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| Owner | Pose |
|---|---|
| S6 | The districts of Indus outside the wall are all steadily being destroyed and reclaimed by nature. In this particular sector, it is the forest which ceaselessly encroaches. Soil and grass consumes the streets between crumbling buildings, with saplings springing up wherever they can. Larger trees, some of them incredibly so, have split open various structures in their quest for the sun. The further from the Wall one ventures, the more forested the surroundings. The coordinates provided lead here; to a place where the forest has all but fully reclaimed the city. It's difficult to tell that this was once the home of towering structures, with only the pillars and upheld roadbed of a causeway clearly showing that this was once more urban sprawl. S6 is not idly waiting. She crouches in the loam, inspecting a large splotch of blackened vegetation, a dead patch in the middle of all this vibrant life. Beside her, the POD has its antennae extended, emitting a soft hum. After a moment, she rises to her feet, casting a visor-concealed glance further into the forest, eyes following a haphazard trail of smaller blotches. -ANALYSIS COMPLETE. NULLBORN BODY MATERIAL.- "Wounded?" -UNKNOWN.- |
| Shigure | Yuudachi and Kuma heed the call of FANTOM. The blonde and brunette arriving in their rigging from the direction of the local warpgate. "Looks like a trail to follow, poi." remarks the blonde as she kneels to take a look at the blotch of dead vegetation. Kuma's eyes scan the trail alongside S6's visor-hidden gaze, remaining oddly solemn and quiet, her ahoge twitching with a pulse of electricity forming a jacobs ladder within the arch of brown hair. "Beginning area scan, kuma. Radar rotating, kuma." |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | It is not difficult at all to hear that something is coming. The noise from the hoverbike is like a constant, thrumming explosion, as if somewhere there were a firearm going off the size of an engine block, which also happened to be fully automatic. It can be felt as much as heard; a thrumming in the chest. As it draws nearer, wash from the lifter which keeps it afloat blows dust and detritus around it along the edges of an invisible, helical field of ionized air. Mercifully, the noise of the thruster dies down as the Green Knight slows his approach, and the sound of the engine slows down from rapid, constant such detonations to a few, then none at all--there is only a startlingly quiet hum and the admittedly still noisy whoosh of air as the vehicle's lifters keep it aloft. It a huge thing, of green armor plates in brutalist angles, painted with gold motifs of alien hounds chasing prey. It carries no weapons, but it's not hard to imagine a model of this beast coming equipped with them. The rider is already armored. A black bodysuit of synthetic weave bears thick metal plates undoubtedly adding a substantial weight to the vehicle, to say nothing of the massive harness worn over that plated suit. The rider's armor bears the signs of computer-assisted machining rather than a smith's hammer, with little vents in palces. At his back is a cloak of rye grass and hyacinths, and covering his head is a bucket helm with a black T-visor and what appear to be the antlers of a stag protruding from it. He is quiet, but that doesn't mean he's not doing anything, as he hovers in place near the gathering. Using his knowledge of the wilderness, he's looking at signs of non-human passage, and further narrowing down his results to those unlikely to be the work of animals. Since he's on his bike, which blows around dirt and ground-level detritus, his eyes are primarily focused on the trees, which he imagines something like a Nullborn wouldn't be overly cautious around. |
| Lilian Rook | Well, even if it is, it knows we're coming *now*." Lilian says to the familiar S6. It'd been a hot minute since she'd been anywhere around Indus, but she remembers more than enough about Nullborn; including that the officer types are meant to be intelligent. So it could hardly miss the sound of Bercilak's goddamn bike. "Do you have to ride that jalopy piece of hovershit everywhere?" she says out loud, without politely doing things to time first, briefly culturally appropriating a tiny amount of what is called 'gamer rage' in their native tongue. "How long ago was it sighted going through here? Would it have run into city defenses? Otherwise, what could it be? Friendly fire? I sort of doubt it tripped and fell; this place is beyond dilapidated and into being a forest again." She shifts the backpack she's brought for some reason. "Albeit, it's sort of nice for once to be sortieing into a crumbling wilderness that's green for a change." |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: Pursue DRAKOS QUEST "DAMN BRO." Arthur rambles as he squats near one of the blackened bits of growth. "What kinda DOG SHIT PUBLIC WORKS CONCRETE they got up in this?" He shakes his head sadly at the state of the city. "Well, better to get that RICH AS HELL ECOSYSTEM up in this motherfucker if you're gonna LOSE THE CITY." He regards the blonde boat's take with a vague nod. "Homeboy got a LEAK and it looks like a BIOHAZARD if it's killin' off PLANT LIFE with this kinda DURABILITY, yo." Lilian's question was a good idea, and he thinks: "Oh, what, y'mean like maybe this guy's LEAKIN' ON PURPOSE? Some SLOSHY-ASS MOTHERFUCKER got his ACID BAG or whatever? I'm gonna be honest, I don't know what a NULLBORN is and I won't read more than ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY CHARACTERS OF DESCRIPTION. Are we on the lookout for BIOHAZARDOUS SACS up in this op, for real?" >Arthur: Appreciate gamer rage Lilian's gamer rage increments a BANTER COMPREHENSION meter on Arthur, one with her face on it. It's a comedically poorly rendered face. >Arthur: Follow trail Guess there's not much more to do, after all. |
| S6 | "Drakos are reclusive," S6 states in an even tone, "They come out rarely, when provoked or when going on the attack. It is rare for them to simply wander about in the open." Her gaze shifts back to the trail left by the creature, "Last sighting was 36 hours ago. No FANTOM attack units have encountered it since." For all intents and purposes, compared to the heavily equipped Green Knight, S6 hardly looks like she even belongs in the wilderness. How she manages those heels in this loam is a mystery. To Arthur, S6's response is straightforward: "A Nullborn is a creature which consumes magic. This includes life energy. Highly aggressive and dangerous to all forms of life." ... "Character count, 127. That should meet the restriction." From his higher vantage and with his expertise, Bercilak picks out a number of clues. Pressed down patches of moss, disturbed dirt, broken branches. A series of ragged dark marks on one of the larger trees, oozing with sap. The deathly patches of ground cover, in this context, look almost like shed blood. There was definitely a fight here, between a large creature and someone who is light on their feet. Kuma's radar at least traces out a number of paths between the trees. She even picks up metal in various places, though it's hard to tell if that's not just leavings of the city that used to stand here, or related to the incident currently at hand. Arthur is the first to pursue the splatter trail, and S6 steps away from Lilian in the same direction, her weapons flickering in across her back as she moves. This trail leads perhaps...half a block or so, by the collapsing structures, before it ends in a pool of noxious black sludge. Thick, like molassas, the muck eats into the plant life surrounding it. After a few moments, something heavy falls in from overhead, a chain of crudely shaped vertebral bones. Made of stone, it's fashioned like some creature's skeletal tail. The source, some two dozen meters up and wedged into one of the collapsing structures, is the skeletal remains, vaguely reptilian in shape. Skull, ribs, most of the spine, all the limbs, all made of stone. That black gunk drools off the bones, spilling down the structure's wall and pooling in the loam-covered street. Standing atop the skeleton, a woman with long white hair wrenches a sword from the skull. An android whose body and clothing have seen better days, mechanisms visible through worn joints, clad in the tattered remains of what once might have been a uniform. She turns enough to glance with one steel-grey eye, expression otherwise hidden by her shoulder. -ALERT- -ROGUE UNIT IDENTIFIED. DESIGNATION: D4.- |
| Shigure | Kuma reports the various metal returns, but they're likely just detritus from the collapsing city. The pair form up on the flanks around S6 and Aruther, their guns elevating forward in preparation for an ambush. Suffice it to say they're not expecting to find a pool of Nullborn sludge drooling down the side of a skeletal building, and the rogue Android stood atop the recently deceased corpse of their target. Yuudachi moves forward, her eyes flashing red for a brief moment. Though she doesn't immediately attack. Kuma likewise settles into a slightly fallen back position, the pair taking advantage of overlapping fields of fire to cover the group with their artillery. "You killed the Officer, kuma... are you friend or foe, kuma?" asks the brunette, locking eyes with D4. |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | Lilian:Do you have to ride that jalopy piece of hovershit everywhere? Bercilak holds the brake shutter and guns the accelerator to make the engine roar. "What?" Memes aside, he does spot something of use. Following the trail of destruction, he begins to get the picture--someone (maybe S6, maybe one of her fellows) was fighting this thing before his arrival, and the path of that fight tells a story. Highly mobile, lighter humanoid, versus a larger, more territorial beast. It tracks, based on what S6 says. Where would something like that go, to escape pursuit, if victory seemed outside its grasp? Perhaps the city, to try and break up a pursuer's line of sight with tall buildings, there to perhaps take one's refuge inside? It's worth a try. He brings up the rear, for he is wont to ponder and ruminate overlong due to his perception of time. Since the joke was already made, and since he knows Lilian is competent, whatever else she may be, the Green Knight does not hurry to catch up either. Instead, he uses the lifter that provides the bike's hovering, the orientation of that invisible force shifting subtly to carry the bike at walking-pace without the loudness of its engine. When he arrives, then, he extends his hand, still astride the bike. A massive greataxe appears there, in a flash of blue light. Its straight, wickedly sharp edge glows a bright green, and its beard appears large enough to catch the average humanoid by the throat. The bulky head is a thing of brutalist angles, with angled ridges along the cheek to slow up an enemy's weapon. "God ihuntinge," he offers, complimenting D4 on her kill. "Art thou in wantsum of yet mo sporte?" he asks hopefully. It's never too early in the day for a friendly brawl. |
| Lilian Rook | "Unless I'm misremembering, weren't Nullborn meant to *increase* local greenery upon death?" Lilian posits to S6 while the group moves. "For its blood to be melting the flora like this; wouldn't this have to be extremely fresh? For being sighted 36 hours ago, I feel like that *would* normally imply a friendly fire incident or an accident, but I've yet to hear of Nullborn attacking each other, and as I said before, this place doesn't seem sufficiently unsafe on its own merits." Lilian doesn't seem to do more than glance at the sludge itself, as if she doesn't need to follow it, and doesn't intend to examine it. Unerringly, she picks her way through the reclaiming forest with surprising quiet and speed, for someone who doesn't appear to be actively hunting anything. Arriving at the site, she quickly looks up the length of the dangling tail, and flatly says "Oh. 'Drakos' was literal. When I heard 'officer' I pictured something less . . . bestial, I suppose? It's really like a little dragon. Well, what's left of one." She can't have missed the Android, right? -----[stop]----- Lilian steps forward a few more meters, draws a tungsten carbide knife, and uses its point to deftly scrape a series of quick, angular runes into the base of the final tail vertabrae, before stepping back. -----[start]----- Apparently not. "What does 'rogue unit' mean in this context? It killed the officer, right? That's what we were heard to do anyways. It looks like--" Lilian frowns incrementally on a second look. "No, that's not battle damage. Wear and tear? How long has that unit been doing Indus' job for them out here? Ostensibly alone and without support." |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: Log it in the lorebooks! "Good ol' MANAVORES, gotta hate 'em. I'm like a BIG DUMB MEAL for shit like that..." Arthur grumbles as he logs the entry away under a lore tab. But he presses on, leading the way, following that trail... >Arthur: Greet and investigate Arthur brandishes a battle-mop, swiping one of the horrible gunk deposits away before he settles it over one shoulder. Even his own game UI responds to that rogue unit alert, flashing red around him. He whistles, "What, FANTOM lettin' DESERTERS steal the kills now?" He cocks his head aside, briefly, forcing a grin to bubble to the surface on his face. "Or maybe NOT LETTING THAT GO." Arthur isn't the biggest fan of I4, and S6 isn't one he knows tremendously well, but he knows they're both FANTOM, and he knows he likes them both. What does this mean about a rogue unit? Is this rogue a deserter, or some more unsanctioned android, or what have you? "Yo, Essex!" He shouts to S6, hoping she's nearby. "Y'all KNOW THIS LADY? Get the feeling this ain't SANCTIONED or whatev', when it comes to FANTOM." He looks to her in an expectant way, seeking introduction after he's spent some time talking about her like she can't just hear him. |
| S6 | "There is a time after death where the Nullborn's flesh is still hazardous," S6 states to Lilian's query, "Once it has neutralized, that is when it affects plant life." She stops suddenly when the carcass comes into view. By the time her POD has finished its announcement, she's already drawn her sword into a ready position, visor-clad gaze locked on D4. "She won't return to FANTOM for repairs," she states simply to Lilian's questioning, "And has killed every android sent to retrieve her." More clarification for Arthur. "We have fought before." Upon the skeletal remains of the Drakos, D4's gaze shifts to Bercilak when he hovers close. It isn't hostility, wonder, or the like that he sees written across her face. Mostly the artificial woman just looks...tired. Perhaps a little haunted. She doesn't answer his good-natured question, though. Her eyes shift back to the ground, wandering from Arthur to Lilian, across S6 to settle at last on Kuma and Yuudachi. At last, her eyes close, as if in thought. A slow inhale that creaks through her worn frame when she exhales. When D4's eyes open again, the tired look is gone, replaced with conviction. Her free hand raises, eliciting a flicker of golden runes from the building's wall. She wrenches aside and the wall lurches in response. The structural reinforcement, a lattice of welded metal rods, tears itself free of the concrete. With multiple golden rune circles surrounding it at various points, this lurches across the pathway as a makeshift fence. The runes only disappear once it's buried the leading edge into one of the old growth trees. "You aren't here for me," is all the woman says, her voice cold. She fixes her glare on the nearby Green Knight, before turning and dropping off the building. At ground level, D4 breaks into a run through the forest-choked street. |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | Some days ago, Lilian made a recommendation over the radio, to a fellow Paladin--a rough guideline as to how one might consider whether something supernatural is 'dangerous to humans.' The Green Knight often skirts close to her criteria, for though he clearly understands hurt and triumph, needs no acknowledgment to exist or permission to enter, though he understands pain and suffering... There are some things in the world which you must never, ever run from. Walk, if you must. But do not run. "Wel, I am nau that thou at-rennen heonene! BAHAHA!" Bercilak guns it and takes off after her, axe raised high. And to make for better sport, he cleaves it into the earth, causing walls of foliage to erupt in D4's path as she attempts to escape. |
| Shigure | The pair of kanmusu are about to stand down. "Target destroyed, mission compl---" And then Bercilak takes off after D4 when she starts running. "Moving to support allied units, poi." the blonde then takes off running as well, with Kuma taking a second or two to 'rev up' and follow. As the Knight puts up obstacles in D4's way, the Kanmusu start firing HE shells into the possible dodge routes to try and catch the rogue android off balance. |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: You're not here for her Nope! >Arthur: But you're still about to-- YEP!! Arthur tosses aside the mop and summons up a broom. "HEY WRECKIN'-BALL!" He shouts. "You look BEAT THE FUCK UP. You gotta get them REPAIRS!" He fundamentally misunderstands the situation. "I dunno what your DEAL IS, but you better GET BACK HERE and TALK IT! I'm a HERO, asshole, I ain't gonna LEAVE SOMEONE ALL BUSTED-UP WITHOUT SOME HELP!" >Arthur: Maybe Gate through the fence? Arthur could get around this with flight... but getting too far ahead of the group is asking to get into trouble. Instead, he leaps at the lattice of metal rods and blasts a Gate through it, planting its twin on his side and surging through and leaving the glowing green spirograph for the others. "SLOW IT DOWN, YO!" He calls ahead. "You're gettin' some BRAKE REPAIRS first damn thing!!" |
| Lilian Rook | 'She won't return to FANTOM for repairs'. "Okay? And?" 'And has killed every android sent to retrieve her.' "Oh I see. By rogue you mean traitor, then." Lilian pauses ever so briefly. "How does that happen? Isn't your type not supposed to have emotions or something? I can recall a pair of them refused to retire from active duty, but I could interpret that as a sort of prime directive thing. A necessity of remaining functional." "This point doesn't check out. What use is there in refusing to return, backstabbing allies, *and* still fighting the enemy? That unit is clearly falling to pieces. Their ability to kill Nullborn is compromised, but fighting Nullborn compromises their ability to fight FANTOM, for whatever lunatic reason managed to error its way in there." The entire building coming free is a bit of a surprise, but Lilian has at least seen those runes before when S6 and I4 use them, so she knows roughly to expect. At the same moment, she snaps her fingers and activates her own runes, old-fashioned as they may be, with a tiny discharge of magical energy. Engraven into the tailbone of a dragon(ish thing) is a good place for them to transmit and extend smoothly. It's a little alchemical array this time, encircled around the vertebrae. Stages of putrefaction and calcination. Turning the material into something adjacent to both stone and bone in that direction. That is to say, the Drako's skull, like the rest of the skeleton, dissolves into a thick, soupy quagmire of mud and wet quicksand. "No, but I don't like wasting my time." |
| S6 | "I will not pretend to understand why she makes the decisions she makes," S6 responds to Lilian's assessment. She's right, though. D4's choices simply don't make sense from either angle; opposing Nullborn is best done with FANTOM support, and opposing FANTOM is best done without picking fights with Nullborn. While the rest spring to action, the android woman tilts her head downward in thought. It does call P33 and S27 to mind; the two who deserted that day, disappearing into the desert. Were they doing the same thing? Collapsing into illogical, conflicting directives? Or is it simply the desire to choose one's own death? To take on the wilderness until it finally claims them? It's not something S6 can relate to, for certain. D4's landing is more awkward than she expected, sinking knee-deep in Lilian's concretion. When Bercilak comes down with his weapon, she crouches. In a cool voice, her response to Arthur might be missed over the sudden chaos: "This is my choice." With a cracking sound, D4 hurls herself forward and upward with enormous force. Losing a good deal of momentum to the sludgy mixture, D4 lands with a tumble, rolls to her feet, and dashes. His actual maneuver comes in the form of a wall; and explosive fire from the two ships block off the obvious bypass. The battered android hurls her sword forward not into the barrier, but into the ground. Golden runes drag it in a circle while D4 leaps, rolling herself into a flip and descending on the carving feet-first. The soil-choked street collapses, taking the android with it into a sub-surface tunnel system. A pensive S6 steps through Arthur's portal, but doesn't engage in the pursut. Rather, she crouches down beside the slush of sand and stone Lilian had created. In the holes left by D4's exit, scraps of synthetic skin and clothing, marred by splatters of crimson oil all left behind in her bid for escape. Reaching out, she collects one of these pieces. While it looks like skin, it's brittle, cracking between her fingers like cheap plastic and prompting a thoughtful, wordless noise from the android. |
| Shigure | "Pinging SONAR. Target diving!" calls Yuudachi, a pulse of sound, felt more than heard eminating from her. She beelines for the escape hole, pausing a moment before dropping in to give the android a moment, if she's lurking to attack the first responder down the hole, she has to dismiss her Rigging to do so. Kuma comes up short, her frame too large to fit down the hole, even if she did dismiss her Rigging like Yuudachi did. "Are there maps of these tunnels, kuma?" she asks toward S6, moving over to approach the android, "We might be able to cut her off, kuma." |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | "Thou'rt sprakli in thy atscape," calls Bercilak with a merry belly-laugh. The bike pulls hard up, the engine accelerating to the point that the rapid explosions of whatever fuel mixture powers it become a constant, droning hiss which nevertheless may still be felt in one's chest. As the elevator's along the massive bike's frame tilt once more, it bends into a backwards loop, the nose soon pointed straight at the ground. The escape hole, moments later, is blown wide-ass open. No one here is as thickly made as the Green Knight or his steed--but if cramped tunnels are a worry for anyone here, they won't be for long with the way he plows through them. His axe drags behind him as he laughs with slightly unnerving delight, striking up sparks and trees in equal measure. Those short, squat trees rise up to brace the tunnel as he plows through it, so as to avoid a cave-in. Unfortunately, the hiss of that engine is god-awful underground--but he at least offers Yuudachi a hand as he passes by. The bike being as big as it is, the running board on either side can hold someone, provided their balance is good enough. He doesn't slow down, however--gotta be quick on the uptake! Through sheer brute force, he plows through obstructions in his way, making his own tunnel in his pursuit and not at all being subtle about it. "SO ALS SHALT I BE WODLI IN MY IHUNTINGE!" He pauses in his axe-scraping to whack aside a length of pipe that'd otherwise crash right into his helmet, bits of concrete and metal flying everywhere. "I SHALT ENANGLE THEE OR BE BURIED IN MINE INSEKING," he raucously roars between thrilled belly-laughs. "WHERE-AWEI LIES THE JOBARD WHO SAITH DEVYSES AS THOU ART NOT ALIF?! LET THAT BICCHE NAU ESPY THY FLITTING, AND BE PREVED A JOBARD! BAHAHAHA!" |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: Focus, pursue "Sure is ya choice!" He calls out, continuing his dashing, with frequent quick rocket-boosts. "And sure look like you're sufferin' 'bout it! Too bad you gotta deal with *me* now, asshole! You keep choosin' to run, I'm 'boutta *choose* to rumble your shit until you sit down and get some goddamn replacement bits! Like, fuck the ghost police or whoever, but *girl you gotta get yo ass fixed*!" He rockets down into the tunnels, trying to roughly keep a pace with Bercilak. "Love to see the sweet rides on the tunnelfucker nine thousand!" He calls out, before doing his best to charge up a boost and *surge* ahead abruptly, for at least a moment! >Arthur: Intensify gravity to try to slow her down If he can get in a good position, he can release a wave of intensified energy down the tunnel, meant to inflict an aura of multiplied gravity throughout to slow and exhaust an escape, while hopefully not bringing the tunnels down. "Hey, cool your gams, mara-tron! It's kinda hard keepin' up even with these rockets and wheels!" |
| Lilian Rook | At the ensuing disengangement sequence, Lilian actually stops and mentally takes notes. As Bercilak smashes into the tunnel, she turns to S6, and asks with some measure of expectant incredulity, "You can't do that, can you? Isn't D supposed to be the 'defender' model? What part of any of this is defense?" She begins walking backwards from S6 checking the remainders. "Are you happy with this? Picking up the scraps and going back home? You know, if you want to know what happened to that unit --what's going on in their head-- you can just ask them." A good, negative budget blip later, Lilian has found quick pursuit transport by way of crouching on the back of Arthur's rocket broom, dangerously close to the exhaust for lack of significant room, and apparently sans backpack. She taps him twice on the shoulder, then points ahead and says "Speed up. Don't slow for any turns." |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: Notice your passenger calmly "Jegus!" He calls out, his broom slightly swerving. A few blinks and then, "Hahaha, SURE YO, LET'S DO THIS!" He pops the plastic cover off of one of the input pads of his KING BROOM and kicks it up to DANGER MODE, now fully enabling settings that would otherwise splatter him on a wall in these tight interiors. WARP RELEASE CODES ------------------------------------------------- | ACTIVE | DANGER | CRITICAL | | ---------- | ------------ | ------------------- | | | | | | ********** | ************ | ___________________ | | | | | ------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- | | | THRUSTER MODES | | | | [ ] DASH | | [ ] CRUISE | | [ ] CHARGE | | [ ] SPRINT | | [ ] ESCAPE VELOCITY | | [X] UNSTOPPABLE FORCE | | [ ] PLAID | | [ ] UP A GODDAMN NOTCH | | [ ] LET'S DO THIS SHIT | -------------------------- The speed at which Arthur starts to accelerate challenges lots of preconceived notions about G-forces and things like where blood should be in the body. |
| S6 | "...D is the Deserter designation," S6 states evenly, gaze not moving from the scrap in her hand, "Her capabilities and VRCS are comparable; She is a Striker, like me." Lilian disappears, and S6 rises to her feet. Her tone changes when she speaks again, "Pod." -RETRIEVING DATA.- Turning towards Kuma, the android nods once, "We can support from here. I will provide aiming telemetry. It should be calibrated for your fourteen centimeter guns." -CALCULATION COMPLETE.- -TRANSFERRING FIRE CONTROL RECOMMENDATIONS.- "We will collapse tunnels and restrict her movement. Fire when ready." IN PURSUIT: Going underground has not shaken off literally any of the people chasing her. Not even the knight on the obnoxiously loud flying machine, who is now barreling through restrictive tunnels while laughing like a madman. Raising a hand, she clenches her fingers, then wrenches to one side. Pipes tear from the walls as an obstruction, wrapped in rings of golden runes. She yanks to the other side; another brace of pipes lurch out, this time from the right. Despite the lack of lighting, it's getting somewhat easy to see where she is in the dark. Not only the distinctive golden rune rings of the VRCS she's wielding, but certain components visible through her damaged body are adoping a healthy orange-red glow. |
| Shigure | Yuudachi grabs the offered hand without hesitation, latching onto the bike with one hand while trying to aim her handcannon with the other. 12.7cm shells spit out, slamming into the ceiling, floor and walls, detonating on impact... Bercilak's energetic vigor gets an askew glance from the blonde destroyer. She likes the bloodthirst and energy, but what the hell is he even saying? Meanwhile, Kuma's eyes 'fuzz' as POD transmits the target data. She then turns, angling her cannons and beginning sequential fire. "Shots out, kuma. Pursuit team be advized, kuma. Tunnels coming down, kuma. Sharing data, kuma." the brunette begins sending the relevant data, routing it through POD to help. Her cannon continues to fire, dropping HE shells to collapse the tunnels where indicated, though her fire control is a little inaccurate the volume of fire should be enough, given enough time. |
| Lilian Rook | There's a reason Lilian has told Arthur not to slow for corners. She'd feel grateful towards him for trusting her, but she's also certain he can figure out that she'd stand to be pretty seriously injured colliding with a wall at this speed too. When they arrive at the first intersection where he'd have to pull a hard 90 degree angle, moments before hitting the wall-- -----[stop]----- Lilian clambers off the broom. Checking against the telemetry to ensure she has the right direction, she jogs pushes the back haft of the broom in the opposite direction, keeping her hands clear of the big, blobby, searing point of light at the end, and making sure not to suck in any of those opaque black cotton balls of hanging fumes. Carefully bracing both feet, elongating her arms, and using her knees, Lilian pushes sidelong without the broom moving this time, shouldering the thing until she estimates it's lost most of its wall-ward momentum. She jumps back on -----[start]----- --the broom swerves at a pretty gross speed in the direct direction. Rather, it's the lovely experience of being isoported 90 degrees, turning the corner at a more sane speed of drift, but only very briefly losing thrust before the rocket kicks it straight down the new direction at the exact same speed. It's pretty sloshy and disorienting, but it's better than smashing into a wall. More importantly, it's faster than D4 can hope to go. Lilian repeats it several more times as they cross up pipes and fallen masonry, relying on Arthur to handle sheer speed and gross maneuvering while she fine tunes the broom's rocket path through the complex in cheaty ways. |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | Bercilak de Hautdesert is listening to Jusas Priest on Discoverize. Listen along? Y/N https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=607WZmRxY1U Yuudachi's handcannon and her liberal use thereof gets her a hearty clap on the shoulder. "NAU THAT IS WHAT I SPEAKETH OF! FUCK YEA!" Keeping the steering column level with his knees, he then slaps the bike's console. "GRIP THEE FASTE!" It might be confusing--until he points at the runed pipes rapidly coming their way. Hold on! He lifts his axe from behind, but not fast enough that he's able to overtake Arthur. Yuudachi, wherever she might be peering, sees another augmented reality message: Running friendly nanoprogram: Watch Ward Running friendly nanoprogram: Ambient Regeneration A yellow film of energy envelops her, able to absorb the damage should those runes mean what he thinks they do. The second is self explanatory-- And it is scarcely a second before his axe is crashing into those runes, forcibly, intentionally breaking them, swung with masterful control and precision, the bike's course altering not for all the strength he employs in those precise, cleaving motions. He twirls it, too, and at first it seems like he's just showing off-- But the heel of the axe scrapes the ceiling, and rather than sprout support-trees behind him, it creates 'jaws' of cypress knees that jut from the ceiling and floor just ahead of D4. Arthur and Lilian are closer, for Arthur's wise decision not to just barrel through the shit in front of them. But are they close enough to capitalize on Bercilak's counter-trap? |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: Splat against a fuckin wall, fool Arthur can't splatter against a wall because he's too busy getting TRON-biked across time at angles that are ever-more-impossible than the usual ones. He chuckles, muttering under his breath (and it's not clear how this can get to Lilian over the sound of a roaring rocket), "You makin' it pretty much zero percent clear at all times how your *thing* works, but I'm feelin' nauseous enough to know it's my counter-element." Even experiencing it hands-on, Arthur can't differentiate it from Vruasa's time-teleportation. But he can benefit, at least. >Arthur: Okay, you're primarily here about concern, right? Well, yeah, of course. Arthur calls ahead more obnoxiously: "Hey!!" He howls. "You're overheatin'! I literally just said *cool* those gams! *Cool down*, you 'boutta wear your shit out *even faster!*" This dumb boy absolutely refuses to stop irrationally fixating on D4's health and will persist in bullying her about it as long as he can, it seems. Getting darted around the pipes helps, since while Arthur can kind of strafe-juke them both around the interior obstacles, he does tend to *irresponsibly graze* or outright risk hitting them a bit more than would be comfortable for someone with Lilian's professional standards -- and a truly uncomfortable willingness to slam his heels into walls for the harsher maneuvers. >Arthur: Take advantage of Bercilak's work! "I'mma try an' trip her on one'a those!" He calls out, as he clambers up into a surfer's position, noting those jaws. A harsh variance of gravity should do the trick; by aggressively blasting antigravity or gravity into the environment right as D4 passes over and through one of those "jaws", Arthur is convinced that he can force her to overshoot or undershoot her evasion, and slow, even trip, at a critical moment. A heavy clap right at the moment is the only sign of what he's doing, fingertips all pointed straight at D4 as the humming gravitational force bursts its effect in her direction. She needs to interact with gravity to get around it, so Arthur can manipulate that! |
| S6 | S6 is hardly idle. She doesn't do this sort of support work often; and unlike I4 has to devote more of her attention to it. She traces through the subsystem tunnels of Old Indus, marking branches to seal off, which her POD provides to Kuma for execution. It's a complex job, estimating D4's path and plotting firing arcs that aren't obstructed by trees or crumbling structures. UNDERGROUND D4 darts aside when a cannon shell impacts near her, running along the cavern wall. Quickly, she transitions to the other, raising an arm to shield her face from shrapnel. That same hand then reaches forward, wrenching a support beam from the wall and into the 'jaws' of the trap. She crouches at a half-step, then lunges through it. Gravity shifts. The android lurches upward, slamming into the tunnel ceiling in a shower of sparks. When it re-asserts itself, she drops, striking the floor and turning it into a roll through the murky water that sends out jets of steam from exposed, overheating components. Her heels dig in, halting her in an intersection-- facing down the alarmingly fast approaching Arthur and the even more alarmingly loud jetbike in hot pursuit. Something explodes to her right, prompting D4 to raise an arm to shield her face. Seconds later, a similar, closer blast from the left showers her in dust and rock chips. Kuma's bombardment at work. It seems that demonstration of absurd powers, and the bizzarre (and kinda trippy) way Arthur's maneuvering thanks to Lilian's actions, has convinced her that she can't outrun this quartet any longer. There's some clear hesitation, but as Arthur approaches, D4 simply closes her eyes, her sword remaining across her back. |
| Shigure | Yuudachi 'Tucks Tail' as those launched pipes come crashing down, latching onto the handle and putting her Rig in the path instead of her body. The barrier field helps, and angling the armour plate mitigates most of the damage, scoring off some paint and leaving some dents in the metalwork. After the storm, and that regeneration aura reversing some of the damage, Yuudachi watches Kuma's handiwork block off the routes of escape for D4. She also sees the 'resignation' and doesn't trust it for a second. So, she hops off the speeding hoverbike, and digs in her heels to bleed off the speed, skidding to a stop and ropping to a knee to brace her weapons. ALl her guns angle and lock onto the android from long range, fully preparing to just wipe her off the face of the planet with a full broadside. Kuma's fire control Fairy reports successfull prsecution of all targets. Her cannon barrels glow faintly, and emit wispy trails of smoke as they lower and angle off to the side in 'rest' position. "All targets confirmed destroyed, kuma." |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: BRAKE! "BRAKE US OR YOU 'BOUTTA BREAK!" Arthur calls out to Lilian. He can withstand the g-force trying to obliterate his body when he fires a retro rocket, sure. But... well, she can too, but he expects she doesn't *want* to, so he starts his retro-burn and figures she'll disembark, brake them both, or just take it if she's so inclined. Regardless, Arthur's stopping and he's stopping fast with a lot of grunting. No matter what happens, eventually he finds himself halted in front of D4. And with her weapon un-drawn, his remains unused. Instead, she has to deal with this idiot talking, which is worse. Of course, any interruption is likely to cut this off easily, and he projects no special aura of dialogue-insisting, nor command any tactical advantage justifying this speaking. "Holy fuck, you run quick, lady. That overclock *cannot* be healthy." He says, shaking off the stress that the rattling rocket-broom put on his arms and legs. "You 'boutta let me help now or what? This, *all* of this," He says, waving his hand up and down to indicate her current state. "Ain't cool! We gotta get the banged-up bits *fixed*." >Arthur: Try to understand motivations Arthur's still a little breathless from his acceleration, so his effort is stymied a bit. "I dunno if it's some wild social thing, or some *evil* ghost-cop gonna find ya, or... *whatever*, but how do you fix," He's gonna even just try to grab at her arm and do one of his horrible Coolkid Handshakes in its dozens of motions, even worse now in an effort to demonstrate the limits of worn-down joints. "THIIIIIIIIIIS!" Arthur's just blindly assuming they're more limited now... They may well just *not* be. He finally stops and steps back. "'Cause that shit *straight broke* and you ain't gettin' rid of me 'till you tell me how it gets fixed." |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | "THOU'RT AS CRAFTUOUS AS PREI, AS THOU ART IN HUNTINGE! IGLADEN!" He leans on the horn of the bike--a train horn, naturally--"FOR THOU HATH OFERNED MINE APPLAUSE!" It is shortly after this triumphant cry that D4 apparently surrenders. Having lost some speed due to dragging his axe for so long, he's only just managed to catch up--and the steady hiss of his bike's engine slows down to rapid-fire bursts, then sporadic, then nothing but the rush of air from the lifters which keep it afloat. It's still got quite a bit of momentum--and so brake shutters pop up along its hull, as that invisible, helical force changes its axis briefly to work with the up-and-down of brake shutters to gradually slow it to a halt. Eventually, it's safe to just hop off--although Yuudachi is agile enough to do so at unsafe speeds, to be certain. This doesn't bother Bercilak--even though she's preparing for a broadside assumes that there will be Time to do what he wants to do. A few feet from D4, Arthur and Lilian, the lifters shut off. He steps off as the bike CLANKS against the floor of the tunnel, making an approach so deliberate and slow that it's hard to interpret it as benevolent even if one is peaking on generosity. His footfalls carry an ominous weight as his axe is brought to bear. The haft clinks weightily against his gauntleted palm, his cloak of rye grass and hyacinths billowing behind, D4's resigned figure growing closer and closer. He lifts the axe, hollers like a madman, and lifts it high. It would be perfectly normal to freak out right now. To try and stop him. Because he's swinging it towards her neck. His strength is as immense as his aim is true, and physical force alone won't stop him. Skill may not even stop him, knowing his ability to perfectly position every part of the weapon's anatomy--but this is not a bad thing. It isn't a bad thing, because he stops of his own volition, even if he does intend to give everyone present the opposite idea(especially D4, if she's still alive after all that blasting). "'Tis japes," he says, waving his hand dismissively, as the axe just up and disappears in a wave of blue light. "Coursli, I wouldst not quell thee, nau that thou hath ifought for thy lif so craftuousli!" He crosses his thick arms, peering down at her. "Lif in FANTOM hath greed with thee not, I trow. As prise for mine enangling of thee, I would knoue what lif thou wouldst inseke, yeven frenesse of this world." |
| Lilian Rook | "I see it I see it. Quiet down." Lilian says to Arthur, expecting him to quiet down precisely never. Just as he hits the retro rockets, Arthur finds the broom nauseatingly isoporting in backwards-facing loops on the same stretch of tunnel to slow down more gradually via artificially 'extending space' a good few hundred meters. Digging her own heels into the tunnel floor from the back of the broom at the final approach is more or less formality. When she disembarks, she wobbles very slightly, then says "How do you tolerate riding that ridiculous thing *everywhere?*" When Bercilak begins rumble-charging his way into the intersection shortly after, strutting up with his axe in hand, one hand grips the magnetite chain, and another draws up her handgun, the flywheel whine blocked out by "I'm warning you." as it's aimed at Bercilak's back. She fires, once, just after he's stopped his axe. "That was your own fault." she says, after a meaty anti-bigboy slug has run its course, as if she'd been unable to stop herself from shooting before realizing he'd stopped. The two of them both know that's bullshit, and that he wouldn't die from just one shot anyways. She tilts the gun back up and removes her finger from the trigger. "Well, unit D4, or whatever your original designation was. S6 and that computer assistant are still a ways away. It'll take either of them a while to get here, if they even do. You've got a captive audience, and a minute to explain yourself, before you're in any more danger than you already are. Mind you, I don't care about a legal defense. I want to know, and I'm fairly tired of being told nothing, or talking to people who don't know anything." It's less than a request, and more than a suggestion. Even for an android, one that is capable of having a conversation is capable of picking up on the unusual air of disproportionate gravitas in that moment. A subconsciously understood 'this is your chance' prompt. The mental QTE button flashing. Lilian will also know whatever D4 thinks of, but neglects to tell her, anyways, but lying about it is, in of itself, a form of information. |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | Ballistic damage detected. Lilian: That was your own fault. The Green Knight's armor plates quite literally reacted to the bullet in advance of its impact. At first, a hardening, then a wave of apparent elasticity to spread the shockwave out. The result is a crack, where there otherwise would have been a hole--it's likely the work of that massive harness he wears, as it didn't seem to have such a drastic ability during the fight against the tree-demon, when he was without it. Still-- "Oh, fuck yea, it was," he says, turning to face her so that he can give a nod of approval. Note updated: Lilian's Mettle She's a woman of her word. |
| S6 | S6 nods once to Kuma, then looks to the rising smoke in the distance. After a moment, she lowers her gaze and murmurs, "Pod." -UNDERSTOOD.- -RECORDS OF THIS ENCOUNTER HAVE BEEN EXPUNGED.- -RANK S DRAKOS OFFICER TERMINATION CONFIRMED.- "Mm." D4 remains stationary. Arthur approaches. The scolding about her condition is...unexpected, to say the least. It actually gets her to open her eyes, staring impassively at him as he rambles. He grabs her arm; demonstrates the exposed components in his Cringe 90s Coolkid Way; and she responds by jerking her hand out of his as soon as she is able. Her gaze lifts to Yuudachi aiming her weapons, to the Green Knight now ominously approaching, weapon in hand. "Repairs don't seem likely," D4 states coldly. Her eyes close, taking in a deep breath that creaks faintly. She has no POD, but follows the weapon's position through hearing. Hears it raised. Hears the whistle as it swipes through the air. Her instinct screams for her to move; her systems tell her exactly where the hit is projected to land. But she does not move; she simply accepts her fate. It doesn't come. Instead there's that gunshot not aimed at her. Steel-grey eyes open when the Knight starts talking again. Beneath the tired, worn expression is confusion. Her eyes wander again to Lilian, then downward in thought. The thought is obvious, even for those without mind reading powers. These aren't like the people in Indus. "What I want," D4 finally speaks, "Is to live my life as I see fit." Her gaze lifts, "I am not a doll to be paraded about. I am alive. I would rather die out here than live in there; I reject that gilded cage with every fiber of my being." D4's eyes close, "Is that a good enough answer?" |
| Shigure | Yuudachi sees the others have things well in hand, and with a dramatic showing so there's no confusion, she stands, angles all her guns away, then dismisses her Rigging entirely. Now she's just a blonde girl with red eyes in a black sailor uniform. <<Kuma, target captured... lets keep this our little secret.>> Kuma closes her eyes for a moment, giving a faint nod to the tightbeam comm from her fleetmate, then glances over at S6. Expunge the encounter? The Striker is given a searching look from the cruiser-girl, but she says nothing. The two Kanmusu shift to a passive role. Their part in all this is over now. |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | "FUCK YEA IT IS!" The Green Knight's armor disappears in a flash of blue light. Standing there is seven and a half feet of green, mohawked bearded space biker. He's got on a tank top with a cloudy, moonlit sky as the backdrop. A pale rider atop a horse overlooks a majestic mountain. The shirt reads: OTHER PEOPLE ASK WHY? I ASK WHY WHAT? BECAUSE I DONT KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT He claps his meaty palms together. "I shalt yeve thee that chaunce, thurgh-fleer, and mo! Bahaha!" A hand is extended. His right. For a handshake. "I profren thusly: I shalt conveie thee to ani world which heme thee wel. Thire, oth ani-where thou romblem, thou shalt die onli whanne *thou* lest--but I may hunte thee for sporte, for as long as thou yet may lif." He pauses. "And com visit thee as thy gestenere, als," he adds after a thoughtful frown. |
| Arthur Lowell | >==> Arthur winces a bit at the near-beheading and the subsequent gunshot, kind of too taken aback to intercede, but it all settles out okay, and just leaves him a bit wavering, in a general sense. But it settles, it solves, it gives him a few seconds to recollect and fix his brash bullshit. >Arthur: Oh, you like this don't you? Fuckin', I mean, yeah, obviously!! Arthur has always thought that this particular compulsion fucks, in a general sense, so he's here to encourage it. "Alright, yo. So, I dunno your problem in, like, the full USDA Beef Assessment, but I got a gist." He approaches and insists on being too close and too hands-on, palm clapping on a shoulder as firm as he can. "There somethin' I can yank outta you to make you stop having to fight the ghost cops? There, like, some spare parts I can alchemize to make you stop fucking your heatsinks raw over and over?" He wrings his free hand a bit. "Like, clearly you're helping with the monster issue, kinda? And this looks like murders are happenin' over *paperwork*, which, I'm gonna tell you: that shit sucks absolutely." "It fuckin' sucks to the max, my dude." |
| Lilian Rook | "It's an answer" Lilian says. "It's one I've heard something like before. It rather narrows down what I think of it." She's not making it easy to tell whether she likes the answer or not, but at least can't be bad. "To be honest, I've had enough of the incredibly fake assertions about what I can obviously see with my own eyes about this world. And I've not been terribly fond of the Indus types, though I must continue to put up with them for now." It takes her only moments to reach a decision. She tosses D4 a spare radio. It works precisely on one channel. "You're keeping this on you, until I contact you. Examine it for tracking devices or whatever; I don't care as long as you don't break it. If you have to use it, it'll contact me directly. Do as you please, but I expect you know that I need you to keep this if you intend to stay out of FANTOM's way. Clearly it's not in my best interests to send them your way either. You'll figure it out." |
| S6 | D4 leans away from Arthur when he touches her shoulder. Clearly not on the level of accepting physical contact yet. Her eyes narrow at him, though she can tell he just wants to help. Her eyes close, and she lifts a hand to gesture, "My heat dissipation array is long gone. Internal heat sinks can only manage so much." And she must use them a lot, those areas that were glowing are all concentrated under the 'holes' in her skin and clothing. Easily the first parts to burn through. "As for what could be removed to get FANTOM off my back..." Her hand raises, catching the radio Lilian throws her way, "I refuse. They want me dead because I don't play along." Looking the radio unit over, she turns it, then tucks it into one of the holes in her torso. Wires shoot into it, connecting the unit to her system, "You're familiar with that Striker. No doubt you've heard it before. 'Androids do not have emotions.'" One eye opens, a dull, tired, exasperated look on her face, "It's a lie. We're *told* we shouldn't. We're *told* that emotions means an android is broken. That's the *expectation*." Her hand raises, pointing directly at Lilian, "Look real hard at that Striker you're associating with." D4 takes a breath, reining in rising irritation. Raising her arms, she folds them while regarding Bercilak, "I'll be staying on this world. It's flawed. It's broken. It's filled with terrible people. But home is home. If I'm going to die anywhere, I would rather it be here. Maybe it's some kind of psychosis, maybe it's attachment. That's how I feel about it." |
| Rubi-Kan Vagrants | Bercilak turns around to look at S6, but only out of curiosity. He never assumed that she or I4 lacked emotions, despite their statements to the contrary--he'd simply figured that they expressed them differently than humans, and hadn't figured that out yet. It never occurred to him that there might be an active attempt to dissuade them from realizing that, however. He furrows his brow with interest--but ultimately returns his attention to D4, without so much as a shred of wind taken from his sails. The whole time, his hand has remained outstretched. "The remaindre of mine profringe still stonds," he says, wiggling his fingers. He'd really like to vibe and also hunt her for sport, apparently. With a 'tempting' tone and his brow raised, he adds, "Thou wouldst hath the hom feld benefice! ...so als eternal lif. FANTOM would nede to astrue thee wholli to be rid of thee, and thy hertes wouldst hele, ah..." He chuckles. "A god amountance lasse thanne mine own, but mo quikli thanne e'er *thou* hath espied, I wis." He strokes his beard, chuckling as another thought comes to him. "With my yefts, thou couldst not al-on lif, but so als yeve the lie to what FANTOM says al the more-fold. Who can stiloe the tonge which stays not quelled?" Double finger pointers. "'Tis god shit! Ithinke aboute hit." |
| Arthur Lowell | >Arthur: Alchemize new HEAT DISSIPATOR "Can't alchemize ya up one'a them ice kits right now, but I got old elemental ice shit on-call. YO, PRINCESS! Call her up when I send ya a chilly package! This bitch overheated as fuck, for real." He'll figure something out! "And you!" He points at D4. "I got nothin' to demand from you, I'm just side-car on some shit. Do whatever you're already doin' when Lilian chats atcha! I ain't ya dad. ARTHUR OUT!" He performs another excessive handshake with its many daps, its numerous pounds, its mercilessly varied wiggles and grips and grabs. And then he pops open a Gate for use by those in need! |