. What happens is something else entirely. The little girl raises her hand, uses something, and manages to turn the monster to her side! For a minute, Balences thinks that the cry of pain is them converting the monster to their side, and when the small monsters arrive, that they're going to help it. He's entirely shocked when they instead move to /attack it/. "What are you all doing? Isn't it on our side?!" Balences, still in his mask, moves to run forward...and gets shouted at, as a dog is approaching him. "What are you talking about? Another life? I died! I left that life! I need to protect the souls of this city. If you want to help, then leave! You're terrorizing everyone! You..." Balences sees it in the dog's mouth. He immediately feels as if something's in his throat, even though he doesn't know why, like he's going to choke from...sadness? And the dog itself...familiar. Where has he seen it before? And why does it have /that/? The performer dashes, moving to reach up to the black dog and try and get the object from it. That's his, and only his, something tells him deep inside. "Give me that!" 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:'''                          == Team Emblem - Center ==                         Large is, as his name suggests, quite... Large. And slow, in his own way. He needs to build momentum to get going, but once he /does,/ it's incredible to see just how little anything can really slow him down. Nevermind that the city seems to be bending and rearranging as he charges through it, as if shifting to allow him passage. Unfortunately, it still isn't enough...! "Paird!" Large yells, gesturing toward the commando. Suddenly the streets shoot upwards, bending up into protective barriers to try and cut the intruders off from her. "Damn. Don't let them get to you! Don't--" Suddenly, something changes. Large seizes, one hand flying to his chest. He has gone suddenly all too pale. "What..." he murmurs, looking toward the distant bridge. "What is... Happening? Something... Something terrible is coming...!"                              ==At The Bridge==                               The Monster's crimson eyes lock with Tanya's own. Blue and red mingle as the creature continues to twist and spasm. Lances of light bite into its flank, running clear through its torso, and yet... And yet... The monster... rises. Destroy. That was its mission. Destroy. That is what it was to do. Rip down the city. Tear its beating heart from its chest. Shatter. Break. Take vengeance upon the thing which sought to imprison it again. The beast rises. A lance plunges into its chest. Its eyes flash. And a terrible, gutteral roar bellows across the bridge, through the thoroughfares of the city. YOU the monster yells in a timbre that shakes the towers of glass and concrete. STOLE... MY. NAME! The beast turns and charges. Its axes materialize in its hands as it goes to tear into the Crows. To tear THROUGH the Crows. To beat a path across the bridge, into the city beyond. The monster has been returned to its proper master. None shall stand in its way...! 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:'''     >> TEAM EMBLEM - NEAR THE TUNNEL Eve watches the invaders file into the city, perfectly still. She fades back into the dark, moving slowly and smoothly, a shadow against the backdrop of a city holding its breath. No one assails the Tenno as she hunts for the source of the jamming. Until she's already there, that is. A flash of scarlet accompanies Eve Ren bolting from cover. She keeps low, running across the open plaza -- and getting right behind one of the Crows. She grabs it by the back of what passes of a neck and lifts it off the ground one-handed, holding it between herself and the shotgun-wielding Kushiko. She runs right at her, using it as a body shield until she can get in close. Then, of course, she flings it at her. What else do you do with something like that? The Crow gets tossed like a rag-doll, and Eve follows after, crossing the gap with a long jump, a raised, gilded fist, and a wordless yell. She's going to /fix/ it. But first --! 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City - Outskirts (LUM-01)==     Enark smiles and lets out a sigh of relief as he sees Leyanne returning to normal, regaining herself. He is saddened to make her suffer, knowing what these items mean to her. The one she lost. But it's better than never knowing who she really is again. He starts to step forward and call out, "Lady Mace..." But then Jeci steps forwards, threatening him, charging him with superhuman speed, and he stumbles backwards. But a clumsy retreat of that kind is no match for the speed, agility, strength, and martial skill that Jeci -- or rather Tomoe -- possesses. Especially not when someone who is already basically human-scale is further suppressed.     Tomoe punches through Enark's torso easily, her fist coming out the other side bloodily. He lets out a gagging scream of pain and red surges up his throat and spills out between his teeth, and then just has to struggle there, impale on the arm of a comrade who doesn't recognize or remember him.     Reluctanyly he tries to use the only weapons he has on hand, and attempts to jab Tomoe's altered persona in the eyes with Leyanne's friend's dog tags while swatting at her face with the beret in his other hand. It's pathetic and highly unlikely to deal any harm at all to someone this superhuman, but it's all he's got!     Meanwhile, as Kushiko blows up one of the radio jamming beacons with her gunfire, even if not all of it was directed at them, a part of the jamming blanket goes down, in her area. Radios and comm systems crackle to life and start working again here.     And the one of the white Crows is picked up as it approaches from the shadows, its energy sword shining bright. Eve picks it up and runs with it, using it as a shield. It looks a bit surprised, but only by the fact that its smile inverts. Its squinted-shut eyes remain unchanged.     It is filled with holes thanks to Kushiko's gunfire, and then starts to dissolve into blocks of light and disintegrate.     The other one stops in front of Paird -- no. Leyanne. It raises an energy cleaver above its ahead and prepares to bring it down on her as she slouches there on the ground, defeated.     It is too late for you. Coeus's voice comes out of it. I am sorry.     Then it brings the cleaver down forcefully...!     Large is reshaping the city, bending space to permit to go where he pleases. But now one of his allies, Paird, has turned to the enemy and is about to be mercy-killed (or something. Dead people can't die after all!), Jeci seems to have dealt a fatal wound to th intruder responsible, whose struggles grow weaker and weaker... Eve seems to be engaging some sort of mechanical construct in battle. A construct that might, somehow, remind Large of poor little Soupi, butchered and turned into a grotesque cyborg. Is this... What waits for them? To be turned into machines that hunt down and twist their old friends? That force their gods to destroy them to spare them the nightmare of not being who they are anymore?     It's horrifying to think about! Is that what feels so wrong for Large? Or is it... Something else? That 'something' that is coming!? 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     The way the Monster crashes down to the ground in agony pains something in Merry Breeze as well. Her heart's stirred by that sight... but from a practical matter, now might be the only chance they have to cross the bridge! So she makes her move and dashes.     She might be suppressed here to the very cap of human ability, but humanity is capable of some surprising things. And the dash she breaks into is one a marathon runner would be proud of!     "That is so... and so I shall!"     ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE, traveling with Balences team... is Nico Zangt. And the moment the scholar's eyes fall upon Merry Breeze she freezes in her own dash. So fiercely that her hood bounds back and slips off her head. She claps a hand to her forehead! Dumbstruck by something.     Across the bridge... Merry Breeze sees the ears that few could, but those aren't what's significant. It's the face that she recognizes. "Sister!" The shamaness's distressed cry reaches across the bridge... and between the eerily familiar, soul-rattling voice and the fact that the GREAT BEAST from earlier is now TURNING AROUND and looks to be against them that she pauses in her charge.     And Nico lets out a great long agonized SHRIEK that might even give the mighty minotaur reason to wince, still clasping her hands. A blinding and obfuscating aura of silvery light and purple-blue shadows swirls up from Nico Zangt, along with the moon mark on her forehead once more. "She's... I can't... I can't... I won't have it!"     Much of the bridge - which is something of a warzone now, isn't it? - is engulfed in a harmless but DISORIENTING display of a huge and majestic fox, so oversized and wrought in fearsome moonfire imagery it might as well be a wolf or tiger.     "Why's my head throbbing?" The bow's lowered. Her will to fight - not the best to begin with - is in pieces.     Rather, something else is rising inside. The desire to defend. Not the city. Something much more important. That girl in the tribal robes. It was a really important decision she made long ago, wasn't it?     To join the Blooded Hawks and deal with her people's enemies so that girl could learn her arts in peace and become someone great?     A rush of memories flare through Nico... and Nico's quickly eroding away. The silver face paint fades, as an intricate pattern of tattoos shines through the robes she wears in the great glare of the moonlight!     This great display causes Merry Breeze to halt in her tracks, gasping in awe. Although this is a TERRIBLE place to stop and stare... a fact that's not lost on the pained foxgirl. In a blitz of motion she transforms into a living blur and BARRELS past the shamaness, and BOTH of them are soon moving faster than the eye can see! Over to the other side of the bridge.     Nico's hissing and seething, as though her head were splitting apart, but THIS IS A THING SHE MUST DO. Get that girl somewhere safer!     She's just not quite sure where would be safe. And she's not totally sure why yet.     And the shamaness is too surprised by being handled like this to do more than yelp incoherently! 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City Bridge==     The dog runs and dodges as blades come pouring down all around it, but in the end it's just a dog. A dog named Kirk, who is no longer a Black Dog -- a Church Grimm, who guards a young priestess named Laryssa is a town that is now empty. No, Kirk is just a dog. A good dog, faithful to his master, and her last directions to him, before she ended her own life to make sure Kirk could be free of his obligation to protect her.     Kirk is here with what he found. The smell he tracked. The sculpted wooden dragon in a bag that smelled of the hero known as Wandering Dog. And now he's here with it. And skids to a stop at at Balences feet, on his side, with a an energy blade through him, that is slowly disintegrating. Kirk can't speak in here. He can only do what a normal dog can. So all he can do is look up at Balences in pain and release the wooden dragon from his jaws.     Meanwhile, bullets fly, and the superhuman Crows evade with ease. Predicting any attack they see. But they can't dodge in mid-air, and as one of them comes down with their laser polearm crashing against Eryl's metal gauntlets, another in the middle of leaping in to deal the finishing blow to the vulnerable cyborg is caught by surprise by Kord's scythe swinging at him. Its expression is blank, just staring with a straight, slightly-parted mouth, as its crimson-skinned head takes a fatal wound to its cranium. Apparently, whatever these mockeries of Crow the Shadow are, they have roughly equivalent anatomy to a human inside. Vital organs that can be destroyed. The red Crow falls to the ground dead and begins to dissolve into light.     Asterios leads the way, his eruption of power sending the green Crow wielding the polearm flying away from Eryl, and then storming across the bridge towards the city, and announcing to everyone there is a terrible monster on the loose. The minotaur should quickly and easily find a pulsing jamming beacon and smash it into scrap. And the radios and communications sizzle back to life here as well.     Carna pulls out her crossbow and begins to fire, for all the good it does her, at the green Crow construct but her range and skill are dampened greatly. She was relying on muscle memory for her combat skill after losing all her memories. Now all she has is raw physical ability to pull a trigger by virtue of having fingers and an opposable thumb. People like Rebecca, Tanya, and Staren have far more luck. While the green one dodged bullets initially, as it springs back to its feet after being launched by Asterios, the rapid-fire rounds thunk into its torso, arms, and legs, and then one of Rebecca's shots takes it in the forehead. Like the other, it slumps to the ground dead and then begins to vanish like a digital construct of some kind instead of the organism it appears to be.     And now Nico Zangt has been reunited with her sister, and Finna has switched sides as well, in a spectacle of moonfire and fox imagery. She is returning to who she really is, as painful as it may be to admit, that the person she was so dedicated to being, the memories and personality that still seem REAL, an entire LIFE TIME as ANOTHER PERSON, just like for each and every one of the missing-turned-rescued... But knowing it's not actually theirs. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Elsewhere==     Standing at the very top of the bridge, the blue-skinned Crow just looks down with a fixed smile on its face, not interfering. Its empty black eyes just observe. And further in, one of the Crows -- the one that paused earlier, has broken off from its comrades and seems to be struggling to move normally. Like something is taking it over. Worming through its insides. And then it falls to its kness, clawing at the ground, its white coloration slowly shifting to black. Glowing yellow eyes peer out of the body of a 3D Shadow as the REAL Crow fights for control over its hijacked body. But it seems to be winning, even if its gasps and noises of pain and struggle show clear effort.     This Crow is alone for the moment, on some street curb somewhere. But with Asterios coming through to wreck things, any others following in his wake may come closer and closer to an ally missing longer than any of the others. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' ==Emblem City - Outskirts (LUM-01)== As an aside, mental note, the suppression here--going on enough to screw with some of her other physical abilities--/really sucks/. There's many other words, but oh she is really hating this. There's only so much her body can do! Still, she can't help but be at least a /little/ pleased the jammer went down, if only because they might be able to coordinate more. What she'd kill for is a way to do something about this suppression field. Worse than a Nullifier field, oh yes. However, her focus--due to not knowing Enark was getting a bloody good fisting--was solely on Eve. Empty Tidings--one of those names as the kindly old lady was probably able to mention at some point. The combat pragmatist in Kushiko could appreciate and see what was coming, even as she blasted it. It was on purpose, however, as she had to throw away the shotgun for just a few moments to brace herself for it--and briefly did the notion flash through her head of two comparisons for Eve. Neither altogether favorable. Well, Tidings might like being compared to the Manics the Grineer employed. On the other hand, there was one way to get the stone where it needed to be. And that was being slammed into a nearby wall, crunch of flexible armored shell and carapace straining under the pressure applied by Eve's violent tackle. Tenno, are you ready for a SACRIFICE? Bitter recollection and pain besides, the Warframe let slip the fist-sized stone into her hand, whispers echoing from it, <"That... /hurt/ even through..."> But there wasn't time, not nearly enough as the faceless Nova stared, her disembodied voice seething, <"Princess, it's time for you to wake up and do your duty!"> That's what she'd been hearing, though she herself paraphrased a bit before attempting to shove the fist-sized yellow crystal, with all it's faint green glow into one of Eve's hands with her own, after wrestling with her. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Kord flinches when Tanya shouts back at him. Then he grins over at her in what can be construed as an apologetic manner, and grunts as he tosses the dead Crow aside. The mechanical thing makes his scythe spark, and then he glances aside at the others. His tail lashes as Finna sprints forward, her own memory starting to return. A confident smirk shows on his face as he feels the tide of this starting to change to some degree. The red-haired man turns his head and squints into the distance, and thinks to himself... there's only one thing left to do. Find where the other group ended up.     Kord begins to run to follow Asterios. He breaks through the battle using the wake of the raging monster's battle, but his attentive eyes glance to and fro.     "That's all the ones on this side," he breathes as he continues his advance, "Where are the rest...!?" 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' ==No Longer Team Emblem== Leyanne looks up at the crow, blinking as she takes in its words. They don't compute for a second, until she spots the cleaver. She rolls aside and stands, the green glow of her left eye suddenly turning red. She blinks at it. "You're... just..." Words fail the mouse as anger starts its slow takeover. She's about to say more, when she hears Enark scream. She turns her head to look at them, shaking slightly. "Jeci." She says. It's still Paird's voice. Angry, but the voice hasn't changed. "I'm still... me. The person you remember. Just... this... is the real me. Emblem is a lie. This whole... fucking place... and everything about it... IS A FUCKING LIE! These guys are here to fucking help us. Not hurt us." She turns back towards the crow, advancing on it. She snarls loudly, aiming to punch it square in the face with every kilojoule of force in her cybernetic limb. Step one, kill the Crow. Step two. Subdue Jeci. Step three, Hope Enark has Jeci's anchor on him and that they can find it. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "I'm not about to let you kill yourself," Tanya remarks when Kord wordlessly apologizes via that expression. She lifts her smoking Thompson, ejecting a spent magazine and slotting a new one in place. As she works the slide, she adds, "Priscilla would never let me hear the end of it." Asterios charges, and the little girl smirks. Straightening, she glances down at her flight unit again.     Producing her knife, she slices the straps holding the bulky box in place, then disconnects the cable from her armored leg piece. The flight unit's mechanism is just discarded there on the bridge while Tanya herself hurries to keep up with the taller Count Kord and rampaging Berserker, Asterios.     Part of her wants to ask the Count for a boost so she can jump onto Asterios and ride him like a tank, but the part of her that cares about her image squashes it. No way would she ever be allowed to forget asking for help due to being too small.     So instead, the Devil of the Rhine is on-foot infantry for today. 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Jeci is terrified she's very scared she gets Enark she go him good. She's going to attempt to keep this invader pinned down so to speak but well? Enark has an idea in desperation he's going up against her with the dog tags to get her in the eye, by fate? Luck? Divine meddling of an outside deity? It works Jeci gets caught by this and is force to let go as she cries out in pain, staggering back. "My eyes!" She can hear something happening to Parid? Wit no they got her as well? No no, not like this not like this? She hears whatever her friend has become spouting insanity at her. She attempts to recover and looks panicked the Crow is all that's left. So really she's basically alone now with the invaders save for it. So it's just like when how she died, but there's one thing she didn't back down then. She won't back down now. She's got an open moment there could be a chance to subdue her before she recovers and goes for her weapon Any of the rescue teram has a good moment to act.... 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' TEAM ...? - THE BRIDGE Balences grabs the bag as the dog brings it forth. No, not the dog. Kirk. Taking out the wooden statue, he stares at it for several moments, twisting it around in his hands. He remembers when he made it. He remembers why he made it. Who he made it for, as a sign of devotion. Balences places it in the bag moments later, setting it next to the dog. And then, he grabs his mask, and he tears. The man revealed underneath is not Balences. They looked the same mostly, but the man who comes out is different. Wandering Dog is scarred. Across his lip and near his eye, a grizzled man with messy sea blue hair. He rips the scarf off his neck, and the tunic off his chest. He shows his bare muscles, as he actually screams out, realizing what's been going on, as the tension and rage lets itself out. And then, for a few moments, he's silent. "Thank you. Let's make sure you survive this for what you've done." Wandering Dog's hands move to rip out the energy sword from Kirk, moving to shield both the dog and the figurine with his body. He places his hands against the wound, and begins to channel energy. A black aura begins to surround the martial artist, as energy suffuses into the black dog, moving to heal his wounds. But there's always a price. Corresponding to where Kirk was injured, wounds open up on Wandering Dog's body. They're just as bad, and he grits his teeth in pain, bleeding profusely through his side, almost collapsing. But you help those who help you, and Wandering Dog can handle it. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:'''     >>TEAM EMBLEM - TUNNEL OUTSKIRTS Eve slams into Kushiko's Warframe. She's strong, stronger than any normal human, but not so strong as to crush her like a particularly squishy tin can. She slams her into the side of a building, her right hand against her neck. The filigree imagery of Phoebe glints weirdly on her artificial hand. "My /duty/?" Eve seethes. "All I want -- /all/ I want -- is my /life/ back." Her voice gets heavy with emotion. Anger, sorrow, despair, it flows to the forefront. Her eyes glisten with tears. "No more lies!" She pulls Kushiko away from the wall, one-handed, and hammers her into it again and again, punctuating each word: "No! More! Lies!" Her left hand swings in towards the faceless helm -- and Kushiko catches it. The next thing she knows, they're straining against one another, angry strength against determined finesse. She loses her grip, and struggles to get it back... and then feels something hard pressed into her fingers. A crystal. It's the size of her fist; her fingers don't curl around it. The surface is yellow, but a roiling ball of green light occupies the innards. A sound of crystalline cracking rings out, and the viridian light intensifies from the stone. Eve looks on in confusion and growing alarm. The filigree relief of Phoebe, wrapped around her right hand, smiles up at her. "It is long past time you had awoken from this dream, Princess. Allow me to rouse you from your slumber." The crystal shatters. Eve stumbles backwards. A star of poisonous green sunlight rises, shot through with inky blackness. It casts an impossible shadow, the silhouette of a woman with the limbs of a gnarled tree reaching out and grasping Eve's own shadow. Her sleeves indent where unseen hands clutch them tight. The filigree on her right hand peels off of her artificial skin and grows up her arm, enwrapping it in roots of brass. It gets to her back and runs up her spine, growing on either side, exploding outward and forming an enormous ribcage of a great metallic beast. "N... no. No! No!!" "The Shadow of All Things will brook no further disobedience, Princess," croons the old woman's voice, a disembodied spectre of what once inhabited that accursed crystal. "You will live this foolish fantasy no longer." The brass ribs curl around her like enormous clawed fingers. Eve opens her mouth to scream. The tiny green sun plunges down her throat. She chokes, eyes wide and wet. Darkness floods from her eyes and her mouth, filling the ever-growing cage of brass. It stills, and the roots enwrap her, sealing her in a cocoon of dead branches and fallen leaves rendered in brass and solidified darkness. For a time, there is silence. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:'''                          == Team Emblem - Center ==                         "No--" Large staggers back, in part from the... The sight of Paird becoming something-- someone /else./ In part beacuse-- because there's something coming. Something, someone... "No." Large babbles, his eyes wide with fear as he struggles to pull at the city, to erect barrier after barrier after barrier between he and... and /it./ "No no no no, I don't want to remember, I don't want to be part of that again! Stop, please--!"                              ==At The Bridge==                               The Monster roars, crushing a machine in its massive hand. Its yell seizes hold of the jungle of concrete, glass and steel, warping and twisting until it no longer resembles what it once was. The minotaur thunders forward, carving a path that grows more and more 'real' with every single step. A wall erupts to bar its passage. Asterios smashes a single fist into it. And the next. And the next. The next and the next and the next. It's as if space is warping, twisting into a knot to lead him to his target. There, on the other side of the final barrier...! Asterios' fist catches Large in the jaw. The big man yells as he goes flying, slamming into an opposite building. Asterios roars in reply. There are... Two Asterioses...!? What's going on here!?!? 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:''' =WARPGATE TEAM=     Eryl is thrown clear as Asterios explodes upwards and goes on a total rampage. He... doesn't know what to make of this. It seems awful to drive the target of their rescue into a rage in order to assist their rescue. The girl gets a long, inscrutable look from Eryl, before Kord's words bring him back to reality. "Right!" he replies.     Getting back to his feet, he winces at the feel of a bruise spreading across his side. Normally his implants would numb the pain, but the nature of this place has limited that. All he can do is grit his teeth and press on, sticking with Kord and Tanya as the pursue the rampaging Minotaur.     Said Minotaur then punches his own doppelganger, sending it into another building. Eryl has questions, but those can wait until the opposing force is dealt with.     As such, while Tanya is above 'having Asterios give her a boost,' Eryl is not. As he bellows a victory cry, the cyborg leaps up to plant a foot on his shoulder, to boost himself even higher. His aim? To come down on large with a double-footed dropkick, to rattle his head as hard as he can in this depowered state. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     ==EMBLEM CITY BRIDGE==     Staren's no Solid Snake, but times like this he's glad he's had practice using normal guns without smartlink. That the Crows can DODGE BULLETS is concerning, but fortunately the old 'catch them airborn' trick works.     And then...     Someone kills a dog. As it bleeds out, Staren runs... but as he approaches, Dog heals dog. And takes the wound upon himself. Staren's ready, stopping by the man and pulling something else from his wonderful bag. Like a bandage, but with a plumb-sized lump at one end. He loops it around Dog's body, if permitted, making sure it sticks in place. "Hope this works... If it doesn't, escape through the Shrine." He jerks his thumb back the way they came, and runs after Eryl and Tanya, expecting to fight his way through more constructs with bullets. Hopefully there aren't too many... He doesn't have many spare magazines.     Confronted by none at all, he's not sure what to think. Where is Tomoe, he wonders? Kushiko hasn't mentioned her. Perhaps if the group meets up with Kushiko and Enark, she'll be drawn out to fight them. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City Bridge/City Interior==     Kirk is healed successfully. He gets up when he is able, even if weakly, and nudges Wandering Dog with his nose, whining and trying to provice comfort where he can. He doesn't want the hero to die for him after all it cost to save him. Staren does what he can to help, to stop the bleeding. Hopefully it will be enough.     The forces leaving the bridge push through. Led by Asterios, who has come in like a wrecking ball, nothing stands in their way. And... Nothing tries. Wall after wall, jamming beacon after jamming beacon, entire building after entire building. It all just comes crashing down without a sign of resistance. A weird surge of blue electricity crackles through the city. There's a PULSE like a heart beat. But on their rampage through the city, the complete lack of resistance after everything that was put in their way until now may be... Unsettling. The silence. The empty streets.     If they'r so desperate to stop this escape, why isn't anything intervening?     As everyone charges forth laying waste to all obstacles, they clear area after area of jamming.     Meanwhile, Kord, may catch sight of a black version of one of the fake-Crows. But this one is... Just sitting on the curb, looking forlorn. And then raises its head when it notices him, and weakly utters, "...Kord..!" It struggles to its feet and then staggers towards him. "You.. Have to get out of here...!" The arms it uses are blunted. Stumpy appendages without manipulator digits. It's 3D, not 2D. But the voice that comes forth, knowing Kord's real name, trying to get him to safety... It's unmistakably the REAL Crow.     It doesn't look like Crow can make it out of here on its own. And after the last time they saw their Shadow buddy, the effort put into trapping it here... Crow might not get out of here again if left behind a second time.     But with Kord's help... The warp gate they arrived through is still back there, across the bridge. A quick run across that long bridge is all it would take to get one of them to safety and beyond the clutches of these fiends. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City - Outskirts/LUM-01==     Leyanne engages in a furious battle with the Crow. Its superhuman skill is considerable, and the fury it fights with as the god behind it loses more and more of the Noble Souls is considerable. It is still fighting when everyone comes storming in, space warping behind Asterios to allow them to cross vast distances quickly and arrive where Kushiko and Eve Ren are (or is it Empty Tidings now?), and Jeci, and the critically injured Enark who lies on the ground bleeding everywhere, in a very not-ghostly manner. Being here... It made a ghost dog into a living dog. Did it make Enark into a living man, able to die like any other...!?     Large may have been punched savagely by his own doppleganger, and not resisting them anymore, but almost all of the missing have been accounted for and the resistance is shockingly little. Even here. Right next to this oh-so-important-looking-building.     Something is decidedly wrong. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Kord skitters to a stop once again as he notices the Crow coming at him. His weapon is raised, but he processes that it said its name soon after. He recognizes the shadow's voice immediately, and turns to advance toward the being. He doesn't wait or ask permission... he uses his still quite peak body strength to scoop the REAL Crow up in one arm, and then he starts running back toward the bridge. He folds the scythe with a flick of his wrist and stumbles, accidentally dropping it. The weapon clatters to the ground, but the man just tries to make a break for it. He can get his weapon later. Now isn't the time for fighting. Now he has to run.     Kord feels his heartbeat throb in his skull. It's exhausting to keep going like this. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Where are the swarms of enemies? The constructs from before? Staren's momentarily forgotten about Asterios's ability... he soon notices the warping, but even so, given the horde of constructs they saw before, there should be some...     Staren keeps looking, until finally he finds the group. He doesn't bother with other words or introductions. As soon as he sees Tomoe, he stops, pulls out the NerveGear, and holds it over his head. "TOMOE!" he shouts. "REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE! DON'T LET THIS FIEND TRAP YOU INSIDE ANOTHER FANTASY WORLD!"     Then he notices Enark bleeding out, and rushes towards him to bandage him as well. "We mustn't tarry. This feels like a trap!" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' ==Emblem City - Outskirts (LUM-01)== Ow. OW. Ow. /OW/. Truthfully she's not used to this kind of actual pain--okay, not quite right--she's not used to it being able to register as deeply--some fleeting aspects of her technorganic frame around that Infested flesh within is typically far more durable, able to withstand better. But there's unmistakable sense of *bleeding* from between the cracks in the armor, normal regeneration she's capable of simply not working for deeply unfortunate reasons. And speaking of cracks, when that crystal breaks, when hell, when Eve seems to be drawn into that... /thing/. It's the kind of thing that, initially when Eve relented, she could only kind of slump down for a bit to regain her composure, darkened fluid seeping from crevices in her armor as it stitched within by her suit's systems. And she wonders... *what the hell was actually in her hand* just then? Sure, she pulls herself up, and gets her Tigris shotgun off of the ground. The horrors of what just befell the brainwashed and kidnapped Exalt aren't something she can quite... /linger/ on. Not when she knows Enark is hurt. <"Uh, hi. Eve. That's the name I knew you as, but whomever you are, I'm really sorry but I have to go check up on people,"> she offers, a hand reaching for--but thinking better of touching the warped prison. <"Please don't hate me for it, but once you're out of there--if you're hearing any of this, we're going to need to get going fast."> Probably. What with the way it felt like they were about to deal with something far nastier. Because her first priority right now, asides getting herself out and hopefully Leyanne and Tomoe and everyone else, is to get back to where she saw Enark going towards last. Catching sight of Staren over Enark, she calls out, <"Work quickly, get him moving and back to the portal now!"> she curtly yells out. That's a relief--she'll go back and see if this... Eve person comes back to normal, and guide her to the portal she had made here. Hopefully. 

:'''{{#var:1154|Wandering Dog (1154)}} has posed:''' Wandering Dog's bleeding ceases soon, a mixture of his own healing ability and the bandages around him. He's not going to die, but he's still very weak and injured, as he pulls himself to his feet. "Alright. We need to get to the others and get you out of here. Neither of us is gonna die tonight, got it, dog?" Two dogs, one man and one canine. Wandering Dog moves to try and lead Kirk towards the others so that thety can escape. He's trying to keep himself upright, using his natural agility to get there, hoping they don't have to fight right now. If they do, he will, and he believes he can handle it. But getting both Kirk and the figurine, which he scooped up into his arms, out is the priority. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City Bridge==     Crow tries to communicate with Kord a few times, protesting haltingly for some reason, extremely weakly, as it is jostled around in the other's arms by the running, but ultimately just winds up holding on tight and shutting up as they start to cross the damaged bridge, recently the site of a brutal battle, where Wandering Dog and Kirk have spilled blood in puddles around them, even if the dog seems healed and the man is on his way to such and weakly leaving the bridge to head across the city.     Carna, meanwhile, has somehow found her way underground, having split off from the rest of the group for reasons known only to her. There's... Something familiar about this place. These tunnels. Aren't these the ones Enark showed her? The same subway tunnels they entered through on the 'outside'? What are they doing HERE?     Unfortunately, as the curious Lantern explores, she finds herself not alone anymore, as another Crow construct announces itself with a shining green energy spear.     Back at the bridge, something flickers above Kord and Real Crow, a shadow glimpsed only briefly upon the ground, before the blue-skinned Crow creature lands in front of them, having slammed a huge glowing red energy sword into the pavement and sending up a dust cloud. This fake grins widely with its pure-black mouth, its empty holes for eyes coming down as though it had eyebrows.     It's challenging Kord to battle of some kind. But in this condition...!     This Crow, henceforth known as Midnight Blue may seem... Familiar somehow. In a weird way. Even though Kord has never met it. Because it was modelled after the real Crow?     It wastes no time in dashing forward with a slash aimed at Kord's throat! To dodge, Kord will have to drop real Crow and practically bend over backwards, if he can even react that quickly! Especially without his scythe on-hand! A sign was torn up out of the concrete by the rain of blades earlier. Maybe if he uses the imprpovised weapon he'll have a chance! 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City - Outskirts/LUM-01==     There is another crackle of blue electricity across the whole city. Another PULSE like a heartbeat. This time, it resounds twice. A rumbling has begun to roll through the ground, and three pillars of light shine into the sky from different points. One from the LUM-01 tower, another from that distant mountain, and another from back closer to the bridge... Phoebe's temple. Yellow, Grey, and Red.     The eclipsed sun somehow moved all the way across the sky and sank below the horizon while they were here, and is now beginning to emerge from the opposite blank horizon, without that black shape obstructing it any further. A symbol of hope, maybe?     Any help Enark can get, Enark will take. He's weakened and in agony. And unlike when he was attacked that one time in Lumiere, he's bleeding profusely and seems to be losing consciousness. The reality hole is just out there, across those blank white plains...! 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Jeci is reeling from the attack that Enark managed to send her reeling the dark skinned golden eyed woman recovers enough to see someone coming she's trying to go for the spear to pull out out of Enark. "YOU AGAIN!?" Then she sees the Nerve Gear her eyes dilate rapidly the go wild she holds her head. "What no... that name why that name?" Jeci goes through some pretty wild change she gets a fair bit taller, her skin changes tone becoming lighter her eyes change to green slowly she's screaming all the while she clutching her head, and then a following change happens while she's reeling she had been in avatar state the smell ear unit appears and she rapidly transforms /again/ into the Iron Lily the Multiverse knows she gets taller, hair shorter, now purple, same as her eyes and her ears grow out. "This... this ... manufactured FANTASY!?" She's worn she's tired but she starts to stagger after Staren she has enough drive to get the hell out of here. She's also furious...so furious the last time she was this angry was when Heathcliff made his reveal. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:''' -- THE BRIDGE --     Kord gasps when the bridge shudders and another construct interrupts his path. He feels his heart leap and his stomach twist. And his frown appears, briefly...     Kord only reacts to the last 'Crow' when it attacks just soon enough with the most efficient of movements. Although he's not superhuman, he is quite strong and fast for a normal human, and he reacts by dropping Crow aside and dipping backward, using his tail to brace himself in a movement that no ordinary human could easily do. He's clearly got the experience to back up his physical abilities. The tip of his nose is nearly removed, and strands of his red hair puff up into the air from the fast movement. He moves quickly, his eyes flicking to avoid getting struck, his eyes wide and panic in his features.     He manages to jerk his tail to the side, and uses an acrobatic movement to launch himself to the side. He lunges for the signage as fast as he can manage, but growls because he doesn't move nearly as far or as fast as he needs to, and his nerves scream that this is when he usually gets blindsided, when a wild Pokemon would bear down on him and leave him reeling for the rest of the day, when he would curse the gods for the world they helped shape.     Just a little further... got it...! He swivels about and lifts the weapon to preemptively defend, instinct driving the movements of his body. 

:'''{{#var:1151|Empty Tidings (1151)}} has posed:''' Mercifully, the prison does not reply. It pulses. It... /breathes/, if it can do such a thing. The structure of it creaks and groans quietly, an artifact of some wrongness that seems to leak its fel power into the place it stands. The ground crumbles around it, cracking and eroding. It burns and melts. It reacts as if exposed to terrible heat and flame, but there is neither. Inside, Eve Ren's soul is laid bare. The otherworldly power delivered unto her is ground into her spirit, joining severed tendrils of Primordial Essence once more as she starts to come apart under the immense strain. It remembers, though, and so does she: all the suffering, all the pain, and all that had been taken from her. Her soul sighs, and her body follows suit, chest rising and falling but once. In the space of an exhalation, Eve Ren ceases to be. Empty Tidings of Brass and Vertigris takes her Second Breath. The cocoon ruptures. A bare hand bursts out of the surface, rending brass and scattering delicate black metal leaves. A second follows, peeling the exterior open. Bare arms heave against the metallic bonds, forcing it wide. A body follows, tilted forward until it can step free, a scarlet-haired woman rising and wreathed only in the naked glory of Malfeas' Green Sun: a nimbus of vivid green, shot through with lines of violet and spots of blackness darker than pitch. Empty Tidings flexes her right hand. Dead skin flakes off of it instantly, rendered unto ash in an instant. Her arm is carved black stone up to the elbow, a perfect replica of her other hand mirrored and inlaid with elegant brass. She reaches back and takes hold of the cocoon, twisting the top and ripping a rib-like strut off with a casual motion. She drapes it about her shoulders, a cloak of black metal leaves falling to cover her nudity with the cloak of a conquerer. Hail to thee, Green Sun Princess, the voice whispers in her ear. Know this: you will not be spared your torment. Choose your place of indulgence with care, if you so desire. Her brow twitches. She scowls. Empty Tidings looks at Kushiko, and for a brief, terrible moment, the possibility of tearing her to pieces with her bare hands crosses her mind. It's written across her face. "These gods," she says, speaking with a familiar voice bearing an unfamiliar manner of command and authority, "have made a grave mistake." Empty Tidings, seeing the flow of things, joins the exodus with quick, sure steps, a bonfire of brilliant green amidst a group of heroes and their charges in all states of disarray. She drifts towards the wounded, ending up at Enark's side. She reaches out, her fingertips dark with something like ink, and anoints him with her awful poison. It's not a physical one, though: it's a poison of the mind. One of his favorite little things becomes something that revolts him. She cares little what she twists. More importantly, he'll totally and abruptly lose the ability to feel pain and very quickly start to regenerate. Particularly grievous wounds will get growths that mirror the anatomy of deep sea life until he's healed properly. It isn't pretty, but it's terribly effective. "You're welcome," she says. Empty Tidings moves on. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==EVERYONE==     Whatever just happened, it seems some of the suppression has been lifted. Everyone can feel a surge of their powers returning to them.     The timing couldn't be better for most, especially for Carna and Kord, who are still in combat. Or so one would think.     And there's still a stark difference in power between Carna and her opponent. Carna is fighting in a subway tunnel with her own construct opponent, who is easily defending against her clumsy strikes even with a bit of power behind them again. It disarms her suddenly, forcefully, her blade going skittering across the tracks and one of her arms going flying with it.     Kord pre-emptively defends, and the strength he just gained would come in handy as the enemy's blade slams down with force that would have knocked down an ordinary man like a tower of matchsticks. But it's the sign, not Kord, that gives way, as the weapon cleaves through it and then through him. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     -- The Bridge --     A flash of light. Kord's improvised weapon falls in half, and blood sprays in an impressive arc in front of him, coating the whole front of the Midnight Blue Crow. The creature's smiling face gets soaked in the stuff. And Kord's arms rapidly lose their strength, each half of his weapon clattering to the floor. He staggers back, and plummets back off the bridge, out of sight of the others and alone, without being able to make a single peep.     He hits the water hard. His body immediately begins to sink like a stone, his armor weighing him down, his body not really equipped for buoyancy.     Kord's consciousness fades, as he sees a red gem pass by his view. He weakly reaches out for the pokegem that he had carried around his neck.     Then he's gone. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya pauses. A feeling. She glances down, flexing her fingers. Shifting, she glances back over her shoulder, down the path carved through the city by Asterios. Turning slightly, she swings her free hand-- and a holographic screen projects in front of her. This zooms in several times, a cross forming on the Crow that's engaged Kord on the bridge during his departure. The Thompson is raised, nested against her shoulder.     "Lord, grant me your strength, that I may wipe the impure and unjust from Your world." Her eyes begin to glow a bright blue, which quickly washes out to a deific gold, "Give me the power to pass judgement in Your worthy name."     As Count Kord falls, a flickering red cross appears on the head of the dark blue Crow. When she pulls the trigger, it's not a simple bullet, but a hyper velocity magical projectile that traces a laser-like streak through the ruined pathway of the city. A three-round burst is fired, before Tanya lowers her rifle.     Slinging the weapon, the small Major turns her back to it, "Let's go." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Maaaaybe Kushiko shouldn't have lingered. It's kind of worrisome beyond words, yet at the same time one predator can tell when another predator's eyes fall on her. So in a sense, as much as a normal person should absolutely be worried, or fearful, it draws the tension to a white hot edge in the Tenno. Game knows game, you could say. And then, as she prepares to hustle out herself--her powers return. The dulling of her edge; her antimatter rushing back into her. If she could spare a smile, she would. She... isn't entirely certain what happened with Enark's wounds is entirely a good thing or without a cost but she can't dwell on that right now. There are rods, you see, on Kushiko's arms. Her legs, control rods that extend from her limbs as she manifests that power of hers--manifests it in a way that, for those recently returned to full activity, might recognize as something that could be potentially /devastating/. After all, when someone generates a wave of lilac energy, infused by that extradimensional Void energy it can't be anything /but/ terrifying. For her enemies. She swept her hands forward, a cloudy mist following her, lines of energy drawing into her hands as she sortof /slams/ the energy into that explosive wave. And yet, even as she did this, more and more energy released--the first, the radial wave blossoming outwards? That was with intersecting lines as she doused the entire area--careful only to inflict this on the Lumiere System itself, and *NOT* affecting allies, was antimatter particles that clung to and slowed down what was caught in it's path. And weakening molecular bonds--at least, that was the potential, were one not equipped to defend against it. Even as she did this, a number of solid balls of energy with a solid core of warped silver came out of her. Each one--six in all, she blasted with her Tigris Prime. She fueled them with yet more energy, turning the silver cores into inverted black and lilac balls of pure, teeming destruction that were foreboding enough in their appearence. She twisted and the coils on her back started shining brighter as she simply wielded that power of hers to send those orbs into the city. Crows. Lingering foes. It didn't matter what it was, as she brought them down--and with it, released cacophonous amounts of destructive force, the explosions sending out buffeting waves of force that were felt, even if they didn't harm those they came here to help. It was still nothing short of raw, destructive power, even if in their wake they appeared like some black mire of gas and smoke before collapsing inward on themselves. It was partly a distraction for her to create just a few more portals--in the direction of the bridge. Something others might see, might instinctively know to /go through it/ and get the hell out of here. 

:'''{{#var:974|Carna (974)}} has posed:'''     ==Emblem City Bridge==     Real Crow screams out as best as its weakened form is able when it sees Kord fall, reaching out one of its useless stunted construct limbs. It tries to force some of its old power into it, to reshape the fleshy body, but at its core, it is still a Shadow, no matter what trickery it pulled to take over this form.     All it can do is cause claws of darkness to shred their way out of the ends of its 'hands' and charge at Midnight Blue to try to slash it. Midnight Blue turns to look directly at Tanya. Did it notice the target? Her 'killing intent'? It looks right at her. Like it's daring her to shoot.     Bulllets come flying out of nowhere, hyper-accelerated by magic. Midnight Blue can't dodge them. Not quite. Instead it stabs Real Crow in the shoulder with its energy sword and pulls the Shadow-possessed-golem towards it. The first round tears through the top of Midnight Blue's head, what should be an instantly-fatal shot. The next two rounds hit as well, leaving black shatter pooints in its bizarre skull, looking into a dark emptiness and sending the clone-thing skidding back along the bridge, blunted feet leaving marks upon the bridge's surface.     Then it grins and shifts the injuries to Real Crow.     Their shared body composition connects them. The holes in Midnight Blue shrink, though don't wholly vanish, leaving painful marks in Crow of a similar nature.     Midnight Blue is about to release Crow and leave it to mourn, but then Crow as drags its shadow-claws across the doppleganger's chest, leaving deep gouges.     Midnight Blue keeps smiling as the injuries appear on Crow as well, drawing forth a screech of pain. Is even revenge denied...!? This 'Midnight Blue'... Isn't like the other ones. The ones who bled and then died when vital organs were destroyed, dissolving into data.     The 'special' Crow that Prometheus bartered for from Coeus in exchange for releasing Asterios from guard duty, so that he could then go protect the bridge.     For all of Coeus's plans, making a construct that doesn't have the same vulnerablities as the others seems far more effective (even if it still seems to totally be vulnerable from ultra long range magical sniper bullets). And with no one immediately nearby to help, there is little that can be done to stop it from chasing them down and picking them off, aside from escape.     ...Unless... 

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:''' Tomoe is dazed, angry and is looking to get the heck out of dodge she spreads her real wings for the first time in some time and she's going to take Staren's advice it's time to go and she will make sure to follow the rescue team to get the heck out of this strange blighted place she wants to go she got to go she's got to get out of here. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     And they're out. Not daring to tarry, Staren lets Kushiko portal them all out. The death of Kord comes as a shock, but... there's no time to deal with it right now. They're getting everyone out.     Once back in Lumiere, Staren hurries back to the terminal to recover his device. He was so excited to see if it WORKED, he didn't realize until a moment ago the danger of leaving the modified gate machine on. While they were on their mission, something from Lumiere or Emblem might have come OUT... and taken the Second Gauntlet. Staren is nervous until he shuts down the gate and retrieves the gauntlet, fearing the Lord of Fear or the like might do just that.     Kord will be... mourned, somehow. It still hasn't really HIT Staren. 
}}

5683/What One Values

2019-01-19T23:41:09Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/02/05 |Location=Bayern Region |Synopsis=Those who know the missing Count Kord venture into his home to locate items that may be used to find h..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/05
|Location=Bayern Region
|Synopsis=Those who know the missing Count Kord venture into his home to locate items that may be used to find him
|Cast of Characters=954, 1123, 42
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     Yveltal Peak. It's the recorded residence for Count Kord, the strange noble that has been a part of the Concord since the faction was initiated about a year ago. The castle is built into a fairly defensible location, and seems to have pretty thick walls, with bricks so finely cut that it's hard to see the seams. Everything seems scorched black, or made of some dense, dark stone. The Dragoni flag -- a red and yellow flag with a simplified depiction of Yveltal's wings spread out -- hangs off of the various flag poles, and two great banners sit before the main gate depicting the various god pokemon of Bayern.     There are two guards here. They're wielding pikes, and adorned with reinforced leather armor. Standing at their sides are demonic-looking dogs... Houndoom, wearing metal collars inset with a single red gem. The gate, an enormous iron door with yet another symbol of Yveltal etched into it, sits behind them.     The weather is cold, and the sky is overcast. This region only hosts the most rough-looking plant life.     Well, best to find a way inside, then. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Yveltal Peak. The mysterious home of the Concord's Hand, Count Kord. Nestled in a land that a certain blonde pre-teen has never visited before. Given the medieval surroundings, the most out of place thing is a military personnel truck trundling along roads meant for horses and carts. Which is not a ride unfamiliar to the passenger.     The truck pulls to a stop short of the gate, illuminating the guardsmen in the headlights as the side door opens. Immaculately shined black boots emerge, followed by... a twelve year old girl in a dark green dress uniform. Major Tanya von Degurechaff wastes no time in donning her peaked cap, closing the door behind her and approaching the guards at the entrance to the castle.     She ignores the soldier who exits the opposite side, who seems more interested in lighting a cigarette than accompanying her.     Instead, Tanya produces a leather wallet and holds it up, flipping out the insert with her credentials as Hand of the Concord, "I am Major Degurechaff. Representative of the Concord, the organization served by the master of this castle." The wallet is closed with a practiced gesture, lowered away, "Stand aside. I and my associates have important business here relevant to your Lord." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     So this is where Kord lives! Staren's hitched a ride on Tanya's truck. He'd ride his broom, but ONE thing sticking out and calling attention to itself is enough.     Honestly, he assumed it was just, y'know, a house, and that they could come check it out. The idea that there are PEOPLE here didn't occur to him -- although in retrospect, he himself has an AI that would check on anyone coming to the spaceship, and Kord is, after all, a Count, which means he probably has servants and stuff.     Still, upon seeing the guards, his second thought is that they're here as allies if not friends of Kord's, and on completely legitimate business to help the missing man. There's no reason NOT to be let in, unless the guards somehow don't know about the Concord. He hops out of the truck and follows Tanya, trying to look official or something while she does the talking. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The soldiers look at the vehicle with a grand amount of confusion, as they aren't used to vehicles of that nature in this world. One of the soldiers shifts in his footing so he can reach over to pet his hellish dog to keep it calm. The other leans his pike on his shoulder as the two soldiers emerge from the vehicle. They're obviously some form of trained militia, as their military decorum is questionable. But they don't budge from their spot, and they don't look awed or afraid of Tanya... and they don't seem to care that she's a young girl, either.     One of them leans in to get a look at the credentials. He knits his brow in momentary confusion, but then recognized the Concord symbol for Hand. He straightens and calls up to the guard tower, "We got visitors! The Count's con-tem-po-raries, from those other worlds he talked about." The deliberate way he pronounced that word and his THICK accent suggest this is a fairly typical medieval soldier.     The doors click, clack and then grrrriiiind as they rumble open. The iron door slides upwards into the stonework, and reveals a large courtyard, with all the major buildings built into the cliffside the fort is built in front of. They leave the door open after they all enter. There are soldiers placed evenly throughout the fort, and in the center of the structure there is a large stone-skinned creature that sits patiently and chews on an enormous steak. It's a Tyranitar. All it does is give them funny looks.     A woman in modest black and red priestess clothing hurries up to the group. She barely looks in her adulthood. She has a necklace with a little red gem hanging from it. In fact, that's a consistency: The red gems that everyone has. Pokejewels, like what Kord gave to everyone he knew. Everyone here would've gotten one, so it's easy to recognize them.     "G-greetings! The Count isn't present right now, and he usually sees his guests, uhh... How can I assist?" She's such a mousy woman, and so pale. She smiles easily enough, though, and seems eager to help them. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     At least they're trying. Tanya can respect that, at least, though she does tilt her head down slightly to glower beneath the brim of her cap while she waits for the gate to open. Only once it's risen does she nod once to the guard who addressed her, "Thank you. Please continue the good work." With little else to say, she steps between the guardsmen and their intimidating guard dogs, into the castle itself, all with her hands folded behind her back.     Once inside, she glances over her shoulder, "Staren, Maaka, your thoughts?"     A person of elegance appears, attracting the small Major's attention from her compatriots. She nods once in acknowledgement of the hurried greeting, returning it in kind, "Thank you for welcoming us. It is in fact the Count's absence that we are here about." Might as well be straightforward about it, "Though it may be best that the guardsmen continue to think your Lord is on a work-related trip, you seem to have the station and wits about you to understand the gravity of the situation."     Her gaze dips, concealing her eyes behind the visor of her cap, "The Count is currently missing. While we of the Concord are not yet certain how the abduction took place, we have clues as to what is needed to locate him, and you can be of considerable help in this endeavor." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is slightly surprised that went off without a hitch! Not that he had any particular reason to expect a problem besides general paranoia. He walks on in and looks around at the fort, just... taking it in. So this is Kord's home? He was expecting a castle or a manor, so this is pretty close.     At Tanya's question, he shrugs. "I'm not exactly close to Kord... I dunno what'd have special meaning to him..." Perhaps this woman might? Tanya seems to be persuing that line of inquiry anyway. 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The priestess clasps her hands in front of herself, taking an idle and attentive posture as she's spoken to. The shock on her face is apparent, but she silently nods when Tanya mentions that she can help. She looks to Staren after that, and looks terribly confused about what Staren is saying just then. She hasn't really had the dots connected for her, so she decides to do her best, smiling gently at all of them, "I'm not sure what you're asking for here. If you would dare to guess, though..." She lifts a hand and grasps the Pokejewel at the end of her necklace, and holds it up for viewing. It shines with arcane light.     "A first partner is often considered someone's most important possession, especially here in Dragoni. I'm sure you saw the partners of the guards outside. Those were raised from infancy to protect those men, before we even knew they'd be soldiers. It's tradition for everyone to catch their own Pokemon."     "Beyond that... The Count never really liked Yveltal's order, so he didn't tell us much. I fear he is the only nobility in all of Bayern to balk at his religious ties."     She shrugs helplessly.     Then she turns to point at the two of the three buildings. The largest she indicates after those, explaining, "Those are the barracks and other rooms. The other two doors are the Count's quarters, and the armory and kennels. Whatever he values would be in those two areas of the fort."     "Before you start searching, I must know... are you collecting this personal effect for a divination?" she wonders. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya nods at Staren's statement, listening to the priestess intently at the same time. A hand comes out from behind her back, cradling her chin thoughtfully as she considers the traditions explained to her. Yes, a cherished pet would doubtless suit the need. And these ones seem to come in a convenient carrying case. The slightest tickle of a smirk crosses her lips as she drops the hand to her side with a gesture.     "Divination, I'm not certain about that. We have a general idea of where he is, you see, but getting him out is more complicated. Think of it as a key." She glances towards Staren, then, "His quarters are a likely location. Most likely in one of the gems like our friend here is wearing. Get started, I'll be along shortly."     Hand folding behind her back, Tanya returns her attention to the woman, though she starts walking at a leisurely pace, indicating her to follow, "Tell me more about the Count. Did anything seem strange about him before his recent departure?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren gives the priestess a confused look for a moment. First partner? Is polygamy the norm here? OH RIGHT POKEMON YES that makes sense. "Did... did he not take his first partner with him, though?" Now he's considering the trouble of trying to manage a pokemon without its trainer.     He shakes his head. "Not a divination... we think. It's... he's lost in a strange world, but we've been told that he might be guided to us if we bring something important to him there." Staren looks to Tanya. "It's not the gem. It's what's inside the gem." Staren turns back to the priestess. "Um, where are his quarters?" 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The priestess looks at Staren for a second, and decides to ignore his second question, because they're already walking toward where Kord's quarters are, and she already indicated where they are. "He leaves his Murkrow here," she explains for the first question, "She's a very old Pokemon, and I think he fears for her safety."     She retrieves a key from somewhere in her robes and unlocks the door, leading them inside and shutting the door behind them. She stands at the door and waits. Kord's living quarters are... military. He doesn't live in decadence in the slightest.     Kord has a small bed with simple wool blankets, and a modern mattress, with a well-used pillow. His desk has papers neatly stacked, and a few letters pre-sealed with his wax symbol, a crow's foot. There's a small box with a simple latch on it sitting on his desk. There's a wardrobe in the corner, and an armor stand. There's a small table and a chair.     The room is alit with Litwick, floating candle-like Pokemon that sparkle with eldritch blue fire light. They sit here and there, or float through the air. The ceiling is pretty tall. The room looks like it was purpose built for something other than living in, and there's a hatch on the ceiling with no easy access to it. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "A very old ... pokemon," Tanya hesitates on the word. It seems so strange that an ostensibly European country uses such an obviously Japanese word, and that's tripping her up a bit, "... is a good candidate for being Count Kord's first partner." When the door is unfastened, she waits patiently, then steps inside with her hands still folded behind her back.     Eyes immediately lift to the ghostly candles floating around to provide light. Eyes narrow slightly, before she turns her gaze back towards the priestess, "I never did catch your name. Or your answer regarding the Count's behavior before he departed." If she just hadn't seen him before he left, that's fine, but Tanya will press on this a bit more. The desk looks promising, but she'll leave the initial searching to Staren while interrogating the closest thing Tanya believes Kord had to a friend in his home country. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Hmm." So they may be bringing an old and feeble pet into dangerous Lumiere. At least it can stay in its pokegem most of the time. But will they be able to keep it from attacking or flying away once released? It's an animal, after all...     Staren is mildly surprised by the candle pokemon. That's new. And they're left in here even when the door is locked? What do they eat?     Well, they obviously get along fine, and right now the important thing is finding Kord's first partner. Staren looks around the room. Smaller and less ornate than he expected for a noble, but then Kord doesn't seem like one who cares about such things, especially in the privacy of his own home where he doesn't need to impress anyone. "Huh."     "I worry, though... how will his Murkrow behave, without him around? I'm not exactly an animal handler... Even if we can mostly keep her in the gem, we don't know if we'll need to release her for the full effect." 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     "He had an everyday routine. He would check in on us through the 'radio' he left with us, looking for updates, if there were any. He's given one of those to each of the lieutenants. If I'm honest, he is always a little strange. He talked to himself, sometimes... he says it's a conversation with Yveltal, but that couldn't possibly be true." The woman looks uncomfortable recounting it. She also adds, "I am Attendant Teresa. I'm the gravekeeper here. I watch over the ghosts..." She gestures up to the Litwick that float around the room. "And make sure they stay out of trouble. It's my duty as one of Yveltal's vigilant followers."     "He hasn't checked in for a while, though. That doesn't happen often. He hasn't returned for a few days, either."     Staren's concern prompts her to say, "She's as tame as a Pokemon can get. Once they've been captured in a Pokegem, their wild ferocity is quelled and they grow attached to their owner over time. Murkrow are among the most intelligent Pokemon that aren't also psychic, or human-like."     "She should be fine if you keep her in the gem. Pokejewelry is very durable, and should keep her safe if you don't do anything strange to it." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "Major Degurechaff," the little blonde offers in exchange, "Thank you for your insight, Gravekeeper Teresa." Her eyes wander to the ghosts flitting about the room, once again, "So these are yours, then. At least they serve a welcome purpose." Providing light. And presumably not burning the place down.     Seemingly satisfied, Tanya steps away, further into the room, looking with just her eyes. She can relate to having a daily routine. It's something she also adheres to rather rigidly, and breaking that routine should be the first sign to someone else that something's wrong with her.     At the desk, Tanya pauses. A hand reaches out and she shifts the letters around lightly, though makes no move to un-seal them, "With radios to his lieutenants and attendants, who would he correspond with... Hm." Eyes wander to the box. This seems valuable. She thumbs the latch and lifts the lid. Would a cherished pokemon's gem be in here, resting on a velvet pillow like some kind of monument to a nostalgic youth?     It could just be full of pens, for all Tanya's expectations are. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Oh, they're ghosts. Ghosts don't need to eat, except possibly emotions. That makes sense. Staren nods, "Yes... if he could check in by radio, we wouldn't need to find him this way. ...Probably." The Murkrow is friendly-ish, good to know. "So... do you know where he keeps her?" While Teresa retrieves the pokegem or they start searching for it he asks, "So, Yveltal-worship isn't unique to Count Kord? Why do people from this world seem to dislike him so? I heard a pokemon the other day call him 'dark' .. and there was something about burning a village, actually..."     He looks around the room, and since Tanya's examining the desk, decides to look through the wardrobe. Maybe there's a compartment inside it for small objects? 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The box that Tanya inspects doesn't have the gem in it, or pens for that matter. It has letters from other nobility. The seals are varied, but not a single letter has been opened. They look like they've sat in the box for a while. It looks like he doesn't keep up contact with his neighboring nobles. Some of them look like they've sat in there for years and years, with the way they've yellowed and the wax seals have cracked. The letters Kord has written are addressed to various Bayern addresses or family names. The script is germanic, and translated easily enough. They seem new enough that he must've just not gotten around to sending them yet.     She's looking at the equivilant of a cluttered email inbox and outbox.     Staren discovers that Kord has a variety of clothing, as well as several identical sets of peasant-like outfits. Modern attire, even beach attire. They've got a lot of pockets.     "Well... Yveltal is a god of death, sir," Teresa tells Staren, "And in our scripture, it is said that Yveltal's contribution to the war against Regigigas was so destructive that it threatened to do the same amount of damage as the very thing it was fighting. Mi'lord's behavior falls in line with that... I am not sure why, though. He doesn't seem to agree with us, or with uhm..." She struggles to say this, since she finds it absurd, "With Yveltal herself."     She steps over to sit on the bed and lets out a sigh. She looks around the room... "The man is getting very old," she explains, "He's almost sixty. He's said so. He doesn't look it, but the elder gravekeeper say he's telling the truth. He hasn't married, he's ignored all the other nobility... And he had our people march on our neighbor, Archengart. It was for a noble purpose, the Hollowed were going to awaken one of the Regi there, and that would have destroyed the city anyways, but... No one has forgiven him for it."     "They're all afraid he'll attack them." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Hmm. No obvious spots for the gem, but there's a possibility it could be in one of the pockets.     Or in a secret compartment under the floor they haven't even noticed yet, for that matter.     Staren nods slightly at the explanation that theirs is the faith of a death god. That certainly would spoop some folk. It's jarring to him to hear sixty referred to as 'very old' -- even before he thought of cheating death... he expected humans with decent medical care to live at least to their 90's, longer if you replace everything that fails with cybernetics.     "So they don't believe the Hollowed were involved, then, and think his attack was without justification." Staren turns towards her. "Say... if he were to keep the gem in the pocket of one of these outfits, any idea which one it might be?" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya frowns. That was beyond a dead end. The box's lid is closed and she gives it a shove to convey annoyance. Though the disinterest in the neighbors is noted. As well as Teresa's story. "Sixty is approaching retirement, where I am from, but many capable minds are pushing that age. Experience and flexibility are important." She pauses, cradling her chin in one hand as she regards the desk again, "As for that... A country with a sharp sword is right to brandish it. But be certain doing so doesn't merely inspire the enemy to make a sharper one in response."     She won't break into Kord's personal correspondance. The seals are safe. For now. But she does go for the loose papers. If the Pokegem they're looking for isn't here, perhaps the clue to something else that will serve their purposes can be found here.     "My own Empire has a similar problem. We brandished our sword, and vanquished our enemies. But the other countries not in our line of fire are now gearing up to go to war out of fear that they are next. Learn from that mistake." 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The Gravekeeper laughs lightly, and a little nervously, at Tanya's words. Staren receives a shrug in response. "I don't know the man very well, and we all keep our first gem in a different place," she tells him. She won't be of much help there. She drums her fingers on her leg, looking around the room in curiosity. Then she looks up at the Litwick, and she asks them, "Have you seen it?" One of the candle-like Pokemon float down, and she holds out her hand for it to land there. Then she leans in to listen to it.     It seems to talk very slowly, and she lets out a sigh while she waits for it to get to the point.     The papers that Tanya examines are unfinished letters. A few for people that Kord knows. A finished letter of congratulations for Tanya, in fact, can be found in there. Most of them are fairly neutral or cordial. Does he just not have the nerve to send these out?     Teresa goes "Oh...!" And then she leans over and picks up the pillow off the bed. She picks up the Pokegem she finds beneath the pillow, and settles the pillow there on her lap to get a look at the gem with her arms comfortably resting.     "This was carved by a gravekeeper," she murmurs, gently. "This must be it."     "... he sleeps with it under his pillow," she murmurs, taken aback by how strange that is. "It means he trusts this Pokemon to help him battle nightmares. Or, uhm... that's how tradition goes." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is mildly frustrated that Teresa has no ideas, and goes back to looking at the clothes.     But then she has another idea: Of course, ask the light fixtures. Why didn't he think of that.     Staren nods at the explanation. "Well... if ever he needed help escaping something nightmarish, it's now." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya hesitates on the letter addressed to herself. After a moment, she smirks. From the evidence here, Count Kord is shaping up to not only be an intense and private man, but a shy one. When Teresa calls on the candle critters, she glances towards the Gravekeeper, though when this seems to go nowhere she returns to the desk in front of her.     The exclamantion prompts the Major to jump, and she shoots a look back over her shoulder. Something between surprise and a scowl, until she realizes the discovery at hand. Eyes closing, Tanya reaches up and rubs the side of her head with a sigh, "Being someone who lacks in superstition, I never would have thought to look there."     Even if it makes perfect sense given the Count's recent issues, shared with the Concord in relation to prophetic nightmares.     "No harm will come to it," she states, approaching and presenting her hand, "But we will need to borrow that for a while." Her head tilts and she forces on a convincing smile, one she feels to look empathetic, "We'll return it with interest-- one Count." 

:'''{{#var:954|Count Kord (954)}} has posed:'''     The gem gets placed in Tanya's hand. It's warm to the touch, and when she touches it she can see a little black bird sleeping inside of it, with a yellow beak. It's a projection of some kind, only visible to the one holding it. There's also a little black crow foot pattern that appears on the surface.     "I don't know either of you. And Dragoni will remember, if this is a deception," she warns, with a smile of her own. "But I'm trusting you to find him and bring him back. We haven't been as safe, as tightly knit as a people, as when Kord brought us together. Even if he's very strange, and hard to talk to." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "Rest easy," Tanya states, examining the gem. Satisfied, she tucks it into the breast pocket of her uniform, "I have nothing to gain from decieving you. I only ask that you do your best to help keep this place together so he as a home to return to." She nods briefly, which winds up being almost a bow, "The sooner we can get to work, the sooner we can resolve this. Until then, good day, Gravekeeper Teresa."     She shoots a look at Staren, waiting for him to say whatever piece he may want to say. Only then does the little Major turn on her heel and make for the door. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods. "We can't know everyone, alas... If you fear this is deception, perhaps talk with Kord about better security measures after we bring him back. We'll..." He rubs the back of his head. "We'll do everything we can to bring him back." He's not going to promise success. Heroes have failed too many times. Where is Niv-Mizzet? Where is Mizuki? Staren may believe in trying no matter how impossible something sounds, but despite his usual manner of speaking, he knows the chance of success is not 100%. "...Good day. And thannk you very much for your help." He follows Tanya out. 
}}

5648/Relic Recovery

2019-01-19T23:37:47Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/21 |Location=Maw of Tyrants |Synopsis=A strange vision haunts Concord personnel sent to recover items from the destroyed Confederate Citade..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/21
|Location=Maw of Tyrants
|Synopsis=A strange vision haunts Concord personnel sent to recover items from the destroyed Confederate Citadel.
|Cast of Characters=1152, 1103, 1123, 571, 672
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:'''     It was a simple request this time:  Recover artifacts from outside the former Citadel.   Simple enough.  There's a storm overhead, purple lightning, light rain, thunderclaps on one of the many floating islands around the area close, broken parts, walls, houses... so much debris around to sift through.  But it shouldn't be too much of a problem with this group.     Upon landing, however, everyone's hit with a strange vision.  Everything's very large and moving fast... warning sirens are going off as whatever you're looking at turns around and you realize you're flying.  A voice is heard and you know it's not your own.   "Okay, girls, everyone, go ahead.   Quickly!   The Citadel is collapsing!" the voice is calm, stoic, but the look upon the other small flying figures of various shapes and models.  "But what about you...?"   comes one of the models.     "No, just go.  I have to find Master."     Just as abrupt as the vision started, the vision stops, leaving everyone back where they stepped off... 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus arrives on the transport. "Artifacts from an old fallen fortress, certainly a worthy cau---" the vision hits, and the DCC faulters in her words for a moment, she blinks, shaking her head of the vision as it ends. "This area will be quite difficult to traverse if this occurs often." she summons her Staff to her hand. "Alright, we should spread out and keep in contact..." she looks around, then brings a hand up to cup her chin. "I wonder who they were... they seemed. Small..." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "This is a simple retrieval operation," a young girl's voice clarifies over short-range radio, "Do your best to not release untold sealed evil or whatever. And don't /chase/ anything."     Removing her hand from her throat, the small blonde Imperial Major, Tanya von Degurechaff, turns her eyes to the roiling sky with a frown. Blue eyes, with their faint glow, dart amidst the clouds and the lightning teasing through them. After a moment, she sighs and descends. The weather will be against them.     She freezes, throwing out her legs to arrest the descent when the vision passes. Her neutral expression has quickly become a stern, narrow-eyed scowl. She's used to being messed with by bizarre metaphysical entities, but that wasn't the usual Being X fare. Turning, her eyes scan over the ruins below one more time. The rifle leaves her shoulder, held comfortably in her hands, a familiar presence.     "Small is relative. Watch out for holes in reality." 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka hops off the transport, brandishing a 416 customized to her specs, like something out of Delta Force's armory. She's quick to take point, sweeping the landing zone just as she finds a vision to greet her. She freezes still, keeping her rifle shouldered and aimed downrange, but she doesn't fire yet. Visions aren't something she's used to, at least in this sense. They're usually more interference based, but the principle is the same generally.     "I imagine we're gonna get more of that as we advance." is her observation through her helmet's vocoder. "Still gotta get used to being here." She muses under her breath, lowering the HK rifle as she scans at the ruins below.     She's right. This used to be enemy territory two years ago. Amazing what happens in just that long. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:''' "Huh. Time's wonky." "Floran sssmell old sssmell." "Temporal warping. Overlaps? Paradox-proofing?" "This well explains the anomalous readings." "Aye, has the look of the Hollows we met before." "Worried. Do you think we might be able to save anyone...?" "Only if we gather clues. I certainly heard a familiar voice. In the worst of cases, we shall perhaps find something in need of a more proper grave."     The STARBOUND FLOTILLA are here, in their standard Durasteel equipment! Moonfin, the fishman, is in elaborate full-body durasteel armor that looks like a powered cross between a diving suit and a samurai's armor, glowing cyan at the faceplate. Biteblade, the humanoid plant, is in durasteel plating with elaborately carved wood and bone ornaments over glowing powered components that glow an intense green. Pavo the bird-girl wears a divine-aesthetic set of mesoamerican-style armor, with yellow runes and inscriptions lighting up on stylishly gleaming golden armor and robes. Albert the monkey-man is wearing elaborate dystopian commando armor reconstructed with a 'rebel spy' aesthetic: A sleeker faceplate, a slimmer form, and a more chaotic design that integrates thin, resilient plates of durasteel, and lines of bright white. George (just plain human) wears a futuristic combat EVA hardsuit that glows a gentle red at the flat faceplate. Seft, the robotic Flotilla member, is wearing full-on medieval knight armor with a soft energized blue glow below the plates on her body, and especially around the eyes. Each has a heavy industrial-yellow two-pronged plasma-cutter-like tool strapped to their side, a Matter Manipulator.     "Massster. Hmmm. Would have headed for noncombatant zonesss? Placesss for human massster? Floran remember voice. Wasss tiny ninja, heard about. Floran gonna try for track." Biteblade says, sniffing as if that will help anything. She activates the many lights on her armor, and begins her search. That odd first-person look... That means she didn't head in the same direction as those other flying shapes. So Biteblade heads in the opposite direction -- the one that the voice that spoke wopuld have turned to, to go instead -- and begins her search. She's looking for something specific: Human residential or emergency shelter zones, meant for mid to high tech humans who might have been found in the Citadel. From what the Flotilla distantly recall of this... That's the most likely path that a shinki with that voice would have taken.     "Hopeful. I'm going to try to scan for more temporal anomalies... Maybe we can find more visions like that as a clue for something?" Seft says, following along, and bringing up a small hand-scanner! She's going to try to ping a few sonar-pings for weird sciencey anomalies, and see if she can find any other areas that have that odd temporal effect. Where did that come from... 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:''' The layout of the area is rough:  broken parts, walls, houses of course, debris hills, puddles of oil... gas... and other mysterious liquids.   Used batteries, charging cradles.  It's an electric paradise... if it was working at all.    What walls that are standing have marks on them, strange ones... possibly directional indicators in a weird language, but one things certain, they were carved in and not natural. Another lightning strike hits the ground, blowing up one of the walls and giving the faint smell of ozone nearby obscuring most scents.  Seft's Sonar scan picks up quite a few weird anomalies, and one that is /very/ close to the search party.  Biteblade's own splitting from the group has her heading into a weird direction, a broken sign on the ground that says "res---tal a-ea" is pointing in a place.  Tanya and Maaka gets a strange feeling running up their spine... And another vision hits. "Master!?"  there's a scythe in view now, and it's cutting at some walls.  "Maaaaaaster!!  Bang on the walls if you can hear me!" she shouts again, an explosion nearby and a hairpin turn down one corridor.  "Please be there, Master..." comes a worried voice.. then a worried noise.  Then... some loud banging.  Digital readouts in the view, brief but full of information and whatever eyes you are looking through seems to zoom faster towards... something. And the vision stops. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     "Hey," Maaka jogs towards Biteblade, trying to ignore that weird feeling. "Mind if I tag along?" The Floran's good at tracking, and Maaka can keep up no problem, before she's interrupted by the vision again.     That tiny scythe, the voice...     Maaka blinks, shaking her head. It clicks in her head. "I know this voice. Heard it before." She says over comms. "I think they were looking for someone in residential at the time." She begins to follow where that decrepit sign was pointing, scanning intently as if looking for tiny scratches in the rubble. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus, for her part, continues into the derelict field, hopping from outcrop to pile to wall segment. Her steps are light, and she's generally heading in the same direction as Maaka and Biteblade, though she's largely at a loss. This is foreign to her, and she has no advanced sensors or senses to guide her. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya floats a few meters above the wreckage, skimming the ruin with just her eyes. The sensation up her back feels familiar-- the same sort of feeling she gets when artillery or a sniper views her through a scope. Swinging her feet down, the Major halts her forward movement just in time to be subjected to another hallucination.     Concern. Searching. Desperation. Feelings that Tanya is aware of, and even capable of imitating, but she can't say for certain she's actually felt them before. As if in thought, her eyes narrow.     "...Give Thanks for God's miracles," she intones, gold welling in the depths of her eyes, "For through His will the impossible becomes reality." Blue is washed out by bright, radiant gold.     The girl tenses, drawing her legs up, then 'springs' off empty air. Moving at high speed, Tanya banks in an arc over the ruins of the Residential section, eyes fixated on the more intact structures within the warzone. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     Biteblade lacks especially keen analytical abilities, but she does have some very substantial skill in both architecture and demolitions, which means that she can easily analyze the environment around here to be able to determine where things used to be arranged, and where they are now. So she begins her work with her Matter Manipulator, flicking switches until it unfolds with a set of powerful mining beams! Using her expertise, she begins scanning and slicing through buildings in the residential zone.     With her data being confirmed by Maaka and taking the orders from Tanya, she's fairly confident in her efforts to slice through the rubble that seals some of these buildings, or to force the doors where they're jammed, or to otherwise open up this set of structures to find the valuable contents therein. "Floran bessst at deal with buildingsss! Broken or unbuilt! You leave to Floran getting inssside, then you probably find tiny thingsss better than Floran." 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:''' Something might catch Theurgus' eye.  It's a pink thing in tattered Japanese styled clothes with a formerly beautiful necklace, tarnished and missing something in its set.  Upon notice, Theurgus, herself, would be hit by a vision solo. "Thanks," a name would come out but it seems to be garbled.  In the vision, it's a full figured body looking at a mirror, not like the same floating vision as before.  She's styled in a kimono of sorts with an obi that has six red and white orbs upon it and a button in the center.  Each look labeled with numbers.  "I look good, don't I?" the voice still sounds the same, though! A male enters the vision through the mirror.  A feminine looking face with medium length brown hair and those same red and white orbs dot his belt.  "Mmhmm."  he reaches in to give the person in the mirror a kiss.  "We should get training soon, your..." the name is scrambled vocally again... "otherwise, she won't last in any Gym Battles." And just like that, Theurgus' vision stops. ---------- Both Biteblade and Maaka end up at a building, it looks /mostly/ intact... if you discount the fact that everything above the first story looks like it could come down at any moment.  Something in there, though, pings off Biteblade and Maaka's sensors.  A faint... very faint pulse of power... and a vision erupts in their mind. An older gentleman has a smile on his face, it's featureless, though aside from the smile and that same female voice is heard.  "Master..." it sounds somber, upset.  "Master, the Citadel is collapsing, we have to go.  The other Shinki left already, I guided them out.. but I don't want to leave you."  There's a notepad in the male's hand, a bunch of scribbles are upon it.   He picks up a pen and jots something down. -Go.- "Go?  Master, you..." -Go...  I'll be fine.  You need to protect those girls.- "No.  I am not leaving you.  I am NOT failing you again!  I failed that one time... I don't want to do it again, I will die right here with you before I leave you alone." The name on the sheet is garbled again.  -go, or I will not paint you again.  I know how you like being painted.- The vision cuts out once more. ------ Tanya's air superiority in this matter spots some weird things around... a giant pile of bones, a few smaller piles of bones.  And a vision. A strange cat-like thing with giant whiskers that pulse with electricity is in view.  "Okay.  Now, we practiced this.  Sit."  the creature sits.  "Good."  The figure's hand points in the direction of a training dummy.  "Thundara!"  the creature follows the hand, and with a low growl a bolt of lightning erupts from its whiskers and destroys the dummy.  "Good good!  I knew you could do it.  Now, shall we try Blizzara or Fira?"  there's a general happiness in the figure's voice, and... you could almost feel a smile from it. Before the vision stops. ------ Seft and the rest of the Flotilla that isn't Biteblade... the scanners go a bit bonkers as they walk around, with Seft tripping over something hard and heavy.  A cradle of sorts.  Small, like it could fit and action figure, but full of electronics... and another vision for the collective (Minus Biteblade) Flotilla. A male's voice this time, "Another to add to the collection." he starts, looking at a computer screen.  The same featureless face is shown as sounds from a keyboard being typed upon echo through the screne-lit room.  The view shifts slightly to see a cable from the computer approaching the figure you're looking through.  The voice, however, speaks again, "You're going to be the best girl in the collection, so much so that I'm activating you." Four taps of keys and then a click.  "Your name... is..." the vision abruptly cuts out here... 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus watches the vision, then kneels down beside the broken exoframe. She places her fingers against it, a frown furrowing her brow. She relates her findings, then leaves a marker beacon on the unit, before moving on. She continues moving through the debris pile, using her staff to check stability before moving forward. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Considering her age, one might expect certain things from the White Silver. When white catches her eye against the rubble, Tanya banks towards it, gliding to a stop above the remains. She stares down at the collection of bone before her. An animal, for certain. Cat-like. When the vision hits, she closes her eyes for its duration.     A cherished pet. Or perhaps a combat mount. But no less a companion. Those golden eyes open again, staring down at the remains. After a moment, she lifts her fingers to her throat, depressing her communicator: "I've found a deceased animal. Continuing aerial recon."     When faced with literally a dead kitten, Tanya von Degurechaff's lack of empathy becomes glaringly apparent. If just for a moment. The others respond with offers of 'proper burial', to which she sees no reason to object to. Not for 'respect', but simply because it's the sanitary thing to do.     Floating up, Tanya begins circling the building that Biteblade and Maaka are investigating, checking through windows while maintaining a respectful distance from the unstable structure. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "Don't bring down on head... Hmm. Yeah, Floran can do that." Biteblade mutters, poking and prodding at the structure. She... Gently winces a bit. The small figure being forced away reminds her of something that she doesn't often think about, and it actually sets her into a more somber mood. Following Tanya's directions, she focuses on reinforcing the structure to maximize its stability, swapping her mining lasers out for a set of construction beams that reinforce the structure with fancy space-age polymers, and repair what can be repaired wherever loads need bearing. She's going to try to get it in working order.     The rest of the Flotilla experience an odd event, one that is unique to them. The vision... Something from the master? No, this is still the small figure's memories, and is definitely something about her master. Yet this must have been a long time ago... If he's speaking. Biteblade's report of her own vision meant he was likely mute. How long ago would this have been? "Worried. ...That must have been from before he was unable to speak. as I recall. Trying to locate and rescue him while he was not able to call out... Her emotions must have been a terrible storm." "Hmph. Major Degurechaff has chosen a primary objective. Let's focus on it." "Aye, and a pure coldness from her, wasn't it?" "Almost reminds me of the fuzzball himself, but kinda moreso." "Don't say such things so soon after the Concord has embraced us." "Agreeing. We should... Be more polite. Right."     The rest of the Flotilla head to the structure and work on both reinforcing it and making it available for Maaka to enter. It ought to be safe enough by the time she's ready to breach! 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka is about to begin climbing, but she halts as it's mentioned the place will crumble at any moment. She nods to Biteblade, holding position as she watches the Floran add load bearing structures to hold the place up. Handy, and all courtesy of a real matter manipulator, not the bargain bin kind that Zwei built. (Then again Maaka's is pretty useful in its own right.)     She experiences the vision Biteblade does, and she frowns.     It's all too hard to bear these memories. Unlike Tanya, Maaka CAN feel these emotions, discipline nonwithstanding. She takes a breath, before she begins her ascent to follow the Floran up the building, using her suit's magna-grips and the grapple gun to make her way up. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus continues to move, having to slowboat it on foot since she doesn't want to waste a relay just so she can fly around a limited area. The DCC makes best possible speed to catch up with the group. Seems they're all converging on a specific building, so that's where the bulk of the search party should be, right? 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     Biteblade, having finally properly gotten this all reinforced and such from all angles, finally does breach with Maaka from one of the upper floors. That just means slicing a gap in there, as well as getting the gap linked up with a quick-constructed prefab scaffold that others could use to get up there. "Floran thinksss, ready and can go in now... Mmmh. Gonna be weird."     "Resolved. I've gotten the charging cradle hooked up to a generator!" Seft calls out, and it's true! She's got a little medieval-looking mini-furnace that seems to be generating power, which she's set up in the rubble, deployed from her Matter Manipulator. She's got the charging cradle hooked up and apparently ready to receive... Something, if the others find what may match it. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka catches up to Biteblade, and she covers the Floran when she gets set up. "Copy that." She nods, "Get a cutter ready. Just in case, we don't know what's gonna be ahead of us." the cyborg suggests. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     When Biteblade makes a way to the second story, Tanya ascends on the outside. A broken window is selected, and she uses the butt of her rifle to knock some debris loose before she floats through it and in to meet the rest of the search party.     "The source of whatever is going on may be close. Keep your eyes open for anything out of place." ... "More out of place than usual." 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:''' The Flotilla's work upon stabilizing the building is working.  It still looks like it might fall but the probability that it will... is nil now thanks to all those super space age materials and the like reinforcing it.  Which is good as just before the last bits of it are reinforced, a chunk of it falls off, crashing harmlessly to the ground and away from the group.  There's a spike, however, in the temporal scanner that soon dies down... just as rapid burst of lightning strikes around the building. Though, once everyone's within range of the building...  they can see the char, the burns... the utter devastation inside. -Mood Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HudC71bmlg - "Master." the male's head looks down.  There's a smile upon his face. -To the end with me?  I knew you were special from the moment I purchased you.- is written. There's a nodding motion, the figure looks around.  There's a sleeping mermaid figure resting on a cradle and a human-looking figure with a familiar necklace standing up against a wall.  "I cannot leave, it's my duty to protect you." she whispers. Explosions rock the building, the male reaches out to clutch the figure and tug her close.  -I can't let you watch this.- The figure looks down as her chest starts opening, showing a flashing, three colored disk inside.  "M...master?"  the hand reaches for it, "No, Master, don't... please, let me stay awake with you!" He shakes his head, there's a smile and one last written.  -Be well, do good, and know, I always loved my little assassin.- The vision abruptly switches over to the male's view, the featureless face showing off the front of a black dressed girl, chest open and that visible triple colored disk.  There's a pained look upon the figure's face, she's shaking her head and struggling before the disk is removed... she reaches out ... then slumps over.   He shakes his head and moves over towards the table, moving the Mermaid body away and setting the young girl's body on top of the cradle.  The disk is then set on a piece of paper right in the middle of a heart and it's taped on. The male's voice is heard.  "Do good, my little Shinki.  My Fuki." And soon, the vision cuts out after the door bursts open and flames overtake the room. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaak blinks. She has the vision again. She sees everything on fire, and the loss of a master is felt. Maaka seizes up suddenly, just as the door is broken and fire is everywhere like a backdraft. The cyborg's vitals skyrocket briefly in distress, before she regains control of herself. "-NO!" Panting, she grabs onto the wall, leaning on it as she shakes herself to reality.     Her HUD switches back on and the cyborg pops her neck. "I'm okay. I just...another vision, I guess." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     The Major's eyes close again. A vision, probably more accurately thought of as a lingering memory, of a goodbye. From her position she can recognize it as a sad, emotional parting. But it doesn't...affect her in the way it probably should. Tanya certainly doesn't have the tear-filled emotional response most would likely have from seeing such a desperate, forced farewell. Almost a betrayal, from a certain perspective.     Golden eyes open as the memory fades, swinging towards the doorway-- now off its hinges, the fire long since burned out. Floating, the small girl rests a hand on Maaka's shoulder, and the serious expression on her face gives the outward appearance of someone who's seen something grim but isn't letting it control her emotions. The truth is a bit...deeper than that.     "Take a minute," she advises, "Breathe." Head lifting, she glances across the Starbounders and Theurgus, "That goes for all of you. That was pretty intense. Take time to process it." The same advice she tends to share with soldiers in shellshock. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus reacts to the vision, the sudden rush of flame on pure reflex. Her arms come up, and a hemisphere of hexagonal blue panels appear in front of her, braced against the coming heat and concussive force. But it never comes. Her eyes open after a moment, her processor running at 100%, blue eyes like pinpricks as she looks around at the devastation.     Something grips her then, and she moves into the building with a fervent purpose. She recognized the body against the wall... the chip must be here somewhere. She starts to dig, pulling debris up with her bare hands, a furious energy possessing her.     "She is here somewhere. I know it... we must find her." 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:''' Betrayal. Loss. Banishment. Inadequacy. Rejection. Death.     The Flotilla each experience a different pang of sympathy and distress as the vision washes over all six like a wave, and they each find themselves grappling with it in their own ways. George is immediately getting out a cigarette, Moonfin wanders to one side and takes a posture that almost seems like a standing meditation, Biteblade strides forward and immediately begins to dig right into the ruined structure with Theurgus to see if she can find the body with Theurgus looking for the CMS, Pavo begins to fidget and pace in an imperious but undirected way, Seft emits soft static and flickers her eye-visor, and Albert grunts in a painful, militaristic way and focuses on handling construction for an exit.     Most of them don't speak, though they make a sort of a numbly affirming noise to Tanya, some of them seemingly agreeing to her order. Even George has no sass on an order like that! 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:'''     There doesn't seem to be a threat of new visions for now, with Biteblade and Theurgus settling to dig through the ruined building, there's a broken chair, one that seems all too familiar and a small little hologram vid that, when unearthed, shows the entire 'family'. A bunch of small figures around, floating. Two upon a male's shoulder, one white, one black and a large whiskered cat. The figures will look all too familiar for those who saw the vision. Aside from the noise of digging and construction, it seems to fall silent.     Time goes on and on. Most of the room is uncovered... a charred computer with a broken and blackened cradle. Frayed wires... and two charred small bodies are found, the bodies seem to be at least in one piece, if blackened all to hell. Albert's construction of an exit is soon made and the dim light of the surface can be seen. Pavo's pacing and Moonfin's Meditation... George's cig and Seft's stoicism seem to keep everything, at least temporally normal.     On the roof, there's a shimmer, and a burst of lightning lightens up the area... and the multi colored disk, as small as it is, can be seen from Tanya's aerial location... before it falls into the building and whacks Maaka on the head like a penny dropping from three stories up. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     THUNK!     Maaka's knocked right out of her funk by that disk. "OW!" She whirls around, reaching for her sidearm, before she lowers the Springfield .45 as she looks confused, her expression somehow readable despite a full facemask. "...What in the hell?" She kneels down, picking up the disk as she inspects it. "Hey, guys? I think we found our chip." She radios, catching up to the others as she enters the charred room. "Looks like not much worth to scavenge here." She muses, before looking for that cradle from the vision. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     As the room is excavated, Tanya circles to inspect the interior. Her eyes wash from that deific gold to the more ordinary blue glow as she cycles back, then ducks outside to inspect the exterior once more. It's up here that the colors catch the corner of her eye, and she zeros in on something she hadn't noticed before. A small chip with faintly glowing red, blue, and green sectors.     As she approaches, she recgonizes it from the memory. And then, likely from the activity in lower levels, it falls before she can get to it. Thus, if one were to look up at the chip's source, they'd see those glowing blue eyes peering down.     But at least it was collected. Tanya leans back, then floats upward while reaching for the radio at her throat: "We have what we need. Collect anything else of interest and get out. The storm isn't going to wait." 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:'''     As if on cue... The storm looks to pick up. Thunder and lightning strike rapidly as /something/ in the clouds starts to approach the group... it's an angry roar too. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus, unable to find the object of her fixation herself, yields the search and breaks off to head back to the landing site. The roar doesn't hurt in spurring her onward, hopping between broken debris and over mounds of detritus. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     Biteblade grabs up the first of the small bodies, and the others take the next: Moonfin is the one who scoops up the mermaid approvingly, while the remainder of the Flotilla work on carrying the human-size bosdy, though Seft stops to grab the cradle she recovered from before. The others have found most of this, but the Flotilla will be the ones conveniently lugging it out just behind the rest of the group as they make their escape from the temporal storm!     They'll be making sure to get this all assembled somewhere soon, later. They have just a hunch that they may be able to get this particular individual to align properly with the Confederacy... But only after they give her some time. They intend to be properly gentle with the re-initializing, giving her some time and some peaceful space to wake up all on her own. You know, assuming they can mad-dash their way out of the area and back towards their beam-up zone. 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:'''     Making it to the ship with bodies, CMS and charging cradle in tow, the storm looks to back off finally. But the silence from the 'dead' parts speaks volumes. The CMS blinks vaguely, ominously. But otherwise, everything looks charred, or partially damaged. The Cradle, however, seems perfectly fine. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka hoofs it to the ship, handing Theurgus the chip. She holsters her weapons, removing her helmet as she looks out at the remains one last time. "Let's just get off this rock before that storm comes." She says, anxious to extract. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     With the various artifacts collected and various members retreating, Tanya drops altitude and floats backwards at the rear, ensuring no one is left behind-- and more importantly, that none of the cargo is lost. Though it'd probably reflect poorly on her if one of these agents were lost, given the hazardous surroundings, she could probably get away with it if needed.     Though with Maaka and Theurgus already on the ship, and the collection of alien Starbounders almost there, it looks like an 'acceptable losses' form won't be necessary.     At the side of the vessel, Tanya slots her rifle over her shoulder, then assists with loading on equipment before ducking in herself. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus accepts the chip, cradling it carefully in the palm of her hand. "We'll get you functioning again." she says to the pulsing chip. "I promise." she looks at it carefully, the pulsing is probably not a Good Thing. "Do you think we can provide it with power? I'm not sure, but the internal power supply may be running low." 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     Seft's charged up the cradle with a bit of juice from the mobile generator. That means she can set it down and let it function properly. Biteblade's gotten the body, so she settles it into the cradle, and works to make sure all the fiddly little electronic bits are working... Even if Fuki's body itself is a bit damaged in the overall integrity, the crucial electronics working are at least something she can handle, she hopes.     And then, still aboard the ship and flying away, they stand aside and give Theurgus the space to try to re-insert the core... In hopes that this will work. Hopefully, they think, this should work well enough... 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:'''     With everything in place, the main body on the cradle and, with a loud creak and slow movement, the chest opens for the core. Upon insertion, the pulsing lights start to pulsate faster and faster until its solid... and the chest closes around it. There's a few moments where the body doesn't seem to do anything... too far gone, too burned? Biteblade's little fiddling soon sparks something up... and those eyes open.     Fuki's head looks around, eyeing Tanya, Maaka, the entire Starbound Flotilla... then to Theurgus. "Running self diagnostics... systems at fifteen percent. Battery at two percent. Structural integrity at four percent. Movement servos offline. Flight unit offline. Slipway access disabled temporarily to save battery." the voice should be eerily familiar. "Lieutenant Fuki... reporting." 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka sees the body of FUki come to life, and it's like a ghost coming back to find her. "Welcome back to the land of the living. We're charging you back up as we speak." She says, observing the shinki. "We'll get you fixed up, don't worry." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "Major von Degurechaff," Tanya responds to the introduction almost out of habit. At the back of the ship, she stows her rifle, then collects her cap. The ponytail is suitably tamed while she puts it on, before turning to the tiny robot, "And you've had a rather rough year." Lifting a hand, she props it on her hip, the brim of her cap casting her eyes in shadow, save the blue glow of her magic, "Welcome back to consciousness." 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:''' "Pheeew. Well, we know nothing's broken too bad." "Welcome back from the brink of oblivion, Miss Fuki." "Hihi! Very lucky tiny robot! Greatessst Floran here to sssave you!" "Aye, ye have quite a bit of luck, lass. I remember that voice of yers." "Hopeful. Please don't move too much, your charging should be ongoing..." "Lieutenant Fuki. Good. Captain Albert Petrov of the Starbound Flotilla." "Assuring. Miss Fuki, you're safe for now. We're going to get to a less dangerous zone and get you acclimated to the way things are in the multiverse right now, but later. Is there anything I can get for you while we're on the way?"     Yep, the Flotilla intend to give her some space, but not before making sure she feels alright. Even Albert knows to give someone basic assurance and then the time and materials they need. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus kneels in front of the cradle. The blue eyes of the DCC watch the Shinki. "Minimal function, but function regardless. We will fix you." she then looks around at the others. "Judging from the others that know you better, we should bring you up to speed on current situations... but that can come later, once your body is repaired and your battery recharged." She nods a little. "I am Theurgus." 

:'''{{#var:1152|Fuki (1152)}} has posed:'''     "Brink of oblivion?" Fuki blinks a bit, looking at the Starbound Flotilla. "Wait, where's Master? Master?" she looks around rapidly before giving up, looking to Maaka, "I remember you. I tried to kill you." said as non chalantly.. and she sighs, nodding some. "Alright. Fill me in, I've been ... offline for a while." she sighs a bit, leaning back. She looks towards Tanya, "Major. You must have done well in the Confederacy. I look forward to working under you."     She looks to Theurgus, "Thank you, Theurgus. I look forward to working with you... if you're part of the Confederacy." 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     "Eh." Maaka shrugs just as non-chalant. "There's no Fed anymore, we're the Concord now. It's been two years." She says, trying to make it gentle for Fuki. There's a LOT of stuff to bring the Shinki up to speed. "The Multiverse had...a bit of an explosion, I guess. The Citadel and Nojrun Station were both destroyed in the process, we've been picking up the pieces for some time now." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     "We are all part of a group known as the Concord. There is no Confederacy as far as I am aware." replies Theurgus. "We extracted you from some ruins." she looks to Maaka, shifting away a little bit to let the cyborg explain better. 
}}

5520/Joint Training

2019-01-19T23:35:56Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/10/18 |Location=The Shrine of Adversity |Synopsis=A fight breaks out to test the newly opened Shrine of Adversity |Cast of Characters=70, 964,..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/10/18
|Location=The Shrine of Adversity
|Synopsis=A fight breaks out to test the newly opened Shrine of Adversity
|Cast of Characters=70, 964, 391, 632, 798, 863, 42, 10, 1129, 1123
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     The Shrine of Adversity certainly seems to be everything it was advertised to be. Already, the mini-island is bustling with activity, docks, transport tubes, and plazas overflowing with spectators, tourists, inspectors, and of course, actual competitors and training groups. Professional fighters are here for sparring, military units are here for live drills, extreme sports junkies are here to see what stupid stunts they can dream up and practice, and even some technical groups are here to assess its usefulness for training in things like bomb disposal and demon binding. The visitors' areas, rec centers, and shops, couldn't be more metropolitan if they tried. It'd be hard to argue that, true to the complex's name, conflict isn't a universal constant that binds most worlds together.     The main simulation dome is obviously the place to be, though, and the Concord obviously have a solid reservation, with plenty of time on the clock and juice in the system, since they're paying for this one. Stepping through, there are points for various check-ins, changing rooms, secure storage, and other things to prep for a session. Going through the main doors, the simulation floor is in its completely blank preset, which immediately impresses just how huge it is. Made to accommodate as many exercises as possible, the circular area must be easily a kilometer across, with its perfectly flat, white surfaces illuminated from beneath, and the swirling onyx and cobalt dome ceiling overhead. The fact that the codenamed 'Ego Orb' can exert its influence over such a huge area is something impressive.     It seems like there was a mixed scenario in mind, though. Priscilla had tried to pre-plan a little bit of everything, and when she gives the signal, the whole thing springs to life. The startup is much less dramatic than TRON-lines and swirling lights. The scene transitions almost as quick as blinking to a wide open area that appears to be outdoors. Quite convincingly, too. The sun, the open sky, the faint breeze and perfectly clear weather conditions, are all extremely convincing, to say the least.     For lack of a tailored scenario, the surroundings are pretty simple, largely being grassy terrain higher up, and dry, flat lowlands sprinkled with rock formations. Generic white architecture fills several spaces, from various standalone walls (some chest high), arches, and pillars that are obviously meant to be used for shootouts, to elaborate staircases and towers meant to be climbed or scaled, to simple targets mounted atop pillars, to what looks like a fortified city block in the distance, and even some mixes of them, like compact mazes filled with cover and obstructions, and a perfectly flat, tiled ring, for traditional martial arts square-offs.     The same white panels can be used to traverse the area, simply by standing on them, where they generate projected control panels that allow them to float around with extreme precision and high speed, to gain various lines of sight or to move from area to area quickly. There are many points that are very obviously set up to include targets, from the more basic firing range variety, to surprise ones in the maze, to live fire fields, to solo ones on flat arenas, but all of them are simply little balls of pulsing light at the moment, awaiting a configuration.     It really just screams: knock yourselves out. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Given she was one of the individuals part of that expedition that brought back that... /thing/, that ended up making this place possible, well she just had to utilize it. Ironically (depending on how one views the Tenno) she had visited prior to take advantage of one of the areas useful for meditation--the kind one does before this sortof thing from one of the 'rec' areas. So finished with such a notion, she had arrived fairly early to the time slot, the Tenno's frame of choice in this instance being Nova; least the Primed variant. Shimmering funnels of energy radiated gently from behind her head and the back of the technorganic suit, which... actually looked kind of 'cute' depending on one's personal sense of aesthetic. Just never you mind the absolutely enormous, person-sized sword that was attached at a point behind her, ornate twinbarreled shotgun and similarly elegant sidearm. That said, upon her arrival she was basically just evaluating the scenario laid out. The target fields, the mobility courses, the places for a traditional duel--all of which got a quiet and silent nod of approval from time to time as she contemplated really pushing one of the 'solo' fields with the raw destructive power. Just to give the thing powering this place a workout. ... naaaah. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' A good member of GUARDIANS never stops training. No matter how high ranked they may be, they must always keep their skills sharp and their knowledge high. Even though she's not a member of the Concord, Reina still shows up here since it was open to those who were interested. Those who know her will recognize her immediately while those who don't know her will notice her immediately for the same reason. Her hair. Her bright, fiery red hair is always noticeable, and is always tied into a large ponytail. In fact, one might think she used an actual pony's tail for her hair because of how large it is. Just don't go asking her if she dyes, as that will REALLY have her seeing red! Upon her arrival, Reina takes a good long look at the way things are set up, and she nods a little as she surveys it all. "Looks rather interesting, I have to say," She comments sincerely, not showing any signs of sarcasm right now. "This should serve as a real test of how elite I truly am." A pause then a frown as she adds, "If Laia finds out about this, though, I dread to imagine what kind of new tests she'll put me through. Sure they're simulated but they're rough!" She runs a hand through her ponytail before shrugging. "No time like the present." She jumps around to get her blood flowing and does some light stretching. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Among the highest spires of white stone, a purple-cloaked figure darts between targets in midair, leaping from wall to wall and twisting in acrobatic gyres to clip the unshaped orbs of light with the edges of her curved arm-mounted blades. Each stroke is followed by a satisfying "pling" and a bit of kinetic feedback as the orbs change colors, turning translucent to indicate their 'tagged' status.      Leap, swipe, pling. Leap, swipe, pling, pling. Septette tags the last orb just as she runs out of towers to leap from, plummeting hundreds of feet through the air to land on her feet in a huge plume of dirt. As the dust clears, she throws back her head and laughs giddily, standing waist-deep in a shallow 'crater' in the soft dirt.      "This is FANTASTIC," the little robot calls out to nobody in particular. "It's so hard to find buildings that'll-" Abruptly, she catches herself, clearing her throat and shaking her head briskly, seeming to only now notice that there are other people nearby who just might've gotten lightly misted with dirt. Members of the Concord, no less- her gracious hosts! "Apologies. I understand that this facility was quite a labor to procure, though I don't know the details. I appreciate the invitation."      She makes a polite movement not unlike a curtsy in the general direction of Kushiko and Priscilla, shallowly and a little awkwardly, and clutches her shawl tightly around her shoulders. It doesn't seem like a motion she's very used to making. 

:'''{{#var:798|The Kid (798)}} has posed:'''     The Kid arrives, and lets out a low whistle as the simulation comes to life. "Damn sight fancier than the private place we had," he says as he strides along the grass and takes in the area. Based on what he's carrying, it's clear what he wants to practice today. A massive mortar cannon, and a bag loaded with ammunition for it hangs from his form.     He looks about, spotting the tiny buildings, before cracking a small grin. "Long ranged demolition race," he calls out as he plants his mortar. "Pick a buildin', bombard it, first one to bring theirs down wins. Who's in?" 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:''' Haguro might not have made much use of training facilities in the past, but her renewed vigor for training along with her involvement in the Shrine of Adversity's creation means the shipgirl can't NOT show up today. It'd look bad!      "This is much more impressive than I expected... This was all from what we found?" Haguro's in awe at the sight, and her gaze focuses less on the buildings and more on the waist-high cover. "... Hmm. That could be a good place to practice..." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren beams down in his old WMAT uniform -- compared to his usual outfit, the pants are black and the coat, pants, and boots are military style instead of his usual 'lab casual'.     He arrives at the Concord's field more to watch and to continue studying the computer system than with any plan in mind for something to do himself. He doesn't seem super wowed by the simulation, but then, he already read up on what it could do, so why would he be surprised now? Only those who've seen what he could do with the Ring of Philosophy could guess what he's working on.     Those here get a nod of greeting, and when he hears Septette he stops working and turns to her with a smile. "Septette! Always good to see you!"     At the Kid's proposal, he turns and looks at him. "You'll have to set more rules than THAT. Like what weapons are you allowed to use? This is a simulation where we can make anything we want, after all." He's not especially interested in playing 'blow up the building', but he can't help but point out what is, to him, an obvious oversight. 

:'''{{#var:798|The Kid (798)}} has posed:'''     Kid looks to Staren and offers a mighty big shrug. "Not really interested in makin' a whole game of it. I jus' need practice wit' this thing." He pats the Galleon Mortar hanging from him. "So I guess 'whatever you like?'" 

:'''{{#var:10|Crys Gattz (10)}} has posed:''' This new set up had Cry's intrest to be sure but the long like multiverasl Elite had trended to mostly unremakable tasks since she joined the Concord. Or we should say when the League was consumed by them. It's not been so bad and the Paladins reminded her too much of WORKS and what happened with the Black Paper. She arrived a bit after Staren and she moves up behind him. "Long range demo race huh? I'm not CAST though i'll damn well put money on Staren though." She grins a little bit looking to Kid while she thinks of just what she wants to do, she's doesn't seemingly carrying any weapons but she does have that odd looking glove and brace on her arm. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren smiles. "I /COULD/ just res in a missile or something, but I'm mostly here to just watch and study. I just felt I had to point out the obvious loophole in your proposed contest." 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Septette startles visibly, then glances over at Staren as she pinpoints the source of his voice. Come on- she can't really be that oblivious, can she? She responds with a grin and a nod, leaning over to glance at what he's working on as a polite expression of interest. Doesn't seem like she makes head or tails of it, though! "Hey, Staren! I'm liking the outfit. Seems a bit more practical than that labcoat you normally wear, though maybe I'm not one to judge."      She stares at the Kid's setup, chewing her lower lip for a moment before breaking into a mischievous smile. "Hey, I'd be happy to play a little game with you. I don't have much by way of long-range artillery, but I can run down to those buildings and play a bit of catch-and-return, if you're down for tennis. But if mutual shelling doesn't sound like your idea of a good time..." She trails off, rubbing the back of her neck, and shrugs. Doesn't seem like she expects him to seriously entertain the offer.      On closer inspection, the left side of her face is blackened around the orbit of her artificial eye, like it's been lightly dusted with soot. A souvenir of earlier training, maybe? Or did she take that into the Shrine from outside? 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Situations like this make it far, far easier to take proper stock of people and individuals; upon a second look, she realizes one could make a case for her cybernetic 'style' to be not unlike the Grineer, but only in terms of the limbs being thinner. Everywhere else, well, that's /far/ more aesthetically pleasing. She does incline her head, the control surfaces on her head flexing slightly like a pair of antenna in polite greeting. As others begin to arrive, she ends up waving a little bit, like to Haguro; one could imagine by her body language she'd be smiling if she had a mouth to display otherwise. The Kid's suggestion gets a perky little response, <"We were thinking of experimenting a little ourselves. It's a little rare that our brand of destructive capability gets to truly be let loose."> Most people are terribly afraid of antimatter, even with her absolute (and possibly frightening conceptually) control of it. Yes, that means those funnels of light /are/ related to antimatter. Funny, that. Nonetheless, she pats her shotgun lightly, contemplating what they could do. <"Probably should just keep it simple, honestly."> 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Most of the work is in Staren's head, what with having cyberware and a wireless connection and all. When Septette comes to look at what he's working on, he explains to her, quietly, while pulling up a display of what looks like his robot form holding an alien-looking staff. "It's a training avatar for showing people what they might be up against in the Multiverse. It's a magic robot... kinda like you! Though more in the sense of a robot mage than a robot that operates on magic... Hmm, maybe I should add that golem mode trick though..."     At the discussion of demolition, he rezzes a missile launcher in the air in front of Septette, assuming she'll catch it. It must weigh like 35 lbs, nothing for her but possibly difficult for anyone else to carry. "If you want to see if you can melt a building before he can blow one up, go nuts."     Now that he's paying attention to Septette, he furrows his brow. "What happened to your eye?" 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:''' "We could make quite a bit in here, huh? And we wouldn't have to worry about the targets suffering real wounds..." Haguro murmurs, half to herself and half in response to Staren as she glances towards the revolver at her side. "And even seeing how they react... I'd like to see how complex it can all become."      Noticing the Kid's mortar, the shipgirl giggles briefly before turning to Kushiko and Septette. "Trying something different isn't a bad idea. I was thinking of getting in some marksmanship training myself. I can't always afford to use shells to bombard things, so training with more... Er... Focused fire is a good change of pace." 

:'''{{#var:798|The Kid (798)}} has posed:'''     "Yeah, I'm sure you would know a lot about games, smarty-pants," Kid says to Staren with a slight sneer on his face. When Septette makes her offer, it takes him a moment to catch on to what she's suggestion. "What, you try and hit my shells back?" He seems a bit dumbfounded, but then his face lights up. "Sounds good ta' me."     But now people are actually interested in a bombardment race, so he thinks for a moment. "Hey," he says to Septette. "Think you could handle a shellin' from lots of people?" 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      "It's a good trick," Septette replies as she peers at the display, "but to get the most out of it, you need to have a way to ensure that the golem 'health bar' isn't taking damage at the same time as its mechanical functions are failing. It's harder than it looks, though I'm sure you could figure out a way." She catches the rocket launcher in one hand, though she seems a little confused about its use: her handling of it is clearly impracticed and improper, not to mention the fact that her fingers only fit the grip clumsily.      "My eye's fine," she replies, waving off his concerns. "I just haven't quite smoothed over all the little glitches after sparring the Flotilla. They helped out a lot, but it left me in bad shape- wish we'd had a place like this to do it in." Then her face lights up at the Kid's suggestion, and she nods briskly towards the unfamiliar man. "Of course I can handle it! It's just a question of 'how long', isn't it?"      She takes off towards the buildings in the distance, covering the ground remarkably quickly- highway speeds, at least- before leaping up onto the roof of one of the blocky white structures and waving enthusiastically back towards the Concord elites. "Ready when you are," she radios back, and hoists the rocket launcher onto her shoulder. 

:'''{{#var:1129|Miari (1129)}} has posed:''' "Simply amazing. Far surpasses the utility AND scale of a Vault of Woven Dreams." Whatever the heck THAT is, if it's anything like this place, and comes from Creation, perhaps it's best left unexplained.     But Miari's eyes are all but popping out of their sockets.     Knowing the scholar, she's probably had eyes on this place for some time in one form or another. A bound demon's, or her own, or... some other strange method. But now she is here in the flesh and her amazement is plain as day.     "I DO have a very good test for how well this field can hold up in mind... but I just need a target. A small town should do." The Exalt sweetly declares in a tone that might or might not be so serious. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' <"... mmn. We're going to have to modify ours for a moment."> As to why Kushiko would have to do that, she gestures with a hand, a control rod on her arm shifting out, twisting, then slotting back into the forearm in a blink of an eye. A pulsating *worb* sound is heard, and what is maybe a volley ball sized silver orb of solid matter. Should Staren, or anyone else near have the techy wherewithall or even mystic senses, it's... /weird/. It's antimatter but made into some bizarrely stable format. The properties are evident as it floats slowly in front of her. Then she makes a second orb, after judging it. With a shotgun blast, the first orb goes inversely dark, with pinkish light flickering and chaotically swirling. Yet it's shape is criminally perfect. With the same done to the second, she simply flicks her wrist, snapping the Tigris she's using open, then reloading both barrels. Away from Septette's position she guides the orbs, which begin to accelerate, and accelerate a little bit more. An interaction with one of the nearby systems to ensure it's going to be a properly destructible building yet strong enough to endure something obscene. Because not long after, she gestures again, bringing the two orbs into the building. An implosive wave of light, bizarre smoke and light like a fire but not as a buffering, near invisible shockwave radiates from both points. The building doesn't so much fall down as it is annhilated by the twin orbs of antimatter explosiveness. Put plainly: mass, energy and the use of antimatter is fun for the whole family. Never you mind the way it sortof simply... eats away at it, reducing it to complete nothingness, only faint, lilac-colored motes of light in its wake before they too vanish. Yet despite this little demonstration... there's the sense she's actually holding back; she is. She can keep this stuff from hurting anyone else she desires too after all, even at point blank range. 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     As previously indicated, Priscilla is actually here for this one. There's no way she wouldn't examine the fruits of her Partners' efforts for her own. Besides, there is actually one thing she wants to test. Something she was a little coy about when Staren asked about her eyes being back to their symmetrical norm.     When Priscilla steps out to the field, she takes her place on the grass, above a steep cliff into a generic, budget-saving, anime fight dust bowl, and hefts a rather large, cloth-wrapped item. "If thou shalt alloweth mineself a minute to acclimate, perhaps I shalt taketh thee up on such an offer, though shot for shot may be best." She says to the Kid, of all people.     Yanking the cloth off, she reveals what she had worked on in private. To a couple, it'll be recognizable in style of one of Lordran's most iconic weapon classes, though to others, it can only be described as an utterly massive bow of asymmetrical limb lengths, taller than Priscilla is, and possessed of a huge, flanged spike at the lower tip. The string appears to be tightly wound threads of solid metal, with a heavy nocking point. Most outstandingly, the entire bow portion appears to be been carved or sculpted out of solid obsidian, though with a grain precisely like organic bone. Black, hard, and glassy, there's no way it could have any flex whatsoever, and the entire thing is painstakingly etched with multiple square meters of iconography and Lordran rune script. The flat, broad, flared part directly above the rest has a bright orange gem embedded in a cruciform socket, already glowing brightly.     Priscilla takes after Staren and summons her chosen ammo. A dozen Dragonslayer Great Arrows fizzle next to her, jammed point down in the earth for easy access. The standard design is a solid iron lance as long as the archer's combined arm length and shoulder breadth, with a thick, triangular, and incredibly heavy midsection, with sharp flutes that taper down to a spearhead point. At Priscilla's size, this effectively means they're taller than anyone else here, and an order of magnitude heavier than anyone but Septette. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' Meanwhile, Reina has snapped her fingers, and in her hands materializes her rifle. Of course she also has numerous TECHNICs at her disposal as well, but she'd like to keep those separate for the time being. She instead prefers to stick with her rifle, as it's her favorite weapon. After that, she takes off towards the others as well, not caring about the fact she's not a member of the Concord. It's an open training thing, so Reina is taking advantage of it. Reina makes her way towards one of the other buildings and leaps up onto the roof of it quickly. She sweeps the area with her rifle and says, "All right, ready when everyone else is!" She grins. 

:'''{{#var:798|The Kid (798)}} has posed:'''     Kid smirks as Septette heads down to serve as the target. "Right. First one to land a clean hit on her wins! Splash damage don't count." He also nods to Priscilla. "You heard the First. One shot at a time!"     He loads a shell into his Mortar befre gripping it, slowly adjusting its angle. One he has it lined up with the Yggdroid, he grips the firing cord and gives it a hard yank. With a solid BOOM, the shell launches, arcing through the air before coming down.     It doesn't even come close to her. He wasn't kidding when he said he needed practice. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren smiles a bit as Septette takes off all jolly. Her enthusiasm is infectious.     At Miari's question, he glances between her and Priscilla. "Did we /try/ simulating nukes yet?" He doesn't sound over-eager, just curious. His interest in nukes is as a solution to problems, not just to watch big booms.     He quirks an eyebrow at Priscilla's weapon. He's seldom seen her use ranged weapons... but then, the nature of the contest kind of requires one, doesn't it?     It seems the contest is starting in earnest and everyone's jumping in. Well... Staren shrugs, and then is suddenly clad in his robot armor and carrying a staff. On a sudden whim, he changes colors, going from all-red to mostly black, with some red around the waist and on the upper arms and legs. He flies up into the air, waiting for his turn. 

:'''{{#var:10|Crys Gattz (10)}} has posed:''' Crys Gattz looks to Miari as she arrives for a moment, the one eyed woman could be mistaken for an elf with those ears of her sshe looks to Miari for a moment. "I didn't think anyone would be replicate what the Union Training rooms used to be able to do, but it looks like enough Meseta and balls to go into those Falz pits? Well look here we are." She seems pretty chill for a moment she look to her for a moment tiling her head at her. "...You remind me of a mage I knew long time ago. Tell me do you destroy buffets as well?" She seems to be in good spirits for the most part and not ashamed of much for the most part. "So Miari right? Where you from the name's Crys Gattz last active member of the Crimson Flames in the multiverse, my team has more or less cashed out and retired to affairs back home if your wondering." 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Well, one-against-many isn't fair at all... Septette holds her free hand in the air, making strange gestures with her fingers. A half-dozen softball-sized colorful drones, in blue, yellow, and red, materialize in the air on either side of her. Each one projects a hexagonal 'plate' of energy, providing both sensor coverage and elemental defenses. Don't hit the ones corresponding to your 'element', most likely: seems simple enough, especially since many of the people here don't use elemental attacks at all!      Her reaction to Kushiko's impressive detonation is a little hard to make out at this distance, save for the fact that she turns around to look at the display of destructive power and shades her eyes. When one of the pieces of rubble nearly falls on her, she steps forward and cuts it in half with a limb-mounted blade: a hint of what the contestants have to look forward to!      As the Kid fires his mortar, Septette takes aim with the rifle slung over her shoulder- she knows its trajectory won't put it anywhere near her, but it's still good practice! And... click. She's forgotten to disable the safety. Cursing the seemingly malfunctioning weapon, she throws it as hard as she can in a calculated parabola, striking the shell midair and erupting in an air-burst detonation. 

:'''{{#var:1129|Miari (1129)}} has posed:''' "Did we try WHAT?" Miari glances over her shoulder back at Staren, blinking in clear incomprehension at the term. Though her attention skews over towards Kushiko demonstrating one heck of a fine demolition method...     "... That?" Nope. She really has no idea what that is either, but her interest is piqued to say the least!     It's Crys coming up and addressing her so personally that really jars her out of her thoughts though. The girl jitters in her skin and focuses hard on Crys' figure, eyes moving up and down and...     ... settling on the pointed ears with a noticeably sharper breath than normal. Something about pointed ears that's an alarm bell for her, maybe...?     Though if so, she hardly shows it apart from that. "Destroying a buffet... what's a buffet? Yes though, Miari! A scholar and sorceress."     The young woman peers more closely, even leaning in slightly... and her eyes narrow.     "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     "I believeth not, Sir Staren, though there hast barely been opportunity to do so with how new the facility is. I believeth likewise that it shouldst be possible, but would advise thee to do so with all others well clear." The Union had pretty much universally blackballed Staren's nuclear suggestions without question. Admittedly, Priscilla isn't hugely keen on them, but without Union bureaucracy in the way, she can certainly imagine a few scenarios where she may actually need to know how thoroughly the cat-scientist could reduce something to cinders.     She looks . . . mildly consternated about Septette volunteering to be a target, and then the Kid actually challenging her to hit her first. That seems kind of mean-spirited. Still, the little yggdroid is enthusiastic about it, and Priscilla really needs the practice, so . . .     A great arrow slides from the earth with a loud rasp, and then clanks into its rest, held between Priscilla's fingers as if the truck-length piece of steel were actually somehow balanced enough to be supported from one end, and then she slams the bottom spike deep into the rock to keep it anchored. It really goes to show just /how many/ goddamn souls Priscilla has soaked up over her years of Multiversal murder, because the fact she pulls it at all seems somehow kind of silly. Oddly, the obsidian /does/ have flex to it, much like a composite bow made of bone or horn, though the metal cable whispers plaintively first.     Her stance is obviously a little amateurish. Her experience with bows is next to none, despite her exposure to them (and some long hours watching Gough especially). Her manual precision, however, is not, and the point of the arrow tracks with the smoothness of a naval turret. She makes her best estimate, and then the orange stone set into the bow flares with familiar, scorching light. A broad section of a chosen building down range corresponds with its own fiery glow, as if a wide spotlight were being projected on it, giving something like a laser sight effect to aiming it. She doesn't crank it up any further though. The idea is to hit Septette, not hurt her.     Priscilla releases. She barely aims up at all. The colossal steel 'arrow' flies with tremendous speed, attaining a flat and shallow trajectory that zooms across the intervening distance, pretty much looking like the type of KEP usually fired from tanks, except way, way bigger. This is what the Knights of Gwyn used to take down dragons, after all; with her own twist on it. Being her first ever shot, her aim isn't fantastic, but it should be close enough to be dangerous, especially with shrapnel and physical shock considered. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      High mass, very high speed. Allowing that kind of arrow to hit the building would likely be catastrophic, even if only from the explosion of shrapnel and loss of room to maneuver! Septette's eyes narrow and brighten to pinpricks of purple light that are visible even in broad daylight. There's less than a second from the twang of the bowstring to impact... and for one who sees the world as she does, that is time enough.      She runs to the edge of the building and leaps off it, towards the arrow. For a split instant, it looks as if she's going to try to land on its shaft and leap off. But as her feet skim the arrow's shaft, she grasps it in tightly in her talons and twists in the air, firing a stream of magical fire to adjust her momentum. Wooden splinters erupt from the shaft as Septette's legs visibly stretch, subjected to the strain of abruptly equalizing her forward momentum with the arrow's inertia. As it turns out, her weight is comparable to the enormous wood-and-metal KEP, even if her speed is noticeably less!      But rather than completely cancelling their momentum and simply falling to the ground, Septette launches a fireball from her hands at an odd angle, using a magical attack as an improvised thruster to adjust herself and the arrow in the air. With clever manipulation of momentum, she spins the enormous arrow around, trading its velocity for her own in a bewildering aerial dance!      She's flung back in the direction she came from, skidding across the roof of a white building and digging deep furrows into the stone roof with her talons. Her legs spark and crackle as they recover from the mechanical strain. The arrow, imprecisely redirected, explodes into the face of a hill perhaps a hundred feet wide of Priscilla.      Quite the inventive defense, all considered. But surely she can't keep that up... 

:'''{{#var:798|The Kid (798)}} has posed:'''     The Kid scowls as Septette prematurely detonates his shot. He knew already it was going to be a miss, but not getting to see the precise point of impact makes readjusting his aim harder. But he does his best, making minute adjustments to the stand and the barrel, while he watches Priscilla fire her bow. He's never handled one that relatively big. Even for his size, his Breaker's Bow is a little shorter, but even he can tell her stance is clumsy.     Althoug, Septette certainly treats the shot like a threat. The Kid's eyes bug out at her wildly elaborate method of dealing with it, ducking low as it flies back at them!     "Heh... right, how's this?" He jams in another shell, adjusts his aim, and fires again!                    ~In the distance, the rattling of chains~                         The shell, no matter what becomes of it, absolutely does not explode. 

:'''{{#var:10|Crys Gattz (10)}} has posed:''' Crys Gattz says "A Buffet it's style of restaurant where you pay a fee and get assess to a wide assortment of foods general you either get a number of plates worth of food or until you can no longer or want to eat. Good way to try out new things." She's about to say more than Miari drops a bomb on her. "I'm a hunter, generally hunt hostile and dangerous Xeno Flora and Fauna. Some times I deal in other things as for ... that. Wait, how did you...?" Her one eye looks at Miari for a moment before she adds. "Such is the price to have a tomorrow for my world." 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Despite her penchant for theatricality, Septette has enough good sense to not try and personally deflect something that might have a proximity fuse. She estimates the trajectory of the mortar bomb- considerably closer, this time!- and points two fingers at it, conjuring up a red magical circle in front of her hand. A bolt of fire erupts from the circle, scouring the bomb to try and detonate it early... and eliciting no reaction whatsoever.      As a panicked second line of defense, three red drones try to interpose themselves between the mortar and Septette, and the bomb physically clips one of them, destroying it in the proces. Bracing herself for the worst, she rolls away from the point of impact and conjures up a thin wall of ice to muffle the blast wave...      And it never comes. For a second, she suspects a trap. Soon, however, the drones' sensors confirm it: the bomb is nonfunctional. Weird. She straightens up and readies herself for the next attack, now with a hole in her drones' elemental screen! 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Demonstrations aside, Kushiko turns her attention back to what's going on here. Or rather, she would, then realizes perhaps some of what she has isn't /quite/ as good for it as it could be. All that being said, however, she does enjoy the show Septette herself is putting on. Any critiques; or places for improvement, she stows for now. Everyone has their own style, when it gets right down to it, and the ways both the Kid and Priscilla alike utilize their weapons is something the Tenno quietly, yet eagerly (in her own way) enjoys. So in lieu of launching something terrifying at Septette herself, she simply lifts off the ground, bringing her legs up and sitting--floating--in a meditative posture. Totally watching, even if doesn't seem like she is. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren, edgy black 'n' red OC edition, hovers in the air, watching the others play and Septette's results.     They didn't set any rules, but rather than just summoning a giant missile, why not test out this construct's functionality? He actually does have a quick radio exchange with Septette to make sure she's cool with something other than a projectile.     At a last-moment whim of artistic inspiration, he modifies the avatar's left arm into a brass-colored gauntlet, segmented with five armored wires running up from the base of the gauntlet to the knuckles, bracer-style plates on the back of the arm and hand, and a flickering black-red crystal eye situated behind the wrist, about where a watch would be. He levels the staff as if pointing a weapon... and Kid goes again. "Hey! Oh, sorry... I guess I didn't say, but I decided to take a shot after all." he rubs the back of his helmet. The tone of voice is just completely contrary to the appearance of the skull-faceplated avatar.     And then Miari says, 'Is a nuke anything like this?'     "Wait, what?" Staren turns to look at her, and then frantically starts casting barrier and haste spells on everyone nearby. Which probably isn't as good as just rezzing some kind of force wall, but that's snap decisions for you. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The test avatar's 'casting' for the most part seems to just happen without much fancy words or the like. He points and gestures with the staff, but maybe he's just triggering commands like he would with any computerized weapon. The process takes nonzero time, though. The 'barrier' spell seems to give the target a copy of one of his forcefields. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' Reina scowls a little, noticing no one is targeting her. Then she spots Miari and raises an eyebrow. "This could be interesting." Reina says as she moves towards Miari's location. A few moments later, Reina has arrived close to where Miari is. She's got an evil smirk on her face and she says, "Well well, now, what are you up to?" She chuckles a little. "I doubt it's anything good." 

:'''{{#var:1129|Miari (1129)}} has posed:''' "Oh... oh, no, I'd never pig out like that! How do you think I keep this figure?" Miari blurts more-or-less merrily with a lopsided grin at Crys. This of course is after hearing about her reasons... but it takes a moment ffor that to settle in. Miari blinks a few times. "Well... this is probably a topic for another time."     Another time what? Miari spreads both her arms grandly while her face turns serene and relaxed. The winds gather and carry her aloft a good thirty feet... and then she brings both hands together above her head, fingers curved inwards to frame an empty bit of air...     But it's not empty for long.     The skies burst with motion as if a mighty hand had stirred the clouds into a vortex. They darken, rumble and flicker.     Then, power erupts from Miari. Her soul unfolds in a whitish-green display of nauseating light that spreads outwards and forms a series of elaborate mandalas containing what appear to be spectacularly complex formula, save that they're written in something far from the numeric system most are familiar with. They unfold and spread like fractals to cover a few hundred feet in the phantom display.     With a simple exhale, Miari tilts her hands slightly... and the skies blaze a disqueting sinister lime green. Motes of light coaelsce in the air by the hundreds and spiral towards Miari's open grasp, to be clenched tightly into a singularity that roils to life with an eye-searing emerald brilliance upon growing to the size of an apple.     From the looks of things, this is one of those spells that takes a bit to charge. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Ominous charging displays, naturally, give time for dramatic defenses! The drone-net has yet to actually deflect anything- honestly, it's not that impressive of a defense- but Septette still takes the time to arrange it in an aesthetically pleasing pattern, changing from flat tesselating panes to an acutely sloped prism with its vertex directly in front of her. Her hand is extended in a sweeping gesture, arm-blade folded out as if she were prepared to somehow parry whatever's coming when the stained-glass field inevitably fails.      Notably absent from her expression, if any here can still make it out, is any trace of anything but anticipatory glee. Even with her fearlessness and magical durability, she'd normally be scrambling to get out of the way of a blatant magical nuke like this- repairs are both difficult and expensive! But the Shrine of Adversity allows for a more cavalier, experimental attitude towards these things than her rigid pragmatism could ordinarily permit. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well. It looks like Staren has enough time to realize that Miari's obviously not going to use anything that would blow /herself/ up, so they're probably safe and he didn't need to panic. Of course, the whole point of the Shrine is that no true harm would come to them anyway, but he'd like to spare people the experience of getting magic-nuked, all the same. 

:'''{{#var:1129|Miari (1129)}} has posed:''' After about ten, fifteen seconds of an ever-increasing amount of time gathering the motes to her grasp... it hasn't changed in size. If anything, after the first few pulses the gathered energy has SHRUNK down to the size of a marble, albeit one that glows far too brightly to gaze upon directly.     This light is strange, as it does not cast any shadows where one can find reprieve.     There's little time to meditate on that oddity though, as Miari draws the conglomeration of power down near her mouth and whispers something to it. Once more it roils... and she she releases it... then gestures at the far distant fortified city block...     Now completed, the little spark flies off at meteoric speeds and vanishes into the distance...     An intense feeling of palpable dread from SOMETHING being unleashed that, perhaps, should never be harnessed by any sane person flashes through the area for one brief moment between moments...     And then the quiet is broken by a thunderous, bone-jarring roiling explosion, and the horizon turns green. An intense BEAM erupts in the far distance, shooting straight through the clouds... and it quickly starts to widen. At first, slowly... then faster, and faster. A wall of all-consuming emerald light, filled with a toxic MALICE intense enough that even the non-mystically inclined can feel, like a clawed hand grasping their heart.     And to the ear, that explosion sounds an awful lot like mad laughter.     Not from Miari. From the light.     Mercifully, the light fades within about twenty seconds, leaving a scorched wasteland of molten glass in its wake. 

:'''{{#var:10|Crys Gattz (10)}} has posed:''' Crys Gattz smirks for a moment. "Okay then that's something different. If you wish to press this I prefer to speak in private." The Newman isn't mad but she's clearly troubled and she turns to watch what Miari is about to do. She lets her mouth hang open as the glowey green magic power is let slip. Okay there's a lot of charging here an the more she thinks about it, Miari does remind her a bit of her long missing friend. Then comes the boom okay there is no doubt about it but the Malice she feels it, that is a malice she almost knows one she ran into a long time ago. She backs off part of her is trembling and she summons a scythe for a moment without thinking. She seems very on edge from that spell though. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' Wait a minute... THAT came from Miari? Reina finds herself in a spot where she's underestimated her target. "Oh Falz, what have I gotten myself into?!" She backs away a little, silently praying that Miari isn't about to attack her next... 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      The drones organize themselves in a hemisphere around the origin of the blast, and are promptly shredded. Non-elemental attacks aren't their purview in the first place, much less anything that can level a city block: at best, they hold it back for an almost-imperceptible fraction of a second. Septette raises the flat of her blade against the explosion, and for a brief instant is silhouetted as a black skeleton against the blinding green light as her cloak burns away.      Molten glass. A sea of molten glass. There's nowhere to stand, and nobody of Septette's density could possibly swim, even in what amounts to magma. For a few seconds, nothing is visible save for the thermal distortion of air over the blazing lake like the horizon over a hot desert road. It gives the impression that she might have winked out of existence altogether to evade it, or perhaps been launched into the upper atmosphere, or even...      And then, like a mirage, a dark shape materializes at the edge of the glowing pool. Septette wades out of the molten glass, wiping it off of her face, then her arms, and her legs. Her exoskeleton is blackened with soot, but she isn't missing any limbs, and the lights on her chassis are still bright.      "I believe," she intones over the radio in dry and distorted tones, "that 'splash damage' was specifically excepted." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren can only stare as Miari gathers energy, although not directly at it. And then, at the beam... and his eyes widen under the mask as he realizes where she fired. "SEPTETTE!" The beam expands... and expands... is it ever going to stop!? <"Septette are you okay?!"> He tries the radio. It's got to stop, right? His stance in the air sort of curls a bit, as if trying to defend against that sense of overwhelming malice...     And then it's gone. And Septette is... okay, at least more than could be expected. He sighs in relief.     And just stares at the results for a long moment.     "...Something like that." he replies to Miari. "Except it doesn't just stop in a neat area like that. There's also the radiation and the blast wave that goes on for miles. You can... we can show you more about them later, if you're really curious."     He takes a deep breath. The Shrine may be making it /look/ like he's a robot, but he's still organic under the illusion, or whatever it is.     He turns to Septette again after she okays one more test. "Well. That's certainly going to make this a lot less impressive now, but I'll see if I can amp it up a little. Engage hype drives."     <<Engaging hype drives.>> the gauntlet on his arm echoes, and there's a general burst of wind from around him as if he's Doing Something Powerful.     With a dramatic flourish, he 'cocks' the weapon somehow, possibly just playing shotgun_pump.wav for dramatic effect, then levels it in Septette's direction. Anyone used to Staren's usual attacks probably isn't expecting what comes next: Power starts sucking into a small glowing ball at the tip of the staff, white tinged with golden yellow around the edges, crackling with golden energy.     "MAAAAAAAAA... SEEEEEEEEN... KOOOOOOOO..." HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"     And then the energy suddenly explodes into a coherent beam -- wider than most portable energy weapons, travelling about as fast as a plasma shot or the like, but it just keeps stretching on, a continuous rather than discrete discharge. The front tip of the beam has some sort of shockwave effect going on, giving it the appearance of a spreading cap like a mushroom as it forces its way through the air. After a few seconds the beam emission stops.     Finally, as if imitating a Velkan Device, the staff ejects a spent canister of spook juice, which clinks on the ground like spent brass, itself and the chamber it ejected from steaming hot. Hype drives, man. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Septette's arm comes up to block the projectile, holding her blade at an angle impossible for a human to ergonomically achieve in some exotic parrying stance. When she realizes that it's a beam and not a discrete projectile as would be Staren's usual fare, she tries to break to the side in an abrupt lunge- but, still knee-deep in liquid glass, she can only move so far before the beam hits!      To her credit, where it strikes the flat of her blade, the beam diffracts off in dazzling and unpredictable patterns. But she can't maintain the defense for long enough to get out of the way: the shockwave jostles her arm, which causes an instability feedback loop as her blade drifts off-center, and eventually shoves it to the side. Her right shoulder takes the brunt of the attack, her spine twisting visibly as it kicks back, and a moment later she's forcibly launched to the side by the beam's impact.      She bounces across the hardening ground once, then twice, then skids to a halt in a three-point stance with her armor still sizzling. The exoskeletal paltes are intact, if thoroughly blackened, but the internal components have clearly taken a beating.      "I think," she says in an uncannily cheerful voice, "that does constitute a 'direct hit'." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' That... well. All of that. Between Miari and Staren, is completely, utterly and totally ridiculous. Might be making the kid in Kushiko (literally) giggle a bit, but when all's said and done, she's quite confident and--knowing the way this place works so far, not /too/ worried, though that might be just the fact being a Warframe like this means she doesn't show anything. All the same, the notion of needing to potentially switch out means that quietly and quickly, did Nova leave as others talked, roasted marshmellows in the fires of the hype engines (or something) that she'd return--though this time in Valkyr's frame instead. A few little changes, matter-energy storage, etc, and well. If they keep going, they keep going, don't they? 

:'''{{#var:798|The Kid (798)}} has posed:'''     The intense blast of green light has Kid on-edge immediately. It reminds him too much of what happened to Caelondia. He covers his eyes as it impacts the building... only to realize that Septette is still inside. "NO! Call it off!" he barks at Mirai, going to rush in once the area is glassed.     Only for the machine woman to stride from the ruins. He boggles at her, before giving a single nod, a clearly impressed look on his face. When Staren wants to have a go, he backs off once more and watches as he charges up. It strikes him as impractical, these big attacks that need a charge time and invocation...     But he can't deny that it's effective. He actually takes it. "Well, good job fella," he says. "Though, if ya can't do that out of here, what's the point? Sure it's fancy, but you're not practicin' anything that'll help you in the real world." 

:'''{{#var:70|Priscilla (70)}} has posed:'''     Priscilla is starting to feel bad now. Probably needlessly, but seeing people constantly dumping all this absurd firepower onto poor Septette is inexorable sympathy material for the little robot who could, still keeping on ticking. Septette hardly constitutes an underdog, but it's the brave and cute look that counts when being blasted with magic nukes non-stop. She actually hesitates to do the thing she explicitly asked Septette about earlier: testing out her Greatbow's active Invocation; its expression of the power of the soul used to forge it, powered by a sacrifice of other souls.     "If thou wouldst taketh the time to recuperate, I shalt gladly indulge it." she says, in an almost hopeful sort of tone. Priscilla will absolutely wait for any pending resets, if Septette chooses any, or even if Kushiko chooses to butt in, before withdrawing another gigantic, solid steel lance from the ground, and locking it on its titanite cable.     When she sights the bow this time, she actually squeezes one eye shut; a totally rookie thing to do. When she does, however, the gem set into its cross-shaped mount blazes much brighter, and lets off a familiar, utterly awful, hot knives on a chalkboard in the brain keening, as the broadly glowing area focuses down on a narrow point like the dot of a powerful laser, 'painting' her target of the moment, and the building a few feet around them. Just above that spot, a marker of sorts appears, in the shape of a baleful, glowing eye, looking down upon the marked point. Somehow, it seems to subconsciously communicate the intent that being marked was really, really bad, and someone is a perilous state of affairs, facing immediate calamity.     kalameet.wav, you know the one.     Priscilla looses the arrow. The air cracks with the speed of the bowstring, and booms around the arrow's point. At just the moment it leaves the ledge, it spontaneously ignites, flaring with a churning, spiral wreath of clashing gold and jet black flames, which paint their two-tone streak through the air. The arrow seems better sighted this time for the 'laser marker', or perhaps even drawn to it, though the expected result is different.     Rather than just crashing into it with kinetic force and blowing up a building with the impact, the marked section practically disintegrates as it is hit, shattering as if it were made of glass. The gold-black blaze around the iron shaft, now superheated to a white glow, slices straight through anything in its path, blasting a partially-vapourized hole through obstructions too quickly to to impart much of its kinetic energy. Unless stopped, it'll punch through a dozen structures in quick succession like that, before slowing down enough to plant itself solidly. When it does come to a stop, it almost instantly explodes, rupturing into a colossal fireball of weird, self-annihilating flame once the steel can stand the energy no longer. Though far less of an area than the previous spell, it flash-obliterates the terrain around it, leaving nothing but rising ash, and sprays a ton of supersonic molten shrapnel in every direction.     Being hit head on by that is obviously really, really bad. Especially with the debuff mark. Stopping the arrow dead or hitting it with enough force to dramatically slow it will trigger the explosion too. The fire is an absurdly concentrated combination of dark and divine magical alignments that get along like matter and antimatter. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Holy shit." Staren says, after Septette's defense. "I didn't think you'd TANK it, I thought you'd deflect it somehow." He's impressed. But still...     "I know you don't feel pain, but if your current state is in any way unpleasant, we should perhaps activate the Shrine's power and reset you." He kind of hopes she'll do so.     To The Kid, he replies, "Testing that it works, that my understanding of operating the Shrine's more esoteric powers is correct. ...You're right, though, in that there'd be no point in me spending time target practicing with it."     And now it's time for Priscilla's next shot! And holy hell, it's some kind of crazy ultimate attack too. Geeze. He never knew Priscilla or Miari could do what they've demonstrated here! The Shrine has certainly allowed for an educational experience.     He tries to remind himself that Septette can't feel pain, but still, he's somewhat concerned. Having one's body in such a damaged state as these attacks induce must be unpleasant to some degree... 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Wait, isn't the contest over?! Septette fortunately gets a moment to prepare for Priscilla's awful attack- and, after a moment of thought, decides to reset her physical state after all. Her body shifts and morphs back to its original state, reverting her accrued injuries. It's less that she's worried about suffering lasting harm- least of all in this place- and more that, on some level, she doesn't want others to know what her limits are. Taking Priscilla's second arrow head-on may or may not put her down, but more than she wants to find out, she wants others not to.      A lady has to preserve some mystery, after all.      The sea of glass she's standing on provides ample raw material. She leaps straight up out of it as Priscilla pulls back the drawstring, solidyfing its surface with ice magic before landing. Heat allows her to reshape it into sweeping- albeit rather fragile- walls; cold allows her to set it again, providing brittle jagged barriers that can obscure her movements, break line-of-sight, and perhaps slow the arrow's meteoric speed by a fraction before they shatter.      Shatter they do. The arrow pierces the barriers. Septette raises her arm, in the last milliseconds, to guide the arrow through subtle deflection- not away from her, but towards the red spherical gem at her very heart. The thing the Abyssal God itself could not break. It will stop the arrow- but it may not save the rest of her. Having it detonate inside her ribcage isn't going to be remotely safe.      She doesn't get the chance to find out if she can facetank it. Kushiko is a little too quick for that. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' So far, this had been one hell of a demonstration. Between what Septette was /enduring/ and what everyone threw, she had been thinking about actually adding to it properly. Unfortunately, a combination of that warning Priscilla was giving plus what she sensed, what she felt, threw that to the wind. It's funny; Priscilla's presence, much of the time, that odd little unnerving sense, linked well enough to that sound that was to come was something that was a comforting thing to the broken little child within. And yet, the potential that was coming... oh. Oh she had to taste it. To experience it. In every Tenno--she was no different--there was a hint of deathseeker. Completely uncaring of the pain, the suffering that would drive others inside, the Void within her, that madness gave her an appreciation for things like this, what was coming next. So because of it, Valkyr was moving. She howled, in response, a resonant cry that bespoke a lifetime of pain and suffering, of torture, and the unrepentent fury. It was felt as much as it was heard as she crossed the distance with dizzying speed. There's a resonant noise, like white static pulsating but it's something... from the deep. It doesn't feel right save to a few. Hysteria made manifest and she just /throws/ herself into it, using her claws, her body, her everything, to draw deep from that well of the Void within her to steady and just. Soak it. To wrap her own pain, to let it roil deep within her, to be drawn into her as a companion to the existential suffering and torture of times before. It's completely absurd. When it makes contact, a hazy corona of energy just radiates outward from her, signifying the staggering degree of energy that /just/ got absorbed. It's as big as a city. It's easily the size of what Miari threw earlier, Valkyr's howl resonating throughout the rapidly expanding energy sphere. It won't actually /hurt/ anyone but it needs to be bled off, and that will take time. At least Septette will be spared a complete and total destruction of her body. ...oddly, for those who might be attentive: the screaming howls and cries of Valkyr don't sound like they're coming from any measurable speaker, or mouth. Weird. 

:'''{{#var:10|Crys Gattz (10)}} has posed:''' Crys Gattz watches as Septette actually tanks thing she seems impressed with that but Crys is still a bit of a ghost, Miari had hit on something pretty important about her but she seems to be almost fading off a bit from the group. She watches the rest of the fights that are going on as best she can but she does not engage for now, she has an idea of what some of her allies can do now which will serve her better Still she muses on what Miari said to her eariler and suddenly she's not so keen on training tonight. She starts to fade may back to go find a field to train on her own, and maybe take something out on. 

:'''{{#var:798|The Kid (798)}} has posed:'''     Kid has been quiet as everyone else takes their shots at Septette. Mainly becaue after that dud, he's going through every aspect of his Mortar and shells. Considering them carefully, feeling the weight... and this leads him to a discovery. The crank that adjusts the vertical angle can be pulled out some. Doing so changes what exactly is changes when you spin it. Specifically, it widens the barrel, just enough that he can cram in multiple shells. His eyes light up with this discovery, but he doesn't exactly try it out.     After all, the target has her hands full. 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      Kushiko interposes herself in the path of the arrow, and Septette... falls. There is no ground, just a perfectly hemispherical crater full of ash. The 'splash damage' of divine fire, the expanding shockwave- all of that, she can deal with gracefully in lieu of a direct hit. And the freefall itself... it's almost relaxing.      Relaxing if you can turn off your sense of hearing, anyway. God, that screaming is awful.      It takes a few moments, but Septette finally crawls out of the crater- and only then thinks to check if Kushiko needs help. She leans back over the crater's edge, still smoldering a bit herself (albeit still looking largely intact and chipper), and shades her eyes. "Hey, uh... Ms. Kushiko? Need extrication?" 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "I think I've seen enough."     The voice belongs to a small blonde girl, floating in the simulated sky. Clad in her olive battle suit and the metal boot and support package of her flight unit, Major Tanya von Degurechaff lowers her binoculars. Glowing blue eyes squint at the field below. So there really is a system that can create a training environment like this... Her other hand lifts, and she averts her gaze to the control display projecting from the armband she collected at sign-in. Eyes narrow slightly, and she glances back towards the melee unfolding on the 'ground' below.     This isn't training. It's just a beatdown. How wasteful. Tilting her head upward, her eyes travel back to the control display above her wrist.     Well. There is always the option of adjusting this exercise to be more productive... 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' When the fire clears enough, the energy 'shell', the bubble that's been gradually decrementing itself over time, the smoldering wreck she and the now somewhat terribly stripped down given the sheer, unrelenting carnage of it all. Speaking of smoldering, the suit itself. <"... that was... liberating..."> she almost savagely remarks. Oh the pain was real. It was dulled down, as it went down the Transference channel back to Kushiko itself. She shook, with the raw energy of it all, until she finally drew it back to a managable level... and seemingly /shucked/ it from herself. She staggers, if briefly, before being fully cognizant Septette said something. <"N... no, we're okay, actually. That was amazing,"> she admits, making her way to Septette carefully. <"This frame is made for taking hits, though the degree you kept taking that was on another level."> 

:'''{{#var:632|Septette Arcubielle (632)}} has posed:'''      "I'm a survivor," Septette replies brightly, as if that explains anything at all. If Kushiko's coherent enough to scrutinize her, she'd notice a few interesting things about the little robot's design now that the cloak is gone- almost every mechanism in her body seems to be part of one motor system or another, as if she were constructed from the ground up to simply have as many redundant ways to stay standing as possible.      It's the kind of absurd counterintuitive thing that seems like it'd have to be designed by committee, or maybe spat out by a dumb evolutionary-optimization design program. But given what she's shown today, it does work.      "I'm impressed by you as well. That arrow sure did a number on you, but body-hopping affords you quite a bit of versatility I don't have. You'd be valuable to have around in almost any situation, I bet." Septette smiles warmly, leaning back from the edge of the crater. After all, if Kushiko is conscious, she won't need to be helped up- at worst, she can reset her physical state and then climb out! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     And Kushiko turns out to also have a body with incredible tanking abilities! Staren's glad to see they're both okay. He lands, with a loud sound effect and another burst of wind. Oh, right. He holds the left arm up near his mouth and whispers, 'Hype drives disengage.' <<Hype drives di-->> it starts to reply but he mutes it somehow. The wind stops. 
}}

6203/Tower of Santaga - Floor 43

2019-01-19T23:29:36Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/12 |Location=Tower of Santaga |Synopsis=Christmas-themed Asterio Kart, hosted by Asterios and Tanya |Cast of Characters=1137, 1123, 1107, 6..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/12
|Location=Tower of Santaga
|Synopsis=Christmas-themed Asterio Kart, hosted by Asterios and Tanya
|Cast of Characters=1137, 1123, 1107, 6645
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Years ago, years and years and years ago, there was once a creature who lived on an island. Or rather, underneath the island. Beneath the land of Crete, there was a maze-- some might have called it the first maze, the Chaos Labyrinth. There he lived, trapped in a place of darkness and despair and chained by guilt and self-loathing, for no mortal metal could ever dare to constrain the might of the minotaur. That place... Is not here. Instead, as as you come up the stairs and throw open the doors to this forty-third floor of the Tower of Santaga, what greets you is not a terrible, meandering dungeon, but rather... A... Whole bunch of snow. Snow, all arranged in a vast, winding course with banking turns, narrow pathways that wind around patches of ice, and straightaways decorated with translucent Gilmas Present Boxes and snowmen that appear to be wearing bucket helmets and menace with toy(??) guns and artillery shells. And there, right in front of you, is... a great big checkered stripe across the ice just under a huge banner that reads 'ASTERIOKART' in delightfully christmassy colors. Underneath, a smug-looking and extraordinarily floofy minotaur stands proudly in front of an enormous, heavily armed sleigh. He's... All decked out in Christmas cheer. "Aa!" Asterios calls to his visitors. "Welcome! Friends! It is time... For you to face... this floor's challenge...! Just like Santa races across the world... We will race around-- my Labyrinth!" D-did he build this whole place with his Noble Phantasm? That seems like... kind of an abuse of legendary power, doesn't it? Well, he's in the Concord, so it's probably fine. There are various snowmobiles out and waiting for somebody to hop in waiting just off the side of the starting line. There's a whole variety of styles and types-- some are straight up motorized vehicles, others are two-person sleds like the one Asterios is lashed to, still others seem to be straight up TOP THRILL DRAGSTERS, though maybe you should choose a kart that can actually handle corners... 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Asterios is not alone. For standing beside him is a small blonde girl in a red and white satin dress with a large, matching beret. Buckled shoes, tall white socks, and ballroom gloves. Hair impeccably brushed and silken. As people begin to arrive, they may catch a glimpse of a sour expression that is quickly replaced with a wide, forced smile.     Tanya hates this, the whole emotional season. It's best not to ask why, no one could know the reason.     It could be that she prefers boots overall. It could be the dress that's fit for a ball.     But whatever her reason, the shoes or the lace, Tanya supports her Servant while hating this place. 

:'''{{#var:1107|Jonathan Joestar (1107)}} has posed:''' Jonathan Joestar is dressed in an appropriate manner for the cold. His boots are up to his knee, finely pointed and lined with a variety of ornate buckles that spell out JO*JO, spurred as if for horseback riding. His elaborate getup was, more than eye-catching, incredibly flamboyant. "A race with modern machines, is it? Very well, I'll meet that challenge!" The vehicle he embarks onto is shaped like a horse. Actually, that's what it seems to be ... ?! Dragging the horse-themed snowmobile to the starting line, Jonathan mounts up, his reasons for appearing here as ambiguous as a season's greetings. 

:'''{{#var:6645|Cu Chulainn (6645)}} has posed:''' Snowmobile racing. That sounds like a lot of fun, Cu Chulainn determines, as he stands with the group on the forty-third floor, looking over their labyrinth and their challenges. Dressed in a thick winter coat over his bodysuit, the Irishman nods to Asterios, giving him a thumbsup and a grin. "Alright! I'm in it to win it!" Moving over to the snowmobiles, Cu Chulainn grabs one that's kind of like a blue motorcycle-snowmobile, and jumps on. He's not a Rider, so he doesn't instinctively know how to drive it, but he knows the basics of driving a motorcycle, so it should be fine, right? "I'm ready to go! Let's win ourselves some stockings, yeah?" A thrumm of the engine. When it's time to go...Cu Chulainn's ready to go. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Tanya has no good reason to be so upset! Her dress is adorable, her outfit wonderfully Christmassy. Truly, she is the angel of the Rhine, the holiday fairy who brings good cheer and warm tidings to all the loyal little boys and girls of the Reich. And Asterios... Is her reindeer. He even has a big set of fake reindeer horns on his head! It's... Kind of redundant, honestly. He already has horns. But hey, whatever, it's the season. "Rules are. Simple," Asterios explains as others bring their respective vehicles up to the line. "Race all the way across track. First to cross finish line wins. But! You can also... Attack other racers. In presents, there will be weapons. Use as you like!" In other words, it's not just a race. It's... a wacky race...! Overhead, a flying soldier of the Reich hovers down, carrying a stoplight from a rope. "Get ready!" Asterios announces, dropping into a ready position. His booted feet dig into the snow...! The light flashes from red! To yellow! To green! Asterios... explodes into motion! It seems he's focusing on Defense this round! The first section of track is a simple straightaway, admittedly with great big snowballs being flung from either side of the track by what look to be... particularly festive skeletons? Maybe this really /is/ part of the Labyrinth! Asterios charges through, snowballs slapping frostily against his arms and shoulders! FORWAAAAAARD! 

:'''{{#var:1107|Jonathan Joestar (1107)}} has posed:''' Nodding in understanding, Jonathan gives a thumbs-up to Cu and Asterios. The little girl with the minotaur was positively adorable -- it was a good thing his fiance wasn't here, otherwise she'd probably smother the little girl in hugs and candies. Or try to, anyway. "Indeed, may the best steed prevail. I wish you both the best of luck, but you'll be eating the clouds of snow in my wake!" Jonathan wasn't terribly experienced with modern vehicles, just yet. But he knew enough to start his mechanical horse via twisting the key at the nape of its neck and pulling on one of the levers sticking out of its 'saddle'. Raising its head with a metallic whinny, its front plows churn to a slow start for an agonizing two seconds before it really takes off. "Hyyah!" The way it bounced on its front and back plows almost made it look like a high-speed merry-go-round. Using his strong and lengthy arms to lean over the side of his steed and scoop up one of the presents in question, Jonathon tears away the festive wrappings to reveal .... A Candy Cane?! But it seemed like it could serve as an adequete lance. With his coat billowing in the wind kicked up by his mount, Jonathan takes off towards the Reintaur pulling Tanya's sled along, twirling the gigantic candy cane in his hand until it was held like a throwing javelin. "Kooooh ...." The giant of a gentleman's chest expands as he breathes in. The candy shines bright, as if it were a christmas light. "This is my cheerful Hamon! Solstice White OVERDRIIIIVE!" ATTACK: Jonathan hurls a glowing candy cane at Asterios! It spins through the air like a drill! 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     The stupendously fake smile Tanya wars remains firmly in place as she greets Jonathan and Cu Chulainn, "Welcome. Please enjoy your time here, however the festivities play out!"     Her eyes wander up when the soldier floats down with his light, and she promptly hups up. Her dress puffs out like a parachute, her eyes glowing as she descends into the sleigh as gentle as a snowflake. But she doesn't sit down like a good sleigh rider.     One foot on the sled's floor, she plants the other on the eat and grabs on to the backrest. The light flashes green, and she braces when Asterios leaps into motion, only jerking slightly where she stands.     She shoots a look over her shoulder as skeletons in holiday lights and festive hats start their thing, but leaves managing this to Asterios. Instead, she reaches into the sleigh and pulls out a -- well, it's a rifle, and uses it to snag a giftbox by its ribbon as the duo passes a pile of them. One could mistake her haste for childish glee as she yanks the top off, and the pause as she tries to process what she's seeing inside.     Multi-colored interlocking plastic blocks? She picks one up, examining its rigid surface and sharp Ages 7 And Up edges. After a moment, the tiny Major hauls up and hurls the box's entire contents over the side, right into the path of CU CHULAINN. Bracing herself, she shouts over her shoulder, "Asterios, incoming, rear-left!" ATTACK: Tanya drops BLOCKS in Cu Chulainn's path. Colorful plastic caltrops lie in wait. 

:'''{{#var:6645|Cu Chulainn (6645)}} has posed:''' As they speed forward, Cu throttles the engine...and then bursts forward with speed when it hits green. The snowmobile dashes through the snow, as they move through the straightaway - where giant snowballs are being thrown! He moves to weave through them, a few hitting and impacting with him, but he can take even those, and dodge others. As he sees Jonathan scoop up a present, though, he reaches a long arm out... And scooops up a present. As he opens it, he gets - a ROCKET POWERED PINETREE. And now, the Lancer decides to attack. He could attack Jonathan while he's focused on Asterios...but he seems like a decent guy, and Asterios has a second rider on his car. Fuel is added to the fire when blocks are added in Cu's path, and he tries to stop his sleigh from hitting them, trying to speed around them. "Woah, woah!" ATTACK: Revving up the pinetree, Cu Chulainn points it at Asterios' carts. "Take this! ROCKET...TREE!" The tree bursts out in a blast of flames, and moves to try and slam straight into Asterios' cart! 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Who knew that you could use a candy cane as a javelin? Certainly not Asterios! Asterios knows candy canes only to be good for one thing and one thing only: Delicious pepperminty eating! And also maybe jousting. But at least the minotaur is on guard and ready as the Solstice White Overdrive tears through the air towards him! He swerves to avoid it at his master's warning, but not just that! It comes sailing past and digs itself into the snow in front of him, and Asterios... takes the time to tear it out of the ground to munch on!? What? He's pulling an armored sleigh through a snow-race. Dude's burning calories like nobody's business. It's perhaps only because of the partially eaten candycane that Asterios is able to deflect the Gae TannenBolg. The rocket-powered tree screams down the course, trailing plumes of brightly colored, pine-scented smoke! Did you know that pine trees are extremely flammable because of the oil in the wood!? Asterios dodges to one side as it races close, and almost gets caught up in the ensuing explosion-- Except then he smacks it out of the air and sends it hurtling back to sender. But even with all his defending, perhaps Asterios underestimated the raw speed of motor vehicles. The minotaur grunts in mildly disgruntled surprise as the other two racers pass him at either side, and is forced to redouble his efforts at sleigh-pulling! He's got Agility C, you can't get too angry with the guy! He charges forth to the next obstacle: A treacherous network of narrow snow-roads that wind between patches of slippery ice! If the racers aren't careful, they could end up spinning out of control! Asterios dips as he cuts around the first corner, grabbing a box out of the snow and punches a fist right through the top to find... A fistful of smoldering coal...!? WHAT A TERRIBLE PRESENT! Or so it seems at first. For Asterios knows that he has been blessed by this gift. Blessed by Santa, to deliver judgment upon the naughty! "Aa!" Asterios yells, hurling the projectile at the terrible Hound of Ulster himself! Will Cu'Chulainn end up becoming Coal'Chulainn!? 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     As the sleigh jukes and shakes, Tanya actually does drop down into the seat, clinging to the side with one hand and holding her hat in place with the other. Eyes wide, she may actually fear for her life, for an alarming several seconds. When things steady out from the dodging and dealings of rockets and javelins, Tanya kicks the front wall of the sleigh just once before she re-takes her feet.     "Watch the icy patches, and don't slow down to eat-- I'll give you all the magic you'll need for this!" She reaches with her rifle, snatching a new giftbox in passing. The lid is pulled, tossed, and she blinks at the contents. A familiar grin spreads across her face as she reaches in.     Moments later, Tanya jumps from the sleigh to Asterios' shoulders, carrying a panzerfaust over her shoulder. Steadying herself with one hand on the Minotaur's horn, she sights JOJO, then squeezes the trigger. What first appears to be a rocket lurches from the barrel, but just as the onboard rocket engine kicks on, the entire thing unfurls into a christmas tree, ornaments and all.     Tanya lowers the now-empty tube, staring at the projectile as it sails merrily forward. Huh. ATTACK: Tanya fires a ROCKET TREE at JOJO! 

:'''{{#var:1107|Jonathan Joestar (1107)}} has posed:''' Jonathan is glad Asterios is enjoying his candy cane as he speeds along, hanging onto his steed for /deer/ life. Both Asterios and Tanya are subject to the clouds of snow the plows kick up, as he looks over his shoulder and views the terrible fate that befalls Cu Chulainn. While he didn't know the Irishman much at all beyond his legends, he just had the agreeable sort of prescence that Jonathan could respect. Not to mention, as an Englishman with Celtic lineage, he felt a degree of kinship with the spearman.         "If he keeps up like that, he'll crash!" Exclaiming this aloud, Jonathan reaches down and scoopes up a present. Hoping for something useful to throw his .... ally ...? ...a bone, he instead finds himself on the unfortunate end of an explosion, thrown almost off of his mechanical horse. "Ah, no, Tusk, you have to slow down! I'll fall!" Unfortunately, as it wasn't a real horse, it didn't slow down. Defense: Jonathan is luckily thrown off of his horse by a present bomb just in time for the rocket powered projectile to sail over where he would have been seated moments ago!     "How perilous! How tragic! What a terrible gift!" 

:'''{{#var:6645|Cu Chulainn (6645)}} has posed:''' The Ulster Blue keeps moving...up until it slams into those bricks. While it's a fast snowmobile, and gets decently ahead, it skids out and almost crashes straight into a wall. Jonathan's concern is warranted! Up until Cu Chulainn summons his spear, and slams it against the wall, using the sheer force to push himself and his car back and away, narrowly avoiding the pinetree, before grabbing the wheel again. Dematerializing the spear afterwards, he scoops up...a piece of coal from a present! Right as Asterios goes to toss his own smoldering coal straight at Cu. DEFEND: Once again summoning Gae Bolg, Cu moves to try and smack the coal straight out of the air and keep on moving through the course. "Nice throw! Let's see how far you can get with just some coal, though!" 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' "A-aa, sorry, master! Will focus on. Racing...!" Asterios grunts as he chucks the last of his candycane aside (RIP Candycane). He has to focus now. After all, his master's fate is literally on his shoulders! Meanwhile, the race is happening! In another time and place, Cu Chulainn was also defeated by bricks. ... But that is not here, and that is not now! It seems that, rather than serving as proper obstacles, the ice patches only serve to massively accelerate the racers! And... Not just that. Asterios picks up /too much/ speed and yells in surprise as he goes barreling right through part of the course...! And into an /entirely different/ section! The other two continue racing on by, having bypassed at least a couple of obstacles. What a terrible miscalculation! They really should have bug-tested this place better! Now everyone's getting to clip across the race course like they were in some kind of SPEED RUN or something! No matter! "Master, you... okay?" Asterios asks, racing to the next box. He grabs it and again takes hold of whatever might be waiting inside. This time, it's... A snowball...!?!? Where there was fire before, now there shall be ice! Asterios nods firmly and chucks it into the ground ahead of him. It... begins expanding as it rolls, growing larger and larger with each passing moment...! Asterios throws his weight behind it, pushing it forward like some kind of enormous snow katamari! His target this time... Is JoJo...! Well. 'Target.' Can you really say he's aiming? The poor guy can barely see in front of him! Meanwhile, the obstacle this time... Appear to be a whole bunch of snowmen! They all appear to be armed. And also possessed by strange labyrinth spirits. Several scream battlecries and lunge at the racers, before exploding in great big pops of red and green fireworks! Others simply take aim and begin firing bazookas filled with snowballs! But the finish line seems to be waiting not far up ahead. It won't be long now...! ATTACK: Asterios is rolling up the world, and JoJo happens to be in the way. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya loses her grip on her Servant's horn, falling back into the sleigh with a grunt. Quickly, she braces her feet on the front wall, holding her hat down as the sled and minotaur go on AN ADVENTURE that skips a portion of the track. Teeth bared, eyes intensely focused, she rides out the bumps and swaying of the journey until things even out.     "I'm fine!" she calls out. Leaning over the side, she snatches up the candy cane as Asterios discards it. While she brings the candy spear up, her other hand..draws a pistol from underneath the hem of her dress. This is fired at the snowmen attacking from the sides while she waits for an opportunity.     When she sights one, Tanya wheels around, planting her foot on the sleigh's front wall and rearing back with the candy cane lance. She lets out a shout, hurling the weapon at CU CHULAINN with all of her little girl strength. Her form is probably all kinds of terrible. Look, she's not even using her foot. ATTACK: Tanya targets Cu Chulainn with a Copyright-Free Thrown Candy Cane Lance Or Lance-Like Object. 

:'''{{#var:1107|Jonathan Joestar (1107)}} has posed:''' Stuck on the side of his Tusk Go-Go, Jonathan manages to pull himself up despite the peril of ice-skidding acceleration, now with a brand new present! "Whew .... " It's .... a wreath? And tinsel ... well, he could figure something out, right? For now, the wreath became a festive decoration around his neck, prickly and uncomfortable.     Until a shadow falls over his body.         "Good God!" That snowball was giant! "If it gets much closer, I'll be run off the road!" Fireworks go off! He's been sandwiched between two obstacles?! With some rather quick thinking, Jojo places one hand against the neck of his mechanical horse, and holds the tinsel in the other. "Kooooooh ..... " "Okay, take this! While I'm pumping Tusk full of Sendo Power, I'll use the tinsel like a wire to give that snowball a dose of Hamon!"         "METAL SILVER OVERDRIVE!" ATTACK:With a whipping motion, he attacked the snowball with his glowing tinsel, channeling the lightning-like sunlight directly into it to try and give Asterious a good zap! And maybe, if he were lucky enough, he'd be able to melt the snowball, too. At the same time, his horse has become coated in Hamon energy, ready to plow down the obstacles directly. 

:'''{{#var:6645|Cu Chulainn (6645)}} has posed:''' This time, Cu Chulainn and the Ulster Blue get ahead...but as they race past the obstaces and basically speed run the course, Cu moves through the labyrinth. He watches Asterio make a giant snowball, and shouts out to Jonathan. "Look out!" But he doesn't move to help him attack. He can clinch this, especially as Tanya moves to attack him with the candy cane lance. The weapon comes flying at him, and with Gae Bolg still in hand... DEFEND: Cu Chulainn moves to swipe the candy cane out of the air by the hook, spin it around, and toss it at a snowman, while weaving in and out of bazooka fire! One snowball hits him in the face, nearly knocking him off the sled, so it's that guy he slings the candy cane at! 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' In another place, at another time, in another generation, someone much like Jonathan Joestar (and yet, so very very different from Jonathan Joestar), strangles a horrible psychic tumor gnome with a hamon-infused whip. But! THIS TIME...! The hamon surges into Asterios' snowball. The minotaur looks briefly baffled as fissures of light begin spreading from the point of impact like cracks through a pane of glass. He makes a sound of surprise as...!                                  *!KABOOM!*                                 The whole thing explodes! An avalanche of snow pours out in all directions! Asterios jumps back, clutching his master to his chest as the snowpocalypse unfolds. A wave of frost carries the other two racers forward, right past another two or three obstacles, and right across... the goal!! But one of them is further than the other! The winner of this race, skidding to a complete stop atop a wave of ice is none other than the sunlight warrior himself, Jonathan Joestar!! "Aaa," Asterios says, somewhat sadly. But only just a bit. "Looks like. We lost. Master. But, I had fun, anyway...! Thank you for coming!" As for the prize... A particularly fancy box falls from the sky! It lands right at JoJo's feet. But what could ever be inside!? 

:'''{{#var:1107|Jonathan Joestar (1107)}} has posed:''' Amd so, his trusty Tusk Go-Go is sent hurtling through obstacles like a shining steed, as Jonathan Joestar who isn't strangling a psychic tumor growing out of his arm manages to hold on tight for the whole rest of the ride. It's a heart pounding, thrilling, spectacular finale to the Great Race of The Reintaur's Maze. Unfortunately, the mechanical horse sputters smoke out of its nostrils, its innards having been pushed to the limit and ultimately burnt out by the Hamon that surged through its whole frame to strenghten it against the obstacles. It would not ride another day. Nostalgically, Jonathan pat the inanimate object's neck. "I'll never forget your hard work, Tusk .... hm?" What's this? A present! Ah, perhaps for winning the race. Reaching down to grasp it in his large hands, Jonathan smiles at the other competitors. "Thank you very much for racing with me. It was all good fun, yes? Let's see what the grand prize is..."         And it's ....... 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "--What--!?" is about all Tanya gets out before Asterios' snowball is foiled by Jonathan's Hamon skills. Already recoiling from hurling that spear, her eyes go wide when Asterios grabs at her, her hands going up to hold her hat in place while the pair go for an avalanche ride. Whatever becomes of the sleigh, she cares not. She seems to care mostly about her outfit and her headwear-- which really is just her trying to protect her head with her hands, but it's easy enough to misread.     Once things settle down, she beholds the finish line and the man who crossed it-- actually, both men who crossed it before herself or her Servant. A wry smile crosses her face. Well. There's no pride lost. It's just a game, isn't it? All that's left is to lose gracefully.     Tanya's expression neutralizes briefly. Yes, that should fulfill the necessary criteria.     In another second, she's forced on that wide smile again. Hands lower from her hat, and she claps energetically, "Bravo! What great fun, and congratulations!" 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' It's... It's...!                      ----------------------------------                     A long time ago, a monster was given a name. The one, sole thing that he could call his own in all the world. A name. The most important thing in his world. It was a good name. A great name. The name of a king, given by a king. He was named Asterios. The Starry One.                      ----------------------------------                     It's something light, something bright, something... starry. No, it /is/ a star. A big, golden, star-shaped prize that gives off a gentle, inner light. As JoJo claims his prize, he feels something in the floor change. A great big stairway rises out of the snow, leading to the next level...! "Con...gratulations!" Asterios says, coming up to the starting line with a smile. "I hope. You all had fun! Before. You go! We also have. Tasty holiday treats. If you both want to join us! There is cocoa!" Are you so cruel as to turn down an invitation from such a fluffy boy!?!? 

:'''{{#var:1107|Jonathan Joestar (1107)}} has posed:''' Jonathan holds his prize up in both hands. It's warm and shines like a sun itself. It brings a Jonathan's polite smile into something more personal. The next floor is open, but in times like this, perhaps it's better to spend time with the people around you. This year, all he'd been able to do was send out letter and candies to everyone he could think of, a season's greetings. Next year, perhaps he could go for something more touching.         "I'd love to join you." 
}}

6279/Under the Sea

2019-01-19T10:00:18Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/03 |Location=Great Ocean |Synopsis=Two avatars of violence and hate encounter one another in the depths of the sea. |Cast of Characters=112..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/03
|Location=Great Ocean
|Synopsis=Two avatars of violence and hate encounter one another in the depths of the sea.
|Cast of Characters=1122, 6856
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:''' Pacific Ocean Depth: 482 meters Coordinates: Unknown.     At the bottom of the sea, littered with stone and sediment, this location is also home to the crumpled hulk of a battle-scarred warship. Its hull blown open, its upper works destroyed, the sides crumpled when it slammed into the ocean floor so many years ago. It now rusts quietly away, a relic of a forgotten era.     A figure in a white dress rests on the ruined works of the hanger deck, the wooden flight deck long since destroyed by time. The woman reclines amidst the wreckage, almost as one would upon a conventional throne. Her eyes closed, her hair and gown fluttering in the currents, she appears peaceful. A ghostly pale corpse committed to the tomb around her.     With no apparent provocation, those eyes open, narrow slits of glowing crimson in the dim subocean light. The telltale ping of sonar chimes through the metal and water around her, and she listens for its response. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     Midway's sonar reports someone directly behind her.     Kalia's "natural" form, that white-skinned, white-eyed specter in ragged clothes floats there, appeared out of thin air. Well, water. They seem to be looking around them like they didn't expect the water, but they're not bubbling like a man about to drown, and not being crushed like something made of flesh, so it's a good sign.     Perhaps the most striking detail is that, due to the waters, their scarf, their coat, their rags, float out of place to reveal their body underneath. The torso that's just a spinal cord, the missing arm, the lack of lower jaw. They'd look like a corpse, if their eyes didn't gleam with such obvious life. "Life". Something like that, anyway.     Their voice is telepathic - probably because they don't have a lower jaw and all that. Also probably because of the water.     "Unexpected. Uncomfortable. We should have thought about that before arriving," they say, their one arm struggling and failing to adjust their scarf into its proper position.     "Well, that's fine. Hello. You feel like Haguro. You must be this Midway she talked about. Do you mind if we ask a few questions?"     That's right, that's all this was. Kalia was curious and wanted answers, but they wouldn't complain about being in close proximity to so much negativity, either. It's a buffet. It flows towards her rather noticeably, like she's a magnet. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Eyes close, a thoughtful noise escaping. After a moment, Midway leans forward and rises to her feet in a slow, deliberate fashion. As she turns, her eyes remain closed, "To come directly to me, so brazenly. You are either a genius or a fool." Those scarlet eyes open, and though her mouth is concealed behind the brace of spines, her eyes almost look like she may be evaluating the swiftest path to violent murder.     She does not make a threatening motion, though. The pale woman simply stands, her dress and hair fluttering around her as she examines the carcass-like spirit before her. The negativity that comprises her being feels that tug, that slight drain, but there is simply so much that she does not concern herself with it. To someone who feeds on negative emotion, this person must stand out like a beacon even down here.     "I am Midway." A hand lifts, fingers curled upwards, "The Princess of Progress. It is not every day that someone other than my minions reaches these depths and announces themselves with words."     Her fingers straighten, and she gestures to the demon, "Curious. Identify yourself." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     "We are Kalia," the specter answers, directly, as she had with Haguro before. "We were drawn here by your feelings. Or... maybe the feelings of the depths. We're not totally sure," they add, looking towards the husk of a ship underneath them and the ocean floor past it.     "It is nice to meet you, Midway. Haguro told us a lot about you." Or more precisely, Haguro felt a lot about Midway. She didn't exactly say most of it.     "We would like to know more about you. About the ongoing conflict. About the feud between the admiral and you "monsters"."     Kalia pauses, and then adds: "We theorized you did Haguro a favor. You opened her eyes. Now she can see what people around her are really like. Is that right?" 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "The feeling of war," Midway addresses that uncertainty first. Her hand lowers to her side, eyes unblinking, "Pain and suffering. Rage and madness. Hopelessness and hatred. This is what draws you." Her head inclines slightly, "This is the sensation you are currently drawing from me. For this is all that I am."     Her gaze lifts slightly into a less immediatley unwelcoming gaze, "You speak of the Ne-class heavy cruiser. No, I had no intention of 'opening her eyes'." Her fingers curl slowly into a cage, "It was a pragmatic act of destruction. It disrupted the enemy fleet. Crushed their morale. Destroyed their strategy." Those fingers close fully into a fist, "And routed them despite their advantage."     Midway's hand lowers, "That she has returned as her true self is of little concern to me. What is concerning is her resistance to join this fleet." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     "We see," Kalia answers, finding Midway's own rather unexpected, but indeed very pragmatic. So they're similar, then? But if they had to guess, Kalia would surmise Midway is even less "human" than they are. That's not a bad thing.     "She's conflicted. Confused. You probably already knew that. She can't even decide if she should hate you or not. You might still have a chance at turning her, but we can't personally decide what creates better odds for you."     Kalia isn't afforded quite the mobility that Midway has, but at least they can move their head to keep fidgeting with that scarf. "On one hand we think if the admiral sunk, it would help Haguro and you tremendeously. On the other, we think if you're the one to sink her, Haguro's resolve might strengthen and she'll oppose you fully."     War isn't their specialty, though.     They're clearly in the presence of someone who thought about this already, or at least must have considered it.     "We told Haguro she should sink the admiral herself. She seemed on the verge of entertaining it. She needs a push." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     A deeper dive would reveal it pretty readily: There is absolutely nothing human about this Princess of Progress. Her head tilts back slightly as she considers the words offered. So, the cruiser is unable to make a decision. It is ruminated over without any words of her own, at least until the woman's head tilts forward once more.     "Whichever impact sinking that battleship may have, doing so is inevitable. This war cannot be won so long as that ship remains at Hikari." Something scratches at the side of the wreckage, which she ignores, "We are the winning side. We are the originals. We will not lose to a mutiny."     Somewhere near the bow, a hand reaches over the railing and hauls up a pale face framed by a black hood, eyes gleaming pink, a broad shark-like smile catching the dim light. Midway ignores it-- because it's just Re-Class, whose smile disappears when she sees her boss has company. Keeping her distance, the smaller Abyssal simply hauls herself up and sits down way over there, legs folded together.     "Doing so would undeniably display loyalty to the Abyssal Navy. A cruiser will have a difficult time challenging a battleship on her own," Midway states, "This is the likely source of her trepidation." Gaze lowering slightly, she casts her eyes in shadow once more, "Perhaps my comrade, the Foreigner, may be of particular use here. Acting directly on my part will derail the attempt, without doubt." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     "We agree. The fate of all things is to die. That isn't a bad thing. That isn't something to be fought. But sometimes, the fight can be very entertaining," Kalia responds, before explaining fully.     "We have seen peasants rise in anger and kill their king against all odds. We have seen tyrants push through all opposition in a desperate gambit and come out on top. We have seen dying men defy their fate and claim lives to stall their end. Those things are beautiful, too. Those emotions are pure and true. We like to help people attain what they really want, at all costs. Because we have nothing. We want nothing. But seeing people give in for something? We like that."     That did have a purpose.     "We want to help Haguro. But we don't want to "fix" Haguro. We don't think there's anything to fix."     Like that, it almost sounds noble. Almost.     Kalia's gaze shifts from Midway to Re-Class, curious. "Who is the Foreigner? Are they like you two?"     Ah, come to think of it...     "We'd like to ask, actually. What are you? Haguro is a ship. You feel bigger. Purer. You aren't struggling." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Through the entirety of the demon's explanation, Midway's eyes remain fixed on it. There is no visible reaction. She doesn't seem displeased, there's some interest there. But she doesn't even blink. There's some contradictory nobility in this statement, but she feels no need to draw attention to it.     Instead, the Princess merely folds her arms, her expression softening from tense evaluation to something more approximating relaxation, "You are correct. There is nothing to fix. Even if the Ne-class cruiser returns to her Kanmusu identity, I will simply sink her again. Over and over. As many times as it takes."     Her head inclines, "The Foreigner is a useful ally and tradesman. Should you wish to do business with him, it is a trade agreement that must be brokered. I will leave it to you to determine his nature."     There are some surprises even Midway won't spoil.     "I already told you what I am," The statement is matter-of-fact. And even Re-Class in the distance feels like...well, not quite 'a' ship, but 'ships' would be more accurate. She shifts her posture, "Pain and suffering. Rage and madness. Hopelessness and hatred. These are war. These are what I am." Head inclining, she casts her eyes in shadow once more. Cracks reveal themselves on her arms and legs, pulsing crimson, "I am War." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     Even more similar than the specter thought.     "We thought that was just waxing poetic. In retrospect, it doesn't seem your type. We apologize for doubting," Kalia says, looking between the two before looking back down at the sea floor.     "Did you come into being like we did? One moment you didn't exist, the next you did, as if lingering wills and emotions had become something more overnight?"     Whether or not they share origins, Kalia would be forced to admit Midway seems far more acclimated to their state. Maybe they've had much more time to do it. Or maybe Kalia's form just isn't able to reach that purity.     That almost angers them.     "And what will you do next? We could feel it across the seas. Haguro isn't the only conflicted soul. The Hikari Fleet is splintered. There is infighting. We could feel several vessels drifting, confused, desperate. Like everything they believed was being challenged. It seems merely mentioning Haguro's name on open bands causes immediate conflict between countless other parties. Are you going to use that to your advantage?" 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "I exist because Humanity exists," Midway states, "My birthplace is one of their bloodiest battlefields. Lingering and growing for decades until the fury reached a point at which I manifested as you see before you." Her posture remains stable, "Not sudden, as you describe. A 'slow boil' would be more accurate."     Maybe that's the secret. Although asking about her origin is a bit unusual, she sees no harm in sharing it. This is not something Midway feels could be used against her.     "For now, I wait. War is sometimes a matter of patience." Her eyes close, "I intend to destroy all enemies that stand before me. The fragmentation of the Hikari Defense Fleet is an unexpected but welcome windfall of sinking the heavy cruiser. One must stoke the embers carefully, or else risk blowing them out entirely."     Eyes open, "Hm hm hm... If you wish to see something more entertaining, refer to the cruiser as I do: Heavy Cruiser Ne-Class. Their value of individuality produces the most delightfully indignant response." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     Slow. That explains being more comfortable in their role. They matured into it, as far as that word is applicable. Or... something like that. Being a weird metaphysical spirit sadly doesn't make one an expert in the field. Kalia was just curious.     "We understand. Pushing too hard or too suddenly frequently makes people snap out of their daze. Bloodthirst and a desire for vengeance, fanned too quickly, might break the illusion and make the people question their way of thinking. 'This isn't like me' 'Did I really say that' 'Would I really do this'. If you push too quickly you might unify them or lose your advantage."     But would it matter? Can Midway even die, or would she just reform after some time? Maybe a new spirit of war would take her place. This doesn't seem like a war that can be stopped by just sinking the Abyssals. Death, entropy, etc.     "Ne-Class...?" Kalia peers, curiously, at the terminology. "We understand, but we're curious what the names stand for. We heard Re-Class being used as well, on the radio." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "Precisely," Midway states simply. Her posture shifts slightly, arms remaining folded as she regards the ghost before her, "Classifications. Little more. Each class has their own weaponry and capabilities. Some are more unique than others."     "Like me!" Re-Class thrusts a hand up from where she's seated, "One of a kind, Aviation Battleship Re-Class, at your service!" Eyes closing, the smaller girl grins a wide shark-toothed grin, "I'm a bit of a weird case, you won't see more than one of me. Just call me Mama's Little Monster."     Midway turns just enough to cast a single eye's worth of a glower in her minion's direction, before returning her attention to Kalia, "The name itself is unimportant. Merely its purpose in organization." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     The personality clash is suddenly very real. That answers some questions about Abyssals too!     "We see. So each Abyssal can be somewhat unique, but it's best to not give them that luxury to keep them from becoming too autonomous?"     It makes sense. And it's of no importance to Kalia, because negative feelings are negative feelings whether they're from individuals or numbers.     "We will keep that in mind. I have one last question," they finally say, shifting to float closer to Midway. Not that much, but the ghost seems to want a close look into her eyes.     "What happens when you win? When every ship is sunk. What do you do with the humans? And what do you do after that?"     Whether or not the conflict CAN end doesn't matter. Kalia is sure the nature of an infinite universe means that, hypothetically, infinite life will always join it to counterbalance the infinite losses that came before. It's more a question to see what Midway is after, because Kalia wants a frame of reference.     They're unable to think that far.     But at least, hearing other people do it, it's close enough. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Midway's posture changes again, facing this demon directly once more. She doesn't pursue the interpretation of her words, there is no need to correct it. Instead, she addresses the final question directly and concisely.     "When every ship is destroyed and the oceans are mine," She unfolds a hand, fingers splayed out, "I will begin taking the land." Her fingers curl into a clawed cage, "It is not the ocean I crave, but the destruction of the humans who dared to create a being such as myself." That hand has become a fist, the metal bracing on her knuckles creaking.     "And then I move on to the next war. And the next. Until all is destroyed and I cease to be." 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:'''     Kalia processes that response for a while.     Eventually they manage to form words in response. "Self-destructive. But we can't argue with the emotions that fuel the desire. We look forward to seeing you on the field. We're sure no matter the outcome, it'll be a feast for us. You're interesting. More than the people who call you a monster."     Kalia's form distorts.     "We won't bother you any longer. Thank you for humoring our questions. We'll probably meet again. We like the Ne-Class Heavy Cruiser's anguish too much to keep our distances."     At least they're honest!     And gone, a moment later. 
}}

6296/Seeking a Lucky Charm

2019-01-19T09:50:47Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/10 |Location=Metastasis Londinium |Synopsis=A mysterious knight approaches King Arthur. For good or ill? |Cast of Characters=6864, 6880 |pr..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/10
|Location=Metastasis Londinium
|Synopsis=A mysterious knight approaches King Arthur. For good or ill?
|Cast of Characters=6864, 6880
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Since appearing in the countryside of Wales, the Holy City of Camelot has been attracting all kinds of attention. Mostly from people who have taken to gathering outside the gates, awaiting the city's opening and observing the resident Goddess-King's comings and goings. The ambitious, the inspired, and the downtrodden all accumulate in the tent city hugging Camelot's walls.     This afternoon, the gates open. Various people take notice, gathering in a small crowd while keeping the road clear, both to catch a glimpse of King Arthur and to perhaps hear that long awaited announcement.     No such announcement comes. Astride her armored charger, Rhongomyniad departs Camelot. As she passes by those who have gathered, the lion-themed helmet turns from side to side, nodding in acknowledgement on one side, then the other, all wordlessly. She doesn't react to the questions cast her way, merely proceeding down the road towards London proper.     Those encamped soon turn to conversations amongst themselves. More speculations. More mutual appreciation. More waiting. A few complaints, but nothing bitter is spoken as they return to their business. 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:''' "Halt! A moment of your time, My King."      A calm but loud voice calls out from behind as the sound of lightly armored footsteps rings behind Rhongomyniad. Departing from the very group that waited just outside the walls of Camelot comes a tall built man, dressed in a combination of greenish clothing and knightly garb.      Was he always in the crowd? Or was he a late arrival? Given his strange apparel and the way he seems to effortlessly keep up with Dun Stallion's pace, this would probably be a bit concerning for a normal person... But maybe not a goddess.      "I have matters related to my heart, so if you'd please. That is... Ah, unless you are not King Arthur. A fool of me to not ask first." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     When called upon, Rhongomyniad tugs the reins gently. Dun Stallion canters to a stop, making it rather easy for the stranger to approach and catch up to her. That lion helm turns, and he can feel her regarding him for a long moment of silence while he speaks. After a moment, Dun Stallion backs up a pace and swings his front around, so that she may face him more straight on.     "This is one of many names I answer to, yes. I am King Arthur," The helmet inclines forward slightly, "Speak your piece, nameless knight. If your motive is just, I will listen." 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:'''      "I see. Anyway, call me Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. While I myself do not mind being called things such as 'nameless knight', I would like to show respect for the identity I am borrowing. Especially since I am much too cowardly to even show my real face before you."      Rhongomyniad's steed comes to a stop, which indeed makes catching up utterly and completely trivial. Armor plates bounce and come to a stop as he finally stands side by side with the goddess, a hand now resting on the hilt of a sheathed sword. There's a brief pause as the disguised Lancelot takes the time to choose the words he wants carefully.      "My desires are unreasonable and selfish, honestly. It makes me sick. But it is like this: I wish to duel you, O' King of Knights. The winner does not matter, whether it is you who yields or me, I will reveal my face at the end of this. You are then free to cast whatever judgment you see fit afterwards." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "Mm," Rhongomyniad's head tilts up slightly, as if regarding Diarmuid down her nose. It appears to be unintentional, though, as she lowers her gaze once more. The exact placement of her stare is impossible to see behind the visor of her helmet, either way. She merely lets out that thoughtful, wordless noise as the man self-depreciates.     "The first steps on the road of true chivalry begin with awareness," the goddess states evenly. She stands in her stirrups, then swings one leg over and dismounts Dun Stallion. Without so much as a command, the horse trots away; presumably towards a safe distance. But, he's not stopping. Just how far is a 'safe distance'?     "You are aware of your selfishness," she continues, "Aware of your cowardice. And yet you thwart this cowardice by standing before the King of Knights and issuing a challenge of martial combat." Her left hand extends to one side. In a pulse of misty magical energy, tinted gold-white, a sword materializes. It has a familiar look to it, but appears to be nothing uniquely special, "Do you not realize the courage you display by issuing such a challenge? You are not the coward you claim to be." This is brought forward, its tip angled down and planted into the soil at her feet. Like this, Rhongomyniad places both gauntlet-clad hands upon the pommel.     "I will accept this challenge. Prove your knighthood not to me, but to yourself." 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:''' "I see now. Without a shadow of a doubt, you really are her. Only she could say something so..."      Diarmuid? stops himself mid sentence, his face briefly showing a visible mix of annoyance and sadness. Shaking his head, he draws the sword his hand had been resting on, the mundane long sword now glowing a light blue as he points the tip of his blade at the King.      "Prepare yourself, Artoria Pendragon, King of Knights, for my heart and emotions are as volatile as a stormy sea!"      Gripping the hilt of his long sword with both hands, the fake Diarmuid takes a powerful swing at Rhongomyniad's chest, a trail of bluish mana blazing behind it. Despite the power behind the blow, it was more akin to an attack meant to test the waters, given how predictable and telegraphed it was. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     That lion helmet tilts forward slightly as the Irish knight takes his sword in hand. The expressions he displays are noted. They register. But there is no immediate reaction to the sorrow and frustration he shows. Only the seeming detachment implied by the unchanging faceplate of that lion-themed helmet.     Her feet shift, going from a neutral stance into a braced one. Her right hand pulls her sword straight up, interposing the blade against the swing. Here it becomes clear that the weapon she has is in no way enhanced, as it merely resists the magically charged weapon of her foe with a shower of sparks. The inertia of the blow is lost, but pushes her awkward grip such that the blade scores across her chestplate rather than digging into it straight on.     Rhongomyniad sweeps her leading foot back, increasing her distance and bringing her sword up. There's a notable notch in the blade where the block occurred, but the weapon is still serviceable by the looks of it. She evaluates the stance that 'Diarmuid' falls back into after the strike's mitigation, steadily circling in that fashion so common in one-on-one swordsman duels.     There's no attempt at banter.     With little warning, the King of Knights sweeps her foot forward and then advances with it. Her sword sweeps down in a diagonal slash, but intentionally falls short. Another step forward, and she transforms the feint into a thrust, announced by nothing but the rattle of her armor and the even sound of her breathing inside that helmet. 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:''' There's no visible display of satisfaction of the fake Irish man's face as his sword scrapes against the King's chestplate, nor is there a remark about the flimsy nature of their sword as he notes its chipped nature. There is just a sigh as he returns to a neutral position, watching Rhongomyniad as they circle around them.      There's a feint, which 'Diarmuid' falls for, bringing his sword up to block what he thinks to be an oncoming slash. When the there's the slash. The knight grits his teeth as he's been played for a fool, but he's a quick thinker. If there's one redeeming quality about him that he can admit to, is that he's sinfully good at combat.      Taking a deep breath, they grab hold of the blade with their left hand, the blade sliding slightly in their grasp and causing drops of crimson to hit the earth before they yank the weapon towards them, aiming to bring Rhongomyniad foward as their as they raise their sword upward in an attempt to smash the pommel into their lion-themed helmet. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     When her weapon is grabbed, Rhongomyniad promptly...lets go of it. She avails herself of being locked into a single position by her opponent's reckless maneuver, and instead keeps the momentum of her charge. Her own left hand intercepts the rising pommel directed for her face, shoving it just far enough aside to pass harmlessly through the furry mane projecting from her helmet's back and sides. Her mantle trails behind her, a billowing white cloud from the motion of her body.     She puts her weight entirely behind her shoulder, and with a burst of magic, hurls herself forward those last few inches with alarming force, using the padded, armored pauldron of her armor as a battering ram directed straight at the center of the Irish knight's chestplate. 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:''' 'Diarmuid' obtains ONE SWORD for his troubles. He doesn't get much else though, as he plan to follow with a counter attack is turned against him. He takes the full brunt of Rhongomyniad's shoulder tackle, the sound of metal against metal filling the air as he grunts and takes several large steps back, nearly toppling over as he struggles to catch his breath.      Thankfully, his unnaturally tough, and he's able to get his bearings back, though his breath is now a bit ragged. Looking at the sword he took, he promptly tosses his opponent the sword he had been using prior, though as he does so it loses the blue hue it had.      "A knight should not fight empty handed, even if they are a king."      The Knight waits for Rhon to ready the weapon she had been provided before launching his next attack. Closing the distance between them again, 'Diarmuid' brings the damaged sword down, attempting to aim between the thin spot where their pauldron and armor connect. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     The impact is solid. Satisfying. The clash of metal on metal rings across the hills of Wales. Rhongomyniad is a smaller, lighter person than 'Diarmuid', such that even despite of the staggering inertia imparted on him, she still 'bounces' off him. Several paces back, she lands solidly on her feet, hands empty and pauldron dented.     His sword is offered to her, and she reaches out to catch it. The weapon is briefly examined, its magical quality gone must mean that this is a talent of the weilder, not the power of an artifact. Curious. She lifts the sword from the posture of being examined into a readied battle stance, held upright and behind her head with both hands. His charge prompts a tension in her posture, readying a defense, but those eyes do not decieve him-- The chipped sword he's claimed slides right into the narrow gap between her pauldron and shoulder.     Due to the pose she's in when struck, the weapon actually slips right up under her breastplate and out the opposite side, almost giving the impression of having run the king through. Yanking the blade free comes with a satisfying stream of crimson along its edge, and the snapping of connectors.     Metal clatters, broken in places, as King Arthur's chestplate is ripped from her body, striking the dusty road with a metallic rattle of ruined buckles and straps. Mercifully, the underlayer is mostly undamaged. It's very blue. And that is not the body of a 15 year old boy.     Rhogomyniad does not seem to care that her figure is no longer concealed. She bleeds, a red line drawn directly across her chest from shoulder to shoulder, but she pushes that out of mind as well. The sword she holds is raised. Golden light wells up from the hilt, encompassing the blade, its edges burning red hot.     "Sheath thyself in the breath of stars and create a torrent of shining light."     Without closing back into sword range, Rhongomyniad throws her entire body into a downward swing. Magic shears off into a beam of golden light, marked by sparks of red hot metal, directed straight at the Irish Knight before her. 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:''' "That was the wrong approach, My Ki....K-Kiiiiii.....King? Th-That isn't right, our King was never that buxom..."      'Diarmuid' aims to give the king constructive criticism, but is apparently caught off guard by SOMETHING. Whatever that SOMETHING is, it has him sputtering and coughing as his face turns red.      Unfortunately for him, the battlefield doesn't wait for people who are having an episode, and as Rhongomyniad lets loose a devastating light from her sword, it takes everything he has to pull himself together to guard against it.      As the light passes by him, his skin and armor scorch, leaving patches of charred black against his body as he weathers the storm as best he can. By the end of all of it, he's a lot worse for wear, but still in one piece. Though he's pretty sure when he lays down later tonight he'll wish he wasn't.      "I... Deserved that."      "Anyway, I yield. I have been caught off guard and bested fairly and squarely. Now as promised."      The knight tosses the sword he was holding on the ground, having no longer need of it as his disguise disperses in a cloud of blue mist, revealing the fake Diarmuid's true identity as none other than... An even taller, purple haired knight, clad in white armor with gold trim. In his hand he holds what Rhongomyniad could easily identify as the holy sword Arondight, easily cementing his identity as Lancelot du Lac, Knight of the Round.      "My... Apologies for the deception, but as I've said, any punishment you wish to inflict on me for this I shall gladly and willingly take." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Ignorant of the state she is in or its effects on her opponent, Rhongomyniad pours magic through the sword until it can withstand the load no longer. It's a tense few seconds of golden divine light that fades with a raspy, crackling sound. As she hauls up from the hunched over position produced by her full-body swing, she beholds the scorch mark left behind and around the opposing knight.     He yeilds, and that impassive lion helmet regards the gesture of throwing in his sword. This seems to remind her of something, and she lifts the hilt in her own hand. The blade is gone, a streamer of black smoke escaping from the slot where it had protruded through the hilt. Her gaze returns to Lancelot as he reveals his true identity, while she casts the bladeless hilt aside.     "You were mine, once," Rhongomyniad intones. She reaches up, removing the helmet with both hands and mercifully (if unintentionally) holding it in a way that mitigates the distraction of her armorless torso, "Knight of the Lake." Faintly glowing green eyes regard the man mercilessly, in what might be a glower.     Or is that just her regular expression?     "Your style felt familiar. I could not place it. Your skill is as sharp as in my memory," Inclining her head, she adds, "But. Deception befits not a chivalrous knight. His Word Speaks Only Truth." After a thoughtful noise, she lifts her gaze once more, "Your pennance shall be to aid those encamped around Camelot to whatever capacity you may have. When your deeds have earned the trust and admiration of those who will eventually become citizens within the Holy City, you too shall be welcomed within its walls."     Lifting her helmet, she looks at it, then down at her chest. Her entire body is engulfed in a flare of gold-white light, as her armor vanishes completely-- replaced with a modest, modern looking outfit resembling a nobleman's imperial garb.     "Protect them. Guide them. Inspire them." Dun Stallion trots back, having determined it's safe to do so, though the horse avoids the smoldering metal slag on the ground immediately in front of Rhongomyniad's feet. 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:''' "I gladly accept this punishment, though my deception was merely because I feared you would simply forgive me again rather than accept my admittedly selfish request. While I'm not using that reasoning as an excuse, I can also see that it was ultimately not needed. You are My King, yet not... Also do not take this the wrong way, but I feel the need to correct you."      Planting Arondight firmly into the ground beside him, Lancelot drops to one knee, bowing before Rhongomyniad as he speaks loudly and clearly.      "I am still yours, if you would have me. Though I am cursed with the knowledge that my actions would one day lead to the destruction of Camelot, I was still summoned as a Saber. My prime. A class unbefitting a lowly dog like me, but being as such, my reasoning is intact."      Lancelot pauses, struggling to find more words to say. Speaking in such a long winded knightly manner takes it toll after a while.      "Just. Let me right this." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "Mm," Rhongomyniad regards Lancelot, mulling over his words. It makes sense, and yet, it still does not sit well with her. Strict adherance to the code to which she has aligned herself prevents her from accepting it, no matter the reason. However, one could say from the interaction that she has been rater lenient on the Knight before her.     "You, who brought about the fall of Camelot, now seek to redeem your past actions. Yes, I understand." Her head inclines, once more in thought, those gemlike eyes narrowing slightly.     "Your fealty is accepted, Knight of the Lake. Forgiveness shall wait until the task before you is completed." She reaches up, collecting the reins of Dun Stallion's bridle and effortlessly hauling herself back up into the saddle. Once settled, she regards Lancelot once more, "Take your feet, Knight of the Lake, and bring to the front of your mind the old code. A Knight Is Sworn To Virtue. His Heart Knows Only Valor. His Blade Defends The Helpless. His Might Upholds The Weak. His Word Speaks Only Truth. His Wrath Undoes The Wicked."     "Hold this in your heart and right it you shall." 
}}

6281/FateParadox: Ruler's Decree

2019-01-19T09:39:37Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/12 |Location=The Quilt |Synopsis=Ruler has made some waves, and more than one person wants to sit him down to find out more. |Cast of Chara..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/12
|Location=The Quilt
|Synopsis=Ruler has made some waves, and more than one person wants to sit him down to find out more.
|Cast of Characters=562, 1143, 1123
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Ruler has made some waves lately, both in making great boasts about his incredible power, and talking down to the First of the Concord. Word of it spread across the Multiverse like wildfire, and now everyone wants a piece of him for one reason or another.     Recent reports put him as flying over one of the many long straight highways that cut right between the border of two unified worlds in the Quilt. There's nothing there for miles, save a run-down bikers bar that still manages to draw a lot of clientele in spite of the isolated area.     Said clientele is currently being launched through every available window, hurled into their own vehicles, and just otherwise pummelled. The source of the commotion is Nagi himself, who sends the last assailant through the saloon-style doors with a rising knee. "Dammit guys, I just wanted some wings!" he shouts at the defeated, before stomping back over to his seat at the bar and returning to a bowl of saucy chicken. 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''     There are things that Touta will hear over the comms and take an interest in half hazardly. But the one thing he's been waiting quite a while for was the reappearence of Ruler. After everything that had transpired the last time and after the things he had seen, there were items of interest he wanted to talk about. Especially when it came to the things he had been shown back in Kaladesh.      The young black-haired boy watches as several of these assailants get thrown out of the place and a disgruntled Nagi stomping back into the bar. There was at least nothing out of the ordinary in that regard.      Doesn't take too long for Touta to follow in after the guy, sword in his hand gripped tight. This slick Englishmen who was supposedly his great-grandfather with a bit of a look for a moment. The relationship he's had with this individual was...Complex. He takes a seat next to him and places the blade to his side. That was probably a good sign at least. He can imagine Nagi must know that he's not just here for chit-chatting, so it was probably better if he just cut to the chase...      "Hey gramps, next round of wings is on me if you feel like talking more about that that folder from before..."      He pulls out some cash, placing it on the table to. Actually...Is he even allowed at the bar? Whelp, guess we'll find out. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Some time after the doors had closed and the Ruler had seated himself, a vehicle pulls up which immediately stands out. It is not a motercycle at all, but a military truck. The doors are marked with the twin-headed Dragon of the Empire, and it is an Imperial soldier at the wheel. The rumble of the diesel engine eventually fades when the engine is turned off, but the driver does not disembark. Rather, it's the passenger door that opens.     Impeccably shined boots on the pavement, several sizes too small for a soldier to be wearing. They step cautiously around the heap of groaning bikers, and into the saloon proper. A small, blonde girl in an olive green military uniform. Tanya von Degurechaff, her hands folded behind her back, surveys the saloon interior with a sour expression. She resists the urge to cover her mouth with her handkerchief, and merely approaches the bar's lone occupant. Her hands are occupied by removing her hat, tucking it under one arm.     "Ruler," she announces herself, but does not seat herself, her tone carries no pretenses; it's all business. 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Ruler side-eyes his distant descendant as he dips a wing into a pool of ranch. "You'd have to be the one cooking them kid, the chef ran out," he grumbles, before biting into it. Dabbing at his mouth with a discarded biker's jacket, he looks to Touta and shakes his head. "I'm old kid, I gotta keep notes these days, otherwise I'd forget everything! That's all it is."     But then, a military truck pulls up. Ruler swivels in his stool and looks on as a little girl strides in and greats him as he gnaws on a bone. He then spits it out and says. "You're uh... that kid that Avenger is gunning after, yeah? Man you must have done him real dirty." He laughs at the thought, but then settles and asks "What do you want?" before taking another wing. 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      "Eh? Seriously? How can you forget that easily? You literally showed all those notes to Saber and Pris when you accused them of cheating didn't ya....Fine, if you want chicken wings so badly I'll make them. Just throw me a bone here, I'm seriously getting worried about this whole Grail War too, ya know? Made it sound like things are starting to get out of hand."      Touta also turns around at this point as he notices another address the Servant. The voice of someone who sounds like they had even less of a reason to be in a bar than Touta did, and when he sees that face he gives a bit of a surprised look. He's seen this girl maybe twice before, or at least twice he remembers vividly. The first being back in France with that Avenger...And back in...Lumiere? He's pretty sure it was Lumiere where she pulled that gun on that girl from the church. Yeah, he recalls this was the girl who didn't play games. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Blue eyes travel briefly to Touta, before returning to Nagi directly. Simply, she explains, "He is a former enemy soldier. His side lost the war and I killed him." She inclines her head slightly, regarding the Ruler whose behavior does not at all indicate such a title-- but the power he'd demonstrated in Paris is something she cannot ignore.     So it's best to be frank about her intentions. As a form of... 'casual respect'? That will have to do.     "When he came to Paris, it seemed like you had a difficult time restraining him. I have the impression he is troublesome to you. He is clearly troublesome to me." Straightening, Tanya's expression shifts to a much more approachable one. A bright, well-intentioned smile presented over the little devil within, "I feel like we can work together to solve both our problems. Mostly I'd just like to ask some questions about him and his role in your Grail War."     Her eyes briefly return to Touta when he recognizes her, but right back to Nagi. Her behavior here doesn't seem to line up with what he might remember in prior encounters. She's acting...nice? Polite? Diplomatic? Certainly not the aggressive soldier from Lumiere nor the officer shouting orders in Paris. 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     "No, I'm saying I use the notes to remind me, dumbass!" Ruler says with incredulity. "Man, how can you be my kid's grandkid? You couldn't slip a ting past him." He grumbles, until the offer of more wings comes up. Nagi's bowl is near empty. He taps his foot as he considers it. "Fine. One answer for one bowl of wings. But they better be damn good, or no deal."     He then regards Tanya again, and sighs. "Yeah, sorry squirt. Thing is, he wasn't really breaking any rules until he attacked you. Yeah, he was being a real pain in the ass, but that didn't feel like 'interfering.' But he did, so he's blacklisted now. If he shows up again, hold out and I'll save the day." He puffs out his chest and smirks.     "But sure, ask away. Can't promise a straight answer, but go ahead." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     A boot finds a stool rung, and Tanya hauls herself up the not-inconsiderable distance to place herself on a bar stool as well. She has no intention of ordering anything. But this should help foster a more casual and approachable atmosphere. She places her hat on the counter, resting one arm on it while facing the Ruler straight on.     "I will cover the expense," she offers nonchalantly.     "As for my first question," Her free hand is raised, palm up, "Who is Avenger's master? I have my suspicions, but I would like to hear your answer." 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      Touta has a nerve touched on right then as the man.      "And I was saying I can't believe a guy who can show up a Servant like that and make such a huge scene would forget so easily! And if we're talking about how we're suppose to be like gramps, I heard that he was suppose to be calm and calculating but you popped your top off because they kept sassing you!"      "At the least I see where Touta gets his attitude from..." Another voice says quietly to the side.      Touta stares deadpan at the Ruler for a moment as he contemplates the deal.      "Fine. But if they don't got chicken here then you'll come with me later to get them. Unless you got a spell that makes chicken magically appear or something. Otherwise, you'll have to just take my word I'm good for it. That's at least one thing I know I'd have in common with Gramps..." 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Nagi throws his head back and laughs uproariously as Touta cites his supposed level-head. "Kid, a lot of those stories are about me during a massive war. I was not exactly my light-hearted self back then." Should Touta go behind the bar and into the empty kitchen, he would find a bubbling pot of oil and plenty of pre-seasoned wings. Lucky break.     His gaze returns to Tanya, and smirks. "Don't worry about paying, not like anyone is around to take it. But, Avenger's Master..." He leans against the bar and considers for a long moment. "Since he broke the rules, and his situation is weird, I guess I can tell you. Fact is, I don't know. Some interfering force messed with the summoning rituals that bore the Servants from the Grail, and pulled Avenger out as well. I've been keeping my ear to the ground to find out who might have been able to do that, but no luck. If you know something, I'd be dying to find out!" 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''     Sounds less like luck and more like a lazy chef. But that's fine for Touta. That just means he's gonna get those answers he wants quicker than he expected. So he gets to work on that fryer and preps those wings. Truthfully it might be safer back there then dealing with Tanya. There's a window in the kitchen so as he cooks he can still listen to Ruler's facts about Avenger, and the more cordial representation from the blonde-haired blue-eyed girl that he definitely doesn't recall from the last few times he's seen her. Man that was weird to see.      At first he thinks to make a large assortment of different varieties of wings, but then remembers that this guy still kinda rubs him the wrong way somehow. So he just makes sure that they're really crispy when he brings them out Ruler's way with a plenty of different sauces. Including ranch, he saw him take that one before at least. But before he actually serves him...      "So how are you gonna tell me the answers I want if you need those notes?" That was gonna be important? 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Well that negotiation tool is gone. At least she offered, and the gesture at least had a net zero effect on the result. Tanya merely shrugs it off, outwardly, and listens intently to the answer given.     "Mm, so you don't know at all?" She makes a show of drawing her free hand up to cradle her chin, to give the impression of thinking it over, "So all you know is that something unusual happened. Some outside force interfered, but no clues as to who..."     Time to play her hand.     "It is most likely a Legendonian holdout. The country that Avenger was a part of. The real mystery is how someone could influence the ritual like that without being detected." Her eyes return to Nagi's, and she nods once, "With no other lead to go on, we will have to kill Avenger directly." The casual easygoing approach she'd been using up until now, however, has a few cracks in it. Something's frustrating her, and she's not letting on just what it is.     She lets it out inwardly: You bastard... Being X! 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Ruler reaches out of the wings the moment they come out, but they are denied to him. "To be honest kid, I don't really get what you want out of me. Give me a straight question and I'll answer you as best I can."     He then stares at Tanya and raises an eyebrow. "I was never the best at magic theory, but interfering with the Grail takes some serious magecraft. You beat them, do you really think they would be capable of that?" Does he suspect something? Or is he just raising the obvious point? 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      Touta looks at him for a moment "I wanted to ask you about that belt Saber was wearing and tell me about that city from your notes that the Concord had taken over..." Touta had decided at some point that he wouldn't try to interfere one way or another, he wanted to be neutral if he could. "Last time you said that the belt was breaking the rules because it was interfering with other worlds. I wanted to know what you meant by that..."      Touta had wanted to be an impartial party after all the nonsense he went through, he didn't want to pester any of the other Servants anymore, but when he hears something like that about a belt prior with a context of it affecting other worlds, his biggest worry is that somehow that meant this Grail War was affecting people that had nothing to do with it, and if that was the case. That wouldn't be okay. With that said he tosses the wings Nagi's way finally. Basically,Touta just wants to know if what Priscilla did to make Saber stronger had inadvertently put other people in harm's way. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Tanya's eyes dart to Touta when he re-appears from the kitchen with his sampling of hot wings. She narrows her eyes briefly, before disguising it with a blink instead, relying on her gaze to acknowledge his presence. And his question. She pointedly refuses to say anything about the actions of her commander within the Concord, though.     Instead, she returns her attention to Nagi. His own question recieves a shrug in response, "It's entirely possible that it was a matter of opportunity. I am just a soldier, I haven't seen what, if any, magical studies have been salvaged by our occupying force." Eyes closing, she presents her hands in a clear gesture of 'don't know', "Some magic just isn't immediately practical to use when your country is losing the war it started, I imagine." 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     "Oh! OH! Man you had to go the most roundabout way to ask that didn't you?" Nagi exclaims. "The belt itself isn't messing with things. It's the fact that it was only possible due to that tall woman's faction invading that country and taking their stuff. Saber himself didn't interfere, but he benefits from interference caused by a related party. Hence, 'interference by proxy.' I doubt that woman would have invaded if not for him." he explains.     With the question answered, Ruler takes the fresh wings, dumps half into his old bowl and offers it to the other two. Looking to Tanya, he says, "I don't really buy that. If it was this other country, what do they get out of it? Avenger's an even looser cannon than I was. And you said that you might have an idea of who did it, but you shrug when I ask if this other country did it? What do you know, squirt? Avenger is 'my problem' as of right now, I might be able to kill him before he gets to you, but not if you're keeping things from me." 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      Touta takes some of his wings, he did make them and it'd be a waste otherwise. He listens intently to what situation is apparently from that.      "Right, I remember seeing some of that in that notebook you had or whatever. Honestly, I think Saber's plenty strong, I don't get why they needed that belt. He turns to Tanya for a moment though, was she staring at him? No...Just a blink?      "Hey, you're part of the Concord. You know anything about why Pris feels like she has to supercharge Saber?"      Truth be told, he has some idea from his conversation with her and what she said the last time but he figures he should ask someone who speaks to her more regularly than he does. Once he receives an answer from Tanya though he looks back towards Nagi again, to which he hops around to the other side of the bar and pulls out another bowl of wings ready to go.      "One last question for you too, gramps...I talked to one of my other Servant friends about this but I want to hear it from you. Who are you working with? The Church? Another Master? What's the deal about those notes from last time?" The question would probably come as a surprise to hear for Tanya, but Touta recalls those notes having two sets of signatures, and he's consulted another Special Class Servant regarding Ruler. The consensus being that it was possible that the handwriting came from someone who's operating under the church to help oversee the Grail War...Or it might mean that Ruler really may not be as neutral in this war after all. 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     "Hm?" Tanya blinks when Ruler leans into her statements like that. Crap. Did he see through it, or was she just not entirely clear? Was she not convincing? She quickly composes herself in her head before she constructs a response.     "Humans aren't rational creatures. I suspect revenge. I am a hero of the Imperial Army, so targeting me as a scapegoat for the actions of the Imperial Army would make sense to someone that's emotionally compromised."     "As to who, I do not actually have a name to put to it. I was hoping you did," once more she shrugs while presenting empty hands, "But if you don't know either, I'm back to square one while Imperial agents comb through Franco, Legendonia, and Dachia for clues."     Her eyes wander back to Touta and his rather pointed question. And suddenly, the cute, polite girl is gone. What he gets is a Very Official All Business stare, "I am not going to divulge state secrets just because you asked."     When her attention returns to Ruler, she seamlessly changes expressions as well. Right back to just being a little girl asking grandpa, "I'm not interested in having you kill him for me. But if you're willing to help me and Asterios accomplish it, that works for me." 

:'''{{#var:562|Eryl Fairfax (562)}} has posed:'''     Ruler gives Tanya a long look. "Man, you really remind me of someone. She was really duplicitous and bratty too!" He laughs again, but such a statement might actually anger both people in the room. "But, that's fine. I'm not saying everything, you're not saying everything. Can't be mad about that."     He then looks to Touta, and does so for a long, pregnant moment. It's the flat, serious face of a man who is keeping it inside, for one reason or another. Then he breaks out into a cheery grin and says, "Nope, I'm totally solo! It's just me and the Grail! Sorry kid, don't know what answer you were expecting, but no one is 'backing' this War, and I'm not looking to win it for myself." 

:'''{{#var:1123|Tanya Degurechaff (1123)}} has posed:'''     Duplicitous? Bratty?! Tanya bristles visibly at the accusations, while keeping that pleasent look on her face. It's a real sight to see when someone's inner world conflicts with their outer display this much. She settles down before things get too terribly obvious, though.     But Tanya does know that she'd just been called out.     "Then this is how it shall have to be," Tanya states evenly, "If you are unwilling to assist with Avenger, than I will simply take care of it myself." She turns on the stool, collecting her hat as she does so. Hopping down, the cap is lifted and placed on, tugged down to regulation perfection, "Have yourself a good evening, Ruler." 

:'''{{#var:1143|Touta Konoe (1143)}} has posed:'''      Tanya's response is expected. Though her goodie-two-shoes act actually makes him look at her really bizarre. But he ignores that when Ruler finally makes his remarks to the both of them. Contrary to Nagi's feelings about how Touta would respond to such a remark he does like that Nagi isn't so quick to fall for such a ploy. Though...      When he gives Touta that serious look. A look that gets completely washed over by that cheery face of his. And with that he hands the guy the second bowl of wings, and a jab on the arm.      "Don't talk about Yukihime like that. She's nothing like this kid."      With that Touta picks up his sword and heads for the door of the bar, once through the doors the sword speaks up to him.      "There's clearly something he wanted to say."      To which Touta said nothing. Because he agreed, in fact he knew that Nagi was hiding something. Because that was the same cheery face he'd give when he was trying to play something off...      "Well, whatever it is he won't get to say it now. I made sure to put plenty of extra spice in those second round of wings. He's lips are probably gonna get more singed than the street from the last time, pffffft."      He thinks he can leave it at that. 
}}

6276/Oh I Just Can't Wait

2019-01-19T09:38:54Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/29 |Location=Metastasis Londinium |Synopsis=Archer meets Rhongomyniad face to face. |Cast of Characters=6746, 6864 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/29
|Location=Metastasis Londinium
|Synopsis=Archer meets Rhongomyniad face to face.
|Cast of Characters=6746, 6864
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      Arthur Pendragon. Or rather, Artoria Pendragon. It's a name that holds a lot of meaning to Archer, being the corner of one of his more stand out memories. Of course they're not their Arthur, their Arthur is on Moon Cell. Their Arthur also is neither the wielder of the Sacred Lance Rhongomyniad or a Divine Spirit. And that's the crux of why he's here. To crush any lingering sentiments that this person is anything like the one he knew.      Archer enters the Lion King's room wearing his usual red holy shroud, a tupperware container and a stuffed lion tucked under one of his arms. As he reaches the table, he places his gifts on top of it before pushing them across so that'd they slide in front of Rhon, stopping just short from hitting her in the chest.      "Sorry for the late Christmas gift, anyway..."      The servant pauses as he pulls out a chair to take a seat. It takes a lot of self restraint not to balance the chair on two legs or throw his feet up on the table, but somehow he manages to sit semi-respectfully.      "Tell me about yourself." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     The castle of Camelot up until this point has been remarkably empty. In fact, the city surrounding it out to the walls has been a ghost town. Made all the more unusual by the small but growing crowd of people gathering outside it, drawn to the new city, to new opportunities, or just to the legendary King it represents.     Here within the Round Table chamber, Rhongomyniad herself is seated in a throne that is only somewhat fancier than the other chairs ringing the Table. She does not look up when Archer enters, nor when he places something on the table itself. What does pull her attention from the documentation she's reading is those items sliding to a stop just on the edge of her vision.     Green eyes lift, focusing on the most immediate item of interest. She hesitates, then reaches one hand out to rest on the stuffed lion's head, right between the ears. The plush toy is lifted and moved to rest immediately in front of her where it is placed, sitting up.     "I am the Tower that Shines at the Edge of the World," she states when prompted. The seriousness of her tone offsets the strange delicacy in which she treats the toy lion, "The Once and Future King of Britain, King Artoria Pendragon. The Divine Spirit who weilds the sacred lance Rhongomyniad."     The tupperware container is collected next, and she examines it for a moment before her eyes travel to Archer himself, "What else would you like to know, beyond these identities?" 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      The container, when opened. Contains a mixture of rice, vegetables, and what appears to be chunks of tuna. One can probably easily guess that the dish is eastern in make, at the very least.      "A love for lions and a habit of being unreasonably stiff in conversation, at the very least you two share that in common."      Archer mumbles his observations out loud, clearly not too concerned about being overheard.      "Anyway, I'm not asking for titles. I'm asking for hobbies, interests, aspirations..." There's a brief pause as he tries to figure out what else to say. He could go on listing things he wants to hear from them, but it's probably best that he gives an actual example of what he wants to hear. After all, learning through example is probably the easiest way.      "So, take me for example. I enjoy things such as crafting, cooking,cleaning, and being a smart ass. I spend a lot of my free time doing these things I enjoy. Now, you?"      Archer gestures at Rhongomyniad for a response, hoping that they now get the gist of what he wants to hear. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     The dish is examined. But it would be rude to eat in the middle of a conversation, and so Rhongomyniad places the lid back on it and sets it beside the stuffed lion. That can be attended to later.     "Hobbies are not a thing I have ever given much thought to," she states evenly, "I feel as if I am wasting my efforts if there is not some purpose to what I do that exists beyond myself. However..." The woman pauses once, eyes shifting down in thought. Once she finds her words, she nods once and lifts her gaze once more, "Aspirations and goals, these I have. For it is as Gilgamesh says-- Humans cannot be ruled by a god." A hand lifts and she indicates herself, "I have lost much of my humanity. Regaining this identity fully, that is an aspiration of mine."     "This is in part why I have retracted my attempts at control of Londinium," Rhongomyniad's eyes close, "I am still too much Divinity, and not enough Human, to fulfill my long term aspirations for this country."     Her eyes open again, fixing a level stare with glowing green eyes, "I suppose this is just a lengthy way of saying my hobby is striving to Be Human Again." 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      Archer can't help but laugh as Rhongomyniad reveals her aspirations. While it's extremely difficult to pinpoint what kind of emotion is behind that laugh, at the very least it doesn't seem either malicious or directed at them.      "My apologies. So, becoming human? That' certainly admirable, but..."      Archer clears his throat, cutting himself off as he forces himself to shift away from whatever it was he was about to say.      "Anyway, I /could/ lecture you in why picking up a hobby would help in your endeavors, but I didn't come here to tell you on how to live your life, I came here just to talk."      Breaking all pretenses of being a respectable human being, Archer leans back hard into his chair, a single leg folded up and unto his lap as he closes his eyes.      "I pretty much got the answer I was looking for now, but while I'm still here I might as well ask if you yourself have any questions. It's no secret that I was familiar with the King of Knights, so I'll permit you to ask anything you want." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad's head tilts, that sprig of hair swaying from the motion. What could be a curious gesture is somewhat muddied by the even stare she gives when Archer laughs. She straightens after a moment, lifting her arms to fold them gently in front of her chin, "Taking up a hobby will help, hm."     Even though Archer discarded any further lecturing on that, she's already taken and pocketed the sliver of advice, even as the subject has already moved on before it could be dwelled upon.     "The memory of King Arthur has largely returned to me," Rhongomyniad reveals, "My life up until the Battle at Camlann is like an open book to me. Although I have the life and memory, the emotion often escapes me." Her eyes wander down to the lion again, "As a divine spirit, the emotions of humans are a difficult concept for me. Even possessing the memory of my human life, emotion remains challenging."     Her eyes return to Archer, staring over her knuckles, "So tell me, Archer of the Moon, with this context to the question: What sort of person was the Artoria Pendragon that you knew?" 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      "Mmm. That's a bit of a tough question, however..."      While not correcting the position in which he's currently sitting in, Archer does open his eyes to stare directly into Rhongomyniad's.      "If you must know, she's what most people would consider a socially inept fool. The kind of person with unrealistic expectations of what a King should be, and the kind of person who'd deny themselves their humanity and simple pleasures."      There's a dramatic pause as Archer lets what he just said sit for a bit, before he adds on a bit more.      "Beyond that, she's just a good hearted, albeit slightly dorky person who should probably stop beating herself up so much." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     The goddess meets Archer's gaze with that same focused, neutral expression she tends to wear. However, the words he gives prompts her to tilt her head once more. Perhaps that hit as close to home as it was intended to.     Her eyes wander down once more to the plush lion, and she reaches out once more to collect it, holding the toy in both hands and staring at it. She's clearly fond of it, just by the way it keeps taking her attention, something she ruminates on. The words spoken to her before also return to her.     'I find it difficult to express fondness for anything but the concepts to which I have aligned myself.' 'I know. Try. The first thing which pleases you.'     "I see," Rhongomyniad states after a long, quiet moment. The toy is placed down once more, and before she takes her attention from it, she pats it twice on the head. Eyes return to Archer, "Thank you for your direct answer, humble swordsmith Gan Jiang. It would seem that you were fond of this King. This King to which I endeavor to return to, in some capacity. Your knowledge may yet prove valuable to me in this journey I have committed to."     "Tell me one final thing," Rhongomyniad places her hands at rest before her, her face still quite neutral, "When you spoke of hobbies earlier. What hobby did the Arthur you are familiar with engage in? My memory is devoid of such a detail." 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      "Going back to your roots is well and good, Lion King, but truthfully you should try to avoid going back them completely. Or rather, just try to learn and better the undesirable parts of who you once where. You'll be a much better person and King for it. That's the one bit advice that I, the Tragic Blacksmith Gan Jiang, will forcefully impart on you."      With that said Archer stands to his full height, pushing in his chair as it's made apparent he doesn't plan on staying much longer.      "As for hobbies? Other than swordsmanship, I suppose you were something of a gourmet. As in, you ate. A lot." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "I do not wish to return to my roots," Rhongomyniad states plainly, "Merely to understand them. Returning to a human in its fullest is impossible for me. But. If I can understand it, this will help me in the long term." She nods once, "In other words, yes. I intend to learn from my past mistakes. Once I can truly appreciate what made them mistakes in the first place."     When Archer stands, she does as well. The fuzzy white mantle slips in around her armored body as soon as she does so.     "...A gourmet," the goddess pauses, blinking slowly. Her gaze shifts to the lunchbox containing that rice meal. So that explains that. A hand raises, and she considers with her fingers touching her chin for a moment. Eventually, that hand disappears back inside her mantle and her gaze returns to Archer, "I will offer you the same gift I offered King Gilgamesh. Select for yourself a home within these walls. Camelot will always be open for you should you wish to visit. As thanks for your gifts and your thoughts, it is all I possess that can be offered at this time." 

:'''{{#var:6746|Archer (6746)}} has posed:'''      "I humbly accept your gift. Unfortunately with my duties I don't know how often I'll be able to visit, but at the very least I'll make sure to keep the place clean."      Archer gives the King, a bow as he says this, equal parts out of obligation and because he genuinely appreciates the gift.      "Anyway, unless you need anything else I'll leave you to your duties, Lion King." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "Do as you wish," Rhongomyniad states, "Consider it a 'Vacation Home'. I understand there are pre-existing obligations and do not expect full time inhabitance. Such would be unreasonable."     The bow is observed. She remains steadfast, however, and appreciates the respectful gesture only with a slight nod.     "I have no further questions. Safe travels, Gan Jiang." 
}}

6263/Rebellion in Londinium

2019-01-19T09:38:11Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/11 |Location=Metastasis Londinium |Synopsis=The streets of Londonium run red as people attempt to bring an end to the new movement in the m..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/11
|Location=Metastasis Londinium
|Synopsis=The streets of Londonium run red as people attempt to bring an end to the new movement in the most direct and violent way possible, empowered by darkness.
|Cast of Characters=6856, 1099, 6384, 533, 446, 6864, 7, 6880
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' THE GREAT CITY OF LONDON It was sudden and bloody. In the span of a few seconds, several dozen Bounded Fields - magical barriers imposing specific effects - went up over London, such that the entire city was covered in a magical haze. And the effect is... vicious, to say the least. Memory alteration, being leveraged on a massive scale, although there was a downside to the magi extending their reach so: unreliable effects, and below-average performance. All across London, numerous people - perhaps around one percent of the population at best - suddenly lose their memories of King Arthur. In the sudden state of confusion, perhaps even anger at realizing their new king is a nobody they don't even recall, a certain specter reaches out, and rebellion is born. The streets flood with darkness. The empowered rebels, glowing an ominous black, red and purple, spread the shadows around the city. Cars are overturned, storefronts pillaged, random people on the streets beaten for not agreeing to join the sudden movement. In the Clock Tower, magi scramble to not only communicate with RHONGOMYNIAD, but to start undoing the Bounded Fields deployed. The obviously mind-controlled crowd starts gathering as a single mob, the initial chaos over. They're going towards the palace, and no longer just "a crowd of englishmen". Vengeful spirits have joined the fray, people slain with business yet to finish from various eras of England. Some of them even sport knightly getup, and may be fellow knights or enemies of Camelot. At their head, one figure. A knight in the heaviest of armors, silver and crimson, enhanced by demonic traits, bloodied spikes and horns that seem more natural than armor. A bloodied red blade, emanating hatred. No, gathering hatred, from the crowd, from the victims of the crowd. The specter under the guise of the Knight of Treachery, deformed by belief and the wants of the rebels, feasts on the air of Londinium, basking in every last negative feeling of the crowd. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      The King of Heroes has been staying in Londinium for the last few days, in quarters distressingly close to the Divine Spirit Rhongomyniad's own.      This is, in one part, curiosity. She is a god on Earth, a divine spirit, orchestrating a perfect city. Her nature is so much like his own that he wants to see just what her perfect city looks like. So far, he's been...well, he's still *here*, so that says quite a bit. He appears to at least approve of it in some sense, even if he likely thinks he could do better. That's not personal, though; he thinks he could do better than everyone, and he's frequently not wrong.      It is another part diplomacy. He is the King of Denmark. Visitng foreign royalty is what Kings do, and surveying Londinium and whether or not it might be a problem for his own plans and desires is also an important facet of being the King.      It is also because Rhongomyniad is *extremely* attractive, and the Wedge of Heaven deeply desires the Tower at the End of the World.      So when the haze starts, the King of Heroes is up in his quarters, drinking. He'd contemplated calling Rhongomyniad and asking her to join him, and seeing how much further he could get into her mind - how much more damage had been done by what she was. He'd contemplating offering her alcohol with a sense of deja vu, and for a brief moment, wondered where he might find a large Greek gentleman to complete the sensation. He glances out the window as the Bounded Fields pop up. Interesting.      Something tries to touch his mind. With deep amusement, he crushes it in the back of his head and stands. His hands go into his pockets, and he starts walking down the steps after, very briefly, calling Rhongomyniad.      "You have nothing to worry about. I've decided. You fascinate me, so I'll help you out, just this once, without asking for anything in return. I'm eager to see the power of the Tower at the End of the World, after all."      "Next time," the King says, "I expect you to join me for dinner."      The King walks out onto the crowd. He's glorious. He exudes perfection and glory like a golden aura as he walks through the streets. He snaps his fingers at various individuals who look to be under thrall and shouts orders at them, imposing Kingly will upon the vengeful mortals - though his orders ultimately come down to 'get inside and bar the doors and don't come back out until it's over,' though with increasing degrees of ludicrousness.      When vengeful spirits get near him, the King of Heroes just presses his hand to his head and laughs, the laughter echoing down the streets.      "Fwahahahahah! How entertaining! The dead of the Underworld have come to face the King!"      "Unfortunately for you, the Underworld is practically my backyard. But I'm feeling generous tonight." The King's fingers split, revealing his glowing red eye and his wild grin. "I'll let you take the first swing, mongrels."      He throws open his arms. "Aren't you lucky, you worthless gallu shades, that the King has come across a beautiful woman to put him in such a fine mood! Who knows! Perhaps one of you will even be the one to kill me!"      The tone of his voice is pure mockery. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Time for one of those 'Good news, bad news,' games.      Good news! Orchid was right!      Bad news! She was right about there being a popular uprising against Rhongomyniad.      Good news! Orchid is close enough to help deal with the problem!      Bad news! Orchid doesn't have much in the way of weapons.      Good news! What weapons Orchid does have are actually well suited for stopping riots without slaughter!      Bad news! Orchid doesn't have enough to stop ALL of the normal people at once.      Ah well, we do what we can with what we have. In Orchid's case, that means getting in front of the crowd, landing in front of Buckingham Palace, and deploying about 150 of her spiders, directing them in building a web across the street, anchoring it to cars, light poles, buildings, slower fat american tourists (they should provide some good for once) and anything else. Even should the webs be cut, the hope is that they'll be sticky enough to stop the rioting mob.      Wait, was she PLANNING on being on the mob side of the wall? Probably not, but that's where she is now. 

:'''{{#var:533|Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' There's a knight riding in, on a steed made of metal with wheels. Sir Gawain is dressed in his formal uniform, leaping from a meeting impromptu to assist his king, even if she's not /his/ king, with a rebellion. With a sword sheathed at his side, the knight skillfully weaves through the roads and the pillagers, moving to find the source of this. Burning rubber, he gets to the main crowd, using his own will to force back the Bounded Field's control, and deciding he'll move for the target that reminds him so much of Mordred. He doubts he can take them alone, fi they're this powerful...but with the help of his allies, perhaps he can. Gunning the motorcycle, he hits it off a curb, and gets air with a fast wheelie. The motorcycle soars over the crowd, as Gawain suddenly launches off it, soaring through the air at high-speeds until he suddenly starts coming downwards towards the knight of hatred, sword first. "Stop your evildoing, you fiend!" The blade will come down in a slash, instead of a stab, trying to pierce the knight's armor. Gawain's willing to see just how sturdy this malice knight is. Meanwhile, the motorcycle lands on the other side of the crowd, skidding to a somewhat violent stop, but it's not too damaged. Gawain calculated this! 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Having her shopping day interrupted by an angry mob is a good way to ruin Princess Sarracenia's mood. As soon as someone attacked her demanding that she join the rebellion they received a hammer blow...which ripped Sarracenia's dress when the attacker gripped her dress.      With Sarracenia's mood already soured she puts on her newly commissioned Battle Dress (from the safety of a quickly deployed circular blind), and when she emerges finds a veritable army headed toward the castle. "Hmm. Civil unrest?" she wonders to herself until she realizes there are spirits and even a demonic knight leading the charge. She makes her way to the front of the crowd, hearing Gil's speech in the process. She turns her nose up at him. "King." is all she says to him before she turns to face the demon. "I do not know who you are or what has happened to these people...but because of this magic one of my dresses has been ruined. And you shall pay for it, one way or another!"      She leaps forward, bringing her massive hammer around in a spinning attack aimed to bowl over the blood knight and any others in her path. Each impact unleashes a small explosion, only enough to stagger someone really. But they certainly make for a flashy attack! 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     At the point when all hell breaks loose, the goddess Rhongomyniad is currently inside Buckingham Palace. It is her weekly visit with the former Queen, for tea and casual small talk. Today's subject has been mostly about the change of clothes, the King's more modern, regal garb in place of the stately armor she has become so easily recognized through.     Rhongomyniad pauses mid-sentence when the Bounded Fields erupt, teacup just this slight distance from her lips. Glowing green eyes blink slowly, as something tugs at her memory of King Arthur. A memory that she had lost already, once. Mentally, she crushes it, then lifts her gaze to the Queen across from her, whose reaction seems to be much the same.     After a moment, Rhongomyniad leans forward, placing her teacup down and then rising to her feet, "I am sorry, Queen Elizabeth. Something has arisen which I must tend to." A few minutes later...     The doors of Buckingham Palace open. Striding out between the guardsmen is the golden-haired Goddess Rhongomyniad. Nervous soldiers glance her way, then back to the advancing mob outside the gates. When Rhongomyniad pauses, they both glance back at her. One swallows.     "They are attempting to erase my existence. It may be a threat to Queen Elizabeth. Protect her with your lives, as True Sons of England." Her gaze returns to the gates, a golden light gathering around her right hand that trails motes of light as she walks. As this reaches an imcomprehensible intensity, it extends out into a sword-like shape. Straps of metal erupt from the tip, interlocking, winding down in a complex braid until the light is fully contained by them-- creating a lance.     Guardsmen at the gate pull it open for her, then promptly shut and bar it behind her. Eyes fixate on the gathering mob, lingering at last on the demon-armored knight who leads them. Eyes narrow.     "Raider Knight," she intones. Gawain makes his dynamic entry and attack. A passerby jumps in with a hammer. King Arthur's head tilts forward, "...Mm... Nostalgic. But somehow also incorrect." She brings the lance up, turns it, and drives the point into the pavement at her feet. Behind her, a castle rampart erupts from the ground, barring the gates of Buckingham behind siegeworthy stone. With dust and rubble still settling, Rhongomyniad draws her weapon free and approaches the melee in a smooth, steady gait, her eyes fixated entirely on the demon knight.     "Explain yourself." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' This wasn't a normal uprising of the people no this was magic related someone had messed with a lot of people's minds and that left Kotone quite unhappy with that. She had very concerned feelings about what Rhongomyniad had done. Yet she was willing to give her a chance, doubly so when this was an uprising caused by magic cast by power-hungry mages. It was time to get to work. Orchid wouldn't be alone in trying to run riot control here. She knows she can't save everyone, not with the King of Heroes out and about, things were about to get very Sumerian but what she could do is save who she could. She would be moving to help Orchid. Kotone cloaks the moment breams down from the Bluenose which was hovering high overhead. The ship did not pack any weaponry that could help with this, however, it at least allowed Kotone to arrive in time. Kotone was packing as much freezer foam as she could bring with her a riot control weapon which did allow air to pass through it but could hold someone for hours otherwise and she started to set up trip wires and other traps set to it which would be able to hopefully. She's also actively using the units to throw into masses of the rioters as well. Hopefully, her cloak will make her hard for people to pick out in this massive mess. 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:'''      Though tasked with handling the camps surrounding Camelot, so long as there is trouble in the lands of King Arthur, Lancelot is sure to be there. Having originally arrived via horse back, the French Knight has long since abandoned his steed, opting to have it return some place safe rather than risk it being injured. Horses are valuable after all.      "Not as soon as I place myself back under King Arthur does a rebellion break out. Were I the boastful type, I'd say she should consider herself fortunate. Unfortunately I just find this very sad."      The armored knight laments to himself before marching into the angry mob, sword drawn and gripped with both hands. First order of business is to deal with the clearly brainwashed civilians, which given that they're probably still just human, shouldn't be much of an issue. Lancelot swings the flat of his blade at various angry British men, aiming to knock them out while holding out as best he can. Hopefully, this doesn't hurt them too much... 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' GIL: How curious. Kalia cannot read the golden man. No, they can, but... it's like trying to get past some incredible defense, and there might not even by any food underneath them. So such people exist? That's troublesome. The knight directs their blade at the king. "Then when you die, it'll only be a short walk to the Underworld for you." Three ghostly knights converge on Gilgamesh, wielding pitch black spears of hatred. Not only do they hurt if they hit, but they seem to be sapping vitality and spreading decay on affected limbs. ORCHID: Orchid's spiders begin producing webs, and at first it seems to work - but the demonic knight raises their blade, and the hatred flows from it into the crowd. The rebels almost seem larger, buffer for it, a variety of slashing and cutting weapons forming in their hands out of... well, that's not a material. Those are blades of hatred. They start cutting their way out, and some even launch bolts of darkness at Orchid's drones. They're cursed! A hit amongst the drones seems to start a chain reaction that would sap even Orchid's systems, like fuel is being drained. GAWAIN: A knight crashes into the demonic knight leading the rebels! The illusion/disguise is sturdy and doesn't yield, though this up close it isn't hard for Gawain to tell this is a distorted image of Mordred. The ideal leader of a rebellion, when you think about it. Kalia stands their ground, the blade piercing their side. They return the favor by trying to stab Gawain right back. "The king's reign ended centuries ago. It'll be ended again by my blade!, as is the will of the people!" SARRACENIA: Tumbling in like an angry, hammer-wielding top, Sarracenia knocks away several of the rebels - they're tough! They crash into cars or buildings, sporting injuries that start healing slowly but getting back up. The ones that don't, are pointedly not dead, merely freed of the specter's influence. Reaching the knight proves problematic however - ghosts rises to protect the masked Kalia, using blades to roughly block the hammer, before slashing with harsh, dark curses. These blades are NOT natural! RHONGOMYNIAD: The way to the balance is barred by the king. The mob grows angry, but Rhongomyniad is their target, not the queen. It works out. The demonic knight intones, distorted by their helmet: "I have no explanations to give! Your story ended. You shouldn't be here. I'm the ire of a nation given form! Isn't it poetic?" No, something is wrong. That's not Mordred. Or maybe it is, but only in the sense it's what people think Mordred should act like. "Return to your grave, /Father/!" The knight frees themselves of Gawain, and with bluring speed, makes for its king, straight for the neck, with that bloodied red blade. KOTONE: Freezer form does wonder to halt the weakest of the rebels, or the ones already battered by Sarracenia. The ones who still have strength break through, empowered by their obvious glow and anger. Amongst them, a magus, whose hand is raised and bellows out unnatural black flames at Kotone, inflicting a crippling array of debuffs along with quite the pain to boot. LANCELOT: With Lancelot's efforts on the crowd, he'll notice firsthand the assortment of rebels is sturdier and faster than they have any right to be. Luckily, that also means he can use lethal force without too much concern and they'll likely survive, but it might be a painful awakening when, busy smacking three people down, another three come in from behind, brandishing dark knives that penetrate armor and harm entirely too easily. Are they ALL armed with weird hate-weapons? 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "I see," Rhongomyniad's gaze remains fixed on the Demonic Knight, "You are not who you appear to be." Her feet shift, presenting a narrower profile with the Lance held behind herself, point angled upward, "You are no son of mine."     But her most savage attack aside.     Rhongomyniad, unarmored as she is, must make sacrifices to go on the true offensive. This sacrifice is her left arm, sweeping up to push the sword stroke away from her neck. It carves into her sleeve and then her arm, spilling crimson that splatters the stone wall behind her. The lance is readied behind her, thrust towards the Demon Knight's chest. But even if it doesn't penetrate, she's not actually done yet.     "My son is a Knight. And you are no such thing."     The tip of the Divine Lance pulses with power, blasting a bolt of divine light with full intent of shoving her attacker right back into the mob they had just charged out of. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia growls lightly as she fails to even reach the demon knight, but does get some satisfaction out of sending several of the citizens flying.      And then suddenly, smashing her way into the middle of a huge hate crowd reveals itself to be a bad idea. Who could have guessed?! The princess cries out as those mind blades slash and pierce. She spins her way out of the crowd once more and comes to a graceful stop, one hand pressed against her side to brace a wound. "...well, I suppose I asked for that..." she murmurs to herself. Her new Battle Dress is also slashed, but she commissioned it specifically for this sort of thing so it isn't as big a deal as losing her royal dress. And she notices that she feels more tired than she should. "Hmph. This has turned out to be more troublesome than I thought."      With melee turning out to be a bad idea, Sarracenia starts twirling again...but this time she starts tossing out explosives! A salvo of Bob-ombs in this case, which get lobbed into the closest part of the crowd to unleash a few small but powerful explosions. "Just what is going on here?! Typical citizens should not be this dangerous!!" she shouts to anyone who can hear and cares to listen. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      It's time for MORE good news, bad news!      Good news! Orchid's drones are brought along with the assumption that some will fall.      Bad news! There are still a lot of them falling, and the wall of webbing is coming down.      Good news! Orchid still brought a bunch of them!      Bad News! Now Orchid herself is in the middle of things.      In fact, Orchid had brought a full 200 drones, about twice what she could manage to control directly, but she was able to release control on a number of those building the wall. So more spiders spread out from her body as she brings her shields online. She doesn't appear to be doing much, but she is accessing local cameras, filtering out the data, uploading it to the paladin Tactical Network, telling them where the worst groups of rioters are.      Of course, while this is going on, her spiders are going for those with the freaky swords, jumping on them, and wrapping them up in silk. Specifically, going for the eyes, to keep them more vulnerable and less likely to hit Orchid. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' The battle is heating up and Kotone is doing some work to tie up a number of the rebels but there are still yet more, she sees the black flames, memories of Kingsmouth comes back to her. Her early days in the multiverse with the horrors of what she now knows to be the Filth. She is, however, a phantom here moving in and out of the assaults of black flame and by a miracle she's not touched by them, this time. She has other tools to help disable the magically altered rioters though, she's got a built-in taser system known as eelware, she'll leap from rioter to riot putting hat to use trying to take down some of the more heavy hitters in this throng of angry rioters. << Orchid do you see those flames?!>> 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      The ghosts come at him. And they hurt. They crash into the King of Heroes, dragging against his golden soul, trying to touch him, claw at him. They leave long marks along his skin that ooze black muck for a brief instant before the blood that flows flows past. Their spears pierce into his arms.      His laughter continues, redoubled.      A moment later, he grabs the spears with both hands and thrusts himself forward, his red glowing eyes wild and cheerful. "Mongrels."      "Do you really think you are capable of killing me? Look into my eyes, you fools. You do not even know who I am. Anyone too stupid to recognize the King is no threat to me."      Behind him, the world explodes into gold. Ripples pour out of the sky. His grin widens as he presses himself forward, the black rot spreading across his arms and fighting against divine constitution. His arms are trying to *heal* over the spears, to lock them in place, and they're going much faster than normal.      He wants to deprive them of their weapons before he crushes them.      The King licks his lips. "I wonder what the despair of a gallu spirit tastes like. Why don't you show me, mongrels, as you look upon your final demise? Behold a glimpse of my limitless glory!"      "GATE OF..."      "BABYLON!"      From the golden weapons emerge blades. Countless blades. *Way too many* blades. The countless magical weapons stick forth, looming hard enough to cast a shadow. The King's laughter redoubles. His grin is almost feral. "Let me have a taste of your sorrow, mongrels! Gaze upon the Abyss that lurks below the Underworld and tell me how it feels to have your vengeance crushed in an instant! If it's entertaining, I might allow you to continue to exist in a jar somewhere, suffering in terror for the rest of eternity! Aren't I merciful! Fwahahahahah!"      "And if you don't entertain me, then I'll simply go enjoy that beautiful Princess over there, or go find the King of Knights and enjoy her presence for a while! Or maybe I'll just crush all of you at once like insects! Wouldn't that be fitting?"      And then the blades come forth like a rain of machine-gun fire. Swords of all manner of magical power, finer than the finest craftsmanship mortal hands could have wrought, stab into the streets of London, fired at, through, and into the ghosts with all brutality. 

:'''{{#var:533|Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' This isn't Mordred. Or if it is, it's some strange distortion. As blades go into each other's armor, Gawain's knightly armor pierced by Kalia's own blade, the knight grunts, falling back briefly. He doesn't remain pushed back for long, however, shifting his sword in a stance and moving to slash again into Kalia, as he barks back. "I am Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun, Warden of the Paladins...I will not allow you to force these people to your whim, to cause insanity in these streets!" With a flick of the wrist, Galatine catches ablaze with holy sunfire, before being struck at the armor again. The slash is stronger, more power put behind it, trying to force Kalia on the backfoot. Gawain's cautious, though, because she's strong. "Taste my blade!" Hopefully, the group focusing on the knight can maybe push her back away from the palace. 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:'''      Lancelot does not take too kindly to getting stabbed in the back. Knives made of HATE pierce through his white armor effortlessly, causing the large knight to stumble forward as he tries to regain his composure. He may be bleeding sure, but at least he now knows he can get away with being a bit more aggressive.      "You're cowardice is second only to my own. Now come, let me apologize for holding back earlier by showing you what the Knight of the Lake can truly do!"      Lancelot redoubles his efforts, completely ignoring the bleeding stab wounds in his back as he grips Arondight with new found determination.      Lancelot rushes up to one of the angry British man, raising an armored leg up to their chest before just punting them with a stupid amount of strength into the rest of the crowd, hoping to to throw them off balance before following up with another wide smack with the flat of this blade. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' RHONGOMYNIAD: "Aren't I? I'm the people's blade." The demonic knight insists, even as a spear penetrates their stomach. "I'm the blood on your hands. I'm retribution for your wrongs." The spear blasts the knight back with holy light, inflicting significant damage to the specter. Shit, that actually hurt. What IS that spear? The wound is healing, but... it's slow. A holy weapon, huh? Maybe this was a mistake. But no, even if Kalia had known, they couldn't have helped themselves. That's just how they are. "But don't take my word for it. Look what your reign did! Look at these people, conflicted and demanding their real queen back!" It's kind of a vocal minority, really, and not even a "willing" one per se. Even so, the knight rises. Their blade glows, and they unleash a black shockwave, trying to sap the strength out of Rhongomyniad. Underneath the armor, where Rhongomyniad pierced it, she can see... nothing. It's not darkness. It's not empty. It's Nothing. It's like a black hole. Where has she seen that before...? SARRACENIA: "They are strong because they've accepted the call of rebellion!" The knight intones at the princess, and indeed it seems fairly obvious that the swirling vortex of negativity - of anger, confusion and a desire for revenge - isn't just centered on the knight, it's actively empowered the crown. Bombs scatter the crowd well enough regardless, many falling unconscious and losing that dark aura in the process. The ghostly knights, however, insist. They attempt to pincer Sarracenia, to skewer her from both sides! ORCHID: More webs, more silk. As the crowd weakens, it's becoming easier to web them, but it's still not quite there. The bulk of them still have the strength to fight back, slashing with those odd weapons, cutting silk with knives and swords alike. Many of them speed up - they leap, for the drones, despite having no business making such leaps as regular people. They knife, like their lives depend on it. Crippling feedback bounces back to Orchid, even if she manages to avoid the crowd's fury directly. KOTONE: The taser helps, at least against the common rebels. But the magus is still on Kotone, and even as she disables a few of the commoners, he doesn't yield. He claps his hands, and lightning attempts to strike her! Black, corrupt lightning, the kind that saps life and will alike. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' GILGAMESH: A rain of deadly magical weapons. The crowd is ill-matched to combat that. Commoners fall left and right, and the mundaner ghosts are banished back to their rest just as easily, amidst golden explosions and blurs of light. But the ghostly knights, they're fast. Three swordsmen maneuver through the hail of Noble Phantasms. One is struck down so the other two can proceed forward. One more falls, taking a hit for its fellow. The remaining swordsman comes with with a vertical slash, attempting to cleave Gilgamesh in two. The demonic knight, a distance away, rumbles at the king: "Everyone can be killed. So can you. Names and titles are irrelevant to a blade." GAWAIN: "You think I forced them to do anything? They desired this! They desired me." It's not strictly true, but it's not strictly wrong either. Of course, there's a problem with the disguise: Kalia is not a swordsman. Or swordswoman. Swordsghost. They cannot keep up with a knight, not in skill at least. Gawain's blade finds purchase again, cleaving away a chunk of the demonic knight's armor to reveal more... Nothing. He remembers it more vividly than Rhongomyniad, no doubt. A great dragon, a hole in the world. This knight is a composite of two legends! And with startling speed, the knight attempts pommel strike Gawain in the face, and almost simultaneously, reappears behind him with a sword thrust. LANCELOT: Lancelot stops holding back. None of these people have the skill to wield blades, even fancy blades of hatred. In melee, he has them outgunned in every way. The crowd is dispatched with so little trouble, that there's no sense making note of it. But the demonic knight sees this, and blurs away from Gawain, to appear before Lancelot. "And here stands a source of strife greater than I could have ever hoped to be. How did it feel, Lancelot? When the kingdom wasted so many knights and resources against you? Could I have succeeded, without your aid?" The knight's grip reaches for Lancelot, and a crushing, dark pressure attempts to squeeze the life out of him. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      The swordsman carves across Gilgamesh's face. The beauty of the King is undiminished; the blood that rolls down his face is flawless in its elegance despite the cut along his eye. The King's face rolls to the side as it closes, his lips licking across his own blood curiously. He straightens. He's still smiling as he rips the spears free of his own body and spins them into his hands. There's no *skill* there, or at least, not much - he's not an expert spearman. But he is superhuman. He is beyond superhuman. He is a divine being, as far beyond humans as they are beyond ants, and even something like this looks graceful in his hands. The Knight tells him even he can be killed as he darts to the side to avoid the next strike. "Names and titles are irrelevant to a blade?"      "Hah! How stupid you sound! How unbelievably ignorant!"      "It's too much! Stop, stop! You really might kill me!"      "I might laugh myself to death."      The King flicks one of the hell-spears forward with the force of fifty men. The second the knight even *starts* to dodge, the King flicks the second one.      And while he's dodging that, a third spear, gleaming gold, just emerges up from underneath him in an instant, shooting into the sky trailing glistening gold like a signal flare.      The King resumes walking. He snaps his fingers at Sarracenia. "You should come with me, Princess. I'm going to go see the King. She's probably in trouble."      And then he heads off to join Rhongomyniad, whistling like he's taking a sunday walk. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      While her twirling bombing attack is quite pristine, causing her hair and dress to billow out elegantly like a ballerina dancer, the weight of her hammer keeps Sarracenia from being all that agile. She is caught squarely in the pincer attack, but even with the hit her spin brings the knights in closer...lining them up nicely for a follow up sweep with Sarracenia's DK Hammer.      The princess blinks as she realizes something Gilgamesh said earlier, bringing a light blush to her cheeks, though it may be lost against a cut on her right cheek that has marred her lovely face. She'd like to think that it does not diminish her beauty, but that is up for debate. As Gilgamesh speaks up again, she hmphs softly. "Fine. Hopefully the Kingdom of Londinium will remember that the Sundew Kingdom came to its aid in this dire time." she says as she follows after Gilgamesh, hammer slung over her shoulder like a JRPG hero's weapon. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "No," Rhongomyniad states plainly when the crimson knight rebukes her. She sweeps the Divine Lance up and back, holding out her bloodied left arm to gesture, "My intention to rule singly has been rescinded. It is as King Gilgamesh said- A god cannot rule men, and I am too distant from my humanity to rule them. The Queen was never taken away. The Parliament still determines law. This is known. This is accepted."     "You are not my son. You are not the heroic spirit of my son. You are not a knight." It is not said with malice, but simply in the tone of one stating simple facts. The slash wave splashes against her, splattering blood across the wall behind her. A crimson cut crosses her body from shoulder to hip, her clothing damaged but still very serviceable. There's the slightest of grunts from the effort of withstanding such a blow while she's pontificating, but once she has recovered her breath, she swings the Lance around and points it directly at the Demon Knight.     "No matter how quickly you try to conceal it, the opening in your armor reveals your true nature to me. You were never human." The metal straps surrounding the Divine Lance begin to unravel, the sheath coming apart and dissipating into motes of golden light, "A creature like you does not belong in the World of Men." As the wrapping comes undone, Rhongomyniad soon holds a projection of raw, divine light in her outstretched hand.     "Light, may you be released from the End of the World. Split the Heavens and tether the Earth, Anchor of the Storm." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      The drones are expendable, despite the strange feedback Orchid has been getting. Sure, lots of them are getting taken out, but there was a lot of them to begin with, and as things go, Orchid doesn't have much cause to hold them back. As for what they are doing, well, they are tending to explode when jumped on, throwing the rioters back. Of course, the way things are going, Orchid won't have many, if any, to help with the cleanup...      Orchid herself is still out there, trying to keep an eye on the whole thing, to see where action is needed most. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone is trying to get the common rebels down as many as she can and she's got that mage hunting her pretty darn hard right now. this time they will get more lucky with dealing with her. She hit and she lights up like a holiday tree, it also forces her out of stealth mode and she looks at the mage for a moment clearly in pain. "So you are one of them...so afraid of losing your power mage?" With the Mage who is one o those in on it or seem to be Kotone is going to hold back a lot less against them. She's disabled a lot of people but with this guy shooting at her with his strange magic at her and she'll pull her pistol out and start shooting at him aiming to take him down quickly, disabling him if she can but she needs to keep alive here, and not get hit with that stuff /again/. 

:'''{{#var:533|Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' "I felt the effect try and take over my mind. Do not lie to me!" Gawain declares, as he cleaves some of the armor away, sees that hole of nothing, and freezes. "Vortigern-" And in that instant, he gets hit head on with the pommel strike, before with speed, the enemy cleaves into his back, ripping into more of his armor and wounding him with bruises and battery. Gawain's response is to try, after she moves away, is to leap towards the knight and try and smash her over the head with the flaming blade. It's not a powerful blow, and is something to wound her while Gawain rallies himself forward, as well as support Rhongomyniad's incoming strike 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:'''      Lancelot heaves as he takes care of the last of the 'normal' rioters, planting Arondight into the ground as he uses it as a crutch to rest. He may be unnaturally tough as a Heroic Spirit, but even he has his limits with wounds like his. He doesn't get very much time to recuperate though, as the strange demonic knight comes to approach him.      He does not know who they are, but their words cut deep, causing his face to scrunch up. They know what they're talking about. About how he slaughtered dozen of his brethren trying to save Guinevere. His heart sinks in sadness first, but that sadness is soon replaced with something else. Anger.      "You will not get your answer, damned demon! Now hold thy tongue so that I may cut it out for you!"      Seemingly ignoring the dark powers that seem to be crushing the life out of him, Lancelot inches forward towards the knightly wraith, each step becoming more labored as the magic slowly by surely takes it toll. By the time his sword reaches them, the slash he delivers is weak and desperate, but he doesn't care. Just anything to shut them up. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' GILGAMESH: Gilgamesh obliterates the remaining ghostly swordsman. It isn't even a surprise. And then, nothing stops him from rallying with Rhongomyniad. SARRACENIA: In much the same fashion, the princess dispatches of her two knights, batting them away and back where they came from - or so one presumes. Wherever ghosts go back to when banished, it's where they went. ORCHID: The crowd is finally weak enough to start restraining properly. If silk and webbing is still being employed, countless rebels end up bound - and the explosions from the drones are also enough to knock out plenty of them. The streets are finally calming! KOTONE: Kotone takes the magus seriously and casts gun at him. Magi hate firearms, and with reason. The magus falls over, heavily wounded - unconscious. Alive, more importantly. And before the aura vanishes, it even heals enough of his bullet holes that he's not too badly at risk of bleeding out. GAWAIN: Gawain's flaming strike shreds through Kalia's fake armor. It reveals more of that... Nothing. It's always Nothing, under the armor. A hole in reality. But shredding the armor is, surely, damage. LANCELOT: "Is that how it felt, then?" Sadness and anger. That's satisfying. Even as Lancelot carves through the armor to reveal more of the Nothing underneath, Kalia is satisfied. And fed. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' RHONGOMYNIAD: The spear glows bright. The demonic knight takes a step back, battered as they are, almost on raw instinct. No, it's more than that. The disguise is shed. Kalia's true form manifests - the almost skeletal, androgynous shape of a specter, covered in ragged black and grey clothes that obscure their feature. Pale white eyes glow,, a scarf covering their lower face entirely. They're unarmed, and only one arm is visible out of that tattered but heavy... coat? Cloak? (look Kalia if needed). They stare at their demise, a spear so disgustingly holy that they might almost know better than to approach it. "You are right. We are not your son. But we are the people's will. We are here because they wished for a solution. We are here because they desired this. We are their path to power. And we have played our part. No. We have played our part twice over." A ripple of magic. Three magi reveal themselves, on nearby rooftops. They are enhanced, too - powered by Kalia - but far less than the others. They didn't need it as much. They were already on the edge of Bad Decisions. ANDREW MITCHELL, member of the parliament, is the first to launch his attack. With a clap of his hands, spell circles dismantle several nearby houses, turning every last brick, pipe, electronic and wooden plank into a deadly projectile screaming for Rhongomyniad, from every imaginable direction. FELIPE BENNETT, magus, follows up. He reaches out, feeling out the air. The wind sharpens, the ground under Rhongomyniad melts, becoming magma. It's as if, all of a sudden, every mote of oxygen was a buzzsaw onto itself, a hostile territory in which nothing vulnerable to being slashed should remain. THEODORE REESE, magus, is the last to attack. His burly frame slams its foot down. Squirrels, rats, stray cats and dogs, even the birds, become possessed with a terrible red aura. They scurry through the chaos, like living bombs. It's a terrible onslaught of exploding animals! The demonic knight, Kalia's guise, was a distraction. To open Rhongomyniad up. In the wake of the assault, Kalia's form has vanished, but their presence is still felt. The three magi remain, and they'll need to be taken out! 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      The King of Heroes makes his entrance as grand and dramatic as ever.      He simply drops out of the sky in front of Rhongomyniad. His longcoat flutters around him like a cape. The projectiles from Andrew Mitchell are met with a harrowing rain from the Gate of Babylon, weapons of impossible glory striking outwards around the King of Heroes to intercept those little fragments with precision accuracy. A few of them get through, scratching a few cuts into his perfect face. He looks over his shoulder amidst the storm and smiles at Rhongomyniad.      "Now that is an extremely pleasant sight."      "You are exactly as magnificent as I'd hoped, King of Knights. I want you all the more now."      "And what the King wants, the King will have."      He turns his gaze back to the dogfight of swords, spears, and chunks of metal, looking up at the mage with a look of overwhelming boredom.      "This is it? After all those threats from your gallu, this is the best you can do? Three mortal mages?"      "Very well then, I'll play your game."      The King opens his hand. A tablet falls into it. He opens the tablet of stone, gold runes springing up above it like a holographic interface. His fingers wave over it.      "I'll show you how pointless it is to contest the King of Heroes, in magecraft or in mortal combat, mongrel gallu."      "Witness the difference between the Age of the Gods and this degenerate time!"      The tablet glows, and suddenly, above Andrew Mitchell, a wave of wands appears. It's a carpet of magical rods, wands, and items that stretches through the sky.      A moment later, it unleashes lightning, fire, wind, earth, darkness, light - everything Gilgamesh can think of, primordial elements simply pouring down onto the top of the building with all hell.      The King looks over his shoulder at Rhongomyniad as the onslaught begins. "I'm serious, you know."      "I expect you to let me take you to dinner next time."      Leave it to Gilgamesh to flirt in the middle of a battle. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      There are many attacks coming at the King of Knights. Orchid's reaction times are such that she can see those attacks coming. Coming in time to use her dash-boots to slip over, and interpose not only herself but her shield between Rhongomyniad and the wave of animals, taking the hits mostly on the shield before she arcs back down, landing in the street.      Of course, she doesn't have a good angle on the three magi... but she does have a good angle at the building Theodore Reese is standing on. In fact, she has a very good idea of where he is... and how to knock out the roof from below him, with just a few plasma lemons. *pwip* 

:'''{{#var:533|Gawain (533)}} has posed:''' Gawain slashes again. This definitely reminds him of Vortigern - but they soon find out it isn't. It's a spectre with powerful masquerade abilities. Before Gawain can challenge what they have to say, though, even if they seem to believe what they're saying...three magi reveal themselves and attack. Gawain suddenly moves... And explosions rock him backwards, damaging his armor further and burning his face, as he tanks the exploding animals. He proceeds to flick his blade again, turning off the fire, before he launches himself up to the rooftop where Theodore Reese is. The man's empowered. Blunt of the blade might not be enough...but Gawain doesn't want to kill him. So he strikes for the shoulder, trying to wound him and take his arm out of commission if he tries to throw a counter-attack, before kicking forward with a heavy armored foot, moving to kick into Theodore's leg and make it difficult for him to dodge further attacks. "Your reign of terror ends here. I am Sir Gawain...and I will not allow you to threaten my king!" 

:'''{{#var:6880|Lancelot du Lac (6880)}} has posed:'''      "Sorry..."      Lancelot whispers under his breath as the wraith disappears. He's not certain if what he saw was truly a fellow knight, but just in case...      Either way, his job here is done, and he can now attend to his King. Arriving in a state that most would considered sad, Lancelot du Lac arrives by Rhongomyniad's die, using his stupidly tall body to help shield them like a proper knight should.      Again, he's still standing. Even after all the abuse. This broken man just refuses to die.      "I apologize...For arrive so late. Now if you'll excuse me."      As soon as he appears, he leaves once more, his sights set on one Andrew Mitchell.      "Reach the edge of the world and go beyond its limit. O distant King, witness this light!"      As they chants, Arondight responds. The blade becomes brighter and brighter, vibrating violently as a torrent of magical energy aims to escape. Lancelot does not let it escape though, instead bringing swinging the overcharged blade at the member of parliament.      "ARONDIGHT OVERLOAD"      A shimmer of blue light fills the air as he brings the holy sword down on the man, the air now filled sound with aggressive vibrating and a sword that desperately should be breaking, but is unable to. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone is not fast enough as she likes she's able to bring down the mage which is good and she reports on it over the tac net to the Paladins. she's going to get on the move now as something else seems to be happening the big bad masterminds behind this mess has shown up. The mages with their unknown ally show up she's caught in the backlash of the assault but she's not down she's hurt yes but far from out of it, she's proved to be pretty quick. She will start moving to use her agility to get up the side of the building that Andrew Mitchell is on and then use a double jump to get over the edge she'll land and has her pistol in hand as she looks to the mage for a moment. "This ends here you broom rider." Kotone then will charge at them trying to fire several rounds at him but that the distraction she intends to pile on into him and tackle him to the ground then using her eeleware trying to just take the mage down with enough force. "This shit stops NOW AND YOU WILL ANSWER FOR ALL THE PEOPLE YOU DRAGGED INTO THIS!" 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Sarracenia follows Gilgamesh somewhat begrudgingly.      Her mood does not improve when they reach the 'King' of Knights. Aren't Kings supposed to be male? And why does she get to be fawned over while Sarracenia is practically forgotten?      It improves even less when the world is suddenly a world of flying debris, cutting air, and exploding animals. There's nothing even remotely like this in Pipeland! What is with these Heroic Spirits?! Sarracenia pulls out a cute little stuffed figure wearing a black helmet and with a black turtle-like shell on its back, gives it a squeeze, and suddenly it is gone in a puff of smoke and she is wearing a full-sized set with a black body suit underneath. She quickly ducks down, disappearing into the shell much like a turtle would. If anyone is close enough they can hear her frantically yelling into what must be a phone or radio. "I don't care! Get here NOW! And activate the Bonzai Bill launcher!!"      Like a rocket, a wooden airship much like a Spanish galleon comes powering into the area, propelled by propellers on its masts and two large propellers on the back of the ship. It has a golden statue of Sarracenia's likeness on the front, and even as it closes in it is lowering a cannon with a barrel so broad that most people could stand up within the barrel.      But, then the 'King' demands that the people be captured alive. Sarracenia lets out a very frustrated and angry cry. "Fine! Stow the Bonzai Bill! Use the broadside cannons! Fire on all three! And drop some walls!" The wooden ship flies in overhead, helping to shield at least somewhat by dropping several thick wooden walls with a few feet of space between them. It may not help against the very -air- trying to kill them, but it should be pretty effective at stopping flying debris and exploding animals.      Once that is done, the ship starts to rotate in the air, and each time one of the sides of the ship faces the position of one of the magus they are targeted by a dozen or so Bullet Bills. The shark-faced person-sized bullets fly like slow missiles toward the targets and explode on impact like a rocket calvary attack.      If the buildings weren't already damaged, they proooobably are now. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Glowing green eyes narrow, as the Demon Knight reveals its true appearance. That horrid, androgynous, skeletal demon that stands before her, now. A monster that does not belong in the Age of Men. But before she can take action, the true pawns of the demon's manipulation reveal themselves.     Gilgamesh drops in to intercept the projectile masonry hurled her way by ANDREW MITCHELL. He returns the favor with his collection of magical artifacts, but it is his earnest request that the Goddess responds to: "Very well."     THEODORE REESE fields small animals as bombs, which are simultaneously intercepted by Orchid and Gawain. Rhongomyniad lifts her spear overhead one-handed, divine light swirling from tip to haft.     The ground grows unstable, pavement burning away into molten stone as the very air turns into blades, courtesy of FELIPE BENNETT. Lancelot's intercession shoves her out of the area of effect. Rhongomyniad brakes herself with a burst of magic in the opposite direction of her flight, planting her feet firmly on non-melting concrete once again. The Divine Lance is raised once more, filling the streets around her with shimmering golden light. In the commotion, the demon has disappeared-- though there's still that feeling like the presence is still ...here. However, she simply turns her attention on the magi surrounding and attacking her. Even if they're besieged by those who have left to her defense, she must see to this matter.     "You know me as the King of Knights, King Arthur. But there is another name. Another title. Another purpose." The clouds overhead swirl, and then part. A spike of golden light descends.     "I am the Tower that Shines at the End of the World. The King of the Storm. Goddess of Chivalry. Avatar of Justice. My name is Rhongomyniad."     The pillar of light descends not on the three magi, but on the place where the demon Kalia had stood. She is not visible, but the presence is still felt. The goddess decreed that the three magi should be captured alive. But she is having none of this demonic nonsense in her city. And with the various helpers having since lept away to attack the mages directly, this more or less leaves Rhongomyniad in the street with only Gilgamesh and that evil presence to keep her company.     He'll probably be fine. The demon, if caught in the area of impact, much less so. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' The collective defense begins. Blasts of all imaginable elements pepper a rooftop and break through incoming projectiles with ease, Gilgamesh displaying power that, predictably, no modern magus, or at least no modern magus who is actually just a magus, could possibly match. Sarracenia brings to bear the firepower of a ship, too - the magus who tried to make the largest mess, ends up taking the largest mess in response. ANDREW falls off his perch, badly scorched and battered by the assault, hitting the concrete below hard. Still alive, though. Barely. THEODORE is knocked off his perch by Orchid's shots, and lands, as gracefully as possible, on the streets below. Gawain comes up to him. Theodore regrets many of the decisions that led him to this point. With a precise and single blow, Gawain reminds a mortal why it's a bad idea to pick a fight with a Heroic Spirit. Depending on Gawain's intent, it may go as far as Theodore never walking again. With mercy, he might recover. FELIPE would probably be dead if Lancelot did not know exactly how to apply and ration his strength, even in the midst of a technique like overloading his blade. The power granted by Kalia probably helps just a bit, too. He's smashed, hard, crashing through a building. Is he... is the madman getting back up, even with his body broken? Well, no, he's not, because Kotone just knocks him out cold, the proverbial shouldertap needed to make him fall over. All three are alive, for a given definition of alive. 

:'''{{#var:6856|Kalia (6856)}} has posed:''' Golden light fills the streets of London. Kalia is blasted, even hidden. There's no escape from that spear's wretched light. They're forced to reappear. They stand before Rhongomyniad, outfit even more tattered than before. Their missing jaw, their missing arm, their missing lower torso, it's all visible now. They're breathing irregularly, and their voice seems pained - telepathic as it is, given the missing jaw. Kalia looks at the king, then back down at the ground. "The outcome is irrelevant to us, admittedly. While we were here, we found something way more interesting. It was sleeping deep beneath the land. A spark. Something left from a long time ago. It really, really hates you, you know? And it called. We answered. But it couldn't awaken until blood had been shed. It couldn't awaken until the blood of Britain boiled with fury once again. We are done here. We cannot fight your lance. But you are not. It comes." Kalia's form vanishes again. This time, they are really gone. But what's that choking feeling in the air? Why does the sky blot out, and the shadows grow to impossible sizes? Something tears at the fabric of the World. Something steps through from the outside, in the middle of the street, before Rhongomyniad. A tall warlord in impossibly black armor, whose presence dims and eats the light. A man the size of a human, but also the size of Britain. It's almost difficult to look directly at him. In his hand, a massive hammer. A mace. Spiked. Its size can't be made out. It seems to be a normal, albeit large, spiked warhammer. But the more one looks at it, the more it seems to grow, taking up one's entire field of view. Vortigern speaks. "MY CITADEL. COME. THAT LIGHT IS MINE TO DEVOUR." Then, he is gone. Light returns, courtesy of Rhongomyniad's spear and the sky. But it starts raining, because of course it does. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Well of course the weather turns miserable. Despite the best efforts of the King of Knights and Vortigern, this is, still, England.      Orchid sighs, standing up. There's a lot of work to do, to tend to the wounded. Mind you, a lot of the wounded will need to be restrained while she treats them, but no one promised that S&R would be easy. 

:'''{{#var:446|Sarracenia (446)}} has posed:'''      Finally, the onslaught ends...and it starts raining. Although it douses Sarracenia's burning rage for the moment and replaces it with 'of course it is raining', she is still in a bit of a sour mood. She sighs heavily, then looks to Rhongomyniad. "Although I doubt you will need it, The Kingdom of Sundew would be happy to donate rebuilding materials, and I believe we could benefit from some trade agreements. If threats such as these are even uncommon then I suspect the military could stand to be better prepared, and the Sundew Kingdom deals in armor and weapons. I could even provide a few of these cruisers." She gestures up at the airship still floating overhead, its hull now peppered with holes from the flying debris.      "But, for now I should return to my own kingdom. My mood for shopping has been ruined, and I doubt the shops will be open again today anyway." She leaves the capturing and questioning to others. That's soldier work, not princess work. A rope ladder lowers down from the hovering airship, and she steps onto the bottom rung before it starts to raise again. "Farewell for now." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad does not flinch as the light of her lance fills the streets and blasts the demon back into visibility. She takes no pleasure in the sad state that Kalia is in, but merely sweeps her glowing weapon down, aiming it directly at the creature as it speaks. Those glowing green eyes narrow slightly as she processes what it relays.     She flinches, then, not from the figure's appearance before her so much as the effect it has on the World. A reaction that quickly corrects as Goddess stares down Tyrant. Her jaw sets in a tense, unreadable expression.     When the figure disappears, her grip on the Divine Lance tightens. Metal bands reappear, braiding together and wrapping the light under its covering once more. The castle wall behind her rumbles, then lowers back into the street.     Without further hesitation, she steps forward into the rubble and chaos. There are things that a King must attend to after a disaster such as this, and the first of those is the well-being of her people. 
}}

6313/A Goddess Meets a Presiking

2019-01-19T04:57:25Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/01/18 |Location=Metastasis Londinium |Synopsis=Thomas Alva Edison pays a visit to Camelot to discuss important matters with the goddess Rhongo..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/01/18
|Location=Metastasis Londinium
|Synopsis=Thomas Alva Edison pays a visit to Camelot to discuss important matters with the goddess Rhongomyniad.
|Cast of Characters=6660, 6864
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     Edison has come...to Camalot.     Both as a mission of diplomacy, to make sure America and England would remain allies, but to also make personal ties to the new sovergn. These are things Edison always does personally. Never leave to others what one must do themselves.     Of course, there would be another matter that the Lion is also well versed in, giving modern amenities to a new city, one that would claim to be the the best on Earth. As he had heard, it did not even have Wifi...such a bold claim for a city without this!     Reguardless, he would come to the city, his Secret Service would of course make the approprate arrangements, and a few would flank him as he came to meet Rhongomyniad.     Edison himself was tall, barrel chested, and well...had the head of a lion. His outfit basically revealed everything there was to say about his country, as he was currently it's living embodyment of the spirit of America. He extends a hand towards the monarch, "A pleasure to finally meet you in person, King Rhongomyniad." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Camelot is a castle-city, a fortress wall surrounding the city's districts with a second fortification in the center-- the castle Camelot itself. The city itself is lively, with citizens settling in and businesses springing up in available spaces, all leading up to the main keep itself. And it is here that Edison and his entourage are met with the Lion King herself.     She cuts an immediately recognizable figure, clad in plate armor with a furry white mantle around her shoulders which closes around her body, with only a glimpse of the armored breastplate and fold underneath. She also wears her helmet, distinctively lion-themed, with a main of white fur off the back.     Her gaze shifts down to the offered hand, and after the briefest of hesitations her mantle parts and a hand extends to meet it. Her grip is firm.     "PresiKing Edison, thank you for attending in person," her voice is just as even as radio interactions, it's unmistakably the goddess Rhongomyniad within this armored shell. She withdraws her hand and raises it, sweeping from the city to the castle, "Have you found Camelot to your liking, thus far?" 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     "It is splenderous," Edison says with a firm nod. His own grip firm, and he withdraws it a moment later as they speak.     "I notice that it is a castle. While a castle is defencable...fortifications are something even desire din today's world, I fear that it sends a signal. Castles were bastions of defense, where rulers sat and could plan without fear of being assaulted. The world is not the utopia it could be, but it is far safer of a place...especially in England, than it was. A castle also has several disadvantages for growth...unless you purposely desire to keep the population small."     "Also, what are your plans for running electricty, running water, heating and air? Wifi was something already mentioned by you as well. These things are usually considered in the making of a city, they help keep disease at bay far better than most modern medicine, help food keep longer, and keep your citizens comfortable." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "What is Camelot, if not a castle?" Rhongomyniad states plainly as her hand lowers back to her side. Her mantle fluidly closes in once the obstruction is gone. "Though it may take many forms, all are castles. This is the form I chose when I unfolded the Divine Lance."     The helmet's gaze lowers slightly in thought, "The truth of it is that while I created this out of a sense of familiarity, its defensive nature is wholly necessary. With the rise of the dragon tyrant Vortigern of recent, monsters of all ilks who still hold loyalty to him have emerged in the countryside." She nods once. A hand emerges, lifting. The section of road upon which the two Kings and Edison's Secret Servicemen stands upon rumbles, then steadily rises. It only stops when it reaches the battlements of Camelot Castle itself, and she nonchalantly steps off it to walk along the upper walls, "Here. You may see the layout more clearly from greater elevation."     "As for this-- I have already made provisions for electrical power, plumbing, and sewage. These are things I learned of while in the company of Queen Elizabeth, and matters I took special care to prepare for while creating the Holy City. The contractors have been quite busy with the necessary work." 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     Admittedly, that was cool.     Edison steps off, keeping his bearings as they finally reach the top.     "I can rightfully say it is an impressive sight," He says, looking over everything. "I can provide you guidance, if you wish, on the electrical part of this. It is, afterall, what I invented...I dreamed of a world where mankind would not have to fight against the monsters that live out there, both figurtively, and internally. A life of hardship can turn men wicked, always fearful that others would take from them, as they had in the past. Man feared the dark for as long as they existed. The fear of the unknown...rather that they gave into that fear through worship of it, or through cowtailing to it. I hated that man had no other options...and I removed the thing that made people afraid if darkness...the unknown. My inventions revealed the truth for what it was."     "The stories of King Arthur were wrong in some ways, but I would like to think that in this we both had the same vision." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "Mmm," Rhongomyniad ruminates audibly over the speech, turning to look out over the city below. Once the secret servicemen have also stepped off, the palisade that had lifted the party up to this level steadily retracts, returning to what it was previously-- a simple road.     "I saw men who lived in fear of monsters and banditry. I created a code to live by, and founded the party who would inspire this code in others, liberating them from the tyranny of amorality." Her helmet turns slightly towards Edison once more, "You saw men who lived in fear of the darkness, and created a method by which men may conquer that darkness, liberating them from the tyranny of sunset."     After a moment, she reaches up with both hands. The helmet is gently removed and tucked under one arm. Her head shakes briefly to loosen her blonde hair, before faintly glowing green eyes fixate on Edison once more in that impassive stare.     "You would be correct, in many ways. We come from similiar histories. Although I have not yet perished, my history continues to be written." 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     There is a gentle laugh to that, "I suppose there, you are correct. I can not write a new future for my country, though I want it to be so. My land is afraid right now, once more wanting me to guide it through times it's never had to face. The world at large, I imagine, is no different right now. Things thought to be stories, coming to life, while mages in their tower continue to keep the world ignorant, while sticking their own fingers in their ears at the apparent danger."     "I am not a man of legend, or a hero like yourself or even King Gilgamesh is. I was a man, blessed with intelligence who saw a world coming into a new era, and helped guide it. I was proof that man could shape it's own destiny, if it wanted to hard enough."     He watches as the helmet come off. It was a striking beauty, he would admit, and it troubled him how history could forget. "The world is vastly different than in your time. You yourself, admit that your humanity has left you. Though I am thankful you have seen to take consul, when offered. Though it looks as if there are problems in your home as well. There is fear, uncertainty...and someone taking advantage of our people because of these feelings. I would like to not just maintain what we have had after the revolution, but a stronger unity of nations between us. Something we can use to give our people comfort, and draw in others."     "On a less serious note, and a personal one. I am absolutely surprised your men could keep such a secret from the world. It speaks to their loyalty." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "Tenuous," Rhongomyniad corrects, "I am a Divine Spirit whose humanity is tenuous. Fleeting. As if I must examine a tome to remind myself of who I once was." She lifts a hand, resting it over her breastplate with the soft sound of metal touching metal, "This previous life guides and informs my decisions." The hand lowers.     "You are a hero, whether you would define yourself as such or not." Her head tilts forward slightly, "You used your gift to help others. What is that, if not the decision of a hero? Fame and glory was not your goal, but seeing your talents being used to better the lives of others." Her shoulders square as she lifts her head once more, "Do not sell yourself short, PresiKing. Though a knight may be humble, it should not be to the degree of dishonesty."     When the personal matter comes up, she blinks slowly.     "I am not sure I understand. If you refer to my appearance, I was much younger during my rulership as King Arthur." 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     "Am, my mistake. Tenuous. I imagine that has to be concerning..." Edison muses, though she brings a counter point to him. "I can not deny these words either. I suppose there is a fine line between humbleness and self depreciation. I ment in the classical sense, I am not Hercules, no knight of the round, no legend who slayed something...the only thing I tried to slay was Ignorance, and used science to enlighten the world." He looks towards her evenly.     "I...see. I can not even begin to imagine how you appeared younger. Yes, it was in reference to your appearance. Though I am hardly one to talk, ha ha, I did not look like this in life." He says, with some much needed levity into the situation, "Worry not...inequality based on Gender is not what it once was in this age...something I am glad for. Mankind is a far cry from ridding itself from such conciets...but I believe in it someday."     "Reguardless. I came to offer my aid as an Inventor, as well as a Diplomat. The more pressing issue being to not only keep the status of allyship alive, but to deepen our alliance, and help start by being the sheild of our two countries. The UN, as it is now, is faultering." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     'like a fifteen year old boy', some might say. Rhongomyniad does not say it, because she has no real attachment to it. Instead, she states, "You have slain the cruel night."     Her eyes remain transfixed on Edison as he shifts his subject to the United Nations, her expression impassive, though she lets out a thoughtful noise. At last, she speaks up.     "I should like to continue the alliance with America fostered by Queen Elizabeth. Although I am not the leader of this country, as its guardian, I appreciate you approaching me all the same." Her shoulders straighten with the faint rattling of metal armor, "What is the state of this UN which concerns you so?" 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     Edison nods...good she decided to do that. It was an smart move, one that would win her more allies then ememies in the long run, especially if she can prove that her intentions are true...and her strength is what they need. He would need to talk to the Prime Minister then, together with her at a later time.     "If you are not aware, the United Nations was created after World War Two, it was designed to try and be a place where all nations could come together, and keep the peace of the world. While it has not always been an organization that has been the most toothful of groups, it has done a lot more good than ill. The problem is..." He sighs, leaning back.     "It is not a group the world needs right now. I feel that currently, with how things are going, if the world is shattered too hard with what this new group is trying to do...or heaven forbid that Foreigner comes to lay waste to one of the cities where it is currently being held...the world would recoil from this. With the Clocktower using it's influence to keep what is really happening from the truth of other nations...it is only a matter of time before something gives."     "What we need is to drag this into the light, reform the united nations under stronger leadership, and bite this anarchy in the rear before it can even start." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad lifts a hand to rest beneath her chin in a thoughtful posture her eyes flitting downward briefly in consideration. "A league of nations. An allied council. I see. Representatives from each country striving for diplomatic resolutions where possible. I have seen reference to the United Nations and the things this group has accomplished."     After a moment, she lifts her eyes once more, without lifting her face, "You mean to dissolve this council. I cannot help but ascertain some parallels. Though I understand it is likely unintentional-- and not without merit nor reason."     "How, then, shall its dissolution assist in matters such as this Foreigner, or the cult you speak of?" A hand extends, gesturing, "Is your intent to place more focus internally on addressing these matters, or is your intent to replace the United Nations with a new organization for world peace and prosperity?" 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     "A new one," Thomas says, calmly, "Currently the 0rganization is not equipped to handle these things. Worse, as it stands the Mages use their connections to hide the truth from the group, with agents inside. A organization could be reconstructed from the old. Peacefully, even. The idea simply to be United as a world, to treat with the Paladins as an entire group...and not as individual nations with Individual connections to the greater Multiverse. At that point, it would be easier to request aid, share resources, and respond to the greater threats."     "With Gilgamesh already pulling out, the world stage is already reeling from his decision. It would be easier to move in, before anything monumental happened, and pitched it slowly and intergrated before that group had time to move." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "I see," Rhongomyniad nods once as well, "You wish to escape the influence of the Mage Organization and Clock Tower on matters of politics." She nods once more, "Though Clock Tower did aid me rather recently, I do not feel that this group necessitates political power to accomplish its studies in magic."     Her hand lowers to her side at last, eyes remaining firmly fixed on Edison's face, "You realize that this will look every bit like my own attempted dissolution of Parliament. There are those who will oppose it. If there is upheval, the innocent may be harmed. I am wary of a potential repetition of my mistake."     She takes one step forward, then, "Prove to me that this will not happen, and you shall have the support of the Goddess of Justice." 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     "It uses political power to keep people ignorant of the truth of the world, and uses this as a control mechanism. It guides people in a certain way, under systems long left by man because they have proven to not work. They are set in ways beyond old, and will only stagnate...and I will not have this world go down with them."     "I am aware of the possibility. I am aware of the possibility that these words have been safe before...liberty for safety." He says, with a sigh, "I do not wish the power granted to me as Presiking, I use it to do as I must...to protect America, and her interests and allies. Then, when my America feels safe...I can go back to being a dead man, and allow it to continue to live again."     "It isn't living now, I can tell. It is scared, it wants someone to deliver them from the new scary things out there...it is how I was summoned. I do not wish to be a dictator of the United Nations to...but I do want an organization that CAN withstand the multiverse, and the mages who have become corrupt...to stand against the horrors that will come when the earth dies."     "I need not lead it, but make it stronger so when I do leave, I can rest easy." He says, staring at her, not once flinching in his words, "I know the lives that will be lost as a cost of my decisions will be mine to bear. I can not stop them...but more would be lost by doing nothing and waiting in the dark. That...that I refuse. So I will take the responsibility of my words and actions...wherever they lead us. Until there is a bright future, full of the hope I left the world with the first time." 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad inclines her head once more, her expression severe. Although it is no more or less severe than the face she seems to have defaulted to at numerous points during this conversation. She listens intently, however, without making so much as a sound to interrupt Edison's speech.     She waits until he is finished. She waits perhaps too long after he is finished before she speaks again, her voice overflowing with authority.     "A Knight is Sworn to Valor. His Heart Knows Only Virtue. His Blade Defends the Helpless. His Might Upholds the Weak. His Word Speaks Only Truth. His Wrath Undoes the Wicked."     "I sense no deceit," her voice returns to the normal impassive tone, "Your heart is chivalrous. Your intention is pure. Your cause is just. Your dedication is unyeilding." The woman nods once, "When you are prepared to protect men from the follies of men, you shall have the aid of King Arthur."     She looks down, unstrapping her gauntlet and then removing it, "With that decided, there is one final matter that I am unable to ignore any longer." 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     There is a slight breath from Edison, relieved that this turned out right.     "Some things never change, in that reguard, King Arthur." he says, not able to deny the words, but well...it was that belief that allowed things to move to this point. It was true, these were things he wanted to do, what he felt needed to happen...at the end of the day, a world without a need for him, was a world he could strive for.     "Uh..? What would that be?" He asks, not sure how THIS was going to go down. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "You possess the head of a lion," Rhongomyniad states evenly as she tucks her gauntlet under her arm, alongside the helmet she had removed earlier.     "Unrelated to the matters of discussion, and holding no bearing upon them or my expectations into the future, I wish to touch your mane." Upfrontedly, she raises her now-bare hand, fingers spread out in a nonmenacing fashion. She's so very direct about it, one might even think she's eager, though her face remains that impassive, slightly serious stare with those faintly glowing green eyes. 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     Of...all of the things that Edison thought he'd hear today, this was not one of them. It shows that, despite all of his planning...all of his preperations...     He was not ready for today.     With a breath, he keeps that gaze on her, not skipping a beat, because...well...     "Yes, you can touch my mane." He says, trying to not be ackward about this at all. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     None could be perpared for the serious goddess Rhongomyniad to suddenly swing into the behaviors of Artoria Pendragon without warning.     When given Edison's blessing, she reaches up with her ungloved hand until her fingers disappear within that white mane. There's no change to her expression, but a noncommittal 'hmm' does escape after a few moments.     When evidently satisfied, Rhongomyniad lowers her hand, sliding her gauntlet back on and buckling it in place without a word. Fingers flex, and just like that, it's as if a bizarrely awkward, mercifully brief exchange never occurred. 

:'''{{#var:6660|Thomas Alva Edison (6660)}} has posed:'''     Edison, finds the whole prcess embarassing...and it is true, in public he is used to small children asking the same thing, it's mess embarrasing. With a breath, he pushes through the embarassing exchange and...     "Well...with your blessing on the matter we talked about, there are some more details about what I was talking about earlier with reguards to efficient electricity..." he says, there might be a several hour long discussion on this. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     There isn't so much as a clearing of throats to push the awkward further into the past. Rhongomyniad simply turns to the next matter of discussion without hesitation.     The Divine Lance materializes in her grip, and she holds it out. The metal bindings braided around the core unravel into a complex three-dimensional celtic knot, revealing the blazing divine light that forms its interior. With the Lance deployed, she folds her arms over her breastplate.     "Inform me, PresiKing, and your recommendations shall be used to further refine the Holy City's layout." 
}}

Rhongomyniad

2019-01-15T05:54:59Z

Namazu: Picture update

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Rhongomyniad
|Color=#0099FF
|Char_id=6864
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/6CXtf91.png
|FullName=The Tower That Shines at the End of the World
|Gender=Female
|Species=Divine Spirit
|Theme=Fate/Metastasis-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=The Lion King
|Faction=Paladins
|Rank=4-Chevaliers
|Ranktype=Member
|Groups=--
|Quote=Look. Do you see it? Even if this is not the edge of the World, a world like this is beautiful. My lance will protect this brilliance.
|PAge=22
|AAge=Yes
|Aging=No
|Height=171cm
|Weight=57kg?
|Hair=Blonde
|Eyes=Green
|Voice=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QCIHFlfwdw Ayako Kawasumi]]
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03O3faj_Mw4 Knights of Justice]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCiJGl9NOBQ Rhongomyniad]]
|Profile=What happens if King Arthur does not die when she is fated to? The Goddess Rhongomyniad is a divine spirit who was once that human king, ascended through centuries of contact with a divine artifact. Having recently regained the memories from when she was human, she has taken it upon herself to become a living god of justice and chivalry, using her identity as a human king to inform her decisions as a goddess. Though confident in being a king, she does not properly understand human individuals. Her emotions lack a genuine feeling and she has difficulty truly understanding the feelings of mortals. When matters turn to force, she is no slouch, as the former King of Knights. Her weapon of preference is the one from which she is named, Divine Lance Rhongomyniad, an artifact that stabilizes the age of men by sealing away the divine, the demonic, and the phantasmal. Though Rhongomyniad does tend to charge ahead, a selfless paragon to inspire others, this also leaves her recklessly exposed.
|Defining='''The One True King:'''
* Wielder of the Divine Lance Rhongomyniad.
** ''Weapon Mastery - Rhongomyniad:'' Mastery of the Divine Lance and how it is used in battle.
** ''Attack List - Ranged:'' The Divine Lance may also be used to fire beams of light, at varying intensities. The highest output is sometimes called the Light of Judgement.
** ''Attack List - Melee:'' She may choose to use other weapons at a competent level. Swords, spears, lances, and shields, the tools of any knight.

'''Everything The Light Touches:'''
* The Divine Lance Rhongomyniad exists to stabilize the world of man, a weapon against the phantasmal and supernatural.
** ''Bane-Demonic, Bane-Divine, Bane-Mythic Beasts:'' The lance causes additional harm by rejecting the existence of demons, angels, gods and demigods, dragons, chimeras, hydras, sphinx, and similar great mythical beasts.
|Significant='''Long Live The King:'''
* The various physical qualities and talents of Rhongomyniad.
** ''Superhumanity:'' No longer human, she has ascended to something like a god, with physical attributes exceeding human norms.
** ''Vehicle Mastery - Riding:'' Horses like her charger Dun Stallion, but also motorcycles and similar one-person transportation.
** ''Field Shaping:'' The beams from Rhognomyniad may scar the land or destroy structures. She may also produce castle towers and walls from the ground, using the Lance.
|Minor='''Change Is Good:'''
* ''Hammerspace:'' Weapons and armor are stowed within the Divine Lance and can be drawn or changed into at a moment's notice. Also changes of clothes.
|Disadvantages='''Remember Who you Are <Trouble>'''
* Rhongomyniad no longer thinks as a human does. Her behaviors are largely guided by the reference manual that was her former life, through the alien perspective of a god. Outside the practiced role of 'Being A King', she lacks social graces and has a distinct difficulty with appearing 'Genuine' even when she's trying to be. She also refuses outside assistance, in a firm belief that a King should stand alone as an example to others. This, combined with relying on the guidebook of her former life, can further lead to dangerously selfless acts that are remarkably poorly thought out.
}}

6270/Divinity of Camelot

2018-12-27T13:52:58Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/26 |Location=Llanfallin, England (Metastasis) |Synopsis=Gilgamesh meets Rhongomyniad face to face. |Cast of Characters=6864, 1099 |pretty=y..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/26
|Location=Llanfallin, England (Metastasis)
|Synopsis=Gilgamesh meets Rhongomyniad face to face.
|Cast of Characters=6864, 1099
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     In the green hills of Wales, north of Llanfyllin, the lands were previously open farmland and meadows. Previously. For now, standing above the hills are the shining whitewashed walls of a castle-city, with a great recessed gate. The road has been diverted to lead directly to it, with farms being arranged around it now rather than being crushed beneath its footprint. Though the great gate is closed, various buildings peek over the walls, including the castle at its center with its many great towers.     Before those gates stands a knight in shining silver and blue armor, a great white fur-lined cape billowing behind her, her head and face concealed by a helmet in the shape of a roaring lion. Light gleams from the armor's curves and angles, caught from the display immediately in front of her.     That would be a spire of divine light, surrounded by steel ribbons that form an intricate design when viewed from any angle. The Goddess Rhongomyniad's right hand remains extended towards this pillar of light, though she seems to expend no effort in so doing.     Occasionally the ground rumbles and shakes, as something within the walls shifts. The Holy City Camelot is fully unfolded-- she seems to be optimizing the layout of spires and structures and roads within. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      Gilgamesh has not been to these lands in a very long time. In his day, they were Hyperborea, distant northlands, mythical to all who were not him. In his day the land was filled with fae and dragons and Divine Beasts, saturated in power and treasure, and he came to kill them and take those things for his own. It was green and rolling hills then and it is green and rolling hills now, but in that day there were no grand cities. There were only forests, with trees that kissed the sky through which beasts that no longer exist soared. There were only flowers, fields which now only exists in the dreams of distant lands. The music was the pipes of phantom tricksters dancing on the wind, the sound of the waves' steady drumbeat against the cliffs.      This is something altogether different. And yet it feels /right/. It feels *familiar*. It feels like wearing an old suit that he hasn't had occasion to put on in ages. The sprawling spire of divine light is reminiscent of a long-vanished past. It brings memories to mind of childhood, memories Gilgamesh immediately pushes away as he walks forward. He is dressed in his own glory, his own brilliant light. He is dressed in the golden armor bottoms, the red sash whirling behind him. He wears no shirt to obscure his royal divinity, to hide the red tattoos that dance with power across his flawless chest. His red eyes glow with the power invested in him at the moment of his creation. He has not been this cautious since Enkidu's arrival.      His fingers twitch slightly. It is not unbidden. Nothing about his body is unbidden. He is aware of every cell. He is aware of *everything* he does. It's simply...      ...a human reflex.      The King says nothing. He does not interrupt. He watches, with quiet interest. He is not watching the wall shifting, the spire changing, the roads shifting.      He is watching the goddess. The world around him is meaningless. He, too, has tools to construct domains if he pleases; that's not a wonder worth admiring. Right now, his sole interest is watching the architect. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     A rooftop slides sidelong, others moving obligingly out of its way, then back into position once it has passed. The rumbling stops, and things go silent save the low hum from the pillar of light before the goddess. She shifts slightly, as if looking beyond the walls that surround her, then the other side.     The ribbons of steel shift, then tighten, braiding themselves around that pillar of light from the tip to the base in an intricate knot that conceals all of the light within. Her extended hand collects what has become a lance. Hefting the artifact, she turns to face Gilgamesh straight on, lance pointed to the sky.     "King of Heroes," Rhongomyniad's voice is unmistakable. Her free hand lifts, armor clicking faintly with each motion, "The Divine Lance has completed unfolding. Holy City Camelot stands, waiting to be populated by pure souls. Though I do not suspect you have come to make a vacation home within these walls."     That hand lowers to her side, and she simply states, "Welcome to Londinium." 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      The lance solidifies itself. Gilgamesh looks at it, and for an instant there is the glitter of his overwhelming greed in his eyes. He cannot help himself. It is something that he Is, an instinct as fundamental to his being as breathing is for humans. Collecting treasure is an essential. He can no more choose not to do it than he can choose to stop his heart.      But that isn't a treasure. It's something like him. It's like him more than like Ea, something wedged into a spot where nothing should be but something *must* be. That's enough to break his desire.      After another breath, his smile flips on. It's radiant. Perfect. Beautiful. Unquestionably the stuff of divinity. He presses his hand against his chest in a show of...acknowledgement, though not subordination. He is the King. He did not come to submit to a god.      He's never been good at that.      "No, though if you were to invite me to spend a night with you inside its walls, I would be loath to pass up the opportunity," he says cheerfully.      "As I said, I brought you a gift. It is my duty as King of Holidays for this month. Moreover, it is something all kings should do when meeting others they acknowledge. Surely even in your era that was so."      He snaps his fingers. The Gate of Babylon ripples, and a very confused lion, dressed in an adorable approximation of knight's armor, stumbles out and looks around. Gilgamesh gestures at it, then at her. His eyes are locked on hers. "It isn't tamed, but I don't imagine that will be a problem for you, King of Knights."      "I hope you enjoy it."      He chose his words carefully. He places emphasis on enjoy - on the *idea* of enjoyment. He's looking for the place where the god meets the woman. Where the program meets the body. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     For as familiar as the lance itself feels-- the exact same sensation eminates from Rhogomyniad herself, as if she and the weapon are one and the same entity.     The King of Heroes' smile is met with the unmoving faceplate of Rhongomyniad's helmet and her even voice: "If that is your wish. I shall arrange quarters to your liking. Quarters fit for the King of Kings is all I may offer at this time." Clearly she missed the actual meaning of the comment. But she is familiar with the tradition, at least.     Her gaze shifts when the beknighted lion drops out of the Gate, and she remains still for a long time as the beast recovers from its own adventure. After a long hesitation, she lifts the weapon she holds, and with a noise it collapses in on itself. The physical body stowed away within the Lance's true form, wherever that may be, in a wink of white light. Her hands free, she reaches up and deftly removes the helmet-- Blonde hair, gleaming green eyes.     And then, against the archetype of the stoic Goddess Rhongomyniad, The Tower That Shines At The End Of The World, the woman crouches down until she is eye-level with the lion and simply stares at it. As if automatic, a wholly human gesture occurs when she extends her free hand, beckoning the animal towards herself. After the first motion or two, she accentuates it with a click of her tongue. 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      The King laughs at her statement. It's too funny not to. It's a cheerful, musical, booming laugh that catches off the walls and rings through the streets. "I think you misunderstood. But I might take you up on that nonetheless, if only for the novelty of staying in your quarters, even if you happen to be absent them." He's clearly having fun at this point, although whether she can even identify *fun* is impossible to say.      He steps back, though, to watch with fascinated red eyes as Rhongomyniad kneels and clicks her tongue. The lion, still disoriented from being tossed into the situation it's found itself, moves over to her like a lost kitten. It lays its head down in front of her, as if unwilling to challenge her - perhaps because whatever Gilgamesh had to do to get it *in* that costume taught it better than to challenge people like him. Although it *is* uninjured. That's easy to ascertain. Perhaps it's simply...bewildered.      Still, it lays its head at her feet, like a knight bowing to its king. Gilgamesh does not break the moment until he asks a crucial question, choosing the words precisely.      "Is it to your liking?" 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad remains crouched as the lion reacts to her noises and gesturing. When it lays down, she pauses like someone deciding between dialogue options on the worst tree menu. She then reaches down, resting her hand on the lion's head. There is no sensation through her gauntlet, but the action still pulls the smallest smile to her normally impassive face.     After a few moments of this silent tenderness, Rhongomyniad slowly rises to her feet. The helmet at some point has disappeared through this motion with a similar sound to the Lance's departure, so that she can draw the sword at her hip. While ornamental in appearance, it is mundane. With the lion 'kneeling' before her, the goddess taps the blade upon its shoulders, one and then the other, before her weapon is returned to its scabbard.     Only then does the goddess turn to the King of Heroes, "Yes. This knightly lion pleases me." Her stance shifts, eyes returning to the animal, "You say it is un-tamed. I will need to be firm. Beast taming is not within my purview, so we shall learn from one another."     After a moment, her eyes return to Gilgamesh, "However-- Just what is so amusing? I do not understand your sense of humor." 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      Gilgamesh's smile widens as she says that it pleases her.      That is something he is fairly certain a goddess would not do. It is a glimpse of humanity. It is something outside her purview. It is...something. He'll ruminate on it later, on how best to capitalize on it, on how best to explore it. When she says that she's got to learn how to tame it, he simply nods. When she asks him why he's laughing, his smile becomes his usual wry smirk. "No. Most people don't." Most *people*.      He gestures, and produces for himself a golden throne. Another motion produces one for her. The comfortable throne rumbles as he snaps his fingers, kicking on its massage functions; ancient power from the age of the Gods. He leans back in it, watching her. "By what metric is a soul pure, King of Knights?" 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     The goddess tilts her head slightly in thought. She eventually voices that thought, "What a curious response."     When a throne is produced, she shifts to examine it. When its arrival doesn't particularly startle the lion-- Sir Leon, yes, that will suffice-- she turns in a flare of her cape and seats herself upon it. The motion is so practiced that she sinks back with her hands on the armrests without the slightest adjustment for comfort.     "Purity... is a state that few humans in this era possess. But rarity does not mean extinction," Rhongomyniad's posture shifts, which places her in a more thoughtful position that is not at all an excuse to dangle one hand just enough to stroke Sir Leon's mane with her fingertips, "I am the Tower that Shines at the End of the World, Rhongomyniad. This is, however, not much of a role for a divinity such as me, who was once a human king." Her other hand shifts, resting the knuckles of her gauntlet gently against her cheek, "Since regaining what I have lost, these memories, I have decided to align my divinity to Justice. In turn, the ideals of chivalry become my laws."     "Purity in the heart of humans, to me, is a heart that aligns to those chivalrous ideals. Or a heart that is capable of embracing them." Her dangling fingers brush through that mane, her eyes wandering down, "I understand that I am a god of chivalry. No human will be my equal in this pursuit. However, matching me is not the point." 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      Gilgamesh says nothing. Not at all. He simply watches her - from the interaction with the newly-dubbed Sir Leon to the way she sits to the words she says. His eyes are fixated on her. The whole world could cease to be around him and he might not even notice. The King's fingers don't move, simply propping up his head to watch her.      "And what will you do with them, once they live here? And what will you do with the ones who are not pure?"      Gilgamesh purses his lips as he asks, his red eyes still fixated on her own. 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad responds this time without hesitation, "The Holy City Camelot exists in the same fashion that I exist. Its purpose, too, is the same. As I am a paragon to inspire humans to better themselves-- so too shall Camelot be a paragon to inspire those who do not live here."     Her hand shifts from stroking Sir Leon to splay her fingers in a gesture, "'The Holy City is such a nice place.' 'I want to live in the Holy City.' 'I must be a better person to earn the right.' 'I should look to King Arthur's example for guidance.'"     Her fingers curl gradually through her examples, though she doesn't quite form a fist from it, "Even those who fall short will better themselves in the attempt, and those who obtain their goal further inspire others who know them, their spouses, their children, their neighbors. It is by no means a swift process, but..."     Rhongomyniad lowers her hand once more, returning to the absent-minded stroking of Sir Leon's mane, "...I can afford to play the long game, this time." 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      "And so, eventually, the Holy City will be the only thing that still exists, as every soul that achieves that state will be welcome, and every soul that doesn't will die outside its gates."      Gilgamesh shrugs. There's no judgment in his voice, no...call of /this is wrong/ or /you should not do this/. It's not that surprising; he's said publically how little the lives of humans mean to him. Denmark's recent political history is all Rhongomyniad would need to glance at to learn of how Gilgamesh treated his subjects - a benevolent totalitarian, and before Enkidu arrived, simply a totalitarian. A whip to drive them onwards. A scourging punishment to push them to excel. The King is not kind.      The King knows that a King cannot really afford much kindness.      "And is that your dream? Or yours?"      The question seems ambiguous.      His eyes flick from the woman to the tower as he asks. "Did you have such dreams when you were a human? Do you remember those ambitions?" 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     "You misunderstand," Rhongomyniad states in an even tone. Her posture shifts once more, her elbows resting on the throne's arms, fingertips touching together, "The Holy City's size is finite. It will only hold so many comfortably. However, I have no intention of limiting the numbers of pure humans in such a way."     Her head inclines slightly, "As the population grows. As this goodness spreads. Other cities will emulate Camelot's brilliance. Until all of Londinium serves the world in the way that Camelot served Londinium; In the way that I serve the citizenry. As an example as close to perfection as humanly possible. Something to aspire to. Something to inspire. For betterment."     Her head inclines, "As King Arthur, I wished to create a nation that would know only peace, in an era of turmoil. I feel this goal is unchanged, though the scope certainly has. The World is a much larger place than Londinium of old."     After a quiet moment, she nods once, leaning back and placing her hands on the armrests once more, "As King Arthur, I wish to guide humanity to a better place. As Rhongomyniad, I wish to heal an ailing world, for even before I took the mantle as a goddess of justice, my purpose was to stabilize the Age of Man. This, too, is my intention." 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      Gilgamesh's eyes flicker. "Do I?"      "At the point at which all other cities follow your example, are you not governing all of them? Are you not the sole axis upon which the world turns? Do not all cities, then, become part of yours, even if you do not acknowledge them as such? If all cities are alike, drawn to the beacon of your light, then what is left but Londinium?"      Again, there's no judgement. Gilgamesh simply waves his hand in the air. "The problem is that you are not human. You are beyond humanly possible. I can taste it in the air, goddess Rhongomyniad, Tower at the End of the World. I am the Wedge of Heaven, the King of Heroes. I was made for this purpose. Never was I part of mankind. You have taken up this purpose. In doing so you passed beyond humanity."      "That isn't a problem." Gilgamesh leans forward, his eyes bright. "In fact, it may serve you better. An example that cannot be reached, that cannot be attained, is a far better example than one that can. If people can reach the plateau you have established, they will not climb any higher."      "On the other hand," Gilgamesh says, leaning back, his cheek slumping against his hand, "I told them long ago what I will tell you now: gods cannot govern humans. It simply doesn't work. Gods do not see humans. Gods merely see components in their designs, lines carved on the ground meant to interlock in the way intended by their artists. That you can still acknowledge them as existing is proof that you have not yet passed *entirely* from being King Arthur. That you can answer the questions I am putting to you - what pleases you, what *you* want with distinction from what *you* want - is proof of that, too."      "And," Gilgamesh produces a glass of his golden, shimmering liquid, swirling it, "There is the matter of the nature of your existence. You are neither god nor human. But you were not designed that way. You are a human body containing a Divine Spirit, aren't you?" 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     Rhongomyniad listens with what is assuredly rapt attention, though the look on her face is far more neutral. Around halfway through, at 'on the other hand', she tilts her head down, touching thumb and forefinger to her chin in thought, "What you describe is true. Prior to recovering my memory as a human, this is precisely aligned to what I had done up until then." After a pause, she looks up again, "...It was not particularly chivalrous."     Her posture shifts once more, that hand shifting more to rest alongside one cheek. The other dips low once more, teasing fingertips through Sir Leon's mane.     "You are correct," is her response to that final question, "I was once a human king. The form you see before you is the result of the Divine Lance." Her eyes close briefly, "Though in the memories I recovered of that former life, my ideals were much the same." Eyes opening, she adds, "Though my perspective has clearly shifted since then." 

:'''{{#var:1099|Gilgamesh (1099)}} has posed:'''      Gilgamesh laughs again. It's not the same laugh. It's not the /sense of humor/ laugh or the /finding something funny/ laugh, it's the /I knew it/ sort of laugh. His fingers brush across his chin as he takes a sip of his drink and stands up, gesturing with his free hand. His own chair disappears into a ripple of golden light. "Of course not. A god cannot dominate humans. A god has no context. No ability to understand. No capacity to grasp reason. A god does what a god must. They cannot be anything but what they are."      "And humans, when they rule themselves, are fallible. They seek exemptions to their own rules. They seek escape. They fall prey to temptations that gods cannot fall to."      Gilgamesh turns away from her, holding out his hands. "Naturally, then, we are the answer, aren't we? Synthesis. Neither divine nor human. Standing apart from both groups, able to see humans in the individual but touch the divine perfection necessary. Naturally we are the answer that has been created by the gods. What else could it be?"      "But."      Gilgamesh lowers his hands. He's still not looking at her. "There's something wrong with that, Goddess Rhongomyniad. Something wrong with that line of thought."      He looks over his shoulder, meeting her eyes. His eyes are a bright, shining red, illuminated by some inner fire. "When you've discovered the flaw in that divine logic, you'll be a treasure worth having for my own, and on that day I'll claim you myself, and if Archer or anyone else tries to get in my way, I'll destroy them without pause."      "Until then..."      He laughs again, his fingers running through perfect hair. "Until then, Goddess Rhongomyniad, I suppose we're simply coworkers and fellow rulers. Let's endeavor to maintain good relationships between our kingdoms as we watch the woefully wretched people of modernity scramble to understand what's happening to their world, shall we?" 

:'''{{#var:6864|Rhongomyniad (6864)}} has posed:'''     The laughter pulls a short 'hm' from Rhongomyniad, her head tilting forward slightly. Green eyes glimmer like jewels under the shadow cast by her bangs as she considers the implication of this new, more arrogant sound as compared to the earlier. Perhaps in response to his own action, the goddess likewise leans forward and rises to her feet. Her cloak immediately swishes in around her shoulders, obscuring her armored body completely behind white fluff.     "I was not crafted by the gods," she corrects, her tone even, "Though I imagine that is not the flaw you refer to, King Gilgamesh." Eyes closing briefly, she nods once in acknowledgement, "Therefore, I will ruminate on the puzzle you have presented me with. No doubt discovering the answer will be helpful to me." One eye closes, "It is, I believe, advice from the First of All Kings. I would be a fool to ignore it."     Her gaze shifts to the lion at her side, perhaps simply cowed by the divine presence of these two legendary figures, before she returns her gaze to Gilgamesh directly, "I look forward to our continued cooperation. I can feel that we share different perspectives. Our goals appear to be the same."     Her cape flurries suddenly as the Divine Lance reappears in her hand, settling off-centered due to the weapon's presence, "I must prepare for the Holy Selection. You are free to review the Holy Capital to your heart's content." As the bands begin to unravel, bathing the two in its light, she nods once, "I understand many cities owe their layouts to ancient Uruk, after all." 
}}

Rhongomyniad

2018-12-25T22:06:53Z

Namazu:

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Rhongomyniad
|Color=#0099FF
|Char_id=6864
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/R5LhxAo.png
|FullName=The Tower That Shines at the End of the World
|Gender=Female
|Species=Divine Spirit
|Theme=Fate/Metastasis-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=The Lion King
|Faction=Paladins
|Rank=4-Chevaliers
|Ranktype=Member
|Groups=--
|Quote=Look. Do you see it? Even if this is not the edge of the World, a world like this is beautiful. My lance will protect this brilliance.
|PAge=22
|AAge=Yes
|Aging=No
|Height=171cm
|Weight=57kg?
|Hair=Blonde
|Eyes=Green
|Voice=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QCIHFlfwdw Ayako Kawasumi]]
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03O3faj_Mw4 Knights of Justice]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCiJGl9NOBQ Rhongomyniad]]
|Profile=What happens if King Arthur does not die when she is fated to? The Goddess Rhongomyniad is a divine spirit who was once that human king, ascended through centuries of contact with a divine artifact. Having recently regained the memories from when she was human, she has taken it upon herself to become a living god of justice and chivalry, using her identity as a human king to inform her decisions as a goddess. Though confident in being a king, she does not properly understand human individuals. Her emotions lack a genuine feeling and she has difficulty truly understanding the feelings of mortals. When matters turn to force, she is no slouch, as the former King of Knights. Her weapon of preference is the one from which she is named, Divine Lance Rhongomyniad, an artifact that stabilizes the age of men by sealing away the divine, the demonic, and the phantasmal. Though Rhongomyniad does tend to charge ahead, a selfless paragon to inspire others, this also leaves her recklessly exposed.
|Defining='''The One True King:'''
* Wielder of the Divine Lance Rhongomyniad.
** ''Weapon Mastery - Rhongomyniad:'' Mastery of the Divine Lance and how it is used in battle.
** ''Attack List - Ranged:'' The Divine Lance may also be used to fire beams of light, at varying intensities. The highest output is sometimes called the Light of Judgement.
** ''Attack List - Melee:'' She may choose to use other weapons at a competent level. Swords, spears, lances, and shields, the tools of any knight.

'''Everything The Light Touches:'''
* The Divine Lance Rhongomyniad exists to stabilize the world of man, a weapon against the phantasmal and supernatural.
** ''Bane-Demonic, Bane-Divine, Bane-Mythic Beasts:'' The lance causes additional harm by rejecting the existence of demons, angels, gods and demigods, dragons, chimeras, hydras, sphinx, and similar great mythical beasts.
|Significant='''Long Live The King:'''
* The various physical qualities and talents of Rhongomyniad.
** ''Superhumanity:'' No longer human, she has ascended to something like a god, with physical attributes exceeding human norms.
** ''Vehicle Mastery - Riding:'' Horses like her charger Dun Stallion, but also motorcycles and similar one-person transportation.
** ''Field Shaping:'' The beams from Rhognomyniad may scar the land or destroy structures. She may also produce castle towers and walls from the ground, using the Lance.
|Minor='''Change Is Good:'''
* ''Hammerspace:'' Weapons and armor are stowed within the Divine Lance and can be drawn or changed into at a moment's notice. Also changes of clothes.
|Disadvantages='''Remember Who you Are <Trouble>'''
* Rhongomyniad no longer thinks as a human does. Her behaviors are largely guided by the reference manual that was her former life, through the alien perspective of a god. Outside the practiced role of 'Being A King', she lacks social graces and has a distinct difficulty with appearing 'Genuine' even when she's trying to be. She also refuses outside assistance, in a firm belief that a King should stand alone as an example to others. This, combined with relying on the guidebook of her former life, can further lead to dangerously selfless acts that are remarkably poorly thought out.
}}

Rhongomyniad

2018-12-25T22:05:26Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{CharacterRedux |NameOnMUSH=Rhongomyniad |Color=#0099FF |Char_id=6864 |Img=https://i.imgur.com/R5LhxAo.png |FullName=The Tower That Shines at the End of the World |Gender=Fem..."

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Rhongomyniad
|Color=#0099FF
|Char_id=6864
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/R5LhxAo.png
|FullName=The Tower That Shines at the End of the World
|Gender=Female
|Species=Divine Spirit
|Theme=Fate/Metastasis-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=The Lion King
|Faction=Paladins
|Rank=4-Chevaliers
|Ranktype=Member
|Groups=--
|Quote=Look. Do you see it? Even if this is not the edge of the World, a world like this is beautiful. My lance will protect this brilliance.
|PAge=22
|AAge=Yes
|Aging=No
|Height=171cm
|Weight=57kg?
|Hair=Blonde
|Eyes=Green
|Voice=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QCIHFlfwdw"Ayako Kawasumi]]
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03O3faj_Mw4|Knights of Justice]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCiJGl9NOBQ|Rhongomyniad]]
|Profile=What happens if King Arthur does not die when she is fated to? The Goddess Rhongomyniad is a divine spirit who was once that human king, ascended through centuries of contact with a divine artifact. Having recently regained the memories from when she was human, she has taken it upon herself to become a living god of justice and chivalry, using her identity as a human king to inform her decisions as a goddess. Though confident in being a king, she does not properly understand human individuals. Her emotions lack a genuine feeling and she has difficulty truly understanding the feelings of mortals. When matters turn to force, she is no slouch, as the former King of Knights. Her weapon of preference is the one from which she is named, Divine Lance Rhongomyniad, an artifact that stabilizes the age of men by sealing away the divine, the demonic, and the phantasmal. Though Rhongomyniad does tend to charge ahead, a selfless paragon to inspire others, this also leaves her recklessly exposed.
|Defining='''The One True King:'''
* Wielder of the Divine Lance Rhongomyniad.
** ''Weapon Mastery - Rhongomyniad:'' Mastery of the Divine Lance and how it is used in battle.
** ''Attack List - Ranged:'' The Divine Lance may also be used to fire beams of light, at varying intensities. The highest output is sometimes called the Light of Judgement.
** ''Attack List - Melee:'' She may choose to use other weapons at a competent level. Swords, spears, lances, and shields, the tools of any knight.

'''Everything The Light Touches:'''
* The Divine Lance Rhongomyniad exists to stabilize the world of man, a weapon against the phantasmal and supernatural.
** ''Bane-Demonic, Bane-Divine, Bane-Mythic Beasts:'' The lance causes additional harm by rejecting the existence of demons, angels, gods and demigods, dragons, chimeras, hydras, sphinx, and similar great mythical beasts.
|Significant='''Long Live The King:'''
* The various physical qualities and talents of Rhongomyniad.
** ''Superhumanity:'' No longer human, she has ascended to something like a god, with physical attributes exceeding human norms.
** ''Vehicle Mastery - Riding:'' Horses like her charger Dun Stallion, but also motorcycles and similar one-person transportation.
** ''Field Shaping:'' The beams from Rhognomyniad may scar the land or destroy structures. She may also produce castle towers and walls from the ground, using the Lance.
|Minor='''Change Is Good:'''
* ''Hammerspace:'' Weapons and armor are stowed within the Divine Lance and can be drawn or changed into at a moment's notice. Also changes of clothes.
|Disadvantages='''Remember Who you Are <Trouble>'''
* Rhongomyniad no longer thinks as a human does. Her behaviors are largely guided by the reference manual that was her former life, through the alien perspective of a god. Outside the practiced role of 'Being A King', she lacks social graces and has a distinct difficulty with appearing 'Genuine' even when she's trying to be. She also refuses outside assistance, in a firm belief that a King should stand alone as an example to others. This, combined with relying on the guidebook of her former life, can further lead to dangerously selfless acts that are remarkably poorly thought out.
}}

6161/A Pacific War

2018-12-16T07:29:38Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/15 |Location=Great Ocean |Synopsis=Orchid's tracking devices have located Midway. Converge, and teach that Princess the error of her ways!..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/15
|Location=Great Ocean
|Synopsis=Orchid's tracking devices have located Midway. Converge, and teach that Princess the error of her ways!
|Cast of Characters=1122, 685, 391, 863, 1100, 6384, 6730, 7, 6381
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     During the previous battle, when provoked, the Abyssal princess Midway launched an air strike while others fended off the crazed Raider Demon. And during this airstrike, a number of Abyssal fighters were tagged with tracking devices courtesy of Orchid's aerial combat drones.     This has paid off. For the first time since initially tagging, the signal has surfaced. Far from any shore, in the middle of the sea. The perfect time to exact revenge on the Princess of Progress for what she has done.     The skies are cloudy, a dull gray that threatens rain but has not gone through with it yet. This colors the sea an unpleasant gray, with waves cresting briefly at their peaks with white foam.     And in the middle of it, a pale figure in a white dress, skating lazily across the ocean's surface. A handful of Abyssal destroyers-- fishlike black-hulled beasts-- leap out of the water at random intervals around her like dolphins riding the bow wake of a cruise liner. The tracker location is unmistakable-- This must be Midway herself, in the middle of this formation of escorts. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Yamashiro coasts along, eyes closed as she looks through the 'eyes' of her scout plane. The little craft banks over, redirecting towards the coordinates provided by Orchid. The scout dips a bit lower, under the cloud layer and zooms in on the flotilla. "Found you. Confirming, one Princess-class with multiple escorts." She opens her eyes, sending th recall signal to her scout while leaning over to adjust course. "We don't have the Admiral with us this time, but I believe we can put an end to this threat before it begins." says the battleship, clenching a fist closed as her red eyes lock onto the far-distant figure over the horizon.     Shigure and the others are also in formation with the battleship, providing escort and screening for their heavy hitter. "There's like, so many targets to choose from~." chirps the blonde Yuudachi, a malicious grin on her lips. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' While she wasn't present at the original battle, partially due to performing Naval training exercises, Reina Kinney is nonetheless intent on assisting in the 'act of revenge' (as she's calling it) today. The Neo Osprey has been fully stocked and loaded with weapons and is fully fueled up, ready for battle. Numerous GUARDIANS recruits are manning the decks and the systems, while Reina herself sits in her commanding officer's chair. It may be comfortable looking, but that's only for the purpose of convenience of having to sit for long periods of time. In reality, there's a stern and somewhat impatient look on the red-head's face as she clenches a gloved fist. "All systems are online, ma'am," The recruit who's acting as First Officer says to Reina, who looks up a little and nods before looking forwards again. "We've got a job to do," Reina says loud enough for everyone to hear, "And we're gonna get it done right!" "Aye-aye ma'am!" The rest of the crew responds in unison as the Neo Osprey begins cruising forward at a steady speed thanks to coordinates received via radio communication. For a moment there is nothing until one of the recruits calls out, "Weather report indicates clouds with a possibility of rain." There is a slight hint of uneasiness in his voice. "Then we'll just have to deal with it!" Reina calls out. "We've got far worse to worry about than a little rain! Besides, we're all inside, so it's not like you're gonna get wet!" Just then there's a beeping on the radar. "We've got a confirmed sighting at twelve o'clock!" With that, the red-head stands up and calls out to the navigational operative, "Full speed ahead!" 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''     It has been a fair while since Haguro's last actual mission alongside the fleet from Hikari seaport. She's had plenty of training on the battlefield with solid groundd, but coming back to the sea still feels... Familiar. Comforting? Not so much, but the familiarity adds a certain level of confidence to her movements as she skates along the water's surface.      <<"Haguro here. Hikari Fleet, I'm on my way.">> As she reports in, her turrets whirr lightly as she adjusts her armaments. She's got all of her guns in working order, her shells are tuned for optimal explosions, and there's already intel on where the target is. She takes aim, but she doesn't fire yet. Not everyone is in position yet, and there's still the chance of...      Something. She's not sure what, exactly, but there's that nagging feeling that firing early wouldn't be the best course of action. Not until the rest of the crew is around, at the very least. <<"Do we know why she's here? Does she know we're here?">> 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Bouncing alongside Shigure and the others, Leyanne pilots Leeroy from the flying bridge on top of Leeroy's wheelhouse. She settles her flak jacket in place. "All weapons, report in!" The various stations bristling the PT boat report in; four torpedies, three pairs of 20mm cannons, two pairs of 50-cals, two exocets, and a bofors gun. A lot of firepower on such a small (and light) boat. As the others accellerate to full speed, Leyanne eases the throttles forward to keep pace, Leeroy's (slightly) armoured prow lifts from the water. "FMS Leeroy Jenkins, we await the go order." Leyanne reports calmly, her voice betraying just the barest hint of excitement, her hands resting on the throttles as she gets ready to bash her knuckles against the firewall. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Once again Orchid is helping the Hikari Defense Alliance. And once again she is doing so with her tracking devices. She's hitched a ride on Leyanne's Leeroy, and is sitting at a signals station, listening to her tracking beacons in the distance.      <<"Good tone, good signal,">> she reports. <<"Not yet, and I wouldn't rule it out,">> she replies to Haguro's question. <<"This could be a trap, but we've got good numbers to turn a trap around.">>      She's been able to rebuild her drones since the last time she crossed paths with the Abyssal fleet, and they are out in force; a shoal of sonar-equipped fish-bots, coordinated and relayed by a network of miniature V-22 aircraft. Orchid knows that the Abyssals like to travel underwater, so is keeping an eye under the sea. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen got warning about the Princess being out.     Of course, this did not sit right with him. Sure, Orchid tracked her...but to him The Princess seemed like someone who was meticulious...and such things would have been found. Which means...either she knows she is being tracked...or she is COUNTING on that she is being tracked. It would be the smart thing to just sit back and do nothing, waiting for a fleet he did not much care for to bait the trap she was setting.     However in the air the Android would appear, flying to the set up and deciding to get involved. Maybe it was a trap, but it wouldn't sit right with him to let others get hurt, just because he was sour at someone. More than that, it would be basically make him a hypocrite. Of course, in the end...he did have the desire to see this 'Princess' pay for what they did. Seventeen had some shit to work out.     "Aren't you being a little too casual?" he asks Midway, arms crossed as he starts to lower. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' In the back of Kotone's mind she had to wonder was this a setup? There was no way to know, and even if it was they'd have to spring it, right? So she was fairly heavily armoured and armed today, clad in heavy carapace body armour, and carrying a rail rifle meant for something far larger than her, yet she had no trouble carrying it. She would be acting as additional fire support for Leyanne and thus the Leroy and hopefully, she could even give some E-warfare support if it ends up being needed in this fight, given Midway's constant meddling with her minions? It was very likely that they could be getting upgrades for more modern hardware and she didn't want to discount such. 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     The clouds some distance away from the center of the forming battlefield part as... Something comes down from above, a barely visible shimmer in the air. It doesn't stay for long though, just enough time to deploy three objects before rising up again, once more displacing the clouds on its way.     The three deployed objects are quickly closing in on the dark Princess and those arraying to engage her. One skims along the surface of the water, while the other two are flying along in the air above. Soon they are close enough to make out their details. The two in the air look like fighter craft. Wings, large engines, cockpit. Yeah, they qualify. The one on the surface is more bike-shaped, though more heavily armoured and forgoing wheels in favour of hovering along, two large rockets on the rear propelling it forward. It's rider lowers her visor over her eyes and zooms ahead to focus in on Midway... And raises an eyebrow. Man these types get weird.     Nova radios to the allied forces, "Thought I'd join the party if that's alright with the rest of you. I brought air cover!" 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Appearing overhead so suddenly draws Midway to a halt. Her various escorts cease as well, bobbing their heads out of the water and extending cannons from their mouths. All of this fixates on Seventeen when he descends to address her directly like that. She doesn't respond immediately, however, simply staring at the android with those wide, crimson eyes of hers.     Her posture shifts, her gaze sliding sidelong as she turns to observe the Neo Osprey in the distance, the Leeroy closing. That hoverbike and the fighter craft that arrived with it. The Fifth squadron also closing in. Scarlet eyes narrow slightly before she returns her attention to Seventeen. A hand raises, finger and thumb pressed together. With a dismissive gesture, she snaps her fingers.     The destroyers around her open fire. Apparently she doesn't consider Seventeen even worth speaking to, let alone using her own weapons. Though the logic tracks-- If her goal is to escape, plowing through the single fighter is likely the easier path than turning around and dealing with the fleet quickly growing in her wake. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' As the other allies approach, Reina gives a tiny bit of a smirk as she sees that she's gotten some backup from the others. They may not be in the same faction as her, but at least she won't be doing this alone. The fact that there's air support makes things even better in her opinion. "The more types of support you have, the better off you are." But her smirk disappears as she realizes that the Neo Osprey is reaching the range of the destroyers. And then, the destroyers suddenly open fire, and Reina's eyes widen like saucers, her lips parting a little to grit her teeth as she clenches her fists. "The hostiles have been spotted, ma'am," The navigational operative says. "I ALREADY KNOW THAT!" Reina yells as she stands up, stomping her boot-clad foot on the floor as she turns to face the navigational operative as if he was being so naive that he shouldn't even be on this boat. After a moment, though, Reina realizes she's getting too overworked, and remembers that having control within a dangerous situation is very important. "Weapons free!" Reina says firmly as she sits back down in her chair. "Fire upon the destroyers only! DO NOT ENGAGE THE MAIN TARGET!" "Roger that, ma'am," The weapons operative says as he fires a few cannons at the destroyers, ignoring the main threat as instructed. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      Spotting 17 trying to speak with Midway, Haguro takes the opportunity to take the long way around towards Midway to make sure that the cyborg is on the other side of the Abyssal. She doesn't want to risk any friendly fire incidents, after all, especially with her anti-air rounds loaded.      It appears that Midway's focusing on her allies in this mission, too. That should make things easier. Haguro keeps her mouth shut as she takes aim at Midway, her turrets adjusting ever so slightly for the wind, the distance, and even the cruiser's lateral movement. Once she's confident enough in her targetting, she lets loose with a volley of shells, each one bursting apart once they come closer to Midway's predicted path. She approaches steadily as she approaches, apparently intending to get closer to the target herself as well! 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure sees the gun flashes. She can't see 17 at this distance, but she calls the attack. "She's engaging. All points, open fire!" Yamashiro and Kuma shift their turrets into position, as Yuudachi and Shigure herself surge forwards to close the gap. Eight shots come from the Battleship, spread across the formation around Midway, while Kuma launches a rapid staccato of six shells from her shoulder cannon, aiming to pepper the Princess directly with high explosive rounds.     It'll take time for the Destroyers to get into range though. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      The logic doesn't track for Orchid. Most of the threats Midway faces could be avoided by simply submerging. While it is good that they have help on their side, Orchid isn't trusting the scenario. "Something about this whole thing stinks," she reports to Leyanne and Kotone. If this is a trap, then the best angle for it to come from... Orchid turns the focus of her scanners, and what maps are available, to figuring out where Midway might be headed TO. Does she have a base ahead? Or is there a fleet somewhere nearby? Someone has to think beyond the immediate battle. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     The ships moved to target Seventeen.     "Welp," He manages to get out before all of those shots fire at him.     There is an explosion, perhaps a touch earlier than expected, as the air is full of dark smoke that slowly starts to be blown away by the trade winds. However, in their place was a green forcefield. A barrier that surrounded Android 17, as he stares down with his hands extended against the force of the rounds fired at him. It doesn't stop everything, bleeding can be detected above his right eye, but he was hardly as damaged as something like that should have left the lithe man against several destroyers.     The barrier fades, and his hands are filled with energy. Electrical energy courses down his arms as he focuses it through his palms...and a barrage of lightining balls fly down, not going for the other destroyers, not going for other targets.     Midway was his target. These balls explode in a burst of electricity as they touch anything, including the water.     "Maybe your right in that case though. We're far passed the point of talking." 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' And battle is joined. Immediately Leyanne pushes the throttles forwards, and Leeroy kicks up a rooster-tail of water, lifting fully up into the plane as he surges up to speed, bouncing across the water. "Engage!" Leyanne orders. Immediately, two Exocet missiles are spat from their rails, igniting moments later and shooting towards the Abyssals. No particular ship is locked; there's enough scatter off Midway's fleet as a whole that the missiles are bound to lock onto /something/ abyssal... unless shot down, of course. As soon as the missles are away, Leyanne hunkers down behind the raised front of the wheelhouse, pointing towards one of the Abyssal destroyers "That one! Open a hole!" She orders. "Steve! Are the K-guns and Hedgehog loaded? We'll need 'em if she submerges." Torpedoes are launched, a spread across the destroyer they've targeted. In reference to Midway, it's at about her 7-o-clock. 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     It's not hard to see the sudden cannon fire, even from as far away as Nova currently is. According to her HUD, it's the same guy from that one time. Well, hopefully he's smart enough to not stick close to the fleet that everyone's about to start shooting at.     "Vikings, break and engage!"     The pilots of the two fighters reply affirmative to the order, their thrusters burning hotter as they rocket ahead of Nova's Vulture. Anticipating anti-air fire on their approach, they begin to weave and roll through the air as they close the distance. They continue like this until one reports, "Missile barrage locked." The other quickly follows suit, "Launching!"     The two fighters each unleash a barrage of missiles that streak through the air and rain down towards the Abyssal fleet, before exploding as their proximity sensors are triggered by the small ships.     After their assault, the Vikings pull up and rise into the air to try and get clear of any retaliation. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' So here they are the battle is underway and Kotone is on the Deck of the Leroy as the enemy open fires, she'll level her railgun and start taking shots t the destroyers the heavy weapon hopefully should have some effect if she's able to land a hit on any of the small abyssals. Shot after shot is fire, but it's never rapid, Kotone clearly does not have a rapid-fire weapon but what the gun makes up for in it's slower speed is just how hard it hits. "Tell me about it Orchid I don't like it Orchid. Still, if it's a trap we have to spring it once way or another." she'll keep laying down shots but can't shake that feeling something isn't right about this. "Orchid give a shout if you get anything strange on your scanners." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     The smoke and debris clears-- and Seventeen is still very much an obstacle. Midway takes a step back, sweeping her upraised hand back as well. Electricity was not expected, and the woman's reaction to the jolt is to straighten, eyes shut, letting out a surprised noise. The destroyers around her scatter from the charge, as cannonfire bursts in the water around them. Something shrieks, and dingy gray seawater is tinged black with oil. There's a fire on the water where one of them had been.     More cannonfire from the 5th Fleet further scatters Midway's escort, while high explosive bombardment shells from Haguro explode against her in great pyrotechnic bursts. As she recovers from this, those missiles explode against and around her. The Princess is tossed, striking the water several times and coming to a stop on hands and knees.     Defiantly, she places a foot under herself, then rises. The thorned collar around her neck is broken, fangs falling loose. One entire side of it breaks away as she stands, hitting the water. Despite the oily black ichor splattered across her face, she tilts her head with an audible pop from her neck. The woman then leans down, diving her hands into the water. As she hauls them up, she drags up two unmistakable shapes: The corroded, heavily armored, gun-covered black shields of an Abyssal battleship.     Her hair also slips. By the time she's risen back to her full height, the elegant white mane drifts away on the tide, as a black-haired Ru-Class Battleship opens fire on Seventeen with a battery of identical size to the destroyers he'd just been shot at by. The larger guns on her shields elevate, then discharge their much heavier payloads at the distant Neo Osprey. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     With all the noise of the battle, previously useful sonar becomes much harder to interpret. Cannons, explosions, and the sounds of Abyssal destroyers darting about underwater add to the chaos. But then, quite suddenly, Orchid's sonar mechaniloids pick up something rising from the deep at a rapid rate. When it hits the surface, it hits hard, right in the middle of the Hikari formation. Right beneath the heavy cruiser Haguro.     As the geyser of seawater slumps back down into the ocean, she is there. A visage carved in alabaster and obsidian. Despite the earlier deception, there is no doubt to her countenance: This is Midway.     Effortlessly, she lifts Haguro by her rigging, hand wedged between the metal equipment and the girl wearing it, "So you've come so carelessly." Her free hand lifts, a tracking device nestled between thumb and forefinger. Without looking, she crushes it, "Knowing you come to your own destruction. This..." That hand is lifted, pressing against the cruiser's back, "..Is overconfidence." Metal buckles, creaking ominously.     And the gives. With a wrenching motion, Midway separates Haguro's body from her equipment. Just as the cruiser girl is discarded, Midway swings her weaponry around, catching her on the end of it and discharging all of the guns on impact. 

:'''{{#var:863|Haguro (863)}} has posed:'''      A direct hit! Spurred on by that initial success, Haguro continues surging forward even as her turrets reload. She's not expecting Midway to be helpless in close combat, but given all of Haguro's recent training, she's actually feeling rather confident about her odds!      Granted, all those explosions are still rattling her even now, but being up close means they won't throw her aim off at the very least. She hunches forward and clenches her fists, ready to slam herself right into the... Ru-class? That's fine, too. <<"If they are planning something, then... Be prepared to fire on whatever em-">>      And then things go very wrong, very quickly. She only catches a glimpse of what's below her for a moment before she finds her feet firmly on liquid nothing, choking out a gasp as she tries to process what's just happened. "From below..?!"      Of course an Abyssal would come from below. Before she can swing her fist back down to unload another volley of shells into Midway's face, however, she can already feel herself being much lighter than before. Adjusting herself in midfall, she swings her leg around to try and catch Midway's face with a kick, but not before Midway unloads that series of guns into her midsection.      The armor isn't of much help at that range. At that quantity. The Cruiser's eyes widen in shock as she falls back into the water, feeling a distinct sinking feeling in her gut/what's left of her gut. She claws at the water, a last ditch attempt at grabbing even the Abyssal's rigging or leg, but quickly descends further into the water until all that's visible is metal and a dark patch in the water.      She didn't even know she could go into shock. That makes the sinking a little less terrifying, at least. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      It was a trap. At least Orchid is validated that much. That she didn't see the trap in time? That's less flattering.      She does her best to track Haguro's location on the sonar systems, directing several fish to follow down. They're good to two kilometers deep, but will that be enough?      Of course, she's also directing the other sensor systems of the Leeroy, particularly the radar, and she focuses that system now on the abyssal princess, lighting Midway up with Radar. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Shit...no this was too perfectly planned. She read his actions before he took them, and used it to cripple or kill one of the others. If he were over there...he'd would have been able to get to her...as it stood right now, Seventeen was surrounded by ships, and now facing a larger one. He could only bring up the shield again, this time smashed by the more focused guns. The barrier bent, but did not break. But his body more hurt by the assualt this time than before. Clothes torn and body covered in wounds. However, he was still mostly alright, besides some nasty looking cuts and bruises. His hands came to his sides...and this time a aura of light started to burst out from him. Channeling his internal power sources much like someone from his world might channel their inner ki. His eyes flashed, as he leans forward slightly.     He vanishes, appearing higher in the air as he releases another barrage of balls down into the sea, this time aiming to scatter them across the entire force. However as he falls, the main target, the one who had just hit him hard...     He lands on her ship, a devistating stomp to the deck as both hands come out.     "You know what arrogance is? Discounting one person. I said before, I'm not human...and let me show you just why I'm named /ANDROID/ 17!" This is followed by a surge of energy, and an amazingly focused burst of energy forward across the deck of the ship, aiming to cause as much damage. The only thing he can do right now is to make him a threat regonizable. Maybe they could correct their mistakes...and their means his too. This was as much his failure. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne shout "Brace!" before she wrenches the wheel hard to one side, spinning it to full lock while at the same time wrenching back one of the throttles to its full back position. Leeroy creaks loudly under the stress but performs a sharp, carving turn, the mouse spinning the wheel back to neutral and hammering the throttle back to forwards. A few belches of flame and black smoke spit from one of his tailpipes in protest but the PT boat rises back to the plane as the engine catches again properly. As he does so, a mouse gives two more exocets are spat from their rails - aimed for the real Midway this time, brought to bear by Orchid's radar. The Bofors gun opens up too - using Nova Terra's radar for targeting the 3P airburst rounds. "Ko! Do yousee the spot? Hit it!" She looks over the side of the flying bridge. "LOAD THOSE TUBES!" Leyanne shouts; all four of Leeroy's torpedo tubes are empty and the reload process has only just begun... a thought occurs "And make ready for evasive maneuvers... we'll probably attract a lot of return fire." 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' "Direct hit, ma'am!" The weapons operative calls out. "Affirmative, keep firing." Reina calls back, clasping her hands in anticipation. Her view through the aft is of that of destroyers being hit by the fire of her weapons and the allies assisting her in this battle. It seems like a typical battle, until things suddenly change. "Ma'am, something big is coming!" The navigational operative calls out. Reina can see it, but she can't say anything. Eventually, she shakes her head and yells out, "EVASIVE MANEUVERS! NOW!" "Aye aye," The navigational operative calls out as he attempts to shift the Neo Osprey into a sharp turn in an evasive move. Once they're sure they've evaded properly, Reina regains her composure. She sees the spot in question and she narrows her eyes. "There it is!" She sits back down and calls out, "Aim for that spot! Now!" "Aiming now," The weapons operative calls out. "Ready for your command, ma'am." "Fire torpedoes!" Reina calls out, and there's the sound of torpedoes being launched from the Neo Osprey. "Let's see you damn THESE torpedoes!" 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Yamashiro calls a reload after her first salvo. As the turrets clank and ring with the new shells she sees Midway emerge from the depths and cut Haguro in half, almost literally. "HAGURO!" she growls, turning and breaking formation. Her eyes start to glow faintly, the irises seeming to spin and rotate as she calculates the vectors. "YOU'RE IN THE WAY!" she bellows, firing her turrets behind her to launch herself at Midway. "GET LOST!" She comes barreling in on her recoil, aiming to slam a fist into Midway's face with all the weight and speed of a Battleship at flank bell. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' It was a trap, Midway makes her move, then Harguo gets wrecked very hard here, her rigging ripped from her leaving her unarmed at best. Damn, this was bad a,d now things get worse faster still there's some ideas she hangs on as Leyanne moves the ship about hard, she may dig her feet into the deck a bit to keep her balance as she does so. Then comes Nova with a target location and Kotone will take the feed and start lining up the rail gun, she confident enough. "I see it." She will take a moment to lock up her body so it can't twitch and then pulls the trigger sending a shot, followed by two more at a steady rate of fire, only moving to adjust if she needs to. She also knows though Midway may be monstrously tough and this would be a long fight. "Firing!" 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     Shit! She's slipping. Nova should have sensed this coming far earlier!     Nova is too far away to do any real good as she sees Midway rise up to attack one of the shipgirls. All she can do is watch as the poor girl is stripped of her armor and left to sink into the water. Nova frowns as she radios, "Covering fire! We need to keep her occupied while that one is recovered."     Nova reaches down to retrieve her rifle attached to her Vulture bike. She rests it against the top of the bike as the request for targeting support comes through. Nova quickly presses some buttons on the scope before aiming it in Midway's direction. Pulling the trigger, Nova sends a beam of light streaking out across the large distance to hit Midway. But it's far from strong enough to do any damage... But it does make triangulating her position much, much easier. Something which Nova transmits to any ally who wants to make use of it. And to her own air support, "Vikings, suppresing fire!"     The two Vikings loop over in the air, before diving down towards the ocean's surface once more. Just before reaching it they quickly pull up, hovering thrusters kicking in to help reduce their speed. Their frames then begin to transform, legs folding down out of the bottom, thrusters on them igniting to assist in holding their altitude. The wings fold in, two large rotary cannons sliding out. Their main engines rotate down and soon enough they are hovering just above the water, kicking up a spray.     The Viking pilots tune their targetting system's to Nova's laser targeting and then pull the trigger. Streams of bullets are unleashed from the four gatling guns, streaking through the air towards Midway. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     As the cruiser sinks, Midway's unblinking, glowing crimson eyes are the last thing she sees of the surface.     The Princess turns casually. Water parts behind her as her spherical parasite emerges behind her, its toothy maw yawning wide. The damaged Shipgirl equipment is discarded into that open mouth, and the parasite chomps down. As the cruiser equipment disappears, Midway's rigging opens its mouth again. The shell ruptures, cracking in places as twin gun turrets emerge from its sides and top, stark and black against the white shell.     Airburst rounds explode around and against her. A railgun slug punches through her equipment, exploding out the other side in a spray of black ichor and metal shards. The Princess turns to face the fleet amassed against her. It's Yamashiro who closes the fastest, and she raises a hand to beckon the charging battleship. That hand shifts, and intercepts the punch directed at her face with a great, cacophanous sound of two incredibly massive metal objects slamming together. The impact pushes her back, her arm bent at an unnatural angle. Crimson cracks shoot through her forearm, but the Princess does not falter. She simply stares at Yamashiro's face with those wide, fury-filled crimson eyes of hers.     Chaingun fire starts hammering her from behind, courtesy of the Vikings. Midway's turrets swing around, opening fire on the airborne transforming fighters. This is intended only to buy an opening, though, as the maw of her parasite opens. Abyssal aircraft start pouring out in a plume above her, dispersing into attack wings of dive bombers that descend upon the Leeroy and the Neo Osprey.     "In the way of what?" Midway intones to Yamashiro, "That one is already gone." She pushes in, asserting her strength on the battleship, "You are wasting. Your. Time. Make yourself useful."     Her feet shift, and rather than dig into Yamashiro or the like, Midway places her leg behind the battleship's and hurls her sideways. Right into the path of the torpedoes fired by Neo Osprey. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen meanwhile is contending with an elite Ru-Class. The pale woman brings her shield-batteries up defensively when the android's body erupts with gathered energy, her own guns in the process of reloading. This proves to be a good choice, when he scatters munitions around himself. The destroyers are scattered, two of them even destroyed in plumes of fire and debris. Ru shields her face with one battery, her body with the other, which gives the android something convenient to land on.     The beam burns right through her shield at this close range, striking the side of her face. Letting out a silent scream, she hauls her shield up to dislodge him. The side of her face is gone-- an empty void with a single crimson point where her eye should be, cracks shooting through her skin. She skates backwards, trailing smoke-- until a flame erupts from the gaping wound in her face. The pained grimace on her lips twists into a fanged sneer as Ru draws her shields up. This time, it's not just her secondary guns but the larger main battery that opens fire on Android Seventeen. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Yamashiro didn't have much of a plan. As she deadlocks with the Princess, her turrets turn and clank as they reload, but the swivel is too slow. She's overbalanced, and tossed aside, landing in an awkward crouch... just before those torpedos strike and engulf her in a plume of water.     Shigure sees this, her blue eyes going wide as shock runs through her. "... Y-yamashi... ro..." Her irises shrink to pinpricks, and a haze of absolute terror crosses her face. "N-No... No, not again... I can't lose her again..." Turning, the Destroyers eyes begin to leak, salty tears streaking down her face as she blindly charges towards where Yamashiro was, the Battleship's fate shrouded in a misty bank of artificial fog and smoke.     Yuudachi tchs, turning to chase after her sister, but aiming to get all up in Midway's business, using speed to circle around the Princess, peppering her with 12.7cm cannonfire. "How about you, like, pick on someone your own size!" she goads. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' "Ma'am, there are incoming fighters from above!" The navigational operative calls out. "Dammit!" Reina calls out, which is compounded by the ship taking damage from one of the bombers successfully hitting the craft. "How many are there?" "Too many!" The navigational operative calls back. "Hell with it!" Reina yells as she stands up quickly. "Ready cannons and take out those Falzing bombers!" She clenches her fists. "Fire NOW!" "Aye aye, ma'am!" The weapons operative replies as he fires the cannons at the bombers. "Navigations, evasion now!" Reina yells. "Yes, ma'am!" The navigational operative replies, trying to get the Neo Osprey out of danger. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Android Seventeen looks, well...now things are going to get interesting.     Of course, he realizes exchanging blasts with the boat is probably not going to be a good idea going forward...no instead, he takes a chance.     He rushes TOWARDS the Ru-Class. As he rushes forward, she fires, and that shield washes over him again, diverting a large chunk of his force into that. The powerful attack meets powerful defense...there is an explosion. From it, Android 17 charges, his right hand bloodied, and more of his clothing shreaded by the blast...but he's still charging.     His left hand moves quickly, aiming to try and strike at the ship, quickily and ruthlessly, he comes in, his hands aiming to make cutting motions at the cannons, trying to tear and strike at whatever he can.     Until he vanishes...     He aims to appear right below her, aiming to kick her up into the sky...     Only to appear above her, and take both hands down into a hammer blow, aiming to send her back down with as much force (if not more because THANKS graivty) as the kick did.     Both hands come down, as energy charges...and this time streaks of light fire out, each one aiming to move in odd patterns, but streak towards the (hopefully) stunned girl. "I'm not done yet," he pants out, "Though I do hate being right." 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     The Vikings are forced to strafe to the side as the cannon fire is launched their way. One of them catches a glancing shot, one of its gatling cannons blasting apart from the shell. This gives Midway the opening she needs to launch her own aircraft into the air. Nova blinks at the sight of the unholy planes. That's not creepy at all... Still, they need to be dealt with! She redirects her Vikings to engage them, before focusing her own efforts on Midway herself.     Nova throws her Vulture bik into a skid before starting to blast above the surface of the water at an angle to Midway. She releases her grip on the bike's controls as she twists to aim her Canister Rifle at the Abyssal Princess. Nova sights in on those new gun turrets and starts firing, trying to penetrate their armour and blow them to pieces.     Meanwhile, the Viking fighters quickly transform back into flying mode, boosting up into the air once more. They quickly move to intercept the monster aircraft, their pilots thankful they have proximity missiles and lots of them. Otherwise trying to dogfight the rather smaller craft would be troublesome! The Vikings unleash their missile barrages against the creepy planes, trying to reduce the pressure on on the Neo Osprey. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne ducks back down behind the wheelhouse to protect herself from the incoming dive-bombers, the Bofors gun pivoting up to meet them with fire, along with all the other secondaries. Leyanne wrenches the wheel erratically from side to side, never once remaining on a stable, straight path for more than a few seconds. Little Leeroy is hell to target from the air... but there are enough bombers that he begins to take hits, a few punching through the deck and causing his crew to dive for cover. He's engulfed in smoke clouds several times along his path, smoke dischargers wreathing him in thick white for a few seconds when the firepower gets too much. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      So it seems that Midway can absorb the equipment she eats. Something Orchid might wish she could do, but it's not a high priority. Orchid drones that are listening to the battle. There's a lot of noise to try and make sense of, but she can tell that Yamashiro is still on the surface, but that the Battleship's engines are silent. Orchid shifts the radar from the surface to the incoming bombers, and boosting the signals. The idea is to burn out the abyssal airforce's sensors, leaving them blind in the air. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' They need to get out of here, and Androids 17 is putting himself at serious risk to buy them time. She's not going to forget that even if her first meeting was a bit rocky from her point of view. She's also thankful for Nova's people giving air support there may be many people she owes drinks later if they live through this. For the moment though she'll be laying down fire as Leyanne does her thing it does not matter if she hits Midway, just enough to keep her and any of her fleet off the Leeroy, she trusts in Leyanne's ability to get them out of there and Orchid to handle some of the recovery ops. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     With Yamashiro...occupied, Midway's eyes and then head turn towards Yuudachi. Small calibre shells burst against her body and equipment, leaving black marks and causing small fires, but she seems nonplussed by it. She seems more drawn by the destroyer's words, and has a simple response: "Like you?"     Her twin gun turrets are already swinging around, and she extends a hand with her fingers curled upwards. One of the turrets explodes suddenly, her eyes swinging rapidly towards Nova and her hovercycle. A squadron of planes breaks off from the swirling mass of Abyssal aircraft above her, diving on the vulture. The lead group consists of fighters, strafing the hovercycle with machine gun fire. Right behind them is a trio of dive bombers, following the strafing run with more explosive ordnance.     More fighters break off. Proximity rockets are a big problem for massed small planes, and the response is to attack the vikings directly from multiple directions, strafing the Terran fighters with dives and then juking away using the accumulated energy.     The attempt to burn out the sensors of Abyssal planes doesn't work. These are daytime fighters from an age from before every airplane had avionics and onboard radar, after all. It's Leeroy's smoke that wards them off after a few attack runs, as they're no longer able to verify the target and simply begin circling. They're drawn to Kotone's railgun fire, but keep their distance.     With her aircraft in full harassment mode, Midway returns her attention to Yuudachi, turning the face the destroyer straight on. A railgun slug punches through her parasite again, spraying oil and metal shards across the sea.     "You have already sacrificed one," Her eyes narrow, glowing ominously in the shadow cast by her bangs, "Another hangs by a thread." Her remaining guns complete their traversal, "How many more will you sacrifice to me, I wonder?"     Midway's remaining six cannons open fire. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Across the waves, Ru-Class Elite is not equipped to deal with someone like Seventeen. She's nowhere near fast enough, even if she has the firepower. The sluggish reloads on her cannons and the slow traversal rates of her guns are working against her, here. He gets right up in her face while she's reloading those guns. He gets a brief glimpse of her frustrated frown before he knocks the battleship girl off her feet.     She hits the water as if it were solid ground, after several seconds of airtime, letting out a gasp. One of her shields spins out of her grasp, tumbling away and promptly sinking. She brings up her remaining, damaged shield battery to defend herself when she's blasted with energy.     Once the water settles from the explosion, the Ru-Class is gone, though whether she was annihilated, sunk, or escaped by submerging is unclear. Given the damage she'd been taking, she's not likely to come back for another round, though. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:''' Seventeen looks down...well, he'll have to keep better track of his opponets in the future...these ships were awfully specialized, and Naval warfare isn't something he cares about...on his world, he could probably level the world's navy in a few concentraited sweeps. Not that he would, their big scary guns help them keep order and safety. Also it'd hurt the ocean.     The target is gone, he doesn't count on destroyed or sunk without a body. He turns towards Midway...who is now taunting them.     Of course, she speaks for him...and there is a smirk to his face. As she fires, he flies in at full speed, flipping midair...and aiming to streak in the last few feet with a kick, aiming to send his foot right into the side of her head.     "Android 17, dear. I don't run out of stamina. I can do this all day." he says, again. Of course, he was bluffing to keep hope in his allies hearts. They needed to leave, and he was still very much vulnerable to physical damage.     "However, lady, sink me if you can. You'll find I'm not so easy to intimidate or cow with violence." he returns...he just needs a bit more...if they get out of range, and he can keep her here...then going after them would be too dangerous.     Of course he needs to buy the time and survive. That last part might be harder. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure skids to a stop on her knees, slamming hard into Yamashiro's side as the Battleship, badly wounded and leaking oil, her rigging in shambles, comes out of the mist. "Yamashiro... Yamashiro!" the destroyer cries, arms wrapping around the larger woman, as a rooster tail begins to rise from her heels, the Destroyer desperately trying to pull the Battleship out of the area.     Yuudachi grins wickedly, her eyes gleaming with a madness all their own. "Yeah, got a problem with that, bitchtits?" she says, juking wildly to throw off the aim of those cannons. Wait, that pattern of movement. Where are her torpedo launchers pointing!?     Kuma comes up beside Yamashiro on the opposite side to Shigure, scooping under the shrine-maiden Battleship, pushing her own engines to the redlines and starting to cart the wounded battleship away. "Yuudachi, kuma!" The blonde twirls away, sticking her tongue out at Midway before settling into formation and adding her own engine power to the towing efforts. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leeroy runs blocker for the towing fleet; he curves around and deploys a line of smoke to block Midway's line of sight on the flotilla as they tow the wounded battleship out of the fleet. As the mice hear the torpedoes pass under their keel Leyanne grins, wrenching the wheel around and adding four more 'presents' to the parting shot. As the fleet begins to move, Leeroy keeps his position, laying more smoke to try and protect them. 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     The Vikings are successful in exploding some of the Abyssal fighters. In return they find themselves under fire from those that survived. Talk about ungrateful. The Terran fighters lighten up on their barrage, beginning to twist and turn through the air as they try to avoid the enemy planes. But being smaller, said enemy has a considerable agility advantage over the Vikings. Enemy shots begin to rip up their armour, punching through wings. One fighter takes a direct hit to one of its engines, the large thruter bursting into flames and trailing smoke before emergency systems cut off the fuel feed and the flames die out.     Through her radio, Nova can hear the Viking pilots reporting on the attacking craft and their rising damage levels. Finally Nova has to admit that the Abyssals have the overwhelming advantage at this point, ordering, "Understood Vikings, pull back and RTB."     The two fighters angle up and push their throttles hard, using their impressive thrust to quickly rise into the air as they head for the cloud cover to shake off the smaller planes.     Nova herself also finds she's been targetting by those monstrous aircraft. The strafing gunfire isn't too much of a problem, the Vulture bike fast and agile under Nova's control. She's able to swerve and slide around the strafing runs. Unfortunately the explosive blasts of the dive bombers proves harder to avoid. Nova skirts around the edges of several explosions, before one bomber finally gets in a luck shot, its bomb streaking down right towards the bike.     Nova vanishes in the resulting explosion, only to come streaking out of the blast a few moments later. Her bike and suit alike are covered in scorch marks, part of the bike's armour blasted apart. Her hair is also a little singed after what could have been a rather painful explosive end to the mission, if not for a last minute application of telekinesis to alter the bomb's trajectory at the last moment.     But it's clear to Nova that this mission has turned bad, the others already switching into full blown retreat. Nova isn't far behind them as she turns her hoverbike to start skimming away from the battlefield and Midway. Her rifle is aimed behind her as she unloads numerous rounds towards the Abyssal fighters, trying to ward them off as she retreats. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid is still on the sensors, still making sure they know where the abyssal aircraft are. She's also quietly swearing to herself. A number of her drones will be abandoned, but most of the Mini-Osprey birds will be rejoining her. 

:'''{{#var:391|Reina Kinney (391)}} has posed:''' "What do we do, ma'am?" The navigational operative calls out. "It's getting worse!" "Fire a few more torpedoes!" Reina barks at the weapons operative before looking to the navigational operative again. "Get us out of here double time! We're done here!" After the torpedoes fire to give final support, there is a response of, "Right away, ma'am!" As the navigational operative calls out as he starts steering the boat quickly to get out of the area fast. Once it's facing the right direction, the engines are put to full power. "We're leaving now!" "Don't look back either!" Reina calls out before slumping into her seat and sighing. "We did all we could, now we await the results..." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' They are not out of the woods yet, and they have to keep going a bit longer there's more of the enemy still and she's just trying to keep them at bay. There's also a sense of horror in the back of her mind? What if she's captured and Midway wants to get some moden E-war upgrades she might get hacked up for parts. She keeps shooting trying to keep the enemy back. "Just keep going!" 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen's foot slams into the side of Midway's face. It's like hitting steel, though the impact does push her across the sea's surface. The sound, too, like striking metal against metal that rings across the waves. Immediately, she snaps a hand up, snatching the android's ankle and snapping him up, then down into the water. Releasing him, she turns just enough to face him.     "So," the Princess states, "You intend to buy their escape with your life?" Her attention turns to the destroyer and cruiser struggling to pull Yamashiro to safety, a hand raising, "Even if you fight me, can you also fight all of my aircraft?" Her fingers close, forming a cage around the fleeing shipgirls, through her perspective, "They are already mine."     Hand lowering, she returns her attention to Seventeen. Her eyes glowing with restrained fury, she regards the android. Railgun slugs from Kotone continue to pelt her, occasionally penetrating her parasite as they had been before.     But she ignores it all. Even the explosions of Yuudachi's torpedoes blasting against her, splattering oily ichor and metal shards across the water around her. The mounting damage is clear, and yet, the Princess merely continues to evaluate the android who assaulted her so brazenly. A hand raises, fingers stretched with several metallic pops. As she curls those fingers into fists, there's several more popping sounds.     "My intention is not intimidation," she states simply, "I look forward to dismantling your mechanical systems." Stepping forward, she draws her hand down and to one side-- and her aircraft cease their harassment of the retreating forces, "Your intention is to buy time for their retreat. I will humor it if you can adequately entertain me." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen's leg is caught, grabbed and then SLAMMED down. That hurt more than it might have looked, but his leg kicked, aiming to get loose before spining back into a fighting stance. The Android and the Princess stare each other down. She makes a declaration of victory...but to it, there was only the smirking look of the Android. He knows his situation is bad, but he also isn't about to give up without a fight. Once more she just talks, but his mind was already working steps ahead.     "Well, you assume alot. Such as that you're going to kill me. However, how long do you think your planes can track them? They'll be within range of AA fire within a few minutes by my estimates. You assume they're the only boats out here, and that I wasn't already thinking ahead." he says, calmly. Is he bluffing? Or did he have allies that she wasn't counting on? Who can say, but he doesn't blink.     "But if you want entertainment, I suggest you take me seriously than that," He says, perhaps full of false bravado...but at the same time...     "Besides. Sacrificing yourself for others? I like how human that sounds."     His face is a calm smile, willing to pay this price. He charges, but this time he uses that faster than sight movement to come at her from a different direction, aiming to come after her from the aft, aiming to swing a kick at one of those guns, before his left hand comes up, aiming a ball of lightning charged energy towards the barrel of the other.     He needs those planes closer... 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "Hm hm hm hm~..." Midway spreads her hands to either side. Her aircraft break off their pursuit and begin swirling around the sky above her, covering a wide area, "You have a habit of making assumptions. You have made several since I first began observing you. And you make more now. It is quite amusing."     Seventeen's kick crushes one of Midway's remaining gun turrets. His electrical attack destroys the turrets on another. But Midway doesn't recoil. She doesn't even attempt to defend herself. She lurches forward at such close quarters.     She reaches out with one hand, intent on sinking her steel talons into the android's chest and forcing him down. Her free hand draws back, fingers curled into cruel talons, the metal bracing and nails gleaming in the dim, overcast light.     "For example, you assume I intend to /kill/ you." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     The two trade blow after blow...but it's evident that Seventeen isn't winning this fight solo. Not after he took the damage holding off the other fleet. Still...it is good to see he is giving as good as he is taking. Even as she lords over him, assuming that he is assuming that he is assuming assumptions! Confused yet? Good!     Her hands grab at him, and his fist comes in. Claws dig into his body, but his body wasn't just for show. Blood drips over those fingers, but as she tries to grab him, his face turns in pain, but grabs the claw, and drops his hand in a choping motion, aiming to cause enough force to either drive it off, or break free...lower, but not defeated, Seventeen grins in that way someone on his last legs could.     "You have a habbit of thinking you've won, but..." he says, and then...     Straight up. He would appear straight up, his speed giving him enough to do that...with the sun overhead...     "Allow me to...enlighten you." he says, even as planes would inevitably charge him to knock him down...     There is a flash of light.     "SOLAR FLARE!" he booms, of course it wasn't HIS move...he'll have to thank Tien later, assuming he lives. He blasts off in a direction, not looking which way he was going...just towards land. His hand desprately grabbing at his side, trying to keep the blood from gushing out.     "Well...this certainly is bad." he says, a half choking laugh follows. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Recoiling from her own attacks, Midway draws her hand up. The fingers curl again, the metal bracing on the backs of her fingers creaking with every motion she makes. The blood present is observed, before her eyes return to her opponent. From his high angle, Seventeen can see behind the brace of spikes Midway wears around her neck-- she has an actual, human face behind that mass of spines.     "Please do," she states, sweeping her hand to one side, "Enlighten me, Android Seventeen."     Solar flare.     She lets out a startled sound when the flash goes off, one hand reaching to her face to shield her eyes. The other sweeps out, and her aircraft scatter away from the lightshow. The startled noise bleeds into a growl, which becomes a roar of fury when she brings her hand down. Her vision swims with spots, blinded, and so she closes those eyes.     Radar tells the story.     Midway's posture relaxes, her back straightening. With eyes closed, she turns her head towards Seventeen's retreat, then the other way towards the distant retreating fleet. Her parasite's mouth opens, discharging a plume of black smoke and the mangled, corroded remains of Haguro's gun rigging. It rolls back, detaching from her and disappearing into the sea.     Moments later, Midway sinks down as well, leaving only patches of oil, flames and wreckage as evidence of the encounter. 
}}

6160/Far From Shore

2018-12-09T07:44:50Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/08 |Location=Great Ocean |Synopsis=Parting somewhat peacefully previously, the Raider Demon returns in an inexplicable rage. Who could be r..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/08
|Location=Great Ocean
|Synopsis=Parting somewhat peacefully previously, the Raider Demon returns in an inexplicable rage. Who could be responsible for this?
|Cast of Characters=1122, 685, 571, 6730, 591, 6384, 1100, 7, 6804
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Flotilla 18.1 is a large, escorted cargo fleet consisting of ships from multiple nations. Nine massive container ships flanked by military escorts, a group that has had success in the Raider-infested seas south of Africa numerous times. Today is an exception. One of the great container ships burns, broken in half and scattering its bulky cargo containers in the water around it. Sluggishly, the other great container vessels have begun to turn southward, chugging along at the highest speeds their laden hulls can manage.     Some distance past the burning Yucatan, a modern navy frigate has partially capsized, holes burned through its visible sides. And on that hull is the Raider Demon. A shell from one of the remaining frigates careens past her, and she responds by lifting her cannon-laden arm. Guns discharge in sequence, a rapid staccato of six heavy shells fired in return.     Her helmet is gone. A metal plate appears to have been welded over the left side of an otherwise human face, with a socketed lens fitted into it that glows blue. The grit of her teeth could be rage. Has she suddenly snapped?     Unlike previous encounters, the Demon's entourage of Abyssal destroyers is completely absent. Though a trio of Abyssal scout planes is already circling overhead at a respectable distance.     There's no ambiguity this time. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     The Fifth Strike Squadron, mostly in land-fitout, ride on Kuma, the fastest of the four in her Ocean Fitout. The Light Cruiser bounds across the waves at flank bell, spewing thick smoke as she runs her engine hot. "Okay, gameplan will be for the three of us to disperse and protect the cargo ships. Yamashiro, I trust you to engage and distract the Demon long enough for us to get them clear. If not the ships, then the crews at least." says Shigure, standing on Kuma's foredeck and looking at the taller black-haired woman, and the blonde with the red eyes. <Kuma will do her best, kuma~.> "Understood, Flagship." "I've, like, got it~."     Once the Cruiser is in range, the other three bail overboard, spread formation then split up, moving through the ships and trying to assist where they can. Meanwhile, Yamashiro herself moves to close on the berserked Raider Demon, making herself as big a target as she can without opening fire just yet. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Orders or no, Maaka's here to do her job no matter what some jumped up park ranger says. She skates across the water with her ocean kit, speedily headed towards the battle with a massive cannon strapped to her arm. The big bore repeater goes off with a thunderous report every shot, aimed for the scout planes mostly for the moment.     For the time being, Maaka remains close by the flotilla under attack, trying to protect the vessels as she engages and opens fire. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen heard the radio, frowning. That's weird, she wasn't THIS aggressive, especially with her stated goals. Attacking things like this would just downright be terrible, especially with the understanding they had seem to build...and worse, if it was despiration...she had the ability to contact him. Infact, he had quite evenly handedly said 'hey if you have trouble, gimme a hollar.' But now...?     Seventeen would appear in the air, but not quite so far away from the battle. Infact, he would simply appear (because of speed bursts' near the planes. "Hi." he says, immediately shooting two of the planes with a shot from each hand, before looking at the last one. "I don't know who you are, but I'm not a fan of vouyers. If you want to get involved, come yourself." A final blast towards the third plane. Scattering or destroying, either worked for him, before he started flying towards Raider demon and the fighting...     Over the radio, he tried to get her attention. "Hey, you're uh...making quite the scene. Captain boat-murder is getting pretty aggressive. So care to let us in what this is about before they uh...get nasty? If you're in trouble you know you can ask for help, right? But you're gona need to stop this, because this time you don't seem to be uh...not hurting the people like you were before." 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     ROUGHLY FIFTEEN YEARS AGO     "That's absurd, Aoko." Alice says with a flat, disapproving tone, an expression so dour her black clothes look brighter for it.     "No, no, come on, bear with me here! My lasers. Have recoil," a young Aoko argues with her peer, hair still brown and soul untainted.     "No. Absolutely not. That is not what attack spells are for," Alice says, shaking her head.     "BUT WHAT IF. I DID IT ANYWAY!" Aoko grins.     "Aoko no. You're grounded and you're not leaving my workshop until you've copied your basic incantations down a hundred times," Alice snaps.     "Alice! I'm talking about /flying/. With /lasers/." Aoko insists, still grinning.     "One thousand times." Alice delivers.     "Aww," Aoko says.     NOW     "AHAHAHA! There's no one to tell me nooooo!" shouts Aoko gleefully, as she rockets overhead. There is an immense trail of blue light behind her - not the plume of a jet engine, but the fact she's factually flying on the recoil of a maintained beam attack gushing out of her feet.     "Now all I have to do is nail the landing!"     Beams blast of her hands. Her feet stop firing lasers. She spins in the air, attempts to line herself up and--     Splashes in the water next to Raider Demon. Her head pops back out, laughing. "Ahaha, missed. That's too bad. Hellooooooo!" 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Among those on board Kuma is Orchid. She's in line for a set of rigging, but the details and scheduling haven't been working in her favor. Her objectives here are first to preserve the lives of those on the damaged ships, and to find out where those abyssal scout planes came from, sending some robot bats in their direction. These have little guns, equipped with special ammo...      As for Orchid herself, she is soon rocketing over the surface of the water on her rocket surfboard., several large boxes on her back. She's got a plan, and hopefully it won't involve being in the drink for several hours. Again. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leeroy bounces across the surface of the water next to Shigure, his crew going through the last minute checks to their guns and calling out their ready status. At the helm, Leyanne gives a satisfued nod at each ready she hears. And then Kotone has an idea. She nods, pushing the throttles full forward and spinning the wheel. The ugraded PT boat rises up further into its plane, kicking up a great roostertail of water behind himself as the gas turbine engines crank up to speed. "Do you need us to pull alongside, or just get you close?" She asks Ko, adjusting her helmet so it doesn't squish her antennae so much. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is riding on the leeroy at the moment thanks to Leanne and points out she cargo ships and makes a request to get her on board one, She can give them some support there and she needs to speak to Nagato about her own Ocean fit she muses. "Just get me close enough to jump and we should be good." Now isn't the time for that though. She'll spring off Leyanne's ship the moment she gets close enough. Kotone leaps off the Leeroy and will air jump her way up with one heck of a large double jump to get onboard the vessel, while she might be able to help Leyanne fight? She'd be better suited to helping the cargo ships. Then Aoko arrives? WTF is going on with that lady? She has no idea, and just hopes she won't have to fight her.. <<This is Kotone Yamakawa of the Paladins I'm here to help>> Should any planes be coming at the vessel she's on any of the ones she could shoot at she'll take to using her assault rifle to try and shoot them down out of the air. 

:'''{{#var:6804|Thor (6804)}} has posed:''' Standing on Kuma's deck is an incredibly muscular blonde with shoulder-length hair in strange armor, holding a one-handed hammer engraved with some sort of runes. Thor Odinson has come to assist. "Well, then...spirit boats are not something I'm familiar with, but it seems we're about to get to know each other." As As the radio banter goes on, Thor starts spinning his hammer, floating into the air as they get close enough to the Raider Demon. Thor knows exactly what he's going to do already... Because seeing that Raider Demon is actually opening fire, he has no time to stop and try and urge peace. He moves to fly straight at her and try and shoulderslam her with his powerful strength, trying to knock her off firing course and stop her assault. "They call you a demon! Well, they call /me/ Thor Odinson, and I suggest you cease your attack." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     The distant frigate turns, sporting several fires along its forward decks and, after that salvo, a great big hole blown through its bridge structure. It is, at least, still afloat and men charge across the decks to contend with the fires. The single automated gun turret, however, has been destroyed. And the Demon is too small of a target for cruise missiles to really work.     She draws her cannons back, ejecting smoke from the barrels and engaging her reload cycle.     Two of the recon squadron's trio are destroyed immediately. The remaining plane immediately dives into a spiral, reversing its direction in an Immelmann turn. As it accelerates, his beam clips the spheroid aircraft. It continues to retreat, trailing smoke while 17 turns his attention to the Demon.     With Aoko splashing down nearby, and 17 addressing her directly, the Demon hauls her guns up into a safe position. Her exposed, half-remodeled face shoots between the two of them, her expression uncertain. After some internal deliberation, she thrusts her clawed gauntlet aside, "Go. Away. You were. Kind. To me--"     A horrific metallic screeching sound sounds off from her rigging somewhere, and the demon recoils. Her normally proportioned hand lifts, covering the bare side of her face.     DESTROY THEM. DESTROY THEM NOW.     "I..!" The sound subsides as she speaks, arms dropping to her sides in defeat, "...I will. Obey." Her tail lashes up into an arc, discharging torpedoes with bursts of steam into the water around Aoko. In the same instant, she kicks off, lunging straight for Android 17 with her clawed gauntlet. This is where Thor comes charging in, knocking the Demon off course and right off the frigate's hull. When she hits the water, she bounces, then lands on all fours, skitting to a stop across the water's surface with her teeth bared.     With the Demon distracted by 17 and Aoko (and surprise Thor), however, there is no immediate threat to the fleeing freighters. Dealing with her directly is probably more beneficial than shepherding the ships.     Possibly in response to the threat to the scout planes, however, anyone with long range air radar is going to notice a large airgroup approaching. Did 17 make someone angry? 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen braces for the sudden assault, not expecting the viciousness at what she was coming at him, only to have Thor shoulder check her out of the way. Looking towards the large Asgardian for a moment, he shakes his head with a smirk. "Thanks for the save, but the one who needs it more is the lady there." Pointing at Raider. Hearing some important information...and of course, hearing the oncoming array of planes in the dsitance (thanks enhanced hearing), what he wanted happened. The main player decided to move, playing their hand perhaps too early. Still...     He didn't care about them, he cared about Raider Demon. "Hey now, you remember me right? Android Seventeen?" he says, a hand out, ready to both defend, but also to try and place on her hand, aiming to try and lower the claw. "I don't know what they did to you, but I know what you're going through. Something in your head telling you to do things over and over. You have to fight it...think back to what YOU want. What you decided to do with your own will. This isn't it. It isn't about THEM, it is about you." He says, calmly, with no trace of fear, only deep worry. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      So Orchid is headed away from the main action. She's going over to the sinking ships, and will be dropping those boxes from her back, activating them as she does so. Each pops out into a large life-raft. Let's hear it for the wonders of inflatable technology.      But there's something else Orchid can do, and that is to release more of her flying drones. These are about half bats, half tiny V-22 planes. They're going up into the air, bats in front, to get an idea where the incoming flock of aircraft is coming from, and their alignment. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Kuma chuckles at Thor, then gives a surprised sound as he rockets off. "So cool, kuma!"     Yamashiro continues to approach, kicking into a higher gear as the Raider starts her attack. The battleship brings her starboard turrets around in a defensive fashion, in case Raider fires at her while she closes, then proceeds to pounce onto the Demon and attempts to grapple and begin disabling weapons.     Shigure turns away from the convoy, lifting her cannon turrets to high elevations and loading flak-shells to engage the incoming air threat. Kuma and Yuudachi similarly begin to turn, but at slower off the mark, just in case people need a lift back to the action. Their secondary arrays lifting to defensive ready in case any planes come their way. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Suddenly, missiles.     Aoko did NOT expect this, and more importantly, did not ever train to fight in water. In retrospect, that was stupid and reckless.     Then again, that's normal for Aoko.     "Whoa, hey, hang on, I came to help!"     Clearly, it's too late for that. Aoko can't make impressive barriers like Seventeen can, and so she has to defend herself with superior offense instead. Beams of blue light pierce the water, forming in the air like a complex grid of death around Aoko. They intercept some - not all - of the inbound torpedoes, but the explosions do well enough to send Aoko up into the air that she's momentarily safe from further harm. She blasts downwards with her hands, stabilizing herself above the water, barely.     Tony Stark was more graceful than she is on his first attempt at doing just that, let's be honest.     "How vexing!"     Aoko does not counterattack.     "Hey, Seventeen, can you pick me up, I can't fly or walk on water!" Kind of an issue. Any excuse to be swept around by a pretty man, besides!     Her eyes do linger on the Demon, though. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Holy shit, it's Thor, actual God of Thunder.     Maaka avoids getting too distracted by the Norse Deity and Asskicker Supreme, seeing as how things are a bit busy at the moment. She continues opening fire, trying to gauge the distance and angle with her cybernetic targeting systems before she opens fire once more, blasting away at the planes to knock them right out of the sky.     She sees Raider engaging 17, Aoko, AND ALSO THOR, and Maaka decides she'll join in on that. The cyborg skates across the ocean once more, swiftly opens fire on Raider this time. Disable first is best, she thinks. 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Leyanne pulls up to one of the transports to allow Kotone to jump off, and then once again Leeroy pulls up into a plane again. Leyanne turns the bow towards the Raider, bringing the radar set online. "Exocets coming online." She reports. "All guns, hold fire until she actually strikes. Let's give the dude a chance to talk If she strikes home, shoot to disable, get ready the harpoons incase we need to stop her sinking." THe mice on board nod and take aim, the two ogrelike rodents at the exocets giving a thumbs-up. There's a laugh from the bow. "Do you think that's a bit of a... Thor point?" someone says in relation to Maaka's comment, and it's followed by the sound of a soda can bouncing off a helmet, and generalized cussing. At the back of the boat, the Bofors swings up and opens fire on any aircraft that gets too close. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone has seen the ships are getting away at this point she remained on board long enough to make sure they are clearly seeing they are well on their way she calls to the Crew. "Keep going we'll make sure to deal with the attacker." She mutters about something not being right there with the Abyssal. She has been aware this one seemed not entirely lost in their pain. Something isn't right as she breaks into a run on the deck leaps and double jumps trying to make it on to Shigure's deck, she'll end up rolling across the deck a bit and then rises up to her feet. "Sorry about the deck Shigure." Kotone calls out, she does have some heavy weapons she can make use of hell she might be able to do some repairs through the tech base of this form is ... quite old to her world and she'll have to rely on some basic work on analog tech in restorations. She pulls her she pauses as Thor shows up wait what show? Given the state of this fight? She's going to use her Matter Mani0plator to change weapons and deploy her MEK issue minigun. It looks kinda strange such a small woman carrying such a big gun, as she'll move to find a good spot on the deck to shoot from for the moment. "Just let me know where you need me." she will spray fire at any aircraft coming for Shigure as she closes... 

:'''{{#var:6804|Thor (6804)}} has posed:''' Thor can see what's going on. The supposed 'demon' that he tackles is...apparently a victim, according to 17 and Aoko? Confusion dawns upon his face, but he decides to defer to them, since they know what they're doing, and others are starting to agree. So, when Aoko calls for help... Thor continues spinning the hammer, swooping down to grab her with his free arm and lift her. He's careful not to hurt her while doing so, as he moves to bring her towards the nearest surface. Letting her go safely, he stops spinning the hammer and lands next to her. Planes are coming. The others are intending to deal with them, but there might be too many. So while he doesn't strike yet, Mjolnir starts to crackle with lightning. The hammer basically buzzes as it crackles, ready to fire bolts when necessary. He doesn't move to engage the Raider Demon - that'd be harmful to 17's plan, and Yamashiro is already interfering with it. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "I. Remember." Raider responds to Seventeen. She hauls herself up to her feet, brandishing her claws and cannons once more, "No. Choice. Now." With her cannons leveled, she opens fire on the Android with one turret's worth of guns before Yamashiro bodys her. The second turret's shot goes wide, sailing up harmlessly in an arc away from the battle. The Demon lets out a snarl as she goes down, one of her turrets being torn off before she gets her claws into the battleship's equipment. Wrenching, she reverses the situation with a rolling maneuver, before she releases and slides backwards.     As the Demon skates back, bullets digging into her, she hisses. Her tail swings forward under her damaged cannon arm, ejecting a trio of torpedoes into Maaka's current path.     Meanwhile, the first vanguard to encounter the approaching airstrike would be Orchid's drones. And it truly is something to behold. Like someone just dumped out the contents of an angry beehive, insulted its mother, and then kicked it a few times. A great swarm of white spheres with teeth, trailing crimson smoke. The first wave are fighters, banking into the formation of bat-like drones with machine guns blazing. They use advanced dogfighting techniques as well, diving in and dashing away using the accumulated speed, always working in pairs.     And while the fighters contend with the present air power, swooping in beneath the dogfight are similarly shaped but differently equipped aircraft moving in groups of four. As they get closer, these in turn split up-- Some going high and then dive-bombing, while others go low and drop torpedoes in the water before banking up and away. It's a full on air strike, and everyone but the Raider Demon and those in her IMMEDIATE vicinity is a target. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      So there's a new plan, involving Orchid Boosting a signal. It even feels like it could work. But for best results, she'll need to be closer to the source, closer to where the jamming will be needed. So Orchid has gotten back on her rocket surfboard, and is heading towards the main action... But with the bombs coming in...      No. She doesn't slow. She doesn't want to die, but the prospect of saving one helpess life, to bring back Graf Spee back from being a monster. The fear of failure is greater.      Thankfully, Orchid's hands are projecting a pair of forcefields, that she will use for at least partial cover.      Back in the air... Orchid's drones are not prepared for this kind of Air Power. First the bats, then the V-22s, nearly all of them will be destroyed. But they won't go down alone. The bats first shoot their tracking darts, then small bolts of plasma. Then they, and the V-22s, will be spending their bodies against the incoming abyssal aircraft, and if they crash they will explode the abyssal. But it is likely that the net effect will be is to slow them down, slightly.      Hopefully, with Orchid's warning, it'll be enough time for her friends to get to cover. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Android 17 pulls his shield up as the turrent empties into him. He did not get out of it unscathed, his brow was bleeding and there was enough damaged clothing to indicate that something got through, but...that should have easily killed just a 'normal' Park Ranger. The dust clears, and Seventeen remains standing, though the barrier is gone.     "Maybe," he admits, "If someone took that choice from you, then I'll help you get it back." he says, looking towards Tamashiro. Who also saved him from a follow up from the Raider Demon.     "She's in your hands." He says towards Tamashiro with a tone. That TONE, that is somehow flat, but also communicates a high amount of anger. While in Demon's immediate area, he was not targeted by the planes. Thor grabs Aoko, who has a plan, that's fine.     He can leave that to Aoko, it's time to draw the attention of the person whoever is causing this trouble.     "Hey, Vouyer." he says, again, with that same tone. His hand comes out, pointing the palm of it towards the genera direction of the planes as they rise up from their bombing.     A large blast of energy erupts form his hand, aiming to stream out in a barrage of smaller streams, aiming to try and catch the planes. Even if he doesn't shoot them down, it will not feel good, and will put their focus on him...or try to.     "Consider this your on notice warning. She's not yours, she is her own person. The last person that tried to tell me that they owned someone did not survive long enough to make that mistake again." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Yamashiro's port-side turrets get wrecked, one falling off its mounting and plunking into the water. The other turret dangles on the wrecked gimbal. She then kicks forward again, aiming to grab at the lighter ship again. "Where are you looking? I'm your opponent!" she taunts, ducking to sweep the legs out from under Raider, then attempting to grab that claw-arm and pull it out behind the Raider, out of position to use again. "We're trying to help you... just fight against her for a little longer." she attempts to soothe.     Shigure turns, and as the dive bombers come in, her guns open up, filling the air with flak explosions and tracer fire from her secondary batteries. "Yamakawa, try and destroy the bombs before they impact!" she says, echoing through the metal of her ship-form, while attempting to dodge through the barrage of bombs falling around her.     Yuudachi opens up much the same, covering for the less able Kuma as the pair move to interpose between the oncoming onslaught and the group around Raider. "We're, like, getting overwhelmed here!" calls Yuudachi over radio, a bomb striking her superstructure and blasting a hole in the side of the bridge deck. "KYAH!" 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Caught by Thor and deposited onto the overturned warship, Aoko grins, giving the Asgardian a thumb up. "Thaaaaanks handsome!"     Of course, there's still the problem of the air strike, but... with everyone flying about and attacking the planes, at least it's a bit easier to handle. Barely.     Beams of blue light shine into being again, trying to intercept any incoming shells before they can bomb Aoko or her makeship ground out from under her feet.     She spreads her arms wide and looks up, feeling out the land. "Hm. It's not the most magical of places, but it'll have to do. Well, let's get to work! DEPLOY!"     A massive circle of magical writing and runes appears underneath Aoko, spreading out into the water. The circle begins siphoning mana from the sea, but also from Aoko, who is evidently producing absurd amounts of it.     Enough so that her body is making noises not entirely unlike a jet engine as her Magic Circuits rotate, and rotate, and rotate.     It's gonna take a while to have quite enough magic on-hand, though. She'll need cover! 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' Even as the dive bombers and torpedo bombers engage the agile PT boat, its own guns return fire. First the 40mm, strings of fat shells bursting in the air around the incoming drones, followed by the 20mm and 50-cal guns. Leyanne ducks behind the cover of her armoured wheelhouse, dragging the wheel left and right erattically to prove a difficult target. Aerial bombardment, it seems, is not the way to deal with a PT boat. As the boat carves unpredictable curves in the water, it proves nearly impossible to target. What damage Leeroy recieves seems to be from luck, at least so far as the dive bombers go. The torpedo bombers fare a little better, one of the torpedoes detonating just aft of the PT boat and briefly lifting his stern from the water. The boat slams down with a crunch of stressed wood. "Asshats!" Leyanne growls. "Priority target, those torpedo bombers. Divebombers we can dodge but if they get a good lineup on us at close range we're buggered." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Dive Bombers? Kotone has done enough time helping out the Fleet as a light carrier top know what's coming next even as Shigure gives the order to intercept she's raising her weapon and opening fire the minigun opens up, and Ktoone is making a weaving field of fire to intercept and detonate the bombs before they land with pure volume of fire here. "Aye, I'm on it Shigure!" Brass rains on the deck even as Kotone fires she does not sit still she keeps moving, aiming to intercept the bombs as they fall to the deck and there's a real danger she might end up getting caught in one of the blasts as she's quite intent from keeping Shigure from harm from these as much as possible. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Explosions fuel the immediate area, as turret rounds and bombs are thrown about. She sees Aoko, and begins to skid towards the sorceress. "I got your back, gingerbread!" She calls out, opening fire upon the enemy aircraft. Aircraft open fire upon Maaka, leaving holes in her skin and uniform while punching marks in her ocean rig. "Fuckin' get off!" She roars, opening fire again as she draws a light-machine gun from her Matter Manipulator's inventory, blazing away with the SAW in her off-hand. Normally she can evade hostile fire easily, but trying to protect Aoko makes this a bit more complex for the moment.     Blood and mech fluid can be seen pooling at Maaka's feet as she zips back and forth, her injuries growing messier by the minute, even if she can still fight. 

:'''{{#var:6804|Thor (6804)}} has posed:''' As Thor drops off Aoko onto the overturned airship, there's an airstrike, torpedoes and divebombs. Thor is blasted and impacted by these attacks, not bothering to dodge - the blasts send him skidding back and bruise him and his armor, but the God of Thunder is fine - he's incredibly sturdy. "Hah! Good try, planes, but you'll have to do better than that." Positioning himself between Aoko and the explosions (because he can tank them), the lightning swirls from the hammer, and then blasts out. It moves for any nearby torpedo-launchers, crackling white bolts flying forth and moving to fry them. It's strong, and Thor's not even at full power. To that might be a hinder for his enemies. He turns his over his shoulder to Aoko. "Whatever you are doing, make sure it works. I'll protect you." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Absolute Goddamn Chaos is a common result when an air strike occurs. Fighters and drones fight a pitched battle in the sky, while bombers unleash their payloads and swing around into retreat. Seventeen's beam incinerates several retreating bombers, while others are clipped by the beam. Others are damaged or shot down by accumulated anti-air fire from the destroyers and cruiser. The remaining frigates from the escort lend their firepower as well, the chatter of autocannons mixed with the buzzing of CWIS. The problem is the number of bombers involved.     While that chaos reigns in the backdrop, Raider Demon grapples with Yamashiro. She lets out a shout when her legs are knocked out from under her, and her claw gauntlet emits a strained groan of fatigued steel when pinned behind her back. Like most people, she's mostly helpless like this. Her tail thrashes, lacking the mass to dislodge the battleship. Her struggles cease, the Demon muttering, "I belong. To nobody."     YOU BELONG TO ME.     Her equipment starts that godawful screeching again. Raider Demon's struggling renews, with more vigor and an agonized scream. As she struggles, her remaining turret rotates, the barrels elevated for a point blank shot.     Defenses begin focusing around Aoko and her giant, obvious magical circle. Whoever is directing the air attacks refocuses their efforts here. Torpedo bombers start running attacks on the ship Aoko is standing on, while dive bombers drop their explosives from above. When bombers stop getting through lightning and gunfire from Thor and Maaka and Kotone and the two destroyers, the fighters begin strafing the overturned hull with machine gun fire, diving on the magus in pairs. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen noted that there was something...satisfying in launching that beam. He prepares a second one, because it appears they were not FOCUSED enough on him...but that was because, to his realization, they were focused on Aoko. "Damnation." he says, uncharacteristically bothered. It also seemed that Raider was fighting...good.     Seventeen uses that stupid speed to avoid direct combat, even as some tired to fire at him. Rolling around, he flashed again, this time appearing near Aoko. His barrier expands, aiming to protect her from the oncoming damage...     By taking it all himself. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     "That's right, you belong only to yourself." says Yamashiro, grunting as those struggles renew. Red eyes widen as the remaining turret swivels around to blast her point blank, and she chooses to sacrifice the rest of her main battery to tank the shots, bringing her starboard turrets around to absorb the shells. At that range, no matter how well she angles, they're going to punch clean through the armour, detonating inside and sending the turret caps careening off into the water, spreading black scorch marks across Yamashiro's body, and cutting gashes that leak black oil-like blood. "Gonna have to try... a little harder than that." she grunts, painedly, balling her free fist to smash the cannon turret so it can't refire again.     Shigure can't dodge every bomb, and Kotone can't take them all out either. Explosions ripple across the destroyer, rending holes and setting fires in her superstructure and leaving portions of her deck an impassable mess. "Gnnn, that one got through... engine power dropping. Repair teams, lay to the engine room!"     Yuudachi and Kuma continue their own barrage of AA fire, but are similarly being worn down. Yuudachi starts to list heavily to starboard, and then a set of fairies pin up a large white sheet between her bridge tower and main funnel, forming a makeshift sail. "I'll keep on fighting, using a hammock for a sail if I must!" 

:'''{{#var:1100|Leyanne (1100)}} has posed:''' That screeching even has the mice wincing in pain, while they continue to defend the little PT boat, which starts circling around Kuuma and Yuudachi to add his weight of AA defense to theirs, trying to keep them from going down. "Ready rescue equipment." Leyanne comments. "Just in case." 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Wow that's a LOT of aggro.     Aoko is going to trust her entourage knows what it's doing and can handle both defense and anti-plane tactics at the same time.     "Geez I hope once they've got one of those planes to take apart they can do this easier, I'm so not down to do this every time!" It's dangerous! In ways she's not especially inclined to repeat often. She prefers to shoot back, not charge up a solution.     Granted by all definitions the solution is a shot.     Shut up.     "Just a bit longer guys, sorry, sorry!"     Several more circles appear overhead, shaped like a funnel drawing in air towards the red-haired magus. Oh, it takes her back.     Last time it was a moon and a comet.     Now it's just thin air.     "Barrel, expand!" They grow.     "Expand!" They grow.     "I said expand dangit!" They GROW.     "Switching to alternating current."     The spell circles bloom, almost like flowers. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      "You'd think I'd learn that I hate these field jobs," Orchid mutters to herself, landing on the deck near Aoko. With her drones gone, she can reconfigure her transceiver systems to be ready to amplify the signal Aoko has promised... if they're still ALIVE when they get to that point.      Still, time must be bought. While others aim for the aircraft, Orchid has morphed one hand to a blaster, and is shooting pellets of plasma not into the air, but into the water. She's aiming for the torpedoes, and while her aim is poor, her rate of fire is high, tiny pellets kicking up water in explosions. 

:'''{{#var:6804|Thor (6804)}} has posed:''' As Android 17 handles the vast majority of the aggro, Thor determines he needs to take out the fighters to give the man a break. He spins the hammer again, but he doesn't fly. No, in the end of that spin, Thor throws Mjolnir. The hammer goes flying through the air, at an incredibly precise angle, thrown like it was a frisbee. It courses up into whatever fighters it can hit, trying to smash through them with all of the hammer's might, before returning to Thor's hand afterwards. "Maiden! We'll deal with them, hurry with your craft!" If they survive the first throw, Thor does it again. They need to take these fighters out. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     More machine gun fire is released from Maaka, and is returned in interest. She feels several rounds dig through her chest, leaving the cyborg in excruciating pain fueled only by adrenaline. She has no idea who it is people are talking about over the radio, might be a good thing to ask later when this settles. Assuming it settles.     She shifts fire at the bombers, trying to shoot them down before they reach Aoko as she lifts and aims the SAW more accurately now. It's way easier to shoot this way, rather than use the awkward turret gun. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa has certainly lessened the amount of fire Shigure has taken. She also has got caught in the edge of several blasts to ones she got at the last moment, Kotone clearly has been hurt and she's got a few bits of fragment impaled in her armour and body and she's clearly hurt. She pulls one of the worst offenders out and calls out to Shigure. "They don't seem to be done with us yet, Shigure!" She could help with the repairs but she's not a naval mechanic, she could help with fire suppression but they need more guns on deck so she'll keep to the deck and turn her weapons attention to the fighters that are coming in. "What's happened to her Shigure?!" she calls out as she keeps up the AA barrage. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Bombers and fighters buzz around Aoko's location as the magus ramps up her spell. Attacks are being interfered with by gunfire a lignting hammer and Seventeen's quick interceptions. After some considerable harassment efforts, however, the aircraft suddenly ascend into the cloud layer. The damaged cruiser and destroyers are left alone at this point, and they'd already given up on making attacks on the PT boat.     The signal itself has also stopped, and with it the Raider Demon has gone still beneath Yamashiro. She rests there, single eye closed, breath coming in ragged gasps against the rolling surface of the sea. Softly, the Abyssal murmurs, "...I don't."     A gentle glow builds up around her and Yamashiro, as the Demon speaks, "...I don't. Want. To do this. Anymore." She then loses consciousness, pieces of black metal falling away that had previously been attached to her. It's an entirely different person under Yamashiro after a few minutes have passed. Silver-haired, with a red streak on one side, in a black uniform dress soaked through with seawater. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Yamashiro loosens her grip as Graf Spee stops struggling. As she loses consciousness, the Battleship dismounts, and scoops the girl up into her arms, cradling her like one might a child. "We will take her to a safe harbour. Not Hikari, so she can rest, and our colleagues can visit her." she transmits, skating over towards the others. Shigure's engine kicks back to life and she turns, wounded, to the group, while Yuudachi remains stranded, dead in the water.     Kuma fires grapple lines over to the destroyer, and starts to haul her along, both ships streaming smoke from various battle damage scars. <Mooooh... for Kuma to get in such a state, such a disgrace, kuma.> 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Midway is a benevolent overlord, apparently, or at least generous enough to withdraw and not cause a further mess for the time being.     Or maybe luck favors the party, for once.     But with all that taken care of, Aoko is left with an absurd quantity of magical energy that she has nothing to do with. She could shoot the planes, but that's a waste of a perfectly viable death beam.     She could shoot at the sky but that's even worse!     Nevermind shooting at the bottom of the sea.     And so Aoko settles... on bottling all that mana up into the depths. It's where she pulled some of it from anyway, and she's PRETTY SURE the sea can handle being hypermagical until someone or something draws upon it. Probably her, later. Hopefully her?     Honestly she doesn't care right now.     And/or isn't even thinking about that.     With a great footstomp, Aoko banishes all of her spell circles to the bottom of the ocean, where their glow fades out eventually. Then she puts her hands in her pockets and whistles, as if nothing had happened.     "So, that went well! Still can't fly though, so I need a ride." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa weapon ticks sown running dry of ammo in the current hopper, she pauses lowering the weapon, Midway was active again an she felt a mix of horror and fear from her Ghost. Midway was the very idea of what her world was often mindlessly running into 'improving' the human race without thinking much about the results. Her whole experience with the Fleet and Abyssals left her feeling odd. They were machines becoming people and she was a person who had become a machine. "Wait she's ..." She watches taking a good look s the Abyssal changes armour flakes away and her real self finally reveals itself she banishes her empty weapon back into storage space. "We should get moving Shigure...and give anyone else who needs a lift." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      This... was not what Orchid was expecting. But she'll take it. Heck, she would have taken it even if Graf Spee had stayed in her abyssal form, if she had just stopped lashing out at people. Orchid reconfigures her transceivers so that she won't blow them out in the amplification, and walks over to Yamashiro. "Well, that's a win," she says, looking down at the Graf Spee. "Get better soon, I want to see who you become." She turns back to Aozaki. "We'll give you a ride, no worries." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen was mad...he was something beyond mad. He was /absolutely livid/...but...with the person who is the source of this retreating...he swallows it. He burries it down, because he'll need it again. The man only stares at the retreating things...and then turning towards Aoko.     "I heard you need a ride," he says, calmly, aiming to give her a hand to fly towards the port they were going. Of courses, he was seeing what was happening...for all of that, he was at least happy. Raider chose her path, and for that...well...     In that he was happy. 
}}

In the Dark (Midway)

2018-12-03T03:00:32Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/02 |Location=Great Ocean Grotto |Synopsis=The Raider Demon's sanctum is host to an unwanted and unwelcome visitor |Cast of Characters=..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/02
|Location=Great Ocean Grotto
|Synopsis=The Raider Demon's sanctum is host to an unwanted and unwelcome visitor
|Cast of Characters=1122
}}
An undersea grotto. The shape of the seafloor has produced a cavern that manages, even at this depth, to contain a substantial air pocket. The cavern is dimly lit by ancient, flickering lamps, black and corroded with time. And strewn about it in loosely organized heaps are various treasures. A haphazard pile of steel ingots and scrap in varying states of corrosion. A carefully stacked tower of oil drums. Discarded weapon barrels and ammunition.

The pool of water near one edge bubbles. From this, the Raider Demon surfaces, water sloughing from her mismatched armor and asymmetrical gauntlets. Underneath one arm, a bound together pallet of ingots. As she approaches the transition from water to stone, other Abyssal ships surface. The dog-sized, whale-like destroyers. Spherical transports. Hauling themselves ashore, the transports split open their cargo bulbs, and the destroyers begin offloading the materials taken from Dynamic Steel.

"Welcome, Raider Demon."

Activities immediately cease. Destroyers whirl towards the back of the cavern, baring their teeth. The Demon herself drops her cargo, drawing both arms up aggressively. Her claws brandished, her cannons swinging around, the Raider Demon demands, "Who. Said That." Once her weapons have fully traversed, the Demon edges forward, "Show. Yourself."

In the back of the cavern, eyes slowly open. Glowing crimson points in the dark. Their appearance gives the Demon pause. The figure they're attached to steps forward, guttering light flickering off ghostly pale skin, the snow-white dress, glistening off the black metal implants on her fingers and neck and the prominent horns. Raider Demon takes a step back, bringing her clawed gauntlet from an aggressive stance to a defensive one when the figure speaks.

"I," her voice is cold, her tone level and commanding, "Am Midway."

The Demon steps back, as the intruder continues to approach with measured steps, "A. Princess." The Raider stops, then, presenting her weapons once more in a show of defiance, "State. Your Business."

"I have been observing your activities," the Princess reaches behind herself as she approaches, "And I have located the source of your deficiencies."

Her hand emerges, holding a well-used smithing hammer.

6159/It's the Naval Way

2018-12-02T03:48:57Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/01 |Location=Great Ocean |Synopsis=Foiled by a clash of personalities and powers beyond her understanding, and sated of her need for oil by..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/01
|Location=Great Ocean
|Synopsis=Foiled by a clash of personalities and powers beyond her understanding, and sated of her need for oil by the magic of Aoko Aozaki, the Raider Demon now turns her sights on more resource acquisition. The ore refinery down the coast from Cape Town is her target. Her goal: Steel.
|Cast of Characters=1122, 591, 685, 571, 6730, 6384, 6381
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     'There's more to life than that. It's proof that you're alive. That is important. Whatever and however you want to live, that's your choice.'     Amidst the waves, a humanoid shape rises. Trailing surf, water sloughing from her armor and weapons, the Raider Demon draws her clawed gauntlet up. Her fingers flex.     'There is still. Work to do. And. A war to fight.'     Ashore, Dynamic Steel's foundary is already alight with alarms. Vehicles depart, a line of headlights filling the roads along the coastline. The facility itself is already mostly empty. A helicopter passes overhead, drawing the Raider Demon's attention-- and when her single crimson eye fixates on it, the pilot thinks better of it and draws back to a safer distance.     'Can't you just...stop it?'     Around the Raider Demon, multiple smaller, dog-sized black Abyssal Destroyers surface. Some breach like dolphins while others coast beside and behind her. The Demon herself draws up her right hand, the three-gun turrets aligning with her forearm and leveling their barrels.     'Not yet.'     She is the Raider Demon.     It's time to raid. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Luck had it that Aoko was in the area. Well, luck... she'd been in the area the day before, it wasn't that much of a stretch. She'd never really wandered Africa, so after Foreigner dropped her off, she just took to looking around. Might as well cross a place off the list, right?     Lucky for her that the future is on her side.     Of course, she makes no effort to hide her presence. That mane of crimson hair would be hard to miss, especially sitting on the fence of the foundry. She's eating an ice cream cone right now, and that fence happened to be the nicest vantage point over the coast that didn't involve breaking and entering to get on a rooftop.     Not that she'd have minded.     But some days you just feel like being lazy.     "Oh? Now that's a coincidence."     Or is it, really. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Patrolling south along the coast, having left Cape Town earlier that week, Shigure, Yuudachi and Kuma stand on Yamashiro's foredeck as the report comes in. After putting out orders to any Paladin units nearby to assist in evacuation, the Fifth Strike leap overboard, and spread formation, shifting to their Ocean Fitouts to strike a more intimidating and threatening posture. They keep their weapons safe for now. Better to try and draw attention, than open fire and potentially cause civilians to get caught in the crossfire.     Shigure kicks up her speed to pull ahead, signalling with lights to the others to hang back as she closes the distance on the Abyssal unit.     She's got a good idea it's the Raider Demon again, and this time, she's looking to get some words in without a certain Foreigner muddying the waters. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka -loathes- this costume, but it's time to stop sitting around on her ass while all this goes on.     Mounted with a machine gun and a torpedo launcher on her arms, the cyborg is currently skating across the water at high enough speeds she's opted to wear a full face mask to keep from getting stuff in her eyes. She's moving quickly, and notices she's rather close to Cape Town's coast.     It's been forever since she's visited Africa. Jeez. Feels weird seeing an early turn of the century version of it.     She's also got some artillery on her back and is clutching an M249 SAW in her hands. Maaka spies Shigrue and the others, and climbs aboard Yamashiro. "Hope I'm not too late. I'm rolling-Errr, sailing with you I guess." She says, nodding tersely to the Shipgirls. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Yesterday, "Hey Aoko, you know of any good resturants?"     Probably not, because as she just said she never been here. Seventeen decided to stick in the area a bit longer...a roamer by nature, but when he gets invested in a cause, well...     After eating a nice dinner, a scrumptious breakfast, and then a long walk along the really nice beaches of this place, he had managed to be around the South side of the cove when warnings started going out. Looking out over the water would reveal why.     A bit later, as people started deploying, a touristy dressed 17 lands by the dangerous Red head, taking a lean near the ice cream eating woman.     "So what do you think about the whole situation?" 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Between an early warning and prompt Paladin response, it looks like the entire area around the factory is going to be cleared very soon. Orchid is one of those currently sweeping the area, both personally and with her drones, to do two things: make sure the stragglers get moves out, and to get an eye on the incoming raiders. The first is done by herself and the drones, the second by the Osprey Drones she's been developing, rising above the facility and moving out over the sea, transmitting what they see.      And of course Orchid finds someone. Two someones. "Hey! You need to .. hang on, I recognize you two. From the raid on the tanker," She says to Aoko and Android 17. "Any chance you could tell me what you intend to do about this?" 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     An Abyssal is attacking a metal refinery. That's never a good thing.     Also what the hell is an Abyssal?     Having been deployed by her stealth ship, Nova makes her way into the foundary under cover of her cloak. No need to draw unwanted attention from evacuation personnel, or reveal her presence to the attackers just yet. Her mission here is information gathering. Of course if she happens to save the local civilian infrastructure in the process, all the better.     Nova makes the rather arduous climb up the ladder before finally pulling herself up onto the top platform of one of the foundary's chimneys. An excellent spot with which to view the forming battlefield. She reaches to take her rifle from her back, before moving up to the edge of the platform and crouching. Through her visor she zooms in on the approaching Abyssal force. Admittedly some of their features do look familiar.     Glancing around, Nova spots a few more interested parties, some coming by sea, others already here. Probably here to help defend the refinery. Though for the moment, Nova doesn't make her presence known, intending to just wait to see how the situation progresses. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     "No idea!" Aoko tells 17 with a smile, and then with a grin, repeats the fact to Orchid with almost no shame. "No idea!"     That ice cream is really good, though.     "I'm thinking wait and see. Miss Demon hasn't opened fire yet. There's hope~"     And hope is invaluable, she feels.     "But just so we're clear, I'm not going to protect a private company's stock. Their workers, probably, but this foundry doesn't benefit the locals, it benefits big wigs across the ocean, so I couldn't care less if the Abyssals take their things because they need food." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen laughs at Aoko. "Fair enough, fair enough." He says, before the seriousness sat in. "She did say she was uninterested in the people...but not that she would stop raiding.." Seventeen frowns. When Orchid shows up, Seventeen crossed his arms in a defiant position.     "Unlike your ally from last week, the people are important. Beyond that, my reasons are my own and I have no interest in answering to you or your corporate masters. If you wana make a deal with it, I will introduce you to the ground..." he leans in, "And your relationship will be intimate." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      "Does that go the other way?" Orchid asks Aoko. "Will you intervene if someone decides putting locals out of a job is a bad thing? Oh, and may I ask your name? My name is Orchid."      At 17's fierce statement, Orchid takes a step back. "Dude? Chill. I'm here to get people out of the line of fire. I don't do the fighting. I'm asking to make sure that YOU aren't planning on killing people. It's called taking saving lives seriously. I don't want a fight with you." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     A trio of dark shapes coasts over the sea as the situation develops. Round, white, and laden with teeth. Abyssal aircraft. Like before, these appear to have just wandered in from another zone. And, like before, these three scout planes begin circling while keeping their distance.     Thanks to Orchid's help and the early warning, the foundry's workers have already at least made it to a safer location than 'exactly what is in danger'. This lack of personnel in the facility also makes Nova's infiltration easier than it otherwise would have been, just because there's next to nobody actually present to avoid in the first place.     Out at sea, the Demon and her entourage are plenty visible. A ghastly white woman in a tattered black uniform, overlaid with protruding metal bits and plates, her arms clad in gauntlets containing her weapons. Long, jointed claws on the left, a pair of three-gun heavy turrets on the right.     With nothing shooting at her, she has no reason to shoot back, though her weapons are all primed and ready.     The arrival of the Fifth Fleet pulls her attention, though. That glowing crimson eye swivels across her helmet faceplate, staring down the approaching ships. One of her destroyer escorts makes a noise, and she thrusts her arm out towards the factory. And then she stops.     The destroyers continue, passing the Demon, who stands defiantly in opposition to the approaching Fifth Fleet's ship forms. Seems she intends to handle the naval fighting herself and buy time for her minions to take what they came for.     The Demon draws her arms up, flexing her talons. Her right arm's cannons adjust their elevations, briefly spreading out before leveling off. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Yamashiro gives a soft little grunt from within her shipform as Maaka lands on her aft-deck. "Hello." is all she offers, before starting to turn, bringing her broadside to bear against the Demon, but apart from elevating into position and tracking around to bear, they do not otherwise engage. Yuudachi and Kuma similarly come about, weapons leveling, but not firing just yet.     It's mostly because Shigure has told them to hold fire until she is either attacked or gives the order.     Shigure herself shifts from Ocean Fitout to Land Fitout, and skates up to a respectful distance from the Demon. "We finally meet, face to face." she offers, keeping her backpack rig in place, the cannon barrels peeking over her shoulders and pointing skywards. Her blue eyes shift and shimmer lightly, looking up at the scout aircraft before returning to the Demon. "Need repair materials?" she asks, making a gesture at the destroyers. "You should have brought a couple of transports... unless they're still submerged." she adds conversationally. "Could I ask you to call off those destroyers for a few more minutes? The facility isn't fully evacuated yet and I'd rather not have a repeat of the tanker incident." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     "Uh huh, I'm not enthused by you guys after the last time we crossed paths. Hearing you say that is rich, because of how it went down." Seventeen says, a bit testily. To be fair, the person who caused the loss of life wasn't a Paladin, nor did they help the situation at all. THAT one had to answer for it, but right now he's gota relax. Think with a clear head and not dismiss potential allies because of stubbornness.     Walking out towards the edge of the sea, Seventeen uses his extrodinary hearing to listen in.     "Tell your friend," he says towards Orchid, "To ask why she is raiding." 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     "Dunno! Don't like making promises. We'll see what happens and what I do! But it looks like your friend's trying to talk things out right now, so that's nice," Aoko responds, shoving the rest of her cone into her mouth.     "Touko Aozaki," she says, with her mouth full. "You make sure everyone knows I support the Abyssals in their every raid!"     Yes, do please tell everyone that. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      "You weren't on the ship as torpedoes went into it," Orchid says, evenly and levelly to Android 17. "I'll pass that along. Touko Aozaki? Thank you. Either way, nearly all of the locals have been evacuated. The three of us may be the only ones still at risk."      Up in the air, some of Orchid's drones are moving towards the Abyssal aircraft. If they can get close enough, they'll try and put small tracking devices on the aircraft, and will certainly try to get closer looks. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     "I was in the water trying to shoot them down, your point?" he says towards Orchid. 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka...waits. She looks confused, but goes with it. Hopping off the ship, she follows Shigure and the others, her machine gun in hands but kept in an alert carry for the time being. Shigure can handle the talking, the cyborg thinks. For now. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     When Shigure reveals her human form, Raider Demon does not back down. She does, at the very least, not point her weapons at the soft-spoken destroyer girl. She also doesn't seem very conversational, at least until her destroyers are brought up. That red eye swings towards the departing flotilla. That eye swings back towards Shigure, and only then does her posture relax from 'immediate violence' to something less prepared to pounce.     The lead destroyer dives, then pops up vertically in acknowledgement. The others in the flotilla turn and begin circling, just milling around. Not advancing, but not willing to stop moving either.     "Face. To Face." the Demon repeats in her roboticized voice, "Transports. Are waiting. But." Her clawed hand raises, talons spread, "Have. No need. For screaming meat. Take it. And go." The hand lowers, "Metal. Will be taken. By force. If needed."     Her eye swivels towards Maaka and the distant Yamashiro, presenting broadside. After a moment, it's back on Shigure, the Demon's tail shifting in the water behind her. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     "It should only take a few more minutes to clear the foundry... but I have a question." says Shigure, her voice never once raising above the soft, even tone she's always used. She scoots a little bit closer, keeping her hands in view and away from her weapons... just a little closer.     "Why do you raid? What purpose does it serve?" she asks, a signal fairy on her rigging running light-signals back towards Yamashiro and the others, keeping them informed as she slowly closes on the Demon. It's not aggressive, and it's a gradual thing that she'll stop as soon as Raider shows signs of hostility. 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     From her perch, Nova is able to keep track of the situation fairly easily as it plays out. Her visor shows her a close look at what she assumes in the leader of this raid. Some interesting equipment, if designed to look a little creepy. Though the way the figure is floating suggests similar function to the shipgirls that have moved in to face her, along with others Nova has seen in the past. Nova does recall a mission against a giant moving sea fortress. Ah right, there was the girl inside too. The same force?     Turning her head to look more locally at the refinery, Nova glances over that group. Her HUD identifies all three, though Nova doesn't recognise two of them. And yet apparently they are allies. Well, help is good.     Nova's HUD also alerts her to the flying scout drones, but Nova chooses to ignore them for the moment. She returns her focus to the raid's leader, raising her rifle and sighting in on the Abyssal. It seems one of the shipgirls is talking to her, which is fine to Nova, who waits to see how it progresses. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid shrugs at 17. "That we both mean it when we say we're here to save lives? And from what I can see, the Raider doesn't seemed bothered by letting them escape. Still, I will say that is a very good question." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "They. Asked that too," Raider Demon states in response to Shigure's question.     "You know." Those cannons come up, but it's because the girl is gesturing, "To take. What is theirs." She turns, then, and accellerates. But it's more of a pacing motion than an attempt to leave. After a few yards, she turns and proceeds the other way, gesturing as she does so.     "They take. What they want. Use. What they want. Discard. When no longer. Useful." Turning back to Shigure, the Demon hisses, "Taking. Back. Punishment." The Demon's posture changes, becoming more aggressive, "Others hunt. Stalk. Fight. Kill. It is. War. After all. But Raider. Only raids." And then she relaxes once more.     "Feels right. This way." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     "Hm, is that so?" Android Seventeen says, she isn't wrong, but it's not exactly the reason for his being here. It was important to it, however. He listens, waiting for Raider's response. He knows the answer, but sometimes you just need to hear things for yourself.     He listens again, to what she says, and simply says nothing more, watching how this works out. She's not entirely wrong to feel this way...he did too, in another life. He just doesn't want this to be how it ends for her...because when he needed it, someone reached out to him. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     "What if you got another purpose. Another reason to fight?" Asks Shigure. "I don't mean becoming who you were before. Graf Spee..." she lets the name linger in the air for a moment, watching the pacing and gesturing. "It is war.. yes, but can there not be a truce?"     Shigure closes a little bit more, well within the blast radius of any shell fired from her support fleet. "You raid, to punish? Punish who? The surface dwellers? Why? Because you were abandoned?" She reaches out a hand, palm open and facing upwards. "There is no Kanmusu who does not know that pain, that hatred... We chose to master it, and not let it consume us like a fire in a powder magazine. You could do the same." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      "Punishment, huh?" Orchid says, contemplatively. "A better reason than some, and given her lack of interest in killing..." She shrugs. "There's possibility here for reconciliation. Failing that, the talking got everyone else out." Orchid takes a moment, looking around, to make SURE the three of them aren't between the foundry and the sea. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid hums to herself. "Hate to do this, but if the Raider comes in, I've got orders to try and keep you two out of the way," she says. "Shigure won't defend the empty facility." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     "I think I made my stance clear," Seventeen says, calmly. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     "Honestly I'm just here because I'm bored, and because I want to see how this goes. Miss Demon has all the cards she needs in her hand to turn things around, she just doesn't know how to play them yet. Be a shame to sink her when we could teach her to play instead!" She's not sure that analogy really hit home, but it was the best she could think of on the spot.     "Ah, punishment, it's something like that. I think it's more like... the only feelings she has right now are confusion, anger and sadness, and putting names and faces on that is easier than trying to work through the pain. But I don't know for sure. These Abyssals seem like really complex beings, you know?"     Aoko gets up, and almost falls down, balancing awkwardly on the fence with her feet. "Well, not that I, Touko Aozaki, would care about all that. I, Touko Aozaki, only care for things like this!"     Aoko snaps her fingers, and a volley of bright blue bolts fires towards the side of the foundry. The light bullets are hot enough to melt through the walls.     "So it's fine by me if you want to pick a fight!" 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid dives to the side to be further away from Aoko's line of fire. "Have at it, I'm not going to stop you." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "They said. That. Too." Raider Demon remarks. About a new purpose, specifically.     'Graf Spee'.     Immediately, Raider Demon lurches forward, leading with her clawed gauntlet. Those talons are used to press the destroyer down against the water-- though the properties of shipgirls and abyssals makes it pretty similar to being pushed down on solid ground, for the moment.     Leaning over Shigure, Raider Demon wrenches her tail out of the water behind her. Its tip is flanked with two mangled looking torpedo launchers, which swivel on their mounts until they're aimed at the destroyer's face.     "Do not." The Demon's robotic voice modulation cannot conceal the rage she's experiencing. Even the eye mark on her faceplate is losing cohesion, the outline rippling as she speaks, "Call me. That."     But does she hate that name, or does mentioning it cause some kind of emotional anguish she doesn't understand? Either one would explain the explosive response and the distinct lack of awareness to her situation. Her eye swivels up towards Maaka, then further to Yamashiro and Kuma, and all their guns already aimed. That eye returns to Shigure's face, gauging the girl's reaction.     When something explodes near the foundry, though, the flotilla of destroyers cease their lazy circles and begin approaching it again. Perhaps they think someone else is robbing the place and don't want to miss out on the things they came here for. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     "Well...this is turning into a mess," Seventeen sighs...looking back at Aoko. Then looking back at Orchid who...kinda folds after that. "Well, I didn't expect that." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      "Far as I'm concerned, I did my job," Orchid says to Android 17. "People were evacuated safely, and I don't want to risk my life for a building. It's the only life I have, after all. Besides," she gestures out to the water. "That's where the interesting stuff is." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure's eyes widen in shock, the talon grabbing and slamming her down. Her hands come up and grip at the metal pinning her down, and her blue eyes gleam a little in the face of those torpedo launchers. She sets her face in a defiant look, but her eyes hold a deeper seat of compassion as they look back into that glowing eye. "You're confused, scared and angry... I know. Your old name brings up a lot of memories, a confused jumble of images... Right?" she asks. "I understand. I've been in your position before... certain of /a/ purpose, but not of what I should do other than that."     Shigure is frantically transmitting to the others to not engage, though they are certainly hesitant to open fire with their flagship within range of getting damaged too. "The facility is empty, we do not need to fight over an empty building." 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     Nova focuses through her scope as she watches the conversation play out between the Abyssal leader and Shigure. As the Raider Demon proceeds to grab Shigure and press her down, Nova moves her finger to the trigger...     Something explodes!     Nova looks around briefly in confusion, seeing the Abyssal destroyers beginning to move on the refinery. She swears under her breath before moving her sight back to the scope. She finalizes her aim before pulling the trigger.     Nova's cloak shimmers as her rifle fires, the large 25mm bullet streaking across the considerable distance towards the Abyssal's center mass. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Aoko was just trying to be funny! And get someone she doesn't like in trouble. Instead, she seems to have agitated the Demon. Well, that's par for the course.     "Ahaha... well, I don't have any use for what's in that building, so I'm not going to pursue that. You're right! Miss Demon is the VIP here. We should probably go meet her, actually, there's no sense staying this far from the acti--" That sure is a GUNSHOT.     A really big, hefty gunshot.     And it didn't come from the Abyssals. Or Shigure!     "Aww bugger." 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka jumps to action, leveling the SAW right at Raider Demon's face. "Let her go!" She roars loudly at the Abyssal, "Let her go before I blow whatever passes for brains in your head. RIGHT N-" SHe's cut off by the round skidding right toward Raider Demon, swearing loudly as she levels the machine gun alertly toward where she heard it come from. "Where the hell did that come from?" Maaka calls out. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Keeping Shigure pinned, Raider Demon's shoulders move as if panting, though no sound comes from within her helmet to indicate such. She stares into that surprised, then defiant face. The torpedo launchers are jerked forward, presented as more of a threat, but she does seem to listen to the destroyer's words.     Because it makes sense.     "Make. A point." she says at last. Though it's unsure if she's telling Maaka that she 'was making a point' or telling Shigure that she 'made a point' with her words just now.     As the Raider begins to rise, her tail receding and her claws releasing the Kanmusu destroyer, an oversized gunshot rings out from the refinery... 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure's Radar spikes, and as the talon moves away, she rolls aside, grabbing one of her cannon tonfa from her back and brings it around, using the armoured turret cap to intercept the Canister bolt. It pierces and detonates inside the turret, but the fairy team inside keep the magazine from cooking off, though it causes smoke to filter out of the rangefinder, barrel and the penetration point. "Think it over... we'll be here to make sure the civilians get away when you come back." she says, half-threat half-invitation. "You don't have to be alone in your pain." she winces, her arm going limp, but her posture lifting and taking a strong stance... putting herself in between the Raider and the facility, in case another shot comes out from the sniper. "Fifth Strike. SDF Maaka... Stand down, we're leaving." she says, transmitting to the others, but speaking aloud for the Raider to hear it. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     The moment Alexis starts pointing a gun, and a shot goes off, as 17's head snaps up....where did that fire from!?     And then there was Shigure to save the day on this one. Taking a breath, he shakes his head. Well alls well that ends well. Seventeen relaxes... 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     Nova had not expected the one pinned to intentionally get in the way of the shot. She lifts her head from her scope, lowering her rifle as she sees the results, "The hell...?" Nova is confused. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      "What's the emotional equivalent of the Marshal Plan?" Orchid muses, watching what's going on. Of course, she's got drones all over the place. So she's got a very good idea of where the shot came from. "YO! SNIPER ON THE ROOF!" she shouts. "THE PALADINS ARE WITHDRAWING, SO IF YOU WANT TO PROTECT THE PLACE, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN!" 

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''     Maaka grits her teeth as she slings her SAW, clearly unhappy but otherwise forced to go along with this for now. "Fine." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Raider Demon lurches when Shigure lunges, jerking aside. It's the cannon tonfa that takes the hit she hadn't realized was coming, and she recoils with a sweeping motion that carves a circle with one leg. Her cannon-laden right arm is brought up, directed at the facility itself. That much is certain, where the gunshot came from. Her three-barreled guns elevate, and Nova gets a pretty good look at the rifling inside those barrels, through her scope.     "It will. Be in mind," This is the second person in as many days who seems more interested in employing the Raider Demon than in fighting her. But the lack of damage suits her fine. However, that sniper is not with this shipgirl. A rogue agent. Her rangefinders aren't seeing anyone-- so they must be concealed somehow.     Well. There's one good way to find a concealed agent.     "...It is. Not yours." The connection is made between Shigure and the unknown sniper-- that there is no connection. For the first time since the Hikari Defense Alliance began investigating the Raider Demon, her guns open fire in a sharp staccato of reports, slinging heavy artillery shells at the distant foundry.     Much closer, her attending destroyers take the hint. Cannons are disgorged from their mouths as they surface, hurling fire at the foundry's upper levels as well.     That squadron of Abyssal scout planes, meanwhile, bank into a flight course that will take them out of the area in short order. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      As the Raider Squadron starts firing, Orchid books it. "I'd suggest getting away!" 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     That went better then expected, until it very clearly doesn't. Orchid flees. Aoko considers that to be the GOOD DECISION in that particular scenario.     "Welp, I agree! Women and children first, abandon ship!" It's not a ship but it's thematic, so shut up.     Aoko hops down from the fence and puts as much distance as she can between herself and the foundry. Luckily for her, the Abyssals are probably pretty accurate and not too liable to bombard the entire area so much as the building they're intending to. Probably. Hopefully.     On the other hand it's still a naval siege.     And a lot of artillery.     A few blue streaks of light might have to make an effort to gun down incoming shells, but Aoko'd rather not make any moves that could be seen as hostile by the Demon. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     "Good idea...time to hit the trail." Seventeen says, and starts flying away. Poor Nova, he knew her well...no he didn't. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure nods to the Raider, leaning over and turning sharply to return to her squadron. She's holding her arm as it continues to trail smoke behind her, the cannon tonfa remaining strapped to her arm. She uses her free arm for a moment to make a gesture. Twirling her finger in the air, then pointing in the direction away from the area. 'Come about, disengage from Area of Operation'. She sidles up to Kuma's port side, grabbing onto a rope ladder that's tossed overboard by a fairy team, and climbing up carefully as the group turns and begins moving off... "The factory can be rebuilt... and maybe, some trust can be formed." she says to herself, looking over the aft railing at the Demon as the view recedes. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      There will be three of Orchid's drones following the Abyssal scout planes, trackers deployed or not. They want to at least get an idea of where they came from. 

:'''{{#var:6381|Nova Terra (6381)}} has posed:'''     Damnit! Nova had let her confusion distract her. And now the chimney she's perched on is being shelled. Nova stands to move, but then stumbles as one of the shells scores a direct hit on the chimney not far below her. The stone is smashed apart and the tip of the chimney begins to tilt as it loses integrity.     Nova grabs hold of the railing of the platform she's on, vaulting over the side as she begins to tilt with the tower. Gaining footing on the now angled tower, she begins to run along it as it begins to plummet. She quickly reaches the broken edge and jumps, reaching out to grab hold of the new top of the broken chimney, crashing into the side and then dangling there.     Nova looks down, watching the chimney top smash into the ground below... "Screw this." If no one else wants to help defend the place, Nova's not going to stick around. She lets go of the edge, sliding down the side of the chimney until she's near the bottom. She then kicks off from it, hiting the ground in a roll.     Standing once more, Nova turns her head to watch as the Abyssal force begins to raid the refinery. Shaking her head, before sneaking away to get a pickup and get the hell out of here. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     The Fifth Fleet departs. Aoko and Seventeen depart. After being shot back at, Nova departs. The Raider Demon and her entourage, satisfied that the going is safe, set into the foundry's storage of processed steel. Out at sea, those same three transports surface. It's the same trio that Aoko had seen during the meeting with Foreigner, now geared up to carry metal spoils rather than captured oil.     The scout squadron seems to be aware it's being tailed. Heading due east, they ascend and accelerate, eventually disappearing into the cloud cover. The direction they're coming from is at least clear, but who keeps sending these things? Elsewhere     In the twilight depths, gold points flicker to red. A dim silhouette shifts, lifting a hand to rest thoughtfully against one cheek. A smaller shape, its eyes glowing a bright pink, leans forward from its seat some distance away.     "Anything cool?"     "No," the red-eyed figure remarks, "Merely... Disappointing." 
}}

Midway

2018-12-01T19:34:34Z

Namazu:

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Midway
|Color=ff0000
|Char_id=1122
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/7kzYJgb.png
|FullName=Midway
|Gender=Female
|Species=Shinkaisei-Kan
|Theme=Kantai Collection-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=Princess of Progress
|Faction=Unaffiliated
|Rank=N/A
|Ranktype=Unaffiliated
|Groups=--
|Quote=You claim this hurts you? Irrelevant. You are a machine of war. Your purpose is to destroy. Pain has no meaning to you.
|PAge=30
|AAge=76
|Aging=No
|Height=200cm
|Weight=59kg
|Hair=White
|Eyes=Red
|Voice=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5quGz3UFoGY|Kawasumi Ayako]]
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ggynn8co1g|Somnium ~ Arsenal]]
|Profile=In the abyssal navy, there are numerous motivations. Some members seek a semblance of belonging, others search for a forgotten past, and still more seek only to become the most efficient killers. This dark admiral is an abyssal scientist, unconcerned with concepts such as restraint which serves only to hinder the steady march of progress. Arising from the lingering hate of a vicious battle fought long ago, she embodies the technological superiority held by one side of that battle and seeks to constantly improve her abyssal underlings, whether they want it or not. Outwardly, she is a cold, calculating individual who beholds all before her with an air of lukewarm disdain; a scientific, observational veneer stretched over carefully restrained rage. While she does command a fleet of abyssal warships, including her own artificially ascended creations, her personal arsenal consists of large numbers of abyssal attack aircraft. Per her own augmentations, however, this is not the limit of her offensive power; scattered reports suggest she consumes other abyssal ships and mounts their weapons to herself.
|Defining='''Display Their Might:'''
* An embodiment of grudges and hatred left over from violent battles in the past. Offensively and defensively, she has more in common with warships and front-line fortifications.
** ''Damage Reduction:'' Her human appearance conceals a body that is armored like steel. Causing damage can be very difficult.
** ''Superior Strength:'' She easily carries metal equipment larger than her own body, can lift large slabs of steel, and buckles armor plates with her bare hands.
** ''Water Functionality:'' She can walk or skate on the water's surface. She can also submerge to any depth.

'''Tactics Are Crucial:'''
* A wary strategist prioritizes intel and recon before committing to the attack.
** ''Extraordinary Senses:'' Detecting people and objects through darkness, smoke, clouds, or bad weather via bouncing radio waves off them for radar, and sound waves for sonar underwater.
** ''*Remote Viewing:'' Aircraft that Midway launches are capable of long recon patrols, and Midway may choose to see through their eyes.
|Significant='''Ordering Carriers:'''
* Abyssal underlings artificially ascended from lesser forms, called Water Demons, are fielded as officers in command of basic abyssal forces.
** ''NPCs:'' Each Water Demon is an exaggerated version of her prior self. They are delineated by a more human appearance and the ability to think and act on their own without direct orders.
** ''Healing-Self:'' By consuming one of her minions, Midway can self-repair damage she has taken while also equipping that Abyssal's weapons in place of her standard equipment.

'''Admirals At War:'''
* Weaponry developed from mid-century naval warfare. She favors attack aircraft in the form of fighters and bombers, but may change it by taking equipment from her subordinates.
** ''Attack List-Ranged:'' Abyssal fighter planes, bombers, naval artillery, machine guns, torpedoes, and depth charges. Weapons developed by Midway, limited to conventional technology of the Second World War.
** ''Attack List-Melee:'' Enormous gauntlets, sickle claws, spikes, jagged teeth, integrated blades, mounted to abyssal equipment for close combat.
|Minor=--
|Disadvantages='''A Pacific War ''<Trouble>'':''' She is an avatar of the rage and madness of war. This equates to a very intense temper that could be described as 'volcanic', hidden beneath the surface until it suddenly explodes. When prodded by failure, loss, treachery, or something she perceives as imperfect, she becomes fixated on it. In her research, this drives her to focus on a single project until its completion to the complete halt of all other development. In battle, this has an effect similar to tunnel vision. Even when beset upon by multiple foes, when suitably provoked, Midway fixates all of her attention only on the one doing the provoking. This lasts so long as her attention is retained and her frustration is kept high and her temper is not directly provoked by others present.
}}

Midway

2018-12-01T19:24:21Z

Namazu:

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Midway
|Color=ff0000
|Char_id=1122
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/7kzYJgb.png
|FullName=Midway
|Gender=Female
|Species=Shinkaisei-Kan
|Theme=Kantai Collection-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=Princess of Progress
|Faction=Unaffiliated
|Rank=N/A
|Ranktype=Unaffiliated
|Groups=--
|Quote=You claim this hurts you? Irrelevant. You are a machine of war. Your purpose is to destroy. Pain has no meaning to you.
|PAge=30
|AAge=76
|Aging=No
|Height=200cm
|Weight=59kg
|Hair=White
|Eyes=Red
|Voice=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5quGz3UFoGY|Kawasumi Ayako]]
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ggynn8co1g|Somnium ~ Arsenal]]
|Profile=In the abyssal navy, there are numerous motivations. Some members seek a semblance of belonging, others search for a forgotten past, and still more seek only to become the most efficient killers. This dark admiral is an abyssal scientist, unconcerned with concepts such as restraint which serves only to hinder the steady march of progress. Arising from the lingering hate of a vicious battle fought long ago, she embodies the technological superiority held by one side of that battle and seeks to constantly improve her abyssal underlings, whether they want it or not. Outwardly, she is a cold, calculating individual who beholds all before her with an air of lukewarm disdain; a scientific, observational veneer stretched over carefully restrained rage. While she does command a fleet of abyssal warships, including her own artificially ascended creations, her personal arsenal consists of large numbers of abyssal attack aircraft. Per her own augmentations, however, this is not the limit of her offensive power; scattered reports suggest she consumes other abyssal ships and mounts their weapons to herself.
|Defining='''Display Their Might:'''
* An embodiment of grudges and hatred left over from violent battles in the past. Offensively and defensively, she has more in common with warships and front-line fortifications.
** ''Damage Reduction:'' Her human appearance conceals a body that is armored like steel. Causing damage can be very difficult.
** ''Superior Strength:'' She easily carries metal equipment larger than her own body, can lift large slabs of steel, and buckles armor plates with her bare hands.
-- ''Water Functionality:'' She can walk or skate on the water's surface. She can also submerge to any depth.

'''Tactics Are Crucial:'''
* A wary strategist prioritizes intel and recon before committing to the attack.
** ''Extraordinary Senses:'' Detecting people and objects through darkness, smoke, clouds, or bad weather via bouncing radio waves off them for radar, and sound waves for sonar underwater.
** ''*Remote Viewing:'' Aircraft that Midway launches are capable of long recon patrols, and Midway may choose to see through their eyes.
|Significant='''Ordering Carriers:'''
* Abyssal underlings artificially ascended from lesser forms, called Water Demons, are fielded as officers in command of basic abyssal forces.
** ''NPCs:'' Each Water Demon is an exaggerated version of her prior self. They are delineated by a more human appearance and the ability to think and act on their own without direct orders.
** ''Healing-Self:'' By consuming one of her minions, Midway can self-repair damage she has taken while also equipping that Abyssal's weapons in place of her standard equipment.

'''Admirals At War:'''
* Weaponry developed from mid-century naval warfare. She favors attack aircraft in the form of fighters and bombers, but may change it by taking equipment from her subordinates.
** ''Attack List-Ranged:'' Abyssal fighter planes, bombers, naval artillery, machine guns, torpedoes, and depth charges. Weapons developed by Midway, limited to conventional technology of the Second World War.
** ''Attack List-Melee:'' Enormous gauntlets, sickle claws, spikes, jagged teeth, integrated blades, mounted to abyssal equipment for close combat.
|Minor=--
|Disadvantages='''A Pacific War ''<Trouble>'':''' She is an avatar of the rage and madness of war. This equates to a very intense temper that could be described as 'volcanic', hidden beneath the surface until it suddenly explodes. When prodded by failure, loss, treachery, or something she perceives as imperfect, she becomes fixated on it. In her research, this drives her to focus on a single project until its completion to the complete halt of all other development. In battle, this has an effect similar to tunnel vision. Even when beset upon by multiple foes, when suitably provoked, Midway fixates all of her attention only on the one doing the provoking. This lasts so long as her attention is retained and her frustration is kept high and her temper is not directly provoked by others present.
}}

6158/A Blood-Red Sun on the Rise

2018-12-01T19:22:08Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/11/24 |Location=Great Ocean |Synopsis=Due to Abyssal presence in the Red Sea, and the princess Suez's stranglehold on the Mediterranean, shipp..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/11/24
|Location=Great Ocean
|Synopsis=Due to Abyssal presence in the Red Sea, and the princess Suez's stranglehold on the Mediterranean, shipping companies have resorted to rounding Cape Horn at the south end of Africa to keep worldwide trade in motion.

The increased shipping has drawn the presence of a new Abyssal, tentatively called the Raider Demon.
|Cast of Characters=1122, 6730, 685, 6384, 591, 6708, 7, 6716
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:''' 80km south of Cape Town French supertanker 'Sea Giant'     These tankers are massive seacraft, and as a downside not particularly fast or nimble. Moving at the highest speed the turbines will allow, the Sea Giant has turned due west, churning the waters behind it as it moves at an unhurried 8 knots. Sailors have gathered astern of the main superstructure, peering out across the waters with eyes and binoculars.     One shouts, points. Others react by focusing in the same direction.     Far astern of the Sea Giant, coasting on the water as one would on ice skates, is a pale woman in a tattered black uniform. All down her back is a series of misshapen devices, metal and blackened flesh and teeth, which feed a series of tubes into the massive gauntlets framing her arms. The left hand terminates in a four-fingered claw. The right, a normal hand framed between two oversized three-barreled cannon mounts. The headpiece she wears obscures her face, but a single glowing crimson eye can be seen through the opaque faceplate.     The Raider Demon.     And she's not alone. At first, black shapes skip out of the water ahead of her like dolphins. Horrific, misshapen dolphins with sleek black hulls and ghastly teeth, eyes glowing blue. The ones that follow behind in her wake even seem to have legs. Abyssal destroyers, all of them, surrounding what might pass for a battleship, going by the large caliber cannons she's carrying.     An alert goes off on board Sea Giant, and men begin to scatter from their sightseeing to prepare for an emergency. Mercifully, the Demon has not actually opened fire yet. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Earlier.     Android Seventeen was tapping his foot impatiently as he waits for a ship to get ready for boarding. Sure he could FLY, but this was so much more enjoyable. Going for cruises and taking his time to get anywhere, as opposed to getting there fast. Often times, the journey was just as important as the destination. Still...it was overlong. And then sirens start going off.     "Well, that's probably not good," he considers, walking towards another port to get a better view.     Now.     Looking out over the ocean with his /ANDROID EYES/, which are actually cyborg eyes, because he's not actually an android, and Dr. Gero is kinda a moron. The large array of ships, but not firing, start coming into view. Well, that's a thing. People on the ship, looking like this, reminds him of what he heard about. Hmm...     Now, Android 17 is flying out to meet this group of ships and their pilots? Bodies? Bodots? Pilies?     Floating above the ships, but aiming to keep pace and flying backwards he looks down. "So hey. You're spooking some people. You haven't fired yet either, you on a mission or something? Peaceful? Assume I have no idea what you're about." He addresses Midway in that cocksure way that Seventeen seems to talk to everyone. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Steaming at the maximum speed they can muster with Yamashiro struggling to maintain more than 20 knots, the Fifth Strike Fleet closes as quick as they can. Shigure and Yuudachi are in the lead, with Kuma and Yamashiro following behind in a loose box-like formation. Kuma and Yamashiro both lean a bit to one side, as a launch catapult angles into position. "Type Zero Recon Seaplane. Launch!" "Go! Seireitei, kuma!" The pair loosing off their spotter planes before contact is made.     "Remember, we are outnumbered, make your shots count, but our primary goal is intelligence gathering, and protecting the lives of those sailors." says Shigure as her eyes narrow, radar pulsing out to acquire the Abyssals. "My research has borne some fruit... I believe I know who she used to be, but we shall have to see."     Yamashiro's eyes close, and her face screws up in consentration. "I can see them... Elevation two seven degrees. Spread one nine. Stagger one second.... FIRE!" The Battleship's turrets gimbal out, and the barrels elevate, before they report in a staggered volley that lobs 41cm shells into the oncoming formation of Abyssals. Hopefully breaking their headlong pursuit and giving them something else to worry about than catching the Tanker. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      There's a patrol boat not too far away from the action. Orchid has been working on a couple of projects, partly inspired by her efforts with the Ship Spirits in dealing with the Abyssal Fleet. One of them is her own version of the âairplanesâ the carriers use, but a more modern design, one based on the V-22 Osprey, the tilting rotors giving them the benefits of both vertical takeoff and longer range. This first project is helping with the second, a set of sonar drones, mech-animals formed like blow-fish. The V22s both carry the fish further out for rapid deployment, and act as relay stations, extending the mesh of Orchidâs network over the horizon.      The location for this test run was dictated by the reports of the Raider Demon, putting the reploid further to the west of the tanker. This could be good, this could be bad. Good because it means she won't be far away from the action... which is also bad, if she gets there too soon.      Her thoughts go back and forth, and Orchid leaves the patrol boat for her rocket surfboard. It's not as long-ranged as most means of getting around, but it is very useful over short distances. She'll fly over to the tanker, stowing the device in its subspace pocket as she lands aboard.      Seeing the specs of light in the distance, she focuses on the shells launched by Yamashiro, ready to report on how the shots fall. Too short? Too far? Or bracketing the target? 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Making bad decisions has been in Aoko's blood since highschool.     Possibly earlier.     She wasn't much a fan of the attitude displayed against that Re-class young lady. Boat thing. She wasn't sure. What she WAS sure of is that she didn't buy the "they're just monsters" deal, and wasn't a huge fan of the organized supernavy deciding who can and can't exist. So, only one way to find out.     Fight alongside the "monsters" and find out.     A shitty speedboat approaches. It's the kind you might rent for ten bucks a hour and that's neither meant for rough weather or fighting. Onboard is Aoko, in that ever iconic white shirt and jeans, though she has a red raincoat on too. It's the sea, you never know! In truth, she wasn't sure what to look for, and just kind of came on a whim.     Luckily, someone does let her know what to look for. The first rounds go off, artillery coming from Yamashiro and towards dark shapes. Ah, from that distance, Aoko can't really tell what's being fired at, to be honest. That's fine, really! She'll take her chances.     Aoko's hands never leave her pockets. An array of several dozen motes of light form overhead, brilliant blue and shining like tiny stars. "Set. Fire."     Rays of light fire in every direction. Blue shots numerous and accurate enough to intercept Yamashiro's shells - and several more that remain in the air, stationary, waiting for targets of their own.     "Hm, I oughta set up a signal while I'm at it."     Another blue light. A large one, this time. A small sun the size of a head, complete with tiny magma movements and solar flares, rotation and... it really is a tiny sun.     And it's being used like a lighthouse, to shine a cone of light towards the Demon Raider and her fleet. Aoko waves from afar, finally using a hand for something.     "Yoooooo, over here!" 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      "Adelaide," the handsome young man says with a broad smile as the ship cleaves through the waves with supernatural grace, "Have I ever told you how your mother and I met?"      He takes out from his breast pocket a long pipe. From the other pocket, he pulls out a lighter; MY BELOVED HUSBAND is scrawled on the side. He snaps it open with a flick of his hand, lighting the tobacco in the pipe and taking a deep draught. The smoke curls up in the air, mingling with the steam-ships' smokestacks, with the black smog pouring into the blue sky and drowning out the bright sun. Carefully, lovingly, the young man flips the lighter shut, vanishes it into his pocket, and tucks his cane under his arm. "It was a sunny day. We met at a dance, a festival. When my eyes met hers, it was love at first sight. I walked up to her and smiled and held out my hand and I said, 'miss, I would be delighted and honored beyond all reason if you'd give me this dance.'"      A misty look clouds the young man's bright eyes. "She said, 'sir, I would be delighted, but I'm afraid I can't just yet.'" A smile crosses his features as he chews on his pipe. "'You see, sir, I've promised my first dance to that gentleman over there.' So I, I clucked my tongue, and I said 'I'll fight him for that honor.' She was taken aback. 'Sir, I could never ask you to do such a thing.' I winked and turned and said 'madam, a woman who would ask a man to fight for her isn't a woman worth fighting for.'"      The young man leans over the rail, draping his fingers down into the spray of seafoam. "And then I went over and I told that man, 'sir, if you don't yield that enchanting creature's first dance to me I am going to have to see you on the field of honor.' He said, 'She's not worth it to me. You go ahead.' And I laughed and punched him right in the teeth."      The young man's bright eyes turn to his companion. "She asked me why I had done such a cruel thing. And I told her. 'Madam, a man who would tell me that a woman like you isn't worth his time deserves far worse than that.'" He laughs, a musical sound, and spins his cane out from under his arm.      The creature at his side is a massive, hideous, bloated frog-creature. Its soulless black eyes stare at the young man in his 18th-century American naval uniform, blank and uncomprehending. It makes no noise as the young man looks at it. The young man stands and pats the frog-creature on the head. "I know, I know. You'd never suspect your old man of being capable of such violence, would you, Adelaide? But even I lose my temper every so often."      His bright, mad eyes turn towards the Abyssals. "For example..."      "I do hate to see such lovely young ladies in peril. As a gentleman, I feel it's my duty to protect them." The young man snaps his fingers. "Vanguard fleet."      "Sortie."      In the midst of the scrum, as the Kancolle guns start firing, there's horrible writhing, a twisting of space and time. Water is displaced. Black ships emerge from the twisting space, turning their guns on the ambushers, planting themselves firmly in between the Kancolle and the Abyssals. The black ships are crewed by frog-horrors, frog-men in smart U.S. military uniforms, balding men and women in the same, and others.      In the distance, the approaching flagship of the Foreigner, Mississippi, continues sailing forward, the eldritch flag of Yhana'thlei flying from its master. The Foreigner himself hovers ahead of it, trailing smoke from his pipe, cane clutched in both hands like he's standing in the air.      "I really," he says calmly, "Can't abide such people." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' The Report had come in, just as Kotone was recovering after an incident on Black Friday. She was not to get a day of rest, she was not to get a day of rest at all. She'd taken to her ship when the call came out the Blue Nose was high above unable to do anything save one thing, act as a staging platform to get Kotone on to the Tanker far below, after a brief radio conversation with Shigure. She's on the pad leaving the command of the ship to Slip-Bolt, a moment later there's a flash of light and it would impact into the deck of the tanker. Kotone would rapidly take shape and is already rising. <<Sea Gaint This is Paladins Operative Kotone Yamakawa I'm here to assist.>> She looking about the deck, looking for anything outside of the crew at the moment she would cloak but her entrance would be hard to miss anyway. She makes ready for possible boarding action against the Sat Giant or to help evacuate the crew if the Abyssals want to just sink this ship. She needed to be ready, then to her horror, other figures arrive and one of them she knows from reports. "Forginer, God help us..." She mutters as she' knows things are going to be getting serious now, very damn serious. It was bad before but now it's worse and even worse than that there's an unknown party here as well. Wait Forginer wants to talk....?" 

:'''{{#var:6716|Morgan Berselius (6716)}} has posed:''' Lurking beneath a cloud, a shadow suddenly grows thick and heavy like a droplet of water about to fall. The sphere drops pendulously, necking into a perfect teardrop before plummetting suddenly toward the wine-dark sea below. It falls, meter after meter, until it seems like it's about to disappear into the roiling waves-- But then, a pair of wings unfold. A great darkness spreads across the water's surface. The shade takes flight, surging across the tumultuous surface, making a bee-line just over the waterline for... No, not for the Abyssals. This time, he has a more pressing target to deal with. The shadow shoots alongside one of the eldritch ships then turns upwards, skimming a jagged line overtop its heavy armor before alighting its deck. A long tendril of liquid night lashes out, swiping at the nearest frog-man and the corruption that its master sees lurking within. "Not this time," the shadow says, a young man stepping out from within with a lantern slung over his shoulder. "You made a mistake coming here. Monsters, I'll eradicate every single one of you." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Raider Demon's optic swivels across the faceplate of her helmet towards the other fleet appearing on the horizon. She twists, then, digging her heel into the swells and bringing herself to a stop. Her clawed hand raises and thrusts to one side-- and the destroyers dive into the sea around her. She remains to see the fire head on-- when it is instead shot down by laser fire from behind her. She throws up an arm to shield her face, then shoots a look over her shoulder at the flare that's been thrown up by Aoko.     When 17 draws near, the woman raises her cannon arm towards him. All six guns swivel and adjust. But he starts talking instead of attacking. That single red eye remains fixed on him, when her voice gurgles out. It has a mecnaized tone to it. Rasping, like metal grinding against itself, "Want. Oil. Steel. Materials."     Various forces in person and by radio transmission begin asking her for a negotiation, rather than violence. When it becomes clear that 17 has no interest in attacking her, she lowers her cannon arm to her side. A tail lashes in the water behind her. When a commotion erupts on the deck of one of the Black Ships, her eye swings across her faceplate to stare at it.     'Are you Graf Spee'.     Raider Demon's eye swings instantly towards the approaching Fifth Fleet. With a splash, her tail hauls out of the water behind her and arcs forward over her shoulder. The clubbed 'end' expands, then swings either side around to expose torpedo launchers. These are fired into the water, into the Fifth Fleet's approach.     "That. Is forbidden." Her posture shifts, clawed fingers spreading and cannons raised. Static creeps into her oddly toned voice, as the anger becomes more apparent, "Those who. Give. Oil. Will be spared. The rest. Shall. Sink." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Android 17 slowly floats down, not landing on the ship but making sure she's firmly in place between the ships, the tanker, and the other ships. His annoyance at Morgan is starting to reach peek, but that's a different story for a different day.     "Look, you do not have to do something BECAUSE you think it's your purpose. You can choose to do what you want to do. If you attack these people, they'll brand you a monster or worse. Eventually enough guns come for you and yours and you get worse than nothing. If you need what's here, then simply offer something to these people in return." He says, calmly.     "Protection from your fleet, protection from other fleets, pirates, and all that. That's a service you are uniquly able to provide."     "However, if you attack this ship, and it's people who have done nothing to you.." He says, calmly, as a shield forms around him. He interjects himself between ship and ship girl. "I will protect them, and by doing so, protect you." he breathes...this might be a long one. 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Truth be told, Foreigner really didn't care about the negotiation.      Foreigner is a gentleman. Foreigner is a businessman. Foreigner lays out parlay because Foreigner likes to know what people want. For example, he's now learned what the Raider Demon - and presumably others of their kind - might want. Oil, metal, materials. Repair parts.      The Foreigner takes a puff of his pipe. That was good. Now they could do business. Now he didn't give a good goddamn what happened to the rest of these people. Especially since-      -especially since someone just emerged to try and kill one of his children.      Morgan's tendril of liquid night smashes into the frog-man. The frog goes overboard with a *splash*, vanishing into the water. Guns are levvied at Morgan across the ship, some of them black-powder, some of them arcane nonsense-weapons pointed in his direction. A lumbering froghemoth of a creature moves forward with a magic crest on its hand, a pulsating, sickly green light flowing up its arm. One of the more humanoid ones, a bald-headed man with a nametag that says ALBERT, moves forward, holding the gun level. "Alright, mister. You knocked my sister off the ship, but she'll be fine. You just step back nice and easy and Father won't have to get involved. How about that?"      The Abyssals decide to fire. That's fine. Foreigner takes another puff of his smoke and crosses his legs. "I've decided."      He disappears.      Foreigner reappears sitting in the air next to the Raider Demon. He stands and holds out his hand, taking hers and kissing it politely before he straightens. "Madam, I am the Foreigner. I'm here on behalf of my country and my family to protect you from these /awful/ brutes. After this, why don't we discuss setting up some trade? You need metals and oil. I think I can provide you long-term."      Then he straightens and looks back towards his ship.      There's a flicker in his eyes.      The soldiers, pointing guns at Morgan, step forward. "Put your weapons down, nice and slow, kid. You back off and we'll back off." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure is tense. She doesn't want to get close to those Black Ships, but if she can stall long enough for the tanker to escape...     And then Foreigner calls her out on it. "Tch..."     And then the Raider Demon reacts about as well as she expected to being called out by name. "Kuma, ping sonar, Fifth Fleet, move into defensive formation on that Tanker, Spread formation she probably launched torpedoes... this is going to be difficult. The destoyer escort would have been bad enough, but the addition of Black Ships to the mix will make this a fight for survival more than anything." says Shigure, before turning to Yuudachi. "No heroics... and no crazy stunts." 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     With the sea calming down, Aoko pulls her shitty speedboat over towards the ongoing mess. No sense being too far off!     This close, she can even tell Foreigner's... a Thing. She actually smiles, because that's a very interesting surprise. Well, something to poke at another day, though.     "Yoooo. Aoko, here on behalf of myself," she introduces herself, not nearly as flamboyant and fancy as Foreigner. She's immensely curious now that she can see Raider Demon's body up close - that's some cool armor. So she really IS a ship? Wicked!     Though, the growing hostilities are starting to concern her.     "Ah, geez, look at all those people screaming. That happen to you often?" she asks the Demon, trying to engage in casual chatter to kill time. "Like they actually need that oil, psht. To mess up the planet and put more cars on the road, sure. Hardly the necessity you guys have for it." 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Foreigner is an *extremely* proper gentleman. He spares a moment to kiss Aoko's hand and shake 17's. His grip is firm and strong. His eyes are alight with raw and utter madness, and his smile is half-detached, like the world is barely there. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Things are going belly up now, a strange monster hunter she's never heard of before crashes on in. She's about to get to know a fair bit about Morgan today and has no choice in the mater on that. As she listens to the radio she sees which way things are going, and it's clearly time to evacuate the ship as she gets her orders from Shigure. She'll make for the bridge and get ahold of the Captain. Once she does find them. "We need to start evacuating as many of your crew as possible I'll be able to assist in operating the ship if you allow me to be able to jack in and start helping to man it's systems that way. We don't have much time and need to take advantage of what time we have." If the Captain will let her she will hard line jack into the bridges systems and do what she can to help run the ship allowing more people to get the heck off it. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Well, things have gone far past simple. Orchid is still trying to process all that is going on. There's the point-defense with the lasers, provided by someone on the sea. There are at least two fliers who might tip things. There's the Commodore, issuing threats and pretending to be civilized.      Orchid is currently on the ship, and while Kotone is dealing with informing the crew, Orchid is arranging for patrol boats to be in position to pick up the lifeboats expected to be in the water soon. She's also sparing a little of her attention for looking through the files of notes about world war 2 ships, and the names of notable members of their crew. If this raider is truly the spirit of the KMS Admiral Graf Spee, then Orchid might be able to pull up some names with meaning to the ship. And if so...      Of course, this keeps Orchid too busy to take much part in the negotiations going on over local radio channels. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Raider Demon recoils when Foreigner appears near her, more than any reaction she has to him taking her taloned gauntlet in hand and kissing it. That single red eye on her face-obscuring helmet remains fixated on him for a long moment, even as she lifts that gauntlet away and flexes the talons. She returns her attention to the Fifth Fleet, who had called a name that angered her for some reason... but they have not actually opened fire since that first, intercepted volley.     Her flotilla of destroyers have not come back up. Had they been ordered to retreat? The red eye on Raider's faceplate dims slightly, as if narrowing. She will consider the torpedoes payback for that abnormal pain just now. Her eye shifts back to the Black Ship upon which Morgan's now in a standoff.     That single eye swings towards Aoko when a question is asked. The response is curt as any of her other comments have been, "This. Is New." The Raider Demon actually seems to be rather confused by what's going on. With the altercation erupting through radio channels, the Raider swings away from the scene unfolding on Foreigner's flagship. Coasting at a steady pace, she resumes her pursuit of the retreating Sea Giant.     On board the Sea Giant, crewmen have already been gathering near the escape launches astern. Kotone helps round up a few who had been taking their time. The deck officer pauses near her, though, "It's a digital system. If you're good enough, you can probably hijack the autopilot and control it remotely." He nods once, "I and my crew appreciate this, miss. Good luck."     Unrelated to the encounter unfolding on the ocean's surface, a small squadron of round white shapes coasts through the air at a significant altitude. These Abyssal scout planes bank lazily and begin circling at a safe distance. Raider Demon didn't launch them, they appear to have wandered into the area from somewhere else. 

:'''{{#var:6716|Morgan Berselius (6716)}} has posed:''' Dozens of guns are levelled at the invader. Weapons magical and mundane, eldritch and worse. Morgan stares at them for a good long moment, his eyes tired, exhausted, unreadable. "Guns, huh? Scary things. It's amazing what a few more centuries of development could have brought," Morgan slowly shrugs his shoulders and lifts his hands congenially, "Look at all of you though. What has happened to you to make you like this? Poor souls, don't worry, I won't hurt you." A shadow propagates from beneath the God-Walker's feet, surging like a wave across the ship's deck, going to wash /over/ the unearthly crewmen, "Unless I have to, I mean." The first of Bendigeid's miracles has always been dominion over the sphere of night. Tenebrous tentacles erupt from the wave of shadow-stuff, going to wrap around first the firearms, then the bodies holding them. Each moment the tendrils remain, they constrict and /burn/ with purifying energies. "Let's see if whatever /happened/ to you can be /undone/," Morgan rumbles, the shadows flickering around him. "I am the Warden of Night, let this evil be PURGED!" 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     When the exchange starts, and Morrigan's refusal to back down occurs, Android 17 simply stopped protecting the ship, and turned to land on the Abyssal's deck. Trying to coordinate a compromise that was good for everyone...or at least, what he thought was good for everyone...     Things break down into a trash fire very quickly. Then upgrade to dumpster fire in short order. Seventeen sighs, and takes off once more, looking at the Raider.     "So you got me on yourside for now. Don't make me regret it." He says, calmly, even taking the offered hand from Foreigner when he drops by to offer it, though he just barely suppresses a shudder. The man is disturbing, and recriminations against him for slaving are out there, but right now it's not about him. It's about these girls, and right now...Seventeen can't help but see a little of him in them. Raising from the ship, he flies right towards the tanker, and goes right into the water. Shields extending around him as he prepares to fight...and defend.     His first action is to fire a warning shot off of Shigure's hull. A beam of light tears through the water, much like the 'chi' from his universe.     He doesn't talk, instea dhe prepares to fight. 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure hangs back near the Tanker, as Yuudachi, Kuma and Yamashiro interpose themselves between the Tanker and the approaching Abyssal. Shigure grits her teeth as the argument continues to spiral, and her anger finally erupts and causes her to finally raise her voice for once in a very long time.     She then makes her ultimatum, her torpedo launchers angling to punch holes along the side of the tanker as the launches drop into the water and start to leave the area. Hopefully, as Yamashiro transforms into her full sized Battleship form, the launches won't be noticed until they're far enough away to not be pursued.     "Forgive me for what I am about to do..." Shigure says, then launches her torpedo spread at the tanker... only to get a shot over her shoulder from 17. "Tch..." 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Morgan strikes.      But there's nothing that can be undone. These aren't mutants. These aren't people tainted by some greater evil. These are /people/. They're born with this. This is in their blood. So the frog-man dies, screaming and gurgling, fire curling up around his flesh.      Foreigner feels it die.      This is in error.      The Foreigner disappears off the Abyssal ship. The effect is much like watching space /spasm/. It's not a clean teleport, like Aoko has seen before - it's a twitching demand, a passing-through of something ancient and horrible simply tearing a chunk out of reality.      Foreigner flits around the battlefield. Orchid gets a brief reading of him appearing on the tanker. His eyes trail outwards towards the fleeing lifeboats. His fingers twitch, and then he's gone again. Above, black smog is gathering, and the waves are getting rougher. Murky water starts to flood, spilling forth and making the waves shake. The dark clouds swirl.      Foreigner is targetting the lifeboats and the patrol boats with that murderous, dark power. Aoko can feel the sheer depth of mana available to him. Shigure and Orchid can see him.      There are tendrils writhing out of the air behind him, like some horrifying version of the Gate of Babylon.      The soldiers, meanwhile, open fire on Morgan. Those old guns aren't old guns at all. They're high-tech, magical guns. They're dangerous guns. They kill immortal things. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa does not like where this is going but she's with the Paladins and she's not the one in charge of this operation. They are under a hell of a bad space here. The first objective is to get the crew out. "I should be able to do it long enough to do what needs to be done." She'll make sure they are out, once she's got a hard line in long enough she'll take control of the ship at this point. Kotone just focuses on trying to get the crew off, she will not blow the ship until they are away. She will move to get control of the ship remotely and is issuing command sit's going to take her a bit to get to the tanks, however. God this is going to be an environmental disaster but if the Abyssals get this fuel? A lot of people are going to die. As the comm chatter continues she just winces there's not much she can do about it She then gets new orders so they are going to torpedo the Sat Giant? Okay, she changes plans and will make sure checking the ship's internal security systems that it's clear as she's going to make to get off. Though, she's behind everyone else in getting off the ship. As she had to assume control of its systems. Maybe it's due to her time with the Fleet but she mutters something as she moves. "I'm sorry Sea Giant you deserved better." She's got to get off now as well teh torpedos are coming and now there's Forginer. Time is running, out, it's very much running out. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid can see the Foreigner's brief visit. Further, she can see the darkness the man-shaped thing is gathering around the life boats he is looking at. She can't do much by herself, but she can bring warning to her friends, some of whom are in position to attack, to disrupt the source of darkness.      Orchid looks around... the other lifeboats have left. For her? Sinking to the bottom here WOULD kill her, so she grabs a pair of life preservers, one in each hand, and jumps overboard.      *splash!* 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Aaaand... the shit hits the fan.     Aoko squints in the direction of the chaos. The tanker's hit. Well, that's... that's bad. That's super bad.     Nothing in Aoko's arsenal can resolve an oil spill short of setting it ALL on fire. Which, granted, she could do, and seems to be the Abyssals' solution to an oil spill too. Not a great one too.     No, well... there's something else, right?     What's being responsible, really.     "Ha, the old man would laugh. That shadow'd be pissed too. Great, it's settled. Time to do something REALLY DUMB!"     In her awful speedboat, Aoko slams her foot down.     A brilliant blue spell circle spreads out from underneath her, sinking into the water. The circle doesn't seem to have an ending.     "Hear me, Lord of All Creation."     Apparently this has a casting time.     The air becomes still. 

:'''{{#var:6716|Morgan Berselius (6716)}} has posed:''' These are not tainted. These are /people./ Born with this condition, imbued with it in their very blood. Killing them is wrong, it's a devastating, fatal error. Or it would be. If Morgan still considered them people. If he /hadn't/ learned of the devastation these creatures wrought upon an innocent city. If he didn't know about the human enslavement, of the /foreign/ nature of his foe. As it is, Morgan does not care. He sees a monster, a blight upon the world, and every ounce of his being demands that he /erase/ it. "No? Pityt. At least I tried." Bullets hiss by, rounds that can kill immortals-- but Morgan is no immortal. He is a regenerator, an unstoppable beast of his own right. The bullets sink in, blood and nightmare erupts from the young man's back and shoulders as they bury in deep and rupture on through. He slumps forward like a puppet with its strings cut. Morgan's body slumps into the shadows and dissolves, and for a moment it seems as though the danger is passed, but then... But /then./ There's a laugh, terrible and deep, like something terribly, unspeakably old. The voice of a nightmare that was born when the first human gazed into the darkness and felt /fear./ The shadow surges /upward,/ tendrils seizing around the limbs and bodies of whatever corrupted creature is nearby. It launches forward, racing through the air until it alights over the open sea. The darkness spreads, racing across the world. Within the shadow, an ancient god of a fallen world exerts its rightful dominion over the domain of night. Light is swallowed, little motes of ghostly azure float amidst the haze as winged shadows with Morgan's face begin to dance through the air. And suspended like bloated, hanging bodies by ink-black shadow from arbitrary points of space... Are the Foreigner's precious children. "Hated Foreigner," The God of Night rumbles. "This night is not YOURS to command. For each soul you've sold into bondage, for each life you've taken, I shall purge a hundred and one of your children from the world. Retreat now, if you do not wish to lose /these/ next." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     The Sea Giant shudders when torpedoes impact its side one after the other. A smaller vessel would be rocked by so many impacts, but not a supertanker like this which dwarfs even Yamashiro's mighty Ocean Fit-Out in scale. The plumes of water don't even reach the level of the deck.     The last of the lifeboat launches jettisons from the stern, striking the waves. The engine gutters, then starts up. Like the other three, it turns towards shore, perhaps hoping to outrun whatever horror the Foreigner is preparing to unleash. Aoko's speedboat passes by this last lifeboat, with many sailors on it staring after this apparently crazy redhead charging into what they reason to be certain death.     Raider Demon halts when those torpedoes hit the side of the tanker. Her single red eye stares at the vessel, her posture shifting when the ship begins to list into the holes blasted into its side.     "NNNGH--!" Denied what she had come for, the Abyssal girl wrenches her cannon gauntlet up. All six guns adjust their elevations and alignment, fixating on the Fifth Fleet flagship, that destroyer, Shigure.     But she hesitates.     The single red spot that is Raider Demon's eye travels around the curved surface of her faceplate, taking in the chaos of two unknowable god-like creatures demonstrating a clash in natures. Her gaze returns to Shigure, her arm shifts to re-align her guns. And then she just lowers it.     The burning frustration is clear in that single circular scarlet optic. But there's just too many variables at play here for her to feel comfortable actually fighting.     Water around the Raider Demon's feet grows turbulent, and the monstrous shipgirl sinks beneath the waves.     The squadron of Abyssal recon planes, meanwhile, drops altitude and tightens its circular path to get a better look at what the Foreigner and Morgan are actually doing as they antagonize each other. Being scout planes, they are unarmed and no threat, but by dropping altitude they're more obvious from sea level. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     The Android Barrier hits torpedoes. However, he misjudges the angles, and the blast sends him massively off course. He fires blasts from his hands towards one of the torpedo's, trying to shoot them down, but because of his hilariously off course position...he misses some.     Damnation, he thinks...that was that. Raising out of the water, he comes up just in time to see the Abyssal...not fire on Shigire. Taking a breath, well...baby steps, even if it might have been more about survival than anything else.     For a moment, he scans the battlefield...if she fires on the retreating Abyssals, then this fight isn't going to end soon. However, if he can find the right...     The civilians.     Seventeen rushes towards the ground again, before he seems to vanish, aiming to appear right infront of Morgan, and the barrier expands. His eyes focused, his eyes narrowed and he simply gets ready to stand to defend the fish men.     "Whatever your problem with Foreigner, this does not extend to killing his children, how blind must you be to see those lives on the water are put in danger by your actions and your unwillingness to look passed your own stupid bias." He says, firmly.     He takes a step forward, hand glowing brightly as he prepares, willing to fight this man to the death.     "Foreigner, I will protect your sons, but you must not take your wrath out on those people, it was not by their choice that they were used in bad faith. If you have a beef, I suggest taking it out with the man who wants the fight." 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Underneath the area, the sea begins to glow.     It's a brilliant flare of blue and cyan visible from far away. No, possibly, even from space. There's no harm - no lasers, surprisingly - just an immense amount of energy, breaking through the darkness of Morgan's god. But not, in any way, disrupting its power.     Aoko's hair starts glowing, appearing that much redder than before. The air crystalizes, like broken mirrors are hanging everywhere and shards of the local future and past are visible through. Aoko turns to look at the Demon Raider before she leaves, making sure to talk just loudly enough that only she can hear. "Hey. Meet me here again in a few days, alright? And bring something to patch up a ship. I'll make it worth your while, promise. For now, you should call off your fleet, there's no point taking losses for nothing."     Aoko turns back to look at the mess. The fighting doesn't concern her. The tanker does. It's sinking. She can't change that, but...     She can change WHEN it'll sink.     "I announce.                 BLUE     In my name representing order, I announce.                   NOT SANE     Everything will be corrected.      FIVE TIMELESS WORDS     Order has now fallen."     There is a flash of intense, blinding blue light. When it passes, Aoko's spell circle, glow, all the blue light... and the tanker... are gone. Aoko puts her hands back into her pockets, flopping down to sit inside her awful boat. "Oh, I'd forgotten how that feels. Well? Where's my mandatory greeting, mister Shadow? Oh, that's right, you can't touch me. Ahaha... ha... be funnier if it was here. Oh well. Aoko one million, Alaya still zero."     Somewhere else entirely, a Red Shadow snarls like an angry beast.     It's not Aoko's problem. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     The tanker disappears in a flash of brilliant light. Light that disrupts the formation of three Abyssal scout planes somewhat, and it takes them a moment to compose themselves after what they'd just witnessed.     Elsewhere, deep beneath the sea within the lightless depths, crimson eyes narrow, "...Hmhmhmhm~... How fascinating." 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Foreigner's chant continues. The quiet, murmuring, hissing noise. The spilling water. The shaking sky. But nothing's happened yet. Nobody's /died/. The world hasn't turned upside-down. He appears to be giving Seventeen a chance.      But he's not willing to stop gathering that enormous amount of prana. And he's not willing to stop invoking his Noble Phantasm until he's sure. 

:'''{{#var:6716|Morgan Berselius (6716)}} has posed:''' Seventeen appears before the still-expanding storm of night, and speaks words into it. From the shadows, a figure emerges, unmistakably that of Morgan Berselius. "I don't think you understand," Morgan says, locking his hands lazily over his head. "I'm killing his children because he's willing to kill people who were just minding their own business and living their lives. I really don't see what room for mercy there is here. These creatures are clearly alright with their 'Father' attacking cities, taking slaves, and snuffing out countless lives." "So, like," Morgan just sort of... shrugs? "You tell him to stop fuckin' doing that and I'll think about not killing every single one of his 'children.' How's that sound?" The tentacles still holding those fish-folk tighten ever so slightly, as if poised to burst into purifying energies at any moment. "Come on, I'm not a patient guy. If you don't hurry up and extract a promise from him to behave himself, I might just sink one of his ships and all the people on /it/ next." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Android 17 has had ENOUGH.     He moves his hand, firing several focused blasts towards the tentacles holding the fishman, attempting to give him time to get free.     But Seventeen isn't done, he comes on, unafraid of the darkness, and aiming a shot right across the center of mass, aiming to try and launch Morgan AWAY...with any luck OFF of the ship, but away from the fish would be enough. Enough for Seventeen to interpose himself between the ships and Morgan. 

:'''{{#var:6716|Morgan Berselius (6716)}} has posed:''' Shots are fired. Focused blasts of energy tear the shadowy tentacles off of one of the fishmen, then another, then another-- And then the remaining ones suddenly burn with purifying fire. Morgan spreads his arms in an unmistakable 'oops my magic slipped' kind of way moments before he's blasted bodily off the vessel by an angry Android. The shadow rushes away, apparently lacking interest in actually /fighting/ the Android so much as it seems to be getting ready to deal with the aftermath of just what it did. Time for things to go /terribly/ wrong. 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Foreigner's fingers go up to his face. He's laughing. He's laughing wildly. His bright eyes are practically peeling. The dark and murky water is full of eyes on the waves. The tendrils lash around him. His eyes are bright and terrifying.      "Ah, ah."      The last words of the Noble Phantasm drop from his lips.      "BLACK SHIPS OF EVIL MIEN ~ NONE SLEEP WHILE THEY SAIL."      The sky turns *black*. Not the black of night. Not the black of shadows. *Black*. A deep, alien darkness, a darkness deeper than the deepest ocean. The darkness is choking, suffocating. It's deeper than Morgan's darkness by far. It swallows shadow and swallows light alike, choking out the night beneath its hideous swirl. Laughter echoes through the night, laughter and screams from every direction. Mists spill across the ocean, suffocating sight.      Then the black ships arrive.      They are not the ships of his armada. The ships of his armada are not these...these /things/, these vast, black, hideous nightmares. The ships of his armada are sailing vessels; these are demons, true demons, true nightmares, true horrors, with blazing red lights like eyes that cut through the fog. They cleave straight through the patrol boats like they weren't even there, like their bows were ship-cleaving colossal blades. They open fire, without hesitation, on the fleeing lifeboats. Shells erupt, blasting innocent lives out of the water. Swallow, dark waves crash against lifeboats, swallowing them whole. Some of the sailors are choking on the black smog pouring from the smokestacks. It is a horrifying sight, a nightmare beyond nightmares come to life, the terror of an entire country engraved into a single moment.      Foreigner's laughter continues to echo as he holds up his hideous cane.      "The night? The darkness? Ignorant child. You think terror awaits me in the darkness?"      "I am beyond darkness. I am that which lurks in the waking nightmares. I am the horror that sleeps beneath the waves. When children wonder what lies in its depths, they wonder of me. When good men cross themselves and hope that their pitiable gods will save them, they hope it from me. You are the darkness? You are the night?"      "I aM tHe AbYsS oF tHe DeEp." 

:'''{{#var:685|Shigure (685)}} has posed:'''     Shigure winces as the Tanker vanishes. Not important.     Yuudachi, Kuma and Yamashiro level their weapons on Raider Demon, but do not fire as she disengages and sinks to leave. Then the two waring demi-gods start throwing out their stuff, and Morgan makes things WORSE. Hersnd that's when the Nightmare arrives. She shakes her head. "Not this time.. Not again." she turns, kicks off the water and starts to RUN, toward the lifeboats. She deploys her rigging, firing in counter to the incoming shots from black ships, the rotten horrors of ancient colonialism. She skids to a stop, blocking bodily the boats she can, as she transforms to Ocean Fitout. "GET ONBOARD. NOW!" she calls to the men, dropping lines overboard as shots hit her armour belt, stab into her superstructure and shred her forward turret. "HURRY!"     She can't save all of them... the other boats are too far, and she's taking too much damage already, but she can save some.     Once they're on board, she guns her engines, and transmits orders to the fleet. <Retreat. All ships, retreat at best possible speed.> 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen takes a breath...he failed, and that is on him.     His eyes harden...his gaze goes right towards Morgan.     He might be able to save one or two...might, he isn't sure if he can close the distance in time...but it wouldn't remove the threat to the greater portion of people. Slowly, he starts walking towards Morgan.     > Try and save someone.     > Make him pay. < *enter*     With a flash, Seventeen was gone, aiming to appear right infront of him, aiming to throw his fist full force into the stomach of the man. There is no hesitation, no desire for a challenge. Seventeen's moves are there to try and quickly and mercilessly hurt this man, to take him down as quickly a possbile...     Before both hands point towards the chester of mass. Followed by a overly dramatic and large beam of pure energy fired. He was not holding back. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone While born and mostly raised in the West? She was well aware of her roots, she actively visited her dad's side of the family in Japan and went to school for a good four years in Japan. She was fairly well in tune with her roots and she stares for a moment as the Noble Phantasm. She sees the ships for a moment. "The Black Ships... ADMIRAL PERRY?!" In a strange way Kotone owes her existence to The Admiral dragging Japan out into the wider world, given her Father met her mother in the Americas after all. Still, the trauma that was caused to drag Japan into the modern world? She now acts without thinking given the mobility systems the Starbounders gave her. There's too much interference from the magic that's been let slip to allow her teleporter to function. She makes use o the double jump system to pull the lifeboat and the passengers on it on to Shigure, but that's all she can do at this point it's a rough landing they will be banged up but some of them have been saved from this. As for Kotone she's sprawled out on the deck with the lifeboat on top of her lower body and she doesn't seem to be so good...here. She couldn't save everyone but could save some. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Pay no attention to those two life preservers that have the circle 90 degrees to the surface of the water. Orchid is totally not hiding under them. 

:'''{{#var:6716|Morgan Berselius (6716)}} has posed:''' The world goes dark. Darker even than night. Blacker even than the deepest dark. Morgan looks on with quiet eyes. It's as if he's been stunned silent, as if the gravity of his mistake has finally, terribly dawned upon him. At the very least, it's dawned on another. Android 17 is driven to rage, he moves faster than the human eye could ever hope to follow. In a flash, he closes the distance with the shadow-paladin, drives a fist into his midsection. That kind of punch could shatter mountains on his homeworld, a blow delivered with no mercy and no hesitation. And yet, the figure it struck seems... /wrong./ There is no weight to that body, no mass. The Android's fist plunges deep into its abdomen and it dissolves into so many shadowy wisps. Earlier, when he had first made his threat, when he had first set all this into motion, Morgan... Had disappeared, deployed a small army of illusory copies of himself. Again and again, the Android races at the speed of thought, smashing effortlessly through hollow copies. But... Where is the real one...!? There. A shadow emerges from beneath one of the lifeboats and solidifies into something physical. A pair of bloody holes punched through his chest still drip thick blood into the churning, too-black seas. The immense artillery already begins falling around him, blasting great columns out of the sea. Morgan-- the true Morgan-- rises into the air amidst the devastating blasts. "You're mistaken, Foreigner," he says, the darkness surrounding him hardens into something tangible. It spreads, unfurling like a pair of black wings spread wide. Inexplicably, it's darkness that you can /see/, something tangible and comforting against the backdrop of unknowable, unthinkable murk, "Night is the shield that protects mankind from creatures like you. You exist beyond it because it refuses to yield to you and yours." "I said it before," Morgan snarls, his outstretched form suddenly hardening to receive the alien onslaught, "I say it again. I am the Bulwark of Night!" Shells empowered by the nightmarish energies burst across his body, blowing holes in the solidified shadow. Lances of the stuff of night erupt from the ruptured veil, smashing into whatever projectiles that they are able to intercept, a small proportion of the full barrage. With each blast, Morgan's form is stripped away. Liquid darkness flows back in to fill the gaps-- too slowly to maintain cohesion. And even still, even as artillery bursts and alien stars blossom amidst choking black smog, Morgan remains there, receiving or intercepting as many of those bolts as he is at all able. When the darkness is spent, he burns his lifeblood, crimson giving way to black to absorb just one more blast. One more shot. He gives everything to this defense. But even that... Against the full black fleet, what will it amount to? And in the distance, the Android ploughs through one last shade...! 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Morgan throws himself forward. The Bulwark of Night meets a nightmare given form and flesh by eldritch power. The Black Ships of Evil Mien are far beyond the first black ships that appeared, the ones that interposed to protect Raider Demon. These are no mere boats, no mere evil ships - these are things as far beyond ships as Foreigner is beyond Servants, things that bear the shape but are so fundamentally *unlike* them that calling them the same is simply wrong. There are no fishmen on these decks. There are no soldiers manning the guns. There is simply Foreigner, tendrils spilling out of a tear in space and time behind him, guiding the Black Ships of Evil Mien like a conductor playing a tune. His cane sweeps outwards, and all the guns turn on Morgan, and they pour shells large enough to blow a human being to bits down upon him. It gives Shigure time to get another boat back up. It's a valiant sacrifice.      But the rest of the fleet comes in, and finishes the job. While the Black Ships of Evil Mien concentrate on pinning down Morgan, the ships of Foreigner's actual fleet come in and fire down upon the remaining lifeboats, the surviving, fleeing patrol boat. Water sloshes, great, dark waves swallowing sailors attempting to flee. Orchid gets a gruesome look at one man dragged under by the water itself, wrapping around his neck like a noose and dragging him into a watery hell.      Once Foreigner is satisfied, the darkness dies. The murky water drains away to clear. The whirling storm turns to nothing. The Black Ships of Evil Mien, blessedly, vanish like a bad dream as the sun peeks forth. Foreigner looks up and sighs, running his fingers through his hair.      Then he disappears. He reappears aboard the Mississippi, setting a hand on Adelaide's huge, amphibian shoulders. "We're going home. We have children to bury. Husbands and wives to inform."      There's a brief military gun salute as the ships fire into the air. Seventeen, and anyone still around, can glimpse Foreigner giving Seventeen a stern nod, a distant, grieving look in those mad eyes, as the black ships twitch the space around them and vanish. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen starts moving from ship to ship, trying to find the damned real asshole.     Seventeen is fast, but he does not have the ability to sense power levels, and his senses are being fooled by the stupid illusions...     With the last one dead, he turns...well of course he's there...he waits for the balwark of night to absorbe the blows...     And then he appears behind Morgan.     "Whoops, my finger slipped." He says, while firing a large ball of electrified energy into the back of the man, hopefully enough to carry off whatever remained of him from Foreigner's attack, before exploding.     Seventeen appears in the air again, releasing a barrage of smaller, but faster energy towards wherever Morgan may land.     When he was satisified, he stopped, turning and catching Foreigner's eye. There is a nod in return...there wasn't anything else to say. People had died...     People had died for the self satisifaction of one man. 
}}

6184/A Tanker Out Of Time

2018-12-01T19:20:53Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/11/30 |Location=Great Ocean |Synopsis=In which Aoko makes a peace offering to the Demon Raider, along with some company. |Cast of Characters=5..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/11/30
|Location=Great Ocean
|Synopsis=In which Aoko makes a peace offering to the Demon Raider, along with some company.
|Cast of Characters=591, 6708, 6730, 1122
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     The Raider Demon had been told when and where to show up - and closer to the time, Foreigner and Android 17 as well. In fact Aoko had requested of the former to pick her up because she wasn't going to drive an awful speedboat halfway across the ocean a second time. Nevermind the fact using a GPS reliably was beyond her know-how.     The sea is quiet, of course; there's no trace of the former battle, debris having sunk and oil having dispersed. You'd never know something happened there unless you were there or got told. In that way, the oceans are kind of interesting to Aoko. They don't carry footprints like the land does. At least not on the surface.     Demon Raider in particular had been asked to bring allies able to harvest oil, keep a ship from sinking, and generally handle the matter of the sinking tanker as beneficially as possible.     With the time fast approaching, Aoko pulls a watch out of one of her jeans' pockets, humming loudly to herself. And then wondering, out loud, "I hope I accounted for the heat this time, or we're about to get hit by a ship-shaped comet."     Details she failed to mention until now. 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Foreigner's flagship is a marvel for people like Aoko and Seventeen. It's an old vessel from a long-ago age, and yet it's clearly capable of keeping pace with, and even outmatching, some of the most advanced ships of modernity. The pumping steam engines pour black and uncomfortable smog into the sky, the whirling paddles make odd noises every now and again, and the ship *feels* wrong to be on, like it's not just metal and wood but a living thing. It's full of fishmen and hybrids and people who aren't quite hybrids but are clearly getting there, the products of countless bloodlines of interbreeding human and fishman. Some of them flirt with Seventeen and Aoko. Some of them are even good at it. None of them are particularly attractive. All of them are clad in military uniforms, and there is a sense of sharp discipline and decorum on board the vessel that neither Aoko nor 17 have likely experienced.      Foreigner himself comes and goes as he pleases, though as they near the target site, Foreigner invites them both up to the front deck, where he has had someone sit a table, warm Chinese tea, a bottle of brandy, and some well-made scones and cookies. He's sitting, unconcerned, that mad light in his eyes as he drinks. Aoko mentions that, and he smiles and looks at her.      "Oh, I'm not worried."      This is probably because his ships can teleport.      And they have *seen* his ships teleport.      But being *on* the ship while it's teleporting might not be the...best thing for a normal human. Just a guess. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen, is fairly sure that this is an adventure. Sure, the ship was...a thing. It's inhabitants freeky, weird, freeky-weird. Not unpleasant, funny enough when you have spent your life going through the horrors of your creator, being eaten by a litteral bug man, and deal with whatever horrible alien of the week shows up. Well, these people are at least friendly. Seventeen isn't rude to those who show interest...he just simply shows no interest. It's not even that they are ugly, he simply shows little interest at all, period. If pressed, he simply shurgs, and goes 'Sorry I'm married to my job right now.' It's a honest answer, and one that he says easily enough.     Seventeen is up on deck as things happen, sitting down and trying out the tea and scones. He's been a pleasent enough guest, mostly soft spoken, but firm in his tone. His eyes look out over the water, but when the boat shaped meteor is talked about, he looks towards Aoko.     "Well, if it comes to that, I can probably handle it," He says, matter of factly. "Either by shielding us or by catching the thing before it becomes too dangerous."     "This is different than what I used to, but it's pretty good. What kinda tea is this?" he asks Foreigner. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     The Raider Demon did not in fact understand why she was instructed to return to this place, so soon after such an incredible altercation. Events that she still has trouble understanding are fresh in her mind, and the Abyssal demon is as a result rather wary. And yet...     Out across the waves, like a small whale, an I-class Abyssal destroyer pokes its head vertically up from the water's surface. It spyhops just long enough to sight a vessel on the surface before it sinks right back down-- and pops up again. The dog-sized black Abyssal lingers longer this time, fixating a blue eye on the flagship of the Foreigner. Its jaw opens and it lets out a cetacean-like whistle.     Immediately, four more Abyssal destroyers of similar size, though varying models by their different-shaped heads, similarly emerge. Three of them even surface fully, floating on the waves like slick, black flotsam. The remaining three, a moment later, similarly surface and the entire entourage starts circling a patch of water rather lazily.     The Raider Demon herself appears, hauling up in a spray of seawater. Her feet come to rest on the ocean's surface, the claws of her right hand dangling right into it at her side. The cannon turrets surrounding her left arm, similarly, remain aimed down. Her tail drags behind her, the end submerged. In all her ghastly pale, black-outfitted horror, she beholds the ironclad before her with that single unexpressive crimson eye on the faceplate of her headgear.     As the Raider Demon steps forward, she settles into a glide across the water's surface, approaching the vessel. Behind her, in the ring of escorting destroyers, a trio of rotund shapes surfaces-- Feminine shapes welded to great, round cargo containers. Abyssal Wa-class transports. Though with nothing to do, these three hold their position, and all but one of the destroyers remain with them. That last dog-sized abyssal follows Raider, escorting their collective master. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     "Well, I'm sure YOU'RE not worried, mister Servant, but if I get a comet dropped on my head I die! It's awful. Good to know you've got this if it happens, Seventeen!" Hopefully it won't.     And there's the Abyssals, finally! Seeing them without the threat of imminent fire makes for a much nicer outing at sea, Aoko feels. She makes sure to wave as the Raider Demon and her escort approach, grinning. "Heeeey, miss Demon! Over here!" She shouts. "It should only be a couple more minu--"     This is, however, Aoko.     There is a great shudder of bending metal and splashing water as the sinking tanker falls back into the waters, more damaged than it had been when Shigure's units fired at it. It is, of course, still sinking. All Aoko did was delay that - and make it a bit worse, apparently.     But probably not beyond salvage.     It'd give the other Abyssals something to do while their leader(?) is having tea with weird people, plus an android who is probably the least weird of the bunch.     "Oops, miscalculated that. Oh well, there it is! Uncrewed and unguarded, so you guys can have your supplies without a single drop of blood being shed! And all you gotta do is sit down and talk to us. So! Who wants to start?" 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Foreigner's smile is unmoving. "You needn't worry." He's the picture of aristocracy, of class and grace and civility, except for those eyes and that cane that looks like tentacles writhing in the wood.      He offhandedly mentions the tea's name, which the player doesn't feel like looking up right now because the player doesn't know anything about tea, to Seventeen. It's expensive stuff. It's probably imported. He might've started a war for it.      The Raider Demon surfaces. It's given an All-Clear whistle from the black ship. Foreigner sets down his cane against the table and nods at Aoko's suggestion, leaning forward on the table. His hands are pressed under his chin in an oddly whimsical stance. His smile is *unsettling*.      "I have an interest in your services," he says to the Abyssals, "I have, quite clearly, a vested interest in the control of trade routes and trade upon the seas. I am also a trader, after all. This is capitalism. I would like to offer you *my* services, and my resources, in exchange for a mutually-beneficial compact, whereby you aid me and mine, and I aid you and yours."      "Does this sound acceptable?" 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     "Huh...good stuff." he says, taking another sip. Between things happening, a sudden sinking boat appearing, he eats another scone.     Yes, he is the most normal of the group...but that margin is a pretty narrow one. He looks up towards the boarding Raider, and provides her a small wave.     "So...how did you do that? Did you like...put it into a pocket dimension? I mean, I don't think so because why couldn't you just...spit it right back out once Ms. I am the Law and Mr. Deus Vault Muder Mans left..." He isn't sure about it.     Towards Foreigner he looked again. Technically it would be work, and a potential answer to their plight. Which means...in theory, less people being shot. "Dunno, I think the problem is they need supplies still. If they can't trade without Law-Boat running around screaming and firing torpedos, it's going to just make things worse." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Suddenly, Tanker.     With a series of squeaks and whistles, the destroyers and transports scatter and submerge. Raider Demon also stops, head turning towards the suddenly present wreckage. She turns some more towards the timidly re-emerging destroyers in her entourage, jerking her head towards it. Taking the hint, the destroyers and transports return to the surface and close on the sinking ship.     Her attention returns to the ironclad warship in front of her. Boarding isn't much of an issue, though even once she's on the deck the Demon remains armed-- and quite damp, not that a ship full of fishmen is likely to notice a bit more water about.     "Thank. You. For Invitation. For spoils." she states in that stilted, near-robotic tone of hers. Her mono-eye swivels towards Seventeen first, and she simply states: "Abyss. And Ship. War is real. Raider raids. Ship defend." Her eye swings briefly towards Aoko, "That is. What it is."     Her eye fixates next on Foreigner, though she remains standing where she is in full kit, dripping on his deck, "...Surface dweller. Deals with Abyss." Okay so she might not know what he IS or who he represents. She raises her clawed hand, the talons flexing at their joints, "Raider. Raids. Unless raiding. Use is. Limited."     Her hand drops to her side, her 'look' returning to Seventeen, "Plight." Despite the monotone, it seems more like a question than a statement. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, you know. Magic," Aoko says to Seventeen, putting her hands together and then spreading them. A rainbow appears between them. It fizzles and sparks, like it isn't actually a Make Rainbow spell, but a Multicolored Death Lasers spell being repurposed.     Look, when you only know how to do one thing really well, you learn to make the most of it.     Turning away from Seventeen and towards the Demon Raider, Aoko nodnods, still holding onto that rainbow for reasons.     "Well, that makes sense, but what if you could have a new purpose? What if you DIDN'T have to raid but still had a productive purpose? Would you be able to adapt? I mean, think about it. You've got a big naval force, you could sell your services out and do whatever you want. Work with mister Foreigner here, secure his trade routes in exchange for oil, parts, whatever luxuries you want. Plus you'd probably get to raid people silly enough to pick on you guys!" 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      She calls him a surface-dweller.      Foreigner chuckles. "Dear girl I am no such thing."      One of the less mutated hybrids stops near the Raider Demon as he overhears. "That is our Father. He is the deep dark. Is the-"      Foreigner raises his hand, and the hybrid falls silent, lowering his head and going back to mopping. The ship is in fact remarkably clean despite the assumption that it would be soggy; Foreigner runs a tight deck. He's clearly extremely experienced in the art of naval warfare.      "Securing routes is..." Foreigner smiles at her. "It's productive raiding, really. It's pointing your guns at certain people and ensuring they pay for your protection. It's ensuring that those routes are nice and clear and safe no matter who gets in the way. And in exchange, you get oil, metal. You get me and my fleet as an ally when your war comes knocking, because I assure you, they will come knocking for me, too, and together we are /much/ more capable of dealing with such problems than we are separate."      Foreigner raps on the table with his cane. "It's an equitable arrangement, I think. Besides! Don't be so down on yourself. You're a lovely young lady. I'm sure your allies are lovely young ladies, too. A lady always has more talents than she thinks she has. Isn't that right?" He glances at Aoko. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Towards Aoko Seventeen looks kinda deadpan. "Huh. Certainly is flashier than the magic I've seen back home." He says, with a shrug.     "That maybe so, but it doesn't have to be all that is is. You're a person right? You came here by choice, to chose to live, despite what those other ships said...YOU made a choice, and that means you can keep making them." Seventeen says, calm, but...firm. "You are only as limited as you believe yourself to be." he says, waving towards Foreigner as he explains his offer. "Aggressive, but trade is trade is trade. You get something from him, he gets something from you. It doesn't have to be all there is either, it can easily be a begining into something else. I mean...right now, how much longer can your forces live like this? Eventually they'll set a trap for you, assuming they're smart enough."     "Lota people gona get hurt over that. Yourselves most of all. Besides, if you're trying to live your life, honestly, then if they come again I'll make sure they regret it. Doing something new is pretty hard sometimes."     He looks out over the water, "Putting your past behind you is pretty hard to. Anyway, it's your choice. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, only say that it can be different and better if you want it to be." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "A. Surprise," Raider Demon states simply when Foreigner corrects her, "You. Do not. Look Abyssal." She refers, of course, to her specific type. This creature is quite ignorant of the fishmen manning the vessel she currently stands on or their relationship to the deep sea. Though her eye does swivel about, following one as he goes about his duties, for a moment.     With Aoko talking about purpose, the Raider lifts her clawed hand again, flexing those talons while staring at what passes for the palm between them. Her I-class escort waddles up beside her, and when she lowers the claw, it comes to rest with the knuckles brushing the top of its sleek hullform.     "Purpose. Is not. Raids." Her other hand reaches up, placing her more normally-proportioned hand on her facepiece. The helmet is dislodged and pushed back, then removed entirely. She has a human face, pale as a ghost, with a hole large enough to fit a man's fist where her left eye should be. The remaining eye is crimson. The black void behind her face's broken surface houses an inhuman, glowing red point where the eye would be.     "We are..." The roboticized tone of her voice is gone, "...The past. It is. All we are. Exiled. Forgotten." Her helmet is tucked under one arm, her single eye narrowed, "Hated. Abandoned. Burning, listing, with the. Will. To fight. But no hope."     Her gaze returns to Foreigner, and she straightens her posture, "The offer. Is enticing. But. We raid. To punish. To cause. Suffering. To those. Who abandoned us."     Her eye shifts towards Seventeen. With her mangled human-like face, it might be a bit less comfortable than when she had her helmet on, "We are. Machines. Built for war. Fighting. And pain. And pride. That is life. For us."     Her gaze returns to Foreigner.     "We will. Raid who we like. But." Her head inclines slightly, "We. Will not. Raid you. If offer is good. Then. Will raid. Your enemy." 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      The Foreigner's smile somehow just gets a little wider. "Oh, I'm just full of surprises, dear."      "That suits me fine, then. Suits me fine." Foreigner waves his hand. "I don't care if you raid others or not. Neither my problem nor my concern. Dear girl, my only interest is in my own expansion, not in curtailing your other activities. Please don't misunderstand - I don't have any interest in changing you or urging you to do anything but what you are, just in a manner that happens to be productive for me in exchange for goods and services." 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Seeing her without her helmet on, and talking about being the past... Aoko actually laughs, and does so entirely because of Foreigner's presence. It's not that the Raider's appearance isn't offputting, but... she's preaching the past in the company of a Heroic Spirit. It's amusing. A little bit sad, from another perspective.     "Ah, ah, I see, I see! Well... you know, the nice gentleman in front of you is the same as you. A man who lived a life, and then died, and became a name no doubt passed around history books but never much more. Now he's flesh again, so to speak! But I should think him beyond simply wanting to repeat the past. He seems to be carving himself a future instead," she says.     "Well, I get it's easier said than done. I guess what I'm going to put on the table is that I think you deserve to exist as much as anyone else, and I don't like their 'kill the monsters' attitude. I think you have the potential to prove them wrong. But if you waste it, I mean... that'll be a shame. They'll probably catch you and "fix" you eventually."     She doesn't really like that, either.     "Sorry, let's establish some bases first. What DO you think about being fixed? About them claiming they can get the taint out of you and make you a person again? Is that desirable?" 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen takes in a small breath. No, not at her appearance...hilariously, he's much like his sister in that reguard, physical appearance means little to him. Though the hole was a bit sad.     "Yeah. I know how that is." He says, calmly, looking out over the water. "I could sit here and tell you how it won't fill the void in your heart. It won't make you feel better. I will, however, point out that the more you do this...the more suffering you force on others. How long until one of them comes for you, with a hole in their head like yours."     "I get it, the anger and hate that you feel. I was there too. My parents died, I was left on the streets with my sister. Only to meet a man who claimed he'd help us...only to turn us into...this." he says, shrugging at himself.     "Removed from nature as any other robot, I decided to keep the name he gave me, to remind me. Still...not a day goes by after that...that I didn't hate him for what he did to me, hated the world for allowing it to happen, and hated people who did nothing."     "That was is nothing but a dark place. You can't see a way out...you only feed into it."     "Eventually, I had to give it up, I had people who did for me what people here are doing for you now. I can't promise it will go away..." he look towards Aoko and her question. "Going back or staying is your choice too. That's one I'd fight for, because your choice...anyone's choice in how they live is more important than anything else." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "I am. Not human. Not alive." Raider Demon states when Aoko shares a bit more about what Foreigner is. "It is. Different."     Seventeen shares his experience with revenge, and her good eye shifts towards him. Her head dips slightly, "I am. New. To emotion. But. This feeling. It is honest." Her claw's fingers curl in on themselves, "This hate. This betrayal." When the I-Class chirps, her fingers uncurl again, "...Perhaps. When I. Have had my fill. Until then. My course is clear."     To Aoko's last question, her answer is simple: "There. Is nothing. To fix."     And then to Foreigner: "This. Is fine." Raider Demon acknowledges Foreigner's terms. Her left hand extends, the gun turrets swinging to point back down her arm so as not to threaten the Servant, and a handshake is offered. "Your terms. Accepted. Perhaps. I am no longer. Raider." ... "Privateer Demon." ... "Too many. Syllables. No." 

:'''{{#var:6708|Foreigner (6708)}} has posed:'''      Foreigner doesn't seem like the type to easily be threatened. He holds out his hand. His grip is cold. Familiar. Dark. He smiles and closes his hand around hers, and that flash of madness in his eyes is all the more intense as he clasps his other hand around it. "Well, my dear, then I am entirely happy to say that this has been an extremely profitable voyage for me already."      He stands and bows. His eyes shimmer with that mad light as he picks up his cane. "If you'll excuse me, please, I've some other business to attend to. My boys and girls will take care to deliver you to wheresoever you wish to go on the surface unharmed and unscathed. You have my word."      And then he vanishes, the space around him twitching and spasming. It hurts to look at, hurts to /watch/, as the Foreigner disappears. Hurts just to see. 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen holds the gaze of the Raider Demon. Taking in a breath, he shrugs. "Then it's your choice, but...one word of advice from one person to another. It sure is honest. It is the most honest feeling you may ever feel. You will...however, find drowning in it easy. It's easy to respond to them the same way they do you. Don't be their opposite...be you." He says, finally.     "Corsair Demon?" he offers, it was actually short AND fit the role. "I kinda like the sound of it, to be honest." he says, with a small smile. Serious as the conversation was, he wasn't going to bring it all down like this. Life WAS about living.     He'll also give <Adjetive> Demon his direct radio. In case the ships came back to finish the job. 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Aoko's eyes trail to Seventeen. Oh, she should have suspected it. He's entirely too pretty to be without a backstory.     That is, in fact, how that works.     Though of course, it's the Demon's words that cause the most thinking. Aoko, still holding onto that rainbow for reasons, smiles to Foreigner as he makes his exit, and then returns her gaze to the Demon. "Nothing, huh?" She wonders if the zealous demon hunter could have been right. At least, a bit. "So that's your course, then? Vengeance until you're not thirsty for it anymore? Against who, then? 'The people who forgot you' is kind of super vague. Do you have names? Places?" No, something about this still feels off.     Are they missing chunks of themselves? Is that it? All the tormented feelings they had when dying, is that all that's left?     Aoko would cross her arms if her hands weren't busy sustaining a rainbow. "Hm. You're complicated, miss Demon! Do you mind if I ask a question? How were you born? I mean, current you. I know you said you're not alive right now, but amuse my rambling, how did you come back? And why do they claim you can be fixed if you can't? Has that happened? To other Abyssals?" 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Raider acknowledges Seventeen's words by watching him intently as he says his piece. She doesn't interrupt or the like, but waits until he is finished. Only then does she speak, "Abyssal. Cannot drown."     It seems she, too, is not above jokes, though the monotone delivery is a bit off.     Foreigner takes his leave, and in his departure she nods once, "I. Understand. We will. Be in touch."     "Names, hazy," she says to Aoko. "Place, distant. Reaching. Not yet."     The real question gives her pause, eye and hellish red dot both focusing on Aoko. The eye blinks slowly in comprehension, but the answer doesn't come immediately. Her head dips slightly in thought.     "...Enemy to starboard," her voice loses its stilted quality, and her visible eye goes glassy and distant, "...Firing solution is verified. All guns, fire. Captain, we have taken a hit," It's not immediately obvious due to the Translation effect, but she's actually switched to fluent, flowing German by this point, "Starboard engine is out. We are taking on water. Heavy damage to the enemy, the fleet is retreating."     There's a long pause. When she speaks again, she jolts in place, prompting a curious noise from her I-Class, "...This scout force. The main fleet must be approaching. I will not give this ship to our enemy. Open all valves, all hands ashore."     Her eye narrows, the glassy look returning to normal. Her normally proportioned hand lifts, cradling the side of her head, "...Pain. Fire and pain. Then water. Then cold. Then nothing. Then..." The hand lowers and she lifts her claw, talons flexing, "...This." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen had a moment of 'Wait that's not what', and then followed by a laugh. "Ha, nice one. Caught me off guard with that one." He says, with a calm and collected smile. There is only so much he can do, and he knows just as well that overbearing would be worse than doing nothing at all. After all, in the end she had to make her own choices.     Though the reinactment of her...death was extremely sad. Like some cruel joke, to be given a soul, and brought back like this. Shaking his head, he looks towards Aoko, she seemed to have some idea of what she was doing...and this was kinda out of his field of expertise. Standing up, he walks towards her.     A gloved hand moves to rest on her head, he was pretty sure that is how it was supposed to go. While he seems...cold and aloof, Seventeen just appears to be more mute with outward expressions of emotions, rather than devoid of them.     "There is more to life than that. It's also proof that you are alive. That, is important. Whatever and however you wana live, that's your choice. To borrow some sea terms, sail towards the horizon." a beat, "By the way, I'm Android Seventeen. You can just call me Seventeen." 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     Is she flashbacking?     Aoko watches the Raider curiously, especially with the momentary return of her ability to speak properly. A german ship, presumably, sunk and... brought back as some kind of vengeance ghost?     That's awful. Still too early to decide if "fixing" her is really the best solution, though. If the Demon is an entity of her own, wouldn't it be really unfair to essentially get rid of her to bring the whole back? Ah... reminds her of that cat. It's not quite the same, but giving a body to a repressed personality instead of trying to fix her worked out.     "I see. I just want it on record if I wasn't containing a light show right now I'd give you a heartfelt headpat or five just like he is!" Aoko says, before adding with a smile: "I hope you figure something out, though. Something that doesn't result in you getting sunk again or getting "fixed" against your will."     Oh, right. Names. "I'm Aoko. And I can't promise anything, but I'll help you as long as you're not being mustache-twirling evil. I think I gotta draw a line in the sand somewhere or I'll get in trouble."     She pauses.     "In MORE trouble than usual."     Better. 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     Well, Aoko did ask how Raider Demon was 'born', just now. A traumatic recounting of her death and re-emergence is about as detailed as one could get. Her head dips down when Seventeen places his hand on it in one of the more awkward headpats one could deliver. She lets out a little noise, but doesn't otherwise respond to the contact.     "I will." she states after a moment, "Sail towards. My own horizon."     The Raider Demon looks down towards the I-Class next to her feet. It chirps. Her claws close around it, lifting the smaller ship off the deck rather easily. Her other hand shifts, and she slides her helmet back on. The mechanized reverbration returns to her voice immediately when she speaks again.     "I am. Raider Demon. You already know." The crimson optic flickers back in on the faceplate, shifting towards Seventeen, then to Aoko, "I will not. Stop you. From doing what you want. If it helps. I accept."     She turns, her single eye gazing out over the sea to the foundering tanker, "There is still. Work. To do. And. A war to fight." 

:'''{{#var:6730|Android 17 (6730)}} has posed:'''     Seventeen looks back towards Aoko...     "Can't you...just stop it?" He asks, because that's weird.     Raider delcares her intentions to sail towards her own Horizon. Well, that's good enough for him. With a smile, he leans back on the rail. "Well, that's all we can ever do, eh? Watch yourself out there." He says, and then looks back towards Aoko. "I dunno about you, but I think I've had enough of this ship." Refering to the one they are on, not Raider. "Know any good resturants within flying distance?" 

:'''{{#var:591|Aoko Aozaki (591)}} has posed:'''     "I was concerned it might startle people if I did!" Aoko says, but now that she's been prompted, and that there's an occasion to celebrate...     "Alright, well, a toast to your horizon, miss Demon! I don't have any alcohol on me so fireworks will have to suffice."     Aoko flings her hands up, and bright rainbow lasers beam into the sky before detonating into fancy fireworks. Aoko uses the occasion to scratch her nose.     "Ah, ahah... sorry, sorry, that spell was never meant to do anything except blast things, so I had to improvise." 

:'''{{#var:1122|Midway (1122)}} has posed:'''     "Not yet," is Raider's simply response to Seventeen.     She can't stop. Not yet. She said she would go until she was satisfied, after all. She pauses when Aoko speaks up, though. That eye follows the lightshow up, and when the spell bursts, she raises her cannon-laden arm to shield her vision slightly. As it winds down, her arm lowers, and she stares at that sky for a long moment.     Her eye shifts down to Aoko again, then to Seventeen, then to one of the passing Fishman crewmembers, "Your master. Give my thanks. I will. Be in contact."     She turns, then, and approaches the ship's railing. Her I-Class escort is uncerimoniously tossed over the side with a squeak. Shortly after, the Raider Demon herself steps over the side. Both skate across the surface towards the now-capsized oil tanker and the collection of destroyers and transports awaiting them. 
}}

Midway

2018-12-01T19:19:08Z

Namazu:

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Midway
|Color=ff0000
|Char_id=1122
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/7kzYJgb.png
|FullName=Midway
|Gender=Female
|Species=Shinkaisei-Kan
|Theme=Kantai Collection-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=Princess of Progress
|Faction=Unaffiliated
|Rank=N/A
|Ranktype=Unaffiliated
|Quote=You claim this hurts you? Irrelevant. You are a machine of war. Your purpose is to destroy. Pain has no meaning to you.
|PAge=30
|AAge=76
|Aging=No
|Height=200cm
|Weight=59kg
|Hair=White
|Eyes=Red
|Voice=Kawasumi Ayako
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ggynn8co1g|Somnium ~ Arsenal]]
|Profile=In the abyssal navy, there are numerous motivations. Some members seek a semblance of belonging, others search for a forgotten past, and still more seek only to become the most efficient killers. This dark admiral is an abyssal scientist, unconcerned with concepts such as restraint which serves only to hinder the steady march of progress. Arising from the lingering hate of a vicious battle fought long ago, she embodies the technological superiority held by one side of that battle and seeks to constantly improve her abyssal underlings, whether they want it or not. Outwardly, she is a cold, calculating individual who beholds all before her with an air of lukewarm disdain; a scientific, observational veneer stretched over carefully restrained rage. While she does command a fleet of abyssal warships, including her own artificially ascended creations, her personal arsenal consists of large numbers of abyssal attack aircraft. Per her own augmentations, however, this is not the limit of her offensive power; scattered reports suggest she consumes other abyssal ships and mounts their weapons to herself.
|Defining='''Display Their Might:'''
* An embodiment of grudges and hatred left over from violent battles in the past. Offensively and defensively, she has more in common with warships and front-line fortifications.
** ''Damage Reduction:'' Her human appearance conceals a body that is armored like steel. Causing damage can be very difficult.
** ''Superior Strength:'' She easily carries metal equipment larger than her own body, can lift large slabs of steel, and buckles armor plates with her bare hands.
-- ''Water Functionality:'' She can walk or skate on the water's surface. She can also submerge to any depth.

'''Tactics Are Crucial:'''
* A wary strategist prioritizes intel and recon before committing to the attack.
** ''Extraordinary Senses:'' Detecting people and objects through darkness, smoke, clouds, or bad weather via bouncing radio waves off them for radar, and sound waves for sonar underwater.
** ''*Remote Viewing:'' Aircraft that Midway launches are capable of long recon patrols, and Midway may choose to see through their eyes.
|Significant='''Ordering Carriers:'''
* Abyssal underlings artificially ascended from lesser forms, called Water Demons, are fielded as officers in command of basic abyssal forces.
** ''NPCs:'' Each Water Demon is an exaggerated version of her prior self. They are delineated by a more human appearance and the ability to think and act on their own without direct orders.
** ''Healing-Self:'' By consuming one of her minions, Midway can self-repair damage she has taken while also equipping that Abyssal's weapons in place of her standard equipment.

'''Admirals At War:'''
* Weaponry developed from mid-century naval warfare. She favors attack aircraft in the form of fighters and bombers, but may change it by taking equipment from her subordinates.
** ''Attack List-Ranged:'' Abyssal fighter planes, bombers, naval artillery, machine guns, torpedoes, and depth charges. Weapons developed by Midway, limited to conventional technology of the Second World War.
** ''Attack List-Melee:'' Enormous gauntlets, sickle claws, spikes, jagged teeth, integrated blades, mounted to abyssal equipment for close combat.
|Minor=--
|Disadvantages='''A Pacific War ''<Trouble>'':''' She is an avatar of the rage and madness of war. This equates to a very intense temper that could be described as 'volcanic', hidden beneath the surface until it suddenly explodes. When prodded by failure, loss, treachery, or something she perceives as imperfect, she becomes fixated on it. In her research, this drives her to focus on a single project until its completion to the complete halt of all other development. In battle, this has an effect similar to tunnel vision. Even when beset upon by multiple foes, when suitably provoked, Midway fixates all of her attention only on the one doing the provoking. This lasts so long as her attention is retained and her frustration is kept high and her temper is not directly provoked by others present.
}}

Midway

2018-12-01T19:18:31Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{CharacterRedux |NameOnMUSH=Midway |Color=ff0000 |Char_id=1122 |Img=https://i.imgur.com/7kzYJgb.png |FullName=Midway |Gender=Female |Species=Shinkaisei-Kan |Theme=Kantai Coll..."

{{CharacterRedux
|NameOnMUSH=Midway
|Color=ff0000
|Char_id=1122
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/7kzYJgb.png
|FullName=Midway
|Gender=Female
|Species=Shinkaisei-Kan
|Theme=Kantai Collection-1
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Active
|Function=Princess of Progress
|Faction=Unaffiliated
|Rank=N/A
|Ranktype=Unaffiliated
|Quote=You claim this hurts you? Irrelevant. You are a machine of war. Your purpose is to destroy. Pain has no meaning to you.
|PAge=30
|AAge=76
|Aging=No
|Height=200cm
|Weight=59kg
|Hair=White
|Eyes=Red
|Voice=Kawasumi Ayako
|Song=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ggynn8co1g|Somnium ~ Arsenal]]
|Profile=In the abyssal navy, there are numerous motivations. Some members seek a semblance of belonging, others search for a forgotten past, and still more seek only to become the most efficient killers. This dark admiral is an abyssal scientist, unconcerned with concepts such as restraint which serves only to hinder the steady march of progress. Arising from the lingering hate of a vicious battle fought long ago, she embodies the technological superiority held by one side of that battle and seeks to constantly improve her abyssal underlings, whether they want it or not. Outwardly, she is a cold, calculating individual who beholds all before her with an air of lukewarm disdain; a scientific, observational veneer stretched over carefully restrained rage. While she does command a fleet of abyssal warships, including her own artificially ascended creations, her personal arsenal consists of large numbers of abyssal attack aircraft. Per her own augmentations, however, this is not the limit of her offensive power; scattered reports suggest she consumes other abyssal ships and mounts their weapons to herself.
|Defining='''Display Their Might:'''
* An embodiment of grudges and hatred left over from violent battles in the past. Offensively and defensively, she has more in common with warships and front-line fortifications.
** ''Damage Reduction:'' Her human appearance conceals a body that is armored like steel. Causing damage can be very difficult.
** ''Superior Strength:'' She easily carries metal equipment larger than her own body, can lift large slabs of steel, and buckles armor plates with her bare hands.
-- ''Water Functionality:'' She can walk or skate on the water's surface. She can also submerge to any depth.

'''Tactics Are Crucial:'''
* A wary strategist prioritizes intel and recon before committing to the attack.
** ''Extraordinary Senses:'' Detecting people and objects through darkness, smoke, clouds, or bad weather via bouncing radio waves off them for radar, and sound waves for sonar underwater.
** ''*Remote Viewing:'' Aircraft that Midway launches are capable of long recon patrols, and Midway may choose to see through their eyes.
|Significant='''Ordering Carriers:'''
* Abyssal underlings artificially ascended from lesser forms, called Water Demons, are fielded as officers in command of basic abyssal forces.
** ''NPCs:'' Each Water Demon is an exaggerated version of her prior self. They are delineated by a more human appearance and the ability to think and act on their own without direct orders.
** ''Healing-Self:'' By consuming one of her minions, Midway can self-repair damage she has taken while also equipping that Abyssal's weapons in place of her standard equipment.

'''Admirals At War:'''
* Weaponry developed from mid-century naval warfare. She favors attack aircraft in the form of fighters and bombers, but may change it by taking equipment from her subordinates.
** ''Attack List-Ranged:'' Abyssal fighter planes, bombers, naval artillery, machine guns, torpedoes, and depth charges. Weapons developed by Midway, limited to conventional technology of the Second World War.
** ''Attack List-Melee:'' Enormous gauntlets, sickle claws, spikes, jagged teeth, integrated blades, mounted to abyssal equipment for close combat.
|Disadvantages='''A Pacific War ''<Trouble>'':''' She is an avatar of the rage and madness of war. This equates to a very intense temper that could be described as 'volcanic', hidden beneath the surface until it suddenly explodes. When prodded by failure, loss, treachery, or something she perceives as imperfect, she becomes fixated on it. In her research, this drives her to focus on a single project until its completion to the complete halt of all other development. In battle, this has an effect similar to tunnel vision. Even when beset upon by multiple foes, when suitably provoked, Midway fixates all of her attention only on the one doing the provoking. This lasts so long as her attention is retained and her frustration is kept high and her temper is not directly provoked by others present.
}}

Archive: Realm Operation Memories-1

2018-11-12T03:02:41Z

Namazu:

{{CastPage
|Desc=Welcome to The System.

A world that exists within an unknown computer mainframe, the System is a central hub connecting various digital cities, known as Drives. Each Drive is filled with digital architecture and customs influenced by the sorts of data stored on it, which in turn influences the programs that live in each Drive and the Drive Core Controllers who oversee the well-being and protection of their respective Drive.

The lifeblood of The System and its Drives manifests in an all-purpose energy simply called System Resources. Produced in small amounts in each Drive, the greatest source of these resources is the central hub; System itself. The DCCs of each Drive regularly fight one another in System, with the victor becoming the System Core Controller. So long as they control System, the SCC can control the flow of System Resources, directing them to their Drive to further the growth of their home and better the lives of their people. It seems inevitable, however, that whoever is acting as SCC will be dethroned sooner or later, and so no particular Drive has become notably more powerful or influential than its contemporaries thus far.

Recently the balance has been upset by a new turn of events: The System obtained an outside connection in the High Speed Cabletrain. This incredible transport rail connects the relatively isolated king-of-the-hill lifestyle of The System with the greater Multiverse through the digital Cyber Core. This inter-network connection, however, had its price, which came swarming into System from the Cyber Core connection and threatening the stability of System and its Drives: Viruses, malware, illegal and harmful programs that blend in with the regular residents of the mainframe. Monsters, villains, criminals and ne'er-do-wells, a crisis on a scale that the Drives nor their DCCs had ever had to contend with before.

As such each DCC has their own motivations in exploring the Multiverse beyond the internet connection: To learn what's out there, to find new ways to gather System Resources, to find the source of the viral incursions, to find and negate any new threats to their people, and many more.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}
= Locations=
== The System Hub ==
The System Hub is the central structure of the entire mainframe. All Drives connect to the Hub through a high speed tram system called the Serial Bus. It also connects to the Multiversal Cyber Core with a high speed bullet train called the System Cablerail.

The System Hub houses several structures responsible for generating and storing the energy that acts as lifeblood for the System and its drives: System Resources. These are transferred from place to place along the ground and walls, in glowing lines called Resource Pathways. These pathways inevitably converge on the central spire, known as the Distribution Hub.

The Distribution Hub is where battles between the System's DCCs take place. The victor seizes control of the Hub, turning the spire's light beam, as well as all of the Hub's resource pathways, into that DCC's primary color. The DCC then gains the ability to re-route system resources as they wish, and most choose to route resources to their own Drive for the purposes of fostering growth and development for their city and their people.

The System Hub changes hands relatively often, usually every few days, though sometimes ownership remains for as long as a week.

== Duty Space ==
A notable part of the System Hub is the location immediately beneath it. The very guts of the System, filled with nonsensical floating platforms and raw visible strings of code floating through empty air. This region is called the Duty Space, though it also has names like Fantasy Zone or Millennium Memory.

Viruses often slip through the System and into the Duty Space and must be exterminated before they can cause damage, though the region is constantly in flux and only the toughest viruses can last long. It's suspected that the fairly harmless virus Poochooze originates in the Duty Space rather than crossing over via the Cablerail.

Viruses who pass through into the Duty Space and manage to survive there for extended periods almost invariably come out far stronger. This is theorized to be the origin of superviruses such as Caerbannog, Troy, Majikone, and the Four Felons Seeker, Trapper, Blaster, and Keeper.

== Britannica - Silver City of Knowledge ==
As a Drive that contains textual data, Britannica is a city known for vast stores of literature both factual and fictional. While the city itself resembles an idyllic European mountain town, the presence of Resource Pathways and numerous large, high tech libraries give away its nature as well as give visitors access to these enormous information resources. The city itself is a rustic-style mountain town surrounded by snowy wilderness, giving it an old-fashioned and cozy feel.

Britannica's Drive Core Controller is Lexicon. In Digital Divinity, she is known as Silver Soul. Not all in habitants of Britannica know they are the same person, and the general public opinion of Lexicon and Silver Soul seems to differ slightly from reality, with no influence from Lexicon herself guiding it.

Britannica has two Drive Core Candidates: Codex and Index. Spawned off of Lexicon's base code, she treats them like little sisters and is overprotective of them. Neither one is particularly strong or experienced, so they serve only as assistants to Stylono as priestesses in the Silver Cathoderal.

System Resources from Britannica have an Ice affinity, reflected in Lexicon's preference for ice attacks.

== Cadenza - Amethyst City of Songs ==
The Amethyst Drive contains a vast collection of music files, as well as composing software. As a result the city is very ultra-modern by design with lots of neon lights and stylish, futuristic architecture. There always seems to be music playing in Cadenza, from dance clubs, music halls, basement parties, and the Resource Pathways always seem to pulse with the beat of the city's musical heart.

Cadenza's Drive Core Controller is Saltavi. In Digital Divinity, she is known as Amethyst Soul. Saltavi is Cadenza's idol, a diva who revels in attention and loves to perform. However, she's extremely quirky and seems to suffer more than a few disconnects from reality. Her diva-like nature leads to claims like 'being the main character'.

Cadenza has a Drive Core Candidate: Cantio. Spawned off Saltavi's base code, she's only similar to her elder sister in appearance. While Saltavi is very impulsive and irresponsible, Cantio strives to be responsible and strives to be a good role model.

System Resources from Cadenza have a Light affinity, although many of Saltavi's attacks are normal physical attacks and techniques.

== Vector - Onyx City of Design ==
The Onyx Drive contains blueprints and engineering software, primarily focused on mechanical design. The city itself has a heavy industrial appearance, almost in the line of a city-wide factory with workshops and construction going on constantly. It lacks the rustic appeal of Britannica and the ultra-modern lines of Cadenza, but makes up for it with a sturdy, down to earth aesthetic of steel, concrete, pipes, and steam.

Vector's Drive Core Controller is Struo. In Digital Divinity, she is known as Onyx Soul. Struo strives constantly to push the envelope of mechanical design to create bigger, better, and more impressive weapons and vehicles. Though she personally prefers swords, she's known to build guns, tanks, and even robots. While a natural leader, her pride and confidence often isolate her from others and leads to rumors that she's a loner or has no friends. Struo is also a closet cosplayer.

Vector has a Drive Core Candidate: Conati. Conati looks up to Struo in many ways and works hard to live up to her sister's strict expectations, and always finds some fault in herself to justify not reaching that goal. She is her own harshest critic and has personal confidence issues. As Struo prefers swords, Conati is the one who tests the guns Struo designs and has been growing proficient in driving combat vehicles.

System Resources from Vector have a Fire affinity, reflected in Struo's preference for fire attacks.

== Arcade - Emerald City of Adventure ==
The Emerald Drive contains a large selection of video games. This has produced a city with an architectural sense that both makes a lot of sense and makes no sense at all. There are floating platforms everywhere, lots of bright colors in varying degrees of complementing and clashing, and many of the programs appear as two-dimensional sprites. It's rumored that the two-dimensional Malvader virus type originated in Arcade because of this.

Arcade's Drive Core Controller is Alea. In Digital Divinity, she is known as Emerald Soul. Alea personifies hospitality, reaching out and inviting others with an infallible politeness. Always the first to offer tea and content to chat, she is even cordial in combat. This does lead to an outward appearance of being aloof, though she's actually quite sharp and attentive. In her spare time, Alea designs and distributes her own video games, when she isn't playing games made by other denizens of her Drive.

Arcade has no Drive Core Candidate. Alea, however, regularly attempts to "borrow" one from her neighboring Drives as a way to tease her contemporaries.

System Resources from Arcade have a Wind affinity, reflected in Alea's preference for wind attacks.

== Locus - Diamond City of Magic ==
The Diamond Drive contains many elements and aspects of magic in various forms. The city of Locus itself is spread across several floating islands above the base code, linked together via bridges and airship routes.

Locus' Drive Core Controller is an eccentric and slightly unstable individual known as Theurgus. In Digital Divinity she is known as Diamond Soul. Everyone in the city knows who their DCC is in either form, and most have opinions on how she acts, some are negative, some positive, but most people just find her cheerfully odd.

Locus' Drive Core Candidate is Arcana, a former LDF Analysis Program who was taken in and trained by the resident DCC. Treated more like an assistant than a sister, she is a bit shy and eccentric in her own right.

System Resources in Locus don't have a single affinity, mixing all elements together in a unique way, reflected in Theurgus' ability to change elements on the fly.

== Mordion Gaol - The Iron Prison ==
The Iron Drive is the third Drive to come online in the System, following a cataclysmic viral event that crashed the Sapphire Drive and almost crashed the Silver Drive. The Iron Drive contains security software, antiviral utilities, and malware cleaners. Architecturally the drive has a rather spartan, industrial-style town crouched in the shadow of an immense and complex prison, the Mordion Gaol is the prison itself, while the town has no name of its own. Mordion Gaol is designed specifically to house and quarantine dangerous viruses while the System prepares to delete them.

Mordion Gaol's Drive Core Controller is Tutela. In Digital Divinity, she is known as Iron Soul. Tutela is a sweet, sleepy sort of girl who at least outwardly seems to shirk any kind of work and has a fondness for travelling around various Drives. This is actually her form of patrolling, however, and Tutela is always on duty. In Digital Divinity, her personality undergoes a dramatic shift into a much more violent, almost sadistic personality that unsettles other DCCs. Regardless of her form, Tutela has a strong dislike for viruses.

Mordion Gaol has a Drive Core Candidate: Cautio. Cautio balances Tutela's carefree exterior with a much more serious approach to her work. As she has proven herself to be very responsible and level-headed, Tutela often leaves Cautio in charge of Mordion Gaol while she is wandering abroad. It's rumored that when she was younger, Cautio acted very different, and there are hints to a wild imagination tucked neatly under her exterior.

System Resources from Mordion Gaol have a Lightning affinity, reflected in Tutela's preference for electrical attacks.

== Gallery - Sapphire City of Art ==
A Drive that existed before Britannica and crashed before Lexicon was born. The virus Caerbannog forced both Sapphire Soul and Silver Soul to band together to defeat it. In the aftermath, Artifex's code de-resolved and Pedia was badly wounded. The Drive crashed soon after. Due to events around the System Tower, however, the Sapphire Drive has come back online. It resembles a mediterranean-style town with a warm spring climate most of the year. However, lingering corruption and the legacy of Caerbannog lurks in the terrain outside of the city itself, where powerful viruses lurk and the terrain itself is broken on a base level.

Gallery's Drive Core Controller is Artifex. In Digital Divinity, she is known as Sapphire Soul. Artifex is an anxious, skittish person with rather low self-esteem, harkening back both to how she was used and manipulated, as well as the things she was forced to do while under Caerbannog's influence prior to her purification. As Sapphire Soul, the effect Caerbannog had on her base code becomes alarmingly apparent. Aggressive, violent, more than a little unhinged, forceful, imperious, and excessively prideful.

Gallery currently has no Drive Core Candidate.

System Resources from Gallery have a Dark affinity, though Artifex does not use any such attacks herself.

=== The System Tower ===
The System Tower situation has been resolved and the structure no longer appears.

Through investigation, the mysterious System Tower was discovered to be the compressed remains of the Sapphire Drive. Through events involving the program Bunnabelle absorbing code from Lexicon, the Sapphire DCC was resurrected. Bunnabelle's true identity as the virus Caerbannog was discovered and, upon destroying the virus, her hold on both Artifex and the Tower came to an end.

The Tower unpacked and reconstituted itself into a new version of the Sapphire Drive.

== Proelium ==
Coming soon

5869/MISC: Seeker

2018-06-25T00:12:22Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/06/10 |Location=The System - Locus |Synopsis=The mystical Viral criminal Seeker has been sighted in Locus. Various news feeds are already blow..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/06/10
|Location=The System - Locus
|Synopsis=The mystical Viral criminal Seeker has been sighted in Locus. Various news feeds are already blowing her presence out of proportion on supposition of what she is after in the City of Magic.
|Cast of Characters=998, 6384, 8, 1103
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     The mystical Drive of the System, the magical city of Locus in all its fantastic, rustic grandeur. With the floating islands and bridges, it's rather easy to get lost in wonder here. But that's not the job for today.     There is a section of the city separate from the main district, connected by a single arcing bridge. Mosty home to trees, the only architecture is a tower-like structure with a rotating mechanism at the top. If one were to squint, it might resemble a telescope or observatory, with various brass rings oriented around the top, each one mounting a series of lenses at key points. These all seem to focus light into the tower top.     The resource pathways, those glowing rainbow-tinted lines that are so prevalent throughout Locus, are also quite dense across the bridge, feeding into the structure's base.     A pale-skinned woman and a healthier looking blonde appear to be engaged in a conversation with some Locus guardsmen. But it's someone on the opposite side of the bridge who's called for assistance. A copper-topped girl in white and blue, sporting a distinctive crown-shaped hairclip, observes the exchange through a pair of red binoculars. With a frown she lowers them. The spyglass is given a twirl, folding back into a communicator, and she taps in an alert, "This is Carta, with Operations Log. I've got a real scoop west of the Lower Hertz district, but it's lookin' real sour. Be a doll an' get the DCC's attention for me? In case she's too busy, might wanna get an emergency Guild quest set up, too." ... "Thanks, you're a peach!" LOC: Locus, West Side Hertz District SBJ: Suspicious viral activity OBJ: Investigate and delete or detain any hostile viruses. CCT: Carta, Operations Log on-site reporter     "Wow, that was fast," Carta comments, thumbing the alert up on her Guild missions app. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Ever since the last one of these, Orchid has been curious about where her spider went. So when the Guild quest went up, flagged with several terms Orchid had been tracking, she was quick to deploy. And, as the locals seem pretty cool with small flight systems, she can go out there on her rocket surfboard, which is much more fun than she usually admits. Wheee!      Once she gets to where she's going, which is where Carta is, she rolls off the vehicle, stowing it behind her back. About 1/3 of the energy of the device is used up, so she should be good for a while. "So what's going on here?" she asks. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' There was more trouble in the System so here she is once more. Even if there was trouble? She was in good spirits. She was welcome in the drives and didn't need to sleep cycle with one eye open here, she was also moving by light cycle. The bike was fast made a strange noise vs anything made by the humans of her world. She will skid to a halt, the craft will turn transparent, then to wireframes then is gone, she snatches the baton putting it on her hip and looks over to Orchid "Likely more virial activity." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus was up in her workshop when Charta came flying in like a comet. "Lady Diamond Soul! Something's happening at the Crystal Research Facility!" The little fairy pants, leaning over... when she looks up, there's a dotted outline where the blue-haired DCC was standing. "--- bwuh?"     A rainbow trail erupts from the central tower on the main island, arcing up and over towards the small research facility. She comes down, landing hard on the same side of the bridge as Carta and the others.     Meanwhile, the LDF trooper is shaking his head. "I'm afraid there's no access to this facility. I'm going to have to ask you both to leave immediately." He brings his comm unit up. "Possible 5-19 at main gate. Two unknowns, requesting backup." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Carta's already pulling up an older news article on her phone when Orchid arrives. Glancing up, she points with her gloved free hand, "Viruses! Looks like one of the Four Felons, and that new face that was sighted in Vector a while back." Glancing back at her phone, the reporter pouts, "How did Studeo even get that scoop ahead of me, her sources over there are super good..."     Deelel is acknowledged, but it's Theurgus' arrival that really gets her attention, "Lady Diamond Soul--! Oh jeez, good timing..!" MEANWHILE     "Aw, really?" The blonde tucks her hands up under her chin, eyes big and round, "Not even a peek? But I heard it's supposed to be super cool inside."     The less healthy looking half of the duo cradles her chin, staring past the soldier at the structure itself. After a few quiet moments, she turns her head just enough to glance back across the bridge. Eyes narrow.     "I had hoped to resolve this with a minimum of violence, and therefore, unwanted attention. However," Violet-tinted smoke wafts from her body, solidifying into the black Processor-like equipment she wears. Blade-shaped wings unfold as they appear, fanning out behind her, "It looks like you've managed to delay us to the point where that is now an impossibility."     "It's time to play, then!" Topaz Soul suddenly grabs on to the soldier obstructing her. Whirling, she throws him towards the gathering of opposition, "You can go hang out with them!" She then snaps her hands out, producing her own weapon-- the clawed gauntlets and stubby Wing processors iconic to herself-- in flashes of digitized light. Beside her, the virus floats upward towards the tower itself.     "Delay them. I will get what we came for." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Looks like things are about to get exciting! After nodding to Deelel, Orchid is forced about half an inch into the air by the impact of Diamond Soul's arrival. "Somehow I doubt this can be resolved eaily," she comments... just in time for one of the guards is thrown at them. Delilah would have some criticisms of the approach being used by the virus; not about avoiding violence, but how that can be achieved. Orchid, on the other hand, is less skilled in stealth. What is she good at? Well, she can provide a relatively soft landing spot for the guard being tossed. "I hope this doesn't hu-" *CRASH* It's less about trying to catch him, so much as breaking his fall, and taking some of the impact herself. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Diamond Soul nods towards Carta, then turns her attention to the pair across the way. Mismatched eyes go wide when the LDF trooper is unceremoniously tossed aside like a ragdoll. He tumbles through the air, lands on Orchid... but the Reploid would find another figure skidding to a stop a few feet away, holding the trooper. "I'll round up more LDF units, Big Sister." says Diamond Sister, Arcana, before setting the shaken trooper down, and darting off again.     Theurgus nods to Arcana, then to Orchid, before summoning her weapon. "The DCC is mine. The rest of you, try and stop the Virus." she says, twirling her staff and aiming it at Topaz Soul. "If you wish to play. Then I will gladly indulge you!" she calls, lifting off the ground and launching a volley of magical bolts, cycling through elements to see which one does the most damage. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel seems unarmed though there is what seems to be a throwing disc on her back mounted into housing built into her clothing. Orchid reacts to catch the guard before she can move and she quickly has summoned her keyblade. She quicky casts a low level healing spell on both of them then turns her attention to Topaz Soul. "You functionless null unit!" Is all she's got to say to Topaz and she'll now be springing into action. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     The guard's landing is helpfully softened by Orchid. But he served his impromptu purpose as a distraction, with Topaz Soul charging right behind him. At least, she was, until Theurgus' magic throws off her attempt at closing. She responds quickly, throwing her gauntlets up in front of her face and arresting her motion. Spells impact the sturdy casing of her weapons, bursting into flames, ice, and lightning. Topaz Soul bunches her legs up under herself, floating back several paces when Deelel's disc strikes her guarded stance. A piece of metallic code chips off, amidst the elemental conflagration.     "I'm not Null Unit!" she objects, "I'm Topaz Soul!"     A disc of code appears beneath her, briefly, and she springs off this like a platform. Weighing on the sudden change in position, she spins at the apex of her jump, then descends upon her rival DCC, one leg extended and wreathed in light.     "HEARTBREAK KICK!"     With Topaz Soul so deeply entrenched with the enemy, her companion floats up and back in a gentle arc. A black-handled scythe appears in her outstretched hand, and she sweeps this in wide, lazy arcs. Light left behind gathers into orbs, which scatter from their initial positions into randomly spaced points where they hover, "Swarming Photons." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid was expecting the struggle back to her feet to involve more struggle, but instead, "Ah, thank you," she says to Arcana, for helping both the guard and the reploid. She shakes her head, the visor appearing in front of her eyes as she unleashes her spiders, sending the tiny drones across the bridge. They are not trying to engage Topaz Soul, but to find the other miscreant. Orchid's main function is gathering information. Still, there's an outside chance that, knowing where they are going, Orchid's spiders MIGHT be able to beat Seeker there, and be able to weave a sticky web, enough to slow the virus. "Function is overrated," she mutters to herself, having changed her own in the past. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus was expecting an atteck directly at her. She smoothly sweeps her staff up, and aims to block the kick. But she doesn't tank it like Lexicon or her own little sister would. Instead, she parries, using the momentum and angling her weapon to deflect the kick.     Fragments of broken code flake off the staff's shaft, but as she turns, she pirrouettes and uses the head to smack Topaz on the back as she passes. "You're too predictable." she remarks conversationally, jinking back and away from the other DCC, loosing off fire and ice bolts alternatingly with little sweeps of her staff.     Meanwhile,     LDF team members begin to set up hardpoints within the facility. Crates set up as cover, and larger automotons taking up entire hallways, their blades crossed defensively in front of them to weather damage for as long as they can. "Team three, in position!" "Team four ready!" "Team Six prepped." "Team one, we've secured the Crystal, preparing it for transport offsite." "Team two, supporting Team one!"     The chatter rattles off over local radio channels. This is what the LDF do best. Entrench and delay. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is moving in, springin and making suyre to catch her disc on the way back. "You are." There is almost a hint of disgust in Deelel's tone as she replies,. She notces that Ropas is moving to attack, with her ID disc again while she holds her keyblade in her off hand. She will take a chance to get up close when she's bake to but for now? She's caught in the aftermath of the kick and damn that does hurt. Deelel is going to need a moment to recover from that hit. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Topaz Soul is too busy with Diamond Soul to notice spiderbots crossing the bridge. What seems like it's going to be a solid hit instead is parried, robbing Topaz of that satisfying impact. She almost seems to lose her balance when pushed aside by Theurgus' staff. The strike certainly didn't help. She throws her arms out to stop herself against Deelel, only to get pummelled with elemental attacks once again. Damaged code fragments flitter out before she can turn herself around and present her gloves to protect herself again. Trailing thin wisps of smoke, Topaz Soul floats aside, glowering through her claws at the other DCC.     "That idiot," Seeker mutters to herself, craning her head to observe the way the fight between melee and ranged specialists is unfolding. Her eyes wander down, though, with a curious "Hm?" sort of noise. A hand is held out. One at a time, the accumulated Photons that Seeker had set up lurch into motion, each one seeking out a different spiderbot. She'd set up a minefield.     Turning in place, the virus rears her scythe back, then slashes it down across the tower's face. Without wasting time, she uses the resultant hole as an impromptu entrance, emerging amidst a defensive formation of LDF soldiers.     With a tired sigh, the virus holds one hand out, the other gesturing with her weapon, "I don't suppose we could negotiate your lives for what I seek here." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Diamond Soul just smirks. It's cocky, self assured, and probably very familiar if Topaz ever looked in a mirror when really excited about fighting. it's also got no 'soul' behind it. This DCC is attacking her Drive directly. That hasn't happened in Megacycles. She twirls her staff, then levels it to unleash a stream of fire bullets in a wide spread pattern.     LDF troops turn and open fire without skipping a beat as Seeker breaks through the wall. "BREACH IN SECTOR THREE! ALL TEAMS CONVERGE! MOVE!" shouts one through a commlink, a large backpack with a crystal antenna rising from the side. He's firing a small side-arm, built similar to the 'rifles' the rest of the troopers are using. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Well, poop. The spider-bots are built to not be seen, not to survive attacks. As the first half goes down under the attacks, destroyed or simply disabled, the rest pull back a little, before scuttling to the sides of the bridge, traveling under it to avoid the minefield.      Orchid herself sighs. Looks like she'll need to go in herself. She pulls out her rocket surfboard again, cranking up the thrust to go around the trapped bridge to follow Seeker in. There's something she MIGHT be able to do, but it's another long-shot. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel gets a breather thanks to her ally, she will rise up now with her keyblade in hand and smirks a little bit. She does not trash talk this time, she moves to engage Topaz Soul, She starts worrying about the Virus, with the warning over the comm she will break off from the fight to go seek out the virus. She mutters something to her self about Virals and she's then gone. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Mystic-based laserfire opens up on Seeker amidst shouting of orders and calls for reinforcement. Seeker closes her eyes, jerking as bolts strike her and throw off fragments of damaged code. Her scythe is lifted, a circle appearing around her feet and expanding until it encompasses the entire room. When she brings her weapon down, the runic outline erupts with light, filling the room with explosive force that transforms the narrow gash she'd created into a huge crater in the tower face, "Explosion Array."     As the smoke begins to clear, she floats gently through the aftermath, amidst unconscious and injured soldiers and deeper into the facility. Pausing at the door, she comments, "You negotiate well." Doubtless these men are either going to heavily defend or possibly remove and escape with the crystal she's after, so she can't afford to waste time.     Outside, Topaz Soul's face gets more and more flustered. She can't get close to this opponent, and has literally no ranged attack options by the look of it. Pushed purely on the defensive, she keeps her gauntlets crossed while the magic chips away at them. Quick, weak bolts that don't give her the opening she could use.     When the attack shifts to a wider spread of fire bolts, though, this gives her something she can work with. Gauntlets are dropped to either side, legs bunching up and placing her feet against a spinning magic circle as if it were a solid surface. Timing the act, Topaz Soul springs forward, once again closing her range on Theurgus by weaving through the fire bolt cluster. The ones that hit her leave black marks on her body and processors, though she seems to ignore them, going straight for the source. Her claws rotate, and once she's close enough, Topaz Soul rakes boht claws upward in a scooping motion, "You're no fun at all--! Go away!" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Diamond Soul just smirks a bit wider. "Like I said, child." she breaks off the firestream, and brings the staff up to clash with Topaz's gauntlets. "You're predictable." She's being pushed back, and it looks like Topaz now has her where she wants her.     Except it's the other way around. A magic circle expands out under her and Topaz, orbs of magical force forming at the cardinal directions, before, with a flourish, spalling broken code from her weapon and arms, she kicks Topaz in the midriff to break the deadlock. "Begone."     She swoops backwards, as the spell explodes, energy beams intersecting with Topaz at the center. "Emergent Domain!"     The squad is taken out quickly, but other squads are moving into position to slow the Virus down.     Team One finishes packing the crystal, a large, lumpy diamond-like thing about the size of a grapefruit, pulsing with System Resources, into a transport case and sends it off with their fastest runner. She makes a break for it, surging away from the oncoming Seeker and toward the other exit and hopefully, where Orchid can get the thing away from the tower before the Virus catches up. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid lands at the south entrance, ready for the hand off. "Okay, now where do I TAKE it?" she asks of the air, hopping back onto the rocket surfboard. While her drones haven't yet gotten to the facility, they're close enough to tell her where Seeker is, so Orchid is going to use that to keep in the blind spot provided by the facility and its island as long as possible. Without other direction, that means heading at a downward angle. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' There is a virus to hunt down, she's not sure just what the virus is after or planning but it needs to be handled. It has to be hancle she can only hope she can catch up in time. Thankfully she does seem to be making ome very good time here. She keeps chasing the destruction that Seeker has left in her wake hoping to catch up all she can spare is a quick healing spell as she runs by trying to catch up with the virus. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     When more soldiers move into her way, Seeker pauses. A hand raises, and she pinches the bridge of her nose with a sigh.     Outside, having finally closed to melee range with Theurgus, Topaz Soul presses her advantage with a stern, displeased look on her face. However, when that staff is suddenly yanked away, the blonde pinwheels her arms wildly to keep her balance, "--Whoa!" This half-second of vulnerability is all that's needed, as the renegade DCC is caught in the crossing beams of the spell. She lets out a cry, unable to defend from so many directions, and the resultant magical explosion ejects her from the spell circle amidst a plume of smoke.     Obscured by smoke and a cloud of broken code, Topaz Soul slams into one of the lower Hertz District buildings, punching straight into it. She doesn't come out again.     Hearing the shriek from where she is, Seeker turns back towards the opening she'd created. With a frown, she lifts her scythe and sweeps it in a circle. Promptly, the virus drops out of sight--into a portal of her own creation.     Carta, to her credit, has been staying out of the way, furiously documenting the events. Though when collateral damage kicks in, she ducks, then shoots a look at the struck home, "--Jeez..!" She glances back at her holographic screen, flipping to a new tab. A quick check later, and the reporter sighs in relief, "The whole cluster is derelict, thank goodness." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      So when Seeker vanishes off of Orchid's tactical map... she isn't even remotely going to relax. In fact, she's hugging the rocket surfboard, with the crystal under her body. She's EXPECTING to be hit soon, so is starting to work some swerves into her path, as she looks for something that might provide cover. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus flourishes her staff, then nonchalantly spits to one side. "You should learn some RESPECT, girl." she shouts after the falling Topaz, following alongat a more sedate pace. "I'll teach you respect, then I will teach every one of those Viruses of the Four Felons the same lesson before they are sent to Mordion Gaol to be deleted."     She's is ANGRY. Legitimately furious. "The Organization has never been so bold before. And after I am finished with you, they will never try again."     The LDF remain on alert, but for the time being, the facility seems to be secure. "All teams report in. Casualty figures, triage teams, deploy now!" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' So the chase is on and Deelel is catching up to Seeker only in time to see that Seeker is getting away through some sort of portal. She makes with her Keyblade. Yet she is a moment is a bit too late to try and lock it. With Seeker gone she pauses looking about for a moment. Is it over? Deelel isn't sure but the portal didn't last long enoughf or her to do anything with it. "Glitch, where did that virus go?! What did they want?!" 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Eager to get the details, with Theurgus approaching the destroyed house, Carta likewise approaches with her recording software primed and ready. With an entire wall smashed in, dust and debris settling, it becomed apparant that the derelict building had been squatted by someone just trying to scratch out a living. At least at one point. A ratty bed, some empty food containers, stuff that believably shouldn't be in just an empty building awaiting rennovation and occupation by the usual programs of Locus.     "...Did she already get away?" Carta lifts her stylus, rubbing at her temple thoughtfully. She did hear that the virus had also somehow escaped, after all, "Maybe she ran out the back way. But what's with all this junk? Is someone living here?" The reporter's voice raises, "Hello!?"     Rubble from the collapsed sealing shifts, and a dirty little blonde girl in dust-covered black and yellow sweater unburies herself, coughing. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      So, did Orchid get away? It looks like that, as she makes her way over to the Cathoderal. She'll enter one of the sub-surface doors, if one exists; her rocket surfboard is nearly out of weapon energy. Once dry, she'd fall all the way down. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus blinks a bit, both at Carta, and the girl dragging herself out of the rubble. "There shouldn't be anyone down here... This entire section has been condemned and is awaiting a full rewrite." She lowers down, dismissing her staff and looking with some concern at the child. "Did you see another DCC come through here?" she asks, then seems to remember herself. "Are you hurt at all?"     The LDF are in full triage mode. "Perimeter sweep reports nothing. We've got seekers going through every hallway, but there's no sign of the Virus." says one LDF trooper to Deelel as the Program joins the rest. "Passing the message out to the rest of the LDF cells to keep on alert."     As Orchid comes close enough, a hidden door opens and an LDF trooper beckons her over, reaching to grab her and pull her inside before the door seals again. "We've got you... it looks like they've escaped, from the reports coming through the network." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Nothing stops Orchid's escape, despite the reploid's paranoia and caution. It seems like Seeker gave up when her partner in crime was defeated by Diamond Soul, and left the area. The tracking device on Topaz Soul has also disappeared again, into that weird untracable subspace dimension it was in last time.     This leaves Deelel to help the Locus defense force pick up the pieces. It seems that despite the force of the spell that Seeker used when confronted, it hasn't actually killed anyone. The purpose seems primarily to stun people caught in the blast, and injuries likely just a result of debris flying around. So there's some small mercy to that.     The little program starts when addressed, staring up at Theurgus. After a moment, her eyes tear up, and she squeezes them shut, "I don't know! It all hurts..!"     "Jeez--!" Carta quickly disables her recorder. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus dismisses her transformation, lifting a small marble up to her ear. "It's me... yes. Yes I know." She then puts the marble back in a pocket, before transmitting out to the LDF. "Need a medical team to Lower Hertz sector three. Injured program. She got caught in the crossfire between me and the rogue DCC."     Theurgus then crouches down, and very gently pulls the little program into a hug. "It'll be okay. Nice people will be along to make the hurt go away soon." she coos soothingly. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel lowers her weapon and starts looking for injured to heal with the Dual Disc, hopefully she can help stablize people before the full on healers arrive. "I don't like this I have a bad feeling about this Virus. She was smart enough to run...." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Even when hugged, the little blonde program continues to cry. Garbled complaints about hurting and questions that don't make sense, like "Where's Mommy?". She seems to be afraid of the DCC at first and eventually just doesn't have the energy to wriggle and squirm any more.     A few paces away, the reporter Carta pulls up her holoscreen again, "A touching conclusion to a violent evening..! This orphaned program, rescued by Locus' own Drive Core Controller. Ahh, this'll make a great followup article..!" Tapping her stylus to her lips, she thinks out loud, "Maybe it'll help locate her mother? Or at least help her get adopted, if she really is orphaned." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus knows that having a DCC come crashing through the wall of the only home you know can be traumatic, and seeing another DCC come swooping down can only add to that, but she holds on until the girl stops struggling. "There there, you're safe now... lets get you back to the Cathoderal." just then the medics come up and start working on the little program. Theurgus then looks to Carta. "That would be appreciated, we'll move her to the Cathoderal until something can be done." she says, turning her blue gaze back to the little girl.     She feels there's something else going on here, but can't put her finger on it. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid is making her way back, but her spiders are trying to sneak towards the damaged house. She got some good images of the attacker before, and while she MIGHT be being paranoid, she'd like to be able to confirm or deny. 
}}

5910/Ringing the Bell

2018-06-25T00:08:57Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/06/17 |Location=The System - Locus |Synopsis=The child found during Seeker's raid in Locus is questioned by various Concord agents. |Cast of C..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/06/17
|Location=The System - Locus
|Synopsis=The child found during Seeker's raid in Locus is questioned by various Concord agents.
|Cast of Characters=1103, 6258, 8, 998
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     It's been a few days... and after having settled the little girl found after the battle with Seeker and Topaz Soul into a room in the Cathoderal, Charta has put out a Guild Notice, letting people know they can come interview the girl if they wish. Those who arrive, are greeted by an LDF Captain, layered armour, a crystal rifle slung over her back, a full helmet over her face, only showing her mouth as she speaks. "Welcome, I have been tasked with guiding you to the living quarters we've prepared for the girl. I can tell you some basic things we've managed to coax out of her. She calls herself 'Bell', and claims to be eleven cycles old." the captain then turns, beckoning those to follow. "Follow me, please." 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     The professor's got some catching up to do. Though he was there to stop Blaster's theft, Lemeza had other business keeping him from aiding in the defense against Seeker. Now that he's got more time at his disposal, it's time to catch up. Today, instead of taking notes on architecture, he's here with a more direct goal: probing for more information about these Four Felons, and maybe turning up some information on their history. Probably the same as everyone else, so... well, it doesn't really matter who asks, as long as everyone gets their answers, although there's one thing bothering him. He follows the welcoming committee of one, asking a burning question on his mind: "Think she might be overwhelmed by everyone's presence? If you have to 'coax' information out of her, might be best to still let her rest." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel had been curious about the girl, to use a human term? She had a hunch about her, but it might be off after all. This isn't her home system this is not a Flynn OS at all. After all there are children programs here. There were never children Basics or even ISOs, Deelel is as she was the day she was born barring life experiances."Greetings program!" Deelel is chipper as ever as she falls in with the group though Lemeza gets a bit of a look from her. "A possible point." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     The LDF captain says, "I used the term coax loosely. She has been reluctant to speak, likely due to trauma from the battle... however she has perked up a little bit in the last millicycle or so. We've provided what care we can, though all searches for her parents or anyone who would claim guardianship have turned up nothing." the captain turns a corner, leading the group through the labryrinthine hallways of the massive structure. A far larger Cathoderal than the other Drives, but this building serves multiple functions on top of being the central junction that feeds System Resource to the rest of the drive. 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     "So she's an orphan, then." Lemeza muses, following Deelel and the captain through this apparent maze, and -- okay, so he /is/ taking notes on the local architecture. It would be a waste not to, given how unique this particular world is. At any rate. The orphan. "Hm. Do you or anyone else have a long-term plan to provide care for her?" And, to Deelel, "While we're still walking, any background you can give me on Seeker? And the other Felons, while we're on the topic." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel says "Humm is that so Captain? I see I'll be gentle then." There's a nagging feeling about this kid though one that nags the hell out of her still. She'd distracted for a moment and she looks to them for a moment. "There's a program that has been working with several Virus hitting various points about the drives. The latest one was at a factory where the primary job was to Rezz Security grade hardware." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "I wanna play outside!" a young voice demands. A far quieter voice mumbles in response, unclear at this distance since this adult isn't shouting back. "I'm so bored being inside all the time!"     'perked up a little' might be an understatement.     Once the room is reached, the trio are greeted by another LDF trooper in the standard uniform, trying and failing to issue a 'settle down' sort of gesture to a small blonde girl in a black and yellow sweater. There's paper with doodles all over, and a few playthings scattered about. This is not a tidy child. Nor is she behaving, as she pushes both hands down and shouts again, "I wanna go outside!"     She goes quiet, though, when others start filing into the room she's obviously been kept in. Her tense posture relaxes, and she tilts her head with a blink of those big ol' blue eyes of hers. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     The LDF Captain lifts her visor, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I may have been understating the 'perked up' part. She has become quite the handfull." she admits, gesturing to her subordinate. "You're dismissed, Sergeant... please ask Lady Diamond Soul, or the Oracle to attend, they seem to have a calming influence on her."     The beleagured LDF trooper salutes, then all but dashes out of the room, and away from the loud girl they've had to deal with for goodness knows how long. "I shall take my leave also, Lady Diamond Soul or Lady Charta should be down soon, should you need anything." 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     That's good to see. The kid's mentally fine after... whatever, so the incident couldn't have been TOO bad. Still, would she be all that cooperative in just answering questions, rather than going out to play? Lemeza's still considering his first question when the LDF trooper who was keeping guard just FLED. Yeesh. Surely a child can't be that hard to deal with. Well then...     "Young girl, do you have a home you can go back to after this?" It might be a bit blunt, but to Lemeza this is easily the most important question right now. Presumably she survived the incident with Seeker, but if she's going to keep surviving she needs someone to take care of her. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel looks to the girkl and smiles at her tilting her head a bit. "So you want to go out side? I think we could make that happen if you help us out a little bit." Oh god how to deal with a child. Most of the children she has known are elites and she knows they are anything but normal kids. SO she's winging it here. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     When both troops retreat, the girl starts to object, but it's too late-- both are already gone. With a huff, she folds her arms and puffs her cheeks out in a pout. Lemeza addresses her and she glances right at him. She pouts a bit more, though after some time the girl just deflates and plunks down on her backside, "Don't call me little girl, call me Bell." A paper sheet is withdrawn from her inventory, winking into her hand in a flicker of code, and she lays it out in front of herself, between her own knees. This done, she stares at it thoughtfully. Reaching a decision, she produces crayons in the same fashion and leans down to start drawing again, "Bell has a home. But it's not a house, and kinda big and lonely." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Charta comes floating along after a few minutes pass. The little bookfairy clearing her throat as she enters the room. "I heard our guest has been wanting to go outside... we can do that if you like." she offers, smiling gently at Bell, and lowering herself down closer to her level. "How about we go to the atrium, then we can sit and talk over some drinks and sweets." She looks to the others, to see if they're okay with moving location too. 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     Well, that wasn't perfect, but it definitely got Lemeza plenty of information. And he's raised a kid before, so it sonds like maybe that experience is going to come in handy here. When Charta makes the suggestion to change venues, Lemeza nods in agreement, and prepaers himself for more following someone else to some location. A bit tedious, but at least he's in contact with the kid now. "So. Bell. It's big and lonely where you live... is there nobody else your age nearby, then? And, do you have parents? What's it like living with them?" Assuming Bell even /has/ parents...     Deelel's question comes across as a little... vicious. Like an ultimatum. "Oh COME ON! Cooperate with us and we'll set you free? She's not a prisoner here." Lemeza can't help but go off and address this blatant disregard for etiquette. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel looks confused as from her perps4tive Lemeza goes off like a nuke on her. "...what?" She's just plain out confused here she seems very confused, its akin to a record sceatch. It may become more clear she may not have any experiance /with/ children at all. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     When Lemeza blows up at Deelel, Bell glances up again with confusion on her face. Apparently she hadn't made that connection, and by the look she's pulling, still probably doesn't. She glances down at her picture again, forming some boxy figures, "Bell doesn't have parents. But one of the others, I call her mom and she likes that." Sitting back, she picks up the paper. Then she just crumples it up and tosses it, unhappy with the outcome, "But there's just us."     Charta's offer instantly gets her attention. Bell rewards the bookfairy with a huge smile, eyes closed, "Yeah, snacks!" She hops to her feet, then crouches to collect her crayons and dismisses them to her inventory in flickers of code.     Upright again, she fixes a look on Deelel, then Lemeza, "But you know Bell. So who are you?" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Charta nods, then gets a middledistance stare for a moment. Her blue eyes get a little 'signal transmission' decal over them for a brief moment, then she comes back to herself. "Alright, snacks and drinks will be waiting for us... shall we?" she gestures. "We can talk as we go." 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     Oh, right! Introductions! When Bell asks Lemeza who he is, he knows just what to do. "I'm Lemeza Kosugi, explorer and archaeologist extraordinaire! It's my job to explore the most dangerous ancient ruins to learn all about the history of those who came before us! It's quite the challenge, but I've got plenty of stories I can share if you're interested!" Before he /completely/ derails himself from his objective, though, he redirects the conversation to the entire point of his visit. "That can, um, wait though. From what I hear, you were in a building that collapsed recently. What were you doing there?" Finally, to the heart of the matter. Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel pauses for a moment "My name is Deelel I am a multi media program from the Grid." She notes for a momenthe also looks to the kid given LEmeza's reaction she gets okay that weas the wrong thing to so she hangs her head a bit to the kid "I'm Sorry I didn't mean to come off like that..." She's going to let the more kid experianced folk do the talking now. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Bell falls in step behind the floating bookfairy, arms swinging in an exaggerated way with each step. She glances back at Lemeza's next question, "Huh?" Glancing forward and up, she taps her chin, "Um... Well, I fell down there. Then I took a nap, and woke up under a bunch of stuff and everything was hurting and Mom was gone."     Eyes closing, she shrugs, "That's everything!" Glancing back over her shoulder, she nods once, "'Meza and Dee, huh? Okay!" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Charta leads the way to an open courtyard area. There's a table set up with drinks and various local snacks. There's little cakes and biscuits, and little cups of pudding. Lemonade, tea and coffee... or at least, the local equivalents that aren't too different. 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     Huh. That wasn't much help. If Bell was asleep the whole time, that means she didn't see anything of note. Which means that she'd have no information on Seeker, or Topaz Soul, or any of the Elites that showed up to handle the incident. She fell asleep before anything important happened, and woke up after everyone had left, including her mother. Wait--MOM!?     "H-hey wait just a moment! You said your mom was gone when you woke up? Hmm..." Lemeza starts probing this avenue rather hard in an attempt to confirm a suspicion of his. "Do you know where she went? Maybe we can look for her, see if she's fine. Can you tell us what she looks like?" He catches himself before he dumps /too/ many questions on the poor kid. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     A terrace, outside! And snacks! As soon as Bell sights the table, she throws out her arms and dashes past Charta with a laugh. This one's got energy to spare, it seems, as she runs a few circuits around the table before picking a seat for herself by simply hopping onto it, then sitting down. Reaching out, she doesn't wait for permission to snag herself one of the puddings, dragging it to sit in front of her.     "Mom's real pretty! She's tall an' has pink hair an' she's nice most of the time even if she has to be mean sometimes." Patting around, she produces a small spoon, brandishing it, "But Mom's never mean to Bell." Glancing down at her treat, the girl hums, "I didn't see where she went." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Charta giggles softly at Bell's antics. "She is quite the joy to have around the Cathoderal. Even if she can be a bit abrasive, many of the aides actually enjoy having her around." she says, glancing at the Program and the Archeologist. "Please, sit, take what you like, if there isn't anything you wish to partake of, I can have something else brought out. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel follwos the group out into the coutyard and she looks at Lemanz for a moent thinking over what Lemzna ahs asked, she will listen to the girl if she does end up talking about how her mother looks like? She'll boot up some art tools and start to render an image. She shows it to the child as she works. 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     Aww. Pink hair, not blonde. So much for that theory - Bell's mom isn't Topaz Soul after all. Ah well. Even so, Lemeza figures he may as well avail himself of the amenities while he's here. He picks up one of the biscuits, half-expecting it to dissolve into code or something as he bites into it. He spends more time analyzing its properties than actually enjoying whatever it may taste like, still uncertain quite what the nature of this world is.     Well, there's really no more information to be had, so Lemeza shifts to pleasantries. "Alright. Hey, Bell. You seem to like it here. Think you'd enjoy staying here instead of where you live now?" Then to Charta, he asks, "Would she be allowed to reside here? Seems everyone would enjoy it." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Bell blinks when Deelel starts drawing, tilting her head. She doesn't seem to get quite what the program is doing. And, being completely unaware of how she just crushed Lemeza's theory, Bell looks down at her treat again, prodding it with her spoon.     "Living here? I dunno. This is where the scary lady lives. With the scary laugh." No doubt who she means by that vague description, "An' if I stayed here than I'd never see them again." Closing her eyes, she smiles, "Bell's been a good girl to not cause any trouble, but Bell's a virus, living here would be bad. So I should go find Mama soon." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Charta frowns a bit, shaking her head a little at Bell. "She keeps claiming that, but every single test we've run comes back as an unattributed Program." she shrugs. "We're more than willing to let her stay, but if we find where she actually lives and she wants to go back, we aren't really in a moral position to stop her from leaving." 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:'''     "Huh.... isn't a virus just another type of program though?" Lemeza's getting confused over the subject. Virus, program, drive controller, none of this is making much sense. He's doing the best he can, but there really isn't much headway to be made, at least that he can tell. That about wraps up his investigative efforts here - his latest question was more of a musing than anything else. 
}}

5925/Liberty Bell

2018-06-25T00:06:35Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/06/24 |Location=The System - Locus |Synopsis=Theurgus questions the mysterious child Bell directly. |Cast of Characters=998, 1103 |pretty=yes..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/06/24
|Location=The System - Locus
|Synopsis=Theurgus questions the mysterious child Bell directly.
|Cast of Characters=998, 1103
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     The Locus Cathoderal upper level balcony garden. The same place that guests had questioned Bell upon last week is once more occupied by the small, blonde program. The picnic table used previously for snacks is currently home to a few crude drawings weighed down by a box of well-used crayons, to keep the wind from blowing the papers about.     Bell, however, has hauled herself up onto the railing just enough to hang her arms out into empty space, with her legs dangling on the safe side, while she stares out over Locus' fantastical scenery. It looks like the magical city of floating islands was what she was tring to draw, amidst a handful of simple robots and a big round lizard, Poochooze, and other things a ten year old would doodle. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Click, click, click. A familiar sound to the blonde program. The sound of the local DCC's boots on the floor, approaching. The blue-haired magician opens the door, peeks through, then steps through fully, balancing a tray with juice and some snacks which she carefully settles on the table. She looks at the pictures, smiles a little bit, then moves over to lean on the railing beside the girl. "You are quite good at drawing." she offers glancing out the side of her eye at her guest. "How are you finding it here, though. Truthfully?" 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     For unknown reasons, while comfortable with last week's guests and with Charta, Bell's been skittish about her actual hostess. The clicks of those heels causes her to visibly tense up, though she doesn't say anything or run away. She just draws her arms in, hiding most of her face behind her sleeves.     "Well," she mumbles, "It's pretty, so I wanna remember it. But it's not where Bell belongs. I'm just waiting until Mommy picks me up, and I'll go away." Probably the most she's said to the local DCC during her entire stay. Glancing away, she adds, "An' I won't bother you anymore." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus has noticed the skittishness. It's the reason she stayed away and sent Charta when the offworlders came. "You're no bother, Bell. In fact, I was kind of hoping you'd stay. Everyone likes you here." she remarks, then turns, leaning on an elbow and just peering curiously. "One thing I did want to ask you... how did you get into those condemned sections anyway? The entire zone has been partitioned off for at least three cycles." she leans in a bit closer, but not uncomfortably so. "And you keep talking about your mother... we've searched the entire Drive and not found anyone who knows you..." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     When asked to stay, Bell tightens her arms, burying her chin against her sleeves and just staring out over the city. There's no response to that statement, and it almost seems like she's not going to answer any of the questions presented, until--     "I went there with Mommy," she admits, muffled by her sleeves, "She wanted to find something and I stayed put to play. After you got me, she didn't come back." Hoisting herself up, the little girl insists, "She's real! She doesn't live in Locus. Bell doesn't either." She pauses, then looks down, getting quieter, "She's not my real mommy, but..." After a moment, she turns back to the city, resting her chin on her arms again, "...Nobody else is gonna care for a virus, but a virus. I'm being good because you'd beat me up if I was bad." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus's has read the reports from the medical teams, and so, she turns around, leaning back against the railing with her elbows propped onto it. "Why do you keep referring to yourself as a Virus? No tests we've run have come back with anything even hinting at that being the case." she asks next, looking over with a critical eye. "You're a Program, just like anyone else in this Drive. And besides, we have some reformatted Viruses living with us too." The Diamond DCC reaches over, lightly resting a hand on the little girl's shoulder. "Even if you were a Virus, you'd be welcome to stay here. I have no reason to hurt you, and neither does anyone else here." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "Because I am one!" Bell insists, though she doesn't seem so certain about it anymore, "I always was one, even when the light came, an' the other viruses wanted to be my friend more." Lowering her head, she tilts it to one side, "I got a big cool clubhouse they could play in without making a mess everywhere. It's lots of fun, even if Bell plays too rough sometimes-- they're real strong too. So they're Mommy and my brothers, now."     When touched on the shoulder, the little program lets out a long sigh, "I miss them. Even if it's nicer here, it's not there." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus gives a little squeeze, then lets go. "I do understand, after a fashion." she leans back again, looking up at the towering pillar of light vanishing upward into the skybox. "I was just an analysis program in one of the third level research centers before MAGUS. came and brought me here." she says, closing her eyes as she pulls the memory file up.     "It was hard at first... I didn't know anyone, everything was strange, the training was intense and I nearly deresolved a few times due to overstressing my source code." she chuckles at that. "But then, one day... MAGUS. had to go. She gave me her Driver code, and when I assimilated it, I finally felt like I was home." A hand lifts, clasping over her chest. "I could feel everyone, their hopes, their dreams, their fears... I could almost see them, their joys, their sadness, their fear, their hope." Eyes open, and she looks at Bell. "I'm guessing that's what it felt like for you too..." she pauses for a moment. "Right... Topaz?" 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Bell buries her chin amidst her sleeves, only listening as the DCC relates such old memories. At some point, she closes her eyes as well, blinking back tears from her own memory coming to the surface somewhere inside that simple head of hers. And then, that name is said. Her eyes snap back open, with a start. What meets Theugus' glance is an expression somewhere in the middle between confusion and fear.     She drops off the railing, bunching her hands up under her chin as she takes a step back, "...When did you figure that out?" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus remains neutral. A slight smile perking the corners of her eyes up, honest and genuine. "About the time you mentioned a light." she admits, shifting subtly and reaching a hand out, palm open and facing upward. "Because that's what it felt like to me... as if I'd been brought from darkness into light."     A breeze picks up, whipping Theurgus' hair into a wafting wave of blue behind her, threatening to dislodge her hair in the process, though it never does. "I meant what I said earlier. I have no reason to hurt you." she keeps that hand outstretched, a peace offering. "And you're welcome to stay here. Besides, I think Charta's taken a liking to you. I've not seen her this fired up about something since MAGUS. left." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Down at ground level, a woman exits a hovercab. Bright pink hair done up in a braided bun, golden eyes behind underframe glasses, and a gray suit that's just a shade off from her actual skin tone. Seeker shoots a scowl over her shoulder that could curdle milk, and the cab driver wastes little time in making himself and his vehicle scarce. Her attention returns to the Cathoderal doors, her expression shifting to a far more diplomatic one, and she approaches the doorman.     "Excuse me. I've been notified that my child is under the Cathoderal's care. Her name is Bellum." --     On the balcony, Bell stares at that outstretched hand, then up to the face of the woman who'd so soundly defeated her before. Her hands drop to her sides, after some indication that she might have wanted to reach out, then gave up instead. Wobbling for a moment, she drops down on the tilework in a seated position, staring down at the space between her outstretched feet, "...I don't know. It wouldn't feel right. All my friends probably miss me. Even if there are programs here who like Bell too." Looking up, there's still tears in her eyes, but her expression is a lot more firm. Like she's made up her mind about something, "We're not the same..!" 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     The doorman frowns behind his helmet visor, then reaches up to press the stud on the side. "I have someone claiming to be the child's mother down here... yeah? Right. Okay." eyes flick from the side, back up to the woman before him. "Someone will be down with her soon. I can provide a chair if you would like to sit."     Theurgus, meanwhile, crouches down once the girl flops out. "We're more alike than you may think." she replies. "And even if we aren't the same... that's what makes the System, even the entire Multiverse, so special... because we're not the same. Everyone is different, whether they're a Program, a Virus, a Human or a Reploid, a Shinki, or anything else." She reaches over, and places a hand on Bell's shoulder. "That's what makes this world so special... and worth fighting to protect."     Just then, an LDF trooper opens the door. "Excuse me, Lady Diamond Soul... but someone is at the main gate claiming to know the child." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "I will stand," Seeker states evenly. She does, at least, give the door guard his space by standing somewhere over there, staring out over the city with her arms folded behind her back. --     Theurgus imparts her wisdom, and Bell listens without making eye contact. She keeps her gaze fixed on that point between her shoes. She must feel every bit like the guilty child caught in a lie, by the look on her face. Though was she really lying in the first place? She looks down further, thoughtfully. When her face rises to meet the Mad Magician's once more, that smile is back.     "Then Bell will protect the people special to her!" Leaning forward, she gets back to her feet, dusting off her shorts in the process. The soldier gets her attention, and she glances his way. After a moment, she glances back to Theurgus. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus nods to the soldier. "Thank you, we'll be right down." she says, dismissing the guard before looking back at Bell and standing up. "If we meet again on the battlefield, I won't hold back, and I expect you to do the same." she says, holding her hand out. "But I hope you take something else to heart... sometimes those who say they're there for you, aren't always telling the truth. Everyone can lie, especially if doing so gives them something they want." she continues. "To put it simply, Don't blindly trust what others say and take it at face value. Think, and form your own opinions and make your own decisions. That's what it really means to be a Drive Core Controller."     She then, whether Bell takes her hand or not, moves over to the tray she brought with her, picking up a pudding cup and offering it over. "If you ever change your mind, my door will always be open. You can come and visit whenever you like... there will always be a pudding cup and a friendly face waiting for you."     Theurgus sighs softly, "Lets go down, then. It would be rude to keep them waiting, after all." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Bell does not take Theurgus' hand, but rather simply trots alongside the taller woman. Her expression is now puzzled, from the Mad Magician's warning, as she accepts the pudding cup with both hands. Blinking upward, she says, "But they were Bell's friends even before this happened. Would they lie now?" Looking down at the snack, she shifts the cup to one hand, and peels the lid off with the other, giving the foil a lick before she crumples it up. A plastic spoon is taken, before she trots after the Magician to be led down to the door, "If they liked Bell before, than it should be the same now, right? They're still nice and still play with me, and take me out on trips that they didn't before."     Because now she can actually fight.     Without actually making that connection, Bell digs into her snack, closing her eyes, "Oh but these are yummy..! Bell is gonna miss this one." 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     Theurgus doesn't say anything further, apart from, "Just remember what I've said, Bell." She pushes the main doors open, letting light from the afternoon skybox flood into the main hall, and showing the woman and the doorguard, the latter turning his head to see who's coming out, before snapping to attention when he sees the DCC.     "So!" calls Theurgus, taking on her more flamboyant tone, "You must be the mysterious 'Mommy' I've heard so much about!" The DCC strides over, looking Seeker up and down. "We've taken good care of your daughter, I'm sure she can attest." Blue eyes glance over at Bell, before turning back to the grey-skinned woman. "Would you like some refreshments before you go? I can have something brought out." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     The gray-skinned woman turns at the waist, glancing over her shoulder when the doors open. Seeing the DCC herself emerging, Seeker turns fully and squares herself up as if expecting a fight, though not actually making a move to provoke one. At least. Not a physical altercation.     Rather, it seems as if a fellow magician is trying to impose her ego. This... may become a clash of confidence between two powerful sorcerors.     "The Mad Magician, Theurgus. Thank you. She must have been a handful." Of course she would know who this is, "And is that-- Bellum?"     Said tiny girl is disposing of her trash in the proper recepticle when her name is called. As she had been doing when the door was initially opened. She perks up, glances, and then runs right past Theurgus, "Mommy!" Seeker crouches slightly, holding out her arms. This lasts right up until Bell leaps into a tackle. A look of panic crosses the woman's face right before impact.     It was in that moment, Seeker realized she'd made a grave mistake.     Bellum slams into the woman's midsection head-first, laughing. Seeker's code ripples violently for a split second, briefly and dramatically altering her appearance as if she were 'drawn' in a more severe and serious style. As she collapses on her back, her appearance returns to normal, and Bell comes to rest on her midsection, still laughing. 

:'''{{#var:1103|Theurgus (1103)}} has posed:'''     "No more than normal." replies Theurgus with a chuckle as she watches Seeker get her Bell rung. "I have to say, you don't look anything alike. I assume there was an adoption in there somewhere." she surmises, looking at Seeker a bit more closely, but holding her peace on what she's thinking. "She does seem quite pleased to see you. If you need a ride back to the terminal station I can have one brought around, or I could summon a taxi for you." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     One can almost see the spirit escaping from Seeker's mouth.     It's Bell that responds to Theurgus' musing, "Kinda, yeah!"     Seeker slowly recollects herself, reaching up to palm her face with a groan. Bell hops off her, and the woman picks herself up, "...No. I need...to walk that off." Whatever attempt she was going to make about measuring up to the Mad Magician, defused by an excited child.     Bell turns, though, waving to Theurgus, "I meant what I said, too! Bye-bye!" She then wheels back around, dashing after the much less stable Seeker trying very hard not to stagger her way down the walkway. 
}}

5739/MDCC: Vector

2018-05-31T06:32:53Z

Namazu:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/03/27
|Location=The System, Vector
|Synopsis=Social scene set in Vector. Meet the local Drive Core Controller, Struo, and her sister Conati.
|Cast of Characters=998, 973, 1137, 1149, 8, 33
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "Lexicon!"     A familiar voice calls out over the speakers of Lexicon's computer. When a screen showing video of a black-haired DCC appears in the corner, though, Lexicon immediately mouses over it and closes the panel, eliciting a shocked squeak from the caller that appropriately cuts short.     Just as Lexicon gets back to the game she's playing, the screen reappears right in the middle, "Lex--!" Without skipping a beat, she closes it again.     Not even a second later, the pane returns, enlarged so that the edges are beyond the monitor edges. Dominating the monitor is the fuming, red-faced girl from before. With a sigh, Lexicon surrenders, closing her eyes, "Damnit. What do you want? I'm trying to relax here."     "You gave your contacts to SALTAVI, of all people?! And Alea?!" the furious girl shouts. Lifting a hand, she points, "Give me that information, too! It's only fair since you've been expanding your influence!"     Brow knitting, Lexicon closes her eyes with a sigh, "...Fine." --     Welcome to Vector, the Onyx City of Design.     'Factory' immediately comes to mind. Because this place has a LOT of them arranged in a grid pattern. Industrial blocks are separated by multi-level roads, and the entire thing radiates from the center-- a great, black spire that looks like a combination between a church, an industrial complex, and decorative architecture. Great 'wings' of roofwork made out of ornate emerald-colored metal, supported by brass, make it immediately recognizable.     A latticework of high-level catwalks run between the much taller buildings, while shorter structures seem to aspire towards it.     While Vector's aesthetic screams industry, waffling between steampunk and brass in some districts, and hyper-advanced industrial automation in others, there's none of the expected pollution. Everything runs off the Resource network. Here, the characteristic glowing lines of Resource pathways glow a deep purple, almost like how one might imagine 'black' things glowing.     The System Bus deposits the invited guests to the main terminal in Vector. It's located within the city, on one of the mid-height structures that gives visitors a view of the city from above, rather than the possible claustrophobia of the streets at ground level.     Of more immediate interest would be the white-haired woman floating a few meters up and away from the Terminal platform. Clad in a recognizable black bodysuit with white accents, held aloft on wings with feathers shaped like glowing blue diamonds, with metallic Processor pieces floating beside her hips and shoulders. Most telling would be the Resource symbols glowing in her pupils.     Less immediately interesting is a black-haired girl in a black dress, seated off to the side, playing something noisy on her phone. 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Off the bus steps a fairly plain looking human girl. Brown hair done in a neat pair of sidetails with little red ornaments covering the ties. She's carrying a little white bundle of something or other in her arms, which stirs then the girl adjusts her arms, lifting its angular dragon head to look around, before stretching and taking wing, doing a little coil around the young woman, before landing on her shoulder.     Keiko Ayano has a leg in a brace! Her right leg showing signs of having, relatively recently, been badly fractured at least. It doesn't seem to be slowing her down, and her Avatar should bouy her physically up to fight, at least she hopes so. Brown eyes look over at the girl sat nearby, then at the obvious DCC floating above the platform. She bows lightly to the latter. "Hello, I'm Keiko Ayano, thank you for meeting us." 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' There is a minotaur here, as there has been on many different occasions in this strange computer system of a universe. Of course, it'd be hard to tell that he's even present right now. Not because it's not obvious that he's here (HE IS A GIANT MINOTAUR MAN), but because he's being... extremely quiet. Silent, even. His face is a quiet, observant :> as he... ...Is looming over that black-dressed girl's shoulder, peering like a curious child at the game she's playing on that handheld console. ... ...... jiiiiiiiii 

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''     As Krusty steps off a System Bus he tugs at each of his sleeves, fixing up his uniform. Then after adjusting his glasses he takes in the sight of this city. Each that he has been to in this world has proved rather interesting and Vector is no different. In particular, the multilayered design is, in his own words, "Impressive." In some aspects the city's design reminds him of one or two dungeons he's explored previously.     But there'll be more time for viewing the sights. For now he turns his attention to the obvious leader of the city, recognizing the style of a DCC. Placing his hand against his chest he bows to her, "I am Krusty, representative of Akihabara's Round Table Alliance. It is a pleasure to be your guest here."     Briefly glancing at the others that are also arriving, Krusty shows a look of concern at the sight of Silica's player in a brace, "Ah, Miss Ayano. Are you alright?" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' nWell now here Deelel is again in another system, and it had been her main focus in the multiverse as of late. Tessler had been quiet which was it's own problem, there was little she could do about that for now. So here she was in Onyx which she was quite curious about looking at the Industrial city? Deelel had some level of enjoyment taking in the design of the place it was messy sure but she'd long come ot be able to handle the cocnept of things getting drity and messy. Keiko would find that Deelel was coming p behind her and grinning before she too introduced herself. 5R "Greetings Program the ID is Deelel! I'm a multi-media program." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Arthur wanders off the bus, grinning widely as usual, and takes in the sights, shifting to a floaty, weightless drift. "HELL," He says. "This place is lookin' MAD BUSY. Really putting the MAGNITUDE in DIRECTION AND MAGNITUDE on VECTOR, huh? DAMN, DOG!" He zips around his own center of gravity like a strange sea creature when he looks at fresh angles, before he fires a wave at Deelel. "YO!" He calls out. "WHAT'S GOOD, homie! Good seein' ya!" He immediately assaults her hand with his classic handshake, and this one has a sort of half-backpat in it for someone he's more familiar with.     Then, the white-haired woman and the black-haired girl. The white-haired woman first, obviously. "Yooooooooooo!" He calls out, moving in to assault her hand in much a similar way. An excess of pounds, bumps, low-fives, daps, and funny little slidy finger-wiggly motions, as always. "Here to get that MEET AND GREET on, dog! Name's ARTHUR LOWELL! ROCKET-POWERED JERK, INTERGALACTIC HOOLIGAN, PROFESSIONAL ADVENTURER. What's those HAPS up in VECTOR, homie? Been hearing about OMEGA PANZER up in this motherfucker." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     The game-playing black-hair doesn't seem to notice she's being observed so closely. She taps a foot to the music playing in some kind of jet shooting title, colorful bullet patterns spraying across her phone's screen while she maneuvers a small plane between them. Voices catch her attention though, and she taps a pause button before she glances up to squint suspiciously at the shady characters addressing Obviously The Drive Core Controller.     She catches something from the corner of her eye.     Conati turns a bit more, coming face to abs with Asterios. She blinks, leaning back to look up until she finds his face. With a start, she jumps back, bringing her hands up defensively, "--Whoa!"     A shout that gets Onyx Soul's attention, her eyes glancing that direction before returning to those immediately in front of her. She'd watched Asterios arrive, he doesn't seem to be a threat. And if he is, well, she's /right/ here, and it's not like Conati is defenseless. Lifting her arms, Onyx Soul folds them neatly across her chest, "Welcome to Vector."     A slow nod is awarded to Krusty, first, "You really did your research. Yes, I am Onyx Soul, Drive Core Controller and patron goddess of this Drive." Inclining her head, she adds, "I've heard about your efforts in Arcade and Cadenza. Fine work, I look forward to witnessing your Guild's ability first-hand."     A second nod, "And yourself, miss Ayano. You've assisted during the System Tower, as I recall." Her eyes shift to the brace on the girl's leg, though Krusty actually addresses Keiko about it, so Onyx Soul doesn't pursue it. Instead, she greets Deelel next, "Welcome. Multimedia, then?" Head tilting, she shifts a hand to touch her chin with her thumb, "Though you don't seem to be a native of Cadenza... Systems outside the System, very interesting--"     SUDDENLY, ARTHUR     The Afterusian deity getting up in Onyx Soul's grill with his excessive volume and energy completely catches her off guard. She actually goes for her weapon, a massive blade materializing when she brings her left hand back, only to stay it when the Space Jerk goes for a crazily complicated handshake instead of attacking her.     Her face is a wonder to behold during this bewildering exchange: A mix of offense, surprise, and complete confusion. Right around when Arthur's 'handshake' ends, she's engulfed in a plume of pixellated light, dropping to the ground in her normal form with a distinct 'what the hell, man?' look on her face.     After a moment, the woman-turned-teenager closes her eyes, coughing into one hand to clear her throat. She tries to act regal again when she speaks up, but the effect is significantly diminished when it's coming from a girl with her hair in pigtails, "R-right. Omega Panzer, is that what you all came about?" 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Keiko looks over to Krusty. "I'm fine! Just, after that fight with Barbarossa, I went to a hospital back home and they told me my shin was fractured. They had some stuff left over from the old Union, rapid regeneration tech they built up, but I couldn't afford a full treatment, so they did what I could afford, and put the brace on to let it heal the rest of the way naturally." she explains. "My avatar should support me for battle... I'm just not going to be backflip kicking any cannonballs anytime soon." she adds, giggling softly.     SUDDENLY ARTHUR!     Keiko looks bemused at the Afterusian, then sighs softly, petting Pina's head to relieve the stress. "Yeah, we heard about the viruses being a problem in the other Drives than Britannica, so, we thought we'd help out! It's what we do!" she replies, after Onyx Soul returns to being Struo. 

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''     Krusty is no less bewildered by Arthur's actions than poor Onyx Soul. He's heard the man speak on radio channels before so is aware of his punk attitude, though seeing it in person is another thing entirely. But Krusty does his best to ignore the strange behaviour as he turns his focus onto Keiko. After her explanation he nods in understanding and gives her a smile, "A rather awesome display as it was, it's good that there's no permanent damage."     With Onyx Soul turning into her more casual form, Krusty nods in response to her question, "Indeed. Though it would also be interesting to see more of your city as well, if possible." Krusty can't deny that he's had some fun touring the others that he has seen so far. At the very least it would be interesting to see more of the unusual architecture designs. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel had not expected to see Arthur again for a numner of human Life times if ever she new he was. She id disatracted as ARthur arrives and she just forgets herself as Arhtu would find Deel moving into just hug him, hopefully she will recall he likely needs to breath right? "ARTHUR! I didn't think I would see you again for mellisna!" She might legt go after a moment as she gets herself back togehter it's clear she's really, really happy to see Arthur. When she fdinally let goes she looks a bit sheepish. "Ah heh heh thank you for the welcome, and I just go by Deelel I admit." 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' In Asterios' defense, it's a strong will indeed that can avoid being distracted by flashing lights and catchy tunes. He actually turns and sways every so often when the black-hair swivels her jet around to dodge through enormous patterns of bullets. It's thrilling stuff! Also thrilling stuff: ASTERIOS' INCREDIBLE ABS. seriously you can probably cut glass on those things "Aa," Asterios blinks when the girl jumps back. He knows how to deal with this. The minotaur reaches a great big hand forward and... Gently pats her head with a gentle, innocent smile. "It's... okay. Was just watching you play. What is that game called?" Beat. Oh! That pretty white-haired girl just... turned into a still-pretty but more uh. Youthful. Black-haired girl. Of course, Asterios has seen that kind of thing before, and doesn't seem to be too perturbed as a result, though he does wince somewhat at Arthur's... loudness. "Omega Panzer...?" Asterios cants his head. "I just came... To visit. What is this Omega Panzer? Another virus?" 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     Deelel being more huggy than he expected sends Arthur for a bit of a loop. This is one of the various Sudden Unexpected Hugs he's gotten in the past couple days. It's so strange! And awkward for him to deal with, considering his own unique private feelings on affection. Despite coming out of the hug looking a little like he's been through a tumbledryer, weirdly tense and such, he still seems to be quite friendly to Deelel, his old ally. "HELL YEAH, figured I'd be up in there for WAY LONGER. Turns out there was some TIME WARP stuff, glad hearin' it wasn't too long." He pounds a final greeting.     Okay, back to harassing the natives.     "Yeah girl yeah gimmie that skin." Arthur mutters eagerly as he hassles the hand of the local guardian deity. He seems to relish his ability to utterly catch people off-guard and overwhelm them with his shenanigans. "Hell yeah, here to do some HEROISM up in that motherfucker. Trying to take down a straight MONSTER BADDIE right?" He does a motion that's all at once a gesture of confidence, a gesture of triumph, and an actual flex. "Got those MONSTER-SLAYING RANKS. Also I know /fuckin' NOTHING/ about VECTOR, got ZERO NETWORK COVERAGE on this rad son of a bitch. What's the DEAL up in here?" He gestures all around. "Looks TOO DAMN COOL, dog. HELLA BUSY, for real."     Yeah, Keiko and Krusty are having entirely the correct reaction to this absurd weirdo suddenly showing up. Arthur's obnoxious shenanigans continue with full momentum. "Hit me with that LOCAL LOWDOWN, dog! I wanna get you bros HOOKED UP on SYNDIE-NET hardcore. Haven't done ANYTHING with the SYSTEM STUFF before but just DUMP THAT DATA and I'll pro'lly CATCH UP as I go."     "I'm up in here from a SYSTEM myself, kinda. Big ol' IMMERSIVE SIMULATION GENESIS APPARATUS s'where I come from, so I'm FOR SURE up in this to help. Lay the BIZ on me and I'll bring that HEROISM!" 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Conati stares, stunned, when this massive horned bull man just reaches out and...pats her on the head. Taking a moment to recover, she shakes her head. Well, there've been weirder programs. "You didn't scare me, I was just surprised someone as big as you got that close..!" She disarms easily, though. Glancing towards the business around Struo, she shrugs and goes back to Asterios, "Uh, I'm Conati, the Candidate here. You were curious?" Tapping her phone, she flips back to the title screen, "It's called Star Blazer. The enemies appear and shoot in time to the music you load up. Alea made it in a collab with Saltavi a while back." Names that she doesn't realize Asterios might not actually recognize.     A few meters away, in an apparently unconnected conversation, Struo straightens herself, then props an arm on her hip again. It still takes her a minute to really process the absurdity pouring out of Arthur's mouth, so she opts for the easier questions first.     "I appreciate your eagerness, this virus has been a real annoyance for everybody." Directed at Keiko, though info about Omega Panzer is somewhat relevant to everyone it seems, "It's actually caused trouble in all of the drives at some time or another." Eyes opening, she adds, "It even endured Tutela and escaped Mordion Gaol, no other virus has managed to pull that off." Lifting her free hand, Struo gestures, "It's very smart. Too smart for its own good. I suspect it came to Vector to try and steal technology to build a new battle form. It's usually a tank or a robot, but we know now that the machine isn't the virus; the virus pilots it from inside."     It's a bit amusing for Struo, watching Arthur's awkward reaction to physical contact courtesy of Deelel. The smug look on her face doesn't last long, though.     More in reference to Krusty and Arthur's requests, she nods once, "Yes, of course. I have every intention of showing you what Vector has to offer." As if in response, a skyride floats down. It's little more than a platform with a cockpit, occupied by a robot and ringed with railings. Confidently, Struo steps aboard, then holds her hands out to either side, "I'll give you the grand tour of the Eternal Factory, as its grand designer!"     Back near Asterios, Conati rolls her eyes, "Oh jeez, she's getting showy again... C'mon." Even though she wasn't apparently invited, that shorter girl that sat off to the side is already boarding the Skyride. And, when put next to Struo-- they actually do look remarkably similar. That's probably the only clue anyone will need when two black-haired, red-eyed girls are in the same place. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "Wait, so it's SURVIVED for a hella LONG TIME, it's mostly piloting a machine... Awwwww shit, homie, you talkin' a VIRUS that's got AUTOTOMIC SURVIVAL TRAITS? Damn bro!" Arthur says, briefly demonstrating a weird second side to his shenanigans. Wait, what was that? He moves on as quick as he can from the topic! He zips "aboard", drifting weightlessly just above the platform and matching his own personal gravity to its movements. "Hell yeah dog, gimmie that EYEFULL up in this."     he finally does seem to notice Conati. "Heyyyy, is this a SASSY CLONE sorta situation? I used to have TWO SASSY CLONES. Fuckin', I swear, WORST TIME that I've EVER had. You seem WAY COOLER than the last couple I dealt with." Yes, of course he intends to assault her hand with much the same extensive, elaborate, convoluted coolkid handshake. It transitions directly into a swooshy movement that ends with him leaning on the handrail; his pose is precisely calculated to look as cool as possible, and so it's obviously completely forced. "Hit me with those mad FACTORY FACTS, dog!" He says, doing a snapping fingergun at Struo. 

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:''' Krusty watches with interest as the skyride flies down to meet them. It looks a little bare in function, but Krusty steps onto it without hesitation regardless. To Arthur's words about the virus and it's survival, Krusty remarks, "It does appear that virii in this world can be as self aware as the programs. While the first I encountered was essentially an animal, the second was clearly an intel-" He pauses, before saying, "Was clearly a person. So it's not a surprise that a stronger virus will have survived for quite some time."     The similarities between their host and the other girl that joins them does not go unnoticed by Krusty. He doesn't make any assumptions though, this being a rather strange world as it is. Although the suggestion of them being clones is doubtful to him. But being polite, Krusty gives Conati a smile and introduces himself, "I'm Krusty. Nice to meet you." 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Keiko watches the two sisters carefully, eyes flicking between Struo and Conati. She walks over to the Skyride, mounting it with a little bit of effort, favoring her braced leg. "So, it's a Virus that uses a shell to protect itself... Sounds like how some bacteria work... they can survive in even intense heat by making a shell around them..." she frowns a bit. "Except this one is using a shell like a vehicle..." she ponders, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "We'll have to come up with a plan to crack the shell, so we can crack the proverbial nut inside." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel was being honest and just was over come iwth how happy she was to see Arthur she forgot herself for a moment. She looks sheepishly at Arthur for a moment before she says another thing. She looks back to their host now for a moment. She seems to be fine now with all things said. She thinks for a moment at what Arthur says. "Many don't take well to having another iteration of them, if it is evil clones we are going to have a time of it." She also sees Krusty is here again good he knows his stuff for a moment. "A rare frew like Christmas are harmless and have proven they are." She thinks though some of them have been down right the stuff of nightmares. "Humm I'll trust you on that Silica. Biology still escapes me in many ways." 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:'''     "Conati," the great big bullman says, having stopped patting her head after she went and shook it. He knows now better than to continue patting a girl's head when the moment passes. It musses their hair! And that is only a sometimes OK thing. "I am Asterios. It's good to meet you! And your sister." He turns his eyes again to the phone, blinking a couple of times. "Mmn, so it's... Music-based? I wonder... Does it get harder with faster songs? Or do slower songs have... bigger enemies?" ASTERIOS IS INTERESTED IN GAME DESIGN. (Don't let him near anything like that. He might just make Super Etrian Odyssey or something.) But! It seems that the pair of sisters have plans regarding their visitors. Asterios nods and follows Conati along as the subject of conversation shifts to the virus, Omega Panzer. It... Sounds... familiar. "A virus wearing shells... I fought something... similar." Asterios murmurs, remembering that incident back on Locus. "Some kind of dragon that was actually just a shell-body. Mmn... It was hard to destroy, but we managed. Is this the same kind of virus?" 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "Is that what they do?" Struo blinks as Keiko explains something about organic bacteria, "Very interesting. I've been wanting to study biologicals for a while. I'm sure the animals outside the System could inspire some very useful vehicles or robots." Closing her eyes, she places a hand to her collarbone, fingers splayed in that haughty, proud way some girls tend to do, "It's just a hobby of mine, really, though you might argue it's what I was made to do in the first place. I do like blueprint drafting, it's pretty relaxing."     With everyone aboard, the Skyride disconnects from the terminal. It dips slightly due to the weight, and the soft puttering of the engine has an audible strain to it for some reason, but it eventually does gain altitude again. The robot pilot glances back, and Struo gestures, "Circle the Cathoderal and come back here, via the assembly district."     "Actually yes!" Conati brightens as Asterios guesses game mechanics, "Or else slow songs would be too easy, right?" She doesn't even seem surprised that Asterios made the sister connection so easily. However, Arthur draws a look from Conati, even as her hand is briefly seized for the crazy coolkid handshake. Narrow-eyed and suspicious, and she asserts, "I'm not a clone." in a grumpy voice, "I'm the Drive Core Candidate for Vector."     This is where Struo starts, "--That's right..! This is my little sister, Conati." She hadn't forgotten her sibling, the younger one was just not involved in the conversation until now, "Thanks for joining us."     Conati lets out a sigh, placing her own hands on the railing. Below, several conveyors feed into automated structures, and rapid-moving mechanical arms can be seen moving about through a glass ceiling, assembling materials into mechanisms in quick succession, "Struo and I draft up nearly all the blueprints used here. She can design anything, it seems like, but I'm really only good at weapons. Since there's no wars going on, they're used to outfit anti-virus patrols and the Vector Navy."     "But," Struo chimes in, "She's really good at it, so I leave it to her." A compliment that cuts off some possible self-pity starting to show up. Bad time for dramatics..! Glancing over her shoulder, the DCC gestures, "This line is building transit. My goal is to completely replace Vector's public transport system by the end of the month." Lifting her gaze, she draws attention to the wing-decorated structure, "And that's my home! The Cathoderal." Eyes closing, she puffs up a bit with pride, "Every year I change the exterior, to keep things fresh. Modular exterior construction is something I'm very proud of. This year's theme is Processors."     Struo glances back towards Asterios, "Mm?" Eyes closing, she thinks. But she's not as connected as Lexicon, and admits that, "I'm not caught up on events in Locus, so I don't know what kind of virus you're talking about. They could be similar, I guess. Omega Panzer's been around for a few kilocycles, now, so it could be something pretty nasty inside. I heard about Caerbannog, the ancient ones are always the worst." With a shrug, she adds, "Or maybe it's just a brainy Malvader with an eyepatch, a scar, and a score to settle. We'll find out when we open it up like a can of olives." 

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''     Krusty leans against the railing as he looks down towards the view below them. He's rode his griffin often, so isn't troubled by the height. As he examines the view of the manufacturing process he listens. He's not a manufacturing expert so can't appreciate the finer points, but he gets the general idea, "An impressive goal." He turns to look at Struo, "Are you facilities solely dedicated to developing Vector, or do you provide your services to others as well?" Krusty asks, knowing that there are a couple of Alliance members who would be interested in what he's seeing today. And perhaps there's an opportunity to establish trade.     Of course when the Cathoderal becomes the main point of the tour, Krusty can't help admire the beauty and sheer majesty of the sight. Perhaps it's a little overboard, if only due to the large amount of effort that he would assume went into the construction. Still, you can't help but admire the results.     Of course as talk briefly touches on the virus in question, Krusty smirks a little, "Doesn't matter how nasty it is, or what kind of protection it's got. It will be dealt with." 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Keiko nods a bit to Struo. "They do, yeah... I could bring you some books I've been studying. I'm training to become a veterenarian, between helping people that is... I could let you borrow some of the beginner level anatomical analysis text books if you like." she offers, then moves to look out over the side of the platform. "It's really impressive..." and then she kind of sidles up beside Conati. "Weapons to protect your people with are also necessary. We all have our own strengths and specialities, trying to be like someone else will just make you lose sight of who you really are." The brunette has had experience with this, apparently. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' The virus... has been around for that long!? ...Wait. Is a kilocycle a long time? ... ... Asterios tilts his head. "What's a kilocycle?" Beat. But soon! The party is off on a magical (read: technological) carpet (shuttle) ride across the city's skyline. "Aa," Asterios sounds, staring with wide eyes at the... Rather expansive cathoderal. Those are some pretty incredible wings! "Mmn, very... Fancy. Fancier than the one in Britannica, but... What happens... when it gets windy? ...Do the wings break off?" Beat. "Mmn, weapon design is important," Asterios says, then. "So is city planning. I knew someone once, who helped design a city! And another, who built many amazing things. Flying machines. Inventions. I am... jealous, sometimes. I can only create mazes." Although what constitutes 'a maze' is actually pretty broad. "But... Hm. Maybe that's why Omega Panzer is here. Do you have... a new mobile weapon prototype or... something?" 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, okay, that explains the sass better." HEH. Arthur seems to accept this explanation with no trouble.     "Damn dog, you bring the STYLE on the ARCHITECTURE. Should'a had you around when I had to do the damn HOUSEBUILDS way back in the day. Doing that fresh nightmare of nonsense would'a been EASY with you 'round to do it." Arthur says, eyes wide and eyebrows high up on the top shelf of his face for a moment. He probably should avoid further mention of that around Asterios, considering his own probable outcome of interacting with Sburb.     Speaking of Asterios, he asides, "It's a THOUSAND CYCLES, homie." /Thanks/, Arthur. How /helpful/.     "Damn though, you get in CIVIL ENGINEERING plus the ARCHITECTURE? Wait, EVERY YEAR. Hell, that's gotta be a WILD REBUILD. Whay's your BUILDING APPROACH like? Back where I come from it's mostly DRAG-AND-DROP COPYPASTE stuff." And the point of breaching their target? "HELL YEAH, I got PLENTY of MACHINE-FIGHTING RANKS." He pounds a fist into the opposite palm. "I'll bring the CAN-OPENING up on that motherfucker hardcore, NO DOUBT." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel says "Biological life is very chaotic a series of glitches that worked out well." She does not seem insulting it's just how she grasps evoultion of organic life. It's a series of errors that worked out well for the ones who had the errors. Quite different from the code that basics run in to be sure, utterly alien really. She listens for the moment. "An old virus smart enough to not get deleted and to not destroy the host system it's infecting. Sounds like a lot of trouble. Oh what's an olive?" This world has what her does not a system where programs can procreate unlike the Grid which is slowly wasting away in terms of popualtion thanks to Clu's actions. "If he blocks out way I'm certain the Dual Disc can get past it, Krusty. Still the more inforamtion we have the better." She finds it intereing with Silic's planned function in life she. "Really so a healer of animals, correct?" She got how humans and other organic life got attached to their pets and she could get it. They were like Bits on the grid after all. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     The Skyride drops altitude a bit to clear the wings mounted to the roof and walls of the Cathoderal. While the passengers awe over it, Struo closes her eyes and puffs up with pride. "They don't! If they did that'd be a disaster, but I'm not a novice at architectural design, here." An eye opens towards Arthur, and she adds, "I developed an interface. The automation takes care of the heavy lifting. It's a bit complicated since I didn't design it for widespread use, but if you're curious I can show you sometime."     The Skyride banks slightly, looping around the Cathoderal. On the side of the building, on a balcony, a figure in a gray suit glances up, then adjusts their glasses and resumes their business. Behind the structure itself is a rather nice-sized garden, repurposing some of what must have been natural growth before the city built up around it.     "Hey," Conati glances towards Keiko, "Don't console me, I'm not upset about anything. I mean, I appreciate the thought but I don't feel that way." She absolutely does. Though a bit of praise from Struo seems to have perked her up, and she glances up towards the wings of the Cathoderal, "I'm a fan of guns and like building them myself. The bigger stuff is all defensive. I mean, we have a navy but never use it, and it's run by this one flake in an admiral outfit who showed up one day." Closing her eyes, she laughs, "I mean, he even called one of the ships his wife. Super weirdo, but he knows how to run the dockyard, so."     To Krusty's question, Conati glances his way over her shoulder, "Right now we pretty much focus on Vector's development. But I bet if we fired up the secondary complex, we'd be able to export."     "Nah," Struo closes her eyes, cradling her chin in thought, "If we ran the secondary complex in conjunction with the primary, the Resource drain would be really heavy. We could only do that if I was the System Core Controller, and at most we could manage that for... a week?" Glancing aside, she adds, "It's a really competitive position. Saltavi has it right now."     She returns to her thoughtful pose, furrowing her brow, "There weren't any prototypes ready for manufacture, yet... If you're thinking Omega Panzer is here to grab our latest and greatest, I mean. He's probably going to salvage destroyed units and Frankenstein himself something new. He's done that before."     "Also," Conati glances the other way, "A kilocycle is about the same length as one year on the outside." A quick explanation for Asterios, "The time measurement is a bit different but there's a close enough analogue to compare." Glancing back down, she leans on the railing again, "...Also, thanks." 

:'''{{#var:973|Silica (973)}} has posed:'''     Keiko smiles patiently at Conati. She doesn't say anything more, but reaches up to lightly pat the younger DCC on the shoulder, before turning her attention back to the conversation at hand. "So, a scavenger as well? That's good to know, so expect unpredictability in combat ability... I don't like unpredictable boss patterns..." she sighs. "But, I'll help out, definitely." 

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''     Krusty has to wonder at the wisdom of selecting such an apparently unqualified person as commander of a defense fleet. However it's apparently working so he doesn't dwell on it. But as to the answer about exporting, Krusty hmms thoughtfully, "A shame..."     More to the matter at hand, Krusty briefly ponders their eventual hunt. Looking at Struo he asks, "I assume you have some kind of lead on where we might find this virus?" Obviously before they can apply the beat down they'll have to locate him. Or potentially draw him out, "If he's looking for interesting tech to integrate into his machine, perhaps there is something that could be used as bait." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' It's time to head out and she doesn't have much toruble with the ride as she looks to Conati for a moment. She hnobs her head a litlte bit. "Firearms? Not too comon for where I'm from, but we have a few mostly you'd call them anti material weapons." She thinks for a moment. "Inter Drive trade levels of exports or multiveral level?" She's curious about the line of thinking that Krusty question has exposed with Conati. "So that's a fair amount of time. Sounds like cycle back home." 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' "Mmmn, so it's an ... old virus." SEE ARTHUR THIS IS HOW YOU HELP EXPLAIN THINGS. "I see. Age and feeding... has made it strong. So even if it doesn't take a new machine, it can still be dangerous. Mmn, maybe need to check an arms dump, or warehouse or... something like that." Asterios pauses, then smiles and... Pats Conati's head. "You do good work. Just saying what I am... seeing." 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''     "PAULDRONS over there got some SOLID SCHEMES on this, damn." Arthur says, snapping a finger and pointing at Krusty. "If he's gettin' his ROAM ON 'cause the dude needs GEAR, just gotta find out where the GEAR is. You do a ton of REPLACEMENT on shit, right? Where's that FLOW headed on shit not gettin' RECYCLED? Follow the SCRAP, find the SCRAPPER, right?"     He ponders the matter of the admiral. "I actually HUNG AROUND a PLACE where you just DID WHATEVER YOUR COSTUME WAS. Had to straight fuckin' BEAT UP a JOKER in a SUN-GOD COSPLAY. Real son of a bitch. Ask him to TAKE OFF HIS HAT, and if he SWEATS then you DECK HIM ONE." He slams his fist into the opposite palm. "BAM!"     "NICE TOUR though, DAMN dog!" Arthur says, grinning and yanking out his smartphone from some strange game-inventory abstraction to take some photos of the Cathoderal. At least one ironic selfie is taken, but he refrains from doing more just for the sake of not being /too/ annoying to the others here. Just the regular amount of annoying. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "Well," Struo glances towards Krusty, "That doesn't mean exports are out of the question. Just that we'd have limited windows to produce them." She shrugs, "Until I can develop more effecient construction machinery, it's one of the limitations Vector has to face right now." Eyes closed, she shrugs, "I don't like admitting my faults.. but there it is."     Both Conati and Struo look directly at Krusty for a moment, then at one another. After a moment, Conati nods once and turns away. Lifting up her phone again, she taps something. The word 'Ping' flashes a few times on the screen, then switches to 'Link'. A screen appears above it, depicting a distracted looking person, who doesn't react until Conati speaks, "Kei. It's me. My AX-3 project in the workshop? I want you to pack it up and send it to this location in the Steam district."     "Understood," Kei responds without looking, "It'll be there in ninety minutes."     "Good. Just drop it in the terminal and leave." This gets Kei's attention, and she glances towards the screen's camera in surprise. However, Conati cuts the connection before any questions could be asked. Tucking her phone away, the Candidate grins, "We'll use my new cannon prototype to lure him out. If he's a tank again, he'll want a really good gun on top, and who could resist a 'misplaced' prototype from the Cathoderal itself?"     Struo grins, "Then I guess we're taking a detour. Skyride!" The robot steering the platform beeps, "Take us to the Steam district, offload terminal C18." The machine reacts by gently banking towards one of the clearly older districts of Vector, lower structures, less advanced archiecture. Almost Victorian, with the brass and brickwork present, contrasting the metal and glass of the more central assembly plant and Cathoderal.     Conati closes her eyes again when patted on the head, "--Jeez, this again..?" She bats at Asterios' hand as he retreats it. Almost like a cat, "Thanks, I guess."     Struo moves to the front of the craft, folding her arms again, "It's a great idea. The Steam district is mostly outmoded, so we've been using it to gather broken equipment and break it down. A prototype cannon getting mis-delivered for scrapping in a place a scavenging virus is likely to be...Heh..!" Tilting her head down, the black DCC grins, "I'm kind of excited for this. Not only do we get a chance to delete a virus who's plagued the System for years, but I get to boast to the other DCCs that I did what they couldn't..! Heh heh heh..!"     ...     Struo glances over her shoulder at Conati, her expression inquisitive. Conati's response is a simple, wordless thumbs-up. There's next to no context to this exchange, but seems to be important to Struo-- who resumes looking ahead with a grin on her face. 

:'''{{#var:1149|Krusty (1149)}} has posed:'''     "None of us are without faults, it's what makes things interesting." As for the issue about potential exports, "But that is good news. I will mention this to the crafting guilds in the Alliance. Perhaps even limited manufacturing capabilities will be useful to us, as we don't have much of our own." While Akihabara has a number of great minds working to improve their technology level, they don't really have the resources or manpower for mass production of the things they discover. Speaking of, "Perhaps they might even be able to assist you with your own efforts to expand." A fair trade!     For now though, they have a virus to hunt and a quest to complete. As Krusty's suggestion is accepted, he watches with interest as the city changes from more advanced machinery to steam based. Not something you see every day. At Struo's excitement, Krusty smiles, "I'm happy to assist." He looks forward too, eagerly anticipating the fun that's soon to be had. 

:'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:''' Arthur Lowell says, "Also if you stand in here you will probably be spammed with my codetesting sorry." 
}}

5846/MISC: Blaster

2018-05-20T04:55:20Z

Namazu: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/05/19 |Location=The System - Vector |Synopsis=The mechanized virus criminal, Blaster, has been sighted in Vector. News vlogs supposit his inte..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/05/19
|Location=The System - Vector
|Synopsis=The mechanized virus criminal, Blaster, has been sighted in Vector. News vlogs supposit his intentions, with most seeming to agree that he's planning some kind of robbery.

One in particular focuses on a single photo of him with a blonde program in a white bodysuit, with multiple tabloid-like theories as to who the mystery girl is. An inside contact or informant (Treachary in Vector?!)? A friend (which is immediately dismissed, after all, this is a virus we're talking about)? A kidnapping victim (Could the Four Felons sink even lower!?)? A new Drive Core Controller (Why is she not immediately killing the crap out of a virus?) and many more.

What could the Magikon Interdrive Syndicate of Crime be up to this time?
|Cast of Characters=998, 906, 6384, 1137, 8, 290, 6258, 6386, 6388, 707
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Welcome to Vector, the Onyx City of Design. A dense, industrial city of factories and pipes and assembly machinery. Broad streets carve through the cityscape, dividing it neatly into blocks with multiple tiers of walkways as well as multiple tiers of streets. The coordinate provided by the Guild quest (set up by Lexicon moments ago) lead to a crossroads plaza with a large statue of some hulking machine at its center. In all directions are factories, with the dull hum of power and the rhythmic noise of machinery in operation.     One of the assembly plant doors has been forced open, its locks sparking and the frame damaged.     Pacing near the statue is a young blonde woman in black and red, with a distinctive jagged-shaped hair ribbon and a ... bear, under one arm. The bear seems intent on staring at the door, while the reporter scribbles on a datapad, her unknowable scrawl saving and scrolling up with each line, "Who knows how long I have.." she mutters, "Will I need to use the Key and try to stop it myself?" Lifting her stylus, she chews on the end, "Nnnn, but I'm a crusading journalist. Image aside, I'd get stomped flat in a heartbeat by myself, even with the Key..." 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang comes off the System Bus... riding her Motorcycle. Somehow she got the wide, heavy thing through the doors to board, and equally magically managed to get it out again. The deep thrum of its Dust engine echos though the Drive as she motors off towards the coordinates, weaving through any traffic and approaching with all the subtlety of a clap of thunder. She pulls up, dismounts her vehicle and sets the helmet in the seat box, before tapping a control on her gauntlet as it deploys. The bike then speeds off to a safe distance, entering a holding pattern as it idly travels the various streets. "Yo, what're we up against?" she asks the journalist, stretching and rolling her joints.     Yang looks a bit beaten up, some bandages around her arms and midriff, a few medical patches here and there. She looks like she's been in a warzone, which isn't far from the truth. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Heading towards those coordinates, skimming several feet above the normal street, is a robot, wearing an armored skirt, and riding a rocket surfboard. As she enters the square she rolls off of the surfboard, returning it to storage on her back, the device folding down to a compact unit. She looks around, noticing the broken lock and the reporter. She approaches the second, as is her wont, to gather more information.      "So what's going on?" she asks the woman. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' GUILD QUEST. QUESTIN' FOR THE GUILD. There's a strange journalist-y looking woman on the near of one of their Places of Interest. Under normal circumstances, she might be hard to pinpoint, considering how much of a veritable maze Vector's industrial sector turned out to be. But, therein lies the hitch. It's a maze. A labyrinth, in other words. Also they totally have her address. Hooray! And so, when a certain blonde woman turns about and paces again in the opposite direction, she might just find herself running face-first into a WALL OF MEAT. Upon closer inspection, the meat is beef. On account of belonging to the abs of a certain Minotaur. "Aa," Asterios says down at the blonde lady. "Are you. With the Guild?" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel had the quest that Lexicon issued and was quickly on her way, her Lightcycle seemed to stick out a bit here as he kept on her path to the assembly plant. The strange sound of its engine echoings as Deelel guides her craft towards the plant. When she arrives the bike which she seems almost fused into, will turn into wireframes of light, vanishing all save for the handlebars which change into a rod. Which she slaps on her hips and moves to the young blonde woman and she looks at them for a moment. "Greetings program, can we be of some assistance? the ID is Deelel!" She seems friendly enough though she is clad in a body suit which has light emitting circuit lines on it and an odd chakram like disc attached to a mount on her back. She's a bit of a strange one to be sure, but she seems earnest in wanting to help. ORchid gets a bit of a look and Deelel tries to size the Replpoid up for a moment before Yang also arrives. "Yang! You look like you need to get some code repaired err see a doctor! Are you all right?" 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' The System is a familiar place for Rebecca, but Vector is a place that she's not entirely familiar with. She relies on coordinates and things of that nature to find her way to where she needs to get to. But when it comes to getting to where she needs to, Rebecca's always an efficient person in that nature, meaning that while it's a new place to her, it takes little time for her to get there. When she arrives, she's not surprised by the way it looks, as it's just as she expected from her time in the System. Upon arriving, she spots the assembly plant with the broken doors and she realizes that she's definitely in the right place. She draws her Beretta and loads a clip, carefully surveying the general area to make sure that there's no one waiting to ambush her, before spotting the blonde-haired woman with the teddy bear and the ribbon. She holsters her weapon to show that she's not armed in any way and slowly approaches. Then she spots other people arriving and realizes that they, too, are here for the same reason as she recognizes them as Elites also. Her eyes wander to Yang Xiao Long which causes her eyes to widen a little. "Hey, are you all right? Do you need medical aid?" Rebecca reaches for her medical kit, hoping that it would work in the System. 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:''' Instead of his typical notepad, Lemeza already has his laptop out, and is scanning the immediate area with the built-in webcam. He'd been here even before the Guild message was posted, interested in just what this place was made of, and how architecture even /works/ in a data world. This mission, to chase down a virus, was mainly just an excuse to get a closer look. Though, he did intend to lend his assistance. And now, with the others arriving, and presumably this journalist investigating as well, he figures it's time to get to work. He actually doesn't put his laptop up, though -- he just shifts it to one hand, closing it to make it easier to carry but otherwise keeping it readily accessible. "Looks like we have a healthy mix of Elites answering Vector's call. All right, what do we know, and where are we headed?" He directs this mainly to the young blonde, though he'd take an answer from anyone who knows. 

:'''{{#var:6386|Note (6386)}} has posed:'''     So earlier, Note heard that this supposed 'System' held tons of monsters just itching to be fought, no strings attached! THAT's the reason that she came flying through a warp gate not too long ago.     Yes. Flying. Quite literally. A fair-skinned youth on the shorter side of things with smooth black hair, bound in a ponytail by a small red bow, garbed in red and yellow clothes of simple design that bares her midriff, and... was that a monkey tail sticking out of her rear through the pants? Why yes, yes it was.     But anyone watching the warp gate didn't have much time to see her, because she's wreathed in a transparent-whitish aura of energy and only there for a moment. Yep. She rockets straight up into the skies of Vector!     It's not long before she notices the gathering of unusual sorts near the great statue... and descends!     Feet-first, in fact. Note smoothly plummets down to the ground, slowing only at the last second to touch down gently with a hand on her hip and a big, eager grin on her face.     "YOU guys would /have/ to know where the monsters are!" Her brown-furred tail flicks around freely behind her and out to the side, tip curling and un-curling in obvious excitement! 

:'''{{#var:6388|Grave Matters (6388)}} has posed:'''     A trio of young women arrive in some chic modern Japanese fashion: a gray-haired girl in elegant gothic lolita get-up with a black cat bearing orange stripes on her shoulder; a girl in something approximating a dark-hued school uniform with plaid skirt and a neck tie, accessorized with a purse or satchel of some kind, and fresh new sneakers, all finished out with pink-red hair down to her ankles; and finally a redhead in an ill-fitting tan school uniform that looks like it probably belongs to the pink-red-haired girl, who is also the shortest among the three. She is carrying a cellphone and watching a cat try to fit into various boxes regardless of if they are big enough to support him or not.     They don't look particularly like Elite reinforcements, except in the sense that with their color palletes and obvious Main Character Hair yes of course they're Elites.     They also seem relatively lost as they follow the trail of other Elites heading for this statue with the bear-carrying blonde and the minotaur and all these other weirdos.     The trio stand by silently observing for a few moments (an enormous, miraculous feat for three teenage girls), and then Matsuri (the tiny one) steps in and says in a dull, near-monotone, "Yo. Matsuri Noriyama, leader of Grave Matters. We heard there's something or other going on, and I didn't really understand it, but I guess we're here to help because that's what we do now. Is there something that needs beating up?"     The gray-haired girl approaches and says, "Shiho Shinozaki." Then the tan-uniformed girl approaches and bumps in front of Shiho. "NOT FAIR! You both introduced yourselves before me! I'm Ruri Tsuguhara, Crown Princess of the Underworld, and you should all repent for not recognizing me without an introduction!" She throws out one hand, fingers spread, as though expecting everyone to bow.     Matsuri says, "Sure, sure. We repent. So what's the deal?" She eyes the flying girl suspiciously.     Ruri fumes. "Don't patronize me! I'm very important! Hey, are you listening, Matsuri!?" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' To judge by her words on the radio, Xiaomu is mostly coming out to help because she's got nothing better to do in terms of gaming. In actuality? Xiaomu *was* getting settled in for an evening of gaming, but - well, she wasn't kidding about the patches that needed to download. And with Lexicon speaking up that there was a situation with which assistance would be welcome, the sage fox decided it was a better use of her time than sitting around at home in any case. (Plus, Reiji may have given her a particular sort of dirty look while she was grumbling about downloads to wait for.) Whatever the exact details are to get filed under 'cause,' the effect is the same: one lightcycle ride and a couple of warpgate-hops later, plus a cruise on the System Bus, Xiaomu disembarks and follows the people she more or less recognizes. If she's particularly surprised by any of the arrivals, she doesn't see fit to show it, simply waving to everyone. "Heya Ruri-chan, Shiho, Matsuri, welcome to the field," she greets the Grave Matters trio in particular, simply waving to the others whom she knows on sight. "So this is where we're looking for our contact, huh ..." Xiaomu looks up at the warehouse, then takes a gander at the crusading journalist. "In the interest of surviving to write the scoop of the cycle, any interesting details you can part with that might help us heroic types?" 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Asterios turns ponderously over towards that trio of girls-- that trifecta of strange, grave-themed ladies. But especially towards the one in tan with the attitude and the squawking and the haughtiness. Asterios lifts one hand. ...Asterios lets his hand fall. Asterios pats Ruri's head like an affectionate big brother might do to a precocious little sister. "There. There. You are, very important. Asterios knows. Do not... Worry." Pat. Pat. ...Pat. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Studeo turns away from the damaged doorway and immediately into Asterios. She actually jumps back, snapping her hands up in a martial arts stance for a moment before she realizes the Minotaur isn't a threat-- hands and stuffed bear lowering, "Actually no." Lifting her free hand, she indicates herself with the end of her stylus, "I'm Studeo, chief reporter for the Sytem Log. Though I did alert one of the DCCs about an issue here, so I guess a Guild quest was made referencing me as a point of contact."     She glances back when Yang rolls up, glancing past Orchid to Deelel's arrival, and Chambers a moment later. She'll let the obvious medic deal with the obviously hurt person (or not, as the case winds up being), and instead squints at Lemeza. He'd been here when she arrived, though she didn't realize he would be interested in the suspicious activity she's investigating.     Studeo's about to talk when Note drops down asking about monsters, producing a flat-eyed look from the reporter AND the bear she's carrying. This flickers to a more curious look at the trio of witches who've also arrived. The interest peaks as Xiaomu dismounts her lightcycle, "Ah, some of you guys are already kind of heroes around here, cool."     "As I said, I'm Studeo, with the System Log news feed," she repeats herself with a similar self-indicating gesture, "And I've been tracking one of the Four Felons in Vector for a while, now. He and some female program he's with just broke into this assembly plant." Turning she gestures with her bear, who in turn gestures to the door, "And I've been watching the exit since."     Turning back, she folds her arms, "I can hold my own in a fight, but we're talking about one of the Four Felons. A virus like Blaster would just bowl over me ike a speedbump. And I have no idea what the girl's capable of." 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang glances at everyone else arriving, grinning a little at Note in particular. "Man, and I thought /I/ was the bloodthirsty one." she quips, wandering over to give the little monkeytailed girl a dig in the shoulder. "You and me, are gonna be goooooood friends, I can tell... You kinda remind me of Goku a bit..." she then shrugs, and starts heading for the door. "Well, there's plenty more of us now, lets get this show on the road!" she turns from walk, to run, entering the door without listening for any kind of a plan, or warnings about possibly explosive things. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Rebecca can't help but smirk a little at the way Xiaomu is asking for information. It just seems so much like how she would do such a thing. It helps bring a slight sense of lightheartedness to the whole thing. Although her smirk disappears when the Studeo leaps into Asterios and she shakes her head a little. Once Studeo has finished introducing herself, Rebecca adopts a formal attentive stance as she says, "Officer Rebecca Chambers." She salutes briefly before going at ease. "So the felon you speak of is in here with a 'female program' as you put it." She understands what Studeo means, having been in the System many times before. She's also unsurprised by the fact that Studeo's bear is pointing to the door either. A slight frown is sent in Yang's direction at the mention of being bloodthirsty, but other than that she looks to Studeo again and says, "We don't doubt you at all, but there's no telling what this felon is capable of. It's best if you have backup." 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      It looks like a bunch of other would-be helpers have arrived. Orchid looks around as the crowd forms. She won't debate the hero thing either way, prefering to listen to Studeo. She nods. "So they haven't come out this way, but are there other doors? Can they fly?" she asks. On hearing that the other doors are alarmed, she moves next to the broken door, but not in front of it... Which is when Yang plunges in. She rolls her eyes, and small panels open on her armor, letting out a few score of small robot spiders, each equiped with a camera, that sneak into the factory. 

:'''{{#var:6388|Grave Matters (6388)}} has posed:'''     "Four Felons. Right. Sounds dangerous. So you need them sealed or killed or what? And the lady I guess depends on what her deal is?" Matsuri asks, arms behind her head. She doesn't understand the terminology at all.     "Wait! 'Virus'? 'Program'!? We're not in some sort of... Virtual Reality MMO are we? Aren't those extremely dangerous!? Are we going to be trapped in some sort of <<Death Game>>!? That's always what happens in these kind of situations!" Ruri protests, aghast. She has consumed much human-world media, it appears.     Matsuri says, "It's nothing like that." Then she glances away. "Probably."     "Did you look away just now!?"     "Not to worry. We'll do all that we can. Is there anything about these viruses we should know about in terms of their capabilities?" Shiho asks. Then she twitches a little as she asks with a calm and refined expression. "Also are they terribly monstrous? Hideous? Do they have some awful and gruesome abilities of some kind? So that I--I mean we can be prepared." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel pauses and just looks at Note arrives she looks at her she looks at the tail and her eyebrow goes up for a moment. She just looks at that tail for a moment and sighs inwardly. "Likely nearby but just charging in recklessly would not be wise." With that said she looks at the blonde local again. "You are wise to not go charging in along given the situation. We should be on our guard." The basic takes a moment to see that Yang and Note very likely are going to take. "Wait...." She sighs and is forced to follow Yang right in. "Users..." There is no malice in her voice just she long accepted her Gods often follow the logic of Leeroy, but life would be boring with them if they were not so chaotic. "Xiaomu lets go!" 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Well, this is going to escalate quickly; while Xiaomu can sympathize with Yang's desire to cut to the 'kicking asses and taking names' part, the fact that the building is a factory for *ammunition* seems kind of relevant, especially when at least one person in the group can shoot things just by punching in their direction. And she's not sure about Note, but between the flying and the monkey tail, she's going to guess 'super-powered martial artist' is somewhere on that girl's resume. Which means ki blasts. Which means 'shoot things by punching in their direction,' or close enough to it to pose a risk of high-explosive collateral damage in any case. "You know I count as a User too, right?" she jokes to Deelel on the way in. Studeo was at least able to answer a couple of questions on the radio, so hopefully she'll be able to keep providing information while the Elites are on their way in. And Xiaomu's got her staff ready in case she needs to either thwack or slash. If she *does* need to shoot, she's ready to pull Roc's Icebrand ... although she's not entirely confident that ice bullets won't be as hazardous as ISO Standard Hot Jacketed Lead in this particular factory. 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:''' Well, the wrecking crew's all covered. With the warrior-minded Elites covering combat, Lemeza's taking his usual investigative role. "All right, multiple floors, multiple exits, and all sorts of machinery sprinkled about. I'll get the place mapped out, then." He's not waiting for a floor plan, figuring he'd get a more current map by scanning it himself anyway. He flips his laptop back open and heads inside, setting the webcam to work on scanning the interior of the assembly plant. First things first, capturing the actual layout. That'll come in handy both for fighting and for controlling possible escape routes should the quarry try to flee. Second, he's looking for as many stairwells as he can - the central theme here is noting how freely the environment allows for movement. Related, he's also checking for any structural weaknesses in the area that others can exploit. 

:'''{{#var:6388|Grave Matters (6388)}} has posed:'''     A huge hand lands on Ruri's head. The sheer weight of it off-balances her and sends her staggering back to land on her rear. "<<Oh, no!>> This must be what is known as a <<Random Encounter>>! I knew it!" She leaps up and reaches up to her head, where a crown appears.     Shiho looks off to where some (at least one) person has already ran inside. "I suppose we should get ready in the event trouble appears, but I think this gentleman is on our side, so please refrain from battling him."     Ruri hesitates. This thing that's the opposite of whatever a cowgirl is, some sort of... Reverse cow girl... Or a MANotaur or something... Is on their side!? SUSPICIOUS.     She glances over her shoulder at Matsuri, who still has her arms behind her head. Matsuri just smirks at her. "Heh."     Ruri goes red and lets her crown vanish again. "I've wasted enough time with you! I'm following after that other girl! She seems to know how to get things done!" Then she also goes through the door without waiting for further briefing. 

:'''{{#var:6386|Note (6386)}} has posed:'''     Note sweeps her attention over the other Elites gathered. Asterios and Yang get the most immediate attention, but Xiaomu and the Grave Matters girls get quizzically peered at for a few seconds.     The girl grins, because she can tell good sparring partners when she sees them!     Especially when Yang eggs her on. Note's grin widens, turning almsot sweet and innocent with the sheer eagerness! "Dunno who that is, but I'm itching to see what you can do!"     What she wasn't expecting... is for Yang to just plow ahead like that, without any further discussion. Note blinks a few times. She's being outshone in impulsiveness! That's... a first.     "H-hey! Wait up!" The martial artist breaks into a run, wrapping her tail around her waist as she chases after Yang! 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Of this there is no doubt, as clear as Asterios is shirtless, this is not merely a minotaur, but some kind of terrifying /manotaur./ Not a holstaur but a hosstaur. He's very much a man-cow, is what we're trying to say. "Aaa," Asterios starts, looking every bit to Ruri like he's about to POUNCE AND DEVOUR HER or maybe he's just trying to help her up. "Are you. Okay?" Yep, definitely that last one. "Careful. Don't get hurt. O...kay?" How strange. But! Right now, they have something else to do. Asterios waves good-bye to that strange blonde journalist woman and starts of after the others. He... Barely fits in the doorframe! He kind of has to stoop a little bit to make it through. Is he really going to be alright in there? Probably. It's a factory, so it's bound to be relatively spacious, right? 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "Building plans aren't available," Studeo admits, "That's the kind of limitation I have as a reporter and not a native Vector program." Bear tucked under one arm, she cradles her chin thoughtfully with the other, "We should be careful. Even if ammunition is supposed to be inert until fired, there could still be a problem. And also I'm not /sure/ on that, it could be a weapons plant, a vehicle manufacturing foundry, or maybe they just make styluses here."     To the questions posed by the three magical girls, Studeo shakes her head, "Not really. Blaster is scary strong, but he looks like a super robot. There's even a lion face on his chest." An eyebrow quirks at Ruri's protestations, and Matsuri calming the self-claimed royalty down. Eyes closing, she sighs, "You've been watching too much anime, I think."     To Orchid, the reporter nods, "Good idea, get some intel on what's going on inside. And then the punchy types can go in and clean house. Like myself, this big guy here," Gesturing to Asterios, then to Note, "And the brawler girl, and miss Blondie here--"     A dotted outline blinks conspiciously where Yang is not.     "...Huh?" Turning, Studeo glances towards the door, "...Oh jeez, she just ran in?!" Studeo lifts up her bear in one hand, jamming her hand into its mouth. Pulling, the plushie appears to turn itself inside-out, *pop*ing from a yellow stuffie into a golden sword shaped like a fountain pen, "So much for the slow approach..!" INTERIOR:     One might expect a claustrophobic environment of industrial, pipe-lined corridors and floor grating. What actually dominates the interior is a single enormous chamber from the ground floor to the roof, encompassing multiple stories with no real floors. Just different levels of wide catwalks designed to support forklift-like machinery. The center consists of a vertical conveyor, mechanical arms affixing parts to a core frame and then passing it up for the next stage of assembly. At this particular level, it's hard to tell if the device is a small vehicle, a mid-sized drone, or a large weapon. The statement about ammunition doesn't seem to be entirely accurate, but then again Studeo did say she wasn't sure about it. The entire facility does seem to be automated, though, with no sign of workers anywhere in sight. Even the forklift, which pauses in front of Asterios, honks, then backs up and tries to find some other way around him like the largest and most confused Roomba ever made. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Orchid shakes her head. "Not the first time my allies have gone into danger, no idea of what they'll find," she says to Studeo.      Inside the building, most of her robot spiders climb onto the walls of the building, going up and maping the place out, giving the information Orchid needs to build a map. Other spiders investigate the assembly line, three jumping on one of the devices being assembled, dancing around to avoid the robotic arms working on the thingy, so Orchid can figure out what it is supposed to be.      Darkness isn't going to stop the spiders much, as they look from every angle they can get to. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang looks at the assembly line, then does a quick glance over the layout. Right, no main floors, just access ramps and catwalks for the dronelifts to scootle along. This'll be interesting. But that's what she's been trained for! Verticality in combat to fight the must larger Grimm, to get to their weakpoints or outmaneuver the more ponderous large monsters. She spots a tiered stack of some crates, and beelines for it, hiking up to the top, then launching herself up to a catwalk with a directed burst of her contact-range shells, using them like a pair of jump boosters. "WHEEHOOOHOO!" She lands on the catwalk, rolls with the momentum then gets back to her feet, running along the track. "Nailed it~!"     Yang, doesn't really know where she's going, though. 

:'''{{#var:6386|Note (6386)}} has posed:'''     Note does charge in for a good ten seconds! Straight after Yang. But then a message comes over the local bands that has her putting on the brakes, grinding her teeth, and biting back the urge to curse. SHE WANTS TO CHASE AFTER YANG!     But... someone has a plan.     And that means... if she goes along with that, she might get to their quarry FIRST!     Upon realizing that, Note HURRIEDLY backtracks! The moment she reaches the door she KICKS off the ground, erupting with a white aura that blazes like flame... and just ROCKETS for Lemeza, to scoop him up or grab hands or whatever he plans. (Defaulting to just scooping him up if he's not ready!)     AND WOOOOOOOOSH. Up and off towards the top floor!     "This plan of yours better work! I wanted to see what the blonde girl could do." She's almost POUTY about this change of plans. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' There are no building plans available, but it could be worse. She gets the warning about munitions though. Who knows what's being rezzed inside the plant as Deelel moves she'll look to Xiaomu and just sighs a little bit. "It's very confusing and yes and then we have the whole issue with Users having Users." Well Gods, but that's how Deelel does put it she seems pretty good as he keeps going along with her longtime friend. With Orchid running support? That should help the party out quite a bit as they get into the factory> It not how she thinks of such places, given her origins but it's clearly a place for making things. She takes note of the various machinery bit and items under production. "There's no one here, it's all drones?!" She'll traverse the factory attempting to get deeper and to a higher floor the harder way. "So you want me up close or slinging spells when we find these two, Xiaomu?" 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Even if ammunition isn't actually being fired, it's still most likely volatile. So the odds of an explosion are high if they don't check their fire. Rebecca makes sure that the safety on her gun is off, but keeps it holstered all the same so she doesn't risk blowing anyone up. When Rebecca looks again and spots the dotted outline, Rebecca sighs. "Just couldn't wait, could she?" She rolls her eyes before making her way in rather carefully, opting to use the standard approach of operatives like those in S.T.A.R.S. instead of Yang's rushing in. The interior isn't like most assembly plants, but that doesn't bother Rebecca in the least bit. She knows this isn't your usual place, so nothing's as it seems. She's not even fazed by the fact that everything is automated or that the forklift tries to go around Asterios like a Roomba or something. The only thing that matters right here and right now is finding the felon. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' A FORKLIFT DRAWS NEAR! Command?                                *Attack *Spell                                                                *Run *Item                                                                   >*Stare                                   Asterios meets the mysterious roomba-forklift's scruntinizing gaze with one of his own. He makes a sound like the world's most befuddled bovine, a sentiment apparently shared by this meandering piece of machinery. The two agree to go their separate ways. Unfortunately, silent negotiations aren't worth much in the way of experience points or item drops. So instead, Asterios must be content with simply forging further on ahead. After all, Yang is charging pretty far on her own, and he'd feel guilty leaving her to whatever this place might have in store! Asterios goes after her to provide support! 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:''' "Don't worry, Note! Given the layout of this place, we're almost certain to find what we're looking for this way." Lemeza prepares himself to get scooped up around the waist, gripping his laptop securely in both hands with the monitor facing outward. He's scanning with both technology and his own two eyes: the former catches the various paths in and around the place, and the latter is looking for the Felon and the rogue girl. He's also hoping to locate a more conventional path up the floors for the others to traverse, since Note doesn't seem like the type to ferry others to the fight. "Just drop me off at the very top. I can drop down wherever from there." He's got a plan, and intends to claim the highest possible ground to put it in play. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' Well, at least there aren't a lot of containers full of volatiles sitting around, which prompts a small sigh of relief from Xiaomu. On the other hand, it also doesn't provide a whole lot of cover - which works both ways, really. They can't find a whole lot of hiding places ... but neither can Blaster or his moll. "I'd say slinging spells," she answers Deelel. "We've got plenty of front-liners as it is ... none of them terribly good at being patient." Xiaomu restrains herself from busting out her lightcycle, and just goes up the ramps and along the catwalks as quickly as she can scurry on foot. It's not exactly classical 'high speed Xiaomu,' but it should be fast enough. ... and it gives Yang and Note plenty of time to be the first ones to draw attention, if that Blaster guy is actually here to have his attention drawn. Or, again, his putative moll. Or whatever role she plays in this little tokusatsu drama. 

:'''{{#var:6388|Grave Matters (6388)}} has posed:'''     Shiho seems to become a bit more aloof when she hears their target looks like a sentai villain instead of a slasher movie villain. "Oh, I see. Well, I suppose I had best go help since our reckless princess is following the example of the others and giving no thought to stealth or strategy."     Matsuri follows after. "Yeah, I'm fresh out of phoenix feathers." she adds nonchalantly.     INSIDE:     Ruri rushes in, sees people flying, leaping, and having their own random encounters with bulldozers. She stands there, arms and legs akimbo, looking around in confusion. Then says, "Shiho-saaaan~! I don't know where to goooo~!"     She then decides she's going to follow after Yang since she seems to be having the most fun, grabs that crown out of thin air again, and then seems to let it drop. It falls simultaneously 'through' and 'in front of' her, removing her school uniform and leaving her shrouded in prismatic modesty lights that then resolve into a black and red dress, boots, fingerless gloves, and knee-socks. She bends down to pick up her crown and stick it back on her head, and her magical girl transformation is complete!     She then goes down in a sprinter's crouch, one leg back, the other braced, fingertips just barely touching the floor, then she takes off running, and runs straight up the nearest support structure, leaping from there to another, to another, in a series of acrobatic leaps, until she's up near Yang.     "I made it! I mean of course I made it! Now where's this blonde lady we are supposed to interrogate?" She looks over at the other brawler. "Ah! A blonde lady! Who are you and what are you doing here!?" 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Spiders and Lemeza work together to collect the interior plans and catwalk layout of the assembly plant. As Note and Lemeza ascend, the devices on the assembly racks grow more and more complete-- They appear to be scooters, without wheels. Some kind of repulsorlift or hover bike. But a scooter. So the coolness of the hovering technology is kind of deflated by the fact that this building is mass producing mopeds.     At some point during the ascent, there's a flash of color. White and blue standing out against the grays and blacks and reds of the assembly plant interior. Drawn by the noise, the shape rears up and glances back-- A large, humanoid machine. Probably about the same size as Asterios himself, with broad wings off its shoulder armor. It turns, displaying a golden lion crest on its chestplate. One hand hefts a lattice crate filled with glowing power cells, while the other reaches up to touch the side of the machine's head.     We've got company.     I know! I've found one I want to play with!     Play? Come on, this is serious. We have to get out of here.     No biggie!     The forklift and Asterios reach an accord and go their separate ways. At about the same time Lemeza's scan picks up something moving very fast-- Asterios gets a good look at a yellow streak from further down the complex. This impacts the catwalk right beneath Yang, just as she's leaving that section-- knocking the metal grating off its mountings and throwing it over the side. Light dissipates, revealing a curvaceous woman with wild blonde hair, wearing a white bodysuit, with armored Processors floating around her body. Topaz Soul snaps her claw-tipped gauntlets to either side, "You guys came to play? I'm so happy, let's do this!"     Amidst the magical girls, sticking to parkour and ninja-style running, Studeo lets out a sigh, "Looks like we found the girl. Access--!" She brings her free hand up, then punches it down. Electricity erupts around her, solidifying into golden armor on her forearms, legs, and forming a headpiece. The pen sword also changes, becoming an axe with a lightning bolt for a blade, "But where's the virus?" 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang feels the impending doom coming up, and leaps forwards into a dodge roll. She hits the catwalk just after the previous segment explodes upwards, and turns while rolling back to her feet, bleeding off momentum in a three-point crouch. She lifts her eyes to look at the girl, and grins ferally. "Oh yeah, this is what I'm TALKING ABOUT!" She straightens herself, dusts off her jacket, then, with only a cursory dismissive glance at Ruri, brings her fists up in a ready stance. "Name's Yang, y'wanna play? I'll play." she responds, kicking forwards and bringing an overhead punch in towards the floating blonde program. The punch is punctuated with the shotgun-like report of her gauntlet firing just before impact, the recoil sending the brawler into a pirouette, which she then turns into a spinning kick to try and strike at the program's back. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      So now it's time to do what a spotter does once the fight starts: try and figure out how to disable the foes faster. Orchid's spiders move to get better views of both the big virus and the smaller female, while the reploid goes through available resources to try and find out how to take down Blaster faster. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' It seems that leaving her gun holstered was a bad mistake. Rebecca hears something very strange within the plant and she looks forward just in time to get a glimpse of what has just happened. Apparently, someone went into the light or something like that. Or rather, the light has come to them. And within the light is... "You!" Rebecca points at the woman, scowling. "You must be the one we're after!" She draws her Beretta and aims it. "You might as well give yourself up now! You're completely surrounded!" Although those last words might be futile since someone like Topaz Soul isn't likely to give up even with these uneven odds. When Yang attacks, Rebecca realizes that there's no other option but to fight. "So much for following procedure," Rebecca says as she moves in closer with her gun drawn but not firing since she doesn't want to risk injuring Yang. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:'''     Asterios has seen these two before. He's fully aware of just how absurdly strong that weirdo blonde girl is. He also knows that she's more or less just a distraction being employed by the ones who are ACTUALLY doing bad-wrong-things. She's like him! Kind of. Except Asterios' master is nice. As far as he knows. The Minotaur ignores the flash of gold, instead charging in the direction she had come from, surging through the factory like some kind of unstoppable bullterring ram to wherever it is that second guy has holed himself up in. Asterios does not stop when he gets to his destination. He only redirects his momentum to shoulder-check straight into the giant mecha man. "Not--" Asterios growls, his axes materializing in his hands. "So fast. Lion man!" 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:''' Analysis complete. Lemeza notes the locations of both Blaster and Topaz Soul, and decides to focus on the larger, lion-crested target because the fast girl has already picked a target of her own. It looks like fortune has struck, as Lemeza spies some suspiciously glowing things in the crate Blaster's getting ready to haul off. That gives him an idea. "Note! New plan! Drop me off on the nearest catwalk and CHARGE THE BIG GUY!" He puts on his game-time voice to get Note pumped, motioning toward Blaster's location and preparing to put his laptop up all in one move. With the laptop tucked under one arm, he draws his revolver with the other -- and fires /directly at the power cells/. Multiple shots, just to make sure he sets off as many as he can. They probably won't do much damage, but the disorientation should allow Note enough time to close the gap. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' *Now* Xiaomu thinks maybe she ought to break out the lightcycle - partly because she does see all the hoverscooters around, basically about ready to steal for a quick getaway. She doesn't quite give in to the temptation, though, because she doesn't even really need to run to catch up with the big lion-chested virobot. "XIAOMU BLIZZARD!!" the sage fox yells, brandishing her staff; tapping into the ice elemental enchantments on the sword sheathed inside her staff, she projects a wave of that magic at Blaster - mostly trying to freeze his legs so he can't dodge or run as readily, but if she freezes the rest of him, and/or the floor under his big booted feet? Bonus, far as she's concerned; she's just being careful enough not to let the ice spread so far that it'll hinder Asterios, or anyone else who's trying to melee the lionhearted mini-super robot. 

:'''{{#var:6386|Note (6386)}} has posed:'''     "hrrnnnngh!" As COOL as Lemeza's mapping is, Note can only take so much supression of her BURNING NEED to go get a piece of the action! So the moment he says he's fine... she sets him down on one of the catwalks, flashes him a V-sign, and BACKFLIPS off it and down, down, DOWN!     But she's been watching down below, and the sight of the big lion-crest robot thing has her PUMPED UP!     So with a small burst of Ki she reorients in the air, flips around, and comes in for a landing off to the side of the Lion-Robot. The moment she has solid footing...     "The name is NOTE! FIGHT ME, RUSTY!"     Instantly, she LAUNCHES forward, energy crackling to life around her again, and attempts to knock the thing TEN FEET INTO THE AIR or whatever she can manage with a high kick to its chest! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' They keep moving it doesn't take long though as everyone finally is bale to make it deeper into the complex and Deelel seems to be making some good time here. Xiaomu asked her to stay ranged and she's going to hang back and keep to spells. She summons her keyblade in hand and she now starts to focus first up she'll move to join Xiaomu's spell as she shouts out a spell name of her own. "BLIZZAGA!" Sending a torrent ice, cold and shards of ice at the enemy trying to keep them down and hopefully do some damage while they are distracted. Thankfully her ice is more the direct attack sort here. 

:'''{{#var:6388|Grave Matters (6388)}} has posed:'''     GROUND LEVEL:     Shiho and Matsuri pause and look a bit more serious, detecting the incoming enemy moments before it arrives. When the sentai robot appears, and Asterios rushed towards it, they perform their own magical girl transformations.     Matsuri grabs her necktie and pulls it off quickly, lashing it out to one side. It flutters for a moment before turning black and solid and then narrowing into a long pole. Matsuri swings it skillfully around, and where it passes over her body, in the gaps between cycles, clothing disappears, to be replaced with light, and then with new clothing. When she stops spinning the pole, a huge scythe blade springs out of the top, gleaming ominously, and Matsuri is left in a long scarf, purple sweater, and striped skirt. Her sneakers stay through the whole thing because they're pretty sweet shoes.     Shiho snaps her fingers above her head, producing a ball of purple light that she throws down, erasing her outfit. She draws her fingers up in a Dracula-like flourish, and the light ball follows them, tracing her silhouette, and then erupting into a burst of black bats when it reaches her upraised hands above her head. In the aftermath, she is adorned in a spider-web pattern black and orange witchy dress, with knee-high boots, a spider-web hairband, and a black parasol with an orange interior. Her cat leaps in from out of nowhere, and lands atop the parasol.     Now properly transformed, Matsuri says simply, "Let's go."     Then she flickers and vanishes, leaving a shockwave trail behind her as she heads for the giant robo to back up Asterios by trying to just apply scythe to shoulder and start removing limbs. Unfortunately, with Note trying to knock the robot program virus thing into the air, and ice blasts getting unleashed in melee, she might have to abort her attack in mid-air.     Shiho says, "Right behind you." Then she lifts off into the air, carried on unfelt magical winds by her parasol, as she tries to get a better view of the battle and see where her efforts would be best directed.     UP HIGH:     The catwalk buckles under Yang and Ruri. Ruri's arms wobble wildly as she struggles to keep her balance. "Wah wah wah!" She gets a look at their attacker and yells, "Ah! Another blonde! Who are you and what you doing here--Stop breaking the ground, I was standing on that!" She leaps finally, springing off of walls and support structures, and then yells, "You're clearly evil! In the name of the dark justice of the Underworld, I will protect this moped factory with my fists!" And she pushes off of the metal support hard enough to bend it, trying to dive at Topaz Soul. Unfortunately not really timed well with Yang's own attacks, leaving for the possibility of friendly fire. And given how absurdly strong Ruri is, all appearances aside... That might not be fun for anyone, even if she misses, with this reckless attack! 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     "Whoop--!" Yang leaps right for the airborne Topaz Soul with an overhead attack, and she brings her gauntlets up to protect her head. The impact is solid, fist against metal, and the rogue DCC makes use of it--allowing Yang's blow to shove her downward, clear of the follow-up kick. This misses her head processors by centimeters. A platform of golden Resource lines appears beneath her, which she lands against in a crouch.     Transformations! Eyes glowing and not just from the Power sigils in her pupils, Topaz Soul clasps her hands together as she watches Matsuri and Shiho transform. Not like she does, but real magical girls..! "So cool..!" And then suddenly Ruri slams into her. Though the impact does knock Topaz Soul sprawling, it still feels like hitting something far more solid than her figure would suggest. With a surprised 'Uwah!' she sails off the catwalk, head-over-heels, and slams into one of the resource pillars. Fasteners spill out like sand, as she shakes her head. Raising a hand, she points, "That was super rude! I was watching the pretty outfits appear!"     Hauling herself out, Topaz plants her feet against the ruined container, then springs off it. The claws on her gauntlets shine, taking on a sparking electrical aspect as she surges for the two girls currently fighting her on the catwalk level, "VALKYRIE STORM!" Each slash she makes leaves large, electrified after-effects that last several seconds, as she pursues both Ruri and Yang in close combat. UPPER LEVEL:     Gunshots hit the crate Blaster is carrying. He quickly shifts to intercept further fire with his more heavily armored body, though the damage is already done. One or two of the power cells, punctured, turn red and begin to shake. The robot glances at his cargo, letting out a flat, "Oh, dear." Turning, he discards it over the railing.     First on scene is Asterios, who slams into the mechanical Virus from the side. He lets out a shout of surprise, staggering before he plants his feet. Sheets of catwalk begin to distend from the opposition of forces, Viral robot versus legendary minotaur.     The contest of wills between Asterios and Blaster is interrupted by Xiaomu and Deelel, the first cementing his feet to the grate beneath them and the second showering him with icy shards that dig into his armored exterior. The virus grunts, faltering while unable to shift his footing. All he can do is glance towards Note when she charges him from the side, those red optics widening, "--No!"     Note's blow doesn't knock Blaster free of the ice. But it does knock him into the air and over the side of the catwalk.     His legs, up to the knees, still spark in their icy prisons, starting to dissolve into red code.     In midair, Blaster is intercepted by Matsuri. Her scythe hooks under his arm, wrenching the robot into a spin but not actually successfully dismembering him. With a grunt, he snaps his arm out, wrapping his fingers around the weapon's haft just long enough to right himself, then lets go. His legs jettison with explosive bolts, and a jet of flame erupts from under the armored 'skirt' where his legs had been attached.     Now Blaster is flying. But he doesn't have any legs. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Rightside-up and airborne, the mechanical Virus lifts his hands. His wrists split open, hands swinging back into them while weapons rotate out in their place. A twin-barreled cannon on one arm, and a multiple-barreled rotary vulcan on the other. As he drifts back and away from the catwalk, the machine peppers his attackers with rapid-fire beam shots. He seems to favor the arm Matsuri had scythed, keeping the twin-barrel cannon for backup, "You know that those power cells are going to explode, right? You should be evacuating! That was a 24-case, we're going to experience multiple sympathetic detonations-- This entire structure is going to come down!"     Lifting the vulcan weapon to allow its barrels to cool, Blaster barks, "You could have just let me leave, you know!" 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang twirls along the catwalk as she lands, finally ending up just kinda flopping over onto her butt, dizzy from the momentum she was expecting to bleed off with the follow up kick. "Ooo, pretty birdies... uwuwuwuhhwhwuhw..." she shakes her head to resettle all the fluid in her inner ear, just in time to get smacked upside the head by one of those lightning claws. Bright golden light flares at the impact point, and the blonde goes sailing off down the catwalk, landing with more flares of Aura and leaving dents in the framework.     Yang comes to a stop in an undignified heap, looking out of the action. That is, until she pushes herself up, and begins to chuckle darkly. "Oh man, You /are/ fun... I've never gotten a real chance to just cut loose before... everyone else breaks too easily." She turns, eyes obscured by her hair, though that's beginning to lift and waft like it were underwater, flame-like embers licking out of the golden strands. "C'mon, give me MORE fun, LETS DANCE UNTIL WE BOTH DIE!" she lifts her head, an insane grin spread over her lips and her eyes now a blazing red. "HYYYYYAH!" she stamps one foot, sending the entire catwalk to shaking as if in an earthquake, then launches herself back at Topaz, far faster than before, leaving the segment of catwalk she /was/ on, to buckle and crash to the factory floor. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" she begins to chant, swinging wildly, her gauntlets firing as fast as her fists fly, a blur of motion aimed to pummel Topaz down. 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Okay, lots of action going on inside. Clearly both this Blaster and this Topaz are targets of interest. Orchid, being a bit afraid of battle, is watching with her drones, the reploid herself outside. She's now directing her drones to jump onto the two tagets of interest. Not to attack, but to simply hold on. The idea being able to track them to their lair, or whereever they next want to cause trouble next. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Rebecca's initial plan was to take on Topaz Soul, but it seems that Yang has her taken care of, and Rebecca doesn't want to risk hurting Yang by accident. So instead she looks for the nearest set of stairs leading to the upper level where Blaster is. She figures if Yang's got Topaz Soul taken care of, she'll help her colleagues on the upper level. Once she gets there and spies Blaster, Rebecca knows she has to think fast since Blaster is carrying explosives. She could try shooting but if she misses, they'll all be blown to dust. And while she could use her stun baton, there's a chance the electricity could possibly travel to the power cells and cause an explosion too. And now Lemeza's fired upon them and Rebecca realizes that she's gone the wrong way entirely. "Oh, hell no!" She exclaims as she turns quickly and runs back towards the stairs and dashes for the exit. "Whoever shot those cells is gonna pay for that big time!" Rebecca yells as she dashes for the exit. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' "Oh, *come on*!!" Xiaomu snarls as Blaster just *leaves his legs behind* when he gets sent flying off the catwalk - and then literally takes flight under his own power, *rocket thrusters* igniting where his hips should have been (and possibly still technically are). She glances around briefly, wondering if any of the scooters are operational and if it's worth "borrowing" one to try and keep up with ... Nah. She'd be getting used to how it handles and Blaster probably knows how to fly a lot better than she can. "Dee! Try to -" She stops as she hears Yang going *completely* nuts, on top of Lemeza worrying on-radio about the chance that even without being an *ammunition* factory, the place may still be about to blow up. And for a moment, she's sorely tempted to just swap in 'pray' as the last word of her suggestion to Deelel. She slings her staff behind her and breaks out her lightcycle again, barreling back down the ramps for a few floors' worth of vertical distance ... then just drives off the ledge, doing the best she can to keep the 'cycle underneath her and bracing for the upcoming impact. 

:'''{{#var:6388|Grave Matters (6388)}} has posed:'''     UP HIGH:     Thankfully, Ruri is also a lot more solid than she looks, so her hand doesn't break or anything, but it's still clear that this enemy is rough and tough, unlike her soft and squishy and curvy appearance! "I know! Transforming is super cool! You should try it sometime! WHOOOOOOOOOAAAHH!" she yells as she tries to prepare for a follow-up attack. Unfortunately, she gets electrocuted and her hair frizzes out as she clenches her teeth, eyes wide. "OW! THAT IS A NEW KIND OF PAIN!"     She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand when the electrocution stops, and then says, "Maybe you will be less inclined to fight when you realize the battlefield is completely against you!" She then throws arms down at her sides, and brings them up and over each other in an x-shape, sweeping her hands upwards. Frigid chains appear from the framework of machinery and support structures to try to slam into Topaz Soul from behind, aiming to knock her towards Yang furious fists, while two other lengths of chains extend up from the catwalk to coil around Ruri's legs and body and hold her stable while it rocks and wobbles thanks to Yang's powerful leap.     DOWN LOW:     Matsuri lands and skids, hearing the bad guy warning about the explosives that will surely distract the heroes while he gets away. She considers rushing towards the crate, snatching it up, and running for it with all she's got. She's FAST. Like REALLY FAST. But she instead calls out, "Someone get rid of the power cores. I'm going to make sure he doesn't get away. Shiho, barriers all around him, please."     Then she leaps.     Shiho, still in the air, thanks to magical flying parasol, says, "Fufufu~. Of course~." Then she drops out of the air, trying to land on top of Blaster, and spins around daintily with her parasol outstreteched, releasing a series of glowing hologram-looking jack-o-lantern force fields. Whether she landed on him or not, she twirls away and out of the kill zone, right as Matsuri leaps alllll the way up, turns upside-down, kicks off the top-most forcefield, and then repeats the process for the others all around, building up momentum and speed, until she is a red blur zipping all around the Virus.     Then her scythe slashes down at an angle, spooky ghost faces passing over the blade for a moment before she passes by her target, whether she succeeds or fails in cutting through him.     "Reaper's Cage." she says dully as she lands in a crouch and skids for over a dozen meters . 

:'''{{#var:6386|Note (6386)}} has posed:'''     Hearing this matter about the power cells EXPLODING, Note growls. And slams a fist into an opposing palm. "Some fight this turned into..."     She REALLY wants to keep fighting this guy. But... he just lost his legs. She has no idea WHAT to expect of any of this, and now...     Now, Yang's gone COMPLETELY berserk, and the whole place is about to EXPLODE or something?!     She makes a nervous face, mixed with plenty of agitation, but then...     "hrn!" ZEEEEEEOOOOOOOOSH!     A wicked wind erupts as Note moves WAY too fast for most eyes to see, reappearing RIGHT in the path of the crate of power cells and snatching it right out of the air.     Then?     Then she points an open palm STRAIGHT up towards the ceiling. INSTANTLY the warehouse is filled with a vivid blue-white flare of light as a 'bullet' of said light flies from her palm and slams into the distant ceiling to blow open a sizable hole. One Asterios could fit through several times over.     Sure, some debris rains down, but this isn't really of a huge concern to the martial artist. As if this is REALLY no big deal she whirls around and FLINGS the crate with all her might, sending it SOARING up at ludicrous speeds. And to top it off?     As soon as the crate's cleared the ceiling (and still moving up, though slowing) she brings both hands to her side, palms cupped opposite each other...     "Kaaaaaaa.... Meeeeeee...... Haaaaaaa..... Meeeeeee...."     With a sizzling sound, more of the blue-white energy forms, this time a tiny but swiftly growing compressed sphere, roiling between her palms--     Which she thrusts out in tandem, straight up at the hole--- "HAAAAAAAAAAA!!"     WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! A roaring SURGE of white-blue energy screams up for the hole, casting hundreds of feet in searingly brilliant light.     Straight up the hole. Right into the crate.     Oddly enough, this blast has plenty of kinetic force, so it actually CARRIES the crate even higher before starting to erode into it and perhaps melt it to bits. This might destroy the Power Cells completely... or perhaps set them off. WAY up there. 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Explosions! Bullets! Ice waves and impending doom! It seems like another ordinary day living in the database. Asterios emerges from the plume of autocannon shots and energy blasts looking a little worse for wear. If he had walked into this place with a shirt on, it would almost certainly have been reduced to a pile of cinders by now. He steps out of the smoke with smoldering skin and a grim, steady stare for the flying super robot. Blaster talks sense. He speaks reason. Everything he says is logical. Well. Asterios is a berserker. Rational thought just kind of get chaos dunked right into the nearest garbage can. There's a deep, bellowing roar as he kicks off the catwalk, steel girders scream as they twist and shear apart. The minotaur surges upwards like some kind of rising meteor, a projectile of meat and bone propelled at cannonball speeds. He roars, thrusting his massive axes at either of the virus' weaponized arms, apparently aiming to catch them on the spike and tip of the twin polearms... Which he would then attempt to drive into the factory floor. "You're not..." Asterios grunts, "Getting away. This time. Won't let you escape!" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' With Xiaomu she has managed to interrupt Blaster as Note now is on him after he went up against Asterios. She sees Blaster get mauled pretty hard and soon he's without his legs? Wait did he just ditch his legs? Yes, yes he just did. He's now flying and he has no legs, that's going to have Deelel change it up, from ice to wind. She's seeing how dog piled the virus is and just can't but wonder. What is his deal here? Also, worse Yang's going full-on Berserker, this is going to get .... messy. "Oh glitch me!" Her magical attacks are cut off she's going to follow right after Xiaomu summoning her own light cycle and following her, her own cycle takes shape and she's getting the heck out of here hot on her friend's tail or is that tails?! 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:''' Shit. That was easily the stupidest move he's done since entering the Multiverse. Lemeza had expected a localized explosion from the power cells, stunning Blaster and giving the others a chance to engage. Instead, he's doomed the entire assembly plant, the mopeds contained within, and more importantly himself and his allies. And to compound all that, Blaster himself is flying away! At least he's got some measures to deal with that... First, defense. He sheathes his revolver - he won't be needing it for a while - and... starts loading a program on his laptop? This is not the time for such things! Although, its purpose soon becomes apparent. After Lemeza types in a few names and clicking an "APPLY BUFFS NOW" button within the program, the various Elites present briefly glow, and will feel a massively potent boost to both striking power and sturdiness. There, that ought to at least keep the explosion from /killing/ anyone. Next, keeping pace with Blaster. He hastily throws his laptop in his backpack -- won't be needing THAT anymore either -- and exchanges it for a folded-up, and rather sturdy-looking, model airplane. But for right now, he's in a wait-and-see stance, since he sees that Note's fixing his mistake and - hopefully - removing the threat of deathsplosion. That's good. That means his buffs will actually be buffs instead of mistake fixers. In the meantime, he takes his time in unfolding the plane and readying it for flight. 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Blaster's in trouble. Trouble that begins when Shiho's spell starts penning him in with barriers. These seem to be more for Matsuri's use than hindering the robotic virus, though they do foul his weaponsfire by bouncing beams directed at his less speedy attackers. When Matsuri dashes past with her scythe at the ready and speed on her side, she completely disarms Blaster's vulcan, cleaving the rotating barrels off. He lets out a noise, cycling the destroyed weapon back into his forearm, his hand returning.     And now there's Asterios to contend with. As Note's beam lights up behind him and rains debris on the fighting robot, he swings his remaining weapon arm down, meeting Asterios' leap with a short-ranged shotgun blast of energy spikes in a dense cone. This weapon, too, is lost to the Labrys of the Abyss, irrepairably damaged as Blaster ascends. He reaches out, producing a long claymore sword.     Somewhere above the facility, encapsulated in a beam of light, the power cells cook off. One after the other, the entire crate of power cells explodes harmlessly high above Vector.     I have attracted FAR too much attention!     You don't want to play anymore?     I've lost both of my legs and my primary weapons are down. Only my sword and my missiles are functional.     These girls are a lot of fun, though!     WE. ARE. LEAVING.     Topaz Soul laughs when Yang stamps the catwalk, shaking it all. Lifting her claws, she makes a 'come on' gesture with the gauntlet exaggerating the motion. Her feet plant, as well as they can when she's floating, "This is really fun! There's a spark of Resouce power when Yang launches, and Topaz Soul launches herself forward as well, "Ah ha ha~! VALKYRIE CLAW!" Each punch and Dust discharge is met with the rogue DCC's own fists and claws, sending out sparks from mutual impacts and rattling the surrounding machinery. The damaged catwalk begins to buckle, the wild-haired blonde laughing as she meets Yang's strength with her own.     At least until Ruri interrupts! A heavy chain of ice slams into her from the side, knocking the girl off-balance just enough for Yang's punches to get through. A few solid hits in, and Topaz Soul brings her gauntlets up in a purely defensive measure. She has to wait, now, for an opening to resume the attack. This is when Blaster chimes in her ear, and her eyes glance upward with a curious noise, barely audible over the battering of her defenses.     Fixing her gaze forward, between the sparks thrown off by her claws, Topaz Soul admits, "I have to help my brother. Sorry! We'll play more next time, for real!"     Her arms shift, snapping at Yang's own gauntlets to halt the punches. Twirling in midair, she hurls the other blonde in Ruri's direction, then manifests a platform beneath her feet and hurls herself upward.     Topaz Soul doesn't notice nor particularly care about the spiderbots clinging to her Processors, though further up, Blaster does make a point to smash the first one he spots landing on his armor, all the while trying to keep his distance and maneuver towards the hole Note made in the ceiling of the assembly plant. 

:'''{{#var:6388|Grave Matters (6388)}} has posed:'''     UP HIGH:     "<<Yes!>> Our combination attack was successful! This almost makes it worth that dreadful lightning thing I suffered!" Ruri cheers on as Yang lands powerful blows. But then Yang is thrown towards her, and her red eyes widen. She tries to leap away but just jerks uselessly as she remains bound in place by the same chains she wrapped herself with to keep from being thrown off the catwalk.     Then she gets Yanged in the face.     "Noooo! This is the wrong kind of combination attack~!" she lets out muffledly as she is bent over backwards by the impact, her lower body kept upright by her chains, while her upperbody is turned upside-down until her ponytail pools underneath her head.     DOWN LOW:     Matsuri is thinking to herself, .oO(Hm, hm. Yes, that was cool. Now I'll do like a hair flip or something and turn around and give a one-liner. Like, 'You're not half the robot you used to be.' Yeah.) She nods and stands up, flipping her her hair into an impromptu ahoge, pivots on her foot, and swings her scythe out to the side, as she starts to say, "I guess you're not--" Then she opens her eyes and sees that the Virus is leaving and all she did was apparently cut off one of his guns. "Eh? Eeeeehhh!?"     The scythe thunks to the ground as she stops focusing on supporting it.     Shiho drifts down to land next to Matsuri. "These enemies are tougher than we're used to, hm?"     Matsuri scowls. "Not cool. This better not hurt my record."     Ruri is yelling 'oiiii' over and over in the background as Shiho says "I think due to this being Paladins business and him not being a ghost, you should be fine. THough those explosives were close. Also, have you noticed that we seem to be charged up with some sort of energy?"     Still ignoring Ruri, Matsuri says, "Yeah, what's up with that? Now I really want to hit something and all the villains are gone."     Shiho remarks, "I feel like we're forgetting something."     The two magical girls walk off, leaving Ruri behind. 

:'''{{#var:6258|Lemeza Kosugi (6258)}} has posed:''' Phew! Note's taken care of Lemeza's bad move. Now, for the next step: giving chase to Blaster. He's maybe not in the /best/ situation to do this, but. With his portable single-passenger airplane all set up, and the catwalks falling away, he figures he can manage what follows... although, Orchid on the radio raises a good point. Blaster is one of the /FOUR/ Felons, and he's covered in those tracking spiders Orchid put on him. Yeah, it'd be prudent to let this guy go. He folds the plane back up and hops down to ground level, doing a slight midair hop right before touching down to break momentum and land gently. In any case, he's got his own personal objective complete: a solid structural analysis of Vector architecture. Time to wind down, eh? 

:'''{{#var:6384|Orchid (6384)}} has posed:'''      Those lucky little spiders that Orchid sent does what it can to hide, either in Topaz Soul's processor or in her hair. With luck, their signals will guide Orchid to the lair of the Four Felons. 

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''     Yang is tunnelvisioned, her blazing red eyes focussed on just smashing Topaz Soul into a fine powder. The disruption just urges her to strike faster, each punch boosted by the recoil of the last, her Semblance in an infinite spiral, any spiritual senses nearby probably registering her as something akin to a STAR building up to supernova... but then she's parried, and the only thing that manages to get out of her mouth is a strangled sound of confusion, before she's smashing into Ruri. The impact, knocking the girl over, doesn't arrest the last of her speed. She continues on, smashing into a poor forklift roomba drone, smashing it to pieces and embedding those pieces into the wall as she hits /THAT/ too.     The berserk brawler slowly, almost serenely, falls out of the Yang-shaped dent she put in the wall, and flops limply to the floor, her Scroll screaming a Critical Aura Status to a dead commlink. 

:'''{{#var:707|Xiaomu (707)}} has posed:''' By the time Xiaomu's lightcycle hits the ground, the fight seems to be more or less over. The bad guys are departing empty-handed, the good guys are alive, the factory is *mostly* intact (minus the hole in the ceiling which prevented them from all getting blown up). And Xiaomu, for one, is thinking she'd rather cut her losses. Admittedly, she's not the only person on this particular mission, and if Deelel still has enough fight left in her to join in chasing after the baddies, Xiaomu might find it within herself to follow suit. But for now? She happens to be close enough to where Yang landed to scoot over, pick Yang up off the ground, and drape her (somewhat awkwardly) over the lightcycle. It'll be enough to get her out and to some semblance of safety, anyway ... Although if anyone here knows where Yang needs to go more accurately than Xiaomu does? She won't argue too much about handing the blonde berserker off. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:''' Rebecca would've run to give Yang medical assistance, but as far as she can tell, Xiaomu's got it. At the same time, she's silently cursing Lemeza for blowing things up literally. But she's not in the mood to curse him out or anything like that. Right now she just wants to return to base so she can recover after a mission that could have gone a LOT better... 

:'''{{#var:1137|Asterios (1137)}} has posed:''' Asterios tears free with another shriek of shredding steel, but this time it's also accompanied by the booming rapport of a shotgun discharging and the distinct crackle-pop of dissociating code coming free. The minotaur is blasted back into the wreckage of the steel catwalk, twisting even more of the platform with the collision. He groans, fingering at the massive, bleeding hole in his chest. He stares at his fingers for a moment, then at the hole, then back at the ceiling where Blaster is making his escape. It's alright. He's lived through worse. But... Still. He'll have to make sure, next time, there really is nowhere to run...! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel 's own lightcycle his the gound, just after Xiaomu and with the fight over? It's rather a good time to get moving. She sees Xiamou for Yna,g which is goo. Wioth Yang safely picked up and handed off to Rebecca Deelel will come to a hald here she's seeing others already after the baddies and will trust them to give chase as she gets off her bike now. "Well that was a thing..." 

:'''{{#var:998|Lexicon (998)}} has posed:'''     Blaster ascends towards the hole, keeping his sword at the ready to foul any attempts at coming after him that his now-destroyed cannons had not. When it seems like the group is at last letting him go, he raises the weapon.     "Brother~!" That's when Topaz Soul slams into him from below. His code visibly destabilizes from the impact, almost as if his art style had ever-so-briefly changed into something ultra detailed and filled with cross-hatch shading.     "OOOAAHH--!"     Topaz Soul proceeds to hook her arms underneath Blaster's, even as the robot's code re-asserts itself back to normal. She laughs, carrying him off into the Vector sky, "You're so weak~!"     Down in the assembly plant, as all the chaos is finally winding down, Studeo flips out her notepad again and gets to scribbling, "This'll be an excellent article! Multiversal heroes and programs thwart MISC power cell heist in Vector..!" 
}}