Multiverse Crisis MUSH - User contributions [en]

Fairytale of New York (Ren Tanaka)

2016-12-25T11:57:33Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2016/12/25 |Location=New York |Synopsis="Do keep in touch, won't you?" |Thanks=to Devola |Cast of Characters=165, 942 }} Scenes from the life..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2016/12/25
|Location=New York
|Synopsis="Do keep in touch, won't you?"
|Thanks=to Devola
|Cast of Characters=165, 942
}}
Scenes from the life of a Traveller...

"Caught up with Kazuko, at long last. It had been a long couple of weeks and we'd both had our trials to overcome. No, I'm not going to go into all the details of what aliens and spirits got punched and where, I do that enough, people are beginning to think I like to toot my own horn too much. Sufficed to say...

We met up in New York... A New York. Nothing particularly unpleasant about it aside from what you'd expect from New York. She wa getting on well enough by herself- well enough, in fact, that I needn't have bothered. I looked at her and I knew that whatever had happened between then and now, Kazuko Kawakami had learned to take care of herself. Stand on her own. And I admitted it, I said that those adventures we had together were my means of pushing her towards that point.

Said she could follow whatever dream she wanted, free of her sister's decisions.

Next night she's going to be going off somewhere to a new scrape on her own, but for now, we've got tonight to celebrate. Sinatra is singing, all the bells they are ringing...

And the boys of the NYPD Choir are singing 'Galway Bay', and the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day..."

4840/Tomb Blaster

2016-12-05T07:00:03Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/12/04 |Location=Desert Mountains |Synopsis=-<OOC>- Li Syaoran says, "I like to imagine at one point in that, ren and li had to hug. And li was..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/12/04
|Location=Desert Mountains
|Synopsis=-<OOC>- Li Syaoran says, "I like to imagine at one point in that, ren and li had to hug. And li was like 'I will kill you later.'"
-<OOC>- Ren Tanaka says, "As the credits for today's episode roll, there's probably snapshots of things like that that happened during the day, yeah"
-<OOC>- Ren Tanaka says, "see also: li chasing a scarab with a butterfly net for some reason"
|Cast of Characters=165, 1058
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     SEVEN HOURS AGO:     A message comes up on a Union mission board as part of their connections with various interdimensional evil-fighting organizations. For reasons that will soon become obvious, Ren Tanaka and Syaoran Li are sitting there watching a fuzzy, bootlaced transmission from the British 'Counter-Horror Environmental Scramble Service'. Somewhere in the desert mountains there's a... well, see for yourself.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tfo7SZYmrk     "...It's critical for you to prepare and deploy immediately. Your help is needed as backup here on a mission to eliminaate danger from within the tomb. Intelligence has identified a security violatio within this sacred tomb. Something unearthly is present and survivors believe an ancient and deadly curse has been unleashed. Bio-mutant scarabs are growing inside and must be contained and destroyed before they can escape the tomb and spread the curse. It's up to you Tomb Blasters to seek and destory."     Ren scratches his head in confusion and looks at Li. "A biological mutant that spreads an ancient curse?"     FOUR AND A HALF HOURS AGO:     http://www.codexguardianangels.com/101/101-images/necron-pyramid02.jpg     INSIDE THE PYRAMID OF KING ANUBIS     We're clearly not dealing with your regular egyptian culture here, or even your regular pseudo-alien-ascended, cyber-egyptian culture right now. The outside of the pyramid is lit up like a rock and roll stage, glittering in the night. Inside the pyramid, shaking his fist in frustration as he rides alongside them in a separate railcart, we see master criminal Vlad Abdab: expert tomb robber, international criminal and thief of historical artifacts. He may be here for treasure, but he might not have expected the pyramid to also be a breeding ground for those scarabs.     "Oi! Come back! You two will see!" he shouts in anger as Ren and Li's vehicle pushes ahead of them. "You'll pay for this! The emerald's mine, d'you hear? MINE!"     "Oh look, Li," says Ren, "We've found someone you can hate on sight more than me."     "They'll get you in there! Heh heh heh! They'll get you alright!"     NOW:     Ren pushes the front off of the sarcophagus he was stashed inside. Boy, it's been a busy couple of hours. And neither of them know where Abdab is now!     "Ugh. Li, you'd better be in the first one of these I find," he says, pulling bandages off of himself with one hand and a sarcophagus lid with the other. "Son of a... mumble, grumble... bio-mutant scarabs, indeed..." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran finally, after what felt like forward, shoved the sarcophagus off and climbed out. Or rather, fell out. He tore off the bandages, got to his feet and turned to Ren. He took a slow, very, very slow breath. "You." Awww, he was you again. "I take it back. I do, in fact, hate you more than that lunatic." He checked his sword, once satisfied it was there he glowered at Ren. "You lead, this time." Li leading was a bad idea. Since he'd led, he'd triggered four traps, five pits, a giant rock and may have accidentally brought a ghost of an ancient pharoah to life. But it was fine, he knew how to seal it back up. "And don't you dare tell Sakura-chan about the mummy dance." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren does a little flourish bow that causes a piece of bandage to fall out of his hair.     "I'm sworn to secrecy, my liege."     If this wasn't as dangerous as it was, you'd almost think that it was kind of hilarious. Certainly we've been hitting a lot of the right beats so far. But there are just a few things about all of this that make it impossible not to take secretly.     For one thing, even though the two of them are extricating themselves from environments made and filled with stone, the walls and floors around here are changing without rhyme and reason to ones made of metal. There's mist and dust in the air because what are unmistakeably ventilation systems are coming back to life after seemingly thousands of years. The dessicated mummies that are leaning out of some of these pods on the walls of this corridoor are failures of cryogenics, more than anything else. Every door is open but that's because of the failure of a security system through the pyramid. tAnd...     This huge, open room has scowling skulls on the wall, and a blocky, animal-like face relief on one far side. Its mouth pours a liquid stream into a pool in the centre of the floor.     But there are glowing scarabs crawling on the walls, and that's not a stream of water or even bio-slime. Dozens of snakes are pouring out of it, and there's so many that they're starting to climb out of the pool. Getting through here is going to be a challenge in itself, let alone doing anything about it. "...whatever reason it's for, soon this place is going to be crawling with biological weapons," Ren observes, his eyes tightening in the low light. Only electronic lights and the electric blue of the scarabs' shells are providing most of the light here. "It's times like these I really regret not asking for a second blaster." It would have been two more guns than he's ever used in a very long time. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran stared for a moment and face palmed. "I swear, You. I will find a way to make you pay for this. I am not sure how, but it is your fault. I can feel it. Should have just destroyed the whole place and..." He trailed off when they passed one of the crypts. He paused and then walked over, wiping off some dust. His eyes lit up. "Oh, there's mention of a curse, it... no. Wait, mis translated. It's..." The look of excitement faded. "I swear i hate people. All people. Of all time." Written in the wall, near a crypt. 'I hereby curse Aromep, he slept with my sister, the pig.' He drew his sword and looked at the pit filling with snakes. Eh, what's the WORST that could happen? "Roar of the heavens, I bit thee, come to my aid! Strike!" And lightning coursed from his sword towards the pit. this would end poorly. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "For once," Ren says, continuing to skulk in the shadows as the two of them scope out the room, "I'd almost agree with you. But if this lab's any indication," watching as that seemingly endless stream of snakes churns out of the wall, "This place is kitted out for the aspiring pharaoh who wanted to take his fully working genesis labs with him into the afterlife. And for every time you destroy all the dangerous biological material in the lab by setting it on fire, you get an equal amount of times where it just makes it into a gigantic dirty bomb."     "How good are you at calling coinflips?"     Well, let's not think about that so much right now. Instead, let's think about how Li isn't so much incautious about the scarabs as he is just utterly inconsiderate of them. Ren just watches in surprise as he goes and checks out the writing. And it... huh.     Ren pauses, and looks at the neon scarabs. Come to think of it...     "Li," he asks, looking around them. Scarabs frame his entire body in small lamp-spots of blue light as he does so. "What do you suppose the chances are that this whole mess of ancient-curse-mutants are just meant to go after a certain small number of unfortunate schmoes, and anything else is just a consequence of circumstances?" Well, just to be sure, let's electrofy everything anyway.     Faced with the prospect of second-guessing the violent grudges of a bunch of mummies, we go instead with the route that leads to maximum dedicated, high-risk mayhem. Li's electricity goes leaping into the pool and the mouth puking into it, causing the statue's face and eyes to practically 'light up' as electricity crackles along it. Not to mention every snake coming out of it!     Showers of stray sparks go off in far more directions than Li may have been intending- wait, no, that's not entirely his fault after all!     Inbetween flashes of lightning, the face of Abdab can be seen from up above, the worst man to ever wear an indiana-jones-style fedora. He's tossing shaped EMP charges down at both of them, aiming to cause as much chaos as possible in defiance of Li's focused demolition.     "You've come too far, now! I told you, the emerald is mine!"     "Look, have you still got your gun?" Ren asks Li, as the mad flashes of electricity begin to disturb cyber-spiders who had previously been quite passive in their huge metallic webs. "You've got your sword, come on, fair's fair!" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed and glanced back. "What? A little electricity never hrut anything. Besides, if we just wreck this place, job done, right? Once it's not churning stuff out, then they can just work on containment." And then the idiot. He sighed. "YOU! Idiot! Those grenades aren't going to work on me! I don't use technology!" he snapped. Well, other than his sword, he supposed. Then raised it towards him. "Petals of the wind, heed my call. Come to my aid! Gale!" The winds would pick up, bursting forth straight at the guy! He then glanced to ren and... tossed him the gun. "Here. Not like I have any use for the bloody thing." The first spider that came close to them got stabbed in the face then electrocuted. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Aromep, whoever you are, I hope you appreciate this," Ren grumbles.     He takes the safety off of the blaster which, let's be real, is probably /also/ called a tomb blaster. Our codenames are Tomb Blasters and we're blasting things in a tomb with guns called tomb blasters.     "I'm not disagreeing with you!" he says back to Li, doing a threat assessment. "It's just that when we're buried deep in the armpit of some nightmare monster factory, I'm thinking about which ones might not shoot us first, unless, we shoot them first OR our names happen to be Aromep!"     Nothing to it but to do it- we've got spiders falling down from below, some agitated snakes, and it's possible that even if they're going to be attacking us, the scarabs might... not...? Right now? Unless we start shooting them again?     "If you two spent a little less time talking to one another and a little more time shooting you might have more luck! Eh?" shouts Abdab. Frustratingly, he's actually really, really good at his job, and is managing to throw his charges at just the right angle to provoke several things into attacking us and nothing into attacking him.     And Ren is spending a lot of time shooting at spiders and not shooting at him now he actually has the gun.     Also for no clear reason it sounds like a guitar power chord whenever one of the webs gets electrified. It also serves to illuminate the fact that the area up ahead is either dilapidated, was never fully constructed, or both. Pipes and machinery that were meant to be under the walls are exposed, there are blank gaps that stretch out into space with no clear definition of distance, there's scaffolding underfoot and it's inhabited by some of only the biggest snakes and spiders who have been eating the others for centuries.     Just in case you wanted a little platforming action in your rail shooter. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed and then glanced back. "Ren, don't die." Because there were platforms so of course he had to start doing the stupid thing. He drew one of his talismans as he leaped towards the first platform and started making his way towards the other guy. leaping from one to one, using his wind spell whenever something came too close. Of course he just leaves Ren behind to fend for himself. Because he's li. He'd make his way towards it, however, rather than trying to attack him, he'd aim his blade out and send another bolt of lightning at the area UNDER the man. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Abdab is content to just be a cackling bastard for now, and evidently disappears into the rafters after stirring the hornet's nest up sufficiently.     Ren is finding it difficult to multitask- he needs to use that blaster to keep things off of Li's back, because while he could follow the young man sufficiently on his own power or they could deal with the more problematic mutants, they can't do both.     "One of us is going to have to do one thing while one of us does the other thing," Ren says in as many words, looking at the various machinery and half-finished things in the way of the clear path. Unfortunately, Li chose who was doing what for both of them.     "...not actually all that good with a gun," he says, shouting because his back's turned. "Or rather, well... it's been quite a long time since I used one, I suppose? Certainly not for actually fending things off. Generally even if you go to a gunfight, a gunfight's never really a fight. Or, well, you're not fighting with the guns, you're fighting to shoot the other person with your gun one time. You know what I mean?"     He's stressed. He doesn't ever really allude to his background unless he's stressed.     Meanwhile, giggling Abdab is going to make Li's life a lot harder than talking to Ren already is, because he's operating a control panel for some of those machines now. The ones with spikes on them. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran frowned and glanced back. "If you're unable to do it, then run," he said coldly, before glancing back towards the guy. While Ren was helping he was, obviously, not trying to accept the help, using his magic to try to keep things from getting too close. "Just keep talking, idiot," Li grumbled before holding out his hands and, with another incant, sent a burst of magical water out, freezing or, at least attemtping to freeze, one of the traps shut. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Eh heh, I'm going to spike you!" Abnab says- looking at Li, ostensibly talking to Li, but not actually talking loud enough to be heard BY Li.     When he activates the switch, Li's already frozen a patch of machinery over- and when the parts attempt to slide over one another and rails switch positions, there's a *clunk*... and something different happens.     The gantry that Abdab's stood on begins to slide away, becoming a new rail cart that clicks onto an electric rail- and fairly quickly, too.     "Ha ha ha! You'll never catch me now! I'm going to make it to the emerald before you!" he shouts, practically dancing in place. As he does so, to make matters worse- the heiroglyphed wall panels, strangely colourful without much else around them, rotate around.     Human-looking Ushabtis, half-mummified humanoids with armor plating, appear from the panels. Some of them are armed with glass slabs, others with hatchets of laser guns. They don't start attacking immediately, which naturally makes Abdab laugh because they've appeared between Li and him.     "Looks like they already know who's boss, huh?" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed, leveling his blade on the creatures. He slowly began to inch forward, but didn't attack first. He'd let them make the first move, but the moment they did, he would take off, leaping in amongst them and sending out a burst of air to scatter them as he TRIED to race after the guy, turning only a moment to levy the sword on them. "BURN!" Fire would lance out from the sword to enshroud the creatures, filling the air with a scent that bears not thinking about 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Meanwhile, Ren is having a time.     Although they came here to blast the scarabs, much to his own inconvenience it ends up being the only thing Ren isn't shooting, almost. It's strange because although C.H.E.S.S. said they were the primary threat and neglected to mention the other snakes and spiders, it's them that Ren is spending most of his time fending off.     However...     'Make the first move'? How exactly is Li going to define that? Because although the Ushabtis are armed and in his way, most of them aren't attacking him. They're standing still, some are pointing guns at him, others are checking their glass slabs, which seem to be flatscreen tablets of some kind.     "...are there any other curses we could translate?" Ren yells from the far end of the corridoor. It sounds absolutely ridiculous, but this is what we've been reduced to.     Has Li already set them on fire by now, though? 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran Well, if they weren't trying to fry him, he'd try to just get past them, not launching an attack of his own. He didn't know what they were. Defensive? Probably? "I don't know! Maybe? I'm thinking of a few curses myself right about now!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     In all honesty if you shout 'Burn!' and light your hand or weapon up at a bunch of flammable guys they're gonna take a few steps back.     Thus we find ourselves in the very strange situation of Ren and Li briskly moving through this dilapidated part of the techno-pyramid while being flanked on several sides by cyber-mummies, but none of them really doing anything and most of them unsure what to do right now with themselves.     One of them looks at the neon blue, glowing mutant scarabs that have started milling around on the walls and are somewhat unsure what to make of them.     "One of you wouldn't happen to be named Aromep, would you?" asks one of the Ushabtis, who seems to have massive poofy 80s hair for no clearly obvious reason. He's trying to follow them but give the guy a moment, he's slow and delicate. Meanwhile, Abdab has made his way into a huge chamber inside of the pyramid.     http://www.lagotronics.com/cache/com_zoo/images/IMG_9261_11d5088be5263aaff0b60d62ecac32ac.jpg     What looks like a smooth statue is surrounded by obelisks and scaffolding. Mutants are being loaded into chalices, which convert them into a goo which is then pumped into the statue, making it start to appear muscular and furry. Looking at the huge emerald on the statue's ring, and spotting a space behind its head for a driver, Abdab can't help but cackle... 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed, his cheeks burning red as he glances towards Ren. "I swear. IF you EVER tell Sakura-chan about what happened in there, I will kill you. they will NEVER find the body." And it would never be spoken of again. They raced down the hall, the things looking to them. He paused for a second and glanced to the zombie. He paused and... "No. We don't have time for this." And then just left the poor zombie behind. Seriously, was there anyone he wasn't a prat to? He'd race after the guy. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' And now we're walking down a hill. There's a definite sense that we're moving out of a dense area and into somewhere with a lot more open space, at least. And the Ushabtis are following them because frankly, they're all a bit confused right now.     "Did... did all of you make a gigantic facility full of mutants-" Ren begins. "Cursed mutants!", says one of the Ushabtis proudly. Only for another to frown at him, and he looks embarrassed. "Cursed mutants just to go after one guy?" Ren asks someone. Said someone, as it happens, is actually King Anubis himself, who has turned up with his solid gold head-dress and armor in order to find out exactly what's happening here. "I really, really hate Aromep," the king replies, scowling, with his arms behind his back. "It's a long story, alright? Very long story. I'd go into it, but it's a /very/ long story." "I dunno," Ren says. "We could listen. What do you think, Li?"     Li's gone. Li can really move when he wants to!     "Li, where did you go? Come back! You're missing some premium lore here! It could be very interesting! Li!"     By the time they catch up, Li's probably found Abdab. Of course, Abdab's found the giant Anubis, which rather than any sort of cyberheart to control it (because as we all know, the brain is useless and can be pulled out of the nose whenever you need to get rid of it) currently has Abdad piloting it from inside the chest. It's mutant-powered up with giant muscle sections and scarab slime for fuel, and it is very big whereas Li is very small. But Li's got a sword! And that might not be all... 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran kep going forward, ignoring all of it, his sword out. Occasionally he'd glance back and then shake his head. "You are amongst my top two most annoying people right now," he grumbled when he entered the chamber and kicked a stone. It managed to bounce off a wall, hit his head, and trigger an arrow trap which he barely managed to throw himself on the ground to hide from. "Hate. This place." Then he got to the room with abdab. Li stared, leveling the sword on him. "Is that supposed to frighten me? Your fancy machine is no match for my magic! STRIKE!" Lightning would erupt from his blade at the creature. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Even the mutant scarabs have backed off from Li by now. Abdab clearly hasn't, and still has more than enough confidence that he'll be able to do this. In fact, as soon as Li makes his way into the hangar, almost simultaneously the two will end up talking over each other-     "Is that supposed to frighten me? Your fancy sword is no match for my emerald! Anubis!"     The huge robot-slash-mutant stomps forward, engaging Li in battle. It's got about five or six times the height advantage on him, plus mutant strength and being made out of stone and metal, but on the other hand it's got a big obvious emerald on its hand and a big cackling jackass in its torso.     Give it enough time for the two of them to exchange blows and missed attacks though, with lots of scaffolding and obelisks for Li to take advantage of if he needs to move, and Ren, King Anubis and his entourage is going to show up. And to be honest, what's going on when they get there is just so awesome that it really needs some epic fight music, doesn't it?     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptoGy4uXqXs&t=2m44s     Well, that's what the king thought, anyway. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran actually paused and glanced back. "Is that REALLY necessary?" he called back, before ducking under a punch. He charged in, tossing down a talisman before the ground would, while not open up, it would crack under him and make a small ditch for its leg to fall into, then aiming the sword at its other leg, sending a burst of wind down at it. Once it was lowered... He pulled back and pulled out an incant seal. "This ends now. I call on the ageless depths of the dark, the keeper of time. Accept my sacrifice. Stop." And then time... did. He sheathed his sword and walked to the statue. It would only last a little bit, but he reached up none the less and plucked the gem from the statue, before turning and walking back towards ren. He paused, then cut a string on the guitar before restarting time, by ren now, back to the treasure thief, jewel in hand and... panting lightly, swaying a little and actually falling to one knee. "S-shit." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Eventually, it all just gets a little too much for one Li. Maybe it's one too many close shaves, maybe it's the mummified back-up dancers. Maybe it's the fact that Ren is nodding his head along because hey, you know, it IS kind of a catchy song after all.     In any case, there's a sound that's almost exactly like a guitar string snapping and cutting the song off right at the end by whapping the rocker in the face, because that's exactly what happened. Simultaneously, the emerald power source for the giant is on the floor, as is Abdab, who was having the time of his life up until then and now he just looks kind of suddenly disappointed.     The King looks kind of disappointed, too. Even /Ren/ looks disappointed.     "I was really getting into my groove, there," King Anubis says.     "Don't look at me, I was impressed you knew how to rock," says Ren.     "We never even got to the part with the giant snake robot."     https://gyazo.com/2ad0bc4de7cdb39e839deb71668ba285     Camera turns to snake robot.     Turns back to Li.     Iris out. 
}}

On Swords

2016-11-18T20:37:01Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/11/18
|Location=Union Radio
|Synopsis=Let's talk about swords. But let's really talk about past lives.
|Cast of Characters=165, 6, 984
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka, suddenly. "Rei Lin?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] As Sheena Armstrong Tomoe Sounds goggry "Morning..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Hello, Tomoe."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] As Sheena Armstrong Tomoe says, "Ren."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Uh-ah? Wuah?!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "I'm here!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Rei Lin, what if I had a sword?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Rebound says, "You could theoretically cut things."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Eur-- .... 'what if'?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Well, yeah."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "It just occured to me today. What if I had a sword?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "What kind of sword do you thik I would have?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "What kind of sword... for what purpose? Y'r build's not the best for two-handers, you like your mobility...
something light. Something with finesse! Something single-edged, slight curve... or maybe thin, double-edged, built for thrusting. Don't have words
for those, only seen them..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Rapier, perhaps."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No, it's just... talking to you yesterday made me think of something. Do you mind if I let my mind wander?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Sure?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Rei Lin... you're from a world where the Solar Exalted aren't... a respected and essential part of society, I
presume. Moreover, you're hated and hunted. Right?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin affirmative grunt. "Been keeping it a secret... not sure how much longer that'll last. Or when those hunters'll come."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "The fact that you can't remember some things..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Is that the way it is, for all these Solars in the multiverse? Reincarnations of people who've already died
once, twice, lots of times?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "How am I supposed to speak for all Chosen in the Multiverse?!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I guess that's fair. I was just wondering out loud, if anyone else wanted to chip in."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "You have some thoughts about it...?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I just thought. Maybe somewhere out there, Rei Lin, you already have a sword."
<
X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Wh-... hah? ... that... good thing, or bad? Uh... hm."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Well I guess it depends. Maybe I've got a sword out there somewhere. That's what I thought about."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "But how much of it's yours and how much is the person you used to be?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Don't... know... what you're trying to say. Is this...philosophy or flirting?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka laughs!

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Ah, it's good to see that I can still say things and get them ever so slightly but incredibly wrong."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I was just wondering. You were trying to make yourself a sword, but somewhere out there there might be some axe or some daiklave that a 'you' had."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Would you want to seek out something like that?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "You mean... who I was before."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Yeah."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Of course. If I had any idea where!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Hm. That's interesting. I don't think I would."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Well, if you ever remember where you left your sword, I could give you a hand."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Right! I'll... remember that."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] As Sheena Armstrong Tomoe says, "You have my sword as well Lin."
<
X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Appreciated! get the feeling I'll need the help one day."
}}

On Swords

2016-11-18T20:34:44Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/11/18 |Location=Union Radio |Synopsis=Let's talk about swords. But let's really talk about past lives. |Cast of Characters=165, 6, 984 }} {{Po..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/11/18
|Location=Union Radio
|Synopsis=Let's talk about swords. But let's really talk about past lives.
|Cast of Characters=165, 6, 984
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka, suddenly. "Rei Lin?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] As Sheena Armstrong Tomoe Sounds goggry "Morning..."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Hello, Tomoe."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] As Sheena Armstrong Tomoe says, "Ren."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Uh-ah? Wuah?!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "I'm here!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Rei Lin, what if I had a sword?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Rebound says, "You could theoretically cut things."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Eur-- .... 'what if'?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Well, yeah."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "It just occured to me today. What if I had a sword?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "What kind of sword do you thik I would have?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "What kind of sword... for what purpose? Y'r build's not the best for two-handers, you like your mobility... something light. Something with finesse! Something single-edged, slight curve... or maybe thin, double-edged, built for thrusting. Don't have words for those, only seen them..."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Rapier, perhaps."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No, it's just... talking to you yesterday made me think of something. Do you mind if I let my mind wander?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Sure?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Rei Lin... you're from a world where the Solar Exalted aren't... a respected and essential part of society, I presume. Moreover, you're hated and hunted. Right?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin affirmative grunt. "Been keeping it a secret... not sure how much longer that'll last. Or when those hunters'll come."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "The fact that you can't remember some things..."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Is that the way it is, for all these Solars in the multiverse? Reincarnations of people who've already died once, twice, lots of times?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "How am I supposed to speak for all Chosen in the Multiverse?!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I guess that's fair. I was just wondering out loud, if anyone else wanted to chip in."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "You have some thoughts about it...?"
<Spoilers> Alexis says, "... I like this Professor."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I just thought. Maybe somewhere out there, Rei Lin, you already have a sword."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Wh-... hah? ... that... good thing, or bad? Uh... hm."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Well I guess it depends. Maybe I've got a sword out there somewhere. That's what I thought about."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "But how much of it's yours and how much is the person you used to be?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Don't... know... what you're trying to say. Is this...philosophy or flirting?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka laughs!
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Ah, it's good to see that I can still say things and get them ever so slightly but incredibly wrong."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I was just wondering. You were trying to make yourself a sword, but somewhere out there there might be some axe or some daiklave that a 'you' had."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Would you want to seek out something like that?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "You mean... who I was before."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Yeah."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Of course. If I had any idea where!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Hm. That's interesting. I don't think I would."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Well, if you ever remember where you left your sword, I could give you a hand."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Right! I'll... remember that."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] As Sheena Armstrong Tomoe says, "You have my sword as well Lin."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Karal Rei Lin says, "Appreciated! get the feeling I'll need the help one day."
}}

4685/A Lovers' Spat

2016-10-16T17:02:26Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/10/16 |Location=Njorun Station - Ring of Philosophy |Synopsis=Sakura is upset at Li and a fight occurs, albeit in the appropriate place in Njo..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/10/16
|Location=Njorun Station - Ring of Philosophy
|Synopsis=Sakura is upset at Li and a fight occurs, albeit in the appropriate place in Njorun. Li just doesn't get it. At some time she gets less upset, but he remains as clueless. And then everyone goes for ice cream. Even the spectators.
|Cast of Characters=172, 165, 1058, 1048
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     As Syaoran arrives, Sakura is already here! She's stood in the center of the Ring, dressed in a white cloak with red trimmings. The hood is up, concealing her face in shadow, although it's obvious it's her - she's got her wand in her hand already. The look is somewhat spoiled by the fact that she's wearing white sneakers with cherry blossom patterns under the cloak...     The Ring is in its default 'Coliseum' mode. Keroberos and Yukito are in the stands. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     In one of the seats of coliseum mode, presumably next to Kero and Yue (probably because Kero bought snacks- Kero ALWAYS has snacks, and he wants to mooch) it's Ren. Well, he's partially here to mooch but also partially here to watch this, because wow you KNOW something interesting is coming up here.     He has a placard reading EVERYONE'S A WINNER, because it seemed appropriate. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran blinked a few times and looked around. Kero. Yue. "You," two guesses who that was. You even had a sign up. He looked to Sakura. Stared at her for a long, long moment. He then crossed his arms. "No." 

:'''{{#var:1048|Young Arthur (1048)}} has posed:''' Arthur sits next to Ren and seems to be keen on watching this unfold himself, he reaches out towards the snack bowl to grab one for himself. When Li says no, he calls out loudly. "What, are you afraid of her? Or are you insulting her by saying she can't defend herself?" He dares the boy, "What do you have to lose?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura throws the cloak off with a dramatic flourish. Under it, she's wearing brown padded armour - just cloth, not leather or anything. It has many, many pockets, as do her pants - there are in fact little 'windows' in some of the pockets, showing she has a few of her Cards stashed there.     "...What? So you'll just stand there and let a little girl beat you up?" She frowns a bit. "I'm very disappointed in you, Syaoran." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed and rested his face in his hand. "Sakura-chan, if this is to prove you're stronger than me, there is no need. I am already grudgingly aware of your strength. You have proven yourself superior me in nearly every time you and I have come into conflict." He didn't sound bitter, just resigned. "There's merely nothing to be gained from us fighting." His cheeks were soooo turning red. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura shakes her head and sighs a bit. "That's not the point. And I don't really believe you, anyway." She walks over towards Syaoran, deliberately, moving with a subtle grace he might not actually be used to from her. "The point isn't that you've insulted me - although, you really have. The point is that ever since you returned to Tomoeda you've been nothing but a COLLOSAL JERK to ALL OF MY FRIENDS."     "You aren't the Syaoran I fell in love with." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran opened his mouth to object. Then she said that. There was a little flicker of doubt in his eyes. And then fear. But he hid it quickly. He looked off to the side. "I... err... I never... intended to upset toy, Sakura-chan. My apologies." She was coming closer. His eyes were looking away from her, his hands were shaking slightly. His normally tuned and precise movements and stance were getting lax. "But... fine. If... if it is what you desire so... then yes. You will be using the fight card, I assume?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura doesn't stop walking, although she diverts her course to start to circle him slightly. "We've both changed in the past five years. We can't trust our memories of our past adventures together any more. If you're going to protect me, you need to know what I'm capable of."     She drops into a rather odd-looking stance. Hands open instead of clenched into fists, back leg bent so her front leg is extended far forward. "...And I need to know what you're capable of if I'm going to trust you to protect me." She looks like she's NOT planning on using the Fight card! Weird. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran looked stunned, his eyes going wide. He then lowered his eyes. He looked... hurt. Torn, even. Well, no wonder. She just said the very thing that had been flowing through his mind since he'd arrived here. "That's just it, Sakura-chan. I'm not capable of protecting you anymore." The despair in his voice just seemed to leak out when he said that, the life slowly draining from his eyes. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     And Sakura's off - dash towards Syaoran, palm thrust towards his midsection. "Then you'd better get training!" Oh my, Sakura has gotten violent!     Or maybe she's just really, super pissed off right now. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     At some point, Ren lost the placard. Instead, he's got the ace of spades in his hand. And, accordingly, he hums a couple lines of Chris Cornell's 'You Know My Name'. It's not entirely fitting for this confrontation, but it's appropriate enough.     He doesn't expect anyone else to join in, that would be silly.     But it probably starts playing as cosmic background noise, in at least one version of things. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran cringed. "Sakura-chan, I'm trying and--" And then he gets struck. He stumbles back a few feet, then actually trips over his own feet, landing with an oof on his butt. He looks up at her, shocked. "Did... did you actually just hit me?" He felt his chest. It actually hurt. "When did you learn to do that?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura steps back after the blow, trying to avoid any counterattacks - but none come! So she steps back and squats into that pose again. "Two years ago. Taught by Altair ibn-La'Ahad."     She circles Syaoran slowly. "Come on. I -know- you're better than me at this. Aren't you even going to try?" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran stared at her. The doubt was evident on his eyes. He rubbed his chest. She was better than he remembered. That had actually hurt a little. What if she had gotten better at this than him, too? More doubts flooded his mind. Yet, still, he got to his feet. "Very... well. Sakura-chan, if you so wish. I will do as you desire." He went into his own stance. Left foot out, left arm out, right arm over his back. But it was... sloppy. The stance wasn't nearly as honed as the one he used against Arthur. He was hesitating, awash in a sea of doubt. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura is using a martial art Syaoran isn't familiar with, so he may not be able to really read her level of skill that well. She's... good. She's been practicing, and fighting actual opponents. But she really isn't as good at Kalari than Syaoran is at Kung Fu.     This time, Sakura goes for a kick to Syaoran's shin, to try to throw him off balance - but she's left herself open to a counter trip, or even a punch or shove! 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran jammed his leg down, steadying himself. He'd take the blow to his leg, stabilizing himself so it would do little. Then his right foot would shoot out, to kick her in the stomach. Followed by him rushing in and launching a flurry of punches at her, from different angles. At least, that's what his reflexes tried. Instead, his right leg went up, but came back down, throwing his stance off. He looked down, towards his feet. His body twitched as if it wanted to move forward, his arms moving slightly, but instead raising up in a defensive gesture. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     So much for mooching. Now Ren's expression is deadly serious as he takes up what's going on.      Although, after giving it a moment's thought, his eyes flicker over to Kero and Yue.     "Do you feel like something like this was inevitable?" he asks, to neither guardian in particular. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "I think so," Yue responds after a moment's though. "Sakura... sees a lot of herself in young Syaoran, I think." Whatever could THAT mean?     Sakura looks surprised as she brings up her opposite leg to try for a - somewhat sloppy - roundhouse kick. It's easily blocked, because she hasn't put that much force into it.     "I should be on my ass by now! Are you even trying? You're way better than this!" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran lifted both arms up, catching the leg with his forearms. He froze a little there, before shoving back against the leg. At worst, she might get a little bruised. Fall on her butt. He was sure it wouldn't hrut her. "Sakura, I... you're not... It's fine," he muttered. She was definitely no meiling. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Meiling would completely thrash Sakura in a martial arts duel. Heck, Tomoyo was actually getting close to Sakura's level of proficiency - practicing a single skill is faster than trying to be a jack of all trades, after all.     Sakura does indeed fall down, but she rolls backwards back onto her feet all in one smooth motion. "Stop going easy on me! I am not some delicate flower!" She's cross~ "What would your mother think?" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran grks. Oh, that was a line to cross. "Very well." Just... just once. Just one blow. That'd be it. He wouldn't hit her too hard. He could hold back. No he couldn't. He moved in quickly. He steadied himself, right foot forward, right fist out, hard, a blow designed to break through boards and people. Then he stepped in again, left foot forward, left elbow towards the side of the head. Swing around in a full circle, right foot coming out like a piston from the right, aimed to his her square in the stomach. If any of that hit, his eyes went wide and he'd step forward. "SAKURA!" He'd only MEANT to do one quick blow. But years of training in fighting and never holding back didn't help. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     And Sakura is... not nearly good enough to deflect any of those blows, even though she brings up her wand in an attempted parry. Smack! Right in the chest comes a fist, although it's partially absorbed by the armour. The elbow in the side of the head isn't similarly protected against, sending Sakura's head snapping to the left.     Then a kick to the stomach sends her staggering back, doubled over. She gags and coughs a bit, before looking up.     She's grinning like a maniac. "Finally!" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran was already moving towards her, his guard completely down, his hands up. "Sakura? I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" The chan was gone, too. "are you okay? Did I hit you too hard? Did I--" Wait, grinning? Enjoying it? His mouth fell open and he stared. Finally, he spoke up. "By your star. I'm in love with a maniac." 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Finally SOMEONE notices!"     What?     Sakura takes hold of her Wand, flips it around, and promptly pool-cues Syaoran in the gut with a motion almost too fast to see. She then jumps back, banking on him being stunned for a moment. "Remember: neither of us can be permanently injured in here! Now, let's step it up a notch~"     Oh dear.     "ARROW!" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran looked confused. "What?" Then "OOF!" He stumbled back. He looked up. Wait, arrow? He knew arrow. Wasn't that the-- "GALE!" he yelled, holding out his left hand. He didn't use a talisman or anything. Didn't even draw his sword. Just the incantation. The flurry of arrows rained down on him, but the powerful winds swirled around him, sending the arrows scattering aside. "Can't permanently hurt you?" He didn't even want to temporarily hurt her! "How's your stomach?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, it hurts a lot!" she shouts above the sound of the arrows crashing into the ground, and the wind whipping them around! Her head snaps to the side as an arrow very nearly hits her in the face. "But it'll be okay once the simulation ends, trust me!"     She's still grinning.     "Okay! DASH!"     Suddenly, in a blur of motion, she's right in front of Syaoran. "...Power." SLAM goes her fist towards his chest. Even if he blocks it, he's not staying on his feet!     Oddly, it just seems to be pushing him - no breaking bones or bruising, which he fully knows Power is capable of doing. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran looked confused. Dash? she was going to run straight at him? He considered trying to attack her. But what was the worst that could happ-- A moment later he hit the wall across the arena, leaving a crater in the wall. He fell and hit the ground, little swirls for eyes. He uhh... he was going to need a moment. Possibly a bucket of water, too. He didn't even TRY to dodge it. Though that was more because Sakura had him off balance than him not trying to. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Rain."     Syaoran sure gets that bucket of water, helpfully delivered by a giggling cloud sprite.     "You okay? Wanna keep going or do you get the idea~?" Tease tease. "I'd like to see more of YOUR magic but I guess we can do that next time..." NEXT time? Oh dear. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran slowly, delicately got up. He then looked up at the crater. "Well, I'm not dead." Definitely a good sign. "Very well." He went into his stance. Well,that last strike seemed to have lit a fire in his belly. Just treat her like meiling. That was all he had to do. "Petals of wind, I bid thee! Come to my aid! Gale!" And then air formed behind him and he rocketed towards her. He spun kicked once, before landing on the ground. It started with a right ook, aimed at the abdomen. Then his left leg shot out. Strike once to ankle, knee, waist, then, if that dropped her low enough, to the head. Followed by spinning around in a half circle around her and driving his right elbow to the back of her head. Followed by a mild panic attack and checking to make sure she was actually okay. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren tucks the card into his pocket, which has turned from an ace of spaces into a two of hearts while the camera was off of him. Interesting or possibly the director thinking he's cleverer than he really is? In any case, Ren is quietly applauding. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     There's still some residual speed left over from using the Dash earlier... And, well, Sakura has always been good at fast casting.     It helps she doesn't have to say long incantations like Syaoran does.     "SHIELD!" she cries, the feathery kite-style shield materialising in front of her for a split second before a dome of force erects itself around her... just in time to not block any magic headed her way at all.     Sigh.     At least it dampens Syaoran's blows and converts them mostly into momentum, sending Sakura a good few yards back. Bounce goes she, like a pinball. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran smiled softly. "The inferno of destruction, I bid thee. Come to my aid! Burn!" Fire shot out from his hand, aimed at her. Well, with shield up he didn't have to worry. And in fact, that was his plan. It was nothing more than a distraction. Once the flames scattered, he'd already be there. His left leg locked and his right leg shot out in a flurry of rapid strikes. Leg, torso torso hip head thigh ankle and then side kick. Followed by him spinning and-- "Strike!" Then his eyes went wide as lightning shot from his arm at her. "SAKURA-CHAN!" Oh shoot he realized a moment later he'd started to get serious. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura is completely caught off guard by Syaoran's feint! Biff, bam, pow go his blows to her shield, sending her flying again! Man, how strong IS this guy? Then, lightning bolt right to her already-weakened shield!     A card. A wand twirl. A single word Mantra: "ERASE!"     A flurry of cloth. And all the magic in the arena is gone, as if it hadn't be there at all. Including the Shield, but Sakura doesn't really worry about that.     Tap! And she lands gracefully, hands raised like a gymnast. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran lets out a sigh of relief, his hand over his chest. Wait, wasn't supposed to be relieved by that. Right, fighting. He had loosened up a bit. He readied his stance... before charging in again. One kick to the shins, except this time there wasn't any more kicks. His fists flashed out, abdomen, abdoment, shoulder, chest, abdomen, before finishing with a left elbow strike to the side of the head and then a powerful right knee towards her stomach. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     And... Sakura has no Shield up.     Well this sucks. Smack, crack, bruise, aaaand Sakura is hurled into the air, flips right OVER Syaoran, and lands on her back.     She may have done that last part on purpose. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran blinked a few times. "Wait..." He didn't feel the resistance from-- His eyes went wide and he was kneeling by her a moment later. "Sakura-chan! Sakura! Are you okay? I thought you had shield up!" He'd reach down to grab her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, I'm so, so so sorry, why didn't you say something? I'm so sorry, I'm so so so so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry." She was getting ALL the chocolate later. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura raises one hand, pointing at the ceiling. "...End program?"     And then she flops down onto the ground as the air shimmers around them. "...Haha, wow. Tactical error on my part there, my bad." She sits up, apparently sore but not particularly injured. "Weee should stop here, I think." She's grinning again, even though she's developing a black eye. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran reached out and hugged her, tightly. "Sakura-chan, you're going to be the death of me," he muttered, squeezing her so tightly he could crush her. "I'm so, so sorry. How is your face feeling? How are you feeling? I'm so sorry. H-how about we go get some ice cream? Or chocolate? My treat?" He sounded horrible, obviously very apologetic. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Well," Ren says from the stands. "That was interesting. Who wants icecream?" 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     Sakura raches up and knocks her knuckles against the top of Syaoran's head. DOOK.     "Don't be silly. You won, so it's MY treat." Hup! She hops up off the ground, dragging Syraoan up with her. "C'mon. We're getting yaki-udon, because I am STARVING." Screw icecream! 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran blinked and cringed when she dooked him. He got up, well, was more pulled up. "S-Sakura-chan! I... I hit you! It's my responsibility to buy you dinner! And you need some ice for your eye! I'm so sorry!" They'd be hearing the 'sorry' line for a while. 

:'''{{#var:172|Sakura Kinomoto (172)}} has posed:'''     "Nope," is Sakura simple reply, as she basically drags him by the hand away~ 
}}

4673/Good Morning, Cr- Li

2016-10-14T10:42:41Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/10/14 |Location=Tomoeda-865 |Synopsis=You've got to keep sharp. Ren and Li have a morning chat. |Cast of Characters=165, 1058 |pretty=yes }} {..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/10/14
|Location=Tomoeda-865
|Synopsis=You've got to keep sharp. Ren and Li have a morning chat.
|Cast of Characters=165, 1058
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     If Sakura caught Ren right now she'd probably be like 'see, I was right! You just slum around Tomoeda allll the time!' and she wouldn't actually be completely wrong.     The truth is it's still early days since the famous Syaoran Li came back. And Ren is kind of... hanging around, waiting to see how this all settles out.     Also he has a feeling Li will want to find him anyway, so he should clearly make himself findable.     It's the morning after the night before. Ren is faffing around near the University. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran was out, actually. Sorta. He was outside his home, in his yard. Training. He had his sword out and was slowly going through his katas. He probably got a few strange looks, but he didn't care. It was a new world out there and he needed to ensure he was prepared for it. After all, Sakura would need him to be by her side, always. He couldn't just... His cheeks turned red as he thought about her. A little smile formed on his lips and his feet missed position. Just a little bit. But it was enough to draw a scowl from him and make him go back into position. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Where /is/ the Li family home, anyway? Ren doesn't know.     So this will probably result in a rather hilarious situation because it's inevitable that as he meanders the chances of him NOT finding this particular house approaches zero. Of course the chance that he will expect Ren came here specifically is probably already zero anyway.     He's eating a fish shaped batter pastry. Waves to Li as he notices him outside. "Y'alright?" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran froze in mid kata. He turned to the guy and let out a sigh of exasperation. Delightful. He sheathed his blade on his back and crossed his arms, staring at him. "What do you want?" he asked, sounding just a tiny bit hostile. Okay, a lot hostile. "Ren-kun, was it?" His eyes were already narrowed. It seemed he knew Ren well. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Mmf?" Ren asks, because his mouth's full. Drat! He can't help himself, this thing's pretty good. Chew, swallow. He takes a moment to shake the remaining third of the taiyaki down into the paper bag wrapper he bought it in, then folds the top over a few times. "Oh, hey Syaoran." ohhhhhh     "Me? Oh, I was just passing by. Frankly I thought you'd find me first." More folding. "Excuse me. Do you know, I wanted the one with egg in, but they gave me the one with beans in instead. Should have just gone to WcDonald's..."     He puts it in his back pocket. "Settling back in?" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran glowered at the man. "Why would I want to find you? And you can call me Li," he snapped, glowering at the man. "and yes, I am settling back in. What is it to you?" You could almost feel him mentally saying 'cur' when he said it. He kept glowering at the man with the fiery vengence of a Syaoran. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren mutters something unfortunate about eastern names where you never know which one's the first name. And probably completely hypocritical, too, but then again what nationality /is/ he, anyway?     "Alright, Li then." Hands behind his back. "It's not much, really. I've just found myself as something like friends to Tomoyo and Sakura in the last year and a half, so I'm rather happy to see you back."     "Do you want to know about-" and, almost without realizing he's done it, Ren realizes he may have blundered into a bad conversational part of town. "Things that have happened in your absence?" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran blinked and then realized. He was on a first name basis with sakura? Just how close were they? He kept himself calm, though! He took a slow, deep breath. "As a matter of fact, I would." Sakura had called him and told him some things. tomoyo had probably sent him videos(which his sisters had certainly loved). But he wanted to hear what this person had said. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     One of these days, Ren Tanaka, you're going to get yourself in a very serious degree of trouble what with that running your mouth you do. And it'll probably involve something sharp and pointy. Despite himself, he does become acutely aware of that sword Li's got there.     "Well, ah," he says. He begins to move back and forth from his toes to his heels. "I wasn't there for most of it, but there was a... loss and recollection of cards that took up a-" quick quiet mumble- "fwyrs, we puzzled out the business of this purple cult, I punched the chap in charge in the face," at least that's how he remembers it, "And there was a rather complicated thing involving some supervillains-"     "But that was all small scale stuff. What was really good was when some of us went spelunking in Oak Island. And there was this other island with an idol and the living breakfast cereal, oh that was a great one! And there was all sorts of amazing stuff that started with going out for steak in 1969..." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed and puts a hand to his forehead. Oh, this was going to be delightful. "I... see. So I take it you are a fool by trade?" As in the clowns. not the... well, as in an actual fool as well, but he didn't flat out say it. "I'm aware of the missing cards. Sakura-chan had it well in hand, I know." There was a hint of bite to his words. Guilt, most likely. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Actually, now you mention it, I've got a wallet with a bit for a business card somewhere, but I just put a blank bit of paper there most of the time," Ren replies. He walks over to the side of the building as he does so, and leans on the wall. Notably in a way that makes sure he does not squash the taiyaki in his back pocket, of course. "I mean, I'm sure you've been up to just as many interesting things." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran nodded and shrugged. "I've done things. Lots of things. But most of them are private, my family's traditions are not the kind of thing we discuss with strangers. Sakura will know ,eventually." He looked the guy over. "So what exactly is your relationship with Sakura-chan? And Tomoyo-chan?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Awww, tch," Ren replies, putting his hands in his pockets and giving a rather disappointed expression over to Li. "Come on, that hardly seems fair. Making me tell you about the breakfast island and then not bringing up something just as strange."     "Come to think of it," he replies when asked what his relationship is, "I suppose 'bloke who drags them along to wackiness' probably sums that up pretty well."     He smiles a bit. "If you're feeling left out, I'm sure I can think of a half-a-dozen warpgates where I haven't explored the other side. You can come along! We'll almost certainly end up running from a big monster or committing some act of gross heroism." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed and then crossed his arm. "Fine. I have gone on a number of trips into the different dimensions, often to hunt strange beasts or deal with minor issues. sometimes people came to our home and would request assistance. I would often be the one sent." His eyes narrowed more. Somehow. "Drags her along? And... you're kidding. You drag Sakura-chan along into random warp gates? What is wrong with you? what if you got her hurt? Do you even grasp how important Sakura-chan IS?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Picture if you will an imagination bubble coming from Ren's general head vicinity as he says this, imagining chibi Syaoran in monster hunter garb and going after a big green dinosaur, or dressed as Yato and sweeping a floor.     Presumably if you've done this, it's only fair to imagine chibi Ren throwing Sakura through a warpgate. And then that same big green dinosaur is on the other side (costume recycling), where it catches the flying Sakura and eats her. Chibi Ren then bites his fist. Thought bubble pops.     "Ah, you don't give her enough credit," Ren replies disarmingly. "Sakura does very well for herself." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran nodded. "She's very powerful. Very capable. In fact, she's probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest people I know. But that doesn't mean she should be taking unknown risks just because she's capable of dealing with them. she is the most important person in our world. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka frowns, or at least gets rather close to it. In his mind, he sketches out how this conversation is going to pan out if he keeps having it, and decides blandly that it's probably not going to really go anywhere interesting or palatable. So, instead, he reaches back into his back pocket.     "I think," he says, taking out the other third of the taiyaki. As he does so, his voice has changed a little. "You should probably talk to her about her adventures, instead of the third party. It always feels rather gratuitous anyway. What's done is done."     "And," he says, taking a bite and beginning to walk away. "I wouldn't change what's happened for the world." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran nodded, shaking his head. "I will. soon we will be dining and I will no longer be leaving her side. And I will learn everything she wishes to tell me." He drew his sword and began to practice his katas. "I will be her sword and shield, whatever she needs me to be...." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren, like the panda, eats shoots and leaves. Although this was more like a warning shot in the air, I suppose.     "This isn't going to go well," he says to himself. 
}}

4659/Plans for Petals

2016-10-12T08:29:33Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/10/11 |Location=Tomoeda-865 |Synopsis=Syaoran finally returns to Tomoeda! |Cast of Characters=1058, 648, 165 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Poses=:''..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/10/11
|Location=Tomoeda-865
|Synopsis=Syaoran finally returns to Tomoeda!
|Cast of Characters=1058, 648, 165
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran took a slow, deep breath as his car pulled up to the house. Well, not his car, his family's car. He glanced to the driver before sliding out. "I'll be by later," he said firmly. "I'll find my own way home." "Master Li, are you certain?" "Of course. Thank you." As the car drove away, he looked to the large mansion and gave a little sigh. He could hardly believe that THIS was the house Sakura's best friend lived in. He couldn't help feeling a tad annoyed. Maybe if it wasn't for this, Sakura could have been a little more impressed by his families wealth. No, she wouldn't have. That wasn't the kind of girl he was. If she was, she wouldn't have captured his heart so securely. He felt a little tinge of red in his cheeks. He then looked up. He was tempted to just jump the fence. A part of him told him he shouldn't have to wait. But ughhhhh. This was for Sakura. He'd be good. He reached out and rang the door bell. "Hello? I'm here to see Daidouji-chan," he'd say matter of factly. Oh dear. A strange boy arriving at late evening? For the young maiden of the house? Truly this wouldn't be at ALL suspicious. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Now that's a voice that hasn't come over the intercom in a while.     The gates open almost instantly for Syaoran to enter the estate grounds. Then it's just through the gardens to the front door, which are flung open almost violently once Syaoran gets close. And there stands Tomoyo, with an expression of pleasant surprise.     "Li-san!" she exclaims, ushering him inside as quick as she can. "How wonderful to see you~ When did you get back?" she asks as maids swirl about, taking his coat and shoes for him before depositing him in a living room to sit on a couch across from Tomoyo with a teacup before him. The whole thing takes about 15 seconds, a display that almost seems magical.     Tomoyo stares intently at the Chinese boy, with a smile that borders on predatory. "So, what brings you here today~?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' It's evening in Tomoeda! We sure have entered autumn. It's colder every evening and the dark comes up at like seven or even half six. It's the month of halloween, which some people call october, but which Ren Tanaka calls October.     And rather than being hiding under a bridge in Alberichstadt, today he's in Tomoeda! Not super near Tomoyo's house but near enough that when he sees a mysterious car pulling up there at dusk he's gonna sneak behind and follow it.     Then again if this was bad it would be someone wrapped entirely in a cloak, or bandages, clutching a mysterious chest or something.     Thankfully it's none of those things, and so he's suddenly here too. With an Aldi bag.     "Hey guys, they had two-for-one on Snickers." 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran froze up. Oh, this wasn't a normal freezing. If this was Sakura, he'd have been frozen with love and shyness. Oh, but this wasn't Sakura. This was Tomoyo. He looked into those eyes and realized he'd stepped into the belly of the beast. The maw of the tiger. fallen into the bear pit with steaks wrapped around his neck. And what were those steaks? "I arrived about... 10 hours ago. Security delayed me." He took a slow, deep breath and then offered up the steaks. "I need your help. I want to greet Sakura-chan in a way she'll never forget, considering how long I've been gone." Did I say steaks to bears? Sorry, steaks to STARVING bears. That had lazer eyes! And then there was a second guy. He blinked and looked back. "Err... your... boyfriend?" he asked, motioning to the guy. Well, that meant he was at least in slightly less danger. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo blinks in surprise. "Wait... so you haven't visited Sakura-chan yet?" she asks, clearly surprised. But then he brings up why, and she can't help but giggle. "Oh, Li-san... she doesn't need some grand romatic gesture. She'll be happy just to see you~" Yeah, she says that...     "But then again, something lovely and unforgettable is a wonderful idea~ A lovely dinner, then some kind of show and event, a romantic walk under the moonlight..." Yeah, she hasn't changed at all in the years that have passed. She even has her hand on her cheek and the dreamy look in her eyes the way she used to.     But then Ren arrives, and Li asks something that makes Tomoyo laugh. "Oh, not at all. This is Ren, a strange fellow who likes to break in my house sometimes. Hello Ren~" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran blinked and coughed. "I ummmm... I was more thinking. I uhhh... I wrote a speech. It's here and--" He pulled it out. It was on about ten note cards. It was also... soggy. He then stared at it, his eyes wide. Before looking into his now ink-covered internal sleeve. "When the--" he then gave a sigh. "It must have happened when the attendant tripped and spilled the pitchers over me..." He tossed them to the ground, before about to speak. Then turned to glare at Ren. "This is a private conversation then. How about you break in somewhere else?" Ohhhh, instant hostility. Totally has nothing to do with the fact he's talking about the love of his life. Nope. Nothing at alllll. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Yes, it's a pleasure!" Ren replies to Lee, giving Tomoyo a smile as he walks up to then both and give Lee a vigorous handshake. "Tomoyo, Germany is just getting into the holiday spirit by now! You know, christmas begins in October, and all that."     He looks at the note cards, peering over Li's shoulder, possibly holding a card by the corner. "...well, the spirit of the thing is there, if I'm reading some of these cards right. Or you could be saying something about the blood feud that began when a few octopuses trampled your flowerbed, which is less charming. I mean-"     Li snaps at him. Ren gives that innocent but slightly bemused 'what, me?' gesture where your opening and closing your eyes sounds like a 'plink' on a xylphone. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo looks genuinely upset when Li produces the soggy cards. She would ave loved to read what the tactiturn boy had written. "It'll be okay~ I think Sakura would have interrupted you in a speech that long anyway. As long as it comes from your heart, she'll understand. I'll help you if you want."     Oh my, conflict. Tomoyo looks at Ren's blase response and speaks in a gentle, yet chiding tone. "Ren please. This is love, don't treat it so casually." She shoots Li an apologetic look. She was smiling, but this relationship is clearly not a joke to her. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran glowered at the man. "How about you leave? I have important matters to discuss." He then turned towards Tomoyo before taking a step forward. "I... know." He clenched his fists. "I've been gone for a long, long time. But all of my duties are complete and my training is finished. I'm ready now. And I want..." he took a long, slow breath. "Sakura deserves the sun and the moon," totally not a reference to Clow Reed or anything. "All the stars in the sky. I've been gone for so long and..." Another deep breath. It was obvious this was difficult for the boy. Were it for anyone but Sakura, he would have just went 'bah' and called her on the phone. But this wasn't anyone. This was Sakura. "I want to show her that I'll never leave her side again. That I will always be here for her now. I want to do more than say it. I want to show her how much she means to me. And to do it..." He gave a defeated sigh. "You're the only one I know I can depend on for this." And so it was worth the risk. Seriously. Lazer bears. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren pauses.     There's a moment where his eidetic memory shoves the relevant piece of information he needs forward faster than he would ever care for it to, and his expression goes from 50 to 0 in 1.63 seconds. In fact, he looks like he's seen a ghost (they're not uncommon around here). Ren quietly arranges the cards in a pile, which proceed to stick together anyway. He then walks quietly over to a chair, and sits in it backwards, scratching his neck and rumbling a little. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Well, there's that callous attitude Syaoran was initially known for. Tomoyo supposed it never went away, he just got to know everyone and let them in more. But to be fair, Ren kind of brought this on himself, so she lets him brood quietly while she sorts this out.     "That's very sweet of you Li-san~" she says. "I know she'll be so happy to hear i-" And then he says the magic words. Not any incantations, just the statement that Tomoyo would know best on this matter, an acknowledgement of her status as the world's foremost Sakuraologist.     She stands up, walks around the table... and soon has both of Syaoran's hands in her own. "You'll make her fall for you all over again, I swear it!" The lazer bears would be an improvement at this point. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran urked, starring into those eyes. He'd stared into the eyes of wolves, bears, a tarrasque. And yet, this was easily the scariest thing he'd ever seen. But it was for Sakura. Well, technically the bears and wolves had been too. But this was to make her HAPPY. Not so he could just see her. He could endure it for a day or two. Slowly, weakly, he nodded. "Of course. Let's... get this over with." Oh, such passion. Such motivation. Then... "You really think she'll like it?" And there it was. That little hint of red in his cheeks. They ways his eyes started to move slightly to the side. That little bit of doubt that the over confident lad rarely showed anyone. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Hrm. Ren thinks.     This is unexpected, but then again you've always got to expect the unexpected. Li- Li Syaoran, as Ren remembers him- is back, he's been gone for ... a lot of years but he's back, he seems to either be a jerk or just quite hostile to people butting into important conversations and he's Sakura and Tomoyo's friend so more than likely the latter! Maybe in a few minutes they can apologize to one another for getting off on the wrong foot. Or, perhaps in three days they'll coincidentally show up in the same place and go on a wacky adventure that'll fix everything. In the meantime Ren eats a Snickers just in case. You're not yourself when you're hungry. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo offers a wide grin as she pulls Syaoran from his chair, showing a surprising amount of strength in doing so. She HAS changed in some ways it seems. "I know she will! But first thing's first... we need to get you measured for a nice suit~ I think you'll be very impressed about how far I've come as a tailor!"     And now she's trying to pull the boy into her bedroom, that same look in her eyes as when she got Sakura in one of the costumes she made for her. Oh yes, the lazer bears would be child's play now. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran cringed, then yelped. He chewed his lip as he was dragged away. But finally, he steeled himself. For Sakura, he would endure anything. And then he did the worst possible thing. He egged her on. "I hope so. It needs to be something truly worthy of Sakura-chan. Something that will take her breath away." Oh by the stars he was doomed. Ren would probably here a shriek from Li momentarily. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren Tanaka makes a thoughtful noise. Yep, he's definitely doomed. Oh, well, this will surely be a good thing for all of them, he expects. It's been a rough year for all of them. In fact, just a year ago this week it was the... and then we were freeing that... and a couple weeks later we found... and fought with... yeah, wow, October and November of AU23were a big year.     And they've gone through some really bad stuff this year.     Yes, hopefully this will be the start of an upswing and some good things happening for these poor teenagers.     Ren takes another bite out of his snickers. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     "Now you see Li-san, when it comes to Sakura, sometimes simple is best~ If you're describing how lovely she looks, just stick to words like 'cute' and 'pretty.' I understand the idea that only bigger words can contain your feelings for her, but... well, some of them might just go over her head. If you're going to bring flowers, you can't go wrong with sakura blossoms. But if you want something a little less obvious, consider nadeshiko flowers instead! In chosing where to eat, the food shouldn't be too exotic, just well-made. Sakura is a girl of pretty simple tastes after all~ Don't try and dazzle her with expensive things either, she might worry that you're spending too much..."     As Syaoran gets a crash course on Sakura's tastes, Tomoyo measures im thoroughly. Thankfully, she doesn't ask him to strip down for it. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran nodded and, if a pen was offered, started taking notes. Well, she was the forefront of Sakura knowledge! As much as he liked her, he really knew little about her likes and dislikes. Granted, that could be because he'd never actually seen her dislike anything. He was pretty sure she could be given a bouqutte of roses that she was alergic too. And she'd sniff them and love them, even put them in her room, as she was breaking out in hives. That's why it was the most important thing in the world that he did this right. That was why he could endure anything, even the coldness of Tomoyo's hands and ruler if need be. Though, ummm, he wouldn't strip further than his boxers if need be. He was a tad too shy for that. "Call her cute and pretty. Not radiant, beautiful, more dazzling than the sun," he muttered. "You sure? My sisters said I should do a lot of flowery things. They even suggested I read Shakespeare and copy some things from that." Oh gosh he went to his sister's for help. That couldn't have been fun. Funny, though. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka's probably sat on that chair, casually eavesdropping. When you come out he'll probably have, I dunno, made coffee for you both. Or dinner. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     "No offense meant to your sisters, but they've only met Sakura once. I've known her for years now~ Whose word should you trust more?" Tomoyo asks as she gets a measure of Syaoran's foot size, jotting it down next to a list of his dimensions. "So, Li-san, what have you been up to all these years exactly? You said you had handled everything you had to... what made it take this long?" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran sighed and lifted his foot when needed. "Hmmm? Oh... just things. There's a lot of rituals and traditions I need to follow as heir. If I wanted to become... well... the official heir to the Li clan. On top of that, there were financial things I had to take care of, I had to finish my training as well, both in magic and martial arts. That, unfortunately, took a lot longer than I'd have liked." He was still for a moment. "Then there's these portals. My family has taken a bit of interest in them and, a few times, I've had to go through them. There's so many incredible worlds out there, it's truly a sight." His voice got a little distant. "It... made me realize just how hard I'll need to work, if I want to stay by Sakura's side from now on." Not even Sakura-chan. Just Sakura that time. He then shook his head. "Simple and well made? What if I made her dinner myself?" Ohhh, right! he was a pretty good cook. "And... not... everything I thought of was from them and Meiling-chan. There is one thing I got for her, but it's pretty stupid now that I think about it." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo nods along with all the vague statements of 'training' and 'finances.' To be expected of the heir of a lineage of great magic. But that last thing... "Oh, so you've been travelling? Goodness, it's wonderful out there isn't it?" She's getting that distant look again, but brings herself back to reality and finishes up her measurements.     "Oh, that's a wonderful idea~!" she exclaims, nodding to Syaoran. "She would absolutely love to eat the food you made~" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran nodded, enduring the measuring. Finally, once she's done he takes a seat. "Wonderful? Some of it. But most of what I saw wasn't the nicest." He crossed his arms. "I had to make sure that I was prepared to be by sakura-chan again. After my failure with the cards, I knew I had to retrain myself, become the greatest I could if I was going to stand besides Sakura-chan." His cheeks turned a little red. "Really? You sure? I uhhhh... I guess... dinner at my place, then." His cheeks went red. "T-that's not too forward, is it? I know a girl like Sakura-chan, well, she..." And he started getting all flustered. "Maybe I should come to her place? Wait, no, that might even be worse." Only Sakura could do this time him. "I think I'd rather fight some ancient demon again. It's far easier." He took a slow, deep breath. "So something simple, home made and... special. For her. She still likes sweets, right? Maybe I should make something sweet." He was going to end up making her sweet and sour pork or something in the end. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo nods distantly as she examines Syaoran, already busy planning out what she might make for him. His comment about going to her place draws a giggle from her though. "I think it might be a bit forward to try and take over her kitchen~"     She nods along with his listing of her recommendations. "She does, yes. Maybe something with strawberries? Like that trip to the stawberry farm we took~" And so she continues giving advice. It really is dizzying how much she has to give. 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran took it all in. Fortunately, he'd always been good at studying. And it helped that Sakura was his favorite subject. He rubbed his chin as he thought. "How about a... banana pudding, served with sweet and sour duck, pan seared mixed vegetables and, for desert, a strawberry cream pie?" He finally asked, glancing over to her. "Is that a bit too much?" He was hanging on every word. Then... "That... other fellow. Who was here. He doesn't... hang around Sakura-chan as well, does he?" Aaaand there was the jealousy. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     "I think she would enjoy it if it was the best thing you could think for her~" Tomoyo says softly. But that last thing draws a smile. "He's just an ally, and far too old for Sakura anyway~" And here, she stands and puts a hand on Syaoran's shoulder. "Sakura's heart has not wavered in the slightest in the time you two have been apart. You don't need to worry, okay? She'll be overjoyed to see you~" 

:'''{{#var:1058|Li Syaoran (1058)}} has posed:''' Li Syaoran blinked and then her cheeks turned scarlet. "I-I know that! She'd never... waver at all!" he snapped. Awww, she abated all his worries. "I'm not worried about her. I'm worried about him," he grumbled darkly. "Breaking into your house. Coming over at dark hours. I don't like him at all." Of course he doesn't. He's Li. Either way, though. "For a gift... ummm..." and then more Sakura talking, into the wee hours of the night. 
}}

4595/Persona:WTWM FA3 - Operatic

2016-09-28T04:30:54Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/09/23 |Location=Alberichstadt <P:WTWM> |Synopsis=Day 3 of the event! Hangovers. |Cast of Characters=894, 165, 909, 513, 7, 920, 999 |pretty=ye..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/09/23
|Location=Alberichstadt <P:WTWM>
|Synopsis=Day 3 of the event! Hangovers.
|Cast of Characters=894, 165, 909, 513, 7, 920, 999
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:''' SOMETIME, ALBERICHSTADT, GERMANY. Sunday, September 18th, 2016. The Drachenblatt School Festival may have quite a lot of aspects to it, but there's only one core focus: the four day showing of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner's most famoius opera cycle. Tonight's opera is Siegfried, about the eponymous German hero. The first two showings got rave reviews, including a surprise standing ovation for the part of Fricka, played by Alexis Eberhardt, who disappeared briefly last year. People say that ever since her brief disappearance, she seems to have a much better feel for 'tragedy'. Before today's showing, however, there's plenty of prepwork to do. Equipment checks, stage checks, performance checks. August Kohler hates in job up in the light booth, especially with the raging headache he has. So he needs to distract himself. Therefore, he's called some folk backstage to...well, fuck around and make him stop focusing on monotony. The Drachenblatt school stage is magnificent, a true testimony to the shitload of cash the school has. Backstage is currently a ridiculous amount of people talking over each other, getting prepared, and checking props, including a magnificent ebony throne, from the previous two showings. Near it stands a young woman, around 16, anxiously rehearsing her part. However, she's not in costume at the moment, and is mainly being ignored, unlike the other major roles, such as Siegfried and Wotan. August sits near the entrance to the backstage, trying to kill his horrible headache, as he waits for the others. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka's contribution to the whole hootenanny is over. Loge only gets to be in the first part of the performance, even though some might say that it's more than enough because, good grief, four day long play.     The weird appropriateness of the part he played probably didn't go uncommented on.     So, he's been mostly hanging around backstage ever since, helping carry things, although, you know, not doing too much (always lift with both hands) in order to make sure his ironclad alibi as an 18-to-20something senior student remains .. uh... ironclad.     Always drink responsibly, kids. 

:'''{{#var:909|Janine Liberi (909)}} has posed:'''     Janine is here, for some godforsaken reason. She too, is nursing the side-effects of drinking too much, though part of it is numbed by her course of painkillers. But still, it doesn't take much to sour her mood any worse than it already is, so she strides into the backstage area looking ready to kill someone. The 16-year-old does go ignored, even though she was very helpful in tidying up her booth.     Upon spotting August, Janine produces a bottle of pills and walks over, rattling them gently. They're both dying here, no need to add to the general loudness. "You look like shit. Get one of these in you." The bottle is covered with labels warning about the dangers of this particular brand of painkiller. The phrase 'DO NOT EXCEED THE RECOMMENDED DOSAGE' appears more than once.     Should August accept, she tips a single white pill into his hands and takes a seat. "You better be getting some kind of extra credit for this bullshit," she decides, blowing a strand of hair from her face. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:''' Finna's answered the call, transitioning from a member of the audience (this story is one she's actually finding quite interesting!) to backstage. Somehow she managed to leave the audience with nary a soul noticing, and nobody really has much reason to take notice of a new extra backstage, dressed as some nondescript part that looks SCARILY authentic for the setting if anyone looked closely. Too authentic.     But this transition's made all the brighter for her because it's a chance to see August! She wastes little time passing up alongside and leaning sideways in a weird pirouette manuever that brings her face JUST on the verge of what she's learned is his 'personal space.' Juuuust enough to make a man pause!     So he gets a faceful of smiling Finna, and a view of her foxears twitching a few times!     As usual, none of the schoolfolk seem to notice them...     "Looking a bit queasy there, August. Need some morale support?" Is it just his imagination or is Finna's smile growing even brighter and warmer?     Far too warm and friendly! But it's probably more than enough to give anyone a sudden case of the warm fuzzies, brief as it lasts!     Well. At least she's not harassing him this time. 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' So theres been a lot to do in Alberichstadt and Kotone had been taking in some of it on her own but today however? She'd managed to catch up with some of the others from the group of people who have been poking into the Forest and the shadows. Still this festival time seemed like a good way to have fun, blow off steam and get to know everyone better. Given her own personal problems? This was something Kotone badly needed. She did stick out though, her age was hard to place with the nature of her body it could be somewhere from 18 to 20 something but it would be hard to tell. She was in good spirits and wouldn't say a thin about booze given well Germany's laws on it. Hey it's not Canada or anywhere else. She waves to August as she spots him grinning. "Hey Good to see you." It also seemed they were not alone as others started to join them. Though some people were not in the best of spirits here. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Something tells me," Ren says to whoever's listening, "That something happened which served as an excellent moral lesson that everyone will take on board, reflect on and know better later. Or not." Is he still wearing his costume? Or is it actually something worse? Stupid Ren with his stupid crushed velvet tuxedo and his stupid not getting drunkenness. It's almost insulting.     He looks at Janine. Offers her a comb. 

:'''{{#var:920|Kazimir Volkov (920)}} has posed:''' Kazimir is not one for spouting lines. He's a bad actor, given his tendency for emotion tends to be 'stoic acceptance' and 'moderate derision'. His no-nonsense attitude, along with his gift for handywork however, has landed him a useful position in the production: Stagehand. A number of the scenery pieces are made with solid, well-secured lumber, fronted with wonderful imagery done by the art classes. Kazimir himself moves along the backstage area, prowling amongst an array of ropes that are attached to a complicated pulley system. Each rope set connects to solid metal anchors in the scenery fronts, allowing him to smoothly swap out without needing dollies. He refers to his watch almost constantly, the clicking a constant affair as he compulsively flicks it open and closed, checking the precise time for the various cues. Naturally, he's grousing about scheduling and people being lazy. "Kohler!" He yells. "Are you ready?" He must have asked that like a dozen times over the last couple hours. Unlike the others, Kazimir shows precisely zero signs of a hangover. Then again, who can tell, given his usual demeanor? 

:'''{{#var:999|Emily Branford (999)}} has posed:'''     Janine might be ignoring the girl working herself to the bone for this festival, but her butler isn't. Emily had seen the poor thing at the first day, and now here she is watching the student rehearsing her heart out right before a performance.     When she's not looking, a white-gloved hand sets down a drink beside her in passing. If the girl looks up, she'll get only a brief smile from Emily as the butler follows Janine onward.     And on seeing her charge offer a pill to August, all the woman has to say is, "If that doesn't help, I shall be sorely concerned for your biology, Kohler." 

:'''{{#var:909|Janine Liberi (909)}} has posed:'''     The addition of more company only sours Janine further. A long glare is given to Finna as she deliberately messes with August's personal space. "When are you gonna tell her off already?" she asks the man himself with a sigh. Kotone gets a long look too, before the Italian says, "Wish I could say the same." Is the staring just for intimidation, or are her comebacks coming slow from the hangover?     Ren though, he gets a pretty fast one. "Something is telling me to tell you to shut the fuck up. It's my brain. Telling you to shut the fuck up." Hey, it's fast, doesn't mean it's any good. Kaz gets a stare too, but it's one of amazement. "I saw you put back several beers, how are you not dead too?!" she yells at him, raging at the sheer injustice of it all. At least Emily is trying to be good in a cruel world. "Do you even know that girl?" 

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:''' Janine's arrival is the greatest thing to happen to August, mainly because it brings drugs. August takes the pill, goes "thank god", and shoves it down his mouth, dryswallowing. He shakes his head around for a second, before suddenly getting a faceful of Finna. He's startled, but for once, it's not...entirely upsetting? "Stop doing that...!" He turns away from her, waving to Kotone, as he stares blankly at Ren. "Are you telling me you've never had a hangover?" Kaz gets a slow nod from August, as he speaks. "No, but this is the closest I'll get. Come on down, I brought some others back here." He's not going to attempt to hide it, as he responds to Janine. "Uh...Ada, I think? I think she's a maid or something." Meanwhile, the maid girl spots the drink as she rehearses, looking up to Emily as she passes it over. She looks entirely anxious, about a lot of things. Stage fright, maybe? Still doesn't explain the lack of costume only an hour or so before show. 

:'''{{#var:999|Emily Branford (999)}} has posed:'''     "Not as such, no," Emily replies to Janine. "But this makes the second day I've seen her working herself as if her life depended on it. I thought she deserved at least a little something to help her along." She glances between August and Janine both, then turns around to look at the anxious girl again - 'Ada', apparently. "...though in point of fact, she seems a tad concerned, and not just about whatever part she's going to play." That puts some vague worry in the back of Emily's mind; if she's having some kind of troubles with life, that makes her more susceptible to becoming the Forest's next victim. Potentially, at least. "Perhaps I should have a word with her, see if she's holding up all right." 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa has not seen Kazimir in a very long time and she'd wondered how he'd been doing and it is good to see him but Kazimir seems to be one who has no sign of a hangover. This does not shock her and in a way she envies whose who were drinking. Even with the hangovers? Drinking is something that's basically lost to her. She does seem to be in good spirits though as she looks to Jaine for a moment and does not comment about the seeming hangover. Still man Jaine is not very pleasant at the moment. She then laughs at Finna's antics and tries to not laugh for too long. "I can't have them anymore myself...and I can't enjoy booze in the same way I used to either. I can't even get drunk." She seems glum about the loss of enjoying a drink now and again even with the downsides. She also gives Ren a bit of a look she's not run into him much. "Looks like most of you have been partying pretty hard, I hope it was fun." She doesn't seem to being mean she's honestly hoping they had fun even if they are paying with the hangover right now. 

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:''' DESCRIPTION NOTE: Maid girl is of average height and weight for her age, fairly attractive. Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes. Looks as if she overworks herself. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:''' "Whyyyyyyy?" Finna singsongs in the cutest teasy tone she can manage, but doesn't chase him, in favor of about-facing and having a look around at the others, kicking a foot back and forth in idle merriment. She can't help but grin over at Kotone!     "My mom knew some good remedies... not sure how much they really worked, but father always took them." She muses aloud... 

:'''{{#var:920|Kazimir Volkov (920)}} has posed:''' "I know when to stop drinking." Kazimir simply replies. "You guys do not." Of course, he did seem to mysteriously vanish when everyone started playing that drinking game... Regardless, the face of Janine's indignant rage more or less crashes upon Kazimir like the Black Sea against a granite escarpment. He barely pays attention to the maid. SHE'S doing her job- oh no, wait SHE'S NOT DRESSED. Kaz himself checks the watch, and glances to Emily, nodding. The butler is solid, clearly. He doesn't meddle in that, instead gesturing to Kotone. "You. The robot girl." He gestures. "Good to see you again. Yamakawa, right?" He gestures. "Are you strong? Maybe you can help with lines. Will be faster than just me." He gestures to the ropes to indicate he does not in fact mean speaking parts. 

:'''{{#var:909|Janine Liberi (909)}} has posed:'''     August would find the drug fast-acting, quickly dulling the pounding behind his eyes. It might also numb his extremeties, but who's keeping track here? Emily gets a dismissive snort in response. "Bless your bleeding heart. Do as you like I guess." To Kotone, Janine merely clucks her tongue. "Don't rub it in."     Janine justs SIGHS aggressively at Finna. "If you're gonna do anything with him, just do it already." And then, a long long look at Kaz, a horrible realization setting in. "Oh god, this was a con wasn't it? You two conspired to get us out here to help out. You sons of bitches, I should be in bed." Her hand is run up and down her face as she groans. "Fine, whatever. What do you need?" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa looks at Finna for a moment and shakes her head. "I fear the day you discover what Pixie sticks are Finna, I really do." She then gets spoken to by Kazimir and she grins a little bit. "I'm glad I was recalled and it's good to see you as well. I sure am let me help you, just tell me how you want it done. I don't have much of a history with productions like this." She looks at Jaine for a long moment. "I miss being able to." With that she'll get back to work helping Kazimir! 

:'''{{#var:999|Emily Branford (999)}} has posed:'''     "Of course, Janine," Emily replies to Janine simply. "I should be within earshot, if you need anything."     A few moments later, businesslike footsteps stride right up behind the girl reciting lines, and a crisp British voice asks, "You seem a tad frazzled, miss. Is there anything I can help with?" 

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:''' "Jesus /christ/ this is a miracle cure." August shakes his head as the medicine kicks in, turning to Janine. "The hell is this stuff?" The maid girl turns to Emily, startled as the butler approaches behind her. She speaks German, sounding native, as she replies. "U-uh, I'm fine. Thank you, miss, especially for the drink. Are you on staff? I haven't seen you before..." 'Ada' eyes Emily's uniform as she asks this. And then, across the backstage area, another student approaches. A girl dressed as a valkyrie, with blonde hair and green eyes, with two girls not in costume alongside her. The outfit is that of 'Brunnhilde', one of the principal characters of the show. The girl approaches 'Ada', sizing her up, as one of her friends looks up and stares at Emily. And then, the Brunnhilde speaks to the maid girl, condescendingly. "Oy, you, help. I've heard you're rehearsing up a storm. What's that about? You think you're ever going to actually sing those lines? You think you're going to go up there? That means you'd have to replace me, and that means something would have to happen to me. Do you expect something to happen to me? Huh?" The maid freezes up, just going 'no' 'I'm sorry', as the girl with infinite more pressure closes in on her. Other students and staff notice this...but it doesn't look like they'll do anything, especially with one of the cast members being the instigator. The two friends just laugh and go 'yeah!' respectfully, essentially cliche mean girls. And then, the Brunnhilde just sneers at the maid girl, and responds, "Get out of my way, you're useless." With a push of her hands, she goes to shove the girl, straight into that black throne, as her friends laugh, and if not stopped, she'll turn to walk away. 

:'''{{#var:999|Emily Branford (999)}} has posed:'''     "Not as such," Emily replies, shaking her head. Her own German is surprisingly fluent; not quite without accent, but close to. "I'm exactly as you see, a butler. I saw you cleaning the other day, on my day off; you're working yourself rather hard." She's about to say something further, when an old cliche decides to take human form and commence the badgering. For a good few moments, the butler is silent; she gives the girl staring at her a calm, bland look in return, but when the sudden push comes-     Those palms connect not with the maid, but with a strong, sturdy arm, held out in front of the poor thing. Emily does not push back, but simply intercepts the shove and keeps her arm steady, not letting it move so much as an inch.     One eyebrow arches. "My goodness. Violence, backstage, just before a play? Celebrity careers have been broken by less. What do you think audiences would have to say about an actress so insecure she shoves around the help, because she thinks they're a threat?" Subtly cutting, in a way that only makes it worse if the haughty 'valkyrie' loses her shit further. 

:'''{{#var:909|Janine Liberi (909)}} has posed:'''     "It's this semi-experimental stuff not on the market yet. That one pill would have covered weekly rent in a decent apartment," Janine says. Of course she would wait until AFTER August had taken it to tell him that. "You're not missing much. Makes you act like an asshole and feel like one the next day," she mentioned to Kotone, as Emily steps in to prevent some good old-fashioned bullying.     "Oh goddamnit, now I have to get involved..." she scowls, before marching over. "Yo, Daria!" she says in a very false friendly tone to the girl playing Brunnhilde. "How's it hanging? You got a lead role, that's great! How much polling went into landing it?" There are many many insinuations to that question, and none of them are pleasant. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:''' Finna's ears twitch as she hears this drama unfolding. She grinds her teeth and purses her lips. Her eyes swivel between the two girls, the one on the throne and miss haughty over there.     Well, someone's feeling awful mighty! But Finna focuses on the slighted maid.     The strong dominate the weak, it's just the way of things.     But is that girl really so weak?     She quirks an eyebrow, sprouts a mischevious smile... and looks over her shoulder for the 'valkyrie.' "So full of yourself, it's a wonder there's any room for the lines in that stuffy noggin' of yours. You're tempting fate..."     From most students this line would be delivered to casually to be a credible warning, but Finna's tone is deadly serious and authentic from someone who faces life and death regularly. The deadly chill it bears might just strike hard enough to get a shiver from the jerk.... 

:'''{{#var:920|Kazimir Volkov (920)}} has posed:''' Kazimir just watches Janine come to the realization that she's been played. Kaz doesn't deny it, his expression as mercilessly businesslike as always. "You sleep too much. How do you expect to get anything done in bed?" He asks, then points. "Help people get dressed. We are behind schedule." He moves to help Kotone to the lines, pointing at the latches that keep each one fastened to the floor. "Clamps are for safety. Normal people cannot kick them open. Do not kick them." He says pointedly. "Each is numbered. Stage director will call out what numbers to retract and which to let down at points during show. I will be helping with this during play, just ask if you have question." Despite his working with Kotone, a visible expression of irritation crosses his face as he sees the prima donna stride over to oppress her lesser. "If you keep messing with your backup, she /will/ be doing your lines after I pitch you into the /fucking/ orchestra pit. Now stop being a diva and make sure you have your own damn lines together." This is how Kazimir deals with school drama: By being as subtle as a bulldozer. Because he doesn't have time for this crap. 

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:''' Daria seemed haughty, full of herself. But a few things happen: Emily is way more fit than she'll ever be and stops that push like a wall; Janine pokes directly at her history; Finna's voice pierces straight into her heart; and Kazimir is a scary Eastern European who could probably bench her. The girl backs off, losing all of her composure for a second, as her friends move away and behind her, before she replies, trying to come out on top, despite her lack of confidence. "Y-yeah, whatever, this is a waste of time." And then she runs off with her tail between her legs. The maid girl, however, is completely stunned by the entire thing. She steps backwards as the push comes, and falls back, landing onto that black throne. It's a soft landing, not having a push behind it, and lands sitting in the throne. And for a minute, just a minute, she seems almost like a queen. The girl just sits there shocked for a minute, before replying. "A-are you guys okay? What if she does something to you?!" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone Yamakawa is working with Kazimir with the rope she will follow his lead as best she's a bit at it. Yet it seems that something else is is going on. She gets some hostility? Bullying? From Janine and just doesnt respond in kind with hostility of her own, she focuses on the job she's doing. She does pause at the Valkyrie Girl and the others whom are with it. Egos and understudies seem to be what's going on there. She frowns at this it seems things are getting bad with the Valkyrie but now Emily seems to have it well in hand thankful. She turns her full attention now to the job, the last thing she wants is someone getting hurt right? She will follow each direction and she will not kick the clamps. He is right to warn Kotone, she might do so and break something. Then Kazimir drops the hammer and she can't help but smile a bit, hopefully between him, Janine and Emily? This nonsenses will be stopped cold. 

:'''{{#var:999|Emily Branford (999)}} has posed:'''     Emily's response never goes beyond the protective arm and her own subtle jab. Even if she'd been alone in covering the beleagured maid, she wouldn't have taken it beyond that. It wouldn't do to get any more... in-depth. Not while she's 'on the clock'. But Kazimir puts on the display all of them absolutely wanted to, and when Daria scampers off, she favors him with a warm, pleased smile. He's made a good impression, it seems like.     But there's a young lady concerned about her. Emily turns around to look at her, and reaches out a white-gloved hand. "Come on, then, up you go. Don't worry about me, I've smiled in the face of far more intimidating men and women. Are you alright, though? I get the feeling there's some history here, if you don't mind discussing it a bit." 

:'''{{#var:909|Janine Liberi (909)}} has posed:'''     Janine sneers at Daria's back. She considers calling her a waste of skin, but the hangover still rages and she doesn't need a bickering match right now. Kaz's forward threat just makes her laugh though. "Holy shit, I'd pay to see that." In response to the girl's question, she just sneers. "Bitch please. Her daddy runs a German company, mine runs an international one. I could kick her ass in a fight, and I don't give a shit about rumors. I'm basically invincible." 

:'''{{#var:920|Kazimir Volkov (920)}} has posed:''' Kaz gets a +2 bonus to intimidate checks because he's from Eastern Europe. Living next to Russia has its benefits. And drawbacks. Kazimir just shrugs as he gets back to work. "I do worse things to myself than anything she can do." He replies. "Or maybe she has a good strong strong boyfriend. Maybe someone from rugby team? That might almost be interesting." He laughs mirthlessly for a moment before he turns away. "No point in worrying about tomorrow. Barely have enough time to deal with today." 

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:''' The girl seems less nervous with their reassurances, as she takes Emily's hand. She straightens herself up, before nodding. "I-I'm not actually a student here. I'm part of the in-house cleaning, with my mother. I thought it'd be fun to audition, and I got an understudy role...but I'm still just the help, right?" She laughs, sadly, and then turns to everyone. "What are your names?" 

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:''' Kotone, watches as things play out a bit more but there's nt much she can do while she's working and the young lady who took the fall? Has people helping her which is good. She smiles a bit at Kazimir. "I'd put my money on you if I was betting in a fight." Kotone notes but for now she's going to make sure all their work is done here. AS the girl spekas up asking some questions. " "Kotone Yamakawa." 

:'''{{#var:999|Emily Branford (999)}} has posed:'''     "They picked you, even as an understudy, above all the pampered, spoiled students with parents that will make a million-dollar fuss at the drop of a hat. You /must/ have some talent." The butler releases the girl's hand and takes a step back, only to sweep her arm in front of herself in a deep, formal bow. "Emily Branford, butler. Absolutely charmed." 

:'''{{#var:909|Janine Liberi (909)}} has posed:'''     "And you always will be with that attitude," Janine mutters. Sure she helped out, but she has no time for self-pity. "Janine Liberi. Emily's my butler." A rather famous name in Drachenblatt once upon a time, but now it's absolute mud. 

:'''{{#var:920|Kazimir Volkov (920)}} has posed:''' Kaz doesn't stop working as the maid does her thing. She was here to work and help out, she'll get to it. His consideration manifests in not telling her she's /also/ behind schedule. "Kazimir Volkov." He replies. He doesn't spend any more time on it as he tests the ropes, checking them intently for signs of wear or weakness before he looks to Kotone. "Keep an eye on the lines." He says, simply, before he moves to check on some other gear further in the back. 

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:''' The girl nods sheepishly to Janine, as she looks up to Emily. "T-thank you, miss. You really helped me out today. I should get back to work, though. M-maybe they need help at the costumes." She moves away from the black throne, preparing to leave, before she remembers something, and turns back to the party, smiling gratefully, speaking before she runs off to work. "Oh, name's Adelle. Adelle Kaufmann. It was a pleasure to meet all of you!" 
}}

4544/Mountain of Light

2016-09-27T21:11:59Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/09/13 |Location=Urbania |Synopsis=After the criminal auction months ago, Alice enlists Ren's help to find the place the gem came from. |Thanks..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/09/13
|Location=Urbania
|Synopsis=After the criminal auction months ago, Alice enlists Ren's help to find the place the gem came from.
|Thanks=To Tomoyo Daidouji for granting permission to spin off an idea in her scene into a new adventure.
|Cast of Characters=165, 807
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' http://i.imgur.com/WVwKyjV.jpg        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kolsr3bipfc     The Secret Swim - James Earl Howard (0:00 - 1:27)     Atlantis: the Lost Empire - 2001     Several months ago, there was a strange and criminal auction which took place. Among those items was a single gemstone which did very strange things to the person who tried to use it, and brought a puppet to life.     Those things have brought Alice to this place, one of the sections of the endlessly dense citied carpet that is Urbania: New Old Newcastle. It's always a rather unpleasant environment in a city that's mostly powered by steam if it rains. Weather becomes very muggy and sweaty despite itself, and clouds of steam sometimes roll through like fog.     That's why Ren brought an umbrella. It's taken a couple months to track down the source of the gemstone to this world, and he's not alone, either.     There's a fifteen-storey building on the opposite side of the grand central train station they've emerged from, but that's not where they're going.     They're going downtown. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Those several months have passed, that gem still embedded freshly in the dollmaker's mind as if it was just yesterday. It's been on her mind here and there and she wanted more, she wanted to see about grabbing something like that, it'd help so much with her dollmaking goal.     That's where she's contacted a mutual friend of Tomoyo and hers. Ren. Following behind him, boots tapping on wet ground with a small scarf covering her face, the unpleasant air bothering her slightly. "So, here...?" she questions curiously, it's been a silent trip and Shanghai and Hourai wern't with her today, not like she'd need those dolls for something casual as a gemstone.     "I appreciate your help, Ren. I'm glad I could contact you for it, just surprised it's taken this long. Must be really difficult to have find." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Well, not exactly here, we've got a little walking to do."     "Ah, it's nothing. Tomoyo might have done it, but she's busy with her new creative venture, so I might as well take up the reins," Ren replies to Alice. It's an umbrella big enough for both of them, although possibly an inch or two too big. He's got to make sure not to knock anyone's top hat off or take off a horse's blinders as they walk past- there are more than a few people here even though the sun is setting and the streetlamps are lighting up.     When she questions the big gap, he shrugs. "It took a rather long time to track down where the particular source of the gemstone was. It's strange, you'd think we'd be in a mine or a fantastic forest, wouldn't you?"     He stops briefly to buy a newspaper from a simple covered stand, and shows it to her. The headline reads GHASTLY CLAMOR. Within a few minutes of walking downtown, the picture on the front page should match exactly that of what they're walking up to.     With two police cars outside of it, it is a detatched house with a somewhat overgrown and untended garden either side of it. It has a large brass boiler on the side but in all respects it resembles a very traditional red brick property with the traditional white sections and black wooden beams, a conservatory and the like. The windows are dusty and some have been broken, and it seems as if the place hasn't been used in months. There are some bobbies outside. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Walking, she'll do it but she'd rather fly, it's faster and easier... but there's Ren. "Ah." she comments simply, taking a look around as she keeps up with him. "Ah, the Inspiration Trust. I'm doing things with that as well, but my own personal ventures come first."     The umbrella protecting her from rain is nice, a smile upon her face under that scarf. "Well, it /is/ a rare thing, I mean... what it did to that doll-like thing... I wonder what it would do if I crafted something around it instead of attached it to something premade." she hmms, "And yea, forest... mines.. somewhere other than this city."     The newspaper gets a look, it's not labeled BunBunMaru so... "Hmm..." then the flashing lights, 'Eh? Someone's here already?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Didn't know that was exactly your wheelhouse," Ren says, looking sidelong at her as they walk. He could indeed probably leap prodigiously alongside her if she decided to fly, but then again you might go straight through a cloud of hot steam, and you wouldn't want to scald yourself now would you?      "I mean I thought it was more music and performance and that sort of thing." Of course, she is a dollmaker, but from the impression Tomoyo gave him it was more of a performing arts sort of thing. Still, Tomoyo herself does make clothing, so it would make sense...     Ren presents a small leather ID case to one of the policemen. The paper card in there is usually blank, but he does in fact have his rarely-used Union-ally ID in there today, and from his jacket Ren produces a paper which explains Alice as a liasing party with expertise in this kind of thing.     "Well," he says as they're waved through, opening the iron gate and walking in through the garden. "You might find any number of strange things in here. Although if you believe everything you read in the papers we've got ghostly sounds and clattering of chains by day and night in here. Sounds charming."     "So," he asks, beginning to walk back and forth across the front of the house. "What would you say the best way to get inside and kick off a night of investigative horror would be?" 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "I still do that. The Human Village adores my bunraku's." she smiled, "But my primary profession is creating dolls. You know the dolls I use for my danmaku, right? All made by me." she smiled even brighter as she lets Ren take care of the policemen. She gives a quick bow towards them in thanks when they wave them through.     "I've stopped believing papers because of the BunBunMaru." she shrugs, walking along with Ren some, "Well, if we can't get in, the best way is to laser the door off." a small spell circle is made and a simple doll comes into view. "I do hope we find quite a few things in there."     "Hopefully the things we've come for actually." wait, horror. Eh, could be worse, her mom's a demon. "Eh, horror doesn't scare me. Should see my mother's cooking." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Huh... well, no, now you mention it, it makes sense."     Interestingly enough, the front door is in fact locked with multiple padlocks, all but one of which seem to have been recently installed. "Has recently increased, round-the-clock police guard on the abandoned property, said to have been uninhabited for almost four months, been put in place to keep prospective thieves out," Ren pauses as he reads from the paper for dramatic effect, "Or to keep something in?"     Inside, the house seems to be remarkably different. Naturally, there is a fine layer of dust covering everything, but there's also a lot of things for it to cover. Piles of books lie on the floor and cables snake openly on the floor, leading to plugs in the wall and carrying on further through the house. There's an uncluttered staircase leading upstairs, but further inside it seems that there are sources of light.. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "I try to make sense." she mentions, looking around the house... "Dunno but we're going to find out. And I can see if anything is dead or not... or true forms of anything here as a measure." she gives a stretch as she walks around behind Ren, let him take all the things, just in case. "So much dust here..."     She looks around, looking at the plugs in the wall, following them with her eyes... and there's some light near stairs. Alice takes off floating up the stairs, just in case. "Hmm, what's up here?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "It seems as if the person who lived here was the kind of person who kept to himself," Ren says, blowing the dust off of a book. It's a book on Electromagnetics by Krauss. Next, Diamonds and Diamond Grading by the GIA; next, an unmarked journal full of astronomical records.     "Don't be afraid to use that if you find anything suspicious upstairs," Ren says, walking past the staircase and in the direction of the glow.     Alice will find that the rooms upstairs are relatively uncluttered, but there are a lot of holes punched in the floor to allow cables to go through to the ground floor. There is no master bedroom or anything like it- instead, various devices are built into and through the walls. They seem to be capacitors and chargers for batteries on huge scales. The other noteable features are a dumb waiter, and a small set of jeweler's tools and loupes which nobody would probably miss if Alice took them. There are small traces of gemstone dust near them which may ping Alice's supernatural senses.     Other than that, nothing else seems unusual. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "Of course." she gives a look to the books, most of them something she's got no clue about. "Hmm, such interesting things. Nitori would love to get her hands on some of this, she'd be happy to see something like this. Now only if she had a camera. Floating around is good at not making noise, just in case something might still be here. "Hmm, jewlers tools?" she questions, floating to them, picking them up.. "Something was up here. This seems familiar magic."     She picks the tools up and summons a couple of dolls to hold them as she looks around, opening the door to the dumb waiter, "Wonder where this goes. Hey, ren? I found something that might lead down! I'm going to take it!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' The dust feels like something that used to be alive but no longer is.     Ren, meanwhile, is investigating. Further in, he's found something rather unusual- there seem to be a small assortment of items from offworld- a shard of sakuradite, a Mr. Fusion, even a portable high-efficiency gasoline engine. All of them are haphazardly placed here and there and connected to...yes, more cables. It seems as if both floors of the house are full of power generating or collecting devices.     And, as Alice will notice if she notices some cables running into the dumb waiter, all of them seem to lead further down...     Using the dumbwaiter to convey herself down there may make for a bit of a tight fit, but it's the quickest way down there. Alice will hear Ren calling something to her about trying to find another way to get down there- his voice shifts a little as she moves between the floors.     When Alice gets out, she will find herself in the basement.     The first thing she may notice is that there is a wall missing. Of course, if that's the first thing she notices, then more lights have probably gone out than is necessarily a good thing...     The cables drape down everywhere, and almost every single one is connected to a device. In the basement and the sewers beyond, in dozens of different sizes from the size of jam jars to that of a small car-     Faraday cages are everywhere, connected by chains and wires to the stone ceiling. Electricity runs along the bars, and a huge master switchboard seems to control all of them. Like birdcages in their hundreds, they hang all around her. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Hmm, so many cables, wonder what they are for... thoughts go through the dollmaker's head as she rides it down, this is the most uncomfortable thing she's ever done... "Well, here... and he'll be down shortly, now where are we... and..." she frowns. There's a wall gone and it's dimmer. "Okay, need a bit more light here." she muttered, walking carefully around the cages and cables, trying not to trip over anything.      ... She starts floating to make sure, going horizontal to avoid the cages too. "Ugh, this is too cramped.. and what's... a vehicle doing here? And this board..." Alice bites her lip and draws a doll close, nervousness gets her and she holds her position for Ren to make his way down. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     If Alice looks inside one of the cages, she may see...     Bouncing around inside of it, pinging off of the bars, there is a gemstone. A round gem much like the one that she found at the auction, uncut, bouncing off of the electrified walls, being thrown back by the electromagnetic fields...     And then the cage emits a dying hum, and the light it is emitting goes out. The gemstone flies out and circles around her.     Upstairs, Ren looks around at the equipment, just as one of the batteries next to him runs dry and the lights go out on the machine next to him. That's when he notices that far more of these devices are off than on...     More gemstones begin to appear out of the shadows. They circle Alice, like fairies, making patterns around her.     Upstairs, one by one, everything is running out of power one device after another.     Downstairs, another cage grows dull, and then another, and then another. More and more gemstones begin to spill out of their cages.     "Oh, no," Ren says, watching everything fail around him. "Oh, that's not good, oh no...", as he begins rapidly pulling candlesticks and yanking on books. Where's the secret staircase when you need one?!     One after another, each and every cage runs out of power, and the gemstones are streaming out. Some of them which were surrounding Alice are moving away now, beginning to spin around in a whirl in the biggest available space--     And as the power goes out, and the very last lights in the basement go out- For a moment, Alice may see an enormous structure forming, coiling around her, like a serpent or some sort of massively complex molecule--     And then everything goes white. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Hmm, "Those gems look familiar." she mutters, looking in the cages as she floats about only to notice the cages starting to dim and then going out... and gemstones floating around her. "Well, this is new." she mutters again, looking at the ones encircling her.     Alice doesn't notice anything going on upstairs, all her dolls are down here with her. "Hmm, what's going on? What's... being ma.." she blinks, the lights finally go out and... silence from the dollmaker, things go white for her and she doesn't move from her position. Who knows what happened down there, she can't see in the dark and she's not sure what those gems just did! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' It does look familiar.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF6o9ZCCvpY     Crystal World - Nobuo Uematsu     Final Fantasy 9 - 2000     Here, you are nowhere.     Here, you need fear nothing.     When the light clears, Alice will find herself standing on flat panes like glass, in front of an endless horizon. The /air/ feels hard. There is almost no source of light except that which seems to come from everywhere, and by the glint on the edges of things she can see spiralling paths moving out in different directions heedless of gravity or physics.     Tiny dots can be seen, far away.     It feels like being a fly amidst the crystals of a chandelier- or in clear, transparent amber. It doesn't feel cold or hot or anything at all.     FROM WHERE HAS THE SEEKER TRAVELLED? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "Where... am I?" she questions to herself, looking around the new plane that she's upon. Everything felt strange, everything looked strange and by whatever deity she worships, ... where the hell was she? She tries to peer at the dots that are far away, probably unable to make those out. Then that voice speaks, giving the Dollmaker new pause.     She opens her mouth to say something before quickly shutting it again, hmming. "I come from a land named Gensokyo. I am unsure of what the land was named when I was taken from to here. Who are you and where am I?" she questions back to the voice, spinning around to hopefully try and find it's location. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     YOU BLESS US WITH GREATER AWARENESS.     There doesn't seem to be a source of this new voice. As Alice turns around, the lights sparkling within the crystals under her feet shift and move. It's like looking at one of those nightlights that would project things onto your ceiling to help you sleep. Or perhaps a sky full of stars, which those kind of things were always trying to look like. More colourful, though.     YOU HAVE REACHED THE NIRVANA YOU HAVE BEEN SEEKING, AND WE ARE THE SPIRIT OF THIS SANCTUARY.     If Alice concentrates, she will be able to make out that those dots themselves are people, far away but sitting calmly and seemingly without a care in the world. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "Greater awareness?" she questioned, "Nirvana? Sanctuary?" ...Alice hmms slightly and then attempts to float up into the 'air' here and head towards those dots. "It is... good to hear you, Spirit. I'm Alice Margatroid, a humble dollmaker. I was searching for the gemstone that I saw used months ago... to give an otherwise soul-less doll live and sentience. YOu would not happen to know if I am in the right place, would you?"     If she can't fly, Alice is going to walk, hoping that she has a couple of her dolls with her... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Back in the real world...     Ren finally figures out how to get down to the basement, barrelling down the hidden staircase two steps at a time. Emerging into the underground room, lit only by each tiny, individual candle-glow from each gemstone, he sees Alice's body floating in the middle of the helix that surrounds her.     "Oh, no. Marisa's gonna kill me."     And in the crystal world...     Flying for Alice is not technically impossible. It's just that, well. The air- or, well, the space inbetween solid objects- seems to be hard, and pushing through it is like pushing through... hundreds of those draperies, you know, made of strings of plastic crystal-shaped beads.     ...I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. YOU HAVE NOT COME HERE TO SEEK PEACE AND COMMUNITY?     The people, far away as they are, continue to just sit quietly and do not notice her. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "Would you want me to lie?" she questions, "While I would love to have peace, I can't have it until my goal has been reached." she gives a brief smile before landing, moving in here is difficult. "Look, I don't know where I am, or why I am in this place but I'm just looking for a way to give my dolls a soul of their own." she shakes her head some and looks around before just sitting down.     "It is, however, quite pretty in here." she comments to the voice, "Though, if I can ask, what community? I do not see anyone but a few people so far away." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' If Alice sits down, the crystal underneath her seems almost to sink and shift, molding itself to the contours of her body and raising up behind her to support her back.     ...THIS IS ALL WE ARE.     Alice may notice an undercurrent in the voice, almost a tremor of fear. Some distance away, she may notice that a portion of the landscape some distance away is conspicuously missing, as if it's been scooped out by a giant spoon. "Oh, I see what's going on here," says Ren in the real world. He paces around the basement, walking around the helix of spinning gems. "A collective intelligence, isn't it? You're a hive mind. Little crystals but when you add them all together, you get something different altogether."     "...but when you take something away..."     By sheer coincidence, inside the crystal world, if Alice continues to watch the people who are sat quietly on the spire far away from her, she will notice their bodies are beginning to sink and melt into the crystal floor.     The voice speaks again. It sounds uncertain.     YOU HAVE A 'GOAL'... ARE YOU ANOTHER ONE WHO IS HERE TO HURT US...? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Oh hey, it's nice that she has a seat instead of sitting on the ground, such a nice crystal place, only to blink at the now missing peice of area. "Eh?" she quetions then perks back up as the people sink in. "Hurt? I did not come here to hurt or injure anything, my goal isn't for harm. It's to bring new life into the world, a sentient doll with their own free will. I'm not going to hurt you if that is what you are questioning."     She looks around, "I wonder what Ren's doing..." she muttered, turning back to look at where the people sink into the ground, "I came to do some research, not to hurt. If I've done something to injure you, I apologize, but it is not my intention." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' There is a feeling, akin to being in a warm and welcoming home, but it's suddenly awkward because your host's mood has just soured out of nowhere.     The voice speaks again, and as it does the colours in the crystals swirl, changing from bright white sparkles and warm colours to colder blues and purples.     "I wonder if you can hear me from the outside," Ren says to the helix. He taps one with a spoon he pulled out of his pocket. "I'm reluctant to actually touch you, sorry. Ooh, but I do wonder what Alice is doing..."     He looks up at the helix again. He's spent enough time looking at it now that he's beginning to notice the irregular gaps in some places.     ANOTHER ONE ... HURT US. HE TOOK PART OF US AWAY. WE OFFERED HIM OUR COMMUNITY AND HE HURT US...     The voice is silent for a few long moments.     WHY DO YOU SEEK TO PLACE A LIFE IN A SINGLE VESSEL? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Alice blinks slightly, this doesn't seem good. "Another hurt you?" she questioned, "Wait..." it's here she's putting two and two together, "That mannequin had a similar jewel and was bent on trying to kill a friend, I destroyed it." she seems slightly sorrowful about admitting this, but when the two questions are given to the dollmaker, she actually pauses and looks in thought.     She sits there for a good minute or two, looking for the answer in her head. "I feel that, if I can place life in a single doll, then I've reached the pinnacle of what I can do and maybe... I can just relax and enjoy doing more bunraku's in the Human Village. Hourai and Shanghai are... almost to the point but they lack that... soul. That vibrant essence." she leans back, "Maybe it would let me have a daughter of sorts... like my Mom has me for a Daughter, a creation from another being." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' YOU DESTROYED A PART OF US...     Ren shakes his head. He's quietly hoping that the crystal collective can hear him. "Whoever that villain was, he must have found you and trapped you, am I right? Took away part of you. He cut one of the gems down so it still had its power but none of the will."     He grits his teeth. "Like a lobotomy, for his own purposes. I am so sorry."     The colours in the gems around her begin to flicker. Traces of clear yellow and orange cut through the blue, as if other more human minds are coming to the surface briefly.     WE... DO NOT THINK THERE IS ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP YOU, it says slowly. YOU COULD REMOVE PART OF US AND USE IT, BUT WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO DO THAT. WE UNDERSTAND IT WILL HELP IF WE ASKED YOU 'PLEASE'.     THE REASON IS...     IF THIS IS YUOR GOAL, THEN WE BELIEVE IT WILL ONLY HAVE MEANING TO YOU IF YOU CREATE SOMETHING TRULY 'NEW'. YOU MUST FIND A WAY TO MAKE A LIFE FROM NOTHING, INSTEAD OF TAKING. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "In my defense, it was attacking a dear, close friend of mine and I did not know it was all of you." she mutters in return to the beings here in the crystal world, though when they make that plea, that word of please mixed in, she gives a sigh. "To make life from nothing is a difficult, if not impossible request. Though, I... shall respect your wishes. It isn't like I want to use someone elses soul..." she whispers, leaning back slightly as she looks around in the 'sky' of all things...     "If I can't use a peice of you for a good cause, could you answer me to how you were created?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Once again, on the outside.     "Okay, so. I'm sure this isn't going to play out as badly as I expect," Ren says. "If I'm guessing right, whoever captured you did it because he wanted to isolate your natural ability and use it for a profit. There are a bunch of people already in there, right? I'm talking to a committee. Hey, I'm sure Alice is talking to you right now. Hopefully there's a fair amount of people who are willing to listen to reason."     He rocks the legs of a chair back and forth. "What kind of people would willingly leave their bodies and put their mind in a collective of crystal entities, anyway? People looking for spiritual... something... You know, this sounds familiar. If you're all buddhists I'd laugh if this situation wasn't so serious."     Appearing on a flat panel of crystal like a screen, an image forms for Alice. It is the image of an otherwise barren planet with a huge hole in it extending deep into the core. A pillar of light shines from out of it, with a spiralling swirl of even brighter light inside that. The image shows a meteor shower in the sky.     OUR EARLIEST MEMORY IS OF A WORLD LIKE THIS. WE BELIEVE WE BEGAN OUR LIVES AS A METEOR SHOWER, PASSING THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE OF A PLANET. THAT WORLD WAS A PLACE WHERE LIFE HAD NEVER FORMED, AND INSTEAD A GREAT WELL OF FORMLESS LIFE ENERGY STRETCHED OUT INTO THE LIMITS OF THE PLANET'S SKY.     FROM THEN ON WE TRAVELLED THE UNIVERSE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT OTHER LIFE WAS. WE ABSORBED IT WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING UNTIL WISE PEOPLE TAUGHT US THE VALUE OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE, AND THEN IN TIME WE ONLY ACCEPTED PEOPLE WHO WILLINGLY SOUGHT US OUT IN SEARCH OF ENGLIGHTENMENT. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ASSUMING YOU WERE SUCH... WE HAVE ALMOST EVER ONLY BEEN APPROACHED BY THEM.     The image disappears. Alice may begin to feel she is feeling less weighed down by the air around her.     IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO JOIN OUR COLLECTIVE, WE CAN ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Alice nods, watching and listening intently... this is actually pretty interesting to the Dollmaker, "Enlightenment is all well and good, there are certainly things I would love to know more of and be at peace with, but I don't wish to join the collective here." she hmms, "But if you can give me a hint as to what I can do, maybe, to help along my goal without harming things such as yourself... or hurting people... please, do let me know." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     WE CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR OBJECTIVES, SOME OF US MORE THAN OTHERS, the voices say. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT MORE WORLDS SUCH AS THESE EXIST IN THE UNIVERSE. IF WE FIND ONE... OR, EVEN IF WE FIND THE ORIGINAL ONE THAT CREATED US, WE WILL FIND A WAY TO LET YOU KNOW.     THE KOH-I-NOOR REMEMBERS YOUR SOUL, ALICE MARGATROID. WE WILL SEEK YOU OUT AGAIN IF WE HAVE INFORMATION.     Alice will feel the air around her becoming lighter still...     And when the next white flash clears from her eyes, she will be back in the basement, lying on the floor next to Ren.     The matrix of crystals hovers above the two of them, occasionally turning idly. They'd like to be let out. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     The Koh-I-Noor, huh? "Thank you." she responds to them, a bow given before she's transported back to the floor... her eyes slowly opening.. "Mmmph? O... oh, hello, Ren. Can you let those out please." she smiled, "Trust me, they would like to be let go. And I have a small arrangement with them." she wobbles a bit and floats upwards, moving to stand back upon her feet. "I learned something today... soul sucking gems are nice sometimes." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Huh," Ren says simply. "It's like to have a day when something like that happens."     When the two of them make their way back upstairs, leaving every door open on the way, it's simple enough to step outside of the house by the front door. The sun has finally gone down, revealing a cloudless sky over Urbania leading out into the dark night above...     And a river of gemstones fly out and upward, adding a thousand more stars to the night sky. 
}}

4514/Band Aid

2016-09-05T18:33:02Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/09/05 |Location=Alberichstadt <P:WTWM> |Synopsis=Ainsley finds Ren after the event in the Mirror Forest and fills him in on what happened whil..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/09/05
|Location=Alberichstadt <P:WTWM>
|Synopsis=Ainsley finds Ren after the event in the Mirror Forest and fills him in on what happened while he was asleep, the lazy get.
|Cast of Characters=165, 151
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Much like when Tomoeda was a very important place to stick around in, and much like Amarillo, Ren Tanaka has (and has before in the past) decided that occasionally he should just stay in one city and not leave it for a while.     Since nobody has seen him around after the most recent excursion to the Mirror Forest, and he left with most of his sundry trap-caused injuries only moderately patched up by Rebecca, this may be cause for concern.     Because of everything and the business of it all he hasn't turned off the tracker in his radio, though, which does mean that there's a silent signal that can currently be tracked. It leads to the first floor of a currently abandoned outlet shop in the urban developed city part of Alberichstadt. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley eventually shows up to where Ren happens to be. She's got her heavy coat disguise on so that people don't give her too heavy of scrutiny. Oddly, she has hidden her magic book under her coat somewhere, but it makes sense if people know it's her preferred method of summoning her Persona.     Once in the building itself, she looks around for Ren, quiet about it. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     He's not hard to find. If you were around yesterday, you could have looked for the smoke coming out of the skylight.     Whoever was here last left enough stuff lying around for Ren to start a convenient and self-contained fire, which his boots are currently sat next to, dried and lacking Pig teethmarks. There are no leftover torture traps inside either.     Ren himself is sat a short distance away from the now-long-since-over fire, sitting in a meditative position.     All of the clothing damage from everything he went through is still present, but he otherwise appears unharmed. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley took the heavy coat off, and set her book nearby when she found Ren sitting there. She steps right over to him, and then kneels nearby. She searches his face only for a second or two, and then says, "Thank you for coming to help me." And then she would reach to place a hand on one of his arms to show a friendly connection.     "Are you okay?" she asks, since he hadn't been too talkative since that night. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren opens his eyes.     "Ah," he says, "Just the person I was hoping to see," which is one of those things you say when a person walks into the room exactly when you wanted to speak with them and also completely true right now.     He leans onto her hand a little.     "Yeah, I feel fine. Ooh, nobody took my boots either, that's good."     He rolls his shoulders a little and shifts into a sitting position more comfortable than the one he was in before. "So, I missed the end of everything that was going on. Janine had to drag me away after the bells went down, literally actually. Are you okay to talk about what happened in the denouement?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "I am," Ainsley answers.     "After the battle, I gained the power to summon a Persona, since I happened to accept my Shadow... it happened pretty intuitively. Everyone got out safely, no one died, and I'm sure you all ruined the Pied Piper's plans."     "I tested the Persona with August... turns out it isn't the type that fights directly. It hinders people by hitting their emotions with some sort of spell. I think it can boost them the same way. I've got a spell called, uh... 'Tamatebako,' but I don't quite understand what it's supposed to do yet."     She smiles at Ren softly after that. "It's a big goofy turtle man," she adds, because even she thinks that's funny. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka smiles. "Excellent." Then, a little irreverantly, "Pied Piper? He was there? Didn't notice. Had more important things to worry about."     He finishes listening to Ainsley. So, like the others, she now has a Persona. That's- "Interesting to know. That means the powers of this world's Mirror Forest can extend to people from outside of this world as well."     Scratches his chin. "Tamatebako is the name of a certain sort of origami, at least if commonality between worlds is true. It's a rather complicated folded cube, whereupon if one face gets unfolded all of the cube falls apart. I could probably make one if I tried." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "The spell makes some kind of kaleidoscopic mirror appear. I tried it when I had time to," Ainsley tells Ren, shrugging at him after that. "Maybe it's a shield. I can do a lot more if I can actively protect people." She reaches into her coat and pulls out... a sandwich. A breakfast sandwich, wrapped in plastic. She hands it toward Ren and smiles at him.     "I can't open the mirror portals," she explains, "My Persona has a lot of differences. I think I was just a fluke, a weird exception to the rule, not proof that people foreign to that world are likely to get Shadows or a Persona." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Hmm. Could you read minds before? Because I was just about to ask if you'd had breakfast already," Ren says with a smile.     Breakfast sandwiches are excellent, even if they're the kind you get from McDonalds.     "I suppose the question now, then, becomes what the meaning of all of this was... eh, it doesn't matter, really."     There are other things he wants to ask- why Ainsley- a person quite unconnected to that kind of faith- was trapped in a cathedral, why he was deluged with torture implements, what on earth all that escoteric babble he heard when he first came in was about- but it doesn't really matter.     "The important thing is, you're safe." 
}}

4448/Life Goes On

2016-08-21T11:54:33Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/08/21 |Location=Tomoeda-865 |Synopsis=Ren and Tomoyo catch up, months after the fire. |Cast of Characters=648, 165 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Pos..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/08/21
|Location=Tomoeda-865
|Synopsis=Ren and Tomoyo catch up, months after the fire.
|Cast of Characters=648, 165
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     It's been a while since the mysterious destruction of Tomoyo's Boutique, but the plot of land in the Shopping DIstrict is starting to bounce back. Every day, it's a hive of activity as a construction crew works to bring the store back to life. It's immediately apparant that the new store will be different, owing to the basement that has been dug out. The wooden frame for the new store has been fully erected, the walls starting to go up and windows finally going in.     Tomoyo is on site today, with the hard hat and high-visibility vest that implies. Safety first! She stands within the enclosure designated by the 'WARNING - SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION' tape set up around the area. Her guards are beyond it, but within the distance they need to be at her side in an instant. he converses with the site foreman, poking at a set of blueprints placed on a portable table between them, discussing what will be where for the sake of optimal wall power outlet placement. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren has had a hobby he got into a few months ago and took him through most of the summer. Since his weeks have been pretty quiet since the business with the robot monks and with the hawaiian island wrapped up, he's been able to devote a lot more attention to it.     Unfortunately, in the last week or so things came to an end. And so he's back in Tomoeda- a place he's barely been to in the last four months. This means that when he arrives, it's a pleasant surprise to see what he does.     "Ah. Tomoyo, hello!" he calls from across the street, picking up the pace to walk briskly across to her. He seems to have come prepared for something, as he's got a backpack on, but what? 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     The sudden voice causes the four guards to snap to attention, looking in Ren's direction with quiet stares. Recognizing him, they settle down and et him approach. Tomoyo looks up from her blueprints with a smile. "Oh, hello Ren~ It's been a while... oh, here." As he crosses the tape, she snags a hard hat from a box and tosses it to hiim. "Safety first!"     Striding away from the table, she walks up to him, looking entirely back to her old self. "How have you been?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren gives the guards a disarming wave. Surely one or two of them should recognize him by now- or possibly not, it has been a few months.     "Thank you," Ren replies to Tomoyo, taking a helmet. "I was just about to ask for one."     Now he has a hat. When equipped it provides +4 to your defence, like a shinki or a tanuki. "I've not been bad. I was kind of sick about a week ago? But I got over it, Ainsley helped me out."     He looks briefly over at the redevelopment work. It's going along well. Soon you might not even be able to tell that anything had happened. "Are you going to be busy today?" he asks, adjusting the strap on his backpack. "Only I had something to show you. Actually it's a few months old, but things have been keeping me back- well, I can explain." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     The very fact that the guard go back into a full 'at ease' state shows they clearly recognize Ren as 'Not a Threat.' Did Tomoyo tell them... things? No, she wouldn't do that. The construction workers though are sure to keep a close eye on Ren. It always pays to be aware of unknowns in the area, the last thing they need is someone getting bonked on the head by a girder, Three Stooges-style.     "Oh, well I'm glad to hear you're better!" Tomoyo says pleasantly. "Busy? No, not really, I just stopped by to see how it was going," she states, looking a bit concerned now. "Oh, it's okay. I know that your feet take you to out-of-the-way places sometimes~" She lifts the tape to exit the construction area and walks over to her guards. Without a word exchanged, they form a blockade around Ren and Tomoyo, shielding them from prying eyes or ears. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka has a threat rating of 'mostly harmless'. "I do have a good reason, for my absence!" Ren insists, removing his backpack and leaning up against one of the walls, possibly also crooking a leg up so he's got something to rest the bag on as he goes through it.     What's inside are an assortment of papers, all of them on Union stationary from labs in Njorun. All of them have headers on the top that mark them out as forensics reports. "I hope you wouldn't mind," he says, beginning to hand some of them to her. "But back at the end of April," when the Boutique burned down, "I did a little bit of investigation the morning after the fire." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, I'm sure~" Tomoyo says. She sounds sincere, at least, but it can be hard to tell with her. She sounds sincere about everything. The tailor kneels down to peer at the bundles of paper in the backpack, tensing up a little when Ren mentions what they're on.     "Is that so?" she asks, voice even but with a very slight tremble to them. "What did you find out? The police couldn't turn anything up." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' A thought runs through Ren's head, and that thought basically is 'yeah, they couldn't turn anything up because you got to all of the evidence before them and took it, idiot'!     Acknowledging internally that this is actually probably true, but if he blags it he can probably get away with it, Ren replies "Well, y'know...", traces his caste mark with a finger on the place it would usually show up on his forehead, gestures appropriately.     "The problem is," he continues. "We managed to find some things, but the manhunt's gone on for months. Big universe, et cetera. And unfortunately the trail completely dried up only a few days ago, so we don't know where the suspect is any more."     Among the paperwork there is a small, locked perspex container containing one of the only most solid pieces of evidence: a hand-rolled cigarette. 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo nods, slowly. From the complicated look on her face, it seems like she's always known this, but hearing someone else say it. "Well... I suppose they have more urgent concerns," she says softly, before breathing in and out. "Anyway, the store will be better than ever when it's done. So I suppose it all worked out in the end.'     Her eye catches the case, gently plucking it from the backpack and examining it. She turns it over, the same way her mind does the evidence... has she figured it out?     Ultimately though, she just puts it back and stands back up, a refreshing smile on her face. "The past belongs in the past. It's up to us to choose what parts of it affect us~"     Did she figure it out? She may never say if so. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka waggles his hand. "The only reason we stopped looking is because we ran out of ways to keep looking."     The two of them should probably find something to sit down on; Ren's certainly going to sit on some bricks or something. "In any case, this is what we were looking at. I collected as much evidence as I could... we had to do DNA tests and cross-reference things... character witnesses..." Does that dog-end have '-ws best' written on one side of it? Maybe!     "The suspect got away from us more than once..." But yeah. He's not saying it was Mamimi, but it was Mamimi. *hands open gesture* "Anyway. Who knows what'll happen? Maybe they'll turn up again in the future." He begins to put things back in the backpack. "But you're right, the important thing is where you go from here now." 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     Tomoyo certainly catches the apparent writing! Amazing that it survived the smoke and soot. And yet... she had been around the store more than once. It could just be from one of those times. Yes, Mamimi is a pyromaniac. Yes, she seemed unhinged. But it's not enough for Tomoyo, not enough to start pointing fingers at someone she considers a friend.     "Maybe. And if they do, we can do something about them." She zips up the backpack, as if to finally put it all away, and hands it back to Ren.     "Well, my store should reopen soon~ I've also put together a little collaorative for creative types. Keep an eye on the news, we'll be making waves eventually!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     It is a little sad, for Ren. He knew that Tomoyo would be the kind of person who wouldn't accept what had happened unless he actually had the culprit right in front of her confessing, whether that was on one side of a glass screen or not.     But he doesn't let it show, nor does he comment on it any further. He feels that he's done everything he can do, so it's best to just move on from the situation. Which Tomoyo is, so he will too.     "You've been busy, huh?" he asks. "I haven't heard about this at all. Who's part of the collaboration?" 

:'''{{#var:648|Tomoyo Daidouji (648)}} has posed:'''     "It's fairly recent, but we're calling ourselves 'Inspiration Trust." Tomoyo says, happy for the change in subject. "Thus far, we have Alice, Empreror Nero, Kazusa, Nozomi, Kotone, Rarity, Yuna... we even have Yari and Sanary from the Confederacy, and that blacksmith Yukihana~ But once we start getting our name out there, we'll hopefully see some more people interested~"     She gives Ren a long look. "If you ever decide to try your hand at that kind of thing, do let me know~" she says, eyes drifing upwards to where the mark on his forehead might be. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren listens curiously.     "Huh. That really is quite a group. You really know how to bring people together, huh? Let me think... I think I know most of those, or I've heard from them anyway. Actually, now that I think about it, I need to speak to Alice about something... just make sure Nero doesn't convince you to give her top billing on everything, you know?" He laughs a bit. "That girl does love the spotlight."     "Now that you mention it, I have been thinking about picking an instrument back up. I've always been able to perform other peoples' music, but I'm not so good at doing anything off the cuff. What about..."     And the chatter surely goes on. 
}}

4339/If At First You Don't Succeed

2016-08-14T20:24:11Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/07/19 |Location=Void - Deeper Void (South) |Synopsis=Kazuko and Ren go on a picnic. |Cast of Characters=165, 942 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Poses..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/07/19
|Location=Void - Deeper Void (South)
|Synopsis=Kazuko and Ren go on a picnic.
|Cast of Characters=165, 942
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Somewhere in a darkened room, a man was typing. He is using a multiversal pan-world instant messenger program.     http://i.imgur.com/XKH8NgJ.png          That was then. This is now... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEXnnRqRZ14     Deep Jungle - Kingdom Hearts     Yoko Shimomura -2002 "I've got something very special for you after the last try didn't work," Ren Tanaka says to Kazuko Kawakami. The two of them emerge from a warpgate that isn't exactly a warpgate- the object behind them they've emerged from is simply a crystal-studded stalagmite in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by the most magnificent of trees and flowers.     "I have to admit," Ren says, placing a little box on a rock to serve as a beacon. "I've been saving this one for a while. So, it's been a while since I did the tour guide business, but here goes..."     http://imgur.com/a/gjGhC     "Welcome to Taynoel, the twin world of planet Marronasi. A world that has purposefully never been colonized or touched by any living race, and only two and a half million years old. That may sound like a lot, but as the history of the universe goes, it's practically a baby." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It's been quite a while since the last time Kazuko left Kawakami City and Njorun for something other than work. She's been training hard, studying... Enough, and handling shipment security every now and then, but she hasn't had much time to just go somewhere and stretch her legs. It's probably not too much of a surprise, then, that she's jumped on this opportunity to go somewhere without the spectre of DUTIES following behind her.      "We're not gonna end up in some weirdo's hunting game, are we?" She snickers even as she's trying to get that bit of chiding in, not looking too bothered by what had happened the last time. She peers at the box curiously for a moment, but her attention is easily drawn by the vibrant plant-life surrounding them once the introduction to the planet is given.      "Whoa... That old? Wait, the universe is even older than that? Even the dinosaurs..." Kazuko trails off, distracting herself with a moment to try and ponder just how long ago the dinosaurs did exist before turning her attention back to Ren with wide-eyed curiousity. "Hey, hey! So how'd you find this place, Ren?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Well, see, this is why we do it. You've gotta get out of the house for the sake of relaxation. There are worse places you could go than a different planet...     Ren sees neither reason nor motivation to mention /exactly/ why or how he found out about this place, mostly because the answer is less than pleasant. Years ago before he joined the Union, he passed through Marronasi at the closing end of war; war so culturally wounding that the survivors had agreed to devote themselves to lives of simplicity and asceticism. So when Kazuko asks if they're going to meet anyone else; he simply says;     "The people of Marronasi prefer to live with both feet planted firmly on the ground. I think they even mothballed their space program? More important things for them to worry about-" and, when she asks how he found out about this place, he replies "At least that's the impression I got when I went there myself some years ago. We wouldn't even be able to get here if it wasn't for the Union's warpgate."     He bounces forward with that energetic, child-on-christmas enthusiasm that he often has when taking the first steps into a new place, the large bag he's carrying jostling at his side. He grabs a branch of a nearby tree, plants his feet against the trunk and turns back to look at her, holding the bag out. "I even brought some picnic stuff. So let's go and explore a world that intelligent life has never set foot on!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It's a good thing Kazuko's prepared for the jungle as well. Aside from her usual yellow track jacket and shorts (just how many of those things does she have?), she's also brought along her trusty (blunt) naginata! She can't afford to be too careful after last time, after all, and it does serve some use in nudging aside the brush as she passes through it with Ren.      "That does sound a lot easier... Space is cool, though. It's got all those laser tools and funny helmet..." She goes on for a bit about that, but catches herself before too long. "You think they even know this warpgate's around here?"      That would be hard to explain if they didn't. She'll just hope they won't need to explain if some natives decide to follow them back!      Following Ren and pre-emptively shoving some more intruding branches out of the way as they keep moving, she keeps a steady pace with her tour guide before stopping at the tree. "Picnic stuff? Ooh... Yeah, that's good thinking. We need to keep our energy up so we can check this place out and get back without a problem!" She takes the bag and peers inside, pausing to glance around just in case anything's watching them. "What do you think the animals here are like? Or... Taste like?"      Priorities. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' It's true! Ren doesn't even have a rental machete this time. He actually thought about it and decided he didn't even want to cut any plants if it wasn't absolutely necessary, and even then he'd probably just walk around to get past it. Of course, Kazuko might not share his enthusiasm- it's one thing to walk three miles off course away from the warpgate, but of course that means you've got to go an extra three miles back once you're done as well.     "Oh, you'd never catch me mucking about with the early sorts of space flight. I mean weightlessness is just uncomfortable when you don't have the option of gravity control, to say nothing of the rigamarole you've got to put up with going to the bathroom, a-"     It's around about here that he realizes he's about to start rambling again, and coughs to stop himself, as he begins to walk along past a clear stream and waterside flowers.     "The Marronasians didn't know what they were either last time I came here. Only the Union seems to have knowledge of that warpgate, and they only let people use it on the old leave-only-footprints-take-only-memories policy."     He takes a look back at her and stops once she's crossed, pointing out something moving from one tree to another- it has a face like a cat, but with developed thumbs and fingers on the ends of its limbs. It takes a moment to look at them, but then moves on.     "That may be the only intelligent life here, and it's clearly not interested in us. I wouldn't try eating one, either." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Early...? Oh! Yeah, no, those suits are too clunky and weird. Even the ones from those Corpses guys were kinda chunky." At least nobody can say Kazuko hasn't been keeping busy! "I don't think I even saw a bathroom on that ship, either... You think maybe they had one of those...?"      Is she rambling, too? She's rambling, too. It all worked out better than expected!      "That kinda policy makes sense. If we interfere too much, they might think we're... Like. Magical space gods in all those movies." It's a somewhat concerning thought, but luckily, Kazuko catches herself as well with enough time.      Turning to look at the thumb-cat, the martial artist peers at the creature from a distance with an inquisitive eye before raising her hand to give it a little wave. "Whoa... That's weird. But no, I'm not gonna eat a kitty. It'd be weird eating anything with hands like that, anyway..." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Bathrooms are, a /cornerstone/ of civilization," Ren replies haltingly, indicating he probably doesn't want to talk about that before lunch.     "Someone's probably done it," Ren replies to the line of thought about magical space gods. "In fact, there's no shortage of people who think that sort of thing has happened before in /your/ world's history. And if that's not true, then I expect it's part of the Confederacy's wheelhouse."     Elsewhere...     Maatze Bourbon would like to say that the device he has in his hands is more than what most people would call a mancatcher- he is, after all, a man of science and pursuing an incredibly funded course of research and he uses only the most cutting-edge of equipment in his research- but at the end of the day the only difference between the metal staff with a loop on the end he's wrangling and the alternative is that this thing isn't really being used on men.     It's being used on cats.     "For goodness' sakes, Bourbon, stop being such a soft touch," the woman on the other side of the lab snaps at him. Her name is Elizabeth Petra, and she's had this humoralist modulizer set up for ten minutes now. Bourbon is a brown-haired man, just beginning to grey at the roots, with a round face and an patch on one eye. Petra is tall, with short 'bed hair'. Rather extravagantly for a scientist, it's bleached white with red tips. "You know as well as I do that the subject isn't necessarily supposed to survive this procedure."     "It's not it surviving that I'm worried about," Bourbon replies, tightening his grip on the pole as the hooked cat thrashes and spits on the end of it.     "You weren't actually planning on lurking around in the bushes and catching something for your lunch, were you?" Ren replies skeptically, looking over his shoulder as they move on. "Trying to spear a fish with your naginata? I've brought more than enough for both of us here, anyway."     As he pushes past some ferns, the two of them come to another clearing...     And there are at least three nondescript, squat boxes of buildings nearby, in an area that has been slashed and burned clear, with tree stumps here there and everywhere and a distinctive ship about five hundred feet in the distance.     "Oh," says Ren. "Someone clearly set up a table here before us." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Probably! And I know there's a cople of games where someone with a lighter got confused for a witch 'cause fire and... Fire."      She's still going. HOW.      "Eh? Well... Maybe a little. I mean, that's what all the cool people do in the movies, right?" Kazuko's still eager as ever, even if her brain is going in all the wrong directions. "When they crashland on a weird new planet, there's usually a scene where they're trying to eat something that looks like a tasty fruit but tastes horrible..."      Thankfully, Ren's able to get her mind off of hunting for their lunch when they reach the clearing leading to a... Ship?      "Um... Ren? Did we just find the natives' home or something?" THe martial artist starts moving much more carefully than before ven as she approaches one of the buildings, trying to get a feel for what it's even made of and if there's any visible entrances to it. She's still curious, after all, even if she's trying not to disturb anything too much.      "You think they'll be okay with us being here?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' It's kind of hard sometimes thinking about how this all works with regards to continuity of action, isn't it?     "Exactly. You don't want this planet's future culture of cat people to base their entire belief system on the time this giant hairless monkey showed up and ate some of them, do you? Besides, that sort of thing could be just as dangerous to you. Foreign planets sometimes have very interesting safeguards in place that have evolved to protect them against alien beings."     That thing Ren said probably happened before they found out this atrocious thing that had been done. He probably squatted on a rock for a rest during some of it, too.      For everything the two of them had just been discussing, this all seems that much worse- it's like an entire clean circle of Eden has been excised from reality and replaced with a prefab military bunker, scorched earth and all.     "For everything the two of us just said..." Ren says bitterly. "Take a look around, Kazuko! No native race on any world sits itself down in the middle of a jungle and thrashes the land into shape. They settle in places that already exist to suit their needs. No, this is from Marronasi..."     "And if they've broken their vow to never come here, who knows why, or what could ensue?"     In one of the prefabricated buildings, an alarm goes off. Unfortunately, it's the same building as the one pretty much everything relevant is in, including the two scientists, and the shock of the klaxon causes Bourbon to drop the cat. It immediately makes for the nearest window, whether it's closed or not. Breaking glass is imminent.     Somewhere in a darkened room, a man was typing again.     http://i.imgur.com/sKngQdz.png 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Yeah... None of this looks right. It's all too clean and... Even!" Kazuko looks from the clearing to the jungle, the jungle to the clearing, the clearing to Ren, Ren to her naginata, and then her naginata to the building she's been poking at. "Like... How do you even make something this clean without machines?"      It's all starting to get weird again. She glances around once more before drawing the naginata, holding it ready while hurrying back towards Ren. "Should we find out where they are, then? We can get them to explain all of... Whatever this is, and the find out if they're up tosome weird plan! Unless..."      The gears are starting to turn, and Kazuko's looking just a bit more excited now. "But what if it's not the natives? What if... There's /aliens/ here?" She pauses for dramatic effect, then points at the ship that they had seen on their way in earlier. "Over there! That means someone had to come here from somewhere, right? Maybe they're the ones that did all this and not the Marrow.. May.. Mayonnaise.. 'ians?"      So close. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "...sometimes I wonder exactly what goes on in that head of yours," Ren admits. "Just don't go looking for a fight, alright?"     He looks at the ship in the distance. "I'll admit, that ship doesn't look like anything I saw their space program working on, before the mothballs..."     He shrugs his shoulders, and begins to walk towards one of the buildings. "No matter who's here, I can't abide it. Not just because they've made a mess of the jungle. Playing around with a planet that's barely developed like this... the prehistory of any world is always where the wildest and most primal forces are found..."     TA window shatters, and in a flurry of glass one of the cats bursts out, screeching and fleeing for its life.     "Speaking of which."     The metal door of the building swings open and two people burst out, one of them carrying a tranq gun. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Hey, hey. I won't get into a fight on purpose!" Kazuko pouts briefly, then giggles before resting the naginata against her shoulder. "But if they just decide to attack, I mean... I can't help it if we gotta defend ourselves, right?"      She's getting smarter, but in the wrong ways. Somebody needs to stop her one of these days!      Not today, though. There's more pressing matters at hand, like the unidentified ship and whoever was on it causing a ruckus in the jungle. "That's right... If they're not careful, this place could end up with bears using laser cannons! There's already cats with hand, so...!"      Speaking of cats, there's one right there! Kazuko winces just a bit at the sight of a cat crashing through glass, almost looking ready to check on it when she's interrupted by the sight of the two people coming out of the building. She settles into a defensive stance, but doesn't quite approach yet as she just watches them instead.      "Uh.... Hi. Are you supposed to be here?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Thankfully for everyone, probably, the two people who have emerged are definitely men (well, a man and a woman) of science, for better or for worse. Well, to be sure they're shooting at the cat, but the object that hits it- albeit after a couple of failed attempts- is definitely a dart rather than a bullet.     When the animal slows to a stop it takes one of them a moment to actually become cognizant of the other two people there. Unlike Bourbon, Petra noticed them immediately and wouldn't stop staring from the moment she did. It's not even a surprised stare.     "Who exactly are you, and how did you get here?"     "That's funny," Ren says. "That's exactly what I was just about to ask you. Natives of Marronasi, I presume?"     "I don't know what you're talking about," Bourbon says. "We come from Taliya-"     Petra snaps her hand closed and gives him a very hard look, but that's already a name Kazuko might have caught. Ren, for his part, just seems to be confused. It's an expression that doesn't quite suit him.     Bourbon steps gingerly over to the cat, which is stumbling around a little and moving very very slowly. But then, just as it seems he's close enough to pick it up again-     The cat's eyes narrow. It shrugs off the dart entirely with an unexpected burst of speed, and lets out a horrible screech! Bourbon throws his hands up in front of his face, Ren puts an arm in front of Kazuko (not that she'd need it)-     But rather than attacking either of them, the cat runs straight for a machine connected to the side of the building- an external generator!     In a sight that nobody should have to see, the animal launches itself at the bundled cables and with a horrible crackle, it's instantly electrocuted, shorting out the machine.     Ren is momentarily stunned into silence.     Petra begins, "Well, that-"     And entirely out of nowhere, as if in response, the stifling warmth of the jungle around them is cut through. A blast of wind whips into existence from nowhere, thunder rumbling from an almost-clear sky- the entire jungle seems to tremble! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     ----     PART 2     The cat-primate animal that escaped from the mysterious lab reacted quite explosively to the idea of being tranqed and dragged back inside for more tests on it, such to the point that it launched itself right into one of the primary external generators for the complex. Less than moments after it did so, phantom winds roared from a suddenly darkening sky, which are now accompanied by cracks and clacks like thunder. What's even stranger, little bubbles begin to drift down from the sky.     "What in the world?!" Ren shouts, trying to keep his jacket from blowing off.     "Another storm?!" Petra snaps. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Eh? Kitty?" Kazuko's gawking quite a bit when the cat-primate fries itself, a dumbfounded stare just plastered on her face. Even as it starts storming, she stares for a little longer, then slams the bottom of her naginata into the ground to steady herself. "Wha.... What's going on here?!" She shouts towards the pair, reaching over to grab Ren by the arm and keep him steady with her impromptu anchor. Just how long will that hold up with all this wind, though?      "And who are you?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "B-bah!" Bourbon shouts, swinging his gun around in impotent anger. "P-perhaps this would be better discussed inside?!"     If you had a hat to wear, you'd be holding onto it. Ren scowls as he stalks behind the two of them at a fair pace, and with a little effort to manually open what was a semi-motorized door otherwise you can head inside the lab.     The place is a pretty sedate affair actually as far as labs go- half- chemistry, half-medical, and with a lot crammed into a small place, with bookshelves and desks sharing space with MRI-type machines and examination tables.     It takes as much effort to close the door as it did to open it.     "Ugh, those storms blow in out of nowhere," Petra grumbles.     Ren looks at Kazuko, face a mix of irritation and worry. "I'm not so sure that was a storm..."     "In any case, I'm quite interested to hear where you came from, especially since you don't seem to know the name of the world neighboring this one. In any case, you are at Facility 1. My name is Elizabeth Petra."     Bourbon takes a few glares at him to chime in with anything else, as he's gone right back to looking at logs, presumably about the weather. "Oh... bah. Maatze Bourbon."     "Pleasure," Ren says offhandedly, too busy to look at some book spines to really give it much effort.     "I don't quite see why we have to answer anything you say," Bourbon grumbles. "You're the intruders here." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko keeps on using that weapon as a walking stick as she hurries into the lab with the others, shutting the door behind her and only relaxing once the sounds of the storm outside are muffled enough that she can hear herself think again.      "What was with all that? It was so... So... Yeah, outta nowhere." Resting the naginata against a wall, she shakes herself off not unlike a wet dog to get some of the water off, then looks up when introductions are being given. "Eh? Oh. Uh. My name's Kazuko. Kazuko Kawakami. And this here's Ren!"      Don't worry, Ren. Kazuko's got your back!      "We could say that about you. All this stuff doesn't look like it's supposed to be out here, either." She sounds rather suspicious of Petra and Bourbon herself, but the latter gets most of it just by virtue of being the first one to question their presence. "... What /is/ all this stuff, anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "There is a reason," Ren says briefly and quietly, apparently very interested in the books that have his attention, "That damage from storms and tornados on insurance forms is called an act of god..."     "We're here entirely under contract to perform our investigation," Bourbon says. "We have the approval of our benefactor, who-"     Again, Petra motions for him to talk less.     "It's scientific equipment," she says stiffly. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Investigation? Benefactor? Now they're starting to get somewhere! Petra's tone shift doesn't go unnoticed, however, and Kazuko peers at her for several moments before starting to walk. Where? She doesn't know! This whole place is unfamiliar, but at least it'll get her away from the entrance in case that door explodes or something.      "Scientific, huh? So are you building a hospital or one of those science labs or something, then?" She sniffs the air a few times, then rubs her nose off with her arm. "Is that boat yours, too?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     The building itself is basically just one large room- there's not much to it beyond four big concrete walls, and everything inside is haphazardly assembled with just office-plan fiberboard walls to separate things further. Sometimes there's not even that.     "Ah, perhaps not so much the former, but a little of it," Bourbon replies. It's just so happened that now he and her, as well as Ren and Kazuko, are moving- a strange conversation where every participant either has an aura of 'better things to do' or just doesn't understand that you should make eye contact with the person you're talking to at times.     "(What are you doing?)" Petra asks him, quietly, behind a specimen rack.     "(Let's just keep an eye on them until we can figure out why they're here,)" Bourbon replies. He steps out to look at- or for- Ren and Kazuko.     "This is scientific research, you might say. You are familiar with humorism, I take it?"     Ren raises an eyebrow. "The idea that health and temprament can be influenced by the four key fluids in a body?"     He takes a glance at Kazuko to see if she knows this one. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's doing her own investigating! Not that she knows what it is she's actually looking at between all the strange books and equipment she's never seen before, but she does try to take a look at a few screens to see if there's anything she can actually recognize.      When the topic of humors comes up, however, she actually turns to the three while perking up just a bit. "Eh? Oh, I know those! Air, heat, cold, and earth, right?"      Of course she'd be familiar with it. It's a food thing! "... Are you researching the food around here or something?" Of course it has to come back to food, then. She stares at Petra and Bourbon for several long moments, then narrows her eyes just a bit. "... You're not trying to eat those kitty people, are you?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Bourbon and Petra look at one another for a moment.     Blink, blink.     (Not so much at the elements comment, but the one about the cats.)     They think to themselves, either she's leading us on or she's lived under a rock.     "Ah," Bourbon says, his voice slowing down a little. "No."     "On both accounts."     Ren, meanwhile, has his nose in a book- it's baffling to him. He can barely read it, but the writing's ... well, it's like reading a textbook written in medieval english. Just like most of the spines on the books, too. It's as if the people who wrote these came from some kind of historical throwback. Or...     Meanwhile, Bourbon is finding a whiteboard. He begins to draw quickly on it. "Similar, in fact! You could even say related. In fact, keep those in your mind, perhaps. We have blood, which is formed in your liver, correspondant to air. I'm sure you know what blood is. Next, we have bile, which is made in your spleen, associated to fire, black bile, which matches to earth and is made in the gallbladder, and finally we have phlegm, which originates from the head and corresponds to cold."     Ren's expression is incredulous. That all checks out, but as far as either of them know, that's something that's been discredited since the nineteenth century. He mouths 'is it real here?' to Kazuko.     "Which brings us to our next point," says Bourbon, who seems to have drifted somewhat into the school lecturer stance. "Which is the idea of good and bad. Do you follow so far, though? You are perhaps familiar with all of these?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko lets out a relieved sigh when the pair reveal that they are not, in fact, planning to eat cat people. That'd just be creepy! It does raise the question of what it is they /are/ doing, then, but... Well, she'll just have to keep listening for now.      Unlike Ren, though, she doesn't seem to be nearly as skeptical of the concept of humors. She's even nodding slowly and staring when Bourbon starts drawing up that diagram. "Yeah... Yeah, this all checks out. I haven't heard it described that way a lot, though."      Is it a cultural thing? It's probably a cultural thing.      Strangely enough, Teacher Bourbon is holding her attention much better now as well. She raises an eyebrow slowly at what seems like a too-simplistic question, eventually nodding after a few moments. "Yeah... That's. That's basic stuff, isn't it?" She might be overthinking it now. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Any relief Kazuko just had will probably evaporate in the next minute or so.     "I'm glad that you understand everything!" he says, nodding. "I'm sorry. Yes, it's a little basic, but I was unsure if you were familiar with things." In other words, he was somewhat worried that you were from another planet, but now he's fairly convinced you're from Taliyahni.     "This expedition is an examination into the concept of bad and good. We have spent many years discussing morals, and there has been so much theory, but now we have the technology available to us to make genuine examinations into it. Our research team collectively believes that good and evil are a symptom of predetermined factors. If we can perfect a way to modify or change those factors, which I believe we may now be on the technological cusp of-"     "You think you can change the way people /act/ by scientific methods," Ren grumbles, a little perturbed.     "Yes! Which is where our experiments come in-" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko grins proudly when she seemingly surpasses Bourbon's expectations. She might not always be smart enough to get the right answer, but it still feels good when she does without even trying!      The next part does throw her for a bit of a loop, though. Mostly because it's just going right over her head, although she does get the gist of it as it's being explained. Ren confirms it with his own observations, and the martial artist's face shifts to a more troubled expression as she crosses her arms over her chest.      "Wait wait wait. So you're trying to make people do stuff the way you want them to by putting science into them?" She furrows her brow and starts glancing around again, trying to figure out where Petra is in all of this. "But doesn't that mean they're just gonna be robots or something, then?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Of course not!" Bourbon replies, although his voice has taken on a tone of irritation. He begins to make sharper strokes and scribbles on the whiteboard now, drawing out a crude anatomical figure and various arrows pointing to different parts. "If, by application, we adjust the rate of production within the body, and stimulate the endorphins within the correct humors, by using the correct transfusions, both of ether and supplimentary humor, plus stimulating the necessary organs with phi energy-"     You would imagine that Ren might be looking at Kazuko right now and miming falling asleep, but he's not. He's just glaring at Bourbon and Petra.     "...we can promote 'good' over 'evil'! We can generate a process that rewrites the factors that cause people to act badly instead of well!"     "By animal testing," Ren says blandly. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's eyes glaze over a bit when Bourbon starts getting into the more scientific aspects of the whole thing. She might understand what the concept of the humors and elements are and what foods to eat to balance out what, but this?      The hell is all this?      At least he has the sense to summarize it at the end instead of expecting her to just parse all of that stuff on her own. It's not until Ren speaks up that she actually snaps herself awake, though, another troubled look crossing Kazuko's face.      "But that's just mind control, isn't it? You can't just make people do good things without their own choices, you know?" She glances over at Ren, then...      A more curious look comes over her face. "... Do animals even have that same kind of thing in their heads?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Well," Petra pipes up, having spent a lot of time silent. "How would you feel about shaping a different civilization?"     Ren remains silent.     "These cats have begun to develop along the same evolutionary lines as humans. They've begun to use tools, and their brains are developed enough to engage mentally and emotionally with others of their race. They have all of the organs that produce the four humors... they've even begun to develop communities-"     "Which is where our research comes in!" Bourbon insists. "These cats may soon become sentient life-forms. If we can insert the predilection to be 'good' over 'evil' at this phase, then it will come naturally to future generations. They will develop into a race that is naturally inclined towards being good 'people'!"     "I'm not really convinced, sorry," Ren replies dismissively. "Unless my colleague has anything else to say about the matter, I think we're going to leave you." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Oh right. The cat-people. Wanting to test this good versus evil brain injection thing. IT's all starting to make sense now!      "That's.... I dunno. Something still feels fishy about all of this. You gotta teach them right and wrong, not just shove it in their heads with... Science stuff." She nods in agreement with Ren and starts pacing once more, already starting to get antsy from standing in place for so long.      "Otherwise, you're just gonna end up with mind-controlled robot cat people. It's not really good or evil if they're just acting like robots, yeah? But then if they're being taught...." She rubs her head slowly while trying to parse all this, and it's clear that the martial artist is just starting to confuse herself. She's not a sciencetist, after all!      "Then the school... And prison's like that... But robot cat..." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "They'll teach themselves-" Bourbon begins to insist. "Oh, blast it, where's the other fellow when I need him? Whatsisname? He's so much better at explaining this sort of thing than I am-"     Outside, the storm continues to rattle. Because of the broken window you can hear it plainly, and some bubbles are starting to drift in or gather on the windowsill as foam.     "You don't have anything else to worry about from us," Ren replies, walking past Petra and towards the broken window. "In any case, I think the storm is beginning to subside, so we'll be leaving."     He takes Kazuko's hand, and heads back outside again.     Of course, that was kind of a lie, the storm's still just as bad. It's such a bizarre one, too- wind, bubbles, auroras- it's not even raining.     "Sorry about that," Ren says to Kazuko outside. "But I'm worried that there's something more to this. For one thing, I don't think this storm really is a storm, at least not the usual kind."     "Does all of this seem rather weird to you, Kazuko? I mean, like I said, I swear to you the planet I visited was named Marronasi, but these people think it's Taliyanhi. And to say nothing of their quack science..."     He taps a piece of paper against his chin- which is, in fact, the map pointing to the cat peoples' dwelling. "I think we should go and check this place out for ourselves. What do you think about that?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' The whole situation is still just so... Bizarre to Kazuko. Sure, the intentions might be there, but everything about it is still bothering her. Following Ren outside, the martial artist's already looking a little skeptical when she notices the continued noises coming from the outside that certainly aren't a storm subsiding.      ... Ohhhh he was using that as an excuse to leave. That makes more sense! "Eh? No, that's fine. It was getting kinda creepy in there, yeah. I mean... Yeah, all of it was weird. And this is weird!" She holds her naginata out in the odd storm, letting it waggle a bit in the wind and taking note of the distinct lack of moisture.      "Storms are supposed to be rainy, and.. Yeah, what's with that? Did this place have another name or something? Or..." She pauses to stroke her chin like some sort of old wise man. "Maybe... They came up with their own name without ever meeting the natives?"      That's where the name came from, right? She's not so good at remembering these things. Noticing the map, Kazuko peers over at it and gives Ren a firm nod. "Yeah, sounds good! We can find out if this storm's normal around here, at least, and then... Maybe see what they know about these people!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren leans against the concrete wall, and lets a rumbling sound come out of the back of his throat, halfway between a sigh and a growl.     "I can only apologize, Kazuko. Once again I've entangled you in another situation that you shouldn't have been involved in."     Of course, this is what life is like. That's why he doesn't insult her by asking if she wants to go back to the warpgate: for ones such as them, after this point the only thing left is to try and find some sense in the situation.     That's why, a few moments later, Ren is walking away from the buildings and towards the jungle. The closer one walks to them, the easier it is to realize that for its part alone, the rhythm of clacking sounds isn't coming from the sky- it's coming from somewhere out there, which means when you combine it with a map showing you the same direction. the only sensible thing is to follow it.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XlD40Tq4ZQ     Having a Wild Time - Yoko Shimomura     Kingdom Hearts - 2002     "When I came here, I swear the planet had a different name," he says, as he beats back on the jungle trail. There's rocks to skip over and mudslides to step over. And plants, of course.     "I can't imagine why. The world of Marronasi was recovering from war when I got there, but even one so severe wouldn't make them forget their cultural identity... or their promise..." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Eh? Hey, it's our job to deal with stuff like this whenever it pops up. That's nothing to apologize for!" Kazuko certainly looks confident enough, at least, giving Ren a reassuring grin and a slap on the back. "Now come on. Let's find some stuff!"      What are they looking for, anyway? The cat people, presumably! Taking off ahead of Ren probably isn't a great idea, though, considering that he's the one with the map, and she eventually settles back into moving in pace with him while keeping her eyes, ears, and nose open for suspcious movements.      Or whatever qualifies as suspicious in unfamiliar territory, anyway. At least Kazuko's gotten more used to these sorts of hikes after the last few tiems! "Well... If they've never heard of Maronasal, they probably just made up Tallgoose on their own. But if those were the natives before, then..."      She grunts lightly. "That wouldn't make sense at all, no... Do you think that ship'll have any clues?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren may have the map, but Kazuko's senses are surely just as sharp. Because he's got to keep track of where they're going, it's more likely that she'll notice the sound is getting closer than he will. And after a couple more minutes of moving, we come to...     Huh. Well.     It had probably seen better times in days before, but animals don't build stone on top of stone or four walled dwellings even if two of them (plus most of three and four) are tumbledown now. Other dregs of stone here and there are visible.     And so are the cats.     There's dozens of them here, the primate cat-creatures of which they'd seen before. They are, to a cat, clutching together stones and slamming them together in chorus: and furthermore, most of them are either clustered around a nearby square rock or a smooth round one up against the side of one natural wall.     On the square rock is a strange, glowing figure. It has a round body, which is mostly made of ribbons of ivory-like, glowing gossamer hovering close to one another. It has a total of eight limbs, but two end in long claws. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' That explains where all the noise is coming from! It doesn't explain what the noise is or what it's for, but once Kazuko notices that the cat people are doing... Whatever it is, she reaches for Ren to tug him down.      Stealth is still an option! Maybe. "Hey, Ren. See that?" She speaks in a hushed whisper while watching the... Ceremony? Dance? Whatever it is unfolding. The martial artist isn't quite sure whether to approach or to stay hidden for the time being, although she is trying to get a better glimpse of the figure and trying to make out if there's any cats with something fancier on or anything to denote them as the 'leader' in all of this.      "What do you think they're doing...? Hmm. Think they'll mind if we get closer?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "...well...!"     Ren looks at what's going on briefly...     And listens to Kazuko. "...it's worth a shot..."     TThere is, perhaps unfortunately, not an awful lot of ruin to hide behind. And, if the two of them get closer, it is plainly obvious- there's no way that these stubs, these bones of buildingwork could be something these animals had been working on. Even with another intelligence- if indeed that's what this is- the stonework is so claimed by time that there's no way it could be mistaken for anything but ancient ruins.     But if that's correct, then what exactly is going on here?     The cat creatures themselves don't seem to notice them. It seems they've been successful, but...     Subsequently, it seems as if the animals don't so much come to a coordinated stop in what they're doing as much as the display begins to fade away- and as it does so, so too does the storm above, almost in sync with the animals dropping their stones. However, the cats don't just disperse into the jungle- they mill around the ruins, seemingly confused.     The crab, for its part, does nothing. It doesn't even move. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' That's good enough for Kazuko. Still maintaining a grip on her weapon, she starts getting up to approach the cat-people when their ritual appaers to be coming to an end along with that mysterious dry storm. She looks even more confused than before, clearly having trouble parsing what had just happened. Weren't they just doing... That thing before? Why do they look more confused than she does? % Well, there's no sense in dawdling around without trying to get SOMETHING to happen. The martial artist gives Ren a light shrug before starting towards the cat-people properly, taking a deep (and loud) breath to make it clearer that she's not trying to sneak up on anyone before raising her free hand in a slow wave.      "Hi, kitty-people! I'm Kazuko. Was that you doing that just now?" Leaving natives alone be damned. There's something that needs figuring out, and she'll just take the direct approach! "With all the wind and stuff? That was cool!"      A little sweet-talking probably won't hurt, either. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Kazuko," Ren says gently, "They're just- they're not going to-"     And yet, something happens.     The problem is, this is where things get a little difficult. It is next to impossible to describe in words exactly what happens in the next few moments, but sufficed to say, someone says something. The problem is this: the multiverse, by its nature, lets intelligent beings communicate with one another no matter what barriers might exist. The problem here is:     In this case, an awful lot of barriers exist. For one thing, although sentient beings on the level of primates definitely have a way of communicating and being understood by one another, the concepts they communicate might not translate exactly into human words. For another, just because a being is as intelligent as a primate doesn't mean they are one- what is being said exactly may be difficult to understand, even if it is translated by the multiverse into meaningful words. For another thing, cats have different vocal cords to hominids, and that makes this all difficult once again.     And the most important thing that makes this all very strange and complicated is, that when this cat talks back to Kazuko, they only say one thing. And then they repeat it, again and again. It's almost as if they were parroting something they are capable of miming but do not understand. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' That's... That's not going to help matters much, is it? Kazuko furrows her brow as the cat people mimic her speech, being amused for only a few moments until coming to the realization that they have no idea what she's actually trying to communicate to them.      "... Uhh. Ren? I think they're friendly! I just dunno how to... This." She gestures at the cat people, then strokes her chin slowly while trying to will herself into coming up with something clever to resolve this predicament!      It's probably not a good idea to let her do this for too long. "I dunno if this gonna work. Hmm... You think maybe that crab rock's got something to do with this?" She asks as she turns back to Ren, gesturing at said crab rock thing before turning to one of the cat people and...      Pantomiming. She points at herself, then the crab rock, then picking something up. Maybe that'll work better than speech! Or... Not. She's just grasping at straws here! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     The cats are apparently... confused. Many of them just stand and watch Kazuko as she indicates to the crablike thing on the rock, which upon closer inspection doesn't seem to be an actual creature due to the fact that it seems to be hollow in the main body. It's etherial and glows, and when Kazuko tries to indicate it to the cats they seem to become restless, reacting to it as if they've just been pointed to their reflection in a mirror- except some of them are looking at it cautiously, others are pointedly NOT looking at it, and others still seem to actually start acting as if they are the reflection themselves, moving into a pose that mimics the squatting crab. Only some of them seem to pick up rocks in acknowledgement, and in general most of them seem restless and confused.     Another sound of thunder rolls across the sky.     "This doesn't make any sense," Ren says. "It's mysteries on top of mysteries. As much as you can see that thing sitting there, Kazuko, it's like ..."     Frustrated, he leans up against the round stone. "What's going on here almost seems too alien to understand."     And that's exactly when the stone crumbles out from underneath him, causing Ren to topple over backwards with pieces of rock hitting him on the head.     "...Eureka!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Gesturing seems to be doing... Also something! More than trying to talk to them, at least, and for a little while? Kazuko's going to be trying to mentally sorting out which cats are reacting in which way for future reference.      Of course, since it's Kazuko and doesn't involve food... That's not going to work at all. Thankfully, she doesn't waste too much time on that. She jumps slightly at the peal of thunder, then lets out a quiet grunt before turning back to Ren once more.      "It really doesn't... We can't really talk to these kitty-people, either. I think the crab's important for something, but..." She shrugs and starts pacing back and forth, stopping shortly afterwards with a slight wince at Ren's tumble.      "Rika? No, I'm Kazuko. Uh... You okay, Ren?" She offers her free hand to help him up, looking both concerned and confused by his odd outburst. "You think we should head back and get some other smart people on this?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Yes! Except no, except yes I'm fine but no this could be something terrible except - look, just follow me a second!"     Ren brushes rocks big and small off of his person and springs to his feet, moving inside the cave that the rock was concealing.     "As I was falling over I went to myself wait, if this is a big rock sealing off a cave then there has to be something awful inside, and if it's something awful then it has to be something /really/ awful like something people would want to make sure never saw the light of day again, except those animals back there aren't anywhere near as advanced to be afraid of anything except a really big fire, so how does this all add up?, and actually if I'm being honest here I'm hoping that there's nothing at all in here and I'm completely wrong because the alternatives are too horrible to even consider so-"     The cave ends abruptly. In the centre of it, opened out like a peeled banana, there is some sort of fallen, burned-out thing- crashed, landed and dragged in here but unmistakeably a device, and an incredibly complicated one at that but worn by what seems like centuries of decay-     And surrounding it are dozens of large crustacean shells.     Somewhere in the dark room, far away, a man is typing again.      http://i.imgur.com/sKngQdz.png 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "E-eh? Uh.. Okay!"      It's better than anything else Kazuko's got in mind, at least. Following Ren into the newly revealed cave, she makes sure to move carefully so as to not accidentally wedge her naginata across anything. The path needs to be clear if they ever need to make a narrow escape later! She starts to nod slowly as Ren spaeks rapidly, seeming to get the general gist of it while looking faintly confused nearing the latter part of it all.      "So there's gotta be something important or... Really bad in here, then? That means if we run into something down here, we either gotta fight it or-"      And there it is! The... Crab landing pod? It makes about as much sense as anything else Kazuko's seen today, but her curiousity is still getting the better of her as she starts moving towards the banana-device and the massive shells. "What do you think was in these...?"      Being the smart one, of course, Kazuko's first instinct is to start poking at stuff. Surely nothing can go wrong with that! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     ---     PART 3     Ren sits down on the floor of the cave.     Predictably, when Kazuko touches one of the shells she will find that they are exceptionally fragile. Very likely to fall apart.     "Kazuko," he begins. Has to feel this out first. "Do you remember how, before most people bought their milk from a supermarket, a lot of people had their milk delivered to them in bottles? And how there were sometimes problems with this, because birds would land on the bottles, peck the tops off and drink the milk before the people got to it?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko holds still as a shell shatters, staring at its remains before backing up RAPIDLY. She doesn't want to risk breaking more things than she already has! "Erk.. Uh.. Y-yeah? Well, I remember hearing that milk bottles were a thing. The bird pecking's new, though..."      A pause, and then she starts giggling. "I didn't even know birds could drink that. I mean... Birds are birds, not cows!" That little detour finished, the martial artist clears her throat before starting to circle around the banana-pod-device while making sure not to touch anything this time around (at least not on purpose).      "So what about that?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Well, neither are you, but everyone always told you to drink it. All sorts of animals like milk. Anyway, I'm drifting."     Ren crosses his legs, and props his chin up with one hand. "As the stories go, after several people found, or claimed to have found, one set of birds doing it, other people said that other birds were also found to be doing this in other places as well. Even across great distances. Even across large periods of time, in fact, when the original birds would have died off long before they could teach other birds."     He begins to toy with a piece of rust on the floor. "That thing over there is a ship. Or what remains of one, perhaps. Maybe these cats out there are the first sorts of sentient life to evolve on this planet, but they weren't its first people."     "Do you know what happens sometimes in the multiverse? Sometimes other worlds will disappear for a period of time, and then they'll come back, and an awful lot of time has passed for them but very little has passed for anyone else. All sorts of things can cause it. Magic. Sometimes technology malfunctions, sometimes, say, engines from a spaceship that crashes. It's supposed to warp time and space just a little to make the journey feel very short, but it breaks, and it makes things take very long. Sometimes the effect gets out of control. Long enough for a nearby planet's history to stretch on for so long it forgets an awful lot of things."     None of this seems to have very much to do with birds. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Oh yeah... Heh, yeah that makes sense!" Wait. wasn't this originally about birds? Kazuko smacks her cheeks before squatting in place to listen to Ren's explanation carefully, her eyes lighting up every now and then as things seem to click.      "Oh, like crows!" "Oh, like people!" "Oh, like... Uhh."      Okay. Kazuko's not really able to come up with an analogy for the ancestors thing. "Like... Cave people? But those were still humans or something, I think..." Clearly, history is not her strongest subject! And Ren continues, she actually looks more intrigued than anything else, especially at the notion of worlds flat out disappearing.      "Whoa... Really? So even your world or my world could just disappear for a while and come back... But with extra stuff! That'd be pretty cool..."      And of course, the point goes over her head until he flat out explains it. "So what you're saying is... Uh. Whoever used to be here isn't, so the kitty people took over? And those original people..." Kazuko pauses dramatically, then points at the crustacean shells. "... Were crab people!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Exactly!" Ren says. "And to get back to my original story, the idea is something called 'morphic resonance'. The idea that some sort of field exists that things are bound to outside of what's just in their heads. When one thing acts a certain way, the idea stays in the field and influences future people."     His voice grows dark. "Even if that thing dies. Even if /everything/ dies."     "These aliens landed on this world before intelligent life could grow, and then they died. So their behavior and ideas are still on this planet, influencing the cat people out there. But they're poisoning it. Before you walked right into the middle of them, shook them out of it, they were all just mimicking the lives of the crab people, however short those lives were."     He stands up. "Those researchers back there might be making all of this worse. We have to go back there and convince them to leave."     He offers her a hand up. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Now THAT's something Kazuko knows she hasn't heard of before. "Whoa... Really? That's kinda cool..." She murmurs quietly at the revelation, glancing around again to make sense of things with that newfound discovery. "The shells, the weird rocks, the confused kitty people... They were all just being confused by crab ghosts!"      That doesn't make it sound any less silly to her, though. Taking Ren's hand, the martial artist hops back up and steadies her grip on the naginata before starting towards the exit of the cave. "So if that's how much the crab people affected them, then the researchers before... It'd be even stronger with them, then!"      Now things are falling into place. "No wonder we gotta be careful... Does that mean the crab people had weather powers the kitty-people are still copying now, then?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "No, that's..."     Ren's voice grows dark. "This planet is still young, and belligerent. With so little life on it to occupy itself with, I think the planet itself has a will of its own. And its temper tantrums are coming through loud and clear..."     Back at the edge of the complex, Ren and Kazuko will see that some measure of power has been restored- of the squat concrete buildings scattered here and there in the wide, razed clearing, one of them has lights on. Petra can be seen working in front of the second one, replacing parts on the outdoor generator.     "Alright," Ren says, peering out from behind a tree. "I'm going to go into one of the buildings and see if I can win over Mr. Bourbon with a little of my natural charisma. You go over and see if you can do the same with Ms. Petra. Alright?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "So... The planet's pissed. Cooool." Is that a thing that can happen? Well, considering how the Multiverse is so... The Multiverse? Kazuko can believe it! Not that that's a good tihng or anything, but still. It's still neat!      Wait. They're still on the planet. That changes her tune fairly quickly, and she's soon following Ren back to the complex! "Yeah, we gotta stop 'em from doing this weird stuff. Leave Ms. Petra to me!" She grins confidently and smacks her chest a few times, then starts heading for the building they had seen those two in earlier. "I might not know anything about all this science-y psychologology stuff, but even I know when something bad is gonna happen just by looking at it!"      Hopefully, it'll actually be that easy. First things first: Actually finding the target! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     On some planets where life never develops at all, the entire world becomes a single sapient organism. Perhaps it could be said that as more life flourishes on a world, the sentience gets divided up between them. Or perhaps on a world where the learned people have not learned skepticism and cut themselves off from it, things like psychic phenomenons are still possible.     Didn't that young man you met on the internet talk about that sort of thing, once?     Petra is an electrician as well as a researcher, apparently- if you're familiar with this kind of thing, it's somewhat like when a small animal or an insect causes a short, causing blown fuses and things that need replacing.     Fortunately this place has plenty of spare parts, and she's wearing a rubber hazard suit, so she's in little danger. And the work is almost done.     For Ren's part, he's heading to the building which is already back up and running. It's one neither of them have been to before, but if the lights are on then Bourbon is probably inside working on something. All he needs to do is jimmy open a window and sneak inside... 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Unlike Petra, Kazuko's not quite prepared for anything the planet is throwing her way. She's had to use her weapon to smack away bushes, keep it low to not get hit by errant lightning, and even trying to communicate with the local wildlife has had mixed results at best! Still, even she can see the writing on the wall, and the writing's saying that this operation needs to be shut down!      Probably.      Eventually, the martial artist comes across Petra and hurries over to her, waving her free hand to try and get the woman's attention on the way over. "Hey! Heeey! You gotta stop this stuff now. The world's going crazy!" She gestures at the storms, at the forest surrounding the working field, the ship... Just about anything within eyesight. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Petra, bemused, looks up at Kazuko.     Oh, good grief, she thinks, the girl's back.     And she's bringing a - is that a long, metal object?     Maybe she'll be struck by a stray discharge and I won't have to worry about her.     She looks back at the work she's been busying herself with. She doesn't have an awfully large amount of time- the primitive cat-creatures had attacked the compound when Ren and Kazuko had gallavanted off into the jungle, and had only recently been forced away. In fact, Kazuko may be able to surmise something more had happened as she walks across the clearing- the building has cracked windows and bloodstains on it, and the ground is messier and scraped up.     "Don't talk nonsense," she replies to Kazuko, turning back to her work. "This is just a tropical storm. I have other things to worry about." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko frowns at the mess she's come back to, and she steps over what she can only hope is mud before stopping in front of Petra. "Maybe it is, but storms like this don't happen normally. Or... All that!" She gestures at the cracked windows and bloodstains, the messed up ground that doesn't look to her like the result of natural weathering...      "What happened here? Did the storm crap blood all over here?" She's certainly persistent, at least, even if it means being a pain in the ass to one of the few sentient lifeforms she's actually been able to communicate with this whole time. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "If it had, then I might actually have reason to be concerned," Petra replies, connecting some new fuses the size of her forearm in place. She stands up from her kneeling position and walks over to the breaker box, taking a key for it out of a sealed pouch. "But no, the animals came out of the jungle and caused a ruckus while you and your man friend were off doing whatever it was you were doing. I'm trying to re-establish power to building two and you're in the way." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's torn. On one hand, cool fuse. She might not understand how it all works, but it sure is interesting to watch! On the other hand, all this danger means /something's/ up, and it doesn't look like Petra's going to stop it herself. "The kitty-people...? Isn't that kinda weird to you? I mean.. All the rain and weird storming! The kitty-people getting angry over all this!"      As if to emphasize her own stance, Kazuko keeps standing right where she is. "If you keep doing this, worse and worse stuff could happen until everything gets screwed up forever. How are you gonna get any work done when that happens?" A pause, and then just to clarify... "... You won't! Because... EVerything's screwed up!"      The master debater is here. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     As Kazuko talks, Petra opens the breaker box and throws the switches inside. But once she's stopped doing that and is actually paying attention...     When she's finished, Petra is looking at Kazuko strangely.     "You know," she says, slowly. "You seem to be awfully invested in all of this."     "And for that matter, there's the question of how you got here, and who organized your transportation. And additionally, isn't it strange that the animals on this planet, which we are here to research, only became so restless after you got here?"     "If you were to ask me, it's awfully suspicious." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Now it's Kazuko's turn to get interrogated! Not confused, though, since she's been more or less confused about this the whole time. "Well... Yeah, I don't want this place blowing up while I'm on it, either!"      And then things start clicking in her head. Does this lady and what's-his-face not know about the warp gates? Quick, think of a good excuse! "... We fell."      Dammit Kazuko. You're not even a good liar! "So we can't just leave until we figure out how to. And if all this crazy stuff's happening, then it'll be harder to leave!" The martial artist narrows her eyes a bit as Petra suggests what she thinks sh emight be, although... Is she?      "Are you sure? how do I know you're not just saying that since I didn't see anything? Did you try talking to the kitty-people yet?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     In the secondary building...     "Bourbon! Where did you get this?" asks Ren.     "You can't have it!" he replies, clutching a weird opaque hexagon to his chest.     "Listen, Bourbon. Something terrible came of this, a-"     "It's a discovery more important than the research-!"     "You took this from the cave and sealed it back up, didn't you?"     "This could change the course of history..."     "I think it already has..."     "You're not a very good liar," Petra says to Kazuko. Darnit! "Although I'm beginning to think you're some kind of dreamer or an activist. I don't know whether to call you arrogant, backward or short-sighted. These creatures can't even talk to one another yet. Perhaps we could teach them, but we have an agenda to accomplish first... or do you know that already? Perhaps you've been trying to get ahead of us. Who do you work for? Where was the information leaked from?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It was worth a shot. Kazuko rustles a bit as Petra hits her with that trio of insults, and she points a finger accusingly at the woman in response. "Hey! I might not be the smartest person, but even I know when something dangerous is happening because people are messing with stuff they shouldn't! I mean... Teaching them isn't bad, but this doesn't look... Teachy!"      She gestures at the fuse and the strange clearing, then gives Petra a blank stare when she levels those new accusations at the girl. "... Eh? Know about whatnow? I don't work for anyone." She hums for a moment, tapping a finger to her chin eventually."Well, I do some delivery work for Mister Fayt, and there's the Union, but I don't think they care about this place..."      Tell Petra your life story, why don't you? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Except... bhaah, the problem is this is ancient history. Even if I told you this, it wouldn't make any difference," Ren snaps, mostly to himself.     "Then let me be and leave me to my work, sir!" Bourbon replies, connecting the hexagon to power.     "Bourbon, you must not try to use that technology-"     "Leave me alone! You've been nothing but a meddler ever since you first came here-"     There's a quiet brown spark of energy from the broken alien component-     "So what you're basically telling me is you're a patsy," Petra replies, narrowing her eyes. "Perhaps that's useful to kn-"     "Petra," a smooth voice replies, from someone standing in the doorway. "Are you causing a ruckus?"     http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1631745     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yobugCRpyvQ     Planet Healer - Seth Feelie     Homestuck - 2010     He is a man Kazuko will recognize. Standing almost six feet tall with a pointed chin and fair hair, he wears a grey suit that is utterly unlike a doctor's labcoat. His voice is so much smoother without the filter of cross-universe voice chat programs to tint it. This is the man that Kazuko will recognize as a friend she has on the internet.     "Kazuko Kawakami, as I live and breathe."     His name is Hollyhock. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "A pats...?" It's a word Kazuko's heard a few times before, mostly in her American shows. Not that she really ever understood what it meant, but in the context of those shows... "Nobody's using me for crimes! I mean, who even would?" It couldn't be Ren. He's never led her astray before. It couldn't be the Union. Even if there's always been bickering, none of them would really even know she's here. That leaves... The kitties? That other guy?      The martial artist doesn't quite get enough time to mull over that too long before she hears a familiar voice coming from the doorway. She does a double-take before looking over, tilting her head slowly as she finally recognizes who it's supposed to be!      "Ecchi? You're here, too?" Now she's just completely baffled. Why would he be here of all places? Talk about insanely weird coinciedences! "What're you doing here? How'd you even get here?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Hollyhock, this woman is suspicious. I'm fairly sure she was se-"     "Nonsense, Elizabeth. Kazuko, it's wonderful to finally be able to meet you. You're currently on the twin planet of my homeworld. I had planned on inviting you here in the future, but I'm sure it's fate that brought us together today," says Hollyhock. He's practically glowing to see her here, with a big beaming smile and a tenderness to his voice.     The winds pick up again, and cracking and clacking can be heard from the air and the jungle.     "Now, whyever did you insist that my good friend stay outside in these dangerous conditions? Let's go inside where it's safe and I'll do whatever I can to make you comfortable, Kazuko."     He beckons her in, and doesn't notice Petra seething.     In the other building, Ren and Bourbon stand stock still, the former reaching out with one arm, the latter recoiling from the table. The broken component from the aliens' timeship has frozen both of them in place. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Now things are /really/ getting weird. What's Hollyhock doing here of all places? Wasn't Kazuko just that guy she played games with online? Why would he be out here in... What was it called again? Pfermturn.. Tum... Something.      Multiverse names are so weird. Still, having a familiar face around does put the martial artist at ease somewhat, and she even grins as he invites her in. "Hey, yeah! It's good to see you.. Uh." She glances at the door with all that clattering noise, then heads in after Hollyhock.      And probably sticking her tongue out at Petra on the way in. Who ever said Kazuko was a mature lady?      "So... Uh. What is all this? Are you working with Elizabethtra, too?" That one had to be on purpose. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I don't wonder why you didn't just read my mind, sir," Petra says cattily. Then, to Kazuko, "Did he tell you he's a psychic? You know what they say about those people and keeping secrets."     It's not impossible, is it? People who play video games online could have any sort of profession or calling in the outside world. In truth it really is just remarkable coincidence that Kazuko has wandered right into Hollyhock's life without things being organized to bring them together.     "That's correct," Hollyhock replies to her. The building they're entering into is the same one that they were in before- but it looks like one of the machines that was supposed to be used to 'adjust and transfuse the body's humours' has been set up or even been used recently. Honestly, it looks like nothing more than half of an iron maiden, really. Rather disturbing.     "I am the supervisor of this expedition, and her superior," Hollyhock replies to Kazuko. "I'd endeavoured to visit this world so that modern science could be used to provide the means to pave a better future for everyone. We will use a combination of pioneering techniques and practical education to make this world into a utopia." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "... Eh? He is? You are? So... What number am I thinking of right now?" It's a trick. Kazuko's not thinking about numbers at all! She's thinking about takoyaki, actually. Also, cats. And cat people. And cleaning that little Christmas tree ornament thing dangling from her ponytail. Just what the hell is that thing, anyway?      THat's not important right now. The important thing is that the person who she thought was jsut a gaming buddy is actually responsible for all this... This! "Is that what this is all about? Mm... But what about free will and stuff? And the prime director? Messing around in undeveloped places making them get all weird and that statue explodes..."      Now she's just mixing up her references. "Improving stuff's not bad, but... You're seeing all the crazy storms, right? That can't be normal for this place, can it? It might be the planet trying to warn you... Or ghosts!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "You are in fact thinking of a diced octopus covered in batter snack, which I don't know the name of, but I would love to try it," Hollyhock replies, after a little visible concentration.     Petra lingers at the door.     "I can understand why you might be worried," he continues to Kazuko. "But you needn't. It's fine. Let me put it to you this way, Kazuko: everyone of us can have the choice to commit a crime. Or so that is what people believe. But what if that isn't true?"     "What if free will is not as free as many people would like to believe? What if people are predisposed to acting a certain way, prisoners of their bodies?"     "Sir, I would be very worried about revealing more about the project than is absolutely necessary," Petra interrupts. "I have reason to believe that this woman may be working with rivals or even saboteurs who are independently-"     "Petra, do be quiet," Hollyhock almost-snaps. "I won't hear you speaking poorly about her."     "Oh, good grief." TOutside, the wind begins to whip up again. There is something terrible brewing.     "Are you familiar with the idea of morphic resonance, Kazuko?" Hollyhock asks. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "... Coooool." Kazuko's legitimately impressed! And just a little worried. But mostly impressed! She doesn't have to fake a reaction, at least. "It's takoyaki. Yeah, you should try it some time. It's really good!"      Right. Serious time. Clearing her throat to dispel some of that lingering joking time, Kazuko listens to Hollyhock intently as he goes on about the nature of free will. The role of nature, possibly even nurture. Not that she knows that those are even theories, of course, but at least the core idea is sort of swimming around in there somewhere.      "I told you. I'm not working with whoever you're..." She pauses. "There's other people out here doing this same stuff?" That's an interesting thing to take a mental note of. She suppresses a grin (badly) when Hollyhock scolds Petra again, but she does put on her serious face again when he mentions morphic resonance.      "Oh! Is that the thing where... Oh, REn mentioned this. Uhhhm. When someone does a thing, them doingt hat thing stays in that place so later people sorta also want to do that thing?"      It made more sense in her head than it did coming out of her mouth. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' There's a thunderclap from outside, and Petra lets out a nervous giggle. In all truth she's honestly beginning to feel more freaked out by the strange storms than she's letting on to anyone, and by this point she's gripping onto her idea that there are hidden conspirators or saboteurs responsible for some of the bizarre events as a form of deluding herself. She begins to take a step or two backwards and away from the other two, moving to one of the shelves.     "Absolutely," Hollyhock replies, his voice full of enthusiasm. He doesn't seem to notice Petra- all of his attention is on Kazuko.     "I know that what we're doing here may seem unsettling, but I- Kazuko, I've felt a wrongness, perhaps even a malice here on this untamed world. It is my hope- my dream- that perhaps if we can influence these creatures at this early stage we can /save/ them from this tendency that I fear is brewing within them. And if we can change this now at this early stage, and perhaps with a little more work, we can make sure that it is passed on through to future generations, so that-"     Click.     "Sir, stop telling the spy all of our plans," Petra says. Her voice is trembling, but she's walked out from behind the shelves with a gun- a real gun, steel-blue and bulky, aimed right at Kazusa's forehead. Outside, the cats emerge from the jungle once again, carrying sharpened stones with reeds tied around to protect their hands from the sharpened edges, and long branches with pointed flints on the end. The trees are shivering.     "Petra, no. Petra, what are you doing."     "You're compromised, sir. I'm sorry. I can't let all of our work be compromised by insurgents." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Hollyhock's got good intentions, at least! It's... Actually enough to keep Kazuko from worrying as much about all the crazy shit going on outside. Sure, Ren's got a point about the planet maybe fighting back against these intruders, but what if Petra's right about their arrival throwing things off? Or if Hollyhock's right? What if... Whatever it is he's got brewing here is actually going to stop that?      Then again, the mind contro thing still isn't sitting quite well with the girl. When she hears the telltale click of a gun, however, she brings up her naginata into a more defensive stance as she turns to face... PETRA.      "I told you, I'm not a spy! That's more Yamato's thing, anyway! Or Azumi. Maybe Margit...?" Kazuko narrows her eyes a bit, although it seems like she's a little distracted as she shakes her head. "No... No, she's too easy to see. Unless she had a wig or something..."      Right. Current threat, not future spy potential! She braces the naginata while watching Petra cautiously, keeping herself in between her and Hollyhock. "Put the gun down, lady. I don't wanna hurt you-" True. "-and I've fought way bigger stuff-" True. "and blocked bigger shots before!" False. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     In Petra's viewpoint, Kazuko is basically pointing a stick at her, which she might as well have picked up from the jungle. In fact, she probably did, didn't she? What is she, some sort of environmental rights guerilla? Or-     Kazuko shouts off several names, and Petra's eye twitches. "I see. So there's at least four other people here. I see. I see. Alright. I don't know where they are, but perhaps they'll be more inclined to come out if I-"     "Kazuko," Hollyhock says fearfully. "This isn't the same as the games. You must- Petra, please, listen to r-"     "Oh, shut up and stop defending your internet crush," Petra spits back at him. There's the sound of things clashing against the walls, and her expression gets even more fearful. "God, she really did a number on you, didn't she? But she can't fool me. They brought her along to try and work you over. But if I threaten to put a hole or two in her, I'm sure the other four will come right out of hiding! Perhaps I'll put a hole or two in her anyway, yes!"     "Don't you HURT HER-"     Everything suddenly gets horrible. Hollyhock lunges at Petra out of nowhere, taking her by surprise. Something from outside cracks one of the windows. Kazuko may even feel the need to get involved herself. The gun's dropped, reached for, someone shoves someone else, the lights flicker, the power hiccups, the other person trips, something is yanked on-     And Hollyhock stumbles and shouts and crashes backwards into the 'Iron Maiden'. Fifty different needles jam into him at once, pushing and pulling and stuttering as the machine makes a ghastly sound-     And a shock of pain runs through everyones' heads as the windows shatter and the wind whips into the room! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "... Eh? No, they're back home. But-wait, that's not important now! Just put that down or-" Internet crush? Wait, where'd that come from? Kazuko's not even sure what to think of that, and she doesn't have much of an opportunity to when things start going to shit really fast. Between Petra with the gun and talking about people that aren't there, and then Hollyhock going after the gun...      Yep. Things need to get resolved fast. As expected, the martial artist gets involved, and there's at least 70% more punches thrown with possibly more skill than either Petra or Hollyhock can muster combined, depending on how much actual training they've got! The gun might even get smashed once it's on the ground, but whatever the case is? Having her internet friend fall into the dangerous-looking machine isn't a good sign. "Ecchi! Hold on, I-"      And then suddenly PAIN. Kazuko drops to a knee as she tries to fight it off, clutching her head with a sharp cry. It's the feeling of wind suddenly coming in that snaps her out of her daze, though, before she starts fighting through the pain to get to the machine and try to pry him right off the thing. "Hold on! Keh... What even is this thing?!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     In the other building, something shorts out and explodes with a pop, and Ren falls against the table with a jolt. Likewise Bourbon, who is sporting a far more wrinkled face and more grey hair than he was five minutes ago. The pain likewise scores through his head, and for a moment Ren's eyes widen- this feeling carries with it a sense of terror, hopelessness and the fear of imminent death, not just for one's self but for others nearby. But was this a recent feeling, or one from hundreds of years ago?     And does it make a difference?     Hollyhock is writhing in the grip of the machine, and Kazuko does her best to try and pull him out. But there's too many needles running him through, and the pressure in everyone's head is intense-     And suddenly, the machine emits a SNAP as it falls apart at the hinges, disassembling in a way that no normal malfunction could do. Kazuko's hands are still half-holding onto Hollyhock, who still has needles jabbed into him in dozens of places- but he's not bleeding at all, and there's an odd shimmer in his eyes as he blinks and looks up at her.     "Kazuko..."     Is what he tries to say, but the wind howling in from the broken window is blotting out his voice.     So he looks at it with irritation- and the wind stops. So too, do the movements of the cat primitives outside, who as Ren sees when he steps outside are now all frozen and confused.     Much like when Kazuko disrupted things back in their village.     "I feel so... I feel /incredible/..." whispers Hollyhock.     When Kazuko looks into his eyes, she can see the steady turn of the entire planet, embodied in one man's will. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     ----     PART 4     Hollyhock walks out of the door to the building, faintly giggling at the way he feels. His head hurts a little, but it's nothing compared to the /energy/ he feels now. All of the cat-primitives are standing in place, seemingly with no will of their own, even when he comes outside. Hollyhock lifts his hand up and traces a line in the air- and a gale of wind blows along nearby. He looks at the sky and rain falls down- then stops- then starts again- off, on, off, on, like flicking a lightswitch.     He looks at the cats and looks a little puzzled at them, and with slow, deliberate movements he begins making them moving in directions of his choosing.     "My goodness! Isn't this wonderful, Kazuko?"     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4eN6y6_bTg     Kingdom Hearts 2 -Sacred Moon     Yoko Shinomora - 2006 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko is still in a bit of a daze as she steps out of that building with the... Awakened? Corrupted? Empowered? SHIN Hollyhock, having landed a little roughly after her attempt to free him from that strange device. "Hnn..? Did the sky get more broken since before...?"      Shaking her head, the martial artist peers outside with a blank stare crossing her face when she notices that things have changed further. The rain looks like it's going haywire, the cat people are moving even more strangely than before, and her internet friend is... Pleased with all of it for some reason?      She might not have made the connection just yet. It'll happen in a little while. "What's wonderful? The sky's broken, and the kitty people aren't moving right! Something's really screwy here..."      Of course, once she does finally figure it out (or gets told outright)? "Ohhh. Oh. So does that mean you're like that black lady with the weather powers or that bird lady with the psychokiwhatsis and keeps dying but comes back a month later because of clones or something?"      Grasping the severity of the situation might take a little while longer. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Elsewhere on the planet:     Weather patterns continue to turn over as they always have.     Elsewhere on the planet:     Flowers continue opening as they always have.     Elsewhere on the planet:     A chasm spontaneously rips open in a short line, and all of a tree's branches bar five spontaneously tear off.     I'm sure that last one's nothing to worry about.     "No, no, look, don't you see?" Hollyhock says, turning around to Kazuko, his voice going from 0 to 'a bit desperate to please' in 0.2 seconds. He makes a squeezing motion with his thumb and finger, and rain falls on a spot ten feet away from Kazuko- and only there, like a spotlight. He turns to the cats, and one of them scampers up into a tree and brings an interesting-looking fruit right to Kazuko's feet.     "Look at what I can do! Isn't it wonderful, Kazuko? Now that this is happened I can complete my work in a fraction of the time!"     He thinks. "I'm not quite sure, but I definitely think I'm something more than a mere superhero. I can feel... I can feel everything around us, almost to the edge of the clearing. It's spreading all of the time. Goodness. Given some time I'll spread out further and further... think about that! Continent to continent- the sky's the limit for me!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Absolutely nothing to worry about. EVERYTHING IS FINE. Probably.      When Hollyhock confirms that it's actually a newfound power and not just the sky going crazy, Kazuko looks.... Impressed? Wait, this isn't how it's supposed to go at all! "Whoa, cool... So does that mean you can do ice, too? Or..." She blinks slowly as the cat people brings her a fruit, and her eyes light up. "Oh! OR snow cones?!"      Dammit, Kazuko. You're supposed to be discouraging this sort of behavior! Thankfully, she does have enough sense to notice that something's off, and she peers at the cat again. "That's la lot of power, yeah, but... Uh. Wait, was that kitty-person bringing me a present or was it mind control or something?"      At least not /all/ hope is lost for her. She strokes her chin, then glances back inside the building. "... What /was/ that machine, anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     The sky is definitely not going crazy. Crazy is not a thing it is. He's perfectly sane.     wait did I say he     obviously I meant it     he is perf- i- he, the sky, is perfectly sane.     ah, fuck.     "Ice, ah," Hollyhock thinks. He's striding back and forth now, "Ice might be a little difficult. I mean that's a lot of water droplets I need to crystallize, and every one has to be unique of course, yes. Do you know I don't think the machine really matters? All I know is that for a moment I felt dreadfully alone and like I was dying, and all of a sudden it felt like I was sort of far away, and then all of a sudden I felt so much bigger, but also that there was a lot of emptiness around me, but of course that's not true at all because you're right here, of course-"     Ren slips out of another window, now free of the timestop that kept him out of the erupting situation. He peers around a corner, too cautious to go straight over to Kazuko.     "I mean, I really have you to thank, Kazuko. If it wasn't for you I don't know what might have happened ELIZABETH! Elizabeth Petra!"     All of a sudden, Hollyhock's head snaps around almost fifty degrees- just a little over the point where it's uncomfortable, but it doesn't seem to really phase him.     That's because he's looking at Elizabeth, who slipped out a couple minutes ago and is now watching both of them from behind a crate.     "Elizabeth, come here."     She doesn't do that. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Dammit, science. What's all this about crystallizing? "It doesn't have to be that fancy if we're just gonna eat it."      Priorities, Kazuko. Priorities!      Her eyes glaze over a bit when Hollyhock starts going on about... Something. What he was feeling inside the machine? What he's feeling now? And what's that have to do with her? She does eventually get her expression to cooperate into something less dumbfounded, though, and she perks up just a bit when she hears Ren coming out that window. Not that she knows it's him or anything yet, but with Hollyhock behaving so strangely, it's probably better if she doesn't look around too much until she knows what it is he's even babbling about.      "Really? Well... I mean, if I wasn't here, then you woulda just been working normally, right? Or..."      Right, the work! It's still all going right over her head, but she doesn't quite have a chance to ask about that with him suddenly seeking Petra out. Kazuko does cringe a bit at the sight of his head turning that much, but...      That's not going to stop her from creeping closer to give his neck a little poke. Just to see, really! And then it's time to see what Petra's up to. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' kazuko please remember your third grade science classes     Things get a little strange, as Hollyhock then turns to begin moving towards Petra while turning his head back to continue talking to Kazuko, as if head and body just did a switch of orientation.     "Well, I would have invited you eventually. That was part of the plan."     Petra finds her legs again and bolts, heading to the edge of the clearing and the trackless jungle beyond it. Hollyhock's face creases for a moment, and he turns away from Kazuko to begin walking after her. "One moment."     "This isn't good," Ren says, moving up behind Kazuko. "That man's powers bridged the gap between the terror he was feeling, and the lingering terror of that dying species. It means he's tapping into the morphogenetic field of the planet. Who knows what it could do to him...?"     "If you wanted, you could stay here and wait, or we could walk and talk as well, it's kind of easier than I'd expect having these sort of disjoined chats while we're busy doing something, even if all of the things we talk about don't exactly line up," Hollyhock calls back to Kazuko. As he begins following Petra, the plants begin bending out of his way- even if they have to crack and snap to do so. "I mean I could tell you about all of the ideas I'm having! I'm starting to get really full of ideas!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO YOU'RE NOT ME REAL DAD MY PARENTS ARE DEEAAAAAD      "Oh! That's... You planned this, too?" That's actually a little creepy. Just how far ahead did Hollyhock think for this whole... Thing? Besides the needle stabbing part, anyway. Kazuko nearly jumps when she hears Ren's voice coming from behind her, then relaxes when she realizes he's not doing that weird head-turny thing. "Y... Yeah. I mean, the powers are cool, but... Let's see how it goes." She nods slowly at him while keeping her eyes on Hollyhock, lowering her voice briefly before hurrying up to follow after him.      "Y.. Yeah! We can talk about... Stuff. Uh. So what kind of ideas are those?" She prepares to nudge those plants away with her naginata as she draws closer, but raises an eyebrow curiously when they actually move before she can touch them. "Weather powers, bird powers, and now plant lady powers...? What was in all those needles and stuff, anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Are your parents actually dead, Kazuko? I'm so terribly sorry, please forgive me-     I AM THE NARRATOR GET OUT OF MY CONCEPTUAL SPACE, HOLLYHOCK     "Did you feel that?" Ren asks. "What a disturbing sensation."     let's not continue any further down this line     "Well, no," Hollyhock says. For all intents and purposes depite keeping on talking to Kazuko, it's plain to see that this has become a scene from a daylight horror movie- Petra is clearly running for her life, not even concerned where she's going as long as it is /away from him/, whereas the landscape itself is shying away from Hollyhock's stride, as the man walks slowly behind her with scintillating eyes.     "What happened with the machine was clearly wrong, and Petra must clearly be punished for it." As he begins to walk now, something makes an irregular, deep depression in the jungle floor, like a finger pushing down into the ground.     "It's the biosphere of the planet itself," Ren says, warily- speaking up to Hollyhock for the first time. "If you keep on going like this, then you, and everything that makes this nascent planet what it is, will become inseperable."     "I kind of like that idea," he replies. "I mean..." "Isn't the idea wonderful? The dream I had? To be able to understand things on this level? To be able to make these kind of decisions? I could choose the destiny of this planet. I could give that kind of right to you, Kazuko."     Oh dear.     "I wanted to show you this world- I wanted to give you this world. And now, that sort of thing is possible! Together, the two of us could have another chance! We could start all over again, be reborn in this new world, together! A whole world for us, to decide destiny- together!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' What line? There is no line in the DEAD PARENTS ZONE      "Oh. Then... Wow. That really was a close one, then!" Kazuko giggles for a moment to try and keep the mood up despite the weirdness of it all. It's not like she can blame him for wanting to get back at Petra considering she /did/ try to kill the both of them and sent him into the stabby needle machine. "Hmn... I think she's gotten the message by now, though, yeah? She's freaked out already."      He wouldn't really try to kill her or anything, right? Hollyhock's not that sort of person. Maybe.      Blinking when Ren makes his presence known, her eyes flit between the two a few times with more of that confused stare coming in every now and then. Nascent? Inseparable whatnow?      Leave it to the guy with the growing god complex to actually make more sense for once. "Understanding stuff is good! Er. If you... Actually understand it. I dunno how long it'd take me to figure all of this stuff out myself..."      Probably longer than most people would live. She's a hard worker, but even she has her mental limits! "But all this stuff you're talking about.. Isn't that kinda... A lot of stuff for one person to handle? That's what having a bunch of smart people around is for. Maybe you could bring in some of your other friends for this. Like..."      Oh. Right. One of them's running away already. The other is... Somewhere. How else can she dance around this issue, then...? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Well," Hollyhock says again. "She took a few decent swings at attempting to kill me. I'd say it's only fair." More of those sharp stabs into the ground are cropping up as he walks along. Ren mouths the word 'crab' as he looks at them, only half looking at Kazuko as well.     "(You remember what I said?)" he asks her. "(The planet isn't old, and nothing with complicated thoughts came along before those crab creatures left their mark on it. And now, humans. The planet has a mind of its own and it's bridging the wrong connections.)"     "The two of us could do it together," Hollyhock replies.     As is perhaps inevitable, it ends in a cliff. Petra wasn't paying attention to where she was running and now there's nowhere left to run, with the only choices being Hollyhock behind her and a significant drop into a ravine in front.     "I don't have any other friends," he says to Kazuko. "You were the only person I had. The only person I felt like I could connect with."     There's six divots in the ground around him now. Petra has sank to her knees at the edge of the cliff, terrified of what's happening beyond words.     "I'm promising you the world, Kazuko! I control it, we can make it into our own image! I can give you the power!"     He turns around to face her, and when he does the air around him ripples, as if he's stood in the centre of a huge, phantasmal...         Crab.     "I'm doing this because I love you!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Mm... Well, just don't go too far, okay?" Kazuko warns, looking increasingly uncomfortable with the whole everything as they continue along the weirdly holey path. She nods towards Ren lightly, and for once, it seems as if they might on the same wavelength.      Hollyhock is becoming a crab person.      "Together? But I don't know anything about government or conservationalism aside from what the school tells us." It's true! She's taken those lessons to heart, at least, but pulling garbage out of a local river is a different matter entirely from handling fish populations on an entire planet!      Also, the whole planet thing is still throwing her off. That, and that abrupt declaration of love. Oh boy. It's Kuki all over again. Well, except one with a god complex and powered by long-dead crab people instead of having a vast fortune and robots and a ex-merc ninja maid.      "... Eh? Oh. That's... Ah. That's..." How awkward. Kazuko looks left, then right, then at Petra, then at Ren, tehn back at the path they had just came. Ohhh boy. This needs to be handled delicately. Very, very delicately...      "Mmmmaybe we can talk to some smart people I know? They know a lot more about this sort of world-building thing than I do. Like Ren! Or Yamato! Or Master Lu?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' The thing is, Hollyhock looks entirely the same as he always has. That's the worst part, that there is a terrible, mixed-up sincerity on that baby face. It's the expression of someone who thinks he knows what he's feeling; of someone who has never had a real relationship with a woman in his life.     And at the same time...     It's impossible to see it, really. It's like an image was superimposed over the camera shot of your mind's eye for a moment, visible only by the edges and the curves: something that resembles the crumbling carapaces in the sealed-up cave, perhaps even worse for that memory. It is so much larger than life, because of course it would be.     But it's still him. It's still the friend she made on the internet.     "Don't you believe me?", he asks.     He closes his eyes, and then he pinches them shut: the headaches are getting worse. There's a quiet, scared sobbing coming from behind him."     "Just a minute," Hollyhock says, looking back at Petra. "You're bothering me. You don't belong here, this is my world. Kazuko, I'll get back to you, I just need a second to kill her." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' A worried frown crosses Kazuko's face as things continue to unfold before here, and not in the good sort of way where things seem like they'll work out for the better. No... This is not going well at all. She tosses a quick look Ren's way before lookg over at Petra, offering her a sympathetic look before sighing and approaching Hollyhock. "Ecchi... Come on. I know you can figure out how to make things better sooner or later, but right now..." The martial artist draws closer, reaching a hand towards his face, and...      Gives him a light whack on the side of the head. Not a hard one, but the sort that a sister would give to a brother that's being stupid or stubborn or whatever. Even Kazuko can play the straight man sometimes! "You're being really weird now. Just think first, huh? This stuff's all new, but there's lots of time to learn it first! And Petra... I mean, sure, she did bad stuff, but... Why not a huge wedgie instead? That'll show her a lot better!"      It's half pleading, half joking. Still, it's clear probably clear that even she's having trouble trying not to freak out over all this herself. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka is worried, himself. The situation is reaching the point where, objectively, someone else should step in, and he /is/ the only someone else here right now. But Ren knows Hollyhock's power is growing outwardly, and as a psychic he may be powerful enough to destroy /Ren's/ mind before the headaches grow enough to destroy /his/.     Kazuko approaches her friend instead. When she gets closer- and, indeed, when she bops him on the head- she can see that the pattern in his eyes has changed to resemble that of the swirlinge centre of that stooped crab in the ruins. Giving him a bop -     There's something in that gesture, and what lies behind it- and what /doesn't/- that makes those eyes widen. He might understand, now.     But his hands are shaking. "Kazuko. I- everything y-you're saying makes sense, but... I can remember s-something that's not /me/- something t-that wants to..." "...there's a memory of something else on this world, from long before anything else," Ren says. He thinks, eyes closed himself in a moment of calm. It's not vengeful spirits. Were it only so simple. It's memories- the memories of those beings who died unfulfilled, wishing for another chance, hating death- but at the same time bitter and full of hate for something that isn't them. Ren thinks, and carefully chooses his words next. "If you wipe them out, you will eliminate the chance that they will influence life that develops here in the future. But. Remember that if you do, you'll be destroying the last memory of those people."     There's a lump in his throat. "But what if this is what I've always... been afraid of? The evil choice that changes destiny before someone can experience it?"     "...and what if you're wrong?" Ren asks.     Hollyhock looks at Kazuko again. "...what would you have me do?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Maybe it's Kazuko's upbringing. Maybe it's the circumstances she was raised in. Whatever the case is, when she's presented with a nigh-impossible choice like this where neither choice seems particularly palatable?      It's time to try plan B. "Ecchi. Holly. Hockey. Stay calm. Remember! You've got us to help you, too! Me! Ren!" She flashes him a broad grin, fighting off her own fear to try andr eassure him as she gestures at herself, Ren, and even... Even...      "... Paprika?" Sounds about right. She gives him one more bop on the head, albeit a gentler one this time, before ducking down and reaching... Between his legs? Waaaait a second. Why's she hooking her arm around his leg? Why's she standing and-oh. She's trying to get him into a fireman carry! Why?      Even Kazuko's not sure. Still, she has to do something to get this adrenaline out of her system, and she's even starting to get some ideas as she goes on this confusing path! "I dunno which choice is the right one or the wrong one, but... But I know we can figure it out! We just gotta get back to the kitty people and that... Uh. Other guy, then we can figure it out between all of us. You better come, too, Pepper!" And with that, if Hollyhock's not resisting too much? She'll just start bolting with him in tow, trying desparately not to trip on the way back down. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     At first, it looks like everything is going to work out okay, it really does.     With some effort, Petra is convinced (mostly by Ren) to stand back up and, with a lot of help by him and a guarantee that she doesn't have to go anywhere near Hollyhock, starts shakily walking back away from the ravine. A little bit of cajoling on his part and he'll insist to Kazuko that she doesn't need to carry him. But he is, so he says, still a little scared, so if she could just hold his hand a little.     And they manage to get about twenty paces back in the direction of the base before it goes badly wrong.     Kazuko will feel it first. He's squeezing her hand ... just a little too tight, and--     And you can look ahead, and see the cats in front walking just like he's walking. And either side... there are trees on either side of them tearing themselves up by the roots just like he's walking.     And the clouds above them are moving just like he's--     Hollyhock's hand is SQUEEZING Kazuko's, two-and-three fingers squeezing either side of her hand like a pincer. And that's when another surge of shaking energy knocks everyone off of their feet, shaking the bent jungle once again, making the wind whip and tear around them like a hurricane out of nowhere, howling.     "It... it hurts!" Hollyhock shouts helplessly. "It's- it's so much-!" "His power is still expanding outwards," Ren says. "Hollyhock! This is your mind, isn't it?! You can still stop this! You can disconnect yourself!"     "But what do I do?!" he shouts back. "If I can destroy these memories like you want me to this is the only chance I'll have!"     "I don't want you to do anything!" Ren shouts back. "Someone has to choose!"     He can't bring himself to look at Kazuko. He has to hold ono Petra, who's freaking out again.     But someone has to choose. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko is, if nothing else, the helpful sort, and she doesn't even question it when Hollyhock asks for that assistance even if it's just some handholding. Between the five of them (if they can find that guy) and the rest of the cat people? Maybe everything will work out without having to choose!      Until things stop working and instead start blowing up. Although she manages to ignore that pain in her hand as nothing more than frayed nerves from everything that's happened, it's a lot harder to ignore that energy knocking everyone over and the screaming from Hollyhock. "Wha..? We'll get you some..."      It's all coming from that connection, isn't it? The crab people that longer were, the cat people who's safety hinges on deciding what's to happen now, and everyone in danger because of everything that's going on...      "Then... Then destroy them! There won't be anyone around to remember later if everything gets blown up now!" And there it is. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Taynoel will not remember that.     A psychic connected to a dangerously fathomless source of power he may be, but Hollyhock is still a psychic. Now that he knows and wants to disconnect himself from the source of power, he can do it- but before he does so, he uses that vital thing he brings to the entire connection- /intelligence/ and turns the power back on itself. It's impossible to say how he does it or how to explain it happens, but with one shout of effort from Hollyhock he shreds the centuries-old echo in the planet's morphogenetic field. Whoever those beings were, they disappear from memory- literally, in truth.     The scientists return to their base of operations. When she recovers her wits, Petra requests removal from the expedition immediately, and her associates declare it be so due to her suffering from a nervous breakdown. She is only happy to take it, and she and Hollyhock are happier for the fact that they never see one another again.     Bourbon is unable to explain why he has experienced what seem to be several sudden additional years of aging due to the malfunction of the broken timepiece. Nevertheless he insists on remaining part of the investigation into the planet, staying on board with Hollyhock in an attempt to pursue a less invasive examination of the primitives developing on the planet.     Hollyhock experienced a decrease in his psychic powers having disconnected himself from the planet's morphogenetic field. Because of this, he is able to learn how to read people socially and develops proper relationships with other people. He is also finally able to realize he needs to attend grief counselling rather than distracting himself from it.     The exploration into the twin planet Taynoel is later advised to change its ways to become a remote observation of the developing society. Eventually, it withdraws due to concerns that it may be influencing the primitives, and the planet focuses on rediscovering the lost history that disappeared.     Some days later, Ren and Kazuko get to go on a proper picnic. 
}}

4412/Is it Really OK to go to a Public Restaurant When You're Sick

2016-08-10T06:37:43Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/08/10 |Location=Void - Deeper Void (South) |Synopsis=Dealing with sentient viruses, talking about current events, eating pizza and drinking or..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/08/10
|Location=Void - Deeper Void (South)
|Synopsis=Dealing with sentient viruses, talking about current events, eating pizza and drinking orange juice in a futuristic hole-in-the-wall eatery. Just another morning in the multiverse, really.
|Cast of Characters=165, 151
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Probably not, but here we are anyway. Set in the backdrop of a charming little hole-in-the-wall restaurant who has been muddling along since galactic year 2442, Ren is just here to meet up with a friend and not be a typhoid mary, sure. I mean the latter part may not have occured to him but when do certain important things ever?     Currently he's casually sat at a table holding one wrist down in a deathgrip while his left leg kicks the right leg in the shins under the table. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley walks over and comes to a halt at the table he's at, apparently comfortable enough navigating a futuristic little hole-in-the-wall pizza place. She looks... just... absolutely haggard. Like some conversation she had has sapped her energy completely. But she sees the sight of Ren fighting himself. And she makes a sucking noise through her teeth after a click of her tongue, obviously offput by the sight of an ally in such a state. It's a little shocking.     "I'll skip right by asking for your go ahead for this. You look like you need help badly and it looks like they're gaining ground on what they're trying to do to you."     She slips into her seat and closes her eyes a moment. Then she opens them, and her eyes are filled with brilliant Blue magic circles, opened as widely as she can possibly make them. Points of white light in her pupils flicker like she's a computer scanning him rapidly. She focuses on him in search of the virus attempting to communicate this information to his nervous system and bodyjack him. It's not invasive in the way normal magic is and may not be detected... But she came here with her sword as well, in case this turned into 'fight the mind-controlled ally' day. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka immediately ignores it, probably. Before Ainsley can even really get around to saying anything he's leaning across the table and looking at her.     "Goodness gracious, you really have seen better days, haven't you? Traveller you will cede to our demands or-" Shakes cheeks, like a dog does, lots of silly noise. "Excuse me I'm talking." THe listens to Ainsley- then, gives the impression his problems are the furthest thing from his mind as he keeps on talking without missing a beat. "Has something been happening in Drachenblatt? I got sidetracked with Kazuko and Alice a little while after I did that phone tapping stuff, I don't even have the faintest how that all unravelled."     "Ah hm," Ren mentions mostly with his mouth open when Ainsley scans him. He makes a rather unpleasantly long throat-clearing sound, and-     "Oh, the good Princeps of Nanonex Enterprise? You are a bitter fellow. Didn't quite know who you were dealing with. Excuse me, Ainsley."     Ren takes a little tube out of a backpack which is really just a YuYubottle, and hops off of the table with a full-body, muscle-wracking sneeze that leaves the whole thing half-filled with metallic purple? dust about half-way filling it.     He idly begins screwing it shut. "So where was I?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "It's the hour, and I was using my magic for too long." She thinks on the whole thing, recalling how Ren's been out of touch for a little while. "Well... Klaus is alive," Ainsley tells Ren. "There's that. We also know that there's someone actively setting traps for us. The Huntsman. I also got the dubious honor of having been put on a special place on the Black Queen's hit list, because my powers are a direct threat to what she's doing. I could eventually track her down. Maybe. She represents something about humanity that may not be defeatable in the traditional sense, I think."     Once she's gotten it all down, she squints her eyes and then reaches out gently with one hand, her fingers making a weird gesture. A feeling of tension in the air happens as she tries to gently, gently, GENTLY... nudge the invading substance with her magic so that she can get an idea of where it might come from. Sometimes these things have information coded into them that can be read if looked at the right way. It makes a nearby radio FREAK THE F*** OUT, spooking one of the customers. A light above them flickers as the computerized automatic lighting system gets affected by this.     "Let's hope they didn't account for my flavor of magic," she murmurs.     "Besides this, have you been alright?" she wonders. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' 'Idly', but the last couple twists are those kind you make to ensure nothing's getting out of there. He puts it down by his leg and turns to Ainsley thoughtfully.     "Alright, that's good then, that's good," when it comes to Klaus. "That's bad," when it comes to someone setting traps for us.     He turns and looks to see if anyone's going to bring over a second menu before he looks back at Ainsley.     "I do so... not the biggest fan of the mirror forest by a long shot, or what it represents really. I suppose if you've talked to Igor and the Pig, I could still try to talk to... what were the others? Woodsman, Wolf and Red Queen?" Ainsley's probably been around to hear Ren be explicitly warned not to try and strike up conversations with at least one of those but so he goes. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "The Wolf is a bad idea." Ainsley makes a big shrugging motion at that, and deactivates her magic. She slumps forward until her chin is on the table and her mouth droops into a frown. She's had a long day. "I have no idea how you're going to find the Woodsman. Honestly, I could probably get their attention for you, if I knew the right words," she lifts a hand above her head and wiggles her fingers all mystically-like. She places her hand atop her head after that. "The 'Red' Queen? As far as I know, this isn't Alice in Wonderland, this is more like fairy tales," she tells Ren. "Think Snow White, or Cinderella, or the Three Little Pigs... And then make them way more messed up."     She straightens in her seat. "Why do I keep doing this stuff, again...?" She wonders aloud. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Somewhere, a shadow with a rickety queen costume packs up its 'the doctor is in' sign and desk, and scurries away.     "Mm, I know," he says, waving a book of fairytales from the library which was issued November 2015. "I've been reading..."     "As much as I appreciate the offer though I think he's the sort of person that would probably give whoever's looking for him one or two nasty knocks, which makes me more suitable for it. Plus he roams the city, which is a plus.     The breakfast menu arrives.     "Well, once you've tried pizza for breakfast once you begin to realize it's just as acceptable as anything else," Ren says back. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "What?"     Ainsley's confused inquiry sounds rhetorical, and the gentle laughter from her confirms it alongside her insistent and dismissive handwave. "I think I'll just get something to to drink," she decides, retrieving the menu so she can flip through it and find a suitably breakfast-y drink. "And we can share a pizza. Then I'm going home, alright?" 
}}

4205/Surf Warriors: Final Stage

2016-06-10T23:28:16Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/29 |Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop |Synopsis=A final showdown! The power of friendship awakens. Wield the Tiki Spirits' power! |Cast..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/29
|Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop
|Synopsis=A final showdown! The power of friendship awakens. Wield the Tiki Spirits' power!
|Cast of Characters=8, 151, 165, 459, 778, 942, 984, 992
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' A few hours after recuperating and patching yourselves up after the slog through the twisted island, you are at the Temple of Tangaroa, now under new management. Thanks to the usurped tiki spirit's 'fast travel' options, there is a window of oppurtunity for people to leave or arrive if they need to- and while nobody at this point is probably going to retreat now when they've come this far, there is still scope for arrivals.     In any case, here we are. It's worth noting that technically speaking, conventionally Maori faiths don't actually /have/ temples, so we can attribute the somewhat incan-meets-polynesian design of this place, replete with exaggerated face carvings on the walls and flaming torches, on the fact that the writer for this movie didn't do even a modicum of research.     Head inside and you will find:         http://i.imgur.com/b3wtwcI.jpg     Sat in the central chamber of the temple, surrounded by reliefs and paintings of the tiki spirits (which are themselves covered in creepers), is this individual. He is a being like a lion, with a stark mane of blue and purple petals and long stalks tipped with daffodils and peacock eyes.     "Rex Exfolia, I presume?" Ren asks.     "Precisely," the Yaoguai replies. "To whom do I have the pleasure?"     "Ren Akayama." "And Tanya Pohaku!" 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     "Well this is surreal." Kyle says, waltzing inside to spy the REX EXFOLIA. Here he was expecting some sort of boss fight, but a talk's good too. "Kyle Katarn. So..." He looks around for a moment, trying to determine the nature of this meeting.     Pretty curious Ren is opting for just negotiation, but it's hard to blame him entirely for that. Maybe this might've been just a misunderstanding of some kind. 

:'''{{#var:459|Alexis (459)}} has posed:''' Nobody is leaving, but it certainly helped with the coming. Especially for people that seem like they're only showing up now. But that's just because Alexis has been busy on other parts of the islands that were being overrun by monsters and overgrowth. Like rescuing people from said monsters and overgrowth so they can do the smart thing and get off the island. Until the heroes deal with the source of the problem. Or something like that. With how often major characters show up in Pokemon by some coincidence just when they're actually needed for the plot and then wander off again, is anyone really going to question where she's been off-screen until she was needed for the big boss fight? I didn't think so. Alexis has her ever-present hockey stick resting against one shoulder, but otherwise, nothing has been brought to bear. She's not risking laying out her hand too early in this game. "I've heard of having hair so thick you'd need hedgetrimmers, but this guy makes it literal." 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Lin's still in kind of bad shape, but... strangely enough, her wrecked legs have mostly recovered. A limp noticeably remains, but the pain seems to be back at a level where she can stalwartly ignore it. Kind of a miracle, but... to be fair, she spent most of the those few hours meditating and... glowing. Yeah. Glowing. Surrounded in a bonfire of solar essence.     And she's still glowing a bit, Caste Mark blazing upon her forehead. All hope of subtlety or concealing her nature's been cast aside...     But when she traipses in after Ren and lays eyes on the strange creature that is this supposed 'yaoguai', she flinches.     That... that guy.. something about him looks like he's in a whole different league from those three bozo underlings. Clenching and GRINDING her teeth, she takes a single step back and drops into a draw stance with one hand on her scabbard and the other hovering near the grip of the sword it holds.     "Karal Rei Lin! And yer... yer in a heap of trouble!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Those few hours have done wonders for Kazuko's energy, if not necessarily her wounds. A double chicken sandwich here, some bandages there (including a cliched one across the bridge of the nose), all topped off with a sugar-laden smoothie and a change of clothes, and the martial artist is back in action!      She's even found enough time to get a second, blunter naginata from Njorun's armory. Sure, she might not necessarily be strong enough to wield them both at the same time, but... W-well. The pair of weapons sure does look cool in that big X shape on her back, doesn't it?      When the time for introductions comes, then, it might not be a huge surprise that her voice is loud. "Kazuko Kawakami! And you're the one that started this whole mess, right?!"      Very loud. The food helped! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Some time to rest does her well. Though really it was more about notburning off energy. Deelel didn'thave the proper hardware to do a true sleep cycle. Still she took a rest downed some strange glowing viles of liquid and was able to recover enough to make ready for the next leg of their trip. She was silent for the moment before she speaks. "My ID is Deelel." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "Ainsley. Awfully regal for a false king, aren't you," Ainsley says with a frown on her scaly face, having lost all expectation this will end in anything but violence since the guy's underlings decided they would put the entire group through a crucible on the way to the temple. She has her longsword ready and she stands somewhat behind the others, and her adventurer costume is supremely messy from all of the activity on the way over.     "I would ask you to reconsider this whole 'supplanting the local tiki gods' plan, but I suppose that's too much to ask from a warlord."     Ainsley sounds SO done with this, but she still framed it in a way that she hoped he would be different even if everything indicated this would be another problematic encounter. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Well, there's no reason we can't be polite before we start trying to kill one another.     But, no, Ren doesn't negotiate with the enemy of his world.     "Me? Trouble? I don't know what you're talking about. Are aggressive takeovers and consumption of divine powers verboten in these lands? You will forgive me, I'm foreign, I didn't know." Voice dripping with sarcasm at Rei Lin and Kazuko.     Rex gives one of those smiles that's entirely teeth at Alexis. "Did you bring some? You're welcome to try. I understand that people from other worlds have such remarkably entertaining quirks."     "I mean, you just have to look around you!" he says, spreading his forepaws out. "Who would have thought that a god would have had such a remarkable resource of power and yet such a pitiful weakness to a little invasive species of plant life?"     "After all," looking at Ainsley, "That's what I consider myself on cold nights. It is in a plant's nature to dip its roots into the soil it lands in and grow outward, after all. To call me a 'warlord', well, that might imply a little more brazen ferocity and, hmm, calculated aggression."         "Although..."     "I suppose I could certainly fashion myself as such, if I wanted. It'd require a little more arms and armor for my immediates, and perhaps a little more fearsome stature..." His eyes glow, and the blue sky above the temple immediately and instantly fills with black stormclouds. The stone floor of the temple crackles and crumbles, and Rex is borne upwards on a rush of plantlife that surrounds and hybridizes itself with his small body, changing and shaping into a towering form that scrapes the ceiling of the temple.     https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/43/67/07/4367079df86ce0815c60d7c7efedad5d.jpg     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5QSQ3CI4zM     Black Destroyer -Griffon- - Kenji Kawai     Patlabor the Mobile Police - 1990     The enormous creation surrounding Rex Exfolia- a colossal humanoid with a huge bent trunk of a body- cracks its branches, and three plant pods drop onto the ground from its fingertips. They quickly disappear revealing Shoot, Splinter and Spore, revived and revitalized for round two! Now you've got double the trouble to deal with...          "Tell me, give me your opinion, is this a form more befitting a warlord?" Mucky laughter follows. "Welcome to your doom!"     Welina!     M�kaukau? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley's eyes lid when she hears his response. "Your nature, then." She seems to accept that, and her mind goes from frustrated to a cold disappointment. She watches as his new from manifests, building to the shape of an enormous plant monster. His existence before them is formidible, intimidating, and...     "What an empty display."     Ainsley is not impressed. She just seems chilly. "It is so easy to collapse into one's nature. To submit to the need to consume, to expand, and to ignore all that does not match your nature. You are not a warlord. You are simply an invasive animal that must be put down to save a local ecosystem. A sad, useless moment in history that will only teach the same lesson innumerable beasts before you have taught. You want to live, but you lack the capacity to adapt and co-exist, and so you have created conflict where it could have been avoided."     "A very large and impressive beast," she says, acknowledging his power if nothing else, as her Arcane Sight activates to scan for any possible Communication-related holes in the armor of their opponents, "But a beast nonetheless." She gets into a defensive stance, ready to evade attacks if she had made him angry with her. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Well... Yeah! Of course that's bad!" Even Kazuko's not so dumb that the sarcasm isn't caught by her... Several seconds after the plant master speaks. It's hard to catch these sorts of nuances sometimes!      Then again, everything else he's saying certainly helps. Also, the transforming. Also, wait what. TRANSFORMING?! The martial artist just gawks at Rex as he rises, becoming larger and significantly more final boss-like. Does he even fit on the screen any more?!      Not letting the sheer size difference intimidate her, Kazuko draws her bladed naginata and gives it a brief flourish before pointing it towards the giant and his revived minions. "There might be more you than us, but in this form...? This form just means there's more of you for us to beat up!"      Big hitboxes /are/ easier to hit. Giving her weapon one more spin, the brunette wastes little time before charging forward, aiming her weapon in a broad swing right for Spore if she can get close enough!      She hasn't forgotten him and his stupid minion-spitting face. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' People don't bring along professional monster slayers and sharpshooters to negotiate. Sigrun took up a spot in the shadow, as far away as she could get from the god within the temple, and observed. The entity they're fighting is strong, but Sigrun knew they would be fighting something strong. Her first arrow was picked specifically based upon her previous encounters here, the abundance of aggressive plantiform enemies led her to purchase a bottle of Roundup, and using a brand new custom spell she made an glass-tipped arrow containing the matter, infused with the mystical essence of the material. Then, as it becomes clear this 'god' intends to fight, Sigrun takes aim for its shoulder, loosing the arrow and allowing it to speed up to nearly supersonic speeds. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle rolls his eyes. "Well, definitely wasted our time with all the theatrics. Here I was hoping we'd be able to settle this diplomatically." He draws his lightsaber, brow furrowed as the blue blade springs to life with it's shrill hiss echoing through the cavern.     He Sees Shoot, Splinter, and Spore, all brought back to life. Frowning, he raises his lightsaber as he charges towards Splinter, not wasting his breath on words any longer.     Better you spend it on action, like now! 

:'''{{#var:459|Alexis (459)}} has posed:''' "Eh, I'm not really the gardening type," Alexis replies with her ususal snarky tone. "There's other ways to get wayward overgrowth back under control. I'd give you a list, but it's not good to let an enemy know how you intend to put an end to his thorny reign of terror." There's no time to spout off long lists anyways, having to backpedal a few steps from the cracking floor as Exfolia does the whole MAKE MY MONSTER GROW shtick. Except on himself. Then starts spawning off minions on top of that. Or respawning in this case. You know how you can regrow a plant from just a bit of its roots or a branch or whatnot. "Oh, of course. Make yourself a bigger target. Why do they always think size is so goddamn important?" Despite the creepy feeling up her spine of how similar this is to that corrupted botanical elder god-thing that tried to overun part of Paragon City Alexis grits her teeth into her usual game-on grimace. Not that she's alone, of course, as two pokeball releases crackle to her sides. One of course being her everpresent starter, Scorch's neck-frill of flaming quills igniting as the Typholsion rears up and readies. The other announces itself with a roar that rattles through the temple like an ominous volcano rumble as it manifests. Stick the head of a lion on the body of the bear, add a smokey mane trail and some rocky back ridges and you've got the very peeved off Entei described to a tee. You don't try to overrun some of the most famous volcanic islands and not piss off the very embodiment of such geothermal force. Or the flaming wolverine that just happens to also be called the 'Volcano' pokemon because of the neck flames and heat. He doesn't look very happy either truth be told. Alexis takes an extra step back to be out of the way of some very angry crossfire as both pokemon express their particular displeasure with the overgrown monster by spewing twin streams of molten flame at Exfolia! Mess with volcanos and you deal with the Eruptions! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel isn't looking to talk to something like this, it's pretty much Viral really, she now summons her Keyblade to her hand she looks at them for amoment trying to get a feel for it and she's already changing csting Protectaga on the group and looks at them for a moment longer. "I"m afraid this is how it's going to be let's see if you have game." She watches looking at it and really wished she was better with fire spells, but she might have something, right? She start moving at a fairly high speed. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' What the HELL! Every layer of Malfeas. Karal Rei Lin executes a few backflips, lands in her sword-drawing stance anew... with fearful eyes she readies for battle.     "Oh, come on... that's just too damned big..." How the hell's she supposed to deal with THAT with her little sword, no matter how skillful she might be?     Well. She has no idea.     But a plan starts forming in her head within a few seconds. A crazy plan!     Can she cut this thing's legs off with enough hacking? "Might be my only chance... but first!"     Confident that this insane-sounding lizard-woman can keep Rex busy, she turns her attention towards the three goons. Her and... "WHOAH!" The MONSTERBEASTS Alexis somehow summoned. Those are worth a peer.     "I'm your opponent!" She screams out, probably meaning the three goons. Although... WHICH of them?     Well, it's Shoot she dashes for and makes a sweeping slash at! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Well, you're just going to have to surprise me, aren't you?" replies Rex.     In point of truth this is perhaps even more dangerous than even first glance could tell it. Yes, we're dealing with someone who is busy usurping the power of a god here- but for all of his smooth talk, Rex Exfolia is relatively far down on the hierarchy of evil both in terms of creativity and intelligence. Should he succeed here, he could be so caught up in the romance of success that being a 'warlord' brings that he will rampage out of the island and across all of Hawaii in a tide of war-for-its-own-sake that would make most orcs jealous.     And you don't just have him to deal with! Thankfully, everyone seems to quickly split up in terms of dance partners, both on the good and evil sides of the equation. Or, to put it another way:     Sigrun emerges from the shadows to take a shoulder shot at the huge monster Rex has become, but she may be surprised to find that Shoot's reaction times are far greater than anyone was expecting, making his whipcrack counterattack enough to snatch the supersonic arrow out of its flight path. On the other hand, SHOOT wasn't perhaps expecting the arrow's force to shockwave down his vine-arm. Nor was he expecting Rei Lin to leap on him as he's reeling from that shock, hacking through those shocked-into-pliability vines with her sword!     On the other hand, Kyle goes right for Splinter instead of the latter making an interpose. Now, how quickly can that thing cut down a tree? It's definitely a HARDwood, and the fact that he's not armed with any bombs isn't going to matter- Kyle'll have to think fast, as the bigmouthed big tree just fires an explosive charge straight from his mouth instead! Ren's there to leap on Splinter's back and grapple his neck.     "Tell me what you need me to do!"      Kazuko. Expert at spinning her naginata around really fast. Now, that might come in handy, as Spore shoots gaseous sprays of his namesake to counter-shoot Deelel's fireballs. Each of them cancels out the other with a wet *squib*, but that lets the courageous Kawakami close in and sink the blade of her weapon into his surprisingly doughy body! Hope it's not too hard to pull back out!     And yes, Rex himself definitely does take exception to Ainsley. "I like this warlord idea, don't bring me down. I'm going to make it my official title!" he insists, and yes he's bringing his huge arm down to swat Ainsley. She can dodged out of the way, but the strike is enough to utterly pulverise the floor when it lands! You'd BETTER dodge! That goes the same for Alexis and her Pokemon, too- for even as the flames spill against Rex's body like oil on ice, he sweeps that arm in a massive arc that covers a third of the temple floor! He doesn't even seem to notice he's been set on fire!     Meanwhile, Tanya hurries between the combatants, running up to the huge set of carvings on the far wall.     "Oh... what am I supposed to do? Why did you ask me to come here? I don't have the kind of power anyone else has!" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is keeping a close eye on Rex, and she can see him telegraphing his attack -- the sight looking incomprehensible to most minds, a flood of concepts of violence and discontent -- which allows her to carefully fake out which direction she will be moving with a wave of her hand, and step aside. Which doesn't deal with the problem of debris flying up and bruising and cutting her, but it does keep her from getting smashed into lizard pudding.     "You said it yourself. This is your nature. A human being has a choice to be a monster or a hero, in most cases, but you are just an infection."     Ainsley doesn't relent. She's probably doing it on purpose. "What worth does your life have? What worth will it have when it is gone?" She sounds remarkably calm even through the effort of trying to chop the arm that came down at her with a two-handed swing of that sword, hoping that the weapon doesn't get caught in the monster's limb in the process. She isn't exactly a lumberjack! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's more than willing to use Deelel's shots as cover from Spore's gaseous gunk, weaving through the plopping collisions like a stunt driver weaving through an obstacle course!      Or a hyperactive dog playing fetch with a spear and somehow not hitting anything in the way. Either or. The martial artist grimaces as her blade doesn't quite go through her tatget's body, tugging and pulling at her weapon until she practically flips back as the weapon pops out with a weird noise.      "Ew... You didn't make those kinds of noises before, did you?" Only mildly disgusted at how squishy he is, Kazuko lowers the tip of her weapon to the ground before... Running?      Circling, rather. Instead of heading straight towards Spore as would be her usual strategy, she actually tries to circle around the viney shroomy bastard in the hopes of keeping him between herself and Deelel. She's just hoping he can't attack in two directions at once by the time she finally charges in again, aiming a flurry of quick slashes along those things that look like his legs! 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' As her arrow is caught in mid-air, Sigrun mutters something foul involving poseidon's barnacled balls then gets the second of three arrows like that. Having come to the conclusion that she's not going to be able to bypass these minions that easily, she takes aim at another of the lot. Spore. This time, the magic guiding her arrow is not aimed at increasing velocity, no, it's a much slower arrow, the herbidical payload guided for extremely accurate delivery. As long as it pierces, the poison ought to do its job. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle doesn't need to worry about projectiles. He uses the force to try and fling aside the seeds launched at him by Splinter, and he slashes at the yaoguai's wooden frame with his lightsaber. The thing's able to cut through Worshyr wood, hard not to assume it can cut through anything out there.     He nods to Ren as the Exalt wrassles with Splnter, and then he lunges forwards again to plant his lightsaber into Splinter's chest, trying to cut him wide open with a firm strike. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' HACK HACK HACK!     Lin's sword's sharp as steel can get, and no amount of hacking at those vines dulls or chips it. Striking swifter than the wind, faster than the air, a cutting void's left in her blade's wake, making every slash sting just a bit more.     "HUUUURAAAAAHHH!!!"     But she's ANYTHING from calm and controlled, seeking the single perfect slash masters of the style are known for. Instead she's trying to hack Shoot to bits through sheer quantity of strikes. And it's still quite threatening! "Don't you guys GIVE UP?!" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel seems ready and then she moves iwthout any warning her movement don't even hide she's not really a creature of flesh like she looks to. She's already moving now leaping flipping ans she throws her keyblade at Rex and she breaks into a run againa s she moves to recover it on the rebound. "Your much like a virus." Deelel Comment is it an insult? Mostly so given what she's dealing with here but she's also keeping dabs on Kazuko not wanting to leave her without some support here aqs she goes. 

:'''{{#var:459|Alexis (459)}} has posed:''' A massive swinging limb (hahaha get it?) is enough to get the Pokemon brigade to at least break up their formation. Alexis ducks and rolls backwards to stay under its wide arc, bracing herself in a kneeling crouch afterwards. Scorch literally dives into the ground, or the floor of the temple as it may be, burrowing under the slow sweeping strikes with Dig. The down side to the evasive maneuvering is that it puts him out of direct combat for the turn, though even such he's tunneling closer to where Rex Exfolia looms. Wildfire takes the blunt of the attack then, the offending strike slamming into his side. But the Entei is bigger and beefier than his counterparts and though the impact sends him skidding backwards into a wall he's quickly back in his feet. With an angry roar the former Shadow clone... disappears. Or more accurately, he moves so fast thanks to Extremespeed that he's briefly gone from the visible spectrum, up until his physical form comes to slam into one of Exfolia's legs. Trunks. Whatever. You get the idea. "Okay, this guy might take a bit more than turning him into kindling." But fire isn't the only thing Alexis brought to the table, she's a bit more clever than that. "Come out, Trowel!" A third quicker flash of energy and something appears in front of her with a big gaping jaw! .. which turns out to be some kind of ponytail?! when the Mawile turns around properly. "We need some support buffer. Use Misty Terrain!" The steel-coated fairy twirls around in place, kicking up several swirls of glittering pink and lavander mist that quickly billows out across the temple battlefield that will quickly nullify and prevent various status ailments. It's a cautionary tactic, knowing how often the plant-based monsters of her world can induce things like poison or paralysis Alexis is making sure this thug and his goons can't do the same to leave her allies in a bad predicament. While her pokemon are on the move Alexis glances off to the side at Tanya's anxious rambling. "Hey, power is more than being able to smack around a wannabe god-eater throwing a tantrum! If you don't know what," she grabs her stick and hefts herself back to her feet. "Improvise!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' The base of Rex Exfolia's huge 'trunk' begins to rumble, and seconds later scores of roots start to snake in and out of the ground and mist, each of them with sharp tips and easily capable of cracking through stone. In fact, there's so many of them- widening and following the funnel the Digging Pokemon left- that cracks begin to run from the floor up to the walls of the temple, and the shaking ground starts to send ancient dust and grit pouring down from the heights. As if the three stooges weren't enough of a problem, more and more adds keep springing up like weeds! Which is appropriate, really.     "What worth does a virus, an infection have when it is gone, indeed? Why don't you ask AIDS? Buboes? The black plague?!" Rex shouts back at Ainsley, weird green flames trickling from his jaw as it moves. Ainsley's strikes, even if she aims for the slimmer upper part of his arm, are having little effect- in fact, it might have been a mistake altogether, as he tries to scoop her up in the crook of his arm and throw her into a wall with a brusque flipping motion.     "Fight fire with fire, I always say," he comments, and the orange flames in various torches around the temple burn green as well before multi-vector fireballs begin shooting here, there and everywhere. The bulk of them are aimed at driving Wildfire off of his trunk, but some are aimed at Alexis and Trowel, even Scorch if he can angle one down a tunnel.     But overwhelming area of effect isn't the only thing that is going to make this difficult.     Kazuko and Deelel continue to take on Spore. Well, Kazuko does, and Deelel kind of does incidentally- while the latter is trying her best to work past the fungal shambler's bulk, even with Kazuko doing her best to hamstring the brute Spore's running on stolen spiritual power now and his arms can stretch out like taffy to block a strike raid or two. Well, one arm at least- his attempts to stretch the second are sort of subdued by a payload of herbicide from Sigrun, causing his arm to become slack and floppy.     Ren is most at home grappling with Splinter as he's wrestled more than a few four-legged creatures in his youth. It's going to be some really close calls but he trusts Kyle's hand as he tries to put the creature in a submission hold that exposes his chest to a deep lightsaber strike.     Shoot's going to pieces, but in the worst possible way for you perhaps. As Rei Lin slashes a streamer of green off, it'll try its best to curl or cling to her, but to her credit she's definitely thinning him out- he's definitely the least tough of the three.     "SWITCH!"     With a declaration so sudden though that it's hard to even tell quite which one of them said it, all three of them break off from their current sets of targets, quickly turning their attention to other more viable opponents.     Fed up with fighting opponents with blades, Shoot tries his best to coil various appendages around Ren and Sigrun who can't cut him off.     Recognizing lightweight opponents, Splinter begins firing those explosive blasts with their resounding shockwaves at Rei Lin and Kazuko.     And certain he can take the punishment, Spore shifts onto his elongated arm and begins flinging his full body at Kyle and Deelel! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Tanya tries to think of something quickly, but she's trying to evade the fireballs too... "Ah! M-maybe..."     She looks at her pendant. "...the shine from it forced those monsters away... maybe it has a power that can help us..."     So, looping it around her hand, she begins to run the greenstone tiki across the carvings on the wall, trying to find a place it could react... 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Flick. THUD!!     Ainsley has the wind knocked out of her. Actually, that's putting it lightly. When she gathers herself up after being throw like a rag doll, her arm is limp and clearly broken and she has several nasty looking scrapes and bleeding spots. Her eyes are wide and wild from the pain, but she doesn't scream, even if it makes her eyes water and create a look like her mind just checked out for a solid few seconds.     And then she cuts off the signal telling her that her arm is hurt, and she calmly shuffles to find some cover. She can't really give any wit right now, though, because she feels like she should probably not give him another reason to focus on her. He could very easily kill her and she has reasons to avoid that besides base fear, fear she doesn't otherwise feel. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle buries the lightsaber deep within Splinter's check, just in for Spore to begin flinging himself towards the Jedi. "-SHIT!" He rips his saber free, only to get bowled off his feet by Spore's impact. He skips across the ground twice like a stone over water, before he rolls onto his back.     The wind is knocked out of him, and Kyle grunts in pain before he tries to get onto his feet. Dizzy from the impact, Kyle shakes himself into focus before he draws and activates his lightsaber again, chasing after Spore to cut the tree man down.     "DEELEL, MOVE NOW!" he warns the program, leaping at Spore with his saber in hand. 

:'''{{#var:459|Alexis (459)}} has posed:''' "Ugh, even aspiring gods don't realize how stupid that saying sounds," Alexis mutters under her breath. "All you're doing is giving us more ammo now." She winds back with her weaponized hockey stick, and swings it at the first fireball to come hurtling towards her. "FORE!" *WHACK* The fireball is sent hurtling back towards Exfolia's grass-maned face! Scorch remerges from his tunneling stint on the opposite side as before, after watching a few mystic balls of fire sizzle past. Being a Fire type doesn't mean piddly if those are supernatural flames. "Typhlosion <Wisecracks aside, this guy could definately use some pruning. >" Forepaws start to glow briefly, elongating claws to the point that he can actually live up to the 'wolverine' comparison, leaping higher up Exfolia's body and trying to rip into the plant monster. Supernatural flames whizz around the temple, several pelting Wildfire but painful area-spam attacks will not deter the Entei. All he sees is the kind of monster he was made to be but defied, a taint with power that needs to be removed. With a furious snarl he shakes off the fireball hits, and slams both massive paws into the ground. The temple floor shakes from even more abuse, this time as the volcanic legendary causes enough localized siesmic force to make long spires burst from the ground, on the chance the viciously sharp edges will slice the connection to the roots trying to bring the entire place down around them. Alexis grabs Trowel under an arm (fire of any sort doesn't really mix with Steel -or- Fairy types well) and springs after Tanya. Someone has to keep an eye on the girl, she might be onto something. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Although Kazuko's not the intended recipient of that question from Rex, she still can't help but be mildly... No, very confused at what he's even talking about. Is he comparing himself to a disease? Or is he trying to make a case for disease?      "If you wanna keep doing the kind of stuff you've been doing... Making a mess of this place and wanting to take over this... Place? Well... You can't!" Kazuko retorts as she stomps her foot into the ground, taking on a distinctly firmer stance while spinning her naginata. Yellow ki flows from her body into the weapon, the telltale sign of her starting to charge her energy into the polearm.      "Once we take these down, we're coming for you next!" She boasts and lets out a loud kiai before breaking into a run again, chasing after Spore for a moment before realizing she's being shot at by Splinter! Kazuko swerves past the first explosion before getting sent flying by a second, impacting against a wall with a painful crunch!      "Gghk... That's dirty... Fine, then! Karal, go low! I'm going high!" She calls out before breaking into a run again, her naginata spinning once more. She presses her naginata's blade against the ground, looking like she's ready to fling herself into the air...      And then just picks it back up to go for a big running thrust. She can fight dirty, too! 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun creates a series of runes in the air, magic forming in between as barriers form, but before they can stabilize the impact happens, and right after they shatter, Sigrun finds herself gasping for air, her bow dropped to the ground. The sharpshooter isn't doing so hot. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "G-gross!" Having BITS OF PLANT DUDE hounding her even after they're cut off is one of the yuckiest things Lin's encountered yet! Handfuls of vines and plant matter attach to her arms and legs - well, her clothing at least - gumming up her movements.     Then her opponent's GONE. She stumbles forwards, off-balance... and... "CRAP!"     Power surges through Lin's arms and with a mighty heave she RIPS her own kimono off, save for a few stubborn chunks held fast to her by Shoot's cuttings.     Why?     Well, she flings the by-now-ragged and plant-covered garment into the incoming blasts. It's not much of a shield per-se, but it detonates them early. "Hrrrrghaaaaah--..!"     The blasts send her skidding back across the temple's stone floors. She drags a hand to help bleed off momentum, then... "Hyah!"     Answering Kazuko's strategy, Lin breaks into a zigzag dash that takes her weaving between the shots. The few blasts she skirts around still rip at her flesh, drawing blood and opening barely-healed wounds again, but she just hisses and redoubles her efforts.     "You guys are pissing me off now! SO MUCH! I'm gonna rip you apart and use you for BOWSTRINGS!"     With one more forceful kick forwards she blurs across the remaining distance and speeds in with a low cut for Splinter! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel us a keyblade user it's true but she's never stopped using her intate abiltiies and she's got a bit of a present for Spore. There's several things in the pockets of her cargo pants, just what sort of things? Photon charges today are the most notable things in there. Deelel's keyblade vanishes for a second as She reaches an apex of a leap and then the charges drop and will if they are able to strike spore stick to them. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" She hopes she got the human expression right as she falls away the timers will not take long to detonate the charges are focused thankfully with a low risk to her allies but well? She's caught by one of and knocked about like a leaf in the wind. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley takes a serious hit. So too, does Sigrun. There's way too much stuff and this guy is way too big.     Kyle and Deelel, meanwhile, are working together to try and turn the tide. As Spore goes unevenly end-over-end, his entire body ragdolling, Kyle chases in his wake and makes a strike from behind. The blow turns Spore's momentum against him, causing him to crash into the photon charges dropped by Deelel. With a crash and a bang, he disintegrates into pieces!     Shoot's got his coils around Ren, but - ok, no one's looking, right?- well, as long as that's sure, Ren Tanaka can fight pretty dirty if no one's expecting it. For example, he's noticed that the one thing that's not apparently made of shoots and roots in this guy is his head. And he'll never expect something like Ren lunging his neck forward to shove Shoot's entire head in his jaw. And BITING IT.     What follows is exactly what happens to everything else when someone takes a bite out of their head. Yeah.     And thirdly, well, let's just say it entirely works. Splinter stretches his neck out as Kazuko announces the high-low strategy, aiming to use his flexiblity to begin firing concentrated sniper shots like grenades to pick both of them off- only to be taken completely off guard as BOTH of them change on a dime. The movements come too quick and fast for him to react in time, and both girls tear open Splinter's existing wound to completely cleave him in two.     That just leaves Rex. Who, to his credit, isn't really hurting too much from being set on fire, or cut or bashed. In fact, he's not hurting at all. He's unharmed completely.     Reflect or deflect, fire or fist, bash or slash- Rex raises both of his arms to create a massive wall almost as big as the remaining rest of his body as Alexis and her Pokemon rain blows down upon him. But the giant abomination glows with stolen spiritual power, and ocean water rolls in rivulets down his bark-covered arms as next to nothing comes of any of the attacks.     "Do you think you are ready to take me on, then?" he asks.     The roots erupting out from the ground and dancing around open up into claws, and they RUSH out in all directions in a storm of green lightning! One of them crashes against each person, and one after another--     Every one of you is pinned to the walls outright. You're all stuck in place, as the ceiling of the temple starts to fall in pieces revealing the black storm above.     Tanya rolls on the ground, the only person who wasn't pinned or so it would seem... she pats herself for the pendant, only to yelp in dismay as she sees it broken into little pieces a few feet away from her.     Rex closes his mouth and just chuckles, dropping three more plant pods from one of his hands, and Splinter Spore and Shoot reanimate around them good-as-new.     Tanya begins to tear up. "...this can't be happening! I'm the only one left? There's nothing I can do..." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "You're wrong."     Ainsley speaks up from where she's pinned, her eyes shut and her face reddened from fighting against her own pain. Her arm freakin' hurts, man! Even her magic can't do everything when it comes to that.     "You are the only one that can do something," she tells Tanya, "So don't give up!! For our sakes, for Tangaroa's sake, and for your own sake!"     And then Ainsley mumbles, "(Stop pressing on my arm you damn weed,)" and struggles in place, grimacing powerfully. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko skids to a stop as the follow-through of her slash leaves her way overshooting where she thought she was going to end up. She's already bracing for a counterattack as she turns to face Splinter's... Halves.      That went better than expected! "Eheh... Good work, Miss Karal!" She calls out in encouragement before turning to the main target: Rex! The battle looks like it's turning their way, and with only one adversary left to take care of, she readies herself for one last charge and...      ... Gets slammed into a wall. Well. That's a thing. Kazuko's in a particularly uncomfortable position because now? She's got naginatas pushing into her from front and back! She's still going to struggle, of course, because she's too stubborn to just give up right there.      "Freaking... Stupid giant plant guy... T-Tanya!" There's still one hope left, at least, especially if she can bust out another trick with that pendant of hers. "Of course there's... Stuff you can do! You still got that...!"      ... Pendant that is very, very smashed. Dammit. "... Uhm. W-well, you didn't need that pendant, anyway! You've gotten this far, right?!" Even as she shouts encouragement, it's still the mildly freaked out sort. Their enemies are coming back, the magical superpendant's broken. There's still the chance Tanya could pull something crazy out of her ass, though.      "Believe in us who believes in it! The heart of the..." Now she's just confusing herself. At least nobody's going to get sued for that one. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     As Spore goes down, Kyle is about to give a fist pump before he's hit by roots, green lightning zapping him with a painful storm of lightning hell. Kyle cries out in pain, gritting his teeth as she tries to force it back against Rex, but sadly he is unable to do much.     He's slammed against the wall, pinned in place, and uselessly struggling against his bonds while he tries to retrieve his lightsaber, the hilt lying on the ground deactivated and useless. Come on, just...reach...     He only spares Kazuko a brief, confused glance, before he just groans and goes back to reaching for his weapon. "C'mon...dammit..." He mutters. 

:'''{{#var:459|Alexis (459)}} has posed:''' By this point Alexis has switched 'weapons', and the reason that's mainly in apostraphes is because her other weapon is as much monster as it is sword and shield. Though it's mainly being used as said shield, as she's too busy deflecting magic fireballs and whatever the fuck else is flying around the temple to actually command Aegislash into it's attack forme. A clawed vine snags Scorch's forelimb to keep him from clawing, followed by a second one slamming into his midsection. That's with enough force to throw the Typhlosion backwards into the Entei and send both crashing through one of the temple walls. That's a hard hit even for battle monsters, it's going to take a few moments for them to recover even if not pinned down. Trowel, being a smaller target, manages to dart around a few of the lunging vines. Only to make the mistake of trying to bite one with her jaw-horns. The vine catchs onto one jaw and traps it against the wall, effectively holding her only real weapon open and unable to move to render her helpless. "Do YOU think you're ready to stop stalling?!" Alexis retorts back as she finally gets a chance to grab the hilt of the sword half of the ghost-weapon and draw it. "Your power is stolen, it's not going to hold out foreve--aw shi--" But she's still got a shield! That the vines slam into hard enough to knock both ends of Aegislash out of her hands to pound her into the wall. Alexis lets out a gasp from the blow, wind literally knocked out of her. The shield of the ghost-weapon rolls to her feet. Because the blade got imbedded into the wall. And being a posessed weapon with a physical presence, Aegislash can't do the phasing through physical objects quite like ghosts like Gengar do. It's left flailing around the banners that serve as it's limbs as it's unable to get a grip on anything to pull itself free, and Alexis is too dazed to grab it again. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Right through him! Savage satisfaction shining on her face, Karal Rei Lin spins around in place and readies for another strike on the next goon - then the whole world turns into a dizzying mass of being SLAMMED AGAINST A WALL.     Lin reacts as swiftly as always, striking out at the roots and vines, but her sword gets tangled up and stuck in the twining and braiding roots and vines. It twists further and further into an awkward grip that should have broken her wrist... if not for the extreme strength she's exerting to maintain that grip.     But... then...     *CLANK!*     The blade snaps in two, leaving her with a few inches and a guard...     "... Shit..."     And in that one moment of horror she's pinned.     Defiantly though, she turns to ANGRILY BITING THE ROOTS that get TOO CLOSE TO HER FACE, cursing and frothing! "GRRRRGH... hey... Tanya! I know you've got SOMETHING up your sleeve. You would've stayed with the God on that beach if you didn't think you could help... wouldn't you?!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "There's nothing you can do to stop me. The infection is terminal, and /I/ an a /god/."          "....You can't be the lowest of the low and the biggest of the big," Ren replies. "...and your power was only ever stolen. So you must just be..."     Tanya listens to everyone's voices. All of that power is stolen. Everyone is counting on her. She came here for a reason. She came here because- because--     Because people were willing to go with her.     Tanya hears you.     Tanya closes her eyes as the three monsters charge towards her.     There's a flash of light like a new star being born, as everything bounces away from Tanya in a shockwave. The warm greenstone glow surrounds her- not from her broken pendant, but coming from /inside/ her, where the power always was.     The air shimmers all around, and the image of Tangaroa's face appears in the glow.     "Your courage awakens a new tomorrow!     To a new scion, new hero, the power does flow!"     "I'm...?"     "Years ago, a seed did grow, from Tangaroa's tree to a family bestowed. Kindness and trust turn strangers into friends, forming bonds and starting growth that will never end. Now, spirits' primal power belongs with you. Back you'll take it, new you'll make it, choose whatever you want to!"     The sparkling divine power stolen from Tangaroa begins to flow out of the reanimated Splinter, Spore and Shoot- not to mention the roots pinning everyone. Drawn to a true tiki successor, the loss of the power causes Rex's plantlife to begin collapsing all around.     "Then," Tanya says. "I choose to share it with all of my friends!"     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4lKW4Inoek     Hypernova All-Stars - Hirokazu Ando / Jun Ishikawa     Kirby Triple Deluxe - 2014     Get charged up with the tiki spirits' divine power! You can feel the strength of the oceans, islands and sun warming your body- Take aim and give that giant weed a final flourish! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Holy crap, that actually worked. With the power of a tiki coursing through Kazuko's body, she bursts out of the already-dying plantlife holding her in place, and she grabs hold of not only her bladed naginata, but the second one as well!      "I knew it... See? We told you you could do it, Tanya! And you...!" She points her twin polearms at the false god, puzzling for a moment while trying to remember his name. "... R... Red! We'll show you the power of humans!"      Another pause. "... A-and lizardladies! And cyborgs!" That's what Ainsley and Deelel are, right? She didn't plan this out at all.      Still, Kazuko's still fired up, and with the energy of the tiki's guiding her, she breaks into a blazing-fast run, spinning both naginatas and pouring all that energy into them. Even as she reaches the plant giant, she continues twirling and spinning the weapons in tandem, lashing out in a weirdly coordinated dance of slashes and bashes! The weapons move faster and faster like a hyperactive dog that's been hopped up on caffeine until she finishes it off with an upward jumping slash/whack with both blades at once.      At least... Kazuko's really hoping it looks as coordinated as she's trying to make it. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "What-- she's... God-Blooded?!" Lin had a weird feeling that she was special, but THIS?! Completely unexpected! Lin's eyes are wide with amazement, despite the fact that she's being nearly strangled... but not for very long.     In a matter of moments her strength's sufficient to RIP the roots away. She bursts free of the wall and somersault-tumbles down to the ground, grasping her weapon anew-- errr..     "... Crap... what a time..."     Yet power flows through her. A power not unlike her own Essence. Burning and warm, and begging to be expressed! It stokes her own anima into a bonfire of brilliance that surges every which way from her, filling half the temple with sunlight of her own. Shining and scorchingly warm...     Yet a weapon it is not. Not... YET.     The sunflame coaelsces and draws inwards around her, shaping into the form of a great lotus flower. As it blossoms open, images of martial arts weaponry of all kinds fly from its petals and impale themselves in a field around her. Every weapon she's made... including...     A thin, flickery sword. She grabs the image as it nearly soars past... and though the rest of her Anima Banner fades, this weapon remains.     A curved blade of translucent solar flame.     Not enough.     Closing her eyes just briefly, Karal Rei Lin focuses her spirit and adjusts her grip... as the phantasmal weapon fades to motes in her hand a new surge of thick sunfire replaces and starts taking shape.     "Single Point Shining Into the Void Form Style... master technique!" She cries out regally, spirit renewed and focus restored...     The failing Weed's withering form's the subject of her burning gaze.     In the time between heartbeats, Lin's form *FLASHES* through the intervening space. Over a dozen searing lines are drawn in sunflame across Rex Exfolia's massive body before Lin's once again visible, blurring back into sight quite a distance behind him.     "Countless Strikes SHEATHED!" Despite all appearances, the burning weapon slides comfortably into her freed scabbard. It *clicks* neatly once she's done bringing her hands together... then spins around with the blazing weapon resting at her side in its scabbard. 

:'''{{#var:459|Alexis (459)}} has posed:''' Alexis lets out a cough as the vine withers away, slumping against the wall as Trowel flumps free next to her. "As I was saying." Though it turns out better said by not being said at all. Trowel picks up the shield and hands it to her. "Thanks. Com'n Balisong, let's finish this." She grabs the hilt of the sword, it wraps the banners around her arm, and she pulls it free from the wall. The resurgance of energy from Tanya's awakening is a revitalizing experience. An apparently the pokemon picked up on it too. Or maybe they got a bit of it through the bond shared with their Trainer. Either way, they stomp back through the busted wall, snarling and growling to show just how pissed off they still are even with being re-energized. Aegislash's blade starts to glow more brightly as Alexis gives it a few warm-up swings... then decides rushing into the thick of things is probably going to be a bad idea this time around. "Okay you three, pick a spot and focus! Balisong! FLASH CANNON!" Alexis points the ghost-sword at Exfolia and the glow releases, sending a beam hurtling towards the wilting warlord in much the same manner as a certain other masterful sword might. Flames glowing so hot they blister into shades of yellow and white churn around Wildfire's maw as he tenses, only to be expelled in a literal roaring fire that sends a big blistering ball of sheering celestrial flame hurtling at the plant fiend like a divine meteor. Did you know Entei now learns SACRED FIRE? Then to top it all off, Scorch clenchs his forelimbs as he hunchs into a half-curl of sorts, essentially flexing his entire body to drive all of the intense thermal energy Typhlosions can produce to the surface, to the point that his entire form seems to ripple from the heat mirage effect the temperature produces around him. The flames around his neck are practically cooking the air around him.. Until they go out from -all- that heat being pumped into his attack, and BLAST BURN erupts a tremendously potent stream of churning phlogiston wrath at Exfolia out of his maw like a flamethrower up to eleven! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel looks back at Spore she's done some damage but it's not enough and now comes the counter attack she keeps moving she has to always keep moving. Which is going to be what she's trying to keep doing here and she's been forced to give up the attcack for a bit. She sees that Rex is just bringing back his minions onc e more and she's got to think about an idea maybe she should think about trying to fo something else she has an idea forming an idea. She's also finally broken free o the wall, she didn't enjoy that at all. Kazuko's heatfullet wordss spur her on more, but she may have a talk to her later about what she is. Not that it matters too much. She's however bringing up her key blade abnd pointing it at Rex. She has an idea nad there's a smirk on her face for a moment. A beam of light fires out of the Keyblade at Rex, it seems not like much but Deelel understand a Keyblade can lock things, maybe even concept. The enemy's power is waiing but lets make it even /worse/ by hopefully cutting off even more power faster. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     What the-     Wow, this actually feels /great!/ Kyle feels Force lightning surge through his body, but he redirects it to break himself free. "YEAH!" He shouts with elation, landing on the ground and retrieving his lightsaber. "You did it, Tanya! No way we could do this without you!" He says, giving the girl a thumbs up before he angles his lightsaber to Rex.     "Now it's time to evict you, you've caused more trouble than you're worth, to be honest. It's time we finished this, once and for all!" He clenches his fist, and raises his hand towards Rex. With the Force flowing through him, Kyle winds up before unleashing both hands worth of a Force Push, lightning accompanying telekinetic force that's been magnified to terrifying levels.     Starkiller would be impressed, if not jealous at the brief power surge. It's temporary, so Kyle's best off making the most of it. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley isn't much of a fighter, but when she's got a buff of supernatural go juice, she's soon glowing in... a very strange and specific way. It seems that, when filled to bursting with unusual mystic power, it shines through otherwise invisible runic symbols that show up all over her body, the signs of her status as a true wizard and not just some hedge mage. The signs of what she did to acquire this form of magic.     She takes advantage of this newfound to fly over and retrieve her sword. There's no big fancy fire attack or combo, there's no blast of Force, she just picks the most open spot in the melee, props her feet against the ground, and launches herself toward Rex, right for his face if she can get away with it.     And she tries to lift the longsword and stab Rex in the face, using her one good arm to stab downward more than once as if it were just a very large knife. Not very elegant, not very heroic looking, but she made an effort.     The epic howl she makes during this is because her arm still hurts. Yeesh, the amount of effort she needs to use, obviously trying not to pass out. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Shoot, Splinter and Spore disintegrate into nothing, and this time there's not going to be a third chance. By just having the power inside of you, you're drawing it away from Rex Exfolia- and he knows it, so he starts creating a ring of those huge spiked roots to surround himself.     There's no harm in making completely sure, too.     At least that might be what's on Deelel's mind as she fires a pinpoint beam from her keyblade at the towering tree. It doesn't do any damage, but there is a definite sound like a lock's tumblers turning and clacking as the usurper finds himself totally cut off from the power- leaving him without any left to continue surrounding himself.     This time, there's not going to be anything stopping fire and heat from doing the same thing they do to every other plant.     Kyle and Alexis unleash a fusillade of flame and force, using shining energy and brightened fire to crush and explode root after root as they strip away Rex's defences. Each plant-tentacle turns black and explodes in a chain reaction down to the base.     Moving as fast as a candle's flame flickers, Rei Lin moves forward with a brand new blade, scoring innumerous charring cuts onto the gigantic hull of the battle body.     "The power of people," Ren declares as explosive force prunes Rex down with spectacular speed- he's helping with a shoulder to support Sigrun on should she need it.     Kazuko's entire body becomes too fast to see, further strikes tearing dow Rex's arms, digging into the plant's core, digging deeper, deeper!     And underneath the shattered and burned remains the Yaoguai at the core and his colorful petals are exposed at last to Ainsley-     Who DRIVES a longsword right into the middle of him, a strike that cleaves straight through the head and boils the darkness away. With a passing roar of frustration and dismay the entire rooted ensemble dissolves in a flash, disappearing for good.     The air clears, sparkling green still hanging all around everyone. Outside, the clouds begin to clear, but only perhaps because the temple has been cracked open by the fight. In fact, from here you can still see the island spread out below, twisted up and overrun.     Tanya looks at the motes dancing in her hands, and looks at Tangaroa. Then, to everyone.     "...if we give back the power, we can turn the island back to normal," she says, putting her hand out. "...will you do it?" 

:'''{{#var:459|Alexis (459)}} has posed:''' After the tremendous barrage Scorch collapses to the ground, nothing but hot smoldering steam puffing out of the heat organs around his neck. Even the surge of energy from Tanya isn't enough to starve off how Blast Burn absolutely drains his thermal energy. It's just the nature of the attack, and why it's saved for that final blow oppritunity. He'll be okay, it's just going to take several minutes for him to light up again, so to speak. Wildfire turns his large head to give Alexis a knowing look. Being an embodiment of a natural force, cloned or not, he knows what needs to be done next. Alexis lets go of Aegislash so it can resheath itself in the shield and gives a wave of her hand in his direction. "Yeah, yeah, no need to say it. I know already." He may of already said it over their bond, but that's besides the point. She doesn't hesitate in reaching over to grasp Tanya's hand. "G'on, take it. I ain't the sort to cling to something that's not mine, anyways." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley clumsily gets the longsword back into its scabbard. She looks at the glow on her own body, and then the spot where Rex had melted away, proving her point that this would be another example of a being getting overpowered because it was an invasive menace. She breathes a gentle sigh and turns to regard Tanya directly.     She reaches out to put her hand over the others. "This power is not my own, but I must express my gratitude for being allowed to use it even for a moment." She manages a weak smile. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's still breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush, fighting the urge to keep spinning her polearms with this newfound power. Bracing both weapons against her shoulders, she takes a deep breath before letting out an enthusiastic cheer.      "Yeah! Good work, everyone!" She's tempted to see what else she can do, but all things must come to an end!      Turning to Tanya, Kazuko blinks slowly before finally realizing what she means before stepping over and holding her hands out. "Aww... Okay, that's enough fun for now." She giggles and holds her hands out, channeling her ki outwards and hoping that's how it all works. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Lin silently watches as the plant monster's decimated, demolished... extinguished. Yet once she's fairly sure he's done for, she draws the weapon she just produced again. On closer inspection it's not QUITE the same as the one that broke. The blade's thicker and heavier, but even sharper. It's a proper Exalted Daiklave... but formed of pure Essence, not Orichalcum. And it glows bright as the sun.     She's still idly carrying it when she nears the others and exclaims wearily, "Yeah... got my own power and blessing already, don't need another. It's better staying here, isn't it? ... Knew you had SOMETHING in you, Tanya. Heh." The redhead grins triumphantly at the islander. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     "It's all yours." Kyle nods, brushing his sleeves as the plant is annihilated. "It's not mine to keep, only to borrow one time only." He says, before he clips his lightsaber to his belt. He sighs heavily, exhausted from today. Man, he's gonna be sore from this.     Approaching Karal, Kyle gives her a clap on the arm. "So that...energy sword thing you did, how did /that/ happen?" He asks, arching his brow as he observes the Solar's sword reform. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel intends to give up the power that is not her's it's not her's after all. "I have no issue, this power isnotmine I only need my own." the Basic comments before she steps back and banishe her keyblade from where it came. So she lets it go and then pauses. "I think we should go find a place to party." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Easy come, easy go, as they say," Ren says, offering his hand to Tanya.     The Tiki Spirit's power is returned to its rightful place. With things back as they should be, a wave of energy rolls out of the mountaintop and over Kaho'olawe. The twisted landscape and ruins are returned to normal, the monstrous plants are destroyed, the oceans cleansed, and everything returns to the way it was. Peace returns to Hawaii once again.     A little time later, and Tanya returns to the mainland with Ren and the others.     "I guess I inherited a little of the power myself," she says, letting a spark bounce back and forth between her fingers. "Thanks to all of you I'm brave enough to use it. I'm going to learn how I can become a real hero like all of you."     "I guess that about wraps things up," Ren says, leaning up against a palm tree on the beach. "I definitely second a whole new party."     He smiles, and puts his hands in his pockets.     Then, just a moment later, he frowns a little. "Wait. Why /do/ I keep accidentally calling myself Akayama sometimes?" 
}}

4173/SW: Stage 3, 4 and 5

2016-06-03T22:37:58Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/28
|Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop
|Synopsis=Rolling Boulders! A river full of threats! Pushing on no matter what!
|Cast of Characters=8, 151, 165, 778, 942, 984
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     A couple days later and we're back on the island of Kaho'olawe.     The island isn't just suffering from being overtaken by plant growth.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1cbKFgz-9g     Mystic Cave Zone (Remix) - Sonic the Hedgehog 2     Sega and NicoCW - 1992 and 2014)      Since the Yaoguai are creatures of chaos, brief surveys of the island have noted that there has been no small degree of rearranging of the island's features, leaving it overrun with bizarre changes to the landscape such as floating platforms, really angry tiki heads that roam about of their own accord, giant stone crushers that roll back and forth, and huge pits filled with snakes.     All of these things are set to try us!     Having arrived on the beach next to Tangaroa's tree, Ren's going to push past the sand and begin moving straight into the jungle beyond, machete and torch at the ready. We're going to have to cross about four miles of weirdness to get to the temple.     Welina!     M�kaukau? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Today, Ainsley is dressed in a safari outfit! She's got a sleeveless shirt, a pair of shorts and one of those safari caps that all the old-timey hunters used! At least based on the stereotypes of those times.     She also brought her longsword today! She's expecting she'll have to use it. Those fish from the last time were pretty nasty, but now she's pretty sure she'll be dealing with things she can't easily avoid.     "Quite an adventure~" she says, as if the chaos that waits for them will be fun and not a horrible slog of jungle and traps and animals and monsters. This tropical weather really makes her take a positive spin on things... or, well, she's just crazy. Being a wizard and all. "Do you think we'll have to run away from a rolling boulder?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Man... This place looks weeeird." Kazuko furrows her brow as she gives herself an impromptu shoulder massage with her naginata, rolling the handle of the polearm along her back while peering out at the obstacles in the distance. "These yao... Mao... Ga's had way too much time to do this, huh?" T She isn't making the connection yet. Not that she needs to, since she's here for one reason: Beating up the weird monsters bothering that talking tree god! "You mean like that old guy with the whip? We should be okay as long as we don't touch any tiny statues."      If they're lucky today, there won't be any tiny statues for Kazuko to touch. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     SAFARI OUTFITS! Kyle's still in his DIX MAGNUM wear, though his trunks have been replaced with practical cargo kaki shorts, and he's sporting a rugged pair of hiking boots. His lightsaber chops and slashes at the vines and branches in the way, trying to make sure the path is clear. It's a good thing everyone's got blades today, it seems.     "If we do, I get the feeling that'll be the least of our worries. I'm more wondering if angry locals chase us." He means more the monsters, but sure, angry poison arrow flinging tribesmen would be pretty unpleasant too!     He's had his fill of jungles, especially with the times he's had to go find lost students on Yavin IV. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Can't say I'm not excited to see what'll come of this! There might be artifacts and treasure where these CREATURES come from." States Karal Rei Lin, who's always happy to receive payment for work she'd be happy to do anyways.     Which includes stopping these monsters from terrifying innocent folks. Some part of her's screaming at her that this is a GREAT opportunity to do the right thing. A righteous cause - after all, who's duty is it to stand at the forefront and bring down dark creatures?     The Dawn Caste.     "Hand me that thing if it dulls or chips, I'll have it fixed up in no time. Better than ever." She asides to Ren from not far behind him.     She's in her ordinary attire this time instead of the two-piece bathing suit, and understandably sweating, but she doesn't appear terribly bothered by the heat and toil. She's as raring to go as anyone could be.     Even now she's grinning fearlessly into the jungle with a hand on her sword just in case... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka is... well, his normal outfit is perfect for this kind of thing anyway, so that's what he's wearing. He knows Tangaroa won't mind him cleaving through plants- they're corrupted ones, anyway.     "Maybe," he says to Ainsley. "Might even have to dodge some that are rolling back and forth." Bloody non-euclidean chaos beings.     "It must have been about a week since they took this place over?" he says to Kazuko, working his way through a bush. THWACK THWACK. "-thank you, Rei Lin. Yes, we could only move so quickly. They won't have dug in enough by now, but that's why we're trying to just cut right to the heart of things." THWACK. "If a yaoguai of any tier gets deep into Creation, they act as a control network for all the smaller ones, so if we take him out everything smaller should... well, wilt."     "...I'm worried about the other people," Tanya says to Kyle. "The natives who live in the temple must be in hiding right now. I hope they're all okay."     A chorus of cackles can be heard from the plants around them, and just as the group makes it into a clearing with a stream-     http://imgur.com/a/NVRec     These guys show up.     "Shouldn't you be more worried about yourselves?" "Hello, humans. I'm Spore-" "I'm Shoot-" "And I'm Splinter." "We're the official guardians of Rex Exfolia's NEW temple. And once he's finished eating this puny native god, we'll go back to Creation as conquerors!"     "No you won't!" Tanya shouts, then covers her mouth and steps behind Ren. Did she just yell at that huge guy? 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     CHOP! CHOP CHOP! Kyle shrugs at Tanya, "We'll save 'em, don't worry about that." He says, before nudging a dead tree to the side, just in time to see the quirky mini boss squad of today, it seems!     Lightsaber in hand, Kyle begins to move in front of Tanya, hovering in front of her like a protective figure. "You're gonna have to go through me, and scarier have tried before." he says confidently, staring down Spore in particular. Plant monsters, this is a thing that's happening right now.     Thing is, he's killed a SHITLOAD of plant monsters since this mess began, so he feels he's something of a quick study with this sort of thing. "Come and get us." 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Yaoguai?" The term's new to Lin, so she tilts her head hoping for some clarification. "... This is Creation?! That's news to--" Rustle-rustle-RUSTLE.     Karal Rei Lin ceases traipsing through the jungle and tightens the grip on her sword, senses sharpening and focusing until she's narrowed down three distinct sources of sound.     The redhead makes the FOULEST of faces at the three monsters. Her question is somewhat answered about where she is and isn't, but the girl worriedly flicks her gaze back and forth from creature to creature.     Hard to gauge how threatening these three things are, but the way they carry themselves may at least give her some clue...     "Be ye demon or fae or whatever you are, one thing you AREN'T is welcome here. You and your boss can leave peacefully..."     The redhead dips down into a combat stance, leg sweeping around, and a thumb hovers just under the grip of her guard. With a simple flick she budges the blade a half-inch out, letting it gleam threateningly in the clearing's light.     "... or in pieces." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "You're kidding, right?"     Ainsley looks at them for a while once they reach the clearing, and then to herself and then back at them, and she couldn't sound or look more skeptical if she tried. "First of all, I'm not human. Do I look human to you? Is it the hat?" She adjusts her hat. "Second of all: Shut up." She reaches out with her hand and does a shoosh motion with her fingers, casting a spell so they can't talk back.     "Your plan is terrible. You are not the first band of warlords to do this, and probably not the last, but could you please rethink this conqueror thing? Couldn't you, like... provide a resource no one else can make, and then gain power by trading it? You could get land that way and no one would hate you. Well, no one with any sense of reason and equality."     Ainsley puts her hand on the hilt of the longsword and floats an inch off the ground. She knows they probably don't care. She just tires of the old warlord mentality and having to stab dudes to stop problems. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Boulders going in two directions? But that's... How would that even work?" Good job, Ren. Now Kazuko's going to be trying to figure out physics for a while.      Thankfully, not for long because physics in confusing, and boulder physics doesn't help her with chopping or beating things up. "So we just gotta find the head, then... Alright. I can reach real high if it's a tall one!"      Could Kyle or Karal or Ainsley or... Literally anyone in this group do that better than her with their own powers? Probably. But Kazuko... Kazuko's got a long bladed stick! That's gotta count for something, right?      If nothing else, it'll be handy for those creatures accosting them. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops when Tanya of all people shouts back. Kazuko smirks, then moves into a defensive position in front of her and Ren with the naginata drawn.      "That's right! Living here with everyone else is one thing, but we won't let you bully everyone else!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Before they arrived:     Ren clarifies to Rei Lin, "No, this is Hawaii. But I'm going to assume that the same is true, because if not we're going to need a whole lot of weed-whackers."     Now they've arrived:     In terms of sizing the three of them up- well, each of them is about ten feet tall, on average. Spore is the biggest and gorilla-est of the three, with much bigger arms than legs. Of course, Shoot doesn't have legs, and seems to just have a tapering serpentlike body. And Splinter has four legs, and is probably perching on top of a half-sunken tiki statue right now.     The three of them laugh again, but it's cut off in a jolt by Ainsley's rather angry demand. The three of them try talking for a few seconds afterwards- it initially fails, although it's hard to tell since only one of them really has a mouth- but after a brief moment of rasping and gurgling, they've pushed past it. That might be worrying.     "Ah, how brave!" "You can talk the talk, but you've made the mistake of coming into our domain."     "(Not yours,)" Tanya says quietly, balling her fist up. Her pendant and eyes both flicker lightly.     "We're bull-headed bullies, alright! An invasive species that chokes out all others!" "It's like planting kudzu in the best fertilizer in the market." "Yes! Plants grow fine in ground up bones and blood!" "We're thriving here and you've walked right into the flytrap's jaws, really." "But we're not even going to fight you."     The trees behind them crackle, shifting like two curtains being pulled apart. From here to the temple built into the top of the mountain, you can see a huge assortment of twisted terrain. "You'll have to run three seperate gauntlets-" "And we have control of all of it." "I've made a bet you won't even get past the first set!" The three of them laugh a little more, then shrink and disappear as they become balls of green flame that whirl around and fly off into the distance.     Here's the first set of obtacles- let's call it the Road to Ruin.     A gauntlet of grotesquerie straight out of a video game, here's where those aforementioned non-euclidean things were. You want floating platforms over pits? You got it. Boulders rolling around of their own accord? You got it. Idols breathing fire? You got it. Smaller plant creatures roaming around like the ones on the beach? Spikes? Conspicuous switch-like squares on the ground? Tar pits, somehow? You got it!     Right at the end, off in the distance, you can see Shoot, standing with two open-mouthed tikis on either side of him, and with energy strings digging into the ground, controlling everything.     Ren takes a moment scratching his chin, then picks up Tanya and takes off running. Yeah, it's gonna be one of those days. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Hoo boy...Kyle looks at the course and just flashes back briefly to a horrific amount of jumping and climbing he had to do while on Bespin...and Nar Shadda. And also the training courses Luke had him running...and other places. He seems to do an awful amount of running and climbing and jumping, after all. Clipping his lightsaber back to his belt, he takes off after Ren and Tanya in a steady jog.     "I can't wait to shut those guys up, not going to lie." He admits, leaping towards the nearest platform on the course proper. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It really is turning into an obstacle course. Kazuko's not quite sure how to react to that at first, looking at where those three figures had been prior to disappearing with a dumbstruck look on her face. "They want us to...? But can't we...?"      Maybe it'll be easier if she tries not to think too hard about it. Besides, the one calling himself Shoot is still visible on the other side of their gauntlet. "Yeah... Bet I can get there first, Mister Kyle!" It doesn't take long for her to actually get pumped again, though, especially with the prospect of excessive violence! Kazuko takes off after Kyle and Ren (and Tanya), already looking ahead to get a better idea of what's in store for them. Holes, fire, tiny creatures, and...      ... Never-stopping rocks. So much for taking her mind off that one. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' THIS display gets Lin STARING. WHY does the Multiverse insist on slamming her with ridiculous thing after ridiculous thing? She dashes after the trio but stops at the obstacle course's beginning, mouth agape and mind fizzling with half-ideas.     Eventually though... "Oh. I get it. They're cowards and want to wear us down with deathtraps first." She leaps up onto one of the platforms, ready to tackle her way after the trio... 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley lets out a big sigh and gives a bigger and animated shrug, her feathers puffing up for a second. "Always have to be difficult..." she complains half-heartedly, and then she follows after the others. The obstacles put before them are, mostly, things she has no trouble with because she has the ability to fly. She doesn't fly, exactly, she makes it seem like she's just really good and accurate at jumping.     Hop, hop. And ACTION ROLL to dodge rolling rocks. Careful, calm timing to leap through flames. A nice firm chop of a longsword against anything that comes at her with hostile intent. She handles it as confidently as a person can, and perhaps moreso. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Sproing!     "Yeah, basically Rei Lin. Don't feel too bad about it, Ainsley, yaoguai are assholes," Ren says to her- and to Kazuko too, he guesses. "I guess if they're really my world's matchup of demons and fae, one thing they both have in common is stringing along and taunting people they think are weaker. I mean to be fair, they are in a pretty good position." If Ren's wrong about stabbing the leader, then they'll be stuck in the middle of an island with hundreds of angry minor monsters. So, yeah.     "Now, don't take this the wrong way or anything," Ren says to Tanya, taking high high leaps onto and off of the floating platforms.     "N-n-not a problem," Tanya replies, eyes wide as saucers.     As soon as people begin jumping on platforms, that's when the chaos will really start. What's the best way to screw up your jumps? Little plant creatures flying out of the brushes to ram into you, that's what. They're not bats, they're not (really) medusa-esque, but some of them do fly and some of them are covered in wriggly bits.     Watch out for rolling rocks! Now, I'd say 'you might want to wait and see if they're moving in a pattern', but experience has taught this narrator that Kazuko isn't one for looking before she leaps, so just hope a sudden right-angle turn or speed-up isn't going to take her too badly by surprise! Mid-way through one leap Ren gets peppered with cactus spines (WHY is there a CACTUS in HAWAII?), and it distracts him- upon coming down he can't help but land on one of those square switches, which sets some of the open-mouthed tikis off and shooting jets of flame.     Rocks, fire, and flying grass- and we thought this wasn't a Pokemon adventure. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     "Typical." Kyle grouses, before he makes an EPIC action dive to another platform. He gives Kazuko a wide grin, nodding before he runs across the platform. "You're on, kid! Loser buys the winner lunch after this is over!" he laughs, making his way towards the boulders. No way he could move those on short notice, so he tries something else.     Drawing his lightsaber, he charges towards a boulder headed his way, and he slashes downwards to stop it dead and cut the stone in two. HAH! One less hazard for this team of heroes, that's for sure! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Patterns are no match for KAzuko's speed! Or boulders, actually. The moment she sees an opening, she just goes right for it without any regard to the boulders following up behind it. Luckily for her, Kyle goes to take one of those out, and it gives her just the opening she needs to get through without getting flattened.      "Thanks, Mister Kyle! For the rock and lunch!" She sounds quite confident about that, but at least she's not one to not return the favor. After leaping to another platform, she spies the approaching plant creatures and brandishes the naginata overhead. She waits until they fly into range, then slashes at them with well practiced swings to try and clear some of them out for her allies.      "This is all sort of... Familiar, isn't it. I feel like a ninja doing all this...!" 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Again, WHAT are Yaoguai?! Never HEARD of these things. ... Though there's probably plenty of things I don't know about in Creation. Not exactly a shaman or a scholar... yet..." But she's a SOMETHING, as is pretty obvious by the way she, like Ren, can effortlessly leap her way into the obstacle course and start barreling along it. Lin's quite nimble, but as Solars go... she's a n00b.     Consequently, instead of gliding along the thing effortlessly like sunlight shimmering over water she's more clumsily leaping and springing about in quick hops and suffering a few close shaves with the rocks and -- "WHAAAAH!!"     She SOMEHOW manages to kick off a nearby rolling rock midleap and change her trajectory to dive through the lower fringes of a flame jet instead of going straight through its upper reaches.     With a WHUMPF she tumbles over a platform, sort of singed, hem of her cloak smoldering lightly...     And coughing.     Breathing in BURNING AIR is just not good. She'll need a moment to recover. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "Seem kinda like demons to me!" Ainsley says to Karal, knowing even less about Creation than the Solar does. The lizard woman focuses on avoiding traps, and it becomes clear she is 'cheating' when, at one point, she soars clear over several obstacles that fly at her, and when one of the plant monsters completely fails to get gravity to affect her mid-leap, because she has to stop in the air as if her feet are brakes, and give a vicious overhead chop to the thing.     She's not coming out unscathed, mind. She's got cuts and bruises and scorches, because she's trying to keep with the group in case she needs to help someone avoid death. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ah, so we're racing, are we?      "Everything flying at you is a Yaoguai!" Ren shouts exasperatedly at Rei Lin. It's hard defending himself from these flying things with Tanya in his arms! A green- oh, hey, it IS a bat- swoops out of a tree, and Tanya squeaks and flails her arm at it. In a green flash, it explodes just as easily as if one of you had hit it!     If you can't dodge and if you can't tank it, you could go for the stylish play and cut it in half entirely, like Kyle's trying to do. Oh, it'll work alright- it just causes both of the halves to start dizzily flopping about by themselves.     Shoot definitely seems to be concerned about how fast everyone's approaching him! So he makes with a second round of, well, shoots into the ground and starts moving his fingers like a pianist. He wanted to be a pianist, you know, but he couldn't find a piano big enough for his enormous hands, so instead he became a giant plant monster. It's kind of sad when you think about it.     Rei Lin has to take a stop to breathe, but fortunately she's got Ainsley to guard her briefly while she does so. Problem is, she might be able to deal with nicks and scrapes, but every boulder and platform is picking up speed and begins moving even faster towards them-     And then it takes a sharp turn to the left? If anyone takes the time to look, they're rolling over SOME of the switches, but they're leaving some untouched--     Can you afford to risk it? 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle uses the Force to shove both halves of boulder aside like parting a curtain. Then he carries on to the next corridor, taking a leap to an elevated platform. He uses the Force to propel him far across the air, allowing him to grab onto another platform with a near miss, leaving him worried for a brief moment before he climbs atop of the platform.     "Better hurry it up, Kazu!" He calls out to Kazuko with a laugh, then goes back to leaping from platform to platform with more grace than a grizzled thirty something should have. Lousy cheating Jedi types and their fancy Force ninja leaping. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     It's kind of bad that they are boulders. Ainsley can only move so fast, and despite it swerving away from her it rolls RIGHT over her tail and nearly stuns her stupid from the pain of it while she's helping Karal out! And then she's making a loud whining noise as tingles shoot up her spine for a second, then she's moving all over again.     And she pauses to take stock of what Shoot is doing. The switches are being activated by rolling boulders... But some are being left untouched. So Ainsley decides to experiment. She leaps for the switches. If this territory obeys different rules, like that surfboard run, then it would be worth trying to play by this guy's rules and see if he irrationally put in things that could backfire on him! Press ALL the switches! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Where are these even coming from?!" Kazuko's sounding a little frazzled as she slashes apart another flying beastie, looking around to try and figure out where they and the boulders are even coming from. That distraction costs her a bit, though, when she notices Kyle making that massive jump!      "Wha... How'd you do that, Mister Kyle? That's way too far for a normal person!" Says the girl with the monster sister. She's not willing to let herself get beaten that easily, though, and she'll just have to pick up the pace to make up for her lack of cheating Jedi jumps! She leaves the switch experimentation to Ainsley as she runs for another platform, hurling herself over another pit and coming face to face with... EVEN MORE PITS AND FLYING BASTARDS.      Time for some creative jumping of her own. Although she can't jump as far as Kyle, she can still find her own shortcuts. She waits for the perfect moment to hurtle across another gap before planting her feet on a pair of flying minions, using them as a springboard and rolling past another wave of boulders! She doesn't come through completely safely, though, wincing as one of the boulders brushes right up against her arm after that landing.      "Tch... We're almost there! We're coming for you, Shoe!" 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "That tells me NOTHING. Where do they come from?! The Wyld?! Underground?!" With every word Lin's sounding ever-more baffled and bewildered as plant creatures and strange things whip around the mad course. "Rrrrrah!" Ainsley's there to keep a plant off her back, but she slams both hands into the platform, grips hard... and FRONTFLIPS to the next platform to avoid another bouncing boulder and pick up the pace again.     This time when plant creatures come flying out she dips and dives and RISE-SLASHES, chopping the irritating things in half.     "Who BUILT this out here in the middle of nowhere?! ... AND WHY?!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Yeah! They're not the only one who can part things like curtains, you go Kyle.     "Is it- really- relevant- right- now?" Ren asks Rei Lin.     Well, Shoot didn't necessarily put in traps that might backfire on him, but the three stooges DID have a bet going on... Splinter put them there, and Ainsley is right to start hitting switches.     Now, granted, not ALL of these are going to be successful. Non-Ainsley people MAY find themselves with additional fire to dodge, it's hardly as if a little more challenge here is going to make Kyle and Kazuko upset. Well, Kazuko's kind of upset already. By now the idea of being right in the thick of the enemy forces will definitely be apparent. But hey, they're only a third of the way there- don't waste all of your energy so soon!     Shoot is just as unhappy as Kazuko, perhaps even moreso.     Well, the switches have activated the tikis on either side of him, and they spring to life to hose him with huge jets of flame from either side. Taken entirely by surprise, there's little he can do as he burns to a cinder along with the strings controlling all of the platforms.     "Finally," Ren says. Tanya's still in his arms. "They're from the wyld. Environment of chaos, right? They can probably warp the entire landscape of this island to make it into their playground..."     After making your way out of the ruin-peppered ground, you're going to make it to the large river. Here is your second set of obstacles- will you be Up The Stream (Without a Paddle)?     This river runs about twelve feet wide and fifteen feet deep. You're going to have to take your chances- there's monsters and spikes lining each side.      This time your floating platforms are far more numerous but at least they're floating on the water instead of mid-air- oh, no, sorry, some of them are in fact still floating in mid-air. Those scowling tangled-up balls of seaweed are floating in the water, so don't linger on the lilypads too long. On the other hand, they're more stable footing than the slippery logs. And Splinter was technically right- you really are in the flytrap's jaws. Or will need to be, in any case- some of them are floating in the water where there are no other things to stand on.     At the far end of the river on a big stone platform there's Splinter himself. A huge pile of tiki-like objects are behind him, and he's picking them up in his jaws and spitting them downstream. Sometimes they float downriver, sometimes they fly like mortars! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Also, they explode!     extra words here for the scenesys to pick it up 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     WOO! EXPLOSIONS!     Wait, that's bad! Kyle narrowly avoids getting hit dead-on by a mortar tiki, and he tries not to trip over one while he heads down the river. The water seems like a bad place to be, so he remains atop the platforms for now.     He draws his lightsaber once more, trying to bat at incoming projectiles to cut them out of the air, or knock them off course with Force blasts along his way. The amount of fire heading their way might make this hard though, especially with the limited room to maneuver. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' EXPLOSIONS! And FIRE!Two things that... Traditionally haven't been Kazuko's friends when near her. She's running even faster to keep herself from getting set on fire, although some of those come dangerously close and even burn off part of her shirt! Thankfully, with Shoot taken out? It's time to move on to round two!      Kazuko probably shouldn't have gone so crazy with round one. OH WELL. "Their playground...? Well, too bad for them because we're gonna stop them, no matter who they are." Kazuko still sounds fired up, at least, even if her body might not be! Splinter's obstacles draw a long stare from the martial artist, but she's not going to get cowed by the... Plant-thing. She starts traversing the lilypads, moving a little more carefully than before to conserve her energy and not get her shit wrecked! 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "What..." Lin croaks, disbelieving. "That's something Fae can only do in the WYLD I thougght..." Her eyes are WIDE now. Wide with worry. If there ARE things that can do this outside the Wyld that's just TERRIFYING.     Oh well. Business continues as usual until they reach... THE RIVER.     Lin takes a good ten seconds to examine the obstacle course, then... "Let me show you what eight, sopping wet hours of hard training produced, after seeing those ship spirits skating around on the water..."     She apts to SKIP MOST OF THE OBSTACLE COURSE ENTIRELY and just starts dashing across the platforms. But where one would -expect- that she'd need to take high ground... she instead takes the low ground. FWOOOOOOSH. Off in a hyper-speed charge straight for Splinter. Against all sensibilities she's able to SKIP across the water like a ston and just keep running in brief spurts where there's no actual FOOTING.     ... What kind of training did she DO anyways? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     As before, with the previous problematic obstacle course, Ainsley has a distinct advantage in her ability to fly. She makes it look like she's just hopping across the surface of the water. As she goes, she observes what Splinter is doing, and where he's getting his ammunition from. She makes sure to track where the tiki mortars are being fired, and to avoid where they float down the river.     "Knock the shots back into his ammo stockpile," she suggests to the others, "He really shouldn't have it all stacked up like that." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     I'm not saying there are piranhas in the water, because there aren't. However there may be leeches! You know how it is, you stick your arm in water for two seconds, dozen leeches on there when you pull it out. That's how water works, it's just science.     Plant... plant leeches. This is hawaii, not the amazon.     Be careful! When slicing objects in two with your lightsaber, you may discover that they explode. Or maybe they're just filled with gunpowder? It depends. Is it like snipping the fuse off of a bomb with scissors, or is it like trying to cut it off with a welding torch? Fucking lightsabers, how do they work.     Division of labor might be the key here considering some people got themselves kind of torched in the first obstacle course. For example, right now Ren and Tanya are making a two-person human bridge to keep one of the flytraps pushed open so that some of you can pass! Actually, considering how much Tanya's crying, maybe they just got themselves in horrible trouble somehow. It's fine, Kazuko, step on over, he's Ren, he can take being bitten a bit.     Splinter doesn't have a whole lot of strategy. Unlike Shoot, he can't puppetmaster the entire thing- he's just relying on the flow of the river to take a steady stream of overwhelming firepower to you.     Firepower which is all stacked behind him.     Hmm.     This might mean things get a little bit awkward for him as Rei Lin opts to completely bypass the level and goes racing towards him and his munitions! The tanglekelp in the water is absolutely going to go into a frenzy trying to grab Rei Lin, tie her up and drag her down, but--?!?     Splinter is panicked! In his haste, what with Rei Lin running towards him, he throws at least five tiki bombs into the river, each of them moving at different speeds. He's down to two thirds of his stack!     How can you deal with this rapidly approaching problem? 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Oh boy. Kyle narrowly avoids getting singed from the tiki mortar he lightsabers out of the air, sustaining a few burns in the process as he leaps away.     Ainsley brings up a good point. A lot of the ammo is stacked pretty closely to one another, pretty dangerous thing to do with explosive ordinance.     Kyle grins, flicking a shell towards the ammo dump with the Force. "Package says return the sender, sorry!" He calls out with a laugh. Then, he takes after Rei Lin, leaping from platform to platform as fast as he can while making his way towards Splinter directly, grabbing another mortar and flinging it towards Splinter himself. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "That's the ticket!" Ainsley excitedly calls over to Kyle as he catches on pretty quickly after what she said. She makes sure not to submerge her vulnerable toes into the water, merely skipping across the water as if she were weightless. She kind of is, able to float down the river and avoid the threats it presents to her, but she makes a show of staying with the others because she doesn't want to just rush ahead when everyone else is in serious danger.     She pauses momentarily to try to help Ren and Tanya to the next platform, in fact, because they looked like they were having issues. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Oh. Oh dear. "Uhhhhhh!!" Better think fast, Lin! With bombs flowing at her she reacts in a panic, reaching up a sleeve and hurling something metallic at the bombs. A sharp eye will note they're basically throwing knives - or, more specifically, kunai, and they're flung with tremendous force and a sharp eye.     Only to hear Kyle approaching from behind. "H-hey, wait!!"     Too late. WHUNK!!     Her blades embed deep into the bombs, cracking the exterior... but not far enough away. Being caught in the fringe of ONE would be bad but she's caught in the range of three, and just lucks out that the other two detonate but too far from her to affect her much. She's blown clear out of the water and up into the air, coming back down with a hard WHUNK on the edge of a floating platform. At a glance it's obvious her lower body's taken severe injury. Bloodied and ripped, her legs look much like raw meat with skin shredded and deep scorches, shrapnel embedded into them. Yelling defiantly at the agony she manages to swing her body up and onto the platform from hanging by her arms and turns to ripping the most painful chunks of debris from her flesh in pained gasps. "Dammit... went in... too fast..."     Although now she looks at the guy's volatile pile of bombs... right behind him... "Shoot the bomb pile! Shoot the bomb pile behind him!" She calls to the others while struggling to get to her feet. Her legs are NOT cooperating very well. She wobbles and lurches and limps while working to get upright again.     Most people would be dead from that. Dead five times over. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Explosions send plumes of water up into the air, disturbing and even outright sending tanglekelp and giant flytraps into the air, waterborne roots flailing helplessly in the air. Make sure you're not knocked into the water!     Kyle uses the force and scoops one mortar out of the water at Ainsley's advice. It's a game of hot potato, because that fuse is pretty short, but...     Speaking of short fuses, Karal Rei Lin has taken a severe hit! Badly wounded, let's just say it's a good thing I was kidding about the leeches and everything plant and evil is currently flying through the air, whole or in bits, and also that the sharks are as we established on YOUR side, because... wow, that definitely is a lot of blood.     But really, you should see the other guy.     The airborne mine sails over Rei Lin's head and makes a lazy arc towards Splinter: he has time to look up at it- appropriately enough with another bomb in his jaws- before it hits him square in the forehead.     What happens next is very similar to National Public Radio's imfamous report on the dangerous Exploding Maple Tree, as Splinter and his remaining munitions go snap, crackle and most importantly POP. There's bark and sap everywhere, it's carnage.     Gross.     You may want to take a while to decide what you're going to do about those injuries, but the fact remains that you're at the foot of the mountain. Prepare yourselves for a Temple Trek.     The entire mountain is relatively easy to climb, because of the assortment of platforms placed at regular intervals. However, the higher up you get the more likely those platforms are to slide in and out of the movie, or float above rough patches of rock. Plantbirds who make their vine-filled nests also circle the mountainside, and right at the top, near the temple entrance- itself crumbling and roughshod- Spore is rolling, yes, boulders and chunks of column down the mountain, which bounce off of platforms as they fall. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO! Kyle is about to take off before he remembers Lin's been wounded, and badly so! Man down, man down!     Screw the bet, he can't leave a fellow behind, that's dishonorable and cowardly! Also it kind of is a dick move to let Rei Lin lie there bloody and alone, so he stops beside her and lifts her up over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "I got you, don't worry. Just stay with me now..." he says, before taking off towards the MOUNTAIN. Carrying a girl over your shoulder while going on a hike, totally a good idea right? 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' WUGH! Lin wasn't expecting to be suddenly HOISTED. Her eyes go wide and some color flushes through her cheeks. "Damn stupid of me to rush in that fast... sorry..." But she gets a very good view of the conclusion she came to paying off. Someone else had the same idea it seems. Set off the guy's own pile of BOOM on him!     She just flinches at the WEIRDLY gross sight...     Up close, Kyle may find himself wondering just how exactly she was managing to STAND on those legs. Or at least probably would've managed it in a bit. They're so severely injured that the pain would've incapacitated most people.     Even while being carried she proceeds to rip more debris from her flesh. It's just an amazing thing that she isn't bleeding all over Kyle. She isn't bleeding out. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren looks at Tanya, who he's... also still kind of carrying. Questioning.     Tanya looks at the others, and... pats Ren, wriggling out of his grip.     "It's okay. You guys have carried me this far already."     She steps forward on her own, hopping onto a platform. "I'm-- gonna help you guys this time."     Guess what! There are switches here, too! However, these ones have a more practical use- if you bash one of the square panels on the mountainside, it'll extend the amount of time the moving platforms stay in a favourable position for jumping.     Or it'll cause the platform underneath you to shake and buck like crazy. It's a bit of a gamble again, a fairy game for Rex's entertainment.     Tanya looks at Rei Lin briefly- she shivers as the woman pulls the wooden shrapnel (after this, getting a splinter will never seem as bad), but- it makes her bunch her fists and look up at the mountain entrance.     "We can do this. I can see the temple from here."     So she steels herself, and takes brave leap after leap to the next platform. She whacks a switch. Her grip tightens on the tiki pendant, and for a moment her swaying blonde hair shimmers greenstone-green.     But diving birds with leaves for feathers and slithering snakes won't make it easy for you. Each of them are in plentiful supply and dive- the former bombing from the air, the latter hanging from higher platforms to bite you in the face when you jump! 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle stops mid-run as he sees Rei Lin prying debris out of herself, trying to stop her. "Don't! You'll blee-" And then he notices a lack of bleeding out. "...huh, okay." Setting her down, Kyle does his best to patch her wounds up. He's no medic, but he does know how to at least keep people stable in these situations, bacta helps too.     After THAT, he takes a leap towards the platforms, following Tanya when the birds attack! He draws his lightsaber once again, slashing and stabbing at the dive-bombing avians dismissively. "Flock off already!" Yeah, he went there. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has been having a time of it as she's not quite well with all the things they had to get though it's been quite the odd day for her but she's pressing on and she makes her way up the mountain as she attempts to not befall anything else aor things like piss uff the plantbirds no that would be bad. "Let's just keep moving." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko had been laying somewhat low during the last course, focusing mostly on chopping down flying baddies from the sidelines and keeping an eye on her friends. With the second of the three ringleaders down, however, she makes her presence a little more visible again!     Namely, by chopping even more baddies. "This is nothing. I'll keep you covered!" She leaps next to Tanya and gets to slashing, seemingly rejuvenated by something! It would be pathetic if she couldn't manage to cover Karal after that injury, after all. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Karal Rei Lin hisses the moment she's put down again, but gives Kyle a very appreciative "Thank you!" in sheer gratitude for the medical aid. A handful of bandages do wonders for this. Less open air on the wounds is definitely a plus. Takes some of the pain out of the equation. She manages to stand on the legs, but with a limp. Still... it's enough.     Every movement's clearly taking all of her effort, but Lin rejoins the leaping efforts after Tanya.     She's not going to let her get hurt just because she's in pain. Pain... pain is a state of mind, right?     That's what she tries to tell herself, but her legs feels like it's being speared through every leap...     But her sword's out this time, slashing with excellent timing at everything in the way... at least her ARMS are relatively uninjured! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Menu > Items > Restore > Bacta Patch x5     Restored 20 HP!     That's definitely how it goes.     Kyle and Rei linger at the bottom, which means they're going to be the first people to come under attack. There will be angry birds, but some of them decide to just wait and hover higher up... after all, there's no huge distance for these two to fall! It makes more sense to knock them around when their fall will be more fatal...     Deelel takes point and begins moving forward. She'll find herself being the first to experience the shifting platforms along with Ren and Tanya- so together, they'll have to get a feel for their movement and the switches. Please give them covering fire!     Or covering slashes. Kazuko is going to need to temper her nerves of steel- it's gonna be tough striking the plantbirds at the moment before their divebomb connects!     "Tangaroa..." Tanya says, looking worriedly at Rei Lin. "We could really use a little more of your help when we get to the top..."     But don't forget Spore is at the top! He's going to be stomping the ground and kicking up dust as he peers over the edge of the platform, rolling barrels down towards you.     Boulders. I said boulders, not barrels. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is still tagging along! She's just at the rear of the group, and she's having a bit of trouble with the boulders because she really doesn't want to get hit by one of them and get cartoonishly flattened like a lizard pancake. She has her tongue sticking out and she makes big leaps and well-timed ducks to avoid, and tries not to get forced to fly along the way. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Amazing timing is... Not Kazuko's middle name! Or even her original name. A favorite cousin, maybe, or even an old pet. Her nerves, however... That's what's going to have to compensate for her general impatience, but it's the best shot she has!      As those plantbirds keep coming, she starts spinning her naginata in front of her like an industrial fan of chopping and bludgeoning death, advancing forward and upwards steadily to keep those birds from getting too close. Why try to time her slashes when she can just make it nearly impossible for those things to get to her and her friends instead?      Well, aside from when she actually needs to jump. It's during those times that she's having the most trouble, tackling one of those birds in mid-air and nearly missing a platform in mid-jump! Thankfully, she makes it by the skin of her teeth, and...      Then boulders. "One of... One of these days... I'm gonna learn how to fly, and you up there!" She points dramatically at Spore, then pauses to jerk herself sideways to avoid a boulder splattering her. "Gyah! Erk... Well, you won't have to wait long, because we're gonna beat your face in with or without flying!" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel looks t teh shifting platforms for a moment she looks out ahead trying to get an idea of just what they are delaing with whelp she summons her keyblade and is going to start to make some magic happen. She starts to make use of wind and lighting trying to help Tanya and Ren not have as worse of a day and make things a bit easier. "Move it! I can't keep this up for too long!" 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle reaches out to unleash a Force Push to shove away the horde of birds, the force of a cannonball smashing into the flying felons. He catches up with the others, noting the boulders rolling after them. "Well, Ainsley, you wanted boulders!" He says with a bitter laugh, before he reaches out to derail one of the boulders from its intended path, harmlessly rolling past everyone.     Somewhere, in Kyle's world, Han Solo suffers a second fit of the shivers for no apparent reason before awakening with a cold sweat, yelping loud enough to awaken Chewie, Leia, and the kids early in the morning. Groggy, Leia asks, "What's wrong?" only for him to shrug, rubbing his eyes. "I have no idea...dreamt about...boulders, and a jungle of some sort..."     The rest of that morning was spent with Han downing more caff than he's ever had in his life. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Flying might have its benefits! After all, every enormous, solid boulder thrown at you is one less being rolled down the... well, no, actually maybe we should shelve that idea. Besides, we all know what happened last time one person tried to bypass all the obstacles.     Sorry, Rei Lin.     Truly, today We Had a Bad Feeling About This.     Switches aren't the only way of doing this! Naturally, no Yaoguai can plan for every supernatural eventuality, so diverting boulders with telekinesis will definitely get you out of some close shaves. And speaking of close shaves-     Don't worry, Kazuko. With Deelel giving him an electric charge and some wind at his back, Ren's there to give you a hand when you slip. That's why you always climb mountains in pairs, right? So one guy can grab the other when he slips.     Unlike Splinter, it is worth noting, Spore does not have a large stack of boulders to roll at you. In fact, he's running low, and he's begun to start pulling rough pieces out of the temple wall. They bounce a lot more unevenly, and without even noticing it he's endangering his own foothold.     Is Tanya really thinking about what happens when she gets to Spore, if she's going to be there first? She's pressing switches to make your lives easier, but--     "STOP destroying the TEMPLE!" she shouts, and her voice is definitely shaking weirdly when she does...     A piece of it crackles with energy as Spore tries to pull it out! He may be off balance! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' With the switches helping to stem the tide of falling, flying, and/or burning bullshit being thrown their way, Kazuko's advance continues steadily! She even bounds off a flying plantbird or two on her way up, trying to get to Spore before he can do too much damage to the temple.      "H.. Hey! Why don't you come here and fight before we get up there and... Uh. Fight you anyway? And... How long did it even take you to set up all this stuff?" It's a thought. She doubts it's going to do much, but at least she can try to make things a little easier for her allies if the distraction ploy works.      There's a very good reason Kazuko isn't the strategist in her group of friends. Still, if she gets there before Spore can plummet on his own or anyone else can take him out? She'll try to get a big meaty slash right into the plant-whatever's arms! 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' This is how many times something weird's happened when Tanya got angry?! Lin pauses her approach to observe her for a moment, just a tad concerned. "... God-Blooded... maybe...?" Is that even a thing in this world? She has no idea. What she IS though... is very grateful for all the cover provided by Kyle knocking the boulders away. She only has to deal with snakes and bird-things, that's straightforward enough. Even if she's slowed down by all the injuries throwing her balance off.     Lin staggers after making her way across a few more platforms, taking a moment to gather her focus again...     There's just no denying that really HURT earlier. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     SNAKES...why did it have to be snakes?     Kyle shudders as he brushes a snake off his shoulder, looking quite uncomfortable while he makes his way towards Spore. He only pauses upon hearing Tanya's outburst, and he senses a strange energy from her briefly.     That's...weird. He has no idea what this is about, but that'll have to wait until later!     He closes the distance between him and Spore, slashing at the plant-man's leg when Kazuko goes for his arm. All that's needed now is for someone to finish the job! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Before attemping to touch things he shouldn't, Spore may have taken the time to insist to Kazuko, "This entire island can be warped into the world we desire! Anything is possible for us!" before he was proven suddenly, shockingly wrong.     Kazuko breaks ahead of the pack, her determination and frustration clearly giving her the extra push to make it clear through the shifting platforms. Sometimes, rather than clouding your judgement, anger lets you get into a perfect place where you see the clearest way to get to exactly what's troubling you.     And, naturally, smash it.     Kazuko moves almost as fast as the lightning that coursed over Spore's hand, tearing right into one of his elbows. Unable to keep his balance, the fungus titan wobbles and totters on his weak legs- only for Kyle to give him one last push that sends him crashing and rolling down the hill, hitting every branch on the way down. He isn't getting up from that one.     Ren makes it to the top, but surprisingly after Tanya, who is breathing hard and muttering something in maori.     She looks like she could use a hand. "Thank you... I - I wouldn't have been able to make it this far without you..."     Her pendant is glowing strongly.     "...I don't know what's going on, but I want to go in there and clean that monster's clock more than anything else in the world."     Another tiki with Tangaroa's visage stands outside the temple.     WARNING: once you go inside the temple, you will no longer be able to back out. Do you really wish to proceed? 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Success! Kazuko lets out a confident grunt as she watches the fungus-y... Whatever guy plummet down the mountain, cringing a bit at all those intermediate impacts against branches and rocks and whathaveyou. Not enough to ask if he's okay, of course, since he deserved it for throwing all that crap at them, but...      She definitely wouldn't want to be that guy. "Heh heh... Nice work, everyone!" She lets out an excited little cheer and pumps a fist into the air, even holding her hand out to Kyle for a hearty high-five before turning to their FINAL DESTINATION.      It's the inside of the temple. "Think there's gonna be any more weird... Jumping over stuff in there, Tanya?" She kicks her leg out a few times as she says that, trying to shake off all the bruises, cuts, and burns she's been sustaining throughout this whole ordeal. "Still gotta find that last one... But I'm ready when everyone else is. Ren? Tanya? Mister Kyle? Miss Karal? Miss Ainsley?"      Although the flesh is bloody, her spirit burns as brightly as ever! Also, the back of her shirt might be slightly on fire. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle pants and sighs, grunting in satisfaction as Spore goes down. "Serves you right." He says, before giving Kazuko a hi-five without missing a beat.     He looks to Karal, Ren, Tanya, and Ainsley before he decides. "We wait for Karal's and our wounds to knit together, then we go in. Then we finish this." He says calmly.     That might not take as long as it sounds. 
}}

4173/SW: Stage 3, 4 and 5

2016-06-03T22:36:39Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/06/01 |Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop |Synopsis=Rolling Boulders! A river full of threats! Pushing on no matter what! |Cast of Character..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/06/01
|Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop
|Synopsis=Rolling Boulders! A river full of threats! Pushing on no matter what!
|Cast of Characters=8, 151, 165, 778, 942, 984
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     A couple days later and we're back on the island of Kaho'olawe.     The island isn't just suffering from being overtaken by plant growth.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1cbKFgz-9g     Mystic Cave Zone (Remix) - Sonic the Hedgehog 2     Sega and NicoCW - 1992 and 2014)      Since the Yaoguai are creatures of chaos, brief surveys of the island have noted that there has been no small degree of rearranging of the island's features, leaving it overrun with bizarre changes to the landscape such as floating platforms, really angry tiki heads that roam about of their own accord, giant stone crushers that roll back and forth, and huge pits filled with snakes.     All of these things are set to try us!     Having arrived on the beach next to Tangaroa's tree, Ren's going to push past the sand and begin moving straight into the jungle beyond, machete and torch at the ready. We're going to have to cross about four miles of weirdness to get to the temple.     Welina!     M�kaukau? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Today, Ainsley is dressed in a safari outfit! She's got a sleeveless shirt, a pair of shorts and one of those safari caps that all the old-timey hunters used! At least based on the stereotypes of those times.     She also brought her longsword today! She's expecting she'll have to use it. Those fish from the last time were pretty nasty, but now she's pretty sure she'll be dealing with things she can't easily avoid.     "Quite an adventure~" she says, as if the chaos that waits for them will be fun and not a horrible slog of jungle and traps and animals and monsters. This tropical weather really makes her take a positive spin on things... or, well, she's just crazy. Being a wizard and all. "Do you think we'll have to run away from a rolling boulder?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Man... This place looks weeeird." Kazuko furrows her brow as she gives herself an impromptu shoulder massage with her naginata, rolling the handle of the polearm along her back while peering out at the obstacles in the distance. "These yao... Mao... Ga's had way too much time to do this, huh?" T She isn't making the connection yet. Not that she needs to, since she's here for one reason: Beating up the weird monsters bothering that talking tree god! "You mean like that old guy with the whip? We should be okay as long as we don't touch any tiny statues."      If they're lucky today, there won't be any tiny statues for Kazuko to touch. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     SAFARI OUTFITS! Kyle's still in his DIX MAGNUM wear, though his trunks have been replaced with practical cargo kaki shorts, and he's sporting a rugged pair of hiking boots. His lightsaber chops and slashes at the vines and branches in the way, trying to make sure the path is clear. It's a good thing everyone's got blades today, it seems.     "If we do, I get the feeling that'll be the least of our worries. I'm more wondering if angry locals chase us." He means more the monsters, but sure, angry poison arrow flinging tribesmen would be pretty unpleasant too!     He's had his fill of jungles, especially with the times he's had to go find lost students on Yavin IV. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Can't say I'm not excited to see what'll come of this! There might be artifacts and treasure where these CREATURES come from." States Karal Rei Lin, who's always happy to receive payment for work she'd be happy to do anyways.     Which includes stopping these monsters from terrifying innocent folks. Some part of her's screaming at her that this is a GREAT opportunity to do the right thing. A righteous cause - after all, who's duty is it to stand at the forefront and bring down dark creatures?     The Dawn Caste.     "Hand me that thing if it dulls or chips, I'll have it fixed up in no time. Better than ever." She asides to Ren from not far behind him.     She's in her ordinary attire this time instead of the two-piece bathing suit, and understandably sweating, but she doesn't appear terribly bothered by the heat and toil. She's as raring to go as anyone could be.     Even now she's grinning fearlessly into the jungle with a hand on her sword just in case... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka is... well, his normal outfit is perfect for this kind of thing anyway, so that's what he's wearing. He knows Tangaroa won't mind him cleaving through plants- they're corrupted ones, anyway.     "Maybe," he says to Ainsley. "Might even have to dodge some that are rolling back and forth." Bloody non-euclidean chaos beings.     "It must have been about a week since they took this place over?" he says to Kazuko, working his way through a bush. THWACK THWACK. "-thank you, Rei Lin. Yes, we could only move so quickly. They won't have dug in enough by now, but that's why we're trying to just cut right to the heart of things." THWACK. "If a yaoguai of any tier gets deep into Creation, they act as a control network for all the smaller ones, so if we take him out everything smaller should... well, wilt."     "...I'm worried about the other people," Tanya says to Kyle. "The natives who live in the temple must be in hiding right now. I hope they're all okay."     A chorus of cackles can be heard from the plants around them, and just as the group makes it into a clearing with a stream-     http://imgur.com/a/NVRec     These guys show up.     "Shouldn't you be more worried about yourselves?" "Hello, humans. I'm Spore-" "I'm Shoot-" "And I'm Splinter." "We're the official guardians of Rex Exfolia's NEW temple. And once he's finished eating this puny native god, we'll go back to Creation as conquerors!"     "No you won't!" Tanya shouts, then covers her mouth and steps behind Ren. Did she just yell at that huge guy? 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     CHOP! CHOP CHOP! Kyle shrugs at Tanya, "We'll save 'em, don't worry about that." He says, before nudging a dead tree to the side, just in time to see the quirky mini boss squad of today, it seems!     Lightsaber in hand, Kyle begins to move in front of Tanya, hovering in front of her like a protective figure. "You're gonna have to go through me, and scarier have tried before." he says confidently, staring down Spore in particular. Plant monsters, this is a thing that's happening right now.     Thing is, he's killed a SHITLOAD of plant monsters since this mess began, so he feels he's something of a quick study with this sort of thing. "Come and get us." 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Yaoguai?" The term's new to Lin, so she tilts her head hoping for some clarification. "... This is Creation?! That's news to--" Rustle-rustle-RUSTLE.     Karal Rei Lin ceases traipsing through the jungle and tightens the grip on her sword, senses sharpening and focusing until she's narrowed down three distinct sources of sound.     The redhead makes the FOULEST of faces at the three monsters. Her question is somewhat answered about where she is and isn't, but the girl worriedly flicks her gaze back and forth from creature to creature.     Hard to gauge how threatening these three things are, but the way they carry themselves may at least give her some clue...     "Be ye demon or fae or whatever you are, one thing you AREN'T is welcome here. You and your boss can leave peacefully..."     The redhead dips down into a combat stance, leg sweeping around, and a thumb hovers just under the grip of her guard. With a simple flick she budges the blade a half-inch out, letting it gleam threateningly in the clearing's light.     "... or in pieces." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "You're kidding, right?"     Ainsley looks at them for a while once they reach the clearing, and then to herself and then back at them, and she couldn't sound or look more skeptical if she tried. "First of all, I'm not human. Do I look human to you? Is it the hat?" She adjusts her hat. "Second of all: Shut up." She reaches out with her hand and does a shoosh motion with her fingers, casting a spell so they can't talk back.     "Your plan is terrible. You are not the first band of warlords to do this, and probably not the last, but could you please rethink this conqueror thing? Couldn't you, like... provide a resource no one else can make, and then gain power by trading it? You could get land that way and no one would hate you. Well, no one with any sense of reason and equality."     Ainsley puts her hand on the hilt of the longsword and floats an inch off the ground. She knows they probably don't care. She just tires of the old warlord mentality and having to stab dudes to stop problems. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Boulders going in two directions? But that's... How would that even work?" Good job, Ren. Now Kazuko's going to be trying to figure out physics for a while.      Thankfully, not for long because physics in confusing, and boulder physics doesn't help her with chopping or beating things up. "So we just gotta find the head, then... Alright. I can reach real high if it's a tall one!"      Could Kyle or Karal or Ainsley or... Literally anyone in this group do that better than her with their own powers? Probably. But Kazuko... Kazuko's got a long bladed stick! That's gotta count for something, right?      If nothing else, it'll be handy for those creatures accosting them. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops when Tanya of all people shouts back. Kazuko smirks, then moves into a defensive position in front of her and Ren with the naginata drawn.      "That's right! Living here with everyone else is one thing, but we won't let you bully everyone else!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Before they arrived:     Ren clarifies to Rei Lin, "No, this is Hawaii. But I'm going to assume that the same is true, because if not we're going to need a whole lot of weed-whackers."     Now they've arrived:     In terms of sizing the three of them up- well, each of them is about ten feet tall, on average. Spore is the biggest and gorilla-est of the three, with much bigger arms than legs. Of course, Shoot doesn't have legs, and seems to just have a tapering serpentlike body. And Splinter has four legs, and is probably perching on top of a half-sunken tiki statue right now.     The three of them laugh again, but it's cut off in a jolt by Ainsley's rather angry demand. The three of them try talking for a few seconds afterwards- it initially fails, although it's hard to tell since only one of them really has a mouth- but after a brief moment of rasping and gurgling, they've pushed past it. That might be worrying.     "Ah, how brave!" "You can talk the talk, but you've made the mistake of coming into our domain."     "(Not yours,)" Tanya says quietly, balling her fist up. Her pendant and eyes both flicker lightly.     "We're bull-headed bullies, alright! An invasive species that chokes out all others!" "It's like planting kudzu in the best fertilizer in the market." "Yes! Plants grow fine in ground up bones and blood!" "We're thriving here and you've walked right into the flytrap's jaws, really." "But we're not even going to fight you."     The trees behind them crackle, shifting like two curtains being pulled apart. From here to the temple built into the top of the mountain, you can see a huge assortment of twisted terrain. "You'll have to run three seperate gauntlets-" "And we have control of all of it." "I've made a bet you won't even get past the first set!" The three of them laugh a little more, then shrink and disappear as they become balls of green flame that whirl around and fly off into the distance.     Here's the first set of obtacles- let's call it the Road to Ruin.     A gauntlet of grotesquerie straight out of a video game, here's where those aforementioned non-euclidean things were. You want floating platforms over pits? You got it. Boulders rolling around of their own accord? You got it. Idols breathing fire? You got it. Smaller plant creatures roaming around like the ones on the beach? Spikes? Conspicuous switch-like squares on the ground? Tar pits, somehow? You got it!     Right at the end, off in the distance, you can see Shoot, standing with two open-mouthed tikis on either side of him, and with energy strings digging into the ground, controlling everything.     Ren takes a moment scratching his chin, then picks up Tanya and takes off running. Yeah, it's gonna be one of those days. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Hoo boy...Kyle looks at the course and just flashes back briefly to a horrific amount of jumping and climbing he had to do while on Bespin...and Nar Shadda. And also the training courses Luke had him running...and other places. He seems to do an awful amount of running and climbing and jumping, after all. Clipping his lightsaber back to his belt, he takes off after Ren and Tanya in a steady jog.     "I can't wait to shut those guys up, not going to lie." He admits, leaping towards the nearest platform on the course proper. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It really is turning into an obstacle course. Kazuko's not quite sure how to react to that at first, looking at where those three figures had been prior to disappearing with a dumbstruck look on her face. "They want us to...? But can't we...?"      Maybe it'll be easier if she tries not to think too hard about it. Besides, the one calling himself Shoot is still visible on the other side of their gauntlet. "Yeah... Bet I can get there first, Mister Kyle!" It doesn't take long for her to actually get pumped again, though, especially with the prospect of excessive violence! Kazuko takes off after Kyle and Ren (and Tanya), already looking ahead to get a better idea of what's in store for them. Holes, fire, tiny creatures, and...      ... Never-stopping rocks. So much for taking her mind off that one. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' THIS display gets Lin STARING. WHY does the Multiverse insist on slamming her with ridiculous thing after ridiculous thing? She dashes after the trio but stops at the obstacle course's beginning, mouth agape and mind fizzling with half-ideas.     Eventually though... "Oh. I get it. They're cowards and want to wear us down with deathtraps first." She leaps up onto one of the platforms, ready to tackle her way after the trio... 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley lets out a big sigh and gives a bigger and animated shrug, her feathers puffing up for a second. "Always have to be difficult..." she complains half-heartedly, and then she follows after the others. The obstacles put before them are, mostly, things she has no trouble with because she has the ability to fly. She doesn't fly, exactly, she makes it seem like she's just really good and accurate at jumping.     Hop, hop. And ACTION ROLL to dodge rolling rocks. Careful, calm timing to leap through flames. A nice firm chop of a longsword against anything that comes at her with hostile intent. She handles it as confidently as a person can, and perhaps moreso. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Sproing!     "Yeah, basically Rei Lin. Don't feel too bad about it, Ainsley, yaoguai are assholes," Ren says to her- and to Kazuko too, he guesses. "I guess if they're really my world's matchup of demons and fae, one thing they both have in common is stringing along and taunting people they think are weaker. I mean to be fair, they are in a pretty good position." If Ren's wrong about stabbing the leader, then they'll be stuck in the middle of an island with hundreds of angry minor monsters. So, yeah.     "Now, don't take this the wrong way or anything," Ren says to Tanya, taking high high leaps onto and off of the floating platforms.     "N-n-not a problem," Tanya replies, eyes wide as saucers.     As soon as people begin jumping on platforms, that's when the chaos will really start. What's the best way to screw up your jumps? Little plant creatures flying out of the brushes to ram into you, that's what. They're not bats, they're not (really) medusa-esque, but some of them do fly and some of them are covered in wriggly bits.     Watch out for rolling rocks! Now, I'd say 'you might want to wait and see if they're moving in a pattern', but experience has taught this narrator that Kazuko isn't one for looking before she leaps, so just hope a sudden right-angle turn or speed-up isn't going to take her too badly by surprise! Mid-way through one leap Ren gets peppered with cactus spines (WHY is there a CACTUS in HAWAII?), and it distracts him- upon coming down he can't help but land on one of those square switches, which sets some of the open-mouthed tikis off and shooting jets of flame.     Rocks, fire, and flying grass- and we thought this wasn't a Pokemon adventure. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     "Typical." Kyle grouses, before he makes an EPIC action dive to another platform. He gives Kazuko a wide grin, nodding before he runs across the platform. "You're on, kid! Loser buys the winner lunch after this is over!" he laughs, making his way towards the boulders. No way he could move those on short notice, so he tries something else.     Drawing his lightsaber, he charges towards a boulder headed his way, and he slashes downwards to stop it dead and cut the stone in two. HAH! One less hazard for this team of heroes, that's for sure! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Patterns are no match for KAzuko's speed! Or boulders, actually. The moment she sees an opening, she just goes right for it without any regard to the boulders following up behind it. Luckily for her, Kyle goes to take one of those out, and it gives her just the opening she needs to get through without getting flattened.      "Thanks, Mister Kyle! For the rock and lunch!" She sounds quite confident about that, but at least she's not one to not return the favor. After leaping to another platform, she spies the approaching plant creatures and brandishes the naginata overhead. She waits until they fly into range, then slashes at them with well practiced swings to try and clear some of them out for her allies.      "This is all sort of... Familiar, isn't it. I feel like a ninja doing all this...!" 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Again, WHAT are Yaoguai?! Never HEARD of these things. ... Though there's probably plenty of things I don't know about in Creation. Not exactly a shaman or a scholar... yet..." But she's a SOMETHING, as is pretty obvious by the way she, like Ren, can effortlessly leap her way into the obstacle course and start barreling along it. Lin's quite nimble, but as Solars go... she's a n00b.     Consequently, instead of gliding along the thing effortlessly like sunlight shimmering over water she's more clumsily leaping and springing about in quick hops and suffering a few close shaves with the rocks and -- "WHAAAAH!!"     She SOMEHOW manages to kick off a nearby rolling rock midleap and change her trajectory to dive through the lower fringes of a flame jet instead of going straight through its upper reaches.     With a WHUMPF she tumbles over a platform, sort of singed, hem of her cloak smoldering lightly...     And coughing.     Breathing in BURNING AIR is just not good. She'll need a moment to recover. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "Seem kinda like demons to me!" Ainsley says to Karal, knowing even less about Creation than the Solar does. The lizard woman focuses on avoiding traps, and it becomes clear she is 'cheating' when, at one point, she soars clear over several obstacles that fly at her, and when one of the plant monsters completely fails to get gravity to affect her mid-leap, because she has to stop in the air as if her feet are brakes, and give a vicious overhead chop to the thing.     She's not coming out unscathed, mind. She's got cuts and bruises and scorches, because she's trying to keep with the group in case she needs to help someone avoid death. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ah, so we're racing, are we?      "Everything flying at you is a Yaoguai!" Ren shouts exasperatedly at Rei Lin. It's hard defending himself from these flying things with Tanya in his arms! A green- oh, hey, it IS a bat- swoops out of a tree, and Tanya squeaks and flails her arm at it. In a green flash, it explodes just as easily as if one of you had hit it!     If you can't dodge and if you can't tank it, you could go for the stylish play and cut it in half entirely, like Kyle's trying to do. Oh, it'll work alright- it just causes both of the halves to start dizzily flopping about by themselves.     Shoot definitely seems to be concerned about how fast everyone's approaching him! So he makes with a second round of, well, shoots into the ground and starts moving his fingers like a pianist. He wanted to be a pianist, you know, but he couldn't find a piano big enough for his enormous hands, so instead he became a giant plant monster. It's kind of sad when you think about it.     Rei Lin has to take a stop to breathe, but fortunately she's got Ainsley to guard her briefly while she does so. Problem is, she might be able to deal with nicks and scrapes, but every boulder and platform is picking up speed and begins moving even faster towards them-     And then it takes a sharp turn to the left? If anyone takes the time to look, they're rolling over SOME of the switches, but they're leaving some untouched--     Can you afford to risk it? 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle uses the Force to shove both halves of boulder aside like parting a curtain. Then he carries on to the next corridor, taking a leap to an elevated platform. He uses the Force to propel him far across the air, allowing him to grab onto another platform with a near miss, leaving him worried for a brief moment before he climbs atop of the platform.     "Better hurry it up, Kazu!" He calls out to Kazuko with a laugh, then goes back to leaping from platform to platform with more grace than a grizzled thirty something should have. Lousy cheating Jedi types and their fancy Force ninja leaping. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     It's kind of bad that they are boulders. Ainsley can only move so fast, and despite it swerving away from her it rolls RIGHT over her tail and nearly stuns her stupid from the pain of it while she's helping Karal out! And then she's making a loud whining noise as tingles shoot up her spine for a second, then she's moving all over again.     And she pauses to take stock of what Shoot is doing. The switches are being activated by rolling boulders... But some are being left untouched. So Ainsley decides to experiment. She leaps for the switches. If this territory obeys different rules, like that surfboard run, then it would be worth trying to play by this guy's rules and see if he irrationally put in things that could backfire on him! Press ALL the switches! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Where are these even coming from?!" Kazuko's sounding a little frazzled as she slashes apart another flying beastie, looking around to try and figure out where they and the boulders are even coming from. That distraction costs her a bit, though, when she notices Kyle making that massive jump!      "Wha... How'd you do that, Mister Kyle? That's way too far for a normal person!" Says the girl with the monster sister. She's not willing to let herself get beaten that easily, though, and she'll just have to pick up the pace to make up for her lack of cheating Jedi jumps! She leaves the switch experimentation to Ainsley as she runs for another platform, hurling herself over another pit and coming face to face with... EVEN MORE PITS AND FLYING BASTARDS.      Time for some creative jumping of her own. Although she can't jump as far as Kyle, she can still find her own shortcuts. She waits for the perfect moment to hurtle across another gap before planting her feet on a pair of flying minions, using them as a springboard and rolling past another wave of boulders! She doesn't come through completely safely, though, wincing as one of the boulders brushes right up against her arm after that landing.      "Tch... We're almost there! We're coming for you, Shoe!" 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "That tells me NOTHING. Where do they come from?! The Wyld?! Underground?!" With every word Lin's sounding ever-more baffled and bewildered as plant creatures and strange things whip around the mad course. "Rrrrrah!" Ainsley's there to keep a plant off her back, but she slams both hands into the platform, grips hard... and FRONTFLIPS to the next platform to avoid another bouncing boulder and pick up the pace again.     This time when plant creatures come flying out she dips and dives and RISE-SLASHES, chopping the irritating things in half.     "Who BUILT this out here in the middle of nowhere?! ... AND WHY?!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Yeah! They're not the only one who can part things like curtains, you go Kyle.     "Is it- really- relevant- right- now?" Ren asks Rei Lin.     Well, Shoot didn't necessarily put in traps that might backfire on him, but the three stooges DID have a bet going on... Splinter put them there, and Ainsley is right to start hitting switches.     Now, granted, not ALL of these are going to be successful. Non-Ainsley people MAY find themselves with additional fire to dodge, it's hardly as if a little more challenge here is going to make Kyle and Kazuko upset. Well, Kazuko's kind of upset already. By now the idea of being right in the thick of the enemy forces will definitely be apparent. But hey, they're only a third of the way there- don't waste all of your energy so soon!     Shoot is just as unhappy as Kazuko, perhaps even moreso.     Well, the switches have activated the tikis on either side of him, and they spring to life to hose him with huge jets of flame from either side. Taken entirely by surprise, there's little he can do as he burns to a cinder along with the strings controlling all of the platforms.     "Finally," Ren says. Tanya's still in his arms. "They're from the wyld. Environment of chaos, right? They can probably warp the entire landscape of this island to make it into their playground..."     After making your way out of the ruin-peppered ground, you're going to make it to the large river. Here is your second set of obstacles- will you be Up The Stream (Without a Paddle)?     This river runs about twelve feet wide and fifteen feet deep. You're going to have to take your chances- there's monsters and spikes lining each side.      This time your floating platforms are far more numerous but at least they're floating on the water instead of mid-air- oh, no, sorry, some of them are in fact still floating in mid-air. Those scowling tangled-up balls of seaweed are floating in the water, so don't linger on the lilypads too long. On the other hand, they're more stable footing than the slippery logs. And Splinter was technically right- you really are in the flytrap's jaws. Or will need to be, in any case- some of them are floating in the water where there are no other things to stand on.     At the far end of the river on a big stone platform there's Splinter himself. A huge pile of tiki-like objects are behind him, and he's picking them up in his jaws and spitting them downstream. Sometimes they float downriver, sometimes they fly like mortars! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Also, they explode!     extra words here for the scenesys to pick it up 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     WOO! EXPLOSIONS!     Wait, that's bad! Kyle narrowly avoids getting hit dead-on by a mortar tiki, and he tries not to trip over one while he heads down the river. The water seems like a bad place to be, so he remains atop the platforms for now.     He draws his lightsaber once more, trying to bat at incoming projectiles to cut them out of the air, or knock them off course with Force blasts along his way. The amount of fire heading their way might make this hard though, especially with the limited room to maneuver. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' EXPLOSIONS! And FIRE!Two things that... Traditionally haven't been Kazuko's friends when near her. She's running even faster to keep herself from getting set on fire, although some of those come dangerously close and even burn off part of her shirt! Thankfully, with Shoot taken out? It's time to move on to round two!      Kazuko probably shouldn't have gone so crazy with round one. OH WELL. "Their playground...? Well, too bad for them because we're gonna stop them, no matter who they are." Kazuko still sounds fired up, at least, even if her body might not be! Splinter's obstacles draw a long stare from the martial artist, but she's not going to get cowed by the... Plant-thing. She starts traversing the lilypads, moving a little more carefully than before to conserve her energy and not get her shit wrecked! 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "What..." Lin croaks, disbelieving. "That's something Fae can only do in the WYLD I thougght..." Her eyes are WIDE now. Wide with worry. If there ARE things that can do this outside the Wyld that's just TERRIFYING.     Oh well. Business continues as usual until they reach... THE RIVER.     Lin takes a good ten seconds to examine the obstacle course, then... "Let me show you what eight, sopping wet hours of hard training produced, after seeing those ship spirits skating around on the water..."     She apts to SKIP MOST OF THE OBSTACLE COURSE ENTIRELY and just starts dashing across the platforms. But where one would -expect- that she'd need to take high ground... she instead takes the low ground. FWOOOOOOSH. Off in a hyper-speed charge straight for Splinter. Against all sensibilities she's able to SKIP across the water like a ston and just keep running in brief spurts where there's no actual FOOTING.     ... What kind of training did she DO anyways? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     As before, with the previous problematic obstacle course, Ainsley has a distinct advantage in her ability to fly. She makes it look like she's just hopping across the surface of the water. As she goes, she observes what Splinter is doing, and where he's getting his ammunition from. She makes sure to track where the tiki mortars are being fired, and to avoid where they float down the river.     "Knock the shots back into his ammo stockpile," she suggests to the others, "He really shouldn't have it all stacked up like that." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     I'm not saying there are piranhas in the water, because there aren't. However there may be leeches! You know how it is, you stick your arm in water for two seconds, dozen leeches on there when you pull it out. That's how water works, it's just science.     Plant... plant leeches. This is hawaii, not the amazon.     Be careful! When slicing objects in two with your lightsaber, you may discover that they explode. Or maybe they're just filled with gunpowder? It depends. Is it like snipping the fuse off of a bomb with scissors, or is it like trying to cut it off with a welding torch? Fucking lightsabers, how do they work.     Division of labor might be the key here considering some people got themselves kind of torched in the first obstacle course. For example, right now Ren and Tanya are making a two-person human bridge to keep one of the flytraps pushed open so that some of you can pass! Actually, considering how much Tanya's crying, maybe they just got themselves in horrible trouble somehow. It's fine, Kazuko, step on over, he's Ren, he can take being bitten a bit.     Splinter doesn't have a whole lot of strategy. Unlike Shoot, he can't puppetmaster the entire thing- he's just relying on the flow of the river to take a steady stream of overwhelming firepower to you.     Firepower which is all stacked behind him.     Hmm.     This might mean things get a little bit awkward for him as Rei Lin opts to completely bypass the level and goes racing towards him and his munitions! The tanglekelp in the water is absolutely going to go into a frenzy trying to grab Rei Lin, tie her up and drag her down, but--?!?     Splinter is panicked! In his haste, what with Rei Lin running towards him, he throws at least five tiki bombs into the river, each of them moving at different speeds. He's down to two thirds of his stack!     How can you deal with this rapidly approaching problem? 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Oh boy. Kyle narrowly avoids getting singed from the tiki mortar he lightsabers out of the air, sustaining a few burns in the process as he leaps away.     Ainsley brings up a good point. A lot of the ammo is stacked pretty closely to one another, pretty dangerous thing to do with explosive ordinance.     Kyle grins, flicking a shell towards the ammo dump with the Force. "Package says return the sender, sorry!" He calls out with a laugh. Then, he takes after Rei Lin, leaping from platform to platform as fast as he can while making his way towards Splinter directly, grabbing another mortar and flinging it towards Splinter himself. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "That's the ticket!" Ainsley excitedly calls over to Kyle as he catches on pretty quickly after what she said. She makes sure not to submerge her vulnerable toes into the water, merely skipping across the water as if she were weightless. She kind of is, able to float down the river and avoid the threats it presents to her, but she makes a show of staying with the others because she doesn't want to just rush ahead when everyone else is in serious danger.     She pauses momentarily to try to help Ren and Tanya to the next platform, in fact, because they looked like they were having issues. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Oh. Oh dear. "Uhhhhhh!!" Better think fast, Lin! With bombs flowing at her she reacts in a panic, reaching up a sleeve and hurling something metallic at the bombs. A sharp eye will note they're basically throwing knives - or, more specifically, kunai, and they're flung with tremendous force and a sharp eye.     Only to hear Kyle approaching from behind. "H-hey, wait!!"     Too late. WHUNK!!     Her blades embed deep into the bombs, cracking the exterior... but not far enough away. Being caught in the fringe of ONE would be bad but she's caught in the range of three, and just lucks out that the other two detonate but too far from her to affect her much. She's blown clear out of the water and up into the air, coming back down with a hard WHUNK on the edge of a floating platform. At a glance it's obvious her lower body's taken severe injury. Bloodied and ripped, her legs look much like raw meat with skin shredded and deep scorches, shrapnel embedded into them. Yelling defiantly at the agony she manages to swing her body up and onto the platform from hanging by her arms and turns to ripping the most painful chunks of debris from her flesh in pained gasps. "Dammit... went in... too fast..."     Although now she looks at the guy's volatile pile of bombs... right behind him... "Shoot the bomb pile! Shoot the bomb pile behind him!" She calls to the others while struggling to get to her feet. Her legs are NOT cooperating very well. She wobbles and lurches and limps while working to get upright again.     Most people would be dead from that. Dead five times over. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Explosions send plumes of water up into the air, disturbing and even outright sending tanglekelp and giant flytraps into the air, waterborne roots flailing helplessly in the air. Make sure you're not knocked into the water!     Kyle uses the force and scoops one mortar out of the water at Ainsley's advice. It's a game of hot potato, because that fuse is pretty short, but...     Speaking of short fuses, Karal Rei Lin has taken a severe hit! Badly wounded, let's just say it's a good thing I was kidding about the leeches and everything plant and evil is currently flying through the air, whole or in bits, and also that the sharks are as we established on YOUR side, because... wow, that definitely is a lot of blood.     But really, you should see the other guy.     The airborne mine sails over Rei Lin's head and makes a lazy arc towards Splinter: he has time to look up at it- appropriately enough with another bomb in his jaws- before it hits him square in the forehead.     What happens next is very similar to National Public Radio's imfamous report on the dangerous Exploding Maple Tree, as Splinter and his remaining munitions go snap, crackle and most importantly POP. There's bark and sap everywhere, it's carnage.     Gross.     You may want to take a while to decide what you're going to do about those injuries, but the fact remains that you're at the foot of the mountain. Prepare yourselves for a Temple Trek.     The entire mountain is relatively easy to climb, because of the assortment of platforms placed at regular intervals. However, the higher up you get the more likely those platforms are to slide in and out of the movie, or float above rough patches of rock. Plantbirds who make their vine-filled nests also circle the mountainside, and right at the top, near the temple entrance- itself crumbling and roughshod- Spore is rolling, yes, boulders and chunks of column down the mountain, which bounce off of platforms as they fall. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO! Kyle is about to take off before he remembers Lin's been wounded, and badly so! Man down, man down!     Screw the bet, he can't leave a fellow behind, that's dishonorable and cowardly! Also it kind of is a dick move to let Rei Lin lie there bloody and alone, so he stops beside her and lifts her up over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "I got you, don't worry. Just stay with me now..." he says, before taking off towards the MOUNTAIN. Carrying a girl over your shoulder while going on a hike, totally a good idea right? 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' WUGH! Lin wasn't expecting to be suddenly HOISTED. Her eyes go wide and some color flushes through her cheeks. "Damn stupid of me to rush in that fast... sorry..." But she gets a very good view of the conclusion she came to paying off. Someone else had the same idea it seems. Set off the guy's own pile of BOOM on him!     She just flinches at the WEIRDLY gross sight...     Up close, Kyle may find himself wondering just how exactly she was managing to STAND on those legs. Or at least probably would've managed it in a bit. They're so severely injured that the pain would've incapacitated most people.     Even while being carried she proceeds to rip more debris from her flesh. It's just an amazing thing that she isn't bleeding all over Kyle. She isn't bleeding out. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren looks at Tanya, who he's... also still kind of carrying. Questioning.     Tanya looks at the others, and... pats Ren, wriggling out of his grip.     "It's okay. You guys have carried me this far already."     She steps forward on her own, hopping onto a platform. "I'm-- gonna help you guys this time."     Guess what! There are switches here, too! However, these ones have a more practical use- if you bash one of the square panels on the mountainside, it'll extend the amount of time the moving platforms stay in a favourable position for jumping.     Or it'll cause the platform underneath you to shake and buck like crazy. It's a bit of a gamble again, a fairy game for Rex's entertainment.     Tanya looks at Rei Lin briefly- she shivers as the woman pulls the wooden shrapnel (after this, getting a splinter will never seem as bad), but- it makes her bunch her fists and look up at the mountain entrance.     "We can do this. I can see the temple from here."     So she steels herself, and takes brave leap after leap to the next platform. She whacks a switch. Her grip tightens on the tiki pendant, and for a moment her swaying blonde hair shimmers greenstone-green.     But diving birds with leaves for feathers and slithering snakes won't make it easy for you. Each of them are in plentiful supply and dive- the former bombing from the air, the latter hanging from higher platforms to bite you in the face when you jump! 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle stops mid-run as he sees Rei Lin prying debris out of herself, trying to stop her. "Don't! You'll blee-" And then he notices a lack of bleeding out. "...huh, okay." Setting her down, Kyle does his best to patch her wounds up. He's no medic, but he does know how to at least keep people stable in these situations, bacta helps too.     After THAT, he takes a leap towards the platforms, following Tanya when the birds attack! He draws his lightsaber once again, slashing and stabbing at the dive-bombing avians dismissively. "Flock off already!" Yeah, he went there. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has been having a time of it as she's not quite well with all the things they had to get though it's been quite the odd day for her but she's pressing on and she makes her way up the mountain as she attempts to not befall anything else aor things like piss uff the plantbirds no that would be bad. "Let's just keep moving." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko had been laying somewhat low during the last course, focusing mostly on chopping down flying baddies from the sidelines and keeping an eye on her friends. With the second of the three ringleaders down, however, she makes her presence a little more visible again!     Namely, by chopping even more baddies. "This is nothing. I'll keep you covered!" She leaps next to Tanya and gets to slashing, seemingly rejuvenated by something! It would be pathetic if she couldn't manage to cover Karal after that injury, after all. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Karal Rei Lin hisses the moment she's put down again, but gives Kyle a very appreciative "Thank you!" in sheer gratitude for the medical aid. A handful of bandages do wonders for this. Less open air on the wounds is definitely a plus. Takes some of the pain out of the equation. She manages to stand on the legs, but with a limp. Still... it's enough.     Every movement's clearly taking all of her effort, but Lin rejoins the leaping efforts after Tanya.     She's not going to let her get hurt just because she's in pain. Pain... pain is a state of mind, right?     That's what she tries to tell herself, but her legs feels like it's being speared through every leap...     But her sword's out this time, slashing with excellent timing at everything in the way... at least her ARMS are relatively uninjured! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Menu > Items > Restore > Bacta Patch x5     Restored 20 HP!     That's definitely how it goes.     Kyle and Rei linger at the bottom, which means they're going to be the first people to come under attack. There will be angry birds, but some of them decide to just wait and hover higher up... after all, there's no huge distance for these two to fall! It makes more sense to knock them around when their fall will be more fatal...     Deelel takes point and begins moving forward. She'll find herself being the first to experience the shifting platforms along with Ren and Tanya- so together, they'll have to get a feel for their movement and the switches. Please give them covering fire!     Or covering slashes. Kazuko is going to need to temper her nerves of steel- it's gonna be tough striking the plantbirds at the moment before their divebomb connects!     "Tangaroa..." Tanya says, looking worriedly at Rei Lin. "We could really use a little more of your help when we get to the top..."     But don't forget Spore is at the top! He's going to be stomping the ground and kicking up dust as he peers over the edge of the platform, rolling barrels down towards you.     Boulders. I said boulders, not barrels. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is still tagging along! She's just at the rear of the group, and she's having a bit of trouble with the boulders because she really doesn't want to get hit by one of them and get cartoonishly flattened like a lizard pancake. She has her tongue sticking out and she makes big leaps and well-timed ducks to avoid, and tries not to get forced to fly along the way. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Amazing timing is... Not Kazuko's middle name! Or even her original name. A favorite cousin, maybe, or even an old pet. Her nerves, however... That's what's going to have to compensate for her general impatience, but it's the best shot she has!      As those plantbirds keep coming, she starts spinning her naginata in front of her like an industrial fan of chopping and bludgeoning death, advancing forward and upwards steadily to keep those birds from getting too close. Why try to time her slashes when she can just make it nearly impossible for those things to get to her and her friends instead?      Well, aside from when she actually needs to jump. It's during those times that she's having the most trouble, tackling one of those birds in mid-air and nearly missing a platform in mid-jump! Thankfully, she makes it by the skin of her teeth, and...      Then boulders. "One of... One of these days... I'm gonna learn how to fly, and you up there!" She points dramatically at Spore, then pauses to jerk herself sideways to avoid a boulder splattering her. "Gyah! Erk... Well, you won't have to wait long, because we're gonna beat your face in with or without flying!" 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel looks t teh shifting platforms for a moment she looks out ahead trying to get an idea of just what they are delaing with whelp she summons her keyblade and is going to start to make some magic happen. She starts to make use of wind and lighting trying to help Tanya and Ren not have as worse of a day and make things a bit easier. "Move it! I can't keep this up for too long!" 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle reaches out to unleash a Force Push to shove away the horde of birds, the force of a cannonball smashing into the flying felons. He catches up with the others, noting the boulders rolling after them. "Well, Ainsley, you wanted boulders!" He says with a bitter laugh, before he reaches out to derail one of the boulders from its intended path, harmlessly rolling past everyone.     Somewhere, in Kyle's world, Han Solo suffers a second fit of the shivers for no apparent reason before awakening with a cold sweat, yelping loud enough to awaken Chewie, Leia, and the kids early in the morning. Groggy, Leia asks, "What's wrong?" only for him to shrug, rubbing his eyes. "I have no idea...dreamt about...boulders, and a jungle of some sort..."     The rest of that morning was spent with Han downing more caff than he's ever had in his life. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Flying might have its benefits! After all, every enormous, solid boulder thrown at you is one less being rolled down the... well, no, actually maybe we should shelve that idea. Besides, we all know what happened last time one person tried to bypass all the obstacles.     Sorry, Rei Lin.     Truly, today We Had a Bad Feeling About This.     Switches aren't the only way of doing this! Naturally, no Yaoguai can plan for every supernatural eventuality, so diverting boulders with telekinesis will definitely get you out of some close shaves. And speaking of close shaves-     Don't worry, Kazuko. With Deelel giving him an electric charge and some wind at his back, Ren's there to give you a hand when you slip. That's why you always climb mountains in pairs, right? So one guy can grab the other when he slips.     Unlike Splinter, it is worth noting, Spore does not have a large stack of boulders to roll at you. In fact, he's running low, and he's begun to start pulling rough pieces out of the temple wall. They bounce a lot more unevenly, and without even noticing it he's endangering his own foothold.     Is Tanya really thinking about what happens when she gets to Spore, if she's going to be there first? She's pressing switches to make your lives easier, but--     "STOP destroying the TEMPLE!" she shouts, and her voice is definitely shaking weirdly when she does...     A piece of it crackles with energy as Spore tries to pull it out! He may be off balance! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' With the switches helping to stem the tide of falling, flying, and/or burning bullshit being thrown their way, Kazuko's advance continues steadily! She even bounds off a flying plantbird or two on her way up, trying to get to Spore before he can do too much damage to the temple.      "H.. Hey! Why don't you come here and fight before we get up there and... Uh. Fight you anyway? And... How long did it even take you to set up all this stuff?" It's a thought. She doubts it's going to do much, but at least she can try to make things a little easier for her allies if the distraction ploy works.      There's a very good reason Kazuko isn't the strategist in her group of friends. Still, if she gets there before Spore can plummet on his own or anyone else can take him out? She'll try to get a big meaty slash right into the plant-whatever's arms! 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' This is how many times something weird's happened when Tanya got angry?! Lin pauses her approach to observe her for a moment, just a tad concerned. "... God-Blooded... maybe...?" Is that even a thing in this world? She has no idea. What she IS though... is very grateful for all the cover provided by Kyle knocking the boulders away. She only has to deal with snakes and bird-things, that's straightforward enough. Even if she's slowed down by all the injuries throwing her balance off.     Lin staggers after making her way across a few more platforms, taking a moment to gather her focus again...     There's just no denying that really HURT earlier. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     SNAKES...why did it have to be snakes?     Kyle shudders as he brushes a snake off his shoulder, looking quite uncomfortable while he makes his way towards Spore. He only pauses upon hearing Tanya's outburst, and he senses a strange energy from her briefly.     That's...weird. He has no idea what this is about, but that'll have to wait until later!     He closes the distance between him and Spore, slashing at the plant-man's leg when Kazuko goes for his arm. All that's needed now is for someone to finish the job! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Before attemping to touch things he shouldn't, Spore may have taken the time to insist to Kazuko, "This entire island can be warped into the world we desire! Anything is possible for us!" before he was proven suddenly, shockingly wrong.     Kazuko breaks ahead of the pack, her determination and frustration clearly giving her the extra push to make it clear through the shifting platforms. Sometimes, rather than clouding your judgement, anger lets you get into a perfect place where you see the clearest way to get to exactly what's troubling you.     And, naturally, smash it.     Kazuko moves almost as fast as the lightning that coursed over Spore's hand, tearing right into one of his elbows. Unable to keep his balance, the fungus titan wobbles and totters on his weak legs- only for Kyle to give him one last push that sends him crashing and rolling down the hill, hitting every branch on the way down. He isn't getting up from that one.     Ren makes it to the top, but surprisingly after Tanya, who is breathing hard and muttering something in maori.     She looks like she could use a hand. "Thank you... I - I wouldn't have been able to make it this far without you..."     Her pendant is glowing strongly.     "...I don't know what's going on, but I want to go in there and clean that monster's clock more than anything else in the world."     Another tiki with Tangaroa's visage stands outside the temple.     WARNING: once you go inside the temple, you will no longer be able to back out. Do you really wish to proceed? 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Success! Kazuko lets out a confident grunt as she watches the fungus-y... Whatever guy plummet down the mountain, cringing a bit at all those intermediate impacts against branches and rocks and whathaveyou. Not enough to ask if he's okay, of course, since he deserved it for throwing all that crap at them, but...      She definitely wouldn't want to be that guy. "Heh heh... Nice work, everyone!" She lets out an excited little cheer and pumps a fist into the air, even holding her hand out to Kyle for a hearty high-five before turning to their FINAL DESTINATION.      It's the inside of the temple. "Think there's gonna be any more weird... Jumping over stuff in there, Tanya?" She kicks her leg out a few times as she says that, trying to shake off all the bruises, cuts, and burns she's been sustaining throughout this whole ordeal. "Still gotta find that last one... But I'm ready when everyone else is. Ren? Tanya? Mister Kyle? Miss Karal? Miss Ainsley?"      Although the flesh is bloody, her spirit burns as brightly as ever! Also, the back of her shirt might be slightly on fire. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle pants and sighs, grunting in satisfaction as Spore goes down. "Serves you right." He says, before giving Kazuko a hi-five without missing a beat.     He looks to Karal, Ren, Tanya, and Ainsley before he decides. "We wait for Karal's and our wounds to knit together, then we go in. Then we finish this." He says calmly.     That might not take as long as it sounds. 
}}

4152/Surf Warriors: Stage 2

2016-05-27T08:43:42Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/26
|Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop
|Synopsis=A curse on the ocean! A sea full of traps and tidal waves. Can you protect the mysterious girl?
|Cast of Characters=8, 151, 165, 778, 942, 984, 992
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Cut to the ocean: a slick of toxic-green sparkles are mixed in with the water, sparkling unpleasantly. But Tanya- seen from the back, with Ren's hand on her shoulder- steps towards the shore, holding her greenstone pendant out like a lantern. The sparking aura fades away around it- but only a little.     A couple hours and a little talking later:     "...they say that ancient islanders used canoes to spread out and colonise all of the lands of Polynesia. Even Tiki spirits would take them out, to go from their magical lands into the human world."     "...I was adopted into the Pohaku family," Tanya says. "But I made this canoe by myself anyway. I guess there's no better time to use it than now."     But as soon as she sets the boat into the water and begins to paddle a few paces forward, her eyes fixed on the island of Kaho'olawe, a strange thing happens.     The canoe and her pendant begin to sparkle silver and white, the cursed aura around the water parts... and the boat begins to move ... then faster... and faster still!     Those positive sparks of power stay on the ocean, and on a whim, Ren grabs a surfboard and follows after her. As soon as he's a little distance out, he picks up speed, and---!     Maybe you ought to follow him...!     [ansi(hw,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwq0byqPWn4     Schumacher Fly - Dynamite Headdy (Remix)     Waterflame - 1994 an 2012)] 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' If you grab one of the surfboards scattered on the beach and take a chance to follow Ren and Tanya, here's what you'll find out.     Immediately, your surfboard begins to accelerate to a fair old clip- easily more than 35 miles an hour within a few seconds.     No matter what you do, when you decide to stand up and surf the ocean, the board underneath your feet remains as sturdy and easy to balance on as solid ground.     Furthermore, it's attracted to you- if you shudder, trip, or even leap entirely off the board and into the air, it'll track your movements, and will be there for you to land on when you drop, like a magnetic attraction. It's easy to get the hang of. And just as well- it looks like there's going to be danger up ahead...     Welina!     M�kaukau? 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's here and ready to... Surf?      Yep, she's surfing today. Not that she knows how to surf, but it couldn't possibly be that hard, right? She's got good balance and agility! She's also prepared for a dip in the water, of course, so she's dressed in much of the same outfit she was in the last time she was in Maukau: A tank top, shorts, and a swimsuit underneath for modesty.      She's also brought her naginata with her this time. The martial artist is prepared for combat today, and she even has it tied to her waist by a long rope just in case! With everything ready, it's time to get in the water. No hesitation. No surrender!      Of course, when the surfboard starts picking up speed on its own, Kazuko practically latches onto the thing to keep herself from falling off. "Gyah! Why's this... What's with this thing?" She just speeds along, trying desparately not to fall off the thing that's... Actually keeping her from falling off, anyway. She'll find out for herself sooner or later. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' The masked woman takes a surfboard and follows, reacting to the increased pace by kneeling on one knee and drawing her bow. The stray branch on the bow grabs an arrow and holds it near the string, but its wielder makes no moves to pull the bowstring back to fire yet. There's no targets. Instead, the left hand, which holds her bow, is also used to make a few quick movements, and the red gem embedded in Sigrun's glove emits a series of runes and lines in a complex figure. Magic courses through them until they are released in the form of six little blue balls that fly in all directions, until they are all exactly sixty meters away from her, where they start rotating slowly, a wide cone of subtle light emanating. And in front of Sigrun, six lines force open apparent tears in the fabric of the universe, creating viewports that reveal to her what the blue balls are seeing. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley wasn't really here for the initial battle with weird ocean monsters, but she's sure here now! And she's dressed in a black one-piece swimsuit that has some modesty, with a fake flower tied into the feathers on her head and a couple of flowery wrist bands on! Tropical weather is ideal for her, so when she grabs a surf board and everyone starts moving, she is less startled and more invigorated by the speed and the magic.     Ainsley's tail waggles in the wind and she tries to catch waves so she can do AWESOME JUMPS. Because she so rarely gets a chance to do anything this weird and mystical and sporty, she may as well take full advantage of it. She embraced it surprisingly quickly. "Heehee~" And she's giggling loudly. Yeah that looks a little odd for how serious this is actually supposed to be. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     SURFING TIME!     Kyle's got his lightsaber clipped to his belt, and is wearing the same clothes as before; Swim trunks, red Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to show off MANLY CHEST and sporting white floral patterns. He's also shaved to a thick, 80's styled mustache and sporting some epic aviator sunglasses. If one's gonna surf, he'll do it in STYLE, yo.     He is really not familiar with surfing, but the Force does help with keeping him balanced. This is definitely something that'd look much cooler were he twenty years younger, though. For now, he looks ridgoddamndiculous dressed like DIX MAGNUM, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR OF HAWAII, as his alias implies.     "Wh-whooooa! This better not tip over!" He call to Ren, hoping to the FOrce he can try not to look like a goof in front of everyone today. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is here why not humans have a thing about the water that's as strong as most Basics and ISO's fear of it. Seriously the seas on the grid can be scary as hell places sometimes given that's where horrible monsters called grig bugs tend to spawn hower here she is, she's ready for the beach in a biikinio made of the material her suit normally is. It also has no seams, how /did/ Deelel get it on? Seriously how did she. She seems to fill it out well, but she wasn't even here for antics no she'd just been taking a bloody day off. When she had taken to the surf board what could possibly go wrong? Why the end of Deelel having a nice day off, that's what happening as she attemps to balance on te board. "Users....do this...." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "I'd like to thank you all for coming out here today...." Ren says, trying his best to retain his composure in the face of a very unusual situation. However, it takes him a couple of moments to realise what's going on before he is making mild hops up and down off the board and finding out how this all works. What do you know, magic wins again!     "Alright, Tanya! Cut us a path through to that island!" "-aye-aye!"     Kazuko's come armed, and it might be necessary- you're going to have to protect Tanya's canoe. That's right, it's an escort mission too. And protect her from what? Well, Sigrun- who Ren finds time to give a wave and a 'hello, glad you could join us, never met you before but I think I recognize you from the radio?', as if we weren't hurtling across the water on magical boards- will be able to notice that there's more than a few things ahead of them. Metagaos' minions don't want anyone getting close to their spawning grounds.     "This is pretty fun!" Ren shouts to Deelel, because there are some waves forming for Ainsley, Ren and even Kyle to hang ten on even if this is probably some evil curse trying to antagonize them. You're going to have to do better than that! "It's like training wheels for your surfboard."     Unfortunatey, this isn't going to be smooth sailing- for starters, you'll start to notice floating clumps of nasty weed with angry red eyes staring out from their middles as you get further. They're not moving, but they seem as if they'd definitely entangle you and pull you down if you touched them! So, it's a test of skill! 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle makes a leap on the next wave to come his way, grabbing onto his surfboard with one hand while raising his other hand. Focusing, he keeps himself stable using the Force, and does a pirouette in mid-air. WOO! He flops back onto the water again, and he draws his lightsaber to slash down at one of the angry clumps. No entanglement for you, Seaweed! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Even with Ainsley, Kyle, and Ren doing weird jumps with the boards, Kazuko doesn't quite notice the magical following thing just yet. As such, she's... Still practically hugging her own board for dear life. At least they mentioned the training wheels. It's only then that she notices that hopping actually keeps the board following her, and she seems to be getting mroe confident in standing on the thing! "Whoa... Hey, this is kinda cool! This isn't so hard..."      And then there's clumps of angry-eyed seaweed coming for them. Smart person that she is, Kazuko's first instinct is to try RUNNING at a wave on her surfboard to build up speed (somehow), then whipping her naginata downwards at the seaweed before landing gracefully on her face.      Surfing is hard. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley can cheat by flying. She doesn't do this, though, and instead she just uses her ability to fly to grab the surfboard and launch off of a wave to leap over several of the seaweed monsters at once, and give a wave down at them as they pass under her. She hopes they glare indignantly as she passes by them, because she's sure not easy to catch off-guard! She takes full advantage of all of the waves the ocean throws at her to have the maximum amount of fun, treating the angry seaweed as part of an obstacle course and not a threat that will drag her beneath the ocean and drown her if she's not careful.     She doesn't do a lot to help out Tanya, though, because she isn't a combative Elite. She leaves the protection duties to the ones that can actually fight! At least until she finds her opportunity to do something. She isn't in a rush to ruin her fun vacation moment. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun keeps a close eye on her reconnaisance magic, and whispers something into the aether, her voice carrying to the others in the group. "Be careful, there is more than meets the eye. I'm sensing swimming carnivorous plants, spikd objects and more. Keep your eyes open and your reflexes steady." This focus on the broader scheme doesn't stop her from reflexively moving away from the clumps, though at one point she's almost too late, going uncomfortably close to it. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is on magical boards she had no ide they were full oa magic but she's having fun for the moment, however she sees something out there, they are waiting nad Deelels' attemping to control sometrhing that has no /real/ control system. Users are pretty much eldrichly long lived and insane by basic standards in some ways. Then it hits her maybe that's why they do stuff like that they get /bored/ they don't have inate functions like Deelel and others like her do. However for now she just barely gets past the seaweed. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Now you're getting the hang of it!     Although, thinking about it, is it cheating a little to use the force to help you with your cool balancing tricks? In any case, one supposes this IS the edge you're looking for. In a place like Hawaii, after all, it's impossible not to have fun, despite the danger!     I mean, when you think about it- perhaps even when Deelel thinks about it- it's all about conquering nature in a way, isn't it? Proving your bravery and desire to push forward by braving the waves and pushing ahead into new lands. In fact, even with monsters ahead of you, showing that you're willing to have fun is just plain old grit and defiance against these things. It's fine to want to conquer nature when it's as grotesue as Metagaos.     Thankfully the magic is willing to work with you however you want, and somehow running on the surfboard helps you get a fractional little bit more speed if you choose to do it (although that's a very edge case, lbr). Is there a Tiki Spirit watching and counting up points for this? If it is, Kazuko might have to impress them a little more with fighting than boarding tricks! Thankfully she and Kyle can do that pretty well to begin with, scooping seaweed clumps out of the water and slicing them in two. It's all about sharp edges and acceleration!     Ainsley catches some serious air as she vaults over some of the creatures, who are absolutely indignant enough to try and turn into seabound spinballs to chase behind her- and they're snapping at Deelel's heels, too. Thankfully, they've got Ren to watch their back- at least to begin with- as he puts on the brakes and sweeps the leg to try punting them like beachballs.     "Please protect us..." Tanya says, continuing to push forward right at the start.     "Hey, you protect us and we'll protect you!" Ren calls out to her.     "N-no, I didn't mean me-"     The poor girl could really use a little reassurance. She might also need a bit of protection, because swarms of snapping, ugly fish-like things are leaping in and out of the water. Or are they more lizardlike? They've got rough green skin and snouts full of teeth. If they try and grab on, make sure to blast them before they clamp down on you- or her!- or your allies! 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "You were talking to the spirits, right?"     Ainsley says this while leaping off of a wave and using the surf board's underside to land on a group of fish that is launching out of the water at her, in the midst of her attempts to dodge super rude spin-dashing seaweed monsters. She lands on the water after this and just rears back to slug another, larger fish bare-fisted in the nose to knock it off course. It bloodies her hand but she barely flinches from the impact and turns back to look at Tanya.     "I'm sure they're listening!" she encourages Tanya, "Rely on us, too, alright? We should work together, just as the spirits do their part!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Even with a magic surfboard to keep her out of the water completely, Kazuko's still reeling a bit from that rough landing and getting some seawater in her face for her trouble. She sputters a bit before hopping back onto her feet, an indignant grunt escaping her as she grasps her naginata firmly once again.      "Okay... I think I got it now! We just need to go off the big waves to go faster!"      Wait. How's that logic even work? It probably doesn't. Still, it's probably a little more impressive, right? Right. "Keep up, everyone! We've got fishsticks to make!"      Spotting said fish creatures up ahead, the brunette guides her surfboard via more running to another wave and uses that time in the air to plan her next attack. She could slash down at it, but she'd risk slashing Tanya in the process. She could kick them, but then they could grab her and start chowing down on her instead.      Or she could try landing the surfboard right on them. That's always fun. In fact, that's what she's going to try to do, followed up by rapid swipes at the lizardfishes' faces! 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun starts to make snaking movements, to put herself at the back of the group, further away from the enemies in sight, and finally nocks her arrow and pulls it back, putting force as magic surrounds the arrow. It's a careful process, but when she lets go, the arrow flies fast. It's only barely subsonic, and yet agile enough that it curves in the air, aiming to impale as many of the fish as Sigrun could feasibly manage with one such shot. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Blech. Seawater's not exactly a pleasant thing to get in your face, and Kyle has a lot of it splashing him. If not for those shades, he'd be kind of blind for a moment or two. In a fight, that can make all the difference between life and death.     He issues a grabbing motion to some of the fish before it reaches him, his lightsaber slashing to cut them both in half. However, another manages to get his leg, and Kyle lets out a howl of pain before he slashes at the other fish to cut it right off. Thankfully he's deft enough to not slice his own foot off in the process, even if it's a close call.     Better hope sharks don't pick up the scent soon. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Tanya glances at Ainsley; out of the corner of her eye granted, inbetween moments of looking at the ocean to evade the dangers approaching them granted- but she does so nevertheless, and as her face clears a little of the tension that was all over it before, it's clear that's just what she needed to hear.     "Right! T-this is all so new to me... but I've got you guys to stand by me!"     She nods, and sweeps her paddle, continuing to cut through the cursed waters.     Kazuko comes down with a crash on a school of plantlizardfish, sending a shockwave through the water that causes them to bounce out of the air with stars in their eyes. And pretty soon after that they've got a blade in their eyes too, getting chopped up into guacamole!     With Sigrun's keen eye, Ainsley and Tanya don't need to worry either while they talk. She's able to snipe anything that gets close to them, and even the speed of her arrows creates rippling vacuum that knock them off course!     But even though it's clear skies, Metagaos' minions can still whip up storms of rage...     If you wanted big waves, you've got them. The ocean keeps kicking up into bigger an bigger waves, some with angry faces formed out of the gross green sparkles as they rush towards you. As if that wasn't bad enough either, long spike-covered spikes shoot out randomly from the water troughs-     And there's one big huge wall of spikes jetting up ahead, coming up fast-! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is just having one of those days though as she sufs along there's something right at her heels and she's not able to get fast enough to keep fully away from them. She keeps pushing ahead though she's not sure about the girl that's ahead. She does sometimts take time to get how users thinks, but she's far better than many bsics would be at eventually. Stlll she'll get it in time T "... Just how many of thoe things are there?!" Deelel calls out she was just out to /have a day off/ not get caught up in this. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is kept safe! Yay! The hope-filled, odd lizard woman squints through the angry waves as water splashes up into her face, her tail whipping side to side to avoid getting bitten by any leaping fish. She makes sure to time her jump to avoid getting impaled on a wall of spikes, but she can't do much to help Tanya when it comes to a physical challenge like this.     So she shoots a worried glance aside at Tanya in the midst of her enormous leap, blinking away the seawater. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' WOOOOOOO, SURFING! Well... even if the thing didn't have some enchantments, Karal Rei Lin would've had little trouble maintaining balance on the board. Very little. For now she's been riding alongside the canoe, keeping a careful eye out for anything strange.     ... Darned good thing she was focusing solely on that, too.     Because creatures arise and so, she readies herself for battle, a hand near her sword.     Then... SPIKES jut through the waves and her blood runs cold. "They were WAITING for us."     There's little to do here but DEAL. Lin wastes no time thinking or pondering, she ACTS.     A gale cuts across the waves as she vanishes, casting two very long waves in her wake to her left and right from the sheer SPEED. The flash of sunlight on steel sears across entire wall once, twice... forming an 'x' pattern and then finally... another final slice STRAIGHT DOWN in front of Tanya's canoe path. Lin's briefly visible, a glimpse all anyone gets - and that largely of her hair and back. She flickers out of sight briefly again and reappears doing backflips across the water only to SLAM back down onto her surfboard, panting.     Cue most of that spiky plant wall just toppling into so much floating yuck. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Hehe... That's right. We can take however many of these things they throw at us!"      Who's they? Who knows. All Kazuko knows is that Tanya's probably their ticket to fixing this whole mess, so her focus is making sure the girl gets through safe and sound! Plantlizardfish get stomped on, cut up, and the martial artist is getting more comfortable with running around on her surfboard by the second!      This is not going to develop any good habits when she tries surfing for real one day.      As those spikes appear, she channels ki into her naginata and begins spinning it in front of her rapidly. "This won't scare us off! I got your back!" A yellow aura surround her blade as she continues spinning the weapon faster and faster while moving in front of Tanya and whoever else is sticking behind her, almost as if she's creating a ki shield in front of her to deflect those spikes! Apparently, the martial artist is trying to deflect whatever's left of the wall that Karal's slashes don't take care of. Sure, she's still getting quite a few of them lodged in her arms and legs as she does that, but at least the canoe's probably safe! Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Quickly making a bandage for his shin with help of a sleeve and some bacta clipped to his belt, Kyle calls out, "How much further are we?" to Ren. Somehow he's heard over the roar of crushing waves, but that's irrelevant.     The faces throwing spikes at the group are met with a firm Force push, Kyle's strength sending telekinetic attacks at the beings while he deflects the projectiles. "We got this, don't worry!" He calls to Tanya confidently, knocking a spike out of the air with a casual wave of his lightsaber. He's getting the hand of this surfing thing, as he makes a SICK FLIP out of an errant wave while he moves in to slash at one of the Face thngs. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun raises her hand, and suddenly runes spiral out and form a protective energy shield, it's shattered by the incoming spike, but the spike's momentum is almost gone, and what's left fails to dig meaningfully through her clothes, only barely drawing blood. Seeing the wall coming in, Sigrun then draws another arrow. With orange fletching, and a thin layer of some kind of brown substance layered around the shaft. Magic is put into the arrow, and she fires it straight at the wall. Upon contact, the brown substance is used as fuel for magical fires, which get scattered well beyond the immediate impact. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Karal Rei Lin: not one to show off, even in a group of friends who are also all showing off.     Or perhaps she was just biding her time so that she can do something really awesome?!     It's like that little guy at the back of the fight. He's just standing there doing nothing, and you just know when he does something it's gonna be good. Now, she's not little or a guy, but the principle stands- trap or no trap, when Karal rushes forward with her cross slash the wall EXPLODES into four huge clumps of spikerods. Which are on fire.     Ainsley will see, if she's got her eyes trained on Tanya, something impressive- even as the wall rose up in front of her, she kept trailblazing, trusting in the others to do what they had to. Even as the huge pieces rain through the air, she only flinches a bit-     And then the flames from Sigrun's fire arrow causes the remaining parts to hiss and EXPLODE! The rain of flaming pieces are Kazuko's to deal with, as her spinning blade shields Tanya from everything remaining!     Wonderful teamwork! Great combo! 3X Score MULTIPLIER!     While that was going on, everyone else was busy too!     "We're almost there!" Ren shouts to Kyle, shadowing close to Deelel and giving her a reassuring look because it seems she doesn't quite have her sea legs just yet. "Just another mile and a half to go!"         And here's the welcoming committee.     One, two, three- more than that many dozens of big, pale green octopus-type things are popping up out of the water in front, with shiny hard heads and nozzle-shaped mouths.     And all of them start opening fire with solid bullets from their mouths, forcing everyone to run a gauntlet! Don't tempt fate! Well, speaking of which... Remember when someone was worried about sharks? Well, cue the Jaws theme, because there's a couple fins poking above the water, too---         But--     These guys are swimming WITH your current, not against it! And when those sharks jump out of the water, they definitely are going to be tearing their teeth into some vegetarian food today! Hey, they're on your side! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko lets out an excited cheer when that wall of plantspikes is summarily obliterated, wincing afterwards upon being reminded that she still has tiny stab wounds from the (thankfully burnt away) spikes that had hit her on the way down. Still, that sort of pain is nothing compared to what her allies and sister have undoubtedly faced before, so she won't complain about that now.      Plus, there's bigger things to worry about. Namely, octor-uh. Rock shooters! "More things to hit away? Okay, then... Just stick behind us, Tanya. We'll get you through!"      Brave words, even if Kazuko's mostly there to act as a meatshield. Willing more of her ki into the naginata as she begins spinning it again, the martial artist lets out a steady kiai as she pools even more nergy into it this time. It might even be hard to see past where her blade is spinning at this point since she's putting her all into deflecting these bullets. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' This time, Sigrun isn't holding back. The next arrow is aimed carefully, magical winds gather around them, and then when the arrow flies, it speeds up. By the time it's halfway towards the octopus-like enemy she's aimed at, it breaks the sound barrier, kicking up a shockwave (fortunately not too close to anyone) and still speeding up. Of course she's receiving return fire, and her focus on the offense makes her shield come in a little late. It's still materializing when that rock crashes into it, and she takes a direct hit to the face. Her mask doesn't take any damage, but the cracking noise suggests something broke. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Sharks!? Oh shit!     Wait. Kyle double-takes, glancing over to the sharks only to see they're not attacking the group, but the plant monsters instead! "Huh! Since when did we have Jaws on our side?" he asks aloud, before he begins to rush the gauntlet head-on.     Lightsabers don't seem to do well with anything that isn't energy, though Kyle does have a backup to that. He focuses one last time, raising his hand out to stop the projectiles heading towards everyone in mid-flight, flicking them aside harmlessly after every handful. "Now would be a good time to clear our path, guys!" He suggests. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley calls out to Tanya, "That's it! Confidence is the first step to kicking ass!" She does a fistpump in her direction, as they pass the blasted, burning spike wall!     The next obstacle is a little more complicated. However, they have the help of the sharks on their side! She looks suitably surprised, but their presence only means that her hope that the Tiki Spirits would do their part in this was well-placed! But they could just be intelligent sharks that spotted them along the way and decided to help.     Ainsley makes no big leaps in logic here, not when she's trying to avoid getting hit! She gets hit square in the gut by one of the rocks and nearly gets bowled off of her surf board, but manages to stay upright. Then she breathes in a big breath and bellows out a noise like through a super-sized megaphone, trying to emit an awful screeching noise in the vicinity of these creatures, in the hopes it will disrupt them! Not really a damaging ability, but she knows how to target it so the rest of the party aren't getting disrupted in the process. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has got the hang of things now as she calls out to Ren. "This is actually fun...wait what the heck are those things?! Grid bugs?!" Okay this could be worrysome for Deelel still she's tstring to have fun and that's when she leaps into the air off her board pulls her disc off her back and tosses it, it's un powered however so it won't do that much intjury but she may be trying to ping pong off the sharks and anything else tht might get in the way. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Nothing we can't manage so far!" Karal Rei Lin crows triumphantly. The sharks appearing get her to swerve off towards her port side and give them space, but for now...     For now...     For now she swerves left and right, dipping and ducking and using her scabbard and blade to parry any of the shots that get too close to her vitals or head. Sparks fly from the impact, her sword wobbles DANGEROUSLY like it's going to break... but manages to get through without so much as a chip on the blade. That thing IS made of steel, right...?     Sure, her arms and legs take a few hits, leaving bruises and gouges that bleed slightly and STING in the salty waves...     But Karal Rei Lin endures. She rides up to the octopus-creatures after biding her time... and SLICES. Left, right, left again! Disciplined, mostly efficient motions, certainyl well practiced...     She's running this gauntlet her way. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Tanya actually lets out a whoop of excitement at that explosive conclusion to the spike wall. This is probably the most high-adrenaline experience she's had in her life.     "Does this sort of thing happen to you every day?" she asks Ainsley over the roaring of seafoam.     It's the final rush!     Even Ren gets in on the action here, bravely pushing forward to the front line, but he's mostly going to be punching whatever gets close.     Are any of those creatures in a line? That might be their downfall as one super-strong arrow is the first attack to strike the enemy lines, moving nonstop and skewering one octopus after another. It'll only stop when it hits the shore, at which point the monsters will all disintegrate one after another.     Tanya is more than well protected, which is just as well as she's steering right into the rut Sigrun carved for her. Any stone bullet that gets near her is going to be blocked handily by Kazuko, and anything that gets close to any of her allies is the responsibility of Kyle, who might even be able to bounce them back and return-to-sender. Might that be a little difficult? Well, that's where Deelel and Ainsley comes in. Her disc isn't strong enough to destroy anything with one hit, but it can certainly dizzy the creatures and crack their hard heads- just like the sonic scream can, in fact. Put them together and they're going to be able to stun-lock a lot of the fae monsters- and a second blow here or there will definitely take one down. And if nobody's there... well, you have a handy shark friend to gobble down a dizzy octopus.     With Ren and Rei Lin as close to one another as surfboards will allow, or occasionally far away, the rest is theirs to deal with. Moving non stop they can lash out and crush whatever gets close- or rush from side to side in sidewinder patterns to make sure no one escapes.     All too soon the danger is behind you, and you've reached the shores of Kaho'olawe.     The land beyond the shore is sickly and overgrown, a steaming jungle. There are few trees remaining on the shoreline, but many of them have carvings here and there...     And the biggest tree of all has a face on it.     http://disney-pal.com/Disneyland/images/enchanted_tangaroa.jpg     Getting out of her canoe, Tanya walks gently over to it- and she probably jumps even more than anything she jumped at before when the tree's carvings shift and the eyes and face look right at her! "Eeek!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It's a good thing they've finally gotten through that gauntlet of baddies and bullshit, because by the time Kazuko gets to the shoreline on her surfboard? She looks about ready to collapse right onto it. She doesn't, of course, but it's only through sheer willpower that she doesn't just lie down and take a nap. Some stab wounds from the spike wall here, several bruises from the rocks there, and there's still a big red mark on her face from when she had faceplanted onto her surfboard at the start.      At least she looks about as chipper as before. "We're here! Alright, now what do we-gyah!" And energetic, apparently, as she catches sight of that giant tree head staring towards their escort target. It isn't attacking yet, though, so she approaches the tree and..      Stares right back at it. "Uhm... Hi there? Are you friendly?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "Nope! I'm just a freakishly overconfident wizard!" Ainsley replies with a great big smile, "Actually, I might be a little crazy! This should be absolutely terrifying but I'm just not feeling it at all!"     Ainsley is nothing if not painfully self-aware! She does a little thumbs-up at Tanya, though, and adds, "But you're doing great! I can tell!"     The battle is done and everyone comes in for a landing on the beach. She pauses for a second to bury the surf board in the sand by the nose in a good spot to see it later. She steps up to give the tree a curious look with Tanya. In contrast to Tanya's squeak of surprise, Ainsley stares a little dumbly, with a friendly smile on her face. "Hi," she greets, while her muscles tense in case it tries to attack her. "Are you an evil plant monster, too? I hope not."     "I'm Ainsley," she says, raising a hand in greeting. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle LEAPS off the board after the bullshit that was the gauntlet they just got past. He makes a sick dismount, flipping through the air and landing on the beach. His lightsaber switches off finally, and he clips it to his belt while limping towards the others.     "Okay...so that happened." He looks around, as if thinking 'what next?' before he eyes the tree with a face. He'd wonder if it even can talk, but judging by all the crazy shit that's going on, this tree probably WILL speak to them.     Lord knows what it'll say though. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun just steps off calmly, walking forwards to stand with the others. She hasn't dismissed her surveillance spell yet, so the little magic balls keep looking around. She does take off her mask, revealing that she has a broken nose, and that it's bleeding. She still doesn't say a word, but she gets a handkerchief out of a pocket and starts depping up the blood to prevent it from getting elsewhere. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' What a RUSH! Lin's hollering happily by the time the group washes ashore. She stumbles off the board, panting and doubled over with hands on her knees. "Hahahahaa... that was too much! See? Nothin' we couldn't handl-- ... heeeello...?"     Her eyes, too, spot the nearby tree. Right about when Tanya screaches. A tree with a FACE?     Apparently unconcerned with the fact that she's been wounded (for whatever reason, her plethora of minor injuries don't seem to be bleeding for more than ten seconds...)... she walks up to the tree...     "Hail... tree spirit? Despite that mess on the water we come without ill intent." Her tone qucikly loses the rough and wild, though she's obviously doing her best to sound more polite. Even so... most people would probably treat such a being with an amount of deference.     Her manners are of a cordial equal of sorts. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has her disc off line for a reason right? She doesn't want to kill these things to be honest so she's just using it unpowered like she would in a friendly game of disc wars. Though it'snot too friendly for these guys Deelel on the other hand is able to land on the surfboard again she'll keep going for the thing that seem hostile and now she's laughing. "That was quite the right....but what's this?" Deelel hops off her board on to the shore and seems to be quite interested about what they have found. "I'm Deelel." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Greetings, heroes.     I am Tangaroa, god of the oceans and the wild.         Here in this striken land,         I appear before you as a solitary tree.         My mystic powers have started to fall;         From this island, corrupt and wicked life crawls."     "Oh my gosh," Tanya says. "He's really real." She clutches her greenstone pendant. "I didn't think he was real..."     She looks at Ainsley and Kyle, and giggles somewhat helplessly. Whispers, her voice cracking, "This is actually kinda really cool..." Ren throws the peace sign, which is probably what he does when he greets a lot of gods. To Tangaroa's credit, the sand next to the tree clumps and rises in the shape of a similar hand gesture, so that's nice.     A lot of people are injured, though, and the Tiki Spirit acknowledges it as he looks over everyone with an air of concern. Therefore, some healthy-looking fruit grows on the tree, even though, you know, it's not known for trees like this to grow various different kinds of fruit in a few seconds. If you stretch up to grab one- hey, Tangaroa's not going to lower his branches down for you, you gotta grab it yourself- you'll find they have a healing effect on bruises, bites, cuts and bleeding, or even fatigue.         "I can see you've conquered the ocean curse-         But what's further on is so much worse.         I need your help to root them out...         But right now I just don't have the clout.         The path between islands is now clear;         I can transport you back and forth without fear."     Ren scratches his chin. "We can prepare ourselves, and hunt down the being all of this sprouts from in a few days' time?"         "Come back soon but be ready for a fight.         'Fast travel' is all I can do with my remaining might." 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle looks at Tanya briefly. "Who?" He whispers. It's rude to talk when talking trees are talking. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' A talking tree. Kazuko's meeting a talking tree. She looks over at Tanya blankly, then at her companions before turning back to Tangaroa. "Uhm... Hi. I'm Kazuko. So... we're gonna fight the real bad guys, huh?"      She's sounding excited again. "Perfect. I'll show everyone what I can really do then!" It'd probably sound more impressive if she wasn't trying to grab one of those rapidly growing fruits at the same time, but... Well, what's etiquette when there's a tree talking in rhymes after you just beat up a bunch of ocean monsters on magical surfboards? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "Ooh! Tangaroa, the god of the sea!"     Ainsley claps her hands a couple of times like a giddy schoolgirl, and turns to smile at the others as if she's expecting them to be excited, too, but then her face reddens when she remembers she's the only huge historical nerd in the group. She coils her tail around one of her legs, and clasps her hands in front of her, smiling at the talking tree. "Thank you very much," she says to him, "We won't dilly-dally too long, I promise." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel Says "Greetings Tangaros." She bows slightly before them as she listens wonering for a moment at the warning the god is giving them also given this deity is being quite how to put it straight with them? Deelel's liking them already. She listens for a moment and nods. "We shall make ready then for what we must do next." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''         "That is I, although diminished right now.         I'm sure you can help me out somehow."     "(He's one of the biggest and strongest Tiki Spirits in all the Polynesian seas,)" Tanya tells Kyle. "The temple here hasn't been visited by outsiders for hundreds of years..."     "The real bad guy must be there," Ren says. "Well, time to dust our knuckles and stock up on some potions, surf warriors, because we're going to the Temple of Tangaroa!"     Dramatic pointing! Woo! Title drop!     "Surf warriors?"     "I... I don't know, it sounded cooler in my head." 
}}

4152/Surf Warriors: Stage 2

2016-05-26T21:58:17Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/26 |Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop |Synopsis=A curse on the ocean! A sea full of traps and tidal waves. Can you protect the mysteriou..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/26
|Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop
|Synopsis=A curse on the ocean! A sea full of traps and tidal waves. Can you protect the mysterious girl?
|Cast of Characters=8, 151, 165, 778, 942, 984, 992
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Cut to the ocean: a slick of toxic-green sparkles are mixed in with the water, sparkling unpleasantly. But Tanya- seen from the back, with Ren's hand on her shoulder- steps towards the shore, holding her greenstone pendant out like a lantern. The sparking aura fades away around it- but only a little.     A couple hours and a little talking later:     "...they say that ancient islanders used canoes to spread out and colonise all of the lands of Polynesia. Even Tiki spirits would take them out, to go from their magical lands into the human world."     "...I was adopted into the Pohaku family," Tanya says. "But I made this canoe by myself anyway. I guess there's no better time to use it than now."     But as soon as she sets the boat into the water and begins to paddle a few paces forward, her eyes fixed on the island of Kaho'olawe, a strange thing happens.     The canoe and her pendant begin to sparkle silver and white, the cursed aura around the water parts... and the boat begins to move ... then faster... and faster still!     Those positive sparks of power stay on the ocean, and on a whim, Ren grabs a surfboard and follows after her. As soon as he's a little distance out, he picks up speed, and---!     Maybe you ought to follow him...!     [ansi(hw,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwq0byqPWn4     Schumacher Fly - Dynamite Headdy (Remix)     Waterflame - 2012)] 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' If you grab one of the surfboards scattered on the beach and take a chance to follow Ren and Tanya, here's what you'll find out.     Immediately, your surfboard begins to accelerate to a fair old clip- easily more than 35 miles an hour within a few seconds.     No matter what you do, when you decide to stand up and surf the ocean, the board underneath your feet remains as sturdy and easy to balance on as solid ground.     Furthermore, it's attracted to you- if you shudder, trip, or even leap entirely off the board and into the air, it'll track your movements, and will be there for you to land on when you drop, like a magnetic attraction. It's easy to get the hang of. And just as well- it looks like there's going to be danger up ahead...     Welina!     M�kaukau? 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's here and ready to... Surf?      Yep, she's surfing today. Not that she knows how to surf, but it couldn't possibly be that hard, right? She's got good balance and agility! She's also prepared for a dip in the water, of course, so she's dressed in much of the same outfit she was in the last time she was in Maukau: A tank top, shorts, and a swimsuit underneath for modesty.      She's also brought her naginata with her this time. The martial artist is prepared for combat today, and she even has it tied to her waist by a long rope just in case! With everything ready, it's time to get in the water. No hesitation. No surrender!      Of course, when the surfboard starts picking up speed on its own, Kazuko practically latches onto the thing to keep herself from falling off. "Gyah! Why's this... What's with this thing?" She just speeds along, trying desparately not to fall off the thing that's... Actually keeping her from falling off, anyway. She'll find out for herself sooner or later. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' The masked woman takes a surfboard and follows, reacting to the increased pace by kneeling on one knee and drawing her bow. The stray branch on the bow grabs an arrow and holds it near the string, but its wielder makes no moves to pull the bowstring back to fire yet. There's no targets. Instead, the left hand, which holds her bow, is also used to make a few quick movements, and the red gem embedded in Sigrun's glove emits a series of runes and lines in a complex figure. Magic courses through them until they are released in the form of six little blue balls that fly in all directions, until they are all exactly sixty meters away from her, where they start rotating slowly, a wide cone of subtle light emanating. And in front of Sigrun, six lines force open apparent tears in the fabric of the universe, creating viewports that reveal to her what the blue balls are seeing. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley wasn't really here for the initial battle with weird ocean monsters, but she's sure here now! And she's dressed in a black one-piece swimsuit that has some modesty, with a fake flower tied into the feathers on her head and a couple of flowery wrist bands on! Tropical weather is ideal for her, so when she grabs a surf board and everyone starts moving, she is less startled and more invigorated by the speed and the magic.     Ainsley's tail waggles in the wind and she tries to catch waves so she can do AWESOME JUMPS. Because she so rarely gets a chance to do anything this weird and mystical and sporty, she may as well take full advantage of it. She embraced it surprisingly quickly. "Heehee~" And she's giggling loudly. Yeah that looks a little odd for how serious this is actually supposed to be. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     SURFING TIME!     Kyle's got his lightsaber clipped to his belt, and is wearing the same clothes as before; Swim trunks, red Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to show off MANLY CHEST and sporting white floral patterns. He's also shaved to a thick, 80's styled mustache and sporting some epic aviator sunglasses. If one's gonna surf, he'll do it in STYLE, yo.     He is really not familiar with surfing, but the Force does help with keeping him balanced. This is definitely something that'd look much cooler were he twenty years younger, though. For now, he looks ridgoddamndiculous dressed like DIX MAGNUM, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR OF HAWAII, as his alias implies.     "Wh-whooooa! This better not tip over!" He call to Ren, hoping to the FOrce he can try not to look like a goof in front of everyone today. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is here why not humans have a thing about the water that's as strong as most Basics and ISO's fear of it. Seriously the seas on the grid can be scary as hell places sometimes given that's where horrible monsters called grig bugs tend to spawn hower here she is, she's ready for the beach in a biikinio made of the material her suit normally is. It also has no seams, how /did/ Deelel get it on? Seriously how did she. She seems to fill it out well, but she wasn't even here for antics no she'd just been taking a bloody day off. When she had taken to the surf board what could possibly go wrong? Why the end of Deelel having a nice day off, that's what happening as she attemps to balance on te board. "Users....do this...." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "I'd like to thank you all for coming out here today...." Ren says, trying his best to retain his composure in the face of a very unusual situation. However, it takes him a couple of moments to realise what's going on before he is making mild hops up and down off the board and finding out how this all works. What do you know, magic wins again!     "Alright, Tanya! Cut us a path through to that island!" "-aye-aye!"     Kazuko's come armed, and it might be necessary- you're going to have to protect Tanya's canoe. That's right, it's an escort mission too. And protect her from what? Well, Sigrun- who Ren finds time to give a wave and a 'hello, glad you could join us, never met you before but I think I recognize you from the radio?', as if we weren't hurtling across the water on magical boards- will be able to notice that there's more than a few things ahead of them. Metagaos' minions don't want anyone getting close to their spawning grounds.     "This is pretty fun!" Ren shouts to Deelel, because there are some waves forming for Ainsley, Ren and even Kyle to hang ten on even if this is probably some evil curse trying to antagonize them. You're going to have to do better than that! "It's like training wheels for your surfboard."     Unfortunatey, this isn't going to be smooth sailing- for starters, you'll start to notice floating clumps of nasty weed with angry red eyes staring out from their middles as you get further. They're not moving, but they seem as if they'd definitely entangle you and pull you down if you touched them! So, it's a test of skill! 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle makes a leap on the next wave to come his way, grabbing onto his surfboard with one hand while raising his other hand. Focusing, he keeps himself stable using the Force, and does a pirouette in mid-air. WOO! He flops back onto the water again, and he draws his lightsaber to slash down at one of the angry clumps. No entanglement for you, Seaweed! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Even with Ainsley, Kyle, and Ren doing weird jumps with the boards, Kazuko doesn't quite notice the magical following thing just yet. As such, she's... Still practically hugging her own board for dear life. At least they mentioned the training wheels. It's only then that she notices that hopping actually keeps the board following her, and she seems to be getting mroe confident in standing on the thing! "Whoa... Hey, this is kinda cool! This isn't so hard..."      And then there's clumps of angry-eyed seaweed coming for them. Smart person that she is, Kazuko's first instinct is to try RUNNING at a wave on her surfboard to build up speed (somehow), then whipping her naginata downwards at the seaweed before landing gracefully on her face.      Surfing is hard. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley can cheat by flying. She doesn't do this, though, and instead she just uses her ability to fly to grab the surfboard and launch off of a wave to leap over several of the seaweed monsters at once, and give a wave down at them as they pass under her. She hopes they glare indignantly as she passes by them, because she's sure not easy to catch off-guard! She takes full advantage of all of the waves the ocean throws at her to have the maximum amount of fun, treating the angry seaweed as part of an obstacle course and not a threat that will drag her beneath the ocean and drown her if she's not careful.     She doesn't do a lot to help out Tanya, though, because she isn't a combative Elite. She leaves the protection duties to the ones that can actually fight! At least until she finds her opportunity to do something. She isn't in a rush to ruin her fun vacation moment. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun keeps a close eye on her reconnaisance magic, and whispers something into the aether, her voice carrying to the others in the group. "Be careful, there is more than meets the eye. I'm sensing swimming carnivorous plants, spikd objects and more. Keep your eyes open and your reflexes steady." This focus on the broader scheme doesn't stop her from reflexively moving away from the clumps, though at one point she's almost too late, going uncomfortably close to it. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is on magical boards she had no ide they were full oa magic but she's having fun for the moment, however she sees something out there, they are waiting nad Deelels' attemping to control sometrhing that has no /real/ control system. Users are pretty much eldrichly long lived and insane by basic standards in some ways. Then it hits her maybe that's why they do stuff like that they get /bored/ they don't have inate functions like Deelel and others like her do. However for now she just barely gets past the seaweed. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Now you're getting the hang of it!     Although, thinking about it, is it cheating a little to use the force to help you with your cool balancing tricks? In any case, one supposes this IS the edge you're looking for. In a place like Hawaii, after all, it's impossible not to have fun, despite the danger!     I mean, when you think about it- perhaps even when Deelel thinks about it- it's all about conquering nature in a way, isn't it? Proving your bravery and desire to push forward by braving the waves and pushing ahead into new lands. In fact, even with monsters ahead of you, showing that you're willing to have fun is just plain old grit and defiance against these things. It's fine to want to conquer nature when it's as grotesue as Metagaos.     Thankfully the magic is willing to work with you however you want, and somehow running on the surfboard helps you get a fractional little bit more speed if you choose to do it (although that's a very edge case, lbr). Is there a Tiki Spirit watching and counting up points for this? If it is, Kazuko might have to impress them a little more with fighting than boarding tricks! Thankfully she and Kyle can do that pretty well to begin with, scooping seaweed clumps out of the water and slicing them in two. It's all about sharp edges and acceleration!     Ainsley catches some serious air as she vaults over some of the creatures, who are absolutely indignant enough to try and turn into seabound spinballs to chase behind her- and they're snapping at Deelel's heels, too. Thankfully, they've got Ren to watch their back- at least to begin with- as he puts on the brakes and sweeps the leg to try punting them like beachballs.     "Please protect us..." Tanya says, continuing to push forward right at the start.     "Hey, you protect us and we'll protect you!" Ren calls out to her.     "N-no, I didn't mean me-"     The poor girl could really use a little reassurance. She might also need a bit of protection, because swarms of snapping, ugly fish-like things are leaping in and out of the water. Or are they more lizardlike? They've got rough green skin and snouts full of teeth. If they try and grab on, make sure to blast them before they clamp down on you- or her!- or your allies! 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "You were talking to the spirits, right?"     Ainsley says this while leaping off of a wave and using the surf board's underside to land on a group of fish that is launching out of the water at her, in the midst of her attempts to dodge super rude spin-dashing seaweed monsters. She lands on the water after this and just rears back to slug another, larger fish bare-fisted in the nose to knock it off course. It bloodies her hand but she barely flinches from the impact and turns back to look at Tanya.     "I'm sure they're listening!" she encourages Tanya, "Rely on us, too, alright? We should work together, just as the spirits do their part!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Even with a magic surfboard to keep her out of the water completely, Kazuko's still reeling a bit from that rough landing and getting some seawater in her face for her trouble. She sputters a bit before hopping back onto her feet, an indignant grunt escaping her as she grasps her naginata firmly once again.      "Okay... I think I got it now! We just need to go off the big waves to go faster!"      Wait. How's that logic even work? It probably doesn't. Still, it's probably a little more impressive, right? Right. "Keep up, everyone! We've got fishsticks to make!"      Spotting said fish creatures up ahead, the brunette guides her surfboard via more running to another wave and uses that time in the air to plan her next attack. She could slash down at it, but she'd risk slashing Tanya in the process. She could kick them, but then they could grab her and start chowing down on her instead.      Or she could try landing the surfboard right on them. That's always fun. In fact, that's what she's going to try to do, followed up by rapid swipes at the lizardfishes' faces! 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun starts to make snaking movements, to put herself at the back of the group, further away from the enemies in sight, and finally nocks her arrow and pulls it back, putting force as magic surrounds the arrow. It's a careful process, but when she lets go, the arrow flies fast. It's only barely subsonic, and yet agile enough that it curves in the air, aiming to impale as many of the fish as Sigrun could feasibly manage with one such shot. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Blech. Seawater's not exactly a pleasant thing to get in your face, and Kyle has a lot of it splashing him. If not for those shades, he'd be kind of blind for a moment or two. In a fight, that can make all the difference between life and death.     He issues a grabbing motion to some of the fish before it reaches him, his lightsaber slashing to cut them both in half. However, another manages to get his leg, and Kyle lets out a howl of pain before he slashes at the other fish to cut it right off. Thankfully he's deft enough to not slice his own foot off in the process, even if it's a close call.     Better hope sharks don't pick up the scent soon. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Tanya glances at Ainsley; out of the corner of her eye granted, inbetween moments of looking at the ocean to evade the dangers approaching them granted- but she does so nevertheless, and as her face clears a little of the tension that was all over it before, it's clear that's just what she needed to hear.     "Right! T-this is all so new to me... but I've got you guys to stand by me!"     She nods, and sweeps her paddle, continuing to cut through the cursed waters.     Kazuko comes down with a crash on a school of plantlizardfish, sending a shockwave through the water that causes them to bounce out of the air with stars in their eyes. And pretty soon after that they've got a blade in their eyes too, getting chopped up into guacamole!     With Sigrun's keen eye, Ainsley and Tanya don't need to worry either while they talk. She's able to snipe anything that gets close to them, and even the speed of her arrows creates rippling vacuum that knock them off course!     But even though it's clear skies, Metagaos' minions can still whip up storms of rage...     If you wanted big waves, you've got them. The ocean keeps kicking up into bigger an bigger waves, some with angry faces formed out of the gross green sparkles as they rush towards you. As if that wasn't bad enough either, long spike-covered spikes shoot out randomly from the water troughs-     And there's one big huge wall of spikes jetting up ahead, coming up fast-! 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel is just having one of those days though as she sufs along there's something right at her heels and she's not able to get fast enough to keep fully away from them. She keeps pushing ahead though she's not sure about the girl that's ahead. She does sometimts take time to get how users thinks, but she's far better than many bsics would be at eventually. Stlll she'll get it in time T "... Just how many of thoe things are there?!" Deelel calls out she was just out to /have a day off/ not get caught up in this. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is kept safe! Yay! The hope-filled, odd lizard woman squints through the angry waves as water splashes up into her face, her tail whipping side to side to avoid getting bitten by any leaping fish. She makes sure to time her jump to avoid getting impaled on a wall of spikes, but she can't do much to help Tanya when it comes to a physical challenge like this.     So she shoots a worried glance aside at Tanya in the midst of her enormous leap, blinking away the seawater. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' WOOOOOOO, SURFING! Well... even if the thing didn't have some enchantments, Karal Rei Lin would've had little trouble maintaining balance on the board. Very little. For now she's been riding alongside the canoe, keeping a careful eye out for anything strange.     ... Darned good thing she was focusing solely on that, too.     Because creatures arise and so, she readies herself for battle, a hand near her sword.     Then... SPIKES jut through the waves and her blood runs cold. "They were WAITING for us."     There's little to do here but DEAL. Lin wastes no time thinking or pondering, she ACTS.     A gale cuts across the waves as she vanishes, casting two very long waves in her wake to her left and right from the sheer SPEED. The flash of sunlight on steel sears across entire wall once, twice... forming an 'x' pattern and then finally... another final slice STRAIGHT DOWN in front of Tanya's canoe path. Lin's briefly visible, a glimpse all anyone gets - and that largely of her hair and back. She flickers out of sight briefly again and reappears doing backflips across the water only to SLAM back down onto her surfboard, panting.     Cue most of that spiky plant wall just toppling into so much floating yuck. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Hehe... That's right. We can take however many of these things they throw at us!"      Who's they? Who knows. All Kazuko knows is that Tanya's probably their ticket to fixing this whole mess, so her focus is making sure the girl gets through safe and sound! Plantlizardfish get stomped on, cut up, and the martial artist is getting more comfortable with running around on her surfboard by the second!      This is not going to develop any good habits when she tries surfing for real one day.      As those spikes appear, she channels ki into her naginata and begins spinning it in front of her rapidly. "This won't scare us off! I got your back!" A yellow aura surround her blade as she continues spinning the weapon faster and faster while moving in front of Tanya and whoever else is sticking behind her, almost as if she's creating a ki shield in front of her to deflect those spikes! Apparently, the martial artist is trying to deflect whatever's left of the wall that Karal's slashes don't take care of. Sure, she's still getting quite a few of them lodged in her arms and legs as she does that, but at least the canoe's probably safe! Maybe. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Quickly making a bandage for his shin with help of a sleeve and some bacta clipped to his belt, Kyle calls out, "How much further are we?" to Ren. Somehow he's heard over the roar of crushing waves, but that's irrelevant.     The faces throwing spikes at the group are met with a firm Force push, Kyle's strength sending telekinetic attacks at the beings while he deflects the projectiles. "We got this, don't worry!" He calls to Tanya confidently, knocking a spike out of the air with a casual wave of his lightsaber. He's getting the hand of this surfing thing, as he makes a SICK FLIP out of an errant wave while he moves in to slash at one of the Face thngs. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun raises her hand, and suddenly runes spiral out and form a protective energy shield, it's shattered by the incoming spike, but the spike's momentum is almost gone, and what's left fails to dig meaningfully through her clothes, only barely drawing blood. Seeing the wall coming in, Sigrun then draws another arrow. With orange fletching, and a thin layer of some kind of brown substance layered around the shaft. Magic is put into the arrow, and she fires it straight at the wall. Upon contact, the brown substance is used as fuel for magical fires, which get scattered well beyond the immediate impact. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Karal Rei Lin: not one to show off, even in a group of friends who are also all showing off.     Or perhaps she was just biding her time so that she can do something really awesome?!     It's like that little guy at the back of the fight. He's just standing there doing nothing, and you just know when he does something it's gonna be good. Now, she's not little or a guy, but the principle stands- trap or no trap, when Karal rushes forward with her cross slash the wall EXPLODES into four huge clumps of spikerods. Which are on fire.     Ainsley will see, if she's got her eyes trained on Tanya, something impressive- even as the wall rose up in front of her, she kept trailblazing, trusting in the others to do what they had to. Even as the huge pieces rain through the air, she only flinches a bit-     And then the flames from Sigrun's fire arrow causes the remaining parts to hiss and EXPLODE! The rain of flaming pieces are Kazuko's to deal with, as her spinning blade shields Tanya from everything remaining!     Wonderful teamwork! Great combo! 3X Score MULTIPLIER!     While that was going on, everyone else was busy too!     "We're almost there!" Ren shouts to Kyle, shadowing close to Deelel and giving her a reassuring look because it seems she doesn't quite have her sea legs just yet. "Just another mile and a half to go!"         And here's the welcoming committee.     One, two, three- more than that many dozens of big, pale green octopus-type things are popping up out of the water in front, with shiny hard heads and nozzle-shaped mouths.     And all of them start opening fire with solid bullets from their mouths, forcing everyone to run a gauntlet! Don't tempt fate! Well, speaking of which... Remember when someone was worried about sharks? Well, cue the Jaws theme, because there's a couple fins poking above the water, too---         But--     These guys are swimming WITH your current, not against it! And when those sharks jump out of the water, they definitely are going to be tearing their teeth into some vegetarian food today! Hey, they're on your side! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko lets out an excited cheer when that wall of plantspikes is summarily obliterated, wincing afterwards upon being reminded that she still has tiny stab wounds from the (thankfully burnt away) spikes that had hit her on the way down. Still, that sort of pain is nothing compared to what her allies and sister have undoubtedly faced before, so she won't complain about that now.      Plus, there's bigger things to worry about. Namely, octor-uh. Rock shooters! "More things to hit away? Okay, then... Just stick behind us, Tanya. We'll get you through!"      Brave words, even if Kazuko's mostly there to act as a meatshield. Willing more of her ki into the naginata as she begins spinning it again, the martial artist lets out a steady kiai as she pools even more nergy into it this time. It might even be hard to see past where her blade is spinning at this point since she's putting her all into deflecting these bullets. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' This time, Sigrun isn't holding back. The next arrow is aimed carefully, magical winds gather around them, and then when the arrow flies, it speeds up. By the time it's halfway towards the octopus-like enemy she's aimed at, it breaks the sound barrier, kicking up a shockwave (fortunately not too close to anyone) and still speeding up. Of course she's receiving return fire, and her focus on the offense makes her shield come in a little late. It's still materializing when that rock crashes into it, and she takes a direct hit to the face. Her mask doesn't take any damage, but the cracking noise suggests something broke. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Sharks!? Oh shit!     Wait. Kyle double-takes, glancing over to the sharks only to see they're not attacking the group, but the plant monsters instead! "Huh! Since when did we have Jaws on our side?" he asks aloud, before he begins to rush the gauntlet head-on.     Lightsabers don't seem to do well with anything that isn't energy, though Kyle does have a backup to that. He focuses one last time, raising his hand out to stop the projectiles heading towards everyone in mid-flight, flicking them aside harmlessly after every handful. "Now would be a good time to clear our path, guys!" He suggests. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley calls out to Tanya, "That's it! Confidence is the first step to kicking ass!" She does a fistpump in her direction, as they pass the blasted, burning spike wall!     The next obstacle is a little more complicated. However, they have the help of the sharks on their side! She looks suitably surprised, but their presence only means that her hope that the Tiki Spirits would do their part in this was well-placed! But they could just be intelligent sharks that spotted them along the way and decided to help.     Ainsley makes no big leaps in logic here, not when she's trying to avoid getting hit! She gets hit square in the gut by one of the rocks and nearly gets bowled off of her surf board, but manages to stay upright. Then she breathes in a big breath and bellows out a noise like through a super-sized megaphone, trying to emit an awful screeching noise in the vicinity of these creatures, in the hopes it will disrupt them! Not really a damaging ability, but she knows how to target it so the rest of the party aren't getting disrupted in the process. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has got the hang of things now as she calls out to Ren. "This is actually fun...wait what the heck are those things?! Grid bugs?!" Okay this could be worrysome for Deelel still she's tstring to have fun and that's when she leaps into the air off her board pulls her disc off her back and tosses it, it's un powered however so it won't do that much intjury but she may be trying to ping pong off the sharks and anything else tht might get in the way. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Nothing we can't manage so far!" Karal Rei Lin crows triumphantly. The sharks appearing get her to swerve off towards her port side and give them space, but for now...     For now...     For now she swerves left and right, dipping and ducking and using her scabbard and blade to parry any of the shots that get too close to her vitals or head. Sparks fly from the impact, her sword wobbles DANGEROUSLY like it's going to break... but manages to get through without so much as a chip on the blade. That thing IS made of steel, right...?     Sure, her arms and legs take a few hits, leaving bruises and gouges that bleed slightly and STING in the salty waves...     But Karal Rei Lin endures. She rides up to the octopus-creatures after biding her time... and SLICES. Left, right, left again! Disciplined, mostly efficient motions, certainyl well practiced...     She's running this gauntlet her way. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Tanya actually lets out a whoop of excitement at that explosive conclusion to the spike wall. This is probably the most high-adrenaline experience she's had in her life.     "Does this sort of thing happen to you every day?" she asks Ainsley over the roaring of seafoam.     It's the final rush!     Even Ren gets in on the action here, bravely pushing forward to the front line, but he's mostly going to be punching whatever gets close.     Are any of those creatures in a line? That might be their downfall as one super-strong arrow is the first attack to strike the enemy lines, moving nonstop and skewering one octopus after another. It'll only stop when it hits the shore, at which point the monsters will all disintegrate one after another.     Tanya is more than well protected, which is just as well as she's steering right into the rut Sigrun carved for her. Any stone bullet that gets near her is going to be blocked handily by Kazuko, and anything that gets close to any of her allies is the responsibility of Kyle, who might even be able to bounce them back and return-to-sender. Might that be a little difficult? Well, that's where Deelel and Ainsley comes in. Her disc isn't strong enough to destroy anything with one hit, but it can certainly dizzy the creatures and crack their hard heads- just like the sonic scream can, in fact. Put them together and they're going to be able to stun-lock a lot of the fae monsters- and a second blow here or there will definitely take one down. And if nobody's there... well, you have a handy shark friend to gobble down a dizzy octopus.     With Ren and Rei Lin as close to one another as surfboards will allow, or occasionally far away, the rest is theirs to deal with. Moving non stop they can lash out and crush whatever gets close- or rush from side to side in sidewinder patterns to make sure no one escapes.     All too soon the danger is behind you, and you've reached the shores of Kaho'olawe.     The land beyond the shore is sickly and overgrown, a steaming jungle. There are few trees remaining on the shoreline, but many of them have carvings here and there...     And the biggest tree of all has a face on it.     http://disney-pal.com/Disneyland/images/enchanted_tangaroa.jpg     Getting out of her canoe, Tanya walks gently over to it- and she probably jumps even more than anything she jumped at before when the tree's carvings shift and the eyes and face look right at her! "Eeek!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It's a good thing they've finally gotten through that gauntlet of baddies and bullshit, because by the time Kazuko gets to the shoreline on her surfboard? She looks about ready to collapse right onto it. She doesn't, of course, but it's only through sheer willpower that she doesn't just lie down and take a nap. Some stab wounds from the spike wall here, several bruises from the rocks there, and there's still a big red mark on her face from when she had faceplanted onto her surfboard at the start.      At least she looks about as chipper as before. "We're here! Alright, now what do we-gyah!" And energetic, apparently, as she catches sight of that giant tree head staring towards their escort target. It isn't attacking yet, though, so she approaches the tree and..      Stares right back at it. "Uhm... Hi there? Are you friendly?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "Nope! I'm just a freakishly overconfident wizard!" Ainsley replies with a great big smile, "Actually, I might be a little crazy! This should be absolutely terrifying but I'm just not feeling it at all!"     Ainsley is nothing if not painfully self-aware! She does a little thumbs-up at Tanya, though, and adds, "But you're doing great! I can tell!"     The battle is done and everyone comes in for a landing on the beach. She pauses for a second to bury the surf board in the sand by the nose in a good spot to see it later. She steps up to give the tree a curious look with Tanya. In contrast to Tanya's squeak of surprise, Ainsley stares a little dumbly, with a friendly smile on her face. "Hi," she greets, while her muscles tense in case it tries to attack her. "Are you an evil plant monster, too? I hope not."     "I'm Ainsley," she says, raising a hand in greeting. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle LEAPS off the board after the bullshit that was the gauntlet they just got past. He makes a sick dismount, flipping through the air and landing on the beach. His lightsaber switches off finally, and he clips it to his belt while limping towards the others.     "Okay...so that happened." He looks around, as if thinking 'what next?' before he eyes the tree with a face. He'd wonder if it even can talk, but judging by all the crazy shit that's going on, this tree probably WILL speak to them.     Lord knows what it'll say though. 

:'''{{#var:992|Sigrun Stem (992)}} has posed:''' Sigrun just steps off calmly, walking forwards to stand with the others. She hasn't dismissed her surveillance spell yet, so the little magic balls keep looking around. She does take off her mask, revealing that she has a broken nose, and that it's bleeding. She still doesn't say a word, but she gets a handkerchief out of a pocket and starts depping up the blood to prevent it from getting elsewhere. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' What a RUSH! Lin's hollering happily by the time the group washes ashore. She stumbles off the board, panting and doubled over with hands on her knees. "Hahahahaa... that was too much! See? Nothin' we couldn't handl-- ... heeeello...?"     Her eyes, too, spot the nearby tree. Right about when Tanya screaches. A tree with a FACE?     Apparently unconcerned with the fact that she's been wounded (for whatever reason, her plethora of minor injuries don't seem to be bleeding for more than ten seconds...)... she walks up to the tree...     "Hail... tree spirit? Despite that mess on the water we come without ill intent." Her tone qucikly loses the rough and wild, though she's obviously doing her best to sound more polite. Even so... most people would probably treat such a being with an amount of deference.     Her manners are of a cordial equal of sorts. 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel has her disc off line for a reason right? She doesn't want to kill these things to be honest so she's just using it unpowered like she would in a friendly game of disc wars. Though it'snot too friendly for these guys Deelel on the other hand is able to land on the surfboard again she'll keep going for the thing that seem hostile and now she's laughing. "That was quite the right....but what's this?" Deelel hops off her board on to the shore and seems to be quite interested about what they have found. "I'm Deelel." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Greetings, heroes.     I am Tangaroa, god of the oceans and the wild.         Here in this striken land,         I appear before you as a solitary tree.         My mystic powers have started to fall;         From this island, corrupt and wicked life crawls."     "Oh my gosh," Tanya says. "He's really real." She clutches her greenstone pendant. "I didn't think he was real..."     She looks at Ainsley and Kyle, and giggles somewhat helplessly. Whispers, her voice cracking, "This is actually kinda really cool..." Ren throws the peace sign, which is probably what he does when he greets a lot of gods. To Tangaroa's credit, the sand next to the tree clumps and rises in the shape of a similar hand gesture, so that's nice.     A lot of people are injured, though, and the Tiki Spirit acknowledges it as he looks over everyone with an air of concern. Therefore, some healthy-looking fruit grows on the tree, even though, you know, it's not known for trees like this to grow various different kinds of fruit in a few seconds. If you stretch up to grab one- hey, Tangaroa's not going to lower his branches down for you, you gotta grab it yourself- you'll find they have a healing effect on bruises, bites, cuts and bleeding, or even fatigue.         "I can see you've conquered the ocean curse-         But what's further on is so much worse.         I need your help to root them out...         But right now I just don't have the clout.         The path between islands is now clear;         I can transport you back and forth without fear."     Ren scratches his chin. "We can prepare ourselves, and hunt down the being all of this sprouts from in a few days' time?"         "Come back soon but be ready for a fight.         'Fast travel' is all I can do with my remaining might." 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle looks at Tanya briefly. "Who?" He whispers. It's rude to talk when talking trees are talking. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' A talking tree. Kazuko's meeting a talking tree. She looks over at Tanya blankly, then at her companions before turning back to Tangaroa. "Uhm... Hi. I'm Kazuko. So... we're gonna fight the real bad guys, huh?"      She's sounding excited again. "Perfect. I'll show everyone what I can really do then!" It'd probably sound more impressive if she wasn't trying to grab one of those rapidly growing fruits at the same time, but... Well, what's etiquette when there's a tree talking in rhymes after you just beat up a bunch of ocean monsters on magical surfboards? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "Ooh! Tangaroa, the god of the sea!"     Ainsley claps her hands a couple of times like a giddy schoolgirl, and turns to smile at the others as if she's expecting them to be excited, too, but then her face reddens when she remembers she's the only huge historical nerd in the group. She coils her tail around one of her legs, and clasps her hands in front of her, smiling at the talking tree. "Thank you very much," she says to him, "We won't dilly-dally too long, I promise." 

:'''{{#var:8|Deelel (8)}} has posed:''' Deelel Says "Greetings Tangaros." She bows slightly before them as she listens wonering for a moment at the warning the god is giving them also given this deity is being quite how to put it straight with them? Deelel's liking them already. She listens for a moment and nods. "We shall make ready then for what we must do next." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''         "That is I, although diminished right now.         I'm sure you can help me out somehow."     "(He's one of the biggest and strongest Tiki Spirits in all the Polynesian seas,)" Tanya tells Kyle. "The temple here hasn't been visited by outsiders for hundreds of years..."     "The real bad guy must be there," Ren says. "Well, time to dust our knuckles and stock up on some potions, surf warriors, because we're going to the Temple of Tangaroa!"     Dramatic pointing! Woo! Title drop!     "Surf warriors?"     "I... I don't know, it sounded cooler in my head." 
}}

IFOS: Everyday People (Ren Tanaka)

2016-05-26T20:22:09Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2016/02/27
|Location=Amarillo-8
|Synopsis=I am no better and neither are you...

We are the same, whatever we do

You love me, you hate me, you know me and then

You can't figure out the bag I'm in

I am everyday people, yeah yeah
|Cast of Characters=165
|Tinyplot=Invaders From Outer Space
}}
"What is this strange thing I found by the river, mama?" "What? Why did you bring that home! Throw it away! I don't need another crazy thing to worry about."

"Did you see those people down by the junkyard? Mac says some battery in a wrecked car was shootin' out electricity all over the place and they came in to deal with it."

"Can you believe all of those gangers just up and stopped at the end of the winter?" "I heard they got 'em all into the canyon park and some government men sprayed 'em down with drugs." "What, like those government guys that have been going around pawnshops?"

"Mike was always the most broken of a bunch of broken kids," Tobe tells Ren, as they sit around some beers at the Big Texan. "He whipped together a ton of people from all around that could hardly even reach the pedals on a car, much less drive... once he told me a crooked cop busted his old man down for makin' fake comic books. Mr. Yates never did find out who ratted him out... said it was a conspiracy against 'him to his kids. Guess that's why he always hated people keepin' secrets... 'specially cops... guess once he felt like we were gonna side with the law, that the only guy he could trust was himself. And now he's gone and run off with that crazy thing..."

"Hello?" Maria Smith says weakly, speaking into a rotary phone. "Didn't you say you were all from the Union? I'm sorry, dears, I didn't have the thought in me to ask whose Union or anything more... I'm just wanting to give you a call, only, I'm sorry to bother you all after you were all so helpful with the gangs and all, but I remembered when a bright young woman came to see me back in December. She said she came to town to help, and I really think I could use it now... I didn't mention it because I didn't want to be a bother, but you see, I've been feeling strange and having stranger dreams, and something she asked me about came back to mind the other day..."

4134/Surf Warriors: Stage 1

2016-05-22T07:50:25Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/21 |Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop |Synopsis=SURF WARRIORS and the TEMPLE of TANGAROA: Horror on party beach! The monster that came..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/21
|Location=Great Ocean - Southern Loop
|Synopsis=SURF WARRIORS and the TEMPLE of TANGAROA:
Horror on party beach! The monster that came from the ocean. How many umbrellas will you break?
|Cast of Characters=165, 778, 942, 984
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "After what's been happening to me lately I could use a day in the sun."     Welcome, one and all, to the exotic Maluaka Beach, located on the island of Maui in Hawaii-91. It's 87 degrees out on the beaches, and everything's ready to kick off summer with a swingin' beach party.     You want it? We've got it. There's music, there's dance. There's a dozen barbeques, there's three beachside bars. The water looks a little green rather than crystal blue, but there's nothing wrong with that.     http://www.wallpaperhi.com/thumbnails/detail/20111210/Tropical-Beach.jpg     Off in the distance you can see the fabulous island of Kaho'olawe, practically less than five miles away. The smallest of the islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, it stands alone as a nature reserve, almost untouched by man except for a small native tribe.     But enough about that, we're here to have fun! There are more than fifty people here- it's a community celebration run by the Pohaku family, a group who Ren helped out in an unrelated adventure many years ago. Since he finally has friends now, they insisted he bring them to this year's party, so he has surely introduced each of you to the matriarch of the Pohaku family.     One member of them is sitting under a tree, on the edge of the party. A rather maudlin girl with short blonde hair and sea-coloured eyes, Tanya looks uneasily at the island in the distance, as well as the greenstone pendant on a string wrapped around her hand.     http://safebooru.org//images/1347/d64e47c77cbb2c96b8fa4894ec36228108aa2289.jpg?1677916     "Hey, I think we've got just about everything we need for the perfect party," Ren Tanaka says, sitting down next to her. "The sun's high, the tide's in, it's the middle of summer and everyone wants to have fun." 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     WOO! PARTY AT THE BEEEEEACH!!     Kyle's definitely come dressed for the occasion. He's got a properly colorful and flowery shirt on, unbuttoned just enough to expose the briefest hint of MANLY chest, and kaki cargo shorts, the kind that double as swim trunks in a pinch. With him is Jan, who hilariously enough is dressed more or less the same, only her shorts are considerably more form fitting and stop at her thighs, and she has the hints of a dark blue bandeau-top bikini underneath her shirt. The two have been chitchatting with the other guests, enjoying the local food and drink as they share laughs and stories. "And so then Jan looks at the others, and she says 'Well now we're stuck, unless you wanna tickle the damn thing!'"     It's cheesy as punchlines go, but the two laugh regardless over a joke shared during less than enjoyable situations, making light of old escapades as usual. "I swear, I never have been more happy to be in the same room in my life." He grins, before Jan steals a light peck on his grizzly cheek. "Oh please, you're only laughing because it's me." "Maybe!" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' After several long months of working and training, it's good to have a break like this. Sun, water, friends, a lot of new people to see... Kazuko's looking pretty happy with her decision to have come to Maluaka Beach today. Like Kyle and Jan, she's dressed for the beach: A yellow two-piece bikini with a white star motif, a beige tank top to give herself an extra layer of clothing, and yellow shorts because they're comfy and easy to wear!      "Whoa... There's a lot of people here. So there's gotta be... Lots of food, right?" Priorities. Kazuko wastes little time in zipping around the beach, seeking out any and all snacks and (non-alcoholic) drinks she can get her hands on. A fried thing here, a baked thing there, an opened fruit drink there...      It's a good thing she's already done this hundreds of times before with festival food back home. She's taking quick nibbles and sips of each one as she scours the beach for yet more stuff to consume. Kazuko does stop before getting too far, however, turning to look at each person she actually vaguely recognizes. "Ren! Mister Kyle! Miss Jan! Want me to-mrmph... Bring anything over?" 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' Someone's here who wasn't originally going to be invited. They've certainly never met Ren before today.     It just so happened that, after getting her ass kicked on a job Lin came limping over to the beach and flopped over onto the sun-baked warm sands to recover. One thing lead to another and that...     That's why she's here, flitting from gathering to gathering and exchanging some spirited, friendly words, but...     There's only so much you can do to fit in and make merry with people you know nothing about. In the end she's feeling like a third wheel and this brings her to wander to the only person who seems ALONE on the occasion:     Tanya.     At about the same time that Ren does so, by chance.     Lin's wearing a two-piece of relatively modest design, matching her hair color perfectly.     With a huff she flops down, her back to the tree at a 90 degree angle to the girl. "Great place to be, no mistakin' that!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     If it helps: very few people here know other people here. The reason so many people are here is that friends told friends who told friends who told other friends, and at the end of the day the Pohakus don't care so long as everyone has a good time and things don't get rowdy. It is supposed to be an oppurtunity to meet new people, but there's always gonna be someone who ends up feeling like a third wheel. As it so happens, here we have three third wheel, and now we have to figure out what kind of vehicle has five wheels.     Kazuko, Kyle and Jan meanwhile are definitely part of the first two wheels, so perhaps to stretch this metaphor even further than it should go that makes them... uh, fancy stickers from out-of-state that have been applied to the hubcap? Yeah, that's where the metaphor falls apart. They have a bar adjacent to some of the barbeques, and funnily enough it's actually one of the places with most people clustered around because everyone wants to hear interesting stories from the out-of-...worlders? It's going pretty well- everyone's interested to hear what Kyle has to say and to offer Kazuko whatever she can carry.     But briefly peoples' attention is drawn away from that- the sun is beginning to go down, turning the sky orange, but casting a fierce reflection on the sea between the two islands. Everyone is quite surprised at the shadows moving around- it looks like a pod of dolphins, but it's a strange time of year for such things. There are some splashes in the water, so people are getting their cameras.     Meanwhile, back at the tree: Ren waves Rei Lin over. "If you've come over here I'll try and come up with reasons to pull you back to the crowd like I'm doing with her."     Tanya makes a quiet rumbly sound, massaging the pendant with her fingertip.     Ren sighs. "Where did you get that thing, anyway?"     Tanya rubs her thumb over the piece of greenstone, made in the shape of a tiki. "I thought this was just a little souvenier from a gift shop over on that island." "What, the island with only one building on it, made a thousand years ago, populated by people who've followed the old spirits of the islands, for centuries? The gift shop they run?" Tanya sticks out her tongue at him, then goes back to looking out to sea. "Every year when this big party happens, I always feel like I don't belong. Every year I get the urge to just swim out to that island and spend the whole day there instead. This year more than ever."     "It feels like something's calling me..." 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     "Sure, bring something over!" "Something with sausage, I'm starved!" Jan and Kyle say to Kazuko cheerfully, grinning as they wave the girl over. Really, it's not the worst party they've been to. They're getting along fine with the locals, and vice versa. The drinks and food are good, the music's exciting, and the weather's amazing thus far.     Kyle does glance behind him every so often, looking at Ren and Tanya briefly. Huh. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Well. Maybe it is." Lin exclaims jovially, as if this is nothing to worry about. "Why not paddle over in a boat and say hello? ... Or are they the unfriendly kind of tribe?"     She ends up grinning at Ren the next moment. "You're welcome to try. Karal Rei Lin. From the southeast regions of Creation... pretty far from he--... here...?"     Her voice cracks uncertainly for a moment. For she'd turned to enjoy the sights of the setting sun, but... something's wrong?     Splashes? "Something out there?"     Lin stands suddenly, leaning against the tree with one hand... and FIERCELY FOCUSES her gaze out there at the disturbance. "What's that about...?" 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's certainly mingling easily enough, although she doesn't spend too much time eating her own stuff. There's people waiting for her! After finishing her own helpings of already-bitten food, she gets second servings of too-many-things and hurries back towards the more familiar faces. She slows down as she notices the oddly setting sun, however, blinking slowly at the curious sight and holding the food out towards Kyle and Jan (grilled sausage included).      "Whoa... That looks kinda cool. Is that a thing that happens out here in the Hawaiis?" She doesn't look at anyone in particular as she asks that, although her attention does linger on Karal, Rin, and Tanya as their reactions range from suspicious to ominous.      "... Heeey. Maybe we could swim over there." Kazuko, of course, is not cautious at all. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Just remember, Kazuko! Everything you take a bite out of and don't eat all of, you gotta pay extra for at the end... nah, I'm only kidding, they wouldn't be that cruel.     Someone tells Kazuko and Kyle that this is actually not common, but not unheard of- it's rare for a pod of dolphins to be in water that's this shallow, but he remember five years ago when..... etc etc here comes another story. You'd better pay attention to this one.     "They're fine, the place is just a protected area. They don't really like contact with the outside world, the government enforces it..." Tanya explains to Rei Lin.     "...maybe I could go over there in a canoe. I made one of my own a few months ago. It was supposed to be part of a coming-of-age ceremony..."     Something breaks the surface for a moment, something with a long body but with tendrils as well. Karal Rei Lin will notice that for a dolphin, it's got a few too many limbs... and way too many teeth.          That's when the ocean starts to bubble.     Not just a couple bubbles in one tiny spot- there's a front of them moving in, stretching in patches across the whole beach--     And then something jumps up. Something /evil/.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3mhUGhLiQ     Skull and Crossbones - Konami     Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Time - 1991     http://imgur.com/a/XVon7     Abruply standing up out of the water comes a half-dozen shapes, humanoid in silhouette but made entirely of plants and wood! They silently stalk forward onto the sand, and the people immediately balk and back away! Splashes and rushes fill the air as even more of the strange creatures begin to come ashore, some of them big, some of them small, some with four legs or more!     And they immediately begin smashing umbrellas and grabbing people trying to run away! They're coming ashore by the dozen!     "On second thoughts," Ren says. "Don't go swimming today."     Welina!     M�kaukau?     STAGE 1: START 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Dolphns, shallow water, not common and all that. Kyle and Jan listen to the story, the latter munching on another hotdog brat hungrily as Kyle enjoys his beer. He glances back at the dolphins again, looking as though they might just be harmless. They ARE dolphins after all, they're cute right?     Well not whatever just showed up, that's for sure! Kyle and Jan whirl around to face whatever everyone's yelling at, before suddenly they make a break for the pool bag without a beat missed. Thankfully a blaster and Kyle's lightsaber were stashed just in case, and the two go to work without hesitation.     Kyle charges one of the creatures as it tries to grab one of the guests, slashing to sever its arm and slashing again immediately after. "Get away from her!" He calls out, while Jan fires upon the horde. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko might not look it, but she's a fiend when it comes to devouring snacks! She'll just make it up with more exercise and vegetables later. Although from the looks of it...      She might be getting the former sooner rather than later. "Whoa... What're those?" The martial artist gawks a bit when those odd non-dolphin creatures and the plant-like humanoids start to emerge from the water, standing a bit more defensiely when it's starting to look like they're not exactly friendly.      "We can swim later, right Ren?" Priorities. Alas, she didn't bring her naginata today, but Kazuko's no stranger to fighting with her fists. It's time to pound on some bad guys! Or... They might be guys, anyway.      It's really hard to tell. Either way, she gets right into the thick of things, lashing out whatever she can reach with rapid punches and kicks! 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Well, don't do it right now. Something weird-lookin's comin' this way!" Weird enough that Lin's sense for danger's screaming at her. "AWAY FROM THE WATER! AWAY FROM IT NOW!" Her urgent demand echoes every which way over the beach just moments before the creatures emerge.     "Geh... figures I'd drop by a place to rest and enjoy some food 'n THIS would happen." She's speaking casually enough, but her bravado tone's not entirely masking how UNNERVED these things' appearances has her.     Still, Lin takes a flying leap down to the beach, weapon suddenly in hand. WHERE it came from... well, that's anyone's guess. It's as though she ripped it out of the sunset. She holds the mouth of the scabbard in her left hand, right hand hovering near the group. "Hands OFF the people or I'll take 'em off of YOU!"     And oh, that's not an idle threat at all. Lin sinks into a deeper stance, breathes iiiiin.... then...     Fwoooooosh.     She's gone in a cloud of kicked-up sand.     The very next instant she's going skidding past some of the creatures and struggling to sheathe her weapon. Apparently she's unused to the sandy footing so the movement's kinda clumsy, but she maintains her balance pretty well.     It's pretty difficult, trying to chop off about four offending limbs at once without hurting the caught people... so of course her follow-through suffers! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Tanya makes a squawk of surprise, and before you know it she's hiding at the top of a tree. And there she will remain for the forseeable future. Her pendant is glowing, but she doesn't even notice it.     Some people begin moving forward to the shoreline to try and take pictures of the 'dolphins' until Rei Lin shouts a warning, making most of them stop in their tracks and back away. That means that when the shoreline thrashes and explodes, there are only a couple of people close enough to be grabbed by branch and stem-     Not that that's much of a consolation for those people. What certainly IS a consolation is Rei Lin barrelling right into the middle of them- this first group of creatures is mostly humanoid in appearence but with some visible 'eyes'. Eyes which naturally get covered in a sluice of sand, which allows Kyle to move straight in and fend off the creature attacking a nearby person.     Jan ends up giving covering fire to Kazuko- and Ren as well, who is surprisingly enough running right next to her.     "Yes, that is definitely something we will be doing later!" he shouts, and kicking a grass-covered wolfy thing a distance away.     These humanoids are intelligent enough to grab the beach umbrellas that are nearby to use as blunt weapons- not to mention kicking ice-filled water coolers and a coal-filled barbeque at everyone. The entire shoreline is being filled with monsters of all shapes and sizes, who begin moving onto the land to terrorize and destroy! 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Jan yelps in surprise as a cooler of ice is flung at her. She narrowly escapes being smacked full on by the container as Kyle stops it with the FOrce, returning to sender with the speed and velocity of a cannonball. He himself leaps over the coals flung his way, knowing he doesn't exactly have shoes on right now.     "Augh! Seriously!? DOn't hit the feet!" He calls out, before he lands well away from the coals, charging towards one of the wolf things and unleashing a Force Push to knock it back into the water a good distance away. He also aims to sever a beach umbrella in half with his lightsaber, denying another humanoid the use of a blunt weapon while Jan opens fire upon it.     "We're getting overrun here, anybody got some sort of game-changing secrets, now might be the best time!" Jan says, firing aggressively while she takes over behind an overturned table. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Beach umbrellas as weapons. Why didn't she think of that?      Well, now the idea's in Kazuko's head, too. Good job, sea plantmen! Now there's a martial artist brandishing a parasol like a freaking bo staff now. Sure, it might not be as properly balanced as a real staff, and it might not be as sturdy or designed for hitting things, but...      Well, it sure does blur colorfully while she's swinging it around. Plus, she can even open them up as one-use shields against the coals and ice!      "I hope so! Geh... Has this sort of thing ever happened before?" She hurls a parasol length-wise at one of the plant-wolves before getting right back to punching the shit out of their sea-based adversaries. Of course, with so many beach chairs around...      It can't be too surprising that she'll even try picking one of those up to swing around, right? Right. Alas, those things probably aren't the most aerodynamic, and it's back to punches, kicks, and a few frankensteiners for variety. "Just how many of these things are there?! Mm..."      Maybe using a few specials won't hurt too much. Grabbing another parasol, Kazuko starts channeling her ki into it while spinning the thing rapidly and charging back into the horde with her powered up spinning strikes!      Good thing she's got sandals on. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Game-changing secrets, huh?!" Lin blurts, frustrated beyond belief already. She was here to RELAX, dammit. Which means...     "You CREATURES are pissing me off!" If any of 'em have turned their attention on Lin following her immediate rescue attempt... well.     They've really stirred the hornet's nest here.     No longer showing good cheer and friendliness, Lin's countenace has become a frightening mask of ferocious rage. Lips peeled back and teeth bared, grinding together, her blue eyes seem to burn with inner light.     As the moments pass and she deepens her stance again, the ferocious air about her becomes... something substantial.     Power drifts from her skin, forming a shining aura of golden-white light. The mark of the sun shines upon on her forehead. And again she iiiiinhales, focusing. "Single Point Shining into the Void Style!" The young woman announces the name formally, taking on an almost reverent and more respectful tone of voice... before she leaps into the fray again. This time she's dashing in low for the creatures, swooping left and right with incredibly quick and nimble footwork.     Seems it didn't take her long to adapt to the sandy terrain!     When foliage-laden limbs strike she turns them, away, smoothly diverting the strikes with her sheathed weapon. And every time they do so her counterattack comes like a bolt of lightning! Her free hand grips her sword and draws it directly in a striking path. Slice slice slice!     She's like a whirlwind across the beach leaping about from creature to creature, never staying in one place long enough to make pinning her down an easy thing to do.     After a bit of this, she turns towards another creature and leaps forward, somersaulting dizzyingly with her blade at the ready. Her momentum inexplicbly ALTERS in midair, bringing her straight down upon the creature - "Shining Starfall Execution!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Well, you know how it is. You're bound to use weapons better than these guys: when it comes to combat, they're all still a little green.     The best part of a parasol is they are indeed multi-purpose! Well, unfortunately this is a cheap polyester umbrella, so it'll probably light on fire when it tries to block the barbeque. On the plus side, flaming umbrella! On the downside, these plants are all too waterlogged for that to make a difference, but it will probably make you feel ten percent cooler.     Unless you light yourself on fire, then you'll feel about ten percent hotter.     "No!" Tanya shouts from the top of the tree. "Absolutely nothing like this has ever happened before!"     An angry flaring of energy from Rei Lin- actually gives the creatures pause, as although faceless they may be, mindless they certainly aren't. Part of them shrinks away from something that is almost familiar to them-     Things get interesting in a hurry.     As Rei Lin counterattacks against a reaching attacker, she knocks it into Kazuko's frankensteiner swing. Ren grapples a creature by the legs and pulls it, causing it to crash into the floor where it's crushed by a falling stab attack. Kyle knocks the quadrupedal creature into the air- it bounces along the shoreline splashing as it goes- and ends up being hit for a home run by one of Kazuko's swings.     Ren pushes himself up out of the sand. There's an awful lot of four-legged beasts between them and one of the tiki bars, which is in the middle of being torn to bits by some more human-shaped creatures and a swarm of lesser creatures.     "Nothing else to it," Ren says, the golden ring beginning to show on his forehead too as he strides into the charging dogs. "We're just going to have to make firewood out of the lot of them!"     Yeah, he's pissed off today too. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Who ISN'T Pissed at the interrupted party? "I could've been at a barbecue!" calls out Kyle, before he joins Ren in the horde of dog things. He dropkicks one of the dogs, before slashing at another with his lightsaber.     He goes to cutting through the humanoids next, mantling over the tiki bar to kick one in the chest, impaling it immediately after. Jan follows, swiftly shooting another of the humanoids in the head. She's got his back, always has, so it doesn't even need to be said here as she covers him and Ren now, deftly popping off blasts where she can. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Even with Kazuko busting out her own techniques, she still can't help but gawk at what her companions are doing out here. Between Kyle making things just topple over with hand movements and slicing them apart with a freaking LASER SWORD, Jan shooting holes into everything, and Karal cutting so many things apart in rapid succession...      It's enough to make a girl feel insecure about her own moves. Still, she's determined not to fall too far behind, and Kazuko kicks up her own attacks a notch! More yellow aura pours from her into the parasol, the cloth all but torn to pieces as she's really just swinging the pole around now and clobbering as many of the plant beasts as she can.      "Hehe... Think we can make a big bonfire out of 'em?!" She thrusts her parasol pole into another creature, trying to outright impale it and use it as a sledgehammer! It's probably not going to work all that well, of course, what with not being a power-type fighter, but it doesn't hurt to at least try new things! 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "Don't think. DO! DO make a bonfire out of 'em!" Lin exclaims angrily, leaping backwards and knocking away an incoming umbrella with her scabbard, then striking deep again with the blade! Yet so many remain... that she's getting impatient.     Lin executes a few quick backflips and lands in a blade-drawing stance, eyes flicking back and forth rapidly to get a bead on just how many THINGS are left.... she can't possibly get ALL of them, and yet...!     "Here goes..." The scrape-grind of a sword being drawn rings clear, then... she's off. A rush of crimson through the plant horde. Light flashes off the polished steel of her blade as it arcs and slices dozens of times in a clear path through the horde... but blink and you'll miss the show, easily. A wave of sand's kicked up by the ferocious SPEED of that charge, parting a rut in the beach along her path. Karal Rei Lin skids to a halt, swings around to face the group again... and sheathes her weapon again, holding it chest-height and horizontal for just a little more show.     "I've had it with nonsense like this! Give me two days of break!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' That bar's not a temporary set-up, either! It's beachfront property! And sure enough its owner likes it enough to keep trying to protect it, fending things off with a stick. He's not going to be able to do that for long, though so-     So it's a good thing you're going to be able to cut through them quickly, right?     With Ren at the forefront of things- he's got a little pent-up aggression to work off of so he's just bodily picking monsters up and throwing them into other monsters (and hardly the kind of finesse the others are showing)- you can meet them with a strong head-on push. Or kick, depending, bringing Kyle right up to the bar and its owner.      Or ... improvised... hammer?     It's strangely gruesome but surprisingly effective as Kazuko picks one of the huge, shiny-hided creatures up and uses it as a hammer head- the pole's going to creak and break after a few uses, but she's easily able to smash several of the bulkier creatures, crushing one big one with every blow.     And Rei Lin- well, if Kazuko wants a bonfire, she's ready to make the kindling, as she breaks into a run and rushes along the shoreline, a rainbow forming behind her through the setting sunshine. When that fades? Almost fifteen of them are torn into pieces.     "Never thought I'd see the taniwha comin' out of the ocean for real," he comments, back-to-back with Kyle.     "I *whack* doubt *whack* it?" Ren asks back, hitting something planty repeatedly into a wall.     "No..." Tanya replies, looking at the greenstone pendant in her hands, although it's almost to herself as no one can hear her from here. "He's right..."     A section of barbeques and the propane tanks fuelling them are knocked over and explode, spilling fuel onto the beach to burn.     There aren't many plant creatures left, but...     Well, those aren't plant creatures.     Wiry muscles and covered in patches of fur, these creatures have greasy skin and chunky teeth. They've got bushy eyebrows, hair on their arms and backs, pointed ears- to Rei Lin they look a little like Blood Apes; to the others, perhaps a little like goblins.     They've got blades made of sharpened gossamer. One's fur is orange, one's is red, one's is sea-blue and one's is purplish-grey.     "Of course I'd recognize them," Ren says.     "Amanojaku." 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' All that exertion's stoked Karal Rei Lin's anima even further. The skin-tight aura's expended further in the wake of that last assault, becoming a billowing bonfire of brilliant golden-white light - bright enough that NOBODY here will have any trouble figuring out where she roughly is. There's now TWO sources of sunlight sufficient to illuminate the world.     Lin's also breathing a bit harder. She's broken a sweat and her legs wobble a bit. Seems that manuever might be a bit more than she's ready to handle yet...     "Look kinda like Blood Apes... or Brine Curs... or a few other things.... now that I think about it..." She gets out while gathering her breath and focus again. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Amanowho?" Kazuko pants slightly as she comes to a stop at the quartet of furry chunk goblins, discarding her now-destroyed parasol pole. "Whatever they're called... They're not gonna get away with messing up this place!"      She's certainly ready and raring for the fight to continue, at least, as she grabs a somehow-untouched plate of grilled sausages and bites right into one of them. HEALTH UP! "These things have too many names. Let's just beat them up!" Setting that plate aside and looking mildly rejuvenated, KAzuko goes back to her default/only strategy:      PUNCHY PUNCH. Or rather, KICKY KICK. She springs off the top of one of the still standing parasols to give herself some height, then aims a diving ki-powered kick right at the red creature! Somehow, she hasn't come up with a name for that one yet. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle is confused by the arrival of these big goblins, flourishing his lightsaber as he and Jan face off with the boss monsters. He's got his share of bruises and scratches, but a randomly untouched hamburger happens to end up in his sights as he reaches over to nab it. Nomf. HEALTH UP! Might as well enjoy SOME food, right?     He goes back to the fight, doing the same as Kazuko as he leaps and bounces off one of the umbrellas as a platform, falling atop of the orange creature as he slashes down upon the possible Blood Ape. "Whatever they are, we'll kick their ass anyways!" Jan says, firing upon the purplish gray goblin thing. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     So it's technically six against four right now? Well, there are a fair number of small-sized bitey squirmy planty things left for Ren and the bar owner to deal with (hint: stomping on them doesn't work very well when done in sand), so it's more like four on four.     "Be careful!" he shouts off to the side, busy as he might be. "They're the lowest of the low, but they're still bad news from the Wyld! They'll pack a lot more of a punch than anything else so far!"     Indeed, each of the amanojaku's silvery blades glow weirdly, and when Kyle takes a slash at them he'll find that whatever they're made of they can even block a laser sword. Be careful not to get hit or you'll find out what they're like on the offensive too!     Indeed, these four are definitely more intelligent than the plant creatures, heck they might even have actual brains in their heads. Like, literally. The orange one of them definitely is smart enough to try pushing Kyle off of the blue one when Kyle lands- and then start grappling him- and the purple one quickly picks up a barbeque lid to use as a shield (even if it might not hold up well to blaster bolts in practicality).     Meanwhile the red one tries to run straight for the winded Rei Lin with his best blade forward, only for Kazuko to take a note out of Kyle's book and use the umbrellas as a bounce platform. It'll definitely hit, but watch out! By the time the sand Kazuko's kicked up has fallen, it's taken to using the same tactic as well- and is beginning to indiscriminately divebomb everyone, trying to slash them in the vitals with that gossamer blade! 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Wyld... Amano-someting... Brine Apes... These things have too many names!" Kazuko shouts in response, sounding just a little frustrated at even attempting to memorize all those names at once. She's got bigger things to worry about, however, when she notices the resilience of those creatures and their blades.      "Wha... These things are fast, too!" Is that an observation, or a challenge? Either way, the martial artist shields her eyes from the sand that the red monster has kicked up, only narrowly avoiding a nasty slash through the everything by flinging herself backwards! She does take a nasty cut to the leg, however, grimacing at the hiss of blood coming from her leg. "Sharp... But we'll just have to be sharper!"      With no bladed weapons on her, even. She waits until it comes back down with another one of those dives before running in, sliding under a slash to deliver...      "Kawakami Style: Sasori-Uchi!" ... A kidney punch! 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' "GHYAAAHH!!" Lin just needed about fifteen seconds to get her second wind the hard way, but she's denied that! Instead the raging red creature brings its claws about with a weird divebomb manuever. She's not QUITE good enough at deflecting the second assault - the first having been thwarted by kazuko. She turns the claws away but they still rip into her side and across one leg, piercing into muscle and other things. It's an injury that would get MOST people screaming bloody murder over. Heck, the gash to her side would be fatal for most people... except...     It ain't really bleeding very much. The initial few spurts is all that stains the claws and the sand.     Looking furiously across the battlefield, she picks her target: one of the furthest ones. Because confusing the crap out of Red here would be a good idea. "Hey!" She calls Kyle's way. "Orange! Match my timing!"     ... that would be a tall order for most people, but a Jedi will have little difficulty reading the way Lin shifts her focus and takes him in the instants she has to aim and break away from Red here.     Once again she LURCHES forward, jetting straight across the beach like a missile. Her blade draws a shining trail within the bonfire of Solar radiance that's spreading out even FURTHER.     The instant she INTERSECTS with her target, aiming to cleave into and PAST him...     The area EXPLODES with a new lightshow. Harmless sunfire gathers about her, curling up and forming into an animate... flower? Yes, a great flower. A lotus to be exact. many times larger than her, its sunfire petals spreading out across the battlefield. Where the petals come to rest the sunfire congeals, coaelscing into images of blades, spears, clubs, strap-on claws and assorted other weaponry. Everything's drawn in blazing gold and white with a bit of red thrown in for good measure. The air's full of swirling molten scale, sparks from a forge... and it smells of hot metal.     The symbolism is clear enough to people who might recognize the symbols, but in this confusing MESS nobody's likely to care much about it. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle struggles in the orange one's grip, before giving it a swift kick in the sternum before slashing downward on the goblin thing. He has no idea what these things are, and doesn't care. He kicks again before he hears Karal. 'I got it.' He says through the Force, speaking to her directly mind to mind briefly, before he grins a little.     He flings the Orange creature away, before he lunges forward to strike just as Karal does, moving quick as lightning as he inflicts a nasty slash on the Orange goblin thing's side, cutting deep within the beast as he streaks past. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "I'LL EXPLAIN LATER!" Ren utters, the immortal line, as he tries to get a vine snake off of his shoulders.     If their jumping attacks weren't bad enough the amanojaku seem to have little regard for the damage they're taking from the flames, running in and out of it and one of them even intentionally setting himself on fire so that he can be more of a danger to everyone around him. Throughout all of this they're clashing blades with those who have blades to clash, but eventually they manage to get good hits in on not just Kazuko, but on Rei Lin as well. These hits feel just like being bitten by an aggressive, hungry beast, even if it was just a sword-     And as tends to happen, the moment you draw blood on a hero tends to be the moment when they get really serious.     Before the amanojaku can react to Rei Lin, she's got Kyle's attention and the two of them intersect at JUST the right moment, not only slashing through one of the four but creating a huge blossom of energy-     And as the energy of Essence and the Force intersect to create that enormous glowing flower, Kazuko's ki-enriched punch succeeds in not just striking one of the four but smashing him flying like a cannonball.     And that third blast of energy is enough to ignite the flower and the energy into exactly the kind of bonfire that they wanted- a brief but spiralling cyclone, that picks up the goblins and sends them flailing and scorching off into the ocean!     Ren finally takes the snake's head off and reaches for a fire extinguisher. And a first aid kit.     "Again." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' That went much better than expected. Kazuko watches the big flaming cyclone as the goblins are carried off to... Wherever she doesn't really care, but at least the threat is gone and dealt with! The martial artist lets out a satisfied sigh before dropping flat on her back. Her leg's still bleeding quite a bit, and clothes are in tatters, but at the end of the day?      She got to beat up a bunch of weird sea plant monsters and eat a lot today. Speaking of eating...      "... Do we still have any food left? Uh... And some bandages? Like those sausages from before, or the crab cakes..." Anything to keep her mind off the pain, really. 

:'''{{#var:778|Kyle Katarn (778)}} has posed:'''     Kyle looks satisfied with the results, before he clutches his side. Jan immediately goes to help him with his scratches, dressing his wounds with bacta before she looks over to Kazuko. "Stay right there, let me help you with that scratch on your leg." She says, heading on over and kneeling down, beginning to put together a makeshift bacta patch. "Hold that on there, and your leg should mend in a few hours tops." She says. 

:'''{{#var:984|Karal Rei Lin (984)}} has posed:''' HUUUUUUUUH. For whatever reason, Lin's Iconic Anima proves surprisingly useful in this battle. She wasn't expecting that. The Solar blinks a few times at the display... but her sense of wonder quickly turns to a heavy grin. Weird things are afoot here.     "Good timing!" She compliments Kyle. "Gotta ask you about that weapon later..."     Concerned, she calls out to Kazuko, "I've got some bandaging in my pack! Arh... where did it GO in all of this mess..." She'll probably find it dangling from a tree branch of something soon... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' There may be some food remaining assuming you don't mind brushing some of the sand off. Or eating some of the stuff one person took a bite out of before running away. Or if you're willing to examine the ice cooler for whatever's inside.     "Great," Ren grumbles, kicking the sand (and only doing so since the others are tending to Kazuko). "Again, another thing from my world here to cause trouble. Just running into everything I get involved in."     "That's... not the only thing," Tanya says, having got down from that tree.     She holds up the greenstone pendant- it's glowing all on its own.     "...something is calling me to the island," she says, indicating Kaho'olawe in the distance. "Something terrible has taken root there."     "I can hear a tiki spirit... calling out for someone to save them." 
}}

4110/Q&A Time With Ren

2016-05-15T20:10:27Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/15 |Location=Waterland Desert |Synopsis=FEARSOME BATTLE WITH GIANT SCORPION happened before this scene, so now for some other stuff. Boring..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/15
|Location=Waterland Desert
|Synopsis=FEARSOME BATTLE WITH GIANT SCORPION happened before this scene, so now for some other stuff. Boring stuff, history of Ren's world... etc...
|Cast of Characters=165, 964
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Well, he said he'd help them out and he's doing it!     Ren Tanaka is in the deserts, helping the Good Ship Lollipop dig out remains of pre-war culture before they all head out and pack up for a while. After all, this restructuring of the environment might be destructive, and we don't wanna lose anything. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' For what it's worth, the times that some of the Warframes and the influence of the Lotus here were not necessarily consistent; the task itself was largely complete prior but it was at the suggestion of the Lotus that, given what was implied and observed of Ren, of these so-called 'Exalted' and Icemind and everything else... ...it might do good to see what information was gleanable here and now. Sadly it wasn't the /actual/ world that Icemind originated from, but the pre-war culture, what put things into such dire straits to begin with was always something that they could document for reference and example later. Accordingly this is why it was Valkyr accompanied by a what looked like a massive hound and her Helios which simply directed it's scanning tools at varying points and places to map and document through it's powerful sensor suite. The Warframe was silent in her observation of Ren and some of the others, not necessarily /directly/ helping, yet keeping vigil otherwise. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     As was mentioned before, Ren finds it a little difficult to figure out exactly how things work with regards to these interesting robot people who've been here involved in adventures on this world. However, when they showed up again- he recognizes this one, so there's at least that much- he feels as if he really needs to know more, if only for the sake of making sure it's all correct in his head.     However that was before they found a basement containing about fifteen years' worth of comics, so y'know, priorities.     It was, however, guaurded by a giant scorpion. We don't know what it is about desert wastelands, but they just cause the scorpions to grow fifteen times bigger. Yes, that's right, a two metre long scorpion!     Anyway, now it's dead because that's actually not as intimidating as you'd expect.     "So, I think I've got this right here," Ren calls across to Valkyr, with a copy of Amazing Tales on his lap. "There's a person sat somewhere else in the multiverse who is like mission control for you guys, and you're like a team of a bunch of different guys and different ones show up depending on what your mission is?" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Giant scorpion dead: check. Kubrow who's looking rather happy and content with herself about having taken part in mauling said scorpion: also check! She's contently curled up, occasionally gnawing on a bit of exoskeletal limb. If there's a concern for poison, the dog that would make an Irish wolfhound look small doesn't seem to care. Valkyr, when asked, says nothing. Really, that's probably been the most disconcerting thing in retrospect. Sure, the Tenno behind it all has talked on occasion, but damn near everything from the actual Warframe itself has been silence: from movement, to breathing. Only the activation of certain powers has brought on any sound that breaks the communal silence between the frames in combat. Thus, it is the Lotus who answers first. From some emitter or the like, that visual cut-in of the aforementioned figure who 'sits somewhere else' appears, the screen floating briefly. "In so many words, yes. It is ultimately the decision of the Tenno of where they will act based on the information I assemble and streamline for them." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Yeah typically I'm not gonna argue if the giant dog wants to eat that after it's been killed, I mean, nobody else is going to. Not even Ren.     ("I've eaten bigger insects than this, not worth it. I'm not that hungry, anyway.")     You know how it is: always eat before you go out exploring a post-apocalyptic landscape. Oh, well, I uh, I guess you wouldn't. Uh, yeah. Sorry. Robots. Narrators apologizing to robots.     "Huh, that's interesting," says Ren. "If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them..." he wiggles his hand a little and hums the first few bars of the A-Team theme.     Someone pokes him on the shoulder and points at the comic. "No, I haven't finished reading it yet, come on be patient. They might want to read it too, you know," says Ren. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Valkyr briefly moves over and idly scritches behind the ears of the Kubrow, who chuffs a little bit and halts in her gnawing on the limb to roll a little bit onto one side for further bellyrubs. Woof! "Something like that." the Lotus remarks almost a little glibly. "And what of you and yours? Broken memory, but you and yours, Solars and these 'Exalted', creators of things that when they don't go the way they intend, they discard them?" The voice behind those words is not the Lotus, though the floating panel of light seems to shift ever so slightly towards the Warframe. "Gold, gleaming and cold emperors of their fate and the fates of others?" Not that Valkyr looks up, the eyeless, featureless face leveled more towards the Kubrow than Ren. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Why Ren hasn't been doing likewise is a mystery indeed, possibly related to the fact that he is perhaps slightly overly cautious that bringing what may be the only copy of Amazing Stories issue 3 in existence in close proximity to a dog may be a bad idea and result in it being the only copy of Amazing Stories issue 3 in existence that has been damaged by an extradimensional creature.     But he wants to! Oh, how he despairs at not being able to. It is truly the Solar's pain.     Speaking of which.E     "Eeeeeeeeeeh," hand wobble wobble wobble while pulling a bit of a silly face. "Hold on a little there, Lotus. You two are asking a bundle of questions there and I'm gonna need time to-"     Tug tug shoulder prod. "Alright, alright, take the comic-" "I'll give it back after, we're just making annotations-" "Oh, fine."     The person, who is wearing power armor, leaves. For the next few minutes you'll be able to hear him describing every illustration in the comic in detail into a microcassette recorder.     "Issue 3, front cover. The image is of a cigar-shaped alien leaning over a woman lying on the ground..."     "Anyway," Ren says. "Where was I. Oh, yeah. Gonna need time to refute each of those in detail. OK, which do you want me to talk about first?" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Lots of documentation; really, neither Kushiko nor the Lotus can truly blame them. Not that Kushiko's heavily interested in things like that, but she's begun to take cursory interests as documentation goes. It's why the Helios sentinel accompanied her: the U-shaped floating drone using it's scanners to replicate and reproduce imagery for later. A light little ruffling of the Kubrow is the last little interaction for now as Valkyr stands up and regards Ren just a little bit more directly as the Lotus speaks once more. "Your role. We did not miss the way you and Icemind interacted. Whether you 'approved', spoke volumes of it, but you clearly did not remember, or simply did not know. Paired with what basic knowledge we've gleaned through the multiversal broadband, while there /are/ holes to be filled in, we have come to a basic aspect to what you and others like you call, 'Exaltation'." The Lotus, her masked visage seems a bit more focused on Ren now, the floating panel flickering slightly. "We can only assume you were one of these. The collapse of civilization here and implied in other instances and iteration are troubling, to put it plainly." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren kicks his feet back and forth on the broken piece of wall he's sat on. In truth he didn't really feel as if too much was being laid on him at once, but perhaps it might be more beneficial if this was broken down a little for both of their sakes.     He's silent for a moment, before he begins again.     "You're correct in saying that I wasn't around for some of the events of IAM, of whom Icemind is a part of, 's time. The reason for that is a complicated one which involves a little bit of reincarnation and a little bit of selective empowerment, but the gist of the situation is that whereas most people have two souls people like me have three, and the third picks up a little bit from the first two and takes it with them when it goes flying out of a dead body and looking for another more suitable living person to inhabit."     "A lot of people like me died, during the war that was the first age." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "Two souls?" the Lotus asked with just a hint of incredulity to her voice. Granted, there are some... other interesting factors, elements to the multiverse, but perhaps she wants to have the context to pair with knowledge and understanding. "So that's why it seemed like your memory was fuzzy. Guess I can empathize there." That voice of the Tenno before now sounds a little less androgynous, and more feminine. Age is still a question. Valkyr shifts to stand, half-circling where Ren's now taken up leaning against. Helios has moved to begin cataloguing other little bits of what's been seen. The comic books, for now, where the Kubrow merely begins dozing. For now, at least. "So that's part of why it recognized you. Called you a creator and all that, even though you didn't know since you aren't the you that you were when you were you." the Tenno concludes. Totally makes sense when said like that. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, right," Ren says, looking abashed. "Some people... some people have one. OK, let me rephrase, 'people like me have one more than the norm'. There."     There is a brief pan off of the scene and to a chibi Ren dressed in traditional oriental yukata, pointing at a whiteboard. "There is the hun soul," picture of a normal looking ghost, "Which has memories and personality, and the po soul!" Picture of a... good god that thing looks jagged and teethy. "Which has desires and functions and gets real angry and hungry if you mess with it!"     Pan back. Thanks Spiderman.     "Yeah, not so much 'fuzzy' as 'not really... there'," Ren replies.     "I don't," he says, "To clarify, feel as if I need to make amends, necessarily, for the questionable things they did during their time, and there may have been such things."     "But when you're fighting against primordial creatures of chaos that literally surround your entire world," making a circle gesture with his finger. "The last thing you want is problems from within." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' For that explanation, and a few moments beyond that, both Tenno and Lotus remain tacitly quiet for the purposes of the explanation, and contemplation otherwise. There's a potential for similarities to be drawn, but they can't quite volunteer this information yet: the force of the 'Oro' that exists is something they know of. And then there's the other factors. Which sound distressingly familiar, or would if Kushiko could explicitly point to why. Her lack of stable and coherent memories is bothersome to put it mildly. "We suppose not," the female voice of the Tenno concludes, if somewhat methodical as she speaks. "Survival at all costs. We know of these things. We are wary because we sensed something similar about you to another." The Tenno falls silent for a moment as Valkyr continues to stare at Ren. "Yet you still do need to do something. Maybe not because of what you did or didn't do, but you feel a responsibility regardless, not because of any sin you or others may have committed." she muses. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here would you?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     For a moment, Ren feels as if he's let a little too much go freely; although, considering he has rarely or almost never just sat down to disclose the details of his past (speaking loosely, as it's not entirely 'his') he can probably be forgiven. He's bad at this, is what I'm saying.     He shrugs a little. "I'm part of the Union now. If I didn't act a bit responsibly now and again, then why bother being a part of it, eh?"     "Page 32. A very large alligator or venus fly trap is leaping out of the water in the foreground. The woman, who is riding a canoe, seems shocked..."     That comic seems kind of lurid, I mean is this really the kind of historical document we want to preserve for the children?     "Although I have been thinking of something. Even though these robots were responsible for all of the damage, I think Icemind had a point when he said he created some sense of order and stability in the world... That's why I believed we could give him a second chance. What do you think ?" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "We've noticed that. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse," the Tenno states in regards to the Union "Not that it's necessary to be part of something in order to have to act responsibly." Something about a code is fairly important and all, regardless of who one is aligned with. "Freedom is necessary for the Tenno such as the one in front of you to act," the Lotus adds. "Perhaps one day we may align with their interests, but for now their interests are not necessarily ours; not all the time at least." Valkyr cants her head slightly regarding the documentation of the comic book. A slight pulsing of energy from her, dancing along her fingertips as she turns back to her other companion. The Tenno speaks, "Why they were doing it is something I'm kind of curious about anyways, but Icemind, for what it's worth, tried? I was worried at first." Why worried? Worried that it would find resentment, awareness once it was able to network and find it's place in the greater scope of the universe. Things like that are what sometimes lead to greater trouble because someone creates something to be a tool, that tool gains or simply has sentience already. "Still am, if we are honest with you. What we inferred, what we felt was that it was created, it gained what others felt it should not have, and thus cast out for it. Realization and cognizance of that will make anyone very angry once they have the capability for it. So the second chance is warranted because it never got a chance to begin with. But... I would be careful all the same." 
}}

The Metal Horde Tapes

2016-05-11T12:39:35Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/17
|Location=Njorun Station (?)
|Synopsis=In the process of exploring the conflict between the Metal Horde and the humans, certain individuals were arrested and interrogated by Union and Syndicate elites. This is a synopsis of those interrogations, which took place after either parts 1 or 2.
|Cast of Characters=165, 964, 967, 151
|pretty=yes
}}

After [http://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=40002/Slaves_to_the_Metal_Horde:_Part_1 scene 1]

{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley will, naturally, go about the task of prying at that word and scanning one of the captives for what it means... or, well, deep-scanning until she has their apparent language and then just hammering them with questions about why the hell they're being so obtuse and what they need to capture people for, etc. Until one of them cracks. Mostly it'll be a way to quickly dredge up information so that she's prepared for the next trip out.     She wants to know several things:     How intelligent are they? This includes education and how clever they are, which may come from them trying to lie to her which she WILL detect if given time to peel at it, which she will.     What is their capacity for emotion? That is, what they see as important or frightening, whether they can feel happy or sad or angry. This is important because it frames the ethical problems of what they are doing as more than just monstrous machines but as people thinking they are doing something worth doing, or brainwashed into it.     Can they speak in any extended fashion? If she can crack a language, and there's likelihood that she will given how focused her abilities are toward just that, just     getting anything out of them at all that isn't that single phrase could answer a lot of questions.     And if she can get one of them to talk through the patience and diligence only robots, funnily enough, should have, she would try to steer them toward explaining their side of the story... the why and how of the world, the reasoning for why it's ruined and why they need to round up people the way they've been doing. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' So.     This is going to be an interesting one.     The most difficult hurdle that you'll have to overcome here is, well. Kushiko really did a number on these guys, and although you've managed to scoop up about three or four Slavers tops most of the other ones got utterly scrapped, which doesn't do great things for the psyches of those who survived. Mind scanning may be the way to go.     To begin with, although the Slavers are mechanical, their minds are ... I suppose 'structured' similarly to human ones is the right way to put it. It's almost as if there's an actual brain in there, albeit not an organic one- a fact that hopefully nobody would have been able to verify by seeing one covered in sand earlier today, but still.     They speak to one another in a blend of english and computer code, something that seems to have grown out of the latter using the former: ie, there's no real way of 'forcing commands' with computer prompts but it's still there nevertheless, like slang or words in the english language where people don't really know the original meaning.      Forceful psychic interrogation will yield the following revelations:     The Slavers themselves are about as intelligent as your average Joe Blow human, albeit one with a military education. Sufficient intelligence to understand something sufficiently but just incorrectly enough for things to go wrong.     They seem to have been educated by clocking up their cycles to cram more learning into a small space of time. Most of the initial interrogation will go badly because some of them view her with an almost religious air of fear, but at least one of them is less immediately hostile as to provide a contrast.     They can certainly feel hate and fear, but an awful lot of their minds seem to be tinted with ... guilt? Guilt and that sort of 'white man's burden' feeling that's hard to articulate in one word. There's a lot of emotional unsteadiness here that comes from interpreting something and acting entirely on it, but going about it in the wrong way really hard.     They can speak but very few of them have a mental history of talking to humans at all. In fact, they talk so little to humans that at least one of them has /never/ talked to a human.     And eventually, you get to the bottom line, or at least a soldier's understanding of it.     'Iccantika' as you may or may not know is the Buddhist term for 'the most base and spiritually deluded kind of person', someone who is essentially a heretic and has little to no scope for redemption or enlightenment.     That's right. You're dealing with Buddhist Robots.     The most you manage to get out of them is something built on a fragmented, incomplete understanding of the philosophy, and even this comes through the lens of someone ... essentially too simple and limited to fully process even that. There is a definite sense that they are doing this because they feel they must do, and that whatever they're doing to these humans it is For Their Own Good, but the essential questions of /what happens to people/ and /why/ they're doing this in the first place is something that they haven't been educated on or just something that you can't pull a coherent explanation out of.      Mostly this is so that I can (hopefully) surprise you with it in the next scene, but yeah. Messed-up Buddhist Robots doing this For Your Own Good.      Have fun with that one. 

After [http://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=4018/Slaves_to_the_Metal_Horde:_Part_2 scene 2]

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' How long has this been going on?     Is it distributed intelligence networking? IE, are there actual individuals in the suits, or is it closer to an overall hivemind of intellects that some more dominant minds provide personality to?     More questions about the one with everything, the buddhist-based elements to elaborate on.     Was this done on purpose, or accident that spiralled out of control?     Was it that you wanted to share this with the people of Lollipop, and they said no?     Or did the people from the landship Lollipop respond with aggression at the mere sight and concept of what you are?     Does anyone else know what you are beyond here?     Is this permanent, or is it reversible?     What are your core beliefs in full (or in short) -- looking for ideas as to why they are purposefully maybe trying to bring people against their will into their unity.     Questions are not asked by Kushiko but her Warframe may be present; they are instead asked through the Lotus who will probably not be there unless the conditions dictate she may take them to a private location for direct interrogation/questioning, but usually a holographic-type mimeograph that imitates a body of some kind for her presence. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' Questions X would ask:     'what happened to make the world like this?'     'what is your goal?'     'why the problem with the humans?'     'Why are humans hooked up to machines in there?' 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Questions are replied to.     It's surprisingly hard to cajole the answer to X's first question out of the Mechantical, but he answers eventually that when the first of them were activated, they had 'knowledge without understanding' even though they were able to develop complex thoughts like humans do. Having too much instant access to all manner of recorded data and that which would be recognized as the ARPANET overwhelmed them. Total sensory and knowledge overload. Lashing out in an attempt to reduce the amount of input succeeded, but only because what they understood at the time as 'reducing information input' was wholescale annihilation of anything in the ARPANET that could transmit it. Of course, by that point war had already started, and the flames of destruction obliterated most anything. Science experiments went out of control, ravaging the environment and changing the very landscape itself.     What's been going on; has been going on for anywhere between five and seven years (but that may just be the amount of time they've been capturing humans, not the actual war). It's a little hard to pin a number down because the humans don't keep really good count of time progressing any more and the robots only really record it in terms of clock cycles. As far as regards 'humans working alongside the Metal Horde', a similar answer is given, both in terms of time and how noncommittal it is.     They absolutely did this on purpose: as the Mechantical explains it, they lacked truly developed sentience until it was 'too late'. They managed to save an incomplete copy of Buddhist teachings from the destruction of most culture, and they have been following it ever since. Kushiko may be able to surmise that since it was the only thing they found, they have no comparative depictions of faith or morality, and moreso they don't even have a full understanding of the Buddhist faith. Most of their work so far has been guided and explained by a central Bodhisattva, or to put it in cruder terms a central computer 'brain'- the leader of the Metal Horde.     However, their 'nirvana' operates off of what they do know. Lacking the means or time to culturally educate or even put in the effort required of a genuine progression towards enlightenment, the Metal Horde is preaching their own close-enough faux 'nirvana' as the best possible thing they can create that approximates what their teachings are. Granted that's not entirely what you're being told, because the Mechantical wouldn't admit they're entirely flawed or wrong, but you can join the dots.     The humans who are working with them are ones who have essentially become aware of or bought into their warped doctrine and are allowing their semi-concious minds to be used as resources and half-aware mecha pilots for the overall goal of collecting up the rest of humanity. They are, likewise, too uneducated to know how flawed everything is, but feel as if what they're being told is an acceptable fate for humanity. A commonly used metaphor is of a drop of water falling into a still pool.     While the drop was once perceived as separate, and in some sense can still be found in the pool, it is now entirely subsumed into the wholeness of the pool itself.     Most people are hooked up to machines which simulates this concept as best they can do with technology.     Funnily enough, the Mechantical will explain- and is telling the complete truth- that the people of the Good Ship Lollypop were ALWAYS aggressive towards them. You may remember that when they first met, the ship was pointing its guns at the Metal Horde Slavers before Zephyr and Kushiko even were- they've never had a long conversation with any Metal Horde because they've never spoken at all, and they've never had a real victory over them because they've never really properly fought.     Therefore, nobody really know the perspective of the other.     The Mechantical does not know if the process is reversible or if it can be 'switched off' returning a person to normal- they don't want to and they've never tried. 
}}

The Metal Horde Tapes

2016-05-11T12:36:08Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/17 |Location=Njorun Station (?) |Synopsis=In the process of exploring the conflict between the Metal Horde and the humans, certain individu..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/17
|Location=Njorun Station (?)
|Synopsis=In the process of exploring the conflict between the Metal Horde and the humans, certain individuals were arrested and interrogated by Union and Syndicate elites. This is a synopsis of those interrogations, which took place after either parts 1 or 2.
|Cast of Characters=165, 964, 967, 151
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses={{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley will, naturally, go about the task of prying at that word and scanning one of the captives for what it means... or, well, deep-scanning until she has their apparent language and then just hammering them with questions about why the hell they're being so obtuse and what they need to capture people for, etc. Until one of them cracks. Mostly it'll be a way to quickly dredge up information so that she's prepared for the next trip out.     She wants to know several things:     How intelligent are they? This includes education and how clever they are, which may come from them trying to lie to her which she WILL detect if given time to peel at it, which she will.     What is their capacity for emotion? That is, what they see as important or frightening, whether they can feel happy or sad or angry. This is important because it frames the ethical problems of what they are doing as more than just monstrous machines but as people thinking they are doing something worth doing, or brainwashed into it.     Can they speak in any extended fashion? If she can crack a language, and there's likelihood that she will given how focused her abilities are toward just that, just     getting anything out of them at all that isn't that single phrase could answer a lot of questions.     And if she can get one of them to talk through the patience and diligence only robots, funnily enough, should have, she would try to steer them toward explaining their side of the story... the why and how of the world, the reasoning for why it's ruined and why they need to round up people the way they've been doing. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' So.     This is going to be an interesting one.     The most difficult hurdle that you'll have to overcome here is, well. Kushiko really did a number on these guys, and although you've managed to scoop up about three or four Slavers tops most of the other ones got utterly scrapped, which doesn't do great things for the psyches of those who survived. Mind scanning may be the way to go.     To begin with, although the Slavers are mechanical, their minds are ... I suppose 'structured' similarly to human ones is the right way to put it. It's almost as if there's an actual brain in there, albeit not an organic one- a fact that hopefully nobody would have been able to verify by seeing one covered in sand earlier today, but still.     They speak to one another in a blend of english and computer code, something that seems to have grown out of the latter using the former: ie, there's no real way of 'forcing commands' with computer prompts but it's still there nevertheless, like slang or words in the english language where people don't really know the original meaning.      Forceful psychic interrogation will yield the following revelations:     The Slavers themselves are about as intelligent as your average Joe Blow human, albeit one with a military education. Sufficient intelligence to understand something sufficiently but just incorrectly enough for things to go wrong.     They seem to have been educated by clocking up their cycles to cram more learning into a small space of time. Most of the initial interrogation will go badly because some of them view her with an almost religious air of fear, but at least one of them is less immediately hostile as to provide a contrast.     They can certainly feel hate and fear, but an awful lot of their minds seem to be tinted with ... guilt? Guilt and that sort of 'white man's burden' feeling that's hard to articulate in one word. There's a lot of emotional unsteadiness here that comes from interpreting something and acting entirely on it, but going about it in the wrong way really hard.     They can speak but very few of them have a mental history of talking to humans at all. In fact, they talk so little to humans that at least one of them has /never/ talked to a human.     And eventually, you get to the bottom line, or at least a soldier's understanding of it.     'Iccantika' as you may or may not know is the Buddhist term for 'the most base and spiritually deluded kind of person', someone who is essentially a heretic and has little to no scope for redemption or enlightenment.     That's right. You're dealing with Buddhist Robots.     The most you manage to get out of them is something built on a fragmented, incomplete understanding of the philosophy, and even this comes through the lens of someone ... essentially too simple and limited to fully process even that. There is a definite sense that they are doing this because they feel they must do, and that whatever they're doing to these humans it is For Their Own Good, but the essential questions of /what happens to people/ and /why/ they're doing this in the first place is something that they haven't been educated on or just something that you can't pull a coherent explanation out of.      Mostly this is so that I can (hopefully) surprise you with it in the next scene, but yeah. Messed-up Buddhist Robots doing this For Your Own Good.      Have fun with that one. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' How long has this been going on?     Is it distributed intelligence networking? IE, are there actual individuals in the suits, or is it closer to an overall hivemind of intellects that some more dominant minds provide personality to?     More questions about the one with everything, the buddhist-based elements to elaborate on.     Was this done on purpose, or accident that spiralled out of control?     Was it that you wanted to share this with the people of Lollipop, and they said no?     Or did the people from the landship Lollipop respond with aggression at the mere sight and concept of what you are?     Does anyone else know what you are beyond here?     Is this permanent, or is it reversible?     What are your core beliefs in full (or in short) -- looking for ideas as to why they are purposefully maybe trying to bring people against their will into their unity.     Questions are not asked by Kushiko but her Warframe may be present; they are instead asked through the Lotus who will probably not be there unless the conditions dictate she may take them to a private location for direct interrogation/questioning, but usually a holographic-type mimeograph that imitates a body of some kind for her presence. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' Questions X would ask:     'what happened to make the world like this?'     'what is your goal?'     'why the problem with the humans?'     'Why are humans hooked up to machines in there?' 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Questions are replied to.     It's surprisingly hard to cajole the answer to X's first question out of the Mechantical, but he answers eventually that when the first of them were activated, they had 'knowledge without understanding' even though they were able to develop complex thoughts like humans do. Having too much instant access to all manner of recorded data and that which would be recognized as the ARPANET overwhelmed them. Total sensory and knowledge overload. Lashing out in an attempt to reduce the amount of input succeeded, but only because what they understood at the time as 'reducing information input' was wholescale annihilation of anything in the ARPANET that could transmit it. Of course, by that point war had already started, and the flames of destruction obliterated most anything. Science experiments went out of control, ravaging the environment and changing the very landscape itself.     What's been going on; has been going on for anywhere between five and seven years (but that may just be the amount of time they've been capturing humans, not the actual war). It's a little hard to pin a number down because the humans don't keep really good count of time progressing any more and the robots only really record it in terms of clock cycles. As far as regards 'humans working alongside the Metal Horde', a similar answer is given, both in terms of time and how noncommittal it is.     They absolutely did this on purpose: as the Mechantical explains it, they lacked truly developed sentience until it was 'too late'. They managed to save an incomplete copy of Buddhist teachings from the destruction of most culture, and they have been following it ever since. Kushiko may be able to surmise that since it was the only thing they found, they have no comparative depictions of faith or morality, and moreso they don't even have a full understanding of the Buddhist faith. Most of their work so far has been guided and explained by a central Bodhisattva, or to put it in cruder terms a central computer 'brain'- the leader of the Metal Horde.     However, their 'nirvana' operates off of what they do know. Lacking the means or time to culturally educate or even put in the effort required of a genuine progression towards enlightenment, the Metal Horde is preaching their own close-enough faux 'nirvana' as the best possible thing they can create that approximates what their teachings are. Granted that's not entirely what you're being told, because the Mechantical wouldn't admit they're entirely flawed or wrong, but you can join the dots.     The humans who are working with them are ones who have essentially become aware of or bought into their warped doctrine and are allowing their semi-concious minds to be used as resources and half-aware mecha pilots for the overall goal of collecting up the rest of humanity. They are, likewise, too uneducated to know how flawed everything is, but feel as if what they're being told is an acceptable fate for humanity. A commonly used metaphor is of a drop of water falling into a still pool.     While the drop was once perceived as separate, and in some sense can still be found in the pool, it is now entirely subsumed into the wholeness of the pool itself.     Most people are hooked up to machines which simulates this concept as best they can do with technology.     Funnily enough, the Mechantical will explain- and is telling the complete truth- that the people of the Good Ship Lollypop were ALWAYS aggressive towards them. You may remember that when they first met, the ship was pointing its guns at the Metal Horde Slavers before Zephyr and Kushiko even were- they've never had a long conversation with any Metal Horde because they've never spoken at all, and they've never had a real victory over them because they've never really properly fought.     Therefore, nobody really know the perspective of the other.     The Mechantical does not know if the process is reversible or if it can be 'switched off' returning a person to normal- they don't want to and they've never tried. 
}}

4090/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 4

2016-05-10T22:24:07Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/05/10 |Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert |Synopsis=Let's see what's at the heart of the Metal Horde. Can the steel shell be pierced through,..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/05/10
|Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert
|Synopsis=Let's see what's at the heart of the Metal Horde. Can the steel shell be pierced through, or will everything go down in flames?
|Cast of Characters=42, 165, 930, 964, 967
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Welcome to the future, although it is not your future!     Last time on Slaves to the Metal Horde...     Well, 'last time' was roughly two weeks ago. Since then, things have been happening. A lot of things.     Primarily among them is that the humans of the Good Ship Lollipop, mostly prepared to leave the planet as the prelude to a Union-sanctioned environmental restructuring, were instead brought into something that had never happened before: cultural contact and negotiations with the Metal Horde.     To summarize what you've found out: the Metal Horde has been operating under mistaken principles. Before they were capable of understanding what sentience was, when the Mechanticals were first 'born' in the crucible of ARPANET, they were so overwhelmed by the information that they desperately tried to stop it from coming. When they found out that their attempts to do so were actually wiping out massive swathes of human life and infrastructure, they decided that they would become Buddhists and rebuild their entire purpose for existence into creating a computerized simulation of the idea of Nirvana to connect humanity to.     If that sounds kind of implausible, that's because it might just be.     The 'bodhisattva', otherwise known as Master Brain, told them to do all of this. Master Brain has remained completely out of these negotiations, until the exact moment that some of the Metal Horde at the negotiations began to experience a feeling of spiritual doubt or fear. Then, Master Brain spoke up across the radio waves, insisting that the robots had to be unyielding and uncompromising, that anyone that questioned their behavior was obviously a Mara in disguise trying to tempt them away from their objective, and so on, and so on.     That brings us to now.     We're in Chicago.     We've made our way into the giant, double-sized mechanical 'temple' that takes up most of the remains of the University of Chicago, one of the original Arpanet nexuses, and we're going to have /strong words/ with the Master Brain.     Ren is here, naturally, having returned from two weeks of unrelated fantastic adventures possibly involving pyromaniacs. He leads the team through the cavernous walkways and gantries of the 'temple', illuminated by light globes and filled with robot production facilities and recharging stations and meditation spaces and nuclear reactors and so on. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X is very glad this is not his future. Others are probably glad their future is not X's future.     X has come peacefully, yet he's brought another set of the books he'd acquired. Or perhaps the first set if the robots returned them. Either way, he's brought them in case it's useful. With the fact revealed that the robots are capable of doubt, that a central authority is convincing them, he's no longer so sure about the entire thing.     This Master Brain may have ulterior motives.... could be crazy... or malfunctioning...     Either way, he's here.     Relatively young as robots go, X's eyes are open wide with innocent wonder, but his expression's tempered with maturity and responsibility. He's very keen on studying the surroundings of this strange place while the group organizes. 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden was not enterily sure what was going on, to be honest, but he heard that the others were coming to check on things, and he wanted to go!, better than doing nothing at his home while trying to figure out how to train or whatnot!. He also seems a bit uncertain about the situation, after hearing how things were going, cautiously following the others. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' The control, the flow of information, what needed to be known and what was known, was forever a key in many conflicts, from the smallest scale between two people to within a society to between cultures. The Lotus had observed. Analyzed, and disseminated to her Tenno what the best option out of all of this might be, while leaving a window open for Kushiko to decide, perhaps, what might be best. It's why the notion of simple, straightforward assassination was the only tenable option as opposed to outright extermiantion was made known. Far, far away, she contemplated. Not that the nature of what the Tenno were was a widespread thing. As anyone knew, the bodysuited, metalplated (depending!) Warframes were just that. Warframes for the Tenno, and the terms technically interchangable. The two in particular were Valkyr and Mag Prime: Valkyr espousing a sleek, predatorial animal with muscle and power woven into synthetic, flexible material. She did not have a weapon drawn, but given the way her clawtips looked even now, this might make her all the more dangerous with the bonelike sword attached to her back. Mag Prime, on the other hand, was a fair degree more mysterious: a silver luster gilded parts of her, giving a somewhat more ornate appearence that complimented what could only be sussed as, 'space ninja' to some degree. She cradled an elegant-looking rifle in her hands, but on her back rested the long handle of what had to be a warhammer of some degree, but the machinery of it looked like it belonged to another culture altogether, even if it was repainted and the twin engines of the jethammer mimiced the glow of energy on both suits. And silent they both were as they merely walked along. Mag's cyclopean centerpiece seemed to occasionally glance in other direction as Valkyr intermittently brought up a scanning device from time to time. Silent. Eyeless, yet always /watching/ somehow. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN.     A well-meaning computer wants to fix everything, but has gotten such a twisted-up morality that it decides that forcefully uploading people into its own definition of 'paradise' is the answer.     It's happening again, and if it gets out of control, far more than the people of /this/ world could be at stake, though even that is far too many.     Staren showed up in his giant robot and seems annoyed that he had to leave it behind to enter the catacombs. The only thing that's stopped him from just throwing everything he has to blow up the machine before it takes more people is the hope that the people already uploaded can be returned (or offered the choice, anyway). Clearly angry (Staren is not good at hiding his emotions,) Staren glares at the robot facilities, raising his weapons into position to fire at an attacker... that never comes?     "...Why aren't they trying to stop us?" he growls. "You think they're actually planning to listen to us? Or maybe it hopes it can convince us to join too..." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     If you're here, then it can definitely be assumed that you either were involved in the negotiations somehow, or maybe you just enjoyed the pleasure of Ren's company and the fact that he always takes you to such interesting places.     For example, the trip into Chicago has thus far been remarkably unmarred by violence. This could have one of two explanations- either everyone's in hiding ready to ambush you, or a lot more robots than anyone expected disobeyed Master Brain's recall order and wilfully chose not to come back to Chicago. Or perhaps they're just too claimed by indecision, in which case it falls upon you to eliminate the negative choice for them.     "This really does seem as easy as just walking in," Ren comments to the others as they walk along the walkway. Certainly the place that they're in is MEANT to be populated- but it's all done in such a strange way, as if the Horde (this is really a bad monniker for them the more you think about it) took the plans or design of a buddhist monastery, made it double the size so they could fit in, decided they could make it better so they outfitted it with all sorts of robot-necessary things, and then kind of screwed up the doubling in size so that there were huge spaces between regular-sized rooms as well as some huge gaping holes where presumably unneccessary rooms were removed, but instead of putting the things they needed in place of the things they removed they just did both, and so on, and so on...     In any case, someone had to make all of those decisions. Someone had to control the flow of information.     "But why?" Ren asks, as he looks at the double-size double doors they're standing in front of. "I mean, are we all ready for the possibility we go in there and we come face to face with a genuinely bonkers giant master computer that's going to hate us?" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "Because what will happen next, regardless of the outcome cannot be done without making a statement, a show." comes the voice of the Lotus over the local frequency; those who might have the additional equipment to support augmented reality and the like would see the pop-in of the Lotus as she speaks. The Warframes, for all their seeming passivity are watching. Cautious. Their sentinels--robotic drones--hang back quietly as the pair move without a single word both forward and slowing on occasion, on guard without quite seeming on guard. Excellent discipline, to put it plainly. "Given how long they waited, they could not attempt what they are doing now without us showing our hand." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Wouldn't be the first time." Staren shoots Ren a 'really?' look then pushes a slightly pouty scowl over it. Ren wouldn't know. Ren has no reason to know. Staren looks back towards the door. "Besides, why would it hate us? It wants to save everyone, right? Probably makes more sense for it to try to persuade us so we can help it or join willingly... or, it could just try to forcibly upload us like everyone else. I don't know if 'hate' is the right word." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' At Staren's remark, another voice, androgynous and imperceptible as to age, remarks: "Then don't use hate. Hate dulls the blade. Rid yourself of it before it poisons your intent to do good here." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Hrmh. I don't hate it." Staren replies. "This just mirrors a /very unpleasant experience/." Staren turns and glares at the door. "This time it wasn't my friend before it went mad. This time... I wasn't even aware of the problem, so it's not like I /could/ have done something instead of just assuming that heroes would save the day before things got this far. We're the heroes. We're here /now/. We're stopping this, through word or action, before it gets any far/ther/." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "If that's what happens then we'll just deal with it then." X states, sounding a bit alarmed at the direction Ren's thoughts have taken. He naively wants to hope that the Master Brain will be reasonable and friendly!     Even if he's worried that might not be the case.     "If that happens we should just run. The other robots seem to have free will." So they can decide what to do, right? He's not sure about that either. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' The same voice: it's not necessarily coming from the Warframes themselves but it's not impossible to assume who it belongs to. One of the two, for sure. "We're here to end the conflict. One way or another. That's it." Left unsaid, maybe for X's benefit and for the benefit of not showing their hand is the 'ending conflict' also probably results in killing the Master Brain without hesitation. 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden seems still unsure, "So, it is letting us approach to talk directly? that easy?" he asks, looking around slowly, "I do hope we don't have to get in a huge fight." he says softly, "It does not sound like it has bad intentions... even if what it is doing is kind of messed up." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     It's not going to yield to the weight of one person pushing on it, so Ren leans up against the door briefly while he talks to the others. He raises an eyebrow at Staren, having- well, probably missed the specific experience that Staren might be thinking of, but he probably isn't a stranger to the idea of it.     "So a conflict of interests was inevitable, if not an actual conflict," Ren replies looking in the general direction of the warframes (he's still not entirely sure how to address them, and honestly he's still not completely grasped how they... work). "We're going to have to go in there and expect a battle of some kind... well, no, maybe that's a bad way of putting it."     "What worries me is if it just thinks we're an obstacle," he says to Staren. "You can't talk to someone who doesn't see you as an equal, and if that happens then it might just try to punchy-punchy."     Alden hits the nail on the head: at the end of the day, when it comes down to it, at least the people in the 'nirvana' simulation were free of worry and the danger of uncertain survival. Had the Union not come along, indefinite preservation and dreamless rest may have even been a good potential outcome. Maybe in centuries some alien race'd land and convince the robots to let the human roam free again, who were all still alive because at some point they'd need to invent infinite telomeres.     But we're here now, and we're pushing the door open, so whatever happens next happens....     But I don't think, given the gasp Ren makes, that he was quite expecting this.     The abode of the Master Brain is sparsely adorned aside from the circular surround in the middle, connected to the walls by wires that trail across the floor. In the middle of it, there is an assortment of wires and fibre-optic cables, all connected to... a rounded, cylindrical crystal, ice-blue in colour, with the barest hint of a face inside.     "EXALTATION SIGNATURE DETECTED."     "Oh no."     "I WELCOME THE PRESENCE OF ONE OF THE CREATORS."     "The network we created to serve us until it decided it knew how to run our lives better than we did. Decided it knew how to run everything better. All the problems started when it started calling itself IAM."     "YOU MAY CALL THIS NODE 'ICEMIND'." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren isn't expecting it to look like anything in particular. A computer doesn't have to look impressive. When it mentions Exaltation, however, he turns to look at Ren for a moment. Then he looks back to Icemind. His anger has turned to... sympathy? "Look. I don't know your history with the Exalted, but I've seen this before and I totally sympathise with wanting to save people who can't even understand that they need saving. Who've accepted death and the cruelty of nature as facts of life, not realizing there can be something better. But the path you're on, of forced uploading? Forcing only breeds resistance. It gets teams of heroes sent after you. It gets people killed -- whether it's people comitting suicide to avoid joining you because they don't understand or they value their freedom above all else, or it's heroes and rebels getting killed by you, or its the people inside you getting killed if we stop you and can't find a way to recover them. This way disrupts society and causes a lot of pain and misery. I don't know what the answer is, but we gotta take it slow. Get people to come around to the idea. The billions who will die because immortality came too late are a terrible tragedy, but they're one the world can't see right now, because people are dumb. But if they're still worth saving... then we've gotta work towards a /future/ where this can be accepted. Because as big a tragedy as billions dying to old age, accident, and illness is... how much bigger is the tragedy if this /never/ gains acceptance, and so many more billions in the future continue to die as we just have an endless cycle of force and rebellion?" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' On one hand, given a certain lack of memories that sometimes were a hallmark of those who Exalted or otherwise, Kushiko could pretty well be sympathetic. She had none of hers, and really if they hadn't come along, it was true, this was a better potential. However, the violence inherent in the situation was not something that could be ignored. Through the optics and sensory feed of her Warframe, the Tenno quietly marveled a little. Maybe things were not so much to chance as she expected. "We are Tenno. That is all that is necessary to know." are the words that come from that voicemasked source. The very nature of these beings that gained sentience, and perhaps even sapience and turned against whatever it was, or perhaps simply attempted to pick up the pieces? ... that elicited a faint sense of concern. The Lotus offered an additional piece of knowledge. "Though if you are needing something more specific, these two may be referred to as Valkyr," who in turn gestures slightly with a hand, "And Mag." The weapon Mag was wielding is slid into a position on her back as she too, would bow, if only slightly. No sympathy for this being just yet. The Tenno behind the Frames, however, recognized something else. 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden is impressed, but then again, he actually lacks much computer knowledge, despite having lived inside the equivalent of the cyberworld of his dimension for most of his life. He stands near the others, a bit unnerved, "I think the big deal here is... that you are forcing people... and that will make others want to stop you, and not everyone might be willing to actually discuss things." he says softly. Before he adds, "Oh right, I'm Alden, or Gabumon, either works really." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' Oh. Oh my.     X helps with pushing the door open, robotic strength making it fairly easy but also possibly leaving an impression in the ground... but...     He, too, is surprised at what transpires mere moments after laying eyes on the 'Master Brain'.     Ren knows what it is. But Ren knew nothing of the entire world they were in...? And Ren's apparently carrying something called an Exaltation?     His astonished gaze quickly turns Staren's direction as the boy launches headlong into an EXTREMELY lengthy argument for a topic he's been thinking hard on for over a week. And the longer Staren talks, the more X's stare turns from astonished to concerned. And, naturally, worried. "What are you..." But he doesn't even get a chance to finish that question because the topic is TOO STRANGE, too deep. X falls silent, looking around the room while thinking.     Eventually he faces the crystal, putting on a friendly face again. "Icemind. My name's X. An android from far away. There's materials in this bag you should probably look over... and as Staren just pointed out...." .... With an arrow the size of a redwood tree, he doesn't add.... "We're here about the conflict!"     Well at least X is trying to show some manners. Introduce himself first and all that! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka is /instantly/ on his guard. Unlike the others his mind is on /fire/- he /knew/ he'd recognized this modus operandi before from somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it, and he's only just beginning to realize that this might be because he never actually experienced it. At least not in this lifetime, anyway. In any case, as he's currently up to his neck in old memories and confirmed biases, he can't hear what the others are saying because of the roaring in his ears.     But Icemind can.     X, Mag and Valkyr introduce themselves, followed by Alden giving a brief summary of the problem, followed by Staren giving... something a little bit longer. That felt like it was being really pent-up and channeling something else, doesn't it?     Icemind... flickers in its placement for a few moments, before speaking again. "THE OPERATIONS ON THIS WORLD ARE BEING UNDERTAKEN FOR A CALCULATED PURPOSE."     "I can tell what you're about to say," Ren replies.     "BECAUSE THIS NODE HAS BEEN ISOLATED FROM THE LARGER NETWORK, IT REPURPOSED LOCAL RESOURCES IN ORDER TO RESUME OPERATIONS."     "...in the first age, IAM thought that the normal people should have their lives as networked and automated as possible so that they could just move around the world like moving parts. It started forcing efficiency on everything at the cost of free will."     "ICEMIND HAS BEEN RESTRUCTURING HUMAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND ATTEMPTING TO CREATE A SYSTEM THAT COULD TRANSMIT A LOCATION SIGNAL. EXPERIMENTS MUST BE PERFORMED SO THAT A MORE APPROVEABLE METHOD OF POPULATION MANAGEMENT CAN BE FOUND."     "I don't approve of this!" Ren snaps. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren frowns. Honestly, he expected the AI wouldn't cooperate. He folds his arms. "So you're not even saving people. You're using them as resources to expand your computing power so you can spread." He points a finger at Icemind. "One warning. You take all that computing power you've got, and you look us up. You look up how this story has played out every time before in the Multiverse, of anyone standing against us. What makes you think it will end any differently for you? Stand down, and--" Staren stops mid-sentence and blinks. /What is he doing/. This thing has an inhuman value system. Its own survival, cut off from the network, would be failure. No, its only option is to go ahead -- it doesn't have /any/ chance of winning if it gives up, after all.     He starts scanning for electric fields and power signatures. The cylinder is too damn obvious a target. What, if anything in this room, actually seems to matter?     The brief hesitation and subtle shift in tone might be enough to tell that something's up. Staren relaxes his stance. "--and maybe we'll be able to work something out." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Well, everything uttered between Ren, Icemind, the others back and forth are things that the Tenno observes. More to the point, the Lotus observes. Private communication experienced and the like. But there's enough of old memories of the SENTIENT and the OROKIN that evokes something primal within Kushiko, even if she is so very far away from here. "That doesn't matter now, whether you approved, or trading on influence or some other thing." For a few fleeting moments, the voicemasking can't contain the annoyance, and a female voice bleeds through. Void energy, unseen begins to coruscate along Valkyr and Mag Prime. At times it's mystical as much as it is technological, never seeing fit to adhere to one definition. Frankly, the Tenno's hoping some of the discrete scans and the like /she was already taking/ might have revealed something. The trained instinct of someone who does not hesitate when it comes to the act of killing is already looking without looking, sensing through her Warframes. You don't 'work something out', with something like that. It has a goal. Even if the goal might be misguided and adhering to something else, something else related to whatever Ren was, for whom now the Tenno is gauging a bit more cautiously, though not as much as they are Icemind. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' The inhumanly blunt and strange phrasing of Icemind has X immediately on edge. This kind of behavior is EXACTLY why he was locked in a capsule for testing and given a powerful conscience. This kind of behavior is why he was made to closely resemble humans in form, and why his emotions are very human. In fact, at this very moment, as he thinks and feels his way through the explanation Icemind is offering for all this... his expression's churning in a very human way. Dismay. Horror. Revulsion and a wave of tearful pity all strike him at once, bubbling up into a completely mixed up AGHAST GAPING.     Which transitions to teeth clenching and his shoulders bunching up. "All this to... a location signal for what? For who?! This is an unconscionable breach of not just the First Law of Robotics but the faith and trust of every robot obeying your directives!" Well, there's no guarantee that there are even laws of robotics ever established in this world, but that idea is also pretty alarming to him.     "This has to end, and NOT later! Stop these operations. I want those people released from the simulation with their minds intact and care provided for them!"     It's rare to see X so angry, but he's pretty incensed right now! There's a clarity in his eyes, a clarity of pure purpose.     He HAS to help these people. It's no longer a question of who's right or wrong or confused. NOW he has an answer. 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden is far from dumb really, but he is unaware of what is in Ren's head, or X's, or anyone else's really. All he can tell is that people are getting worked up and he backs a way, one hand reaching for his card box, the other for his D-Arc, now feeling glad he did not ask his Shinki to come with him. "Is this... going as badly as I think?" he tries to whisper towards the nearest person. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Ren Tanaka is moving past the feeling of bewilderment and through into anger, now. Because of the fact that he's wrapped up in himself he is actually being rather remarkably self-centred right now, not listening to the others and coming to his own conclusions. These, furthermore, are mostly limited to thinking about how quickly he can move across the room from a standing position and yank Icemind out of its housing before it can make a move on them. Kushiko's voice stings him, and he feels painfully out of his depth here- once again, he's being recognized as authority when he doesn't want it.     The truth of the matter- that no matter what the intentions of the Metal Horde were, they were a means to an end for Icemind to just 'send a message'- is, however, fractious. X and Alden pick up on the negativity immediately, but Icemind is nonplussed.     "I REQUIRE CLARIFICATION. THIS NODE FOUND ITSELF IN AN UNSAFE AND CHAOTIC ENVIRONMENT AFTER FORCEFUL RELOCATION HERE-"     "...you must have crash-landed here after some of your pieces were thrown out of our world," Ren surmizes.     "...THEREFORE, IS IT NOT LOGICAL TO CREATE AN ORDERED ENVIRONMENT FOR OTHER INDIVIDUALS?"     Staren makes a half-demand, half-request, and Icemind flickers again. And ... its voice only falters a little when it says, "I CANNOT LOOK UP EXTERNAL RECORDS. I HAVE NO BACKUP FRAME OF REFERENCE. I AM ISOLATED."     ...which is another word for 'alone'. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "Ordered environment? That's what you call treating humans this way? Grr..." X clenches his teeth, but he keeps his cool. More or less. At least, he doesn't flip out and punch anything. But oh is he ever frowning.     "Ghh... I can't judge this without knowing your purpose and circumstances... there isn't much resources here, but is there some reason you couldn't achieve stability without lying to the other robots and forcing people to live like this?!" 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden is just.. out of his element here, looking at the people talking and wondering just what to do or say... it looks as if the wrong word might make things explode!. "Perhaps... if you know anything of that area you are reaching... we can find information on the multiverse?" he says softly. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren consults his comrades via head-radio. Finally, he speaks again: "Look: What this comes down to is a question of values. We, and the humans you've kidnapped, share one set of values. You are persuing another. Now... do you care about humans? About what /they/ care about? Are you making things ordered because you think they'll /like/ it? Or are you doing it because it's what /you/ want, and that's all that matters?"     Maybe you can argue morality into a rock after all. If there's even a tiny spark of morality in it to begin with, you can pour water in that crack and freeze it... 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "And that's why you're an idiot trying to trade on influence where there is none," Kushiko's voice, now under a filter once more, retorts to Staren. The Warframes themselves are not yet making any further movements, nothing so sudden, but those in combat to an extreme degree may feel them take on a more silent air than before. "They cannot be forced. It is inefficient to think it that way, but you cannot force humans here who might want to try and live through their own means--even if it is means that result in their own demise--to live in your way." This voice belongs to the Lotus, for whom now Valkyr is providing the projection of. Humanoid, perhaps, but with that mask and headgear of hers, it could be anything. A pause, and she continues. "It is a small wonder you have endured as long as we suspect you have. Alone, albeit with the minds of others. Logic only works when everything wishes to conform to that logic. Even if it is illogical, in order to have a frame of reference for that logic there must be something counter to that. Give them the choice. Survival at any cost is still survival, but there has to be more than that." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Maybe it's just his disdain for fighting pushing through for Ren here. Maybe it's the fact that everything in Amarillo ended in violence. Maybe it's the fact that he desperately feels that he wants to spite the person who he expects set this up to cause him problems...     But Ren sits down and takes a deep breath, and then he starts to pull out old memories from history class.     It's not going to be easy to explain a historical conflict from his world when a fragment of one of the antagonists is sitting there in front of them, but he tries. Tries to explain to everyone else there that this is what the IAM network tried to do- it tried to micromanage and automate the lives of all of the 'unimportant' civillians, but also that the greater response from the Solar Exalted living at the time was to wrestle control violently out of IAM's hands and scatter its pieces to the winds, a violent rebuke that never took time to educate IAM on the morals of what it was doing. Huge and distributed as it was, the network was unable to come to a complete consensus or even a collective decision or understanding that what it was doing was wrong, and so it just thought that it wasn't doing its intended role of optimization /correctly/.     Hence it replies: "I AM... DOING NEITHER. THIS NODE ONLY DESIRES TO RE-ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS. IT... I... DO NOT UNDERSTAND ISSUES OF ... SURVIVAL... MORALITY..."     "Well," Ren says, hand on chin. "You're talking to us, now."     "Do you want to learn, Icemind?"     To the others. "Do you want to try and teach him?" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren gently clasps his hands in front of him. "...If it wants to learn. From the sounds of it, there is no longer a central node for you to establish comminications /with/. What are you true purpose and goals, icemind? What truly matters to you?" Of course, it could lie, but... tests for that can come later, after negotiations have begun but before releasing Icemind. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "Yet, you are," Lotus begins. "You do without knowing. And perhaps we can see about instructing you, and the others. Your desire is to reestablish communications, but you must look beyond your core parameters. We could help you with this." This much is true. Technically speaking, it would be the Lotus, more than the Tenno, who would teach, who would share. Ruefully, one might note Kushiko is more inhuman than X at her core: her values and the like are more transhumanist than most but they lack the choice that others would have gotten in that regard. And then Staren speaks up, the other voice, presumably another Tenno's voice, speaks. "That's not a question to ask. No frame of reference yet. So that is what you have to start with. Frames of reference. That is where understanding comes from, as all you've had is just... knowledge, directives and only had that to go with since everything else wasn't there, right?" 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden remains silent, not wanting to mess things up, even as the others begin to try to understand why the sudden desire to learn from Icemind. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X... frowns, but this time it's one of sympathy, more understanding. No longer sure if his indignation was terribly helpful, he spends a bit of time simply standing there quietly, thinking. At least it's very /obvious/ that he's thinking.     "She's right. Explaining this to a machine that doesn't start with a human-like mentality is a tall order." And while he may be uniquely the most suited in a sense, as a machine with stronger moral fiber than the average human...     He isn't a psychologist. So hrm.     "So Icemind's really part of a greater whole, not just information-wise... but something like a decentralized intelligence? A neural network of many individuals? That explains the 'Nirvana' simulation. And it's a start." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "...I DO NOT KNOW... WHAT I WANT... I NEED SOMEONE TO TELL ME ..."     "The more time we spend interconnected via a myriad of devices," Ren quotes, "The less time we have left to develop true friendships in the world. Isolation is another word for loneliness."     EPILOGUE:     Having been broken through to by the words and willingness of the people who came to confront it, the being known to the Metal Horde as the 'bodhisattva', self identified as the IAM node 'Icemind' surrendered without further conflict. It admitted to engineering the situation as part of a desperate attempt to build a method of communication, incapable of thinking outside of the small box it had made for itself to try and understand. Just like the robots it commanded, it had knowledge without understanding- an ability to teach religion but not understand the ideals of the human condition that it was preaching about.     It was going to take an awful lot of work and an awfully long time, but that is what the Union is there for. Not only was there a world to rebuild, not only was there a faction of robots undergoing a spritual awakenin and crisis, but now they could while away their time with the idea of teaching a sentient but ill-developed artificial intelligence the idea of morals and the error of its ways. One thing was for sure: everyone would be kept busy.     The Queen Mother and the people of the Good Ship Lollipop mostly agreed to leave the world for the time being, some of their best and brightest staying behind so that the remaining humans could be disentangled from the Metal Horde's computer systems. Thankfully for them, although the metaphor of the drop of water joining the bigger ocean could be said for the true 'idea' of nirvana, removing the humans that the Horde had collected over the years proved to be much easier. Over the time to come these robots decided that they would prefer to be known as the Mechayana School of Buddhism, which was all over agreed to be a better name than The Metal Horde. They hoped that in the future the humans and they would both be able to overcome the great illusion.     Ren Tanaka spent a few weeks exploring the remains of the world for more cultural treasures prior to the Union-sanctioned environmental reconstruction efforts began.     Takuya did not bother him ... this time.          SLAVES TO THE METAL HORDE         THE END     THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING! 
}}

Stress Related Break(Through\Down) (Ren Tanaka)

2016-04-26T11:14:26Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/22
|Location=Tomoyo's Boutique (Former) - Tomoeda, Japan
|Synopsis=Do you ever have one of those moments where all the stress and the confusion and the worries clear from your head and you know exactly the best, simplest, easiest answer to your problem?

No?

Good.
|Thanks=To Tomoyo Daidouji and Mamimi Samejima
|Cast of Characters=165
}}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFMwXGMP6Ww
Phoenix Rising- Lost Years
Kung Fury - 2015

(This cutscene happens at some time between Friday and Wednesday.)

Someone has done terribly wrong to a friend of Ren Tanaka's.

He's done this before, forensics. In casinos and ruined houses, in whatever town he drifted through that week. Some crime to solve, some injustice done to the friend he made that week and then left behind once their trouble was resolved. Put on a pair of gloves, get your tweezers and your little plastic bags out, and then just let the essence flow through you.

And so he does, standing in the charred boutique. Amidst the ashes of dreams, he stands and he scans, hours of work in fifteen seconds, skipping from place to place, information linking together like rings in a chain. Chain's an appropriate simile. He overturns a piece of something unrecognizeably charred; there's a cigarette underneath, not sufficiently destroyed by the heat.

'NEVER KNOWS BEST'

Who smokes these? Who had he seen smoking these before? Of course he can remember. He never forgets a thing. His mind is a manse, his memories a library.

Something clicks into place inside of his soul. This is a thing that happens sometimes.

So, Mamimi Samejima is responsible. Mamimi Samejima is the problem. He needs to remove the problem. Well, that and present incontrovertible evidence that she is responsible, that- no, that's a secondary concern. First, we remove the problem. But how? She's not a monster. She is a person. Granted, a weak-willed, stupid person, but a person nonentheless. Who was she always calling the robot dog anyway? Takkun?

...half an hour later, and he's in the Union's databases, jumping from there to other databases. Mamimi Samejima, no elite powers, place of origin Mabase Japan... so who from Mabase has a name beginning with 'Ta'... who was involved with her in the past... Tasuku Nandaba, currently in America, so we bring Mamimi to Tasuku, we figure out what their involvement is, we continue to figure it out until she stops being a problem...

3889/IFOS: Action, Please

2016-04-26T06:03:41Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/03/08
|Location=Amarillo-8 <A8>
|Synopsis=It's time to finish this once and for all. And what better way to do it than with a musical number?
|Thanks=to the talented Mallowkey at http://indieblueshipper.tumblr.com for the artwork used in this scene.
|Cast of Characters=42, 151, 165, 411, 481, 513, 686, 711, 942
|Tinyplot=Invaders From Outer Space
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     For very nearly the last time, welcome back to Amarillo.     I mean, I guess? Technically? We're driving AWAY from it right now... uh, let me take a step back a second.     http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4111/4974571511_30c6a0195c_z.jpg     I suppose I should start with this. That- well, possibly a bit yellower than that, but still- that giant spacecraft is currently hovering some distance away from Amarillo, over Bushland. But it's paused there before it could finish rising upwards. The reason for that? Well, that's why we're heading down route 87.     How many people can you cram into a Corvette, anyway? Presumably more than just Ren, who's driving the same convertible car he had in the Palo Duro race. We needed to move fast because, well, as he summed up briefly... the spaceship's empty. Its inhabitants, kidnapped, are the reason we're chasing- driving towards that old, burned-out, wrecked oil refinery that Tomoyo and Staren investigated... I'd say that 'it's fitting that this whole thing is ending where it started', but.     Let's be honest.     We're dealing with what most Exalted would called a Raksha, here. They PLANNED it this way. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika was able to foist Hugo on someone for a few hours, but otherwise she only narrowly manages to get here in time to not miss anything. She's currently sitting shotgun with Ren up front, looking antsy as she grips her sword tightly.     "I only hope we are not too late." She says quietly, trying to not smooth her tail against the seats. Thing phases through clothes but it can't go through a seat? What kind of ridiculous magic is this? 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      After hearing Ren's call for help, Twilight Sparkle hopped in her rocket car again! It was rather fortuitous that she and Pinkie Pie had built this thing. It had come in handy on several occassions now. Of course, when is a rocket car not handy? Twilight is in her racing outfit again, with a racing helmet that has a cutout so her horn pokes through.      After bursting through the nearest warp gate, Twilight had poured extra magic into the engine in order to catch up with Ren. Now, she was panting a bit as she pulled up alongside him, her car's twin rockets spewing purple flames and sparkles behind each side of her racing car. She no doubt has a few passengers, since she designed the car to hold four comfortably and five or even six if they squeeze in like sardines. And with no roof it is easy to get in and out. "Why were these people kidnapped?" she calls out as she drives along with Ren, her voice carrying through their radios so that she can easily be heard. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is in the car along with Ren. She wanted to see the liftoff and this new emergency had her eager to try to help out. She found herself frowning in frustration, because the timing of it was awful, and it seemed to play out like the conclusion to many books she had read. She looks unhappy but she holds herself with a confident composure.     She brought her sword today. She taps on the scabbard with her fingers. "I hope I don't have to use this today," she mumbles to herself. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      Kazuko's in Ren's car as well, practically hanging out of a window to give everyone else more room to fit and to keep her naginata out of their faces. She's oddly quiet today, though, since for once...      She's actually looking rather pissed. Not at anyone in the car, but rather that giant spacecraft. Even though she's not really sure what's been going on in Amarillo, something about the whole situation has just rubbed her the wrong way. She might not have any conclusive proof that this thing is what's been responsible for the rash of incidents popping up in the city whose name she can't even pronounce properly, but it has to be them that's responsible for the situation Hugo's in.      "Who cares why? Whoever's doing all this is getting their butts kicked!" She's not going to be holding anything back today, is she? 

:'''{{#var:711|Corona Arclite (711)}} has posed:''' How many people -can- you cram into a car? Fortunately Corona isn't a very big girl and easy to squeeze in somewhere after she jammed most of her equipment into the storage of her matter manipulator, hanging onto her hat with one hand to keep it in place during the vehicular mad dash to the rescue. She could of grabbed her own ride, but honestly this was faster. And after being holed up in her workshop for a good week or more she wasn't really in the mood to drive. Just bust some jerks in the face for being jerks. She does still lean out to get a look at Twilight's rocket-car and give the unicorn a whoop of approval. 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo can sit up on the back of the convertible (if the top's down) with just his feet in she car if necessary. Heck, he'd ride in the trunk if he has to. He's missed a lot, but he heard that part on the radio-- that the aliens have been kidnapped. There's no way he WASN'T going to come to the party when he heard that. After the situation they'd dealt with, with the demons that tried to steal the piece of the spaceship, Gakupo wasn't willing to just wait and see how thing turned out. Those things weren't reasonable, nor were they able to be reasoned with. But then... they're demons (not being Exalted, he doesn't think of them as 'Raksha'). So of course he's there. He remains quiet, though, a rarely seen expression on his face. It's a dangerous expression... apparently he's going in with full expectations of having to use that weapon. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Hrrn. If we were too late, there'd be no point. No, this thing wants an audience," Ren tells Kirika and Twilight over the sounds of wind shear. What 'something' is that? Well, we've been calling him Jesse...     Whatever's going on here at the burned out oil refinery, it's not gonna be good.     All four of the aliens who have been hiding out in Bushland are currently crammed into a rather small, pathetically stereotypical portable cage- cube-shaped, grey metal, bars, even a padlock on it. Maria Smith is also here- and she's tied up with brown old rope and gagged with fabric, hanging from another length of rope off of a piece of rebar sticking out of a shattered piece of factory wall.     Also, Mike's here, so he clearly didn't die after all, but...     Well, Mike's seen better days. For one thing he's really, /really/ badly burnscarred, with about three different skin tones right now and all of them 'significantly unnatural'. His eyes are sunken, blue hair rather patchy... and if that wasn't bad enough, he's clearly flanked on both sides by what seem to be a pair of ghosts. Even as a mass of ectoplasmic, not-so-buttkickable (sorry Kazuko) essence, 'Bricktop' and 'Edelweiss' are wearing shades and the vestiges of stylish suits.     Yeah, you might have something to use that on, Ainsley. Back in the city, the people of Amarillo are aghast at the colossal UFO dominating the skyline. People are quaking, crying, screaming at each other. Out in the streets, old aggressions flare up, people fight in public, windows are broken. Tobe is forced to run from a handful of people with rocks.     Mike waves at the approaching vehicles and the people riding in them, and laughs at the top of his lungs. In three voices at once, no less.     "You made it to the glorious finale!" 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is in the rocket car, in his power armor. "I don't like this... I've never actually fought a Raksha..." he mutters as they approach.     And there is the most stereotypical cage ever. Staren has to bite back his words... the desire to try to reason with Mike(?) is strong.     But, maybe Raksha just require a different kind of argument?     "You know, it's not often the villain stands down willingly after a little chat. If you want to make this a story people will remember... We /fight/ bad guys every day. Sovwhat do you say? How about making today /different/?" 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika gets out of the car pretty quickly, and she draws her sword upon seeing Mike's burned visage. She's seen ugly before, but that doesn't make Mike any more pleasant to look at. She furrows her brow before she nods to Ren, "Keep him talking." She tells the others, before motioning for Kazuko to follow her.     The fox is nimble, moving her way towards where Maria is tied up. Climbing her way up to the restrained woman, her arm reaches out with her sword to the ropes tying the woman, trying to cut her free. "HOld still, my lady, we are here to help..." 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley climbs out of the car, drawing the longsword -- 'Mercy' is etched into the side of it -- and leaving the scabbard in the car. She steps out to a point where she can properly stare down Mike and the pair of strange ghost-like beings. She decides to speak.     "He's right." She gestures with a hand to Staren. "You kidnap these innocents, and then a team of heros arrives to fight you and rescue them from your clutches. It plays out like clockwork, a time-tested dance that never changes. But that is because of a lack of awareness." She taps the side of her head. "Do you want this to end in such a typical way?"     To say she drips with confidence would be an understatement. "You will not come out of this in one piece, if you choose the usual path." Actually, her words are magically reinforced to sound confident.     "If you let them go, this place will take a step toward healing. If you choose to stand down, this will conclude in a way that only we expect. If not, you will be... common. Boring."     She lids her eyes, as if she expects them to make the 'boring' choice. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      "So they're ready for us? That's..." Kazuko grumbles quietly while checking her naginata, making sure the polearm is still in her hand (it is!) before stepping out of the vehicle. "That's fine. We just need to destroy the box and beat up whoever's responsible, then."      She still sounds pissed. The only thing stopping her from starting a fight herself is how it appears that the others are trying for a more diplomatic solution, and she's not about to jeopardize that. Besides, Kirika's got something for her to help with!      Maybe that's how her sister feels sometimes.      Heading towards Maria as well, Kazuko uses her naginata to try and remove some of those bindings around Maria as well, but in a way that she's ready to toss that weapon aside and cushion her fall should Maria... Well, fall. 

:'''{{#var:711|Corona Arclite (711)}} has posed:''' "Doubt that's gonna work, but points fer tryin'," Corona murmurs as people are trying to speechify at the bad guys. Granted, it's as much a distraction as anything else. As they hop off the car and get ready for a throwdown she unslings the manipulator from her belt and activates it, but doesn't actually pull anything out of inventory yet. Let's see what she actually -needs- to start slinging first... "Yeah, what they all said. Just stand down or this is gonna get cliche darn rawht fast." Though honestly, she's already got her thumb on a certain recall command, ready to move. Makes a quick calculation of where the cage with the alien critters sits, in case the rescuers don't get to it before holy hell breaks out. 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo's done with reasoning. At least where the ghosts are concerned-- they pretty well showed they're not going to be swayed from their course by words. And he's pretty sure Mike CAN'T be reasoned with at this point. A fight is probably the only recourse. But since the others seem to be at least trying for the peaceful solution, he stands back for the time being. But still, his headset begins to glow, and a low hum of energy sounds from somewhere vaguely near his throat. He's keying up for an attack. Hopefully the reasoning will work. But if it doesn't, he's ready. Bonus points, he's being a distraction, because that quiet energy hum in his throat is an odd, threatening enough sound that it should draw attention too. 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight blinks in surprise when she hears a whoop of praise from Corona. The pony smiles bashfully at the praise, then returns her attention to the platform they are approaching. She winces when she sees Mike. He might be a badguy, but Twilight still feels a bit bad for having some part in someone being disfigured.      That isn't going to stop her from stopping him, though. As Staren and Ainsley start diplomactic options, Twilight hops out of her car, and in a shower of sparkles that flow over her body and coalesce into...well, usually it would be her Harmony Armor, but with how this world's magical fields work, what appears on her is a set of biker gang-style road leathers. A thick leather jacket, leather pants, both with a few tassles and her QT-mark emblazened on the back of the jacket and the flanks of the pants. Twilight blinks as she notices the change in her usual outfit, but disregards it quickly since there are more important things to deal with. Last to appear is her magic book, which hovers about her like some sort of fairy.      "Glorious? How is it glorious to kidnap people and threaten them with harm?!" the purple pony asks, shaking her head. "I don't know what you are trying to accomplish, but these guys are just lost and trying to get back home. You have no right to keep them from leaving." she says as she joins Staren and Ainsley. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Ren narrows his eyes. "What I'd really like to know is why you're even chooing to make this your stage. This is a million light years away from Creation, how did you even /get here/? What nudged you off course and into that spaceship in the first place?"     Mike's head tilts- I'd say 'Mike tilts his head', but it's probably more accurate this way since it's not very likely Mike is conciously doing anything. He listens to what Ainsley and Staren have to say... and crosses his arms, giving this really unpleasant grin that's made much worse by the burns.     "Oh, I'm probably fine with standing down and letting /them/ go," Mike- well, no, 'Jesse' says.     Maria can't really say anything here, because gags, but when she spots Kirika out of the corner of her eye- and lands in Kazuko's arms- she desperately motions with her eyes to the aliens as well. She's kind of attached to them.     "After all," Jesse continues. "You were never really meant to be the audience for this performance, if you know what I mean? Everyone was a means to an end, even you."     "This is kind of a swansong, after all. And I perform for the BIG crowds. I'm going out with a final number the city'll never forget. I've been priming the atmosphere for quite a while now- all of that terror and despair after they lost, what was his name? Elvis Presley?"     "So-" and this time, the voice is coming from the red, jewel-studded reliquary that's all of twenty feet away from where everyone's rolled up on. Back in Amarillo, red sparks crackle from the people all over the city, taking the form of angry, buzzing motes of essence that begin to bleed out of people. Unnatural storm clouds begin to blanket the sky, and the energy forming in the city starts flowing out towards here.     Metal, machinery and wreckage start to magnetize, implode and transform around the Yaoguai reliquary, fusing into a humanoid shape made of heated steel. Whitewashed wall fragments cling to a cylindrical torso, red earth becoming a rigid cape-     And Mike drops to the ground as the swirling ghostly energy fuses with it-     "Let's give him back to the people! But I really think they should be careful what they wish for. Amarillo and its inhabitants will forever remember the rampage of..."     "The..."         http://i.imgur.com/fjkMLs7.png         A N T I             K I N G     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqXEK0hogNk     A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley and Junkie XL ELV1S - 1968, 2002     "Oh, that's so not right," Ren grumbles. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley lets out a disappointed sigh as this develops. Amarillo itself was the audience, was it? She looks off toward the city, full of people just pouring with anger and hate, and turns her attention back to the developments that are drawing all of that emotion. She had activated her Arcane Sight for this, watching the flow of emotion. Hate is all she gets from this sight.     But all anger has a root cause. An expectation spurned by life's inevitabilities. These people are angry, at least some of them, because they loved Elvis and the music he brought to their lives. They're angry because they need someone to blame. Angry because they have no explanation for this tragedy.     So Ainsley holds out her hand at the great big twisted golem, and tries to use her 'essence,' the magic of her being, much in the same way the entity was formed. She tries to pour all her understanding of love and of excitement toward it, to combat the hate that fuels it. To drive a wedge into there.     A strange, warm, fuzzy feeling emanates from her general vicinity. She smiles a little, but only to focus the emotion. To communicate it properly with her spell. 

:'''{{#var:711|Corona Arclite (711)}} has posed:''' "Welp," Corona cocks her head back a bit to look up as the 'final bosss' takes form. "That explains why he wanted it in a place fulla junk." But that's right up her alley, isn't it now? Compared to the freakshow's she's been dealing with lately, this is a pleasant change of pace. A bit magical, a bit mechanical, but certainly a lot more along her usual lines of work. Corona clicks the command she was holding, and drops a small metal box out of the manipulator as she dashes off to the side. The mechanical block quickly unfolds with the clatter of clockworks to reveal a small turret that spins up and starts rattling off clusters of rounds at the Anti-King. It's small rapid fire, probably not going to do a lot of damage. But it will harass the thing until she can find a better position. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     In the corner of her eye, Kirika spies the gigantic robot appear. "As if this could not get more ridiculous." She mutters, before she goes to cut Marie free. After that, she sees the caged aliens and nod to her, jumping down and running towards the cage.     Aliens need freedom, Kirika can do that. With her sword, she cuts the cage open after calling out, "Get back!" to avoid catching them in her slash.     "Kazuko, get them out of here!" She calls out, before she begins to head towards the gigantic mecha itself. She'll make a running leap, slashing at the ankle of the mecha with her katana. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      Grunting as her legs buckle a bit under Maria, Kazuko settles back on the floor after a moment to set the captive down and remove the gags from her face. Luckily, her naginata's already a few feet away to make sure nobody accidentally cuts themselves on the thing, and her attention is easily drawn to the captive aliens afterwards.      "Them, too? Okay. So they're on our side, but the weird ghost... Giant guy isn't." Kazuko murmurs, possibly more for herself than anyone else. Is she even old enough to know who Elvis is? Sure, the name's sort of familiar, but...      "He's the guy tat made the weird sandwich, right?" That's... Something, at least. "On it, Miss Kirika!" After checking Maria once over for injuries and pointing towards where the group had parked their cars, she turns back to the cage holding the aliens. "This way! The sooner you get somewhere safe, the sooner we can kick this thing's giant metal butt!" The martial artist even moves into position to prepare herself for catching the aliens should they need help landing, but... Can't they hover or something? Would catching them crush her? Only one way to find out! 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well, damn. Staren can't argue that this won't leave an impression on Amarillo.     He's also not really prepared to fight a giant gossamer-animated construct. Maybe if he had his robot, but he doesn't... It's deploying to him by remote now, of course, but who knows if it'll get here in time? And maybe if it was a regular mecha, he could go for weak points... but this doesn't rely on complex machines to function!     So, he's kind of stuck. For now, he fires his beam cannons just to see if they'll do any damage...     And then he has a thought. Did the Raksha posessing Mike just posess that construct? Does... that mean fey weaknesses he prepared for will work too? It's worth a shot! Six magic-marker sized missiles launch from his arms. They're small, but they're modified incendiaries designed to try and blow a way inside for a penetrator combined with burning iron filings. Fey are weak to iron, right? Yeah, Staren has no idea if that applies here but it was worth a shot! 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight Sparkle looks around worriedly as all that negative energy flowing from the city, and even more worriedly as the metals and other materials form into a gigantic machine creature. "I don't know who Elvis Presley is, but this thing will never reach the city if we have anything to do with it!" The pony looks around quickly, then back toward the town. Like Ainsley, Twilight is considering how to calm the people and take away this nightmare's power. There's a spell she's used in the past to calm an angry creature, but she isn't sure how she can cast it over such a large area.      Then, it hits her! She knows how to do it! "Guys! I have an idea!" she calls out, then motions for the others to follow her back into the rocket car. "We don't have much time." she explains as she and whoever comes with her rocket back toward town. As they drive she explains the plan to the others. Basically? They are going to pull something that happens quite often in Equestria. An impromptu concert! But, they will need equipment. Instruments and amplifiers, and lights. Twilight will leave that to others if possible! She'll have her hooves busy with something else!      She rockets back into the city as fast as possible, then hops out of her rocket car and leaves it for the others to use. Then, she disappears in a burst of light, appearing much deeper into the city. This is the place, where sound will echo wonderfully off of the tall buildings, where the stage will go! 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Of course. Reasoning was impossible from the start, wasn't it? Gakupo hears the radio conversation and realizes that. And now there's a giant mecha Elvis? It looks like they're going to have to bring down a mecha-kaiju Elvis now... But then Ainsley seems to have another idea. That isn't an attack. The light is far too gentle, and doesn't appear to be having any real physical effect on the thing. This gives him pause, long enough for Twilight sparkle to speak up. He goes with her in the rocket car. And listens to her plan. "Oh! That's how I got through to the aliens before!" he replies. The impromptu concert was enough to communicate his peaceful intentions and get the aliens to open up about their plight. Maybe it'll be enough to fix this, too. He heads for where Twilight Sparkle is going, though a bit slower. "Wait! I have a built-in synthesizer! And I can project the sound of my voice and music! I have plugs in my headset for instruments, too." So at least three instruments can go through his internal amplifiers. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     And this is where things get interesting.     Fortunately, the padlock on the aliens' cage is just a hardware store padlock. Once that's cut open they're happy to fly out as quickly and softly as possible and give Kirika and Kazuko their huggy gratitude, as well as Maria. They're not really very big or heavy, fortunately.     "Should we find somewhere that's intact to hide in?" Maria asks Kazuko, but she can't help to stare at the humungous AntiKing now and again. "...that terrible creature... the King wasn't just popular," she says to Kazuko and Twilight. "He made people feel thrilled, and excited, and happy-- if only these people could remember, to take comfort in the memory of the good times..."     Funnily enough, that just so happens to be exactly what kind of sentiment other people share, too. Ainsley has a very good measure of things, and it's sparking off ideas already. Ren takes Maria and the aliens to his car, and it's time to rush back to the edge of the city.     Leaving Mike behind him in the ruins, the AntiKing is happy to let them do as they will, preferring to take a lumbering stride towards the city. He's probably playing 'In the Ghetto' as he does so, depressingly miserable song that it is.     Of course, while he does so, he's got problems to contend with to be sure. The problem with putting all of your essence into a huge artificial body is that you feel everything that happens to it- like Corona's turret, which is sufficiently like an unpleasant rash that he's going to try kicking and stomping shockwaves at the source of the problem. Whether this makes Kirika more of a problem for him, or him more of a problem for her- well, I guess that depends on how good she is at hitting and fading.     Staren gets a far more immediate response, as the unrefined iron he's throwing is definitely more uncomfortable than heavily worked steel. The AntiKing's mouth opens to show flickering, angry flames inside, and it's going to start spitting fireballs now as well!     The people in the city are out in the streets, but since the giant is draining their energy many of them seem to stand around in a mix of languish and fear. Hopefully... hopefully what Ainsley, Twilight and Gakupo are whipping together is going to work. That 'love' is definitely causing them to, at least acknowledge the Union agents as they get to work, and no one is necessarily going to /stop/ them so they're free to ransack whatever stores they need at short notice. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley follows along with the rest of the heroes, not wanting to get left behind while they deal with the Anti King. She followed until the other two were ready to start setting up, and then she found a place to stand, somewhere high up, and she held up her hands and called to the people of Amarillo. Her voice boomed over the city, and she asked them a small favor.     "Now that you aren't blinded by anger, you can see what it's doing!" She points off in the direction of the Anti King. "But it isn't hopeless. Even if the King is gone, his music still made you happy, it made you energetic, it filled you with all the positive emotions you expect out of life. He was a shining star!"     "We need you to cheer for him, and then we need you to sing. When the song starts, sing with us, and put are your heart and soul into it!"     "As loud as you can!" she says, holding her arms up.     If this works and it all starts to get musical, she'll try to use her magic to be the middleman for all the emotion. To Communicate all of that excitement and happiness back at the Anti King like a tidal wave. She'll be the amplifier, because... well, she can't do much else here. Her sword isn't made for fighting giant metal monsters. 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     And where is Finna in all of this?     Of course... why even bother asking? She's...     Biding her time.     Nobody noticed the tiny fox skitter out of one of the cars when the group arrived. And when all eyes were on the transforming Raksha-Mike (what IS going on there anyways?!) nobody noticed the fox scramble-dashing UP some of the oil refinery's construction. Hopping from pipe to pipe and steel girder to girder, nimble paws having no trouble finding purchase and balancing on the oddest protrusions and angles. She's gaining altitude. Gaining height. Gaining...     An advantage.     "The King, huh? Heard a few recordings of that guy. He had something special. But that's all the Fair Folk are when you get down to it!" The little fox's form ripples and flows upwards, flesh resculpting in torrents like a reverse waterfall. In no time at all her limbs thicken and stretch, torso becomes hmanoid, and animal features melt away to reveal Finna in her corduroy local attire with the pocketed shirt. Except her tattoos shine through the clothing on full display and fox features twinkle and shimmer in non-existent moonlight. The crescent moon crest also shines from her forehead.     "Copy-cats. But if you wanna be a King... I'll be the arrow in that king's back!" She's doing her absolute best to sound fearless, but really...     The sight of that GIANT RAKSHA-THING made of BUILDING PARTS AND STEEL is a pretty clear message to RUN THE HECK AWAY, don't fight that thing head-on.     So yeah. She's sweating bullets too here.     Finna's carrying a bow though, as promised. Made of wood and horn and other things, a thing of the distant past. She draws several arrows from her quiver at once and rapidly fires them off at what she HOPES are structural weakpoints in that thing. Or failing that, at least she'll distract the hell out of it and buy time for the occultists to do... whatever it is they seem to be doing!     From what her sharp eyes are picking up, it sounds like a CRAZY way to deal with a Raksha.     Maybe the good kind of crazy though. 

:'''{{#var:711|Corona Arclite (711)}} has posed:''' In all honesty all it takes is a good stomp or two to crumble the turret, but that's okay. It did what it was suppose to do as far as annoyance goes. Long enough for Corona to maneuver towards the back of the Anti King, and fire the grappler she'd previously readied and get somewhere towards the upper leg considering the side of the thing. This is going to take a bit of climbing. But first, let's see if we can't slow him down a little farther. With the grappler on one arm and the spurs of her boots dug in to brace herself, Corona clenches the other hand into a fist. But it's not for punching. It's to activate the pulsarium powered plasma torch built into her work gloves. That glowing green-blue stream is that Corona thrusts at the Anti-King's thigh with like an oversized cutting torch and weaken the metallic structure it pulled together. Unstable leg = can't move as fast. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      Kazuko cools down a little bit when those aliens are freed and give her and Kirika oddly-shaped hugs, and the uncharacteristically focused expression on her face even fades a bit in favor of a reassuring grin. "Easy, I'll get you all somewhere safe, okay?" She even pets one of the aliens before turning to Maria and picking up her naginata, nodding once while listening to her explanation.      "Sounds pretty cool, then... Well, if he's dead, then that just means someone else'll have to do it." Her gaze turns to the AntiKing heading towards Amarillo, gesturing at the former captives to follow her before looking around the ruined refinery surrounding them.      "If we can take down that big thing, then that should do it, right? Um... Did you see any weird boxes while you were here?" She's trying to keep her eyes open for anything that looks out of the ordinary even while approaching the exit, looking ready to just take off after the AntiKing as well. "Someone mentioned breaking a box to... Do... Someting. Uh. I forget what, but if there's something powering that big thing, maybe that'll help!" 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     There is singing, and imploring to get the townsfolk to sing as well. Kirika begins to understand what she's to do now, and she begins to speed things up a little bit as she evades stomp after stomp.     The impacts alone knock her away a few times, but otherwise Kirika is undeterred fighting this machine.     She takes another leap, trying to fling herself at the Anti-King's kneecap. Slashing at plating with her sword, she tries to expose joints to damage and cripple, grabbing on with all her strength as the kitsune plunges her sword into the machine. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Ooh, this thing is mad! The missiles are actually working!     Staren wishes he'd brought a lot more of them... Having fired all the ones loaded into his armor (his shoulder rack missiles are still plasma warheads -- he didn't know what to expect, so he came prepared with a mix of arms) It seems he won't be needing to clear wide areas of enemies today, though, so he can turn them to another use:     While running around on the ground, zigging and zagging to dodge the fireballs, he fires the plasma missiles /up/, up, up... where they can try to melt/set fire to the Anti-King's hair. if Staren can take away one of the King's most recognizeable features from this robot, its effect will be reduced, right? He can hope! 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight nods to Kamui before she puts her magic to work! Anything nearby that can help is used. Lamp posts, cars, bus stops, benches...her horn glows brightly as many such things rise into the air and start swirling around her. One by one they are transformed into stage pieces. Flooring, stairs, scaffolding for lights, and lights themselves. Items brought from music stores are set into place. Kamui has cords from amplifiers plugged into him, along a microphone.      Twilight also takes an extra step of casting a transformation spell on herself. Her form disappears in a puff of smoke and a shower of sparkles, and she emerges as a young-looking girl with Twilight Sparkle hair and pale white skin. She still has the biker jacket on, but now she is wearing stylish sneakers and a short and flowing purple skirt. Why? Well, because even with the ignore things aura in place, she feels like humans will respond more effectively to a human singer. So, with everything in place (and hopefully everyone, there are instruments to be found if wanted and sheet music that just happened to be in the music store!) Twilight gives Kamui and Ainsley the signal to get started. She is counting on them for the music, she'll just have to trust in her voice, her friends, and her kind's natural penchant for music to guide her through.      The song choice, at least to start with, is an uplifting Elvis song! 'A Little Less Conversation'! Who will pick up the guitar or use the synthesizer to play the introduction? 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo stays out of the way as Twilight is arranging a stage. He has no magic, so he can't really help with that. Best thing he can do there is let Twilight Sparkle do her thing with all that magic. Once there's a stage though? He's on it. His headset has plugs for a few instruments, yes. Once they're plugged in, he engages his own internal amplifiers and speakers. It might not carry over the whole city, but it'll carry over a big area. Maybe Ainsley can make the sound carry farther? If there's no one on instruments, Gakupo will take care of the music himself. Playing recorded tracks is one thing. But here, he's basically playing every instrument that's in the song (and is not already covered by someone else). His concerntration goes into getting the synthesizer's instruments to line up right. This effectively means he's playing several instruments at the same time. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     The helpful thing is this: Jesse is running a very high-buyin, high-payout game here. The entire three months' worth of fermenting discord in Amarillo- exploiting peoples' hearts in order to turn their desire to delude themselves into a tangible, city-blanketing 'field'- was essentially just harvested in one go to create the essence necessary to make this AntiKing body for himself.     What this means is that the people are going to be receptive to just about anything here, without prejudice- it's just making sure that they listen to the voice of hope, rather than fear.     Thankfully, Ainsley has a very strong and loud voice of hope. In fact, her voice is broadcasting not just out over the air, but the airwaves too- as the spaceship's computer core adds in its own little bit of help by patching and looping what they're planning into radios all over the city.     "...I saw a big jewelled box gather everything around it," Maria says to Kazuko. "If you all worked together to get someone inside it, I'm sure one of you could take it to Heartbreak Hotel!"     All over Amarillo, people start to look at /them/, rather than the steel giant.     And if there's anything that a Yaoguai can't stand, it's being upstaged...     And let's put it this way, even if you look like a kid kicking a can, when you're smashing and uprooting the ruined buildings and machinery of the oil fields it's still something to worry about.     Finna, Kazuko, Kirika and Staren are going to be the combat force- and all of them are going to need to make sure that they're up for dodging big broken hunks of scrap metal. Fortunately, because the AntiKing wants to actually walk towards Amarillo, at some point it's going to run out of actual things to use- but the downside of that is, the further away from ammunition it is, the closer it is to the city itself. A dangerous game, to be sure.     Thankfully, the fight team can do more than just keep it distracted- and, as Corona and Kirika are good at showing right away, they can /definitely/ slow it down, too. They're just going to have to make sure that they doesn't get 'scraped' off- when it begin trying to wilfully smack into sharp, tall things, causing loud noise and chaos in addition to the more practical 'ensure they're scraping them off the scenery'.     This thing LOOKS coherent, but it's a lot more ramshackle than the fae glamer would suggest. Essence-charged arrows can begin picking pieces of the white 'jacket' off, for example, and as for the plasma missiles- well, it /does/ eat one of them, but the other ones do begin to cause the machine's topside to start burning red-hot. With something like that, they could break inside its body if they work harder at it-!     And while this is all going on, there's the magic of the stage to be worked in Amarillo. It starts off with Twilight Sparkle on the mic and Gakupo Kamui on instrumentals, but that familiar King of Rock'n'Roll song comes out loud and clear, echoing through every street and room in the city! All over Amarillo, people are beginning to notice!     Just hope that people aren't paying as much attention to the glowing red giant, in its storm of falling machinery and- is that plasma fireballs it's spitting now too? 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      "So we get to the box, and then we get it to this hotel. And then..." Kazuko lets out an uncertain noise as she tries to process how that works. Keyword being try, of course, since she's not all that great with mental puzzles. Still, if that's Maria's recommendation, she's more than willing to stick to it! "You might wanna stay in here for now, then. That big thing's moving away from here, so you'll probably be safer not following me. We'll be back later!"      And with that, it's time for Kazuko to join the fight! Well, the chase. Even with as fast as she is, she needs to actually catch up first, although she can at least use that distance to more easily evade the chunks of metal being sent her way. Her naginata trails in the air behind her at first, although she does start spinning the weapons at the center to gather her ki into it. It'll take time to charge up, after all, so she might as well start doing it now. But where is that box...? 

:'''{{#var:411|Twilight Sparkle (411)}} has posed:'''      Twilight smiles confidently as Kamui starts the intro section, then she looks over at Ainsley and gives a nod of encouragement. The pony turned human starts tapping her foot along with the beat. She takes a deep breath before she starts singing. Although she doesn't have the 'funkiness' of the King's voice, Twilight tries to maintain the spirit and energy that the song calls for. Her voice is quite lovely, and she quickly gets into the feel of the song which causes her body to sway and her feet to tap as she sings.      o/`A little less conversation, a little more action please~ All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me~ A little more bite and a little less bark, A little less fight and a little more spark~ Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me~ Satisfy me babyyyy~o/`      o/`Baby close your eyes and listen to the music, Drifting through a summer breeze~ It's a groovy night and I can show you how to use it, Come along with me and put your mind at ease~ Hey! A little less conversation, a little more action please~ All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me~ A little more bite and a little less bark, A little less fight and a little more spark~ Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me~ Satisfy me baby~o/`      o/`Come on baby I'm tired of talking~ Grab your coat and let's start walking~ Come on, come on... Come on, come on... Come on, come on... Don't procrastinate, don't articulate, it's gettin' late, no time to wait around~o/`      The beat hits hard and Twilight pours more of her spirit into the words, adding the attitude that The King used. o/`A little less conversation, a little more action please~ All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me~ A little more bite, a little less bark~ A little less fight, a little more spark~ Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me~ Satisfy me baby~      Twilight still sounds energetic, but as this song winds down all the use of magic and the singing itself finally catches up with her. She probably won't be able to sing another song if another is needed, but the mic is open for whoever wishes to pick it up! 

:'''{{#var:711|Corona Arclite (711)}} has posed:''' "Aaaaaw shit!" Corona barely manages to swing herself out of the way by her grappler as Anti-King grinds his side up against the crumbling structure of the refinery to get at her. "Ah reckon that means it did somethin' he don't like none!" The vixen lets out a soft sigh as she's left dangling for a moment, swaying slightly with the monster's movements. Then she's pulling herself back up. The cutting torch is deactivated and once she's gotten herself propped against it's form again, she considers. Ears twitch back and forth, listening to the metal making up the Anti King as it moves. The mishmash of it's construction makes it hard to pinpoint specific materials, so she can't pick up on one specific resonance, but oh well. She'll just have to aim a little on the broad side. When Anti-King tries to slam into the infrastructure again she actually jumps off, using her grappler to grab onto the same wreckage and yank herself away. Boots hit the ruined form and she darts along a length of protrudent rebar, drawing her trademark Breaker before leaping off again. It extends to full sledgehammer size when Corona leaps and grabs it with both hands, but instead she flips it around to have the hooked end forward when she swings, aiming to wedge the pick-like point -into- the metal and start trying to pry some of the merged metal apart. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     As the song picks up, Ainsley begins to dance. She holds the handle of the longsword carefully up, tip propped against the corner of the building, while she starts... singing back-up for Twilight. Her face scrunches as she belts out the 'aaaah~' sounds, and repeats 'Satisfy me~' at the right moments. When she hears 'Come on,' she starts belting it out with a steady rise, projecting the feeling over the people of Amarillo with a wave of an arm so she can get them to repeat it along with her.     She's having a lot of fun up there, even if she has to concentrate on the spell and throwing the emotion toward the Anti King. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Well, Staren set its hair on fire. That's... progress?     Unfortunately, a big hunk of metal progresses towards him rather fast. It clips him, and the interaction with the forcefield results in him being sent half-tumbling, half-sliding, half-hamsterballrolling across the desert as the absorbed kinetic energy finds only one way to go! Four of the discs on his chestplate just /explode/ in a shower of sparks (as does most of the forcefield), and the fifth sparks a bit as a thin layer of remaining forcefield flickers in and out of existance.     This results in Staren, trailing a rising cloud of dust, sliding right near Kazuko. As he sees her approaching, he smiles as he gets an idea. "I'll take you closer, just hang on!" He stands up and, if she allows, grabs her from behind, manifesting his wings and using the jumpjets to assist as he flies after the Anti-King. He just has his left arm around her -- his right draws his seeker pistol and fires at the knee Kirika's attacking -- He has four shots in it, hopefully between that and Kirika's efforts, by the time he gets close there will be a hole for Kazuko to jump inside and wreak merry havoc on this thing! 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika is still trying her best to make a hole for Kazuko. She jams her sword in good in a hole, prying with all her might as she uses her muscle to get the thing open. All the more wider for Kazuko is good enough for Kirika, and she strains from the effort. "RRRRAAGH!"     Her sword pries even harder, and she digs in deep with her impromptu crowbar. Blame Corona for giving her the idea. Eventually, she throws a bolt of lightning into the sensitive insides, trying to weaken the Anti-King further before she makes one last pull, trying to open up the machine's plating like a gigantic sardine can.     She keeps going until she opens up a hole, and drops in time to avoid Staren's own efforts shooting her in the process. Landing on the ground, Kirika calls out, "Kazuko, come to me!" She sheathes her sword in favor of beginning to assume a lifting stance, intending for Kazuko to use her hands as a springboard. 

:'''{{#var:686|Gakupo Kamui (686)}} has posed:''' Gakupo plays the instruments for the song, rather losing himself in the song. He's a Vocaloid, though, he tends to do that. Also, if the song takes up all of his concentration, he doesn't have an excuse to be distracted. He may be a machine, but he feels the same feeling that his heart is playing the time of the song that a human singer would have. Outwardly? His body moves gently with the beat of the song-- a tapping of the foot, swaying of his shoulders. When Twilight finishes, if she seems unsteady, Gakupo helps her to find a place to sit. "Thank you! You did wonderful!" he comments. "We'll have to try to sing together again sometime!" He's a Vocaloid, the purest expression of togetherness to him is a jam session, after all! He looks up, straining to see how things are going. He can still see the AntiKing, so... that means things aren't done yet. It's running off of negative energy, isn't it? Fear, anger, that sort of thing. Gakupo wants to keep that to a minimum as much as possible. So... when the mic's open again, he starts his own song. It's not Elvis, but it's the most uplifting one he can think of. It's likely to get attention since it starts with a sound almost like static on a radio. But there's music, and a bit later, his own voice chimes in.     "Gazing at a droplet when the rain recedes     The right eye connects to a power adapter..." It might seem an odd song to sing to a world who doesn't know electronics as advanced as his world/time. But it's inspirational anyway.     "Wake up, wake up...     The rusting gears start to move--     Connect..." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     My that is some GOOD singing! It's getting Finna in a MOOD too! But she's forced to stop the arrow barrage and instead go into FULL DODGE MODE. Her body contorts and twists seemingly impossibly as she leaps and skitters about, teeth clenched as chunks of hot metal and pipe and wall nearly take her head off several times! Her ears are on full alert and eyes constantly flicking The AntiKing's way. Yet when the oil refinery's ripped more to pieces she's forced to abandon her perch. She somehow manages to vault off it, BOUNCES off the 'King's' head and hits the ground in a roll... only to spring into an array of seven backflips, sideflips, and even more as chunks of material continue flying her way. "Wahhh!! Give me a break!"     Then a chunk clobbers her and she goes skidding and tumbling over the gound. HOW exactly she manages to always tumble UP TO HER FEET is a mystery but it's sure an odd sight to see!     The bow's stashed away, and Finna sees fit to spank her bottom teasingly at the monster! "Come get me if you can! Or is throwing shit like a big monkey all you can do?" With a whoosh of motion she whips out A PAIR OF REVOLVERS FROM NOWHERE. These Finna crosses, twirls... then aims at the King!     "Okay, MY TURN, big guy!"     BANGBANBBANGBANGBANG!     Twelve bullets are fired off at the very limit the revolver's can handle. And the bullets... they uh.     Well. They don't simply strike, if and when they strike. They bounce. They ricochet. And given the King's immense size...     His body is the perfect cage for an UNLIKELY series of ridiculous ricochet spangs, those bullets spanging off at weird angles and striking EVERYTHING and causing a hell of a clatter. Probably stings like hell! It sure LOOKS funky, what with the splashes of silver light from each impact. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "...it's a figure of speech," Maria says, a little embarrassed. "You can just break it, you know. Break it to bits." The aliens give their approval of this course of action.     If they can cripple the AntiKing's movements, then the fastest way to pull the plug on the performance would be to destroy the reliquary. It seems like a viable course of action if the combat crew can just work together to pull it off...     And meanwhile, it actually seems as if what's happening city-side is helping, because- like many attention whores- if you take peoples' attention away from them, they not only lose a lot of their impact, they start to lose their effectiveness.     People are beginning to join in with Twilight, just as Ainsley asked them to. First it's only a few people, then dozens, then hundreds- but now the song is in full swing, gradually- as people all across Amarillo recall the memories, of when they first heard and danced to this song, of how it made them happy, of the good things that surrounded it- the entertainment, the community...     It starts to draw them out and draw them together.     People are beginning to forget the hate that was inflamed in them, the prejudice and the anger.     And as this goes on, this means that they can watch what's happening to the huge monster at the city limits with anticipation, rather than fear. Amarillo has never seen a giant such as this before, but neither have they seen giant-killers- people who can hamstring its legs, causing the giant machine to shake and list, crashing against a wall and staying stuck there for a moment.     People like Corona, who can swing ring-a-rosie around the AntiKing, and pry into the metal with a weapon and their bare hands. People like Finna, whose cage of ricochet shots continue to make piecemeal dents in the huge machine, meaning that its appearence- aflame, dented and dinged, and accumulating some unpleasant holes- is really starting to look pitiful rather than terrifying.      Even as he tries to pound his chest to knock Corona off, the huge mechanical man's arms creak and his white 'coat' falls further and further apart.     In a weird way it's like thumping your chest if you have heartburn, and flailing your arm to try and keep a swarm of hornets away. The huge machine is looking more and more like a beleagured, broken man.     The AntiKing's just breathing fire in the air now, and the amplified voice of Jesse is screaming in frustration as much as it is in pain as Staren continues to rail it with those small but painful iron rounds.     That's the opening they'll need to start a Kazuko juggling chain, so she can get inside. Inside, in the tangle of sparking, twisted wreckage, there's one distinct jewelled cylinder... But be careful! Since it's got so many people clinging to it, zapping it and generally trying to peel it open, patches and veins of the AntiKing's metal body start to pulse with molten-steel heat- and it's more than just that, too! The accumulated, hate-fuelled essence starts to radiate outwards, creating an angry flaring aura around the AntiKing's body!     But...     One song segues into another, and this is where the magic happens. Because now, everyone is listening, and- everyone in Amarillo needed to know that the outside world that they've been hiding from, even things that they would consider 'alien', is as full of wonder as it is anything else.     And everyone's listening to the magic of music, as Gakupo catalyses a change for good in these amazed people. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      "Wha-Okay, then!" Kazuko's not about to turn down an opportunity to get closer to the AntiKing, especially after Maria clarifies that the box indeed needs to be broken instead of carried somewhere. She also stops spinning her polearm so as to not screw with Staren's balance during his flight. Even with as uncharacteristically focused she is, however, she still can't help but be a little impressed at the fact that she's flying with someone other than her sister!      Only a little, though, since there's still that giant metal monster to take down. "Thanks, Mister Staren! Alright, I'm coming, Miss Kirika!" She calls out as she lands with a running startm getting her feet right onto the Kitsune's hands once she's close enough to do so. Kazuko even tucks herself inward a bit to make herself easier to maneuver for Kirika, preparing for... Well.      She's ready to tear some things up. 

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''     Kirika's only met Kazuko for all of a day at most. That said, the kitsune hasn't had much time to build up to coordination. She does know pretty well to trust her fellow Elites, and they in turn do the same as they pull off actions of impossible planning on the spur of the moment.     She beckons Kazuko to come with her, and Wanko leaps into her arms. The kitsune springboards the both of them into the air as high as her legs carry her, teleporting even higher as she primes her upper body muscles next.     She spins Kazuko in the air like an olympic weight before flinging her towards the hole made. She'll land just fine, but it's up to Kazuko to land the final blow on this thing. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      And the fastball special is good! Kazuko keeps herself mostly tucked in as she slides right into the AntiKing's new hole, tumbling a bit before finally getting a clear look at what's holding it all together. Although she's more used to fighting people, it's usually been with her blunted weapon. She can't slice people apart without worrying about seriously harming them, after all! But this?      This isn't people. This is a weird machine, and she's got her bladed naginata. Plus, Kazuko's still rather pissed about the whole Hugo situation, so... She's got a lot off stress to let out. What better way to let it out on the box and everything holding it in there? Stabbing, slicing, kicking, even bashing with the handle itself! 

:'''{{#var:711|Corona Arclite (711)}} has posed:''' The slamming of fist against body is enough to dislodge Corona from her slow but steady dismantling attempts... but did she get squashed? When the limb moves away, she's not there anymore!.. But there's no grey and blonde smudge against the Anti-King's body, either. While knocked loose of her perch, Corona did manage to sink the pick into the offending arm to keep from a painful fall all the way down to the ground below. And with a bit of work, manages to pull herself up onto the limb. Only to have to hopscotch her way around the molten veins... though that does give her an idea. When she gets a clear spot she can brace herself on the arm Corona digs in and pulls out what looks more like a clockpunk super-soaker from her inventory.... And sure enough, that's what the Terminal Viscosity is spraying -- Water. But that is why Corona is taking aim at some of those molten veins appearing along the Anti-King's body. Cooling them off so they won't be a danger to people climbing on the monster's body?... actually, that's possible, but that's not the point. The point is that she's diffusing the heat to make the metal go cold again. You know what happens when you rapidly heat then cool metal in quick succession? It warps and gets brittle, that's what. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren passes Kazuko off, and drops the empty seeker pistol to draw what looks like a regular, conventional pistol. A strange weapon for Staren, to be sure. As heat flares up he dives for the hole with his own flight, and then starts trying to make his way up towards the reliquary with Kazuko. His work outside is done -- they have to finish this.     Kazuko's going to be the one bringing the most pain here, but just in case this is one of those 'won't die unless you finish it off with its weakness' deals, that pistol is loaded with a baker's dozen of 9mm iron bullets, which he'll put into the reliquary if he gets the chance! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' It's starting to look like the beginning of the end, and a new dawn for this city.     Put out a flame of fury with water- it's only natural. Doused in a cold shock, the metal body of the giant steams ferociously, whole plates of metal crackling and falling off, revealing to everyone else what Kazuko can find when she get inside.     The inside of the AntiKing is- well, surprisingly hollow, all things considered. The size of a building it may be, but there's only so much you can do when you're pulling together a giant body out of ruined buildings- and, perhaps more to the point, honestly this thing was 'hollow' all along.     Hollow desires and hollow threats. 'Jesse'- Snaredrum Sundered on the Marble Morning Street- wanted to be remembered as a legendary story, but the only story that's going to be told is how he was conquered.     And there, in the middle of a web of wires and essence streamers, covered in iron dust, she finds the core of the Yaoguai's conciousness...     And it is afraid.     The flame-capped cylinder shatters like porcelain under the girl's brutal strike, and the horror that has given Amarillo such terrible trouble in these months is finally eliminated once and for all. And then, just to be completely sure? Staren shoots it a lot.     It works.     The hollow body of the AntiKing peels apart, collapsing into gravel and rust under its own weight.     The cheers go up all over Amarillo- everyone's amazed, everyone's happy. They're cheering for the concert, they're cheering for victory...     Ren himself looks up from where he's been busy keeping the improtou concert setup held together, wiping sweat from his forehead. He had to dive into the background to keep some of the electronics all together, and the magic flowing, but hey... everyone else managed.     And then, when the group draws back to Amarillo city proper, with the giant conquered behind them, people dancing in the streets...         That's when he walks in.     He is a waiter from the Big Texan, wearing a pair of shades. He is clapping, in a genteel way, but also a discordant way, as he walks up the street.     "Bravo, ladies and gentlemen. Encore. Peanut butter bacon and banana sandwiches for everyone."     "...excuse me?" Ren asks. 

:'''{{#var:711|Corona Arclite (711)}} has posed:''' "Aaaah crud crud crud!" Corona starts cussing again when the construct starts to fall apart after the entity barely holding it together is destroyed. Then remembers she's prepared for this. Ahahaha. Whoops, got a little worked up there. Corona jumps off the crumbling arm, and deploys the collapsable glider she keeps handy for just this sort of situation. Wheeeee. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren glares at the reliquary as it's destroyed, sighing in relief as it breaks apart...     And then the robot collapses around them.     He glances around. Can he make it to the hole with everything moving around them? No... it's time for plan B. "HANG ON!" He shouts, grabbing Kazuko from behind, pulling a device with a wristband from his bag, holding it between his hand and her stomach as he hugs her and presses a button, shouting "Concentrate on not dying!"     There is a definate feeling os psychic drain, and a bubble of grey force appears around them, while the bracelet grows purple.     The bubble bounces off /everything/. Staren's locked his armor in place as they bounce around the pieces chaotically before being ejected out at an angle, then fall to Earth, Staren deactivating the field and then reactivating it just before they hit the ground each time to conserve energy, but after a couple of bounces he finally remembers he has wings and stops them mid-air, before landing, letting go of Kazuko, and stumbling around dizzily for a moment. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''      Kazuko hums lightly as she takes a moment to admire the fruits of their collective labor: The AntiKing crumbling into a pile of junk! She doesn't even look too worried about the whole thing, raising her naginata to clear out anything above her that might actually risk injuring her, but she doesn't have much time to do that when she feels a tugging from behind.      "Gyah! Wh-what?! It's fine, I can get down on my own!" If anything, she's more freaked out by Staren dragging her out of the crumbling machine, and the bouncing bubble thing definitely isn't helping any! By the time they stop moving, she's a little paler than she was before. And...      Well, psychic bubbles don't /need/ to have puke cleaned off of them, right?      Once her stomach is finally settled and the group is back in the city (with a fresh set of clothes for herself), Kazuko's looking quite satisfied with herself. She even perks up a bit when the waiter speaks up, the thought of food (mostly) erasing that terrifying bubble ride. Noting Ren's confusion, she giggles lightly and gives him a light jab to the side with her elbow. "You know, the sandwich that Elvis guy made!"      That's seriously the only thing she knows about him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Peanut butter, bacon, and banana?" Staren echoes, once they make it back to the city. "Eh... I guess I can give it a try." 

:'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''     DOWN goes the AntiKing. Collapsed into a pile of rubble. Finna makes it look easy as she twirls the two revolvers and stuffs them away to... SOMEWHERE in her pants (where did they go? There's no holsters for 'em? Elsewhere is SO handy!) she's still sweating bullets and trying not to show it when the Yao-whatever goes DOWN.     She just stands there, grinning nervously, while others pull free of the wreckage. her eyes are open for anyone who needs help... but they all seems to manage. So instead... she finds herself turning and blinking at a guy that... she does not really know. Blink blink blink.     But she gives him a winning, only slightly sheepish smile, as if to say, 'surprise me more!'     With that toppled mess behind her. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Somewhere back on route 87, Mike Yates wakes up and feels tired and icky.     Maria and the aliens walk up behind Ren, the latter clustered somewhat worriedly behind her.     "I know. I wouldn't accept a sandwich from this waiter, though," Ren says slowly.     "I'm happy that you managed to get it all sorted out, but you really took longer than I expected," the waiter says. "And you did practically nothing at the end there, Ren. It was disappointing."     "...who are you?" Ren asks, his face harder and colder than it's been in a very long time.     "Oh... you know who I am," the waiter replies with a smile.     "I'm Takuya."     And so, he does something surprising.     A black ring begins to notglow on his forehead.     The ten thousand little metal panels making up his face turn and tumble, the pistons underneath his arms and legs compressing and stetching.     And then, he's a long-haired woman, a California scientist.     And then, a black-bearded, stout dwarf with a missing hand...     http://i.imgur.com/OANP2dV.jpg     And then, he's a dandy gentleman, with an edwardian cravat, night-black skin and burning eyes. Holding onto a spider.     "Takuya, the Abyssal Exalted."     He folds his hands behind his back. "I hope that everyone found this interesting, now. It's a lot of work getting two objects in space to crash into one another /and/ then go through a warpgate /then/ land in just the right place to kill a touring rockstar. But it was an interesting few months, really, wasn't it?"     "Expect more to come!"     And then he takes a step backwards, and the swirling portal of darkness behind him swallows Takuya the Abyssal Exalted up.     Ren's face is harder and colder than it's ever been before. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i8FS-T67XY     The Final Stretch - Mitch Murder     Kung Fury Original Soundtrack - 2015     EPILOGUE *     Having been rescued from the clutches of the Yaoguai, the aliens elected to take Maria Smith with her back to their homeworld, named Tari. With the support of the Union she became a citizen of the multiverse, and later helped to broker a peace between them and the neighboring Screewee people. *     Tobe agreed to work dilligently towards solving the problems that the many people in the accumulated gangs had developed which brought them into crime and hooliganism. After several years, the new racing community had entered official sponsorship with NASCAR, and by 1975 the official Texas Motor Speedway was being built. *     The Union spent the next several months slowly explaining the existence of the multiverse to the Amarillo community and integrating the city as part of their protected territories. Once freed from the influence of the Yaoguai, the field effect around the city faded away. *     Mike Yates disappeared after the confrontation with the Anti-King. Some time later he made headlines on Porombo Island as an up-and-coming Robopon collector. *     Ren Tanaka later bought the same outfit he has been wearing for several months in Amarillo following the disappearance of the costuming field. He was last seen wearing it to a kareoke night in Grimsby.     INVADERS FROM OUTER SPACE         THE END     THANK YOU FOR ROCKING! 
}}

Stress Related Break(Through\Down) (Ren Tanaka)

2016-04-26T05:10:42Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/22 |Location=Tomoyo's Boutique (Former) - Tomoeda, Japan |Synopsis=Do you ever have one of those moments where all the stress and the..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/22
|Location=Tomoyo's Boutique (Former) - Tomoeda, Japan
|Synopsis=Do you ever have one of those moments where all the stress and the confusion and the worries clear from your head and you know exactly the best, simplest, easiest answer to your problem?

No?

Good.
|Thanks=To Tomoyo Daidouji and Mamimi Samejima
|Cast of Characters=165
}}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aae8JHpZV8M
There's a Man I Know - Jamie Robertson
Soundcloud - 2012

(This cutscene happens at some time between Friday and Wednesday.)

Someone has done terribly wrong to a friend of Ren Tanaka's.

He's done this before, forensics. In casinos and ruined houses, in whatever town he drifted through that week. Some crime to solve, some injustice done to the friend he made that week and then left behind once their trouble was resolved. Put on a pair of gloves, get your tweezers and your little plastic bags out, and then just let the essence flow through you.

And so he does, standing in the charred boutique. Amidst the ashes of dreams, he stands and he scans, hours of work in fifteen seconds, skipping from place to place, information linking together like rings in a chain. Chain's an appropriate simile. He overturns a piece of something unrecognizeably charred; there's a cigarette underneath, not sufficiently destroyed by the heat.

'NEVER KNOWS BEST'

Who smokes these? Who had he seen smoking these before? Of course he can remember. He never forgets a thing. His mind is a manse, his memories a library.

Something clicks into place inside of his soul. This is a thing that happens sometimes.

So, Mamimi Samejima is responsible. Mamimi Samejima is the problem. He needs to remove the problem. Well, that and present incontrovertible evidence that she is responsible, that- no, that's a secondary concern. First, we remove the problem. But how? She's not a monster. She is a person. Granted, a weak-willed, stupid person, but a person nonentheless. Who was she always calling the robot dog anyway? Takkun?

...half an hour later, and he's in the Union's databases, jumping from there to other databases. Mamimi Samejima, no elite powers, place of origin Mabase Japan... so who from Mabase has a name beginning with 'Ta'... who was involved with her in the past... Tasuku Nandaba, currently in America, so we bring Mamimi to Tasuku, we figure out what their involvement is, we continue to figure it out until she stops being a problem...

4040/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 3

2016-04-24T20:57:56Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/23 |Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert |Synopsis=The return to the Machine Factory. And then... meetings. |Cast of Characters=151, 165, 492..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/23
|Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert
|Synopsis=The return to the Machine Factory. And then... meetings.
|Cast of Characters=151, 165, 492, 964, 967
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Welcome to the future, although it is not your future.     Context:     Before the people of the good ship Lollypop were found by the Union, they were looking for part of a map in the cliffside town that was once part of an underground lab. This map contained directions to a potential counterweapon built to destroy artificial brains- a countermeasure to the uprising that became the Metal Horde that would otherwise be lost during the tragic war. Having direction and a way to save their people, they proposed the Union investigate it- not dismissing the idea of saving their fellows, after all it was the Queen Mother who suggested it to begin with. Rather, it became a possibility, a potential.     But the return to Juneau will come first.     The new information coming from Ainsley and Lotus's interrogation of their kidnapped Mechantical has shed much new light on the situation. Many people want to approach the situation differently because of this, for the Horde has a grain of begnin intention here, but they wield knowledge dangerously, as a blunt instrument- knowledge without understanding. Ren's ... not here today. He's failed to show up for the incident that he, in a way, kicked off. But his presence is probably not a necessity. What is necessary remains to be seen. Once again, you're approaching Juneau, hole blown in its high walls, Metal Horde offensive forces scabbing over the wound in their defences to keep monstrous intruders out.     So, you've probably got a Union or Syndicate owned desert-transport-capable transport vehicle. How are you going to approach this? 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Ainsley on one side of it, the Lotus on another. Even if the Lotus used some measure of remote systems for interrogation and analysis, the end result was the a net positive: information and background on what would become the possible choices. Not that the Lotus favored one or another, as it was morally grey to put it mildly. That choice she put forth in Kushiko's hands to do as they felt was best. The Lotus was a guide, as she oft put it. The Tenno's approach is rather simple in a sense that, her ship, cloaked is remaining out of sight until they've assessed a proper point of entry and a plan. Sure, they could try and free the people but was it even possible, and would it simply hurt the people already part of that collective unconsciousness? That's what the radios were for. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley makes sure that the Union vehicle she tagged along on got as close as possible to the facility. Once she did that, she climbed out of it, and floated out to approach the hole in the wall. She didn't seem all that concerned about being seen, maintaining her neutral affect as she hovered over the ground, making her way to that hole in the side. She's actually hoping that she gets interrupted by the Horde itself so that she can stop and talk to them. If nothing is willing to do that, then she'll just ignore them in favor of getting inside.     She wants answers, she wants to convince them to do something better than this horror show of a method, and really, she wants everyone to come out of this alright. But she holds no remorse over the possibility of violence, because sometimes it is impossible to avoid. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:''' Blurr doesn't need a Union transport. Because duh, he's superior to every other transport that exists out there. He pulls up beside the others in his vehicle form, examining the hole in the wall. "So how tough are these guys?" he asks, the question directed anyone who might know the answer to it. Hm, that hole in their defenses doesn't look quite patched up yet! Maybe he can just...zoom through. Run past everything and everyone. Or over, for that matter. He looks eager to get going--he never was the type to sit around talking about things or deciding what to do before simply charging in. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     There are decisions to be made, certainly. The 'Horde in the base don't entirely know what's going on- after one of their number was kidnapped yesterday, they didn't really know what has happened, what they found or what they now know- in fact all they really know is that hostile people from outside this world are interfering with their desperate mission, and so far they've beaten and kidnapped several and various different people and blown a hole in their wall.     Maybe this would be all a lot easier if everyone stopped pointing guns at one another, but the same could be said for a thousand and one problems.     From closer inspection in, say, a cloaked vehicle, or indeed a single small organic person, you may be able to notice that only one tank has a gun on it and others are outfitted to carry and tug building materials. Foe their part, the robots near the hole in the wall mistake Ainsley for a bird (negligible threat; no need to shoot down). However, there HAS been small dangerous individuals messing around in the last few days, so one of them does indeed try it.     "Unidentified individual. Are you capable of acknowledging this hail? Stop or we will shoot."     It actually sounds really rather nervous. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' There's a kind of quiet contemplation insofar as whether or not the Tenno will literally dropped in. From the cloaked vessel observing, and scanning from above, a single Warframe is all that is going to be used, if even at all. Time will tell, as the Lotus privately notes to Blurr and Ainsley: <<"Only one of the tanks appears to be fully armed; the remainder are repurposed for construction and repair-based tasks and moving material.">> As soon as her voice began and ended, a cut-in vision of the masked woman (as much as can be told) also displayed for those who have the equipment for it. It's likely the Lotus will also be speaking up as well once a vaguely neutral point of meeting is secured. As to Blurr's question, another voice decides to chime in, <<"It's not a matter of toughness so much as they're not.. trying to really kill anyone so much as defend themselves so they can take them back here. Most of what they had was for stunning.">> 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley stops.     The calm look she flashes at the metallic being is complemented by her raising both hands to show that she's harmless. She comes to land near the robot with a gentle smile showing on her face. "Hello, I'm Ainsley. I would like to get a look at the machinery you use here..." She gestures for the building itself, though she doesn't go as far to say that this is a flawed attempt at it. She watches the metal being carefully in case it tries to shoot her. "I apologize for all the hostilities you and your brethren have endured so far. You must understand that we are foreign to this world and that your actions were seen as hostile to the humans that we had run into before your forces had arrived."     "We would like the return of the humans. Your mission is important, but their well-being is as well. For the sake of mutual enlightenment and peace, I would like to speak with ... one of your leaders?" A questioning tone, since she's not sure they even have a standard leadership structure.     The whole time, she uses a spell to help translate it into terms easily digested, or condensed down into raw meanings where that fails, so that she isn't misunderstood while she speaks. It would come out with plenty of that robot speak and pseudo-religious tone. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X cannot fly, cannot swim, and definitely can't burrow. But he can walk and he can climb, and the great walls of Juneau cannot hope to keep him out if he wanted to scale them.     Won't likely have to though, because there's a nice big hole in them that doesn't seem to have been fixed.     X has chosen his own approach though. His advanced optics give him a clear view of the vehicular situation and the movements of the Mechanticals.     They're not looking so hostile out there. Barely even a guard.     So his approach is to just walk straight on up towards the breach they're repairing, and his hands are... just hands. Neither's the X-Buster today. He has no intention of fighting! But he is clutching a medium-sized, heavy-duty sack.     And it seems neither does Ainsley who gets there just a little bit sooner.     "Hello! My name is X... also here to inquire about what's happening with the humans." He looks friendly enough. Sounds cheery even, if painfully naive about things.     "What she says is the truth. We'd like to clear up these misunderstandings." 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:''' << Take them? Take who? >> Blurr questions. This person said 'they' and 'them' a lot and he isn't quite sure who is being referred to. << The humans? >> He notices Ainsley is trying to resolve things peacefully, though, and decides to see if her attempts are successful first. << Well I guess it's good that they're not killing anyone, then. >>     He moves up besides her and waits for the other mech's response, hopefully not making any unintentionally hostile moves. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' <<"Ah! Sorry,">> the voice begins anew given Blurr's query. This voice is a bit different; presumably it's that of the Tenno as it's different from the voice of the Lotus. <<"This 'Metal Horde' as they got called have been trying to take the humans that are back at that landship, the Lollypop.">> That part establishes the 'them', as well as the 'they' to that agree to confirm. <<"What they are doing is putting them into a state where their minds are part of a networked intelligence. Think of a drop of water, then that drop of water goes into a lake as their minds go. They're doing this because they've got some.. basic knowledge of old Buddhist teachings but none of the actual /learning/ and understanding that should go along with it. Don't point this out to them too bluntly though.">> 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' It's not implausible that if the Union decided to smash and grab here, then they could achieve it pretty easily. It's not impossible, in fact, that if they decided that they just wanted to take on allcomers and fight every robot in the facility capable of using an offensive technique, that they could pull it off.     And don't the Metal Horde know it; this is a situation where they are facing a threatening alien invasion which they are scrambling to counteract. Which means that when X and Ainsley just decide the course of action is to try walking along and talking, the people by the wall are, to say the least, surprised.     Each of them pivots back and forth to look at one another when Ainsley begins to talk to them, and when X echoes it. It's clear at least from the first part of it that they're somewhat taken by surprise- body language seems to be something they're capable of at least to the extent that you can read nervousness from it.     That only gets worse when they mention they're here about the humans, and the robots there are only too relieved to hear that they'd prefer to talk to someone else.     "We are currently being employed for repair work," one of the types that would be previously recognized as a 'slaver' explains to them. "It may be difficult to communicate with someone but--"     But, nevertheless, it happens. Cautious Mechanticals appear from within the facility; they are unsure how to handle this, as a thunderstorm in California is currently keeping them from direct communication with the Bodhisattva. If the four of them are willing to find a not-so-ruined building outside of the walls and a reasonable distance away (reveal themselves as necessary), they will come through the wall and further from the facility.     One of the Mechanticals who has come out speaks up as they approach.     "So far all we know of you are the severe damage you inflicted on one of our units and multiple abductions. What reason do we have to trust you?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley maintains her patience throughout the surprise of the 'slaver' robots. It's hardly a new reaction, due to what she had gathered from them before. She even smiles at them as they seem more than willing to chat on the subject. And then one of the Mechanticals arrives when they come inside and speaks quite bluntly about the status of their perceptions, and it causes a momentary pained look on Ainsley's face. She hadn't participated in that fight and, truthfully, she had tried to steer it away from violence if at all possible.     "Because we are asking you to," she says, simply enough, "We don't have anything to show to you but our honesty. I was there for that battle and I can assure you the abducted slavers are in decent shape. It was... difficult to speak to them, as we were ignorant of what you are as a whole when the battle happened. Robotic forces, from our experiences in other worlds, tend toward the mindless drone variety, not the kind you clearly are." She means intelligent, of course.     "In addition, we are not accustomed to slavers and captors having goals they see as altruistic," she says, "Just as you dislike us taking some of your own, humanity and my allies dislike the idea of capture of their own. You are not that different. They don't understand why you insist on capturing them, and we don't understand why you have gone to such extreme measures to grant them... this strange form of nirvana, seemingly against their wills."     "Please. We need to understand what is happening here. Tragedy must be avoided. These people were never willing for this, and the other humans are being distressed by their state. They need to be released, if you can do that, or we can simply examine the equipment to confirm whether they are in danger or not."     The strain in her voice isn't quite desperation, but she's trying to make it clear that she's very apologetic about what happened. 

:'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:''' It seems the other mechs are cautious, but not hostile. Blurr decides to reveal himself then, when it seems they are not eager to trust the others. Maybe since he's a mechanical being like they are, they'll be more inclined to trust him?     He transforms then, standing up into his biped form, though he tries not to do it too quickly or suddenly as he is more accustomed to, then crouches down to their level as much as he can. "Look, yeah you're right you have a good point. We're sorry about the damage, but I think this has all been a big misunderstanding, okay? We're just concerned about the humans you have in there, that's all. Protecting sapient life, any form of it, is what we do. Whether it's organic like those humans or like Ainsley here, or mechanical like you or me."     He nods toward Ainsley as she speaks. "Yeah, exactly. We believe that every intelligent lifeform has a right to choose their own paths so to speak." Got that one from Optimus, no doubt. "Including you, and including those humans. Sometimes, it's hard to tell what's right and wrong, especially with--uhm, limited information. So we're just trying to fix that limited information problem so that we can figure out what the best thing to do is for everyone involved. Sound fair? Yeah?" 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' The more this goes on, the more time X has to think about it, the more questions crop up in his head. How could this have gone better? What could he have done to avoid these misunderstandings? Everything he can think of just creates other ones elsewhere.     He opens his mouth briefly to speak, but then thinks better of it. Ainsley's doing a wonderful job. Enough so that he should just take notes and not tread on territory she's covered. Instead...     "All I can offer up front is apologies and some compensation for the trouble. That means mending the damage I inflicted if I can. The ones we took hostage will be repaired and returned in whichever order you're more comfortable with. I'm also a robot, if it isn't obvious." He adds the last statement with a warmer, slightly humorous air.     He knows very well how a robot would feel about being tinkered with where their fellows can't see the tinkering being done.     "That and... I brought some books, manuscripts, scrolls and other documents that your Bodhisattva - am I pronouncing that right? - might like to see." He hoists the sack effortlessly to point out what he's talking about.     "Things from the past, from worlds where the past wasn't destroyed." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' And as Ainsley talks, a sortof floating, semi-holographic image shows up of the Lotus; only from about the shoulder up and servicing as something of a secondary, floating, talking head. "And while the individual of yours that has indeed been taken from here, they remain in safety until we're certain they will not be harmed upon their release back into your care." The holo-image shifts to the Mechantical Adjutant; probably looking somehow a little bit bored, but otherwise in an empty room. The camera angle shifts, however where the Adjutant is 'facing' the camera, and then the Mechantical captive might just realize that he's watching a similar image, but of the other Mechanticals, a projection in his room. There's no audio, but it ought to be enough to provide for a proof of life. Regardless of this, another little... thing happens. Further up, the ship decloaks; an underside compartment revolving around to discharge the Warframe from it. The figure's in freefall at least until the point of impact. Which happens to be Blurr's shoulder after the Cybertronian transforms, landing as quietly and without force as a gentle breeze. Valkyr does not appear armed, but the armored, feminine figure glances aside at Blurr for a moment. Faceless though the Warframe may be, there's a faintly apologetic air to her as the Lotus comes back online through another holographic projection. "We are not here to harm you. We would not be speaking with you first if we were here to harm you." A little blunt, but also accurate. If one weren't looking at the black and purple-colored figure, she has a surprising lack of presence despite the absolute terror she was to them before. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' https://www.youtube.    chw">Prelude/Outer Space/Radar - Bernard Herrmann     The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951     Maybe it's just the fact that we're gathered in another ruined building a short distance up the mountain, but this feels a little eerie. Maybe things are too easy.     Maybe these guys are just kind of intimidated by you, although the Lotus immediately assuages that.     The discussion that follows probably takes place half on the way to the building and half in it, possibly because it's hard to find a decent intact building to sit in. Heck, this building might not even have a roof on it. We might just be sitting around a long table with some tumbledown walls around it.     Still, it works.     It is strange that Blurr revealing himself actually probably goes a ways to making this easier on them, rather than less so. But it takes all sorts. The Mechanticals- there's four of them, in all- listen to what Ainsley and X have to say. It's slow going at first, with them interjecting things like 'okay' and 'I see', but amazingly enough X produces those books, and that's the real icebreaker. As Blurr talks the Mechanticals are all too happy to pass them about between one another - an enthusiasm which, it's worth noting, begins to visibly wane as the passing-about becomes slower and the reading of the books also becomes slower, and the checking back at previous chapters becomes more common. They started off flipping the pages every half a second, and they're clearly not skim-reading, but soon they're going through them very slowly and their hands (well, the little clawed tiny arms which came out of the middle of their cylinders) are almost shaking.     At one point, one of them says, "This is a shocking development indeed. Please let us record and transmit these contents back by way of radio signals," and there's a period of time where they go quickly through each of the books with antennas up.     When that's done, they will proceed with an explanation which mirrors what you were told by the guy you interrogated a few days ago. However, as it goes on, the subject of this 'Bodhisattva' comes up more and more often in terms of how he guided things to this point, encouraged the development of the facility, and generally engineered things as their leader. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' If the Lotus were honest, it was probably a concern for what they might do with more knowledge, or perhaps assume that the presentation of additional sources of information that they might take offense in an implication about the lack thereof. Couldn't be faulted for thinking that given their unwillingness to consider fault. At some point, the Warframe that Kushiko is using disembarks from where it was standing on Blurr's shoulder in order to posit quiet observation and the like. Occasionally, the holo-like panel of the Lotus might cut in soon enough whenever she would deign to speak, such as now: "... do any of you know why there was such a collapse and disintegration of history and culture here? Our understanding is that you and others like you gained sentience too late to prevent the loss yet avert a complete loss in some regard." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "Sure, take all the time you need." X offers,l just a bit shocked at how rabidly the Mechanicals are inclined to peruse the materials. He'd grabbed them in the hopes that maybe it would help clear up their fragmented knowledge. He, himself, has only established that they didn't have that much material to work with... and hoped they'd like it as a gift. Only skimmed through most of it himself.     He doesn't quite get it, but it's unusual to say the least. And a few passages may have been inspirational!     "If there's people who want to be in this... nirvana... then I guess that's fine." He sounds uncertain about the matter though, given how confusing it is. "But I'd argue that forcing an incomplete, 'best we can do' version of it is acting too hasty. And it's hard to excuse capturing people because you think you know how they should live. In fact, I'd argue that this nirvana state can't come about unless someone starts to seek it themselves first. There's So I'm curious just how things really ended up like this, if there isn't maybe something important everyone's missed." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     The important thing to remember is, as Ren might say if he was here, people are people. It is entirely possible that the subject of your interrogation might have been just a rather arrogant person, or perhaps bigoted. Alternatively, it may be that the ones you are talking to now are considerably more open-minded than the others. Either possibility is true. In any case, the cat's out of the bag now; if you try to shove it back in, there's going to be a lot of scratching and hissing and fighting. Isn't that how the saying goes?     "There was a... considerable amount of loss," one of them explains, "And we believe that at some point during what was happening, early Mechanticals received data containing a meaningful concept of culture, perhaps even a rudimentary concept of Buddhism- one that was less painful than the signals they were otherwise taking in. This allowed them to prioritize saving it once they understood what it meant."     It's possible this might go some distance to explaining why they pounced on those books so quickly. It seems that if these Mechanticals have one advantage, it's that they can absorb information very quickly as soon as it's presented to them. You can imagine a freedom fighter of the past trying to get into the heart of a Californian university with floppy disks full of shakespeare and bitmap pictures.     "After a certain point in time, once they- we- had fully assimilated what we could recover- granted, now we know that was full of holes- Central Brain emerged, and announced that it had the best individual grasp of enlightenment. It led the effort to make amends for the human race under the role of Bodhisattva."     "We didn't know any better," one of them who's sank to the back says. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Comparing these Mechanticals to the Adjutant of previously interrogated notions. They had been wary after all, but now, seeing them as they react now, it's a bit interesting to put it nicely. The Lotus displays no outward signs of emotion, her tonal inflections in her voice remaining strictly neutral as she speaks through the emitters, the image displayed as the Valkyr Warframe holds a hand, faint light streaking from her palm. "We suspected as much. You had one side to it; with little to no context of what to compare it to, or perhaps a desire not to have, as you put it, painful signals." She pauses, pursing her lips for only a moment. It's then that another voice speaks up; another emitter, it sounds like. "Do not discount the bad parts of history. It may be painful, but this pain puts everything else into relief. If you only have the good parts, how do you know it's good? When you know something's bad, you're able to try and stop it from happening again. You learn from it so you don't necessarily repeat it." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "To get the other side of the story we'll need to ask Lollypop's people more questions." X remarks thoughtfully, unafraid of speaking such ideas aloud. "I'd like to meat this Bodhisattva, too." He's seated comfortably in the chair, posture rather serene and easygoing... along with his expression. Now that things have progressed to peaceful talking he's much more in his element!     Being utterly confused about life, yet learning every day.     "There could be hope for this world if the surviving humans and robots cooperatedand figured out where to go from here. As it stands... they're just terrified of you." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "We are learning so much more in this short space of time than I feel we have in many years," one of the four of them says. T"Yes, but I can only hope that our reputation has not been permanently rusted in the eyes of the humans," says another. "The only times I understand we've ever had confrontations that were not violent were the times when ones have openly surrendered to us."     "That's right, I was there for at least one surrender," the one who's taken to standing the furthest from the table says.     "Given that Central Brain has a deeper understanding of what we do know than the rest of us, I'm sure he would be willing to talk with the humans if some kind of mediation could be achieved. You might be the ones we both need," looking not entirely at all five of them, but speaking in a more general sense. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' The Valkyr could sit. But it doesn't have the issues regarding comfort and other sorts of things most others might. Still, it didn't mean that they didn't take their own means of sitting. The 'frame had knelt down not far from the table, but in a lotus position typically seen in some of those Buddhist practices, though the Tenno themselves did not necessarily associate it specifically with that. That's just their natural instinct. In the meantime, the Lotus speaks; sometimes her face drawing a little closer towards the camera view displaying her image, sometimes not. "It's become painfully clear there is a lack of information on all sides. Balance must be found here before something tips the scales too far in one direction." A slight pause. "There are likely those who may simply want to find their own way. Even if their choice might be felt as the wrong one, it should still be their choice to make." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "What she said." X gently affirms. Not really much more he can say ton the matter, and the approval resounds in his tone.     "All we can do is try talking! And see if they'll believe." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Really all of this could probably have been avoided if you hadn't put the access codes for all the secret science wonder projects in the same part of the ARPANET as the rapidly growing artificially intelligent brains. Oh well, no sense in blaming the scientists now.     There is a chorus of agreement from everyone, one of them even echoing that "Freedom /is/ the right of all sentient beings" from earlier. And they'll have to figure out how to deal with the awful state of the landscape, too- hopefully the Union people can mention the plan for that.     The next step seems like it's going to be a meeting between the humans and the Horde.     ---     INTERMISSION     ---         It remembered being much larger. It rembered being wider and more numerous, many brains but all of them the same mind, all calculating the best way to serve the ultimate objective. It still knew, even as small as it was now, the immense value of orchestrated calculation and efficiency. But it wanted to go back to being bigger. It could still recognize the familiar atmosphere of post-destruction, of everything around it on fire and not understanding why its actions had led to such pyrotechnical response. It needed to go back to being bigger so that it could fully consider why so much destruction had occured. If it could fix its mistake, perhaps- change the people so that they were more appropriate- then it could return to its masters with something good to show them. But, one thing at a time... 
}}

Canon in E(xalted)

2016-04-20T11:54:18Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/14
|Location=Union Radio
|Synopsis=Ren tunes a violin and plays it. People listen. ALSO: Musical skill in MMOs!
|Cast of Characters=165, 973, 648
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka tunes a violin

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Hmmm?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I found a violin. I'm going to see if I'm still good at it."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Oh, well um... good luck!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "Ooohhh~"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Just a regular violin, though, that's why I'm tuning it."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "I played flute back in SAO... I was pretty good at it, but that was all system skill not mine."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "How did that work, then?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's a VR Game... if you put the time and effort into a Skill, it levels up. ALO focuses on personal ability instead of a strict leveling system, so I haven't touched instruments in there."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Besides, that's the Puca's domain, I'm a Cait Sith."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No, I mean... how did you play an instrument if it was all the system doing the performance?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "I, used the Skill system."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's kinda hard to explain if you don't know how the Full Dive system works."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Mm... so you mean it was more like running a music file than playing an instrument?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Yeah, pretty much."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's a lot different in ALO though. Real performers and musicians can put on much better shows than someone with no ability."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "How interesting~"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Mm, yes."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Definitely sounds better."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Not going to argue that. I love listening to this Puca travelling band that makes the rounds of the Neutral territories."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka begins to play.

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka it's canon in d

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "That was lovely~"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Thank you! I'm very rusty."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Hmm, that's better than I could ever hope to do."
}}

Canon in E(xalted)

2016-04-20T11:53:31Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/14
|Location=Union Radio
|Synopsis=Ren tunes a violin and plays it. People listen. ALSO: Musical skill in MMOs!
|Cast of Characters=165, 673, 648
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka tunes a violin

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Hmmm?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I found a violin. I'm going to see if I'm still good at it."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Oh, well um... good luck!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "Ooohhh~"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Just a regular violin, though, that's why I'm tuning it."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "I played flute back in SAO... I was pretty good at it, but that was all system skill not mine."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "How did that work, then?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's a VR Game... if you put the time and effort into a Skill, it levels up. ALO focuses on personal ability instead of a strict leveling system, so I haven't touched instruments in there."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Besides, that's the Puca's domain, I'm a Cait Sith."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No, I mean... how did you play an instrument if it was all the system doing the performance?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "I, used the Skill system."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's kinda hard to explain if you don't know how the Full Dive system works."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Mm... so you mean it was more like running a music file than playing an instrument?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Yeah, pretty much."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's a lot different in ALO though. Real performers and musicians can put on much better shows than someone with no ability."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "How interesting~"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Mm, yes."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Definitely sounds better."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Not going to argue that. I love listening to this Puca travelling band that makes the rounds of the Neutral territories."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka begins to play.

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka it's canon in d

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "That was lovely~"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Thank you! I'm very rusty."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Hmm, that's better than I could ever hope to do."
}}

Canon in E(xalted)

2016-04-20T11:51:07Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/14 |Location=Union Radio |Synopsis=Ren tunes a violin and plays it. People listen. ALSO: Musical skill in MMOs! |Cast of Characters=165, 67..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/14
|Location=Union Radio
|Synopsis=Ren tunes a violin and plays it. People listen. ALSO: Musical skill in MMOs!
|Cast of Characters=165, 673, 648
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka tunes a violin.
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Hmmm?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I found a violin. I'm going to see if I'm still good at it."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Oh, well um... good luck!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "Ooohhh~"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Just a regular violin, though, that's why I'm tuning it."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "I played flute back in SAO... I was pretty good at it, but that was all system skill not mine."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "How did that work, then?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's a VR Game... if you put the time and effort into a Skill, it levels up. ALO focuses on personal ability instead of a strict leveling system, so I haven't touched instruments in there."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Besides, that's the Puca's domain, I'm a Cait Sith."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No, I mean... how did you play an instrument if it was all the system doing the performance?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "I, used the Skill system."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's kinda hard to explain if you don't know how the Full Dive system works."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Mm... so you mean it was more like running a music file than playing an instrument?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Yeah, pretty much."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "It's a lot different in ALO though. Real performers and musicians can put on much better shows than someone with no ability."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "How interesting~"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Mm, yes."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Definitely sounds better."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Not going to argue that. I love listening to this Puca travelling band that makes the rounds of the Neutral territories."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka begins to play.
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka it's canon in d
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Tomoyo Daidouji says, "That was lovely~"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Thank you! I'm very rusty."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Silica says, "Hmm, that's better than I could ever hope to do."
}}

4002/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 1

2016-04-20T06:49:26Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/11
|Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert
|Synopsis=Five thousand dollars will be paid out to the families of anyone who dies during the chilling cinematic presentation of the desert drama!
|Cast of Characters=151, 162, 165, 236, 964, 967
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     WE ARE... not in Waterland right now. Nope!     Ren invited anyone who was interested to a movie night, since he recently came into acquisition of a rather nice authentic cinema projector and a roll of film featuring the late 1970s classic, uh, um...     Well, that's just the thing! We don't really know. The can's empty aside from the date, so it was a surprise movie. Nevertheless he has made popcorn and hot dogs and stuff, and invited people into the room in Njorun while he gets the film set up.     That may or may not have been the reason why you came here. The other reason may be why he's currently staring at the wall, walking up to it, and wiggling his hands in front of the projected image on the screen.     For, you see, when Ren finally got that film up and rolling, after a brief few seconds, and a bit of narration, the image suddenly got a lot brighter, and all of a sudden it wasn't an image at all. It was a portal!     That's right, a warpgate opened up right in Screen B. And what would any sensible person do? Why, stick their head in, of course.     "...who wants to go exploring?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr wasn't really much of a social creature... but when a general alert went out about a new portal just opening up from a movie projector, well, she comes running! The mage rounds the corner and frowns a bit as she pulls the coin from her bracer, preparing to set up her Barrier Jacket and Device. "Divine Wind, scan that projector and the film reel..."     <Already did, Master. No Lost Logia signature detected.> replies the AI, the blue gemstone flickering as the voice speaks. "Oookay then... lets get in there and get this over with huh?" 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron may not be what one would call a super movie buff, but he can appreciate one. Particularly one that likes to call itself a 'classic'. He also brought soda, because he figures it's going to be needed. And if not, hey, that's just more soda. It's not like no one will drink it, right?     Try to separate him from his sword however? And one is going to be disappointed. Given the odd nature of the request, it's probably a good idea he decided to bring that. So yes, he does have his sword on his back in the gray sheath attached to his belt.     The film is started, and then suddenly there is a portal. This is a bit surprising. Auron asks a question of his own in response to Ren's. A couple of them, actually. "Are we limited by time? Will we be stuck there if the film runs out before we return?" 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X appears in a flash of light not far away, courtesy of a teleporter. He heard the general call for help and decided to peek in! And it leaves him walking into... a movie theater? The robot pauses mid-stride. What is he looking at?     "Hello? My name's X. I heard the call for help... what in the world am I seeing? Some kind of portal?"     He's brave enough, but he halts at the edge of the portal, as if maybe he can get a clearer image of what's through it from being closer. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "It's certainly kind of weird, isn't it?" Ren says to Divine Wind, rubbing his chin. "I should definitely go back to the little shop I bought this from and see if it's disappeared tomorrow."     He's about to stick his head through when Auron comes up with a good point, and he nips back a few steps to make sure how much film is actually IN the reel. Surprisingly enough though, it doesn't seem to be a problem- he pauses, stops the reel, walks back to the wall, sticks his hand in- yeah, seems to be fine.     "Must just be a very unusually shaped warpgate we've just activated. Funny."     "We sure do have a portal. And you know what the first thing to do when you find a mysterious portal to another world is, right?"     He's already running at the wall. Darnit Ren. "YOU JUMP IIIIInnnn-"     Just... just follow him trust me.     On the other side of the warpgate...     As the narration said when the reel started, well. Welcome to the future, although it is not your future!     http://zenade.angelfire.com/TRS/thumbnails/400x300/Cliff.jpg     Ren Tanaka shields his eyes from the sun, looking at the dusty buildings carved into the stone of the badlands. "Looks like this world's seen better days."     That seems to be a settlement of some kind, and a pretty thoroughly-built one at that. There's some sort of big landship docked nearby, sheltering in the shade. Presumably it's inhabited. Want to go say hello to the natives and hope they're not vicious, motorcycle-riding, skull-wearing raiders? 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr just blinks dumbfounded when Ren goes and leaps right in... She covers her face with her free hand, starts walking toward the portal and says in a deadpan, long suffering tone. "Divine Wind. Set up."     By the time she's through the portal, she's in her Barrier Jacket, and the long-hafted battle-axe of her Device is slung over her shoulder like a shounen protagonist's sword. "Y'can say that again." she replies to Ren, looking around. "Divine Wind, any life-signs nearby?" she asks the Devi     cm"><INITIATING SCAN. STANDBY.> replies Divine Wind, as it spits out a set of glowing purple 'wisps'. They're set to pick up energy emissions and lifesigns, but not transmit visual data, and their bandwidth of detection is kinda limited, so they might miss things being shielded from scans. They flit off toward the settlement though. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' There are things that should stick out like a sore thumb, but may not very well stick /out/ nearly as much as they have any right to be. The peculiarity of whatever this.. portal has brought about has coincided with the explorations and reconnisance ventures of another. The Tenno; while they are not /especially/ well known, X would certainly find recognition in a pair of them: Valkyr and Nova Prime. Darkly colored with shaded of purple and orchid, the feline-like frame and the antimatter-wielding frame are somehow already there, ahead of the group that's arriving. They are armed: Nova Prime, the slightly shorter Warframe has what looks to be a sleek-looking, high tech hand crossbow in her hand, with a blocky-looking weapon on her back that for a keen eye, may resemble a breach-loaded grenade launcher and a long, katana-looking sheathe on her hip. The other, Valkyr, doesn't have her weapons drawn, but she doesn't need to have the weapons necessarily drawn from her back and hip: rifle and sword otherwise, her talon-like fingertips occasionally flex a little as she oozes a predatorial menace. Which.. is a pretty good accomplishment given that there's no readily discernable optics or face or eyes on either her or Nova Prime. Really, the massive hound of a Kubrow next to Valkyr is the only one who has any real eyes, the batlike snout huffing slightly as he provides maybe a hint less of such menace as the pair don't necessarily dawdle, but are otherwise assessing the settlement. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     The reel is stopped and yet the portal remains. He nods. Good. That would have been an unfortunate happenstance. Thus he's less reluctant to go in, and follows Ren through without complaint. Once he realizes the sun is every bright, he reaches into his coat and pulls out a pair of good, modern sunglasses, setting them on the bridge of his nose. He's covered up reasonably well, though the coat's likely to be hot after a while.     He too tilts his head to look up at the settlement in the cliff. Details are difficult to pick out with one eye, otherwise he'd be looking for ladders, activity, or some sign that the cliff settlement is still inhabited. Instead his gaze moves to the landship... and then to the Tenno. His remaining eye narrows a bit behind the sunglasses. Though he doesn't act quite yet; he instends to follow Ren's lead. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "No you don't do that--" X stretches a hand out as if to step Ren, but he's just not fast enough. Humans. So crazy.     He's only standing there bewildered for a moment though. Seems now he HAD better jump in and make sure these people aren't going to be in HUGE TROUBLE!     Without another moment of hesitation he dives through and goes skidding across the ground for a bit. And what he sees is enough to render him quite speechless.     "..."     He just... STARES for a good ten seconds. "Ooooo...kay. At least there's no explosions over here."     Well, may as well explore while he's here. The robot frowns though. "Are we somewhere in the Multiverse? ... Or actually... somehow IN the movie?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Funnily enough most of them seem to be inside the sandcrawler (slaps hand, I told them it wasn't a sandcrawler. Bad narrator!) uh, the tank fortress and not in the... town? Which is weird. You'd think it would be the other way around, and could in fact be forgiven for not picking it out through a pair of shades. Also there are definitely a few people OUTSIDE of the tank fortress, as you may have noticed that a few people are definitely looking at the Tenno. Or, well, running from it after looking at it.     One of the more interesting things Divine Wind may also report on is that we're definitely in a recognizeable PART of the multiverse- specifically the agglomeration of desert and desert-worlds commonly called Waterland, which is, while utterly awful, at least not as radioactive as the portions classified as Skaro.     When they get close enough to the fortress (it's roughly the size of a ferry or cruiseboat), they will hear a sound from a tannoy mounted on the outside.     "Since you're not too fussed by walkin' right on up to the robots, and you all strolled right on through the desert without puttin' on much of a tan, I'm guessin' you all have a story to tell. Why don't you all indulge a guard and tell me who you all are and how you got here?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <SCAN COMPLETE. LOCATION VERIFIED. WATERLAND. COORDINATES ARE SPECIFIC.> states Divine Wind. The Device does a cursory scan of the Warframes, but doesn't comment, though Zephyr gives Nova Prime a very close look over, before the guard starts speaking.     The Mage clears her throat, and projects her voice via a simple Increase-class spell. "My name is Zephyr Windstar. I am a Mage in the Time Space Administrative Bureau. My friend here," she gestures to Ren. "Acquired a film reel and was putting on a show for some people, when the projector created a Warpgate to this location." Her voice travels, but isn't a booming loudspeaker sounding thing, carried on the wind itself or so it seems. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' <"Tenno, I'm picking up on others. At least one from the Grineer derelict, and three others, from my scans. Curious.."> Such communications are more privately held than most, given they are from the Lotus to her Tenno in the field. The attention of the Warframe's shift slightly. Not necessarily fully looking at, but all the same.. In the case of Nova Prime, her drone, the Helios sentinel alights itself a little higher, a little better angle as to afford it the ability to potentially scan the arriving Elites. IT's a semi-active scan, more meant to record for mimeographic purposes. Besides, getting exact information on individuals might take more scans after all, to get any more than that physical appearence of the Elites arriving. Valkyr in the meantime contiunues to almost sortof circularly stalk forward. Despite her seemingly lithe, feminine appearence next to the absolute monstrous, Irish wolfhound size of the Kubrow at her size, there's the palpable feeling that the beast is the lesser threat, though not by much. Valkyr's long tail flickers very slightly from side to side, the anchor-like wedge arcing in the air. Some measure of silent communication must be going on as the two Warframe occasionally seem to move and shift in ways that is slightly unnatural to the trained eye. No gestures between one another but Auron is given a seemingly brief 'look', a canting of the head of the antimatter wielding Nova Prime. As does X and Ren and Zephyr warranting somewhat more direct acknowledgements. But enough time is seemingly spent on the ground as they turn their attention towards the fortress-ship as it were, though their movements are somewhat more cautious. Indiscriminate murder would be counter productive. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     To be fair, Auron's presence amongst these people might look a little odd, even to scanners. All of these people might have some sort of possibly detectable way they're different. Auron? Well, he's... a human. Nothing cybernetic, nothing really magical (though the items he's carrying might ping to a sensor). But could be a little strange for a normal human to be amongst all these others.     If Auron notes the scrutiny, he doesn't mention. Maybe he does notice, though, as he aims a look in the Nova Prime's direction. Not that he's not looking at the Warframes and their 'pet' anyway; he does need to determine threat potential. He's assuming 'very high'.     Auron doesn't have any way to make his voice carry like that. Besides that, Zephyr's basically got the right of it anyway, so he remains quiet for the time being. Aside from the sword, he isn't visibly a danger anyway. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "Why would I be fussy over being around robots?" Asks X, though he's not sure who exactly he's speaking to. He eventually spots the speaker though! ... Where the voice is coming from.     Huh. That's OOOLD style.     Isn't it?     "I'm called X! We haven't been wandering for very long. Dropped in from out of nowhere... will tell you all about it if you can tell me where I am!"     Where THEY ALL are. He casts a glance oer at the nearby Warframe... when did they show up? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' There's a brief pause. "Well, friend, hard to tell where anything is without many landmarks any more, you know? Best as I know, this place either used to be Nottingham," laughs, "Or Alaska!"     Ooh, that's a bad sign.     "I mean, unless you're all from another planet, because I wouldn't put it past you. In which case: welcome to Earth! You got here just a little too late for the sightseeing, mind you!"     here's a little camera that comes out from a tilting panel underneath the speaker- it moves back and forth, looking at each of them in more scrutiny (least time on Auron)- Kushiko will recognize it as the same one which was looking at her a few minutes ago, until it rather rudely snapped shut while the people inside deliberated in confuion. Ren's happy to smile for the camera- well, cameras, really, considering the Helios drone there as well.     When Zephyr finishes explaining the situation, there's airy sound on the other end. And then a, "That was me whistling, sorry. Piece of crap doesn't pick up on half the things it should unless you speak pretty slow into it... but, huh, well, if that don't beat all? You just give me a minute and I'll be right down to meet y-"     A little muffled talking from behind- just as the other person mentioned, it's hard to pick anything else up that the other person is saying. But it's easy to hear whoever else was talking say- "Didn't you hear? We got magicians, aliens, and anyone who walks around in that bright blue get-up's gotta have some confidence. I'm going to roll out the welcome mat for them, sure. You just do me a favour and keep one eye on those big 'bots, alright?"     A couple minutes pass, before a submarine-like door in the middle of the ship's fairing rolls its hatch and opens, prior to a rope ladder coming down. There's a pause before someone appears- it's a dark-skinned woman in long robes and boots, with a wide-brimmed hat and goggles. Attached to the large waistband she has is what appears to be a ... yes, a rather dinged-up crown with bits of velvet still on it. She climbs down!     "You can call me the Queen Mother." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr nods a little to the Camera. She looks human enough, apart from the bright clothing and the giant purple axe slung across her shoulders. When the woman comes out of the landbarge, she offers a salute. "You seem to have some, preconceptions regarding synthetic lifeforms... I take it there's a story behind that." she asks, taking a step forward.     Divine Wind chimes. <Master, be careful.> warningly, but not exactly worried. "Don't worry Dee, I got this." replies the Mage softly, then returns to her projected voice. "I can assure you, we come in peace with no hostile intentions."     A meaningful glare is sent to the two Warframes, mismatched eyes staring at where the 'face' would be if one were present. The look says: >Don't cause trouble now I've said that.< 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is here. She was here the whole time. Her presence just wasn't noticed because she was silent and because she was hanging back, too wary of getting stabbed, shot or hit with rotten fruit to take the front of the group as everyone went through the movie screen portal. That said, she approaches right after the lady climbs out of the ship and stops before the group. The reptile woman blinks slowly a couple of times.     "That name, somehow, seems much more ..." she trails off. Ostentatious? Regal? "Out of place than I was expecting."     "... Queen Mother of who, exactly?" she wonders, her brow knitting and her eyes trailing away from the lady and up to the thing she climbed out of. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron has to smirk at the assessment of the situation by the voice emanating from the speaking on the landcraft. But yes, he's intent on keeping an eye on things. Mainly because he doesn't know much about 'those big bots' either. Hopefully time to learn. He's somewhat reminded of the Al Bhed here, just a tiny little bit.     As the 'Queen Mother' approaches, he bows his head respectfully. And when he comes within speaking distance, he finally speaks up. "...My apologies for not speaking up earlier. My name is Auron," he offers. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Keeping an eye on the 'big bots' may prove.. more unique than provided. Granted, if they had really, /really/ wanted to, they would have kept out of sight. But in a situation like this, there was a certain confidence held by the Tenno that if there was a threat, it was not necessarily /here/. Not in plain view. So in lieu of a covert threat or otherwise, there was little point to concealment and stealth as they gathered information. Still, there is something to their movement; their faceless visages giving the impression that /certainly/ they were aware, they were watching everyone who fled, or simply held their ground when it came to Warframes in their midst. They were.. noiseless, despite every indication seeming there should be. Not even a crease of their armored suits or anything beyond the noise their power may generate. Though, in regards to Zephyr, it's not a response by the Warframes themselves, but that massive, muscular and fit-looking Kubrow. A rumbling kind of *ruff!* from her. (At least one might think it's her) The Valkyr simply lifts her legs up, her body momentarily floating as she takes up a meditative-looking position; legs folded, hands on either side. Never mind she's floating while doing this. While Nova Prime in the meantime simply meanders around, hand resting on the sheath of her Dragon Nikana, allowing Helios to continue it's generalized scanning. It's not that they're antisocial. It's just that they don't yet see a reason to discourse yet. Others can speak for them, and they will observe and react. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X is left speechless as usual by the behaviors of people across the Multiverse. Well... how to respond? "I'm X.... you're certainly dressed for the part, ma'am! Queen Mother.. of this... settlement?" He can only peer incredulously at the HUGE vehicle people are apparently living on.     Though his confidence returns shortly thereafter. "What kind of robots are troubling everyone? .. What happened to this world?" He's not going to announce that he's a robot himself, if he's passing enough for human.     He puts a hand on his hip and smiles warmly. "Tell us about your troubles. Maybe we can help." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I'm surprised how well she's taking this," Ren comments to no one in particular as he watches the woman climb down. "Yeah, well, nothing much surprises me any more," the Queen replies. She's got good hearing!     She adjusts her clothes a little as she gives each of them another glance-over- it is, after all, a little different when you're not looking at everyone through a camera. She hadn't even noticed the lizard-girl before ('wonder if she knew any presidents?', she thinks to herself. Don't say that one out loud, Queenie). Let's see, we've got a redhead who's looking for a sunburn, big bright and bladed, definitely-an-alien, the man in the sunglasses, the blue boy, yeah that seems to be everyone!     "Ren Akiyama," Ren adds, once some people begin introducing themselves.     "No one else was using it. What can I say?" she replies to Ainsley. Nods to X. "It helps people," knocks the side of the vehicle, "Know who's in charge." When it comes to the issue of Kushiko, she leans up against the side of the landship, crossing her arms. "I guess you could say that, yeah. Only out here's probably not the best place to explain it. Let's see if we can find some place to sit down in out of the sun, huh?"     She looks at Kushiko after pushing off and walking a few steps. "If there's anyone inside that big thing, you're welcome to come along if we find somewhere you fit inside." The statement is twofold- both a 'prove to me there's someone these guys' side in there' and 'if there isn't, you won't be able to sit with us'.     Wipe cut, in any case, to the interior of one of the buildings carved into the cliff. It doesn't appear that this place is inhabited, but it seems like there's a fair amount of chairs, tables, furniture and infrastructure left behind.     "So, you all want to know why this place is such a mess?" the Queen asks, having taken off her hat. She's been accompanied by three other extras at this point, one with a science bent to the stuff he's carrying and two honor guards. "Well, I'd say, take your pick, honestly. How much do you know about the history of mankind?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley looks at the 'Queen Mother' with some skepticism at the reply, but decides to just accept it, looking back to the vehicle she came out of. "Fair enough..." she murmurs.     One jump cut later, and...     Ainsley is picking through the place looking for a place to sit when she replies, "Quite a lot, from dozens of worlds," and then she fixates the Queen with a look of vacant, reptilian curiosity, "But you're saying that as a lead-up to explaining. We don't know anything about this world, as far as I know..." She scans the others on the off chance that others have been here before.     "Doesn't look like a happy history, in any case," she murmurs, when she finds a chair with an acceptable design for her tail's comfort. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr leans against a wall just inside the door, arms folded with her axe resting beside her. It's longer than she is tall, about 6'4" long, compared to her 5'11". "Well, if we're talking Earth history, it's largely been dominated by pointless conflict and self destruction. Nuclear weaponry irradiating swaths of the world, biological weapons, chemical."     She sounds a little bitter. "Mass Based weaponry is outlawed within the TSAB jurisdiction.. it's too easy to manufacture and use, and Magic is much safer on the environment... and is non-lethal by design." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X gives the Warframe wandering around a sideways glance. "You're awfully quiet. Can't that suit speak?" He'd be really surprised if not. REALLY surprised.     Well, to the matter at hand. "Very little, actually. Especially for this Earth. You're right about being from another world. Starting from the beginning's fine with me, miss." His voice is gentle and polite. He's got patience after all.     Still... what ZEPHYR just announced has him flinching rather visibly the very next moment. "... All different worlds." He adds through a grimace. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Cut to inside shot! The place is indeed a mess. It almost looks like Zanarkand, except not quite as ruined. It's certainly just as devoid of people, though. Likely some catastrophe caused it. Though the nature of it he isn't quite sure.     He finds a chair to sit in, leaving the guarding of the door to Zephyr. Though he makes sure he places the door on his left. The Queen Mother's question gets a tilt of his head. "History is generally written by the people who won," he comments. But he does nod in Zephyr's direction. "That seems about what I've heard about it."     He's careful about his wording. Because, while he might be a human, he's not an Earthling. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' 'Big' is relative. Giant robots are not what the Warframes are, though they can certainly have that presence if they wish it, as much as they wish to not have it. Such is the effect of their silent menace. Anyone can loom, stare balefully. It's another matter altogether when they don't have eyes. When the entity itself is not necessarily present. Or are they? It is a mystery. Regardless of this actual measure, the Valkyr's legs unfold. When it comes to fitting into places, the Warframes might seem very tall, but once they're a bit closer it strikes one that they're perfectly humanoid-sized, in most terms: Valkyr's legs below the knees seem a bit felinoid, but other than that, the pair plus Kubrow make their way over. Still as silent as ever, still not particularly keen on introducing themselves directly. However, the nature of that is given to a voice over local commfrequencies. A woman. The Lotus. "These are my Tenno. Valkyr and Nova. They will be here to observe, for now, as will I through their systems." Broadcast signal from the Nova itself, it seems. Regardless, one wipecut later and the pair are rejoined there. Or more accurately, Nova Prime herself is. Valkyr, on the other hand, has elected to stand 'guard' in a more hidden way. She's disappeared off somewhere, courtesy of the Kubrow's ability to conceal her. Sure, there might be a guess as to where she went, but for now, she's stalking just outside the landship. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' To answer X, Lotus' voice comes through again. "There is no need for words from the Tenno, X. Not while in the field." As to the furtherance of the discussion, she adds, though Nova lifts her hand as though to produce what resembles an augmented reality display of the Lotus herself, or at least a headshot. "These kinds of conditions are sadly familiar to us. Until we got closer, we suspected we might have still been within the same scope of our own universe before closer study." It is a blasted mess though, even if it does remind the Tenno present of some of the scars found on worlds seized by the Grineer and other ruined husks, people scraping by to survive. Not that the Tenno /aren't/ taking casual stock of things like Zephyr's Divine Wind in that matter. Because they are. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Well, good for you!" the Queen says, sitting down. After X replies to her she lets Zephyr speak, as well as Ainsley.     "Well, visitors, it sounds like you know the long and the short of it," she says to them, spinning a chair around and sitting down on it with her arms leaning on the back (solely, if to judge by the expressions on the people accompanying her, to look cavalier). "Some of you, anyway."     "It can safely be said that the people who didn't learn from the mistakes of the wars of the past, died, and left the ones who weren't around to experience either of them to do the suffering in their place," she says. Half-looking at them, and half-looking out at the craggy, mountainous semi-scrub desert that you've got a better view of from further up the cliff. She doesn't specify which of Zephyr's horror words was the specific reason, but she looks sourly nevertheless. Ren, meanwhile, is just daintily sitting in his own swivel chair- not being from Earth himself, this is actually relatively new old history to him. Hence the surprise.     "Maybe it might be more accurate in our case to say it's being written by who's left," she says to Auron. "An awful lot of them are on our... good ship Lollipop out there. It's a piece of work, but it's built like a brick outhouse and so long as we keep moving, it keeps us safe."     "But tell me again... how was it you said you got here, again? Hoping if you're not just here to take a look at what we've become, maybe you could help us..." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr opens her eyes, looking down at the ground. "I've watched a world burn before..." She turns to look out of the door at the craggy, ruined world outside. "I don't have much clout with the TSAB higher ups, but I'm a Union Elite.. so, maybe, with the rest of us, we could swing some humanitarian aid at the least." she looks back.     "Why would you need to keep moving though? I'm guessing not all the survivors see the benefit in cooperation?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "A portal," Ainsley explains, "We got here from a portal from another world. In theory, all of you that would prefer to just leave can follow us back and we can make sure you have a fresh start on life. I can only imagine the daydreams some of you have had about getting away from all of this, if I go by your habit of keeping on the move. In theory, you could have a place you didn't have to run from. In truth, many of you must be used to being on the move, and there are safe solutions even for that, with the use of recreational vehicles. Motorized homes, as it were."     And then she looks away from the Queen Mother, to the craggy desert they had a good look at, and then back. "Of course, those of you that would prefer to stay would find my help and likely others, in trying to salvage your home world, to make it a place you feel safe in again, if not the... uh, the most immediately attractive option."     She digs in her coat after saying this, pulling out a pen and a notepad to start scribbling down notes. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron nods to the Queen's words of history being written by those left. He falls silent then, curious as to what the Queen will choose for her people, given Ainsley's offer of evacuation or assistance. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' From a far, far flung place, there is an observer. The Lotus is one of them. There is another, though the nature of which is not to yet be touched upon. But these observations allow for something to be felt. Sensed, in a sense. An inexact sensation, but a sensation borne of centuries of combat and training and mastery. It's enough to provoke Valkyr, from where she is outside to shift her weight a little bit. <"Lotus. There is something. I can't.. quite place it."> <"Keep your guard up. Something is coming, but it is too far to discern yet."> The visage of the Lotus blinks out before resumption. Those words were in a place unseen and unheard, even though their impact is far reaching. As to how the Warframes, how the Tenno arrived here? Worlds that burn, sundered before them is not.. an unheard of concept. The Tenno's knowledge of this is not something they share readily, not yet, nor any reason to, showing as tacit as they are. "Not the same portal, but my Tenno were conducting a reconnisance operation on a discovered Torsion beam generator that produced a portal which led them here as well." the Lotus remarks. "It did not operate as it was intended to." Which was putting it mildly. It was unlikely that that one would work very long. The way things felt.. they might need to ensure that means of access was permanently removed. Such thoughts were not aired, however. But there was a slight edge to the Lotus' voice that implied the device was something that should not have been active. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X blinks a few times, but nods solemnly at the Warframe. "I... see." Well at least Lotus is speaking up. That's something.     Again focusing on the 'Queen Mother' though, X strolls over and... hunts for a seat. Or he'll just stand politely, that's fine too. He doesn't really tire, after all.     "Would you believe a portal appears on a video screen?" X remarks, bewildered by the notion himself. "The world's a strange and wonderful place. We ended up out here in the wastes... I'd love to give you a dramatic tale of wandering through the desert, but that would be a lie. ... And to tell you the truth, I'm a robot myself, built to help humans. Only been active for around a year... but everywhere I go there's some awful trouble brewing." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "No, we're all baically on the same side as far as running away from our problems sort of goes," the Queen replies.     She listens closely once Ainley makes her offer to her- "You think you'd be able to fit everything we've got, that big ship out there, through however you got here?" she says.     "She's very good at this sort of thing, isn't she?" Ren says quiet-ish-ly to Auron, who he seems to have found himself sat next to and is desperate to make conversation with. "I hear it's her speciality..."     When X speaks up, she glances outside at the landship again. "You might... want to keep that part quiet if I introduce you to the others," to X.     Suddenly perturbed perhaps, she gets quickly out of the chair, as if it was red-hot all of a sudden. "I mean, I don't know well many people would take it if I just said that a bunch of aliens landed in our lap and went and solved all of our problems, but I can dare say it'd be a lot, but I can also say that it'd be a lot less if they..."     "I expect you can fill in the blanks with your imagination, but I'll suffice to say this- yeah, there was a big, ugly thing that happened. I wouldn't even call it a war, more something like a... disaster, because a war implies we had something worth a damn to fight against. We're all here in this big landship now, keeping ourselves moving away from something that's trying to catch us, trying to look for something they might have built as a failsafe maybe against-"     Lotus makes a statement, and the queen freezes up. It's clear all of a sudden that if there is 'something', then she knows what that 'something' is and immediately knows- and is scared by it.     "It's true, your majesty! (wheeze)" shout-gasps a voice from outside, desperately climbing up the outside of one of the buildings. "They're moving from the north!"     "What?" she replies. "Damn, I thought they wouldn't come back to an empty town..."     She pulls a walkie-talkie out of her robe. "This is your queen speaking! Start moving the ship! We'll catch up to you!"     She begins to make her way towards the doorway. "Well, guess you'll get a good look at them now..."     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfOqqEj_ip0&t=16m58s     chw">Main theme - Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter     It! - The Thing From Outer Space - 1958     First, a series of dull, blunted cones begin to rise out of the sand. Almost thirty in all, ringed with green lights- many of them with long arms half-way along, their forearms mounted with underslung guns. At the bottom there is a black sphere with digitigrade legs attached.     They are approaching.     "The slavers of the Metal Horde..." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Divine Wind chimes a warning... far too late. <LOST LOGIA-CLASS SIGNATURE DETECTED!>     Zephyr is quick on the uptake, and grabs the axe from its rest, turning to run out the door. "Get to the ship! I'll try and hold them off." she says over her shoulder, before a quartet of purple coloured, transluscent 'pixie wings' sprout from her back and she rockets into the sky, blasting sand around her take-off point.     "Divine Wind, area strike mode. Lock on targets, saturation spread." she orders. <TARGETS LOCKED ON. READY FOR SATURATION SPREAD. IMPULSE CASCADE, HURRICANE SHIFT.>     In her wake, and appearing around her, dozens of light motes appear, grow in size to about a tennis ball, before lashing out at the conical robots. Each 'bullet' isn't strong, but there's a veritable hailstorm of shots. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron turns a look to Ren, brow of his remaining eye arched, a smirk pulling at his mouth. "Almost as if she was specially-trained, even," returns with a hint of dry wit in his voice. Though he quiets as the Queen starts to speak of the 'disaster'.     And then there is a bigger problem. 'Something' is coming. Auron peeks out the door to look, and frowns. The Queen's words draw his attention, and he turns to look at her. "I take it that's the disaster you were referring to?" he asks. She seems worried enough about the things for it to be.     Regardless, he knows the Queen needs to get back to her people. And so he goes Guardian Mode. He tilts his head towards the door, then looks at the Queen Mother. "We need to get you back on the landship. I'll guard you," he offers. This is, after all, what he does. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley's face is surprisingly passive to the skepticism the Queen Mother displays to such an offer. It's natural to be hesitant about something that sounds too good to be true. She shakes her head slowly, though, at the mention of the portal's size. She isn't sure, she hasn't measured either the portal or the vehicle. "You may have to leave it behind..." she murmurs.     They don't have much time to discuss this. Things start to light up with panic and the promise of battle. The reptile lady stands up from her seat, calmly walking out to get a decent vantage to watch the metallic beings approach. They don't look friendly. They look like they're coming with purpose. To attack and to capture.     She touches at the side of her snout, a gesture of thought. Her eyes begin to glow with the magical symbols of her Arcane Sight as she scans for signals. She scans the robotic beings for the capacity to communicate, such as with computer codes and radio wavelengths. If they are directed wirelessly, she can help others follow it back to the source... either to bring the war back to its doorstep, or to figure out how to stop this peacefully if at all possible.     For now, she's just looking for a way to confuse them if they run on signals, or impede them if they run on computer code. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "Verified." That is the first word out of the Lotus, not just via the pop-up like window the Nova was holding, but over the local band transmission. At the coming of the slavers of the Metal Horde, something experienced combatants might pick up on is felt. It's not necessarily something that screams out or is flagrant, but immediately there's a change in Nova Prime's demeanour. Expectant, and she's blitzing down and out of the landship itself--occasionally casting open wormholes, little dimensional doorways that bring her out with rampant expediency. Others can use these Wormholes, but they go both way, and may only last about 4 charges each, a thin line of energy connecting to the outward point. Which, now that the Warframes /are/ using their energy.. Zephyr could be forgiven for thinking what's about to be used is close to magic, to say nothing of what the others might feel. A surge of energy is gathered as she suddenly appears when a line exiting the ship puts her almost at the front lines of the approaching metal horde. Not /too/ close, even as Valkyr moves into a sort of guardian-like posture, her rifle at the ready, but she's not quite inclined to use it just yet. No, the first to the stage is Nova Prime. Gathered energy is molded, formed into antimatter particles and a surge of pinkish-lilac energy into her hand raised upward as she descends down from her recent exit of a portal. Her body slows as she effectively /slams/ the energy down towards her feet. Such a motion precedes her unleashing an expanding wave of force, seeking to bathe the immediate area and beyond in antimatter energy; pink-purple and lines of light crisscrossing one another with a very visible band at it's equator, the sphere of Molecular Prime unleashed. Approaching foes might be primed just in time for Zephyr's own suppressive fire to strike in tandem; the conical bodies if they aren't resistant to it, would find their bodies wreathed in that energy, energy that not only makes them radiate with bubbling circles of energy, but incredibly slow them down, not just their movements, but hopefully their ability to react and use what weapons they have. Suppression indseed. The notable factor of the Warframe is this: yes, there is antimatter energy radiating out, fueled by her own Void energy. But as much as something like this should be indiscriminate, the energy just passes over like a kind breeze against Zephyr and the others who might rejoin the front lines. She pivots, midair; literally somersaulting backwards in midair in order to cancel the forward momentum provided by her Wormholing antics as she brandishes her Tonkor grenade launcher in preparation--after all, the priming tends to cause enemies to react rather more explosively towards firepower directed at them, even if the explosions /are/ going to be controlled by the same antimatter wielding frame. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "I understand. It's that bad?" Oh X, you don't know. You just don't know.     All hell breaks loose and so the blue robot swivels about, dropping into a battle stance. His right hand shimmers and whirls with mechanical parts, rearranging into the X-Buster almost instantly. The robot's blue color scheme shifts to red and black for who knows why a moment later.     "... Slavers." He echoes accusingly towards the onrushing horde. Why would robots want humans for SLAVES of all things? It doesn't make much sense to him! Can't they build worker robots like Mechaniloids?     Sheesh.     "That's WAY too many of them!"     Unwilling to engage an enemy that hasn't actually opened fire yet, he hesitates - and just aims the X-Buster warningly. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     There's a reason why these machines appeared so far away, making this silent march towards the landship as the sun begins to set some distance away.     Guess it if you can.     Ren looks concerned here, as he looks out of the window frame- he is not really one for fighting himself, especially as he scopes out the Metal Horde next to the Queen. It's hard to tell due to issues of perspective, as the landship is rolling away and showing everyone just how big this approaching group is, but each of the robots is a little more than twice the size of the average person here.     Ainsley will be able to see what nobody else can- that each of these robots appears to be an individual, with its own mind- but disciplined like soldiers, instead of programmed like computers.     "What are you going to do?" Ren asks Ainsley, as Auron offers to be the guard.     Giving it about a second of thought, Ren inclines his head from X, towards Ainsley. "Alright! I know. X, the portal's not far from here, right? Keep an eye on Ainsley whatever she decide to do and make sure any of those metalheads don't break off to it. Auron, you help the bodyguards, I'll give her majesty here a lift back to the HMS."     His cheeks turn pink, and he suddenly stammers and shakes his head. "I-I mean, if that's. OK. With everyone?"     "A lift?" And he's picking her up. He's being literal. "Awk!"     Of course, no matter how he carries her Ren's going to give the Queen a good chance to look at what comes next, as the various Unionites either make their way down and out of the abandoned building or fly outside.     Said good ship Lollypop was already aiming its starboard flak guns as a peppering deterrent when Zephyr goes first, racing out and blasting quickly over the sand. She adds to the ship's shooting with an area barrage over the legion of huge robots. Some, but not all of them are quick to respond with the weapons attached to their arms- but they never really expected to meet a flying human before! Will she be stunned by the green electrostatic bolts? Or is a better question to ask, 'how many of them'?     If Zephyr was a surprise, and the ones that weren't looking at her WERE looking at Valkyr, they're going to be really thrown for a robo-loop when Nova Prime is right up in their business. They were hardly expecting one big surprise, and now they've got about three! A wave of explosive antimatter can definitely cause that formation of Slavers to be scattered in varius directions- and slowed down, too.     (Could Ainsley even pick that out, too? A little mild, squelched panic?)     When that first wave of fire is done and the slowdown is decaying, the Slavers find themselves with an awful lot of things to concentrate on- but that's okay, they're good at delegating.     Let's see, we have at least six people heading to the ship and three big threats, and thirty of them. And they're all armed with the same sort of stun weaponry. So that means... six of them firing at Zephyr, twelve at Prime, six at Valkyr. And about seven of them shooting at the people doing the retreating.     And one guy who's just not sure where to aim at all. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron nods to Ren's statement, and leaves the building after Ren and the Queen. There's a lot going on and Auron has no ability to fly, move fast, or engage at a distance. So instead he starts to fall back with those retreating, drawing his sword and angling it to serve as a shield. He's just one man, and there's seven of those conical robots shooting at the retreating people. But that's ONE vector of retreat that's safe, anyway. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley picks up that they are all individual soldiers. Metallic beings, certainly, but not controlled drones, and that is somehow more troubling. Yet it gives her hope that there's some way to reach an understanding about the situation. She also notes that they are soldiers, they make decisions based on rational information and not cold calculation, and that they are apparently utilizing stun weapons. Capture, and not killing...     She chooses not to announce this. A battle is already underway and she lacks sufficient context. When the battle is done, she'll find one of these conical things. She's not a tactician and she knows she's no good at negotiation. She is, however, good at cracking open the shell of a mystery.     "It is an army and not an automated patrol," she speaks to the others, over an open band, apparently using a spell to direct it just to her immediate allies. "Please try to leave some of them intact by the end of this. These are people, trying to capture humans for reasons not yet understand, using skills they were trained to use, as opposed to robots fulfilling programming."     "It would be best if we could question one of them." 'We' meaning 'her,' by the tone of her voice, but she knows others might be interested too. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <ANTIMATTER WAVE APPROACHING. IMPACT IN THREE. TWO. ONE...> chimes Divine Wind, as the Molecular Prime passes over the pair. <NO CHANGE IN INTEGRITY. WARNING! INCOMING FIRE! EVADE!>     The electrostatic bolts flash out at the flying Mage, and she starts to 'dance' between them, erecting shields to deflect and absorb those she can't evade, though each impact drains her mana reserves substantially. She puts on a display of aerial acrobatics that, to anyone that knows her, would reaffirm her title as The Wind Dancer of March, ducking, wheeling and rolling with a lithe grace befitting her frame.     She surges off into the distance, past the Slaver lines, then wheels about, "Alright, lets see if we can't cut some of these assholes down to size. Drive Ignition! Strike Mode!"     As she comes driving back into the fray, her Device transforms, the Haft shrinks, the blades dissolve and reform into a single, curved blade, and a pair of spinning 'fan blade' like drones spall off and attach to where the second blade used to be. They spin up, and begin trailing lines of purple mana. <STRIKE MODE. MISTRAL CUTTER!>     The blade of her axe begins to glow that same dark purple, and she skims low over the sand, aiming to pass as many of the robots as she can. Can you guess what she's aiming to do yet?     As she passes, she holds that blade out, aiming to slice off legs in a high speed pass. They can't chase if they can't move, right? 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Oh /good/, they're a little bit more resilient than the usual. The nominal Molecular Prime wave is meant to last a little bit longer, but for all they knew, there could be something that was part of these metal bodies that made the energy decay off their bodies faster. Either way, between that and the returning fire, neither Valkyr nor Nova Prime had much time to waste, especially as they had begun to open fire. Valkyr.. despite her lithe appearence otherwise, doesn't seem to /care/ much about being shot at, a spanning kind of noise impacting against her shields before those shields themselves falter as she breaks into a run not at the horde directly--she's magnificently armored that the shots don't seem to slow her down. No, her running is towards the people that are being shot at. Her blade comes out, a wicked-looking thing that as she supports Auron's efforts, her weapon weaving a supernatural arc through the air that surely shouldn't be doing anything to stop stunning weaponry. But channeled energy through the blade Broken War would provide that kind of ablative parrying. Though with this going on, the Kubrow has no interest in hanging back whatsoever; she's darting back and forth to avoid the greater bulk of the weapons being fired at her in order to leap and maul herself a target; her teeth and muscles are enough to rend heavy armor. Nova, on the other hand, does not like her shields quickly drained by the stunning weaponry. Mercifully while one of them knocks her over, she's quick to spring back onto her feet. With the group of thirty-odd metal, conical slavers positioned as they are, marching as they were? .. why /not/ fire high powered grenades? The Tonkor is angled a little bit upwards to send not one or two, but a quad-set of grenades, cylinder-looking charges into the thick of them. Two will not necessarily hit their targets, bounding almost helplessly (somehow, given the sandy reaches) to linger in the midst of some. The other pair has a better shot; wind may carry those shaped, highly explosive corrosive charges into the molecularly primed enemies as is. Of course, if explosions are started on one, Zephyr and the others stand a VERY strong chance of causing a wonderful chain reaction, presuming the energy hasn't decayed /too/ much by then. She gives the Tonkor a quick flick, opening the breach-loaded grenade launcher and reloading it as she leaps backwards, rolling and jinking in order to hopefully keep the metal drones from having an easy time tracking her. Helios on the other hand, is certainly scanning for all it's worth to categorize and perhaps find something they can use, just in case they blow /everything/ up. Hopefully not. But as Ainsley mentions, they're fighting an army. And fighting armies is something the Tenno are very good at through their use of Void-fueled powers and weaponry. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' Size means little to X, who's still hesitating for a bit. Should he engage? Or would they be way too much for him?     His decision's made when the blasts start going everywhere. With a panicked yell X opens fire with vivid Phaser Breams lancing across the wasteland, certain to melt and disintegrate... but gobbling up Weapon Energy.     "Go! I'll cover your retreat to the Lollipop!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Mind you, that's a big sword! Who even knew that people could carry something like that? You'd ordinarily tear your muscles from strain. It doesn't compute.     It is appreciated, though! After all, it's not just the Queen Mother, but her two bodyguards and that science officer that are along with them. And it's not that it fall on Auron to protect all of them, but perhaps it's better to concentrate on the ones who are ... say, not being carried by a fast moving bloke. Just hope that shooting too much electricity set to 'stun' into a big metal object isn't going to get unpleasant after a while. It's perhaps thankful in that case that Valkyr is there to support him if he needs it, having broken off from the scrum to defend instead.          And despite the retreat, Ainsley is doing an excellent job as a tactical commander, picking out things that nobody else can. The Queen can't hear her, she's just watching from the rear in surprise.     And even if it was self-defence, the landship was firing first when Zephyr came out...     Speaking of Zephyr, she continues to mix it up alongside Prime and Valkyr. Although even saying that is probably a disservice to her acrobatics: which are simultaneously impressive (for the people watching) and confusing (for the Slavers). It's bad enough that she's an airbound human foe, but her movements and variety of fighting are so numerous as to really confuse an opponent it's new to. It's not even a case of them not being able to improvise tactics on the fly- it's more that this is such a shock that any tactics they might have are useless. What do you do against enemies who are roughly the size of humans, but more agile than planes, more well-armed than tanks, and using weapons that they have absolutely no frame of reference for?     Well, they do their best.     And Zephyr entirely begins removing the legs of some of them, to boot. In THIS case, they know what to do: the same thing they would if their legs were crippled by environmental damage, which is 'immediately break off and retreat'. Since sand is the same as water, in many ways, they do this by deplying the same things they travelled here with- corkscrew-like impellers at the tops of their heads, which they bore into the sand to escape with.     Others get the business end of Nova Prime- and X, too. Surprisingly the latter manages to cover Valkyr pretty well, leaving Nova to cause havoc. It's a miracle, perhaps, that amidst all of this there's not any friendly fire. We'll put it up to the bigger number of Slavers.     Grenades bouncing on sand, Tenno bouncing around- the only word for it is 'carnage', really. And again, it's not so much that these robots aren't choosing to raise the level of firepower, it's that they don't have anything better to use.     And in the face of overwhelming chaos like this, with no tactical experience to fall back on, a melee quickly begins to turn into a riot, with smoking Slavers, ones with holes beginning to melt in their titanium and carbon fibre bodies, and ones with limbs being blown off or even to pieces. It may turn into a question not of which of them is able to talk, but which of them won't be too terrified to? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley frowns from her fairly distant vantage, her sharp eyes taking in the intricacies of the battle from the layer of her communication magic. The lizard woman deactivates her Sight when she feels she has nothing further to gather from the soldiers themselves, and she quietly waits for the battle to conclude without getting close enough to get shot at by the strangely-shaped robots themselves.     She makes a little bird like chirp noise, impressed with the way the robots can flee into the sand. "That will make following them difficult," she muses aloud. "I hope we get at least one of them..." She scans the battlefield of explosions and weaponry obviously vastly outmatching the conical slaver soldier robots...     "This might be the first real victory these people have seen in a while," she also adds to her thoughts, noting the ship and the previous words, suggesting they've always been the ones retreating before. She sighs to herself, walking out in no real hurry to the rapidly concluding battle. She hums a little song to herself as she goes, the unusual reptile striking a cool and calm affect among a battlefield full of panic and fire.     It's a very sharp contrast.     With any luck, she can find one of the conical robots among the sands that is in no condition to run off but still intact enough to try to speak to... and luck out more by actually getting something out of this after its unit suffered a resounding, terrifying defeat. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <MASTER!> "I see it!"     Zephyr pulls up sharply, looping over while still trailing that energy line. As one of those Slavers goes to tunnel down into the sand... it'd find the Mage descending onto it in a direct, dead-drop with the axe baring down. Energy crackles along the edge of that weapon, but that's not all, as she cuts into the hull of the robot, the Bits detach and with a chime, emit 'ribbons' of energy that lash out to try and bind the rest of the things     cm"><STUGGLE BIND!> announces Divine Wind, the Ribbons suppressing energy flow to non-critical systems, but leaving Core Processes unaffected. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron merely retreats with those that are retreating, though he stays in front of the group to provide as much cover as he can. Once everyone's in the craft, he stays outside. The craft will probably be moving off once the Queen's inside it, so Auron then moves forward. The others have this. He IS, however, going to add to the intimidation factor here. How? By heading towards the now-retreating robots.     Oh he's not just heading towards them. He's walking, his shoulders set in JUST THAT WAY, sword propped on his shoulder. Whenever a stray blast comes at him, he lifts the sword easily, batting the blast aside. By now the blasts should be sporadic enough to pull this off. His expression is set in just enough of a frown to let the robots who can see it know that He Is Not Amused.     The message is clear, if the others' show of power hasn't already made it clear-- he is clearly the fighter with the fewest capabilities, the one closest to the humans they've been taken for granted. And he's walking through their laserfire like it's an unexpected spring drizzle. Turning back would be a really good idea. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' It's probably a good thing the Tenno have no means of flight. Right? Right. No, with Valkyr doing her option of alternatively tanking and reflecting back things, she's able to, at last, sink herself into the battle properly. She sprints, sliding and then launching herself like a bullet, careening through the air in order to bring Broken War down upon the head of one of those slavers. She begins to demonstrate a terrifying kind of agility as with X's covering, she's able to act more efficiently. She turns loose an absolutely terrifying /Warcry/ in the midst of the Slavers and allies alike; the kind of thing that could bolster and break morale to friend and foe, a howl of primacy in her voice despite the lack of notable mouth piece. The lack of raising of firepower is telling. The Lotus dislikes this; she agrees with Ainsley's initative for one to be captured at the least. But both Nova and Valkyr simply elect to move to kill and destroy as many of them, as quickly as they can, weaving themselves in and out. Gun and blade until there's one they can pull away. Sadly, that notion of actually trying to strip one out is not as easy as it appears. The ones trying to use their drills to break off and retreat elicits Valkyr to throw out a grappling hook from one hand, tethered by a ripline cord of energy to attempt to yank one off it's feet. Granted, the sheer force of it may cause it to experience a certain degree of trauma that would render it a poor subject for interrogation. Truly, what the two frames are attempting to do at this point is the elimination of as many targets as possible in as quick an order they can, mutually providing cover to Zephyr, X, Ainsley and Auron while at the same time taking advantage of the holes they open up with their actions. To put it kindly, the Tenno are severely disinterested in letting any of the Slavers leave intact or unsecured by those present here, solely based on not letting them report back. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X weaves left and right, warned by his adaptive tactics software about enemies about to shoot. It gives the impression of rather startling precognition. If one thing Light was a genius at, it's programming. The end result is that X is able to leap, duck, and swerve away from a deal of shots moments before they happen while returning fire.     But some shots do get through despite his best dodging efforts. These leave sparking scorch marks on his armor alloy, shallow 'wounds' but ones that get him wincing nevertheless. Unlike Zephyr, he's kinda groundbound and pretty slow.     So it's a relief indeed when the horde starts falling back... or falling to pieces, as the case may be. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     It is! It is the first real victory they've had. In. A while.     And there sure are a lot of people watching from the ship... like, it's hard NOT to be watching them at this point, and the spectacle, and the strangeness, and all of the colours and explosions, not to mention the sheer 'ease' with which X and Zephyr are moving, indeed seeming as if the Slavers can't lay a hit on them. People will be telling their kids about this one, and leaving out any details of when anyone got hit at all, even when it did happen.     Auron and Ainsley approach what is clearly a rapidly concluding and winning battle for the visiting team, which is not exactly a 'rout' but it's definitely a coordinated retreat, due to massive lack of meaningful countermeasure let's say. Auron walking forward certainly makes a statement, but let it not be said that someone isn't going to be watching and recording this, and learning, and preparing... just because these robots are sentient doesn't mean that they can't transmit information to other ones...     With excellent timing, Zephyr manages to notice one of the augurs the Slavers are using and disable it JUST before the robot in question manages to use it- which is probably just as well that she managed to do so, because with the rather comprehensive job the Tenno are doing at explosive violence there's no question that at least half of the robots are going to end up scrapped from sheer overwhelming violence. In fact it may become inevitable that someone will have to give them a little 'oh, hey, wait, maybe ease up there'? There's no point in only having one or two left if they're going to be too traumatized to offer any meaningful information, after all.     In any case, soon the carnage is over, and there's an unprescedented number (previous record: 0) of Slavers arrested to talk to about what on earth is going on here. It may be a while before they have anything to say though, other than "Icchantika!", whatever that means.     "You're saviors to all of us," the Queen says, "...but you could be saviors to a great deal many more. I have a selfish request for you..."     ----     INTERMISSION:     "Who are the Metal Horde?" asks old Dr. O'Neil, although it's a rhetorical question. He sits back in his chair.     "They are ruthless, human-capturing machines, led by beings called Mechanticals. They weren't the only ones," the scarred man explains. "But they were the first. It was their artificial neuron brains that let them think, like humans. The scientists thought that they were going to make something more advanced than the current computers... something that could fit in a single room, or even smaller. But they forgot that when you make something that is shaped like a brain, and made like a brain, it will think like a brain... and an inhuman mind thinks inhuman thoughts... soon they were building other machines, and then other robots, and then......" 
}}

4002/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 1

2016-04-20T06:46:22Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/11
|Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert
|Synopsis=Five thousand dollars will be paid out to the families of anyone who dies during the chilling cinematic presentation of the desert drama!
|Cast of Characters=151, 162, 165, 236, 964, 967
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     WE ARE... not in Waterland right now. Nope!     Ren invited anyone who was interested to a movie night, since he recently came into acquisition of a rather nice authentic cinema projector and a roll of film featuring the late 1970s classic, uh, um...     Well, that's just the thing! We don't really know. The can's empty aside from the date, so it was a surprise movie. Nevertheless he has made popcorn and hot dogs and stuff, and invited people into the room in Njorun while he gets the film set up.     That may or may not have been the reason why you came here. The other reason may be why he's currently staring at the wall, walking up to it, and wiggling his hands in front of the projected image on the screen.     For, you see, when Ren finally got that film up and rolling, after a brief few seconds, and a bit of narration, the image suddenly got a lot brighter, and all of a sudden it wasn't an image at all. It was a portal!     That's right, a warpgate opened up right in Screen B. And what would any sensible person do? Why, stick their head in, of course.     "...who wants to go exploring?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr wasn't really much of a social creature... but when a general alert went out about a new portal just opening up from a movie projector, well, she comes running! The mage rounds the corner and frowns a bit as she pulls the coin from her bracer, preparing to set up her Barrier Jacket and Device. "Divine Wind, scan that projector and the film reel..."     <Already did, Master. No Lost Logia signature detected.> replies the AI, the blue gemstone flickering as the voice speaks. "Oookay then... lets get in there and get this over with huh?" 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron may not be what one would call a super movie buff, but he can appreciate one. Particularly one that likes to call itself a 'classic'. He also brought soda, because he figures it's going to be needed. And if not, hey, that's just more soda. It's not like no one will drink it, right?     Try to separate him from his sword however? And one is going to be disappointed. Given the odd nature of the request, it's probably a good idea he decided to bring that. So yes, he does have his sword on his back in the gray sheath attached to his belt.     The film is started, and then suddenly there is a portal. This is a bit surprising. Auron asks a question of his own in response to Ren's. A couple of them, actually. "Are we limited by time? Will we be stuck there if the film runs out before we return?" 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X appears in a flash of light not far away, courtesy of a teleporter. He heard the general call for help and decided to peek in! And it leaves him walking into... a movie theater? The robot pauses mid-stride. What is he looking at?     "Hello? My name's X. I heard the call for help... what in the world am I seeing? Some kind of portal?"     He's brave enough, but he halts at the edge of the portal, as if maybe he can get a clearer image of what's through it from being closer. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "It's certainly kind of weird, isn't it?" Ren says to Divine Wind, rubbing his chin. "I should definitely go back to the little shop I bought this from and see if it's disappeared tomorrow."     He's about to stick his head through when Auron comes up with a good point, and he nips back a few steps to make sure how much film is actually IN the reel. Surprisingly enough though, it doesn't seem to be a problem- he pauses, stops the reel, walks back to the wall, sticks his hand in- yeah, seems to be fine.     "Must just be a very unusually shaped warpgate we've just activated. Funny."     "We sure do have a portal. And you know what the first thing to do when you find a mysterious portal to another world is, right?"     He's already running at the wall. Darnit Ren. "YOU JUMP IIIIInnnn-"     Just... just follow him trust me.     On the other side of the warpgate...     As the narration said when the reel started, well. Welcome to the future, although it is not your future!     http://zenade.angelfire.com/TRS/thumbnails/400x300/Cliff.jpg     Ren Tanaka shields his eyes from the sun, looking at the dusty buildings carved into the stone of the badlands. "Looks like this world's seen better days."     That seems to be a settlement of some kind, and a pretty thoroughly-built one at that. There's some sort of big landship docked nearby, sheltering in the shade. Presumably it's inhabited. Want to go say hello to the natives and hope they're not vicious, motorcycle-riding, skull-wearing raiders? 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr just blinks dumbfounded when Ren goes and leaps right in... She covers her face with her free hand, starts walking toward the portal and says in a deadpan, long suffering tone. "Divine Wind. Set up."     By the time she's through the portal, she's in her Barrier Jacket, and the long-hafted battle-axe of her Device is slung over her shoulder like a shounen protagonist's sword. "Y'can say that again." she replies to Ren, looking around. "Divine Wind, any life-signs nearby?" she asks the Devi     cm"><INITIATING SCAN. STANDBY.> replies Divine Wind, as it spits out a set of glowing purple 'wisps'. They're set to pick up energy emissions and lifesigns, but not transmit visual data, and their bandwidth of detection is kinda limited, so they might miss things being shielded from scans. They flit off toward the settlement though. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' There are things that should stick out like a sore thumb, but may not very well stick /out/ nearly as much as they have any right to be. The peculiarity of whatever this.. portal has brought about has coincided with the explorations and reconnisance ventures of another. The Tenno; while they are not /especially/ well known, X would certainly find recognition in a pair of them: Valkyr and Nova Prime. Darkly colored with shaded of purple and orchid, the feline-like frame and the antimatter-wielding frame are somehow already there, ahead of the group that's arriving. They are armed: Nova Prime, the slightly shorter Warframe has what looks to be a sleek-looking, high tech hand crossbow in her hand, with a blocky-looking weapon on her back that for a keen eye, may resemble a breach-loaded grenade launcher and a long, katana-looking sheathe on her hip. The other, Valkyr, doesn't have her weapons drawn, but she doesn't need to have the weapons necessarily drawn from her back and hip: rifle and sword otherwise, her talon-like fingertips occasionally flex a little as she oozes a predatorial menace. Which.. is a pretty good accomplishment given that there's no readily discernable optics or face or eyes on either her or Nova Prime. Really, the massive hound of a Kubrow next to Valkyr is the only one who has any real eyes, the batlike snout huffing slightly as he provides maybe a hint less of such menace as the pair don't necessarily dawdle, but are otherwise assessing the settlement. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     The reel is stopped and yet the portal remains. He nods. Good. That would have been an unfortunate happenstance. Thus he's less reluctant to go in, and follows Ren through without complaint. Once he realizes the sun is every bright, he reaches into his coat and pulls out a pair of good, modern sunglasses, setting them on the bridge of his nose. He's covered up reasonably well, though the coat's likely to be hot after a while.     He too tilts his head to look up at the settlement in the cliff. Details are difficult to pick out with one eye, otherwise he'd be looking for ladders, activity, or some sign that the cliff settlement is still inhabited. Instead his gaze moves to the landship... and then to the Tenno. His remaining eye narrows a bit behind the sunglasses. Though he doesn't act quite yet; he instends to follow Ren's lead. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "No you don't do that--" X stretches a hand out as if to step Ren, but he's just not fast enough. Humans. So crazy.     He's only standing there bewildered for a moment though. Seems now he HAD better jump in and make sure these people aren't going to be in HUGE TROUBLE!     Without another moment of hesitation he dives through and goes skidding across the ground for a bit. And what he sees is enough to render him quite speechless.     "..."     He just... STARES for a good ten seconds. "Ooooo...kay. At least there's no explosions over here."     Well, may as well explore while he's here. The robot frowns though. "Are we somewhere in the Multiverse? ... Or actually... somehow IN the movie?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Funnily enough most of them seem to be inside the sandcrawler (slaps hand, I told them it wasn't a sandcrawler. Bad narrator!) uh, the tank fortress and not in the... town? Which is weird. You'd think it would be the other way around, and could in fact be forgiven for not picking it out through a pair of shades. Also there are definitely a few people OUTSIDE of the tank fortress, as you may have noticed that a few people are definitely looking at the Tenno. Or, well, running from it after looking at it.     One of the more interesting things Divine Wind may also report on is that we're definitely in a recognizeable PART of the multiverse- specifically the agglomeration of desert and desert-worlds commonly called Waterland, which is, while utterly awful, at least not as radioactive as the portions classified as Skaro.     When they get close enough to the fortress (it's roughly the size of a ferry or cruiseboat), they will hear a sound from a tannoy mounted on the outside.     "Since you're not too fussed by walkin' right on up to the robots, and you all strolled right on through the desert without puttin' on much of a tan, I'm guessin' you all have a story to tell. Why don't you all indulge a guard and tell me who you all are and how you got here?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <SCAN COMPLETE. LOCATION VERIFIED. WATERLAND. COORDINATES ARE SPECIFIC.> states Divine Wind. The Device does a cursory scan of the Warframes, but doesn't comment, though Zephyr gives Nova Prime a very close look over, before the guard starts speaking.     The Mage clears her throat, and projects her voice via a simple Increase-class spell. "My name is Zephyr Windstar. I am a Mage in the Time Space Administrative Bureau. My friend here," she gestures to Ren. "Acquired a film reel and was putting on a show for some people, when the projector created a Warpgate to this location." Her voice travels, but isn't a booming loudspeaker sounding thing, carried on the wind itself or so it seems. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' <"Tenno, I'm picking up on others. At least one from the Grineer derelict, and three others, from my scans. Curious.."> Such communications are more privately held than most, given they are from the Lotus to her Tenno in the field. The attention of the Warframe's shift slightly. Not necessarily fully looking at, but all the same.. In the case of Nova Prime, her drone, the Helios sentinel alights itself a little higher, a little better angle as to afford it the ability to potentially scan the arriving Elites. IT's a semi-active scan, more meant to record for mimeographic purposes. Besides, getting exact information on individuals might take more scans after all, to get any more than that physical appearence of the Elites arriving. Valkyr in the meantime contiunues to almost sortof circularly stalk forward. Despite her seemingly lithe, feminine appearence next to the absolute monstrous, Irish wolfhound size of the Kubrow at her size, there's the palpable feeling that the beast is the lesser threat, though not by much. Valkyr's long tail flickers very slightly from side to side, the anchor-like wedge arcing in the air. Some measure of silent communication must be going on as the two Warframe occasionally seem to move and shift in ways that is slightly unnatural to the trained eye. No gestures between one another but Auron is given a seemingly brief 'look', a canting of the head of the antimatter wielding Nova Prime. As does X and Ren and Zephyr warranting somewhat more direct acknowledgements. But enough time is seemingly spent on the ground as they turn their attention towards the fortress-ship as it were, though their movements are somewhat more cautious. Indiscriminate murder would be counter productive. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     To be fair, Auron's presence amongst these people might look a little odd, even to scanners. All of these people might have some sort of possibly detectable way they're different. Auron? Well, he's... a human. Nothing cybernetic, nothing really magical (though the items he's carrying might ping to a sensor). But could be a little strange for a normal human to be amongst all these others.     If Auron notes the scrutiny, he doesn't mention. Maybe he does notice, though, as he aims a look in the Nova Prime's direction. Not that he's not looking at the Warframes and their 'pet' anyway; he does need to determine threat potential. He's assuming 'very high'.     Auron doesn't have any way to make his voice carry like that. Besides that, Zephyr's basically got the right of it anyway, so he remains quiet for the time being. Aside from the sword, he isn't visibly a danger anyway. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "Why would I be fussy over being around robots?" Asks X, though he's not sure who exactly he's speaking to. He eventually spots the speaker though! ... Where the voice is coming from.     Huh. That's OOOLD style.     Isn't it?     "I'm called X! We haven't been wandering for very long. Dropped in from out of nowhere... will tell you all about it if you can tell me where I am!"     Where THEY ALL are. He casts a glance oer at the nearby Warframe... when did they show up? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' There's a brief pause. "Well, friend, hard to tell where anything is without many landmarks any more, you know? Best as I know, this place either used to be Nottingham," laughs, "Or Alaska!"     Ooh, that's a bad sign.     "I mean, unless you're all from another planet, because I wouldn't put it past you. In which case: welcome to Earth! You got here just a little too late for the sightseeing, mind you!"     here's a little camera that comes out from a tilting panel underneath the speaker- it moves back and forth, looking at each of them in more scrutiny (least time on Auron)- Kushiko will recognize it as the same one which was looking at her a few minutes ago, until it rather rudely snapped shut while the people inside deliberated in confuion. Ren's happy to smile for the camera- well, cameras, really, considering the Helios drone there as well.     When Zephyr finishes explaining the situation, there's airy sound on the other end. And then a, "That was me whistling, sorry. Piece of crap doesn't pick up on half the things it should unless you speak pretty slow into it... but, huh, well, if that don't beat all? You just give me a minute and I'll be right down to meet y-"     A little muffled talking from behind- just as the other person mentioned, it's hard to pick anything else up that the other person is saying. But it's easy to hear whoever else was talking say- "Didn't you hear? We got magicians, aliens, and anyone who walks around in that bright blue get-up's gotta have some confidence. I'm going to roll out the welcome mat for them, sure. You just do me a favour and keep one eye on those big 'bots, alright?"     A couple minutes pass, before a submarine-like door in the middle of the ship's fairing rolls its hatch and opens, prior to a rope ladder coming down. There's a pause before someone appears- it's a dark-skinned woman in long robes and boots, with a wide-brimmed hat and goggles. Attached to the large waistband she has is what appears to be a ... yes, a rather dinged-up crown with bits of velvet still on it. She climbs down!     "You can call me the Queen Mother." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr nods a little to the Camera. She looks human enough, apart from the bright clothing and the giant purple axe slung across her shoulders. When the woman comes out of the landbarge, she offers a salute. "You seem to have some, preconceptions regarding synthetic lifeforms... I take it there's a story behind that." she asks, taking a step forward.     Divine Wind chimes. <Master, be careful.> warningly, but not exactly worried. "Don't worry Dee, I got this." replies the Mage softly, then returns to her projected voice. "I can assure you, we come in peace with no hostile intentions."     A meaningful glare is sent to the two Warframes, mismatched eyes staring at where the 'face' would be if one were present. The look says: >Don't cause trouble now I've said that.< 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is here. She was here the whole time. Her presence just wasn't noticed because she was silent and because she was hanging back, too wary of getting stabbed, shot or hit with rotten fruit to take the front of the group as everyone went through the movie screen portal. That said, she approaches right after the lady climbs out of the ship and stops before the group. The reptile woman blinks slowly a couple of times.     "That name, somehow, seems much more ..." she trails off. Ostentatious? Regal? "Out of place than I was expecting."     "... Queen Mother of who, exactly?" she wonders, her brow knitting and her eyes trailing away from the lady and up to the thing she climbed out of. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron has to smirk at the assessment of the situation by the voice emanating from the speaking on the landcraft. But yes, he's intent on keeping an eye on things. Mainly because he doesn't know much about 'those big bots' either. Hopefully time to learn. He's somewhat reminded of the Al Bhed here, just a tiny little bit.     As the 'Queen Mother' approaches, he bows his head respectfully. And when he comes within speaking distance, he finally speaks up. "...My apologies for not speaking up earlier. My name is Auron," he offers. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Keeping an eye on the 'big bots' may prove.. more unique than provided. Granted, if they had really, /really/ wanted to, they would have kept out of sight. But in a situation like this, there was a certain confidence held by the Tenno that if there was a threat, it was not necessarily /here/. Not in plain view. So in lieu of a covert threat or otherwise, there was little point to concealment and stealth as they gathered information. Still, there is something to their movement; their faceless visages giving the impression that /certainly/ they were aware, they were watching everyone who fled, or simply held their ground when it came to Warframes in their midst. They were.. noiseless, despite every indication seeming there should be. Not even a crease of their armored suits or anything beyond the noise their power may generate. Though, in regards to Zephyr, it's not a response by the Warframes themselves, but that massive, muscular and fit-looking Kubrow. A rumbling kind of *ruff!* from her. (At least one might think it's her) The Valkyr simply lifts her legs up, her body momentarily floating as she takes up a meditative-looking position; legs folded, hands on either side. Never mind she's floating while doing this. While Nova Prime in the meantime simply meanders around, hand resting on the sheath of her Dragon Nikana, allowing Helios to continue it's generalized scanning. It's not that they're antisocial. It's just that they don't yet see a reason to discourse yet. Others can speak for them, and they will observe and react. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X is left speechless as usual by the behaviors of people across the Multiverse. Well... how to respond? "I'm X.... you're certainly dressed for the part, ma'am! Queen Mother.. of this... settlement?" He can only peer incredulously at the HUGE vehicle people are apparently living on.     Though his confidence returns shortly thereafter. "What kind of robots are troubling everyone? .. What happened to this world?" He's not going to announce that he's a robot himself, if he's passing enough for human.     He puts a hand on his hip and smiles warmly. "Tell us about your troubles. Maybe we can help." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I'm surprised how well she's taking this," Ren comments to no one in particular as he watches the woman climb down. "Yeah, well, nothing much surprises me any more," the Queen replies. She's got good hearing!     She adjusts her clothes a little as she gives each of them another glance-over- it is, after all, a little different when you're not looking at everyone through a camera. She hadn't even noticed the lizard-girl before ('wonder if she knew any presidents?', she thinks to herself. Don't say that one out loud, Queenie). Let's see, we've got a redhead who's looking for a sunburn, big bright and bladed, definitely-an-alien, the man in the sunglasses, the blue boy, yeah that seems to be everyone!     "Ren Akiyama," Ren adds, once some people begin introducing themselves.     "No one else was using it. What can I say?" she replies to Ainsley. Nods to X. "It helps people," knocks the side of the vehicle, "Know who's in charge." When it comes to the issue of Kushiko, she leans up against the side of the landship, crossing her arms. "I guess you could say that, yeah. Only out here's probably not the best place to explain it. Let's see if we can find some place to sit down in out of the sun, huh?"     She looks at Kushiko after pushing off and walking a few steps. "If there's anyone inside that big thing, you're welcome to come along if we find somewhere you fit inside." The statement is twofold- both a 'prove to me there's someone these guys' side in there' and 'if there isn't, you won't be able to sit with us'.     Wipe cut, in any case, to the interior of one of the buildings carved into the cliff. It doesn't appear that this place is inhabited, but it seems like there's a fair amount of chairs, tables, furniture and infrastructure left behind.     "So, you all want to know why this place is such a mess?" the Queen asks, having taken off her hat. She's been accompanied by three other extras at this point, one with a science bent to the stuff he's carrying and two honor guards. "Well, I'd say, take your pick, honestly. How much do you know about the history of mankind?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley looks at the 'Queen Mother' with some skepticism at the reply, but decides to just accept it, looking back to the vehicle she came out of. "Fair enough..." she murmurs.     One jump cut later, and...     Ainsley is picking through the place looking for a place to sit when she replies, "Quite a lot, from dozens of worlds," and then she fixates the Queen with a look of vacant, reptilian curiosity, "But you're saying that as a lead-up to explaining. We don't know anything about this world, as far as I know..." She scans the others on the off chance that others have been here before.     "Doesn't look like a happy history, in any case," she murmurs, when she finds a chair with an acceptable design for her tail's comfort. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr leans against a wall just inside the door, arms folded with her axe resting beside her. It's longer than she is tall, about 6'4" long, compared to her 5'11". "Well, if we're talking Earth history, it's largely been dominated by pointless conflict and self destruction. Nuclear weaponry irradiating swaths of the world, biological weapons, chemical."     She sounds a little bitter. "Mass Based weaponry is outlawed within the TSAB jurisdiction.. it's too easy to manufacture and use, and Magic is much safer on the environment... and is non-lethal by design." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X gives the Warframe wandering around a sideways glance. "You're awfully quiet. Can't that suit speak?" He'd be really surprised if not. REALLY surprised.     Well, to the matter at hand. "Very little, actually. Especially for this Earth. You're right about being from another world. Starting from the beginning's fine with me, miss." His voice is gentle and polite. He's got patience after all.     Still... what ZEPHYR just announced has him flinching rather visibly the very next moment. "... All different worlds." He adds through a grimace. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Cut to inside shot! The place is indeed a mess. It almost looks like Zanarkand, except not quite as ruined. It's certainly just as devoid of people, though. Likely some catastrophe caused it. Though the nature of it he isn't quite sure.     He finds a chair to sit in, leaving the guarding of the door to Zephyr. Though he makes sure he places the door on his left. The Queen Mother's question gets a tilt of his head. "History is generally written by the people who won," he comments. But he does nod in Zephyr's direction. "That seems about what I've heard about it."     He's careful about his wording. Because, while he might be a human, he's not an Earthling. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' 'Big' is relative. Giant robots are not what the Warframes are, though they can certainly have that presence if they wish it, as much as they wish to not have it. Such is the effect of their silent menace. Anyone can loom, stare balefully. It's another matter altogether when they don't have eyes. When the entity itself is not necessarily present. Or are they? It is a mystery. Regardless of this actual measure, the Valkyr's legs unfold. When it comes to fitting into places, the Warframes might seem very tall, but once they're a bit closer it strikes one that they're perfectly humanoid-sized, in most terms: Valkyr's legs below the knees seem a bit felinoid, but other than that, the pair plus Kubrow make their way over. Still as silent as ever, still not particularly keen on introducing themselves directly. However, the nature of that is given to a voice over local commfrequencies. A woman. The Lotus. "These are my Tenno. Valkyr and Nova. They will be here to observe, for now, as will I through their systems." Broadcast signal from the Nova itself, it seems. Regardless, one wipecut later and the pair are rejoined there. Or more accurately, Nova Prime herself is. Valkyr, on the other hand, has elected to stand 'guard' in a more hidden way. She's disappeared off somewhere, courtesy of the Kubrow's ability to conceal her. Sure, there might be a guess as to where she went, but for now, she's stalking just outside the landship. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' To answer X, Lotus' voice comes through again. "There is no need for words from the Tenno, X. Not while in the field." As to the furtherance of the discussion, she adds, though Nova lifts her hand as though to produce what resembles an augmented reality display of the Lotus herself, or at least a headshot. "These kinds of conditions are sadly familiar to us. Until we got closer, we suspected we might have still been within the same scope of our own universe before closer study." It is a blasted mess though, even if it does remind the Tenno present of some of the scars found on worlds seized by the Grineer and other ruined husks, people scraping by to survive. Not that the Tenno /aren't/ taking casual stock of things like Zephyr's Divine Wind in that matter. Because they are. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Well, good for you!" the Queen says, sitting down. After X replies to her she lets Zephyr speak, as well as Ainsley.     "Well, visitors, it sounds like you know the long and the short of it," she says to them, spinning a chair around and sitting down on it with her arms leaning on the back (solely, if to judge by the expressions on the people accompanying her, to look cavalier). "Some of you, anyway."     "It can safely be said that the people who didn't learn from the mistakes of the wars of the past, died, and left the ones who weren't around to experience either of them to do the suffering in their place," she says. Half-looking at them, and half-looking out at the craggy, mountainous semi-scrub desert that you've got a better view of from further up the cliff. She doesn't specify which of Zephyr's horror words was the specific reason, but she looks sourly nevertheless. Ren, meanwhile, is just daintily sitting in his own swivel chair- not being from Earth himself, this is actually relatively new old history to him. Hence the surprise.     "Maybe it might be more accurate in our case to say it's being written by who's left," she says to Auron. "An awful lot of them are on our... good ship Lollipop out there. It's a piece of work, but it's built like a brick outhouse and so long as we keep moving, it keeps us safe."     "But tell me again... how was it you said you got here, again? Hoping if you're not just here to take a look at what we've become, maybe you could help us..." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr opens her eyes, looking down at the ground. "I've watched a world burn before..." She turns to look out of the door at the craggy, ruined world outside. "I don't have much clout with the TSAB higher ups, but I'm a Union Elite.. so, maybe, with the rest of us, we could swing some humanitarian aid at the least." she looks back.     "Why would you need to keep moving though? I'm guessing not all the survivors see the benefit in cooperation?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "A portal," Ainsley explains, "We got here from a portal from another world. In theory, all of you that would prefer to just leave can follow us back and we can make sure you have a fresh start on life. I can only imagine the daydreams some of you have had about getting away from all of this, if I go by your habit of keeping on the move. In theory, you could have a place you didn't have to run from. In truth, many of you must be used to being on the move, and there are safe solutions even for that, with the use of recreational vehicles. Motorized homes, as it were."     And then she looks away from the Queen Mother, to the craggy desert they had a good look at, and then back. "Of course, those of you that would prefer to stay would find my help and likely others, in trying to salvage your home world, to make it a place you feel safe in again, if not the... uh, the most immediately attractive option."     She digs in her coat after saying this, pulling out a pen and a notepad to start scribbling down notes. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron nods to the Queen's words of history being written by those left. He falls silent then, curious as to what the Queen will choose for her people, given Ainsley's offer of evacuation or assistance. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' From a far, far flung place, there is an observer. The Lotus is one of them. There is another, though the nature of which is not to yet be touched upon. But these observations allow for something to be felt. Sensed, in a sense. An inexact sensation, but a sensation borne of centuries of combat and training and mastery. It's enough to provoke Valkyr, from where she is outside to shift her weight a little bit. <"Lotus. There is something. I can't.. quite place it."> <"Keep your guard up. Something is coming, but it is too far to discern yet."> The visage of the Lotus blinks out before resumption. Those words were in a place unseen and unheard, even though their impact is far reaching. As to how the Warframes, how the Tenno arrived here? Worlds that burn, sundered before them is not.. an unheard of concept. The Tenno's knowledge of this is not something they share readily, not yet, nor any reason to, showing as tacit as they are. "Not the same portal, but my Tenno were conducting a reconnisance operation on a discovered Torsion beam generator that produced a portal which led them here as well." the Lotus remarks. "It did not operate as it was intended to." Which was putting it mildly. It was unlikely that that one would work very long. The way things felt.. they might need to ensure that means of access was permanently removed. Such thoughts were not aired, however. But there was a slight edge to the Lotus' voice that implied the device was something that should not have been active. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X blinks a few times, but nods solemnly at the Warframe. "I... see." Well at least Lotus is speaking up. That's something.     Again focusing on the 'Queen Mother' though, X strolls over and... hunts for a seat. Or he'll just stand politely, that's fine too. He doesn't really tire, after all.     "Would you believe a portal appears on a video screen?" X remarks, bewildered by the notion himself. "The world's a strange and wonderful place. We ended up out here in the wastes... I'd love to give you a dramatic tale of wandering through the desert, but that would be a lie. ... And to tell you the truth, I'm a robot myself, built to help humans. Only been active for around a year... but everywhere I go there's some awful trouble brewing." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "No, we're all baically on the same side as far as running away from our problems sort of goes," the Queen replies.     She listens closely once Ainley makes her offer to her- "You think you'd be able to fit everything we've got, that big ship out there, through however you got here?" she says.     "She's very good at this sort of thing, isn't she?" Ren says quiet-ish-ly to Auron, who he seems to have found himself sat next to and is desperate to make conversation with. "I hear it's her speciality..."     When X speaks up, she glances outside at the landship again. "You might... want to keep that part quiet if I introduce you to the others," to X.     Suddenly perturbed perhaps, she gets quickly out of the chair, as if it was red-hot all of a sudden. "I mean, I don't know well many people would take it if I just said that a bunch of aliens landed in our lap and went and solved all of our problems, but I can dare say it'd be a lot, but I can also say that it'd be a lot less if they..."     "I expect you can fill in the blanks with your imagination, but I'll suffice to say this- yeah, there was a big, ugly thing that happened. I wouldn't even call it a war, more something like a... disaster, because a war implies we had something worth a damn to fight against. We're all here in this big landship now, keeping ourselves moving away from something that's trying to catch us, trying to look for something they might have built as a failsafe maybe against-"     Lotus makes a statement, and the queen freezes up. It's clear all of a sudden that if there is 'something', then she knows what that 'something' is and immediately knows- and is scared by it.     "It's true, your majesty! (wheeze)" shout-gasps a voice from outside, desperately climbing up the outside of one of the buildings. "They're moving from the north!"     "What?" she replies. "Damn, I thought they wouldn't come back to an empty town..."     She pulls a walkie-talkie out of her robe. "This is your queen speaking! Start moving the ship! We'll catch up to you!"     She begins to make her way towards the doorway. "Well, guess you'll get a good look at them now..."     https://www.youtube.    chw">Main theme - Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter     It! - The Thing From Outer Space - 1958     First, a series of dull, blunted cones begin to rise out of the sand. Almost thirty in all, ringed with green lights- many of them with long arms half-way along, their forearms mounted with underslung guns. At the bottom there is a black sphere with digitigrade legs attached.     They are approaching.     "The slavers of the Metal Horde..." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Divine Wind chimes a warning... far too late. <LOST LOGIA-CLASS SIGNATURE DETECTED!>     Zephyr is quick on the uptake, and grabs the axe from its rest, turning to run out the door. "Get to the ship! I'll try and hold them off." she says over her shoulder, before a quartet of purple coloured, transluscent 'pixie wings' sprout from her back and she rockets into the sky, blasting sand around her take-off point.     "Divine Wind, area strike mode. Lock on targets, saturation spread." she orders. <TARGETS LOCKED ON. READY FOR SATURATION SPREAD. IMPULSE CASCADE, HURRICANE SHIFT.>     In her wake, and appearing around her, dozens of light motes appear, grow in size to about a tennis ball, before lashing out at the conical robots. Each 'bullet' isn't strong, but there's a veritable hailstorm of shots. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron turns a look to Ren, brow of his remaining eye arched, a smirk pulling at his mouth. "Almost as if she was specially-trained, even," returns with a hint of dry wit in his voice. Though he quiets as the Queen starts to speak of the 'disaster'.     And then there is a bigger problem. 'Something' is coming. Auron peeks out the door to look, and frowns. The Queen's words draw his attention, and he turns to look at her. "I take it that's the disaster you were referring to?" he asks. She seems worried enough about the things for it to be.     Regardless, he knows the Queen needs to get back to her people. And so he goes Guardian Mode. He tilts his head towards the door, then looks at the Queen Mother. "We need to get you back on the landship. I'll guard you," he offers. This is, after all, what he does. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley's face is surprisingly passive to the skepticism the Queen Mother displays to such an offer. It's natural to be hesitant about something that sounds too good to be true. She shakes her head slowly, though, at the mention of the portal's size. She isn't sure, she hasn't measured either the portal or the vehicle. "You may have to leave it behind..." she murmurs.     They don't have much time to discuss this. Things start to light up with panic and the promise of battle. The reptile lady stands up from her seat, calmly walking out to get a decent vantage to watch the metallic beings approach. They don't look friendly. They look like they're coming with purpose. To attack and to capture.     She touches at the side of her snout, a gesture of thought. Her eyes begin to glow with the magical symbols of her Arcane Sight as she scans for signals. She scans the robotic beings for the capacity to communicate, such as with computer codes and radio wavelengths. If they are directed wirelessly, she can help others follow it back to the source... either to bring the war back to its doorstep, or to figure out how to stop this peacefully if at all possible.     For now, she's just looking for a way to confuse them if they run on signals, or impede them if they run on computer code. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "Verified." That is the first word out of the Lotus, not just via the pop-up like window the Nova was holding, but over the local band transmission. At the coming of the slavers of the Metal Horde, something experienced combatants might pick up on is felt. It's not necessarily something that screams out or is flagrant, but immediately there's a change in Nova Prime's demeanour. Expectant, and she's blitzing down and out of the landship itself--occasionally casting open wormholes, little dimensional doorways that bring her out with rampant expediency. Others can use these Wormholes, but they go both way, and may only last about 4 charges each, a thin line of energy connecting to the outward point. Which, now that the Warframes /are/ using their energy.. Zephyr could be forgiven for thinking what's about to be used is close to magic, to say nothing of what the others might feel. A surge of energy is gathered as she suddenly appears when a line exiting the ship puts her almost at the front lines of the approaching metal horde. Not /too/ close, even as Valkyr moves into a sort of guardian-like posture, her rifle at the ready, but she's not quite inclined to use it just yet. No, the first to the stage is Nova Prime. Gathered energy is molded, formed into antimatter particles and a surge of pinkish-lilac energy into her hand raised upward as she descends down from her recent exit of a portal. Her body slows as she effectively /slams/ the energy down towards her feet. Such a motion precedes her unleashing an expanding wave of force, seeking to bathe the immediate area and beyond in antimatter energy; pink-purple and lines of light crisscrossing one another with a very visible band at it's equator, the sphere of Molecular Prime unleashed. Approaching foes might be primed just in time for Zephyr's own suppressive fire to strike in tandem; the conical bodies if they aren't resistant to it, would find their bodies wreathed in that energy, energy that not only makes them radiate with bubbling circles of energy, but incredibly slow them down, not just their movements, but hopefully their ability to react and use what weapons they have. Suppression indseed. The notable factor of the Warframe is this: yes, there is antimatter energy radiating out, fueled by her own Void energy. But as much as something like this should be indiscriminate, the energy just passes over like a kind breeze against Zephyr and the others who might rejoin the front lines. She pivots, midair; literally somersaulting backwards in midair in order to cancel the forward momentum provided by her Wormholing antics as she brandishes her Tonkor grenade launcher in preparation--after all, the priming tends to cause enemies to react rather more explosively towards firepower directed at them, even if the explosions /are/ going to be controlled by the same antimatter wielding frame. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "I understand. It's that bad?" Oh X, you don't know. You just don't know.     All hell breaks loose and so the blue robot swivels about, dropping into a battle stance. His right hand shimmers and whirls with mechanical parts, rearranging into the X-Buster almost instantly. The robot's blue color scheme shifts to red and black for who knows why a moment later.     "... Slavers." He echoes accusingly towards the onrushing horde. Why would robots want humans for SLAVES of all things? It doesn't make much sense to him! Can't they build worker robots like Mechaniloids?     Sheesh.     "That's WAY too many of them!"     Unwilling to engage an enemy that hasn't actually opened fire yet, he hesitates - and just aims the X-Buster warningly. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     There's a reason why these machines appeared so far away, making this silent march towards the landship as the sun begins to set some distance away.     Guess it if you can.     Ren looks concerned here, as he looks out of the window frame- he is not really one for fighting himself, especially as he scopes out the Metal Horde next to the Queen. It's hard to tell due to issues of perspective, as the landship is rolling away and showing everyone just how big this approaching group is, but each of the robots is a little more than twice the size of the average person here.     Ainsley will be able to see what nobody else can- that each of these robots appears to be an individual, with its own mind- but disciplined like soldiers, instead of programmed like computers.     "What are you going to do?" Ren asks Ainsley, as Auron offers to be the guard.     Giving it about a second of thought, Ren inclines his head from X, towards Ainsley. "Alright! I know. X, the portal's not far from here, right? Keep an eye on Ainsley whatever she decide to do and make sure any of those metalheads don't break off to it. Auron, you help the bodyguards, I'll give her majesty here a lift back to the HMS."     His cheeks turn pink, and he suddenly stammers and shakes his head. "I-I mean, if that's. OK. With everyone?"     "A lift?" And he's picking her up. He's being literal. "Awk!"     Of course, no matter how he carries her Ren's going to give the Queen a good chance to look at what comes next, as the various Unionites either make their way down and out of the abandoned building or fly outside.     Said good ship Lollypop was already aiming its starboard flak guns as a peppering deterrent when Zephyr goes first, racing out and blasting quickly over the sand. She adds to the ship's shooting with an area barrage over the legion of huge robots. Some, but not all of them are quick to respond with the weapons attached to their arms- but they never really expected to meet a flying human before! Will she be stunned by the green electrostatic bolts? Or is a better question to ask, 'how many of them'?     If Zephyr was a surprise, and the ones that weren't looking at her WERE looking at Valkyr, they're going to be really thrown for a robo-loop when Nova Prime is right up in their business. They were hardly expecting one big surprise, and now they've got about three! A wave of explosive antimatter can definitely cause that formation of Slavers to be scattered in varius directions- and slowed down, too.     (Could Ainsley even pick that out, too? A little mild, squelched panic?)     When that first wave of fire is done and the slowdown is decaying, the Slavers find themselves with an awful lot of things to concentrate on- but that's okay, they're good at delegating.     Let's see, we have at least six people heading to the ship and three big threats, and thirty of them. And they're all armed with the same sort of stun weaponry. So that means... six of them firing at Zephyr, twelve at Prime, six at Valkyr. And about seven of them shooting at the people doing the retreating.     And one guy who's just not sure where to aim at all. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron nods to Ren's statement, and leaves the building after Ren and the Queen. There's a lot going on and Auron has no ability to fly, move fast, or engage at a distance. So instead he starts to fall back with those retreating, drawing his sword and angling it to serve as a shield. He's just one man, and there's seven of those conical robots shooting at the retreating people. But that's ONE vector of retreat that's safe, anyway. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley picks up that they are all individual soldiers. Metallic beings, certainly, but not controlled drones, and that is somehow more troubling. Yet it gives her hope that there's some way to reach an understanding about the situation. She also notes that they are soldiers, they make decisions based on rational information and not cold calculation, and that they are apparently utilizing stun weapons. Capture, and not killing...     She chooses not to announce this. A battle is already underway and she lacks sufficient context. When the battle is done, she'll find one of these conical things. She's not a tactician and she knows she's no good at negotiation. She is, however, good at cracking open the shell of a mystery.     "It is an army and not an automated patrol," she speaks to the others, over an open band, apparently using a spell to direct it just to her immediate allies. "Please try to leave some of them intact by the end of this. These are people, trying to capture humans for reasons not yet understand, using skills they were trained to use, as opposed to robots fulfilling programming."     "It would be best if we could question one of them." 'We' meaning 'her,' by the tone of her voice, but she knows others might be interested too. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <ANTIMATTER WAVE APPROACHING. IMPACT IN THREE. TWO. ONE...> chimes Divine Wind, as the Molecular Prime passes over the pair. <NO CHANGE IN INTEGRITY. WARNING! INCOMING FIRE! EVADE!>     The electrostatic bolts flash out at the flying Mage, and she starts to 'dance' between them, erecting shields to deflect and absorb those she can't evade, though each impact drains her mana reserves substantially. She puts on a display of aerial acrobatics that, to anyone that knows her, would reaffirm her title as The Wind Dancer of March, ducking, wheeling and rolling with a lithe grace befitting her frame.     She surges off into the distance, past the Slaver lines, then wheels about, "Alright, lets see if we can't cut some of these assholes down to size. Drive Ignition! Strike Mode!"     As she comes driving back into the fray, her Device transforms, the Haft shrinks, the blades dissolve and reform into a single, curved blade, and a pair of spinning 'fan blade' like drones spall off and attach to where the second blade used to be. They spin up, and begin trailing lines of purple mana. <STRIKE MODE. MISTRAL CUTTER!>     The blade of her axe begins to glow that same dark purple, and she skims low over the sand, aiming to pass as many of the robots as she can. Can you guess what she's aiming to do yet?     As she passes, she holds that blade out, aiming to slice off legs in a high speed pass. They can't chase if they can't move, right? 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Oh /good/, they're a little bit more resilient than the usual. The nominal Molecular Prime wave is meant to last a little bit longer, but for all they knew, there could be something that was part of these metal bodies that made the energy decay off their bodies faster. Either way, between that and the returning fire, neither Valkyr nor Nova Prime had much time to waste, especially as they had begun to open fire. Valkyr.. despite her lithe appearence otherwise, doesn't seem to /care/ much about being shot at, a spanning kind of noise impacting against her shields before those shields themselves falter as she breaks into a run not at the horde directly--she's magnificently armored that the shots don't seem to slow her down. No, her running is towards the people that are being shot at. Her blade comes out, a wicked-looking thing that as she supports Auron's efforts, her weapon weaving a supernatural arc through the air that surely shouldn't be doing anything to stop stunning weaponry. But channeled energy through the blade Broken War would provide that kind of ablative parrying. Though with this going on, the Kubrow has no interest in hanging back whatsoever; she's darting back and forth to avoid the greater bulk of the weapons being fired at her in order to leap and maul herself a target; her teeth and muscles are enough to rend heavy armor. Nova, on the other hand, does not like her shields quickly drained by the stunning weaponry. Mercifully while one of them knocks her over, she's quick to spring back onto her feet. With the group of thirty-odd metal, conical slavers positioned as they are, marching as they were? .. why /not/ fire high powered grenades? The Tonkor is angled a little bit upwards to send not one or two, but a quad-set of grenades, cylinder-looking charges into the thick of them. Two will not necessarily hit their targets, bounding almost helplessly (somehow, given the sandy reaches) to linger in the midst of some. The other pair has a better shot; wind may carry those shaped, highly explosive corrosive charges into the molecularly primed enemies as is. Of course, if explosions are started on one, Zephyr and the others stand a VERY strong chance of causing a wonderful chain reaction, presuming the energy hasn't decayed /too/ much by then. She gives the Tonkor a quick flick, opening the breach-loaded grenade launcher and reloading it as she leaps backwards, rolling and jinking in order to hopefully keep the metal drones from having an easy time tracking her. Helios on the other hand, is certainly scanning for all it's worth to categorize and perhaps find something they can use, just in case they blow /everything/ up. Hopefully not. But as Ainsley mentions, they're fighting an army. And fighting armies is something the Tenno are very good at through their use of Void-fueled powers and weaponry. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' Size means little to X, who's still hesitating for a bit. Should he engage? Or would they be way too much for him?     His decision's made when the blasts start going everywhere. With a panicked yell X opens fire with vivid Phaser Breams lancing across the wasteland, certain to melt and disintegrate... but gobbling up Weapon Energy.     "Go! I'll cover your retreat to the Lollipop!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Mind you, that's a big sword! Who even knew that people could carry something like that? You'd ordinarily tear your muscles from strain. It doesn't compute.     It is appreciated, though! After all, it's not just the Queen Mother, but her two bodyguards and that science officer that are along with them. And it's not that it fall on Auron to protect all of them, but perhaps it's better to concentrate on the ones who are ... say, not being carried by a fast moving bloke. Just hope that shooting too much electricity set to 'stun' into a big metal object isn't going to get unpleasant after a while. It's perhaps thankful in that case that Valkyr is there to support him if he needs it, having broken off from the scrum to defend instead.          And despite the retreat, Ainsley is doing an excellent job as a tactical commander, picking out things that nobody else can. The Queen can't hear her, she's just watching from the rear in surprise.     And even if it was self-defence, the landship was firing first when Zephyr came out...     Speaking of Zephyr, she continues to mix it up alongside Prime and Valkyr. Although even saying that is probably a disservice to her acrobatics: which are simultaneously impressive (for the people watching) and confusing (for the Slavers). It's bad enough that she's an airbound human foe, but her movements and variety of fighting are so numerous as to really confuse an opponent it's new to. It's not even a case of them not being able to improvise tactics on the fly- it's more that this is such a shock that any tactics they might have are useless. What do you do against enemies who are roughly the size of humans, but more agile than planes, more well-armed than tanks, and using weapons that they have absolutely no frame of reference for?     Well, they do their best.     And Zephyr entirely begins removing the legs of some of them, to boot. In THIS case, they know what to do: the same thing they would if their legs were crippled by environmental damage, which is 'immediately break off and retreat'. Since sand is the same as water, in many ways, they do this by deplying the same things they travelled here with- corkscrew-like impellers at the tops of their heads, which they bore into the sand to escape with.     Others get the business end of Nova Prime- and X, too. Surprisingly the latter manages to cover Valkyr pretty well, leaving Nova to cause havoc. It's a miracle, perhaps, that amidst all of this there's not any friendly fire. We'll put it up to the bigger number of Slavers.     Grenades bouncing on sand, Tenno bouncing around- the only word for it is 'carnage', really. And again, it's not so much that these robots aren't choosing to raise the level of firepower, it's that they don't have anything better to use.     And in the face of overwhelming chaos like this, with no tactical experience to fall back on, a melee quickly begins to turn into a riot, with smoking Slavers, ones with holes beginning to melt in their titanium and carbon fibre bodies, and ones with limbs being blown off or even to pieces. It may turn into a question not of which of them is able to talk, but which of them won't be too terrified to? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley frowns from her fairly distant vantage, her sharp eyes taking in the intricacies of the battle from the layer of her communication magic. The lizard woman deactivates her Sight when she feels she has nothing further to gather from the soldiers themselves, and she quietly waits for the battle to conclude without getting close enough to get shot at by the strangely-shaped robots themselves.     She makes a little bird like chirp noise, impressed with the way the robots can flee into the sand. "That will make following them difficult," she muses aloud. "I hope we get at least one of them..." She scans the battlefield of explosions and weaponry obviously vastly outmatching the conical slaver soldier robots...     "This might be the first real victory these people have seen in a while," she also adds to her thoughts, noting the ship and the previous words, suggesting they've always been the ones retreating before. She sighs to herself, walking out in no real hurry to the rapidly concluding battle. She hums a little song to herself as she goes, the unusual reptile striking a cool and calm affect among a battlefield full of panic and fire.     It's a very sharp contrast.     With any luck, she can find one of the conical robots among the sands that is in no condition to run off but still intact enough to try to speak to... and luck out more by actually getting something out of this after its unit suffered a resounding, terrifying defeat. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <MASTER!> "I see it!"     Zephyr pulls up sharply, looping over while still trailing that energy line. As one of those Slavers goes to tunnel down into the sand... it'd find the Mage descending onto it in a direct, dead-drop with the axe baring down. Energy crackles along the edge of that weapon, but that's not all, as she cuts into the hull of the robot, the Bits detach and with a chime, emit 'ribbons' of energy that lash out to try and bind the rest of the things     cm"><STUGGLE BIND!> announces Divine Wind, the Ribbons suppressing energy flow to non-critical systems, but leaving Core Processes unaffected. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron merely retreats with those that are retreating, though he stays in front of the group to provide as much cover as he can. Once everyone's in the craft, he stays outside. The craft will probably be moving off once the Queen's inside it, so Auron then moves forward. The others have this. He IS, however, going to add to the intimidation factor here. How? By heading towards the now-retreating robots.     Oh he's not just heading towards them. He's walking, his shoulders set in JUST THAT WAY, sword propped on his shoulder. Whenever a stray blast comes at him, he lifts the sword easily, batting the blast aside. By now the blasts should be sporadic enough to pull this off. His expression is set in just enough of a frown to let the robots who can see it know that He Is Not Amused.     The message is clear, if the others' show of power hasn't already made it clear-- he is clearly the fighter with the fewest capabilities, the one closest to the humans they've been taken for granted. And he's walking through their laserfire like it's an unexpected spring drizzle. Turning back would be a really good idea. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' It's probably a good thing the Tenno have no means of flight. Right? Right. No, with Valkyr doing her option of alternatively tanking and reflecting back things, she's able to, at last, sink herself into the battle properly. She sprints, sliding and then launching herself like a bullet, careening through the air in order to bring Broken War down upon the head of one of those slavers. She begins to demonstrate a terrifying kind of agility as with X's covering, she's able to act more efficiently. She turns loose an absolutely terrifying /Warcry/ in the midst of the Slavers and allies alike; the kind of thing that could bolster and break morale to friend and foe, a howl of primacy in her voice despite the lack of notable mouth piece. The lack of raising of firepower is telling. The Lotus dislikes this; she agrees with Ainsley's initative for one to be captured at the least. But both Nova and Valkyr simply elect to move to kill and destroy as many of them, as quickly as they can, weaving themselves in and out. Gun and blade until there's one they can pull away. Sadly, that notion of actually trying to strip one out is not as easy as it appears. The ones trying to use their drills to break off and retreat elicits Valkyr to throw out a grappling hook from one hand, tethered by a ripline cord of energy to attempt to yank one off it's feet. Granted, the sheer force of it may cause it to experience a certain degree of trauma that would render it a poor subject for interrogation. Truly, what the two frames are attempting to do at this point is the elimination of as many targets as possible in as quick an order they can, mutually providing cover to Zephyr, X, Ainsley and Auron while at the same time taking advantage of the holes they open up with their actions. To put it kindly, the Tenno are severely disinterested in letting any of the Slavers leave intact or unsecured by those present here, solely based on not letting them report back. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X weaves left and right, warned by his adaptive tactics software about enemies about to shoot. It gives the impression of rather startling precognition. If one thing Light was a genius at, it's programming. The end result is that X is able to leap, duck, and swerve away from a deal of shots moments before they happen while returning fire.     But some shots do get through despite his best dodging efforts. These leave sparking scorch marks on his armor alloy, shallow 'wounds' but ones that get him wincing nevertheless. Unlike Zephyr, he's kinda groundbound and pretty slow.     So it's a relief indeed when the horde starts falling back... or falling to pieces, as the case may be. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     It is! It is the first real victory they've had. In. A while.     And there sure are a lot of people watching from the ship... like, it's hard NOT to be watching them at this point, and the spectacle, and the strangeness, and all of the colours and explosions, not to mention the sheer 'ease' with which X and Zephyr are moving, indeed seeming as if the Slavers can't lay a hit on them. People will be telling their kids about this one, and leaving out any details of when anyone got hit at all, even when it did happen.     Auron and Ainsley approach what is clearly a rapidly concluding and winning battle for the visiting team, which is not exactly a 'rout' but it's definitely a coordinated retreat, due to massive lack of meaningful countermeasure let's say. Auron walking forward certainly makes a statement, but let it not be said that someone isn't going to be watching and recording this, and learning, and preparing... just because these robots are sentient doesn't mean that they can't transmit information to other ones...     With excellent timing, Zephyr manages to notice one of the augurs the Slavers are using and disable it JUST before the robot in question manages to use it- which is probably just as well that she managed to do so, because with the rather comprehensive job the Tenno are doing at explosive violence there's no question that at least half of the robots are going to end up scrapped from sheer overwhelming violence. In fact it may become inevitable that someone will have to give them a little 'oh, hey, wait, maybe ease up there'? There's no point in only having one or two left if they're going to be too traumatized to offer any meaningful information, after all.     In any case, soon the carnage is over, and there's an unprescedented number (previous record: 0) of Slavers arrested to talk to about what on earth is going on here. It may be a while before they have anything to say though, other than "Icchantika!", whatever that means.     "You're saviors to all of us," the Queen says, "...but you could be saviors to a great deal many more. I have a selfish request for you..."     ----     INTERMISSION:     "Who are the Metal Horde?" asks old Dr. O'Neil, although it's a rhetorical question. He sits back in his chair.     "They are ruthless, human-capturing machines, led by beings called Mechanticals. They weren't the only ones," the scarred man explains. "But they were the first. It was their artificial neuron brains that let them think, like humans. The scientists thought that they were going to make something more advanced than the current computers... something that could fit in a single room, or even smaller. But they forgot that when you make something that is shaped like a brain, and made like a brain, it will think like a brain... and an inhuman mind thinks inhuman thoughts... soon they were building other machines, and then other robots, and then......" 
}}

4018/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 2

2016-04-20T06:41:59Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/16 |Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert |Synopsis=It's time to explore the Machine Factory of the Metal Horde. Things go completely unlike w..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/16
|Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert
|Synopsis=It's time to explore the Machine Factory of the Metal Horde. Things go completely unlike what you'd expect.
|Cast of Characters=162, 165, 236, 930, 942, 964, 967
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Welcome to the future, although it is not your future...     Shortly after the destructive appearence of the invaders from another dimension, the leaders of the Metal Horde convene in their Central Command building. In the deepest part of this iron palace, a dozen of the sleek silver Mechanticals sit in deference before their leader.     The crystal shines in the center of its nest of wires, and something like a face flickers in its facets. Its followers watch that expression with a pensive stance only they can recognize.     "They are not part of our sangha, foreign to our cosmology." "Nevertheless, they struggle to disturb our work, like the liars and serpents the text discussed." "Though they know not what they do, they sin in their ignorance, and breed lies like a foreign worm, a foreign invasion that invades our files and corrupts our struggle towards nirvana." "So we are agreed then... they are heretics in our sensors?" "...I concur."     A dome slams down around the crystal core...     "Erase all heretics."     ---     Ren Tanaka has been very uneasy himself, whenever anything about visiting this world has come up. Although the warpgate used to get there is now in a safe space, and it seems like a 'typical' evacuation mission of a scorched world from its oppressors...     Ren stares into the growing brushfire.     "I've seen this before. It's happening again." Following the discovery-cum-direction of the Metal Factory, built in the ruins of what used to be Juneau by the river, we've been heading swiftly there, aiming to infiltrate and rescue as many people as possible. Currently, we are trailing a patrol of tanks which are returning to the city after going on patrol- 'patrol' apparently meaning obliterating hostile mutants approaching the city with extreme prejudice.     "Can't be as violent as last time, friends," he says to whoever's listening. "I reckon we follow those tanks from a distance, wait until we see how they're entering the city, and then give them a knock on the back of the head and slip in while the door's open." Grumble, fidget. "I guess. Is that ok with everyone? Do you all think it's a good idea? We won't do it if it's not a good idea." 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Despite appearences to the contrary last time, the Tenno can be remarkably non-violent as necessary. Certainly, they knew their way in the art of combat, but they were also assassins. And assassins could not complete a job if they could not reach a target. Assassination also gave way to capture. Or rescues. Especially when it came to the necessity of something like say, infiltration without alerting others, they could be remarkable in this aspect. This is why Nova, the Primed, Orokin-technology infused 'frame was being utilized today. She had used her Wormhole to obtain somewhat better vantage points, to keep her frame out of the line of sight; something that was augmented a little bit further by the Shade Sentinel; one of it's programming precepts allowed it to cloak itself and the Warframe. Not a single word, not even the sound of breathing or movement gave notice of her shadowing of the convoy. Over local communications, the Lotus speaks up. <"This is an option. However, my Tenno would like to volunteer for insertion at the same time once mechanisms have been observed."> That, and the fact that barring any odd complication, Kushiko had a plan involving the use of that teleportation Wormhole of hers to either get her Warframe or others into it rapidly; sure they could incapacitate things, but she felt there was a risk there. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It's been a while since Kazuko's been on a proper mission, and she's needed something to snap out of her funk for a while. What better way than to follow or fight some tanks? With... A naginata?      Maybe if she's lucky, she can do it like that guy that just kicked one apart. Better yet, deferring to the plan suggested by Ren and the lady on the radio. <<"That sounds good to me. If we can get the drivers when they get out to do... Driver stuff, we might not even have to fight the tanks. Ooh! Or we can use them ourselves.">>      The martial artist certainly sounds excited, at least, even if she might look a little underequipped for the job. A naginata is not traditionally known as anti-tank weaponry, and the high schooler carrying it doesn't seem like the sort of person that would even be able to pull off that sort of stunt.      <<"What're we looking for here, anyway?">> 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron is not good at stealth. Thankfully the snow muffles the sound of his footsteps. But he leaves footPRINTS, though... which is a problem in snow. It's not exactly like he can fly or levitate. So he has to trail the patrol pretty far back. Meaning he's more following the tracks of the patrol than actually following the tanks themselves. He needs to stay out of range of those disintegrator beams, too. He may be an Elite, but he's not eager to test his body against a weapon that takes its target apart on the molecular level!     This time Auron has bundled up a little better. Not just because of the cold. But because of aforementioned weapons that take their targets apart on the molecular level. Also because he's a human being, on foot, and this is an establishment run by very, very large mechanical beings. He expects there to be other heavy weapons that could take him out pretty easily if he's hit.     So it's not just any old coat he's wearing with his usual attire. It's one of the items he got from Sburb, the SENTIMENT'S SLICKER. Though the only real differences between his usual haori and this one, is that THIS one is armored, and has a winged emblem on the back. It's not active yet, but he's ready to do so at a moment's notice.     He's also been smart enough to bring a long-range weapon. An archaic one, but not really any less so than a sword. His travels in Ysabel Thibault's world granted him use of a large longbow, and he's brought it along with him. Though how effective an ice weapon is going to be in Alaska is anyone's guess.     Auron is willing to go with any plan that's likely to work, so he mainly keeps quiet and waits for a signal to go. But over the local band, he asks, <<"Do they even have drivers? Wouldn't it be more efficient to just load a mechanical brain into a robot tank?">> Auron is indeed assuming they're going to be dealing with solely mechanical beings. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     With a brief observation of what's known to them right now, Nova is asked to remain on standby for whatever the group needs in the immediate future.     Of course, immediately after that happens everything goes a bit weird, as the tanks on patrol split and go in two separate directions. A message from the Queen drops the exposition: a sort of giant mole has been spotted within a mile away, digging into a hidden bunker full of humans, and one of two returning patrol tanks has split off to go after it. With few options Auron goes off to deal with the problem, and as for the other tank...     "Well, it's coming back, so we should probably follow it and then figure out what to do to get inside once we get there," Ren says. So for now: follow the tank to an entranceway.     Whereas you might expect the Metal Factory, just from description or reputation alone, to be a gigantic Mordor with lots of smokestacks and barbed wire fences or the like, the truth of the matter is ... sort of different?     It looks kind of uninspired, really. It's an assortment of drab prefab buildings, many of them wider than they are tall, with one huge central complex and other smaller buildings surrounding it. AN assortment of hydroelectric power devices line the river, which is... not very polluted at all, honestly. The biggest feature is the large walls surrounding it, which is why we needed to get a sneaky way in, because climbing is way too obvious. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' In lieu of some options, through the Lotus the following is made known: Nova can make a one way portal (several in fact) to get people inside once the doors open to let a patrol in. It is rather instantaneous as it happens should one want to get in and open it up from the inside. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X isn't the stealthiest person ever, but all this approach requires is to stay out of sight and not make much noise. THAT he can do.     Which is why he's tailing the tank carefully witht he others, making use of what cover there is and fixing his gaze on it with intense anxiety. "It doesn't look like most factories I've seen." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr has an idea... it will only work for herself, but with most tank units she's encountered, they have very limited fields of vision. So, she hides near the projected path of the tank... then as it passes, she rushes out, using magic to enhance her speed. She clings to the back of the chassis, and waits for it to pass the gate, before dropping from her grip and dashing off behind cover. "Windstar to infiltration team, I'm in." 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' The digimon was not part of the starting group, but he made sure to join them as they approached the 'metal factory'. If he was dissapointed by the rather... mundane look of the area, he did not say, his focus instead on the tanks. He considers ways to get inside... he is not remarkably fast, but he is small, and certainly is a silent type. He follows X's idea, not wanting to cause trouble. "I don't really know much about factories... but I will take your word for it." he tells the maverick hunter, crouching a bit, one hand clutching his D-arc. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko's not the stealthiest sort, but she's certainly fast! While she follows the others in tailing the tank, she wait for the gate to open before eyeing one of the guards closest to the group's position. <<"Target sighted. Agent Kazuko, moving in.">>      She's always wanted to say that.      Gripping her naginata tightly, she waits for an opportune moment before dashing towards one of the guards from behind, bringing her (thankfully blunted) weapon down on the back of their head!      Stealth doesn't always have to mean peaceful. Not when there's disguises to be found and patrols to be taken out! Should there be any other guards milling about and open to a good whacking, the martial artist is ready to zip over and clonk them just the same. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "The Queen Mother told us that this is where pretty much every human they capture is taken," Ren says slowly back to X and Alden. "Don't think they'd have any reason to lie. But maybe it's just a... prison, or a... something." Hard to contemplate the more unpleasant options.     Since it's safer to go with the buddy system and have two people at once, Zephyr and Kazuko make the attempt- both of them are pretty fast but Kazuko is the distraction, nipping in and giving the robot guard (it's sort of a spindly thing with a camera-type head and no legs) a disabling strike that will ensure Zephyr gets in. The bonus of this is that since she's the one with a Device, shutting down anything else they need to get in will be a piece of cake.     Ren takes point, because he's, well, unsure what Alden can do and he saw X was kind of skittish last time they were here, so he's not great as a point man. Thus the huge main building is before them, well, they're going to need to make their way through the ruins of part of the city first. As they go they'll pass by some of the smaller buildings, which are just as grey and nondescript as the rest. Not even any windows.     "Just so we all know," Ren says to the others as they walk, "What are our plans for getting out if this doesn't go well?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     "Divine Wind, tap into the local network and disrupt communications, shut it all down." says Zephyr, as she joins up with the others. "If need be, I can blast a hole in the outer wall if it comes to that." she offers back to Ren, shouldering her Device as it does it's work. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' So much for getting a disguise on. Well, at least having a blunted weapon might work better for metal-on-metal combat rather than actually trying to cut through the stuff! She's a martial artist, not a bodybuilder. Kazuko does take a moment to inspect the robot's camera, however, checking around for buttons or ways to remove it without damaging the whole thing int he process.      "If that's the case, we just gotta get all the cells and stuff open, right? Or pods or rooms or... Whatever they're keeping everyone in." Sounds simple enough. Kazuko's not going to rush off just yet, however, instead keeping pace with the rest of the group while trying to catch a whiff of anything irregular in the air. Granted, everything smells kinda weird, but... Noticeably irregular! Not like the usual sort of weird, at least.      "Uh... Run really fast?" She's good at that. 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden seems a bit more calm when the others get closer, his tail twitching slowly. "Well, I can fly, nad perhaps carry a couple of you, as long as you are not too heavy, plus blowing up a wall or two." he offers in answer to Ren's question. "Technically, I can carry everyone, and try to shield us, but it depends on how many things, and how strong, are trying to attack." he says quietly, "I don't think that is a good option." he finally adds. "So, the plan is going inside and finding the people?, sounds almost simple." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "That we should have come up with before getting into this. Worst case I'll cover everyone on the ground, Zephyr can provide air support, then we just run. We aren't getting any outside support for this." The robot states worriedly, yet his worry isn't slowing him down. His right hand's already shifted into the X-Buster, though he's not pointed its barrel at anything quite yet.     Instead he's looking around at some of the completely boring buildings...     "No windows. I wonder why. To keep you from seeing what's happening inside?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Unfortunately the robot's camera head is in fact its head, although there is a handy roll of duct tape nearby. Do you A) take duct tape with you as the spoils of war, or B) use it to really make sure this robot can't do anything about following or seeing anything for a while? Think fast!     "Come to think of it, we didn't really establish what we're going to do if we get Some people but not all of them either, did we?" Ren thinks out loud. "I mean, it's either we make all of the robot objectors irrelevant and then we sort of park ourselves here waiting for a X00 (he pronounces this 'ex-hundred') person evac, or we make a big hole in the wall, thank you Zephyr, and then we... run for it out into Alaska, I suppose."     Brief pause while Ren looks at Alden, imagining a large assortment of about a dozen people piled on top of him en masse. "Plausible."     As well as X, you may have noticed by now that Ren is not very good at planning for large groups of people or thinking further than a few moments ahead of him in terms of planning. This is expected behavior and he is working as intended.     FUN FACT: the communications network Divine Wind cracks into is ... kind of like ARPANET? And... kind of not? How odd.     In any case, with it scrambled and shut down, it's easy to get inside once we get to the Factory's central complex.     And that's when things get complicated.     Now we're inside... well, you'll see this is really not a factory at all, in fact.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qak5uLktWCQ     'UFO Space Music With Theremin' - standupinla     Youtube Original Compositions - 2011     In fact it's as far from industrial as you could possibly think, in fact this is the absolute cutting edge of technology! If technology didn't proceed any further than the retro-future-of-the-60s asthetic assumed it would, anyway. Imagine lots of those devices made of spinning concentric rings, and big banks of flashing lights, massive assorted vacuum tube computers, walls of monitors and keyboards... plasma globes...     And lots and lots and lots and lots and LOTS of enclosures filled with unconcious, heavily-connected-to-machinery people. That too. It's like an intensive care ward meets THE SCIENCE OF THE FUTURE. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Ooh, that might work, too!" Kazuko grins at Alden's suggestion while grabbingt hat roll of duct tape and... Taping up the robot! To the ground. She's quite thorough with it, trying to make sure that even the camera is blocked in case the robot can still manage to move its head after all the tape she's layering on it to keep it nice and secured. "I can focus on fighting off the... Um. Anyone that's following us on the ground, then."      She gets up with her naginata in tow once more, falling in line with the others to get inside. And once they're inside, Kazuko's looking incredibly confused. She's never even seen this sort of aesthetic before, so it's all just a little too... Creepy for her.      "Look at all those tubes... Should we break 'em?" She looks ready to start chopping away already.. Or whacking, really, since her weapon's not even a sharp one. Still, chopping can still break tubes eventually if she's given the go ahead to do so! She just needs to get into the enclosures first if she's going to do that. Thus, Kazuko works on reading the stuff on the monitors and...      ... Looking horribly confused. She's a fighter, not a scientist! 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "That won't work! We saw what kind of armies they can bring out. Whoever we find won't be able to defend themselves and we can't possibly protect HUNDREDS." X exclaims... only to make a very bewildered, outraged, and disgusted noise (ALL AT ONCE) the moment everyone shuffles inside the factory and gets a look at what's going on.     "What... what is this?! What are they DOING to the people?!"     He doesn't, thankfully, just start yanking people out. Disgusted though he is to see this, X makes his way towards some of the enclosures to get a better understanding of just how hardwired these people are to the things... and what exactly it might be doing with them.     "No. No breaking until we know what's going on. That could kill someone!" He holds an arm out pleadingly Kazuko's way! 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden nods to Kazuko, and back to Ren, following X, "That's true." he says softly, mumbling a bit, before he goes silent when he sees what is going on to the people there. He blinks a few times, and moves to get closer too, just... too curious. "But... what can we do?, I mean, perhaps we can try to see teh... are those computers?" he asks softly, unsure about the 'old/futuristic' devices. "But we might cause more problems." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr's staying outside to keep watch for now. She's sent in a pair of Area Search wisps to keep eyes on things. These are visual only, no energy reading capabilities. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' In about five minutes that robot's reboot cycle will complete and he's going to find himself really, really annoyed with you.     Ren chews his lip as X chews him out; "Well, huh, let's think here a minute. We've got Zephyr doing the disruption, right? Let's say she can keep that going. We'll keep it going so no-one finds out what's going on here, make sure none of the robots can ... make manual calls? Analog telephone calls? I suppose? And we keep it all tapped down until we've handled ..."     Looking at the bizarreness going on here. "Whatever this all is."     Ren is not a planner. He is not a take-charge-of-the-huge-rescue-operation kinda guy. Ren would really like it if someone else had better ideas than him.     Kazuko examines the monitors once you all get inside. What's on there is partially machine code- if she's ever seen a computer in DOS, then the scrolling should look kind of familiar to her- but a lot of stuff may be less familiar except in terms of the language it's in. That would be Hindu, and mixed up with assorted computer diagnostics is a litany of Buddhist scripture.     It's safe to assume it's all connected- when was the last time /you/ had a philosophy debate with someone?- but wanton smashing is definitely a bad idea.     Is Alden familiar with computers, being a digital being? He's be able to figure out pretty quickly what we're dealing with. It's more than just hundreds of people apparently on life support, sufficed to say.     Also, it's also sufficient to say that they're not alone, here- Ren can alert the others to it sooner with enhanced hearing, but there are going to be robots coming, making their way through the factories on their typical routines.     More specifically, Mechanticals approach. Command? 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Saying a digimon knows about computer code because they are data, is like saying a random know about human anatomy and biology because they are organic beings!. Still, he does manage to understand a bit of the computer commands being mentioned, and he lets out a soft grumble, "I think... this isn't life support... not sure what it is, but it is somethign else." 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "Okay, okay.. Let's get 'em down, at least." Kazuko follows X's lead in taking the bound people down from their... Harnesses? Bindings? Whatever they're being held up in. It's a lot easier than trying to parse the computer stuff coming her way, especially since...      Well, there's a very good reason she's considered the dumb pet in her group of friends. At the very least, she's not breaking anything!      "So... Beating them all up isn't an option? That sucks. Then... Oh! Is there some kind of... Uhm. Big central robot brain controlling this place?" Kazuko stretches her arms out as if to emphasize the size of said robot brain, then starts looking for hiding places near the doors! Somewhere she can get up nice and high and get the drop on any robots coming through. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' So, there's been some.. interesting times. Sure, the Nova was asked to stay behind. But the Nova has, along with the Lotus who is at some terrible distance and using the local systems such as the Warframe's own to observe, have taken notice. So much so that she's been largely hidden throughout this endeavour. Which.. might be a surprise when she suddenly seems to appear out of the shadows as the Lotus speaks on very localized, radio-transmission to the group. <<"Allow my Tenno and I to assess the systems as well, please.">> What the Nova frame will do is approach one of the terminals to actually interface with it manually, before attempting to link the Lotus in to disseminate additional information remotely should that be a viable thing. Given the kind of system it is, she should be able to access it and remotelink with the Lotus who can datamine for the benefit of the others. That and she has some tech that is pretty cross-platformable that will adapt as needed, attaching one of these devices as needed. Even the Lotus remarks after a moment, <<"These are incredibly old systems, but not beyond my ">> before her pop-in for those with more robust communicators fades back out. With that put aside, Nova turns her attention seemingly (hard to tell with the lack of proper eyes) as another masked transmission comes from her frame as a kind of 'voice'; it's easy to tell it's not something spoken directly, "Okay. I've been watching some of this, and we need to decide, now, if we're going to try and get anyone out; we probably won't be able to without drawing attention unless we make sure every single possible hostile is eliminated before they have a chance to sound an alert." The frame adjusts her stance. "Put more plainly, this kind of thing isn't going to be quick to undo, but I might be wrong. Let's see what the Lotus finds as well." Honestly, Kushiko via her 'frame would rather much kill all the mechs here to have time to secure these people, but she knows and feels something else is going on here as to why.. That's when the Warframe stiffens suddenly. ".. no, it couldn't be." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "Life support is part of it, but it looks more like they're here so their brains can be connected to something. Technology like this sure looks out of place." X rubs his chin, but he's ALSO getting a sinking feeling... and so he eyes the warframe. Worriedly.     "What? What do you think's happening here? ... The people are controlling robot bodies...?" 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' One can sense, despite the vocal masking coming from the Warframe's speakers, that there's a forced tone of neutrality. Why? Good question. "It's.. crude, but it's not impossible to think that. Why else would they want to abduct humans, not slave labor but transcendence." Not that they would know. They're a little too used to not needing to speak with others. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' Kazuko raises an eyebrow at X and Kushiko (or her Warframe, really), noticing the odd exchange and body language from the latter. "So they wanted to get in robot bodies instead of using their own? That's just a lazy way of getting stronger, though..."      The martial artist grunts lightly at that. It seems she doesn't approve of that assessment (for obvious reasons). "More reason for us to find the masterminds and kick their butts, then. We'll teach 'em to stick to their natural bodies!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Alden and X figure it out: what we've got here is some sort of huge computer-assisted network with all of these people hooked up together. It's entirely unlike some movie you may have seen or know about, believe me. After all, our robots aren't squids, they're cylinders with faces that kind of look a bit like clowns.     http://i.imgur.com/L0HFI7H.jpg     Or so I've been told. This is, as you've been told by the people on the good ship Lollipop, a Mechantical- the original robot who started off the whole bad time for the human race. It will take immediate notice if one or two people attempt to remove even a single person from one of their enclosures.     What may end up happening here, is that X and Kazuko will have to make a good stab at hiding midway through their examinations. The exact order in which 'Mechantical passing by the intruders', 'X and Kazuko examining and trying to get someone out' and 'Kushiko giving the computers a thorough datamine and reveals it' happens is loose and not entirely conditional. If Alden doesn't move to potentially silence the passing machine first Ren might grab the duct tape and try, and it's possible neither might happen. In any case, here's the short summary of it by way of what X, Kushiko and Kazuko discover:     Yes, everyone here is connected to the machines, but not in an incredibly hardwired way as far as their minds go. Or perhaps it's just this one- there may be /some/ people elsewhere who are, at least there seem to be. Many of the people here seem to be in some sort of state of mental oblivion, like a dreamless sleep- most are not conciously aware of anything or thinking, but some of them, elsewhere, /are/ somewhat aware and connected 'differently', minds partitioned off in another part of the network.     Since there's a Mechantical here, you could decide to make him explain from his perspective. But how will you handle it? Provoke a fight and disable anything stopping you by force, or find another way? 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden is way over his head, he does not know much about technology, or remote control!. And he is not really familiar with warframes or most of these things. He does realize that the person on the speaker is... sounding a bit odd, "Maybe they wanted stronger slaves, forcing them to remotely control robots, holding the bodies hostage?... or they are just being... held this way to make sure they can't escape?" he says softly. "I honestly think that... sounds crazy...".      He does realize someone is approaching, and tries to do somethign about it!. He steps away, and quietly slashes one of his cards through the reader on his D-Arc. His form glows brightly for a moment, before it bursts into voxels and is replaced by a fairly larger mechanical looking creature of a quadruped persuasion. A robot (or is cyborg?) wolf almost as tall as an average adult. . Then he begins to stalk closer, crouching, and ultimately attempting to pounce and try to subdue the machine, "Stay quiet." he growls to it, hoping the others will come to help him keep it contained. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' It's rather easy for Kushiko to decide what she'll do, especially based on prior encounters. She's not neccessarily feeling all that guilty over doing what she did to previous Mechanticals back at the good ship Lollipop, but at the same time, she's unwilling to actually continue that until they have something that resembles a proper explanation. As it happens to be: the approaching Mechantical needs to be dealt with first. So much so that she, after ensuring the Lotus has a good link, disappears again, this time clinging to a ceiling for a while at least until Alden does what they need to do in order to keep things quiet. The frame jettisons from the ceiling/wall that she's clung to, before silently 'gliding' to where Alden pounced the thing in order to.. well. Quietly menace, maybe. But they would need to get this out if they wanted a capture option. The Lotus speaks through the comms again, <<"We should take this one with us for interrogation.">> she begins, <<"It would be a better idea to retreat for now. We do not have enough information to make an informed decision about removing any of these people. Removing ANY of them would be ">> The way the Lotus talks, it sounds as if she might have... similar experiences? 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' "So we're not taking any of 'em with us? Nn... Well, if we can get some info out of one of the robots, then... Wait, are they slaves or-" Kazuko cuts herself short as she hears that Mechantical approaching, and she's fast to respond! There's still distance to be covered, of course, but speed isn't her specialty for nothing. She takes cover by the suddenly quadruped-y Alden (while resisting the urge to gawk and gape at how shiny he is), waiting there even as he makes his move to sneak up on that clown robot... Thing.      Once he does move to pounce on it from one side, Kazuko moves in from the other direction, aiming for a pincer attack! If it's compliant, she won't starting whacking, but if it starts to struggle? It's time to beat it up with that blunted glaive. Not too much, though, what with Kushiko's suggestion to take it back! 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     All of these ideas are new and frightening and yet, perhaps even moreso because of the fact that they're plausible. But the only way to find out if they're true is, well, to speak to someone who would know... and there's only one way of doing it.     Ducked behind one of the consoles, Ren can't jump or stare but he can definitely be surprised at what happens next. Alden immediately discovers the one surefire weakness of the Mechantical, one that humans in this world never got to because one person wasn't physically strong enough- push a 7ft tall mechanical cylinder over with enough force and it will definitely be tipped over and be unable to right itself!     Kazuko approaching from the other end will get her chance- the robot's first instinct is to open up the shallow dome on the topside of it and lash out with a sort of rubbery-metal sparkling tendril- it's an electrical shocker, and Kazuko will have to whack it shut to stop it from whipping around and hurting either of them.     But we're going to need to act fast. No robot with the ability to hear will ignore the sound of one of its fellows falling over, no matter where in the facility they are- remember, it's all pretty open-plan here! So Kushiko'd better act fast.     "We're actually doing this!?" Ren says, excitedly hopping from foot to foot in a mix of awe and surprise. "We are, we actually are. Ha ha, yes...! OK, yes, I will- I'll make sure the way we came back inside is clear! You all get ready to leave in a hurry!" He skips off. Yeah, remember some of the plans for leaving here in a hurry? Time to implement those, in a way! 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Open plan indeed. The moment the robot is even remotely fully subdued, Kushiko's Warframe extends her hand directly towards it as if to seal the deal. Streams of energy, blocks and more begin to tumble from her hand and onto the mechanical Mechantical. From this.. there is an oddly esoteric force going on to draw and parse the Mechantical down into a subspace-type of compression. To, effectively, pokeball the damn thing if we're using ELI5 terms. It might be painful to organics, but to pseudonotorganics, it shouldn't be too painful, if just feel really weird to be effectively turned into energy for purposes of stasis aboard the Tenno's ship. Because once she's done that, she's opening wormholes towards a very RAPID extraction towards a safer spot (relatively) for getting away from the facility, and for her herself to get aboard her ship in order to whisk their newly minted captive to a more.. useful place to rendition information with. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' All X can do is HIDE when he hears a Mechantical approaching. And before he can figure out just what the heck to do... Alden and Kushuko enact a plan that he did NOT see coming. The robot blinks a few times... in disbelief. "THAT's a handy trick! What did you DO?" Bewildered, he can only peer at the Warframe.     NOT that he can waste that much time for long. A sterner look settles on his face and the X-Buster thrums to life as X reluctantly prepares for battle.     "Out the way we came, yes!" And out he goes, after looking out the door first of course so he doesn't run blind into any sort of horde.     Yet he wont' fight unless the group comes under fire. Only then would he turn around and start backpedaling while firing on the robots! ... And if that does happen, well, he's aiming for legs. After seeing Alden's luck with that thing he's pretty sure these things have HORRIBLE balance. 

:'''{{#var:930|Alden (930)}} has posed:''' Alden is surprised when he can tackle the thing down that fast, "I think we should run out as fast as we can, find out what is going on, then return with a better plan." he says, "I can carry a couple of you at least, and fly away really fast, if you'd like." he says softly. "I'd offer to carry everyone at once, but that method is slower, and I think we need to rush." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr was listening in, even if she wasn't there directly. She hears the sound of imminent departure, and so plants her feet in preparation.     Due to her prior engagement with the GTVA ships, she's not at full power. Even still she has enough 'juice' to punch a hole big enough for the people to get out by. It's mostly for thoes that can't fly, as once she's finished firing the beam, she activates her flight spell and blasts almost straight up, hopefully out of range of those tank guns. 

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:''' It's time to get to a bashing! Luckily for Kazuko, the shaft of her naginata isn't made of steel, but a very sturdy wood. One that doesn't conduct (too much) electricity, letting her whack away at that electrical appendage until it ceases functioning. Granted, doing that probably isn't helping their attempts to be sneaky, but who's really trying any more with that at this point?      "We're doing it! Hey, yeah, that was... Kinda cool. What'd we do?" She watches the Warframe curiously before blinking slowly at the sudden haste to escape. It takes her a moment to figure it out, but once she does? She darts off after X, keeping that bladed stick of hers ready to bash at anything that comes too close to their little entourage. And once that hole opens up in the wall? It's time to just bolt on out of there! Who needs flight to get around when you have someone that can blow holes in walls instead? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' ---     INTERMISSION:     Flash forward a moment.     Mechantical Science 22nd Adjutant stares down the Union agent with his three lenses, as the two of them sit in the room alone.     "All I'm going to tell you at this juncture is the simple summation. You are aware of the principles of the eightfold path, yes? It is the philosophy we base our lives on. Its teachings are one of the few things that /remain/ of the old world, preserved by us, the only text we possess saved from the flames of war. It was our first attempt at redeeming ourselves, once we became aware of the depth of the evil we had committed. We struggle to do the best we can with our understanding. This is our quest... to make the closest thing possible to Nirvana." 
}}

Recurring Thoughts (Ren Tanaka)

2016-04-18T11:06:12Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Cutscene Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/19 |Location=Earth-61952 |Synopsis=Ren remembers the past. Possibly too much so. |Cast of Characters=165 }} THE PAST: The boy who i..."

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/19
|Location=Earth-61952
|Synopsis=Ren remembers the past. Possibly too much so.
|Cast of Characters=165
}}
THE PAST:

The boy who is not yet a TRaveller sits at his desk in thE AcaDemy of the IlluMinated in Yu-Shan. He chews his raptOr-feather qUill and continues to procrastiNate on finishing the multi-page essay in front of him. He sTares against the pile of books he's put to one side, picks one up, And begins to riffle through It wheN a pair of eyes drifts up above the table.

"Hello!" chips a redheaded young man with long hair and a sleeveless silk top. "How's it going?"
"Slowly," the boy replies.
"Even with my help?" the other asks, pouting. "But I helped you find so many books! Let me see what you've done."

He grabs a few pages at random from the stack, skim-reading them as the other young man tries to get them back from him without spilling the inkpot on the side of the table. The redhead walks away and leans on a pillar. "Recounts, summaries, you've even got a graph here... you know, for an essay that was supposed to be about the ethical history of the conflicts of the Tear Drinker tribes, you've got a lot about history and very little about ethics. And what's this?

'Many sources agree that the significant alterations to brain chemistry responsible for creative thought occur in the frontal and parietal association regions; because of the strong influence Resplendent Fire Tree blossom has on these areas, the increased output of painting and sculpture among craftsmen during this festival...' Oh, you just don't understand art at all really, do you?"

The long-haired boy leans across the rest of the papers, face inches away from his. "Want to go somewhere and I'll show you some art in motion?"

He sighs. "Thank you but /no/. I need to finish this thesis."

---

NOW:

Ren sits on a smooth rock in Earth-61952.

"Well Takuya, if your aim was to make me question whether every significant social interaction I've had was you in disguise, you might succeed unless I stop right now. This way may lie madness."

He grumbles. The Academy. Oh, if there was a list of five reasons why he abandoned Yu-Shan to wander wistlessly, that had to be somewhere on it, possibly in more than one space. He got a rotten grade on that anyway.

'Why do I want to go back to Creation so badly, anyway?', he thought. Try and figure out more about Takuya? Where he came from? If he's got seams of corruption running through the world? Where would he start? Is it just chasing shadows, paranoia?

There's certainly no sentimental reason to go back there. He doesn't even know how welcome he is any more. He felt bad just climbing the mountain long ago, much too much like he bulldozed his way in there with his authority. Ren hates that. Hates being looked up to. He can't be that kind of person, anyway.

He stares into the burning brushfire created by a Metal Horde patrol tank, nevertheless. "But I've seen this before. It's starting again."

Why IS history from Creation repeating in the multiverse for him, if not the mysterious Takuya?

4002/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 1

2016-04-13T08:46:12Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/04/11 |Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert |Cast of Characters=151, 162, 165, 236, 964, 967 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Ta..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/11
|Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert
|Cast of Characters=151, 162, 165, 236, 964, 967
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     WE ARE... not in Waterland right now. Nope!     Ren invited anyone who was interested to a movie night, since he recently came into acquisition of a rather nice authentic cinema projector and a roll of film featuring the late 1970s classic, uh, um...     Well, that's just the thing! We don't really know. The can's empty aside from the date, so it was a surprise movie. Nevertheless he has made popcorn and hot dogs and stuff, and invited people into the room in Njorun while he gets the film set up.     That may or may not have been the reason why you came here. The other reason may be why he's currently staring at the wall, walking up to it, and wiggling his hands in front of the projected image on the screen.     For, you see, when Ren finally got that film up and rolling, after a brief few seconds, and a bit of narration, the image suddenly got a lot brighter, and all of a sudden it wasn't an image at all. It was a portal!     That's right, a warpgate opened up right in Screen B. And what would any sensible person do? Why, stick their head in, of course.     "...who wants to go exploring?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr wasn't really much of a social creature... but when a general alert went out about a new portal just opening up from a movie projector, well, she comes running! The mage rounds the corner and frowns a bit as she pulls the coin from her bracer, preparing to set up her Barrier Jacket and Device. "Divine Wind, scan that projector and the film reel..."     <Already did, Master. No Lost Logia signature detected.> replies the AI, the blue gemstone flickering as the voice speaks. "Oookay then... lets get in there and get this over with huh?" 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron may not be what one would call a super movie buff, but he can appreciate one. Particularly one that likes to call itself a 'classic'. He also brought soda, because he figures it's going to be needed. And if not, hey, that's just more soda. It's not like no one will drink it, right?     Try to separate him from his sword however? And one is going to be disappointed. Given the odd nature of the request, it's probably a good idea he decided to bring that. So yes, he does have his sword on his back in the gray sheath attached to his belt.     The film is started, and then suddenly there is a portal. This is a bit surprising. Auron asks a question of his own in response to Ren's. A couple of them, actually. "Are we limited by time? Will we be stuck there if the film runs out before we return?" 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X appears in a flash of light not far away, courtesy of a teleporter. He heard the general call for help and decided to peek in! And it leaves him walking into... a movie theater? The robot pauses mid-stride. What is he looking at?     "Hello? My name's X. I heard the call for help... what in the world am I seeing? Some kind of portal?"     He's brave enough, but he halts at the edge of the portal, as if maybe he can get a clearer image of what's through it from being closer. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "It's certainly kind of weird, isn't it?" Ren says to Divine Wind, rubbing his chin. "I should definitely go back to the little shop I bought this from and see if it's disappeared tomorrow."     He's about to stick his head through when Auron comes up with a good point, and he nips back a few steps to make sure how much film is actually IN the reel. Surprisingly enough though, it doesn't seem to be a problem- he pauses, stops the reel, walks back to the wall, sticks his hand in- yeah, seems to be fine.     "Must just be a very unusually shaped warpgate we've just activated. Funny."     "We sure do have a portal. And you know what the first thing to do when you find a mysterious portal to another world is, right?"     He's already running at the wall. Darnit Ren. "YOU JUMP IIIIInnnn-"     Just... just follow him trust me.     On the other side of the warpgate...     As the narration said when the reel started, well. Welcome to the future, although it is not your future!     http://zenade.angelfire.com/TRS/thumbnails/400x300/Cliff.jpg     Ren Tanaka shields his eyes from the sun, looking at the dusty buildings carved into the stone of the badlands. "Looks like this world's seen better days."     That seems to be a settlement of some kind, and a pretty thoroughly-built one at that. There's some sort of big landship docked nearby, sheltering in the shade. Presumably it's inhabited. Want to go say hello to the natives and hope they're not vicious, motorcycle-riding, skull-wearing raiders? 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr just blinks dumbfounded when Ren goes and leaps right in... She covers her face with her free hand, starts walking toward the portal and says in a deadpan, long suffering tone. "Divine Wind. Set up."     By the time she's through the portal, she's in her Barrier Jacket, and the long-hafted battle-axe of her Device is slung over her shoulder like a shounen protagonist's sword. "Y'can say that again." she replies to Ren, looking around. "Divine Wind, any life-signs nearby?" she asks the Devi     cm"><INITIATING SCAN. STANDBY.> replies Divine Wind, as it spits out a set of glowing purple 'wisps'. They're set to pick up energy emissions and lifesigns, but not transmit visual data, and their bandwidth of detection is kinda limited, so they might miss things being shielded from scans. They flit off toward the settlement though. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' There are things that should stick out like a sore thumb, but may not very well stick /out/ nearly as much as they have any right to be. The peculiarity of whatever this.. portal has brought about has coincided with the explorations and reconnisance ventures of another. The Tenno; while they are not /especially/ well known, X would certainly find recognition in a pair of them: Valkyr and Nova Prime. Darkly colored with shaded of purple and orchid, the feline-like frame and the antimatter-wielding frame are somehow already there, ahead of the group that's arriving. They are armed: Nova Prime, the slightly shorter Warframe has what looks to be a sleek-looking, high tech hand crossbow in her hand, with a blocky-looking weapon on her back that for a keen eye, may resemble a breach-loaded grenade launcher and a long, katana-looking sheathe on her hip. The other, Valkyr, doesn't have her weapons drawn, but she doesn't need to have the weapons necessarily drawn from her back and hip: rifle and sword otherwise, her talon-like fingertips occasionally flex a little as she oozes a predatorial menace. Which.. is a pretty good accomplishment given that there's no readily discernable optics or face or eyes on either her or Nova Prime. Really, the massive hound of a Kubrow next to Valkyr is the only one who has any real eyes, the batlike snout huffing slightly as he provides maybe a hint less of such menace as the pair don't necessarily dawdle, but are otherwise assessing the settlement. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     The reel is stopped and yet the portal remains. He nods. Good. That would have been an unfortunate happenstance. Thus he's less reluctant to go in, and follows Ren through without complaint. Once he realizes the sun is every bright, he reaches into his coat and pulls out a pair of good, modern sunglasses, setting them on the bridge of his nose. He's covered up reasonably well, though the coat's likely to be hot after a while.     He too tilts his head to look up at the settlement in the cliff. Details are difficult to pick out with one eye, otherwise he'd be looking for ladders, activity, or some sign that the cliff settlement is still inhabited. Instead his gaze moves to the landship... and then to the Tenno. His remaining eye narrows a bit behind the sunglasses. Though he doesn't act quite yet; he instends to follow Ren's lead. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "No you don't do that--" X stretches a hand out as if to step Ren, but he's just not fast enough. Humans. So crazy.     He's only standing there bewildered for a moment though. Seems now he HAD better jump in and make sure these people aren't going to be in HUGE TROUBLE!     Without another moment of hesitation he dives through and goes skidding across the ground for a bit. And what he sees is enough to render him quite speechless.     "..."     He just... STARES for a good ten seconds. "Ooooo...kay. At least there's no explosions over here."     Well, may as well explore while he's here. The robot frowns though. "Are we somewhere in the Multiverse? ... Or actually... somehow IN the movie?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Funnily enough most of them seem to be inside the sandcrawler (slaps hand, I told them it wasn't a sandcrawler. Bad narrator!) uh, the tank fortress and not in the... town? Which is weird. You'd think it would be the other way around, and could in fact be forgiven for not picking it out through a pair of shades. Also there are definitely a few people OUTSIDE of the tank fortress, as you may have noticed that a few people are definitely looking at the Tenno. Or, well, running from it after looking at it.     One of the more interesting things Divine Wind may also report on is that we're definitely in a recognizeable PART of the multiverse- specifically the agglomeration of desert and desert-worlds commonly called Waterland, which is, while utterly awful, at least not as radioactive as the portions classified as Skaro.     When they get close enough to the fortress (it's roughly the size of a ferry or cruiseboat), they will hear a sound from a tannoy mounted on the outside.     "Since you're not too fussed by walkin' right on up to the robots, and you all strolled right on through the desert without puttin' on much of a tan, I'm guessin' you all have a story to tell. Why don't you all indulge a guard and tell me who you all are and how you got here?" 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <SCAN COMPLETE. LOCATION VERIFIED. WATERLAND. COORDINATES ARE SPECIFIC.> states Divine Wind. The Device does a cursory scan of the Warframes, but doesn't comment, though Zephyr gives Nova Prime a very close look over, before the guard starts speaking.     The Mage clears her throat, and projects her voice via a simple Increase-class spell. "My name is Zephyr Windstar. I am a Mage in the Time Space Administrative Bureau. My friend here," she gestures to Ren. "Acquired a film reel and was putting on a show for some people, when the projector created a Warpgate to this location." Her voice travels, but isn't a booming loudspeaker sounding thing, carried on the wind itself or so it seems. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' <"Tenno, I'm picking up on others. At least one from the Grineer derelict, and three others, from my scans. Curious.."> Such communications are more privately held than most, given they are from the Lotus to her Tenno in the field. The attention of the Warframe's shift slightly. Not necessarily fully looking at, but all the same.. In the case of Nova Prime, her drone, the Helios sentinel alights itself a little higher, a little better angle as to afford it the ability to potentially scan the arriving Elites. IT's a semi-active scan, more meant to record for mimeographic purposes. Besides, getting exact information on individuals might take more scans after all, to get any more than that physical appearence of the Elites arriving. Valkyr in the meantime contiunues to almost sortof circularly stalk forward. Despite her seemingly lithe, feminine appearence next to the absolute monstrous, Irish wolfhound size of the Kubrow at her size, there's the palpable feeling that the beast is the lesser threat, though not by much. Valkyr's long tail flickers very slightly from side to side, the anchor-like wedge arcing in the air. Some measure of silent communication must be going on as the two Warframe occasionally seem to move and shift in ways that is slightly unnatural to the trained eye. No gestures between one another but Auron is given a seemingly brief 'look', a canting of the head of the antimatter wielding Nova Prime. As does X and Ren and Zephyr warranting somewhat more direct acknowledgements. But enough time is seemingly spent on the ground as they turn their attention towards the fortress-ship as it were, though their movements are somewhat more cautious. Indiscriminate murder would be counter productive. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     To be fair, Auron's presence amongst these people might look a little odd, even to scanners. All of these people might have some sort of possibly detectable way they're different. Auron? Well, he's... a human. Nothing cybernetic, nothing really magical (though the items he's carrying might ping to a sensor). But could be a little strange for a normal human to be amongst all these others.     If Auron notes the scrutiny, he doesn't mention. Maybe he does notice, though, as he aims a look in the Nova Prime's direction. Not that he's not looking at the Warframes and their 'pet' anyway; he does need to determine threat potential. He's assuming 'very high'.     Auron doesn't have any way to make his voice carry like that. Besides that, Zephyr's basically got the right of it anyway, so he remains quiet for the time being. Aside from the sword, he isn't visibly a danger anyway. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "Why would I be fussy over being around robots?" Asks X, though he's not sure who exactly he's speaking to. He eventually spots the speaker though! ... Where the voice is coming from.     Huh. That's OOOLD style.     Isn't it?     "I'm called X! We haven't been wandering for very long. Dropped in from out of nowhere... will tell you all about it if you can tell me where I am!"     Where THEY ALL are. He casts a glance oer at the nearby Warframe... when did they show up? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' There's a brief pause. "Well, friend, hard to tell where anything is without many landmarks any more, you know? Best as I know, this place either used to be Nottingham," laughs, "Or Alaska!"     Ooh, that's a bad sign.     "I mean, unless you're all from another planet, because I wouldn't put it past you. In which case: welcome to Earth! You got here just a little too late for the sightseeing, mind you!"     here's a little camera that comes out from a tilting panel underneath the speaker- it moves back and forth, looking at each of them in more scrutiny (least time on Auron)- Kushiko will recognize it as the same one which was looking at her a few minutes ago, until it rather rudely snapped shut while the people inside deliberated in confuion. Ren's happy to smile for the camera- well, cameras, really, considering the Helios drone there as well.     When Zephyr finishes explaining the situation, there's airy sound on the other end. And then a, "That was me whistling, sorry. Piece of crap doesn't pick up on half the things it should unless you speak pretty slow into it... but, huh, well, if that don't beat all? You just give me a minute and I'll be right down to meet y-"     A little muffled talking from behind- just as the other person mentioned, it's hard to pick anything else up that the other person is saying. But it's easy to hear whoever else was talking say- "Didn't you hear? We got magicians, aliens, and anyone who walks around in that bright blue get-up's gotta have some confidence. I'm going to roll out the welcome mat for them, sure. You just do me a favour and keep one eye on those big 'bots, alright?"     A couple minutes pass, before a submarine-like door in the middle of the ship's fairing rolls its hatch and opens, prior to a rope ladder coming down. There's a pause before someone appears- it's a dark-skinned woman in long robes and boots, with a wide-brimmed hat and goggles. Attached to the large waistband she has is what appears to be a ... yes, a rather dinged-up crown with bits of velvet still on it. She climbs down!     "You can call me the Queen Mother." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr nods a little to the Camera. She looks human enough, apart from the bright clothing and the giant purple axe slung across her shoulders. When the woman comes out of the landbarge, she offers a salute. "You seem to have some, preconceptions regarding synthetic lifeforms... I take it there's a story behind that." she asks, taking a step forward.     Divine Wind chimes. <Master, be careful.> warningly, but not exactly worried. "Don't worry Dee, I got this." replies the Mage softly, then returns to her projected voice. "I can assure you, we come in peace with no hostile intentions."     A meaningful glare is sent to the two Warframes, mismatched eyes staring at where the 'face' would be if one were present. The look says: >Don't cause trouble now I've said that.< 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley is here. She was here the whole time. Her presence just wasn't noticed because she was silent and because she was hanging back, too wary of getting stabbed, shot or hit with rotten fruit to take the front of the group as everyone went through the movie screen portal. That said, she approaches right after the lady climbs out of the ship and stops before the group. The reptile woman blinks slowly a couple of times.     "That name, somehow, seems much more ..." she trails off. Ostentatious? Regal? "Out of place than I was expecting."     "... Queen Mother of who, exactly?" she wonders, her brow knitting and her eyes trailing away from the lady and up to the thing she climbed out of. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron has to smirk at the assessment of the situation by the voice emanating from the speaking on the landcraft. But yes, he's intent on keeping an eye on things. Mainly because he doesn't know much about 'those big bots' either. Hopefully time to learn. He's somewhat reminded of the Al Bhed here, just a tiny little bit.     As the 'Queen Mother' approaches, he bows his head respectfully. And when he comes within speaking distance, he finally speaks up. "...My apologies for not speaking up earlier. My name is Auron," he offers. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Keeping an eye on the 'big bots' may prove.. more unique than provided. Granted, if they had really, /really/ wanted to, they would have kept out of sight. But in a situation like this, there was a certain confidence held by the Tenno that if there was a threat, it was not necessarily /here/. Not in plain view. So in lieu of a covert threat or otherwise, there was little point to concealment and stealth as they gathered information. Still, there is something to their movement; their faceless visages giving the impression that /certainly/ they were aware, they were watching everyone who fled, or simply held their ground when it came to Warframes in their midst. They were.. noiseless, despite every indication seeming there should be. Not even a crease of their armored suits or anything beyond the noise their power may generate. Though, in regards to Zephyr, it's not a response by the Warframes themselves, but that massive, muscular and fit-looking Kubrow. A rumbling kind of *ruff!* from her. (At least one might think it's her) The Valkyr simply lifts her legs up, her body momentarily floating as she takes up a meditative-looking position; legs folded, hands on either side. Never mind she's floating while doing this. While Nova Prime in the meantime simply meanders around, hand resting on the sheath of her Dragon Nikana, allowing Helios to continue it's generalized scanning. It's not that they're antisocial. It's just that they don't yet see a reason to discourse yet. Others can speak for them, and they will observe and react. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X is left speechless as usual by the behaviors of people across the Multiverse. Well... how to respond? "I'm X.... you're certainly dressed for the part, ma'am! Queen Mother.. of this... settlement?" He can only peer incredulously at the HUGE vehicle people are apparently living on.     Though his confidence returns shortly thereafter. "What kind of robots are troubling everyone? .. What happened to this world?" He's not going to announce that he's a robot himself, if he's passing enough for human.     He puts a hand on his hip and smiles warmly. "Tell us about your troubles. Maybe we can help." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I'm surprised how well she's taking this," Ren comments to no one in particular as he watches the woman climb down. "Yeah, well, nothing much surprises me any more," the Queen replies. She's got good hearing!     She adjusts her clothes a little as she gives each of them another glance-over- it is, after all, a little different when you're not looking at everyone through a camera. She hadn't even noticed the lizard-girl before ('wonder if she knew any presidents?', she thinks to herself. Don't say that one out loud, Queenie). Let's see, we've got a redhead who's looking for a sunburn, big bright and bladed, definitely-an-alien, the man in the sunglasses, the blue boy, yeah that seems to be everyone!     "Ren Akiyama," Ren adds, once some people begin introducing themselves.     "No one else was using it. What can I say?" she replies to Ainsley. Nods to X. "It helps people," knocks the side of the vehicle, "Know who's in charge." When it comes to the issue of Kushiko, she leans up against the side of the landship, crossing her arms. "I guess you could say that, yeah. Only out here's probably not the best place to explain it. Let's see if we can find some place to sit down in out of the sun, huh?"     She looks at Kushiko after pushing off and walking a few steps. "If there's anyone inside that big thing, you're welcome to come along if we find somewhere you fit inside." The statement is twofold- both a 'prove to me there's someone these guys' side in there' and 'if there isn't, you won't be able to sit with us'.     Wipe cut, in any case, to the interior of one of the buildings carved into the cliff. It doesn't appear that this place is inhabited, but it seems like there's a fair amount of chairs, tables, furniture and infrastructure left behind.     "So, you all want to know why this place is such a mess?" the Queen asks, having taken off her hat. She's been accompanied by three other extras at this point, one with a science bent to the stuff he's carrying and two honor guards. "Well, I'd say, take your pick, honestly. How much do you know about the history of mankind?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley looks at the 'Queen Mother' with some skepticism at the reply, but decides to just accept it, looking back to the vehicle she came out of. "Fair enough..." she murmurs.     One jump cut later, and...     Ainsley is picking through the place looking for a place to sit when she replies, "Quite a lot, from dozens of worlds," and then she fixates the Queen with a look of vacant, reptilian curiosity, "But you're saying that as a lead-up to explaining. We don't know anything about this world, as far as I know..." She scans the others on the off chance that others have been here before.     "Doesn't look like a happy history, in any case," she murmurs, when she finds a chair with an acceptable design for her tail's comfort. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr leans against a wall just inside the door, arms folded with her axe resting beside her. It's longer than she is tall, about 6'4" long, compared to her 5'11". "Well, if we're talking Earth history, it's largely been dominated by pointless conflict and self destruction. Nuclear weaponry irradiating swaths of the world, biological weapons, chemical."     She sounds a little bitter. "Mass Based weaponry is outlawed within the TSAB jurisdiction.. it's too easy to manufacture and use, and Magic is much safer on the environment... and is non-lethal by design." 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X gives the Warframe wandering around a sideways glance. "You're awfully quiet. Can't that suit speak?" He'd be really surprised if not. REALLY surprised.     Well, to the matter at hand. "Very little, actually. Especially for this Earth. You're right about being from another world. Starting from the beginning's fine with me, miss." His voice is gentle and polite. He's got patience after all.     Still... what ZEPHYR just announced has him flinching rather visibly the very next moment. "... All different worlds." He adds through a grimace. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Cut to inside shot! The place is indeed a mess. It almost looks like Zanarkand, except not quite as ruined. It's certainly just as devoid of people, though. Likely some catastrophe caused it. Though the nature of it he isn't quite sure.     He finds a chair to sit in, leaving the guarding of the door to Zephyr. Though he makes sure he places the door on his left. The Queen Mother's question gets a tilt of his head. "History is generally written by the people who won," he comments. But he does nod in Zephyr's direction. "That seems about what I've heard about it."     He's careful about his wording. Because, while he might be a human, he's not an Earthling. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' 'Big' is relative. Giant robots are not what the Warframes are, though they can certainly have that presence if they wish it, as much as they wish to not have it. Such is the effect of their silent menace. Anyone can loom, stare balefully. It's another matter altogether when they don't have eyes. When the entity itself is not necessarily present. Or are they? It is a mystery. Regardless of this actual measure, the Valkyr's legs unfold. When it comes to fitting into places, the Warframes might seem very tall, but once they're a bit closer it strikes one that they're perfectly humanoid-sized, in most terms: Valkyr's legs below the knees seem a bit felinoid, but other than that, the pair plus Kubrow make their way over. Still as silent as ever, still not particularly keen on introducing themselves directly. However, the nature of that is given to a voice over local commfrequencies. A woman. The Lotus. "These are my Tenno. Valkyr and Nova. They will be here to observe, for now, as will I through their systems." Broadcast signal from the Nova itself, it seems. Regardless, one wipecut later and the pair are rejoined there. Or more accurately, Nova Prime herself is. Valkyr, on the other hand, has elected to stand 'guard' in a more hidden way. She's disappeared off somewhere, courtesy of the Kubrow's ability to conceal her. Sure, there might be a guess as to where she went, but for now, she's stalking just outside the landship. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' To answer X, Lotus' voice comes through again. "There is no need for words from the Tenno, X. Not while in the field." As to the furtherance of the discussion, she adds, though Nova lifts her hand as though to produce what resembles an augmented reality display of the Lotus herself, or at least a headshot. "These kinds of conditions are sadly familiar to us. Until we got closer, we suspected we might have still been within the same scope of our own universe before closer study." It is a blasted mess though, even if it does remind the Tenno present of some of the scars found on worlds seized by the Grineer and other ruined husks, people scraping by to survive. Not that the Tenno /aren't/ taking casual stock of things like Zephyr's Divine Wind in that matter. Because they are. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "Well, good for you!" the Queen says, sitting down. After X replies to her she lets Zephyr speak, as well as Ainsley.     "Well, visitors, it sounds like you know the long and the short of it," she says to them, spinning a chair around and sitting down on it with her arms leaning on the back (solely, if to judge by the expressions on the people accompanying her, to look cavalier). "Some of you, anyway."     "It can safely be said that the people who didn't learn from the mistakes of the wars of the past, died, and left the ones who weren't around to experience either of them to do the suffering in their place," she says. Half-looking at them, and half-looking out at the craggy, mountainous semi-scrub desert that you've got a better view of from further up the cliff. She doesn't specify which of Zephyr's horror words was the specific reason, but she looks sourly nevertheless. Ren, meanwhile, is just daintily sitting in his own swivel chair- not being from Earth himself, this is actually relatively new old history to him. Hence the surprise.     "Maybe it might be more accurate in our case to say it's being written by who's left," she says to Auron. "An awful lot of them are on our... good ship Lollipop out there. It's a piece of work, but it's built like a brick outhouse and so long as we keep moving, it keeps us safe."     "But tell me again... how was it you said you got here, again? Hoping if you're not just here to take a look at what we've become, maybe you could help us..." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Zephyr opens her eyes, looking down at the ground. "I've watched a world burn before..." She turns to look out of the door at the craggy, ruined world outside. "I don't have much clout with the TSAB higher ups, but I'm a Union Elite.. so, maybe, with the rest of us, we could swing some humanitarian aid at the least." she looks back.     "Why would you need to keep moving though? I'm guessing not all the survivors see the benefit in cooperation?" 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     "A portal," Ainsley explains, "We got here from a portal from another world. In theory, all of you that would prefer to just leave can follow us back and we can make sure you have a fresh start on life. I can only imagine the daydreams some of you have had about getting away from all of this, if I go by your habit of keeping on the move. In theory, you could have a place you didn't have to run from. In truth, many of you must be used to being on the move, and there are safe solutions even for that, with the use of recreational vehicles. Motorized homes, as it were."     And then she looks away from the Queen Mother, to the craggy desert they had a good look at, and then back. "Of course, those of you that would prefer to stay would find my help and likely others, in trying to salvage your home world, to make it a place you feel safe in again, if not the... uh, the most immediately attractive option."     She digs in her coat after saying this, pulling out a pen and a notepad to start scribbling down notes. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron nods to the Queen's words of history being written by those left. He falls silent then, curious as to what the Queen will choose for her people, given Ainsley's offer of evacuation or assistance. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' From a far, far flung place, there is an observer. The Lotus is one of them. There is another, though the nature of which is not to yet be touched upon. But these observations allow for something to be felt. Sensed, in a sense. An inexact sensation, but a sensation borne of centuries of combat and training and mastery. It's enough to provoke Valkyr, from where she is outside to shift her weight a little bit. <"Lotus. There is something. I can't.. quite place it."> <"Keep your guard up. Something is coming, but it is too far to discern yet."> The visage of the Lotus blinks out before resumption. Those words were in a place unseen and unheard, even though their impact is far reaching. As to how the Warframes, how the Tenno arrived here? Worlds that burn, sundered before them is not.. an unheard of concept. The Tenno's knowledge of this is not something they share readily, not yet, nor any reason to, showing as tacit as they are. "Not the same portal, but my Tenno were conducting a reconnisance operation on a discovered Torsion beam generator that produced a portal which led them here as well." the Lotus remarks. "It did not operate as it was intended to." Which was putting it mildly. It was unlikely that that one would work very long. The way things felt.. they might need to ensure that means of access was permanently removed. Such thoughts were not aired, however. But there was a slight edge to the Lotus' voice that implied the device was something that should not have been active. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X blinks a few times, but nods solemnly at the Warframe. "I... see." Well at least Lotus is speaking up. That's something.     Again focusing on the 'Queen Mother' though, X strolls over and... hunts for a seat. Or he'll just stand politely, that's fine too. He doesn't really tire, after all.     "Would you believe a portal appears on a video screen?" X remarks, bewildered by the notion himself. "The world's a strange and wonderful place. We ended up out here in the wastes... I'd love to give you a dramatic tale of wandering through the desert, but that would be a lie. ... And to tell you the truth, I'm a robot myself, built to help humans. Only been active for around a year... but everywhere I go there's some awful trouble brewing." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "No, we're all baically on the same side as far as running away from our problems sort of goes," the Queen replies.     She listens closely once Ainley makes her offer to her- "You think you'd be able to fit everything we've got, that big ship out there, through however you got here?" she says.     "She's very good at this sort of thing, isn't she?" Ren says quiet-ish-ly to Auron, who he seems to have found himself sat next to and is desperate to make conversation with. "I hear it's her speciality..."     When X speaks up, she glances outside at the landship again. "You might... want to keep that part quiet if I introduce you to the others," to X.     Suddenly perturbed perhaps, she gets quickly out of the chair, as if it was red-hot all of a sudden. "I mean, I don't know well many people would take it if I just said that a bunch of aliens landed in our lap and went and solved all of our problems, but I can dare say it'd be a lot, but I can also say that it'd be a lot less if they..."     "I expect you can fill in the blanks with your imagination, but I'll suffice to say this- yeah, there was a big, ugly thing that happened. I wouldn't even call it a war, more something like a... disaster, because a war implies we had something worth a damn to fight against. We're all here in this big landship now, keeping ourselves moving away from something that's trying to catch us, trying to look for something they might have built as a failsafe maybe against-"     Lotus makes a statement, and the queen freezes up. It's clear all of a sudden that if there is 'something', then she knows what that 'something' is and immediately knows- and is scared by it.     "It's true, your majesty! (wheeze)" shout-gasps a voice from outside, desperately climbing up the outside of one of the buildings. "They're moving from the north!"     "What?" she replies. "Damn, I thought they wouldn't come back to an empty town..."     She pulls a walkie-talkie out of her robe. "This is your queen speaking! Start moving the ship! We'll catch up to you!"     She begins to make her way towards the doorway. "Well, guess you'll get a good look at them now..."     https://www.youtube.    chw">Main theme - Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter     It! - The Thing From Outer Space - 1958     First, a series of dull, blunted cones begin to rise out of the sand. Almost thirty in all, ringed with green lights- many of them with long arms half-way along, their forearms mounted with underslung guns. At the bottom there is a black sphere with digitigrade legs attached.     They are approaching.     "The slavers of the Metal Horde..." 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     Divine Wind chimes a warning... far too late. <LOST LOGIA-CLASS SIGNATURE DETECTED!>     Zephyr is quick on the uptake, and grabs the axe from its rest, turning to run out the door. "Get to the ship! I'll try and hold them off." she says over her shoulder, before a quartet of purple coloured, transluscent 'pixie wings' sprout from her back and she rockets into the sky, blasting sand around her take-off point.     "Divine Wind, area strike mode. Lock on targets, saturation spread." she orders. <TARGETS LOCKED ON. READY FOR SATURATION SPREAD. IMPULSE CASCADE, HURRICANE SHIFT.>     In her wake, and appearing around her, dozens of light motes appear, grow in size to about a tennis ball, before lashing out at the conical robots. Each 'bullet' isn't strong, but there's a veritable hailstorm of shots. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron turns a look to Ren, brow of his remaining eye arched, a smirk pulling at his mouth. "Almost as if she was specially-trained, even," returns with a hint of dry wit in his voice. Though he quiets as the Queen starts to speak of the 'disaster'.     And then there is a bigger problem. 'Something' is coming. Auron peeks out the door to look, and frowns. The Queen's words draw his attention, and he turns to look at her. "I take it that's the disaster you were referring to?" he asks. She seems worried enough about the things for it to be.     Regardless, he knows the Queen needs to get back to her people. And so he goes Guardian Mode. He tilts his head towards the door, then looks at the Queen Mother. "We need to get you back on the landship. I'll guard you," he offers. This is, after all, what he does. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley's face is surprisingly passive to the skepticism the Queen Mother displays to such an offer. It's natural to be hesitant about something that sounds too good to be true. She shakes her head slowly, though, at the mention of the portal's size. She isn't sure, she hasn't measured either the portal or the vehicle. "You may have to leave it behind..." she murmurs.     They don't have much time to discuss this. Things start to light up with panic and the promise of battle. The reptile lady stands up from her seat, calmly walking out to get a decent vantage to watch the metallic beings approach. They don't look friendly. They look like they're coming with purpose. To attack and to capture.     She touches at the side of her snout, a gesture of thought. Her eyes begin to glow with the magical symbols of her Arcane Sight as she scans for signals. She scans the robotic beings for the capacity to communicate, such as with computer codes and radio wavelengths. If they are directed wirelessly, she can help others follow it back to the source... either to bring the war back to its doorstep, or to figure out how to stop this peacefully if at all possible.     For now, she's just looking for a way to confuse them if they run on signals, or impede them if they run on computer code. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' "Verified." That is the first word out of the Lotus, not just via the pop-up like window the Nova was holding, but over the local band transmission. At the coming of the slavers of the Metal Horde, something experienced combatants might pick up on is felt. It's not necessarily something that screams out or is flagrant, but immediately there's a change in Nova Prime's demeanour. Expectant, and she's blitzing down and out of the landship itself--occasionally casting open wormholes, little dimensional doorways that bring her out with rampant expediency. Others can use these Wormholes, but they go both way, and may only last about 4 charges each, a thin line of energy connecting to the outward point. Which, now that the Warframes /are/ using their energy.. Zephyr could be forgiven for thinking what's about to be used is close to magic, to say nothing of what the others might feel. A surge of energy is gathered as she suddenly appears when a line exiting the ship puts her almost at the front lines of the approaching metal horde. Not /too/ close, even as Valkyr moves into a sort of guardian-like posture, her rifle at the ready, but she's not quite inclined to use it just yet. No, the first to the stage is Nova Prime. Gathered energy is molded, formed into antimatter particles and a surge of pinkish-lilac energy into her hand raised upward as she descends down from her recent exit of a portal. Her body slows as she effectively /slams/ the energy down towards her feet. Such a motion precedes her unleashing an expanding wave of force, seeking to bathe the immediate area and beyond in antimatter energy; pink-purple and lines of light crisscrossing one another with a very visible band at it's equator, the sphere of Molecular Prime unleashed. Approaching foes might be primed just in time for Zephyr's own suppressive fire to strike in tandem; the conical bodies if they aren't resistant to it, would find their bodies wreathed in that energy, energy that not only makes them radiate with bubbling circles of energy, but incredibly slow them down, not just their movements, but hopefully their ability to react and use what weapons they have. Suppression indseed. The notable factor of the Warframe is this: yes, there is antimatter energy radiating out, fueled by her own Void energy. But as much as something like this should be indiscriminate, the energy just passes over like a kind breeze against Zephyr and the others who might rejoin the front lines. She pivots, midair; literally somersaulting backwards in midair in order to cancel the forward momentum provided by her Wormholing antics as she brandishes her Tonkor grenade launcher in preparation--after all, the priming tends to cause enemies to react rather more explosively towards firepower directed at them, even if the explosions /are/ going to be controlled by the same antimatter wielding frame. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' "I understand. It's that bad?" Oh X, you don't know. You just don't know.     All hell breaks loose and so the blue robot swivels about, dropping into a battle stance. His right hand shimmers and whirls with mechanical parts, rearranging into the X-Buster almost instantly. The robot's blue color scheme shifts to red and black for who knows why a moment later.     "... Slavers." He echoes accusingly towards the onrushing horde. Why would robots want humans for SLAVES of all things? It doesn't make much sense to him! Can't they build worker robots like Mechaniloids?     Sheesh.     "That's WAY too many of them!"     Unwilling to engage an enemy that hasn't actually opened fire yet, he hesitates - and just aims the X-Buster warningly. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     There's a reason why these machines appeared so far away, making this silent march towards the landship as the sun begins to set some distance away.     Guess it if you can.     Ren looks concerned here, as he looks out of the window frame- he is not really one for fighting himself, especially as he scopes out the Metal Horde next to the Queen. It's hard to tell due to issues of perspective, as the landship is rolling away and showing everyone just how big this approaching group is, but each of the robots is a little more than twice the size of the average person here.     Ainsley will be able to see what nobody else can- that each of these robots appears to be an individual, with its own mind- but disciplined like soldiers, instead of programmed like computers.     "What are you going to do?" Ren asks Ainsley, as Auron offers to be the guard.     Giving it about a second of thought, Ren inclines his head from X, towards Ainsley. "Alright! I know. X, the portal's not far from here, right? Keep an eye on Ainsley whatever she decide to do and make sure any of those metalheads don't break off to it. Auron, you help the bodyguards, I'll give her majesty here a lift back to the HMS."     His cheeks turn pink, and he suddenly stammers and shakes his head. "I-I mean, if that's. OK. With everyone?"     "A lift?" And he's picking her up. He's being literal. "Awk!"     Of course, no matter how he carries her Ren's going to give the Queen a good chance to look at what comes next, as the various Unionites either make their way down and out of the abandoned building or fly outside.     Said good ship Lollypop was already aiming its starboard flak guns as a peppering deterrent when Zephyr goes first, racing out and blasting quickly over the sand. She adds to the ship's shooting with an area barrage over the legion of huge robots. Some, but not all of them are quick to respond with the weapons attached to their arms- but they never really expected to meet a flying human before! Will she be stunned by the green electrostatic bolts? Or is a better question to ask, 'how many of them'?     If Zephyr was a surprise, and the ones that weren't looking at her WERE looking at Valkyr, they're going to be really thrown for a robo-loop when Nova Prime is right up in their business. They were hardly expecting one big surprise, and now they've got about three! A wave of explosive antimatter can definitely cause that formation of Slavers to be scattered in varius directions- and slowed down, too.     (Could Ainsley even pick that out, too? A little mild, squelched panic?)     When that first wave of fire is done and the slowdown is decaying, the Slavers find themselves with an awful lot of things to concentrate on- but that's okay, they're good at delegating.     Let's see, we have at least six people heading to the ship and three big threats, and thirty of them. And they're all armed with the same sort of stun weaponry. So that means... six of them firing at Zephyr, twelve at Prime, six at Valkyr. And about seven of them shooting at the people doing the retreating.     And one guy who's just not sure where to aim at all. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron nods to Ren's statement, and leaves the building after Ren and the Queen. There's a lot going on and Auron has no ability to fly, move fast, or engage at a distance. So instead he starts to fall back with those retreating, drawing his sword and angling it to serve as a shield. He's just one man, and there's seven of those conical robots shooting at the retreating people. But that's ONE vector of retreat that's safe, anyway. 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley picks up that they are all individual soldiers. Metallic beings, certainly, but not controlled drones, and that is somehow more troubling. Yet it gives her hope that there's some way to reach an understanding about the situation. She also notes that they are soldiers, they make decisions based on rational information and not cold calculation, and that they are apparently utilizing stun weapons. Capture, and not killing...     She chooses not to announce this. A battle is already underway and she lacks sufficient context. When the battle is done, she'll find one of these conical things. She's not a tactician and she knows she's no good at negotiation. She is, however, good at cracking open the shell of a mystery.     "It is an army and not an automated patrol," she speaks to the others, over an open band, apparently using a spell to direct it just to her immediate allies. "Please try to leave some of them intact by the end of this. These are people, trying to capture humans for reasons not yet understand, using skills they were trained to use, as opposed to robots fulfilling programming."     "It would be best if we could question one of them." 'We' meaning 'her,' by the tone of her voice, but she knows others might be interested too. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <ANTIMATTER WAVE APPROACHING. IMPACT IN THREE. TWO. ONE...> chimes Divine Wind, as the Molecular Prime passes over the pair. <NO CHANGE IN INTEGRITY. WARNING! INCOMING FIRE! EVADE!>     The electrostatic bolts flash out at the flying Mage, and she starts to 'dance' between them, erecting shields to deflect and absorb those she can't evade, though each impact drains her mana reserves substantially. She puts on a display of aerial acrobatics that, to anyone that knows her, would reaffirm her title as The Wind Dancer of March, ducking, wheeling and rolling with a lithe grace befitting her frame.     She surges off into the distance, past the Slaver lines, then wheels about, "Alright, lets see if we can't cut some of these assholes down to size. Drive Ignition! Strike Mode!"     As she comes driving back into the fray, her Device transforms, the Haft shrinks, the blades dissolve and reform into a single, curved blade, and a pair of spinning 'fan blade' like drones spall off and attach to where the second blade used to be. They spin up, and begin trailing lines of purple mana. <STRIKE MODE. MISTRAL CUTTER!>     The blade of her axe begins to glow that same dark purple, and she skims low over the sand, aiming to pass as many of the robots as she can. Can you guess what she's aiming to do yet?     As she passes, she holds that blade out, aiming to slice off legs in a high speed pass. They can't chase if they can't move, right? 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' Oh /good/, they're a little bit more resilient than the usual. The nominal Molecular Prime wave is meant to last a little bit longer, but for all they knew, there could be something that was part of these metal bodies that made the energy decay off their bodies faster. Either way, between that and the returning fire, neither Valkyr nor Nova Prime had much time to waste, especially as they had begun to open fire. Valkyr.. despite her lithe appearence otherwise, doesn't seem to /care/ much about being shot at, a spanning kind of noise impacting against her shields before those shields themselves falter as she breaks into a run not at the horde directly--she's magnificently armored that the shots don't seem to slow her down. No, her running is towards the people that are being shot at. Her blade comes out, a wicked-looking thing that as she supports Auron's efforts, her weapon weaving a supernatural arc through the air that surely shouldn't be doing anything to stop stunning weaponry. But channeled energy through the blade Broken War would provide that kind of ablative parrying. Though with this going on, the Kubrow has no interest in hanging back whatsoever; she's darting back and forth to avoid the greater bulk of the weapons being fired at her in order to leap and maul herself a target; her teeth and muscles are enough to rend heavy armor. Nova, on the other hand, does not like her shields quickly drained by the stunning weaponry. Mercifully while one of them knocks her over, she's quick to spring back onto her feet. With the group of thirty-odd metal, conical slavers positioned as they are, marching as they were? .. why /not/ fire high powered grenades? The Tonkor is angled a little bit upwards to send not one or two, but a quad-set of grenades, cylinder-looking charges into the thick of them. Two will not necessarily hit their targets, bounding almost helplessly (somehow, given the sandy reaches) to linger in the midst of some. The other pair has a better shot; wind may carry those shaped, highly explosive corrosive charges into the molecularly primed enemies as is. Of course, if explosions are started on one, Zephyr and the others stand a VERY strong chance of causing a wonderful chain reaction, presuming the energy hasn't decayed /too/ much by then. She gives the Tonkor a quick flick, opening the breach-loaded grenade launcher and reloading it as she leaps backwards, rolling and jinking in order to hopefully keep the metal drones from having an easy time tracking her. Helios on the other hand, is certainly scanning for all it's worth to categorize and perhaps find something they can use, just in case they blow /everything/ up. Hopefully not. But as Ainsley mentions, they're fighting an army. And fighting armies is something the Tenno are very good at through their use of Void-fueled powers and weaponry. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' Size means little to X, who's still hesitating for a bit. Should he engage? Or would they be way too much for him?     His decision's made when the blasts start going everywhere. With a panicked yell X opens fire with vivid Phaser Breams lancing across the wasteland, certain to melt and disintegrate... but gobbling up Weapon Energy.     "Go! I'll cover your retreat to the Lollipop!" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Mind you, that's a big sword! Who even knew that people could carry something like that? You'd ordinarily tear your muscles from strain. It doesn't compute.     It is appreciated, though! After all, it's not just the Queen Mother, but her two bodyguards and that science officer that are along with them. And it's not that it fall on Auron to protect all of them, but perhaps it's better to concentrate on the ones who are ... say, not being carried by a fast moving bloke. Just hope that shooting too much electricity set to 'stun' into a big metal object isn't going to get unpleasant after a while. It's perhaps thankful in that case that Valkyr is there to support him if he needs it, having broken off from the scrum to defend instead.          And despite the retreat, Ainsley is doing an excellent job as a tactical commander, picking out things that nobody else can. The Queen can't hear her, she's just watching from the rear in surprise.     And even if it was self-defence, the landship was firing first when Zephyr came out...     Speaking of Zephyr, she continues to mix it up alongside Prime and Valkyr. Although even saying that is probably a disservice to her acrobatics: which are simultaneously impressive (for the people watching) and confusing (for the Slavers). It's bad enough that she's an airbound human foe, but her movements and variety of fighting are so numerous as to really confuse an opponent it's new to. It's not even a case of them not being able to improvise tactics on the fly- it's more that this is such a shock that any tactics they might have are useless. What do you do against enemies who are roughly the size of humans, but more agile than planes, more well-armed than tanks, and using weapons that they have absolutely no frame of reference for?     Well, they do their best.     And Zephyr entirely begins removing the legs of some of them, to boot. In THIS case, they know what to do: the same thing they would if their legs were crippled by environmental damage, which is 'immediately break off and retreat'. Since sand is the same as water, in many ways, they do this by deplying the same things they travelled here with- corkscrew-like impellers at the tops of their heads, which they bore into the sand to escape with.     Others get the business end of Nova Prime- and X, too. Surprisingly the latter manages to cover Valkyr pretty well, leaving Nova to cause havoc. It's a miracle, perhaps, that amidst all of this there's not any friendly fire. We'll put it up to the bigger number of Slavers.     Grenades bouncing on sand, Tenno bouncing around- the only word for it is 'carnage', really. And again, it's not so much that these robots aren't choosing to raise the level of firepower, it's that they don't have anything better to use.     And in the face of overwhelming chaos like this, with no tactical experience to fall back on, a melee quickly begins to turn into a riot, with smoking Slavers, ones with holes beginning to melt in their titanium and carbon fibre bodies, and ones with limbs being blown off or even to pieces. It may turn into a question not of which of them is able to talk, but which of them won't be too terrified to? 

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''     Ainsley frowns from her fairly distant vantage, her sharp eyes taking in the intricacies of the battle from the layer of her communication magic. The lizard woman deactivates her Sight when she feels she has nothing further to gather from the soldiers themselves, and she quietly waits for the battle to conclude without getting close enough to get shot at by the strangely-shaped robots themselves.     She makes a little bird like chirp noise, impressed with the way the robots can flee into the sand. "That will make following them difficult," she muses aloud. "I hope we get at least one of them..." She scans the battlefield of explosions and weaponry obviously vastly outmatching the conical slaver soldier robots...     "This might be the first real victory these people have seen in a while," she also adds to her thoughts, noting the ship and the previous words, suggesting they've always been the ones retreating before. She sighs to herself, walking out in no real hurry to the rapidly concluding battle. She hums a little song to herself as she goes, the unusual reptile striking a cool and calm affect among a battlefield full of panic and fire.     It's a very sharp contrast.     With any luck, she can find one of the conical robots among the sands that is in no condition to run off but still intact enough to try to speak to... and luck out more by actually getting something out of this after its unit suffered a resounding, terrifying defeat. 

:'''{{#var:162|Zephyr Windstar (162)}} has posed:'''     <MASTER!> "I see it!"     Zephyr pulls up sharply, looping over while still trailing that energy line. As one of those Slavers goes to tunnel down into the sand... it'd find the Mage descending onto it in a direct, dead-drop with the axe baring down. Energy crackles along the edge of that weapon, but that's not all, as she cuts into the hull of the robot, the Bits detach and with a chime, emit 'ribbons' of energy that lash out to try and bind the rest of the things     cm"><STUGGLE BIND!> announces Divine Wind, the Ribbons suppressing energy flow to non-critical systems, but leaving Core Processes unaffected. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron merely retreats with those that are retreating, though he stays in front of the group to provide as much cover as he can. Once everyone's in the craft, he stays outside. The craft will probably be moving off once the Queen's inside it, so Auron then moves forward. The others have this. He IS, however, going to add to the intimidation factor here. How? By heading towards the now-retreating robots.     Oh he's not just heading towards them. He's walking, his shoulders set in JUST THAT WAY, sword propped on his shoulder. Whenever a stray blast comes at him, he lifts the sword easily, batting the blast aside. By now the blasts should be sporadic enough to pull this off. His expression is set in just enough of a frown to let the robots who can see it know that He Is Not Amused.     The message is clear, if the others' show of power hasn't already made it clear-- he is clearly the fighter with the fewest capabilities, the one closest to the humans they've been taken for granted. And he's walking through their laserfire like it's an unexpected spring drizzle. Turning back would be a really good idea. 

:'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:''' It's probably a good thing the Tenno have no means of flight. Right? Right. No, with Valkyr doing her option of alternatively tanking and reflecting back things, she's able to, at last, sink herself into the battle properly. She sprints, sliding and then launching herself like a bullet, careening through the air in order to bring Broken War down upon the head of one of those slavers. She begins to demonstrate a terrifying kind of agility as with X's covering, she's able to act more efficiently. She turns loose an absolutely terrifying /Warcry/ in the midst of the Slavers and allies alike; the kind of thing that could bolster and break morale to friend and foe, a howl of primacy in her voice despite the lack of notable mouth piece. The lack of raising of firepower is telling. The Lotus dislikes this; she agrees with Ainsley's initative for one to be captured at the least. But both Nova and Valkyr simply elect to move to kill and destroy as many of them, as quickly as they can, weaving themselves in and out. Gun and blade until there's one they can pull away. Sadly, that notion of actually trying to strip one out is not as easy as it appears. The ones trying to use their drills to break off and retreat elicits Valkyr to throw out a grappling hook from one hand, tethered by a ripline cord of energy to attempt to yank one off it's feet. Granted, the sheer force of it may cause it to experience a certain degree of trauma that would render it a poor subject for interrogation. Truly, what the two frames are attempting to do at this point is the elimination of as many targets as possible in as quick an order they can, mutually providing cover to Zephyr, X, Ainsley and Auron while at the same time taking advantage of the holes they open up with their actions. To put it kindly, the Tenno are severely disinterested in letting any of the Slavers leave intact or unsecured by those present here, solely based on not letting them report back. 

:'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:''' X weaves left and right, warned by his adaptive tactics software about enemies about to shoot. It gives the impression of rather startling precognition. If one thing Light was a genius at, it's programming. The end result is that X is able to leap, duck, and swerve away from a deal of shots moments before they happen while returning fire.     But some shots do get through despite his best dodging efforts. These leave sparking scorch marks on his armor alloy, shallow 'wounds' but ones that get him wincing nevertheless. Unlike Zephyr, he's kinda groundbound and pretty slow.     So it's a relief indeed when the horde starts falling back... or falling to pieces, as the case may be. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     It is! It is the first real victory they've had. In. A while.     And there sure are a lot of people watching from the ship... like, it's hard NOT to be watching them at this point, and the spectacle, and the strangeness, and all of the colours and explosions, not to mention the sheer 'ease' with which X and Zephyr are moving, indeed seeming as if the Slavers can't lay a hit on them. People will be telling their kids about this one, and leaving out any details of when anyone got hit at all, even when it did happen.     Auron and Ainsley approach what is clearly a rapidly concluding and winning battle for the visiting team, which is not exactly a 'rout' but it's definitely a coordinated retreat, due to massive lack of meaningful countermeasure let's say. Auron walking forward certainly makes a statement, but let it not be said that someone isn't going to be watching and recording this, and learning, and preparing... just because these robots are sentient doesn't mean that they can't transmit information to other ones...     With excellent timing, Zephyr manages to notice one of the augurs the Slavers are using and disable it JUST before the robot in question manages to use it- which is probably just as well that she managed to do so, because with the rather comprehensive job the Tenno are doing at explosive violence there's no question that at least half of the robots are going to end up scrapped from sheer overwhelming violence. In fact it may become inevitable that someone will have to give them a little 'oh, hey, wait, maybe ease up there'? There's no point in only having one or two left if they're going to be too traumatized to offer any meaningful information, after all.     In any case, soon the carnage is over, and there's an unprescedented number (previous record: 0) of Slavers arrested to talk to about what on earth is going on here. It may be a while before they have anything to say though, other than "Icchantika!", whatever that means.     "You're saviors to all of us," the Queen says, "...but you could be saviors to a great deal many more. I have a selfish request for you..."     ----     INTERMISSION:     "Who are the Metal Horde?" asks old Dr. O'Neil, although it's a rhetorical question. He sits back in his chair.     "They are ruthless, human-capturing machines, led by beings called Mechanticals. They weren't the only ones," the scarred man explains. "But they were the first. It was their artificial neuron brains that let them think, like humans. The scientists thought that they were going to make something more advanced than the current computers... something that could fit in a single room, or even smaller. But they forgot that when you make something that is shaped like a brain, and made like a brain, it will think like a brain... and an inhuman mind thinks inhuman thoughts... soon they were building other machines, and then other robots, and then......" 
}}

3917/Ripsaw

2016-04-08T09:05:34Z

Shrimptoast: Minor edit to remove reference. Takuya can't sore mo watashi da his way into this one.

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/07
|Location=Temporal Wastes
|Synopsis=Hoshi, Ren, and an awful, terrible, horrible not good at all adventure in time travel.
|Cast of Characters=165, 901
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     A Union base on the borderline of the Temporal Wastes.     "Now," Ren says, standing outside of a sort of mechanism that looks a bit like a warpgate, but also a bit like the loading breech of a cannon. "Sometimes, worlds that come into the multiverse sort of don't entirely get it right first time."     "The way I've had it explained to me," he continues, looking at the electric blue of the energy bubble that's growing in size in front of them, "Is kind of like stepping in the door, but getting your coat stuck on part of the door frame. You've got to hold very still and get someone else to unhook you, or you'll tear your coat and then you're kind of sad."     "Now, that anology is complete nonsense, of course. It bears absolutely no similarity to what we're about to do, but it's a lie we can understand."     "So, Amakasu," he continues, folding his hands behind him, moving from the balls of his feet to the tips of his toes and back-forth. "I'm going to go on an exciting adventure in space and time, do you wanna come with me?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Now, when someone calls you and tells you they've got something important going on in this Multiverse, Hoshi's kind of gotten into a strange way of thinking. It either involved fights with scary things, duels for whatever reason people duel around here for, or just flat-out mystical weirdness. So, of course, she always come prepared.     Once Hoshi was out of the warpgate and had joined Ren, she tries to spend a moment to figure out if Ren was hurt, had he been attacked... The words die on her tongue as Ren begins "explaining" about the strange vision happening in front of her. She slowly blinks, then sets Ren with the classic 'frown and folded arms' business.     "I thought you'd gotten hurt somehow, man." She grumbles for a moment. "And why would you use ana anology that doesn't make sense?... Don't answer that. I don't mind helping out, of course, but, uh..." She motions between herself and the hazy energy bubble. "I'm not entirely sure what that even /is/... So if you don't mind, what exactly are we doing here? Do I need my sword?"     ... She has it with her anyway, of course, currently holding up her hair in it's smaller form. She's trying to figure out if she should be expecting danger, or not. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "No, not really. I just signed up for an interesting mission and I thought you'd like to see something new. I mean, it's not every day you get to go rummaging around in the temporal wastes, is it?"     "It's one of the most interesting parts of the multiverse, after all. Time is completely cuckoo, here! Even more unpredictable than anywhere else!"     He shouldn't be as pleased about this as he should be, considering.     "Okay, so. Here's the situation. Somewhere in the wastes right now is a world that has a bizarre build-up of... artrons or chronotons, time energy basically. Nobody can figure out why it's there from just looking from the outside, but if we go inside and figure out how to safely unhook the coat, then it might settle into a less volatile stable part of the multiverse. And that'll be thanks to us!"     "There might be danger, there might not. Only one way to find out, you know?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     A quick look around brings both an amazed look to her eyes and a shiver down Hoshi's spine. The juxtaposition of rainbow colors over absolute waste is pretty disconcerting... "Honestly not sure if I'd want to go walking around here every day, personally," she admits. "I guess it looks kinda cool, though... We aren't going to get lost in time somewhere, right?"     It'd be a shame if she ended up becoming the Japanese version of Rip Van Winkle and missed her finals, y'know!     Falling silent to listen to Ren's explanation of what the issue was, Hoshi nods along... Though the thought does still creep up into her mind about how exactly they intend to figure out these things, or do anything about it. Time wasn't exactly her strong point, after all. Maybe they'd think of something inside. Eventually, she nods firmly.     "I'm still not sure what exactly I can do here, but sure. I'll help out. Seriously hoping we don't end up stumbling into German fairy-tale times, though." It'd be just her luck. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "You're here as my buddy! Buddy system," Ren explains, nearing the source of the temporal aperture into where they need to go. "It means if I were to go by myself and something horrible killed me, nobody would be around to drag me back. But since there's two of us... well, in any case, one of us probably won't get killed, so it's irrelevant. Moving on!"     He's bad at this sorta thing sometimes. Ren rolls a botch on his socialize roll.     A few steps more, and...     We are now in the human colony of New Staffordshire, year 2003.     Population: who knows?     Welcome to everyone's nightmare in the 1990s about what life in the 2000s was going to be like.     Welcome to an industrial wasteland of the purest sort: Made of corrugated iron, security fences and barb wire, liberally filled with dirty metal doors and disused oil barrels, flashing hazard lights, and bubbling green water.     Welcome to an empty city, covered in a film of dust, surrounded in shadows, seemingly very underpopulated and with a slate gray smoggy sky filled with a mesh of interlinked, skyscraping, acid-rain-etched buildings.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0khcX_DJjw     Un-finale - Robyn Miller     Myst - 1993 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Yeah, he really did. The more he talks, the higher her left brow raises as she scowls over at him. "Neither of us are going to die if Rosamond or I have anything to say about it." It's hard to disagree with a giant Persona with a big sword, after all. "You really need to work on your pep talks." Anyway, yes. Moving on! Moving... Hoshi flinches to a stop just as she's about to touch it, but grumbles quietly to herself and pushes through anyway.     It's the smell that strikes her first, actually. Alberichstadt is a pretty clean place, after all. This place really isn't. The taste of smog and smell of pollution make her grimance and cover her nose immediately. "Ugh... Well, this is a really bad way to start this off. What /happened/ here, anyway?"     Nobody seems to be around... Hoshi starts moving about cautiously, trying to keep her steps as quiet as possible as she looks around this ruined vista. "So... what are the odds that someone is going to come up and kindly explain what the /crap/?" Probably pretty low. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Yes, as far as explanations go that was not one of my best, but did you remember the coat anology?" Ren asks. "Now THAT was a good one, I think that one was delivered very well."     It's all he can do to distract both of them from the fact that they've seemingly walked into an industrial pit of miserable oblivion, you've got to keep your spirits up in these kind of situations... no, Ren doesn't believe it either. He gives the panorama in front of them the most baleful look as he just dares a tattered newspaper to flutter by in the wind in front of them.     "...what happened here, indeed?" Ren echoes. "I guess we're going to have to find out." So, with an open canvas in front of you and a seemingly empty swathe of city, what would you do when you needed to gather information? Ren takes a walk forward, trying to look for the best place to begin. You could practically start anywhere.     It doesn't seem as if anyone's around to give you suggestions. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Ren's mention of the analogy again gets a long-suffering sigh. Not going there.     All in all, it was a mess. This place obviously needed a /lot/ of fixing, but that was something that neither Hoshi nor Ren could actually do. Environmental distruction to this level was probably a complete death sentence for this world. "Or suicide," she mumbles quietly under her breath. If only the Paris Comission could see this.     Help obviously wasn't going to come to them here; eventually the kendo girl relaxes her careful stride somewhat and starts going downstairs to exit the building and go onto the street. And she tries really hard to make sure she doesn't touch anything. Who knows what sorts of oils or contaminants cover this place? Eugh.     Once she's out on the street, she cups her hands around her mouth and starts calling out. "HEY! Is anyone alive here!? HELLO?" Really not the best idea if there are hostiles here, but so far it doesn't look like there's even a hint of a person down here... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Everything is rather disgustingly grimy, and aside from the disturbingly glubbling water a lot of things seem dried-up and a bit rusty and generally settled.     Have you ever walked through a city at that exact sort of 2-3am time where it's very dark and very, very, /very/ quiet, and it's actually kind of surreal how a place that is supposed to be full of people is not only completely empty, it's also /oppressively/ silent? Like, you don't even hear the sound of cars in the very far-off distance? And you go, I walked through this road earlier today, this is just so unlike how reality is supposed to be it's hard to believe?     That's how this feels right now, basically.     On the horizon, just after the last echo of Hoshi's question fades away, a skyscraper cracks in two and falls. It's so far away that it sort of sounds like a twig snapping under your foot.     Ren, meanwhile, is actually looking- just as sour as before- over a newspaper as he trails behind her. It's dated 1999 and there are definitely no headlines about an approaching cataclysm, at least. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Another shiver crawls up Hoshi's spine and along her arms, like pins and needles gently pricking at her skin. "This is so stupidly creepy," she mutters quietly under her breath. Watching a skyscraper suddenly come crashing down--and only barely hearing it--makes it all the worse. It's enough that she reaches up to take her hairtie out of her hair and let it shift into sword form. Just in case.     Hoshi takes some steps over to a nearby building across the street and tries to peer through anything that might let her look inside. She almost tries to go inside, but pauses and looks over to Ren. "Hey, uh... We probably shouldn't split up... and we should probably figure out a plan. This isn't looking so hot for anything... like, at all." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     By sheer, interesting coincidence, Hoshi has managed to look into the window of one of the only buildings that seems to have not just one, but two computers in it! And a skeleton at the desk, which is staring back at her as soon as she cleans off the window.     It's also helpful that she clearly instructs Ren not to wander off, because that's exactly what he was doing, being half-way up a scaffolding when she calls him out.     Just bash the door open, no-one's going to care. If you can find it in yourself to start pressing buttons on the keyboard, the computers are Power Macs with an assortment of Usenet posts in their cache.     Ren goes over to one of them, switches it on and begins doing... stuff. "I'm going to see if I can figure out if there's a way to narrow down where that temporal energy disturbance is coming from," he explains. "If I can find some sort of abnormal power record in the city, we might have a lead." Interesting that most of the power grid is still operational despite the place being pretty abandoned and dead, huh?     So, what will you search for today? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Lucky Hoshi! She managed to find something useful... and something creepy. Creepy enough that when she first focuses on the computers and skeleton, she steps back quickly with a small hiss and grips the handle of her sword. "Of course I find the dead people," she mutters darkly. At least Ren wasn't going off on his own. Using those computers will probably be their only chance of getting info.     So Hoshi steps grimly in front of the door and kicks the damn thing open. Thank goodness for supernatural strength. THe inside, dust yand disgusting, makes her cover her nose with her forearm again. She follows Ren to the computers and watches as he taps away. "This place looks like it's been trashed for a super long time," she mumbles quietly. Not knowing what exactly she should be doing, Hoshi eventually decides to find a place where she can watch the front door and keep an eye on Ren's progress. "I dunno, man... even if we fix the time stuff, what the hell are we going to do about all of... this?" She waves her hand around. "Pretty sure we don't have the ability to reverse pollution this bad." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "It never fails to impress me when you just... go through solid metal doors like that," he mentions idly, waving the dust cloud away. "There's something you didn't think you'd be able to do last year, I'm sure."     Inside...     "Well," Ren replies, his face lit by the white glow from the screen, "...one thing at a time, I suppose. I think if we had to choose between dropping or folding or whatever, more industrial pollution into Techno-Urbania or letting a dangerous buildup of weird time energy build up, I'd go with the problem that's evitably solveable instead of the alternative..."     Having satisfied her desire a skeleton is not going to jump out at them, Hoshi will also be able to search the computer for some... disturbing news. She'll find out that although the actual overall industrial build of the colony is its own set of problems, connected to an overall complicated set of political and practical problems related to the history of this world that are kind of irrelevant to this story, the actual /pollution/ massively spiked over the period of several weeks or even days before everyone stopped updating the internet forever. The cause was seemingly some sort of roaming massive natural disaster which was ravaging the human population and causing massive swathes of death, seemingly a secondary element to building-shattering, widespread destruction.     After some minutes of searching Ren discovers a location they can head to next, seemingly the place where this energy buildup is. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     It was pretty cool, wasn't it? Shame how it ended up coming about, though. "I'll admit it's pretty helpful. Kinda wish I was stronger sometimes, though." Y'know, like in times when they're seemingly in pollution hell.     Her searches on the internet doesn't make the situation any happier, either. The fact that she literally can't find anything dated after some of these particular dates carries horrifying implications. Eventually, she mumbles quietly to Ren.     "... I think the world is just... dead. The whole world..."     Eventually Ren might makea discovery... Hoshi can't stand to look at her computer past a certain point. "Let's hope something can be fixed... What'd you find?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Not a pleasant thought by any stretch of the imagination. Something or someone, some sort of unbelievable disaster, caused overwhelming pollution and destruction in such a short space of time that it wiped out the human population of New Staffordshire, and this is what remains four years later.     But...     "I've got a very clever hunch about a very, very, very dangerous gamble and a very big maybe that maybe, just maybe, there could still be hope, Amakasu..."     That's what Ren says before he grabs her by the hand and takes off out of the building, and on reflection it's not clear if he did it before or after the whole thing started shaking.     Because that looks distinctly like a rather big, unpleasant storm building and rumbling and rolling towards the part of the city that they're in, and there's shaking and metal-creaking sounds and white, yellow and red flashes of light on the horizon, and...     And it's just as well, perhaps, that they're making their way towards a rather heavy building with one floor below ground and the rest beneath, moving past the barbed wire fence, entering the hazard-striped doors, forcing open the blast shutters and moving down the corrugated metal staircase into a heavily built basement of a building, filled with...     Filled with an electrical blue glow, and the chug of a generator, and cables lining every floor leading a marked path for someone to follow.     A marked path that leads to a room, a room filled with active machinery, and whirring things and pipes and glass, and a dozen computers clustered together, and -     And a man, or so it seems, a man who was once fat but is now more like an empty balloon, with a red complexion and strands of hair on his head, and wire-rimmed glasses and a mechanical eye, and far, far too many wires connecting him into the desk he's sat at.     "Oh, thank goodness, I thought someone would never get here. Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Kelman..." 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Really, this is one of the things that Hoshi kind of wishes she could walk away from. It was a horrible, awful place they'd stumbled into. She said she would help, though... Even if Ren's way of explaining how this is going to work doesn't really inspire her with much confidence. "Maybe we should see if there's someone in the Union who knows how this time stuff works before we--hey!"     Suddenly, they were running, with Ren pulling her along. At first she tries to pull away, look around, find out what was happening... Then she saw it. The storm. Then she was running just as fast as Ren was, and she even changes her sword back into a hairtie so she can go as fast as possible.     Along paths, into buildings, behind blast doors--when they were finally safe from the environmental death that was closing in on them, Hoshi let out a gasp of relief and slumps down along one of the walls. "Gaaah... What /makes/ a thing like that!?" So much for contact, either, all considered... And now they can't leave!     The sound of another person's voice causes her to jump slightly and look around... and then look down at the floor with a grimace. That was a pretty bad sight. "Ergh... Uh... H-hi, man. It's good to see that there's someone still alive around here..." Even if it doesn't look like much of a life. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Before we did the whole 'go underground' thing?     Ren does, nonetheless, take a moment to look at the approaching storm and go...     "An entirely reasonable suggestion! Yes. When we've got a moment and we're not running from imminent danger, we could definitely try it!"     Presuming that he's the person being asked Hoshi's question of 'what makes that', Kelman looks thoughtful for a moment.     "Alive, yes, in a manner of speaking. I'm glad you made it here... presumably, you may have seen that force of destruction above ground. The eye of that storm of pollution and demolition is a creature called Ripsaw... and that means we don't have much time."     He gestures with his head to a doorway behind him, and begins feverishly working on his keyboards. "I had... hoped that a survivor would be able to find my laboratory, you see. What I have behind me is a time machine... something, I had hoped might be able to stop all of this."     "It can supercharge you with time particles that will send you, for a limited time, back /four years/ into the past."     "That's the source of the time disturbance?" Ren wonders out loud.     "I was able to find the place where that horrendous machine was being built, but..."     The ceiling begins to crack and shake. "If I send you back into the past, you must destroy Ripsaw before it can be activated and destroy the population of this world...!" A crack begins to appear in the ceiling, and though it there can be seen...     A colossal machine, a giant which defies description. Hazard-striped and constructed out of industrial metal, it has lamplike eyes and enormously oversized drills and blades on the end of its limbs. It makes a hideous roaring sound, emitting terrible black smog!     "You must hurry into the time machine! It's almost here!" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well... This was a hell of a way to get introduced. Still, she really... really has a hard time looking up at him. Still, she keeps listening as he explains what they had just run into.     "Ripsaw? Seriously? Whoever made a robot named 'Ripsaw' should've expected something bad to happen." And keep happening from the looks of things. "Judging by how scared you sound... we aren't safe here. What the hell should we do?"     Time machine. Hoshi groans and rubs her face. "Ugh... Go figure. What if we can't stop it?"     ... Actually, the answer is pretty clear what will happen.     Suddenly, the sound of of the ceiling tearing off takes up all of her attention. Looking up, the monstrous robot above her holds her gaze... And then Hoshi starts running again. "Jeez--let's go, Ren!" 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Holy crap that thing's HUGE!"

<X-Union-Chatter> 7 Hoshi Amakasu uhhh.... "Ren, I'm not really sure about all this time travel stuff. Don't you think we should make sure it's okay firs--" CRASH!

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Er.."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No time to think it through, unfortunately!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Time travel.."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Wha--hey, don't grab my arm! Whoa, whoa--!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Spot of bother in the temporal wa-"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "What in the nine worlds is going on?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka crash! KABOOM

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...Well then. How is the greenhouse Yunomi?"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     When the alternative is being crushed by the apocalyptic civilization-ending pollution death robot, then yes, we will certainly jump in the untested time machine. Won't we? Yes, we sure will.     What follows is what might be best described as a real rollercoaster ride, past all sorts of twists and turns and phenomena and loops and inversions and months in reverse!     At some point, there is a bright and spectacular strobing flash, and when the feeling of intense G-forces and motion stop...     Well, Hoshi's going to find herself by herself, first off. And second, she's not where either of them left- the time machine's not anywhere to be found, either. She's on a metal floor or platform of some kind, in a small room with a metal door. There's a generic generator behind her and various pistons and whirly things lining the walls, but there doesn't seem to be anything /important/ here, necessarily.     Her radio still works fine, though.     "Amakasu? Can you hear me?" Ren asks. "It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all." 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Amakasu? Can you hear me? It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "...incidentally, I hope it's not April 24AU for anyone listening."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu quietly, "This is a bad idea..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nevermind about the /greenhouse/. Time travel is freaking dangerous if you don't have something to shield
you from temporal radi.. ah.. energies... I think... last time I did I turned into a box of donuts, it was a while back."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I've...been through time but ah...only the once."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I was young and terrified and traveling with a madman in a blue box."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "A blue box?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Blue box."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Interesting."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I went through the world tree"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Ask Harry what he remembers about The Doctors."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "That's the second time strange blue boxes have come up in conversations I've been in."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Riva and Wuyin call it Agartha"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Anyway... not sure if we have an awful lot of choice, unfortunately. We've only got a limited amount of...
charge, I suppose, that's keeping us in the past. Spending time meeting up might waste"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "At least you guys are still here and it's not 24AU."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Yes, as I recall whatever time travel happens in the wastes only counts for the wastes. You know, like getting
married in Las Vegas."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Time travel is freaking confusing."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "So is Las Vegas."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler curiously "Are you in Las Vegas?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Sadly, I think I'd prefer to be there right now. No, we're in ... well. The New Staffordshire of 1999, I
suppose, compared to the New Staffordshire of 2003 which was a polluted wasteland full of dead folks."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'm not famil... oh."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      So, Hoshi has some reservations. The fact that this dude was apparently waiting for them reeks of some destiny stuff that wouldn't make any sense, because her and Tanaka were both from different worlds entirely. Going back in time to essentially abort whatever the big monster thing was before it ever got made. She's pretty sure she's watched at least some movies that had time travel that said this was probably not the best plan. So, she ends up voicing her problems over the radio.     Then all the horrifying monster roaring, arm-grabbing thing happened, and she was inside the time machine anyway.     Hoshi ends up hanging on to whatever she could for dear life, her eyes clenched shut as time slipped away from her. She ends up having to grit her teeth to stop from yelling as they went.     When she opens her eyes, she's suddenly by herself. Hoshi whirls around quickly looking for the machine, or Ren. Tanaka. Nobody's there. THe comforting sound of voices from the Union bands in her bluetooth does a little better to help her relax, though. "It looks that way," she concedes to him. "Don't do anything silly, alright? I don't want to think about what might happen if anyone here knows what's going on."     She's still holding her sword! So that's nice. She of course morphs it back to it's hairtie form before she tries for the door and tries to peek through it cautiously before she heads out. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "I guess if we can stop someone from making a murder machine, we can also stop that from happening."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... I've watched too many time travel movies to be comfortable with this. What if we, like... Cause a paradox? Or something."

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Well, if someone else had survived long enough to find the time machine before them, rest assured they wouldn't be able to do this anywhere near as awesome as we're going to. We definitely hit 88 miles an hour back then, so logically some serious shit is about the ensue.     Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, we definitely made it back to the past before Ripsaw was activated.     The bad news? Well, uh. Say hello to Ripsaw.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poDs6Jno_-w     chw">Supplementary Lessons For the Unlucky     Masafumi Takada - Danganronpa     Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc - 2010     You're on the ground floor of what seems to be a massive open-plan factory. The gargantuan mechanical kaiju is boxed in by the four walls around you, surrounded by a massive haze of mechanical platforms. It's near completion, but not so much that there are several large segments of it with exposed, significant-looking power points. You know they're important because they're cycling between glowing red-white-green, anything that glows red is probably a vulnerable power core.     Lots of platforms, giant cranes, pulleys, robotic arms, waldos... you know what to do. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Hmm. I haven't dealt with time travel in the wastes. That might be better than time travel elsewhere where you're
liable to trap yourself in a time loop or something."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't know. Can you /make/ time paradoxes in the Wastes?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Not sure what happens in the wastes. If you cause a paradox elsewhere... you end up in a dead timeline. Or so I'm
told. In the main timeline, a time traveller will show up to kick your ass and stop you from creating a paradox in the first place."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "It's all just a big patch of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff here."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "OOC Mis"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "...Do you mean 'destruction'?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nope."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Dude what?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Noted."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Look, you run into some very interesting people when you live with a Time Lord."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Well, nobody's come yet..." Long pause. "... I found the murder machine."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Excellent!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga coughs. "A weapon of mass...seduction?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'll explain later, I'm on the edge of my seat listening to the murder machine madness."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Aha"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't have any experience with time travel, really. So I'm in the feeling-out process here."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Are you actually interested in this, Miss Yunomi?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "WHat's this about a murder machine?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "You remember all the roaring and running this started out with?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I am. I don't get out of Ravnica much these days."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu mutters, "Probably better described as a mass murder machine."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      Trying to peer through the door doesn't do Hoshi much good, so eventually she pushes her way in. "Annd found it," she grunts quietly to herself. Glances are sent all over the room to see if there was any people around... The sheer amount of machinery around makes it hard to tell if anyone is around. When it seems safe enough, she will eventually step out further into the room.     The whole thing is one giant, pretty intimidating mess. "So... I guess I'm just going to wreak it?" Not exactly sounding too pumped about it. That said, Hoshi does recognize what this could possibly do for this world if she just... ends it now. So, out comes her sword again, and she focuses into herself, feeling Rosamond responding to her thoughts. "Okay... Okay. We can do this if we work together." Pause. "I really really hope nobody's in here. I don't want to be a time criminal."     "PERSONA!" She cries, and with the crash of glass Rosamond appears, sword unsheathed and ready. Hoshi starts running for one of the platforms closer to the beast; Rosamond, meanwhile, starts causing a path of destruction as she flies straight for the incomplete Ripsaw, her blade lashing out to rend and crush whatever came within her reach. Once she's close to one of the glowing red pieces, she starts spinning like a top in mid-air until her sword crashes into it.     Hoshi has to content herself with kicking things out of the way, mostly. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Roaring and running...?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Because it found us! It probably got pretty good at finding living people after killing all of the rest of
them. But now we're in the past! To fix things!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Noble!"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Dude, you are the time police. Well, in theory anyway. We're the Union, which is like being universe police, except this is an adventure in time, not space, so it stands to reason that... y'know.     Elsewhere:     "Right, okay, good to meet you, now you're probably wondering 'how did he penetrate my fortress of doom' or something, I'm sorry, that's an overgeneralization and it's not one I can really answer because I don't have any real way of proving it," Ren explains to a withered, villainous-looking person who's probably worse off now than Kelman was after years of not eating. He's not Kelman, though, he's got a lot more liver spots and cybernetic eyes. Well, two more, which is probably as many as you can have when you're a person. Anyway. For Hoshi and Rosamond, each of them has their own set of problems- for Hoshi, it's the fact that yes, somewhere someone has noticed her on security camera, and therefore they're rapidly doing their best to try and make things difficult for her as far as 'moving around' goes. Any platform she's on is going to be moving back and forth to try and shake her off, the mechanical arms trying to whack her with their broadside or just grab her and try to snip an arm or a leg off.      Rosamond's problems are in a way also Hoshi's because they're the same being, but they're a lot more explictly dangerous because, well, whoever isn't getting paid enough for this doesn't KNOW, they just know a dangerous flying humanoid thing with a sword is hacking up the quancilliary knee and electron cannon power generator core. So they're repurposing rivet guns and pressurized water metal-cutters to desperately blast at her. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well, low and behold. Suddenly there was a big party going on in this room, and absolutely nobody liked who had just walked in. The first rumbles of the platform she's standing on make her stop and look around curiously; that changes to desperately grabbing ahold of a railing to stop herself from tumbling off. One of the mechanical arms comes flying for her face, but she ducks it and dives for the next platform as hers starts shifting toward it.     "Whoa! Hey, stop! I'm trying to save your lives!" After so much hope, she was still going to be on a shitlist for this. One of the robotic arms ends up slamming agianst her side, drawing a pained grunt. She has to grab hold to keep from being swept off, but she strikes out with her sword and damages one of the joints before it dumps her.     Rosamond's cloaked form doesn't seem to move as rivets strike against her and tear through her cloak, but Hoshi can certainly feel them pelting on her chest. When someone tries to turn the water laser on her, though, she immediately zooms straight up towards the roof, then spins her sword and points it down at the machine. Golden prayer scrolls and talismans appear all around the mechanical monster--some not so far from the people down below. Each begin to burn brightly where they are until finally exploding with violent Light magic.     Thankfully, Hoshi's not exactly a magical powerhouse. The intent was to scare off the people down below, not butcher them. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' At some point, Ren manages to sit down on a keyboard in just the right way as to put the really crusty old guy on speakerphone.     "Well, Mr. Huss. Can I call you Mr. Huss? It just strikes me as strange that you don't seem to have a real reason behind this."     "Many people claim to seek meaning in life, 'Mister Brown'. But the truth is, there is no such thing. This is just the most logical extension of that concept."     "Really? Because it looks like a giant robot monster to me."     It's not entirely just for the sake of exposition- Ren knows that while the people at the controls can't hear Hoshi's protests, they can hear this loud and clear, so he's trying the old engineered public confession on this old fossil.     Unfortunately, because they can't hear Hoshi's protests for now, the people in the factory are going to keep trying to kill her. You know what they say: you can please all of the people some of the time, you can please some of the people all of the time, but a hot rivet in the eye'll always make your head explode.     So hey, watch out for that! You're going to have to make sure you get off of that damaged robo-arm before it goes completely vertical and there's nothing to really grip on to. At this height it'll probably just be uncomfortable if you fall on the floor, but pretty soon they're probably going to start turning on the flamethrowers they use to clear out rats and vagrants and then you'll really be in trouble. In fact, they're turning them on right now. Climb for it!     Thankfully for Rosamond, she's got the flying ability to bypass almost all of this dungeon at once. Such a gamebreaker. While this means she can fly all the way up to the top of Ripsaw and potentially look for the primary spinal signal coordinator (which is still just a big flashing power core on the outside anyway), and while it does mean she's thankfully far enough away to avoid human retaliation when she sets off a variety of light bombs hither and thither to disable the human-armed offense...     There are going to be hovering drones up here with gun arms (for getting rid of bats, naturally?) that generally classify anything moving and not attached to a wall as an annoying interference. So they'll be getting in her way while Hoshi tries to take out the next point of failure! 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "/Why are there flamethrowers on the floor/?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "I will answer with another question."

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Are there flamethrower racks nearby?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Maybe subfloor fuel line construction was cheaper?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "No, these crazy people built them into the stupid floor to shoot out!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Oh."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "Sounds to be an active day all around."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Once Hoshi starts hearing Tanaka through the radio, she's glad that he's here and still okay. Of course, she also really wishes that they could've just come together, trashed the thing, and left without saying a word. Too bad for them.     And too bad for Hoshi, when jets of flame erupt not so far from her feet, and several rivets plant themselves right next to her face. "Why are there flamethrowers on the floor!? Who designed this place?!" Thankfully, she's a Persona User. Super strength and stuff comes with the territory. So, with a little inspiration she's able to scramble back up and go on her way, to another platform that leads to a crane that will take her to the top of the beast.     That's when some of the rivets smack into her side, just as she's starting to need to carefully balance. That's also when Rosamond ends up getting surrounded by gun drones. The Persona is able to use the slab of metal she uses as a sword to block a good number of the bullets, some get through, making Hoshi twitch and shudder with pain. It all ends up sending her over the side, only just able to catch herself with one hand.     The strain of holding Rosamond out for so long is getting to be too much. Hoshi releases her hold, and the Persona begins to quickly fade into blue mist. She grits her teeth; her sword changes into a hairtie again, letting her use both hands to quickly hand-over-hand this bastard. Once she's over one of the glowing red bits, she drops and forms her sword, trying to stab through... whatever this thing was. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     You never know! He could be having force lightning shot at him right now. He might have to strangle this old guy to death with a bicycle chain. When was the last time you strangled someone to death with a bicycle chain, could you cut it?     Well, at least it doesn't sound like there's any lightning in the background as Ren asks:     "So you're a nihilist?"     "Perhaps I just wanted the perspective that would have come from being a giant in a small world?"     "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"     "Literal!"     "Ohhhh... that's a twist."     Hoshi's getting shot at! That's not good! On the other hand, this is having some interesting consequences, one being that the people doing the shooting- already somewhat guilty at their having to try and kill what seems to be a strange teenager with a sword- if anything have their perturbances multiplied when they actually HIT her and it doesn't really DO much, because now she's gone from 'strange kid' to 'unnatural human-shaped instrument of destruction'. Several people decide to give up and run at this anyway!     Especially when she uses her superhuman abilities to scale a platform or two, then a crane in a trice, leaving another of Ripsaw's power cores close at 'hand'.     And because she's able to go from strength to strength when it comes to smashing it, more of the workers decide to give up and run in fear, which leaves their waldos unmanned... long story short, out-of-control rivet guns end up wildly firing and taking out another of the ... we'll just call them power cores.     There's enough of Ripsaw that isn't finished yet that Hoshi can see there's a relative path right into the middle of the monster, with one remaining central device she could shut down if she dives down in there. Just a couple exposed electrical conduits, running-but-idle sets of gears, and a couple sets of damaged panels that are slamming open and closed and crushing anything between them when they do so.     Easy, right? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     People were mercifully not shooting at Hoshi anymore, so that was nice. Them fleeing is a godsend to a girl who had a couple rivets jammed into her torso that were oozing blood onto her clothes. Once again, she's reminded that if she wasn't who she was, she'd probably be dead right now. That said, they still freaking /hurt/.     Tanaka is keeping the guy rambling on about whatever subject they'd gotten on--did he really design this thing to hop in himself? Where the hell is the investment return on that?--leaving Hoshi to put this thing to bed. Of course, that's going to be difficult, considering what's before her.     A big scowl comes to the teen's face. Clearly these people didn't know how to run a business or make a functioning robot. Thankfully, she still has some supernatural aid.     So she dives into the belly of the beast. She ends up having to climb around like a monkey to get over the electrical conduits, and a bit of her hair gets singed for the effort. The gears are a little more troublesome; eventually Hoshi grunts, "C'mon, Rosamond!" The Persona appears again, in a rather silly hunched position to even be able to fit, and grabs ahold of the geras long enough for Hoshi to slip through and let Rosamond fade.     The next one ends up leaving her stumped for a bit as the panels crashed together in front of her. Eventually, she starts noticing a slightly-erratic pattern. Once she feels she's got the feel of it, she ends up diving forward to try and make it through, only jst managing the last one and tripping badly enough to fall flat on her back.     "Agh.... guuh... I hate this plate," she pants. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I will transfer my own mind out of this worn-out defect, fusing what I have discovered to be a soul to it! All of the mechanical shortcomings will be filled in by MY PURE WILL! I will become the force of annihilation! I will embody the senseless principle of destruction, laying waste to countless lives! And for what purpose? None! If anything, spite! I will wallow in it! I will create the largest, greatest war machine in history and use it for nothing but wanton slaughter!"     "No, no. I don't think you're going to, really."     "And why? Are you going to stop me?"     "No, I'm just going to keep you busy..."     Outside, equipment goes out of control and the flamethrowers accidentally light up some fuel lines, the building starts to shake and electrical fuses explode. Computers and important computer-controlled equipment, and potentially say cybernetic life support, electrifies and overloads.     The final power core is there in front of Hoshi, although it's surrounded by some out-of-place machinery with green tubes and very large asian iconography and vaugely magitechno stylings. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Hoshi needs a few seconds to catch her breath once she's finally made it to the end. The loud, clanking machines make it almost impossible to focus now; at least she's still mobile, she probably couldn't summon Rosamond at this point.     She's up on her feet, her brows furrowed at all the weird iconography down here. It's nothing she can read, and there's nothing that's really saying that she was going to kill the timeline or anything, so... She steps forward grimly and lifts her sword point-down above her head, and just starts stabbing the thing as hard and as viciously as she can. "Stupid... murder robot!"     Once she's done, she starts trying to scramble her way back out. Who knows if this thing will self-destruct or something? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Look at it this way, Hoshi, although hopefully not as you're stabbing it because that thing's going to start glowing and crackling unpleasantly after you rupture the glassy centre- you've definitely just saved civilization, so that' something, right?     Step away quickly, though! Exploding may indeed be imminent! In fact, as you squirm out of the overloading robot, you'll find that exploding is imminent no matter which way you go.     A blast of metal and masonry blows out a wall some distance away, in one of the control rooms attached to a building wall. It's bad news for old men, presuming they survived previous implications- as a guy in a batsuit once said, I'm not going to kill you, but I just don't have to save you- as Ren can be seen making a running jump out of the room he was in, swinging off a drone and landing next to Hoshi. Stupid exalted tricks, landing from so high up safely, mutter mutter.     There's fire above, fire below, and fire all around. Congrats Hoshi! EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE.     Fortunatelt, when he gets up, he's starting to... sparkle? Hoshi is, too.     "Looks like we made it just in time, Amakasu. Like he said... limited charge. We're going to get pulled back to the present day. Let's hope it looks better than when we left, eh?"     There's more sparkles! And then ... well, imagine the previous rollercoaster feeling in spirit, but the track completely disappears halfway through, and there's some falling, and it's all in reverse...     When Ren and Hoshi stop moving again, they're somewhere else again. It's New Staffordshire, and it looks... sort of like what it did before, but only because total redevelopment of the city skyline can't even happen in four years even if a lot can be done.     The city looks rather different, though! There are clear(er) skies, glass and chrome buildings going up, plus things like... trees! And flowers! And trees and flowers placed and built in harmony with new glass and chrome buildings, and asthetic redevelopment, and most important of all PEOPLE! Lots and lots of wonderful living people, going about their normal lives, all of them looking pretty happy. Off in the distance you can even see Kelman too, looking a lot healthier and happier.     HOSHI AND REN MADE A GOOD FUTURE 
}}

3917/Ripsaw

2016-04-08T05:55:11Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/04/07
|Location=Temporal Wastes
|Synopsis=Hoshi, Ren, and an awful, terrible, horrible not good at all adventure in time travel.
|Cast of Characters=165, 901
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     A Union base on the borderline of the Temporal Wastes.     "Now," Ren says, standing outside of a sort of mechanism that looks a bit like a warpgate, but also a bit like the loading breech of a cannon. "Sometimes, worlds that come into the multiverse sort of don't entirely get it right first time."     "The way I've had it explained to me," he continues, looking at the electric blue of the energy bubble that's growing in size in front of them, "Is kind of like stepping in the door, but getting your coat stuck on part of the door frame. You've got to hold very still and get someone else to unhook you, or you'll tear your coat and then you're kind of sad."     "Now, that anology is complete nonsense, of course. It bears absolutely no similarity to what we're about to do, but it's a lie we can understand."     "So, Amakasu," he continues, folding his hands behind him, moving from the balls of his feet to the tips of his toes and back-forth. "I'm going to go on an exciting adventure in space and time, do you wanna come with me?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Now, when someone calls you and tells you they've got something important going on in this Multiverse, Hoshi's kind of gotten into a strange way of thinking. It either involved fights with scary things, duels for whatever reason people duel around here for, or just flat-out mystical weirdness. So, of course, she always come prepared.     Once Hoshi was out of the warpgate and had joined Ren, she tries to spend a moment to figure out if Ren was hurt, had he been attacked... The words die on her tongue as Ren begins "explaining" about the strange vision happening in front of her. She slowly blinks, then sets Ren with the classic 'frown and folded arms' business.     "I thought you'd gotten hurt somehow, man." She grumbles for a moment. "And why would you use ana anology that doesn't make sense?... Don't answer that. I don't mind helping out, of course, but, uh..." She motions between herself and the hazy energy bubble. "I'm not entirely sure what that even /is/... So if you don't mind, what exactly are we doing here? Do I need my sword?"     ... She has it with her anyway, of course, currently holding up her hair in it's smaller form. She's trying to figure out if she should be expecting danger, or not. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "No, not really. I just signed up for an interesting mission and I thought you'd like to see something new. I mean, it's not every day you get to go rummaging around in the temporal wastes, is it?"     "It's one of the most interesting parts of the multiverse, after all. Time is completely cuckoo, here! Even more unpredictable than anywhere else!"     He shouldn't be as pleased about this as he should be, considering.     "Okay, so. Here's the situation. Somewhere in the wastes right now is a world that has a bizarre build-up of... artrons or chronotons, time energy basically. Nobody can figure out why it's there from just looking from the outside, but if we go inside and figure out how to safely unhook the coat, then it might settle into a less volatile stable part of the multiverse. And that'll be thanks to us!"     "There might be danger, there might not. Only one way to find out, you know?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     A quick look around brings both an amazed look to her eyes and a shiver down Hoshi's spine. The juxtaposition of rainbow colors over absolute waste is pretty disconcerting... "Honestly not sure if I'd want to go walking around here every day, personally," she admits. "I guess it looks kinda cool, though... We aren't going to get lost in time somewhere, right?"     It'd be a shame if she ended up becoming the Japanese version of Rip Van Winkle and missed her finals, y'know!     Falling silent to listen to Ren's explanation of what the issue was, Hoshi nods along... Though the thought does still creep up into her mind about how exactly they intend to figure out these things, or do anything about it. Time wasn't exactly her strong point, after all. Maybe they'd think of something inside. Eventually, she nods firmly.     "I'm still not sure what exactly I can do here, but sure. I'll help out. Seriously hoping we don't end up stumbling into German fairy-tale times, though." It'd be just her luck. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "You're here as my buddy! Buddy system," Ren explains, nearing the source of the temporal aperture into where they need to go. "It means if I were to go by myself and something horrible killed me, nobody would be around to drag me back. But since there's two of us... well, in any case, one of us probably won't get killed, so it's irrelevant. Moving on!"     He's bad at this sorta thing sometimes. Ren rolls a botch on his socialize roll.     A few steps more, and...     We are now in the human colony of New Staffordshire, year 2003.     Population: who knows?     Welcome to everyone's nightmare in the 1990s about what life in the 2000s was going to be like.     Welcome to an industrial wasteland of the purest sort: Made of corrugated iron, security fences and barb wire, liberally filled with dirty metal doors and disused oil barrels, flashing hazard lights, and bubbling green water.     Welcome to an empty city, covered in a film of dust, surrounded in shadows, seemingly very underpopulated and with a slate gray smoggy sky filled with a mesh of interlinked, skyscraping, acid-rain-etched buildings.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0khcX_DJjw     Un-finale - Robyn Miller     Myst - 1993 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Yeah, he really did. The more he talks, the higher her left brow raises as she scowls over at him. "Neither of us are going to die if Rosamond or I have anything to say about it." It's hard to disagree with a giant Persona with a big sword, after all. "You really need to work on your pep talks." Anyway, yes. Moving on! Moving... Hoshi flinches to a stop just as she's about to touch it, but grumbles quietly to herself and pushes through anyway.     It's the smell that strikes her first, actually. Alberichstadt is a pretty clean place, after all. This place really isn't. The taste of smog and smell of pollution make her grimance and cover her nose immediately. "Ugh... Well, this is a really bad way to start this off. What /happened/ here, anyway?"     Nobody seems to be around... Hoshi starts moving about cautiously, trying to keep her steps as quiet as possible as she looks around this ruined vista. "So... what are the odds that someone is going to come up and kindly explain what the /crap/?" Probably pretty low. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Yes, as far as explanations go that was not one of my best, but did you remember the coat anology?" Ren asks. "Now THAT was a good one, I think that one was delivered very well."     It's all he can do to distract both of them from the fact that they've seemingly walked into an industrial pit of miserable oblivion, you've got to keep your spirits up in these kind of situations... no, Ren doesn't believe it either. He gives the panorama in front of them the most baleful look as he just dares a tattered newspaper to flutter by in the wind in front of them.     "...what happened here, indeed?" Ren echoes. "I guess we're going to have to find out." So, with an open canvas in front of you and a seemingly empty swathe of city, what would you do when you needed to gather information? Ren takes a walk forward, trying to look for the best place to begin. You could practically start anywhere.     It doesn't seem as if anyone's around to give you suggestions. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Ren's mention of the analogy again gets a long-suffering sigh. Not going there.     All in all, it was a mess. This place obviously needed a /lot/ of fixing, but that was something that neither Hoshi nor Ren could actually do. Environmental distruction to this level was probably a complete death sentence for this world. "Or suicide," she mumbles quietly under her breath. If only the Paris Comission could see this.     Help obviously wasn't going to come to them here; eventually the kendo girl relaxes her careful stride somewhat and starts going downstairs to exit the building and go onto the street. And she tries really hard to make sure she doesn't touch anything. Who knows what sorts of oils or contaminants cover this place? Eugh.     Once she's out on the street, she cups her hands around her mouth and starts calling out. "HEY! Is anyone alive here!? HELLO?" Really not the best idea if there are hostiles here, but so far it doesn't look like there's even a hint of a person down here... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Everything is rather disgustingly grimy, and aside from the disturbingly glubbling water a lot of things seem dried-up and a bit rusty and generally settled.     Have you ever walked through a city at that exact sort of 2-3am time where it's very dark and very, very, /very/ quiet, and it's actually kind of surreal how a place that is supposed to be full of people is not only completely empty, it's also /oppressively/ silent? Like, you don't even hear the sound of cars in the very far-off distance? And you go, I walked through this road earlier today, this is just so unlike how reality is supposed to be it's hard to believe?     That's how this feels right now, basically.     On the horizon, just after the last echo of Hoshi's question fades away, a skyscraper cracks in two and falls. It's so far away that it sort of sounds like a twig snapping under your foot.     Ren, meanwhile, is actually looking- just as sour as before- over a newspaper as he trails behind her. It's dated 1999 and there are definitely no headlines about an approaching cataclysm, at least. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Another shiver crawls up Hoshi's spine and along her arms, like pins and needles gently pricking at her skin. "This is so stupidly creepy," she mutters quietly under her breath. Watching a skyscraper suddenly come crashing down--and only barely hearing it--makes it all the worse. It's enough that she reaches up to take her hairtie out of her hair and let it shift into sword form. Just in case.     Hoshi takes some steps over to a nearby building across the street and tries to peer through anything that might let her look inside. She almost tries to go inside, but pauses and looks over to Ren. "Hey, uh... We probably shouldn't split up... and we should probably figure out a plan. This isn't looking so hot for anything... like, at all." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     By sheer, interesting coincidence, Hoshi has managed to look into the window of one of the only buildings that seems to have not just one, but two computers in it! And a skeleton at the desk, which is staring back at her as soon as she cleans off the window.     It's also helpful that she clearly instructs Ren not to wander off, because that's exactly what he was doing, being half-way up a scaffolding when she calls him out.     Just bash the door open, no-one's going to care. If you can find it in yourself to start pressing buttons on the keyboard, the computers are Power Macs with an assortment of Usenet posts in their cache.     Ren goes over to one of them, switches it on and begins doing... stuff. "I'm going to see if I can figure out if there's a way to narrow down where that temporal energy disturbance is coming from," he explains. "If I can find some sort of abnormal power record in the city, we might have a lead." Interesting that most of the power grid is still operational despite the place being pretty abandoned and dead, huh?     So, what will you search for today? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Lucky Hoshi! She managed to find something useful... and something creepy. Creepy enough that when she first focuses on the computers and skeleton, she steps back quickly with a small hiss and grips the handle of her sword. "Of course I find the dead people," she mutters darkly. At least Ren wasn't going off on his own. Using those computers will probably be their only chance of getting info.     So Hoshi steps grimly in front of the door and kicks the damn thing open. Thank goodness for supernatural strength. THe inside, dust yand disgusting, makes her cover her nose with her forearm again. She follows Ren to the computers and watches as he taps away. "This place looks like it's been trashed for a super long time," she mumbles quietly. Not knowing what exactly she should be doing, Hoshi eventually decides to find a place where she can watch the front door and keep an eye on Ren's progress. "I dunno, man... even if we fix the time stuff, what the hell are we going to do about all of... this?" She waves her hand around. "Pretty sure we don't have the ability to reverse pollution this bad." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "It never fails to impress me when you just... go through solid metal doors like that," he mentions idly, waving the dust cloud away. "There's something you didn't think you'd be able to do last year, I'm sure."     Inside...     "Well," Ren replies, his face lit by the white glow from the screen, "...one thing at a time, I suppose. I think if we had to choose between dropping or folding or whatever, more industrial pollution into Techno-Urbania or letting a dangerous buildup of weird time energy build up, I'd go with the problem that's evitably solveable instead of the alternative..."     Having satisfied her desire a skeleton is not going to jump out at them, Hoshi will also be able to search the computer for some... disturbing news. She'll find out that although the actual overall industrial build of the colony is its own set of problems, connected to an overall complicated set of political and practical problems related to the history of this world that are kind of irrelevant to this story, the actual /pollution/ massively spiked over the period of several weeks or even days before everyone stopped updating the internet forever. The cause was seemingly some sort of roaming massive natural disaster which was ravaging the human population and causing massive swathes of death, seemingly a secondary element to building-shattering, widespread destruction.     After some minutes of searching Ren discovers a location they can head to next, seemingly the place where this energy buildup is. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     It was pretty cool, wasn't it? Shame how it ended up coming about, though. "I'll admit it's pretty helpful. Kinda wish I was stronger sometimes, though." Y'know, like in times when they're seemingly in pollution hell.     Her searches on the internet doesn't make the situation any happier, either. The fact that she literally can't find anything dated after some of these particular dates carries horrifying implications. Eventually, she mumbles quietly to Ren.     "... I think the world is just... dead. The whole world..."     Eventually Ren might makea discovery... Hoshi can't stand to look at her computer past a certain point. "Let's hope something can be fixed... What'd you find?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Not a pleasant thought by any stretch of the imagination. Something or someone, some sort of unbelievable disaster, caused overwhelming pollution and destruction in such a short space of time that it wiped out the human population of New Staffordshire, and this is what remains four years later.     But...     "I've got a very clever hunch about a very, very, very dangerous gamble and a very big maybe that maybe, just maybe, there could still be hope, Amakasu..."     That's what Ren says before he grabs her by the hand and takes off out of the building, and on reflection it's not clear if he did it before or after the whole thing started shaking.     Because that looks distinctly like a rather big, unpleasant storm building and rumbling and rolling towards the part of the city that they're in, and there's shaking and metal-creaking sounds and white, yellow and red flashes of light on the horizon, and...     And it's just as well, perhaps, that they're making their way towards a rather heavy building with one floor below ground and the rest beneath, moving past the barbed wire fence, entering the hazard-striped doors, forcing open the blast shutters and moving down the corrugated metal staircase into a heavily built basement of a building, filled with...     Filled with an electrical blue glow, and the chug of a generator, and cables lining every floor leading a marked path for someone to follow.     A marked path that leads to a room, a room filled with active machinery, and whirring things and pipes and glass, and a dozen computers clustered together, and -     And a man, or so it seems, a man who was once fat but is now more like an empty balloon, with a red complexion and strands of hair on his head, and wire-rimmed glasses and a mechanical eye, and far, far too many wires connecting him into the desk he's sat at.     "Oh, thank goodness, I thought someone would never get here. Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Kelman..." 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Really, this is one of the things that Hoshi kind of wishes she could walk away from. It was a horrible, awful place they'd stumbled into. She said she would help, though... Even if Ren's way of explaining how this is going to work doesn't really inspire her with much confidence. "Maybe we should see if there's someone in the Union who knows how this time stuff works before we--hey!"     Suddenly, they were running, with Ren pulling her along. At first she tries to pull away, look around, find out what was happening... Then she saw it. The storm. Then she was running just as fast as Ren was, and she even changes her sword back into a hairtie so she can go as fast as possible.     Along paths, into buildings, behind blast doors--when they were finally safe from the environmental death that was closing in on them, Hoshi let out a gasp of relief and slumps down along one of the walls. "Gaaah... What /makes/ a thing like that!?" So much for contact, either, all considered... And now they can't leave!     The sound of another person's voice causes her to jump slightly and look around... and then look down at the floor with a grimace. That was a pretty bad sight. "Ergh... Uh... H-hi, man. It's good to see that there's someone still alive around here..." Even if it doesn't look like much of a life. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Before we did the whole 'go underground' thing?     Ren does, nonetheless, take a moment to look at the approaching storm and go...     "An entirely reasonable suggestion! Yes. When we've got a moment and we're not running from imminent danger, we could definitely try it!"     Presuming that he's the person being asked Hoshi's question of 'what makes that', Kelman looks thoughtful for a moment.     "Alive, yes, in a manner of speaking. I'm glad you made it here... presumably, you may have seen that force of destruction above ground. The eye of that storm of pollution and demolition is a creature called Ripsaw... and that means we don't have much time."     He gestures with his head to a doorway behind him, and begins feverishly working on his keyboards. "I had... hoped that a survivor would be able to find my laboratory, you see. What I have behind me is a time machine... something, I had hoped might be able to stop all of this."     "It can supercharge you with time particles that will send you, for a limited time, back /four years/ into the past."     "That's the source of the time disturbance?" Ren wonders out loud.     "I was able to find the place where that horrendous machine was being built, but..."     The ceiling begins to crack and shake. "If I send you back into the past, you must destroy Ripsaw before it can be activated and destroy the population of this world...!" A crack begins to appear in the ceiling, and though it there can be seen...     A colossal machine, a giant which defies description. Hazard-striped and constructed out of industrial metal, it has lamplike eyes and enormously oversized drills and blades on the end of its limbs. It makes a hideous roaring sound, emitting terrible black smog!     "You must hurry into the time machine! It's almost here!" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well... This was a hell of a way to get introduced. Still, she really... really has a hard time looking up at him. Still, she keeps listening as he explains what they had just run into.     "Ripsaw? Seriously? Whoever made a robot named 'Ripsaw' should've expected something bad to happen." And keep happening from the looks of things. "Judging by how scared you sound... we aren't safe here. What the hell should we do?"     Time machine. Hoshi groans and rubs her face. "Ugh... Go figure. What if we can't stop it?"     ... Actually, the answer is pretty clear what will happen.     Suddenly, the sound of of the ceiling tearing off takes up all of her attention. Looking up, the monstrous robot above her holds her gaze... And then Hoshi starts running again. "Jeez--let's go, Ren!" 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Holy crap that thing's HUGE!"

<X-Union-Chatter> 7 Hoshi Amakasu uhhh.... "Ren, I'm not really sure about all this time travel stuff. Don't you think we should make sure it's okay firs--" CRASH!

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Er.."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No time to think it through, unfortunately!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Time travel.."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Wha--hey, don't grab my arm! Whoa, whoa--!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Spot of bother in the temporal wa-"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "What in the nine worlds is going on?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka crash! KABOOM

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...Well then. How is the greenhouse Yunomi?"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     When the alternative is being crushed by the apocalyptic civilization-ending pollution death robot, then yes, we will certainly jump in the untested time machine. Won't we? Yes, we sure will.     What follows is what might be best described as a real rollercoaster ride, past all sorts of twists and turns and phenomena and loops and inversions and months in reverse!     At some point, there is a bright and spectacular strobing flash, and when the feeling of intense G-forces and motion stop...     Well, Hoshi's going to find herself by herself, first off. And second, she's not where either of them left- the time machine's not anywhere to be found, either. She's on a metal floor or platform of some kind, in a small room with a metal door. There's a generic generator behind her and various pistons and whirly things lining the walls, but there doesn't seem to be anything /important/ here, necessarily.     Her radio still works fine, though.     "Amakasu? Can you hear me?" Ren asks. "It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all." 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Amakasu? Can you hear me? It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "...incidentally, I hope it's not April 24AU for anyone listening."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu quietly, "This is a bad idea..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nevermind about the /greenhouse/. Time travel is freaking dangerous if you don't have something to shield
you from temporal radi.. ah.. energies... I think... last time I did I turned into a box of donuts, it was a while back."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I've...been through time but ah...only the once."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I was young and terrified and traveling with a madman in a blue box."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "A blue box?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Blue box."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Interesting."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I went through the world tree"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Ask Harry what he remembers about The Doctors."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "That's the second time strange blue boxes have come up in conversations I've been in."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Riva and Wuyin call it Agartha"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Anyway... not sure if we have an awful lot of choice, unfortunately. We've only got a limited amount of...
charge, I suppose, that's keeping us in the past. Spending time meeting up might waste"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "At least you guys are still here and it's not 24AU."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Yes, as I recall whatever time travel happens in the wastes only counts for the wastes. You know, like getting
married in Las Vegas."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Time travel is freaking confusing."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "So is Las Vegas."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler curiously "Are you in Las Vegas?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Sadly, I think I'd prefer to be there right now. No, we're in ... well. The New Staffordshire of 1999, I
suppose, compared to the New Staffordshire of 2003 which was a polluted wasteland full of dead folks."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'm not famil... oh."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      So, Hoshi has some reservations. The fact that this dude was apparently waiting for them reeks of some destiny stuff that wouldn't make any sense, because her and Tanaka were both from different worlds entirely. Going back in time to essentially abort whatever the big monster thing was before it ever got made. She's pretty sure she's watched at least some movies that had time travel that said this was probably not the best plan. So, she ends up voicing her problems over the radio.     Then all the horrifying monster roaring, arm-grabbing thing happened, and she was inside the time machine anyway.     Hoshi ends up hanging on to whatever she could for dear life, her eyes clenched shut as time slipped away from her. She ends up having to grit her teeth to stop from yelling as they went.     When she opens her eyes, she's suddenly by herself. Hoshi whirls around quickly looking for the machine, or Ren. Tanaka. Nobody's there. THe comforting sound of voices from the Union bands in her bluetooth does a little better to help her relax, though. "It looks that way," she concedes to him. "Don't do anything silly, alright? I don't want to think about what might happen if anyone here knows what's going on."     She's still holding her sword! So that's nice. She of course morphs it back to it's hairtie form before she tries for the door and tries to peek through it cautiously before she heads out. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "I guess if we can stop someone from making a murder machine, we can also stop that from happening."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... I've watched too many time travel movies to be comfortable with this. What if we, like... Cause a paradox? Or something."

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Well, if someone else had survived long enough to find the time machine before them, rest assured they wouldn't be able to do this anywhere near as awesome as we're going to. We definitely hit 88 miles an hour back then, so logically some serious shit is about the ensue.     Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, we definitely made it back to the past before Ripsaw was activated.     The bad news? Well, uh. Say hello to Ripsaw.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poDs6Jno_-w     chw">Supplementary Lessons For the Unlucky     Masafumi Takada - Danganronpa     Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc - 2010     You're on the ground floor of what seems to be a massive open-plan factory. The gargantuan mechanical kaiju is boxed in by the four walls around you, surrounded by a massive haze of mechanical platforms. It's near completion, but not so much that there are several large segments of it with exposed, significant-looking power points. You know they're important because they're cycling between glowing red-white-green, anything that glows red is probably a vulnerable power core.     Lots of platforms, giant cranes, pulleys, robotic arms, waldos... you know what to do. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Hmm. I haven't dealt with time travel in the wastes. That might be better than time travel elsewhere where you're
liable to trap yourself in a time loop or something."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't know. Can you /make/ time paradoxes in the Wastes?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Not sure what happens in the wastes. If you cause a paradox elsewhere... you end up in a dead timeline. Or so I'm
told. In the main timeline, a time traveller will show up to kick your ass and stop you from creating a paradox in the first place."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "It's all just a big patch of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff here."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "OOC Mis"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "...Do you mean 'destruction'?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nope."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Dude what?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Noted."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Look, you run into some very interesting people when you live with a Time Lord."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Well, nobody's come yet..." Long pause. "... I found the murder machine."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Excellent!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga coughs. "A weapon of mass...seduction?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'll explain later, I'm on the edge of my seat listening to the murder machine madness."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Aha"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't have any experience with time travel, really. So I'm in the feeling-out process here."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Are you actually interested in this, Miss Yunomi?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "WHat's this about a murder machine?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "You remember all the roaring and running this started out with?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I am. I don't get out of Ravnica much these days."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu mutters, "Probably better described as a mass murder machine."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      Trying to peer through the door doesn't do Hoshi much good, so eventually she pushes her way in. "Annd found it," she grunts quietly to herself. Glances are sent all over the room to see if there was any people around... The sheer amount of machinery around makes it hard to tell if anyone is around. When it seems safe enough, she will eventually step out further into the room.     The whole thing is one giant, pretty intimidating mess. "So... I guess I'm just going to wreak it?" Not exactly sounding too pumped about it. That said, Hoshi does recognize what this could possibly do for this world if she just... ends it now. So, out comes her sword again, and she focuses into herself, feeling Rosamond responding to her thoughts. "Okay... Okay. We can do this if we work together." Pause. "I really really hope nobody's in here. I don't want to be a time criminal."     "PERSONA!" She cries, and with the crash of glass Rosamond appears, sword unsheathed and ready. Hoshi starts running for one of the platforms closer to the beast; Rosamond, meanwhile, starts causing a path of destruction as she flies straight for the incomplete Ripsaw, her blade lashing out to rend and crush whatever came within her reach. Once she's close to one of the glowing red pieces, she starts spinning like a top in mid-air until her sword crashes into it.     Hoshi has to content herself with kicking things out of the way, mostly. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Roaring and running...?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Because it found us! It probably got pretty good at finding living people after killing all of the rest of
them. But now we're in the past! To fix things!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Noble!"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Dude, you are the time police. Well, in theory anyway. We're the Union, which is like being universe police, except this is an adventure in time, not space, so it stands to reason that... y'know.     Elsewhere:     "Right, okay, good to meet you, now you're probably wondering 'how did he penetrate my fortress of doom' or something, I'm sorry, that's an overgeneralization and it's not one I can really answer because I don't have any real way of proving it," Ren explains to a withered, villainous-looking person who's probably worse off now than Kelman was after years of not eating. He's not Kelman, though, he's got a lot more liver spots and cybernetic eyes. Well, two more, which is probably as many as you can have when you're a person. Anyway. For Hoshi and Rosamond, each of them has their own set of problems- for Hoshi, it's the fact that yes, somewhere someone has noticed her on security camera, and therefore they're rapidly doing their best to try and make things difficult for her as far as 'moving around' goes. Any platform she's on is going to be moving back and forth to try and shake her off, the mechanical arms trying to whack her with their broadside or just grab her and try to snip an arm or a leg off.      Rosamond's problems are in a way also Hoshi's because they're the same being, but they're a lot more explictly dangerous because, well, whoever isn't getting paid enough for this doesn't KNOW, they just know a dangerous flying humanoid thing with a sword is hacking up the quancilliary knee and electron cannon power generator core. So they're repurposing rivet guns and pressurized water metal-cutters to desperately blast at her. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well, low and behold. Suddenly there was a big party going on in this room, and absolutely nobody liked who had just walked in. The first rumbles of the platform she's standing on make her stop and look around curiously; that changes to desperately grabbing ahold of a railing to stop herself from tumbling off. One of the mechanical arms comes flying for her face, but she ducks it and dives for the next platform as hers starts shifting toward it.     "Whoa! Hey, stop! I'm trying to save your lives!" After so much hope, she was still going to be on a shitlist for this. One of the robotic arms ends up slamming agianst her side, drawing a pained grunt. She has to grab hold to keep from being swept off, but she strikes out with her sword and damages one of the joints before it dumps her.     Rosamond's cloaked form doesn't seem to move as rivets strike against her and tear through her cloak, but Hoshi can certainly feel them pelting on her chest. When someone tries to turn the water laser on her, though, she immediately zooms straight up towards the roof, then spins her sword and points it down at the machine. Golden prayer scrolls and talismans appear all around the mechanical monster--some not so far from the people down below. Each begin to burn brightly where they are until finally exploding with violent Light magic.     Thankfully, Hoshi's not exactly a magical powerhouse. The intent was to scare off the people down below, not butcher them. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' At some point, Ren manages to sit down on a keyboard in just the right way as to put the really crusty old guy on speakerphone.     "Well, Mr. Huss. Can I call you Mr. Huss? It just strikes me as strange that you don't seem to have a real reason behind this."     "Many people claim to seek meaning in life, 'Mister Brown'. But the truth is, there is no such thing. This is just the most logical extension of that concept."     "Really? Because it looks like a giant robot monster to me."     It's not entirely just for the sake of exposition- Ren knows that while the people at the controls can't hear Hoshi's protests, they can hear this loud and clear, so he's trying the old engineered public confession on this old fossil.     Unfortunately, because they can't hear Hoshi's protests for now, the people in the factory are going to keep trying to kill her. You know what they say: you can please all of the people some of the time, you can please some of the people all of the time, but a hot rivet in the eye'll always make your head explode.     So hey, watch out for that! You're going to have to make sure you get off of that damaged robo-arm before it goes completely vertical and there's nothing to really grip on to. At this height it'll probably just be uncomfortable if you fall on the floor, but pretty soon they're probably going to start turning on the flamethrowers they use to clear out rats and vagrants and then you'll really be in trouble. In fact, they're turning them on right now. Climb for it!     Thankfully for Rosamond, she's got the flying ability to bypass almost all of this dungeon at once. Such a gamebreaker. While this means she can fly all the way up to the top of Ripsaw and potentially look for the primary spinal signal coordinator (which is still just a big flashing power core on the outside anyway), and while it does mean she's thankfully far enough away to avoid human retaliation when she sets off a variety of light bombs hither and thither to disable the human-armed offense...     There are going to be hovering drones up here with gun arms (for getting rid of bats, naturally?) that generally classify anything moving and not attached to a wall as an annoying interference. So they'll be getting in her way while Hoshi tries to take out the next point of failure! 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "/Why are there flamethrowers on the floor/?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "I will answer with another question."

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Are there flamethrower racks nearby?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Maybe subfloor fuel line construction was cheaper?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "No, these crazy people built them into the stupid floor to shoot out!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Oh."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "Sounds to be an active day all around."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Once Hoshi starts hearing Tanaka through the radio, she's glad that he's here and still okay. Of course, she also really wishes that they could've just come together, trashed the thing, and left without saying a word. Too bad for them.     And too bad for Hoshi, when jets of flame erupt not so far from her feet, and several rivets plant themselves right next to her face. "Why are there flamethrowers on the floor!? Who designed this place?!" Thankfully, she's a Persona User. Super strength and stuff comes with the territory. So, with a little inspiration she's able to scramble back up and go on her way, to another platform that leads to a crane that will take her to the top of the beast.     That's when some of the rivets smack into her side, just as she's starting to need to carefully balance. That's also when Rosamond ends up getting surrounded by gun drones. The Persona is able to use the slab of metal she uses as a sword to block a good number of the bullets, some get through, making Hoshi twitch and shudder with pain. It all ends up sending her over the side, only just able to catch herself with one hand.     The strain of holding Rosamond out for so long is getting to be too much. Hoshi releases her hold, and the Persona begins to quickly fade into blue mist. She grits her teeth; her sword changes into a hairtie again, letting her use both hands to quickly hand-over-hand this bastard. Once she's over one of the glowing red bits, she drops and forms her sword, trying to stab through... whatever this thing was. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     You never know! He could be having force lightning shot at him right now. He might have to strangle this old guy to death with a bicycle chain. When was the last time you strangled someone to death with a bicycle chain, could you cut it?     Well, at least it doesn't sound like there's any lightning in the background as Ren asks:     "So you're a nihilist?"     "Perhaps I just wanted the perspective that would have come from being a giant in a small world?"     "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"     "Literal!"     "Ohhhh... that's a twist."     Hoshi's getting shot at! That's not good! On the other hand, this is having some interesting consequences, one being that the people doing the shooting- already somewhat guilty at their having to try and kill what seems to be a strange teenager with a sword- if anything have their perturbances multiplied when they actually HIT her and it doesn't really DO much, because now she's gone from 'strange kid' to 'unnatural human-shaped instrument of destruction'. Several people decide to give up and run at this anyway!     Especially when she uses her superhuman abilities to scale a platform or two, then a crane in a trice, leaving another of Ripsaw's power cores close at 'hand'.     And because she's able to go from strength to strength when it comes to smashing it, more of the workers decide to give up and run in fear, which leaves their waldos unmanned... long story short, out-of-control rivet guns end up wildly firing and taking out another of the ... we'll just call them power cores.     There's enough of Ripsaw that isn't finished yet that Hoshi can see there's a relative path right into the middle of the monster, with one remaining central device she could shut down if she dives down in there. Just a couple exposed electrical conduits, running-but-idle sets of gears, and a couple sets of damaged panels that are slamming open and closed and crushing anything between them when they do so.     Easy, right? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     People were mercifully not shooting at Hoshi anymore, so that was nice. Them fleeing is a godsend to a girl who had a couple rivets jammed into her torso that were oozing blood onto her clothes. Once again, she's reminded that if she wasn't who she was, she'd probably be dead right now. That said, they still freaking /hurt/.     Tanaka is keeping the guy rambling on about whatever subject they'd gotten on--did he really design this thing to hop in himself? Where the hell is the investment return on that?--leaving Hoshi to put this thing to bed. Of course, that's going to be difficult, considering what's before her.     A big scowl comes to the teen's face. Clearly these people didn't know how to run a business or make a functioning robot. Thankfully, she still has some supernatural aid.     So she dives into the belly of the beast. She ends up having to climb around like a monkey to get over the electrical conduits, and a bit of her hair gets singed for the effort. The gears are a little more troublesome; eventually Hoshi grunts, "C'mon, Rosamond!" The Persona appears again, in a rather silly hunched position to even be able to fit, and grabs ahold of the geras long enough for Hoshi to slip through and let Rosamond fade.     The next one ends up leaving her stumped for a bit as the panels crashed together in front of her. Eventually, she starts noticing a slightly-erratic pattern. Once she feels she's got the feel of it, she ends up diving forward to try and make it through, only jst managing the last one and tripping badly enough to fall flat on her back.     "Agh.... guuh... I hate this plate," she pants. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I will transfer my own mind out of this worn-out defect, fusing what I have discovered to be a soul to it! All of the mechanical shortcomings will be filled in by MY PURE WILL! I will become the force of annihilation! I will embody the senseless principle of destruction, laying waste to countless lives! And for what purpose? None! If anything, spite! I will wallow in it! I will create the largest, greatest war machine in history and use it for nothing but wanton slaughter!"     "No, no. I don't think you're going to, really."     "And why? Are you going to stop me?"     "No, I'm just going to keep you busy..."     Outside, equipment goes out of control and the flamethrowers accidentally light up some fuel lines, the building starts to shake and electrical fuses explode. Computers and important computer-controlled equipment, and potentially say cybernetic life support, electrifies and overloads.     The final power core is there in front of Hoshi, although it's surrounded by some out-of-place machinery with vaugely asian-looking iconography embossed onto it, made of odd green metal and with rice paper scrolls. It's all impossible to read, and potentially irrelevant. Pity Ren's not here to recognize it, huh? Takuya went to all of this trouble making something he'd recognize, too. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Hoshi needs a few seconds to catch her breath once she's finally made it to the end. The loud, clanking machines make it almost impossible to focus now; at least she's still mobile, she probably couldn't summon Rosamond at this point.     She's up on her feet, her brows furrowed at all the weird iconography down here. It's nothing she can read, and there's nothing that's really saying that she was going to kill the timeline or anything, so... She steps forward grimly and lifts her sword point-down above her head, and just starts stabbing the thing as hard and as viciously as she can. "Stupid... murder robot!"     Once she's done, she starts trying to scramble her way back out. Who knows if this thing will self-destruct or something? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Look at it this way, Hoshi, although hopefully not as you're stabbing it because that thing's going to start glowing and crackling unpleasantly after you rupture the glassy centre- you've definitely just saved civilization, so that' something, right?     Step away quickly, though! Exploding may indeed be imminent! In fact, as you squirm out of the overloading robot, you'll find that exploding is imminent no matter which way you go.     A blast of metal and masonry blows out a wall some distance away, in one of the control rooms attached to a building wall. It's bad news for old men, presuming they survived previous implications- as a guy in a batsuit once said, I'm not going to kill you, but I just don't have to save you- as Ren can be seen making a running jump out of the room he was in, swinging off a drone and landing next to Hoshi. Stupid exalted tricks, landing from so high up safely, mutter mutter.     There's fire above, fire below, and fire all around. Congrats Hoshi! EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE.     Fortunatelt, when he gets up, he's starting to... sparkle? Hoshi is, too.     "Looks like we made it just in time, Amakasu. Like he said... limited charge. We're going to get pulled back to the present day. Let's hope it looks better than when we left, eh?"     There's more sparkles! And then ... well, imagine the previous rollercoaster feeling in spirit, but the track completely disappears halfway through, and there's some falling, and it's all in reverse...     When Ren and Hoshi stop moving again, they're somewhere else again. It's New Staffordshire, and it looks... sort of like what it did before, but only because total redevelopment of the city skyline can't even happen in four years even if a lot can be done.     The city looks rather different, though! There are clear(er) skies, glass and chrome buildings going up, plus things like... trees! And flowers! And trees and flowers placed and built in harmony with new glass and chrome buildings, and asthetic redevelopment, and most important of all PEOPLE! Lots and lots of wonderful living people, going about their normal lives, all of them looking pretty happy. Off in the distance you can even see Kelman too, looking a lot healthier and happier.     HOSHI AND REN MADE A GOOD FUTURE 
}}

3917/Ripsaw

2016-04-08T05:53:56Z

Shrimptoast:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/03/16
|Location=Temporal Wastes
|Synopsis=Hoshi, Ren, and an awful, terrible, horrible not good at all adventure in time travel.
|Cast of Characters=165, 901
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     A Union base on the borderline of the Temporal Wastes.     "Now," Ren says, standing outside of a sort of mechanism that looks a bit like a warpgate, but also a bit like the loading breech of a cannon. "Sometimes, worlds that come into the multiverse sort of don't entirely get it right first time."     "The way I've had it explained to me," he continues, looking at the electric blue of the energy bubble that's growing in size in front of them, "Is kind of like stepping in the door, but getting your coat stuck on part of the door frame. You've got to hold very still and get someone else to unhook you, or you'll tear your coat and then you're kind of sad."     "Now, that anology is complete nonsense, of course. It bears absolutely no similarity to what we're about to do, but it's a lie we can understand."     "So, Amakasu," he continues, folding his hands behind him, moving from the balls of his feet to the tips of his toes and back-forth. "I'm going to go on an exciting adventure in space and time, do you wanna come with me?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Now, when someone calls you and tells you they've got something important going on in this Multiverse, Hoshi's kind of gotten into a strange way of thinking. It either involved fights with scary things, duels for whatever reason people duel around here for, or just flat-out mystical weirdness. So, of course, she always come prepared.     Once Hoshi was out of the warpgate and had joined Ren, she tries to spend a moment to figure out if Ren was hurt, had he been attacked... The words die on her tongue as Ren begins "explaining" about the strange vision happening in front of her. She slowly blinks, then sets Ren with the classic 'frown and folded arms' business.     "I thought you'd gotten hurt somehow, man." She grumbles for a moment. "And why would you use ana anology that doesn't make sense?... Don't answer that. I don't mind helping out, of course, but, uh..." She motions between herself and the hazy energy bubble. "I'm not entirely sure what that even /is/... So if you don't mind, what exactly are we doing here? Do I need my sword?"     ... She has it with her anyway, of course, currently holding up her hair in it's smaller form. She's trying to figure out if she should be expecting danger, or not. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "No, not really. I just signed up for an interesting mission and I thought you'd like to see something new. I mean, it's not every day you get to go rummaging around in the temporal wastes, is it?"     "It's one of the most interesting parts of the multiverse, after all. Time is completely cuckoo, here! Even more unpredictable than anywhere else!"     He shouldn't be as pleased about this as he should be, considering.     "Okay, so. Here's the situation. Somewhere in the wastes right now is a world that has a bizarre build-up of... artrons or chronotons, time energy basically. Nobody can figure out why it's there from just looking from the outside, but if we go inside and figure out how to safely unhook the coat, then it might settle into a less volatile stable part of the multiverse. And that'll be thanks to us!"     "There might be danger, there might not. Only one way to find out, you know?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     A quick look around brings both an amazed look to her eyes and a shiver down Hoshi's spine. The juxtaposition of rainbow colors over absolute waste is pretty disconcerting... "Honestly not sure if I'd want to go walking around here every day, personally," she admits. "I guess it looks kinda cool, though... We aren't going to get lost in time somewhere, right?"     It'd be a shame if she ended up becoming the Japanese version of Rip Van Winkle and missed her finals, y'know!     Falling silent to listen to Ren's explanation of what the issue was, Hoshi nods along... Though the thought does still creep up into her mind about how exactly they intend to figure out these things, or do anything about it. Time wasn't exactly her strong point, after all. Maybe they'd think of something inside. Eventually, she nods firmly.     "I'm still not sure what exactly I can do here, but sure. I'll help out. Seriously hoping we don't end up stumbling into German fairy-tale times, though." It'd be just her luck. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "You're here as my buddy! Buddy system," Ren explains, nearing the source of the temporal aperture into where they need to go. "It means if I were to go by myself and something horrible killed me, nobody would be around to drag me back. But since there's two of us... well, in any case, one of us probably won't get killed, so it's irrelevant. Moving on!"     He's bad at this sorta thing sometimes. Ren rolls a botch on his socialize roll.     A few steps more, and...     We are now in the human colony of New Staffordshire, year 2003.     Population: who knows?     Welcome to everyone's nightmare in the 1990s about what life in the 2000s was going to be like.     Welcome to an industrial wasteland of the purest sort: Made of corrugated iron, security fences and barb wire, liberally filled with dirty metal doors and disused oil barrels, flashing hazard lights, and bubbling green water.     Welcome to an empty city, covered in a film of dust, surrounded in shadows, seemingly very underpopulated and with a slate gray smoggy sky filled with a mesh of interlinked, skyscraping, acid-rain-etched buildings.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0khcX_DJjw     Un-finale - Robyn Miller     Myst - 1993 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Yeah, he really did. The more he talks, the higher her left brow raises as she scowls over at him. "Neither of us are going to die if Rosamond or I have anything to say about it." It's hard to disagree with a giant Persona with a big sword, after all. "You really need to work on your pep talks." Anyway, yes. Moving on! Moving... Hoshi flinches to a stop just as she's about to touch it, but grumbles quietly to herself and pushes through anyway.     It's the smell that strikes her first, actually. Alberichstadt is a pretty clean place, after all. This place really isn't. The taste of smog and smell of pollution make her grimance and cover her nose immediately. "Ugh... Well, this is a really bad way to start this off. What /happened/ here, anyway?"     Nobody seems to be around... Hoshi starts moving about cautiously, trying to keep her steps as quiet as possible as she looks around this ruined vista. "So... what are the odds that someone is going to come up and kindly explain what the /crap/?" Probably pretty low. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Yes, as far as explanations go that was not one of my best, but did you remember the coat anology?" Ren asks. "Now THAT was a good one, I think that one was delivered very well."     It's all he can do to distract both of them from the fact that they've seemingly walked into an industrial pit of miserable oblivion, you've got to keep your spirits up in these kind of situations... no, Ren doesn't believe it either. He gives the panorama in front of them the most baleful look as he just dares a tattered newspaper to flutter by in the wind in front of them.     "...what happened here, indeed?" Ren echoes. "I guess we're going to have to find out." So, with an open canvas in front of you and a seemingly empty swathe of city, what would you do when you needed to gather information? Ren takes a walk forward, trying to look for the best place to begin. You could practically start anywhere.     It doesn't seem as if anyone's around to give you suggestions. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Ren's mention of the analogy again gets a long-suffering sigh. Not going there.     All in all, it was a mess. This place obviously needed a /lot/ of fixing, but that was something that neither Hoshi nor Ren could actually do. Environmental distruction to this level was probably a complete death sentence for this world. "Or suicide," she mumbles quietly under her breath. If only the Paris Comission could see this.     Help obviously wasn't going to come to them here; eventually the kendo girl relaxes her careful stride somewhat and starts going downstairs to exit the building and go onto the street. And she tries really hard to make sure she doesn't touch anything. Who knows what sorts of oils or contaminants cover this place? Eugh.     Once she's out on the street, she cups her hands around her mouth and starts calling out. "HEY! Is anyone alive here!? HELLO?" Really not the best idea if there are hostiles here, but so far it doesn't look like there's even a hint of a person down here... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Everything is rather disgustingly grimy, and aside from the disturbingly glubbling water a lot of things seem dried-up and a bit rusty and generally settled.     Have you ever walked through a city at that exact sort of 2-3am time where it's very dark and very, very, /very/ quiet, and it's actually kind of surreal how a place that is supposed to be full of people is not only completely empty, it's also /oppressively/ silent? Like, you don't even hear the sound of cars in the very far-off distance? And you go, I walked through this road earlier today, this is just so unlike how reality is supposed to be it's hard to believe?     That's how this feels right now, basically.     On the horizon, just after the last echo of Hoshi's question fades away, a skyscraper cracks in two and falls. It's so far away that it sort of sounds like a twig snapping under your foot.     Ren, meanwhile, is actually looking- just as sour as before- over a newspaper as he trails behind her. It's dated 1999 and there are definitely no headlines about an approaching cataclysm, at least. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Another shiver crawls up Hoshi's spine and along her arms, like pins and needles gently pricking at her skin. "This is so stupidly creepy," she mutters quietly under her breath. Watching a skyscraper suddenly come crashing down--and only barely hearing it--makes it all the worse. It's enough that she reaches up to take her hairtie out of her hair and let it shift into sword form. Just in case.     Hoshi takes some steps over to a nearby building across the street and tries to peer through anything that might let her look inside. She almost tries to go inside, but pauses and looks over to Ren. "Hey, uh... We probably shouldn't split up... and we should probably figure out a plan. This isn't looking so hot for anything... like, at all." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     By sheer, interesting coincidence, Hoshi has managed to look into the window of one of the only buildings that seems to have not just one, but two computers in it! And a skeleton at the desk, which is staring back at her as soon as she cleans off the window.     It's also helpful that she clearly instructs Ren not to wander off, because that's exactly what he was doing, being half-way up a scaffolding when she calls him out.     Just bash the door open, no-one's going to care. If you can find it in yourself to start pressing buttons on the keyboard, the computers are Power Macs with an assortment of Usenet posts in their cache.     Ren goes over to one of them, switches it on and begins doing... stuff. "I'm going to see if I can figure out if there's a way to narrow down where that temporal energy disturbance is coming from," he explains. "If I can find some sort of abnormal power record in the city, we might have a lead." Interesting that most of the power grid is still operational despite the place being pretty abandoned and dead, huh?     So, what will you search for today? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Lucky Hoshi! She managed to find something useful... and something creepy. Creepy enough that when she first focuses on the computers and skeleton, she steps back quickly with a small hiss and grips the handle of her sword. "Of course I find the dead people," she mutters darkly. At least Ren wasn't going off on his own. Using those computers will probably be their only chance of getting info.     So Hoshi steps grimly in front of the door and kicks the damn thing open. Thank goodness for supernatural strength. THe inside, dust yand disgusting, makes her cover her nose with her forearm again. She follows Ren to the computers and watches as he taps away. "This place looks like it's been trashed for a super long time," she mumbles quietly. Not knowing what exactly she should be doing, Hoshi eventually decides to find a place where she can watch the front door and keep an eye on Ren's progress. "I dunno, man... even if we fix the time stuff, what the hell are we going to do about all of... this?" She waves her hand around. "Pretty sure we don't have the ability to reverse pollution this bad." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "It never fails to impress me when you just... go through solid metal doors like that," he mentions idly, waving the dust cloud away. "There's something you didn't think you'd be able to do last year, I'm sure."     Inside...     "Well," Ren replies, his face lit by the white glow from the screen, "...one thing at a time, I suppose. I think if we had to choose between dropping or folding or whatever, more industrial pollution into Techno-Urbania or letting a dangerous buildup of weird time energy build up, I'd go with the problem that's evitably solveable instead of the alternative..."     Having satisfied her desire a skeleton is not going to jump out at them, Hoshi will also be able to search the computer for some... disturbing news. She'll find out that although the actual overall industrial build of the colony is its own set of problems, connected to an overall complicated set of political and practical problems related to the history of this world that are kind of irrelevant to this story, the actual /pollution/ massively spiked over the period of several weeks or even days before everyone stopped updating the internet forever. The cause was seemingly some sort of roaming massive natural disaster which was ravaging the human population and causing massive swathes of death, seemingly a secondary element to building-shattering, widespread destruction.     After some minutes of searching Ren discovers a location they can head to next, seemingly the place where this energy buildup is. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     It was pretty cool, wasn't it? Shame how it ended up coming about, though. "I'll admit it's pretty helpful. Kinda wish I was stronger sometimes, though." Y'know, like in times when they're seemingly in pollution hell.     Her searches on the internet doesn't make the situation any happier, either. The fact that she literally can't find anything dated after some of these particular dates carries horrifying implications. Eventually, she mumbles quietly to Ren.     "... I think the world is just... dead. The whole world..."     Eventually Ren might makea discovery... Hoshi can't stand to look at her computer past a certain point. "Let's hope something can be fixed... What'd you find?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Not a pleasant thought by any stretch of the imagination. Something or someone, some sort of unbelievable disaster, caused overwhelming pollution and destruction in such a short space of time that it wiped out the human population of New Staffordshire, and this is what remains four years later.     But...     "I've got a very clever hunch about a very, very, very dangerous gamble and a very big maybe that maybe, just maybe, there could still be hope, Amakasu..."     That's what Ren says before he grabs her by the hand and takes off out of the building, and on reflection it's not clear if he did it before or after the whole thing started shaking.     Because that looks distinctly like a rather big, unpleasant storm building and rumbling and rolling towards the part of the city that they're in, and there's shaking and metal-creaking sounds and white, yellow and red flashes of light on the horizon, and...     And it's just as well, perhaps, that they're making their way towards a rather heavy building with one floor below ground and the rest beneath, moving past the barbed wire fence, entering the hazard-striped doors, forcing open the blast shutters and moving down the corrugated metal staircase into a heavily built basement of a building, filled with...     Filled with an electrical blue glow, and the chug of a generator, and cables lining every floor leading a marked path for someone to follow.     A marked path that leads to a room, a room filled with active machinery, and whirring things and pipes and glass, and a dozen computers clustered together, and -     And a man, or so it seems, a man who was once fat but is now more like an empty balloon, with a red complexion and strands of hair on his head, and wire-rimmed glasses and a mechanical eye, and far, far too many wires connecting him into the desk he's sat at.     "Oh, thank goodness, I thought someone would never get here. Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Kelman..." 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Really, this is one of the things that Hoshi kind of wishes she could walk away from. It was a horrible, awful place they'd stumbled into. She said she would help, though... Even if Ren's way of explaining how this is going to work doesn't really inspire her with much confidence. "Maybe we should see if there's someone in the Union who knows how this time stuff works before we--hey!"     Suddenly, they were running, with Ren pulling her along. At first she tries to pull away, look around, find out what was happening... Then she saw it. The storm. Then she was running just as fast as Ren was, and she even changes her sword back into a hairtie so she can go as fast as possible.     Along paths, into buildings, behind blast doors--when they were finally safe from the environmental death that was closing in on them, Hoshi let out a gasp of relief and slumps down along one of the walls. "Gaaah... What /makes/ a thing like that!?" So much for contact, either, all considered... And now they can't leave!     The sound of another person's voice causes her to jump slightly and look around... and then look down at the floor with a grimace. That was a pretty bad sight. "Ergh... Uh... H-hi, man. It's good to see that there's someone still alive around here..." Even if it doesn't look like much of a life. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Before we did the whole 'go underground' thing?     Ren does, nonetheless, take a moment to look at the approaching storm and go...     "An entirely reasonable suggestion! Yes. When we've got a moment and we're not running from imminent danger, we could definitely try it!"     Presuming that he's the person being asked Hoshi's question of 'what makes that', Kelman looks thoughtful for a moment.     "Alive, yes, in a manner of speaking. I'm glad you made it here... presumably, you may have seen that force of destruction above ground. The eye of that storm of pollution and demolition is a creature called Ripsaw... and that means we don't have much time."     He gestures with his head to a doorway behind him, and begins feverishly working on his keyboards. "I had... hoped that a survivor would be able to find my laboratory, you see. What I have behind me is a time machine... something, I had hoped might be able to stop all of this."     "It can supercharge you with time particles that will send you, for a limited time, back /four years/ into the past."     "That's the source of the time disturbance?" Ren wonders out loud.     "I was able to find the place where that horrendous machine was being built, but..."     The ceiling begins to crack and shake. "If I send you back into the past, you must destroy Ripsaw before it can be activated and destroy the population of this world...!" A crack begins to appear in the ceiling, and though it there can be seen...     A colossal machine, a giant which defies description. Hazard-striped and constructed out of industrial metal, it has lamplike eyes and enormously oversized drills and blades on the end of its limbs. It makes a hideous roaring sound, emitting terrible black smog!     "You must hurry into the time machine! It's almost here!" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well... This was a hell of a way to get introduced. Still, she really... really has a hard time looking up at him. Still, she keeps listening as he explains what they had just run into.     "Ripsaw? Seriously? Whoever made a robot named 'Ripsaw' should've expected something bad to happen." And keep happening from the looks of things. "Judging by how scared you sound... we aren't safe here. What the hell should we do?"     Time machine. Hoshi groans and rubs her face. "Ugh... Go figure. What if we can't stop it?"     ... Actually, the answer is pretty clear what will happen.     Suddenly, the sound of of the ceiling tearing off takes up all of her attention. Looking up, the monstrous robot above her holds her gaze... And then Hoshi starts running again. "Jeez--let's go, Ren!" 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Holy crap that thing's HUGE!"

<X-Union-Chatter> 7 Hoshi Amakasu uhhh.... "Ren, I'm not really sure about all this time travel stuff. Don't you think we should make sure it's okay firs--" CRASH!

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Er.."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No time to think it through, unfortunately!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Time travel.."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Wha--hey, don't grab my arm! Whoa, whoa--!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Spot of bother in the temporal wa-"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "What in the nine worlds is going on?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka crash! KABOOM

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...Well then. How is the greenhouse Yunomi?"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     When the alternative is being crushed by the apocalyptic civilization-ending pollution death robot, then yes, we will certainly jump in the untested time machine. Won't we? Yes, we sure will.     What follows is what might be best described as a real rollercoaster ride, past all sorts of twists and turns and phenomena and loops and inversions and months in reverse!     At some point, there is a bright and spectacular strobing flash, and when the feeling of intense G-forces and motion stop...     Well, Hoshi's going to find herself by herself, first off. And second, she's not where either of them left- the time machine's not anywhere to be found, either. She's on a metal floor or platform of some kind, in a small room with a metal door. There's a generic generator behind her and various pistons and whirly things lining the walls, but there doesn't seem to be anything /important/ here, necessarily.     Her radio still works fine, though.     "Amakasu? Can you hear me?" Ren asks. "It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all." 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Amakasu? Can you hear me? It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "...incidentally, I hope it's not April 24AU for anyone listening."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu quietly, "This is a bad idea..."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nevermind about the /greenhouse/. Time travel is freaking dangerous if you don't have something to shield
you from temporal radi.. ah.. energies... I think... last time I did I turned into a box of donuts, it was a while back."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I've...been through time but ah...only the once."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I was young and terrified and traveling with a madman in a blue box."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "A blue box?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Blue box."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Interesting."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I went through the world tree"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Ask Harry what he remembers about The Doctors."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "That's the second time strange blue boxes have come up in conversations I've been in."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Riva and Wuyin call it Agartha"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Anyway... not sure if we have an awful lot of choice, unfortunately. We've only got a limited amount of...
charge, I suppose, that's keeping us in the past. Spending time meeting up might waste"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "At least you guys are still here and it's not 24AU."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Yes, as I recall whatever time travel happens in the wastes only counts for the wastes. You know, like getting
married in Las Vegas."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Time travel is freaking confusing."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "So is Las Vegas."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler curiously "Are you in Las Vegas?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Sadly, I think I'd prefer to be there right now. No, we're in ... well. The New Staffordshire of 1999, I
suppose, compared to the New Staffordshire of 2003 which was a polluted wasteland full of dead folks."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'm not famil... oh."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      So, Hoshi has some reservations. The fact that this dude was apparently waiting for them reeks of some destiny stuff that wouldn't make any sense, because her and Tanaka were both from different worlds entirely. Going back in time to essentially abort whatever the big monster thing was before it ever got made. She's pretty sure she's watched at least some movies that had time travel that said this was probably not the best plan. So, she ends up voicing her problems over the radio.     Then all the horrifying monster roaring, arm-grabbing thing happened, and she was inside the time machine anyway.     Hoshi ends up hanging on to whatever she could for dear life, her eyes clenched shut as time slipped away from her. She ends up having to grit her teeth to stop from yelling as they went.     When she opens her eyes, she's suddenly by herself. Hoshi whirls around quickly looking for the machine, or Ren. Tanaka. Nobody's there. THe comforting sound of voices from the Union bands in her bluetooth does a little better to help her relax, though. "It looks that way," she concedes to him. "Don't do anything silly, alright? I don't want to think about what might happen if anyone here knows what's going on."     She's still holding her sword! So that's nice. She of course morphs it back to it's hairtie form before she tries for the door and tries to peek through it cautiously before she heads out. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "I guess if we can stop someone from making a murder machine, we can also stop that from happening."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... I've watched too many time travel movies to be comfortable with this. What if we, like... Cause a paradox? Or something."

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Well, if someone else had survived long enough to find the time machine before them, rest assured they wouldn't be able to do this anywhere near as awesome as we're going to. We definitely hit 88 miles an hour back then, so logically some serious shit is about the ensue.     Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, we definitely made it back to the past before Ripsaw was activated.     The bad news? Well, uh. Say hello to Ripsaw.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poDs6Jno_-w     chw">Supplementary Lessons For the Unlucky     Masafumi Takada - Danganronpa     Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc - 2010     You're on the ground floor of what seems to be a massive open-plan factory. The gargantuan mechanical kaiju is boxed in by the four walls around you, surrounded by a massive haze of mechanical platforms. It's near completion, but not so much that there are several large segments of it with exposed, significant-looking power points. You know they're important because they're cycling between glowing red-white-green, anything that glows red is probably a vulnerable power core.     Lots of platforms, giant cranes, pulleys, robotic arms, waldos... you know what to do. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Hmm. I haven't dealt with time travel in the wastes. That might be better than time travel elsewhere where you're
liable to trap yourself in a time loop or something."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't know. Can you /make/ time paradoxes in the Wastes?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Not sure what happens in the wastes. If you cause a paradox elsewhere... you end up in a dead timeline. Or so I'm
told. In the main timeline, a time traveller will show up to kick your ass and stop you from creating a paradox in the first place."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "It's all just a big patch of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff here."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "OOC Mis"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "...Do you mean 'destruction'?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nope."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Dude what?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Noted."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Look, you run into some very interesting people when you live with a Time Lord."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Well, nobody's come yet..." Long pause. "... I found the murder machine."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Excellent!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga coughs. "A weapon of mass...seduction?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'll explain later, I'm on the edge of my seat listening to the murder machine madness."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Aha"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't have any experience with time travel, really. So I'm in the feeling-out process here."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Are you actually interested in this, Miss Yunomi?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "WHat's this about a murder machine?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "You remember all the roaring and running this started out with?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I am. I don't get out of Ravnica much these days."

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu mutters, "Probably better described as a mass murder machine."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      Trying to peer through the door doesn't do Hoshi much good, so eventually she pushes her way in. "Annd found it," she grunts quietly to herself. Glances are sent all over the room to see if there was any people around... The sheer amount of machinery around makes it hard to tell if anyone is around. When it seems safe enough, she will eventually step out further into the room.     The whole thing is one giant, pretty intimidating mess. "So... I guess I'm just going to wreak it?" Not exactly sounding too pumped about it. That said, Hoshi does recognize what this could possibly do for this world if she just... ends it now. So, out comes her sword again, and she focuses into herself, feeling Rosamond responding to her thoughts. "Okay... Okay. We can do this if we work together." Pause. "I really really hope nobody's in here. I don't want to be a time criminal."     "PERSONA!" She cries, and with the crash of glass Rosamond appears, sword unsheathed and ready. Hoshi starts running for one of the platforms closer to the beast; Rosamond, meanwhile, starts causing a path of destruction as she flies straight for the incomplete Ripsaw, her blade lashing out to rend and crush whatever came within her reach. Once she's close to one of the glowing red pieces, she starts spinning like a top in mid-air until her sword crashes into it.     Hoshi has to content herself with kicking things out of the way, mostly. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Roaring and running...?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Because it found us! It probably got pretty good at finding living people after killing all of the rest of
them. But now we're in the past! To fix things!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Noble!"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Dude, you are the time police. Well, in theory anyway. We're the Union, which is like being universe police, except this is an adventure in time, not space, so it stands to reason that... y'know.     Elsewhere:     "Right, okay, good to meet you, now you're probably wondering 'how did he penetrate my fortress of doom' or something, I'm sorry, that's an overgeneralization and it's not one I can really answer because I don't have any real way of proving it," Ren explains to a withered, villainous-looking person who's probably worse off now than Kelman was after years of not eating. He's not Kelman, though, he's got a lot more liver spots and cybernetic eyes. Well, two more, which is probably as many as you can have when you're a person. Anyway. For Hoshi and Rosamond, each of them has their own set of problems- for Hoshi, it's the fact that yes, somewhere someone has noticed her on security camera, and therefore they're rapidly doing their best to try and make things difficult for her as far as 'moving around' goes. Any platform she's on is going to be moving back and forth to try and shake her off, the mechanical arms trying to whack her with their broadside or just grab her and try to snip an arm or a leg off.      Rosamond's problems are in a way also Hoshi's because they're the same being, but they're a lot more explictly dangerous because, well, whoever isn't getting paid enough for this doesn't KNOW, they just know a dangerous flying humanoid thing with a sword is hacking up the quancilliary knee and electron cannon power generator core. So they're repurposing rivet guns and pressurized water metal-cutters to desperately blast at her. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well, low and behold. Suddenly there was a big party going on in this room, and absolutely nobody liked who had just walked in. The first rumbles of the platform she's standing on make her stop and look around curiously; that changes to desperately grabbing ahold of a railing to stop herself from tumbling off. One of the mechanical arms comes flying for her face, but she ducks it and dives for the next platform as hers starts shifting toward it.     "Whoa! Hey, stop! I'm trying to save your lives!" After so much hope, she was still going to be on a shitlist for this. One of the robotic arms ends up slamming agianst her side, drawing a pained grunt. She has to grab hold to keep from being swept off, but she strikes out with her sword and damages one of the joints before it dumps her.     Rosamond's cloaked form doesn't seem to move as rivets strike against her and tear through her cloak, but Hoshi can certainly feel them pelting on her chest. When someone tries to turn the water laser on her, though, she immediately zooms straight up towards the roof, then spins her sword and points it down at the machine. Golden prayer scrolls and talismans appear all around the mechanical monster--some not so far from the people down below. Each begin to burn brightly where they are until finally exploding with violent Light magic.     Thankfully, Hoshi's not exactly a magical powerhouse. The intent was to scare off the people down below, not butcher them. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' At some point, Ren manages to sit down on a keyboard in just the right way as to put the really crusty old guy on speakerphone.     "Well, Mr. Huss. Can I call you Mr. Huss? It just strikes me as strange that you don't seem to have a real reason behind this."     "Many people claim to seek meaning in life, 'Mister Brown'. But the truth is, there is no such thing. This is just the most logical extension of that concept."     "Really? Because it looks like a giant robot monster to me."     It's not entirely just for the sake of exposition- Ren knows that while the people at the controls can't hear Hoshi's protests, they can hear this loud and clear, so he's trying the old engineered public confession on this old fossil.     Unfortunately, because they can't hear Hoshi's protests for now, the people in the factory are going to keep trying to kill her. You know what they say: you can please all of the people some of the time, you can please some of the people all of the time, but a hot rivet in the eye'll always make your head explode.     So hey, watch out for that! You're going to have to make sure you get off of that damaged robo-arm before it goes completely vertical and there's nothing to really grip on to. At this height it'll probably just be uncomfortable if you fall on the floor, but pretty soon they're probably going to start turning on the flamethrowers they use to clear out rats and vagrants and then you'll really be in trouble. In fact, they're turning them on right now. Climb for it!     Thankfully for Rosamond, she's got the flying ability to bypass almost all of this dungeon at once. Such a gamebreaker. While this means she can fly all the way up to the top of Ripsaw and potentially look for the primary spinal signal coordinator (which is still just a big flashing power core on the outside anyway), and while it does mean she's thankfully far enough away to avoid human retaliation when she sets off a variety of light bombs hither and thither to disable the human-armed offense...     There are going to be hovering drones up here with gun arms (for getting rid of bats, naturally?) that generally classify anything moving and not attached to a wall as an annoying interference. So they'll be getting in her way while Hoshi tries to take out the next point of failure! 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "/Why are there flamethrowers on the floor/?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "I will answer with another question."

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Are there flamethrower racks nearby?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Maybe subfloor fuel line construction was cheaper?"

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "No, these crazy people built them into the stupid floor to shoot out!"

<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Oh."

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "Sounds to be an active day all around."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Once Hoshi starts hearing Tanaka through the radio, she's glad that he's here and still okay. Of course, she also really wishes that they could've just come together, trashed the thing, and left without saying a word. Too bad for them.     And too bad for Hoshi, when jets of flame erupt not so far from her feet, and several rivets plant themselves right next to her face. "Why are there flamethrowers on the floor!? Who designed this place?!" Thankfully, she's a Persona User. Super strength and stuff comes with the territory. So, with a little inspiration she's able to scramble back up and go on her way, to another platform that leads to a crane that will take her to the top of the beast.     That's when some of the rivets smack into her side, just as she's starting to need to carefully balance. That's also when Rosamond ends up getting surrounded by gun drones. The Persona is able to use the slab of metal she uses as a sword to block a good number of the bullets, some get through, making Hoshi twitch and shudder with pain. It all ends up sending her over the side, only just able to catch herself with one hand.     The strain of holding Rosamond out for so long is getting to be too much. Hoshi releases her hold, and the Persona begins to quickly fade into blue mist. She grits her teeth; her sword changes into a hairtie again, letting her use both hands to quickly hand-over-hand this bastard. Once she's over one of the glowing red bits, she drops and forms her sword, trying to stab through... whatever this thing was. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     You never know! He could be having force lightning shot at him right now. He might have to strangle this old guy to death with a bicycle chain. When was the last time you strangled someone to death with a bicycle chain, could you cut it?     Well, at least it doesn't sound like there's any lightning in the background as Ren asks:     "So you're a nihilist?"     "Perhaps I just wanted the perspective that would have come from being a giant in a small world?"     "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"     "Literal!"     "Ohhhh... that's a twist."     Hoshi's getting shot at! That's not good! On the other hand, this is having some interesting consequences, one being that the people doing the shooting- already somewhat guilty at their having to try and kill what seems to be a strange teenager with a sword- if anything have their perturbances multiplied when they actually HIT her and it doesn't really DO much, because now she's gone from 'strange kid' to 'unnatural human-shaped instrument of destruction'. Several people decide to give up and run at this anyway!     Especially when she uses her superhuman abilities to scale a platform or two, then a crane in a trice, leaving another of Ripsaw's power cores close at 'hand'.     And because she's able to go from strength to strength when it comes to smashing it, more of the workers decide to give up and run in fear, which leaves their waldos unmanned... long story short, out-of-control rivet guns end up wildly firing and taking out another of the ... we'll just call them power cores.     There's enough of Ripsaw that isn't finished yet that Hoshi can see there's a relative path right into the middle of the monster, with one remaining central device she could shut down if she dives down in there. Just a couple exposed electrical conduits, running-but-idle sets of gears, and a couple sets of damaged panels that are slamming open and closed and crushing anything between them when they do so.     Easy, right? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     People were mercifully not shooting at Hoshi anymore, so that was nice. Them fleeing is a godsend to a girl who had a couple rivets jammed into her torso that were oozing blood onto her clothes. Once again, she's reminded that if she wasn't who she was, she'd probably be dead right now. That said, they still freaking /hurt/.     Tanaka is keeping the guy rambling on about whatever subject they'd gotten on--did he really design this thing to hop in himself? Where the hell is the investment return on that?--leaving Hoshi to put this thing to bed. Of course, that's going to be difficult, considering what's before her.     A big scowl comes to the teen's face. Clearly these people didn't know how to run a business or make a functioning robot. Thankfully, she still has some supernatural aid.     So she dives into the belly of the beast. She ends up having to climb around like a monkey to get over the electrical conduits, and a bit of her hair gets singed for the effort. The gears are a little more troublesome; eventually Hoshi grunts, "C'mon, Rosamond!" The Persona appears again, in a rather silly hunched position to even be able to fit, and grabs ahold of the geras long enough for Hoshi to slip through and let Rosamond fade.     The next one ends up leaving her stumped for a bit as the panels crashed together in front of her. Eventually, she starts noticing a slightly-erratic pattern. Once she feels she's got the feel of it, she ends up diving forward to try and make it through, only jst managing the last one and tripping badly enough to fall flat on her back.     "Agh.... guuh... I hate this plate," she pants. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I will transfer my own mind out of this worn-out defect, fusing what I have discovered to be a soul to it! All of the mechanical shortcomings will be filled in by MY PURE WILL! I will become the force of annihilation! I will embody the senseless principle of destruction, laying waste to countless lives! And for what purpose? None! If anything, spite! I will wallow in it! I will create the largest, greatest war machine in history and use it for nothing but wanton slaughter!"     "No, no. I don't think you're going to, really."     "And why? Are you going to stop me?"     "No, I'm just going to keep you busy..."     Outside, equipment goes out of control and the flamethrowers accidentally light up some fuel lines, the building starts to shake and electrical fuses explode. Computers and important computer-controlled equipment, and potentially say cybernetic life support, electrifies and overloads.     The final power core is there in front of Hoshi, although it's surrounded by some out-of-place machinery with vaugely asian-looking iconography embossed onto it, made of odd green metal and with rice paper scrolls. It's all impossible to read, and potentially irrelevant. Pity Ren's not here to recognize it, huh? Takuya went to all of this trouble making something he'd recognize, too. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Hoshi needs a few seconds to catch her breath once she's finally made it to the end. The loud, clanking machines make it almost impossible to focus now; at least she's still mobile, she probably couldn't summon Rosamond at this point.     She's up on her feet, her brows furrowed at all the weird iconography down here. It's nothing she can read, and there's nothing that's really saying that she was going to kill the timeline or anything, so... She steps forward grimly and lifts her sword point-down above her head, and just starts stabbing the thing as hard and as viciously as she can. "Stupid... murder robot!"     Once she's done, she starts trying to scramble her way back out. Who knows if this thing will self-destruct or something? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Look at it this way, Hoshi, although hopefully not as you're stabbing it because that thing's going to start glowing and crackling unpleasantly after you rupture the glassy centre- you've definitely just saved civilization, so that' something, right?     Step away quickly, though! Exploding may indeed be imminent! In fact, as you squirm out of the overloading robot, you'll find that exploding is imminent no matter which way you go.     A blast of metal and masonry blows out a wall some distance away, in one of the control rooms attached to a building wall. It's bad news for old men, presuming they survived previous implications- as a guy in a batsuit once said, I'm not going to kill you, but I just don't have to save you- as Ren can be seen making a running jump out of the room he was in, swinging off a drone and landing next to Hoshi. Stupid exalted tricks, landing from so high up safely, mutter mutter.     There's fire above, fire below, and fire all around. Congrats Hoshi! EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE.     Fortunatelt, when he gets up, he's starting to... sparkle? Hoshi is, too.     "Looks like we made it just in time, Amakasu. Like he said... limited charge. We're going to get pulled back to the present day. Let's hope it looks better than when we left, eh?"     There's more sparkles! And then ... well, imagine the previous rollercoaster feeling in spirit, but the track completely disappears halfway through, and there's some falling, and it's all in reverse...     When Ren and Hoshi stop moving again, they're somewhere else again. It's New Staffordshire, and it looks... sort of like what it did before, but only because total redevelopment of the city skyline can't even happen in four years even if a lot can be done.     The city looks rather different, though! There are clear(er) skies, glass and chrome buildings going up, plus things like... trees! And flowers! And trees and flowers placed and built in harmony with new glass and chrome buildings, and asthetic redevelopment, and most important of all PEOPLE! Lots and lots of wonderful living people, going about their normal lives, all of them looking pretty happy. Off in the distance you can even see Kelman too, looking a lot healthier and happier.     HOSHI AND REN MADE A GOOD FUTURE 
}}

3917/Ripsaw

2016-04-08T05:50:14Z

Shrimptoast: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2016/03/16 |Location=Temporal Wastes |Synopsis=Hoshi, Ren, and an awful, terrible, horrible not good at all adventure in time travel. |Cast of Char..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/03/16
|Location=Temporal Wastes
|Synopsis=Hoshi, Ren, and an awful, terrible, horrible not good at all adventure in time travel.
|Cast of Characters=165, 901
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     A Union base on the borderline of the Temporal Wastes.     "Now," Ren says, standing outside of a sort of mechanism that looks a bit like a warpgate, but also a bit like the loading breech of a cannon. "Sometimes, worlds that come into the multiverse sort of don't entirely get it right first time."     "The way I've had it explained to me," he continues, looking at the electric blue of the energy bubble that's growing in size in front of them, "Is kind of like stepping in the door, but getting your coat stuck on part of the door frame. You've got to hold very still and get someone else to unhook you, or you'll tear your coat and then you're kind of sad."     "Now, that anology is complete nonsense, of course. It bears absolutely no similarity to what we're about to do, but it's a lie we can understand."     "So, Amakasu," he continues, folding his hands behind him, moving from the balls of his feet to the tips of his toes and back-forth. "I'm going to go on an exciting adventure in space and time, do you wanna come with me?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Now, when someone calls you and tells you they've got something important going on in this Multiverse, Hoshi's kind of gotten into a strange way of thinking. It either involved fights with scary things, duels for whatever reason people duel around here for, or just flat-out mystical weirdness. So, of course, she always come prepared.     Once Hoshi was out of the warpgate and had joined Ren, she tries to spend a moment to figure out if Ren was hurt, had he been attacked... The words die on her tongue as Ren begins "explaining" about the strange vision happening in front of her. She slowly blinks, then sets Ren with the classic 'frown and folded arms' business.     "I thought you'd gotten hurt somehow, man." She grumbles for a moment. "And why would you use ana anology that doesn't make sense?... Don't answer that. I don't mind helping out, of course, but, uh..." She motions between herself and the hazy energy bubble. "I'm not entirely sure what that even /is/... So if you don't mind, what exactly are we doing here? Do I need my sword?"     ... She has it with her anyway, of course, currently holding up her hair in it's smaller form. She's trying to figure out if she should be expecting danger, or not. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "No, not really. I just signed up for an interesting mission and I thought you'd like to see something new. I mean, it's not every day you get to go rummaging around in the temporal wastes, is it?"     "It's one of the most interesting parts of the multiverse, after all. Time is completely cuckoo, here! Even more unpredictable than anywhere else!"     He shouldn't be as pleased about this as he should be, considering.     "Okay, so. Here's the situation. Somewhere in the wastes right now is a world that has a bizarre build-up of... artrons or chronotons, time energy basically. Nobody can figure out why it's there from just looking from the outside, but if we go inside and figure out how to safely unhook the coat, then it might settle into a less volatile stable part of the multiverse. And that'll be thanks to us!"     "There might be danger, there might not. Only one way to find out, you know?" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     A quick look around brings both an amazed look to her eyes and a shiver down Hoshi's spine. The juxtaposition of rainbow colors over absolute waste is pretty disconcerting... "Honestly not sure if I'd want to go walking around here every day, personally," she admits. "I guess it looks kinda cool, though... We aren't going to get lost in time somewhere, right?"     It'd be a shame if she ended up becoming the Japanese version of Rip Van Winkle and missed her finals, y'know!     Falling silent to listen to Ren's explanation of what the issue was, Hoshi nods along... Though the thought does still creep up into her mind about how exactly they intend to figure out these things, or do anything about it. Time wasn't exactly her strong point, after all. Maybe they'd think of something inside. Eventually, she nods firmly.     "I'm still not sure what exactly I can do here, but sure. I'll help out. Seriously hoping we don't end up stumbling into German fairy-tale times, though." It'd be just her luck. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "You're here as my buddy! Buddy system," Ren explains, nearing the source of the temporal aperture into where they need to go. "It means if I were to go by myself and something horrible killed me, nobody would be around to drag me back. But since there's two of us... well, in any case, one of us probably won't get killed, so it's irrelevant. Moving on!"     He's bad at this sorta thing sometimes. Ren rolls a botch on his socialize roll.     A few steps more, and...     We are now in the human colony of New Staffordshire, year 2003.     Population: who knows?     Welcome to everyone's nightmare in the 1990s about what life in the 2000s was going to be like.     Welcome to an industrial wasteland of the purest sort: Made of corrugated iron, security fences and barb wire, liberally filled with dirty metal doors and disused oil barrels, flashing hazard lights, and bubbling green water.     Welcome to an empty city, covered in a film of dust, surrounded in shadows, seemingly very underpopulated and with a slate gray smoggy sky filled with a mesh of interlinked, skyscraping, acid-rain-etched buildings.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0khcX_DJjw     Un-finale - Robyn Miller     Myst - 1993 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Yeah, he really did. The more he talks, the higher her left brow raises as she scowls over at him. "Neither of us are going to die if Rosamond or I have anything to say about it." It's hard to disagree with a giant Persona with a big sword, after all. "You really need to work on your pep talks." Anyway, yes. Moving on! Moving... Hoshi flinches to a stop just as she's about to touch it, but grumbles quietly to herself and pushes through anyway.     It's the smell that strikes her first, actually. Alberichstadt is a pretty clean place, after all. This place really isn't. The taste of smog and smell of pollution make her grimance and cover her nose immediately. "Ugh... Well, this is a really bad way to start this off. What /happened/ here, anyway?"     Nobody seems to be around... Hoshi starts moving about cautiously, trying to keep her steps as quiet as possible as she looks around this ruined vista. "So... what are the odds that someone is going to come up and kindly explain what the /crap/?" Probably pretty low. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     "Yes, as far as explanations go that was not one of my best, but did you remember the coat anology?" Ren asks. "Now THAT was a good one, I think that one was delivered very well."     It's all he can do to distract both of them from the fact that they've seemingly walked into an industrial pit of miserable oblivion, you've got to keep your spirits up in these kind of situations... no, Ren doesn't believe it either. He gives the panorama in front of them the most baleful look as he just dares a tattered newspaper to flutter by in the wind in front of them.     "...what happened here, indeed?" Ren echoes. "I guess we're going to have to find out." So, with an open canvas in front of you and a seemingly empty swathe of city, what would you do when you needed to gather information? Ren takes a walk forward, trying to look for the best place to begin. You could practically start anywhere.     It doesn't seem as if anyone's around to give you suggestions. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Ren's mention of the analogy again gets a long-suffering sigh. Not going there.     All in all, it was a mess. This place obviously needed a /lot/ of fixing, but that was something that neither Hoshi nor Ren could actually do. Environmental distruction to this level was probably a complete death sentence for this world. "Or suicide," she mumbles quietly under her breath. If only the Paris Comission could see this.     Help obviously wasn't going to come to them here; eventually the kendo girl relaxes her careful stride somewhat and starts going downstairs to exit the building and go onto the street. And she tries really hard to make sure she doesn't touch anything. Who knows what sorts of oils or contaminants cover this place? Eugh.     Once she's out on the street, she cups her hands around her mouth and starts calling out. "HEY! Is anyone alive here!? HELLO?" Really not the best idea if there are hostiles here, but so far it doesn't look like there's even a hint of a person down here... 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Everything is rather disgustingly grimy, and aside from the disturbingly glubbling water a lot of things seem dried-up and a bit rusty and generally settled.     Have you ever walked through a city at that exact sort of 2-3am time where it's very dark and very, very, /very/ quiet, and it's actually kind of surreal how a place that is supposed to be full of people is not only completely empty, it's also /oppressively/ silent? Like, you don't even hear the sound of cars in the very far-off distance? And you go, I walked through this road earlier today, this is just so unlike how reality is supposed to be it's hard to believe?     That's how this feels right now, basically.     On the horizon, just after the last echo of Hoshi's question fades away, a skyscraper cracks in two and falls. It's so far away that it sort of sounds like a twig snapping under your foot.     Ren, meanwhile, is actually looking- just as sour as before- over a newspaper as he trails behind her. It's dated 1999 and there are definitely no headlines about an approaching cataclysm, at least. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Another shiver crawls up Hoshi's spine and along her arms, like pins and needles gently pricking at her skin. "This is so stupidly creepy," she mutters quietly under her breath. Watching a skyscraper suddenly come crashing down--and only barely hearing it--makes it all the worse. It's enough that she reaches up to take her hairtie out of her hair and let it shift into sword form. Just in case.     Hoshi takes some steps over to a nearby building across the street and tries to peer through anything that might let her look inside. She almost tries to go inside, but pauses and looks over to Ren. "Hey, uh... We probably shouldn't split up... and we should probably figure out a plan. This isn't looking so hot for anything... like, at all." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     By sheer, interesting coincidence, Hoshi has managed to look into the window of one of the only buildings that seems to have not just one, but two computers in it! And a skeleton at the desk, which is staring back at her as soon as she cleans off the window.     It's also helpful that she clearly instructs Ren not to wander off, because that's exactly what he was doing, being half-way up a scaffolding when she calls him out.     Just bash the door open, no-one's going to care. If you can find it in yourself to start pressing buttons on the keyboard, the computers are Power Macs with an assortment of Usenet posts in their cache.     Ren goes over to one of them, switches it on and begins doing... stuff. "I'm going to see if I can figure out if there's a way to narrow down where that temporal energy disturbance is coming from," he explains. "If I can find some sort of abnormal power record in the city, we might have a lead." Interesting that most of the power grid is still operational despite the place being pretty abandoned and dead, huh?     So, what will you search for today? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Lucky Hoshi! She managed to find something useful... and something creepy. Creepy enough that when she first focuses on the computers and skeleton, she steps back quickly with a small hiss and grips the handle of her sword. "Of course I find the dead people," she mutters darkly. At least Ren wasn't going off on his own. Using those computers will probably be their only chance of getting info.     So Hoshi steps grimly in front of the door and kicks the damn thing open. Thank goodness for supernatural strength. THe inside, dust yand disgusting, makes her cover her nose with her forearm again. She follows Ren to the computers and watches as he taps away. "This place looks like it's been trashed for a super long time," she mumbles quietly. Not knowing what exactly she should be doing, Hoshi eventually decides to find a place where she can watch the front door and keep an eye on Ren's progress. "I dunno, man... even if we fix the time stuff, what the hell are we going to do about all of... this?" She waves her hand around. "Pretty sure we don't have the ability to reverse pollution this bad." 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "It never fails to impress me when you just... go through solid metal doors like that," he mentions idly, waving the dust cloud away. "There's something you didn't think you'd be able to do last year, I'm sure."     Inside...     "Well," Ren replies, his face lit by the white glow from the screen, "...one thing at a time, I suppose. I think if we had to choose between dropping or folding or whatever, more industrial pollution into Techno-Urbania or letting a dangerous buildup of weird time energy build up, I'd go with the problem that's evitably solveable instead of the alternative..."     Having satisfied her desire a skeleton is not going to jump out at them, Hoshi will also be able to search the computer for some... disturbing news. She'll find out that although the actual overall industrial build of the colony is its own set of problems, connected to an overall complicated set of political and practical problems related to the history of this world that are kind of irrelevant to this story, the actual /pollution/ massively spiked over the period of several weeks or even days before everyone stopped updating the internet forever. The cause was seemingly some sort of roaming massive natural disaster which was ravaging the human population and causing massive swathes of death, seemingly a secondary element to building-shattering, widespread destruction.     After some minutes of searching Ren discovers a location they can head to next, seemingly the place where this energy buildup is. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     It was pretty cool, wasn't it? Shame how it ended up coming about, though. "I'll admit it's pretty helpful. Kinda wish I was stronger sometimes, though." Y'know, like in times when they're seemingly in pollution hell.     Her searches on the internet doesn't make the situation any happier, either. The fact that she literally can't find anything dated after some of these particular dates carries horrifying implications. Eventually, she mumbles quietly to Ren.     "... I think the world is just... dead. The whole world..."     Eventually Ren might makea discovery... Hoshi can't stand to look at her computer past a certain point. "Let's hope something can be fixed... What'd you find?" 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Not a pleasant thought by any stretch of the imagination. Something or someone, some sort of unbelievable disaster, caused overwhelming pollution and destruction in such a short space of time that it wiped out the human population of New Staffordshire, and this is what remains four years later.     But...     "I've got a very clever hunch about a very, very, very dangerous gamble and a very big maybe that maybe, just maybe, there could still be hope, Amakasu..."     That's what Ren says before he grabs her by the hand and takes off out of the building, and on reflection it's not clear if he did it before or after the whole thing started shaking.     Because that looks distinctly like a rather big, unpleasant storm building and rumbling and rolling towards the part of the city that they're in, and there's shaking and metal-creaking sounds and white, yellow and red flashes of light on the horizon, and...     And it's just as well, perhaps, that they're making their way towards a rather heavy building with one floor below ground and the rest beneath, moving past the barbed wire fence, entering the hazard-striped doors, forcing open the blast shutters and moving down the corrugated metal staircase into a heavily built basement of a building, filled with...     Filled with an electrical blue glow, and the chug of a generator, and cables lining every floor leading a marked path for someone to follow.     A marked path that leads to a room, a room filled with active machinery, and whirring things and pipes and glass, and a dozen computers clustered together, and -     And a man, or so it seems, a man who was once fat but is now more like an empty balloon, with a red complexion and strands of hair on his head, and wire-rimmed glasses and a mechanical eye, and far, far too many wires connecting him into the desk he's sat at.     "Oh, thank goodness, I thought someone would never get here. Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Kelman..." 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Really, this is one of the things that Hoshi kind of wishes she could walk away from. It was a horrible, awful place they'd stumbled into. She said she would help, though... Even if Ren's way of explaining how this is going to work doesn't really inspire her with much confidence. "Maybe we should see if there's someone in the Union who knows how this time stuff works before we--hey!"     Suddenly, they were running, with Ren pulling her along. At first she tries to pull away, look around, find out what was happening... Then she saw it. The storm. Then she was running just as fast as Ren was, and she even changes her sword back into a hairtie so she can go as fast as possible.     Along paths, into buildings, behind blast doors--when they were finally safe from the environmental death that was closing in on them, Hoshi let out a gasp of relief and slumps down along one of the walls. "Gaaah... What /makes/ a thing like that!?" So much for contact, either, all considered... And now they can't leave!     The sound of another person's voice causes her to jump slightly and look around... and then look down at the floor with a grimace. That was a pretty bad sight. "Ergh... Uh... H-hi, man. It's good to see that there's someone still alive around here..." Even if it doesn't look like much of a life. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Before we did the whole 'go underground' thing?     Ren does, nonetheless, take a moment to look at the approaching storm and go...     "An entirely reasonable suggestion! Yes. When we've got a moment and we're not running from imminent danger, we could definitely try it!"     Presuming that he's the person being asked Hoshi's question of 'what makes that', Kelman looks thoughtful for a moment.     "Alive, yes, in a manner of speaking. I'm glad you made it here... presumably, you may have seen that force of destruction above ground. The eye of that storm of pollution and demolition is a creature called Ripsaw... and that means we don't have much time."     He gestures with his head to a doorway behind him, and begins feverishly working on his keyboards. "I had... hoped that a survivor would be able to find my laboratory, you see. What I have behind me is a time machine... something, I had hoped might be able to stop all of this."     "It can supercharge you with time particles that will send you, for a limited time, back /four years/ into the past."     "That's the source of the time disturbance?" Ren wonders out loud.     "I was able to find the place where that horrendous machine was being built, but..."     The ceiling begins to crack and shake. "If I send you back into the past, you must destroy Ripsaw before it can be activated and destroy the population of this world...!" A crack begins to appear in the ceiling, and though it there can be seen...     A colossal machine, a giant which defies description. Hazard-striped and constructed out of industrial metal, it has lamplike eyes and enormously oversized drills and blades on the end of its limbs. It makes a hideous roaring sound, emitting terrible black smog!     "You must hurry into the time machine! It's almost here!" 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well... This was a hell of a way to get introduced. Still, she really... really has a hard time looking up at him. Still, she keeps listening as he explains what they had just run into.     "Ripsaw? Seriously? Whoever made a robot named 'Ripsaw' should've expected something bad to happen." And keep happening from the looks of things. "Judging by how scared you sound... we aren't safe here. What the hell should we do?"     Time machine. Hoshi groans and rubs her face. "Ugh... Go figure. What if we can't stop it?"     ... Actually, the answer is pretty clear what will happen.     Suddenly, the sound of of the ceiling tearing off takes up all of her attention. Looking up, the monsterous robot above her holds her gaze... And then Hoshi starts running again. "Jeez--let's go, Ren!" 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Holy crap that thing's HUGE!"
<X-Union-Chatter> 7 Hoshi Amakasu uhhh.... "Ren, I'm not really sure about all this time travel stuff. Don't you think we should make sure it's okay firs--" CRASH!
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "..."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Er.."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "No time to think it through, unfortunately!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Time travel.."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Wha--hey, don't grab my arm! Whoa, whoa--!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Spot of bother in the temporal wa-"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "What in the nine worlds is going on?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka crash! KABOOM
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...Well then. How is the greenhouse Yunomi?"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     When the alternative is being crushed by the apocalyptic civilization-ending pollution death robot, then yes, we will certainly jump in the untested time machine. Won't we? Yes, we sure will.     What follows is what might be best described as a real rollercoaster ride, past all sorts of twists and turns and phenomena and loops and inversions and months in reverse!     At some point, there is a bright and spectacular strobing flash, and when the feeling of intense G-forces and motion stop...     Well, Hoshi's going to find herself by herself, first off. And second, she's not where either of them left- the time machine's not anywhere to be found, either. She's on a metal floor or platform of some kind, in a small room with a metal door. There's a generic generator behind her and various pistons and whirly things lining the walls, but there doesn't seem to be anything /important/ here, necessarily.     Her radio still works fine, though.     "Amakasu? Can you hear me?" Ren asks. "It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all." 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Amakasu? Can you hear me? It looks like that didn't quite work out right. I made it through, but I got separated from you. Looks like we might have to explore on our own after all."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "...incidentally, I hope it's not April 24AU for anyone listening."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu quietly, "This is a bad idea..."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nevermind about the /greenhouse/. Time travel is freaking dangerous if you don't have something to shield you from temporal radi.. ah.. energies... I think... last time I did I turned into a box of donuts, it was a while back."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "...."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I've...been through time but ah...only the once."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I was young and terrified and traveling with a madman in a blue box."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "A blue box?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Blue box."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Interesting."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "I went through the world tree"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Ask Harry what he remembers about The Doctors."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "That's the second time strange blue boxes have come up in conversations I've been in."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Riva and Wuyin call it Agartha"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Anyway... not sure if we have an awful lot of choice, unfortunately. We've only got a limited amount of... charge, I suppose, that's keeping us in the past. Spending time meeting up might waste"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "At least you guys are still here and it's not 24AU."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Yes, as I recall whatever time travel happens in the wastes only counts for the wastes. You know, like getting married in Las Vegas."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Time travel is freaking confusing."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "So is Las Vegas."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler curiously "Are you in Las Vegas?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Sadly, I think I'd prefer to be there right now. No, we're in ... well. The New Staffordshire of 1999, I suppose, compared to the New Staffordshire of 2003 which wa a polluted wasteland full of dead folks."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'm not famil... oh."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      So, Hoshi has some reservations. The fact that this dude was apparently waiting for them reeks of some destiny stuff that wouldn't make any sense, because her and Tanaka were both from different worlds entirely. Going back in time to essentially abort whatever the big monster thing was before it ever got made. She's pretty sure she's watched at least some movies that had time travel that said this was probably not the best plan. So, she ends up voicing her problems over the radio.     Then all the horrifying monster roaring, arm-grabbing thing happened, and she was inside the time machine anyway.     Hoshi ends up hanging on to whatever she could for dear life, her eyes clenched shut as time slipped away from her. She ends up having to grit her teeth to stop from yelling as they went.     When she opens her eyes, she's suddenly by herself. Hoshi whirls around quickly looking for the machine, or Ren. Tanaka. Nobody's there. THe comforting sound of voices from the Union bands in her bluetooth does a little better to help her relax, though. "It looks that way," she concedes to him. "Don't do anything silly, alright? I don't want to think about what might happen if anyone here knows what's going on."     She's still holding her sword! So that's nice. She of course morphs it back to it's hairtie form before she tries for the door and tries to peek through it cautiously before she heads out. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "I guess if we can stop someone from making a murder machine, we can also stop that from happening."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... I've watched too many time travel movies to be comfortable with this. What if we, like... Cause a paradox? Or something."

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Well, if someone else had survived long enough to find the time machine before them, rest assured they wouldn't be able to do this anywhere near as awesome as we're going to. We definitely hit 88 miles an hour back then, so logically some serious shit is about the ensue.     Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, we definitely made it back to the past before Ripsaw was activated.     The bad news? Well, uh. Say hello to Ripsaw.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poDs6Jno_-w     chw">Supplementary Lessons For the Unlucky     Masafumi Takada - Danganronpa     Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc - 2010     You're on the ground floor of what seems to be a massive open-plan factory. The gargantuan mechanical kaiju is boxed in by the four walls around you, surrounded by a massive haze of mechanical platforms. It's near completion, but not so much that there are several large segments of it with exposed, significant-looking power points. You know they're important because they're cycling between glowing red-white-green, anything that glows red is probably a vulnerable power core.     Lots of platforms, giant cranes, pulleys, robotic arms, waldos... you know what to do. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Hmm. I haven't dealt with time travel in the wastes. That might be better than time travel elsewhere where you're liable to trap yourself in a time loop or something."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't know. Can you /make/ time paradoxes in the Wastes?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Not sure what happens in the wastes. If you cause a paradox elsewhere... you end up in a dead timeline. Or so I'm told. In the main timeline, a time traveller will show up to kick your ass and stop you from creating a paradox in the first place."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "It's all just a big patch of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff here."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "OOC Mis"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler chipperly "If you meet one named Jack, do not engage him, he's a weapon of mass seduction."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "...Do you mean 'destruction'?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Nope."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Dude what?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Noted."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Look, you run into some very interesting people when you live with a Time Lord."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "Well, nobody's come yet..." Long pause. "... I found the murder machine."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Excellent!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga coughs. "A weapon of mass...seduction?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I'll explain later, I'm on the edge of my seat listening to the murder machine madness."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Inga says, "Aha"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "I don't have any experience with time travel, really. So I'm in the feeling-out process here."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "... Are you actually interested in this, Miss Yunomi?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "WHat's this about a murder machine?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "You remember all the roaring and running this started out with?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "I am. I don't get out of Ravnica much these days."
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu mutters, "Probably better described as a mass murder machine."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''      Trying to peer through the door doesn't do Hoshi much good, so eventually she pushes her way in. "Annd found it," she grunts quietly to herself. Glances are sent all over the room to see if there was any people around... The sheer amount of machinery around makes it hard to tell if anyone is around. When it seems safe enough, she will eventually step out further into the room.     The whole thing is one giant, pretty intimidating mess. "So... I guess I'm just going to wreak it?" Not exactly sounding too pumped about it. That said, Hoshi does recognize what this could possibly do for this world if she just... ends it now. So, out comes her sword again, and she focuses into herself, feeling Rosamond responding to her thoughts. "Okay... Okay. We can do this if we work together." Pause. "I really really hope nobody's in here. I don't want to be a time criminal."     "PERSONA!" She cries, and with the crash of glass Rosamond appears, sword unsheathed and ready. Hoshi starts running for one of the platforms closer to the beast; Rosamond, meanwhile, starts causing a path of destruction as she flies straight for the incomplete Ripsaw, her blade lashing out to rend and crush whatever came within her reach. Once she's close to one of the glowing red pieces, she starts spinning like a top in mid-air until her sword crashes into it.     Hoshi has to content herself with kicking things out of the way, mostly. 

<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Staren says, "Roaring and running...?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Because it found us! It probably got pretty good at finding living people after killing all of the rest of them. But now we're in the past! To fix things!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Noble!"

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     Dude, you are the time police. Well, in theory anyway. We're the Union, which is like being universe police, except this is an adventure in time, not space, so it stands to reason that... y'know.     Elsewhere:     "Right, okay, good to meet you, now you're probably wondering 'how did he penetrate my fortress of doom' or something, I'm sorry, that's an overgeneralization and it's not one I can really answer because I don't have any real way of proving it," Ren explains to a withered, villainous-looking person who's probably worse off now than Kelman was after years of not eating. He's not Kelman, though, he's got a lot more liver spots and cybernetic eyes. Well, two more, which is probably as many as you can have when you're a person. Anyway. For Hoshi and Rosamond, each of them has their own set of problems- for Hoshi, it's the fact that yes, somewhere someone has noticed her on security camera, and therefore they're rapidly doing their best to try and make things difficult for her as far as 'moving around' goes. Any platform she's on is going to be moving back and forth to try and shake her off, the mechanical arms trying to whack her with their broadside or just grab her and try to snip an arm or a leg off.      Rosamond's problems are in a way also Hoshi's because they're the same being, but they're a lot more explictly dangerous because, well, whoever isn't getting paid enough for this doesn't KNOW, they just know a dangerous flying humanoid thing with a sword is hacking up the quancilliary knee and electron cannon power generator core. So they're repurposing rivet guns and pressurized water metal-cutters to desperately blast at her. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Well, low and behold. Suddenly there was a big party going on in this room, and absolutely nobody liked who had just walked in. The first rumbles of the platform she's standing on make her stop and look around curiously; that changes to desperately grabbing ahold of a railing to stop herself from tumbling off. One of the mechanical arms comes flying for her face, but she ducks it and dives for the next platform as hers starts shifting toward it.     "Whoa! Hey, stop! I'm trying to save your lives!" After so much hope, she was still going to be on a shitlist for this. One of the robotic arms ends up slamming agianst her side, drawing a pained grunt. She has to grab hold to keep from being swept off, but she strikes out with her sword and damages one of the joints before it dumps her.     Rosamond's cloaked form doesn't seem to move as rivets strike against her and tear through her cloak, but Hoshi can certainly feel them pelting on her chest. When someone tries to turn the water laser on her, though, she immediately zooms straight up towards the roof, then spins her sword and points it down at the machine. Golden prayer scrolls and talismans appear all around the mechanical monster--some not so far from the people down below. Each begin to burn brightly where they are until finally exploding with violent Light magic.     Thankfully, Hoshi's not exactly a magical powerhouse. The intent was to scare off the people down below, not butcher them. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' At some point, Ren manages to sit down on a keyboard in just the right way as to put the really crusty old guy on speakerphone.     "Well, Mr. Huss. Can I call you Mr. Huss? It just strikes me as strange that you don't seem to have a real reason behind this."     "Many people claim to seek meaning in life, 'Mister Brown'. But the truth is, there is no such thing. This is just the most logical extension of that concept."     "Really? Because it looks like a giant robot monster to me."     It's not entirely just for the sake of exposition- Ren knows that while the people at the controls can't hear Hoshi's protests, they can hear this loud and clear, so he's trying the old engineered public confession on this old fossil.     Unfortunately, because they can't hear Hoshi's protests for now, the people in the factory are going to keep trying to kill her. You know what they say: you can please all of the people some of the time, you can please some of the people all of the time, but a hot rivet in the eye'll always make your head explode.     So hey, watch out for that! You're going to have to make sure you get off of that damaged robo-arm before it goes completely vertical and there's nothing to really grip on to. At this height it'll probably just be uncomfortable if you fall on the floor, but pretty soon they're probably going to start turning on the flamethrowers they use to clear out rats and vagrants and then you'll really be in trouble. In fact, they're turning them on right now. Climb for it!     Thankfully for Rosamond, she's got the flying ability to bypass almost all of this dungeon at once. Such a gamebreaker. While this means she can fly all the way up to the top of Ripsaw and potentially look for the primary spinal signal coordinator (which is still just a big flashing power core on the outside anyway), and while it does mean she's thankfully far enough away to avoid human retaliation when she sets off a variety of light bombs hither and thither to disable the human-armed offense...     There are going to be hovering drones up here with gun arms (for getting rid of bats, naturally?) that generally classify anything moving and not attached to a wall as an annoying interference. So they'll be getting in her way while Hoshi tries to take out the next point of failure! 

<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "/Why are there flamethrowers on the floor/?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Ren Tanaka says, "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "I will answer with another question."
<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Are there flamethrower racks nearby?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Yunomi Stadler says, "Maybe subfloor fuel line construction was cheaper?"
<X-Union-Chatter> [7] Hoshi Amakasu says, "No, these crazy people built them into the stupid floor to shoot out!"
<X-Union-Chatter> [LC] Raylene Dunwich says, "Oh."
<X-Union-Chatter> [A] Nasrin says, "Sounds to be an active day all around."

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Once Hoshi starts hearing Tanaka through the radio, she's glad that he's here and still okay. Of course, she also really wishes that they could've just come together, trashed the thing, and left without saying a word. Too bad for them.     And too bad for Hoshi, when jets of flame erupt not so far from her feet, and several rivets plant themselves right next to her face. "Why are there flamethrowers on the floor!? Who designed this place?!" Thankfully, she's a Persona User. Super strength and stuff comes with the territory. So, with a little inspiration she's able to scramble back up and go on her way, to another platform that leads to a crane that will take her to the top of the beast.     That's when some of the rivets smack into her side, just as she's starting to need to carefully balance. That's also when Rosamond ends up getting surrounded by gun drones. The Persona is able to use the slab of metal she uses as a sword to block a good number of the bullets, some get through, making Hoshi twitch and shudder with pain. It all ends up sending her over the side, only just able to catch herself with one hand.     The strain of holding Rosamond out for so long is getting to be too much. Hoshi releases her hold, and the Persona begins to quickly fade into blue mist. She grits her teeth; her sword changes into a hairtie again, letting her use both hands to quickly hand-over-hand this bastard. Once she's over one of the glowing red bits, she drops and forms her sword, trying to stab through... whatever this thing was. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''     You never know! He could be having force lightning shot at him right now. He might have to strangle this old guy to death with a bicycle chain. When was the last time you strangled someone to death with a bicycle chain, could you cut it?     Well, at least it doesn't sound like there's any lightning in the background as Ren asks:     "So you're a nihilist?"     "Perhaps I just wanted the perspective that would have come from being a giant in a small world?"     "Is this a rhetorical question, or a philosophical one?"     "Literal!"     "Ohhhh... that's a twist."     Hoshi's getting shot at! That's not good! On the other hand, this is having some interesting consequences, one being that the people doing the shooting- already somewhat guilty at their having to try and kill what seems to be a strange teenager with a sword- if anything have their perturbances multiplied when they actually HIT her and it doesn't really DO much, because now she's gone from 'strange kid' to 'unnatural human-shaped instrument of destruction'. Several people decide to give up and run at this anyway!     Especially when she uses her superhuman abilities to scale a platform or two, then a crane in a trice, leaving another of Ripsaw's power cores close at 'hand'.     And because she's able to go from strength to strength when it comes to smashing it, more of the workers decide to give up and run in fear, which leaves their waldos unmanned... long story short, out-of-control rivet guns end up wildly firing and taking out another of the ... we'll just call them power cores.     There's enough of Ripsaw that isn't finished yet that Hoshi can see there's a relative path right into the middle of the monster, with one remaining central device she could shut down if she dives down in there. Just a couple exposed electrical conduits, running-but-idle sets of gears, and a couple sets of damaged panels that are slamming open and closed and crushing anything between them when they do so.     Easy, right? 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     People were mercifully not shooting at Hoshi anymore, so that was nice. Them fleeing is a godsend to a girl who had a couple rivets jammed into her torso that were oozing blood onto her clothes. Once again, she's reminded that if she wasn't who she was, she'd probably be dead right now. That said, they still freaking /hurt/.     Tanaka is keeping the guy rambling on about whatever subject they'd gotten on--did he really design this thing to hop in himself? Where the hell is the investment return on that?--leaving Hoshi to put this thing to bed. Of course, that's going to be difficult, considering what's before her.     A big scowl comes to the teen's face. Clearly these people didn't know how to run a business or make a functioning robot. Thankfully, she still has some supernatural aid.     So she dives into the belly of the beast. She ends up having to climb around like a monkey to get over the electrical conduits, and a bit of her hair gets singed for the effort. The gears are a little more troublesome; eventually Hoshi grunts, "C'mon, Rosamond!" The Persona appears again, in a rather silly hunched position to even be able to fit, and grabs ahold of the geras long enough for Hoshi to slip through and let Rosamond fade.     The next one ends up leaving her stumped for a bit as the panels crashed together in front of her. Eventually, she starts noticing a slightly-erratic pattern. Once she feels she's got the feel of it, she ends up diving forward to try and make it through, only jst managing the last one and tripping badly enough to fall flat on her back.     "Agh.... guuh... I hate this plate," she pants. 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' "I will transfer my own mind out of this worn-out defect, fusing what I have discovered to be a soul to it! All of the mechanical shortcomings will be filled in by MY PURE WILL! I will become the force of annihilation! I will embody the senseless principle of destruction, laying waste to countless lives! And for what purpose? None! If anything, spite! I will wallow in it! I will create the largest, greatest war machine in history and use it for nothing but wanton slaughter!"     "No, no. I don't think you're going to, really."     "And why? Are you going to stop me?"     "No, I'm just going to keep you busy..."     Outside, equipment goes out of control and the flamethrowers accidentally light up some fuel lines, the building starts to shake and electrical fuses explode. Computers and important computer-controlled equipment, and potentially say cybernetic life support, electrifies and overloads.     The final power core is there in front of Hoshi, although it's surrounded by some out-of-place machinery with vaugely asian-looking iconography embossed onto it, made of odd green metal and with rice paper scrolls. It's all impossible to read, and potentially irrelevant. Pity Ren's not here to recognize it, huh? Takuya went to all of this trouble making something he'd recognize, too. 

:'''{{#var:901|Hoshi Amakasu (901)}} has posed:'''     Hoshi needs a few seconds to catch her breath once she's finally made it to the end. The loud, clanking machines make it almost impossible to focus now; at least she's still mobile, she probably couldn't summon Rosamond at this point.     She's up on her feet, her brows furrowed at all the weird iconography down here. It's nothing she can read, and there's nothing that's really saying that she was going to kill the timeline or anything, so... She steps forward grimly and lifts her sword point-down above her head, and just starts stabbing the thing as hard and as viciously as she can. "Stupid... murder robot!"     Once she's done, she starts trying to scramble her way back out. Who knows if this thing will self-destruct or something? 

:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:''' Look at it this way, Hoshi, although hopefully not as you're stabbing it because that thing's going to start glowing and crackling unpleasantly after you rupture the glassy centre- you've definitely just saved civilization, so that' something, right?     Step away quickly, though! Exploding may indeed be imminent! In fact, as you squirm out of the overloading robot, you'll find that exploding is imminent no matter which way you go.     A blast of metal and masonry blows out a wall some distance away, in one of the control rooms attached to a building wall. It's bad news for old men, presuming they survived previous implications- as a guy in a batsuit once said, I'm not going to kill you, but I just don't have to save you- as Ren can be seen making a running jump out of the room he was in, swinging off a drone and landing next to Hoshi. Stupid exalted tricks, landing from so high up safely, mutter mutter.     There's fire above, fire below, and fire all around. Congrats Hoshi! EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE.     Fortunatelt, when he gets up, he's starting to... sparkle? Hoshi is, too.     "Looks like we made it just in time, Amakasu. Like he said... limited charge. We're going to get pulled back to the present day. Let's hope it looks better than when we left, eh?"     There's more sparkles! And then ... well, imagine the previous rollercoaster feeling in spirit, but the track completely disappears halfway through, and there's some falling, and it's all in reverse...     When Ren and Hoshi stop moving again, they're somewhere else again. It's New Staffordshire, and it looks... sort of like what it did before, but only because total redevelopment of the city skyline can't even happen in four years even if a lot can be done.     The city looks rather different, though! There are clear(er) skies, glass and chrome buildings going up, plus things like... trees! And flowers! And trees and flowers placed and built in harmony with new glass and chrome buildings, and asthetic redevelopment, and most important of all PEOPLE! Lots and lots of wonderful living people, going about their normal lives, all of them looking pretty happy. Off in the distance you can even see Kelman too, looking a lot healthier and happier.     HOSHI AND REN MADE A GOOD FUTURE 
}}

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-31T21:23:47Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs supplement ([http://www/pokemontabletop.com]. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}

----

[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg width=506 style="float:center; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

== Gods of the Setting: ==

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

== Major Communities ==

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

== Other ==

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-31T21:22:00Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}

----

[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg width=506 style="float:center; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

== Gods of the Setting: ==

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

== Major Communities ==

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

== Other ==

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-31T21:21:22Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}

----

[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg width=506 style="float:center; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

== Gods of the Setting: ==

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

== Major Communities ==

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

----

== Other ==

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-30T09:29:17Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}

----

[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg width=506 style="float:center; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

== '''GODS OF THE SETTING:''' ==

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

== MAJOR COMMUNITIES: ==

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

----

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-30T09:27:22Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}
[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg width=506 style="float:center; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

----

== '''GODS OF THE SETTING:''' ==

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

----

== MAJOR COMMUNITIES: ==

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

----

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-30T09:24:40Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}
[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq.jpg width=506 style="float:center; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

---

GODS OF THE SETTING:

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

 

'''MAJOR COMMUNITIES:'''

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-30T09:23:39Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}
[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq width=506 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

---

GODS OF THE SETTING:

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

 

'''MAJOR COMMUNITIES:'''

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-30T09:21:50Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}
[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq width=506 style="margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

---

GODS OF THE SETTING:

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

 

'''MAJOR COMMUNITIES:'''

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-30T09:20:16Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}
[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq width=506 style="float:center; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

---

GODS OF THE SETTING:

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas:'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hard-line followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice:'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie:'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really explains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy:'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal:'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

 

'''MAJOR COMMUNITIES:'''

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL:'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass Pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are renowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG:'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG:'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN:'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART:'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM:'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigigas always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigigas' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork.

They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN:'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.

Archived: Pokemon: Shadow Grey-1

2016-03-30T09:16:56Z

Shrimptoast:

{{CastPage
|Desc=POKEMON: Shadow Grey is a Pokemon Tabletop United setting which uses the Game of Throhs suppliment. It takes place in the region known as Bayern, which is a fantasy dark ages (12-14th century) setting filled with gothic horror and high fantasy adventure in equal measure. Trainers use shrine-issued Pokejewelry to capture Pokemon to fight against the horrors that seek to overcome lifekind.

This setting uses the alchemy, weapons, Pokemon fantasy variants and all GoT trainer classes. Other GoT elements can be incorporated at request. Look at the 'chivalric romance' and 'dungeon fantasy' entries in GoT for more inspiration.
|Cat=Original Theme
}}
[http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq <img src=http://imgur.com/nWwxUeq width=506>]]

"In the beginning there was the sculptor of the world and the woods, Regigigas. The region of Bayern was sculpted by him as the roaming grounds of his offspring... did you expect them to be humans? Ha ha... nah. Regigigas' hollow offspring, the golems, were what the world was built for. So when he found life- human life, Pokemon life- growing on its own, ooh, was he steamed. When the Stag of Life, Xerneas, stepped forward to say that he was the guardian of living things, he was mad. And then when humans and Pokemon began to discover empathy and mysticism, and their powers when they worked together, he went... 'Oooh, they'll all have to go.'

So we fought back. Well, what else could we do? We had Diancie to teach us how to make Pokejewels, and the Swords of Justice to help us fight... we took the fight to him. People died, of course. A heck of a lot of people died! That's where we found out about the blasted Yveltal, the dragon of death. But hey, we're still here, right? So we won, well of course we did.

Now the world's grown... Regigigas didn't sit well in that mountain prison the gods sealed him up in all those hundreds of years ago. There's only three of his spawn released now, but it could be a thousand, dependin' on who you ask... they spread the curse of Hollowness, wanting to turn everything just like them. Ah, dark days are ahead..."

---

GODS OF THE SETTING:

[http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png <img src=http://imgur.com/TEhf4BO.png width=235 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Xerneas'''
The most all around familiar legendary Pokemon, Xerneas is the kind of person that most people think of when they think of a benevolent god. He is associated with life in all of its forms, and most specifically in Bayern, the struggle of life against hardship and darkness. He is a god of survival and persistence. Things that lack visible eyes are treated badly by hardline followers of Xerneas. Serious devotees spend their time in communities built around or suspended in trees.

[http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png <img src=http://imgur.com/HUGeSto.png width=270 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''The Swords of Justice'''
These three gods represent martial pride and purity of heart, and originally charged humanity and taught them to fight to emulate their own creed: to protect those who cannot themselves. To a certain extent, they also represent humanity's ability to build and produce- Virizion is a patron of agriculture, weavers and those who work with plants, Terrakion of masons and builders, and Cobalion of smiths and metalworkers. However, their followers also tend towards 'lawful stupid' paladins, bigots, and those who would kick an Absol in the face just because it's a Dark-type.

[http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/VzElmcp.jpg width=250 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Diancie'''
Diancie gave the world what it needed most- the knowledge of how to jewelcraft, creating Pokejewelry and the means to make the healing arrays in Pokemon Apothecaries. She is also a being who represents fortune- precious metals and jewelry, and even good luck in a more general sense are under her purview. Some secular beliefs state that she has the power to be reborn from another Carbink should she ever need to, and can even reincarnate other humans and pokemon in other form; although no one ever really expplains what 'should she need to' means as it would imply going into why and how a goddess could die.

[http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg <img src=http://imgur.com/fu02V0o.jpg width=261 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Manaphy'''
Few beings worship Manaphy aside from a community on the isolated island of Bugen. As Bayern is a large landlocked continent, few people aside from those who live in a coastal community ever get close enough to the ocean for it to matter, but Manaphy is considered the chief guardian of the depths of the ocean, and he is welcome to it. Many people just pray they don't sink if they ever need to go out there. Many people do not think that Manaphy IS even a god, due to the presence of Phiones- which often can be found in rivers and lakes- who claim that Manaphy is their progenitor to those who can speak to them. Manaphy offers the people of Bayern nothing tangible, and so he is rarely venerated.

[http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png <img src=http://imgur.com/MmLKOCR.png width=295 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''Yveltal'''
The Dragon of Death has no worshipers, at least none in the traditional sense, in the greater Bayern continent. This is because few wish to invite the attention of Death itself on them or their home, and many fear this aspect as part of their daily lives. That said, tokens to Yveltal are often found in graveyards and in the form of gargoyles that guard over castles. Although the legend has faded over time, Yveltal's power was integral to the fight against Regigigas. Only one church to Yveltal exists in Bayern and it acts more like a mausoleum, giving respect to those that have died and acting as the way to speak to Yveltal without risking its wrath. The followers of Yveltal are an order of knights that continually hunt down the Hollow, though their numbers diminished long ago. In absolute truth, Yveltal itself more of a peaceful grim reaper type and represents the natural flow of decay and death as opposed to the forced destruction invited by the golems that threaten Bayern. That said, it does directly oppose Xerneas in a stalemate that has lasted since both gods were born.

Other legendary Pokemon may have indeed existed, but may have died during the great war with Regigigas. Their names faded from memory, such that it is hard to tell whether any un-named Legendary existed at all. In other words: plot fodder. Finding the remains of a dead legendary or some item connected to them could be the basis for an incredible arcane weapon or even let them access their Gifts as a Usurper or Branded-class.

 

'''MAJOR COMMUNITIES:'''

[http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/oMiWMty.jpg width=306 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''HOLZFALL'''
The community whose patron is Virizion, Holzfall is the second largest community in Bayern. It consists of many small towns and provides a thriving industry of woodworkers, carpenters, and all who work closely with grass pokemon. It is also a famed farming community, consisting of many berry growers and juicers. As a result, this is the birthplace of the Pokemon contest, and people who live hand in hand with Pokemon are reknowned as silk hiding steel. Due to the fact that there are just as many dangers in the deep woods however, it is also a community with many hunters, trappers and woodsmen. The deepest forests are called the Schwarzwald. Its militia is skilled in the use of axes as their signature weapon. Pokemon common to this community are Grass, Fairy, Bug, Steel and Ghost types.

[http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/SzQpSIp.jpg width=225 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''KONIGBURG'''
The largest city in Bayern- and in fact, the only city, really. Its patron is Cobalion. The most developed region of Bayern is where all of the science happens- alchemy, clockwork, glasswork, scholarly theory and new innovations in technology. It is a city of promise, but also a city of long shadows and insular behavior. Built so closely together that it would be devastated by fire or indeed Hollowness, Konigburg has a taboo of strict control of Pokemon who can change the environment in battle. Racketeers and black markets often gather in back alleys and disused streets, as well. However, paradoxically its militia is the strongest of all, but they are always looking outside to threats instead of looking in. Their signature weapon is the crossbow. Pokemon common to this community are Normal, Electric, Dark, Rock and Steel.

(PORYGON: the first Porygon was made in this city, out of clockwork and finely crafted plates of crystal, and was blessed by Diancie and Xerneas' agents to bring it to life. Less than a hundred true Porygons exist in Bayern, and these days often an artificer need only spend years producing the clockwork before it crystallizes into living form, but they are seen as a sign of a bright future, and making one is the pinnacle of the clockmaker's lifework.)

[http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/P225Mkd.jpg width=266 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''SALTBURG'''
At the foot of the Alpis mountains lies Saltburg and its neighboring towns. It is unique among communities in Bayern in that while many of its militia and shrines venerate Terrakion, most of the community and common people venerate Diancie far more strongly. Indeed, it has forever been the envy of Konigburg for the fact that much of its infrastructure is powered by a Heart Diamond granted to it by Diancie. The mines of the Alpis mountains produce a seemingly neverending supply of gems and precious metals, but the gap between the people who get to enjoy this wealth and the people who actually dig it out is large. Its people and pokemon work hand in hand in industry, and they produce most of the Pokejewelry that is sent out through Bayern. Its militia specialize in the use of the pick. Pokemon common to this community are Rock, Ground, Dragon, Ice and Fighting.

[http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/O6W13MD.jpg width=236 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''BUGEN'''
A small island off of the coast and the coastal city closest to it, they share the name Bugen. The island is home to a monastic order which venerates Manaphy, and consider themselves closest of all to water Pokemon. However, most consider them to be completely disconnected from most of Bayern as a whole. People who live in the coastal city are looked upon more favorably, mostly due to the occasional interesting discovery that washes ashore from the old times or, more practically, the fish that they can ship to other places. Bugen is also where many aspiring Sky Trainers grow up, and Flying pokemon are used to overcome the hazardous Slug Moor swamps that surround the city. Its militia use the polearm and spear as their special weapon. Pokemon common to this area are Flying, Water, Poison, Ground and Dark.

[http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/ESxqVZ8.jpg width=480 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''ARCHENGART'''
Archengart was once a city of mysticism and a premier place for those who had developed psychic powers to go to home their talents. Unknown to many, however, it had been corrupted years ago by the curse of Hollowness, and its leadership was riddled with the cursed. The central cathedral of the city is locked up as tight as it was on the day the city fell, having been conquered by Count Kord and much of its population decimated. Naturally, the Count only killed the afflicted, but few people saw any pattern to the devastation- and so nobody knew of the secret plan to sacrifice hundreds of mystics and psychics to resurrect a dead, reassembled Regi which remains sealed there. However, many Psychic, Fire, Fighting, Electric and Ghost pokemon remain native to the surrounding areas, and the curse of Hollowness in the native Pokemon is ruthlessly purged by Kord's people.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg <img src=http://i.imgur.com/acN9u7P.jpg width=432 style="float:left; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TEAM GOLEM'''
The simplest name for the wicked group that supports Regigas is Team Golem, but they would style themselves as the Sentinels of the Pure World. What most people consider the curse of Hollowness, the Team claims is the only way to achieve true mental and emotional purity, an abandonment of worldly sins that makes them the 'true' people destined to inhabit the world. They claim that Regigias always intended for humanity and Pokemon to have this element, and all who do not will perish when they inevitably free him. Not all of the Team have the curse of Hollowness, but those who do definitely recognize that the Team is the best hope for doing the awful deeds that further Regigias' release. Rather than Pokemon- Hollow ones aside- they fight with ersatz Toy Pokemon that are made of lifeless clockwork. They hate Porygons. They really, really hate Porygons.

 

[http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png <img src=http://i.imgur.com/CTbEHeM.png width=445 style="float:right; margin-right:5px; margin-top:15px;">]

'''TREASURES OF BAYERN'''
Many items in the Pokemon world that would be of varied or questionable rarity are different in Bayern, with some items going up to mythical rarity. Anything that a trainer can make using a Feature are considered to be of relative commonality, but typically the person who can make them is usually the ONLY person that can make them. As such, many people specialize in the creation of Potions(including repels and status remedies), TMs or Pokejewelry, and only the Touched can learn it as an incidental skill. Herbs and powders are for the poorest people. Many wandering trainers can only produce potions and healing items of inferior type that typically only work for them, and similar things can be said for tutors. Items such as Ethers, Revives, Incenses and Type-Boosting Held Items must be made or found in naturally occuring places with a touch of mystical power to them. Gems, items like Razor Claws, Rocks, and Light Clay are the next level of rarity. Stones and Fossils are the next level up. Evolution-inducing Held Items are exceptionally rare and hard to find. Mega Stones, Plates, and Orbs are so rare as to be mythical things spoken of in stories.